Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/historyofwestcheOOscha 


PIT  STORY 


OF 


WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY, 


NEW  YORK, 


INCLUDING 


MORRISANIA,  KINGS  BRIDGE,  AND  WEST  FARMS, 


WHICH  HAVE  BEEN  ANNEXED  TO  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


BY 

J.  THOMAS  SCHARF,  A.  M.,  LL.  D. 

Author  "  Ilislory  of  Mnri/lanil,"  "Chronicles  of  Baltimore,"  "  Histor}/ of  Baltimore  City  and  Cuunti/,"  "  Hi  story  of  St.  Louis  Citii  fiiiil 
Count;/,"  "History  of  the  City  of  Philniklphia,  Pa.,"  etc.,  etc.    Corresponilinq  Member  of  the  Historical  Societies  of  New 
York,  Penmylmnia,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Virc/inia,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Historic  anil  GcneO' 
logical  Society  of  New  Enijlanl,  Philosphical  Society  of  Ohio,  etc.,  etc. 

ASSISTED  BY  A  STAFF  OF  CAREFULLY  SELECTED  EXPERTS  IN  EVERY  DEPARTMENT. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES,  ILLUSTRATED. 


VOL.  I. 


L.  E. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESTON  & 
1886. 


CO. 


Copyright,  1886, 
By  L.  E.  Prkston  &  Co. 

All  Rights  Jieserved. 


PRESS  OP 

JAS.  B.  nODGEKS  PRINTING  COMPANY, 
PHILADELPHIA. 


PREFACE. 


In  presenting  this  "History  of  Westchester  County"  to  the  i)ublic,  the  Editor  believes, 
uo  apology  is  necessary.  It  is  a  new  and  trustworthy  history  of  the  county,  founded  upon  the 
best  authorities,  and  the  most  authentic  documents  and  authoritative  records.  In  no  sense  of  the 
word  is  it  built  up  out  of,  or  repeated  from,  any  previous  one  on  the  same  subject,  or  any  of  its 
branches. 

The  plan  of  the  work  is  to  a  large  extent  novel — the  grouping  of  so  many  representative 
writei-s,  to  tell  so  interesting  a  storj'  as  that  of  the  origin,  career  and  significance  of  Westchester 
County,  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  any  other  county  in  the  United  States.  To  present  the 
principal  historical  phases  of  the  several  towns,  and  the  county's  life  and  development,  together 
with  the  traces  of  previous  occupation  and  the  natural  history  of  the  county,  the  various  chapters 
were  assigned  to  writers,  most  of  them  well  known  in  their  respective  spheres,  and  some  of  them 
of  national  reputation,  who,  from  study  and  association,  were  in  a  measure  identified  with  their 
subjects.  Their  treatment  of  these  topics  is  such  that  what  they  have  written  may  be  taken  as 
the  best  comprehensive  expression  of  existing  knowledge,  put  together  with  that  authority  which 
comes  from  special  study.  In  the  diversity  of  authors  there  will,  of  course,  be  variety  of  opinions, 
and  it  hsis  not  been  thought  ill-judged,  considering  the  different  points  of  view  assumed  by  the 
various  writers,  that  the  same  events  should  be  interpreted  sometimes  in  varj'ing,  and  perhaps 
opposite,  ways.     The  chapters  may  thus  make  good  the  poet's  description, — 

"Distinct  as  the  billows,  yet  one  as  the  sea," — 

and  may  not  be  the  Avorse  for  each  offering  a  reflection,  according  to  its  turn  to  the  light,  without 
marring  the  unity  of  the  general  expanse.  The  Editor  has  endeavored  to  prevent  any  unnecessary 
repetitions,  and  to  provide  against  serious  omissions  of  what  might  naturally  be  expected  in  a 
history  of  its  kind.  In  more  than  one  instance  he  has  been  constrained  by  his  deference  to  local 
authority  upon  strictly  local  subjects,  and  by  yielding  to  the  testimony  of  experts  in  matters  which 
they  alone  are  supposed  to  know  thoroughly,  to  hold  back  his  own  judgment  in  regard  to  certain 
subjects,  and  permit  the  local  writer  and  the  expert  to  tell  the  whole  story  their  own  way.  The 
result  has  sometimes  been  clash,  confusion  and  contradiction  ;  for  there  is  nothing  about  which 
local  authorities  and  experts  differ  so  much  among  themselves  as  those  particular  events  and  things 
in  regard  to  which  they  collectively  consider  it  the  height  of  presumption  for  "outsiders"  to 
disagree  with  them.  Where  the  subject  happened  to  be  one  of  moment  and  importance,  the 
author  has  cut  the  Gordian  knot  and  stated  things  to  suit  himself ;  but  in  indifferent  or  trivial 
concerns  he  has  simply  stood  aside  and  let  each  writer  give  his  own  version. 

Some  space  has  been  given  to  biographical  sketches  of  leading  and  representative  men,  living 
and  dead,  who  have  borne  an  active  part  in  the  various  enterprises  of  life,  and  who  have  become 


vi 


PREFACE. 


closely  identified  with  the  history  of  the  county.  The  achievements  of  the  living  must  not  be 
forgotten,  nor  must  the  memories  of  those  who  have  passed  away  be  allowed  to  perish.  It  is  the 
imperative  duty  of  the  historian  to  chronicle  the  public  and  private  efforts  to  advance  the  great 
interests  of  society.  Their  deeds  are  to  be  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  follow  them, — 
they,  in  fact,  form  part  of  the  history  of  their  communities,  and  their  successful  lives  add  to  the 
glory  of  the  county. 

The  Editor  would  be  unjust  to  himself  and  the  county  whose  history  he  has  compiled,  if  he 
did  not  acknowledge,  with  feelings  of  profound  gratitude,  the  cordial  aid  extended  to  him  and  his 
undertaking  by  the  respective  Avriters  and  by  the  people  of  Westchester  County.  They  have 
given  him  the  fullest  encouragement  throughout,  and  have  helped  him  materially  in  elaborating 
and  perfecting  the  work.  Important  and  valuable  assistance  and  information  have  been  received 
from  the  following  persons,  to  whom  also  particular  recognition  is  due : — James  Wood;  Franklin 
Crouch,  Rev.  David  Cole,  D.D.,  Rev.  John  A.  Todd,  Thomas  C.  Cornell,  Joseph  Barrett,  Frederick 
Whittaker  and  Josiah  S.  Mitchell. 

The  scope  and  method  of  this  history  of  Westchester  County,  is  best  understood  by  the  table 
of  contents,  and  the  names  of  the  Avriters  annexed.  It  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  the  broad 
taste  and  judiciousness  of  selection  on  the  part  of  the  Editor.  Without  their  indispensable  aid 
and  invaluable  stores  of  material  on  the  history  of  this  interesting  county,  which  they  have  been 
diligently  collecting  for  years  past,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  present  this  history  in  the 
satisfactory  shape  it  now  assumes. 

To  the  publishers  of  this  history,  the  Editor  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his  collaborators,  must 
gratefully  pay  the  meed,  thrice  deserved,  of  most  hearty  and  effective  co-operation  with  him  and 
them  throughout  the  undertaking.  They  have  most  liberally  met  every  desire  of  the  writers  in 
respect  of  letter-press  and  engravings  of  portraits,  views,  maps  and  other  illustrations ;  they  have 
spared  no  expense  or  effort  to  make  the  mechanical  execution  of  the  volumes  equal  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  to  the  Editor's  ambition,  and  they  have  helped  him  in  every  difficulty  and  sought  to 
remove  every  obstruction  from  his  path  while  the  work  was  in  progress. 

To  the  subscribers  of  the  work,  who,  by  consenting  to  take  it  unseen  on  the  Editor's  own 
recommendation  and  the  strengtli  of  his  and  the  publisher's  reputation,  have  secured  its  successful 
completion  and  publication,  the  Editor  renders  his  most  grateful  thanks,  with  the  earnest  hope 
that  nothing  in  the  volumes  and  nothing  omitted  from  them  may  cause  them  to  regret  their 
confidence  and  their  liberality. 

J.  THOMAS  SCHARF. 

Baltimore,  July  6,  1886. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Paoe. 

Topography,  Boundaries  and  Ge- 

OLO(iY,   1-9 

Bv  J.  Thomas  Scharf,  A.  M.,  LUD. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Indians  of  Westchester  County,  9-20 

By  James  Wood. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Discovery  and  Settlement  of 

Westchester  County,   20-31 

By  James  Wood. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Origin  and  History  of  Manors 
IN  New  York,  and  in  the  County 
of  Westchester,  31-160  a 

Parts  : 

1.  The  Indian  Owners  of  New  Nethorland  ami  of  Westchester. 

2.  How  tlie  Indian  Title  vested  successively  in  the  Dutch  West 

India  Company,  the  British  Crown,  and  the  Independent 
State  of  New  York. 

3.  The  Dutch  in  New  Nethcrland. 

4.  The  Colonization  by  the  West  India  Company. 

5.  The  Nature  of  the  Dutch  System  of  Government  and  Law, 

established  in  New  Netherland,  and  of  the  Patroonships. 

6.  The  Patroonsliip  of  Oolen-Douck. 

7.  The  Capture  of  New  Nethcrland  from  the  Dutch,  and  the 

Creation  of  the  Knglish  '  Province  of  New  York." 

8.  The  English  .System  in  the  Province  of  New  York  under  the 

Duke  of  York  as  Lord  Proprietor. 
"J.  The  Manors  in  New  York,  what  they  were  not,  and  what 
they  were. 

10.  The  Franchises,  Privileges,  and  Incidents,  of  Manors  in  the 

Province  of  New  York,  and  in  the  County  of  West- 
chester, and  the  Parishes  in  the  latter. 

11.  The  Churih  of  Enj;land  I'arochial  Organization  in  West- 

chester County,  and  its  Relations  to  tlie  Manors. 

12.  The  Manors  and  the  County  in  their  Mutual  Kclations,  and 

the  Origin  and  Formation  of  the  latter. 

13.  The  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  its  Origin,  Special  Franchises, 

Division,  First  Lord  and  his  Family,  Particular  Histoi-y, 
and  Topography, 

14.  The  Manor  of  S<  ars<lale,  iU  Origin,  Local  History,  Ac^oin- 

iug  Patents,  its  First  Lord  and  llis  Family,  Division, 
»nd  Topography. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Page. 

The  Colonial  Period,  1683-1774, .  161-177 

By  Rev.  William  S.  Coffey,  A.  M. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Westchester  -  County,  N  e  w  -  Y  o  r  k  , 
During  the  Ajierican  Revolu- 
tion  177-457 

By  Henry  B.  Dawson. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Early  Manners  and  Customs  of  the 
People  of  Westchester  County,  457-472j 

By  J.  Tuomas  Scharf,  A.  M.,  LL.D. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
General  History  from  1783  to  1860,  473-490 

By  Rev.  William  S.  Coffey,  a.  M. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Civil  War  from  1860  to  1866,  490-516 

By  Capt.  Frederick  Whittaker. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Westchester  County  at  the  Pres- 
ent Day,  516-525 

By  J.  Thomas  Scharf,  A.  M.,  LL.D. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Bench  and  Bar,  .  .  . 


526-568 


By  Edward  Floyd  de  Lancey. 


By  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Mills. 


vi 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Page. 

The  Medical  Profession,   568-598 

By  Geobge  Jackson  Fisher,  M.  D. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Literary  Men  and  Litera- 
ture OP  Westchester  County,  .  598-639 

By  J.  Thomas  Scharf,  A.  M.,  LL.D. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Civil  History,   639-657 

By  Rev.  William  J.  Cdmming. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Soarsdale,   657-685 

By  Allen  M.  Butler,  M.  D. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
New  Rochelle,   685-701 

By  Rev.  Charles  E.  Lindsley,  D.  D. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Pelham,  701-714 

By  Key.  Charles  E.  Lindsley,  D.  D. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Page. 

White  Plains   714-744 

By  Josiah  S.  Mitchell. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Kings'  Bridge,   744-768 

By  Thomas  H.  Edsall. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Westchester  Town,   768-822 

By  Fordham  Morris. 

CH.\PTER  XXI.' 

MoRRiSANiA,   822-836 

By  Fordham  Morris. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

West  Farms,   836-846 

By  Fordham  Morris. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Mamaroneck,   846-888 

By  Edward  Floyd  de  Lakcey. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VOLUME  I. 


On  or  opposite  page 


Autographs  of  Supervisors  474 

Bailey,  N.  P.,  Resilience  of  754 

Bftird,  CliarlesW.,  Portrait  of .  .  .  ^  620 

Bauta,  llathias,  Portrait  of  563 

Bartlett,  W.  U.  C,  Portrait  of  622 

Bathgate,  James,  Portrait  of  592 

Beach,  W.  A.,  Portrait  of  559 

Beal,  W.  R.,  Portrait  of  834 

Bixby,  S.  M.,  Portrait  of  832 

Blue  Bell  Tavern   472j 

Brewster,  Joseph  B.,  Portrait  of  70X 

Brown,  Neheniiali,  Portrait  of  528 

Butler,  Allen  M.,  Autograph  of  684 

Camp,  Hugh  N.,  Portrait  of  836 

Carjienter,  Jonathan,  Residence  of  698 

Carpenter,  Jonathan,  Portrait  of  099 

Caqwuter,  W.  J.,  Portrait  of  598 

Cauldwell,  William,  Portrait  of  624 

Cheese-Press,  Primitive  .   472a 

Church,  Old  Dutch,  at  Fordham  620 

"Clermont,"  The  Steamer  471 

Cobliling-stone   8 

Coffey,  William  Samuel,  Autograph  of   177,  490 

ColTey,  William  Samuel,  Portrait  of  63t 

Coffin,  Owen  T.,  Portrait  of  550 

Cole,  David,  Portrait  of  030 

Colgate,  Robert,  Portrait  of  766 

Colgate,  Robert,  Residence  of  706 

Continental  Currency   472f 

Cooiwr,  J.  Fenimore,  Portrait  of  609 

Cornell,  Benjamin,  Portrait  of  675 

Cornell  Homestead,  Residence  of  B.  C.  Cornell  690 

Court-IIouse,  Westchester  County,  1886    729 

Cumniing,  W.  J,,  Autograph  of  657 

Curry,  Rev.  Daniel,  Portrait  of  621 

Cromwell,  C.  T.,  Portrait  of  552 

Cromwell,  C.  '1'.,  Residence  of  552 

Cromwell,  David,  Portrait  of  740 

Dawson,  Henry  B.,  Portrait  of  612 

De  Lancey,  Edward  F.,  Autograph  of  888 

De  Lancey,  Right  Rev.  William  H.,  Portrait  of  867 

Depew,  Chauncey  M.,  Portrait  of  557 

De  Vries,  David  Pietersen   35 

Dickel,  C.  W.,  Residence  of  664 

Disbrow  House  856 

Doctor  of  Olden  Time  468 

Drake,  Joseph  R.,  Portrait  of  016 

Dyckman,  Isaac  M.,  Portrait  of   765  i 

Dyckman,  Isaac       Residence  of  765 

Dyckman,  J.  O.,  Portrait  of  534 

Dyckman,  John  H.,  Portrait  of  705 

Dyckman,  William  X.,  Portrait  of  704 

F.dsall,  Thomas  H.,  Autograph  of  761 

Evans,  Oliver  469 

Evans'  Steam  Carriage  470 

Evans,  W.  W.,  Portrait  of   699 

Evans,  W.  W.,  Residence  of  699 


On  or  opposite  jiage 


Ewen,  John,  Portrait  of   767 

Faneuil,  Peter,  Portrait  of   711 

Fellows,  E.  B.,  Portrait  of   842 

Ferguson,  Geo.,  Portrait  of   700 

Fireships,  The  American   391 

Fisher,  G.  J.,  Portrait  of   581 

Fisher,  G.  J.,  Autograph  of   581 

Fitch's  Fii-st  Steamboat   470 

Flagg,  Levi  W.,  Portrait  of   587 

Flying-Machine,  The   472 

Fort  Washington,  1880    517 

Fount^iin,  Hosea,  Portrait  of   586 

Fountain,  James,  Portrait  of   577 

Fox,  William  W.,  Portrait  of   845 

Fuller,  Mrs.  J.  M.,  Residence  of   682 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  Portrait  of   171 

Franklin's  Cream  Pot   641 

Garth.  D.  J.,  Residence  of   081 

Gedney,  Bartholomew,  Portrait  of   743 

Gedney,  Bartholomew,  Residence  of   743 

Giffbrd,  Silas  D.,  Portrait  of   532 

Goodridge,  Frederic,  Residence  of   769 

Graystone,  Residence  of  S.  J.  Tilden                                      554,  555 

Griswold,  U.  B.,  Portrait  of   597 

Guion,  Place,  View  of   686 

Haerlem,  View  of,  from  Morrisania,  1765    394 

Hague,  William,  Autograph  of   713 

Hall,  H.  B.,  Portrait  of   836 

Hall.  Ernest,  Portrait  of   562 

Hand,  N.  H.,  Residence  of   740 

Hand,  N.  H.,  Portrait  of   741 

Hasbrouck,  Joseph,  Portrait  of   587 

Hasbrouck,  Stephei!,  Portrait  of   586 

Haskin,  John  B.,  Portrait  of   561 

Havemeyer,  F.  C,  Portrait  of   818 

Head  Costumes   462,  463 

Head  Dress,  1776    464 

Heathcote  Hill,  View  of   864 

Heathcote,  Caleb,  Portrait  of   152 

Hoe,  R.  M.,  Portrait  of   833 

Hoffman,  A.  K.,  Portrait  of   588 

House  in  which  Poe  wrote  "The  Raven  "   618 

Hudson,  Henry,  Portrait  of   21 

Huguenot  House,  old   691 

Huguenot  Street,  New  Rochelle,  1798    686 

Huntington,  C.  P.,  Portrait  of   820 

Huntington  Homestead,  Views  at   822 

Huntington  Homestead   821 

Huntington,  H.  K.,  Portrait  of.   596 

Indian  chief   32 

Indian  family   33 

Indian  fort   34 

Indian  relics  and  specimens  14, 15,  16 

Irving,  Washington,  Portrait  of   blO 

Jay,  John  C,  Portrait  of   582 

Johnson,  IsaacG.,  Portrait  of   768 

Johnson,  S.  W.,  Portrait  of.   564 


vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


On  or  opposite  page 


Johnson  &  Co. 'a  Works   "69 

Larkin,  Francis,  Portrait  of   558 

Lester,  Simeon,  Portrait  of   698 

Lester,  Simeon,  Residence  of.   698 

Lewis,  Joseph  H.,  Residence  of    734 

Lindsley,  Charles  E.,  Portrait  of   694 

Lovatt,  E.  T.,  Portrait  of   568 

Slacomb's  Dam,  1850    758 

Map,  Attack  on  Fort  Washington   790 

Map,  boundary  lines  between  New  York  and  Connecticut   3 

Map,  Cortlandt  Manor   140 

Map,  Carpenter's,  of  White  Plains   718 

Map,  Frog's  Neck  to  Croton  River   415 

Map,  Geological,  of  county   6 

Map,  Historical,  of  King's  Bridge   747 

Map,  Manors  of  Westchester  County   30 

Map,  JIanorof  Phillipsbnrg   161 

Map,  Manor  of  Scarsdale   141 

Map  of  Mamaroneck   849 

Map,  Outline,  of  county   1 

Map  of  Broncksland   769 

Map  of  Bronx  Neck   780 

Map  of  Fordham  and  the  Meadows   775 

Map,  Roads  about  White  Plains   732 

Map,  Sauthier's,  published  by  Faden   403 

Map,  White  Plains,  1721    720 

Map,  White  Plains,  1776  .  .  .  .   727 

Mapes,  Daniel,  Portrait  of   841 

Mills,  Isaac  N. ,  Autograph  of   550 

Mitchell,  Josiah  S.,  Autograph  of   740 

Morris,  A.  Newbold,  Portrait  of   829 

Morris,  Fordham,  Autograph  of   817 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  Portrait  of   603 

Morris,  James,  Portrait  of   827 

Morris,  Lewis,  Portrait  of   826 

Morris,  L.  G.,  Portrait  of   829 

Morris,  L.  G.,  Residence  and  Views  at   830 

Morris,  W.  H.,  Residence  of   826 

Morris,  W.  H.,  Portrait  of  '  ....  828 

Mortar  and  Pestle   13 

Mott,  Jordan  L.,  Portrait  of   831 

Mt.  St.  Vincent,  Academy  of   760 

Nordquist,  C.  J.,  Portrait  of   589 

Olifte,  W.  M.,  Portrait  of   744 

Old  Clock   460 

Paine,  Thomas,  House  of   690 

Paine,  Thomas,  Monument  of   689 

Paine,  Thomas,  Portrait  of   602 

Peale,  C.  W   466 

Pillory,  The  .'  .  .  472i 

Poe's  Home  at  Fordham   619 

Popham,  Lewis  C,  Portrait  of   674 


On  or  opposite  page 


Popham,  L.  C,  Residence  of  680 

Popham,  W.  U.,  Portrait  of  673 

Popham,  W.  H.,  Residence  of  672 

Popham,  W.  S.,  Portrait  of   672 

Purdy,  Samuel  M.,  Portrait  of  558 

Putnam,  A.  E.,  Residence  of  758 

Reiufelder,  M.  I.,  Portrait  of  596 

Reynal,  J.,  Residence  of  724 

Robertson,  W.  H.,  Portrait  of  530 

Sands,  D.  Jerome,  Portrait  of  590 

Scharf,  Autograph  of   9 

Scharf,  J.  Thomas,  Portrait  of  Frontispiece. 

Schmid,  H.  Ernest,  Portrait  of  588 

Scribner,  G.  Hilton,  Portrait  of  565 

Scribner,  James  W. ,  Portrait  of  593 

Scrugham,  William  W.,  Portrait  of  545 

Secor,  Francis,  Portrait  of  678 

Smith,  Chauncey,  Portrait  of  567 

Smith,  J.  Malcom,  Portrait  of  560 

Sone,  L.  V.,  Residence  of  722 

Stage  wagon  ^  173 

Stamp,  British  .  .   '  176 

Stocks,  The  472h 

St.  Thomas'  Church  (old)  873 

St.  Thomas'  Church  (new)  874 

Stuy  vesiint,  Peter,  Portrait  of   24 

Sully,  Thomas  465 

Swift,  Samuel,  Portrait  of  594 

Swinburne,  John,  Portrait  of  606 

Tea  Service,  Old  Style   459  ' 

Tilden,  S.  J.,  Portrait  of  554 

Tilford,  J.  M.,  Portrait  of  742 

Tilford,  J.  M.,  Residence  of  742 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  Portrait  of  671 

Truman,  Norman  K.,  Portrait  of  591 

Van  Cortlandt,  A.,  Portrait  of  762 

Van  Cortlandt  Manor-House,  King's  Bridge  764 

Van  Rensselaer,  W.  P.,  Residence  of  553 

Van  Rensselaer,  W.  P.,  Portrait  of  553 

Van  Wyck,  P.  C,  Portrait  of  595 

Varian,  William  A.,  Portrait  of  584 

Washington's  Headquarters,  White  Plains  728 

White  Plains,  1855    730 

Whittaker,  Frederick,  Autograph  of  515 

Wilkins,  Isaac,  Portrait  of  001 

Williams,  Isaiah  T.,  Portrait  of  548 

Wells,  James  L.,  Portrait  of  843 

Wood,  James,  .\utograph  of  20,  31 

Wright,  Green,  Portrait  of  679 

Yonkera,  View  of  518 

Young,  John  W.,  Portrait  of  742 


OUTLINE  MAP 
O  F 

WE  STC  u  K  s  T  r:  R  o. 

V/  ^j^O  RK 
Slio^vnio  relative  position  of  Towns 

Prefiared  for  Scharf's  History  uf  WastchMsier  County 


JERSH5'  cm 


-i 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


GENERAL  HISTOEY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    BOUNDARY,    TOPOGRAPHY   AND    GEOLOGY  OF 
WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 

BY  J.  THOMAS  SCilARF,  LL.D. 

The  American  people,  their  lives,  their  institutious, 
and  their  civilization  are  so  entirely  different  from 
what  is  presented  elsewhere  that  as  they  make  their 
history,  so  they  mnst  preserve  its  records.  Never 
fettered  by  axioms,  they  avoid  all  prejudices  that 
come  from  the  past;  not  more  attached  to  one  line  of 
operation  than  another,  they  are  not  prone  to  employ 
an  old  method  rather  than  a  new;  without  rooted 
habits,  they  easily  shake  off  the  influence  which  other 
nations  might  exercise.  Their  firm  conviction  is 
that  their  country  is  unlike  any  other,  and  that  their 
situation  is  without  a  precedent  in  all  the  history  of 
the  world.  Xo  natural  boundary  restrains,  in  this 
country,  the  efforts  of  man,  and  what  is  not  yet  done 
is  only  what  he  has  not  yet  attempted  to  do. 

"The  perpetual  change,"  remarks  De  Tocqueville, 
"which  goes  on  in  the  United  States,  the  frequent 
vicissitudes  of  fortune,  accomj)anied  by  such  unfore- 
seen fluctuations  in  private  and  in  public  wealth, 
serve  to  keep  the  minds  of  the  citizens  in  a  perpetual 
state  of  feverish  agitation,  which  admirably  invigorates 
their  exertions,  and  keeps  them  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment above  the  ordinary  level  of  mankind.  The 
whole  life  of  an  American  is  passed  like  a  game  of 
chance,  a  revoluti  onarv  crisis  or  a  battle.  As  the  same 
causes  are  continually  in  operation  throughout  the 
country,  they  ultimately  impart  an  irresistible  im- 
.pulse  to  the  national  character.  The  American, 
taken  as  a  chance  specimen  of  his  country,  must  then 
be  a  man  of  singular  warmth  in  his  desires,  enterpris- 
ing, fond  of  adventure,  and  above  all  of  innovation. 
The  same  bent  is  manifested  in  all  that  he  does;  he 
introduces  it  into  his  political  laws,  his  religious  doc- 
trine, his  theories  of  social  economy,  and  his  domestic 


occupations;  he  bears  it  with  him  into  the  depth  of 
the  backwoods,  as  well  as  into  the  business  of  the 
city.  It  is  this  same  passion,  applied  to  maritime 
commerce,  which  makes  him  the  cheapest  and  quickest 
trader  in  the  world." 

The  inner  life,  the  domestic  history  of  any  portion 
!  of  a  people  which  thus  impressed  the  shrewdest  and 
most  philosophical  of  all  European  writers  on  America, 
'  requires  and  deserves  a  more  detailed  exiunination  and 
j  presentation  than  is  possible  to  the  historian  writing 
the  social  and  political  history  of  a  nation,  or  even  of 
j  one  presenting  the  annals  of  a  State.    It  is  in  the 
private  life,  in  the  principles  that  impress  individual 
action,  in  the  moral  character  of  the  men  of  business, 
I  in  the  purity  of  social  life  and  in  the  virtues  which 
I  embellish  the  home,  that  depend  the  value  of  our 
civilization  and  the  permanency  of  our  political  insti- 
tutions. Mr.  Alison,  in  his  "History  of  I'urope,"  pro- 
phesied that  "  democratic  institutions  will  not  and  can- 
!  not  exist  permanently  in  North  America.  The  frightful 
i  anarchy  which  lias  prevailed  in  the  Southern  States 
I  since  the  great  interests  dependent  on  slave  emanci- 
j  pation  were  brought  into  jeopardy,  the  irresistible 
j  sway  of  the  majority,  and  the  rapid  tendency  of 
1  the  majority  to  deeds  of  atrocity  and  blood,  the 
'  increasing  jealousy,  on  mercantile  grounds,  of  the 
!  Northern   and    Southern  States,    all  demonstrate 
I  that  the  Union  cannot  permanently  hold  together, 
!  and  that  the  innumerable  millions  of  the  Anglo- 
.Vmerican  race  must  be  divided  into  separate  States, 
like  the  descendants  of  the  Gothic  conquerors  of 
I  Europe.    Out  of  this  second   great  settlement  of 
:  mankind  will  arise  separate  kingdoms,  and  interests 
and  passions,  as  out  of  the  first.    But  democratic 
I  habits  and  desires  will  still  prevail,  and  long  after 
I  the  necessity  and  the  passions  of  an  advanced  stage 
i  of  civilization  have  established  firm  and  aristocratic 
governments,  founded  on  the  sway  of  property  in  the 
old  States,  republican  ambition  and  jealousy  will  not 
cease  to  impel  millions  to  the  great  wave  that  ap- 


HISTORY  OF  WP:STCHESTER  COUNTY. 


9 


proaches  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Democratic  ideas 
will  not  be  moderated  in  the  New  World  till  they 
have  performed  their  destined  end,  and  brought  the 
Christian  race  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific."  All  the 
convulsions  thus  predicted  have  taken  place  with  even 
greater  force  and  consequences  than  the  historian 
contemplated,  and  yet  our  Union  is  preserved  in 
greater  strength  and  more  apparent  durability  than 
was  thought  possible  by  its  most  enthusiastic  admirer. 
The  practical  common  sense,  the  wise  and  exalted 
patriotism  of  the  people,  have  brought  order  out  of 
confusion,  removed  obstacles  to  progress,  destroyed 
institutions  inimical  to  liberty,  and  placed  their 
country,  its  institutions  and  its  government  upon  a 
higher  plane  of  progress  and  duration  than  was 
thought  to  be  possible  by  the  wisest  of  its  founders. 
All  the  causes  and  consequences  of  our  general  history 
fall  properly  within  the  scope  of  the  political  histo- 
rian,— it  is  our  more  limited  and  restricted  duty  to 
collect  and  preserve  the  data  of  a  small,  yet  mighty, 
part  of  the  whole  country,  and  to  show  what  exists 
to-day  in  a  single  county  of  a  great  State,  what  forces 
in  the  past  produced  that  wonderful  wealth  and 
civilization,  that  wise  and  exalted  patriotism,  that 
tact  and  shrewdness  in  business,  that  astounding 
material  development,  which  illustrates  the  wealth 
and  wisdom  of  Westchester  County. 

BouxDAEY. — The  northern  boundary  line  of  West- 
chester County,  as  it  is  at  present  marked,  was  fixed 
at  the  time  the  county  was  erected  November  1, 
1683,  and  at  the  same  time  Long  Island  Sound  was 
designated  as  the  southern  boundary,  and  the 
Hudson  River  a.s  the  western  boundary.  The  line 
between  New  York  and  Connecticut  has  for  more 
than  two  centuries  been  a  matter  of  dispute  between 
the  two  States,  and  consequently  the  Eastern  boundary 
line  only  has  a  history  to  be  traced. 

In  the  times  of  the  Dutch  possession  of  New  York, 
the  question  of  boundary  between  that  province  and 
the  colony  of  Connecticut  arose.  It  grew  out  of  the 
conflicting  charters  granted  by  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish governments.  The  States-General  of  Holland 
on  October  11,  1G14,  gave  a  three  years'  monopoly  of 
trade  between  Virginia  and  New  France,  from  fortieth 
to  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude  to  the  United 
Company  of  Merchants.  This  same  year  a  trading 
port  was  established  by  Christiiensen  on  Castle  Island 
south  of  Albany.  June  3,  1621,  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  was  chartered  with  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  traffic  and  planting  colonies  on  the  coast 
of  America  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  the  re- 
motest north.  Under  this  charter  settlements  were 
made  by  the  Dutch  in  what  was  then  called  New 
Netherland.  In  1632  the  arms  of  the  States-General 
were  erected  at  Kierit's  Hoeck  (now  Saybrook),  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut,  which  had  been  dis- 
covered by  Adriaen  Block  in  1()14,  and  called  the 
Freshwater.    The  river  had  been  periodically  and  ex- 


clusively visited  by  the  Dutch  traders  for  many  years. 
Van  Twiller,  in  1633,  purchased  from  the  Indians  an 
extensive  tract  of  land,  called  the  Connittelsock, 
lying  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river  and  sixty  miles 
from  its  mouth.  At  this  point  was  established  a 
trading  post,  called  "The  House  of  Good  Hope." 
November  3,  1()20,  King  James  I.  incorporated  "The 
Council  established  at  Plymouth,  in  the  county  of 
Devon,  for  the  planting,  ruling,  ordering  and  gov- 
erning New  England  in  America"  (commonly  called 
the  Plymouth  Company).  The  charter  conferred 
upon  them  the  territory  lying  between  the  fortieth 
and  forty-eighth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  and  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Oceans.  The  Earl  of  Arundell, 
president  of  this  company,  in  1631  granted  to  Robert, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  the  country  from  the  Narraganaetts 
along  the  shore  forty  leagues,  and  westward  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  The  Governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
protested  against  the  establishment  of  "  The  House 
of  Good  Hope"  as  an  encroachment  on  English 
rights,  and  Van  Twiller  responded,  October  4,  1633, 
that  Connittelsock  belonged  to  the  Dutch  by  right  of 
purchase.  An  expedition  from  the  Plymouth  colony 
had  already  landed  about  a  mile  above  the  Dutch 
trading  post,  and  what  is  now  Connecticut  was  soon 
settled  at  various  points  by  the  English. 

Before  the  opening  of  controversy  between  the 
Dutch  and  English  colonists,  a  similar  one  was  going 
on  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  The  Plymouth 
Company  complained  to  the  privy  council  about "  the 
Dutch  intruders,"  and  as  early  as  February,  1622,  we 
find  the  British  ambassador  at  the  Hague,  Sir  Dudley 
Carlton,  claiming  New  Netherland  as  a  part  of  New 
England  and  re(iuiring  the  States-General  to  stay  the 
prosecution  of  their  plantation.  To  this  remonstrance 
no  attention  was  paid.  I\Iay  5,  1632,  the  West  India 
Company  reported  to  the  States-General  that  "  the 
English  themselves,  according  to  their  charter  (of 
Massachusetts  Bay),  place  New  England  on  the 
coast  between  the  41st  and  45th  degrees  of  latitude. 
But  the  English  began  in  the  year  1606  to  resort 
to  Virginia,  which  is  south  of  our  Territory  of 
New  Netherland,  and  fixed  the  boundaries,  accord- 
ing to  their  charter,  from  the  37th  to  the  39th  de- 
gree. So  that  our  boundaries  according  to  their 
own  showing  should  be  from  the  39th  degree  inclu- 
sive to  the  41st  degree,  within  which  bounds  we 
are  not  aware  that  they  ever  undertook  any  planta- 
tion. What  boundaries  Your  High  Mightinesses 
have  granted  to  your  subjects,  can  be  seen  by  the 
charter  issued  in  the  year  1615,"  which  date  appears 
to  refer  to  the  charter  of  October,  11,  1614,  which 
went  into  effect  January  1,  1615. 

The  remonstrance  of  New  Netherland  of  July  28,' 
1649,  maintains  their  right  of  possession  by  virtue  of 
discovery  made  by  the  ship  "de  Halve  Maen  "  belong- 
ing to  the  General  East  India  Company,  whereof 
Henry  Hudson  wiis  master;  and  that  its  boundaries 
were  "the  ocean  or  great  sea  which  separates  Europe 


THE  BOUNDARY. 


3 


i'rom  America,  by  New  Euglaud  and  Fresh  (Conuec- 
ticut)  River,  in  part  by  the  river  of  Canada  (the  St. 
Lawrence)  and  by  Virginia." 

Enghmd  was  equally  pertinacious  in  her  claim  over 
Connecticut,  resting  it  upon  the  discoveries  of  the 
Cabots  in  1494  and  1497,  and  uj)on  that  of  (tosnold  in 
1602,  as  well  as  upon  the  denial  of  the  right  of  the 
Dutch.  Hudson  never  made  any  sale  to  the  English. 
It  was  upon  the  validity  of  this  sale,  in  connection 
with  the  voyage  of  the  Dutchman,  Adrian  Block 
in  1614,  through  Hell  Gate  and  along  the  coast 
of  Connecticut  to  Fisher's  and  Block's  Island,  and 
Cape  Cod  that  the  claim  of  the  Dutch  to  Connecticut 
rested. 

The  claim  of  the  Dutch  to  the  coast  of  Connecticut 
was  maintained  in  1646  by  Governor  Kieft,  who  threat- 
ened Clovernor  Eaton,  of  Connecticut,  with  war  if  that 
colony  did  not  respect  Dutch  rights.  All  offers  to  set- 
tle the  dispute  by  arbitration  were  refused  by  the 
Dutch. 

In  1650,  Peter  Stuyvesant,  on  behalf  of  the  colony 
of  New  Netherland,  had  a  conference  with  the  author- 
ities of  Connecticut  at  Hartford,  which  resulted  in  a 
provisional  treaty  on  the  boundary  that  the  line 
should  "begin  at  the  west  side  of  Greenwich  Bay, 
being  about  four  miles  from  Stamford,  and  so  run  a 
northerly  line  twenty  miles  up  into  the  country, 
until  it  shall  be  notified  by  the  two  governments  ol 
the  Dutch  and  of  England,  provided  the  said  line 
come  not  within  ten  miles  of  the  Hudson  River." 
This  agreement  was  never  sanctioned  by  the  home 
governments,  and  thirteen  years  later,  on  the  13th  oi 
October,  1663,  a  second  conference  was  held  at  which 
Connecticut  proposed  "  that  West  Chester  and  all  ye 
people  and  lands  Between  that  &  Stamford  shall  be- 
long to  their  colony  of  Connecticut  till  it  be  otherwise 
issued,"  which  ])roi)osition  was  refused  by  the  agents 
of  Governor  Stuyvesant,  who  proposed  that  "  West 
Chester,  with  the  land  and  people  to  Stamford,  shall 
Abide  under  the  government  of  Connecticut  tell  the 
tyme  that  the  bounds  and  limits  betwixt  the  Above- 
said  coUonij  and  the  province  of  New  Netherlands 
shall  be  determined  heare  [by  our  mutual  Accord  or 
by  persons  mutually  chosen,  margiTi]  or  by  his  Royal 
Majesty  of  England  and  other  high  and  mighty  lords 
of  the  estates  of  the  united  provinces."  ' 

War  breaking  out  between  England  and  Holland, 
this  agreement  or  treaty  was  never  ratified  by  the 
home  governments. 

King  Charles  II., on  the  23d  of  April,  1662,  granted 
to  the  colony  of  Connecticut  the  following  boundary  : 

"  All  that  part  of  our  dominion  in  .\merica  bounded  by  Narraganset 
liay,  conunonly  called  Xarngousit  l!)iy,  where  the  said  river  lalleth  into 
the  sea,  and  on  the  north  by  the  line  of  the  Massachusetts  plantation, 
and  on  the  south  by  the  sea  ;  and  in  longitude  as  the  line  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony,  running  from  ea^t  to  west ;  that  is  ti>  say,  from  the  said 
Narragansett  Bay  on  the  east  to  the  south  eea  on  the  west  part ;  with 
the  islands  thereto  ac^oining,  etc.^' 


That  most  comprehensive  grant  not  only  covei'ed 
the  disputed  territory,  but  took  in  the  greater  part  of 
the  Dutch  claim  on  the  Hudson.  King  Charles 
granted  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany, 
on  the  24th  of  ^larch,  16()4,  all  of  New  Netherland 
from  the  Delaware  to  Cape  Cod.  This  grant  embraced 
Connecticut  east  of  the  Connecticut  River — with 
some  variations  of  the  boundaries — and  also  the 
whole  of  Long  Island,  "  together  with  all  the  river 
called  Hudson  River,  and  the  lands  from  the  west 
side  of  Connecticut  River  to  the  east  side  of  Delaware 
Bay." 

By  the  charter  and  patent  issued  within  less  than 
two  years  of  each  other,  nearly  all  of  New  York  was 


THE    DIFFERENT  BOUNOAKY   LINES    BETWEEN  CON- 
NECTICUT  AND  NEW  YORK.^ 

granted  to  Connecticut,  and  most  of  Connecticut  given 
to  New  Y^ork.  On  the  18th  of  September,  1664, 
Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  the  representative  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  received  the  surrender  of  the  city  of 
New  Amsterdam,  and  the  whole  of  the  New  Nether- 
lands accepted  the  situation  of  an  English  colony  by 
the  12th  of  October  following 

Notwithstanding  the  charter  of  Connecticut  was 
older  than  the  patent  to  the  Duke  of  York,  no  little 
alarm  was  taken  when  it  was  known  that  their  boun- 
darie.s  had  been  disregarded  by  the  King  in  his  ])atent 
to  his  brother.  Delegates  were  dispatched  by  the 
authorities  of  Connecticut  to  the  Governor  of  New 


'This  map  is  copied  by  permission  from  Rev.  Charles  W.  Buird's 
"  History  of  Rye,"  p.  105.  - 


4 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


York  for  the  purpose  of  cougratulation  and  settle- 
ment of  the  boundary  line.  These  delegates  and  the 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  New 
York  met  on  the  28th  of  October,  1664,  and  came  to 
the  understanding  that  the  boundary  limit  between 
the  two  claimants  should  be  fixed  at  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson  River,  and  ninning 
parallel  with  that  river  northward  from  Long  Island 
Sound.  This  agreement  was  not  signed,  and  a  few 
weeks  later  it  was  ordered  and  declared, — 

"  That  .ye  Creeke  or  ryvcr  called  Momoronock  wti"  is  reported  to  be 
about  thirteen  myles  to  ye  east  of  West  Cliester,  and  a  lyne  drawne  from 
ye  east  point  or  Syde  where  ye  fresh  water  falls  into  ye  salt,  at  high 
water  niarke,  north  northwest  to  ye  line  of  ye  Massachusetts  he  ye 
westerne  hounds  of  ye  said  Colony  of  Connecticut."' 

The  line  thus  established  i>roved  fruitful  of  civil 
strife,  which  will  find  its  ftiller  detail  when  the  event- 
ful story  of  Rye  comes  to  be  written.  The  Connecti- 
cut officials  induced  Nicolls  to  believe  that  Mamaro- 
neck  was  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson.  Nicolls 
trusted  them  and  hence  arose  the  trouble,  the  real 
distance  of  Mamaroueck  from  the  Hudson  being  only 
about  ten  miles,  instead  of  twenty.  The  intention 
was  that  this  line,  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson, 
should  continue  at  that  distance  until  it  struck  the 
boundary  line  of  Massachusetts ;  but  being  given  a 
"  North  Northwest  "  direction,  it  intersected  the  Hud- 
son River  at  West  Point,  and  cut  off  a  large  part  of 
New  York  west  of  that  river.  On  the  24th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1688,  negotiations  were  again  undertaken  to  fix 
the  boundary  line,  and  articles  were  concluded  be- 
tween Governor  Dougan  and  Council  of  New  York, 
and  the  Governor  and  delegates  of  Connecticut,  that 
the  line  should  run  as  originally  intended,  twenty 
miles  east  of  the  Hudson  River.  But  upon  it  becom- 
ing evident  that  such  a  line  would  deprive  Connecti- 
cut of  several  towns  which  she  had  planted,  it  became 
necessary  to  vary  the  line  in  parts  so  that  these  towns 
should  remain  in  Connecticut;  hence  the  zig-zag 
boundary  line  at  the  southern  end  between  the  two 
States ;  and  as  an  ofiFset  for  the  territory  thus  given  to 
Connecticut,  an  '  equivalent  tract"  was  taken  from 
Connecticut  at  the  northern  part  of  the  line,  and 
"The  Oblong,"  of  61,440  acres,  or  a  tract  of  laud  two 
miles  in  width  and  fifty  in  length,  was  given  to  New 
York  from  Ridgefield  to  the  Massachusetts  line. 

The  boundary  thus  agreed  upon  began  at  the  mouth 
of  Byram  River  at  a  j^oint  thirty  miles  from  New 
York,  and  following  that  stream  as  far  as  the  head  of 
tide-water,  or  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Sound, 
to  a  certain  "  wading-place,"  where  the  common  road 
crossed  the  stream  at  a  rock  known  and  described  as 
"  The  Great  Stone  at  the  Wading- Place."  From  that 
stone  the  line  was  to  run  northwest  till  itshould  reach 
apoint  eight  miles  from  the  Sound;  thencealine  run- 
ning eastward  parallel  to  the  general  course  of  the 
Sound,  and  twelve  miles  in  length  was  fixed  upon. 


1  Boundaries  of  State  of  New  York,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 


From  its  termination  another  line,  eight  miles  in 
length,  was  to  be  run  in  a  north-northwest  direction, 
and  from  the  end  of  that  line  the  boundary  was  to 
extend  north  to  the  Massachusetts  line,  with  the 
■'equivalent  tract "  included. 

The  boundary  line  thus  agreed  upon  remained  as 
such  for  many  years,  recognized  but  not  legally  es- 
tablished by  the  concurrent  action  of  both  States.  The 
Legislature  of  Connecticut,  on  the  8th  of  May,  1684, 
formally  approved  the  agreement  and  appointed  a 
surve}  or  to  lay  oft'  the  line.  In  October  following. 
Governor  Dongan's  officers  met  the  surveyor  of  Con- 
necticut at  Stamford,  and  the  amount  of  land  con- 
ceded to  Connecticut  was  ascertained,  but  their  sur- 
vey terminated  with  the  line  drawn  parallel  to  the 
Sound  as  far  as  a  point  twenty  miles  from  the  river. 
Beyond  this  they  simply  indicated  what  they  sup- 
posed would  be  the  extent  of  "The Oblong"  to  be 
laid  out  {IS  an  "equivalent  tract." 

This  condition  of  the  Isoundary  dispute  remained 
unchanged,  when,  on  the  29th  of  March,  1700,  King 
William  III.  approved  and  confirmed  the  agreement 
of  1683  and  1684,  wliereby  Rye  and  Bedford  were  in- 
cluded in  New  York.  The  boundary  dispute  contin- 
ued unsettled,  and  in  October,  1718,  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  two  governments  met  at  Rye,  but 
tailed  to  agree  upon  a  method  of  procedure — the  New 
York  commissioners  refusing  to  go  on  with  the  sur- 
vey because  those  of  Connecticut  were  not  empower- 
ed to  bind  their  government  to  any  line  that  might 
be  settled  upon.  In  1719,  though  Connecticut  ap- 
pointed new  commissioners  with  larger  powers,  they 
were  still  without  power  to  agree  upon  a  final  and 
conclusive  settlement.  "  A  probationary  act"  by  New 
York  followed,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a 
new  commission  by  each  colony,  and  requiring  the 
New  York  commission  to  run  all  the  lines  in  accord- 
ance with  the  agreement  and  survey  of  1683  and  1684, 
and  this  duty  was  required  to  be  performed,  though  no 
commission  from  Connecticut  should  be  appointed. 
This  act  was  conditional  on  the  royal  approbation. 
This  proposition  was  not  responded  to  by  Connecti- 
cut until  October,  1723,  when  a  commission  with  full 
powers  was  appointed,  and  the  tw^o  commissions  met 
at  Rye  in  April,  1725.  Their  work  began  at  "  the 
great  stone  at  the  wading-place,"  and  extended  to  the 
"Duke's  trees,"  at  the  northwest  angle  of  the  town  of 
Greenwich,  where  three  white  oaks  had  been  marked 
in  1684,  as  the  termination  of  the  survey  of  that  year. 
Here  want  of  funds  suspended  the  work,  which  was 
not  resumed  until  1731,  when  the  survey  was  com- 
pleted to  the  Massachusetts  line ;  the  "  equivalent 
tract"  or  "  oblong  "  was  measured  and  set  off  to  New 
York,  and  the  line  designated  by  monuments  along  its 
course.  This  survey  was  ratified  as  to  the  oblong  by 
both  governments,  and  remained  unquestioned  until 
May,  1855,  when  Connecticut  opened  thesubject  again, 
because  "  ranges  of  marked  trees  had  long  since  disap- 
peared. Many  of  the  heaps  ofstones  originally  erected 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


5 


had  been  scattered.  Traditions  were  found  inconsistent 
and  contradictory,  varying  the  line  in  places  to  a  con- 
siderable extent.  Along  the  whole  distance  the  great- 
est uncertainty  existed,  and  a  distrust  and  want  of 
confidence  in  all  the  supposed  lines,  ratherthan  a  dis- 
position to  contend  for  any.  Resident*  near  the  bor- 
der refrained  from  voting  in  either  State  ;  while  offi- 
cers of  justice  and  collectors  of  revenue  from  both 
hesitated  to  exercise  their  authority  up  to  any  clearly- 
defined  limit.  These  circumstances  were  taken  ad- 
vantage of  by  those  who  desired  to  evade  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes  or  the  severity  of  the  law." 

To  this  statement  of  facts  New  York  responded  by 
the  appointment,  in  January,  1856,  of  Mr.  C.  W. 
Wentz,  of  Albany,  an  engineer  of  established  reputa- 
tion, to  survey,  ascertain  and  mark  the  boundary  line. 
No  difficulty  intervened  from  the  initial  point  at 
the  "  wading  stone,"  to  the  Ridgefield  angle,  but 
from  thence  to  the  Massachusetts  line  a  radical  dift'er- 
ence  interposed  between  the  commissions. 

The  representatives  of  Connecticut  contended  for 
a  straight  line  between  the  two  extreme  points,  fifty- 
three  miles  apart,  because  the  old  monuments  and 
marks  upon  the  line  were  generally  removed,  and 
the  original  line  could  not  be  traced  with  any  cer- 
tainty by  reference  t6  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
commissioners  of  New  York  considered  their  author- 
ity limited  to  "  ascertaining  "  the  boundary  as  origi- 
nally defined  ;  no  agreement  was  reached,  and  in 
August,  1859,  each  State  appointed  new  commis-  I 
sioners ;  but  at  their  conference  at  Port  Chester,  on 
13th  September,  of  that  year,  the  same  difference  of 
views  confronted  the  commission,  and  the  conference 
resulted  in  no  practical  work.  On  the  3d  of  April, 
1860,  New  York  passed  an  act  empow-ering  the  com- 
mission formerly  appointed  to  survey  and  mark  with 
suitable  monuments  the  "line  between  the  two  States 
as  fixed  by  the  survey  of  1731."  Under  this  author- 
ity the  New  York  commission  fixed  and  marked  the 
boundary  line  between  the  two  States,  placing  monu- 
ments along  the  line  at  intervals  of  one  mile  from  the 
Massachusetts  line  to  the  mouth  of  Byram  River. 
The  work  was  completed  in  the  autumn  of  1860. 

Still  unsettled,  the  question  came  up  by  Connec- 
ticut threatening  to  contest  her  claims,  and  in  1878 
and  1879  both  States  appointed  commissioners  to  es- 
tablish the  boundaries.  An  agreement  was  made, 
December  5,  1879,  whereby  the  western  boundary 
of  Connecticut  was  fixed  as  the  ex  parte  line  survey- 
ed by  New  York  in  1860,  which  was  the  old  line  of 
1731.  Connecticut,  therefore,  gave  up  her  claim  to 
the  twenty-six  hundred  acres  in  dispute,  between  the 
straight  line  and  the  line  of  1731  as  reached,  in  ex- 
change for  her  southern  boundary  extended  into  the 
sound.  That  agreement  was  ratified  by  the  Legis-  ! 
latures  of  both  States  and  confirmed  by  Congress  dur- 
ing the  session  of  1880-81. 

Topography.— The  topographical  features  of  the 


county  present  much  that  is  strikingly  beauti- 
ful in  scenery,  as  well  as  useful  in  agriculture 
and  manufactures.  The  surface  is  broken  by 
ranges  of  hills  running  in  a  direction  generally 
parallel  to  the  Hudson  River,  and  separated  by 
valleys.  Of  the  two  general  ranges,  one  borders 
close  upon  the  Hudson,  and  the  other  along  the 
I  Connecticut  boundary  line ;  besides  these,  many 
minor  ridges  and  hills  diversify  the  surface,  and  give 
to  the  watei'-courses  a  general  direction  north  and 
south.  The  heights  of  the  hills  range  between  two 
hundred  and  one  thousand  feet.  The  continuous 
valleys,  extending  north  and  south  have  been  availed 
of  by  the  railroads  which  intersect  the  county,  while 
other  roads  in  every  direction  have  made  the  means 
of  inter-communication  easy  and  convenient.  These 
features  give  to  the  roads  running  north  and  south  a 
generally  level  character,wliile  those  extending  across 
the  country  east  and  west  are  a  constant  succession 
of  ascents  and  descents.  Occasionally  abrupt  and 
rocky  hills  break  the  surface,  and  present  obstacles  to 
travel,  sometimes  inconvenient,  but  nowhere  insur- 
mountable. 

The  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  River  affords  a 
landscape  of  surpassing  beauty,  varying  with  undulat- 
ing hills  and  gentle  slopes, where  countless  numbers  of 
villas,  cottages,  palaces  of  wealth,  clustering  villages, 
and  busy  towns  attest  the  residence'  of  wealth  and 
taste.  Into  the  Hudson  flow  all  the  streams  of  the 
county  whose  water-shed  trends  to  the  westward. 
The  hills  along  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  rise 
from  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  near  Hastings  to 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet 
atAnthony's  Nose  promontory,  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  county.  The  valley  of  the  Bronx  River,  in 
the  middle  section  of  the  county,  shows  a  depression 
of  surface  extending  from  near  the  centre  of  the 
county  southward  to  the  Sound.  Still  farther  to  the 
east  the  Mamaroneck  River,  empt3Mng  into  the  Sound, 
as  well  as  the  Blind  Brook  Creek,  show  a  succession 
of  hills  and  valleys  throughout  the  southern  and  east- 
ern sections  of  the  county.  In  the  northern  part  of  the 
county  the  Croton  River  and  its  tributaries,  flowing  in 
a  southwesterly  direction  to  the  Hudson  River,  at 
Tappan  Bay,  mark  another  valley  depression  which 
extends  oyer  a  large  portion  of  the  Northern  part  of 
the  county.  These  depressions  have  in  several  places 
created  small  lakes,  of  which  Croton  Lake  is  entirely 
artificial.  Byram  Lake,  in  Bedford  and  North  Castle, 
Rye  Pond  in  Harrison  (covers  two  hundred  and  ten 
acres),  Cross  Lake  and  North  and  Solith  Ponds,  in 
Poundridge,  Waccabuck  Lake  (covei-s  two  hutidred 
and  twelve  acres),  in  Lewisboro',  Peach  Lake,  in 
North  Salem,  Mohegau  and  Mohansic  Lakes,  in  York- 
town,  and  smaller  bodies  of  fresh  water  in  other  local- 
ities indicate  a  formation  of  surface  rolling  and  broken 
in  character,  and  picturesque  and  beautiful  in  land- 
scape. The  largest  body  of  water  in  the  county  is 
Croton  Lake,  artificially  formed  by  the  Croton  Dam, 


6 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Croton  River,  for 
supplying  the  city  of  New  York  with  water. 

The  Croton  River,  rising  in  Dutchess  County,  flows 
through  Putnam  County,  and  entering  Westchester 
directly  and  through  its  tributaries  drains  Somers  and 
part  of  Yorktown  by  the  Muscoot  branch,  North 
Salem,  by  the  Titicus  River,  Lewisboro',  Pound- 
ridge  and  a  part  of  Bedford  by  the  Cross  River, 
and  portions  of  Bedford  and  New  Castle  by  the  Kisco 
River,  and  flowing  southwesterly,  enters  the  Hudson 
River  at  Tappan  Bay.  The  Peekskill  Creek,  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  county,  flows  among  the  many 
hills  that  stud  that  section  and  finds  its  outlet  in  the 
Hudson  near  Peekskill.  Furnace  Brook,  in  Cort- 
landt,  is  another  small  tributary  of  the  Hudson. 
Pocantico  River,  rising  in  New  Castle,  forms  the 
dividing  line  between  Ossining  and  Mount  Pleasant, 
and  through  Sleepy  Hollow,  finds  its  outlet  in 
the  Hudson  at  Tarrytown.  Neperhan,  or  Saw-Mill 
River,  rises  in  New  Castle,  and  flowing  through 
Mount  Pleasant,  Greenburgh  and  Yonkers,  discharges 
its  waters  into  the  Hudson  at  the  city  of  Yonkers. 
Tibbitts'  Brook,  a  small  stream  in  Yonkers,  empties 
into  the  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek. 

The  streams  which  find  their  outlet  in  the  Sound 
are:  The  Bronx  River,  which  rises  in  the  hills 
of  Mount  Pleasant,  and  North  Castle,  and  flow- 
ing southerly,  drains  a  large  portion  of  the 
southern -middle  section  of  the  county.  The  West- 
chester Creek,  a  tidal  stream,  drains  a  small  pari 
of  the  southern  end  of  the  county  and  empties  into 
Westchester  Bay,  an  estuary  of  the  Sound.  Hutchin- 
son River,  rising  in  Scarsdale,  flows  southward  into 
Eastchester  Bay,  on  the  Sound.  Mamaroneck  River^ 
rising  near  White  Plains  and  Harrison,  flows  into 
Mamaroneck  Harbor,  on  the  Sound.  Byram  River 
and  Blind  Brook  are  streams  which  also  discharge 
their  waters  into  the  Sound,  the  former  at  Port  Ches- 
ter, after  draining  portions  of  Bedford,  North  Castle 
and  Rye,  and  the  latter  at  Milton,  after  draining  por- 
tions of  Harrison  and  Rye.  The  Maharness,  rising 
in  North  Castle,  and  Stamford  Mill  River,  rising  in 
Poundridge,  flow  into  Connecticut  and  thence  to  the 
Sound. 

The  southern  or  Sound  shore  of  the  county  is  in- 
dented with  bays  and  estuaries,  of  which  Westchester 
or  Pelham  Bay  and  Mamaroneck  Harbor  are  the 
largest.  Peninsulas  stretch  out  into  the  Sound,  of 
which  Throgg's  Neck,  Pelham's  Neck,  Davenport's 
Neck  and  DeLancey's  Neck  are  the  most  important. 
Islands  are  ntimerous  along  the  shore  of  the  Sound. 
The  largest  are  City,  Hunter's,  David's,  Huckleberry 
and  Manaessing  Islands. 

The  railroads  that  traverse  the  county  are :  The 
New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad,which 
extends  along  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  River 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  county,  entering 
it  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  and  leaving  it  at  Anthony's 
Nose,  at  the  corner  of  Putnam.    At  Spuyten  Duyvil 


Creek  the  main  line  connects  along  the  north  bank 
to  Harlem  River  Bridge,  with  the  Grand  Central 
Depot,  at  Forty-second  Street.  Riverdale  Station,  the 
first  station  in  the  present  Westchester  County,  pre- 
sents a  beautiful  prospect  of  Yonkers  on  the  north, 
the  Palisades  across  the  river,  with  the  Ramapo  range 
of  hills  in  the  distance.  Yonkers,  Hastings-on-the- 
Hudson,  Dobbs  Ferry,  Abbotsford,  Irvington,  Tarry- 
town,  Sing  Sing,  Croton,  Crugers,  Verplanck  and 
Peekskill,  are  the  principal  stations  along  the  line 
of  this  road. 

The  New  York  and  Harlem  River  Railroad  extends 
through  the  central  portion  of  the  county,  through 
Morrisania,  West  Farms,  Eastchester,  Scarsdale, 
White  Plains,  Mount  Pleasant,  New  Castle,  Bed- 
ford, Lewisboro  and  North  Salem.  Mount  Vernon, 
White  Plains,  Pleasantville,  Mt.  Kisco,  Katonah,  and 
Croton  Falls,  are  the  principal  villages  along  its  line. 
At  William's  Bridge,  the  New  York  and  New  Haven 
Railroad  branches  and  runs  through  Eastchester,  Pel- 
ham,  New  Rochelle,  Mamaroneck,  Harrison  and  Rye. 

The  New  York  City  and  Northern  Railroad  enters 
the  county  in  Kingsbridge,  and  diverging  there  from 
the  Hudson  River  Road,  passes  through  Van  Cort- 
landt.  South  Yonkers,  and  North  Yonkers,  up  the 
Neperan  Valley  through  Odells,  Ashford,  Elmsford  or 
Hall's  Corners,  and  leaves  the  valley  at  East  Tarry- 
town  ;  thence  by  Tarrytown,  North  Tarrytown,  Tarry- 
town  Heights,  Whitson,  Merritt's  Corners,  Croton 
Lake  South,  Croton  Lake  North,  Yorktown,  Ama- 
vvalk.  West  Somers,  Baldwin  Place,  Lake  Mahopac, 
Carmel,  Tilly  Foster's,  and  terminates  at  Brewster, 
where  connection  is  made,  via  Danbury,  with  the 
New  England  system. 

Geology.' — The  rocks  which  compose  New  York 
Island,  and  underlie  the  adjacent  country  on  the 
north  and  east,  are  chiefly  gneiss  and  mica-schist, 
with  heavy,  intercalated  beds  of  coarse-grained,  dolo- 
mitic  marble  and  thinner  layers  of  serpentine.' 
These  are  all  distinctly  stratified,  and,  according  to 
Prof.  Dana,  have  once  been  sedimentary  beds  deposit- 


1  The  accompanying  geological  map  of  Westchester  County  was 
prepared  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  from  data  prepared  by  Professor  Dana, 
and  presents  the  latest  conclusions  of  that  school  of  geologists  who 
agree  with  Prof.  Dana  as  to  the  Lower  Silurian  age  of  the  West- 
chester County  rocks.  The  geological  portion  ol'  this  cliapter  was  written 
at  the  office  of  the  Geological  Survey,  at  Washington,  and  eubniitted  to 
Prof.  McGee,  the  chief  geologist  of  the  survey,  and  he  has  approved  it 
as  correct  and  as  full  as  the  present  information  about  the  section  of 
country  will  admit.  Prof.  McGee  says  that  very  little  is  known  of  the 
geological  age  of  Westchester  County,  and  that  even  that  little  is  not 
accepted  by  all  geologists.  Prof.  Newberry,  differing  with  Prof.  Dana 
and  the  United  States  Survey,  holds  that  the  county  belongs  to  the  Lau- 
rentian  age,  while  the  other  side  place  the  county  region  on  the  Upper 
Silurian  age.  We  have  given  the  views  of  both,  and  followed  with  the 
map.  We  have  used  Prof.  James  D.  Dana's  account  of  the  limestone 
beds  as  the  most  importiint  feature  and  value  which  geology  points  out 
for  the  county.  Of  course  we  had  to  abridge  as  much  a.s  possible  in  or- 
der to  keep  within  the  limits  of  our  work. 

'-  Prof.  I.  S.  Newberry,  in  Popular  Sci«Ht«  Monlhly,  for  October,  1878. 


73"45 


73°30' 


401 
45' 


73 •45 ' 


73  '30' 


Geoloi>ir  Map  of  VV^est Chester  Coimty,  N.Y. 


MILES 


.Ale/^morpftif  .  Jfv^fsan  Jfivcrtha/'es  ''''')  _  .  .   .   .  .  

^e/umor/tkic,  TrmtoH  f  a?ctJr/  'ju.s  limc.vtontJsffL  

Afnlamorphtc^lhisJeCTi/  ■•.■a7iJ-ilrrne  r<>n-il/i  ttwortetttftl  scktutA-. 

C/roTyra.  s/u/e   _   

.  /i-f.-Zicun- 


GEOLOGY. 


7 


ed  horizontally — sandstones,  shales  and  limestones — 
but  now,  upheaved  and  set  on  edge,  are  by  nietamor- 
phism  converted  into  compact  crystalline  strata,  with 
the  obliteration  of  all  fossils— if  fossils  they  contain- 
ed. The  age  of  these  rocks  has  not  yet  been  accu- 
rately determined,  although  they  have  been  supposed 
to  be  Lower  Silurian,  and  a  continuation  of  those 
which  contain  the  marble  beds  of  Western  Massa- 
chusetts and  Vermont.  There  are  some  reasons, 
however,  why  they  should  be  regarded  as  still  older. 
That  they  do  not  form  the  southern  prolongation  oi 
the  marble  belt  of  Vermont  is  indicated  by  the  facts 
that  both  the  marble  beds  and  the  rocks  associated 
with  them  are  so  unlike  in  the  two  localities  that 
they  can  hardly  be  parts  of  the  same  formation.  In 
Vermont  the  marbles  occur  in  what  is  essentially 
a  single  belt,  are  fine-grained,  unusually  banded  and 
mottled,  are  nearly  pure  carbonates  of  lime,  and  the 
rocks  immediately  associated  with  them  are  gray 
siliceous  limestones,  quartzites  and  slates.  In  West- 
chester County  and  on  New  York  Island,  on  the 
contrary,  the  niarbles  are  very  coarsely  crystalline 
dolomites  (double  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia), 
which  occur  in,  a  number  of  parallel  belts,  are  gener- 
ally of  uniform  white  or  whitish  color,  and  have  no 
rocks  associated  with  them  that  can  represent  the 
quartzites  and  argillites  of  Vermont. 

On  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson,  at  and  above  New 
\''ork,  wc  have  :  1st.  A  belt  of  crystalline  rocks  form- 
ing apparently  a  continuous  series  to  and  beyond  the 
Connecticut  line;  2d.  Strata  set  nearly  vertical,  once 
forming  high  hills  or  mountains,  now  worn  down 
by  long  exposure  to  a  more  rolling  surface  ;  od.  The 
series  composed  chiefly  of  gneiss  and  crystalline 
schists,  with  heavy  beds  of  dolomite  marble  and 
thinner  bands  of  serpentine;  and  4th.  Contain- 
ing in  its  western  portion,  where  it  adjoins  the 
New  Jersey  iron-belt — with  which  it  is  inseparably 
connected — important  beds  of  magnetic  iron-ore, 
while  apatite  is  one  of  the  most  common  dissemina- 
ted minerals.  For  these  and  other  reasons  Mr.  New- 
berry regards  the  New  York  rocks  as  belonging  to 
the  Laureutian  age. 

On  the  other  hand.  Prof.  James  D.  Dana  '  holds 
that  Westchester  County  is  comprised  within  t\u 
Green  Mountain  region,  that  it  borders  the  southern 
side  of  the  Putnam  County  Archa'an,  as  Dutchess 
County  does  the  northern,  and  resembles  in  its  ordei 
that  part  of  the  Green  Mountain  region  which  now 
makes  Western  Connecticut.  The  topographical 
features  of  the  county  owe  much  to  the  lime-stont 
bolts,  which,  by  their  easy  erosion,  have  determined 
the  courses  of  river  valleys,  and  the  lines  of  marshes 
along  such  valleys,  as  well  as  located  many  of  tlu 
lakes.  The  beds  of  this  soft  rock  stand  nearly  verti- 
cal, thus  favoring  the  excavation  of  deep  channels. 


>  PH|ier  oil  the  Geolugical  Relations  of  the  Liue-atooe  Belts  of  West- 

cUester  County,  N.  Y.,  American  Joitntalof  Ixience. 


The  valleys  are  sometimes  abrupt  on  both  sides,  but 
usually  have  one  side  high,  precipitous  and  rocky, 
and  the  other  gently  sloping ;  and  this  is  largely  due, 
in  connection  with  the  erosion,  to  the  pitch  or  dip  of 
the  beds.  But  the  i)itch  of  the  beds  may  not  have  been 
the  only  cause  of  the  form  of  the  valleys.  Prof.  Dana 
holds  that  the  throw  of  the  waters  against  the  right 
bank  of  a  stream  (the  western  if  flowing  south,  or 
the  northern  if  flowing  west),  in  consequence  of  the 
earth's  rotation,  may  have  had  its  effects,  and  may 
possibly  account  for  the  cases  in  which  the  western 
side  is  the  steep  one,  notwithstanding  a  vertical  or 
even  a  high  eastern  pitch. 

The  lime-stone  belts  of  the  county  are  divided  by 
Prof.  Dana  into:  1st,  the  Southern  section  of  the 
county,  from  New  York  Island  to  White  Plains ;  2d, 
The  3Iiddle  section,  from  White  Plains  to  Croton 
Lake  ;  and  3d,  the  Northern  section,  north  of  the 
Croton  Lake. 

The  southern  section  is  composed  of  three  areas  or 
belts  which,  commencing  in  New  York  Island,  extend 
for  two  or  three  miles  into  Westchester  County.  The 
tirst  of  these  areas,  the  Trcmont,  extends  from  Ford- 
ham  southward  to  Harlem  River,  and  thence  into 
New  York  Island.  It  reaches  the  Harlem  River 
by  two  lines — a  western  at  Mott-Haven  and  an  east- 
em  at  the  mouth  of  Morris  Hill  Brook,  west  of 
Brooke  Avenue.  The  second  belt  of  the  southern 
section,  that  of  "the  Clove"  follows  Cromwell's  Creek, 
north  of  Central  (or  McComb's  Dam)  Bridge  and  the 
brook  emptying  into  it.  The  most  southern  outcroj) 
occurs  about  a  mile  north  of  the  Bridge;  it  again  out- 
crops near  the  "  Club  House."  This  belt  probably 
continues  southward  into  New  York  Island.  The 
third  area  of  the  southern  section  is  a  prominent 
feature  of  the  north  end  of  New  York  Island,  from 
which  it  extends  three  miles  northward  into  West- 
chester County  along  Tippitt's  Brook.  The  Harlem 
River  makes  a  deep  cut  through  it  at  Kingsbridge; 
and  where  the  abutments  of  High  Bridge  rest,  disaj)- 
pearing  there,  outcrops  at  points  in  Tipj)itt's  Valley 
as  far  as  nearly  three  miles  from  Kingsbridge. 
Just  above  the  point  of  junction  of  the  Harlem  and 
New  Haven  Railroads  ledges  of  lime-stone  are  visi- 
ble, and  were  cut  into  in  grading  the  railroad  tracks. 

The  areas  of  serpentine,  with  some  calcareous  ma- 
terial, ajjpear  at  New  Rochelle  and  Rye.  At  Yonkers 
the  lime-stone  area  follows  the  course  of  a  north  and 
south  bend  on  Saw-Mill  Creek,  with  a  width  of  at 
least  one  hundred  feet.  There  are  indications  of  a 
more  eastern  belt  along  the  Saw-Mill  River  Valley 
just  north  of  the  city.  On  Gnissy  Sprain  Brook  a 
small  area  exists  with  a  width  to  the  south  of  live 
iiundred  yards.  On  the  IJronx  River  a  lime-stone 
belt  begins  near  Bronx ville,  and  taj)ers  out  to  the 
south,  while  to  the  north,  and  for  the  most  of  its 
course,  it  is  divided  into  two  parts,  separated  by  a 
band  of  mica-sihist  and  gneiss.  The  Hastings  belt 
occurs  along  the  Hudson  to  the  north  of  Y(mkers. 


8 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


In  the  middle  section  of  the  county,  in  the  Saw-Mill 
River  Valley,  a  large  lime-stone  area  commences 
about  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Ashford,  and 
widening  at  East  Tarrytown,  continues  northward  to 
a  near  junction  with  the  Pleasantville  area.  This  last- 
mentioned  area  is  also  broad  and  sinuous  in  its 
course,  terminating  just  north  of  Chappaqua  Depot. 
The  Sing  Sing  belt  commences  south  of  the  depot  on 
the  Hudson  and  extends  north-northeast  nearly  to 
the  boundary  of  the  town  of  Ossining ;  it  also  branches 
eastward  up  a  small  valley  towards  the  Camp  Woods. 
Half  a  mile  east  of  the  village  of  Croton  occurs  a 
small  area  without  distinguishable  features,  and  south 
of  the  Croton  River  a  narrow  area  extends  from  near 
"  Quaker  Bridge "  to  the  forcation  of  the  river  at 
Huntersville.  At  Merritt's  Corner,  and  on  the  east 
border  of  Croton  Lake,  as  well  as  near  Bedford  Station, 
small  areas  of  lime-stone  are  indicated.  East  of  the 
Pleasantville  belt,  on  the  border  of  New  York  and 


THE  COBBLING-STONE,  IN  SOMERS. 

Connecticut,  lies  a  lime-stone  area,  which  extends 
along  the  course  of  Byram  River  to  its  source  in 
Byram  Lake.  To  the  northeast  of  Byram  Lake, 
following  a  valley  along  the  head-waters  of  Mianus 
River,  as  well  as  another  along  that  of  Stone  Hill 
River,  the  outcroppings  of  lime-stone  indicate  an 
area  which  completes  the  list  of  areas  in  the  middle 
section  of  the  county. 

The  areas  of  the  northern  section  of  the  county  to 
some  extent  tend  toward  the  east  and  west  in  trend 
and  in  the  strike  of  the  beds.  The  large  eastern  area 
of  the  northeast  extends  into  Connecticut ;  that  at 
Cruger's  Station  lies  mostly  to  the  south  and  east 
of  the  station.  At  Verplanck's  Point,  and  up  Sprout 
Brook  Valley  or  Canopus  Hollow,  extends  an  area 
nearly  five  miles  in  length. 

Prof.  Dana  regards  Westchester  County  as  topo- 
graphically a  southern  portion  of  the  Green  Moun- 
tain elevation  ;  that  the  grade  of  metamorphism  fol- 


lows the  same  rule  as  to  the  north — that  is,  it  is  of 
greatest  intensity  to  the  eastward  and  to  the  south- 
ward. It  is  in  accordance  with  this  that  the  least 
degrees  of  metamorphism  are  found  in  the  lime-stone 
and  associated  schists  of  the  vicinity  of  Peekskill,  in 
the  northwest  corner,  while  along  the  central  and 
eastern  portions  of  the  county,  and  in  the  western, 
also,  south  of  the  Croton,  the  crystallization  is  com- 
monly very  coarse;  that  the  lime-stones  have  the  same 
kind  of  associated  rocks — that  is,  of  mica-schists  and 
gneisses — as  the  eastern  and  more  metamorphic  por- 
tions of  the  region  in  Connecticut ;  that  the  lime-stones 
have  a  like  paucity  in  disseminated  minerals  and  simi- 
lar occurring  species  with  those  of  Connecticut  ;  and 
that  the  ordinary  normal  trend  of  the  rocks — north 
10°  east  to  north  20°  east — is  very  nearly  the  average 
trend  of  the  beds  of  lime-stone  and  associated  rocks  in 
the  Green  Mountain  system. 

Prof.  Dana's  conclusions  are  that :  "  The  lime-stone 
of  Westchester  County  and  New  York  Island 
and  the  conformably  associated  metamorphic 
rocks  are  probably  of  Lower  Silurian  age." 

The  soils  of  the  county  are  made  up  of 
the  abrasions  and  disintegration  of  the 
gneiss,  feldspar  and  lime-stone  rocks,  with 
considerable  districts  largely  composed  of 
sand  and  more  limited  areas  of  clay.  As 
a  whole,  the  soil  may  be  called  a  light  loam. 
It  is  generally  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
cereals.  The  valleys  have  the  addition  of 
vegetable  matter  and  are  very  productive  of 
the  rich  natural  grasses  which  abound  here. 
The  hillsides  have  suffered  I'rom  washing 
by  heavy  rains,  but  yield  abundant  crops  to 
good  cultivation.  About  the  hill-tops  and 
along  the  .summits  of  the  ridges  the  rocks 
generally  crop  out,  so  that  these  localities 
are  mostly  left  to  be  covered  with  forest 
growths,  adding  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery.  In  many  places  in  the  county  there 
are  peat  swam2>s,  where  ancient  lakes  have  been  tilled 
with  the  accumulation  of  vegetable  matter  and  the 
growth  of  sphagnum  moss.  Tliis  peat,  when  pressed 
and  dried,  makes  excellent  fuel.  The  great  differences 
in  elevation  and  exposure,  together  with  the  variety 
of  soils,  cause  a  remarkably  large  flora.  In  round 
numbers,  about  twelve  hundred  flowering  plants  and 
fifty  varieties  of  ferns  have  been  found  here. 

The  surface  of  the  county  has  been  much  affected 
by  glacial  action  and  drift  deposits.  Croton  Point,  on 
the  Hudson,  and  other  places  in  the  county  show  evi- 
dences of  glacial  moraines.  Deep  stria*  and  lighter 
scratches  still  remain  upon  many  exposed  rock  sur- 
fiices  and  others  have  been  smoothly  polished.  Im- 
mense numbers  of  boulders  are  scattered  over  the 
surface.  The  most  of  these  are  of  granite,  brought 
from  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  Some  are 
of  conglomerate  from  across  the  Hudson  River  and 
others  have  great  numbers  of  shell  fossils. 


THE  INDIANS. 


9 


A  remarkable  boulder  is  found  in  Soiners.  It 
stands  on  the  hill  directly  northeast  of  Muscoot 
Mountain  in  the  southwestern  part  of  Somers,  and 
from  its  top  can  be  seen  the  blue  hills  of  Long  Island 
across  the  sound,  the  northern  elevations  of  Dutchess 
County  and  the  distant  lands  of  Connecticut.  To  the 
west  it  overlooks  Yorktown  and  Cortlandt.  One  side 
of  this  curious  rock  has  the  appearance  of  an  Indian's 
face.  It  is  an  immense  mass  of  red  granite,  said  to 
be  the  only  specimen  in  the  county,  and  is  perched 
upon  three  lime-stone  points,  two  feet  or  more  above 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  four  hundred  feet 
above  the  Muscoot  Valley.  It  was  doubtless  brought 
here  by  a  glacier  or  droi)ped  from  an  iceberg,  which 
is  mentioned  in  the  old  deeds  as  the  "  Cobbling 
Stone." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  INDIANS  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 

BY  JAMES  WOOD,  A.M. 
President  of  the  Westchester  County  Historical  Society. 

The  13th  day  of  September,  1G09,  marked  the  point 
of  division  between  the  pre-historic  and  the  historic 
periods  of  the  district  of  country  now  known  as 
Westchester  County.  On  that  day  Henry  Hudson, 
the  intrepid  English  navigator,  anchored  his  vessel, 
the  "Half-Moon,"  in  the  newly-discovered  river,  near 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Yonkers.  The  dawn 
of  the  following  day  disclosed  the  residents  of  the 
village  of  Nappeckamak  gathered  upon  the  eastern 
shore,  and  viewing  with  wonder,  but  with  a  kindly 
interest,  the  strange  revelation  before  them.  We  now 
know  much,  although  far  too  little,  of  what  has  since 
transpired  here  ;  but  we  know  almost  nothing  of  the 
events  of  the  untold  centuries  that  preceded  that  day. 

The  European  discoverers  of  North  America  found 
the  continent  peopled  with  millions  of  human  beings, 
of  types  analogous  to  those  of  the  Old  World,  and 
with  characteristics  almost  equally  varied.  In  stature 
they  covered  a  wide  range,  from  the  dwarf-like  deni- 
zens of  the  far  north  to  the  vigorous  inhabitants  of 
other  sections,  whose  height  averaged,  in  the  men, 
fully  six  feet.  In  activity  and  courage  they  excited 
the  admiration  of  their  discoverers.  Their  color  was 
unique,  and  was  imagined  to  resemble  that  of  copper ; 
but  further  investigation  showed  that  this  color  varied 
greatly.  Some  of  the  natives  were  found  to  be  nearly 
as  dark  as  negroes,  while  in  other  sections  they  were 


almost  as  light  as  Caucasians.  They  spoke  many 
hundred  different  languages,  which  showed  striking 
analogies  in  their  grammatical  construction,  with 
equally  striking  disparity  in  their  vocabulary.  The 
goal  sought  by  these  discoverers  was  India,  and,  im- 
agining that  they  had  found  its  outlying  provinces, 
they  called  the  inhabitants  of  the  new  land  Indians. 

It  would  be  the  merest  conjecture  to  attempt  to 
state  how  long  man  had  occupied  the  American  con- 
tinent. Apart  from  the  length  of  time  required  for 
producing  new  languages,  or  even  dialects,  and  from 
all  ethnological  considerations,  there  are  facts  con- 
nected with  his  existence  here  that  indicate  a  period 
of  almost  incalculable  anti(iuity.  Of  the  animals 
found  in  the  New  World,  none  were  identical  with 
those  known  in  the  Old,  and  in  the  vegetable  king- 
dom the  same  rule  held  almost  as  absolutely. 
Maize  and  tobacco  were  cultivated  in  every 
portion  of  the  country  where  the  climate 
suited  their  requirements,  while  cotton  was 
grown  in  a  section  necessarily  more  limited  in 
area.  We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  man 
existed  here  for  a  long  time  before  he  discovered 
the  litness  of  maize  for  food,  and  for  a  much  longer 
period  before  he  began  its  cultivation;  and  then  it 
must  have  required  centuries  to  introduce  it  to  gen- 
eral cultivation  over  nearly  a  hundred  degrees  of  lati- 
tude in  the  two  continents.  It  is  well  known  that 
plants  change  their  character  very  slowly;  but  maize, 
tobacco  and  cotton  had  so  long  been  subjected  to  the 
transforming  influences  of  cultivation  as  to  have  lost 
all  resemblance  to  their  original  forms,  so  that  they 
could  no  longer  be  identified  with  the  wild  species. 
The  force  of  this  consideration  is  heightened  when  we 
remember  that,  in  this  transformation,  these  plants 
became  entirely  dependent  upon  cultivation  for  their 
existence. 

In  some  portions  of  the  continent  the  great  an- 
tiquity of  man  is  proven  by  the  remains  of  his  struct- 
ures still  existing  ;  but  as  none  of  these  were  found 
in  this  section,  the  subject  need  not  be  considered 
here. 

Closely  connected  with  the  question  of  the  time  of 
man's  existence  here  is  that  of  his  origin.  How 
came  he  here?  The  question  has  received  much  con- 
sideration. The  attempts  to  designate  particular 
nations  as  the  original  peoplers  of  the  American  con- 
tinent, whether  they  were  the  Lost  Tribes  of  Israel 
the  Phwnicians  or  the  Chinese,  have  so  utterly  failed 
to  convince  inquirers,  that  they  have  been  generally 
abandoned.  The  autochthonic  theory,  the  theory  of 
indigenous  origin,  has  had  many  strong  arguments 
produced  in  its  favor.  Some  of  its  advocates  suppose 
that  the  Creator  placed  an  original  pair  of  human 
beings  here,  as  Holy  Scripture  teaches  that  He  did 
in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere.  But  these  arguments 
come  short  of  conviction.  The  advocates  of  the 
theory  of  development  that  would  find  the  ancestor 
of  man  in  the  monkey,  have  abandoned  all  idea  of 


10 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  change  having  taken  place  here,  as  the  American 
continent  has  furnished  no  species  of  the  apes,  nor 
the  remains  of  any  such  species  from  which  man 
could  have  been  developed. 

They  all  admit  that  narrow-nosed  apes  could  alone 
have  been  the  ancestors  of  man,  and  no  such  apes — 
no  catarrhine  simiadce — have  existed  here. 

When  we  look  at  the  conditions  on  either  side  of 
the  continent,  we  cannot  suppose  that  it  was  at  all 
impossible  for  men,  at  any  indefinitely  remote  period, 
to  have  found  their  way  hither.  The  climatic  changes 
of  past  periods,  at  some  time,  may  have  made  the 
route  by  Behring's  Straits  entirely  practicable.  The 
route  by  the  Aleutian  Islands  is  not  difficult  now  to 
canoe  navigators.  The  Pacific  currents  frequently 
cast  the  wrecks  of  Japanese  vessels  upon  our  north- 
western shores.  The  islands  of  the  South  Pacific 
afforded  a  probable  way  of  communication,  and  it  is 
believed  that  many  have  disappeared,  comparatively 
recently,  beneath  the  surface.  On  the  Atlantic  side 
the  difficulties  were  by  no  means  insurmountable, 
even  if  we  ignore  "the  lost  Atlantis."  The  trade- 
winds  and  equatorial  currents  carried  Cabral  and  his 
Portuguese  fleet,  bound  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  to  the  American  shores,  and  led  to  the  acci- 
dental discovery  of  Brazil.  On  his  second  voyage 
Columbus  found,  in  a  house  on  the  island  of  Gauda- 
loupe,  the  stern-post  of  an  European  vessel.  In 
various  periods  of  the  past  the  same  forces  may  have 
brought  men  to  these  shores. 

It  is  probable  that  America  was  peopled  from  va- 
rious sources,  and  at  widely  separated  periods.  These 
must  have  been  very  remote  to  afford  time  for  the 
production  of  the  conditions  found  existing  here. 

The  aborigines  of  Westchester  County  belonged  to 
the  great  family  of  Indians  called  the  Algonquin  Len- 
ape.  Their  connection  with  the  Mound-Builders  of 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  with  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico, 
or  with  the  builders  of  the  wonderful  structures 
found  in  Central  America,  if  any  ever  existed,  must 
have  been  extremely  remote.  Their  traditions  re- 
ferred in  a  very  vague  way  to  long  journeys  from  the 
northwest,  and  great  suflTering  from  cold  on  their  way 
hither,  and  of  contests  with  a  people  who  occupied 
the  country  before  them.  Of  their  own  history  they 
were  lamentably  ignorant.  Their  computation  of 
time  by  moons  and  revolving  cycles  led  all  investiga- 
tions into  inextricable  confusion.  Any  event  beyond 
an  individual's  recollection  floated  vaguely  in  the 
boundless  past.  No  records  of  any  kind  were  made. 
For  these  reasons  the  Europeans  were  able  to  obtain 
from  this  people  very  little  information  of  them- 
selves or  their  fathers.  They  existed  here  for 
unnumbered  centuries,  and  then  passed  away,  leav- 
ing behind  them  no  sign  to  mark  their  occupa- 
tion of  the  country,  save  a  few  simple  imple- 
ments of  stone,  and  no  structure  of  any  kind  memo- 
rializes their  power  or  attests  their  strengih  or  skill. 
We  are  thus  singularly  destitute  of  nearly  all  means 


for  acquiring  accurate  knowledge  of  this  people's 
history. 

The  Algonquin  tribes  occupied  nearly  the  whole 
Atlantic  seaboard,  and  their  language  necessarily  was 
widely  diffused.  It  has  been  found  more  fertile  in 
dialects  than  any  other  aboriginal  speech.  It  was 
strangely  agglutinative,  and  gave  expression  to 
thought  by  stringing  words  together  into  an  extended 
compound.  It  was  the  mother-tongue  of  those  who 
greeted  Raleigh's  colonists  on  the  Roanoke,  of  those 
who  boarded  the  "  Half-Moon  "  on  the  Hudson,  and  of 
those  who  welcomed  and  fed  the  Pilgrims  at  Plym- 
outh. It  was  heard  from  the  land  of  the  Esquimo 
to  the  Savannah  River  and  from  the  Bay  of  Gaspe  to 
the  Mississippi. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  investigate  the  national 
divisions  of  the  Algonquins  further  than  to  .state 
that  the  Mohegans  occupied  the  country  along 
the  left  bank  of  the  Hudson  River,  called  Mahi- 
cannittuk,  and  eastward  to  the  Connecticut,  and 
from  Long  Island  Sound  northward  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mohawk,  and  perhaps  to  Lake  Champlain.  Their 
country  was  called  Laaphawachking.  North  and 
west  of  the  Mohegans  were  the  powerful  and  warlike 
Iroquois,  their  immediate  neighbors  being  the  Hori- 
cans  and  Mohawks.  Across  the  Hudson,  below  Cats- 
kill,  were  tribes  belonging  to  the  Delaware  nation,  and 
east  of  the  Connecticut  were  the  Pequots.  Long  Is- 
land was  occupied  by  Mohegan  tribes.  It  has  been 
stated  that  at  the  time  of  discovery  the  Mohegans 
were  under  military  subjection  to  the  Iroquois,  and 
were  compelled  to  pay  an  annual  tribute  to  them. 
This  is  not  substantiated  by  investigation,  for  we  find 
no  reference  to  it  in  any  of  the  treaties  made  by  these 
tribes  with  the  whites,  nor  was  such  a  thing  ever  al- 
luded to  in  all  the  protracted  negotiations  between 
them. 

The  subdivisions  of  the  tribes  were  very  numerous. 
They  had  advantages  for  local  government  and  the  pres- 
ervation of  order.  The  form  of  government  was  very 
simple.  Each  local  tribe  had  its  ruler,  called  the  sachem. 
He  was  also  their  representative  in  the  general  councils, 
which  were  composed  of  the  representatives  of  the 
smaller  tribes  of  the  nation.  They  were  presided 
over  by  the  national  grand  sachem,  who  occupied 
the  position  of  a  sovereign.  These  councils  assembled 
only  in  cases  requiring  concerted  action,  as  in  a  gen- 
eral war.  In  all  other  matters  the  local  tribes  were 
independent,  and  declared  war  for  themselves,  or 
made  peace  without  consulting  their  brother  tribes. 
The  national  obligation  was  imperative,  and  treason 
to  the  decisions  of  a  council  was  punished  with 
death.  Each  nation  had  its  emblem,  or  totem,  which 
served  the  purpose  of  the  flag  of  a  civilized  nation. 
These  were  used  in  times  of  war,  and  were  drawn 
upon  trees  and  rocks  to  indicate  that  the  tribes  had 
taken  up  the  hatchet  and  had  gone  upon  the  war- 
path. The  Mohegan  totem  was  a  wolf,  and  in  de- 
claring war  the  animal  was  represented  with  its  dex- 


THE  INDIANS. 


11 


ter  paw  raised  in  a  tlireatening  manner.  The  name 
Mohegan  meant  "  Enchanted  Wolf."  Their  military 
forces  had  regular  forms  of  orgainization  and  disci- 
pline. The  companies  from  the  local  tribes  had 
their  commanders,  who  were  selected  for  their  prow- 
ess and  achievements  in  arms.  The  united  forces 
were  commanded  by  chiefs  who  had  obtained  military 
distinction,  and  these  stood  in  rank  according  to 
their  services  and  their  reputation  for  bravery,  pru- 
dence, cunning  and  good  fortune. 

There  was  but  little  need  for  civil  government,  as 
their  chief  possessions  were  held  in  common,  and 
where  personal  property  existed,  the  owner's  rights 
were  recognized. 

It  is  probable  that  these  local  tribes  were  communi- 
ties of  blood  relations,  who  readily  recognized  the 
patriarchal  authority  of  their  sachem  and  who  held 
their  lands  in  common.  Doubtless,  they  closely  re- 
sembled the  clans  and  septs  of  Gi'eat  Britain  and 
Ireland,  without  the  land  being  held  either  by  tanistry 
or  gavel-kind.  The  sachems  received  their  support 
by  the  free  contributions  of  the  community.  The 
ownership  of  land  depended  upon  conceded  original 
occupation  or  upon  conquest.  If  obtained  by  con- 
quest, all  original  rights  became  vested  in  the  con- 
querors, and  if  it  was  re-conquered,  these  returned  to 
the  original  owner.  They  had  but  little  idea  of  title 
to  land.  They  valued  only  its  occupation  and  use. 
The  game  that  filled  the  forests  and  the  fish  that 
swarmed  in  the  waters  gave  a  value  that  they  well 
appreciated,  and  they  also  prized  their  cultivable 
tracts. 

There  is  much  uncertainty  regarding  the  sub- 
divisions of  the  tribes  in  any  given  district,  and  if 
the  question  of  their  location  were  left  to  the  state- 
ments and  maps  of  the  early  European  settlers,  it  well 
might  be  abandoned  as  hopeless.  Fortunately,  the 
title-deeds  given  to  the  settlers  supply  considerable  in- 
formation, which,  though  not  })erfect,  enables  us  to 
locate  the  sub-tribes  with  tolerable  accuracy.  Yet 
the  boundaries  of  such  tracts  as  were  sold  by  the 
aborigines  were  designated  with  much  uncertainty 
by  the  Indian  names  of  rivers,  brooks  and  rivulets, 
hills,  ponds  and  meadows,  which  are  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  locate.  Treaties  made  between  the  settlers 
and  the  Indians  assist  us  in  the  undertaking. 

The  island  upon  which  the  city  of  New  York  has 
been  built  was  occupied  by  the  Manhattans.  Their 
territory  also  extended  along  the  Mahicanituk,  or 
Hudson  River,  northward  to  the  Neperhan,  or  Saw- 
Mill  River,  and  eastward  to  the  Aquehung,  or  Bronx 
River.  Between  the  Neperhan  and  the  Pocantico 
were  the  Weckquaesgeeks.  The  Sint  Sinks  occupied 
the  land  between  the  Pocantico  and  the  Kitchawan, 
or  Croton  River.  North  of  the  Croton  were  the 
Kitchawancs,  whose  lands  extended  to  Anthony's 
Nose  and  the  Highlands,  and  eastward  across  the 
northern  portion  of  Westchester  County.  East  of 
the  Manhattans,  occupying  the  territory  along  the 


Sound,  were  the  Siwanoys,  who  also  occupied  the 
southwestern  i)ortion  of  Connecticut.  North  of  the 
Siwanoys  were  the  Tankitekes,  occupying  the  central 
and  ea.stern  portions  of  the  county.  The  western 
end  of  Long  Island  was  occupied  by  the  Canarsees. 
The  Rockaways,  Merricks,  Marsapequas,  Matinecocks, 
Corchangs,  Manhassets,  Secatogues,  Patchogues, 
Shinnecocks  and  Montauks  extended  eastward,  in  the 
order  named.  West  of  the  Hudson  were  the  Navesinks, 
Raritans,  Hackinsacks,  Tappans  and  Haverstraws. 
Above  the  Highlands,  upon  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river,  were  the  Nochpeens  and  the  Wappitigers. 
Eastward,  in  Connecticut,  was  the  large  chieftaincy  of 
the  Sequins. 

That  the  Indians  of  Westchester  were  very 
numerous  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  over  fifteen  hun- 
dred warriors  were  at  one  time  in  arms  against  the 
whites,  and  also  by  the  number  of  their  large  villages. 
These  villages  were  located  where  there  were  special 
advantages  for  fishing,  or  where  a  light  and  easily- 
worked  soil  was  favorable  for  cultivation. 

The  Manhattans  had  three  villages  upon  Manhattan 
Island.  Their  largest  village  in  this  county  was 
Nappeckamak,  which  occupied  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Yonkers.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  original 
township  of  Yonkers,  overlooking  the  Hudson  River 
(Mahicanituk)  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  (Papirini- 
men,)  they  had  a  fortress  which  they  called 
Nipinichsen. 

The  Weckquaesgeeks  had  their  principal  village  at 
the  mouth  of  Wysquaqua,  where  the  village  of  Dobb's 
Ferry  now  stands.  It  was  called  by  the  tribal  name. 
Until  recently  its  site  was  designated  by  extensive 
shell-beds.  They  had  another  village  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Pocantico,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Tarrytown. 
This  village  was  called  Alipconck.  They  had  another 
village  by  the  Neperhan,  west  of  White  Plains. 

The  Sint  Sinks  had  a  village  called  Ossing-Sing, 
where  "The  Kill"  empties  into  the  Hudson  at  Sing 
Sing.  They  had  a  smaller  village  at  the  moulii  of 
the  Kitchawan  or  Croton  River. 

The  Kitchawancs  had  a  large  village  upon  Van 
Cortlandt's  Neck,  connecting  Croton  Point  with  the 
mainland.  They  had  here  the  strongest  fortress  of 
any  in  the  county.  Like  Nipinichsen,  it  was  a  heav- 
ily-palisaded stockade.  They  had  another  village 
upon  Verplanck's  Point  and  a  larger  one  called  Sack- 
hoes,  where  Peekskill  now  stands. 

The  Siwanoys  were  a  numerous  tribe.  They  had  a 
village  upon  Pelham  Neck,  ill  the  present  town  of 
Pelham ;  another  on  Davenport's  Neck,  in  New 
Rochelle ;  and  their  largest  settlement  upon  the  shores 
of  Rye  Pond,  in  the  present  town  of  Harrison.  Here 
was  a  very  extensive  burial-ground.  There  was  also 
a  settlement  near  Rye  Beach.  They  had  another 
village  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town  of  West- 
chester, near  Bear  Swamp.  They  had  an  imjiortant 
castle  upon  what  is  still  known  as  Castle  Hill,  west  of 
Westchester  Creek. 


12 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  Taukitekes  had  a  village  by  Wampus  Lake,  in 
the  town  of  North  Castle,  where  the  Sachem  Wampus 
resided.  They  also  had  a  village  near  Pleasantville, 
in  the  town  of  Mount  Pleasant.  There  was  a  settle- 
ment by  the  Mehanas  River,  near  the  present  village 
of  Bedford.  There  was  also  a  village  where  the 
Cross  River  (Peppensghek)  unites  with  the  Croton  or 
Kitchawan,  near  the  present  site  of  Katonali.  Here 
are  still  visible  the  remains  of  extensive  stone  fish- 
weirs,  in  the  bed  of  the  Croton  River,  that  were  built 
by  the  Indians.  Besides  the  villages  named,  there 
were  doubtless  many  more  of  whose  existence  no 
account  has  come  down  to  us. 

That  the  Indians  occupied  this  section  in  great 
numbers  is  rendered  jirobable  by  the  character  of  the 
country  and  its  surroundings.  The  whole  county  is 
remarkably  well  watered  and  its  soil  produced  an 
abundance  of  rich  natural  grasses.  These  conditions 
caused  an  abundance  of  game.  The  lands  bordering 
the  Beaver  Dam  River  in  Bedford  were  called  "the 
deer's  delight."  The  numerous  lakes  and  streams 
throughout  the  county  were  well  stocked  with  fish. 
These  were  taken  with  lines  and  nets,  the  cordage  of 
which  was  made  of  twisted  fibres  of  the  dogbane  and 
the  sinews  of  the  deer.  Hooks  were  fashioned  of  the 
sharpened  bones  of  fishes  and  birds.  Weirs,  fish- 
traps  and  spears  were  also  employed.  Deer  and  other 
game  were  taken  by  other  means  besides  hunting  with 
the  bow  and  arrow.  The  English  settlers  found  in 
good  preservation,  in  the  town  of  Poundridge,  an 
extensive  trap  which  they  called  a  jjound,  and  from 
which  the  township  had  its  name.  It  was  situated  at 
the  south  end  of  the  ridge,  not  far  from  the  present 
village,  and  inclosed  the  spring  of  water  which  still 
flows  there.  It  was  built  of  logs  held  together  by 
what  the  English  called  saddle-stones,  was  twelve  or 
fourteen  feet  high,  and  inclosed  an  acre  or  more  of 
ground.  From  its  narrow  entrance  there  extended 
palisaded  wings  in  each  direction,  so  as  to  cross  the 
valley  and  run  up  the  adjacent  hillsides.  The  valleys 
from  the  south  and  southwest  come  together  here  by 
the  subsidence  of  the  intervening  ridges.  The  Indians 
in  considerable  numbers  would  start  in  the  early  morn- 
ing many  miles  away,  and  would  "  beat  the  bush  "  with 
hideous  yells,  working  in  the  direction  of  the  trap, 
while  parties  ran  along  the  ridges  on  the  right  and 
left  to  prevent  lateral  escapes,  and  thus  they  drove 
before  them  the  game  of  every  description  until  they 
came  to  the  wings  of  the  trap,  which  led  everything 
into  the  inclosure.  Then  the  entrance  was  closed 
and  all  secured.  In  this  way  great  numbers  of  deer 
and  other  game  were  taken. 

Important  as  were  the  food  supplies  obtained  from 
the  forests  and  streams,  they  were  greatly  increased 
by  those  from  the  surrounding  waters.  The  Hudson 
River  and  the  Sound  make  the  situation  of  the  county 
a  remarkable  one.  These  waters  teemed  with  fish, 
which  furnished  the  attraction  to  the  villagers  living 
upon  their  shores.    In  seasons  of  abundance,  like  the 


running  of  the  shad  in  the  spring-time,  quantities  of 
fish  were  dried  and  smoked,  and  thus  preserved  for 
future  use.  Shell-fish  were  extensively  used.  Along 
the  Sound  the  numerous  shell-heaps  attested  the  In- 
dians' appreciation  of  the  oyster.  These  shell-heaps 
resemble  those  of  European  countries,  which,  with  the 
"  kitchen-middens,"  have  received  so  much  attention 
from  archaeologists.  So  extensive  were  these  shell-heaps 
upon  City  Island,  now  forming  part  of  the  township 
of  Pelham,  that  they  gave  to  the  surrounding  waters 
the  name  of  "the  great  bay  of  the  island  of  shells." 
Similar  heaps  were  found  upon  Berrian's  Neck,  in  the 
township  of  Yonkers,  and  at  the  various  village  sites 
along  the  Hudson.  The  largest  of  these  were  upon 
Croton  Point,  where  considerable  areas  are  still  cov- 
ered with  them  to  the  depth  of  two  or  three  feet. 

This  beautiful  projection  of  land  was  called  Senas- 
qua,  one  of  the  softest  of  Indian  names,  and  in  the 
adjacent  waters  of  Tappan  and  Haverstraw  Bays  great 
quantities  of  oysters  are  still  found  and  are  taken 
elsewhere  for  increased  growth.  Befor.e  the  country 
was  settled  by  the  whites  and  the  forests  were  cleared 
away,  a  much  greater  percentage  of  the  rain-fall 
evaporated  I'rom  the  surface  of  the  land  and  less 
flowed  away  in  the  streams.  On  this  account,  the 
water  of  the  Hudson  was  much  more  salt  than  now, 
and  more  favorable  to  the  oyster's  development.  To 
overlook  and  protect  the  important  oyster-beds  of  this 
wide  portion  of  the  river,  the  fort  upon  Van  Cort- 
landt's  neck  was  erected.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  where  these  shells  have  remained  undisturbed 
they  are  nearly  all  found  whole,  showing  that  the 
Indians  opened  the  oysters  without  breaking  them. 
It  was  probably  accomplished  by  exposure  to  the  sun. 
None  of  them  have  been  exposed  to  flre.  A  remark- 
able number  and  variety  of  stone  implements  have 
been  found  here,  and  here  a  place  of  burial  has  been 
recently  discovered. 

But  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Westchester  did 
not  depend  alone  upon  the  food  derived  from  the 
chase  and  taken  from  the  waters.  They  cultivated 
the  land  much  more  extensively  than  is  generally 
supposed.  The  European  navigators  of  the  Hudson 
were  impressed  by  the  extent  of  the  fields  of  maize. 
Suitable  lands  along  the  Sound  were  similarly  used, 
and  throughout  the  interior  the  early  white  settlers 
found  their  difiiculties  greatly  lessened  by  the  extent 
of  the  lands  already  cleared  and  prepared  for  their 
immediate  use. 

The  Indian's  success  in  the  cultivation  of  land  wa« 
remarkable,  when  we  consider  the  disadvantages 
under  which  he  labored.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  he  had  taught  no  animal  to  assist  him  in  his 
labor.  He  had  no  flock  or  herd,  nor  any  kind  of  poul- 
try. His  dog  was  a  worthless  creature,  resembling  a 
cross  between  the  fox  and  the  w-olf,  and  was  only  the 
lazy  sharer  of  his  cabin  or  the  playmate  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  was  not  trained  to  usefulness  in  the  chase. 
He  had  no  iron  nor  any  other  metal,  except  rare  spec- 


THE  INDIANS. 


13 


imens  of  native  copper,  brought  from  the  shores  ot 
Lake  Superior  and  worn  as  ornaments,  or,  perhaps, 
fashioned  into  liighly-prized  spear-lieads.  In  the 
present  "  iron  age,"  when  every  recjuired  tool  is  ready- 
fashioned  to  our  hand,  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  imagine 
such  a  situation.  How  could  he  work  the  soil?  How 
attack  a  tree  ?  How  obtain  an  implement  of  any  de- 
scription ?  In  his  various  operations  he  had  three 
agents — stone,  wood  and  fire.  He  sometimes  employed 
the  first  in  the  cultivation  of  his  crops,  but  more  often 
his  only  implement  was  a  poor  hoe  made  from  the 
shell  of  the  clam  or  the  shoulder-blade  of  the  deer. 

On  this  account  he  worked  no  soils  but  those  that 
were  light  and  easily  stirred.  Unfortunately,  such 
were  quickly  exhausted,  and  then  foiled  to  yield 
abundant  returns  for  his  labor.  His  only  means  of 
restoring  fertility  was  in  the  use  of  fish  as  a  manure, 
jrenhaden  were  his  chief  reliance  for  this  purpose, 
and  on  this  account  the  corn-fields  were  most  exten- 
sive near  the  shores.  His  most  important 
crop  was  maize,  and  upon  this  he  relied,  very 
largely,  for  his  subsistence  in  winter.  It 
was  roasted  while  young,  and  when  ma- 
tured and  dry  was  ground  into  meal  by 
stone  pestles  and  mortars,  and  when  this 
was  moistened  with  water  and  baked  upon 
heated  stones.the  product  was  called nook- 
hik,"  from  which  have  come  "  nocake  and 
"  hoe-cake."  The  grain  was  preserved  after 
harvest  by  being  buried  in  the  dryest  places 
under  a  thatch  of  coarse  grass  and  boughs. 
Next  in  importance  to  maize  was  the  sieva 
bean.  It  was  extensively  raised  and  boiled 
alone  or  with  the  green-corn.  The  latter 
dish  was  called  "  succotash."  The  boiling 
was  accomplished  in  bowls  of  steatite,  or 
in  vessels  of  rude  pottery.  In  addition  to 
these,  pumpkins  were  grown.  These  were 
readily  baked  before  the  fire.  Wild  fruits 
and  nuts,  in  their  seasons,  also  contributed 
to  his  support  and  enjoyment.  Tobacco 
was  also  grown  here,  but  we  cannot  learn  how  exten- 
sively. With  their  requirements  for  food  thus  met, 
the  Indians  here  were  not  destitute  of  the  means  of 
comfortable  clothing.  The  country  abounded  with 
fur-bearing  animals.  Beavers  were  very  numerous. 
The  names  of  Beaver  Meadows,  scattered  throughout 
the  county,  and  that  of  Beaver  Dam  River,  in  the 
upper  portion,  attest  this.  Van  der  Donck,  the  pa- 
tron of  Yonkers,  wrote,  in  1656,  that  eighty  thousand 
of  these  were  annually  killed  in  this  quarter  of  the 
country.  In  November,  1624,  among  the  cargo  of  the 
first  laden  vessel  from  New  to  Old  Amsterdam  were 
7246  beaver-skins,  675  skins  of  otters,  48  of  mink,  36 
wild-cat  and  various  other  sorts.  In  Wassenares'  "  His- 
tory of  the  New  Netherlands,"  it  is  narrated :  "  The 
tribes  are  in  the  habit  of  clothing  themselves  with  ot- 
ter-skins, the  fur  inside,  the  smooth  side  without ; 
which,  however,  they  paint  so  beautifully  that  at  a  dis- 


tance it  resembles  lace.  When  they  bring  their  com- 
modities to  the  tradci-s,  and  find  they  are  desirous  to 
buy  them,  they  make  so  little  matter  of  it  that  they 
rip  up  the  skins  they  are  clothed  with  and  sell  them 
also,  returning  naked  to  their  homes.  They  use  the 
beaver-skins  mostly  for  the  sleeves  and  the  otter  for 
the  rest  of  the  clothes."  Their  most  elegant  gar- 
ments were  mantles  made  of  feathers,  overlapping 
each  other,  as  upon  the  birds  themselves.  Sometimes 
these  were  artistic  productions  of  real  beauty.  They 
made  leggins  and  moccasins  of  deer-skins.  The  men 
always  went  bare-headed,  and,  in  the  summer,  wore 
nothing  beside  a  short  garment  about  the  loins, 
called,  by  the  white  settlers,  "  Indian  breeches."  The 
women  dressed  their  glossy  hair  in  a  thick,  heavy 
plait.  Their  dress  usually  consisted  of  two  garments, 
— a  leather  shirt  and  a  skirt  of  the  same  material  fast- 
ened around  the  waist,  with  a  belt  and  reaching  below 
the  knees.  From  these  various  considerations,  we  can 


Foil  I 


MOKTAR  AX  I)  PESTLE^ 
il  near  Croton  River,  in  Yorktown.    Tlio  pestle  is  18  inches  long. 

understand  how  a  large  population  could  exist  in 
comparative  comfort  in  this  section. 

The  Indian  houses  were  made  by  planting  poles  in 
the  ground  and  binding  them  together  at  the  top. 
These  were  covered  with  bark  or  thatched  with  reeds 
and  rushes,  so  as  to  be  impervious  to  rain.  Their 
beds  were  made  of  evergreen  boughs,  covered  with 
skins  and  furs.  Their  furniture  was  extremely  sim- 
ple. Besides  the  before-mentioned  pots  for  cooking, 
they  had  wooden  bowls  for  holding  their  food  and 
wooden  spoons  for  handling  it.  Mats  made  of  rushes 
sometimes  covered  the  floors  of  their  huts.  They  had 
buckets  ingeniously  made  of  birch-bark,  so  as  to  be 
water-tight,  and  baskets  of  various  sizes,  made  of 


'  The  iDdian  specimens  illnstratiiig  this  chapter  are  from  the  iulcrest- 
ing  and  valuable  private  collection  of  Mr.  James  Wood,  of  Mt.  Kisco, 
Westchester  County. 


14 


HISTORY  OF  AVESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


splints,  rushes  or  grass.  Their  villages  were  com- 
posed of  houses  closely  huddled  together  about  a 
central  .sj)ace,  which  was  used  for  the  transaction  of 
public  business,  for  ceremonies  and  amusements. 
Besides  the  manufactures  already  named  there  were 
others  that  attested  the  Indian's  skill.  He  made  boats 
of  two  kinds.  One  consisted  of  a  light,  wooden  frame, 
covered  with  birch-bark,  skillfully  and  tastefully  fast- 
ened at  the  seams;  this  boat  was  peculiarly  valuable 
on  long  journeys,  as  its  lightness  allowed  it  to  be 
easily  carried  from  the  waters  of  one  stream  to  those 
of  another.  The  other  boat  was  a  much  heavier  affair, 
fashioned  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree.  The  wood  was 
charred  by  heated  stones  and  then  scraped  away  with 
stone  gouges.  These  boats  were  sometimes  thirty  or 
more  feet  in  length,  and  were  capable  of  carrying  a 
considerable  number  of  passengers.  In  some  of  the 
sales  of  land  to  the  white  settlers  along  the  Sound  the 
Indians  reserved  "  the  white-wood  trees,  suitable  for 
making  canoes  of." 


PAETLY  DRILLED  PIECE  OF  STE.\TITE.' 

In  nothing  was  the  Indian's  skill  more  strikingly 
shown  than  in  his  manufacture  of  implements  of 
stone.  These  were  mortars  and  pestles,  axes,  hatchets, 
adzes,  gouges,  chisels,  cutting  tools,  skinning  tools, 
perforators,  arrow  and  spear-heads,  scrapers,  mauls, 
hammer-stones,  sinkers,  pendants,  pierced  tablets, 
jiolishers,  pipes  and  ceremonial  stones.  Specimens 
of  all  these  have  been  found  in  Westchester  County. 
The  mortars  were  usually  bowl-like  depressions  worn 
into  some  rock  beside  the  village  site,  where  the  wo- 
men could  conveniently  resort  to  grind  the  corn. 
Sometimes  they  were  made  in  portable  stones.  The 
pestles  were  from  two  to  three  inches  in  diameter 
and  from  six  to  twenty  inches  in  length,  and  gener- 
ally of  fine  sandstone,  greenstone  or  hornblende. 
Axes  were  made  of  varieties  of  greenstone,  syenite, 

1  With  black  flint  drill  foiind  in  hole.  These  epeciniena  were  found  at 
Crofoii  I'uitit,  and  Mr.  J;imes  Wood  says  they  are  uniiiiie. 


HOEKBLEXDE  AXE. 
Found  in  Bedford. 


granite,  porphyry  and  sandstone.  They  may  be  de- 
scribed as  wedges,  encircled  by  a  groove  near  the 
heavy  end.  They  varied  in  weight  from  half  a  pound 
to  six  or  eight  pounds. 
The  groove  was  made  for 
securely  fastening  the 
handle.  This  was  bound 
with  pieces  of  raw  hide, 
or  sometimes  a  young  tree 
was  cleft  while  yet  grow- 
ing, and  the  axe,  being 
inserted,  was  left  in  the 
proper  position  until  the 
growth  had  closely  formed 
about  it.  Adzes,  gouges 
and  chisels  were  made  of 
tough  greenstone  and 
hornblende,  and  were  used 
in  the  manufacture  of 
their  canoes.  The  cut- 
ting tools  were  leaf-shaped  implements  made  of  flint 
or  jasper,  finely  chipped  to  an  edge,  which  com- 
bined in  its  cutting  the  principles  of  the  saw  and  the 
knife.  There  were  also 
flakes  of  obsidian  that 
had  sharp  cutting  edges. 
Skinning  tools,  or  celts, 
were  wedge-shaped  imple- 
ments made  of  many  kinds 
of  stone,  worked  to  a  fine 
edge  at  one  end,  and  gener- 
ally polished.  Perforators 
were  delicately  wrought 
of  flint  or  jasper.  Scrapers, 
were  small  implements  of 
flint  used  in  -dressing 
skins.  Arrow  and  spear- 
heads form  the  best  known 

class  of  Indian  implements,  and  have  been  found 
here  in  great  numbers.  They  were  made  of  flint, 
jasper,  chert,  hornstone,  quartz  and  a  variety  of  other 
stones.    The  spear-heads  were  from  two  to  eight  and 

ten  inches  in  length, 
while  the  arrow-points 
were  smaller  and  light- 
er, and  many  speci- 
mens of  each  were 
beautifully  wrought. 
Some  were  worked  by 
blows  and  some  by 
dropping  water  upon 
the  heated  stone.  Oc- 
casionally throughout 
the  county  quantities 
of  flint  chips  are  found 
on  some  Indian  village  site,  where  the  ancient  arrow- 
maker  had  his  workshop.  Mauls  and  hammer-stones 
were  made  of  several  varieties  of  tough  stones.  The 
former  were  grooved  for  hafting,  and  the  latter  were 


POLISHED  FLESHER. 


FLESHER  WITH  HANDLE. 


THE  INDIANS. 


15 


circular  or  elliptical,  two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter, 
or  three  in  greatest  length,  and  an  inch  in  thickness, 
with  slight  depressions  worked  at  the  middle  of  the 
sides  for  the  thumb  and  finger.    Thev  usually  show 


GROOVED  HAMMER, 
With  castle. 


POLISHED  AXE. 


evidences  of  wear  at  the  circumference  or  ends.  Large 
numbers  of  these  have  been  found  along  the  Hudson. 
Sinkers  were  used  in  weighting  the  nets,  and  were 
simple  flat  stones,  notched  at  the  opposite  edges. 


HOE  OF  GREY  FLINT,         BY  5\  INCHES. 

Pendants  were  pear-shaped,  pointed  at  one  end  and 
grooved  near  the  other.  Pierced  tablets  were  used  in 
twisting  the  bow-strings  or  worn  as  ornaments.  Some 
remarkable  specimens  of  these,  notched  as  if  kept  as 


FLIXT  KNIFE, 
8  by  3J4  inches. 


FLINT  KNIFE, 
S'/i  by  3  inches. 

records,  have  been  found  here.  Pipes  have  not  been 
found  in  great  numbers,  but   some   of  the  speci- 


mens are  very  interesting.  They  are  made  of  green- 
stone, steatite  and  sometimes  were  fashioned  of  clay. 
They  represent  birds,  or  the  heads  of  birds,  turtles 
and  various  animals,  the  beaver  more  frequently  than 
others.  Ceremonial  stones  were  the  most  finely 
wrought  of  all  the  Indian's  stone-work.  They  were 
carried  as  evidences  of  rank,  or  to  excite  a  supersti- 
tious reverence.    They  were  wrought  from  serpentine 


PIERCED  RECORD 
TABLET.' 


CEREMONIAL  STONE  OF  GREEN. 

or  a  fine  and  beautiful  striped  slate,  and  were  drilled 
so  that  they  could  be  carried  upon  a  rod  or  handle. 
This  striped  slate,  so  far  as  is  known,  was  nowhere 
found  nearer  than  Canada.  The  few  specimens  of 
obsidian  found  here  must  have  come  from  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region.  Three  or  four  spear-heads,  ham- 
mered from  native  copper,  that  have  been  found  here 
must  have  been  brought  from  the  shoi'es  of  Lake  Su- 
perior, while  the  flints  and  jaspers, 
from  which  so  many  arrow-heads 
w'ere  made,  must  have  been  brought 
a  considerable  distance.  These  facts 
prove  that  the  Mohegans  carried  on 
commerce  of  exchange  with  other 
tribes,  and  thus  obtained  articles  that 
liad  been  brought  from  very  remote 
localities. 

Holes  were  drilled  through  stones 
for  ornament  or  use  by  a  drill  ot 
flint,  or  a  reed  with  water  and  sand. 
These  were  worked  by  a  bow-string. 
The  bow  was  an  important  article 
of  the  Indian's  outfit,  and  was  his  chief  weapon  in 
war  and  in  the  chase.  It  was  skillfully  foshioned  from 
ash  or  hickory-wood,  and  was  strung  with  the  sinews 
of  the  deer. 

Another  important  article  of  manufacture  was 
wampum,  which  was  their  me- 
dium of  exchange,  or  money. 
It  was  made  from  the  shell  of 
the  quoliog,  or  hard-shell  clam. 
It  was  cylindrical  in  form,  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  long,  and  in 
diameter  less  than  a  pipe-stem, 
drilled  lengthwise,  so  as  to  be 
strung  upon  a  thread.  The 
beads  of  a  white  color  rated  at 
half  the  value  of  the  black  or 

violet,  made  from  the  portion  where  the  contracting 
muscle  of  the  clam  is  attached  to  the  shell.  They  were 
used  for  ornament  as  well  as  for  coin,  and  ten  thousand 
or  more  were  sometimes  wrought  into  the  belt  of  some 

1  Six  by  two  inches,  found  in  Bedford. 


GROOVED  HAMMER. 


16 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


great  chieftain.  The  district  about  Byram  Lake  was 
called  Cohemong,  which  meant  the  place  where  wam- 
pum is  made. 

There  have  been  but  few  unbroken  specimens  of 
Indian  pottery  found  in  Westchester  County,  but 


BIRD  AND  TORTOISE  PIPE. 
Found  in  New  Castle. 


ducks'  head  pipe. 

Found  in  Bedford. 


numerous  fragments,  some  of  considerable  size,  are  in 
existence.  These  are  all  quite  rude,  although  some 
show  attempts  at  ornamentation.  On  Croton  Point, 
where  the  clay  was  favorable  for  this  manufacture,  a 
trench  has  been  discovered  containing  numerous 
fragments  of  earthen  vessels,  along  with  charcoal, 
indicating  that  here  may  have  been  a  simple  kiln  for 
burning  pottery. 

In  the  manufacture  of  all  these  various  articles, 
some  of  which  required  a  great  amount  of  labor,  be- 


BLACK  FLIXT  KNIFE. 

sides  the  time  necessarily  taken  in  hunting  and  fish- 
ing and  in  the  cultivation  of  their  crops,  our  Indians 
must  have  been  pretty  fully  occupied,  and  we  can 
scarcely  believe  them  to  have  spent  so  much  time  in 
idleness  as  is  generally  supposed. 

In  their  domestic  relations  the  Mohegans  were  not 
depraved.  The  lover  courted  his  chosen  maiden  with 
presents  of  ornaments,  and  won  the  favor  of  her  par- 
ents with  gifts  of  wampum.  The  consent  of  the 
sachem  was  obtained  to  their  marriage,  and  he  usu- 
ally joined  their  hands  together  and  they  went  away 
as  man  and  wife.  The  man  had  but  one  wife,  unless 
he  was  a  sachem  or  occupied  an  exceptionally  high 
position.  The  marriage  tie 
was  respected,  and  unfaith- 
fulness was  looked  upon  as 
a  crime.  In  cases  of  sepa- 
ration the  wife  was  given 
her  share  of  the  goods  and  departed, 
being  then  at  liberty  to  marry  again.  The 
Mohegans  were  never  charged  with  licen- 
tiousness, as  were  Indians  elsewhere.  The  women  were 
described  as  modest  and  coy  in  their  behavior,  and  they 
indignantly  repelled  all  improper  advances  made  by 
the  whites.  There  is  no  account  of  any  insulting  treat- 
ment having  been  offered  to  female  white  captives. 
Children  were  kindly  treated,  but  knew  little  of  pa- 
rental restraint.  The  girls  were  early  taught  quiet 
submission  to  the  labors  of  their  position,  and  the  boys 
were  encouraged  to  independence,  and  trained  to  be- 
come skillful  in  the  chase  and  in  war. 

If  anv  deformed  children  were  born,  they  must  have 


FLINT  SKIN 
SCRAPER. 


FLINT  PEE 
FORATOR. 


died  in  infancy,  for  the  European  visitors  stated  that 
none  were  cross-eyed,  blind,  crippled,  lame  or  hunch- 
backed ;  and  that  all  were  well-fashioned,  strong  in 
constitution  of  body,  well-proportioned  and  without 
blemish.  They  were  kind  in  their  treatment  of  the 
sick.  They  had  learned  the  medicinal  virtues  of 
many  herbs  and  of  a  few  other  simples.   They  bound 


HAND-MADE  AND  FINCiER-MARKED  VESSEL  OF  POT    T  E 

up  wounds  with  mollifying  preparations  of  leaves. 
They  treated  fevers  by  opening  the  pores  of  the  skin 
with  a  vapor  bath  ;  but  their  chief  reliance  in  many 
diseases  was  upon  supernatural  cures.  Their  medi- 
cine-man, or  pow-wow,  excited  their  superstitious 
susceptibilities  and  worked  upon  their  imaginations, 
using,  with  great  solemnity,  the  ceremonial  stones  al- 
ready described  to  assist  in  his  work.  Their  reliance 
upon  faith-cures  was  complete. 


O  R  N  A  M  i:  X  T  A  L  1 '  0  TT  FRY. 
Found  in  Pethani  in  Indian  grave. 

It  is  not  known  that  there  were  formal  ceremonies 
for  burying  the  dead.  The  bodies  were  usually  in- 
terred in  a  sitting  posture,  facing  the  southwest. 
With  the  dead  were  buried  their  arms,  ornaments, 
useful  utensils,  wampum  and  parched  corn  for  food. 

Of  the  religious  belief  of  the  Mohegans  we  have 
very  little  testimony,  and  even  such  as  we  have  can- 
not be  considered  reliable.    In  the  compass  of  human 

1  This  is  of  doubtful  origin ;  found  deeply  buried  in  a  sjiring  near  the 
Indian  path  "Succabonk,"  in  Bedford. 


THE  INDIANS. 


17 


thought  there  are  no  ideas  requiring  so  clear  an  ex- 
pression to  be  correctly  understood  as  those  pertain- 
ing to  religion.  The  Indian  endeavored  to  express 
these  in  a  language  imperfectly  understood  by  the 
whites,  and  naturally  the  hearers  interpreted  these 
expressions  according  to  their  own  predilections.  It 
is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  very  little  has  come  to 
us  that  can  be  implicitly  accepted.  But  all  our  wit- 
nesses unite  upon  this  important  point, — thea-e  was 
no  kind  of  idolatry  practiced  among  the  aborigines 
here.  They  believed  in  one  all-wise,  all-powerful  and 
beneficent  Being,  whom  they  called  the  Cireat  Spirit, 
and  to  whom  they  offered  prayer.  They  also  believed 
in  an  evil  spirit.  The  former  they  knew  under  the 
name  Cantantowit.  and  the  latter  under  that  of  Hob- 
bamocko.  The  former  had  sent  them  their  corn  and 
beans.  A  crow  first  brought  a  grain  of  corn  in  one 
ear  and  a  bean  in  the  other,  from  their  heaven,  which 
they  called  the  happy  hunting-grounds,  located  in 
the  far  southwest.  Their  highest  conceptions  of  a 
place  of  blessings  were  associated  with  the  southwest, 
because  the  wind  from  that  quarter  is  soft  and  balmy 
and  an  indicator  of  fair  weather.  The  dead  were 
buried  with  their  faces  toward  the  abode  of  the 
blessed. 

They  believed  in  rewards  and  punishments  here- 
after, and  they  held  that  after  death  the  souls  of  the 
good  went  to  the  home  of  Cantantowit,  far  away  in 
the  good  southwest.  There  they  were  delivered  from 
every  sorrow  and  preserved  from  all  suflering.  The 
pleasures  they  there  enjoyed  were  similar  in  charac- 
ter with  those  they  had  known  here,  but  their  perfec- 
tion was  more  complete  and  their  abundance  exhaust- 
leas.  The  wicked  knocked  also  at  the  same  door,  but 
were  denied  admittance,  and,  being  turned  away^ 
they  wandered  forever  in  a  state  of  horror  and  rest- 
less discontent. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  form  a  correct  estimate 
of  the  Indian's  character  before  that  character  be- 
came changed  by  contact  with  the  Europeans.  His- 
tory teaches  us  how  quickly  an  inferior  race  becomes 
impressed  by  the  traits  of  a  stronger  people  coming 
among  them.  Unfortunately,  that  which  is  evil  is 
much  more  quickly  imitated  than  the  noble  and 
good.  Before  the  European  became  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  the  Indian  to  be  capable  of  judging  of 
his  character,  that  character  had  been  changed  by 
contact  with  the  observer  himself,  so  that  he  saw,  in 
part,  the  reflection  of  himself  in  the  subject  before 
him.  At  best,  there  was  presented  only  a  dissolving 
view  that  was  transformed  before  the  observer's  gaze. 
The  Indian  was  immediately  called  a  drunkard,  and 
yet  he  had  no  beverage  whatever  that  could  intoxi- 
cate, and  no  drug  that  answered  any  similar  purpose. 
The  first  Indian  who  felt  the  influence  of  alcohol 
found  it  in  the  cabin  of  the  "  Half-Moon."  So,  also, 
with  other  vices.  True,  the  Indian  was  a  barbarian. 
He  showed  no  evidence  of  having  been  in  any  way 
better  or  more  civilized  in  the  seventeenth  century 


than  he  may  have  been  in  the  tenth  or  fifth.  With 
him,  might  made  right.  He  imposed  upon  his  wo- 
men and  made  them  his  slaves.  He  had  no  intellec- 
tual exercise,  and  possessed  not  even  the  rudest  cul- 
ture. He  was  selfish,  took  pride  in  the  lowest  cun- 
ning and  had  no  idea  of  honor,  and,  of  cour.xe,  no 
word  for  expressing  it.  And  yet,  bad  as  he  was,  on 
the  one  hand,  he  should  not  be  held  responsible  for 
the  European  vices  that  wore  engrafted  upon  him, 
nor  upon  the  other,  should  he  be  judged  by  standards 
resulting  from  centuries  of  a  foreign  civilization,  or 
held  responsible  for  the  violation  of  laws  of  which  he 
had  no  knowledge. 

With  the  coming  of  the  white  man  came  the  fatal 
sorrows  of  the  Indian.  All  his  world  was  overthrown. 
New  vices  came  to  his  character  and  new  dangers 
surrounded  his  home.  The  one  fixed,  unchanging 
and  unchangeable  factor  in  his  existence,  upon 
which  he  could  imjilicitly  rely,  was  the  land ;  and 
now  this  was  snatched  from  him  by  devices  of  which 
he  was  totally  ignorant.  The  term  "title"  con- 
veyed no  meaning  to  his  understanding.  Acting 
under  the  laws  of  his  fathers,  and  doing  only  what 
he  had  always  been  taught  was  right,  he  found  him- 
self accused  of  gross  wrongs  under  another  set  of  laws 
of  which  he  had  never  heard,  and  whose  claim  to 
equity  he  could  not  understand.  Under  the  pretense 
of  right,  he  found  himself  most  grievously  wronged, 
and  we  cannot  wonder  that,  between  such  opposite 
rules  of  action,  the  collision  of  princijjles  quickly  re- 
sulted in  collisions  of  arms.  The  contest  was  inevit- 
able, and,  whether  it  was  carried  on  under  the  name 
of  war  or  in  the  more  quiet  forms  of  peace,  it  was  a 
contest  of  races,  a  contest  of  civilization  against  bar- 
barism, and  the  result  was  inevitable, — the  Indian 
disappeared  from  the  land. 

When  the  "  Half-Moon  "  lay  at  anchor  off  the  vil- 
lage of  Nappeckamak,  the  Indians  soon  overcame 
the  terror  that  naturally  accompanied  so  strange  aii 
apparition,  and,  putting  off  in  their  canoes,  went  on 
board  in  large  numbers.  Their  curiosity  knew  no 
bounds,  and  was  only  restrained  by  their  dread  of  the 
supernatural  powers  the  strangers  might  possess.  By 
Hudson's  own  statement,  he  himself  first  violated  faith 
with  them.  He  detained  two  of  their  number  (*n  the 
vessel,  and,  although  they  soon  jumped  overboard 
and  swam  to  the  shore,  his  act  was  nevertheless  an 
outrage  upon  the  universal  rules  of  hospitality.  He 
recorded  that,  when  they  reached  the  shore,  they 
called  to  him  "in  scorn."  Hudson  ascended  the 
river  to  Albany,  holding  communication  with  the  In- 
dians along  the  way  ;  and  so  kind  was  their  disposi- 
tion toward  him,  that  he  wrote  of  them  as  "  the  lov- 
ing people."  On  his  return  he  came  through  the 
Highlands  on  the  1st  of  October,  and  anchored  below 
the  village  of  Sackhoes,  on  whose  site  Peekskill  has 
been  built.  Here  "  the  people  of  the  mountains " 
came  on  board  and  greatly  wondered  at  the  ship  and 
weapons,  the  color  of  the  men  and  their  dress.  De- 


18 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


scending  the  river,  Hudson  found  that  the  Indians  at 
Yonkers  were  prepared  to  resent  his  treatment.  The 
young  men  whom  he  had  attempted  to  kidnap  came 
out  with  their  friends  in  canoes  and  discharged  their 
arrows  at  the  "  Half-Moon,"  "in  recompense  whereof 
six  muskets  replied  and  killed  two  or  three  of  them." 
The  Indians  renewed  the  attack  from  a  point  of  land 
(perhaps  preceding  the  vessel  to  Fort  Washington), 
but  "a  falcon  shot  killed  two  of  them  and  the  rest 
fled  into  the  woods ;  yet  they  manned  off  another 
canoe  with  nine  or  ten  men,"  through  which  a  falcon 
shot  was  sent,  killing  one  of  its  occupants.  Three  or 
four  more  were  killed  by  the  sailors'  muskets,  and  the 
"  Half-Moon  "  "  hurried  down  into  the  bay  clear  of 
all  danger." 

Hudson  returned  to  Holland,  and  reported  his 
discoveries  to  his  employers,  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company.  During  the  following  ten  or  twelve  years 
many  voyages  were  made  to  the  shores  of  the  Hud- 
son and  the  Sound  for  purposes  of  trade  with  the 
Indians,  for  their  furs  and  to  explore  the  country. 
In  1621  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  incor- 
porated. Two  years  afterward  it  formed  trading-sta- 
tions at  New  Amsterdam  and  at  Fort  Orange,  and 
considerable  settlements  were  made  on  the  sites  of 
the  future  cities  of  New  York  and  Albany.  In  1626 
Manhattan  Island  was  sold  by  the  Indians.  In  1639 
the  first  sale  of  land  in  Westchester  County  was 
made.  It  included  the  northern  shore  of  Spuyten 
Duy  vil  Creek.  Other  sales  were  made  by  the  Indians 
to  the  Dutch  until,  on  the  8th  day  of  August, 
1699,  the  Sachems  Sackima,  Corachpa,  Wechrequa, 
Monrechro  and  sundry  other  Indians  gave  a  general 
deed  confirming  numerous  smaller  sales  made  to 
Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  and  others,  and  conveying 
the  lands  that  were  afterward  known  as  Cortlandt's 
Manor. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Indians  were  beset  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  county  as  well  as  the  western. 
The  English  settlers  in  Connecticut  gradually  pushed 
westward,  and  coveted  the  lands  of  our  eastern  bor- 
der. On  the  1st  of  July,  1640,  Ponus,  sagamore  of 
Toquains,  and  Wascussue,  sagamore  of  Shippan,  sold 
to  Nathan  Turner,  who  acted  for  the  people  of  New 
Haven,  the  tract  known  to  the  Indians  as  Rippo- 
wams,  and  which  included  the  greater  portion  of  what 
is  now  Fairfield  County,  in  Connecticut,  and  a  con- 
siderable area  of  the  adjoining  lands  of  Westchester. 
On  the  11th  of  August,  165.5,  Ponus  and  Onox,  his 
eldest  son,  confirmed  this  sale  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Stamford.  Subsidiary  to  this  great  sale,  numerous 
others  were  made, — some  of  lands  included  in  the 
above,  and  others  of  lands  adjacent  thereto,  like  the 
one  made  to  Thomas  Pell,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  in 
1654,  and  to  Edward  Jessup  and  John  Richardson, 
in  1663,  of  tracts  adjoining  those  sold  to  the  Dutch 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  county.  By  these  sales 
the  Indians  disposed  of  the  entire  area  of  West- 
chester County,  except  a  few  insignificant  reserva- 


tions and  the  right  to  plant  corn  upon  certain  por- 
tions for  a  term  of  years.  Many  of  these  deeds  over- 
lapped each  other,  so  that  some  of  the  land  was  sold 
two  or  three  times.  This  was  done  without  any  dis- 
honest intent  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  They 
never  underatood,  when  giving  these  deeds,  what 
they  meant.  As  has  been  already  said,  they  had  no 
comprehension  of  what  we  call  the  title  to  land. 
They  u'nderstood  the  right  of  occupation  and  use, 
and  nothing  more.  The  written  deed  had  no  special 
force  in  their  eyes.  Its  phrases  were  incomprehen- 
sible. By  their  law  the  ownership  ceased  when  the 
premises  were  deserted.  If  the  land  was  not  at  once 
occupied,  they  could  sell  it  again  to  others.  If  they 
drove  the  new  purchasers  away  by  force,  they  thereby 
regained  ownership.  Therefore,  in  many  cases,  they 
insisted,  the  settlers  thought  dishonestly,  that  their 
original  rights  remained  vested  in  themselves,  and 
the  purchaser  was  compelled  to  repeat  his  purchase 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  quit-claim. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  specify  the  considera- 
tions named  in  the  several  deeds,  as  this  matter  was 
the  work  of  the  settlers,  and  will  be  more  fully  con- 
sidered in  their  connection.  They  consisted  of  a  few 
hoes,  hatchets,  knives,  kettles,  articles  of  clothing, 
rum  and  "divers  other  goods."  These  seem  very 
insignificant  to  us;  but,  in  justice  to  the  settlers,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  values  were  very  different 
then  from  what  they  are  now.  But  the  Indian's 
position  is  easily  understood.  He  had  no  correct 
ideas  of  value.  This  coat  would  make  him  a  king; 
this  knife  would  be  the  pride  of  his  life;  these  trin- 
kets delighted  his  eyes,  or,  if  a  worthier  reason  influ- 
enced him,  he  remembered  how  the  squaws  had 
toiled  in  cultivating  the  corn  with  a  miserable  clam- 
shell, and  he  rejoiced  at  the  thought  of  Iheir  labor 
being  lightened  by  the  iron  hoe  that  was  offered  him. 
By  simply  placing  his  mark  upon  this  meaningless 
paper,  all  these  were  secured.  At  best  he  but  made 
a  virtue  of  necessity,  and  was  happy  to  secure  these 
coveted  trinkets,  the  nominal  price  for  giving  a  nom- 
inal consent  for  the  white  man  to  occupy  the  land. 

When  Henry  Hudson  sailed  away  from  the  river 
he  had  discovered,  its  shores  re-echoed  with  the  war- 
cries  of  a  people  whose  confidence  he  had  abused  and 
whose  kindred  he  had  slain.  The  hostility  he  had 
awakened  was  not  mitigated  by  subsequent  events, 
and  when,  afterward,  the  traders  came,  mutual  sus- 
picion and  distrust  were  not  long  in  bringing  the 
clash  of  arms.  So  soon  as  the  Dutch  had  made  a 
settlement,  their  cattle  were  allowed  to  run  at  large 
for  pasturage,  and  "frequently  came  into  the  corn  of 
the  Indians,  which  was  unfenced  on  all  sides,  com- 
mitting great  damage  there.  This  led  to  complaints 
on  their  part,  and  finally  to  revenge  on  the  cattle, 
without  sparing  even  the  horses."  In  1626  a  Weck- 
qujesgeek  Indian,  from  the  vicinity  of  Tarrytown, 
while  on  his  way  to  Fort  Amsterdam  to  exchange 
his  furs,  was  robbed  and  killed  by  men  in  the  em- 


THE  INDIANS. 


19 


ploy  of  Peter  Minuit,  the  first  Dutch  Director.  The 
Weckqujesgeek  was  accompanied  by  his  nephew, 
who  was  a  boy,  and  another  Indian.  The  Dutch 
were  not  aware  of  this  outrage  till  long  afterward. 
The  boy,  true  to  the  principles  of  his  race,  treasured 
a  revenge  which  he  believed  it  to  be  his  duty  to  exact 
in  manhood.  He  waited  no  longer  than  to  reach  a 
warrior's  age  of  seventeen,  wheu  he  took  some  beaver- 
skins  to  barter,  and,  stopping  at  the  house  of  a 
Dutchman,  lie  killed  him  while  examining  the  goods. 
Having  thus  secured  the  blood  atonement  required 
for  the  death  of  a  relative,  he  returned  to  his  home. 
Governor  Kieft  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  of- 
fender; but  the  Weckqua^sgeeks  refused  to  give  him 
up.  There  was  great  excitement  in  New  Amsterdam. 
Expeditions  to  exterminate  the  Indians  were  organ- 
ized;  but  they  accomplished  nothing.  Finally,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  between  the  Dutch  and  the  In- 
dians, the  former  agreeing  to  some  matters  required 
by  the  latter,  on  condition  that  the  murderer  should 
be  surrendered.  But  the  treaty  was  never  fulfilled 
by  either  party.  It  was  a  very  difficult  matter  to 
have  an  Indian  arrested  whose  actions  had  been  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  laws  and  customs  of  his 
race.  Against  the  advice  of  the  chief  men  of  Man- 
hattan, Governor  Kieft  had  sent  a  company  of  eighty 
men  against  the  Weckqutesgeeks  in  March,  1642, 
and  although  they  did  little  damage,  the  Indians 
were  greatly  incensed  thereby.  Various  causes  of 
irritation  had  brought  the  Dutch  and  Indians  into 
violent  collision  west,  of  the  Hudson,  and  finally 
those  Indians  made  common  cause  with  the  Weck- 
qua-sgeeks,  and  the  Dutch  were  swept  from  West- 
chester, and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Fort 
Amsterdam.  "  From  swamps  and  thickets  the  mys- 
terious enemy  made  his  sudden  onset.  The  farmer 
was  murdered  in  the  open  field;  women  and  children, 
granted  their  lives,  were  swept  off"  into  long  captiv- 
ity; houses  and  boweiies,  hay-stacks  and  grain,  cattle 
and  crops  were  all  destroyed."  The  Indians  were 
now  satisfied,  and  on  the  22d  of  April,  1643,  they 
made  a  treaty  of  peace,  in  which  it  was  declared  that 
'"all  injuries  committed  by  the  said  natives  against 
the  Netherlanders,  or  by  the  Xetherlanders  against 
said  natives,  shall  be  forgiven  and  forgotten  forever, 
reciprocally  promising  one  the  other  to  cause  no 
trouble  the  one  to  the  other."  But,  in  September  of 
that  year,  war  again  broke  out,  beginning  with  the 
capture,  by  the  Indians,  of  two  boats  descending  the 
river  from  Fort  Orange,  and  again  the  Dutch  settlers 
were  all  driven  into  Fort  Amsterdam.  The  Weck- 
quaisgeeks  attacked  the  residence  of  Anne  Hutchin- 
son, who  had  been  driven  out  of  New  England  by  the 
Puritans,  and  had  settled  within  the  present  bounds 
of  Pelham,  and  killed  her,  her  daughter  and  her  son- 
in-law,  and  carried  her  young  granddaughter  into  cap- 
tivity. She  remained  with  the  Indians  four  years,  and 
was  then  sent  to  her  friends.  She  had  forgotten  her 
native  tongue,  and  was  unwilling  to  leave  the  Indians. 


Throgniorton's  settlement,  on  Throg's  Neck,  was 
also  attacked  and  its  buildings  burned,  while  the  peo- 
ple escaped  in  their  boats.  The  position  of  the 
Dutch  was  perilous  in  the  extreme,  and  had  the  In- 
dians known  their  power  the  whites  would  have  been 
swept  away.  Governor  Kieft  now  solicited  aid  from 
New  England,  offering  a  large  sum  for  men  and  arms 
and  proposing  that  New  Netherland  should  be  mort- 
gaged to  secure  the  i)ayment  of  the  money.  They 
received  the  aid,  however,  of  only  a  few  English  vol- 
unteers. Two  companies,  one  of  sixty-five  and  one 
of  seventy-five  men,  were  soon  organized,  and  the 
work  of  retaliation  commenced.  Quantities  of  corn 
were  captured  upon  Staten  and  Long  Islands  and  an 
expedition  sailed  to  Greenwich,  in  Connecticut,  and 
marched  through  our  eastern  borders,  but  accom- 
plished nothing  beyond  the  burning  of  two  forsaken 
castles  and  some  corn.  From  these  ex])editions 
prisoners  were  taken  to  Fort  Amsterdam,  where  they 
were  treated  with  shocking  cruelty,  as  is  recorded  in 
the  "  Breeden  Raedt."  A  more  formidable  expedi- 
tion was  then  organized.  Hearing  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  Indians  were  assembled  at  their  village  on  the 
Mehanas,  near  the  present  village  of  Bedford,  the 
force  was  taken  in  sailing-vessels  to  Greenwich  and 
then  marched  through  the  snow  to  their  destination, 
which  was  reached  about  midnight.  The  village 
consisted  of  three  rows  of  houses  ranged  in  streets, 
each  eighty  paces  long.  The  village  was  surrounded, 
the  surprised  Indians  were  shot  down  as  soon  as  they 
appeared  and  the  houses  were  set  on  fire.  The  in- 
mates preferred  to  perish  in  the  flames  rather  than  to 
fall  by  their  enemy's  weapons.  In  this  merciless 
manner  five  hundred  human  beings  were  butchered. 
Other  statements  carry  the  number  to  seven  hundred. 
The  militarj'  power  of  the  Indians  was  now  broken 
and  thereafter  warlike  operations  ceased.  On  the 
30th  of  the  following  August,  1645,  a  general  treaty 
of  peace  was  concluded  between  the  Dutch  and  the 
Indians  of  the  Lower  Hudson,  and  signed  by  their 
respective  chiefs — Aepjen,  the  grand  sachem  of  the 
Mohegans,  representing  his  people.  This  treaty  was 
an  equitable  agreement  and  was  carefully  respected. 
Thus  was  ended  a  war  which  had  been  carried  on  for 
over  five  years  and  in  which,  it  was  said,  over  sixteen 
hundred  Indians  perished.  The  Dutch  recorded: 
"  Our  fields  lie  fallow  and  waste,  our  dwellings  and 
other  buildings  are  burnt,  not  a  handful  can  be 
planted  or  sown  this  fall  on  all  the  abandoned  j)lace8. 
All  this  through  a  foolish  hankering  after  war,  for  it  is 
known  to  all  right-thinking  men  here  that  these  In- 
dians have  lived  as  lambs  among  us  until  a  few  years 
ago,  injuring  no  one  and  affording  every  assistance  to 
our  nation." 

There  are  traditions  of  the  slaughter  of  large  num- 
bers of  Indians  at  other  points  in  the  county,  but 
they  are  believed  to  be  unfounded.  Mount  Misery, 
near  the  Sound,  hiis  long  been  said  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  the  slaughter  of  Indians  there  by  the 


20 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Huguenots  of  New  Eochelle.  There  is  no  record  of 
such  an  engagement,  and  the  story  is  altogether  im- 
probable. 

The  Indians  of  Westchester  took  no  jxirt  in  the 
Esopus  wars  of  the  succeeding  years  farther  up  the 
Hudson,  nor  did  they  engage  in  the  French  and  In- 
dian Wars  which  rolled  so  frightfully  along  the  bor- 
ders of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  nor  in  other 
wars  that  followed  elsewhere. 

The  last  appearance  of  Mohegan  Indians  under 
arms  in  Westchester  County  was  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  when  a  company  under  their  chief, 
Nimham,  joined  Washington's  forces.  On  the  31s;t 
of  August,  1778,  they  took  part  in  the  engage- 
ment at  Tibbet's  Brook,  on  the  Van  Cortlandt's  es- 
tate, in  Yonkers.  They  fought  bravely  and  over 
forty  of  their  number  were  killed.  When  Nimham 
saw  that  they  were  surrounded  by  the  British  horse, 
he  called  to  his  followers  to  fly,  exclaiming,  "  I  am 
old  and  will  die  here."  Ridden  down  by  Colonel 
Siracoe,  he  wounded  that  officer,  and  was  on  the  point 
of  pulling  him  from  his  horse,  when  he  was  shot  by 
Simcoe's  orderly. 

After  their  great  loss,  in  1645,  the  Indians  felt  that 
they  must  inevitably  seek  other  homes.  Year  by 
year  the  increasing  tide  of  settlers  was  incompatible 
with  Indian  occupation,  and,  although  considerable 
numbers  continued  for  a  long  time  to  remain  upon 
the  lands  they  had  sold  to  the  whites,  they  gradually 
wasted  away,  many  of  them  moving  among  their 
friends  farther  north,  and  making  Stockbridge,  in 
Massachusetts,  the  headquarters  of  the  tribe,  and  fi- 
nally the  remnant  that  remained  was  removed  thence  to 
the  State  of  Michigan.  Their  exit  from  Westchester 
County  was  very  gradual,  for  they  "  loved  to  linger 
where  they  loved  so  well."  At  a  few  points  they  re- 
mained for  a  long  time  in  considerable  numbers,  and 
Indian  Hill,  in  Yorktown,  became  memorable  as  the 
last  spot  in  Westchester  County  inhabited  by  a  band 
of  aborigines.  Yet  individual  families  remained 
still  longer  elsewhere. 

The  Indians  vanished  from  Westchester  as  noise- 
lessly as  the  morning  mists  disappear  before  the  ad- 
vancing day,  inclosed  valleys  and  hidden  nooks  re- 
taining remnants  after  the  great  body  had  gone.  They 
left  behind  them  so  few  material  evidences  of  their 
existence  here  that  we  find  them  only  by  accident  or 
by  careful  search.  But  many  of  the  names  applied 
by  them  to  mountains,  streams  and  localities  have 
been  fortunately  retained  by  the  white  settlers  and 
their  descendants,  and  in  their  associations  and  ap- 
propriateness add  an  interesting  variety  to  our  local 
nomenclature. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    DISCOVERY   AND    SETTLEilEXT   OF  ■WESTCHES- 
TER COUNTY. 

BY  JAMES  WOOD,  A.M. 
President  of  the  Westchester  County  Historical  Society. 

Europeans  first  came  to  the  section  of  coun- 
try now  known  as  Westchester  County  in  the 
vain  endeavor  to  find  an  easy  sea-way  to  India  and 
Cathay  that  received  so  much  of  the  attention  of 
maritime  nations  in  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries.  The  wealth  of  those  far-distant 
lands  had  for  many  ages  been  borne  by  slow  caravans 
across  the  wear}^  stretches  of  Central  and  Southern 
Asia,  and  had  built  prosperous  cities  wherever  their 
rich  spices  and  costly  fabrics  and  precious  jewels  had 
found  a  trading-place.  These  visible  realities  had 
been  supplemented  by  extravagant  fables  of  the 
riches  of  the  East,  until  the  minds  of  navigators 
were  inflamed  with  an  eager  desire  to  reach  these 
inexhaustible  treasures  and  bring  them  quickly  home 
in  their  ships  of  the  sea,  instead  of  upon  the  "ships 
of  the  desert,"  as  they  had  so  slowly  come  before. 
This  desire  led  to  great  events.  It  developed  naviga- 
tion into  a  science.  It  took  the  Portuguese  around 
the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  to  which  they  gave 
its  auspicious  name,  because  it  furnished  a  good  hope 
of  reaching  India  by  sea.  It  brought  Columbus 
across  the  Atlantic  to  discover  a  new  world.  It 
brought  great  and  intrepid  navigators  to  explore  the 
coast  of  North  America  from  Greenland  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and,  finally,.in  1609,  it  brought  Henry 
Hudson  into  the  river  that  bears  his  name,  and  re- 
vealed our  beautiful  hills  and  fertile  valleys  to  the 
gaze  of  civilized  men. 

Europeans  were  very  slow  to  reap  a  profit,  in  any 
intelligent  manner,  from  the  discovery  of  America. 
Spain  first  sought  to  gain  some  advantage  to  herself, 
and,  in  the  blindest  way,  filled  her  coffers  with 
treasure  and  destroyed  the  peoples  who  produced  the 
wealth.  Caring  only  for  immediate  gain,  she  de- 
spoiled the  Incas  and  overthrew  the  institutions  of 
the  Aztecs,  and  everywhere  turned  prosperity  into 
ruin.  Later,  she  made  a  settlement  in  Florida,  whose 
monuments  still  remain.  The  daring  fishermen  of 
France  sought  the  shores  of  Newfoundland  in  the 
pursuit  of  their  vocation,  and  were  followed  into  the 
St.  Lawrence  by  the  flag  and  arms  of  their  country, 
where  they  so  tenaciously  remained.  England 
waited  for  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  for  the  enterprise 
that  developed  her  greatness  in  every  direction  and 
planted  colonies  in  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and 
later,  showed  her  energy  and  colonizing  power  in  the 
planting  of  New  England.  It  was  reserved 
for  the  people  of  the  youngest  nation  in 
Europe  to  occupy  the  territory  between  the 
Euglish  settlements  which  Hudson  had  first 
discovered,  and  here  to  trade  in  equity 
with  the  aborigines,  and  to  form  a  set- 


THE  DISCOVERY  AND  .SETTLEMENT. 


21 


tlement  of  sturdy  ami  intelligent  people  whose 
descendants  and  institutions  still  remain.  In  making 
their  settlements,  Spaniards,  Frenchmen  and  Eng- 
lishmen made  lofty  professions  of  their  desires  to 
convert  the  heathen  to  the  Christian  faith,  and,  with 
the  utmost  inconsistency,  they  employed  the  musket 
and  the  sword  to  accomplish  their  purposes.  The 
Dutch  professed  only  a  desire  for  trade  with  the  In- 
dians, with  the  same  propriety  that  the  most  Chris- 
tian nations  to-day  seek  to  extend  their  commerce, 
and  hy  treating  them  with  a  reasonable  show  of 
justice,  they  found  no  severe  difficulties  in  their 
enterprise,  while  they  put  to  shame  the  hollow  i)re- 
tensions  of  their  ambitious  neighbors. 

The  long  and  harassing  war  by  which  the  Nether- 
land  provinces  achieved  their  independence  of  the  j 
Si)anish  crown  had  been  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  the  world's  history.  The  wealth  and  power  of 
Spain  were  considered  almost  boundless.  The  revolt- 
ing )jrovinces  were  small  in  area  and  in  population.  The  ' 
contest  seemed  most  unequal,  but  the  same  energy,  per- 
sistence and  skill  that  had  wrested  their  fertile  land 
irom  the  sea  defeated  the  armies  of  Spain  and  wore 
out  the  endurance  of  her  sovereigns,  until,  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1609,  the  protracted  struggle  ended 
and  the  independence  of  the  Netherlands  was  practi- 
cally acknowledged.  During  all  the  contest  the 
Dutch  had  shown  their  superiority  upon  the  ocean. 
Their  vessels  carried  on  a  profitable  commerce  in 
every  sea  and  jiushed  into  that  rich  trade  with  the  ! 
East  which  had  been  especially  denied  them  by  j 
Spain.  To  carry  on  this  important  trade  the  East  i 
India  Company  had  been  incorporated  in  1602.  | 
Profitable  as  were  their  voyages  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  they  yet  dreamed  there  might  be  a  shorter 
route  for  their  vessels,  and  one  in  which  they  would 
be  less  exposed  to  attack.  The  long-cherished  possi- 
bility of  a  northwest  passage  to  the  Indian  seas  was 
still  entertained.  Opportunely,  an  English  navigator, 
Henry  Hudson,  who  had  made  two  voyages  to  this 
ever  disappointing  field  of  discovery,  offered  his  ser- 
vices. The  ofiier  was  accepted,  and  a  yacht  of  eighty 
tons  burden,  the  Half-Moon,  was  equipped  for  a 
voyage,  manned  by  a  mixed  crew  of  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish sailors,  numbering  twenty,  and  sailed  from  Am- 
sterdam on  the  4th  of  April,  1609,  five  days  before  the 
truce  with  Spain  was  signed.  Striking  the  American 
coast  at  Nova  Scotia,  Hudson  skirted  the  shores  of 
Maine  and  Cape  Cod  and  next  reached  the  mouth  of 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and,  turning  northward,  passed  the 
coast  of  Maryland  and  entered  Delaware  Bay.  Again 
standing  northward,  on  the  2d  of  September  he 
sighted  the  highlands  of  Navesinck,  "  a  very  good 
land  to  fall  in  with  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see,"  and 
on  the  following  day  he  rounded  Sandy  Hook  and 
entered  the  lower  bay.  Hudson  spent  ten  days  in 
exploring  the  adjacent  waters.  Then,  proceeding  up 
the  majestic  river  that  opened  before  him,  on  the 
13th  the   Half-Moon  was   anchored   opposite  the 


site  of  the  i)resent  city  of  Yonkers.  The  voyage  was 
continued  as  far  as  the  river  was  found  navigable, 
when  Hudson  returned,  having  considerable  inter- 
course with  the  Indians  by  the  way,  until,  as  he 
passed  our  shores  and  re-entered  New  York  Bay,  his 
men  wantonly  killed  nine  of  their  number.  Just  one 
month  from  the  day  Hudson  arrived  inside  Sandy 
Hook  the  Half-Moon  sailed  out  again  to  the 
ocean.  On  the  7th  of  November  they  reached  Dart- 
month,  in  Devonshire,  England,  and  there  the  Half- 
Moon  wintered,  Hudson  sending  a  report  of  his 
discoveries  to  his  employers  in  Holland.  England, 
becoming  jealous  of  the  advantages  that  might  accrue 
to  her  maritime  rival  by  these  discoveries,  prevented 
Hudson  from  returning  to  Holland,  and  his  connec- 
tion with  the  East  India  Company  ended.  He  never 
revisited  the  river  that  makes  his  name  immortal, 
but  under  English  patronage  he  continued  the  vain 
search  for  a  sea-way  to  India  and  lost  his  life  in  Hud- 
son's Bay  in  1611.  The  company  abandoned  all 
effort  to  discover  a  northwest  passage,  and  made  no 


CAPTAIN  HEXRY  HUDSON. 

attempt  to  utilize  the  discoveries  that  had  thus  been 
made.  The  Half-Moon,  surviving  her  famous  com- 
mander, was  subsequently  sent  upon  a  voyage  to 
the  East  Indies,  and  was  wrecked  in  1615  on  the 
island  of  Mauritius. 

Although  the  East  India  Company  gave  no  further 
attention  to  the  region  their  enterprise  had  discovered, 
it  was  impossible  for  the  active  Hollanders  not  to 
make  an  effort  to  gain  some  advantage  from  it.  The 
fur  trade  had  already  become  an  important  interest 
with  the  Dutch.  During  the  war  with  Spain  they 
had  opened  and  developed  a  profitable  interchange  ot 
commodities  with  the  countries  of  the  Baltic,  and 
they  had  become  the  chief  distributors  of  Russian 
furs  to  the  countries  of  Europe.  Naturally,  they 
soon  turned  their  attention  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
fur  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  Hudson  River,  where 
beaver,  otter  and  other  valuable  fur-bearing  animals 
were  abundant. 

Merchants  fitted  out  vessels  and  sent  them  across 
the  ocean  under  such  skillful  commanders  as  the  for- 
mer mate  of  the  Half-Moon   and  Captains  Chris- 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tiaensen,  Block,  De  Witt  and  May.  Further  explora- 
tions of  the  coast  were  made,  as  well  as  valuable  car- 
goes obtained.  Depots  for  the  collection  of  furs,  and 
a  friendly  and  advantageous  intercourse  with  the  In- 
dians, were  established.  Captain  Block's  vessel,  the 
"Tiger,"  was  accidentally  burned  in  Xew  York  Bay, 
in  1613,  and,  without  aid  from  Holland,  the  intrepid 
commander  and  his  crew  built  the  first  vessel,  the 
'  Restless,"  ever  launched  upon  American  waters. 
To  shelter  them,  while  engaged  in  the  work,  the  first 
houses  were  erected  upon  Manhattan  Island.  During 
the  winter  the  Indians  supplied  them  "  with  food  and 
all  kinds  of  necessaries." 

In  the  "  Restless  "  Block  sailed  boldly  through  the 
rushing  currents  of  the  East  River,  naming  its  most 
dangerous  portion  "  Hell  Gate,"  after  a  similar  situa. 
tion  in  a  branch  of  the  Scheldt,  near  Hulst,  in  Zea- 
land, called  "  Hellegat."  He  explored  our  shore  of 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  continued  eastward  to  Cape 
Cod.  The  importance  of  these  enterprises  increased 
so  that  the  States-General  passed  ordinances  regulat. 
ing  the  trade,  and,  in  1614,  granted  a  charter  to  the 
traders,  in  which  the  country  was  first  called  "  New 
Netherland."  The  merchants  to  whom  the  charter  was 
granted  were  not  united  as  a  corporation,  but  were 
merely  participants  in  a  limited  monopoly,  which 
they  enjoyed  in  common.  They  had  no  powers  of 
government,  as  they  did  not  contemplate  any  perma- 
nent colonization.  Their  charter  expired  by  its  own 
limitation  on  the  1st  of  January,  1618.  By  that  time 
trading  ports  had  been  established  on  Manhattan 
Island  and  upon  Castle  Island,  near  Albany,  and 
doubtless  considerable  trading  had  been  done  with 
the  Indians  of  Westchester  County,  but  no  attempt  at 
settlement  had  yet  been  made.  There  was  now  much 
uncertainty  as  to  the  best  course  to  pursue  in  relation 
to  this  new  territory,  whose  importance  to  the  traders 
was  daily  increasing.  Various  propositions  were  con- 
sidered and  dismissed,  until,  in  1621,  the  West  India 
Company  was  organized,  and  received  a  charter  of  al- 
most unlimited  powers  of  government,  while  it  was 
required  to  "advance  the  peopling  of  this  fruitful  and 
unsettled  part,  and  do  all  that  the  service  of  those 
countries  and  the  profit  and  increase  of  trade  shall  re- 
quire." The  internal  organization  of  the  company 
proved  a  tedious  matter,  and  it  was  not  until  June, 
1623,  that  the  plans  were  perfected  and  the  articles  of 
government  were  approved  by  the  States-General. 
Then  active  preparations  were  made  for  the  increase 
of  the  trade  with  the  Indians  and  for  making  a  per- 
manent settlement  upon  the  yet  unoccupied  lands. 

Circumstances  at  home  had  ])rovided  excellejit  emi- 
grants to  undertake  the  hardships  of  a  settlement  in 
the  New  World.  The  protracted  struggle  with  Spain 
had  aroused  strong  religious  animosities.  The  con- 
test had  been  largely  limited  by  religious  sentiment. 
Spain  was  closely  attached  to  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  so  were  the  southern  Netherland  provinces  of  Na- 
mur  and  Hainault,  Luxemburg  and  Limburg,  which 


had  refused  to  join  Holland  and  Zealand  in  forming 
the  United  Netherlands.  The  northern  provinces, 
which  had  gained  their  independence,  were  strongly 
Protestant.  The  Protestants  of  these  Belgic  provinces 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  homes  and  seek  a  resi- 
dence elswhere.  Where  should  they  go?  Many  es- 
tablished themselves  in  England  and  enriched  that 
country  with  their  profitable  industries.  Opportune- 
ly, the  West  India  Company  invited  settlers  to  New 
Netherland.  Considerable  numbers  embraced  the 
offer,  and  thus  the  Walloons  became  the  first  perma- 
nent residents  upon  the  shores  of  the  Hudson,  and  the 
first  tillers  of  the  soil.  They  spoke  the  French  lan- 
guage, and  were  chiefly  united  with  the  Hollanders 
in  their  common  hatred  of  the  Spanish  rule.  They 
came  here  to  establish  homes  for  themselves  and  their 
children,  while  the  Dutch  were  chiefly  interested  in 
the  profits  of  the  fur  trade.  It  thus  occurred  that  the 
first  New  Netherland  settlement  was  in  its  character 
more  Walloon  than  Dutch. 

The  refugees  from  the  southern  provinces,  with  a 
number  of  Huguenots  from  France,  at  first  desired  to 
join  one  of  the  English  settlements  in  America,  and 
made  overtures  to  this  end,  but  these  were  not  favor- 
ably received.  When  the  West  India  Company  gladly 
accepted  them  as  emigrants  to  their  domain,  speedy  jjre- 
parations  were  made  for  their  departure,  and  in  March, 
1623,  the  new  ship  "New  Netherland,"  under  Captain 
May,  sailed  from  the  Texel  with  a  company  of  thirty 
families  on  board.  They  reached  their  destination 
early  in  the  month  of  May,  in  good  time  to  plant  such 
crops  as  would  supply  them  with  necessary  food.  The 
few  huts  erected  by  Block,  ten  years  before,  afforded 
them  shelter.  Having  the  interest  of  the  fur  trade 
more  in  view  than  the  welfare  of  the  colonists,  the 
members  of  the  company  were,  unfortunately,  dis- 
persed, some  going  to  the  South,  or  Delaware  River, 
and  others  to  Castle  Island,  near  Albany,  where  Fort 
Nassau  was  soon  afterward  built.  May  had  been  ap- 
pointed Director.  The  settlers  who  went  to  the  South 
River  soon  returned.  Other  Walloons  came  from 
Holland.  In  December,  1625,  Peter  Minuit,  himself 
a  Walloon,  was  appointed  Director-General,  and 
Manhattan  Island  and  the  adjacent  lands  soon  con- 
tained an  energetic  colony  of  about  three  hundred 
souls. 

It  is  probable  that  the  settlers  soon  tilled  the  lands 
upon  the  northern  shores  of  the  Harlem  River,  as  well 
as  the  upper  portions  of  Manhattan  Island.  In  the 
year  1628,  Jonas  Michaelius,  a  clergyman  of  the  Re- 
formed Church,  came  to  New  Amsterdam  and  held 
religious  services  in  both  the  Dutch  and  French  lan- 
guages. He  wrote  of  the  settlers  and  their  church  at- 
tendance : — "  Some  of  them  live  far  away  and  could 
not  come  on  account  of  the  heavy  rains  and  storms." 
This,  doubtless,  referred  to  those  who  lived  along  the 
Harlem,  as  well  as  those  from  across  the  East  River. 
Unfortunately,  no  records  of  the  colony,  for  the  first 
fifteen  years  after  its  establishment,  have  been  pre- 


THE  DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 


23 


served,  so  that  we  are  forced  to  draw  inferences  from 
sucli  collateral  statements. 

Minuit  showed  energy  and  vigor  in  his  administra- 
tion. To  assist  him,  a  council  was  appointed,  with 
legislative  and  judicial  powers.  There  was  also  u 
secretary  of  the  province  and  a  sheriff.  It  was  soon 
seen  that  the  rights  of  the  Indians  must  be  respected, 
as  being  superior  to  any  European  right  of  discovery 
and  occupation.  Minuit,  therefore,  very  justly 
opened  negotiations  with  them  for  the  purchase  of 
Manhattan  Island,  and  they  relinquished  their  claims 
thereto  "  for  the  value  of  sixty  guilders,"  which  was 
equivalent  to  about  twenty-four  dollars  of  our  money 
In  the  light  of  subsequent  events  this  sum  seems  most 
absurdly  insignificant,  but,  under  the  circumstances, 
the  amount  was  reasonable  and  the  transaction  honor- 
able. 

The  West  India  Company  wisely  encouraged 
emigration.  They  brought  over  horses,  cattle  and 
poultry  for  the  use  of  the  settlers.  Their  farms, 
called  "  boweries,"  showed  prosperity.  An  English 
observer  wrote  that  the  emigrants,  "though  they  be 
not  many,  are  well  chosen,  and  known  to  be  useful 
and  serviceable,  and  they  (the  company)  second  them 
with  seasonable  and  fit  supplies,  cherishing  them 
as  carefully  as  their  own  families."  But  the  enter- 
prise drew  heavily  upon  the  company's  treasury,  and 
they  soon  began  to  devise  means  by  which  private 
parties  might  be  induced  to  aid  emigration  on  their 
own  account.  At  length,  for  this  purpose,  it  was 
concluded  to  endeavor  to  plant  in  America  a  modified 
feudalism.  The  feudal  system  had  not  flourished  in 
Holland.  The  free  spirit  and  intelligence  of  its  peo- 
ple were  adverse  to  it.  True,  the  land  was  mainly  in 
the  hands  of  great  owners,  but  those  who  occupied 
them  paid  a  rental,  instead  of  military  service,  and 
regarded  the  owner  merely  as  a  landlord,  and  not  as 
a  master.  With  the  increase  of  wealth  from  trade 
and  manufactures,  the  rich  merchants  were  unable 
at  home  to  satisfy  their  desires  for  landed  estates, 
and  hence  it  was  proposed  to  offer  them  lands  in  New 
Netherland.  On  June  7,  1629,  the  West  India 
Company  issued  its  "  Charter  of  Privileges  and  Ex- 
emptions," by  which  any  member  of  the  company 
who  should  purchase  land  of  the  Indians,  and  found 
a  colony  of  fifty  persons  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  should 
have  a  grant  of  sixteen  miles  along  one  bank  or  eight 
miles  on  each  bank  of  any  navigable  river,  and  as  far 
inland  as  the  situation  would  permit.  They  received 
the  title  of  Patroon,  and  were  the  lords  of  the  people, 
as  well  as  of  the  land.  The  Patroon's  authority  over 
his  manor  was  similar  to  that  of  a  baron  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  He  could  engage  in  every  trade  except 
that  in  furs,  which  was  reserved  for  the  conipany  ex- 
clusively. The  Patroons  were  required  to  make 
prompt  provision  for  the  support  of  a  mmister  and  a 
schoolmaster. 

This  creation  of  a  second  monopoly,  within  that  of 
the  company  itself,  proved  most  unfortunate.  The 


wealthy  directors  took  immediate  advantage  of  the 
company's  action  before  the  other  share-holders  could 
avail  themselves  of  its  privilege,  and  at  once  the  most 
desirable  territory  was  seized  by  a  few.  Disagree- 
ments and  dissensions  speedily  followed.  Intelligent 
emigrants  were  afraid  to  place  themselves  under  the 
control  of  such  grasping  masters.  Instead  of  encour- 
aging the  settlement  of  the  country,  it  greatly  re- 
tarded it,  and  probably  deferred  for  fifty  years  the 
considerable  peopling  of  Westchester  County  along 
the  Harlem  and  Hudson  Rivers.  Manhattan  Island 
was  reserved  for  the  company. 

The  first  purchase  of  Indian  lands  north  of  Harlem 
River  was  made  by  the  West  India  Company  in  1G39. 
Its  bounds  were  poorly  defined.  White  settlers 
speedily  occupied  portions  of  this  tract.  They  made 
another  purchase  of  land  to  the  east  of  this  tract  in 
1640.  Herr  Broux  made  a  purchase  along  the  river 
that  bears  his  name  in  the  following  year.  The 
next  purchase  was  made  in  1646  by  Adriaeu 
Von  der  Donck,  who  had  been  educated  at  the 
University  of  Leyden,  and  had  been  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Holland.  He  was  the 
first  lawyer  who  came  to  New  Netherland.  He  at 
once  received  a  patent  from  the  company,  his  lands 
extending  for  sixteen  miles  along  the  Hudson  norrh 
of  Manhattan  Island,  and  eastward  to  the  Bronx 
River.  It  was  called  Donck's  Colony,  and  its  pro- 
prietor, invested  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
contained  in  the  charter  of  1629,  became  a  member  of 
the  order  of  Patroons.  In  1650  a  contract  was  made 
by  the  West  India  Company,  with  Van  der  Donck 
and  others,  for  the  transportation  of  two  hundred 
persons  to  New  Netherland.  Yonkers  soon  became 
a  place  of  considerable  trade  with  the  Indians,  and 
vessels  were  here  loaded  for  old  Amsterdam. 

Disputes  between  the  company  and  the  Patroons 
now  became  frequent  and  bitter.  Van  der  Donck, 
from  his  legal  skill,  was  prominent  in  these,  and, 
in  1652,  he  repaired  to  Amsterdam  to  personally  ap- 
pear before  the  college  of  the  company.  It  was 
soon  found  that  the  privileges  conferred  upon  the 
Patroons  had  been  too  liberally  bestowed.  Good 
Peter  Minuit  was  recalled  in  1631  on  the  charge  of  hav- 
ing been  too  easy  with  the  newly- created  nobility.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Van  Tvviller,  and  he,  in  turn,  by  Wil- 
liam Kieft. 

During  Kieft's  administration  an  Indian  war,  re- 
sulting from  the  murder  of  an  Indian,  as  is  related  in 
the  previous  chapter,  befel  New  Netherland,  and 
drove  the  white  settlers  from  Westchester  County 
and  threatened  the  complete  destruction  of  the  col- 
ony. 

Kieft's  administration  proved  unfortunate  for  the 
company.  It  was  considered  that  he  had  unneces- 
sarily brought  on  the  disastrous  war  with  the  Indians, 
and  he  had  done  nothing  to  remedy  the  ditficulties 
with  the  Patroons.  The  financial  affairs  of  the  colony 
'  were  also  unsatisfactory.    Very  serious  were  the  dis- 


24 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


oussions  in  the  college  of  the  company  as  to  the  cor- 
rection of  the  existing  evils.  Finally  new  regulations 
were  adopted,  and  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  appointed 
Director-General.  It  was  hoped  that  he  would  also 
prove  a  "  Eedresser-General."  He  came  to  Xew  Xeth- 
erland  in  1646  and  assumed  the  reins  of  the  govern- 
ment as  the  successor  of  Kieft. 

Stuyvesant's  administration  was  an  energetic  one 
on  the  part  of  the  Director-General,  but  he  was  beset 
with  difficulties  on  every  hand.  He  was  anxious  to 
insist  on  the  Dutch  claim  to  all  the  territory  from 
the  Connecticut  to  the  Delaware  Rivers,  which  the 
English  settlers  were  as  emphatic  in  denying.  The 
English  pushed  their  settlements  almost  to  the  Har- 
lem River.  On  Long  Island  they  claimed  entire 
independence  of  New  Netherland.    Stuyvesant  had 


PETEK  ST  U  Y  \-ES  A  N  J  . 


further  troubles  with  the  Indians  up  the  Hudson. 
The  internal  affairs  of  his  government  were  very  jar- 
ring. Jealousies  and  disputes  were  frequent.  He 
was  stern  in  his  assertion  of  authority,  but  that  au- 
thority was  but  poorly  respected.  To  add  to  his 
difficultie-',  lie  was  very  insufficiently  supported  by 
the  college  of  the  company  in  Amsterdam.  The  un- 
fortunate organization  of  the  companj'  became  more 
and  more  apparent.  New  Netherland  was  a  financial 
burden.  When,  therefore,  in  1664,  in  utter  disregard 
of  the  rights  and  authority  of  the  Dutch,  the  King  of 
England  gave  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York  and 
Albany,  the  territory  between  the  Connecticut  and 
Delaware  Rivers,  and  Richard  Nichols,  as  lieuten- 
ant-governor, with  a  fleet  of  four  ships  and  four 
hundred  men,  appeared  before  New  Amsterdam, 
the  colony  was  ripe  for  a    change,    and,  despite 


the  earnest  i^rotests  of  Stuyvesant,  quietly  surrendered, 
and  the  Dutch  authority  ceased.  It  was  restored, 
for  a  short  period  only,  in  1673. 

Although  the  English  now  ruled,  and  New  Netherland 
became  New  York,  the  Dutch  inhabitants  and  Dutch 
institutions  remained,  and  the  English  were  careful 
to  respect  the  rights  and  privileges  that  had  existed 
under  their  government.  The  grants  made  to  the 
Patroons  were  not  interfered  with.  Adriaen  Van 
der  Donck  died  in  1655,  leaving  to  his  wife  the 
colony  of  Yonkers.  She  subsequently  married  Hugh 
O'Neal e.  In  1666,  Governor  Nichols  granted  a 
patent  to  Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary,  his  wife,  confirm- 
ing the  rights  of  Van  der  Donck.  There  were  a 
number  of  subsequent  transfers  of  the  title  to  these 
lands,  until  they  became  vested  in  Frederick  Phil- 
ipse,  and  a  royal  charter  confirming  the  same  was 

I  granted  in  1693.  Frederick  Philipse  was  from  East 
Friesland,  in  Holland,  and  had  emigrated  to  New 

I  Amsterdam  at  an  early  day,  becoming  a  successful 
merchant  there.  He  purchased  land  of  the  Indians 
north  of  Y^onkers  in  1681,  1682  and  1684,  including 
the  jjresent  township  of  Greenburgh.  In  1680  and 
1684  he  purchased  portions  of  the  township  of  Mount 
Pleasant,  and  in  1685  he  purchased  the  lauds  of  the 
present  township  of  Ossining.  Thus  the  great  tract 
of  the  Philipse  manor  was  brought  into  an  individual 
ownership. 

North  of  the  Croton  River  the  Indians  sold  lands 
to  a  number  of  parties  at  various  dates.  The  titles 
to  the  most  of  these  lands  were  afterward  secured  by 
Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  were  confirmed  to  him 
by  royal  charter  in  1697.  The  Van  Courtlandt 
manor,  containing  eighty-three  thousand  acres  of 
land,  was  thus  established,  and  was  held  by  feudal 
tenure,  requiring  an  annual  payment  to  the  crown.' 

Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Philipse  and  Van 
Courtlandt  families,  the  settlement  of  the  lands  along 
the  Hudson  rapidly  progressed.  English  families 
mingled  with  the  Dutch  to  a  considerable  extent,  but 
the  Holland  emigrants  greatly,  outnumbered  them, 
so  that,  in  the  people  and  their  habits,  customs  and 
character,  the  settlements  along  the  Hudson  were 
active  with  the  occupations  and  reflected  the  quiet 
scenes  of  the  homes  that  had  been  left  behind 
the  dykes  that  inclosed  the  mouths  of  the  Rhine  and 
shut  out  the  Nortli  Sea. 

The  Dutch  settlers  in  Westchester  County  brought 
hither  many  of  the  best  qualities  that  contribute  to 
good  citizenship.  They  were  an  industrious  race, 
and  the  situation  of  their  country  at  home  had  com- 
pelled them  to  keep  their  native  industry  in  constant 
exercise.  Their  frugality  equaled  their  industry. 
No  one  lived  beyond  his  means,  and  each  year  some- 
thing was  added  to  the  accumulated  capital.  The 
individual  was  self-reliant,  and  yet  knew  the  advan- 


1  Tlie  regulations  of  tlie  manoi-s  and  tlieir  history  will  be  given  in  a 
siibseiiuent  chapter,  prepared  by  Edward  F.  de  Lancey. 


THE  DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 


25 


tages  of  concerted  action  for  the  common  good. 
Their  honesty  was  proverbial.  They  were  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  the  democratic  spirit  that,  with 
the  freedom  of  the  individual,  respected  fully  both 
the  natural  and  the  acquired  rights  of  others.  They 
valued  education.  In  Holland  their  free-school 
system  was  the  best  in  Europe.  Women  occupied  an 
exceptionally  honorable  position,  both  in  society  and 
in  the  management  of  afiairs,  so  that  they  ably 
assisted  in  the  business  of  the  family  in  training  their 
children  to  usefulness  and  in  contributing  to  the 
welfare  of  the  community.  The  Dutch  were  stead- 
fast in  their  religious  faith,  and  had  a  high  regard 
for  morality. 

Such  a  people  lay  solid  foundations  for  their  social 
and  political  institutions,  and  they  stamped  most 
wholesome  and  enduring  impressions  upon  the  settle- 
ments of  Westchester  County. 

The  English  SETTLEJtEXX. — The  introduction  of 
the  Reformation  into  England  by  Henry  VHI.  was 
more  nominal  than  real,  and  left  to  succeeding  reigns 
the  settlement  of  many  of  the  great  questions  in- 
volved. The  reign  of  Elizabeth  saw  the  storm  steadily 
gathering,  while  that  of  James  I.  was  a  time  of  con- 
tinual turmoil  and  strife.  The  chief  disputes  were 
among  the  Protestants  themselves,  and  mainly  con- 
cerned the  extent  to  which  the  changes  should  go. 
The  people  abandoned  themselves  to  the  considera- 
tion of  questions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Dis- 
senters returning  from  the  Continent  threw  their  ad- 
vanced ideas  into  the  arena  of  public  discussion. 
During  the  Commonwealth  the  spirit  of  controversy 
seemed  to  possess  all  classes.  Questions  of  religion 
divided  the  time  with  state  affairs  in  the  discussions 
of  Parliament.  This  spirit  separated  the  English 
people  into  hostile  camps  and  produced  a  numerous 
brood  of  religious  sects. 

One  of  the  most  important  results  of  all  this  tur- 
moil was  the  banishment  from  England,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  of  a  ship-load  of 
yeomen. 

Among  the  Dissenters,  those  taking  the  most  ex- 
treme positions  were  called  Puritans,  because  of  their 
efforts  to  purify  the  Protestant  Church.  Compelled 
to  leave  their  homes,  a  little  company  of  these  sought 
refuge  in  Holland.  There  they  remained  for  twelve 
years,  secure  in  religious  liberty,  but  dissatisfied  with 
their  situation.  At  one  time  they  looked  toward 
emigrating  to  New  Netherland,  and  at  another  to 
Virginia,  but,  finally,  arrangements  were  completed 
for  a  more  northern  location,  and,  in  1620,  they 
crossed  the  Atlantic  and  commenced  the  Massachu- 
setts settlement.  Their  trials  and  sufferings  in  the 
new  home  were  varied  and  severe.  The  settlement 
grew,  however,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  spirit 
of  adventure  and  the  desire  for  better  lands  led  some 
of  them  to  look  for  homes  in  other  sections.  The  In- 
dians had  told  them  of  the  fertile  soil  along  the  Con- 
necticut River,  and,  in  1633,  a  few  of  their  number 
3 


came  hither.  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  Lord  Brook  and 
others  obtained  a  patent  from  the  British  crown  for 
this  region,  and,  in  1636,  under  their  authority,  John 
Winthrop,  son  of  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
brought  a  well-equipped  company,  who  formed  settle- 
ments along  the  river.  In  1637  a  fresh  colony  from 
England  arrived  in  Boston.  It  was  under  the  general 
charge  of  Theophilus  Eaton,  with  John  Davenport, 
a  clergyman  of  some  note  from  London,  as  their 
spiritual  adviser.  They  were  a  company  of  wealth 
and  respectability.  Remaining  but  a  short  time  at 
Boston,  they  came  to  Connecticut  and  securely 
planted  the  New  Haven  colony  in  the  spring  of  1638. 
The  land  had  been  purchased  from  the  Indians  in 
the  preceding  autumn.  So  soon  as  they  were  com- 
fortably established  they  desired  to  enlarge  their 
borders,  and  on  the  1st  of  July,  1640,  Nathan 
Turner,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  New  Haven,  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians  the  tract  known  as  Rippowams, 
extending  westward  along  the  Sound  and  sixteen 
miles  inland.  It  included  a  portion  of  Westchester 
County. 

A  settlement  was  soon  made  at  Stamford  and 
another  at  Greenwich.  On  November  14,  1654, 
Thomas  Pell,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  purchased  of  the 
Indians  the  lauds  lying  immediately  east  of  those 
Occupied  by  the  Dutch,  and  which  were  afterward 
included  in  Pelham  manor.  The  Dutch  were  greatly 
disturbed  thereby.  Tliirt}'  years  later  the  Indians 
conveyed  a  portion  of  these  lands  to  the  iniiabitants 
of  Westchester.  In  1660,  1661  and  1662,  John  Budd, 
Peter  Disbrow,  John  Coe  and  Thomas  Stedwell  made 
purchases  from  the  Indians  of  lands  along  the  Sound, 
west  of  Greenwich,  included  in  the  southeastern 
portion  of  Westchester  County.  In  1661,  John  Rich- 
bell,  of  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  West  Indies,  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians  a  tract  lying  between  the  lands 
purchased  by  Pell  and  those  just  mentioned,  and  ex- 
tending a  long  distance  inland.  His  title  to  this  was 
confirmed  by  lettera  patent  issued  by  Governor  Love- 
lace in  1668.  In  1696  the  widow  of  John  Richbell 
conveyed  these  lands  to  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote, 
who  also  made  additional  purchases  of  the  Indians. 
All  these  were  confirmed  by  a  royal  patent  in  1701, 
creating  the  lordship  and  manor  of  Scarsdale,  which 
included  the  present  towns  of  Mamaroneck  and  Scars- 
dale  and  portions  of  White  Plains,  North  Castle  and 
New  Castle. 

We  thus  see  that  all  the  lands  of  the  county  bor- 
dering upon  Long  Island  Sound  had  come  into  the 
hands  of  the  English  proprietors,  regardless  of  the 
claims  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  under 
their  purchase  from  the  Indians  in  1640. 

These  purchases  were  followed  by  the  coming  of 
English  settlers,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  from  Con- 
necticut. But  they  iiad  been  preceded  by  others  who 
had  here  sought  a  refuge  from  religious  intolerance 
and  persecution.  Anne  Hutchinson,  with  her  hus- 
band, William, and  their  children,  had  come  to  Boston 


26 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


in  1634.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Kev.  Francis 
Marbury,  of  Lincolnshire,  England.  By  her  mother, 
she  was  connected  with  the  family  of  the  poet 
Dryden.  Her  religious  views  did  not  harmonize  with 
those  of  the  Puritans,  and  she  was  driven  out  of 
the  colony.  She  first  went  to  Rhode  Island,  but 
afterward  sought  peace  and  security  near  the  Dutch 
settlement  in  New  Netherland.  She  settled  with  her 
family  upon  Pelham  Neck  in  1642.  Soon  afterward 
John  Throckmorton  and  thirty-five  families,  who 
found  the  intolerance  of  the  Puritans  unendurable, 
asked  permission  of  the  Dutch  authorities  to  settle 
near  them.  Their  request  was  granted,  and  they  lo- 
cated upon  what  is  now  known  as  Throg's  Neck,  in  the 
town  of  Westchester.  The  Dutch  called  this  section 
Vredeland — the  land  of  peace.  In  the  disastrous 
Indian  war,  that  threatened  the  destruction  of  the 
Dutch  settlement  and  so  alarmed  Governor  Kieft,  the 
Indians  murdered  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  family, 
except  a  young  granddaughter,  who  was  carried  into 
captivity,  but  was  afterward  restored.  They  also  at- 
tacked Throckmorton's  settlement,  destroyed  the 
buildings  and  cattle  and  compelled  the  people  to 
tlee  to  their  boats  for  .safety. 

The  English  settlements  along  the  Sound  steadily 
grew  and  soon  assumed  considerable  importance. 
Locations  were  chosen  at  the  heads  of  the  numerous 
bays  putting  in  from  the  Sound,  where  water  com- 
munication was  available  and  where  the  surrounding 
lands  could  be  easily  reached.  The  old  "  Westchester 
Path  "  had  long  been  used  by  the  Indians  and  fur- 
nished the  whites  with  the  best  inland  communica- 
tion. The  fields  that  the  Indians  had  cultivated 
were  already  cleared  for  the  whites,  and  enabled 
them  at  once  to  raise  the  necessary  food  for  their 
support.  Gradually  the  settlers  pushed  inland  and 
made  additional  purchases  from  the  Indians.  In 
1683  the  inhabitants  of  Rye  bought  lands  about 
White  Plains.  Their  claims  to  these  were  disputed 
by  John  Richbell;  but  Rye  settlers  went  upon  them 
and  considered  White  Plains  a  portion  of  their  ter- 
ritory. 

While  the  southeastern  portions  of  Westchester 
County  were  being  peopled  from  Connecticut,  the 
more  northern  portions  also  received  similar  atten- 
tion. The  people  of  Stamford  followed  the  Indian 
trail  leading  inland,  and  came  to  the  attractive  lands 
at  the  bend  of  the  Mianus  River,  near  the  present 
village  of  Bedford,  where  the  Indians  had  a  village 
and  cultivated  their  fields  of  maize,  pumpkins  and 
sieva  beans.  They  purchased  of  the  Indians,  in 
1655,  lands  about  Bedford  in  addition  to  those  pur- 
chased by  Nathan  Turner,  in  1640,  and,  subsequently, 
other  minor  purchases  were  made.  In  1680  the  tract 
known  as  the  Hop  Ground  was  bought,  and  John 
Cross,  going  up  from  Stamford  to  inspect  it,  described 
the  river  that  has  since  borne  his  name.  In  the  spring 
of  1681  twenty-four  Stamford  men  and  their  families 
moved  to  these  lands,  and  the  village  of  Bedford  was 


begun.  Poundridge  and  Salem  were  settled  from  the 
same  source. 

While  the  growth  of  these  settlements  was  not 
rapid,  it  was  steady  and  healthful.  The  people  grad- 
ually became  rooted  to  the  soil.  After  wandering  so 
far,  they  were  content  to  remain  in  the  quiet  enjoy- 
ment of  their  new  homes.  Nearly  all  those  who  set- 
tled in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  county  were  Dis- 
senters, who  afterwards  became  Presbyterians  when 
that  order  of  church  government  was  established. 
They  considered  themselves  a  part  of  the  colony  of 
Connecticut  and  their  location  within  the  Connecti- 
cut jurisdiction.  The  boundary  between  the  two 
colonies  was  not  then  established,  and  when  New 
York  attempted  to  enforce  its  claim  to  this  section, 
the  people  of  Rye,  White  Plains  and  Bedford  stoutly 
protested.  They  long  sent  delegates  to  the  Connec- 
ticut Assembly  and  were  an  integral  portion  of  that 
people.  Continued  controversies  with  the  Dutch  and 
with  the  English  authorities  of  New.  York  had  led 
them  to  entertain  no  friendly  feeling  toward  that  col- 
ony, and  when  at  length  they  were  compelled  to  sub- 
mit to  its  authority  they  felt  sorely  aggrieved. 
They  were  an  intelligent,  sturdy,  enterprising  and 
pious  people,  with  the  true  Puritan  sternness  of 
morals  and  devotion  to  duty.  Wherever  they  located, 
the  church  and  the  school-house  were  immediately 
erected.  England  never  sent  across  the  Atlantic  bet- 
ter material  for  planting  her  colonies  and  extending 
her  civilization. 

Beside  the  Puritans,  who  came  fi-om  Connecticut, 
another  English  element  came  into  Westchester 
County  after  the  transfer  of  New  York  to  the  Eng- 
lish, in  1664.  The  Governors  sent  over  by  the  Duke 
of  York  were  accompanied  by  numerous  officers  and 
retainers,  who  were  no  sooner  established  in  their  new 
positions  than  they  began  to  look  about  them  for 
lands  for  themselves  and  their  families.  Naturally, 
Westchester  County  offered  an  inviting  field  for  their 
purpose  and  many  of  them  settled  there.  They  were 
nearly  all  Episcopalians,  and  through  their  influence 
many  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Churches  upon 
Manhattan  Island  and  in  this  county  were  established. 

They  were  compelled  to  purchase  lands  from  those 
who  had  obtained  titles  before  them.  The  Philipse 
and  Yan  Cortlandt  manors  occupied  the  territory  along 
the  Hudson  and  across  the  northern  portion  of  the 
county,  north  of  the  Croton  River,  and  the  New  Eng- 
land purchases  covered  all  the  lands  along  the  Sound 
and  up  the  Connecticut  border.  But  the  idea  was 
somehow  started  among  the  New  York  oflScials  that 
there  was  still  some  unoccupied  and  unclaimed  terri- 
tory in  the  central  portion  of  the  county.  This  was 
hastily  sought  for  by  numerous  parties,  and  land 
grants  and  patents  were  obtained  far  in  excess  of  the 
available  lands,  and  which  overlapped  each  other  in 
a  manner  that  makes  it  impossible  now  to  map  them. 
The  most  of  these  centred  about  the  present  town  of 
North  Castle. 


THE  DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 


27 


The  Huguenot  Settlement. — Simultaneously 
with  Luther's  work  in  Germany  thereformed  ideas  were 
widely  spread  in  France.  They  were  born  on  French 
soil,  but  were  greatly  strengthened  by  the  progress  of 
the  Reformation  in  Germany,  and  grew  rapidly  un- 
der the  active  influences  of  Geneva.  French  Prot- 
estants were  not  long  in  drawing  into  two  classes, — 
the  Lutherans  and  the  Huguenots.  Their  numbers 
increased  so  rapidly  that,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II., 
they  entertained  hopes  of  becoming  the  dominant 
political  party,  aided,  as  they  were,  by  the  fact  that 
several  members  of  the  royal  family  and  numerous 
high  oflicials  were  united  with  them.  Their  greatest 
strength  was  with  the  u])per  classes.  lu  1569  it  was 
recorded  that  one-thirtieth  of  the  common  folk  and 
one-third  of  the  nobles  were  Huguenots.  The  union 
of  political  ambition  and  religious  faith  was  unfor- 
tunate, but  unavoidable  in  that  age.  The  more 
nearly  even  the  balance  of  power,  the  more  eager  were 
the  rivalries  and  the  more  bitter  the  animosities. 
Now  the  Protestants  were  persecuted  and  then  they 
were  encouraged. 

In  1572  the  King's  sister  became  the  wife  of  Henry 
of  Nararre,  who  was  the  Huguenot  leader.  The  lead- 
ing Protestants  were  invited  to  Paris  to  the  nuptials, 
where,  on  the  night  of  St.  Bartholomew,  a  general 
massacre  of  the  Protestants  was  begun,  instigated  by 
Catharine  de  Medici,  the  Queen  mother.  The  Hu- 
guenots stoutly  defended  themselves  throughout 
France,  although  great  numbers  were  slain.  The  tide 
of  their  fortunes  constantly  ebbed  and  flowed.  In 
1598,  Henry  IV.  issued  the  famous  Edict  of  Nantes, 
which  was  helpful  to  both  Catholics  and  Protestants, 
reproducing  the  more  favorable  and  tolerant  of  for- 
mer edicts.  Under  Louis  XIII.  their  rights  were 
again  attacked,  which  led  to  an  unlucky  league  with 
England,  and  resulted  in  the  siege  and  capitulation  of 
their  city  of  Rochelle.  Then  their  treatment  was 
again  tolerant,  and  they  loyally  fought  for  Louis 
XIV.,  which  that  sovereign  illy  repaid  by  the  revo- 
cation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1685. 

Before  this  crowning  injustice  great  numbers  had 
escaped  from  their  inhospitable  country.  Over  one 
million  of  the  best  and  thriftiest  citizens  of  the  land 
now  sought  refuge  elsewhere,  and  more  than  one-half 
of  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  industries  of  the 
kingdom  were  crushed,  resulting  in  stagnation  and  dis- 
tress on  every  hand.  Thus  France  at  once  suffered 
for  her  cruelty  and  wrong. 

The  Huguenots  scattered  throughout  the  world, 
blessing  every  country  they  visited  by  the  addition  of 
their  intelligence,  refinement,  virtue  and  industry. 
Great  numbers  went  to  England,  causing  silk  manu- 
facture and  other  important  industries  to  flourish 
there;  others  went  to  Ireland,  making  her  linen  and 
poplin  manufactures  the  most  important  in  the  world; 
some  went  to  Switzerland  and  some  to  Germany,  and 
many  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  seek  peaceful  homes  and 
assured  liberty  in  the  New  World. 


Their  trials  and  sufferings  and  heroic  steadfastness, 
with  the  blessings  they  carried  to  many  lands,  make 
the  story  of  the  Huguenots  one  of  the  saddest  and,  at 
the  same  time,  one  of  the  brightest  known  to  his- 
tory. 

Of  those  who  crossed  the  Atlantic,  many  settled  in 
South  Carolina,  and  gave  to  that  colony  and  State 
much  of  their  prominence.  A  few  settled  in  Virginia 
and  a  few  in  Delaware  and  Pennsylvania,  and  more 
in  Maryland.  A  considerable  number  went  to  Massa- 
chusetts ;  an  important  settlement  was  made  by  them 
in  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  and  a  goodly  number  came 
to  Westchester  County. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  the  purchase  of  lands 
from  the  Indians  by  Thomas  Pell,  of  Fairfield,  Conn., 
was  confirmed  to  him  by  Governor  Nichols,  in 
1666.  In  1669,  Thomas  Pell  devised  the  manor  of 
Pelham  to  his  nephew,  John  Pell,  and  this  was  con- 
firmed by  Governor  Dougan  in  1687.  At  this  time  a 
remarkable  man  had  attained  ])rominence  in  the  city 
of  New  York, — Jacob  Leisler — who  was  a  native  of 
Germany.  He  came  to  America  in  1660  as  a  private 
soldier  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany. Leaving  the  army,  he  engaged  in  the  Indian 
trade,  with  great  success,  and  acquired  a  considerable 
fortune.  Under  Dougan's  administration,  in  1683,  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  Admi- 
ralty Court,  and,  when  Dougan  was  succeeded  by 
Lieutenant-Governor  Nicholson,  Leisler,  as  captain  of 
the  militia,  intimidated  Nicholson  so  that  he  left  the 
province  and  went  to  England. 

A  committee  of  safety  appointed  Leisler  "Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  the  Province,"  and  when,  in  De- 
cember, 1689,  a  communication  was  received  from  the 
English  crown,  addressed  "to  such  as,  for  the  time 
being,  takes  care  for  preserving  the  peace  and  admin- 
istering the  laws  in  his  majesty's  province  of  New 
York,"  Leisler  construed  it  as  an  appointment  of  him- 
self as  the  King's  Lieutenant-Governor.  He  assumed 
the  dignity  and  authority  of  this  position,  and  when, 
in  the  spring,  Slaughter  arrived  with  a  commission  as 
Governor,  Leisler  questioned  his  identity  and  refused 
him  recognition.  He  was  arrested  and  imprisoned, 
tried  for  treason,  and  most  unjustly  condemned,  and 
was  executed  on  the  17th  of  May,  1691. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  while  Leisler  was  exer- 
cising the  full  power  of  a  Governor  in  all  civil  and 
mrlitary  matters,  John  Pell,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Pel- 
ham,  conveyed  to  him  for  the  consideration  of  six- 
teen hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds  and  five 
shillings  sterling,  "all  that  tract  of  land  lying  and 
being  within  said  manor  of  Pelham,  containing  six 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  also  one  hundred  acres 
of  land  more,  which  the  said  John  Pell  and  Rachel, 
his  wife,  do  freely  give  and  grant  for  the  French 
church  erected,  or  to  be  erected,"  etc.  This  tract  con- 
stitutes the  present  township  of  New  Rochelle. 

Leisler  had  shown  in  New  York  great  interest  in 
the  Protestant  religion,  and  to  him  a  company  of 


28 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Huguenots,  who  had  been  eight  years  in  England, 
made  application  to  secure  for  them  a  location  in  the 
province  of  New  York.  Their  attention  had  been  at- 
tracted to  this  locality  in  previous  years.  Individual 
Huguenots  had  purchased  several  parcels  of  land 
here  in  1686  and  succeeding  years,  when  their  set- 
tlement began.  Leisler's  purchase  was  made  for  the 
Huguenots.  In  the  following  year  he  conveyed  these 
lands  to  them,  when  his  connection  with  the  settle- 
ment ceased. 

Some  of  the  Huguenots  came  here  by  way  of  the 
West  Indies,  but  the  greater  portion  came  from  Eng- 
land. The  main  company  landed  at  what  is  known 
as  Bonnefoy's  Point,  in  Echo  Bay,  adjoining  Daven- 
port's Neck.  Numbers  continued  to  arrive  until  the 
year  1700.  Their  new  home  was  named  in  honor  of 
that  from  which  many  of  them  had  been  driven, — the 
city  of  La  Rochelle,  in  France. 

Bound  together  by  the  memories  of  bitter  suffer- 
ings, endured  in  common  by  their  religious  interests 
and  by  warm  friendships,  and  separated  from  their 
neighbors  by  a  different  language,  the  Huguenots  long 
remained  a  compact  body  in  New  Rochelle.  In  after- 
years  numbers  settled  in  the  northern  portions  of  the 
county,  where  many  of  their  names  are  still  found. 

The  influence  of  the  Huguenots  upon  the  people  of 
Westchester  County  has  been  important.  Their 
earnest  religious  faith,  their  sterling  integrity,  their 
energy  of  character  and  their  intelligence,  refinement 
and  courtesy  have  left  most  valuable  impressions  that 
still  remain. 

The  Quaker  Settlement. — The  Society  of 
Friends,  called  Quakers,  was  the  outcome  of  the 
religious  awakening  that  followed  the  Reformation  in 
England.  The  changes  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  were  variously  graduated  by  different  Pro- 
testant believers.  The  Quakers  carried  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Reformation  to  their  logical  conclusion. 
Claiming  the  complete  spirituality  of  the  gospel  dis-  ' 
pensation,  they  denied  all  outward  rites  and  cere- 
monies, and  insisted  that  the  types'  of  the  Jewish 
ritual  were  fulfilled  and  ended  in  Christ.  They 
acknowledged  no  order  of  priesthood  but  the  uni- 
versal priesthood  of  believers.  They  held  that  Christ 
as  the  head  of  His  church  chose  and  commissioned 
whom  He  would  to  preach  His  gospel,  and  that  no 
human  ordination  was  of  any  avail ;  and  they  taught 
the  doctrine  of  the  immediate  and  perceptible  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  individual  soul 
of  man.  These  positions  were  so  radical  that  many 
good  people  thought  them  dangerously  wild,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  Quakers  were  almost  everywhere 
persecuted. 

George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  sect,  was  born  in 
Leicestershire,  England,  in  1G24.  After  he  began  to 
preach,  in  1647,  his  life  was  little  more  than  a  journey 
from  one  prison  to  another.  But  this  attracted  the 
public  attention,  so  that  great  numbers  flocked  to  hear  | 
him  when  opportunity  offered.  His  converts  came  from  ' 


nearly  every  rank  of  society,  and  the  kingdom  seemed 
to  swarm  with  them. 

Quakers  first  came  to  America  in  1656.  They  at- 
tempted to  settle  in  Massachusetts.  The  story  of  their 
persecutions  there  is  well  known.  Remembering  the 
age  and  the  temper  of  the  times,  we  must  judge  these 
persecutions  leniently.  From  the  Puritan  standpoint, 
the  Quaker  had  no  right  to  go  there.  The  Puritans 
had  come  to  Massachusetts  to  establish  a  religious, 
not  a  civil,  commonwealth.  Only  members  of  their 
church  were  eligible  to  citizenship.  The  Quakers 
claimed  that,  as  Englishmen,  they  had  a  legal  right 
to  visit  and  to  live  wherever  the  English  flag  pro- 
claimed English  j  urisdiction.  This  claim  rested  upon 
the  clause  in  the  Massachusetts  charter  which  ex- 
pressly guaranteed  "  all  liberties  and  immunities  of 
free  and  natural  subjects  of  the  realm  to  all  English- 
men 'which  shall  go  to  and  inhabit'  Massachusetts, 
or  which  shall  happen  to  be  born  there,  or  on  the  seas 
in  going  thither  or  returning  from  thence."  The  re- 
sult of  the  contest  was  one  of  those  sad  episodes  in 
history  over  which,  in  this  age,  it  is  better  to  throw 
the  mantle  of  charity,  with  devout  thankfulness  that 
our  lot  is  cast  in  better  times. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Quakers  in  Massachusetts 
turned  the  stream  that  continued  to  cross  the  Atlantic, 
and  led  to  their  settlement  in  Westchester  County. 
That  settlement  was  almost  entirely  made  by  the  way 
of  Long  Island.  Very  naturally,  the  Quakers  looked 
to  the  Dutch  for  religious  toleration.  The  Puritans 
themselves  had  gone  to  Holland  to  find  religious  lib- 
erty when  they  had  been  compelled  to  flee  from  Eng- 
land. Many  others  besides  Friends  came  to  Long 
Island  from  Massachusetts  to  escape  the  religious  re- 
straint there.  The  first  of  these,  who  afterward  be- 
came connected  with  Friends,  was  Lady  Deborah 
Moody.  She  settled  at  Lynn,  in  Massachusetts,  iu 
1640,  and  received  a  grant  of  four  hundred  acres  of 
land.  Governor  Winthrop  thus  speaks  of  her  in  his 
journal :  "  In  1643,  Lady  Moody  was  in  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts,  a  wise  and  anciently  religious  woman, 
and  being  taken  with  the  error  of  denying  baptism  to 
infants,  was  dealt  withal  by  many  of  the  elders  and 
others,  and  admonished  by  the  church  of  Salem, 
whereof  she  was  a  member,  but  persisting  still,  and  to 
avoid  further  trouble,  etc.,  she  removed  to  the  Dutch, 
against  the  advice  of  her  friends."  On  the  19th  of 
December,  1645,  Governor  Kieft,  of  New  Amsterdam, 
issued  a  general  patent  for  the  town  of  Gravesend, 
Long  Island,  to  Lady  Deborah  Moody,  Sir  Henry 
Moody,  her  son,  George  Baxter  and  James  Hubbard, 
their  heirs  and  successors, "  to  have  and  enjoy  free  lib- 
erty of  conscience,  according  to  the  customs  and  man- 
ners of  Holland,  without  molestation."  Gravesend 
was  planted  entirely  by  English  settlers  from  Massa- 
chusetts, and,  unlike  the  "five  Dutch  towns,"  which 
constituted  the  rest  of  Kings  County,  the  records, 
which  are  still  well  preserved,  were  kept  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  settlement  in  the  English  language. 


THE  DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 


29 


Friends  came  to  Gravesend  in  considerable  numbers 
in  1657.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  embraced  their 
doctrines,  and  their  first  religious  meeting  on  Long 
Island  was  established  there.  It  was  recorded  that 
"  meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  Lady  Moody, 
who  managed  all  things  with  such  prudence  and  ob- 
servance of  time  and  place  as  to  give  no  offense  to  any 
person  of  another  religion  ;  so  she  and  her  people  re- 
mained free  from  molestation." 

Flushing  was  similarly  settled  by  refugees  from 
Massachusetts.  They  were  careful  to  have  inserted 
in  their  charter,  granted  by  Governor  Kieft  on  the 
10th  of  October,  1645,  a  clause  permitting  them  "  to 
have  and  enjoy  the  liberty  of  conscience  according  to 
the  manner  and  custom  of  Holland,  withtmt  molesta- 
tion from  any  magistrate-  or  any  ecclesiastical  minis- 
ter that  may  pretend  jurisdiction  over  them."  In 
1657  Friends  came  to  Flushing  with  several  able 
preachers  among  their  number.  Many  of  the  other 
inhabitants  attended  their  meetings.  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant  had  failed  in  his  efforts  to  induce  the  people  to 
accept  and  support  a  minister  whom  he  had  sent 
there,  and  he  soon  commenced  a  persecution  of  the 
Quakers  only  second  to  that  so  much  better  known  in 
Massachusetts.  In  the  official  instructions  given  by 
the  directors  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  the 
official  oath  required  '"  the  maintenance  of  the  Re- 
formed Religion  in  conformity  to  the  word  and  the 
decrees  of  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  and  not  to  tolerate 
in  public  any  other  sect." 

In  this  the  Governor  had  an  excuse  for  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Quakers.  Some  were  imprisoned  for  a 
long  time.  Some  were  severely  flogged,  and  a  prom- 
inent member  was  sent  to  Holland  to  be  tried  before 
the  company's  college.  He  was  at  once  released  by 
the  college  and  returned  to  his  home,  while  a  severe 
reprimand  wassenttoStuyvesant.  An  ordinanceof the 
New  Amsterdam  Council,  enacted  in  1662,  provided 
severe  penalties  for  holding  public  meetings  for  wor- <i 
ship  by  any  "besides  the  Reformed  religion."  The 
Quakers  rapidly  increased  in  numbers,  and  meetings 
were  established  at  Flushing,  Oyster  Bay,  The  Farms, 
The  Kills,  Newtown,  etc.,  in  quick  succession.  In 
the  year  1672,  George  Fax,  the  founder  of  the  sect, 
visited  America  and  attended  the  meetings  on  Long 
Island. 

Flushing  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Quakers,  and 
from  that  town  the  principal  emigration  to  West- 
chester County  took  place.    In  the  autumn  of  1672 
two  Quaker  ministers   visited   Rye,  "in  Governor 
Winthrop's  government,"  and  held  meetings  there. 
The  first  who  settled  here  located  in  the  town  of  i 
Westchester.    When  the  first  meeting  was  held  there  i 
we  cannot  learn,  but  one  was  in  existence  in  1685.  \ 
Soon  afterward  numbeis  of  Quakers  settled  in  Mama-  i 
roneck.    In  1695  a  step  was  taken  that  proved  of 
great  moment  in  the  future  settlement  of  Friends  in 
Westchester  County.    John  Harrison,  of  Flushing, 
purchased  of  the  Indians  a  tract  of  land  about  nine 


miles  in  length  and  nearly  three  in  width,  "  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  Rye  Ponds,  on  the  east  by 
Blind  Brook,  on  the  west  by  Mamaroneck  River,  and 
on  the  south  by  the  lands  of  Joseph  Budd."  The 
Indians  reserved  "such  whitewood  trees  as  shall  be 
found  suitable  to  make  canoes  of."  In  the  same  year 
Governor  Fletcher  ordered  the  survey  of  the  purchase, 
and  soon  after  Harrison,  and  four  others  associated 
with  him,  received  a  patent  for  the  whole  tract.  The 
people  of  Rye  claimed  this  land  as  a  part  of  their 
territory ;  but,  as  they  had  taken  no  patent  for  their 
lands  from  the  government  of  New  York,  their  claims 
was  not  regarded.  In  1685,  Governor  Dongan  had 
ordered  the  inhabitants  of  Rye  to  appear  and  prove 
their  title  to  their  lands ;  but,  considering  themselves 
under  Connecticut  jurisdiction,  they  disregarded  the 
order.  Harrison's  purchase  was  made  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Friends  from  Long  Island.  They  called  it 
"  The  Purchase,"  and  it  is  still  so  known.  The  emi- 
gration began  as  soon  as  the  interests  of  the  patentees 
who  were  not  Friends  were  purchased,  and  the  neces- 
sary arrangements  completed.  Large  numbers  then 
came  across  the  Sound.  In  1704  the  Court  of  General 
Sessions  recorded  the  places  where  the  Quakers  held 
public  meetings  for  worship,  as  directed  by  act  of 
Parliment  for  all  Dissenters,  as  being  at  Westchester 
and  Mamaroneck.  Soon  afterward  two  other  meet- 
ings were  established  in  Harrison's  purchase. 

As  soon  as  the  lands  of  Harrison's  purchase  were 
occujjied,  a  movement  began  that  placed  the  Quakers 
in  possession  of  a  large  portion  of  the  central  line  of 
the  county.  The  Dutch,  who  had  settled  along  the 
Hudson  River,  and  the  English,  who  occupied  the 
towns  along  the  Connecticut  border,  entertained  no 
very  friendly  feelings  for  each  other.  Their  enmity 
and  jealousies  kept  them  apart,  and,  on  this  account, 
a  district  of  considerable  width  running  north  and 
south  between  them  had  remained  comparatively  un- 
occupied. Into  this  the  Quakers  rapidly  ])ushed,  pur- 
chasing the  lands  from  those  who  had  obtained  titles 
therefor.  The  line  of  settlement  ran  through  the  i)res- 
enttownsofHarrison, North  Castle,  New  Castle,  York- 
town,  Lewisborough  and  North  Salem,  and  through 
Putnam,  Dutchess  and  Columbia  Counties.  In  the 
town  of  Harrison,  and  in  some  of  those  just  named, 
the  Quakers  constituted  for  a  considerable  time  a 
majority  of  the  inhabitants,  while  a  great  number 
afterward  emigrated  to  the  northern  and  central 
portions  of  the  State. 

Negroes. — In  the  West  India  Company's  charter  of 
"Privileges  and  Exemi)tions "  for  the  Patroons,  for 
the  purpose  of  encouraging  agriculture,  the  company 
agreed  to  furnish  the  colonists  with  "as  many  blacks 
as  they  conveniently  could."  These  they  brought 
from  the  West  Indies,  and  negro  slavery  existed  in 
Westchester  County  almost  from  its  first  white  settle- 
ment. The  English  settlers  were  not  adverse  to 
availing  themselves  of  the  supposed  advantages  of 
negro  labor.    The  Quakers  brought  slaves  with  them 


30 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


from  Long  Island.  While  slavery  thus  existed 
throughout  the  county,  the  number  of  slaves  was 
never  large.  About  the  year  1698  a  cargo  of  negroes 
brought  from  the  coast  of  Guinea  was  landed  at  Rye, 
in  the  interest  of  Frederick  Philipse,  of  Philipse 
manor. 

Slavery  continued  to  exist,without  any  protest  against 
it,  until  the  Quakers  took  action  to  free  the  slaves 
held  by  their  members.  In  1767,  Purchase  Quarterly 
Meeting  sent  the  following  minute  to  the  Yearly 
Meeting,  then  held  at  Flushing :  "  If  it  is  not  con- 
sistent with  Christianity  to  buy  and  sell  our  fellow- 
men  for  slaves,  during  their  lives  and  their  posterity 
after  them,  then  whether  it  is  consistent  with  a 
Christian  spirit  to  keep  those  in  slavery  that  we 
have  already  in  our  possession  by  purchase,  gift  or 
any  other  ways."  This  was  just  twenty  years  before 
Wilberforce  took  his  first  step  in  England  against  the 
slave  trade-  The  subject  was  continually  before  their 
meetings  until  the  last  slave  held  by  a  Friend  was  set 
free,  in  1779.  But  they  did  not  leave  the  matter  there- 
in 1781,  Purchase  Monthly  Meeting,  in  session  at 
Chappaqua,  decided  "to  appoint  a  number  of  solid, 
judicious  Friends  as  a  committee  to  perform  a  visit  to 
such  Friends  who  have  set  their  negroes  free,  and 
inspect  into  the  circumstances  of  such  negroes  and 
aflford  them  advice,  both  with  respect  to  their  spiritual 
and  their  temporal  good,  as  they  may  be  enabled  to 
do;  and  endeavor  to  find  what  in  justice  may  be  due 
to  such  negroes  as  may  have  spent  the  prime  of  their 
days  in  the  service  of  their  masters."  The  committee 
were  directed  to  determine  the  amount  so  due,  where 
the  late  masters  were  willing  to  leave  it  to  their  judg- 
ment. They  were  also  directed  to  see  that  provision 
was  made  for  the  proper  education  of  the  negro 
youth.  Reports  were  made  from  time  to  time  of  the 
progress  of  this  work,  until,  in  1784,  it  was  recorded 
that  "proper  settlements  had  been  made  between  the 
Friends  who  had  set  their  negroes  free  and  the 
negroes  so  set  free." 

Others  followed  the  example  set  by  the  Quakers  in 
freeing  their  slaves,  so  that,  by  the  end  of  the  century, 
but  few  slaves  remained  in  the  county.  All  slaves 
in  the  State  of  New  York  were  made  free  by  law  on 
4th  of  July,  1827. 

When  the  Quakers  of  Purchase  liberated  their 
slaves  they  settled  them  upon  their  rough  lands  in 
the  northwestern  portion  of  the  town  of  Harrison, 
and  thus  the  negro  community',  still  existing  north- 
east of  the  village  of  White  Plains,  was  begun. 
Some  of  the  slaves  liberated  in  the  northern  portion 
of  the  county  collected  into  a  smaller  settlement 
near  the  village  of  Bedford.  These  were  the  largest 
colonies  of  negroes  in  the  county. 

Occupations  of  the  Early  Settlers.— The  first 
settlers  in  Westchester,  like  those  who  located 
elsewhere,  had  many  difficulties  to  overcome  be- 
sides those  usually  attending  the  occupation  of  a  new 
country.    Every  native  animal  and  bird  was  new  to 


them  and  every  plant  unknown.  The  planting  of 
every  crop  was  an  experiment,  and  the  requirements 
of  its  successful  cultivation  were  not  understood.  It 
is  true  that  the  cereals  they  brought  across  the  At- 
lantic succeeded  well  here,  but  the  climate  was  un- 
certain to  them  and  tlie  seasons  differed  greatly  from 
those  of  their  native  lands. 

The  maize,  upon  which  the  Indians  so  largely 
subsisted  in  winter,  was  strange  to  them,  and  its  prep- 
aration as  food  had  to  be  learned,  while  their  palates 
were  slow  in  appreciating  its  excellence.  The  heat 
of  summer  and  the  continued  cold  of  winter  were 
found  most  trying.  The  animals  they  brought  with 
them  were  greatly  reduced  by  their  long  voyages  and 
then  had  to  endure  the  trials  of  acclimatization.  As 
there  were  no  mills  for  sawing  lumber,  the  houses 
were  constructed  of  stones  and  logs,  while  the  neces- 
sary boards  were  obtained  only  by  tedious  hand  la- 
bor. The  shingles  were  riven  from  straight-grained 
chestnut  timber  and  the  laths  from  easy -splitting  oak. 

The  whole  country  was  covered  with  dense  forests, 
except  the  parcels  cleared  by  the  Indians,  and 
these  had  become  exhausted .  of  their  fertility  by 
continuous  cropping  with  corn,  and  the  settlers  had 
no  means  of  obtaining  the  necessary  manure  for  their 
enrichment.  After  the  trees  had  been  removed  from 
fresh  fields  the  soil  was  generally  very  stony  and  dif- 
ficult to  cultivate. 

When  the  settlers  had  become  well  established  and 
lived  in  comfortable  homes,  their  circumstances  were 
rude  and  their  occupations  truly  primitive.  They 
had  no  roads  other  than  the  tortuous  paths  that  led 
from  one  settlement  to  another,  and  over  these  nearly 
all  their  transportation  was  done  by  oxen,  yoked  to 
rude  and  cumbersome  carts.  The  wheels  were  con- 
structed from  roughly-hewn  oak  with  strong  felloes, 
upon  which  pieces  of  iron  were  spiked  to  protect 
them  from  wear.  They  had  no  continuous  tires. 
,  Wagons  were  very  rare.  Oxen  also  performed  nearly 
all  the  animal  labor  of  the  farm.  There  were  but 
few  horses.  These  were  chiefly  used  under  the  sad- 
dle, the  women  often  riding  upon  pillions  behind  the 
men.  Until  mills  for  grinding  grain  were  built,  the 
flour  was  made  by  hand-grinding  in  a  mortar,  and  af- 
terward, the  mills  being  few  in  number,  much  of  the 
grain  was  carried  long  distances  upon  •  the  backs  of 
horses.  Nearly  everything  used  in  the  family  was 
raised  and  manufactured  upon  the  premises.  Flax 
was  an  important  crop  and  its  preparation  consumed 
much  time  and  labor.  It  was  dressed,  spun  and  woven 
at  home.  During  the  greater  portion  of  the  year 
the  people  wore  only  linen  garments  and  their  beda 
were  also  furnished  with  linen  coverings.  The  fleeces 
of  their  sheep  were  scoured,  carded,  spun  and  woven 
by  the  hands  of  those  who  wore  the'  woolen  clothes 
in  winter  and  slept  under  the  blankets  they  had 
themselves  made.  The  loom  occupied  a  room  in 
nearly  every  house.  The  skins  of  their  animals  were 
tanned  and  dressed  at  home,  the  tan-vat  being  a  nec- 


I 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THP]  MANORS. 


31 


essary  adjunct  to  every  well-regulated  establishment. 
The  people  made  their  own  shoes  or  were  supplied 
from  leather  of  their  own  making  by  the  itinerant 
shoemaker,  who  sojourned  with  the  family  till  his 
work  was  completed.  In  the  preparation  and  manu- 
facture of  so  many  articles  all  the  members  of  the 
family  were  employed,  and  each  home  was  the  scene 
of  busy  industries,  furnishing  all  its  inmates  with  a 
practical  education  that  made  them  useful  and  self- 
reliant. 

Their  tables  were  furnished  with  simple  and  whole- 
some food,  usually  served  in  one  dish,  in  the  centre, 
from  which  each  person  helped  himself  as  he  re- 
quired. Many  of  the  dishes  were  of  wood,  but  most 
of  pewter,  and  these  were  valued  heirlooms  in  the 
family. 

The  wealthier  houses  had  dishes  of  delftware 
which  their  owners  had  brought  with  them  across  the 
Atlantic. 

Our  fathers  knew  nothing  of  ease.  Stern  necessity 
kept  them  ever  on  the  alert.  By  nature  they  were 
active  and  full  of  courage.  Difficulties  never  dis- 
heartened them,  but  nerved  them  to  greater  effort. 
They  manfully  overcame  the  obstacles  that  beset 
them;  from  rough  materials  they  hewed  homes  of 
comfort  and  contentment ;  they  reared  their  families 
to  virtue  and  usefulness,  and  their  children  rose  up  to 
call  them  blessed. 

Tho.se  were  rich  streams  that  flowed  into  West- 
chester County :  the  Dutch,  the  Puritan,  the  Hugue- 
not and  the  Quaker.  Each  fought  its  battle  for  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  Each  knew  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity, and,  knowing,  dared  achieve  them.  Flowing 
together,  they  gave  to  Westchester  mote  strains  of 
good  blood  than  any  other  section  can  boast,  and 
they  furnished  an  unequaled  foundation  stock  for 
peopling  the  county  and  the  State. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY    OF    MANORS    IX  NEW 
YORK,  AND  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF  WESTCHESTER. 

BY  EDWARD  FLOYD  DE  LAXCEY,  ESQ. 
Copyright,  188G. 


The  Indian  Owners  of  Westchester. 
The  Europeans  who,  it  is  certain,  first  beheld  any 
part  of  what  is  now  the  County  of  Westchester,  were 
Henry  Hudson,  and  his  mixed  crew  of  Hollanders  and 


Englishmen.  They  sailed  up  the  great  "River  of  the 
Mountains  "  in  the  yacht  Half-Moon  of  Amsterdam, 
flying  the  orange  white  and  blue  flag  of  the  United 
Provinces,  on  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  days  ot 
September,  1609.^ 

They  were  the  earliest  civilized  men  to  gaze  enrap- 
tured on  the  beautiful  land  of  Westchester.  They 
saw  before  all  others,  her  lofty  hills,  rich  valleys,  and 
deep  magnificent  forests,  glowing  in  the  transparent 
air  and  warm  sun  of  Autumn  beneath  the  bright 
blue  sky  of  America.^ 

They  sailed  up  the  river  as  far  as  the  site  of  Albany 
and  then  slowly  returned.  On  the  second  of  October, 
they  anchored  at  the  historic  inlet  of  Spyt-den-Duy- 
vel,  their  progress  being  checked  by  a  strong  flood 
tide.  Here,  they  first  met  the  tawny,  well  formed, 
brown  eyed,  people,  clad  in  skins  and  adorned  with 
feathers,  who  then  ruled  over  Westchester ;  and  most 
unhappily  as  enemies.  The  cause  was  this.  While 
still  in  the  lower  bay  the  Half-Moon,  on  the  9th  ot 
September,  was  threatened  by  some  canoes  full  of 
savages.  Hudson  therefore  detained  two  Indians  as 
hostages,  "putting  red  coats  on  them."  Six  days 
later,  when  she  had  got  into  the  Highlands,  the  two 
Indians  escaped  through  a  port  and  swam  ashore. 
When  she  stopped  at  Spyt-den-Duyvel  on  her  return, 
one  of  the  escaped  Indians,  aud  others,  in  a  canoe, 
with  some  more  canoes  of  Indians,  tried  to  board  her. 
Being  repelled,  they  made  an  attack  with  bows  and 
arrows,  supported  by  about  a  hundred  more  Indians 
on  shore.  The  fire-arms  of  the  crew  drove  them  oflf 
with  a  loss  of  nine  or  ten  killed.' 

Such  was  the  unfortunate  beginning  of  the  inter- 
course of  white  men  with  the  Indians  of  Westchester. 
These  Indians,  as  well  all  the  others  with  whom 
Hudson  came  in  contact,  belonged  to  a  great  aboriginal 
nation,  or  stock,  termed  the  Lenni-Lenape.  This  was 
the  name  of  that  great  confedera  cy  of  Indian 
tribes,  which,  as  Heckewelder  states,  ex- 
tended from  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac  north- 
eastwardly to  the  shores  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  the  mountains  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont,  and  westwardly  to  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  the  Cattskills,*  and  were  afterwards  known 
as  the  Delawares.  Beyond  the  Lenni-Lenape,  still 
further  to  the  northeast,  and  extending  to  the  Gulf  ot 
St.  Lawrence,  and  up  the  magnificent  river  of  that 
name  to  the  Great  Lakes,  was  a  second  great  nation- 
ality or  confederacy  of  Indian  tribes,  that  of  the 
Hurons  or  Adirondacks,  sometimes  called  the  Algon- 
quins.    The  term  "Algonkin"  or  "Algonquin"  is 

1  Juet's  Journal  of  Hudson's  Voyage,  I.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.  Sec- 
ond Series,  325.  These  colors  were  those  of  William  I.,  Prince  of  Or- 
ange— Nassau.  The  orange  bar  was  changed  to  red  after  the  death  of 
William  II.  in  1650.  .\s  thus  altered  the  Hag  of  Holland  continues  to 
this  day.    de  Jonge,  cited  in  I.  Brodhead,  32.5  n. 

!That  any  earlier  navigator  «<u7eci  up  the  Hadton,  as  baa  lately  been 
alleged,  is,  as  yet,  without  sufficient  proof. 

s  Juefs  Journal,  I.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  Second  Series,  324,  326,  330. 

♦  Moulton'8  Hist.  N.  Y.,  95  and  226. 


32 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


used,  however,  by  many  writers  to  describe  all  the 
aborigines  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  south  of  the  j 
St.  Lawrence,  from  the  singular  and  very  striking  fact, 
that  but  one  language  was  spoken  throughout  this 
entire  region  which  was  styled  the  "Algonquin"  or 
"Algonkin."  All  the  Indians  Avithin  these  limits  j 
understood  each  other.  There  were  only  compara- 
tively slight  local  variations.  They  required  no 
interpreters,  except  to  communicate  with  white  men. 
West  and  northwest  of  the  Lenni-Lenape,  extending 


A  SrSQUEHAJfNA  OR  DELAWARE  CHIEF. 

(From  Smith's  "History  of  Virginia.") 

from  the  western  sloi)es  of  the  Cattskills  and  the 
Helderbergs  south  of  the  Mohawk,  and  north  of  it, 
from  the  banks  of  the  upper  Hudson  and  the  waters 
of  Champlain  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  and  thence 
through  the  region  south  of  that  lake  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, was  the  dominion  of  the  third,  and,  perhaps, 
the  most  famous  of  the  three  great  nationalities  or 
races  of  confederated  Indians,  the  Five  (and  later 
Six),  Nations  or  Iroquois,  and  their  affiliated  tribes. 

These  were  the  three  great  stocks  of  aborigines, 
who  were  in  possession  of  North  America  from  the 


Potomac  and  Ohio  on  the  south,  to  Canada  on  the 
north,  and  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east,  to  the 
Father  of  Waters  on  the  west,  at  the  time  of  Hud- 
son's discovery  of  the  great  bay  of  New  York  and 
the  magnificent  river  which  bears  his  name. 

Each  of  these  three  confederacies  embraced  nu- 
merous distinct  tribes,  sub-tribes,  and  smaller  tribal 
divisions,  or  cantons,  and  chieftaincies,  all  having 
separate  names,  but  united  more  or  less  closely  by  the 
bond  of  a  common  origin.  Each  tribe,  or  sub-tribe, 
possessed  its  own  locality  and  specific  region  as  its 
own  property,  which  was  never  lost,  except  by 
voluntary  migration  or  by  conquest. 

There  also  existed  a  distinguishing  characteristic 
of  a  different  nature  in  all  these  great  Indian  con- 
federations. This  was  the  clan  or  family  distinction. 
Each  confederacy  was  divided  into  tribes,  families,  or 
clans,  designated  by  the  name  of  some  living  creature, 
which  they  called  their  totem,  or  badge,  the  repre- 
sentation of  which  was  painted  upon  their  persons 
and  upon  their  lodges.  This  tie,  as  members  of 
the  same  confederacy,  or  even  of  the  same  totemic 
family,  was  not  of  itself  sufficient  to  prevent  them 
warring  with  each  other  in  all  cases.  Like  more 
civilized  people  they  took  up  the  hatchet  against 
a  tribe  of  the  same  stock,  if  occasion  arose,  as 
freely  as  against  an  enemy  of  another  race.  Con- 
flicting claims  to  lands,  disputed  boundaries,  and  the 
rivalries  of  neighborhoods,  not  unfrequently  gave  rise 
to  enmities  and  wars.  Thus  in  1609,  the  tribes  on  the 
western  side  of  the  bay  of  New  York  and  the  lower 
Hudson,  and  those  on  the  eastern  side,  were  bitter 
enemies,'  although  all  were  tribes  and  sub-tribes  of 
the  Lenni-Lenape  or  Delaware  stock. 

Among  the  Lenni-Lenape  there  were  but  three  clans 
or  families,  designated  from  their  totems  or  badges,  as 
the  Unamis,  or  Turtle  (or  Tortoise)  clan,  the  Unal- 
achtgo  or  Turkey,  and  the  Minsi  or  Wolf,  clans,^  to 
one,  or  the  other  of  which,  belonged  every  tribe  or 
minor  sub-division  of  the  Delaware  stock.  The  tribes 
east  of  the  Hudson,  and  all  the  sea  coast  tribes  on 
both  sides  of  Long  Island  Sound  belonged  to  the 
Turkey  clan,  the  tribes  between  the  Hudson  and  the 
Alleghanies  to  the  Minsi  (sometimes  termed  Moncej') 
or  Wolf  clan,  and  those  on  the  Lower  Delaware, 
Lower  Susquehanna,  and  Potomac  to  that  of  the 
Turtle  (or  Tortoise)  clan. 

The  first  writer  on  New  Netherland,  was  Johan 
(John)  de  Laet,  a  learned  man,  a  native  of  Antwerp) 
but  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Leyden.  He  wrote  in 
1622,  and  first  published  in  1625,  sixteen  years  only 
afler  the  discovery,  through  the  Elzevirs  at  Leyden 
a  "History  of  the  New  World,"  which  contains  the 
first  historical  account  of  what  is  now  New  York. 
He  was  a  director  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company, 
subsequently  one  of  the  first  patroons  of  New  Nether- 


1  De  Laet's  New  World,  I.  N.  T.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  2d  series,  297. 

2  Ruttenber's  Hiet.  River  Indians,  47.    Moulton  Hist.,  N.  T.,  36. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


33 


land,  and  a  personal  friend  of  Hudson,  whose  private 
journal,  as  he  tells  us,  he  had  before  him  when  he 
wrote  and  from  which,  the  extracts  in  his  pages,  are 
all  that  exist  of  Hudson's  own  account  of  his  great 
discovery.  At  that  time,  de  Laet  says,  the  Indians 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Bay  and  River  were  called 
" Sank/iicanni,"  or  Sanhicans,  and  those  on  the  east, 
"  Makicanni,"  or  Mahicans,  Mohicans,  or  Mohegans' 
the  latter  being  Connecticut  spelling  of  the  word* 
The  Dutch  termed  them  "  Mahikanders,"  and  the 
natives  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson  collectively,  the 
"  River  Indians."  The  Dutch  word,  however  in  gen- 
eral use,  when  speaking  or  writing  of  them 
was,  "the  Wilden,"  literally  the  wild  men, 
or  the  savages. 

The  Long  Island  Indians  the  Dutch 
called  Matouwacks.  They  were  Mohicans 
and  were  divided  into  twelve  or  thirteen 
sub-tribes  or  chieftaincies.  All  bore  differ- 
ent names  and  possessed  distinct,  and 
different,  localities.  The  ruling  tribe  were 
the  Montauks  who  possessed  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  island.  They  owed  their 
supremacy  to  the  abundance  of  clams  in 
their  waters,  from  the  shells  of  which  they 
made  the  seawant  or  Indian  money.  This 
great  abundance  of  the  clam-shells  ena- 
bled them  to  supply  the  Indians  of  all 
tribes  westward  almost  to  the  great  lakes 
with  seawant,  and  thus  Montauk  became 
the  seat  of  financial  power,  not  only  of 
Long  Island,  but  of  a  region  larger  even 
than  the  Dutch  Province  of  Xew  Nether- 
land. 

All  the  natives  of  the  main  between  the 
Hudson  and  the  Connecticut,  from  the 
Sound  on  the  south  to  the  Green,  and  the 
White,  mountains  on  the  north,  were 
Mohicans,  and  their  great  council  fire  was 
established  on  the  Hudson,  in  the  present 
town  of  (xreenbush,  nearly  opposite  Al- 
bany. The  name  of  the  Hudson  was 
"  Mahicannituek,"  or  River  of  the  Mahic- 
ans; just  as  the  Delaware  was  called  by 
them  " Lenape-u-hi-hi-fiirk-,"  or  the  rapid 
river  of  the  Lenape;  on  the  right  bank  of 
which,  near  where  Philadelphia  was  afterward  built, 
was  the  place  of  the  Great  Council  Fire  of  the 
Lenni-Lenape  confederacy.' 

The  Iroquois  name  of  the  Hudson,  according  to 
John  R.  Bleecker,  the  old  Indian  interpreter  and  sur- 
veyor of  the  middle  and  latter  part  of  the  last  century, 
was  "Cahotatea."-  Judge  Egbert  Benson  in  his 
"Memoir"  says,  on  the  authority  of  a  Palatine  set- 
tler on  Livingston  manor,  that  the  Hudson  was  also 
called  "Shatemuc"  by  the  Indians  of  that  locality.' 

'  Moulton,  34  and  35. 

2  I.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Coll.,  2,  3. 

3  Memoir,  N.  V.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  II.  series,  vol.  2,  p.  85. 


The  Indians  of  Westchester  County  were  therefore 
Mahicans,  or  Mohicans,  as  it  is  easier  to  call  them, 
of  the  Turkey  tribe  or  clan  of  the  Lenni-Lenape,  or 
Delaware,  stock  of  North  American  aborigines.  They 
Avere  divided  into  several  sub-tribes,  cantons,  or 
chieftaincies,  each  ruled  by  a  Sacchima,  as  the  Dutch 
called  the  title,  or  Sagamore,  or  Sachem,  and  owning 
its  own  specific  location. 

Upon  the  island  of  New  York,  and  in  Westchester 
west  of  the  Bronx,  and  as  far  north  as  Yonkers,  were 
seated  the  Manahatas,  as  de  Laet  calls  them,  or  the 
Manhattans;  those  of  them  in  Westchester  were  also 


DEL.VWAKK  IXDIAX  1-A.Mll.Y. 
(From  Campanius'  "  New  Sweileii.") 

termed  the  Reckewacks,  or  Reckgawawancks,  their 
territory,  Kcskeskick,  and  their  chief  village,  Nap- 
peckamak,  was  situated  on  the  Nepperhaeni,  now 
Neperan,  or  Sawmill  river,  where  it  flows  into  the 
Hudson,  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Yonkers.*  The 
next  tribe  were  the  Wickquaeskecks,  or  Wick(|uaes- 
gecks,  or  Wickerschreecks,  so  called  from  their 
village  of  that  name  which  De  Vries,  writing  in  1640, 
thus  describes, — "  Opposite  Tappaen  is  a  place  called 
AVickquaesgeck.  This  land  is  also  fit  for  corn,  but 
too  stony  and  sandy.   We  got  there  good  masts.  The 

'  Rut  i  nber,  "8.    II.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  2nd  Series,  5. 


34 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


land  is  mountainous."  This  "  place  "  was  the  site  of 
the  present  village  of  Dobbs  Ferry.  A  few  miles 
further  up  the  Hudson  was  another  town  of  the  same 
tribe  called  Alipconck,  or  place  of  Elms,  now  Tarry- 
town.  This  tribe  seems  to  have  held  the  centre  of  the 
County  from  the  lands  of  the  Siwanoys  on  the  east  to 
the  Hudson  on  the  west.  Adjoining  them  on  the  north 
were  the  Sint-sinks  possessing  two  villages,  Ossingsing 
now  Sing-Sing,  and  Kestabuinck,  the  latter  of  which 
was  inland  and  a  little  south  of  the  Croton  river. 

From  the  Kicktawanc,  or  Croton,  extending  up  the 
river  to  Anthony's  Nose,  and  what  is  now  the  north 
line  of  the  County,  dwelt  the  Kicktawancks,  or 
Kitchawongs,  whose  chief  village  was  just  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Croton  river,  on  the  isthmus  connecting 
Senasqua,  or  Teller's  Point,  with  the  main  land,  and 
near  the  old  Van  Cortlandt  Manor  House.  East- 
wardly  their  lands  appear  to  have  extended  to  Con- 
necticut and  the  lands  of  the  Siwanoys.  The  Indians 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  were  also  called 
the  Tankitekes,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  general 


DELAWAKE  INDIAN  FORT. 
(From  Campanius'  "New  Sweden."") 

name  for  all  dwellings  north  of  the  Wickquaeskecks. 
These  last  were  said  by  Tienhoven  in  1651,  to  have 
extended  east  to  the  Sound,  but  this  being  in  conflict 
with  de  Laet's  account  of  1624,  is  believed  to  be  an 
error.  From  Hellgate  along  the  Sound,  including 
the  whole  eastern  side  of  Westchester  County,  and 
Connecticut,  as  far  as  Norwalk  and  its  islands,  and 
inland  to  the  valley  of  the  Bronx  and  the  head  waters 
of  the  Croton,  a  single  and  numerous  tribe  possessed 
all  the  land.  These  were  the  Sewanoes,  or  Siwanoys, 
as  de  Laet  writing  in  1624,  the  earliest  and  most 
trustworthy  authority  on  New  Netherland  history, 
distinctly  states.'  They  had  several  towns  in  this 
territory,  some  of  which  were  fortified.  One  of  the 
latter  occupied  the  beautiful  height  in  the  township 
of  Westchester  overlooking  the  Sound,  on  which  still 
stands  the  old  seat  of  the  Wilkins  family,  which 
from  it  has  always  borne,  and  still  bears,  the  name  of 
"  Castle  Hill."  A  village,  and  also  a  burial-place, 
existed  on  Pelham  Neck,  another  on  Davenport's 

1  De  Laet's  New  World,  ch.  VIII. 


Neck  in  New  Rochelie,  still  another  on  Heath- 
cote  Hill  and  Nelson's  Hill,  at  the  head  of  Mam- 
aroneck  Harbor.  A  fifth,  and  a  very  large  one, 
was  on  the  attractive  banks  of  Rye  Lake  in  the 
northern  end  of  the  town  of  Harrison.  Besides 
these  there  were  scattered  collections  of  a  few  lodges 
in  other  places  chiefly  resorted  to  in  the  fishing  and 
hunting  seasons.  One  of  these  was  at  Throg's  Point, 
another  at  the  extreme  point  of  Pelham  Neck, 
another  on  de  Laucey's  Neck  at  the  narrowest  point 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Harbour,  where  a  small  creek 
running  into  the  Harbour  from  the  west,  and  a  round 
field.of  upland  adjacent  to  it,  are  still  known  as  the 
Indian  creek,  and  the  Indian  field,  and  the  point 
itself  as  Indian  Point.  A  fourth  existed  on  Milton 
Neck,  and  a  fifth  on  Manussing  Island,  both  in  the 
town  of  Rye.  This  account  of  the  Westchester  In- 
dians is  based  upon  a  study  of  de  Laet,  de  Vries, 
Van  der  Donck,  O'Callaghan,  Brodhead,  Moulton, 
Schoolcraft,  Ruttenber,  and  an  examination  of  many 
Indian  deeds,  and  records  of  councils. 

From  the  Sakimas,  Sagamores,  or  Sachems,  of  these 
various  tribes,  and  some  of  their  chief  men  and 
women,  have  come  by  deeds  of  conveyance  the 
Indian  titles  to  all  the  lands  in  Westchester  County. 
There  is  no  part  of  America  of  equal  area,  in  which 
the  Indian  title  was  so  fully  and  fairly  extinguished. 
And  none  where  in  proportion  to  its  size  more  Indian 
deeds  have  been  given,  preserved,  and  recorded. 

There  was  a  peculiarity  in  the  customs  of  the 
Indians  in  relation  to  sales  of  lands  which  should 
always  be  remembered,  and  to  their  observance  of 
which  is  to  be  ascribed  the  discredit  sometimes 
attached  to  them  iu  these  matters.  "  Oh  !  you  are  an 
Indian  giver  "  is  sometimes  heard,  expressive  of  the 
idea,  of  giving  a  thing  and  then  taking  it  back,  which 
has  its  origin  in  this  custom.  They  sometimes  sold 
and  deeded  the  same  land  more  than  once,  in  whole, 
or  in  part.  This  was  in  pursuance  of  a  custom 
which  with  them  was  a  law.  It  is  thus  stated  by 
Ruttenber  in  his  "  History  of  the  River  Indians,"  page 
80.  "  Land«  held  by  them  were  obtained  by  conceded 
original  occupation  or  by  conquest.  If  conquered 
original  right  ceased  and  vested  in  the  conquerors ; 
if  re-conquered,  the  title  returned  to  its  original 
owners.  This  rule  they  applied  also  to  the  sale  of 
lands  to  the  Dutch.  [And  to  the  English  also.]  As 
often  as  they  sold  to  the  latter  and  subsequently 
drove  off  the  settlers,  so  often  was  re-purchase  neces- 
sary, and  if  it  was  not  made,  a  cause  of  grievance  and 
future  war  remained."  It  was  in  fact,  nothing  but 
the  application  of  their  idea  of  the  right  of  eminent 
domain.  Of  course  there  were  instances  of  fraudulent 
deeds  by  Indians  who  had  no  power  or  right  to  con- 
vey, or  who  were  drawn  into  sales  when  intoxicated 
or  prisoners  by  designing  whites.  And  there  were 
some  where  rival  Sachems  claimed  and  deeded  the 
same  lands  to  diff'erent  parties ;  but  these  exceptions 
were  rare. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


35 


In  Westchester  County  the  Indian  title  was  first 
extinguished  by  purchase  from  the  Indians  pursuant 
to  a  license  from  the  Dutch  or  English  authorities, 
then  Manors  and  (frants,  by  patents  were  obtained  in 
the  manner  directed  by  the  Dutch  or  English  laws. 
And  usually  in  the  case  of  the  Manors  and  larger 
patents,  deeds  of  confirmation  were  subsequently 
obtained  from  the  Indians,  merely  as  a  matter  of 
precaution,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Indian 
title  had,  pursuant  to  the  laws  both  of  the  Dutch  and 
the  English,  been  always  extinguished  by  deed  or 
deeds  beforehand. 

The  North  American  Indians  claimed  that  they 
sprung  from  the  earth — that  they  were  Antochthoni, 
produced  from  the  earth  itself,  and  hence  they 
boasted  their  title  to  the  lands  could  never  be  ques- 
tioned and  was  indefeasible.  This  belief  was  the 
underlying  foundation  of  the  many  curious,  grotesque, 
and  absurd,  accounts  of  their  origin  given  by  different 
tribes,  and  different  writers  at  different  times.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  origin  of  the  Indians, 
nor  any  of  the  many  theories  that  have  been  broached 
to  account  for  it. 

But  the  belief  above  mentioned,  in  some  form  or 
other,  always  existed  among  themselves.  Never  was 
it  more  forcibly,  or  more  eloquently  expressed  than 
by  the  great  Tecumseh  at  the  Council  of  Vincennes 
held  by  General  Harrison,  afterwards  the  ninth 
President  of  the  United  States,  at  that  place  in  1811. 
The  chief  of  some  tribes  attended,  to  complain  of  a 
purchase  of  lands  which  had  been  made  from  the 
Kickapoos.  The  harshness  of  language  used  by 
Tecumseh  in  the  course  of  the  conference  caused  it  to 
be  broken  up  in  confusion.  In  the  progress  of  the 
long  "talks,"  which  took  place,  Tecumseh,  having 
finished  one  of  his  speeches,  looked  around,  but  see- 
ing every  one  seated,  while  no  seat  was  prepared  for 
him,  a  momentary  frown  passed  over  his  countenance. 
Instantly  General  Harrison  ordered  that  a  chair 
should  be  given  him.  Some  |)erson  presented  one,  ( 
with  a  bow,  saying,  "  Warrior  your  father  General 
Harrison  offers  you  a  seat."  Tecumseh's  dark  eyes 
flashed.  "My  father  I  "  he  exclaimed  with  indigna- 
tion, and  extending  his  arm  towards  the  heavens, 
burst  forth  "  The  Great  Spirit  is  my  father  and  the 
earth  is  my  mother ;  she  feeds  and  clothes  me,  and  I 
recline  on  her  bosom."' 

2. 

How  the  Indian  Title  vested  successively  in  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  the  British  Crown,  and  the 
Independent  State  of  New  York. 

The  nature  and  extent  of  the  Indian  ownership, 
and  the  foundation  of  the  title  to  the  domain  of  the 
State  of  New  York  were  settled  by  the  principles  on 
these  subjects  very  early  adopted  and  carried  into 
effect  by  the  different  European  nations  which  di- 


1  Mi>iilton's  Hist.  N.  Y.,  27. 


vided  between  themselves  this  western  world.  These 
principles  formed  the  basis  of  a  conventional  inter- 
national law  wliich  has  been  always  observed  in 
America.  They  define  with  precision,  to  whom  the 
Indians  could  dispose  of  their  rights  to  dominion  and 
to  the  soil,  and  to  whom  they  could  not.  They 
have  been  laid  down  by  Chancellor  Kent  and  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  in  the  highest  courts  of  this  State 
and  the  United  States.'^ 

These  decisions  are  so  admirably  treated  by  Moul- 
ton,  in  that  most  valuable  fragment  of  his  "  History 
of  New  York  "  Mvhich  is  all  that  his  early  and  la- 
mented death  has  left  to  us,  that  his  statement  a 
little  abridged  will  be  almost  all  that  is  necessary  to 
say  on  this  subject  here. 

"  Upon  the  discovery  of  this  continent  the  great  na- 
tions of  Europe,  eager  to  appropriate  as  much  of  it 
as  possible  and  conceiving  that  the  character  and  re- 
ligion of  its  inhabitants  afforded  an  apology  for  con- 
sidering them  as  a  people,  over  whom  the  superior 


DAVID  PIETERSEN  DE  VRIES. 


genius  of  Europe  might  claim  an  ascendancy,  adopted, 
as  by  a  common  consent,  this  principle, — 

"  First,  that  discovery  gave  title  to  the  government, 
by  whose  subjects,  or  under  whose  authority  it  was 
made,  against  all  other  European  governments,  which 
title  might  be  consummated  by  possession.  Hence  if 
the  country  be  discovered  and  possessed  by  emigrants 
of  an  existing  acknowledged  government,  the  pos- 
session is  deemed  taken  for  the  Nation,  and  title  must 
be  derived  from  the  sovereign  in  whom  the  power  to 
dispose  of  vacant  territories  is  vested  by  law. 

'^Secondly,  Eesulting  from  this  principle  was  that  of 
the  sole  right  of  the  discoverer  to  acquire  the  soil  from 
the  Natives,  and  establish  settlements,  either  by  pur- 
chase or  by  conquest.  Hence  also  the  exclusive  right 
cannot  exist  in  government  and  at  the  same  time  in 
private  individuals  ;  and  hence  also, — 

"Thirdly,  The  Natives  were  recognized  as  rightful 
occupants,  but  their  power  to  dispose  of  the  soil  at 
their  own  will  to  whomsoever  they  pleased,  was 

2In  Goodell  v.  Jackson,  20  Johnson,  G93,  and  JoIidsod  i:  Graham's 
Lessee  v.  Mcintosh,  8th  Wheaton,  543. 
'P.  301,  Ac. 


36 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


denied  by  the  original  fundamental  principle,  that 
discovery  gave  exclusive  title  to  those  who  made  it. 

"  Fourthly, The  ultimate  dominion  was  asserted,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  a  power  to  grant  the  soil  while  yet 
in  the  possession  of  the  Natives.  Hence,  such  do- 
minion was  incompatible  with  an  absolute  and  com- 
plete title  in  the  Indians.  Consequently  thej'  had  no 
right  to  sell  to  any  other  than  the  government  of  the 
first  discoverer,  nor  to  private  citizens  without  the 
sanction  of  that  government.  Hence  the  Indians 
were  to  be  considered  mere  occupants,  to  be  protected 
indeed  while  in  peace  in  the  possession  of  their  lands, 
but  with  an  incapacitj'  of  transferring  the  absolute 
title  to  others. 

"  Fifthly,  The  United  States  have  acceded  to  those 
principles  which  were  the  foundation  of  European 
title  to  property  in  America.  The  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence gave  us  possession,  and  the  recognition  of 
Independence  by  Great  Britain  gave  title  to  all  the 
lands  within  the  boundary  lines  described  in  the 
treaty  that  closed  onr  revolutionary  war,  subject  only 
to  the  Indian  right  of  occupancy,  and  we  thus  be- 
came possessed  of  all  the  right  Great  Britain  had,  or 
which  before  the  separation  the  provinces  possessed, 
but  no  more.  Hence  the  exclusive  power  to  extin- 
guish tliat  right,  was  vested  in  that  government 
whicli  might  constitutionally  exercise  it.  Therefore 
each  State  before  the  Union  in  1789,  and  each  State 
since,  (within  its  circumscribed  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion) possessed,  and  possesses,  by  its  government  the 
exclusive  right  to  purchase  from  the  Indians. 

""Sixthly,  That  the  allodial  property  in  the  territory 
of  this  State,  or  that  which  has  become  exclusively 
vested  in  the  United  States,  is  solely  in  the  govern- 
ments respectively,  and  that  no  foreign  grant  or  title 
can  be  recognized  by  the  Courts  of  Justice  of  this 
State,  or  of  the  United  States. 

"Spain  though  deriving  a  grant  from  the  Pope,  was 
compelled  to  rest  her  title  on  discovery  ;  Portugal  to 
the  Brazils ;  France  to  Canada,  Acadia,  and  Louis- 
iana ;  Holland  to  the  discoveries  of  Henry  Hudson. 
England,  though  she  wrested  the  Dutch  possessions 
on  the  ground  of  pre-eminent  right,  asserted  it  on  the 
same  principle,  tracing  her  right  to  the  discover}'  of 
the  Cabots,  though  they  merely  sailed  along  the  coast 
of  America,  and  extending  her  claim  from  34°  to  48° 
of  north  latitude.  This  principle  of  ultimate  domain, 
founded  on  discovery  is  recognized  in  the  wars,  nego- 
tiations, and  treaties  of  the  European  nations 
claiming  territory  in  America.  Such  were  the  con- 
tests of  France  and  Spain  as  to  the  territory  on  the 
north  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  between  France 
and  Great  Britain  from  their  nearly  contemporaneous 
settlements,  till  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  when 
France  ceded  and  guaranteed  to  Great  Britain,  Nova 
Scotia  or  Acadia,  Canada  and  their  dependencies. 
The  cessions  and  reti-ocessions  of  the  European  powers 
in  America  were  all  made  while  the  greater  portion 
of  the  territories  so  ceded  and  retroceded  were  in  the 


possession  of  the  Indians.  This  was  also  the  case 
when  the  right  of  ultimate  dominion  was  asserted  by 
actual  settlement.  The  charter  to  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert,  renewed  in  that  to  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh  ;  the 
charters  of  James  I.  successively  vacated,  surrendered, 
annulled,  or  renewed,  to  the  North  and  South  Vir- 
ginia Companies,  until  that  to  the  Duke  of  Lenox 
and  others  in  1620  ;  were  all  granted  while  the  coun- 
try was  in  the  occupation  of  the  Indians. 

"  Under  the  last  mentioned  patent,  viz.  to  the  Plym- 
outh Company,  New  England  has,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, been  settled.  They  conveyed  to  Henry  Rosewell 
and  others  in  1627,  the  territory  of  Massachusetts, 
who,  in  1628,  obtained  a  charter  of  incorporation. 
Having  granted  a  great  part  of  New  England,  the 
Company  made  partition  of  the  residue  in  1635,  and 
surrendered  their  charter  to  the  Crown.  A  Patent 
was  granted  to  Ferdinando  Gorges  for  Maine,  which 
was  allotted  to  him  in  the  division  of  property.  New 
Hampshire  was  granted  to  John  Mason.  Before  the 
surrender  by  the  Dutch  of  their  colony,  now  New 
York,  in  1664,  the  King  of  England  had  granted  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  the  country  of  New  England,  and  as 
far  as  the  Delaware  Bay.  The  Duke  subsequently 
transferred  New  Jersey  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir 
George  Carteret.  And  yet,  during  these  events,  a 
great  proportion  of  the  country  was  in  possession  of 
the  Indians.  In  1663  the  Crown  granted  to  Lord 
Clarendon  and  others  the  country  lying  between  the 
36th  degree  of  North  latitude  and  the  River  St. 
Mary's ;  in  1666  the  proprietors  obtained  a  new  char- 
ter granting  to  them  that  province  in  the  King's  do- 
minions in  North  America  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
South  Sea.  Thus  our  whole  country,  the  soil  as  well  as 
the  right  of  dominion,  was  granted  while  occupied  by 
the  Indians.  However  extravagant  the  pretension 
may  appear,  of  converting  the  discovery  of  an  inhab- 
ited country  into  conquest,  if  the  principle  has  been 
asserted  in  the  first  instance,  and  afterwards  juain- 
tained  ;  if  a  country  has  been  acquired  and  held  under 
it ;  if  the  jjroperty  of  the  great  mass  of  the  community 
originates  in  it,  it  becomes  the  law  of  the  land  and 

cannot  be  questioned  The  law  of  conquest, 

founded  in  force,  but  limited  by  that  humanity  or 
policy  which  incorjiorates  the  conquered  with  the 
victorious,  spares  all  wanton  oppression,  and  protects 
title  to  property,  whether  the  vanquished  became  in- 
corporated, or  were  governed  as  a  distinct  society,  was 
incapable  of  application  to  the  aborigines  of  this 
country.  The  tribes  of  Indians  were  fierce  savages, 
whose  occupation  was  war,  and  whose  subsistence 
was  chiefly  from  the  forest.  To  leave  them  in  pos- 
session of  their  country,  was  to  leave  the  country  a 
wilderness ;  to  govern  them  as  a  distinct  people  was 
impossible,  because  they  were  as  brave  and  high 
spirited  as  they  were  fierce,  and  were  ready  to  repel 
by  arms  every  attempt  on  their  independence.  To  mix 
with  them  was  impossible.  The  Europeans  were  then 
compelled  either  to  abandon  the  country,  and  all 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


37 


claim  to  their  discovery,  remain  exposed  to  perpetual 
hazard  of  massacre,  or  enforce  their  claim  by  the 
sword.  Wars,  in  which  the  whites  were  not  always 
the  aggressoi-s,  ensued.  European  policy,  numbers, 
and  skill,  prevailed.  As  the  white  j)opulation  ad- 
vanced, that  of  the  Indians  necessarily  receded.  The 
country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  agriculturalists  be- 
came unfit  for  them.  The  game  fled  into  thicker  and 
more  unbroken  forests,  and  the  Indians  followed. 
The  soil  to  which  the  CVown  originally  claimed  title, 
being  no  longer  occupied,  was  parceled  out  according 
to  the  will  of  the  sovereign  power,  and  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  those  claiming  under  it.  Hence  the  abso- 
lute title  and  exclusive  right  of  extinguishing  that  of 
the  Indians  having  been  vested  in,  and  exercised  by, 
the  government  cannot  exist  at  the  same  time  in  pri- 
vate individuals,  and  was  incompatible  with  an  abso- 
lute and  complete  title  in  the  Indians.  The  British 
government,  which  was  then  ours,  and  wliose  rights 
passed  to  the  United  States  by,  and  at,  the  peace  of 
1783,  asserted,  and  maintained,  a  title  to  all  the  lands 
occupied  by  the  Indians  in  the  British  colonies  in 
America,  and  the  exclusive  right  of  extinguishing 
their  title  by  occupancy.  These  claims  were  carried 
to  the  line  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  1783.  Our  title  to  a  vast  portion  of  the 
lands  we  hold  originates  in  them.  The  United  States 
therefore  maintain  the  principle  which  has  been 
received  as  the  foundation  of  all  European  title  in 
America." 

By  the  treaty  of  peace,  in  1783,  Great  Britain  relin- 
quished all  claim  not  only  to  the  government,  but  to 
the  soil,  and  territorial  rights,  of  the  thirteen  Colonies 
as  claimed  by  the  American  negotiators  of  that  treaty, 
the  boundaries  of  which  collectively  were  fixed  by  its 
second  article.  And  by  that  treaty  all  the  powers 
of  that  government  and  its  right  to  the  soil  passed  to 
the  Thirteen  States,  not  as  a  single  Sovereignty,  but 
as  thirteen  Independent  Sovereignties.  But  neither 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  nor  the  Treaty,  could 
give  us  more  than  we  possessed  by  virtue  of  the  for- 
mer, or  to  which  Great  Britain  was  before  entitled. 

New  York,  four  years  before  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation were  adopted  and  became  operative  (which 
did  not  occur  till  March,  1781),  adopted  a  constitu- 
tion, at  Kingston,  on  the  20th  day  of  April,  1777;  by 
the  37th  Article  of  which  (since  reincorporated  in  all 
the  subsequent  State  Constitutions),  contracts  for 
lands  with  the  Indians  in  this  State  are  made  void 
unless  sanctioned  by  the  Legislature,  and  such  pur- 
chases are  declared  to  be  a  penal  offense  by  a  subse- 
quent act  of  the  Legislature ;  the  object  being  the 
protection  of  the  Indians  in  the  possession  of  their 
lands. 

During  her  whole  existence  as  a  British  Colony, 
a  period  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  years,  New 
York  was  a  Royal  Government,  a  Province  indepen- 
dent in  all  respects  except  her  allegiance  to  the 
British  sovereign,  whose  representative  was  the  Royal 


Governor  for  the  time  being.  As  such  representative 
the  Governor  granted  by  patent  all  the  lands  which 
were  granted  in  the  Province,  except  those  previously 
granted  by,  the  prior  Dutch  government,  the  i)Osses- 
sion  of  which  by  their  owners  was  duly  confirmed  by 
the  Articles  of  Capitulation  under  which  the  Dutch 
surrender  of  New  Netherland  was  made  in  1664. 

By  the  thirty-sixth  article  of  the  first  State  Consti- 
tution of  1777,  all  tliese  crown  grants  under,  through, 
and  by  Provincial  Governors,  prior  to  October  14, 
1775,  were  declared  to  be  valid  and  ineontestible,  and 
were  thereby  confirmed.  And  this  declaration  and 
confirmation  have  been  continued  and  adopted  in  all 
the  succeeding  constitutions  of  New  York  to  the 
present  time.  Conscejuently  a  grant  from  the  British 
Crown  is  tlie  highest  source  of  title  in  this  State,  and 
one  which  is  irrefragable,  and  incapable  of  being 
affected  adversely  in  any  way  by  any  legislative,  or 
other,  act  of  the  State  government,  or  any  decision  of 
any  Court  of  this  Stale,  or  of  the  United  States. 

3. 

The  Dutch  in  Xeto  Netherland. 

A  brief  statement  of  the  dealings  of  the  Dutch 
with  their  newly  discovered  country,  before  its  colon- 
ization was  actually  begun,  is  necessary  to  a  right 
understanding  of  the  principles  upon  which  that 
colonization  was  undertaken,  and  of  the  system  of 
government,  and  laws,  which  that  great  nation  estab- 
lished, in  New  Netherland. 

And  here  let  it  be  noted,  that  this  name  was  New 
Netherland,  not  New  Netherlands,  as  so  often,  and  so 
wrongly,  printed,  written,  and  spoken.  "Niew  Ned- 
erlandt"  was  the  term  in  Dutch.  Adding  a  final 
"s"  to  the  English  translation,  and  calling  it  New 
Netherlands,  is  simply  a  pure  New  England  vulgar- 
ism, and  an  utterly  erroneous  translation  of  the  true 
name. 

The  Netherlands,  in  the  plural,  was  the  correct 
name  in  English  of  the  United  Provinces,  from  the 
fact  that  they  consisted  of  seven  Provinces,  while 
Niew  Netherlandt  was  but  a  single  Province,  not- 
withstanding its  great  extent,  and  hence  was  always 
spoken  of,  and  written  of,  by  the  Dutcii  in  the  singu- 
lar number. 

The  announcement  of  Hudson's  great  discovery 
did  not  produce  rapid  results.  The  extraordinary 
success  of  the  East  India  Company  at  that  time  and 
the  enormous  dividends  it  declared  drew  the  general 
attention  to  the  eastern,  and  not  to  the  western 
world.  A  single  vessel  in  1610,  the  year  after  the 
return  of  the  Half  Moon,  made  a  successful  trading 
voyage  to  the  "River  of  the  Mountains,"  returning  to 
Holland  with  a  valuable  cargo  of  peltries.  Two 
Dutch  navigators,  Hendrick  Christiaensen,  or  Cor- 
stiaensen,  and  Adrian  Block,  chartering  a  vessel 
commanded  by  Captain  Ryser,  next  made  a  voyage  to 
the  new  region.  In  the  early  part  of  1613,  Hendrick 
Corstiaensen,  in  the  "Fortune,"  and  Block,  in  the 


38 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Tiger,  sailed  again  to  the  Manhattans,  and  ex- 
plored the  adjacent  coasts  and  waters.  Other  vessels 
also  visited  the  hay  and  river,  and  all  returned  with 
profitable  cargoes  of  furs.  No  trouble  was  expe- 
rienced with  the  natives,  who  were  ready  and  willing 
to  exchange  their  skins  for  the  novel  and  attractive 
goods  of  Europe. 

Block's  vessel,  the  "Tiger,"  was  accidentally  burned 
in  the  Bay  of  New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1613,  and 
he  therefore  built  another  during  the  succeeding  win- 
ter,^— the  first  ever  constructed  by  white  men  in  the 
waters  of  New  York.  It  was  a  small  yacht  of  only 
sixteen  to.as  burden  (English  measure),  which,  with 
strange  appropriateness,  he  named  "  the  Onnist  " — the 
Restless.  In  this  yacht,  in  the  summer  of  1614,  Block 
sailed  through  Hellgate  and  explored  Long  Island 
Sound  and  the  adjacent  coast  as  far  east  as  Cape  Cod, 
discovering  the  Housatonic,  and  Connecticut  rivers 
Narraganset  Bay,  and  the  island  that  still  bears  his 
name.  He  then  first  ascertained  that  Long  Island 
was  an  island.  The  Connecticut  river  he  ascended  to  a 
little  above  the  present  city  of  Hartford.  He  was 
the  first  European  who  sailed  through  the  Sound, 
and  the  first  white  man  who  beheld  the  southern  and 
eastern  shores  of  Westchester  County. 

Corstiaensen  finally  determined  to  remain  at  Man- 
hattan to  extend  the  Indian  trade.  Turning  over  his 
own  ship  to  Block,  who  left  him  the  Onrust,  the 
latter  returned  to  Holland.  Corstiaensen  built  two 
fortified  trading-stations,  one  on  an  island  below 
Albany,  the  other  at  the  south  end  of  ]\Ianhattan 
Island,  and  visited  and  traded  with  the  Indians 
of  all  the  neighboring  tribes.  Three  other  vessels, 
the  Little  Fox,  the  Nightingale  and  the  Fortune, 
under  Captains  John  de  Witt,  Rhys  Volkertssen  and 
Cornelis  Jacobsen  May,  respectively,  visited  the 
"River  of  the  Mountains,"  exploring  and  trading 
with  the  natives,  and  those  of  the  regions  adjacent. 

This  trade,  thus  begun,  was  so  profitable  that  it 
induced  these  navigators,  and  the  owners  of  their 
ships,  to  apply  to  the  States-General  of  the  United 
Provinces  for  a  grant  of  the  sole  privilege  of  trading 
with  the  new  and  pleasant  land  beyond  the  ocean. 
They  presented  a  memorial  to  this  effect,  accompanied 
by  the  first  map  ever  made  of  the  region  of  New 
Netherland — a  "Carte  Figuratif,"  as  they  styled  it — 
to  the  States-General  in  the  autumn  of  1614.  The 
application  met  their  approval,  and  on  the  11th  of 
October,  in  the  same  year,  that  sovereign  body  made 
a  grant  to  the  petitioners  of  the  privilege  sought,  to 
run  for  the  term  of  three  years,  from  the  1st  of  Jan- 
uary, 1615.  This  grant  is  in  the  following  words, 
and  in  it  appears  for  the  first  time,  as  the  name  of 
the  new  region,  the  term  "  New  Netherland." 

"  The  States-General  of  the  United  Netherlands 
to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  Greeting. 


1 1.  Col.  Hist.  N.  T.,  12.  I.  O'Callaghan's  Hist,  of  New  Nether- 
land, 47. 


Whereas  Gerrit  Jacobz  Witssen,  antient  Burgomaster 
of  the  City  of  Amsterdam,  Jonas  Witssen,  Simon 
Morrissen,  owners  of  the  ship  named  the  Little  Fox, 
whereof  Jan  de  Witt  has  been  skipper;  Hans  Hon- 
gers,  Paulus  Pelgrom,  Lambrecht  van  Tweenhuysen, 
owners  of  two  ships  named  the  Tiger  and  the  For- 
tune, whereof  Adriaen  Block  and  Henrick  Corstiaen- 
sen were  skippers;  Arnolt  van  Lybergen,  Wessel 
Schenck,  Hans  Claessen  and  Barent  Sweettsen,  own- 
ers of  the  ship  named  the  Nightingale,  whereof 
Thys  Volckertsen  was  skipper;  Merchants  of  the 
aforesaid  City  of  Amsterdam,  and  Pieter  Clementzen 
Brouwer,  Jan  Clementzen  Kies,  and  Cornelis  Volck- 
ertssen.  Merchants  of  the  City  of  Hoorn,  owners  of 
the  ship  named  the  Fortuyn,  wherof  Cornelis 
Jacobssen  May  was  skipper ;  all  now  associated  in 
one  company,  have  respectfully  represented  to  us, 
that  they,  the  petitioners,  after  great  expenses  and 
damages  by  loss  of  ships  and  other  dangers,  had, 
during  the  present  year  discovered  and  found,  with 
the  above-named  five  ships,  certain  New  Lauds  situ- 
ate in  America,  between  New  France  and  Virginia, 
the  seaooasts  whereof  lie  between  forty  and  fortyfive 
degrees  of  Latitude,  and  now  called  New  Netherland : 
And  whereas  We  did,  in  the  month  of  March  last,  for 
the  promotion  and  increase  of  commerce,  cause  to  be 
published  a  certain  General  Consent  and  Charter, 
setting  forth,  that  whosoever  should  thereafter  dis- 
cover new  havens,  lands,  places  or  passages,  might 
frequent,  or  cause  to  be  frequented,  for  four  voyages, 
such  newly  discovered  and  found,  places,  passages, 
havens,  or  lands,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  from 
visiting  or  frequenting  the  same  from  the  United 
Netherlands,  until  the  said  first  discoverers  and  find- 
ers shall,  themselves,  have  completed  the  said  four 
voyages,  or  caused  the  same  to  be  done  within  the 
time  prescribed  for  that  purpose,  under  the  penalties 
expressed  in  the  said  Octroy,  &c.,  they  request  that 
we  should  accord  to  them  due  Act  of  the  aforesaid 
Octroy  in  the  usual  form : 

"  Which  being  considered,  We  therefore  in  Our  As- 
sembly having  heard  the  pertinent  Report  of  the  Pe- 
titioners, relative  to  the  discoveries  and  findings  of 
the  said  new  Countries  between  the  above-named 
limits  and  degrees,  and  also  of  their  adventures,  have 
consented  and  granted,  and  by  these  presents  do  con- 
sent and  grant,  to  the  said  Petitioners  now  united  into 
one  company,  that  they  shall  be  privileged  exclusively 
to  frequent,  or  cause  to  be  visited,  the  above  newly  dis- 
covered lands,  situate  in  America  between  New  France 
and  Virginia,  whereof  the  seacoasts  lie  between  the  for- 
tieth and  fortyfifth  degrees  of  Latitude,  now  named  New 
Netherland,  as  can  be^een  by  a  Figurative  Map  hereun- 
to annexed,  and  that  for  four  voyages  within  the  term 
of  three  years, commencing  the  first  of  January,  sixteen 
hundred  and  fifteen  next  ensuing,  or  sooner,  without  it 
being  permitted  to  any  other  person  from  the  United 
Netherlands,  to  sail  to,  navigate,  or  frequent  the  said 
newly  discovered  lands,  havens,  or  places,  either  di- 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


39 


rectly  or  indirectly,  within  the  said  three  years,  on 
pain  of  confiscation  of  the  vessel  and  Cargo  where- 
with infraction  hereof  shall  be  attempted,  and  a  fine 
of  Fifty  thousand  Netherland  Ducats  for  the  benefit 
of  the  said  discoverers  or  finders ;  provided,  neverthe- 
less, that  by  these  presents  We  do  not  intend  to 
prejudice  or  diminish  any  of  our  former  grants  or 
charters;  And  it  is  Our  intention,  that  if  any  disputes 
or  differences  arise  from  these  our  concessions  they 
shall  be  decided  by  ourselves. 

"  We  therefore  expressly  command  all  Governors, 
Justices,  Officers,  Magistrates,  and  inhabitants,  of  the 
aforesaid  United  Countries,  that  they  allow  the  said 
company  peaceably  and  quietly  to  enjoy  the  whole 
benefit  of  this  Our  grant  and  consent,  ceasing  all  con- 
tradictions and  obstacles  to  the  contrary.  For  such 
we  have  found  to  appertain  to  the  public  service. 
Given  under  our  seal,  paraph  and  signature  of  Our 
Secretary,  at  the  Hague  the  xith  of  October,  1614."' 

This  exclusive  charter  expired  by  its  terms  on  the 
first  of  January,  1818,  and  the  company  of  merchants 
to  whom  it  had  been  granted, — "  the  United  New 
Netherland  Company '' — as  they  styled  themselves, 
applied  for  its  renewal.  This  the  States-General  re- 
fused, having  in  contemplation  to  charter  a  great 
military  and  commercial  company  for  the  West 
Indies  similar  to  the  great  organization  of  that  nature 
then  existing  for  the  East  Indies.  The  object  in  view 
in  both  was  the  same,  namely,  to  establish  a  power, 
which  could,  at  the  same  time,  maintain  profitable 
foreign  trade,  and  carry  on  military  and  naval  enter- 
prises against  Spain,  thus  in  both  ways  crippling 
their  hereditary  enemy.  In  the  summer  of  1618, 
Hendrick  Eelkens  and  his  partners,  by  special  per- 
mission of  the  States-General,  sent  their  ship,  the 
"  Scheldt "  to  the  Manhattans  for  a  single  trading 
voyage.  In  1619  Captain  Cornelis  Jacobsen  May, 
who  had  made  the  voyage,  a  few  years  before  in  com- 
mand of  the  "Fortune,"  sailed  again  in  the  ship 
"  Glad  Tidings."  and  explored  the  Bays  of  the  Del- 
aware, and  the  Chesapeake.  Returning  in  1620,  he 
and  his  owners  applied  to  the  States-General  for  a 
special  charter  in  their  favor,  and  Eelkens  and  his 
partners  put  in  an  opposing  petition  claiming  such 
special  charter  for  themselves  on  the  ground  of  prior 
discovery.  The  States-General  tried  to  compel  these 
parties  to  settle  their  differences,  and  unite  their 
interests,  and  appointed  a  committee  upon  the  sub- 
ject. This  committee  sat  for  several  months  endeav- 
oring, after  hearing  both  sides,  to  effect  this  object ; 
but  finding  it  impossible,  they  so  reported,  and  the 
States  General  refused  to  give  either  party  the  wished 
for  prize.  In  less  than  seven  months  after  this 
rejection,  "  the  long  pending  question  of  a  grand 
armed  commercial  organization  was  finally  settled; 
and  an  ample  charter,  (bearing  date  the  third  day  of 
June  1621)  gave  the  AVest  India  Company  almost 


unlimited  powers  to  colonize,  govern,  and  defend  New 
Netherland." 

In  the  year  1619  Captain  Thomas  Dermer,  a  naviga- 
tor in  the  employment  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  one 
of  the  leading  corporators  of  the  "  Council  of  Plym- 
outh "  (as  the  Company  chartered  by  James  I.  in 
1606,  was  styled)  who  terms  him  "  a  brave  stout  gen- 
tleman," was  sent  in  command  of  a  ship  of  two 
hundred  tons  on  a  voyage  to  Monhegan,  an  island  on 
the  Coast  of  Maine  some  distance  east  of  the  Mouth 
of  the  Kennebec.  One  object  of  this  voyage  was  to 
obtain  a  cargo  of  fish,  another  was  to  return  to  his 
home  Squanto,  one  of  the  twenty-seven  Massachu- 
setts Indians  kidnapped,  carried  to  Malaga  in  Spain, 
and  sold  as  slaves,  late  in  1614,  by  Hunt,  the  master 
of  one  of  the  three  vessels  of  Captain  John  Smith, 
which  that  famous  explorer  left  behind  him  to  com- 
plete her  cargo  on  his  departure  from  New  England 
in  July,  1614.' 

By  the  good  efforts  of  some  benevolent  monks  of 
Malaga  many  of  the  kidnapped  Indians  were 
rescued  from  slavery,  and  eventually  found  their  way 
back  to  America.  One  of  these  was  Squanto,  who  on 
reaching  London,  was  sent  by  Mr.  Slaney,  merchant 
and  treasurer  of  the  Newfoundland  Company  to  that 
island.  There  Dermer  met  him,  on  touching  at  the 
island  on  his  way  to  England  on  a  previous  voyage, 
and  carried  him  back  to  that  country,  as  the  easiest 
way  of  returning  him  to  New  England.  On  this,  his 
next  voyage  he  carried  Squanto  along  with  him.  On 
arriving  at  IVIonhegan,  and  leaving  his  vessel  there 
to  obtain  her  cargo  of  fish,  he  took  the  ship's  pin- 
nace, an  open,  undecked  boat,  of  only  five  tons,  and 
with  Squanto  and  two  or  three  sailors  departed  for 
the  home  of  his  Indian  friend.  The  unhappy  sav- 
ages so  wickedly  kidnapped  by  Hunt  were  natives  of 
Patuxet  on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  its 
neighborhood,  Squanto  himself  having  been  born  at 
that  place.  Dermer  left  Monhegan  on  the  19th  day 
of  May,  1619,  and  in  his  letter  to  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Purchas,  (which  the  latter  published  in  the  fourth 
volume  of  his  "  Pilgrimage,"  in  162.5,)  says,  "  I 
passed  along  the  coast  where  I  found  some  ancient 
plantations,  not  long  since  populous,  now  utterly 
void;  in  other  places  a  remnant  remains,  but  not 
free  from  sickness.  Their  disease  is  the  plague,  for 
we  might  perceive  the  sores  of  some  that  had  escaped 
who  described  the  spots  of  such  as  usually  die,  (evi- 
dently the  small-pox).  When  I  arrived  at  my 
savage's  native  country,  finding  all  dead,  I  travelled 
a  long  days  journey  westward  to  a  place  called 
Nummastaguyt  (a  place  fifteen  miles  west  from  Pa- 
tuxet) where  finding  inhabitants,  I  despatched  a 
messenger  a  days  journey  farther  west  to  Pocanaoket 
which  bordereth  on  the  sea,  (now  Bristol,  Rhode 
Island);  whence  came  to  see  me  two  kings,  attended 


II.  Col.  Hist.       Y.  u. 


»  I.  Brod.  97. 

1      3  K.  T.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,    2d  .*HTie9.    Vol.  I.  .W.    I.  Brodhead,  97. 


40 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


with  a  guard  of  fifty  men,  who  being  well  satisfied 
with  what  my  savage  and  I  discoursed  unto  them — be- 
ing desirous  of  novelty— gave  me  content  in  whatever 
I  demanded,  where  I  found  that  former  relations  were 
true. 

"  Here  I  redeemed  a  Frenchman,  and  afterwards, 
another  at  Mastachusit,  who  three  years  since  escaped 
shipwreck  at  the  north-east  of  Cape  Cod." 

Patuxet  was  the  very  place  where  on  the  21st  of 
December,  1620,  eighteen  months  later,  the  Pilgrims 
from  Leyden  landed  from  the  Mayflower,  and  which 
Captain  John  Smith  six  years  before  had  called 
"  Plymouth,"  a  name  which  will  ever  be  famous  in 
New  England  history.  Strange  are  the  historic 
facts,  that  slaves  were  its  first  export,  and  those  slaves 
Indians,  that  its  first  foreign  visitors,  after  its  dis- 
covery by  Smith,  were  Frenchmen,  the  two  redeemed 
by  Dermer,  who  was  the  first  to  point  out  its 
advantages  for  a  town,  and  that  the  coming  there  of 
the  Pilgrims  afterward  was  the  merest  accident  of  an 
accident,  they  having  sailed  for  New  Netherland. 

Dermer  reached  Monhegan  on  his  return,  on  the 
23d  of  June,  1619,  and  after  despatching  his  ship 
back  to  England,  prepared  to  sail  on  a  voyage  to 
Virginia  in  his  pinnace.  "  I  put,"  he  says,  "  most  of 
my  provisions  aboard  the  Sampson  of  Captain 
Ward,  ready  bound  for  Virginia  from  whence  he 
came,  taking  no  more  into  the  pinnace  than  I  thought 
might  serve  our  turns,  determining  with  God's  help 
to  search  the  coast  along,  and  at  Virginia  to  supply 
ourselves  for  a  second  discovery  if  the  first  failed." 
He  then  sailed  along  the  coast  to  Virginia  arriving 
there  on  the  8th  of  September,  1619.  Squanto 
terribly  disappointed  at  finding  all  his  2:)eople  dead, 
remained  with  Dermer,  till  he  touched  on  this  second 
pinnace  voyage,  at  Sawah-quatooke  (an  Indian  town 
in  the  present  township  of  Brewster  on  Cape  Cod) 
"  where,"  in  Dermer's  words,  "  he  desired  to  stay  with 
some  of  our  savage  friends."  Subsequently  Squanto, 
from  the  knowledge  of  English  he  had  picked  up> 
became  of  great  assistance  to  the  Pilgrims  as  an  in- 
terpreter and  his  later  career  is  well  known. 

Dermer  stopped  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  thence 
as  he  says,  shaped  his  voyage  "  as  the  coast  led  me 
till  I  came  to  the  most  westerly  part  where  the  coast 
began  to  fall  away  southerly.  (This  was  the  eastern 
entrance  of  Long  Island  Sound.)  In  my  way  I  dis- 
covered land  about  thirty  leagues  in  length  hereto- 
fore taken  for  main,  where  I  feared  I  had  been  em- 
bayed, but  by  the  help  of  an  Indian  I  got  to  sea 
again,  through  many  crooked  and  straight  passages. 
I  let  pass  many  accidents  in  this  journey  occasioned 
by  treachery,  where  we  were  twice  compelled  to  go 
together  by  the  ears ;  once  the  savages  had  great 
advantage  of  us  in  a  strait,  not  above  a  bow-shot, 
[wide],  and  where  a  great  multitude  of  Indians  let 
fly  at  us  from  the  bank  ;  but  it  pleased  God  to  make 
us  victors.  Near  unto  this  we  found  a  most  danger- 
ous cataract  amongst  small,  rocky  islands,  occasioned 


by  two  unequal  tides,  the  one  ebbing  and  flowing  two 
hours  before  the  other."  This  was  Hellgate,  and  the 
place  were  the  Indians  "  let  fly"  at  them  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Throg's  Point.  Such  was  the  voy- 
age of  the  first  Englishman  who  ever  sailed  through 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  the  first  who  ever  beheld  the 
southern  and  eastern  shores  of  Westchester  County. 
This  was  five  years  after  the  Dutch  skipper  Block 
had  sailed  through  the  same  Sound  from  the  Man- 
hattans, and  ten  years  after  Hudson's  discovery  of 
"  the  Great  River  of  the  Mountains."  Very  singular 
it  is,  that  fights  with  the  Indians,  both,  on  the  Hud- 
son, and  on  the  Sound,  and  at  points  nearly  opposite 
each  other,  were  the  beginning  of  civilization  in 
Westchester  County ;  and  that  the  first  was  with 
the  Dutch  and  the  second  with  the  English,  the  two 
races  of  whites,  which,  in  succession,  ruled  that 
county,  and  the  Province  and  State  of  New  York.' 

Dermer  spent  the  succeeding  winter  (1619-20)  in 
Virginia,  went  back  to  New  England  the  next  sum- 
mer, again  visited  Plymouth  in  June,  and  described 
its  advantages  for  a  town  settlement  in  his  letter  of 
the  30th  of  that  month,  went  again  to  Virginia,  and 
there  died. 

On  this  return  voyage  from  Virginia,  Dermer,  in 
the  words  of  the  "  Brief  Relation  "  of  the  Plymouth 
Company's  proceedings  from  1607  to  1622,  "met  with 
certain  Hollanders,  who  had  a  trade  in  Hudson's 
river  some  years  before  that  time,  with  whom  he  had 
a  conference  about  the  state  of  that  coast,  and  their 
proceedings  with  those  people,  whose  answer  gave 
him  good  content." 

This  visit  of  Dermer  to  "  certain  Hollanders  "  was 
the  first  visit  of  an  Englishman  to  Manhattan  Island, 
and  he  was  the  first  man  of  that  race  who  trod  its  soil. 
Hudson  never  landed  on  the  island,  and  they  who 
first  did  so,  and  those  whom  Dermer  found  there, 
were  Dutchmen.  This  voyage,  however,  was  the  basis 
of  one  of  the  most  famous  myths  of  American  and 
New  York  history.  Twenty-nine  years  after  Dermer's 
visit,  in  the  year  1648,  there  appeared  in  England  a 
])amplilet,  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Beauchamp 
Plantagenet,  Esq.,"  entitled,  "  A  Description  of  the 
Province  of  New  Albion,"  in  which  it  is  stated,  that 
Capt.  Samuel  Argall,  on  his  return  to  Virginia  from 
Acadia  in  1613,  "landed  at  Manhatas  Isle,  in  Hud- 
son's river,  where  they  found  four  houses  built,  and  a 
pretended  Dutch  Governor  under  the  West  India 
Company  of  Amsterdam,"  and  that  he  (Argall)  forced 
the  Dutch  to  submit  themselves  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land and  to  the  government  of  Virginia.^ 

This  story,  often  and  often  repeated,  is  not  sup- 
ported by  any  official  document  of  the  English, 
Virginia,  or  Dutch  governments  yet  discovered  to  this 
day,  and  is  believed  by  modern  scholars  to  have  been 


^  This  letter  of  Dermer  reprinted  from  Purchas  with  a  learned  preface, 
is  in  I.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  CoU.  2d  Series,  343.  Also  in  2GMass.  Hist.  Coll., 
p.  63. 

2  I.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  2d  Series,  335. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


41 


based  by  "  Plantageiiet "  on  Deimer's  account  of  his 
voyages,  somewhat  dressed  up.  In  1613  the  Dutch 
West  India  Coni[»any  had  not  only  not  been  incorpo- 
rated, but  it  was  not  I'ornied  till  1621.  That  eminent 
American  historical  scholar,  the  late  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Murphy  of  Brooklyn,  a  great  lawyer,  a  practiced 
statesman,  in  the  Dutch  language  profoundly  skilled, 
and  who  had  been  minister  to  Holland,  after  a 
thorough  investigation  of  this  story  of  Argyll's  visit, 
placed  in  a  note  to  his  translation  of  Van  dor  Donck's 
"Vertoogh,"  or  "Representation,"  of  New  Nether- 
land,  published  in  1849,  the  following  emphatic 
opinion, — "  This  story  is  a  pure  fiction,  unsustained 
by  any  good  authority — though  some  writers  have 
heaped  up  citations  on  the  subject — and  as  fully  sus- 
ceptible of  disproof  as  any  statement  of  that  character 
at  that  early  period  can  be."  ' 

It  is  clear  that  from  Hudson's  Discovery  to  the 
chartering  of  the  West  India  Company  the  Dutch 
considered  New  Netherland  as  a  colony  for  commer- 
cial purposes  only,  and  maintained  it  simply  for  the 
profits  of  the  fur  trade  with  the  Indians.  Its  true 
colonization,  as  a  land  to  be  settled  by  their  own 
people,  for  its  agricultural  and  other  resources,  and  as 
a  possible  market  for  the  productions  of  Holland,  was 
gradually  forced  upon  them  by  their  experience  of  its 
constantly  increasing  value,  and  pleasant,  and  pro- 
ductive, climate  and  soil. 

The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  the  chartering  of 
the  West  India  Company  by  the  States  General  of  the 
United  Netherlands  on  the  third  of  June  1621.  Such 
an  organization  as  an  armed  military  trading  com- 
pany to  Africa  and  Virginia,  was  suggested  by 
William  Usselinx,  a  merchant  of  Antwerp,  in  16uG, 
as  a  means  of  aiding  the  Government  in  the  war  with 
Spain,  then  raging.  Some  preliminary  measures 
were  taken,  but  before  any  practicable  ones  could  be 
adopted,  the  truce  of  1609  was  agreed  upon  for  the 
term  of  twelve  years,  and  the  scheme  fell  to  the 
ground. 

The  charter  of  1621  was  not  put  into  immediate 
operation,  but  was  held  for  further  consideration 
and  discussion,  during  the  next  two  years.  Finally 
the  interests  of  all  parties  were  harmonized,  certain 
amplifications  and  amendments  were  fully  agreed 
upon,  and  were  embodied  in  an  "ordinance"  of  the 
States-General,  which  pas-^ed  the  seals  on  the  21st  of 
June  1623,  containing  twelve  "Articles,"  and  which 
closes  in  these  words: — 

"  We  having  examined  and  considered  the  aforesaid 
articles,  and  being  desirous  to  promote  unity  and  con- 
cord between  the  directors  and  principal  adventurers, 
and  the  advancement  of  the  West  India  Company, 
have  with  the  advice  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,-'  thought 
fit  to  agree  to,  and  approve  of,  and  do  hereby  agree 


1  II.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  2d  Series,  326  ;  see  also  I.  Brodhead,  51, 
and  note  E.,  p.  I'A. 
-  Prince  Maurice. 

4 


to,  and  approve  thereof,  and  direct  that  the  same  shall 
be  punctually  attended  to  and  observed,  by  the  direc- 
tors, members,  and  every  person  concerned  therein, 
in  the  same  manner  as  if  they  wore  inserted  in  the 
charter;  because  we  find  them  proper  for  the  service 
of  the  West  India  Company."  ' 

While  these  modifications  were  being  considered 
the  States-General  authorized  many  special  voyages 
to  New  Netherland,  each  under  a  special  license, 
which  also  contained  a  proviso  obliging  the  j)arties 
in  interest  to  return  with  their  ships  by  the  first  of 
July  1622.  This  was  to  avoid  any  interference  with 
the  West  India  Company,  or  any  anticipation  of  the 
commencement  of  their  business.* 

The  Charter  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company 
was  modeled  after  that  of  the  Great  Dutch  East  India 
Company,  and  like  it  was  intended  to  promote  trade, 
colonization,  and  the  breaking  down  by  armed  fleets 
of  the  power  and  pride  of  the  kingdom  of  Spain. 

Both  were  armed  commercial  monopolies  with  most 
extensive  powers  and  enormous  capital.  Both  were 
established  on  the  basis  of  the  public  law  of  Holland, 
which  was  simply  the  "  Roman  Law,"  with  slight 
modifications.  And  both  were  supported  by  the 
assistance  and  strength  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  Provinces. 

The  West  India  Company's  Charter  consists  of  a 
preamble  and  forty-five  articles,  together  with  the 
preamble  and  twelve  articles  of  the  final  agreement 
of  the  21st  of  June  1623  above-mentioned.  The 
central  power  of  this  vast  association,  as  O'Callaghan 
states,  "  was  divided,  for  the  more  efficient  exercise  of 
its  functions,  among  five  branches  or  chambers, 
established  in  the  dilferent  cities  of  the  Netherlands, 
the  managers  of  which  were  styled  '  Lords  Direct- 
ors.' Of  these,  that  of  Amsterdam  was  the  principal, 
and  to  this  was  intrusted  the  management  of  the 
affairs  of  New  Netherland.  The  general  supervision 
and  government  of  the  Company,  were,  however, 
lodged  in  a  board,  or  Assembly  of  Nineteen  delegates 
[briefly  termed  the  Assembly  of  XIX.] ;  eight  (changed 
to  nine  in  1629)  of  whom  were  from  the  Chamber  at 
Amsterdam ;  four  from  Zealand ;  two  from  Maeze ; 
and  one  from  each  of  the  chambers  of  Friesland  and 
Groeningen  (forming  the  North  Department).  The 
nineteenth  was  ajjpointed  [as  their  own  representa- 
tive] by  their  High  Mightinesses,  the  States  General 
of  the  United  Provinces." 

Apart  from  the  exclusive  trade  of  the  coast  of 
Africa,  from  the  tropic  of  Cancer  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  of  the  coast  of  America,  from  the  Straits 
of  Magellan  to  the  extreme  North  [Terra  Nova  or 
Newfoundland],  this  Company  was  authorized  to  Ibrm 
alliances  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and 
obligated  to  advance  the  settlement  of  their  posses- 
sions, encourage  population,  and  do  everything  that 


s  I.  O'Call.,  Appendix  "  B,"  408. 
*  I.  Col.  Uist.  N.  Y.,  22-27. 


42 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


might  promote  the  interests  of  those  fertile  countries 
and  increase  trade. 

To  protect  its  commerce  and  dependencies,  the 
Company  was  empowered  to  erect  forts  and  fortifica- 
tions; to  administer  justice  and  preserve  order;  main- 
tain police,  and  exercise  the  government  generally  of 
its  transmarine  affairs  ;  declare  war  and  make  peace, 
with  the  consent  of  the  States-General ;  and,  with 
their  approbation,  appoint  a  Governor  or  Director- 
General,  and  all  other  officers,  civil,  military,  judicial, 
and  executive,  who  were  bound  to  swear  allegiance 
to  their  High  Mightinesses,  as  well  as  to  the  Company 
itself. 

The  Director-General  and  his  Council  were  invested 
with  all  powers  judicial,  legislative,  and  executive, 
subject,  some  supposed,  to  appeal  to  Holland;  but  the 
will  of  the  Company,  expressed  in  their  instructions, 
or  declared  in  their  marine  or  military  ordinances, 
was  to  be  the  law  of  New  Netherland,  excepting  in 
cases  not  especially  provided  for,  when  the  Roman 
Law,  the  imperial  statutes  of  Charles  V.,  the  edicts, 
resolutions,  and  customs  of  Patria — Fatherland — 
were  to  be  received  as  the  paramount  rule  of  action.' 

"  The  States  General  engaged,  among  other  things, 
to  secure  to  the  Company  freedom  of  navigation  and 
traffic,  within  the  prescribed  limits,  and  to  assist  them 
with  a  million  of  guilders,  equal  to  nearly  half  a 
million  of  dollars;  and  in  case  peace  should  be  dis- 
turbed, with  sixteen  vessels  of  war  and  four  yachts, 
fully  armed  and  equipped;  the  i'ornier  to  be  at  least 
of  three  hundred,  and  the  latter  of  eighty,  tons  bur- 
then ;  but  these  vessels  were  to  be  maintained  at  the 
expense  of  the  Company,  which  was  to  furnish,  un- 
conditionally, sixteen  ships  and  fourteen  yachts,  of 
like  tonnage,  for  the  defence  of  trade  and  purposes  of 
war,  which,  with  all  merchant  vessels,  were  to  be 
commanded  by  an  admiral  appointed  and  instructed 
by  their  High  Mightinesses."  ^ 

Such  were  the  great  and  extensive  powers  under 
which  New  York  was  colonized.  And  such  was  the 
basis  of  the  legal  system  under  which  civil  rule  and 
civil  law  was  first  established  within  its  borders;  and 
under  which  it  flourished  and  was  governed,  till  the 
close  of  the  Dutch  dominion,  a  period  of  more  than 
half  a  century. 

4. 

The  Colonhntion  by  the  West  India  Company. 

In  the  same  year,  1623,  the  West  India  Company 
began  the  colonization  of  New  Netherland,  which 
was  then  erected  into  a  Province,  by  the  States- 
General  and  invested  with  the  armorial  bearings  of  a 
Count  ;^  the  shield  being,  argent,  a  pale  sable  charged 
with  three  crosses  saltire,  argent,  paleways;  the  crest 
a  Beaver  coucliant  proper.* 


1  I.  O'Call.  Hist.,  89. 

2  lb ,  91. 

s  I.  Brod.,  148  ;  I.  O'Call.,  99. 

*  These  arms,  in  IGjl,  ajipeur  on  the  first  seal  of  tlio  Province,  which 


To  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam  was  committed  its 
direction  and  management.  That  body  despatched 
the  first  expedition  in  March,  1623,  under  Cornelis 
Jacobsen  May  — from  whom  the  northern  cape  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Delaware  is  named — as  the  first  Direc- 
tor-General of  New  Netherland.  It  consisted  of  the 
ship  "New  Netherland"  of  266  tons  burthen,  with  a 
cargo  of  supplies  and  tools,  and  thirty  families  of 
colonists,  who  were  Protestant  Walloons.  These  Wal- 
loons were  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontier  between 
France,  and  Flanders,  from  the  river  Scheldt  to  the 
river  Lys,  their  language  was  the  old  French,  and 
their  religion  the  Reformed  Faith  of  the  Huguenots. 
Associated  with  this  expedition,  as  the  captain  of  the 
ship,  was  Adrian  Joris,  who  had  made  several  prior 
voyages  to  the  coast  of  America,  although  he  is  some- 
times erroneously  styled  "Director.""  After  a  two 
months'  voyage  by  way  of  the  Canaries  and  the  West 
Indies  May  and  his  colonists  arrived  in  the  baj'  of 
New  York.  He  divided  the  Walloons  into  several 
parties,  sending  some  to  Albanj',  some  to  the  Del- 
aware, some  to  Hartford,  some  to  Staten  Island,  some 
to  Long  Island — where  the  name  of  the  Wallabout 
bay  still  denotes  the  place  of  their  settlement — and 
retained  others  on  the  island  of  Manhattan.  Thus 
began  the  real  colonization  of  New  Netherland,  a 
region  out  of  whicii  was  to  be  formed  four  of  the 
Middle  States  and  one  of  the  New  England  States  of 
the  American  Union.  The  first  colonists  of  this 
region  spoke  no  English,  and  knew  no  English  law, 
and  they  were  brought  here  by  the  nation  which  first 
discovered  and  occupied  the  land,'  a  nation  likewise 
ignorant  of  English  law  and  of  the  English  tongue.  The 
Roman  law,  with  a  few  Batavian  customs  engrafted 
upon  it,  was  the  first  legal  system  established  in  the 
entire  region,  and  it  not  only  governed  the  foundation 
of  European  rule  and  civilization  in  New  Netherland, 
but  maintained  their  continuous  existence  there,  for 
half  a  century ;  and  even  then  only  yielded  to  another 
tongue  and  another  legal  system  by  the  force  of  arms. 

May  administered  the  aflfiiirs  of  the  new  colony 
about  a  year,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  Verhulst 
as  second  Director-General,  whose  administration 
likewise  continued  only  a  year,  when  he  resigned  and 
returned  to  Holland.  It  was  marked  however  by  the 
arrival  and  introduction  of  the  first  wheeled  vehicles 
and  first  domestic  animals  into  this  State.  Peter 
Evertsen  Hulst,  a  merchant,  and  a  director  of  the 
Amsterdam  Chamber,  despatched  to  "The  Man- 
hadoes "  three  ships  of  280  tons  each,  at  his  own 
expense  and  risk,  in  April  1625,  with  supplies,  tools. 


in  those  days  was  also  the  seal  of  "New  Amsterdam,"  Burmounted 
by  a  mantle  having  in  its  centre  the  letters  G.  W.  C,  the  initials  of 
"  Geoctroyeedo  AVest  Indische  Comp\gnie,"  the  Dutch  appellation  of  the 
West  India  Company. —III.  Doc.  Hist,  396. 

6  Wassenaer,  III.  Doc.  Hist.,  4.3. 

6  I.  Brod.,  156. 

"  Cabot,  whose  voyage  along  the  coast  of  North  America  was  the 
basis  of  the  English  claim  to  New  Netherland,  never  landed  upon  nor 
took  possession  of  any  part  of  it  for  the  King  of  England. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


43 


aiul  wagons,  and  one  hundred  and  tliree  head  of 
uaimals,  consisting  of"  stallions,  mares,  bulls,  cows, 
swine  and  sheep ;  "  each  beast,"  says  Wassenaer,  in 
his  account  of  the  voyage,  "  had  its  own  separate 
stall,"  arranged  on  a  flooring  of  sand  three  feet  deep, 
which  was  laid  upon  a  deck  specially  constructed  in 
the  vessel,  beneath  which  were  stowed  300  tuns  (casks) 
of  water.  Only  two  beasts  died  at  sea.  The  rest  on 
arriving  were  landed  on  "Noten,"  now  Governor's, 
Island,  then  covered  by  a  dense  forest  of  nut  trees, 
so  thick  that  the  pasturage  was  insufficient,  and  two 
days  later  all  the  animals  were  transferred  to  Man- 
hattan Island  where  they  throve  well.  These  ships 
also  brought  six  more  families  of  Walloons,  and  a  few 
single  people,  forty-five  persons  in  all.' 

To  Verhiilst  succeeded,  as  third  Director-General, 
Peter  Minuit,  of  Wesel,  in  Westphalia,  who  was  of 
French  Huguenot  origin.  He  sailed  from  the  Texel 
on  the  ninth  of  January,  1626,  in  the  ship  Sea-Mew, 
and  reached  "  the  Mauhadoes  "  on  the  fourth  of  the 
succeeding  May. 

The  .second  and  third  articles  of  the  Charter  of  the 
West  India  Company  conferred  upon  it  the  power  of 
appointing  the  Directors-General,  and  other  officers, 
of  all  colonies  it  might  establish.  The  Amsterdam 
Ciiamber,  to  which  had  been  committed  the  care  of 
New  Netherland,  under  these  powers  proceeded  to 
organize  the  first  civil  government  in  the  new  Prov- 
ince. The  grant  in  the  West  India  Company's 
charter  is  very  extensive.  The  operative  words  are, 
"  and  also  build  any  forts  and  fortifications  there,  to 
appoint  and  discharge  governors,  people  for  war,  and 
officers  of  justice,  and  other  public  officers,  for  the 
preservation  of  the  ])laces,  keeping  good  order,  police, 
and  justice,  and  in  like  manner  for  the  promoting  of 
trade;  and  again  others  in  their  place  to  put,  as  they, 
from  the  situation  of  their  affairs  shall  see  fit." 

By  virtue  of  these  powers,  and  of  the  vote  of  the 
Company  placing  New  Netherland  under  its  sole 
control  and  management,  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  of 
the  Company  appointed  Peter  Minuit  Director- 
(teneral,  and  the  following  persons  as  his  council, 
viz.,  Peter  Bylvelt,  Jacob  Elbertsen  Wissinck,  Jan 
Jansen  Brouwer,  Symon  Dirksen  Pos  and  Reynert 
Harmensen.  To  these  were  added  Isaac  de  Rasieres 
as  Provincial  Secretary,  and  Jan  Lami)o  as  "Schout- 
Fiscaal,"  {pronounced  as  if  spelled  ^'  Skowt"),  who 
was  an  executive  officer,  combining  the  powers  of  a 
sheriff  and  an  attorney-general.  These  formed  the 
first  organized  civil  government  in  what  is  now  this 
State  of  New  York — and  collectively  were  styled  "  The 
Director-General  and  Council  of  New  Netherland." 
The  Schout-Fiscaal  was  entitled  to  sit  with  the  Coun- 
cil but  had  no  vote.  The  Secretary  was  the  officer 
next  in  importance  to  the  Director,  and  was  also 
'■  Opper-koopman,"  or  book-keeper  and  treasurer.  • 

This  Council  had  supreme  executive  and  legislative 


I  III.  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  41^3. 


authority  in  the  colony.  It  was  also  the  sole  tribunal 
for  the  trial  of  all  civil  and  criminal  cases,  and  all 
prosecutions  before  it  were  instituted  and  conducted 
by  the  Schout-Fiscaal.  In  taking  informations,  he 
was  bound  to  note  as  well  those  points  which  made 
for  the  prisoner  as  well  as  those  against  him,  as  the 
Roman  law  provides,  and  after  trial  to  see  that  the 
sentence  was  lawfully  executed.  He  was  also  chief 
custom-house  officer  and  had  power  to  inspect  vessels 
and  their  cargoes,  sign  their  papers,  and  confiscate  all 
goods  introduced  in  violation  of  the  Company's  regu- 
lations. This  most  responsible  of  all  the  offices  in  the 
new  government  was  held  during  Director  Minuit's 
entire  administration  by  the  above-named  Jan  Lampo 
who  was  a  native  of  Cantelberg.  It  should  be  stated 
also,  that  when  the  Schout-Fiscaal  acted  as  prosecut- 
ing officer  he  retired  from  the  bench.  It  will  be  seen 
that  this  Council  acted  in  a  twof'old  capacity,  as  an 
Executive  Council,  and  as  a  Court  of  Justice.  When, 
later,  inferior  tribunals  were  established,  its  members 
were  not  amenable  to  them.  On  extraordinary 
occasions  it  was  usual  to  adjoin  some  of  the  principal 
inhabitants,  or  Public  Servants,  pro  hac  vice,  to  the 
Council  by  its  own  vote,  who  then  had  an  equal  voice 
in  the  decision  of  the  matter  in  question.'' 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  body  by  which  execu- 
tive, legislative,  and  judicial  authority  was  exercised, 
not  only  on  Manhattan  Island,  and  in  the  Caunty  of 
Westchester,  but  in  all  parts  of  New  Netherland. 

The  new  government  began  vigorously.  The 
Governor  and  Council  first  laid  out  and  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  regular  fortification  on  the  extreme 
southern  point  of  Manhattan  Island.  The  engineer 
was  Krijn  Frederickje,  and  it  was  begun  in  1626,  was 
not  finished  in  July  1627,  as  de  Rasieres  tells  us,  but 
was  probably  completed  at  the  end  of  1627.  Its  pred- 
ecessor, though  called  a  fort,  was  simply  a  stock- 
aded trading  house.  This,  however,  was  a  regular 
work  of  four  bastions,  entirely  fiiced  with  stone.' 

Isaac  de  Rasieres,  the  writer  of  the  letter  mentioned, 
arrived  in  the  ship  "  Arms  of  Amsterdam "  on 
July  27th,  1623.  He  was  a  HugU3not  WaKoan,an  agent 
of  Blommaert  an  Am->terdam  merchant,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  West  India  Company,  to  whom  his  letter 
is  addressed.  He  was  made  by  Minuit  Provincial 
Secretary,  and  as  such,  opened  a  correspondence  with 
Gov.  Bradford  of  Plymouth,  for  a  friendly  trade, 
visited  that  celebrated  place,  as  a  New  Netherland 
envoy  in  1627,  and  has  left  us  an  account  of  it  in 
this  letter,  discovered  at  the  Hague  in  1846,  and 
first  printed  in  II.  N.  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  2  Series, 
339. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1626.  this  shij),  the 
"  Arms  of  Amsterdam,"  sailed  again  on  her  return 
voyage  to  Holland,  with  a  very  vakiable  cargo  of  furs. 


s  I.  O'Call.,  101 ;  X.  Xetliorlnuil  Register,  2. 

3  Wiisseiiner,  III.  Poc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  47  ;  Hrcxlhead's  Early  Colonization 
of  N.  Xetherlui.d,  II.  K.  Y.  Hist.  Coll.,  2d  Scries,  [i]).  3C3-3G5. 


44 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


She  also  carried  out  the  official  account  of  the  most 
important  event  that  had  yet  happened  in  New 
Netherland,  the  result  of  a  treaty  held  by  Director 
Minuit  and  his  Council  with  the  natives  of  Man- 
hattan, the  first  ever  held  by  the  Dutch  with  the 
Indians  in  America.  This  event  was  the  purchase  of 
the  Island  of  Manhattan  by  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, which  is  the  foundation  of  title  to  all  the  real 
estate  on  the  Island  of  New  York,  and  by  which  the 
city  holds  all  the  land  that  it  still  possesses  at  this 
day,  south  of  the  Harlem  River.  She  had  a  compara- 
tively rapid  passage,  reaching  Amsterdam  on  the 
fourth  of  November  following,  a  little  over  six  weeks. 
The  very  next  day,  the  delegate  of  the  States- 
General  in  the  "Assembly  of  the  XIX.,"  then  in 
session,  advised  that  august  body  of  the  arrival,  and 
the  news,  by  letter.  Unfortunately  Minuit's  official 
despatch  has  not  been  preserved,  but  tlje  letter  of 
Pieter  Schagen,  the  States-General's  representative, 
is  still  in  the  Royal  Archives  at  the  Hague,  and 
proves  the  fact.    It  is,  in  full,  as  follows; — 

"High  and  Mighty  Lords  : — Yesterday  arrived  here 
the  ship  '  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam,'  which  sailed 
from  New  Netherland  out  of  the  River  Mauritius,^  on 
the  23d  of  September.  They  report  that  our  people 
are  in  good  heart  and  live  in  peace  there ;  the  Women 
have  also  borne  some  children  there.  They  have 
purchased  the  Island  Manhattes  from  the  Indians  for 
the  value  of  60  guilders;  'tis  11,000  morgens  in  size.- 
They  had  all  their  grain  sown  by  the  middle  of  May, 
and  reaped  by  the  middle  of  August.  They  send 
thence  samples  of  summer  grain  ;  such  as  wheat,  rye, 
barley,  oats,  buckwheat,  canary  seed,  beans,  aud  flax. 

The  cargo  of  said  ship  is ; — 

7,246  Beaver  skins. 
178J  Otter  skins. 
675  Otter  skins. 
48  Minck  skins. 
36  Wild  cat  skins. 

33  Minckes. 

34  Rat  skins. 
Considerable  oak  timber  and  hickory. 

Herewith,  High   and  Mighty  Lords,  be  recom- 
mended to  the  mercy  of  the  Almighty. 
In  Amsterdam,  the  5th  of  November  A.  D.  1626. 
Your  High  Mightinesses  obedient, 

P.  Schagen." 

It  is  endorsed,  "  Received  7th  November,  1626." 

This  action  of  Director-General  Minuit  and  the 
Council  of  New  Netherland  marku  the  beginning  of 
the  policy  of  the  Dutch  nation  in  its  treatment  of  the 
Indians  of  America  in  the  matter  of  their  lands,  and 
also  its  Christian  character.  This  policy  and  all  the 
dealings  with  the  natives  pursuant  to  it  was  based  on 


1  The  Dutch  so  named  the  Hudson  after  Maurice,  the  then  Prince  of 
Orange. 

-  A  morgen,  or  Dutch  acre,  was  two  English  acres  ;  "  CO  guilaers  "  was 
24  dullais  of  our  money. 


the  principle,  that  the  Indians  were  the  lawful  pro- 
prietors of  their  native  land  by  original  right  of  occu- 
pancy, and  that  it  could  only  be  alienated  by  their 
own  act,  and  not  taken  from  them  by  right  of  coti- 
quest,  or  by  rapine.  Of  no  other  of  the  nations  of 
Europe  which  colonized  America,  except  the  Dutch, 
can  it  be  truly  said  that  this  wise  and  Chiistian 
principle  always  governed  them  in  their  dealings 
with  the  Indians.  Much  has  been  written  about 
AVilliam  Penn  as  being  the  first  to  purchase  their 
lands  by  treating  with  them.  But  Director  Minuit  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  preceded  him  in  this  honor- 
able and  Christian  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  more 
than  half  a  century.  And  the  same  policy  and  treat- 
ment was  ever  continued  during  the  whole  period  of 
the  Dutch  possession  of  the  Province  of  New  Nether- 
land. 

At  the  date  of  the  purchase  the  Indian  population 
of  Manhattan  Island  is  said  by  some  writers  to  have 
been  200,  men,  women,  and  children,  and  by  none 
has  it  been  put  at  more  than  300.  The  numbers  of 
the  Dutch,  we  know,  were  only  270.'  So  that  the 
population  on  each  side  could  not  have  been  far  from 
equal.  A  fact  that  speaks  well  for  those  early  Dutch 
people,  for  from  the  discovery  up  to  1626  their  pos- 
session of  the  island  was  only  by  the  suflerance  of 
the  Indians,  and  during  that  whole  time  there  was 
never  a  contest  or  a  quarrel  between  them  and  the 
savages. 

The  price  paid  for  the  Island  was  a  fair  one,  for  the 
time,  age,  and  place,  for  it  was  nothing  but  a  little 
wild  island  on  a  coast  almost  unknown,  of  a  continent 
entirely  unknown.  It  was  but  one  of  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  small  islands  lying  all  along  the  Western 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  with  nothing  to  show 
it  had  any  value  at  all  except  the  prior  occupation 
of  one  end  of  it  as  a  trading  post  by  the  Dutch. 
And  many  of  those  same  little  islands  in  as  out-of- 
the-way  places,  may  be  purchased  to-day  for  a  price 
almost  as  low. 

De  Laet  in  his  history  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany gives  a  table  of  the  annual  exports  and  imports 
from,  and  into.  New  Netherland,  from  1624  to  1635, 
from  which  it  appears,  that  in  1626,  the  year  of  the 
purchase,  but  two  ships  came  to,  and  went  from.  New 
Amsterdam,  and  that  the  value  of  the  imports  (sup- 
plies and  goods)  was  20,384  guilders,  about  8,500  dol- 
lars,  and  that  of  the  exports  (furs  and  timber)  were 
45,050  guilders,  about  14,000  dollars.* 

It  was  simply  as  a  station  to  collect  furs  from  the 
Indians  that  Manhattan  Island  then  had  any  value 
whatever.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  that  "Prov- 
ince of  New  Netherland"  in  the  year  1623,  which 
262  years  later,  in  1885,  is  the  State  and  City  of  New 
York,  the  former  with  5,000,000  of  inhabitants,  the 
latter  with  1,250,000  people.    And  the  island  that  was 


3  Wassenaer,  III.  Doc.  Hist.  N.  T.,  47. 

^De  Lact,  ].  X.  Y.  Uist.  Coll.,  -Jd  ouviis,  385.    I.  O'Call.,  104. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


45 


tlicn  bought  for  24  dollars,  now  has  a  value  so  high  up 
in  the  millions  of  dollars,  that  the  mind  with  difficulty 
can  take  it  in ;  while  the  city  built  upon  it,  is  the 
third  in  importance,  size,  and  wealth  in  the  civilized 
world,  and  the  chiefest  in  the  western  hemisphere. 

The  Walloons  had  moved  in  the  matter  of  leaving 
Holland  for  America  in  the  year  1621,  two  years  be- 
fore the  thirty  families  came  out  under  Director  May 
as  mentioned  above.  They  applied  to  Sir  Dudley 
Carleton,  British  Ambassador  at  the  Hague,  to  know, 
whether  the  King  of  England,  James  the  First,  would 
permit  them  "to  settle  in  Virginia,"  in  accordance 
with  a  petition  setting  forth  the  terms  and  conditions 
under  which  they  desired  to  undertake  the  enterprise. 
This  Petition  of  fifty-six  heads  of  families,  Walloon, 
and  French,  all  of  the  Reformed  Religion  was  pre- 
sented to,  and  left,  with  Carleton,  who  sent  it  to  Eng- 
1  md,  enclosed  in  a  letter  of  his  own  favoring  its 
object,  dated  the  19tli  of  July.  1621.  Accompanying 
the  petition  was  a  written  covenant  in  these  words ; — 
"We  promise  his  Lordship  the  ambassador  of  the 
most  serene  king  of  Great  Britain,  that  we  will  go  to 
settle  in  Virginia,  a  part  of  his  Majesty's  dominions, 
at  the  earliest  time  practicable,  and  this  under  the 
conditions  set  forth  in  the  articles  we  have  communi- 
cated to  his  said  lordship  the  ambassador,  and  not 
otherwise." 

This  paper  bore  the  signatures  of  all  the  petitioners, 
attached  in  the  form  of  a  round-robin  the  centre  of 
which  was  the  above  covenant;  and  it  showed,  be- 
sides the  names  of  the  signers,  their  occupations,  and 
the  number  of  the  children  of  each.  Among  the 
names  are  those  well  known  in  New  Amsterdam  from 
that  day  to  this,  as  De  Forest,  De  La  Montagne,  Lam- 
bert, Le  Roy,  Du  Puy,  and  others,  as  good,  honest, 
upright  people.  The  Lords  in  Council  referred  the 
application  to  the  Virginia  Company,  who  received  it 
very  coldly,  suggested  a  few  modifications  and  de- 
clined any  assistance,  in  money  or  in  transportation. 
This  ended  the  matter  with  the  English,  and  these 
"Walloons  as  well  as  French,"  afterwards  made  ar- 
rangements with  the  West  India  Company  to  go  to 
New  Netherland,  which  were  carried  out  under  May 
in  1623  as  mentioned  before. 

This  petition  to  the  British  King  contained  seven 
articles  specifying  in  detail,  the  conditions  and  terms 
under  which,  these  first  colonists  desired  to  enter  upon 
the  work  of  colonization,  and  is  therefore  of  the  great- 
est value  as  acquainting  us,  beyond  cavil,  with  the 
views  and  ideas  of  those  who  actually  did  begin  that 
work  in  what  is  now  the  City  and  State  of  New  York.' 

In  this  document  appears  the  very  earliest  mention 
of  the  land  tenure  which  the  first  colonists  of  New 
York  desired  and  asked  for.  It  was  that  with  which 
they  were  familiar,  and  which  they  fully  understood, 


iThi3  petition  is  given  at  length,  with  an  engravingof  the  "  round 
nibin"  ami  its  signatures,  in  tlie  valuable  "History  of  the  HuRuennt 
Euiigratiun,"  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  W.  Baird,  vol.  I.  p.  158,  just  published. 


and  under  which  they  had  always  lived,  and  was 
based  on  fealty,  homage,  and  manorial  rights,  as  fixed 
by  the  Roman  law,  with  which  alone  they  were  ac- 
quainted, and  which  under  the  West  India  Company 
was  established  as  the  law  of  New  Netherland,  and 
governed  it  till  its  conquest  by  the  English  in  1664. 
The  articles  of  this  "  petition"  numbers  five  and  six, 
are  in  these  words  (The  whole  is  in  French,  and 
this  is  the  translation) : 

"VI.  Whether  he  (His  Britannic  Majesty)  would 
"grant  them  a  township  or  territory,  in  a  radius  of 
"  eight  English  miles,  or  say,  sixteen  miles  in  diameter, 
"which  they  might  improve  as  fields,  meadows,  vine- 
" yards,  and  for  other  uses;  which  territory  whether 
"conjointly  or  severally,  they  would  hold  from  his 
"Majesty  upon  fealty  and  homage;  no  others  being 
"allowed  to  dwell  within  the  bounds  of  the  said 
"lands,  unless  they  shall  have  taken  letters  of  citi- 
"zeuship;  in  which  territory  they  would  reserve  to 
"themselves  inferior  manorial  rights;  and  whether  it 
"  might  be  permitted  to  those  of  their  number  who 
"are  entitled  to  maintain  the  rank  of  noblemen,  to 
"  declare  themselves  such. 

"  VII.  Whether  they  would  be  permitted  in  the 
"said  lands  to  hunt  all  game  whether  furred  or 
"  feathered,  to  fish  in  the  sea  and  the  rivers,  to  cut 
"heavy  timber,  as  well  for  ship  building  as  for  com- 
"  merce,  at  their  own  will ;  in  a  word,  whether  they 
"could  make  use  of  all  things  either  above  or  beneath 
"the  ground,  at  their  own  pleasure  and  will,  the  royal 
"rights  reserved;  and  whether  they  could  dispose  of 
"  all  things  in  trade  with  such  persons  as  may  be  per- 
"raitted  them. 

"Which  provisions  would  extend  only  to  said 
"families  and  those  belonging  to  them,  without  ad- 
"  mitting  those  who  might  come  afterwards  to  the  said 
"territory  to  avail  themselves  of  the  same,  except  so 
"  far  as  they  might  of  their  own  power,  grant  this  to 
"  them,  and  not  beyond,  unless  his  said  Majesty  should 
"make  a  new  grant  to  them." 

Such  were  the  clear,  undeniable  wishes  and  desires, 
expressed  in  their  own  words,  by  those  men  who 
began  the  actual  settlement  of  the  region  now  known 
as  New  York,  and  which  they  did  carry  out,  a  little 
modified,  by  the  Dutch  system  and  rule. 

The  West  India  Company  by  its  charter  was  bound 
to  take  measures  for  the  increase  of  the  population 
of  its  new  Province,  and  the  development  of  its  agri- 
cultural resources.  It  found  this  a  difficult  duty  to 
perform,  mainly  in  consequence  of  two  causes.  The 
first  was,  the  extreme  profit  of  the  fur  trade  which 
absorbed  the  general  attention.  The  second  was,  that 
the  farmers  and  laborers  of  Holland  knew  that  they 
could  do  well  enough  at  home.  This  fact  is  thus  state<l 
in  a  report  of  the  Assembly  of  XIX.  to  the  States 
General  in  1629,  referring  to  the  effect  of  a  proposed 
truce  with  Spain,  upon  the  interests  of  New  Netherland. 


46 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"Moreover  the  colonizing  such  wild  and  uncul- 
tivated countries,  demands  more  inhabitants  than  we 
can  well  supply  ;  not  so  much  through  lack  of  popu- 
lation, in  which  our  provinces  abound,  as  from  the 
fact,  that  all  who  are  inclined  to  do  any  sort  of  work 
here,  procure  enough  to  eat  without  any  trouble ;  and 
are,  therefore,  unwilling  to  go  far  from  home  on  an 
uncertainty."  ^ 

This  subject  had  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Com- 
pany, and  of  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam  especially, 
in  1627  and  1628.  After  much  discussion,  and  long 
deliberations,  it  was  finally  determined  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  the  XIX.  that  a  plan  should  be  prepared  giv- 
ing special  privileges,  powers,  and  exemptions,  to 
such  members  of  the  Company  who  would,  at  their 
own  expense  and  risk,  send  out  expeditions,  and  estab- 
lish separate  and  distinct  plantations  in  any  part  of 
New  Netherland,  Manhattan  Island  excepted.  The 
details  were  slowly  and  carefully"determined,  and  not 
till  the  seventh  of  June,  1629,  was  the  plan  finally 
approved  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly  of  XIX.,  and 
ratified  and  confirmed  by  their  High  Mightinesses  the 
States-General. 

This  plan,  or  charter,  as  it  sometimes  styled,  was 
entitled : — 

"FREEDOMS  AND  EXEMPTIONS. 

GRANTED  BY  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  XIX.  OF  THE 
PRIVILEGED  WEST  INDIA  COMPANY,  TO  ALL 
SUCH  AS  SHALL  PLANT  ANY  COLONIES 
IN  NEW  NETHERLAND." 

It  consisted  of  thirty-one  articles,  and  was  printed 
in  a  small  quarto  ])amphlet  of  four  or  six  pages  and 
•distributed  throughout  the  United  Provinces  in  1630. 
Only  three  or  four  copies  of  this  pamphlet  are  now 
known  to  exist,  and  it  is  so  rare  that  within  ten  years 
a  distinguished  New  York  antiquarian  reprinted  it  in 
fac-simile. 

As  it  is  the  first  instrument  under  which  lands  in 
the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware,  and  Connecticut,  were  acquired,  and 
on  which  titles  rest,  it  is  here  given  in  full  from  the 
translation  made  by  the  late  eminent  historian  of 
New  Netherland,  Dr.  Edmund  B.  O'Callaffhan,  for 
his  own  great  work,  the  "  History  of  New  Netherland  ; 
or,  New  York  under  the  Dutch, "first  published  in  1846- 

"FREEDOMS  AND  EXEMPTIONS. 

GRANTED  BY  THE  ASSEMBLY  OF  THE  XIX.  OF  THE 
PRIVILEGED  WEST  INDIA  COMPANY,  TO  ALL 
SUCH  AS  SHALL  PLANT  ANY  COLONIES 
IN  NEW  NETHERLAND: 

"1.  Such  members  of  the  said  Company  as  may  be 
inclined  to  settle  any  colonie'^  in  New  Netherland, 


1 1.  CoL  Hist.  N.  T.,  39  ;  Ibid.,  r,.5. 

2 This  word  **colonie,"  pronounced  in  Dntch  with  tlie  accent  on  the 
last  two  letters,  does  not  mean  "colony"  in  the  English  sense,  bnt  means 
a  plantation,  or  settlement,  and  inclndes  people,  rattle,  tools,  stock  of  all 
kinds,  as  well  as  the  lands  on  which  all  were  to  be  placed. 


shall  be  permitted  to  send  in  the  ships  of  this  Com- 
pany going  thither,  three  of  four  j)ersons  to  inspect 
the  situation  of  the  country,  provided  that  they,  with 
the  officers  and  ships  company,  swear  to  the  articles, 
so  far  as  they  relate  to  them,  and  pay  for  provisions 
and  for  passage,  going  and  coming,  six  stuyvers  per 
diem ;  and  such  as  desire  to  eat  in  the  cabin  twelve 
stuyvers,  and  to  be  subordinate,  and  give  assistance 
like  the  others,  in  cases  offensive  and  defensive;  and 
if  any  ships  be  taken  from  the  enemy,  they  shall  re- 
ceive pro  rata,  their  proportions  with  the  ships  com- 
pany, each  according  to  his  quality ;  that  is  to  say, 
the  colonists  eating  out  of  the  cabin  shall  be  rated 
with  the  sailors,  and  those  who  eat  in  the  cabin  with 
those  of  the  company's  men  who  eat  at  table  and  re- 
ceive the  lowest  wages. 

"  II.  Though,  iu  this  respect,  shall  be  preferred 
such  persons  as  have  first  appeared  and  desired  the 
same  from  the  Company. 

"  III.  All  such  shall  be  acknowledged  Patroons  of 
New  Netherland,  who  shall,  within  the  space  of  four 
years  next  after  they  have  given  notice  to  any  of  the 
chambers  of  the  company  here,  or  to  the  Commander 
or  the  Council  there,  undertake  to  plant  a  colonic 
there  of  fifty  souls,  upwards  of  fifteen  years  old  ;  one- 
fourth  part  within  one  year,  and  within  three  years 
after  the  sending  of  the  first,  making  together  four 
years,  the  remainder,  to  the  full  number  of  fifty  per- 
sons, to  be  shipped  from  hence,  on  pain,  in  case  of 
wilful  neglect  of  being  deprived  of  the  privileges  ob- 
tained; but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  company 
reserve  the  island  of  the  Manhattes  to  themselves. 

"IV.  They  shall,  from  the  time  they  make  known 
the  situation  of  the  ])laces  where  they  proposed  to  set- 
tle colonies,  have  the  preference  to  all  others  of  the 
absolute  property  of  such  lands  as  they  have  chosen  ; 
but  in  case  the  situation  should  not  afterwards  please 
them,  or  they  should  have  been  mistaken  as  to  the 
quality  of  the  land,  they  may,  after  remonstrating 
concerning  the  same  to  the  Commander  and  Council 
there,  be  at  liberty  to  choose  another  place. 

"V.  The  Patroons,  by  virtue  of  their  power,  shnll 
and  may  be  permitted,  at  such  places  as  they  shall 
settle  their  colonies,  to  extend  their  limits  four  miles 
along  the  shore,  that  is,  on  one  side  of  a  navigable 
river,  or  two  miles  '  on  each  side  of  a  river,  and  so  far 
into  the  country  as  the  situation  of  the  occupiers  will 
permit;  provided  and  conditioned  that  the  company 
keep  to  themselves  the  lands  lying  and  remaining  be- 
tween the  limits  of  the  cf)lonies,  to  dispose  thereof, 
when,  and  at  such  time,  as  they  shall  think  proper,  in 
such  manner  that  no  person  shwll  be  allowed  to  come 
within  seven  or  eight  miles*  of  them  without  their 
consent,  unless  the  situation  of  the  land  thereabout 

3  These  are  Pntch  miles,  one  of  which  i«  equal  to  four  English  ones. 
< Twenty-eight  or  thirty-two  English  miles.j 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


47 


were  such,  that  the  Commander  and  Council  for  good 
reasons,  should  order  otherwise;  always  observing 
that  the  first  occupiers  are  not  to  be  prejudiced  in  the 
right  they  have  obtained,  other  than,  unless  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Company  should  require  it,  for  the  build- 
ing of  fortifications,  or  something  of  that  sort ;  re- 
maining, moreover  the  command  of  each  bay,  liver, 
or  island,  of  the  first  settled  colonic,  under  the  su- 
preme jurisdiction  of  their  High  Mightinesses  the 
States-General,  and  the  company ;  but  that  on  the 
next  colonies  being  settled  on  the  same  river  or  island, 
they  may,  in  conjunction  with  the  first,  appoint  one 
or  more  council,  in  order  to  consider  what  may  be  ne 
cessary  for  the  prosperity  of  the  colonies  on  t'.ie  said 
river  and  island. 

"  VI.  They  shall  forever  possess  and  enjoy  all  the 
lands  lying  within  the  aforesaid  limits,  together  with 
the  fruits,  rights,  minerals,  rivers  and  fountains  there- 
of; as  also  the  chief  command  and  lower  jurisdic- 
tions,' fishing,  fowling,  and  grinding,  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  others,  to  be  holden  from  the  company  as  a  per- 
petual inheritance,  without  it  ever  devolving  again  to 
the  Company,  and  in  case  it  should  devolve,  to  be  re- 
deemed and  repossessed  with  twenty  guilders  per 
colonic,  to  be  paid  to  this  Company,  at  the  chamber 
here,  or  to  their  Commander  there,  within  a  year  and 
six  weeks  after  the  same  occur,  each  at  the  chamber 
where  he  originally  sailed  from  ;  and  further,  no  per- 
son, or  persons,  whatsoever,  shall  be  privileged  1o  fish 
and  hunt  but  thePatroons  and  such  as  they  shall  per- 
mit; and  in  case  anyone  should  in  time  prosper  so 
much  as  to  found  one  or  more  cities,  he  shall  have 
power  and  authority  to  establish  oflicers  and  magis- 
trates there,  and  to  make  use  of  the  title  of  his  colo- 
nie  according  to  his  pleasure  and  the  quality  of  the 
persons. 

"VII.  There  shall  likewise  be  granted  to  all  Pa- 
troons  who  shall  desire  the  same,  venia  testandi,  or 
liberty  to  dispose  of  their  aforesaid  heritage  by  testa- 
ment. 

"VIII.  The  Patroons  may,  if  they  think  proper, 
make  use  of  all  lands,  rivers,  and  woods,  lying  con- 
tiguous to  them,  for  and  during  so  long  a  time  as  this 
company  shall  not  grant  them  to  other  Patroons  or 
j)articular  individuals. 

"  IX.  Those  who  shall  send  persons  over  to  settle 
colonies  shall  furnish  them  v.-ith  proper  instructions, 
in  order  that  they  may  be  ruled  and  governed  con- 
formably to  the  rule  of  government  made  or  to  be 
made  by  the  Assembly  of  the  Nineteen  as  well  in  the 
political  as  the  judicial  government;  which  they 
shall  be  obliged  first  to  lay  before  the  directors  of  the 
respective  colleges  [or  chambers]. 

"  X.  The  Patroons  and  colonists  shall  be  privileged 
to  send  their  people  and  effects  thither,  in  ships  be- 


>  Under  the  Roman  Dutch  law. 


longing  to  the  company,  provided  they  take  the  oath  - 
and  pay  to  the  Company  ibr  bringing  over  the  jjcople 
as  mentioned  in  the  first  article;  and  for  freight  of 
the  goods  five  per  cent,  ready  money,  to  be  reckoned 
on  the  prime  cost  of  the  goods  here;  in  which  is, 
however,  not  to  be  included  such  creatures  and  other 
implements,  as  are  necessary  for  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  the  lands,  which  the  Comi)any  are  to 
carry  over  without  any  reward  if  there  is  room  in  their 
ships.  But  the  Patroons  shall  at  their  own  expense, 
provide  and  make  places'  for  them,  together  with 
every  thing  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  crea- 
tures. 

"XI.  In  case  it  should  not  suit  the  Company  to 
send  any  ships,  or  in  those  going  there  should  be  no 
room  ;  then  the  said  Patroons,  after  having  communi- 
cated their  intentions,  and  after  having  obtained  con- 
sent from  the  Comi)any  in  writing,  may  send  their  own 
ships  or  vessels  thither;  jirovided  that  in  going  or 
coming  they  go  not  out  of  their  ordinary  course  ;  giv- 
ing security  to  the  Company  for  the  same,  and  taking 
on  board  an  assistant,  to  be  victualled  by  the  Patroons, 
and  paid  his  monthly  wages  by  the  Company  ;  on 
pain,  for  doing  the  contrary,  of  forfeiting  all  the 
right  and  property  they  have  obtained  to  the  colonic. 

"XII.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  intended  to  people  the 
island  of  the  Manhattes  first,  all  fruits  and  wares  that 
are  produced  on  the  lands  situate  on  the  North  River, 
and  lying  thereabout,  shall,  for  the  present,  be  brought 
there  before  they  may  be  sent  elsewhere;  excepting 
such  as  are  from  their  nature  unnecessary  there,  or 
such  as  cannot,  without  great  loss  to  the  owner  there- 
of, be  brought  there  ;  in  which  case  the  owners  shall 
be  obliged  to  give  timely  notice  in  writing  of  the  dif- 
ficulty attending  the  same,  to  the  Company  here,  or 
the  Commander  and  Council  there,  that  the  same 
may  be  remedied  as  the  necessities  thereof  shall  be 
found  to  require. 

"  XIII.  All  the  Patroons  of  colonies  in  New  Nether- 
land,  and  of  colonies  on  the  Island  of  Manhattes, 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  sail  and  traffic  all  along  the 
coast  from  Florida  to  Terra  Neuf,*  provided  that  they 
do  again  return,  with  all  such  goods  as  they  shall  get 
in  trade,  to  the  Island  of  Manhattes,  and  pay  five  per 
cent,  for  recognition  to  the  Company,  in  order,  if  pos- 
sible, that  after  the  necessary  inventory  of  the  goods 
shipped  be  taken,  the  same  may  be  sent  hither.  And 
if  should  so  happen,  that  they  could  not  return,  by 
contrary  streams  or  otherwise,  they  shall,  in  such 
case,  not  be  permitted  to  bring  such  goods  to  any 
other  place  but  to  these  dominions,  in  order  that 
under  the  inspection  of  the  directors  of  the  place 
where  they  may  arrive,  they  may  be  unladen,  an  in- 
ventory thereof  made,  and  the  aforesaid  recognition 


2  0f  aUeginncc  to  the  Company,  and  to  the  States  General. 
8  Stalls,  or  other  accuinmudutions.  , 
'Neu'fuuudluud. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  five  per  cent,  paid  to  the  company  here,  on  pain, 
if  they  do  the  contrary,  of  the  forfeiture  of  the  goods 
so  trafficked  for,  or  the  real  vahie  thereof. 

"  XIV.  In  case  the  ships  of  the  Patroons,  in  going 
to,  or  coming  from,  or  sailing  on,  the  coast  from 
Florida  to  Terra  Neuf,  and  no  further  without  our 
grant,  should  overpower  any  of  the  prizes  of  the  enemy, 
they  shall  be  obliged  to  bring,  or  cause  to  be  brought 
such  prize  to  the  college  (chamber)  of  the  place,  from 
whence  they  sailed  out,  in  order  to  be  rewarded  by 
them ;  the  company  shall  keep  the  one-third  part 
thereof,  and  the  remaining  two-thirds  shall  belong  to 
them  in  consideration  of  the  cost  and  risk  they  have 
been  at,  all  according  to  the  orders  of  the  company. 

"  XV.  It  shall  also  be  free  for  the  aforesaid  Pa- 
troon^t  to  traffic  and  trade  all  along  the  coast  of  New 
Netherland  and  places  circumjacent,  with  such  goods 
as  are  consumed  tliere,  and  receive  in  return  for 
them,  all  sorts  of  merchandise  that  may  be  had  there, 
except  beavers,  otters,  minks,  and  all  sorts  of  peltry, 
Aviiich  trade  the  company  reserve  to  themselves.  But 
the  same  shall  be  permitted  at  such  places  where  the 
company  have  no  factories,'  conditioned  that  such 
traders  shall  be  obliged  to  bring  all  the  peltry  they 
can  procure  to  the  island  of  Manhattes,  in  case  it  may 
be,  at  any  rate,  practicable,  and  there  deliver  to  the 
director,  to  be  by  him  shipped  hither  with  the  ships 
and  goods ;  or,  if  they  should  come  hither,  without 
going  there,  then  to  give  notice  thereof  to  the  Com- 
pany, that  a  proper  account  thereof  may  be  taken,  in 
order  that  ihey  may  pay  to  the  Company  one  guilder 
fur  each  merchantable  beaver  and  otter  skin ;  the 
property,  risk  and  all  other  charges,  remaining  on 
account  of  the  Patroons  or  owners. 

"XVI.  All  coarse  wares  that  the  colonists  of  the 
Patroons  there  shall  consume,  such  as  pitch,  tar, 
wood-ashes,  wood,  grain,  fish,  salt,  hearthstone,  and 
such  like  things,  shall  be  brought  over  in  the  com- 
pany's ships,  at  the  rate  of  eighteen  guilders  ($7.20) 
per  last;  four  thousand  weight  to  be  accounted  a  last, 
and  the  company's  ship's  crew  shall  be  obliged  to 
wheel  and  bring  the  salt  on  board,  whereof  ten  lasts 
make  a  hundred.  And  in  case  of  the  want  of  ships, 
or  room  in  the  ships,  they  may  order  it  over  at  their 
own  cost,  in  ships  of  their  own,  and  enjoy  in  these 
dominions  such  liberties  and  benefits  as  the  company 
have  granted;  but  in  either  case  they  shall  be  obliged 
to  pay  over  and  above  the  recognition  five  per  cent.) 
eighteen  guilders  per  each  hundred  of  salt  that  is  car- 
ried over  in  the  company's  ships. 

"  XVII.  For  all  wares  which  are  not  mentioned  in 
the  foregoing  article,  and  which  are  not  carried  by  the 
last,  there  shall  be  paid  one  dollar  per  each  hundred 
pounds  weight ;  and  for  wines,  brandies,  verjuice,  and 


vinegar,  there  shall  be  paid  eighteen  guilders  per 
cask. 

"  XVIII.  The  Company  promises  the  colonists  of  the 
Patroons,  that  they  shall  be  free  from  customs,  taxes, 
excise,  imposts  or  any  other  contributions,  for  the 
S2)ace  of  ten  years;  and  after  the  expiration  of  the 
said  ten  years  at  the  highest,  such  customs  as  the 
goods  are  taxable  with  here  for  the  present. 

"XIX.  They  will  not  take  from  the  service  of  the 
Patroons  any  of  their  colonists,  either  man  or  woman, 
son  or  daughter,  man-servant  or  maid-servant ;  and 
though  any  of  them  should  desire  the  same,  they  will 
not  receive  them,  nor  permit  them  to  leave  their  Pa- 
troons, and  enter  into  the  service  of  another,  unless  on 
consent  obtained  from  their  Patroons  in  writing;  and 
this  for  and  during  so  many  years  as  they  are  bound 
to  their  Patroons;  after  the  expiration  whereof,  it 
shall  be  in  the  power  of  the  Patroons  to  send  hither 
all  such  colonists  as  will  not  continue  in  their  ser- 
vice, and  until  then  shall  not  enjoy  their  liberty. 
And  all  such  colonists  as  shall  leave  the  service  of 
their  Patroons,  and  enter  into  the  service  of  another, 
or  shall,  contrary  to  his  contract,  leave  his  service ; 
we  promise  to  do  everything  in  our  power  to  appre- 
hend and  deliver  the  same  into  the  hands  of  his  Pa- 
troon,  or  attorney,  that  he  may  be  proceeded  against, 
according  to  the  customs  of  the  country  as  occasion 
may  require. 

"XX.  From  all  judgments  given  by  the  cour's 
of  the  Patroons  for  upwards  of  fifty  guilders  ($20), 
there  maybe  an  appeal  to  the  Company's  Commander 
and  Council  in  New  Netherland. 

"  XXI.  In  regard  to  such  ]irivate  persons  as  on  their 
own  account,  or  others  in  the  service  of  their  masiers 
here  (not  enjoying  the  same  privileges  as  the  Pa- 
troons), shall  be  inclined  to  go  thither  and  settle; 
they  shall  with  the  approbation  of  the  Director  and 
Council  there,  be  at  liberty  to  take  up  as  much  land, 
and  take  possession  thereof,  as  they  shall  be  able 
properly  to  improve,  and  shall  enjoy  the  same  in  full 
property  either  for  themselves  or  masters. 

"  XXII.  They  shall  have  free  liberty,  of  hunting  and 
fow'ing,  as  well  by  water  as  by  land,  generally,  and 
in  public  and  private  woods  and  rivers,  about  their 
colonies,^  according  to  the  orders  of  the  Director  and 
Council. 

"  XXIII.  Whosoever  whether  colonists  of  Patroons, 
or  free  persons  for  themselves,  or  other  particulars 
for  their  masters,  shall  discover  any  shores,  bays,  or 
other  fit  places  for  erecting  fisheries,  or  the  making  of 
salt  ponds,  they  may  take  possession  thereof  and  begin 
to  work  on  them  in  their  own  absolute  property,  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  others. 


I  Trading  stations. 


2  Plantatious. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


49 


And  it  is  consented  to  tlint  the  Patroons  of  Colo- 
nists may  send  ships  along  the  coast  of  New  Nciher- 
land,  on  the  cod  fishery,  and  witii  the  fish  they  catch 
10  trade  to  Italy,  or  other  neutral  countries,  paying  in 
such  cases  to  the  Company  for  recognition  six  guilders 
(82.40)  per  last;  and  if  they  should  come  with  their 
lading  hither,  they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  proceed  to 
Italy,  though  they  shall  not,  under  pretext  of  this 
consent,  or  from  the  company,  carry  any  goods  there, 
on  pain  of  arbitrary  punishment;  and  it  remaining  in 
the  breast  of  the  company  to  put  a  supercargo  on 
board  each  ship,  as  in  the  eleventh  article. 

"  XXIV.  In  case  any  of  the  colonists  should,  by 
his  industry  and  diligence,  discover  any  minerals, 
])reci(ius  stones,  crj'stals,  marbles,  or  such  like,  or  any 
pearl  fishery,  the  same  shall  be  the  property  of  the 
Patroon  or  Patroons  of  such  colonie  ;  giving  and  or- 
dering the  discoverer  such  premium  as  the  Patroon 
shall  beforehand  have  stipulated  with  such  colonist 
by  contract.  And  the  Patroons  shall  be  exempt  fr  m 
all  recognition  to  the  company  for  the  term  of  eight 
years,  and  pay  only  for  freight,  to  bring  them  over, 
two  i)er  cent.,  and  after  the  aforesaid  eight  years,  for 
recognition  and  freight,  the  one-eighth  part  of  what 
the  same  may  be  worth. 

"XXV.  The  company  will  take  all  the  colonists, 
as  well  free  as  those  in  service  under  their  protection, 
and  the  same  against  all  outlandish  and  inlandish 
wars  and  powers,  with  the  forces  they  have  there,  as 
much  as  lies  in  their  power,  defend. 

"  XXVI.  Whoever  shall  settle  any  colonie  out  of  the 
limit  of  Manhattes  Island,  shall  be  obliged  to  satisfy 
the  Indians  for  the  land  they  shall  settle  upon,  and  may 
extend  or  enlarge  the  limits  of  their  colonie.s,  if  they 
settle  a  proportionate  number  of  Colonists  thereon. 

"  XXVII.  The  Patroons  and  colonists  shall  in  par- 
ticular and  in  the  speediest  manner,  endeavor  to  find 
out  ways  and  means  whereby  they  may  support  a  min- 
ister and  school-master,  that  thus  the  service  of  God, 
and  zeal  for  religion  may  not  grow  cool,  and  be  ne- 
glected among  them ;  and  that  they  do,  for  the  first, 
procure  a  comforter  of  the  sick  there. 

"  XXVIII.  The  colonies  that  shall  happen  to  lie  on 
the  respective  rivers,  or  islands  (that  is  to  say,  each 
river  or  island  lor  itself),  shall  be  at  liberty  to  appoint 
a  deputy,  who  shall  give  information  to  the  Comman- 
der and  Council  of  that  Western  quarter,  of  all  things 
relating  to  his  colonie,  and  who  are  to  further  matters 
relating  thereto,  of  which  deputies  there  shall  be  one 
altered  or  changed  every  two  years;  and  all  colonies 
shall  be  obliged,  at  least  once  in  every  twelve  months, 
to  make  exact  report  of  their  colonie,  and  lands  there- 
about, to  the  commander  and  council  there,  in  order 
to  be  transmitted  hither. 

"  XXIX.  The  colonists  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
make  any  woollen,  linen,  or  cotton  cloth,  nor  weave 


any  other  stuffs  there,  on  pain  of  being  banished,  and 
as  perjurers  to  be  arbitrarily  punished. 

"XXX.  The  company  will  use  their  endeavours  to 
supply  the  colonists  with  as  many  blacks  as  they  con- 
veniently can,  on  the  conditions  hereafter  to  be  made; 
in  such  manner,  however  that  they  shall  not  be  bound 
to  do  it  for  a  longer  time  than  they  shall  think  proper- 

"  XXXI.  The  company  promises  to  finish  the  fort 
on  the  island  of  the  Manhattes,  and  to  put  it  in  a  pos- 
ture of  defence  without  delay." 

It  will  be  noted  that  under  the  first  article  of  this 
Plan,  or  charter,  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions,  the 
privilege  of  becoming  Patroons,  with  all  their  rights, 
powers,  and  exemptions,  hereditary  and  otherwise 
wr.s  confined  solely  to  the  members,  that  is  the  stock- 
holders, of  the  West  India  Company.  Other  persons 
however,  could,  with  the  permission  of  the  Director 
ard  Council  of  New  Netherland,  take  up  as  much 
land  as  they  could  improve,  "and  enjoy  the  same 
in  full  property  either  for  themselves  or  others,"  but 
without  any  of  the  advantages  and  privileges  con- 
ferred upon  the  Patroons.  These  were  styled  Free 
Colonists.  Under  these  clauses  the  colonizing  of  the 
territory  of  New  Netherland  began. 

While  the  charter  was  in  process  of  discussion  and 
formation  in  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.,  which  it  will 
be  recollected  was  composed  of  directors  chosen  from 
the  several  chambers  of  the  West  India  Company, 
certain  directors  of  the  Amsterdam  Chamber,  which 
had  been  specially  charged  with  the  care  and  super- 
vision of  New  Netherland,  as  soon  as  it  became 
certain  that  the  charter  would  be  approved  by 
the  Company  and  ratified  by  the  States-General, 
sent  out  to  agents  to  purchase  for  them,  the 
Indian  title  to  certain  lands  in  different  parts  of 
New  Netherland,  so  that  they  might  be  ready 
to  constitute  themselves  Patroons  under  the  charter, 
as  soon  as  it  should  finally  pass  and  go  into  cfl'ect. 
The  first  of  these  were  Samuel  Godyn  and  Samuel 
Blommaert,  whose  agents,  sent  out  some  time  pre- 
viously, on  June  1st,  1729,  a  few  days  before  the 
passing  of  the  charter,  bought  for  them  of  the 
Delaware  Indians,  the  lands  on  the  southwest  side 
of  Delaware  Bay  from  Cape  Henlopen  thirty-two 
miles  northwardly  in  length,  and  two  miles  inland 
in  width.  As  these  were  Dutch  miles,  the  tract  was  128 
English  miles  long  and  eight  miles  broad. 

After  the  passage  of  the  charter  and  on  the  19th  of 
June,  1729,  Godyn  notified  the  Chamber  of  Am- 
sterdam that  he  had  sent  out  agents  to  purchase  lands, 
and  declared  "that  he  now  in  quality  of  'Patroon' 
has  undertaken  to  occupy  the  Bay  of  the  South 
River,  on  the  conditions  (the  charter)  concluded  in 
the  last  Assembly  of  the  XIX.,  as  he  hath  likewise 
advised  the  Director  Pieter  Minuit,  and  charged  him 
to  register  the  same  there."' 


>  I.  O  CiUl.,  Appendix  S,  p.  479. 


50 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Minuit  iu  due  time  with  his  Council  executed 
and  passed  the  grant,  or  "transport"  as  the  Dutch 
termed  the  instrument,  and  sent  it  to  Godyn  in 
Holland.  In  1841  Mr.  J.  Romeyn  Brodhead  found 
the  original  document  in  the  West  India  House  at 
the  Hague,  brought  it  back  to  New  York,  and  it  is 
now  deposited  in  the  State  Library  at  Albany.  It 
bears  date  the  15th  of  July  1630,  and  bears  the  sig- 
natures of  Pieter  Minuit  and  his  Council, — the  only 
signatures  of  those  officials  known  to  be  iu  existence, 
and  is  the  first  title  given  by  civilized  men  to  lands 
in  the  present  State  of  Delaware,  and  the  first  in  New 
Netherland  under  the  charter  of  Freedoms  and  Ex- 
emptions of  1629.  Its  date  is  two  years  before  Lord 
Baltimore's  charter  of  Maryland  from  Charles  the 
First,  and  fifty-two  years  prior  to  William  Penn's 
charter  of  Pennsylvania  from  Charles  II.  The  name 
Godyn  and  Blommaert  gave  to  their  "Colonie"  was 
"  Zwanandael ;"  in  English,  "Swansdale."  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  translation  of  this  first  conveyance  for 
any  part  of  New  Netherland. 

TRANSPORT. 

The  DireHor  and  Couicil  of  New  Xithirland  to 
Samu'l  Godi/n  and  Samvl  Blommae<t. 

"  We,  the  Director  and  Council  in  New  Netherland, 
residing  on  the  Island  Manahatas  and  in  Fort  Am- 
sterdam, under  the  authority  of  their  High  Might- 
inesses tlie  Lords  States-General  of  the  United 
Netherlands,  and  of  the  Incorporated  West  India 
Company,  Chamber  at  Amsterdam,  hereby  acknowl- 
edge and  declare,  that  on  this  day,  the  date  under- 
written, came  and  appeared  before  us,  in  their  proper 
persons,  Queskakous,  and  Eesauques,  Siconesius, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  their  village,  situate  at  the 
South  cape  of  the  Bay  of  the  South  River,  and  freely 
and  voluntarily  declared,  by  special  authority  of  the 
rulers  and  consent  of  the  Commonalty  there,  that  they 
already,  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  of  June  of  the 
past  year,  1629,  for  and  on  account  of  certain  parcels 
of  cargoes,  which  they,  previous  to  the  passing 
hereof,  acknowledged  to  have  received  and  gotten 
into  their  hands  and  power,  to  their  full  satisfaction, 
have  transported,  ceded,  given  over,  and  conveyed  in 
just  true  and  free  property,  as  they  hereby  transport 
cede,  give  over,  and  convey  to,  and  for  the  behoof  of, 
Messrs.  Samuel  Godin  and  Samuel  Blommaert, 
absent;  and  for  whom  We,  by  virtue  of  our 
office,  under  proper  stipulation,  do  accept  the 
same  namely :  the  Land  to  them  belonging,  sit- 
uate on  the  South  side  of  the  aforesaid  Bay, 
by  us  called  the  Bay  of  the  South  River,  ex- 
tending in  length  from  C.  Hinlopen  off  unto  the 
mouth  of  the  aforesaid  South  River,  about  eight 
leagues  (groote  mylen),  and  half  a  league  in  breadth; 
into  the  interior,  extending  to  a  certain  marsh 
(leegte)  or  valley  through  which  these  limits  can 
clearly  enough  be  distinguished.  And  that  with  all 
the  action  right  and  jurisdiction  to  them  in  the 


aforesaid  quality,  therein  appertaining,  constituting, 
and  surrogating  the  said  Messrs.  Godin  and  Blom- 
maert in  their  stead  state,  real  and  .actual  possession 
thereof;  and  giving  them  at  the  same  time,  full  and 
irrevocable  authority,  power,  and  special  command, 
to  hold  in  quiet  possession,  occupancy  and  use,  tan- 
quam  Actores  et  Procuratores  in  rem  propriam,  the 
aforesaid  land  acquired  by  the  above  mentioned 
Messrs.  Godin  and  Blommaert  or  those  who  may  here- 
after obtain  their  interest;  also  to  do  barter  and 
dispose  thereof,  as  they  may  do  with  their  own  well 
and  lawfully  acquired  lands.  Without  they,  the 
Grantors  having,  reserving,  or  retaining  for  the  i'uture, 
any,  the  smallest  part,  right,  action,  or  authority, 
whether  of  property,  command,  or  jurisdiction 
therein  ;  but  now,  hereby,  forever  and  a  day  desisting, 
retiring  from,  abandoning  and  renouncing  the  same 
for  the  behoof  aforesaid;  promising  further,  not  only 
to  observe,  fulfil,  and  to  hold  fast,  unbroken  and  irrev- 
ocable, this  their  conveyance,  and  whatever  may  be 
done  in  virtue  thereof,  but,  also,  the  said  parcel  of 
land  to  maintain  against  every  one,  and  to  deliver 
free  of  controversies,  gainsays  and  contradictions,  by 
whomsoever  instituted  against  the  same.  All  in  good 
faith  without  guile  or  deceit.  In  witness  is  this  con- 
firmed with  our  usual  signature  and  our  seal  de- 
pendant therefrom.  Done  on  the  aforesaid  Island 
Manahatas,  this  fifteenth  of  July,  XVI"  and  thirty. 

(Signed)         Pieter  Mixuit,  Director, 
Pieter  Bylvelt, 
Jacob  Elbertsen  Wissixck, 
Jax  Jansen  Brouwer, 
Symox  Dircksen  Pos, 
Reyxer  Harmensex, 
Jax  Lampo, 

Sheriff.  • 

Another  of  the  directors  who  took  time  by  the  fore- 
lock in  the  matter  of  the  Patroonships  was  Kiliaen  van 
Rensselaer  of  Amsterdam,  who  de  Vries  tells  us  "  wns 
accustomed  to  polish  pearls  and  diamonds."  At  his 
request  Sebastian  Jansen  Kraol,  who  had  resided  as 
commissary  at  Fort  Orange  for  three  or  four  years, 
bought  for  him  early  in  1630,  of  the  Mohican  Indians, 
a  tract  on  t"he  west  side  of  the  Hudson,  and  shortly  after 
another  agent,  Gillis  Hosset,  bought  for  him  another 
tract  on  the  east  side  of  that  river,  of  the  same  Indians. 
These  purchases  were  on  the  13th  of  August  duly 
"  transported  "  or  granted  to  van  Rensselaer  by  Director 
Minuit  and  his  Council,  and  were  the  first  lands  in 
the  State  of  New  York  granted  under  the  charter  of 
Freedoms  and  Exemptions,  and  consequently  the 
following  "transport"  of  these  lands,  is  the  first  deed 
of  conveyance  for  any  lands  in  this  State  to  a  private 
person  under  the  charter  of  1629.  The  original  in 
Dutch  is  in  Holland,  the  translation  was  made  by 


1 1.  Col.  HiRt.  X.  v.,  43. 
^Ee  Viite,  p.  1C2. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


51 


the  late  Dr.  Edmund  B.  O'Callaghan,  from  the  copy 
iu  Dutch  in  the  Brodhead  Papers,  and  is  as  follows : 

TRANSPORT. 

The  Director  and  Council  of  New  Netherland  to 
Kiliaen  van  Rensselaer.  Anno  1630,  adi'  13th  August. 
We  the  Director  and  Council  of  New  Netherlands 
residing  on  the  Island  of  Manahatas  and  iu  Fort 
Amsterdam,  under  the  authority  of  their  High 
Mightinesses  the  Lords  States-General  of  the  United 
Netherlands  and  the  Incorporated  West  India  Com- 
pany, Chamber  at  Amsterdam,  do  hereby  acknowledge 
and  declare,  that  on  this  day,  the  date  underwritten, 
before  us  appeared  and  presented  themselves  in  their 
proper  persons:  Kottomack,  Nawanemit,  Albantzeene, 
Sagiskwa,  and  Kanaoraack,  owners  and  proprietors  of 
their  respective  parcels  of  land,  extending  up  the 
River,  South  and  North,  from  said  Fort'^  unto  a  little 
south  of  Moeneminnes  Castle,  to  the  aforesaid  pro- 
prietors, belonging  jointly  and  in  common,  and  the 
aforesaid  Nawanemit's  particular  land  called  Semes- 
seerse  lying  on  the  East  Bank  opposite  Castle  Island 
off"  unto  the  above  mentioned  Fort;  Item  from  Peta- 
nock,  the  Millstream,  away  North  to  Negagonse,  in 
extent  about  three  miles,  and  declared  Irecly  and 
advisedly  for  and  on  account  of  certain  parcels  of 
cargoes,  which  they  acknowledge  to  have  received  in 
their  hands  and  power  before  the  execution  hereof, 
and.  by  virtue  and  bill  of  sale,  to  hereby  transport,  con- 
vey, and  make  over  to  the  Mr.  Kiliaen  van  Rensselaer, 
absent,  and  for  whom  We,'  ex-officio  and  with  due 
stipulation,  accept  the  same;  namely:  the  respective 
parcels  of  land  hereinbefore  specified,  with  the 
timber,  appendencies,  and  dependencies,  thereof 
together  with  all  the  action  right  and  jurisdiction  to 
them  the  grantors  conjointly  or  severally  belonging^ 
constituting  and  surrogating  the  said  Mr.  Rensselaer  in 
their  stead,  state,  and  right,  real  and  actual  possession 
thereof,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  him  full,  abso- 
lute, and  irrevocable  power,  authority,  and  special 
command,  to  hold  in  quiet  possession,  cultivation, 
occupancy,  and  use,  tanqusitn  actor  et  procurator  in 
rem  suam  ac  propriam,  the  land  aforesaid,  acquired 
by  said  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer,  or  those  who  may  here- 
after acquire  his  interest ;  also  to  dispose  of,  do  with, 
and  alienate  it,  as  he  or  others  should  or  might  do 
with  his  other  and  own  Lands  and  domains  acquired 
by  good  and  lawful  title,  without  the  grantors  therein 
retaining,  reserving,  or  holding,  any  the  smallest 
part,  right,  action,  or  authority,  whether  of  property 
command,  or  jurisdiction,  but  rather  hereby  desisting, 
retiring,  and  renouncing  therefrom  forever,  for  the 
behoof  aforesaid;  further  promising  this  their  con- 
veyance and  whatever  may  by  virtue  thereof  be 
done,  not  only  forever  to  hold  fast  and  irrevocable,  to 
observe  and  to  fulfil,  but  also  to  give  security  for  the 


surrender  of  the  aforesaid  land,  obligans  et  renun- 
cians  a  bona  fide.  In  testimony  is  thus  confirmed  by 
our  usual  signature,  with  the  ordinary  seal  thereunto 
depending. 

Done  at  the  aforesaid  Island  Manahatas  and  Fort 
Amsterdam  on  the  day  and  year  aforesaid. 

(Signed)  Pieter  Minuit,  Director, 

PlETER  BYVELT, 

Jacob  Elbertss.  Wissinck, 
Jan  Jansen  Brouwer, 
Symon  Dircks.  Pos, 
Reyner  Harmexsen, 
Jan  Lampo, 

Sheriff. 

There  was  besides  :  This  conveyance  written  with 
mine  own  hand  is,  in  consequence  of  the  Secretary's 
absence,  executed  in  my  presence  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  August,  XVI, =  and  thirty  as  above. 

(Signed)  Lenart  Cole, 

Deputy  Secretary^^ 

The  lands  covered  by  the  above  "  transport"  together 
with  some  adjacent  land  subsequently  acquired  by 
Kiliaen  van  Rensselaer  formed  the  great  Patroonship 
of  " Rensselaerswyck."  In  1705,  seventy-five  years 
later,  it  was  erected  into  a  Manor  of  the  same  name 
under  the  English  law,  and  continued  in  unbroken 
existence  till  1837,  when  the  last  Patroon  Stephen 
van  Rensselaer  died. 

He  devised  in  fee  to  his  eldest  son  Stephen  the  part 
of  the  manor  west  of  the  Hudson,  and  to  his  son 
William  the  part  east  of  that  river.  Under  titles  de- 
rived from  these  two  sons  the  lands  of  the  old  manor, 
which  had  not  been  sold  by  their  father,  the  last 
Patroon,  in  his  lifetime,  are  now  held  in  fee,  subject 
in  some  cases  to  former  leases  the  terms  of  which  are 
not  yet  expired. 

A  third  keen,  long-headed,  director  of  the  Amster- 
dam Chamber  was  Michael  Pauw  of  Achtienhoven, 
near  Utrecht.  Like  Godyn,  Blommaert,  and  Van 
Rensselaer,  early  in  1630  he  bought  through  agents 
the  Indian  title  to  the  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Hudson  River,  opposite  Manhattan  Island  from  the 
heights  of  Wehawken,  and  Hoboken,  to  Bergen 
Point,  and  also  the  island  of  Staten  Island.  He  duly 
obtained  like  transports  of  these  regions  from  the 
Director  and  Council,  and  gave  to  his  Patroonship  the 
name  of  "  Pavonia,"  a  Latinized  derivation  from  his 
own  surname. 

These  three  Patroons  in  a  document  laid  before  the 
States-General  in  June  1634,'  thus,  describe  their  own 
action  in  relation  to  their  Patroonships,  their  rights  as 
Patroons,  and  the  expenses  they  had  incurred  in  the 
colonization  of  their  lands.    After  stating  the  enact- 


l  Ahbrevintlon  of  "  .\nno  Domini." 
^  Full  Orange  is  here  uiuuDt. 


»I.  Col.  Hist.  N.  T.,  44. 
41.  Col.  Hist.,  84. 


52 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ment  of  the  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  on  the  7th  of 
June  1629)  they  continue  thus ; — 

"  Whereupon  some  directors  of  the  before-named 
Company  in  addition  to  tlie  great  interest  they  pos- 
sessed with  their  next  friends  in  the  said  Company 
(who  imported  [to  the  value  of]  more  than  two  tons 
of  gold) ;  animated  with  new  zeal  to  carry  out  their 
High  Mightinesses'  intentions,  and  hoping  in  con- 
sequence for  God's  blessing,  preceded  all  the  other 
stockholders  by  way  of  a  good  example,  saving  the 
Company  from  expenses,  troubles,  and  heavy  charges, 
and  further  involved  themselves  by  undertaking 
divers  Patroonships,  the  expenses  whereof  incurred 
and  laid  out  to  this  day,  amount  to  not  far  from  one 
ton  of  gold,  cash  down,  and  are  yearly  taxed,  in  ad- 
dition, with  at  least  45,000  guilders  for  the  support  of 
three  of  their  Patroonships." 

"  The  Patroons  proceeding  on  daily,  notwithstand- 
ing, bought  and  paid  for  not  only  the  grounds  belong- 
ing to  the  chiefs  and  natives  of  the  lands  in  New 
Netherland,  but  also  their  rights  of  sovereignty  (jura 
Jifajenfatis)  and  such  others  as  they  exercised  within 
the  limits  of  the  Patroons  purchased  territories. 

"  So  that  on  the  28th  November,  1630,  were  read  at 
the  Assembly  of  the  Directors,  the  deeds  of  convey- 
ance of  the  lands  and  jurisdictions  purchased  from 
the  Saccimaes,  the  Lords  of  the  Country,  executed  for 
the  behoof  of  the  Patroons,  their  successors;  and  the 
new  proprietors  were  accordingly  thereupon  con- 
gratulated. 

"On  the  2d  December,  in  the  year  aforesaid,  the 
patents  sent  to  the  Patroons  from  New  Netherland 
were  in  like  manner  also  again  read,  recorded  in  the 
Company's  Register,  ordered  by  the  Assembly  to  be 
ensealed  with  the  seal  of  New  Netherland  ;  the 
Patroons  were  again  congratulated  and  handed  their 
patents. 

"  16th  ditto.  The  Patroons  on  resolution  of  the 
Assembly,  delivered  to  the  Company's  Counsel  a  per- 
fect list  of  their  undertaken  patroonships. 

"  8th  January,  1631.  The  Patroons  Colonies  were  ex 
supra  abundanti  confirmed,  on  submitting  the  ques- 
tion to  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.,  holden  in  Zea- 
land." 

Such  was  the  manner  and  the  method  in  which 
began  the  colonization,  settlement,  and  population, 
of  New  Netherland  in  general,  and  the  territories  of 
the  States  of  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York 
in  particular.  Space  will  not  permit  mention  of 
other  and  later  Patroonships  in  different  parts  of  the 
Dutch  territory  in  America,  except  that  of  Colen- 
Donck,  the  only  one  which  was  created  in  the  County 
of  Westchester  which  will  be  treated  of  hereafter. 

Very  soon  difficulties  arose  between  the  West  India 
Company  and  the  Patroons  in  relation  chiefly  to  the 
trade  in  furs  and  the  claims  of  the  Patroons  to  embark 
in  the  same  under  the  articles  of  the  charter  of  Free- 
doms and  Exemptions.  The  latter  were  more  in- 
clined to  push  the  trade  in  peltries  than  the  agricul- 


tural settlement  of  their  lands,  for  the  reason  that  the 
former  was  highly  profitable,  whereas  the  latter  re- 
quired a  constant  outgo  of  money  with  a  prospect  (»f 
only  distant  and  much  smaller  returns.  Clashingsas 
to  civil  powers  and  duties  also  occurred  between  them. 
But  notwithstanding,  population  and  agriculture 
slowly  increased.  Other  Patroonships  were  taken 
up,  and  some  lands  were  settled  by  individuals. 
The  West  India  Company,  although  several  other 
Directors  in  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX.  had  been 
taken  in  as  partners  by  the  three  Patroons  above 
named  in  their  ventures,  but  without  participation  in 
their  personal  privileges  and  dignities,  thought  that 
the  Patroons  were  prospering  too  much  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  interests  of  the  Company  itself,  and 
sought  to  restrict  them  in  their  trading  operations. 
The  Patroons  on  their  side  claimed  that  the  Company 
not  only  had  no  right  to  restrict  them,  but  had  not 
fulfilled  its  own  obligations  as  laid  down  in  the  articles 
of  the  Freedoms  and  Exemptions. 

These  controversies  led  finally  after  much  discus- 
sion, to  a  determination  by  both  parties,  concurred  in 
by  the  States-General,  to  which  both  had  appealed, 
that  the  charter  of  1729  should  be  revised,  changed 
in  some  important  respects,  and  re-enacted  in  the 
form  of  an  entirely  new  Charter  of  Freedoms  and 
Exemptions. 

One  of  the  memorials  of  the  Company  to  the  States- 
General  presented  in  October  1734,  growing  out  of 
these  difficulties  and  those  arising  from  the  claim  set 
up  by  the  English  to  authorize  trade  to  New  Nether- 
land, is  of  extreme  interest  for  its  clear  and  succinct 
account  of  the  Dutch  discovery  and  settlement  from 
1609  to  1634. 

It  states,  "That  said  river"  ("the  North  River  in 
New  Netherland,"  so  styled  in  the  memorial  which 
is  believed  to  be  the  first  time  "it  is  so  named  in  any 
official  document)  "  and  adjacent  countries  had  been 
discovered  in  the  year  1609,  at  the  cost  of  the  East 
India  Company,  before  any  Christians  had  ever  been 
up  said  river,  as  Hudson  testified,  who  was  then  in 
the  service  of  said  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
covering the  north-west  pas-age  to  China. 

"  And  that  your  High  Mightinesses'  grant  hath 
conferred  from  that  time  down,  on  divers  merchants, 
the  exclusive  trade  in  peltries  there. 

"  Likewise,  that  one  or  more  little  forts  were  built, 
also  under  your  High  Mightinesses'  chief  jurisdiction, 
even  before  the  year  1614,  and  supplied  with  people 
for  the  security  of  the  said  trade  ; 

"  Further,  that  after  these  countries  had  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  incorporated  West  India  Company, 
not  only  were  the  above-named  forts  renewed  and 
enlarged,  but  said  Company  purchased  from  the 
Indians  who  were  the  indubitable  owners  thereof,  the 
Island  of  the  Manhattes,  situate  at  the  entrance  of 
the  said  river,  and  there  laid  the  foundation  of  a  city. 

"  As  also,  not  only  on  that  river,  but  likewise  on 
the  South  River,  and  others  lying  to  the  east  of  the 


J 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


53 


aforesaid  North  River,  divers  natives  and  inhabitants 
of  these  countries,  by  the  assistance  of  said  Coinpanj', 
phmted  sundry  Colonies,  for  which  purpose,  were  also 
purchased  from  the  cliiefs  of  the  Indians,  the  lands 
and  soil,  with  their  respective  attributes  and  jurisdic- 
tions. 

"  As  is  to  be  seen  by  divers  deeds  of  Conveyance 
and  cession,  executed  in  favor  of  the  Patroons  of  the 
Colonies  by  the  Sachems  and  Chief  Lords  of  the 
Indians,  and  those  who  had  anything  to  say  therein."'  ' 

In  1638,  A  "  Report  on  the  Condition  of  New  Nether- 
land  was  made  to  the  States-General  by  a  special 
Committee  of  eight  members,  of  which  Rutger  Hu\  - 
gens  was  Chairman,  in  the  form  of  eight  brief  ques- 
tions and  answers  thereto,  (The  questions  were  pro- 
pounded by  the  States-General,  and  the  answers 
were  made  by  the  special  committee  of  that  body, 
after  it  had  held  a  joint  meeting  with  the  Company's 
Assembly  of  the  XIX.  at  the  Hague.)  of  which  the 
last  three  very  clearly  show  the  state  of  affairs  at  that 
time ; — 

"  6.  Has  the  Company  realized  profit  or  loss  since 
the  planting  of  New  Netherland? 

A.  Loss.  But  it  could  afford  profit,  principally 
from  grain. 

"7.  And  in  case  of  loss,  and  their  High  Mighti- 
nesses consider  it  advantageous  to  preserve  the  limits 
of  New  Netherland,  and  to  establish  the  population 
on  a  better  and  surer  footing? 

A.  The  Company  cannot  people  it;  because  the 
Company  cannot  agree  among  themselves  ;  but  a  plan 
of  throwing  it  open  must  be  considered. 

"  8.  Whether  it  would  not,  therefore,  be  expedient 
to  place  the  district  of  New  Netherland  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  States-General? 

A.  They  have  no  intention  so  to  do  ;  unless  they 
derived  profit  by  it.  But  they  hope,  now  that  they 
have  taken  some  order  about  Brazil,  that  it  will  prove 
a  source  of  profit  in  time. 

They  propose  to  surrender  the  trade  with  the 
Indians,  or  something  else.  Nothing  now  comes  from 
New  Netherland  but  beaver  skins,  minck's,  and  other 
furs ;  considerable  grain  could  be  raised  there  in 
course  of  time." ' 

The  effect  was,  that  the  States-General  appreciating 
the  necessity  of  action,  considered  a  "plan  of  throw- 
ing open"  New  Netherland,  adopted  it  on  the  2d  of 
September  1638,  and  at  once  put  it  into  operation. 

This  plan  opened  the  trade  of  New  Netherland  to 
all  the  world  on  certain  simple  conditions,  and  per- 
mitted any  one  to  take  up  land  according  to  his  means 
for  immediate  cultivation.    It  is  in  these  words  ;— 

"  Whereas  the  Directors  of  the  Incorporated  West 
India  Company,  Chamber  at  Amsterdam,  are  author- 
ized by  resolution  of  the  XIX.,  to  promote  and  im- 
prove the  trade  and  population  of  New  Netherland ; 


>  I.  Col.  Uist.  N.  Y.,  94. 
»  I.  Col.  Uist.,  107. 


they,  therefore,  with  the  approbation  of  their  High 
Mightinesses,  hereby  make  known  to  all  and  every 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Slate,  or  its  allies  and  friends, 
who  may  be  disposed  to  take  up  and  cultivate  lands 
there,  and  to  make  use  for  that  purpose  of  the  harbors 
of  these  countries,  that  they  may  henceforth  convey 
thither  in  the  company's  ships,  such  cattle  merchan- 
dise and  property  as  they  shall  deem  advisable ;  and 
receive  the  returns,  they,  or  their  agents  may  obtain 
therefor  in  those  parts ;  on  condition  that  all  the 
goods  shall  first  be  brought  to  the  Company's  store, 
so  as  to  be  put  on  shipboard  all  at  once,  in  the  best 
manner,  on  payment  of  the  following  duties  and 
freights ;  and  the  Directors  will  take  care  that  they 
shall  be  sent  thither  by  the  safest  conveyance  ; — 

On  all  merchandises  going  thither,  there  shall  be 
paid  to  the  company  here  [an  export  dxfij)  a  duty  of 
ten  per  cent,  in  money,  proportionably  to  their  value  ; 
and  on  those  coming  thence  hither  [an  import  duty) 
fifteen  per  cent,  there,  in  kind  or  money,  at  the  choice 
of  the  Company  or  its  Agent;  eighty-five  remaining 
for  the  owner.  And  if  any  one  happen  to  commit 
an  error,  in  the  valuation  of  his  goods,  the  Company 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  take  such  goods,  paying  one- 
sixth  more  than  they  are  entered  at ;  but  all  concealed 
and  smuggled  goods,  either  in  this  country  or  that, 
which  may  be  discovered  to  have  been  brought  on 
board  the  Company's  ships,  by  secret  plans  or  other 
cunning  contrivances,  shall  be  immediately  forfeited 
and  confiscated  to  the  profit  of  the  said  Company, 
without  any  right  of  action  accruing  thereby."  And 
after  specifying  rules  for  freight  charges,  it  continues 
thus ; — 

"And  whereas  it  is  the  Company's  intention  to 
cause  those  countries  to  be  peopled  and  brought  into 
cultivation  more  and  more,  the  Director  and  Council 
there,  shall  be  instructed  to  accommodate  every  one 
according  to  his  condition  and  means,  with  as  much 
land  as  he  can  properly  cultivate,  either  by  himself 
or  with  his  family.  Which  land  thus  conceded  to 
any  person  in  the  name  of  the  Company,  shall  re- 
main the  property  of  him,  his  heirs,  or  assigns,  pro- 
vided he  shall  pay  to  the  Company  after  it  hiis  been 
pastured  or  cultivated  four  years,  the  lawful  tenths  of 
all  fruit,  grain,  seed  tobacco,  cotton,  and  such  like, 
as  well  as  of  the  increase  of  all  sorts  of  cattle;  of 
which  property  a  proper  deed  shall  be  given,  on  con- 
dition thut  hi3  truly  undertakes  the  cultivation  or 
pasture  thereof.  Failing  therein,  he  shall  incur,  in 
addition  to  the  loss  of  such  land,  such  penalties  and 
fines  as  shall  be  mutually  agreed  on  at  the  time  of 
the  grant.  To  which  penalties  and  fines  his  suc- 
cessors and  assigns  shall  be  also  bound.  And  in 
order  to  obviate  all  confusion  and  losses,  which  have 
formerly  arisen  therefrom,  and  are  hereafter  to  be 
expected  in  a  still  graver  degree,  no  one  shall  hence- 
forward be  allowed  to  possess  or  hold  any  lands  or 
houses  in  those  parts,  that  have  not  previously  come 
through  the  hands  of  the  Company. 


54 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  Company,  subject  to  the  High  and  Mighty 
Lords  States-General,  shall  take  care  that  the  places 
and  countries  there  shall  be  maintained  in  peace  and 
quietness,  in  proper  police  and  justice,  under  its 
ministers  or  their  deputies,  conformably  to  the  regu- 
lations and  instructions  thereupon  already  established 
and  issued,  or  to  be  hereafter  enacted  and  given,  upon 
a  knowledge  and  experience  of  affairs. 

All  those  who  will  be  inclined  to  go  thither,  to 
inhabit  the  country  or  to  trade,  shall  severally  declare 
under  their  signatures,  that  they  will  voluntarily  sub- 
mit to  these  regulations,  and  to  the  orders  of  the 
Company,  and  shall  allow  all  questions  and  differ- 
ences there  arising,  to  be  decided  by  the  ordinary 
courts  of  justice,  which  shall  be  established  in  that 
country,  and  freely  suffer  there  the  execution  of  the 
sentences  and  verdicts,  without  any  further  opposi- 
tion. And  shall  ])ay  for  passage  and  board  in  the 
state-room,  one  guilder,  in  the  cabin  twelve  stuivers, 
and  between  decks,  eight  stuivers,  per  diem."  ' 

The  effect  of  thus  throwing  open  to  the  world  the 
trade  of  New  Netherland,  was  to  increase  at  once  its 
population,  and  the  development  of  the  agricultural 
capacity  of  the  country.  Capital  was  attracted, 
colonists  came  over  from  Holland,  and  Patroonships 
and  individual  grants  of  lands  were  freely  taken  up. 
Englishmen  and  their  families  driven  from  New 
England  by  Puritan  persecution, — a  persecution  un- 
])aralleled  in  North  America  save  by  that  inflicted  by 
ihe  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  fled  to  the  Dutch  pro- 
vince, became  subjects  of  the  New  Netherland  gov- 
ernment, and  as  grantees  of  its  lands  took  the 
oaihs  of  allegiance  to  the  West  India  Company 
and  to  the  States-General  of  Holland. 

The  old  disputes  between  the  Company  and  the 
Patroons  as  to  their  respective  rights,  though  modi- 
fied, still  continued.  At  last  in  January,  1G40,  the 
matter  was  taken  up  by  the  States-General,  the 
Assembly  of  the  Nineteen,  and  the  Patroons,  with  a 
determination  to  come  to  a  final  settlement  of  the 
whole  subject.  Debates,  discussions,  and  negotiations, 
were  actively  continued  till  July  of  the  s;ime  year, 
with  the  result,  that  an  entirely  new  charter  of 
"  Freedoms  and  Exemptions"  was  framed  which  met 
the  assent  of  all  parties.  This  was  reported  to  the 
States-General  on  the  19th  of  July,  1640,  duly  en- 
acted, and  went  into  immediate  operation. 

The  first  charter  of  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of 
1629,"  and  this  new  charter  of  1640,  together,  are  the 
foundation  of  civilized  government  as  originally 
established,  in  New  York,  and  successfully  maintained 
there  during  the  entire  period  of  its  possession  by 
the  Dutch  nation. 

Before  describing  the  system  of  government,  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  law,  and  land  tenures,  thus  founded 
and  set  in  operation,  it  is  necessary  to  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  subject  to  set  forth  at  length,  in  its 


U.  Col.  Hist.,  113. 


own  words,  the  new  charter  of  1640,  so  that  there  can 
be  no  misunderstanding  of  these  most  important 
instrumeats  as  to  what  they  do,  or  do  )iot,  contain. 
It  is  entitled  ;  — 

"  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  granted  and  accorded 
by  the  Directors  of  the  General  Incorporated 
West  India  Company  at  the  Assembly  of  the 
XIX.,  with  the  approbation  of  the  High  and 
Mighty  Lords  States  General  of  the  free  United 
Netherlands,  to  all  Patroons,  Masters,  or  Private 
persons  who  will  plant  any  Colonies  or  introduce 
cattle  in  New  Netherland.  Exhibited  19th  July, 
1640. 

"All  good  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  and  all 
others  inclined  to  plant  any  Colonies  in  New  Nether- 
land shall  be  at  liberty  to  send  tjiree  or  four  persons 
in  the  Company's  ships  going  thither,  to  examine  the 
circumstances  there,  on  condition  that  they  swear  to 
the  articles,  as  well  as  the  officers  and  seamen,  as  far 
as  they  relate  to  them,  and  pay  for  board  and  passage 
out  and  home,  to  wit,  those  who  eat  in  the  master's 
cabin,  fifteen  stivers  per  day,  and  those  who  go  and 
eat  in  the  orlop,  shall  have  their  board  and  passage 
gratis,  and  in  case  of  an  attack,  offensive  or  defensive, 
they  shall  be  obliged  to  lend  a  hand  with  the  others, 
on  condition  of  receiving,  should  any  of  the  enemy's 
ships  be  overcome,  their  share  of  the  booty  pro  rata, 
each  according  to  his  quality,  to  wit — the  Colonists 
eating  out  of  the  Cabin  shall  be  rated  with  the  sea- 
men, and  those  eating  in  the  cabin  with  the  Com- 
pany's servants  who  board  there  and  have  the  lowest 
rate  of  pay. 

"  In  the  selection  of  lands,  those  who  shall  have 
first  notified  and  presented  themselves  to  the  Com- 
pany, whether  Patroons  or  private  Colonists,  shall  be 
preferred  to  others  who  may  follow. 

"  In  case  any  one  be  deceived  in  selecting  ground, 
or  should  the  place  by  him  chosen  afterwards  not 
please  him,  he  will,  upon  previous  representation  to 
the  Governor  and  Council  then  be  at  liberty  to  select 
another  situation. 

"  For  Patroons  and  Feudatories  of  New  Nether- 
land, shall  be  acknowledged  all  such  as  shall  ship 
hence,  and  plant  there  a  Colonic  of  fifty  souls,  above 
fifteen  years  of  age,  withm  the  space  of  three  years 
after  having  made  a  declaration  and  given  notice 
thereof  to  some  Chamber  of  the  Company  here  or  to 
the  Governor  there ;  namely,  one-third  part  within 
the  year,  and  so  forth,  from  year  to  year,  until  the 
number  be  completed  ;  on  pain  of  losing,  through 
notorious  neglect,  the  obtained  Freedoms  and  cattle. 
But  they  shall  be  warned  that  the  Company  reserves 
the  Island  Manhattes  to  itself. 

"All  Patroons  and  Feudatories  shall,  on  requesting 
it,  be  granted  Venia  Tesfandi,  or  the  power  to  dispose 
of,  or  bequeath,  his  fief  by  Will. 

"For  Masters  or  Colonists,  shall  be  acknowledged, 
those  who  will  remove  to  New  Netherland  with  five 


The  origin  and  history  of  the  manors. 


55 


S  )ul9  above  fifteen  years;  to  all  such,  our  Governor 
tlu-re  shall  grant  in  property  one  hundred  niorgena, 
Ilhineland  measure,  of.  land,  contiguous  one  to  the 
other,  wherever  they  please  to  select. 

"  And  the  Patroons,  of  theni.selves  or  by  their 
agents,  at  the  places  where  they  will  plant  their 
Colonies,  shall  have  the  privilege  to  extend  the  latter 
one  mile  (consisting  of,  or  estimated  at,  1600  Rhine- 
land  perches)  along  the  coast,  bay,  or  a  navigable 
river, and  two  contiguous  miles  landward  in;  it  being 
well  understood,  that  no  two  Patroonships  shall  be 
selected  on  both  sides  of  a  river  or  bay,  right  opposite 
to  each  other;  and  that  the  Company  retains  to  itself 
the  property  of  the  lauds  lying  between  the  limits  of 
the  Colonies,  to  dispose  thereof  hereafter  according 
to  its  pleasure;  and  that  the  Patroons  and  Colonists 
shall  be  obliged  togive  each  other  an  outlet  and  issue, 
{iiijttewfeghen  ende  uxjitewatertn)  at  the  nearest  place 
and  at  the  smallest  expense;  and  in  case  of  disagree- 
ment, it  shall  be  settled  in  the  presence  and  by  the 
decision  of  the  Governor  for  the  time  being. 

"The  Patroons  shall  forever  possess  all  the  lands 
situate  within  their  limits,  together  with  the  produce, 
superficies,  minerals,  rivers  and  fountains  thereof,  | 
uith  high,  low  and  middle  jurisdiction,  hunting,  fish- 
ing, fowling  and  milling,  the  lands  remaining  allodial, 
but  the  jurisdiction  as  of  a  perpetual  hereditary  fief, 
devolvable  by  death  as  well  to  females  as  to  males,  and 
fealty  and  homage  for  which  is  to  be  rendered  to  the 
Company,  on  each  of  such  occasions,  with  a  pair  of 
iron  gauntlets,  redeemable  by  twenty  guilders  within 
a  year  and  six  weeks,  at  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX., 
liere,  or  before  the  Governor  there  ;  with  this  under- 
standing, that  in  case  of  division  of  said  fief  or  juris- 
diction, be  it  high,  middle  or  low,  the  parts  shall  be 
and  remain  of  the  same  nature  as  was  originally  con- 
ferred on  the  w-hole,  and  fealty  and  homage  must  be 
rendered  for  each  part  thereof  by  a  pair  of  iron 
gauntlets,  redeemable  by  twenty  guilders,  as  afore- 
said. 

"And  should  any  Patroon,  in  course  of  time,  hap- 
pen to  prosper  in  his  Colonic  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
be  able  to  found  one  or  more  towns,  he  shall  have 
authority  to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates  there, 
and  make  use  of  the  title  of  his  Colonie,  according 
to  the  pleasure  and  the  quality  of  the  persons,  all 
saving  tlje  Company's  regalia. 

"  And  should  it  happen  that  the  dwelling  places  of 
private  Colonists  become  so  numerous  as  to  be  ac- 
counted towns,  villages  or  cities,  the  Company  shall 
give  orders  respecting  the  subaltern  government, 
magistrates  and  ministers  of  justice,  who  shall  be 
nominated  by  the  said  towns  and  villages  in  a  triple 
number  of  the  best  qualified,  from  which  a  choice  i 
and  selection  is  to  be  made  by  the  Governor  and 
Council ;  and  those  shall  determine  all  questions  and 
suits  within  their  district. 

"  The  Patroons  who  will  send  Colonies  thither, 
shall  furnish  them  with  due  instruction  agreeably  to 


the  mode  of  government  both  in  police  and  justice 
establi-ihed,  or  to  be  established,  by  the  Assembly  of 
the  XIX.,  which  they  shall  first  exhibit  to  the  Direc- 
tors of  the  respective  Chambers,  and  have  approved 
by  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX. 

"  The  Patroons  and  Colonists  shall  have  the  privi- 
lege of  sending  their  people  and  property  there  in 
the  Company's  ships,  on  condition  of  swearing  alle- 
giance, and  paying  to  the  Company  for  the  convey- 
ance of  the  people,  as  in  the  first  article,  and  for 
freight  of  the  goods  requisite  for  their  bouwery,  five 
per  cent,  on  the  cost  of  the  goods  here,  without,  how- 
ever, including  herein  the  cattle,  on  the  freight  of 
which  the  Company  shall  be  liberal. 

"  But  in  case  it  should  come  to  pass  that  the  Com- 
pany have  no  ships  to  dispatch,  or  that  there  be  no 
room  in  the  sailing  vessels,  in  such  a  case  the  Patroons 
and  Colonists  can,  upon  previously  communicating 
their  determination  to,  and  obtaining  the  consent  of 
the  Company  in  WTiting,  send  their  own  ships  thither, 
provided,  in  going  and  returning,  they  shall  not  leave 
the  ordinary  track  laid  down,  and  take  a  supercargo, 
whose  board  shall  be  at  the  expense  of  the  Patroons 
I  or  Colonists,  and  whose  wages  shall  be  paid  by  the 
Company;  on  pain,  in  case  of  contravention,  of 
forfeiting  their  ship  and  goods  to,  and  for  the  behalf 
of,  the  Company,  it  remaining  optional  with  the 
Patroons,  during  the  term  of  the  current  grant,  and 
no  longer,  to  convey  over  their  cattle,  wares  and 
people  in  the  Company's  ships,  in  their  own  or  in 
chartered  vessels. 

"  And,  whereas,  it  is  the  Company's  intention  first 
to  settle  the  Island  of  the  Manhattes,  it  shall  pro- 
visionally be  the  staple  of  all  produce  and  wares 
accruing  on  the  North  river  and  the  country  there- 
about, before  they  can  be  sent  further,  except  those 
which  by  nature  itself  are  useless  there,  or  cannot  be 
brought  there  except  with  great  loss  to  the  owners,  in 
which  case  the  latter  shall  be  bound  to  give  timely 
notice  of  such  inconvenience  to  the  Company  here, 
or  to  the  Governor  and  Council  there,  that  it  be  pro- 
vided for,  according  as  the  circumstances  shall  be 
found  to  require. 

"All  Patroons,  Colonists  and  inhabitants  there,  as 
well  as  the  stockholders  in  the  Company  here,  shall 
be  privileged  to  sail  and  trade  to  the  entire  coast, 
from  Florida  to  Newfoundland,  on  the  following  con- 
ditions : — 

"  First,  that  all  goods  which  will  be  sent  hence  for 
sale  there,  whether  freighted  by  the  Company,  or  by 
Colonists,  or  the  stockholders  themselves,  must  be 
brought  into  the  Company's  stores  for  inspection  and 
payment  of  the  proper  duties,  to  wit:  ten  per  cent, 
i  on  the  cash  cost  of  the  article  here,  besides  convoy- 
freight  and  average,  an  agreement  being  made  for  the 
freights  of  what  may  be  sent  in  the  CoTupany's  ships; 
and  bulk  will  not  be  allowed  to  be  broken  any  where 
except  at  the  Manhattes,  or  such  place  as  the  Com- 
pany here  may  order,  so  as  to  be  at  liberty,  after 


56 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


proper  inspection  of  tlieir  loading  and  the  entry 
thereof,  to  depart  to  whatever  place  they  think 
proper. 

"And  on  the  other  wares  which  will  be  sent  thence 
hither,  shall  be  paid  here,  over  and  above  the  convoy 
duty  granted  by  the  State  to  the  Company,  five  per 
cent.,  according  to  the  valuation  to  be  made  here,  on 
such  penalty  as  aforesaid  ;  but  an  agreement  must  be 
made  with  the  Governor  and  Council  there,  for  the 
freight  of  any  of  the  goods  that  are  being  sent  from 
there  in  the  Company's  ships,  as  aforesaid  ;  and  on 
all  beavers,  otters  and  other  j^eltries,  which  will  be 
sent  from  there  here,  shall  be  paid  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  there,  ten  per  cent.,  all  in  kind,  and  due 
receipt  for  the  payment  thereof,  .shall  be  brought 
along,  on  pain  of  confiscation  of  all  the  furs  which 
will  be  found  not  to  have  paid  any  thing  for  the  be- 
hoof of  the  Company,  and  with  that  to  be  exempt 
from  further  duty. 

"  And  in  case  said  private  ships,  in  going  or  com- 
ing, or  in  ranging  along  the  coast  from  Florida  to 
Newfoundland,  happen  to  capture  any  prizes,  they 
shall,  in  like  manner  be  obliged  to  bring  the  same,  or 
to  cause  the  same  to  be  brought,  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  in  New  Netherland,  or  to  the  Chamber 
whence  they  respectively  sailed,  to  be  rewarded  by 
them,  and  the  third  part  thereof  shall  be  retained  for 
the  Company,  before  deducting  his  Highness'  and  the 
State's  portion,  the  two  other  third  parts  for  them- 
selves, in  return  for  their  incurred  expenses  and  risk, 
all  in  pursuance  of  the  Company's  order. 

"  In  like  manner  they  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  de- 
part thence  with  their  goods  obtained  in  barter,  with- 
out first  returning  to  the  said  place,  to  enter  their 
goods  there  and  to  obtain  proper  clearance,  signed  by 
the  Governor  and  Council,  and  they  shall  be  bound 
to  return  to  this  country,  with  their  ships  and  yachts, 
to  the  place  they  sailed  from,  in  order  to  discharge 
all  their  freight  into  the  Company's  stores,  according 
to  the  register  and  clearance  to  be  brought  from 
thence,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  their  ship  and  goods  for 
the  Company's  behoof,  should  they  go  aind  break 
bulk  elsewhere,  or  have  any  unregistered  goods  on 
board. 

"  The  Company  promises,  during  the  continuance 
of  the  present  charter  and  no  longer,  not  to  burden 
the  Patroons  and  Colonists  in  that  country,  either 
with  customs,  toll,  excise,  imposts  or  any  other  con- 
tributions, and  after  the  expiration  hereof,  at  farthest, 
with  no  greater  duty  than  is  imposed  on  goods  in  this 
country. 

"  The  Company  shall  not  take  from  the  service  of 
Patroons  or  Colonists,  their  man  servants  or  maid 
servants,  even  though  some  person  should  solicit  it; 
nor  receive  them,  much  less  suffer  them  to  go  from 
their  master's  service  to  that  of  another,  during  the 
term  of  such  years  as  they  are  bound  for;  and  if  any 
man  servant  or  maid  servant  run  away,  or  take  his 
freedom  contrary  to  contract,  the  Company  shall, 


according  to  its  means,  cause  such  to  be  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  their  masters,  to  be  proceeded 
against  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 

"From  all  definitive  judgments  pronounced  by  the 
Courts  of  the  Patroons  or  Colonists,  for  an  amount 
exceeding  one  hundred  guilders,  or  from  such  as  en- 
tail infamy,  also  from  all  sentences  pronounced  in 
matters  criminal,  on  ordinary  prosecution,  conform- 
able to  the  custom  of  this  country,  an  appeal  shall  lie 
to  the  Governor  and  Council  of  the  Company  in  New 
Netherland. 

"All  Patroons,  Colonists  and  inhabitants  are  al- 
lowed free  hunting  and  fishing,  both  by  land  and  by 
water,  generally  in  public  woods  and  rivers  in  the 
extent  of  their  lands,  according  to  the  order  to  be 
made  thereupon  by  the  Governor  and  Council;  and 
the  Patroons  exclusively  within  the  limits  of  their 
Colonies,  with  the  clear  understanding  that  the 
Governor  and  Council  shall  not  be  excluded  there- 
from. 

"  All  Patroons,  inhabitants  or  Colonists,  are  also 
allowed  to  send  ships  along  the  coast  of  New  Nether- 
land and  the  countries  circumjacent  thereunto,  to  fish 
for  Cod,  &c.,  and  to  proceed  with  the  catch  straight 
to  Italy  or  other  neutral  countries,  on  condition  of 
paying  to  the  Company  for  duty,  in  such  case,  six 
guilders  per  last,  and  on  coming  here  with  their 
freight,  it  shall  be  allowable  and  sufl^cient  to  pay  the 
Company  the  custom  dues  alone,  without  conveying, 
under  pretence  of  this  consent,  any  other  goods  else- 
where, on  pain  of  arbitrary  punishment,  it  remaining 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  Company  to  put  a  supercargo 
on  board  each  ship,  on  such  conditions  and  terms  as 
hereinbefore  set  forth. 

"  If  any  Patroons,  inhabitants  or  Colonists  happen 
by  their  industry,  diligence  or  otherwise  to  discover 
any  minerals,  precious  stones,  crystals,  marbles,  pearl- 
fisheries  or  such  like  within  the  limits  of  their  lands, 
all  such  Patroons  and  Colonists  shall  give  one-fifth 
part  of  the  nett  proceeds  to  the  Company,  which  for 
this  purpose  shall  have  the  power  to  appoint  one  or 
more  inspectors,  at  the  charge  of  said  mines  and 
pearlfisheries;  but  any  one  finding  such  without  their 
limits,  the  same  shall  belong  to  the  Company  on  pay- 
ing the  discoverer  such  premium  as  the  merits  of  the 
case  shall  demand. 

"The  Company  shall  take  all  Colonists,' whether 
free  or  bound  to  service,  under  their  protection,  de- 
fend them  as  far  as  lies  in  their  power  with  the  force 
which  it  has  there,  against  all  domestic  and  foreign 
wars  and  violence,  on  condition  that  the  Patroons  and 
Colonists  shall,  in  such  case,  put  themselves  in  a  suit- 
able state  of  defence  for  which  purpose  each  male 
emigrant  shall  be  obliged  to  provide  himself,  at  his 
own  expense,  with  a  gun  or  musket  of  the  Company's 
regular  calibre,  or  a  cutlass  and  side  arms. 

"And  no  other  Religion  shall  be  publicly  admitted 
in  New  Netherland  except  the  Reformed,  as  it  is  at 
present  preached  and  practiced  by  public  authority 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


57 


in  the  United  Netherlands  ;  and  for  this  purpose  the 
Company  shall  provide  and  maintain  good  and  suit- 
able preachers,  schoolmasters  and  comforters  of  the 
sick. 

"  The  particular  Colonies  which  hai)pen  to  lie  on 
the  respective  rivers,  bays  or  islands  shall  have  the 
privilege  (to  wit,  each  river  or  island  for  itself)  of 
designating  a  deputy  who  shall  give  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  that  country  information  respecting 
his  Colonic,  and  f)romote  its  interests  with  the  Coun- 
cil: one  of  which  deputies  shall  be  changed  every 
two  years,  and  all  the  Colonies  shall  be  obliged  to 
communicate  to  the  Governor  and  Council  there  a 
pertinent  report,  at  least  every  twelve  months,  of  their 
condition  and  of  the  lands  in  their  vicinity. 

"The  Company  shall  exert  itself  to  provide  the 
Patroons  and  Colonists,  on  their  order,  with  as  many 
Blacks  as  possible,  without  however  being  further  or 
longer  obligated  thereto  than  shall  be  agreeable. 

"The  Company  reserves  unto  itself  all  large  and 
small  tythes,  all  waifs,  the  right  of  mintage,  laying 
out  highways,  erecting  forts,  making  war  and  peace, 
togetiier  with  all  wildernesses,  founding  of  cities, 
towns  and  churches,  retaining  the  su])reme  authority, 
sovereignty  and  supremacy,  the  interpretation  of  all 
obscurity  which  may  arise  out  of  this  Grant,  with 
such  understanding,  however,  that  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  alter  or  diminish  what  has  been 
granted  heretofore  to  the  Patroons  in  regard  to  high, 
middle  and  low  jurisdiction. 

"  The  Company  shall,  accordingly,  appoint  and 
keep  there  a  Governor,  competent  Councillors, 
OflScers  and  other  Ministers  of  Justice  for  the  pn  - 
tection  of  the  good  and  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked ;  which  Governor  and  Councillors,  who  are 
now,  or  may  be  hereafter,  appointed  by  the  Company, 
shall  take  cognizance,  in  the  first  instance,  of  matters 
appertaining  to  the  freedom,  supremacy,  domain, 
finances  and  rights  of  the  General  West  India  Com- 
pany; of  complaints  which  any  one  (whether 
stranger,  neighbor  or  inhabitant  of  the  aforesaid 
country)  may  make  in  case  of  privilege,  innovation, 
dissuetude,  customs,  usages,  laws  or  pedigrees ;  de- 
clare the  same  corrupt  or  abolish  them  as  bad,  if 
circumstances  so  demand ;  of  the  cases  of  minor 
children,  widows,  orphans  and  other  unfortunate  per- 
sons, regarding  whom  complaint  shall  first  be  made 
to  the  Council  holding  prerogative  jurij^diction  in 
order  to  obtain  justice  there;  of  all  contracts  or 
obligations;  of  matters  pertaining  to  possession  of 
benefices,  fiefs,  cases  of  lesje  majestatis,  of  religion 
and  all  criminal  matters  and  excesses  prescribed  and 
unchallenged,  and  all  persons  by  prevention  may 
receive  acquittance  from  matters  there  complained  of; 
and  generally  take  cognizance  of,  and  administer  law 
and  justice  in,  all  cases  appertaining  to  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Company." 

Owing  to  the  difficulties  which  arose  at  the  close 
of  Kieft's  administration,  and  continued  duriug  the 
5 


earlier  years  of  that  of  Stuyvesant,  between  the 
Commonalty  of  New  Nethcrland  and  the  West  India 
Company  as  represented  by  those  Directors,  growing 
out  of  the  restrictions  upon  trade  and  traders  estab- 
lished by  the  Company  and  strictly  enforced  by  their 
officers,  the  States-Guiicral,  after  the  delegates.  Van 
der  Donck,  Couwenhoveu  and  Bout,  wlio  were  sent  by 
the  Commonalty  to  Holland,  had  explained  the  mat- 
ters in  question,  enacted  on  the  24th  of  May  1(550,  a 
third  Charter  of  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions,"  which 
modified  somewhat  the  clauses  of  that  of  10-40  re- 
lating to  trade,  and  the  administration  of  justice  in 
some  minor  points.'  It  did  not  however  vary  in  the 
least  the  principles  of  the  former  Charters,  or  the 
system  of  settlement  and  Colonization  by  them  fixed 
and  established  in  relation  to  land  and  its  tenure.  It 
is  therefore  unnecessary  to  refer  to  it  more  par- 
ticularly in  this  connexion.  These  three  were  tlie 
only  charters  of  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions,"  in 
force  in  New  Netherlaud  during  the  entire  Dutch 
domination. 

5 

The  Nature  of  the  Dutch  Systems  of  Governmfnt  and 
Law  established  in  New  Netherlands  and  of  the 
Patroonships  there. 

To  comprehend  the  system  of  government,  laws, 
and  religion,  established  in  New  Netherlaud,  through 
the  West  India  Company,  by  the  Dutch  republic  un- 
der these  Charters  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions,  a 
brief  account  of  that  of  the  ''  Fatherland,"  or  "  Pa- 
tria,"  as  that  republic  was  called  in  its  province  in 
America,  must  be  given. 

The  form  of  government  of  the  Seven  United  Prov- 
inces was  republican,  the  law  was  the  Koman  law, 
and  the  church  was  the  established  Reformed  Cimrch 
of  Holland  in  accordance  with  the  Synod  of  Dort. 
All  were  transplanted  to  New  Netherland,  and  there 
existed  and  flourished  until  its  capture  by  the  lingiish 
in  1(5(54.  Nine  years  later  when  the  Dutch  re-con- 
quered it,  all  were  re-introduced,  a  Dutch  Governor 
re-appointed,  and  New  Netherland  replaced  in  its 
original  position,  except  as  to  the  names  of  its  three 
largest  towns  which  were  changed.  New  York,  as  the 
English  had  called  it,  was  rc-named  "New  Orange," 
Albany  was  re-named  "  Willemstadt,"  and  Kingston 
"  Swanenburgh,"  instead  of  New  Amsterdam,  Bevcrs- 
wyck,  and  Wiltwyck,  their  original  a))i)cllations. 

The  Province  of  Holland  the  largest  of  the  seven 
United  Provinces  formed  at  an  early  period  a  por- 
tion of  the  Kingdom  of  the  West  Franks,  and  about 
the  year  922  was  conferred  by  Charles  the  Simi)le 
upon  Count  Dirk,  who  thus  became  the  first  "Count 
of  Holland."  In  92.)  Charles  ceded  it  to  Henry  the 
Fowler,  King  of  the  East  Franks,  with  the  rest  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Lotharingia,  the  Count  of  Holland  still 
being  its  own  local  sovereign.    The  succe.'sive  Counts 


1 1.  Cul.  Uist.,  4Ul. 


58 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  Holland  ruled  over  their  little  province,  to  which 
in  the  course  of  time  they  added  the  adjoining  prov- 
ince of  Zeeland,  for  four  hundred  year^  of  unbroken 
male  descent  when  their  race  died  out,  and  the  Count- 
ship  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Counts  of  Hainault. 
From  them  it  devolved  upon  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria, 
the  last  representative  of  which  house  was  dispos- 
sessed by  Philip  the  Good,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who 
held  the  rest  of  the  Netherlands  under  his  rule.  By 
the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  Mary  of  Burgundy,  with 
the  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria,  the  entire 
Netherlands  passed  from  the  House  of  Burgundy  to 
the  Imperial  House  of  Austria.  In  1496,  Philip  the 
Fair  married  Joanna,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  of  Castile  and  Arragon,  and  the  Netherlands, 
through  this  marriage  came  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Kings  of  Spain.  Philip  the  Fair  was  succeeded  by 
his  only  son,  the  Emperor  Charles  the  Fifth,  who  was 
born  in  the  Netherlands,  and  ruled  the  country  as  a 
part  of  his  empire  till  1555,  when  he  abdicated  in  fa- 
vor of  his  son  Philip  II.  By  Philip  II.  as  King  of 
Spain,  through  savage  persecutions  and  ferocious 
wars,  were  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  driven  into 
a  rebellion  and  war  of  Independence,  which  after  an 
heroic  struggle  of  forty  years  continuance,  Avas  suc- 
cessfully terminated  by  the  famous  twelve  years  truce 
of  1609.> 

One  of  the  strange  results  of  this  truce,  was  the 
voyage  of  Hudson  in  search  of  a  western  pas.sage  to 
Cathay,  and  his  momentous  discovery  of  the  Bay  of 
New  York  and  the  magnificent  river  which  has  im- 
mortalized his  name.  Another  remarkable  result, 
was  the  establishment  in  the  same  year  of  the  Bank 
of  Amsterdam,  which  so  long  ruled  the  exchanges  of 
Europe,  and  through  which,  the  financial  transactions 
of  the  first  merchants  and  Patroous  of  New  Nether- 
land  were  subsequently  carried  on. 

During  the  whole  period  iu  which  these  different 
Princes,  Kings,  and  Emperors,  possessed  the  Nether- 
lands, they  ruled  the  provinces  of  Holland  and  Zee- 
land,  which  together  comprised  about  five-eighths  of 
the  area  of  the  "United  Provinces,"  not  in  their 
royal  capacities,  but  as  "  Counts  of  Holland."  These 
two  Provinces  with,  Friesland,  Groningen,  Utrecht, 
Guelderland,  and  Overyssel,  comprising  the  other 
three-eighths  of  the  Netherlands,  formed  the  "  Seven 
United  Provinces"  of  the  Republic,  which  founded 
Christian  government  and  Christian  civilization  in 
New  York. 

What  was  the  nature  and  constitution  of  this  Repub- 
lic? A  Republic  which  not  only  established  its  own 
independent  existence  as  one  of  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope, but  humbled  forever  the  pride  and  power  of 
Spain  then  one  of  the  greatest  of  those  nations.  A 
Republic  which  founded  in  the  New  World  a  system 
of  government,  the  principles  of  which  to-day  form 


1  Maasilorp's  Introduction  to  his  translation  of  Grotius"  treatise  on 
I)iitcU  Jurisprudence,  p.  iv. 


the  [basis,  upon  which  rests  the  constitution  of  that 
greater  Republic  which  under  the  name  of  the  United 
States  of  America  dominates  the  Western  Hemi- 
sphere. 

The  Republic  of  the  Netherlands  was  a  small  coun- 
try, in  area  but  a  trifle  larger  than  Wales,  but  its 
population  of  about  two  millions  in  1609,  of  Teutonic 
origin,  was  dense,  reliant,  and  self-supporting.  Each 
of  the  seven  provinces  into  which  it  was  divided  con- 
tained a  number  of  cities  and  large  towns,  each  gov- 
erned by  a  Board  of  Managers  styled  a  '  Vroedschap.' 
These  Boards  of  Managers  were  self-electing  close  cor- 
porations, the  members  of  which  were  appointed  for 
life  from  the  general  body  of  the  citizens.  Whenever 
vacancies  occurred  these  Boards  either  filled  them  by 
a  direct  election  of  new  members,  or  by  making  a 
double  or  triple  nomination  of  names,  and  submitting 
them  to  the  Stadtholder,  or  Governor,  of  the  prov- 
ince, who  selected  one  to  fill  the  vacancy.  This 
Stadtholder  was,  originally,  the  representative  of  the 
Count,  or  the  Sovereign,  but  at  the  period  of  which 
we  are  treating,  he  was  elected  by  a  body  called  the 
"  States-Provincial"  of  each  Province,  which  con- 
sisted of  deputies  elected  by  the  Boards  of  Managers 
and  Nobles  of  the  Province.  These  "  States  Provin- 
cial" managed  all  the  affairs  of  each  Province  for  it- 
self, the  Provinces  in  their  domestic  concerns  being 
entirely  independent  of  each  other.  They  were  the 
representative  assemblies  of  the  numerous  Munici- 
palities and  Nobles  of  which  each  Province  was  com- 
posed. The  "States  Provincial"  had  also  conferred 
upon  them,  another,  and  most  important,  power,  one 
which  then  existed  in  no  other  part  of  the  civilized 
world.  For  neither  in  the  Swiss  republic,  nor  in  the 
Italian  republics  of  the  middle  ages,  did  a  precisely 
similar  power  exist.  This  was  the  election  of  envoys 
to  the  Supreme  Legislature  of  the  republic, — the 
States  General.  The  members  of  this  body  so  elected 
were  not  representatives  in  the  usual  sense  of  that  term 
but  envoys  from  their  respective  Provinces  to  the  Su- 
preme Parliament  of  the  nation,  in  which  each  Prov- 
ince, though  it  could  have  as  many  envoys  as  it  pleased, 
had  but  one  vote.  These  envoys  were  bound  by  in- 
structions in  writing  from  their  constituents  the 
"  States  Provincial,"  whom  they  were  obliged  to  con- 
sult in  all  doubtful  or  new  matters  before  acting  upon 
them.  Neither  war  nor  peace  could  be  made,  nor 
troops  nor  money  raised,  without  a  unanimous  vote 
of  the  whole  seven  Provinces  by  their  envoys  in  the 
States-General.  The  title  of  this  Supreme  Council  of 
Parliament  of  the  Republic,  was  "  The  High  and 
Mighty  Lords  the  States -General."  It  received  am- 
bassadors, appointed  its  own  to  other  nations,  and 
conducted,  wholly,  the  foreign  relations  of  the  repub- 
lic. Each  Province,  by  one  of  its  deputies  or  envoys 
presided  in  turn  for  a  week.  Its  Greffier,  or  Clerk 
read  all  papers,  put  all  questions  to  vote,  and  an- 
nounced the  result.  Its  sessions  were  held  at  the 
Hague,  in  a  very  handsome  oblong  apartment  in  the 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


59 


Binneiihof,  the  old  palace  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
ancient  chateau  of  the  Counts  of  Holland,  which  re- 
mains to  this  day.' 

In  these  Independent  "  States  Provincial,"  their 
representative  envoys,  and  theStates-Creneral  in  which 
they  sat,  we  see  the  origin  of  the  Independent  Sover- 
eign states  of  the  Federal  Constitution  of  1787,  the 
Senators  who  represent  those  Sovereign  States,  and 
that  great  body,  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  which  they  sit.  So  ancient  and  honor- 
able is  that  system  and  doctrine  of  State  right;', 
upon  the  continued  preservation  of  which  in  their 
integrity  depends  the  existence  of  the  American 
Union. 

The  source  of  power  in  the  "  States  Provincial  "  of 
Holland  was  in  the  constituencies  of  the  deputies  to 
them  who  were  the  Municipal  Councils  of  the  towns 
and  cities,  and  the  College  of  Nobles,  by  which  the 
deputies  were  elected.  To  them  was  each  deputy 
responsible,  and  under  their  instructions  alone  he 
acted. 

Holland  was  an  aggregate  of  independent  towns  and 
cities  each  administering  its  own  taxation,  finances, 
and  domestic  affairs,  and  making  its  own  ordinances. 
Its  inhabitants  were  not  on  an  equality.  To  entitle 
a  man  to  every  municipal  franchise,  he  must  have  ac- 
quired the  greater  or  lesser  burger-right — hiu  yer 
recht" — either  by  inheriting  it,  by  marriage,  or  by 
purchase.  In  the  latter  case  a  larger  sum  was  re- 
()uired  for  the  great  burger  right  and  a  smaller  sum 
for  the  lesser.  In  either  case,  however,  the  amount 
was  not  very  large.  Only  a  year's  previous  residence 
was  necessary  for  any  foreigner  to  obtain  it.  The 
privileges  it  conferred  were,  freedom  of  trade,  exemp- 
tion from  tolls,  special  privileges  and  preferences  in 
the  conduct  of  lawsuits,  and  an  exclusive  eligibility 
of  election  to  municipal  office.  The  |)rivileges  of  the 
two  classes  of  burghers  varied  only  in  degree.  The 
city  and  town  governments  consisted  of  a  Board  of 
Burgomasters  and  Schepens,  and  a  Schout,  that  is  a 
Board  of  magistrates  and  aldermen,  and  a  sheriff  who 
was  also  a  prosecuting  officer. 

These  Burgom;istei-s  and  Schepens,  provided  for  the 
l>ublic  safety,  attended  to  police  matters,  called  out 
the  military  when  needed,  assessed  all  taxes,  and  ad- 
ministered all  financial,  and  civic  matters.  They 
were  elected  either  by  the  general  body  of  the  citizens 
possessing  a  small  property  (jualification,  or  by  the 
'•  Vroedschapen,'' or  Boards  of  Managers  mentioned 
before,  who  were  themselves  elected  by  the  general 
body  of  qualified  citizens,  the  custom  varying  in  dif- 
ferent towns  and  Provinces. 

Such  was  the  form  of  political  liberty  which  con- 
stituted the  great  strength  of  the  Dutch  Republic, 
by  which  it  conquered  its  own  independence  of 
Spain,  and  which  it  carried  to,  and  established  in, 


'  Maaetlorp's  intruductiun  to  liis  translatiuD  of  Grotius,  vi.  I.  Brod. 
Hist.  N.  Y.,  454. 


New  York.'^  It  is  well  summed  up  by  Brodhead  in 
these  words,  "  The  self-relying  burghers  governed  the 
towns;  the  representatives,  of  the  towns,  and  of 
the  rural  nobility,  governed  the  several  Provinces, 
and  the  several  States  of  the  respective  Provinces 
claimed  supreme  jurisdiction  within  their  own  pre- 
cincts." The  system  of  the  Dutch  Republic  was  a 
thorough  system  of  town  government,  expanded  to 
meet  the  needs  of  a  national  governmental  organi- 
zation. It  was  also  a  strikingly  conservative  as  well 
as  effective  form  of  government,  and  after  the  termina- 
tion of  the  twelve  years  truce  with  Spain  in  l(j21,it 
enabled  the  Netherlands  to  carry  on  that  brilliant 
series  of  hostilities  against  Spain  which,  in  1G48,  re- 
sulted in  her  final  acknowledgment  of  the  United  Pro- 
vinces as  an  Independent  Nation.'  Subsequently  to 
that  event  the  Republic  enlarged  and  increased  the 
machinery  of  her  government — developing  it  further 
upon  the  same  principles  to  meet  the  enlarged  sphere 
of  action  upon  which  she  had  entered,  but  this  ic 
is  unnecessary  to  describe  here. 

There  was  in  this  system  of  government  one  princi- 
ple which  must  be  particularly  noticed,  one  which 
has  had  but  scant  mention  from  American  historians, 
and  yet  upon  it  rests  the  system  of  colonization  begun 
by  the  Dutch  in  New  Netherland,  and  that  is  the 
rights,  powers,  privileges,  and  position  of  the  nobles 
of  the  Netherlands  in  the  government  of  their  native 
land. 

The  Dutch  people  of  the  United  Provinces  at  the 
date  of  Hudson's  discovery  of  New  Netherland,  and 
during  the  period  of  its  settlement  and  possession  by 
that  Republic  consisted,  by  their  own  law,  of  two 
classes,  "Nobles"  and  "Commoners."  The  Com- 
moners were  subdivided  into  "Gentlemen  by  birth," 
and  "Common  people."  Thus  practically  making 
three  classes  of  Dutch  citizens. 

They  are  thus  described,  and  the  definition  of  each 
given,  by  the  most  famous  of  the  great  lawyers  of 
Holland ;— * 

"From  descent  comes  the  distinction  whereby  some 
are  born  Noble  and  some  Commoners. 

Noble  by  birth  are  those  sprung  from  a  father 
whose*  ancestors  have,  from  times  of  old,  been  ac. 
knowledged  as  noble,  or  who  was  himself  ennobled 
by  the  sovereign. 

For  some  families  have  held  their  rank  for  a  period 
so  far  distant,  and  so  fully  acknowledged,  that  no 
proof  is  necessary.  Other  families  have  been  en- 
nobled from  services,  or  favors  subsequently  bestowed. 

Commoners  were  formerly  of  two  classes,  such  as 
Gentlemen  by  birth  and  the  common  people. 


^Firet  learned  in  Hollaml  by  the  Euiilish  self  exiled  Bruwniati  it 
was  carried  by  tlieni  to  Plymoutli  their  new  home  across  the  Alhiiitic, 
and  was  thus  tlie  origin  of  the  town  and  township  system  estal>li:ilied  in 
New  Kn^land. 

3 1.  Sir  Wm.  Temple's  Works,  6S,  70, 12C,  127,  131,  l:!!>-142. 
*  Grotins,  cli.  XIV.  ;  also  note  IX.  to  Benson's  Memoir,  II.  N.  Y.  Hist. 
Coll.,  2d  series,  p.  138. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


It  seems  formerly  that  Gentlemen  by  birth  were 
those  who  from  generation  to  generation  were  de- 
scended from  free  and  honorable  persons.  These, 
being  favoured  by  different  Counts  [of  Holland],  and 
especially  by  Count  Floris,  who  was  disliked  by  the 
nobles  (which  gave  rise  to  a  conspiracy  against  him 
and  ultimately  to  his  death),  had  a  right  to  wear 
arms  publicly,  as  a  token  of  descent,  to  ride  with  a 
spur,  and  be  exempt  from  taxes.  At  present  [1620, 
in  which  yearGrotius  wrote]  all  these  matters,  together 
with  others,  having  become  general  by  practice,  the 
only  distinction  is,  that  those  who  are  gentlemen  born 
are  selected  as  judges  of  the  Bailiff's  Court,  in  the 
place  of  vassals  [or  tenants],  and  were  consequently 
exempt  from  serving  in  the  office  of  schepens,  or  civic 
magistrates." 

The  Seven  United  Provinces  were  composed  of 
the  patroonships  of  nobles,  cities,  and  towns,  the 
two  latter  possessing  municipal  privileges,  or  rather, 
privileges  as  municipalities,  similar  to  those  possessed 
as  individuals  by  the  nobles.  Both  originated  in  the 
ancient  Teutonic  system  of  military  tenures  modified 
by  the  Roman  law  and  the  spirit  of  commercial  enter- 
prise. There  were  then  in  the  United  Provinces,' no 
small  independent  farms;  isolated  houses  scattered 
through  the  country  did  not  exist.  The  people  dwelt 
in  the  towns  and  cities,  and  only  the  nobles  on  large 
estates  in  the  country  with  great  buildings,  strong- 
holds, and  sometimes  churches,  to  accommodate 
themselves  and  their  numerous  retainers  whom  they 
were  bound  to  protect.  In  the  single  province  of 
Holland  alone,  the  largest  of  the  seven  provinces  of 
the  republic,  there  existed,  and  had  existed  for  more 
than  a  century  prior  to  the  Discovery  of  New  Nether- 
land,  three  hundred  of  these  Patroonships,  or  fiefs  as 
they  were  called,'  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  their 
owners  and  their  tenants  or  vassals,  as  the  then 
flourishing  and  powerful  condition  of  the  Dutch  re- 
public fully  proves. 

There  was  no  clashing  of  interests  between  the 
nobles,  the  commoners,  and  the  municipalities.  Each 
held  their  rights  and  privileges  from  the  same  sover- 
eign authority.  The  latter  were  in  fact  incorporated 
nobles,  so  to  speak.  The  people  of  the  towns, 'as  the 
military  features  of  the  feudal  system  gradually 
weakened,  demanded  and  obtained  of  the  Sovereign 
authority.  Count,  King,  or  Emperor,  the  same  rights 
and  privileges  as  a  body,  which  the  nobles  possessed 
individually.  The  Sovereign,  as  Lord  Paramount, 
granted  these  as  they  were  desired,  for  he  was  per- 
fectly willing  that  the  people  of  the  towns  should 
commute  for  specific  annual  sums  the  military  and 
other  feudal  services  to  which  he  was  entitled,  just 
as  the  nobles  did.  The  people,  however,  in  the 
Dutch  provinces,  always  claimed  and  demanded  the 
right  to  fix  the  amount  of  these  annual  sums  them- 
selves.   This  was  always  granted,  and  they  ever  held 


II.  O'Call.  1302. 


tenaciously  to  this  right  of  taxing  themselves.  In 
this  manner  town  corporations  and  city  corporations 
originated,  in  the  Netherlands,  and  as  such  were  in 
full  vigor,  with  a  happy,  flourishing,  and  united 
population,  not  only  when  New  Netherland  was  dis- 
covered, but  for  a  very  long  period  preceding  that 
event.  The  magistrates  of  these  municipalities, 
chosen  by  the  people  themselves,  were  the  means  by 
which  they  were  united  with  the  Sovereign  power, 
and  through  which  the  latter  communicated  with  the 
people  of  the  municipalities  themselves,  just  as  the 
nobles  were  the  point  of  union  and  communication 
between  the  same  Sovereign  power  and  their  own  vas- 
sals or  tenants. 

The  nobles  formed  a  distinct  House  or  College  in 
each  province,  and  sent  deputies  to  the  States  of  the 
Province,  and  the  States-General,  and  also  to  the  three 
Councils,  of  State,  Accounts,  and  Admiralty.  In  the 
Council  of  State  their  deputy  was  the  President,  and 
in  the  States-General  his  was  the  first  vote^  cast. 
"The  Dutch  Nobility"  says  the  English  author  of 
the  "Description  of  Holland"  in  1743,  seem  to 
observe  a  medium  between  the  loftiness  of  those  of 
the  same  rank  in  some  countries,  and  the  meanness  of 
others.  The  Italian  Nobility  do  not  scruple  to  trade: 
The  French  are  nicer:  yet  they  make  no  difficulty  to 
marry  a  tradesman's  daughter,  if  she  be  rich,  and 
thereby  capable  of  repairing  a  shattered  Estate.  The 
British  Nobility  do  not  differ  from  the  French  in  this 
respect.  The  Germans  abhor  trade;  and  perhaps  in 
effect  of  the  general  barbarous  constitution  of  their 
country,  Tyrant  and  Slave,  disdain  to  mingle  their 
blood  with  that  of  base  plebeians,  though  their 
brethren  of  nature."' 

It  was  this  combined  and  harmonious  system  of 
mingled  municipalism  and  aristocracy,  which  gave  ; 
the  United  Netherlands  their  great  power  and  made 
them  such  a  strong,   conservative,   and  successful  j 
nation.    It  was  a  system  they  had  tried,  and  under 
which  they  had  lived,  for  more  than  two  centuries, 
which  all  classes  approved,  and  with  which  they 
were  fully  satisfied  and  thoroughly  familiar.  Hence 
it  was,  that  when  tlie  West  India  Company  undertook 
to  colonize  New  Netherland,  they  Aturally  adopted 
for  that  new  po.ssession  the  same  system  which  they 
knew  had  always  worked  well  in  the  old,  which  they 
had  always  been  accustomed  to,  and  which  was  in 
entire  consonance  with  the  views,  habits,  manners,  • 
and  customs,  of  the  people  of  the  Bataviau  re-  I 
public. 

It  was  not  this  system  in  New  Netherland,  but  the 
ways  and  means  of  putting  it  into  operation  and  carry- 
ing it  out,  which  produced  the  delays,  disputes,  and 
changes,  that  began  soon  after  the  enactment  of  the 
charter  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of  1629,  and  only 

2  "  Description  of  Holland,"  p.  7C.  This  work,  by  an  Englishman,  resi- 
dent from  infancy  in  Holland,  was  published  in  1743,  and  is  a  full,  fair 
and  eood  account  of  that  countiy. 

3  Ibid. ,79. 


I 


THE  OKIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


61 


ended  with  the  adoption  of  the  revised  and  amended 
charter  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of  1640. 

It  is  needful  to  consider  only  the  most  salient 
features  of  these  instruments,  for  a  simple  reading  of 
documents  themselves,  as  above  given  in  lull,  will 
afford  the  best  possible  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  sys- 
tem of  colonization,  of  w'hich  they  were  the  foun- 
dation, and  upon  which  rests  that  civilization,  which, 
increasing  and  improving  in  the  course  of  years,  and 
modified,  not  abrogated,  by  a  subsequent  change  of 
dominion  and  rulers,  now  constitutes  the  pride  and 
glory  of  the  great  Empire  State  of  New  York. 

They  were  drawn  in  accordance  with  the  views  and 
spirit  of  the  age  in  which  they  had  their  birth,  and 
should,  and  must,  be  judged  in  the  light  of  that  age 
if  we  wi)uld  wish  to  form  a  lair  and  true  opinion  of 
them  and  the  system  they  established.  No  more  un- 
just, yet  more  common  error,  exists,  than  to  make  the 
views  and  spirit  of  this,  our  own  age,  the  standard  by 
which  to  judge  the  views,  spiril,  and  actions  of  every 
age  that  has  gone  before  it,  and  to  praise  or  condemn, 
accordingly. 

Judged  by  the  lights  of  the  seventeenth  century 
these  charters  of  Dutch  Colonization  were  extremely 
free  and  liberal,  far  more  so  than  those  of  any  other 
nation  at  that  time.  It  must  be  remembered,  too, 
that,  they  were  the  work  of  an  armed  commercial 
organization,  of  the  nature  of  those  then  existing, 
intent  upon  its  own  interests,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
nation  to  which  it  belonged ;  an  organization  equally 
well  adapted  to  triumph  in  the  pursuits  of  peace,  or 
conquer  in  those  of  war. 

Essentially  monopolies,  as  w-ere  all  the  colonizing 
and  commercial  companies  of  that  era  in  England, 
and  in  all  the  other  European  nations,  the  charter 
of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of  1629  confined  its 
benefits  and  privileges  to  the  members  of  the  Dutch 
West  Indian  Company  by  which  it  was  granted. 
This  was  changed  by  that  of  1640  which  threw 
them  open  to,  "All  good  inhabitants  of  the 
Netherlands  and  all  others  inclined  to  plant 
any  colonies  in  New,  Netherland."  The  former 
acknowledged,  and  granted  the  rights,  powers, 
and  privileges,  of  Patroons,  as  they  then  existed 
in  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands, 
to  those  who  would  plant  a  "colonie,"  (that  is  estab- 
lish a  plantation)  of  fifty  souls  above  fifteen  years  of 
age,  within  four  years  in  New  Netherland,  after  noti- 
fying the  proper  authorities  of  their  intention  so  to 
do.  The  latter  reduced  the  time  to  three  years,  and 
by  it  all  New  Netherland  was  thrown  open  to  the 
establishment  of  Patroonships,  except  the  Island  of 
Manhattan,  which  the  Company  reserved  to  itself. 

All  Patroons  under  the  first  charter  (Art  V.)  were 
permitted,  after  settling  upon  a  location,  to  extend 
the  limits  of  their  "colonies,"  or  plantations,  four 
miles  Dutch,  {equal  tn  sixteen  English)  along  the  shore 
on  one  side  of  a  navigable  river,  or  two  miles  {eight 
English)  on  each  side  of  the  same,  at  their  option. 


This  was  restricted  by  the  second  charter,  to  one 
Dutch  mile  along  a  navagable  river,  or  two  miles 
landward. 

The  latter  also  provided  for  a  class  of  colonists,  not 
Patroons,  in  these  words  "For  Masters  or  Colonists, 
shall  be  acknowledged,  those  who  will  remove  to  New 
Netherland  with  five  souls  above  fifteen  years;  to  all 
such,  our  Governor  there  shall  grant  in  property  one 
hundred  morgens,  (two  hundred  English  acres)  Rhine- 
land  measure,  of  land,  contiguous  one  to  the  other, 
wherever  they  please  to  select." 

Thus  were  provided  for  New  Netherland  colonists 
of  the  two  upper  classes  then  dwelling  in  the  Republic 
of  the  United  Provinces,  nobles  and  commoners  of  the 
first  class,  as  before  described.  Both  of  these  classes, 
brought  out  the  third,  the  common  people,  the  boers, 
who  were  the  men  and  women,  whom  they  settled 
upon  their  "colonies"  and  farms. 

All  the  colonists,  whether  the  Patroons,  or  of 
the  Masters  of  farms,  "Free  Colonists,"  as  they  were 
styled  in  the  charter  of  1640,  were  freed  from  customs, 
taxes,  excise,  imposts,  or  any  other  contributions  for 
the  space  of  ten  years."  ^ 

The  special  powers,  rights  and  privileges  of 
Patroons  are  set  forth  in  articles  VI,  VII,  VIII,  and 
IX,  of  the  charter  of  1629,  and  as  revised,  and 
slightly  altered,  are  thus  stated  in  the  charter  of 
1640  ;— 

"The  Patroons  shall  forever  possess  all  the  lands 
situate  within  their  limits,  together  with  the  produce, 
superficies,  minerals,  rivers,  and  fountains  thereof, 
with  high,  low,  and  middle  jurisdiction,  hunting, 
fishing,  fowling,  and  milling,  the  lands  remaining 
allodial,  but  the  jurisdiction  as  of  a  perpetual 
hereditary  fief,  devolvable  by  death  as  well  as  to 
females  as  to  males,  and,  fealty  and  homage  for  which 
is  to  be  rendered  to  the  Company,  on  each  of  such 
occasions,  with  a  pair  of  iron  gauntlets,  redeemable 
by  twenty  guilders  within  a  year  and  six  weeks  at  the 
Assembly  of  the  XIX  here,  or  before  the  Governor 
there;  with  this  understanding,  that  in  case  of  divi- 
sion of  said  fief  or  jurisdiction,  be  it  high,  middle,  or 
low,  the  parts  shall  be,  and  remain,  of  the  same 
nature  as  was  originally  conferred  upon  the  whole, 
and  fealty  and  homage  must  be  rendered  for  each  part 
thereof  by  a  pair  of  iron  gauntlets,  redeemable  by 
twenty  guilders  as  aforesaid. 

And  should  any  Patroon,  in  course  of  time,  happen 
to  prosper  in  his  colonie  to  such  a  degree  as  to  be  able 
to  found  one  or  more  towns,  he  shall  have  authority 
to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates  there,  and  make 
use  of  his  Colonie,  according  to  the  pleasure  and  the 
quality  of  the  persons,  all  saving  the  Company's 
regalia.^ 

And  should  it  happen  that  the  dwelling  places  ot 
private  Colonists  become  so  numerous  as  to  be  ac- 


1  Charter  of  l''2n,  art.  XVIII. 
-Rigbts  of  Sovereignty. 


62 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


counted  towns,  villages,  or  cities,  the  Company  shall 
give  orders  respecting  the  subaltern  government, 
magistrates,  and  ministers  of  justice,  who  shall  be 
nominated  by  the  said  towns  and  villages  in  a  triple 
number  of  the  best  qualified,  from  which  a  choice 
and  selection  is  to  be  made  by  the  Governor  and 
Council ;  and  those  shall  determine  all  questions  and 
suits  within  their  district. 

The  Patroons  who  will  send  colonies  thither,  shall 
furnish  them  with  due  instruction  agreeably  to  the 
mode  of  government,  both  in  police  and  justice,' 
established,  or  to  be  established  by  the  Assembly  of 
the  XIX,  which  they  shall  fir.«t  exhibit  to  the 
Directors  of  the  respective  chambers,  and  have 
approved  by  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX." 

The  possession  of  the  land,  with  everything,  in, 
upon,  or  produced  by  it,  as  well  as  all  matters  of 
every  kind,  within  the  bounds  of  the  patroonship, 
was  first  granted.  Then  follow  the  powers,  rights, 
and  privileges,  the  first  of  which  was  the  high,  middle, 
and  low  jurisdiction  within  the  patroonship;  a  power 
necessarily  appertaining  to  the  ownership  of  the 
land,  as  requisite  to  the  orderly  government  of  the 
patroonship,  the  due  protection  of  the  tenants  in 
their  rights,  and  the  determination  of  all  contro- 
versies between  themselves,  or  between  themselves 
and  the  Patroon,  or  his  agents,  as  well  as  the  trial 
and  punishment  of  criminal  ofi'enses.  "High  juris- 
diction" means  the  power  of  capital  punishment. 
Under  the  charter  of  1629  (Art.  XX),  a  right  of 
appeal  from  all  judgments  of  these  courts,  of  fifty 
guilders  (S20),  and  upwards,  lay  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  in  New  Netherland.  By  that  of  1G40,  the 
limit  was  increased  to  100  guilders  (§40),  and  the 
right  extended  to  all  cases  of  criminal  sentences,  and 
judgments  entailing  infamy  upon  any  person.  Thus 
the  rights  of  all  people  were  thoroughly  protected. 

Next  are  enumerated  the  sole  rights  of  hunting, 
fishing,  fowling,  and  milling.  These  explain  them- 
selves, except  the  last, — milling.  This  means,  not  the 
actual  grinding,  or  manufacturing,  but  the  right  to 
erect,  or  control  the  erection  of,  all  mills  within  the 
Patroonship.  For  every  Patroon  was  to  build  a  mill, 
or  mills,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  tenants  or 
vassals,  these  terms  being  sinijilN'  synonymous,  of  the 
Patroonship.  These  mills  could,  either  be  run  by  the 
Patroon  or  his  agent,  or  rented  by  him  to  any  one  who 
w  ished  to  run  them,  at  a  fixed  rent  or  toll.  But  the 
Patroon  was  in  all  cases  bound  to  provide  the  mills 
and  appurtenances  themselves. 

The  Tenure  by  which  the  lands,  rights,  powers, 
privileges,  and  jurisdictions  of  the  Patroons  of  New 
Netherland  were  held,  is  thus  stated  in  the  sixth 
article  of  the  charter  of  1629,  '"  to  be  holden  from  the 
Company  as  a  perpetual  inheritance,  without  it  ever 


devolving  again  to  the  Company,  and  in  caseitshouM 
devolve,  to  be  redeemed  and  repossessed  with  twenty 
guilders  per  colonie  to  be  paid  to  this  Company,  at 
the  Chamber  here  {Holland),  or  to  their  commander 
there  {New  Netherland)  within  a  year  and  six  weeks 
after  the  same  occurs,  each  at  the  Chamber  where  he 
originally  sailed  from."  This  continued  without 
change  till  1640,  when  the  revised  charter  of  that 
year,  stated  the  same  tenure  more  fully,  in  these 
words,  "the  lands  remaining  allodial,  but  the  juris- 
diction as  of  a  perpetual  hereditary  fief,  devolvable  by 
death  as  well  to  females  as  to  males,  and  fealty  and 
homage  for  which  is  to  be  rendered  to  the  Company, 
on  each  of  such  occasions  with  a  pair  of  iron  gaunt- 
lets, redeemable  by  twenty  guilders  within  a  year  and 
six  weeks,  at  the  Assembly  of  the  XIX  here  {in 
Amstfrdam),  or  before  the  Governor  there  {in  New 
Amsterdam);  with  this  understanding,  that  in  case  of 
division  of  said  fief  or  jurisdiction,  be  it  high,  middle, 
or  low,  the  parts  shall  be  and  remain  of  the  same 
nature  as  was  originally  conferred  on  the  whole,  and 
fealty  and  homage  must  be  rendered  for  each  part 
thereof  by  a  pair  of  iron  gauntlets,  redeemable  by 
twenty  guilders  as  aforesaid." 

The  Dutch  words  translated  in  the  above  quotation 
"a  i)erpelual  hereditary  fief,"  and  in  the  sixth  article 
of  the  charter  of  1629  "a  perpetual  inheritance," 
mean  more  than  these  English  renderings,  and  ex- 
press a  technicality  of  the  Dutch  law  which  the  latter 
does  not  convey.  It  is  this.  A  feud,  or  fief,  (these 
terms  are  synonymous)  is  thus  defined  in  the  Dutch 
law,  "an  hereditary  indivisible  use  over  the  immove- 
able property  of  another,  with  a  mutual  obligation  of 
protection  on  the  one  side,  and  a  duty  of  homage  and 
service  on  the  other." ^  Such  a  fief,  under  the  law, 
"was  not  divisible,  except  by  charter  and  passed  only 
per  capita,  or  by  stipulation  in  cases  of  intestacy,  to 
the  eldest  male  amongst  the  lawful  children,  or  fur- 
ther descendants,  of  the  last  possessor;  to  males 
sprung  from  males,  the  nearest  degree  taking  prece- 
dence of  one  more  remote."^  These,  the  old  fiefs  of 
the  Fatherland,  were  termed  "recta  fenda,''  right  fiefs, 
and  were  the  fiefs  referred  to  in  both  the  New  Nether- 
land charters  of  "Freedoms  and  Exemptions"  and  the 
above  translations  of  them.  As  they  were  indivisible 
and  passed  of  right  to  the  eldest  male  representative 
of  the  last  possessor,  and  did  not  depend  upon  the 
intestacy  of  a  son,  they  were  termed  "undying"  fiefs, 
as  opposed  to  fiefs  where  the  succession  might  be 
changed  by  stipulation  at  the  time  of  the  inves- 
titure, or  afterwards,  which  last  were  also  hereditary. 
These  "old  fiefs"  were  not  transplanted  to  New 
Netherland  by  the  charters  of  Freedoms  and  Exemp- 
tions, but  the  new  fiefs  created  by  virtue  of  those 
charters  had  merely  the  same  rights  of  jurisdiction, 
hunting,  fishing,  fowling,  and  milling,  as  the  old  un- 


1  This  means  "political  and  judicial,"  the  original  being  badly  trans- 
l.ited.  See  Art.  X,  in  the  charter  of  1629,  where  the  language,  "  is 
aa  well  in  the  political  as  the  judicial  government." 


s  Herbert's  Orotius,  £30,  ?  I. 
sjbid. 


THE  OKIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


63 


dying  ones.  In  all  other  respects  they  were  entirely 
different.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Patroons  and  their 
feignorial  rights  were  held  "as"  of  these  undying 
fiefs,  that  is  in  the  same  manner  as  jurisdiction  and 
seignorial  rights  were  held  under  them.  But  the  land 
itself,  together  with  the  produce,  superficies,  minerals, 
rivers  and  fountains  thereof,  was  held  by  a  very 
different  tenure.  That  tenure  was  allodial,  which 
means,  not  feudal,  independent  of  a  lord  paramount. 
"The  lands  remaining  allodial  but  the  jurisdiction  as 
of  a  perpetual  (undying)  hereditary  fief"  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  charter  of  1640.  Then  follows  this 
radical  change  from  the  old  fiefs,  "  devolvable  by 
death  as  well  to  females  as  males,"  to  women  as  well 
as  to  men,  is  the  literal  translation  of  the  original 
words.  Thus  in  New  Netherland  the  right  of  suc- 
cession was  extended  to  at  least  double  the  number  of 
persons,  that  it  was  under  the  old  fiefs  of  the  Father- 
land. Annexed  to  this  right,  was  the  provision  that 
upon  each  person  succeeding  to  the  inheritance  of  the 
Patroonship,  fealty  and  homage  were  "to  be  rendered 
on  each  of  such  occasions  to  the  Company  with  a 
pair  of  iron  gauntlets,  redeemable  by  twenty  guilders 
within  a  year  and  six  months,  at  the  Assembly  of  the 
XIX.  here  [Amsterdam),  or  before  the  Governor 
there  {New  Amsterdam)."  This  was  simply  a  method 
adopted  for  the  acknowledgment  by  the  Patroons  of 
the  ])olitical  supremacy  of  the  West  India  Company, 
as  the  ultimate  and  paramount  government  and 
source  of  title  in  New  Netherland ;  a  method  bor- 
rowed from  the  old  feudal  manner  in  which  the 
tenant,  or  vassal,  acknowledged  the  holding  of  his 
lands  from  a  lord  paramount,  who  was  in  his  turn 
thereby  obliged  to  protect  him,  and  which  was  called 
tenure  by  knight-service.  Nothing  of  the  latter  ever 
existed  in  New  Netherland.  Except  this  political 
acknowledgment  of  the  West  India  Company  to  be 
what  we  now  call  "the  State,"  the  Patroonships  were 
held  as  hereditary  allodial  lauds,  which  the  Patroons 
could  divide  in  parts  and  sell  in  fee  at  their  pleasure; 
but  what  they  did  not  sell  in  fee,  descended  to  the 
next  heir,  whether  man  or  woman,  unless  devised 
by  will  otherwise. 

This  power  of  devising  by  will  was  earnestly 
desired  and  contended  for  by  the  Patroons.  The 
seventh  article  of  the  charter  of  1629  says,  "There 
shall  likewise  be  granted  to  all  Patroons  who  shall 
desire  the  same,  venia  tcstandi,  or  liberty  to  dispose 
of  their  aforesaid  heritage  by  testament."  "  All 
Patroons  and  feudatories  {/undatories  were  the  holders 
of  any  part  of  the  fief)  shall,  on  requesting  it,  be 
granted  "  Venia  Testandi,  or  the  power  to  dispose  of,  or 
bequeath  his  fief  by  Will,"  is  the  language  of  that  of 
1640.  This  power  alone,  as  it  insured  at  some  time  or 
other  the  dividing  up  of  all  large  fipfs,  was  sufficient  to 
prevent  the  New  Netherland  fiefs  from  ever  becoming 
dangerous,  or  the  source  of  a  great,  continued,  and 
oppressive  aristocracy. 

The  "feudal  system"  of  Europe,  as  such,  never 


existed  in  New  Netherland.  That  system  however  is 
the  basis  of  the  land  titles  of  every  civilized  country 
of  Europe  at  this  hour,  as  it  was  at  the  discovery  of 
the  New  World;  and,  as  derived  from  the  various 
countries  of  Europe  which  colonized  America,  is  now 
the  basis  of  those  of  the  various  States  of  the 
American  Republic.  The  system  of  tenure  intro- 
duced into  New  York  by  the  Dutch,  was  divested 
of  all  burdensome  attributes — the  nova  feuda,  the  new 
fiefs,  by  which  all  the  land  was  there  held  were  purely 
allodial,  with  full  right  in  the  Patroons  to  sell 
in  fee  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  to  devise  it  in  whole 
or  in  part  by  will,  free  of  all  charges  and  incum- 
brances, except  the  mere  political  acknowledgment  of 
the  West  India  Company  as  the  ultimate  paramount 
source  of  all  title,  the  State.  It  was  the  most  liberal 
land  system,  introduced  upon  the  American  Con- 
tinent; far  more  so  than  the  English  system  as  intro- 
duced into  the  English  Colonies,  and  the  full  feudal 
system,  introduced  into  the  American  Colonies  of 
France,  Spain,  and  Portugal.  It  certainly  did  not 
"scatter"  in  New  Netherland  "the  seeds  of  servitude- 
slavery,  and  aristocracy."'  There  were  no  "serfs" 
in  the  feudal  sense,  either  in  the  Dutch  republic  or 
its  colony  of  New  Netherland.  Slavery  was,  and  had 
been,  the  universal,  acknowledged,  source  of  labor, 
the  result  of  conquest  originally,  for  centuries  be- 
fore, and  at  that  time — the  17th  century- — all  over  the 
world.  And  equally  in  all  countries  of  civilization 
was  the  division  of  society  into  classes  of  diverse 
grades,  and  the  existence  of  an  aristocracy,  the  only 
one  known,  established,  and  existing;  and  every 
State  and  government  then  in  being  was  based  upon 
it.  How  futile  then  is  the  idea,  that  to  these  New 
Netherland  charters  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions 
is  owing  the  introducing  of  all  these  institutions  into 
what  is  now  the  State  of  New  York.  Had  neither  of 
these  charters  ever  existed  the  "seeds"  of  all  three 
of  these  institutions  would  have  found  their  way 
thither  because  they  were  simply  the  universal  in- 
stitutions of  the  highest  human  civilization  at  that 
era. 

The  reason  why  it  was  possible  for  the  liberal  fiefs 
of  New  Netherland  to  be  created,  was  the  nature  of 
the  investiture  required  to  establish  the  Patroons  in 
their  rights,  the  seizin  or  delivery  of  possession  to 
them  established  by  the  charters.  This  in  the  old 
fiefs,  and  under  the  feudal  system,  in  Europe  gen- 
erally, was  by  an  act  of  the  lord  upon  receiving  the 
oath  of  fealty  and  the  homage  of  the  tenant  or  vassal, 
at  w^hich  time  the  latter  also  presented  the  lord  with 
a  fine,  that  is,  a  gift  of  some  small  article  or  thing  as 
a  token  of  his  fidelity.  In  the  New  Netherland  fiefs 
by  virtue  of  the  charters  this  whole  matter  was 
changed.  The  delivery  of  the  grant  of  the  fief  by 
the  Governor  and  Council  itself  was  the  livery  of 
seizin,  or  investiture,  of  the  possession  in  the  Patroon. 


>  Moulton  iu  his  Hiat.  of  N.  Y.,  3S7-8. 


64 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


And  at  that  time  the  latter  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance which  was  the  "  fealty,"  to  the  Company,  and 
did  his  "  homage,"  which  was  simply  by  holding  up 
his  hands  in  the  presence  of  some  other  tenant,  o^ 
the  Company  or  Patroon,  verbally  acknowledging  the 
Company  as  the  ultimate  possessor  of  the  land,  or  as 
we  should  say,  the  State,  requesting  the  Governor  to 
invest  him  with  the  possession,  and  at  the  same  time, 
presenting  to  him  the  pair  of  iron  gauntlets  (the  hand 
armor  of  a  coat  of  mail),  or  twenty  guilders  in  money. 
They  were  thus  under  the  Dutch  law  nova  feuda,  new 
fiefs,  as  distinguished  from  the  old  fiefs  described 
before;  and  the  Company  as  the  ultimate  possessor 
of  the  land  by  its  Governor's  grant  could,  and  did) 
make  the  new  investiture  that  has  been  described.  If 
a  Patroon  divided  his  patroonship,  the  same  jurisdic- 
tion attached  to  each  part,  and  the  same  kind  of  in- 
vestiture, had  to  be  made  for  each  part,  as  was  pro- 
vided for  the  whole  patroonship  in  the  origiilal 
grant. 

The  numerous  provisioiis  of  these  charters  relating 
to  the  trade,  and  other  commercial  privileges,  granted 
to  the  Patroons  do  not  require  to  be  here  considered. 
Neither  do  a  few  other  provisions  of  a  general  nature. 

The  twenty-sixth  article  of  the  charter  of  1629  as 
has  been  mentioned,  provided  that  every  one  who 
"shall  settle  any  colonic  out  of  the  limits  of  Manhat- 
ten  Island,  shall  be  obliged  to  satisfy  the  Indians  for 
the  land  they  shall  settle  upon,"  thus  absolutely 
])rotecting  the  natives  in  the  possession  of  their 
territories. 

The  twenty-ninth  article,  in  accordance  with  the 
political  economy  of  Europe  at  that  day,  which 
taught  that  colonies  should  be  kept  as  markets  for  the 
])roduttions  of  the  mother  countiics,  ])rohibited  all 
manufactures  in  New  Netherland  on  pain  of  banish- 
ment. 

The  thirtieth  article  of  that  of  1629,  provided 
"  that  the  company  will  use  their  endeavours  to  supply 
the  colonists  with  as  many  blacks  as  they  con- 
veniently can,  on  the  conditions  hereafter  to  be 
made ;  in  such  manner,  however,  that  they  shall  not 
be  bound  to  do  it  for  a  longer  time  than  they  shall 
think  proper."  The  charter  of  1640,  says,  "The 
company  shall  exert  itself  to  provide  the  patroons 
aud  colonists,  on  their  order,  with  as  many  blacks  as 
possible,  without  however  being  further  or  longer 
obligated  thereto  than  shall  be  agreeable."  These  pro- 
visions were  simply  to  furnish  the  cheapest  labor  then 
known,  and  were  in  accordance  with  the  manner  and 
methods  of  colonizing  at  that  day,  and  the  views  of  that 
era,  as  to  labor.  It  was  a  similar  provision  to  those 
put  in  contracts  in  our  day  and  generation,  for  build- 
ing railroads,  canals,  mines,  and  other  enterprises,  by 
syndicates  and  construction  companies,  and  corpora- 
tions, by  which,  so  many  hundreds,  or  thousands,  of 
laborers,  black,  yellow,  or  white,  are  to  be  furnished 
at  such  a  price  for  such  wages.  Were  slavery  not 
now  abolished  everywhere  except  in  the  Spanish 


Colonies,  these  contracts  now  would  call  for  slaves  as 
the  cheapest  kind  of  labor. 

But  one  other  subject  of  these  charters  remains  to 
be  considered,  and  that  is  the  religion  they  estab- 
lished in  New  Netherland.  All  the  charters  were 
approved  and  enacted  as  laws  by  the  West  India 
Company,  and  the  States-General ;  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  Seven  Provinces  of  the  United  Netherlands. 
The  twenty-seveuth  article  of  the  charter  of  1629  is 
in  these  words,  — "  The  Patroons  and  Colonists  shall 
in  particular  and  in  the  speediest  manner,  endeavour 
to  find  out  ways  and  means  whereby  they  may  sup- 
port a  minister  and  school-master,  that  thus  the 
service  of  God  and  Zeal  for  religion  may  not  grow 
cool,  and  be  neglected  among  them  ;  and  that  they 
do  for  the  first,  procure  a  comforter  of  the  sick  there." 
The  charter  of  1640  speaks  much  more  strongly  and 
directly : — "  And  no  other  Religion  shall  be  publicly 
admitted  in  New  Netherland  except  the  Reformed, 
as  it  is  at  present  preached  and  practiced  in  the  United 
Netherlands  ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  company  shall 
provide  and  maintain  good  and  suitable  preachers, 
school-masters  and  comforters  of  the  sick."  By  these 
provisions  of  the  two  charters  was  the  Reformed 
Church  of  the  Netherlands,  the  national  established 
church  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  made  the  established 
church  of  New  Netherland.  And  as  such  it  remained 
until  the  seizure  of  the  province  by  the  English  in 
1664.  It  was  re-established  at  the  recapture  by  the 
Dutch,  nine  years  later,  and  only  ceased  as  "  the 
Establishment" |on  the  surrender  of  the  province  to  Sir 
Edmund  Andros,  for  the  King  of  England,  pursuant 
to  the  treaty  of  Westminister,  on  the  tenth  of  Novem- 
ber 1674.  On  this  occasion  the  Dutch  Governor, 
Colve,  sent  certain  "articles  "  to  Andros  to  which  he 
required  answers  before  surrendering,  "  for  the  satis- 
faction of  the  Dutch  Government  and  for  the  greater 
tranquillity,  of  the  good  People  of  this  Province." 
These  related  mainly  to  the  settlement  of  debts,  the 
validity  of  judgments  during  the  Dutch  administra- 
tion, the  maintenance  of  the  titles  of  the  owners  ot 
landed  property  to  its  possession,  and  the  position  of 
the  established  church.  Andros  directed  Mathias 
Nicolls,  the  former  secretary  under  the  English,  to 
confer  in  person  with  Colve  on  these  subjects.  Nicolls 
satisfied  Colve  that  Andros  would  give  satisfactory 
answers  as  soon  as  he  assumed  the  government,  and 
this  assurance  was  fully  carried  out.  The  article 
relating  to  the  Church  is  in  these  words  : — "  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Dutch  nation  may  be  allowed  to 
retain  their  customary  Church  privileges  in  Divine 
Service  and  Church  discipline."  *  This  was  granted, 
and  with  the  Province  of  New  Netherland  fell  for- 
ever the  "  Establishment "  of  the  Dutch  Church. 
But  from  that  day  to  this,  that  great  and  ven- 
erable Church  has  continued  in  the  enjoyment  of  its 
creed,  privileges,  and  property,  as  fully  and  as  freely 


1  II  Brod.,  170. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


G5 


as  it  did,  while  having  the  power  of  the  Province 
Government  at  its  back  to  enforce  its  support  and 
prohibit  all  doctrines  it  did  not  approve.  And  how 
strong  this  i)Ower  wiis,  its  dealings  with  the  Lutherans, 
and  with  the  Quakers  in  Governor  Stuy  vesaut's  time, 
fully  attest. 

At  the  beginning  the  maintenance  of  the  Church 
though  undertaken  by  the  West  India  Company, 
was,  under  the  charter  of  1629,  devolved  by  it  upon 
the  Patroons  and  Free  Colonists ;  but  under  that  of 
1640,  and  during  the  entire  Dutch  dominion  afterward, 
it  was  placed  upon  the  Province  Goverument,  as  the 
representative,  or  rather  agent,  of  the  West  India 
Company,  without  however  relieving  the  Patroons 
and  Colonists  from  their  obligations  in  regard  to  it. 
If  they  were  in  default,  the  Company  itself  was  to 
maintain  "  the  Established  Church "  through  its 
Provincial  Government  from  its  own  revenues.  Be- 
fore the  charter  of  1629  the  Company  undertook 
the  support  of  the  church.  This  appears  from 
a  letter  of  the  Eev.  Jonas  Michaelius,  the  first 
clergyman  of  the  Dutch  Church  in  New  Nether- 
land  to  a  brother  clergyman  at  Amsterdam,  the 
Rev.  Adrianus  Smoutius,  dated  August  11,  1628, 
which  was  discovered  and  first  printed,  only  in 
1858,  in  a  periodical  of  Amsterdam  by  Mr.  J.  J.  Bodel 
Nijenhuis  of  that  city,  and  subsequently  translated 
and  sent  to  the  late  Dr.  Edmund  B.  O'Callaghan  then 
of  Albany,  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  New 
Netherland,"  by  the  late  Henry  C.  Murphy,  then 
United  States  Minister  at  the  Hague.  The  second 
volume  of  the  "Holland  Documents"  translated  and 
edited  for  the  State  by  Dr.  O'Callaghan,  was,  when 
the  letter  arrived,  j  ust  printed,  but  not  bound  nor 
published,  and  in  it,  as  an  appendix,  that  learned 
editor  inserted  Mr.  Murphy's  translation  of  this 
letter.  Michaelius  sailed  from  Holland,  January 
24th,  1628,  and  arrived  at  the  "Island  of  Man- 
hatas,"  as  he  calls  it,  on  the  7th  of  the  succeed- 
ing April,  and  wrote  the  letter  the  following  August- 
In  it  he  says,  "  In  my  opinion,  it  is  very  expedient 
that  the  Lords  Managers  of  this  place  [the  Amsterdam 
Chamber  of  the  West  Indian  Company)  should  furnish 
plain  and  precise  instructions  to  their  Governors  that 
they  may  distinctly  know  how  to  regulate  themselves 
in  all  difficult  occurrences  and  events  in  public 
matter  ;  and  at  the  same  time  that  I  should  have  all 
such  Acta  Synodalia,  as  are  adopted  in  the  Synods  of 
Holland,  both  the  special  ones  relating  to  this  region' 
and  those  which  are  provincial  and  national,  in  rela- 
tion to  ecclesiastical  points  of  difficulty,  or  at  least 
such  of  them  as  in  the  judgment  of  the  Reverend 
brothers  at  Amsterdam  would  be  most  likely  to  present 
themselves  to  us  here."  .  .  .  The  promise 
which  the  Lords  Masters  of  the  Company  had 
made  me  of  some  acres  or  surveyed  lands  for  me 
to  make  myself  a  home,  instead  of  a  free  table  which 
otherwise  belonged  to  me  is  wholly  of  no  avail.  For 
their  honors  well  know  that  their  are  no  horses,  cowi^ 


or  laborers  to  be  obtained  here  for  money.  Every 
one  is  short  in  these  particulars  and  wants  more." 

This  letter  also  proves  incidentally,  that  slavery 
existed  in  "the  Manhatas"  at  its  date,  the  year 
before  the  enactment  of  the  charter  of  1629  which 
provided  for  their  being  furnished  by  the  Company  to 
the  Patroons,  as  stated  above,  and  to  which  has  been 
so  often,  and  so  wrongly  ascribed  their  first  introduc- 
tion in  New  York.  Speaking  of  his  fiimily  matters,  for 
his  wife  had  died  since  his  arrival  leaving  him  with 
"two  little  daughters,"  Michaelius  writes,  "maid- 
servants are  not  to  be  had,  at  least  none  whom  they 
advise  me  to  take;  and  the  Angola  slaves  are 
thievish,  lazy  and  useless  trash."  Evidently  slaves 
had  been  by  no  means  lately  introduced  in  "the 
Manhatas  "  in  1628. 

The  Canon  law  and  the  Roman  law  came  into  Hol- 
land together,  and  that  country  was  governed  by  both 
until  the  Reformation.  Then  the  former  was  over- 
thrown, and  the  law  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Hol- 
land promulgated  in  1521,  and  confirmed  in  1612,  went 
into  operation,  but  the  Roman  civil  law  remained  as 
before  the  law  of  the  land.  Under  the  law  of  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Holland,  matters  ecclesiastical 
come  first  before  the  Consistory,  then  before  the 
Assembly,  and  finally  before  the  Synod.  There  being 
no  Synod  in  New  Netherland,  the  care  of  the  church 
there  was  entrusted  to  the  Assembly  or  classis  of 
Amsterdam,  by  whom  the  Dutch  clergymen  were 
approved  and  ordained,  at  the  request,  or  with  the 
assent,  of  the  West  India  Company  at  Amsterdam.  ' 
Except  when  as  a  matter  of  mere  charity  on  their  being 
driven  from  New  England,  the  English  settlers  of  the 
Congregational  belief  w'ere  granted  freedom  of  con- 
scienceand  to  worship  in  their  own  way,  and  to  choose 
their  own  civil  officers,^  people  of  other  denominations 
were  not  allowed  to  hold  ofiice.'  This  was  because 
the  Reformed  Religion  in  accordance  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Synod  of  Dort  was  the  Established  Re- 
ligion of  New  Netherland,  and  the  magistrates  were 
bound  to  maintain  it  against  all  sectaries,  and  there- 
fore they  must  have  belonged,  or  been  friendly,  to 
that  faith.* 

Such  were  the  provisions  of  the  charters  of 
Freedoms  of  Exemptions  as  to  tenure  of  lands  and 
the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  of  the  Patroons,  and 
the  Masters  or  Free  Colonists,  of  New  Netherland, 
and  the  farm  people,  or  boers,  they  brought  over  to 
cultivate  the  soil ;  and  as  to  the  Church. 

The  total  number  of  land  grants  of  all  kinds,  from 
a  Patroonship,  to  a  single  lot  in  Manhattan  Island, 
issued  by  the  Dutch  Provincial  Government  from 

1  Laws  of  N.  N.,  v. 

>  See  charter  of  Hempstead  graated  by  Governor  Kieft,  in  1G44.  Laws 
N.JJ.,  42. 
»  Ibid,  479. 

*  On  Marcli  17,  1064,  Stuyvesant  and  hi»  conncil  passed  an  ordinance, 
tiiat  aU  ecliool-masters  sliould  appear  witli  their  Kchool-ohildren  every 
Wediieediiy  afternoon  in  tlie  chnrcli.  tliat  they  might  be  catechised  by 
the  Miniaters  and  Elders.   Laws  of  N.  N.,  4G1. 


66 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


1630  to  1634,  as  far  complete  as  the  Books  of  Patents 
and  Town  records  now  admit  was  638,  as  shown  by 
the  statement  of  O'Callaghan  api^ended  to  the  second 
volume  of  his  history.  It  is  not  absolutely  correct, 
but  is  suflSciently  so  as  a  very  fair  approximation. 
The  territories  and  rights  of  the  original  Patroonships 
on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson  River,  with  but  two 
exceptions,  were  subsequently  on  account  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  their  owners,  with  the  West  India  Company, 
and  the  obstacles  they  met  with  in  settling  their  lands, 
subsequently  bought  back  by  the  Company.  Thus  they 
became  again  part  and  parcel  of  the  public  domain, 
and  as  such  were  retransported  and  regranted  to  vari- 
ous individuals,  by  the  Director  and  Council.  That  of 
New  Amstel  on  the  Delaware,  was  finally  conceded 
to  the  city  of  Amsterdam  in  Holland,  as  late  as  1656, 
and  that  city  took  upon  itself  the  settlement  and 
colonization  of  that  Patroonship. 

The  two  exceptions  to  the  re-purchase  of  the  New 
York  Patroonships,  were  those  of  Rensselaers-wyck 
and  Colen-Donck,  both  of  which  continued  in  the 
possession  of  their  Patroons.  Space  will  not  permit 
of  even  a  brief  account  of  the  former,  which,  changed 
in  1705  to  an  English  Manor,  has  continued  to  our 
own  days,  striking  and  interesting  as  it  is.  The 
latter,  the  only  Patroonship  established  in  West- 
chester County,  will  now  be  described. 

6 

The  Patroonship  of  Colen-Donck. 
(  Yonkers.) 

In  that  portion  of  New  Netherland  which  now 
constitutes  the  county  of  Westchester  there  existed 
under  the  Dutch  dominion  but  one  Patroonship.  It 
was  called  Colen-Donck,  in  English  "Donck's  Col- 
ony," from  the  name  of  its  Patroon,  Adriaen  van  der 
Donck,  to  whom  it  was  granted  by  Director  Kieft 
and  his  Council  in  the  year  1646.^ 

It  was  granted  as  the  sole  property  of  one  of  the 
most  noted  and  intelligent  of  the  leading  men  of 
New  Netherland.  Public  aftairs  in  which  its  Patroon 
was  engaged  almost  immediately  after  it  was  granted, 
and  his  necessary  absence  in  Holland,  retarded 
its  successful  development.  His  death  following 
shortly  after  his  return,  and  its  sale  under  the  power 
he  obtained  to  dispose  of  it  by  will,  practically  ter- 
minated it  after  an  existence  of  only  twenty  years. 

Adriaen  van  der  Donck,  styled  by  the  Director  and 
Council  of  New  Netherland  in  a  summons  to  the 
Rev.  Everardus  Bogardus,  dated  the  second  of  Janu- 
ary, 1646.  "the  Yoncker  was  an  educated  Dutch 
gentleman,  a  native  of  Breda,'  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Leyden,  and  a  doctor  of  both  the  civil, 
and  the  canon,  law,  "  utriusque  juris,"  as  that  degree 
was  then  expressed  in  Latin.    He  came  to  America 


I II.  O'Cal.,  384  ;  I.  Brod.,  420. 

2  XIV.  Col.  Hist.,  70. 

3  1.  Col.  Hist.,  477. 


in  the  autumn  of  1641,  in  the  service  of  Kiliaen  van 

Rensselaer,  the  first  Patroon  of  Rensselaersw3'ck, 
having  been  appointed  in  the  early  part  of  that  year 
by  that  gentleman  Schout-Fiscaal  of  the  Patroonship 
of  that  name.  This  office,  which,  as  shown  before, 
combined  the  duties  of  a  Sherifi'  and  an  Attorney- 
General,  was  a  most  important  one,  and  brought  him 
into  close  connection  with  the  other  officers,  and  the 
tenants,  of  Rensselaerswyck ;  the  rights  and  interests 
of  all  parties  being  in  many  particulars  subject  to 
his  official  action.  His  first  instructions  from  the 
Patroon  were  dated  July  18, 1641,  and  his  first  account, 
still  existing  in  the  books  of  that  colonic,  begins  on 
the  9th  of  September  following.*  The  above  mention 
of  van  der  Donck  as  "  the  -Yoncker  "  is  the  earliest 
mention  of  that  title  as  applied  to  him  that  I  have 
found.  As  it  is  used  in  referring  to  a  matter  which  oc- 
curred in  1645,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  so  called  and 
known  four  years  only  after  his  arrival  in  America. 
The  term  is  simply  a  corruption  of  "  Jonkheer,"  son 
of  a  gentleman.^  It  is  of  interest,  for,  from  this  title 
so  given  to  him  who  became  in  the  succeeding  year, 
1646,  the  Patroon  of  Colen-Donck,  is  derived  the  name 
which  that  Patroonship,  in  common  parlance,  ever 
afterwards  bore,  and  which  is  to-day  perpetuated  in 
the  corporate  name  of  the  beautiful  city  which  is  em- 
braced within  its  limits — Yonkers. 

Van  der  Donck  was  the  first  lawyer  in  New  Nether- 
land, and  of  course  in  that  part  of  it  now  New  York. 
Lubbertus  van  Dincklagen,  who  was  appointed 
Schout-Fiscaal  and  Vice  Director  of  New  Nether- 
land, 5th  May,  1645,  also  a  doctor  of  civil  and  canon 
law,  was  the  second,  and  Dirk  {Richard)  van  Schel- 
luyne,  who  was  also  the  first  notary,  commissioned 
8th  May,  1650,  was  the  third. 

These  first  lawyers  are  mentioned  here  because 
their  names  are  found  appended  to  so  very  many  of 
the  early  deeds,  and  public  and  private  documents, 
of  the  earliest  part  of  the  Dutch  dominion  in  New 
York.  Prior  to  leaving  Amsterdam,  van  der  Donck, 
probably  as  part  of  the  terms  between  them,  received 
from  Kiliaen  von  Rensselaer,  a  lease  of  the  westerly 
half  of  the  first  island  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hud- 
son below  Albany  then  called  Welysburgh,  from  van 
Wely,  a  relative  of  the  Patroon.  Later  it  was  styled, 
"Castle  Island,"  because  upon  its  southern  end  was 
built  the  first  fortified  trading  house  erected  by  Cor- 
stiaensen  under  the  charter  of  "The  United  New 
Netherland  Company,"  of  14th  October,  1614,  and 
called  Fort  Nassau,  which  three  years  later,  in  1617, 
was  destroyed  by  a  freshet.  Subsequently,  and  till 
this  day,  from  its  proprietors,  it  was,  and  still  is,  known 
as  Rensselaers  Island.  Here  van  der  Donck  erected 
a  house  and  dwelt.  In  1643  difficulties  between  him 
and  Arendt  von  Curler,  or  Corlaer,  the  Patroon's 
commissary,  occurred,  and  van  der  Donck,  determin- 
ing to  leave  his  position,  undertook  to  arrange  for  the 


«I.  0'Cal„327.  61.  Brod.  421. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


07 


planting  of  a  "Colonic"  at  "Katskill,"  of  Avhich  he 
himself  was  to  be  the  Patroon.  This  was  a  violation 
of  the  sixth  and  twenty-sixth  articles  of  the  charter 
of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  of  1629,  and  the  Patroon 
of  Rensselaerswyck,  on  the  10th  September,  1643, 
sent  written  orders  to  van  Curler,  to  see  that  van  der 
Donck  desisted  at  once,  being  his  "sworn officer,"  and 
if  he  did  not,  that  he  should  "  be  degraded  from  his 
office  and  left  on  his  bowerie  to  complete  his  con- 
tracted lease  without  allowing  him  to  dej^art."  This 
effectually  put  an  end  to  the  project  of  the  Katskill 
Colonie,  van  der  Donck  continued  to  perform  his 
duties,  and  matters  grew  much  easier  with  van  Curler. 
On  the  18th  of  January,  1646,  van  der  Donck's  house 
burned  down,  at  which  very  time  he  was  negotiating 
for  a  sale  of  his  lease  to  one  Michael  Jansen,  to 
which,  as  the  Patroon's  Commissary,  van  Curler  had 
to  assent.  A  new  quarrel  at  once  arose,  as  to  Avhether 
the  loss  should  fall  on  the  Patroon  as  van  der  Donck 
claimed,  or  on  the  latter  as  van  Curler  insisted.  The 
matter  was  tinallv  referred  to  the  Patroon  in  Holland 
van  der  Donck  left  the  island,  and  lived  in  a  hut  near 
Fort  Orange,  till  spring,  and  then  came  down  to 
New  Amsterdam.'  In  the  previous  year,  164-5,  he 
had  been  of  great  assistance  to  Director  Kieft  in 
advancing  the  requisite  funds,  and  settling  the 
terms  of  peace  with  the  Indians,  which  closed  the 
wicked  war  that  Kieft  had  wantonly  begun  two  or 
three  years  before,  and  which  proved  so  disastrous 
to  New  Netherland.^  The  Patroon  of  Rensselaers- 
wyck, died  at  Amsterdam  later  in  1646,  and  with  his 
death  the  connection  of  van  der  Donck  with  that 
Patroonship  ceased,  Nicolas  Coorn  succeeding  him  in 
his  office  by  the  appointment  of  the  executors  of  the 
late  Patroon,  Johannes  van  Wely  and  Wouter  van 
Twiller. 

Van  der  Donck  still  desiring  to  become  a  Patroon, 
immediately  occupied  himself,  on  returning  to  New 
Amsterdam,  in  looking  for  a  proper  location.  He 
finally  selected  tlie  lower  portion  of  what  is  now  the 
county  of  Westchester  and  northern  part  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  between  the  rivers  Hudson  and  Har- 
lem, on  the  west  and  south,  and  the  Bronx  on  the 
east.  A  choice  which  eminently  proved  his  good 
taste  and  sound  judgment.  The  Indian  name  for  this 
region  was  Keskeskick,  and  the  Indian  title  to  it 
was  extinguished  by  its  sale  to  the  West  India  Com- 
pany by  its  Indian  owners  on  the  third  of  August, 
1639,  in  these  words,  "  This  day,  date  as  below,  ap- 
peared before  meCoruelis  van  Tienhoven,  Secretary  in 
New  Netlierland,  Tequeemet,  Rechgawac,  Pachamiens, 
owners  of  Keskeskick,  who  in  presence  of  the  under- 
signed witnesses  voluntarily  and  deliberately  declare, 
that  in  consideration  of  a  certain  lot  of  merchandise, 
which  they  acknowledge  to  have  received  and  accepted 


1  I  .O'Call  ,  N.  N.,  33\  3.-?8,  .■M5,  340  ;  I.  Brod.,  419,  420. 
!  Von  (ier  Djuck'8  New  Netherland  in  I.  N.Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  2d  Series- 
127  anJiei. 


before  the  passing  of  this  act,  they  have  transferred, 
ceded,  conveyed,  and  made  over,  as  a  true  and  lawful 
freehold,  as  they  herewith  transfer,  cede,  convey,  and 
make  over,  to,  and  for  the  benefit  of,  the  General 
Incorporated  West  India  Company,  a  piece  of  land, 
situate  opposite  to  the  flat  on  the  Island  of  Manhat- 
tan, called  Keskeskick,  stretching  lengthwise  along 
the  Kil,  which  runs  behind  the  Island  of  Manhattan 
mostly  cast  and  west,  and  beginning  at  the  head  of 
the  said  Kil  and  running  to  opposite  of  the  high  hill 
by  the  flat,  namely  by  the  Great  Kil,  with  all  right, 
titles,  &c.,  &c.  Done  at  Fort  Amsterdam,  the  3d  of 
August,  1639. 

cornelis  van  der  hoylen, 
David  Pietersen  de  Vries, 

as  witnesses, 

in  my  presence, 

CORNELIS  VAN  TiENHOVEN, 

Secretary. 

This  instrument  is  recorded  in  Book  G,  G,  of 
Patents  page  30,  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  Office  in 
Albany.^  By  it  was  vested  in  the  West  India  Com- 
pany the  right  of  soil  and  possession  of  the  Indians  in 
the  tract  described.  It  will  be  noticed  that  it  bears  no 
marks  of  the  Indians  as  signatories,  but  is  only  signed 
by  the  witnesses  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Province, 
differing  in  this  respect  from  the  Indian  Deeds  of 
much  later  dates,  and  especially  from  those  executed 
under  the  English  rule.  This  was  strictly  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Dutch  Provincial  "  Ordinance,"  or  law, 
enacted  by  the  Director  and  Council  of  New  Nether- 
land  the  year  before  the  date  of  this  deed,  which,  as 
it  is  not  generally  known,  is  in  full  as  follows  ; — - 

"The  Free  people"  [those  not  Patroon s,  nor  boera 
or  farm  laborers)  "  having  by  petition  requested 
Patents  of  the  Lands  which  they  are  at  present  cul- 
tivating, the  prayer  of  the  Petitioners  is  granted,  on 
condition  that  at  the  expiration  of  Ten  years  after 
entering  upon  their  Plantation,  they  shall  pay  yearly 
to  the  Company  the  Tenth  of  all  crops  which  God 
the  Lord  shall  grant  to  the  field;  also  from  this  time 
forth,  one  couple  of  capons  for  a  house  and  lot." 
This  ordinance  of  the  Director  and  Council  was 
passed  on  the  24th  June,  1638.* 

On  the  19th  of  the  following  August  another  ordi- 
nance was  passed  by  the  same  high  authority,  in 
which  occurs  this  clause  providing  that  all  legal 
documents,  shall  be  drawn  up  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Province ; — Likewise,  that,  from  now  henceforward, 
no  instruments,  whether  contracts,  obligations,  leases, 
or  Bills  of  Sale,  or  such  like  writings  of  what  nature 
soever  they  be,  and  concerning  which  any  dispute 


3  It  is  also  printed  in  XIII.  Col.  Hist., 

<  Laws  N.  N.,  10.  This  law  was  the  origin  of  the  "four  fat  fowls" 
claxise  of  the  manorial  leases  in  New  York. 

The  "  tenths  "  or  titlies  were  simply  a  form  of  rental,  the  recompense 
to  the  Comi)an)'  and  the  patroous  for  their  outlay  and  expense  in  settling 
their  lands. 


G8 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


may  arise,  shall  be  held  valid  by  the  Director  and 
Council,  unless  tliey  shall  be  written  by  the  Secretary 
of  this  place.  Let  every  one  take  warning  and  save 
himself  from  damage.  This  done  and  published  iu 
Fort  Amsterdam  this  19th  of  August,  1638."  ^ 

The  witnesses  to  the  above  instrument  were  well 
known  men  of  mark  at  that  day.  The  name  of  the 
first  correctly  entered  should  have  been  Cornells  van 
der  Hoyden,  or  van  der  Huyghens,  as  the  name  was 
truly  spelled.  He  was,  on  July  13th,  1639,  just  pre- 
vious to  the  date  of  this  deed,  appointed  the  Schout- 
Fiscaal,  or  Sheriff  and  Attorney-General,  of  the  Prov- 
ince, served  for  several  years,  and  was  drowned  on 
the  voyage  to  Holland  in  1647  with  Governor  Kieft. 
David  Pietersen  de  Vries  was  the  famous  navigator, 
the  author  of  the  "  Journal  notes  of  several  voyages 
in  Europe,  Africa,  Asia  and  America,"  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  authentic  writers  on  New  Netherland, 
He  was  also  a  Patroon  of  Swanandael  on  the  Dela- 
ware, of  another  Patroonship  upon  Staten  Island,  and 
in  the  words  of  Brodhead,  was  "  frank,  honest,  relig- 
ious, and  a  sincere  advocate  of  the  true  interests  of 
New  Netherland." 

Cornelis  Tienhoven  the  Secretary,  so  long  in  office 
under  Kieft  and  Stuyvesant,  and  often  their  envoy 
to  the  different  English  Colonies,  and  active  in 
other  public  positions  in  New  Amsterdam  is  so  well 
known  as  to  need  no  further  mention. 

Van  der  Donck  began  his  settlement  on  the  banks 
of  the  Neperhaem,  or,  as  more  lately  termed,  the 
Neperan  near  its  confluence  with  the  Hudson,  erect- 
ing a  saw  mill,  and  other  improvements  incident  to 
such  an  enterprise,  at  that  place.  From  this  mill  the 
stream  derived  its  Dutch  name  of  Saeg-Kill,  or  Saw- 
Kill,  and  the  English  one,  by  which  it  continues  to  be 
known,  the  "  Saw-Mill  River."  For  his  own  residence 
and  home  plantation,  he  selected  the  southern  end  of 
the  beautiful  peninsula,  or  tide  island  as  it  really  was, 
and  the  meadows  immediatelyabout  it,  which  the  Indi- 
ans called  Papirinemen,  directly  opposite  the  north- 
ernmost extremity  of  Manhattan  Island,  almost  sur- 
rounded by  the  waters  of  the  same  name,  connecting 
the  Spyt-den-Duyvel  Creek,  on  the  west,  with  the 
Great  Kill,  or  Harlem  River  on  the  east ;  and  upon 
which  afterward  was  erected  the  first  bridge  connect- 
ing Manhattan  Island  with  the  mainland  of  West- 
chester County,  then,  and  to  this  day  called  Kings- 
bridge.  ^  He  also  cultivated  the  ancient  corn  grounds 
of  the  former  Indian  owners,  now  the  beautiful  flat 
surrounding  the  old  "  Cortlandt  House"  soon  to 
be  the  parade-ground  of  the  new  "Van  Cortlandt 
Park ; "  that  estate  which  has  continued  in  the  family 
for  nearly  two  centuries,  liaving  now  been  wisely 
acquired  by  the  City  of  New  York  for  a  grand  sub- 
urban park. 

Becoming  engaged,  as  a  leader,  in  the  disputes 

1  Laws  N.  N.,  17. 

2  Vol.  I.  381,  note. 

3  Vau  der  Djuck's  Letter.    Biker's  Harlem,  1G3. 


between  the  people  of  New  Amsterdam  and  Governor 
Stuyvesant  as  the  representative  of  the  West  India 
Company,  he  could  not  give  his  Patroonship  the 
attention  it  needed.  Three  years  after  the  grant  to 
him  of  Colen-Donck  by  Governor  Kieft,  the  troubles 
with  Stuyvestant  came  to  a  head.  The  Commonalty 
of  the  "  Province  of  New  Netherland,"  drew  up  by 
a  committee,  a  Petition  to  the  States-General  for  a 
redress  of  their  grievances,  dated  July  26th,  1649; 
the  draughtsman,  and  first  signer,  of  which  was 
Adriaen  van  der  Donck.  This  Petition,  with  a  full 
explanation  in  the  form  of  notes,  also  by  van  der 
Donck,  and  signed  by  him  and  the  others  of  the  com- 
mittee was  transmitted  to  Holland.*  Two  days  later 
on  the  28th  of  July,  was  also  signed  the  famous 
"Remonstrance,"  or  "  Vertoogh"  of  van  der  Donck, 
giving  a  long,  detailed,  history  of  the  discovery,  pro- 
ductions, settlement,  and  alleged  misgovernment  of 
the  New  Netherland  by  the  ofiicei"s  of  the  West  India 
Company. 

Van  der  Donck,  Jacob  van  Couwenhoven,  and  Jan 
Everts  Bout,  were  appointed  by  the  Commonalty  a 
delegation  to  proceed  to  Holland  and  lay  these  docu- 
ments before  the  States-General  and  the  West  India 
Company  and  ask  for  a  redress  of  what  they  deemed 
oppression.  On  the  12th  of  the  succeeding  August, 
von  Dincklagen  the  Vice-Director  under  Stuyvesant, 
but  not  favored  by  him,  sent  a  letter  to  the  States- 
General,  in  which  he  says,  "  whereas  the  Condition  of 
that  most  fertile  New  Netherland  is  seriously  impair- 
ed by  the  war,^  and  the  Commonalty  hath  resolved 
on  a  delegation  of  three  of  the  Nine  Selectmen  in 
order  that  your  High  Mightinesses  may  obtain  full  and 
thorough  information  on  every  point,  [and]  I  have  not 
been  able  to  dissuade  them  therefrom.  I  cannot  but 
say  they  intend  what  is  right.  These  persons  are 
thoroughly  conversant  with  the  situation  of  the  coun- 
try. I  hope  your  High  Mightinesses  will  be  pleased 
thereby  and  extend  to  them  a  favorable  audience, 
and  give  them  despatch  as  soon  as  your  High  Mighti- 
nesses' more  weighty  affairs  will  permit,  as  the  people 
are  very  anxious."  * 

These  papers  were  received  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1649,  by  the  States-General  from  the  delegates,  and 
referred  to  a  special  committee  to  examine  and  report 
upon  them.  On  the  31st  of  January,  1650,  the  com- 
mittee reported  adversely  to  the  Petitioners,  answering 
their  documents  article  by  article,  and  using  strong 
language.'  The  delegates  replied  by  a  further  short 
petition  on  the  7th  of  February  following,  which  was 
also  referred  to  a  special  committee.*  Other  com- 
munications were  subsequently  received  and  referred. 
Finally  their  committee  reported  to  the  States-Gen- 
eral a  long,  detailed,  and  very  full  "Provisional  Order 
respecting  the  Government,  Preservation  and  Peo- 

1 1.  Col.  Hist.,  259,  270. 

=  Kieft's  late  war  with  the  Indians  is  here  referred  to. 
61.  Col.  Hist., 319. 

■I  Col.  Hist.,  338,  etc.  sjijid.,  346. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


G9 


pling  of  New  Netherland  on  April  11,  1050."  It  con- 
tHined  twenty-one  sections  materially  modifying  the 
action  of  the  West  India  Company, — and  one  of 
which  instructed  Stnyvesant  to  return  to  Holland.' 
The  Company  ojiposied  its  adoption,  and  it  was  tem])o- 
rarily  laid  over.'  A  new  modification  of  the  Free- 
doms and  Exemptions  was  also. adopted  on  the  24th 
Jlay,  1650,  which  however  did  not  change  the  prin- 
ciples of  those  of  1629,  and  1640,  but  referred  chiefly 
to  minor  details.  This  was  the  last  legislative  action 
of  the  States-General  relative  to  the  colonization  of 
New  Netherland.-'  Van  der  Donck  endeavoured 
to  aid  his  "Colonic,"  and  New  Netherland  gen- 
erally, in  the  matter  of  population.  On  the 
11th  of  March,  1650,  he  and  the  other  delegates, 
concluded  a  contract  "  to  charter  a  suitable  fly 
boat  of  two  hundred  lasts,  and  therein  to  go  to 
sea  on  the  1st  of  June  next,  and  convey  to  New 
Netherland  the  number  of  two  hundred  passengers, 
of  which  one  hundred  are  to  be  farmers  and  farm 
servants,  and  the  remaining  one  hundred  such  as  the 
Amsterdam  Chamber  is  accustomed  to  send  over, 
conversant  with  agriculture,  and  to  furnish  them  with 
supplies  for  the  voyage,"  on  condition  that  the  con- 
tractors should  be  allowed  four  thousand  guilders 
from  the  export  duties  on  New  Netherland  freights, 
"to  pay  present  expenses,"  and  the  further  sum 
of  seven  thousand  guilders  from  the  peltry  duties  at 
New  Amsterdam  ;  and  in  case  of  failure  by  the  con- 
tractors they  were  to  restore  the  four  thousand  guil- 
ders, aud  forfeit,  besides,  two  thousand  guilders  more 
of  their  own  funds.* 

Van  Couwenhoven  and  Bout  returned  to  New 
Netherland  with  a  copy  of  the  "Provisional  Order," 
arriving  there  on  the  28th  of  June,^  leaving  van  der 
Donck  in  Holland  to  complete  the  business  of  the 
delegation,  and  return  when  the  redress  was  actually 
voted.  Failing  to  obtain  action,  van  der  Donck,  on 
the  14th  January,  1651,  presented  the  States-General, 
with  a  further  petition  "again  praying  that  a  speedy 
and  necessary  redress  may  be  concluded  on,  in  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  New  Netherland." 

Stuyvesant  declined  to  obey  the  "  Provisional 
order,"  except  in  some  minor  matters,  and  opposed  it 
by  strong  despatches  to  the  company,  while  his  Secre- 
tary van  Tienhoven  was  already  in  Holland  fighting 
van  der  Donck  strenuously  before  the  authorities 
there.  On  the  10th  of  February,  1652,  nothing  having 
been  finally  determined,  still  another  rc])resentation  of 
the  contumacy  of  Stuyvesant,  and  the  continued  bad 
state  of  New  Netherland,  and  the  necessity  for  an  act 
of  redress  of  their  grievances  was  made  by  van  der 
Donck.  It  thus  concludes, — "  the  said  delegate  of 
the  Commonalty  of  New  Netherland  again  humbly 
prays  and  requests  your  High  Mightinesses  to  be 


1 1.  Col.  Hist.,  387.  2 Ibid.,  303. 

Mbid.,  401.  *l.  Col.  Uist.,  379. 

'I.  Colonial  HlBt.,  447. 


))leased  to  dispose  favorably  of  the  aforesaid,  in  order 
that  he,  the  delegate,  may  leave  by  the  first  ship  this 
spring  on  his  return  for  New  Netherland."" 

With  this  paper  van  der  Donck  laid  before  the 
States-General  a  voluminous  mass  of  extracts  of  let- 
ters and  other  documents  received  chiefly  in  the  year 
1051,  by  him  from  New  Netherland,  detailing  the 
difliculties  there.'  After  a  reference  of  these  papers 
to  the  different  chambers  of  the  West  India  Company 
and  considering  their  various  reports  thereon,  which 
occupied  many  months,  the  States-General  adopted 
and  sent  the  following  recall  to  Stuyvesant,  "  Honor- 
able &c.  We  have,  in  view  of  the  public  service  con- 
sidered it  necessary  to  require  you,  on  sight  hereof,  to 
repair  hither  in  order  to  furnish  us  circumstantial  and 
pertinent  information,  as  to  the  true  and  actual  con- 
dition of  the  country  and  aff"airs;  and  also  of  the 
boundary  line  between  the  English  and  the  Dutch 
there.    Done  27th  April  1052."  - 

The  very  day  before,  on  the  26th  of  April,  at  his 
own  request  pursuant  to  the  charter  of  Freedoms  and 
Exemptions,  the  States-General  granted  to  van  der 
Donck,  by  patent  under  seal,  the  "  venia  testandi,"  or 
right  to  dispose  by  will  as  Patroon,  "of  the  Colonic 
Nepperhaein  by  him  called  Colem  Donck,  situate  in 
New  Netherland."" 

He  now  thought  everything  was  completed  and  that 
he  should  soon  be  again  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson. 
He  embarked  his  goods  and  everything  in  the  way  of 
supplies  for  his  "Colonic,"  in  a  vessel  then  anchored 
in  the  Texel,  aud  on  the  13th  of  May  1652  applied  to 
the  States-General  for  their  formal  permit  to  return 
home,  which  was  requisite  by  a  resolution  of  that 
body  of  the  14th  of  the  preceding  March.  But  he  was 
doomed  to  disappointment.  The  Amsterdam  chamber 
supported  their  officers,  and  were  dis[)leased  at  van 
der  Donck,  and  the  delegation  for  laying  all  thoir 
matters  before  the  States-General  instead  of  before 
themselves,  thereby  forcing  the  chamber  to  bring  its 
own  action  in  New  Netherland  before  the  "Lords  of 
Holland,"  as  the  States-General  were  termed.  And 
it  had  influence  enough  among  them  to  annoy  van  der 
Donck  in  every  way.  His  request  was  merely  referred 
to  a  committee  "to  examine."  But  on  the  24th  of  May 
he  sent  in  along  and  sharp,  but  respectful,  memorial, 
protesting  against  their  inaction.  In  this,  he  says, 
"that  proposing  to  depart  by  your  High  Mightinesses 
consent,  with  his  wife,  mother,  sister,  brother,  servants, 
maids,  and  in  that  design  had  packed  and  shipped 
all  his  implements  and  goods,"  but  he  understood 
"that  the  Hon.*"^  Directors  at  Amsterdam  had  for- 
bidilen  all  skippers  to  receive  him,  or  his,  even  though 
exhibiting  your  High  Jlightinesses  express  orders 
and  consent,"  *  *  *  "  by  which  he  must,  without 
any  form  of  procedure,  or  anything  resembling 
thereto,  remain  separated  from  his  wife,  mother,  sis- 

6  1.  Col.  Hist.,  438.  'I.  Col.  Hist.,  444-401. 

81.  Col.  Hiet.,  472.  91.  Col.  Hist.,  470. 


70 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ter,  brother,  servants,  maids,  family  connexions,  from 
two  good  friends,  from  his  merchandise,  his  own 
necessary  goods,  furniture,  and  also  from  his  real 
estate  in  New  Netherland." '  But  this  also  was 
merely  referred  to  the  various  chambers  "  for  their 
information."'-  Nothing  was  done,  and  ou  the 
5th  of  August,  1652,  he  again  solicited  permission 
to  depart. '  He  was  again  denied,  and  this,  too, 
in  spite  of  his  showing  that  his  affairs  were 
going  to  ruin,  and  the  cruelty  of  separating  him 
iVom  his  wife  and  family.  The  family  therefore  were 
obliged  to  sail  without  him,  and  he  returned  to  the 
Hague.* 

To  this  persecution  aud  vindictiveness  of  his  oppo- 
nents, however,  we  are  indebted  for  the  most  valuable 
account  of  New  Netherland  written  by  any  one  who 
had  then  been  a  resident  there.  He  seems  to  have 
begun  this  work  immediately  upon  his  return  to  the 
Hague  and  it  was  probably  finished  in  the  course  of 
the  ensuing  winter.  In  May  he  applied  for  a  copy- 
right, which  after  an  examination  of  the  book  both  by 
the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  and  a  Committee  of  the 
States-General,  was  granted  by  the  latter  body  on  the 
24th  of  May,  1753.  The  correspondence  on  this  subject 
between  these  bodies,  shows  that  a  copy  of  this  little 
book  was  sent  by  the  former  to  the  latter  on  the  2d  of 
May,  and  referred  to  a  committee  "  to  inspect,  examine, 
and  report  thereon."^  It  must  therefore  have  been 
printed  at  that  time,  though  no  copy  of  that  date  is 
now  known  to  exist.  This  is  the  more  probable  from 
the  fact,  that  van  der  Donck  was  at  length  permitted  to 
depart,  and  returned  to  New  Netherland  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1753.^  As  we  know  that  he  intended  to  write 
an  addition  to  this  work  in  order  to  make  it  complete 
as  a  history,  aud  obtained  an  order  from  the  West 
India  Company,  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  from  it  to 
Stuyvesant,  to  permit  him  to  examine  the  papers  and 
records  in  the  Secretary's  office  of  the  Province,  for 
that  purpose,  it  may  be,  that  though  printed,  it  was 
not  published  in  1(553.  Stuyvesant  on  his  return 
refused  him  access  to  the  records,  and  thus  defeated 
his  plan,  and  he  then,  in  all  probability,  consented  to 
the  publication  of  what  had  already  been  printed  in 
Holland.  He  died  in  1G55,  about  two  years  after  his 
return  to  America,"  and  in  the  same  year  the  first 
edition  of  his  work  that  we  now  have,  was  issued  in 
Amsterdam,  with  a  view  of  New  Amsterdam  inserted.* 
A  second  edition  was  issued  in  1G56,  also  in  Amsterdam, 
without  the  view,  but  containing  a  map  of  New 
Netherland.  This  book  was  entitled!  "Beschryvin  I. 
van  Niew  Nederlandt,"  or,  "  A  Desci'iption  of  New 
Netherland"  (such  as  it  now  is)  Comprehending 
the  nature,  character,  situation  and  Fruitfulness  of 


1 1.  Col.  Hist.,  476.  =1.  Col.  Hist.,  476,  478. 

3  Ibid.,  485.  <Ibid.,  532. 

51.  Col.  Hist.,  531,  532. 
6  N  Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  2d  Series,  vol.  ii.  258. 
-  I.  Col.  Hist.,  533  ;  II.  O'Call.,  531. 
It  is  a  small  4to  vol.  of  104  pages,  with  an  iutroduction  of  5  pages. 


that  Country,"  &c.,  &c.,  with  an  account  of  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  Indians,  and  of  the  natural 
history  of  the  Beaver."  This  and  the  "Vertoogh" 
or  " Remonstrance"  referred  to  before,  published  in 
1650,  which  was  a  contemporaneous  relation  of  events 
in  New  Netherland,  historical,  civil,  and  military, 
are  the  two  most  valuable  and  authentic  accounts  of 
New  Netherland  and  its  early  history  and  condition, 
that  exist,  and  are  the  sources  to  which  all  writers 
ever  since,  have  gone  for  information  on  the  early 
history  of  what  is  now  New  York.  The  first  named 
work  was  first  published  in  English,  only  in  1841,  in 
the  first  volume  of  the  second  series  of  the  Collections 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  the  translation 
having  been  made  by  the  late  General  Jeremiah 
Johnson  of  Brooklyn.  And  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  same  serie.s,  is  an  admirable  translation  of  the 
"  Vertoogh,"  from  the  pen  of  the  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Murphy  of  the  same  city. 

This  full  sketch  of  the  Patroon  of  Colen  Donck  and 
his  career  is  given,  because  it  shows,  that  it  was 
owing  to  what  may  be  called  his  public  life,  that  he 
was  unable  to  effect  the  better  settlement  of  his  West- 
chester Patroouship.  His  enforced  absence  for  so 
long  a  period,  was  followed  by  his  death  two  years 
only  after  his  return  to  America,  too  short  a  time  to 
enable  him  to  carry  out  any  plans  he  may  have 
formed  in  regard  to  it.  And  also  because  that  ca- 
reer, one  of  the  most  striking  and  remarkable  in  New 
Netherland  history,  was  the  career  of  the  Patroon 
of  the  only  Patroouship  in  Westchester  County. 

Prior  to  leaving  Rensselaerswyck,  and  in  the  year 
1645,  von  der  Donck  luanied  IM;iry  Doughty, 
a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Doughty,  a  New 
England  clergyman,  who  in  1642,  three  years  before, 
had  been  driven,  with  many  of  his  friends,  by  the 
persecuting  Puritans  of  ^Massachusetts  from  his  home 
in  that  colony.  Having  stated  publicly,  at  Cohassct, 
''that  Abraham's  children  should  have  been  bap- 
tized," he  was  forthwith  dragged  out  of  the  assembly 
and  otherwise  harshly  used;  and  with  one  Richard 
Smith  and  some  others  who  held  like  views  of  bap- 
tism, was  forced  to  "  escape  from  the  insupportable 
government  of  New  England  '  to  New  Netherland.' 
He  and  his  friends  were  granted  in  compassion  for 
their  sufferings  and  poverty,  a  tract,  with  the  priv- 
ileges of  a  patroouship  for  those  interested  collect- 
ively, but  without  the  privilege  of  milling,  or  the  title 
of  Patroon  to  any  one  of  them,  for  GOOO  Dutch 
acres,  at  Maspeth,  on  Long  Island,  dated,  March 
28th,  1642.  But  quarrels  between  the  parties  them- 
selves, the  Indian  war,  and  Doughty's  demands  for 
money  for  himself  personally,  made  the  enterprise  a 
failure,  and  the  lands  were  afterwards,  under  the  law, 
confiscated  to  the  company  by  Governor  Kieft,  and 
subsequently  regranted  in  parcels,  to  different  indi- 
viduals.'" 


s  N.  Y.  Col.  Hist.,  131.  WXI7.  Col.  Hist.,  413. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


71 


This  is  the  only  instance  on  record  of  a  collective 
transport  of  a  Patroouship,  and  seems  to  have  been 
made  ex-gratia  as  a  matter  of  charity,  to  the  poor 
persecuted  exiles  from  Puritan  Massachusetts,  who 
brought  practically  nothing  but  their  own  persons 
to  New  Xetherland.  Nothing  was  paid  by  them 
for  the  land,  and  all  that  the  grantees  had  to  do, 
was  "to  acknowledge  the  said  Lords  Directors 
as  their  Masters  and  Patroons,  to  pay,  after  the 
lapse  of  ten  years,  the  tenth  part  of  the  produce  of 
the  fields,  whether  cultivated  with  the  plough,  or  hoe, 
or  otherwise  (orchards  and  gardens  not  exceeding  one 
acre,  Holland  measure  excepted)."  '  Doughty  after- 
wards removed  to  Patuxent,  in  Maryland,  where  his 
daughter  resided  and  where  he  was  living  in  October, 
1659.^ 

When  Van  der  Donck  died  in  1655,  his  widow  was 
left,  after  a  married  life  of  ten  years,  with  some  small 
children,  but  how  many,  is  not  now  known.  As  we  have 
seen  that  he  had  sought  and  obtained  the  venia  tes- 
iandi,  or  the  right  of  disposing  of  his  Patroonship  by 
will,  he  probably  devised  Colen-Donck  to  his  widow. 
She  subsequently  married  Hugh  O'Neale  of  Patuxent,. 
Maryland,  and  resided  with  her  husband  in  that 
province.  Eleven  years  after  van  der  Donck's  death, 
and  two  after  the  English  seized  New  Nethcrland,  a 
new  patent  dated  October  8th,  1666,  in  the  nature  of 
a  confirmation  was  issued  by  Governor  Richard 
NicoUs  to  O'Neale  and  his  wife  in  their  joint  names, 
thus  vesting  the  title  to  the  whole  Patroouship  in 
them  jointly.  This  Patent  styles  it  "  Nepperhaem," 
and  is  in  these  words  ; — 

"  Richard  Nicolls,  Esq.,  Governor  under  his  Royal 
Highness,  ye  Duke  of  York,  of  all  bis  tcrritoryes  in 
America,  to  all  to  whom  this  present  writingshallcome, 
sendeth  greeting:  Whereas  there  is  a  certain  tract  of 
land  within  this  Government,  upon  the  Main,  Bound- 
ed to  the  northwards  by  a  rivulet  called  by  the  Indi- 
ans, Macakassin,  so  running  southward  to  Nepper- 
haem, from  thence  to  the  Kill  Shorakkappock,'  and 
then  to  Paper inemin,*  which  is  the  southern  most 
bounds,  then  to  go  across  the  country  to  the  eastward 
by  that  which  is  commonly  known  by  the  name  of 
Bronck's,  his  river  and  laud,  which  said  tract  hath 
heretofore  been  purchased  of  the  Indian  proprietors 
by  Adriaen  van  der  Donck,  deceased,  whose  relict, 
Mary,  the  wife  of  Hugh  O'Neale,  one  of  the  paten- 
tees is,  and  due  satisfaction  was  also  given  for  the 
same,  as  hath  by  some  of  the  said  Indians  been  ac- 
knowledged befoi'e  me;  Now  for  a  further  confirma- 
tion unto  them,  the  said  Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary 
his  wife,  relict  of  the  aforesaid  Adriaen  van  der 
Donck,  in  their  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the 
premises  Xnoio  ye,  that  by  virtue  of  this  our  commis- 


>  The  original  transport  is  in  Latin,  and  an  English  translation  is  in 
XIV.  Col.  Hist.,  38  ;  I.  O'Call,  237  ;  and  Appendix,  4J7  and  428. 

2  11.  Col.  Hist., 93. 

3  The  Indian  name  of  Spyt-Uen-fujvel  Creek. 
*Now  Kiugsbridge. 


sion  and  authority, given  unto  me  by  his  Royal  High- 
ness the  Duke  of  York,  I  have  thought  fit  to  give, 
ratify,  confirm,  and  grant,  and  by  these  presents  do 
give,  ratify,  confirm,  and  grant,  unto  the  said  Hugh 
O'Neale  and  Mary  his  wife,  their  heirs  and  assigns, 
all  the  afore  mentioned  tract  or  parcel  of  lands  called 
Nepperhaem,  together  with  all  woods,  marshes, 
meadows,  pastures,  waters,  lakes,  creeks,  rivulets 
fishing,  hunting  and  fowling,  and  all  other  profits, 
commodities  and  emoluments  to  the  said  tract  of  land 
belonging,  with  their,  and  every  of  their  appurten- 
ances, and  of  every  part  and  parcel  thereof,  (o  have 
and  to  hold  the  said  tract  of  land  and  premises,  with 
all  and  singular  their  appurtenances,  to  the  said 
Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary  his  wife,  their  heirs  and 
assigues  to  the  proper  use  and  behoofe  of  the  said 
Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary  his  wife,  their  heires  and 
assignes  forever,  he,  she,  or  they,  or  any  of  them,  ren- 
dering and  paying  such  acknowledgment,  and  duties, 
as  are,  or  shall  be,  constituted  and  ordayned  by  his 
Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York,  and  his  heirs,  or 
such  governor,  or  governors,  as  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  appointed  and  set  over  them  within  this 
province.  That,  if  at  any  time  hereafter,  his  Royal 
Highness,  his  heirs,  successors,  or  assigns,  shall  think 
fit  to  make  use  of  any  timber  for  shipping,  or  for 
erecting  or  repairing  of  forts  within  this  government, 
liberty  is  reserved  for  such  uses  and  purposes  to  cut 
any  sort  of  timber  upon  any  unplanted  grounds,  on 
the  said  tract  of  land,  to  make  docks,  harbours, 
wharfes,  houses,  or  any  other  conveniences  relating 
thereunto,  and  also  to  make  use  of  any  rivers  or 
rivuletts,  and  inlets  of  water,  for  the  purposes  afore- 
said, as  fully  and  free  as  if  no  such  patent  had  been 
granted. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  at  Fort  James,  New 
York,  on  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  the  eighth  day 
of  October,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
our  sovereign  Lord,  Charles  the  Second,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  King, 
defender  of  the  Faith,  &c.,  &c.,  in  the  year  of  om- 
Lord  God,  1666."  ^ 

The  acknowledgment  by  the  Indians  referred  to 
in  the  foregoing  deed,  thus  appears  under  date  of 
September  21st,  1668,  in  Book  of  Deeds  III.,  at  Albany, 
page  42 : 

"This  day  came  Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary  his 
wife  (who  in  right  of  her  former  husband  laid  claime 
to  a  cert"  parcele  of  land  upon  the  Maine  not  farre 
from  Westchester,  commonly  called  the  Younckers 
land),  who  bro't  severall  Indyans  before  the  gov"  to 
acknowledge  the  purchase  of  said  lands  by  van  der 
Donck  commonly  called  ye  Youncker.  The  said 
Indyans  declared  y'^  bounds  of  the  sd.  lands  to  be 
from  a  place  called  by  them  Macackassin  at  y"  north 
so  to  run  to  Neperan  and  to  y"  Kill  Soro-quappock, 
then  to  Muskota  and  Papperinemain  to  the  south. 


5  Recorded  in  Sec.  of  State's  office,  .\lba  ny 


72 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  crosse  the  country  to  eastward  by  Bronckx  his 
Ryver  and  Land.  The  Indyan  Propyetors  name  who 
was  cheife  of  them  is  Tackareeck  living  at  the 
Nevisans'  who  acknowledged  the  purchase  as  before 
described,  and  that  he  had  received  satisfac"  for  it. — 
Claes  y^  Indyan  hav^  interest  in  a  part  acknowledged 
to  have  sould  it,  and  received  satisfact"  of  van  der 
Donck.  All  the  rest  of  the  Indyans  present  being 
seven  or  eight  acknowledged  to  have  rec*  full  satis- 
faction." 

The  date  of  this  instrument,  1668,  is  evidently  a  cleri- 
cal error  for  1666,  as  the  acknowledgment  is  recited  in 
NicoU's  patent  of  confirmation  which  bears  day  Oc- 
tober 8th,  1666. 

From  this  patent  it  is  clear  that  no  part  of  the 
patroonship  had  been  parted  with  since  van  der 
Donck's  death  in  1655.  And  from  the  fact  that  on 
the  30th  of  the  same  October  in  the  same  year  in 
which  this  patent  was  granted,  only  twenty-two  days 
afterward,  the  first  conveyance  under  it  was  made  by 
O'Xeale  and  his  wife,  it  seems  evident  that  it  was 
obtained  simply  as  a  confirmation  of  the  original 
title,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  its  validity,  by  the 
New  English  government,  in  order  to  make  the  sale 
alluded  to.  This  sale  of  the  tract,  on  October 
30th,  1666,  was  made  to  Elias  Doughty,  of  Flushing, 
Long  Island,  who  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Francis 
Doughty,  and  a  brother  of  van  der  Donck's  widow, 
the  then  wife  of  Hugh  O'Neale,  and  vested  the  entire 
Patroonship  in  him. 

Elias  Doughty  at  once  began  the  sale  of  it  in 
different  parcels  to  different  individuals  in  fee.  On 
the  first  of  March,  1667,  four  months  after  he  had 
become  its  owner  Elias  Doughty  sold  to  John  Arcer, 
or  Archer,  as  this  Dutch  name  was  Anglicised,^  "  four 
score  acres  of  upland  and  thirty  of  meadow  betwixt 
Broncx  river  &  y''  watering  place  at  the  end  of  the 
Island  of  Manhattans,"^  which  four  years  later^ 
with  some  adjoining  purchases  of  lands,  was  erected 
in  his  favor  into  the  Manor  of  Fordham  by  Gover- 
nor Lovelace  on  the  13th  of  November,  1771. 

On  June  7th,  1668,  Doughty  sold  to  John  Heddy  * 
of  Westchester  a  tract  of  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  now  part  of  the  old  van  Cortlandt  estate,  re- 
cently taken  for  van  Cortlandt  Park.  The  next 
month,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1668,  Elias  Doughty  sold 
to  George  Tippitt  and  William  Belts  another  piece  of 
Colen-Donck,  thus  described  :  "A  parcell  of  land& 
meadow  to  ye  Patent  to  William  Betts  and  George 
Tippett  who  are  in  jiossession  of  a  part  of  the  same 
land  formerly  owned  by  old  Youncker  van  der  Donck 
which  runs  west  to  Hudson's  river  &  east  to  Broncks 
River,  with  all  the  upland  from  Broncks  River  south 
to  Westchester  Path,  &  so  runs  due  east  and  north 


1  The  Neversink  Highlands  in  New  Jei-sey. 

2Riker"s  Harlem,  i'S. 

3 Deed  Book  III.,  13S,  Albany. 

<Thls  name,  spelled  also"Hi;adti'/,"  was  really,  it  iihe\ieved,"Hdddeii." 


beginning  at  the  boggy  swamp  with"  the  liberty  of 
the  said  Patent,  &  the  southrnmost  bound  to  run  by 
the  path  that  runneth  or  lyeth  by  the  north  end  of 
the  aforesaid  swamp,  &  so  to  run  due  east  to  Broncks 
River,  &  due  west  to  the  meadow  which  cometh  to 
the  wading  place."  ^ 

From  this  George  Tippett,  or  Tippits,  as  the  name 
is  spelled  in  his  inventory  made  the  29th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1675,*  the  stream  is  called  Tippetts  brook,  which 
forms  the  van  Cortlandt  Lake,  and,  thence  flowing 
southerly  in  a  sinuous  course,  falls  intoSpyt-den  Duy- 
vel  Creek  just  east  of  Kiugsbridge.  Its  Indian  name 
is  Mosholu. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  1670,  another  part  of  the 
Patroonship,  on  its  western  side  was  sold  by  Doughty 
to  Francis  French  and  Ebenezer  Jones  of  Ann 
Hooks  Neck  (now  Pelham  Neck),  and  John  West- 
cott,  of  Jamaica,  Long  Island.  This  was  the  tract 
on  the  Bronx  then,  and  now,  so  well  known  as  Mile- 
square.' 

These  were  all  the  sales  of  Doughty  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  Patroonship.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
•  "Nepperhaem  River,"  he  sold  on  the  18th  of  August, 
1670,  to  Dame  Margaret  Philipse,  on  behalf  of  her 
husband,  Frederick  Philijjse,  and  Thomas  Lewis,  for 
£150,  the  south  half  of  that  River  with  its  mill 
privileges,  and  also  about  three  hundred  acres  of  land 
adjoining  it.  The  north  half  of  the  river  and  its  mill 
privileges  he  sold  to  one  Dirk  Smith,  reserving  the 
right  to  repurchase  if  Smith  wished  to  sell.  This 
right  Doughty  conveyed  to  Philipse  and  Lewis,  who 
subsequently  effected  the  re-purchase.** 

Two  years  after,  and  on  September  29th  in  the 
year  1672,  Frederick  Philipse,  Thomas  Delavall  and 
Thomas  Lewis,  bought  of  Elias  Doughty  all  the 
remainder  of  Colen-Donck,  each  taking  a  third  in- 
terest, the  whole  amounting  to  seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eight  acres.  Delavall  devised  his  share 
ten  years  later,  in  1682,  to  his  son  John,  and  he,  to- 
gether with  Frederick  Philipse  and  Mrs.  Geesie  Lewis, 
the  widow  of  Thomas  Lewis,  obtained  a  patent  for 
the  whole  on  the  19th  of  February,  1684.  Frederick 
Philipse  bought  out  Delavall's  share  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1685,  and  on  the  12th  of  June,  1686,  also 
acquired  by  purchase  that  of  Mrs.  Lewis  and  her 
children.  These  lands,  with  all  the  territory  above 
them  on  the  north,  as  far  as  Croton  River, 
and  extending  from  the  Hudson  eastwardly  to  the 
Bronx,  subsequently  acquired  by  Philipse  and  his 
son  from  the  Indians,  were  seven  years  later,  on 
the  12th   of  June,  1693,   erected  into   that  mag- 

5  Book  III.  of  Deeds,  p.  134,  Albany. 

''Lib.  I.,  N.  Y.  Surv.  Off.,  p.  234.  He  was  a  mere  farmer  and  the 
inventory  is  but  a  list  of  farm  stock  and  common  house  utensils.  It,  how- 
ever, thus  describes  his  farm, — "  Item,  a  tract  of  land  and  meadow  pur- 
chased of  Elias  Doughty,  with  the  dwelling-house,  orchard  and  barne 
now  standing  on  the  said  land, — £100,  0,  0."  It  also  mentions  bis 
neighbor,  "John  Heddy,  of  Ycnkers,  carpenter." 

■  Book  III.  of  Deeds,  139. 

8  Book  of  Deeds,  IV.  9. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


73 


iiificeiit  Miiuor  uuder  the  English  system,  which 
I'rom  his  owu  name,  its  first  lord  called  "  Phil- 
lipseborough,"  or,  as  it  was  later,  and  is  to  this  day 
termed  "Philipscburgh." 

Thus  was  divided  up,  and  ended  forever,  the  only 
Patroouship  under  the  Dutch  system  of  Colonization, 
which  existed  within  the  limits  of  the  County  of  West- 
chester. And  its  termination  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  charters  of  Freedoms  and 
Exemptions,  by  will  under  the  power  of  the  venia  tea- 
fandi,  as  therein  set  forth,  strikingly  illustrates  the 
fact,  that  the  tenure  of  the  Patroonships  could  never 
have  become  dangerous  to  the  rights,  and  liberties, 
and  laws,  of  the  people  of  New  Netherland. 

What  became  of  van  der  Donck's  children  is  not 
now  known,  nor  their  names,  nor  in  fact  how  many  of 
them,  if  any,  reached  maturity.  We  know  that  in 
11)53  his  mother,  a  brother,  and  the  son  of  the  latter, 
came  out  to  New  Netherland;  that  the  name  of  the 
former  was  Agatha,  that  of  his  brother  Daniel,  and 
that  of  the  son  of  the  latter,  Guisbert.  But  here  all 
certainty  ends.  We  may  hope  that  the  blood  of  so 
able  and  prominent  a  Hollander  still  exists,  but  that 
is  all. 

Although  but  this  one  Patroouship  was  established 
in  Westchester  County,  there  were  a  number  of  grants 
of  smaller  tracts  to  individuals,  made  by  the  Dutch  Di- 
rectors-General, after  they  had  purchased  the  Indian 
title  for  the  West  India  Company,  or  it  had  by  their 
permission  been  bought  of  the  Indians,  by  the  per- 
sons, or  for  the  persons,  to  whom  the  grants  were 
made.     But  these  require  no  special  mention  here. 

7. 

The  Capture  of  New  Xetherland  from  the  Dutch,  and 
the  Creation  of  the  English  ''Province 
of  New  York.' 

The  continued  encroachment  and  pressure  of  the 
English  of  Connecticut,  and  of  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island — then  practically  a  part  of  Connecticut — upon 
the  Dutch  in  New  Netherland,  led  the  Burgomasters 
and  Schepens  of  New  Amsterdam  and  the  delegates 
from  the  adjoining  towns,  in  public  meeting,  on  the 
2d  of  November,  1G63,  to  send  a  Remonstrance  to  the 
Directors  of  the  West  India  Company  asking  for  as- 
sistance and  protection.  In  this  document  they  make 
this  striking  statement  of  their  position,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  Province,  at  that  time,  and  the  conse- 
quences that  would  follow  unless  relief  was  afforded, 
consequences  which  really  happened  in  less  than  a 
year  afterward. 

"  When  it  is  considered  that  the  Remonstrants,  on 
the  one  side,  stand  here  between  barbarous  nations, 
and  are  bounded  on  the  other  by  a  powerful  neigh- 
bour who  keeps  quarreling  with  this  State  about  the 
limits.  Thus  the  good  people  are  thereby  brought 
and  reduced  to  a  condition  like  unto  that  of  a  flock 
without  a  shepherd,  a  prey  to  whomsoever  will  seize 
6 


his  advantage  to  attack  it.  And  lastly  (and  what  is 
of  the  most  considerable  force),  is  evident  by  the  ag- 
gressions attempted  on  the  part  of  the  English  Nation, 
our  neighbours,  on  divers  places  into  the  jurisdiction 
of  this  Province ;  whereof  your  Honors  will,  no  doubt, 
have  been  advised  by  the  Director-General  and  Coun- 
cil. Which  English  Nation  hath,  as  your  Remon- 
strants learn,  found  out  a  way  neglected  by  your 
Honors,  to  provide  and  arm  itself  with  a  coat  of  mail 
in  the  shape  of  an  unlimited  patent  and  commission 
which  it  lately  obtained  from  his  Majesty  of  England.' 
"So  that  this  commission  and  patent  being  executed  by 
them  according  to  their  interpretation  ;  for  experience 
in  State  affairs  teaches  and  abundantly  exemplifies, 
that  the  strongest  are  commonly  in  the  right,  and  that 
the  feeble,  ordinarily,  must  succumb;  the  total  loss  of 
this  Province  is  infallibly  to  be  expected  and  antici- 
pated, such  apprehension  being  indubitably  very 
strong;  or,  at  least,  it  will  be  so  cramped  and  clipped, 
that  it  will  resemble  only  a  useless  trunk,  shorn  of 
limbs  and  form,  divested  of  all  its  internal  parts,  the 
head  separated  from  the  feet;  and  therefore  the  Re- 
monstrants would  be,  if  not  at  once,  wholly  oppressed, 
and  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  anxiety,  as  to  be  des- 
perately necessitated,  to  their  irreparable  ruin,  to 
abandon  and  quit  this  Province,  and  thus  become 
outcasts  with  their  families. 

"It  being  objected  and  pleaded  by  the  above  named 
English,  as  a  pretext  for  their  designs,  that  the  real 
right  and  propriety  of  this  Province  and  its  territories 
were  not  duly  proved  and  justified  on  your  Honors 
parts  by  proper  commission  and  patent  from  their 
High  Mightinesses.  Whence  it  appears  in  conse- 
quence of  the  want  of  such  commission  and  patent, 
the  obtaining  whereof  from  their  High  Mightinesses 
has  been  so  long  postponed,  as  if  your  Honors  have 
been  pleased  to  place  the  good  inhabitants  of  this 
Province,  as  it  were,  upon  glare  ice,  and  have  given 
them  grounds  and  lands  to  which  you  have  no  real 
right.'-  And  in  this  way,  too,  the  well  intentioned 
English  who  have  settled  under  your  Honors  Gov- 
ernment are  held  in  a  labyrinth  and  a  maze,  without 
any  right  assurance  how  they  shall  have  to  demean 
themselves  in  observing  the  oath  taken  by  them. 
\j)f  allegiance  to  the  Company  and  the  States- General^. 

Wherefore  the  Remonstrants  in  these  their  troubles, 
afllictions,  intricacies,  and  extreme  necessity,  are 
come,  in  all  humilitv,  to  throw  themselves  on  vonr 
Honors  consideration,  fervently  and  heartily  praying 
you  to  be  pleased  to  enable  them  exactly  to  apply 
the  essential  means,  whereby,  they,  your  Honor's 
most  faithful  servants,  may  be  effectually  sup])orted 
and  maintained  in  the  real  possession  of  the  lauds, 
properties,  and  what  depends  thereon,  which  were 
given  and  granted  them  by  the  above  mentioned  ex- 

1  The  Connecticut  Patont,  granted  to  the  Xew  Uftven  and  Hartfurd  Bet- 
tlements  on  the  23d  of  April,  li;62. 
'-Special  putontsainl  charters,  lilie  those  under  Duglidh  law,  were  not 
■  favored  by  the  Ruiuuu  Liutch  law  of  liuUanJ. 


74 


HISTORY  OF  AVESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


emptions,  and  by  them  possessed  at  the  expense  of 
vast  labor,  bloody  fatigue,  and  the  outpouring  of 
countless  drops  of  sweat."' 

The  formal  enactment  of  the  W.  I.  Company's 
Charter  of  Privileges  by  the  States-General,  and  of  the 
different  charters  of  "Freedoms  and  Exemptions" 
were  amply  sufficient  for  all  purposes  under  the  Law 
of  the  United  Provinces,  to  vest  perfect  titles  to  all 
lands  granted  under  them  in  New  Netherland. 
The  English  of  Hartford  and  New  Haven,  only 
obtained  their  Charter  of  Connecticut  from  Charles 
II.,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1662.  Not  till  after  they 
got  this  document,  did  they  seriously  claim  that 
the  Dutch  had  no  title  by  patent  from'  the  States- 
General.  The  claim  was  baseless,  and  only  made  as 
a  cover  for  encroachment. 

Ten  days  after  the  above  Remonstrance  was  drawH 
up  and,  later,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1663,  Di- 
rector Stuyvesant,  in  a  despatch  referring  to  it,  also 
fully  and  vigorously  warns  the  Company  in  Holland, 
in  these  words  ; — 

"  In  regard  to  the  unrighteous,  stubborn,  impudent, 
and  pertinacious  proceedings  of  the  English  at  Hart- 
ford. I  can  only  repeat  what  has  for  many  years  past, 
and  especially  these  two  last,  been  so  frequently 
stated,  set  forth,  and  requested ;  all  which  neither 
time,  nor  opportunity,  permits  us  to  relate  and  include 
herein.  Your  Honors  will  be  able  to  see  from  the  in- 
closures,  what  efforts  have  been  made  agreeably  to 
your  Honors  letters,  to  conclude,  in  this  country,  a 
settlement  of  the  Boundary  with  our  neighbors.  It 
was  first  attempted  by  the  Director-General  in  person 
at  the  general  meeting  of  the  four  Engli-ih  Colonies 
at  Boston  ;  and  since  on  the  advice  of  three  of  the 
Colonies,^  by  our  Commissioners,  viz:  Mr.  Cornells 
van  Ruyven,  Secretary  Oloff"  Stevens  Cortlandt,  Bur- 
gomaster of  this  city,  and  John  Laurens  (Lawrence), 
burgher  and  merchant,  made  to  the  General  Court, 
or  Legislature,  at  Hartford. 

"  On  reading  over  both  journals,  your  Honors  will 
not  only  percei,ve  the  impossibility  of  effecting  any- 
thing here,  unless  all  be  given  up  to  them,  hardly  ex- 
cepting alone  what  the  Dutch  Nation  justly  possessed 
and  settled  on  Manhatans  Island  and  oa  the  North 
River. 

"By  virtue  of  a  patent  signed  in  the  year  1626,  Bos- 
ton [Massnchnseffs^  claims  whatever  is  north  of  42J 
degrees.  East  and  West,  from  one  sea  to  the  other. 
This  line  includes  the  whole  of  the  Colonic  of  Rens- 
selaers-Wyck,  the  village  of  Bever-wyck,  and  all  the 
Mohawk  and  Seneca  country.  Again,  the  General 
Court  at  Hartford  lay  claim  to,  and  demand,  in  vir- 
tue of  the  newly  obtained  patent  [^that  for  Connec- 
ticut of  1662],  all  the  country  lying  South  of  the  afore- 
said line  of  42^  degrees,  and  westerly  until  it  touches 
another  Royal  Patent,  and  therein  include  all  of  New 


III.  Col.  Hist.,  478. 

2  Maseachusetts  declined  to  take  part  iu  the  Becond  coaference. 


Netherland,  south  to  the  seacoast,  and  west  to  a  Royal 
patent;  and  furthermore  declare  positively; — 

''  First.  Contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  other  three 
colonies,  that  the  treaty  concluded  at  Hartford,  An". 
1650,  is  null  and  void. 

"Secondly.  That  they  will  dissolve  the  Union  with 
the  other  three  colonies,  [rather]  than  acquiesce,  to 
the  prejudice  of  their  patent,  in  the  advice  of  the 
Commissioners  at  Boston. 

"  Thirdly.  They  know  no  New  Netherland,  nor  gov- 
ernment of  New  Netherland,  except  only  the  Dutch 
plantation  on  the  Island  of  Manhatan. 

"Fourthly.  They  will  and  must  take  Westchester, 
and  all  the  English  towns  on  Long  Island,  under 
their  protection,  by  virtue  of  their  patent,  without 
being  obliged  to  wait  for  any  farther  order  of  the 
King,  since  such  was  their  understanding. 

"Fifthly  and  lastly.  'Tis  evident  and  clear  from  their 
repeated  declaration,  that  were  Westchester  and  the 
five  English  towns  on  Long  Island,^  surrendered  by 
us  to  the  Colony  of  Hartford,  and  what  we  have  justly 
possessed  and  settled  on  Long  Island  left  to  us,  it 
would  not  satisfy  them,  because  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible to  bring  them  sufficiently  to  any  further  arrange- 
ment with  us  by  commissioners  to  be  chosen  on  both 
sides  by  the  mediation  of  a  third  party;  and  as  in 
case  of  disagreement,  they  assert  in  addition,  that 
they  may  possess  and  occupy,  in  virtue  of  their  un- 
limited patent,*  the  lands  lying  vacant  and  unsettled 
on  both  sides  of  the  North  River  and  elsewhere,  which 
would  certainly  always  cause  and  create  new  preten- 
sions and  disputes,  even  though  the  Boundary  were 
provisionally  settled  here."  He  further  says,  that  if  a 
settlement  of  all  disputes  cannot  be  obtained  and  ef- 
fected through  their  High  Mightinesses  with  "Ambas- 
sador Douwuing,"^  and  by  them  both,  and  their  High 
Mightinesses  Resident  in  England,  with  his  Majesty, 
"by  next  spring,  one  of  two  things  is  certainly  and 
assuredly  to  be  apprehended ; — bloodshed,  and  with 
bloodshed,  which  they  seem  only  to  wish,  loss  of  all 
we  possess,  if  proper,  active,  opposition  be  not  offered 
to  the  English  or  their  daily  encroachments  and  in- 
trusions; reducing  under  their  obedience  now  this, 
and  then  that,  place,  and  occupying  suitable  spots, 
here  and  there,  up  the  North  river,  and  elsewhere, 
abundance  of  which  are  yet  unpeopled  and  unset- 
tled." « 

But  the  clear-headed  and  patriotic  Director-General 
was  greatly  mistaken  in  "Ambassador  Douwning,"  or 
rather  in  his  expectation  that  that  envoy  would  aid  in 
bringing  matters  to  a  settlement.  Sir  George  Down- 
ing was  as  inimical  to  the  Dutch  nation  as  Governor 
Winthrop  or  any  other  Connecticut  Englishman.  He 
had  been  long  in  Holland  under  Cromwell  and  dis- 


SGravesend,  Hempstead,  Flushing,  Newtown  and  Jamaica. 
*  Its  claim  was  westward  to  the  sea. 

6  Sir  Richard  Downing,  the  English  envoy  to  Holland  at  that  time. 
» II.  Col.  Hist. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


75 


liked  aud  feared  the  Dutch.  When  it  was  evident 
tiiat  Charles  the  2d  would  be  restored,  he  hastened  to 
make  his  peace  with  him,  and  the  Duke  of  York, 
before  they  left  the  Netherlands.  Sharp,  unprincipled, 
and  determined  to  break  down  Dutch  power,  and  Dutch 
commercial  supremacy,  if  he  could,  he  was  the  last  man 
to  give  any  assi.stance  to  effect  such  a  solution  of  the 
Dutch  and  English  difficulties  as  Stuy  vesaut  desired. 
The  Duke  of  York,  though  he  should  not  have  pos- 
sessed such  feelings  towards  the  people  who  had  be- 
friended his  brother  and  himself  in  their  exile,  also  was 
personally  unfriendly  to  the  Dutch  Nation.  Certain 
libels  against  him  though  punished  by  the  Dutch 
courts,  had  not  been  punished  as  thoroughly,  or  as 
soon,  as  he  wished.  The  Dutch  West  India  Company 
in  trading  under  their  charter  to  the  Guinea  coast,  in- 
terfered with  the  business  of  the  Eoyal  African  Com- 
pany of  which  he  was  the  Governor.  He  complained 
of  the  Dutch  on  this  account  before  the  English  Parlia- 
ment, and,  of  his  own  authority  as  Lord  High  Admiral, 
sent  a  fleet  to  harass  them  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  There- 
fore it  was  as  a  matter  of  revenge,  as  well  as  hoped  for 
profit,  thathe  obtained  from  Charles  the  2d  on  the  12th 
of  March,  1664,  O.  S.,'  only  a  year  and  eleven  months 
after  the  date  of  the  Connecticut  Colony's  Patent,  a  gift 
by  patent  of  the  whole  of  New  Netherland,  based  on 
the  sailing  along  its  coast  by  the  Cabots,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.,  without  proof  of  their  having  seen  it, 
and  though  no  actual  possession  of  it  was  ever  taken 
by  them  or  anybody  else,  prior  to  the  discovery,  and 
actual  settlement,  by  the  Dutch,  a  hundred  years  and 
a  little  more  afterwards.  There  was  actual  peace  be- 
tween the  Dutch  and  English  nations  at  the  date  of 
the  patent,  and  at  the  time  of  the  seizure  by  the  latter, 
though  war  broke  out  soon  afterward  ;  a  fact  which 
deepened  the  flagrancy  of  one  of  the  most  striking  in- 
stances of  the  rapacity  and  wickedness  of  a  strong 
people  dealing  with  a  weaker  one,  in  all  history. 

Borrowing  four  vessels  of  the  English  navy,  of 
which  he  was  Lord  High  Admiral,  the  Duke  of  York 
sent  an  expedition  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Richard  Nicolls,  with  Sir  Robert  Carr,  George  Cart- 
wright  and  Samuel  Mavericke  as  co-commissioners 
with  Matliias  Nicolls,  subsequently  Secretary  for 
New  York,  and  a  few  other  English  officers,  in  com- 
mand of  .about  -150  men,  to  visit  the  Plantations 
in  New  England,  and  to  "  reduce  "  the  Dutch  Province 
of  New  Netherland  "  to  an  entire  obedience  to  our 
government"  as  their  instructions  from  the  King 
expressed  it.'  These  instructions,  and  the  special 
communications  from  Charles  2d  to  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut  in  relation  to  the  commission  and 
its  powers  were  dated  the  23d  of  April,  1664,  as 
well  as  his  "Private  Instructions"  which  were  only 
to  be  considered  by  the  commissioners  between 


themselves.'  The  Royal  Commission  to  Nicolls  and 
the  others,  was  dated  two  days  later,  on  the  25th 
of  April,  1664.  The  latter,  strange  to  say,  docs 
not  mention,  or  eveu  refer  to.  New  Netherland.* 
Why  this  remarkable  omission  was  made  is  not 
now  known,  but  such  is  the  fact.  On  the  second 
of  April,  1664,  three  weeks  previously,  the  Duke 
of  York  had  given  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls  a  com- 
mission from  himself  as  his  Deputy  Governor.  This 
document  after  reciting  the  King's  Patent  to  him- 
self, and  a  brief  description  of  the  boundaries  therein 
set  forth,  continues: — "'And  whereas  I  have  con- 
ceived a  good  opinion  of  the  integrity,  prudence, 
ability,  and  fitness  of  Richard  Nicolls,  Esquire, 
to  be  employed  as  my  Deputy  there,  I  have  thought 
fit  to  constitute  and  appoint,  and  I  do  hereby  con- 
stitute and  appoint  him  the  said  Richard  Nicolls, 
Esquire,  to  be  my  Deputy  Governor  within  the  lands. 
Islands,  and  places  aforesaid,  To  perform  and  execute 
all  and  every  the  powers  which  are  by  the  said  Let- 
ters Patent  granted  unto  me  to  be  executed  by  my 
Deputy  Agent  or  Assign.  To  Have  and  to  Hold 
the  said  place  of  Deputy-Governor  unto  the  said 
Richard  Nicolls  Esquire,  during  my  will  and  pleasure 
only ;  Hereby  willing,  and  requiring,  all  and  every  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  said  Lands,  Islands,  and  places,  to 
give  obedience  to  him  the  said  Richard  Nicolls,  in 
all  things  according  to  the  tenor  of  his  Majesty's  said 
Letters  Pattent."^ 

Under  the  King's  Patent  of  the  12th  March,  1664, 
and  these  Instructions  and  commissions  from  Charles 
2d,  aud  the  Duke  of  York,  the  forcible  seizure  and 
annexation  of  the  Province  of  New  Netherland  to 
the  English  Kingdom  was  effected. 

The  expedition,  bonsisting  of  the  Guinea  of  36  guns, 
Capt.  Hugh  Hyde,  the  Ellas  of  30  guns,  Capt.  AVilliam 
Hill,  the  Martin  of  16  guns,  Capt.  Edward  Grove,  and 
the  William  and  Nicholas,  Capt.  Morley,  of  10  guns, 
carrying  the  commissioners  and  a  body  of  troojis, 
about  450  in  number,  sailed  from  Portsmouth  on  the 
15th  of  May,  1664.  Nicolls  the  commander-in-chief 
and  Cartwright  embarked  in  the  Guinea,  and  Carr 
and  Mavericke  in  the  Martin.  Their  orders  were  to 
rendezvous  in  Gardiner's  Bay,  at  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island.  The  voyage  was  long,  the  vessels  got  sejia- 
rated,  and  the  Martin,  aud  Nicholas  and  William, 
were  obliged  to  run  into  Piscataway  (Portsmouth) 
New  Hampshire  on  the  20th  of  July,  1664,  whence 
Mavericke  the  same  day  wrote  the  following  brief  ac- 
count of  the  voyage  to  Capt.  Breedon  of  Boston  ; — 
"  It  hath  pleased  God  (after  a  tedious  voyage  of  neare 
ten  weeks  time)  That  two  of  our  ships  arrived  here 
this  afternoon  at  Pascataway  where  wee  hourly  ex- 
pect our  other  two;  the  Guiney  comanded  by  Capt. 
Hyde  wee  lost  sight  of  this  day  se'  night,  and  Capt. 


>  The  original,  a  beautiful  MS.  is  in  the  State  Library  at  Albany.  It  is       '  Ibid.,  51-C3.  Ibid.,  64. 

printed  in  II.  Col.  Hist.  295  ;  Bred.  II.  Col.  *  Book  of  Patents,  Albany,  II.  UG-116  ;  II.  Brwl.,  l.')3  ;  Leamiog  aud 

2  III.  Col.  Ilist.,  52.  '  Spiter's  Jti-sey  Laws,  Ctio. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Hill  with  the  Elyas  on  Sunday  last.  *  *  *  *  our 
stay  here  being  only  for  a  little  water  and  our  other 
shipps,  which  if  they  come  not  in  time,  we  must  go 
to  our  appointed  port  in  Long  Island."  Three  days 
later,  on  the  23d  of  July,  the  Guinea  and  Elias  arrived 
at  Boston.  Nicolls  wrote  at  once  to  Thomas  Willet  at 
Plymouth,  and  Gov.  Winthrop  at  Hartford,  and  ap- 
plied for  assistance.  On  the  29th  of  July  the  vessels 
from  "Pascathway"  arrived  at  Boston.  Further 
letters  from  Nicolls  were  sent  to  Winthrop  asking  for 
aid,  and  to  Thomas  Willets  at  Plymouth,  and  direct- 
ing them  to  meet  the  expedition  at  the  west,  instead 
of  the  east,  end  of  Long  Island.  A  few  days  later  the 
ships  sailed,  and  i)iloted  by  New  Englanders,  came 
direct  to  New  Utrecht,  or  Nayack,  Bay,  now  called 
Gravesend  Bay,  between  the  west  end  of  Coney  Island 
and  the  main,  the  Guinea  arriving  on  the  25th  of  August, 
and  the  other  three  vessels  three  days  later,  on  the  28th. 

Winthrop  with  other  Connecticut  officials,  and 
armed  men,  from  that  colony  and  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island,  met  them  there,  as  well  as  Thomas 
Clarke  and  John  Pynchon,  of  Boston,  with  offers  of 
military  aid  from  Massachusetts.  On  the  8th  of  the 
preceding  July  Thomas  Willett  had  heard,  from  a 
young  man  of  the  name  ofLord,  a  rumor  from  Boston, 
that  an  expedition  had  sailed  from  England  to  attack 
New  Netherland,  and  immediately  informed  Governor 
Stuyvesant,  but  subsequently,  for  some  reason,  alleged 
that  the  troops  had  disembarked,  that  Commissioners 
to  settle  the  boundaries  were  appointed,  and  that 
there  was  no  danger.  This  put  an  end  to  Stuyvesant's 
anxiety,  and  he  went  to  Albany  to  settle  a  quarrel 
among  the  Indians  in  that  neighborhood.  He  was 
also  lulled  into  security  by  the  receipt  of  a  despatch 
from  the  Directors  at  Amsterdam  tfhat  no  danger  from 
England  need  be  entertained  as  the  King  only  wanted 
to  reduce  his  own  colonies  to  uniformity  in  church 
and  State.'  The  truth  was,  that  the  Directors  of  the 
Company,  intently  engaged  in  the  public  affairs  of 
Holland  (it  was  the  period  of  John  de  Witt's  ascen- 
dancy and  the  efforts  of  the  Prince  of  Orange's  party 
to  destroy  it)  really  neglected  New  Netherland,  and 
their  own  interests  there,  giving  both  such  slight  at- 
tention, as  not  only,  disappointed  its  people,  and  their 
own  officials,  but  facilitated,  the  treacherous  action  of 
the  English  King,  and  inclined  its  inhabitants  to  yield 
with  less  resistance  and  feeling  to  his  military  power, 
than  they  otherwise  would. 

Of  course  no  real  resistance,^  greatly  as  he  desired 
to  make  it,  could  be  offered,  by  Director-General 
Stuyvesant,  and  his  people ;  and  after  several  days 
negotiations.  Articles  of  Capitulation  were  definitely 
settled  by  a  commission,  composed  of  John  De  Decker, 
Nicholas  Varleth,  Samuel  Megapolensis,  Cornells 
Steenwyck,  Jacques  Cousseau,   and   Oloff  Stevens 


1 II.  O  Call.,  517. 

2  The  details  of  Stuyvesant's  action  at  this  crisis  are  too  niinieroue  to  be 
given  in  an  esssiy  of  this  kind,  and  are  so  generally  known,  at  least  in 
their  outlines,  as  not  to  need  further  mention. 


van  Cortlandt,  on  the  part  of  Director  Stuyvesant, 
and  Robert  Carr,  George  Carteret,  John  Win- 
throp, Samuel  Willys,  John  Pynchon,  {the  latter 
three  of  Connecticut),  and  Thomas  Clarke  {of  Mas- 
sachusetts) on  the  part  of  Governor  Nicolls,  and  con- 
sented to  by  both.  The  negotiations  took  place,  and 
the  terms  were  finally  agreed  upon,  on  Saturday, 
September  6th,  1664,  at  Gov.  Stuyvesant's  house  in 
the  Bowery.  This  house,  as  L  have  been  told  by  the 
Hon.  Hamilton  Fish,  now  the  oldest  living  descend- 
ant of  Stuyvesant,  .stood  on  what  is  now  the  block 
between  12th  and  13th  Streets  facing  the  Third 
Avenue,  as  that  part  of  the  Bowery  road  is  now  called, 
and  on  the  east  side  of  that  avenue.  The  old  Stuy- 
vesant pear  tree  which  stood  till  within  a  few  years 
at  the  north  east  corner  of  13th  St.  and  Third 
Avenue  was  one  the  Governor  planted  in  his 
garden.  Nicolls  ratified  the  articles  the  same 
day.  The  next  day  was  Sunday,  during  which  the 
Director-General  and  his  Council  considered  them, 
and  early  on  the  morning  of  the  succeeding  day,  Mon- 
day, September  8th,  1664,  ratified  them.  About  eleven 
o'clock  of  the  same  morning  Stuyvesant  marched  out  of 
the  fort  with  the  honors  of  war,  at  the  head  of  the  Dutch 
regulars,  about  150  in  number,  and  through  Beaver 
street  to  the  ship  "Gideon,"  in  which  they  were  at 
once  embarked  for  Holland,  though  she  did  not  sail 
till  some  days  later.  A  corporal's  guard  of  the  Eng- 
lish took  possession  of  the  fort  as  the  Dutch  marched 
out.  "  Col.  Nicolls's  and  Sir  Robert  Carr's  compan- 
ies one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  strong,  formed  into 
six  columns  of  about  thirty  men  each,  next  entered 
New  Amsterdam ;  whilst  Sir  George  Cartwright  oc- 
cupied with  his  men  the  city  gates  and  Town  Hall." 
The  volunteers  from  Connecticut  and  Long  Island, 
were  detained  at  the  ferry  at  "  Brenkelen,"  "  as  the 
citizens  dreaded  most  being  plundered  by  them." 
Finally  the  Burgomasters  having  proclaimed  Nicolls 
Governor,  he  called  Fort  Amsterdam  "Fort  James," 
and  the  name  of  the  city  and  Province  he  changed 
to  "  New  York."  ^  Thus  ended  the  Dutch  dominion 
in  America,  and  thus  forever  passed  away  the  great 
Batavian  Province  of  New  Netherland  from  the  Re- 
public of  the  United  Netherlands. 

The  Articles  of  Capitulation  were  twenty-three  in 
number,  and  never  were  more  favorable  terms  granted 
by  a  superior  power.  Great  prudence  on  one  side 
was  met  by  great  liberality  on  the  other,  and  Nicolls 
proved  that  he  was  all  that  his  commission  as  Dep- 
uty-Governor described  him,  honest,  prudent,  able, 
and  fit.  It  would  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  discuss 
these  Articles  of  Capitulation,  or  as  usually  termed 
"Surrender,"  at  length.*  Those  only  which  bear 
upon  our  subject  will  be  mentioned,  viz — the  third, 
eighth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  sixteenth,  and  twenty-first. 
They  are  as  follows : — 

3 II.  O'Call.,  536. 

<  They  are  to  be  found  in  II.  Col.,  Hist.,  250 ;  I.  Brod.,  762,  and  in  many 
other  historical  wurks. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


77 


"  nr.  All  people  shall  still  continue  free  denizens, 
and  shall  enjoy  their  lands,  houses,  goods,  wheresoever 
they  are  within  this  country,  and  dispose  of  them  as 
they  please. 

"VIII.  The  Dutch  here  shall  enjoy  the  liberty  of 
their  consciences  in  divine  worship  and  church  dis- 
cipline. 

"  XI.  The  Dutch  here  shall  enjoy  their  own  customs 
concerning  their  inheritances. 

"XII.  All  publique  writings  and  records,  which 
concern  the  inheritances  of  any  people,  or  the  regle- 
ment  ^regulation}  of  the  church,  or  poor,  or  orphans 
shall  be  carefully  kept  by  those  in  whose  hands  now 
they  are,  and  such  writings  as  particularly  concern 
the  States-General  may  at  any  time  be  sent  to  them. 

"XVI.  All  inferior  civil  officers  and  magistrates 
shall  continue  as  now  they  are  (if  they  please)  till  the 
customary  time  of  new  elections,  and  then  new  ones 
to  be  chosen  by  themselves,  provided  that  such  new 
chosen  magistrates  shall  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  his  majesty  of  England  before  they  enter  upon 
their  office. 

"XXI.  That  the  town  of  Manhattans  shall  choose 
Deputyes,  and  those  Deputyes  shall  have  free  voyces 
in  all  publique  affaires  as  much  as  any  other  Depu- 
tyes." 

Ry  the  third,  eighth,  eleventh,  and  twelfth,  all 
Dutch  grants  of  land  under  the  former  laws  and  or- 
dinances, of  the  Province,  and  under  the  Roman- 
Dutch  law,  were  acknowledged  as  valid,  and  the 
possession  of  them  confirmed  to  their  owners,  as  well 
as  their  former  power  of  disposing  of  them  by  will,  and 
all  legal  incidents  thereto  appertaining.  This  settled 
thequestion  ofthe  holdingof the  lands  by  theirowners, 
at  once,  and  proved  that  there  would  be  no  confiscation, 
or  other  interference  with  them,  and  no  imposing  of 
any  English  law  of  inheritance. 

The  sixteenth  article  confirmed  and  continued  in 
their  offices  all  the  civil  magistrates  and  officers  of 
every  grade  in  the  country,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  and  provided  for  the  election  of  their  success- 
ors, under  the  existing  Dutch  laws,  conditioned  only 
that  the  new  officers,  .should  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  their  new  English  King.  No  such  oath  was 
wisely  demanded  ofthe  old  ones,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  justice,  not  only  in  regard  to  lands,  but  in  all 
its  forms,  went  on  precisely  as  if  no  change  of  govern- 
ment had  taken  place. 

The  twenty-first  article  confirmed  to  the  City  of 
New  York,  all  the  civil  rights  and  powers  it  had  un- 
der its  former  organization,  and  under  the  Assem- 
blies which  had  been  called,  and  in  which  it  had  been 
represented,  during  Stuyvesant's  administration.  Its 
lands  were  preserved  to  it,  and  all  rights  in  rela- 
tion thereto,  by  the  same  articles,  which  preserved 
the  other  lands  of  the  province  to  their  respective 
owners,  as  well  as  all  the  municipal  rights,  powers, 
and  privileges  the  city  possessed  under  the  Dutch 
rule. 


The  Eighth  article,  in  connexion  with  the  twelfth, 
preserved,  maintained,  and  continued,  to  the  Estab- 
lished Dutch  Cliurch  all  its  rights,  })rivileges,  and  im- 
munities of  creed  and  worship,  and  guaranteed  to  it 
freedom  of  conscience  and  church  discipline,  as  well 
as  the  continuance  of  its  regulations,  as  to  its  own 
concerns,  and  to  the  poor  and  to  orphans,  in  the  same 
hands,  and  under  the  same  control,  that  they  had  ever 
been.  But  these  articles  did  not  continue  it  as  the 
Established  Church  of  the  Province,  or  provide  for  its 
maintenance  and  control  as  such,  by  the  government, 
or  rather,  through  the  government,  as  had  been  the 
case  under  the  West  India  Company,  and  all  the 
Charters  of  Freedoms  and  exemptions  from  the  first 
to  the  last.  They  did  however  continue  and  guaran- 
tee to  it  everything  else.  Its  lands  and  all  its  rights 
of  property  were  guaranteed  and  continued  to  it  by  the 
same  third,  eighth,  eleventh  and  twelfth  articles, 
which  guaranteed  and  maintained  all  the  other  land- 
holders of  the  Province  in  their  rights  of  possession 
and  property  in  their  realty.  In  short  the  Dutch 
Church  was  acknowledged  in  its  existence,  confirmed 
in  its  creed,  discipline,  and  worship,  maintained  in 
the  possession  of  its  property,  and  guaranteed  in  its 
rights  in  every  respect  and  in  every  way.  Nothing 
was  altered,  nothing  abrogated,  except  its  position  as 
the  Established  Church  of  New  Netherland.  That 
was  determined  by  the  fall  of  the  Dutch  Province. 
Both  were  ended  by  the  surrender  to  England.  The 
new  Province  of  New  York  had  during  its  whole  ex- 
istence no  connexion  officially,  with  the  Dutch 
Church,  or  any  other  church,  except  "the  Church  of 
England  as  by  law  established." 

When  the  Province  was  recaptured  hy  the  Dutch 
on  the  8th  of  August  1673  the  Dutch  Church  was  re- 
established in  all  her  rights,  privileges,  and  powers, 
as  she  originally  possessed  them.  And  when  the  sec- 
ond surrender  to  the  English  was  made  pursuant  to 
the  treaty  of  Westminster  in  September  1674,  all  were 
guaranteed  to  her  again  precisely  as  in  1664,  except, 
of  course,  her  position  as  an  establishment;  and  she 
was  also  permitted  to  keep  up  her  ecclesiastical  con- 
nexion with,  and  subjection  to,  the  ecclesiastical 
bodies  of  the  Established  Church  of  Holland,  a  con- 
nexion and  dependence  which  continued  unimpaired 
until  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution  more  than 
a  century  later.  The  position  of  the  Dutch  Church 
as  an  Established  Church,  was  the  reason  why  it  was 
so  particularly  guarded,  and  provided  for,  in  the 
Articles  of  Capitulation  of  1664,  and  again  in  the 
special  articles  of  surrender  formulated  by  Governor 
Colve,  and  carried  into  effect  by  the  English  Governor 
Andross,  in  1674,  no  other  church  being  mentioned  or 
referred  to  in  either.  And  to  this  circumstance  is 
owing  the  fact,  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  these 
provisions  in  both  sets  of  articles,  that  during  the  en- 
tire existence  of  New  York  as  an  English  Province, 
the  Dutch  Church  was  ever  treated  with  greater  favor 
than  any  other  church  dissenting  from  the  Church  of 


78 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


England;  and  that  between  these  two  churches  a  cor- 
dial relation  ever  existed,  and  one  which  has  been 
maintained  down  to  this  day,  when  both  churches  are 
flourishing,  each  with  a  name  slightly  changed,  under 
a  new  political  dominion,  to  a  degree  which  was  im- 
possible under  either  of  the  dominions  of  old. 

The  change  from  the  Dutch  system  of  government 
and  laws  to  that  of  the  English,  was  very  gradual  in- 
deed. It  was  no  part  of  the  policy  of  the  Duke  of 
York  to  make  changes  other  than  what  might  be  ab- 
solutely necessary.  All  that  he  insisted  upon,  at  first, 
was,  that  he  should  be  acknowledged  as  Lord  Propri- 
etor of  the  Province  under  the  Patent  from  his  brother 
King  Charles  the  2d,  of  1652.  The  prudence,  skill  and 
wisdom  of  Richard  Nicolls,  his  Deputy  Governor,  after 
much  objection  and  opposition,  which  he  completely 
and  gently  overcame,  effected  this;  and  between  the 
20th  and  25th  of  October,  1664,  hardly  five  weeks  after 
the  surrender,  all  the  former  Dutch  ofiicials,  and  nearly 
three  hundred  of  the  male  inhabitants  of  New  York, 
including  Stuyvesant,  van  Cortlandt,  van  Ruyven, 
van  Rensselaer  and  Beekman,  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  Charles  the  2d  and  the  Duke  of  York,  as  the 
lawful  Sovereign,  and  the  lawful  Lord  Proprietor  of 
New  York. 

8. 

The  English  System  in  the  Province  of  New  York  under 
the  Duhe  of  York  as  Lord  Proprietor. 

From  the  eighth  day  of  September,  1664,  when  the 
Surrender  of  New  Netherland  to  the  English  took 
place,  the  right  of  soil,  the  right  of  domain,  the  right 
of  jurisdiction,  and  the  source  of  power,  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  York,  was  vested,  and  acknowledged  to 
be  vested,  in  the  Duke  of  York  under  the  Patent  to 
him  from  King  Charles  the  Second  of  the  12th  of 
March,  1664.  In  this  Patent,  perhaps  the  strongest, 
most  sweeping,  and  most  comprehensive  in  its  terms, 
of  any  granted  in  America  by  an  English  Monarch, 
the  King  gave  to  the  Duke  the  entire  territory  of  New 
Netherland  therein  described,  (though  of  course  that 
name  was  not  used)  upon  this  tenure,  namely; — "To 
be  holden  of  us  our  Heirs  and  Successors,  as  of  our 
Manor  of  East  Greenwich  and  our  County  of  Kent, 
in  free  and  common  soccage  and  not  in  Capite,  nor  by 
Knight  Service,  yielding  and  rendering  *  *  *  *  of  and 
for  the  same,  yearly  and  every  year,  forty  beaver 
skins  when  they  shall  be  demanded,  or  within  Ninety 
days  after." 

The  Patent  was  drawn  by  Lord  Chancellor  Claren- 
don, the  Duke's  father-in-law,  and  practically  vested 
in  him  all  the  powers  of  an  absolute  Sovereign,  sub- 
ject only  in  the  execution  of  them  to  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land. But  in  all  matters  not  covered  by  those  laws, 
his  own  rule  in  person,  or  by  his  Deputy-Governor, 
was  supreme.  The  only  power  that  was  reserved  to 
the  King  was  thehearins:  and  determining  of  Appeals 
from  Judgments  and  Sentences. 

The  theory  of  the  Patent  was,  that  the  King  had 


resumed  control  of  a  territory  originally  belonging  to 
the  Crown  by  the  right  of  its  discovery  by  theCabots. 
That  all  people  therein,  Indians  excepted,  were  tres- 
passers without  legal  right,  that  the  territory  was 
without  lawful  government,  that  the  Sovereign  of  Great 
Britain,  of  his  own  right,  therefore  established  there- 
in such  government  as  he  saw  fit.  That  he  chose  to 
give,  and  did  give,  in  the  exercise  of  such  right,  the 
entire  territory,  and  his  own  powers  and  rights  there- 
in, and  thereover,  to  his  brother  the  Duke  of  York, 
with  full  authority  to  establish,  and  carry  them  into 
effect,  as  he  should  see  fit.  The  only  proviso,  as  to 
all  "  Laws,  Orders,  Ordinances,  Directions  and  Instru- 
ments "  that  the  Duke  or  his  Deputy  might  make  or 
execute,  was,  that  they  should  "  be  not  contrary  to, 
but,  as  near  as  conveniently  may  be,  agreeable  to  the 
Laws,  Statutes  and  Government  of  this  our  Realm  of 
England."  ^ 

The  principle  the  English  acted  on,  was,  that  as 
regards  the  territory  of  New  Netherland,  the  right  of 
conquest  governed,  and  the  King  could  institute  therein 
such  form  of  government,  system  of  laws  and  other  in- 
stitutions, as  he  pleased.  This  view  was  not  at  all  satis- 
factory to  the  owners  and  holders  of  land  under  Con- 
necticut titles  in  Suffolk  County,  Long  Island,  who 
were  the  very  earliest  to  obtain  new  grants  and  patents 
from  the  Duke  of  York.  The  towns  there  took  out 
patents  from  the  Duke,  with  extreme  reluctance,  but 
they  did  it,  nevertheless.  Among  these  patents  were 
that  of  Smithtown  to  Richard  Smith  of  the  3d  of 
March,  1665,  that  for  Gardiner's  Island  in  the  same 
year,  and  that  for  Shelter  Island  to  the  Sylvesters  of 
June  1st,  1666. 

The  principle  just  mentioned  was  essentially  modi- 
fied in  its  application  by  two  things.  It  was  limited 
by  the  terms  of  the  Articles  of  Surrender,  which  bound 
the  conqueror  as  well  as  the  conquered.  And  it  was 
also  limited  by  that  rule  of  the  law  of  nations,  which 
provides  that  the  ancient  laws  of  a  conquered  people 
remain  in  force  till  changed  by  the  conqueror. 

Under  these  instruments  and  principles  the  rule 
of  England,  and  the  Lord  Proprietorship  of  the  Duke 
of  York  had  its  beginning  in  the  "Province  of  New 
York  in  America."  That  Proprietorship  lasted  twen- 
ty-one years,  (excepting  only  the  fifteen  months  of 
the  Dutch  reconquest),  ending  on  the  6th  of  February, 
1685,  on  which  day,  by  the  death  of  his  brother, 
King  Charles,  the  Duke  became  James  the  Second, 
King  of  England.  His  Proprietary  rights  merging 
in  those  of  the  Crown  on  his  accession  to  the  throne. 
New  York  became  thenceforward  a  Royal  Province 
under  a  Royal  Government,  uncontrolled  by  any 
charter.  From  that  time  till  the  close  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  by  the  Peace  of  1783,  she  so  remained, 
the  freest  and  most  flourishing  of  all  the  British 
American  Provinces,  ruled  by  her  own  people,  enact- 
ing her  own  laws,  supporting  her  own  government 

1  See  Tatent. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


79 


and  local  institutions  by  taxation  imposed  by  her 
own  elected  Legislature,  and  by  her  own  parish,  town, 
and  county  authorities. 

The  slight  interruption,  by  the  Dutch  reconquest 
from  the  9th  of  August,  1(573,  to  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1674,  did  not,  except  for  the  time  being,  change 
the  character  of  the  Proprietorship  of  the  Duke  of 
York  in  point  of  fact.  But  as  the  Province  was  re- 
st')red  by  the  Dutch  to  England  as  a  conquest  under 
a  treaty  and  a  formal  surrender  of  it  pursuant  to  such 
treaty,  the  crown  lawyers  in  England  held  that  the 
Dutch  I'econquest  in  1673  terminated  the  Duke's 
Proprietorship;  and  that  the  renamed  Province  of 
New  Netherland  was  vested  anew  in  Charles  the 
Second  as  King  solely  by  the  treaty  of  Westminster 
in  1674.  Therefore  a  new  Patent  was  granted  by  the 
King  to  the  Duke  on  the  29th  of  June,  1674.  It  was 
almost  in  the  same  words  as  the  first,  vesting  him 
again  with  the  same  sweeping  and  absolute  rights 
and  powers,  but  not  mentioning  the  first  Patent  nor 
referring  to  it  in  any  way.  The  object  of  this  second 
Patent  was  to  cure  the  defect  in  the  first,  that  it  was 
signed,  sealed,  and  delivered,  while  the  Dutch  were 
in  actual  possession  of  the  teiTitory  it  described,  and 
therefore  it  was,  by  the  law  of  England,  void;  and 
was  not  subsequently  confirmed  by  Charles  the  Sec- 
ond after  the  title  was  really  vested  in  him  in  1677, 
by  the  treaty  of  Breda.  Had  Charles  made  such  a 
confirmation,  no  second  Patent  would  have  been  re- 
quired. 

The  new  Patent  of  1674,  on  its  face  was  an  original 
grant,  but  in  fact  it  simply  revested  the  Duke  with 
all  the  rights,  powers,  jurisdiction  and  territory  he 
possessed  under  the  Patent  of  1664. 

These  facts  are  distinctly  stated,  because  the  valid- 
ity of  the  confirmations  of  all  Dutch  groundbriefs, 
transports,  and  other  grants,  and  all  subsequent  Eng- 
lish grants  during  the  Proprietorship  of  the  Duke  of 
York,  and  the  later  Royal  Government,  as  well  as 
those  originally  made  by  Connecticut  authorities  on 
Long  Island,  and  subsequently  confirmed  by  the 
Duke,  rests  upon  them. 

The  tenure  by  which  the  Duke  of  York  held  his 
Province  in  New  York  was  allodial  in  its  nature. 

In  this  respect  it  was  the  same  ;is  that  under  which, 
as  has  previously  been  shown,  the  Dutch  West  In- 
dia Company  held  New  Netherland  under  their 
charter,  and  the  Patroons  held  their  Patroonships 
under  the  different  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions." 
But  it  was  not  to  follow  a  good  Dutch  example,  that 
this  tenure  was  granted  by  the  King  and  accepted  by  the 
Duke,  but  because  the  law  of  England  had  then  been 
recently  changed,  and  neither  King  nor  Duke  could 
do  otherwise,  even  if  they  wished,  of  which  there  is 
no  evidence.  Four  years  before  New  York  was  given 
by  the  King  to  the  Duke,  and  its  surrender  by  the 
Dutch,  the  Parliament  of  England  had  passed  that 
Great  Act,  second  only  to  Magna  Charta  itself, — if  it 
was  second, — in  its  effect  on   English  liberty,  and 


the  rights  of  English  subjects,  the  act  abolishing 
feudal  tenures,  and  all  their  oppressive  incidents  for- 
ever throughout  the  realm. 

This  was  the  famous  "  12  Charles  II,  cap.  24,'" 
and  its  title  is,  "An  Act  taking  away  the  Court  of 
Wards  and  Liveries,  and  Tenures  in  Capite,  and  by 
Knight  Service,  and  Purveyance,  and  for  settling  a 
Revenue  upon  his  Majesty  in  lieu  thereof."  It  swept 
away,  at  one  blow,  all  the  grievous  feudal  military 
tenures,  their  great  exactions,  and  the  means  possessed 
by  the  monarch  for  enforcing  them,  as  well  as  all 
charges  payable  to  the  King,  or  any  lord  paramount 
under  him,  arising  therefrom;  and  prohibited  their 
creation  afterward,  forever.  Alter  the  clauses  of  aboli- 
tion, the  act  continues, — "And  all  tenures  of  any 
honours,  manors,  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments, 
of  any  estate  of  inheritance  at  the  common  law, 
held  either  of  the  King,  or  of  any  other  person,  or 
persons,  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  are  hereby  enact- 
ed to  be  turned  into  free  and  common  socage,  .  .  . 
any  law,  custom,  or  usage  to  the  contrary  hereof  in 
any  way  notwithstanding."  '  The  fourth  section  pro- 
vided. "  That  all  tenures  hereafter  to  be  created  by 
the  King's  Majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  upon  any 
gifts  or  grants  of  any  manors,  lands,  tenements,  or 
hereditaments,  of  any  estate  of  inheritance  at  the 
common  law,  shall  be  in  free  and  common  socage 
only,  .  .  .  and  not  by  Knight  Service  or  in 
Capite." 

As  this  abolition  deprived  the  King  of  large  reve- 
nues, and  the  means  of  supporting  his  military,  and 
other  governmental  expenses,  the  act  granted  to  him 
as  a  recomj)ense  duties  upon  beer,  ale,  and  other 
articles  in  common  use.^ 

It  is  thus  seen  not  only  that  there  were  no  feudal 
rights  nor  privileges  granted  in  New  York  to  the 
Duke  of  York  by  his  Patents,  but  that  the  King  had 
no  power  whatever  to  grant  any  to  him,  or  to  anybody 
else.  And  none  ever  were  granted  by  any  British 
Sovereign,  or  British  Governor,  in  that  Province.  The 
rights  and  privileges  contained  in  the  subsequent 
Manor  grants  in  New  York,  were  simply  those  ap- 
pertaining to,  and  consistent  with,  the  free  socage 
tenure  on  which  they  were  granted,  and  under  which 
they  were  held. 

This  allodial  tenure  of  land,  though  it  has  been  for- 
merly referred  to  under  the  Roman  Dutch  legal  system 
of  New  Netherland,  may  now  be  more  fully  described, 
as  itwas  also  thetenure  by  which  all  lands  in  New  York 
under  the  English  system  were  held. 


1  Section  1  of  the  act. 

2  "  Up  to  the  passage  of  this  act,  every  free  land-owner  was  burdened 
with  military  service,  whicli  was  not  considered  an  incident  of  tennre,  hut 
a  duty  to  the  State."  Dighy"s  Law  of  Kcal  Property,  20.  Hence,  the 
sulistitution  of  taxation  in  lieu  of  military  service  by  this  act.  is  the 
foundation  of  governmental  support  by  taxation,  both  in  Kiigland  and 
America,  and  of  the  existing  systems  of  taxation  in  both  countries. 
The  military  tenures  "  were  sold,  or  released  to  the  country  in  considera- 
tion of  the  hereditary  revenue  of  excise  by  the  Statute,  12  ch.  2,  c.  24." 
Fourth  Keport  of  the  English  Law  Com:uissiouers,  110. 


80 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  law  of  land  both  in  Holland  and  England  was 
of  Teutonic  origin.  In  the  former  country  it  was 
modified  earlier  than  in  the  latter  by  the  conquest 
by  the  Romans,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Roman 
Law,  and  at  a  later  period  in  each,  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Canon  Law.  The  Teutonic  idea  of 
property  in  land  was  based  on  its  conquest  by  a  body 
of  men  under  a  leader  or  chief, — a  successful  barbaric 
invasion.  The  land  so  won  was  considered  the  com- 
mon property  of  its  captors,  not  of  the  leader  alone. 
He,  as  chief,  had  the  regulation  of  the  distribution 
of  the  conquest  among  the  conquerors,  and  of  the 
cultivation  of  the  land  by  the  distributees  who  re- 
ceived it.  As  he  was  the  leader  of  this  community  in 
war  so  he  was  its  head  in  time  of  peace. 

The  land  thus  belonging  to  the  community  was  in 
both  Holland  and  England  considered  as  what  we 
should  now  call  "public  land."  Among  the  Saxons 
it  was  called  "folcland,"  that  is,  land  of  the  folk,  or 
people.  As  civilization  progressed  and  Christianity 
was  introduced,  the  band  of  barbaric  invaders,  or 
tribe,  adopted,  of  necessity,  a  political  organization. 
The  leader  became  a  chief  of  a  district  or  principality, 
or  king  of  a  petty  kingdom ;  his  followers  became 
his  supporters  or  subjects ;  and  the  land  was  made 
the  source  of  revenue,  by  its  being  given  in  separate 
parcels  to  individuals  in  severalty  as  their  private 
property.  Lands  so  given  were  granted  by  a  writ- 
ten "book"  as  it  was  termed,  which  was  a  deed  or 
charter,  delivered  to  the  grantee,  and  it  was  then  said 
to  be  "booked  '"to  him,  from  which  it  was  called  "boc- 
land,"  that  is,  booked  land.  This  "book,"  or  grant, 
stated  that  the  grantee  was  to  hold  the  land  free  from 
all  burdens  and  from  any  services  or  money  payment, 
except  three, — military  aid  in  cas-eof  invasion,  manual, 
or  money  aid  in  the  repairing  of  fortresses,  and  in  the 
repairing  of  bridges,  which  duties  were  borne  by  all 
landholders  indiscriminately,  and  was  termed  the  f7-in- 
oda  necessitas,  or  threefold  obligation.  This  military 
aid,  was  simply  the  liability  to  be  called  on  to  defend  the 
country  in  case  of  attack,  and  not  the  tenure  by  knight 
service  under  the  feudal  system,  which  tenure  was 
unknown  in  England  till  after  the  Norman  conquest. 
Thus  before  that  event  all  land  in  England  was  either 
'  folcland  "  or  "  bocland."  ' 

All  land  not  made  'bocland'  remained  'folcland' 
and  was  held  in  common  by  the  community.  Later 
it  became  vested  in  the  chief,  as  its  head  man,  and 
subject  to  his  control.  "Nearly,  if  not  quite  coex- 
tensive with  the  conception  of  "bocland,"  says  Dig- 
by,  "was  that  of  allodial  land.  The  term  'alod,' 
allodial,  did  not,  however,  have  any  necessary  refer- 
ence to  the  mode  in  which  the  owuer.*liip  of  land  had 
been  conferred ;  it  simply  meant,  land  held  in  abso- 
lute ownership,  not  in  dejiendence  upon  any  other 
body  or  person  in  whom  the  proprietary  rights  were 
supposed  to  reside,  or  to  whom  the  possessor  of  the  land 

I  Digby's  Hist.  Law  of  Real  Property,  Cb.  I.  Sect.  1.  j 


was  bound  to  render  service."  ^  It  was  another  name 
for  'bocland'  and  signified  that  it  was  devisable  by 
will,  and  in  case  of  intestacy  was  divisible  among 
children  equally.'  It  could  be  freely  sold  at  plea.«ure 
by  its  possessor;  or  its  beneficial  enjoyment  could  be 
granted  by  him  for  a  longer  or  shorter  term,  at  the 
end  of  which  it  reverted  to  him  or  his  heirs ;  when 
this  last  disposition  of  it  was  made  it  was  called 
"laenland,"  literally  loan  land,  or  in  modern  parlance 
leased  land. 

The  success  of  the  Norman  Conquest  of  England 
changed  almost  entirely  these  early  allodial  tenures. 
William  the  Conqueror  introduced  the  military  tenure 
of"  Knight-service  "  or  "  in  chivalry,"  with  all  its  feudal 
attributes  and  exactions,  which  had  come  into  vogue 
in  the  western  and  southern  portions  of  the  European 
continent.  That  system  with  its  correlative  rights  of 
protection  by  the  King  or  the  lord,  and  of  service  as 
soldiers  by  the  tenants  or  vassals,  carried  down 
through  all  classes  of  society  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  termed  the  feudal  system,  thus  introduced,  be- 
came the  basis  of  the  English  land  system  and  land 
law.  From  William  of  Normandy  to  Charles  the 
Second,  gradually  developed  in  the  earliest  reigns  of 
the  Norman  Kings  to  its  fullest  extent,  its  principles 
governed  English  land,  English  law,  and  Engli>h 
thought,  until  the  enactment  of  the  statute  of  1660  in 
the  twelfth  year  of  Charles  the  Second  abolished 
feudalism  forever,  practically  restored  the  old  Saxon 
allodial  tenures,  and  turned  to  freedom  the  mind  of 
England.  "  Perhaps,"  said  that  most  learned  chief 
justice  of  Massachusetts,  James  Sullivan,  in  1801, 
then  that  State's  Attorney-General,  "  the  English  Na- 
tion are  more  indebted  to  this  one  act  for  the  share  of 
liberty  they  have  enjoyed  for  a  century  and  a  half 
past,  and  for  the  democratic  principles  by  that  law 
retained  in  their  government,  than  to  Magna  Charta, 
and  all  the  other  instruments  of  which  they  boast.'" 

To  show  how  entirely  different  the  "feudal  sys- 
tem" was  from  the  systems  introduced  into  New- 
York  by  the  Dutch  and  English  ;  and  how  erroneous 
have  been,  and  are,  the  views  that  Lave  been  ex- 
pressed by  American,  and  New  England,  as  well  as 
New  York,  writers,  respecting  the  latter,  it  will  be 
well  to  recur  to  what  "feudalism'"  really  was. 

Scrcely  any  subject  of  an  historical  nature  has 
been  more  fully  and  thoroughly  investigated,  studied, 
and  written  upon,  in  late  years,  by  modern  historical 
scholars  than  this.  Germany,  France,  and  England, 
have  each  produced  writers  who  have  given  to  the 
world  the  results  of  searche-s  and  investigations  of  the 
most  exhaustive  character ;  von  Maurer,  Waitz, 
Eichorn,  Roth,  and  Richter,  in  the  former,  Guizot, 


2Tlie  word  "alod"  (Latinized  into  aUodium,  whence  tlie  Engli  li 
"allodial")  does  not  occur  in   Anglo  .Saxon  documents   before  tl'e 
eleventh  century,  when  it  appears  in  the  Latin  of  Canute's  laws  in  the 
Colbertine  MS.  as  the  equivalent  of  "  bocland  "  or  "  hereditas.  " 
Stuhbs  Cons.  Hist.  "G,  n. 

3  Hist.  Land  Titles  iu  Mass.  52. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


81 


Thiern-,  Sismondi,  Laveldye  in  France,  and  Palgrave, 
Austin,  Freeman,  Digby,  Maine,  and  Stubbs  in  Eng- 
land. The  latter,  the  latest  writer  on  this  subject, 
has  treated  it  so  fully,  that  a  short  statement  almost 
in  his  own  words  will  make  the  matter  clear. 

Feudalism  was  of  distinctly  Frank  growth.  The 
principle  which  underlies  it  may  be  universal,  but 
its  historic  development  may  be  traced  step  by  step 
under  Frank  influence,  from  its  first  appearance  on 
the  conquered  soil  of  Roman  Gaul  to  its  full  develop- 
ment in  the  jurisprudence  of  the  Middle  Ages.  As  it 
existed  in  England,  it  was  brought  full  grown  from 
France  at  the  Norman  Conquest ; '  and  "it  may  be  de- 
scribed as  a  complete  organization  of  society  through 
the  medium  of  land  tenure,  in  which  from  the  King 
down  to  the  lowest  land  owner  all  are  bound  together 
by  obligation  of  service  and  defence:  the  lord  to  pro- 
tect his  vassal,  the  vassal  to  do  service  to  his  lord ; 
the  defence  and  service  being  based  on,  and  regulated 
by,  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  land  held  by  the  one 
or  the  other.  As  it  developed  territorially,  the  rights 
of  defence  and  service  were  supplemented  by  the 
right  of  jurisdiction.  The  lord  judges,  as  well  as 
defends,  his  vassal ;  the  vassal  does  suit  as  well  as 
service  to  his  lord.  In  States  in  which  feudal  govern- 
ment has  reached  its  utmost  growth,  the  political, 
financial,  judicial,  every  branch  of  public  administra- 
tion, is  regulated  by  the  same  conditions.  The  cen- 
tral authority  is  a  mere  shadow  of  a  name.  - 

It  grew  up  from  two  sources,  the  beneficiary  system 
and  the  practice  of  commendation.  "  The  system  tes- 
tifies to  the  country  and  causes  of  its  birth.  The  bene- 
ficium  is  partly  of  Roman  and  partly  of  German  ori- 
gin.^ In  the  Roman  system  the  usufruct,  the  occupa- 
tion of  land  belonging  to  another  person,  involved  no 
diminution  of  the  status  (the  condition)  of  the  occu- 
pier ;  in  the  Germanic  system  he  who  tilled  land  that 
was  not  his  own  was  imperfectly  free.  Commenda- 
tion on  the  other  hand  may  have  had  a  Gallic  or 
Celtic  origin,  and  an  analogy  only  with  the  Roman 
clientship."  * 

"The  beneficiary  system  originated  partly  in  gifts 
of  land  made  by  the  kings  out  of  their  own  estates  to 
their  kinsmen  and  servants  with  a  special  undertak- 
ing to  be  faithful,  partly  in  the  surrender  1)y  the  land- 
owners of  their  estates  to  churches  or  powerful  men 
to  be  received  back  again  and  held  by  them  as  ten- 
ants for  rent  or  service.    By  the  latter  arrangement 

•  Freeman  in  liis  fifth  volume  denies  this  in  his  usnal  self-sufflcient  man- 
ner, and  attiicks  ''lawyers  "  for  sajing  so,  very  fiercely.  But  before  lie 
ends  that  cliapterlie  confines  his  words  to  govennnehlal  matieri,  and  really 
admits  that  "  the  lawyei-s  "  were  right  after  all  as  to  the  tenures. 

>I.  Stubbs' Cons.  Hist,,  252. 

'The  beneficia,  or  benefices, were  "  grants  of  Koman  provincial  land  by 
the  chieftains  of  the  tribes  which  overran  the  Roman  Empire  ;  such 
grants  being  conferred  on  their  associates  upon  certain  conditions,  of 
which  the  commonest  was  military  service."  Maine's  Village  Communi- 
ties, 132.  The  same  writer  al.io  says,  "that  in  the  ineradicable  tendencies 
of  the  Teutonic  nice,  to  the  hereditary  principle,  the  benefices  became 
descendible  from  father  to  son." 

*  I.  Stubbs'  Cons.  Hist.  254. 


the  weaker  man  obtained  the  protection  of  the 
stronger,  and  he  who  felt  himself  insecure  placed  his 
title  under  the  defence  of  the  church.  By  the  prac- 
tice of  commendation,  on  the  other  hand,  the  inferior 
put  himself  under  the  personal  care  of  a  lord  [^that 
is,  commended  himself  to  him,  hence  the  term']  but  with- 
out altering  his  title,  or  divesting  himself  of  his 
right  to  his  estate ;  he  became  a  vassal  and  did  hom- 
age. The  placing  of  his  hands  between  those  of 
his  lord  was  the  typical  act  by  which  the  connexion 
was  formed.  And  the  oath  of  fealty  \Jaithfidness'] 
was  taken  at  the  same  time.  The  union  of  the  bene- 
ficiary tie  with  that  of  commendation  completed  the 
idea  of  feudal  obligation  ;  the  twofold  tic  on  the 
land,  that  of  the  lord  and  that  of  the  vassal,  was  sup- 
plemented by  the  twofold  engagement,  that  of  the 
lord  to  defend,  and  that  of  the  vassal  to  be  faithful." " 
This  oath  of  'fealty'  and  wherein  it  differed  from 
'homage'  may  be  explained  best  in  the  words  ot 
Littleton,  "  Fealty  is  the  same  that  fidelitas  is  in 
Latine.  And  when  a  freeholder  doth  fealty  to  his 
lord  he  shall  hold  his  right  hand  upon  a  booke  (a 
Bible)  and  shall  say  thus:  Know  ye  this  my  lord, 
that  I  shall  be  faithfull  and  true  unto  you,  and  faith 
to  you  shall  beare  forthe  lands  which  I  claime  to  hold 
of  you,  and  that  I  shall  lawfully  doe  to  you  the  cus- 
toms and  services  which  I  ought  to  doe,  at  the  termes 
assigned,  so  help.nie  God  and  his  Saints;  and  he  shall 
kisse  the  booke.  But  he  shall  not  kneel  when  he 
maketh  his  fealty,  nor  shall  make  such  humble  rever- 
ence as  is  aforesaid  in  homage.* 

The  practice  of  commendation  became  so  very  gene- 
ral, that  in  the  words  of  Sir  Henry  Maine,  it  "went 
on  all  over  Europe  with  singular  universality  of 
operation,  and  singular  uniformity  of  result,  and  it 
helped  to  transform  the  ancient  structure  of  Teutonic 
society  no  less  than  the  institutions  of  the  Roman 
Provincials.""  It  was  one  of  the  leading  causes  of 
the  universality  of  feudalism  in  Europe. 

Well  writes  one  of  the  most  distinguished  living 
jurists  of  New  York,  on  this  subject, — 

"  Feudalism  is  compounded  of  barbaric  usage  and 
Roman  law.  While  it  resembled  in  some  respects  a 
Hindoo  village  community,  it  is  in  other  respects 
quite  different.  The  Hindoo  communities  gathered 
together  by  instinct,  and  new  comers  were  introduced 
by  fiction.  The  feudal  obligation  was  created  by  con- 
tract. The  feudal  communities  were,  for  this  reason, 
more  durable  and  varied  in  character  than  the  ancient 
societies.  Some  would  hold  that  the  variety  of 
Modern  Civilizaiion  is  due  to  the  exuberant  and  er- 
ratic genius  of  Germanic  races.  In  opposition  to  this 
error,  it  may  be  asserted  that  the  Roman  Empire 
bequeathed  to  society  the  legal  conception  to  which 
all  this  variety  is  attributable.    The  one  striking  and 


6  I.  Stubbs,  252. 

«  Co.  Litt.,  chap.  II.  sect.  91. 

1  Hist,  of  Institutions,  155 


82 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


characteristic  fact  in  the  customs  and  institutions  of 
barbaric  races  is  their  extreme  uniformity." ' 

The  effect  of  feudalism  on  the  society  ot  the  era  in 
Mhich  it  existed,  was  two  fold.  It  repressed  and 
harshly  kept  down  the  personal  rights  and  freedom  of 
what  in  our  day  we  now  term  "the  masses,"  but  it 
also  gave  rise  to,  maintained,  and  estabii-shed  in  those 
who  then  ruled  the  masses  of  that  day,  those  feelings, 
rules  of  conduct,  and  principles  of  action,  to  which 
are  really  due  the  vastly  higher  general  civilization  of 
both  classes  of  people  at  this  era.  If  we  investigate 
feudalism  in  its  social  aspects,  in  the  words  of  the  late 
chief  justice  of  Ceylon,  "  we  shall  find  ample  cause 
for  the  inextinguishable  hatred  with  which,  as  Guizot 
truly  states  iu  History  of  Civilization  in  Europe,  it  lias 
ever  been  regarded  by  the  common  people.  But  this 
ought  not  to  make  us  blind  to  its  brighter  features. 
There  was  much  in  feudalism,  especially  as  developed 
in  the  institutions  of  chivalry,  that  was  pure  and 
graceful  and  generous.  It  ever  acknowledged  the  high 
social  position  of  woman,  it  zealously  protected  her 
honour.  It  favoured  the  growth  of  domestic  attach- 
ments, and  the  influence  of  family  associations.  It 
fostered  literature  and  science.  It  kept  up  a  feeling 
of  independence,  and  a  spirit  of  adventurous  energy. 
Above  all,  it  paid  homage  to  the  virtues  of  Courage 
and  Truth  in  man,  and  of  Affection  and  Constancy  in 
woman."  ^ 

Such  was  the  feudal  system  in  reality,  its  origin  and 
principles.  As  a  system  of  land  tenure,  or  of  govern- 
ment, it  not  only  never  existed  in  the  Province  of  New 
York,  but  it  was  absolutely  the  opposite  of  the  systems 
of  both  which  were  there  established.  No  lord  para- 
mount, either  as  Duke  of  York,  or  as  a  Lord  of  a 
Manor,  was  ever  known  within  this  State  while  an 
English  Province.  The  former  was  a  Propiietor  only, 
as  William  Peun  and  Lord  Baltimore  were,  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  in  Maryland.  The  latter  was  an  owner 
in  fee  with  no  powers,  rights  or  privileges,  but  those 
appurtenant  to,  and  consistent  with,  the  freest  allodial 
tenure.  Moreover,  it  not  only  never  existed,  but  it 
could  not  possibly  have  existed  in  New  York.  For  it 
was  prohibited  by  the  statute  law  wiihin  the  realm  of 
England  four  years  before  New  York  became  an 
integral  part  of  the  dominions  of  that  realm. 

What  then  was  the  tenure  described,  "  as  of  our 
jnannor  of  East  Greenwich  and  our  County  of  Kent 
in  free  and  common  soccage  and  not  in  capite  or  by 
Knight  service,  upon  which  the  Province  of  New  York 
was  holden  under  his  grant  from  the  King  of  Eng- 
land by  the  Duke  of  York  as  Lord  Proprietor  ?  " 

Socage'  tenure  was  a  holding  of  lands  by  a  certain 
service  or  rent.  Certainty  as  opposed  to  the  uncer- 
tainty of  tenure  by  Knight  service,  or  as  sometimes 


iDwight's  Introduction  to  the  American  edition  of  Maine's  Ancient 
Law,  LXIV. 

-  Sir  E.  Crenry's  Rise  of  the  British  Constitution,  83. 
3  The  word  is  now  spelled  with  one  '•  c  "  only. 


styled,  "  in  chivalry,"  was  for  its  essence.  It  made  no 
matter  what  the  service,  or  rent,  was,  so  long  as  it  was 
absolutely  certain.  It  might  be  by  ploughing  lands  for 
a  fixed  number  of  days  at  a  time  fixed,  or  it  might  be 
for  a  fixed  annual  rent,  payable  either  in  cattle,  produce 
or  in  money,  or  it  might  be  by  homage,  fealty,  and  a 
fixed  money  rent,  in  lieu  of  all  manner  of  services,  or 
by  fealty  only  in  lieu  of  every  other  service.*  This 
inherent  element  of  certainty  was  what  gave  this 
tenure  its  power,  and  has  made  it  the  only  tenure  by 
which,  in  different  forms  and  under  different  modifi- 
cations, and  under  systems  based  upon  its  principles, 
lands  are  now  held  in  the  English-speaking  nations 
of  the  world. 

Property  in  land  has  a  double  origin.  "  It  has 
arisen,"  in  the  words  of  Maine,  "partly  from  the  dis- 
entanglement of  the  individual  rights  of  the  kindred 
or  tribesmen,  from  the  collective  rights  of  the  Family 
or  Tribe,  and  partly  from  the  growth  and  transmuta- 
tion of  the  Sovereignty  of  the  Tribal  Chief.  .  .  .  Both 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Chief  and  the  ownership  of 
land  by  the  Family  or  Tribe  were  in  most  of  Western 
Europe  passed  through  the  crucible  of  feudalism ; 
but  the  first  re-appeared  in  some  well-marked  char- 
acteristics of  military  or  Knightly  tenures,  and  the 
last  in  the  principle  rules  of  non-noble  holdings,  and 
among  them  of  Socage,  the  distinctive  tenure  of  the 
free  farmer."  Its  essential  character  was  "  its  liability 
to  rents  and  services  due,  not  to  the  State,  but  to  the 
grantor,  who  in  most  cases  was  the  lord  of  the  manor, 
holding  under  a  charter  [meaning  a  grant  or  patent) 
given  or  confirmed  by  the  crown."  ®  The  word  socage 
is  generally  believed  to  have  been  derived  from  "  soca  " 
a  plough.  It  was  "  originally  applied  only  to  husband- 
men who  owed  fixed  services  for  husbandry.  Where 
these  rustic  services  had  not  been  commuted  tbramoncy 
rent  the  tenure  was  called  '  villein  socage,"  as  distin- 
gui-.hed  from  '  free  and  common  socage.'  *  In  Knight- 
service  tenure,  and  iu  the  spiritual  tenure  of  Francal- 
moigne  or  Free  Alms,  that  is  freedom  from  all  earthly 
services  [on  which  churches,  abbeys,  and  cathedrals, 
in  England  held  and  still  hold  so  many  of  their 
lands],  and  in  all  the  military  tenures  the  services 
were  uncertain  :  from  all  other  free  tenants  of  lands  a 
fixed  amount  of  service,  or  rent,  was  due,  and  their 
tenures  were  included  in  the  general  name  of  socage  ' 

It  was  a  free  tenure,  the  land  a  freehold,  and  the 

<Litt.  ch.  5,  Sect,  in,  85a;  Reeve's  Hist.  M  vol.  ch.  xxi.  49.t  ; 
I.  Francis  Sullivan's  Lectures  on  the  Laws  of  England,  1.57  ;  Christian's 
Blackstone,  ii.  81,  n  1  ;  Sullivan's  Mass.  Land  Titles,  34  ;  Maine's  Hist. 
Inst.,  120  ;  Stubbs'  Cons.  Hist.,  549. 

5  Maine's  Hist.  Inst'ns.,  120. 

<>  Elton's  Tenures  of  Kent,  29. 

T  A  villein  was  an  inhabitant  of  a  villa,  the  ancient  name  of  a  farm, 
and  in  the  earliest  times  was  attached  to  it  permanently.  .\ud  as 
many  villas  were  included  in  a  manor,  it  had  often  many  villein's- 
These  villeins  gradually  came  to  be  allowed  to  hold  parcels  of  land,  on 
condition  of  manuring,  or  ploughing  the  lord's  demesne  lands,  or  on 
base  or  rustic  services.    Hence  arose  the  tenure  termed  villein-socage. 

*  Elton's  Law  of  Copyholds,  3,  note  b. 

1  lb.  3. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


83 


holder  a  freeman,  because  he,  as  well  as  the  land,  was 
entirely  free  from  all  exactions,  and  from  all  rents 
and  services  except  those  specified  in  his  grant.  So 
long  as  these  last  were  paid  or  performed,  no  lord  or 
other  power  could  deprive  him  of  his  land,  and  he 
could  devise  it  by  will,  and  in  case  of  his  death, 
intestate,  it  could  be  divided  among  his  sons 
equally.' 

At  a  later  period,  after  the  Norman  conquest,  tliis 
latter  quality  of  the  tenure  became  changed  by  the 
introduction  of  the  principle  of  primogeniture  in  all 
parts  of  England  ;  a  principle  of  Teutonic  origin,  and 
one  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  the  feudal  sys- 
tem as  a  military  system.  One  of  the  parts  of  England 
which,  at  the  time  of  its  conquest,  first  submitted  peace- 
ably to  William  of  Normandy,  was  the  Saxon  Kingdom 
of  Kent,  afterward,  and  now,  the  County  of  Kent,  the 
southeastern  extremity  of  England.  In  consequence 
of  this  action  the  Norman  king  confirmed  its  inhab- 
itants in  all  their  ancient  laws  and  liberties.  "  Kent 
was  firmly  attached  to  the  Conqueror  by  the  treaty, 
which  he  never  broke,  that  the  law  of  Kent  should 
not  be  changed.'- 

One  of  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  Kent  was  the 
custom  or  tenure  of  '  Gafolcund '  or  '  Gavelkind,'  one 
of  the  most  ancient  of  the  free  socage  tenures,  by 
which  the  greater  portion  of  that  county  was  then, 
and  is  now  held. 

According  to  this  ancient  relic  of  the  early  Saxon 
law,  the  land  descended  to  all  the  sons  equally,  was 
usually  devisable  by  will,  did  not  escheat  in  case 
of  attainder  and  execution  for  felony,  and  could  be 
aliened  by  the  tenant  at  the  age  of  fifteen.'  It 
was  a  freeman's  tenure,  and  so  general,  though 
not  universal,  in  the  county,  that  it  was  con- 
sidered by  the  common  law  of  England,  and 
judicially  taken  notice  of  by  the  King's  Courts  as  the 
"  common  law  of  Kent."  The  only  instance  in  all 
England  of  a  county  having  a  different  common  law 
from  the  rest  of  the  Kingdom.  And  it  so  continues 
to  this  day.  Much  of  its  area  originally  gavelkind 
has  been  changed  by  special  acts  of  parliament,  or,  as 
it  was  termed, '  disgaveled,'  and  thus  made  knight  ser- 
vice land  and  .subject  to  the  law  of  primogeniture.* 
The  name  is  derived  from  the  Saxon  word  '  gafol,'  or 
'gavel,'  [_the  pronunciation  of  the  words  being  ninilar 
in  aouiid']  \\\\\ch  was  the  Saxon  word  for  rent,  "  in- 
cluding in  that  term  money,  labor,  and  provisions."^ 
Gavelkind  land  therefore  means  primarily  rented 
land  with  the  privileges  above  stated. 

One  of  the  Manors  of  the  Crown  of  England  was 
that  of  East  Greenwich  in  this  favored  County  of 
Kent  which  had  never  been  reduced  to  the  new  mili- 
tary tenures  brought  in  by  the  Norman  Conqueror, 
and  owed  no  claim  for  suit  or  services  or  other  obli- 


'  T>l(rbT.  72.  2  Elton's  Tunures  of  Kent,  72. 

'DiRliy'ii  Hist.  Tlpal  Property,  38,  n.  2. 

*Eltou"8  Touures  of  Kenl  jxiij.in.  SIbid  29. 


gallon  than  that  of  fealty  and  allegiance.*  Hence  it 
was  that  when  the  tenure  of  the  British  grants  in 
America  came  to  be  settled,  it  was  described  as  of  our 
Manor  of  East  Greenwich  in  the  County  of  Kent, 
that  manor  being  held  only  "  in  free  and  common 
soccage."  The  object  being  to  give  to  the  new  pos- 
sessions in  America  the  most  favorable  tenure  then 
known  to  English  law. 

The  fixed  "service"  or  "rent"  on  which  New 
York  was  held  in  socage  by  the  Duke  of  York  was 
the  yearly  payment  of"'  forty  beaver  skins  when  they 
shall  be  demanded  or  in  ninety  days  after."  When 
the  Puke  became  King  in  1685,  this  nominal  rent 
ceased  and  he  held  the  Province  from  that  date  as 
Sovereign  of  England.  And  under  him  and  his  suc- 
cessors, from  that  v'ear  until  the  peace  of  1783,  by  vir- 
tue of  this  fact  New  York  continued  to  be  a  Royal 
Province,  under  Royal  Governors  commissioned  by 
its  English  monarchs  under  their  signs  manual. 

As  such  representatives  of  their  Sovereigns  were  all 
grants,  of  Manors,  and  other  great,  and  small,  tracts 
of  land,  made  by  the  Governors  of  New  York  as  long 
as  New  York  continued  to  be  a  British  Province. 
The  tenure  of  all  was  the  same  as  that  in  the  Patents 
from  Charles  II.  to  the  Duke  of  York,  "in  f<ee  and 
common  socage  as  of  our  manor  of  East  Greenwich 
in  County  of  Kent."  The  fixed  services  or  renfs 
varied,  but  were  merely  nominal  in  all  cases.  In 
some  of  the  minor  incidents  of  the  grants  of  manors, 
and  of  lands  not  manors,  they  also  varied,  but  the  im- 
portant thing,  the  tenure  itself,  was  the  same  in  all. 
When  William  and  Mary  directed  their  Governor  to 
call  General  Assemblies,  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Council,  .md  the  first  Assembly  held  in  New 
York,  under  those  sovereigns,  met  in  April,  1691,  that 
Assembly,  in  the  second  act  it  passed,  declaring  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  their  Majesties'  subjects  to 
their  Province  of  New  York,  enacted  "That  all  the 
Lands  within  the  Province,  shall  be  esteemed  and  ac- 
counted Land  of  Freehold  and  Inheritance,  in  free 
and  common  Soccage,  according  to  the  tenor  of  East 
Grermcich  in  their  Majesties' Realm  of  England.'" 
And  it  is  owing  to  these  facts  that  this  subject  has 
been  so  fully  dwelt  upon,  dry  as  it  must  necessarily 
be  to  the  general  reader. 

The  confirmations  by  the  English  Governors  of  the 
Dutch  groundbricfs,  transports,  and  othergrants,  were 
rendered  necessary,  by  the  change  of  the  Sovereign 
Power.  The  Dutch  instruments,  under  the  Dutch  law, 
it  will  be  remembered,  required  their  grantees  to  take 
the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  the  West  India  Company 
and  to  the  States-General  of  the  United  Provinces. 
Of  course  when  the  country  became  a  British  posses- 
sion, and  the  Duke  of  York  became  its  Lord  Proprie- 
tor, the  terras  on  which  the  Dutch  grantees  held  their 
lands  required  to  be  changed  in  this  respect,  so  as  to 


0  Sullivan's  Mnss.  Land  Titles,  (iO. 

'  II.  Bradford's  Laws,  N.  Y.,  ed.  1710,  p.  4. 


84 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


conform  to  the  actual  change  of  the  owners  of  the  ul- 
terior sovereign  right  of  eminent  domain. 

This  was  provided  for  in  that  very  ablj'  drawn,  lib- 
eral, and  just  "Code  of  Laws,"  enacted  and  promul- 
gated at  the  first  meeting  of  delegates  of  the  people  of 
the  Towns  of  the  Province  of  New  York  under  the 
English  rule,  held  at  Hempstead,  in  Queens  Cuunty, 
on  June  24th,  1665,  nine  months  only  after  the  Dutch 
surrender,  known  as  "  The  Duke's  Laws."  This 
code,  the  earliest  of  the  codes  of  New  York,  full,  clear, 
and  complete,  is  well  arranged  in  an  alphabetical  di- 
vision of  its  subjects.  Under  the  heading  "  Lands," 
is  this  provision,  "  To  the  end  all  former  Purchases 
may  be  ascertained  to  the  present  possessor  or  right 
owner.  They  shall  bring  in  their  former  Grants,  and 
take  out  new  Pattents  for  the  same  from  the  present 
Governoure  in  the  behalf  of  his  Royall  Highness  the 
Duke  of  Yorke ;  "  then  after  directing  the  making  and 
filing  of  a  survey  and  map  within  a  year  from  the 
date  of  a  purchase,  the  law  continues,  "  Every  Pur- 
chaser in  acknowledgment  of  the  propriety  of  such 
Lands  belonging  to  bis  Royal  Highness  James  Duke 
of  York,  shall  upon  the  sealing  of  the  Pattent  Pay 
unto  the  Governoure  so  much  as  they  shall  agree 
upon  ;»not  exceeding  hundred  acres."  Some  amend- 
ments and  alterations  were  made  to  this  code  pursu- 
ant to  its  own  j)rovisions  at  a  meeting  of  the  Court  of 
General  Assizes'  held  in  ihc  City  of  New  York  at  the 
close  of  September,  1665,  throe  months  later,  one  of 
which  re-enacts  the  last  cited  clause  in  these  more 
definite  words, — "  To  the  end  all  former  Purchases  &c, 
all  persons  whatsoever  who  have  any  Grants  or  Patents 
of  Towneshipps,  Lands,  or  Houses,  within  this  Gov- 
ernment, shall  bring  in  the  said  Grants  or  Patents  to 
the  Governoure  and  shall  have  them  Revewed  by 
Authority  from  his  Royall  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Yorke,  before  the  beginningeof  the  next  Court  of  As- 
sizes.^ That  every  purchaser  &c.  shall  pay  for  every 
hundred  acres  as  an  acknowledgment  two  Shillings 
and  six  pence.' 

This  law  and  this  sum  marked  the  beginning  of 
the  Quit-rents  and  their  amount  or  rate  paid  ever 
after  to  the  King,  and  subsequently  to  the  American 
Revolution  to  the  State,  and  which  only  terminated 
under  the  State  Quit-rent  statute  of  1815,  which  com- 
muted them  all  for  gross  sums  of  money,  as  will  be 
fully  explained  hereafter. 

Governor  Lovelace  sent  a  report  to  the  Duke  of 
York  on  the  state  of  the  Province,  undated,  but  which 
is  believed  to  have  been  made  early  in  1669,  the  year 
after  his  arrival  in  New  York.  In  this  he  says : 
"The  Tenure  of  Lands  is  derived  from  his  Royall 
Highness  who  gives  and  grants  Lands  to  Planters  as 
their  freehold  forever,  they  paying  the  customary 
rents  and  duties  with  others  toward  the  Defraying  of 

1  This  court  combined  judicial  and  legislative  powers,  and  was  created 
by  the  code  itself. 
2Tl]is  court  sat  annuallyin  September. 
3 The  Duke's  Laws,  I.  X.  Y.  H.  Coll.,  359  and  410. 


the  Publique  Charges.  Tlie  highest  Rent,  or  ac- 
knowledgment of  his  E.  H.,  will  be  one  penny  per 
acre  for  Lands  purchased  by  His  R.  H.,  the  least  two 
shillings  six  pence  for  each  hundred  acres,  whereof 
the  Planters  themselves  are  purchasers  from  the  In- 
dyans."* 

In  the  year  1666  the  "General  Court  of  Assizes" 
made  an  order,  that  all  persons  who  had  old  patents 
should  bring  them  in  to  be  renewed,  and  they  that 
had  none  should  be  supplied  therewith  by  a  certain 
time  therein  limited.  A  proclamation  of  the  Gov- 
ernor dated  at  Fort  James  the  1st  of  July,  1669,  to 
"the  Inhabitants  about  Delaware"  shows  us  very 
clearly  what  this  order  meant.  After  quoting  the 
order,  it  continues  in  these  words:  "Which  said 
order  did  extend  itself  to  Albany,  Esopus,  and  all 
other  places  of  the  Governm',  as  well  as  this  City  and 
more  particularly  to  all  those  who  had  beene  under 
the  Dutch,  and  are  now  reduced  to  his  Majesties 
obedience.'  These  presents  doe  declare  and  make 
Knowne  that  the  Inhabitants  in  and  about  Delaware 
being  under  this  Governm'  are  likewise  concerned  as 
well  as  the  rest ;  So  that  all  persons  there  who  hould 
their  lands  by  Patent  or  ground  briefs  of  y"  Dutch 
Tenure  are  to  have  their  Patents  renewed.  And 
those  who  have  none  are  with  all  conveniente  speed 
to  bee  supplyede  therewith,  otherwise  they  are  liable 
to  incurre  the  penaltye  in  the  Law  set  forth."  ^ 

The  terms  on  which  the  new  Patents  of  Confirma- 
tion were  granted  were  very  liberal.  So  much  so  as 
to  explode  the  idea  indulged  in  by  many  writers  that 
the  sole  object  was  to  extort  fees.  The  evidence  is 
conclusive.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  New  York 
presented  a  petition  of  inquiry  to  the  Court  of  As- 
sizes on  this  subject.  In  this  Court  it  will  be  remem- 
bered the  Governor  presided.  In  the  proceedings 
of  the  Court  in  the  Assize  Book,  under  date  of  March 
25,  1667,  two  years  prior  to  the  proclamation  just 
cited,  is  Governor  Nicolls'  reply  to  this  petition  in 
the  form  of  six  specific  entries.  They  are  as  follows, 
(the  contractions  in  the  original  being  plainly  written 
out). 

"1.  The  reason  for  renewing  all  former  groundbriefs 
was,  and  is,  to  abolish  the  express  conditions  con- 
tained in  every  one  of  them,  to  hold  their  lands  and 
houses  from  and  under  the  States  of  Holland  and  the 
West  India  (Company  in  Amsterdam  as  their  Lords 
and  Masters. 

"2.  Whoever  shall  bring  a  certificate  from  the 
mayor,  or  deputy  mayor,  or  two  aldermen  of  his  inca- 
pacity shall  pay  nothing  for  renewing  an  old  or  grant- 
ing a  new  patent. 

"3.  No  man  shall  pay  more  than  a  beaver  for  a 
new  patent  and  all  the  transports  depending  there- 
upon. If  any  person  shall  desire  his  own  transport  to 
be  converted  into  a  patent,  it  shall  be  done  for  3 
guilders  in  beaver. 


i  III.  Col.  Hist.  N.  Y.  188.  5  XII.  Col.  Hist.  463. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


85 


"  4.  Where  the  original  groundbrief  of  several  trans- 
ports cannot  be  found  each  transport  shall  be  confirmed 
for  3  guildere.' 

"5.  If  any  man  have  2,  3,  or  more  ground  briefs  of 
small  parcels  of  land  they  shall  be  comprised  in  one 
confirmation  at  the  half  price  allowed  by  the  Court. 

"  G.  The  Mayor  and  Alderman  to  draw  up  a  list  of 
houses  and  lots  belonging  to  persons  now  in  Holland 
or  else  where  not  in  amity;  nor  under  allegiance  to 
his  Majesty  of  Great  Britain  who  are  deprived  of  the 
benefit  hereof. 

As  the  time  allowed  for  bringing  in  the  said  ground 
briefs  is  almost  expired  the  Governor  suspends  the 
penalty  for  not  bringing  them  in  at  or  before  the  1st 
April  next  until  the  1st  May  this  present  year,  1667." 

Surely  more  favorable  or  easier  terms  could  not  have 
been  promulgated. 

Such,  in  brief,  was  the  nature  of  the  tenure  of  land 
established  in  New  York  when  the  Province  came 
under  English  rule.  It  was  fortunate  that  that  event 
was  almost  simultaneous  with  the  greatest  change  in 
the  law  of  England  since  the  days  of  King  John. 
That  change  really  gave  to  New  York  the  Ireehold, 
partible,  and  perfectly  alienable,  land  system,  which, 
with  slight  modifications,  has  existed  from  that  day  to 
this,  and  under  which  her  population  has  increased 
from  the  10,000  souls  in  the  last  year  of  Director 
Stuyvesant  to  the  5,000,000  people  over  whom  Gover- 
nor Hill  now  rules  in  this  year  of  grace  1886. 

9. 

The  Manors  in  New  York,  what  they  were  not,  and 
what  they  were. 

What  were  the  Manors  which  existed  in  New  York  ? 
What  were  those  in  the  County  of  Westchester  ?  To 
answer  these  questions,  the  origin  and  nature  of 
Manors,  especially  those  of  England,  all  of  which 
were  created  prior  to  the  18th  year  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.  (Anno  1290),  must  be  considered.  The 
statute  of  Edward,  called"  of  Westminster,"  or"  Quia 
emptores  "  from  its]  first  two  words,  "  in  the  year  1290 
put  an  end  forever  to  New  Manors  in  England."  '^  Those 
Manors  were  feudal  Manors,  of  the  kind  already  alluded 
to,  those  erected  in  New  York,  four  hundred  years 
later  were  freehold  Manors.  Their  difference,  and  why 
Manors  could  be  erected  in  New  York,  and  not  in 
England  will  be  shown. 

"  It  has  often  been  noticed,"  says  Sir  Henry 
Maine,  "  that  a  Feudal  Monarchy  was  an  exact 
counterpart  of  a  Feudal  Manor,^  but  the  reason  of 
the  correspondence  is  only  now  beginning  to  dawn 
upon  us,  which  is,  that  both  of  them  were  in  their 

•  It  will  be  remembered  that  under  the  Dutch  system,  the  "  ground- 
brief"  was  the  license  to  buy  of  the  Indians,  and  the  "transport"  the 
deed  of  the  Director  and  Council  for  the  land  after  the  purchase  of  the 
Datives  had  been  made. 

SGneist's  Const.  History  of  England,  148. 

'  \  similar  statement  is  found  in  West's  Manner  of  Creatiug  Peers, ; . 
10.    Cruise  on  Dignities,  p.  13. 


origin  bodies  of  assumed  kinsmen  settled  on  land  and 
undergoing  the  same  transmutation  of  ideas  through 
the  fact  of  settlement.  The  history  of  the  larger 
groups  ends  in  the  Modern  Notions  of  Country  and 
Sovereignty  ;  the  history  of  the  smaller  in  the  Mod- 
ern Notions  of  Landed  Property.  The  two  courses 
of  historical  development  were  for  a  long  while 
strictly  parallel,  though  they  have  ceased  to  be  so 
now."^  It  is  not  possible  in  the  limits  of  this  essay 
to  describe,  except  in  outline,  the  various  steps  and 
changes  by  which  the  barbarian  Teutonic  leader  and 
his  followers,  developed  into  the  family  or  tribal  ruler 
and  his  kindred  by  blood  or  by  tribe  settled  upon  the 
land  which  they  had  seized,  and  which  they  retained 
as  their  own.  How  strong,  how  natural,  and  how 
general,  was  this  principle  of  a  specific  land-settle- 
ment on  the  basis  of  kinship  by  blood  or  by  tribe,  is 
proven  by  the  examples  which  now  exist  in  three 
continents  at  this  day.  The  more  prominent  of  which 
are,  the  clans  of  Scotland,  the  Septs  of  Ireland,  the 
Slav  tribes  of  the  Balkan  regions,  in  Europe,  the 
Hindoo  Joint-Families  of  British  Asia,  and  the  na- 
tive Indian  tribes  of  North  America, 

Out  of  the  tribal  settlement  on  a  fixed  district  of 
land  came  the  Teutonic  village  or  town.  This  was 
"  an  organized,  self  acting  group  of  Teutonic  families 
exercising  a  common  proprietorship  over  a  definite 
tract  of  land, — its  Mark, — cultivating  its  domain  on  a 
common  system,  and  sustaining  itself  by  the  pro- 
duce."^ It  had  its  separate  households,  each  gov- 
erned by  the  father  of  a  family,  and  each  entirely  free 
from  any  interference  by  anybody  else.  Its  master 
was  supreme,  and  from  this  feature,  continually  pre- 
served and  maintained  to  this  daj',  comes  the  familiar 
principle  of  English  and  American  law,  that  "every 
man's  house  is  his  castle."  These  groups  of  families, 
or  societies,  with  their  Leader,  or  Headman,  were 
often  involved  in  disputes,  with  neighboring  societies 
and  their  families  and  Headmen.  And  to  this  fact 
of  native  Teutonic  quarrelsomeness  the  German  in- 
vestigators and  writers  ascribe  the  change  (which 
took  place  gradually)  that  evolved  the  manor  from 
the  Mark.  "  One  community  conquers  another  and 
the  spoil  of  war  is  either  the  common  Mark  (the part 
of  the  district  cultivated  in  common),  or  the  waste  [the 
uncultivated  part),  of  the  worsted  community.  Either 
the  conquerors  appropriate  and  colonize  the  part  of  the 
waste  so  taken,  or  they  take  the  whole  domain  and 
restore  it  to  be  held  in  dependence  on  the  victor 
society."  ^  This  was  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  suzer- 
ainty or  lordship.  Another  cause  of  the  change  from 
this  Mark  system  to  the  manorial  system,  the  German 
writers  say,  was  the  fact,  that  these  Teutonic  village 
societies,  "though  their  organization  can  only  be  de- 
scribed as  democratic,  appear,  nevertheless,  to  have 


<  Hist.  Inst.  77. 

5  Von  Slaurer  cited  by  Jtaiue,  Vill.  Com.  10,  with  approval, 
ejlaine's  Vill.  Com.  143. 


86 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


generally  had  an  abiding  tradition  that  in  some  one 
family,  or  in  some  families,  the  blood  which  ran  in 
the  veins  of  all  the  freemen  was  purest;  probably  be- 
cause the  direct  descent  of  such  family,  or  families, 
from  a  common  ancestor  was  remembered  or  be- 
lieved in. 

From  the  members  of  these  families  the  leader  for 
a  military  expedition  would,  as  a  rule,  be  chosen,  and 
the  power  he  would  thus  acquire  "  would  be  a  combi- 
nation of  political,  military,  and  judicial,  power." 
This  leader,  "  thus  taken  from  the  privileged  fauiily 
would  have  the  largest  share  of  the  lands  appropriated 
from  the  conquered  village  societies;  and  there  is 
ground  for  supposing  that  he  was  sometimes  rewarded 
by  an  exceptionally  large  share  of  the  common  land 
belonging  to  the  society  which  he  headed."  Another 
privilege  which  the  leading  family  and  its  chief  ob- 
tained, was  the  power  "  to  sever  his  own  plot  of  land 
from  the  rest,  and,  if  he  thought  fit,  to  enclose  it ;  and 
thus  break  up  or  enfeeble  that  system  of  common  cul- 
tivation under  rules  of  obligatory  custom  which  de- 
pended mainly  on  the  concurrence  of  all  the  villag- 
ers." '  Add  to  this  the  inherent  tendency  of  the  Teu- 
tonic mind  to  the  principle  of  primogeniture,  and  we 
have  the  basis  of  what  is  known  as  the  manorial 
system.  Transplanted  into  England  by  its  early  Ger- 
man invaders  this  inchoate  manorial  system  tojk  root 
and  existed  under  the  Saxon  domination  till  the  days 
of  Harold.  At  the  Norman  conquest,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  brought  full-grown  to  England  the  Feudal 
System,  William  of  Normandy  had  little  difficulty  in 
engrafting  it  upon  the  existing  Saxon  system,  or  rather 
in  transforming  that  system  into  Norman  Feudalism, 
which  was  that  of  France  and  Continental  Europe. 

Such  is  the  view,  of  the  latest  historians,  and 
most  learned  writers,  on  this  subject.  A  view  most 
tersely  summed  up  by  Sir  Henry  Maine,  "  our 
modern  English  conception  of  absolute  property  in 
land  is  really  descended  from  the  special  proprietor- 
ship enjoyed  by  the  Lord,  and  more  anciently  by 
the  tribal  chief,  in  his  own  Domain."  "Manors," 
Sir  William  Blackstone,  tells  us  "are  in  substance 
as  ancient  as  the  Saxon  Constitution,  though  perhaps 
differing  a  little  in  some  immaterial  circumstances 
from  those  which  exist  at  this  day ;  just  as  we  ob- 
served of  feuds,  that  they  were  partly  known  to  our 
ancestors,  even  before  the  Norman  Conquest."' 

Originating  before  the  feudal  system  itself,  that 
system  when  it  became  fully  developed  and  consoli- 
dated in  England  under  its  Norman  Kings,  gave  its 
own  coloring  and  imparted  its  own  features  to  the 
manor  land-system  of  the  England  of  the  Saxons. 

The  impression  is  very  common,  especially  in 
America,  that  the  Manor  system  is  purely  of  feudal 
origin.  Writers  who  have  referred  to  the  New  York 
manors,  as  a  rule,  describe  them  as  the  same  as  the 


feudal  manors  of  England.  Not  aware  that  manors 
have  not  been  created  in  England  since  1290,  not 
aware  that  the  law  of  England  at  the  time  of  the 
wresting  of  New  Netherland  from  the  Batch,  prohib- 
ited the  existence  in  the  New  Province  of  JVeiv  York  of 
feudal  Manors,  they  have  indulged,  and  do  indulge, 
in  a  great  deal  of  fine,  and  sometimes  indignant, 
writing  on  this  subject,  which  had,  and  has,  no  real 
basis  whatever. 

The  word  '  iManor '  is  an  English  corruption  of  the 
French  word,  '  Manoir,'  a  habitation,  or  mausi&n,  in 
which  the  owner  of  land  dwelt  permanently ;  and 
that  is  derived  from  the  Latin  verb  '  Maneo,'  to  remain, 
to  abide  in  a  place,  to  dwell  there.  In  Latin  a  Manor 
was  termed  '  Alanerium'  vvhich  signifies  the  same  as 
the  French  '  Manoir.'  It  has,  however,  been  stated 
to  be  a  synonym  of  '  Manurium,'  because  it  was 
labored  by  handy  work,*  '  Manas '  being  the  Latin 
for 'hand:'  but  this  signification  is  very  doubtful. 
Ellis  in  his  introduction  to  Domesday  Book,  the 
Great  Survey  of  the  Lands  of  England  made  by  order 
of  William  the  Conqueror,"  says,  that  the  earliest  ap- 
pearance of  the  word  Manor  in  England  was  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  who  was  fond  of  in- 
troducing Norman  language  and  customs. 

In  that  famous  survey  the  words  '  mansio,"  villa,' 
and  '  manerium,'  are  synonymous.  "  The  conquest," 
Mr.  Djgby  states,  probably  wrought  but  little  change 
in  the  relation  of  Saxon  supreme  land  owners,  or 
lords  of  districts,  and  the  tenants  holding  small  par- 
cels of  land  under  them.  "  A  Norman  lord  might  be 
substituted  for  a  Saxon,  but  the  dues  and  services 
would  substantially  continue  the  same.  .  .  .  After 
the  Conquest,  England  is  [found]  parcelled  out  into 
manors  varying  greatly  in  size,  having,  as  a  rule, 
fixed  boundaries,  often  coinciding,  as  is  still  the  case 
at  the  present  day,  with  the  boundaries  of  the  parish. 
In  some  cases  manors  were  diminished  or  added  to, 
and  new  ones  created.  Probably  however  there  was 
no  great  addition  after  the  Conque-st  to  the  number  ot 
Manors."  *  In  the  reigns  of  ihe  later  Saxon  Kings, 
those  subsequent  to  Allred,  the  English  Commis- 
sioners on  the  Law  of  Real  Property  tell  us,  "that 
portions  of  the  royal  domains,  with  jurisdiction  were 
granted,  and  afterwards  jurisdiction  was  granted 
although  the  land  might  never  have  belonged  to  the 
King.  The  objects  of  these  grants  were  lay  favorites 
or  monastic  houses,  and  the  operation  of  them  was  to 
invest  the  grantees  with  the  power  of  judging  the 
people  dwelling  in  their  territory.  The  courts  ibr 
this  purpose  were  framed  after  the  ordinary  model. 
The  lord  or  a  deputy  presided,  and  the  tenants  and 
suitors  formed  the  jury.  They  were  commonly  held 
in  the  hall  of  the  lord's  house,  and  were  thence  called 
Hallmotes."  The  words  which  granted  this  jurisdic- 
tion "  were  saca,  soca,  and  theime,  of  which  one  of  the 


1  Maine  ViU.  Com.  1215,  and  146. 
3  II.  Christian's  Blackstone,  90. 


2  Hist.  lus.  126. 


<  Tomliiis,  618.  Tower's  Law  Diet.  "  Manors." 

5  P.  2.3.  «  Digby  24,35. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


87 


l;nvs  supplies  us  with  the  interpretation.  Saca,  meant 
the  privilege  of  administering  justice  locally ;  soca, 
the  territory  or  franchise  in  which  the  privilege 
was  to  be  exercised  ;  theime,*  the  seignorial  jurisdic- 
tion." "It  will  be  obvious  to  every  one's  miud  that 
this  species  of  local  and  private  jurisdiction  is  what  we 
now  call  a  Manor.  The  substance  of  a  manor  is 
therefore  justly  said  by  Mr.  Ellis  to  be  aa  ancient  as 
the  Saxon  constitution;  and  the  lord  having  soc  and 
sac  over  his  own  men,  and  the  baron  holding  his 
own  court  for  his  own  men,  were  the  same  characters 
as  were  afterwards  termed  lords  of  Manors.  The 
word  manor  was  not  however  applied  in  pure  Saxon 
times ;  nor  perhaps  were  all  the  laws  and  usages  such 
as  we  now  have  them."  ' 

The  ancient  manor  as  it  became  consolidated  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  is  thus  defined  and  de- 
scribed by  that  "  reverend  Judge  eminently  knowing 
in  the  common  and  statute  law,  William  Riistall " '  in 
his  famous  book  on  the  Terms  of  the  Law : — "  Mannor 
is  compounded  of  divers  things ;  as  of  a  House,  Ara- 
ble Land,  Pasture,  Meadow,  Wood,  Rent,  Advowson, 
Court's  Baron,  and  such  like  which  make  a  Mannor. 
And  this  ought  to  be  by  long  continuance  of  time, 
the  contrary  whereof  man's  memory  cannot  discern  ; 
for  at  this  day  a  Mannor  cannot  be  made  because 
a  Court-Baron  cannot  be  made,  and  a  Mannor 
cannot  be  without  a  Court-Baron  and  Suitors  and 
Freeholders,  two  at  the  least ;  for  if  all  the  Freeholds 
except  one  escheat  to  the  Lord,  or  if  he  purchase  all  | 
except  one,  there  his  Mannor  is  gone,  for  that  it  can-  I 
not  be  a  Mannor  without  a  Court  Baron  (as  is  afore- 
said) and  a  Court-Baron  cannot  be  holden  but  before 
Suitors,  and  not  before  one  Suitor ;  and  therefore 
where  but  one  Freehold  or  Freeholder  is,  there  can- 
not be  a  Mannor  properly,  although  in  common  speech 
it  may  be  so  called. 

Mansion  (Mansio)  is  most  commonly  taken  for  the 
Chief  Messuage  or  habitation  of  the  Lord  of  a  Man- 
nor, the  ilannor-House  where  he  doth  most  reside, 
his  Capital  Messuage  as  it  is  called  ;  of  which  the  wife 
by  the  Statute  of  Magna  Charta,  chapter  7.  shall  have 
her  Quarantine."  * 

It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this  description  the  Court- 
Leet  is  not  mentioned.  This  is  because,  though  it  ex- 
isted in  every  Manor,  it  was  not  of  its  essence  as  the 
Court-Baron  was.  The  Court-Leet  was  a  Sheriff's 
court  and  had  cognizance  only  of  offences  against  the 
King,  or  the  King's  peace,  below  the  degree  of  high 
treason. 

The  Manors  of  New  York,  in  consequence  of  their 
having  been  erected  after  the  statute  of  Charles  II. 
(12  Charles  IL,  ch.  24,  Anno  1660)  abolishing  the 


iThis  word  is  90  spelled  in  the  Report,  but  it  is  spelled  'Theam  '  or 
'Team,'  by  Sir  Henry  Ellis  in  the  "Introductiun  to  Domesday,"  vol.  i. 
p.  275. 

-Fourth  Report  of  CommissioDers,  Appendix,  p.  106. 
3  Coke's  preface  to  his  10th  report. 
[  *  Terms  of  the  Law  490,  ed.  of  1685. 


military  tenures  and  turning  them  into  free  and  com- 
mon soccage,  never  possessed,  nor  were  their  lords 
ever  invested  with,  the  powers,  privileges,  rights, 
duties,  and  burdens  of  the  old  feudal  manors  of  Eng- 
land as  thus  described.  It  is  owing  to  ignorance  of 
this  fact,  or  the  concealment  of  it,  as  the  case  may  be, 
that  s«  much  misconception  has  been  generated  in  the 
popular  mind,  by  some  writers,  and  also  by  some  law- 
yers and  men  in  public  life,  who  in  the  recent  past 
sought  political  preferment,  or  private  gain,  in 
relation  to  the  manors  of  New  York,  their  ten- 
ants, and  their  owners.  As  to  the  latter,  a  curious 
error  has  obtained  credence.  We  often,  at  this  day, 
see  them  written  of,  and  hear  them  spoken  of,  as 
Nobles.  "  Lord  Philipse  "  and  "  Lord  Pell  "  are  fa- 
miliar examples  of  this  ridiculous  blunder  in  West- 
chester County.  No  grant  of  a  feudal  manor  in  Eng- 
land at  any  time  from  their  first  introduction  ever 
carried  with  it  a  title,'  and  much  less  did  any  grant  of 
a  New  York  freehold  manor  ever  do  so.  Both  re- 
lated to  land  only.  The  term  Lord  of  a  Manor  is  a 
technical  one,  and  means  simply  the  owner, — the  pos- 
sessor,— of  a  manor,  nothing  more.  Its  use  as  a  title 
is  simply  a  work  of  intense,  or  ignorant,  republican 
provincialism.  "  Lord "  as  a  prefix  to  a  manor 
owner's  name  was  never  used  in  England,  nor  in  the 
Province  of  New  York.* 

The  origin,  nature,  existence  and  continuance  ot 
the  Manors  of  New  York,  and  the  reason  why  they 
could  be  erected  by  the  English  Sovereigns  here,  when 
those  Sovereigns  could  not  do  so  in  England  since 
1690,  was  so  fully,  thoroughly  and  learnedly  set 
forth,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  in  an  opinion  by 
one  of  the  greatest  chief  justices  who  ever  graced  the 
State  of  New  York,  that  no  apology  is  necessary  for 
giving  it  in  his  own  language :  "  The  grantees  are 
authorized  in  terms  to  hold  a  court-leet  and  a  court- 
baron,  to  award  fines,  have  the  customary  writs,  etc., 
to  have  the  waifs  and  estrays,  deodands,  etc.,  and  the 
patronage  of  any  churches  to  be  erected  on  the  tract; 
and  the  freeholders  of  the  manor  are  empowered  to 
electa  representative  to  sit  in  the  General  Assembly 
in  the  Province  of  New  York.  [This  '^privilege"  was 
granted  only  to  the  three  manors  of  Cortlandt,  Livings- 
ston  and  Rensselaerswyck,  and  the  Borough  totrns  of 
West  Chester  and  Schenectadij'].  There  is  nothing  in 
the  patent  which  in  terms  empowers  the  patentees  to 
grant  lands  to  he  holden  of  themselves,  \_and  all  the 
manors  were  alike  in  this  respect'],  but  it  is  argued  that 
the  erection  of  a  manor  and  the  authority  to  hold  the 
courts  mentioned,  which,  according  to  English  law, 
are  manor  courts,  necessarily  implies  the  power  to 
create  suitors,  who  must  of  necessity  be  tenants,  hold- 
ing of  the  proprietor  of  the  manor,  owing  him  suit 


5  In  France  this  was  different.  Many  seignories  there  did  carry  with 
them  the  right  to  a  title,  but  it  was  not  the  case  with  all. 

'The  Sovereign  alone  is  the  "source  of  honor  "'  in  England,  and  the 
sole  power  that  can,  or  ever  could,  grant  a  title,  or  confer  nobility, 
under  English  law. 


88 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  service.  This,  it  is  said^  is  a  violation  of  the  sta- 
tute called  quia  emptores  terrarum,  passed  in  the  eight- 
eenth year  of  Edward  the  First,  {Anno  1290).  This 
statute,  after  reciting  that  the  feudal  tenants  have  sold 
their  lauds  to  be  holden  in  fee  of  themselves,  instead 
of  the  chief  lord  of  the  fee,  whereby  those  lords  have 
lost  their  escheats  and  other  feudal  perquisites  to  their 
"  manifest  disinheritance,"  enacts  that  "  forever  here- 
after it  shall  be  lawful  to  every  freeman  to  sell  at  his 
own  pleasure  his  lands  or  tenements,  or  part  thereof, 
so  neverthless  that  the  I'eoftee  [_the  grantee],  shall 
hold  the  same  lands  or  tenements  of  the  same  chief 
lord  of  the  fee  and  by  the  same  services  or  customs  as 
his  feoffor  [^grantor],  held  them  before.  A  second 
chapter  provides  for  an  apportionment  of  the  services 
in  case  of  a  sale  of  a  psa't  of  the  laud  out  of  which 
they  issued.    (Coke,  2  Inst.  500.) 

"  The  freedom  of  alienation  thus  conferred  upon 
the  military  tenants,  was  undoubtedly  a  very  material 
amelioration  of  the  feudal  system,  but  at  the  same 
time  the  main  object  of  the  statute  would  seem  to 
have  been  to  secure  to  the  great  barons  their  profits 
arising  out  of  these  tenures.  It  is  stated  in  the  sta- 
tute itself  that  it  was  ordained  "at  the  instance  of  the 
great  men  of  the  realm,"  and  it  was  clearly  for  their  |)ro- 
tection,  though  incidentally,  and  probably  by  its  unfore- 
seen operation,  proved  a  relief  to  the  inferior  tenants. 
Ihe  evil  was  that  the  chief  lords  were  defrauded  of 
the  fruits  of  their  tenures,  and  the  remedy  provided 
was,  that  every  tenant,  however  remote,  should  re- 
main the  debtor  of  the  chief  lord  instead  of  his  im- 
mediate feoffor  \_grantor]  for  the  services  incident  to 
the  tenure.  But  as  one  may  generally  waive  an  ad- 
vantage secured  to  himself,  so  it  was  held  that  the 
chief  lord  might  forego  the  benefit  of  the  statute  by 
authorizing  his  tenant  to  make  a  subinfeudation,  that 
is,  grant  lands  to  be  holdeu  of  himself;  but  this  could 
not  be  done  by  a  mesne  {middle)  lord  on  account  of 
the  interest  of  his  superiors. 

...  As  the  King  is  lord  paramount  in  all  feudal  ten- 
ures, no  subject,  since  the  statute,  can,  by  his  own 
authority,  create  a  manor ;  and  as  in  Eugland,  all  the 
land  was  granted  at,  or  soon  after  the  Conquest,  it  fol- 
lows that  English  Manors  must  have  their  origin  prior 
to  (this  statute)  the  eighteenth  of  Edward  first  (Anno 
1290).  But  as  the  King  does  not  hold  of  any  sujieriorj 
he  may  grant  land  to  be  holden  of  himself,  "  for,"  says 
Coke,  "  hereby  no  man  is  restrained,  but  he  which 
holds  over  of  some  lord,  and  the  King  holds  of  none" 
(2  Inst.  67).  Therefore,  if  there  are  crown  lands  in 
England  at  this  day  which  have  never  been  granted 
to  a  subject,  they  may,  without  doubt,  be  erected  into 
royal  manors.  And  cannot  the  King  grant  to  his  im- 
mediate tenant  the  right  to  make  grants  to  be  held  of 
himself,  the  tenant,  since  thus  there  would  be  the  as- 
sent of  all  the  lords,  mediate  and  immediate.  Tiie 
King's  tenants  in  capite  could  not  make  such  grants 
before  the  statute  quia  emptores  without  his  consent. 
This  was  by  force  of  the  King's  prerogative,  and  was 


an  exception  to  the  general  lule,  which  permitted 
subinfeudations  by  all  lords  except  the  tenants  in 
capite.  But  I  think  that  as  well  since,  as  before,  the 
statute,  the  King  could  license  his  immediate  tenant 
to  alien  to  hold  of  himself  the  tenant." 

After  citing  and  quoting  several  authorities  to  this 
effect  he  continues,  "  Assuming  the  law  to  be  as  in 
these  authorities  stated,  and  assuming  further  that 
the  grant  of  a  manor  and  the  right  to  hold  manor 
courts  ex  vi  termini  implied  an  authority  in  the  paten- 
tees to  create  manor  tenants  by  means  of  grants  re- 
serving services  to  themselves,  it  still  seems  clear  that 
the  patents  {the  manor  grants)  were  no  violation  of 
the  statute  referred  to.  The  patent  so  construed  was 
itself  a  license  to  the  patentee  to  make  grants  to  hold 
of  himself.  On  the  making  of  such  grants  the  paten- 
tees became  the  mesne  lords,  holding  ofthe  King,  and 
the  grantees  of  the  patentees  were  the  tenants  para- 
vail  (  so  called  because  ihey  have  the  avails  or  prnjits  of 
the  land),  holding  by  license  from  the  King  as  lord 
paramount,  of  their  immediate  lords  the  patentees. 
The  statute  would  prevent  any  further  subinfeuda- 
tions, by  the  freeholders  holding  under  the  patentees, 
unless,  indeed,  the  King  and  patentees  should  both 
consent. 

"That  this  was  the  understanding  of  the  crown 
lawyers  who  prepared  the  patents  for  lands  in  the 
Colonies,  is  evident  from  the  terms  of  several  Colonial 
grants.  The  charter  of  Pennsylvania  empowered 
Penn,  the  patentee,  to  erect  manors  and  to  alien  and 
grant  parts  of  the  lands  to  such  purchasers  as  might 
wish  to  purchase,  "  their  heirs  and  assigns,  to  he  htld 
of  the  said  WiUiam  Penn,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  by 
such  serv'ices,  customs  and  rents  as  should  seem  fit 
to  the  said  William  Penn,  etc..  and  not  immediately 
of  ihe  said  King  Charles,  his  heirs  or  successors,"  not- 
withstanding the  statute  of  quia  emptores  (I.  Wheaton 
348 ;  9  Wheaton  25(j).  .  .  . 

"The  records  of  some  ten  or  twelve  patents  exist  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  issued  respectively 
in  the  reigns  of  James  II.,  William  and  Mary,  Anne, 
and  George  I.,  and  the  earlier  government  of  the 
Duke  of  York  [among  which  are  those  of  Scarsdale, 
Fhilipsburgh,  Fordham,  Pelham,  Cortlandt,  and  Mor- 
risania,  in  W-.s'chester  County'],  with  powers  re- 
specting a  manor  and  Manor  Courts  similar  to  those 
under  consideration  [the  English  manor  grants  of 
Rensselaer swyck];  and  the  proprietary  charters  of  sev- 
eral of  the  Colonies  authorize  grants  to  be  made  to 
hold  ofthe  proprietaries.  If  the  statute  against  sub- 
infeudations was  in  force  in  the  colonies,  these  pro- 
prietary grants  were  as  much  violations  of  its  pro- 
visions as  the  grants  in  question  or  any  other  grants 
from  the  King.  The  practice  of  making  such  grants 
for  a  long  course  of  years  is  pretty  strong  evidence 
that  the  statute  was  never  understood  to  apply  to  the 
King.  .  .  .  The  general  expressions  of  writers  and 
judges  to  the  effect  that  manors  cannot  have  a.  com- 
mencement since  the  statute  of  Edward  [in  the  year 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


89 


1290]  is  quite  correct,  if  we  add  the  reason,  which  is 
always  understood,  viz.,  that  all  the  lands  in  England 
are  already  in  tenure,  and  subinfeudations  are  forbid- 
den by  the  statute.  The  rouuirk  was  never  appli- 
cable to  the  ungranted  crown  lands  in  the  Colonies, 
upon  which  the  statute,  I  think,  never  had  any,  or 
ouly  a  qualified,  bearing.'  I  have  considered  this 
question  as  though  the  statute  was  in  force,  and  con- 
trolled the  tenures  in  this  Colony  (New  York)  in  any 
case  to  which  in  England  it  might  be  applicable  ;  and 
I  do  not  think  it  material  to  deny  the  proposition, 
though  it  has  been  questioned  by  respectable  authority. 
Whether  it  was  generally  in  force  or  not,  it  did  not, 
in  my  opinion,  apply  to  the  ungranted  crown  lands ; 
and  in  respect  to  these,  the  King,  I  think,  was  com- 
petent to  authorize  his  immediate  grantees  to  create 
tenants  of  a  freehold  manor  by  granting  lands  to  be 
held  of  themselves. 

"  It  will  not  be  supposed  that  all  the  vexatious  inci- 
dents of  the  feudal  tenures  were  engrafted  upon  these 
Manor  lands  {in  Xew  York).  If  the  feudal  system 
ever  prevailed  in  the  American  Colonies,  it  had  been 
shorn  of  its  most  severe  features  before  either  of  the 
grants  in  question  [or  ani/  other  of  the  Manor  (/rants 
in  New  York']  was  made,  by  the  Statute  12  Charles 
II.,  ch.  24  {Anno  1660),  which  abolished  the  peculiar 
incidents  of  the  military  tenures,  and  changed  them 
whether  holden  of  the  King  or  others,  into  free  and 
common  socage ;  and  which  was  re-enacted  in  this 
State  soon  after  the  Revolution  with  a  retrospect  to  the 
time  of  the  passage  of  the  English  statute  I.  (Ireen- 
leaf,  359,  p.  2." 

The  case  in  which  the  foregoing  opinion  was  de- 
livered was  the  famous  one  of  the  People  against  Van 
Rensselaer  instituted  by  the  Attorney-General  of  this 
State  expressly  to  test  the  validity  of  manorial  grants 
and  privileges  in  the  former  province  of  New  York, 
reported  in  5  Selden  291.  It  was  decided  by  the 
Court  of  Appeals  unanimomly  in  favor  of  the  de- 
fendant Mr.  Van  Rensselaer,  in  1853,  the  decision 
being,  that  "  Royal  letters  patent  granting  lands  in 
the  province  of  New  York  are  not  void  by  reason  of 
their  conferring  manorial  privileges  and  franchises 
upon  the  patentees." 

These  "privileges  and  franchises"  are  set  forth  at 
length  in  every  Manor  Grant,  being  such  incidents  of 
the  Grant  as  the  Crown  chose  to  express  in  the 
instrument  itself,  and  saw  fit  to  bestow  upon  the 
grantee  therein  named. 

These  privileges  and  franchises  of  "  the  Freehold 
Manors  of  New  York  "  as  Chief  Justice  Denio  styles 
them,  were,  in  his  words,"  "  free  from  the  vexatious 
incidents  of  the  feudal  tenures.  And  he  further  says 
"  the  feudal  system,  which  if  it  ever  prevailed  in  the 
American  colonies,  had  been  shorn  of  its  most  severe 


•  'Chief  Justice  Ambrose  Spencer,  said  from  the  bench  that  the  statute 
in  question  never  applied  to  the  Americau  Colonies.  18  Johnson 
p.  180. 


feature  before  either  of  the  grants  in  question,  [or  any 
other  of  the  Manor  grants  in  New  York]  was  made,  by 
the  statute  of  Charles  II.  ch.  24,  which  [in  1660]  abol- 
ished the  Military  tenures  and  changed  them  into  free 
aud  common  socage."  This  tenure  as  we  have  seen  is 
purely  allodial,  save  only  in  the  fealty  due  the  King  as 
the  ultimate  lord  of  all  the  land  of  the  realm.  It  was 
formally,  as  has  previously  been  stated,  declared  by 
the  Provincial  Act  of  1691  to  be  the  tenure  of  lands 
in  the  Province  of  New  York.  No  change  was  made 
or  efi'ectedby  the  American  Revolution,  except  that  the 
Independent  Sovereign  State  of  New  York  succeeded 
to  the  position  of  the  King  as  ultimately  entitled  to  all 
the  land  within  its  borders.  On  the  20th  of  February 
1787,  before  the  United  States  had  an  existence,  before 
the  Convention  of  Independent  States  out  of  which 
this  Union  proceeded,  had  been  chosen,  and  two 
years  and  twelve  days  before  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  formed  by  that  convention  went  into 
efiect,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York,  passed 
an  "  Act  concerning  Tenures  "  of  a  remarkable  charac- 
ter. It  would  take  too  long  to  give  its  genesis  here,  in- 
teresting as  it  would  be.  It  was  passed  ten  years  after 
the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  Its 
first  section  (there  are  six  altogether)  establishes 
and  admits  Manor  grants,  but  calls  the  Lord  of  a 
Manor  "  the  Chief  Lord."  It  is  as  follows  :  "  Be  it 
Enacted  by  th  e  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  rep- 
resented in  Senate  and  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby 
Enacted  by  Authority  of  the  same.  That  it  shall  for- 
ever hereafter  be  lawful  for  every  Freeholder  to  give, 
sell;  or  alien  the  Lands  and  Tenements  whereof  he  or 
she  is,  or  at  any  time  hereafter  shall  be  seized  in  Fee 
Simple,  or  any  Part  thereof,  at  his  or  her  Pleasure,  so 
always  that  the  Purchaser  shall  hold  the  Lands  or 
Tenements,  so  given,  sold  or  aliened,  of  the  Chief 
Lord,  if  there  be  any,  of  the  same  Fee,  by  the  Same 
Services  and  Customs  by  which  the  Person  or  Per- 
sons, making  such  Gift,  Sale  or  Alienation,  before 
held  the  same  Lands  or  Tenements. 

And  if  such  Freeholder  give,  sell  or  alien  only  a 
Part  of  such  Lands  or  Tenements  to  any,  the  Feoffee 
or  Alienee  shall  immediately  hold  such  Part  of  the 
Chief  Lord,  and  shall  be  forthwith  charged  with  the 
Services  for  .so  much  as  pertaineth,  or  ought  to  per- 
tain, to  the  said  Chief  Lord,  for  the  same  Parcel,  ac- 
cording to  the  Quantity  of  Land  or  Tenement  given, 
sold  or  aliened,  for  the  Parcel  of  the  Service  so  due." 
The  second,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  sections  practically 
re-enact  the  statute  of  Charles  II.  abolishing  military 
tenures,  the  fifth  being  in  these  words,  "  Provided 
always,  and  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
said, That  this  Act,  or  any  Thing  herein  contained, 
shall  not  take  away,  nor  be  construed  to  take  away  or 
discharge,  any  Rents  certain,  or  other  Services  incident 
or  belonging  to  Tenure  in  common  Soccage,  due  or  to 
grow  due  to  the  People  of  this  State,  or  any  mesne 
[middle]  Lord,  or  other  Private  Person,  or  the  Fealty 
or  Distresses  incident  thereto."    The  Sixth  and  final 


90 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


section  enacts  "  That  the  Tenure  upon  all  Gifts, 
Grants,  and  Conveyances  heretofore  made,  or  here- 
after to  be  made,  of  any  Manors,  Lands,  Tenements, 
or  Hereditaments,  of  any  Estate  of  Inheritance,  by 
any  Letters  Patent  under  the  Great  Seal  of  this  State, 
or  in  any  other  Manner,  by  the  People  of  this  State, 
or  by  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeitures,  shall  be  and 
remain  Allodial,  and  not  Feudal,  and  shall  forever 
hereafter  be  taken  and  adjudged  to  be,  and  to  con- 
tinue in  free  and  pure  Allodium  only." 

The  Statute  of  Charles  seems  to  have  been  re- 
enacted,  out  of  pure  caution  only,  for  its  provisions 
had  been  the  law  of  the  Province  and  the  State  from 
the  Dutch  surrender  to  the  time  this  statute  was 
passed.  It  was  pure  surplusage.  But  why  the  first 
section  was  enacted  is  by  no  means  clear.  The  act 
certainly  confirms  the  free  socage  tenure  of  all  lands 
in  New  York,  does  away  with  every  other  tenure  and 
its  incidents,  except  the  fealty  to  the  State  and  to 
"  the  Chief  Lord  "  in  the  first  section  stated.  While 
the  last  section  declares  the  Socage  tenure  purely 
allodial  in  so  many  words.  It  thus  actually  re-enacted 
the  entire  English  Provincial  system  of  land  tenure, 
including  the  manor  system  as  the  State  land  system 
of  New  York. 

Lender  this  act  the  State  law  as  to  tenures  remained 
without  change  from  its  enactment  in  1787  to  the 
year  1830,  when  the  Revised  Statutes  went  into  effect 
which  declare  that  all  lands  since  that  date  are  allo- 
dial and  abolish  all  incidents  of  the  socage  tenure, 
and,  the  tenure  itself,  using  the  word  '  feudal '  to  ex- 
l>ress  it,  preserving,  however,  all  rights  under  the  same 
as  they  had  previously  existed.  The  "Tenure  of  Real 
Property  "  is  thus  stated. 

I  1.  The  People  of  this  State,  in  their  right  of  sov- 
ereignty, are  deemed  to  possess  the  original  and  abso- 
lute property  in  and  to  all  lands  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  this  State;  and  all  lands,  the  title  to  which 
shall  fail  from  a  defect  of  heirs,  shall  revert  or  escheat 
to  the  people. 

^  3.  All  lands  within  this  State  are  declared  to  be 
allodial,  so  that  subject  only  to  the  liability  to  escheat, 
the  entire  and  absolute  property  is  vested  in  the  own- 
ers, according  to  the  nature  of  their  respective  estates ; 
and  all  feudal  tenures  of  every  description,  with  all 
their  incidents,  are  abolished. 

^  4.  The  abolition  of  tenures  shall  not  take  away 
or  discharge  any  rents  or  services  certain,  which  at 
any  time  heretofore  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be, 
created  or  reserved ;  nor  shall  it  be  construed  to  afi'ect 
to  change  the  powers  or  jurisdiction  of  any  Court  of 
Justice  in  this  State.' 

From  and  after  1830,  therefore,  the  land  tenure  of 
New  York  has  been  and  continues  to  be  purely  allodial. 
The  vested  rights  and  incidents  of  the  former  socage 
tenures  were  preserved,  but  the  erection  of  any  other 
tenure  than  a  pure  allodial  one  is  forbidden. 


J II.  K.  S,,  Part  II.    Title  I,  p.  718,  first  ed. 


The  state  has  thus  after  the  lapse  of  centuries  re- 
turned to  the  free  and  just '  alod  '  of  the  earliest  Saxon 
days  of  England. 

The  nature  of  the  old  Feudal  3Ianors,  and  the  dif- 
ference from  them  of  the  Freehold  Manors  of  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  in  New  York 
having  been  shown,  the  incidents,  franchises  and 
privileges  of  the  latter  next  demand  attention. 

10. 

The  Franchises,  Privileges,  and  Incidents,  of  Manors 
in  the  Province  of  New  York,  and  in  the  Covnty 
of  Westchester,  and  the  Parishes  in  the  latter. 
The  erection  of  '  Manors '  by  the  English  in  New 
York,  like  the  previous  creation  of '  Patroouships,'  by 
the  Dutch  in  the  same  Province,  was  simply  the  es- 
tablishment and  carrying  out,  of  what  they  deemed 
the  best  method  of  promoting  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  their  new  possession  under  their  own 
laws  and  customs.  To  the  same  idea  is  due  the  grant- 
ing therein  of  similar  large  tracts  of  land  which  were 
not  manors.  The  latter,  the  '  Great  Patents,'  as  they 
were  called,  were  usually  granted  to  several  grantees. 
The  Manoi's  were  necessarily  granted  to  one  only. 
The  franchises,  privileges,  and  other  valuable  inci- 
dents, which  the  Manors  possessed,  and  which  the 
Great  Patents  did  not  possess,  were  much  fewer  than 
is  generally  supposed.  The  term  '  feudal,'  popularly 
applied  to  the  former,  has  caused  much  misconcep- 
tion. The  tenure  of  both  classes  of  these  crown  grants 
was  precisely  the  same,  being  "  in  free  and  com- 
mon socage  as  of  the  Manor  of  East  Greenwich  in  the 
county  of  Kent,"  which  has  been  already  explained. 
The  greatest  difference  between  them  lay  in  the  pe- 
culiar public  incidents,  as  they  may  be  called,  which 
constituted  a  Manor,  incidents  essential  to  its  exist- 
ence, and  which  related  more  to  the  government  and 
good  order  of  the  territory  of  the  Manor  and  the  pro- 
tection of  the  inhabitants,  and  their  rights  as  English- 
men, than  to  the  power  and  profit  of  the  Lord.  Tenants 
could,  and  did,  take  up  lands  under  the  grantees  of  the 
Great  Patents,  as  well  as  under  the  Lords  of  the 
Manors.  The  former  could,  and  did,  settle  people 
upon  their  Patents  under  leases,  as  well  as  deeds  in 
fee,  just  as  the  latter  did  upon  their  Manors.  Both 
classes  of  Proprietors  sold  in  fee,  or  granted  on  leases 
of  different  kinds,  just  as  their  interests  or  wishes 
dictated.  The  Great  Patents,  their  grantees,  and  the 
inhabitants  upon  them,  were  subject,  in  general  and 
local  matters,  to  whatever  public  territorial  divisions 
of  the  Province  embraced  them,  and  the  laws  in  force 
therein.  The  Manors,  their  Lords,  and  their  inhabit- 
ants, whether  tenants,  or  holders  in  fee  simple  of 
manor  lands  by  purchase  from  the  Lords,  were  sub- 
ject only  to  the  jurisdiction  and  courts  of  the  Manors 
in  local  matters.  Both,  in  all  matters  not  local,  were 
governed  by  the  laws,  courts,  and  the  civil  and 
military  authorities,  of  the  county  and  of  the  Prov- 
ince. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  3IAN0RS. 


91 


There  were  in  the  county  of  Westchester  Six 
Manors,  which  togetiier  comprised  by  far  the  hirgest 
jiart  of  its  area.  The  Great  Patents  were  much  more 
numerous,  but  together  not  so  extensive  in  area. 
These  latter  and  the  Borough-Town  of  Westchester, 
with  a  few  small  original  grants,  formed  the  rest  of 
the  county  as  it  was  originally.  The  lower  part  of  the 
Equivalent  lands  "  or  "  The  Oblong,"  received  in  set- 
tlement of  a  boundary  dispute  from  the  colony  of  Con- 
necticut was  not  added  to  the  county  till  the  year 
1731,  and  this  too,  was  then  embraced  in  a  single 
Great  Patent. 

The  ^lanors  were  those  of  "  Cortlandt,"  "  Scarsdale," 
'  Pel/tarn,"  "  Jlorrisania,"  "  FonlhaM,"  and  "  Philipse- 
borouijh,"  or  as  it  was,  and  is,  usually  written  and  pro- 
nounced "  Philipseburgh."  Of  these,  Cortlandt,  and 
Philipseburgh,  were  much  the  largest.  It  will  give  a 
correct  idea  of  the  great  extent  and  thoroughness  of 
the  manorial  settlement  of  Westchester  county,  as  well 
lis  the  satisfactory  nature  of  that  method  of  settlement 
to  its  inhabitants,  although  a  surprise,  probably,  to 
many  readers,  when  it  is  stated  that  in  the  year  17G9, 
one-third  of  the  population  of  the  county  lived  on  the 
two  Manors  of  Cortlandt  and  Philipseburgh  alone. 
The  Manors  of  Fordham,  Morrisania,  Pelham  and 
Scarsdale,  lying  nearer  to  the  city  of  New  York,  than 
these  two,  and  more  accessible  than  either,  save  only 
the  lower  end  of  Philipsburgh,  were,  if  any  thing,  much 
more  settled.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  upwards  of  live- 
eighths  of  the  people  of  Westchester  County  in  1769 
were  inhabitants  of  the  six  manoi-s  that  have  been 
named.  As  the  people  upon  the  manors  were  Iree  of 
general  jury  duty  the  fact  threw  upon  the  rest  of  the 
county  an  increased  burden.  The  '  Burgess '  (or  Rep- 
resentative) of  the  "Borough  of  Westchester"  in  the 
Assembly  in  17G9,  was  John  de  Lancey  of  Rosehill, 
Westfarms,  of  the  second,  or  Westfarms,  branch  of 
that  family,  being  the  second  son  of  Peter  de  Lancey 
of  Rosehill,  Westfarms,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  the 
daughter  of  Governor  Cadwallader  Golden.  He  at- 
tempted the  relief  of  the  non-manorial  inhabitants  of 
the  county  and  brought  this  matter  before  the  As- 
sembly in  this  speech,  from  which  we  learn  the  fact 
above-mentioned, — 

'■  Mr.  Speaker, — As  the  qualification  required  by 
the  act  for  returning  able  and  sufficient  jurors  in  the 
several  counties  of  this  colony,  entirely  disqualifies 
all  the  tenants  settled  upon  the  Manor  of  Philips- 
burgh, and  great  part  of  those  settled  upon  the  Manor 
of  Cortlandt,  in  the  county  of  Westchester,  from  serv- 
ing upon  juries ;  which  makes  that  service  extremely 
hard  upon  the  other  parts  of  the  county  (the  Manore 
of  Phili])sburgh  and  Cortlandt,  containing  at  least  one- 
third  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  county);  I  there- 
fore move  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill,  to  enable  and 
qualify  the  tenants  holding  lands  improved  of  the  value 
of  sixty  pounds  (S150),  either  for  years,  or  at  will,  within 
the  Manors  aforesaid  to  serve  upon  juries  within  the 
aaid  county  of  Westchester."    Leave  was  given,  and 


the  next  day  ^Ir.  de  Lancey  introduced  the  bill.  'The 
jury  act  referred  to  required  all  jurors  to  be  possessed 
either  in  their  own  rights  and  names,  or  that  of  Trus- 
tees, or  in  that  of  their  wives,  of  "a  freehold  in  lands, 
messuages,  or  tenements,  or  rents,  in  fee,  feetail,  or 
for  life,  of  the  value  of  sixty  pounds  New  York  cur- 
rency (S150)  free  of  all  incumbrances."    In  the  City 
of  New  York  alone  personalty  of  sixty  pounds  value 
was  permitted  as  a  qualification.    The  object  of  Mr. 
de  Lancey's  bill  was  to  make  the  tenants  in  the 
Manors,  who  were  not  freeholders,  subject  to  jury 
duty.    This  legislative  action  proves  that  none  of  the 
leases  in  the  manor  of  Philipsburgh  were  "  fee-farm  " 
leases,  that  is  leases  in  perpetuity,  for  such  leases 
were  "freeholds,"  and  the  "tenants  freeholders,"  by 
law;  and  that  the  same  thing  was  true  of  a  "great 
part "  of  the  leases  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt.  Mr. 
de  Lancey's  attempt  to  aid  his  constituents  was  not 
successful.    His  bill  failed  to  pass,  but  why,  the  jour- 
nals of  the  House  do  not  show.  Probably  the  tenants 
of  the  Manors  were  in  a  majority  sufficient  to  control 
their  members  in  the  House.    The  two  members  for 
the  County  had  the  tenants  of  Philipsburgh,  and  of  the 
four  smaller  manors  of  Scarsdale,  Pelham,  Morris- 
ania and  Fordham  among  their  constituents,  and 
"  The  Manor  of  Cortlandt had  its  own  representa- 
tive.    One  of  the  county  members  was  Frederick 
Pliilipse,  the  third,  and  the  then,  LordofPliilijiseburgh 
(the  other  being  John  Thomas  of  Harrison),  and  the 
member  for  the  Manor  of  Coi'tlandt,  was  Pierre  van 
Cortlandt,  of  Croton,  of  the  second  branch  of  that 
family,  and  subsequently  the  first  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of  the  State  of  New  York.    Both  the  count}' 
members  had  a  majority  of  Manor  tenants  in  their 
constituency. 

The  next  year,  177<i,  Mr.  Thomas,  one  of  the  County 
members,  tried  a  little  different  measure,  apparently 
punitive.  He  introduced  a  bill  relating  to  the  Manor 
of  Philipsburgh  alone,  entitled  "  a  bill  to  enable  and 
qualifS'  tenants  holding  lands  improved  to  the  value  of 
sixty  pounds,  either  for  years,  or  at  will,  within  the 
Manor  of  Philipsburgh,  in  the  County  of  Westchester, 
to  serve  as  jurors  in  the  justices  courts  held  in  said 
Manor,  where  the  parties  concerned  in  the  cause  to 
be  tried,  are  tenants  as  aforesaid."-  This  was  practic- 
ally to  invest  Justices'  courts  in  the  Manor,  with  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Courts-baron  of  the  manor,  only 
with  a  justice  instead  of  the  Lord  or  his  Steward  as 
its  presiding  head,  and  thus  imposed  double  jury  duty 
on  the  tenants.  This  measure  also  failed  to  pass.  These 
facts,  and  the  proposed  legislative  action,  first  men- 
tioned, occurring  as  it  did,  only  five  years  before  the 
beginning  of  the  American  Revolution,  show  how 
widely-extended  was  the  manorial  system  of  New 
York,  in  Westchester  County,  how  numerous  and 

'  .\3sembly  Journale.  Session  from  1st  November,  1769,  to  2"th  January, 
lTTi>,  l>p.    and  T. 

2  Assembly  Journals.  Session  from  ilst  Xov.  IVriO  to  iTih  .Tan.  1770, 
p.  80. 


92 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


politically  powerful  were  the  tenants  of  the  manors 
there,  and  how  well  they  were  satisfied  with  their 
position.  The  objection  coming  from  those  only  who 
were  not  manorial  tenants. 

The  peculiar  incidents  of  an  old  English  Manor 
have  not  been  described,  although  they  have  been 
referred  to.  The  definition  of  a  Manor  already  given, 
shows  that  it  had  two  Courts,  a  Court-Baron,  and  a 
Court-Leet.  The  scope  and  duties  of  the  former  of 
these,  that  in  which  the  Lord  exercised  jurisdiction, 
we  learn  from  Coke.  "If,"  says  he,  "we  labour  to 
search  out  the  antiquity  of  these  courts-baron,  we 
shall  find  them  as  ancient  as  manors  themselves. 
For  when  the  ancient  kings  of  this  realm,  who  had 
all  England  in  demesne,  did  confer  great  quantities 
of  lands  upon  some  great  personages  with  liberty  to 
parcel  the  lands  out  to  other  inferior  tenants,  reserv- 
ing such  duties  and  services  as  they  thought  con- 
venient ;  and  to  keep  courts  where  they  might  redress 
misdemeanors  within  their  precincts,  punish  offences 
committed  by  their  tenants,  and  decide  and  debate 
controversies  arising  within  their  jurisdiction  ;  these 
courts  were  termed  courts  baron." ' 

This  jurisdiction  was  the  very  essence,  so  to  speak, 
of  a  Manor,  for  the  same  great  authority  also  says, 
that,  "  A  Manor  in  these  days  [the  age  of  Elizabeth, 
in  which  Coke  wrote]  siguifieth  the  jurisdiction  and 
royalty  incorporate  rather  than  the  land  or  scite."^ 

An  old  English  Manor  may  be  said  to  have  con- 
sisted of: — 

1.  Demesne  lands,  which  were  the  Lords  personal 
demesne.  These  were  of  two  kinds,  first,  the  Manor- 
House  and  the  land  immediately  about,  or  adjacent 
to,  it,  which  the  Lord  himself  cultivated  for  his  own 
maintenance,  or  demised  to  others  to  be  cultivated 
for  that  purpose,  on  terms  of  years,  or  for  the  life  of 
the  tenants  ;  and  secondly,  the  uncultivated  lands  of 
the  manor  including  those  allowed  as  common  lands 
for  pasturage,  &c.,  to  the  freehold  tenants  generally, 
which  were  termed  the  "wasted  lands,"  or  more 
usually  the  "  Lords  waste,"  not  because  they  were 
worth  nothing,  but  because  they  were  untilled. 

2.  The  services,  rents,  and  duties,  reserved  to  the 
Lord  upon  the  original  freehold  leases  to  the  freehold 
tenants  of  the  manor. 

3.  The  reversion  of  those  jjarts  of  the  demesne 
lands  granted  for  lives  or  terms  of  years,  and  of  those 
escheated  to  the  Lord  in  the  case  of  freehold  tenants 
dying  intestate  and  without  heirs. 

4.  Jurisdiction  in  a  Court-Baron,  and  the  rents  and 
services  of  the  freehold  tenants  liable  to  escheat  and 
owing  attendance  as  suitors  at  the  Court.  This  Court 
was  a  necessary  incident  of  a  manor,  and  without  it, 
and  at  least  two  suitors,  no  manor  could  exist.  The 
Lord,  or  his  Steward  always  presided,  no  one  else 
could  hold  it.  The  freehold  tenants  were  the  judges 
of  fact,  just  as  jurors  are  in  ordinary  Courts ;  thus  no 


1  (.'iteii  in  Cruise  on  Dignities,  24.  2  Ibid. 


man  could  be  tried  except  by  bis  peers.  It  was  an 
absolute  necessity  that  it  should  be  held  within  the 
Manor  limits,  for  if  held  outside,  its  proceedings  were 
null  and  void.  Hence  it  was  usually  held  in  or  near 
the  Manor  House. 

5.  The  right  to  hold  a  Court-Leet.  This  Court 
was  not  necessary  to  the  existence  of  a  manor  as  a 
Court-Baron  was.  It  was  simply  one  of  the  general 
franchises  given  in  and  by  a  Manor  Grant.  It  was 
not  given  to  all  manors,  but  in  those  in  New  York  it 
was  usually  one  of  the  franchises  granted.  All  the 
manors  in  Westchester  County  possessed  this  fran- 
chise. The  Court-Leet  was  a  Court  of  Record  having 
a  similar  jurisdiction  to  the  old  Sheriff's  "  Tourns"  or 
migratory  courts  held  by  the  Sheriff'  in  the  difl'erent 
districts,  or 'hundreds'  of  his  County,  for  the  punish- 
ment of  minor  off"ences  and  the  preservation  of  the 
peace,  but  had.  more  extended  powers.  It  was  a 
criminal  Court  only  and  took  cognizance  of  all  crimes 
from  the  smallest  misdemeanors,  up  to,  but  excluding, 
treason.  It  was  granted  to  lords  of  manors  "  in  order 
that  they  might  administer  justice  to  their  tenants  at 
home."  All  the  people  in  the  district  of  the  Court- 
Leet  were  bound  to  attend  under  penalty  of  a  small 
fine.  The  Steward  of  the  M.anor  was  the  judge,  and 
the  people  of  the  manor  alone  could  be  the  jurors. 
"  Anciently,"  said  Lord  Mansfield,  "  the  Tourn  and 
the  Leet  (derived  out  of  it)  were  the  principal  Courts 
of  Criminal  Jurisdiction  ;  coeval  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Saxons  here.  There  were  no  traces  of 
them  either  among  the  Romans  or  Britons ;  but  the 
activity  of  these  Courts  is  marked  very  visibly  both 
among  the  Saxons  and  the  Danes."  * 

6.  The  Franchises  annexed  or  appendant  to  a 
Manor.  These  were  privileges  specifically  given  by 
the  Crown  in  the  Grants  of  manors,  or  of  lands  not 
manors.  "A  franchise,"  says  Cruise,  "is  a  royal 
privilege  or  branch  of  the  King's  prerogative  sub- 
sisting in  a  subject  by  a  grant  from  the  Crown."  * 
When  so  granted  they  were  said  to  be  appendant  to 
the  manor,  or  other  grant  in  which  they  are  set  forth. 
There  was  nothing  whatever  which  was  "feudal  "  in 
their  nature.  They  were  simply  favors  extended  by 
the  crown  to  the  grantees  of  lands  whether  manorial, 
or  non-manorial,  to  increase  the  value  and  enjoyment 
of  their  properties.  They  varied  much,  some  manors 
having  more,  some  less.  Most  of  these  franchises 
were  common  to  both  manorial,  and  non-manorial, 
lands.  Some,  however,  were  only  granted  to  Manors, 
and  were  held  by  their  Lords  in  addition  to  those  com- 
mon to  both  these  classes  of  Crown-granted  lands. 
Among  those  of  the  non-manorial  lands  were  Hunt- 
ing, Hawking,  Fowling,  Fishing,  &c.,  among  the  lat- 
ter, those  of  Courts-Baron,  Courts-Leet,  Waifs,  Estrays. 
Advowsons,  Deodands,  &c.    In  the  case  of  Manors 

3  Coke  2  Inst.  70. 

<3  Burrow's  Bep.  18G0.    See  as  to  the  jurisdiction  of  these  Courts 
HaUani's  "  Middle  Ages,"  347. 
SDia-est,  Title,  xxvii.  §  1. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


93 


there  were  often  special  franchises  granted,  growing  out 
of  the  geographical  situation  of  the  laud  itself,  or 
other  special  circumstances  of  a  local  nature,  such  as 
franchises  to  establish  ferries,  bridges,  fairs  and 
markets ;  and  for  the  tenants  to  meet  and  choose 
assessors  and  other  local  officers,  and  elect  represen- 
tatives of  the  Manor  in  the  General  Assembly.  The 
latter,  a  very  high  franchise,  was  conferred  upon 
three  only  out  of  the  great  number  of  Manors  in  New 
York.  These  were  the  Manors  of  Cortlandt,  Living- 
ston, and  Rensselaerswyck,  of  which  the  former,  the 
first  iu  which  the  franchise  was  granted,  was  the  only 
one  in  Westchester  County.  All  three  of  them 
bordered  upon  the  Hudson  River,  and  eventually 
embraced  within  their  territorial  limits  large  numbers 
of  inhabitants. 

All  these  franchises  were  what  the  law  terms  "  in- 
corporeal hereditaments,"  which  are  rights  and  pro- 
fits arising  from,  or  annexed  to,  land.  Among  them 
was  that  of  advowson  and  church  patronage.  An  ad- 
vowson  is  a  right  of  presentation  to  a  church,  or 
any  ecclesiastical  benefice.  It  existed  in  New  York, 
during  the  Colonial  period.  The  word  is  derived 
from  the  Latin  advocatio,  which  means  receiving  in 
ciientship,  because  in  England  originally  the  one 
possessing  this  right  was  termed  udvocutiiK  ecclesice, 
as  he  was  bound  to  defend  and  protect,  both  the  rights 
of  the  church,  and  the  clergyman  in  charge,  Irom  op- 
pression and  violence.  Hence  the  right  of  presenta- 
tion to  a  church  acquired  the  name  of  advowson,  and 
he  w  ho  possessed  the  right  was  called  the  patron  of 
the  church.  The  origin  of  the  right  was  this: — In 
the  early  days  of  Christianity  the  nomination  of  all 
ecclesiastical  benefices  belonged  to  the  Church.  When 
the  piety  of  some  rich  and  prominent  men,  or  great 
lords,  induced  them  to  build  churches,  near,  or  upon, 
their  own  estates,  and  endow  them  with  land  called 
a  glebe,  or  to  appropriate  the  rent  or  tithes  from 
neighbouring  lands  of  their  own,  to  their  support, 
the  bishops,  (non-episcopal  church  organizations  did 
not  then  exist)  desiring  to  encourage  such  pious  un- 
dertakings, permitted  these  rich  men  to  appoint  what 
person  they  pleased  to  officiate  in  such  chlirches,  and 
receive  the  emoluments  annexed  to  them ;  reserving  to 
themselves  only  the  power  to  examine,  judge  of,  and 
pass  u])on,  the  qualifications  of  the  persons  so  nomi- 
nated. Originally  a  mere  indulgence,  this  practice  in 
process  of  time  became  a  right.  And  those  who  had 
either  founded  or  endowed  a  church  naturally  claimed 
and  exercised  the  right  of  presenting  a  clergyman  to 
the  bishop  for  institution  whenever  the  Church  became 
vacant.  This  right  of  presentation  originally  allowed 
to  the  person  who  built  or  endowed  a  church,  became 
by  degrees  annexed  to  the  estate  or  Manor  in  which 
it  was  erected  ;  for  the  endowment,  whether  land,  or  i 
tithes  of  its  produce,  was  taken  as  part  of  the  Manor 
and  held  of  it ;  hence  the  right  of  presentation  jiassed 
with  the  Estate  or  Manor  to  which  it  was  appendant  ' 
by  grant,  and  thus  became  a  species  of  property.  ' 


'  Presentation  '  is  the  offering  of  a  clergyman  by  the 
patron,  or  owner,  of  an  advowson  to  the  Bishop  or  or- 
dinary, by  a  kind  of  letter  in  writing,  requesting  him 
to  admit  the  clergyman  named  in  it  to  the  Church. 
When  the  Bishop,  or  Ordinary,  alter  due  examina- 
tion, certified  in  writing  that  the  clergyman  was  a  fit 
person  to  serve  the  church,  the  latter  was  said  to  be 
"admitted."  The  Bishop,  or  Ordinary  then  "institut- 
ed" the  clergyman,  by  the  formal  commitment  to 
him  of  the  cure  of  souls.  This  was  done  by  the 
clergyman  kneeling  before  the  bi.sho])  and  reading  his 
promise  of  faithful  duty  from  a  written  instrument 
prepared  beibrehand  with  the  episcopal  seal  attached, 
which  he  held  in  his  hand.s,  and  afterwards  retained. 
This  gave  him  the  right  to  the  temporalities  of  the 
Church.  After  the  completion  of  the  "  Institution" 
the  Bishop,  or  Ordinary,  issued  a  "Mandate  of  Induc- 
tion "  in  writing,  directed  to  him  who  had  the  power 
to  induct  of  common  right,  or,  in  case  of  there  beiug 
no  person  possessing  this  power,  to  any  other  proper 
person  whom  he  saw  fit  to  name,  to  perform  the  of- 
fice. The  Actual  Induction  was  made  by  the  author- 
ized person  taking  the  clergyman  and  putting  his 
hand  on  the  door,  wall,  or  other  part  of  the  church 
edifice,  and  saying  to  this  eftect — "  By  virtue  of  this 
mandate  to  me  directed  I  do  induct  you  into  the  real, 
actual,  and  corporeal  possession  of  the  Church  of 

 (naming  it)  with  all  the  rights,  profits,  and 

appurtenances  thereunto  belonging,"  or  similar  words 
to  that  effect.  He  then  opened  the  door,  and  led  the 
new  clergyman  into  the  church,  who  usually  tolled 
the  bell,  if  there  was  any,  for  a  few  moments,  to  make 
known  his  induction  to  his  parishioners  and  the  pub- 
lic. This  course  was  followed  in  New  York,  and  the 
other  British-American  colonies  in  which  the  church 
of  England  existed.  But  as  there  was  no  Bishop  at 
that  time  in  this  country,  the  Ordinary  was  either  the 
Governor,  by  virtue  of  his  Commission,  or  the  Bishop 
of  London's  Commissary,  who  was  a  clergyman  ap- 
pointed by  the  Bishop  to  perform  certain  adminis- 
trative duties  here,  and  one  or  the  other  acted  in  the 
Bishop's  place.  The  Governor  of  the  Province  usually 
issued  the  mandate  of,  and  appointed  a  proper  person 
to  perform  the  ceremony  of.  Induction. 

This  right  of  advowson  and  church  patronage  was 
specifically  granted  in  express  terms  to  four  out  of  the 
six  manors  in  Westchester  County,  and  is  set  forth 
specifically  in  the  Manor  Grants  of '  Cortlandt,' '  Phil- 
ipseburgh,'  'Pelliam,'  and  '  Morrisania.'  In  that  of 
Scarsdale  it  is  not  granted,  nor  in  that  of  Fordham,  a 
proof  of  the  statement  made  above  that  Manor  fran- 
chises varied  in  difl'ercnt  Manor  Grants. 

At  the  beginning,  the  instruments  of  Presentation 
and  Induction  in  New  York  were  in  Latin,  and  many 
of  them  are  recorded  in  the  public  offices  of  the 
older  Counties,  in  that  tongue.  Later  they  were  in 
English.  The  following  is  a  complete  sequence  of 
these  curious  and  instructive  documents  showing  the 
Collation  and  Induction  into  the  "Parish  of  Rye, 


94 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Mamaroneck,  and  Bedford,"  of  tlie  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Punderson,  as  its  incumbent  in  the  year  1763,  the 
whole  being  in  English.  The  originals  are  in  the 
possession  of  John  C.  Jay,  M.D.,  of  Rye.  They  are 
printed  in  Bolton's  History  of  the  Church  in  the 
County  of  Westchester,  page  300,  etc.  Tlie  headings 
do  not  appear  in  the  originals.  In  this  case  the 
right  of  Patronage  was  vested  in  the  Wardens  and 
Vestry  of  the  Parish  itself,  as  was  often  the  case. 

THE  PRESENTATION   TO    THE   PARISH    OF  RYE  OF 
MR.  EBENEZER  PUXDERSOX. 

"To  the  Honorable  C'adwallader  Golden,  Esq.,  his  Majesty's  Lieu- 
tenant Governour,  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Province 
of  New  York,  and  the  Territories  depending  thereon,  in 
America  : 

The  Churchwardens  and  A'estrynien  of  the  Parish  of  Eye,  including 
the  districts  or  precincts  of  Eye,  Mamaroneck,  and  Bedford,  in  the 
County  of  Westchester,  in  the  Province  of  New- York,  the  true  and  un- 
doubted patrons  of  the  said  Parish,  within  your  Honour's  government, 
in  all  reverence  and  obedience  to  your  Honour,  due  and  suitable,  send 
greeting,  in  our  Lord  God  everla-^ting,  and  certifye  that  to  the  said  Par- 
ish of  Rye,  including  the  districts  or  precincts  of  Eye,  JIamaroneck,  and 
Bedford,  now  being  vacant  by  the  natural  death  of  James  Wetmore, 
the  last  incumbent  of  the  same,  and  to  our  presentation  of  full  right  be- 
longing, we  have  called  our  beloved  in  Christ,  Ebenezer  Punderson, 
Clerk,  to  officiate  in  the  said  Parish  church  of  Rye,  called  Grace 
Church  ;  and  him,  the  said  Ebenezer  Pundereon,  sends  by  these  presents 
to  your  Honour,  present,  humbly  praying  that  you  would  vouchsafe  him 
to  the  said  church  and  Parish  of  Rye,  including  the  districts  or  pre- 
cincts aforesaid,  to  admit,  institute,  and  cause  to  be  inducted,  with  al^ 
its  rights,  members,  and  appurtenances,  and  that  you  will,  with  favour 
and  effect,  do  and  fulfill  all  and  singular,  other  things  which  in  this 
behalf  are  proper  and  fitting  for  your  honour  to  do. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we,  the  Churchwardens  and  vestrymen  afore- 
said, have  to  these  presents  put  our  hands  and  seals,  this  day  of  Novem- 
ber, in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
three. 

Ebenezer  Kxiffen,  "1 

V  CJiurchtcartJenSj 
AxiiKEW  Mekrit.  j 

and  seven  Vestrymen." 

LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOUR  COLDEN'S  ADMISSION  OF 

MR.   PUNDERSON  TO  THE  PARISH  OF  RYE. 

"  I,  Cadwall.^ber  Coi.den,  Esquire,  his  Majesty's  Lieutenant  Gover. 
nour,  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  province  of  New-York,  and  the 
Territories  depending  thereon  in  America,  do  admit  you,  Ebenezer  Pun- 
d  'rson,  Clerk,  to  be  Rector  of  the  Parish  Church  of  Rye,  commonly 
called  Grace  Church,  and  of  the  Parish  of  Eye,  including  the  several 
districts  or  precincts  of  Rye,  Maniaroneck,  and  Bedford,  in  the  County 
of  Westchester,  within  the  said  Province. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  prerogative  seal  of  the  Province  of  New- 
York,  at  Fort  George,  in  the  City  of  New- York,  the  seventeenth  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-three. 

C.vdwallader  Colden." 
LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOUR  COLDEN'S  INSTITUTION  OF 
MR.  PUNDERSON  AS  RECTOR  OF  THE  PARISH  OF 
EYE. 

"  I,  Cauwallader  Colden,  Esquire,  his  Majesty's  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nour and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  New-York,  and  the 
Territories  depending  thereon,  in  America,  do  institute  you,  Ebenezer 
Punderson,  Clerk,  Rector  of  the  Parish  Church,  of  Rye  commonly 
called  Grace  Church,  and  of  the  Parish  of  Rye,  including  the  several 
districts  or  precincts  of  Rye,  Mamaroneck.  and  Bedford,  in  the  County 
of  Westchester,  in  the  said  Province  to  have  the  cure  of  the  souls  of  the 
parishioners  of  the  said  Parish  ;  and  take  your  cure  and  mine. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  prerogative  seal  of  the  Province  of  New- 
TTork,  at  Fort  George,  in  the  City  of  New-Y'ork,  the  seventeenth  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-three. 

C'adwallader  Colden." 


LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOUR  COLDEN'S  MANDATE  TO 
INDUCT  MR.  PUNDERSON  INTO  THE  PARISH  OF  UYE. 

"The  Honorable  Cadwallader  Colden,  Esquire,  his  Majesty's  Lieuten- 
ant Governour  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  New-Y'ork, 
and  the  Territories  depending  thereon  in  America.  To  all  and  singular 
Rectors  and  Parish  Ministers  whatsoever,  in  the  Province  of  New-York, 
or  to  Andrew  Merrit  and  Ebenezer  Kniffen,  the  present  Churchwardens 
of  the  Parish  of  Rye,  in  the  County  of  M'estchester,  and  to  the  Vestry- 
men of  the  said  Parish,  and  to  each  and  every  of  you,  greeting  : — AVhere- 
as,  I  have  admitted  our  beloved  in  Christ,  Ebenezer  Punderson,  Clerk,  to 
the  Rectory  of  the  Parish  Church  at  Eye,  commonly  called  Grace  Church, 
and  of  the  Parish  of  Eye,  including  the  several  districts  or  precincts  of 
Eye,  JIamaroneck,  and  Bedford,  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  within  this 
government,  to  which  the  said  Ebenezer  Punderson  was  presented  unto 
me  by  the  Churchwardens  and  Vestrymen  of  the  said  Parish,  the  true 
and  undoubted  patrons  of  the  said  Parish,  vacant,  as  is  say'd  by  the 
natural  death  of  James  Wetmore,  the  last  incundient  there,  on  or  about 
the  nineteenth  day  of  Jlay,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty  ;  and 
him,  the  said  Ebenezer  Pundei-son,  I  have  instituted  into  the  Rectory  of 
the  said  Parish  Church  and  Parish,  with  all  their  rights,  members,  and 
appurtenances,  observing  the  laws  and  canons  of  right,  in  that  behalf 
required  and  to  be  observed.  To  you  therefore,  jointly  and  severally,  I 
do  commit,  and  firmly  injoining.  do  command  each  and  every  of  you, 
that  in  due  manner,  him,  the  said  Ebenezer  Punderson,  or  his  lawfull 
Proctor,  in  his  name,  and  for  him  into  the  real  actiial,  and  corporal 
possession  of  the  Rectory  of  the  said  Parish  Church  and  Parish,  including 
the  districts  and  precincts  aforesaid,  and  all  of  their  rights  and  appur- 
tenances, whatsoever,  you  induct,  or  cause  to  be  inducted,  and  him  so 
inducted  you  do  defend :  and  of  what  you  shall  have  done  in  the  premises 
thereof,  you  do  duely  certify  unto  me  or  other  competent  judge,  in  that 
behalf,  when  there  unto  you  shall  be  duely  required. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  the  prerogative  seal  of  the  Province  of  New- 
Y'ork,  at  Fort  George,  in  the  City  of  New-Y'ork,  the  seventeenth  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-three." 

C'adwallader  Colden." 

CERTIFICATE  OF  MR.  PUNDERSON'S  INDUCTION 
INTO  THE  RECTORSHIP  OF  THE  PARISH  OF  RY'E. 
"  I,  John  Milner,  Rector  of  the  Parish  of  Westchester,  in  the  County 
of  Westchester  and  Province  of  New-Y'ork,  do  hereby  certifye,  that  by 
virtue  of  a  warrant  hereunto  annexed,  from  the  Honourable  Cadwalla- 
der Colden,  Esquire,  his  SFajesty's  Lieutenant  Governour  and  Com- 
mander in  Chief  of  the  Province  of  New-York,  aforesaid,  and  the  Terri- 
tories depending  thereon,  in  America  ;  I  have  this  day  inducted  the  Rev, 
Ebenezer  Punderson,  into  the  real,  actual,  and  corporal  possession  of  the 
Rectory  of  the  Parish  Church  of  Rye,  commonly  called  Grace  Church 
and  of  the  Parish  of  Rye,  including  the  several  districts  or  precincts  of 
Rye,  JIamaroneck,  and  Bedford,  in  the  County  of  Westchester  aforesaid, 
with  all  their  rights,  members,  and  appurtenances,  the  2l6t  day  of 
November,  .\nno  Domini,  1763.  The  induction  of  the  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Punderson  being  executed,  the  above  certificate  was  signed,  in  conse- 
quence thereof,  by  the  Rev.  John  Milner,  in  the  presence  of  us,  who 
subscribe  our  n»mes  as  witness  thereunto. 

JOHN  JIILNER,  Rector  of  SI.  Peter's  Church  Westchester, 
and  twenty-one  others." 

SIR.  PUNDERSON'S  DECLARATION  OF  CONFORJIITY. 

"I,  Ebenezer  Punderson,  do  here  declare  my  unfeigned  assent  and 
consent  to  all  and  everything  contained  and  prescribed  in  and  by  ye  Book 
entitled  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  administrations  of  ye  sacra- 
ments ;  and  ye  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  ye  Church,  according  to  the  use 
of  the  Church  of  England  ;  together  with  ye  Psalter  or  Psalms  of  David, 
pointed  as  they  are  to  be  sung  or  sai<l  in  Churches,  and  the  form  or  man- 
ner of  making,  ordaining,  and  consecrating  Bishops,  Priests  and  Dea- 
cons." 

"  Upon  the  4th  day  of  December,  1763,  the  above  mentioned  Ebenez- 
er Punderson,  after  divine  service  was  began,  and  before  it  was  ended, 
read  distinctly  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  Religion,  and  declared  his  un- 
feined  assent  and  consent  to  them  ;  and  also  made  the  above  declaration. 

Witnes/i,  HACHALtAii  Brown,  Tlmothv  Wetmore." 

The  Rents  incident  to  a  manor  were  of  two  kinds, 
those  arising  from  the  demense  lands  of  the  lord,  and 
those  from  the  freehold  lands  held  by  the  tenants  of 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


95 


th:e  manor.  It  is  a  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  renting 
of  land  from  a  superior,  was  a  most  natural  as  well  as 
most  ancient  custom,  that  from  the  payment  of  rent 
is  derived  our  English  word  farm.  In  early  Saxon 
days,  and  at,  and  just  after,  the  Norman  Conquest, 
the  estates  of  the  chiefs  and  leaders  were  cultivated  by 
the  people  attached  to  their  different  lands,  the  vil- 
leins, heretofore  mentioned,  who  were  practically 
slaves,  and,  in  the  very  earliest  times,  passed  with  the 
estates  on  which  they  dwelt.  In  course  of  time  the 
laud  owners  allowed  them  to  occupy  specific  parts  of 
{heir  lands  at  will,  yielding  a  return  of  corn,  hay,  of 
other  portions  of  their  crops  ;  and  later  they  granted 
them  the  lands  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  by 
which  they  were  enfranchised,  the  owners  reserving 
an  annual  return  of  ])ortions  of  the  corn  or  other  pro- 
visions. From  this  the  lands  thus  granted  were  called 
farms,  from  tlie  Saxon  ■word  feorni,  which  signifies  pro- 
visions.' This  return  for  the  use  of  the  land,  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  Latin  word  redditus,  which  means  '  re- 
turn,' and  from  it  comes  our  English  word  '  rent.' 

Rents  were  of  three  kinds,  1.  Rent  service;  that  is 
payment  of  money  or  produce,  and  fealty,  which  was 
the  only  rent  known  to  tlie  common  law  and  to  which 
a  right  of  distress  was  incident.  2.  Rent  charge ; 
when  the  rent  was  created  by  deed,  no  fealty  was 
annexed  and  consequently  there  could  be  no  distress 
in  case  of  non-jjayment ;  hence  an  express  power  of 
distress  was  inserted  in  the  deed  to  cure  the  difficulty.  I 
A  rent  so  reserved  was  said  to  be  charged  with  a  dis- 
tress, and  hence  called  a  rent  charge.  3.  Rent  seek, 
or  dry  or  barren  rent ;  this  was  simply  a  rent  for  the 
recovery  of  which  no  power  of  distress  was  given  by 
the  common  law,  or  by  the  agreement  of  the  parties. - 

All  three  kinds  were  used,  but  the  first  or  rent 
service  was  that  generally  reserved  in  manor  leases  in 
New  York.  The  leases  themselves  were  granted  for 
terms  of  years  of  longer  or  shorter  periods,  with  cov- 
enants of  renewal,  or  without,  as  the  parties  could 
agree.  Usually  they  were  for  long  terms,  and  some- 
times they  were  made  in  perpetuity,  in  which  latter 
case  they  were  called  fee-farm  leases,  and  the  rents 
fee-farm  rents.  In  the  Westchester  County  Manors 
there  was  great  latitude  in  the  character  of  the  lease 
holds.  The  Lords  and  their  Tenants  were  bound  by 
no  hard  and  fa.st  rules,  and  made  just  such  agreements 
with  each  other  as  they  saw  fit.  Sometimes  the  right 
to  purchase  the  fee  by  the  tenant  upon  terms  was  in- 
serted in  the  leases.  But  it  was  the  custom  generally 
to  sell  the  reversion  of  the  fee  to  the  tenant,  whenever 
it  was  desired  and  the  parties  could  agree  upon  the 
terms  of  the  purchase.  These  leaseholds  were  de- 
visable by  will,  and  divisible,  with  the  lord's  assent, 
into  parts  in  the  lessee's  lifetime.  This  made  it  easy 
for  tenants  to  retain  their  farms  in  their  families 
from  father  to  son  if  they  wished,  or  to  divide  up  a 


»Cniise  Tit.  VIII.,  cli.  I.  ?  I.,  and  Tit.  XXVIII.,  ch.  1. 1 1. 
2  Cruise  Tit.  XXVIII.,  cb.  1. 


large  farm  into  smaller  ones,  among  several  sons,  or 
married  daughters.  But  in  all  cases  the  consent  in 
writing  of  the  lord  was  necessary.  And,  as  a  rule, 
this  was  never  withheld,  when  the  subdivisions  pro- 
posed were  not  made  too  small.  In  these  divisions  of 
a  leasehold,  the  rent  was  arranged  to  be  paid  in  one 
of  two  ways.  Either  the  lord  consented  to  take  it  in 
fixed  parts  from  the  holders  of  the  subdivisions,  or, 
which  was  most  usual,  it  was  agreed  among  the  sub- 
tenants that  some  one  of  them  should  pay  the  entire 
rent  under  the  whole  lease  to  the  lord,  and  be  re-im- 
bursed  by  each  of  them  for  his  own  part.  The  amounts 
for  the  different  parts  were  apportioned  among  them- 
selves in  this  case  as  they  chose.  When  the  lord  ac- 
cepted the  rent  in  parts  the  apportionment  was  made 
by  him,  or  his  steward,  with  the  tenants  at  the  time 
such  division  into  jiarts  was  agreed  upon.  In  the 
IVIanor  of  Scarsdale,  there  were,  within  the  personal 
knowledge  of  the  writer,  instances  of  tenants  holding 
their|farms  for  four  and  five  generations,  and  then  pur- 
chasing the  reversion  of  the  fee  from  the  lineal  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Lord  to  whom  the  fee  had  descended. 
And  it  may  be  said  that  much  the  greater  number  of 
the  original  tenants  of  that  manor,  or  their  descend- 
ants became  the  owners  in  fee  of  their  farms  by  direct 
purchase  from  the  first  Lord,  Caleb  Heathcote,  or  his 
lineal  descendants.  Several  of  these  farms  have  been 
so  sold  and  so  acquired  in  the  memory  of  the  writer. 
Another  rule  which  obtained  with  the  owners  of  that 
manor,  and  with  some  of  the  owners  of  the  manor  of 
Cortlandt,also,  to  the  writer's  knowledge,  was,  that  no 
stranger  to  the  tenants  of  any  farm  was  ever  permitted 
to  purchase  the  fee  of  a  farm,  without  the  owners  first 
giving  the  tenant  in  possession  the  first  opportunity 
to  purchase  it.  In  the  latter  manor  many  farms  were 
originally  leased  to  tenants  on  ninety-nineyears  leases, 
and  in  some  instances  they  have  remained  in  the  fam- 
ilies of  the  same  lords  and  the  same  tenants  during 
that  entire  term,  and  upon  its  expiration  then  sold 
in  fee.  One  of  these  farms  which  descended  to  the 
writer,  had  been  divided  into  four  parcels  by  the  origi- 
nal tenant  in  the  manner  above  mentioned.  And  ten 
years  ago,  when  the  niuety-nine  years'  lease  had  ex- 
pired, two  portions  of  it  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
great-grandchildren  of  the  first  tenant.  The  right  to 
purchase,  though  there  was  no  obligation  to  do  so,the 
term  having  exi)ired,  was  offered  to  them.  But  not 
wishing  to  profit  by  it,  the  fee  was  sold  at  public 
auction,  and  bought  by  an  adjoining  neighbor,  who 
some  years  before  had  acquired  the  fee,  or  "  soil  right " 
of  his  own  farm  in  the  same  way. 

The  quit-rents,  payable  to  the  sovereign  authority, 
whether  the  Crown,  or,  after  the  Revolution,  the 
State  of  New  York,  from  all  Manors,  as  well  as  the 
Great  Patents  and  Small  Patents,  granted  by  the 
Grown,  were  incidents  of  all  the  Manors,  as  well  as 
of  the  other  Crown  grants  of  eveiy  kind.  The  term 
itself  is  derived  from  the  Latin  '  quietus  redditu.o,'  and 
signifies  a  rent  reserved  in  grants  of  land,  by  the 


96 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


payment  of  which  the  tenant  is  quieted,  or  quit,  from 
all  other  service.  They  were  at  once  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  tenure,  the  holding,  of  the  lands, 
from  the  Sovereign  Authority,  and  the  source  of  a 
part  of  its  revenue.  And  this  is  the  reason  why  the 
success  of  the  American  Revolution  had  no  effect  what- 
ever upon  quit-rents,  and  that  they  continued  payable 
after  it,  just  as  they  were  before,  the  State  succeeding 
to  the  revenue  from  them  formerly  enjoyed  by  the 
Crown. 

The  Manor-Grants  in  the  County  of  Westchester 
varied  a  little  in  the  form  and  terms  of  the  clauses 
providing  for  the  reservation  and  the  payment  of 
these  quit-rents,  and  the  times  of  their  payment. 
The  clauses  were  framed  in  the  model  of  the  quaint 
old  clauses  of  the  ancient  Manors  of  England,  of  five 
centuries  before.  But  except  this  mere  resemblance 
there  was  nothing  "feudal"  in  them  more  than  in 
the  reservations  of  rent  in  a  modern  lease  of  a  store 
on  Broadway,  a  farm  in  the  Country,  or  an  opposition 
Rail  Road,  or  Oil,  Company.  The  quit-rent  clauses 
of  the  different  Manor-Grants  in  Westchester  County 
are  these ; — 

Manor  of  Cortlandt : — "Yielding  rendering  and 
])aying  therefor  yearly  and  every  year  unto  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors,  at  our  City  of  New  York,  on  the 
feast  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  our  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  the  yearly  rent  of  forty  shillings  current  money 
of  our  said  Province,  in  lieu  and  stead  of  all  other 
rents,  services,  dues,  and  demands  whatsoever  for  the 
afore  recited  tracts  and  parcels  of  land  and  meadow, 
Lordship  and  Manor  of  Cortlandt  and  premises." 

Manor  of  Scarsdale: — "Yielding,  rendering,  and 
paying  therefor  yearly  and  every  year  forever  at  our 
City  of  New  York,  unto  us  our  heirs  and  successors, 
or  to  such  officer  or  officers,  as  shall  from  time  to  time 
be  empowered  to  receive  the  same,  five  pounds  cur- 
rent money  of  New  Y'ork,  upon  the  Nativity  of  our 
Lord,  in  lieu  and  stead  of  all  services,  dues,  duties, 
or  demands  whatsoever." 

Manor  of  Pelharn : — Like  Scarsdale  as  far  as  the 
word  "same"  inclusive,  and  then,  "twenty  shillings, 
good  and  lawful  money  of  this  province,  at  the  City 
of  New  Yorke,  on  the  five  and  twentyeth  day  of  the 
month  of  March,  in  lieu  of  all  rents,  services,  and 
demands  whatsoever." 

Manor  of  Morrisania  : — "  Yielding  rendering  and 
paying  therefor  yearly  and  eveiy  year,  on  the  feast 
day  of  the  Annunciation  of  our  Blessed  Virgin,  unto 
us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  at  our  city  of  New  York 
the  annual  rent  of  six  shillings,  in  lieu  "  etc.  "  for 
the  said  lordship  and  manor  of  Morrisania,  and 
premises." 

Manor  of  Fordham:  "  Yealding,  rendering,  and 
paying  yearly  and  every  year  unto  his  Royal  High- 
ness, the  Duke  of  Y''orke  and  his  successors,  or  to  such 
governor,  or  governors,  as  from  time  to  time,  shall  by 
him  be  constituted  and  appointed,  as  full  acknowl- 
edgment and  quit-rent,  twenty  bushels  of  good  peas 


upon  the  first  day  of  March,  when  it  shall  be  de- 
manded." ^ 

Manor  of  Ph'ilipsborough  :  ^  "  Yealding,  rendering, 
and  paying  therefor,  yearly,  and  every  year,  on  the 
feast  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  at  our  fort  at  New  York,  unto  us  our  heirs  and 
successors,  the  annual  rent  of  four  pounds,  twelve 
shillings  current  money  of  our  said  province,  in  lieu 
of  all  former  rents,  services,  dues,  duties,  and  de- 
mands for  the  said  Lordship  or  Manor  of  Philips- 
borough  and  premises." 

In  the  parts  of  this  essay  treating"  of  these  Manors 
severally,  will  be  found  copies  of  the  official  receipts 
for  these  quit-rents  given  by  the  authorized  Crown 
officers  to  whom  they  were  payable.  Being  im  small, 
they  were  practically  allowed  to  run  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  then  paid  in  a  gross  sum.  Upon  Crown 
Grants  all  over  the  province,  not  Manor-Grants — 
Patents  as  they  were  termed — the  quit-rents  were 
usually  fixed  upon  the  number  of  acres  included,  or 
estimated  to  be  included  in  them,  at  the  rate  of  two 
shillings  and  six  pence  sterling  per  hundred  acres. 
But  though  this  rate  varied  in  some  instances  it  may  be 
taken  as  the  general  rate.  Some  of  them  were  payable 
in  kind  usually  in  winter  wheat.  As  the  Province 
grew  the  amount  of  quit-rents  increased  and  came  to 
be  an  important  part  of  the  public  revenue.  Several 
acts  of  the  Legislature  from  time  to  time  regulated 
the  times  and  manner  of  their  payment,  when  they  had 
fallen  into  arrears,  which  was  a  common  occurrence, 
the  last  of  which  was  in  1762,  which  also  carefully  pro- 
vided for  the  partition  of  large  estates  where  they  had 
come  into  the  possession  of  numerous  heirs.  But 
space  will  not  permit  of  more  than  this  allusion  to 
this  legislation. 

After  the  Revolution  when  the  State  succeeded  to 
the  rights  of  the  Crown,  and  in  1786,  an  act  was 
passed  providing  for  the  payment  of  the  quit-rents  to 
the  State,  and  permitting  the  owners  of  lands  subject 
to  them,  to  commute  by  paying  a  sum  in  gross,  upon 
the  receipt  of  which,  the  lands  were  declared  free 
and  discharged  from  then  forever.  The  sum  fixed 
was  fourteen  shillings  in  cash  for  every  one 
shilling  of  annual  quit-rent  payable  any  time  be- 
fore the  1st  of  May,  1787,  in  the  same  State 
securities  receivable  in  payment  for  forfeited  estates. 
In  the  case  of  those  payable  in  kind  they  were  to  be 
settled  for  in  the  method  in  the  book  of  the  Receiver- 
General  of  the  former  Colony,  if  this  could  be  found, 
and  if  not  found,  then  upon  principles  of  equity  and 
good  conscience  by  the  State  Treasurer.  This  law 
was  extended  from  time  to  time  by  various  special 
acts.  In  1791  one  of  these  acts  also  changed  the  pay- 
ments from  the  securities  mentioned  above  to  gold 
and  silver,  at  the  lower  rate  of  twelve  shillings  for 

1  This  was  the  only  Manor-Giant  in  the  County  of  Westchester  issued 
under  the  Duke  of  York  as  Lord  Proprietor. 

-So  styled  in  the  Manor-Grant,  but  usually  pronounced  "Thilipse- 
burgh." 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


97 


every  shilling  of  quit-rent.  The  extensions  continued 
to  be  made  nearly  every  year  up  to  1813,  when  all 
payments  and  commutations  were  suspended  for  two 
years.'  In  181."),  the  Comptroller  was  authorized  to 
sell  and  commute,  on  the  same  terms  as  before,  but 
in  a  method  specified  in  the  Act.^  In  1816  and  1817 
two  more  Acts  were  passed  regulating  and  fixing  the 
whole  subject  and  placing  it  in  the  hands  of  the  State 
Comptroller,  and  under  these  the  quit-rents  were 
gradually  commuted  until  about  the  year  1828,  when 
Commutation  had  been  made  for  nearly  all  tlie  lands 
subject  to  them,  and  the  quit-rents  became  finally  ex- 
tinguished. 

Another  subject  requires  brief  mention  in  this  place. 
In  the  account  of  the  old  English  ilanors  which  has 
been  given  before,  little  or  no  mention  has  been  made 
of  the  Copyhold  lands.  This  was  because,  copyhold 
lands  as  such  did  not  exist  in  the  New  York  Manors. 
The  Copyhold  Tenure  in  England  grew  out  of  and 
was  simply  an  enlargement  by  custom  of  the  greater 
fi-ritij  of  the  villein  holdings  of  the  manors,  which, 
as  has  been  shown,  were  originally  terminable  at  the 
will  of  the  Lord.  As  the  custom  of  permitting  the 
villeins  to  hold  their  lands  from  father  to  son  in- 
creased, it  finally  became  regulated  by  the  Steward  of 
the  Manor  forming  a  Court  roll  of  such  holdings  in 
the  Court-Baron,  and  for  the  tenants  when  a  death  or 
other  termination  of  such  a  tenancy  by  gift  or  pur- 
chase occurred,  to  apply  at  the  Court-Baron,  over 
which  the  Steward,  in  the  absence  of  the  Lord,  pre- 
sided, for  an  entry  of  such  change  in  this  Court  roll, 
a  copy  of  which  was  given  to  the  new  tenant. 
From  this  custom  such  tenants  were  called  "Tenants 
by  copy  of  Court  Roll,"  and  in  shorter  terms  "  Copy- 
holdere."  As  the  tenure  grew  solely  out  of  a  custom 
of  the  Manors,  it  could  only  exist  in  Manors  old 
enough  to  have  a  custom.  But  as  the  freehold 
Manors  of  New  York,  were,  as  above  shown,  all  New 
Manors,  no  custom  of  a  manor  could  possibly  exist 
in  the  31anors  in  that  Province,  and  consequently 
there  could  not  be  any  "Copyholds"  or  "Copy- 
holders "  therein. 

In  England  at  this  day,  it  may  be  said,  that  with 
few  exceptions,  all  the  lands  of  the  old  manors 
except  the  private  demesne  lands  of  the  Lords,  have 
long  since  become  Copyhold  lands,  and  their  Tenants 
Copyholders.  Manors  there  are  frequently  bought 
and  sold  as  a  whole,  and  the  purchaser  succeeds  to  all 
the  rights,  franchises,  privileges,  and  powers  of  the 
original  Lord  of  the  JIanor.  In  the  growth  of  Eng- 
land many  Manors  have  become  enormously  valuable, 
by  the  spreading  over  them  of  large  towns  and  cities. 
Hence  many  rich  men  have  bought  out  these  old 
Manoi-s  when  in  the  neighborhood  of  flourishing  cities 
and  towns  as  an  investment,  or  on  speculation.  The 
Lords,  whether  old  or  new  ones  are  always  ready  in 
such  cases  to  sell  the  fee  of  these  Manor  lands  on 


'  Cli.       of  Lnws  of  KS13.  2  Cli.  209  of  Laws  of  18::>. 


satisfactory  terms,  which  is  termed  Enfranchising  the 
lands.  It  will  be  seen  when  a  town  or  city  has  over- 
grown a  Manor  and  the  latter  has  been  divided  into 
lots  how  very  valuable  manors  in  such  a  condition 
become.  The  writer  personally  knew  of  such  an  in- 
stance in  Gloucestershire,  where  the  City  of  Chelten- 
ham has  spread  over  the  Manor  of  that  name. 

A  little  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago,  that  manor 
was  purchased  in  the  manner  just  mentioned,  and  the 
new  Lord  issued  through  his  Steward,  who  was  also 
the  Steward  of  the  former  Lord,  his  proposals  for  En- 
franchising the  lots  in  the  Manor  within  that  City.  A 
copy  of  them  is  here  given  as  an  illustration  of  the 
nature  and  working  of  copyhold  lands  in  an  old  Eng- 
lish Manor,  and  their  advantages  and  disadvantages, 
and  the  method  by  which  they  can  become  lands  in 
fee  simple.  Although  no  copyhold  lands  did  exist  or 
could  have  existed,  in  New  York  the  matter  is  of 
interest  in  connection  with  the  general  subject  of  this 
essay. 

"manor  of  cheltexham. 
Enfrancliisement  of  Copyhold  Property. 

The  Purchase  by  Robert  Sole  Lingwood  Esquire  of 
the  Manor  of  Cheltenham  having  been  completed,  we 
are  requested  by  him,  as  Lord  of  the  Manor,  to  signify' 
to  the  Copyholders  that  every  facility  will  be  afforded 
to  those  who  desire  to  enfranchise  their  Copyhold 
Property,  and  that  the  terms  on  which  such  eufran- 
cuisement  may  be  effected  can  be  ascertained  either 
through  us  or  by  api^lication  to  Mr.  Lingwood. 

AVhilst  very  reasonable  terms  will  now  be  accepted 
to  induce  the  Copyholders  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
present  opportunity  to  effect  enfranchisements,  the 
Lord  of  the  Manor  directs  us  to  inform  the  Copyhold- 
ers that  he  requires  all  Leases  and  dealings  by  the 
Owners  with  their  Copyhold  Tenements  to  be  made 
in  strict  conformity  with  the  Act  of  Parliament  reg- 
ulating the  Customs  of  the  Manor ;  and  this  notifica- 
tion is  rendered  the  more  necessary  because  Leases 
have  heretofore  frequently  been  made  and  executed 
by  Tenants  of  the  ilanor  in  violation  of  the  Custom 
regulating  the  mode  of  leasing,  and  because  a  Lease 
of  Copyhold  properly  by  the  Owner  made  contrary  to 
the  Custom  occasions  an  absolute  forfeiture  to  the 
Lord  of  the  property  so  leased. 

Among  the  objections  to  Copyhold  property  which 
will  be  got  rid  of  by  Enfranchisement  may  be  enu- 
merated the  following  : 

1.  The  risk  of  forfeiture  of  the  property  by  reason 
of  ignorance  in  granting  Leases  contrary  to  the  Cus- 
tom.— 

2.  The  expence  of  the  perpetually  recurringStewarda' 
fees  payable  on  every  occasion  of  dealing  by  Sale  or 
Mortgage  with  the  Copyhold  property. — 

3.  The  like  expence  of  Stewards'  fees  payable  on 
the  death  of  every  Owner  of  Copyhold  property,  for 
the  admittance  of  his  heir  or  devisee. — 

4.  The  exjience  and  inconvenience,  frequently  oc- 


98 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


casioned,  to  the  Wife  of  a  Copyholder,  of  having  to 
travel  from  a  distance  to  make  in  person  a  surrender 
of  property  sold  or  mortgaged  by  her  Husband. — 

5.  The  liability  to  publicity  consequent  on  the  sur- 
render of  Copyholds  being  made  in  open  Court,  and 
the  proceedings  being  recorded  on  the  Court  Rolls 
which  are  accessible  to  all  the  Tenants  of  the  Manor. 
This  is  particularly  objectionable  with  reference  to 
Mortgages.  — 

6.  The  liability  to  absolute  forfeiture  of  the  prop- 
erty, if  the  Owner  dig  clay  or  brickearth  therefrom,  or 
cut  timber,  or  otherwise  commit  waste  without  the 
previous  sanction  of  the  Lord. 

Many  other  grounds  might  be  stated  in  favor  of  the 
Enfranchisement  of  Copyholds — butthe  foregoing  are 
some  of  the  more  important ;  and  in  Cheltenham,  where 
one-half  of  the  property  is  Copyhold,  nothing  need 
be  added  to  shew  the  importance  of  the  Copyholders 
availing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  now  offered  to 
them  of  immediately  enfranchising  their  property  on 
reasonable  terms. — 

Cheltenham  W.  H  Gwinnett, 

19  January,  18(53.  Steward  of  the  Manor." 

One  incident  of  a  manor  was  the  right  to  tithes  which 
sometimes  could  be  acquired  by  the  lords  by  prescrip- 
tions. This  incident,  as  the  manors  of  New  York  were 
new,  was  of  little  value  for  no  prescription  could  attach 
to  a  new  manor.  It  is  singular,  however,  that  in  the 
very  first  manor  erected  in  Westchester  County,  that 
of  Fordham,  in  1671,  provision  was  made  for  the  pay- 
ment of  a  parson  when  it  should  have  inhabitants. 
Its  Lord,  John  Archer,  and  his  heirs,  were  granted 
the  privilege  of  obliging  the  inhabitants,  when  there 
should  be  enough  of  them,  to  contribute  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  minister.'  Had  this  been  done 
which  it  never  was,  the  method  of  contribution  would 
naturally  have  been  by  tithes.  As  tithes  were  not 
known  in  America,  it  is  perhaps  well  to  explain 
briefly  what  they  really  were.  During  the  first  ages 
of  Christianity  the  clergy  were  supported  by  the 
voluntary  offerings  of  their  flocks.  But  this  being  a 
precarious  subsistence  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  eccle- 
siastics in  every  country  in  Europe,  in  imitation  of 
the  Jewish  law,  claimed,  and  in  course  of  time  es- 
tablished, a  right  to  the  tenth  of  all  the  produce 
of  lands.  This  right  appears  to  have  been  fully  ad- 
mitted in  England  before  the  Norman  Conquest,  and 
acquired  the  name  of  tithe  from  a  Saxon  word  sig- 
nifying tenth.  "  Dismes  or  Tithes  are  an  Ecclesias- 
tical inheritance,  collateral  to  the  estate  of  the  land, 
and  of  their  proper  nature  due  only  to  Ecclesiastical 
persons  by  the  ecclesiastical  law.-  They  were 
merely  a  right  to  the  tenth  part  of  the  produce  of 
the  soil,  produce  of  live  stock,  and  the  personal  in- 
dustry of  Ihe  inhabitants,  in  return  for  the  benefit  the 
latter  derived  from  the  ministry  of  their  spiritual 


I  Manor  Grant  of  Fordham.  II,  Bolton,  506,  2d  ed.,  and  ^os(. 
211.  D'Avner's  Abridgment  of  Com.  Law,  682. 


pastors.     They  were  an  application  of  the  Mosai 
law  to  modern  exigencies,  very  similar  to  certain  ap- 
plications of  other  parts  of  that  dispensation  to  thei 
own  exigencies  by  the  Puritan  settlers  of  NewEngland, 
and  were  like  the  latter,  strictly  enforced.  Both  wer~ 
simply  methods  of  paying  the  clergy.    They  were  o 
various  kinds  and  descriptions  varying  with  the  pro 
ducts  of  the  soil,  but  these  require  no  further  men 
tion  here. 

Glebe  lands,  however,  were  very  common  in  Amer- 
ica, in  New  York,  and  in  Westchester  County.  They 
were  lands  given  as  an  endowment  by  the  Lords  of 
Manors,  and  other  large  landholders,  for  the  support, 
or  in  aid  of  the  support,  of  Rectors,  or  other  clergy- 
men, of  parishes.  The  original  parishes  of  West- 
chester County  all  had  glebes ;  and  so,  towards  the 
close  of  the  Colonial  era,  had  the  diff'erent  churches 
and  parishes  erected  and  formed  at  different  places, 
out  of  those  parishes.  Of  course,  all  the  original  par- 
ishes as  well  as  the  later  ones,  were  parishes  and 
churches  of  the  Church  of  England,  as  is  shown  by 
their  very  nomenclature.  A  nomenclature  which  the 
dissenting  organizations  of  all  kinds  always  repud- 
iated, and  never  have  used,  since  they  severally  came 
into  existence  during  the  last  three  centuries.  Like 
all  English  parishes  these  in  Westchester  County 
were  territorial  divisions,  each  having  Church  War- 
dens, Vestrymen,  and  minor  Parish  officers. 

In  addition  to  their  duties  and  powers  relative  to 
the  Parish  church,  its  Rector,  and  the  maintenance,  of 
church  services  in  their  I'uUness  and  propriety,  the 
Wardens  and  Vestrymen  possessed,  exercised,  and 
were  by  law  bouudto  perform,  many  civil  duties,  now 
laid  upon,  and  performed,  by  Town  and  County  offi- 
cers, such  as  the  repairs  of  highways  and  bridges, 
maintenance  of  the  poor,  the  assessing  and  collection 
of  rates  and  taxes,  and  similar  local  duties,  including 
the  preservation  of  the  public  peace.  They  were  not, 
as  Church  wardens  and  Vestrymen  now  are,  officers 
of  a  purely  ecclesiastical  organization,  but  the  civil 
officers  of  the  parishes  or  territorial  organizations  of 
the  church  of  England,  as  established  by  law  in  the 
County  of  Westchester.  They  were  elected  by  all 
the  freeholders  resident  in  their  respective  parishes, 
whatever  their  religious  views  might  be.  And  before 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  their  offices,  pursuant  to 
a  law  of  the  Province  passed  the  27th  day  of  July 
1721,  took  the  following  oath  annually,  which  of 
itself  demonstrates  their  powers  in  one  of  the  im- 
portant respects  just  mentioned  : — 

"  You  do -Swear  on  the  Holy  Evangelist,  That  you 
and  every  of  you  shall  well  and  truly  execute  the 
Duty  of  an  Assessor,  and  Equally  and  Impartially 
assess  the  several  Freeholders  and  inhabitants,  accord- 
ing to  the  value  of  their  respective  Estates,  in  an  equal 
proportion,  in  every  of  your  respective  City,  Counties, 
and  Precincts,  for  lehich  you  are  chose  Vestry-men  and 
according  to  your  best  Skill  and  Knowledge  therein. 
You,  shall  spare  no  persons  for  Favour  or  Affection,  or 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


grieve  any  person  for  Hatred  or  III  Will.  So  Help 
you  God!"  1 

Their  powers  and  duties  of  every  nature  were  per- 
fectly well  understood  and  acknowledged,  and  their 
authority  obeyed,  without  hesitation,  by  the  people  of 
Westchester  County  throughout  the  Colonial  era.  Oc- 
casionally some  bitter  opponent  of  the  church  of 
England  would  try  to  prevent  the  performance  of 
their  legal  duties  or  the  legal  exercise  of  their  powers, 
by  word,  and  deed,  sometimes  with  great  heat  and 
violence,  just,  as  the  dissenting  clergy  did  in  matters 
of  the  exercise  of  clerical  functions.  But  their  legal 
rights  and  duties  as  parish  officers  under  the  laws  of 
the  Province  were  never  contested  or  denied  in  the 
Courts  of  the  Province.  The  People  knew  theni 
perfectly  and  acted  accordingly.  A  remarkable 
proof  of  this  was  furnished  in  the  case  of  the  Parish 
of  Rye,  in  1794,  eleven  years  after  the  peace  of 
1783,  and  six  years  after  the  first  organization  of  the 
County  into  township.*,  in  1688,  which  terminated 
the  political  existence  of  the  Parishes  and  the 
Manors.  Certain  creditors  of  the  "  late  Parish  of 
Rye,"  in  that  year  obtained  payment  of  the  debts  due 
them  from  the  various  newly  organized  towns  form- 
erly parts  of  that  Parish,  through  an  Act  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  passed  for  that  express  purpose. 
The  executors  of  one  of  the  Creditors  sued  "  .Joshua 
Purdy  one  of  the  Church  Wardens  of  the  late  Parish 
of  Rye  "  and  recovered  judgment.  Thereupon  he  and 
the  other  creditors  laid  the  case  before  the  Legislat- 
ure which  granted  the  relief  sought  by  passing  the 
following  Act,  thus  showing  the  continued  and  ac- 
knowledged lawful  action  of  the  Parochial  officers  of 
the  Parish  of  Rye,  under  the  Ministry  Act  of  1(59.3, 
which  created  the  Parish,  up  to  its  extinction  by  the 
Act  of  1784,  repealing  that  Act,  and  its  subsequent 
transformation  into  townships  by  the  Act  of  1788. 
The  Act  with  its  interesting  preamble,  and  severe  pro- 
visions for  its  due  enforcement  is  in  these  words ; — 

An  Act  for  raisinr/  Monies  in  arrear  from  the  lite 
Parixh  of  Rye,  in  the  County  of  Westchester. 

Passed  the  28th  of  Janttary  1794. 

Whereas  it  hath  been  represented  to  the  Legisla- 
ture that  a  judgment  of  fourteen  pounds  damages 
hath  been  obtained  by  the  executors  of  John  Law- 
rence, deceased,  against  Joshua  Purdy,  as  one  of  the 
late  Church  Wardens  of  the  late  Parish  of  Rye,  in 
the  County  of  Westchester,  for  monies  in  arrear  to 
their  late  testator  for  keeping  and  supporting  a 
pauper  committed  to  his  care  by  the  said  Joshua 
Purdy,  together  with  the  Costs  of  suit,  and  that  other 
monies  are  in  arrears  from  the  late  parish  of  Rye  to 
other  persons ;  Therefore ; 

Be  it  Exacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  That  it 
shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  Supervisors  of  the 
said  County  of  Westchester,  or  the  major  part  of 

'  II.  Bradford's  Lawa,  211  ;  I.  Liv.  *  Sniitli,  146. 


them,  and  they  are  hereby  required  at  their  next 
annual  meeting  to  examine  into,  and  ascertain  the 
amount  of  the  monies  so  recovered  as  aforesaid,  as 
also  the  costs  of  defending  the  said  suit,  and  to  ascer- 
tain also  the  amount  of  other  monies  so  due  from  the 
late  Parish  of  Rye  as  aforesaid,  and  to  cause  the  said 
monies,  and  also  such  other  sum  or  sums  of  money  as 
they  shall  find  to  be  so  due,  together  with  one  shil- 
ling in  the  pound  for  collections,  and  three  pence  in 
the  pound  for  the  fees  of  the  County  Treasurer  for  re- 
ceiving and  i)aying  the  same,  to  be  levied  on  and 
raised  from  the  Towns  which  constitute  the  said  late 
Parish  of  Rye,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  contingent 
charges  of  the  said  County  are  usually  raised  ;  which 
monies  when  so  raised,  shall  be  paid  by  the  Collect- 
ors respectively,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  said  County 
on  or  before  the  first  Tuesday  of  February  in  the  year 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-five,  who 
shall  pay  the  same  after  deducting  his  fees,  to  the 
persons  to  whom  the  monies  are  due:  and  if 
any  Collector  shall  refuse  or  neglect  to  perform 
the  duty  required  of  him  by  this  act,  he  shall 
forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  said  County  to  be  recovered  with 
costs  in  any  Court  having  cognizance  thereof  by  an 
Action  of  debt  in  the  name  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
said  County  for  the  time  being,  and  to  be  disposed  of 
for  the  use  of  the  same  County  in  such  manner,  and 
for  such  purposes  as  the  Supervisors  of  the  said 
County,  or  the  Major  part  of  them  shall  think  proper 
and  direct.'^ 

11. 

The  Church  of  England  Parochial  organization  in 
West  Chester  County  in  its  relation  to  the 
JIanorx  therein. 
In  England  the  Boundaries  of  a  Parish  and  a 
Manor  were  often  coincident,  and  in  the  very  earliest 
times  this  was  generally  the  case.  Later  a  Manor,  of- 
ten embraced  more  than  one  Parish.  Sometimes  a 
Parish  contained  within  its  limits  two  or  more  Manors 
or  parts  of  Manors,  and  lands  non  Manorial.  In  New- 
York  the  latter  was  the  case.  In  the  County  of  W^est- 
chester  the  Parishes  erected,  in  1()93  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  were,  the  "  Parish  of  Westchester,"  and 
the  "Parish  of  Rye."  The  former  included  West- 
chester, Eastchester,  Yonkers  and  the  Manor  of  Pel- 
ham,  the  latter  Rye,  Mamaroneck,  and  Bedford.'' 
These  divisions  were  termed  the  "  Precincts"  of  these 
Parishes.  The  Parish  of  Westchester  included  the 
three  Manors  of  Pelham,  Morrisania,  and  Fordham, 
with  the  lower  part  of  Philipfcburgh.  The  "Ten 
Farms,"  as  Eastchester  was  originally  termed,  were 
separated  from  the  mother  Parish  and  erected  on  the 
petition  of  its  people  into  a  Parish  by  itself  in  the 
year  1700,  under  a  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  "by 
the  name  and  stile  of  The  Parish  of  Eastchester  in 

=  Laws  of  the  17th  Session  A.D.  1794,  p.  5. 
3  11.  Bradford,  19-20.' 


100 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  County  of  Westchester."  ^  The  "  Parish  of  Rye" 
included  the  Manor  of  Scar&dale,  and  the  non-man- 
orial lands  of  Rye  and  Bedford. 

Later  Yonkers  was  taken  from  Westchester,  and 
made  a  Parish  by  itself.  It  M'as  the  only  Parish 
€ntirely  embraced  within  the  limits  of  a  Manor,  being 
wholly  included  within  the  boundaries  of  Philii^se- 
burgh  as  they  are  described  in  the  Manor-Grant  of 
that  Manor.  New  Rochelle  was  taken  out  of  the 
Manor  of  Pelham  and  eventually  made  a  Parish  by 
itself,  though  it  long  continued  a  Precinct  of  the 
Parish  of  Westchester. 

These  were  the  Parishes  in  Westchester  County, 
one  of  the  four  Counties  of  New  York,  in  which,  the 
Church  of  England  became,  under  the  legal  action  of 
the  Crown  of  England  in  its  conquered  Province,  the 
Established  Church  ;  the  others  being  the  Counties  of  i 
New  York,  Richmond,  and  Queens. 

A  misconception  has  existed  in  relation  to  the 
origin  and  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  the  part  of  the  territory  of  New  York,  comprising 
the  four  Counties  that  have  been  named.  It  has  been 
owing  mainly  to  the  little  attention  bestowed  on  the 
subject,  both  by  those  who  are  now  the  successors  in 
belief  of  the  Church  of  England  since  the  American 
Revolution,  and  those  of  the  dissenting  ecclesiastical 
organizations.  The  few  writers  who  have  referred  to 
the  subject  at  all,  have  taken  for  granted,  and  honestly 
believed,  that  no  such  establishment  ever  existed, 
and,  of  course,  have  written  in  that  belief  and  with 
that  idea.  But  some  attention  to  the  Authorities, 
and  the  then  law,  bearing  upon  the  subject,  will  show 
that  the  current  popular  opinion  is  not  as  well  found- 
ed as  has  been  supposed. 

The  question  is  a  purelj'  historical  one.  And  only 
in  an  historical  point  of  view  can,  and  will,  it  be  con- 
.sidered  here. 

From  and  after  the  English  conquest  of  New  York 
in  1664,  excepting  only  the  fifteen  months  that  the 
Dutch  reconquest  of  1673  lasted,  under  all  the  Eng- 
lish Governors,  their  Chaplains  maintained  the  ser- 
vices of  the  Church  of  England  and  performed  all  i 
clerical  duties  in  the  chapel  in  the  Fort  in  New  York. 

By  the  several  "Commissions"  and  "Instructions" 
to  the  Governors  under  the  signs-manual  of  their 
Sovereigns,  and  their  several  oaths  of  olBce,  the  dif- 
ferent Governors  were  commanded  and  compelled  to 
maintain  and  support  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
Province  of  New  York.  This  was  the  exercise  in 
New  York  of  a  power  which  was  legally  vested  in 
the  Sovereign  of  England  by  the  law  of  England,  and 
which  by  his  coronation  oath  he  was  bound  to  exer- 
cise. Although  so  strictly  commanded,  the  Governors 
were  unable  to  carry  out  their  Instructions  in  any 
other  way  than  in  the  King's  chapel  in  the  Fort,  as 
above  stated,  for  twenty-nine  years.  This  was  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  English  speaking  people  in  the 


Province  were  so  few  in  comparison  with  the  Dutch, 
and  the  French,  (the  latter  alone  being  one-fourth  of 
the  City  population  prior  to  1790),  that  the  church  in 
the  Fort  was  suflBcient  for  their  needs  in  the  City ; 
while  those  in  other  jiarts  of  the  Province  where 
there  were  any  English  at  all  were  so  very  few,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  act  at  all  in  the  matter.  All  this 
time  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Commissions 
and  Instructions  of  the  Governors  were  continually 
in  force.  At  length  the  increase  of  the  English 
population  became  sufficient  to  justifv  a  movement 
putting  them  in  operation.  On  the  28th  of  August, 
1692,  Colonel  Benjamin  Fletcher  arrived  in  New  York 
as  Governor  in  the  ship  "  Wolf,"  having  been  ap- 
pointed by  William  and  Mary  on  the  18th  of  the 
preceding  March. ^  He  was  warmly  attached  to  the 
i  Church  of  England.  Chief  Justice  Lewis  Morris  in 
a  judicial  opinion  in  1701,  speaks  of  him  as  "Colonel 
Fletcher  (justly  styled  the  great  patron  of  the  Church 
of  England  here)."  ^  At  his  instance,  pursuant  to  his 
Commission  and  Instructions,  the  Legislature,  com- 
posed of  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly,  an- 
swering to  the  present  Governor,  Senate  and  Assembly, 
passed  on  the  24th  of  March,  1693,  seven  months  only 
after  his  arrival  as  Governor,  "An  Act  for  Settling  a 
Ministry  and  Raising  a  Revenue  for  them  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  County  of  Richmond,  Westchester  and 
Queens  Counties."*  This  act  gave  an  impetus  to  the 
Church  of  England  in  New  York,  which  it  never  af- 
terwards lost.  Under  it  and  the  effijrts  and  support 
of  a  few  English  Churchmen  in  the  City  of  New 
York  who  had  organized  themselves  into  a  body 
styled  "The  Manajiers  '^f  the  Church  of  England  in 
New  York,"  at  the  head  of  which  was  Colonel  Caleb 
Heathcote,  that  Church  began  a  growth,  which  has 
continued  to  this  day.  Increasing  ever  after,  some- 
times faster,  sometimes  slower,  that  Church  became 
during  the  Colonial  era,  as  it  has  continued  to  be 
since  the  American  Revolution,  under  its  present 
title  of  the  Protestant  E]>iscopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  the  leading  church  in  intiueuce  and  standing, 
i  but  not  in  numbers,  in  the  City,  Province,  and  now 
State  of  New  York. 

Under,  or  rather  by,  this  Act  of  1693,  the  Par- 
ishes of  Westchester  County  were  constituted. 

The  reasons  why  this  "  Ministry  Act,"  as  it  was 
commonly  styled,  was  confined  to  the  regions  it  names 
in  establishing  the  Church  of  England  have  not  been 
adverted  to  by  any  writer  who  has  mentioned  it.  The 
Counties  it  designates  were  the  only  portions  of  the 
Province  in  which  English-speaking  people  dwelt, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  County  of  Suffolk,  iu 
the  eastern  portion  of  Long  Island.  In  all  the  other 
counties  of  the  Province,  the  Dutch,  with  many 
French  in  two  or  three  of  them,  were  the  sole  inhabi- 
tants.   In  those  counties  the  Dutch  church,  for  fifty 


III.  Bradford,  39. 


2  III.  Col.  Hist.,  8i%  833.  scbalmei-s  Opinions,  257. 

*  II.  Bradford's  Laws,  I'J. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


101 


years  prior  to  16G4,  the  Established  Church  in  the 
Province,  with  which  the  French  Protestants,  outside 
of  New  York  City,  generally  affiliated,  was  maintained 
in  its  worship,  privileges,  property  and  dependence  on 
the  Church  of  Holland,  by  the  Crown  of  England,  pur- 
suant to  the  Articles  of  Surrender  of  1(3(34,  the  Treaty 
of  Breda  in  16G7,  and  the  Articles  of  Surrender  of 
1674.  All  that  it  really  lost  by  the  change  of  dominion 
from  Holland  to  England  was  the  pecuniary  support 
it  derived  from  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  under 
the  ditl'erent  charters  of  Freedoms  and  Exemptions, 
and  the  title  of  the  '  Established  Church.'  Hence  it 
was  impossible  to  establish  the  English  Church  in 
those  parts  of  the  Province,  where  not  only  were 
there  no  English-speaking  people,  but  where  the  pre- 
existing Dutch  Church  was  guaranteed  by  the  English 
Crown  in  its  faith,  worship,  and  rights  of  property, 
neither  of  which,  by  the  law  of  the  land,  could  be 
interfered  with  in  any  way  whatsoever.  In  Suflblk 
County,  the  only  other  English-speaking  region  of 
the  Province,  there  existed  an  Established  church, 
the  Congregational  Church  of  New  England.  That 
County  claimed  to  be  a  part  of,  and  was  claimed  by, 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  was  represented  for 
years  by  delegates  in  the  "  General  Court "  at 
Hartford,  and  was  an  integral  part  of  that  Colony. 
As  such,  the  "  General  Court,"  under  the  "  Body  of 
Laws  of  Connecticut,  concluded  and  established  in 
May,  1(350,"  ruled  supreme  in  church  and  state  on  the 
east  end  of  Long  Island.  What  that  rule  so  "  estab- 
lished "  was,  is  best  stated  in  the  very  words  of  "  The 
Laws  of  Connecticut  Colony."  "  It  is  ordered  by  the 
Authority  of  this  Court;  That  no  persons  within  this 
Colony  shall  in  any  wise  imbody  themselves  into 
Church  Estate  without  consent  of  the  General  Court, 
and  the  approbation  of  Neighbour  Churches. 

"It  is  also  ordered  by  this  Court;  That  there  shall 
be  no  Ministry  or  Church  Administration  entertained 
or  attended  by  the  Inhabitants  of  any  Plantation  in 
this  Colony  distinct  and  separate  from  and  in  opposi- 
tion to  that  which  is  openly  and  publicly  observed 
and  dispensed  by  the  approved  Minister  of  the  place, 
except  it  be  by  approbation  of  this  Court  and  Neigh- 
bour Churches,  upon  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  Five 
pounds  for  every  breach  of  this  order  

"This  Court  having  seriously  considered  the  great 
Divisions  that  arise  amongst  us  about  matters  of 
Church  Government,  for  the  Honour  of  God,  welfare 
of  the  Churches,  and  preservation  of  the  publick  peace 
80  greatly  hazarded. 

"  Do  Declare ;  That  whereas  the  Congregational 
Churches  in  these  parts  for  the  general '  of  their  Pro- 
fession and  practice  have  hitherto  been  approved ;  We 
can  do  no  less  than  approve  and  countenance  the 
same  to  be  without  disturbance  until  better  light  in 
an  orderly  way  doth  appear. 

"  But  yet  forasmuch  as  sundry  persons  of  worth  for 


>  So  in  the  original. 


prudence  and  piety  amongst  us  are  otherwise  perswad- 
ed  (whose  welfare  and  peaceable  satisfaction  we  desire 
to  accommodate;  this  Court  doth  Declare;  That  all 
such  persons,  being  so  approved  according  to  Law,  as 
Orthodox  and  Sound  in  the  Fundamentals  of  Chris- 
tian Religion,  may  have  allowance  in  their  perswa- 
sion  and  Profession  in  Church  ways  or  Assemblies 
without  disturbance.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  further  ordered ;  That  wheresoever  the  Minis- 
try of  the  Word  is  established  according  to  the  order 
of  the  Gospel  throughout  this  Colony,  every  person 
shall  duely  resort  and  attend  thereunto  respectively 
upon  the  Lord's  day,  and  upon  such  publick  Fast 
dayes  and  dayes  of  thanksgiving,  as  are  to  be  general- 
ly kept  by  the  appointment  of  Authority.  And  if  any 
person  within  this  Jurisdiction,  shall  without  just  and 
necessary  cause,  withdraw  himself  from  hearing  the 
publick  Ministry  of  the  Word,  after  due  means  of 
conviction  used,  he  shall  forfeit  for  his  absence  from 
every  such  meeting _/?t;e  shillings.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  ordered  by  this  Court ;  That  the  Civil  Authori- 
ty here  established  hath  power  and  liberty  to  see  the 
Peace,  Ordinances  and  Rules  of  Christ  be  observed  in 
every  church  according  to  his  Word  ;  as  also  to  deal 
with  any  Church  member  in  a  way  of  civil  justice 
notwithstanding  any  Church  relation,  office,  or  inter- 
est, so  it  be  done  in  a  civil  and  not  in  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal way,  nor  shall  any  church  censure  degrade  or  de- 
pose any  man  from  any  Civil  Dignity,  Office  or  Au- 
thority he  shall  have  in  the  Colony.^ 

Such  was  the  Established  Congregational  Church 
of  Connecticut,  on  the  East  end  of  Long  Island.  To 
both  it  and  the  Colony,  the  final  determination  of  the 
Joint-Commission  appointed  to  settle  the  boundary 
question  after  the  Dutch  surrender,  that  the  ea.stern 
part  of  Long  Island  was  included  in  the  Duke  of 
York's  Patent  and  was  a  part  of  New  York,  was  a 
blow  as  severe  as  it  was  unwelcome,  and  the  people  of 
that  region  protested  against  it,  but  in  vain.  Al- 
though this  decision  severed  the  civil  connexion 
between  Suffolk  County  and  the  Colony  of  Connecti- 
cut, it  did  not  affect  the  ecclesiastical  connexion  be- 
tween them  except  that  it  ended  the  latter's  power  to 
enforce  its  church  laws  there  by  the  civil  arm.  And 
its  effect  is  perceptible  to  this  day,  notwithstanding 
the  fact,  that  Presbyterian  ism  came  there  about  1717, 
and  that,  since  the  American  Revolution,  several 
other  forms  of  Christian  belief  have  obtained  a 
foothold  in  that  County.  So  strong  was,  and  is, 
this  old  feeling,  that  the  editor  of  the  Southampton 
Records,  published  in  1877,  says  in  his  preface  to  the 
second  volume,  "  Had  the  wishes  of  the  i)eople  been 
consulted,  this  union  would  have  still  continued,  and 
to-day  our  delegates  to  the  Legislature,  would  ascend 
the  Connecticut  River  rather  than  the  Hudson."  '' 

These  were  the  causes,  the  efficiency  of  which  can- 

-  Book  of  the  General  Laws,  collected  out  of  the  Records  of  the  GeneraL 
Court,  pp.  21,  22.    Brinley'a  Beprint  of  1865,  of  tlie  ed.  of  lliT.'i. 
3  Jlr.  W.  S.  Pelletrcau. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


not  truthfully  be  denied,  why  the  English  Governors  of 
the  Province  of  New  York,  in  obedience  to  the  "In- 
structions "  of  the  English  King,  could  take  no  steps 
to  establish  the  Church  of  England,  except  in  those 
2)arts  of  that  Province,  where  it  could  possibly  be  done. 

The  Church  of  England  in  New  York  originated 
not  in  this  "  Ministry  Act"'  as  has  been  so  generally 
believed  and  stated,  but  in  the  earlier  action  of  the 
English  Sovereigns,  in  virtue  of  vlie  law  of  England. 
That  act  was  merely  the  second  step  taken  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  Royal  Instructions.  It  was  also  an  j 
illustration  of  a  principle,  which  obtained  through- 
out British  America  Irom  the  earliest  settlement 
of  Virginia  down  to  the  close  of  the  American 
Revolution.  That  principle  was  this,  "that 
some  form  of  religion,  dissent  from  which  in-  j 
volved  serious  civil  disabilities  was  established  in 
nearly  all  the  Colonies  by  virtue,  of  either  the  local  or 
the  imperial  law."  These  are  the  words  of  Ex-Pro- 
vost Stille  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  his 
"Religious  Tests  in  Provincial  Pennsylvania."  '  Mr. 
8tille  has  treated  this  subject  so  ably,  and  so  well, 
and  his  conclusions  being  so  nearly  identical  with 
those  to  which  its  investigation  had  already  led  the 
writer,  that  his  statement  (which  has  only  appeared 
since  this  portion  of  this  essay  was  begun)  is  here 
given  in  preference  to  the  writer's  own,  which  was  not  , 
quite  so  full,  and  because  it  corroborates  his  views. 

"The  truth  is,"  says  Mr.  Stille,  "that  during  the 
Colonial  period  we  were  essentially  a  nation  of  Pro- 
testants, with  fewer  elements  outside  Protestantism 
than  were  to  be  found  in  any  countrj-  of  Europe,  and 
that  we,  forced  to  do  so,  either  by  our  own  earnest 
conviction  that  such  was  the  true  method  of  support- 
ing religion,  or  by  the  laws  of  the  Mother-country, 
took  similar  methods  of  maintaining  and  perpetuating  ■ 
our  Protestantism,  excluding  those  who  dissented  from  | 
it  from  any  share  in  the  government,  and  frankly  adopt-  [ 
ingthe  policy  which  had  prevailed  in  England  from  the 

time  of  Queen  Elizabeth  There  were,  it  is  true, 

in  some  of  the  Colonies,  especially  New  York,  at  times 
'  ineffectual  murmuriugs '  against  laws  which  forced 
people  to  pay  taxes  for  the  support  of  a  ministry 
whose  teachings  were  not  in  harmony  with  the  re- 
ligious sentiment  of  the  great  mass  of  the  inhabitants,^ 
and  in  Pennsylvania  there  was  a  long,  and  at  last  a 
successful  struggle  to  induce  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment to  regard  the  affirmation  of  a  Quaker  as  equiv- 
alent to  the  oath  of  another  man ;  but  if  there  were 
any  men  in  our  Colonial  history  who,  after  the  ex- 
ample of  William  Penn,  and  Lord  Baltimore,  lifted  up 
their  voices  to  protest,  as  these  men  had  done,  against 
the  violation  of  the  jirincipleof  religious  liberty  here, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  their  names.  The 


I IX.  Penn.  Mag.  of  History,  372. 

'The  laws  in  the  New  England  Colonies,  though  not  mentioned  Ijy 
Mr.  Stillfe,  were  still  more  severe  than  the  Ministry  .\ct  of  New  York  in 
compelling  dissenters  from  the  Puritanism  of  those  colonies,  to  pay 
ta.\es  to  support  their  "Established  Cliurch." 


only  subject  of  a  quasi-ecclesiastical  nature  which 
appears  to  have  excited  general 'interest  and  to  have 
met  determined  opposition  was  a  scheme,  at  one  time 
said  to  have  been  in  contemplation  of  sending  Bishops 
to  this  country.  It  was  opposed  not  so  much  because 
it  was  thought  to  be  the  first  step  towards  forming  a 
Church  Establishmentin  this  [whole]  country,  as  be- 
cause the  Colonists  had  a  peculiar  abhorrence  of  the 
methods  of  enforcing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  English 
Church  as  they  were  familiar  with  them  in  the  old 
country.  They  may  have  forgotten  many  of  the 
sufferings  they  had  endured  in  England  in  conse- 
quence of  their  non-conformity  and  even  committed 
themselves  to  a  theory  of.  Church  establishment,  but 
there  was  one  thing  they  never  could  forget,  and  that 
was  the  prelatical  government  of  Land  and  the  High 
Commission,  and  upon  this  were  founded  the  popular 
notions  of  the  authority  wielded  by  Bishops.  ...  I 
I  am  well  aware  that  these  statements  of  the  general 
prevalence  of  a  principle  here  during  the  Colonial 
period,  which  in  contrast  to  that  now  universally  re- 
cognized I  must  call  the  principle  of  religious  intol- 
erance, will  ai)pear  to  many  too  wide  and  sweeping. 
But  a  very  slight  examination  of  the  provisions  in 
this  subject  in  the  laws  of  the  Colonies  will,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  produce  a  different  impression.  In  Vii-ginia 
where  the  English  Church  was  early  established  by 
law  and  endowed,  men  who  refused  or  neglected  to 
bring  their  children  to  be  baptized  were  punished 
with  civil  ]>enalties;  Quakers  were  expelled  from  the 
Colony,  and  should  they  return  thither  a  third  time, 
they  were  lialjle  to  capital  punishment.  Any  one 
who  denied  the  Trinity  or  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion  was  deprived  by  the  Act  of  1704  of  his  civil 
rights,  and  was  rendered  incapable  of  suing  for  any  gift 
or  legacy.  In  New  England,  except  in  Rhode  Island, 
religious  intolerance  was  very  bitter.  It  is  true  that 
in  Massachusetts,  under  the  charter  of  1691,  the 
power  of  committing  those  barbarous  acts  of  perse- 
cution of  which  the  theocracy  of  the  old  standing  order 
had  been  guilty  was  taken  away,  and  all  Christiana, 
save  Roman  Catholics,  were  permitted  to  celebrate 
their  worship,  yet  none  but  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  could  be  freemen,  and  all  were  taxed 
for  the  support  of  the  Ministry  of  that  Church.  In 
Elaine  which  was  a  District  of  Massachusetts,  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  in  Connecticut,  the  same  general 
system  of  religious  intolerance  prevailed.  Conformity 
was  the  inflexible  rule  throughout  New  England.  In 
New  York,  the  Dutch  were  protected  by  the  provisions 
of  the  Treaty  of  Breda,  which  guaranteed  them  the 
possession  of  their  property  then  held  there  for  reli- 
gious purposes  and  their  ecclesiastical  organization.' 
But  the  royal  Governors  of  that  Province  expelled 
any  Catholic  priests  who  might  be  found  within  their 
territory  on  the  plea  that  they  were  exciting  the  In- 


3  The  articles  of  the  two  "  surrendei-s  of  1064  and  1674,"  should  have 
been  mentioned  also  in  this  connexion. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


103 


dians  to  revolt  against  the  government,  and  they 
established  the  English  Church,  so  for  as  it  could  be 
done  in  a  Province  where  the  Episcopalians  were 
very  few  in  number  by  requiring  each  of  the  towns  to 
raise  money  lor  the  support  of  the  clergy  of  that 
church,  by  dividing  the  country  into  parishes,  and  by 
exercising  the  power  of  collating  and  inducting  into 
these  parishes  such  Episcopal  Rectors  as  they  thought 
fit.'  In  New  Jersey,  after  the  surrender  of  the  Charter, 
when  the  Colony  came  directly  under  the  royal 
authority  in  1702,  liberty  of  conscience  was  \n-o- 
claimed  in  favor  of  all  except  Papists  and  Quakers ; 
but  as  the  latter  were  required  to  take  oaths  as  quali- 
fications for  holding  office,  or  for  acting  as  jurors  or 
witnesses  injudicial  proceedings,  they,  of  course  the 
great  mass  of  the  population,  were  practically  dis- 
franchised. But  the  story  of  the  arbitrary  measures 
taken  by  the  Governor  of  this  Colony  [New  Jersey], 
Lord  Cornbury,  to  exclude  from  office  or  the  control  of 
public  affairs  all  except  those  who  conformed  to  the 
Church  of  England  is  too  well  known  to  need  to  be 
retold  here.  In  ^Maryland  the  English  Church  was 
established  in  IG'.'ii.  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
newly  organized  Province  was  to  disfranchise  those 
very  Catholics  and  their  children  by  whom  the 
doctrine  of  religious  liberty  had  been  established  in 
the  law  of  164!).  In  Carolina  after  the  fanciful  and 
impracticable  Ccmstitution  devised  for  it  by  the  cele- 
brated philosopher,  John  Locke,  had  been  given  up, 
by  which  the  English  Church  had  been  established, 
and  endowed  in  the  Colony,  the  Church  feeling  was  so 
strong,  and  the  determination  to  secure  its  supremacy 
so  unyielding,  that  an  Act  was  passed  in  1704  requir- 
ing all  members  of  the  Assembly  to  take  the  sacra- 
ment according  to  the  rites  of  the  Chui'cli  of  England. 
Georgia,  following  the  example  of  her  elder  sisters, 
gave  free  exercise  of  religion  to  all  except  Papists, 
and  such  rights  in  this  respect  as  any  native  born 
Englishman  at  that  time  possessed;  a  grant,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  very  doubtful  value  to  English  non- 
conformists, then  ruled  by  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
Toleration  Act.-  The  result  of  this  review  is  to  show 
that  in  all  the  Colonies  named  except,  perhaps, 
Rhode  Island,  liberty  of  worship  was  the  rule,  ex- 
cepting, of  course,  in  the  case  of  Roman  Catholics. 
Throughout  the  Colonies,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  man  who  did  not  conform  to 
the  established  religion  of  the  Colony,  whether  it  was 
Congregationalism  in  New  England,  or  the  Episcopal 
form  elsewhere,  was  not  in  the  same  position  in  regard 
to  the  enjoyment  of  either  civil  or  religious  rights  as 
he  who  did  conform.    If  he  were  a  Roman  Catholic 


'  .K\\  this  was  done  luidor  the  "  Ministry  .\ct  "  above  mentioned,  and 
its  amendments,  An  .\ct  which  wa.s  not  repealed  till  1784,  one  year  after 
the  establishment  of  Independence.  It  was  the  binding  law  of  New 
York  from  1(593  to  1784,  full  ninety  years. 

=  1.  W.  and  M.,  Ch.  18.  Exempting  dissentei-s  from  the  penalties  of 
certain  laws  against  non-conformity,  but  requiring  an  oath  against 
Iransnbstantiiition,  and  of  allegiance  to  William  and  Mary. 


he  was  everywhere  wholly  disfranchised.  For  him 
there  was  not  even  the  legal  right  of  public  worship. 
If  he  were  a  Protestant  differing  in  his  creed  from  the 
type  of  Protestantism  adopted  by  the  rulers,  although 
he  could  freely  celebrate  in  nearly  all  the  Colonies 
his  peculiar  form  of  worship,  he  was  nevertheless  ex- 
cluded from  any  share  in  public  affairs.  He  could 
neither  vote  nor  hold  ofiice,^  and  he  was  forced  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  a  religious  ministry 
whose  teachings  he  in  his  heart  abhorred.  And  this 
condition  of  things,  extraordinary  as  it  seems  to  us 
now,  had  not  been  brought  about  by  any  conscious 
arbitrary  despotism  on  the  part  of  the  rulers,  but  was 
the  work  of  good  but  narrow-minded  men  who  were 
simply  following  out  the  uniform  practice  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  who  no  doubt  honestly  thought 
that  in  so  acting  they  were  doing  the  highest  service 
by  obeying  the  will  of  God."  * 

The  Ministry  Act  of  New  York  was  simply  the 
carrying  out  as  far  as  it  was  possible  of  the  Commis- 
sion and  the  "  Instructions  "  which  Governor  Fletcher 
had  received  from  the  King.  These  "  Instructions  " 
to  the  Governors  of  the  British  Crown  Colonies,  which 
were  delivered  by  the  English  Sovereigns  in  writing 
to  each  Governor  when  first  appointed,  were  the  Con- 
stitutions of  the  Colonies  under  Avhich  they  were 
ruled  by  their  Governors,  just  as  the  Charters  from  the 
same  Sovereigns  were  the  Constitutions  of  the  Char- 
tered Colonies  under  which  they  were  governed. 
Both  were  given  in  the  exercise  of  the  Royal  Prerog- 
ative, and  were  in  fact  grants  of  it.  The  charters 
could  not  be  revoked  except  for  cause  as  long 
as  they  were  lived  up  to  and  obeyed.  The  "In- 
structions" were  the  Royal  directions  from  the 
King  for  the  governing  of  his  Province,  and  could 
be  altered,  varied,  or  revoked  at  his  pleasure.  In 
point  of  fact  they  were  never  changed  in  the  time 
of  each  Governor,  except  to  meet  some  exigency 
not  cOntempleted  when  they  were  issued.  Upon  the 
appointment  of  a  new  Governor,  either  new  "  In- 
structions "  were  given  to  him,  or,  if  those  of  the 
preceding  Governor  were  satisfactory  to  the  Province 
and  the  King,  he  was  simply  directed  to  carry  them 
out  as  his  own. 

The  Instructions  of  Charles  II.  to  Sir  Richard 
Nicolls  the  first  English  Governor  of  New  York, 
dated  the  28d  of  April,  16C4,  five  months  prior  to  the 
capture  of  New  York  from  the  Dutch,  directed  him 
to  avoid  giving  umbrage  to  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts, where  he  was  to  stop  on  his  way  to  New 
York,  by  being  present  at  their  devotions  in  their 
churches,  but  the  document  thus  continues,  "  though 
wee  doe  suppose  and  thinke  it  very  fit  that  you  carry 
with  you  some  learned  and  discreete  Chaplaine,  ortho- 
dox in  his  judgment  and  practice,  who  in  your  owne 


'  New  York  was  an  e.xception  to  this,  as  to  all  religions,  except  the 
Roman  Catholic. 
*IX.  Fenua.  Mag.  Hist.,  372-376. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


fainilyes  will  reade  the  book  of  Common  Prayer  and 
performe  your  devotion  according  to  ye  forme 
established  in  the  Church  of  England,  excepting 
only  in  wearing  the  surplesse  which  haveiug  never 
bin  seen  in  those  countryes  may  conveniently  be  for- 
borne att  this  tyme."  ^ 

The  Instructions  of  Lovelace  the  second  Governor 
seem  not  to  have  been  preserved,  but  he  says  in  a 
letter  of  the  28th  of  August,  1668,  to  Secretary  Lord 
Arlington :  "  I  have  since  happily  accomphisht  my 
voyadge  and  am  now  invested  in  the  charge  of  His 
Royal  Highnesses  teritorys  being  the  middle  position 
of  the  two  distinct  factions,  the  Papist  and  Puritane." 

In  the  time  of  Thomas  Dongan,  afterward  the 
Earl  of  Limerick,  the  third  Governor  of  New  York, 
Charles  the  Second  died,  the  Duke  of  York  succeeded 
as  James  the  Second,  and  his  Lord  Proprietorship 
merging  in  the  Crown,  New  York  thenceforward  be- 
came a  Royal  Province,  governed  directly  by  the  King 
through  his  appointed  Governor.  Though  a  Roman 
Catholic  himself,  and  his  Governor,  Dongan,  was  of 
the  same  religion,  James,  as  King,  acted  promj)tly, 
and  without  hesitation,  and  gave  Dongan  the  most 
pointed,  and  strongest  possible,  "  Instructions  "  to 
establish  the  Church  of  England  in  New  York.  A 
King  of  England  by  the  law  of  England  could  not  do 
otherwise.  But  the  thoroughness  of  James's  action 
under  the  circumstances  is  very  surprising.  His  "  In- 
structions" to  Dongan  bear  date  May  the  29th,  1686. 
They  not  only  established  the  Church  of  England, 
but  also  placed  it  under  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  are  in  these 
words : 

"31.  You  shale  take  especial  care  that  God  Al- 
mighty bee  devoutly  and  duely  served  throughout 
yo' Government:  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  as  it 
is  now  established,  read  each  Sunday  and  Holyday, 
and  the  Blessed  Sacrament  administred  according  to 
the  Rites  of  the  Church  of  England.  You  shall  bee 
careful  that  the  Churches  already  builtt  here  shall  bee 
well  and  orderly  kept  and  more  built  as  y''  Colony 
shall,  by  Gods  blessing  bee  improved.  And  that  be- 
sides a  competent  maintenance  to  be  assigned  to  y" 
Minister  of  each  Church,  a  convenient  House  bee  built 
at  the  Comon  charge  for  each  Minister,  and  a  com- 
petent Proportion  of  Land  assigned  him  for  a  Glebe 
and  exercise  of  his  Industry. 

"  32.  And  you  are  to  take  care  that  the  Parishes 
bee  so  limited  &  settled  as  you  shall  find  most  con- 
venient for  ye  accomplishing  this  good  work. 

"  33.  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  noe  minister  be 
preferred  by  you  to  any  Ecclesiastical  Benefice  in  that 
our  Province  without  a  Certificat  from  ye  most  Rev- 
erend the  Lord  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  of  his  being 
conformable  to  ye  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  of  a  good  life  and  conversa- 
tion. 


I  III.  N.  Y.  Col.  Hist.  49.  -  Ibia.  174. 


34.  And  if  any  person  preferred  already  to  a  Bene- 
fice shall  appear  to  you  to  give  scandal  either  by  his 
Doctrine  or  Manners,  you  are  to  use  the  best  means 
for  y'  removal  of  him  ;  and  to  supply  the  vacancy  in 
such  manner  as  we  have  directed.  And  alsoe  our 
pleasure  is,  that,  in  the  direction  of  all  Church  Aflairs, 
the  Minister  bee  admitted  into  the  respective  vestrys. 

And  to  th°  end  the  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdiction  of 
the  said  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  may  take  place  in 
that  our  Province  as  farr  as  conveniently  may  bee. 
Wee  doe  think  fitt  that  you  give  all  countenance  and 
encouragement  in  y"  exercise  of  the  same ;  excepting 
only  the  Collating  to  Benefices,  granting  licenses  for 
Marriage,  and  Probate  of  Wills,  which  wee  have  re- 
served to  you  our  Gov'  &  to  y'  Commander-in-chiet 
for  the  time  being. 

"  36.  And  you  are  to  take  especial  care,  that  a  Table 
of  Marriages  established  by  ye  Canons  of  the  Church 
of  England,  bee  hung  up  in  all  Orthodox  chiu-ches 
and  duly  observed. 

"37.  And  y('U  are  to  take  especial  care  that  Books 
of  Homilys  &  Books  of  the  39  Articles  of  y''  Church  of 
England  bee  disposed  of  to  every  of  y''  .said  churches, 
and  that  they  bee  only  kept  and  used  therein. 

"  38.  And  wee  doe  further  direct  that  noe  School- 
master bee  henceforth  permitted  to  come  from  Eng- 
land &  to  keep  school  within  our  Province  of  New 
York,  without  the  license  of  the  said  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury ;  And  that  noe  other  person  now  there,  or 
that  shall  come  from  other  parts,  bee  admitted  to  keep 
school  without  your  license  first  had." 

In  the  face  of  these  direct,  positive  "  Instructions"'  of 
James  II.  to  Governor  Dongan  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion that  the  King  in  the  legal  exercise  of  his  power  as 
Kiilg,  as  soon  as  it  was  possible  after  he  came  to  the 
throne  of  England  established  the  Church  of  England 
in  his  former  Proprietary,  and  now  Royal,  Province  of 
New  York,  subject  only  to  the  articles  of  surrender  of 
1664,  of  1674,  and  the  treaty  of  Breda  in  1667,  which 
guaranteed  the  continued  existence  therein  of  its  for- 
mer established  Church  of  Holland  with  all  its  rights 
of  faith,  discipline,  and  property;  and  subject  also  as 
far  as  Suffolk  County  was  concerned,  to  the  pre-existing 
Congregational  Church  of  Connecticut  as  there  prac- 
tically established  under  the  authority  of  the  General 
Court  of  that  Colony.  If  the  latter  was  a  legal  estab- 
lishment under  the  laws  or  charter  of  Connecticut 
prior  to  the  Dutch  surrender  in  1664  and  the  treaty 
of  Breda  in  1667,  then  the  King  of  England  was  legally 
bound  to  maintain  it  as  such.  He  did  immedi- 
ately after  the  first  Dutch  surrender,  by  his  com- 
missioners make  a  change  in  the  civil  condition  of 
Suffolk  County  by  deciding  that  Long  Island,  of 
which  it  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  the  eastern  end, 
was  not  a  part  of  Connecticut,  but  was  a  part  of  New 
York.  He  appointed  civil  officers  in  Suffolk  County, 
and  instituted  there  the  complete  civil  and  military 
jurisdiction  of  New  York,  but  made  no  change  what- 
ever in  its  ecclesiastical  condition,  which  continued 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


105 


precisely  the  same  as  wheu  it  claimed  to  be  a  part  of 
Counecticut. 

The  above-cited  provisions  of  the  Instructions  of 
King  James  to  Uoveruor  Dongan  relative  to  the 
Church  of  England  in  New  York  were  continued  by 
William  III.,  Aune,  George  I.,  George  II., and  George 
III.  in  their  dilt'erent  "  lustructions  "  to  the  difiereut 
Governors  of  New  York  they  successively  appointed, 
with  little  or  no  variation  in  language  and  none  in 
etl'ect.'  Occasionally  a  new  one  was  added,  as  in  the 
Instructions  to  Lord  Cornbury  when  he  was  appoint- 
ed Governor  by  Ciueeii  Anne,  dated  the  '2%h  of  Jan- 
ary,  1702,  in  which,  clause  No.  G3,  is  in  these  words ; — 
"You  are  to  inquire  whether  there  beany  minister  with- 
in yourGovernment  who  preaches  and -administers  the 
Sacrament  in  any  orthodox  church  or  chapel  without 
being  in  due  orders  and  to  give  an  account  thereof  to 
the  Bishop  of  London."  The  use  of  the  word  "  Minis- ' 
ter"  in  these  various  Instructions  is  shown  by  the  con- 
text of  them,  and  markedly  in  this  additional  one  to 
Cornbury,  to  mean  and  to  designate  clergymen  only  of 
the  Church  of  England.  And  the  same  thing  may 
be  said  of  the  term  "  Orthodox  Church,'"  for  by  law 
neither  the  King  nor  the  Bishop  could  acknowledge, 
or  have  any  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over,  any  Minis- 
ter or  any  Church  which  did  not  belong  to  the 
Church  of  England.  No  other  church  and  no  other 
other  clergyman  could  be,  in  the  eye  of  the  law, 
either  of  England  or  New  York,  orthodox.  King 
William,  as  King,  formally  apjtroved  the  Ministry 
Act  of  1()!)8  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York, 
and  as  by  the  law  of  England  he  could  not  acknowl- 
edge any  other  church  as  orthodox  or  any  other 
Ministers,  as  Ministers,  except  those  of  the  Church  of 
England,  it  follows  that  the  words  and  terms  of  that 
act  referred  to  the  Church  of  England  and  only  to 
that  church.  That  this  is  the  sense,  and  the  only 
legal  sense,  in  which  these  words  were  then  used,  is 
shown  by  an  opinion  of  Sir  Edward  Northey,  the  At- 
torney-General, in  1705,  asked  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
anil  Plantations,  upon  the  grant  of  ecclesiastical  power 
in  the  Patent  of  Maryland,  which  closes  with  these 
words,  "and  the  consecrations  of  chapels  ought  to 
be,  flw  in  England,  by  Orthodox  Ministers  only."  - 

No  English  Governor  hiis  been  more  denounced  for 
hisaction  in  regard  to  the  church  of  England  than  Lord 
Cornbury,  and  his  official  acts  concerning  it  have  been 
abused  in  almost  every  possible  way.  His  action  has 
been  taken  as  the  result  of  pure  bigotry,  and  he  termed 
a  bigot,  while  he  was  merely  carrying  out  the  Instruc- 
tions he  had  sworn  to  support  and  maintain.  His 
"Instructions"  arc  therefore  here  given  at  length, 
taken  from  the  original  Instrument  which  with  his 
Commission  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  Queen  .\nne, 
are  now  in  the  hands  of  a  geutlemau  in  New  York. 


'In  the  3d,  4th,  5th  and  6th  volumes  of  the  "Col.  Hist,  of  N.  Y."  near- 
ly all  of  thorn  may  he  founil. 

sciialniers' opinions,  42.  The  italics  are  the  writer's,  and  not  in  the 
original. 


From  the  Instructions  to  Lord  Cornbury,  dated 
January  29,  1702-3. 

60.  Y'ou  shall  take  especial  care  that  God  Almighty 
be  devoutedly  and  duly  .served  throughout  your  Gov- 

!  ernmcnt,  the  Book  of  Common  prayer,  as  by  Law  es- 
tablished, read  each  Sunday  and  Holy  day,  and  the 
blessed  Sacrament  administered  according  to  the  rifes 
of  the  Church  of  England  ;  You  shall  be  carefull  that 
the  Churches  already  built  there  be  well  and  orderly 
kept,  and  that  more  be  built  as  the  Colony  shall  by 
God's  blessing  be  improved,  and  that  besides  a  Com- 
petent maintenance  to  be  assigned  to  the  Minister  of 
each  Orthodox  Church,  a  convenient  house  be  built  at 
the  Common  charge  for  each  Minister,  andacompetent 
proportion  of  Land  assigned  him  for^a  Glebe  and  exer- 
cise of  his  Industry.  And  you  are  to  take  care  that  the 
parishes  be  so  limited  and  setled,  as  you  shall  find 
most  convenient  lor  the  accomplishing  this  good 
work. 

61.  You  are  not  to  present  any  Minister  to  any  Ec- 
clesiasticall  Benefice  in  that  Our  Province  without  a 
certificate  from  the  right  reverend  Father  in  God  the 
Bishop  of  Loudon,  of  his  being  conformable  to  the  Doc- 
trine and  Discipline  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
of  a  good  life  and  conversation,  and  if  any  person 
preferred  already  to  a  Benefice  shall  appear  to  you  to 
give  Scandall,  either  by  his  doctrine  or  Manners,  You 
are  to  use  the  best  means  for  tlie  removal  of  him,  and 
to  Supply  the  Vacancy  in  Such  manner  as  AVcc  have 
directed. 

62.  You  are  to  give  order  forthwith  (if  the  same  be 
not  already  done)  that  every  Orthodox  Minister  with- 
in your  Government,  be  one  of  the  Vestry  in  his  res- 
l)ective  parish,  and  that  no  Vestry  be  held  without 
him,  except  in  case  of  Sickness,  or  that  after  notice 
of  a  Vestry  Sunimon'd  he  omitt  to  come. 

63.  You  are  to  enquire  whetherthere  be  any  Minister 
within  your  Government,  who  preaches  and  adminis- 
ters the  Sacrament  in  any  Orthodox  Church  or  Chap- 
pell  without  being  in  due  Orders,  and  to  give  an 
account  thereof  to  the  said  Bishop  of  London. 

64.  And  to  the  end  the  Ecclesiastical  Jurisdiction 
of  the  Said  Bishop  of  London  may  take  place  in  that 
province  So  farr  as  conveniently  may  be,  Wee  do 
think  fitt,  that  you  give  all  Countenance  and  encour- 
agement to  the  exercise  of  the  Same.  Excepting 
only  the  Collating  to  Benefices,  granting  Lyceiises  for 
Marriages  and  probate  of  Wills,  which  Wee  have  re- 
served to  you  Our  Governour  and  to  the  Commander- 
in-chief  of  Our  Said  Province  for  the  time  being. 

65.  Wee  do  further  direct  that  no  Schoolmaster  be 
henceforth  permitted  to  come  from  England,  and  to 
keep  Schoole  within  Our  Province  of  New  York, 
without  the  Lycense  of  the  said  Bishop  of  London, 
and  that  no  other  person  now  there,  or  that  shall 
come  from  other  parts,  be  admitted  to  keep  School 
without  your  Lycense  first  obtained. 

66.  And  you  are  to  take  especial  care  that  a  Table 
of  Marriages,  established  by  the  Canons  of  the  Church 


106 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  England  be  hung  up  in  every  orthodox  Church  and 
duly  observed,  and  you  are  to  endeavour  to  get  a  Law 
past  in  tlie  Assembly  of  that  province  (if  not  already 
done)  for  the  strict  observation  of  the  Said  Table. 

79.  And  you  are  also  with  the  assistence  of  the 
Council  and  Assembly  to  find  out  the  best  means  to 
facilitate  and  encourage  the  conversion  of  Negroes 
and  Indians  to  the  Christian  Religion  ;  more  especi- 
ally you  are  to  use  your  endeavours  with  the  Assem- 
bly that  they  make  provision  for  the  maintenance  of 
some  Ministers  to  inhabit  amongst  the  five  Nations 
of  Indians  in  order  to  instruct  them,  and  also  to  pre- 
vent their  being  Seduced  from  their  Allegiance  to  us, 
by  French  i)riests  and  Jesuits. 

In  the  instance  not  only  of  Cornbury  but  of  each 
(lOvernor,  it  must  be  remend)ered  that  these  "  Instruc- 
tions "  were,  not  merely  directions  to  him  personally, 
but  were  the  binding  constitutions  of  the  Province  in 
all  things  civil,  military,  and  ecclesiastical,  during 
each  Governor's  period  of  office.  They  were  the  law 
of  the  land  both  for  the  (Jovernor  and  the  jieople, 
which  was  to  be  obeyed  by  both.  They  were  laid 
down,  and  set  forth,  by  each  Sovereign,  in  his  Kingly 
capacity,  under  the  law  of  England  for  the  govern- 
ment of  his  or  her  Province  of  New  York.  This  fact 
has  not  been  considered  by  American  historians,  or 
by  English  ones  either,  in  treating  of  the  civil  and  re- 
ligious,— especially  the  religious — aspects  and  condi- 
tions of  the  Royal  Provinces  in  America  in  general, 
and  of  New  York  in  particular. 

What  then  was  the  Kingly  authority  in  these  re- 
spects? Whence  came  the  monarch's  legal  right  to 
govern  his  Royal  Provinces  by  "  Instructions  "  to  his 
representatives  the  Governors?  AVhat  were  the 
powers  then  vested  in  the  Crown  by  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land ? 

The  attributes  of  the  Monarch  of  England,  sove- 
reignty, perfection,^  and  perpetuity,''  which  are  inhe- 
rent in,  and  constitute,  his  ])olitical  capacity,  prevail 
in  every  j)art  of  the  territories  subject  to  the  English 
Crown.  "  In  such  political  capacity  as  King  he  is 
possessed  of  a  share  of  legislation,  is  the  head  of  the 
Church,  generalissimo  throughout  his  dominions,  and 
is  alone  entitled  to  make  war  and  peace.'  But  in  coun- 
tries which,  though  dependent  on  the  British  Crown, 
have  different  local  laws,  as  for  instance  the  Colonies 
the  minor  ))rerogatives  and  interests  of  the  Crown  must 
be  regulated  and  governed  by  the  peculiar  law  of  the 
place.  But  if  such  law  be  silent  on  the  subject,"  or  if 
the  place  has  become  by  conquest  or  cession  a  Colony 
or  Province  of  the  Crown,  having  never  before  been 
possessed  by  the  English  nation,  "it  would  appear 
that  the  prerogative  of  the  King  in  his  political  ca- 
pacity as  chief  of  the  State,  as  established  by  English 

1  This  is  expressed  by  tlie  well-known  legal  axiom  "  The  King  can  do 
no  wrong." 

2 This  is  expressed  by  that  other  well-known  axiom  "The  King  is 
dead,  long  live  the  King." 
3  Chalmers'  Opinions,  LOO. 


law,  prevails  in  every  respect."*  "When  a  country 
is  obtained  by  conquest  or  treaty  the  King  possesses 
an  exclusive  prerogative  power  over  it,  and  may  en- 
tirely change  or  new-model,  the  whole,  or  part,  of  its 
laws,  and  form  of  government,  and  may  govern  it  in 
all  respects  by  regulations  framed  by  himself,  subject 
only  to  the  Articles  or  Treaty  on  which  the  country 
is  surrendered  or  ceded,  which  are  always  sacred  and 
inviolable  according  to  their  true  intent  and  mean- 
ing.'' Lord  Mansfield  thus  most  fully  and  suc- 
cinctly lays  down  tlie  law  on  this  subject,  citing 
New  York  as  an  example.  "  A  country  coiKpiered 
by  the  British  arms  becomes  a  dominion  of  the 
King  in  right  of  his  crown.  .  .  .  After  the  con- 
(juest  of  New  York,  in  which  most  of  the  old  Dutch 
inhabitants  remained.  King  CJharles  2d  changed  the 
form  of  their  Constitution  and  ])olitical  government, 
by  granting  it  to  the  duke  of  York,  to  hold  of  his 
crown  under  all  the  regulations  contained  in  the 
letters  patent."  "  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,"  con- 
tinues the  Great  Chief  Justice  of  Elngland,  "that  an 
adjudged  case  in  point  lias  not  been  produced.  No 
(piestion  was  ever  started  before  but  that  the  King 
has  a  right  to  a  legislative  authority  over  a  conquered 
country ;  it  was  never  denied  in  Westminster  Hall ;  it 
was  never  questioned  in  parliament."®  This  decision 
was  made  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  in  1774 — a 
century  after  the  practical  a}>i)lication  of,  and  action 
under,  its  principle,  by  Charles  the  Second,  and  .lames 
the  Second,  and  William  &  Mary  in  their  Province  of 
New  York,  to  say  nothing  of  Queen  Anne  and  her 
successors.  There  can  therefore  be  no  question  as  to 
the  law  itself,  or  the  legality  of  the  power  by  which 
the  Sovereigns  of  England,  by  their  "  Commissions" 
and  "Instructions"  to  their  (rovernors,  established 
the  Church  of  England  in  their  American  Pi  ovince 
of  New  York. 

Now  what  was  a  "  Province"  in  law?  This  term, 
in  Latin  Frovincia,  was  first  used  by  the  Romans  to 
designate  a  portion  of  territory  outside  of  Italy, 
which  they  had  subjected  by  conquest.  Its  general 
use,  however,  says  Chief  Justice  Stokes  of  the  Colony 
of  Georgia,  is  "to  denote  the  divisions  of  a  Kingdom 
or  State,  as  they  are  usually  distinguished  by  the  ex- 
tent of  their  civil  or  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  With 
us.  [the  English  people]  a  Province  signifies — 1st.  An 
out-country  governed  by  a  De])uty  or  Lieutenant; 
and2dly,Tlie  circuit  of  an  Archbishop's  jurisdiction. 
When  the  British  settlements  in  America  are  spoken 
of  in  general,  they  arc  called  the  Colonies  or  Planta- 
tions. If  it  is  a  Government  on  the  Continent  [in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  West  India  Islands]  where  the 
King  api)oints  the  Governor  it  is  usually  called  a 
Province,  as  the  Province  of  Quebec  ;  but  a  Planta- 
tion in  which  the  Governor  was  elected  by  the  iiihab- 


*  Chitty's  Prerogatives  of  the  Crown,  Ih  and  26. 
5  Ibid.  29  ;  Cowpor's  Bcp.  208. 

"Hall  V.  Camiibell,  Cowper's Keport«,  208,  211.  Calvin's  Case  4  Coke's 
Keii.  1. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


107 


itants,  (under  a  charter  of  incorporation  from  the 
King)  was  usually  called  a  Colony,  as  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut."  '  Thus  the  very  name  was  expressive 
of  the  character  of  the  King's  power  by  virtue  of 
which  he  erected  and  established  in  New  York 
Manors,  Parishes,  Churches  and  a  General  Assembly. 
Sir  William  IJlackstone  in  speaking  of  the  American 
Provinces,  says,  "  In  the  Provincial  Establishments 
(commonly  called  King's  Governments)  their  constitu- 
tion dei)ended  on  the  respective  commissions  issued 
by  the  Crown  to  the  Governors,  and  the  Instructions 
which  usually  accompanied  these  commissions  ;  under 
the  authority  of  which  Provincial  Assemblies  were 
constituted  with  the  power  of  nuiking  local  ordinances, 
not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England."  ^  It  is  clear, 
and  beyond  question,  that  the  very  authority  by  which 
New  York  was  granted  the  right  to  possess  and  elect 
a  representative  Assembly  of  its  own  people,  a  priv- 
ilege granted  to  it  by  William  and  Mary  in  IG'Jl, 
which  continued  from  that  time  without  interrui)tionas 
long  as  it  remained  a  British  Province,  sprang  from 
precisely  the  same  source,  as  the  establishment  of  the 
Church  of  England  within  its  limits — the  Commission 
and  Kiini's  Iitifl ructions  to  his  Governors ;  To  say 
nothing  of  the  lirst  granting  of  the  right  to  elect  and 
hold  Assemblies  by  James  II.  himself  as  Duke  of 
York  to  Governor  Dongan  in  1(583,  eleven  years  be- 
Ibre ;  which  assemblies  sat  for  three  years,  and  the 
laws  which  thuy  passed  in  those  years,  still  in  exist- 
ence, are  the  earliest  English  statutes  of  New  York ; 
and  which  assemblies  were  called  and  held  solely  by 
virtue  of  James's  "Commission  "  and  "  Instructions  " 
to  Governor  Dongan. 

There  is  another  point  of  importance  in  this  con- 
nexion. Every  (Jommission  to  every  Governor  from 
every  Sovereign  of  New  York,  contained  in  it  a  clause, 
delegating  to  him  the  power  of  collation  to  church 
benefices,  a  power  under  the  law  of  England  which 
could  be  exercised  only  in  the  Church  of  England. 
It  was  in  these  words,  "  And  we  do  by  these  j)resents 
authorize  and  impower  you  to  collate  any  person  or 
persons  to  any  churches,  chapels,  or  other  ecclesiastical 
benefices  within  our  said  province  and  territories  as 
aforesaid,  as  often  as  any  of  them  shall  happen  to  be 
void."  ^  This  was  the  delegation  by  the  King  of  his 
iiwn  power  as  Ordinary.  This  word  derived  from  the 
(.'ivil  Law  primarily  signifies  one  who,  of  his  own 
right,  has  authority  to  take  cognizance  of  causes.  In 
the  common  law  it  is  usually  applied  to  the  Bishop  of 
a  Diocese,  who  only  could  certify  to  ecclesiastical  and 
spiritual  acts  in  his  own  diocese.  The  King  as  the 
Head  of  the  Church  jtossessed  this  temporal  right 
throughout  his  whole  Kingdom,  and  could  delegate 
it.  The  Bisho|)  could  only  delegate  his  power  in 
temporal  ecclesiastical  matters  in  his  own  diocese. 

'  Constitutions  ol' the  British  Colonics  in  Ainei  ica,  2. 
- 1  Blackstone's,  Comm.  108. 

•^Stokes's  Cons,  of  the  Am.  Colonies,  158.  And  see  the  diftereut  Com- 
luissiou!)  themselves  in  the  volumes  of  the  Colonial  llistory. 


As  there  were  no  dioceses  as  such  in  the  British 
American  Colonies,  the  King  delegated  the  power  of 
collating  to  benefices  here  to  his  different  Governors 
as  his  personal  representatives.  From  the  same  source 
came  their  power  to  grant  probate  of  wills,  and  mar- 
riage licenses. 

The  spiritual  supervision  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  America,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  first  com- 
mitted by  King  James  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. Later  it  was  deemed  most  convenient  to 
attach  this  supervision  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who 
appointed  "Commissaries"  in  ditierent  parts  of 
America,  to  oversee  the  clergy  in  their  different 
districts,  in  such  matters  not  purely  episcopal,  as  a 
Bishop  did  in  his  Diocese  in  England. 

As  there  were  then  no  Dioceses  in  America,  the 
King  in  the  different  Instructions  to  the  Governors, 
directed  them  to  retain  these  powers,  of  collation,  to 
benefices,  of  granting  probate  of  wills,  and  of  licens- 
ing marriages  to  themselves.  This  was  in  virtue 
both  of  the  King's  Legislative  power,  and  his  power 
as  Head  of  the  church.  Perhaps  nothing  has  been, 
or  is,  more  misunderstood,  and  that  very  honestly,  in 
America  than  the  Royal  Supremacy  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Of  course,  it  cannot  be  treated  at  length 
here.  We  can  only  state  the  popular  idea  of  it,  and 
then  show  what  it  really  is.  The  popular  idea  of  it  in 
this  country  is,  that  the  Sovereign  of  England  was, 
and  is,  the  head  of  the  Church  of  England  in  spirit- 
ual as  well  as  temporal  matters,  and  is  the  superior  of 
the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  in  all  that  relates  to  their 
offices  as  such,  and  is  governed  by  his  or  her  own 
ideas  of  what  is  true  and  right  in  matters  of  doctrine 
and  discipline.  Of  course  this  is  only  the  common 
idea,  but  it  is  held  by  many  people  of  education  and 
general  intelligence  nevertheless,  who  are,  and  are 
usually  considered,  well  informed. 

A  recent  writer  after  citing  and  examining  the  legal 
authorities,  and  writers  of  England  since  the  Re- 
formation, on  this  subject,  says,  "  These  numerous 
authorities  repeat  again  and  again  the  same  ojjinions 
touching  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown.  According  to 
them  the  Royal  Supremacy  is  simply  and  strictly  a 
temporal  or  civil  power  over  all  causes  and  persons 
in  things  temporal,  and  over  spiritual  persons  and 
causes  as  far  as  their  temporal  or  civil  accidents  are 
concerned.  But  it  has  no  inherent  spiritual  power 
as  such,  nor  ecclesiastical  authority,  whatsoever,  the 
spirituality  alone  possessing  the  power  of  the  Keys."  * 
Lord  Selborne  the  learned  and  eminent  Lord  High 
Chancellor  in  Mr.  Gladstone's  late  Government  says, 
"  The  Sovereign  has  not  (as  some  suppose)  a  temporal 
supremacy  in  temj)oral  things  and  a  spiritual  suprem- 
acy in  spiritual  things;  it  is  one  undivided  temj)(>ral 
supremacy,  extending  to  all  persons,  causes,  and  things, 
whether  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  of  which  the  law  of 
the  land  takes  cognizance,  and  ujjon  which  that  law  has 


*  Fuller's  Appellate  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crown,  186. 


108 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


operation.  It  does  not  and  it  can  not  extend  to  tiie 
province  of  religious  belief,  or  to  moral  and  spiritual 
obligations  recognized  by  the  conscience  as  springing 
from  a  source  higher  than  the  laws  of  the  land." ' 
That  most  eloquent  and  able  prelate,  Wilberforce 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  when  Bishop  of  Oxford,  in 
a  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  which  this  subject 
was  brought  up,  thus  spoke  out : — "  he  did  not  believe 
that  it  was  a  correct  or  constitutional  interpretation 
of  that  supremacy,  to  say  that  the  occupant  of  the 
throne  should  settle  in  his  or  her  individual  capacity, 
articles  of  faith  or  any  other  questions  whatever.  He 
was  sure  that  the  exalted  personage  who  at  present 
occupied  the  throne  would  be  herself  the  first  to  re- 
pudiate so  unconstitutional  a  doctrine.  The  Supre- 
macy of  the  Crown  meant  nothing  more  than  this, 
that  the  Crown  had  the  ultimate  Appeal  in  all  questions 
ecclesiastical  and  civil,  deciding  such  questions  not 
of  herself,  but  through  her  proper  constitutional 
agents."  And  Mr.  Gladstone  himself  writes,  in  his 
Letter  on  the  R.oyal  Supremacy ; — I  contend  that 
the  Crown  did  not  claim  by  statute,  either  to  be  by 
right,  or  to  become  by  convention,  the  source  of  that 
Kind  of  action  which  was  committed  by  the  Saviour 
to  the  Apostolic  church,  whether  for  the  enactment 
of  laws  or  for  the  administration  of  its  discipline ; 
but  the  claim  was  that  all  the  canons  of  the  church, 
and  all  its  judicial  proceedings,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
to  form  parts  respectively  of  the  laws  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  in  the  Kingdom,  should  run  only 
with  the  assent  and  Sanction  of  the  Crown." 

This  full  statement  has  been  written  to  show,  that  in 
their  Province  on  the  Hudson,  the  Sovereigns  of  Eng- 
land in  virtue  of  their  political,  ecclesiastical,  and 
legislative,  capacities,  as  Sovereigns  under  the  laws  of 
England,  through  their  direct  "  Commissions  "  and 
"  Instructions"  under  their  own  signs-manual, legally 
established  and  maintained  in  that  Province,  by  pre- 
cisely the  same  legal  instruments  and  methods,  the 
same  form  of  civil  government  and  the  same  form  of 
religious  belief,  that  was  established  in  England,  as  far 
forth  as  both  could  possibly  be  there  done,  consistently 
with  the  Surrenders  and  Treaty  by  which  the  Province 
became  a  possession  of  their  Crown.  And  it  also  shows, 
that  historically,  the  existence  in  New  York,  of  a 
General  Assembly  of  elected  representatives  of  the 
people,  of  Manors,  of  the  Church  of  England  with  its 
Parishes,  and  taxation  of  all  inhabitants  for  the  sup- 
port of  its  Ministers  and  churches,  had  one  and  all  ex- 
actly the  same  origin,  and  were  equally  the  legitimate 
results,  of  the  legitimate  action,  of  its  legitimate 
Sovereign  authority,  the  monarchs  of  England. 

12. 

The  Manors  and  the  County  in  their  Mutual  relations, 
with  the  Origin  and  Organization  of  the  latter. 
The  six  Manors  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  in 

1  Letter  of  Lord  Selborne,  then  Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  Atty.  Gen.,  of  30 
Dec.  1850,  in  Plymouth  Herald  of  11th  Jan.  1851.    Fuller,  app.  B.  251. 


the  order  of  their  erection,  were  '  Fordham '  in  No- 
vember 1671, '  Pelham '  in  October  1687,  '  Philipsbor- 
ough '  in  June  1693,  '  Morrisania  '  in  May  1697,  '  Cort- 
landt '  in  June  1697,  and  '  Scarsdale'  in  March  170L 
As  the  'Manor  of  Cortlandt'  comprised  the  whole 
northern  part  of  the  County  from  the  Hudson  to  the 
Connecticut  line,  and  was  ten  miles  in  width,  it  will 
be  described  first,  then  following  the  order  of  location 
of  the  others  down  the  eastern  side  of  the  count}'  to 
its  southern  extremity, '  Scarsdale,' '  Pelham,'  '  Morri- 
sania,' and  '  Fordham,'  will  be  suceessively  treated, 
then  '  Philipsborough,'  which  comprised  the  entire 
western  portion  of  the  County  bordering  upon  the 
Hudson  as  far  north  as  the  south  line  of  the  Manor  of 
Cortlandt,  and  extended  eastwardly  to  the  Bronx  River 
which  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  County  from 
north  Co  south  and  was  the  boundary  between  it  and 
the  manors  of  the  east  side. 

The  general  nature  and  history  of  Manors  in  a 
legal  point  of  view,  the  origin  of  the  ancient  mano- 
rial system  of  England,  its  tenures,  and  the  modern 
manorial  system  of  New  York  with  its  incidents, 
and  tenure  introduced  by  the  English  upon  its  cap- 
ture from  the  Dutch,  have  been  described.  But  be- 
fore treating  of  each  of  the  Manors  separately,  the 
general  Province  and  County  Jurisdiction  as  it 
affected  the  Manors  as  a  whole,  and  the  origin  and 
formation  of  the  County  itself  will  be  shown. 

The  authority  of  the  Governor,  as  Governor,  of  the 
Governor  and  Council  in  the  Executive  capacity  of 
the  latter,  and  of  the  Governor,  Council  in  its  legis- 
lative capacity,  and  the  General  Assembly,  the  three 
together  forming  the  Legislature  of  the  Province,  ex- 
tended throughout  the  manors  of  New  York  in  all 
respects  save  one.  Neither  of  these  authorities  could 
in  any  way  whatever  alter,  change,  abridge,  or  in  any 
way  interfere  with  the  franchises,  rights,  powers,  priv- 
ileges, and  incidents,  vested  in  any  Lord  of  a  Manor 
by  his  Manor-Grant.  The  Lords  might  not  choose, 
or  desire,  to  exercise  any  one  or  more  of  the  fran- 
chises, rights,  powers,  privileges,  and  incidents  of  their 
Manors.  This  was  a  matter  in  their  own  discretion, 
but  none  of  them  could  become  void  by  non-user,  nor 
could  the  Province  authorities  of  any  grade  modify 
them  in  any  way.  If  the  Lords  preferred,  or  had  no 
objection,  to  have  any  local  duties,  legal  acts,  or  offices, 
exercised  by  justices  of  the  peace,  assessors,  consta- 
bles, and  other  minor  officers,  either  chosen  by  their 
tenants  alone,  or  by  their  tenants  in  connection  with 
the  inhabitants,  freeholders  of  any  adjoining  non- 
Manorial  lands,  this  could  be  done  by  an  act  of  the 
Provincial  Legislature.  But  no  act  of  such  a  nature 
could  be  passed  against  their  wishes.  Hence  there  are 
to  be  found  many  acts  of  the  kind  alluded  to  in  the 
Colony  laws. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  "  Supreme  Court,"  of  the 
"Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas  "and  of  the  Court 
of  Sessions,  extended  to  all  lands  whether  Manorial 
or  non  Manorial. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


109 


So  too,  in  the  matter  of  elections,  the  inhabitants  of 
all  the  Manors,  (except  that  of  Cortlaiult  which  had 
ii  representative  of  its  own  as  a  franchise  of  its  Manor- 
(irant)  united  with  the  people  of  the  non-Manorial 
lauds  in  the  choice  of  jMeuibers  of  Assembly  for  the 
County. 

The  i)ower  of  the  High  Sheriff  of  the  County,  who 
was  always  a  gentleman,  was  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  served  without  pay,  as  in  England,  was  as 
complete  and  thorough  in  the  Manors  as  out  of  them. 
The  fees  of  the  othce,  which  were  vastly  lighter  in 
proportion,  than  those  of  elected  Sheriffs  now,  went 
after  being  reported  to,  and  scrutinized  by  the  High 
Sheriff,  to  the  Undersheriff  and  the  one  or  two 
deputies,  who  were  all  that  the  business  of  the  Coun- 
ty required  in  the  Colonial  era.  If  any  overcharge 
or  oppression,  was  attempted,  a  complaint  properly 
proven,  to  the  High  Sheriff  himself,  was  all  that  was 
necessary  to  right  the  wrong. 

Again,  in  military  matters,  the  military  organiza- 
tion of  the  County  was  effected  in  the  County  as  a 
whole  without  regard  to  the  Manors.  Sometimes, 
however,  their  names  were  given  to  the  companies 
enrolled  within  their  limits. 

A  Colonel  for  the  County  commissioned  by  the 
Governor,  commanded  the  one  regiment,  which  was 
formed  of  the  enrolled  companies  within  its  limits, 
all  of  which  were  infantry.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
Colonial  period,  when  the  population  had  increased, 
a  Light  Horse  organization  of  one  or  two  troops  for 
the  County  in  general  was  formed,  the  Commander 
of  which  was  a  Lieutenant-Colonel,  or  Colonel.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  Manors  were  enrolled  in  l)oth  pre- 
cisely as  were  those  of  the  rest  of  the  County. 

The  third  act  passed  by  the  first  Assembly  under 
William  and  Mary  in  1691,  provided  for  the  annual 
election  in  each  town  of  "a  certain  Freeholder"  "to 
super vize  and  examine  the  Publick  and  Necessary 
Charge  of  each  respective  County,  which  persons  so 
duely  chosen  shall  elect  and  constitute  a  certain 
Treasurer  for  each  respective  County."  It  also  pro- 
vided for  the  election  of  two  Freeholders  in  each  town 
as  Assessors.  This  was  the  origin  in  New  York  of 
County  Assessors,  Supervisors,  and  Treasurers.'  Only 
Freeholders  could  be  electors,  and  the  second  Act  of 
lt>91,  defines  a  Freeholder  to  be,  "every  one  who 
shall  have  Forty  shillings  jicr  annum  (N.  Y.  Currency) 
in  Freehold."  -  And  the  same  act  apportioned  to 
Westchester  County  two  Members  of  Assembly.  In 
the  second  year  of  Queen  Anne,  eleven  years  later, 
this  third  act  of  ItiOl  was  re-enacted  in  an  enlarged 
and  amended  form.  Its  provisions  are  worth  (juoting  in 
full  as  showing  the  early  internal  economy  civil  and 
political  of  the  County  and  how  all  interests  manorial 
and  non-manorial  moved  in  harmony  and  unison. 
Its  words  are  "  That  there  be  elected  and  chosen  once 
every  year,  in  each  respective  Town  within  thisProv- 

iiri.  Bradford  6.  !ilbid.*3. 


ince,  by  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  thereof,  one 
of  their  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants,  to  compute,  as- 
certain, examine,  oversee,  and  allow  the  Contingent 
public  and  necessary  charge  of  each  .County,  and  that 
each  anil  every  Freeholder  in  any  Manor,  Liberty, 
.lurisdiction.  Precinct,  and  out-Plantation,  shall 
have  liberty  to  joyn  his  or  their  Vote  with  the  next 
adjacent  town  in  the  County  where  such  Inhabitant 
shall  dwell,  for  a  choice  of  Supervisor  (except  the 
Manor  of  Uensselaerswyck  who  shall  have  liberty  to 
chuse  a  Supervisor  for  the  same  Mannor).  And  also, 
that  there  shall  be  in  each  Town,  Mannor,  and  Pre- 
cinct, by  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  hereof,  in 
every  respective  County  annually  two  Assessors,  and 
one  Collector,  which  Supervizors,  Assessors,  and  Col- 
lectors, shall  be  annually  chose  in  every  Town  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  April,  or  such  days  as  is  appointed  bj' 
their  Charters  or  Patents,  which  Supervizors  so  chosen 
shall  annually  meet  at  the  County  Town  in  each 
respective  County,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October, 
and  at  such  other  time  and  times  as  the  said  Super- 
vizors shall  judge  and  find  necessary  and  Convetiient," 
to  j)erform  the  duties  of  their  office.^ 

In  1722  the  number  of  Supervizors  was  increased 
in  the  County  of  Westchester  by  a  special  Act,  passed 
on  the  6th  of  November  in  that  year,  as  the  former 
Act  which  applied  to  the  whole  Province,  worked 
unc(iually  in  some  respects  in  Westchester.  It  pro- 
vided "  for  such  Mannor  or  Mannors  as  (in  their 
Rates  and  Taxes)  have  usually  been  or  hereafter  nuiy 
be  divided  into  two  or  more  Divisions.  That  a  Super- 
vizor  may  in  like  manner  be  chosen  for  each  of  such 
Divisions  by  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  there- 
of. And  wliere  the  said  Inhabitants  shall  omit  to  make 
such  annual  choice  in  any  of  the  said  Divisions,  or 
in  such  Mannor  or  Mannors,  where  not  above  twenty 
Inhabitants  do  dwell  or  reside,  the  Owner  or  Owners 
of  such  Mannor  or  Mannors,  or  of  such  Division 
thereof  as  aforesaid,  or  their  Stewards  or  De[)uties, 
shall  be  deemed  and  esteemed  the  Supervizors  thereof 
respectively,  and  have  the  same  Powers,  to  all  intents, 
constructions,  and  purposes,  whatsoever  as  those 
chosen  by  virtue  of  the  Act  above  mentioned.^ 

The  act  of  1703  called  for  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Supervisors  at  the  "  County-town,"  which  then 
was  the  Town  of  Westchester.  In  1745  the  popula- 
tion had  so  much  increased  as  to  make  a  chiinge 
to  another  part  of  the  County  desirable,  therefore 
an  act  was  passed  on  the  27th  of  November  in  that 
year  changing  the  place  of  meeting  as  "  much  for  the 
ease  of  the  people,"  which  provided  that  "  the  an- 
nual meeting  shall  be  at  the  School  House  in  the 
Town  of  Rye,"  and  that  the  majority  shall  have 
power  to  adjourn  to  such  time  and  place  as  they  see 
proper.^ 

The  next  change  did  not  occur  till  1773,  twenty- 


8  UI.  Bradford,  5.3.  *  III.  Bradford  212. 

^  I  Vau  Scbaak'a  Laws,  ch.  801. 


110 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


eight  years  later.  Then  another  act  was  passed  chang- 
ing the  annual  meeting  of  the  Supervisors  "  to  the 
Court-House  at  Whiteplains  on  account  of  the  in- 
crease of  inhabjtants  of  the  northerly  part  of  said 
County,"  with  a  like  liberty  to  adjourn  to  such  time 
and  place  as  they  should  please. ^  This  building  was 
the  first  Court-House  in  Whiteplains  which  was 
burned  by  the  Americans  a  day  or  two  after  the 
battle  of  Whiteplains  in  1776.  It  stood  on  the  same 
site  as  its  successor,  the  old  wooden  Court-House  on 
Main  St.,  which  was  pulled  down  after  the  erection  of 
the  present  handsome  stone  edifice  on  Rail-Koad 
Avenue. 

Another  fact  of  interest  which  shows  the  upward 
march  of  population  of  the  people,  both  of  the 
manors  and  the  towns  is  the  change  in  the  place 
holding  the  County  elections  which  it  j^roduced. 
The  Colonial  elections,  it  must  be  remembered,  were 
not  by  ballot  as  ours  are  now,  but  like  those  in  Eng- 
land, viva  voce.  The  term  "  hustings  "  was,  and  is 
used  in  England  to  describe  the  place  of  election,  but 
though  the  thing  was  the  same  in  New  York,  the 
word  does  not  seem  to  have  been  in  use  here.  At 
least  no  instance  of  its  employment  has  been  met 
with  by  the  writer. 

The  first  law  on  the  subject  passed  in  1()99  directed 
that  the  Sherifi'  "  shall  hold  his  Court  for  the  same 
Election  at  the  7nost  publick  and  usual  Place  of  Elec- 
tion within  City  or  County  where  the  same  has  most 
usually  been  made."  This  was  usually  at  West- 
chester before  it  was  chartered  as  a  "  Boroughtown  " 
and  after  that  at  Eastcliester. 

But  in  1751,  on  the  25th  of  November  the  place 
was  changed  by  a  s])eci:il  act  of  the  Legislature,  ^ 
which  is  of  such  curious  interest  for  its  reasons  and 
choice  of  a  new  place,  and  its  stern  enforcement 
of  that  choice  that  it  is  here  given  in  full. 

"  Whereas  the  County  of  Westchester  is  very  exten- 
sive, and  the  extreme  parts  thereof  to  the  Northward, 
have  of  late  years  become  very  populous ;  and  where- 
as the  Elections  for  Representatives  to  serve  in  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  said  County,  have,  from  the 
first  settlement  of  the  said  County,  been  held  at  the 
Southern  Part  of  said  County;  it  now  becomes  ex- 
tremely inconvenient  for  the  Freeholders  of  the 
Upper  or  Northern  Parts  thereof,  which  are  now  be- 
come, by  far,  the  most  numerous,  to  attend  those 
Elections  at  so  great  a  distance  from  their  respect- 
ive Habitations  :  For  Remedy  whereof  for  the  Fu- 
ture ; 

I.  Be  it  Enacted  by  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  the 
Council,  and  the  General  Assembly  and  by  Authority  of 
the  Same,  That  in  All  Elections  hereafter  to  be  Made 
in  the  said  County  of  W<stvhcster,  for  electing  Repre- 


1 1  Van  Schaak's  Laws,  ch.  690. 

-  II.  Bradford  :!3.  The  reference  here  is  to  tlie  elections  held  for  the 
Assemblies  for  1683  to  168.')  inclusive  under  the  Duke  of  York,  the  last 
of  which  was  under  James  as  King. 

3  Ch.  1411  of  I.  Liv.  &  Smith,  453. 


sentatives  to  serve  in  this,  or  any  future  Assembly  of 
this  Colony,  the  Sheriff  of  the  Said  County  for  the 
time  being,  or  his  Deputy,  shall-  hold  his  Court  of 
Election  at  or  near  the  Presbyterian  Meeting-House 
in  the  AVhiie-Plains,  in  the  said  County,  and  at  no 
other  Place  Whatsoever ;  any  Law,  Usage,  or  Custom 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

II.  And  be  it  Further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
said. That  if  any  Sheriff  of  the  said  Counsy  of  West- 
chester, or  Deputy  of  the  said  Sheriff,  Shall  after  the 
Publication  of  this  Act,  in  the  Execution  of  any 
Writ  or  Writs  for  the  electing  "  Representatives  for 
the  Said  County,  to  serve  in  this  or  any  future  As- 
sembly, act  contrary  to  the  Directions,  and  true  In- 
tent and  Meaning  of  this  Act;  they  shall  respectively 
forfeit  the  Sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  ($250).  to  be 
recovered  in  any  Court  of  Record  within  this  Colony, 
by  any  person  aggrieved ;  and  the  said  Election  so 
made  contrary  to  the  Directions  and  true  Intent  and 
Meaning  of  this  Act,  shall  be  null  and  void  to  all 
Intents,  Constructions,  and  Purposes  Whatsoever." 

Not  only  does  it  prove  the  great  change  of  popula- 
tion, south  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  to  which  it 
not  apply  as  that  Manor  elected  its  own  representa- 
tive, but  the  severity  of  the  last  clause  would  seem  to 
show  that  there  was  some  opposition,  probably  politi- 
cal, to  the  change.  It  applied  to  the  whole  County 
except  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  and  the  "  Borough  " 
of  Westchester,  which  elected  their  own  representa- 
tives. 

No  other  change  was  made  during  the  Colonial  era, 
and  from  1751  to  1776,  all  the  County  "  Courts  of 
Election  "  were  held  at  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
White  plains. 

The  Colonial  elections  were  not  held  at  fixed  times 
as  at  present,  but  at  whatever  dates  the  "  writs  "  of  elec- 
tion were  issued  to  the  Sheriff  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Province,  at  the  command  of  the  Covernor  and  Coun- 
cil. Consecjuently  they  were  held  at  various  seasons 
of  the  year,  but  usually  early  in  the  spring  or  in  the  fall. 

The  qualification  for  electors  "in  the  Cities,  Coun- 
ties, and  Mannors"  of  the  Province,  was  the  having 
by  "every  one  of  them,"  "  of  Land  or  Tenements 
improved  to  the  value  of  Forty  Pounds  in  Freehold, 
free  from  all  Incumbrances,  and  have  possessed  the 
same  three  Months  before  the  Test  of  the  said  Writ." 
As  soon  as  the  writ  was  received  by  the  Sheriff,  he 
was  obliged  in  six  days  to  give  at  least  six  days  pre- 
vious public  notice  of  the  time  and  place  of  election^ 
to  each  constable  in  his  bailiwick  to  be  affixed  to  the 
most  Public  Place  in  each  Town,  or  Mannor.  At  the 
time  and  place  fixed  the  Sherift'  attended  with  his 
Deputies  and  presided  at  the  "Court  of  Election." 
The  electors  met,  the  candidates  being  present,  the 
Sheriff"  announced  the  names  of  one  side,  when  all  of 
their  supporters  held  up  their  hands ;  then  he  an- 
nounced the  names  on  the  other,  and  their  supporters 
held  up  tljeir  hands.  He  then  announced  who  had  the 
most.  In  case  the  election  was  not  determined  by  this 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  3IAN0RS. 


Ill 


"  view,"  as  the  law  calls  it,  or  "  show  of  hands,"  as  it 
was  popularly  termed,  with  the  consent  of  the  elec- 
tors, then  "  a  Poll  "  was  required.  The  SheriH"  then 
appointed  a  sufHcient  number  of  (derks  who  were 
sworn,  "Truly  and  Indiferently  to  take  the  same 
Poll,  and  to  set  down  the  names  of  each  Elector, 
and  the  place  of  his  Freehold,  and  for  whom  he  shall 
poll,  and  to  i)oll  no  Elector  who  is  not  sworn,  if  so 
required  by  the  Candidates  or  any  of  them,  then  and 
there  present."  The  Sheriff  also  ap|)ointed  to  each 
candidate  such  one  j)erson  as  the  latter  designated 
"  to  be  Inspectors  of  Every  Clerk."  Every  elector 
if  a  candidate  desired  it  was  obliged  to  swear  in  his 
vote,  which  was  given  audibly  by  word  of  mouth.  At 
the  end  the  Sheriff  made  a  return  of  the  votes  cast  in 
writing  and  announced  the  result.  The  return,  which 
was  a  certified  coi)y  of  "the  poll  "  as  taken  by  the 
Clerk  "  in  his  i)resence,  the  Sheriff  returned  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Province,  who  produced  it  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Assembly  which  was  the  judge  of 
the  validity  of  all  elections  of  its  members.  Neither 
the  Sherifl'  nor  his  deimties  were  permitted  to  charge 
any  fees  whatever.  And  he  was  bound  to  furnish  "a 
copy  of  the  poll "  to  any  one  who  demanded  it,  on 
"payment  of  a  reasonable  charge  for  writing  the 
same." 

Such  was  a  Westchester  County  election  in  Colony 
Times,  and  such  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  White- 
Plains  witnessed  from  1751  to  17()")  inclusive.  This 
edifice  of  wood  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  stone 
church  on  Main  street,  but  was  burned  down  in  1776 
by  the  Americans,  Massachusetts  troops,  in  the  same 
fire  which  destroyed  the  Court-House  as  has  been 
mentioned  above. 

.Vnother  matter  of  interest  in  Colonial  days  to  the 
people  of  Westchester,  were  the  two  Fairs  held  by  law 
in  the  county.  In  England  Fairs  were  often  a  fran- 
chise of  a  manor,  as  well  as  of  a  town  or  county,  but 
neither  of  the  Westchester  manors  possessed  it.  The 
reason  probably  was,  that  very  early,  in  1(594,  before 
the  time  several  of  them  were  erected,  a  general  "Act 
for  the  settling  of  Fairs  and  Markets  in  each  respec- 
tive City  and  County  throughout  the  Province"  was 
passed.'  It  directed  that  two  Fairs  be  "  kept "  in  the 
County  of  Westchester,  the  first  at  Westchester  on  the 
second  Tuesday  in  May,  the  second  to  be  "  kept"  at 
Rye  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  each  yearly, 
and  to  be  "  held  for  four  days  inclusive  and  no  longer," 
so  as  to  end  on  the  "Fryday"  of  each  week;  "All 
which  Fairs  shall  be  holdeu  together  with  a  Court  of 
Pijpowder,  and  with  all  Liberfies  and  Free  Customs  to 
such  Fairs  appertaining,  or  wliich  ought  or  may  ap- 
pertain, according  to  the  Usage  and  Customs  of  Fairs 
liolden  in  their  Majesties  Realm  of  England."  The 
(xovernor  of  the  Province  commissioned  for  each  Fair 
■  a  Governour  or  Ruler  "  authorized  to  hold  a  Court 
of  Pypowder  on  each  of  the  days  of  the  Fairs,  who 


1  III.  Bnul.  17. 


was  charged  with  the  preservation  of  order,  and  who 
could  try  all  causes  of  Complaint  of  every  Kind,  and 
all  disputes,  arising  at  the  Fairs,  and  could  punish 
"by  Attachments,  Summons,  Arrests,  Issues,  Fines, 
Redemptions,  and  Commodities,  and  otiier  Rights 
whatsoever,  to  the  same  Courts  of  Py|)()wder  any  way 
appertaining,"  To  these  Fairs,  i-ould  be  carried,  lor 
sale,  (for  they  were  not  E.\hibitions  for  prizes  like 
modem  Fairs,  but  places  for  trade)  "all  sorts  of  Cattle 
Horses,  Mares,  Colts,  Grains,  Victuals,  Provisions,  and 
other  Necessaries,  together  with  all  sorts  of  i\Ierchan- 
dize  of  what  nature  soever,  and  them  to  ex])ose  to 
>alc  or  Barter  in  Gross  or  by  Retail,  at  the  Times, 
Hours,  and  Seasons,  that  Governours  or  Rulers  of  the 
said  respective  Fairs,  for  the  Time  being,  shall  pro- 
claim and  appoint."  The  Governor  was  also  obliged 
to  set  ai)art  a  certain  space  or  "  Open  Place  "  for  all 
the  lun-se  kind,  where  they  could  be  sold,  and  \mi  a 
person  in  charge  as  "  Toll-tiatherer  "  who  was  to  take 
"  Nine  pence"  a  day  for  every  animal  brought  there  and 
sold  ;  and  who  was  to  put  down  in  writing  in  a  book, 
the  names,  sir-names,  and  dwelling  places  of  all  the 
said  Parties,  and  the  Colour,  with  one  special  mark  at 
least,  of  every  such  Horse,  Mare,  Gelding,  or  Colt," 
sold,  bartered,  or  exchanged  under  a  penalty 
of  a  fine  of  Forty  Shillings.  The  "Toll-gatherer, 
was  obliged  the  next,  day  after  the  Fair"  to 
deliver  the  said  book  to  the  "Governour,"  who 
was  to  make  a  note  therein  of  all  the  number  of  all 
the  animals,  so  sold  &c.  at  the  Fair,  and  subscribe 
his  name  to  it,  for  which  entry  of  such  sale  Ac.  he 
was  "to  take  for  Toll  of  the  same  the  sum  of  Nine 
pence,  the  one  half  to  be  paid  by  the  Buyer,  the  other 
half  by  the  Seller."  It  is  evident  from  this  that  the 
old  Westchester  men  meant  that  their  dealings  in 
horses  at  their  Fairs  should  be  as  honest  as  the  nature 
of  the  business  would  permit,  whatever  may  been  the 
practical  result. 

Such  were  the  County  Fairs  of  the  Colonial  Days, 
and  to  them  went  regularly  great  nnnd)ers  of  peof)lc 
with  their  stock  and  produce,  from  the  iManors, 
Great  Patents,  and  villages  of  all  Westchester.  And 
there  too  went  as  in  more  modern  days  the  county 
politicians  of  all  kinds  who  of  course  attended,  as 
their  successors  do  now,  solely  for  the  good  of  their 
country. 

In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  state  the  origin 
and  organization  of  the  County  itself  ius  such. 

Under  the  Dutch  there  was  no  county  organization, 
each  of  the  settlements  then  in  existence,  and  the 
Patroonship  of  Coleudonck,  were  simply  mere  parts  of 
the  Province  of  New  Netherland  entirely  independ- 
ent of  each  other. 

When  the  Dutch  surrendered  New  Netherland  in 
l(i()4,  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  first  English  Governor 
Richard  Nicolls  was  to  re-name  it  and  its  parts  in  the 
English  language  in  the  English  manner.  This  he 
did  by  using  mainly  the  name  and  titles  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  who  was  Lord  Proprietor  of  the  Province, 


112 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


aud  by  whom  he  was  appointed  the  Chiefof  the  Commis- 
sion to  capture  it,  and  then  to  command  it  as  its  first 
Governor.  It  was  a  very  natural  thing  for  him  to  do, 
but  its  result  has  been  to  fasten  forever  on  what  is  now 
the  chiefest  city  of  the  Western  hemispliere,  that  most 
inadequate  name — New  York.  As  the  entire  region 
surrounding  Old  York  in  England,  from  which  the 
Duke  took  his  title,  forms  the  County  there  called 
"Yorkshire; ''  and  as  it  is  one  of  the  largest  in  Eng- 
land, it  was  early  for  convenience  sake  divided  into 
three  Districts,  termed  in  the  j)eculiar  Dialect  of  that 
region,  Ridings,  which  from  their  position  were  termed 
the  East,  West,  aud  North,  Ridings  of  Yorkshire. 
This  exami)le  Governor  Nicolls  faithfully  followed. 
He  called  Long  Island,  Staten  Island  and  Westchester, 
as  the  region  nearest  to  "  New,"  York,  "  Yorkshire," 
and  divided  it  into  three  "  Ridings,  the  "  East," 
"West,"  and  "North,"  "Ridings.  The  region  now 
Suffolk  County  formed  the  "  East  Riding  ;  "  Staten  Is- 
land, Kings  County,  and  the  town  of  Newtown  in 
Queens  County,  formed  the  "  West  Riding;"  there- 
mainder  of  what  is  now  Queens  County,  together  with 
what  is  now  We.^tchester  County,  being  all  the  territory 
on  the  main,  North  of  the  Harlem  River  aud  South  of 
the  Highlands,  between  the  Sound  and  the  Hudson,  he 
called  the  "  North  Riding."  As  the  portion  of  "the 
North  Riding  "  on  the  main,  Westchester  County  was 
legally  and  })0])ularly  known  till  the  year  1683.  In 
that  year  it  received  its  present  name  in  an  act  of  the 
first  legislature  of  New  York,  which  sat  in  the  "  Hall  " 
of  Fort  James.  This  Assembly  which  there  sat,  wiis 
called  by  the  exj)ress  "  Instructions"  of  the  Duke  of 
York  by  his  Governor  Thomas  Dongan  subsequently 
Earl  of  Limerick,  and  was  the  very  first  ever  held  in 
New  York.  This  Act,  passed  on  the  1st  of  November, 
1()63,  runs  thus :  "  Haveing  taken  into  Considerayon 
the  necessity  of  divideing  the  ])rovinee  into  respective 
Countyes  for  the  better  governing  and  setleing  Courts 
in  the  same.  Bee  It  Enacted  by  the  Governour,  Coun- 
cell  and  Representatives,  and  by  authority  of  the  same 
That  the  said  Province  bee  divided  into  twelve  Coun- 
tyes as  foUowoth  :  .  .  .  The  Countye  of  Westcheder 
to  contain  West  and  Eaxf  Chester,  Broii.v^  Land,  (ford- 
ham,  Anne  Hooks  Neck,  Bich/il/ls,  Minford'x  Island  and 
all  the  Land  on  the  Maine  to  the  Eastward  of  Ma?i- 
haftan's  I.fland  As  farr  as  the  Government  Extends 
and  the  Yoncl-e7-s  Land  and  Northwards  along  Hudsons 
River  as  farr  as  the  High  Lands."  After  describing 
all  the  "countyes"  seriatim,  the  Act  terminates  with 
this  clause,  which  first  created  English  High  Sheriflfs 
in  New  York  :  "And  for  as  much  there  is  a  necessity 
for  a  High  Sherifie  in  every  County  in  this  Province, 
Bee  it  therefore  Enacted  bv  the  Governour,  Councell, 
and  Representatives  in  Generall  Assembly  mett  and 
by  the  Authority  of  the  same,  That  there  shall  be 


I  TliiK  is  the  earliest  instance  the  writer  has  found  of  the  use  of  the 
woni  "Bronx."  "  IJronkes  his  land"  aud  "  Bronkcs'  Land"  and 
lironkes  River,  were  the  first  terms  used. 


yearly  and  Every  yeare  an  High  Sheriflfe  constituted 
and  Commissioned  for  Each  County  And  that  Each 
Sheriffe  may  have  his  under  Sheritfe  Deputy  or  Dep- 
utyes."  From  1683  to  1783,  precisely  one  hundred 
years,  the  High  Sheriffs  existed,  and  so  were  they 
always  designated.  After  the  Revolution  the  prefix 
was  dropped,  the  duties  remained  the  same,  however, 
except  the  holding  of  "Courts  of  election  "  was  taken 
from  them,  and  these  officers  themselves  were  appoint- 
ed by  the  State  Governor.  By  the  Constitution  of  1821 
they  were  made  elective.  A  great  mistake,  for  an 
officer  clothed  with  a  Sheriff"'s  powers,  of  all  others, 
should  never  be  made  eleciive.  As  its  result  we  see 
the  corruptions,  extortions,  and  cruelties,  which  are 
known  to  every  observant  man,  especially  in  the  cities 
of  the  State. 

The  Acts  of  the  Legislatures  from  1683  to  1685  in- 
clusive under  the  Duke  of  York  as  Lord  Projjrietor, 
and  of  1686  under  him  as  James  II.  though  existing 
in  manuscript  in  the  State,  have,  strange  to  say,  never 
been  printed  by  the  Province,  nor  the  State  of  New 
York,  a  fact  disgraceful  to  both.  This  one  dividing 
the  Province  into  Counties,  however,  has  by  itself  been 
printed  in  two  or  three  historical  works,  the  last  of 
which  is  the  xiiith  volume  of  the  Colonial  History 
of  New  York,  in  which  it  is  on  the  very  last  page. 
But  to  this  hour  it  has  never  appeai'ed  in  any  of  the 
volumes  of  the  Laws  of  New  York.  It  was  passed 
and  signed  by  Governor  Dongan  on  the  1st  of  No- 
vember 1683,  and  is  entitled  "An  Act  to  divide 
this  Province  into  Shires  and  Countyes."  It  was 
the  third  act  of  the  first  session  of  the  first  Legislature 
which  ever  sat  within  the  limits  of  this  State.'' 
Eight  years  later  the  first  Assembly  under  William 
and  Mary  was  called  by  Governor  Sloughter. 

The  first  Act  of  the  second  session  of  this  first  Leg- 
islature under  the  "  Instructions  "  of  those  Sover- 
eigns, held  at  the  "Fort  Hall"  in  September  1691, 
was  a  confirmation  of  the  foregoing  law,  in  the  form 
of  "An  Act  to  divide  this  Province  and  Dependencies 
into  Shires  and  Counties,"  •'  with  a  preamble  that  it 
was  enacted  to  prevent  mistakes  in  the  boundaries. 
The  first  clause  provides  "  That  the  said  Province  be 
divided  into  twelve  Counties,  as  followeth  ;  "  and  the 
third  clause  is,  "The  County  of  Westchester ,  io  con- 
tain  East  and  Westchester,  Brnnkes  Land,  Fordham, 
Mannor  of  Pel  ham,  Miniford  Island*  (now  City  Island) 
and  Richbill's  Neck,  (now  De  Lancey's  Neck)  and 
all  the  land  on  the  Main  to  the  Eastward  of  Manhat- 
tans Island,  as  far  as  the  Government  at  present  ex- 
tends, and  the  Yonckers  hand.  And  Northwards  along 
Hudsons  River  as  far  as  the  High  Lands."  The 
member  chosen  from  Westchester  County  to  this  As- 

-  It  is  here  cited  from  a  MS.  copy  of  the  original  Manuscript  of  Ihe 
Dongan  Liars,  at  Albany,  in  which  it  is  found  on  page  12. 

■m.  Bradford's  Laws,  ed.  1710,  p.  11.  III.  Bratlford  s  Laws,  .m1.  172fi, 
p.  11.    I.  Livingston  &  Smith's  Laws,  C,  II.  Van  Scha4ick,  (i. 

*  Westchester  is  named  first  in  the  original  act,  while  it  is  second  here. 
This  is  the  only  change  that  was  made. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


113 


sembly  was  John  Pell,  who  was  thus  the  first  of  a  line 
of  Assemblymen  for  the  County  which  has  existed 
from  that  day  to  this.  In  the  Governor's  Council  at 
the  time  of  this  first  A.ssembly  as  Members  by  Royal 
appointment,  and  as  such,  members  of  the  Upper 
House  which  passed  this  Act,  were  Stephanas  Van 
Cortlandt  and  Frederick  Philipse,  who  were  also  of 
the  Council  under  James  as  Duke  and  as  King.  Thus 
among  the  framers  of  the  original  act  which  created 
the  County,  who,  so  to  s])eak,  were  present  at  its  birth, 
and  also  at  its  confirmation  were  two  members  of  fam- 
ilies, subsequently  manorial,  both  of  whom  were  the 
first  Lords  of  the  Manors  of  Philipsburgh  and  Cort- 
landt, neither  of  which  had  then  been  erected.' 

Who  represented  "  The  North  Riding,"  in  the  As- 
sembly under  the  Duke  of  York  is  not  known  as  the 
.lournals  of  all  the  Assemblies  from  lti83  to  ItiSt)  have 
been  lost,  and  the  names  of  the  members  of  all  of 
them  have  consequently  gone  iuto  oblivion. 

No  change  whatever  took  place  in  the  limits  of 
Westchester  after  the  act  of  1691,  until  the  "Equiva- 
lent J>ands,"  or  "Oblong,"  was  acquired  by  New  York 
in  the  settlement  of  a  boundary  dispute  with  the 
Colony  of  Connecticut,  on  the  11th  of  May,  1731. 
This  was  a  strip  nearly  two  miles  in  width  taken  ofl 
the  western  side  of  Connecticut  as  far  north  as  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  ceded  to  New  York  in  exchange  for 
lands  upon  the  Sound  yielded  to  Connecticut.  The 
extension  of  the  counties  of  New  Y'ork  over  this  strip 
was  not  made  by  a  Legislative  act.  Being  an  addi- 
tion to  a  Crown  Colony,  it  was  a  new  ac(iuisition  by 
the  Crown,  and  iis  such  its  status  was  legally  deter- 
minable by  the  King.  Hence  an  "Ordinance"  by  the 
Governor  of  New  Y'ork  in  the  name  of  the  King  was 
issued  on  the  2!)th  of  August  1733  extending  West- 
chester and  the  other  counties  aflected  up  to  the  new 
line  between  New  Y'ork  and  Connecticut  established 
by  the  agreement  of  the  14th  of  May  1731.  As  this 
Ordinance  does  not  appear  in  any  collection  of  New 
York  Laws  and  Ordinances  that  the  writer  has  seen 
nor  in  the  two  volumes  of  Historical  Documents  relat. 
ing  to  the  Boundaries  of  New  Y'ork,  lately  compiled 
and  printed  by  ortler  of  the  Regents  of  the  University 
and  is  rare,  it  is  here  given  in  full  from  an  original 
printed  copy  in  the  writer's  possession. 

"  An 

Ordinance  for  The  Running  and  better  Ascertaining 
the  Partition  Lines  between  the  Counties  of  Wcs/- 
cheater,  Diitc/iess,  Albany  and  Ukter,  and  extending 
those  Counties  on  the  East  side  of  Ifudsons  River  to 
the  present  Colony  J>ine  of  Contierticuf. 

Geoiuje  the  Second,  by  the  Grace  of  (rod,  of  Great 
Uritain,  France,  and  Ireland,  KlX(i,  Defender  of  the 
Faith,  &c.  To  all  Our  loving  subjects  inhabiting  or 
being  in  our  Province  of  Xew  York,  and  to  all  others 
whom  it  doth  or  may  concern,  Greeting, 

'Anil  John  Pcll  who  was  tho  nicnihcr  for  the  County  in  1691,  and 
vote*!  for  tho  art  of  t!uit  year,  was  of  that  old  family  which  then  JWB- 
•easeil  the  Manor  of  I'elliani. 

8 


Whereas  since  the  passing  of  the  Acts  of  Assembly 
in  the  year  1683,  and  1691,  for  dividing  this  Province 
and  its  Dependencies  into  Shires  and  Counties,  there 
are  several  acquisitions  of  Lands  by  New  Settlements, 
and  otherwise,  particularly  the  Equivalent  Lands  Sur- 
rendered by  the  Colony  Connecticut,  whereby  this 
Colony  has  became  larger  than  it  was  before.  And 
Wlierenx  notwithstanding  that  the  Counties  lying  on 
the  West  side  of  Hudson'!^  River,  were  by  the  said 
Acts  intended  to  be  parted  and  divided  by  a  West 
Line  to  be  drawn  from  IfiidKon's  River,  at  the  respec- 
tive Stations  and  Places  on  the  said  River,  mentioned 
in  the  said  Acts,  to  the  utmost  extent  of  Our  said 
Province  on  the  West  side  of  the  said  River  ;  and 
that  the  Counties  lying  on  the  East  side  of  the  said 
ffudsnii's  River  were  likewise,  by  the  said  Acts,  in- 
tended to  be  parted  and  divided  by  an  lOast  Line  to 
be  drawn  from  IIud.'<on'>i  ff/ye/- at  the  respective  Places 
and  Stations  on  the  said  River,  mentioned  in  the 
said  Acts,  to  the  utmost  extent  of  Our  said  Province, 
on  the  East  side  of  the  said  River,  Yet  the  People 
living  on  the  Borders  of  the  said  Counties,  or  some  of 
them,  for  want  of  the  said  actual  Running  and  Sur- 
veying of  the  said  Partition  Lines,  protest  sometimes 
that  they  are  in  one  County,  and  sometimes  within 
another,  and  on  that  pretence  have  committed  several 
Abuses,  and  endeavored  to  elude  all  Process  issuing 
from  the  Courts  of  Judicature,  to  the  great  hindrance 
of  Justice,  encouragement  of  Fugitives  and  Vaga- 
bonds, and  to  the  disturbance  of  our  Peace. 

And  l^hereas,  since  the  passing  of  the  said  Acts, 
the  Chrhtian  Settlements  and  Plantations,  have  been 
greatly  extended  into  the  Indian  Counties,  particu- 
larly in  that  part  of  the  Province,  which  is  called  and 
esteemed  the  County  of  Albanij,  from  whence  some 
Doubts  have  arose.  Whether  the  Settlements  made 
since  the  passing  of  the  said  Acts,  are  at  present 
within  the  said  County  of  Albany  ? 

In  order  therefore,  to  remove  such  Doubts,  remedy 
such  mischiefs,  and  prevent  the  like  Inconveneneies 
for  the  future.  We  do  hereby  Ordain  and  Direct,  That 
the  County  of  Westchester  do  and  shall  contain,  All 
tlie  Lands  on  the  Main  between  Hudson's  River  and 
the  Sound,  to  the  Southward  of  an  East  Line  drawn 
from  a  Red  Cedar  Tree  on  the  North  Side  of  a  high 
Hill  in  the  Highlands,  commonly  called  and  Known 
by  the  Name  of  Anthony's  Nose,  and  running  thence 
to  the  Colony  Line,  together  with  the  adjacent  Is- 
lands in  the  Sound. 

Now  We  do  hereby  further  Ordain  and  Direct,  That 
the  South  Bounds  of  the  County  of  Albany,  do  and 
shall  begin  at  the  Mouth  of  of  a  Creek  or  Brook 
called  the  Sawyer's  Creek,  on  the  West  side  of  I/ud- 
son's  River,  and  from  thence  Shall  run  West  to  the 
utmost  extent  of  our  Province  of  New- York.  And 
that  on  the  East  side  of  the  said  River,  the  said 
County  of  Albany  shall  begin  at  the  Mouth  of  a 
Brook  called  Roeloff  Jansen's  Kill,  and  shall  run 
thence  Eastward  to  the  utmost  extent  of  our  said 


114 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Province ;  and  that  the  said  County  of  Albany 
shall  extend  from  the  said  South  Bounds  Northerly, 
on  both  sides  Hudson's  River,  to  the  utmost  extent  ot 
Our  said  Province,  and  shall  comprehend  therein  the 
Mannor  of  lAvirif/ston,  the  Maiinor  of  Raiidaerswijck- 
Schenectad II ,  and  all  the  Towns,  villagts,  neighbours 
hoods  and  Christian  Plantations,  and  all  the  Land, 
that  now  are,  or  at  any  time  heretofore  in  possession 
of  or  claimed  by  any  of  the  Indians  of  the  Six  Na- 
tions, the  River  Indians,  or  by  any  other  Indians  be- 
longing or  depending  On  Our  said  Province. 

And  we  do  hereby  likewise  Ordain  and  Direct,  that 
the  North  Bounds  of  our  County  of  Ulster  shall  be- 
gin at  the  Mouth  of  the  said  Sawyer's  Creek  or  Brook, 
and  extend  from  thence  West  to  the  utmost  extent  ol 
Our  said  Province. 

And  We  do  hereby  further  Ordain  and  Direct,  That 
the  County  of  Dutchess  do  and  shall  contain  All  the 
Lands  between  Hudson's  River  and  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  from  the  North  Bounds  of  the  County  of 
Westchester  to  the  South  Bounds  of  the  County  of  Al- 
bany. 

And  Our  Royal  Will  and  Pleasure  is,  and  We  do 
hereby  Direct  and  Require,  That  Our  Surveyor  Gen- 
eral of  Our  said  Province  of  New  York,  shall,  with 
all  convenient  speed,  Run,  and  Survey  the  Partition 
Line  between  the  Counties  of  Westchester  <&  Dutchess, 
the  Partition  Line  between  the  Counties  of  Dutchess 
and  Albany,  and  the  Partition  Line  between  the 
Counties  of  Albany  and  Ulster. 

In  Testimony  Whereof,  We  Have  caused  these  Our 
Letters  to  be  Made  Potent,  and  the  Seal  of  Our  Province 
of  New  York  to  be  hereunto  affixed.  Witness  our  Trusty 
and  Well-beloved  William  Cosby,  £stj.,  Captain  Gen- 
eral and  Governour-in  Chief  of  Our  said  Province  of 
New  York  and  the  Territories  depending/  thereon  in 
America,  Vice-Adniiral  of  the  same,  and  Colonel  in  his 
Majesty's  Army,  &c.  in  and  by  and  with  the  Consent  and 
Advice  of  Our  Council  of  Our  said  Province,  at  Fort 
George  in  Our  City  of  New  York,  the  Twenty  nineth 
Day  of  August,  in  the  Seventh  Year  of  Our  Reign 
Annoq;  Dom.  1733." 

This  Ordinance  really  established  the  boundaries, 
not  only  of  Westchester  County  but  of  the  whole 
Province  outside  of  Long  Island,  Staten  Island,  Man- 
hattan Island  and  the  County  of  Orange  at  its  date.  Its 
description  of  the  County  of  Albany  is  believed  to  be 
the  largest  and  fullest  of  that  County  extant,  prac- 
tically including  in  itthe  whole  Indian  territory  of  the 
Six  Nations  westward,  wherever  they  ruled  in  1733. 
By  it  the  southern  portion  of  the  "Oblong"  was 
formally  annexed  to,  and  made  apart  of  the  County  of 
Westchester  as  it  has  ever  since  remained.  It  did  not 
however  extend  the  lines  of  the  Manors  and  Patents 
granted  before  its  date,  and  bounded  by  the  original 
Colony  line  to  the  new  one.  The  manor  of  Cort- 
landt  was  not  thereby  extended  to  the  new  Colony 
line  established  in  1731.  Mr.  Robert  Livingston  a 
few  years  after  the  date  of  this  ordinance,  undertook 


to  claim  that  his  Manor  of  Livingston  was  by  implied 
intendment  extended  to  the  new  Colony  line,  and 
instituted  an  ejectment  suit  against  tlie  then  owners  of 
the  part  of  the  Oblong  adjoining  his  manor,  but  he  did 
not  succeed.  Some  of  the  papers  in  this  matter  which 
the  writer  has  examined  show,  however,  that  the 
"Oblong"  owners  were  exceedingly  alarmed  at  this 
claim.  This  Ordinance  is  also  of  interest  as  being  a 
good  admirable  example  of  an  instrument  of  royal 
rule  confined  to  the  British  Crown  Colonies  in  America. 

For  the  next  thirty-five  years  the  Bounds  of  the 
County  remained  unchanged,  no  other  Ordinance  or 
Act  relating  to  the  limits  of  Westchester  was  made  or 
enacted.  The  division  line  in  the  Hudson  River  and 
in  the  Sound,  however,  became  questioned  in  criminal 
Proceedings.  To  settle  all  questions  on  ihis  subject 
of  every  kind,  whatsoever,  on  the  30th  of  December, 
17(58,  the  very  last  day  of  that  year,  an  Act  was 
passed,  "To  ascertain  Part  of  the  Southern  and  West- 
ern Boundaries  "  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  the 
Eastern  Boundaries  of  Orange  County,  and  Part  of  the 
Northern  Bounds  of  Queens  County." '  It  settled  the 
jurisdiction  over,  and  also  the  title  to,  all  the  islands 
and  inlets  in  the  Sound,  many  of  tbem  mere  masses  of 
naked  rock,  rising  from  its  waters.  It  is  in  these  words ; 

"  Whereas  there  are  many  Islands  lying  and  being 
in  the  Sound,  to  the  Eastward  of  Frog's  Neck,  and 
Northward  of  the  main  channel,  opposite  to  the 
County  of  Westchester,  several  of  which  are  not  in- 
cluded in  any  county  in  this  Province. 

And  Whereas,  also  that  ])art  of  Hudson's  River, 
which  lies  opposite  to  the  said  County  of  Westchester, 
is  not  included  in  any  County  of  this  Province  ;  in 
order  to  remedy  which,  and  to  render  the  Administra- 
tion of  Justice  more  effectual ; 

I.  Be  it  Enacted  by  his  Krcellency  the  Governor,  the 
Council,  and  the  General  Assembly,  and  it  is  hereby  En- 
acted by  the  Authority  of  the  same,'  That  by  all  the 
Islands  lying  and  being  in  the  Sound  to  the  Eastward 
of  Frog's  Neck,  and  to  the  Northward  of  the  Main 
Channel,  and  as  far  Eastward  as  Captain's  Island,  in- 
cluding the  same,  together  with  all  that  part  of  the 
Sound,  included  within  these  Boundaries  shall  be 
and  remain  in  the  County  of  Westchester  ;  and  all  the 
Southernmost  part  of  the  Sound  from  the  bounds 
aforesaid  sis  far  as  Queens  County  extends  Eastward, 
shall  be,  and  is  hereby,  annexed  to  Queens  County ; 
and  all  that  part  Hud  sons  River,  which  adjoins  the 
County  of  Westchester,  and  is  to  the  Southward  of  the 
County  of  Orange;''  or  so  much  thereof  as  is  included 
within  this  Province,  and  the  Easternmost  half  Part 
of  said  River,  from  the  Southermost  Bounds  of  the 
County  of  Orange,  to  the  Northermost  Bounds  of  the 
County  of  Westchester,  shall  also  be  and  remain  in  the 
said  County  of  Westchester. 

1  J  I.  Van  Scliaack's  Laws  cli.  1376,  p.  'HI. 

-  This  was  Uie  I'onu  of  enacting  clause  used  in  tlie  Colouial  T.egislature 
of  New  York. 

^  Orange  then  inchuleJ  wliol  is  now  Rockland  County. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


115 


II.  The  second  cliiuse  enacts  that  "  The  Middle  of 
the  said  (Hudson)  River  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  dc- 
i-hired  to  bo,  the  Boundary  Line  between  the  said 
(bounties  of  (>ranc/r  and  Westchester,"  and  tliat  the 
western  half  "is  declared  to  be  included  in,  and  an- 
nexed to  the  said  County  of  Oranf^c,  together  with  all  , 
the  Islands  included  within  the  said  Rounds." 

III.  And  be  it  further  Enacted  by  the  Authority  afore- 
miid.  That  from  and  after  the  I'ublication  of  this  Act, 
all  the  Islands  and  I'reniises  hereby  included  in,  and 
aiuiexcd  to  the  said  County  of  Wesfehexter,  shall  be 
taxed  and  subject  to  all  such  Laws,  Rules,  and  Regu- 
lations, with  those  Manors,  Towns,  or  Districts,  to 
which  they  are  nearest  in  Situation." 

The  effect  of  this  law  was  to  remove  all  doubt  that 
might  arise  in  relation  to  the  subject  of  the  act.  It 
all'ected  the  coast-line  of  every  Manor  in  the  County. 
From  the  ninth  day  of  July,  177(),  when  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  sitting  then  at  White  Plains,  accepted, 
while  "  lamenting  the  necessity  which  rendered  that 
measure  unavoidable,"  '  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, until  1781),  when  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  framed  by  the  convention  of  1787, 
went  into  operation.  New  York  was  an  independent 
Sovereign  State,  mistress  of  herself,  and  as  such 
was  one  of  the  thirteen  independent  Sovereignties 
so  acknowledged  by  the  British  Treaty  of  Peace 
in  1783.  While  in  this  condition  her  Legislature 
divided  her  territory  into  counties  and  townships, 
and  made  some  changes  in  the  former  from  what  they 
had  been  under  the  Province  of  New  York.  This 
was  done  by  two  acts  pa.ssed  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1788,  chapters  63  and  ()4  of  the  Laws  of  1788.-  Both 
acts,  however,  were  only  to  take  effect  from  and  after 
the  first  day  of  Ajjril,  1789.  By  the  former,  which 
related  to  the  counties,  the  State  was  divided  into 
sixteen  counties,  four  more  than  by  the  act  of  1691, 
to  be  called  by  the  names  of  New  York,  Albany,  Suf- 
folk, Queen's,  King's,  Richmond,  Westchester,  Or- 
ange, Ulster,  Dutchess,  Columbia,  Washington,  Clin- 
ton, Montgonu'ry,  Cumberland  and  (lloucester." 

AVestchester  is  thus  described :  "  The  County  of 
Westchester  to  contain  all  that  part  of  this  State, 
bounded  southerly  by  the  Sound,  easterly  by  the 
State  of  Connecticut,  Tiortherly  by  the  North  Bounds 
of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  and  the  same  line 
continued  east  to  the  bounds  of  Connecticut, 
and  west  to  the  middle  of  Hudson's  River,  and 
westerly  by  a  line  running  from  thence  down  the 
middle  of  Hudson's  liiver  until  it  comes  opposite  to 
the  Bounds  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  then  west  to 
the  same,  then  southerly  along  the  east  Bounds  of  the 
State  of  Neu- Jer.iey  to  the  Line  of  the  Coiuity  of  New 
York,  and  then  along  the  same  easterly  and  southerly 
to  the  Sound,  or  East  Rioer,  including  Captain's 
Island,  and  all  the  islands  in  the  Sound  to  the  east  of 


1  Resolntiun  in  I.  .loiirnals  Prov.  Congress,  518. 
-  II.  JoUKS  Si  Vni  ick,  :il7  Hud  :519. 


Frog's  Neck  and  to  the  northward  of  the  main  chan- 
nel." 

By  the  latter  act  Westchester  County  was  divided 
into  the  following  towns  named  in  the  following 
order :  Westchester,  Morrisania,  Yonkers,  Greenburgli, 
Mount  Pleasant,  Eastehester,  Pelham,  New  Rochelle, 
Scarsdale,  Mamaroneck,  White-Plains,  Harrison,  Rye, 
Northcastle,  Bedford,  Pound-Ridge,  Salem,  North 
Salem, Cortlandt, Yorktown, and  Stephentown,  twenty- 
one  in  all, — the  bounds  of  eae,h  being  clearly  set 
forth. 

This  was  the  first  division  of  the  County  into  town- 
ships, an  organization  which  has  since  continued 
without  variation  except  divisions  of  a  few  of  the 
towns,  some  alterations  of  the  bounds  of  two  or  three 
others  and  the  incor|)oration  of  a  part  of  Yonkers  as 
the  City  of  Yonkers,  the  details  of  which  need  not 
be  given  here. 

The  Bou7idaries  of  the  County  remained  wholly  un- 
changed, until  the  annexation  of  the  new  towns  ol 
Morrisania  and  Kingsbridge,  formed  from  the  southern 
portions  of  the  old  towns  of  Westchester  and  Yonkers 
to  the  City  of  New  York  of  which  they  now  lorm  the 
twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  Wards.  The  ui)per 
part  of  the  old  town  of  Yonkers  has  been  incorpora- 
ted as  the  City  of  Yonkers.  The  County  of  West- 
chester therefore  with  these  exceptions  retains  its 
original  limits  as  fixed  in  ]()83,  and  confirmed  by  the 
State  County  act  of  1788. 

The  Township  Act  of  1788  is  remarkable  for  its  use  of 
the  Manors  in  enacting  the  bounds  of  the  townships 
it  created.  No  less  than  fourteen  of  those  twenty-one 
townships  are  described  and  bounded  in  part  by  naming 
special  lines  of  the  old  Manors,  or  the  Manors  them- 
selves as  a  whole.  Eleven  towns  out  of  the 
twenty-one,  were  formed  wholly  out  of  the  Manors. 
These  were  Morrisania,  Yonkers,  Greenburgh,  Mount 
Pleasant,  Pelham,  Scarsdale,  Mamaroneck,  North 
Salem,  Cortlandt,  Yorktown,  and  Stephentown.  Two, 
Salem  (now  Lewisborough)  and  Poundridge,  were 
partly  so  formed,  about  half  of  the  former  and  one- 
third  of  the  latter,  being  portions  of  the  Manor  of 
Cortlandt. 

13. 

The  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  Its  Oriyin,  First  Lord  and 
his  Family.  Special  Franchises,  Division,  Local 
History,  and  Topography. 

The  most  northern  part  of  the  County  of  West- 
chester, a  tract  reaching  from  the  Hudson  River  on 
the  west  to  the  first  boundary  line  between  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  York  and  the  Colony  of  Connecticut, 
on  the  ciust,  twenty  English  miles  in  length  by  ten  in 
width,  in  shape  nearly  a  rectangular  parallelogram, 
formed,  "  The  Manor  of  Cortlandt."  Acquired  by 
direct  purchase  from  the  Indians,  in  part,  by  Stephan- 
us  van  Cortlandt,  a  native  born  Dutch  gentleman  of 
New  York,  and  in  part  by  others  whose  titles  he  sub- 
sequently bought,  this  tract,  together  with  a  small 


116 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tract  on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River  opposite 
the  promontory  of  Anthony's  Nose,  which  he  also 
purchased  from  the  Indians,  was,  by  King  William 
the  Third  through  his  Governor,  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
on  the  17th  of  June  1697,  erected  into  "  the  Lordship 
and  Manor  of  Cortlandt."  The  original  Manor-Grant 
covering  two  skins  of  vellum  beautifully  written,  and 
bearing  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Province,  its  opening 
words  highly  ornamented,  still  exists  in  perfect  pres- 
ervation. Above  the  writing  is  an  elegantly  en- 
graved border  nearly  two  inches  in  width,  of  rich 
Italian  arabesque  design  of  fruits,  flowers,  figures 
and  birds,  in  the  centre  of  which  appear  the  arms  of 
England  in  full.  The  initial  letter  "  G  "  of  "  Guliel- 
mus,"  the  King's  name  in  Latin,  with  which  the  in- 
strument commences,  is  very  large,  is  richly  orna- 
mented, and  has  within  it  a  bust  portrait  of  William 
wearing  the  large  peruke,  and  full  laced  scarf,  of  that 
day.  The  great  seal  attached  is  that  brought  over  by 
Governor  Sloughter  in  1691,  made  pursuant  to  a  war- 
rant of  William  and  Mary  bearing  date  the  Slst  of 
May  1690.  It  has  upon  its  obverse  the  Arms  of  Eng- 
land as  borne  by  the  Stuarts  with  the  addition  of  a 
shield  of  pretence  in  the  centre,  charged  with  the 
lion  rampant  of  the  house  of  Nassau  ;  and,  on  its  re- 
verse, full  length  effigies  of  the  King  and  Queen,  the 
latter  holding  the  orb  and  sceptre,  and  kneeling  at 
their  feet  an  Indian  man  and  woman,  the  former  of- 
fering a  roll  of  wampum,  and  the  latter  a  skin  of  a 
beaver.  The  legend  around  the  obverse  is  in  Latin, 
signifying  "  The  seal  of  our  province  of  New  York 
in  America,"  that  around  the  reverse,  also  in  Latin, 
is,  "  William  III.  and  Mary  II.  By  the  Grace  of  God, 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Ireland,  King  and 
Queen,  Defenders  of  the  Faith." 

It  is  attacbed  to  the  fold  of  the  vellum  by  a  thick 
silken  cord,  is  of  wax,  and  lies  in  the  covered  metallic 
case  originally  made  for  it,  and  is  three  inches  and 
one  half  in  diameter.  Upon  the  fold  of  vellum  is 
the  signature  of  Benjamin  Fletcher,  the  Governor, 
and  the  countersignature  of  David  Jamison,  Deputy 
Secretary  of  the  Province. 

This  description  of  the  seal  of  William  and  Mary 
is  given  because  it  was  that  used  in  New  York 
throughout  their  joint  reign,  the  reign  of  William 
alone,  and  of  Anne  until  the  Gth  of  September  1705, 
on  which  day  the  new  seal  of  that  Queen  was  received, 
and  this  old  one  was  defaced,  and  sent  back  to  Eng- 
land to  be  broken,  in  accordance  with  the  law.  It 
authenticated  every  Manor-Grant  and  Patent  in  the 
Province  from  1691  to  1705,  and  was  appended  to 
every  Manor-Grant  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  ex- 
cept those  of  Fordham  and  Pelham,  the  former  of 
which  bore  the  seal  of  James  as  Duke  of  York,  and 
the  latter  that  of  James  as  King,  they  being  the  two 
oldest  Manors  in  the  County.  From  the  fact  that  this 
seal  was  so  used,  after  the  deaths  of  Mary  and  of 
William,  upon  patents  and  other  instruments  in  New 
York  issued  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Anne, 


attempts  were  once  made  to  deny  their  validity  in 
Court,  but  always  in  vain.  A  notable  exampleof  which, 
was  that  of  the  original  charter  of  Trinity  church 
in  1697.  This  seal  was  decided  to  be  the  lawful  seal 
of  the  Province  until  superseded  by  the  first  seal  of 
Queen  Anne,  as  above  stated  in  September  1705. 
The  ancient  and  important  instrument  just  described, 
now  nearly  two  centuries  old,  at  present  the  prop- 
erty of  Mr.  James  Stevenson  van  Cortlandt  of 
Croton,  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  late  Colonel 
Pierre  van  Cortlandt,  is  the  foundation  of  the  title 
to  the  whole  Manor  of  Cortlandt  as  possessed  by 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  and  of  all  existing  titles 
within  its  limits.  It  is  therefore  here  given  in  full : — 

MANOR-GRANT  OF  THE  MANOR  OF  CORTLANDT. 

Gulielmus  Tertius,  Dei  Gratia,  Anglia;  Scotise, 
ffrancia',  Hibernia?,  Rex,  fidei  Defensor,  &c.  To  all 
Whom  these  Presents  Shall  Come  Sendeth  Greeting. 

Whereas  our  Loveing  Subject  Coll.  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt  One  of  the  Members  of  our  Couucill  of  our 
Province  of  New  York  &c..  Hath  by  his  Pettition  pre- 
sented unto  our  Trusty  and  well  belove*  Coll.  Benja- 
min Fletcher  our  Capt.  General  and  Governour  in 
Cheifof  our  Said  Province  of  New  York  &c.  and  ter- 
ritorys  Depending  thereon  in  America  &c.  prayed  our 
Grant  and  Confirmation  for  a  Certain  tract  and  par- 
cell  of  Land  Situate  Lyeing  and  being  upon  the  East 
side  of  hudsons  River  Begining  on  the  North 
Line  of  the  Mannor  of  Philipsburge  Now  in  the  ten- 
our  and  Occupation  of  Fredrick  Phillipse  Esq',  one  of 
the  Members  of  our  Said  Councill  And  to  the  South 
side  of  a  Certain  Creek  Called  Kightawank  Creek 
and  from  thence  by  a  Due  East  Line  Runing  into 
the  Woods  Twenty  Englisli  Miles  And  from  the  said 
North  Line  of  the  Mannor  of  Phillipsburge  upon  the 
South  Side  of  Said  Kightawank  Creek  runing  along 
the  said  Hudsons  river  Northerly  as  the  said  River 
runs  into  the  north  side  of  a  high  Hill  in  the  high 
Lands  Commonly  Called  and  Knowen  by  the  Name  of 
Anthonys  Nose  to  a  Red  Ceadar  tree  Which  makes  the 
south  Bounds  of  the  Land  Now  in  y"  Tenour  And  Oc- 
cupation of  Mr.  Adolph  Phillipse  Including  in  the 
Said  Northerly  Line  all  the  Meadows  Marshes  Coves 
Bays  and  necks  of  Land  and  pennensulaes  that  are 
adjoining  or  Extending  into  Hudsons  River  within 
the  Bounds  of  the  Said  Line  and  from  said  red 
ceadar  tree  another  Due  Easterly  Line  Runing  into 
the  Woods  Twenty  English  Miles  and  from  thence 
Along  the  Partition  Line  between  our  Colony  of  Conec- 
ticut  and  this  Our  province  untill  you  Come  unto  the 
place  Where  the  first  Eastterly  Line  of  twenty  Miles 
Doth  Come  the  Whole  being  Bounded  on  the  East 
by  the  said  partition  Line  between  our  said  Collony 
of  Conecticut  and  this  our  province  &  on  the  south 
side  by  the  Northerly  Line  of  the  Mannor  of  Phillips- 
burg  to  the  southward  of  Kightawank  Creek  aforesaid 
and  on  the  west  by  the  said  Hudsons  river  and  on  the 
North  side  from  the  aforesaid  red  Ceadar  tree  by  the 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THi:  MANORS. 


117 


south  Line  of  the  Land  of  Mr.  Adolph  Phillips; 
And  also  of  a  Ceartain  parcel  of  Meadow  L3'ing  and 
lieing  Situate  upon  the  West  side  of  the  Said  Hud- 
sons  river  Within  the  Said  High  Lands  over  Against 
the  aforesaid  Hill  Called  Anthonys  Nose  Hegining 
ou  the  south  Side  of  a  Creek  Called  by  tiie  Indians 
Sinkeepogh  and  so  Along  Said  Creek  to  the  head 
thereof  and  then  Northerly  Along  the  high  hills  as 
the  River  lluneth  to  Another  Creek  Called  Apinna- 
pink  and  from  thence  along  Said  Creek  to  the  said 
Hudsons  lliver  Which  Certain  tract  of  Land  and 
Meadow  our  Said  Loving  Subject  is  Now  possessed 
thereof  and  Doth  hold  the  same  of  us  by  Virtue  of 
Sundry  grants  heretofore  Made  unto  him  by  Coll. 
Thomas  Dongan  Late  Govr.  of  our  Said  province  and 
Whereon  our  Said  Loving  Suljject  hath  ni.ade  Con- 
siderable Improvements  liaveing  been  at  Great  Cost 
Charge  &  Expence  in  the  Purchasing  the  said  Tract 
of  Land  and  Meadows  from  the  Native  Indians,  as 
well  As  in  the  Setling  a  Considerable  Numbers  of 
Famalics  thereon,  and  being  Willing  To  make  Some 
further  Improvements  thereon  doth  by  his  Said  Peti- 
tion further  Retpiest  &  Pray  that  we  should  be  Gra- 
ciously pleased  to  Erect  the  Aforesaid  tract  of  Land 
and  meadows  Within  the  Limitts  and  Bound  Afore- 
said Into  a  Lordshii)p  or  Mannor  of  Cortlandt,  Which 
reasonable  Kcijuest  for  the  future  Incouragement  of 
our  .said  Loving  Subject  wee  being  willing  to  Grant, 
Know  Ve  that  of  our  Especial  grace  Certain 
Knowledg  and  Mere  motion  We  have  given  granted 
ratified  and  Confirmed  And  by  these  presents  do  for 
Us  our  heirs  &  Succesors  give  grant  ratifie  and  Con- 
firm unto  our  Said  Loving  Subject  Stephanus  van  Cort- 
landt all  the  Afore  recite''  Ceartain  Parcell  &  tract 
of  Land  and  Meadows  Within  theire  Several  and  Re- 
spective Limits  and  bounds  Aforesaid  Together  with 
all  and  Every  of  the  Mesuages  Tenements  buildings 
Barnes  Houses  out  houses  Stables  edifices  Gardens  In- 
closures  fences  pasture'  fields  Feeding'  woods  under- 
woods trees  timbers  Swamps  meadows  marshes  pools 
ponds  Lakes  fountains  waters  Water  Courses  rivers 
Revuletsruus  Streams  Brooks  Creeks  Harbours  Coves 
Inlets  Outlets  Islands  of  Land  and  Meadows  Necks 
of  Land  and  Meadows  Pennensules  of  Land  and  Mead- 
ows ferrys  fishing  fowling  hunting  and  hawking  and 
the  Fishing  on  Hudsons  River  so  far  as  the  bounds 
of  the  Said  Land  Extends  U])on  the  same,  Quaries, 
Mines,  Minerals,  (Silver  and  Gold  mines  only  Ex- 
cepted) And  all  the  Other  the  rights.  Members,  Lib- 
ertys,  Priviledges, jurisdictions,  prehemenences,  Emol- 
uments Royaltys,  Profits,  Benefits,  Advantages,  Heri- 
dittements,  >&  apurteiiauces,  whatsoever,  to  the  afore 
recite'  Ceartain  parcells  or  Tracts  of  Land  and  Mead- 
ows Within  their  Severall  and  Respective  Limits  and 
Bounds  aforesaid  belonging  or  In  any  wise  Apper- 
toaning,  or  Eccepted,  Reputed,  taken,  known,  or  Ocu- 
pied,  as  part  parcell  or  member  thereof.  To  Havk 
And  To  Hold  all  the  afore  Recite''  Ceartain  parcell' 
and  tracts  of  Land  and  Meadows  within  their  Several 


and  Respective  Limits  and  Bounds  Aforesaid  ;  To- 
gether with  all  end  Every  of  the  mesuage  Tennements 
Jiuildings  barns  houses  out  houses  Stables  Edefices 
Urechards  Gardens  Inclosures  fences  Pasture  fields 
feedings  Woods  underwoods  trees  timber  Swanij)s 
Meadows  Marshes  pooles  ponds  Lakes  fountains  Wa- 
ter Water  Courses  Rivers  Revulets  Rivulets  Runs 
Streams  brooks  Creeks  harbours  Coves  Inlets  Outlets 
Islands  of  land  and  Meadows  Necks  of  Land  and 
Meadow  Penniiisiiles  of  Laud  and  Meadow  ferry" 
fishing  fowling  huntitig  and  hawking  and  the  fishing 
on  hudsons  River  so  far  as  the  Bounds  of  the  Said 
Land  Extend"  upon  the  said  River,  Quaries  Mines 
minerals  (Silver  and  Gold  Mines  only  E.\cp')  And  all 
other  the  Right"  Members  Libertys  priveledges  jur- 
risdictions  prehemmeuences  Emoluments  Royaltys 
profits  benifits  Advantages  heridctimeiits  and  Aj)|)ur- 
tenances  Whatsoever  to  the  afore  recited  Certain 
parcell  and  tract  of  Land  and  Meadow  within  the 
several  and  Respective  Limitts  and  bounds  aforesaid 
belonging  or  in  any  wise  apertaining  or  accepted  Re- 
puted taken  Known  or  ocupied  as  part  parcell  or 
member  thereof  unto  the  Said  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt 
liis  heirs  and  assigns  to  the  Sole  and  only  proper  use 
Benefit  and  Behofe  of  him  the  said  Stephanus  van 
Cortlandt  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  Ever. 

And  Moreover  Know  yc  tnat  our  further  Especial 
Grace  Certain  Knowledge  and  mere  Motion  we  have 
thought  fitt  according  to  the  Request  ol  our  tSaitl  Lov- 
ing Subject  to  Erect  all  the  before  Recited  Ceartain 
Parcell  and  tracts  of  Land  and  Meadow  Within  the 
Limitts  and  Bounds  aforesaid  into  a  Lordship  or 
Mannor,  and  therefore  by  these  presents  we  do  for  us, 
our  heirs,  and  Successors,  Erect  make  And  Consti- 
tute, .ill  the  afore  Recited  Ceartain  parcells  and  tracts 
of  Land  and  Meadows  Within  the  Limitts  and  bounds 
aforesaid,  together  with  all  and  Every  the  above 
Granted  premises  With  all  and  Every  of  Appurte- 
nances Into  one  Lordship  and  Mannour  to  all  Intents 
and  purposes.  And  it  is  our  Royall  will  and  pleasure 
that  the  said  Lordshij)  and  Mannour  Shall  from 
henceforth  be  Called  the  Lordship  and  Mannour  of 
Cortlandt;  And  further  Know  yee  that  wee  Reposeing 
Especial  trust  and  Confidence  in  the  lioyalty  wisdom 
Justice  Prudence  and  Circumspection  of  our  said 
Loving  Subject  do  for  us  our  heirs  and  Successors 
Give  and  (iraut  unto  our  said  Loving  Subject  Ste- 
phanus van  Cortlandt  and  to  the  heirs  and  assigns  of 
him  the  said  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  full  power  and 
authority  at  all  times  for  Ever  Heareafter  in  the 
said  Lordship  and  Mannour  one  Court  Leet  and  one 
(!ourt  Barron  To  hold  and  Keep  at  Such  time  and 
times  and  so  Often  Yearly  as  he  or  they  Shall  see 
meet,  and  all  fines  Issues  and  Amerciaments  at  tiie 
Said  Court  Leet  and  Court  Barron  To  be  holden 
within  the  said  Lordship  and  Mannour  to  be  Let  for- 
fited  and  Emi)loyed  or  payable  or  hapning  at  any 
time  to  be  payable  by  any  (»f  the  Inhabitants  of  or 
Withia  the  said  Lordship  and  mannour  of  Cortlandt  or 


118 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


theLimitts  and  bounds  thereof  And  Alsoall  And  every 
of  the  Powers  and  Authoritys  herein  beforenietioned 
for  the  holdinj^  and  Keeping  of  the  said  Court  Leet  j 
and  Court  Barron  from  time  to  time  and  to  award 
Issue  out  the  acCustomary  writs  to  the  Heirs  and  As- 
signs of  the  said  Stephanus  Van  Corthindt  for  ever  or 
their  or  any  of  their  steward  Deputed  and  apointed 
with  full  and  ample  power  and  Authority  to  Distrain 
for  the  rents  Services  and  Other  Sums  of  Money  pay- 
able by  Virtue  of  the  Premises  and  all  other  Lawfull 
remidies  and  means  for  the  having  possessing  Re- 
ceiving Levying  and  Enjoying  the  prenimises  and 
every  Part  and  Parcell  of  the  same  and  all  waifes  Es- 
trayes  Wrecks  Deodands  goods  of  felons  happening 
and  being  Forfeited  within  the  said  Lordship  and 
Mannour  of  Cortlandt  and  all  and  Every  Sum  and 
sums  of  Money  to  be  j)aid  as  a  Post  fine  upon  any 
fine  or  fines  to  be  Levied  of  any  Ijand  Tennements  or 
Heriditements  within  the  said  lordship  and  mannour 
of  Cortlandt  together  with  the  Advowson  and  right  of 
patronage  and  all  and  Every  the  Cliurcli  and 
Churches  Erected  or  Established  or  heareafter  to  be 
had  Erected  or  Established  in  the  said  mannour  of 
Cortlandt. 

And  we  do  by  these  presents  Constitute  and  Ap- 
point our  said  Loving  SubjectStephanus  van  Cortlandt 
and  his  heirs  and  Assinys  to  be  our  Sole  and  only 
Ranger  of  the  Said  Lordship  and  Mannour  of  Cort- 
landt and  to  have  hold  and  Enjoy  all  the  Benifits 
perqusites  fees,  rights  priviledges  Profits  and  Apurten- 
ances  that  of  Right  doth  belong  unto  a  Ranger  Ac- 
cording to  our  Statutes  and  Customs  of  our  Realm  oi 
England  in  as  full  and  Ample  Manner  as  if  the  same 
were  perticularly  Expressed  in  these  presents  anything 
to  the  Contrary  Hereof  in  any  ways  Notwithstanding. 

And  wo  Likewise  do  further  give  and  Grant  unto  the 
said  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  and  to  his  heirs  and  As- 
sinys, That  all  and  every  the  tennants  of  him  the  Said 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  Within  the  Said  Lord  Ship 
and  Mannour  of  Cortlandt  Shall  and  May  at  all  times 
heareafter  meet  Together  and  Chuse  Assessors  within 
the  Mannour  aforesaid  According  to  such  rules  ways 
and  Methods  as  are  jirescribed  for  Citys  towns  and 
Countys  within  our  said  province  by  the  Acts  of  Gen- 
erall  Assembly  for  the  Defraying  the  Publick  Charge 
of  Each  respective  City  town  and  County  aforesaid 
and  all  such  sum  or  sums  of  Money  So  assessed  and 
Levyed  to  Collect  pay  and  Dispose  of  for  Such  Uses  as 
the  act  of  General  Assemblyshall  Establishand  Apoint. 

And  further  of  our  Especial  grace  Certain  Knowl- 
edge and  Mere  Motion  we  do  by  these  presents  for  us 
our  heirs  and  Successors  give  and  Grant  unto  our  Said 
Loving  Subject  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  and  to  his 
heirs  and  assinys  forever  that  he  the  said  Stephanus  van 
Cortlandt  his  heirs  and  assinys  Shall  and  May  From 
time  to  time  and  after  the  Expiration  of  twenty  Years 
Next  Ensueing  the  Date  of  these  presents  Return  and 
send  a  Discreet  Inhabitant  in  and  of  the  said  man- 
nour to  be  a  Representitive  of  the  said  Mannour  in 


every  Assembly  after  the  Expiration  of  the  said  twen- 
ty Years  to  be  summoned  and  holden  within  this  our 
j  said  province  which  Representative  so  Returned  and 
Sent  Shall  be  Received  into  the  house  of  Representa- 
tives of  Assembly  as  a  Member  of  the  said  house  to 
have  and  Enjoy  such  priviledge  a.s  the  other  Repre- 
sentatives Returned  and  Sent  from  any  other  County 
and  Mannours  of  this  our  said  province  have  had  and 
Enjoyed  in  any  former  Assembly  holden  within  this 
our  said  province; 

To  have  and  to  hold  possess  and  Enjoy  all  and  Sin- 
gular the  said  Lord.ship  and  Mannour  of  Cortlandt  and 
premisses  with  all  their  and  every  of  their  Royalty  sand 
appurtunancys  unto  the  said  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt 
his  heirs  and  assignes  to  the  Sole  and  only  projjcr  use 
Benefitt  :md  Behoof  of  him  thesaid  Stephanus  van  Cort- 
landt his  heirs  and  Assignee  forever  To  Be  holden  of 
us  our  heirs  and  Successors  in  free  and  Common  Soc- 
cage  as  of  ou  rMannour  of  East  Greenwich  in  our 
County  of  Kent  within  our  Realm  of  England,  Yield- 
ing Rendering  and  paying  therefore  yearly  and  Every 
year  for  Ever  unto  us  our  heirs  and  Successors  at  our 
City  of  New  York  on  the  feast  Day  of  Annunciation  of 
our  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  the  yearly  Rent  of  forty 
Shillings  Current  money  of  our  said  province  in  Lieu 
and  Stead  of  all  other  Rents  Services  Dues  Dutys  and 
Demands  whatsoever  for  the  Afore  Recited  Tract 
and  Parcell  of  Land  and  Meadow  Lordship  and  Man- 
nour of  Cortlandt  and  premisses. 

In  Testimony  whereof  we  have  Caused  the  Great 
Seal  of  our  said  province  to  be  hereunto  affixed  Wit- 
ness our  Said  trusty  and  well  beloved  Coll.  Benja- 
min Fletcher  our  said  Cap :  Generall  and  Governor 
in  Chief  or  our  Province  of  New  York  and  the  Terri- 
torys  Depending  thereon  in  America  and  Vice  Ad- 
miral of  the  same,  our  Lieu'  and  Commander  in  Chief 
of  the  Militia  and  of  all  the  forses  by  Sea  and  by  Land 
within  ourCollony  of  Connecticut  and  of  all  the  Forts 
and  places  of  strength  within  the  same,  in  Coun- 
cil at  our  fort  in  New  York  the  Seventeenth  day  of 
June  in  the  Ninth  Year  of  our  Reign  Anno  Domini 
1()97. 

Benjamin  Fletcher. 

By  his  Excelys.  Command, 
David  Jamison  D.  Sec'y.^ 

The  earliest  movement  of  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt 
towards  obtaining  the  Lands  of  the  Manor,  was  to 
take  out,  pursuant  to  the  law  of  the  Province,'^  a  Li- 
cense to  purchase  them  from  the  Indians,  in  order  to 
extinguish  the  Indian  title.  This  instrument,  from 
the  original  among  the  van  Cortlandt  papers,  is  in 
these  words : 

License  from  Gov.  Andros. 
"By  The  Governor:  H 
Whereas  application  hath  been  made  unto  mee  by 
divers  persons  for  lands  at  Wyckerscreeke,  or  ad- 


>  Recorded  in  Book  of  P;iteiitfi  No.  7,  Ijeguii  in  ir>95,  pp.  105-170. 
-Explaiued  above  iu  tbis  esaay. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


119 


jacent  parts,  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's  River,  the 
which  have  not  yet  been  purchased  of  the  Indyan 
Proprieto".  These  presents  are  to  authorize  you, 
Co"  Stopliiiniis  van  Oortlandt,  Mayor  of  this  City,  if 
fitting  opportunity  sliall  present,  to  treat  with,  and 
agree  for,  any  part  of  the  said  Land  for  wh*"''  there 
may  be  present  occasion  of  settlement,  or  for  the 
whole,  with  the  Indyan  Sachems  or  Proprieto".  Tlic 
payment  whereof  to  be  made  publicly  at  the  Fort  or 
City  Ifall. 

(iiven  under  my  hand  in  New  York  this  IGth  day 
of  Novem"",  1G77. 

Andros."  ' 

This  license,  it  will  be  seen,  was  general,  and  jier- 
niitted  van  Corllandt  to  buy  of  the  Indians  whenever 
it  n)ight  conveniently  be  done.  No  time  was  men- 
tioned and  it  operated  as  an  indefinite  permission 
to  extinguish  the-  Indian  title  in  the  region  iuinu>d. 
Si.\  years  after  its  date,  in  1G83,  he  bought  the  penin- 
sula afterwards,  and  now  known  as  Vcrplanck's  Point, 
and  another  large  tract  adjoining  it  running  to  the 
eastward,  the  former  called  by  the  natives  Meanagli," 
and  the  latter  Appamapogh,  which  were  conveyed  to 
him  by  the  annexed  Deed; — 

SiKCllAM,  and  sir  other  Indians,  to  Slipluinus  van 
( 'ort/andt. 

"To  all  christian  i)eople  to  whom  this  present  writing 
shall  come:  Siecham,  Pewimine,  Oskewans,  Tuihnm, 
Qucrawighint,  Isighera,  ami  Prackises,  all  Indians, 
true  and  rightful  owners  and  i)roprietors  of  the  hinds, 
hereinafter  mentioned,  as  for  themselves  and  the  rest 
of  their  relations  send,  greeting,  know  YE  that  for 
and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  twelve  pounds 
in  wampum  and  several  other  merchandises,  as  by  a 
schedule  hereunto  annexed  more  at  large,  doth  and 
may  appear,  to  them  the  same  Indians  in  hand  paid 
before  the  ensealing  ami  delivering  thereof,  the  re- 
ceipt whereof  is  liereby  acknowledged,  and  lor  other 
divers  causes  and  considerations,  they,  the  said  In- 
dians have  granted,  bargained  and  sold,  aliened, 
enfeofted  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents  do 
lully,  clearly  and  absolutely  grant,  bargain,  sell,  alien, 
eiil'eof,  and  confirm  unto  Stephanns  Van  Cortlandt  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  merchant,  his  heirs  or  assignes 
forever,  all  that  certain  tract  or  ])arcel  of  land  situate, 
lying  or  being  on  the  east  side  of  the  Hudson  River, 
at  the  entering  in  of  the  Highlands,  just  over  against 
Haverstraw,  lying  on  the  south  side  of  the  creek 
called  Tammocsis,  and  from  thence  easterly  in  the 
woods  to  the  head  of  the  creek  called  Kewightabagh, 
and  so  along  said  creek  northerly  to  Hudson  River, 
and  thence  westerly  to  the  utmost  point  of  the  said 


1  This  pajxT  is  recorded  in  the  Sec.  of  State's  off.,  Albauy,  Lib.  27,  p. 
238,  uiid  in  West  Co.  Iteg.  off.,  Lib.  .\,  228.  It  is  iilso  in  XIV.  Col.  Hist., 
515. 

2Thi8  wonl  is  so  S|)e11ed  in  tlie  orij^inul  deeds  and  wills  in  wliicli  it  oc- 
curs. Tlie  spelling  "  McHhagh  "  is  simiily  u  copyist's,  or  printer's,  cor 
ruption. 


tract  of  land,  and  from  thence  southerly  along  said 
Hudson  River  to  the  aforenamed  creek,  Tammoesis, 
which  said  tract  or  parcel  of  land  known  by  the 
Indians  by  the  name  of  Appamaghpogli  and  Meaiiagh, 
including  all  the  lands,  soils,  meadows  and  woods 
within  the  circuit  and  bounds  aforesaid,  together 
with  all,  and  singular  the  trees,  timber-woods,  under- 
woods, swamps,  runs,  marshes,  meadows,  rivulets, 
streams,  creeks,  waters,  lakes,  pools,  ponds,  fishing, 
hunting,  fowling  and  whatsoever  else  to  the  said 
tract  or  parcel  of  laud  within  the  bounds  and  limits 
aforesaid,  is  belonging  or  in  any  wise  appertaining 
without  any  restriction  w  hatsoever,  to  havk  and  to 
HOI. I)  the  said  parcel  or  tract  of  land,  and  all  and 
singular  other  the  premises  and  every  part  and  ])arcel 
thereof  unto  the  said  iStephanus  Yan  Cortlandt,  his 
heirs  and  assignees  to  the  sole  and  only  ]>roi)er  use, 
benefit  and  behoof  ol'  him,  the  said  Steplianus  his 
heirs  and  assignees  forever,  and  they,  the  said  In- 
dians do  for  themselves  their  heirs  and  every  of  them 
consent,  promise,  and  engage,  that  the  said  Stephanus 
Van  Cortlandt  his  heirs  and  assignees  shall  and  may 
from  henceforth  and  forever  lawfully  peaceably  and 
(juietly  have,  hold,  possess  and  enjoy  the  said  tract  or 
parcel  of  land,  and  all  and  singular  the  other  the 
|)remises  with  their  ai)i)urtenances  vvithout  either  let, 
hindrance,  disturbance  or  interruption  of  or  by  them, 
the  said  Indian  proprietors,  or  their  heirs  or  any  other 
person  or  persons  claiming,  or  that  shall  hercalter, 
shall  or  may  claim,  by  from  under  them  or  either  of 
them,  and  that  they  shall  and  will  upon  the  reasona- 
ble request  and  demand  made  by  the  said  Stephanus 
Van  C<n-tlandt,  give  and  deliver  peaceable  and  (juiet 
possession  of  the  said  tract  and  parcel  of  land  and 
premises,  or  of  some  i)art  thereof  and  in  the  room  of 
the  whole  under  such  person  or  persons,  as  by  the  said 
Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  shall  be  appointed  to  re- 
ceive the  same,  in  witness  whereof  the  said  Indians 
Pewemine,  Oskewans,  Turham,  Querawighint,  Siech- 
am,  Isighera,  and  Prackises,  the  Indian  owners  and 
proprietors  aforesaid,  have  hereunto  set  their  hands 
and  seals  in  New  York,  this  twenty-fourth  day  of  Au- 
gust in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  majesties  reign. 
Anno  Domini,  1(583. 

Signed  sealed  and  de-  (  (Here  follow  the  seals, 
livered  in  presence  of        |  and  the  marks,  of  Siecham 

Francis  Rumbouts,       j  and  the  other  six  Indians 

Guelyne  Verplancke.    I  named). 

Ap])ended  is  the  "  schedule  "  of  "  other  merchan- 
dises" mentioned  in  the  deed  as  part  of  the  consid- 
eration ; 

8  guns,  12  shirts, 

9  blankets,  50  pounds  powder, 
5  coats,  30  bars  of  lead, 

14  fathoms  of  Duttels,  ■'        18  hatchets. 
14  kettles,  18  hoes, 


3A  coarse  but  soft  woolen  clotb  made  in  Holland. 


120 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


40  fathoms  black  wampum,  14  knives, 

80  fathoms  white  wampum,  A  small  coat, 
2  ankers  of  rum,  6  fathoms  stroud  cloth, 

5  half  vats  strong  beer,  6  ])air  of  stockings, 

6  earthen  jugs,  6  tobacco  boxes." 

On  the  ninth  of  March,  1682,  Cornelis  van  Bur- 
sum  of  New  York  City,  obtained  the  following  License 
to  purchase  Indian  Lands  from  Anthony  Brockholes, 
will),  as  Senior  Member  of  the  Council  had  succeeded 
Andros  in  the  Command  of  the  Province  when  the 
latter  went  to  England. 

Lycense  to  Cornelis  Van  Bursum, 
By  the  Commander  in  Chiefe. 

"  Whereas  Cornelis  Van  Bursum  of  this  City  hath 
made  Applicayon  for  Liberty  and  Lycense  to  pur- 
chase of  the  Indyan.s  a  Certain  ])arcel  or  Tract  of 
Land  Lyeing  on  the  East  side  of  Hudson  River  Be- 
hither  the  High-Lands,  to  Settle  A  rt'arnie  or  Plantaqon 
or  for  the  Improvem'  of  Husbandry,  These  are  to 
certify  that  I  have  and  Doe  Hereby  with  Advise  of 
the  Counsell  Grant  Liberty  and  Lycense  to  the  said 
Cornelis  Van  Ihirsum  to  purchase  of  the  Indyans  the 
said  Parcel!  or  tract  of  Land  and  to  Settle  A  ffarme  or 
Plantayon  thereupon,  he  Makeing  Due  return  thereof 
to  the  office  of  Records  there  in  Order  to  Confirma- 
yon,  and  Makeing  Improvement  and  performing  what 
the  Law  in  Such  Cases  Requires. 

Given  under  my  hand  in  New- Yorke  this  third  Day 
fl'eb'',  in  the  thirty  Fourth  yeare  of  his  Mat'" 
Reigne  Annoy.  Domini  1(381-2.  A.  B.  '  " 

Van  Bursum  acted  immediately,  and  four  months 
later  received  i'rom  Ackimak,  and  nineteen  other  In- 
dians, a  deed  for  the  lower  i)eninsula  which  forms 
the  South  bounds  of  Haverstraw  Bay.  It  was  called 
by  the  Indians  Senasqua,  and  by  the  Whites  "  Sa- 
rah's," and  "Teller's,"  Point,  and  later  "Croton" 
Point.  The  last  from  the  facttliat  it  forms  the  North 
Side  of  the  estuary  of  the  Croton  River.  Sarah  was 
the  wife  of  William  Teller  who  long  lived  upon  the 
Point,  she  having  survived  her  husband  several  years- 
It  is  decribed  in  the  Indian  deed  to  Van  Bursum  as, 
"  all  that  parcel],  neck,  or  point  of  Land,  with  the 
Marsh,  Meadow  ground,  or  valley  thereto  Adjoining 
and  Belonging,  Situate  lying  and  being  on  the  east 
side  of  the  North  or  Hudson's  River,  over  against 
verdrietye's  Hooke,  commonly  called  and  Known  by 
the  name  of  Slaupcr's  Haven,  and  by  the  Indians 
Navish,  the  Meadow  being  called  by  the  Indians 
Sena.s(]ua,  being  bounded  by  the  said  River  and  a 
certain  creek  called  or  known  to  the  Indians  by  the 
name  of  Tanrackan,  and  divided  from  the  Main  land 
by  certain  trees  marked  by  the  Indians,  together  with 
half  of  the  said  creek  &c.  for,  and  in  consideration  of, 
a  certain  sum  of  Wampum,  and  divers  other  goods, 
paid  by  Cornelius  van  Bursum. 


The  lands  from  the  Croton  River  Northward  to 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt's  Appamapogh  purchase 
before  mentioned,  and  running  eastward  to  the  Kea- 
kates  or  twin  ponds,  or  Cedar  Ponds,  as  they  are  called 
on  the  Manor  Map,  and  thence  down  the  Mescoot  and 
Croton  rivers  to  the  hitters  mouth,  were  bought  of  the 
Indians  by  Governor  Thomas  Dongan  himself  Their 
deed  to  him  was  dated  August  1685.  Dongan  on  the 
20th  March  1686,  sold  the  land  to  one  John  Knights. 
Dongan's  deed  from  the  Indians  thus  describes  the 
tract,  which  from  the  Indian  name  of  the  Croton,  was 
called  Kichtawanck,  or  Kitchtawong; — "all  that 
Tract  or  parcell  of  Land  situate  Lying  and  being  on 
the  East  side  of  Hudson's  River,  within  the  County  of 
Westchester,  beginning  at  Kichtawong  Creek,  and 
so  running  along  Hudson's  River  northerly  to  the 
land  of  Ste])hanus  van  Corliaudt,  from  thence  to  the 
Ciistwardmost  end  of  the  Said  van  Cortlandts  Land, 
and  from  thence  to  a  great  fresh  Water  Pond  called 
Keakates,  and  from  the  said  pond  along  the  creek 
that  runs  out  of  the  said  Pond  to  Kichtawong  Creek, 
and  so  downward  on  the  south  side  of  the  said  creek 
to  Hudson's  River,  including  all  the  land,  soil,  and 
meadow  within  the  bounds  aud  limits  aforesaid." 
Johu  Knights,  on  the  20th  of  April,  1687,  reconveyed 
it  by  deed  to  Governor  Thomas  Dongan.  *  Aud  from 
Dongan  it  subsequently  passed  to  Stephanus  van 
Cortlandt. 

Previously  to  his  purchase  of  the  Dongan  lands, 
and  on  the  13th  of  July,  1688,  Stephanus  Van  Cort- 
landt bought  from  the  Haverstraw  Indians  a  tract  on 
the  West  side  of  the  Hudson  River,  directly  opposite 
to  the  promontory  of  Anthony's  Nose,  and  North  of 
the  Dunderbergh  Mountain,  forming  the  depression 
or  valley,'  througli  the  upper  part  of  which,  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  came  down 
and  captured  Forts  .Constitution  and  Montgomery, 
then  commanded  by  his  distant  relatives  and  name- 
sakes. Generals,  George,  and  James,  Clinton.  The 
original  deed,  among  the  Van  Wyck  papers,  which 
has  never  before  been  printed,  is  as  follows : 
Indian  Deed  to  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt 
JOT  Lands  on  the  West  Side  of  the  Hudson. 

"To  All  Christian  people  To  whom  this  Present 
writing  shall  come  Sakaghkeineck  Sachem  of  Haver- 
straw, Werekei)es,  Sa(]U()gharup,  Kakeros,  and  Kaghtsi- 
kroos,  all,  Indians  true  and  Riglitfuil  owners  and  Pro- 
prietors of  the  Laud  herein  after  mentioned  and  Ex- 
pressed, Send  Crreeting.  Know  ye.  That  for  and  in 
Consideraion  of  the  Sume  of  Six  Shillings  Curr: 
Silver  mouey  to  them  the  said  Indians  in  hand  payed 
before  the  Ensealing  and  Delivery  here  of  the  Receipt 
whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged  and  for  Diverse  other 
Valuable  Causes  and  Consideraions  tliey  the  said 
Indians  have  Granted  Bargained  Sold  Aliened  Enfe- 
offed and  Confirmed  and  by  these  Presents  Doe  Fully 


"XIII.  Col.  Hist.,  ->-A.  2  On  the  pcniusula. 

3  West.  Co.  Reg.  off.  Lib.  A,  182. 


<  Lib.  A,  121,  West.  Co.  Reg.  ofT. 

^This  valley  beare  now  the  odd  api)ellation  of  "  Doodletowu." 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


121 


Cleerly  and  Absolutely  Grant  Bargain  8ell  Alien 
Enfeoff  and  Confirm  unto  Steplianus  Van  Cortlandt 
of  the  Citty  of  New  Yorke  Merchant  his  lieircs  and 
assignes  for  ever  All  that  A  Certaine  Tract  or  Parcell 
of  Land  Situate  Lyeing  and  being  on  the  West  side 
of  Hudsons  River  within  the  High  Lands  over  Against 
a  greate  Hill  Commonly  called  Anthonys  Nose  be- 
ginning on  the  South  side  at  a  Creeke  called  Sinka- 
pogh '  and  so  alongst  the  said  Creeke  to  the  head 
thereof  and  then  northerly  alongst  the  high  hills  as 
the  River  runneth  to  Another  Creeke  called  Assinna- 
pink '-  and  from  thence  along  The  said  Creeke  to 
Hudsons  River  againe  togather  with  A  Certaine  Island 
and  Parcell  of  Meadow  Land  neere  or  adjoyneing  to 
the  same  called  Wanakawaghkin  and  by  the  Christ- 
ians known  by  the  name  of  Salsbury's  Island '  In- 
cludeing  all  the  Lande  Soile  and  Meadows  within  the 
Bounds  and  Limitts  aforesaid  togather  with  all  and 
singular  the  trees  Timber  Woods  Underwoods  Swamps 
Moores  Marshes  Meadows  RivolettsStreamesCreeckes 
Waters  Lakes  Pooles  Ponds  ffishing  hunting  and 
fowleing  and  whatsoever  Else  to  the  said  Tract  or 
Parcell  of  Land  within  the  Bounds  and  Limitts  afore- 
said is  belonging  or  in  any  wise  appurteineing  with- 
out any  Reservaion  whatsever  To  have  and  To  hold 
the  said  Tract  or  parcell  of  Land  and  all  and  singuler 
other  the  Primisses  and  every  Parte  and  Parcell 
thereof  unto  the  said  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  his 
heirs  and  Assigns  to  the  sole  and  only  Proper  use 
Benetitt  and  Behoofe  of  him  Van  Cortlandt  his 
heires  and  Assigns  for  ever.  And  they  the  said  In- 
dians Doe  for  themselves  and  their  heires  and  every 
of  them  Covenant  Promise  and  engage  that  the  said 
Sleph :  Van  Cortlandt  his  heires  and  assignes  Shall 
and  may  from  henceforth  for  Ever  Lawfully  Peace- 
ably and  Quiettly  have  hold  Possesse  and  Enjoye  the 
said  Tract  or  Parcell  of  Land  and  all  and  singuler 
other  the  Premisses  with  their  Appurtenences  with- 
out any  Lett  Hindrance  Disturbance  or  Interrupion 
whatsoever  of  or  by  them  the  said  Indian  Proprietors 
or  their  heires  or  of  any  other  Person  or  Persons 
Claymeing  or  that  hereafter  shall  or  may  clayme  by 
from  or  under  them  or  either  of  them. 

And  that  they  shall  and  will  upon  reasonable  Re- 
quest and  demand  made  by  the  said  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt  Give  and  Deliver  Peaceably  and  Quietly 
Possession  of  the  said  Tract  or  Parcell  of  Land  and 
Premisses  or  of  some  Parte  thereof  for  and  in  the 
name  of  the  whole  unto  such  Person  or  Persons  as 
by  the  said  Stephanus  V.  Cortlandt  shall  be  ap- 
pointed to  Receive  the  same 

In  Witnesse  whereof  the  said  Sakaghkeineik  Sa- 
chem of  Haverstraw  Werekepes  Saquoghharup  Ka- 
keros  and  Kaghtsikroos  the  Indians  owners  and  Pro- 
prietors aforesaid  have  hereunto  Sett  their  hands  and 


1  Now  called  Snakehole  Creek. 

2  The  Creek  South  of  Snakehole  Creek. 
'  Now  called  loiia  Island. 


Scales  in  New  Yorke  the  13th  day  of  July  in  the 
thirty-fifth  yeare  of  his  Ma""  Reigne  Anno  Domin 
1683. 

Signed  Sealed  and  Delivered 

in  the  Presence  ol  Uss  the  mark  of 

By  Sakaghkeineck     ^  Sakaghkeineck  f  Sachem 
Werekepes  &  V  of  Haverstraw 

Kaghtsikroos      )  The  marke  of 

Fredryck  Flypssen  Werekepes 
Gulain  Verplancke  The  Marke  of 

John  Weis  f 
My  Marke  Kaghtsikroos" 
t 

Mantion 

The  last  purchase  which  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt 
is  known  to  have  made,  was  a  tract  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Hudson,  then  belonging  to  "  Hew  MacGregor, 
Gentleman,  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  who  previous- 
ly obtained  it  from  the  Indians.  The  original  deed 
from  MacGregor  is  among  the  Van  Wyck  papers  and 
bears  date  the  13th  day  of  July  1G95,  only  two  years 
and  twenty-five  days  before  the  date  of  the  Grant  of 
the  Manor.  It  is  a  full  covenant  warrantee  deed, 
signed  by  both  Hew  McGregor  and  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt,  the  witnesses  being  Johannus  Kip,  Theu- 
nis  De  Key,  and  John  Barclay.  The  consideration 
mentioned  is  "  a  certain  summ  of  good  and  lawfull 
money."  And  the  premises  conveyed  are  thus  de- 
scribed— "AH  that  certain  tract  of  land  situate,  ly- 
ing, and  being  up  Hudson's  River  on  the  East  side 
thereof,  beginning  at  the  East  side  of  the  land  late 
belonging  to  Jacob  De  Key  and  Company  at  a  Creek 
called  Pohotasack  and  so  along  a  creek  called  by  the 
Indyaus  Paquingtuk  and  by  the  Christians  John 
Peak's  Creek  to  another  creek  called  by  the  Indyans 
Acquasimink,  including  two  small  water  ponds  called 
Wenanninissios  and  Wachiehamis,  Together  with  all 
and  singular  meadows,  marshes,  woods,  underwoods, 
waters,  ponds,  water-courses,  improvements,  privi- 
leges, hereditaments  and  appurtenances  whatsoever 
to  the  said  Tract  of  land  and  premises  belonging  or 
appertaining." 

How  extensive  an  area  this  description  embraced 
cannot  be  stated  its  terms  being  too  vague,  but  is  was 
a  very  large  tract  lying  east  of  the  eighteen  hundred 
acre  tract  called  Sachus,  or  Sachoes,  and  known  as 
"  Rycke's  Patent,"  which  embraced  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Peeks  Kill  and  its  immediate  neighbourhood, 
the  fee  of  which  was  not  owned  by  Stephanus  van 
Cortlandt,  although  within  the  limits  of  the  Manor, 
and  subject  to  its  jurisdiction,  till  1770,  when  it 
was  granted  by  special  act  a  civil  organization  of  itg 
own,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

These  lands  including  all  his  purchases  upon  both 
sides  of  the  Hudson  River  were  granted  and  conr 
firmed,  to  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  June  17th,  1697, 
by  the  Manor-Grant  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt.  Itg 


122 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


boundaries  as  therein  stated  are  thus  set  forth,  "  a 
certain  tract  and  parcell  of  Land  situate  Lying  and 
being  upon  the  East  side  of  Hudson's  River,  Begin- 
ning on  the  North  Line  of  the  Mannor  of  Philipse- 
burghe,  now  in  the  tenour'  and  occupation  of  Fred- 
rick Phillipse,  Esqr.,  one  of  the  Members  of  our  said 
Council],  and  to  the  south  side  of  a  Certain  Creeke 
called  Kightawank  Creek,^  and  from  thence  by  a 
Due  East  Line  Runing  into  the  woods  Twenty  Eng- 
lish miles,  and  from  the  said  north  line  of  the  Man- 
nor of  Philipseburghe  upon  the  south  side  of  said 
Kightawank  Creek  running  along  the  said  Hudson 
River  Northerly,  as  the  said  River  runs,  unto  the 
North  side  of  a  High  Hill  in  the  highlands  commonly 
called  and  Known  by  the  Name  of  Anthony's  Nose, 
to  a  Red  Ceader  tree,  Which  Makes  the  South  Bounds 
of  the  Land  now  in  y'  tenour  and  occupation  of 
Mr.  Adolph  Phillipse'  Including  in  the  said  North- 
erly Line  all  the  Meadows,  Marches,  Coves,  Bays, 
and  Necks  of  Land  and  pennensulaes  that  are  ad- 
joining or  Extending  into  Hudson's  River  within  the 
Bounds  of  the  said  Lines,  and  from  said  red  ceader 
tree  another  Due  Easterly  Line  Runing  into  the 
Woods  Twenty  English  Miles,  and  from  thence  along 
the  Partition  Line  between  our  Colony  of  Conecticut 
and  this  Our  Province  untill  you  come  into  the  place 
where  the  first  Easterly  Line  of  twenty  miles  Doth 
Come,  the  Whole  being  Bounded  on  the  East  by  the 
said  Partition  Line  between  our  said  Collony  of 
Conecticut  and  this  our  Province,  and  on  the  south 
side  by  the  Northerly  Line  of  the  Mannor  of  Philipse- 
burghe to  southward  of  Kightawank  Creeke  aforesaid, 
and  on  the  west  by  the  said  Hudson's  River,  and  on 
the  North  side  from  the  aforesaid  red  ceader  tree  by 
the  south  Line  of  the  Land  of  Mr.  Adolf  Phillipse. 
And  also  a  Ceartain  parcel  of  Meadow  Lying  and 
being  situate  upon  the  West  side  of  Hudson's  River 
Within  the  said  High  Lands  over  against  the  afore- 
said Hill  called  Anthony's  Nose,  Beginning  on  the 
South  side  of  a  creek  called  by  the  Indians  Sinkee- 
pogh,  and  so  along  said  Creeke  to  the  head  thereof 
and  then  Northerly  along  the  high  hills  as  the  River 
Runeth  to  another  Creeke  Apinnapink,  and  from 
thence  along  said  Creeke  to  the  said  Hudson's 
River.'' 

From  this  description  we  are  able  to  see  the  out- 
line and  appreciate  the  extent,  and  area,  of  this  mag- 
nificent Manor  of  Cortlandt,  which  contained  on  the 
East  side  of  the  Hudson  River  86,213  acres,  and  on 
the  West  side  at  least  1,500  acres,  making  altogether 
the  enormous  total  of  Eighty-seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  thirteen  acres  of  land. 

About  two  years  after  receiving  the  Grant  of  the 
Manor  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  following  the  usual. 


1  Tenure. 

2  The  Croton  Kiver. 

3  A  brother  of  Frederick  Phillipse.  The  tract  was  called  "Phillipse's 
Upper  Patent,"  and  included  almost  all  of  what  is  now  riitnani 
County. 


and  the  wise,  rule  of  the  day  in  such  matters,  (the 
reason  of  which  has  been  fully  explained  in  the 
beginning  of  this  essay  in  speaking  of  the  Native 
owners  of  the  County)  *  obtained  from  the  Indian 
dwellers  upon  the  lands  of  his  grant  as  a  whole,  a 
special  deed  of  confirmation.  This  Instrument  is 
very  important  as  it  states  specifically  the  lands  in, 
and  the  bounds  of,  the  region  embraced  in  the  Manor 
of  Cortlandt.  It  is  dated  the  8th  of  August  1699, 
and  is  in  there  words  ; 

Indian  Deed  of  Confirmation  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

"  We,  Sachima- Wicker,  Sachem  of  Kightawonck," 
(and  twenty  two  other  Indians  seven  of  whom  were 
squaws)  "  all  right,  just,  natural  owners  and  proprie- 
tors of  all  the  land  hereinafter  mentioned,  lying  and 
being  within  the  bounds  and  limits  of  the  Mannor  of 
Cortlandt,  &c.,  have  sold,  for  a  certain  sum  of  money, 
all  that  tract  and  parcel  of  land,  situate,  lying,  and 
being  in  the  Mannor  of  Cortlandt,  in  West  Chester 
County,  beginning  on  the  South  side  Kightawonck 
Creek,  and  so  along  the  said  Creek  to  a  place  called 
Kewighecock '%  and  from  thence  Northerly  along  a 
Creek  called  Peppeneghek  ^  to  the  head  thereof,  and 
then  due  east  to  the  limits  of  Connecticut,  being  the 
easternmost  bounds  of  said  Mannor,  and  from  thence 
Northerly  along  the  limits  of  Connecticut  aforesaid 
to  the  river  Mutighticus'  ten  miles,  and  from  thence 
due  west  to  Hudson's  river,  together  with  all  the 
lands  soils  &c  &o.*  The  witnesses  were  John  Naufau 
(the  Lieut.  Governor)  Abraham  De  Peyster,  James 
Graham,  and  A.  Livingston. 

Thus  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  became  the  undis- 
puted and  acknowledged  Lord  of  "The  Lordship  and 
Manor  of  Cortlandt." 

There  were  two  small  parcels  of  land  within  the 
above  general  limits  of  the  Manor,  the  soil  of  which 
was  not  owned  by  either  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  or 
his  heirs,  one  of  eighteen  hundred  acres  and  one  of 
three  hundred,  the  latter  fronting  on  the  north  side 
of  Peekskill  bay,  the  former  on  the  Hudson  River  be- 
tween Verplank's  Point  and  Peekskill  creek.  The 
former  was  the  tract  known  as  "'Ryke's  Patent."  Its 
Indian  name  was  "Sachus,"  or  "Sackhoes,"  and  it 
was  purchased  of  the  Indians  on  the  21st  of  April, 
1685,  under  a  license  dated  March  6,  1684,  from  Gov- 
ernor Dongan,  by  Richard  Abrams,  Jacob  Abrams, 
TeunisDekey  or  De  Kay,  Seba,  Jacob  and  John  Harxse;* 
and  on  the  23rd  of  December,  1685,  a  patent  was 
granted  to  these  purchasers  and  one  or  two  others  for 
this  tract,  in  which  it  is  thus  described : — "All  that 
certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land,  situate,  lying,  and 
being  on  Hudson's  River  at  a  certain  place  called  by 


4  Ante  p.  34. 

5  Or  Kewigbtequack,  as  spelled  on  the  Map  of  the  Manor. 
8  Now  Cross  Kiver,  an  eastern  branch  of  the  Croton. 

7  Now  called  the  Titicus. 

8  Book  I  of  Indian  Deeds,  88,  Sec.  of  State's  offi.  Albany. 

'  So  spelled  and  named  in  the  original  petition  to  Dongan  for  the 
Patent  in  vol.  2  of  Land  Papers  of  1683,  Sec.  of  State's  Office,  Albany. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OP  THE  MANORS. 


123 


the  Indians  Sachus,  and  stretching  by  the  north  side 
of  Stephanas  van  Cortlandt,  his  hind  up  to  the  said 
river,  to  another  creek,  and  so  runs  up  said  creek  iu 
several  courses,  to  a  certain  tree  marked  T.  R.  west 
of  the  aforesaid  creek  which  lies  by  Stcphanus  van 
Cortiandt'a  land,  including  all  the  meadows  both 
fresh  and  salt  within  said  bounds,  containing  in  all 
1800  acres  or  thereabouts."  The  tenure  like  that  of 
the  Manor  was  "  in  free  and  common  soccage  accord- 
ing to  the  tenure  of  East  Greenwich  in  the  County  of 
Kent  in  his  Majesties  Kingdom  of  England."  The 
quit  rent  was  "ten  bushels  of  good  winter  merchant- 
able wheat  yearly,  on  the  five  and  twentieth  day  of 
March  [New  Years  Day  according  to  the  then  "old 
style"]  in  the  city  of  New  York.* 

From  Richard  Abrahamsen  one  of  the  six  patentees 
this  tract  derives  its  name  of  Ryke's  Patent,  "Ryke" 
being  a  Dutch  abbreviation  of  Richard,  he  having 
subsequently  acquired  the  shares  of  several  of  the 
original  owners.'^  From  him  and  his  brother  Jacob 
Abrahamsen  of  "  Upper  Yonckers,"  their  title  passed 
by  purchase  to  Hercules  Lent  who  also  acquired 
finally  the  title  to  the  whole  1800  acres.  Hercules 
Lent  devised  the  patent  in  several  parcels  among  his 
children  and  grandchildren  by  will  in  17G6.'  The 
name  of  Lent  is  still  very  common  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Peekskill  to  this  day,  and  some  of  the  name 
still  own  portions  of  the  original  tract.  The  300  acre 
tract,  which  was  of  little  importance,  fronted  on  the 
inner  and  upper  part  of  Peekskill  bay,  and  became 
prior  to  1732  the  property  of  John  Krankhyte.  Both 
these  pieces  are  shown,  colored  in  pink,  on  the  accom- 
panying map  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

The  earliest  traces  of  the  settlement  of  any  part  of 
the  Manor  was  that  at  the  trading  station  with  the 
Indians,  which  resulted  in  the  erection  of  the  stone 
fortified  building,  at  the  north  side  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Croton,  which  subsequently  became  the  present 
Manor  House.  The  largest  Indian  village  was  upon 
the  high  flat  at  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  of  Senas- 
qua,  or  Tellers,  or  Croton  Point,  which  unites  it  with 
the  main  land,  and  over  which  now  runs  the 
River  Road.  Hence  for  convenience  sake  the 
Dutch  traders  sought  the  landing  place  of  the  In- 
dians, in  the  sheltered  North  side  of  the  Estuary  of 
the  Croton,  then  an  open  bay  without  the  sedge 
flats  which  now  nearly  fill  it.  Here  too  was  subse- 
quently established  the  ancient  ferry  and  ferry  house, 
as  the  population,  and  the  traffic,  up  and  down  the 
Hudson,  began  to  grow  and  increase.  The  next  point  of 
settlement  was  about  the  mouth  of  the  Peekskill  Creek, 
and  in  the  tract  called  Ryke's  Patent.  The  method 
ot  settlement  adopted  by  Van  Cortlandt  was  the 
same  as  that,  which  was  adopted  by  the  early  Dutch 


•  Lib.  A.  of  Patente,  Sec.  of  State's  Of!.,  114.  Lib.  I.,  West.  Co.,  Reg. 
Off.,  14.i. 

STlio  "  Von  Rycken  "  origin  of  this  name,  given  in  Bolton's  History, 
is  fnnrifiil. 
3 Lib.  25,  Wills, N.  Y.  Surr.  Off.,  337. 


colonists,  and  subsequently  continued  by  the  English. 
What  it  was  we  learn  from  the  "  Information  relative 
to  taking  up  Land  in  New  Netherland  in  the  form  of 
Colonies,  or  private  bonweries  "  written  in  1650  by 
Secretary  Tienhoven,  for  the  information  of  the  States- 
General  of  Holland.  "  Before  beginning  to  build  "  he 
says,  "  'Twill  above  all  things  be  necessary  to  select  a 
well  located  spot,  either  on  some  river'or  bay,  suitable 
for  the  settlement  of  a  village  or  hamlet.  This  is  pre- 
viously properly  surveyed  and  divided  into  lots,  with 
good  streets  according  to  the  situation  of  the  place. 
This  hamlet  can  be  fenced  all  round  with  high  palisades, 
or  long  boards,  and  closed  with  gates."  *  *  "  Outside 
the  village  or  hamlet,  other  land  must  be  laid  out 
which  can  in  general  be  fenced  and  prepared  at  the 
most  trifling  expense." 

"  In  a  Colonic  each  farmer  has  to  be  provided  by 
his  landlord  with  at  least  one  yoke  of  oxen  or  with 
two  mares  in  their  stead,  two  cows,  one  or  two  sows  for 
the  purpose  of  increase,  the  use  of  the  farm,  and  the 
support  of  his  family."  *  *  "  And  as  it  is  found  by 
experience  in  New  Netherland  that  farmers  can  with 
difficulty  obtain  from  the  soil  enough  to  provide 
themselves  with  necessary  victuals  and  support,  those 
who  propose  planting  colonies  must  supply  their 
farmers  and  families  with  necessary  food  for  at  least 
two  or  three  years,  if  not  altogether,  it  must  be  done 
at  least  in  part."  Then  the  proprietor  had  to  furnish 
mechanics  of  all  kinds,  carpenters,  smiths,  wheel- 
wrights, millers,  and  boat  builders,  and  if  possible  a 
doctor,  and  a  clergyman  or  school  master.  In  this 
document,  there  are  descriptions  of  a  few  regions  in 
New  Netherland  which  he  mentions  as  well  adapted 
for  settlement  and  among  them,  that  of  the  eastern 
and  northern  part  of  West  Chester  county  comprising 
the  subsequent  Manors  of  Cortlandt,  the  upper  part 
of  Philipsburgh,  and  lands  immediately  adjacent  to 
them  and  the  Manors  of  Scarsdale  and  Pelham.  The 
region  is  thus  mentioned,  "  The  country  on  the  East 
River  between  Greenwich  and  the  Island  Manhat- 
tans is  for  the  most  part  covered  with  trees,  but  yet 
flat  and  suitable  land,  with  numerous  streams  and 
vallies,  right  good  soil  for  grain,  together  with  fresh 
hay  and  meadow  lands. 

Wiequaeskeck,  on  the  North  River,  five  leagues 
above  New  Amsterdam,  is  very  good  and  suitable  land 
for  agriculture,  very  extensive  maize  land,  on  which 
the  Indians  have  planted.  Proceeding  from  the  shore 
and  inland  'tis  flat  and  mostly  level,  well  watered  by 
small  streams  and  running  springs.  It  lies  between 
the  East  and  North  Rivers,  and  is  situate  between  a 
rivulet  of  Sintinck  and  Armonk."  * 

This  is  the  first  topographical  description  of  the  up- 
per part  of  the  county  that  exists.  Written  twenty -sev- 
en years  before  Stephanus  von  Cortlandt  obtained  his 
license  of  1677,  and  thirty-three  before  he  made  his 


*  I.  Col.  Hist.  3G5-370.  These  streams  were  the  Sltig  Sing  creek  utd 
the  Byaom  river. 


124 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


first  purchase  of  its  northern  part  from  the  Indians, 
it  gives  us  a  good  idea  of  the  clear-headedness  and 
shrewdness  of  the  man,  and  the  obligations  he  took 
upon  himself  in  undertaking  to  settle  the  tract.  He 
undoubtedly  did  a  good  deal  in  bringing  in  inhabit- 
ants and  stock,  between  1683,  the  date  of  his  first 
purchase,  and  1G97,  the  date  of  his  Manor-grant. 
Here  it  was  that  he  erected  the  mills,  mentioned  (in 
the  plural)  in  his  will,  dated  three  years  later  in  1700, 
the  year  of  his  death,  which  by  both  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish law  the  Patroons  and  the  Lords  of  Manors  were 
bound  to  provide  for  the  benefit  of  their  tenants.  Had 
Stephanus  von  Cortlandt  lived  to  be  seventy-five  or 
eighty  years  old,  like  so  very  many  of  his  descendan  ts  in 
every  generation,  instead  of  dying  at  fifty-seven,  leav- 
ing a  large  family,  mostly  minors,  it  is  probable  that 
he  would  have  left  his  manor  as  flourishing  and  as 
populous  in  proportion  as  that  of  Rensselaerswyck  at 
the  same  date. 

The  general  franchises  "and  privileges  of  a  Manor 
having  already  been  described,  those  only  which  were 
peculiar  to  this  particular  Manor  of  Cortlandt  will  be 
mentioned  here.  The  Rent  Service  on  which  the 
Manor  was  held,  was  "  Forty  shillings  current  money 
of  our  said  Province  "  (five  dollars),  payable  "at  our 
city  of  New  York  on  the  feast  day  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion of  our  blessed  Virgin  Mary."  The  peculiar 
franchises  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  were  two  only, 
the  Rangership  of  the  Manor,  and  the  right  to  be 
represented  by  its  own  member  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly after  the  expiration  of  twenty  years  next  ensuing 
the  date  of  the  Manor  Grant,  the  17th  of  June  1()97. 
In  this  as  in  all  the  other  Manor-Grants  was  a  clause 
giving  to  the  Lord  and  his  heirs  the  right  for  his 
tenants  to  meet  and  choose  assessors  and  provide  for 
public  charges  in  accordance  with  the  general  laws 
of  the  Province. 

Like  all  the  other  Manor-Grants  silver  and  gold 
mines  were  excepted  from  the  grant  and  reserved  to 
the  Crown.  This  reservation  was  actually  acted  upon 
by  the  Crown  in  the  case  of  this  Manor.  And  the 
last  century  a  Crown-grant  was  made  of  a  silver  mine 
which  was  discovered  just  by  Sing  Sing  village. 
But  space  will  not  permit  more  than  this  mention 
of  the  fact. 

"Rangers"  were  sworn  ofiicers  of  the  Crown,  to 
whom  were  granted  by  the  Sovereign  the  "  Royal 
rights  or  franchises,  of  waifs,  estrays,  hunting,  royal 
fish,  treasure  trove,  mines,  deodands,  forfeitures,  and 
the  like.  They  were  appointed,  either,  by  a  special 
royal  grant,  over  a  special  district,  which  was  the 
more  usual,  or  else,  as  in  this  instance,  the  franchise 
was  named  among  others  in  the  grant  of  a  Manor. 
The  appointment  by  Governor  Hunter  on  September 
4th,  1710,  of  Major  Thomas  Jones,  of  Fort  Neck, 
Queens  County,  the  grandfather  of  Judge  Thomas 
Jones  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  New  York  dur- 
ing the  Revolutionary  War "  as  'Ranger-General  of 
Long  Island  '  is  an  instance  of  the  former.    That  of 


Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  in  his  Manor-Grant  of 
Cortlandt  one  of  the  latter.  Its  value  to  the  Lord  of 
Cortlandt  was,  that  it  gave  him  the  regulation  and 
absolute  control  of  the  methods  of  Hunting  and 
Fishing,  throughout  the  Manor,  the  forests  and  waters 
of  which  were  remarkable  for  their  more  than  great 
numbers  of  deer,  beaver,  wild  turkies,  wild  geese 
swans,  ducks,  and  other  feathered  game,  and  the  great- 
plenty  of  salmon,  shad,  herrings,  and  striped  bass, 
which  filled  the  Hudson,  to  say  nothing  of  the  trout, 
black  bass,  and  pickerel  of  its  beautiful  fresh  water 
lakes  and  streams,  which  gemmed  in  clear  brilliance 
the  vales  and  glades  of  the  Manor  amid  its  bold 
lofty  hills,  and  dark,  magnificent  forests. 

The  other  special  franchise  was  that  of  sending  a 
Representative  to  the  General  Assembly.  This  was  a 
franchise  of  so  high  a  character  that  it  was  granted 
to  but  two  more  out  the  many  New  York  Manors, 
those  of  Rensselaerswyck  in  1705  and  Livingston 
in  1715,  the  former  eight  years,  the  latter  eighteen 
years,  after  the  grant  to  Cortlandt.  The  franchise  in  this 
case  was  not  to  be  enjoyed  till  after  the  lapse  of  twen- 
ty years  from  the  date  of  the  Manor-Grant,  June  17th 
1697,  that  is  until  after  June  17th,  1717.  The  reason 
of  this  was  to  allow  a  sufficient  time  to  elapse  for  the 
coming  in  of  a  population  numerous  enough  to  re- 
quire a  representative. 

In  1697  when  the  Manor  was  erected,  except  a  few 
white  people  near  the  mouth  of  the  Croton,  and  near 
Verplanck's  Point,  the  whole  Manor  was  occupied  by 
the  Indians.  True,  their  title  to  the  lands  had  been 
duly  purchased,  but,  as  in  almost  all  Indian  purchas- 
es a  right  to  hunt  and  fish  and  plant  corn,  was  prac- 
tically reserved  by  the  Indians.  And  this  the  whites 
always  acknowledged.  In  consequence  the  entry  of 
the  whites  was  extremely  gradual.  Therefore,  until 
people  enough  to  require  a  representative  had  settled 
upon  the  Manor  there  was  no  need  of  one. 

It  was  not  until  1734,  however,  that  the  heirs  of 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  who  had  died  in  1700,  chose 
to  avail  themselves  of  this  privilege  of  representa- 
tion. In  that  year  at  their  instance  Mr.  Philip  Ver- 
planck '  was  chosen  to  represent  the  Manor  in  the 
General  Assembly.  The  admission  of  its  Members  to 
the  Assembly  is  interesting  and  curious.  On  the  10th  of 
June  1734,  says  the  Journal  of  the  House,  "  Philip 
Verplanck,  Esq.,  attending  without,  was  called  in,  and 
produced  to  the  House,  an  indenture  that  he  was  duly 
elected  a  Representative  for  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt, 
in  this  present  Assembly,  as  likewise  the  Letters  Patent 
of  the  said  Manor  dated  in  the  year  1697,  whereby  a 
Power  and  Privilege  [was]granted  to  choose  said  Repre- 
sentative living  within  the  same,  to  commence  twen- 
ty years  after  its  date — Ordered,  that  the  same  be 
taken  into  consideration  to-morrow  morning."  The 
next  day,  the  eleventh,  the  House  resolved  that  Mr. 


1  The  husband  of  Gertrude,  only  child  of  Johannes  (John)  van  Cort- 
landt, the  eldest  son  of  Stephanus,  which  Johannes  wsi£  then  dead. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


125 


Verplanck  "be  admitted  as  a  member  of  this  House 
for  the  said  Manor  as  soon  as  an  act  is  passed  for  that 
purpose,  and  that  leave  be  given  him  to  bring  in  a 
bill  accordingly."  Four  days  afterwards,  on  the  15th 
of  June  1734,  "  Mr.  De  Lancey  "  (Etienne  or  Stephen 
De  Lancey,  the  first  of  that  family  in  America,  then 
the  first  named  of  the  four  members  for  the  City  of 
New  York,  a  ^on-in-law  and  one  of  the  heirs  of 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt)  "  according  to  leave  pre- 
sented to  this  House  a  bill  entitled,  An  Act  for  regula- 
ting the  choice  of  a  Representative  for  the  Manor  of 
Cortlandt  in  the  County  of  Westchester ;  which  was 
read  the  first  time  and  ordered  to  be  read  the  second 
time.  Two  days  later,  on  the  17th,  in  the  morning 
session,  the  bill  was  read  a  second  time  and  referred 
to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole.  In  the  afternoon 
session  of  the  same  day  ''  Col.  Lewis  Morris,  Jr., ' 
from  the  Committee  of  the  whole  House  reported  the 
bill  with  an  amendment,  "  which  were  read  and 
agreed  unto  by  the  House,"  and  the  same  ordered  to 
be  engrossed.  Five  days  later  the  Governor  (Cosby) 
gave  his  assent  to  the  bill  and  it  was,  with  nine  others, 
"  published  at  the  City  Hall."  After  which  and  on 
the  same  day,  on  motion,  Mr.  Verplanck  was  admit- 
ted as  the  Representative  for  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 
He  was  then  called  into  the  House,  and  Messrs.  Le 
Count  and  Van  Kleck  were  directed  to  go  with  Mr. 
Verplanck  before  the  Governor,  and  see  him  take  the 
oaths  and  subscribe  the  Declaration  according  to 
Law.  This  was  done,  and  on  their  return  Mr.  Le 
Count  reported  that  the  duty  had  been  performed, 
whereupon  it  was,  Ordered,  that  the  said  Mr.  Philip 
Verplanck  take  his  place  as  a  Member  of  this  House 
accordingly."  ^  It  is  easy  to  see  from  these  proceed- 
ings that  the  Assembly  was  very  jealous  of  its  own 
privileges,  and  careful  to  see  that  the  admission  was 
strictly  according  to  law. 

The  Act  itself  consists  of  a  long  preamble  and  four 
sections,  the  last  of  which  was  the  "amendment'' 
added  in  Committee  of  the  Whole.  It  is  recited  in  the 
preamble  that  Mr.  Verplanck  had  been  elected  "  pursue 
ant  to  a  Writ  lately  issued  to  the  Freeholders  of  and  in- 
the  said  Manor,"  and  it  then  gives  the  reason  for  enact- 
ing the  law  in  these  words; — "But  inasmuch  as  the 
Heirs  of  the  said  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  by  Reason 
of  the  said  Manor's  remaining  undivided  among 
them,  and  otherwise,  had  not,  untill  very  lately,  as- 
serted and  claimed  their  said  Privilege;  and  there 
not  being  sufficient  Provision  made  iu  the  said  Grant 
for  the  regulating  and  orderly  chusing  such  Repre- 
sentative, some  Debates  and  Controversies  did  arise 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,'  upon  the  Return 
made  to  them  of  the  choice  of  the  said  Philip  Ver- 


I  Son  of  the  Chief  jostice  of  the  same  name. 

'  See  journals  of  the  .'Assembly  vol.  I.  pages  666  to  069  for  these  pro- 
ceedini^s. 

'This  term  "  House  of  Representatives  "  so  familiar  to  all  Americans 
now,  wiis  the  term  always  uml  in  New  York  iu  colony  times,  to  distin- 
guish the  .\se«inbly  ofhcially. 


planck  as  aforesaid ;  and  thereupon  for  the  regular 
admission  of  the  said  Philip,  it  was  ordered  that  he 
should  have  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  that  purpose; 
Wherefore  and  to  the  end  such  Representative  may 
be  more  orderly  and  duly  elected  for  the  future." 
It  was  enacted ; — first,  that  Verplanck's  election 
should  be  confirmed  ;  second,  that  the  Freeholders  of 
the  Manor  should  elect  "  a  fit  and  discreet  Inhabitant 
and  Freeholder"  of  the  Manor  to  represent  it  in  the 
Assembly ;  third  that  the  Returning  officer  of  the 
Manor  should  hold  the  elections  precisely  as  the  High 
Sheriff  held  the  elections  in  the  County,  and  be  em- 
powered to  administer  the  same  oaths ;  *  and  fourth  and 
last,  the  amendment  reported  by  Col.  Lewis  Morris, 
Jr.,  which  as  it  is  both  curious  and  interesting,  is 
here  given  in  full ;  IV.  Provided  and  Be  it  enacted  by 
the  Authority  aforesaid,  That  the  Freeholders  and  In- 
habitants of  the  said  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  shall  at  all 
times  pay  the  Wages  of  their  own  Representative; 
and  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  exempt  them 
from  paying  their  due  and  equal  proportion  of  the 
Wages  of  the  Deputies  or  Representatives  for  the 
County  of  Westchester,  and  of  all  other  the  annual 
publick,  and  necessary  charges  of  the  same  County."* 
It  is  certainly  very  evident  that  the  Assembly  of 
1734  did  not  believe  in  Representation  without  double 
taxation.  There  was  probably  some  jealousy,  or 
political  feeling  at  the  bottom  of  the  insertion  of  this 
provision,  for  three  years  later,  in  1737  it  was  uncon- 
ditionally repealed  by  an  Act  passed  on  the  16th  of 
December  in  that  year,*  except  as  to  the  general 
County  charges.  This  act  also  fixed  the  "  Wages  " 
of  the  Representative  of  the  Manor  at  "Six  shillings 
for  every  day  he  attends  the  Service  of  the  said  As- 
sembly," and  expressly  provided  that  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  Manor  should  "  only  pay  the  charges  and 
Wages  of  their  own  Representative." 

It  also  provided  for  the  annual  election  in  the 
Manor  of  "  one  Supervisor,  one  Treasurer,  two  As- 
sessors, and  one  Collector  "  with  all  the  powers  and 
duties  of  those  oflBcers  in  the  Counties  of  the  Pro- 
vince, pursuant  to  "The  Act"  of  William  and  Mary 
of  1691,  "  for  defraying  the  public  charges  of  the 
Province,  maintaining  the  poor,  and  preventing  vag- 
abonds." This  was  the  first  time  these  officers  be- 
came necessary  in  the  Manor. 

Elected  and  admitted  to  his  seat  under  this  fran- 
chise in  1734,  Philip  Verplanck  was  constantly  re- 
elected to  subsequent  Assemblies  and  sat  for  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt  continuously  up  to  the  year  1768, 
the  long  period  of  thirty-four  years.  A  continuous 
period  of  service  without  a  parallel  in  Province  of 
New  York,  and  which  has  never  occurred  under  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  un- 
der the  State  Government,  singularly  enough,  being 


<Sce  pp.  110,  111,  AnU. 

6 1.  V.  S.  Laws,  chap.  607,  p.  183. 

•  I.  V.  S.  Laws,  ch.  654,  p.  192. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lhat  of  the  distinguished,  and  very  able,  gentleman, 
who  has,  in  our  own  day,  represented  this  same  Man- 
or of  Cortlandt  and  the  portions  of  the  County  ad- 
joining it,  now  the  third  Assembly  District  of  West- 
chester County  of  which  he  is  a  native,  for  16  years 
in  the  Assembly  11  of  which  were  of  continuous  ser- 
vice, the  Honorable  James  W.  Husted  of  Peekskill  ; 
and  who  in  the  Assembly  of  this  present  year — 1886 
— now  presides  over  that  Body  as  its  speaker, — the 
fourth  time  to  which  he  has  been  chosen  to  that  high 
office.  ^  Mr.  Verplanck  having  died  and  Sir  Henry 
Moore  the  Governor  having  dissolved  the  old  Assem- 
bly on  the  6th  of  February  1768,  writs  for  a  new 
election  were  issued  on  the  10th  of  February  return- 
able on  the  22d  of  March  following,  between  which 
dates  the  new  election  was  held,  in  the  manner  that 
has  been  before  described,  and  "  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt 
Esq."  was  duly  elected  representative  for  the  Manor, 
and  took  his  seat  at  the  opening  of  the  session  on  the 
27th  of  October  1768.^  This  Assembly  was  a  very 
short  one,  having  been  dissolved  by  the  same  Gover- 
nor on  the  2d  of  January  1769.  New  writs  for  a  new 
election  were  issued  on  the  4th  of  the  same  month  re- 
turnable on  the  14th  of  the  ensuing  February.'  The 
election  in  the  manor  took  place  on  the  l.st  of  Febru- 
ary 1769  "Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Esq."  being  again 
elected.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  "  return  "  of 
the  election  under  the  hands  and  seals  of  the  return- 
ing officers,  and  as  showing  the  method  in  use  in  Col- 
ony days  is  of  much  interest.  It  is  endorsed  "  Copy 
of  Indenture  certifying  the  election  of  Pierre  Van 
Cortlandt  Esq^  to  serve  as  Representative  of  the 
Manor— 1769." 

Indenture  of  Election. 
"This  Indenture  made  and  concluded  this  first  day 
of  February  in  the  Ninth  year  of  the  Reign  of  Our 
Sovereign  Lord  George  the  Third  by  the  Grace  of 
God  of  Great  Brittain  France  and  Ireland  King,  De" 
fender  of  ye  Faith,  etc.,  and  In  the  year  of  Our  Lord 
One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Sixty-Nine — 
With  and  Between  Joshuah  Traviss  Constable  of  the 
one  Part  and  Jeremiah  Traviss,  Charles  Moore, 
Joseph  Traviss,  Abraham  Purdy  and  John  Stevens 
Principal  Freeholders  of  the  Manor  of  Cortland  of 
the  Other  Part,  Witnesseth  that  the  said  Constable 
in  obedience  to  His  Majesties  Writ  to  him  directed 
bearing  Date  the  Fourth  day  of  January  did  give 
Public  Notice  to  the  Freeholders  of  the  said  Manor 
of  Cortland  who  assembled  and  met  Together  on  the 
First  Day  of  February  and  by  Plurality  of  Voices 
made  Choice  of  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Esq.,  one  of 
the  Principal  Freeholders  of  the  Said  Manor  to  be 
the  Representative  to  Assist  the  Captain  General  or 


1  For  one  year  of  Mr.  Hustoii's  service  iu  the  Assembly,  he  sat  for 
Rockland  County  directly  across  the  Hudson. 
-  Assembly  Journals  of  17G8,  3. 

3  Assembly  Journals  of  17(59,  p.  3,  By  a  printer's  error  the  Journals 
make  the  issue  of  the  new  Writs  the  "14th,"  instead  of  the  "4th"  of 
January,  176'J. 


Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Province  of  New-York 
In  General  Assembly  for  Said  Province,  on  the  Four- 
teenth day  of  February.  In  Testimony  Whereof  we 
have  hereinto  set  our  Hands  and  Seals  this  day  and 
year  First  Above  Written. 

Joseph  Traviss,  [l.  s.]  Joshuah  Traviss,  Constable 
[l.  .s.]  Abram  Purdy,  [l.  s.]  Jeremiah  Traviss,  [l.  s  ] 
John  Stevens,  [l.  s.]  Charles  Moore,  [l.  s.]  * 

This  Assembly  was  the  last  elected  in  the  Province 
of  New  York,  and  sat  till  1775.  Pierre  Van  Cort- 
landt sat  for  the  Manor  during  its  whole  existence. 

In  175S  the  population  had  so  increased  that  an  act 
was  passed  reciting  the  fact  and  authorizing  the  elec- 
tion of  two  Constables,  one  from  those  "  having 
Habitations  near  Hudson's  River,"  and  the  other 
from  those  whose  "  Habitations  "  were  "  on  the  East- 
ern parts  of  said  Manor."  ^ 

By  1768  the  numbers  of  the  people  had  so  much 
more  increased  that,  the  last  nientioned  act  was 
amended  by  authorizing  the  election  of  three  Con- 
stables, and  dividing  the  Manor  into  three  "  Divi- 
sions" or  Wards,  each  of  which  was  to  elect  one  of 
the  three  constables.  The  first  of  these  "  division  " 
contained  all  the  Manor  West  of  the  east  bonds  of 
North  lot  No.  I.  and  South  lot  No.  I.,  North  of  the 
Croton  River,  and  West  of  the  West  bounds  of  lot  No. 
8  on  the  South  of  the  Croton.  The  second  division, 
lay  east  of  the  first,  and  West  of  the  West  bounds  of 
North  lot  No.  8  and  South  lot  No.  8,  and  West  of  the 
East  bounds  of  lot  No.  10  South  of  the  Croton.  The 
third  was  all  the  rest  of  the  Manor  East  of  the  East 
bounds  of  the  second  division.^  This  act  also  provid- 
ed for  the  annual  election  of  "  Overseers  of  Roads  " 
in  each  of  the  above  divisions  and  specified  their 
powers  and  duties.' 

In  all  these  elections,  and  public  actions  under  the 
foregoing  laws,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Krankhyte  300 
acre  tract,  and  of  Ryke's  Patent  were  included,  be- 
ing political  portions  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  al- 
though the  fee  of  the  soil  was  in  the  owners  of  the 
patents  solely.  Several  of  the  Manors  in  New  York 
likewise  embraced  within  their  limits  in  the  political 
sense,  small  parcels  of  land  not  owned  in  fee  by  their 
proprietors,  in  the  same  way.  By  1770  the  people  in 
Ryke's  Patent  had  so  increased  in  number,  that  an 
act  was  passed  on  the  27th  of  January  in  that  year, 
for  their  special  benefit  which  provided  "  that  for  the 
better  defraying  the  common  and  necessary  charges 
of  Ryke's  Patent  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  in  West- 
chester County,"  the  Freeholders  thereof  should  elect 
on  the  first  Tuesday  in  every  April,  one  Supervisor, 
one  Constable,  one  Assessor,  one  Poor-Master,  two 
Fence-Viewers,  one  Pound-Master,  and  one  or  more 
Surveyors  of  Highways,  with  all  the  powers  and 


<  The  original  is  among  the  Van  Cortlandt  papers. 
61.  V.  S.  Laws,  Ch.  1015,  p.  359. 

6  These  divisions  are  often  spoken  of  in  the  documents  of  that  day, 
as  the  three  wards  of  the  Manors. 
7 II.  V.  S.  Laws,  Ch.  1378,  p.  529. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


127 


duties  and  subject  to  the  same  pains  and  penalties  of 
the  like  officers  under  the  Laws  of  the  Colony.' 

A  singular  law  in  regard  to  the  Manor,  as  it  appears 
to  us  now,  was  one  passed  the  13th  of  December, 
1703,  which  enacted  that  in  case  any  person  whatso- 
ever "  shall  carry  on  the  Practice  of  Inoculation  for 
the  Small-Pox  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  within  the 
Distance  of  Half  a  Mile  of  any  Dwelling  House  he 
shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  Twenty  Founds  ($50.)  for  every 
such  oftience,  upon  proof  before  a  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
one-third  to  go  to  the  prosecutor,  and  the  other  two 
thirds  "  for  the  use  of  the  Poor  in  the  Said  Manor." 
The  patient  had  consequently  to  go  through  the  oper- 
ation and  subsequent  treatment,  either  in  a  barn  or  a 
!    shanty  in  the  woods. 

The  Manor  of  Cortlandt  was  erected  on  the  17th  of 
June,  KJy?.  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  its  first  and 
only  Lord  died  on  the  25th  of  November  1700.  Three 
years  and  about  five  months  only  did  he  possess  it. 
This  time  was  too  short  for  any  practical  development 
of  its  Manor  privileges,  all  that  he  seems  to  have  done, 
was  to  make  the  stone  trading  house  situated  at  or 
rather  near,  the  northern  terminus  of  the  ferry  across 
the  mouth  of  the  Croton  River,  better  adapted  to  its 
purposes,  to  bring  in  some  farmers  and  mechanics,  and 
build  mills.  Precisely  when  this  house  was  built  is 
uncertain,  but  probably  about  1683.  Van  Cortlandt's 
home  was  in  New  York,  and  this  first  building  was 
intended  as  a  station  for  Indian  traffic.  Naturally  it 
became  his  place  of  temporary  residence  when  visit- 
ing his  lands  after  his  first  purchase,  either  for  busi- 
ness, pleasure,  or  the  enjoyment  of  hunting  and 
fishing.  It  is  a  tradition  that  Governor  Dongan  often 
visited  this  region  for  the  latter  purposes,  as  he  was  a 
sportsman  in  his  tastes,  a  thorough  gentleman  and  a 
great  personal  friend  of  van  Cortlandt.  Dongan  was 
fond  of  flowers  and  fruit  culture,  and  he  introduced  a 
kind  of  apple  into  this  region  still  known  in  the 
Manor  District  as  the  "  Dongan  Apple."  Subsequently 
the  House  was  enlarged  and  became  the  still  existing 
well  known  "  Manor  House  of  Cortlandt's  Manor." 
From  the  days  of  Stephanus  to  the  present  hour  it  has 
ever  continued  to  be  the  property  and  the  residence  of 
one  of  his  family  and  his  name,  and  ever  the  scene  of  a 
continued,  and  generous  hospitality.  The  main  part  of 
the  structure  is  built  of  reddish  free-stone,  with  a  high 
basement  and  walls  nearly  three  feet  thick.  The  roof 
is  a  rather  low  pitched  one,  in  the  Dutch  style  with 
dormer  windows.  A  piazza  of  modern  construction, 
extends  along  the  entire  front  above  the  high  base- 
ment. It  stands  on  the  brow  of  a  declivity  sloping 
to,  and  overlooking,  the  wide  estuary  of  the  Croton 
River,  and  commands  a  magnificent  view,  to  the 
southwest  of  the  wide  Tappan  Sea  of  the  Hudson, 
and  its  striking,  beautiful,  bold,  and  almost  mountain- 
ous scenery.  It  was  originally  pierced  with  T  shaped 
openings  for  defence,  in  case  of  hostile  attacks,  and 


one  or  two  of  them  have  been  kept  unwalled  up,  as  a 
matter  of  interest,  to  this  day.  The  ancient  ferry 
near  which  it  was  built  was  then  and  long  after  the 
only  method  of  crossing  the  Croton  River  from  the 
south  to  the  north,  west  of  Pine's  Bridge  near  the 
centre  of  the  present  Artificial  Croton  Lake,  a  dis- 
tance of  several  miles.  That  bridge  was  not  built 
till  late  in  the  18th  century.  To  the  death  of  Steph- 
anus van  Cortlandt  so  shortly  after  the  erection  of  his 
lands  into  a  Manor,  is  probably  to  be  ascribed  the 
fact,  that  there  are  no  records  to  show  whether  he 
ever  organized  his  Manorial  Courts.  The  probability 
is,  from  the  then  sparseness  of  the  inhabitants,  that 
he  did  not.  Nor  before  his  death,  was  there  sufficient 
time  to  have  introduced  very  many  new  settlers.  We 
know  however  that  all  the  privileges  and  franchises 
of  the  Manor,  general  and  political,  were  enjoyed  by 
his  heirs,  or  their  assigns  during  the  whole  Colonial 
era. 

It  will  be  remembered,  that,  by  the  terms  of  the 
surrender  of  New  Netherland  to  the  English  under 
Nicolls  in  1664,  and  afterwards  under  the  j)rovisions 
of  the  treaty  of  Breda  in  1667,  the  Roman-Dutch  law 
of  inheritance  was  guaranteed  to  the  new  Netherland 
colonists.  Hence  it  was,  that  when  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt  died  on  the  25th  of  November,  1700,  his 
will  made  on  the  14th  of  the  preceding  April,  was 
found  to  be  in  accordance  with  that  law,  and  not  with 
the  law  of  England.  Very  ample  and  honorable  pro- 
visions was  made  for  his  wife,  both,  in  case  she  wished 
to  marry  again,  or  in  case  she  did  not,  the  latter  of 
which  proved  to  be  the  case,  although  she  outlived  her 
husband  nearly  four  and  twenty  years.  The  peninsula 
of  Verplanck's  Point  was  devised  to  his  eldest  son  Jo- 
hannes, and  all  the  rest  of  his  property  of  all  kinds 
was  divided  equally  among  all  his  surviving  children, 
eleven  in  number,  including  Johannes.  The  devise 
of  Verplanck's  Point  was  all  that  Johannes  received 
in  addition  to  the  others  in  virtue  of  his  being  the 
eldest  son.^  Had  it  not  been  for  the  terms  of  surren- 
der and  the  treaty  this  eminently  just  will  could  not 
have  been  made,  nor  could  the  action  under  it  which 
the  widow  and  children  adopted,  have  been  taken. 

Before  describing  that  action  and  its  results,  it  is 
necessary  to  state  who  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  was, 
who  was  his  father,  what  his  family,  and  who  were 
his  children. 

Stephanus  Vau  Cortlandt  was  the  eldest  of  the  two 
sons,  Stephanus  and  Jacobus  (Stephen  aud  James), 
of  Oloff,  (or  Oliver),  Stevens  Van  Cortlandt,  the  first  of 
that  name  in  America,  by  his  wife  Annetje  (Ann) 
Lockermans.  He  was  born  at  his  father's  house  in 
"  Brouwer,"  now  Stone,  street,  in  New  Amsterdam  on 
the  seventh  of  May,  1643,  and  was  baptized  three  days 
later,  or  the  eleventh,  in  the  Dutch  church  in  the 
Fort.  He  married  on  the  tenth  of  Sei)teniber,  1671, 
in  his  28th  year,  Gertrude,  daughter  of  Philip  Pie- 


I II.  V.  S.  Laws,  Ch.  1459,  p.  576. 


'The  win  ia  recorded  in  the  N.  Y.  Surr.  Off.,  Lib.  2  of  Wills,  p.  78. 


128 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


terse  Schuyler,  of  Albany;  and  died,  as  has  been 
stated  ou  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  November,  1700,  at 
the  comparatively  early  age  of  fifty-seven  years,  leav- 
ing hiui  surviving  his  wife  and  eleven  children. 

His  father,  Olofl"  Stevens,  or  Stevense,  van  Cort- 
landt,  came  to  New  Netherland,  a  soldier  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  West  India  Company,  arriving  there  in  the 
Ship  Haring  (The  Herring)  with  Director  Kieft  on 
the  28th  of  March,  lG38.i 

He  was  a  native  ot  Wijk,  a  small  town  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Utrecht,  in  Holland.  But  of  the  origin  of  his 
family  nothing  is  definitely  known.  He  had  a  good 
education  and  the  positions  he  subsequently  held,  his 
seal  with  the  van  Cortlandt  arms,  still  in  the  posses- 
session  of  his  descendants,  as  well  as  articles  of  Dutch 
plate  bearing  the  same  arms,  show  that  his  position 
was  good,  and  that  of  a  gentleman.  He  remained 
only  a  short  time  in  the  military  service,  having  been 
appointed  by  Kieft  in  1639  "Commissary  of  Cargoes,'' 
or  customs  officer,  and  in  1643,  Keeper  of  the  Public 
Stores,  of  the  West  India  Company,  a  responsible  po- 
sition under  the  provisions  of  the  Charters  of  Free- 
doms and  Exemptions,  being  the  Superintendent  of 
the  collection  of  the  Company's  Revenue  in  New 
Amsterdam,  most  of  which  was  paid  in  furs.  In  1648 
he  resigned  from  this  ofiicial  position,  was  made  a 
freeman  of  the  City,  and  entered  upon  the  business 
of  a  merchant  and  brewer,  in  which  he  was  eminent- 
ly successful,  becoming  one  of  the  richest  men  in 
New  Amsterdam.  In  1649  he  was  chosen  Colonel  of 
the  Burgher  Guard,  or  City  train  Bands,  and  also 
appointed  one  of  the  "  Nine  Men  "  a  temporary  rep- 
resentative board  elected  by  the  citizens.^  In  1654 
he  was  elected  Schepen,  or  a  Alderman,  and  the  next 
year,  1655,  appointed  Burgomaster,  or  Mayor,  of  New 
Amsterdam.  This  office  he  filled  nearly  uninterrupt- 
edly till  the  capture  by  the  English  in  1664,  at  which 
he  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  Di- 
rector Stuyvesant  to  negotiate  the  terms  of  Surren- 
der, was  prominent  in  their  settlement,  and  the  docu- 
ment bears  his  signature  with  those  of  the  other  Com- 
missioners. He  was  also  engaged  in  several  tempo- 
rary public  matters  as  a  Councillor  and  Commissioner 
during  the  administration  of  Director  Stuyvesant, 
notably  in  the  Connecticut  boundary  matter  in  1663, 
and  the  settlement  of  Capt.  John  Scotfs  claim  to 
Long  Island  in  1664.  He  acted  in  similar  capacities 
under  the  first  English  Governors,  Nicolls,  Lovelace, 
and  Dongan,  and  was  chosen  the  Trustee  of  Lovelace's 
estate  to  settle  it  up  in  1673.  He  married  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1642,  Annetje  Lockermans  ofTurn- 
hout,  near  Antwerp,  a  sister  of  Govert  Lockermans, 
who  came  out  with  Director  von  Twiller,  in  1633,  and 
was  so  prominent  afterward  in  New  Netherland  af- 
fairs.   "Govert  Loockermans  after  filling  some  of  the 


1 1.  O'CoU.  180.  Alk.  Rcc.  1.,  89.  The  Dutch  troops  in  New  Amster- 
dam were  detuchments  from  the  regular  army  raised  in  Holland  by  the 
West  India  Company,  and  were  changed  from  time  to  time. 

-He  was  also  one  of  the  "Eight  Men"  a  similar  body,  in  1646. 


highest  ofiices  in  the  Colony,"  says  O'Collughan,  (vol. 
2,  p.  38,  n.)  died,  worth  520,000  guilders,  or  $208,- 
000 ;  an  immense  sum  when  the  period  in  which  he 
lived  is  considered."  Olofif  Stevense  van  Cortlandt 
died  on  the  4th  of  April,  1684,  and  his  wife  followed 
him  about  a  month  afterwards.'  They  had  seven 
children,  the  oldest  of  whom  was  Stephanus,  and  the 
youngest  Jacobus,  who  respectively,  were  the  progen- 
itors of  all  of  the  name  now  living.  The  former  found- 
ed the  oldest  branch,  the  van  Cortlandts  of  the  Man- 
or, the  latter  the  younger  branch,  the  van  Cortlandts 
of  Cortlandt  House,  Yonkers.  The  names  of  Oloff 
Stevense  and  Annetje  van  Cortlandt's  seven  children 
were : 

1.  Stephanus,  born  7  May  1643,  married  Gertrude 

Schuyler. 

2.  Maria  (Mary),  born  30  July  1645,  married  Jere- 

mias  Van  Rensselaer. 

3.  Johannes  (John),  born   11   Oct.   1648,  died  a 

bachelor. 

4.  Sophia,  born   31  May    1651    married  Andriea 

Teller. 

5.  Catharine,  born  25  Oct.  1652,  married 

1.  John  Dervall, 

2.  Frederick  Philipse. 

6.  Cornelia,   born   21   Nov.  1655,  married  Brandt 

Schuyler. 

7.  Jacobus,  born  7  July  1658,  married  Eve  Philipse.  * 
After  the  death  of  the  oldest  of  these  children, 

Stephanus,  his  Manor  vested  in  his  own  survi vi  ng  chil- 
dren as  joint  tenants  under  his  will.  Their  Father, 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  the  first  and  only  Lord  of 
the  Manor,  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the 
Province  of  New  York  after  it  become  an  English 
Colony.  Except  the  Governorship  itself,  he  filled  at 
one  time  or  another  every  prominent  office  in  that 
Province.  And  when  Lt.  Gov.  Nicholson  went  to 
England  at  the  outbreak  of  Leisler's  insurrection  and 
actual  usurpation,  to  report  in  person  to  King  Wil- 
liam, he  committed  the  Government  itself  in  his 
absence,  to  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  and  Frederick 
Philipse.  *  A  fact  that  caused  Leisler,  to  seek  their 
lives  and  forced  them  to  escape  from  the  City  of  New 
York  to  save  themselves.  Space  will  not  permit  more 
than  the  briefest  mention  of  the  events  of  his  career, 
perhaps  the  most  brilliant  and  varied  in  the  fifty- 
seven  years  it  occupied,  of  any  inhabitant  of  New 
York  in  the  seventeenth  century ;  and  undoubtedly 
the  first  brilliant  career  that  any  native  of  New  York 
ever  ran.  Born  in  New  Amsterdam  in  1643,  he  was' 
a  youth  of  twenty-one,  when  in  1664  the  English 
capture  took  place  and  New  Amsterdam  became  New 


8 The  facts  stated  in  this  sketch  are  found  in  I.  O'Call.  180  and  212. 
New  Netherland  Kegister  under  its  several  headings,  and  the  II.  vol. 
of  the  Colonial  History.  Also  in  Brodbead's  History,  both  volumes. 
And  the  Lookerman's  Family  Bible  in  the  library  of  the  Bible  Society 
of  New  York. 

*  Daughter  of  the  firet  Frederick  Philipse. 

5  III.  Col.  Hist.  675. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THK  :\IANORS. 


129 


York.  Brought  up  under  the  eye  of  his  father,  and 
educated  by  the  Dutch  clergymen  of  New  Amster- 
dam, '  whose  scliohirship  was  vastly  higher  than  it 
has  pleased  luoderii  writers  to  state,  and  which  would 
compare  favorably  with  that  of  the  clergy  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  young  van  Cortlandt  long  before 
the  death  of  his  father  in  1G84,  showed  how  well  he 
had  i)r()tited  by  the  e.\anii)le  of  the  one,  and  the 
learning  of  the  others.  He  was  a  merchant  by  occu- 
pation. His  first  a])pointment  was  as  a  member  of 
the  Court  of  Assizes,  the  body  instituted  under  "  the 
Duke's  Laws  "  over  which  Sir  Richard  NicoUs  i)re- 
sided,  and  which,  as  we  liave  seen,  exercised  both 
judicial  and  legislative  i)owers.  In  IGtlS  he  was  ap- 
pointed an  Knsign  in  the  Kings  County  Regiment, 
subseiiuently  a  Captain,  and  later  its (\)l()nel.  From 
1G77  when  at  the  age  of  84  he  wiis  appointed  the  fii'st 
Native  American  JIayor  of  the  City  of  New  York,  he 
held  that  office  almost  consecutively  till  his  death  in 
1700.  When  by  the  Duke  of  York's  Commission 
and  Instructions  to  Governor  Dongan,  a  Gov- 
ernor's Council  was  established  in  New  York, 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  and  Frederick  Philipse  were 
named  by  the  Duke  therein  as  Councillors,  and  with 
them  Dongan  was  to  appoint  such  others  as  he  deemed 
fit  forthe  office.  His  name  was  continued  in  each  ofthe 
Commissions  of  all  the  succeeding  Governors  down  to 
and  including  Hellomont's  in  1697,  and  he  continued 
in  the  office  till  his  death  in  1700.  Early  in  this  latter 
year  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice,  but  he  only  filled 
the  office  till  his  death  in  November  of  the  same  year. 
He  had  many  years  before  been  appointed  Judge  of  the 
Common  Pleas  in  Kings  County,  and  later  in  1698  a 
Justice  ofthe  Sui)reme  Court.  In  IGSti  Dongan  made 
him  Commissioner  of  the  Revenue — and  on  the  10th 
of  November,  1G87,  he  was  appointed  by  the  King's, 
Auditor-General  in  England,  William  Blathwayt, 
De]iuty  Auditor  in  New  York,  his  accounts  being  reg- 
ularly transmitted  to  England  and  approved. 

He  was  a))poiiited  also  Dei)uty  Secretary  of  New 
York  and  i»ersoiialIy  administered  the  office,  theSec- 
retary  always  residing  in  England,  after  the  British 
custom.  He  was  prominent  in  all  the  treaties  and 
conferences  with  the  Indians  as  a  member  of  the 
Council,  and  was  noted  for  his  influence  with  them. 
His  letters  and  despatches  to  Governor  Andros,  and 
to  the  different  Boards  and  officers  in  England 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  Colonies  and  the  man- 
agement of  their  affairs,  remain  to  show  liis  capacity, 
clear  headedness  and  courage.  -  Equally  esteeme<l 
and  confided  in  by  the  governments  of  James  as  Duke 
and  King,  and  by  William  and  Mary  in  the  troublous 
times  in  which  he  lived,  and  sustained  by  all  the 
Governors,  even  though,  as  in  Bellomont's  case,  they 
did  not  like  him  ])ersonally,  no  greater  proof  could  be 
adduced  of  his  ability,  skill,  and  integrity. 


'  III.  Col.  Hist.  588. 

-In  veils.  III.  .nul  IV.  (,f  ilie  Col.  Hist,  of  N.  Y. 

10 


With  this  sketch  of  their  Father  we  pass  to  the 
disj)osition  he  made  of  his  (ireat  Manor  among  his 
children,  and  their  management  and  final  division  of 
it  among  themselves  : 

The  whole  number  of  the  children  of  Stei)lianu8 
vau  Cortlandt  and  Gertrude  Schuyler,  his  wife,  who 
were  married  on  the  KHh  of  September  1()71,  were 
fourteen ; 

1.  Johannes  (John),  born  'H  Oct.  1()72,  married  in 

l()9o  Anne  Soi)hia  vau  Schaack 
and  left  one  child  Gertrude, 
who  married  I'liiliii  \'^er[)lanck 
grandson  of  Abraham  Isaacsen 
Verplanck  the  first  of  that 
family  in  America. 

2.  Margaret,  born  12  Aug.  1674,  married  to  Col.  Sam- 

uel Bayard  only  son  of  Nicholas 
Bayard  the  youngest  of the  three 
nephews  of  Gov.  Stuyvesant. 

3.  Ann,  born  13  Feb.  1()76,  married  Etienue  (in  Eng- 

lish Stephen )  de  Lancey,  the  first 
of  that  family  in  New  York, 
where  he  arrived,  a  fugitive  Hu- 
guenot, on  the  7th  of  June,  lliSt}. 

4.  Oliver,  born  26  Oct.  1678,  died  a  bachelor  in  1708. 
').  Maria  (Mary),  born  4  Apl.  1680,  married  1st,  Kilian 

van  Rensselaer  fourth  Patroon, 
and  first  '  Lord  of  the  Manor,' 
of  Ren.sselaerswyck,  and  2nd 
John  Miln,  M.D.,  of  Albany. 

6.  ftertrude,  born  10  Jan.  1681,  died  unmarried. 

7.  Philip,  born  9  Aug.  1683,  married  Catherine  de 

Peyster,  daughter  of  the  tiret 
Abraham.  From  this  couple 
spring  the  c/dcft  line  of  the  ran 
Corlkiiul/s,  now  British  subjects. 

8.  Stephen,  born  11   Aug.  168'),  married  Catalina 

Staats.  These  were  ancestors  of 
the  '  van  Cortlandt  of  Second 
River '  (the  Passaic)  New  Jer- 
sey, now  extinct  in  the  males. 

9.  Gertrude,  born  10  Oct.  1()88,  married  Col.  Henry 

Beekman.    No  issue. 

10.  Gysbert,  born  1689,  died  young. 

11.  Elizabeth,  born  1691,  died  young. 

12.  Elizabeth,  2d,  born  24  May  1694,  married  Rev. 

Wm.  Skinner  of  Perth  Amboy. 

13.  Catharine,  born  24  .June  1696,  married  Andrew 

Johnston  of  New  Jersey. 

14.  Cornelia,  born  30  July  1698,  married  Col.  John 

Schuyler  of  Albany.  These 
were  the  progenitors  of  the 
Schuylers  des(;ended  from  (Jen. 
Philip,  who  was  their  son,  and 
from  his  brothers  and  sisters.  ^ 


3  Tin-  geiiealogj  aluive  given  is  Inkcn  from  »  trann-ript  of  tlie  entries 
in  tlie  van  (Jortlandt  family  l>il)lc,  ohtaiiicil  from  one  of  llic  elilcst  bi-anrli, 
the  Engliiili  one,  by  tljc  late  (Jen.  Pierre  van  C.  of  Croton  in  l»2li  anil 


130 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


This  large  family,  of  which  four  sons  and  seven 
daughters  lived  to  maturity,  the  latter  of  whom  mar- 
ried into  the  first  families  of  the  Province,  and  three 
of  the  sons,  (one  having  died  a  young  bachelor)  mar- 
rying into  the  same  or  allied  families,  formed  a  fami- 
ly connexion,  of  great  extent  and  influence.  It  wield- 
ed a  power,  social  and  political,  during  the  Colonial 
era  which  largely  controlled  tlie  society  and  the  poli- 
tics of  the  Province,  and  in  social  matters  its  influ- 
ence has  continued  to  be  felt  to  this  day.  All  the 
marrietl  daughters,  except  Mrs.  Bcekman  who  had 
no  issue,  had  large  families,  and  those  of  the  sons 
were  also  numerous.  And  when  to  these  were  added 
the  children  of  Stephanus's  younger  brother  Jacobus 
van  Cortlandt  of  Yonkers,  and  their  wives  and  hus- 
bands, it  will  be  seen  what  an  enormous  family  circle 
it  was,  and  will  explain  why  at  this  day  all  these 
families  now  so  widely  extended,  are  by  the  mar- 
riages and  inter-marriages,  among  their  descendants, 
so  connected  together  as  to  form  an  almost  inexplica- 
ble genealogical  puzzle.  In  no  other  American  colo- 
ny did  there  exist  any  such  great  kinship.  It  also 
explains  why  nobody  can  write  correctly  the  history 
of  New  York  under  the  English,  witliout  first  mak- 
ing himself,  or  herself,  the  master,  or  the  mistress,  of 
at  least  the  leading  facts  of  this  kinship  of  the  differ- 
ent governing  families  of  that  Province. 

The  political  Influence  of  these  New  York  families 
is  best  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  William 
Smith's  History  of  New  York,  a  most  ])artizan  and 
prejudiced  work,  but  which  in  this  instance  can.  be 
relied  on,  as  the  language  is  that  of  a  political  enemy, 
and  was  written  to  explain  the  worstingof  his  own  side 
in  the  party  contestof  the  day  to  whicii  it  refers.  Speak- 
ing of  the  New  York  Assembly  of  17r)2,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  Chief  Justice  James  de  Laiiccy,  Smith  says,  "  It 
may  gratify  the  curiosity  of  the  reader  to  know,  that  of 
the  Members  of  this  Assembly  Mr.  Chief  Justice  De 
Lancey  was  nephew  to  Col.  Beekinan,  brother  to  Peter 
De  Lancey,  brotlier-in-law  of  John  Watts,  cousin  to 
Philij)  Verplanck  and  John  Ba])tist  Van  Rensselaer; 
that  Mr.  Jones  the  Speaker,  .Mr.  Richard,  Mr.  Wal- 
ton, Mr.  Cruger,  JMr.  Philipse,  Mr.  Winne,  and  Mr. 
Le  Count,  were  of  his  most  intimate  acquaintances  ; 
and  that  these  twelve,  of  the  twenty-seven,  which 
composed  the  whole  house,  held  his  character  in  the 
highest  esteem.  Of  the  remaining  fifteen  he  only 
wanted  One  to  gain  a  majority  under  his  influence, 
than  which  nothing  was  more  certain;  for  except  Mr. 
Livingston  wlio  represented  his  own  Manor,  there 
was  not  among  the  rest  a  man  of  education  or  abilities 
(jualified  for  the  station  they  were  in."  ' 

"The  Seven  Miss  van  Cortlandts,"  as  they  were 
long  collectively  spoken  of,  were  noted  for  their  char- 


aent  to  the  writers  Grandfather  John  Peter  de  Lancey  of  Mamaroneck 
(the  two  gentlemen  being  second  cousins)  and  now  in  the  writers  pos- 
session.   It  was  printed  by  the  writer  in  the  Apl.  Xo.    ,  1H74,  of  the 
N.  Y.  Gen.  &  Biog  Record. 
1 II.  Smith's  Hist.  N.  Y.,  142,  ed.  of  1829. 


acteristic  decision  of  character,  good  sense,  personal 
beauty,  and  warm  affection  for  each  other.  When 
their  mother  died  in  1723,  the  list  of  her  descendants 
and  family  relatives  i)resent,  which  is  still  preserved, 
is  most  sur[)rising  for  its  numbers,  length  and  promi- 
nent names.  The  funeral  took  place  in  New  York 
and  was  one  of  the  largest  ever  seen  in  that  city  up 
to  that  day.  Space  will  not  permit  any  mention  of 
its  details  here,  interesting  as  they  are. 

Of  these  children  of  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt,  the 
eleven  who  survived  their  Father,  are  thus  named  in 
his  will  in  the  order  of  their  births,  Johannes,  Marga- 
ret, Ann,  Oliver,  Mary,  Philip,  Stephanus,  Gertrude, 
Elizabeth,  Katharine,  and  Cornelia.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  devise  of  Verplanck's  Point  to  Jo- 
hannes as  being  the  eldest  son,  the  whole  real  estate 
after  the  decease  of  his  wife,  he  divided  among  his 
children  equally.  It  was  very  large,  for  besides  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt,  it  included,  lots  and  houses  in 
New  York,  his  share  of  the  great  Patent  above  the 
Highlands,  a  tract  in  Pennsylvania,  and  other  lands 
owned  in  connexion  with  Gulian  Verplanck,  in 
Dutchess  county,  and  some  small  pieces  in  other 
counties.  It  is  only  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  that 
can  here  be  treated  of.  His  wife  Gertrude  was  made 
"  sole  Executrix,"  and  with  her  as  guardian  of  the 
minor  children,  of  whom  there  were  several,  as  well 
as  of  the  others,  he  a|)pointed  "my  Brother  Jacobus 
Van  Cortlandt,  my  Brother  [in  law]  Brant  Schuyler, 
and  my  cousin  William  XicoUs,-'  to  be  Guardians, 
Tutors,  and  Overseers  over  my  said  children."  Tlie 
personal  and  mixed  estate  including  "  plate  and 
jewels "  was  bequeathed  "to  my  well  beloved  wife 
Gertrude,"  whom  he  charged  with  the  payment  of  all 
debts  and  funeral  charges.  And  to  her  were  also 
given  "  the  full  and  whole  rents,  issues,  and  profits  of 
all  and  every  part  of  my  said  houses,  lands,  mills, 
and  other  such  Estate  whatsoever,  without  giving  or 
rendering  any  inventory  or  account  thereof  to  any 
person  whatsoever."  The  will  was  dated  the  14tli  of 
April  1700,  and  was  proved  the  7th  of  Jamiary  1701. 
There  was  a  custom  among  the  Dutch  j»eople  of  New 
York,  not  to  have  the  will  of  a  deceased  parent 
opened  till  after  the  expiration  of  a  month  from  the 
day  of  the  death,  as  a  token  of  respect.'  Then  it  was 
read  in  a  family  council,  and  immediately  offered  for 
probate.  This  custom  was  probably  followed  in  this 
case.  The  Witnesses  who  proved  the  will  were, 
Thomas  Wenham,  Rip  Van  Dam,  John  Abeel,  Rich- 
ard Stokes,  and  Andrew  Teller  jr.,  names  familiar  in 
New  York  to-day.* 

The  third  clause,  after  devising  all  his  real  estate 
whatsoever  and  where.soever  to  his  eleven  children 
above  named  their  heirs  and  assigns  respectively, 


-  Son  of  Matthias  Nicolls  the  first  English  Secretary  of  the  Province, 

who  had  married  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  widow  of  tliis  Patroon. 

'  Tlie  writer  has  personaUy  known  instatiees  of  tiiis  custom,  whii  li  in 
some  families  has  come  down  to  these  days. 

<Lib.  2  of  Wills,  N.  Y.  Surr.  OS.,  pp.  78-84. 


THE  OKIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANOliS. 


131 


continues,  "  and  it  is  my  Desire  and  Appointment 
that  tlie  same  houses,  lands,  and  premises  be  Eitlier 
Equally  Divided  amongst  them  my  said  children,  or 
that  they  hold  or  enjoy  the  same  in  Common  Amongst 
them,  as  my  said  children  and  Overseers  and  Guar- 
dians hereafter  named  shall  judge  and  think  most 
eflectuall  and  proper  for  their  best  advantage,  use, 
and  benefit."  The  next  clause  directs  "  that  upon  a 
Division  of  my  said  houses,  lands,  mills,  and  other 
Real  Estate,  my  Sons  according  to  their  priority  of 
birth  shall  have  the  first  choyce,  ahvaycs  allowing  to 
the  value  of  those  parts  they  shall  choose,  that  the 
resi)ective  partys  and  persons  of  my  children  may  be 
made  Equall  in  worth  to  one  another." 

The  family  was  a  very  united  one  and  depi)ly  at- 
tached to  the  mother,  who  was  a  woman  of  a  very  af- 
fectionate, but  strong,  and  decided,  character.  She 
never  niarried  :igain,  but  devoted  herself  to  iier  chil- 
dren and  their  interests.  Under  these  circumstances, 
very  many  of  the  children  being  minors  at  their 
father's  death,  and  tlic  above  being  the  provisions  of 
his  will,  it  was  determined,  that  the  Manor  should  be 
kept  in  common  and  not  divided.  Ann,  Mrs.  de 
Lancey,  and  Margaret,  Mrs.  Bayard,  were  the  only 
daughters  married  in  their  father's  life-time,  the  for- 
mer only  in  the  January,  and'  the  latter  only  in 
the  April,  of  the  same  year,  1700,  in  November 
of  which  he  died.  This  determination  continued 
not  only  during  i\Irs.  van  ('ortlandt's  life,  which 
terminated  in  172.'!,  but  up  to  the  year  1730,  when 
it  was  agreed  to  divide  that  part  of  the  ^^anor 
lying  north  of  the  Croton  River.  During  this 
period  the  population  gradually  increased,  the  rents 
were  applied,  in  part,  to  its  development  in  building 
of  mills,  the  making  of  roads,  and  aiding  those  ten- 
ants who  desired  to  take  up  lands,  The  few  ])eo])le 
brought  in,  and  imjirovements  undertaken,  by  Stepli- 
anus  van  Cortlandt  between  his  first  purchase  and  his 
death,  were  settled  and  made  in  the  western  portion 
of  the  Manor,  along  the  river,  and  in  its  immediate 
neighbourhood.  The  progress  was  from  west  to  east, 
not  from  east  to  west.  The  access  to  New  York  and 
from  Albany  was  by  water  the  landing  jjlaces  being 
at  the  ferry  near  the  Manor  House,  and  near  the 
mouth  of  "John  Peak's  Creek  "  as  well  as  at  a  spot 
south  of  the  latter  in  Ryke's  Patent.  Johannes,  or 
John,  van  Cortlandt  the  eldest  son  of  Stcjjhanus,  had 
married  Anna  Sojihia  van  Schaack  of  Albany,  and 
had  only  one  child  a  daughter  who  became  the  wife 
of  Pliilip  Verplanck  son  of  Abraham  Isaacson  Ver- 
planck  the  first  of  that  name  in  America.  To  her 
wa-s  devised  by  her  Father  at  his  death,  the  Point, 
from  her  husband's  name  called  "  Verplanck's 
Point,"  and  his  one  eleventh  interest  in  the  Manor.' 
Oliver  van  Cortlandt,  the  second  son  of  Stephanus, 


'Johannes  liaa  sometinips  iK-en  raUpJ  tlie  "Second  Lord  of  the  Manor," 
bnt  this  is  an  error  nn  the  porsoiml  ilignity  was  ended  by  the  division 
made  by  Stephanus  in  his  will. 


died  in  1708,  at  the  age  of  30  years,  a  bachelor,  and 
devised  by  will  dated  the  3cl  December,  1706,  his  en- 
tire share  of  his  father's  estate  equally  among  his 
surviving  brothers  and  sisters  and  their  heirs. 

Philip  Verplanck  was  a  man  of  good  education, 
good  ability,  and  one  of  the  best  surveyors  in  the 
Colony.  To  him  his  relatives  entrusted  the  survey- 
ing and  division  into  parcels  of  the  whole  Manor. 
How  well  and  thoroughly  he  performed  the  duty 
his  survey  and  map  remain  to  attest  to  us  to-day.  The 
original  of  the  latter  disappeared,  at  a  comparatively 
late  day,  but  in  1774,  before  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, a  lac-simile  copy  (the  oldest  in  existence,  and 
often  wrongly  called  the  original  Manor  Map)  was 
made  from  it  by  the  well  known  surveyor  of  the 
City  of  New  York  of  that  period,  Evert  Bancker,  and 
is  now  among  the  Van  Wyck  paj)ers  in  the  possession 
of  that  family  ;  of  which  by  their  permission,  a  re- 
duced copy  accomi)anies  this  e.ssay.  To  it  are  made 
all  the  references  of  parcels,  lots,  and  owners  herein 
mentioned.  It  speaks  for  itself  of  the  ability  of 
Phili])  Verplanck,  who  was  the  same  Philip  Ver- 
planck mentioned  above,  who  sat  for  tlie  Manor  of 
Cortlandt  in  the  Assembly  of  the  Province  from  1734 
to  17(jS,  thirty-four  years. 

This  survey  was  made  in  the  spring  of  1732,  and 
is  dated  the  thirtieth  day  of  May  in  that  year.  The 
Agreement  of  the  children  and  grandchildren  to  make 
a  division  of  the  estate  was  dated  November  the  13th 
1730.  It  |)rovi(led  for  a  division  iiito  ten  e(|ual  parts 
of  the  estates  of  Stephanus  and  his  son  Oliver,  "and 
to  that  end  all  the  said  parties  with  an  unanimous  as- 
sent and  consent  did  elect  and  choose  Philip  Ver 
planck,  surveyor,  to  survey  and  lay  out  the  same  into 
thirty  Lotts,  by  virtue  of  which  nomination  and  ap- 
pointment he  the  said  Philip  Verplanck  did  project 
and  lay  out  the  Greater  part  of  the  lands  and  meadow 
in  the  said  Mannor  into  thirty  Lotts,  shares,  and  al- 
lotments," and  made  a  map  of  the  same,  and  the  said 
parties  "did  further  by  the  assistance  of  the  said  sur- 
veyor, and  Diuiiel  Purdy  and  Samuel  Purdy,  ap- 
praisers elected  and  cliosen  by  all  of  them  for  thnt 
purj)ose,  make  a  perfect  dividend,  separation,  and  di- 
vision of  the  said  thirty  Lotts,  shares,  and  allot- 
ments,'" which  several  shares  were  conveyed  to  each 
in  0<^tober  1732,  by  jiartition  deeds  executed  by  all 
the  jiarties  to  each  other  respectively.  This  division 
comprised  onlv  "the  greater  part  of  the  manor 
lands." 

In  1733  under  the  same  articles  of  agreement,  the 
parties  in  interest  made  in  the  same  way,  another  di- 
vision "of  the  other  find  remaining  part  of  the  lands 
aforesaid,"  into  ten  lots,  and  duly  executed  to  each 
other  similar  deeds  of  partition  dated  November  1st, 
1733.  These  two  divisions,  however,  were  confined 
to  lands  north  of  the  Croton  river  about  which  there 
was  no  dispute.  There  were  some  lands  of  the  manor 


-  Recitals  Troni  one  of  the  Deeds  of  partition  to  one  of  the  heirs. 


132 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


which  had  been  encroached  upon,  others  that  had 
been  entered  upon  by  "  squatters  "  who  retained  pos- 
session in  spite  of  the  owners,  and  others  again  ad- 
joining adjacent  tracts  and  patents,  in  which  the 
boundary  lines  were  contested.  These  had  been 
omitted  specifically  from  the  first  two  Divisions  on 
these  accounts,  and  had  continued  to  be  held  as  un- 
divided lands  of  the  ]\Ianor.  Some  of  these  questions 
had  been  settled  and  others  not,  while  the  lands  were 
held  in  this  manner.  At  length,  to  settle  all  questions 
absolutely,  and  to  effect  a  final  division  of  these  un- 
divided lands  and  those  south  of  the  Croton  river,  a 
special  agreement  was  entered  into  by  all  of  the  heirs 
as  they  stood,  in  17')8,  in  virtue  of  which  a  final  dis- 
position and  distribution  of  the  lands  was  effected, 
with  some  small  exceptions. 

At  the  first  two  divisions,  the  ten  heirs  who  made 
them  were  these  persons : — 

1.  Philip  Verplanck,  in  right  of  Gertrude  his  wife. 

2.  Samuel  Bayard,  in  right  of  Margaret  his  wife. 

3.  Stephen  de  Lancey,  in  right  of  Ann  his  wife. 

4.  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  of  the  Manor. 

5.  Steplien  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Second  River,  N.  J. 

(5.  John  Miln,  M.I).,  in  right  of  Mary,  (widow  of 
Kilian  Van  Rensselaer)  his  wife. 

7.  Henry  Beekman,  and  Gertrude,  iiis  wife. 

8.  William  Skinner,  in  rigiit  of  Elizabeth  his  wife. 

9.  Andrew  Johnston,  in  right  of  Catherine  his  wife. 
10.  John  Schuyler,  Jr.,  in  right  of  Cornelia  his  wife. 

During  the  twenty  years  which  elapsed  between 
1733,  and  the  execution  of  the  agreement  for  the 
division  of  1753,  changes  by  death  had  occurred,  so 
that  the  heirs  who  joined  in  the  latter  were  as 
follows : 

1.  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt  (of  Second  River,  N.  J.). 

2.  John  Miln,  widower. 

3.  Henry  Beekman  and  Gertrude  his  wife. 

4.  William  Skinner  and  Elizabeth  his  wife. 

5.  Andrew  Johnston,  widower. 
G.  Cornelia  Schuyler,  widow. 

7.  Stephen  Bayard,  Nicholas  Bayard, Samuel  Bayard, 

sons,  and  Peter  Kemble,  son-in-law,  James  Van 
Horne,  son-in-law,  and  Nicholas  Van  Dam  and 
William  Cockroft  and  Margaret  his  wife,  grand 
children  of  Samuel  and  Margaret  Van  C.  Bay- 
ard deceased. 

8.  The  Honorable  James  de  Lancey,  of  New  York, 

Peter  de  Lancey,  of  Westchester,  Oliver  de  Lan- 
cey of  New  York,  Susannah  Warren,  widow  of 
Sir  Peter  Warren,  K.B.,  Admiral  John  Watts 
and  Ann  his  wife,  children  of  Stephen  and  Ann 
Van  C.  de  Lancey  deceased. 

9.  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  Junr.,  and  Pierre  Van 

Cortlandt,  of  the  Manor,  children  of  Philip  Van 
Cortlandt,  dec''. 

10.  Philip  Verplanck  and  Gertrude  his  wife. 

The  method  of  the  division  of  1753  was  a  little  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  former  ones.    All  the  persons 


last  above  named  in  whom  the  undivided  lands  had 
vested  in  1753,  by  lease  and  release,  the  latter  dated 
the  14th  of  December  in  that  year,  conveyed  them  to 
Oliver  de  Lancey,  John  Watts,  and  John  Van  Cort- 
landt, in  trust,  to  settle  all  disputes  as  to  encroach- 
ments and  trespasses  on  the  lands,  either  by  eject- 
ment, or  arbitration,  as  they  saw  fit ;  and  all  as  to 
boundaries  in  the  same  way,  and  when  the  lands 
were  recovered  to  sell  the  same  and  divide  the  pro- 
ceeds among  the  heirs;  and  in  case  of  all  undis- 
puted lands  to  have  the  same  surveyed  and  divided 
equally  among  all  the  parties. 

These  details  of  these  partitions  and  divisions  have 
been  taken  from  recitals  in  original  deeds  in  pos- 
session of  the  Van  Cortlandt,  Van  AV'^yck,  and  Kem- 
ble, families,  and  papers  and  documents  in  the 
writers  own  possession.  In  the  Secretary  of  State's 
office  in  Albany,  and  in  the  Westchester  County 
Register's  office,  at  White  Plains  many  of  the  orig- 
inal deeds  may  be  found  on  record.  The  original 
release  of  1753,  last  mentioned,  is  among  the  Van 
Wyck  papers  in  the  possession  of  that  family. 

The  lauds  north  of  the  Croton  River  were  divided 
into  two  ranges  called  north  and  south  "Great 
Lots  "  of  the  same  Arabic  nundiers,  from  1  to  10. 
Those  north  of  the  Croton  but  fronting  on  the  Hud- 
son River  were  called  "Front  lots"  and  were  also 
numbered  from  1  to  10.  Number  11,  was  the  tract 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson.  The  lots  south  of 
the  Croton  were  also  numbered  in  the  same  way,  and 
called  "Lots  South  of  Croton." 

The  fourth  clause  of  the  Will  of  Stephanus  Van 
Cortlandt  directed  that  when  a  division  was  decided 
upon  it  should  be  as  follows:  "  Item.  It  is  my  will 
and  appointment  and  Direction  that  upon  a  division 
of  my  s*  houses,  lands,  and  mills,  and  other  Real  Es- 
tate my  sons  according  to  their  ])riority  of  birth  shall 
have  the  first  choyce,  alwayes  allowing  to  the  value 
of  those  parts  they  shall  choose  that  the  respective 
parties  and  i)ersons  of  my  children  may  be  made 
Equall  in  worth  one  to  another."  Nothing  is  said 
as  to  how  the  daughters'  shares  should  be  chosen, 
which  presumably  was  to  be  in  the  ordinary  way, 
that  is  by  lot.  It  is  believed  that  when  the  first  two 
divisions  were  made  the  sons  first  chose  their  parcels 
in  the  order  of  their  births,  and  that  the  daughters 
drew  lots  for  the  remainder.  But  in  whatever  way 
these  two  divisions  were  made,  the  result  was,  that 
the  following  lots  fell  to  the  following  named  child- 
ren— 

To  Philip  Verplanck,  Nos.  two,  and  three  of  the  South 
lots  north  of  Croton,  and  No. 
two  of  the  "Front  Lots"  on 
the  Hudson. 

To  Samuel  and   Margaret  Bayard,  North  lot  No. 

three  and  South  lot  no.  nine. 
North  of  Croton,  and  No.  seven 
of  the  Front  lots  on  the  Hud- 
son. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTOKY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


133 


To  Stephen  rleLancej',  North  lot  No.  ten,  and  Soutli 
h)t  No  5,  north  of  Croton,  and 
Front  lot  No.  six,  on  the  Hud- 
son. 

To  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  north  lot  No.  six  and  South 
lot  No.  one,  north  of  Croton, 
and  Front  lot  No.  one  on  the 
Hudson. 

To  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  South  lots  Nos.  six  and 
seven.  North  of  Croton,  and 
Front  lot  No.  4  on  the  Hudson. 

To  John  iNliln,'  North  lots  Nos.  two  and  eight  North 
of  Croton  aiul  Front  lot  No. 
five  on  the  Hudson. 

To  Gertrude  Beekman,  wife  of  Heniy  Beekman, 
North  lot  No.  three,  and  South 
lot  No.  eight,  North  of  Croton, 
and  Front  lot  No.  10  on  the 
Hudson. 

To  William  Skinner,  South  lots  Nos.  four  and  ten 
north  of  Croton  and  Front  lot 
No.  three  on  the  Hudson. 

To  Andrew  Johnston,  North  lot  Number  one  and 
Front  lot  Number  nine  on  the 
Hudson. 

To  John  Schuyler  jr.  North  lots  Nos.  four  and  nine 
north  of  Croton,  and  Front  lot 
No.  nine  on  the  Hudson. 

It  is  easy  to  see,  from  the  choice  of  the  sons  in  this 
division  and  the  extra  value  that  must  have  been  put 
upon  the  lots  which  fell  to  Andrew  Johnston,  to 
ecjualize,  that,  the  lots  on  and  nearest  the  Hudson 
were  then  deemed  the  most  valuable  and  desirable. 

When  Verplanck's  Map  was  made  the  ten  lots 
South  of  the  Croton,  shown  in  it  were  not  included 
in  the  "  thirty  lots  "  divided  in  the  first  two  divisions 
of  1782  and  1738.  Consequently  no  names  of  owners 
appear  on  them.  They  were  however  subsequently 
divided,  later  among  the  heirs  by  the  same  method, 
and  they  fell  to  the  following  persons: 

To  Philip  van  Cortlandt,  No.  one  South  of  Croton 


An<lrew  Johnston,  " 

two 

li 

Stephen  Bayard-  " 

three  " 

ii 

Stephen  van  Cortlandt," 

four  " 

n 

Phili|)  Verplanck,  " 

five  " 

ti 

Philip  Schuyler' 

six  " 

t( 

William  Skinner, 

seven  " 

Henry  Beekman,  " 

eight 

ti 

Stephen  de  Lancey,  " 

nine  " 

u 

John  Miln,  " 

ten 

ii  4 

After  the  first  two  divisions  there  was  a  little 
changing  among  the  heirs  of  their  lots,  either  by  ex- 

'  This  is  ttie  correct  name.  It  lias  been  spelled  Jleliii,  anil  Milin,  in 
eome  |iaper»  »Dd  nia|iH.  He  was  a  physieiun  of  Aliiany,  N.  V.,  and  mar- 
ried Maria,  or  Mary,  van  t'.,  the  widow  of  Kilian  van  Renselaer,  the 
Patroon  of  liis  day,  and  first  Lord  of  Uensselaersburgli  as  a  Mitwtr. 

'  F'lrliiniuelf  and  the  other  children  of  his  mother  Margaret  Bayard. 

'  For  hiniM'lf  and  the  other  rliildren  of  his  mother  Cornelia  Schuyler. 

*  From  a  MSS.  statement  in  the  Van  Wyck  papers. 


change,  or  by  purchase.  Exactly  what  their  arrange- 
ments were  in  all  cases  it  is  now  difficult  to  say.  One 
diange,  which  will  illustrate  this  matter,  was  made 
between  Mr.  de  Ijancey  and  Mr.  Schuyler,  and  Mr. 
Miln,  by  which  the  latter  two  transferred  to  the  former, 
North  lot  No.  Nine  North  of  Croton  adjoining  North 
lot  No.  ten  and  about  two  thirds  of  North  lot  No.  8  ad- 
joining No.  9,  to  the  West  which  fell  to  ]\Ir.  dc  Lancey. 
These  two  and  two-third  lots,  together,  comprise 
about  nine-tenths  of  the  present  township  of  Nortii 
Salem  and  extended  from  the  old  Colony  line  to  the 
main  Croton  River,  embracing  the  beautiful  valley  of 
Titicus,  the  easternmost  branch  of  the  Croton.  Mr. 
de  Lancey  died  in  1741,  and  under  his  will  and  the 
division  of  his  Estate  among  his  children,  two  of  these 
lots  became  the  property  of  his  eldest  son  James,  then 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Province.  In  1744  the  lat- 
ter conveyed  them,  as  a  gift,  to  his  second  son  Steph- 
en. Stephen  a  few  years  later  began  their  settlement, 
and  brought  in  many  fanners,  and  some  mechanics. 
The  whole  tract  was  laid  out  into  farms  rectangular 
in  shape  of  two  hundred  acres  each,  as  a  rule.  These 
were  leased  for  long  terms  of  years,  at  low  rents,  the 
highest  not  being  more  than  ten  pounds,  and  the 
lowest  about  two  or  three  pounds.  The  rent  rolls  and 
map  showed  the  farms,  which  were  all  nuiiibered,  the 
tenants  names,  and  the  rents  payable  by  each,  but 
are  omitted  for  lack  of  space.  It  was  always 
understood,  that  the  tenants  might  buy  "  the  soil 
right,"  as  the  fee  was  termed,  at  any  time 
the  ])arties  could  agree  upon  a  price.  In  practice 
however  the  tenants  did  not  begin  to  apply  for  the 
fee  till  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  then 
but  rarely.  After  that  event,  more  w  ere  sold  to  appli- 
cants, but  many  farms  continued  in  the  families  of  the 
tenants  till  late  in  this  century.  The  last,  which 
had  descended  to  himself  and  the  widow  of  a  de- 
ceased brother,  the  writer  sold  in  1875,  after  the 
expiration  of  a  lease  for  ninety-nine  years.  Stephen 
de  Lancey,  the  younger,  the  son  of  James,  likewise 
about  the  year  1705  built  a  very  large  double  frame 
house  on  the  Titicus  River  and  resided  there  many 
years.  It  is  still  standing,  and,  from  just  after  the 
revolution  was  "  The  Academy  of  North  Salem," 
having  been  sold  for  that  i)urpose.  It  was  One 
of  the  very  first  established  in  this  State,  and  has 
only  recently  been  discontinued,  under  the  present 
School  policy  of  the  State,  which  has  put  an  end  to 
the  numerous  "Academies"  which  formerly  existed  all 
over  New  York.  Until  late  in  this  century  it  was  the 
largest  building  upon  the  whole  Manor.  These  facts 
are  mentioned  because,  the  same  system  of  leasing  out 
their  lots  in  farms  was  carried  out  by  all  the  other 
owners  of  the  Manor  Lands.  Some  sold  the  fee  of 
their  lands  at  an  early  day  to  relatives  who  thus 
increased  their  holdings.  Others  retained  them. 
The  result  of  this  was,  that  some  portions  of  the  Man- 
ors acquired  in  common  parlance  distinctive  names, 
which  long  continued.   Mrs.  Beekmaii's  estate  on  the 


134 


IIISTOllY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Hudson,  was  from  her  Christian  name,  styled  "Ger- 
trudesborough,"  that  of  Philip  van  Cortlandt  "Cort- 
landttown "  (now  with  adjacent  lands  called  "The 
town  of  Cortlandt,"  and  that  of  Mr.  dc  Lancey,  "De 
Lanceytown "  now  "The  Town  of  North  Salem." 
"  Hanover  "  was  also  a  name  for  part  of  the  present 
"  Somcrs  "  town. 

The  number  of  acres  in  the  shares  of  the  respective 
heirs  and  their  valuation,  in  the  division  of  1732  and 
1733  arc  of  much  interest,  when  the  present  enor- 
mous value  of  the  present  townships  formed  out  of 
the  Manor  is  considered. 

The  contrast  is  almost  incredible  notwithstanding 
the  century  ajid  a  half  wliich  have  elapsed  since  the 
valuations  were  made. 

Tlie  following  statement  showing  the  numbers  and 
contents  in  acres  of  each  of  the  lots  is  from  Ver- 
planck's  survey  of  May  30  1732.  The  first  column 
shows  the  numbers  and  areas  of  the  first  or  north 
range  of  Great  Lots  north  of  the  Croton  ;  the  second 
those  of  the  south  range  of  the  Great  Lots  nortii  of 
the  Croton  ;  and  the  tliird  those  of  the  Front  lots  on 
the  Hudson. 

North  range  of  the  Great  Lots  Nortli  of  tlu^ 
Croton. 

No.     1,  contents    40<ir)  acres. 

„       2,    2784 

3,        „    2904 

„      4,        „    2804 

5,        ,   2811 

G,        „    3168 

7,  „    3f><JG 

8,  ,  3(i9() 

!»,        „    3(1<K) 

„     10,        „    3273 

32,887 

Soutli  range  of  Great  Ijots  north  of  the  Croton. 

No.    1,    contents    222a  acres. 

„     2,        „    29!)4 

„     3,        „    2904 

„     4,        „    8712 

)j     •^j        )i    2982  ,, 

„  „    2760 

„     7,        „    2660 

„     8,        „    2394 

„     9.        „    3568 

„    10,        „    2565 


No. 


28,765 

Front  lots  on  the  Hudson. 

1,  contenls    1255 

2,  „    932 

3,  „    1886 

4,  „    1447 

5,  „    1220 

6,  „    1720 


No.  7,    contents   1027 

„  8,        „    808 

„  !>,        „    1233 

„  10,        „    2764 

14,333 
Recapitulation. 

Great  North  lots   32,887 

„     South  lots   28,765 

Front  Lots  on  Hudson   14,333 

Total  in  the  Divisions  of  1732 

and  1733   75,985 

Lots  South  of  Croton   7,128 

83,113 

Lands  in  Pound  ridge   3000 

Parson's  Point  on  the  Hudson  100 


Total  east  of  the  Hudson...     8(!,213  „ 
'  Tract  on  West  side  of  the 

Hudson   1500 

Total  number  of  acres  in  the 

whole  Manor   87,713  ,, 

The  areas  and  valuations  of  the  shares  of  each  of 
the  heirs  named  above  in  the  divisions  of  1732-8  are 
thus  stated  in  an  "  Estimate  of  the  Value  in  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt,  1733." 

Namee.  Acres,  Value  in  pduniis. 

p.  Verplanck   932  215. 

2995  345. 

2904  413. 

6831  £973. 

Margaret  Bayard  1027  

wife  of  Samuel  Bayard  2811  

8560  

7398  £948.^ 

Stephen  De  Lancey  1172  234. 

3273  210. 

2932  555. 

7377  £999. 

Philip  Van  Cortlandt  1255  300. 

2225  195. 

3168  480. 

6648  £975. 

Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  1474  214. 

2760  883. 

2660  375. 

6894  £972. 

I  This  IB  not  in  Verplanck'B  survey,  but  is  added  as  an  estimate  from 
the  best  information  the  writer  could  ol)tain. 
2 From  tlie  MS.  in  tlie  Van  Wyck  papers. 

8  Tlio  seiianite  values  of  each  of  these  three  lots  are  oniiltiil  in  the 
original,  though  the  total  is  given ;  evidently  an  accidental  error. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


135 


N'imcs 

Acre's. 

Vttluu  ill  poui 

1234  

 238. 

2784 

300. 

31)  IH)  

 450. 

7714 

£988. 

(iC'rtiii(U~  lU'okmnn  

...27(54  

210. 

231)4  

 106. 

8062 

£912. 

WilliniH  Skinner  

...188(5  

120. 

3712 

675. 

25(55  

 156. 

8163 

£951. 

Aiuircw  Jdlmslon  

...4095  

 339. 

1233 

240. 

3(595  

 310. 

£023 

£889. 

...  808  

218. 

28(50 

575. 

3696 

225. 

7364 

£1018. 

Recapitulation. 

Ainoiiiils  ill  N. 

Names. 

Acres. 

Cnricncy. 

...(5831  

£  973. 

Margaret  l>ayard  

...7398  

...£  948. 

...7377  

£  999. 

Philip  Van  {'orllaiult  

...(;()48  

£  975. 

Stephen  Van  C'ortianilt... 

..6894  

 £  972. 

...7714  

£  988. 

...80()2  

£  912. 

William  Skinner  

.. .81(53  

£  951. 

...9023  

£  889. 

...73(54  

£1018. 

75474' 

£9625. 

The  above  values  are  in 

New  York 

eurreney 

in  which  the  i)()und  was  equal  to  two  dollars  and  a 
half  01  United  States  Currency.  Hence  the  entire 
value  in  money  of  the  75,000  acres  and  upwards,  in 
1733,  when  the  division  among  the  heirs  took  place, 
was  only  $25.0(52,  or  about  $2,500  per  share ;  and  as 
the  shares  averaged  7000  acres  each,  it  is  seen  at  once 
how  extremely  low  was  the  value  of  land  j)er  acre  in 
New  York  and  in  Westchester  County  at  that  time. 

This  valuation  also  is  evidence  of  the  good  sense 
and  sound  judgment  of  Mrs.  Steplianus  van  Cortlandt, 
the  sole  executrix  of  her  husband's  will,  and  of  Wil- 

'Tliis  HuiiiiiMt  is  ."ill  acres  less  tliiiii  the  tiiliil  acreagu  of  the  same 
lots  |(7.i,!iH.'i  ai'res)  in  Vi  r|i|aiU'k's  survey,  printed  above.  As  the  MS. 
from  which  tliis  last  statement  is  taken  is  a  roiiph  one  antl  unsigned,  it  is 
probable  that  its  author  made  this  error,  and  that  the  survey  is  correct. 


liam  Nicolls,  Jacobus  van  Cortlandt,  and  lirandt 
Schuyler,  his  relatives  and  her  advisers  under  the 
same,  in  deciding  to  hold,  and  not  divide  U[»,  the 
Manor,  soon  after  Mr.  van  Cortlandt's  death.  It 
likewise  proves  conclusively  the  little  actual  value, 
the  enormous  New  York  Manors  and  Great  Patents 
really  had  at  the  period  they  were  erected  and 
granted. 

When  the.  Manor  was  divided  into  townships  by 
the  Act  of  1788,  there  were  carved  out  of  it  four 
entire  Townships,  '  Cortlandt,' '  Yorktown,'  '  Ste]>hen- 
town,'  (now  changed  to  'Somers'),  'Salem,'  and  about 
one-third  of  a  lil'lli,  '  i'oundridge.'  '  Salem  was  sub- 
setpiently  in  1790  divided,  into  'North  Salem'  and 
'  South  Salem,'  the  name  of  the  latter  being  changed 
in  1840  to  Lewisborough.  So  that  five  of  the  old 
townshijis  and  about  a  third  of  a  sixth,  were  Ibrmcd 
out  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt.  The  following  tab- 
ular statements  of  the  valuation  of  the  land  in  these 
live  and  one-third  townships,  in  1829  and  in  1875, 
the*  former  about  a  century  and  the  latter  about 
a  century  and  a  half,  after  the  valuation  of  the 
Manor  as  a  whole  in  1732-33  above  given,  show  in 
the  most  striking  manner  the  tremendous  increase  in 
value  of  the  Manor  between  the  time  of  its  division 


among  the  ten  heirs  of  Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  and 
''he  present  day.  ' 

Vn/ini/lo)i  (if  1829. 

Township  of  Cortbindt,  1505,801 

of  Yorktown,   499,404 

"        of  Somers,   450.94.j 

of  North  Salem,   244,(5(55 

of  South  Salem,   292,574 

"        of  I'oundridge,  \   55,440 

■$2,048,829 

,  VnliKtfion  of  1875.  * 

Township  of  Cortlandt,  $4,316,150 

"  Yorktown,   1,258,641 

"  Somers,   1,402,108 

"  North  Salem,   1,123,500 

"         "  Lewisborough,''   952,435 

"  roundridge,  i   114,202 


$9,167,037 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however  in  comparing 
these  tables  of  1829  and  1875,  that  the  valuation  of 
1732-3  embraced  only  the  divisions  of  those  years 

•  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  a  paiiy  s(]ual)l)le  about  the  political 
patronage  in  the  taking  of  it,  should  have  prevented  the  taking  of  any 
State  Census  in  1885,  so  that  a  comparison  of  values  up  to  that  year 
could  have  been  here  given.    It  is,  perhaps,  fair  to  say,  that,  taking  one 
•  town  with  another,  an  addition  often  per  cent,  to  the  lignres  of  the 

census  of  187,')  would  be  about  the  actual  value  in  188."i. 
j  Kroni  the  Table  appencled  to  Wi'stchester  County,  in  the  great  Atlas 
of  the  Counties  of  New  York,  compiled  by  the  celebrated  Sinieiui  IJe 
Witt,  under  an  Act  of  the  Legislature,  in  182'.)  and  published  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  by  David  II.  Burr.  This  is  the  most  authentic  Atlas  of  New 
York  that  exists,  and  is  now  rare. 

<  From  the  State  Census  of  1875,  Table  no.  fi8. 

5  Formerly  South  Salem. 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


among  the  heirs,  while  the  valuation  of  the  Townshijis 
eniVjrate  in  addition  the  lands  subsequently  divided 
among  the  heirs  in  1753,  and  a  small  portion  of  lands 
then  leftundivided,  as  mentioned  above  ;  and  also  that 
in  North  Salem  and  Lewisborough  the  "  Oblong"  lands 
are  included  in  their  respective  valuations,  which 
were  never  a  i)art  of  the  Manor.  But  allowing  for 
these  corrections,  they  are  sufticient  to  show  the 
great  increase  of  value  in  a  century,  afid  a  century 
and  a  half,  of  the  lands  forming  the  Manor  of  Cort- 
landt. 

Precisely  which  of  the  great  lots  of  the  Manor, 
were  embraced  within  the  limits  of  each  of  the  five 
Townships,  and  one-third,  which  were  carved  out  of 
it,  is  a  matter  of  interest,  to  the  antiqunrian  at  least, 
at  this  day.  The  following  statement  ol'  the  areas  of 
the  respective  townships  in  Great  Lots  and  Acres,  is 
taken  from  a  MS.  among  the  Van  Wyck  papers,  un- 
dated, but  drawn  up,  as  ajipears  by  an  indorsement, 
relative  to  the  calculation  the  jjayment  of  the  ^wit 
rents.  It  bears  no  signature,  and  was  probably  made 
up  as  a  basis  for  their  commutation,  sometime,  within 
the  first  twenty-five  years  of  this  century.  As  will 
be  seen  by  the  footing  at  the  end,  the  gross  number 
of  acres  somewhat  exceeds  the  figures  of  the  gross 
number  by  Verplaiick's  survey  as  stated  above. 
AVithout  attem])tiiig  to  explain  this  discrepancy  the 
statement  is  given  as  in  the  original,  because  it  shows 
clearly  which  great  lots  of  the  old  Manor  were  em- 
braced in  each  Township,  carved  out  of  it,  and  the 
amount  of  the  quit  rent  due  for  each  Townshij)  at  the 
time  the  statement  was  prepared,  wjienever  that  was. 


Tmni  of  (hrffaiidf. 

Acres. 

All  the  Front  Lots  14,833 

South  Lot  No.  ]  2,±1?> 

North  Lot  No.  1  4,0i)r) 

No.  1,  South  of  Croton   56^ 

No.  2,  South  of  Croton   58(3 

h  of  No.  3   300 

Tellers  Point   300 

Parsonage  Point   100 

Ph.  V.  Planck  (Verplaucks  Point)   !)15 


23,410 

Vor/:fiiir)i. 

N.  Lot  No.  2  2,784 

N.  Lot  No.  3  2,908 

N.  Lot  No.  4  2,8r)4 

S.  Lot  No.  2  2,995 

S.  Lot  No.  3  2.904 

S.  Lot  No.  4  3,712 

All  the  Lots  South  of  Croton  River  7,128 

2^  Lots  taken  oH'  for  Cortlandt  Town  1,484 


5,(i44 


iSomers  Town. 

Acres. 

N.  Lot  No.  5  2,811 

N.  Lot  No.  6  3,168 

N.  Lot  No.  7  3,096 

About  a  third  of  N.  Lot  No.  8  1,232 

S.  Lot  No.  5  2,982 

S.  Lot  No.  6  2,760 

Half  of  S.  Lot  No.  7  1,330 


17,979 

North  Salem. 

I  of  N.  Lot  No.  8  2,464 

N.  Lot  No.  9  3,696 

N.  Lot  No.  10  3,273 


9.433 

iSontli  Salon. 

i  of  S.  Lot  No.  7  .1,330 

S.  Lot  No.  9  3,696 

S.  Lot  No.  10  3,273 


9,433 

f'oiiiif/riili/e,  Stone  Hills. ' 
About  3,000 

Town  of  Cortlandt  23,416 

Yorktown  23,811 

Somcrsto  w  n  17,979 

North  Salem   9,433 

South  Salem   9,857 

Poundridge,  Stone  Hills   3,000 


87,496 

Recapiliiluliun. 

Share  ot 

Acres.  quit  rent. 

Town  of  Cortlandt  -23,416  $137.00 

Yorktown  23,811   138.00 

Somers  Town  17,!t79   103.00 

North  Salem   9,433   54.00 

South  Salem   9,857   57.00 

Poundridge,Stono  Hills..  3,000   17.00 

$506.00 

Pliilil)  von  Cortlandt  the  third  son  of  Stephanus, 
born  the  9th  of  August  1683,  was  a  man  of  clear  head, 
of  good  abilities,  and  possessed  of  great  decision  of 
character.  He  was  a  merchant  in  New  Amsterdam, 
and  like  his  father  took  an  active  i)art  in  public 
affairs.  In  June  1729  he  was  recommended  to  the 
King  for  appointment  as  a  Councillor  of  the  Province 
by  Governor  Montgonierie  in  place  of  Lewis  Morris 
jr.  The  appointment  was  made  the  3d  of  February 
1730,  he  took  his  seat  in  April  of  the  same  year,  and 
continued  in  the  Council  until  his  death  on  the  21st 
of  August  1746,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Edward 


23,811 


I  Tliis  is  the  common  name  of  the  uorthern  part  of  this  Town. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


137 


Holland  through  the  recommendation  of  Governor 
Clinton.  lie  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Com- 
mission on  the  part  of  New  York,  in  the  case  of  tlic 
Colony  of  Connecticut  and  the  Mohegau  Indians. 
His  wife  was  Catharine  daughter  of  Abraham  do  Peyster 
to  whom  he  was  married  in  1710. '  He  left  him  sur- 
viving, six  children,  five  sons  and  one  daughter, 
Catharine,  who  was  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  can- 
non on  the  Battery  while  watching  the  firing  of  a 
salute  in  honor  of  the  King's  birth  day  June  4th 
1738,  in  her  13th  year.  By  the  death  of  his  elder 
brothers,  Johannes  who  left  only  a  daughter,  Ger- 
trude, the  wife  of  Philip  Verplanck,  and  Oloff,  or 
Oliver,  who  died  a  bachelor,  Philip  became  the  head 
of  the  Van  Cortlandt  fannly.  His  five  sons  were 
Stephen,  Abraham,  Philip,  John,  and  Pierre.  Of  the 
five,  Abraham,  Philip,  and  John,  all  died  unmarried. 

ephen  the  eldest  who  succeeded  his  father  as  the 
.  ad  of  the  family,  was  born  the  2Gth  of  October 
1710,  married,  in  1738,  Mary  Walton  Ricketts,  and 
died  the  17th  of  October  1756,  leaving  two  sons 
Philip  and  William  Ricketts,  Van  Cortlandt.  Philip 
the  elder,  the  fourth  head  of  the  family  born  10th 
November  1739,  preferring  a  military  life,  entered 
the  British  Army,  in  which  he  served  many  years, 
dying  on  the  1st  of  May,  1814,  in  his  75th  year. 
He  is  buried  in  Hailsham  Church  where  a  mural 
monument  is  erected  to  his  memory.  He  maiTied  on 
Aug  2d,  17G2,  Catharine,  daughter  of  Jacob  Ogden  of 
New  Jersey.  They  had  the  large  number  of  23 
ciiildren  (several  being  twins)  of  whom  twelve  lived 
to  grow  up,  five  being  sons  and  seven  daughters.  The 
former  all  became  oflicers  in  the  British  Regular  Army. 
They  were 

1.  I'liilip  I 

2.  and  Stei)hen  J  twins,  b.  30  July  17()(),  the  latter 

died  young,  the  former  married 
Mary  Addison  and  died,  having 
had  one  son,  George  W.,  who  died 
young. 

'■>.  Jacob  Ogden  von  Cortlandt,  Captain  23d  Fusiliers, 
killed  in  Spain  in  1811,  leaving 
issue. 

4.  Henry  Clinton  van  Cortlandt,  Lt.  Col.  31st  Foot, 

died  a  bachelor. 
•").  Arthur  Auchmuty  van  Cortland,  Caj)!.  4oth  Foot 
died  a  bachelor  in  India. 

The  daughters  were,  1.  Mary  Ricketts,  married  John 
M.  Anderson  ;  2.  Elizabeth,  married  William  Taylor, 
Lord  Chief  Justice  of  Jamaica,  and  left  oue  sou,  Col- 
onel Pringle  Taylor  of  Pennington ;  3.  Catharine, 
twin  with  Mrs.  Taylor,  married  Dr.  William  Gourlay 
of  Kincraig  Scotland ;  4.  Margaret  Hughes,  married 
0.  Elliott-Elliott  of  Berkshire  and  died  without  issue  ; 

5.  Gertrude  married,  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Buller  and 
lelt  issue ;  -  0.  Sarah  Ogden   van  Cortlandt,  died 

>  C«l.  IlUt.  N.  Y.  V,  and  VI. 

'  Lady  ISuUer's  only  surviviDg  daughter,  Auna  Maria,  married,  25tli  of 
11 


single  ;  7.  Charlotte,  married  Gen.  Sir  John  Fraser ; 
8.  Sophia  married  Sir  Wm.  Howe  Mulcaster  R.  N. 

The  second  son  of  Philip,  William  Ricketts  van 
Cortlandt,  born  the  12th  of  March  1742,  married 
l^lizabeth  Kortright,  and  had  two  sons,  the  eldest  of 
his  own  name,  who  married  1st  Miss  Stevens,  and 
2ndly  Miss  Cornell,  and  Philip,  who  married  Mary 
Bunker,  and  one  daughter  Eliza,  married  to  her  cousin 
Mr.  William  Ricketts.  Descendants  of  William  Rick- 
etts van  Cortlandt  still  own  and  dwell  upon  portions  of 
the  property  that  fell  to  his  Grandfather  Philip  van 
Cortlandt  at  the  division  of  the  Manor  in  1732-33. 

Pierre  van  Cortlandt,  the  youngest  son  of  Philij) 
the  third  son  of  Stephanus,  born  the  10th  of  January 
1721,  and  who  died  the  1st  of  May,  1814,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  deaths  in  early  numhood  of  his  brothers 
Abraham,  Philip,  and  John,  unmarried,  and  of  the 
death  in  1756,  of  his  eldest  brother  Stephen,  and  the 
absence  in  the  army  of  his  nephew  Philip,  Stephen's 
eldest  son,  became  early  and  closely  identified  with 
the  affairs  of  the  manor  and  the  interests  of  his  rela- 
tives therein.  Marrying  Joanna  a  daughter  of  Gil- 
bert Livingston  he  naturally  leaned  to  political  side 
of  his  wife's  family  in  the  party  contests  anterior  to 
the  opening  of  the  American  Revolution.  He  was 
the  representative  of  the  Manor  in  the  Colony  As- 
sembly from  1768  to  1775,  and  unlike  his  ne|ihe\v, 
Philip,  the  head  of  the  family,  he  took  the  American 
side  in  the  Revolution.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Convention,  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  the 
Provincial  Congress ;  and  upon  the  organization  ot 
the  State  Government  in  1777,  was  chosen  Lieuten- 
ant Governor  of  New  York,  and  served  as  such 
till  1795.  In  1787  he  was  President  of  the  Con- 
vention which  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  He  had  four  sons  Philip,  Gilbert,  Stephen, 
and  Pierre,  and  four  daughters,  Catharine  the  wife  ot 
Theodosius  P.  van  Wyck,  Cornelia,  wife  of  Gerard  G. 
Beekman,  Anne  wife  of  Philip  S.  van  Rensselaer,  so 
long  the  Mayor  of  Albany,  at  which  city  she  died  in 
1855  at  the  age  of  89  years,  and  Gertrude  who  died, 
a  child  in  her  eleventh  year  in  December  1766.  Of 
the  four  sons,  two,  Gilbert,  and  Ste{)lien,  died  in  early 
life  unmarried.  The  eldest  was  the  celebrated  Colo- 
nel Philip  van  Cortlandt  of  the  Revolution,  who  at 
its  close  was  made  a  Brigadier  General,  and  died  a 
bachelor  Nov.  21st  1831.  To  him  the  jjortiou  of  the 
Manor  containing  the  Manor  House  descended,  and 
there  he  lived  all  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  Upon 
his  death  it  passed  to  his  youngest  brother  Major- 
Gen'  Pierre  van  Cortlandt.  The  latt^-r  was  born  the 
29th  of  August,  1762,  and  died  in  1848.  He  married 
1st  in  1801,  Catharine,  a  daugliter  of  Governor  George 
Clinton,  by  whom  he  had  no  issue,  and  2nd  Anne 
Stevenson,  of  Albany.    He  wius  all  his  life  a  resident 


Fi-liruary,  1824,  Lt.  Col.  James  Driimiiioiid  KI|iliiiistoue,  wlifii  lie  lusiiiuiiil 
tlir  iiiinic  of  HuUlt  before  Klpliinstoiiu.  Slie  dieil  lii  Feli.  l»l.'>,  leiivitif; 
four  sons  aud  four  daujjliters,  tliu  oldest  of  wliicli  sons  William  Iliiller 
Fuller  KlpUiiiiitouu  li.  N.  is  the  15tli  aud  prescut  Baron  Eliiliiustoia-i 


138 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  Manor,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of 
Westchester,  and  its  representative  in  Congress.  By 
his  second  wife  he  had  one  child,  a  son,  the  late  Colo- 
nel Pierre  van  Cortlandt,  who  died  only  on  the 
eleventh  of  July  1884,  leaving  him  surviving,  his 
widow,  Catherine,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  eminent 
Theodrick  Romcyn  Beck,  M.D.,  of  Albany,  one  son, 
Mr.  James  Stevenson  van  Cortlandt,  and  two  daughters, 
Catharine,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  John  Rutherfurd 
Mathews,  and  Miss  Anne  Stevenson  van  Cortlandt. 
The  Manor  House  and  adjoining  estate  is  still  the 
home  of  Col.  Pierre  van  Cortlandt's  widow  and  chil- 
dren, having  continued  in  the  family  and  name  of 
Stephanus  van  Cortlandt  since  1C83,  a  little  upwards 
of  two  hundred  years. 

The  necessarily  very  brief  sketches  of  the  van 
Cortlandts  in  this  essay  are  only  intended  as  an  out- 
line, to  show  the  general  descent  of  the  elder  branch 
of  the  van  Cortlandt  family,  the  van  Cortlandts  of 
the  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

The  nature,  origin,  and  existence  of  the  Quitrent, 
payable  from  the  Crown  granted  lands,  to  the  Colon- 
ial, and,  subsequently,  to  the  State,  Government  of 
New  York,  have  already  been  explained.'  Those  for 
which  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  and  all  the  prior 
grants  within  its  limits  were  liable  were  paid  at  inter- 
vals, but  in  full,  till  their  final  extinction  by  commu- 
tation under  the  acts  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  ac- 
tion of  the  state  government  of  New  York  as  late  as 
1823. 

In  the  cijsc  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  the  first  pay- 
ments of  its  (]uitrent,  were  receipted  for  by  the  King- 
Receiver-Cieneral  and  Collector,  on  the  back  of  the 
Manor-Grant  itself,  which  has  been  already  described. 
This  course  was  unusual  and  was  owing  probably  to 
the  early  death  of  its  first  lord  and  the  careful  atten- 
tion of  his  widow  and  executrix.  The  receipts  for  sim- 
ilar payments  being  generally  given  on  separate  i)as 
pers.  These  receii)ts  are  four  in  number,  and  cover 
from  1G97,  the  date  of  the  Manor  Grant  to  1732,— the 
date  of  the  first  division — thirty-five  years,  and  are  as 
follows : 

l'''  Endorsement. 

"Received  this  29th  March  A  D  1716  of  M--^  Ger- 
truyd  van-Cortlandt  the  sum  of  Twenty-eight  Pounds, 
Proclammation  monney  in  full  of  Quit-rent  for  the 
Lands  Lying  in  the  within  Pattent,  untill  the  25th 
day  of  this  instant  month  of  March  as  witness  my 
hand 

T.  Byerley  ColF. 

2°''  Endorsement, 

Received  (In  Quality  as  Receiver-Generall  of  this 
province)  this  IG  August  1720  of  M"  Geertruydt  Van 
Cortlandt  Executrix  of  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  de- 
ceased, the  Sum  of  Eight  pounds  proclamation  mon- 
ey. In  full  of  Quitrents  for  all  the  Lands  Lying 
within  the  Man  nor  of  Cortlandt,  to  the  25  of  March 


'Pait  10,  of  this  essay,  ante  pp.  95,  96. 


Last  Pursuant  to  the  within  Pattent  as  wittness  my 
hand 

T.  Byerley  GoW. 

3''  Endorsement. 

Received  of  Phillip  Cortland  Esq'  for  account  of 
M'^  Geertruydt  Van  Cortland  two  pounds  proc'.  mon- 
ey in  full  for  one  years  quitt  rent  to  the  25  of  March 
last  for  the  lands  mentioned  in  the  within  Instru- 
ment.   Wittness  my  hand  this  29  day  of  June  1721 

T.  Byerley  Coll'. 

4"'  Endorsement. 

Received  of  the  heirs  of  Coll.  Stephanus  Van  Cort- 
landt, by  the  hands  of  Samuell  Bayard  Esq'  Thirty- 
two  pounds  proclu  money  which  together  with  thirty-  ( 
eight  pounds  like  money  Received  by  M'  Byerley  is  \ 
in  full  for  His  Majestys  quitrent  from  June  1697  to"  j 
the  17  of  last  witness  my  hand  Nov'  7*  1732  , 
Arch''  Kennedy  Rec'  Gen'. 

Thomas  Byerly  the  Receiver  General  and  Collector  \ 

whose  bold  signature  appears  to  these  receipts,  arrived  i 

in  New  York  on  the  29th  of  July  1703, and  was  a  | 
prominent  official  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  of 

both  which  Provinces  he  was  of  the  Governor's  Coun-  j 

cil.    He  died  in  1725,  and  was  succeeded  as  Receiver-  ' 

General  in  New  York  by  Archibald  Kennedy,  who  i 

signs  the  last  of  the  above  receipts,  in  1726.  j 

Subsequent  to  the  divisions  of  1732-33  among  the  ' 
heirs,  the  (]uit  rents  were  paid  j>roportionably  by  the 
different  owners.    During  the  Revolutionary  war  and 
after  it  nothing  seems  to  have  been  ])aid,  till  the  state 

Comptroller  advertised  to  sell  the  lands  to  pay  the  1 

arrears  under  a  State  law.  The  following  correspond-  a 

ence  with,  and  memoranda  of,  General  Philip  Van  I 

Cortlaiult  will  show  how  the  (luit  rents  were  settled.  m 

I 

"  Mamaroneck  November  7,  1815  ■ 

Sir  1 
In  a  conversation  I  had  with  Judge  Purdy  a  few 

days  since,  I  understood  from  him  that  you  had  gone  !■ 

to  Albany  to  ascertain  if  the  quit-rents  now  demand-  M 

ed  for  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  had  not  already  been  |l 

l)aid,  if  not  on  what  i)art  of  the  Manor  those  now  de-  jl 

manded  were  due,  and  how  the  different  propricstors  'm 

are  to  proceed  in  estinuiting  their  respective  pro])or-  il 

tions.   As  lam  interested  in  a  part  of  the  Manor,  I  |H 

will  thank  you  for  any  information  you  cau  give  me  ■ 

on  this  subject.  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  trouble  I  |l 
give  you,  and  believe  me,  Sir 

Respectfully  Yours 

J.  P.  dcLancey^ 

General  Philip  Van  Cortlandt. 

Manor  House 

Nov.  2!)  1S15 

Dear  Sir 

On  my  return  from  Albany  I  was  favored  with 
yours  of  the  7th,  and  am  hapi)y  to  inform  you  that 


2 IV.  Col.  Hist.,  1066. 

3  MS.  Letter.  Mr.  Juliii  Peter  ilc  Lancey,  of  Maniaroiieck,  the 
writer  of  tliis  letter  succeeded  to  the  unsold  portion  of  the  Manor  lauds 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OP  THE  MANORS. 


139 


I  have  settled  and  paid  up  all  the  Q.  Rent  of  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt  and  also  commuted  for  all  future 
Q.  R.  in  such  manner  as  not  to  be  obliged  to  call  on 
any  of  the  Proj)rietors.  Neither  will  any  tax  be  noces- 
aary.  So  that  you  may  Henceforward  rest  perfectly 
contented.  There  renuiitied  some  undivided  land 
which  wfis  sold  to  accomplish  it. 
I  am  with  great  resj)ect 

Yours 

Ph.  V.  Cortlandt.i 

Mr.  J.  r.  dcLancey 
Matnaroneck. 

The  following  letter  and  certificate  written  by  Gen. 
Philip  Van  Cortlandt  explains  fully  this  matter  of 
the  Quit  Rents. 

"  The  Comptroller  is  requested  as  soon  as  conven- 
ient to  make  out  what  amount  of  Quit  Rent  is  due 
from  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  Pattent,  which  includes 
in  its  bounds,  the  Pattents  granted  to  Stephen  V. 
Cortlandt  for  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson, 
Dated  March  16,  ICSo— John  Knight,  dated  March 
24  l()8f)— and  Hugh  McGregory  dated  the  2d  of  April 
l()i)0 — wliich  became  the  property  of  the  said  Stephen 
Van  Cortlandt,  and  no  Q.  Rent  from  them  is  ex- 
pected to  be  paid  as  by  the  words  expressed  in  the 
said  Mannor  Pattent,  which  is  dated  the  17th  of  June 
1()97,  will  appear. 

"  Of  this  a  part  to  be  sold — see  below. 

"  A  patent  granted  to  Tennis  DeKey  and  others  al- 
tho  within  the  said  Manor  was  not  the  property  of 
Said  Stephen  Cortlandt,  and  is  subject  to  Q.  Rent. 
"This  was  mentioned  to  the  Comptroller,  and  it  was 
requested  of  him  to  wait  a  few  days  and  the  numey 
should  be  paid.  This  the  Conii)troller  must  have  for- 
got when  the  same  was  sold  to  Mr.  Lawrence  who  is 
very  willing  to  give  up  the  same  if  agreeable  to  the 
Comptroller. 

"This  is  to  be  paid  and  commuted  for. 

"There  is  another  small  Patent  granted  to  Tennis 
Dekey,  Sybout  Harchie  and  Jacobus  Harchie  which 
is  also  included  in  the  Manor  and  is  subject  to  pay  Q. 
Reut. 

"  Of  this  a  part  to  be  sold. 

"There  is  about  eighty  acres  called  Parson's  Point, 
which  was  left  by  the  Proprietors  of  the  Manor  un- 
divided and  now  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Dutch 
Minister — and  if  sold  a  title  can  be  obtained,  which 
can  not  be  done  without.  Further  information  will 
be  given  by  the  Comptroller's. 

Humble  Serv' 

Ph.  V.  Cortlandt." 

"  I  do  hereby  certify  that  it  appears  from  papers  in 
my  possession,  that  when  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  was 
divided  in  about  the  year  1732 — there  was  lefta  piece 
of  land  said  to  contain  about  eighty,  or  a  hundred 


of  hi8  brother,  Stopben  do  Lancey,  in  the  town  of  North  Siilcin.  The 
latter  dieil  in  1795  without  issue. 
'  MS.  Letter. 


acres,  which  I  have  always  understood  was  originally 
intended  by  the  Proprietors  for  a  Parsonage,  and 
which  was  not  divided  anu)iig  the  Heirs,  although 
they  all  held  an  undivided  right  therein.  After  the 
Revolutionary  War  I  obtained  jxjssession  tliereof  and 
put  the  Dutch  lieformed  Congregation  in  possession. 
As  they  cannot  obtain  a  comjilete  title  from  the 
Heirs,  I  want  it  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  said 
cliurch,  or  as  much  thereof  as  will  pay  the  Quit 
Rent  now  due  from  the  said  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Ph.  V.  Cortlandt.'^ 

Parson's  Point  is  bounded  on  the  West  and  South 
by  Hudson's  River,  and  on  the  East  and  North  by 
Divided  lands  of  said  Manor  of  Cortlandt." 

At  the  time  of  the  first  divisions  of  the  Manor 
there  were  settlers  upon  all  the  lots  more  or  less.  The 
lots  were  divided  up  into  farms  averaging  250  acres 
in  some  parts  of  the  Manor  and  200  acres  in  others. 

Each  farm  numbered,  and  leased  as  "  Farm  No.  , 

in  Great  Lot  No.  ,"  and  when  described  the  ten- 
ants name  was  generally  added,  thus  "  and  in  pos- 
session of  so  and  so."  By  1750,  the  whole  ]\Ianor  had 
become  populated,  as  ap])ears  by  the  list  of  farms  and 
tenants  names  in  the  accounts  still  extant  rendered 
to  many  of  the  heirs  and  their  representatives.  A 
very  few  farms  here  and  there  had  been  sold  in  fee. 
About  1770,  as  the  tenants  had  prospered  and  their 
families  increased,  they  began  to  acipiire  the  "  soil 
right "  as  they  termed  it  by  jjurchase  from  the 
landlords.  The  Revolution  checked  this  movement 
entirely  for  the  time  being,  nor  was  it  till  1787  or  8 
that  it  began  again.  But  from  that  time  it  progressed 
continually,  so  that  by  1847,  there  were  only  about 
2500  or  3000  acres  of  leased  land,"  exclusive  of  the 
estate  belonging  to  Gen.  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  left 
throughout  the  Manor.  Of  this  about  1200  acres 
divided  into  five  farms  are,  at  this  moment,  still 
held,  in  the  Great  Lot,  No.  6,  south  of  Croton,  by 
descendants  of  the  heir  to  whom  that  lot  fell  at  the 
original  division.  In  Nine  cases  out  of  ten  the 
tenants  themselves  acciuired  the  fee  of  their  own 
farms.  And  the  result  has  been  that  in  every  town- 
ship in  the  Manor,  very  many  of  the  descendants  of 
the  original  tenants  still  live,  as  owners  in  fee,  upon 
the  same  lands  which  their  ancestors  originally  took 
ui)on  leases,  and  thus  have  held  them  for  four,  five, 
and  sometimes  six  generations. 

In  all  the  townships  there  are  a  few  instances 
where  dishonest  persons  have  by  trick  aud  chicanery 
acquired  farms,  by  a  series  of  "  squattings "  and 
fraudulent  transfers  and  so-called  sales  of  leases.  But 
as  a  body  the  old  tenants  dealt  honestly  and  squarely 
with  the  owners. 

Some  of  the  leases  it  may  be  said,  provided  for 
a  partial  payment  of  the  rent  fixed,  in  kind,  as  in 
wheat,  in  two  or  four  fat  fowls,  and  in  so  many 


>  Original  MS. 


140 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  days  work  with  carriage  and  horses,"  meaning  not 
"  a  carriage  "  in  our  sense  of  the  word  to-day,  but  a 
day's  work  with  wagon  and  team.  Tliis  latter  was 
Often  spoken  and  written  of  as  a  "  day's  riding.'' 
These  were  all  originally  introduced  as  an  easy  way  for 
the  tenants  in  those  times  when  there  was  very  little 
mon  ey  in  the  country  to  pay  a  part  of  the  rents  re- 
served in  the  leases,  which  as  a  rule  ran  from  one  or 
two,  to  ten  pounds  a  year.  New  York  currency.  Dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  especially 
after  the  Revolution,  the  landlords  and  tenants  made 
between  themselves  a  private  commutation,  in  money, 
for  these  rents  in  kind. 

The  Manor  as  far  as  the  personal  dignity  of  the 
Lord  of  the  Manor  was  concerned,  ended  with  the 
death  of  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  in  November) 
1700.  In  all  other  respects  manorial,  parochial' 
civil,  and  jwlitical,  it  continued  intact,  until  its  final 
termination  by  being  divided  up  into  townships 
under  the  Act  organizing  the  State  into  Townships 
in  1788. 

The  topography  of  the  Manor  is  very  remarkable, 
and  very  beautiful.  The  valley  of  the  Croton  lies  al- 
most whol  y  within  its  limits.  The  northernmost 
branches  of  that  River  rising  in  Putnam  County  and 
the  easternmost,  in  Connecticut,  each  receiving  in  its 
course  many  small  affluents,  meet  near  its  centre,  and 
form  the  main  stream  of  the  Croton,  which  falls  into 
the  Hudson  on  the  south  side  of  the  striking  peninsu- 
la of  Teller's,  or  Croton,  Point.  Five  or  six  small 
streams,  the  largest  of  which,  is  "  John  Peaks  Creek," 
now  Peekskill  (kill  being  the  Dutch  word  for  creek) 
also  fall  into  the  Hudson.  These  streams  form 
deep  sinuous  valleys  between  the  high,  rocky  hills 
through  which  they  force  their  way  to  "  The  Great 
River  of  the  Mountains.  They  take  their  rise  in  the 
range  of  hills  dividing  the  valley  of  the  Croton 
from  that  of  the  Hudson,  which  run  nearly  parallel 
to  the  latter  at  a  distance  to  the  ea.st  of  it  about  thi-ee 
or  four  miles.  From  the  eastern  slopes  of  these  hills  to 
the  Connecticut  line  extends  the  valley  of  the  Croton 
proper,  broken  by  lesser  ranges  of  wooded  hills,  and 
high  fertile  ridges,  into  numerous  smaller  valleys, 
through  which  run  perpetually,  clear  and  winding 
streams.  Notwithstanding  this  fiiir  region  has  been 
the  abode  of  a  numerous  and  thriving  population  for 
more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  it  still  possesses  exten- 
sive forests,  and  rocky,  wooded  hills,  amid  which  glist- 
en, like  diamonds,  numbers  of  small  transparent  lakes. 
So  many  are  they  that  only  a  few  of  the  larger  are  to 
be  found  upon  the  Maps.  This  region  so  remarkably 
wooded  and  watered,  formerly  abounded  in  beaver, 
all  kinds  of  deer,  and  the  ever  present  foes  of  the  lat- 
ter, wolves.  Many  are  the  provincial  statutes  offering 
bounties  for  the  destruction  of  the  latter.  The  beaver 
lived  on  the  streams  and  in  the  forests  of  Core- 
landt  till  early  in  this  century,  the  last  having  been 
killed  near  Lake  Waccabuc  in  1837.  To  this  day 
one  beautiful  branch  of  the  Croton  bears  the  name  of 


"  The  Beaver  Dam,"  and  a  high  wooded  ridge,  not 
far  from  it  is  still  called,  "The  Deer's  Delight."  There 
are  two  points,  from  which  the  greater  part  of  this 
splendid  region  can  be  looked  down  upon  almost  as 
a  whole.  The  first  is  "  Knapp's  Hill,"  or  "  Louns- 
berry  Hill,"  just  over  the  Manor  line  in  Bedford, 
which  was  used  as  a  military  station  of  observation 
during  the  Revolution.  The  second,  and  the  finer,  is 
Prospect  Mount  in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Salem.  It 
is  just  within  the  "  Oblong,"  and  though  a  part  of 
North  Salem  since  1731,  was  not  originally  within 
the  Manor.  From  its  summit  looking  west  the  eye 
ranges  over  the  whole  twenty  miles  in  length  of  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt,  the  view  being  only  terminated 
by  the  Rockland  Mountains  across  the  Hudson.  The 
depression  in  which  the  latter  lies  is  distinctly  seen. 
Immediately  in  front  of  the  spectator  spreads  the 
rich  and  affluent  valley  of  the  Titicus,  the  "Mughti- 
ticoos"  of  the  Indians,  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
Croton,  bounded  on  each  side  by  high,  irregular  forest 
clad  hills,  the  silver  stream  winding  and  gleaming 
through  green  smiling  meadows  till  it  falls  into  the 
Croton  itself  five  miles  away.  Beyond  it  are  seen 
the  rich,  rolling,  fertile  lands  of  Soniers  and  York- 
town,  the  foot  hills  of  the  Highlands  their  northern 
boundary.  And  further  still  the  fair  heights  of  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  and  above  them  the  lofty 
High  Tor  upon  its  western  side.  No  more  splendid 
scene  can  be  looked  upon  in  America,  than  to  witness 
from  this  Mount  the  setting  of  the  sun  on  a  clear 
summer  evening.  The  whole  twenty  miles  of  the 
Manor,  hill,  valley,  river,  and  forest,  glowing  in  the 
most  brilliant  radiance  beneath  the  deep  red  tints  of 
a  gorgeous  sky,  and  then  as  the  great  luminary, 
tinting  their  peaks  with  gold,  sinks  behind  the  blue 
Rockland  Mountains,  the  whole  suddenly  blotted  out 
in  a  deep  purplish  sombre  gloom. 

Upon  the  lower  slopes  of  the  height  stands  the 
old  home  of  the  Keelers,  now  the  residence  of  Hobart 
Keeler,  the  fourth  or  fifth  in  a  direct  line  who  for  a 
century  and  a  half  have  always  dwelt  there.  And 
yet  it  is  so  high,  that  from  his  dining  room  windows 
on  a  clear  day.  High  Tor  and  the  other  Rockland 
mountains  are  plainly  visible. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  Manor  is  a  range 
of  heights  trending  from  northwest  to  southeast 
dividing  the  valley  of  the  Croton  from  that  of  Long 
Island  Sound,  in  which  rise  st  reams  running  south- 
erly to  the  Sound  the  chief  of  which  are  the  Myanos, 
now  known  as  the  Mianus,  and  the  Armonck,  or  By- 
ram  River.  Thus  within  the  Manor  are  three  distinct 
water-sheds,  two  carrying  their  waters  into  the  Hud- 
son, and  one  into  the  sound. 

The  origin  of  the  name  of  the  river,  the  great  natural 
feature  of  the  Manor,  the  waters  of  which  supply  the 
great  city  of  New  York  by  means  of  a  magnificent 
aqueduct  without  a  rival  in  Ancient  or  Modern 
times,  is  not  certainly  known.  Different  theories 
have  been  and  are  held  upon  this  subject.    What  is 


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THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


141 


certain  is  that  the  Indian  name  of  "Kichtawanic,"  or 
"  Kightawong  "  is  tliat  given  to  the  River  in  all  the 
earliest  Deeds  and  Patents.  In  Philii)  Verplancks 
survey  and  map  made  in  1732  the  name  he  gives  to 
it  is  the  "  Kightcwank  Creek  or  Groatun's  River."  ' 
As  Mr.  Vcrplanck  lived  many  years  prior  to  1732  in 
the  Manor,  and  knew  every  one  interested  in  it,  from 
shortly  after  the  death  of  Stephanus  Van  Courtland 
to  his  own  death  a  period  of  about  seventy  years,  his 
opportunities  of  knowing  the  English  name  of  the 
stream  were  certainly  better  than  those  of  any  one  of 
whom  we  now  have  knowledge.  He  was  also  a  sur- 
veyor, and  hence  obliged  to  be  particular  in  giving 
correct  names  to  natural  features.  Now  he  called  it 
on  his  map  of  1732  "  Groatun's  River,"  hence  at  that 
d.ate  such  was  certainly  its  English  name.  Therefore 
the  name  must  have  originated  between  1()!)7  the  date 
of  the  Manor  Grant  in  which  it  is  described  by  its  In- 
dian name  and  1732,  the  date  of  the  Manor  Map,  that 
is  within  the  period  of  tliirty-five  years.  But 
whether  "  Groatun  "  from  which  the  change  to  "  Cro- 
ton  "  was  very  easy,  was  the  name  of  an  Indian  or  a 
Dutchman  can  never  be  known.  The  j)robability  is 
that  if  there  was  such  a  man  he  dwelt  near  the 
mouth  of  the  stream,  and  his  name  given  to  it  at  his 
dwelling-place  was  extended  gradually  throughout  its 
entire  length.  But  whatever  the  origin,  "  Croton  "  it 
has  been  for  more  than  a  century,  and  "  Croton  "  it 
will  forever  remain. 

14 

TIte  Manor  of  Scarsdale,  Its   Origin,  Local  History, 
Adjoining  Patents  and  Manors,  Its  First  Lord 
and  his  Faiaily,  Division  and  Topography. 

Named  by  its  Lord  after  that  division  of  the  beau- 
tiful county  of  Derby,  nearly  the  geographical  centre 
of  England,  in  which  the  city  of  Chesterfield,  crown- 
ing a  lofty  verdant  height,  sits  like  a  queen  upon  her 
throne,  the  rivers  Rother  and  Hii)per  flowing  to- 
gether at  her  feet,  termed  the  "  Hundred  of  Scars- 
dale,"  in  which  he  was  born.  Colonel  Caleb  Heath- 
cote  proved  at  once  his  own  good  taste  and  his  love 
for  the  ancient  home  of  his  fathers.  The  name  de- 
scribes equally  well  the  English  locality  and  its  Amer- 
ican namesake.  "  Scarrs "  was  the  Saxon  word  for 
rocky  crags,  and  "  dale "  for  valley.  The  western 
and  northwestern  parts  of  the  Hundred  of  Scarsdale 
are  noted  for  the  rocky  heights  and  deep  valleys 
which  form  that  striking  Derbyshire  scenery  immor- 
talized in  the  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak  "  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott.  The  western  and  northwestern  parts  of  the 
Manor  of  Scarsdale  are  overlooked  by  the  hills  and 
crags,  half  covered  with  forests,  at  the  foot  of  which 
flows  the  river  Bronx  ;  while  the  vales  and  glades  of 
the  lower  heights  which  separate  the  valleys  of  the 
Bronx  and  the  Sound,  upon  one  of  which  he  dwelt  in 


his  earlier  life,  are  also  immortalized  in  the  "  Si)y  " 
of  the  Neutral  Ground  of  Fenimnre  (Jooper. 

The  Manor  of  Scarsdale  was  of  irregular  shape  ow- 
ing chiefly  to  the  winding  course  of  the  Mamaroneck 
River,  which  formed  a  large  part  of  its  eiistern  bound- 
ary. By  its  terms  the  Manor-Grant  included  a  tract 
embracing  the  i)resent  towns  of  Mamaroneck,  Scars- 
dale, a  small  i)art  of  Harrison,  with  White  plains,  and 
a  portion  of  Northcastle.  But  as  a  dispute  existed 
with  "some  of  y''  inhabitants  of  y°  town  of  Rye  "  as 
to  White  plains  at  the  time  of  Colonel  Ileathcote's'' 
purchase  of  the  tract,  the  Manor-tJrant  expressly 
provided  that  it  should  give  no  further  title  to  White 
plains  to  Colonel  Heathcote  than  what  he  already 
had  before  it  issued.  Irrespective  of  White  plains  and 
the  lands  beyond,  the  length  of  the  Manor  was  about 
nine  miles  by  an  average  width  of  a  little  more  than 
two  miles.    The  following  is  the 

MANOR-(iRANT  OP  THE  MANOR  OF  SCARSDALE. 

William  the  third  by  the  Grace  of  God  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France  &  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of 
the  faith  &c.  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come  sendeth  greeting  ;  Whereas  our  loving  subject 
Caleb  Heathcote,  Esqr.  hath  i)etitioned  the 
Hon.ble  John  Nanfan  our  Lt.  Govern'r,  &  Comand' 
in  Cheif  of  the  Province  of  New  Yorke  in  America, 
&  our  Councill  of  the  said  Province,  for  a  confirmation 
of  a  tract  of  land  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  Begin- 
ning at  a  marked  tree  by  Mamoronack  River  w'ch  is 
the  eastermost  side  of  the  Northern  bounds  of  Mamo- 
ronack Township,  being  about  two  miles  from  the 
country  road  &  to  run  along  the  sd.  River  to  the  head 
thereof,  &  thence  on  a  north  line  untill  eighteen 
miles  from  the  said  marked  tree  is  compleated  ;  west- 
erly, beginning  at  the  marked  tree  or  a  great  rock  be- 
ing the  westermost  part  of  the  northern  bounds  of  the 
aforesd.  township,  being  about  two  miles  from  the 
country  road,  &  thence  to  run  northerly  eighteen 
miles  as  the  line  on  the  eastermost  side  of  the  said 
land  runcth,  including  in  the  sd.  Mannor  his  eighth 
parte  of  the  two  miles  laid  out  for  the  town  of  i\Iamo- 
ronack,  with  the  lott  he  now  liveth  on,  &  the  lott 
bought  of  Alice  Hatfeild,  w"'  the  lands  &  meadows 
below  westerly  to  a  path  to  him  belonging  by  virtue 
of  his  deeds  &  conveyances,  parte  of  w'*  land  within 
ye  bounds  aforesd.  was  purchased  by  Juo.  Richbell 
from  ye  Native  Indian  Proprietoi-s  w"''  sd.  Jno.  Rich- 
bell  had  a  grant  &  confirmation  for  yc  same  from 
Coll.  Fra."  Lovelace,  late  Gov^  of  ye  sd.  Province,  & 
the  right  of  ye  sd.  Jno.  Richbell  therein  is  legally 
vested  in  the  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote,  &  other  parte  has 
been  purchased  by  yc  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote  of  ye  Na- 
tive Indian  Proprietors ;  &  whereas  ye  sd.  Caleb 
Heathcote  hath  further  petitioned  our  sd.  Lt.  Gov- 
ernor &  Councill  that  ye  sd.  tract  of  land  may  be 
erected  into  a  Mannour  by  ye  name  of  ye  Maniiour 


See  tlie  Manor  map  and  bis  "explanatioin  "  api>ciiilcd  to  it. 


-Tliis  Dninc  is  projwrly  pronoimccd  aa  if  spelled  "Hethcut,"  not 
"  Ileethcote,"  as  often  heard. 


142 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


oi  Scarsdale,  whereupon  our  sd.  Lt.  Govern"'  by  &  w"" 
ye  advice  of  o'"'  Councill  Directed  a  Writt  to  ye  high 
Slierrife  of  yesd.  County  of  Westchester  to  enquire  to 
w'  damage  such  patent  would  bo,  w"'  writt  issued  ac- 
cordingly, w""  a  proviso  that  it  should  not  give  ye  sd. 
Caleb  Heathcote  any  further  title  then  which  he  al- 
ready hath  to  ye  lands  called  ye  White  Plains,  w'^''  is 
in  dispute  between  ye  said  Caleb  Heathcote  &  some 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Rye,  whereupon  the 
sd.  sherrifc  returned  y'  the  Jurors  found  that  there  is 
no  damage  to  the  King,  or  his  subjects,  in  erecting 
the  Mannour  aforesd.,  except  yesd.  white  Plaines  w.'^^' 
are  in  dispute  &  contest  between  ye  sd.  Caleb  Heath- 
cote &  the  town  of  Rye,  &  excepting  James  Mott  & 
the  rest  of  ye  freeholders  of  Mamoronack  who  have 
deed  within  the  i)atent  of  Richbell ;  Know  yee  that  of 
our  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  &  meer  motion, 
wee  have  given,  granted,  ratified,  &  confirmed,  &  by 
these  presents,  doe  for  us,  our  heires  &  successors, 
give,  grant,  ratifye,  &  confirme,  unto  ye  sd.  Caleb 
Heathcote,  his  heires,  &  assigues.  All  &  every  ye 
aforesd.  tracts  &  ])arcells  of  land  and  meadow  w""  in  ye 
respective  limits  &  bounds  beforementioned  &  ex- 
pressed, together  w""  all  &  every  ye  messuages,  ten- 
em'"*,  buildings,  harnes,  houses,  out-houses,  fences, 
orchards,  gardens,  pastures,  meadows,  marshes, 
swamjjs,  ])ools,  ponds,  waters,  water  courses,  woods, 
underwoods,  trees,  timbers,  quarries,  runs,  rivers,  riv- 
oletts,  brooks,  lakes,  strejimes,  creeks,  harbores, 
beaches,  bayes,  islands,  ferries,  fishing,  fowling,  hunt- 
ing, hawking,  mines,  mineralls,  (royall  mines  ex- 
cepted) &  all  the  rights,  members,  libertys,  privil- 
ledges,  jurisdiccons,  royaltys,  hereditam.^,  profitts, 
benefitts,  advantages,  &  appurtenances,  w'soever,  to 
aforesd.  sevcrall  &  respective  tracts  &  parcels  of  land 
and  meadow  belonging,  or  in  any  wise  appurteining, 
or  accepted,  reputed,  taken,  known,  or  occupied,  as 
parte  parcell  or  member  thereof,  To  Have  and  to 
Hold  all  the  aforesd.  severall  &  respective  tracts,  & 
parcells  of  land  &  meadow  &  premises  w.^in  the  re- 
spective limitts  &  bounds  aforesaid,  w."'  all  &  every 
of  their  appurtenances,  unto  him  the  sd.  Caleb 
Heathcote,  his  heirs,  &  assigns,  to  the  only  pro])er 
use  &  behoof  of  him  the  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote,  his 
heires  &  assignes  forever,  provided  that  nothing  here- 
in conteined  shall  be  construed,  deemed,  or  taken,  to 
give  the  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote  any  further  title  then 
what  he  now,  by  virtue  of  these  our  letters  patents, 
lawfully  hath  to  ye  sd.  white  Plaines  in  dispute  as 
aforesaid  nor  any  jurisdiction  w"'in  the  sd.  White 
Plaines  untill  the  same  shall  happen  to  belong  to  the 
sd.  Caleb  Heathcote,  and  moreover,  Know  yee  that  of 
our  further  speciall  grace,  certain  knowledge,  &  meer 
motion,  wee  have  thought  fitt  to  erect  all  the  aforere- 
cited  tracts  &  j)arcells  of  land  &  meadow,  w"'"in  the 
limitts  &  bounds  aforesaid,  into  a  Lordship  and  Man- 
nour, except  as  before  excepted,  and  therefore  by 
these  presents  wee  doe  for  us,  our  heires,  &  success"", 
erect  make  &  constitute  all  the  aforerecited  tracts  and 


parcells  of  land  and  meadow  within  the  limits  & 
bounds  beforementioned  (except  as  before  excepted), 
together  w."""  all  &  every  the  above  granted  premises, 
w.""  all,  and  every,  of  their  appurtenances,  into  one 
Jjordshi])  or  Mannour,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  & 
it  is  our  royal  will  and  pleasure,  that  the  sd.  Lord- 
>hip  and  Manuour  shall  from  henceforth  be  called  the 
Lordship  and  Mannour  off  Scarsdale  ;  and  Know  yee 
that  wee  rei)osing  especiall  trust  &  confidence  in  the 
loyallty,  wisdome,  justice,  prudence,  &  circumspec- 
tion, of  our  sd.  loveing  subject,  doe  for  us  our  heires 
&  success."  give  &  grant  unto  the  sd.  Caleb  Heath- 
cote, his  heires  &  assignes,  full  power  &  authority,  at 
all  times  forever  hereafter,  w"'in  the  sd.  Lordship  or 
Mannour,  one  Court  Leet  &  one  Court  Baron,  to 
hold,  &  keep,  at  such  time  &  times,  h  so  often  yearly, 
as  he  or  they  shall  think  meet,  &  wee  doe  further 
give  &  grant  to  ye  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote,  his  heires 
&  assignes,  all  fines,  issues,  &  amerciaments,  at  the  sd. 
Court  Leet  &  Court  Baron  to  be  holden  within  our 
said  lordship  or  manor,  to  be  sett,  forfeited,  or  im- 
posed, or  payable,  or  happening,  at  any  time  to  be 
l)ayable,  by  any  of  the  inhabitants  of,  or  w"'ii],  the 
said  Lordshipp  or  Manuour  of  Scarsdale  or  die  Lim- 
itts &  bounds  thereof,  &  also  all  &  every  power  & 
powers,  authority  &  authorityes,  for  the  holding  & 
keeping,  the  sd.  court  leet,  &  court  baron,  from  time 
to  time,  &  to  award  &  issue  out,  the  accustomed  writts 
to  be  issued  &  awarded  out  of  courts  leet  &  courts 
baron,  as  also  that  the  sd.  court  leet  &  court  baron  be 
kept  by  the  sd.  Caleb  Heathcote  his  heires  and  as- 
signes forever,  his,  or  their,  or  any  of  their,  stewards 
deputed  &  appointed,  w"'  full  &  ample  power  &  au- 
tiiority  to  distrain  for  the  rents,  services,  &  other 
sumes  of  money,  payable  by  virtue  of  ye  i)remises  & 
all  other  lawful  reraedys  &  means  for  the  havcing, 
possessing,  levying,  &  enjoying  the  premises,  &  every 
jiartc  &  parcell  of  the  same,  &  all  waifes,  estrayes, 
deodands,  &  goods  of  fellons,  happening,  or  to  hap- 
I)en,  being  or  to  be,  forfeited,  w."'in  the  sd.  Lordship 
or  Mannour  of  Scarsdale.  And  wee  doe  further  give 
&  grant  unto  the  said  Caleb  Heathcote  his  heires  & 
assignes,  that  all  &  singular  ye  tenants  of  him  the  sd. 
Caleb  Heathcote,  within  the  sd.  Mannour,  shall  & 
may  at  all  times  hereafter  meet  together  &  choose 
assessors  within  the  man."'  aforesd.  according  to  such 
rules,  wayes,  &  methods,  as  are  prescribed  for  cities 
towns  &  counties  within  our  sd.  j)rovince,  by  ye  acts 
of  Generall  of  Assembly  for  defraying  the  publick 
charge  of  each  respective  city,  town,  &  county,  afore- 
said, &  all  such  sumes  of  money  so  assessed  &  levyed, 
to  collect  &  dispose  of,  for  such  uses,  as  any  act  or 
acts  of  the  sd.  gener."  assembly  shall  establish  &  ap- 
point, to  have,  hold,  possess,  &  enjoy,  all  &  singular 
the  sd.  Lordship  or  Mannour  of  Scarsdale  &  premises, 
with  all  &  every  of  their  appurtenances,  unto  ye  sd. 
Caleb  Heathcote,  his  heires  &  assignes,  forever,  and 
that  the  sd.  Lordship  or  Man."'  aforesd.  shall  be  & 
forever  continue  free  &  exempt  from  the  jurisdicson 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


143 


ss.: 


of  uiiy  town,  township,  or  Maiiour,  whatsoever,  to  be 
holden  of  us,  our  heires  &  successors,  in  free  &  comon 
soccaRe  according  to  the  tenure  of  our  Mannour  of 
East  Greenwicli  in  the  county  of  Kent,  w"'in  our 
Kingdonie  of  Enghmd,  yielding  rendering  and  p(iiji/i(j 
therefore,  yearly,  &  every  year,  forever,  at  our  city  of 
New  Yorke,  unto  us  our  heires  &  successours,  or  to 
such  officer  or  officers  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be 
ini|)owered  to  receive  the  same,  /ire  jxtunds  currant 
money  of  New  Yorke,  upon  the  Nativity  of  our  Lord, 
in  lieu  &  stead  of  all  services,  dues,  duties,  or  de- 
mands, whatsoever. 

In  testimony  whereof  wee  have  caused  the  great  seale 
of  our  province  of  New  Yorke  to  be  hereunto  affixed. 
Witness  John  Nan  fan  Esq."'  our  Lt.  Governour  & 
Comaiider  in  Chief  of  our  Province  of  New  York  & 
territories  depending  thereon,  in  America. 

Given  at  fort  William  Henry  in  our  city  of  New 
Yorke  this  21st  day  of  March  in  the  fourteenth  year 
of  our  reign  Anno  Domini  1701. 

John  Nanfaii. 

By  /lis  Hon"''"  comaud 
M.  Clarkson  Secry. 
I  do  hereby  certify  the  aforegoing  to  be  a  true  coi)y 
of  the  original  record  word  &  5th  line  page  229  being 
obliterated  and  or  interlined  in  its  stead  as  in  said 
record.    Compared  therewith  by  me. 

Lewis  A.  Scott,  Secretory. 

State  of  New  York, 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

I  hare  compared  the  preceding  copy  of  Letters  Pat- 
ent with  the  record  thereof  in  this  office,  in  Book 
Number  Seven  of  Patents  at  [lage  19")  and  1  do  hereby 
certil'y  the  same  to  be  a  correct  transcript  therefrom 
and  of  the  whole  thereof. 

Witness  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  at  the  City  of  Albany,  the  1st  day  of 
Se/itrni  fjcr,  one  thousand  eiyht  hundred  and  eighty  four. 
1^=^  Anson  tJ.  Wood 

'I'nrBI  Dq)nfy  Secretary  of  State. 

John  llichl)ell  who  is  stated  in  this  Manor-Grant, 
to  Colonel  Heathcote  (which  exjjressly  vested  Rich- 
bell's  title  in  the  latter),  to  have  been  the  purchaser  of 
part  of  the  Manor-laud  originally  "from  ye  native 
Indian  proprietors,"  was  one  of  a  fanuly  of  Ilamp- 
sliire-men  either  in,  or  from  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  city  of  Southampton,  in  that  County,  in  Eng- 
land. They  were  also  merchants  in  London  engaged 
in  trade  with  America.  In  the  seventeenth  century 
a  large  trade  was  carried  on  between  England,  the 
West  Indies,  and  the  '  Plantations  on  the  Maine'  of 
-Vmerica.  Of  this  trade  the  central  point  in  the  West 
Indies  was  Barbadoes  then,  as  now,  a  British  Island. 
The  voyages  were  from  England  to  Barbadoes,  thence 
to  New  York  or  Boston,  and  thence  back  to  England. 
Hence  the  continual  refeience  in  the  accounts  aiul 
letters  of  that  day  to  the  "news  from  home  via  Bar- 
bardoes."    Precisely  when  John  Kichbell  left  Eng- 


land is  not  known.  He  was  a  merchant  in  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  according  to  Savage's  Genealogical 
Dictionary  in  1648.  In  an  inventory  of  the  estate  of 
Robert  Gibson  of  Boston,  dated  the  lltb  of  August 
1(55!),  aj)pears  this  item,  "  due  from  Mr.  John  Kich- 
bell for  wages  and  wine  £30,  4, 0,  under  date  of  8th 
August  l(55t).'  The  next  year  1657  he  was  apparently 
in  the  Island  of  Barbadoes.  Prior  to  this  latter  date 
he  was  in  the  island  of  St.  Christopher's,  where  he 
received  from  his  mother-in-law  JVIargery  Parsons 
certain  goods  formerly  delivered  and  {)aid  unto  me 
by  Mrs.  Margery  Parsons  upon  the  Island  of  St. 
Christopher's." 

When  in  Barbadoes  he  met  with  two  other  English- 
men, Thomas  Modiford  a  resident  of  that  island,  and 
William  Shari)e  of  Southampton  in  England.  The 
three  entered  into  an  agreement  to  undertake  a  busi- 
ness which  the  oppressive  navigation  laws  of  England 
tempted,  and  practically  compelled,  many  Englishmen 
and  Colonists  to  go  into.  These  laws  increased  in 
extent,  and  vigorously  enforced  by  Cromwell,  bore 
harshly  upon  England's  "Plantations  in  foreign 
parts"  at  thattime  just  beginning  to  exist.  Then  began 
that  illicit  contraband  trade  in  America  which  con- 
tinued and  increased  from  that  time  during  the  whole 
colonial  period.  And  which  proved,  in  conse(iUcnce 
of  the  very  stringent  measures  adopted  by  England 
late  in  the  eighteenth  century  to  sup[)rcss  it,  thcreljy 
in  juring  the  business  interests  of  the  colonics,  one  of 
the  potent,  if  not  the  171  ost  potent,  of  the  causes  which 
produced  that  great  event,  the  American  Revolution. 

The  "  Instructions"  to  Richbell  from  his  partners 
in  relation  to  their  business  still  exist  in  the  pu])lic 
Archives  of  New  York.  The  ])arties  naiued,  were 
"Thomas  Modiford  of  Barbadoes,  William  Sharpe  of 
Southami)ton  [I^ngland],  and  John  Richbell  of 
Charlestown,  New  England,  Merchants."  All  were 
in  Barbadoes  apparently  at  the  date  of  the  "  Instruc- 
tions," which,  as  clear  and  specific,  as  they  are  inter- 
esting and  curious,  are  here  given  in  full  They  are 
headed : — 

"  Instructions  delivered  to  Mr.  John  Richlntl  in  ordeu 
to  the  intended  settlement  uf  a  Plantation  in  the 
south-icext  parts  of  Neic  Enyland,  in 
behalf  of  himself  and  of  sub- 
scribers." 

They  piously  begin,  and  are  in  these  words: — 
"God  sending  you  to  arrive  safely  in  New  England, 
our  advice  is  that  you  informe  yourself  fully  by  sober 
understanding  men  of  that  parte  of  [the]  land  which 
lyetli  betwixt  Connecticott  and  the  Dutch  Colloiiy, 
and  of  the  seacoast  belonging  to  the  same,  and  the 
Islands  that  lye  betwixt  Long  Island  and  the  Maine, 
viz.:  within  what  government  it  is,  and  of  what  kindo 
that  government  is,  whether  very  strict  or  remis.se, 
who  the  Chiefe  !\Ligistrates  are,  on  what  termcs  ye 

'XI.  N.  v..  (ien.  Uec,  p.  :ilT. 

-  Kccitul  ill  a  Jeoil  to  her  of  lUli  Nov.,  1008,  iu  the  writer's  posaeasiuii. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Indians  stand  with  them,  and  what  bounds  the  Dutch 
pretend  to,  and  being  satisfyed  in  these  particuhirs, 
(viz.)  that  you  may  with  security  settle  there  and 
without  offence  to  any.  Then  our  advice  is  that  you 
endeavour  to  buy  some  small  Plantation  that  is  al- 
ready settled  and  hath  an  house,  and  some  quantity  of 
ground  cleared  and  which lyeth  so  as  you  may  enlarge 
into  the  woods  at  pleiisure  in  each, — be  sure  not  to 
fayle  of  these  accommodations. 

I.  That  it  be  near  .some  navigable  Ry  ver,  or  at 
least  some  safe  port  or  harbour,  and  that  the  waye  to 
it  be  neither  long  nor  difficult. 

II.  That  it  be  well  watered  by  some  running 
streame,  or  at  least  by  some  fresh  ponds  and  springs, 
near  adjoining. 

III.  That  it  be  well  wooded,  which  I  tliinke  you 
can  hardly  mis.se  of.  That  it  be  healthy,  high,  ground, 
not  boggs  or  fens,  for  the  hopes  of  all  consists  in  that 
consideration." 

Tiien  after  cautioning  him  to  obtain  a  good  title, 
and  directing  him  how  to  begin  and  carry  on  the 
actual  settling  and  planting  of  the  location,  the  in- 
structions, with  a  sharj)  eye  to  their  main  object,  thus 
conclude; — "  La,stly,  we  desire  you  to  advise  us,  or 
either  of  us,  how  affairs  stand  with  you,  what  your 
wants  are,  and  how  they  may  be  most  advantageously 
employed  by  us,  for  the  life  of  our  business  will  consist 
in  the  nimble,  (piiet,  and  full,  correspondence  with  us ; 
and  although  these  instructions  we  have  given  you, 
clearly  indicates  [our  views]  yet  we  are  not  satisfied  that 
you  must  needs  bring  in  the  place  so  numy  difficultyes, 
and  also  observe  so  many  inconveniences,  which  we 
at  this  distance  cannot  possibly  imagine;  and  there- 
fore we  refer  all  wholly  to  your  discretion,  not  doubt- 
ing but  that  you  will  doe  all  things  to  the  best  advan- 
tage of  our  designe,  thereby  obliedgiiig  your  faithful 
friends  and  servants 

Thos.  Modilord 
Barbadoes  h^ept.  18,  1G57.  Will.  Sharpe.' 

Certainly  John  Richbell  carried  out  these  "  instruc- 
tions "  to  the  letter.  No  better  desiTijjtion  of  the 
situation  of  ]\Iamaroneck  and  its  peculiar  local  char- 
acteristics could  be  written  than  they  contain. 
Directly  on  the  Sound,  close  to  Connecticut  and 
claimed  by  that  Colony,  yet  within  the  Dutch  juris- 
diction, with  a  deeply  indented  harbour,  and  a  fine 
ever  running  stream  of  fresh  water  falling  over  a  reef 
directly  into  it,  backed  by  high  wooded  hills,  and 
skirted  by  the  cleared  planting  fields  of  the  Indians ; 
and  within  a  day's  sail  of  the"  Manhadoes,"  Richbell 
could  not  have  found  on  the  whole  coast  a  locality 
better  adapted  to  the  "  nimble"  business  of  himself 
and  his  Barbadoes  friends.  There  was  only  a  single 
point  in  which  it  failed  to  meet  their  "instructions." 
It  was  not  "already  settled,"  and  had  no  "house" 
already  built.  The  Siwawoy  tribe  of  .Mohican  Indians 
were  its  sole  inhabitants  when  Richbell  first  saw 


I  Deed  book  III.,  Sec.  of  State's  off.,  132,  120. 


Mamaroneck,  and  their  Sachems  were  Wappaque- 
wam  and  Mahatahan,^  brothers  in  authority,  but  not 
in  blood. 

How  soon  Richbell  left  Barbadoes,  after  the  date  of 
his  instructions,  or  when  he  arrived  in  New  Nether- 
land,  or  on  Long  Island,  is  not  known.  He  pur- 
chased that  beautiful  peninsula,  or  a  part  of  it,  in 
Oyster  Bay,  afterwards,  and  still,  known  as  Lloyd's 
Neck,  on  the  5th  of  September  IGGO,  which  six  years 
later  he  subsequently  sold.^  He  was  a  resident  of 
Oyster  Bay  from  IGGO  to  1GG3  or  1GG4,  and  afterwards 
of  Mamaroneck. 

A  year  later,  in  September  1G61,  he  made  the  first 
purchase  of  the  Mamaroneck  lands  of  the  Indians, 
the  deed  for  which  is  as  follows  : — 

The  Indian  Deed  to  John  Richbell. 
Mammarauock,  y*  23*  Sept.  1661.  Know  all  men 
by  these  presents ; — That  I  Wappaquewam  Riglit 
owner  and  Proprietor  of  part  of  this  Land,  doe  by 
order  of  my  brother  who  is  another  Proprietor  &  by 
Consent  of  the  other  Indyans  doe  this  day  Sell,  Lett, 
&  make  over  from  mee  my  heyres  and  assignes  for- 
ever, unto  John  Richbell  of  Oyster  Bay  his  heyres  & 
assignes  forever,  three  Necks  of  Land,  the  Easter- 
most  is  called  IManunaranock  neck,  and  the  Wester- 
most  is  bounded  with  Mr.  Pell's  purchase  :  Therefore 
Know  all  men  whom  these  presents  concerne,  that  I 
Wa[)paquewam  Doe  this  Day  alienate  and  Estrange 
from  mee,  my  heires,  and  assignes  for  ever  unto  John 
Richbell  his  heyres  and  assignes  forever  these  three 
Necks  of  Land  with  all  the  JNIeadows  Rivers  and 
Islands  thereunto  belonging.  Also  the  said  Richbell 
or  his  Assignes  may  freely  feed  cattle,  or  cutt  Tind)er 
Twenty  miles  Northward  from  the  marked  Trees  of 
the  Necks,  fibr  and  in  consideracion  the  said  Richbell 
is  to  Give  and  Deliver  unto  the  aforenamed  Wajjpa- 
([uewam  the  goods  hereunder  mentioned,  the  one 
hallo  about  a  month  after  the  date  here  of,  and  the 
other  halfe  the  next  Spring  following,  as  the  Inter- 
preters can  Testifye,  &  for  the  true  performance 
hereof  I  Wappaquewam  doe  acknowledge  to  have 
Rcseived  two  Shirts  &  Ten  Shillings  in  Wampum  the 
Day  and  Date  above  Written. 

The  mark  of 
+ 

Wappaquewam, 

Twenty  Two  Coats, 

One  hundred  fathom  of  Wampum, 

Twelve  Shirts, 

Ten  paire  of  Stockings,  J 
Twenty  hands  of  powder,  J 
Twelve  barrs  of  Lead,  J 
Two  firelockes,  | 
ffifteen  Hoes, 


-Iiianinglc  paiitT  of  the  tinif,  this  uuiuc  is  spelli'd  "  Matlietusori," 
Init  in  all  tlic  utliurs  "  Maliatithau." 

Si'o  chapter  ou  "  Blaiiiaioiieck  "  fur  some  iletails  of  Hichljell  auJ  Ills 
residence  in  Oyster  Bay. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


145 


ffifteen  Hatchets, 
Three  Kettles.^ 

In  the  December  following  the  execution  and  de- 
livery of  the  foregoing  deed  one  Thomas  Revell  also 
of  Oyster  Bay  a  merchant,  and  rival  of  Richbell  at- 
tempted to  claim  the  same  lands  under  a  deed  from 
an  Indian,  for  "  two  Necks  "  dated  the  27th  of  Octo- 
ber 1661.  This  led  to  an  examination  into  the  facts 
by  the  Dutch  authorities  when  Richbell  presented  to 
them  his  memorial  for  a  "  grondbref,"  or  permit  to 
extinguish  the  Indian  title,  in  December  1661.  This 
examination  shewed  Revell's  claim  to  be  a  fraud, 
and  the  Dutch  Government  accordingly  issued  their 
ground  brief  to  Richbell,  and  later,  their  "  Trans- 
"port,"  or  Patent.  When  the  change  of  rule  came 
and  the  English  were  in  power  and  the  Dutch 
Transports,  or  patents,  had  been  confirmed  by 
English  ones  under  the  Duke  of  York,  Richbell  had 
recorded  with  his  English  Patent,  in  the  Secretary's 
office  of  the  Province,  the  numerous  affidavits 
made  in  1661  and  1662  and  laid  before  the  Dutch 
authorities,  on  which  they  condemned  Revell's  In- 
dian deed  and  claim,  and  decided  in  his  own  favor, 
together  with  another  by  an  eye  witness  made  in 
1665,-  and  an  Indian  certificate  of  Confirmation  of 
the  foregoing  Indian  deed  to  him  of  September  23*, 
1661.^ 

The  latter  is  in  these  words  : — 
Indian  Certificate  of  Confirmation  to  John  Richbell. 
"  Recorded  for  Mr.  John  Richbell  the  6th  day  of 
June  1666  this  Indyan  deed. 

I  Wampaquewam,  together  with  my  brother  Maha- 
tahan,  being  the  right  owners  of  three  Necks  of 
Land,  lying  and  being  Bounded  on  ye  East  side  with 
Mamaranock  River,  and  on  y"  West  side  with  the 
Stony  River  which  parts  the  said  Land  and  Mr.  Pells 
purchase,  Now  These  are  to  certify  to  all  and  every 
one  of  whom  it  may  concerne,  That  I  Wampaquewam 
did  for  myselfe  and  in  the  behalfe  of  my  aforesaid 
Brother  Mahatahaii,  firm  firmly  Bargain  and  Sell  to 
Mr.  John  Richbell  of  Oyster  Bay,  to  him  and  his 
Heires  forever,  the  above  mentioned  three  Necks  of 
Land,  together  with  all  other  Priviledges  thereunto 
belonging,  Six  weeks  before  I  sold  it  to  Mr.  Thos. 
Revell.  And  did  mark  out  the  Bounds,  and  give  Mr. 
Richbell  possession  of  the  said  Land,  and  did  receive 
part  of  my  pay  there  in  hand,  as  Witness  my  hand. 
Witnesse  The  mark  of 

Jacob  Yough  -f 
Catharine  Yough.*  Wampaquewam. 


'Thisileedia  recorded  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  at  Albany, 
Book  of  Entries  No.  4,  p.  1^5  ;  and  is  here  printed  from  a  copy  certified 
by  W.  Bobin  DepJ  SecJ  of  the  Province  on  12th  March,  1722,  in  the 
writer's  poneewion.  In  the  Books  as  now  numbered  at  Albany,  it  is  in 
Liber  2  of  Deeds,  p.  192.  The  mark  of  Wappaiiuewam  is  omitteil  in  the 
record. 

•  As  explained  above  in  this  eseay. 

s  Liber  2  of  Deods,  192-199,  Sec.  of  state's  off*  Albany. 

<  Liber  Two  of  Deeds  p.  128. 

lla 


In  December,  1661,  John  Richbell  made  his  appli- 
cation to  the  Dutch  Governor  and  Council  for  the 
grond-bref  above  alluded  to.  His  memorial,  dated 
the  day  before  Christmas,  1661,  is  in  these  'words: 

John  Richbells  Petition  to  the 

Dutch  Government  for  a  Patent. 
Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland,  24  Dec,  1661. 

To  the  Most  Noble,  Great,  and  Respectful  Lords, 
the  Directors-General  and  Council,  in  New  Nether- 
land, solicits  most  reverently  John  Richbell,  that  it 
may  please  your  Honours  to  grant  him  letters  patent 
for  three  Necks  of  Lands,  the  east  Neck  being  named 
Mammoranock  Neck,  the  western  with  the  adjacent 
Land  by  some  named  Mr.  Pells  Land,  promising  that 
all  persons  who  with  the  supplicants  permission  or 
order  would  settle  there  with  him,  shall  be  willing  to 
solicit  letters  patent  for  such  a  parcel  of  land  as  they 
may  intend  to  settle.  In  the  meantime  he  suppli- 
cates that  your  Honours  may  be  pleased  to  grant 
him  letters  patent  for  the  whole  tract,  which  he  is 
willing  to  enforce  and  instruct  them  of  your  Honours 
Government  and  will,  in  similar  manner,  on  terms 
and  conditions  as  are  allowed  to  other  villages.  Hop- 
ing for  your  assent  he  remains,  respectfully, 

John  Richbell.' 

This  memorial  was  read  and  considered  by  director 
Stuyvesant  and  his  Council  on  the  19th  of  January, 
1662,  and  the  applicant  was  requested  to  explain 
more  fully  the  extent  and  meaning  of  his  proposal. 
Richbell  subsequently  did  so,  and  on  the  6th  of  the 
succeeding  May  (1662)  there  was  granted  him  the 
annexed  "grond-bref"  or  ground-brief  signed  by 
Stuyvesant  himself 

Dutch  Ground-Brief  for  Mamaroneck. 

We,  the  Director-General  and  Council  of  State  of 
New  Netherland,  doe  declare  by  these  presents,  that 
we,  upon  the  memorial  or  petition  of  Mr.  John  Risse- 
bel  and  his  friends,  that  he  be  under  the  protection 
of  the  high  and  subordinate  Authority  of  this  Prov- 
ince, upon  terms  and  conditions  that  other  inhabi- 
tants doe  enjoy,  may  take  up  and  posssess  a  certain 
Neck  and  parcel  of  Land  called  Mammarinikes,  j)ro- 
vided  that  the  aforesaid  Mr.  John  Rissebel,  his  asso- 
ciates, and  every  one  that  are  now  hereafter  to  come, 
in  due  and  convenient  time,  shall  present  themselves 
before  US' to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  and  obedience,® 
and  also  as  other  inhabitants  are  used,  to  procure 
a  transport  of  what  they  possess. 

Given  under  our  hand  and  seal  the  6th  day  of 
May,  1662,  in  Fort  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland. 

P.  Stuyvesant.' 


s  Deed  Book  iii.  37,  Sec.  State's  Office.  Sec  ante  pp.  54-57  for  the  "terms 
and  conditions"  referred  to  in  this  document. 

0  .\9  required  by  the  charter  of  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions  "  mentioned 
above  in  part  "4"  of  this  chapter." 

■  The  original  in  Dutch  of  this  paper  in  the  writer's  possessiou,  was 
a  few  years  ago  accidentally  destroyed.  It  is  recorded  in  vol.  xx.  of  the 
State  Records  at  Albany,  127. 


146 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  Dutch  "  Transport "  which  was  formerly  in  the 
writer's  possession  was  unfortunately  destroyed  by 
accident  at  the  same  time  with  the  original  Ground- 
brief  as  stated  above.  It  vested  the  lands  in  Rich- 
bell  absolutely. 

The  English  Patent  of  Confirmation  of  the  Trans- 
port to  John  Richbell  was  granted  by  Governor  Fran- 
cis Lovelace  on  March  16,  1668,  and  is  as  follows : — 

The  English  Patent  of  Confirmation  to  John  Richbell 

Francis  Lovelace,  Esq.,  Governor  General,  under 
his  Royal  Highness,  James,  Duke  of  York  and  Al- 
bany, &c.  &c.,  of  all  his  territories  in  America,  to  all 
to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  sendeth  greeting. 
Whereas,  there  is  a  certain  parcel  or  tract  of  land 
within  this  government,  upon  the  main,  contained  in 
three  necks,  of  which  the  eastermost  is  bounded  with 
a  small  river,  called  Mamaronock  river,  being  almost 
the  east  bounds  or  limits  of  this  government  upon  the 
main,  and  the  westermost  with  the  gravelly  or  stony 
brook  or  river,  which  makes  the  east  limits  of  the 
land  known  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Pell's  purchase.  Hav- 
ing to  the  south,  the  sound,  and  running  northward 
from  the  marked  trees  upon  the  said  neck,  twenty 
miles  into  the  woods,  which  said  parcel  or  tract  of 
land  hath  been  lawfully  purchased  of  the  Indian 
I)roprietors,  by  John  Richbell  of  Mamaronock,  gentle- 
man, in  whose  possession  now  it  is,  and  his  title 
thereunto  sufficiently  proved,  both  at  several  courts 
of  sessions,  as  also  at  the  general  courts  of  assizes, 
now  for  a  confirmation  unto  him  the  said  John  Rich- 
bell, in  his  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  premises: 
Know  ye,  that  by  virtue  of  the  commission  and  author- 
ity unto  me  given  by  his  Royal  Highness,  I  have 
given,  ratified,  and  confirmed  and  granted,  and  by 
these  presents  do  give  and  ratify,  confirm  and  grant, 
unto  the  said  John  Richbell,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
all  the  aforecited  i)arcel  or  tract  of  land  as  aforesaid, 
together  with  all  woods,  beaches,  marches,  pastures, 
creeks,  waters,  lakes,  fishing,  hawking,  hunting  and 
fowling,  and  all  other  profits,  immunities  and  emolu- 
ments to  the  said  parcel  or  tract  of  land  belonging, 
annexed,  or  appertaining  with  their  and  every  of 
their  appurtenances,  and  every  part  and  parcel  there- 
of, and  in  regard  to  the  distance  of  the  plantations 
already  settled,  or  to  be  settled  uj)on  the  said  necks  of 
land,  from  any  town,  the  persons  inliabiting,or  that  shall 
inhabit  thereupon,  shall  have  a  petty  constable  chosen 
amongst  themselves  yearly,  for  preserving  of  the 
peace,  and  decision  of  small  differences  under  the 
value  of  forty  shillings,  and  they  shall  be  excused 
from  all  common  attendance  at  training  or  other  ordi- 
nary duties  at  Westchester.  But  in  matters  of  assess- 
ment and  public  rates,  they  are  to  be  assessed  by  the 
officers  of  that  town  to  wljich  they  do  properly  be- 
long, being  the  nearest  unto  them,  to  have  and  to 
hold  the  said  parcel  and  tract  of  land  in  the  said  three 
necks  contained,  and  premises  with  all  and  singular 
the  privileges  and  ai)purtenances  to  the  said  John 


Richbell,  hia  heirs  and  assigns,  to  the  jJroper  use  and 
behoof  of  the  said  John  Richbell,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signees forever,  as  free  land  of  inheritance,  rendering 
and  paying  as  a  quit  rent  for  the  same  yearly,  and 
every  year,  the  value  of  eight  bushels  of  winter 
wheat,  upon  the  five  and  twentieth  day  of  March,  if 
demanded,  unto  his  Royal  Highness  and  his  heirs,  or 
to  such  governor  or  governors  as  shall  from  time  to 
time  be  appointed  and  set  over  them.  Given  under 
my  hand  and  seal,  at  Fort  James,  in  New  York,  on 
Manhattans  Island,  the  16th  day  of  October,  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign.  Lord 
Charles  the  second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England, 
Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  king,  defender  of  the 
faith,  &c.  &c..  Anno  Domini,  1668. 

Francis  Lovelace.^ 
The  three  Necks  described  in  this  patent,  were 
called  the  "  East  "  the  "  Middle,"  and  the  ''  West" 
Necks.  The  Middle  Neck  was  sometimes  styled  the 
"  Great  Neck,"  from  its  longer  extent  of  water  front, 
which  led  to  the  supposition  that  its  area  below  West- 
chester Path  was  greater  than  that  of  the  East  Neck. 
The  "East  Neck"  extended  from  Mamaroneck  River  to 
a  small  stream  called  "Pij)ins  Brook"  which  divided  it 
from  the  Great  Neck  and  is  the  same  which  now  crosses 
the  Boston  Road  just  east  of  the  house  of  the  late  Mr. 
George  Vanderburgh  ;  the  "  Middle  Neck  "  extended 
from  the  latter  stream  westward  to  a  much  larger 
brook  called  "  Cedar  or  Gravelly  Brook,"  which  is  the 
one  that  bounds  the  land  now  belonging  to  Mr.  Meyer 
on  the  west ;  and  the  "  West  Neck "  extended 
from  the  latter  to  another  smaller  brook  still  further 
to  the  westward,  also  termed  "  Stoney  or  Gravelly 
Brook,"  which  was  the  East  line  of  the  Manor  of 
Pelham.  A  heated  controversy  arose  between  John 
Richbell  and  John  Pell,  as  to  which  of  the  two  brooks 
last  named  was  the  true  boundary  between  them, 
Pell  claiming  that  it  was  the  former  and  that  the 
"  West  Neck  "  was  his  land.  After  proceedings  be- 
fore Governor  Lovelace  and  in  the  court  of  assizes 
the  matter  was  finally  settled  on  the  22d  of  January 
1671  by  an  agreement  jjractically  dividing  the  dis- 
puted territory  betw'een  them.  This  was  approved 
by  Governor  Andros  and  permission  given  for  a  sur- 
vey.' 

For  some  reason  not  now  known,  the  survey  and 
division  was  not  actually  effected  till  1677,  when  it 
was  made  by  Robert  Ryder  the  Surveyor-General  as 
follows ; — 

"  Whereas  there  hath  been  a  difference  between 
John  Richbell  and  Mr.  John  Pell  which  by  virtue  of 
an  order  from  the  Right  Honourable  Major  Edmund 
Andros  Esqr.  Governor  Generall  of  New  York,  I  have 
made  a  division  of  the  within  mentioned  Neck  of 
Land  by  and  with  the  mutual  consent  of  both  parties, 


1  This  jjatent  is  recorded  in  Book  of  Patents  II.  p.  "5,  at  Albany. 
-  A  coteniporary  copy  of  this  agreement  signed  by  I'ell,  with  Androe' 
permit  annexed  is  in  the  writer's  possession. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


14T 


which  is  in  manner  and  form  as  is  hereafter  expressed 
viz.'  That  the  said  Richbell  shall  extend  from  Cedar 
Tree  Brook  or  Gravelly  Brook,  .south  westerly  fifty 
degrees  to  a  certain  mark'd  Tree,  lying  above  the  now 
comon  Road  thirty  and  four  chains  in  length,  marked 
on  the  east  with  R  and  on  the  west  with  P,  thence  ex- 
tending south  sixty  three  degrees  East  by  certain 
marked  Trees  ptixed'  ending  by  a  certain  piece  of 
Meadow  at  the  Salt  creek  which  runs  up  to  Cedar 
Tree  Brook  or  Gravelly  Brook,  extending  from  the 
first  marked  Trees  Nor  Nor  West  to  Brunkes's  River 
by  certain  Trees  in  the  said  Line  marked  upon  the 
west  with  P.  and  upon  the  east  with  R.  performed 
tiie  twenty  second  day  of  May  1()77. 

p'  me  Robert  Ryder  Surv.^"' 
The  preceeding  Surveyor  above  mentioned  is  mu- 
tually consented  unto  by  the  above  mentioned  Mr. 
John  Richbell  and  Mr.  John  Pell  in  presence  of  us. 

Thomas  Gibbs 
Walter  Webbs 
John  Sharp 
Joseph  Carpenter.- 
Thus  was  permanently  settled  the  controversy  re- 
garding the  West  Neck,  a  settlement  which  finally 
determined  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Manor  of 
Pelham.    As  neither  the  Middle  or  Great  Neck,  nor 
the  West  Neck,  formed  any  part   of  the  Manor  of 
Scarsdale,  an  account  of  them  will  not  be  given  here, 
but  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  the  Town  of 
Mamaroneck  as  now  erected. 

In  Richbell's  Petition  of  the  24th  of  December 
1631  to  the  Dutch  Government  for  a  ground-brief 
above  given,  he  says  the  name  of  the  "  East  Neck  " 
is  "  Mamaranock  Neck."  A  misreading  by  Mr. 
Bolton  of  the  first  of  these  two  words  in  this  docu- 
ment as  recorded  led  to  his  stating  in  the  first  edition 
of  his  History  of  Westchester  County  issued  in  1848, 
(vol.  i.  282)  that  the  "aboriginal  name"  of  the  East 
Neck  was  "  Wanmainuck,"  and  the  error  has  con- 
tinued in  the  second  edition,  (vol.  i.  463).  This  has 
led  subsequent  writers  to  repeat  the  statement.  It 
was  however  purely  a  mistake  of  Mr.  Bolton.  The 
true  "  aboriginal  name "  of  the  East  Neck  was 
"  Mamaranock,"  the  same  as  the  river  which  formed 
its  eastern  boundary.  This  word  was  spelled  in  very 
many  ways,  in  early  days,  by  the  Dutch  and  English 
in  public  and  private  letters,  documents,  and  instru- 
ments, but  all  aiming  at  giving  the  original  Indian 
sound.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  present  spelling  "Mamaroneck"  obtained  and 
has  ever  since  been  used.  It  is  the  Indian  name  of 
the  River  flowing  into  the  head  of  the  Harbour. 

Like  most  Indian  names  it  is  descriptive  of  a  strik- 
ing natural  object  and  eflect,  and  signifies  "The  Place 
where  the  Fresh  water  falls  into  the  Salt."    A  short 


'  8o  In  the  original. 

From  a  cotemporary  copy  of  the  original  iu  the  writer's  possession. 


distance  above  the  present  bridge  between  the  towns 
of  Mamaroneck  and  Rye  where  the  river  bends  sud- 
denly to  the  east  and  then  takes  a  northerly  course, 
a  rocky  reef  originally  crossed  it  nearly  at  right 
angles,  causing  the  formation  of  "  rapids."  It  was 
high  enough  to  prevent  the  tide  rising  over  it  at  high- 
water,  so  that  the  fresh  water  of  the  river  always  fell 
directly  into  the  salt  water  of  the  harbour,  and  at  low 
water  with  a  strong  rush  and  sound.  It  was  thus  a 
striking  and  unusual  occurrence  in  nature,  and  is  the 
source  of  the  Indian  name  of  the  River  itself  and  of 
the  East  Neck  of  which  it  was  the  eastern  boundary. 
No  authority  has  been  found  for  another  significa- 
tion "  the  place  of  the  rolling  stones  "  that  has  been 
ascribed  to  the  word  "  Mamaroneck  "  by  Mr.  Bolton. 
Rolling  stones  are  not  found  anywhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, the  rocks  being  what  the  geologists  call 
in  situ,  and  the  boulders  of  huge  size  and  weight. 

Richbell's  Patent  of  confirmation  from  Governor 
Lovelace  is  dated  October  16th,  1668.  On  the  14th  of 
the  ensuing  November,  twenty-eight  days  later,  he 
conveyed  the  East  Neck  to  Margery  Parsons,  his 
wife's  mother,  "  for  valuable  consideration  of  certaine 
goods  formerly  delivered  and  paid  unto  me  by  Mrs. 
Margerj'  Parsons  upon  the  Island  of  St.  Christopher's 
in  America.^  Two  days  afterward,  on  the  16th  of  No- 
vember 1668  Margery  Parsons  conveyed  to  her  daugh- 
ter Mrs.  Richbell  the  East  Neck  "  for  that  singular 
and  dear  affection  I  have  and  bare  to  my  most  dear 
daughter  Mrs.  Ann  Richbell  wife  of  the  said  Mr. 
John  Richbell  for  her  dutiful  observance  towards 
me."  *  By  way  of  making  this  provision  for  his  wife 
more  secure,  John  Richbell  settled  the  same  East 
Neck  upon  her  as  a  jointure,  by  a  deed  in  trust  to 
John  Ryder  dated  23d  of  April,  1669,  "  in  considera- 
tion of  a  marriage  long  since  had  and  solemnized 
between  the  said  John  Richoell  and  Ann  his  present 
wife,"  and  therein  describes  the  Neck  as  follows,  "All 
that  parcell  or  neck  of  Land  where  he  now  Lives 
called  the  East  Neck,  and  to  begin  at  the  Westward 
part  thereof  at  a  certaine  creeke  lying,  being,  and  ad- 
jacent by  and  betwixt  y''  Necks  of  Land  commonly 
called  y"  Great  Neck,  and  the  East  Neck,  and  so  to 
run  eastward  as  farr  as  Momorononeck  River,  includ- 
ing therein  betwixt  the  said  two  lines,  all  the  land  as 
well  North  into  y'  woods  above  Westchester  Path 
twenty  miles,  as  the  lands  belowe  the  Path  southward 
towards  the  Sound."' 

John  Richbell  died  the  26th  day  of  July  1684,* 
leaving  his  widow  him  surviving,  in  whom  his  entire 
real  estate  vested  in  fee  absolutely  under  the  above 
deeds  and  jointure,  except  what  little  he  and  his  wife 
had  together  conveyed  in  liis  lifetime. 

3  Ancient  copy  of  the  deed  in  writer's  possession.  It  is  also  Recorded  in 
SecJ*  office  and  in  West.  Co. 

*  .\ncient  copy  of  this  original  in  the  writer's  possession,  original  not 
recorded. 

'  Ancient  copy  in  writers  jiossession.  .^Iso  recordml  in  book  A,  23S 
ic  West.  Co. 

'  West,  Co.  Recorils  Lib.  \.  p  34. 


148 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


On  the  23d  of  December  1697  Mrs.  Ann  Riehbell 
conveyed  the  entire  East  Neck  and  all  her  right,  title 
and  interest  therein  and  thereto,  by  a  full  covenant 
warranty  deed,  in  consideration  of  £600  New  York 
currency,  to  "Coll.  Caleb  Heathcote,  Mayor  of  the 
Borough  of  Westchester,"  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever 
in  fee  simple  absolute,  excepting  only  a  small  tract 
previously  deeded  as  a  gift  to  James  Mott  and  his 
wife  in  1684,  and  another  small  piece  deeded  as  a  gift 
to  John  Emerson  on  the  30th  of  Sept  1686,  which 
latter  was  subsequently  conveyed  by  Emerson  to  Mott 
by  deed  dated  25th  of  June  1690,  the  wives  of 
both  being  daughters  of  Mrs.  Riehbell.  The  deed  to 
Colonel  Heathcote  also  provided  that  "  this  Deed  of 
Sale  shall  not  obliedge  the  said  Ann  Riehbell  to  make 
good  to  the  said  Caleb  Heathcote  any  of  the  outlands 
within  the  Two  Miles  further  than  her  right  and  title 
therein."  With  these  exceptions  Ann  Richbell's  en- 
tire right  title  and  estate  under  the  deeds  and  Patents 
of  her  husband  John  Riehbell  was  conveyed  to,  and 
vested  absolutely  in,  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote.' 

The  above  reservation  to  Mott  referred  to  a  small 
piece  of  upland  at  the  entrance  to  that  portion  of  the 
East  Neck,  subsequently,  and  to  this  day,  called  "De 
Lancey's  Neck,"  of  about  thirty  acres  deeded  by 
Mrs.  Riehbell  to  Mary  and  James  Mott  on  the  8  August 
1684,  which  from  Mott's  heirs  finally  became  vested  in 
the  late  Giles  Seaman  after  whose  death  it  passed  by 
sale  to  the  late  Isaac  Hall,  who  sold  it  in  his  life- 
time to  its  present  owner,  who  built  upon  the  prem- 
ises the  fine  summer  hotel  now  called,  from  his  own 
name,  the  "Rushmore." 

The  last  and  only  other  reservation  in  the  above 
deed  to  Col.  Heathcote  related  to  some  lands  which 
Riehbell  and  his  wife  in  his  lifetime  had  sold  in  small 
parcels  which  he  called  "  Alottments  or  House  Lotts." 
It  will  be  recollected  that  Richbell's  object  was  to  estab- 
lish a  quiet  place  for  trade  at  Mamaroneck.  In  his 
a2)plication  to  the  Dutch  Director  and  Council  for 
leave  to  purchase  the  Indian  title  and  their  ground- 
brief,  above  given,  authorizing  him  so  to  do,  mention 
is  made  of  some  persons  who,  with  his  permission, 
would  settle  there  with  him,  and  for  whom  he  made 
himself,  and  was  held  to  be,  responsible.  These  ap- 
pear to  have  been  persons  from  Oyster  Bay  on  Long 
Island  and  Manussing  Island  in  Rye,  between  which 
places  a  sort  of  ferry  communication  across  the  Sound 
then  existed.  Nothing  remains  to  show  whether  the 
trade  of  Modiford  Sharpe  and  Riehbell  was,  or  was 
not,  profitable.  If  the  latter,  it  could  not  have  been 
80  very  long,  for  the  English  conquest  of  New 
Netherland  in  1664,  three  years  after  Richbell's  pur- 
chase of  Mamaroneck,  put  an  end  to  its  advantages 
for  a  contraband  business.  After  his  controversy  with 
Pell  was  terminated  in  1671  as  shown  above,  Rich- 


iThia  deed  waa  acknowledged  by  Ann  Riehbell  March  22*  1C97  before 
"Joseph  ThealJuetice"  and  was  recorded  in  Lib.  B,  of  West.  Co.  Rec- 
ords ;  p  371  &a  June  lo""  1698. 


bell  did  little  or  nothing  practically  towards  settling 
Mamaroneck.  His  English  Patent  was  issued  October 
16,  1668.  A  few  months  later  he  apparently  set  apart 
a  strip  adjoining  the  north  side  of  the  old  Westches- 
ter path  or  road  from  the  crossing  of  Mamaroneck 
river  down  to  and  along  the  shore  of  the  harbour  west- 
ward for  what  he  termed,  "  Alottments  or  House 
Lotts  "  eight  in  number.  The  first  deed  from  him- 
self and  wife  was,  it  is  believed,  made  to  one  John 
Bassett  on  the  4th  of  March  1669,  for  number 
"four"  of  these  "House  Lotts."  It  was  a  deed  of 
gift,  the  consideration  being  "  the  Good  opinion  and 
Good  affection  we  beare  to  Mr.  John  Bassett."  It  was 
bounded  east  by  No.  three,  and  west  "  with  my  own 
house  lot  named  No.  five."  It  reserved  a  rent  of 
"one  bushel  of  winter  wheat  payable  annually  on 
the  25th  of  March,"  and  "  one  day's  work  each  yearly 
harvest;"  and  prohibited  any  sale  of  the  land  "but 
by  and  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the  said 
John  Riehbell  or  Ann  his  wife."  Of  the  other  six 
"  House  Lotts"  those  which  were  sold  were  conveyed 
in  a  similar  manner  and  with  similar  reservations, 
except  that  the  consideration  was  in  monev.  To  each 
"House  Lott"  was  appurtenant  an  undivided  eighth 
part  of  a  tract  in  the  rear  of  the  "  House  Lotts," 
which,  with,  and  including,  the  latter,  extended  two 
miles  "  northwards  into  the  woods."  Later  with  the 
consent  of  his  grantees  he  had  a  survey  made  of  this 
tract,  by  Robert  Ryder  the  Surveyor-General  of  the 
Province.  The  original  is  in  the  writer's  possession, 
and  is  in  these  words : 

THE  FIRST    .SURVEY  OF  MAMARONECK. 

"  These  may  certifie  all  whom  it  may  conserne  y' 
by  a  nuitual  consent  agreed  on  betweene  Mr.  John 
Riehbell  &  the  inhabitants  of  Momoronacke  I  have 
runn  out  a  certaine  tract  of  Land  w*^""  is  in  partner- 
ship betweene  the  said  Inhabitants  and  the  said  Mr. 
Jo.°  Riehbell,  beginning  at  Momaronacke  [River] 
running  thence  southwesterly  fifty  degrees  along  the 
barber  ninety  and  two  chains  :  to  a  certaine  runn  or 
Swamp  called  Dirty  Swamp  :  running  thence  to  the 
flails  of  Sheldrake  River  including  the  said  ffalls 
within  the  said  line  :  N.  W.  20  degrees :  forty  and  five 
chaine :  running  thence  upon  a  N.  W.ly  [line]  45 
degrees  to  a  certaine  Rocky  hill  being  upon  the 
Southermost  pt.  of  the  greate  plaine,  one  hundred 
twenty  and  two  chaines :  running  thence  by  pt.  of 
the  edge  of  the  plaine  &  threw  the  woods  to  Momor- 
ronacke  River  one  hundred  twenty  &  seaven  chaines  : 
ffrom  thence  running  by  the  side  of  the  River  to  the 
Going  over  of  the  said  River:  one  hundred  &  sixty 
chaines.  &in  testimony  hereof  I  have  hereunto  sett 
my  hand  this  ]  6'"  fieb :  1671.        Ro.  Ryder 

Surueye'' : "' 

2  These  details  are  taken  from  a  copy  of  the  deed  to  Bassett,  in  th» 
writer's  possession.  It  does  not  appear  on  the  Westchester  Records  nor 
on  those  of  the  town,  which  begin  only  in  1697. 

3  This  survey  was  subsequently  on  the  11*  of  August,  1687,  recorded  in 
West'.  Co  Lib  A,  149. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


149 


Richbell's  Patent  of  1668  ran  according  to  its  terms 
North  Northwest  twenty  miles  into  the  woods,  its 
eastern  boundary  being  the  Colony  line  fixed  Decem- 
ber 1st  1064  by  Governor  Nichols,  and  Commission- 
ers Cartwright  and  Mavericke  on  the  part  of  the 
Duke  of  York  and  Gov.  Winthrop  Secretary  Allyn, 
and  Messrs.  Richards,  and  Gold,  on  the  part  of  Con- 
necticut. That  line  these  Commissioners  thus  offi- 
cially describe  in  their  formal  treaty  between 
the  two  Colonies  ; — "  We  order  and  declare  thai  the 
creeke  or  river  called  Mamoroneck  which  is  reputed 
to  be  about  thirteen  miles  to  the  east  of  Westchester, 
and  a  line  drawn  from  the  east  point  or  side  where 
the  fresh  water  falls  into  the  Salt  at  Highwater-Mark 
North  Northwest  to  the  line  of  the  Massachusetts  to 
be  the  western  bounds  of  the  said  Colony  of  Connec- 
ticut." This  line  remained  unchanged  till  1683, 
nineteen  years  later,  when  the  boundary  was  fixed  at 
the  mouth  of  Byram  River  as  its  starting  point.  Con- 
sequently the  direction  of  the  lines  of  Richbell's 
Patent  being  the  same  as  that  of  the  Colony  line 
of  166-lr,they  could  not  be  legally  set  aside  or  suc- 
cessfully disputed  in  a  Court  of  law.  But  certain 
"  Ryemen  "  being  of  Connecticut  origin  did  make  a 
claim  to  Richbell's  lands  in  the  Whiteplains,as  belong- 
ing to  them  by  virtue  of  a  deed  from  an  Indian  named 
Shapham,  and  several  other  Indians  to  "  the  Town 
of  Rye  "  dated  22d  Novemb.  1683 — twenty-two  years 
after  Richbell's  purchase  of  the  lands  in  September 
161)1.  But  this  deed  was  not  obtained,  nor  the  claim 
under  it  made  by  the  "Ryemen,"  until  Richbell  was 
about  to  dispose  of  his  lands  in  Whiteplains.  What  a 
perfect  "  Yankee  trick  "  this  claim  was  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  it  describes  the  Whiteplains  as  being 
"within  the  town  bounds  of  Rye,"  when  six  days 
after  its  date  the  then  pending  public  negotiations 
fixed  the  boundary  line  at  Byram  River,  and  Rye 
ceased  to  be  a  part  of  Connecticut,  as  she  claimed  to 
be  and  from  which  she  got  her  "  town  bounds."  It 
was  obtained  in  a  hurry  so  as  to  base  on  it  a 
claim  for  the  land  as  a  part  of  Connecticut.  Smart 
as  it  was,  it  proved,  in  the  end  a  complete  failure. 
The  claim  of  the  "Rye  Men  "  was  simply  a  claim 
under  the  charter  of  Connecticut,  which  they  insisted 
took  in  every  part  of  Westchester  County  across  to 
the  Hudson  River.  Richbell  at  once  brought  the 
matter  before  (fovernor  Dongan  by  the  following 
complaint  and  petition  for  redress  : 

richbell's  petition  against  the  claim  of  rye- 
men TO  whiteplains. 
To  the  Right  hono:'''"^^  Coll  Tho  Dongan  Leiv'  Govern'' 

and  vice  admirall  under  his  Roy"  high''  of  N. 

Yorke  and  Dependences  in  America  &c.  And 

to  the  bono"'-"  Councell. 

The  humble  Peticon  of  John  Richbell  of  Momoro- 
neck  Gentl. 

Humbly  Sheweth  That  whereas  your  Petition"^ 
hath  been  for  Severall  years  Possessed  and  Enjoyed 


of  a  Certain  Tract  or  Parcell  of  Land  within  this 
Governm'  upon  the  maine.  Contained  with  a  small 
River  Commonly  called  Momoroneck  River  being 
also  the  East  bounds  or  Limitts  of  this  Governm' 
upon  the  maine,  and  the  Westermost  with  the  grav- 
elly or  Stony  brooke,  or  river  which  makes  the  East 
limitts  of  the  Land  knowne  by  the  name  of  W" 
Pell's  Purchase  haveing  to  the  south  the  sound  and 
runing  northward  from  the  marked  Trees  upon  the 
said  Neck's  twenty  miles  into  the  woods  the  which 
said  Parcell  or  Tract  of  Land  hath  been  heretofore 
Lawfully  purchased  of  the  Indian  Proprietors  by  the 
said  John  Richbell  Gentl  and  his  Right  and  Title 
thereunto  Sufficiently  Proved  as  'j^  his  Pattent  from 
Governour  Lovelace  bareing  Date  the  16'"  of  October 
in  the  20""  yeare  of  his  Ma^  Reigne  Anno  Dom  1668. 

Relation  being  thereunto  had  will  more  fully  & 
at  large  appeare.  Butt  now  soe  it  is  may  it  please 
your  hono"^  and  the  hono'''°  Councell  haveing  a  Desire 
to  dispose  of  some  Quantity  of  said  Land  which  is 
Called  the  Whiteplaines  and  is  men<^oned  within  said 
Pattent  to  Severall  Persons  whose  names  ^  are  Sub- 
scribed to  a  writeing  hereunto  annexed  for  the  better 
Improvem'.  And  manureiug  the  same  &  to  Settle 
thereon  with  themselves  and  familyes  is  wholly  Ob- 
structed and  hind**  by  Ryemen  haveing  made  a  greate 
Disturbance  amongst  them  and  Pretends  aright  to  the 
Same  therefore  Cannot  dispose  of  any  part  or  p'cell 
thereof  till  your  bono''  will  be  pleased  to  grant  an 
Order  to  Cleare  the  Same. 

Therefore  humbly  pray  and  beseech  your  bono"' 
and  the  bono"'"  Councell  that  you  will  bee  pleased  to 
take  the  Premises  into  your  serious  consideration  and 
grant  an  order  to  Cleare  the  same  Accordingly  Desire- 
ing  only  the  privlidges  as  farr  as  his  Pattent  doth 
Extend.   And  shall  pray  &c  John  Richbell. 

This  petition  came  up  for  hearing  before  the  Gov- 
ernor on  the  17'"  of  March  1684,  and  the  people  of 
Rye  were  summoned  to  show  cause  at  the  next  Court 
of  Assize  why  John  Richbell  was  not  the  true  owner 
of  the  lands  in  question.  But  before  the  next  Court 
sat,  Richbell  passed  from  earth,  his  death  occurring 
on  the  26th  day  of  July  1684.  He  left  his  widow 
Ann  and  three  daughters,  Elizabeth,  second  wife  ot 
Adam  Mott,  of  Hempstead,  Mary,  the  wife  of  Capt. 
James  Mott  and  Anne,  the  wife  of  John  Emerson,  ot 
Maryland,  his  only  children  him  surviving.  The 
Rye  claim  however  did  not  die,  but  remained  a 
source  of  annoyance  to  his  widow.  In  1694  the  mat- 
ter came  to  a  head.  Mrs.  Richbell  served  the  follow- 
ing Protest  upon  the  Rye  people  at  a  town  meeting, 
and  Subsequently  began  a  suit  at  law  to  test  the 
question. 

protest  of  MRS.  RICHBELL  AGAINST  RYE.' 

"  To  all  Xt'""  People  to  whome  this  present  Protest 


'  These  numea  do  not  appear  iipon  the  record  at  Albany. 
-  From  the  original  in  the  writer's  possession.  It  is  recordeil  in  Lib.  A 
West.  Co.  Records,  ICS. 


150 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


shall  Come  Greeting  :  Know  yee  that  whereas  I  Ann 
Richbell  of  Momorronock  in  the  County  of  West- 
chest'  in  the  province  and  Colony  of  New  yorke  the 
Widdow  and  Relict  of  Jn°.  Richbell  Esq^,  Deceased 
Am  Credebly  Informed  that  Humphry  Underbill 
and  severall  other  persons  belongeing  to  the  Towne  of 
Rye  have  made  a  forcable  Entry :  and  are  further 
proceeding  in  the  Like  Manner  Upon  and  into  Sever- 
all  parcells  and  Tracts  of  Land  within  the  pattent 
Right  of  me  the  said  Anne  Richbell  as  may  and  dos 
Appeare  by  the  Grand  Pattent  Granted  under  the 
hand  and  Seale  of  Coll  Frances  Lovelace  the  thenGev- 
erno"'  of  this  Province:  it  Contrary  toy"  Peace  of  their 
Maj"'*  &  Therefore  know  Yee  y'  I  Ann  Richbell  of 
Momorronock  aforesaid  being  the  true  &  Absoelute 
Owner  of  the  said  Tracts  or  parcells  of  Land  doe 
Protest  Against  &  forbidd  any  Person  whatsoever 
for  making  any  forcable  Entry  upon  the  same  or  any 
part  or  parcell  thereof  and  likewise  do  warne  and 
desire  all  such  persons  that  have  already  made  such 
forceable  entry  thereon  or  upon  any  part  or  parcell  of 
the  said  Pattent  as  aforesaid  that  they  expell  and 
forthwith  remove  therefrom,  and  further  do  protest  ag* 
the  Register  of  the  County  and  doe  forbid  him  at  his 
perrill  no'  to  enter  any  of  their  privite  agreem."'  or 
writing  in  the  Records  ot  the  County  in  presence  of 
James  Mott  Justice  of  the  peace  and  Benjamin 
Collier  Esq"^  High  SheritF  of  the  said  County :  In 
Consideration  whereof  I  doe  hereby  obleidge  myselfe 
and  my  heirs  Execut'^''  and  Administrators  firmly  by 
these  p^'sents  :  to  Indemnifie  and  Keej)e  harmless  the 
said  Register  concerning  y'*  Premises  aforesaid  In 
wittness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  put  my  hand  and 
seale  this  twenty  sixth  day  of  February  in  the  sixth 
year  of  their  Maj"''^  Reigne  Annoq'  Domj  169J  Ac- 
knowledged before  us  by  the  above  Ann  Richbell  to  be 
her  Act  &  deed  the  day  and  date  above  written. 

Ann  Richbell 


It  is  believed  to  be  the  only  Westchester  County  Court 
document  of  the  kind  of  the  seventeenth  century 
which  has  come  down  regularly  to  a  present  represen- 
tative in  interest  of  one  of  the  parties  to  the  original 
action.  Its  form  being  somewhat  different  from  that 
now  used,  and  showing  the  names  of  the  Judges,  Ju- 
rors, and  Counsel,  and  the  summary  of  the  evidence, 
gives  it  great  and  curious  interest. 

Verdict  for  Mrs.  Richbell. 

"  Westcheste' 

Countys  Ss.    Att  a  Court  of  Pleas  held  at  Westchester 
for  the  said  County  Dec.  y*  3''*,  &  fourth  in  the 
Eight  year  of  his  Majestie's  Reigne,  Annoq* 
Domj.  1696. 
Present 

The  Honob'"  James  Graham,  Judge,  John  Pell,  John 
Hunt,  Wm  Barnes,  Thos  Pinkney,  Esq"''. 

Maddam  Richbell  by  Peter  Chock  Atturney  Read 
the  Pattent  &  Joynt"^*  &c. 

L'pon  which  the  Jury  was  Impanneld  &  Swore,  viz. 


Edm*.  Ward 
Jno.  Bayly 
Gabriell  Leggatt 
Joseph  Hunt,  Sen'' 
Thomas  Baxter 
Charles  Vincent 


James  Mott  Justis  Pece. 
Joseph  Lee  Pub.  Not". 

This  lustrum'  was  Read  at  a  publick  Towne  meeting 
at  y""  Towne  house  of  Rye  the  day  and  date  above 
written,  and  their  Answer  was  if  they  did  not  meddle 
or  make  with  any  Lands  that  belongs  to  M"  Richbells 
Patent  But  at  the  same  Time  they  was  makeing  a 
Generall  Agreem'  to  Lay  out  and  devide  a  parcell  of 
Land  the  said  Richbell  Layeth  Clame  Too  by 
virty  of  her  said  Pattent. 

Test  Joseph  Lee  t"  Comitt. 

Westchest'." 

This  lustrum'  is  Recorded  in  the  Records  of  the 
County  of  Westchest"  in  Booke  N°  B.  Foleo,  168  : 
169. 

The  suit  referred  to  was  tried  at  the  then  County 
town  of  Westchester  in  December  1(596  and  resulted 
in  favor  of  Mrs.  Richbell.  The  following  is  the 
verdict,  which  is  printed  from  a  copy  certified  by  the 
Court  clerk  at  the  time,  now  in  the  writer's  possession. 


1   Thomas  Bedient 
I   Robt.  Hustice  Jun' 
I    Wm  Davenport 
John  Barrett 
Roger  Barton 
Thomas  Shuite 


1 


Mr.  Underbill  Reads  an  ord'  about  the  Line 
betweene  this  Province  and  Canniddecott  and  Pleads 
the  Land  in  question  not  within  this  Governm'  but  in 
Canniddecott. 

Mr.  Peter  Cock^  Pleads  that  Joseph  Lee'  might  be 
swore  to  give  what  Report  he  cann  about  the  Surveigh 
of  the  now  Surveyo''  Generall,  who  upon  oath,  saith, 
that  he  begun  his  Survey  at  or  about  Momoronock 
Bridge :  *  and  soe  Runn  up  by  the  River  till  till  he 
Came  where  Umphry  Underbill  Lives,  who  made 
oppf>sition  with  Gunns,  Stones,  &c.  and  soe  went  no 
furtlier. 

(vert.) 

The  Pattent  with  the  rest  of  Papers  needftill  Given 
to  the  Jury,  and  the  Sherrife  Sworne  to  Keepe  them 
from  fire  and  candles  &c.  untill  they  bringe  in  their 
verdict, 

viz. 

The  Jury  find  that  Momorronack  River  is  the  bounds 
of  Richbells  Pattent  ^  here  the  ffresh  water  flals  into 
the  salt  in  said  River,  and  from  thence  a  northerly 
line  into  the  woods :  and  if  the  Tenn'  in  Possession  be 
on  the  West  side  of  said  Line  then  wee  find  for  the 
plaintive,  otherwise  for  the  Defendant. 

Joseph  Lee,  CI." 

It  would  have  been  of  more  interest  still  at  this 


'  Jointure. 

2  So  in  the  original. 

3  The  County  Register,  and  also  Clerk  of  the  Court. 

<The  original  bridge,  which  was  some  distance  north  of  the  present 
bridge,  the  location  of  which  was  only  made  in  1800,  by  the  Westchester 
Turnpike  Company  under  their  charter  of  that  year. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


151 


day,  had  it  given  the  exact  h)cati()n  of  the  premises 
for  which  the  suit  was  brought.  It  is  believed  to 
have  been  the  hind  of  one  Hunt,  son-in-law  of  Under- 
bill, who  lived  above  and  adjoining  him  on  the  upper 
part  of  Mamaroneck  Kiver;  but  this  is  only  a  sur- 
mise. 

This  decision  finally  established  the  east  boundary 
of  Richbclls  Patent  and  settled  the  legal  as  well  as  ac- 
tual direction  of  both  the  esist  and  the  west  boundarj- 
lines  of  that  Patent.  In  the  next  century  two  con- 
troversies arose  regarding  the  location  of  the  dividing 
line  between  the  east  and  the  Middle  Necks  of 
Richbell's  Patent,  one  in  1731  and  the  other  in  1768, 
both  of  which  were  decided  in  fsivor  of  the  Proprietors 
of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale,  which  included  the  East 
Neck,  the  particulars  of  which  belong  more  appropri- 
ately to  the  history  of  Mamaroneck  as  a  town  under 
the  Act  of  1788. 

We  now  turn  to  Colonel  Heathcote's  title  to  the 
part  of  the  Manor  which  he  obtained  directly  from 
the  Indians.  This  was  the  portion  between  Hutch- 
inson's River  and  the  Bronx,  bordering  to  the  south 
on  the  Eastchester  Patent,  now  a  part  of  the  town  of 
Scarsdale,  a  tract  which  in  the  Colony  days  bore, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  still  bears,  the  local  name  of 
"  The  Fox  Meadows."  It  is  thus  described  in  the 
Indian  deed  from  Patthunke,  Beopo,  Cohawuey,  and 
Wapetuck  to  Colonel  Heathcote,  "  To  begin  on  the 
west  side  at  southermost  end  of  a  ridge  known  by  the 
name  of  Richbell's  or  Horse- Ridge  at  a  great  Rock 
and  so  to  run  a  north-northwest  line  to  Broncks's 
River,  and  on  the  eastermost  side  from  Mamaroneck 
River,  and  from  the  head  thereof  to  Broncks's  River."  ' 

Nearly  a  year  later,  another  deed  was  executed  to 
Colonel  Heathcote  by  three  of  the  above  named  In- 
dians, Pathuuke,  Wapetuck,  and  Beopo,  for  that  part 
of  the  land  lying  between  the  above  tract  and  the 
Eastche.ster  Patent  line  in  which  it  is  thus  described, 
"  butted  and  bounded  as  followeth  Eastwardly  by  the 
marked  trees  or  westermost  bounds  of  a  certain  tract 
of  Land  sold  by  the  said  Beopo  Patthunke  Wapetuck 
&  Cohawney  to  the  said  Heathcote  bearing  date  the 
thirtieth  day  of  March  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  one,  northwardly  by  Bronxe's  River  Southwarcly 
and  Westwardly  by  Henry  Fowler's  purchase  and 
others." '-  Thirty  years  afterward,  in  the  first  of  the  two 
suits  above  alluded  to  instituted  by  the  then  propri- 
etors of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  against  one  Quimbyfor 
trespass,  Henry  Fowler  gave  the  following  account  of 
the  circumstances  of  this  purchase  of  Colonel  Heath- 
cote, in  the  form  of  an  affidavit ; — "  Memorandum 
that  on  y'  Sixth  day  of  May  1731  in  the  fourth  year 
of  his  Majesties  Reign  Aunoq.  Dom.  1731,  Henery 
tfowler  Sen"  of  Eastchester  in  y"  County  of  West- 
chester and  CoUony  of  New  York,  yeoman,  of  full  age 
Being  sworne  on  ye  Holly  Evangelist  of  Almighty 


'  From  theuriginal  deeil  dateil  30  March  1700-1. 

-Original  deed  in  the  writer's  possession  dated  24  Feb.  1701-2. 


God,  Saith ; — that  about  the  time  Coll.  Caleb  Heath- 
cot  was  lying  out  the  purchase  which  is  commonly 
called  the  fox  meadow  ]>urchase.  Coll.  Heathcott 
Desired  said  Henery  Fowler,  this  Deponent,  to  show 
him  said  Coll.  Heathcott  the  bounds  of  the  Indian 
purchase,  that  the  said  Henery  ffowler  this  Deponent 
had  purchased  of  the  Indians  Ann  Hook,  Woupa- 
topas,  &c.  for  himself  and  others  his  neighbours  • 
this  Deponent  further  saith  that  Coll.  Heathcott  fur- 
ther said  to  him,  I  have  purchased  a  tract  of  Land  of 
the  Heathen  Joyning  to  your  bounds  ;  this  Deponent 
further  saith  that  he  went  along  with  Coll.  Heathcott 
and  showed  him  his  bounds  of  the  land  he  had  pur- 
chased of  the  Heathens  for  himself  and  neighbours, 
which  was  from  the  Head  of  Hutchinsons  River  a 
straight  course  to  Brunksis  River  to  a  marked  tree, 
which  Coll.  Heathcott  acknowledged  to  be  his  Bounds 
of  his  Indian  Purchase,  and  this  Deponent  further 
Saith  that  he  hath  no  claim  to  any  parts  of  the  lands 
in  y"  Indian  purchase  or  lands  therein  contained 
which  the  said  Henery  ffowler  purchased  for  himself 
and  neighbours  adjoining  to  Coll.  Heathcotts;  and 
that  he  Doth  not  now  Declare  this  truth  either  in 
hopes  of  loss  or  gain,  or  through  any  fear,  or  in  hopes 
of  gaining  any  favour  or  affection  of  any  person  what- 
soever, and  further  this  Deponent  saith  not. 

Henery  ftbwler. 

This  Deponent  being 
about  Seventy  four  years 
of  age  was  sworn 
before  me  ye  date  aforesaid. 
Sworn  before  me  one  of  his 
Majesties  Justices  of  the  peace 
for  Westchester  County. 

John  Ward,  Justice.* 
In  1G96,  the  year  before  Colonel  Heathcote  pur- 
chased from  her  the  Mamaroneck  lands,  he  obtained 
from  Mrs.  Richbell  her  written  consent  to  his  getting 
the  usual  deeds  of  Confirmation*  from  the  then  Indians 
of  the  neighborhood  for  the  lands  formerly  bought 
from  Wappaquewam  and  other  Indians  by  her  hus- 
band John  Richbell.  The  above  deeds  seem  also  to 
have  been  obtained  to  remove  any  |)ossible  claim  to  the 
Fox  meadows  from  any  jjartics  whatever  whether  In- 
dians or  whites.  He  also  obtained  on  the  eleventh 
of  June  1701  from  the  same  Indians  Patthunke,  Beo- 
po, and  Wapetuck  a  similar  deed  of  confirmation  for 
Richbells  Mamaroneck  two  miles  tract.* 

In  the  course  of  the  same  year  and  the  next  he  ob- 
tained, with  others  in  interest,  similar  Indian  deeds 
of  Confirmation  for  all  the  lands  in  the  great  "West," 
"Middle"  and  "East  Patents"  v,'hich  together  cov- 
ered all  the  county  between  the  Manors  of  Cortlandt 
on  the  north,  I'hilipsburgh  on  the  west,  Scarsdale 
on  the  south,  and  the  Connecticut  line  on  the  east. 


3  From  an  ancient  cop.v  of  the  original  in  the  writer's  poeeesslon. 
<  Before  explained  in  this  essay. 
5  West.  Co.  Records  Lib.  D  52. 


152 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


a  short  account  of  which  will  be  given  in  another 
coflnection. 

At  the  time  of  his  purchase  from  Mrs.  Ann  Rich- 
bell  of  the  entire  estate  and  rights  in  her  Mamaro- 
neck  and  Scarsdale  lands,  in  1697,  Colonel  Heathcole 
was  residing  at  Westchester,  which  the  year  before, 
through  his  influence,  had  been  created  a  Borough- 
Town,  with  all  its  municipal  privileges  of  a  Mayor 
and  Aldermen  and  Assistants,  and  the  additional  one 
of  a  representative  of  its  own  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
Province,'  its  charter,  by  which  he  was  named  its 
first  Mayor,  bearing  date  April  16th,  1696.  He  was  a 
merchant  in  New  York,  where  he  also  had  a  town 
residence,  and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  the  Prov- 
ince. He  had  been  a  property  holder  in  both  West- 
chester and  Eastcliester,  from  about  the  time  of  his 
coming  from  England  to  New  York,  which  was  in 
1691.  Being  a  man  of  education  and  means  and  of 
affable  manners,  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  af- 
fairs of  both  settlements,  and,  in  accordance  with  the 
popular  wish,  Avas  appointed  Colonel  of  the  Military 
of  the  whole  County.  Hence  the  title  of  "  Colonel," 
by  which  he  was  ever  afterwards  known,  and  spoken 
of,  notwithstanding  the  many  higher  and  more  dis- 
tinguished positions  and  appointments  he  afterwards 
held,  one  of  which  was  the  judgeship  of  Common 
Pleas  of  the  County,  which  he  filled  at  the  same  time 
he  was  colonel  of  its  militia. 

Succeeding  to  all  the  Richbell  estate  in  the  East 
Neck,  including  the  proprietaiy  rights  in  the  town- 
ship tract  of  Mamaroneck,  after  obtaining  the  Indian 
confirmations  and  other  deeds  for  the  lands,  and  ac- 
quiring those  from  the  head  of  Hutchinson's  River 
to  the  Bronx,  he  had  the  whole  erected  into  the 
Manor  of  Scarsdale  under  the  Manor  Grant  above  set 
forth  in  1701. 

Upon  an  eminence  at  the  head  of  Mamaroneck 
harbor,  overlooking  the  two  beautiful  peninsulas 
forming  its  eastern  and  western  sides,  the  blue 
waters  of  the  wide  Sound  into  which  it  opens,  and  the 
distant  hills  of  Long  Island,  called  from  him  to  this 
day,  "  Heathcote  Hill,"  Colonel  Heathcote  erected  a 
large  double  brick  Manor-House  in  the  English  style 
of  that  period,  with  all  the  usual  offices  and  outbuild- 
ings, with  the  purely  American  addition,  however,  of 
negro  quarters,  in  consonance  with  the  laws,  habits, 
and  customs  of  that  day.  Here  he  dwelt  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life. 

The  people  then  living  at  Mamaroneck  were  very 
few.  One  of  the  first  movements  of  Colonel 
Heathcote  was  to  obtain  the  confirmation  deed  from 
the  then  Indian  chiefs  for  Richbell's  two-mile  town- 
ship tract  above  referred  to-  This  instrument,  dated 
June  11th,  1701,  not  quite  three  months  after  he  ob- 
tained his  Manor-Graut  of  Scarsdale,  gives  us  the 
names  of  the  then  owners  of  the  tract  which  was  di- 

1  It  and  Schenectady  were  the  only  "Borough-Towns"  erected  in  the 
Pro\nnce  of  New  York.  Both  were  perfect  examples  of  the  old  English 
Borough-Towns  in  every  respect. 


vided  into  eight  house  or  home  lots.  It  is  executed 
by  two  Indian  chiefs,  Patthunk  and  Wapetuck,  and 
confirms  the  tract  "  unto  Collon.^'  Caleb  Heathcote, 
Capt.  James  Mott,  William  Penoir,^  John  Williams, 
Henry  Disbrough,  Alice  Hatfield,  John  Disbrough 
and  Benjamin  Disbrough.'"  Henry  Disbrough's  deed 
from  John  and  Ann  Richbell,  of  16th  of  February, 
1676,*  for  his  eighth  part  gives  us  the  precise  bound- 
aries of  this  tract,  which  it  terms  "Mammaroneck 
limmits,"  "  being  in  length  two  miles  and  in  Breadth 
one  mile  a  half  and  Twenty-eight  rods."  *  The  object 
was  to  show  that  no  difficulty  with  the  natives  might 
be  apprehended  by  persons  desirous  of  settling  at 
Mamaroneck.  Colonel  Heathcote  established  a 
grist  mill  on  the  Mamaroneck  River  near  the  original 
bridge  crossed  by  the  "old  Westchester  Path,"  and 
a  saw  mill  high  up  on  that  river,  now  the  site  of  the 
present  Mamaroneck  Water  Works,  upon  which  site 
there  continued  to  be  a  mill  of  some  kind  until  it  was 
bought  two  years  ago  to  establish  those  works.  He 
made  leases  at  different  points  throughout  the  Manor, 
but  did  not  sell  in  fee  many  farms,  though  always 
ready  and  willing  to  do  so,  the  whole  number  of  the 
deeds  for  the  latter  on  record  being  only  thirteen 
during  the  twenty-three  years  or  thereabout  which 
elapsed  between  his  purchase  from  Mr.  Richbell  and 
his  death.  Some  of  these  farms,  however,  were  of 
great  extent.  He  did  not  establish  as  far  as  now 
known  any  Manor  Courts  under  his  right  to  do  so. 
The  population  was  so  scant,  and  the  Manor  like  all 
others  in  the  county,  being  subject  to  the  judicial  pro- 
visions of  the  Provincial  Legislative  acts,  there  was 
really  no  occasion  for  them.  He  personally  attended 
to  all  duties,  and  matters,  connected  with  his  Manor 
and  his  Tenants,  never  having  appointed  any  Steward 
of  the  Manor.  Papers  still  in  existence  show  that 
his  Tenants  were  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  him  for 
aid  and  counsel  in  their  most  private  affairs,  especially 
in  the  settlement  of  family  disputes,  and  he  was  often 
called  upon  to  draw  their  wills-  But  space  will  not 
permit  mention  of  incidents  and  facts  of  only  per- 
sonal or  local  interest,  or  of  details  of  his  general 
management  of  the  Manor,  or  his  agricultural 
management  of  his  demesne  lands,  which  included 
besides  those  attached  to  his  Manor  House  the  whole 
of  that  portion  of  the  East  Neck  below  the  old  West- 
chester Path  now  called  De  Lancey's  Neck. 

Colonel  Heathcote  died  very  suddenly  in  the  city 
of  New  York  from  a  stroke  of  apoplexy  on  the  28th 
of  February,  1720-21.  In  the  Philadelphia  American 
Weekly  Mercury  of  March  11,  1721,  is  a  letter  from 
New  York,  under  date  of  March  6th,  which  says, 
"  On  the  28th  day  of  February  last,  died  the  Honorable 
Caleb  Heathcote,  Surveyor-General  of  His  Majesty's 


2  Penoyer  was  really  this  name. 

3  Ancient  copy  in  the  writer's  possession.  Kec.  Lib.  C,  West.  Co., 
p.  .52. 

<  Lib.  A,  33,  West.  Co.  Kec. 

6  The  length  was  north  and  south,  and  the  breadth  east  and  west. 


Reproduced  from  the  Engraving  from  the  Original  Painting  in  possession  of  the 
Rt.  Rev.  W.  H.  De  Lancey,  Bishop  of  Western  New  York. 


1 


« 


I 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


153 


Customs  for  the  Eastern  District  of  North  America,* 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty  for  the  Provinces  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut,  one  of 
His  Majesty's  Council  for  the  Province  of  New 
York,  and  brother  of  Sir  Gilbert  Heathcote  of 
London. 

"He  was  a  gentleman  of  rare  qualities,  excellent 
temper,  and  virtuous  life  and  conversation,  and  his 
loss  lamented  by  all  that  knew  him,  which  on  the 
day  of  his  death,  went  about  doing  good  in  procuring 
a  charitable  subscription  in  which  he  made  great 
progress."  He  was  buried  in  his  "  family  burial- 
place"  in  Trinity  church  yard,  where  his  widow  and 
three  of  his  children  who  died  young  are  also  buried. 
His  grave  was  in  the  church  yard,  almost  beneath  the 
southwest  window  of  the  second  Trinity  Church.''  His 
widow  Martha  survived  him  till  August  18th,  1736, 
when  she  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  same  place  the 
evening  of  the  next  day.'  She  was  the  daughter  of 
Colonel  William  Smith,  of  St.  George's  Manor,  Long 
Island,  Chief  Justice  and  President  of  the  Council  of 
New  York.  He  had  previously  been  Governor  of 
Tangiers,  in  Africa,  while  it  was  an  appanage  of  the 
British  crown,  where  his  daughter,  Martha  Heathcote, 
was  born  on  the  11th  of  September,  1681. 

Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote  was  the  sixth  son  of  Gil- 
bert Heathcote,  Mayor  of  Chesterfield,  Derbyshire, 
England,  by  his  wife,  Anne  Chase  Dickens.  He  was 
born  in  his  Father's  house  in  that  city,  still  standing, 
in  1665.  He  was  the  sixth  of  seven  sons  who  lived  to 
maturity — Gilbert,  John,  Samuel,  Josiah,  William, 
Caleb  and  George.  Of  these,  who  all  became  suc- 
cessful merchants  in  England  and  foreign  countries, 
three — John,  William  and  George — died  unmarried, 
the  latter  at  sea  in  1678,  in  his  thirtieth  year. 
Josiah's  family  line  became  extinct  in  August,  1811, 
while  the  families  of  Gilbert,  Samuel  and  Caleb  con- 
tinue to  this  day,  but  the  latter  only  in  the  female 
line.  Gilbert,  the  eldest,  was  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don, Member  of  Parliament,  one  of  the  founders  and 
the  first  Governor  of  the  Bank  of  England,  knighted 
by  Queen  Anne,  and  created  a  Baronet  in  1732  by 
George  XL  His  grandson  of  the  same  name  was 
raised  to  the  Peerage  in  1856,  as  Baron  Aveland,  of 
Aveland,  in  the  County  of  Lincoln,  and  his  great 
grandson  is  the  present  Lord  Great  Chamberlain  of 
England.  Samuel,  the  third  sou,  who  made  a  large 
fortune  at  Dantzic,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Heath- 
cotes,  Baronets,  of  Hursley  Park,  in  the  County  of 
Hampshire  ;  his  son  William  having  been  created  a 
Baronet  in  1733,  and  his  great  grandson  was  the  late 


'  The  commission  appointing  him  to  this  office  is  in  the  writer's  pos- 
session.   It  is  an  enormous  parchment  ilocument  dated,  1715. 

'Tliis  fact  was  told  tlie  writer  by  liis  Father,  the  Rt.  Rev.  William  H. 
De  Lancey,  who  was  (ohl  it  and  shown  the  place  hy  his  father,  John 
Peter  De  Lancey,  of  ilamaroncck,  a  grandson  of  Colonel  Heathcote.  All 
stones  were  destroyed  when  the  Firet  Trinity  was  burned,  Sept.  15, 
1776. 

»  Xfw  York  Gaietle,  No.  564,of  23  Aug.,  1736. 


Right  Honorable  Sir  William  Heathcote,  Bart.,  of 
the  Privy  Council,  late  Member  of  Parliament  for  the 
University  of  Oxford,  the  pupil  and  warm  friend  of 
the  poet  Keble,  whom  he  preferred  to  the  Rectorship 
of  Hursley,  which  will  ever  be  as  famous  as  that  of 
George  Herbert  at  Bemerton,  and  father  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Heathcote,  the  sixth  and  present  Baronet. 

Caleb,  the  sixth  son,  left  six  children — Gilbert  and 
William  and  four  daughters :  Anne,  Mary,  Martha 
and  Elizabeth.  Three  of  these — AVilliam,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth — died  young.  Gilbert,  while  a  youth  of 
twenty,  co  mpleting  his  education  in  England  under 
the  care  of  his  Uncle  Gilbert,  took  the  small  pox  and 
died,  and  is  buried  in  that  city.  Anne,  the  eldest 
daughter,  married  James  de  Lancey  (born  1703, 
died  1760),  eldest  surviving  son  of  Etienne — in  Eng- 
lish Stephen — de  Lancey,  the  first  of  that  family  in 
America,  subsequently  Chief  Justice  and  Governor  of 
the  Province  of  New  York,  of  whom  the  late  Rt.  Rev. 
William  Heathcote  de  Lancey  (born  1797,  died  1865) 
was  the  eldest  surviving  grandson,  and  the  father  of 
the  writer  of  this  essay.  Martha,  the  only  other 
child  of  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  who  came  to  ma- 
turity, married  Lewis  Johnston,  of  Perth  Amboy, 
New  Jersey,  and  left  two  sons — John  L.  and  Heath- 
cote— and  two  daughters — Anne  and  Margaret.  The 
line  of  Heathcote  Johnston  is  now  extinct,  and  that 
of  John  L.,  it  is  said,  is  now  extinct  in  the  males. 
Anne  married  William  Burnet,  son  of  Governor  Bur- 
net of  New  York,  and  grandson  of  the  famous  Bishop 
Burnet  of  King  William's  and  Queen  Anne's  day,  but 
this  line  is  also  extinct.  Margaret,  the  other  daugh- 
ter of  Martha  Heathcote  Johnston,  married  Bowes 
Read,  a  prominent  and  distinguished  public  man  of 
New  Jersey,  and  her  grandson  was  the  late  Rt.  Rev. 
Charles  P.  McUvaine,  Bishop  of  Ohio,  who  has  many 
descendants. 

The  Father  of  Colonel  Heathcote,  Gilbert  the  Mayor 
of  Chesterfield,  was  a  Roundhead  in  the  English  Civil 
War,  and  served  with  credit  in  the  Army  of  the  Par- 
liament against  King  Charles  the  First.  He  died  in 
1690  and  lies  in  the  burial  place  of  the  Heathcoteson 
the  north  side  of  the  altar  rails,  in  the  ancient 
Parish  Church  of  Chesterfield,  the  cruciform  church 
600  years  old,  with  the  central  twisted  spire  230  feet 
high  and  14  feet  out  of  the  perpendicular,  yet  per- 
fectly secure,  which,  like  the  Leaning  Tower  of  Pisa, 
is  a  puzzle  whether  it  was  or  was  not  so  erected  origi- 
nally. Against  the  wall  of  the  chancel  arch  is  a  very 
handsome  mural  monument  in  the  ornamented  style 
of  the  16th  century,  erected  jointly  by  all  his  sons  to 
his  memory  bearing  this  inscription  ; 

At  the  foot  of  this  here  lieth, 
in  hopes  of  a  blessed  resurrection, 
the  body  of  Gilbert  Heathcote 
late  of  this  town.  Gentleman, 
who  departed  this  life  the  24"'  April,  1690, 
in  the  69""  year  of  his  age. 


154 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


By  his  wife  Ann, 
daughter  of  Mr  George  Dickens  of  this  town 
he  had  eight  sons  and  one  daughter,  viz. 
Gilbert,  John,  Samuel, 
Elizabeth,  Josiah,  William 
Caleb,  George,  and  Thomas  ; 
of  which  Elizabeth  and  Thomas  died  in  their  infancy; 
but  he  had  the  particular  blessing  to 
see  all  the  rest  Merchants  adventurers, 
either  in  England  or  in  foreign  parts. 
This  was  erected  by  his  sons, 
as  well  to  testify  their  gratitude, 
as  to  perpetuate  the  Memory 
of  the  best  of  fathers. 
Here  also  lieth  interred 
the  body  of  Ann,  his  said  wife, 
who  departed  this  life 
the  29th  of  November,  1705 
in  the  76th  year  of  her  age. 

The  family  was  an  ancient  one,  the  first  of  whom 
there  is  authoritative  mention  having  been  a  Master 
of  the  Mint  under  Richard  II.  The  Arms  were  Ar- 
gent, three  Pomeis,  each  charged  with  a  cross  or. 
And  for  Crest,  on  a  wreath  of  the  colours,  a  mural 
coronet  azure  surmounted  with  a  Pomeis  charged  with 
a  cross  or,  between  two  wings  displayed,  ermine. 
Motto  :  Habere  et  Dispertiri.' 

Colonel  Heatlicote  singularly  enough  was  Mayor  of 
the  City  of  New  York  in  1711  to  1714  at  the  same  time 
that  his  elder  brother  Gilbert  was  Lord  Mayor  of  Lon- 
don. He  was  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  active 
Churchmen  of  his  day.  To  him  was  the  Church  of 
England  in  New  York  and  in  Westchester  County  in- 
debted for  its  foundation  and  growth  more  than  to 
any  other  one  man.  He  formed  an  organization  of  a 
few  churchmen  in  the  City  of  New  York  termed  the 
Managers  of  the  Church  of  England  in  New  York,  of 
which  he  was  the  chairman. 

This  was  the  body  which  took  the  earliest  steps  to 
establish  an  English  Church  in  that  city  which  event- 
ually became  the  well  known  "  Parish  of  Trinity 
Church,"  subsequently  the  Mother  Church  of  all  the 
earlier  churches  in  the  city  and  to  a  large  extent  of 
those  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Heathcote  was  the 
moving  spirit  and  the  active  man  in  the  whole  move- 
ment, a  fact  which  being  fully  admitted  by  them  has 
drawn  down  upon  him  the  ire  of  many  writers  of 
dissenting  bodies  of  Christians.  He  also  was  the 
leading  man  in  founding  the  parishes  of  Westchester 
East  Chester,  and  Rye,  in  the  County  of  Westchester 
to  all  of  which  he  contributed  his  efforts  and  his 
means.  His  Manor  of  Scarsdale  and  Mamaroneck 
formed  one  of  the  precincts  of  the  Parish  of  Rye,- 


1  On  the  2d  of  December,  1708,  at  the  rerinest  of  Gilbert  and  his 
brothers,  these  arms  were  confirmed,  with  the  change  of  the  shield  from 
argent  to  ermine,  by  the  Herald's  College  of  England. 

2  See  ante  p.  99  for  the  facts  of  the  establishment  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  its  parishes  in  Westchester  County. 


of  which  he  was  elected  by  the  inhabitants  a  warden 
and  vestryman.  And  from  it  he  and  the  Rector  of 
Rye,  the  Rev.  George  Muirson,  went  forth  upon  those 
Missionary  tours  which  first  brought  the  knowledge 
of  the  Church  of  England  into  the  then  benighted 
Colony  of  Connecticut,  of  which  he  has  left  us  reports 
so  full  that  to  them  friends  and  foes  have  gone  for 
the  most  authentic  account  of  men  and  affaire  at  that 
day  in  that  Colony.  So  strong  was  the  opposition 
and  savage  the  threats,  that  he  always  went  fully 
armed  to  defend  both  Muirson  and  himself 

In  consequence  of  the  death  of  all  his  children  ex- 
cept Ann,  Mrs.  de  Lancey  and  Martha,  Mrs.  Johnston, 
his  entire  estate,  real  and  personal,  descended  to  those 
ladies  in  equal  shares.  By  Indentures  of  lease  and 
release  dated  the  1"  and  4"'  days  of  July  1738  Lewis 
Johnston  and  Martha  his  wife  conveyed  her  undivid- 
ed half  part  of  her  Father's  estate  to  Andrew  John- 
ston a  relative  of  her  husband.  And  he  by  deed 
dated  July  7""  1738  reconveyed  it  to  Lewis  Johnston 
and  his  heirs  in  fee.  This  was  for  the  easier  manage- 
ment only.  By  James  de  Lancey  and  wife  and 
Lewis  Johnston  jointly,  were  all  the  lands  in  the 
Manor  sold  and  conveyed,  or  leased,  up  to  the  death 
of  James  de  Lancey  on  the  30th  of  July  1760.  He 
died  intestate,  and  Mrs.  de  Lancey's  share  of  the 
Manor  thereupon  reverted  to  her  alone  absolutely  in  fee. 
From  that  time  to  1774  all  deeds  and  leases  ran  jointly 
in  the  names  of  Anne  de  Lancey  and  Lewis  John- 
ston, they  holding  the  estate  jointly  in  fee.  During 
this  period  a  great  deal  of  the  Manor  was  sold,  both 
to  tenants  and  strangers.  The  former  were  always 
given  the  first  right  to  purchase  their  farms  in  fee,  and 
no  farm  was  ever  sold  to  strangers  except  with  the 
tenants'  assent,  notwithstanding  the  proprietors  were 
not  bound  to  do  so. 

In  1773  Anne  de  Lancey  and  Lewis  Johnston 
determined  to  have  a  partition  of  all  the  lands  in  the 
Manor  that  remained  unsold,  and  proceedings  to  that 
end  were  begun  under  the  act  of  the  Provincial 
Legislature  of  1762,  for  that  purpose.  But  before 
they  had  gone  very  far  Dr.  Johnston  died.  The  Pro- 
ceedings were  therefore  begun  anew  in  the  names  of 
Anne  de  Lancey  and  the  Heirs  of  Lewis  John- 
ston. 

These  Proceedings  in  Partition  were  instituted 
under  "  An  Act  for  the  more  effectual  collection  of 
his  Majesty's  Quit-rents  in  the  Colony  of  New  York 
and  for  the  Partition  of  Lands  in  order  thereto " 
passed  the  8th  of  January  1762,  and  of  another 
amendatory  Act  passed  the  30th  of  December  1768. 
The  original  Petition  was  in  the  name  of  Lewis 
Johnston  ;  after  his  death  his  children  were  substituted 
in  his  place.  They  were  Heathcote  Johnston,  John 
I  Burnet,  Anne  Burnet,  Bowes  Reed  and  Margaret 
Reed.  The  other  party  in  both  Petitions  was  of 
course,  Anne  de  Lancey.  The  Commissioners  to  make 
the  partition  were,  Philip  Pell,  Jacobus  Bleecker,  and 
William  Sutton,  "  all  of  the  County  of  Westchester." 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTOllY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


155 


A  fter  the  proper  advertisements  had  been  published 
the  proper  time  in  Rivington's  New  York  Gazetteer 
and  Holt's  New  York  Journal,  two  of  the  newspapers 
of  the  da}',  the  Commissioners  met  to  organize  "  at  the 
house  of  Thomas  Beslj'  in  New  Rochelle  "  on  the  oth 
of  April  1774.  Philip  Pell,  .Ir  ,  was  appointed  clerk. 
The  Commissioners  and  ch'rk  were  sworn  in  by  Judge 
Tiiomas  Jones  of  the  Supreme  Court  ^  who  attended 
for  the  purpose,  and  delivered  to  each  a  certificate  of 
their  appointment,  signed  by  himself.  The  Commis- 
sioners ordered  a  notice  that  they  would  proceed  to 
make  the  survey  and  partition  on  the  (ith  of  June  1774, 
to  be  published,  and  also  to  be  served  on  Alexander 
Colden,  Surveyor-General.  This  notice,  with  a  full 
description  of  the  lands,  was  published  weekly  for  six 
weeks  in  Rivington's  New  York  Gazetteer  and  Holt's 
New  York  Journal.  On  the  Gth  of  June  1774  the  Com- 
missioners met  at  the  house  of  William  Sutton,  on  what 
is  now  De  Lancey's  Neck,  accordingly.  William  Sut- 
ton was  the  leading  man  of  his  day  at  Mamaroneck. 
He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners,  and  had  been  the 
tenant  of  De  Lancey's  Neck  for  a  great  many  years  pre- 
viously and  continued  such  to  his  death  about  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  war.  He  knew  every  one  of  note 
in  the  County,  and  was  as  thoroughly  accpiainted 
with  the  Manor  lands  in  general  as  he  was  with  those 
he  himself  had  in  cultivation.  Jacobus  Bleecker  was  a 
prominent  resident  and  land  holder  of  New  Rochelle, 
and  the  grandfather  of  the  late  Anthony  J.  Bleecker, 
the  well  known  Real  Estate  Auctioneer  of  New  York. 
Philip  Pell  was  of  the  old  manorial  family  of  the  Pells 
of  Pelham,  and  Philip  Pell,  Jr.,  the  clerk  was  his  oldest 
son.  All  were  persons  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  extent,  situation,  and  value,  of  the  Heathcote 
estate,  and  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

"  Sutton's  House  "  long  the  farm  house  of  the  Neck, 
stood  near,  and  a  littlesouth  westof,  the  new  farm  house 
built  about  1844,  by  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  J.  de  Lancey, 
which  is  now  a  part  of  the  house  standing  at  the 
angle  of  Mamaroneck  and  Long  Beach  Avenues,  re- 
cently bought  of  the  James  Miller  estate  by  Mr.  J. 
A.  Bostwick.  At  the  meeting  at  Sutton's  on  the  (jth 
of  June  1774,  the  clerk  reported  that  he  had  served 
Surveyor-General  Colden  with  notice  on  the  2nd  of 
the  preceding  May.  The  Commissioners  then  ap- 
pointed Charles  Webb,  at  that  time  and  for  thirty 
years  after,  one  of  the  best  Surveyors  of  the  Province 
and  State,  Surveyor  to  make  the  Survey  under  oath, 
which  was  duly  administered  to  him,  and  also  to 
Joseph  Purdy  and  Gilbert  Robinson  as  chain  bearers 
and  Doty  Doughty  as  "  flagg  carrier,"  and  then  they 
adjourned  to  the  next  day,  the  7"^.  when  the  survey  was 
begun.  It  was  carried  on  daily  till  nearthe  middle  of 
the  following  August,  on  the  l(jth  of  which  month. 
Maps,  Field  books,  and  Joiu-nals  of  the  Commissioners, 
were  duly  signed  in  triplicate,  one  copy  of  each  of 


'The  autlior  of  tlie  "  History  of  New  York  iluriug  the  Revolutionary 
War." 


which  was  filed  in  the  ofBce  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Province,  one  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Westchester 
County,  and  one  retained  by  the  owners.  On  the  25th 
of  August  notice  of  the  filing,  and  appointing  the  11th 
of  October  1774  as  the  day  of  balloting  for  the  lots  as 
surveyed,  was  ordered  advertised  in  the  pajiers.  On 
the  4th  of  October  notice  to  John  Harris  Cruger  to 
attend  the  balloting  as  one  of  the  Council  of  the  Pro- 
vince was  served.  On  the  11th  of  October  the  Com- 
missioners and  Cruger  met  in  New  York  at  Hull's 
Hotel,  in  Broadway,  on  the  site  of  which  now  statids 
the  "  Boreel  Building,"  and  the  drawing  took  place. 
The  Survey  and  Map,  a  reduced  copy  of  the  latter  of 
which  is  annexed,  divided  all  the  unsold  lands  then, 
in  1774,  remaining  in  the  possession  of  Colonel  Heath- 
cote's  heirs,  into  three  divisions,  the  North,  the  Mid- 
dle, and  the  South  Divisions,  designated  by  the  number 
of  the  respective  lots  in  each.  The  balloting  was  thus 
effected,  a  boy  blindfolded,  one  John  Wallisby  name, 
was  appointed  to  draw  the  numbers  of  the  lots,  and  the 
names  of  the  parties. to  whom  they  fell.  He  drew  the 
lots  in  the  different  divisions  seriatim,  beginning  at 
the  north  division,  taking  out  first  a  ticket  with  the 
number  of  the  lot,  and  then  one  with  the  name  of  an 
owner.  The  latter  tickets  bore  either  the  name  of 
"Anne  de  Lancey,"  or  the  words  "The  Heirs  of 
Lewis  Johnston."  After  the  whole  was  completed  the 
proceedings  were  duly  certified  to  in  triplicate,  by  the 
Commissioners,  and  each  copy  duly  approved  by  the 
signature  of  John  Harris  Cruger,  as  the  Councillor  of 
the  Province,  present. 

The  Map  gives  the  perimeter  of  the  whole  Manor, 
antl  those  of  some  of  its  interior  parts,  besides  the  un- 
sold portions  included  in  the  partition,  necessary  to  a 
right  understanding  of  the  latter.  The  portions  left 
blank  are  those  parts  of  the  Manor  which  had  ])revious- 
ly  been  sold  by  the  Proprietors.  It  also  shows  the 
"Great  Lotts"  or  the  "  Long  Lotts  "  being  those  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  township  Tract  which  Colo- 
nel Heathcote  and  the  other  owners  had  so  laid  out 
in  1706,  in  the  former's  lifetime,  and  also  the  short  lots 
at  their  southern  end,  all  of  which  took  up  the  whole 
of  that  tract  northward  and  beyond  the  home  lots,  to 
the  township  line.  The  latter  are  not  shown.  Colonel 
Heathcote  had  in  1708,  and  in  1716  long  after  hisManor- 
Grant,  and  at  other  later  times,  bought  several  parts 
and  parcels  of  the  original  home  lots  as  Richbell  had 
laid  them  out,  which  in  the  course  of  time  had  been 
divided  up  by  their  owners.  All  these  were  either 
owned  separately  in  1774,  by  his  heirs,  or  had  been 
previously  disposed  of  by  them,  the  two  extremely 
small  ones  fronting  on  the  Westchester  path  or  Bos- 
ton road  being  all  that  were  in  joint  ownership  at  the 
date  of  the  partition.  The  accompanying  map  being 
on  so  small  a  scale  gives  only  a  very  general  idea  of 
the  Manor,  without  showing  the  details  on  the  original 
maps,  which  are  all  very  large. 

From  the  respective  owners  who  recciveil  their  par- 
ticular lots  under  this  final  partition  of  the  Manor 


156 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Lands  of  Scarsdale  in  fee,  have  those  lands  passed  to 
the  great  number  of  parties  now  owning  and  occupy- 
ing them,  with,  of  course,  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  all  lauds  granted  by  the  Crown  of  England  prior  to 
the  14th  of  October  1775,  and  guaranteed  and  con- 
firmed by  all  the  successive  constitutions  of  New 
York,  both  as  an  Independent  Sovereignty,  and  as  one 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Topography  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  is  pecu- 
liar, the  Bronx  and  the  Hutchinson  rivers  flow  south- 
westerly from  its  northwestern  part,  the  Mamaroneck 
river  with  its  main  affluent  the  Sheldrake,  and  its  up- 
permost branches  flows  southeasterly  into  the  Sound. 
It  is  well  watered,  hilly,  and  has  singularly  enough 
among  the  hills  two  or  three  extensive  flat  fertile  plains. 
The  valleys  between  the  hills  are  beautiful  and  some  of 
them  very  deep.  The  country  is  well  wooded  and  the 
"  Saxton  Forest,"  formerly  300  acres,  though  much 
reduced  in  size,  is  still  one  of  the  largest  single  forests 
in  the  county.  The  drives  are  exceedingly  fine, 
abounding  with  great  and  varied  beauty.  The  soil  is 
fertile  and  yields  abundantly. 

In  closing  this  chapter  the  writer  regrets  that  space 
will  not  permit  specific  local  details  of  the  other  Ma- 
nors in  the  county,  as  was  the  original  intention,  but 
having  assented  to  the  editor's  request  to  permit  a  por- 
tion of  the  pages  allotted  him  to  be  employed  by  oth- 
ers, it  cannot  be  done. 

The  manor  grants  for  them  are  therefore  only  given. 

MANOR  GRANT  OF  PELHAM. 

Thomas  Dongan,  Captain  General  and  Governor- 
in-chief  in  and  over  the  province  of  New  Yorke,  and 
the  territories  depending  thereon  in  America,  under 
his  most  sacred  ]\Iajesty,  James  the  Second,  by  tlie 
grace  of  Gad  Kinge  of  England,  Scotland,  France 
and  Ireland,  defender  of  the  faith,  &c., — to  all  to 
whom  these  presents  shall  come,  sendeth  greeting : 
Whereas,  Richard  Nicolls,  Esq.,  late  governor  of  this 
province,  by  his  certaine  deed  in  writing,  under  his 
hand  and  seale,  bearing  date  the  sixth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reigne  of  our  late 
sovereigne  lord,  Charles  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland, 
Kinge,  defender  of  the  faith,  &c.,  and  in  the  yeare  of 
our  Lord  God  one  thousand  six  hundred  sixty  and  six 
— did  give,  grant,  confirme  and  rattefye,  by  virtue  of 
the  commission  and  authoritye  unto  him  given  by  his 
(then)  royal  highness,  James,  Duke  of  Yorke,  &c., 
(his  now  Majesty,)  upon  whome,  by  lawful  grant  and 
pattent  from  his  (then)  Majesty,  the  propriety  and 
government  of  that  part  of  the  maine  land,  as  well 
of  Long  Island  and  all  the  islands  adjacent.  Amongst 
other  things  was  settled  unto  Thomas  Pell,  of  Onk- 
way,  alias  Fairfield,  in  his  Majestye's  colony  of  Con- 
necticut— gentleman — all  that  certaine  tract  of  land 
upon  the  maine  lying  and  being  to  the  eastward  of 
Westchester  bounds,  bounded  to  the  Westward  with  a 
river  called  by  the  Indians  Aquaconounck,  commonly 
known  to  the  English  by  the  name  of  Hutchinson's 


River,  which  runneth  into  the  bay  lyeing  betweene 
Throgmorton's  Neck  and  Anne  Hooke's  Neck,  corn- 
only  caled  Hutchingson's  Bay,  bounded  on  the 
east  by  a  brooke  called  Cedar  Tree  Brooke,  or  Gravelly 
Brooke ;  on  the  south  by  the  Sound,  which  lyeth  be- 
tweene Longe  Island  and  the  maine  land,  with  all  the 
islands  in  the  Sound  not  before  that  time  granted  or 
disspossed  of,  lyeing  before  that  tract  of  land  so 
bounded  as  is  before  expresst ;  and  northward  to 
runne  into  the  woods  about  eight  English  miles,  the 
breadth  to  be  the  same  as  it  is  along  by  the  Sound, 
together  with  all  the  lands,  islands,  soyles,  woods, 
meadows,  pastures,  marshes,  lakes,  waters,  creeks, 
fishing,  hawking,  hunting  and  fowling,  and  all  other 
profl5tts,  commodityes  and  heridetaments  to  the  said 
tract  of  land  and  islands  belonging,  with  their  and 
every  of  their  appurtenances,  and  every  part  and 
parcel  thereof ;  and  that  the  said  tract  of  land  and 
premises  should  be  forever  thereafter  held,  deemed, 
reputed,  taken  and  be  an  intire  infranchised  towne- 
shipp,  manner  and  place  of  itself,  and  should  always, 
from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  thereafter,  have, 
hold  and  enjoy  like  and  equall  priviledges  and  immu- 
nities with  any  towne  infranchised,  place  or  manner 
within  this  government,  &c.,  shall  in  no  manner  of 
way  be  subordinate  or  belonging  unto,  have  any  de- 
pendance  upon  or  in  any  wise,  bounds  or  the  rules 
under  the  direction  of  any  riding,  or  towne  or  towne- 
shipps,  place  or  jurisdiction  either  upon  the  maine  or 
upon  Longe  Island — but  should  in  all  cases,  things 
and  matters  be  deemed,  reputed,  taken  and  held  as  an 
absolute,  intire,  infranchised  towneshipp,  manner 
and  place  of  itselfe  in  this  government,  and  should  be 
ruled,  ordered  and  directed  in  all  matters  as  to  gov- 
ernment, accordingly,  by  the  governour  and  Coun- 
cell,  and  General  Court  of  Assizes — only  provided, 
always,  that  the  inhabbitants  in  the  said  tract  of  land 
granted  as  aforesaid,  should  be  oblidged  to  send  ffbr- 
wards  to  the  next  townes  all  publick  pachquetts  and 
letters,  or  hew  and  cryes  coming  to  New  Yorke  or 
goeing  from  thence  to  any  other  of  his  Majestie's  col- 
lonys ;  to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  tract  of  land  and 
islands,  with  all  and  singular  the  appurtenances  and 
premises,  togaither  with  the  privilidges,  imuneties, 
franchises,  and  advantages  therein  given  and  granted 
unto  the  said  Thomas  Pell,  to  the  proper  use  and  be- 
hoofe  of  the  said  Thomas  Pell,  his  heirs  and  assigns  for 
ever,  Ifully,  ffreely  and  clearely,  in  as  large  and  ample 
manner  and  forme,  and  with  such  full  and  absolute  im- 
unityes  and  priveledges  as  before  is  expresst,  as  if  he 
had  held  the  same  immediately  ffrom  his  Majesty  the 
Kinge  of  England,  &c.,  and  his  suckcessors,  as  of  the 
manner  of  Bast  Greenwich,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  in 
free  and  common  sockage  and  by  fealtey,  only  yeald- 
eing,  rendering  and  payeing  yearely  and  every  yeare 
unto  his  then  royall  highness,  the  Duke  of  Yorke  and 
his  heires,  or  to  such  governour  or  governoursasfrom 
time  to  time  should  by  him  be  constituted  and  ap- 
poynted  as  an  acknowledgement,  one  lambe  on  the 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


157 


first  day  of  May,  if  the  same  shall  be  demanded  as  by 
the  said  deede  in  writeing,  and  the  eutrey  thereof  in 
the  bookes  of  records  in  the  secretarie's  office  for  the 
province  aforetiaid,  may  more  fully  and  at  large  ap- 
peare.    And  whereas,  John  Pell,  gentleman,  nephew 
of  the  said  Thomas  Pell,  to  whom  the  lauds,  islands 
and  premises,  with  appurtenances,  now  by  the  last 
will  and  testament  of  him,  the  said  Thomas  Pell, 
given  and  bequeathed,  now  is  in  the  actual,  peaceable 
andquiett  seazeing  and  possession  of  all  and  singular 
the  premises,  and  hath  made  his  humble  request  to 
mee,  the  said  Thomas  Dongan,  that  I  would,  in  the 
behalf  of  his  sacred  Majesty,  his  heirs  and  suckces- 
sors,  give  and  grant  unto  him,  the  said  John  Pell,  a 
more  full  and  firme  grant  and  confirmation  of  the 
above  lands  and  premises,  with  the  appurtenances, 
under  the  scale  of  this  his  Majestie's  province:  Now 
Know  Yee,  that  I,  the  said  Thomas  Dongan,  by  virtue 
of  the  commission  and  authority  unto  me  given  by 
his  said  Majesty  and  power  in  me  being  and  residing, 
in  consideration  of  the  quitt  rent  hereinafter  reserved, 
and  for  divers  other  good  and  lawfull  considerations 
me  thereunto  mouving,  I  have  given,  rattefied  and 
contirme  and  by  these  presents  do  hereby  grant,  rattefie 
and  contirme  unto  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs for  ever,  all  the  before  mentioned  and  rented 
lands,  islands  and  premises,  with  the  heridatements 
and  appurtenances,  priveledges,   imuneties,  tfran- 
chises  and  advantages  to  the  same  belonging  and  ap- 
pertaining, or  in  the  said  before  mentioned  deede  in 
writing  expresst,  implyed  or  intended  to  be  given  and 
granted,  and  every  part  and  parcell  thereof,  together 
with  all  that  singular  messuages,  tenements,  barnes, 
stables,  orchards,  gardens,  lands,  islands,  meadows, 
inclosurcs,  arable  lands,  pastures,  feedeings,  commons, 
woods,  underwoods,  soyles,  quarreys,  mines,  min- 
nerally,  (royall  mines  only  excepted,)  waters,  rivers, 
ponds,  lakes,  hunteing,  haucking,  ffishing,  ffowleing, 
as  alsoe  all  rents,  services,  wasts,  strayes,  royaltyes, 
liberties,  priviledges,  jurisdictions,  rights,  members 
and  appurtenances,  and  all  other  imunityes,  royaltyes, 
power  of  franchises,  profitts,  commodeties  and  here- 
datements  whatsoever  to  the  premises,  or  any  part  or 
parcell  thereof  belonging  or  appertaining:  and  fur- 
ther, by  vertue  of  the  power  and  authority  in  mee 
being  and  residing,  I  doe  hereby  grant,  rattefie  and 
confirme,  and  the  tract  of  land,  island  and  premises 
aforesaid  are,  by  these  presents,  erected  and  consti- 
tuted to  be  one  lordship  and  manner — and  the  same 
shall  henceforth  be  called  the  lordshipp  and  manner  of 
Pelham ;  and  I  doe  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  the 
slid  John  Pell,  his  heirs  and  assigns  ffull  power  and 
authority  at  all  times  hereafter,  in  the  said  lordshipp 
and  manner  of  Pelham  aforesaid,  one  court  leete  and 
one  court  barron,  to  hold  and  keepe  at  such  times  so 
often  yearly  as  he  and  they  shall  see  meete,  and  all 
sines,  issues  and  amerciaments  at  the  said  court  leete 
and  court  barron,  to  be  holden  and  kept  in  the  man- 
ner and  lordship  aforesaid,  that  are  payable  from  time 


to  time,  shall  happen  to  be  due  and  payable  by  and 
from  any  the  inhabitants  of  or  within  the  said  lord- 
shipp and  manner  of  Pelham  abovesaid  ;  and  also  all 
and  every  the  powers  and  authorities  herein  before 
mentioned,  for  the  holding  and  keepeing  of  the  said 
court  leete  and  court  barron,  firom  time  to  time,  and 
to  award  and  issue  forth  the  costomary  writts  to  be 
issued  and  awarded  out  of  the  said  court  leete  and 
court  barron,  and  the  same  to  beare  test  and  to  be 
issued  out  in  the  name  of  the  said  John  Pell,  his 
heirs  and  assignes,  and  the  same  court  leete  and  court 
barron  to  be  kept  by  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heirs  and 
assignes,  or  bis  or  their  steward,  deputed  or  ap- 
poynted  ;  and  I  doe  further  hereby  give  and  grant 
unto  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heirs  and  assignes,  full 
power  to  distraine  for  all  rents  and  other  sums  of 
money  payable  by  reason  of  the  premises,  and  all 
other  lawful  remedys  and  meanes  for  the  haveing,  re- 
ceiving, levying  and  enjoying  the  said  premises  and 
every  part  thereof,  and  all  waifts,  strayes,  wrecks  of 
the  sease,  deodauds  and  goods  of  fFellons,  happening^ 
and  being  within  the  said  manner  of  Pelham, 
with  the  advowson  and  right  of  patronage  of  all  and 
every  of  the  church  and  churches  in  the  said  man- 
ner, erected  and  to  be  erected — to  have  and  to  hold 
all  and  singular  the  said  tract  of  land,  islands  and 
manner  of  Pelham,  and  all  and  singular  the  above 
granted  or  mentioned  to  be  granted  premisses,  with 
their  rights,  members,  jurisdictions,  privileidges, 
heredaments  and  aj)purtenances,  to  the  said  John 
Pell,  his  heirs  and  assignes,  to  the  only  ])roper  use, 
benefitt  and  behoofe  of  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heirs 
and  assignes  forever;  to  be  holden  of  his  most  sacred 
Majestye,  his  heirs  and  successors,  in  free  and  com- 
mon soccage,  according  to  the  tenure  of  East  Green- 
wich, in  the  county  of  Kent,  in  his  Majestye's  king- 
dom of  England,  yielding,  rendering  and  praying 
therefore  yearly  and  every  year  forever,  unto  his 
said  Majestye,  his  heirs  and  successors,  or  to  such 
officer  or  officers  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  ap- 
pointed to  receive  the  same — twenty  shillings,  good 
and  lawful  money  of  this  province  at  the  citty  of 
New  Yorke,  on  the  five  and  twentyth  day  of  the 
month  of  March,  in  lieu  and  stead  of  all  rents,  ser- 
vices and  demands  whatsoever. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  signed  these  presents 
with  my  handwriting,  caused  the  scale  of  the  province 
to  be  thereunto  affixed,  and  have  ordained  that  the 
same  be  entered  upon  record  in  the  Secretary's  office, 
the  five  and  twentyeth  day  of  October,  in  the  third 
yeare  of  the  Kinge  Majestye's  reigne,  and  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  six  hundred  eighty  and 
seven.' 

Thomas  Dongax. 
maxor-graxt  of  moriusaxia. 
William  the  Third,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England , 
Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the 


lAlb.  Book  of  Pat.  No.  ii.  306.,  Co.  Bee.  Lib.  A.,  240. 


158 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Faith,  &c.,  to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come, 
sendeth  greeting :  Whereas,  the  Hon'ble  Edmond  An- 
dross,  Esq.,  Seigneur  of  Sausmarez,  late  governor  of 
our  province  of  New  York,  ikc,  by  a  certain  deed  or 
patent,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our  said  province  of 
IJew  York,  bearing  date  the  25th  day  of  March,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1676,  pursuant  to  the  commission 
and  authority  then  in  him  residing,  did  confirm  unto 
Col.  Lewis  Morris,  of  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  a  cer- 
tain plantation  or  tract  of  land  laying  or  being  upon 
the  maine  over  against  the  town  of  Haerlem,  com- 
monly called  Bronckse's  land,  containing  250  margin 
or  800  acres  of  land,  besides  the  meadow  thereunto 
annexed  or  adjoining,  butted  and  bounded  as  in  the 
original  Dutch  ground  brief  and  patent  of  confirma- 
tion is  set  forth  ;  which  said  tract  of  land  and  meadow, 
having  been  by  the  said  Col.  Lewis  Morris  long  pos- 
sessed and  enjoyed,  and  having  likewise  thereon  made 
good  improvement,  he,  ihe  said  Edmond  Andross,  late 
governor  of  our  said  province,  did  further,  by  the  said 
deed  or  patent,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our  said  prov- 
ince, and  bearing  date  as  aforesaid,  we  grant  and  con- 
firm unto  the  said  Col.  Lewis  Morris,  for  his  further 
improvement,  a  certain  quantity  of  land  adjacent  unto 
the  said  tract  of  land — which  land,  with  the  addition, 
being  bounded  from  his  own  house  over  against  Haer- 
lem, running  up  Haerlem  Eiver  to  Daniel  Turner's 
land,  and  so  along  this  said  land  northward  to  John 
Archer's  line,  and  from  thence  stretching  east  to  the 
land  of  John  Richardson  and  Thomas  Hunt,  and 
thence  along  their  lands  southward  to  the  Sound, 
«ven  so  along  the  Sound  about  southwest  through 
Bronck's  hill  to  the  said  Col.  Lewis  Morris'  house — 
the  additional  land  containing  (according  to  the  sur- 
vey thereof)  the  quantity  of  fourteen  hundred  and 
twenty  acres,  to  have  and  to  hold  the  afore-recited 
tract  of  land  before  possessed  by  him,  and  the  addi- 
tional land  within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  to- 
gether with  the  woods  and  meadows,  both  salt  and 
fresh  waters  and  creeks,  belonging  to  the  said  lands, 
unto  the  said  Col.  Lewis  Morris,  his  heirs  and  assignees 
forever,  under  the  yearly  rent  of  four  bushels  of  good 
winter  wheat,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  patent,  registered 
in  our  secretary's  office  of  our  said  province  of  New 
York,  &c., — relation  being  thereunto  had — may  more 
fully  and  at  large  appear.  And  whereas,  our  loving 
subject,  Lewis  Morris,  (nephew  unto  the  said  Col. 
Morris,  lately  deceased,  his  sole  and  only  heir,)  who  is 
now,  by  right  of  descent  and  inheritance,  peaceably  and 
quietly  seized  and  possessed  of  all  the  aforesaid  tracts 
of  land  and  premises  within  the  limits  and  bounds 
aforesaid,  hath,by  his  petition,  presented  unto  our  trusty 
and  well  beloved  Benj.  Fletcher,  our  Captain  General 
and  Governor-in-chief  of  our  said  province  of  New 
York  and  territories  dependent  thereon  in  America, 
Ac,  prayed  our  grant  and  confirmation  of  all  the 
afore-recited  tracts  and  parcels  of  land  and  prem  ises 
within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid  ;  and  likewise 
that  we  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  erect  the  said 


tracts  and  parcels  of  land,  within  the  limits  and 
bounds  aforesaid,  into  a  lordship  or  manor,  by  the 
name  or  title  of  the  manor  or  lordship  of  Morrisania, 
in  the  county  of  Westchester  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  pub- 
licly manifest  that  the  said  Col.  Lewis  Morris,  de- 
ceased, in  his  lifetime,  and  our  said  loving  subject,  his 
nephew  and  sole  and  only  heir  since  bis  decease,  have 
been  at  great  charge  and  expense  in  the  purchasing, 
settling  and  improving  of  the  said  tracts  and  parcels 
of  land,  whereon  considerable  buildings  have  likewise 
been  made;  and  our  said  loving  subject,  being  willing 
still  to  make  further  improvements  thereon — which 
reasonable  request,  for  his  further  encouragement,  we 
being  willing  to  grant;  and  know  yee,  that  we,  of  our 
special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion, 
we  have  given,  granted,  ratified  and  confirmed,  and 
by  these  presents  do  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors 
give,  grant,  ratify  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Lewis 
Morris,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  all  the  aforesaid  tracts 
and  parcels  of  land  within  the  limits  and  bounds 
aforesaid,  containing  the  quantity  of  one  thousand, 
nine  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  more  or  less, 
together  with  all  and  every  the  messuages,  tenements, 
buildings,  houses,  out  houses,  barns,  barracks,  stables, 
mills,  mill  dams,  mill  howles,  orchards,  gardens, 
fences,  pastures,  fields,  feedings,  woods,  underwoods, 
trees,  timber,  meadows,  (fresh  and  salt)  marshes, 
swamps  and  pools,  |)onds,  waters,  water  courses,  brooks, 
rivulets,  baths,  inlets,  outlets,  islands,  necks  of  land 
and  meadow,  peninsulas  of  land  and  meadow,  ferries, 
passages,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting  and  hawking, 
quarries,  mines,  minerals,  (silver  and  gold  mines  ex- 
cepted,) and  all  the  rights,  liberties,  privileges,  juris- 
dictions, royalties,  hereditaments,  benefits,  profits, 
advantages  and  appurtenances  whatsoever  to  the 
afore-recited  tracts,  parcels  and  necks  of  land,  and  mill, 
within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid  belonging,  ad- 
joining, or  in  any  way  appertaining,  or  accepted,  re- 
puted, taken,  known  or  occupied,  as  part,  parcel  or 
member  thereof,  to  have  or  to  hold  all  the  aforesaid 
recited  tracts  and  parcels  of  land  within  the  limits  and 
bounds  aforesaid,  containing  the  quantity  of  one  thou- 
sand nine  hundred  and  twentj'  acres  of  land,  more  or 
less,  together  with  all  and  every  the  messuages,  tene- 
ments, buildings,  houses,  out  houses,  barns,  barracks, 
stables,  mills,  mill  dams,  mill  houses,  orchards,  gar- 
dens, fences,  pastures,  fields,  feedings,  woods,  under- 
woods, trees,  timber,  meadows,  tresh  and  salt,  marshes, 
swamps,  pools,  ponds,  waters,  water  courses,  brooks, 
rivers,  rivulets,  streams,  creeks,  coves,  harbors, 
bridges,  baths,  strands,  inlets,  outlets,  islands,  necks 
of  land  and  meadow,  peninsulas,  land  and  meadow, 
ferries,  passages,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting  and  hawk- 
ing, quarries,  mines  and  minerals,  (silver  and  gold 
mines  excepted,)  and  all  the  rights  liberties,  privileges, 
jurisdictions,  royalties,  hereditaments,  tolls,  and  bene- 
fits, profits,  advantages,  and  appurtenances  whatso- 
ever, to  the  afore  recited  tracts,  parcels  and  necks  of 
land  and  mill  within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid  be- 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


159 


longing,  adjoining,  or  in  any  appertaining  or  accepted, 
reputed,  taken,  known  unto  bini,  tlic  said  Lewis  Morris, 
his  heirs  and  assinees,  to  the  sole  and  only  proper 
use  benefit  and  behoof  of  him  the  said  Lewis  IMorris, 
his  heirs  and  assinees  forever,  and  moreover,  that  if 
our  further  special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and 
mear  motion,  we  have  brought  it  according  to  the 
reasonable  request  of  our  said  loving  subject  to  erect 
all  the  the  aforerecited  tracts  and  parcels  of  land 
and  i)renuses  within  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid 
into  a  lordship  and  manor,  and  therefore,  by  these 
presents,  we  do,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  erect, 
make  and  constitute  all  the  afore-recited  tracts  and 
parcels  of  land  within  the  limits  and  bounds  afore- 
mentioned, together  with  all  and  every  the  above 
granted  premises,  w'ith  all  and  every  of  their  appurte- 
nances, unto  one  lordship  or  manor,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  aud  'tis  our  royal  w'ill  and  pleasure,  that  the 
said  lordship  and  manor  shall  from  henceforth  be 
called  the  lordship  or  manor  of  Morrisania ;  and  know 
yee,  that  we  reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in 
the  loyalty,  wisdom,  justice,  prudence,  and  circum- 
spection of  our  said  loving  subjects,  do,  for  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said 
Lewis  Morris  and  to  the  heirs  and  assignees  of  him  the 
said  Lewis  Morris,  full  power  and  authority  at  all  times 
forever  hereafter,  in  the  said  lordship  or  manor,  one 
court  leet,  and  one  court-barrou,  to  hold  and  keep  at 
such  time  and  times,  and  so  often  yearly  as  he  or  they 
shall  see  meet,  and  all  fines,  issues  and  amerciaments, 
at  the  said  court-leet  and  court  barron,  to  be  holden 
within  the  said  lordship  or  manor,  to  be  set,  forfeited 
or  employed,  or  payable  or  happening  at  any  time  to 
be  payable  by  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  or  in  the  said 
h)rdship  or  manor  of  Morrissania,  or  the  limits  and 
bounds  whereof,  and  also  all  and  every  of  the  power 
and  authority  therein-before  mentioned,  for  the  hold- 
ing and  keei)ing  the  said  court-leet  and  court  barron 
from  time  to  time,  and  to  award  and  issue  out  the  said 
accustomary  writs,  to  be  issued  and  awarded  out  of  the 
said  court-leet  and  court  barron,  to  be  kept  by  the 
heirs  and  assinees  of  the  said  Lewis  Morris,  forever, 
or  their  or  any  of  their  stewards  deputed  and  ap- 
pointed with  full  and  ample  power  and  authority  to 
distraine  for  the  rents,  serveses,  and  other  sums  of 
money,  payable  by  virtue  of  the  premises  and  all 
other  lawful  remedies  and  means,  for  the  having,  pos- 
sessing, recovering,  levying  and  enjoying  the  prem- 
ises, and  every  part  and  parcel  of  the  same,  and  all 
waifes,  estrages,  meeks,  deadodans,  goods  or  felons, 
happening  and  being  forfeited  within  the  said  lord- 
ship or  manor  of  Morrissania,  and  all  and  every  sum 
and  sums  of  money  to  be  paid  as  a  post  fine,  upon 
any  tine  or  fines  to  be  levied,  of  any  bounds,  tene- 
mi  nts  or  hereditaments  within  the  said  lordship  or 
manor  of  Morrissania,  together  with  the  advowson 
and  right  of  patronage,  and  all  and  every  the  church 
and  churches  erected  or  established,  or  thereafter  to 
be  erected  or  established  within  the  said  mauor  of 


Morrissania,  and  we  do  also  give  and  grant  unto  the 
said  Lewis  Morris,  his  heirs  and  assinees,  that  all  and 
each  of  the  tenants  of  him  the  said  Lewis  Morris, 
within  the  said  manor,  may  at  all  times  hereafter, 
meet  together  and  choose  assesors,  within  the  manor 
aforesaid,  according  to  such  rules,  ways  and  methods, 
as  are  prescribed  for  cities,  towns  and  counties  within 
our  province  aforesaid,  by  the  acts  of  general  assem- 
bly for  the  defraying  the  jiublic  charge  of  each  re- 
spective city,  town  and  county  aforesaid,  and  all  such 
sums  of  money  assesed  or  levied,  to  dispose  of  and 
collect  for  such  uses  as  the  acts  of  the  general  assem- 
bly shall  establish  and  appoint,  to  have  and  to  hold, 
possess,  and  enjoy,  all  and  singular  the  said  lordship 
or  manor  of  Morrissania  and  premises,  with  all  their 
and  every  of  their  appurtenances,  unto  the  said  Lewis 
Morris,  his  heirs  and  assinees  forever,  to  be  holden  of 
us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  in  free  and  common 
socage,  according  to  the  tenure  of  our  manor  of  East 
Greenwich,  in  our  county  of  Kent,  within  our  realm 
of  England,  yielding,  rendering  and  paying  therefor, 
yearly  and  every  year,  on  the  feast  day  of  the  Annun- 
ciation of  our  blessed  virgin,  unto  us,  our  heirs  and 
successors,  at  our  city  of  New  York,  the  annual  rent 
of  six  shillings,  in  lieu  and  stead  of  all  former  rents, 
dues,  services  and  demands  whatsoever,  for  the  said 
lordship  and  manor  of  Morrissania,  and  premises : 
in  testimony  whereof,  we  have  caused  the  great  seal  of 
the  said  province  to  be  afiixed.  Witnesse  our  trusty 
and  well  beloved  Benjamin  Fletcher,  our  capt.  gen. 
and  gov.  in-chief  of  our  province  of  New  York,  and 
the  territories  and  tracts  of  land  depending  thereon, 
in  America,  and  vice-admiral  of  the  same,  our  lieu- 
tenant commander-in-chief  of  the  militia  and  of  all 
the  forces  by  sea  and  land  within  our  colony  of  Con- 
necticut, and  of  all  the  forts  and  places  of  strength 
w'ithin  the  same,  in  council  at  our  fort  in  New  York, 
the  8th  day  of  May,  in  the  ninth  year  of  our  reign, 
Anno  Domini,  1697.' 

By  command  of  his  excellencey. 

Bex.  Fletcher. 

David  Jamieson,  Sec'y. 

MANOR-GRANT  OF  FORDHAM. 

Francis  Lovelace,  Esq.,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  his 
Majestie's  Hon'ble  Privy  Chamber,  and  Governor- 
General  under  his  Royal  Highness,  James,  Duke  of 
York  and  Albany,  and  of  all  his  territories  in  Amer- 
ica, to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  sendeth 
greeting:  Whereas,  there  is  a  certain  parcel  or  tract 
of  land  within  this  government,  upon  the  main  conti- 
nent, situate,  lying  and  being  to  the  eastward  of  Har- 
lem River,  near  unto  ye  passage  commonly  called 
Spiting  Devil,  upon  which  land  ye  new  dorj/or  villnge 
is  erected  known  by  the  name  of  Fordham — ye  utmost 


1  Lib.  tU.  of  Patents,  Albany. 


160 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


limits  of  the  whole  tract  or  parcel  of  land  beginning 
at  the  high  wood  land  that  lyes  due  northwest  over 
against  the  first  point  of  the  main  land  to  the  east  of 
the  island  Pepirinhnan — there  where  the  hill  Moskuta 
is — and  soe  goes  alongst  the  said  kill,  the  said  land 
striking  from  the  high  wood  land  before  mentioned 
east  soutlieast,  till  it  comes  to  Bronk's,  his  kill ;  soe 
westward  up  alongst  ye  main  land  to  the  place  where 
Harlem  Kill  and  Hudson  River  meet,  and  then  forth 
alongst  Harlem  Kill  to  the  first  spring  or  fountain, 
keeping  to  the  south  of  Crabb  Island ;  soe  eastward 
alongst  Daniel  Turner's  land,  the  high  wood  land, 
and  ye  land  belonging  to  Thomas  Hunt ;  and  then  to 
Bronk's  Kill  afore  mentioned,  according  to  a  survey 
lately  made  thereof  by  the  surveyor-general — the 
which  remains  upon  record  ;  all  which  said  parcel  or 
tract  of  land  before  described  being  part  of  the  land 
granted  in  the  grand  patent  to  Hugh  O'Neal,  and 
Mary  his  wife,  purchase  was  made  thereof,  by  John 
Archer,  from  Elyas  Doughty,  who  was  invested  in  their 
interest  as  of  the  Indian  proprietor,  by  my  approba- 
tion, who  all  acknowledge  to  have  received  satisfac- 
tion for  the  same  :  and  the  said  John  Archer  having, 
at  his  own  charge,  and  with  good  success,  begun  a 
township  in  a  convenient  place  for  the  relief  of 
strangers,  it  being  the  road  for  passengers  to  go  to  and  fro 
from  the  main,  as  well  as  for  mutual  intercourse  with 
the  neighboring  colony,  for  all  encouragement  unto 
him,  the  said  John  Archer,  in  prosecution  of  the  said 
design,  as  also  for  divers  other  good  causes  and  con- 
siderations :  know  yee,  that  by  virtue  of  ye  commis- 
sion and  authority  unto  me  given  by  his  royal  high- 
ness, upon  whom,  by  lawful  grant  and  patent  from  his 
majestic,  the  propriety  and  government  of  that  part 
of  the  main  land,  as  well  as  Long  Island,  and  all  the 
islands  adjacent,  amongst  other  things,  is  settled,  I 
have  given,  granted,  ratified  and  confirmed,  and  by 
these  presents  do  give,  grant,  ratify  and  confirm  to  ye 
afore  mentioned  John  Archer,  his  heirs  and  assignees, 
all  the  said  parcel  or  tract  of  land  butted  and  bound- 
ed as  aforesaid,  together  with  all  the  lands,  soyles, 
woods,  meadows,  pastures,  marshes,  lakes,  waters, 
creeks,  fishing,  hawking,  hunting  and  fowling,  and  all 
ye  profits,  commodityes,  emmoluments  and  heredita- 
ments to  the  said  parcel  or  tract  of  land  or  premises 
belonging  or  in  any  wise  appertaining,  and  of  every 
part  and  parcel  thereof ;  and  I  doe  likewise  grant  unto 
ye  said  John  Archer,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  that  the 
house  which  he  shall  erect,  together  with  ye  said  par- 
cel or  tract  of  land  and  premises,  shall  be  forever 
hereafter  held,  claimed,  reputed,  and  be  an  entire  and 
enfranchised  township,  manor  and  place  of  itself, 
and  shall  always,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times 
hereafter,  have,  hold  and  enjoy  like  and  equal  privi- 
leges and  immunities  with  any  town  eniranchised  or 
manor  within  this  government,  aud  shall,  in  no  manner 
of  way,  be  subordinate  or  belonging  unto,  have  any 
dependence  upon,  or  in  any  wise  be  under  the  rule, 
order  or  direction  of  any  riding,  township,  place  or 


jurisdiction  either  upon  the  main  or  Long  Island,  but 
shall,  in  all  cases,  things  and  matters,  be  deemed,  re- 
puted, taken  and  held  as  an  absolute,  entire,  enfran- 
chised township,  manor  and  place  of  itself  in  this 
government,  as  aforesaid,  and  shall  be  ruled,  ordered 
and  directed,  in  all  matters  as  to  government,  by  ye 
governor  and  his  council,  and  ye  general  court  of  as- 
sizes, only  always  provided  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  said  town,  or  any  part  of  the  land  granted  as 
aforesaid,  shall  be  obliged  to  send  forward  to  ye  next 
town  or  plantation  all  public  pacquetts  and  letters,  or 
hue  and  cryes,  comming  to  this  place  or  going  from 
it  towards  or  to  any  of  his  majestie's  colonies  ;  and  I 
do  further  grant  unto  the  said  John  Archer,  his  heirs 
and  assignees,  that  when  there  shall  be  a  suflicient 
number  of  inhabitants  in  the  town  of  Fordham  afore- 
mentioned, and  the  other  parts  of  ye  manor  capable 
of  maintaining  a  minister,  and  to  carry  on  other 
public  alfairs  ;  that  then  the  neighboring  inhabitants 
between  the  two  kills  of  Harlem  and  Bronk's  be 
obliged  to  contribute  towards  the  maintenance  of 
their  said  ministerand  other  necessary  public  charges 
that  may  happen  to  arise,  and  likewise  that  they  be- 
long to  the  said  town,  according  to  the  direction  of 
the  law,  although  their  said  farms  and  habitations  be 
not  included  within  this  patent,  to  have  and  to  hold 
ye  said  parcel  and  tracts  of  land,  with  all  and  singular 
the  appurtenances  and  premises,  together  with  the 
I^rivileges,  immunities,  franchises  and  advantages 
herein  given  aud  granted  unto  the  said  John  Archer, 
his  heirs  and  assignees,  unto  the  proper  use  and  be- 
hoof of  him,  the  said  John  Archer,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signees forever,  fully,  truly  and  clearly,  in  as  large 
and  ample  manner,  and  from  and  with  such  full  and 
absolute  immunities  and  privileges  as  is  before  ex- 
pressed, as  if  he  held  the  same  immediately  from  his^ 
majesty,  the  King  of  England,  and  his  successors,  as 
of  the  manor  of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  county  of 
Kent,  in  free  and  common  soccage  and  by  fealty,  only 
yealding,  rendering  and  paying  yearly  and  every  year 
unto  his  royal  highness,  the  Duke  of  York  and  his 
successors,  or  to  such  governor  and  governors  as  from 
time  to  time  shall  by  him  be  constituted  and  appointed,, 
as  all  acknowledgment  and  quit  rent,  twenty  bushels 
of  good  peas,  upon  the  first  day  of  March,  when  it 
shall  be  demanded.  Given  under  my  hand,  and. 
sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  province  at  Fort  James,, 
in  New  York,  on  the  island  of  Manhattan,  this  thir- 
teenth day  of  November,  in  the  twenty-third  year  of 
the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lord,  Charles  the  Seccond, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England,  Scotland,  France 
and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  and  Anno 
Domini,  1671. 

Francis  Lovelace, 
manor-grant  of  philipseborough. 

William  and  Mary,  by  the  grace  of  God,  &c.,  king 
and  queen  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


160a 


defenders  of  the  faith,  &c.,  to  uU  to  whom  these  pres- 
ents shall  come,  greeting:  whereas,  the  Honorable 
Richard  Nicolls,  Esq.,  late  governor  of  our  Province 
of  New  York,.&c.,  by  a  certain  deed  or  patent,  sealed 
with  the  seal  of  our  said  Province,  bearing  date  the 
8th  day  of  Oct.,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1GG6,  pursu- 
ant to  the  authority  in  him  residing,  did  give  and 
grant  unto  Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary  his  wife,  their 
heirs  and  assigns,  all  that  tract  of  land  upon  the  main, 
bounded  to  the  north  by  a  rivulet  called  by  the  In- 
dians, Meccackassin,  so  running  southward  to  Nep- 
perhan,  from  thence  to  the  kill  Shorackkapock  and 
to  Paparinnomo,  which  is  the  southermost  bounds, 
then  to  go  across  the  country,  eastward  by  that  which 
is  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Bronx's  river, 
together  with  all  the  woods,  marshes,  meadows,  pas- 
tures, waters,  lakes,  creeks,  rivulets,  fishing,  hunting 
and  fowling,  and  all  other  profits,  commodities  and 
emoluments  to  said  tract  of  land  belonging,  with  their 
and  every  of  their  appurtenance,  to  have  and  to  hold 
unto  the  said  Hugh  O'Neale  and  Mary  his  wife,  their 
heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  pat- 
ent, relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and 
at  large  appear,  and  whereas,  the  said  Hugh  O'Neal 
and  Mary  his  wife,  by  their  certain  deed  or  writ,  dated 
30th  day  of  Oct.,  in  the  said  year  of  our  Lord,  1666, 
did  sell,  alien,  assign  and  set  over  all  and  singular 
their  right  and  title  and  interest  of  in  and  to  the 
aforenamed  tract  of  land  and  premises,  unto  Elias 
Doughty  of  Flushing,  in  the  Co.  of  York,  on  Long 
Island,  unto  the  said  Elias  Doughty,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  writing,  relation 
being  thereunto  had,  as  may  more  fully  and  at  large 
appear,  and  whereas,  the  said  Elias  Doughty  by  his 
certain  deed  or  writing,  bearing  date  29  day  of  Nov., 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1672,  for  the  consideration 
therein  expressed  and  mentioned,  did  assign  and  set 
over,  all  and  singular  his  right  and  title  and  interest, 
of,  in  and  to  the  aforementioned  tract  of  laud  and 
premises  unto  Thomas  Deleval,  Esq.,  Frederick  Phil- 
ips and  Thomas  Lewis,  mariner,  to  hold  to  them,  their 
heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  writ- 
ing relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and 
at  large  appear ;  and  wlierea.s,  the  said  Thomas  Dele- 
val, in  and  by  a  certain  codicil  annexed  unto  his  last 
will  and  testament  in  writing,  bearing  date  the  10 
day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1682,  amongst 
other  things  did  devise  unto  John  Deleval  his  only 
son,  all  that  his  interest  in  the  aforementioned  land 
and  premises,  his  one  full,  equal  and  certain  third 
thereof,  as  by  the  said  codicil  in  writing,  relation 
being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and  at  large 
appear;  and,  whereas,  the  Hon.  Col.  Thomas  Dou- 
gan,  late  gov.  of  our  said  province  &c.,  and  as  by  a 
certain  deed  or  patent,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our 
said  province,  &c.,  and  bearing  date  the  19th  of  Feb., 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1684-5,  pursuant  to  the 
authority  in  him  then  residing,  for  the  consideration 
therein  expressed,  did  further  grant,  ratify  and  con- 
11b 


firm,  unto  the  said  Thomas  Deleval,  Frederick  Phil- 
ips, Geertje  Lewis,  relict  of  the  said  Thomas  Lewis, 
due  their  heirs  and  assigns,  all  the  aforesaid  tract  and 
parcel  of  land  beginning  at  a  small  rivulet  known  and 
called  by  the  Indians,  Makakassin,  from  thence  into 
the  woods  due  east  by  a  great  rock  stone  and  a  lyne  of 
marked  trees,  to  Bronx's  river,  and  thence  by  said 
river,  four  miles  and  something  more,  to  a  marked 
white  oak  tree  upon  the  middle  of  a  great  ledge  of 
rocks,  which  is  the  north-east  corner  of  the  land  of 
Francis  French  &  Co.,  in  the  mile  square  formerly 
sold  out  of  the  aforesaid  patent,  then  by  the  said  land, 
west,  35  deg.  northerly,  1  mile  or  80  chains  from 
thence  ea.st  35  deg.  southerly  to  Bronx's  river  to  a 
marked  tree,  which  is  the  south-east  corner  of  the 
mile  square,  excepted  out  of  the  said  patent,  from 
thence  by  Bronx's,  his  river,  89  chains  to  a  marked 
tree,  which  is  the  north-east  corner  of  Wm.  Bettsand 
George  Tippets,  and  tl>en  by  a  certain  lyne  of  marked 
trees  due  west  30  chains  to  the  marked  tree  or  south- 
east corner  of  the  purchase  of  John  Heddy,  then  due 
N.  34  chains,  from  thence  due  west  by  their  purchase, 
90  chains  to  the  north-west  corner  of  the  300  acres, 
then  due  south  16  chains  to  the  north-west  corner  of 
the  20  acres  purchased  of  John  Heddy,  thence  and 
by  the  said  land  west  12  chains  to  the  north-west  cor- 
ner, then  by  the  side  of  the  kill,  south  18  chains  to 
the  land  of  Wm.  Betts  and  George  Tipi)etts,  from 
thence  by  a  lyne  of  marked  trees  due  west  79  chains, 
to  a  white  oak  tree  standing  on  the  bank  of  Hudson's 
river,  to  the  south  of  Dog-wood  brook  16  chains  and 
}  and  then  northerly  by  the  Hudson's  river  to  Nep- 
perha,  which  is  near  the  Yonkers  mills,  and  so  con- 
tinue by  Hudson's  river  to  the  first  mentioned  suiall 
rivulet,  Maccakassin,  the  whole  being  bounded  to  the 
north  with  a  lyne  of  marked  trees  and  a  great  rock 
stone,  to  the  east  by  Bronx's  river  and  the  land  of 
Francis  French  and  Co.,  to  the  south  by  the  land  of 
Wm.  Betts,  George  Tippets  and  Thomas  Heddy,  to 
the  west  by  Hudson's  river,  containing  in  all,  7,708 
acres,  together  with  all  and  singular  the  messuages, 
tenements,  buildings,  barns,  stables,  orchards,  gar- 
dens, pastures,  meadows,  mills,  mill-dams,  runs, 
streams,  ponds,  rivers,  brooks,  woods,  under-woods, 
trees,  timber,  fencing,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting, 
hawking,  liberties,  privileges,  hereditaments  and  im- 
provements whatsoever,  belonging  or  in  any  way  ap- 
pertaining, to  have  and  to  hold  all  the  aforementioned 
tract  and  parcel  of  land,  with  all  and  singular  the 
afoi'ementioned  premises,  unto  the  said  John  Deleval, 
Frederick  Philips,  Geertje  Lewis,  their  heire  and 
assigns  forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  patent  reg- 
istered in  our  secretary's  office  of  our  province  of  New- 
York  aforesaid,  relation  being  thereunto  had,  may 
more  fully  and  at  large  appear;  and,  whereas  the  said 
Thomas  Deleval,  by  a  certain  deed  of  indenture, 
sealed  with  the  seal,  and  bearing  date  the  27th  day  of 
August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1685,  did,  for  the 
consideration  therein  mentioned,  grant,  bargain  and 


1606 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sell,  all  that  one  full  third  part  of  all  and  singular  the 
said  tract  of  land,  afore  recited,  described  and  bounded 
within  the  limits  aforesaid  unto  him  the  said  Freder- 
ick Philips  one  of  the  parties  aforesaid,  together  with 
all  that  one  full  and  equal  third  part  of  all  and  singu- 
lar the  houses,  out-houses,  barns,  stables,  mills,  mill- 
dams,  buildings,  fences  and  edifices  thereon  erected 
and  built,  and  likewise  one  full  third  part  of  all  and 
singular  the  waters,  water-courses,  streams,  woods, 
underwoods,  fishing,  fowling,  hawking,  hunting, 
hereditaments  and  appurtenances  to  the  same  belong- 
ing, or  in  any  way  appertaining,  to  have  and  to  hold 
unto  the  said  Frederick  Philipse,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  indenture,  relation 
being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and  at  large  ap- 
pear; and  whereas,  the  said  Geertje  Lewis,  executrix 
of  the  last  will  and  testament  of  Thomas  Lewis,  late 
of  New  York,  mariner,  her  late  husband,  deceased, 
and  Lodivick  Lewis,  Barrent  Lewis,  Leonard  Lewis, 
Katharine  Lewis  and  Thomas  Lewis  the  children 
and  co-heirs  of  said  Thomas  Lewis  and  Geertje  his 
wife,  by  a  certain  deed  of  indenture,  sealed  with  the 
seal  bearing  date  the  12  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1686,  did,  for  the  consideration  therein 
mentioned,  grant,  bargain  and  sell,  all  that  the  full 
one-third  part  of  all  and  singular  the  said  tract  of 
land  afore-recited,  described  and  bounded  with  the 
limits  aforesaid,  unto  him,  the  said  Frederick  Phil- 
ips, one  of  the  parties  aforesaid,  together  with  all  that 
one  full  and  equal  third  part  of  all  and  singular  the 
houses,  out-houses,  barns,  stables,  mills,  mill-dams, 
buildings,  fences  and  edifices  thereon  erected  and 
built,  and  likewise  one  full  third  part  of  all  and 
singular  the  water,  water-courses,  streams,  woods, 
underwoods,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting,  hawking, 
hereditaments  and  appurtenances  to  the  same  be- 
longing or  in  any  wise  appertaining,  to  have  and  to 
hold  unto  the  said  Frederick  Philips,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs forever,  as  by  the  said  deed  or  indenture,  rela- 
tion being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and  at  large 
appear,  and  whereas,  the  Hon.  Sir  Edmund  Audross, 
late  governor  of  our  said  province  of  New  York,  &c., 
by  a  certain  writing  or  patent,  sealed  with  the  seal 
of  our  said  province,  bearing  date  the  first  day 
of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1680,  pur- 
suant to  the  authority  in  him  then  residing, 
did  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Frederick 
Philips,  a  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land,  beginning 
at  a  creek  or  river  called  by  the  Indians,  Pocanteco 
or  Wackandeco,  with  power  thereon  to  set  a  mill  or 
mills,  with  a  due  portion  of  land  on  each  side,  adjoin- 
ing unto  the  said  river,  lying  within  the  bounds  of 
the  Indians  land  at  Wickers  creek,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Hudson  river,  which  said  Indian  land  was  by  the 
said  Frederick  Philips  purchased  from  the  said  native 
Indian  proprietors  thereof,  by  the  licence  and  appro- 
bation of  the  said  Sir  Edmund  Andross  and  the  said 
Indian  proprietors  did,  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Edmund 
Andross  aforesaid,  acknowledge  to  have  received  full 


satisfaction  of  him  the  said  Frederick  Philips  for  the 
said  land  adjoining,  to  each  syde  of  the  creek  or  river 
aforesaid,  which  said  land  is  situate,  lying  and  being 
on  each  side  of  the  said  creek  or  river,  north  and 
south  1600  treads  or  steps  which  at  12  ft  to  the  rod, 
makes  400  rod  and  runs  up  into  the  country  so  far  as 
the  said  creek  or  river  goeth,  with  this  proviso  or  re- 
striction that  if  the  creek  or  river  called  by  the  Indi- 
ans, Nippiorha,  and  by  the  charters  Yonkers  creek  or 
kill  shall  come  within  the  space  of  land  of  400  rods 
on  the  south  side  of  the  aforenamed  creek  or  river, 
that  shall  extend  no  farther  than  the  said  creek  or 
river  of  Nippiroha,  but  the  rest  to  be  so  far  up  into 
the  country  on  each  side  of  the  said  creek  or  river 
called  Pocanteco  as  it  runs,  being  about  north-east, 
to  have  and  to  hold  all  the  aforesaid  recited  tract  or 
parcel  of  land  unto  him  the  said  Frederick  Philips, 
his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  by  the  said  grant 
or  patent  registered  in  our  secretary's  office  of  our 
province  of  New  York,  &c.,  aforesaid,  relation  being 
thereunto  had  may  more  fully  and  at  large  appear, 
and  whereas  the  Honorable  Thomas  Uongan  late  gov. 
of  our  province  of  New  York,  &c.,  aforesaid,  by  virtue 
of  the  power  in  him  then  residing  hath,  by  another 
grant  or  patent  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our  said  prov- 
ince of  New  York,  and  registered  in  our  secretary's 
office  of  our  province  aforesaid,  bearing  date  23d  of 
September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1684,  given, 
granted,  ratified,  and  confirmed,  unto  said  Frederick 
Philips,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  several  tracts  and  par- 
cels of  land  with  the  limits  and  bounds  hereafter  men- 
tioned, that  were  according  to  the  usage,  custom,  and 
laws  of  our  said  province  purchased  by  the  said  Fred- 
erick Philips  from  the  native  Indians  and  proprietors, 
in  manner  and  form  following,  (that  is  to  say,)  all 
those  certain  parcels  and  pieces  of  land  lying  about 
the  Wigquaskeek  that  was  on  the  24th  day  of  October, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1680,  purchased  by  the  said 
Frederick  Pliilij)s  of  the  Indian  Goharius,  brother  of 
Weskora,  sachem  of  Wigquaskeek,  for  himself  and  by 
the  full  order  of  Goharius,  which  certain  parcel  or 
parcels  of  land  are  lying  about  Wigquaskeek  to  the 
north  syde  and  tending  from  the  land  of  the  aforesaid 
Frederick  Philips  running  along  the  North  river  to 
the  north  of  the  small  creek  called  by  the  Indians 
Sepackena  creek,  as  far  as  it  goeth  into  the  woods, 
and  coming  to  the  end  of  the  aforesaid  creek,  then 
shall  the  aforesaid  pieces  or  parcels  of  land  have 
their  line  north-east,  or  if  the  creek  Pocanteco  Wack- 
andeco upon  which  at  present'  stands  the  mills  of 
the  said  Frederick  Philips,  shall  run  upon  a  north- 
east lyne,  then  the  said  land  shall  run  along  the  said 
creek  Pocanteco,  or  Weghkaudeco,  into  the  woods  as 
the  said  creek  or  kill  shall  go,  and  there  shall  be  the 
end  or  utmost  bounds  of  the  said  certain  pieces  of 
land,  as  by  the  said  writing  or  Indian  deed,  relation 
being  thereunto  had  may  more  fully  and  at  large  ap- 


112  June,  1693. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


160c 


pear,  as  likewise  another  tract  or  parcel  of  land  on 
the  east  side  of  Hudson's  river  that  was  by  said  Fred- 
erick Phiii|)s  purchased  of  the  Indians  Goharius,  Co- 
bus,  and  Tognuanduck,  on  the  23d  day  of  April,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord,  IfiSl,  whi«h  tract  or  parcel  of  land 
being  situate  on  the  east  side  of  the  North  or  Hud- 
son's river,  beginning  at  the  south  side  of  a  creek 
called  Bissigktick,  and  so  ranging  along  the  said  river 
northerly  to  the  aforesaid  land  of  the  aforesaid  Fred- 
erick Philips,  and  then  alongst  the  said  land  north- 
east and  by  east  until  it  conies  to  and  meets  with  the 
creek  called  Nippiorha,  if  the  said  creek  shall  fall 
within  that  lyne,  otherwise  to  extend  no  further  than 
the  head  of  the  creek  or  kill  called  Potanteco,  or 
Puegkanteko,  and  southerly  alongst  the  said  river 
Neppiorha  if  the  same  shall  fall  within  the  said  line 
as  aforesaid,  or  else  in  a  direct  lyne  from  the  head  of 
the  said  creek  or  kill  called  Pocanteco  Puegkandico, 
untill  it  comes  opposite  to  the  said  first  mentioned 
creek  called  Bissightick,  and  from  thence  westwardly 
to  the  head  of  the  said  creek  and  alongst  the  same  to  the 
North  or  Hudson's  river,  being  the  first  station,  as  by 
the  said  writing  or  deed,  relation  being  thereunto  had, 
may  more  fully  and  at  large  apiiear,  as  also  another 
certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  on  the  east  syde  of  the 
said  Hudson's  river  that  was  by  the  said  Frederick 
Philips  purchased  of  the  native  Indians  Armaghqueer, 
Seapham  alias  Thapham,  on  the  8th  day  of  April,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1(>82,  which  certain  tractor  par- 
cel of  land  is  situate,  lying,  and  being  on  the  east 
side  of  the  North  or  Hudson's  river  to  the  south  of 
the  land  formerly  bought  by  the  said  Frederick  Phil- 
ips, of  the  said  Indians,  beginning  at  the  south  side 
of  a  creek  called  Bissightick,  and  so  ranging  along 
the  said  river  southerly  to  a  creek  or  fall  called  by  the 
Indians  Weghquegsik,  and  by  the  Christians  Law- 
rcnces's  plantation,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  said 
creek  or  fall  upon  a  due  east  course  to  a  creek  called 
by  the  Indians  Nippiorha,  and  by  the  Christians  the 
Yonkers  kill,  and  from  thence  alongst  the  west  side 
of  the  said  creek  or  kill  as  the  same  runs  to  the  before 
mentioned  land,  formerly  bought  by  the  said  Fred- 
erick Philips  of  the  sayd  Indians,  and  so  along  that 
land  to  the  first  station,  as  by  the  said  writing  or  In- 
dian deed,  relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more 
fully  and  at  large  appear,  as  also  another  tract  or  par- 
cel of  land  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's  river  that  was 
by  the  said  Frederick  Philips  purchased  of  the  na- 
tive Indians  Warramanhack,  Esparamogh,  Anhock, 
&c.,  on  the  fUh  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  1682,  which  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  is 
situated,  lying,  and  being  on  the  west  side  of  the  North 
or  Hudson's  river,  beginning  at  the  north  side  of  the 
land  belonging  to  the  Yonkers  kill,  Nipperha,  at  a 
great  rock  called  by  the  Indians  Mcghkeckassin,  or  the 
great  stone,  (as  called  by  the  Christians,)  from  thence 
ranging  into  the  woods  eastwardly  to  a  creek  called  by 
the  Indians  Nipperha  aforesaid,  and  from  thence 
along  said  creek  northerly  till  you  come  to  the  eastward 


of  the  head  of  a  creek  called  by  the  Indians  Wegquis- 
keek,  being  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  said  Frederick 
Philips's  land,  formerly  bought  of  the  Indians,  and 
from  thence  westwardly  along  the  said  creek  Weg- 
queskeek  to  Hudson's  river  aforesaid,  as  by  the  said 
Indian  deed,  relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more 
fully  and  at  large  appear,  and  also  another  tract  or 
parcel  of  land  that  was  by  the  said  Frederick  Philips 
purchased  of  the  native  Indians  Sapham,  Ghoharius, 
Kakingsigo,  on  the  7th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  1684,  which  tract  or  parcel  of  land  is  situate, 
lying,  and  being  to  the  eastward  of  the  land  of  the 
said  Frederick  Philips  between  the  creek  called 
Nippiorha,  or  the  Yonkers  kill,  and  Bronk's  river, 
beginning  on  the  south  side  at  the  northerly  bounds 
of  the  Yonkers  land,  and  from  thence  along  the  afore- 
said creek,  Nippiorha,  however  it  runs,  till  you  come 
to  the  most  northerly  bounds  of  the  said  Frederick 
Philips's  lands,  and  from  thence  north-east  into  the 
woods  unto  Bronk's  river,  as  it  runs  southerly  to  the 
eastward  of  the  Yonkers  land  aforesaid,  and  from 
thence  with  a  westerly  lyne  to  the  aforenamed 
Yonkers  kill,  or  Nippiorha,  as  by  the  said  Indian 
deed,  relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully 
and  at  large  appear,  all  which  several  tracts  and 
parcels  of  land  within  the  several  respective  limits 
and  bounds  aforementioned,  and  purchased  by  the 
said  Frederick  Philips  of  all  and  every  the  respective 
native  Indians  aforesaid,  in  manner  aforesaid,  were 
by  the  said  Thomas  Dongan,  late  gov.  of  our  province 
under  the  seal  of  our  said  province,  bearing  date  as 
aforesaid,  given,  granted,  ratified,  and  confirmed 
unto  him,  said  Frederick  Philips,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs, together  with  all  and  singular  the  houses, 
buildings,  messuages,  tenements,  and  hereditaments, 
mills,  null-dams,  rivers,  runns,  streams,  ponds,  with 
liberty  to  erect  other  mills  or  dams,  or  places  conve- 
nient, woods,  underwoods,  quarries,  fishing,  hawking, 
hunting,  and  fowling,  with  all  liberties,  priviledges, 
and  improvements  whatsoever  to  the  said  land  and 
premises  belonging  or  in  anywise  appertaining,  to 
have  and  to  hold  all  the  aforesaid  tract  and  tracts, 
parcel  and  parcels  of  land  and  premises  with  their 
and  every  of  their  appurtenances  unto  said  Frederick 
Philips,  his  heirs  and  assignees  forever,  as  by  the  said 
grant  or  patent  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our  said 
[)rovince,  and  registered  in  our  secretary's  office 
of  our  said  province  bearing  date  23d  day  of  De- 
cember in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1684,  relation 
being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully  and  at  large 
appear,  and  whereas  the  aforesaid  Thomas  Don- 
gan late  Gov.  of  our  said  province,  by  virtue  of 
the  said  power  and  authority  in  him  residing  hath 
moreover  by  another  grant  or  patent  sealed  with 
the  seal  of  our  said  province  and  registered  in 
our  secretary's  office  aforesaid  bearing  date  the 
nth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1686,  given,  granted,  ratified,  and  confirmed  un- 
to  Philip  Philips,  eldest  son,  of  him  the  said 


HISTORY  OF  WE8TCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


said  moiety  or  equal  half  part  of  the  said  meadows 
and  premises  with  the  appertinences  unto  the  said 
Frederick  Philips,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as 
by  the  said  grant  or  patent,  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our 
said  province  and  registered  in  our  secretary's  office 
aforesaid,  bearing  date  the  said  27th  day  of  June,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  1687,  and  as  by  the  said  deed 
of  conveyance,  under  the  hands  and  seals  of  the  said 
George  Lockhart  and  Janet  his  wife,  bearing  date 
20th  day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  16.S5, 
relation  being  thereunto  had  respectively  may  more 
fully  and  at  large  appear ;  and  whereas  Augustine 
Grayham  our  surveyor  general  for  our  said  prov- 
ince of  New  York,  &c.,  hath  by  warrant  bearing  date 
the  11th  of  February,  in  the  fourth  year  of  our  reign, 
surveyed  and  laid  out  for  the  said  Frederick  Philips, 
a  certain  small  parcel  of  salt  meadows  situate  and 
being  on  the  north  side  of  Tappan  creek  in  the  county 
of  Orange,  beginning  at  a  certain  stake  set  on  the  east 
side  of  the  said  creek,  and  from  thence  run  east  37° 
40  min.  northerly  to  Hudson's  river  six  chains  and 
ninety  links,  thence  along  the  said  river  twelve  chains 
and  ninety  links  south  one  degree,  westerly  to  the  mouth 
of  the  aforesaid  creek,  and  from  thence  along  the  said 
creek  west  five  degrees  thirty-five  minutes,  northerly 
eleven  chains,  thence  north  twelve  degrees,  eastwardly 
two  chains  and  forty  links,  thence  e.ist  forty  degrees, 
southerly  three  chains  forty-five  links  along  the  said 
creek,  thence  east  eleven   degrees  thirty  minutes, 
southerly  two  chains  twenty  links,  thence  north  six 
degrees  twenty-five  minutes,  seven  chains  and  seventy 
links,  to  the  stake  where  the  line  first  began,  being 
bounded  on  the  north-west  by  a  certain  parcel  of 
Frederick  Philips  all  that  tract  or  parcel  of  land 
commonly  called  by  the  Indians  Sinck  Sinck,  and 
situate,  lying,  and  being  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's 
river  by  the  northermost  part  of  the  land  purchased 
by  the  said  Frederick  Philips,  and  so  running  alongst 
Hudson's  river  to  a  certain  creek  or  river  called 
Kichtawan,  and  from  thence  running  alongst  the  said 
creek  two  English  miles,  and  from  thence  running  up 
the  country  upon  a  due  east  lyne  untill  it  comes  unto 
a  creek  called  Nippiorha,  by  the  Christians  Yonkers 
creek,  and  so  running  alongst  the  said  creek  un- 
till it  comes  unto  the  northerly  bounds  of  the 
said  land  of  Frederick  Philijis  aforesaid,  and  from 
thence  alongst  the  said  land  untill  it  comes  to 
Hudsons  river,  together  with  all  manner  of  rivers, 
rivulets,  ruuns,  streams,  feedings,  pastures,  woods, 
underwoods,  trees,  timbers,  waters,  water  courses, 
ponds,  pools,  pits,  swamps,   moors,  marshes,  mea- 
dows,  easements,   profliits    and  commodities,  fish- 
ing,  fowling,   hunting,   hawking,   mines,  minerals, 
quarries,    (royal   mines   only    excepted)    and  all 


royalties,  profits,  commodities,  hereditaments  and 
api)urtenances  whatsoever  to  the  said  tract  or  parcel 
of  land  within  the  bounds  and  limits  aforesaid,  be- 
longing or  in  any  ways  appertaining,  to  have  and  to 
hold  the  said  tract  or  parcel  of  land  and  all  and 
singular  other  the  premises  with  their  and  every  of 
their  appurtenances,  unto  the  said  Philip  Philips,  his 
'  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  by  the  said  grant  or 
[)atent,  relation  being  thereunto  had,  may  more  fully 
and  at  large  appear,  and  whereas  the  said  Philip 
Philips  did  by  mean  assurance  in  the  law,  sell, 
alienate,  enfeoft',  and  confirm  unto  his  said  father 
Frederick  Philips  all  the  afore-recited  tract  or  parcel 
of  land  within  the  limits  and  boundsabove  mentioned 
and  expressed,  together  with  all  and  singular  the 
premises  with  their  and  every  of  their  appertinences, 
j  to  have  and  to  hold  unto  him  the  said  Frederick 
Philips,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  as  by  his  deed 
of  conveyance  under  his  hand  and  seal  bearing  date 

j  the  day  of  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  lti8-, 

{  relation  being  thereunto  had  more  fully  and  at  large 
appear;  and  whereas  the  aforesaid  Thomas  Dongan, 
late  Gov.  of  our  said  province,  by  virtue  of  the  said 
power  and  authority  in  him  residing  hath,  by  another 
grant  or  patent  sealed  with  the  seal  of  our  said  pro- 
vince and  registered  in  our  secretary's  office  aforesaid, 
bearing  date  the  27th  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  ]t)87,  given,  granted,  ratified,  released  and  con- 
firmed unto  the  said  Frederick  Philips  all  that  the 
moiety  or  one  equal  half  part  of  a  certain  entire 
parcel  of  meadow  ground,  situate,  lying,  and  being  at 
a  certain  place  called  Tappan  near  Hudson's  river, 
bounded  to  the  north  by  a  certain  creek  called  or 
known  by  the  name  of  Tappan  creek,  to  the  east  by 
Hudson's  river  aforesaid,  to  the  west  by  a  certain 
parcel  of  upland  now  in  possession  of  George  Lock- 
hart,  and  to  the  south  by  Hudson's  river  aforesaid, 
the  said  moiety  or  etjual  half  part  of  the  said  mea- 
dows to  be  laid  out  along  the  side  of  Hudson's  river 
aforesaid  throughout  the  whole  length  of  its  bounds 
upon  said  river  from  Tappan  creek  aforesaid,  and  to 
be  bounded  to  the  north  by  Tappan  creek,  to  the 
east  by  Hudson's  river,  to  the  west  by  the  other 
moiety  or  half  part  of  the  said  meadows,  still  running 
to  the  said  George  Lockhart's,  and  so  to  run  southerly 
to  the  end  of  the  said  meadows,  nothing  excepted  or 
reserved  thereof,  to  the  said  George  Lockhart,  his 
heirs  or  assigns,  but  one  cart  or  waine  way  through 
the  said  moiety  or  half  part  of  the  meadow 
aforesaid,  which  moiety  or  equal  half  part  of 
the  meadow  aforesaid  was  by  mean  assurance  in 
the  law  conveyed  to  the  said  Greorge  Lockhart 
and  Janet  his  wife  unto  the  said  Frederick  Philips, 
his  heirs  and  assigns,  to  have  and  to  hold  the 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY  OF  THE  MANORS. 


160e 


meadow  said  to  belong  to  Cornelius  Claaler,  on  the 
east  by  Hudson's  river  on  the  south  and  west  by  the 
said  creek,  containing  in  all  six  acres  three  roods  and 
eight  perches,  as  by  the  return  of  the  survey,  bearing 
date  the  19th  day  of  April,  in  the  said  fourth  year  of 
our  reign,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  lf)!>2,  relation 
being  thereunto  had  may  more  fully  and  at  large  ap- 
pear, all  which  several  tracts  or  parcels  of  land  lying 
together,  and  bounded  and  limited  in  manner  hereaf- 
ter expressed  and  mentioned,  (that  is  to  say)  all  the 
said  tract  and  parcels  of  land  that  are  on  theeastside 
of  Hudson's  river  are  bounded  to  the  northward  by  a 
creek  or  river  commonly  called  by  the  Indians  Kigh- 
towank  and  by  the  English  Knotrus  river,  and  now 
belonging  to  Stevanus  van  Cortlandt,  Esq.,  and  so 
eastward  into  the  woods  along  the  said  creek  or  river 
two  English  miles,  and  from  thence  upon  a  direct 
east  line  to  Hronxes  river,  and  so  running  southward 
along  the  said  Hronxes  river  as  it  runs  until  a  flirccl 
west  line  cutteth  the  south  side  of  a  neck  or  island  ol 
land  at  a  creek  or  kill  called  Papparinerao  which  di- 
vides York  island  from  the  main,  and  so  along  the 
said  creek  or  kill  as  it  runs  to  Hudson's  river,  which 
part  of  the  said  creek  is  cidled  by  the  Indians  Sho- 
rackhappok,  and  continues  dividing  the  said  York 
island  from  the  main,  and  so  from  thence  to  the  north- 
ward alongst  Hudson's  river  uutill  it  comes  into  the 
aforesaid  creek  or  river  called  by  the  Indians  Kighta- 
wank  and  by  the  English  Knotrus  river  and  the  salt 
meadow  ground  on  the  west  side  of  Hudson's  river, 
are  bounded  and  limited  as  here  before  is  plainly 
mentioned  and  expressed.  And  whereas  our  loving 
subject  the  said  Fre<lerick  Phili[)s,  one  of  the  mem- 
bers of  our  council  of  our  said  provinc^  of  New  Y'ork, 
and  the  territories  depending  thereon  in  America, 
hath  by  his  petition  presented  to  Benjamin  Fletcher, 
our  captain-general  and  governor-in-chief  of  our  said 
province  of  New  York,  &c.,  prayed  our  grant  and 
confirmation  of  all  and  every  the  tracts  and  parcels 
of  land  within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  and 
that  we  would  likewise  erect  all  the  said  tracts  and 
parcels  of  land  within  the  limits  aforesaid  into  a  lord- 
ship or  manor  of  Philipsborough,  and  that  we  would 
further  grant  unto  our  said  loving  subject  a  certain 
neck  or  island  of  land  called  Paparinemo  adjoining 
to  the  land  aforesaid,  with  the  salt  meadows  thereunto 
belonging,  together  with  power  and  authority  to  erect 
a  bridge  over  the  water  or  river  commonly  called 
Spiten  devil  ferry  or  Paparinemo,  and  so  receive  toll 
from  all  passengers  and  droves  of  cattle  that  shall 
pass  thereon  according  to  rates  hereinafter  mentioned  ; 
and  whereas  it  is  manifest  that  our  said  loving  subject 
hath  been  at  great  charge  and  expense  in  the  pur- 
chasing and  settling  of  the  aforerecited  tracts  of  land, 


whereupon  considerable  imprf>vements  have  been 
I  made,  and  that  he  is  likewise  willing  at  his  own  proper 
I  cost  and  charge  to  build  a  bridge  at  the  ferry  afore- 
i  said  for  the  benefit  and  accomnjodatioii  of  travellers, 
i  which  reasonable  recpiest  for  his  future  encourage- 
I  ment  we  being  willing  to  grant.  Know  yr,  that  of  our 
special  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere  motion,  we 
have  given,  granted,  ratified,  and  confirmed,  and  by 
these  presents  do,  for  us,  our  heirs  and  succes.sors,  give, 
grant,  ratify,  and  confirm  unto  said  Frederick  Phil- 
ips, his  heirs  and  assigns,  all  and  every  the  aforere- 
cited tracts  and  parcels  of  land  and  meadow  ground 
within  the  limits  and  bounds  before  mentioned  and 
expressed,  and  likewise  the  aforesaid  neck  or  island 
of  land  called  Paparinemo,  and  the  meadow  there- 
unto belonging,  with  power,  authority,  and  privilege 
to  erect  and  build  a  dam  bridge  ui)on  the  aforesaid 
ferry  at  8pitendevil  or  Paparinemo,  and  to  receive 
rates  and  tolls  of  all  passengers  and  for  droves  of  cat- 
tle according  to  the  rates  hereafter  mentioned,  (that 
is  to  say,)  three  pence  current  money  of  New  York 
for  each  man  and  horse  that  shall  pass  the  said  bridge 
in  the  day  time,  and  threepence  current  money  afore- 
said for  each  head  of  neat  cattle  that  shall  pass  the 
same,  and  twelve  pence  current  money  aforesaid  for 
each  score  of  hogs,  calves,  and  sheep  that  shall  pass 
the  same,  and  nine  pence  current  money  aforesaid  for 
every  boat,  vessel,  or  canoe  that  shall  pass  the  said 
bridge  and  cause  the  same  to  be  drawn  up,  and  for 
each  coach,  cart,  or  sledge,  or  waggon  that  shall  pass 
the  same  the  sum  of  ninepence  current  money  afore- 
said ;  and  after  sunset  each  passenger  that  shall  pass 
said  bridge  shall  pay  two  pence  current  money  afore- 
said, each  man  and  horse  six  pence,  each  head  of  neat 
cattle  six  pence,  each  score  of  hogs,  calves,  and  sheep 
two  shillings,  for  each  boat  or  vessel  or  canoe  one  shil- 
lingandsix  pence  for  each  coach,  cart,waggon  or  sledge 
one  shilling  and  sixpence  current  money  aforesaid, 
together  with  all  the  messuages,  tenements,  buildings, 
barns,  houses, out-houses,  mills,  mill-dams,  fences,  or- 
chards, gardens,  pastures,  meadows,  marshes,  swamps, 
moors,  pools,  woods,  under-woods,  trees,  timber,  quar- 
ries, rivers,  runs,  rivulets,  brooks,  ponds,  lakes,  streams, 
creeks,  harbours,  beaches,  ferrys,  fishing,  fowling, 
hunting,  hawking,  mines,  minerals,  (silver  and  gold 
only  excepted,)  and  all  the  other  rights,  members, 
liberties,  priviledges,  jurisdictions,  royalties,  heredita- 
ments, proffits,  tolls,  benefits,  advantages  and  api)ur- 
tinances  whatsoever  to  the  aforesaid  tracts  and  neck 
or  island  of  land  and  meadows,  ferry,  bridge,  and 
mills  belonging  or  in  any  ways  appertaining,  or  ac- 
cepted, reputed,  taken,  known,  or  occupied  as  part, 
parcel,  or  member  thereof ;  and  moreover,  know  ye, 
that  of  our  further  special  grace,  certain  knowledge. 


160/ 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  mere  motion,  we  have  thought  fit,  according  to 
the  request  of  our  said  loving  subject,  to  erect  all  the 
aforesaid  recited  tracts  and  parcels  of  lands  and 
meadows  with  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  into  a 
lordship  or  manor,  and,  therefore,  by  these  presents 
we  do  erect,  make,  and  constitute  all  the  aforesaid 
recited  tracts  and  parcels  of  land  and  meadows, 
within  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid  mentioned, 
together  with  all  and  every  the  afore  granted  prem- 
ises with  all  and  every  of  the  appertinances  into  a 
lordship  or  manor,  to  all  intents  and  purposes;  and 
it  is  our  royal  will  and  pleasure  that  the  said  lordship 
and  manor  shall  from  henceforth  be  called  the  lord- 
ship or  manor  of  Philipsborough,  and  the  aforesaid 
bridge  to  be  from  henceforth  called  Kingsbridge  in 
the  manor  of  Philipsborough  aforesaid.  And  knoif 
ye,  that  we,  reposing  special  trust  and  confidence  in 
the  loyalty,  wisd<(m,  justice,  prudence,  and  circum- 
spection of  our  loving  subject,  do,  for  us,  our  heirs 
and  successors,  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Freder- 
ick Philips,  and  to  the  heirs  and  assignees  of  him  the 
said  Frederick  Philips,  full  power  and  authority  at 
all  times  forever  hereafter  in  the  said  lordship  or 
manor,  one  court  leet  and  one  court  baron  to  hold 
and  to  keep  at  such  times,  and  so  often,  yearly  and 
every  year,  as  he  or  they  shall  see  meet;  and  all 
fines,  issues,  and  amercements  as  the  said  Court  Leet 
or  Court  Baron  to  be  holden  within  said  lordship  or 
manor  to  be  sett,  forfeited,  or  employed,  or  payable, 
or  happening  at  any  time  to  be  payable  by  any  of  the 
inhabitants  of  or  within  the  said  lordship  or  manor 
of  Philipsborough,  in  the  limits  and  bounds  thereof, 
as  also  all  and  every  of  the  power  and  authority  herein 
before  mentioned,  for  the  holding  and  keeping  the 
Said  Leet  and  Court  Baron  from  time  to  time,  and  to 
award  and  issue  out  the  customary  writs  to  be  issued 
and  awarded  out  of  the  said  Court  Leet  and  Court 
Baron  to  be  kept  by  the  heirs  and  assignees  of  the 
said  Frederick  Philips  forever,  in  their  or  every  of 
their  stewards  deputed  and  appointed,  with  full  and 
ample  power  and  authority  to  distrain  for  the  rents, 
levies,  or  other  sums  of  money  payable  by  virtue  of 
the  premises,  and  all  other  lawful  remedies  and  means 
for  the  having  possession,  receiving,  levying,  and  en- 
joying the  premises  and  every  part  and  parcel  of  the 
same,  and  all  waifes,  estrays,  wrecks,  deodans,  and  of 
the  fellons  happening  and  being  furnished  within  the 
said  lordship  and  manor  of  Philipsborough,  and  all 
and  every  .sum  and  sums  of  money  to  be  paid  as  a 
parte  fine  upon  any  fine  or  fines  to  be  levied  of  any 
lands,  tenements  or  hereditaments  with 
in  the  said  lordship  or  manor  of  Phil-  )t'-% 
ipsburgh,  togather  with  the  advowson 
and  right  of  patronage  of  all  and  every 


the  church  or  churches  erected  or  to  be  erected  or  estab  - 
lished  or  hereafter  to  be  erected  or  established  within 
the  said  manor  of  Philipsborough ;  and  we  do  also 
further  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Frederick  Philips, 
his  heirs  and  assignees,  that  all  and  singular  the 
tenants  of  the  said  Frederick  Philips,  within  the  said 
manor  .shall  and  may  at  all  times  hereafter  meet  to- 
gether and  choose  assessors  within  the  manor  afore- 
said, according  to  such  rules,  ways,  and  methods  as 
are  prescribed  for  the  cities,  towns,  and  counties 
within  our  province  aforesaid  by  the  acts  of  General 
Assembly,  for  the  defraying  the  publick  charge  of 
each  respective  city,  town,  and  county  aforesaid,  and 
such  sums  of  money  so  assessed  or  levied  to  collect 
and  dispose  of  for  such  uses  as  the  acts  of  General 
Assembly  shall  establish  and  appoint,  to  have  and  to 
hold,  pcssess,  collect,  and  enjoy  all  and  singular  the 
said  lordship  or  manor  of  Philipsborough,  togather 
with  the  aforesaid  halls  and  premises,  with  all  their 
and  every  of  their  appertinances,  unto  the  said  Fred- 
erick Philips,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  to  the  only 
proper  use,  benefit,  and  behoof  of  him,  the  said  Fred- 
erick Philips,  his  heirs  and  assignees  forever,  reserv- 
ing unto  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  free  egress  and 
ingress  of  all  our  and  their  forces,  horse  or  foot,  of 
our  and  their  coaches,  waggons,  stores  of  war,  ammu- 
nition, and  expresses,  that  shall  from  time  to  time 
pass  the  said  bridge  for  our  or  their  service,  or  any 
thing  contained  to  the  contrary'  herein  in  any  ways 
notwithstanding,  to  be  holden  of  us,  our  heirs  and 
successors,  in  free  and  common  soccage  according  to 
the  tenure  of  our  manor  of  East  Greenwich  within 
our  county  of  Kent  in  our  realm  of  England,  yeald- 
ing,  rendering,  and  paying  therefor,  yearly  and  every 
year,  on  the  feast  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  at  our  fort  at  New  York  unto 
us,  our  heirs  and  succes,sors,  the  annual  rent  of  £4 
128.  current  money  of  our  said  province  in  lieu  and 
stead  of  all  former  rents,  services,  dues,  duties,  and 
demands  for  the  said  lordship  or  manor  of  Philips- 
borough and  premises.  In  testimony  whereof  we 
have  caused  the  seal  of  our  province  of  New  York  to 
be  hereunto  affixed.  Witne-is  Benjamin  Fletcher  our 
captain-general  and  governor-in-chief  of  our  province 
of  New  York  aforesaid,  province  of  Pennsylvania  and 
countj'  of  New  Castle,  and  the  territory  and  tracts  of 
land  depending  thereon  in  America,  at  Fort  William 
Heary,  the  12th  day  of  June,  in  the  fifth  year  of  our 
reign,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1693.' 


'  Lib.  vii.  Sec.  of  State's  off',  Albany. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


161 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  COLOXIAL  PERIOD. 

UY  KEV.  WILLIAM  S.  COFFEY,  M.A. 

Geneial  History  from  1(1X3  to  the  Revolution — Chief  Families — Trade — 
Mails — Xewspapers — Modes  of  Travel — Kise  of  Churches — Inllwenco 
of  tlic  Clersy — Belatious  of  the  County  to  the  Colony — Early  Census. 

In  1683,  nine  years  after  the  surrender  by  the  Dutch 
Government  to  the  English  of  its  Province  of  New 
Netherlands,  the  Duke  of  York  (afterwards  James  the 
Second)  sent  over  Colonel  Thomas  Dongan,  brother  of 
the  Baron  of  that  name  in  the  Irish  peerage,  and 
himself  afterwards  Earl  of  Limerick,  to  be  Governor  of 
the  colony,  henceforward  to  be  styled  "  New  York." 

In  the  instructions  to  Dongan  are  to  be  noted,  first, 
the  naming  of  Frederick  Philipse  and  Stephen  Van 
Cortlandt,  large  landed  proprietors  in  Westchester 
County,  as  members  of  his  Council,  and,  second,  the 
order  to  assemble  eighteen  representatives  of  the  free- 
holders of  the  colony  to  consult  with  the  Governor 
and  his  Council.  Dongan  arrived  in  August,  and,  in 
less  than  a  month,  summoned  the  people  to  elect  rep- 
resentatives to  the  first  Assembly,  which  he  ordered 
to  meet  on  the  17th  of  October,  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Westchester  County,  being  one  of  the  three 
Ridings  of  Long  Island,  returned  two  members  to  this 
body,  whose  names,  unfortunately,  are  not  known,  the 
acts  of  the  old  New  York  Assembly  being,  "  for  the 
most  part,  rotten,  defaced  or  lost."  '  An  important  law 
passed  by  this  Assembly  was  the  division  of  the  prov- 
ince into  twelve  counties.  The  County  of  West- 
chester is  marked  out  as  "  East  and  West  Chester, 
Bronxland,  Fordliam  and  all  as  far  eastward  as  the 
province  extends "  and  northward  along  tlie  Hud- 
son to  the  Highlands.  Acts  bearing  upon  the  inter- 
ests of  this  County  were  passed,  establishing  courts, 
repealing  rate  laws,  for  defraying  expenses,  for  the  de- 
struction of  wolves,  and  providing  for  damages  by 
swine,  and  also  settling  that  Westchester  should 
henceforth  have  two  representatives  in  the  Assembly.^ 

In  the  latter  part  of  November,  after  an  intimation 
from  the  Governor,  that,  unless  there  was  an  abatement 
of  her  claims,  he  would  proceed  to  extremities,  a  del- 
egation from  Connecticut  was  sent  to  New  York  to 
settle  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  provinces. 
In  the  previous  determination,  in  1664,  the  under- 
standing drawn  up  in  formal  manner  was,  that  the 
dividing  Hue  should  runabout  twenty  miles  from  any 
point  on  the  Hudson  River,  and,  as  Mamaroneck 
Creek  was,  on  the  assurance  of  the  Connecticut  com- 
missioners, discovered  to  be  at  that  distance  from  the 
nearest  locality  on  that  river,  an  amendment  was 
made  that  the  western  bounds  of  Connecticut  should 


1  Vide  Brodhead,  Hist,  of  N.  T.,  vol.  ii.  p.  382. 
-  Vide  Dunlap,  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  ii.  Ap.  N.  xliil. 
11 


find  there  their  starting-point,  and  proceed  in  a  straight 
direction  north-northwest  to  the  Massachusetts  line. 
Little  did  the  New  York  commissioners  inuigine  into 
what  a  blunder,  in  their  confidence,  they  were  being 
led.  The  mistake  or  deception  was  found  out,  and 
hence  the  necessity  now  for  a  new  conference  and  de- 
cision. The  commissioners  present  were  the  two 
Governors,  Dongan  and  Treat,  with  Messrs.  Brock- 
hoist,  Philipse,  Van  Cortlandt  and  Younge  for 
New  York,  and  ]\Iessrs.  Gold,  Allyn  and  Pitkin  for 
Connecticut.  The  mouth  of  the  Byram  River  was 
settled  as  the  boundary  point,  and,  as  not  less 
than  five  towns  (always  regarded  in  Connecticut) 
would  be  thrown  out  of  it  by  following  this  line,  an 
equivalent  tract,  quantity  for  quantity  (ever  since 
called  the  "Oblong  "),  was,  in  consideration,  assigned 
in  lieu  of  the  towns,  to  New  York.'  These  lines, 
partitions,  limits  and  bounds,  it  was  resolved,  should 
be  run  during  the  next  October  and  the  whole  matter 
transferred  to  the  King  and  Duke  of  York  for  their 
approval. 

The  disposal  of  them  thus  made  was  exceedingly 
distasteful  to  the  people  of  Rye  and  Bedford,  and, 
notwithstanding  a  letter  to  them  from  the  Connecticut 
govermnent  urging  the  propriety  of  submission, 
was  positively  resisted.  A  summons  of  Gov- 
ernor Dongan  to  appear  in  New  York  and 
show  title  to  their  lands  was  disobeyed,  and,  event- 
ually, an  open  request  to  the  General  Court  of 
Connecticut  for  recognition  as  belonging  to  the  latter 
colony  was  made,  the  approval  of  the  home  govern- 
ment to  the  agreement  being  for  years  delayed.  The 
result  of  this  dissatisfaction  was  an  open  rupture  on 
the  occasion  of  the  election  of  a  member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  in  1697,  in  which  the  sherift''s  author- 
ity was  disputed  and  an  armed  force  from  Connecticut 
interposed  to  prevent  tiie  accomplishment  of  the 
election.  The  course  of  these  towns  and  the  govern- 
ment of  Connecticut  received  a  practical  rebuke  when, 
in  1700,  King  William  confirmed  the  agreement  of 
1683  and  the  action  of  the  surveying  party  of  the 
next  year.  The  Assembly  of  Connecticut  thereupon 
ordered  that  information  of  the  fact  be  sent  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Rye  and  Bedford,  and  that  they  are 
freed  from  duty  to  that  government,  but  are  henceforth 
under  the  government  of  New  York.* 

In  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  Province 
Dongan  seems  to  have  displayed  the  greatest  energy 
and  ability  amid  difficulties  and  disadvantages  which 
sorely  taxed  his  powers.  One  of  his  troubles,  because 
it  gives  us  a  chance  to  look  into  Westchester,  we  re- 
call :  The  Duke  of  York's  Collector  (Santen)  seems  to 
have  been  so  lax  with  his  deputies  that  several  of 
them  were  defaulters.  Among  these  was  one  Collins, 
receiver  of  the  revenue  in  Westchester  County,  from 


'"Bonndarics  of  tlie  State  of  New  York."    Keport  of  the  Regents  of 
the  Vnivcrsity,  pp. 
iBaird's  Kye,  p.  118.    Public  Records  of  Connecticut,  vol.  iv.  p.  :i,35. 


162 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


whom  no  returns  having  been  made,  Santen  was  com- 
pelled to  be  satisfied  with  two  bonds,  payable  in  the 
succeeding  March.  These  Governor  Dongan  looked 
upon  to  be  of  no  value  and  all  the  revenue  of  that 
county  lost,  "  the  man  having  hardly  bread  to  put 
into  his  mouth." 

The  Acts  of  -  the  New  York  Assembly  of  1783  were 
duly  transmitted  for  approbation  to  the  Duke  of 
York ;  but  although  they  were,  with  some  amend- 
ments, approved  by  him  and  his  Commissioners,  and 
although  the  documents  were  signed  and  sealed 
which  were  to  declare  this,  the  death  of  Charles  II., 
in  the  succeeding  February,  changed  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  action.  The  Duke  ascended  the  throne  as 
James  II.  The  approving  papers  were  never  returned, 
and  the  King,  after  issuing  new  instructions  to  Don- 
gan nullifying  much  that  had  been  done,  soon  deter- 
mined to  merge  the  dirterent  provinces  north  of  the 
Delaware  into  one  government.  Dongan  was  recalled, 
and  Sir  Edmund  Andros  made  Governor  of  what  His 
Majesty  was  pleased  to  call  "our  Territory  and  Do- 
minion of  New  England  in  America."  A  council  of 
forty-two  of  the  princij^al  inhabitants  was  named  hy 
the  King,  to  whom  was  assigned  the  making  of  laws 
and  imposing  of  taxes.  In  the  list  of  these  counsel- 
ors we  again  find  the  names  of  Philipse  and  Van 
Cortlandt,  who  were  far  from  being  pleased  with  the 
change.  In  a  letter  of  theirs  to  the  Board  of  Trade 
they  join  with  Lieutenant-Governor  Nicholson  and  Mr. 
W.  Bayard  in  saying  "  how  fatall  it  hath  been  to  this 
city  and  the  Province  of  New  York  for  to  be  annexed 
to  that  of  Boston,  which,  if  it  had  continued,  would 
have  occasioned  the  totall  ruin  of  the  Inhabitants  of 
.?aid  Province." '  It  must  easily  appear  that  these 
changes,  with  the  consi'ijuent  thwarting  of  their  j)oliti- 
cal  hopes,  produced  much  dissatisfaction  among  the 
people  of  this  county.  Ruled  by  a  King  who  difi'ered 
with  them  in  religion,  with  no  voice  in  the  legislation 
by  which  to  protect  themselves,  and  now  even  their 
colonial  existence  destroyed,  they  were  loud  in  their 
denunciations  and  threats.  But  the  effect  of  this  act 
of  union  the  people  had  but  a  short  time,  in  mur- 
muring mood,  to  consider,  as  the  great  Revolution  at 
the  close  of  the  year  1688  compelled  James  to  abdi- 
cate his  power,  and  placed  upon  the  throne  his  daugh- 
ter Mary  and  her  husband,  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
This  event  brought  out  the  glad  symi)athies  of  the 
English  as  well  as  the  Dutch-descended  inhabitants 
of  the  whole  colony  of  New  York.  But,  strange  to 
s:iy,  instead  of  a  united  congratulation,  the  anxiety  on 
the  part  of  the  populace  for  the  change,  and  dread 
lest  it  should  miscarry,  combining  with  the  untoward 
situation  of  things,  the  absence  of  any  accredited  repre- 
sentative of  the  higher  power  and  of  any  otficial  infor- 
mation of  the  accession  of  William  (which  would  have 
been  followed  by  a  public  proclamation  of  it),  caused 
in  New  York  one  of  the  saddest  and  most  absurd 

•  N.  Y.  Col.  Mans.,  toI.  iii.  p.  576. 


illustrations  of  that  state  of  affairs  when  "  the  people 
furiously  rage  together  and  imagine  a  vain  thing." 

The  news  of  the  insurrection  in  Boston,  in  which 
Governor  Andros  was  seized  and  imprisoned,  reached 
New  York  on  the  very  day  that  word  also  came  that 
France,  whither  James  had  fled,  had  commenced  war 
with  Eng;land  and  Holland.  The  fears  of  the  people 
were  aroused.  It  was  immediately  determined  by  the 
city  authorities  that  as  the  Royal  garrison  of  the  town 
was  very  weak,  the  militia  should  be  summoned  to 
share  in  the  defense  of  the  Fort.  Colonel  Bayard  ac- 
cordingly assigned  the  six  companies  of  the  city,  which 
he  commanded,  to  mount  guard  in  turn.  So  deep  was 
the  suspicion  of  Mr.  Bayard  and  of  the  other  citizens 
who,  as  members  of  the  Council,  had  been  associated 
widi  Dongan  and  Andros  in  the  adminstration  of  af- 
fairs, and  who  now,  with  Nicholson,  having  indeed  no 
orders,  were  delaying  the  proclamation  of  William 
and  Mary,  that  the  captains  of  the  train-bands,  in- 
duced by  Jacob  Leisler,  one  of  their  number,  took 
possession  of  the  Fort,  and  declared  their  determina- 
tion to  protect  the  province  until  the  coming  of  the 
accredited  Governor  to  be  sent  by  William. 

Besides  the  six  captains  and  four  hundred  men  of  New 
York,  a  company  of  seventy  men  from  East  Chester 
seems  to  have  been  present  on  this  3d  of  June  and 
subscribed  to  the  following  declaration  : 

"  Hliereae,  our  inteiitioQ  tended  only  but  to  the  preservatiou  of  tbe 
[irolestant  religion  ami  tlie  fort  of  tliis  city,  to  the  end  tliat  we  may 
avoid  and  prevent  the  rash  judgment  of  the  world  in  so  just  a  design,  we 
have  thought  tit  to  let  every  body  know  by  these  public  proclamatione 
that  till  the  safe  arryval  of  the  .ships  that  we  expect  every  day  from  his 
royal  highness,  the  prince  of  Orange,  with  orders  for  the  government  of 
this  country  in  the  behalf  of  such  person  as  the  said  royal  highness  had 
chosen  and  honored  with  the  charge  of  a  Governor,  that  as  soon  as  the 
bearer  of  the  said  orders  shall  have  let  us  see  his  power,  then  and  with- 
out any  delay  execute  the  said  orders  punctually,  declaring  that  we  do 
intend  to  suliniit  and  obey  not  only  the  said  orders  but  also  the  liearer 
thereof  committed  for  the  execution  of  the  same.'-  In  witness  hereof  we 
have  signed  these  presents  the  third  of  June,  KiS'J. 

It  appears  also  that  there  was  a  company  of  soldieis 
from  New  Rochelle,  commanded  by  CaptainiCottomear. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  it  was  at  this  very  time 
that  the  French  settlers  of  New  Rochelle  obtained 
through  Leisler  their  lands  in  that  town  from  John 
Pell,  and  when  also  the  rumors  industriously  cir- 
culated are  presented,  which  pictured  the  French  as 
having,  among  other  designs  in  taking  New  York,  one 
to  seize  their  countrymen,  the  Huguenots,  and  torture 
them  or  ship  them  back  to  France,^  it  will  be  ob- 
vious how  easy  it  was  for  Leislei'  to  involve  them,  in 
his  designs,  as  subserving  thereby  their  own  safety. 
The  interest  of  Westchester  in  these  proceedings  also 
appears  in  the  fact  that  when,  after  the  destruction  of 
Schnectady,  Leisler  sent  an  expedition  against  the 
French  and  the  Indians,  there  is  no  doubt  that  there 
was,  for  its  size,  a  large  representation  of  the  County  in 
these  troops.^ 

2  Vide  Smith's  New  York,  2d  Ed.,  1792,  p.  74. 

s  Instructions  to  Count  de  Frontenac.   N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.  vol.  1.,  p.  29.5. 
*  N.  Y.  Doc.  Hist.  vol.  ii.  pp.  12-15.    Baird's  Rye,  p.  48  and  198.  N. 
Y.  Col.  Mans. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


163 


When  Leisler  took  possession  of  the  fort  at  New 
York,  Lieutenant-Governor  Nicholson  without  dehij' 
set  sail  for  England,  leaving  the  government  in  charge 
of  the  Council,  the  membeis  of  which  were,  Philii)se, 
Van  Cortland  and  Bayard.  Of  course,  the  public 
confidence  was  still  more  diminished.  Leisler,  taking 
advantage  of  this  state  of  things,  invited  from  each  of 
the  counties  a  delegation  of  two  to  meet  in  conven- 
tion, and  also  two  men  from  each  to  guard  the  fort. 

This  convention,  which  met  June  2(),  KiS'.t,  and  in 
which  Westchester  was  represented,  authorized  ten  of 
their  number  to  be  a  committee  of  safetj',  who,  in 
their  turn,  commissioned  Leisler  to  exercise  the  powers 
of  commander-in-chief  of  the  Province.  In  this  com- 
mittee were  Richard  Panton  and  Thomas  Williams, 
of  this  County,  who  seem  to  have  been  most  active 
supporters  of  Leisler. 

Some  months  afterwards  a  letter  from  King  Wil- 
liam to  Nicholson  was  intercepted  by  Leislei",  who  ap- 
propriating its  directions  to  himself,  set  up  the  claim 
that  "  he  had  received  a  commission  to  be  their  Majes- 
ties Lieutenant-Governor,"  and  then  proceeded  to  ap- 
point his  Council,  among  whom  was  Thomas  \Vil- 
liams,  of  Westchester. 

The  new  Governor,  Sloughter,  did  not  appear  until 
March  9th,  but  meanwhile  acts  of  lawlessness  and 
tyranny,  rashness  and  demagogism  abounded  in  the 
city  and  other  parts  of  the  colony,  in  which  Leisler 
and  members  of  his  Council  and  their  followers  were 
the  most  active. 

In  a  suit  tried  at  Westchester  in  1693,  Williams, 
then  sixty-two  years  of  age,  deposed  that  "  the  first 
reason  of  this  difficulty  was  a  big  look  violently  from 
me.  Caj)tain  Panton  commanded  him  (Leggett,  the 
plaintiff)  to  hold  his  peace,  but  he  still  continued 
abusing  the  defendant,  and  said,  '  here  comes  the 
father  of  rogues'  and  many  scurrilous  words,  upon 
which  I  got  a  warrant  against  him."  Williams  lived 
in  West  Farms,  and  Gabriel  Leggett  was,  as  ai)pears 
by  a  deed  of  March  3, 1(595,  his  near  neighbor.^ 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Sloughter,  Leisler  and  his  as- 
sociates, who,  with  mud  infatuation,  held  on  to  their 
usurped  authority  after  three  different  demands  from 
the  Governor,  were  immediately  upon  their  surrender 
arrested  and  confined  on  the  charge  of  treason.  Upon 
indictment  they  were  soon  tried,  and  upon  conviction 
sentenced  to  death. 

In  the  order  of  the  King  to  Sloughter,  appointing 
his  Council,  we  find  again  the  names  of  Philipse  and 
Van  Cortlandt,  who,  with  their  associates,  were  now 
sworn  into  office- 

Sloughter,  reports  to  England  that  many  of 
Leisler's  followers  "were  well  enough  affected  to  their 
Majesties  Government,  but  through  ignorance  were 
l)ut  upon  to  do  what  they  did,"  and  advises  as  an 
example,  the   execution   only  of  the  ringleaders. 


1  Court  of  Sessions  Journal.  Bolton's  "  Hist,  of  Westchester  County," 
vol  ii.  p.  183. 


The  first  Assembly  of  the  province,  which  the  new 
Governor  summoned,  met  on  the  9th  of  April,  1691, 
and  the  member  from  Westchester  County  was  John 
Pell.  The  position  taken  by  this  Assembly  was  that 
the  acts  passed  in  1683,  not  having  received  the  ap- 
probation of  Charles  the  Second  nor  the  Duke  of 
York  were  null  and  void,  and  it  proceeded  to  enact 
some  of  the  laws  supposed  by  the  people  to  be  in  force. 
An  act  making  a  division  of  the  province  into  twelve 
counties,  as  intended  in  1()83,  was  passed.  In  addi- 
tion, the  following  laws  for  Westchester  County  were 
enacted:  "An  act  for  settling  a  ministry  and  raising 
a  maintenance  for  them  in  Westchester  County.  An 
act  for  settling  the  militia.  An  act  offering  twenty 
shillings  for  a  grown  wolf  killed  by  a  Christian  in 
Westchester  County,  and  ten  shillings  for  such  a  wolf 
killed  by  an  Indian;  one-half  that  sum  respectively  for 
a  whelp.  An  act  for  the  further  laying  out  and  regu- 
lating and  better  clearing  public  highways  through- 
out this  Colony,"  in  which  Adolph  Philipse,  Esq., 
Caleb  Heathcote,  Esq.,  Mr.  Joseph  Drake,  Mr.  John 
Stevenson  and  Mr.  John  Haitt  are  made  commis- 
sioners to  take  a  I'eview  of  the  roads.  These  and  the 
other  acts  of  this  Assembly  were  sent  to  England  for 
approval. 

After  much  delay  and  hesitation,  and  under  cir- 
cumstances not  too  strongly  to  be  reprehended,  the 
execution  of  Leisler  and  his  son-in-law  and  confeder- 
ate, Jacob  Milborne,  was  ordered  and  took  jjlace  on 
the  16th  of  May,  1691.  The  punishment  of  Williams 
and  his  associates  was  deferred.  But  little  more  than 
two  months  passed  when  Sloughter  himself,  after  an 
illness  of  only  two  days,  died  under  circumstances  at 
first  deemed  suspicious,  but  afterwards  differently  re- 
garded. His  death  occurred  on  the  26th  of  July, 
1691,  and  after  a  disadvantageous  interregnum  of 
thirteen  months,  his  successor.  Colonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher,  landed  in  New  York.  The  day  after  his 
arrival  his  commission  and  the  names  of  members  of 
his  Council  were  proclaimed.  Some  changes  of  this 
body,  which  was  substantially  that  under  Sloughter, 
were  afterwards  deemed  necessary,  which  introduced 
Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale, 
and  thus  gave  Westchester  additional  weight  in  the 
Province. 

In  the  succeeding  March,  1693,  the  Assembly  met 
the  County  being  represented  by  John  Pell  and  by 
Joseph  Theale,  of  the  town  of  Rye.  From  the  report 
of  Governor  Fletcher  to  the  home  government,  in  April 
of  this  year,  we  extract  the  following  from  his  list  of 
those  employed  in  civil  ofiice  in  the  province  of  New 
York: 

The  justices  in  Westchester  County  were  Col.  Caleb 
Heathcote,  Judge  of  Common  Pleas,  J(jseph  Theale, 
Win.  Barnes,  Daniel  Strange,  James  Mott,  John  Hunt, 
Wm.  Chadderton,  Thomas  Pinkney,  Esqrs.;  Benjamin 
Collier,  Esq.,  Sherift";  Joseph  Lee,  Clerk  of  the  county.' 


2N.  T.  Col.  Mans  ,  Limrlon  Poc.  IX.  vol.  iv,  p.  27. 


16-t 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Theale,  Strange  and  Collier  were  of  the  town  of  Eye ; 
Barnes  and  Hunt,  of  Westchester ;  Chadderton  and 
Pinkney,  of  East  Chester;  Mott,  of  Maoiaroueck,  and 
Lee  in  all  likelihood,  from  Yorktown.  In  the  same 
report  the  militia  of  the  county  is  represented  to  con- 
sist of  six  companies  of  foot,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Caleb  Heathcote,  and  to  number  two  hundred  and 
eighty-three  men. 

In  the  following  September  a  new  Assembly  was 
convened  by  Fletcher,  and  Pell  is  again  a  member  of 
the  House,  and  has  as  his  colleague,  iu  jjlace  of  Theale, 
Humphrey  Underbill,  also  of  Rye.  At  this  session 
of  the  Colonial  Legislature  the  act  was  passed,  which, 
after  ap2)roval,  was  carried  out,  in  reference  to  the 
maintenance  of  religion  in  the  province.  The  bill 
provided  for  good,  sufficient  Protestant  ministers  to 
officiate  and  have  the  care  of  souls.  It  required  that 
there  should  be  two  ministers  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester, one  of  whom  should  have  care  of  Westchester, 
East  Chester,  Yonkers  and  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  and 
the  other  of  Rye,  Mamaroneck  and  Bedford,  and  that 
fifty  pounds  should  be  raised  for  each  of  the  incum- 
bents ;  and  also  whatever  sum  might  be  necessary  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  poor,  which  amounts  were  to 
be  levied  by  the  wardens  and  vestrymen,  for  whose 
election  the  act  also  provided.'  It  appears  that  the 
Governor  took  the  deepest  interest  in  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  colony.  He  was  a  man  of  great  earnest- 
ness and  promptness,  and  made  himself  felt  to  the 
general  advantage.  The  Indians,  in  their  appre- 
ciation of  him,  styled  him  Cayenguirago,  or  the 
"great  swift  arrow."  What  he  counseled  and  did 
reached  directly  the  difficulty.  The  necessity  for  his 
anxiety  as  to  religion  will  appear  from  the  strictures 
upon  our  county,  contained  in  a  letter  of  Colonel 
Heathcote,  written  in  170-1, — 

"  I  first  came  among  them  .  .  .  about  twelve  years  ago.  I  found 
it  t)ie  most  rude  and  lipatlienisli  country  I  ever  saw  in  my  whole  life, 
which  called  themselves  Christians,  there  being  not  so  much  its  the  least 
marks  or  footsteps  of  religion  of  any  sort.  Sundays  were  only  times  set 
apart  by  them  for  all  manner  of  vain  sports  and  lewd  diversion,  and 
they  were  grown  to  such  a  degree  of  rudeness  that  it  was  intolerable.  I 
liaving  then  command  of  the  militia,  sent  an  order  to  all  the  captains 
.  .  .  that  in  case  they  would  not  in  every  town  agree  among  them- 
selves to  appoint  readers  and  to  pass  the  Sabbath  in  the  best  manner  they 
could  .  .  .  that  tlie  captains  should  every  Sunday  call  their  com- 
panies under  arms  and  spend  the  day  in  exercise."  - 

It  was  a  matter  of  great  satisfaction  to  the  many 
of  all  parties  in  the  province  when  the  news  was  re- 
ceived about  this  time  that  the  King  had  wisely 
granted  a  full  pardon  to  Williams  and  the  others  with 
Leisler,  who  all  this  while,  though  released  on  bail, 
yet  remained  under  sentence  of  death.  Their  course 
had  awakened  no  little  enthusiasm  in  their  determined 
refusal  "  to  own  their  liberty  a  favor,"  or  depart 
"from  the  justification  of  their  crimes."  "What  they 
did  was  for  King  William  and  Queen  Mary."'  It  was 


1  Baird's  Rye. 

2DunIap's  "History  of  Xew  York,"  vol.  i.  p.  217. 
3 New  York  Col.  JIans.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  oo,  83. 


determined  in  England  very  properly,  for  the  sake  of 
harmony,  to  waive  the  point  of  humility  and  grant  a 
full  release  to  all  concerned. 

In  1695  the  Assemblymen  from  Westchester  County 
were  Joseph  Purdy,  of  Rye,  and  Humphrey  Under- 
bill; but  in  April,  1697,  Underbill,  for  non-attend- 
ance, was  expelled,  and  Joseph  Theale  returned  in 
his  stead.  In  1698  the  Earl  of  Bellamont  succeeded 
Fletcher  in  the  Governorship,  and  in  the  new  Assem- 
bly Joseph  Purdy,  and  John  Drake  of  East  Chester, 
appear  for  Westchester  County.  A  complaint  of  un- 
due election  was  made  to  the  House  by  Henry  Fowler, 
of  East  Chester,  and  Josiah  Hunt,  of  Westchester ;  but 
after  thorough  consideration  Purdy  and  Drake  were 
unanimously  declared  to  have  been  duly  elected.  Mr. 
Drake  was  chosen  again  in  1699,  with  John  Hunt,  of 
Westchester,  as  his  associate.  From  a  table  of  the 
different  regiments  in  the  province  of  New  York, 
it  would  seem  that  that  of  Westchester  County 
had  greatly  diminished  in  strength  by  1700.  It 
is  reported  as  consisting  of  only  the  three  com- 
panies in  Eastchester,  New  Rochelle  and  Mama- 
roneck, and  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  men.^  In  1701,  at  the  election  in  midsummer, 
while  Mr.  Drake  was  again  chosen,  the  other  seat  for 
the  county  was  in  dispute  between  Joseph  Purdy  and 
Henry  Fowler,  of  East  Chester.  The  matter  having 
been  referred  to  a  committee  on  the  petition  of  Fow- 
ler, David  Provoost,  from  this  committee,  reported  that 
it  had  sent  for  several  persons  and  papers  and  had 
found  that  Henry  Fowler  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  House.  The  report  was  ai)proved,  and  the  clerk 
of  the  crown  was  ordered  before  the  House  to  amend 
the  returns  by  putting  out  the  name  of  Joseph  Purdy 
and  putting  in  that  of  Henry  Fowler,  who,  by  direc- 
tion, went  then  before  the  Governor  and  took  the 
oath  of  office.* 

But  a  more  serious  matter  at  this  same  session  was 
the  expulsion  of  Mr.  John  Drake,  who,  with  others, 
violently  withdrew,  refusing  to  act  with  the  Speaker 
(Governeur)  on  the  ground  of  his  being  an  alien  and 
di.squalified  for  public  office.  A  new  election  was 
ordered,  and  William  Willett,  of  Westchester,  chosen, 
who,  after  ten  days'  occupation  of  his  seat,  was  ex- 
pelled for  representing  the  organization  of  the  House 
illegal,  Mr.  Willett  assuming  the  same  position  on  the 
question  as  Mr.  Drake.  Another  election  was  ordered, 
and  Colonel  Heathcote  was  now  chosen,  who,  after 
taking  the  oath,  would  not  sit.  Another  election  was 
ordered  for  the  next  spring,  but  the  Assembly  was 
itself  dissolved  on  the  3d  of  May. 

On  the  30th  of  September,  1701,  as  signers  of  a  pe- 
tition to  King  William  from  the  Protestants  of  New 
York,  evidently  anti-Leislerians,  appear  the  names  of 
Caleb  Heathcote,  John  Horton,  Joseph  Purdee,  John 
Drake,  William  Willett  and  William  Barnes,  who 


*  New  York  Col.  Mss.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  SOT,  810. 
5  Journal  of  New  York  Assembly. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


165 


speak,  they  say,  for  themselves  and  two-thirds  of  the 
freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  Westchester  County. 
In  this  paper  they  complain  of  unjust  proscription 
and  imputations  and  profess  most  thorough  submis- 
sion and  loyalty.'  The  same  names  are  found  sub- 
scribed to  an  address  of  welcome  to  Lord  Cornbury, 
the  newly-appointed  Governor.  This  paper  is  dated 
October  2,  1702,  and  in  it  they  again  state  that  they 
represent  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  and  freeholders 
of  the  county  of  Westchester.-  We  safely  gather  from 
these  papers,  legislative  proceedings  and  elections  the 
high  state  of  political  feeling  throughout  the  colony, 
in  which  the  people  of  Westchester  thoroughly  shared. 
The  course  of  Lord  Bellamont  and  of  his  temporary 
.successor,  Lieutenant-Governor  Nan  fan,  had  been  in 
the  interest  of  the  friends  of  Leisler.  Abraham  Gov- 
erueur,  who  had  married  Leisler's  widowed  daughter, 
Mrs.  Milborne,  was  the  head  of  the  faction,  and  they 
had  succeeded  in  placing  him  in  the  Speaker's  chair. 
Drake,  Purdy,Willett  and  Heathcote  were  pronounced 
opponents  of  these  radicals,  whose  representative  in 
this  county  evidently  was  Henry  Fowler,  of  East  Ches- 
ter. Is  it  not  probable  that  John  Drake, — Lieutenant 
of  the  militia  company  in  East  Chester,  which  went 
down  to  aid  Leisler,  took  the  gauge  of  this  ambitious 
and  arrogant  man  from  dealings  with  him  at  the 
Fort,  and  hence  easily  fell  into  line  with  those 
who  made  common  cause  with  the  friends  of  law  and 
order,  rather  to  resist  the  aspirations  of  the  new  man, 
when  his  claims  for  consideration  above  others 
heretofore  leaders  were  only  his  own  presumption  and 
self-importance  ? 

At  the  election  of  1702,  upon  Lord  Cornbury  as- 
suming the  reins  of  government,  Joseph  Purdy  and 
William  Willett  were  chosen  to  the  Assembly  from 
Westchester  County.  The  resolution  of  this  body  is 
recalled  to  mind,  which  declared  that  any  bills  passed 
when  an  alien  is  Speaker  are  not  binding  on  the  sub- 
ject. This  action,  of  course,  vindicates  the  conduct 
of  Drake  and  Willett,  who  would  not  countenance 
Governeur  as  Speaker.  Mr.  Willett,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  two  years,  held  a  seat  in  the  Assembly  con- 
secutively for  the  next  thirty  odd  years.  Mr.  Edmund 
Ward,  of  East  Chester,  was  his  colleague  from  1705  to 
1712,  Mr.  John  Hoit  held  the  place  for  a  year,  and 
Mr.  Josejih  Budd,  of  Rye,  from  1711?  to  1722,  when 
Mr.  Adolph  Philipse  was  elected  and  also  became 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  In  1709,  Joseph  Purdy  and 
John  Drake,  and  in  1715,  Josiah  Hunt  and  Jonathan 
Odell  were  returned.  In  172G,  Frederick  Philipse 
accepted  the  i)osition,  which  he  held  until  his  death, 
in  1751,  and  which  his  son,  of  the  same  name,  held 
after  him  until  the  Revolution.  From  178!)  to  1748, 
Daniel  Purdy,  of  Rye,  and  from  1743  to  the  Revolution, 
Judge  John  Thomas,  of  the  same  town,  was  the  other 
member  from  the  county.    The  courtesy  of  Mr.  Wil- 


lett and  the  election  of  Lewis  Morris  in  1738  will  he 
spoken  of  hereafter. 

'  During  the  firet  fifty  years  of  its  existence  West- 
chester County  steadily  increased  in  population  and 
material  prosperity.  Large  areas  of  land  were  placed 
under  cultivation.  The  public  advantages  of  churches, 
schools,  highways,  mills,  tanneries,  etc.,  were  greatly 
multii)lied,  and  the  harsh  life  of  the  pioneer  was  mod- 

:  crating  into  the  regulated  one  of  the  sturdy  yeoman. 
In  the  numerous  measures  necessary  for  the  develop- 
ment of  its  resources  and  the  increase  of  its  facilities, 
privileges  and  comforts,  its  inhabitants  exhibit  quick- 
ness to  devise,  and  zeal  and  per.«everance  to  prosecute 
to  the  needed  accomplishment.  By  petitions,  rejiresen- 
tations  and  remonstrances  to  the  Asseml)ly,  to  the  Coun- 
cil, to  the  Governor,  the  various  towns  made  their  wants 
and  wishes,  even  if  not  always  answered,  pressingly 
known.  And  so  in  all  questions  of  rights,  no  communi- 
ties in  the  province  appear  more  sensitive  and  deter- 
mined. " Our  representatives,"  says  Smith,  "agree- 
able to  the  general  sense  of  their  constituents, 
are  tenacious  in  their  opinions  that  the  inhabit- 
ants of  this  colony  are  entitled  to  all  the  priv- 
ileges of  Englishmen ;  that  they  have  a  right 
to  participate  in  the  legislative  power,  and  that 
the  session  of  Assemblies  here  is  wisely  substituted, 
instead  of  a  representation  in  Parliament.'"  And 
yet  this  same  historian  is  inconsistent  enough  to 
charge  "  that  the  views  of  these  representatives  seldom 
extend  further  than  to  the  regulation  of  highways, 
the  destraction  of  wolves,  wild-cats  and  foxes,  and  the 
advancement  of  the  other  little  interests  of  the  par- 
ticular counties  which  they  were  chosen  to  represent."* 
How  much  more  correct  the  first  statement  is,  if  not 
seen  from  what  has  already  been  oft'ered,  will  be  abun- 
dantly manifest,  as  we  now  turn  to  record  the  ex- 
citements and  troubles  which  commenced  with  the 
second  third  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Upon  the  death  of  Governor  ^Montgomery,  Mr.  Rip 
Van  Dam,  the  i)resident  of  the  Council,  assumed  the 
duties  of  the  position  until  a  successor  should  be  ap- 
pointed, which  was  immediately  done  upon  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  news  in  England.  Colonel  William 
Cosby,  formerly  Governor  of  ilinorca,  was  commis- 
sioned for  New  York,  but  remained  in  England  nearly 
a  year  before  embarking  for  his  position,  under  the 
declared  motive  of  preventing  the  [)assage  of  a  bill, 
called  the  Sugar  Bill,  which  was  disastrous  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  New  York  colony.  Very  early  after  his 
arrival  a  pecuniary  disagreement  sprang  up  between 
the  Governor  and  Van  Dam,  growing  out  of  this  delay, 
which  it  was  found  necessary  to  otfer  to  the  courts  for 
settlement. 

The  case  was  brought  before  Chief  Justice  Lewis 
Morris  and  his  associates,  De  Lancey  and  Philipse. 
The  decisions  of  the  Chief  Justice  in  the  prelimin- 


iNew  Tort  Col.  Mans.,  vol.  iv.  p.  938. 
-  New  York  Ool.  Slans.,  vol.  iv.  p.  lOiiT. 


s Smith's  "History  of  New  York,"  part  vi.  chap.  v.  Carey  Ed.  p.  2r>(). 
<SiiiitliV  •'  History  of  New  Yurk,"  part  vi.  cliap.  v.  Carey  E-l.  p.  262. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ary  proceedings  greatly  exasperated  the  Governor. 
The  suit  was  not  further  pressed,  hut  the  most  bitter 
animosities  were  engendered  between  these  two  liigh 
functionaries,  and  two  violent  parties  arose  in  the 
province.  The  Governor,  having  in  the  spring  written 
home  and  presented  a  number  of  points  against  the 
general  conduct  of  the  Chief  Justice  and  declared  his 
intention  to  remove  him,  proceeded  in  the  summer  of 
1733  to  the  step.  To  the  vacant  ofiice  the  Governor  ap- 
pointed the  First  Associate  Judge,  James  De  Lancey, 
who,  with  Judge  Adolph  Philipse,  had  not  justified 
the  course  of  Morris.  The  excitement  in  this  matter 
extended  to  Westchester  County.  To  allow  of  the 
election  of  Chief  Justice  Morris  to  the  Assembly, 
William  Willett,  his  friend  and  townsman,  resigned 
his  seat  in  that  body.  The  person  named  to  oppose 
the  Judge  was  William  Forster,  Clerk  of  the  County, 
who  had  held  the  office  for  many  years  and  was 
greatly  respected.  The  election  took  place  on  the  29th 
of  October,  and  the  following  from  the  New  York 
Weekly  Journal,  of  the  24th  of  December,  is  a  full  de- 
tail of  the  event,  under  the  coloring  given  to  it  by  the 
successful  party.  It  is  described  as  an  election  of  great 
expectation,  and  that  the  Court  and  County's  interest 
was  exerted  to  the  utmost :  ' 

1  Sew  I'ork  Weekly  Jotinial,  1733. 

"West  Chester,  Oct.  29tii,  1733. 
"  On  tliis  day  Lewis  Morris,  Esq.,  late  cliief  justice  of  tliis  provinc.!, 
was,  by  a  majority  of  voices,  elected  a  representative  from  the  county  of 
Westchester.  Xicholas  Cooper,  Esq.,  high  slieriff  of  the  said  county, 
having,  by  papers  affixed  to  the  church  of  East  Cliester  and  otlier  pub- 
lic places,  ^iven  notice  of  the  day  and  place  of  election  without  men- 
tioning any  time  of  the  day  when  it  was  to  be  done,  which  made  the 
electors  on  the  side  of  the  late  jiulge  very  suspicious  that  some  fraud 
was  intended— to  prevent  which  abo>it  fifty  of  them  kept  watch  upon  and 
about  the  green  at  East  Chester  (the  place  of  election),  from  12  o'clock 
the  night  before  till  the  morning  of  that  day,  the  other  electors  be- 
ginning to  move  on  Sunday  afternoon  and  evening,  so  as  to  be  at  New  Ro- 
chelle  by  midnight — their  way  lay  through  Ilarnson's  Purchase,  the  in- 
habitants of  which  i^roviiled  for  their  euterUiinnient  as  they  passed  each 
house  in  their  way,  having  a  table  plentifully  covered  for  that  purpose. 
About  midnight  they  all  met  at  the  house  of  Wni.  Le  Count,  at  New  Ro- 
chclle,  whose  hoiise  not  being  large  enough  to  entertain  so  great  a  num- 
ber, a  large  fire  was  made  in  the  street,  by  which  they  stit  till  daylight, 
at  which  time  they  began  to  move.  They  were  joined  on  the  hill  at 
the  east  end  of  the  town  bj  about  seventy  hoi-se  of  the  electors  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  county,  and  then  proceeded  towards  the  place  of  election 
in  the  following  order,  viz.  :  Fii'st  rode  two  trumpeters  and  three  violins  ; 
next,  fo\ir  of  the  principal  freeholders,  one  of  which  carried  a  banner, 
on  one  side  of  which  was  atlixed,  in  gold  capitals,  '  King  George,'  and 
on  the  other,  in  golden  capitals,  'Liberty  and  Law  ;'  ne.xt  followed  the 
candidate,  Lewis  Morris,  Esq.,  late  chief  justice  of  this  province;  then 
two  colors ;  and  at  sunrising  they  entered  upon  the  green  of  East  Ches- 
ter, the  place  of  election,  followed  by  above  three  hundred  horse  of  the 
principal  freeholders  of  the  county,  (a  greater  number  than  had  ever  ap- 
peared for  one  man  since  the  settlement  of  that  county.)  -\fter  having 
rode  three  times  x-ound  the  green,  they  went  to  the  houses  of  Joseph 

Fowler  and  Child,  who  were  well  prepared  for  their  reception,  the 

late  chief  justice  was  met,  on  his  alighting,  by  several  gentlemen  who 
came  there  to  give  their  votes  for  him.  About  11  o'clock  ap- 
peared the  candidate  of  the  other  side  William  Forster,  Esq.,  school- 
master, appointed  by  the  Society  for  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and 
lately  made,  by  commission  from  his  Excellency  (the  present  Governor), 
Clerk  of  the  Peace  and  Conmion  Pleas  in  that  county,  which  commission, 
it  is  said,  he  purchased  for  the  valuable  consideration  of  one  hundred 
pistoles,  given  the  Governor ;  next  him  came  two  ensigns,  borne  by  two 
of  the  freeholders  ;  then  followed  the  Honorable  James  De  Lancey,  Esq., 
chief  justice  of  the  province  of  New  York,  and  the  Honorable  Frederick 


The  conduct  of  the  sheriff  with  reference  to  the 
Quaker  vote  was  for  some  time  afterward  the  subject 
of  ardent  denunciation  on  the  one  side  and  of  deter- 
mined defense  on  the  other.  It  was  also  made  a 
matter  of  complaint  against  Cosby,  who  had  ap- 
pointed Cooper.  The  Governor,  replying  to  the 
home  government,  justified  the  action  of  the  sheriff  as 

Philipse,  Esq.,  second  judge  of  the  said  province  and  baron  of  the  ex- 
chequer, attended  by  abo\it  a  hundred  and  seventy  horse  of  the  free- 
holders and  friends  of  the  said  Forster  and  the  two  judges.  They  en- 
tered the  green  on  the  east  side,  and,  riding  twice  round  it,  their  word 
was  'No  Land  Tax  !'  As  they  pivssed,  the  second  judge  very  civilly  sa- 
luted the  late  chief  justice  by  taking  oft'  his  hat,  which  the  late  judge 
returned  in  the  same  manner,  some  of  the  late  judge's  party  crying 
out  '  No  Excise  ! '  and  one  of  them  was  heard  to  say(tliough  not  by  the 
judge)  '  No  Pretender ! '  upon  which  Forster,  the  candidate,  replied, '  I 

will  take  notice  of  you,'    They  after  that  retired  to  the  house  of  

Baker,  which  was  prepared  to  receive  and  entertain  them.  About  an 
hour  after,  the  high  sheriff  came  to  town,  finely  mounted,  the  housings 

and  holster-caps  lieing  scarlet,  richly  laced  with  silver,  belonging  to  

 .    Upon  his  approach,  the  electors  on  both  sides  went  into  the 

green,  where  they  were  to  elect,  and,  after  having  read  his  majesty's 
writ,  bid  the  electors  proceed  to  the  choice,  which  they  did,  and  a  gi'eat 
majority  appeared  for  3Ir.  Morris,  the  late  judge ;  upon  which  a  poll 
was  demanded,  but  by  whom  is  not  known  to  the  relator,  though  it  was 
said  by  many  to  be  done  by  the  sheriff  himself. 

"Slorris,  the  candidate,  several  times  asked  the  sherilTupon  whoseside 
the  majority  appeared,  but  could  get  no  other  reply  but  that  a  poll  must 
be  had  ;  and,  accordingly,  after  about  two  hours'  delay  in  getting  benches 
chairs  and  tables,  they  began  to  i)oll.  Soon  after,  one  of  those  called 
Quakers,  a  man  of  known  worth  and  estate,  came  to  give  his  vote  for 
the  late  judge.  Upon  this  Forster  and  the  two  Fowlers  Moses  and 
William,  chosen  by  him  to  be  inspectors,  questioned  his  having  an  es- 
tate and  required  of  the  sheriff  to  tender  him  the  book  to  swear  in  due 
form  of  law,  which  he  refused  to  do,  but  offered  to  take  his  solemn  affir- 
mation, which,  both  by  the  laws  of  England  and  the  laws  of  this  prov- 
ince, was  indulged  to  the  people  called  Quakers,  and  had  always  been 
practiced  from  the  first  election  of  representatives  in  this  province  to 
this  time,  and  never  refused  ;  but  the  sheriff  was  deaf  to  all  that  could 
be  alleged  on  that  side ;  and,  notwithstanding  that  he  was  told  by  the 
late  chief  justice  and  James  Alexander,  Esq.,  one  of  his  Majesty's  coun- 
sel and  counseller-at-law,  and  by  William  Smith,  Esq.,  counseller-at- 
law,  that  such  a  procedure  was  contrary  to  law  and  a  violent  attempt  of 
the  liberties  of  the  peojile,  he  still  pei-sisted  in  refusing  the  said  Quaker 
to  vote,  and  in  like  manner  did  refuse  seven-and-tliirty  Quakers  more, — 
men  of  known  and  visible  estates.  This  Cooper,  now  high  sheriff  of  the 
said  county,  is  said  not  only  to  be  a  stranger  in  that  county,  but  not 
having  a  foot  of  land  or  visible  estate  in  it,  unless  very  lately  granted, 
ami  it  is  believed  he  has  not  where  withall  to  purchase  any.  The  polling 
had  not  been  long  continued  before  Mr.  Edward  Stephens,  a  man  of  very 
considerable  estate  in  said  county,  did  openly,  in  the  hearing  of  all  the 
freeholders  there  assembled,  charge  William  Forster,  Esi\.,  the  candi- 
date on  the  other  side,  with  being  a  Jacoliite  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
Pretender,  and  that  he  should  suy  to  Mr.  William  Willet  (a  person  of 
good  estate  and  known  integrity,  who  was  at  that  time  present  and 
ready  to  make  oath  to  the  truth  of  what  was  said),  that  true  it  was,  he 
had  taken  oaths  to  his  JIajesty  King  George  and  enjoyed  a  place  in  the 
Government  under  him  which  gave  him  bread  ;  yet,  notwithstanding, 
that  should  James  coine  into  England  he  should  think  himself  obliged 
to  go  there  and  fight  for  him.  This  was  loudly  and  strongly  urged  to 
Forster's  face,  who  denied  it  to  be  true  and  no  more  was  said  of  it  at  that 
time.  About  eleven  o'clock  that  night  the  poll  was  closed,  and  it  stood 
thus, — 

For  the  late  chief  justice  231 

Quakers   38 

269 

For  William  Forster,  Esq  151 

For  difference  118 

2G9 

So  thatthe  late  chief  justice  carried  itby  a  great  majority  without  the 
Quakers.  Upon  closing  the  polls  the  other  candidate  (Foi-ster)  and  the 
sheriff  wished  the  late  chief  justice  much  joy.    Forster  said  he  hoped 


THE  COLONI. 


strictly  conforming  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  and 
defended  him  and  the  defeated  candidate,  Mr.  Fors- 
ter,  from  all  aspersions.  In  this  vindication  of  these 
gentlemen,  the  Council,  with  much  spirit,  joined. 
In  course  of  time  provision  was  made  by  special  enact- 
ment,' by  which,  where  the  usual  form  of  oath  could 
not  conscientiously  be  taken,  affirmation  should  be 
allowed.  Thus  future  misunderstanding  was  pre- 
vented. The  excitement  that  characterized  this  spe- 
cial election  did  not,  it  would  seem,  attend  that  of 
the  next  year,  when  Frederick  Philipse  and  Judge 
Morris  were  re-elected.  In  173S,  the  Judge  resigning, 
yU:  Willett  was  again  restored. 

Perhaps  no  subjects  more  engaged  the  thoughts  of 
the  New  York  colonist  in  the  decade  before  1763  than 
the  encroachments  of  the  French  upon  the  frontiers  of 
several  of  the  English  colonies,  his  own  included, 
and  then  the  seven  years'  war  which  was  the  conse- 
quence. Every  county  and  town  cheerfully  made  up 
its  contingent.  The  names  on  the  muster-rolls, 
which  have  been  so  wonderfully  preserved,  indicate 
how  largely  Westchester  County  contributed  to  swell 
the  armies  sent  forth  in  the  .several  campaigns. 
As  the  fortunes  of  the  several  battles,  sieges  and 
marches  varied,  the  firesides  of  these  country  homes 
were  illumined  or  darkened.  When,  for  example,  the 
capitulation  of  Fort  William  Henry,  in  August,  1757, 
was  reported  (seven  officers  and  fift}'  men  of  the  gar- 
rison, all  New  Yorkers,  thereby  becoming  prisoners 
of  war),  a  deep  thrill  of  indignation  stirred  every 
breast/  but  the  feeling  was  more  intense  when  the 
word  came  that  "the  French  General  Montcalm, 
under  his  own  eyes  and  in  the  face  of  about  three 
thousand  of  his  regular  troops,  suffered  his  Indian 
allies  to  rob  and  strip  officers  as  well  as  men  of  all 
they  had,  and  left  most  of  them  naked." 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  French  surrendered 
Niagara  in  1759,  Montreal  in  1760  and  Canada  in 

tlio  late  juilge  would  not  think  the  worse  of  Uini  for  setting  up  against 
hini,  to  which  the  judge  replied  he  believed  he  was  put  upon  it  against 
his  inclinations,  but  that  he  was  highly  blaniable,  and  wlio  did  or 
Bhoiild  know  better,  for  putting  the  sheriff,  who  was  a  stranger  and  ig- 
norant in  such  niattei-s,  upon  making  so  violent  an  attempt  upon  the 
liberty  of  the  people,  which  woulil  expose  him  to  ruin  if  he  irrre  worth 
£10,000,  if  the  people  aggrieved  shouhl  conunence  suit  against  hiui. 
The  people  made  a  loud  huzza,  which  the  late  chief  judge  blamed  very 
much,  as  what  he  thought  not  right.  Forster  reiilieil,  he  took  no  notice 
of  what  the  common  people  did,  since  Sir.  Morris  did  not  jiut  them  upon 
the  doing  of  it.  Tlie  indentures  being  sealed,  the  whole  body  of  electors 
waited  on  their  new  representative  to  his  lodgings,  with  trumpets 
sounding  and  violins  playing,  anil  in  a  little  time  took  their  leave  of 
him.    Thus  ended  the  West  Cliester  election  to  the  general  satisfaction." 

"  Kew  York,  Xovkmheb  am.— On  Wednesday,  :!lst  October,  the  late 
chief  justice,  but  now  representative  for  the  county  of  Westchester, 
landed  in  this  city  about  live  o'clock  in  the  evening,  at  the  ferry -stairs. 
On  his  landing  he  was  saluted  by  a  general  fire  of  the  guns  from  the 
merchant-ves.sels  lying  in  the  road,  and  was  received  by  great  numbers 
of  the  most  considerable  merchants  and  inhabitants  of  this  city,  and  by 
them  with  loud  acclamations  of  the  people  as  he  walked  the  streets  con- 
ducted to  the  Black  Ilorae  tavern,  where  a  handsome  entertainment  was 
prejiared  for  him  at  the  charge  of  the  gentlemen  who  received  him,  and 
in  the  middle  of  one  side  of  the  room  was  tixed  a  tablet  with  golden 
capitals,  'King George,  Liberty  and  Law!  " 

1  New  York  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  v,  p.  9!s3. 

2  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  Tii,  p.  274. 


;AL  period.  167 


1763,  that  the  joy  was  almost  immoderate  may  well 
be  imagined.  The  various  muster-rolls  of  companies 
raised  in  Westchester  County  for  this  war,  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made,  offer  a  suggestion  or  two 
worthy  of  notice.  The  existence  of  a  well-organ- 
ized militia  force  at  this  period  is  established  by 
the  designation  of  the  captains  of  the  companies 
to  which  the  recruits  belonged.  Captains  Theale, 
Griffin,  Lockwood,  Crain,  Holmes,  Dennis,  Embury, 
Israel  Underbill,  Secord,  Vermilye  and  at  least  twenty 
others  are  mentioned.  Christian  Marks,  a  German, 
twenty-seven  years  of  age,  five  feet  seven  inches  in 
stature,  with  dark  eyes  and  hair,  is  described  to  be  "  of 
the  Troop."  Can  it  be  that  Benedict  Arnold,  born  in 
Connecticut,  eighteen  years  of  age,  a  weaver,  five  feet 
seven  inches,  with  light  eyes  and  black  hair,  is  he  of 
infamy  unecjualed,  and  has  this  county  then  the  stigma 
of  having  introduced  him  into  a  military  career  whose 
later  chapters  he  made  so  foul  and  dark  ? 

Another  remark  comes  from  the  number  of  for- 
eigners enlisted.  So  large  is  the  proportion  of  such 
that  it  would  appear  that  the  County  during  this 
period  was  receiving  large  accessions  to  its  popula- 
tion from  other  nations  and  other  colonies.  Ireland, 
"  Old  Englanil "  and  Connecticut  are  frequently  indi- 
cated as  the  place  of  nativity.  We  find  also  that  more 
thanhalf  of  these  soldiers  were  under  twenty-five  years 
of  age.  A  result  of  these  military  experiences  was  to 
prepare  these  men,  by  the  knowledge  gained,  for  that 
other  and  much  more  serious  contest,  which,  though 
less  thought  of  in  that  time  of  danger  than  before  it, 
was  imminent  and  inevitable. 

The  twelve  years  before  the  Revolution  which  suc- 
ceeded the  Peace  of  Paris  were,  however,  to  develop 
to  the  proportions  necessary  for  action  the  antago- 
nism of  which  the  wilful  assumptions  of  the  mother- 
country  was  the  occasion.  Had  untrammeled  legis- 
lation for  the  intei'est  of  the  colonies  been  allowed,  it 
is  possible  that  the  military  successes  just  obtained 
might  have  been  turned  into  a  matter  of  national 
pride  among  the  people  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
as  well  as  the  other.  But  with  an  indifference  to 
their  welfare  ever  apparent,  an  interference  was  car- 
ried on  even  farther  than  a  concern  for  her  own  man- 
ufacturing and  other  industries  required.  And  the 
consequence,  as  was  to  be  expected,  was  deei)  and 
universal  discontent.  And  when  this  is  said,  it  is 
but  just  to  remember  that  in  those  years  the  most 
thoroughly  loyal  were  exasperated  with  the  course 
pursued  by  the  home  government,  and  deemed  it 
neither  wise  nor  fair.  Some  of  these  were  pro- 
nounced enough;  others  there  were  who  took  per- 
haps too  much  account  of  the  excitable  elements 
which  the  war  especially  had  thrown  into  society,' 

'  The  truth  is  that  the  cess;>tion  of  hostilities  had  set  adrift  a  large 
number  of  reckless  men,  to  whom  wore  added,  as  influenced  by  their 
example  and  fortunes,  many  of  the  young  men  of  each  community. 
In  his  letter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  November  5,  17fi5,  speaking  of  a 
mob  in  New  York  City,  which  it  was  thought  might  storm  the  fort, 
Lieutenant-Governor  Colden  says,  "Probably  it  might  be  attended  with 


168 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  were  balancing  the  after  all  inconsiderable,  how- 
ever unquestionable,  ills  they  were  suffering  against 
those  of  outrage  and  violence  which  might  follow. 
Indeed,  as  in  the  city,  so  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester itself,  there  had  been  already  displays  of  law- 
lessness. What  must  have  been  tlie  consternation  in 
the  lower  towns  as,  in  May,  1765,  five  hundred  men — 
country  levelers  they  are  called — at  first  reported  to 
be  two  thousand  strong,  marched  down  to  Kings- 
bridge,  and  sent  into  town  the  threat  to  Mr.  Van  Cort-  ' 
land,  that  unless  he  would  give  them  a  grant  forever  of 
h\<  lands,  they  would  enter  the  city  and  pull  down  his 
house,  and  also  one  belonging  to  Mr.  Lambert  Moore.' 

The  arrest  and  condemnation  of  the  ringleaders  in 
these  disturbances  were  satisfying  and  quieting,  but 
it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  would  allay 
the  apprehension  that  like  outrages  would  follow 
should  there  be  a  breach  with  the  mother-country. 

A  glance  at  the  action  of  the  four  Westchester  rep- 
resentatives at  this  time  of  excitement  would  seem  to 
show  at  first  entire  accord  with  their  fellow-members 
in  the  Assembly,  in  their  regret  at  the  Stamp  and  Tariff' 
Acts,  in  their  assertion  of  the  right  of  the  Colonial 
Assembly  of  each  province  exclusively  to  impose 
taxes  upon  its  inhabitants,  in  the  lawfulness  of  inter- 
communication between  the  Legislatures  of  the  several 
colonies  and  of  united  petitions  to  the  King  "  in  favor 
of  the  violated  rights  of  America."  '^ 

liut  the  journal  of  the  House  in  March,  1775,  evi- 
dences the  differences  that  had  developed. 

In  the  i)rei)aration  of  an  address  to  the  King,  Mr. 
Clinton  (afterward  Governor  George  Clinton),  the  As- 
sembly having  before  it  for  approval  the  words,  "  AV^e, 
in  many  instances,  disapprove  of  the  conduct  of  that 
province  (Massachusetts),"  moved  to  substitute  in 
place  of  them  the  following  strong  assertion:  "The 
ill-policied  schenie  of  colonial  administration  pursued 
by  your  Majesty's  ministers  since  the  close  of  the  late 
war  has  been  productive  of  great  warmth  in  every 
part  of  your  empire,  nor  can  we  avoid  declaring  that 
we  view  those  acts  with  that  jealousy  which  is  the 
necessary  result  of  a  just  sense  of  the  blessings  of  free- 
dom, and  abhor  the  })rinciples  they  contain  as  estab- 
lishing precedents  subversive  of  the  rights,  privileges 
and  proi)erty,  and  dangerous  to  the  lives  of  your 
Majesty's  American  subjects."  Mr.  Van  Cortlandt 
and  Mr.  Thomas  voted  aye  on  this  amendment,  and 
Mr.  Philipse  and  i\Ir.  Wilkins  voted  nay.''  And  yet 
although  this  was  the  last  Colonial  Assembly  of  New 
York,  this  session  lasting  but  a  few  days  after  the 
adoption  of  this  address  to  the  King,  yet  how  little  its 

mucli  bloodsUeil,  because  a  great  part  of  the  mob  consists  ot  men  who 
liave  been  privateers  and  disbandeil  soldiei-s,  whose  view  is  to  plunder 
the  town." 

1  .Juurual  of  Captain  John  Jlontressor,  N.Y.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  1881,  p.  3G3. 

'  "  this  House  doth  Concur  witli  and  adopt  tlie  resolutions  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  of  the  Dominion  of  Virginia.'" — K.  Y.  Assembly  Journal, 
May  16,  17G9. 

3  Of  course  in  not  suggesting  before  this,  the  able  political  pamphlets 
under  the  name  of  A.  Tl'.  Furmet;  written  by  Mr.  Wilkins,  the  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  from  the  Borough  of  M'sstchester,  we  have  no 


members  realized  the  dangers  which  were  so  near  at 
hand!  This  is  shown  in  the  following  action,  within 
a  month  previous,  bearing  upon  the  interests  of  the 
east  side  of  the  county.  A  petition  from  Joseph  Rod- 
man and  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  others,  ft'ee- 
holders  and  inhabitants  of  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  East 
and  Westchester  and  New  Roclielle,  in  the  County 
of  Westchester,  having  been  presented  to  the  House 
and  read,  praying  that  Joshua  Pell,  Jr.,  may  have 
leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  enable  him  to  erect  a  bridge 
across  the  old  creek,  so-called,  that  runs  between  the 
said  Manor  of  Pelham  and  Eastchester,  ordered  That 
the  members  of  Kings  and  Queens  Counties,  together 
with  the  members  for  the  borough  of  Westchester,  or 
the  major  part  of  them,  be  a  committee  to  view  the 
premises  and  report  their  opinion  to  this  House  ivifh- 
in  fourteen  days  after  the  beginning  of  the  next  session 
thereof,  and  that  the  clerk  of  this  House  serve  Philip 
Pell,  Esq.,  and  Stephen  Ward  with  a  copy  of  the  said 
petition  and  of  this  order.* 

Chief  Families.— In  any  review  of  the  history  of 
this  period,  memory  will  easily  recall  the  names  of 
Pell,  Philipse,  Morris,  De  Lancey,  Van  Cortlandt  as 
of  families  po.ssessiug  large  influence  in  the  county  ot 
Westchester.  To  these  may  be  added  the  Bartows, 
Wards,  Drakes,  Fowlers,  Hunts,  Purdys,  Guions, 
Pinkneys  and  Thomases  as  families  which,  for  intel- 
ligence, wealth,  public  spirit  and  valuable  services  in 
the  foremost  positions,  have  been  held  in  the  highest 
estimation.  In  them  are  found  the  leaders  of  thought 
and  action  in  religion,  in  the  State  and  in  society. 
The  judicial,  executive  and  legislative  functions  ot 
government  were  being  exercised  by  members  of  these 
families  during  the  colonial  period.  How  largely  the 
production  of  its  ])rosperity  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
thoughtfulness  and  energy  of  the  original  Patentees  of 
Westchester  County  may  readily  be  conceived  when 
the  faithfulness  whicii  they  displayed  and  the  high 
respect  continually  accorded  to  them  is  considered. 
If  to  their  successful  exertions  for  the  common  ma- 
terial advantage  be  added  the  example  afforded  in  the 
whole  range  of  moral  excellences,  no  portion  of  the 
province  of  New  York  was  more  favored. 

The  first  member  of  the  Pell  family  in  the  county 
was  Thomas,  to  whom  several  patents  from  the  Eng- 
lish crown  and  sales  by  the  Indians  were  made.  Dying 
without  issue,  in  his  will  he  made  his  nephew,  John 
Pell,  his  heir,  who  then  resided  in  England,  but  re- 
moved to  this  country  in  1670.  He  became  a  Judge 
of  the  county  and  was  returned  for  the  first  session  of 
the  Colonial  Assembly  of  the  province  of  New  York. 
He  married"  Rachel  Pinckney"  and  died  about  the 
year  1700,  leaving  a  number  of  children  and  grandchil- 

intention  to  ignore  his  determined  opjioBition  to  all  efforts  beyond  those 
of  remonstrance  ;  and  yet  we  read  those  papers  amiss,  and  his  speeches, 
and  his  vote,  with  all  his  earnestness  of  diction,  if  we  are  not  juslified 
in  saying  that,  beneath,  is  all  the  wounded  spirit  of  one  who  feels  the 
wrongs  of  his  brethren,  whom  a  selfish  and  impnideut  jmrent  has  pro- 
voked to  wrath. 
<  Journal  of  Gen.  Assembly  of  New  York-,  February  24,  1775. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


169 


dien.  The  family  intermarried  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury with  the  Eustises,  Honeywells,  Bartows,  Sands, 
Wards,  Treadwells,  Archers,  Snedeus,  Lawrences, 
Pinkncys  and  other  families  of  the  County.  At  the 
(.ommencement  of  the  Revolutionary  period  the  fol- 
lowing members  of  the  Pell  family  were  living  in  Pel- 
ham  and  towns  adjacent:  Thomas  Pell,  who  married 
Margaret  Bartow,  and  who  lived  at  the  homestead  in 
Pelham,  now  known  as  the  residence  of  Robert  Bartow ; 
John  Pell,  who  lived  on  what  is  now  the  Schuyler 
Place  ;  Joshua,  Jr.,  who  married  Abigail  Archer,  and 
who  lived  on  what  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  George 
A.  Prevost ;  James,  who  married  Martha  Pugsley,  and 
who  lived  on  Prospect  Hill,  in  the  house  which  Gene- 
ral Howe  took  possession  of,  October  18,  1776,  as  his 
headquarters;  Philip,  in  the  war  Judge-Advocate  of 
the  American  army,  who  lived  on  the  old  Boston  Post 
Road,  above  Pell's  Bridge;  David  I.  his  brother,  who 
lived  near  the  same  bridge,  but  on  the  road  sometimes 
called  Pelham  Lane,  where  Mr.  James  Hay  afterward 
built  the  fine  stone  house  now  standing;  Caleb,  a  bro- 
ther of  James,  who  lived  in  Eastchester  town,  on  the 
old  Boston  Post  Road,  where  is  now  the  Bathgate 
estate,  and  Joseph,  who  resided  in  Upper  Eastchester, 
on  the  westerly  side  of  the  White  Plains  Road,  nearly 
opposite  the  road  running  down  to  Burtis's  Mill  on 
the  Hutchinson's  River. 

The  first  of  the  Philipse  family  in  Westchester 
County  emigrated  from  Holland  to  New  York  City  in 
lt)58,  bringing  with  him  his  son  of  the  same  Christian 
name,  Frederick,  to  whom  at  his  decease  descended 
his  estate,  the  largest  part  of  which  was  in  this  county. 
This  second  Frederick  was  for  many  years  one  of  the 
council  of  the  Governor.  He  was  a  merchant  in  the 
city  much  respected.  His  grandson,  Frederick,  rep- 
resented Westchester  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the 
Assembly,  as  did  also  a  Fifth  Frederick,  wliose  es- 
tates were  confiscated  after  the  Revolution.  This 
family  was  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Van  Cort- 
laudt  and  Morris  families.  The  estates  of  Philipse 
were  in  the  towns  of  Yonkers  and  what  is  now  known 
as  Mount  Pleasant. 

The  connections  of  the  Van  Cortlaiidt  family,  both 
in  this  country  and  England,  during  the  colonial  pe- 
riod, were  very  numerous  and  distinguished.  It  is  a 
family  which  an  honored  State  and  country  gladly 
recalls  to  memory.' 

The  first  of  the  De  Lancey  family,  Stephen,  appears 
as  early  as  168(5,  having  been  compelled  to  flee  from 
the  religious  persecutions  which  were  then  so  bitterly 
going  on  in  France.  He  settled  in  New  York  as  a  mer- 
chant, and  married  Anne,  daughter  of  Stephen  Van 
Cortlandt.  Their  oldest  son,  James,  the  Chief 
Justice  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  York,  mar- 
ried Anne,  daughter  of  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote. 
James's  brother,  Peter,  married  Alice,  daughter  of 

1  A  trustworth.v  and  bighly  interesting  history  of  the  Van  Cortlandt 
family,  specially  prcjiared  from  original  family  ilociiments  by  Mre.  C.  E. 
Van  Coi  tlaudt  for  this  work,  is  given  elsewhere 


Governor  Caldwallader  Colden,  and  Oliver,  another 
brother,  held  many  positions  of  trust,  among  which 
were  Receiver-General  and  member  of  the  Governor's 
Council.  He  was  also  an  officer  in  the  French  War, 
rising  afterwards,  in  the  Revolution,  to  the  rank 
in  the  British  service  of  Brigadier-General-  This 
family,  so  marked  for  its  political  influence,  became 
connected  by  marriage  with  the  Aliens  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  Lloyds  and  Joneses  of  Long  Island,  the 
Waltons,  Barclays  and  Crugers  of  New  York. 

In  the  contest  with  the  mother-country,  the  De 
Lanceys  unflinchingly  adhered  to  the  royal  cau.se. 
Bishop  De  Lancey,  of  Western  New  York,  who  was  a 
grandson  of  Governor  De  Lancey,  sustained  in  his 
professional  career  the  old  reputation  of  the  family 
for  soundness  of  judgment,  fidelity  to  convictions  and 
trusts,  cordiality  and  })hilanthropy. 

The  Morris  family,  of  the  county,  has  held  its  own 
under  the  earlier  and  later  r^ghne  and  otters  a  race  of 
stalwart  citizens  of  Westchester  County  as  marked 
mentally  as  physically.  In  1670,  Richard  Morris, 
afterward  a  merchant  of  New  York,  purchased  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  east 
side  of  the  county,  since  called  jMorrisania.  His 
property  went  to  his  brother  Lewis  by  reason  of  an 
agreement  made  between  them,  but  at  the  decease  of 
Lewis  passed  to  his  nephew  of  the  same  name,  who 
afterwards  became  Chief  Justice  of  New  York,  as  also, 
in  1733,  under  circumstances  of  excitement  and  self- 
defence  already  narrated,  the  Representative  of  West- 
chester County.  The  different  limbs  and  branches 
of  this  ancestral  tree  are  very  numerous.  The  con- 
nections of  this  family  are  with  the  Grahams,  the 
Van  Cortlandts,  Wilkinses,  Ludlows,  Randolphs, 
Ogdens,  Lawrences,  Rutherfords,  Governcurs  and 
foreign  families  whom  it  is  not  necessary  to  detail.  The 
old  mansion  is  at  Morrisania,  near  Harlem. 

The  Bartow  family,  of  Huguenot  descent,  has  oc- 
cupied a  much  respected  position  of  influence  and 
usefulness  in  the  country  during  both  the  eighteenth 
and  ninteenth  centuries.  The  head  of  the  family  in 
this  country  was  the  Rev.  John  Bartow,  who,  in  1702, 
settled  in  the  town  of  Westchester,  and  there  reared 
a  large  family.  His  descendants  have  been  among 
the  most  valued  citizens  of  Westchester  County,  and 
indeed  of  the  country  North  and  South. 

Trade. — In  the  develoi)ment  of  Westchester  Coun- 
ty, its  proximity  to  New  York  City  was  from  the  first 
an  important  element  to  its  advantage.  Here  was  a 
ready  market  for  the  products  of  the  soil.  The  early 
settler  entered  upon  his  work  of  raising  the  supply  for 
his  family  and  neighbors  with  the  knowledge  of  a  sure 
and  easy  disi)osal  of  the  sur])lus  of  his  crop.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  in  a  coasting  trade  much  was  sent 
both  north  and  south,  to  Rhode  Island  and  Boston 
and  the  Carolinas,  direct  from  the  villages  of  the 
County,  but  the  vast  bulk  of  what  it  had  to  sell 
went  through  New  York  City,  the  port  of  entry,  to 
the  mother  country  and  various  other  lands  at  greater 


17U 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


or  less  distances.  At  first,  wheat,  barley,  rye,  peas  and 
Indian  corn  were  exported,  but  afterward  live  stock, 
hemp,  flax,  apples,  onions,  tobacco,  cheese,^  pickled 
oysters  prepared,  and  then  other  articles,  as  tar,  bacon, 
butter,  candles,  linseed  oil,  inferier  cloths  and,  for  a 
short  time,  hats. 

During  the  war  between  France  and  England,  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  when  there  was  a  great 
scarcity  of  provisions  in  Europe,  the  farmer  of 
the  New  York  colony  received  a  high  price  for  his 
wheat,  and  was  much  encouraged.  This  effect  was  far 
from  satisfactory  to  his  kinsman  beyond  the  seas.  In 
that  selfishness  which  borders  on  nervous  jealousy,  and 
which  would  suppress  all  industries  that  conflict  with 
its  own,  the  colonial  planter  and  merchant  found  his 
enemy  in  his  own  household. 

This  petty  interference  was  carried  still  farther,  in 
the  discouragement  of  even  what  was  not  known  in 
the  commercial  dealings  of  the  mother  country.  The 
trade  with  foreign  ports  and  the  production  of  what 
might  be  carried  directly  to  the  stranger  and  even  to 
the  fellow  colonist  was  ordered  to  be  discontiiiued. 
The  blindness  and  injustice  of  such  a  policy  is  ob- 
vious. Gov.  Clinton,  seeing  the  stupidity  of  this  pro- 
ceeding, in  a  letter  to  the  home  government,  asks, 
"  May  not  a  Colony  ...  of  Freemen  who  con- 
sume a  vast  quantity  of  the  Manufectures  of  Great 
Britain,  tho'  this  Colony  raise  no  staple  which  can  be 
imported  directly  into  Great  Britain,  be  more  useful 
to  her  than  a  Colony  which  raises  a  considerable 
staple  imported  into  Great  Britain,  and  this  Staple  is 
entirely  raised  by  the  hands  of  Slaves,  who  consume  very 
little  or  none  of  the  Manufactures  of  Great  Britain."  ?- 
This  narrow  course  with  a  people  described  by  Dr. 
Bray  as  "  so  well  versed  in  business  as  even  the 
meanest  planter  seems  to  be,'"  produced  much  irrita- 
tion and  remonstrance.  But  the  colonist's  labors  went 
on,  and  under  the  services  of  his  factor  a  large  en- 
richment took  place.  This  is  indicated  in  the  addi- 
tions by  purchase  to  the  estates  of  the  settlers  of  the 
unappropriated  lands  of  the  several  towns,  the  fre- 
quent changings  of  the  boundaries  and  the  multiplica- 
tion of  mills,  smaller  roads  and  modes  of  conveyance. 

Mails. — There  seems  not  to  be  any  indication  of  a 
postal  communication  between  New  York  and  any 
point  in  this  county  earlier  than  1672.  Of  course, 
letters  were  passing  by  private  conveyance  from  the 
very  first  of  the  settlements.  Expressions  showing 
this  occur  again  and  again  in  the  public  docu- 
ments. But  in  the  year  mentioned  Governor  Love- 
lace authorized  a  messenger  or  post  to  set  forth  from 
the  city  of  New  York  monthly,  "  and  thence  to  travail 
to  Boston,  from  whence  within  that  month  he  shall 
return  again  to  this  city."  *    This  arrangement  began 

1  In  the  Post  Bo!/ of  Fell., ITGG,  the  society  awarded  the  premium  to  Caleb 
Peil,  of  Pelham  llaiiar,  for  largest  and  best  cheese,  weighing  82%  lbs., 
and  we  are  informed  afterward  that  the  great  cheese  which  gained  the 
premium  was  sold  at  vendue  for  eight  pence  per  pound. 

-N.  y.  Col.  Mane.,  vii.  7,  p.  012  (1764). 

sProt.  Epis.  Hist.  Col.,  lSo7,  p.  103.  <  Baird's  Rye,  p.  72. 


on  the  1st  of  Januarj',  and  letters  or  small  portable  goods 
were  to  be  carefully  carried  to  "  Hartford,  Boston,  or  any 
other  points  on  the  road,"  "  by  a  sworn  messenger  and 
post  purposely  imployed  in  that  Affayre,"  "  All  per- 
sons paying  the  Post  before  the  Bag  be  sealed  up." 
The  postman  was  also  directed  to  allow  passengers  to 
accompany  him.  In  the  "  Instructions  for  the  Post- 
man "  are  the  following  :  "  You  are  to  comport  your- 
self with  all  sobriety  and  civility  to  those  that  shall 
intrust,  and  not  exact  on  them  for  the  prices,  both  of 
Letters  and  Pacquets ;  "  "you  are  likewise  to  advise 
where  the  most  commodious  place  will  be  to  leave  the 
Letters  out  of  your  road,  which,  when  having  it  once 
well  fixt,  you  are  not  only  to  leave  the  Letters  there, 
but  at  your  return  to  call  for  answers  and  leave  a  pub- 
lication of  your  Resolution,  the  w*^"  you  must  cause  to 
be  disperst  to  all  parts,  that  so  all  may  know  when 
and  where  to  leave  their  lettei-s."  ..."  You  shall 
doe  well  to  provide  yor  sclfe  of  a  spare  Horse,  good 
Port  Mantle,  that  soe  neither  letters  nor  Pacquets  re- 
ceive any  damage  under  your  hands. 

"  Ffrax  Lovelace. 
"  Ffort  James,  ye22d  of  Jan'y  1672."* 

The  ibllowing  is  a  portion  of  the  oath  taken  : 
"  You  do  sweare  by  the  Everlasting  God,  that  you 
will  truly  and  faithfully  discharge  the  trust  reposed 
in  you  as  a  Postmaster.  .  .  .  Neither  directly  nor 
indirectly  detayne,  conceale  or  open  any  Letters, 
Packetts,  or  other  goods  committed  to  your  charge, 
but  deliver,  etc."  This  arrangement  la.«ted  but  a  short 
time.  But  this  project  for  a  mail  between  New  York 
and  the  more  northern  British  colonies — a  favorite 
scheme  with  Lovelace, — it  fell  to  the  fortune  of  Gov- 
ernor Dongan,  in  1685,  to  permanently  establish.  He 
had  previously,  however,  conferred  with  the  authori- 
ties "  at  home  "  and  received  their  concurrence.  The 
Duke  of  York's  secretary.  Sir  John  Werden,  on  the 
27th  of  August,  1684,  writes  "  As  for  setting  up  Post 
Houses  along  the  coast  from  Carolina  to  Nova  Scotia, 
it  seems  a  very  reasonable  thing,  and  you  may  offer 
the  privilege  thereof  to  any  undertakers  for  ye  space 
of  3  or  5  yeares,  by  way  of  farme,  reserving  w'  part  of 
ye  profitt  you  thinke  fitt  to  the  Duke  (not  less  y°  one- 
tenth)."  *  The  next  February  he  fully  determined 
upon  the  step,  after  consultation  with  Governor  Treat, 
of  Connecticut,  and  on  the  2d  of  March  ordered  that, 
for  the  better  correspondence  between  the  colonies  of 
America,  a  post-ofl5ce  be  established  and  that  the  rate 
for  riding  post  be  per  mile  three  pence;  for  every  single 
letter  not  above  one  hundred  miles,  three  pence  ;  if 
more,  proportionably.  It  must  be  stated  however, 
on  the  authority  of  Governor  Dongan  himself,  that 
at  the  very  time  this  Government  arrangement  com- 
menced, this  transferring  of  letters  was  "  practiced  in 
some  places  by  foot  and  horse  messengers." 

5  "Valentine's  Manual ;  "  Gen.  Entries,  iii.  252,  Sec.  office,  Albany. 
0  X.  y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iii.  p.  349. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


171 


The  following  are  noticeable  indications  of  the  ex- 
istence of  this  mail  : 

On  the  ItUh  of  January,  16S9.  the  mail  having  just 
left  the  house  of  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  in  this  county, 
was  seized  by  Leisler's  order  and  returned  to  New- 
York  and  examined.' 

The  Earl  of  Bellaraont,  writing  May  25,  1(598,  from 
New  York,  says  : 
"  the  sure  way  of 
conveying  letters 
to  me  is  by  the 
way  of  Boston, 
whence  the  post 
comes  every  week 
to  this  place." 

Lord  Cornbury, 
in  a  letter  to  the 
Lords  of  Trade 
June  30th,  1704, 
writes  :  "  The  post 
that  goes  through 
this  place,  goes 
Eastward  as  far  as 
Boston,  but  West- 
ward he  goes  no 
farther  than  Phila- 
delphia and  there 
is  no  other  post 
upon  all  this  con- 
tinent." ^ 

In  a  letter  des- 
cribing the  effects 
of  Her  Majesty's 
proclamation  as 
to  the  rates  of  coin, 
Governor  Corn- 
bury  writes  as  fol- 
lows :  "  It  was  on 
Monday  the  5th 
day  of  February, 
1705, the  day  the 
Boston  Post  sets 
out  from  hence, 
several  persons  here  sent  away 
as  much  money  by  the  Post  as 
he  could  carry." 

In  1704  we  have  from 
jMadam  Knight's  journal  an 
account  of  her  trip  from  Bos- 
ton to  New  York  herself,  and 
the  postman  on  horseback.* 

In  1703  Lord  Cornbury, 
sending  home  for  approval  several  bills  passed  by  the 
Assembly,  speaks  of  one  as  "  An  Act  of  absolute  ne- 
cessity, for  without  it  the  Post  to  Boston  and  Phila- 
delphia will  be  lost."* 

1  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iii.  p.  r,S2.     3  N.  Y.  Col.  JISS.,  vol.  iv.  p.  111.3. 

2  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iv.  p.  317.  «  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iv.  p.  1131. 
6  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iv.  p.  11C8. 


In  1708,  Lord  Cornbury  states  that  "  From  Bostou 
there  is  a  Post  by  which  we  can  hear  once  a  week  in 
.summer,  and  once  a  fortnight  in  winter."" 

In  the  New  York  Gdzette  of  December  9,  1734,  is 
the  following  advertisement : 

"  On  Tuesday  the  Tenth  instant,  at  Nine  O'clock  iu  the  Fore-noon, 
the  Boston  and  Philadelphia  Posts  set  out  from  Xew  York  to  perform 

tlieir  stages  once  a  fort 
nited\iring  the  3  Win- 
ter niuntiis  and  are  to  set 
out  at  9  o'clock  on  Tues- 
day Mornings.  Oentle- 
mon  and  Merchant'*  are 
desired  to  liring  their 
Letters  in  time.  X.  B. 
— This  Oa/ette  will  also 
come  forth  on  Tuesday 
inorningR  during  that 
time."  ' 


With  little-vari- 
ation this  through 
mail  arrange- 
ment, from  which 
doubtless  the  in- 
habitants of  West- 
chester County 
derived  the  same 
advantages  a.s 
others  on  the 
route,  continued 
on  for  twenty 
years  longer,, 
when,  Benjamin 
Franklin  having^ 
been  made  Post-, 
master-General 
for  the  colonies, 
entered  upon  of- 
fice with  determi- 
nation to  increase 
the  ])ostal  facili- 
ties.* The  weekly 
mail  was  soon 
started,  through 
the  winter  months 
as  well  as  summer,  and  letters 
leaving  Philadelphia  on  Mon- 
day morning  reached  Boston 
by  Saturday  night.  We  have 
the  names  of  two  of  the  old 
mail-  carriers,  whose  faces 
must  have  been  very  familiar 
and  welcome  at  the  various 


points  along  the  post-road. 
They  were  both  of  Stratford,  Conn.,  and  must  have 
started  on  their  stirring  careers  about   the  same 


•■■  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  V.  p.  55. 

'  Valentine's  Manual,  ISM,  p.  710. 

Franklin  himself  set  out  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  and,  travelinB 
patiently  over  the  routes,  erectc<l  mile-stones  (some  of  which  are  still 
standing)."    Mrs.  Lamb's  Hist,  of  the  City  of  N.  Y.,  vol.  i.  p.  •;C8. 


172 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


time,  1728.  The  first  was  Deacon  Thomas  Peet, 
"  employed  as  a  Post- rider  between  New  York  and 
Saybrook  for  the  last  thirty-two  years  of  his  life,  in 
which  station  he  gave  general  satisfaction.  He  died 
of  a  Fever  in  the  sixty -second  year  of  his  age."*  The 
second  was  Ebenezer  Hurd,  who  was  forty-seven  years, 
at  least  Post-rider  and  was  in  the  i^osition  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution. ' 

Newspapers. — Although  not  one  newspaper  seems 
to  have  been  published  in  Westchester  County  in 
ante-Revolutionary  times,  the  city  press  found  here 
its  firmest  patrons.  The  weekly  mail  brought  out 
with  it  the  just  iiublished  Journal,  and  afforded  for 
the  instruction,  amusement  and  excitement  of  the 
farmer,  as  of  the  citizen,  not  merely  the  events  that 
were  hapi^ening,  but  the  stirring  thoughts  and  pur- 
poses which  were  offering  for  examination  and  ad- 
vantage. In  these  city  papers  are  found  frequent 
advertisements  and  notes  appertaining  to  the  countrj*, 
—  farms  to  be  disposed  of;  runaway  slaves  to  be  re- 
covered; stage-lines  started  ;  vessels  freighting  for  dis- 
tant points ;  wrecked  vessels  that  will  be  restored ; 
rewards  for  recovery  of  stolen  goods ;  prices  of  mer- 
chandise to  be  sold.  Events  occurring  in  the  County 
are  also  noticed.  The  New  York  Post  Boy,  Febru- 
ary 6,  17.")8,  has  "  the  following  most  shocking  and 
melancholy  account  from  East  Chester,  N.  Y.,  that, 
on  Friday  morning,  the  27th  of  January,  Mrs.  Mary 
Standard,  aged  about  seventy  years,  wife  to  the  Rev. 
Doctor  Thomas  Standard,  of  that  place,  was  found 
dead  on  the  chimney-hearth  of  one  of  the  apartments 
in  the  house,  having  her  head,  the  chief  part  of  both 
her  breasts,  with  her  left  arm  and  shoulder  entirely 
burnt  to  cinders.  It  appears  that  the  unfortunate  old 
gentleman  and  his  more  unfortunate  old  lady  had, 
upon  some  necessary  occasion  the  evening  before, 
agreed  to  lay  separate ;  and  the  doctor,  taking  his 
leave,  went  to  bed,  leaving  his  wife  sitting  before  the 
fire,  where,  it  is  imagined,  the  poor  old  gentlewoman 
must  either  have  been  seized  with  a  fit,  or,  in  rising 
from  her  chair  had  fallen  into  the  fire,  and,  being  un- 
doubtedly rendered  unable  to  move  herself  she  be- 
came the  most  moving  spectacle  imaginable  to  the 
most  affectionate  and  tender  husband,  who  first  dis- 
covered her  in  the  morning." 

The  same  journal,  on  the  14th  of  March,  1765,  an- 
nounces that  "  last  week  was  killed  at  Morrisania,  at 
the  farm  of  Lewis  Morris,  Esq.,  in  the  county  of 
Westchester,  where  it  was  reared,  an  ox  of  six  years 
old  that  weighed  nineteen  hundred  and  forty-seven 
pounds." 

The  following  advertisement-*,  of  an  earlier  date, 
are  given  : 

"  stolen,  ou  Suuilay  niglit,  the  Stli  of  JIarcli,  out  of  the  Stable  of  John 
Eyiier,  at  Philipseborongh,  in  the  County  of  West  Chester,  a  large 

1  jVeio  York  Mercury,  Oct.  27,  1760. 

-  Supplement  to  the  A'eiu  York  G<i:elle  and  IVeelli/  Merairii,  .^pril  10, 
l77.->. 

3 This  occurred  in  the  house  of  Pr.  Standard,  opposite  the  church. 


brown  horse,  about  fifteen  hands  high,  has  a  small  star  on  his  Fore- 
head and  goes  narrow  with  his  Hams  behind,  he  is  branded  in  several 
Places,  but  not  vei^  plain,  on  his  Foreshoulder  with  I  H,  and  on  his 
Left  Thigh  with  I  R.  Whosoever  takes  up  the  said  Horse  and  brings 
him  to  his  said  owner  shall  have  Five  Pounds  reward  and  all  reasonable 
charges  paid  by 

"John  Rider."  * 

"To  Be  Sold, 

"  A  very  good  Farm  and  Tract  of  Laud  thereunto  belonging,  contain- 
ing seventy-three  acres  or  thereabouts,  lying  in  New  Kochelle,  in  the 
County  of  West  Chester,  on  which  is  a  good  brick  dwelling  House,  a 
well-bearing  orchard  aud  good  Timber  Land  ;  as  also  three  acres  of  Salt 
Meadow,  in  the  Township  of  East  Chester,  late  belonging  to  Lewis 
Guion,  of  East  Chester,  deceased.  Those  that  are  intended  to  purchase 
the  same  may  apply  to  Charles  Johnston,  of  New  York,  schoolmaster,  or 
Charles  Vincent,  of  East  Chester,  Rlacksmith,  aud  the  title  thereto  suf- 
ficientlj'  warranted."  6 

Modes  of  Travel. — There  were  no  doubt  from  the 
very  first  intimate  relations  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  County  with  New  York  City  and 
the  adjoining  State  of  Connecticut.  Business  called 
to  the  one  and  ties  of  blood  and  friendship  to  the 
other.  Of  course,  ip  a  region  devoted  to  agriculture 
the  facilities  of  travel  were  in  each  family,  and  neigh- 
borly exchanges  of  opportunities  were  equal  to  the 
demand.  So  also  the  rivers  on  both  sides  of  the 
county  ofltred  large  advantages  from  the  very  first  for 
trade  and  other  interests.  But  the  first  known  public 
conveyance,  outside  of  j^ostal  arrangements,  through 
this  county  was  established  in  1772,  as  appears  by  the 
following  advertisement  in  the  New  York  Journal  of 
July  9th : 

"The 
Stage  Coach 
between 
New  York  and  Boston 
"Which  for  the  first  Time  sets  out  this  day  from  Mr.  Fowler's  Tavern 
(fonnerly  kept  by  Mr.  Stout)  at  Fresh  Water  in  New  York  will  continue 
to  go  the  Coui-se  between  Boston  and  New  York,  So  as  to  be  at  each  of 
those  places  once  a  fortnight,  coming  in  on  Saturday  Evening  and  set- 
ing  out  to  return  by  the  way  of  Hartford  on  Monday  Morning.  The 
price  to  Passengers  will  be  4  d  New  York  or  3  d  lawful  Money  per  Mile 
and  Baggage  at  a  reasonable  lute. 

"  Gentlemen  and  Ladies  who  choose  to  encourage  this  useful,  new  and 
expensive  LTndertaking,  may  depend  upon  good  Usage,  and  that  the 
Coach  will  always  put  up  at  Houses  on  the  Road  where  the  best  Enter- 
tainment is  provided.  .  .  .  If  ou  Trial  the  Subscribers  find  Encour- 
agement they  will  perform  the  Stage  once  a  Week,  only  altering  the 
Day  of  setting  out  from  New  York  and  Boston  to  Thursday  instead  of 
Jlonday  Morning. 

"  Jonathan  and  Nicholas  Bbown." 

As  stages  had  been  running  for  some  years  before 
this  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  it  appears  hardly 
possible  that  communication  eastward  from  New 
should  be  established  so  much  later.  However,  very 
soon  two  and  three  trijjs  were  made  every  week  be- 
tween the  two  cities.'  And  next  a  stage  for  Westchester 
County,  going  as  far  as  Rye,  was  started,  with,  how- 
ever, the  very  strange  selection  of  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  for  the  return  trip  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays 
and  Saturdays. 


«  Weekly  Pott  Boy,  March  23,  1747. 
5  Weekly  Post  Boy,  January  19,  1747. 
<•  Frank's  New  York  Directoiy,  1787. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


173 


It  would  seem  that  in  178o  the  first  stages  between 
New  York  and  Albany  through  this  county  began 
their  trips.  The  stages  were  drawn  by  four  horses, 
and  the  charge  was  four  pence  a  mile.' 


Philadelphia  STAGE-WAGGON,  and  New-York 
STAGE  BOAT  performs  their  Stages  twice  a  Week. 

JOHN  BUTLER,  with  his  wag- 

4J  gon,  fcts  out  on  Mondays  from  his  Houfe,  at  the  Sign 
of  the  Death  of  the  Fox,  in  Strawberry  ally,  and  drives  the 
fame  day  to  Trenton  Fcrrj-,  when  Francis  Holman  meets 
him  and  proceeds  on  TuefJay  to  Brunfwick,  and  the  paf- 
fengers  and  goods  being  /hilted  into  the  waggon  of  Ifaac 
Ficzrandolph  he  takes  them  to  the  New  Blazing  Star  to 
]acob  Fitz'randolph's  the  fame  day,  uhere  Rubin  Fitzran- 
ciolph,  with  a  boat  well  futed,  will  receive  them,  and 
take-  them  to  New-Yorlc  that  night.  John  Butler  return- 
ing to  Philadelphia  on  TuefJay  with  the  paffengers  and 
goods  delivered  to  him  by  Francis  Holman,  will  again  fet 
out  for.  Trenton  Ferry  on  Thurfday,  and  Francis  Holman. 
&C.  will  carry  his  paiTcngers  and  goods,  with  the  fame  ex- 
pedition as  above  to  New-York.  Tcctf. 

Beside  the  sloop  advantages  for  reaching  the  city 
and  points  along  the  shores  of  the  county,  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made,  there  were  also  very  early 
ferries  between  it  and  the  opposite  sides  of  the  Hud- 
son and  the  Sound. 

In  1739  a  ferry  was  established  between  Rye  and 
Oyster  Bay,'  and  as  early  certainly  as  1743  one  by 
periauger  was  running  between  Ferry  Point,  in  the 
town  of  Westchester,  and  Powell's  Point,  near  White- 
stone,  Long  Island. 

Dobbs  Ferry,  in  the  town  of  Greenburg,  was  so 
called  from  a  Swedish  family  of  this  name — early  set- 
tlers, who  kept  a  ferry  from  this  place  to  the  opposite 
shore  of  Rockland  County.  Again,  in  1755,  a  public 
ferry  between  Ann  Hook's  Xeck,  or  Rodman's  Neck, 
and  Cedar-Tree  Brook,  in  Hampstead  Harbor,  was  in 
operation,  Samuel  Rodman  and  John  Wooley  being 
the  patentees.'  On  a  map  of  the  road  from  Federal 
Hall  to  New  Rochelle,  passing  over  the  Harlem 
River  at  Kingsbridge,  and  over  the  Bronx  at  Wil- 
liams' Bridge  and  through  East  Chester,  there  is  laid 
down  a  side-road  in  that  village,  which  is  described 
as  "  road  leading  to  Whitestone  Fen:y,"  which  shows 
undoubtedly  that  water  communication  had  been  es- 
tablished through  Hutchinson's  River,  East  Chester 
Bay  and  the  Sound  with  the  shore  at  Long  Island. 

Rise  of  CnrRCHES. — The  colonists  of  Westchester 
County,  Dutch  or  English  or  French,  gave  their  atten- 


tion from  the  first  to  their  religious  interests,  and  held 
their  assemblies  for  religious  worship  as  soon  as  they 
took  up  their  new  abodes.  We  must  imagine  that 
for  the  most  part  these  early  services  were  held  in 
their  private  residences,  in  turn  perhap.s,  or  at  some 
house  permanently  by  common  consent.  Their 
thoughts  early  turned  to  the  subject  of  church-build- 
ing, which  was  accomplished  in  some  localities 
sooner  than  others.  In  New  Rochelle,  in  three  years 
after  its  settlement  by  the  Huguenots,  a  place  of  wor- 
ship was  erected.  It  took  the  people  of  East  Chester 
thirty  years  before  they  were  determined  to  build, 
although  they  had  asked  permission  twenty  years 
before,  and  after  this  resolve  near  seven  years 
elapsed  before  the  Meeting-house  was  ready  for  use. 
Bedford,  which  was  settled  about  1680,  and  which 
that  very  year  expressed  its  determination  to  build, 
had  a  place  of  worship  within  a  few  years.  The 
following  is  supposed  to  be  the  order  in  which 
the  early  church  edifices  of  the  county  were  erected. 
The  date  of  the  first  Quaker  Meeting-house  at  West 
Chester  is  certainly  much  earlier  than  1729,  for  Dr. 
Standard  in  that  year  speaks  of  it  as  then  in  use.* 
Mr.  Bolton  seems  to  mark  it  out  as  1747,  but  perhaps 
he  refers  to  a  second  edifice.^ 


>  Stone's  "Hist,  of  New  York,"  p.  188. 

2  Baii-d'8  "  Bye,"  p.  78. 

3  Bolton's  "  History  of  Westchester  County,' 


vol.  i.  p.  .546. 


1680-1704. 
16!)-2-'J3. 

icy9. 

17110. 

170(1. 

1706-8. 

1708. 

1710. 

172  J. 

1727  « 

1729.* 

17:12-40. 

1737. 

1730-10. 

1739. 

1747. 

175-2. 

1752.* 

1761. 

1763. 

1764. 

1764. 

1766. 

1770. 


. , Westcliester   Imlepeiidents. 

. i Westcliester   Friends. 

I  Bedford   I'resliyterians. 

iXew  liochelle   Hugueuots. 

.Mount  I'leasant   Keformed  Dutch. 

East  Chester   Independents. 

Westcliester  Independents. 

Fordham   Reformed  Dutcli. 

Rye   Church  of  England. 

Xew  Rochelle   Church  of  England. 

Xew  Rochelle   ReforniedProtestant. 

White  Plains   I*resbyterian8. 

Rye   Presbyterians. 

Cortlandt   Reformed  Dutch. 

Yorlitown  '  Presby  terians. 

Harrison   Friends. 

Marmauwick   Friends. 

Westchester   Friends. 

Yonkei-s  Church  of  England. 

South  Salem  Presbyterians. 

Xew  Castle   Church  of  England. 

Xorth  Salem  Church  of  England. 

I  East  Chester   Church  of  England. 

iXorlh  Salem   Presbyterians. 

Peekskill  IChurch  of  England. 

J  Poundridge  'Presbyterians. 


*  About  this  date. 

The  church  at  Mount  Pleasant  is  the  famous  build- 
ing at  Sleepy  Hollow,  and  is  still  standing  in  ex- 
cellent preservation.  Catherine  Philipse,  daughter 
of  OloflT  Stevens  Van  Kortlandt,  and  wife  of  Freder- 
ick Philipse,  seems  to  have  taken  great  interest  in  its 
erection  and  to  have  been  largely  its  benefactor. 

IXFLCEXCEOF  THE  Cler(;y. — Certain  it  is  that  no 
class  of  persons  contributed  more  to  influence  the  peo- 
ple of  this  county  during  its  colonial  existence  than  the 
Clergy  of  the  various  religious  societies  within  it.  The 
Connecticut  Congregationalist,  the  Huguenot,  the 
Reformed  Dutch  and  the  Church  of  England  minister 


<  Hawk's  MSS.  from  Archires  at  Falbam,  vol.  ii.  pp.  26-.'..''>. 
5  Bultou  "  Hist,  of  Westchester  Co.,"  Tol.  ii.  p.  2-27. 


174 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


served,  in  his  presence  and  labors,  not  merely  to  sup- 
ply the  religious  wants  of  the  many  who  realized 
them,  but  to  counteract  the  lowering  tendency  of 
the  situation  and  circumstances  of  the  new  settler. 
Wherever  any  demoralization  appeared  for  the  time, 
one  can  easily  trace  it  to  the  absence  of  this  exalting 
power  for  the  common  good.  While  it  is  fully  allowed 
that  the  clashing  claims  diminished  much  then,  as 
it  does  now,  the  result  of  professional  elforts,  it  is  yet 
apparent  enough  how,  in  the  setting  forth  of  the 
moral  code,  in  the  urgent  use  of  ordinances  and  cus- 
toms, in  encouraging  calls  to  individual  reform,  in  the 
exhibition  of  the  results  of  good  and  evil,  in  the  dis- 
countenancing— sometimes  denunciation — ofbadmen, 
inthe  enforcement  of  rights,  individual  and  magisterial, 
as  well  as  those  Divine,  in  examples  of  domestic  felicity 
and  order, — in  these  and  so  many  other  ways  the  serv- 
ant of  God  and  friend  of  the  people  filled  up  his  mis- 
sion of  usefulness.  In  a  scattered  population,  growing 
in  eighty  years  from  one  thousand  one  hundred  to  six-  ; 
teeu  thousand,  these  clergy,  never  ten  in  number  at 
one  time,  in  some  decades  not  more  than  three,  held 
up  in  the  most  remarkable  manner  in  the  face  of  all 
opposing  influences  the  moral  tone  of  the  various  com- 
munities of  the  County.  Of  course,  traditional  senti- 
ments and  healthy  prejudices,  still  fresh,  much  assist- 
ed, and  might  be  readily  invoked  ;  for  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  the  Westchester  new-comers  were  relig- 
ious people.  But  the  gratifying  fact  is  the  more  con- 
spicuous, as,  amid  much  to  discourage  them,  the  stand- 
ard under  the  care  and  efforts  of  godly  men  is  again 
and  again  restored.  No  doubt  a  great  source  of  their 
strength  was  the  establishment  of  the  Christian  dogma 
by  law.  The  assistance,  too,  of  the  Society  for  Propa- 
gating the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  could  not  but  bear 
witness  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  people  to  the 
value  of  Christian  truth  and  duty  felt  by  the  devout 
and  humane  peojjle  of  the  mother-country  in  thus  as- 
sisting in  the  support  of  the  colonial  clergy. 

But  the  teachers  who  seeing  these  points  with  the 
people,  and  in  private  and  public  discourse  taking 
care  that  they  should  not  fail  of  appreciating  them, 
the  more  courageously  and  effectively  delivered  and 
•urged  the  Word  of  God.  In  the  month  of  July  1719, 
Rev.  John  Bartow,  taking  for  his  text,  Jeremiah  xiv. 
22 :  "  Are  there  any  among  the  vanities  of  the  Gen- 
tiles that  can  cause  rain?  or  can  the  heavens  give 
showers?  Art  not  thou  he,  O  Lord,  our  God  ;  there- 
fore we  will  wait  upon  thee,  for  thou  hast  made  all 
these  things."  Taking  up  the  words  of  his  text,  evi- 
dently upon  the  last  expression,  he  comments  as 
follows :  "  Xow,  by  waiting  upon  God,  in  the  Pro- 
phet's phrase  is  undoubtedly  meant,  The  making  our 
humble  addresses  daj'  by  day  unto  ye  most  wise  and 
perfect  being,  who  is  endowed  with  Infinite  power 
and  goodness,  the  author  of  our  life  and  well-being, 
who  formed  our  bodys  of  the  dust  and  created  our 
s?)uls  out  of  nothing,  who  iu  his  unsearchable  provi- 
dences placed  us  in  this  material  world  and  controuls 


influences  and  directs  every  accident  that  can  befall 
us,  whilst  we  continue  here,  and  therefore  to  wait 
upon  God  in  ye  actual  exercise  of  such  desires  and 
affections  as  acknowledge  God  to  be  the  author  and 
giver  of  all  things  is  most  reasonable  and  tending  to 
our  own  comfort  in  all  our  temporal  and  Eternal 
Interests."  Worldliness  and  vice  were  thus  by  public 
sentiment  under  the  ban  and  the  maxims  and  manners 
that  are  so  elevating  countenanced. 

It  is  but  fair  to  remember  these  gentlemen  in  the 
difficulties  they  met  with.  Isolated,  meagrely  support- 
ed, separated  from  each  other,  if  not  by  distance,  more 
by  questions  that  did  not  allow  of  confidence,  with  so 
many  frowns  upon  them,  either  from  the  people  or 
from  the  ruling  power  in  the  colony,  they  yet  went 
on  quietly  in  their  work,  to  the  untold  advantage  of 
the  County.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Johnson,  President  of 
King's  College,  in  a  sermon  at  East  Chester,  in  1755, 
from  Heb,  xiii.  1-1:  "For  here  have  we  no  continuing 
city,  but  we  seek  one  to  come  "  urges,  "  Let  us  not  be 
so  foolish  as  to  raise  any  great  expectations  from  this 
fleeting  uncertain  world  for  we  shall  be  wretchedly 
frustrated  and  the  greatness  of  the  misery  of  our  dis- 
appointment will  be  proportioned  to  the  greatness  of 
our  expectations."  It  is,  moreover,  to  be  remarked 
that  the  influence  thus  exerted  is  in  a  degree  to  be 
referred  to  the  extended  pastorates  of  a  number  of  the 
clergy,  half  a  dozen  of  them  at  least  lasting  over 
thirty  years. 

It  is  also  suggested  with  no  little  pleasure  that 
what  Dr.  Dougla.ss,  quoted  by  William  Smith,  the 
historian  of  New  York,  absurdly  proposes  in  order  to 
increase  the  usefulness  of  the  clergj',  was  realized  for 
their  people  iu  the  intermarriage  of  their  children. 
"Our  missionaries,"  says  this  far-sighted  propagand- 
ist, "  may  procure  a  perpetual  alliance  and  commer- 
cial advantages  with  the  Indians,  which  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergy  cannot  do,  because  they  forbid  to  mar- 
ry. I  mean  our  missionaries  may  intermarry  with 
the  daughters  of  the  Sachems,  and  other  considerable 
Indians,  and  their  progeny  will  forever  be  a  certain 
cement  between  us  and  the  Indians."  Contempt 
for  such  insolencell'  But  as  from  the  fireside 
of  a  Bartow,  a  Wetmore,  a  Smith,  a  Sackett,  a 
Mead,  a  White,  a  Thomas,  a  Monroe  went  forth 
son  or  daughter,  to  be  joined  unto  godly  wife  or 
husband,  to  perj>etuate  the  principles  and  heart 
wishes  of  their  devoted  fathere,  date  the  commence- 
ment of  influences  for  the  highest  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple, which  in  their  eflects  are  seen  as  visibly  in  the 
post-Revolutionary  periods  as  in  the  years  before  the 
strife.  Nor  is  it  amiss  in  this  connection,  when  speak- 
ing of  the  usefulness  of  the  Westchester  clergy,  to 
mention  the  moral  support  which  they  received  from 
the  efforts  and  assistance  of  prominent  citizens  of  the 
county  and  province  during  these  eighty  years.  Col. 
Caleb  Heathcote  here  readily  recurs  to  mind.    He  was 

1  Smith's  New  York  Carej  Ed.  p.  247.  DoiiglBS*,  Sam.  A  C,  toI.  ii.  p. 
13S,  Buston  Edit.  175:!. 


THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


175 


a  conscientious  and  devout  gentleman,  whose  convic- 
tions of  trutii  and  duty  were  definite  and  decided. 
His  pliilantliropy  was  broad  and  absorbing ;  but  his 
courage  was  ever  moderated  by  liis  prudence.  "  Art- 
ful," he  was  never.  No  good  man  ever  misunderstood 
him,  nor  without  regret  withstood  him.  He  was  the 
friend  of  all  that  were  striving  for  the  public  good, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  dissenting 
preacher  as  well  as  the  Church  of  England  priest 
had  a  kind  and  a  wise  word  Irom  him.  Throughout 
this  county  the  odor  of  his  good  work  was  spread,  to 
the  discomfort  at  the  time  of  none,  but  the  benefit  of 
all.  The  attempt  to  change  the  color  of  a  life,  which 
has  been  preserved  undimmed  with  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  of  cherished  admiration,  aflbrds  little  evi- 
dence of  sagacity.  It  is  far  better  to  account  for  its 
successes,  if  not  by  the  truth  of  the  principles  which 
swayed  it,  then  by  the  purity  and  loveliness  of  that 
natural  character  which  they  brought  to  such  per- 
fection and  winning  attractiveness. 

But  we  must  not  omit  here  the  judicious  use 
which  the  Church  of  England  clergy  made,  through 
the  liberality  and  wisdom  of  the  Society  for  Pro- 
pagating the  Gospel,  of  two  instrumentalities — 
schoolmasters  and  religious  books  —  in  furthering 
the  best  interests  of  the  people  of  the  county.  West- 
chester, East  Chester,  Rye,  New  Rochelle,  North 
Castle,  Yonkers,  Mile  Square,  White  Plains,  at  the 
instigation  and  under  the  direction  of  the  clergy, 
were  provided  almost  continuously  with  school  ad- 
vantages. Says  Dr.  Berrien,  in  his  "  History  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,"  "  There  is  nothing 
with  which  I  have  been  so  much  struck  as  the  zeal, 
the  earnestness  and  devotedness  of  the  school-mast- 
ers and  catechists  of  that  day.  The  former  seem 
to  have  been  selected  from  among  the  laity  with 
great  caution  and  care.  .  .  Some  of  these  were  men  of 
liberal  education.  .  .  .  Intellectual  was  not  then,  to 
the  extent  that  it  is  now,  separated  from  religious 
improvement,  but  both  went  hand  in  hand  throughout 
the  iceel:."^  What  the  wise  Rector  of  Trinity  says  of 
the  schoolmasters  of  his  parish  was  equally  true  of 
those  whose  work  was  in  Westchester  County.  In 
answer  to  the  question  of  the  society,  "  Have  you  in 
your  parish  any  public  school  for  the  instruction  of 
youth  ?  If  you  have,  is  it  endowed,  and  who  is  the 
master?"  the  Rev.  John  Bartow  answers:  We  have 
a  public  school  in  Westchester,  of  which  Mr.  Forster 
is  the  society's  schoolmaster,  and  we  have  private 
schools  in  other  places — no  endowment.  Some  fam- 
ily of  the  name  of  Pelham  that  are  adjacent  come  to 
East  Chester  Church."  - 

The  following  are  the  names  of  some  of  the  school- 
masters of  the  county  in  colonial  times :  Delpech, 
Forster,  Cleator,  Collier,  Dwight,  Purdy,  Timothy 
Wetmore,  James  Wetmore,  Basil  Bartow,  Thomas 


>  Pages  86-S7. 

-New  York  history  from  archives  at  Fulham,  Vol.  1,  635. 


Huddlestone,  John  Carhart,  William  Sturgeon,  John 
Rand,  John  Avery,  Daniel  Clarke,  Charles  Glover, 
Nathiiniel  Seabury,  George  Young,  Mr.  Gott. 

The  presence  of  these  educated  men  in  the  com- 
munity as  levers  of  usefulness  was  not  a  little  aided 
by  the  circulation  among  the  people  of  books  of 
sterling  merit  on  theology  and  practical  religion  and 
smaller  essays  treating  on  subjects  of  passing  interest.' 
Some  of  these  treatises  were  controversial,  which 
characteristic  in  those  days  was  not  at  all  incon- 
genial;  many  of  them  would  be  regarded  in  our 
times  as  very  dryly  written,  but  not  so  by  those 
early  settlers.  Among  the  volumes  known  to  be 
furnished  by  the  Society,  were  Beveridge's  several 
works,  Lewis'  Catechisms,  Taylor's  Holy  Living  and 
Dying,  The  Whole  Duty  of  Man,*  Leslie's  Discour- 
ses, Bishop  Potter  on  Church  Government,  Dr. 
Bray's  books.  Hooker's  Eccles.  Polity,  Hoadly  vs. 
Calamy. 

Of  course  there  were  other  books  which  were  reach- 
ing the  people,  some  of  lowering  tendency,  some  with 
teachings  that  the  books  spoken  of  were  to  antidote  ; 
but  it  must  be  evident,  that  all  this  reading,  limited 
as  compared  with  that  of  our  day,  both  as  to  range 
and  extent,  must  have  quickened  the  intellectual 
and  elevated  the  moral  tone.  The  clergy  here  were 
giving  the  same  direction  to  the  thought  of  the 
people,  towards  the  true,  the  good  and  the  useful, 
that  they  were  pursuing  and  urging  in  their  dis- 
courses. 

Relations  of  the  County  to  the  Colony.— It 
will  be  quite  evident  from  what  has  been  presented  that 
the  county  of  Westchester  occupied  no  passive  position 
in  the  progress  of  the  colony  of  New  York,  but  largely 
assisted  in  the  development  of  the  city  and  the 
regions  upon  which  it  was  continually  advancing. 
What  must  be  said  of  the  influence  of  the  towns  upon 
each  other  is  true  also  of  their  bearings  upon  the 
intellectual,  social  and  religious  condition  of  the 
whole  Province.  The  energy,  sturdiness,  promptness 
and  firmness  of  the  inhabitants  were  everywhere  ap- 
preciated, and  while  much  was  received,  much  was 
communicated.  Sometimes  the  excessive  ardor  of  the 
populace  found  its  check  in  the  sober  thoughtfulness, 
the  festina  lente  temper  of  their  country  neighbors  on 
the  north,  and  sometimes  the  dormant  sensibility  to 
justice  and  right  was  stirred  to  activity  and  fervor  by 
boiling  floods  of  resentment  pouring  down  from  our 
Westchester  hills.  But  the  relations  between  these 
portions  were  too  continuously  intimate  to  allow  much 
of  spasmodic  action.  A  more  correct  statement  of 
what  was  taking  place  is  that  the  difl'erent  portions 
of  the  province  were  all  contributing  to  the  making 
up  of  its  general  character  and  fortune,  and  this 
county  was  among  the  most  potential. 

3  Vule  UeDdersou  Walker  Letter  to  Ld.  Bp.  LoDdoD,  Prot.  Episc.  Hist. 
Soc.  Coll.,  vol,  1851,  p.  182. 
I     <Thl9  book  was  widely  disseniiuated,  and  I  have  under  my  eye  a  very 
I  fine  quarto  edition  of  this  early  date. 


176 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


At  this  time,  New  York,  though  not  as  thicklj'  set- 
tled as  her  eastern  or  western  neighbors,  was  the  cen- 
tre of  influence.  Her  geographical  jjositiou,  with  the 
broad  Hudson  and  the  great  bay  at  its  mouth  divid- 
ing the  colonies,  made  her  the  key  of  the  Continent. 
Her  exposed  situation  as  the  great  border  bulwark 
against  the  encroaching  French  and  their  Indian 
allies  was  a  source  of  constant  care  both  to  the  colo- 
nies and  the  Home  Government.  Upon  her  safety 
depended  the  framework  of  British  colonization. 
"  Whatever  happens  in  this  place,"  wrote  Golden  to 
Secretary  Gonvvay,  "has  the  greatest  influence  in 
the  other  colonies.  They  have  their  eyes  perpetually 
upon  it  and  they  govern  themselves  accordingly."  On 
the  other  hand,  no  colony  was  in  so  direct  sympathy 
with  England.  New  York  was  not  a  chartered  gov- 
ernment, but  a  province  of  Great  Britain.  The  leading 
merchants  were  Britons  born,  and  held  close  relations 
with  their  kindred  in  the  old  country.  Moreover,  the 
salubrity  of  the  climate  and  the  natural  charms  of  the 
favorite  city  of  the  continent  rendered  it  even  then 
the  preferred  choice  of  Brit- 
ish officials.  The  markets 
then,  as  now,  abounded 
in  the  choicest  provisions, 
native  and  tropical,  and 
there  was  an  elegance  and 
luxury  in  life  which  was 
not  only  entirelj'  unknown 
in  some  of  the  other  colo- 
nies, but  was  a  source  of 
surprise  even  to  English 
visitors,  who  found  the  res- 
idences and  tables  of  the 
New  York  gentry  not  in- 
ferior to  those  of  the  better  classes  at  home.  Between 
New  York  and  the  English  ports  there  was  a  constant 
and  rapid  communication  by  swift  sailing-vessels, 
whose  arrival  was  eagerly  looked  for  on  either  side. 
Even  the  local  elections  in  Great  Britain  excited  as 
much  attention  and  interest  in  New  York  and  in 
Westchester  County  as  in  many  of  their  own  boroughs. 
Visits  to  the  old  country  were  frequent ;  nothing  was 
more  common  than  notices  in  the  journals  "of  gentle- 
men intending  for  Great  Britain  by  the  next  packet." 
Frequent  intermarriages  added  family  ties  to  commer- 
cial intercourse. 

When  the  differences  with  the  mother  country 
began,  New  York  being  the  most  English  in  senti- 
ment of  all  the  colonies,  was  naturally  selected  for  the 
place  of  meeting  of  a  Congress,  the  declared  purpose 
of  which  was  a  loyal  demand  for  redress  of  grievances. 
The  "Stamp  Act  Congress"  met  on  the  7th  o 
October,  17(55.  There  were  present  delegates  from 
nine  colonies.  John  Cruger,  one  of  the  oldest  and 
best  known,  a  leading  merchant,  who  for  ten  years 
had  held  the  office  of  mayor  of  the  city;  Philip  Liv- 
ingston, also  a  merchant  of  great  wealth,  later  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  Robert  R. 


BRITISH  STAMP. 


Livingston,  known  as  Judge  Livingston,  the  soul  of 
the  opposition  to  the  ministry,  worthily  represented 
New  York.  After  a  brief  session  of  several  days  the 
Congress  adjourned  on  the  25th  of  October,  after  adopt- 
ing an  address  to  the  King,  a  memorial  and  petition 
to  the  Lords,  and  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

While  the  delegates  were  thus  engaged  in  their  en- 
deavor to  reach  a  pacific  solution  of  the  differences 
with  the  Home  Government,  the  mass  of  the  people 
were  not  idle.  The  years  which  immediately  followed 
the  French  War  were  years  of  great  distress  in  the 
colonies.  The  war  period  was  one  of  abnormal  and 
unnatural  excitement  in  all  kinds  of  trade,  which, 
ceasing  all  at  once  with  the  peace,  was  followed  by 
the  usual  depression.  In  their  distress  and  discontent, 
the  people,  as  much  from  necessity  as  from  choice, 
began  to  look  about  them  and  to  study  how  they  could 
supply  themselves  from  their  own  resources,  indepen- 
dent of  Great  Britain.  This  was  the  beginning  of  home 
manufactures.  In  this  the  colonies  were  encouraged 
by  the  arrival  of  skilled  artisans  Irom  England. 

In  May  articles  began  to  appear  in  the  papei-s  con- 
gratulating the  public  on  the  patriotic  and  frugal 
spirit  that  was  beginning  to  reign  in  the  province  of 
New  York.  The  principal  gentlemen  of  this  city 
clad  themselves  in  country  manufactures  or  turned 
clothes,  the  material  of  which  was  largely  made  by 
the  industrious  farmers  of  Westchester  County. 
Spinning  was  daily  in  vogue  by  the  people  of  West- 
chester. Materials  being  more  wanted  than  indus- 
trious hands  in  the  city,  the  farmers  of  Westchester 
soon  supplied  this  need  by  sowing  more  flax-seed  and 
raising  more  sheep.  At  this  time  sassafras,  balm  and 
sage  were  greatly  in  use  instead  of  tea,  and  the 
patriotic  inhabitants  declared  it  to  be  more  wholesome. 
Funerals  and  mourning,  which  were  then  expensive 
luxuries,  were  modified  and  their  extravagance  cur- 
tailed. In  September  we  find  it  annoiuiced  that 
women's  shoes  were  made  cheaper  and  better  than  in 
England,  and  that  there  was  a  good  assortment  on 
hand ;  wove  thread  stockings  were  made  in  sundry 
places ;  the  making  of  linen,  woolen  and  cotton  stuff's- 
was  fast  increasing ;  gloves,  hats,  carriages,  harness 
and  cabinet-work  were  j^lenty.  The  people  were  now 
self-dependent;  cards  now  appeared  recommending 
that  no  true  friend  of  his  country  should  buy  or  im- 
port English  goods,  and  the  dry-goods  men  were 
warned  that  their  importations  would  lie  on  hand,  to 
their  cost  and  ruin.  At  a  general  meeting  of  the 
Merchants  and  Traders  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
held  on  November  7,  1765,  it  was  resolved  by  them 
(and  to  strengthen  their  resolutions  they  entered  into 
the  most  solemn  engagements  with  each  other)  that 
they  would  not  import  any  goods  from  Great  Britain 
until  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Westchester  County  were  not  behind  any  class  in 
the  province  in  patriotism  and  sacrifice. 

The  hated  stamps  reached  New  York  later  than  the 
other  colonies.    They  were  brought  over  in  the  ship  ' 


THE  AMERICAN  HE  VOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


17T 


"  Edward,"  which  arrived  on  the  23d  October,  but  the 
people  openly  resisted  their  distribution  by  violence. 
The  attitude  of  the  other  colonies  being  equally  firm, 
the  English  ministry  were  compelled  to  yield  and  finally 
repealed  the  act.  The  news  of  the  repeal  reached  New 
York  on  May  20th,  simultaneously  by  expresses  from 
Boston  and  Philadelphia,  and  diffused  great  joy  among 
all  classes  of  the  people.  On  the  anniversary  of  the 
King's  birthday,  June  4,  17GG,  there  were  outbursts 
of  popular  rejoicing  throughout  the  province,  and 
loyal  toasts  were  drunk.  The  gratitude  of  the  people 
to  Pitt  was  everywhere  displayed,  and  New  York 
erected  a  statue  of  the  great  commoner  at  the  inter- 
section of  Wall  and  Smith  (now  William)  Streets,  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1770.' 


especially  during  the  earlier  Colonial  period,  was  not 
composed  of  owners,  in  fee-simple,  of  the  soil  which 
they  cultivated,  that  having  been  held,  in  such  in- 
stances, on  Leases  from  the  Lords  of  the  several 
Manors  into  which  the  County  was  largely  divided ;  * 
but  those  Leases  were  generally  for  long  terms  of 
years,  on  easy  terms  of  rental,  with  liberal  provisions 
for  renewals ;  and  those  who  held  them  were  seldom 
disturbed  in  their  continued  and  quiet  possession  of 
their  respective  properties.* 


Caleb  HeaOicole  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  Makob  of  Scabsoale,  Nov. 

"0,  1705." 

In  1711,  Rev.  John  Bartow  wrote  to  the  Venerable  Society,  from  West- 
chester, which  WHS,  tlieii,  the  County-seat  and  principal  Village:  "The 
"  Inhabitants  of  our  Parish  live  scattered  and  disiiereed  up  and  down  in 
"the  Woods,  so  that  many  cannot  repair  constantly  to  the  Church,  by 
"  reason  of  their  great  distance  froniit." — Quotedbij  Mr.  Bultoii,  History 
of  Westche-ster County,  SeconJ  cchVioH,  i.,  .'!4i).  The  "Parish"  referred 
to,  included,  then,  the  more  recent  Towns  of  Westchester,  West  Farms, 
Morrisania,  liingsbridge,  Yonkers,  East  Chester,  Pelhani,  and  New  Eo- 
chelle. 

See,  also,  the  letters  of  Rev.  Robert  Jemiey  to  the  Venerable  Society, 
'•RVK,  Dec.  15,  1722;"  Rev.  John  Barlow  to  the  Bishop  of  Lomlon,  "  West- 
"  CHESTER,  IN  THE  Province  OF  New  Yohk,  in  Ameuici,  Ju'y  13,  172'1 ;  " 
Rer.  Robert  Jemity  to  the  i-anie,  "At  Rve,  in  the  Pkovince  or  New 
'•York,  .luly  1(<,  1721;"  Rev.  Peter  Stouppe  to  the  Ven<-rable  Society, 
"New  RcifHELLE,  Dec.  11,  1727  ;"  Rev.  James  Wetinare  to  the  same, 
'■Rve  February 20,  17:i7-28;"  etc. 

"As  the  people  of  this  Country  are  all  farmers,  they  are  dispersed  up 
"and  down  the  Country  ;  and  even  in  Towns  every  one  has  a  plott  of  at 
"  least  ten  acres,  which  distances  his  neighbor  from  him." — Rev.  Thomas 
Stinmurtl  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  Westcmesteh,  Nov.  5,  172'J." 

See,  also.  ie//er  o/  Ree.  James  Wetmore  to  lite  Venerable  S(KV'ty,  "Rye, 
"March  25,  1743;"  The  Parish  of  Rye  to  the  same,  "Province  of  New 
"York,  Bedford,  March  li,  1744  ;"  Rer.  Joseph  Lumpson  to  the  savit, 
'■  NoRTHCASTLE,  i.v  THE  PARISH  OF  IlYE,  February  10,  1746^7;"  Rev. 
Ebene:er  bibble  to  the  same,  "Stamford,  in  Connecticut,  in  New  Eno- 
"I.ANI),  March  2.'),  17GI  ;  "  Rev.  Ilamj  Monro  to  the  same,  "  PuiLLiPS- 
"  BUROH,  February  1,  1766  ;  "  Rev.  Epenetvs  Ton'tisenr^  to  the  same,  ''Saleu, 
"  Westchester  Covnty,  March  25,  1771 ;  "  etc. 

In  1811,  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  President  of  Yale-collsge,  passed 
through  Westchester-connty,  and  wrote,  of  the  Town  of  Eastchester,  ex- 
cept ''a  small  scattered  Village,"  "  the  rest  of  the  Township  is  covered 
"with  plantations  ' — Travels,  iii.,  4S6— and,  of  the  Town  of  Maniaroneck, 
"  it  is  wholly  a  collection  of  plantations ;  and  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
"  contain  even  a  hamlet.  It  is  set,  however,  with  a  number  of  good  houses 
"and  e.xcellent  farms." — Ibid,  iii.,  487.— Of  the  County,  as  a  wliole,  he 
wrote  thus :  "  It  is  universally  settled,  so  far  as  the  nature  of  tlie  ground 
"  will  admit ;  and  is  almost  merely  a  collection  of  Farms."— /fctii,  iii.,  4*9. 

We  have  resorted,  also,  to  our  own  recollections  of  Westchester-oounty, 
which  extend  far  beyond  that  day  when  the  quiel  and  the  morals  of  the 
County  were  first  distiirbed  by  the  rush  of  a  train  of  railioad.cars  and  the 
screeching  of  a  locomotive,  within  its  territory. 

*  In  the  Autumn  of  17C1»,  it  was  stated  in  the  Assembly  that  the  Manors 
of  Philips<!borongh  and  Cortlandt,  exclusive  cif  all  other  portions  uf  the 
County,  contained  "one-third  of  the  people  m  tlie  County  ; "  but  the 
number  of  Freeholders  was  somewhat  increased,  during  the  later  Colonial 
period,  as  it  was  the  practice  of  the  greater  numberof  the  Proprietors  to 
sell  the  fee-simple,  whenever  it  was  applied  for. — Edicard  F.  de  Lancey 
to  Htnry  B.  Dawson. 

5  An  instance  of  the  permanence  of  occupation,  by  tenants  on  the 
Jlanors,  is  seen  in  the  Ciise  of  the  .\njevines,  thus  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Bolton  :  "  Under  the  Heathcotes  and  De  Laiiceys,  the  Anjeviues  held 
"the  large  farm,"  [in  Scarsdale,}  "bearing  their  name,  now  owned  by 
"Alexander  M.  Bnien,  M.D.,  for  four  Generations." — History  of  West- 
chester Comi^i/,  second  edition,  ii.,  231. 

.\lthough  the  Manors  of  Livingston  and  Rensselaerwyck  and  the  Scott 
and  Blenheim  and  Duanesbnrg  and  Clark  and  Kortright  and  Uanleii- 
burg  and  Desbro&.ses  and  Livingston  and  Montgomery  and  .Vrmstrong 
and  Banyar  and  Hunter  andOvering  and  Lewis  and  Verplanck  and  other 
Patents  were  not  in  Westchester-connty,  the  relations  of  landlord  and 
tenant  were  the  same,  unless  in  the  rentals,  in  all  ;  and  they  were  the 
same  iis  those  which  generally  prevailed  on  the  Manors  and  other  largo 
estates,  in  Westchester-connty.  The  student  who  shall  dssire  to  learn 
more  on  that  subject  of  American  feudalism,  as  it  existed  before  and 
since  the  .\merican  Revolutiou,  may  find  very  much  which  will  be  use- 
ful to  him,  in  the  Report  on  the  Difficulties  existing  between  tlie  Proprie- 


CHAPTER  VL 

WESTCHESTER-COUNTY,     NEW-YORK,    DURING  THE 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.^ 

BY  HENRY  B.  DAWSON, 
Corresponding  Member  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Etc. 

Entered  according  to  .\ct  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1886,  by  Henry  B. 
Dawson,  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress 
in  Washington,  D.  C. 

During  the  entire  period  extending  from  the  first 
settlement  which  was  made  by  Europeans,  within  that 
portion  of  New  Netherland  which,  subsequent  to  the 
first  of  November,  1683,  was  known  as  the  "County 
"of  Westchester,"  in  New  York,  until  within  the 
memory  of  living  men,  the  inhabitants  of  that  portion 
of  the  country,  with  rare  exceptions,  were  either  cul- 
tivators of  its  soil  or  employed  in  other  occupations 
which  were,  then,  necessarj'  for  the  comfort  and 
well-being  of  such  a  purely  agricultural  community.* 
A  verj'  large  proportion  of  those  farmers,  however. 


'  John  .\ustin  Stevens,  Ma<jazine  of  American  Uistortj,  June,  1877. 

-  This  clear,  complete  and  interesting  chapter  on  the  American  Revo- 
lution, in  Westchester  County  was  written  expressly  for  this  work  by  the 
eminent  historian,  Henry  B.  Dawson,  of  Morrisania.  No  person  in  the 
United  States  is  more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  history  of  thesub- 
ject  here  treated,  or  more  competent  to  discuss  it  in  an  original  and  com-  i 
prehensive  manner  than  Mr.  Dawson.  We  regret  that  the  want  of  space 
has  compelled  us,  with  Mr.  Dawson's  consent,  to  omit  from  his  chapter  a 
few  details  which,  we  think,  belong  more  properly  to  the  history  of  the 
City  and  State  of  New  York  than  to  the  County  of  Westchester.  As  it 
is,  the  reader  will  find  that  the  entire  subject  is  clearly  unfolded  before 
bim  in  a  new  and  original  manner  from  the  store-house  of  history  at  the 
command  of  this  able  writer. — Editor. 

3  "  The  Inhabitants  indeed  live  all  upon  their  own  ;  but  are  generally 
"poor." — Rev.  John  Bartow  to  tlie  Venerable  Society,  "  Westchester  in 
"New  Y'obk  Province,  4th  Nov.,  1702." 

"  The  people  of  this  County,  having  generally  land  of  their  own,  al- 
"  though  they  dont  want,  few  or  none  of  them  much  abound." — Colonel  1 

12 


178 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


With  the  exception  of  the  frequently  seen  Grist- 
mills and  Sawmills  and  an  occasional  Fullingmill/ 
the  aggregate  amount  of  whose  manufactured  pro- 
ducts did  not  generally  exceed  the  demands  of  the 
several  neighborhoods  in  which  they  were  respec- 
tively situated,  there  were  no  Manufactories  of  any 
kind,  within  the  County ;  and  those  who  owned  and 
ran  the  Mills  to  which  we  have  referred,  when  those 
Mills  were  not  owned  and  managed  in  the  interest  of 
the  Lords  of  the  Manors  in  which  they  were  respec- 
tively seated,'^  more  frequently  than  otherwise,  were 
also  occupants  and  cultivators  of  adjacent  farms.  The 
Blacksmiths  and  the  Wheelwrights,  the  Masons  and 
the  Carpenters,  the  Tailors  and  the  Shoemakers,  the 
Storekeepers  on  the  roadside  and  the  Tavernkeepers 
on  the  corners,  all  of  them  reasonably  regarded  as 
peculiarly  necessary  portions  of  every  rural  commu- 
nity, were,  very  often,  in  this,  also  farmers  on  a 
smaller  scale.'  The  Market-sloops  which,  then, 
made  their  periodical  trips  between  the  many  land- 
ing-places, on  the  North-river  or  on  the  Sound,  and 
the  neighboring  City,  affording  the  only  means,  unless 
those  which  were  supplied  by  teams,  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  passengers  and  freight,  which  the  County 
then  possessed,  were  generally  owned,  wholly  or  in 
part,  by  well-to-do  farmers  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  landing-places  from  which  they  respectively 
sailed  ;  and,  not  unfrequently,  those  Sloops  were  nav- 
igated by  younger  members  of  their  owners'  families 
or  by  the  young  sons  of  some  of  their  neighbors,  of 
whom  one,  in  every  instance,  discharged  the  double 
duty  of  "  Captain  "  and  Marketman.*  Even  the  little 
Villages  which  were,  then,  scattered  over  the  County, 
some  of  them  made  famous  in  the  history  of  the 
world  because  of  notable  events  which  have  occurred 
near  them,  were  inhabited,  principally,  by  those  aged 
or  more  than  usually  wealthy  people— the  greater 
portion  of  them  also  cultivators  as  well  as  owners  of 
neighboring  farms — whose  more  abundant  means  en- 
abled them  to  spend  their  days,  more  agreeably  than 
on  their  own  farms,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  greater 
social  privileges  afforded  in  a  country  village  life.*  In 


tors  of  certain  Leasehold  Estates  and  their  Tenants,  presented  to  the  Assembly 
of  New  York,  in  1846,  and  reproduced,  withan  introductory  Note,  in  The 
Writings  and  Speeches  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  edited  by  Jolin  Bigelow  i.,  186. 

1  The  notorious  Captain  Cornelius  Steenrod  was  the  proprietor  of  more 
than  one  Fulling-mill,  in  Cortlandt  Manor,  at  the  opening  of  the  War  of 
the  Revolution. 

-  The  old  Mill,  on  the  Pocantico,  near  the  ancient  Manor-house  of  the 
Pliilipses,  is  a  notable  example  of  a  Manorial  Mill,  continued  until  our 
own  day. 

'  "Their  employment  is  husbandry,  even  Innkeepers,  Shopkeepers, 
"  Smiths,  and  Shoemakers  not  excepted  ;  so  that  we  pray,  pay,  and  wait 
"too,  for  everything  done  in  this  Country." — Rev.  Thomas  Stannard  to 
the  Venerable  Societij,  "  Westchestek,  Nov.  5,  1729." 

Within  the  period  of  our  own  recollection,  this  primitive  combination 
of  occupations  was  widely  continued  ;  and  every  one  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  County,  now,  can  readily  call  to  mind  more  than  one  instance 
still  existing. 

*  The  personal  recollections  of  members  of  our  own  family,  extending 
further  back  than  our  own,  afford  ample  authority  for  this  statement. 
6  "  Even  in  Towns  everyone  has  a  plott  of  at  least  ten  acres,  which 


short,  as  was  said  in  the  beginning,  there  were  few, 
among  the  residents  of  that  portion  of  the  country, 
during  the  later  Colonial  period,  who  were  not  either 
actual  cultivators  of  the  soil  or  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  or  dependent  on-  those  who  were  thus 
employed. 

With  a  more  than  usually  productive  Soil,  not  yet 
exhausted  by  a  vicious  system  of  cultivation  ;  with  a 
temperate  Climate,  which  was  not  only  conducive  to 
healthfulness,  in  the  inhabitants,  but  promotive  of  the 
best  interests  of  the  farmers,  in  the  ripening  and  har- 
vesting of  their  crops;  with  moderate  Rentals  for  the 
properties  held  by  those  of  them  who  were  not  Free- 
holders ;  and  with  Taxes  which  were  only  nominal  in 
amount ;  too  far  removed  irom  the  frontier  to  be  har- 
assed by  the  inroads  of  hostile  Savages  ;  and  near 
enough  to  the  not  distant  City  to  enjoy  the  great  ad- 
vantages which  it  afibrded,  in  a  constant  Market,  at 
the  highest  prices,  for  all  the  surplus  products  of  their 
farms  which  they  should  desire  to  sell,  and,  at  the 
lowest  prices,  for  whatever, of  necessities  orof  luxu- 
ries, the  products  of  this  or  of  other  countries,  which 
they  should  desire  to  buy — in  the  enjoyment  of  all 
these,  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county,  especially 
during  the  later  Colonial  period,  were  favored  as  few 
other  purely  agriculturists  have  been  favored,  then  or 
since,  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

With  rare  exceptions,  these  Westchester-county 
farmers  were  intelligent  men,  sufficiently  educated  for 
all  the  purposes  of  their  business  and  of  their  recre- 
ation— even  among  the  earli.er  of  the  several  Towns, 
those  farmers  included,  in  their  AVestchcster-county 
homes,  men  and  women  of  culture,  whose  names,  and 
characters,  and  abilities,  as  scholars  and  statesmen, 
in  several  instances,  are  matters  of  history,  known 
throughout  the  world  ; while  the  intelligence  of  those 
of  later  Colonial  periods  is  seen  in  the  multitude  of 
ecclesiastical  and  political  papers,  signed  by  large 
numbers  of  them,  and  rarely  disfigured  by  the 
"marks;  "  of  those  signers  which  have  always  been 
apologetic  of  the  illiteracy  of  those  who  have  thus 
used  them.  There  Avere  very  few  among  them,  during 
the  latter  days  of  the  Colony,  who  were  not  temperate, 
industrious,  and  prudent  in  the  management  of  their 
farms  and  their  business  affairs;  they  were  commonly 
very  mindful  of  their  duties  to  their  families  and  of 
those  to  their  neighbors ;  and  they  were  generally 
diligent  in  the  discharge  of  at  least  their  outward 
duties  to  God.  During  the  period  last  referred  to, 
not  many  among  them  were  not  in  comfortable  cir- 
cumstances :  many  of  them  were  what  is  called  "  well- 
"  to-do  :  "  some  of  them,  particularly  those  who  were 
members  of  the  older  families,  in  those  days  of  simple 
habits,  were  considered  wealthy.     All  of  them  were 

"  distances  his  neighbor  from  him." — Rev.  Thomas  Stannard  to  the  Vm- 
ei  nble  Society,  "  Westcuester,  Nov.  5,  17'29." 

8  Mrs.  Anne  Hutchinson,  of  Pelhera,  Adriaen  Van  der  Donck,  of  Ton- 
kers,  and  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  of  Mamaroneck,  may  be  referred  to, 
in  this  connection. 


THE  AMERICAN  REV 


k^OLUTION,  1774-1783. 


179 


noted  for  their  open-handed  hospitality  ;  but,  among 
the  older  and  more  wealthy  families,  whose  fields, 
and  barnyards,  and  granaries,  and  storerooms  were 
generally  teeming  with  all  the  comforts  and  many  of 
the  luxuries  of  life,  the  sturdy  farmer  and  his  tidy 
wife,  his  healthful  children  and  his  faithful  negroes, 
vied  in  their  efforts  to  secure  to  the  acceptable  guests 
of  the  family,  a  hearty  welcome;  to  make  the  stay  of 
those  sojourners  agreeable ;  and,  when  the  time  for 
their  dejmrture  had  come,  to  induce  them  to  regret 
the  shortness  of  their  visit.  Where  the  necessaries 
and  comforts  of  life  were  so  abundant  and  so  general- 
ly enjoyed.  Pauperism  was  comparatively  unknown; 
and  where  Pauperism  and  Intemperance  were  so  un- 
common, there  was  a  minimum  of  Crime.' 

Especially  during  the  Colonial  period,  there  was  no 
Village,  at  the  County-scat  or  elsewhere,  within  the 
County,  which  contained  a  j)opulation  sufficiently  nu- 
merous to  supply  the  neighboring  farmers,  nor  even 
its  own  inhabitants,  with  the  current  news  of  the  day ;  - 
nor  Wiis  there  any  Settlement,  within  the  County, 
which  possessed  sufficient  influence  to  lead  the  fash- 
ions of  the  wives  and  daughters  of  those  farmers. 
There  was  not,  therefore,  nor  could  there  have  been, 
any  central  coterie  or  clique,  with  lofty  pretentions 
and  extended  ambition,  to  prompt  the  County,  in 
what  should  be  said  or  done  by  its  inhabitants,  in 
support  of  or  in  opposition  to  any  proposition, 
whether  moral,  or  ecclesiastical,  or  political ;  nor  was 
there  any  influence,  in  any  one  or  in  any  number, 
sufficient  to  associate  and  organize  those  farmers,  for 
any  purpose  whatever.  Every  one  was  dej^endent  on 
liis  own  resources  and  on  his  roadside  or  fireside  chats 
with  his  neighbors,  for  whatever  information  he 
acquired  concerning  the  passing  events  of  that  event- 
ful period;  he  was  dependent,  mainly,  on  iiis  own 
intelligence  and  his  own  intellectual  powers,  for 
whatever  opinions  he  entertained,  on  any  subject; 
and,  except  on  some  extraordinary  occasions,  he  was 

'  A  personal  exaniiuatioii  of  the  Records  of  the  County,  preserved  iu 
the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  County,  at  tlie  While  Plains,  has  revealed, 
to  us,  the  significant  fact  that,  although  the  Records  of  Ciiil  Actions  iu 
the  Court  of  Conmiou  Pleas,  the  Records  of  Roads,  and  other  similar 
Records,  from  a  very  early  period,  have  been  carefully  made  in  books 
provided  for  the  purpose  (in  one  instance,  if  in  no  more,  one  volume, 
by  being  reversed,  has  been  made  to  serve  for  two  distinct  lines  of  Rec- 
ords) and  as  carefully  preserved,  the  Records  of  Criminal  Actions,  in 
any  and  all  the  Courts,  within  the  County,  were  not  thus  mailcin  books, 
xintil  long  after  tiie  time  of  wliich  we  wi'ite — until  long,  very  long,  after 
the  close  of  the  peaceful  and  juosperous  and  happy  period  of  the  Colon- 
ial era — when  the  greater  number  and  more  important  character  of  the 
Criminnl  Actions — until  then  too  insignificant,  in  number  and  character, 
to  entitle  them  to  .-^uch  a  distinction,  among  the  County  Records — war- 
ranted, the  first  time,  the  employment  of  books  in  which  to  keep  the 
Records  of  them. 

If  the  rough  Minutes  of  flie  Courts,  in  Cciniinn?  .\ctions,  prior  to  17S7, 
were  preserved,  at  all,  they  have  all  disai)peared  ;  and  we  feel  justified 
in  saying,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  text,  that  where  Pauperism  and  In- 
temperance were  as  uncommon  as  they  were  in  Westchestei'-county, 
during  the  later  Colonial  period,  there  was,  in  consequence,  a  mini- 
mum of  Crime. 

-  It  is  understood  that  there  was  no  Newspaper  established  in  West- 
chester-county,  until  about  I8I11,  when  one  was  published  at  Somers,  and 
one  at  Peekskill. 


left,  undisturbed,  in  all  his  relations,  by  any  outside 
influence.' 

Such  a  community  as  that  which  constituted  the 
Colonial  County  of  Westchester — a  community  of 
well-situated,  intelligent,  and  well-to-do  farmers, 
diligently  and  discreetly  attending  to  its  own  affairs, 
without  the  di.sturbing  influence  of  any  Village  or 
County  coterie — has  generally  been  distinguished  for 
its  rigid  Conservatism,  in  all  its  relations;  and  such 
a  community  has  always  been  more  inclined  to  main- 
tain those  various  long-continued,  well-settled,  and, 
generally,  satisfactory  relations,  with  more  than  or- 
dinary tenacity,  preferring,  very  often,  to  continue 
an  existing  inconvenience  or  an  intangible  wrong,  to 
which  it  had  become  accustomed,  rather  than  to  ac- 
cei)t,  in  its  stead,  the  jjossibility  of  an  advantage,  in- 
definitely promised,  in  an  untried  and  uncertain 
change.  The  tenure  under  which  so  many  of  those 
Westchester-county  farmers  held  their  lands,  which 
did  not  permit  them  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  Freehold- 
ers, at  the  Polls,  had,  from  the  beginning,  removed 
that  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  County  from 
the  arena  of  politics,  without  having  created  any 
discontent ;  and,  to  a  great  extent,  it  had  served,  also, 
to  increase  that  Conservatism,  even  in  political 
affairs,  which  would  have  undoubtedly  controlled 
even  those  who  were  Tenants,  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances. There  is  not,  indeed,  any  known  evi- 
dence of  the  existence,  at  any  time,  within  the 
County,  of  any  material  excitement,  among  the  great 
body  of  those  farmers,  on  any  subject;*  and,  conse- 
quently, there  is  very  little,  if  any,  evidence  that  the 
excitement  of  the  earlier  opposition  to  the  Home 
Government,  which  had  so  seriously  disturbed  the 
peace  of  the  neighboring  City,  as  well  as  that  of  other 
Towns  and  Cities,  on  the  seaboard,  prior  to  the  Sum- 
mer of  1774,  had  found  any  active  sympathy,  in  West- 


" Except  wherein  our  authorities  for  particular  statements  have  been 
already  given,  we  have  depended,  for  what  we  have  stated,  in  this  and 
in  the  two  other  jtaragraphs  which  immediately  i)recede  this,  on 
the  knowledge  which  wo  have  acquired,  concerning  Westchester- 
coimty,  its  inhabitants,  and  its  history,  from  the  nnnierous  books  and 
manuscripts  and  newspapers,  bearing  on  those  subjects,  wliich  have 
fallen  into  our  hands  and  been  examined  by  us,  during  more  than  forty 
years  past ;  on  the  information,  relating  thereto,  which  was  given  to  us, 
personally,  in  our  earlier  life,  by  aged  natives  of  the  County,  some  of 
them  dear  relatives,  and  one,  if  no  more,  whoso  personal  recollections 
extended  back,  beyond  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  and  on  what 
remained  of  the  character  and  habits  of  its  Colonial  inhabitants,  in  those 
old  families  who  continued  to  linger  within  the  County,  when  we  first 
knew  it. 

<We  are  not  insensible  of  the  discontent,  among  the  tenantry  on  the 
Cortlandt  JIanor,  which  led  a  considerable  ninuber  of  tlieni  and  of  those 
who  favored  them,  in  April  and  Jlay,  1760,  to  move  down,  ne  far  as 
Kingsbridge,  demanding  a  redress  of  grievances,  and  making  serious 
threats  against  their  Landlord  ;  but  it  was  only  a  local  disturbance, 
reaching  only  to  the  limits  of  that  single  locality.  It  possessed  no  po- 
litical significance  whatever — it  was  grimly  said  of  it,  by  a  contemporary, 
"Sons  of  Liberty  great  opposers  to  these  Rioters  as  they  are  cif  opinion 
"  no  one  is  entitled  to  Riot  but  themselves  "—and  it  was  prcmiptly  sup- 
pressed, without  loss  of  either  juoperty  or  life.  Those  who  are  curious 
to  know  more  of  this  outbreak  of  early  ".\ntircntei-s,"  are  referred  to 
the  JournuU  of  Caplnin  John  Jloulreaor,  301,  303  ;  and  to  the  Colonial 
Manuscripts  of  that  period. 


180 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


chester-county,  beyond  the  very  limited  circles  of 
those  who  had  held  public  olBces  within  the  County, 
of  those  who  had  aspired  to  the  honors  and  emolu- 
ments of  oiBce  which  they  had  not  been  able  to  se- 
cure, and  of  those  very  few  who  had  assumed  to  be 
either  socially  or  intellectually  or  pecuniarily  above 
the  general  grade  of  those  among  whom  they  lived. 
Indeed,  there  had  been  no  good  reason  for  those  farm, 
ers,  comfortably  situated  on  their  inland  homesteads, 
to  take  any  particular  interest  in  those  struggles 
which,  from  an  early  period,  the  Boston,  the  Salem, 
the  New  York,  or  any  other  Ship  masters  and  Mer- 
chants had  been  waging,  for  the  ))rotection  of  that 
long-continued  and  profitable  "  illicit  trade,"  from 
which  no  benefit  had  ever  accrued  to  any  one  be- 
yond those  who  were  thus  noisily  defying  the  well- 
known  and  reasonable  Laws  of  the  Country ;  and,  in 
the  more  recently  and  more  generally  created  politi- 
cal excitement,  it  had  mattered  very  little  to  the 
thrifty  housewives,  in  Westchester-county,  from  whose 
warehouses — whether  from  those  of  John  Hancock 
and  the  revolutionary  Merchants  of  Boston  and  Xew 
York,  or  from  those  of  the  Agents  of  the  East  India 
Company,  in  those  ports — their  teacups  should  be 
supplied,  since  the  Tea  which  had  been  smuggled 
into  the  Colonies,  in  violation  of  law,  by  the  former, 
was  quite  as  expensive,  and  not  always  as  well-fla- 
vored, as  that  which  had  been  imported,  legally  and 
legitimately,  by  the  latter.  Now  and  then,  it  is  true, 
those  of  these  farmers  who  were  Freeholders,  had 
been  engaged,  among  themselves,  in  a  political  con- 
test between  the  friends  of  the  De  Lanceys  and  those  of 
the  Morrises,  or  between  the  supporters  of  the  Van 
Cortlandts  and  those  of  the  Philipses,  all  of  them 
Westchester-county  Landlords,  for  seats  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Colony  ^  or  for  some  local  ab- 
ject ;  but,  beyond  such  merely  local  contests,  they  had 
never  gone — the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  were  not  repre- 
sented and  had  no  correspondents,  within  that  County. 

It  will  be  evident  to  every  one,  from  what  has  been 
stated  concerning  Colonial  Westchester-county  and 
those  who  occupied  it,  that  the  purposes  of  this  work, 
which  is  devoted  especially  to  the  history  of  that 
purely  agricultural  community,  do  not  require  us  to 
notice  the  long-continued  and  ably-conducted  strug- 
gle of  parties,  throughout  the  Colony,  in  which  the 
Livingstons  and  the  Morrises  had  been  pitted  against 
the  De  Lanceys  and  the  Colonial  and  Home  Govern- 
ments ;  nor  will  it  be  necessary,  for  those  purposes, 
that  we  shall  present,  in  all  their  different  phases,  the 
antagonism  of  "  the  Merchants  and  Traders"  of  every 

1  Doctor  Sparlcs,  in  his  Life  of  Gouvemeur  Morris,  i.,  20,  told  lis  of  an 
"  important  cause  in  which  that  gentlemen  was  engaged,"  before  the 
Courts,  during  the  Colonial  era — "  that  of  a  contested  Election,  in  West- 
"  chester-county,  where  he  had  5Ir.  Jay  for  an  opponent."  We  are 
not  told  who  tlie  contending  parties,  in  that  action,  were ;  but  it  is 
said,  "it  involved  principles  of  evidence,  questions  about  the  right  of 
"suffrage,  as  then  exercised,  and  a  complication  of  facts,  local  and  gen- 
•*eral,  which  gave  full  scope  for  the  display  of  legal  knowledge  and 
"  forensic  skill." 


family  and  party  and  sect,  united  only  in  that  one 
ojjposition  to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment^— of  "the  Gentlemen  in  Trade,"  as  they 
sometimes  called  themselves  —  within  the  several 
Towns  and  Cities  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  to  some 
of  the  long-established  Laws  of  the  Kingdom,  as  well 
as  to  those  which  had  been  enacted,  since  the  close 
of  the  War  with  France  and  Spain,  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  the  necessities  of  the  Mother  Country,  occa- 
sioned by  the  enormous  expenses  of  tha*  eventful 
contest — the  unfranchised  Mechanics  and  Working- 
men  of  that  period,  within  the  Cities  and  Towns  re- 
ferred to  '  (sometimes,  courted  and  caressed  by  those 


2  It  is  proper  for  us  to  say  that  that  opposition  to  the  Colonial  policy 
of  the  Home  Government,  as  it  was  developed  within  the  City  of  Xew 
York,  overpowered  every  difference  of  family  or  of  sect  or  of  party 
which  had  been  previously  known  ;  and  that  the  De  Lanceys  and  the 
Livingstons,  the  Churchman  and  the  Dissenter,  the  Jacobin  ami  the 
Georgian,  for  the  purposes  of  that  opposition  and  of  whatever  might  be 
necessary  to  establish  its  power,  became  as  one  man — one  in  purpose, 
one  in  determination,  one  in  action,  one  in  everything. 

3  Inasmuch  as  frequent  mention  will  be  made,  in  this  narrative,  of 
these  unfranchised  Mechanics  and  Working-men,  it  is  proper  that,  in 
this  place,  we  should  e.\plain  our  meaning  of  the  phrase,  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  not  be  misled,  concerning  it. 

By  the  Act  of  May  8,  1099,  it  was  provided  that  Representatives  to  the 
General  Assembly  "shall  be  chosen  in  every  City,  and  County,  and 
"Manor  of  this  Province,  who  have  Right  to  chuse,  by  People  dwelling 
"anil  resident  in  the  same  Cities,  Counties,  and  Manors;  whereof, 
"every  one  of  them  shall  have  Land  or  Tenements  improved  to  the 
"valne  of  Fortij  Pounds  in  Free-hold,  free  from  all  Incumbrances,  and 
"have  possessed  the  same  Three  Months  before  the  Test  of  the  said 
"Writ"  [fur  an  Election;]  "and  they  which  shall  be  chosen,  shall  be 
"dwelling  and  resident  within  the  same  Cities,  Counties,  and  Manors  ; 
"and  such  sis  have  the  greatest  Xuniber  of  them,  who  shall  have  Lands 
"  or  Tenements  improved,  to  the  Value  of  Forty  Pounds  in  Free-hold, 
"free  from  all  Incumbrances,  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  returned  by  the 
"Sheriffs  of  every  City,  Counties,  and  Manors,  Representatives  for 
"the  .\ssembly,  by  Indentures  sealed  betwixt  the  said  Sheriffs  and  the 
"said  Chusers,  so  to  be  made."— (Lu its  of  Xew  Yorlc,  Chapter  LXXIV., 
Section  I.,  Livingston  and  Smith's  edition,  Xew-York  :  1752,  29,  30  ; 
the  Slime,  Chapter  LXXIV.,  Section  I.,  Van  Schaack's  edition,  Xew- 
York.  1774,  2S.) 

By  the  Charter  of  the  City  of  Xew-York,  granted  by  Governor  Don- 
gan,  in  1686,  the  Mayor  and  three  or  more  of  the  Aldermen  were  au- 
thorized to  make  Freemen  of  the  City  from  among  certain  specified 
classes,  on  the  payment,  in  each  instance,  of  Five  Pounds,  not  an  insig- 
nificant sum,  at  that  early  period.*  Xo  person  could  do  busine,^«  of  any 
kind,  within  the  City,  unless  he  were  a  Freeman  of  the  City  ;  and 
as  the  Freedom  of  the  City  also  vested  in  those  who  held  it 
the  Right  to  vote  for  Representatives  of  the  City  in  the  General 
Assembly,  it  will  be  seen  that,  within  the  City,  the  unfranchised  were 
only  those  Freeholders  who  were  not  Freemen  and  whose  Real  Estate 
was  encumbered  with  debt  ;  those  Freeholders  whose  inexpensive  homes 
were  not  worth  Forty  Pounds— a  large  sum,  for  that  period  ;  those  who 
labored  for  others,  as  Clerks,  Journeymen,  or  Laborers  ;  and  those  of 
that  shiftless,  characterless  class,  who  enctimbered  the  City  of  Xew 
York,  during  the  Colonial  Period,  as  similar  cla-sses  continue  to  encum- 
ber every  City,  especially  every  Seaport,  holding  itself  in  constant 
readiness  to  join  in  any  act  of  violence  into  which  such  as  Alexander 
McDougal  and  Isaac  Sears,  of  the  period  under  consideration,  shall  in- 
cline to  lead  them. 

In  Westchester-county,  the  heirs  and  assigns  of  Stephanus  Van  Cort- 
landt  having  failed  to  exercise  the  privilege  which  had  been  given  to  the 
latter,  as  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  of  electing  a  Representa- 
tive for  that  Manor  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  privilege  was  trans- 
ferred, by  the  Act  of  June  22, 1734,  to  the  body  of  the  Freeholders  resi- 

*  A  complete  lift  of  those  who  were  admitted  to  the  Freedom  of  the 
City  of  Xew  York,  from  174!t  until  1775,  may  be  seen  in  the  Jtatiual  of 
the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  -Veir  York  for  Wbd,  477-502. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


181 


who  had  usually  assumed  to  be  their  social  and  polit- 
ical superiors,  in  order  to  secure  their  sturdy  assist- 
ance in  the  intimidation  of  the  Government,  and,  at 
other  times,  unrecognized  by  those  whom  they  had 
thus  befriended,  as  if  they  possessed  no  Rights,  in 
political  matters,  which  the  franchised  well-born 

dent  on  the  Sfanor.  {Law$  of  Neio  York,  Cliapter  DCVU.,  Section  II., 
Livingston  and  Smith's  edition,  New  York:  1752,  219, 220  ;  the  same. 
Chapter  DC VII.,  Section  II.,  Van  Scliaack's  edition.  New-York  :  1774, 
183,  184.)  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  none,  except  those  who  were 
Freeliolders  holding  improved  and  nnencun>bered  Keal  Estate  worth 
Forty  Pounds,  agreeably  to  the  Act  of  Jlay  8,  1G99,  could  vote,  in  Colo- 
nial Westchester-connty  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Freeliolders  on  the 
Cortlandt  Manor  possessed  and,  undoubtedly,  exercised  the  Right  to  vote 
twice,  at  every  such  Election  for  KopresentJitiTes  to  the  General  .Assem- 
bly—that  for  the  Represeut;»tivo  for  the  Manor,  under  the  Jlanorial 
("barter,  and  that  for  the  two  Representatives  for  the  County,  under  the 
Statute,  already  mentioned.  Of  course,  the  great  body  of  the  Tenantry, 
no  matter  how  valuable  its  Leaseholds  might  be  ;  those  whose  humble 
home.s  were  not  worth,  in  each  instance.  Forty  Pounds;  and  those 
whose  Freeholds,  of  every  value,  which  were  encumbered  by  debts,  had 
not  the  right  of  voting  at  the  Polls. 

The  practical  effect  of  that  limitation  of  the  Kight  of  Franchise  may 
be  seen  in  the  Returns  of  Elections.  In  the  Election  for  Repieseutativcs 
for  the  City  of  New  York,  held  on  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth, and  nine- 
teenth of  February,  ITiil,  only  fourteen  hundred  and  forty-seven  votes, 
including  those  of  the  Freemen  of  the  City  who  were  not,  also.  Free- 
holders, were  cast. — (The  oritjinal  Itelitrns  of  the  Iiixpertors,  in  manu- 
script, owned  by  us.)  In  the  Election  for  Representatives  for  the  City 
of  New-York,  held  on  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  of  March,  17G8, 
when  an  intense  excitement  prevailed  and  all  known  means  for  increas- 
ing its  strength  were  resorted  to,  by  each  of  the  antagonistic  parties, 
nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-seven  votes,  including  those  of  eight  hun- 
dre<l  and  twenty-three  Freemen  who  were  not,  also.  Freeholders,  were 
cast. — (  The  oriijinnl  Returns  nf  llie  Innpeciom,  in  manuscrijit,  owned  by 
us.)  In  the  Election  for  Representatives  for  the  City  of  New-York, 
held  on  the  twenty-third,  twenty-fourth,  twenty-fifth,  twenty-sixth,  and 
twenty-seventh  of  January,  1709,  when  another  very  excited  con- 
test occurred,  only  fifteen  hundred  and  twelve  votes,  including  those 
of  the  Freemen  who  were  not,  also.  Freeholders,  were  cast. — (The  Re- 
turns of  the  Jmpectors,  original  printed  edition,  owned  by  us.)  In  the 
Election  for  Deputies  to  the  Provincial  Convention  by  whom  the  Delega- 
tion from  the  City  of  New  York  to  the  second  Continental  Congre.s.s  was 
to  be  elected,  held  on  the  fifteenth  of  March,  1773,  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-eight  votes,  including  those  of  the  Freemen  of  the  City  who 
were  not,  also.  Freeholders,  were  cast.— (Holfs  Sew -York  Journal, 'So. 
1680,  New  Y'oek,  Thursday,  ilarch  Ifi,  1775  ;  Ri.ingttin'-s  Sen- -York 
Gnzetleer,  No.  100,  New  York,  Thursday,  March  IG,  1775  ;*  Gaine's  Sew 
York  Gazette:  and  the  Weekly  Mercury,  No.  1223,  New  York,  Jlonday, 
March  20,  1775.) 

We  have  found  only  one  Return  of  an  Election  in  Westchester- 
connty,  during  the  period  of  which  we  write  ;  but  that  very  completely 
illustrates  our  subject.  In  the  Election  for  the  first  Governor  of  the 
new-formed  State,  in  1777,  the  aggregate  of  the  votes  cast  in  .Vlbany, 
Cumberland,  Tryon,  Duchess,  I'lster,  and  Westchcster-counties,  includ- 
ing those  of  the  Freemen  of  the  City  of  Albany,  was  only  twenty  six 
hundred  and  forty-two. — (Fragment  of  a  Gemral  Returtt  of  Votes  cast 
throughout  tlte  State — iliM:ellttneoM  Papers,  Volume  xxxvii.,  in  the 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  Albany.) 

In  1783,  when  there  was  nothing  to  disturb  the  election,  the  entire 
vote  of  the  State  for  Governor,  less  that  of  ten  Precincts  which  was 
illegally  cast,  was  only  four  thousand  seven  liundreil  and  forty-seven. — 
(Uutchins's  Ciril  Lift  mid  Forms  of  Goremment  of  the  Colony  and  State  of 
Neio  Fori-,  Edition  of  1870,  75.) 

From  these  facts,  the  reader  will  understand  how  completely  the  gov- 
ernmental power  was  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the  wealthy  and  how 
little  those  who  were  not  wealthy  could  control  the  Government  under 
which  they  lived,  during  the  Colonial  era  and  that  which  succeeded  it, 
until  the  second  Constitution  of  the  State,  within  our  own  recollec- 
tion, broke  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  and  made  every  white  male 
adult,  who  was  a  |H-rmanent  resident  and  a  tax-i>ayer,  also  a  member 
of  the  State  and  a  voter. 

♦Rivingtou  said  the  aggregate  vote  was  a  thousand  and  seventy-two. 


were  required  to  respect)  constituting,  also,  another 
and  entirely  independent  factor  in  the  political  ele- 
ments of  that  period,  in  each  of  the  several  Colonies, 
which,  in  its  very  important  relations  with  the  poli- 
tics and  the  politicians  of  its  day,  must,  also,  be  gen- 
erally disregarded,  in  this  place,  because  it,  and  its 
aspirations,  and  its  doings,  are  not,  generally,  germain 
to  the  purposes  of  this  work.  To  other  hands,  there- 
fore, must  be  left  the  labor  of  describing,  in  detail, 
the  bold  and  persistent  opposition  of  the  Merchants 
"and  Tradere"  to  those  long-established  Navigation 
and  Revenue  Laws,  which,  by  reason  of  a  more  hon- 
est administration  of  them,  by  those  whom  the  com- 
mercial classes  had  not  succeeded  in  corrupting  with 
their  accustomed  bribes,  had  so  seriously  interfered 
with  the  very  profitable  "illicit  trade" — that  more 
elegant  phrase  which  was  used,  and  which  continues 
to  be  u.sed,  to  describe  what,  elsewhere  and  among 
less  comely  offenders,  was  and  is  called  by  the  more 
expressive  term  of  "SMrGOLiNc;" — in  which  those 
"Merchants  and  Traders"  had  been  so  long  and  so 
profitably  engaged; '  and  we  can  only  glance,  also,  at 
that  subsequently  adopted  system  of  intimidation 
which  had  been  resorted  to,  by  the  same  confederated 
mercantile  offenders,  under  the  guise  of  patriotism, 
but  really  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  selfish  pur- 
poses, in  their  employment  and  direction  of  that 
other,  less  responsible  and,  not  unfrequently,  less 
respectable,  populace,  a  marketable  class  which  every 
lai'ge  seaport  can  produce,  sometimes  in  one  manner 
and  sometimes  in  another,  quietly  or  violently,  as 
had  best  answered  the  ends  of  those  who  had  em- 


'  "Tlie  dispute  In-'tween  Great  Britain  and  America  commenced  in  the 
"year  1764,  with  an  attempt  to  jirevent  smuggling  in  America." — A 
Collection  of  Inlrresling,  Aulhentic  Papers  relative  to  the  Dispute  between 
Great  Britain  and  America.  17G4  to  1775.  London:  1777 — commonly 
known  as  Alnion"s  Prior  Documents — 3. 

See,  also,  the  following  official  announcement,  which  was  published 
in  Parker's  Sew-  York  Gazette ;  or,  the  Weekli/  Post-boy,  No.  932,  New 
Y'ouK,  Thursday,  November  13th,  1760,  which  tells  the  whole  story  : 
"Custom-house,  New-Y"ork,  Nov.  11th,  1760. 

"  WHERE.\S  wo  are  informed,  that  some  of  our  Traders  fron>  Foreign 
"  Ports,  are  now,  and  have  been  for  some  Time,  hovering  in  the  Sound 
"on  the  Coast,  with  the  View,  as  it  is  supposed,  clandestinely  to  discharge 
"their  Cargoes;  a  Practice  highly  prejudicial  to  His  Majesty's  Interest, 
"to  the  Trade  of  Great-Britain,  and  inconsistent  with  that  Duty,  and 
"Gratitude  we  owe  to  our  Mother  Country,  almost  exhausted  with 
"Taxes  raised  for  our  Support  and  Defence.  And  not  less  injurious  to 
"the  fair  Trader;  who  having  paid  high  Duties,  cannot  be  supposed  to 
"sell  so  cheap,  as  those  that  pay  no  Duties,  and  of  Course  must  lie  great 
"Sufferers.  That  this  has  been  the  Case,  and  is  like  to  be  the  Case 
"again,  is  notoriously  known  ;  and  all  for  the  Sitke  of  enriching  a  few 
"Smugglers;  which  together  with  that  of  supplying  our  Enemies  with 
"Provisions,*  will  be  an  eternal  Reproach  to  our  Countrj-.  No  gixxi 
"  Slaii  therefore,  nor  good  Citizen,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  w  ill  hesitate  in 
"giving  all  the  Discouragement  in  his  Power,  to  such  ignominious 
"Practices.  Informations,  ojM'nly,  or  privately  will  be  thankfully  re- 
"ceived,  and  gratefully,  if  retpiired,  rewapled,  by 

"THE  OFFICERS  OF  HIS  MAJESTY'S  CUSTOMS." 


*  At  that  time.  Great  Britain  was  at  War  with  France  and  S|)ain,  to 
whose  Colonies,  in  the  West  Indies  es|)ecially.  Provisions  were  taken,  by 
the  Colonial  Merchants,  in  exchange  for  those  Goods,  of  foreign  grow  th 
and  production,  which  they  sought  to  smuggle  into  the  British  Colonies, 
on  the  Atlantic  seaKutrd,  as  aliove  stated. 


182 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ployed  it,  to  resist  the  execution  of  the  Stamp-Act, 
to  prevent  the  lauding  of  the  East  India  Company's 
Tea,  and  to  make  other  demonstrations  of  seeming 
popular  approval  or  disapproval,  on  other  subjects  of 
public  polity  or  of  governmental  policy,  whenever 
the  political  or  the  pecuniary  interests  of  those 
"Gentlemen  in  Trade"  who  had  employed  it,  seemed 
to  warrant  the  outlay  of  the  means  which  had  been 
required  to  produce  a  desired  result:  to  our  hand, 
meanwhile,  can  be  assigned,  of  all  the  various  impor- 
tant subjects  comprising  the  political  and  military 
histories  of  the  Colony  or  of  the  Continent,  at  all 
periods,  only  the  description  of  those  events,  during 
the  period  of  the  American  Eevolution  and  that  of 
the  War  which  followed  and  established  that  political 
Revolution,  which,  in  themselves  or  in  the  conse- 
quences arising  from  them,  directly  aft'ected  the  peace, 
the  happiness,  or  the  interests  of  those  who,  during 
those  eventful  periods,  were  residents  of  the  rural 
County  of  Westchester,  in  New  York. 

The  urgent  appeals  with  which  the  newspapers  had 
been  filled,  year  by  year,  and  the  inflammatory  hand- 
bills which  had  been  posted  throughout  the  City, 
whenever  the  purposes  of  "  the  Merchants  and 
"  Tradei-s  "  of  the  City  of  New  York  had  required 
their  powerful,  but,  sometimes,  questionable,  co  oper- 
ation in  opposing  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home 
Government,  had  gradually  taught  "  the  Inhabitants" 
of  that  City  —as,  on  such  occasions  only,  the  unfran- 
chised Mechanics  and  Workingmen  were  delicately 
called,  by  those  who  had  thus  resorted  to  them — with 
more  or  less  thoroughness,  concerning  the  personal 
and  political  "  Rights  of  Man  and  of  Englishmen,"  as 
those  Rights  had  been  defined,  from  time  to  time,  by 
those  "  Merchants  and  Traders  "  or  by  their  well-paid 
Counsel,  for  the  promotion  of  the  ])articular  purposes 
of  those  more  aristocratic  gentlemen ;  and  these  "  In- 
"  habitants  "  had  also  learned,  from  all  those  varied 
teachings  and  from  their  own  well-trained  reflections, 
that  the  particular  Rights  w-hicli  had  been  so  earn- 
estly and  learnedly  claimed  by  their  high-toned 
neighbors,  were  not  less  the  Rights  of  the  unfran- 
chised masses,  and  equally  the  birthright  of  their 
children.  Little  by  little,  therefore,  under  the  leader- 
ship of,  probably,  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  shrewd 
and  able  and  ambitious  men,  generally  of  higher  social 
and  political  standing  than  themselves,  these  "  In- 
"  habitants  "  began  to  grow  uneasy  and  insubordinate, 
if  not  radically  revolutionary ;  and  the  confederated 
"  Merchants  and  Traders  "  and  the  more  aristocratic 
portion  of  the  citizens  who  were  not  in  Trade  were 
as  quickly  made  sensible  that  a  power  had  been 
created  and  fostered,  by  themselves,  for  their  own 
lawless  purposes,  which,  because  of  its  tendency  to- 
wards a  radical  Revolution  in  both  the  social  and  politi- 
cal relations  of  the  Colony,  they  were  no  longer  able  to 
control — a  power,  indeed,  which,  if  it  were  notspeed- 
ily  and  effectually  checked,  would  surely  overwhelm 
them  and,  probably,  involve  the  Colony  and  the  Con- 


tinent in  revolution  and  disaster.  At  the  same  time, 
it  was  clearly  seen  by  those  careful  observers  of  the 
signs  of  the  times,  that  any  attempt  to  abridge  the 
existing  power  of  the  unfranchised  "  Inhabitants"  of 
the  City,  and,  especially,  that  of  those  who  were  less 
scrupulous  in  the  selection  of  their  means,  by  open 
and  direct  measures,  would,  probably,  induce  the  latter 
to  employ,  in  their  own  behalf,  that  system  of  violence 
which  they  had  been  taught  to  regard  as  commenda- 
ble and  praiseworthy,  when  they  had  employed  it  in 
behalf  of  others;  and  it  was  seen,  also,  by  those  who 
had  become  alarmed  by  the  strength  and  the  audacity 
of  that  new  element  in  Colonial  politics,  strengthened, 
as  it  evidently  was,  by  its  affiliation  with  the  radically 
revolutionary  elements  in  New  England,  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  by-gone  Committees  of  Correspondence 
being  controlled  by  it,  that,  in  order  to  check  its 
growing  power,  or  to  secure  any  change  whatever,  in 
the  control  of  it,  or  to  retain  the  control  of  the  poli- 
tics of  the  Colony,  great  caution  and  great  tact,  if  not 
great  promptness  and  great  boldness,  at  some  auspi- 
cious moment,  would  be  absolutely  necessary.  An 
evident  danger  silenced  those  who,  under  other  cir- 
cumstances, would,  probably,  have  favored  the 
employment  of  other  and  more  direct  means:  wise 
counsels  prevailed  among  those  who  were  thus  con- 
sidering in  what  manner  the  evidently  rising  power 
and  audacity  of  the  unfranchised  and  revolutionary 
masses  could  be  controlled,  without  disturbing  the 
peace  of  the  City  and  the  Colony:  and  it  was  deter- 
mined, with  much  shrewdness,  to  resort  to  "art,"  at 
the  earliest  favorable  opportunity,  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  their  well-concealed  purposes.'  Such 
an  opportunity  as  was  desired  for  the  purposes 
referred  to,  was  very  soon  afforded. 

The  tea-laden  Xuncy,  Captain  Lockyer,  had  been 
turned  back  to  Europe,  without  having  been  permit- 
ted to  enter  the  harbor  ;  '  the  cargo  of  the  London, 
Captain  Chambers,  had  been  overhauled,  inWhitehall- 
slip,  in  open  day,  by  men  wearing  no  disguises;  and 
eighteen  chests  of  Tea,  which  had  been  concealed  in 
her  hold,  had  been  emptied  into  the  East-river  ;  and 
the  populace  was  quietly  leposing  on  the  revolution- 


1  .\Uhough  there  is  abundant  evi'Ience  to  support  this  statement,  it  has 
been  sn  completely  and  so  graphically  presented  by  Gouvcrneur  Morris, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  3Ir.  Penn,  whicli  will  be  printed,  /h  exteiifo^  on 
page  12-32,  post,  that  no  other  is  regarded  as  necessary,  in  this  place. 

-  Holt's  -VfiD  -York  Jotimo!,  No.  ItS^i,  Kew-Yobk,  Thursday,  April  21, 
and  Xo.  1G34,  Xew-Youk,  Thui-sday,  April  28,  ITTl;  Gaine's  Neiv-Ynrk 
Gazette  mid  Mercury,  No.  1174,  NEW-YoitK,  Monday,  April  25,  1774  ; 
Lieuteimnt-ffovfnior  CoUlen  to  the  Earl  of  iHtrtmouth,  *'New  York,  4th 
'*  May,  1774,"  and  the  eitdomre  therein ;  the  same  to  Governor  Tnjon,  "New 
"  Y'oRK,  4th  May,  1774  ;  "  Dunlap's  Historij  of  the  Seio  Netherlands,  Prov- 
ince of  Xew  York,  n lid  Slate  of  Sen;  York,  i.,  452,  453;  Leake'8  Memoir 
of  the  Li  fe  and  Times  of  General  John  Lamb,  81-84  ;  Dawson's  I7/«  Purl- 
and  its  Vicinit)/,  in  the  City  of  Sew  York,  20-31  ;  Graham's  History  of  the 
United  States,  iv  ,  329  ;  Hiklreth  s  History  of  the  IMited  States,  iii.,  31  ; 
Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revotiition,  i.,  332-3.34  ;  etc. 

3  Holt's  yeu-York  Journal,  No.  1G34,  New-York,  Thursday,  April  28, 
1774  ;  Gaine's  Xeic-York  Gazette  and  Mercury,  No.  1174,  New-York,  Mon- 
day, .\pril  25,  1774  ;  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth, 
"New-York,  4th  May,  1774,"  and  the  enclosure  therein  ;  the  same  to  Gov- 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


183 


ary  honors  which,  in  the  interest  of  the  commercial 
classes,  it  had  again  secured.'     The  master-si)irits  of 

ernor  Trijo*.  "Xew  York,  4th  May,  1774  ;"  Dunlap's  York,  i.,  452, 
453 ;  Leake's  Lamb,  82-84  ;  Dawson's  Pari  and  its  Vicinily,  3(1,  31 ; 
Hildreth's  fnited  Slulet,  iii.,  31. 

Notwithstanding  the  greater  significance  of  the  cpposition  of  Xew 
York  to  tlio  Tea-tax,  wjiich  was  seen  in  the  resolute  refusal  to  allow  the 
storm-shattered  .Vmicj  to  enter  the  harbor;  in  the  examination  of  the 
cargo  of  the  London,  and  the  open  destruction  of  her  concealed  Tea,  in 
the  light  of  day,  by  known  men  who  saw  no  reason  for  disguising  them- 
selves ;  and  in  the  return  of  the  Xancy,  to  England,  by  the  Commilteo 
who  had  taken  possession  of  her,  at  Sandy  Hook  ;  it  has  been  the  cus- 
tom of  Xew  England  writers  to  withhold  w  hatever  of  honor  or  dishonor 
there  was  in  those  doings  of  the  party  of  tlie  Opposition,  in  New  York, 
while  the  less  significant  "tea-party  "  of  Boston  has  been  elaborately 
presented  as  a  feat  of  great  daring  and  of  the  highest  grade  of  patriot- 
ism. 

Thus,  Mercy  AVarren  {Hinlonj  of  American  lievohilion ;)  "Paul  Allen" 
{Hittory  of  American  Rerohdion  ;)  Thacher  {MilUarij  Journal ;)  Morse 
(AnnnU  of  the  American  RetoMion  ;)  Pitkin  (Hitlonj  of  the  United  Stales ;) 
Frothingham  (Rise  of  the  Republic;)  Lodge  (Short  Hitlnrij  of  English  Col- 
onies ;)  and  a  multitude  of  othei's,  make  no  mention  whatever  of  the 
subject  of  the  opposition  in  Xew  York  ;  and  Rincroft,  in  the  octavo  edi- 
tion of  his  Hislnry  of  the  I'nited  Stales,  after  alluding,  in  a  dozen  words, 
to  the  storm  w  hich  hail  driven  the  Xew  York  tea-ship  to  the  West  In- 
dies, very  conveniently  said  no  more  on  the  subject — a  suppression  of 
the  truth  which  he  shabbily  attempted  to  mitif>Rte,  in  his  centenary  and 
"thoroughly  revised"  edition  of  that  work,  by  an  interpolation  of  five 
lines,  nearly  two  of  which  have  no  relation  whatever  to  the  subject  of 
Xew  York's  opposition  to  the  tax  ;  and  nearly  two  others  state,  in  con- 
nection with  the  .Vniicy,  what  every  novice  in  the  history  of  those  times 
knows  is  entirely  untrue,  in  one  of  its  only  two  statements  concerning 
her. 

Strange  to  say,  Lossing,  a  Xew  York  writer,  with  all  the  original  ma- 
terial within  his  reach  and  perfectly  accessible,  in  his  Seventeen  hundred 
and  sfcenlij  sif  (jiage  111,1  stated  that  the  .Vniic;/  was  returned  to  Europe, 
only  "because  no  one  could  be  found  that  would  venture  to  receive  the 
"tea,"  without  an  allusion  to  her  having  been  stopped  at  Sandy-hook, 
and  returned,  thence,  to  Europe  ;  and,  also,  without  the  slightest  allusion 
to  the  London  and  to  what  became  of  her  tea.  In  his  History  of  the  I'ni- 
ledSlates,  (page  22U  all  that  appears,  concerning  either  the  Xancy  or  the 
London  is  that  (A?;/ "  returned  to  England  with  their  cargoes '' ;  although 
the  Xancy  was  the  only  one  which  thus  returned,  and  then  only  because 
she  was  conii>el!eil  to  return.  In  his  Field  Bnr.k  of  the  Revulution,  after 
having  devoted  five  pages  to  the  Boston  "Tea-party"  li.,  497-5(i2)  he 
ventured  to  appropriate  ten  lines  to  the  greatly  more  significant  doings 
of  Xew  Y'ork,  on  the  same  subject. 

'  On  the  fifth  of  March,  1770,  while  the  motion  of  Lord  Xorth  for 
"  leave  to  bring  in  a  Bill  to  repeal  the  Tax  Act,  as  far  as  related  to  the 
"tax  on  Paper,  Glass,  and  Painters"  Colours,"  was  under  consideration, 
before  the  House  of  Commons,  Governor  Pownall,  than  whom  noono  was, 
then,  better  informed  on  every  subject  connected  with  .Vmerica  and  the 
Americans,  replied  to  the  Minister,  and  moved  an  amendment,  to  in- 
clude Tea,  also,  in  the  proposed  Bill. 

In  the  course  of  his  exceedingly  important  Si)eech,  on  introducing 
his  motion  to  amend,  the  Governor  said,  "The  drawback  upon  those 
"Teas,  exjwrted  to  .\merica,  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  does  not  amount, 
"as  this  argument  supposes,  to  one  shilling  i>er  pound — it  amounts  to 
"  only  sevenpence  half-penny,  or  thereabouts — so  that,  did  it  operate  as 
"  a  bounty,  at  all,  it  would  amount  to  only  fourpencc  half-penny.  But 
"this  is  not  material  to  the  point ;  for  it  does  not  operate  as  a  bounty, 
"at  all,  because  whatever  duty  the  East  India  Coniiiany  pays,  originally, 
"at  the  Custom-house,  on  the  importing  of  Teas  from  Asia,  that  sum  is 
"added  to  the  price  of  their  Tea,  in  their  sales  ;  so  that,  although  the 
"exporter  to  .\merica  may  be  allowed  a  drawback,  yet  he  draws  back 
"  that  sum  only  which  he  hath  already  paid  in  the  price  of  his  purchase, 
"by  trhich  means,  as  this  article  of  sujiply  new  stands,  there  isanadranlage 
"  in  fnrour  of  the  Dutch  Teas  imported  into  the  Colonies,  against  the  British 
"  Teas,  of  twenty -five  per  cent,  difference. — (Debrett's  History,  Debates,  and 
Proceedings  of  both  Houses  of  Parlioment,  1743  lo  1774,  v.,  iCA). 

The  reader  will  perceive,  therefore,  that  the  opposition  to  the  importa- 
tion of  Tea,  into  .\merica,  with  its  pailinnientarv-  tax  imposed  on  it, 
which  the  Merchants  instigated  and  encouraged,  in  the  seai>orts — the 
opposition  was  seen  no  where  else  than  within  the  shadows  of  those  ports 
— was  composed  less  of  "  iMitriotism  "  than  of  love  of  pelf.   TheDntch  Teas 


the  confederated  party  of  the  Opposition — the  Gov- 
ernment and  those  who  favored  it  having  no  part  in 
that  matter  of  division  among  those  who  were  oppos- 
ing its  policy — were  evidently  seniil)le,  however,  as 
has  been  .said,  that  that  unseemly  confederation  of 
radically  antagonistic  elements,  entirely  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  interests  of  one  of  those  elements 
without  securing  a  corresponding  advantage  to  the 
other,  was  unnatural,  and  could  not  be  lasting; 
and  it  was  evident,  also,  to  every  one,  that  an  open 
conflict  between  the  conservative  aristocratic  and  the 
revolutionary  democratic  elements  of  the' population, 
without  reference  to  matters  of  governmental  policy, 
and  only  for  the  control  of  the  political  power,  within 
the  City  and  Colony,  was  likely  to  be  commenced, 
at  any  moment. 

Just  at  thut  critical  period,  in  May,  1774,  advices 
were  received  from  Europe,'  of  the  Government's  pro- 
posal to  close  the  Port  of  Boston,  with  a  possibility 
that  that  of  Xew  York  would  shortly  share  the  same 
fate  ;  and  it  was  also  said  that  the  Home  Government 
also  intended  to  remove  the  principal  offenders  against 
Ihe  Laws,  within  the  Colonies,  that  they  might  be  tried 
and  punished  in  England.'  With  great  tact  and  )>lau- 
sibility  and  a  greater  pretension  to  patriotism,  the 
confederated  "Merchants  and  Traders"  and  those 
who  possessed  their  confidence  promptly  seized  that 
much  desired  opportunity,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
their  sinister  purposes;  and,  with  that  end  in  view, 
they  boldly  and  promptly  occupied  the  place  of  leaders 
of  the  entire  City  and  Colony,  in  protesting  against 
those  measures  of  the  Home  Government,  and  in  jiro- 
vidiug  for  a  systematic  opposition  to  those  measures, 
under  their  own  particular  direction,  without,  how- 
ever, having  recognized  the  existence  or  inviteil  the 
co-operation  of  the  respectable  popular  element,  within 
the  City,  nor  those  of  the  very  few  who  really  repre- 
sented and  controlled  that  more  unruly  element  of 
which  mobs  were  comjjosed,  both  of  which  omissions, 
the  meaning  of  which  was  very  evident,  subse<juently 
produced  serious,  if  not  unexpected  and  unwelcome, 
consequences. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  promoters  of  the  proposed 
change  in  the  leadership  of  the  politicians  of  the  City, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  "  an  Advertisement" 
was  posted  at  the  Cotfee-house,  in  Wall-street,  a  noted 
place  of  resort  for  Shipmasters  and  ^Merchants,  recit- 
ing "  the  late  extraordinary  and  very  alarming  advices 
"  from  England  ;  "  and  "  inviting  the  Merchants  to 
"  meet  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Samuel  Francis,  on  Mon- 
"  day  evening,  May  16,  in  order  to  consult  on  mea- 


afforded  a  much  larger  profit;  and  a  dinturbance  of  that  line  of  trade  n-as 
not,  therefore,  degirable. 

-  They  were  received  on  Thursilay,  May  12,  by  the  Samson,  Ca]>tain 
Couper,  the  latest  shi]!  from  Lomlon. 
t  ^  Extracts  from  private  letters  from  London,  dated  April  7  and  8, -fo 
"persons  in  Xeir  York  and  Philadelphia,"  printed  on  the  backs  of  copies  of 
the  Boston  Port  Bill,  and  circnlated,  in  broadside  form,  in  Xew  York,  Slay 
14,  1774. 


184 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  sures  proper  to  be  pursued  on  the  present  critical 
"and  important  occasion."' 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  others  than  "  the  Merchants  " 
of  the  City  were  invited  to  attend  the  proposed  Caucus, 
at  Sam.  Francis's  Long-room ;  -  and  that  the  published 
purpose  was  only  "to  consult  on  measures  proper  to 
"  be  pursued  on  the  present  critical  and  important 
"occasion,"  in  neither  of  which  features  of  the  "  Ad- 
"  vertisement,"  prima  facie,  can  it  be  reasonably  said 
that  any  stretch  of  authority  had  been  attempted  by 
those  who  had  called  the  proposed  Caucus — surely,  it 
will  not  be  said  there  might  not  be  consultations, 
among  Merchants  as  well  as  among  other  classes  of 
the  citizens,  on  any  subject  whatever,  especially  on 
subjects  in  which  they  were  especially  interested, 
without  interference  from  any  other  class ;  and  it  will 
hardly  be  pretended  by  any  one,  that,  in  the  instance 
now  under  consideration,  the  Merchants  of  the  City 
were  not  peculiarly  interested  in  the  subjects  of  "  the 
"  late  extraordinary  and  very  alarming  advices  from 
"'  England ;  "  that  they  might  not  properly  "  consult," 
among  themselves,  "  on  measures  proper  to  be  pur- 
"sued  on  the  present  critical  and  important  occa- 
"  sion ; "  that,  for  the  purpose  of  such  a  "  consulta- 
"tion,"  they  might  not  invite  whomsoever  they 
pleased,  to  meet  at  a  place  and  time  designated,  with- 
out consulting  with  any  other  persons  or  asking 
permission  from  any  others;  and  that  such  a  Caucus, 
thus  invited,  might  not  be  had,  without  any  interfe- 

^  Minutesof  the  Netv  York  Committee  of  Correspondence.  IMonday,  5Iay 
19,  1774  ;  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  to  Gorernor  Tryon,  "  Sprino  Hill, 
"31st  May,  1774  ;  "  the  same  lo  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "  New  York,  1st 
"June,  1774;"  Gonveni'-vr  Morris  to  Mr.  Penn,  "  New  York,  May  20, 
"  1774;"  Joneses  Histori/ of  Xew  York  dtirimj  the  lierolutionart/  War,  i., 
34  ;  etc. 

-  "Sam.  Francis,"  at  that  time  and  during  many  years  subsequently, 
was  a  noted  restaurali  ur,  known  to  and  resijectej  by  every  one,  of  every 
sect  and  party,  in  the  City  of  New  Yorli,  during  tlu'  Intercolonial  period, 
during  the  entire  War,  and  after  the  restoration  of  Peace. 

"  Francis's  Tavern,"  where  this  Caucus  was  held,  had  been,  at  an  ear- 
lier period,  the  residence  of  the  De  Lancey  Family.  It  was  built  in  1701, 
by  Etienne  De  Lancey,  on  a  lot  of  ground  which  Stephanus  Van  C'ort- 
landt  had  given  to  his  daughter,  Anne,  when,  in  the  preceding  year,  that 
lady  was  married  to  Jlr.  De  Lancey;  and  it  is  still  standing  on  the  north- 
ea-stern  corner  of  Broad  and  Pearl-streets,  the  oldest  building  in  the 
City  of  New  York. 

"  Francis's  Long-room,"  in  which  this  Caucus  was  held,  subsequently 
became  more  famous  than  it  had  previously  beeTi,  Ijecause  it  was  the 
room  iu  which  the  Officers  of  the  Army  of  the  Revolution  assembled,  on 
Thursday,  the  fourth  of  December,  1783,  after  the  enemy  had  evacuated 
the  City  and  the  Peace  had  been  entirely  established,  to  take  their  final 
leave  of  their  illustrious  Chief ;  and  from  which,  accompanied  by  his 
sorrowful  friends — "  a  solemn,  mute,  and  mournful  procession,  with 
"  heads  hanging  down  and  dejected  countenances  " — he  walked,  directly, 
to  Whitehall-slip,  and  was  rowed,  thence,  to  Powle's  Hook,  now  Jei-sey 
City,  on  his  way  to  Annapolis,  to  which  place  the  Congress  had  ad- 
journed, to  resign  the  Command  of  the  Army,  with  which  he  had  been 
invested,  in  1773. — (Gordon's  Hislori/  of  the  H'nr  of  the  Revolution,  iv., 
38.3,  384;  Marshall's  Life  of  WashinQlou,  (I'hila.  Edit.)  iv.,  G19,  G20  ; 
etc.) 

It  is  proper  to  be  said,  in  that  connection,  that  Samuel  Francis  was 
"  a  mau  of  dark  complexion,"  probably  a  mulatto  ;  that  he  was  known, 
ordinarily,  as  "lilackSam  ;"  and  that,  when  General  Washington  en- 
tered the  City,  on  the  twenty-tiftli  of  November,  •'  he  took  up  his  liead- 
"  quarters  at  the  Tavern  "  of  that  dusky  landlord. — (Dunlap's  Hislnrii  of 
New  York,  ii.,  233,  the  author  of  which  related  these  circumstances 
from  his  own  personal  knowledge  of  them.) 


rence  from  any  one.  There  was  no  appearance  of 
deception  in  the  "Advertisement"  through  which  the 
Caucus  had  been  invited,  in  the  instance  under  con- 
sideration ;  and,  subsequently,  when  the  Caucus 
assembled,  no  attempt  appears  to  have  been  made  to 
do  anything  more  than  the  "Advertisement''  had 
authorized,  notwithstanding  those  who  had  been  spe- 
cifically invited  and  were  present,  so  largely  outnum- 
bered those  uninvited  intruders  who  opposed  them, 
that  any  change  from  the  terms  of  the  "  Advertisement " 
which  they  were  inclined  to  make,  could  have  been 
made — indeed,  it  appears  to  have  been  intended,  by 
the  Merchants,  only  for  consultation  and  for  the  orderly 
preparation  of  measures  to  be  submitted  to  the  body 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  City,  at  a  Meeting  to  be  called 
for  that  purpose,  for  their  approval  or  disapproval, 
without  losing  sight,  however,  of  what  was  the  real, 
substantial  purpose  of  the  movement.  But  those  who 
had  hitherto  assumed  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  unfran- 
chised masses — the  leaders,  in  fact,  however,  of  only 
the  radically  revolutionary  portions  of  those  masses, 
— saw,  or  assumed  to  have  seen,  in  that  proposed 
Caucus,  a  movement  which  promised  to  break  the 
hold  on  the  unfranchised  element  which,  since  the 
era  of  the  Stamp  Act,  they  had  unceasingly  claimed 
to  have  maintained  ;  ^  and  to  transfer,  to  some  extent, 
at  least,  some  portion  of  the  leadership  of  that  uncer- 
tain and,  sometimes,  unruly  element,  in  the  political 
aftairs  of  the  Colony,  to  others;  and  Isaac  Sears  and 
his  handful  of  kindred  associates,  with  that  audacious 
disregard  of  the  unquestionable  Rights  of  others 
which,  subsequently,  became  so  conspicuously  noto- 
rious and  oppressive,  not  only  determined  to  thrust 
themselves  into  a  Caucus  to  which  they  had  not  been 
invited,  but  to  turn  the  action  of  that  Caucus  from  the 
purposes  of  those  who  had  called  it,  and  to  give  to 
that  action  a  character  and  direction  which  would  be 
entirely  foreign  to  the  purposes  for  which  the  Caucus 
had  been  invited.  The  consequences  of  that  proposed 
intrusion  and  the  ill  success  of  that  scheme  to  oust 
those  who  had  invited  the  Caucus  and  to  turn  into 
other  channels  than  those  which  the  latter  had  pro- 
posed, the  action  and  influence  of  the  Caucus  itself, 
will  be  seen  in  the  published  narrative  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  that  notable  assemblage — meanwhile,  it  will 
be  evident  to  every  careful  observer,  that  that  separa- 
tion of  the  radically  antagonistic  social  and  political 
elements  which,  united,  formed,  at  that  time,  the 

3  The  Meeting,  at  Burns's  Coffee-house,  on  tli£  evening  of  the  thirty- 
first  of  October,  17ti5,  for  the  adoption  of  measures  to  prevent  the  execu- 
tion of  the  Stamp-.\ct,  appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence,  com- 
posed of  Isaac  Seaif  ,  John  Lamb,  Gershom  Mott,  William  Wiley,  and 
Thomas  Robinson,  to  give  better  effect  to  its  Resolutions,  by  securing 
harmonious  action,  thereon,  throughout  the  entire  Continent.  The  re- 
peal of  that  obnoxious  Statute,  of  course,  rendered  that  appointment 
inoperative  ;  but  those  who  had  constituted  that  Committee,  with  a  half 
dozen  associates,  continued  to  exercise  an  authority  and  leadership, 
among  the  unorganized  and  marketable  elements,  in  the  City,  until  the 
opening  of  the  War,  in  1775,  when  several  of  those  leaders  secured  of- 
fices, and  ceased  to  be  the  "patriotic  "  leaders  of  those  who,  then,  more 
than  ever,  needed  intelligent  leaders. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


185 


])olitical  conglomerate  in  which  had  been  combined, 
for  ])urely  selfish  purposes,  the  fragmentarj'  opposition, 
in  tlie  Colony  of  New  York,  to  the  Home  Govern- 
ment wliich  was  then  in  authority  (each  of  those 
antagonistic  elements  being,  in  pretension,  if  not  in 
fact,  equally  zealous  in  its  loyalty  to  their  common 
Sovereign)  was  produced  by  less  of  respect  for 
righteousness  in  politics  and  of  a  genuine  patriotism 
than  of  thirst  for  individual  gain  to  be  derived,  as 
was  then  supposed,  from  the  internal  control  of  the 
party  of  the  Opposition  and  of  what  should  be  gained 
through  it — just  such  a  factional  contest,  within  a 
party  composed  of  radically  discordant  elements, 
united  for  purposes  which  had  served  to  combine 
those  elements  into  one  body,  indeed,  as  have  been 
seen,  very  frequently,  and  such  as  may  be  seen,  now, 
not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  evei'y  other  commun- 
ity in  which  such  ill-formed  parties  are  permitted  to 
exist,  and  to  intrigue,  and  to  deceive.' 

At  the  appointed  hour,  on  Monday,  the  sixteenth 
of  ^lay,  the  Long-room,  in  Sam.  Francis's  Tavern,-' 
was  crowded  with  anxious  and  determined  men,  evi- 
dently not  entirely  of  one  mind,  and  not  indisposed, 
in  some  instances,  at  least,  to  enforce  whatever  differ- 
ences of  opinion  and  purpose  might  arise,  with  some- 
thing more  tangible  than  words,  should  such  an 
enforcement,  in  their  opinion,  become  necessary. 

Those  whom  the  "  Advertisement "  had  invited  were 
present,  in  large  numbers,  and  evidently  well-pre- 
pared for  harmonious  and  decisive  action,  limited 
only  by  the  terms  of  the  invitation  ;  and  there  were 
present,  also,  in  much  smaller  numbers,  including 

1  Tlie  leader  need  only  turn  to  the  history  of  existing  political  parties, 
held  together  by  "the  cohesive  power  of  public  pUindor,"  for  an  illus- 
tration of  the  structure,  the  aims,  and  the  policy  of  tliat  confederated 
party  of  the  Opposition,  in  Colonial  New  York,  an<l  of  the  factional  strug- 
gle, within  itself,  for  the  control  of  its  united  action  and,  most  of  all,  for 
that  of  the  distribution  of  such  "spoils"  as,  in  case  of  the  party's  suc- 
cess, should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  "  victors.'' 

-We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  tlie  Caucus  is  generally  stated  to 
have  been  held  at  the  Exchange,  which  occupied  the  middle  of  Broad- 
street,  nearly  opposite  the  Tavern  ;  and  that  an  entry  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  Committee  of  Coi-respottileiice  stated,  specifically,  that  it  was  held  in 
that  building.  But  it  was  called,  in  the  origin  il  "  Adverluiement,"  very 
definitely,  "  to  meet  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Samuel  Francis;"  in  none  of 
the  contemporary  descriptions  of  the  Caucus  which  we  have  seen,  was  it 
said  or  intimated  that  the  assemblage  left  the  Tavern,  for  any  purpose, 
before  the  formal  adjournment  of  the  Caucus  ;  and  in  the  second  "  ^<(- 
"  lerdneiiifiif,"  published  on  the  day  after  the  Caucus,  by  its  officers  and 
under  its  authority,  inviting  the  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  City  to 
meet  at  the  roffee-house,  to  confirm  or  amend  the  otlicial  acts  of  that 
Caucus,  it  was  said,  in  its  descrijition  of  that  preliminary  meeting,  after 
a  recital  of  the  fact  that  it  was  called  "  to  meet  <tt  the  Home  of  Mr.  Sam- 
"uel  Fiaiicit,"  that  "a  very  respectable  and  large  number  of  the  Mer- 
"chantsand  other  Inh.abitants  did  accordingly  appear  at  the  time  and 
"pJoceappointed,  and  then  and  (/lere  nominated  for  the  approbation  of 
'■  the  public,  a  Committee  of  fifty  j)ersous,"  etc.  With  these  as  our  au- 
thorities, we  prefer  to  differ  from  those  who  have  preceded  us;  and  to 
insist,  as  we  do  insist,  that  the  Caucus  was  held,  without  interruption  or 
removal,  in  Sam.  Francis's  Long-room. 

For  the  reasons  stated,  we  prefer  to  differ,  also,  from  our  friend,  Ed- 
ward F.  de  Lancey,  who  lia-s  stated,  in  his  carefully  prepared  S'olet  to 
Jones's  Hislonj  of  .Vfic  York  during  the  lierolutiounnj  Il'ur  (i.,  438,  J3!l) 
that  the  Caucus  was  liclil  in  "  the  Exchansre,  to  which  place  it  aiijourned 
"from  Fi-aunces's  Tavern,  where  it  was  called,  on  account  of  the  great 
'•  attendance." 


some  who  were  not "  Merchants  "  and  who  had  not  been 
invited,^  those  who  assumed  to  be  the  leaders  of  the 
unfranchised  masses,  who  had  also  secured  harmoni- 
ous action,  among  themselves,  by  previous  factional 
consultation.*  Isaac  Low,*  a  prominent  Merchant, 
was  called  to  the  Chair ;  and  Resolutions  were 
adopted,  "  by  a  great  Majority,"  in  each  instance, 
First,  that  it  was  necessary,  then,  "  to  appoint  a  Com- 
"  mittee  to  correspond  with  the  neighbouring  Colo- 
"  nies  on  the  present  important  Crisis;"  Second,  that 
"a  Committee  be  nominated,  on  that  Evening,  for 
" the  Approbation  of  the  Public;"  and.  Third,  that 
the  Committee  consist  of  fifty  persons.* 

As  the  matter  in  dispute,  between  the  two  antagon- 
istic factions,  related  only  to  the  designation  of  those 
who  should  control  the  local  politics  of  the  day  and 
what  should  be  realized  from  those  politics,  it  is  not 
probable  that  any  material  opposition  was  made  to 
the  first  and  second  of  the  three  Resolutions  which 
were  adopted  by  the  Caucus — none  has  been  men- 
tioned by  any  contemporary  writer — but  when  the 
third  was  proposed,  those  who  assumed  to  represent 
the  unfranchised  masses  made  an  attempt  to  reduce 
the  number  from  fifty  to  twenty-five,  by  which  means 
they  hoped  to  be  able  to  control  the  action  of  the 
Committee,  notwithstanding  they  were  so  few  in  num- 
ber ;  but  their  proposed  amendment  to  the  original 
Resolution  was  promptly  rejected,  "  by  a  great  Ma- 
"  jority."  ' 

With  very  great  good  judgment,  the  majority  of  the 
Caucus  evidently  treated  the  minority  with  respectful 
consideration,  notwithstanding  the  former  steadily 

3 Compare  the  terms  of  the  "  A<lcerlixemeiit"'  calling  the  Caucus,  "in- 
"viting  Ihi:  Merchnnl»  to  meet,"  etc.,  with  the  otlicial  description  of  those 
who  had  boen  present  at  that  Caucus,  which  was  contained  in  the  pub- 
lished call  for  the  meeting  at  the  Coffee-house,  to  confirni  or  amend  the 
doings  of  that  Caucus — "a  very  respectable  and  large  number  of  the 
"  Merehaiits  and  other  Iiihahitants  did  accordingly  appear." 

*  \  small  broadside,  containing  a  list  of  twenty-five  names  of  persons 
who  were  "  nominated  by  a  N  umber  of  respectable  merchants  and  the 
"  Body  of  Mechanics  of  this  City,  to  be  a  Committee  of  Correspondence 
"for it,  with  the  Xeighboring  Colonies,"  may  be  seen  in  the  Library  of 
the  New  York  Historical  Society.  It  was  evidently  the  result  of  a  con- 
sultation of  those  who  assumed  to  have  been  the  leaders  of  the  masses  of 
the  unfranchised  inhabitants  of  tha  City. 

It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  however,  that  that  list  of  nominees,  with  only 
three  of  the  names  stricken  from  it,  was  incorporated  in  the  larger  list 
which  was  nominated  by  the  Caucus. 

''"  Low  belongeii  to  the  Church  of  England,  a  person  unbounded  in 
"ambition,  violent  and  turbulent  in  his  disposition,  remarkably  obsti- 
"  nate,  with  a  good  share  of  umlerstanding,  extremely  opinionated,  fond 
"of  being  the  head  of  a  party,  and  never  so  well  pleased  as  when 
"Chairman  of  a  Committee  or  principal  spokesman  at  a  mob  nieetiug. 
"  His  principles  of  government  inclined  to  the  republican  system." — 
(.Jones's  l{ii.titry  of  .Veic  York  during  the  American  Revuhdion,  i.,3.5.) 

Sir.  Low,  subseiiuently,  became  a  Loyalist ;  was  stripped  of  his  prop- 
erty, by  confiscation  ;  was  attainted  ;  and  retired  to  England,  where  he 
died  in  1791. — (Sabine's  Biographical  Sketches  of  Loyal  isls  of  the  American 
lievotuli  .n,  original  edition,  430 ;— (Ac  »(i»ie,  second  edition,  ii.,  32,  33.) 

I'roceedinrit  of  the  Caucus,  printed  on  a  broadside,  for  general  circu- 
lation, a  copy  of  which  is  in  the  Library  of  the  Xew  York  Historical 
Society. 

"  I'roceedings  of  the  Caucus,  original  edition  ;  de  Lancey's  Xotes  to 
Jones's  History  of  Seic  York,  i.,  439  ;  Leake's  Memoir  of  General  John 
Lamb,  87  ;  Dawson's  Park  and  its  Vicinity,  33  ;  Bancroft's  L'uiled  Slates, 
original  edition,  vii.,  41,  42  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  326,  3'27. 


186 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEK  COUNTY. 


maintained  its  own  ground  and  voted  down  every  at- 
tempt to  oust  it,  which  was  made  by  the  latter;  and 
in  making  the  nomination  of  the  fifty  whom  it  pro- 
posed for  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  it  did  no 
more  than  to  drop  the  names  of  three  of  those  whom 
the  minority  had  already  selected,  as  its  proposed 
Committee  of  Twenty-five,  and  to  slip  into  the  list  of 
the  twenty-two  who  were  retained,  without  breaking 
the  order  in  which  they  had  been  arranged  on  the 
original  list,  the  names  of  twenty-eight  other  persons 
with  whom  the  promoters  of  the  Caucus  were  better 
pleased — as  nearly  the  entire  minority  was  included 
in  the  list  of  nominees,  giving  it  a  small  share  of  the 
responsibilities  and  of  the  honors  or  dishonors  of  the 
proposed  Committee,  its  opposition  to  the  action  of 
its  aristocratic  and  conservative  opponents  appears 
to  have  ceased  ;  and  the  establishment  of  the  proposed 
Committee  of  Fifty,  by  the  body  of  the  inhabitants, 
was,  thereby,  assured. 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  part  of  the  plan  of  those 
who  had  called  and  controlled  the  Caucus,  to  submit 
the  result  of  its  deliberations  to  the  body  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  City,  for  its  consideration  and  ap- 
proval ;  and  nothing  had  occurred,  within  the  Cau- 
cus, to  make  any  change  in  that  plan  necessary. 
Accordingly,  on  the  day  after  the  meeting  of  the 
Caucus  [Tuesda;/,  May  17]  they  published  a  Card,  ad- 
dressed "To  the  Public,"  in  which  "the  Inhabitants 
"  of  this  City  and  County  "  were  "  requested  to  attend 
"at  the  Coflee-house,  on  Thursday,  the  19tli  instant, 
"at  1  o'clock,  to  approve  of  the  Committee  nominated 
"as  aforesaid,  or  to  appoino  such  other  persons  a«,  in 
"their  discretion  and  wisdom,  they  may  seem  meet."' 

Notwithstanding  the  meeting  at  the  Coffee-house 
was  called  at  one  o'clock,  an  hour  when  every  Me- 
chanic and  Laborer  would  probably  be  employed  in 
his  daily  labor,  it  is  said  that  "  a  great  concourse  of 
"  the  Inhabitants"  assembled  at  that  place,''  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  [Thyrsdaij,  Alay  19,  1774,  at  one  o'clock;^ 
and  we  are  also  told  that  the  assemblage  was  addressed 
by  Isaac  Low,  who  was  in  the  Chair  ;  that  some  dis- 
cussion arose,  which  resulted  in  the  addition  of  Fran- 
cis Lewis  to  the  proposed  Committee,  increasing  the 


1  Advertisement  "  To  the  Public,"  calliug  the  Meeting  at  the  Coffee- 
house, liated  "  New- York,  Tuesday,  May  17, 1774,"  copied  into  the 
Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence. 

See,  also,  the  same  Advertisement  and  an  editorial  note  thereon,  in 
Holt's  Setc-York  Journal,  No.  Ifi37,  New-York,  Thursday,  May  19,  1774  ; 
and  HiiiiniloHs  New-York  Gazetteer,  Xo.  57,  New-York,  Thursday, 
May  19,  1774;  Gaine's  Sew  York  Gazette  and  i1J«rr«ry,  No.  1178,  New- 
York,  Monday,  May  23,  1774  ;  Lieulenaul-gorernor  Cohten  to  Governor 
Tryon,  "  Si'RiX(i-HiLi.,  31st  May,  1774  ;  "  llie  same  to  the  Earl  of  Dart- 
mouth, "New-York  1st  June  1774;"  Leake's  Memoir  of  General  John 
Lamb,  87  ;  Dawson's  Park  and  its  Vicifiity,  33  ;  etc. 

2 "The  Coffee-house,"  that  place  which  was  so  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  commercial  as  well  as  in  the  political  afliiii's  of  the  City,  stood  on 
the  southeastern  corner  of  Wall  and  AVater-streets,  opposite  the  "Slip  " 
which  hol  e  its  name. 

Mr.  de  Lancey,  in  his  Notes  on  Jones's  History  (i  ,  439)  says  it  was  on 
the  "southeast  corner  of  M'all  and  Pearl  Stieets;"  but  he  was  certainly 
in  error.  Stevens,  in  his  Progress  of  New  York  in  a  Century,  1776-1876, 
25,  correctly  described  the  site  of  the  old  "  .Merchants'  Coffee-house." 


number  of  that  Committee  to  fifty-one  ;  and  that,  the 
unfranchised  masses  having  been  placated  by  the  ad- 
dition of  another  of  their  leaders  to  the  proposed 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  the  entire  list  of  nomi- 
nees was  confirmed,  without  farther  opposition.'' 

3  ]\Tin%ttes  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  ;  Holt's  New-York  Journal, 
No.  1G38,  New- York,  Thursday,  May  26,  1774;  Gaine's  .Veir  - I'ort 
Gazette  and  Merain/,  No.  1178,  New-Y''ork,  Jlonday,  May  23. 1774  ;  Lieti- 
tenant  governor  Colden  to  Governor  Tryon,  "  Spri.ng-Hili.,  31st  May 
"  1774  ;  "  the  same  to  the  Ear!  of  Dartmouth,  ''  New-York,  1st  June  1774  ; " 
History  of  the  H'ar  iii  America,  (Dublin :  1779)  i.,  22  ;  Dunlap's  -Vcio 
York,  i.,  4.53  ;  Hildrcth's  Vnited/  States,  First  Series,  iii.,  3o  ;  Bancroft's 
I'nited  States,  original  edition,  vii.,  42,  43  ;  Frothingham'e /fise  of  the  Ue- 
public,  327  ;  Bancroft's  United  Slates,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  327,  328  ; 
Sparks's  Life  of  Gonvemetir  Morris,  22-20  ;  Dawson's  Park  and  Us  Vicinity, 
33. 

Notwithstanding  the  important  results  which  the  appointment  of  that 
Committee  of  Correspondence  produced,  it  was  not  even  alluded  to  by 
Stedraan,  {Hislonj  of  the  American  War;)  Mercy  Warren,  {History  of  the 
American  Revolution  :)  Blorse,  {Annals  of  the  Ameri4:an  llevotution  :)  Pitkin, 
(History  of  the  Vnited  Stales  ;}  Lossing,  {Seventeen  hundred  and  sevenlij-.'iLr  ; 
History  of  the  United  States,  edition  of  1857  ;  and  Field-book  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ,)  aiid  many  others. 

Judge  Jones,  {History  of  New  York,  during  the  Revolnfionary  llrtr,  t,,  34) 
supposed  the  "  Committee  was  chosen,"'  at  the  Caucus,  at  Sam.  Fran- 
cis's; and  made  no  allusion  to  the  Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house,  where  it 
"  was  chosen."  Doctor  Gordon,  (  KiA(o/-y  o/  American  Revohttion,  Lon- 
don :  178S,  i.,  3C1,  362,)  said  the  Caucus  was  called  by  Sears,  McDougal, 
and  others  of  the  popularparty,  so  called  ;  that  "  the  Tories,"  or  gov- 
ernmental party,  opposed  them,  in  the  Caucus  ;  that  Sears  secured  the 
appointment  of  a  fifty-second  member  of  the  Committee  ;  and  that  the 
whole  suliject  was  disposed  of  by  the  Caucus.  He  made  the  minority  of 
the  Caucus,  the  victoi-s  ;  and  did  not  allude  to  the  Meeting  at  the 
Coffee-house.  Doctor  Ramsay,  {History  of  the  Amei-ican  Revolution,  Lon- 
don :  1791,  i.,  114,)  said  "the  Whigs  and  Tories  were  so  nearly  balanced 
'•  in  New- York,  that  nothing  more  was  agreed  to  at  the  first  meeting  of 
"the  inhabitants,"  [after  the  receipt  of  the  Boston  Poit-bill]  "than  a 
"  recommendation  to  call  a  Congress,"  although,  in  truth,  the  subject  of 
a  Congress  was  not  even  alluded  to,  at  either  the  Caucus  or  the  Coffee- 
house. "Paul  .Mien,"  {History  of  the  American  Revolution,  i.,  186)  said, 
"  At  New  York,  there  was  a  considerable  struggle  between  the  friends 
"  of  .\dministration  and  the  friends  of  Liberty ;  but  the  latter  at  length 
"  prevailed,  by  the  influence  and  management  of  two  individuals,  who 
"had,  on  several  occasions,  manifested  great  activity  and  zeal,  in  their 
"  opposition  to  the  obnoxious  measures  of  the  Ministry,"  although,  in 
trutii,  the  friends  of  the  Government  took  no  part  whatever  in  the  poli- 
tics of  that  particular  period  ;  and  the  conflict  was  only  between  rival 
factions  of  the  same  party  of  the  Opposition  to  the  Government,  each 
contending  for  the  control  of  that  particular  party,  while  both  professed 
to  be  squally  opposed  to  the  Government.  It  is  also  true  that  those  to 
whom  this  author  referred,  as  the  prevailing  faction,  were  the  minority, 
were  outvoted  and  in  every  other  respect  were  entirely  defeated.  Graham  e, 
{History  of  the  United  States,  London:  18.iC,  iv.,  349,)  said,  "  .\t  New 
"  York  the  members  and  activity  of  the  Ti^ry  party  restrained  the  .\s- 
"  sembly  and  the  people  at  largo  from  publicly  expressing  their  senti- 
"  ments  with  regard  to  the  treatment  of  Massachusetts;'  although,  in 
truth,  the  friends  of  the  Home  Government  were,  then,  so  greatly  in 
the  minority  that  they  did  nothing  w  hatever  to  restrain  the  popular 
feelings  ;  while  the  utterances  of  both  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
and  the  General  Assembly  were  as  unequivocally  antagonistic  to  the 
Home  Government's  Colonial  policy,  as  anything  which  appeared  else- 
where. He  made  no  allusion  whatever  to  either  the  Caucus  or  the 
Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house.  Hildreth  {Histoni  of  the  Vnited  States,  Fii-st 
Series,  iii.,  .35)  said  that  the  old  Committee  of  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  " 
"was dissolved  and  a  new  one  elected,"  withcuit  alluding  to  either  the 
Caucus  or  the  Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house  ;  although,  in  fact,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  of  an  early  date  had  ceased  to  exist  when  the 
Stamp-Act  was  repealed  ;  and  neither  that  nor  any  other  Committee  was 
alluded  to,  in  the  slightest  degree,  during  the  proceedings  now  under 
consideration  ;  notwithstanding  those  who  had  composed  the  Committee, 
in  their  individual  capacities,  in  many  instances,  are  known  to  have 
participated  in  both  the  Caucus  and  the  Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house. 
Bancroft  [Hittory  of  the  UuiteiJ  States,  original  edition,  vii.,  41  :  the  same, 
centenary  edition,  iv.,  326)  made  "  the  old  Committee  "  of  "the  Sons  of 


THE  A.MERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


18T 


By  the  direct  action  of  the  body  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  City,  thus  duly  called,  and  assembled  at  the 
Coffee-house,  for  that  specific  purjiose,  all  the  discord- 
ant elements  of  the  party  of  the  Opposition  to  the 
Home  Government,  in  New  York,  were  seemingly 
consolidated  and  placed  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Committee  of  Fifty-one,  which  was,  then  and  there, 
appointed  for  that  ostensible  purpose  ;  and  those  who 
had  taken  alarm  at  the  growing  audacity  of  those  who 
were  assuming  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  unfranchised 
masses,  were  gratified  with  ample  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  the  well-considered  "  art"  which  those  who  had 
planned  the  Caucus  at  Sam.  Francis's  and  the  Meet- 
ing at  the  Coffee-house  had  employed,  in  order  to 
check  the  rising  pretensions  and  power  of  the  working, 
revolutionary  multitude,  in  political  affairs,  had  been 
crowned  with  an  abundant  success.  There  had  been, 
indeed,  a  display  of  wise  caution  and  great  tact,  as 
well  as  of  well-concealed  duplicity,  in  all  which  had 
been  done  by  those  aristocratic,  conservative  politi- 

"  Ijiberty,'"  "  convoke  the  inliabitants  of  their  City  "  to  the  Caucus  at 
Sam.  Francis's,  although  it  H  a.<  calk'd  by  their  aristocratic  and  conserva- 
tive rivals  in  the  party  of  the  Opposition,  and  nitliout  any  consultation 
with  that  Committee,  if  there  was  one,  or  with  tliose  who  were  in  har- 
mony with  it.  Ho  said,  also,  "  tlie  Motion  prevailed  to  supersede  the 
"  old  Committee  of  Corrcppondence  by  a  new  one  of  fifty  ;"  although 
neither  of  the  three  Resolutions  of  the  Caucus  contained  the  slightest 
allusion  to  any  such  supersedure,  nor  to  any  other  Comnu'ttee  or  body  or 
person  whatever  than  to  the  proposed  Committee  of  fifty,  which  it 
nominated.  lie  said  of  the  Meeting  at  the  CofTee-honse,  "and  the  nom- 
"  ination  of  the  Committee  wasaccepted,  even  w  ilh  the  aildition  of  Isaac 
"Low  as  its  Chairman,  who  was  more  of  a  loyalist  than  a  patriot;" 
although,  in  fact,  Isaac  Low's  name  was  on  the  list  which  had  been 
nominated  at  the  Caucus,  against  which  no  opposition  was  made ;  and 
the  only  "  addition  "  which  was  made  by  the  .Meeting  was  that  of  Fran- 
cis Lewis,  whose  name  had  been  indmled  on  the  original  list  of  the 
minority,  and  rejected  by  the  Caucus.  The  Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house 
made  no  attempt  to  supply  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one  with  a  Chairman, 
in  the  person  of  Isaac  Low,  as  Bancroft  has  stated  :  Isaac  Low  wa.-^ 
called  to  that  place  by  the  Committee  itself,  at  its  first  Meeting,  on 
Monday,  Stay  2.1,  as  its  Mintilet  abiimlantly  prove.  Doctor  Sparks, 
{Life  of  Gouvenietir  itorrit,  i.,  22,)  merged  the  doings  of  the  Caucus  and 
the  Meeting  at  the  Coffee-house,  into  one  mass ;  made  Isaac  Scars  the 
master  spirit  of  all  that  was  done  ;  and  said  "  the  Committee  consisted  of 
"a  nearly  equal  number  of  both  parties,  but  with  a  preponderance  on 
"  the  liberal  side ;  "  although  the  truth  wa.s,  the  friends  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment took  no  part  whatever,  in  either  of  those  meetings  ;  that  both 
were  composed  of  only  those  who  opposed  the  Home  Government  ;  that 
the  struggle,  in  each  of  the  two  assemblages,  was  between  cimrticting 
factions  of  the  latter  party  ;  that,  in  both,  the  faction  of  the  aristocratic 
conser\ative  element  of  the  party  outvoted  and  defeated  the  faction  rep- 
resenting, or  pretending  to  represent,  the  unfranchised  ma.sses  ;  that  the 
Committee  contained  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  belonged,  at  that 
time,  to  the  aristocratic  conservative  faction  of  the  party  ;  and  that  it  is 
not  known,  nor  is  it  suppose<l,  that  a  single  person  was  named  on  the 
Committee,  who  was  not,  at  that  time,  opposed  to  the  Colonial  policy  of 
the  Home  Government.  Indeed,  as  Judge  .lones,  whose  opportunities 
for  ascertaining  the  exact  truth  and  whose  integrity  and  fearlessness  in 
uttering  it  no  one  will  seriously  question,  ,has  emphatically  stated, 
"all  parties,  denominations,  and  religions,  apprehended,  at  that  time, 
"  that  the  Colonies  laboured  under  grievances  which  wanted  redressing ;" 
and  no  one,  tlicrefore,  opposed  any  reasonable  movement  which  tended, 
or  appeared  to  tend,  to  a  peaceful  redress  of  those  serious  grievances. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  this  comparison  of  the  original  authorities  with 
the  use  which  has  been  made  of  them  by  the  several  leading  writers  of 
history  in  our  countrj',  just  how  little  or  how  much  reliance  can  b*? 
place<l  on  what  is  called  "  liislonj,"  in  what  relates  to  less  important 
subjects,  while  this,  which  was  second  to  few  others,  in  thehistorj'  of  the 
Revolution,  has  been  treated  with  so  little  of  rcsiwct  and  of  fidelity  to 
the  truth. 


cians  ;  and,  very  evidently,  they  had  fairly  overcome 
their  plebeian,  revolutionary  rivals,  in  an  ap)>eal  to 
the  body  of  the  inhabitants.  With  a  complete  knowl- 
edge of  the  small  number  of  those  who  had  ])reviously 
assumed  to  represent  the  masses  of  the  unfranchised 
inhabitants,  and  with  as  complete  a  knowledge  of  the 
general  harmlessness  of  those  masses,  in  the  absence 
of  their  self-constituted  leaders,  the  high-toned  pro- 
moters of  the  uni)ublished  scheme  of  abridging  the 
political  power  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  had 
disarmed  the  former  of  their  animosity,  by  rendering 
them  harmless,  as  the  helpless  minority  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty-one* — an  empty  honor  with  which, 
however,  for  the  time  being,  they  were  evidently 
satisfied — while  the  latter  were  made  contented,  for  a. 
short  time,  also,  by  receiving  a  recognition  of  their 
political  preten:iions,  in  the  privilege  which  was  ex- 
tended to  them  of  confirming  or  rejecting  the  nomi- 
nations made  by  the  Caucus,  among  whom,  with  two 
or  three  exceptions,  the  names  of  their  self-constituted 
leaders  were  conspicuously  presented. ' 


^  Lieiileiuinl-governor  Golden  to  Governor  Trijon,  "  SrRiNG-HiLL  31st 
"  May,  1774  ;  "  the  ««m«  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmonlh,  "New  York  June  1st 
"  1774  ;  ■'  Jones's  IIMori/  of  Xeio  York  durinij  the  Revoluliniinrii  War,  i., 
.34  ;  Leake's  Memoir  of  General  John  Lamb,  87  ;  Dawson's  History  of  the 
Park  and  Us  Vichiily,  Xi ;  Bancroft's  U'lited  Slates,  original  eilition,  vii., 
41,  42  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  327  ;  etc. 

Of  the  fifty-one  members  of  the  Committee,  a  very  great  majority  were 
of  the  aristocratic,  conservative,  anti  revolutionary  portions  of  the  inhab- 
itants. On  the  fourth  of  July,  when  a  test  question  was  before  it,  thirty- 
eight  niemliei-s  being  present,  only  thirteen  votes  were  cast  by  those  who 
assumed  to  represent  the  unfranchised  inhabitants  ;  and  in  the  greater 
contest,  three  days  afterwards,  on  Mr.  Thui  ber's  Resolution,  disavowing 
the  proceedings  of  the  great  popiilar  "Jleeting  in  the  Fields,"  over 
which  Alexander  McDougal  had  presided,  only  nine  votes  were  cast  in 
opposition  to  the  vote  of  ilisavowal. 

It  may  also  be  stated,  in  this  place,  that,  notwithstanding  none  of  th& 
fifty-one,  at  that  time,  were  of  the  Governmental  party,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  every  one  was  earnestly  opposed  to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the 
Home  Government,  twenty-one  of  the  number,  at  a  subsequent  period, 
became  acknowledged  Loyalists  ;  that  a  considerable  number  took  no 
active  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Committee,  but  could  have  beei> 
relied  on,  by  the  aristocratic,  conservative  leaders,  had  their  presence  and 
their  votes  been,  at  any  time,  needed  ;  and  that  a  greater  number  than 
there  were  of  the  last-named  class — a  working  majority  of  the  Commit- 
tee, indeed — included  such  as  .lohn  .\lsop, Gabriel  II.  Ludlow,  .lohn  Jay, 
and  .Tames  Duane,  who  invariably  acted  and  voted  with  the  aristocratic, 
anti-revolutionary  portion  of  the  Connnittee,  and,  until  they  became 
candidates  for  the  Congress,  always  in  opposition  to  the  revolutionary 
leaders  and  the  revolutionary  purjioses. 

Well  might  the  exiled  Judge,  Thomas  Jones,  writing  of  this  Commit- 
tee, in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  say,  within  ten  years  of  its  crea- 
tion, notwithstanding  what  he  hadsaid  of  the  opposition  to  the  Colonial 
policy  of  the  Home  Government,  which  all  of  then>  had  presented,  "  The 
"majority  were  real  friends  to  Government."  —{Ilislory  of  Xeir  York  dur- 
ing the  lierohitionnrij  War,  i.,  34.1 

-  For  the  purptxse  of  providing  an  additional  authority,  concerning 
much  that  has  been  stated,  in  this  work,  concerning  the  relations  which 
existed  between  the  confederated  "  Men-bants  anil  Trailers  "  and  other 
high-toned  citi/.ens,  and  the  more  numerous,  but  unfranchised,  "  Inhabi- 
"  tauts  of  the  City  and  County  ;  "  concerning  the  desire  of  the  former  to 
abridge  the  influence  which  had  been  secured  by  the  latter,  while  they 
were  subject  to  the  frequent  appeals  of  the  former  ;  and  concerning  the 
formation  of  the  "Committee  of  Correspondence,"  since  known  as  the 
"Committee  of  Fifty  one,"  for  the  purpose  of  recovering,  to  the  confeil- 
'  erated,  conservative  "  Merchants  and  Traders  "  ami  the  Gentry,  the  con- 
j  trol  of  the  political  affaire  of  the  City,  we  invite  attention  to  the  follow- 
ing very  important  Letter,  written  by  a  Westchester-county  gentleman, 
I  who,  when  he  could  do  longer  ser\'c  the  party  of  the  Home  Government, 


188 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  Committee  which  was  thus  created  by  the  aris- 
tocratic, anti-revolutionary  portion  of  those  who,  at 
that  time,  were  opposing  the  Colonial  policy  of  the 
Home  Government,  was  largely  intended,  as  we  have 
shown,  to  serve  as  a  check  on  the  rising  power,  in 
political  affairs,  of  the  unfranchised  Mechanics  and 
Workingmen  of  the  City  of  New  York,  especially  of 
the  revolutionary  faction  of  those  Working-men,  while 
it  would  tend,  also,  to  concentrate  in  "the  Merchants 
"and  Traders"  and  Gentry  of  the  City,  thus  confed- 
erated for  the  exercise  of  it,  all  of  that  political  power, 
especially  in  matters  of  national  concern,  which  that 
City  and  Province,  at  that  time,  could  command, 
without  the  existence  of  a  thought,  among  those  who 
had  promoted  the  scheme,  if  such  a  thought  had  any- 

was  among  the  earliest  to  become  its  nominal  opponent  ;  and,  subse- 
quently, to  pose  as  a  distinguished  "  patriot "  and  as  a  not  less  distin- 
guished republican  statesman  : 

"New  York,  May  20,  1774. 

"  Dear  Sir  : 

"You  have  heard,  and  you  will  hear,  a  E;reat  doiil  about  politics  ; 
■"  and  in  the  heap  of  ChafT  you  may  find  some  grains  of  good  sense.  Be- 
"  lieve  me.  Sir,  Freedoui  and  Rfligion  are  only  watchwords.  We  have 
"appointed  a  Ciimmittee,  or,  rather,  we  have  nominated  one.  Let  me 
"  give  you  the  histoi'y  of  it. 

"It  is  needless  to  premise,  that  the  lower  orders  of  Mankind  are  more 
"  easily  led  by  specious  appearances  than  those  of  a  more  exalted  station. 
"This,  and  many  similar  propositions,  you  know  better  than  your  hum- 
"  hie  servant. 

"  The  troubles  in  ylnw'rir«,  during  (?rcHri//e"«  .\dministratiou,  put  our 
" Gentry  uj)un  this,;ii(e««e.  They  stimulated  some  daring  Coxcombs  to 
"rouse  the  Mob  into  an  attack  upon  tlie  bounds  of  order  and  decency. 
"  These  fellows  became  the  Jack  Cwies  of  the  day,  the  Leaders  in  all  the 
"  Riots,  the  Bellwethere  of  the  I'lock.  The  reason  of  the  manuMivru,  in 
"  those  who  wished  to  keep  fair  with  the  Government  and,  at  the  same 
"time,  to  receive  the  incense  of  popular  applause,  you  will  readily  per- 
**ceive.  On  the  whole,  the  Shepanls  were  not  much  to  blame,  in  a  po- 
"  litical  point  of  view.  The  Bellwethers  jingled  merrily,  and  roared 
"  out,  '  Liberty,'  and  'Property,"  and  'Religion,'  and  a  multitude  of 
"  cant  terms,  which  every  one  thought  he  understood,  and  was  egregi- 
"  onsly  mistaken  ;  for  you  must  know  the  Shepherdskept  the  Dictionary 
"of  the  Day  ;  and,  like  the  Mysteries  of  the  ancient  Mythology,  it  was 
"  not  for  profane  eyes  and  ears.  This  answered  many  purposes:  the 
"simple  Flock  put  themselves  entirely  under  the  protection  of  these 
"  most  excellent  Shepherds. 

"  By-and-bye,  behold  a  great  metamorphosis,  witboiit  the  help  of  Ovid 
"  or  his  Divinities ;  but  entirely  effectuated  by  two  modern  Genii,  the 
"God  of  .\mbition  and  the  Goddess  of  Faction.  The  first  of  these 
"  proiupted  the  Shepherds  to  shear  some  of  their  Flock;  and,  then,  in 
"conjunction  with  the  other,  converted  the  Bellwethers  into Sliepherds. 
"  That  we  have  been  in  hot  water  with  the  British  Parliament,  ever 
"since,  every  body  knows  :  consequently  these  new  Shepherds  havehad 
"  their  hands  full  of  employment.  The  old  ones  kept  themselves  least  in 
"sight ;  and  a  want  of  confidence  in  each  other  was  not  the  least  evil 
"which  followed.  The  Port  of  li'intoii  has  been  shut  u]).  These  Sheep, 
"simple  as  they  are,  cannot  be  gulled,  as  heretofore.  In  short,  there  is 
"  no  ruling  them  ;  and,  now,  to  leave  the  metaphor,  the  heads  of  the 
"  Jlobility  grow  dangerous  to  the  Gentry  ;  and  how  to  keep  them  down 
"  is  the  question. 

"While  they  correspond  with  the  other  Colonies,  call  and  dismiss 
"popular  ,\ssemblies,  make  Resolves  to  bind  the  Conscit-nces  of  the  rest 
"of  Mankind,  bully  poor  Printers,  and  exert  with  full  force  all  their 
"other  tribunitial  powers,  it  is  impossible  to  cnrb  them.  But  .\rt  some- 
"  times  goes  farther  than  Force  ;  and,  therefore,  to  trick  them  hand- 
"soniely,  a  Committee  of  Patricians  was  to  be  nominated  ;  and  into  their 
"hands  was  to  be  committed  the  Majesty  of  the  People  ;  and  the  highest 
"  trust  was  to  be  reposed  in  them  by  a  mandate  that  they  should  take 
"care,  quod  rt!t>pnhlica  non  capitU  iujuriam.  The  Tribunes,  through  the 
"  want  of  good  legerdemain  in  the  senatorial  order,  perceived  the  finesse  ; 
"and,  yesterday,  I  was  present  at  a  granil  division  of  the  City;  and, 
"there,  I  beheld  my  fellow -citizens  very  accurately  counting  all  their 


a  people,  at  such  a  time,  and  under  such  circumstances 
as  then  existed,  and  which  would  probably  continue 
to  exist,  might,  also,  sensibly  or  insensibly,  weaken  if 
where  existed,  that  such  an  organization,  among  such 
it  should  not  destroy  all  those  bonds  of  recognized 
dependence,  and  loyalty,  and  love,  which,  hitherto, 
had  so  firmly  bound  the  Colony  to  the  Mother  Country. 
But,  notwithstanding  the  evident  intentions  of  those 
among  whom  the  thought  of  creating  such  a  Com- 
mittee had  originated;  notwithstanding  the  purposes 
for  which  it  had  been  created  included  no  such  pur- 
pose; and  notwithstanding  a  separation  of  the  Colo- 
nies from  the  Mother  Country  had  not  yet  become  one 
of  the  questions  of  the  day,  that  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence in  the  City  of  New  York,  created  and 

"Chickens,  not  only  before  any  of  them  were  hatched,  but  before  above 
"one  half  of  the  Eggs  were  laid.  In  short,  they  fairly  contended  about 
"the  future  forms  of  our  Government,  whether  it  should  be  founded 
"upon  aristocratic  or  democratic  principles. 

"I  stood  in  the  Balcony  ;  and,  on  my  right  hand  were  ranged  all  the 
"people  of  property,  with  some  few  poor  dependants  ;  and,  on  the  other, 
"  all  the  Tradesmen,  etc.,  who  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  leave 
"their  daily  labour  for  the  good  of  the  Countrj'.  The  spirit  of  the 
"  English  Constitution  has  yet  a  little  influence  left,  and  but  a  little. 
"The  remains  of  it,  however,  will  give  the  wealthy  people  a  superiority, 
"this  time  ;  but,  would  they  secure  it,  they  must  banish  all  Scboolnias- 
"  tere  and  confine  all  Knowledge  to  themselves.  This  cannot  be.  The 
"Mob  begin  to  think  and  to  reason.  Poor  Reptiles  !  it  is,  with  them,  a 
"  vernal  Morning  ;  they  are  struggling  to  cast  off  their  Winter's  Slotigh  ; 
"they  bask  in  the  Sunshine;  and,  ere  Noon,  they  will  bite,  depend 
"upon  it.  The  Gentry  begin  to  fear  this.  Their  Committee  will  be 
"appointed ;  they  will  deceive  the  People;  and,  again,  they  will  forfeit 
"a  share  of  their  Confidence.  And  if  these  instances  of  what  with  one 
"side  is  Policy,  with  the  other  Perfidy,  shall  continue  to  increase,  and 
"  become  more  frequent,  farewell,  .\ristocracy.  I  see,  and  I  see  it  with 
"fear  and  trembling,  that  if  the  Disputes  with  Greul  Britain  continue, 
"we  shall  be  under  the  worst  of  all  possible  dominions;  we  shall  be 
"  under  the  domination  of  a  riotous  Mob. 

"  It  is  the  interest  of  all  men,  therefore,  to  seek  for  re-union  with  the 
"parent  .State.  A  safe  Compact  seems,  in  my  poor  opinion,  to  be  now 
"tendered.  Internal  taxation  to  he  left  with  ourselves.  The  right  of 
"regulating  Trade  to  be  vested  in  Britain,  where  alone  is  found  the 
"power  of  protecting  it.  1  trust  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  this  is 
"  the  only  possible  mode  of  union.    *   «   *  « 

"I  am.  Sir,,  etc,, 

"Mb.  Pe.vx.  "Govverneur  Morris." 

It  was  never  pretended,  if  our  memory  servos  ns  correctly,  that 
the  writer  of  this  letter  was  a  democratic  republican  :  our  readers  can 
easily  determine,  from  his  contemptuous  words,  while  describing  the 
unfranchised  Mechanics  and  Working-men  of  this  City,  how  little 
of  a  republican  of  any  other  class,  how  much  of  a  believer  of  the  jiolitical 
dogma  of  the  unqualified  equality  of  all  men,  be  was,  notw  ithstanding 
what  some  historians,  so  called,  have  written  of  him. 

In  the  same  spirit,  was  that  note  written  by  James  Rivingtou,  of  New- 
York,  and  received  by  Henry  Knox,  of  Boston,  subseipiently  a  General 
in  the  -■Vrmy  of  the  Revolution  and  Secretary  of  War  under  President 
Washington,  and  (in  his  own  estimation)  never  one  of  the  people,  which 
note  was  detected  by  the  revolutionary  leadei-s  in  Boston,  and  commu- 
nicated to  the  "Sons  of  Liberty,  "  in  New  York,  by  note,  dated  19  June, 
177-i.  The  words  iised  by  Rivingtou  were  these :  "  You  may  rest  as- 
"  sured  that  no  non-im-,  nor  non-ex-portation  will  be  agreed  uj^ion 
"either  here  or  at  Philadelphia.  The  power  over  our  crowd  is  no 
"longer  in  the  hands  of  Sears,  Ijamb,  and  such  unimportant  persons, 
"  who  have  for  six  yeai's  past,  been  the  demagogues  of  a  very  turbulent 
"faction  in  this  City;  but  their  power  and  mischievous  capacity  ex- 
"  piled  in.^tantly  uison  the  election  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one,  in 
"which  there  is  a  majority  of  inflexibly  honest,  loyal,  and  prudent 
"citizens." — [MS.  letter  of  Thomas  Young  to  John  Lamb,  '-BoSTOV,  19th 
"June,  1774,"  in  the  "Lamb  Papers,"  New  York  Historical  Society's 
Library.) 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


185) 


fostered  by  the  most  aristocratic  of  her  citizens,  from 
the  beginning  of  its  existence,  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  those  instrumentalities  which,  at  that  very 
time,  were  sapping  the  foundations  of  the  Throne,  in 
the  Colonies;  and  it  was  through  the  proposition  and 
the  persistent  effort  of  that  particular  Committee,  that, 
very  soon  after  it  was  organized,  another  and  yet  more 
influential  body  was  created,  composed  of  influential 
and  able  men,  mainly  from  the  higher  classes  of 
society,  by  whom,  not  long  afterwards,  the  Home 
Government  was  arraigned  before  the  bar  of  the 
entire  world,  on  well-sustained  charges  of  Usurpation 
and  Oppression ;  by  whom,  also,  the  standard  of  a 
united  Rebellion  of  all  the  Colonies  was  raised ;  and 
by  whom  a  revolutionary  power,  united  and  energetic, 
extending  throughout  the  entire  seaboard,  was  raised 
for  its  support.  In  opposition  to  the  purposes  and 
the  demands  of  the  small  revolutionary  element,  in 
New  York — in  opposition,  also,  to  the  leaders  and  the 
revolutionary  populace,  in  Boston,  with  whom  the 
revolutionary  leaders  in  New  York  were  in  constant 
corres})ondence  and  in  entire  harmony — the  Com- 
mittee which  the  conservative,  anti-revolutionary 
aristocracy  of  New  York  had  thus  created  for  the 
protection  and  the  promotion  of  its  own  particular 
interests,  the  domestic  as  well  as  the  foreign,  originally 
proposed  and  persistently  insisted  on  the  organization 
of  a  Congress  of  Delegates  from  all  the  Colonies,  for 
the  united  consideration  of  a// the  matters  in  dirterence 
between  all  the  Colonies  and  the  Home  Government; 
and  it  was  that  Congress,  thus  called  into  existence 
by  an  anti-revolutionary  body,  by  assuming  authority 
which  had  not  been  delegated  to  it  and  by  disregard- 
ing the  expressed  opinions  and  intentions  of  those 
who  were  represented  therein — at  the  expense,  also, 
of  its  own  consistency,  in  excepting  one  of  the  Colo- 
nies from  the  provisions  of  its  Association,  in  order  to 
secure  the  vote  of  that  Colony  for  the  enforcement  of 
that  Association  upon  all  the  other  Colonies — which 
not  only  closed  the  door  of  reconciliation  with  the 
Mother  Country,  which  it  was  expected  to  have 
opened  to  its  widest  extent ;  but,  practically,  it  organ- 
ized a  systematic  and  general  Revolution,  throughout 
the  entire  seaboard,  which,  ultimately,  led  to  the  over- 
throw of  all  monarchial  power,  within  the  entire 
territory  of  each  and  every  one  of  its  several  constitu- 
ent Colonies.  Such  a  notable  instance  of  the  thing 
which  had  been  created  for  a  specific  purpose,  having 
been  turned,  in  the  progress  of  events,  by  the  tact  of 
a  small  proportion  of  its  members,  without  violence 
and  by  some  of  those  who  had  favored  and  assisted  in 
the  construction  of  it,  against  the  greater  number  of 
those  who  had  created  it  and  for  the  overthrow  of 
their  purposes  in  having  done  so,  as  was  seen  in  the 
instance  of  that  Committee  of  Correspondence  in  New 
York  and  in  its  notable  results,  is  w^orthy  of  notice 
and  remembrance ;  and  it  may  well  serve,  also,  as  a 
perpetual  reminder,  to  those  whose  political  conduct 
has  not  been  altogether  honest,  and  whose  inclinations 


have,  sometimes,  been  directed  toward  something 
else  than  that  which  has  been  indicated  by  their 
professions,  that 

"There's  a  Divinity  that  shapes  our  euda, 
"Rough  hew  them  how  we  will." 

While  the  consolidated  Opposition,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  was  thus  actively  employed  in  making 
preparations  for  a  vigorous  opposition  to  the  latest 
measures  of  the  Home  Government  and,  in  order  to 
make  that  opposition  more  effective,  in  transferring 
the  leadership  of  the  confederated  party  of  the  Oppo- 
sition from  the  few  who  had  previously  a.ssumed  to 
lead  the  revolutionary  portion  of  the  unfranchised 
masses,  in  the  violent  proceedings  in  which,  from  time 
to  time,  the  latter  had  been  engaged,  to  the  greater 
number,  of  higher  social  and  pecuniary  and  political 
standing,  who  formed  the  large  majority  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  which  it  was  creating,  as  its 
leader,  in  its  opposition  to  the  Ministry,  the  Town  of 
Boston,  also,  was  anxiously  and  carefully  preparing 
for  the  coming  catastrophe. 

On  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  the  tenth  of  May,'  Cap- 
tain Shayler  arrived  in  the  latter  place,  bringing 
intelligence  of  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  Parliament 
closing  that  Port.  On  the  following  day,  Wednesday, 
the  eleventh  of  May,  the  Committees  of  Correspond- 
ence from  eight  of  the  adjacent  Towns  were  invited  to 
meet  the  Boston  Committee,  for  consultation;'^  and 
on  Thursday,  the  twelfth  of  May,  those  Committees 
assembled  at  Faneuil  Hall,  with  Samuel  Adams  in 
the  Chair  and  Joseph  Warren  acting  as  the  leader,  on 
the  floor,  and  determined  to  send  "  Circular  Letters  " 
to  the  several  Committees  of  Correspondence,  where 
such  Committees  existed,  in  the  other  Colonies, 
urging,  as  the  only  proposed  remedy  for  the  threat- 
ened grievances,  a  renewal  of  that  Non-Importation 
Association  which,  during  the  excitement  which  had 
followed  the  passage  of  the  Stamp-Act,  had  been 
productive  of  so  much  success.*  On  Friday,  the 
thirteenth  of  May,  a  Meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and 
other  inhabitants  of  the  Town,  legally  qualified  and 
duly  warned,  was  holden  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Samuel 
Adams  being  in  the  Chair,  at  which  it  was  voted, 
"  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Town,  that,  if  the  other 
"  Colonics  come  into  a  joint  Resolution  to  stop  all 
"  Importation  from  Great  Britain  and  Exportation  to 
"  Great  Britain  and  every  part  of  the  West  Indies,  till 


1  The  MassuchmelUi  GtizeUe  of  Thursday,  May  12,  1774,  printed  the 
text  of  the  ISostoii  Port-bill,  in  full,  with  the  following  heading :  "  Tues- 
"  day  arrived  here  Captain  Shayler,  in  a  Brig  from  London,  who  brought 
"the  most  interesting  and  important  Advices  that  ever  was  received  at 
"the  Port  of  Boston."' 

See,  also,  Bancroft's  Hiftory  of  the  I'niled  Stales,  original  edition,  vii., 
34  ;  the  «<ime,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  321 ;  Frothingbam's  Bite  of  the  lie- 
puUk,  3U0  ;  etc. 

•  Bancroft's  History  of  the  I'liihd  SttUet,  original  edition,  vii.,  35 ;  IIik 
tame,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  321  ;  Frothingbam's  Rite  of  llie  Ilepublif,  .iA. 

S  Bancroft's  History  of  the  VuUed  SUiles,  original  edition,  vii.,  3o-37  ; 
the  tame,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  321-.)2;) ;  Frothingbam's  h'lf  of  the 
Republic,  321,  etc. 


190 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


■"  the  Act  for  blocking  up  this  Harbour  be  repealed, 
"  the  same  will  prove  the  Salvation  of  North  America 
■"  and  her  Liberties.  On  the  other  hand,  if  they  con- 
"  tinue  their  Exports  and  Imports,  there  is  high  reason 
■"  to  fear  that  Fraud,  Power,  and  the  most  odious  Op- 

pression  will  rise,  triumphant,  over  Right,  Justice, 
"  Social  Happiness,  and  Freedom."  It  was  also 
"  Ordered,  that  this  Vote  be  forthwith  transmitted  by 
^'  the  Moderator  to  all  our  sister  Colonies,  in  the 
"  Name  and  Behalf  of  the  Town." 

It  will  be  seen,  in  these  faithful  statements  of  the 
•doings  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  party  and 
of  the  doings  of  the  revolutionary  party,  itself,  in 
Boston,  in  May,  177-1,  that  Massachusetts-men,  there 
and  at  that  time,  recognized  the  existence  of  no 
orievance  whatever,  in  any  of  the  Colonies,  except 
that  which  had  been  inflicted  on  Boston,  in  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Boston  Port-Bill ;  that  they  elevated  that 
local  grievance,  which  had  been  inflicted  only  as  a 
penalty  for  local  off'ences  against  existing  Statutes,  to 
the  level  of  that  general  Stamj)-Act,  wliich  had  been 
inflicted  on  every  Colonist,  throughout  the  entire 
Continent,  not  as  a  penalty  for  wrong  doing,  but  as  a 
general  Tax,  levied  only  for  the  increase  of  the 
national  Revenue ;  that  they  considered  that  a  general 
determination,  by  all  the  Colonies,  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  Florida,  to  hold  no  commercial  intercourse  what- 
ever with  the  Mother  Country  and  with  all  the  West 
Indian  Colonies,  foreign  as  well  as  British,  was 
necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  delinquent  Town 
from  the  threatened  consequences  of  its  ])ersistent 
violation  of  the  Laws  of  the  Nation  ;  that  they  arro- 
gantly assumed  that  general  action  of  all  the 
Colonies  must  be  taken,  uniformly,  in  a  distinct  and 
clearly  defined  line,  which  those  Massachusetts-men 


1  Proceedings  of  the  Meeting^  in  Force's  jlmericaK  Archives,  Fourth  Se- 
ries, i.,  331,  and  in  Dawson's  The  Park  iiml  iU  Vicinity,  32. 

See,  also,  Letter  from  Thomas  Young  to  John  Lamb,  "  Boston,  May  13, 
"  1774  ;"  Holt's  Sew-York  Journal,  Xo.  1037,  New-York,  Tliursday,  May 
19,  1774  ;  Itirimjlon's  New-York  Gazetteer,  No.  57,  New-Yokk,  Thursday, 
May  1!),  1774;  G&ine's  Xcic- York  Gazette  and  Mercury,  No.  1178,  New- 
York,  Monday,  May  23,  1774  ;  Lieutenanl-gooernor  Colden  to  Governor 
I^  j^on,  "  SrRi.NO  Hill  31st  May,  1774  ;  "  the  same  to  the  Earl  of  Dart- 
mouth, "  New-Y'oiik  1st  June,  1774  ;  "  Annual  Kegister  for  1775,  4  ;  His- 
tory of  the  War  in  America,  Dublin:  177!),  i.,  19,  20  ;  Andrews'  History  of 
the  War  Kith  America,  Loudon :  1785,  i.,  134  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  London:  1788,  i.,  31)1;  Ramsey's  History  of  the  American 
lievolulion,  London:  1791,  i.,  1'.2  ;  .Stedman's  History  of  the  American 
War,  London:  1794,  i.,  93  ;  Adolphus's  History  of  England,  hondon  : 
181)."),  ii.,  122,  123  ;  "Paul  Allen's"  History  of  the  American  Revolution, 
Baltimore,  1822,  i.,  181  ;  Morse's  AnnaU  r./  the  American  Revolution,  Hart- 
ford :  1824,  179,  18i>;  Pitkin's  History  of  the  United  States,  New  Haven  : 
1828,  i.,  270  ;  Gralianie's  History  of  the  I'niled  States,  London  :  1830,  iv., 
347,  348  ;  Hildreth  s  History  of  the  United  States,  New  Y'ork  :  1856,  First 
Series,  iii.,34;  Leake's  Jl/emo/r  of  General  John  Lamb,  Albany:  1857, 
84-86;  Lossing's  Seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-slf.  New  York:  122; 
Lo-ising's  Field-book  of  the  lievolulion.  New  Y'ork :  1851,  i.,  51)7;  Ban- 
croft's History  of  the  United  States,  original  edition,  Boston  :  1858,  vii., 
37  ;  the  same,  centi-nary  edition,  Boston  :  1870,  iv.,  323  ;  Frothingham's 
Rise  of  the  Republic,  Boston  :  1872, 321,  322  ;  Lodge's  History  of  the  Eng- 
lish Colonies,  New  York  :  1881,  489;  etc. 

Lendrum,  (History  of  the  United  States  ;)  Lossiug,  [History  of  the  United 
States,  1854  ;)  and  Ridpath,  (History  of  the  United  Statts ;)  maile  no  allusion 
to  this  very  important  Meeting, 


specifically  and  definitely  laid  down,  and  in  no  other 
line  whatever,  leaving  nothing  to  the  choice  or  the 
better  judgment  or  the  existing  circumstances  of  any 
others,  any  where;  that  even  their  New  England 
ingenuity  contrived  no  other  remedy  Jor  their  merely 
local  grievance  than  that  speciJc  suspension  of  the 
entire  agricultural  and  manufacturing  industries  of 
all  the  Colonies,  except  to  the  extent  of  supplying 
the  demand  for  the  productions  of  their  industries  for 
home-consumption  only,  as  well  as  the  specific  sus- 
pension of  all  the  Commerce  of  all  the  Colonies, 
except  that  with  the  French  Colonies  of  St.  Pierre 
and  Miquelon,  on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland — with 
which,  by  the  bye,  so  large  a  portion  of  the  smuggling 
by  Massachusetts -men  was,  then  and  subsequently, 
carried  on^ — all  of  which,  without  any  possible 
abatement,  they  definitely  proposed  and  positively 
insisted  on  ;  and  that,  in  their  complacency,  they 
dared,  also,  to  assert,  if  not  to  threaten,  that  the  con- 
sequence of  disobedience  to  their  audacious  proposi- 
tion, in  any  of  the  Colonies,  would  be  the  triumphant 
rise  of  Fraud,  Power,  and  the  most  odious  Oppression, 
over  Right,  Justice,  Social.  Happiness,  and  Freedom.' 
In  short,  the  principles  and  "  patriotic  "  impulses  of 
those  men  of  Boston  began  and  ended  in  the  proposed 
promotion  of  nothing  else  than  their  own  individual 
and  local  interests,  at  the  expense  of  the  entire 
prostration  of  business,  internal  as  well  as  external, 
except  that  of  Smuggling,  from  one  extremity  to  the 
other  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard — the  warp,  the  woof, 
and  the  filling  of  their  neatly  woven  web  were,  in 
fact,  nothing  else,  whatever,  than  unadulterated, 
audacious  selfishness;  and  that  selfishness,  in  that 
particular  connection,  was  seen,  more  distinctly  than 
it  had  previously  been  seen,  when,  a  few  weeks  after- 
wards, the  alms  of  the  Continent,  which  had  been 
sent  for  the  particular  relief  of  the  sick  and  suffering 
poor  of  Boston,  whom,  it  was  said,  the  Port-Bill  had 

Lord  Sandwich. — Do  not  the  New  England  Fishing-ships  carry  on 
"an  illicit  Trade  with  the  French? 

"C'ojiMDDOEE  Shi  ldiiam. — Certainly ;  their  Ships  meet  at  Sea;  and 
"they  supply  thtm  with  Provisions,  Rum,  Stores,  and  the  Ships  them- 
"selves  ;  and  return  loaded  with  French  Manufactures." — (Eeam inulion 
of  Connundore  Shuldhaiu,  Governor  of  Xeirfouitdlaiid ,  before  the  House  of 
Lords,  March  15,  1775.) 

'^It  will  not  be  out  of  place,  in  this  connection,  to  state  the  fact  that 
Boston  could  have  averted  all  the  evils  ascribed  to  the  Boston  Port-Bill, 
by  paying  for  what  some  of  her  lawless  inhabitants  had  destroyed— as 
property  destroyed  by  mobs,  in  o»r  day,  must  be  paid  for  by  the  County  in 
which  it  is  destroj'ed,  as  .\lleghany-county,  Pennsylvania,  sorrowfully 
knows,  as  one  of  the  several  resulta  of  the  notable  "  Pittsburg  Riots"  of 
1877.  She  was  evidently  inclined  to  do  so,  in  the  beginning;  but  she 
was  counselled  by  the  Caucus  of  Town  Committees,  prompted  by  .loseph 
Warren,  not  to  do  so  ;  and  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  at  Phila- 
delphia subsequently  urged  her  to  pay,  without  success.  As  will  be 
seen,  in  another  part  of  this  Chapter,  however,  the  infliction  of  the  Bos- 
ton Port- Bill  was  a  pecuniary  advantage  to  that  Town  ;  and  it  is  not  im- 
jKissible  that  it  was  foreseen,  at  that  time,  that  a  payment  for  the  Tea 
which  had  been  destroyed  by  one  ot  her  mobs,  would  deprive  the 
Town  of  all  the  pecuniary  advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  refusal  to 
do  so. 

What  wonderful  results,  arising  from  that  refusal  to  pay  for  what  a 
mob  had  destroyed,  have  been  seen,  throughout  the  wurld,  from  that 
day  to  this. 


THE  AMERICAN  llEVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


191 


deprived  of  their  usual  means  of  support,  were 
diverted  from  the  particuhir  purposes  for  which  they 
had  been  contributed,  and  employed,  instead,  for  the 
particular  benefit  of  Boston's  tax-payers,  in  relieving 
them  from  the  neces-ity  of  levying  an  unusual  Poor- 
tax  for  the  relief  of  the  more  than  usually  large 
number  of  those  who  were  willing  to  live  on  charity ; 
and  in  "  cleaning  Docks,  making  Dykes,  new  laying 
"of  old  Pavements  in  the  public  streets,  etc." — all  of 
them  "  public  concerns,  of  no  advantage  to  any  in- 
"  dividual,  any  further  than  as  a  member  of  the 
"  community  to  which  he  or  she  belonged.  Not  a 
"  single  Wharf,  Dock,  Dyke,  or  Pavement,  belonging 
"  to  any  individual,  was  ordered  to  be  made  or 
"  repaired,"  notwithstanding  many  of  those  who  had 
been  really  thrown  out  of  emj)loyment  could  have 
found  renumerative  occupation  in  such  works  of 
private  concern;  "but  only  such''  were  thus  made  or 
repaired  "  as,  by  the  constant  usage  of  the  Town,  had 
"  always  been  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  pub- 
"  lie  " — in  other  words,  at  the  expense  of  the  tax- 
payers, the  aristocracy  of  that  peculiarly  democratic 
and  peculiarly  . revolutionary  Town.  One  of  "the 
''  chief  concerns  of  the  principal  inhabitants "  was 
for  those  Tradesmen,  whose  small  funds,  though 
"  sufficient  for  the  small  purjioses  of  life,  yet  would 
"soon  be  exhausted,  if  their  resources  were  cutoff"" — 
in  other  words,  for  the  payment  of  debts,  due  by 
those  Tradesmen  to  those  "  principal  Inhabitants," 
which,  otherwise,  would  have  been  worthless — and 
Nails,  and  Ropes,  and  Baizes,  and  "Shirt-cloths," 
and  Shoes,  and  other  articles  were  manufactured,  at 
the  expense  of  the  charitable,  elsewhere,  which  were 
disposed  of,  by  the  "  Gentlemen  "  who  managed  the 
speculation,  to  whom  and  at  such  j)rices  as  best 
answered  the  purposes  ot  all  concerned.^  Need  there 
be  any  surprise  that,  as  one  of  their  countrymen  has 
since  said,  without  a  blush,  "  the  people  of  Boaton, 
"  then  the  most  flourishing  commercial  Town  on  the 
"Continent,  never  regretted  their  being  the  principal 
"  object  of  ministerial  vengeance;"  telling  us,  at  the 
same  time,  that  the  "  thousands  who  depended  on  their 
"  daily  labor  for  bread  said :  '  We  shall  suffer  in  a 
"  '  good  cause  ;  the  righteous  Being  who  takes  care  of 
"  '  the  Ravens  that  cry  unto  him,  will  provide  for  us 
"'and  ours""?'^   Need  there  be  any  surprise,  also, 

'  .\  paper,  dated  "  Hoston  Augu»t  20,  1774,"  responsive  to  "a  report 
"industriously  propagated  in  New  York" — but  witliout  any  indication 
by  whom  written  or  wliere  published — wliicli  was  printed  in  Force's 
Anierimn  Archiiet,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  743,  744. 

See,  also,  a  Letter  from  Willinm  Cnopi-r — the  well-known  Town-Clerk 
of  Boston — U>  a  Geiillenian  in  Kew  Yurk,  dated  "  Boston  :  Seiilember  12, 
"1774,"  written  in  response  to  inquiries,  and  with  the  knowledge  of 
"some  of  the  Committee  appointed  to  receive  donations." 

-Bancroft's  HiKloni  nf  the  United  Slates,  original  edition,  vil.,  48  ;  llie 
same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  332. 

On  the  thirty-fii'st  of  May,  1774,  John  Scollay  wrote,  from  Boston,  to 
Arthur  Lee,  in  London,  "  Thousands  that  depend  on  their  daily  labour 
"for  support,  must  be  reduced  to  the  greatest  degree  of  distress  and 
"want.  However,  they  will  sutler  in  a  good  Cause,  and  that  ri;;liteous 
"  Being  who  takes  care  of  the  Ravens  who  cry  unto  Him.  will  provide 
"  for  them  and  theirs." 


that  such  principles  and  such  purposes  as  were  thus 
presented  to  the  several  Colonies,  found  little  favor, 
anyw'here,  except  among  those  of  the  assumed  leaders 
of  the  unfranchised  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  who  favored  revolutionary  measures,  and  who 
had  not  been  included  in  the  recently  appointed 
Committee  of  Correspondence,  the  Committee  of 
Fifty-one,  in  that  City 

On  Tuesday  evening,  the  seventeenth  of  May,  Paul 
Revere,  bearing  letters  from  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence, in  Boston,  in  which  were  inclosed  copies 
of  the  Vote  of  that  Town,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  arrived  in  the  City  of  New  York* — there  was, 
also,  in  his  saddlebags,  a  very  interesting  letter  from 
one  of  the  master  spirits  in  that  Town,  to  his  corres- 
pondent in  New  York,  reciting  more  of  the  motives  of 
the  Massacliusetts-men,  in  their  construction  of  the 
Resolutions  of  the  Town-meeting  in  Boston,  than  was 
told  elsewhere ;  ^  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  Revere 
brought  anything  whatever  from  the  Caucus  which 
had  been  convened  in  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  preced- 
ing Wednesday.'"'  In  accordance  with  his  instructions, 
Revere  immediately  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  to 
deliver  the  letters  which  had  been  addressed  to  the 
Committee  of  Correspondence  in  that  City  ;  '  and 

How  wonderfully  similar  thoughts,  originated  in  different  minds,  will 
sometimes  run  in  panillul  grooves,  far  apart,  as  in  this  instance;  and 
still  more  wonderful  it  is,  when,  as  in  this  instance,  the  thoughts  are 
uttered  in  words  so  wonderfully  similar. 

^Alexander  McDougal  and  all  those  of  the  former  revolutionary 
leaders  who  were  included  in  that  Committee,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
course  of  this  narrative,  on  the  twenty-third  of  May,  by  a  formal  vote, 
concurred  with  their  aristocratic,  anti-revolutionary  associates  in  con- 
demning the  proposition  of  the  Town  of  Boston  and  in  offering  another, 
in  its  stead  ;  it  remained  only  for  .lohn  Lamb  and  those  who  had  not 
been  favored  with  seats  in  that  body,  to  continue  their  agreement,  in 
politii-al  affairs,  with  the  revolutionary  leaders,  in  Boston. 

It  will  be  seen,  also,  in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  that  Boston  was 
not  sustained,  in  her  unreasonable  demands,  b^'  any  of  the  Committees 
of  the  larger  Towns  and  Cities,  in  other  Colonies. 

<"0n  Tuesday  Evening,  arrived  here  Mr.  Revere,  who  came  ICxpress 
"from  Boston,  which  he  left  on  Saturday,  about  2  o'clock  in  the  After- 
"  noon."— (Holt's  New-York  Journal,  l\o.  1637,  New-Yohk,  Thursday, 
May  lU,  1774.) 

Reference  is  made  to  a  letter  which  was  written  by  Thomas  Young, 
immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Town-Meeting,  May  13,  and 
addressed  to  John  Lamb,  in  the  City  of  New  York.  It  may  be  seen 
among  the  "Lamb  Papers,"  in  the  Library  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  ;  and  every  student  of  the  history  of  that  eventful  period  will  be 
amply  re-paid  fjr  whatever  time  he  may  spend  in  a  careful  perusal 
of  it. 

**The  Minult'sof  the  Committeeof  Con-esjiondence,  "  Nkw  York,  Monday, 
"  Maij  23,  1774,"  contain  a  record  of  the  reading  ot  "  Lettei-s  from  the 
**  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  Boston,  with  a  Vote  of  the  Town  of 
"  Boston,  of  the  13th  instant,  and  a  Letter  from  the  Connnittee  of  Phil- 
"adelpliia  ;  "  and,  in  the  absence  of  any  allusion  to  any  other  letter  what- 
ever, there  is  no  reaiion  for  supposing  that  anything,  in  luldition  to  those 
three  lettei-s,  was  received  from  any  other  organization  or  person,  at  Bos- 
ton or  elsewhere. 

"  Revere  was  at  Philadeli)hia,  on  the  twentieth  of  May,  when  the  in- 
habitants of  that  City  appointed  its  Committee  of  Corresiwndence  ;  and, 
on  the  following  day,  he  left  that  City,  on  his  return,  carrying  with  him, 
to  New  York  and  Boston,  if  not  to  other  Towns  and  Cities  on  his  route, 
copies  of  a  Circular  Letter,  probably  from  the  pen  of  John  Dickinson, 
containing  the  response  of  I'hila<lelphia  to  the  Boston  Resolutions,  and, 
generally,  surveying  the  political  situation  of  the  Colonies,  from  the 
rhiladelphia  standpoint. — (I'roceedmgs  of  the  JUeetin/j  which  ajipointeJ  the 
Committee,  May  2U,  1774,  (iiid  a  copy  of  the  Circular  Letter,  icritlen  by  the 


192 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


those  who  had  been  nominated  to  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  in  New  York,  the  Committee  itself 
not  having  been  formally  established,  evidently 
availed  themselves  of  that  opportunity  to  write  to 
Philadelphia,  in  which,  also,  no  Committee  had  been 
appointed,  on  the  subject  of  the  Boston  Resolutions, 
and,  unquestionably,  in  opposition  to  the  propositions 
which  they  contained.' 

Those  who  had  been  appointed  to  membership  in 
the  proposed  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the 
City  of  New  York— in  the  "Committee  of  Fifty- 
"  one,"  as  it  was  popularly  called — were  duly  assembled, 
at  the  Coffee-House,  on  Monday,  the  twenty-third 
of  May,  1774,  forty-three  of  the  fifty-one  being  present; 
and  the  Committee  was  duly  organized  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Isaac  Low,  as  its  permanent  Chairman, 
and  that  of  John  Alsop,  as  its  permanent  Deputy- 
chairman  - — at  a  subsequent  Meeting,  Joseph  Alli- 
cocke  was  appointed  Secretary,  and  Thomas  Pettit, 
Messenger,  of  the  Committee  ;  the  first  two,  in  whom 
some  authority  was  vested,  being  high-toned,  anti- 
revolutionary  Merchants  ;  while  the  last  two,  who 
were  not  membei-s  of  the  Committee,  and  to  whom  no 
authority  was  given,  were  among  those  unfranchised, 
revolutionary  Workingmen,  whom  the  former  had  pre- 
viously looked  on  with  so  much  disfavor. 

Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  Commit- 
tee had  been  completed,  a  letter  was  received  from 
"  the  body  of  the  Mechanics,  signed  by  Jonathan 
"Blake, their  Chairman,"  informingtheCommittee  of 
the  concurrence  of  the  Mechanics  with  the  other  in- 
habitants of  the  City,  in  their  nomination  of  it ; 
which  clearly  indicated  the  entire  good  faith  of  the 
great  body  of  the  unfranchised  masses,  in  the  transfer 
of  the  leadership  of  the  confederated  party  of  the  Op- 
position, from  those,  with  revolutionary  tendencies, 
who  had  called  themselves  "Sons  of  Liberty,"  to  the 
aristocratic,  conservative  elements  of  the  party  op- 
posed to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, which  had  been  made  at  the  Coffee-house,  on 
the  preceding  Thursday  ;  and  clearly  indicating,  also, 
that  whatever  the  difi'erences  between  the  two  fac- 
tions, on  social  questions,  might  be,  they  were  one  in 
all  which  related  to  the  great  political  questions  of  the 
day,  concerning  the  obnoxious  features  of  the  Colo- 
nial policy  of  the  Home  Government,  notwithstand- 
ing the  disappointment  of  some  of  the  assumed  leaders 
of  those  masses,  when  they  had  failed  to  secure  seats 
in  the  Committee  * — the  sinister  purposes  of  those  who 


Commillee — both  re-printed  in  Force's  American  Archives,  Fourth  Series, 
i.,  340-342.) 

1  The  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  to  Boston,  "  Piiilapelpiiia,  May  2\ft,  1774,"  copies  of 
which  "  were  transmitted  to  New-Toik  and  most  of  the  Southern  Colo- 
"nies." 

2  Minutes  of  the  Commillee,  "  Xkw-Tork,  Mondor/,  Mnij  23(/,  1774." 

3  Minutes  of  the  Committee,  "  Kew-York,  M<ajW,  1774." 

*  Minutes  of  theCommiltee,  "  Xew-Yobk,  Monday,  May'lM,  1774." 
See,  also  Holt's  JVeic-Fori:  Jrmrnal,  No.  1i)38,Xew-Tork,  Thursday,  May 
26,1774,  in  which  appeal's  the  following  :  "  Since  the  MeetingattheCof- 


had  proposed  the  Caucus  which  had  been  assembled 
at  Sam.  Francis's  had  been  established  ;  the  unfran- 
chised masses  and  those  who  had  assumed  to  be 
their  leaders  had  been  generally  hoodwinked ;  and 
even  the  watchful  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  with  here  and 
there  an  exception,  were  apparently  contented. 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Committee,  the  letters 
from  the  Committees  of  Correspondence  in  Boston 
and  Philadelphia,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
were  laid  before  it.  The  letter  from  Philadelphia  be- 
ing only  a  reflex  of  what  had  been  written  to  that 
Committee  by  those  who  had  subsequently  been  con- 
firmed as  members  of  this,  it  received  no  official  at- 
tention, at  that  time  ;  but  those  from  Boston,  which 
included  the  Vote  of  the  Town  of  which  mention  has 
been  made,  were  referred  to  a  Sub-committee,  com- 
posed of  Alexander  McDougal,  Isaac  Low,  James 
Duane,  and  John  Jay,  with  instructions  to  consider 
the  subject  to  which  those  letters  were  devoted;  to 
prepare  a  draft  of  an  answer  thereto  ;  and  to  report 
the  same,  to  the  Committee,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
same  evening,  to  which  hour  the  Committee  then  ad- 
journed.^ 

The  disposition  of  the  majority  of  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence,  as  well  as  the  line  of  action  which 
those  who  controlled  it*  intended  to  take,  as  fiir  as  it 
related  to  the  great  body  of  the  unfranchised  inhab- 
itants and  their  rapidly  increasing  influence  in  the 
control  of  the  political  aftairs  of  the  Colony,  was 
clearly  defined  and  boldly  presented,  at  that  first  op- 
portunity to  do  so,  in  the  formation  of  that  very  im- 
portant Sub-Committee,  in  which  the  well-known 

"fee-IIouse  on  Thursday  last,  the  Jlerchimts  and  Jlechanicks,  who  were 
"opposed  to  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  consisting  of  Fifty -one 
"Pel-sons,  have,  for  the  Salutary  Purpose  of  Union  among  ourselves, 
"agreed  to  that  Number  ;  and  that  the  Gentlemen  whose  Names  were 
"  imblished  iu  Mr.  Gaine's  last  Paper,  be  the  Committee  for  this  City." 

The  correspondence  of  Lieutenant-governor  Golden  with  Governor 
Tryon  and  with  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  very  clearly  indicates  that  that 
remarkable  old  man  was  not  deceived  by  the  doings,  in  politics,  of  the 
"  -Merchants  and  Traders"  and  Gentry  of  Now  York  ;  that  their  social 
and  commercial  and  professional  standing  did  not  warrant  what  he  re- 
garded, very  reasonably,  their  tendency  toward  rebellion  ;  and  tliat, 
while  he  hoped  their  influence  would  restrain  the  violence  of  those  with 
whom  they  were  associated,  he  never  regarded  them  a«,  truly,  friends  of 
the  Home  Government  nor  of  the  Sovereign. 

^^[iinileso/  the  Committee,  "Sew-Y'ork,  Monday,  May  23,  1774." 

6Hancroft,  {History  of  the  Vniled  States,  origin.il  edition,  vii.,  41,  42  ; 
the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  327,)  said  "  the  control  fell  into  the 
"  hands  of  men  who,  like  John  Jay,  still  aimed  at  reconciling  a  contin- 
"ued  dependence  on  England  with  the  just  freedom  of  the  Colonies." 

The  principal  purposes  of  the  Committee,  in  all  which  related  to  na- 
tional politics,  were  the  protection  of  those  who  were  constantly  em- 
ployed in  Smuggling  ;  the  exemption  of  the  Colonics  from  the  payment 
of  Import  Duties  and  Direct  Taxes  levied  by  the  Parliament ;  and  the 
continued  military  protection  of  the  Colonies,  at  the  expense  of  the 
Mother  Country,  unless  the  unlikely  contingency  should  arise  of  a  vol- 
untjiry  taxation  of  themselves,  for  that  purpose.  Besides  these,  tlie 
chief  purpose  of  the  Committee  was  to  relegate  the  unfranchised  masses 
of  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,  of  all  classes,  to  the  obscurity  and  dependence 
of  vassals  ;  and  to  place  itself  at  the  head  of  all  the  political  elements  of 
the  Colony,  as  the  autocratic,  anti-revolutionary  ruler  of  both  the  Colo- 
nists aud  the  Government — in  all  of  which,  unquestionably,  James 
Duane's  and  John  Jay's  were  the  master  niinils,  within  the  Committee, 
and  William  Smith's  that  which  was  not  within  it. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


11)3 


ultra-democratic  Chairman  was  made  harmless,  in  the 
interest  of  the  conservative  aristocracy,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  three  of  the  most  conservative  members 
of  the  Committee,  as  his  associates ;  and  what 
was  known  to  have  been  the  decided  preference  of  the 
revolutionary  portion  of  the  unfranchised  Working- 
men  of  the  City,  by  whom  the  policy  and  the  action 
of  the  Town  of  Boston  were  known  to  have  been  gen- 
erally approved,  was  openly,  if  not  defiantly,  disre- 
garded. 

At  eight  o'clock,  in  the  evening,  the  Committee  as- 
sembled in  an  adjourned  Meeting,  thirty-eight  of  the 
fifty-one  members  being  present;  and  the  Sub-com- 
mittee, which  had  been  appointed  at  the  forenoon 
session,  reported  the  following  draft  of  a  letter,  as 
suitable  for  a  response  to  the  letters  received  from 
Boston : 

"New-Yoek,  May  23,  1774. 

"  Gextlemex  : 

"  The  alarming  Measures  of  the  British  Parliament, 
"  relative  to  your  ancient  and  respectable  Town, 
"  which  has  so  long  been  the  Seat  of  Freedom,  fill  the 
"Inhabitants  of  this  City  with  inexpressible  Alarm. 

"  As  a  sister  Colony,  suffering  in  Defence  of  the 
"  Rights  of  America,  we  consider  your  Injuries  as  a 
"common  Cause,  to  the  redress  of  which  it  is  equally 
"  our  Duty  and  our  Interest  to  contribute.  But,  what 
"  ought  to  be  done  in  a  Situation  so  truly  critical, 
"  while  it  employs  the  anxious  Thoughts  of  every 
"  generous  Mind,  is  very  hard  to  be  determined. 

"Our  Citizens  have  thought  it  necessary  to  appoint 
"  a  large  Committee,  consisting  of  fifty-one  Persons, 
"to  correspond  with  our  sister  Colonies,  on  this  and 
"  every  other  matter  of  public  Moment;  and,  at  ten 
"  o'clock  this  forenoon,  we  were  first  assembled.  Your 
"  Letter,  enclosing  the  Vote  of  the  Town  of  Boston, 
"  and  the  Letter  of  your  Committee  of  Correspond- 
"  ence,  were  immediately  taken  into  consideration." 

"  While  we  think  you  justly  entitled  to  the  Thanks 
"of  your  sister  Colonies,  for  asking  their  Advice  on 
"  a  Case  of  such  extensive  Consequences,  we  lament 
"  our  Inability  to  relieve  your  Anxiety,  by  a  decisive 
"Opinion.  The  Cnuse  is  general,  and  concerns  a 
"  whole  Continent,  who  are  equally  interested  with 
"  you  and  us ;  and  we  foresee  that  no  Remedy  can 
"  be  of  avail,  unless  it  proceeds  from  the  joint  Act 
"and  Approbation  of  all.  From  a  virtuous  and 
"spirited  L^nion,  much  maybe  expected;  while  the 
"  feeble  Efforts  of  a  Few  will  only  be  attended  with 
"  Mischief  and  Disappointments  to  themselves,  and 
"Triumph  to  the  Adversaries  of  our  Liberty. 

"  Upon  these  Reasons,  we  conclude  that  a  Congress 
"  of  Deputies  from  the  Colonies,  in  general,  is  of  the 
"  utmost  Moment ;  that  it  ought  to  be  assembled, 
"  without  Delay ;  and  some  unanimous  Resolution 
"  formed,  in  this  fatal  Emergency,  not  only  respect- 
"  ing  your  deplorable  Circumstances,  but  for  the 
"Security  of  our  common  Rights.  Such  being  our 
"  Sentiments,  it  must  be  premature  to  pronounce  any 
1.3 


"  Judgment  on  the  Expedient  which  you  have  sug- 
"gested.  We  beg,  however,  that  you  will  do  us  the 
"  Justice  to  believe  that  we  shall  continue  to  Act 
"  with  a  firm  and  becoming  Regard  to  American 
"  Freedom,  and  to  co-operate  with  our  sister  Colonies, 
"  in  every  Measure  which  shall  be  thought  salutary 
"  and  conducive  to  the  public  Good. 

"  We  have  nothing  to  add,  but  that  we  sincerely 
"  condole  with  you,  in  your  unexampled  Distresses, 
"and  to  request  your  speedy  Opinion  of  the  proposed 
"  Congress,  that,  if  it  shall  meet  with  your  Aj)proba- 
"  tion,  we  may  exert  our  utmost  Endeavours  to  carry 
"  it  into  execution. 

"  We  are,  Gentlemen,"  etc. 

That  evidently  well-considered  paper,  probably  the 
production  of  the  mind  and  the  pen  of  James  Duane,' 
was  so  temperate  in  its  tone  and  so  judicious  in  its 
suggestions,  that,  after  it  had  been  presented  as  the 
Report  of  the  Sub-Committee,  it  commended  itself  to 
the  Committee  with  so  much  force,  that  it  was  ap- 
proved without  a  dissenting  voice ;  '-' and  the  Chair- 
man was  ordered  to  send  copies  of  it,  duly  signed,  to 
the  Committees  of  Correspondence,  in  Boston  and 
Philadelphia.' 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  Committee  regarded  the 
dispute  with  the  Home  Government  as  something 
more  than  a  merely  local  matter,  in  which  the  Town 
of  Bo-ton  was  the  only  sufferer ;  and  that  it  was  not 
inclined,  therefore,  to  confine  its  action,  as  the  Vote 
of  that  Town  had  sought  to  confine  it,  to  the  particu- 
lar subject  of  the  Boston  Port-Bill,  nor  to  direct  all 
its  efforts,  as  that  Vote  had  solicited,  entirely  to  the 
redress  of  the  grievances  of  that  particular  Town. 
On  the  contrary,  it  recognized  the  equal  importance 
of  "every  other  matter  of  public  moment!;"  it  as- 
serted that  "  the  Cause  was  general  and  concerned  a 
"  whole  Continent,  who  was  equally  interested"  with 
themselves ;  and  it  insisted  that  "  no  remedy  can  be 
"  of  avail,  unless  it  proceeded  from  the  joint  Act  and 
"  Approbation  of  all."    It  was  not  inclined,  without 


■  We  are  not  insensiHe  of  tlie  fact  that  mauy  suppose  that  the  author- 
ship of  tliis  notable  letter  belongs  to  .John  Jay  ;  but,  because  the  entire 
spirit  of  it  is  so  unlike  wliat  he  would  have  presented  in  huch  a  letter, 
written  under  such  circumstances  ;  and  because  he  is  known  to  have 
been  more  inclined  to  resort  toa  Non-Importation  Agreement  than  Jamea 
Duane  was,  we  prefer  to  favor  the  belief  that  the  latter  gentleman 
wrote  it. 

-  Because  it  was  so  entirely  antagonistic  to  the  known  principles  of 
the  Boston-men  with  whom  the  minority  of  the  Committee,  in  their  indi- 
vidual relations,  had  been  previously  so  entirely  in  acconl,  this  answer  to 
the  letters  from  Boston,  approved  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Commit- 
tee, affords  additional  evidence  of  the  entire  good  faith  of  the  great  boily 
of  the  unfranchised  inhabitants  of  the  City,  in  its  concurrence  in  the  a|>- 
pointment  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one,  and  of  the  acquiescence  in 
that  appointment  of,  at  least,  those  of  the  previously  assumed  leaders  of 
those  inhabitjints  who  had  lieen  admitted  to  seats  in  that  Committee. 

3  Jlimiles  of  the  ComiiiWce,  (adjourned  Meeting)  "  New  York,  ,Vai/ 23, 
"1774  ;"  Holt's  \>ic-York  Jonntu},  No.  iraf,  New-Yokk,  Thunxlay,  May 
•2r>,  1774;  Gaine's  .Veic- 1  or*-  Guztllf  <iin/  .Verciir;/,  No.  1178,  Nkw-Ti'BK, 
Monday,  May  23;  No.  llTil,  New-York,  Jlonday,  May  30,  and  No.  Uj*.1, 
New-Y'oiik,  Monday,  June  27,  1774  ;  likington's  Xetr-York  Oazettt^tr^  No. 
57,  New-Yohk  Thursday,  May  19,  and  No.  oSi,  Nk»-York,  Thursilay, 
May  26,  1774. 


194 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


due  consideration,  to  paralj'ze  the  industries  and  the 
commerce  of  the  entire  Continent,  only  for  the  par- 
ticular benefit  of  one  Town — it  preferred  to  regard 
the  particular  grievance  of  that  Town  as  only  one 
among  many  grievances,  endured  by  other  Towns, 
as  well  as  by  that,  and  by  the  entire  Continent ;  and 
it  wisely  made  all  those  grievances  a  common  cause, 
and  jnoposed  to  remedy  them,  as  far  as  a  remedy 
could  be  found  in  America,  by  a  concerted  move, 
ment  of  all  the  parties  who  were  suffering  from 
them.  It  was  the  first,  or  among  the  first,  to  dis- 
regard the  peculiar  selfishness  of  the  popular  leaders 
in  Boston,  by  whom  the  grievances  of  that  particular 
Town  had  been  thrust  into  an  undue  prominence,  for 
the  relief  of  which,  especially,  they  insisted,  the 
entire  efforts  of  the  entire  Continent  must  be  directed 
and  it  was  the  first  to  propose  and  to  insist  on  the 
convention  of  a  Congress  of  Deputies  from  all  the 
Colonies,  in  which  all  the  grievances  which  were  su:)- 
tained  by  each  and  every  of  those  Colonies  could  be 
duly  considered,  and  concerted  action  be  secured 
from  the  entire  Continent,  for  the  relief  of  all  who 
were  aggrieved.^    How  much,  in  that  well-considered 


J  The  (  oniuiittee  of  Correspoiidc-nce  of  Pliilaiielphia,  after  it  had  re- 
ceived and  publicly  read  the  opinions  of  tliose  who  liad  been  nominated 
as  members  of  the  similar  Committee,  in  New  York,  not  yet  organized, 
had,  to  some  extent,  done  so,  at  an  earlier  date  ;  but  the  rejily  of  the 
Committee  in  New  York  aii  ompanied  that  of  the  Committee  in  Phila- 
delphia, Paul  Eevere  having  taken  both,  at  the  same  time,  on  liis  return 
to  Boston. 

2  We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  the  origin  of  tlie  Congress  of 
the  Continent,  which  was  assembled  at  I'hiladeliihia,  in  17T4,  has  been 
variously  stated,  by  many  of  those  who  have  precedeil  us  :  and  we  are 
equally  sensible  of  the  other  fact,  that  imlividiuils,  in  different  Colonies, 
without  any  connection  with  each  other,  had  suggested,  tlieufetirall!/,  that 
Buch  a  Congress  would  be  useful  for  vaiiiius  Uinittil  and,  generally,  local 
purposes,  previously  to  that  more  general  and  practical  proposition  which 
was  made  by  the  Committee  of  Curre.spoiidence  in  New  York,  on  the 
occasion  under  con.'iideration. 

The  Town  of  Providence,  in  Town-meeting,  May  IT,  1774,  was,  proba- 
bly, the  first  organized  body  which  recommended  a  '  ongress  of  the  sev- 
eral Colonies,  for  general  purposes:  but  it  only  requested  the  Deputies 
of  the  Town,  in  the  approaching  General  Assembly,  to  "  use  their  influ- 
"ence,"  in  that  body,  nni  ijet  iissi-uiUhil,  "for  promoting  a  Congi  ess,  as  soon 
"as  may  be,  of  the  Representatives  of  the  General  Assemblies  of  the 
"several  Colonies  and  Provinces  in  North  .\merica,'"  for  the  general 
purposes  of  the  whole  number,  {I'rncee<liiirj«  o  f  the  Toirn-Mn  liinj,  reprint- 
ed in  Force's  Aniericaii  Aixliivex,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  33:i ; I  and  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  of  Philadelphia,  in  its  reply  to  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence  of  Boston,  dated  "  PHir.AnELPHi.i,  .Vi/;/ 21. 1774,"  com- 
pared the  jiroposition  of  Boston,  to  enter  into  an  .Association  of  Non- 
E.\portation  and  Non-Intercourse,  with  the  pri>i)osition  of  New-York,  to 
convene  a  Congress  of  the  Colonies,  w  ithout  determining  which  of  the 
two  it  would  approve,  (Letter,  dated  us  alioee  stuleft,)  leaving  the  subject 
undecided,  until  the  eighteenth  of  June,  when  the  Congress  was  deter- 
mined on,  by  a  Meeting  of  the  Citizens,  without  the  intervention  of  the 
Committee,  (Proceedinqs  of  the  Meeting,  reprinted  in  Force's  Americaii  Ar- 
chifes,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  420,  427.) 

Because  the  General  Assemblies  of  the  greater  number  of  the  Colonies, 
at  that  time,  could  not  have  elected  Deputies  to  the  proposed  Congress, 
even  if  they  had  been  willing  to  have  done  so — the  Governor  having,  in 
each  case,  the  power  of  jiroroguiug  or  dissolving  the  Assembly,  which, 
in  the  greater  number  of  instances,  he  would  have  certainly  done— the 
action  of  the  Town  of  Providence,  although  w  ell  intended,  could  not  re- 
sult in  the  convention  of  a  Congress ;  and  what  was  done  by  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  in  Philadelphia,  was  not  entitled  to  the  hon- 
orable mention  of  it,  which  Frothingham  and  othei-s  have  made,  since 
it  amounted  to  nothing,  either  of  approval  or  disapproval  of  the  New- 


and  judicious  action,  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence, in  New  York,  offended  those  of  the  revolu- 
tionary clique,  in  that  City,  who  had  not  been  invited 
to  places  and  seats  in  that  Committee,  and  how  much 
the  revolutionary  leaders  and  the  revolutionary  popu- 

Y'ork  proposition  to  convene  a  Congress.  The  honor,  what  there  was  of 
it,  remains,  therefore,  with  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  New- 
Y^ork,  as  related  in  the  te.\t,  of  having  originated  the  Congress,  on  the 
twenty-third  of  May,  with  the  additional  honor  of  having  established 
the  proposition  for  such  a  Congress,  in  the  face  of  and  notwithstanding 
the  determined  opposition  of  the  Massachusetts-men,  in  Boston,  led  by 
Samuel  Adams,  Joseph  Warren,  and  their  well-eulogizcd  associates. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  con- 
curred in  the  recommendation  which  the  Committee  in  New  York  had 
made,  on  the  fourth  of  June,  {The  Comuiitlee  of  Correspondence  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Xew  York  to  the  Committer  of  Cnirespondence  of  the 
Colon:/  of  Connecticut,  "  New  Yokk,  June  24, 1774  ;  ")  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Rhode  Island  did  so,  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  (Jounia!  of  the 
General  Asssmbly,  June  lo,  1774 — Itecords  of  Rhode  Island,  vii,,  246  ;)  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  did  so  on  the  seventeenth  of  June,  (Jour- 
hid  iif  the  Home  of  Itepresentatities,  June,  1774;)  and  the  City  of  Phila- 
delphia, as  above  stated,  did  so  on  the  eighteenth  of  June. 

It  has  suited  the  purposes  of  some  to  bring  forward  the  doings  of 
eighty-nine  members  of  the  dissolved  House  of  Burgesses  of  Yirginia, 
assembled  at  the  Raleigh  Tavern,  at  Williamsburg,  on  the  twenty  sev- 
enth of  May,  as  a  contestant  for  the  honors  of  New  York,  in  this  matter; 
but  that  Meeting  was  held  four  days  after  the  proposition  had  been 
made  in  New  York  ;  and  what  it  did  Wiis  only  to  "  recommend  to  the  Com- 
"  mittee  of  Correspondence  that  they  communicate  with  the  several  Cor- 
"  responding  Commitlees,  on  the  expediency  of  appointing  Deputies  from 
"the  several  Colonies  of  British  America,  to  meet  in  a  General  Con- 
"gres.s,"  etc.,  which  was  done  on  the  following  day,  in  which,  however, 
nothing  else  was  done  than  to  solicit,  from  each  Committee,  its  "  senti> 
"ments  on  the  subject."  (Proceeding' of  the  Meeting,  reprinted  in  the 
Huston  <,'<ije«e  of  June  13, 1774,  quoted  by  Frothingham,  in  his  Rise  of 
the  Ripublic,  333.) 

The  reliability  of  what  is  known  as  "history"  may  be  seen  in  what 
has  been  i)ublished  concerning  this  first  proposition  to  convene  a  Con- 
gress of  the  Colonies.  Frothingham,  (Rise  of  the  Republic,  322,)  is  the 
only  one  who  has  alluded  to  the  really  original,  but  impracticable,  pro- 
position by  the  Town  of  Providence.  Without  making  the  slightest  allu- 
sion to  what  was  done  in  New  York,  Burke's  Annnal  Register  for  1775, 
G;  Histori/ of  the  Il'nr  m /fiiicricu,  Dublin  :  1779,  i.,  21;  Andrews's  Hit- 
loi-y  o  f  the  War  tcith  .4»i(eric«, ^London  :  1785,1.,  135;  Soule's /fwioire  des 
Troubles  deVAmeriijne  Anglaise,  Paris:  1787,  i.,  48;  Chez  et  Lebrun's 
Hiit'dre  pidHinue  et  philosophiqne  de'la  Rci  olution,  Vnris  :  au  9,  109;  Sted- 
man's  Hislm-ii  of  the  American  Il'ar,  London:  1794,  i.,  94,  95  ;  .\dolphus's 
Historij  of  England,  London  :  ls05,  ii.,  124;  "  Paul  Allen's"  History  of  the 
Anieriran  Revolution,  Baltimore:  1822,  i.,184;  Pitkin's  History  of  the 
L'nUed  Stales,  New  Haven:  1828,  i.,  271,  272;  Wilson's  ffisiory  of  the 
American  Reioliilion.  Baltimore  :  18,34,  100  ;  Grahame's  History  of  the 
I'nited  Stales,  London  :  183G,  iv.,  349;  Lossing's  Screnteen  hundred  and 
seventy-six.  New  York  :  1847,  123  ;  his  Pield-Kook  of  the  Revolution,  New 
York  :  1851,  ii.,  486  ;  Ridpath's  History  of  the  I'nited  Slates,  New  York  : 
1880,  296  ;  A.  H.  Stephens's  History  nf  the  I'nited  Slates.  New  York  :  1874, 
lUC,  167  ;  Holmes's  HisUnry  of  the  I'nited  Slates,  New  York  :  1871,  105, 
and  several  othei-s.  assigned  the  proposition  for  a  Congress  to  Virginia. 
Mercy  Warren's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  Boston  :  1805,  i., 
135  ;  Leniliums  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  Exeter:  1836,  i.,  63  ; 
De  Rochelle's  Atuts  Vnis  d' Amirique,  Paris  :  1815,  173  ;  Losung's  Histo- 
ry of  the  I'nxted  Stales,  New  York:  1857,  227;  and  the  series  of  small 
Histories  of  the  United  States,  by  the  same  author,  without  alluding  to 
what  was  done  in  New  York,  preferred  to  regard  what  was  done  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  seventeenth  of  June, 
as  the  origin  of  the  Congress.  Frothingham's  Rise  of  the  Republic,  322, 
■323,  ostentatiously  presented  what  was  done  in  Massachusetts  and  "the 
"other  New  England  Colonies,"  and  then  siiid  with  questionable  integrity, 
as  he  was  acquainted  with  the  facts,  "  the  sentiment  and  determination 
"  of  the  patriots  south  of  New  England  were  represented  in  thepro- 
"  ceedings  of  the  Virginia  meeting,  "  which  he  described, at  considerable 
length,  without  making  the  slightest  allusion  to  the  earlier  proceedings 
of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  where  the  Congress  certainly  originated. 
Gordon's  7/i.«(on/ o/ //le  American  Revolution,  London:  17S8,  i,  362,  cor- 
rectly assigned  the  origination  of  the  Congress  to  the  Committee  of  Cor- 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


195 


lace  of  Boston  were  also  offended  by  it,  are  well  known 
to  the  student  of  the  history  of  that  period  ' — how 
much,  also,  that  action  of  the  Committee,  in  New 
York,  has  been  made  the  text  of  misrepresentation 
and  abuse,  whenever  it  has  been  referred  to,  in  the 
historical  literature  of  New  England,  from  that  day 
to  this,  is  known  to  all  who  are  acciuainted  with  the 
peculiar  peculiarities  of  that  well-filled  class  of  the 
productions  of  American  home-industry.- 

respondenee  in  New  York  ;  but,  without  tlio  eliglitest  sliadow  of  liutli, 
it  stated  tliat  tlie  Cumuiittee  was  coiitiDlIed  by  Isaac  Sears,  who  was 
one  of  the  minority  of  that  body  ;  and  tliat  it  was  opposed  hy  "the  To- 
"rics,"  not  one  of  which  party  was  then  a  member  of  the  Committee. 
Ramsay's  IlUtory  of  the  United  State',  London  :  1791,  i.,  114,  correctly 
assigned  the  origination  of  the  Congress  to  New  York  ;  but  it  inaccurately 
stated  that  it  was  done  "at  the  first  meeting  of  the  inhnbitauts,"  instead 
of  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Committee  which  the  inhabitants  liad 
chosen,  a  few  days  previously,  for  their  political  leaders.  Ilililreth's 
UiMui-ij  uf  the  L'liiliil  iS/u/ts,  New  York  :  185G,  I'ivat  Series,  iii ,  pre- 
sented the  facts  as  they  really  took  place,  giving  to  the  Connnittee  of 
Correspondence  of  New  Y'ork  tlie  origination  of  the  Congress  ;  anil 
Leake's  Memoir  of  General  John  Lamb,  Albany  :  1857  ;  Dawson's  Park 
and  itn  Vicinity,  New  Y'ork :  18.55,  33 ;  McDonald  and  Blackburn's 
Sonthcrn  llislnry  of  the  United  States,  Baltimore  :  1869,  171) ;  and  de  Lan- 
cey's  Xotea  on  Jones's  History  of  Xew  York  during  the  llevnlutionary  Il'iir, 
New  Y'ork:  1879,  i.,  443, 444,  follow  that  e>cellent  example.  Ban- 
croft's Jlistory  of  the  United  i<tat€s,  original  edition,  vii.,  40,  correctly 
yii-Mf  the  honor  of  having  originated  the  Congres-s,  to  New  Y'ork  ;  but, 
unaccountably,  it  assigns  it,  in  New  Y'ork,  sometimes  to  an  imaginary 
"  old  committee,"  whicli  had  ceased  to  exist  when  the  Stanip-,\ct,  which 
had  called  it  into  existence  and  to  which  its  operations  had  been  limited, 
Wiis  repealed,  eight  years  previously,  and  sometimes  to  the  eight  or  t-in 
men  who  styled  themselves  and  who  were  known  as  '  tlie  Sons  of  I^ib- 
"erty,"  all  of  wlmm  who  were  members  of  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence, appointed  at  the  Coffee-house,  were  notoriously  in  accord  with  the 
men  of  Boston,  who  advocated  an  immediate  suspension  of  the  Commerce 
of  the  Continent  and  opposed  the  proposition  to  call  a  Congress  for  the 
general  relief  of  all  the  Colonies.  It  is  also  well  known,  concerning 
those  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  that,  after  17()6,  they  made  no  pretension  that 
a  permanent  Committee  existed  ;  that  their  correspondence  was  conducted 
in  their  individual  capacities,  and  not  officially,  as  a  Committee  ;  that 
none  of  their  correspondence,  as  far  as  it  is  now  known,  alluded  to  a 
Congress  of  the  Colonies,  for  any  purpose  ;  and  that  their  especially  care- 
ful historian  and  eulogist,  Isaac  (J.  Leake,  not  only  made  no  such  claim, 
in  their  behalf,  but  expressly  and  in  unmistakable  words,  gave  that  hon- 
or to  the  Committee  of  Corresiwndence  w  liich  had  been  appointed  by  the 
body  of  the  inhabitants,  at  the  Coffee-house.  (Meinoir  of  the  Life  and 
Times  of  General  John  Lamb,  Albany:  1857,  88.)  In  the  same  author's 
centenary  edition  of  that  History  of  the  United  iitates,  Boston:  1876,  iv., 
326,  the  same  statement  was  made,  without  the  slightest  change  ;  and 
Lodge's //istori/ o/ (/le  English  Colonial,  New  Y'ork :  1881,  489,  without 
Bancroft's  airy  rhetoric,  in  a  far  more  historical  style  than  that  historian 
employs,  in  some  of  his  words,  and  without  the  slightest  change  in  its 
substance,  perpet\iated  the  error. 

Such  are  the  guides  which  .\merican  scholarship,  generally  fettered 
with  bonds  of  Roman  and  Grecian  Literature,  has  given  to  the  world,  for 
the  direction  of  those  who  shall  aspire  to  the  knowledge  of  a  history  of 
America.  Such  are  some  of  the  evidences  of  the  entire  untrustworthi- 
ness  of  the  greater  number  of  those  who,  Siitisfied  w  ith  that  "  discipline  " 
to  which  the  Classics  have  subjected  them  and  without  having  otherwise 
qualified  themselves  for  the  proper  discharge  of  their  honorable  duties  as 
historians  of  their  own  Country,  have  contented  themselves,  instead,  by 
repeating  what  othei-s,  also  fettered  by  similar  obsolete  prejudices  and 
equally  indolent,  have  written,  and  by  willingly  propagating  the  errore 
which  local  prejudices  or  indolence  or  a  faulty  education  or  ignorance 
have  produced,  while,  Willi  greater  usefulness  to  the  world  and  greater 
honor  to  themselves,  they  might  rather  have  attempted  to  extirpate 
them. 

•  An  evidence  of  that  feeling  may  be  seen  in  the  letter  from  Thomas 
Young  to  John  Lamb,  dated  "Bosto.v,  19th  June,  1774,"  in  the  "Lamb 
"Papers,"  New  York  Historical  Society's  Librui-y. 

s  From  the  days  of  Doctor  Gordon  until  the  present  time,  as  far  as  our 
knowledge  extends,  Hildreth  is  the  only  New  Englander,  among  histori- 


The  Committee  of  Correspondence,  in  New  York, 
as  it  was  known  to  the  world,  at  that  time,  was  created 
only  as  a  local  organization,  for  only  special  purposes, 
and  with  only  a  very  limited  and  a  very  clearly  defined 
authority.^  But  it  very  soon  became  evident  that 
some,  at  least,  of  those  who  had  promoted  the  organ- 
ization of  that  Committee,  only  for  limited  and  well- 
defined  purposes,  and  who  had  subsequently  assumed 
the  entire  control  of  its  action,  were  well-inclined, 
for  the  advancement  of  their  individual  and  family 
and  factional  influence  and  interests,  to  use  every 
opportunity  for  the  increase  of  the  authority  of  the 
Committee,  wliich  was  or  which  might  be,  in  any  way, 
aflbrded  ;  and  that  they  were  not  ill-disposed,  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  peculiar  purposes,  to  assume  and  to 
exercise  authority  which  had  not  been  vested  in  that 
or  in  any  other  organization,  and  limited  only  by 
their  own  ill-sustained  views  of  expediency  and  pro- 
priety, cannot  be  successfully  disi)uted.*  Notably 
among  those  instances  of  authority  unduly  assumed 
by  the  Committee,  was  its  early  attempt  to  place  itself 
at  the  head  of  all  those,  in  every  other  County  in 
the  Colony,  who  were  inclined  to  be  or  who  were 
likely  to  become  disaffected  and  revolutionary  ;  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  second  successful  movement 
of  the  rapidly  advancing  revolutionary  elements  in 
the  Colony  of  New  York,  among  those  who  assumed 
to  regard  a  revolution,  conducted  by  themselves,  as 
commendable  and  praiseworthy,  while  such  a  revolu- 
tion, controlled  by  others,  would  be  regarded  and  re- 
sisted, by  them,  as  worthy  only  of  condemnation  and 
to  be  extirpated,  the  latter  regardless  of  every  other 
consequence. 

For  the  purpose  of  extending  its  authority  and  of 
increasing  its  power,  in  whatever  might  arise,  in  its 
evident  intent  to  control  not  only  the  great  body  of 
the  unfranchised  masses  of  every  class,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,^  but  the  Colonial  and  the  Home  Govern- 


cal  writers,  who  has  inclined  to  tell  the  exact  truth,  on  tliis  subject ; 
and  what  he  said  of  it  occupied  less  than  two  lines  of  an  octavn  page. 

3  The  'Caucus,  at  Sam.  Francis's,  at  which  the  apiiointment  of  the 
Committee  was  determined  on  and  its  Members  nominated,  defined,  in  its 
firet  Resolution,  the  purposes  for  which  that  Committee  was  to  be 
ajipointed  and  tlie  authority  wliich  should  be  vested  in  it — "  to  corre- 
"  spond  with  the  neighboring  Colonies  on  the  jiresent  important  Crisis," 
excluding  all  other  subjects,  {I'roceedings  of  the  Mft-ling,  among  the 
Broadsides,  in  the  Library  of  the  New- Y'ork  Historical  Society.) 

*  That  James  Diiane  and  John  Jay,  to  whom  reference  is  here  made, 
were  not  apt  to  l  ecoguize  any  funilamental  obstruction  to  or  requirement 
from  whatever  they  should  incline  to  do  or  not  to  do,  is  well  known  to 
every  one  who  lias  closely  studied  tlie  histories  of  the  doings  of  tliose 
gentlemen,  subsequently,  in  the  various  branches  of  official  life  to  wliich 
they  were  respectively  called. 

^  In  all  the  political  o]>erationsof  that  period,  the  several  Counties  of  the 
Colonies  were  regarded  as  entirely  independent  bodies,  each  controlling 
itself  to  the  extent,  even,  of  semling  independent  Delegates  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress — the  centralization  of  authority,  indeed,  was  the  fun- 
damental grievance  against  which  all  the  Colonies  were,  then,  raising 
their  remonstrances  and  their  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  Ilinne 
Government — and  it  must  not  be  supjiosed  that,  in  the  instance  referred  to, 
in  the  text,  the  Committee  sought  the  direct  control  of  the  masses,  in  any 
other  County  than  in  that  of  New  Y'ork — it  sought  no  more  than  tosecure 
the  control  of  those,  within  the  several  Counties,  who  did  control  those 
masses,  within  their  several  neighlKirhoods  ;  and,  therefore,  it  sought  to 


196 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ments,  at  the  second  meeting  of  the  Committee,  on  the 
evening  of  Monday,  the  thirtieth  of  May,  Peter  Van 
Schaack,  Francis  Lewis,  John  Jay,  Alexander  Mc- 
Dougal,  and  Theophilact  Bache,  three  rigid  conserva- 
tives and  two  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  were  ap- 
pointed "  a  Committee  to  write  a  Circular  Letter  to 
"  the  Supervisors  in  the  different  Counties,  acquaint- 
"  ing  them  of  the  appointment  of  this  Committee,  and 
"  submitting  to  the  consideration  of  the  Inhabitants 
"  of  the  Counties  whether  it  could  not  be  expedient  for 
"  them  to  appoint  persons  to  correspond  with  this 
"  Committee  upon  matters  relative  to  the  purposes  for 
"  which  they  were  appointed  ; "  '  and,  at  a  Meeting  es- 
pecially called  for  the  purpose,  on  the  following 
evening,  \_Tuesday,  Mmj  31,]  at  which  thirty-five  mem- 
bers were  present,  that  Sub-Committee  reported  a 
Draft  of  a  Circular  Letter,  for  the  purpose  named, 
which  was  duly  approved  by  the  Committee.  Mr. 
Lewis  was  ordered  to  cause  three  hundred  copies  of 
that  Circular  Letter  to  be  printed ;  and  it  was  also 
ordered  that  those  printed  copies  of  the  letter  should 
be  transmitted,  with  all  convenient  speed,  to  the 
Treasurers  of  the  several  Counties,  with  a  "  line  "  to 
each  Treasurer,  signed  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee, requesting  his  care  in  the  proper  transmission 
of  the  several  letters  to  the  persons  to  whom  they 
should  be  respectively  addressed ;  and  that  intimation 
should  be  given,  through  the  various  Newspapers, 
that  such  Circular  Letters  had  been  duly  sent.- 

Of  those  Circular  Letters,  inviting  a  correspondence 
with  the  Committee,  in  New  York,  it  is  recorded  that 
thirty  copies  were  sent  to  the  Treasurer  of  West- 
chester-county,  with  a  note  from  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee,  requesting  him  "to  direct  and  forward 
"  them  to  the  Supervisors  of  the  several  Districts,"  ^ 
the  first  attempt,  which  was  made,  by  any  one,  to 
draw  the  farmers  of  that  County  into  the  unrest  of 
discontent  and  disaffection ;  but  we  have  failed  to 
find,  in  any  portion  of  the  3Iinutes  of  the  Committee, 
the  slightest  evidence  that  any  one,  within  that 
County,  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  the  Com- 
mittee's insidious  invitation,  or  that,  at  that  time,  any 
one  to  the  northward  of  Kingsbridge,  either  within 
or  without  the  limits  of  that  County,  seemed  to  possess 
the  slightest  interest  in  the  Committee,  or  in  the  gen- 
eral purposes  for  which  it  had  been  appointed,  or  in 
those  ill-concealed  purposes  for  which  it  had  covertly 
solicited  the  co-operation  of  the  leaders,  where  there 
were  any,  throughout  the  Colony — certainly  a  very 


circumvent  and  secure  the  control  of  the  entire  Colony,  under  a  mask  of 
'■patriotism,"  as  it  had  already  circumvented  and  secured  the  control,  in 
political  affairs,  of  the  County  of  Xew  York. 

1  3/iH«(es  of  the  Committee,  "  NEW-TonK,  May  30,  1774;"  Lietiienanl- 
governor  Colden  to  Governor  Tryon,  "New  York,  June  2,  1774." 

^Minutes  of  the  Committee,  Special  Meeting,  "New-Yoek,  May  31, 
"1774;"  Lieuteiumt-govemor  Colden  to  Governor  Trgon,  "Xew-Youk, 
"June  2,  1774." 

3  Jleiiiorandum,  appended  to  the  Minutes  of  the  Committee,  "Xew- 
"YoKK,  May  31,1774." 


emphatic  testimony  to  the  accuracy  of  what  has  been 
stated,  concerning  the  conservatism  of  the  farmers  in 
Westchester-county,  as  lately  as  in  the  Spring  and 
early  Summer  of  1774.* 

While  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  in  New 
York,  was  thus  engaged  in  an  effort  to  extend  its  in- 
fluence and  its  authority  beyond  the  limits  of  its 
original  jurisdiction,  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence and  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  j^opulace,  in 
Boston,  received  and  considered  its  letter  responding 
to  the  Vote  of  that  Town  and  to  the  letters  which  had 
accompanied  it,  to  New  York ;  and,  as  might  have 
been  reasonably  expected,  where  the  difference,  on 
such  a  subject,  was  as  radical  in  its  character  and  as 
wide  in  its  extent  as  it  was  in  that  instance,  there  ap- 
peared to  be  very  little  prospect  of  an  agreement,  or 
even  of  a  compromise.  Indeed,  the  Massachusetts- 
men  did  not  appear  to  pay  the  slightest  attention  to 
the  proposition  which  those  of  New  York  had  made, 
to  call  a  Congress  of  Deputies  from  all  the  Colonies, 
for  the  consideration  of  all  the  grievances,  real  or 
imaginary,  of  which  all  the  Colonies  were,  then,  re- 
spectively complaining,  preferring,  instead,  and  firmly 
insisting  on,  their  own  proposition  to  remove  the 
particular  case  of  Boston's  recognized  contumacy  and 
its  consequences  from  all  other  matters  of  disagree- 
ment with  the  Home  Government,  and  to  enforce  a 
relief  of  that  Town  from  the  penalty  inflicted  on  it, 
because  of  its  recognized  lawlessness,  by  establishing 
a  Non-Importation  and  Non-Exportation  Association, 
throughout  the  entire  Continent,  for  that  especial 
purpose,  and  for  no  other  purpose  whatever.  That 
renewed  preference  of  the  Committee  of  Boston  was 
conveyed  to  the  Committee  of  New  York,  in  a  letter, 
dated  on  the  thirtieth  of  May,  which,  in  its  terms, 
was  not  creditable  to  the  professions  of  those  who 
wrote  it,  for  either  candor,  or  honor,  or  genuine  patri- 

<  It  appears  that  a  similar  temper  prevailed  in  all  the  Counties  of  the 
Colony,  except  Xew  York  and  Suffolk. 

In  a  despatch  from  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  to  the  Karl  of  Dart- 
mouth, dated  "Xew  York,  6th  July  1774,"  it  is  stated,  "The  present 
"  political  zeal  and  Frenzy  is  almiist  entirely  confined  to  the  City  of  Xew 
"  York.  The  People  in  the  Counties  are  noways  disposed  to  become  ac- 
"  five  or  bear  any  part  in  what  is  proposed  by  the  citizens.  I  am  told 
"  all  the  Counties  but  one  have  decliued  an  Invitation  sent  them  from 
"  Xew  York  to  appoint  Committees  of  Correspondence.  This  Province 
"  is  everywhere,  except  in  the  City  of  New  York,  perfectly  quiet  and  in 
"  good  order  ;  and  in  Xew  York  a  much  greater  freedom  of  Speech  pre- 
"  vails  than  has  done  heretofore." 

In  a  letter  written  to  Governor  Trvon,  dated  "  String  Hill,  Cth  July. 
"1774,"  the  same  careful  observer  8<>id,  further,  "Except  in  the  city  of 
"Xew  York,  the  People  in  the  Province  are  quite  Tranquile,  and  have 
"declin'd  takeing  any  Part  with  the  Citizens.  An  Opinion  is  spread  very 
"  generally  in  tho  Country  that  if  a  non-importation  agreement  is 
" form'd,  Government  will  restrain  our  Exportation;  a  pleasure  which 
"the  Farmers  clearly  see  will  be  ruinous  to  them." 

In  a  Despatch  written  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  dated  "New  York, 
"  2nd  .\ugust,  1774,"  the  veneralilc  Lieutenant-governor  stated,  '■  Great 

Pains  has  been  taken  in  the  several  Counties  of  this  Province  to  induce 
"the  People  to  enter  into  Kesolves,  and  to  send  Committees  to  join  tho 
"Committee in  the  city ;  but  they  have  only  prevailed  in  Suffolk  County, 
"  in  the  Eiist  End  of  Long  Island  which  was  settled  from  Connecticut, 
"and  the  Inhabitants  still  retain  a  great  similarity  of  Manners  and 
"  Sentiments." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


197 


otism  ; '  and,  in  a  letter  dated  on  the  seventh  of  June, 
the  latter  replied,  disclaimino;  the  slightest  approval 
of  the  proposed  "  suspension  of  Trade,"  to  which,  very 
singularly  and  without  the  slightest  reason,  the  Boston 
Committee  had  attempted  to  commit  it;  and  saying, 
concerningthat  proposition.  "  We  apprehend  you  have 
"made  a  mistake,  for  on  revising  our  letter  to  you,  so 
"  far  from  finding  a  word  mentioned  of  a  'Suspension 
"  '  of  Trade,'  the  idea  is  not  even  conceived.  That,  and 
"  every  other  Kesolution,  we  have  thought  it  most  pru- 
"  dent  to  leave  for  the  discussion  of  the  proposed  gene- 
"  ral  Congress."  It  continued,  in  these  very  emphatic 
words :  "  Adhering,  therefore,  to  that  measure,  as 
"  most  conducive  to  promote  the  grand  system  of 
"  politics  we  all  have  in  view,  we  have  the  pleasure 
"  to  acquaint  you,  that  we  shall  be  ready,  on  our  part, 
"  to  meet,  at  any  time  and  place  that  you  shall  think 
"  fit  to  appoint,  either  of  Deputies  from  the  General 
"  Assemblies  or  such  other  Deputies  as  shall  be 
"  choseh,  not  only  to  speak  the  Sentiments,  but  also  to 
"  pledge  themselves  for  the  Conduct  of  the  People  of 
"  the  respective  Colonies  they  represent.  "We  can 
"  undertake  to  assure  you,  in  behalf  of  the  People  of 
"  this  Colony,  that  they  will  readily  agree  to  any 
"  measure  that  shall  be  adopted  by  the  general  Con- 
"  gress.  It  will  be  necessary  that  you  give  a  sufficient 
"  time  for  the  Deputies  of  the  Colonies,  as  iar  south- 
"  ward  as  the  Carolinas,  to  assemble,  and  acquaint 
"  them,  as  soon  as  possible,  with  the  proposed 
"  measure  of  a  Congress.  Your  letters  to  the  south- 
"  ward  of  us,  we  will  forward,  with  great  pleasure."^ 
Those  of  the  revolutionary  leaders,  in  Boston,  who 
had  assumed  the  role  of  a  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence, in  that  Town,  could  not  long  conceal  from  the 
world  the  reckless  falsity  of  what  they  had  written  to 
the  Committee  in  New  York,  when  they  stated  to  the 
latter  that,  "  certainly  all  that  can  be  depended  upon 
"  to  yield  any  effectual  relief"  to  the  Town  of  Boston, 
"is,  on  all  hands,  acknowledged  to  be  the  Suspension 
"of  Trade."  The  letters  which  were  received  by  the 
Committee  of  that  Town,  in  answer  to  the  Circular 
Letters,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  seaport  Towns  of 

1  The  contents  of  that  letter  and  the  spirit  of  those  who  wrote  it  can 
lie  ascertained  from  tlic  extracts  from  it  which  were  copied  into  the 
letter,  and  evidently  referred  to  in  the  action  of  those  who  wrote  it, 
when,  on  the  seventh  of  .June,  the  Committee  of  New  York  replied  to 
that  second  letter  from  Boston. 

-  The  Resolution  of  the  Committee  in  New  York,  on  whicli  that  reply 
was  based,  is  in  these  words:  "Orderei>,  That  the  Committee  of  Boston 
"  he  re>|uested  to  give  this  Committee  the  Names  of  the  Persons  who 
"  constitute  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  at  Boston  ;  that  they  have 
"  made  a  mistake  in  answering  this  Committee's  letter,  which  mentioned 
"  not  a  word  of  a  Suspension  of  Trade,  which  they  say  we  have  so 
"  wisely  defined,  as  we  leave  that  measure  entirely  to  the  Congress,  and 
"  we  sliall  readily  agree  to  any  nieaaure  they  shall  adopt." 

It  is  very  evident  tliat  the  suspicions  of  the  Committee  of  New  York 
were  aroused  by  the  eviileut  trickery  of  the  Committee  of  Boston,  pre- 
sented in  its  reply  to  the  letter  of  the  former,  dated  the  twenty-third  of 
May  ;  and  that,  for  that  reason,  it  desireil  to  learn  the  names  of  those 
with  whom  it  was  corres|H>uding — their  characters  and  standing  could, 
then,  be  ascertained  through  other  means. 

*  Copy  of  the  letter,  appended  to  the  Miiuile*  of  the  Vommiitee  of  Cor- 
rtipoudeiKe  of  Snr  Yurk,  "  New-York,  June  C,  1774." 


Massachusetts  *  and  to  the  Committees  of  Correspond- 
ence in  the  several  Colonies,  since  the  rece|)tion  ot 
the  Boston  Port-Bill,  were  not,  as  is  now  well  known, 
really  as  unanimous,  in  favor  of  a  "  Suspension  ot 
"Trade,"  as  the  Committee  had  unblushingly  pre- 
tended— indeed,  with  a  few  unimportant  exceptions, 
the  proi)osal  to  make  Boston  the  only  subject  of  con- 
sideration, tliroughout  the  Continent,  and  to  suspend 
all  the  internal  industries  and,  with  the  exception  ot 
Smuggling,  all  the  Commerce  of  all  the  Colonies,  only 
for  the  special  benefit  of  that  one  Town,  regardless  ot 
the  more  direct  and  substantial  grievances  which  were 
sustained  by  other  Towns  and  other  Colonies,  and  re- 
gardless, also,  of  the  very  serious  consequences, 
throughout  the  entire  Continent  and  elsewhere,  ot 
such  a  general  and  indiscriminate  "Suspension  ot 
"  Trade  "  as  had  been  proi)osed,  and  that,  too,  at  the 
expense  of  a  Congress  of  the  Continent,  which  the 
Committee  in  New  York  had  proposed  and  insisted 
on,  in  which  all  the  grievances  of  all  the  Towns  and 
Colonies  could  be  considered,  and  remedies  therefor 
be  duly  provided,  had  met  with  no  f&\or  whatever ; 
and  the  audacious  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  popu- 
lace, in  Boston,  as  well  as  the  Town  itself,  were  not 
slow  in  receding,  with  more  agility  than  candor,  from 
that  high  and  untenable  position  which  they  had  oc- 
cupied, in  the  proceedings  of  the  Caucus  held  at  Fan- 
euil-Hall,  on  the  twelfth  of  May,  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  Town  of  Boston,  at  the  same  place,  on  the  fol- 

^The  Committees  who  had  been  sent  to  Salem  and  Marblehead, 
"  to  communicate  the  Sentiments  of  this  Metropolis  to  the  Gentlemen, 
"there;  to  consult  with  them;  and  to  report  at  the  adjournment," 
(Mmutfs  of  the  Toirn-Meetiug,  of  Boston,  Mmj  13,  1774,)  did,  indeed,  go  to 
those  Towns,  and  report  the  results  of  their  visits,  to  the  Town,  at  its 
Adjoiirned  Meeting,  five  days  subsequently ;  but  those  results  were  so 
di.«couraging  to  the  violently  disposed  leaders  of  Boston — including  Sam- 
uel Adams,  Joseph  Warren,  and  their  associates — that  they  contented 
themselves  with  ostentatiously  "recommending  to  their  fellow-citizens, 
"Patience,  Fortitude,  and  a  firm  Trust  in  God,"  without  making  reconl 
of  the  formal  Reports  of  the  Committees,  if  any  such  formal  Reports  were 
really  made,  (Minnies  of  the  Adjourned  Meetimj  of  the  Town,  Mmj  18, 1774,) 
and  with  adjourning,  a  second  time,  until  the  thirty-first,  "by  which 
"  time  it  is  expected  we  shall  have  encouraging  News  from  some  of  the 
"sister  Colonies,"  to  recomi)ense  them  for  the  disappointmeut  they  had 
experienced  from  the  results  of  their  conferences  with  the  Merchants  ot 
Newburyport  and  Salem. 

The  substance  of  the  Reports  from  the  Committees  sent  to  the  seaport 
Towns  of  the  Province,  all  mention  of  which  was  thus  suppressed  by 
the  Town-Clerk,  was  saved  to  the  world,  however,  in  a  Detpatch  from  Gov 
ei  nor  Gat/e  lolhe  Enrl  of  Durtmoiith,  dated  "  Boston  :  May  19,  1774,"  and 
laid  before  the  Parliament,  on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  177o,  in  which 
it  was  said  the  Town-Meeting  "appointed  Persons  to  go  to  Marblehead 
"and  Salem,  to  communicate  their  Sentiments  to  the  People  there,  and 
"bring  them  into  like  Measures;  which  Pei"S*)n3  were  to  make  their 
"Report  at  the  Adjournment,  ou  the  Isth,  when  the  Meeting  was  again 
'  "  held,  and,  I  am  told,  received  little  encouragement  from  Salem  and 
"  Marblehead,  and  transacted  nothing  of  consequence." — {Partiameutarn 
Reijister,  L,  30.) 

''The  first  resi>onses  from  other  Colonies  which  the  Committee  received 
were  those,  carried  by  Paul  Revere,  from  Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
which  were  anytliing  else  than  "encouraging"  to  such  as  composed 
th.1t  Committee  ;  and  there  can  l>e  very  little  doubt,  in  the  light  of  what 
was  done,  very  soon  afterwards,  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  that 
Revere  carried  Imck,  from  Hartford  and  Providence,  tokensof  what  might 
be  expected  from  those  Colonies,  al.<<),  in  opposition  to  the  remarkable 
propositions  of  the  Caucus  of  Town-Conmiittees,  in  Faneuil-Hall,  and  of 
the  Town  of  Boston,  on  the  following  day. 


198 


HISTORY  0F  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lowing  day,  and  in  the  letters  from  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence,  covering  the  proceedings  of  the 
Town,  which  were  sent  to  the  Committee  in  New 
York,  on  the  following  Saturday,  as  has  been,  herein, 
already  stated. 

The  world  of  historical  literature  has  been  favored, 
in  this  connection,  by  one  of  the  most  painstaking 
and  accurate  of  Massachusetts'  historians,  with  a  reve- 
lation of  the  trickery  and  double-dealing  of  at  least 
one  of  those  who,  in  the  matter  now  under  considera- 
tion, have  been  justly  regarded  as  the  leaders  of  the 
political  elements,  within  that  Colony,  which  were 
antagonistic  to  the  Colonial  and  the  Home  Govern- 
ments. 

Samuel  Adams  was  the  Chairman  and  master-spirit 
of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  in  Boston :  he 
was  the  Chairman  of  the  Caucus  of  the  nine  Town- 
Committees,  assembled  in  Faneuil-Hall,  which  had 
confirmed  the  line  of  action,  concerning  the  Boston 
Port-Bill,  which  he  and  the  men  of  Boston,  had  al- 
ready contrived  :  he  was  the  Moderator  of  the  Town- 
Meeting,  at  Faneuil-Hall,  continued  through  three 
days,  in  which  that  line  of  action  was  adopted  and 
pursued  and  insisted  on :  and  he  inspired,  if  he  did 
not  personally  write,  those  letters,  describing  and  in- 
sisting on  that  line  of  action,  which  were  sent  from 
Boston,  to  the  Committee  in  New  York,  in  the  saddle- 
bag of  Paul  Revere,  of  which  mention  has  been  made 
herein — all  of  them,  Committees,  Caucuses,  Town- 
Meetings,  and  Letters,  being  radically  in  favor  of  the 
Boston  plan  of  a  "  Suspension  of  Trade,"  especially 
for  Boston's  benefit,  and  quite  as  radically  resisting 
the  proposal  to  call  "  a  general  Congress,"  for  general 
purposes.  He  was  the  Chairman  and  master-spirit  of 
that  local  Committee  of  the  Town  which,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  ilay,  addressed  that  letter  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence  in  New  York,  adhering  to 
the  plan  of  a  Non-Importation  Association  which 
Boston  had  previously  proposed,  instead  of  the  con- 
vention of  a  federal  Congress  which  New  York  had 
previously  proposed ;  and  attempting,  by  indirect 
means,  to  commit  the  Committee  in  New  York  to  the 
support  of  the  Boston  plan  of  Non-Imjjortation,  at 
the  expense  of  its  own  plan  of  calling  a  federal  Con- 
gress, of  which  letter  and  insidious  attempt  to  commit 
the  New  York  Committee  to  the  Boston  scheme,  men- 
tion has  been  made.  Besides  all  these,  he  was  the 
Chairman  and  the  master  sjiirit  of  that  Committee,  in 
Boston,  which,  as  lately  as  the  eighth  of  June,  sent 
Circular  Letters  from  that  Town  to  every  Town  in  the 
Commonwealth,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  "  there  is 
"  but  one  way  that  we  can  conceive  of,  to. prevent 
"  what  is  to  be  deprecated  by  all  good  men,  and  ought, 
"  by  all  possible  means,  to  be  prevented,  viz :  The 
"  horrours  that  must  follow  an  open  rupture  between 
"  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  or,  on  our  part,  a 
"  subjugation  to  absolute  Slavery  ;  and  that  is  by  af- 
"  fecting  the  Trade  and  Interest  of  Great  Britain  so 
"  deeply  as  shall  induce  her  to  withdraw  her  oppres- 


"  sive  hand  "  ' — which  the  Committee  proposed  to  do 
by  means  of  an  Association  providing  "that,  hence- 
"  forth,  we  will  suspend  all  commercial  intercourse 
"  with  the  said  Island  of  Great  Britain,  until  the  said 
"  Act  for  blocking  up  the  said  Harbour"  [0/  Boston} 
"  be  repealed,  and  a  full  restoration  of  our  Charter 
"  Rights  be  obtained."^  But  we  are  told  by  that  gen- 
erally trustworthy  historian,'*  that  that  same  Samuel 
Adams,  who  was  thus  inspiring  and  leading  and  con- 
trolling the  men  of  Boston,  in  their  earnest  opposition 
to  a  general  Congress  lor  a  general  consideration  of 
the  grievances  of  all  who  were  aggrieved,  and  who.se 
convictions  were  supposed  to  have  been  in  harmony 
with  his  pretensions  before  the  world,  was  really  in 
favor  of  such  a  Congress  and,  consequently,  really  op- 
posed to  the  principles  which  were  presented  and 
urged  by  the  Committees,  by  the  Caucus,  and  by  the 
Town-Meeting,  all  of  whom  he  had  controlled,  in  the 
Resolutions,  the  Letters,  and  the  Address  and  Assori''- 
Hon  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  all  of  which 
he  is  known  to  have  inspired  and  some  of  which  lie 
wrote;  that,  as  early  as  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  he 
"  was  about  to  introduce  Resolves  for  such  a  Congress," 
into  the  House  of  Representatives,  of  which  he  was 
the  Clerk  ;  and  that  he  was  prevented  from  doing  so, 
only  by  the  prorogation  of  the  House,  by  the  Gov- 
ernor. 

If  this  statement  is  well-founded,  and  the  name  ot 
its  author  affords  a  reasonable  guaranty  that  it  is  so,  the 
world  of  historical  literature  will  be  taught  by  it,  how 
much  the  personal  character  of  Samuel  Adams  has  been 
unduly  eulogized  ;  and  every  careful  reader  will  also  be 
taught  by  that  new  revelation,  how  much  the  Clerk 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  Colonial  Massa- 
chusetts, while  he  was  only  an  employe  of  the  House, 
presumed  to  dictate,  in  matters  of  legislation,  during 
that  critical  period;  with  how  much  of  insincerity  the 
leader  of  the  excited  people,  in  that  Colony,  acted, 
in  all  that  he  said  and  did,  before  that  people  and  in 
their  behalf ;  and,  in  connection  with  the  recognized 
"  art "  and  duplicity  with  which  the  leaders  in  New 
York  were,  also,  then  conducting,  or  endeavoring  to 
conduct,  the  political  affairs  of  the  Continent,  how 
little  of  real  personal  integrity,  of  unqualified  unsel- 
fishness, and  of  unalloyed  patriotism,  really  controlled 
or  even  existed  among  those,  in  Massachusetts  and 
New  York,  who,  sensibly  or  insensibly,  were,  at  that 
time,  conducting  the  Continent  in  open  insurrection, 
toward  a  successful  rebellion. 

The  letters  of  disapproval  and  discouragement, 

1  Address  sent  by  the  Boston  Committee  to  every  Town  in  the  Province, 
dated  "'Boston,  June  8,  1774,"  re-printed  in  Force's  American  Archives, 
Fourtli  Series,  i.,  397. 

-  Funn  of  a  C'wcnani,  sent  to  every  Town  in  j\[iissachusettt,  by  the  Com- 
mittee ill  Boston,  with  tlie  above-mentioned  Address,  Section  let. 

3  Richard  Frothingham  of  Cliarlestown,  in  his  Uise  of  the  Kejitiblic  0/ 
the  I'liited  States,  Boston  :  1872,  323,  whose  words  are  as  ft>llows  : 

"Tlie  Massachusetts  Assembly  convened  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May. 
"Samuel  Adams  was  about  to  introduce  Resolves  for  a  Congress  when 
"the  Assembly  {26th)  was  adjourned  by  the  Governor  to  meet  in  Salem 
"on  the  seventh  of  June." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


199 


against  the  line  of  action  proposed  and  solicited  by 
the  Town  of  Boston,  in  its  formal  Vote,  on  the 
thirtecntli  of  ^lay,  of  which  Samuel  Adams  was  the 
originator  and  by  wliom,  as  the  Moderator  of  tlie 
Town-Meeting,  its  passage  had  been  secured,  con- 
tinued to  flow  into  that  Town,  from  all  directions,' 
carrying  with  them  an  influence,  with  that  shrewd 
politician,  which  was  more  potential  than  all  the 
enactments  of  the  Parliament  and  all  the  i)0wer  of 
the  Home  and  the  Colonial  Governments  had  pro- 
duced ;  and  he  was  not  slow  in  accepting  the  alterna- 
tive which  those  letters  and  the  evident  danger  of  a 
more  com])lete  isolation  of  the  Town  of  Boston  than 
he  had  supposed  to  have  been  possible,  had  sternly 
thrust  upon  him.  Accordingly,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  June,  the  ilouse  of  Representatives,  assembled  at 
Salem,  more  or  less  under  the  guidance  of  its  Clerk, 
adopted  a  Resolution  declaring  that  "a  Meeting  of 
"  Committees  from  the  several  Colonies  on  this  Con- 
"  tinent  is  highly  expedient  and  necessary,  to  con- 
"sult  upon  the  ])resent  State  of  the  Colonies  and 
"  the  Miseries  to  which  they  are  and  must  he  reduced 
"by  the  operation  of  certain  Acts  of  Parliament  re- 
"specting  America;  and  to  deliberate  and  determine 
"upon  wise  and  proper  Measures  to  be  by  them 
"  recommended  to  all  the  Colonies,  for  the  recovery 
"  and  establishment  of  t^eir  just  Rights  and  Liber- 
"  ties,  civil  and  religious,  and  the  restoration 
"of  Union  and  Harmony  between  Great  Britain 
"  and  the  Colonies,  most  ardently  desired  by  all 
"good  Men.''  At  the  same  time,  iive  persons, 
of  whom  Samuel  Adams  was  one,  "  were  ap- 
" pointed  a  Committee,  on  the  part  of  this  Province, 
"for  the  Purposes  aforesaid,  any  three  of  whom  to  be 
"  a  Quorum,  to  meet  such  Committees  or  Delegates 
"  from  the  other  Colonies  as  have  been  or  may  be  ap- 
"  pointed  either  by  their  respective  Houses  of  Bur- 
"gesses  or  Representatives,  or  by  Conventions,  or  by 
"  the  Committees  of  Correspondence  appointed  by 
"the  respective  Houses  of  Assembly,  to  meet  in  the 
"  City  of  Philadelphia,  or  any  other  Place  that  shall 
"be  judged  most  suitable  by  the  Committee,  on  the 
"first  Day  of  September  next ;  and  that  the  Speaker 
"  of  the  House  be  directed,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Speakers 
"  of  the  Houses  of  Burgesses  or  Representatives  in 
"the  several  Colonies,  to  inform  them  of  the  snb- 
"  stance  of  these  Resolves." 

At  the  same  time  that  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, at  Salem,  was  thus  adding  the  weight  of  its  of- 
ficial judgment  against  the  line  of  action  proposed 
and  solicited  by  the  Town  of  Boston  and  in  support 
of  that  proposed  and  insisted  on  by  the  Committee  in 
New  York,  the  former,  also,  in  a  duly  assembled 
Town-Meeting,  John  Adams  occupying  the  Chair,  in 
seeming  forgetfulness  of  its  Vote,  on  the  thirteenth  of 


'  Dtfpalch  from  Goremor  Gage  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "  Boston,  31s< 
"Maij,  1774,"  laid  before  Parliament,  on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  1775 
—  {ParUamentarij  Uegiftter,  i.,  3C.) 

•Journal  of  thv  Ilovse  of  Rei>ref(ntatirCf,  June  17,  1774. 


the  preceding  month,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  for- 
mally wheeled  into  the  line  of  the  general  opposition 
to  the  Home  Government,  under  the  guidance  of  that 
foreign  Committee ;  and,  without  making  the  slight- 
est allusion  to  her  ill-conceived  and  injudicious  ac- 
tion, in  her  adoption  of  that  Vote,  the  Town  "  en- 
"  joined  "  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  "  forth- 
"  with,  to  write  to  all  the  other  Colonies,  acquainting 
"them  that  we  are  waiting  with  anxious  expectation 
"for  tlie  Result  of  a  Continental  Congress,  whose 
"Meeting  we  impatiently  desire,  in  whose  Wisdom 
"and  Firmness  we  can  confide,  and  in  whose  Deter- 
"  mination  we  shall  cheerfully  acquiesce"' — a  change 
of  policy  which  was,  in  the  highest  degree,  remark- 
able, and  which  would  be  entirely  unaccountable 
were  the  capabilities  of  Massachusetts-men,  of  every 
period,  for  making  remarkable  changes  of  policy 
and  of  action,  whenever  their  material  interests  have 
seemed  to  call  for  such  changes,  less  known  to  the 
great  world  in  whicli  we  live. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence  in  New  York 
having,  meanwhile,  received  assurances  of  their  ap- 
jjroval  of  its  proposition  to  invite  a  meeting  of  Depu- 
ties from  the  several  Colonies,  in  a  Continental  Con- 
gress, from  the  Committee  of  Corresiwndence  of  Con- 
necticut *  aud.  from  that  in  Philadelphia^ — with  the 
knowledge,  also,  that  the  "Standing  Committee  ot 
"Correspondence,"  which  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Colony  of  New  York  had  appointed,  on  the  twentieth 
of  January,  1774,  had  also  apjiroved  and  concurred 
in  that  proposition,''  and,  undoubtedly,  although  in- 
formally,' with  information  of  the  action  of  the  Town 
of  Boston  and  of  that  of  the  House  of  Re[)resentatives 
of  Massachusetts,  on  the  same  subject, — on  the 
twenty-seventh  of  June,  it  entertained  and  "  debated  " 


'  Proreedinijs  nf  the  Ailjonrned  Tuwii-Meelitif/,  .luno  17,  1774,  reprintfil 
in  Force's  American  Archivi^n,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  423. 

■*  The  Comitiillte  <f  CorresjHniilenct'  for  Cotinectieut  to  the  Commitle'  in 
Xew  Yorl;  "Hartford,  June  4,  1774,"  enclosing  a  letter,  to  the  same 
effect,  which  hail  been  sent  by  the  Committee  in  Ilartfora  to  the  Com- 
mittee in  Boston,  on  the  preceding  day. 

^  Procerdiii;/!!  of  a  Meeting  of  the  Freeho'tlers  and  Freemen  of  tlie  Cilij 
and  County  of  Philadelphin,  Snlttrdai/,  June  IS,  1774,  enclosed  in  a  letter 
from  the  Comniittec  of  Correspondence  in  Philadelphia  to  the  Commit- 
tee in  New  York,  "  Piiil\dei,phia,  2l9t  June,  1774." 

"That  Committee  of  the  Assembly  «a.s  composed  of  John  Cruger 
Frederick  Philipse,  Isaac  Wilkins,  Benjamin  Seaman,  James  .Jauncey 
James  De  Lanccy,  Jacob  Walton,  Simeon  Boerum,  John  Dp  Xoyelles, 
(ieorge  Clinton,  Daniel  Kissam,  Zebulon  Williams,  and  John  Rapalje, 
the  names  of  ten  of  whom,  including  that  of  Frederick  Philipse  of 
AVestchester-county,  are  appended  to  a  letter,  aildressed  to  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence  of  Connccticnt,  dated  "  New  Yurk,  Juno  24, 1774," 
in  which  it  "agrees  with  you,  that,  at  this  alarming  juncture,  a  general 
"Congress of  Depxities  from  the  several  Colonies  woulil  be  a  very  e.xpe- 
"dientand  salutary  mea,sure,"  regretting,  however,  that  it  was  "  not 
"sufticientl.V  empowered  to  take  any  ste{>s  in  relation  to  so  salutary  n 
"  measure." 

'  The  Minutct  of  the  Committee  in  Xew  York,  notwithstanding  the 
carefully  made  record  of  the  letters  which  were  received  by  it,  make  no 
mention  whatever  of  its  receipt  of  letters  from  either  the  Town  of  Bos- 
ton or  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  on  any  subject, 
after  its  receipt  of  that,  from  the  former,  dated  the  thirtieth  of  May  ; 
ami  it  may,  therefore,  be  reasonaldy  supposed  that  whatever  knowledge 
the  Committee  then  po5se<9ed,  concerning  the  ptditical  some  sault  of  tl.e 
Massachusetts-iiioii,  was  iMioifirial  nnd  informal. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


a  Resolution,  oftered  by  Alexander  McDougal,  con- 
cerning "  which  was  the  most  eligible  mode  of  ap- 
"  pointing  Deputies  to  attend  the  ensuing  General 
"  Congress."  ^ 

In  submitting  that  Resolution,  which  had  not  re- 
ceived the  imprimatur  of  those  who  represented  the 
majority  of  the  Committee,  and,  for  that  reason,  was 
not  received  with  any  favor  by  that  majority, 
it  is  evident  that  Alexander  McDougal  acted 
in  behalf  of  the  minority  of  that  bod\' — of  those 
of  its  members  who  had  been  selected  from 
the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  Tradesmen, 
Mechanics,  and  Workingmen  of  the  City — and 
it  is  evident,  also,  that  the  purpose  of  that  minority 
was  to  secure  to  "the  Committee  of  Mechanics," 
which,  notwithstanding  its  formal  acquiescence  in  the 
appointment  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
continued  to  assume  authority  to  represent  the  un- 
franchised portion  of  the  people,  in  all  which  related 
to  their  political  action,  a  right  to  concur  in  or  to  re- 
ject any  nomination  of  Delegates  to  the  proposed 
Congress,  which  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
should  determine  to  make.  The  struggle  between  the 
two  factions,  within  the  Committee,  was  continued  to 
an  Adjourned  Meeting  of  that  body,  on  the  evening  of 
the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  when  Alexander  Mc- 
Dougal moved  "  that  this  Committee  proceed,  im- 
"  mediately,  to  nominate  five  Deputies  for  the  City 
"and  County  of  New  York,  to  represent  them  in  a 
"Convention  of  this  Colony,^  or  in  the  general  Con- 
"gress,  to  be  held  at  Philadeli)hia,  on  the  fir.st  of 
"September  next,  if  the  other  Counties  of  this  Col- 
"  ony  approve  of  them  as  Deputies  for  the  Colony; 
"  and  that  their  names  be  sent  to  the  Committee  of 
"Mechanics,  for  their  concurrence  ;  to  be  proposed  on 
"  Tuesday  next,  to  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen  of 
"  this  City  and  County,  for  their  approbation." 
Without  having  reached  a  vote  on  that  Resolution, 
however,  the  Committee  adjourned  to  the  following 
Monday  evening,  the  fourth  of  July  ;^  at  which  time, 
after  another  severe  struggle,  the  Resolution  was  re- 


1  Minutes  of  the  Commillee,  "New-York,  June  27,  1774." 

It  has  been  said,  (ile  Laucev's  Xvtes  to  Jones's  Histurtj  of  New  Yorlc 
during  the  Revolutionari/  ll'ur,  i.,  449,)  that  "the  Committee  met  to  con- 
"eider"  tliat  Resolution;  but  tliat  would  indicate  tlut  the  Resolution  was 
submitted  to  the  previous  Jleeting,  which  is  contradicted  by  the  Jlfi»- 
tites.  It  is  clear,  as  we  understand  the  record,  that  Alexander  McDou- 
gal offered  it,  for  consideration,  only  at  the  Meeting  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  June. 

2  This  portion  of  the  Resolution  evidently  looked  for  the  establishment 
of  a  Provincial  Congress  or  Convention,  in  which  should  be  vested  su- 
preme and  arbitrary  power,  without  limitation,  over  the  persons  and 
properties  and  actions  and  thoughts  and  convictions  of  every  .one  within 
the  Colony  ;  overthrowing  all  Government  ;  cancelling  all  Eights  of 
Persons  and  Properties ;  and  establishing,  in  their  stead,  an  active 
scoui-ging  Despotism.  Such  an  one  was,  soon  afterwanis,  established  ; 
but,  jvist  at  the  time  under  consideration,  the  master  spirits  of  the  ma* 
jority  of  the  Committee  had  not  secured  the  places  to  which  they  were 
aspiring;  and,  for  that  reason,  they  were  not,  then,  ready  to  concur  in 
that  revolutionary,  ultra  revolutionary,  measure. 

^Minutes  of  the  Adjounml  Jln-timj  of  lliv  Cviiiiiiiltee,  "Xew-York,  June 
"  29,  1774." 


jected,  by  a  formal  vote  of  thirteen  in  support  of  it 
and  twenty-four  in  opposition  thereto.  Immediately 
afterwards,  without  a  division,  on  the  motion  of 
Theophilact  Bache,  seconded  by  John  De  Lancey,  the 
Committee  resolved  "to  nominate  five  persons,  to 
"  meet  in  a  general  Congress,  at  the  time  and  place 
"  which  shall  be  agreed  on  by  the  other  Colonies ;  and 
"  that  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen  of  the  City  and 
"  County  of  New  York  be  summoned  to  appear  at  a 
"  convenient  place,  to  approve  or  disapprove  of  such 
"  persons,  for  this  salutary  purpose ;  also,  that  this 
"Committee  write  Circular  Letters  to  the  Super- 
"  visors  of  the  several  Counties,  informing  them  what 
"  we  have  done,  and  to  request  of  them  to  send  such 
"  Delegates  as  they  may  choose,  to  represent  them  in 
"Congress" — a  Resolution  which  was  so  general  in 
its  terms,  that,  in  a  body  which  was  composed,  ex- 
clusively, of  those  who,  politically,  were  in  opposition 
to  the  Home  Government,  there  was  no  room  for  op- 
position to  it,  notwithstanding  its  silence  concerning 
the  Committee  of  Mechanics  and  the  claim  which  had 
been  made  in  its  behalf;*  but  it  was,  also,  one  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  further  and  very  important 
action,  in  which  the  bitterness  of  feeling,  concerning 
the  distribution  of  the  proposed  offices,  which  con- 
tinued to  exist  between  the  rival  factions  of  the  con- 


*  It  is  proper  to  remind  the  reader,  in  this  place,  of  two  well-known 
facts,  each  of  which  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  political  events  of 
the  period  now  under  consideration. 

The  first  of  these  facts  is,  the  '  friends  of  the  Government "  took  no 
part  whatever,  in  the  formation  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
nor  in  its  doings.  That  body  was  denounced  by  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, from  the  beginning,  as  '■  illegal  " — "it  is  allowed  by  the  Intelli- 
"  gent  among  them,  that  these  assemblies  of  the  People  without  au- 
"  thority  of  Government  are  illegal  and  may  be  dangerous,"  {Lieutenant  - 
ijorernor  I'niilen  to  the  Eiirl  of  Ditrlmonlh,  "  Xew  York  1st  June  1774.") 
"  These  transactions  "  [the  nomintUion  of  hepnties  to  the  Congress  and  the 
propnseit  rutijirntion  of  thi^  ticket  hij  the  hijdij  of  the jjenple]  "are  dangerous, 
"  my  Lord,  and  illegal,  but  by  what  means  shall  Government  prevent 
"them?  An  attempt  by  the  power  of  the  Civil  Magistrate  would  only 
"show  their  weakness,  and  it  ia  not  eaay  to  say  upon  what  foundation  a 
"  military  aid  should  be  called  in.  Such  a  Measure  would  involve  us  in 
"  Troubles  which  it  is  thought  much  more  prudent  to  avoid  ;  and  to  shun 
"  all  E.vtreams  while  it  is  yet  possible  Things  may  take  a  favourable 
"  tmu."—{The  srime  to  the  same,  "  New  YoiiK,  Gth  July,  1774.") 

The  party  of  the  Government — subsequently  called  "Tories" — in- 
cluded only  the  members  of  the  Colonial  Government,  in  its  various  de- 
partments, and  its  dependents;  it  was,  unwillingly,  only  a  passive  spec- 
tator of  what,  then,  took  place,  in  the  political  doings  of  that  period  ; 
and  it  was  wholly  powerless  to  suppress  the  rising  spirit  of  Revolution, 
which  it  would  have  gladly  done.  The  party  of  the  Opposition  to  the 
Government — subsequently  called  "Whigs" — included  the  great  body 
of  the  inhabitants,  aristocratic  as  well  as  democratic,  the  patricians  as 
well  as  the  plebeians.  It  was  cut  up  into  factions,  based  on  social  and  fi- 
nancial standings;  but,  in  its  opposition  to  the  Government,  it  was 
united  and  determined. 

The  second  of  the  facts  referred  to  is,  at  the  time  under  consideration 
and  during  the  succeeding  half  century,  as  we  have  already  stated  {vide 
pages  i,  5,  ante,)  those  who  were  not  Freeholders  or  Freemen  of  a 
Municipality,  were  not  vested  with  the  right  of  suffrage,  in  any  of  the 
Colonies ;  and  it  need  not  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that,  at  that  early  day, 
the  great  body  of  the  Freeholder  and  Freemen,  in  New  York,  was  not 
inclined  to  permit  any  interference,  in  political  affairs,  by  those  who 
were  not,  legally,  entitled  to  take  part  in  them.  Indeed,  the  rule  of 
universal  .suffrage  is  not,  to-day,  generally  recognized  ;  and  one  State, 
in  New  England,  if  no  more,  continues  to  make  a  division  of  her  citi- 
I  zens,  at  the  Polls. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


201 


federated  party  of  the  Opposition,  notwithstanding 
tiieir  apparent  harmony  on  other  questions,  was 
promptly  and  very  energetically  displayed. 

The  Resolution  offered  by  Theophilact  Bache  had 
no  sooner  been  declared  to  have  been  carried,  than 
Isaac  Sears,  seconded  by  Peter  Van  Brugh  Living- 
ston, representing  the  minority  of  the  Committee,  of- 
fered another  Resolution,  jiroviding  "that  Messrs. 
"Isaac  Low,  James  Duane,  Philip  Livingston,  John 
"  j\Iorin  Scott,  and  Alexander  ^IcDougal  be  nomi- 
'■  nated,  agreeable  to  the  question  now  carried ;"  but 
it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  aristocratic,  conserva- 
tive majority  of  the  Committee  that  the  plebeian, 
revolutionary  minority  of  that  body  should  have  the 
slightest  representation  in  the  proposed  Delegation  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  its  seeming  fairness,  the  Reso- 
lution was  promptly  rejected,  by  a  vote  of  twelve  to 
twenty-five.  The  subject  was  subsequently  disposed 
of,  as  it  then  appeared,  by  a  Resolution,  offered  by 
John  De  Lancey  and  seconded  by  Benjamin  Booth, 
providing  for  the  nomination  of  the  Delegates  by  the 
body  of  the  Committee,  of  which  the  conservative 
aristocrats  held  the  entire  control,  which  resulted  in 
the  nomination  of  Philip  Livingston,  John  Alsop, 
Isaac  Low,  James  Duane,  and  John  Jay,  of  whom 
John  Alsop  and  John  Jay,  who  had  been  substituted 
for  the  two  candidates  of  the  minority,  John  Morin 
Scott  and  Alexander  McDougal,  by  reason  of  their 
known  peculiarly  conservative  tendencies,  were  espe- 
jiecially  obnoxious  to  that  revolutionary  minority,  as 
well  as  to  the  revolutionary  portion  of  the  unfran- 
chised masses  whom  that  minority  indirectly  repre- 
sented. Another  Resolution,  requesting  "the  Inhab- 
"  itants  of  this  City  and  County  to  meet  at  the  City- 
"  Hall  on  Thursday,  the  seventh  of  July,  at  twelve 
"  o'clock,  to  concur  in  the  Nomination  of  the  fore- 
"  going  five  Persons,  or  to  choose  such  others  in  their 
"  stead  as  in  their  wisdom  shall  seem  meet,"  was  then 
adopted;  and,  the  majority,  probably,  being  well-con- 
tented with  its  api)arent  success,  the  Committee  then 
adjourned.' 

The  minority  of  the  Committee  and  those  with 
whom  it  sympathized  and  acted,  in  political  affairs — 
the  "  Bellwethers  "  and  the  "  Sheep  "  of  Gouverneur 
Morris's  metaphor — were  not  inclined,  however,  to 
submit,  tamely,  to  the  arbitrary  dictation  of  their 
"  Shepherds,"  composing  the  majority  of  that  body ; 
and  they  promptly  determined  to  carry  the  contest 
into  a  new  field,  and  with  heavy  reinforcements. 
For  that  purpose,  anonymous  handbills  were  posted 
throughout  the  City,^  on  the  day  after  the  Commit- 


1  Minnies  o/  the  t'ummillet,  A<|joiirued  lleetiug,  "New  York,  July  4, 
"1774.' 

See,  also,  LieMtenant-goremor  C'oldeu  to  the  Earl  of  hnrtmonth,  **  New 
"York,  July  C,  1774  ;"  the  same  to  Governor  Triion,  "  SPBINC.  Hll.1.,  Otli 
"July,  1774." 

-  One  of  those  handbills  has  been  presened  and  may  be  seen,  among 
other  broadsides  of  that  period,  in  the  Librarj-  of  the  Ni-w  York  Histori- 
cal Society. 


tee's  Meeting,  calling  a  Meeting  of  "the  good  People 
"  of  this  Metropolis,'-  to  be  held  in  the  Fields,'  on  the 
following  day,  [  Wednesd<ty,  July  6  ]  at  six  o'clock, 
"  when  Matters  of  the  utmost  Importance  to  their 
"  Reputation  and  Securitj',  as  Freemen,  will  be  com- 
"  municated."  At  the  appointed  hour,  it  is  said,  "  a 
"  numerous  meeting ''  was  collected,  with  Alexander 
McDougal  in  the  Chair,  forming  what  continues  to 
be  known,  in  history,  as  "the  great  Meeting  in  the 
"  Fields,"  at  which  several  Speeches  were  made,^  and 
nine  Resolutions  adopted,  expressing  the  popular 
will. 

One  of  the  Resolutions  adopted  by  that  notable  as- 
semblage of  the  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
was  almost  identical,  in  words  and  sentiments,  with 
that  voted  by  the  Town  of  Boston,  on  the  thirteenth 
of  May,  of  which  mention  has  been  made  herein ; 
another  "  instructed,  empowered,  and  directed  "  the 
Dei)uties  from  New  York,  in  the  jiroposed  Con- 
gress, "  to  engage  with  a  majority  of  the  principal 
"  Colonies,  to  agree,  for  this  City,  ui)on  a  nou-impor- 
"  tation,  j'rom  Great  Britain,  of  all  Goods,  Wares,  and 
"  Merchandises,  until  the  Act  for  blocking  up  the 
"  Harbour  of  Boston  be  repealed,  and  American 
"  Grievances  be  redressed  ;  and,  also,  to  agree  to  all 
"such  other  measures  as  the  Congress  shall,  in  their 
"  Wisdom,  judge  advancive  of  these  great  Objects, 
"  and  a  general  Security  of  the  Rights  and  Privileges 
"of  America;"  and  another  pledged  the  Meeting  to 
abide  by  all  that  the  proposed  Congress  should 
"come  into,  ami  direct  or  recommend  to  be  done, 
"  for  obtaining  and  securing  the  important  ends  men- 
I  "  tioiied  in  the  foregoing  Resolutions."  It  also  re- 
solved "  that  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Meeting  that 
"  it  would  be  proper  for  every  County  in  the  Colony, 
"  without  delay,  to  send  two  Deputies,  chosen  by  the 
"  People  or  from  the  Committees  chosen  by  them,  in 
"  each  County,  to  hold,  in  conjunction  with  Deputies 
"  for  this  City  and  County,  a  Convention  for  the 
"  Colony,  on  a  day  to  be  ajipointed,  in  order  to  elect 
"a  proper  Number  of  Deputies  to  represent  the  Col- 


3 What  were  then  called,  sometmies,  "The  Fields,"  and,  at  other 
times,  "The  Common,"  on  which  has  occurred  so  much  of  public  inter- 
est, in  later  as  well  as  in  earlier  days,  have  been  called,  during  more 
than  half  a  century  past,  "The  Park;"  and  by  that  name  it  is  still 
known,  notwithstanding  the  greater  attractions  which,  for  some  years 
l^ajst,  have  been  jiresented  to  merely  pleasure  seekers,  iu  the  new 
pleasure-grounds  known  as  "  The  Central  Park." 

'*.\mong  the  speakers  at  that  Meeting,  it  has  been  usual,  for  some 
'  years  past,  to  give  a  prominent  place  to  Ale.xunder  Hamilton,  then  a 
mere  lad,  who  had  been  thrown  into  this  City,  a  few  years  previously, 
by  those,  in  the  West  Indies,  who,  for  domestic  if  not  for  social  reasons, 
had  desired  his  removal  from  the  place  of  his  nativity.  As  there  is  no 
contemporary  authority  for  such  a  favor  to  the  previously  questionable 
reputation  of  that  "  young  West  Indian,"  however,  and  because  the  only 
modern  authority  for  the  statement  is  the  young  man's  son,  John  U. 
Hamilton,  (Life  of  AU-j-omhr  llainillon,  by  his  son,  New  York:  1840,  i.> 
22,  23,)  in  whose  uniupported  testimony,  in  historical  subjects,  we  have  no 
confidence  «  halever,  we  prefer  to  lea\  e  that  portion  of  the  history  of  "the 
■' great  Meeting,"  ifitis  truly  such  a  portion  of  it,  where  those  who  were 
present  and  who  recorded  the  doings  of  the  great  assemblage  then  left  it, 
entirely  untold. 


202 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  ony  in  the  general  Congress.  But  that,  if  the 
"  Counties  shall  conceive  this  mode  impracticable  or 
"  inexpedient,  they  be  requested  to  give  their  appro- 
"  bation  to  the  Deputies  who  shall  be  chosen  for  this 
"  City  and  County,  to  represent  the  Colony  in  Con- 
"  gress ;"  and  it  "  instructed  "  "  the  City  Committee  of 
"Correspondence"  "to  use  their  utmost  Endeavours 
"  to  carry  these  Resolutions  into  execution."  After 
ordering  the  Resolutions  to  be  printed  in  the  public 
Newspapers  of  the  City,  and  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
different  Counties  in  the  Colony  and  to  the  Commit- 
tees of  Correspondence  for  the  neighboring  Colonies, 
the  Meeting  then  adjourned  but  its  great  influence 
was  continued  to  be  felt,  long  after  the  circumstances 
which  had  caused  it  to  be  assembled  had  passed  from 
the  memories  of  those  who  were  present  and  who  par- 
ticipated in  its  doings. 

Inspired  by  the  strength  and  the  spirit  of  the  Meet- 
ing in  the  Fields,  and  led  in  their  o])position  to  the 
majority  of  the  Committee,  by  all  the  old-time  ex- 
perienced popular  leaders,  the  "  Inhabitants  of  the  City 
"and  County,"  of  every  class,  met,  agreeably  to  the  pub- 
lished request  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  at 
the  City  Hall,  at  noon,  on  the  day  after  those  Inhabit- 
ants had  assembled  in  the  Fields;  but  they  did  not  con- 
firm the  Committee's  Nominations,  for  Deputies  to  the 
proposed  Congress;  and  the  utmost  bad  feeling, 
between  the  aristocratic  majority  of  the  Committee 
and  the  great  body  of  the  ])lebeian  Tradesmen,  Arti- 
sans, and  Workingmen,  whom  it  had  betrayed,  pre- 
vailed throughout  the  city.' 

It  is  not  within  the  purjjoses  of  this  work,  however, 
to  present  a  narrative  of  the  various  movements  and 
counter-movements  of  the  rival  factions  of  the  con- 
federated party  of  the  OpjHisition,  again  disunited,  in 
their  determined  struggle  for  supremacy — nominally, 
for  the  establishment  of  their  respective  principles, 
in  opposition  to  or  in  support  of  a  general  "Siispen- 
"sion  of  Trade,"  but,  really,  for  places  on  the  ticket 
for  Delegates  to  the  i)r()posed  Congress  of  the  Con- 
tinent— which  was  continued,  without  ceasing,  from 
the  seventh  until  the  twenty-seventh  of  July  f  and 


1  Proceedht(i9  of  the  ^tcetiiitj^  appemted  to  the  ^linutes  of  Ifw  Commitfee 
of  Comepoiidnice,  "  New  York,  July  7,  1774." 

See,  also,  Holt's  Xew-  York  Jounial,  No.  IGU,  Nf.w-Yokk,  Thursdaj', 
July  7,  1774;  Gaino's  Kciv-Yoi-I;  GnMc  mid  Mcrnin/,  No.  1185,  New- 
York,  Monilay,  .luly  11,  1774 ;  Riiiiigli'HS  Xetv-Yoik  Gfl;p«w,  No.  6.5, 
New-Youk,  Thursclay,  July  14,  1774  ;  Liruteiuiut-fjoffninr  Coldett  to  Gov- 
ernor Tryoii,  "Spring  Hill,  2n(l  .\ugu6t,  1774;"  Hamilton's  Life  of 
Alexander  UmniUon,  i  ,  21-23  ;  Dawson's  Park  and  Us  Vicinitu,  34-.'i7  ; 
Dunlap's  Ui»lory  of  XewYork,  i.,  453  ;  Bancroft's  History  of  the  Vniled 
SUttes,  origin.al  edition,  vii.,  79,  80 ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv., 
355,  Siie  ;  de  Lancey's  Notes  to  Jones's  History  of  Xi  to  York  during  the 
Revolutionary  War,  i.,  451. 

2  Minutes  of  the  Committee.  July  7,  1.3,  19,  25,  and  27,  1774  ;  Dunlap's 
Bistary  of  New  York,  i.,  453  ;  Ilildreth's  History  of  the  I'tiittd  States, 
First  Series,  iii.,  39  ;  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  original 
edition,  Tii.,  80,  81  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  356,  357  ;  Leake's 
Memoir  of  General  Lamb,  d'i  ;  de  Lancey's  Notes  on  Jones's  History  of 
New  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  i.,  451-466. 

3  Decidedly  the  most  complete  narrative  of  that  notable  factional 
struggle  may  he  seen  in  de  Lancey's  Note  xiv,  on  Jones's  History  of  New 


which  was  terminated,  on  the  last-mentioned  day, 
only  after  Philip  Livingston,  Isaac  Low,  John  Alsop, 
and  John  Jay,  four  of  the  nominees  of  the  aristocratic 
and  conservative  Committee  of  Correspondence,  had 
inconsistently  and  venally  declared,  in  direct  con- 
tradiction of  the  constantly  declared  policy  of  that 
Committee,  previously  concurred  in  by  themselves, 
that  "  a  general  Non-Importation  Agreement,  faith- 
"  fully  observed,  would  prove  the  most  efficacious 
"Measure  to  procure  a  Redress  of  our  Grievances,"  * 
which  had  been  the  peculiarly  distinguishing  feature 
in  the  declared  policy  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  sim- 
ilar faction,  in  Boston  ;  and  after  those  four  of  the 
nominees  of  the  Committee  had  thus  practically 
abandoned  their  ari.stocratic  and  anti-revolutionary 
associates;  withdrawn  from  the  Committee  which  they 
had  largely  assisted  in  organizing  and  by  whom  they 
had  been  nominated;  and  united  with  those  whom 
they  personally  despised  and  by  whom  they  were 
quite  as  earnestly  distrusted  and  despised — when,  after 
the  fashion  of  such  corrupt  political  alliances,  then 
and  since— the  way  was  prepared  for  a  peaceful  Elec- 
tion of  the  nominees  of  the  Committee,*  four  of  whom 
no  longer  represented  the  declared  policy  of  the 
Committee;  and  one,  if  not  more  of  the  number 
was  more  of  a  Spy,  in  the  service  of  the  Colonial 
Government,  than  anything  else. 

It  will  l)e  seen  that  James  Duane  did  not  disgrace 
himself  or  his  name  by  placing  the  latter,  with  those 
of  his  four  aristocratic  associates  on  the  ticket  for 
Delegates  to  the  proposed  Congress,  on  the  letter 
through  which  those  four  bartered  the  little  of  politi- 
cal and  personal  integrity  and  the  modicum  of  unsel- 
fish ]>rinciples  which  they  respectively  possessed,  for 
a  small  mess  of  very  thin  official  pottage  ;  and,  in  that 
instance,  his  backwardness  was  honorable  and  timely, 
since  there  is  every  reason  for  the  belief  that,  at  that 
time,  he  was  not  master  of  himself;  that  he  had,  al- 
ready, been  purchased  by  another  ;  and  that,  then,  he 
was,  in  fact,  only  the  servant  of  his  master. 

History  has  revealed''  what,  otherwise,  would  have 
remained,  concealed,  in  the  files  of  the  Colonial  Land 
Papers,  in  the  Secretary's  Office,  in  Albany,'  concern- 


York  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  [i.,  449-467,)  which  has  been  prepared 
with  great  labor,  and  which  contains  carefully-made  copies  of  many  of 
the  original  handbills  and  placards  which  were,  then,  scattered  through- 
out the  city. 

^  Philip  Livingston,  John  Ahop,  Isaac  Lore,  and  John  Jay  to  Abrahitm 
Brasher,  Theophilus  Anthony,  Fraucia  Van  Di/rk,  Jeremiah  Piatt,  and 
Christopher  Luyrkinch,  "  New  York,  July  26, 1774." 

5  Proceedings  of  a  Meeting  of  a  nund/er  of  Citizens  convened  at  the 
"  House  of  Jl/r.  Marriner,"  at  which  the  nominations  by  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence  were  acquiesced  in,  by  those  who  assumed  to  repre- 
sent the  unfranchised  inhabitants  of  the  City,  "  New  Y'okk,  27  July, 
"  1774." 

8  "  Duane,  justly  eminent  as  a  lawyer,  was  embarrassed  by  large  spec- 
"ulations  in  Vermont  lands,  from  which  he  could  derive  uo  profit,  but 
"through  the  power  of  the  Crown." — (Bancroft's  History  of  the  United 
States,  original  edition,  vii.,  79  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  .355.) 

'New  York  ColonUd  Manuscripts  indorsed  "Land  Papers,"  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  Albany,  xviii.,  100  ;  six.,  68  ;  XX.,  168,  169  ; 


THE  A3IERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


ing  his  speculations  in  the  Crown  lands,  in  New 
York  and  Vermont,  to  secure  entire  success  in  which 
the  countenance  of  the  Colonial  Government  was 
needed  and  had  been  secured  ;  and  the  intimacy  of 
his  personal  relations  with  the  head  of  that  Govern- 
ment, the  venerable  Cadwallader  Golden,'  and  the 
remarkable  similiarity  of  his  views  concerning  the 
leading  political  questions  of  the  day,  among  which 
the  demand  for  a  suspension  of  the  trade  of  the 
Colonics  with  the  Mother  Country  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent,  and  those,  on  the  same  questions, 
which  were  maintained  by  that  unusually  zealous 
servant  of  the  King,  are  also  well  known  to  every 
careful  reader  of  that  portion  of  the  political  history 
of  the  Colony.  Indeed,  in  the  latter  connection,  it  is 
known  that,  subsequently  to  his  election  as  a  Dele- 
gate to  the  Congress,  and  before  he  left  New  York, 
to  take  his  seat  in  that  body,  as  the  trusted  Envoy  of 
all  the  inhabitants  of  that  City,  nominally  charged 
with  the  great  and  honorable  duty  of  seeking,  in 
their  behalf,  a  redress  of  the  political  grievances 
which  had  been  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Home 
Government,  he  visited  and  confidentially  compared 
notes,  on  political  subjects,  with,  if  he  did  not  also 
communicate  information  to,  the  official  representa- 
tive of  that  Government,  in  New  York  ;-  and.  with 
that  fact  established,  even  in  the  absence  of  direct 
and  positive  testimony  thereon,  it  would  not  be  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  or  to  say  that  specific  lines  of 
action,  in  the  interest  of  the  Crown,  which  were  sub- 
sequently followed,  within  that  Congress,  individually 
and  in  concert  with  other  Delegates,  were,  also,  con- 
sidered, and  canvassed,  and  determined  on,  during 
that  interview.  In  liarmony,  also,  with  tliat  evident 
connection  of  James  Duane  with  the  Colonial  Gov- 
ernment,— in  support,  also,  of  the  suspicion  that  par- 
ticular lines  of  action,  in  the  interest  of  the  Crown,  to 
be  taken  in  the  Congress,  were  considered  and  deter- 
mined on,  in  advance  of  the  meeting  of  the  Congress, 
by  that  particular  Delegate  and  the  venerable  Lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  Colony — reference  need  be 

xxi.,  1(1,  95  ;  xxii.,  15  ;  xxxiii.,  19,  41 ;  xxvii.,  17  ;  ami  the  many  papers, 
concerning  Duanesbiirg,  of  which  he  was  a  principal  Proprietor. 

'  He  was  the  Clerk  of  the  Colonial  Conrt  of  Chancery  ;  he  was,  often, 
the  retained  Counsel  of  the  Colonial  Government  {Opinions  of  Counsel  in 
the  Mutter  <./  t'imninghum,  Ajijiellnut,  aguinfl  Fort'y,  and  in  the  Matter  of 
Charijes  ayainut  Juilije  Welh ;)  he  was  the  Counsel  of  the  Lieutenant, 
governor,  in  the  celebrated  Suit,  in  Chancery,  concerning  a  division  of 
the  Fees  of  his  olTicc,  with  the  Earl  of  Dunuiore,  (Lettei-s,  etc.,  in  the 
Mailer  of  the  Atlorney-genend  pro  Rege  ut/'iinM  CnUlen  ;)  and  the  tone  and 
the  terms  of  the  letters  which  passed  between  them,  us  they  have  been 
preserved  in  "the  Colden  I'npers,  '  in  the  Library  of  the  New  York  His. 
torical  Society,  leave  no  room  for  doubt  on  the  subject. 

•  "  By  my  Letter  of  the  7th  of  September  your  Lordship  would  find  I 
"entertained  Hopes  that  the  Peoi>lc  of  this  Province  would  adopt  niod- 
"erate  Measures  and  avoid  giving  any  new  offence  to  the  Parliament.  I 
"know  such  were  the  sentiments  of  Farmers  and  Country  People  in 
"general  who  make  a  great  Majority  of  the  Inhabitants.  I  hafl  a  con- 
"fldcntial  conference  w  ith  one  of  the  Delegates  sent  from  this  city  to  the 
"Congress  now  met  at  Philadelphia  who  I  thought  had  us  much  intiu- 
"enccas  any  from  this  place,  and  ho  gave  me  assurances  of  his  disposition 
"being  similar." — I Lienlenunt-ijoremor  Coldeti  to  the  E<ui  of  l/arlnioulh, 
No.  7.,  "  New  York  5th  October  1774.") 


made  only  to  that  other  patent  fact,  that  the  Con- 
gress had  no  sooner  closed  its  sessions,  at  Philadel- 
phia, than  he  hastened  to  his  master,  in  New  York, 
and  reported  to  that  anxious  listener,  for  the  use  of 
the  Ministry,  in  England,  not  only  the  doings  of  par- 
ticular Delegations,  in  the  Congress,  and  those  of  the 
Congress  itself,  but  his  own  general  dissent  from  the 
proceedings,  his  request  that  that  dissent  should  be 
entered  on  the  Journal,  and  the  absolute  refusal  of 
permission  to  have  that  privilege  given  to  him,  all  of 
which  were  thus  communicated  in  open  violation  of 
his  promise  "  to  keep  the  Proceedings  secret,  until 
"the  Majority  shall  direct  them  to  be  made  Publick."* 
Indeed,  he  and  Joseph  Galloway,  of  Philadelphia,  the 
latter  of  whom,  also,  had  been  a  Delegate  in  the  Con- 
gress, visited  Lieutenant-governor  Colden,  soon  after 
the  adjournment  of  that  body,  and  communicated  to 
that  distinguished  member  of  the  Government,  all 
that  he  desired  to  know  of  the  entire  subject,  not 
sparing  even  those  portions  of  the  ])roceediiigs  of 
the  Congress  which  it  regarded  as  too  delicate  to 
be  submitted  to  the  light  of  day,  in  its  subsequently 
published  and  that,  too,  in  thefiice  of  the  no- 

torious fact  that  each  had  already  assented  to  and  s\gn- 
e^ihe  AHsociation  of  Non- Importation  which  the  Con- 
gress had  adopted,^  \\\\\c\\,  prima-facie,  carried  with  it, 
in  each  instance,  to  his  constituents  and  to  the  world, 
a  guaranty  of  his  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  con- 
nected with  the  great  trust  which  had  been  laid  upon' 
him  ;  but,  when  regarded  as  only  one  of  the  links  of 
a  chain  of  evidence,  concerning  his  entire  conduct, 
in  the  political  events  of  that  )ieriod,  it  is  one  which, 
until  the  end  of  time,  will  establish  the  stern  fact 
that  James  Duane,  among  others,  was  insincere,  un- 
trustworthy, and  dishonest,  as  a  man  and  as  a  politi- 
cian. 

The  Colonial  Government  was  decidedly  and  j)e- 
culiarly  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  any  measure, 
either  by  the  people  or  the  Congress,  which  would 
possibly  disturb  the  Trade  and  Commerce  of  Great 
Britain  ;  and  James  Duane,  a  dependent  on  that  Gov- 
ernment, was  not  at  liberty  to  sign  such  a  letter,  ap- 
proving the  establishment  of  a  Non-Importation 
Agreement,  as  that  which  his  four  associates  on  the 
aristocratic  ticket,  thus  smeared  with  corrujjtion,  had 
signed,  even  if  the  consequence  had  been  a  sacrifice 

I  3Xhe  fourth  Resolution  or  "  Rule  of  Condnct  In  be  oinierted,"  etc.,  is  in 
these  words  :  "  Resolved  :  That  the  Doors  be  kept  shut  during  the  Time 
"of  Business:  and  that  the  Members  consider  themselves  under  the 
"strongest  Obligations  of  Honour  to  keep  the  I'roceedings  secret,  until 
"  the  Majority  shall  direct  them  to  be  made  Puhlick."— ( Joiinm/  of  Ihe 
Cunnntu,  "Tuesday,  September  Gth,  1774,  ten  o'clock,  K  M.") 

*  The  Iiefpalch  of  Lii-iilcnanl-gnrernor  Colden  to  the  F.url  of  liiirl- 
mouth  dated,  "  Xf.w  York,  December  7th,  1774,"  in  which  the  Home 
Government  was  informed  of  these  dishonorable  revelations  of  the  action 
of  the  Congress,  is  too  extended  to  be  copied  into  this  Note.  The  reader 
is  consequently  referred  to  it. 

^  \  carefully  prepared  f>ic-simile  of  the  last  sheet  of  that  AMoeiolion, 
which  contained  the  signatures  of  the  several  Delegations— those  of 
James  Duane  and  Joseph  Galloway  being  among  them— may  be  seen  in 
Force's  Americuu  Archifen,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  opposite  fiilios  91.'i,  91C. 


204 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  that  opportunity  to  obtain,  for  himself,  a  seat  in 
tliat  Congress,  a  contingency  which  the  Colonial 
Government  was,  probably,  quite  as  anxious  to  avoid, 
and  one  which  was  evidently  guarded  against  by 
means  which  were  entirely  effective.  James  Duane 
was  not  among  those  who  were  suddenly  converted, 
in  order  to  ensure  their  success  at  the  Polls;  but, 
nevertheless,  on  the  day  after  the  disgraceful  political 
somersault  of  Philip  Livingston,  Isaac  Low,  John 
Alsop,  and  John  Jay  had  been  declared  satisfactory 
hj  their  jilebeian  and  revolutionary  auditor}',  that 
eminent  adherent  to  the  original  policy  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence,  as  well  as  those  who  had 
so  ignominiously  abandoned  it,  was  elected,  at  the 
Polls,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  "the  Inhabitants,"  ' 
-affording  an  exam])le,  in  political  engineering,  which 
has  been  too  often  followed,  at  the  expense  of  indi- 
vidual integrity  and  of  the  good  of  the  country,  from 
that  time  until  the  present. 

Perhaps  the  preceding  detail  belongs  more  properly 
to  the  political  history  of  the  commercial  City  of 
New  York  than  to  that  of  the  purely  agricultural 
County  of  Westchester ;  yet  it  would  be  impossible  to 
j)reseut  any  narrative  of  the  events  of  the  Revolu- 
tion which  occurred  within  that  portion  of  the  Col- 
ony, which  should  pretend  to  completeness,  or  preci- 
sion, or  accuracy,  without  having  previously  explained 
the  precise  nature  of  those  influences  which  were 
brought,  from  beyond  the  limits  of  the  County,  to 
undermine  the  fundamental  and  rigid  conservatism  of 

I 

those  staid,  well-to-do,  and  contented  farmers  who 
occupied  that  County,  and  to  draw  any  portion  of 
them  from  the  quiet  of  their  rural  homes  into  the 
.'seething  vortex  of  partisan  excitement,  concern- 
ing measures  of  the  Home  Government  which  did  not 
affect  them  nor  their  interests,  in  the  slightest  degree 
— a  departure  from  the  ways  of  their  fathers,  which, 
before  many  months  had  elapsed,  transformed  that 
quiet,  and  neighborly,  and  law-abiding  community 
into  one  of  entire  unrest  and  disorder,  of  the  most 
intense  partisan  bitterness,  and  of  the  most  complete 
disregard  of  all  law,  human  and  divine;  converting 
what  had  been  a  quiet,  and  well-cultivated,  and  pro- 
<luctive  agricultural  region  into  one  over  which  were 
spread  the  evidences  of  partisan  law'Iessness,  of  vigi- 
lant suspicion  and  distrust,  of  sullen  neglect,  and, 
too  often,  of  hopeless  and  lamentable  ruin.  The  pur- 
l>oses,  api)arent  or  concealed,  of  those  who  created 
the  Committee  of  Correspondence  in  the  City  of  New 


^  Letter  of  the  Committee  of  Corregpoudeitce  of  Xen-  York  to  the  Cotituiit- 
tee  in  Charleston,  "  New  York,  July  26th,  1774,"  Postscript,  dated  "  July 
"  28th  ;"  the  same  to  the  Committee  in  Philadelphia,  "New  York,  July  iSth, 
"  1774  ;  "  the  same  to  Matthew  Tilghman,  Chairman  of  the  Mnrylaml  Com- 
mittee, "  New  Y'oek,  July  2Sth,  1774;  "  Lieutenant-goremor  Colden  to  the 
Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "  New  York  2  August  1774;"  the  same  to  Gorenior 
Tri/on,  "  Spkino  Hill  2  August  1774;  "  the  sameto  the  Earlof  Dartmouth, 
"New  York  7tli  Septr  1774  ;  "  the  same  to  Governor  Tryon,  "  Septr  7th 
*'1774;''  Jones's  Histori/  of  Sew  York  ihiring  the  Jifrohitionarif  ^Var,  i , 
34,  35  ;  Baucroft's  Historij  of  the  Vniled  Slates,  original  editiou,  vii  ,  83  ; 
the  same,  centeuary  edition,  iv.,  358. 


York;  the  purposes,  published  or  withheld,  of  the 
Committee  itself;  and  the  purposes,  generally  well- 
concealed,  of  some  of  those  who  wielded  the  influ- 
ence of  that  Committee,  sometimes  for  the  promotion 
of  their  individual  and  not  always  righteous  interests 
and  sometimes  for  the  suppression  of  the  aspirations 
of  others  which  were  quite  as  praiseworthy  as  their 
own,  are,  therefore,  subjects  which  cannot  be  disre- 
garded, in  whatever  relates  to  revolutionary  West- 
chester-county,  since  it  was  that  Committee,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  who  made  the  first  assault  on  the 
long-established  conservatism  of  the  farmers  of  that 
ancient  County — an  assault  which  was  made  entirely 
unsuccessful  by  their  sturdy  disregard ;  since  it  was 
that  Committee,  returning  to  the  assault  and  offering 
the  tempting  allurements  of  place  and  official  author- 
ity to  those  who  should  break  from  the  ranks  of  their 
conservative  countrymen — who,  as  will  hereinafter 
appear,  by  means  of  such  corrupt  allurements,  first 
broke  the  line  of  those  rural  home-guards  which  had 
previously  thrown  back  the  power  of  the  insidious 
invader;  and  because  it  was  that  Committee  who 
called  into  existence,  successively,  the  revolutionary 
Congress  of  the  Contitient  and  the  yet  more  revolu- 
tionary Provincial  Congress,  whence,  subsequently, 
flowed  that  torrent  of  disorders  and  disasters  over 
which  Westchester-county  has  not  ceased  to  mourn, 
from  that  period  until  the  present.  These  have  been 
consequently  presented,  as  briefly,  however,  as  was 
consistent  with  persjiicuity ;  and  a  more  complete, 
and  precise,  and  accurate  understanding  of  the  details 
of  the  revolution  of  sentiments  within  Westchester- 
county,  as  portions  of  that  more  extended  revolution, 
throughout  the  Colony  and  the  Continent,  "in  the 
"  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people,"  it  is  believed,  willi 
therefrom,  be  more  readily  and  more  certainly,  if  not 
more  permanently,  assured  to  the  greater  number  of 
readers  who  shall  resort  to  these  pages. 

AVithout  the  slightest  indication  of  any  concern  be- 
cause of  the  humiliating  defeat  to  which  it  had  been 
subjected,  in  the  abandonment  of  one  of  the  principal 
of  its  peculiar  and  emphatically  declared  principles, 
and  in  the  acceptance,  in  the  place  of  that  abandoned 
principle,  by  its  own  nominees,  of  one  of  the  pecu- 
liarly antagonistic  principles  of  those  whom  it  had 
persistently  endeavored  to  silence  and  suppress,  on 
the  day  after  the  election  of  the  Delegates  to  the  pro- 
posed Congress,  [Julu  29,]  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
respondence in  New  York  addressed  a  second  Circu- 
lar Letter  to  the  County  Committee,  where  there  was 
one,  or  to  the  Treasurer,  where  there  was  no  Com- 


2  "An  History  of  Military  Operations,  from  April  19,  1775,  to  Septem- 
"  ber  3,  1783,  is  not  an  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  any  more 
"than  the  Marquis  of  Quincy's  Mililanj  History  of  Louijs  XIV,  though 
"much  esteemed,  is  a  History  of  the  Keign  of  that  Monarch.  The 
"  Revolution  was  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  pi-oplp,  and  in  the 
"  Union  of  the  Colonies,  both  of  which  were  substantially  effected  before 
"  hostilities  commenced." — (Letter  from  John  Adams  to  Jtdidiah  Slorse, 
"  Qviscv,  Xovember  29, 1815.") 


THE  AMEKICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


205 


mittee,  in  each  of  the  several  Counties  in  the  Colony, 
in  which,  after  it  hud  stated  the  election  of  Delegates 
to  represent  the  City  of  New  York,  in  the  proposed 
Congress,  to  be  assembled  on  the  first  of  September 
ensuing,  at  Philadelphia,  it  presumptuously  and  with 
an  assumed  air  of  leadership,  continued,  in  these 
words :  "  It  therefore  becomes  necessary  that  the 
"  Delegates  to  represent  the  other  Counties  in  this 
"  Province  be  speedily  ai)pointed.  The  Counties  will 
"  judge  of  the  propriety  of  confiding  in  the  same  per- 
•'  sons  only  which  we  have  chosen,  or  to  appoint  such 
"  others  to  go,  with  them,  to  the  Congress,  as  they 
"  may  think  fit  to  depute,  for  that  purpose-  Permit 
"  us  to  observe  that  the  number  of  Delegates  is  imma- 
"  terial,  since  those  of  each  Province,  whether  more 
"  or  less,  will  conjointly  have  onlj'  one  vote  at  the 
"  Congress.  In  order,  however,  that  the  representa- 
"tionofthe  different  Counties  may  be  quite  com- 
"  plete,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  your  County 
"  appoint,  with  all  possible  speed,  one  or  more  Dele- 
"  gates  to  join  and  go  with  ours  to  the  Congress,  or,  if 
"  you  choose  to  repose  your  confidence  in  our  Dele- 
"  gates,  that  you  signify  such  your  determination,  in 
"  the  most  clear  and  explicit  terms,  by  the  first  op- 
"  portunity,  after  the  sense  of  your  County  can  be 
"  known,  on  so  interesting  a  subject.''  ^ 

To  this  Circular  Letter  which  was  thus  sent  to  the 
several  rural  Counties  throughout  the  Colony,  only 
six  of  those  Counties  are  known  to  have  paid  the 
slightest  attention,  those  of  Westchester,  Duchess,  and 
Albany  having  respectively  authorized  the  Delegates 
whom  the  City  of  New  York  had  elected,  to  represent 
them,  also,  in  the  Congress  ;  -  while  those  of  Kings,  ' 
Suffolk,*  and  Orange,*  respectively,  sent  Delegates  of 
their  own  appointment ;  and  Richmond,  Queens,  Ul- 
ster, Cumberland,  Gloucester,  Charlotte,  and  Tryon, 
respectively,  did  not  manifest  the  slightest  interest  in 
the  subject.*  For  the  purposes  of  this  work,  only  the 
action  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  on  that  Circular 
Letter,  can  be  noticed  in  this -place. 

As  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  evidently  in- 
tended that  only  the  united  action  of  the  entire 
County,  in  every  instance,  should  be  invited,  on  the 
subject  of  appointing  Delegates  to  the  proposed  Con- 
gress, it  is  not  probable  that  the  sentiments  of  the  in- 


1  Draft  of  the  Circular  Lttler  sent  to  the  Commiltee  or  Trcaiurtr  of  the 
different  Counliet,  "  New  'YiiRK,  July  20,  1774,"  appcuded  to  the 
ilimitetof  the  Commiltee,  "New  York,  July  28,  1774." 

See,  also,  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  to  Goveruor  Tryon,  "  Spbinu 
"  Hill  2  August  1774." 

•  CyedentiaU  of  those  Delegates — Journal  of  the  Oongress,  "  Mondjiy, 
"  September  5, 1774." 

^  Credenlitil  of  Sinpm  Boeruni — Journal  of  the  Congress,  "Saturday, 
"October  1,  1774." 

*  Credential  of  William  Ftoijd — Journal  of  the  Congres*,  "  Monday, 
"  September  5,  1774." 

^Credential  of  Henry  Wisner — Journal  of  the  Congress,  "Wednesday, 
"September  14,  1774,  .\.5I."  and  tbat  of  John  Herring— Journal  of  the 
"  Congress,  "  Monday,  September  26,  1774,  A.M." 

^  Lieutenanl-goremor  Colden  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "New  York, 
"  7th  September,  1774." 


dividual  Towns,  on  any  other  subjects,  were  consid- 
ered desirable,  or  were  expected  to  be  ascertained,  or, 
if  ascertained,  were  desired  to  be  given  to  the  public. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  for  some  reason,  if  more  than  four 
Towns  in  Westchester-county  took  any  action  what- 
ever, in  response  to  the  Circular  Letter  of  the  Com- 
mittee, concerning  the  political  questions  of  that 
period,  or  for  the  appointment  of  Deputies  to  repre- 
sent the  County  in  the  proposed  Congress,  or  for  any 
other  purpose,  the  record  of  that  action  has  escaped 
the  notice  of  working  historical  students — the  pro- 
ceedings of  Mamaroneck  were  communicated  directly 
to  the  Committee,  at  New  York,  in  a  letter  dated  on 
the  seventh  of  August ;  and  those  of  Bedford  were  al- 
so communicated,  directly  to  the  same  Committee,  in 
a  letter  dated  on  the  ninth  of  that  month  : '  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Rye  and  those  of  the  Borough  Town  of 
Westchester,  because  of  the  respective  opinions  of 
those  Towns,  on  other  subjects,  which  were  more 
fully  and  formally  expressed,  require  more  particular 
notice. 

On  the  tenth  of  August,  responsive  to  the  Circular 
Letter  Irom  the  Committee  in  New  York,  the  Free- 
holders and  Inhabitants  of  Rye,  who  sympathized 
with  that  Committee  in  its  proposal  that  Westchester- 
county  should  appoint  Delegates  to  represent  it  in  the 
proposed  Congress,  met  and  appointed  John  Thomas, 
Junior,  Esq.,  James  Horton,  Junior,  Esq.,  Robert 
Bloomer,  Zeno  Carpenter,  and  Ebenezer  Haviland, 
for  "  a  Committee  to  consult  and  determine,  with  the 
"  Committees  of  the  other  Towns  and  Districts  within 
"  the  County,"  in  County  Convention,  to  be  assem- 
bled at  the  Court-house,  at  the  White  Plains,  on 
ilonday,  the  twenty-second  of  August,  "  upon  the  ex- 
"  pediency  of  sending  one  or  more  Delegates  to  the 
"  Congress,  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  first 
"  day  of  September  next." 

The  Meeting  appears  to  have  patiently  waited, 
without  adjourning,  while  the  Committee  which  it 
had  appointed,  organized,  by  the  appointment  of 
Ebenezer  Haviland,  as  its  Chairman ;  and  considered 
the  great  political  questions  of  the  day ;  and  ex- 
pressed its  conclusions  on  those  questions,  in  a  series 
of  Resolutions,  in  the  following  words: 

"  This  Meeting  being  greatly  alarmed  at  the  late 
"  Proceedings  of  the  British  Parliament,  in  order  to 
"  raise  a  Revenue  in  America;  and  considering  their  late 
"most  cruel,  unjust,  and  unwarrantable  Act  for  block- 
"  ing  up  the  Port  of  Boston,  having  a  direct  tendency  to 
"  deprive  a  free  People  of  their  most  valuable  Rights 
"and  Privileges,  an  introduction  to  subjugate  the  In- 
"  habitants  of  the  English  Colonies  and  to  render 
"  them  Vassals  to  the  British  House  of  Commons  : 

"Resolve,  First,  That  they  think  it  their  greatest 
"  Happiness  to  live  under  the  illustrious  House  of 
"Hanover;  and  that  they  will  steadfastly  and  uni- 
"formly  bear  true  and  faithful  Allegiance  to  His 


'  Minutes  of  the  Commiitee,  "  Sew  Yokk,  August  29,  1774." 


206 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  Majesty,  King  George  the  Third,  under  the  enjoy- 
"  ment  of  their  constitutional  Eights  and  Privileges, 
"as  fellow-subjects,  with  those  of  England. 

"  Secoxd,  That  we  conceive  it  a  fundamental  part 
"  of  the  British  Constitution,  that  no  Man  shall  be 
"  taxed  but  by  his  own  Consent,  or  that  of  his  Eepre- 
"  sentative,  in  Parliament ;  and  as  we  are  by  no  means 
"  represented,  we  consider  all  Acts  of  Parliament 
"  imposing  Taxes  on  the  Colonies,  an  undue  ex- 
"  ertion  of  Power,  and  subversive  of  one  of  the  most 
"  valuable  Privileges  of  the  English  Constitution. 

"  Third,  That  it  is  the  Opinion  of  this  Meeting 
"  that  the  Act  of  Parliament  for  shutting  up  the  Port 
"  of  Boston,  and  divesting  some  of  the  Inhabitants  of 

])rivate  Property,  is  a  most  unparalleled,  rigorous, 
"  and  unjust  piece  of  Cruelty  and  Despotism. 

"  Fourth,  That  unanimity  and  firmness  of 
"  Measures  in  the  Colonies  are  the  most  effectual 
"  Means  to  secure  the  invaded  Rights  and  Privileges 
"  of  America,  and  to  avoid  the  impending  Ruin  which 
"  now  threatens  this  once  hai)py  Country. 

"  Fifth,  That  the  most  etfectual  mode  of  redress- 
"  ing  our  Grievances  will  b'e  by  a  general  Congress  of 
"  Delegates  from  the  difl'erent  Colonies  ;  and  that  we 
"  are  willing  to  abide  by  such  Measures  as  they,  in 
"  their  Wisdom,  shall  think  most  conducive  upon 
"such  an  important  Occasion." 

These  Resolutions  were  duly  submitted  to  the  Meet- 
ing ;  and,  as  the  official  record  says,  they  "  were 
"  unanimously  ajjproved  of ;  "  when  the  assemblage 
quietly  dispersed.' 

Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  questionable 
practices  of  ambitious,  and,  not  unfrequently,  unscru- 
pulous politicians,  will  be  prejiared,  without  warning, 
for  the  reception  of  any  modification  of  the  recorded 
features  of  that  Meeting,  at  Rye,  of  which  mention 
has  been  made — the  first  demonstration,  in  West- 
chester-county,  concerning  the  great  political  ques- 
tions of  the  day,  of  which  there  is,  now,  any  existing 
record. 

It  does  not  appear,  nor  is  it  pretended,  that  the 
Meeting  of  "the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the 
"Township  of  Rye,"  now  under  consideration,  was 
numerously  attended ;  and,  as  it  was  held  during  the 
busiest  season  of  the  agricultural  year,  there  is  no 
reason  for  supposing  that  many  were  present.  In  the 
same  connection,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  place  of 
meeting  is,  also,  unnoticed  on  the  record.  The  master- 
spirit of  the  assembled  farmers,  whether  many  or  few 
in  number,  was  John  Thomas,  Junior,  one  of  a  family 
of  officeholders  under  the  Home  and  the  Colonial 
Governments,^  and,  himself,  an  anxious  office-seeker. 


1  Ollicial  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Meeting— Holt's  \ew-York 
Journal,  Xo.  1G50,  New-Yokk,  Thursday,  August  18,  1774. 

See,  also,  Gaiue's  Xew-York  Gazette,  and  the  WeeMij  Mercury,  No.  1192, 
New-York,  Monday,  August  15,  1774,  and  liicmgloii's  Xew-York  Ga- 
zelleer,  No.  70,  New-York,  Thui-sday,  August  1><,  1774. 

2  The  Grandfather  of  John  Thomas,  Junior,  waa  the  Rev.  John 
Thomas,  Rector  of  St.  George's  C'liurch,  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  who. 


from  the  revolutionary  party  ;^  and  the  well-con- 
sidered and  well-worded  Resolutions,  as  well-adapted 
for  the  protection  of  the  father's  official  positions  as 
for  the  construction  of  others  for  the  son's  advance- 
ment, and  evidently  the  work  of  a  master-hand  which 
was  not  seen  in  the  Committee  nor  in  the  Meeting, 
promote  a  suspicion  that  that  Meeting  of  "the  Free- 
"  holders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  Township  of  Rye," 
the  first  indication  of  Westchester-county's  inclina- 
tion to  enter  the  area  of  political  strife,  was  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  movement  iu  the  Thomas 
family,  and  for  its  particular  benefit.  Subsequent 
events,  in  connection  with  the  doings  of  those  who 
were  present,  at  that  particular  Meeting,  serve  to 
strengtlien  that  suspicion,  if  not  to  confirm  it.* 

While  the  politicians,  in  Rye,  were  discussing,  with 
more  or  less  satisfaction,  the  result  of  their  doings, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  those  in  the  Bor- 

froni  his  Ordination,  iu  1704,  until  his  death,  in  1727,  was  a  Missionary 
in  the  employ  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  in  London.  The  father  of  John  Thomas,  Junior,  was  Uon.  John 
Thomas,  who,  from  1743  until  the  dissolution  of  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, in  1776,  was  a  Member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony, 
representing  the  County  of  Westchester ;  and,  from  May,  175.j,  until  the 
dissolution  of  the  Colonial  Government,  in  177(5,  he  was  the  First  Judge 

of  the  Colonial  Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  Couuty  of  Westchester  

both  of  whicli  otlices  could  have  been  held  by  no  one  who  was  not  well- 
dispo.sed  to  the  Colonial  and  Home  Governments;  and  neither  of  which 
was  surrendered  by  him,  while  he  lived. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Timothy  Wetniore,  the  Ven- 
erable Society's  Schoolmaster  at  Rye,  to  the  .-Secretary  of  that  body,  at 
London,  dated  "Rye,  May  6,  17(11,"  affords  additional  evidence  of  the 
political  tendencies  of  the  Thomas  family,  and  of  its  hankerings  after 
the  power  to  manipulate  the  "iwtronage"  of  those  in  authority,  through- 
out Westchester-county  :  "  Mr.  Thomas,  who  is  one  of  the  Representa- 
"tives  in  this  County,  and  who,  in  Governour  De  Lancey's  time,  being 
"  favoured  with  all  the  Administration  of  all  Offices  in  the  Country,  civil 
"and  military,  by  the  help  of  which  he  has  procured  himself  a  large  in- 
"terest  in  the  County,  especially  in  the  distant  and  new  Settlements, 
"  which  abound  with  a  Set  of  People  governed  more  by  venality  than 
"any  thing  else.  This  Gentleman,  although  one  of  the  Society's 
"  Missionaries'  Sons,  is  so  negligent  and  indifferent  toward  Religion 
"(in  imitation  of  some  of  our  great  Men)  that  it  has  been  a  steady 
"Method  with  him,  for  years,  not  to  attend  Publick  Worship,  perhaps 
"  more  than  once  or  twice  iu  a  year,  whose  example  has  been  mis- 
"chievous.  This  man  is  not  only  one  of  our  Vestry  (though  very 
"  little  esteemed  by  the  true  friends  of  the  Church),  but  has  procured 
"that  the  Majority  of  the  Vestry  are  Men  that  will  be  governed  by 
"  him  ;  several  of  the  Vestry  are  not  of  the  Church  :  and  not  one  of 
"them  a  communicant  in  the  Church;  accordingly,  the  Church  are 
"not  at  all  consulted  with  regard  to  a  successor,"  to  the  former  Rector, 
who  had  died  in  the  preceding  May. 

With  the  father,  on  the  Rench,  and  in  the  Legislature,  and  in  the 
interest  of  the  Crown,  and  the  sou  in  the  front  rank,  if  not  the  actual 
head,  of  the  revolutionary  element,  what  there  was  of  it,  within  the 
County,  it  mattered  very  little  to  the  Thomas  family,  which  of  the  two, 
the  Crown  or  the  Colonists,  should  become  the  victors. 

3  John  Thomas,  Junior,  by  this  early  movement  in  behalf  of  the  rev- 
olutionary element,  placed  himself  in  the  front  rank  of  successful  poli- 
ticians in  AVestchester-county— he  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of 
the  County,  and  its  Chairman  ;  a  Member  of  the  Provincial  Convention 
representing  Westchester-county,  in  177.5;  a  Member  of  the  Fii-st  and 
Second  Provincial  (Congresses,  representing  Westchester-county,  in  1775, 
1776  ;  (iuartermaster  of  the  Second  Westchester-county  Regiment,  of 
which  his  brother,  Thomas,  was  Colonel  ;  and  Sheriff  of  Westchester- 
county,  from  1778  to  1781 — his  brothers,  also,  having  beeu  well  provided 
for,  in  the  public  service. 

<See  the  liisclaimer  of  Isauc  GUIney  (mil  eiijhlij-lhree  other  "  Freeholdere 
"ami  Iiihahilaiits  of  Bye,"  " KvE,  New  York, September  24,  1774,"  pages 
32,  33,  post. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


207 


ough  Town  of  Westchester,  within  which  tlie  ])olitical 
family  of  Morris  was  seated,'  prepared  to  follow  their 
example.  For  that  jiurpose,  on  Saturday,  the  twen- 
tieth of  August,  also  in  response  to  the  Circular 
Letter  received  from  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  those  of  "  the  Freeholders 
"  and  Inhabitants  "  of  that  Borough  Town  who  sympa- 
thized with  that  Committee  in  its  request  that  West- 
chester-county  should  apj)oint  Delegates  to  represent 
it  in  the  proposed  Congress,  met,  and  appointed 
James  Ferris,  Esq.,  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  and  Cap- 
tain Thomas  Hunt,  "  a  Committee  to  meet  the  Com- 
"  mittees  of  the  difl'ereut  Towns  and  Precincts,  within 
"  this  County,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  Monday,  the 
"  twenty-second  instant,  to  consult  on  the  expediency 
"  of  appointing  one  or  more  Delegates  to  represent 
"  this  County,  at  the  general  Congress,  to  be  held  at 
"  Philadelphia,  the  first  day  of  September  next." 

Like  the  similar  Meeting,  at  Rye,  this  Meeting 
also  waited,  apparently  without  adjourning,  until  its 
Committee  was  formally  organized,  by  the  ai)i)oint- 
nient  of  James  Ferris,  Esq.,  as  its  Chairman,  and 
while  that  Committee  considered  the  various  political 
questions  of  the  period — ''the  very  alarming  Situa- 
"  tion  of  their  sufi'ering  Brethren,  at  Boston,  occa- 
"siouedby  the  late  unconstitutional,  arbitrary,  and 
"oppressive  Act  of  the  British  Parliament,  for 
'■  blocking  up  their  Port,  as  well  as  the  several  Acts 
"  imposing  Taxes  on  the  Colonies,  in  order  to  raise  a 
"  Revenue  in  America  " — and  had  prepared  the  fol- 
lowing Resolutions  expressive  of  the  result  of  its 
deliberations  on  those  very  grave  questions: 

FiKST,  Resolved,  That  we  do  and  will  bear  true 
"  Allegiance  to  His  Majesty,  George  the  Third,  King 
"  of  Great  Britain,  &c.,  according  to  the  British 
"  Constitution. 

"Second,  That  we  coincide  in  opinion  with  our 
"  friends  of  New  York  and  of  every  other  Colony, 
"  that  all  Acts  of  the  British  Parliament,  imposing 
'•  Taxes  on  the  Colonies,  without  their  Consent,  or  by 
"  their  Representative,  are  arbitrary  and  oppressive, 
"  and  should  meet  the  abhorrence  and  detesta- 
"  tion  of  all  good  men ;  That  they  are  replete  with 
"  the  purpose  of  creating  Animosities  and  Dissensions 
"between  the  Mother  Country  and  the  Colonies; 
'■  and  thereby  tend  to  destroy  that  Harmony  and 
"  mutual  Agreement  which  it  is  so  much  the  Interest 
"of  both,  to  Cherish  and  Maintain. 

"  Third,  That  we  esteem  it  our  Duty,  and  think  it 
"  incumbent  on  all  the  Colonies  in  America,  to  con- 
"  tribute  towards  the  Relief  of  the  poor  and  distressed 
"  People  of  Boston  ;  and  that  a  Person  of  this  Bor- 
"ough  be  appointed  to  collect  such  charitable  Dona- 
"  tions,  within  the  same,  as  may  be  offered  for  their 
"  Support. 


1  Until  1846,  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester  included,  vrithin  its 
boundaries,  the  more  modern  towns  of  Westchester,  West  Farms,  and 
Morrisania. 


"  Fourth,  That  as  a  Division  in  the  Colonies 
'•  would  be  a  sure  means  to  counteract  the  present 
"Intention  of  the  Americans,  in  their  Endeavours  to 

I  "  preserve  their  Rights  and  Liberties  from  the  Inva- 
"  sion  that  is  threatened,  we  do  most  heartily  recom- 
"  mend  a  Steadiness  and  Unanimity  in  their  Meas- 

I  "  ures,  as  they  will  have  the  happy  Effects  of  averting 
"the  Calamity  that  the  late  tyrannical  Acts  of  the 
"British  Parliament  would  otherwise  most  assuredly 
"  involve  us  in. 
"  Fifth,  That  to  obtain  a  Redress  of  our  Griev- 

i  "  ances,  it  has  been  thought  most  advisable,  in  the 

'  "Colonies,  to  ajjjmint  a  general  Congress,  we  will  take 
"  Shelter  under  the  ^Visdonl  of  those  Gentlemen  who 
"  nuiy  be  chosen  to  represent  us,  and  cheerfully  ac- 
"quiesce  in  any  Measures  they  may  judge  shall  be 
"  proper,  on  this  very  alarming  and  critical  Occasion." 

These  Resolutions  were  duly  presented  to  the 
Meeting ;  and  the  official  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
that  Meeting  tells,  to  all  comers,  they  "  were  unani- 
" mously  agreed  to;"  after  which  the  Meeting  was 
dissolved. - 

Because  the  numerous  tenants  and  other  depend- 
ents on  the  Morris  family  were  residents  of  Westches- 
I  ter,  and  not  distant,  there  is  reason  for  the  supposition 
'  that  the  Meeting  was  well-attended ;  and  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  proceedings  were  con- 
ducted with  entire  propriety  and  good  order.  But, 
[  like  the  Meeting  at  Rye,  of  which  mention  has  been 
made,  that  at  Westchester  was  evidently  controlled 
by  a  single  master-spirit ;  and,  like  the  former,  the 
!  latter  was,  also,  unquestionably  convened  and  con- 
ducted, not  as  much  for  the  clear  expression  of  the 
uncontrolled  and  intelligent  opinions  of  "  the  Free- 
;  "  holders  and  Inhabitants"  of  the  Town,  on  the  grave 
j  questions  which  were  submitted  to  them,  or  for  the 
I  honest  promotion  of  the  best  interests  of  the  Colony, 
I  as  for  a  i)reparation  of  the  way  for  the  return  of  the 
I  Morris  family  to  ])lace,  and  authority,  and  influence 
in  the  political  affairs  of  the  Colony,  from  which, 
through  the  controlling  power  of  the  De  Lanceys,  it 
I  had  been,  for  many  years,  entirely  excluded. 

It  is  probable  that  the  other  Towns  throughout  the 
!  County,  if  any  such  Towns,  really  or  apparently,  re- 
!  sponded  to  the  invitation  of  the  Committee  of  Cor- 
I  resjjondence     in     New    Y'ork,    either  contented 
themselves,  like  those  of  Bedford  and  Mamaroneck, 
with  only  the  elections  of  Delegates  to  the  proposed 
Convention   of  the  County,  without  any  further 
expression  of  their  sentiments,  or,  if  they  expressed 
such  sentiments  or  any  others,  that,  in  the  absence  of 
all  other  than  merely  local  agitators,  they  did  not 
[  crowd  those  sentiments  before  a  people  who  were 
j  already  surcharged  with  such  wordy  manifestations  ; 
I  and  it  remains  only  for  us  to  record  the  additional 

I     'Official  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Sleeting,  in  Gaine's  AVmj- 
I  York  Guzelle:  mut  the  \yeMij  Mm-iiri/,  No.  1194,  New- York,  Monday, 
I  Atigust  JO,  1774,  and  in  Jtiringtou'a  Xew-Yorii  GazetUer,  No.  72,  New- 
York,  Thursday,  September  2,  1774. 


208 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


facts  that,  on  Monday,  the  twenty-second  of  August, 
1774,  a  Convention  of  Delegates  from  the  several 
Towns  and  Distiicts  of  Westchester-county,  or  from  a 
number  of  them,  was  assembled  in  the  Court-house, 
at  the  White  Plains ;  that  Colonel  Frederic  Philipse, 
Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Philipseborough  and  a  Member 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Province,  represent- 
ing the  County  of  Westchester  in  that  body,  was  in  the 
Chair  of  that  Convention  ;  ^  that  it  was  determined  to 
authorize  a  Delegation  to  represent  the  County,  in  the 
proposed  Congress  of  the  Continent,  at  Philadelphia; 
and  that  Isaac  Low,  Philip  Livingston,  James  Duane, 
John  Alsop,  and  John  Jay,  who  had  been  elected  to 
represent  the  City  and  County  of  New  York,  in  that 
Congress,  should  be  duly  authorized,  also,  to  represent 
the  County  of  Westchester,  therein.'- 

By  that  determination  and  action  of  its  nominally 
authorized  Convention,  the  County  of  Westchester,  in 
history,  if  not  in  fact,'*  placed  itself  abreast  of  the 
most  advanced  advocates  for  the  autonomy  of  the 
British  Colonies  in  America ;  and  no  one  can  success- 
fully dispute  the  fact  that  the  Delegates  whom,  the 
records  say,  the  County  authorized  to  represent  it,  in 
the  consultations  and  discussions  and  votes  of  the 


1  "  Card  III  the  Puhlic,^'  reprinted  in  Force's  Ameriooi  Jrcliirea,  Fourtli 
Series,  i.,  118S,  1189. 

2  Oredciitiah  of  the  Deleijatvn  from  Xew-York,  Journal  of  the  Comjres»^ 
"Monday,  September  5,  1"74." 

3  The  subseciuently  published  disclaimer  of  inhabitiints  of  Rye  and  oth- 
er circumstances  oftlie  same  tendency,  incline  us  to  the  belief  of  what 
Lieutenant-governor  ('olden  informed  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  ou  that 
general  subject,  in  his  Despatch  of  October  5,  1774,  that  "  a  great  deal  of 

'  Pains  has  been  taken  to  perswade  the  Counties  to  chuse  Delegates  for 
"the  Congress  or  to  adopt  those  scut  by  this  City.  Several  of  the  Coun- 
"ties  have  refused  to  be  concerned  in  the  Mea-sures.  In  Queens  County 
"  where  I  have  a  House  &  reside  the  summer  Season  six  Persons  have  not 
"been  got  together  for  the  Purpose  and  the  Inliabitants  remain  firm  in 
"  their  Resolution  not  to  join  in  the  Congress.  In  the  Counties  that  have 
"joined  in  the  Measures  of  the  <!ity,  I  am  inform'd  the  Business  has 
"been  done  by  a  very  few  I'ei-sons  who  took  upon  themselves  to  act  for 
"the  Freeholders.  A  Gentleman  who  was  present  when  the  Delegates 
"  were  chosen  in  Orange  County  says,  there  were  not  twenty  Persons 
"present  at  that  Meeting  tho'  there  are  above  10()0  Freeholders  in  that 
*■  County  :  and  1  am  tolil  ihe  ca.se  was  similar  iu  other  Counties  that  it 
"is  said  have  joined  iu  tho  Congress." 

In  the  same  connection,  Joseph  Galloway,  when  he  was  examined  be- 
fore the  House  of  Conmions,  testified,  that  "I  don't  think  that  one-fifth 
"part  have,  from  principle  and  choice,  supported  the  present  Rebellion.' 
*  *  *  "  The  last  Delegation  to  Congress,  made  by  the  Province  of 
"  Pennsylvania,  and  the  appointment  of  all  the  Olflcers  of  that  State,  was 
"made  by  less  than  two  hundred  Votci's,  although  there  are  at  least 
"thirty  thousand  men  intitled  to  Vote,  by  tho  Laws  of  the  Province. 
"One  instance  more  I  beg  leave  to  give.  One  of  the  Delegates  from  the 
"  Province  of  New  York,  (with  whom  I  sat  in  Congress  in  17i4J  repre- 
"senting  a  considerable  District  in  that  Province,  was  chosen  by  himself 
"and  his  clerk  only,  and  that  clerk  certified  to  tlie  Congress  tliat  lie  was 
"unanimously  appointed  !  "  In  a  foot-note  to  tliis  portion  of  that  testi- 
mony, Galloway  added :  "  The  people  of  Kings  County  so  much  disap- 
"  proved  of  the  sending  any  Members  to  the  Congress,  that,  although 
"  due  notice  was  given  of  the  time  and  place  of  Election,  only  two  of 
"them  met:  Mr.  Simon  Boerum  appointed  his  friend  Clerk,  and  the 
"Clerk  appointed  Mr.  Boerum  a  Delegate  in  Congress,  who  was  the  only 
"Representative  for  that  large  County." — (Exuminatim,  UJune,  1779 — 
Tile  Examination  of  Joseph  Galloway^  Esq.,  before  the  Houne  of  Commons, 
London  :  1779,  10,  11.) 

See,  also,  Galloway's  Letters  to  a  Xobleman,  Second  Edition,  London  : 
1779,  21. 


proposed  Congress,  no  matter  what,  in  the  Congress  or 
elsewhere,  the  doings  of  those  who  composed  that 
Delegation  may  have  been,  were  gentlemen  of  the 
highest  social  standing ;  that  some  of  them  were 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  intellectual  powers;  and 
that  all  possessed  what,  at  that  time,  either  consist- 
ently or  inconsistently,  honestly  or  dishonestly,  they 
publicly  assumed  to  have  been  the  highest  regard  for 
the  welfare  of  the  Colony  and  of  the  Continent,  It 
appears,  however,  notwithstanding  that  apparently 
general  movement,  in  favor  of  the  proposed  Congress, 
among  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county,  or,  at  least, 
a  general  acquiescence  therein,  that  there  was  a  very 
important  portion  of  them,  individually  respectable 
and  respectable  in  numbers,  who  had  not  been  thus 
influenced;  who,  therefore,  had  not  joined  in  the 
reported  election  of  Delegates  to  the  Convention ; 
and  who  were  without  any  sympathy  with  those  who 
were  promoting  the  call  for  a  Congress  of  the  Conti- 
nent, even  for  consultation  and  mutual  advice.  There 
is  reason,  also,  for  supposing  that  there  were  many 
such  cautious  or  timid  conservatives,  in  each  of  the 
Towns,  if,  indeed,  the  great  body  of  the  inhabitants  of 
each  was  not  thus  disposed  to  maintain  the  conserva- 
tism of  the  past;  that  they  were  not  confined  to  any 
particular  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  those  Towns  ; 
and  that  they  included  holders  of  freehold  properties 
and  of  the  right  of  suffrage  at  the  Polls  as  well  as 
holders  of  leasehold  properties,'  Tenants  on  the 
Manors,  who  held  no  such  political  right — all  of  them 
men  of  intelligence  and  respectability.  A  specimen 
of  the  dissent  referred  to,  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing disclaimer,  which  was  published  in  the  news- 
papers of  the  day  :  * 

"Rye,  New  York;  September  24,  1774. 

"  We,  the  Subscribers,  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants 
"  of  the  Town  of  Rye,  in  the  County  of  Westchester, 
"being  much  concerned  with  the  unhappy  Situation 
"of  public  Affairs,  think  it  our  Duty  to  our  King  and 
"Country,  to  Declare  that  we  have  not  been  con- 
"  cerned  in  any  Resolutions  entered  into  or  Measures 
"  taken,  with  regard  to  the  Disputes  at  present  sub- 
"sisting  with  the  Mother  Country;  we  also  testify 
"  our  dislike  to  many  hot  and  furious  Proceedings,  iu 
"  consequence  of  said  Disputes,  which  we  think  are 
"  more  likely  to  ruin  this  once  happy  Country,  than 
"  remove  Grievances,  if  any  there  are. 

"  We  also  declare  our  great  Desire  and  full  Reso- 
"  lution  to  live  and  die  peaceable  Subjects  to  our 
"  Gracious  Sovereign,  King  George  the  Third,  and  his 
"  Laws. 


"  Isaac  Gidney, 
"Abraham  Wetmore, 
"  John  Collum, 
"Henry  Bird, 


William  Armstrong, 
James  Hains, 
Thomas  Thaell, 
Dennis  Larv, 


*  liielnillnn's  yetv-Yerk  Gczetteer,  No.  7S,  New-Tork,  Thursday,  Octo- 
ber 13,  1774. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


209 


"  Robert  Merrit, 

"  Roger  Merrit, 

"  Isaac  Anderson, 

"John  Willis, 

"  Neheniiah  Sherwood, 

"  William  Crocker, 

"Andrew  Carhart, 

"  Seth  Purdy, 

"  Disbury  Park, 

"  Major  James  Horton, 

"  Nathaniel  Siiiffen, 

"  Sol.  Gidney, 

"  Bartholomew  Hains, 

"  Gilbert  Hains, 

"  Joshua  Purdy, 

"  James  Wetmore, 

"  William  Brown, 

"  Joseph  Purdy, 

"Jonathan  Budd, 

"  Ebenezer  Brown,  Jun., 

"  Henry  Slater, 

"Andrew  Kniffen, 

"Thomas  Wilson, 


Roger  Purdy, 
Gilbert  Brundige, 
Joseph  Clark, 
James  Gedney, 
James  Purdy, 
John  Adee, 
Nathaniel  Purdy, 
Joseph  Wilson, 
Benjamin  Willson, 
James  Hart, 
Silemon  Halsted, 
James  Budd, 
Thomas  Kniffen, 
Gilbert  Merrit,  Esq. 
John  Carhart, 
Israel  Seaman, 
William  Hall, 
Capt.  Abraham  Bush, 
Andrew  Lion, 
James  Jamisson, 
Thomas  Brown, 
Gilbert  Thaell,  Jun., 
Joseph  Merrit,  Jun., 


"  Timothy  Wetmore,  Esq.,  Jonathan  Gedney, 


"  Daniel  Erwin, 
"  Roger  Park, 
"  Roger  Kniffen, 
"John  Hawkins, 
"Andrew  Merrit, 
"Archibald  Tilford, 
"  Adam  Seaman, 
"  Rievers  Morrel, 
"Abraham  Miller, 
"  Jonathan  Knifien, 
"  John  Buvelot, 
"Gilbert  Thaell, 
"  Isaac  Brown, 


John  Guion, 
Elijah  Hains, 
John  Affrey, 
Hack.  Purdy, 
Charles  Thaell,  Esq., 
John  Kniffen, 
John  Park, 
Joshua  Gedney, 
Ebenezer  Brown, 
John  Slater, 
Benjamin  Kniffen, 
Nehemiah  Wilson, 
Gilbert  Morris,  Jr., 


"  Peter  Florence." 

Those  w^jo  are  acquainted  with  the  methods  which 
are  very  often  employed  by  audacious  partisans  or  by 
tho.se  more  insidious  supporters  of  a  questionable 
proposition,  for  the  instruction  of  an  opponent  in 
what  way  to  do  or  to  say  what,  if  left  to  himself,  he 
would  not  think  of  either  saying  or  doing,  in  any 
manner,  will  be  very  likely  to  concur  in  the  suspicion 
which  prevails,  that  the  following  papers,  each  of 
them  supplementary  to  the  above-recited  disclaimer 
and  declaration,  were  the  reasonable  results  of  such, 
not  always  gentle,  social  or  political  or  ecclesiastical 
or  financial  pressure  as  is,  very  generally,  seen  among 
the  methods  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 

"Rye,  October  17th,  1774. 
"  We,  the  Subscribers,  having  been  suddenly  and 
"unwarily  drawn  in,  to  sign  a  certain  Paper  pub- 
"lished  in  Mr.  Riviugton's  Gazetteer,  of  the  13th 
"instant;  and  being  now,  after  mature  deliberation, 
"fully  convinced  that  we  acted  preposterously,  and 
"  without  adverting  properly  to  the  Matter  in  dispute 
14 


'between  the  ilother  Country  and  her  Colonies,  are, 
'  therefore,  sorry  that  we  ever  had  any  concern  in 
'  said  Paper ;  and  we  do  by  these  Presents  utterly 
'disclaim  every  part  thereof,  except  our  expressions 
'of  Loyalty  to  the  King  and  Obedience  to  the  con- 
'  stitutional  Laws  of  the  Realm. 


'  Abraham  Miller, 
'Adam  Seaman, 
'  Andrew  Carehart, 
'  John  Carehart, 
'  Gilbert  Brundige, 
'John  Willis, 
'  James  Jameson, 
'  Gilbert  Merrit." ' 


William  Brown, 
Isaac  Anderson, 
William  Crooker, 
Andrew  Lyon, 
John  Buflot, 
John  Slater, 
Israel  Seaman, 


The  following  very  cautiously  worded  Card,  ap- 
pended to  a  full  copy  of  the  disclaimer  and  declara- 
tion, dated  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  September, 
which  bore  the  signature  of  Timothy  Wetmore, 
Esquire,  was  published,  forty  days  afterwards: 

"The  above  Paper,  like  many  others,  being  liable 
"  to  misconstruction,  and  having  been  understood,  by 
"  many,  to  import  a  Recognition  of  a  Right  in  the 
"  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  to  bind  America,  in  all 
"  cases  whatsoever,  and  to  signify  that  the  Colonies 
"  labour  under  no  Grievances,  which  is  not  the  Sense 
"I  meant  to  convey,  I  think  it  my  Duty  to  explain 
"ray  Sentiments  upon  the  Subject,  and  thereby  pre- 
"  vent  future  Mistakes 

"  It  is  ray  Opinion  that  the  Parliament  have  no 
"  Right  to  Tax  America,  tho'  they  have  a  Right  to 
"  regulate  the  Trade  of  the  Empire.  I  ani  further  of 
"  Opinion  that  several  Acts  of  Parliament  are  Griev- 
"  ances  ;  and  that  the  execution  of  thera  ought  to  be 
"  Opposed,  in  such  Manner  as  may  be  Consistent  with 
"  the  Duty  of  a  Subject  to  our  Sovereign ;  tho'  I  can- 
"  not  help  expressing  my  Disapprobation  of  many 
"  violent  Proceedings,  in  some  of  the  Colonies. 

"  Dated  the  3d  of  November,  1774. 

"  Timothy  Wetmore."  ^ 

The  organization  of  the  Congress  of  the  Continent, 
and  its  Proceedings,  as  far  as  it  permitted  those  Pro- 
ceedings to  be  made  public,  and  the  series  of  papers 
which  it  sent  forth,  in  behalf  of  the  complaining  Colo- 
nies, form  important  portions  of  the  world's  history 
which  need  not  be  repeated,  in  this  place.  It  will  not 
be  impro|)er,  however,  to  notice,  in  this  connection, 
the  fact  that  two,  if  no  more,  of  the  Delegates  who 
represented  the  revolutionary  portion  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Westchester-county,  in  that  Congress,  were 
actively  associated  with  Joseph  Galloway,  whom 
history  has  regarded  as  a  "  volunteer  spy  for  the 
"  British  Government,"  '  in  a  measure,  proposed  in  the 

1  Iliringlon't  Xew-Tork  Gazetteer,  No.  79,  New-York,  Thursday,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1774. 

2  liii  iiiglou' $  XtwTork  Gnzettetr,  No.  82,  New-Yohk,  Tbvirsday,  Xuveni- 
bcr  10,  1774. 

3  Bancroft's  HUtory  nfthe  United  Stales,  original  eilition,  vii.,  12i; ;  the 
tame,  centenary  e'lition,  iv.,  .392. 


210 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


interest  of  the  Crown,  which  the  Congress  not  only 
rejected,  with  contempt,  but  would  not  permit  to  be 
laid  on  its  table  nor  to  be  recorded  on  its  jjublished 
Journal ; '  that  one  of  those  two  Delegates  was  subse- 
quently discovered  to  have  been  quite  as  deeply  im- 
plicated in  a  perfidious  communication  of  the  secret 
proceedings  of  the  Congress,  with  quite  as  earnest  a 
sympathy  for  the  King  and  the  Government,  as  Joseph 
Galloway  is  known  to  have  been  ;  -  and  that  the  other 
Delegate  referred  to  signalized  himself,  throughout 
the  entire  period  occupied  by  the  Congress,  not  only 
by  his  earnest  advocacy  of  "  the  insidious  proposi- 
"  tion  "  of  Joseph  Galloway,  offered  and  supported  in 
the  interest  of  the  Crown,  but  by  his  unceasing  oppo- 
sition to  every  assertion  of  republican  principles  and 
by  his  equally  untiring  support  of  whatever  sustained 
the  existing  power  of  the  aristocracy  and  the  time- 
hallowed  prerogatives  of  the  Crown  and  the  Parlia- 
ment^— he  has  not,  indeed,  been  found  to  have  been, 
directly,  in  the  service  of  the  Colonial  Government ; 
but  he  is  known  to  have  been  the  willing  associate 
and  confidential  friend  of  those  who  were  actively 
employed  in  that  service  ;  and  in  their  loyal  labors,  in 
behalf  of  their  recognized  Sovereign,  he  is  known, 
also,  to  have  been  their  open  and  untiring  and  most 
distinguished  co-worker,^  concealed  from  the  light  of 
open  day,  however,  by  the  vote  of  secrecy  which  his 
friends  and  associates  did  not  hesitate  to  disregard,  in 
the  presence  of  the  official  representative  of  the 
Crown,  who  was,  also,  their  political  nuister.  It  has 
been  usual  to  screen  the  latter  of  the  two  Delegates 

1  "  With  a  heart  full  of  loyalty  to  my  Sovereign,  I  went  into  Congress — 
'and  from  that  loyalty  I  never  deviated,  in  the  least.  I  proposed  a  Plan 
"of  Acriimmodation  in  theCongress,  agreeable  to  niy  iKSlructioim ; — Bonie 
"  of  the  best  men,  and  men  of  the  best  fortunes,  espoused  the  Pluii,  and 
"drew  with  nie." — {ExaiiiiimtiuH  of  Josiph  Gulluictttf  be/un-  thv  House  of 
Commons,  liJune,  1770,  London  :  1770,  47-.51.) 

"  His  scheme"  framed  "in  secret  concert  with  the  Governor  of  New 
"  Jersey  and  with  Coldcu  of  New  York,"  "  held  outahopeof  Cuntiuental 
"  Union,  which  was  the  long  cherished  policy  of  New  York  ;  it  waa  sec- 
"  onded  by  Dnane  and  advocated  by  Jay,  but  opposed  by  Lee  of  Vir- 
"  ginia."— (Bancroft's  iZ^iVorv  o/  the  Vnilid  States,  original  edition,  vii., 
140, 141  ;  Ihi  snmr,  centenary  eilition,  iv.,  402.) 

"  Tlie  scheme  was  intended  to  peri>etuato  the  dependence  of  the  Colo- 
"  nies  on  England  :  and  was  proposed  with  the  approbation  of  the  loy- 
"ali.st  Governors,  Franklin  of  New  Jersey,  and  C'olden  of  New  York. 
"Galloway  urged  it  in  an  elaborate  speech;  and  it  was  supported  by 
"  Duane,  .Jay,  and  Edward  Kutledge.  It  was  not  only  rejected,  however, 
"  but  the  menbers  came  at  last  to  view  it  with  so  much  odium  that  the 
"  Motions  in  relation  to  it  were  ordered  to  be  expunged  from  the  Juur- 
"  nuh.  This  result  was  an  end  to  the  loyalist  intluence  iu  Congress." — 
(Erothingham's  llise  of  the  R-imhUr,  Boston:  1872,  3ii7,  3i)8.) 

See,  also,  Hildreth's  His'orii  of  the  T'niled  States,  First  Series  iii.,  4G; 
Pitkin's  Histoni  of  the  Vuited  N'lfes,  i.,  209,  300  ;  Jones's  Histo>-y  of  Seiv 
Yoi  k  ,]»rUi<j  the  livrotittionarii  War,  ii.,  109  ;  etc. 

■-  Vide  pages  26,  27,  ante. 

3  John  Jay  opposed  some  of  the  extremely  democratic  utterances  of  Pat- 
rick Henry,  very  ]iroper!y ;  but  he  opposed,  also,  the  utterance  of  Roger 
Shermau,when  that  plain  man  "  ileduced  allegiance  from  consent,"  as  he 
continued  to  oppose  that  democratic  dogma,  throughout  his  entire  life. 
The  aristocratic  Kichard  Henry  Lee  was  in  harmony  «  ith  hini ;  but  the 
democratic  elem,ent  of  the  Congress  was  widely  opposed  to  him,  in  all 
his  fundamental  propositions. 

4  Vide  the  extracts  from  Galluway".'-  Eyoiiiiiiiitivu,  Bancroft's  Histunj  of 
the  Vidted  Htules,  and  Frothingliani's  Uise  of  the  llepnblk;  in  Note  1,  page 
34,  above. 


from  the  censures  of  history  and  to  regard  him  as 
peculiarly  pure  and  virtuous,  as  a  man  and  as  a  poli- 
tician ;  but,  as  has  been  well-said  by  another,  "  there 
''  are  no  tricks  in  plain  and  simple  faith." 

It  will  not  be  improper  to  notice,  also,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  the  proceedings  and  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  Congress  were  not,  by  any  means,  unani- 
mously accepted  and  approved,  either  by  the  several 
Colonial  Assemblies,  or  by  the  several  Towns  through- 
out the  Colonies,  or  by  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Towns, 
individually ;  and  th^t,  in  many  instances,  that  dissent 
was  made  known  to  the  world,  in  terms  which  could 
not  be  mistaken.  Indeed,  no  intelligent  person  can 
arise  from  a  careful  and  dispassionate  examination  of 
the  unquestionable  authorities  which  have  come  down 
to  us,  concerning  the  origin  of  that  Congress,  the 
expressed  purposes  for  which  it  was  called,  its  organi- 
zation, the  extent  of  authority  which  was  delegated 
to  the  several  Delegations  of  which  it  was  composed, 
and  the  action  of  those  Delegations,  within  the  Con- 
gress, without  having  been  entirely  convinced  that 
the  Congress  was  not  a  legally  constituted  body,  cre- 
ated in  pursuance  of  Law,  and  entitled  to  recognition, 
in  law  or  in  fact,  by  any  individual  Colonist  or  hy  any 
legally  organized  body,  of  any  class ;  ^  that,  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  nothing  else  than  a  voluntary  associa- 
tion, in  which,  every  member  acted  entirely  on  his 
individual  responsibility,  without  possessing  or  acquir- 
ing the  slightest  right,  in  law,  to  exact  obedience  from 
any,  beyond  what  each,  for  himself,  had  already  spe- 
cifically consented  to  yield  ;  that  it  was  j^roposed  and 
organized  only  for  consultation  and  advice  and  united 
action,  within  the  well-defined  limits  of  the  Law  of 
the  Land ;  that  no  authority  was  vested  in  it,  by  its 
several  constituencies,  to  assume  and  exercise  any 
legislative  functions  whatever,  to  ])ublish  decrees 
ecpiivalent  to  Statutes,  to  require  obedience  to  such 
decrees,  nor  to  order  the  infliction  of  penalties  w'here 
there  should  be  any  disobedience  to  its  enactments ; 
that,  to  the  extent  of  its  action  beyond  the  letter  of 
the  authority  which  had  been  delegated  to  it  and  as 
far  as  that  action  was  in  violation  of  existing  Statutes, 
it  acted  in  open  violation  of  the  clearly  expressed 
loyalty  of  its  several  constituencies,  of  its  own  osten- 
tatious pretensions  of  fealty  to  the  Sovereign,  and  of 
that  obedience  to  the  fundamental  Laws  of  the  King- 
dom, an  alleged  violation  of  wliich  fundamental 
Laws,  by  the  Parliament  and  the  Ministry,  constiiuted 
the  gravamen  of  its  denunciations  of  the  Government, 
and  the  spirit  of  its  own  exis  ence ;  that,  to  that  extent, 
also,  it  was  revolutionary ;  and,  to  that  extent,  there- 
fore, it  gave  reasonable  cause  for  discontent,  and  dis- 


6  Although  this  is  not  likely  to  be  disputed,  by  auy  one,  it  may  be 
proper  to  state  that  it  was  not  claimed  to  have  been  so,  by  those  whc 
promoted  the  call  for  it — "  it  is  allowed  by  the  most  Intelligent  among 
"  them,  that  these  assemblies  of  the  People  are  illegal  and  may  be  danger- 
"ous,  but  they  deny  that  they  are  unconstitutional  when  a  national 
"  grievance  cannot  otherwise  be  removed." — {Lieiiteiiant-goiemvr  Coldm 
to  the  Eurl  of  Dartmouth,  "  New  York  Ist  June,  1774.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


211 


sent,  and  alarm,  among  those  who  had  not  been  prom- 
ised such  a  result;  among  those  \vh  .  were  not  inclined 
to  be  crowded  into  insurrection,  without  their  consent ; 
and  among  those  whose  best  interests  and  whose 
families'  best  interests  rested  on  a  continued  peace 
throughout  the  Colonies  and  on  a  due  attention  to 
their  own  affairs. 

The  purposes  of  this  work  afford  no  warrant  for  a 
more  extended  narrative  than  we  have  given  of  the 
really  varied  designs  of  those,  in  other  Colonies  than 
in  that  of  New  York,  who  promoted  the  assembling  of 
a  Congress  of  the  Colonies  ;  nor  of  the  intrigues  of 
those  who,  some  for  one  purpose  and  some  for  another, 
desired  to  become  members  of  that  body  ;  nor  of  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  specially  invited  and  con- 
vened; nor  of  the  influences  which  controlled  it,  after 
it  was  convened,  and  which  transformed  it  from  that 
instrument  for  securing  a  peaceful  redress  of  those 
grievances  of  which  the  Colonists  had  complained, 
that  Reconciliation  with  the  Mother  Country  which 
was  "  most  ardently  desired  by  all  good  men,"  that 
Harmony  and  good  Will  between  Great  Britain  and 
her  Colonists  which  only  a  very  few  revolutionists,  in 
some  of  the  Colonies,  did  not  anxiously  hope  for,  and 
that  general  Peace  which  would  have  restored  pros- 
perity and  happiness  to  both  the  Colonists  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,  for  securing  all  of  which 
and  for  no  other  purpose  whatever  it  had  been  specifi- 
cally invited  and  convened,  into  an  instrument  for  the 
violation  of  the  rights  of  individuals  and  of  property, 
previously  regarded  as  sacred,  and  lor  the  promotion 
of  Insurrection  and  of  Revolution  and  of  Rebellion, 
of  War  and  of  Devastation  and  of  Ruin,  and  these 
for  nothing  else  than  for  the  advancement  of  individ- 
ual and  sectional  interests,  for  none  of  which  latter 
purposes  was  there  more  than  a  handful  of  reckless 
advocates,  in  any  of  the  Colonies,  and  against  which, 
with  the  exception  of  the  handful  of  "  fire-eaters  "  of 
that  period,  to  whom  we  have  referred,  there  was,  in 
each  of  the  Colonies,  nothing  else  than  a  firm  and  un- 
divided ojJposition,  in  which  every  sect  and  every  fac- 
tion and  every  parly  were  sincerely  united.  All  these 
must  be  left  for  elucidation  by  other  hands,  in  other 
works ;  but  we  may  be  permitted  to  say,  here,  in  brief, 
that,  since  what  were  regarded  as  grievances,  of  which 
complaints  had  been  made  and  which  were  sought  to 
be  redressed,  were  peculiarly  of  a  commercial  or  mer- 
cantile character,  the  disaffection  of  the  Colonists,  in 
New  York,  because  of  those  alleged  grievances,  was 
confined  to  the  commercial  and  mercantile  centres, 
the  two  Cities  of  New  York  and  Albany,  without  af- 
fecting or  disturbing  the  peace  of  or,  indeed,  exciting 
any  particular  interest  within,  the  rural  Counties, 
within  the  Colony  ;  that,  in  consequence,  whatever 
means  were  resorted  to,  by  those  of  the  commercial 
and  mercantile  classes,  within  those  business  centres 
and  among  those  who  were  or  who  supposed  they  were 
aggrieved,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  redress  of 
their  alleged  grievances — of  which  means  the  pro- 


posed Congress  of  the  Colonies,  honestly  or  dishonest- 
ly, was  said  to  have  been  one — were  sustained  and  ad- 
vanced, within  those  business  centres,  with  an  almost 
entire  unanimity  among  their  inhabitants  and  with 
all  the  energy  and  determination  which  self-interest, 
largely  developed,  can  arouse  among  active,  ambi- 
tious, unscrujHilous,  and  wealthy  men  ;  while,  among 
the  agriculturists  and  small  country  traders,  none  of 
whom  had  been  or  were,  in  the  slightest  degree,  ag- 
grieved by  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment,— among  whom,  therefore,  there  was  no  disaffec- 
tion, because  of  that  policy;  and  who.se  individual 
interests  would  be  more  advanced  and  better  secured 
by  continued  quiet,  throughout  the  Colony,  than  by 
unrest  and  political  excitement  — there  was  an  entire 
and  generally  prevailing  indifference  to  the  well-told 
complaints  of  the  commercial  and  mercantile  classes, 
within  the  Cities,  as  well  as  to  the  means  for  obtain- 
ing a  redress  of  their  particular  grievances,  to  which 
those  metropolitan  Merchants  and  Traders  had  re- 
sorted, of  all  of  which,  the  complaints  as  well  as  the 
means  employed,  these  hard-handed  rustics,  with  few 
exceptions,  know  almost  nothing,  and  in  none  of 
which,  the  grievances  or  the  means  employed  for  the 
redress  of  those  grievances,  did  they  possess  even  the 
slightest  personal  interest.  Each  of  these  two  classes 
of  Colonists,  in  New  York,  the  commercial  and  mer- 
cantile classes,  within  the  two  Cities,  and  the  agricul- 
tural and  dependent  classes,  throughout  the  country 
— the  former  assuming  to  have  been  aggrieved  by  the 
Home  Government  and  originating  means  for  the  re- 
dress of  those  alleged  grievances,  on  the  one  hand ; 
the  latter  wholly  indifferent  to  the  complaints  of  the 
metropolitan  Merchants  and  Traders  and  to  the 
various  means  resorted  to,  by  them,  in  their  efforts  to 
effect  a  removal  of  those  grievances,  on  the  other 
hand — was  sincere,  in  maintaining  what  it  did  main- 
tain, since  each  was  j)rompted  and  controlled  by  noth- 
ing else  than  by  its  own  personal  interests ;  and  what 
was  really  "patriotism,"  the  interests  of  the  aggregate 
body  of  the  Colonists  regardless  of  the  interests  of 
any  individual  or  class  of  those  Colonists,  in  either  of 
those  classes,  if  they  were  patriotic  on  any  other  sub- 
ject, had  no  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter. 

The  Congress  of  the  Colonies,  as  the  reader  will 
remember  and  as  we  have  stated,  was  one  of  those 
means  which  were  resorted  to,  by  the  aristocratic, 
anti-revolutionary  commercial  and  mercantile  classes, 
within  the  City  of  New  York  and  by  those 
Traders  whose  seat  was  at  Albany,  for  the  purpose,  it 
was  alleged,  of  securing  a  peaceful  redress  of  what 
those  ilerchants  and  Traders  were  pleased  to  consider 
as  grievances — in  other  words,  for  the  removal  of 
those  restraints  on  that illicit  trade  "  in  which  they 
had  been  so  long,  so  corruptly,  and  so  successfully 
engaged,  which  the  Home  Government  had  recently 
interposed,  with  more  than  usual  efficiency ;  and  for 
the  exoneration  of  that  lawlessness  and  reckless  de- 
struction of  property,  by  mobs  who  had  been  in- 


212 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


spired  and  directed  by  controlling  members  of  those 
commercial  and  mercantile  classes,for  which  property 
the  local  authorities  had  neglected  or  declined  to 
compensate  the  owners — and,  besides  the  inditt'erence 
of  the  farmers,  who  constituted  a  vastly  great  major- 
ity of  the  adult  males  who  were  permanent  residents 
of  the  Colony,  which  we  have  described,  it  encoun- 
tered, from  its  inception,  the  earnest  and  active  and 
unscrupulous  handful  of  "  fire-eaters,"  within  the 
City  of  New  York,  because  of  the  moderate  temper  in 
which  it  had  been  proposed  ;  because  of  the  disre- 
gard of  the  pretensions  of  the  Town  of  Boston,  with 
which  they  were  in  harmonious  correspondence ;  and 
because  the  authors  and  promoters  of  the  project  of 
convening  such  a  Congress  had  disregarded  the  as- 
pirations of  some  of  those  "fire-eaters"  for  places  in 
the  Delegation  who  would  be  sent  to  that  Congress, 
as  representatives  of  the  Colony  of  New  York;  and, 
reasonably  enough,  it  encountered,  also,  the  opposition, 
direct  and  decided,  of  that  very  small  number  who 
personally  constituted  the  Colonial  Government,  and 
by  some  of  those  who  occupied  places  of  honor  and 
emolument  under  its  authority,  and,  most  zealously 
of  all  these,  by  those  hungry  sycophants  of  authority 
— hangers  on  of  that  Colonial  Government  who  never 
failed  to  "sneeze,  whenever  it  took  snuff" — the 
aggregate  of  whom  was  powerless  in  its  legitimate 
opi)osition  because  of  the  sniallness  of  its  num- 
bers. 

Notwithstanding  the  direct  opposition  of  the  little 
clique  of  fire-eating  revolutionists  and  that  of  the 
larger  and  more  influential  circle  of  the  Colonial 
Government  and  its  adherents — "friends  of  Govern- 
"  ment,"  as  they  called  themselves — and  the  chilly 
indifference  of  the  great  body  of  the  farmers,  consti- 
tuting the  vast  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Colony,  that  Congress  of  the  Colonies  was  convened 
under  the  auspices  of  those  among  whom  it  was 
originated  ;  was  turned  from  the  pacific  purposes  for 
which  it  had  been  called,  into  others  which  were 
revolutionary  in  their  character ;  and  was  dissolved, 
to  take  its  place  in  the  history  of  that  very  eventful 
period.  The  "  fire-eating  "  few  who  had  succeeded 
in  effecting  that  radical  change  in  its  character  and 
in  securing  from  it  an  acquiescence  in  their  revolu- 
tionary purposes,  were,  of  course,  well  pleased  with 
the  results  of  the  movement.  The  Colonial  Govern- 
ment and  its  adherents  were,  of  course,  none  the  less 
antagonistic  to  it,  because  they  were  powerless  to 
suppress  the  growing  revolt  or  to  protect  the  Colonists 
from  the  effects  of  the  revolutionary  action  of  the 
Congress.  The  farmers  throughout  the  Colony  con- 
tinued their  agricultural  labors  in  continued  indiffer- 
ence, unmindful  of  that  approaching  catastrophe 
which  was,  so  very  soon  afterwards,  to  overwhelm 
themselves  as  well  as  others  and  to  involve  all,  alike, 
in  one  common  ruin  of  every  thing  which  was  or 
which  could  be  dear  to  them.  Of  those  commercial 
and  mercantile  classes  among  whom   the  Congress 


had  originated  and  by  whom  it  had  been  fostered, 
very  many  disapproved  the  violence  of  its  declared 
policy — of  that  policy  which  had  closed  the  doors  to 
all  hopes  for  Reconciliation  and  Peace,  and  which 
had  opened  the  doors,  invitingly,  to  Revolution  and 
Rebellion,  to  War  and  Ruin — and  drew  back  from 
those  who  continued  to  sustain  the  Congress  and  who, 
then,  were  preparing  to  enforce  its  decrees;  while  the 
latter  portion  of  those  classes,  allied  with  the  revolu- 
tionary faction  whom  those  commercial  and  mercan- 
tile classes  had  previously  declined  to  recognize  and 
for  whom,  individually  and  collectively,  only  that 
superficial  respect  which  practical  politicians  have 
always  entertained  for  those,  of  lower  ranks  of  so- 
ciety, whom  they  have  sought  to  employ  as  the 
means  of  their  own  advancement  to  place  and  influ- 
ence and  wealth,  was  entertained,  proceeded  to  en- 
force, by  fair  means  or  by  foul,  the  various  decrees, 
thinly  disguised  as  "  recommendations,"  which  the 
Congress  had  enacted. 

The  memory  of  those  readers  whose  hairs  of  gray 
reveal  the  advent  or  the  presence  of  old  age,  will  be 
very  likely  to  compare  all  these  circumstances  with 
similar  circumstances  which  have  occurred,  within 
our  own  country  and  within  the  period  of  their  own 
personal  recollections;  and  to  the  practical,  personal 
knowledge  of  that  hoary  headed  tribunal  we  may 
safely  refer  all  these  movements  and  counter-move- 
ments for  the  advancement  or  the  obstruction  of  pre- 
determined and  unholy  revolt,  for  its  intelligent  judg- 
ment. The  glamour  of  success  may  have  made  all 
these  transactions,  before  the  Congress  was  convened 
and  while  it  was  in  session  and  after  its  dissolution, 
appear  to  have  been  possessed  of  different  characters 
from  those  which  they  really  possessed  ;  the  diligence 
of  personal  descendants,  whose  best  claim  to  distinc- 
tion among  men  rests  only  on  the  apocryphal  fame  of 
their  ancestors,  actors  in  those  events,  may  have 
transformed  the  pigmies  and  the  political  tricksters 
and  those  who  were  without  honor  or  honesty  or  man- 
liness, of  that  period,  into  great  men  and  patriots  and 
men  of  virtue,  of  integrity,  and  of  personal  upright- 
ness ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  these  fictitious  inter- 
positions, the  Truth  remains,  unchanged  and  un- 
changeable. 

Among  the  conservative  farmers  of  Westchester- 
county,  generally,  it  is  believed  that  the  result  of  the 
Congress  was  not  satisfactory — as  will  be  seen,  here- 
after, some  of  the  most  influential  of  them,  who  had 
heartily  approved  the  popular  movement  for  the  re- 
dress of  the  Colony's  grievances,  and  who  had  ear- 
nestly united  with  their  countrymen  in  calling  the 
Congress,  were  forced  to  the  seeming  inconsistency  of 
open  dissent;  and  there  was  significance  in  that  dis- 
sent, while  such  other  communities  as  the  Towns  of 
HoUis,  in  New  Hampshire;'  Marshfield,  in  Massa- 


Proceeding!!  of  the  T'Jini,  in  legal  Town-JIeeting,  November  7,  1774, 
reprinted  in  Force's  Anm-i'dii  Archh-i-s,  Fourtli  Series,  i.,  1229. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


213 


chusetts;'  Ridgefield, Newtown,^  Stratfield,  (now 
Bridgeport,)'  Greenwich,''  Danbury  and  its  vicinity,*^ 
Darien,"  Norwalk."  Redding,"  Stamford,'"  New  Mil- 
ford,"  Morris,'- Plymouth,'^  Salisbury,"  etc.,  indeed  the 
entire  western  portion  of  the  Colony,'Mn  Connecticut; 
Oyster  Bay,'"  Jamaica,"  Shawangunk,'*  all  those  in 
Richmond-county,'^  in  New  York,  and  many  others,"' 


^  Lellfi- from  Murshfield  to  a  Guutltman  in  Boetoii,  January  24,  1775, 
piiblislied  in  IthimjtOH' s  Xeir-York  il(i~>'lli-er.  No.  95,  New-Yokk, 
Tlmrstlav,  February  9,  177.5,  reprinteil  in  Force's  .iinericaii  Archiees, 
Fourth  Series,  i.,  1177,  1778  ;  E.rtrnct  of  a  tetter  from  lioston  to  a  Gentle- 
mtiii  ill  Xeic-York,  January  20,  1775,  reprinted  in  the  same  work,  i., 
1178;  Piiifeediiigs  of  llie  Tom,  in  legal  Town-Meeting,  20th  February, 
1773,  reprinted  in  the  same  work,  i.,  1249  ;  I'rotest  of  sljtii  four  of  the  In- 
hotiiliiiiti  of  the  Toini,  20tli  February,  1770,  re  printed  in  the  same  work, 
i.,  1249, 1260. 

'- rroei-nlimja  of  the  Toini,  in  Special  Town-Meeting,  :iOlh  January, 
1775,  published  in  Uirimjloii's  .V<-«  - I'o/  i-  t;iizelteer,  So.  04,  New-Yobk, 
Thursday,  February  2,  1775,  and  reprinted  in  Force's .liiiencuii  Aicliicen, 
Fourth  Series,  i.,  1202,  120:5  ;  Oinl  figiieil  by  tireiily-niiie  of  the  Inhtibit- 
imls,  '•  KiDGEFiELD,  Connecticut,  February  2,  177.'),"  reprinted  in  the 
same  work,  i.,  1210  ;  I'l  nai'iliioje  of  Ailjoiinied  Toini-Metliinj,  .\pril  10, 
1775,  reprinted  in  Hurd's  Ilislorii  of  Fuirjield-coimtii,  Coiiiiectiait,  '339  ; 
the  same  work,  C50,  C5:i ;  Teller's  Hiatori/  of  Hiiliji  fieht,  Conn.,  45,  40. 

PriMfi-'lings  of  the  Toirii,  in  Town-Meeting,  "Newtown,  Connecti- 
'* CUT,  February  G,  1775,"  published  in  2{ivingtoii'»  Xew-York  Gazetteer, 
Kg.  97,  New- York,  Thui-sday,  February  23,  1775,  re-printed  in  Force's 
Amei  iaiH  Archives,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  1215;  Hnid' s  Histori/ of  Fairfield- 
comttij,  465. 

*  Hurd's  Hittorii  of  F<iirfield-i  oiiiitii,  'S,  79,  and  the  Petition  for  Harbor 
Guard,  dated  January  14,  1777,  which  is  therein  reprinted. 

5  Hurd's  Histori/  of  Fuirfield-countij,  373,  374,  aud  the  Charges  mode 
agaimt  liev.  Jonathan  Murdoch,  Pant^ir  of  the  We&t  Society,  dated  July 
12,  17S4,  printed  therein  ;  Jlead's  Hiatory  of  Greenu  ich,  153,  154. 

^  P  oceedings  of  the  Toien,  in  legal  Town-Meeting,  February  C,  1775, 
in  RicinglOHS  Xem-York  Gazetteer,  No.  97,  \ew-Yobk,  Thursday,  Febru- 
ary 23,  1775,  reprinted  in  Force's -liiieiicuii  Archives,  Fourth  Series,  i., 
1216;  Hurd's  Uisloru  of  Fairjield-counti/,  184. 

"Hind's  Historii  of  Fairfietd-coanlii,  208. 

*  Hurd's  Histo!  1/ o/'  Fairjield-couiity,  502-7M;  Childs's  Burning  of  Kor- 
walk,  in  Hurd's  History,  513,  514. 

"  Ririiigton't  XeiifiYork  Gazetteer,  No.  97,  New-York,  Thursday,  Feb- 
ruary 23,  1775  ;  Rev.  Jlr.  Beach's  Report.^  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Yener- 
able  Society,  1705-1781  ;  Hurd's  Historyjaf  Fairfield-county,  583. 

1"  Huntington's  History  of  Stamford,  205  ;  Hurd's  History  of  Fairfield- 
county,  7(i6. 

Protest  of  one  htmdred  and  tirenty  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the 
Toun  o/.Yeic  Milford,  February  27,  1775,  reprinted  in  Force's  American 
Archinx,  Fourth  Scries,  i.,  1270;  History  of  Litchjield-county,  Connecticut, 
Phila.  :  1881,  4.51. 

I-  Dwight's  Trareh,  ii.,  369. 

1'  History  of  LUchfield-county,  495,  496. 

1*  History  of  LUchfleld-county,  530. 

1^  Hiuman's //i*/on'c(i(  i'oUections  of  the  jtart  sustained  by  Connecticut, 
during  the  War  of  the  Relolulion,  18,  .S4,  570. 

Letter  from  Oyster-bay  to  James  Ilicington,  from  "  A  Spectator,"  de- 
scribing a  Meeting  of  ninety  Freeholders  of  that  Town,  on  the  thirtieth 
of  December,  1774.  {Hiiinglon's  Xtw-Yoik  Gazetteer,  No.  90,  New  York, 
TUursdny,  January  5,  1775.) 

1"  hecluration  of  ninety-one  Freeholders  and  forty-Jive  other  pi-iiicijial  Iit- 
habUanls  of  Ja,„aica,  "J.\>i.\ic.\,  January  27,  1775,"  in  llirington's  iCew- 
Tork  Gazetteer,  No.  94,  Xew-York,  Thui-sday,  February  2,  1775. 

'Tard,  dated  "  Ui-ster-coi  xtv,  New  York,  February  11,  1775,"  pub- 
lished iu  Force's  ./I mcrica II  Archires,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  1230. 

U'  P-iiceedings  of  the  Committee  of  ftliserration  of  Klizaliethtoirn,  Xetr 
Jersey.  February  13, 1775,  published  in  Holt's  Neir-York  Journal,  No. 
1676,  New -York,  Thursday,  February  16,  1775  ;  and  those  of  the  Com- 
mittee fur  Observation  fur  the  Township  of  Woodbridge,  New  Jersey, 
"  WooDBRincE,  February  20,  1775,"  published  in  Force's  American 
/IrcAi'ie*,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  r249,  each  providing  for  ■"  boycotting  "  the 
Staten  Islaudeis. 

Liexttenant-govenior  Colden  to  the  Eurl  of  bartnutiith,  *'  New  York. 
"2  Nov.  1774  ;  "  the  tame  to  the  tame,  "  New  York,  December  7,  1774  ;  " 


some  of  them  by  formal  Votes,  in  legal  Town-meet- 
ings, and  all  of  them,  in  practise,  also  declared  their 
disapproval  of  the  revolutionary  measures  adopted  by 
the  Congress  and  recommended  by  it,  to  be  enforced 
in  the  several  Colonies. 

While  the  more  conservative  portions  of  the  Colo- 
nists, in  opposition  to  the  Home  Government,  were 
earnestly  laboring  to  maintain  themselves  in  the  lead- 
ershij)  of  the  political  elements  of  the  Colony,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  to  secure  a  redress  of  the  grievances 
to  which  the  Colony  had  been  subjected  and  to  effect 
an  honorable  reconciliation  between  the  Colonies  and 
the  Mother  Country,  the  revolutionary  portion  of  the 
same  body  of  Colonists,  strengthened  by  the  accession 
to  their  number,  of  those,  recently  of  the  opposite 
portion,  who  were  endeavoring  to  pose,  for  office-sake, 
both  as  aristocrats  aud  as  democrats,  as  might  best 
suit  successive  audiences,  nominally  intent  on  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  same  ends,  was  really  employed 
in  zealously  promoting  measures  which  were  better 
adapted  to  the  defeat  of  itself,  in  whatever  it  should 
really  seek  to  accomplish,  in  the  interests  of  peace. 

On  the  seventh  of  November,  James  Duane,  who 
had  already  distinguished  himself,  in  connection  with 
John  Jay  and  Joseph  Galloway,  as  everything  else 
than  an  honest  promoter  of  anything  which  was  rev- 
olutionary in  its  tendencies,  pandered  to  the  revolu- 
tionary spirit  which  pervaded  the  revolutionary  por- 
tion of  the  unfranchised  inhabitants  of  the  Citj', 
through  whose  influence  he  had  once  been  elevated 
to  a  seat  iu  the  Congress  and  through  whose  contin- 
ued influence,  only,  a  similar  favor  might  be  secured, 
in  the  near  future — that  James  Duane  submitted  a 
Resolution  to  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  for  the  election,  by  the  Free- 
holders and  the  Freemen  of  the  City,  of  eight  persons 
in  each  Ward,  for  the  purpose  "  of  observing  the  con- 
"  duct  of  all  Persons  touching  the  Association  "  [of  \oh- 
Importation,  and  Non-Exportation,  and  Xon- Consump- 
tion'] "entered  into,  by  the  Congress,"  against  Great 
Britain  and  her  Colonies,  and  for  the  purpose,  also, 
of  publishing  the  names  of  all  those  whom  that  Com- 


Ihe  same  to  Governor  Tryon,  "New  York,  Dec.  7,  1774;"  Governor 
fitije  to  </ic  s<ini«,  "  Boston,  December  15,  1774;"  Joseph  Reed  to  Josiah 
QuiHcy,  Junior,  "  I'hil.voelpiih,  November  6,  1774  ;  "  Proceedings  of  a 
Meeting  of  IWeholders  of  Middlesex-county,  Xnr  Jersey,  "  accortliug  to  a 
"Notice,"  .Fauuary  3,  1775,  reprinted  in  Force's  .Imericaii  Archives, 
Fourth  Series,  i.,  1083  ;  Proceedings  of  Toiru  of  liamstable,  Massachusetts, 
in  Town-Meeting,  January  4,  1775,  reprinted  in  the  same  work,  i.,  1092  ; 
Letter  from  Georgia  to  a  Oentleinun  in  Xetr  York,  dated  February  18, 
1775  ;  reprinted  in  the  same,  i.,  llOO  ;  Proceedings  of  the  General 
(Xmmitlee,  [establishing  non-intercourse  with  Cieorgia]  "  Ciiablestuwn, 
"South  C.\eolin.v,  February  8,  1775  ;"  buchess-couidy  [New  York] 
.4«iocin(ioH,  January  18,  1776  ;  Letter  to  James  liivington,  dated  "  Flush- 
"iNii,  IN  Queen's  County,  Long-Islanp,  Jan.  14,  "  published  \a  Rir- 
ington't  Xew  York  Gazetteer,  No.  92,  New-York,  Thursday,  January  19, 
1775  ;  Letter  lo  the  same,  AaXviX,  "Newtown  on  Long  Isi.ANn,  Jan.  12, 
"1775,"  published  in  the  same  issue  of  that  paper  ;  Letter  to  the  same  fmtii 
Cl»trr-cnunty.  Xi  tc-York,  published  iu  the  same  paper.  No.  93,  Nr.w- 
YouK, Thursday,  January  20,  1775  ;  Letter  to  the  same,  from  DucheM- 
caiiily,  publisheil  in  the  same  pajwr.  No.  95,  New  York,  Thurs«hiy,  Keb- 
ruary  9,  1775  ;  etc. 


214 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


mittee  should  condemn,  for  having  violated  that  As- 
sociation, in  order  "  that,  thenceforth,  the  parties  to  the 
"  said  Association  should  respectively  break  off  all  deal- 
"  ings  with  him  or  her" — in  more  modern  phraseology, 
in  order  that  the  alleged  offender,  whether  guilty  or 
innocent  of  any  violation  of  law,  on  the  mere  con- 
demnation of  a  local  Committee,  on  whom  individual 
animosity  or  local  prejudice  might  exercise  a  greater 
power  than  either  justice  or  equity  could  control, 
might  be  promptly  boycotted,  in  all  his  or  her  busi- 
ness relations,  and,  thereby,  be  involved  in  disaster 
and  ruin.  At  the  same  time,  John  Jay,  Peter  T.  Cur- 
tenius,  Isaac  Low,  and  James  Duane  were  appointed 
to  prepare  a  Circular  Letter  to  the  different  Counties, 
recommending  them,  also,  to  appoint  similar  i'  Com- 
"mittees  of  Inspection,"  "agreeably  to  the  provisions 
"  of  the  eleventh  resolve  of  the  Congress."  ' 

"  Some  difficulties  having  arisen  relative  to  the  Ad- 
"  vertisement  published  by  the  Committee,  for  choos- 
"  ing  a  Committee  of  Inspection  "—in  other  words, 
the  handful  of  professional  politicians  who  assumed 
to  represent  the  unfranchised  Mechanics  and 
Working-men  of  the  City,  having  repudiated  the 
limitations  imposed  by  the  Congress,  and  insisted 
that  the  votes  of  the  great  body  of  the  inhabitants,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen,  of  the 
City,  should  be  received,  in  the  election  of  the  pro- 
posed Committee  of  Inspection — an  interview,  between 
the  leaders  of  those  plebeian  and  revolutionary  claim- 
ants of  political  authority  and  their  aristocratic  and 
conservative  neighbors  of  the  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence, was  invited  by  the  latter;'^  and,  on  the  fol- 


^  Mhin/es  of  the  ConimiUee  nf  Corn-Kpomleiire^  "  New-York,  November 
7,  1774." 

The  eleventh  Resolution  of  the  Congress,  referred  to  in  tlie  text, 
provided  "that  a  Committee  he  chosen  in  every  County,  (^ity,  and 
"  Town,  by  those  who  are  (nullified  to  vote  for  Representatives  in  the 
"  Legislature,  wliose  business  it  sliaU  be  attentively  to  observe  the  con- 
** duct  of  all  persons,  touching  this  Anmcintion^^  [of  Non-ImporUUion, 
Soii-t  'omiumjitiaii,  and  Koit'Krjiortati'nt,] ;  "  and  when  it  shall  be  made 
**  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  majority  of  any  such  Committee,  that 
*'any  person  within  the  limits  of  their  appointment  has  violated 
*'thi8  Association^^  [a-ltrther  he  mat/  hare  consented  to  ity  or  "  that 
'*  such  majority  do  forthwith  cause  the  truth  of  the  case  to  lie  published 
"  in  the  Gazette,  to  the  end  that  all  such  foes  to  the  Rights  of  British 
"America  may  be  publicly  known  and  universally  contemned,  as  the 
"  enemies  of  American  Liberty;  and,  thenceforth,  we  respectively  will 
*'  break  off  all  dealings,  with  him  or  her." 

The  reader  will  judge  how  ill-adapted  such  a  "smelling  Committee" 
as  was  thus  ordered,  in  every  Town,  must  have  been,  to  promote  har- 
mony among  the  Colonists,  or  to  give  support  to  those  who  were  seeking 
a  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  Colonies  and  a  restoration  of  harmony 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Country. 

-3liiintes  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  "New  York,  November 
"  14,  1774  ;  "  Letter  from  the  Committee  of  Correupmidence  to  the  Committee 
of  Mechanics,  "  Committek  Chamber,  November  14,  1774." 

The  uncertaincies,  if  nothing  else,  of  political  ofRce-seeking,  and.  the 
tricks,  if  nothing  else,  of  office-seekers,  during  that  eventful  [jeriod,  may 
lie  seen,  although  they  may  not  be  entirely  understood,  in  a  comparison 
of  the  contemptuous  manner  in  which  the  aristocratic  Committee  had 
spurned  the  democratic  Coimnittee,  when  it  was  proposed  that  the  latter 
should  be  consulted,  in  the  nomiuation  of  the  ticket  for  Members  of  the 
proposed  Congress,  {Minntcs  of  the  former,  June  29  and  July  4,  1774,) 
with  the  eagerness  with  which  the  aristocratic  nominees  on  that  ticket, 
very  soon  afterwards,  repudiated  the  fundamental  principle  maintained 


lowing  day  \_Novemher  \5,  1774,]  such  an  interview 
was  had;  but  not  until  the  Committee  of  Correspon- 
dence, meeting  separately,  had  ordered  "  that,  when 
"  a  Committee  for  carrying  the  Association  of  the  Con- 
"gress  into  execution  shall  be  elected,  this  Committee 
"  do  consider  themselves  as  dissolved ;  and  that  this 
"  Resolution  be  immediately  made  public."* 

It  was  thus  acknowledged  by  that  Committee 
which  had  been  originated  in  the  memorable  Caucus, 
at  Sam.  Francis's,  six  months  previously,  and  which 
had  been  subsequently  organized,  with  so  much  osten- 
tation, at  the  Coffee-house,  nominally,  for  the  promo- 
tion of"  the  common  cause  "  of  the  Colonies, in  their 
reasonable  dispute  with  the  Home  Government;  but, 
more  surely,  for  the  protection  of  the  conservative 
and  aristocratic  elements  of  the  City's  pojDulation 
from  the  already  unwelcome  and  yet  more  threatened 
aggressions  of  those  which  were  more  democratic  and 
revolutionary  in  their  inclinations;  and,  less  promi- 
nently, but  most  surely,  for  the  advancement  of  the 
individual  purposes  of  those  who  were  its  originators 
and  master-spirits — by  that  hitherto  respectable  Com- 
mittee of  Fifty-one  which  no  longer  represented, 
without  wavering,  those  political  principles  on  which 
it  had  been  originally  founded  and  for  which  it  had 
resolutely  contended,  not  always  unsuccessfully ; 
which  was  no  longer  controlled  by  those  who  even 
appeared  to  be  actuated  simply  by  an  unselfish  de- 

by  their  own  organization,  and  accepted  that  of  their  plebeian  neigh- 
bors' organization,  in  order  to  secure  the  support  of  that  body,  at  the 
Polls,  and  to  assure  their  election,  {Correi*pomlence  between  Abraham 
Brasher  and  other$,  a  Committee,  and  Philip  Liringston  and  others,  nominees 
for  the  office,  July  26  and  27,  1774) ;  and  with  the  voluntary  invitation, 
from  the  aristocratic  to  the  democratic  Committee,  to  meet  in  conference, 
in  the  instance  mentioned  in  the  text,  when  the  primary  movement  was 
to  be  made,  toward  the  election  of  another  Delegation,  to  meet  m 
another  Congress,  in  the  ensuing;  May.  If  the  reader  will  closely  watch 
the  successive  events,  in  that  connection,  and  notice  the  final  result,  he 
will  see,  also,  how  well  the  consolidation  of  aristocracy  and  democracy, 
into  one  mass  of  political  conglomerate,  for  the  advancement  in  authority 
of  particular  men,  accomplished  that  purpose,  the  interests  of  the  Colo- 
nies and  those  of  political  honesty,  in  the  meanwhile,  having  been  en- 
tirely disregarded. 

'■' Mintites  of  the  Cnniniittee,  "NEW  YoRK,  November  15,  1774." 

Judge  Jones,  in  his  Uistonj  i\f  Sew  York  dnrinij  the  Herointionary  War, 
(i.,  ?4,)  said,  "  This  Committee  met  frequently,  and  violent  Resolutions 
"were  proposed,  but  ever  rejected.  Mr.  Low  and  the  republicans  of  the 
"  Committee  finding  it  not  to  answer  their  purposes,  actually  dissolved 
"  it,  and  nominated  one  of  their  own,  without  an  election  or  the  least 
"notice  to  the  Citizens.  Mr.  Low  continiied  Chairman.  They  acted  as 
"a  legal  body,  legally  chosen,  and  fined,  imjirisoned,  robbecl,  and  ban- 
"  ished  His  Ma.jesty's  loyal  subjects  with  .1  vengeance."  As  will  be 
seen,  hereafter,  the  Judge  was  in  error,  when  he  supposed  and  stated 
that  the  second  Committee,  that  of  '•  Inspection,"  was  not  elected,  and 
was  created  secretly,  without  notice  to  the  Citizens.  On  the  contrary, 
the  two  factions  of  the  Opposition,  in  the  City,  having  been  consolidated 
in  order  to  secure  such  a  result,  that  "Committee  of  Inspection" 
was  elected  by  "a  respectable  number  of  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen 
"  of  this  City,  assembled  at  the  City  Hall,  where  the  Election  was  con- 
" ducted  under  the  inspection  of  several  of  the  Vestrymen"  of  the 
City. 

The  unquestionable  records  of  the  doings  of  both  Committees,  as  well 
as  all  known  authorities  bronglit  down  from  that  period  and  relating 
thereto,  abundantly  prove  that  there  is  nothing  which  was  inaccurately 
stated,  in  any  other  portion  of  the  statement,  notwithstanding  the  learned 
Editor  of  the  Judge's  work,  singularly  enough,  appears  to  entertain  a  dif- 
ferent opinion  on  that  subject. — '\otes  to  the  Uistorij,  i.,  438.) 


THE  AMERICAN  REV 


OLITION,  1774-1783. 


215 


sire  to  promote  the  common  weal ;  and  which  had  I 
been  invaded,  if  it  was  not,  then,  controlled,  bj'  those, 
of  the  opposite  and  less  comely  faction  of  the  party 
of  the  Opposition,  with  whom  the  majority  of  its 
members,  by  a  formal  vote,  had  already  declined  to 
affiliate — that  its  mission  was  completed,  and  that  its 
original  authority  and  power,  through  corrupt  in- 
fluences with  which  it  was  not  unaccpiainted,  had 
passed  into  other  hands.  It  had,  indeed,  asserted 
and  successfully  maintained  those  conservative  poli- 
tical principles,  directly  antagonistic  to  the  more 
revolutionary  political  principles  which  the  men  of 
Boston  had  as-^erted  and  insisted  on,  which  it  believed 
to  have  been  better  adapted  for  the  promotion  of  "the 
"common  cause"  and  for  that  of  the  best  interests  of 
the  Colonies;  and,  for  the  further  promotion  of"  that 
"common  cause,"  consciously  or  unconsciously,  it  had 
unselfishly  prepared  a  way  for  the  advancement  of 
those,  within  itself,  who  coveted  place  and  its  pre- 
rogatives, by  nominating  them  for  seats  in  the  Con- 
gress of  which  it  had  been  the  originator  and  the  un- 
yielding promoter.  It  had  seen,  however,  the  nomi- 
nees of  its  selection,  with  one  exception,  barter  that 
fundamental  principle  which  it  had  especially 
cherished,  for  the  votes,  at  the  Polls,  of  those  whom 
it  had  i)reviously  declined  to  recognize  as  parties  in 
the  struggle  ;  it  had  subsequently  seen  those  nomi- 
nees, after  their  election,  as  members  of  the  Delega- 
tion from  New  "York,  concur  in  the  adoption  of 
measures  which  it  had  already  declined  to  approve 
and  which  were  nothing  if  they  were  not  aggressive 
and  revolutionary  ;  and,  at  last,  it  had  seen  the  party 
of  the  Opposition  crowded  toward  Rebellion,  by  the 
Congress  of  its  own  g-eation ;  and  its  own  whilom 
master-spirits  in  conservative  exclusiveness,  anxious 
for  a  further  advancement  in  place-holding  and  for 
the  promotion  of  that  jiarticular  purpose,  joining 
hands  with  the  principal  supj)orters  of  what  was,  very 
clearly,  only  democratic  and  revolutionary.  There 
was  a  fitness,  therefore,  that  those  of  the  Committee 
who  had  honestly  and  unselfishly  opposed  the  ag- 
gressions of  the  Home  Government,  should  cease  to 
allow  their  names  and  whatever  influence  those 
names  might  possess,  to  be  used  by  those  who  had 
betrayed  the  confidence  which  had  been  reposed  in 
them,  directly,  for  the  advancement  of  their  own  i)er- 
sonal  ends,  and,  indirectly,  for  the  promotion  of  Revo- 
lution, if  not  for  that  of  Rebellion  ;  and  there  was  a 
peculiar  fitness,  also,  that,  whatever  those  conservative 
members  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one  should  do  or 
decline  to  do,  in  the  interests  of  the  Colonists  and  of 
the  Colony,  they  should  not  remain,  associated  with,  if 
not  controlled  by,  those  of  the  opposite  fiiction  of  the 
confederated  party  of  the  Opposition,  whose  ultimate 
object,  very  clearly,  was  nothing  else  than  the  ad- 
vancement to  i)lace  and  political  authority  of  those 
who  were  its  leaders,  even  if  that  advancement  should 
be  made  at  the  cost  of  a  Revolution  and  of  a  Civil 
War.   The  Committee  of  Correspondence  did  well, 


therefore,  in  thus  ]n-oviding  for  its  own  dissolution, 
without  permitting  itself  to  be  crowded  out  of  its  ex- 
istence by  that  faction  of  its  own  political  party  for 
whom  it  had,  generally,  no  respect — by  that  faction 
of  that  party  of  the  Opposition,  hitherto  its  only  poli- 
tical antagonist,  which,  then,  appeared  with  John 
Jay  and  James  Duane,  lately  two  of  the  Committee, 
among  its  nominal  leaders. 

The  result  of  the  interview  which  the  Committee 
of  Correspondence  had  thus  invited — one  of  the  high 
contracting  parties  rapidly  approaching  its  own  disso- 
lution, with  only  twenty-three  of  its  fifty-one  mem- 
bers present,  and  with  eight  of  the  twenty-three 
predestinated  by  their  associates  to  an  early  retire- 
ment: the  other  of  the  two  parties  to  the  conference 
flushed  with  that  most  recent  and  most  important  of 
its  victories  over  the  aristocracy  of  the  City — was  a 
determination  to  nominate  sixty  persons  who  should 
be  agreeable  to  both  the  Committee  of  Correspondence 
and  the  Committee  of  the  ^lechanics,  all  of  whose 
names  should  be  submitted  to  the  Freeholders  and 
Freemen  of  the  City,  at  a  Meeting  to  be  called  for 
that  purpose,  at  the  City  Hall,  for  their  approval  and 
election  ; '  all  of  which  was  evidently  done  and  com- 
pleted, on  the  twenty-second  ot  November,  exactly  in 
conformity  with  the  j)rogramnie  which  the  two  poli- 
tical "rings"  of  that  period,  consolidated  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  their  mutual  political  interests, 
had  already  prepared  and  promulgated. ' 

There  is  abundant  evidence  concerning  the  peculiar 
zeal  of  that  new-formed  Committee  of  Inspection — 
sometimes  styled  "  The  CoiniiTTEE  of  Sixty,"  and 
at  others,  "  The  Committee  of  Observation  " — in 
the  discharge  of  its  self-imposed  duties  f  but,  generally, 
the  purposes  to  which  this  work  is  specially  devoted 
do  not  require  a  more  extended  notice  of  them,  in  this 
place.  Those  purposes  recjuire,  however,  that  men- 
tion shall  be  made  of  the  fact,  in  this  connection,  that 
whatever  the  Circular  Letlei-s  which  were  sent  to 
Westchester-county,  by  the  Committee  of  Corres- 
pondence or  by  any  other  body,  for  the  purpose  of 

1 1'roceeiUngs  of  the  Ccmference  mlli  the  Committee  of  Mechanics,  in  the 
Miiiitteft  of  the  Committee  of  CorrefpoiKtence,  "  New  Yobk,  November  15, 
"1774." 

-Holt's  Xeir-Yorl;  Jonmul,  No.  16fi4,  New-York,  Thursday,  November 
24,  1774  ;  and  HieimjIoH' s  Sent  York  Gazetter,  No.  84,  New- York,  Thurs- 
da.v,  November  24,  1775. 

"The  first  Thing  done  by  the  People  of  this  place  in  consequence  of 
"the  Resolutions  of  the  Congress,  was  the  Pissolntion  of  the  Committee 
"of  51,  in  order  to  choose  a  new  Committee  of  Inspection,  to  carry  the 
"  Jleasnres  of  the  Congress  into  elTect.  \  Day  wius  apjiointed  by  Adver- 
"  tisement  fur  choosing  sixty  Persons  to  form  this  Committee.  About  30 
"or  4(1  Citizens  only  appeared  at  the  Election,  &  chose  the  CO  wlio  had 
"been  previously  named  by  the  former  Committee.  I  can  no  otherwise 
"  my  Lord  account  for  the  very  small  number  of  People  who  appeared  on 
"  this  occasion,  than  by  supposeing  that  the  Measures  of  the  Congress 
"are  generally  Disrelished." — {Lirtileuiiiil-gnrrnior  CoUten  to  the  Earl  of 
Ihvtmniilh,  No.  9,  "  New  York,  December  7th,  1774.") 

■**  Lieuteiiatit-goL-enior  CoUtfn  to  Ctiptuin  Moitfaijitc,  "  New-York,  8  Feby, 
"1775;"  the  mine  to  General  (t'<i<;c,  "  New-York,  20tli  Kebry,  1775:"'  the 
'•  name  to  the  F.url  of  Ikirlniouth,  "New  York,  1st  March,  1775  ;"  Jones's 
IliMonj  nf  Sew  York  diirimj  the  UevoUitiomiry  War,  i.,  3i  ;  Leake's  3Tetnoir 
of  General  John  Lamb,  97  ;  etc. 


21G 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


enlisiing  her  farmers  in  the  support  and  execution  of 
the  Association  or  of  any  other  of  the  measures  or 
recommendations  of  the  recent  Congress,  may  have 
been  or  may  have  proposed,  they  were  evidently  en- 
tirely disregarded ;  and  that,  at  least  as  recently  as 
the  early  Winter  of  1774-75,  there  was  not  sufficient 
interest,  friendly  to  the  revolutionary  movements 
•which  were  so  deeply  exciting  the  inhabitants  of  the 
neighboring  City,  within  any  portion  of  that  rural 
County,  to  do  even  the  paltry  service  of  circulating 
those  Circular  Letters  throughout  the  Towns ;  al- 
though there  were  a  few,  a  very  few,  who  were  begin- 
ning to  look  favorably  on  those  movements,  and  to 
talk  and  write,  in  the  support  of  them.  We  shall 
notice  all  of  these  earlier  demonstrations  of  which  we 
possess  any  information,  since  they  were  the  small 
beginnings  of  that  Revolution,  within  the  County  of 
Westchester,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said  and 
written. 

The  first  of  these  was  a  Letter,  in  support  of  the 
revolutionary  movements  and  in  answer  to  the  tracts 
of  ".4.  W.  Fanner,"  which  had  made  so  much  excite- 
ment, throughout  the  Colonies.  It  was  written  by  a 
Weaver  and  published  in  Holt's  New-  York  Journal, 
No.  1668,  Xew-Yokk,  Thursday,  December  22, 1774. 
The  Editor  assured  his  readers  that  it  was  actually 
written  by  a  working  Weaver,  who  lived  in  Harri- 
son's Purchase ;  *  and  it  was  in  these  words : 

"  To  the  city  and  country  inhabitants,  of 
the  2)rovince  of  Neiv  Yorl-. 

"  Friends,  and  felloAV  mortals, 

^'^^HE  division  between  Britain,  and  her  Colo- 
nies,  is  very  alarming;  but  what  I  think 
"  would  be  more  alarming,  is  a  division  between  the  in- 
"  habitants  of  the  colonies ;  the  efiect  of  which  we  have 
"  from  holy  writ,  thai  a  house  divided  against  itself, 
"  cannot  stand.  I  have  seen  a  pani])hlet  printed  by 
"  Mr.  Kivington,  entitled  the  Country  Fanner,  which 
"  seems  to  be  calculated  to  tln-ow  all  into  confusion, 
"  &  to  no  other  end  ;  and  artfully  to  gain  his  point, 
"  as  a  Fanner,  he  addresses  himself  to  the  Farmers, 
"  and  their  wives ;  he  tells  the  latter,  they  cannot 
"  treat  a  neighbour  with  a  dish  of  tea  ;  and  that  will 
"  be  a  dreailful  thing  indeed  ;  to  tlie  former,  hesaith, 
"  their  jiroduce  will  rot  on  tlieir  hands,  and  they  can- 
"  not  ])ay  their  weaver,  &c.  Being  a  ]\eaver  myself, 
"  and  tho'  they  be  generally  poor,  still  they  are  as 
"  useful  a  set  of  men,  as  any  in  the  world,  and  so  will 
remain,  as  long  as,  from  the  King  to  the  peasant, 
"  all  are  born  naked.    1  therefore,  would  beg  leave 


>  "The  public  iimy  be  atwiircd.  that  the  following  letter  Is  tho  prodtic- 
"tioii  of  a  I'i'iil,  iiiid  nut  II  llctltiiiiin  weaver  lit  WcHt  ClioHter.  U  i»  the 
"on'HprIng  of  an  honcHt  wai'nith  in  the  caiiHu  of  h\n  country  ;  auii  tho' 
"hilt  wnliniunlji,  unii  ri'maiku,  appear  in  a  lionieiipun  drens,  they  never- 
"tlieh'Kii  are  not  williuut  force,  and  we  prenunie,  will  contribute  to  Ihe 
"entertainment  of  our  readeni." — (tjlilmial,  iiitnitliwl'iiji  !'>  Iln  Uller  uf 
/;»■  Il«iev,-.) 


"  to  say  a  word  in  answer  to  our  pretended  Farmer, 
"  and  make  no  doubt  but  the  lowness  of  stile  I  shall 
"  speak  in,  will  be  excused,  when  it  is  considered  that 
"  a  man  may  be  a  profound  Weaver,  and  no  gram- 
"  mariau  ;  and  being  a  useful  branch  of  mankind  as 
"  above,  ought  to  have  the  privilege  of  speaking  in 
"  his  own  stile.  If  so,  then  my  first  answer  to  our 
"  Farmer  is,  that  we  Weavers,  and  I  believe  I  may 
"  say  most  of  other  trades  too,  cannot  live  without 
"  meat,  bread  and  clothing,  all  which  I  shall  gladly 
"  take  in  exchange  for  my  labour ;  and  If  I  could 
"  earn  more  at  the  year's  end,  than  a  supply  for  my 
"  family,  I  would  be  content,  (at  this  troublesome 
"  period,  which  our  Farmer  sets  up  for  such  a  terror) 
"  to  have  my  employer  say  to  my  creditor.  /  owe 
"  the  Weaver  so  much,  which  I  will  engage  to  pay  to  you, 
"  when  I  can  sell  my  produce.  It  may  be  my  creditor 
"  may  answer,  the  produce  will  suit  me,  and  then  all 
"  will  be  well ;  but  if  not,  the  promise  will  answer  at 
"  this  time,  with  every  creditor  that  hath  any  spirit  of 
"  patriotism.  Now  to  the  uires,  I  would  address  my- 
"  self  as  follows,  viz.  to  remember  when  tlieir  parents 
"  were  first  placed  in  the  garden,  that  it  was  said  to 
"  the  woman,  yea,  hath  God  said  ye  shall  not  eat  of 
"  every  tree  of  the  garden  f  but  the  woman  was  pre- 
"  vailed  on  by  a  deceiver,  to  disobey  the  command, 
"  and  to  eat.  But  0  !  the  consequence  !  and  so  like- 
"  wise,  a  deceiver  now  says  to  you  what!  are  you  de- 
"  fiied  the  pleasure  of  drinking  tea  f  But  I  beg  of  you 
"  not  to  be  now  deceived,  nor  prevailed  on  to  bring 
"  ruin  and  slavery  on  your  country  and  posterity,  by 
"  tasting  of  that  detestable  herb,  which  hath  already 
"  been  the  cause  of  so  much  confusion.  But  if  you 
"  will  not  be  entreated,  but  will  "persist  in  using  it^ 
"  you  will  find  your  case  similar  to  that  of  Eve,  she 
"  lost  her  innocence,  and  plunged  all  her  descendants 
"  into  everlasting  misery ;  you  will  lose  liberty,  and 
"  plunge  your  descendants  into  everlasting  slavery. 

"  The  Fanner  too,  complains  bitterly  about  not 
"  transporting  sheep.  I  wish  to  God,  the  congress 
"  had  let  us  send  away  our  black  sheep;  for  then  per- 
"  haps  this  pretended  Fanner,  might  have  been  trans- 
"  ported  before  he  could  have  made  sucli  a  bleating. 

"  Now  I  would  beg  leave  to  say  a  few  words  on  his 
"  clamour  against  our  delegates.  He  calls  them  traii- 
"  ors,  which  name,  he  had  much  better  have  taken 
"  on  himself,  where  it  might  have  been  applied 
"  with  propriety.  I  cannot  see  any  room  for  this  vil- 
"  est  of  mankiiul,  to  insiuiuite,  that  those  men  would 
"  attempt  to  betray  their  country.  Besides  their  un- 
"  spotted  cluiracters,  are  they  not  men  of  extensive 
"  interests  in  America?  have  they  estate  in  any  other 
"  country?  No,  what  then  should  induce  them  to 
"  betray  America,  .'•eeing  that  if  America  falls,  they 
"  must  fall  with  it?  This  consideration  alone,  is  suf- 
"  ficient  to  clear  them  from  our  Fanner's  aspersion. 
"  But  in  my  opinion,  a  siill  stronger  security  for  their 
"  integrity  and  iaitlitiil  discliaige  of  the  trust  reposed 
"  in  them,  is,  the  unblemished  chtiracter  they  have 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


217 


"  ever  supported;  nor  in  this  do  I  trust  alone  to 
"  common  fame,  having  known  Mr.  Jay,  from  his 
"  early  youth,  and  had  some  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
"  Duane,  from  which  I  have  had  so  much  reason  to 
"  confide  in  them,  that  I  could  contentedly  trust  them 
"  to  contend  for  my  liberty,  or  my  life.  And  on  the 
"  whole,  I  think  that  it  would  be  well  for  us  farmers, 
"  and  mechanicks  to  consider  whether  it  is  not  likely 
"  that  each  colony  took  as  much  care  in  choosing 
"  their  delegates,  as  we  did.  That  is,  to  send  men  of 
"  knowledge,  men  of  interest,  and  men  of  honour.  If 
so,  we  must  look  on  our  farmer  to  be  a  man  wholly 
given  to  ridicule,  misrepresentation,  and  malevo- 
"  lence ;  for  he  hath  declared  that  most  honourable 
"  and  never  to  be  forgotten  congress,  to  be  either  a 
"  set  of  ignorant  men,  or  else  to  be  traitors! 

"  I  would  now  recommend  to  the  notice  of  every 
"  reader  of  Rivington's  Farmer,  that  it  is  the  usual 
''  practice  of  evil  minded  persons,  when  they  would 
"  disturb  the  quiet  of  any  man,  or  body  of  men, 
"  against  whom  they  can  find  no  just  cause  of  com- 
"  plaint,  to  raise  against  them,  without  any  evidence, 
"  tlie  highest  clamours,  suggest  the  most  criminal  de- 
signs, and  if  possible,  represent  even  their  most 
laudable  actions  in  an  odious  light :  The  best  char- 
''  acters  and  most  commendable  actions,  are  no  secur- 
"  ities  against  attacks  like  these  of  the  Farmer,  to 
"  which  the  best  of  men  are  most  exposed  ;  but  it  is 
a  proof  against  them,  that  they  are  unsupported  by 

■  reojson,  or  by  credible  evidence  ;  when,  if  either  had 
"  existed,  they  would  certainly  have  been  produced 
"by  the  same  malevolence  that  I'aised  the  clamour 
"  without  them.  I  would  only  desire  the  reader  to 
'  consider   the  Farmer's   clamour,   invectives  and 

abuse,  calmly  and  dispassionately,  give  them  their 
due  weight  and  no  more.    I  would  not  even  desire  to 

■  turn  them  upon  his  own  head,  and  cause  him,  like 
Hainan,  to  be  hanged  on  his  own  gallows — I  only 

''  desire  that,  unjust  and  unreasonable  as  they  arc, 

'■  they  may  have  no  weight  with  the  reader,  or  raise 
any  prejudice  in  his  mind  against  the  cause  of  truth 
iS:  his  country,  or  against  Any  man  or  body  of  men, 
especially  those  worthy  men  who  have  nobly  stood 

"  forth  and  exerted  themselves  to  save  their  country 

"  from  slavery  and  destruction. 
"  I  come  now  to  consider  his  clamour  against  the 
citizens,  in  which  he  declares,  at  a  certain  time, 

"  there  was  no  magistrate  with  virtue  enough  to  do 
liis  duty  ;  and  that  there  is  no  merchant  he  would 
I  rust.  I  don't  recollect  any  thing  said  of  the  law- 
yers, but  he  hath  been  severe  upon  the  mayor  and 
'  onimonalty,  on  account  of  the  snipe  act,  with 
uhich  act,  il  he  had  gone  a  little  further,  he  would 
amply  have  justified  our  struggle,  with  the  mother 

"  lOUMtry. 

"  I  would  ask,  why  does  not  that  act  continue  in 
"  force  to  this  day? 

"  The  answer  is,  because  the  country  pc()j)le  were 
very  unaninuius  in  opposition  to  it;  though  it  was 


"  to  the  loss  of  individuals,  myself  for  one,  still  they 
"  stood  out ;  which  caused  the  framers  of  that  act  to 
"  consider  closely  the  consequences  which  would  at- 
"  tend  its  continuance — and  so  it  was  thought  best  to 
"  make  it  void.  Here  we  may  see  the  effect  of  a 
"  steady  opposition  to  an  odious  law ;  and  similar 
"  causes  will  produce  similar  effects.  We  may  assure 
"  ourselves  that  a  steady  and  firm  opposition  to  the 
"  late  acts  of  Parliament,  will  cause  our  sovereign  to 
"  examine  into  the  state  of  the  case  with  great  atten- 
"  tion  ;  and  when  he  finds  he  has  been  led  into  un- 
"  warrantable  acts  by  diabolical  counsellors,  he  will 
"  dismiss  them  from  their  offices,  by  w'hich  they  have 
"  wickedly  devised  to  throw  the  nation  all  into  con- 
"  fusion,  and  thereby  to  dethrone  the  King. 

"  Therefore  my  fellow  mortals,  let  me  beseech  you, 
"  as  you  value  your  liberty,  and  the  liberty  of  your 
"  posterity,  take  the  advice  of  the  ever  to  be  admired 
"  and  revered  Congress,  stick  close  to  the  non-con- 
"  sumption  agreement,  and  lay  aside  those  unneces- 
'■'  sary  diversions,  which  but  too  often  end  in  the  de- 
"  struction  of  both  soul  and  body.  If  it  should  seem 
"  grievous  for  the  present,  we  have  this  for  our  con- 
"  solation,  that  as  good  men  as  you  and  I,  have  been 
"  afflicted :  The  devil  was  permitted  to  afflict  Job 
"  worse  than  wicked  Ministers,  or  Counsellors  of 
"  state  can  you  and  me ;  and  let  us  take  pateru  by 
"  his  stability,  when  liis  friends  came  and  clamoured 
"  against  him,  as  bad  as  our  Farmer  doth  in  this  day, 
"  against  the  best  men  we  have  among  us ;  and  when 
"  his  wife  advised  him  to  curse  God  and  die,  what  was 
"  the  effect?  why  nothing  at  all,  for  it  was  full  conso- 
"  lation  for  him  to  say,  I  know  that  vuj  redeemer  liv- 
"  eth;  and  in  another  place,  all  the  days  of  mij  ap- 
"  pointed  time  icill  I  wait,  till  my  change  come. 

"  This  is  an  amiable  example  of  stability,  which, 
"  may  Americans  imitate.  May  they  join  corre- 
"  sponding  actions  to  fervent  prayei-s,  that  they  may  be 
"  enabled  to  maintain  their  rights  and  liberties  I  That 
"  the  British  arms  may  never  be  employed  but  in  a 
"  just  cause, — to  i)rotect  the  weak  and  innocent  from 
"  wrong,  and  to  be  the  terror  of  oppressors  and  evil 
"  doers.  That  the  illustrious  house  of  Hanover  may 
"  continue  to  be  the  defenders  of  true  religion  and 
"  virtue,  the  faithful  guardians  of  our  freedom  and 
"  i)roperty  !  That  our  sovereign,  George  the  third, 
"  may  discover  every  wicked  design,  that  any  of  his 
"  Ministers,  or  others,  have  conceived  against  him,  or 
"  any  of  his  people!  That  he  may  be  endowed  with 
"  wisdom  ami  virtue  to  oeconie  a  blessing  to  his  peo- 
"  pie,  and  a  terror  only  to  his  enemies !  Tiiat  his 
"  days  may  l)e  prosperous  and  many,  and  his  end 
"  peaceful  and  hapi)y  !  And  nuiy  all  the  subjects  of 
"  him  and  his  succes.sors,  be  ever  watchful  and  reso- 
"  lute  to  prevent  the  least  encroachment  upon  their 
"  rights  ami  liberties,  on  tiie  preservation  of  which, 
"  tile  hapi>iness  of  l>otii  King  and  people  depends! 

'•  And  as  a  powerful  means  of  i>reserving  tiie  bless- 
"  ings  of  freedom,  nniy  we  be  all  duly  sensible  of  the 


218 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  importance  of  choosing  proper  persons  to  represent 
"  us  in  our  legislative  assembly,  and  of  being  ex- 
"  tremely  careful  in  our  choice.  — All  which  are  the 
"  fervent  wishes  of  A  Weaver,  in  Harrison's  Pur- 
"  chase.  West  Chester  County." 

About  the  same  time  that  this  letter  appeared, 
there  was  a  movement,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  White 
Plains,  to  obtain  a  nominal  approval,  if  no  more,  of  the 
action,  the  revolutionary  action,  of  the  Committee  of 
the  City  of  New  York ;  but  if  what  was  said  of  the 
result  of  the  effort  by  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
movement,  without  contradiction,  may  be  believed, 
only  "  three  or  four  persons  in  the  White  Plains  " 
participated  in  it;  and,  practically,  it  was  a  failure. 

Very  soon  after  the  end  of  the  movement  referred 
to,  however,  there  was  a  counter-movement,  in  the 
same  vicinity,  in  which  a  Declaration  was  circulated 
and  signed  by  the  Freeholders  and  principal  Inhabit- 
ants, in  which  the  conservatism  of  those  who  signed 
it  was  distinctly  asserted.  As  a  part  of  the  earlier 
literature  of  the  Revolution,  in  Westchester-county, 
we  have  thought  that  Declaration  possesses  sufficient 
of  interest  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  in  this  narrative. 
It  was  in  these  words,  very  carefully  copied  from  the 
original  publication,  in  Rivington's  Xew-York  Gazet- 
teer, No.  91,  Nem'-York,  Thursday,  January  12, 
1775  : 

"To  the  PRINTER. 

"Sir, 

"TTTE  the  subscribers,  freeholders  and  inhabit- 
VV  "  ants  in  the  White  Plains,  in  the  county 
"  of  Westchester,  think  it  our  duty  to  our  King  and 
"country,  to  declare,  that  we  have  never  given  our 
"  consent  to  any  Resolves  touching  the  disputes  with 
"  the  mother  country,  nor  are  we  any  ways  concerned 
"  in  any  measures  entered  into  relative  to  them.  We 
"  are  rather  induced  to  do  this,  because  we  under- 
"  stand,  that  three  or  four  persons  in  the  White 
"Plains,  have  taken  \\\im\  them  to  declare  to  the 
"Committee  at  New-York,  the  consent  of  the 
"inhabitants  of  the  White  Plains  to  the  resolutions 
"  entered  into,  in  New-York,  and  their  acquiescence 
"  with  the  measures  taken  there ;  when  the  major 
"  part  of  the  few  people  who  attended  the  meeting, 
"  did  not  choose  to  be  concerned  in  the  matter.  We 
"  also  testify  our  disaT)probation  of  many  hot  and 
"furious  proceedings  against  the  measures  taken  by 
"the  mother  country,  as,  in  our  opinion,  they  will 
"  rather  tend  to  ruin  this  once  happy  continent,  than 
"  remove  grievances.  We  also  declare  that  we  desire 
"to  live  and  die  peaceable  subjects  to  our  gracious 
"Sovereign  King  GEORGE  the  Third  and  his  laws. 
"  This  is  to  inform  the  public,  that  the  above  declara- 
"tion  was  signed  by  forty-five  freeholders  and  in- 
"  habitants,  in  the  small  precinct  of  the  White 
"  Plains,  against  the  proceedings  of  the  New-York 
"  Committee,  besides  Miles  Oakley." 

A  few  weeks  afterwards,  Miles  Oakley,  one  of  those 
who  had  signed  it,  undoubtedly,  for  good  and  sufficient 


reasons,'  retracted  what  he  had  uttered  in  the  above- 
recited  Declaration ;  and  we  have  carefully  copied 
from  Holt's  New-York  Journal,  No.  1681,  New- 
York,  Thursday,  March  23,  1775,  what  he  said  on 
that  latter  occasion.    It  was  in  these  words  : 

"  Westchester  County,  White  Plains. 
"TTTHEREAS,  there  was  a  petition  published  in 
YV  "Rivington's  paper,  some  time  past,  that 
"forty  five  of  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants,  be- 
"  sides  Miles  Oakley,  did  sign  a  petition — I  did  sign 
"  a  petition,  something  like  it,  by  being  misled  ;  and 
"  afterwards  being  informed  into  the  right  state  of 
"the matter,  I  got  the  petition,  and  struck  my  name 
"out,  and  forwarned  the  Esq.  A.  H — not  to  return 
"my  name  and  he  swore  by  God  he  would;  and 
"many  others  that  signed  it,  has  told  me,  they  was 
"  sorry  they  had  any  concern  in  signing  the  petition. 

"  MILES  OAKLEY,  and 
"  DANIEL  HORTON." 

There  was  no  portion  of  the  County  of  West- 
chester, in  which  the  conservatism  of  the  inhabitants 
was  so  general  and  so  decided  in  its  character,  as  in 
the  Manor  of  Cortlandt ; '-  and.  during  the  Winter 


1  On  tlie  Sth  of3Iay,  1775,  3Iiles  Oakley  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
County  Committee,  (mi'c ;«(</(■  — ,pi>sl;)man  afterwards,  he  received  a 
Warrant  for  Second  Lieutenant  in  Captain  Mills's  Company  ;  (i  i<lr  piajK 
— ,  and  he  served  in  that  office,  under  Colonel  Holmes,  in  the 
bloodless  Campaign  of  177.'> ;  leaving  the  service,  when  the  Campaign 
closed.— (J/i.>V«W<ri/  MiiiiiisrriplK,  etc. ;  Mililnnj  Coniinillri-,  xxv.,  04.) 

J)aniel  Horton,  whose  name  accompanied  that  of  Miles  Oakley,  on  the 
disclaimer  now  under  notice,  was  a  resident  of  Rye ;  and  in  the  re-or- 
ganization of  the  Jlilitia  of  the  County,  he  was  made  Second  Lieutenant 
of  the  Rye  an<l  JIamaroneck  Company,  commanded  by  Captain  Robert 
Bloomer. 

2  Illustrative  of  the  statement  made  in  the  text,  is  the  following, 
taken  from  tho' L'pi'"ll  Clippinris.  iv.,2!)7,  in  the  Library  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society:  "It  is  said  that  at  least  tliiee-fourths  of  the  people 
"in  Cortlandt's  Manor,  New  York,  have  declared  their  unwillingness  to 
"enter  into  the  Congressional  measures  :  that  a  great  number  of  the 
"  people  in  general  in  Westchester  County  are  preparing  to  do  the  like  ; 
"and  that  the  AsKuriation  against  the  Continental  Congress  has  been 
"signed  by  three  hundred  persons  in  the  neighborhood  of  Poughkeepsie 
"only.  Many  lists  are  sent  about  Dutchess  County,  on  which  also 
"many  hundreds  have  subscribed." 

As  far  as  it  related  to  Westchester-county,  the  above  was  copied  from 
Gaine'a  -Veif-l </)■/,■  Gazelle:  itiiil  the  Weckli/  Mercurij,  Xo.  1220,  New- 
Y'oRK,  Monday,  February  27,  1775. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  farmers  in  Westchester- 
county  supported  the  Home  Government,  in  its  Colonial  policy  :  on  the 
contraiy,  neither  in  the  well-known  DecUmilion  and  Prole^l,  nor  else- 
where, as  far  as  we  have  knowledge,  was  there  the  slightest  leaning  in 
that  direction — they  did  no  more,  at  any  time,  than  to  prefer  and  accept 
that  opposition  to  the  Home  Government  which  had  been  made  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  instead  of  that  which  was 
made  by  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774 ;  and,  at  no  time,  as  the 
reader  will  hereafter  learn,  was  the  great  body  of  them  inclined  to  sup. 
port  the  Royal  Cause,  witli  their  persons  and  their  properties.  There 
were  some  w  ho  were  smarting  under  the  outrages  which  had  been  in- 
flicted on  them  or  on  their  friends,  by  local  and  other  despots,  of  high 
or  low  degree  ;  and  these  were,  sometimes,  compelled  to  find  refuge  and 
protection  w  ithin  the  lines  of  the  lioyal  Army  :  and  there  was  a  float 
ing,  vicious  class,  within  the  County,  which  the  lawlessness  of  the  revo- 
lutionary faction  and  the  succeeding  War  had  produced— ready  to  enlist 
on  that  side  which  offered  the  greater  inducements— but  the  great  body 
of  the  farmers  was  patient,  law-abiding,  peacefully  inclined,  stayers  at 
home,  industrious,  and  severely  conservative. 


THE  AxMERICAN  REV 


;OJiUTiOi\,  1774-1783. 


219 


of  1774-75  and  early  in  the  Spring  of  the  latter  year, 
there  was  considerable  activity,  among  the  farnn.ers  on 
that  particular  ^lanor,  in  opposition  to  the  revolu- 
tionary spirit  which  was  seeking  to  force  itself  on 
them.  All  Association,  referred  to  in  the  Note  2,  on 
page  42,  ante,  had  been  prepared  and  numerously 
.signed  in  Duchess-county  ;  and  co])ics  of  it  had  been 
also  circulated  and  signed  within  Westchester- 
county,  especially  within  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt, 
which  adjoined  the  Duchess-county  of  that  period  ; ' 
and,  about  the  same  time,  an  Address,  accompanied 
with  an  Association  adapted  to  that  particular  local- 
ity, was  prepared  and  widely  circulated  ;  and  the 
Association  was  numerously  signed.  That  very  inter- 
esting and  very  important  ^rf(^?rss  and  the  Association 
which  accompanied  it, — the  latter,  generally  known, 
among  those  who  favored  the  revolutionary  faction^ 
as  "  Thr  Loya/ist's  Test" — because  they  form  very 
important  specimens  of  tlie  literature  of  revolutionary 
Westchester-county,  and  because  of  their  importance 
as  reliable  authorities  for  the  guidance  of  the  student 
of  the  liistory  of  that  County,  during  that  eventful 
period,  may  properly  find  a  jdace  in  ihis  narrative; 
and  we  have  carefully  copied  them  from  Rivinfjtons 
New-York  Gazetteer,  No.  96,  New-York,  Thursday, 
February  16,  1775.  They  were  in  the  following 
words : 


1  The  following  isa  copy  of  those  notable  "  Resolves,"  as  that  .Usocia- 
d'oii  was  frciincntly  lallccl,  carefully  niiido  from  tiaine's  yeir-Ynik  (In- 
zelle:  und  tin-  HV'e/.V;/ .l/i/vio-/;.  No.  1218,  New-York,  Monday  February 
13,  1775,  where  they  were  printed  anioi^  the  current  news  of  the  day  : 

"  TTTE  the  subscribers  being  desirous  to  convince  mankind  that 
'  "  we  are  firmly  attached  to  our  most  hajipy  constitution, 
"and  are  disposed  to  support  and  maintain  peace  and  good  order  under  I 
"  his  Majesty's  government,  do  therefore  declare,  that  our  sovereign  lord 
•'king  George  the  third,  is  tlie  only  sovereign  to  whom  llritish  Ameiica 
"  may,  can,  or  ought  to  owe  and  bear  true  and  faithful  allegiance,  and 
"that  there  is  no  legal  power  or  authority  therein  but  what  is  duly 
"derived  from  him  ;  that  our  representatives  in  Genei-al  Assembly  con- 
"  vened,  are  the  only  guardians  of  our  rights  and  liberties  ;  that  without 
"  them  no  laws  can  here  he  made  to  bind  us,  and  that  they  only  are  the 
"  channel  tbrotigh  which  our  grievances  can  properly  be  represented  for 
"  redress,  and  that  to  support  their  right  and  authority,'  we  do  hereby 
"  associate  and  mutually  covenant  and  engage  to  and  with  each  other 
"  as  follows,  namely : 

"  Fiffl.  That  wc  will  upon  all  occasions  stand  by  and  assist  each  other 
"in  the  defence  of  his  life,  liberty  and  property,  when  ever  the  same 
"  shall  be  attacked  or  endangered  by  any  bodies  of  men  riototisly  assem- 
"  bled,  tipon  any  pretence  or  any  authority  whatsoever,  not  warrantetl 
"  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 

**  .SecoM*/,  That  wc  will  upon  all  occasions  mutually  support  each 
"other  in  the  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  oui-  undoubted  right  to 
"  liberty,  in  eating,  drinking,  buying,  selling,  communing  and  acting 
"  what,  with  whom,  and  as  we  please,  consistent  with  the  laws  of  God, 
"  and  the  laws  of  the  land,  notwithstanding  the  association  entered  into 
"  by  the  Continental  Congress  to  the  continry. 

"  IaiiIUi.  That  we  will  endeavour  to  promote,  encourage,  and  when 
"  called  to,  enforce  obediance  to  the  rightful  authority  of  our  most  gra- 
"cious  sovereign  king  George  the  third,  and  the  laws  which  can,  do,  or 
"  may  constitutionally  extend  to,  or  in  the  British  colonies  in  America. 

"  In  witness  whereof  we  have  her  ito  set  our  hands,  this  eighteenth 

"day  of  .January,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign 
"  lord  George  the  third,  by  the  grace  of  God  of  Great-Britain,  France, 
"  and  Irelanii,  king,  defender  of  the  faith,  ,Vc.,  and  in  the  year  of  our 
"lonl  Christ,  177.^;.  ' 


"All  Address  to  tlie  Inhabitants  of  Cort- 
"  landt's  Manor. 

T  am  one  amongst  you,  tho'  yet  a 
J.  "stranger,  an  inhabitant  of  Cort- 
'■  landt's  manor;  I  have  nothing  to  dread  or  fear 
"from  the  resentment  of  any  person  or  persons,  as 
"  I  mean  to  give  no  offence  to  any  individual ; 
"only  wishing,  that  reason  and  common  prudence 
"may  take  place  of  present  bickerings,  and  the 
"detestable  poison  of  party  faction,  ft  is  a  matter  no 
"longer  to  be  hid  under  a  cloud,  whether  we  are  in 
"  reality,  his  Majesty's  loyal  subjects  or  not ;  I  have 
"all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  believe,  that  the 
"  worthy  people  of  this  Manor  are  so  to  all  intents 
"and  purposes;  I  mean  as  to  their  private  sentiments; 
"  but  alas  !  my  friends,  the  time  is  at  hand,  when 
"  those  sentiments  alone  will  not  be  of  sufficient  va- 
"lidity  to  justify  the  loyalty  of  your  hearts.  It  re- 
"  quires  no  great  penetration  to  assign  reasons  for  your 
"  silence  in  matters  of  so  great  importance ;  your  con- 
"duct,  my  friends  in  this  last  point,  is  not  to  be 
"blamed;  it  rather  redounds  to  your  credit  in  the 
"  eyes  of  every  one  that  knows  the  life  of  a  farmer. 
"The  farmer  is  brought  up  to  peace  and  trancjuility  ; 
"  politics,  and  the  designs  of  crafty  men  are  strangers 
"  to  his  honest  minds ;  his  care  and  toil,  with  the 
"sweat  of  his  brow,  is  to  turn  the  furrows  which  give 
"us  subsistence:  It  is  from  industry,  that  worthy 
"merchants  are  enabled  to  extend  their  commerce, — 
"commerce  I  the  vitals  of  a  nation,  every  country  has 
"its  share  in  different  commodities,  designed  by  tlie 
"  will  of  an  omnipotent  Being  to  depend  on  each  other, 
"linked  in  a  chain  of  civil  society.  I  presume  it  Avill 
"  not  be  improper  to  see  what  part  of  this  advantage 
"providence  has  allotted  us;  the  question  may  be 
"easily  solved  ;  we  are  placed  in  a  fertile  land,  teein- 
"ing  forth,  in  abundance,  the  necessaries  of  life  for 
"  ourselves,  and  a  superfluity,  which  brings  the  wealth 
"  of  other  nations  to  our  own  coffers. — Every  individ- 
"ual  enjoys  his  share  according  to  his  industry  and 
"  situation  in  life  ;  he  is  protected  in  his  possessions, 
"by  what?  'Tis  by  the  paternal  care,  the  j)enetrating 
"  eye,  and  the  mighty  arm  of  his  mother  country  ;  who 
"  like  a  hen,  when  the  hawk  is  near,  hovers  round  her 
"  chickens,  takes  them  under  her  wings,  and  preserves 
"them  from  the  enemy.  I  think  I  have  accounted 
"  for  your  inattention  to  political  matters,  as  not  being 
"within  the  sphere  of  your  occupations,  but  confined 
"to  the  laudable  ])ursuit  of  your  own  business;  and, 
"I  sincerely  wish  it  to  continue  without  interruption  ; 
"  to  effect  which,  there  is  only  one  method  left. —  I 
"  have  already  observed,  that  our  good  intentions, 
"kept  in  silence,  are  not  sufficient  to  distinguish  our 
"loyalty;  It  may  do  amongst  ourselves;  but  let  us 
"consider  facts  which  we  know  to  be  true;  they  are 
"recent  in  our  meinories,  and  need  not  recapitula- 
"  tion  ;  it  is  sufficient  that  we  are  informeil  of  the  con- 


220 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  sequences  in  England,  where  they  are  considered  as 
"actions  founded  on  rebellious  principles,  subversive 
"  of  all  law  and  government,  and  abusive,  in  the  high- 
"  est  degree,  to  his  Majesty's  crown  and  dignity.  I 
"  have  said,  I  am  one  amongst  you,  my  situation  has 

given  me  opportunity  to  form  ideas  of  your  behav- 
"  iour  and  sentiments,  I  believe  you,  in  a  general 
"sense,  firmly  attached  to  loyalty  and  our  admirable 
"constitution  ;  that  you  wish  to  live  and  die  subjects 
"  only  to  the  British  empire ;  but  how  is  this  to  be 
"manifested,  and  that  it  should  be  declared,  there  is 
'  an  absolute  necessity,  without  delay,  for  the  follow- 
"ing  reasons:  That  the  colonists  of  New-York  are 
"under  the  same  dilemma  with  the  other  provinces 
"  and  the  continent  throughout,  considered  as  com- 
"binants  in  a  general  plan,  which  gives  so  much 
"  offence  to  the  supreme  authority,  whose  dignity 
"  cannot,  nor  will  not,  be  insulted.  Let  us  of  Cort- 
"  landt's  manor,  clear  ourselves  of  the  general  impu- 
"tation;  we  do  not  deserve  it,  then,  why  should  we 
"suffer  it?  We  never  consented  to  congresses  nor 
"  committees,  we  detest  the  destruction  of  private 
"  jJroperty,  we  abhor  the  proceedings  of  riotous  and 
"  disorderly  people,  and  finally,  we  wish  to  live  and 
"  die  the  same  loyal  subjects  we  have  ever  been,  to  his 
"  most  sacred  Majesty  Geor(je  the  Third.  Let  us 
"  my  friends,  declare,  and  acknowledge  this,  our  in- 
"  dispensible  duty,  by  signing  our  names  to  the  paper  I 
"  now  circulating  in  this  manor,  wrote  and  adapted 
"for  the  subscription  of  none  but  Royalist.s.— It  is 

not  enough  for  a  man  to  say,  that  I  am  a  b.yal  sub- 
"ject,  no  more  than  to  say  I  am  a  jiious  and  true 
"christian;  it  must  he  his  work,  his  dependance  on, 
"  his  energy,  his  indefatigable  effort;  to  promote  honor 
"and  glory  to  the  true  system  of  his  preservation.  As 
"  chanty,  my  friends,  is  a  characteristic  of  a  good  man 
"  and  a  christian,  I  wish  by  no  means  it  should  be  im- 
"  paired,  in  this  our  manor  of  Cortlandt ;  permit  me, 
"  my  neighbours,  to  instance  one  point  in  particular 
"to  which  I  hope  you  will  pay  strict  adherence,  viz. 
"If  you  should  disagreeably  find  any  one,  or  more 
"amongst  you  who  are  blind  to  their  own  happiness, 
"  let  me  intreat  you  to  take  no  advantage  of  their 
"weakness,  rather  use  lenient  and  mild  persuasions; 
"  tell  them  their  true  interest ;  use  all  your  endeav- 
"ours  that  if  possible  they  may  return  to  their  right 
"senses: — In  this  you  will  shine  in  triple  capacity, 
"you  recover  the  lost  man,  you  draw  together  the 
"  bands  of  unity,  and  are  an  honor  to  your  King  and 
"  country." 

Form  of  an  Association  in  Cortlandt's 
"  Manor. 

*'\17HEX  the  minds  of  people 
T  T    "  are  agitated,   some  with 
"just,   and  some  with   false  ideas  of  their  rights 
"and  privileges,  when  anarchy  and  confusion  are 
"sjireading  their    baneful  wings  over    this  once 


"happy  and  flourishing  Continent:  At  this  most 
"interesting  period,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  indi- 
"  vidual,  for  the  good  of  himself  and  posterity,  to 
"  pursue  that  course  which  conscience  dictates  to  be 
"  right.  No  one,  if  impartial,  can  be  at  a  loss  for  the 
"  clue  of  direction,  the  object  is  plain  to  every  honest, 
"tho'  ever  so  illiterate  capacity:  The  loyalty  we  owe 
"  to  the  best  of  Kings  is  the  grand  magnetic  point, 
"that  will  infallibly  fix  us  on  a  solid  basis.  There  are 
"  none  amongst  us  (if  we  cooly  reflect)  but  what  will 
"  find  themselves  bound  by  the  strongest  ties  of  grati- 
"tude,  to  acknowledge  that  we  have  been,  and  still 
"  may  be,  the  happiest  people  on  earth,  under  the 
"glorious  and  unparalelled  constitution  of  Great 
"Britain!  And  if  prejudice,  popular  declamations, 
"and  the  hateful  current  of  party  faction,  are  not  too 
"  strong  for  truth  and  matters  of  fact ;  we  must  allow 
"  that  the  grand  pitch  of  commerce  we  have  arrived 
"at,  the  progress  we  have  made  in  arts  and  sciences; 
"the  amazing  repadity  in  extending,  settling  and  im- 
"  proving  our  land  estates ;  the  magnificent  appear- 
"  ance  and  flourishing  condition  of  our  towering  cit- 
"  ies ;  the  opulence  of  the  inhabitants,  and  every  other 
"  blessing  under  God  which  we  do,  and  still  may  en- 
"joy,  derived  their  origin  from,  and  have  their  exis- 
"tence  in  the  laws,  the  lenity,  and  the  unlimited 
"  indulgence  of  our  parent  state  ;  which  has  hitherto 
"  protected  us,  is  ever  able,  and  would  be  ready,  if  we 
"  deserve  it,  to  defend  us  against  all  invadere  of  our 
"  peace  and  tranquility,  by  sending  to  our  support  the 
"terror  of  the  universe,  the  British  Arms! — For  a 
"  proof  of  this  let  us  revert  to  the  late  war,  when  the 
"French  and  Savages  with  fire  and  sword,  were  rav- 
"  aging  the  country ;  when  the  cries  of  murder  and 
"scalj)ing  were  echoed  from  everj'  quarter  of  the 
"  woods ;  the  infants  brains  dashed  out  before  the  eyes 
"  of  its  afflicted  parents ;  the  parents  tortured  to  death 
"  by  the  horrid  and  shocking  barbarities  of  the  Indi- 
■'  ans  ;  and  numbers  flying  from  their  habitations,  ex- 
"  posed  to  famine,  and  every  species  of  distress.  Let 
"us  reflect  on  those  direful  calamities;  Let  us  be 
"  grateful  tt)  the  power  which  preserved  us,  which  sent 
"forth  her  Ixvixcible  Veterans,  vanquished  our 
"  enemies,  and  finally  reinstated  us  in  quiet  posses- 
"sion  of  our  own. — If  we  have  a  right  to  complain  of 
"the  British  acts  of  parliament,  we  have  a  Governor, 
"  Council  and  Assembly,  to  rejircsent  our  grievances 
"to  the  King,  Lords  and  Cojuions;  we  are  assured 
"  that  we  shall  be  heard :  We  have  no  business  with 
"  Congrexses  and  Commiitees.  Such  methods  only  serve 
"to  irritate  our  best  friends.  Let  us  proceed  in  the 
"direct  line  of  our  duty  :  We  are  contending  with  a 
"  mighty  nation,  of  great  mercy  and  long  forbearance, 
"  ever  sparing  of  the  efltision  of  blood ;  but  when 
"  rouzed  to  resentment,  we  may  feel  the  weight  of  her 
"indignation. — Therefore  we,  the  subscribers,  free- 
"  holders,  and  inhabitants  of  Cortlandt's  Manor,  in 
"the  county  of  AVestchester,  being  actuated  by  no 
"other  motives  than  the  dictates  of  conscience  and 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


221 


"common  sense,  are  led  to  declare  our  firm  and  indis- 
"  soluble  attachment  to  our  most  gracious  Sovereign 
"George  the  Third,  his  crown  and  dignity;  and 
with  grateful  hearts  to  acknowledge,  that  we  are  in- 
"  debted  to  his  paternal  care,  for  the  preservation  of 
"our  lives  and  fortunes:  And  as  we  have  ever  been  a 
"  happy  and  free  people,  subject  only  to  the  laws  and 
"government  of  ttreat-Britain,  we  will  pay  no  regard 
"  to  any  resolves,  or  restrictions,  but  such  as  are  en- 
.  "  joined  us  by  our  Constitutional  Delegates. 
"  Everything  to  the  contrary,  we  deem  Illegal." 

An  answer  to  this  Address  and  this  Association  was 
published  in  J^irinr/foit's  New- York  Gazetteer,  No.  99, 
New-York,  Thursday,  March  9,  177o,  in  these  words, 
which  we  have  carefully  copied  from  the  original  pub- 
lication : 

"  To  ecerij  American  to  ichom  it  is  appli- 
cable ; 

"  But  chiefly  to 

"The  AssociATORS  o/Cortlcandt's  Manor. 

"  0  ye  Tame  Pigeons  ! 

"Tj^xcrsE,  my  friends,  the  manner  of  addressing 
IJ  "  you,  for  if  we  advert  to  a  passage  in  Holy 
"  Writ,  we  are  told,  that  the  professors  of  our  excel- 
"  lent  religion,  should  be  as  wise  as  serpents,  and 
"  harmless  as  doves  ;  I  must,  in»  some  measure,  think 
"  you  a  Christian  people,  as  both  the  above  properties 
"  are  discovered  in  Cortlandt's  Manor,  tho'  they 
"  seem  not  to  be  properly  blended  together. — The 
"  framer  of  the  Association,  and  the  elaborate  piece 
"  that  attended  it,  in  Mr.  Rivington's  paper  of  Feb- 
"  ruary  16,  has  certainly  all  the  subtilty  of  the  ser- 
"pent;  and  has  as  dexterously  wormed  himself 
"  round  your  estates,  with  as  much  address,  and  will 
"  probably  have  the  same  success,  as  the  first  serpent 
"  had,  when  he  attacked  our  old  grandmother. — And 
"  you,  my  friends,  resemble  the  simple  dove,  for  you 
"  seem  to  be  innocent  and  secure,  although  the  de- 
"  luder  has  already  catched  you  in  the  snare:  Then 
"  be  not  offended  at  my  calling  you  pigeons ;  for 
"  naturalists  assure  us,  it  is  the  very  nature  of  this  bird, 
"  that  she  seems  always  calm  and  secure,  and  has  no 
"  inclination  to  defend  herself,  or  her  young  ones, 
"  from  the  attacks  of  men,  beasts,  or  vermin,  but  al- 
.  "  ways  returns  to  the  same  hole  to  make  her  nest, 
"  notwithstanding  the  experience  she  has  had,  of  its 
"  being  utter  destruction  to  her  family. — Just  so  it  is 
"  with  you,  ye  people  of  Cortlandt,  ije  have  e;/es,  but 
"  see  not,  and  ears,  but  hear  not.  The  Spectator,  in 
"  some  of  his  beautiful  lucubrations,  mentions  a  young 
"  Eastern  Prince,  who  being  severely  reprimanded  for 
"  some  unguarded  folly  of  youth,  immediately  fell 
"  down  at  the  feet  of  his  preceptor,  and  expressed 
"  himself  to  this  effect :  —  O  father,  I  now  perceive, 
"  that  I  have  two  souls,  a  good  soul  and  a  bad,  in 


"  your  absence  the  bad  soul  predominates  ;  pa.ssion 
"  and  pleasure,  with  their  attendant  train  of  delusions, 
"  absorbe  my  frame  ;  reason  and  virtue  are  forced  to 
"  quit  their  seats  I — But  in  your  presence,  the  good 
"  soul  assumes  the  throne  ;  reason,  truth,  and  virtue 
"  appear  in  all  their  native  forms,  and  every  vicious* 
"  passion  is  banished  from  my  heart. 

"  However  this  may  be  with  an  individual,  it  is 
"  clearly  evident,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  British 
"  dominions  are  actuated  by  two  sorts  of  souls,  and 
"  these  are  of  very  different  kinds  :  But  let  us  exam- 
"  ine  them  ;  the  soul  of  the  virtuous  son  of  Freedom, 
"  is  the  soul  of  God  I  the  soul  of  nature,  and  the  soul 
"  of  the  British  Constitution  ;  it  is  a  soul  that  dares 
"  to  think,  that  dares  to  speak,  that  dares  to  die  ! 
"  This  soul  has  animated  every  kingdom  on  the  face 
"  of  the  earth,  till  by  their  own  crimes  and  their  own 
"  folly,  they  have  voluntarily  banished  it 
"  their  soil :  This  is  the  soul  that  has  .sup- 
"  ported  the  British  state  through  various  rcvolu- 
"  tions,  and  will  maintain  its  empire,  either  in  that, 
"  or  some  other  part  of  the  globe,  till  Heaven,  in  its 
"  vengeance,  shall  extirpate  the  human  race. — Now, 
"  the  souls  of  the  other  cast,  may  be  divided  into  two 
"classes;  and  first,  those  in  the  island  of  Britain, 
"  who  erroneously  call  themselves  friends  to  govern- 
"  ment ;  and  are  generally  distinguished  by  the  name 
"  of  Tories :  and  these  should  be  called  despotic 
"  souls,  as  they  well  deserve  the  appellation  ;  for,  by 
"  their  alert  address,  they  have  had  influence  enough 
"  to  buy  all  the  votes  in  the  Kingdom  ;  and  the  min- 
"  istry  has  had  foresight  enough  to  buy  all  them ;  so 
"  that,  all  the  laws  of  that  once  great  nation,  are  now 
"  framed,  passed,  and  executed  by  one  branch  of  the 
"  legislature :  And  the  consequences  have  been  cor- 
"  respondent;  equity,  justice,  and  reason,  with  all 
"  the  antient  props  of  the  state,  are  banished  the  sen- 
"ate:  tyranny  mounts  her  throne,  and  says, — I 
"  Will  I  The  other  class  of  souls  reside  in  America, 
"  and  must  be  called  souls  of  the  basest  mould;  these 
"  wretches,  by  the  God  of  nature,  have  been  suffered 
"  to  receive  their  being  in  a  land  of  happiness,  and 
"  have  been  nursed  up  in  a  land  of  liberty  and 
"  plenty  ;  but  0  monstrous  ingratitude  I  Without 
"  the  least  remorse,  without  any  spur  to  real  ambi- 
"  tion,  they  forsake  their  country  I  in  short  they  are 
"  divested  of  every  trace  of  human  perfection,  except 
"  one  trifling  gleam  of  hope,  which  the  devil  has  ever 
"  made  use  of  to  delude  his  votaries  ;  and  this,  will 
"  eventually  end  in  despair.  Yet  these  mens  souls, 
"  dare  attempt  with  their  Syren  songs,  to  lull  even 
"  virtue  itself  to  sleej),  in  the  hopes  that  she  may  yet 
"  split  on  the  rocks. — One  day  we  are  charmed  with 
"  peace,  clemency,  and  pardon  ;  riches  and  plenty 
"  are  to  be  powered  into  our  dwellings  ;  tyrants  and 
"  heroes  are  to  drop  their  crowns  and  their  laurels  at 
"  our  feet,  that  we  may  partake  of  the  banquet,  if  we 
"  will  only  bow  the  knee  to  satan.  But,  if  we  arc 
"  stern  enough  to  deny  passive  obedience,  then  ti  r- 


222 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  ror  and  dismay  are  to  assault  us,  all  the  British 
"  navy  shall  knock  down  our  pompous  cities  ;  thou- 
"  sands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  forces  are  to  crimson 
"  o'er  the  spacious  plains  with  blood;  Canadian  big- 
"  otry  and  persecution  is  to  pour  in  upon  us  from 
•"  the  North  ;  the  Indians,  with  horrid  barbarity,  are 
*'  to  torment  us  from  the  West ;  and  perhaps  pesti- 
"  lence  and  Spaniards  from  the  South. — This,  ye  sor- 
"  did  mortals,  is  the  true  picture  of  your  base  hearts ; 

this  is  the  scene,  on  which  you  could  feast  your 
"  eyes  with  rapture,  provided  the  rocks  and  the 
"  mountains  might  cover  you. — But  now  let  me  tell 
"  you,  that  were  all  this  possible,  there  are  fifteen  out 
"  of  twenty,  throughout  this  vast  continent,  all  Free- 
"  dom's  sons,  whose  blood  is  neither  contaminated 
"  with  paltry  bribe,  or  coward  fear  ;  who  would  face 
"  all  this  terror,  rather  than  sell  their  birthright  for  a 
"  mess  of  pottage,  or  be  a  means  of  transmitting  mis- 
"  ery  and  infamy  to  their  posterity. 

"  But,  0  ye  men  of  Cortlandt,  let  us  for  a  moment 
"  view  the  windings  of  that  arch  ser^jent  which  hath 
"  beguiled  you;  with  what  pleasing  sensations,  he 
"  surveys  your  fine  fields,  your  harvests,  and  your 
"herds;  and  how  he  commends  and  admires  the 
"trickling  drops  that  pour  down  your  brows;  no 
"  doubt  these  are  delicious  charms  to  him  ;  yet,  one 
"  thing  on  your  part,  is  absolutely  necessary ;  and 
"  that  is,  your  loyalty,  only  establish  that,  and  he  can 
"  easily  take  care  of  the  rest  of  your  business. — With 
"  what  elegance  of  stile  he  describes  your  fertile 
"  plains,  your  splendid  cities,  your  noble  towers,  and 
"  the  oppulence  of  your  marts,  which  has  poured  all 
"  the  riches  of  the  globe  into  your  laps!  and  all  this, 
"  thro"  the  paternal  indulgence  of  a  tender  mother. 
"  But  he  has  neglected  to  inform  you,  that,  for  these 
"  12  years  past,  this  kind  mother  has  become  a 
"  monster !  Like  the  cruel  ostrich,  she  has  forsaken 
"  her  young  ones  ;  with  the  fierceness  of  a  tyger,  she 
"  lays  waste  our  own  fair  inheritence,  and  dashes 
"  her  sons  against  the  stones ! — Shakspeare  makes 
"  Hamlet  express  himself  thus  ;  '  But,  I  am  pigeon 
"  '  livered,  and  lack  gall  to  make  oppression  bitter.' 
"  Whether  it  is  the  lack  of  gall,  or  the  lack  of  sensi- 
"  bility,  that  makes  you  callous  to  that  bitter  op])res- 
"  sion  that  now  surrounds  you,  I  will  not  determine  ; 
"  but  for  creatures,  that  are  said  to  wear  the  image  of 
"  the  Deity,  to  be  so  lost  to  every  noble  sentiment 
"  that  ornaments  the  man ;  must  bespeak  the  most 
"  amazing  apathy.— Then  let  me  conjure  you,  to  rise 
"  from  your  lethargy,  assume  the  dignity  of  freemen  ; 
"  smite  the  serpents  that  have  spread  their  poisons 
"  round  you ;  burn  your  associations ;  and  with 
"  dauntless  intrepity,  join  the  sons  of  freedom,  who 
"  are  the  only  temporal  guardians  of  the  human  race. 

'•  B.  E." 

No  further  attempt  to  answer  this  Address  nor  to 
counteract  the  effects  of  the  Association  appears  to 
have  been  made  until  late  in  the  Spring,  a  long  time 
after  the  farmers  throughout  the  Manor  had  com- 


,menced  their  work  of  ploughing  and  sowing  and 
planting,  when  the  following  letter,  signed  by  "An 
"Inhabitant,"  was  published  in  Gaine's  New-York 
Gazette:  or  the  Weekly  Mercuri/,  No.  1236,  New- York, 
Monday,  June  19,  1775. 

"  To   THE   INHABITANTS   OF  THE  MANOR  OF  CORT- 

"  LANDT,  New- York. 

"  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  May  19,  1775. 
"  Gentlemen  : 

"  The  dangerous  innovations  and  iu- 
"  fringements  attempted  by  certain  mercenary  Min- 
"isterial  tools  and  infamous  traitors  (in  this  Manor) 
"  to  their  Country,  who  assume  to  themselves  the 
"  name  of  Loyalists,  on  the  liberties  of  their  fellow- 
"  subjects,  have  greatly  alarmed  the  impartial  friends 
"  of  Liberty  herein.  A  fool,  says  an  author,  has 
"great  need  of  title;  it  teaches  men  to  call  him 
"Count  and  Duke,  and  to  forget  his  proper  name  of 
"  Fool. 

"  In  a  day  when  American  pulse  beats  high  for 
"  Liberty ;  when  it  is  the  subject  of  almost  every 
"  public  [laper,  as  well  as  topic  of  discourse,  it  might 
"justly  have  been  expected  that  no  American  would 
"  be  so  hardy  as  to  violate  the  rights  of  his  fellow- 
"  subjects ;  and  if  any  such  monster  should  ai)pear 
"  in  this  land  of  Liberty,  that  there  would  not  be 
"  wanting  advocates  for  so  glorious  and  important  a 
"cause,  as  to  expose  those  of  its  members  who  are 
"  trampling  on  the  sacred  rights  of  the  people. 

"  I  have  waited  with  great  impatience,  exjiecting 
"  that  some  able  hand  would  have  undertaken  the 
"  benevolent  task  to  warn  you  to  beware  of  the  con- 
"  duct  of  some  of  the  basest  villains  that  ever  dis- 
"  graced  any  society,  and  draw  the  attention  of  the 
"  inhabitants  to  its  danger  ;  but  finding  that  although 
"now  some  months  are  elapsed  since  the  commence- 
"ment  of  the  measures  of  these  traitors,  &c.,  yet  none 
"  has  appeared  to  sound  the  friendly  alarm  to  the 
"  very  indolent  inhabitants,  I  have  attemjjted  what 
"  I  so  ardently  wished  might  have  been  done  by  some 
"more  able  hand.  While  we  are  straining  every 
"  nerve  to  baffle  foreign  attempts  to  enslave  us,  surely 
"it  must  be  very  criminal  in  the  descendants  of 
"  Britons,  who  ought  t )  love  life  and  liberty  alike,  to 
"  be  so  assiduous  in  exerting  themselves  to  enslave 
"their  fellow-subjects. 

"It  may  not  be  improper  to  inform  you,  Gentle- 
"men,  of  the  springs  and  motives  which  induce  these 
"  principal  movers  to  forget  their  duty  to  God,  their 
"fellow-countrymen,  and  their  posterity. 

"  They,  anxious  to  secure  to  themselves  and  their 
"posterity  power  and  authority,  and  to  engross  some 
"  (jlfices  or  pensions  from  or  under  the  Crown,  have 
"  made  a  sacrifice  of  all  public  virtue  on  the  altar  of 
"self-interest.  This  desperate  spirit  it  was  that  in- 
"  duced  these  traitors  or  mercenary  hirelings  to  exert 
"  tlieir  influence  to  bring  about  the  detestable  meas- 
"  urcs  proposed  by  a  certain  j)aper  handed  about  here 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


223 


"  last  Winter,  entitled  '  The  Loyalist's  Test.'  ^  But, 
"  happily  for  this  Mauor,  this  very  dangerous  scheme 
"  was  disconcerted  by  some  lovers  of  Loyally  and 
"  Liberty.  For  the  men  who  would  make  such  in- 
"  roads  ou  the  liberties  of  the  people,  as  they  were 
"  aiming  at,  to  gratify  their  thirst  for  power,  and  give 
•'  Administration  a  high  idea  of  their  influence  in  this 
"  Manor,  would,  from  the  same  principle,  exert  every 

nerve  of  influence  to  carry  any  ministerial  mandate 
''into  execution,  at  the  expense  of  the  liberties  of 

their  fellow-countrymen. 

"Can  any  judicious  American  son  of  liberty  behold 
"these  traitors  of  their  Country  without  the  utmost 
"  abhorrence,  by  whose  influence  the  more  illiterate 
"  and  tho.-e  who  are  uiiuctiuainted  with  the  principles 
"  of  the  present  disi)ute,  are  so  besotted  as  to  resign 
•■  their  liberties  into  the  hands  of  the  most  ambitious 
■' and  designing  fellows,  who  are  aiming  to  make  a 
"  merit  with  the  Ministry  by  enslaving  their  fellow- 
"  countrymen,  and  to  aggrandise  themselves  and 
"their  posterity?  Surely  he  caunot.  If  Charles  the 
"  i'irst  deserved  the  axe,  and  James  the  Second  the 
"  loss  of  his  Kingdom,  for  changing  the  Constitution, 
"  and  thereby  trampling  on  the  rights  of  their  sub- 
"jects,  1  leave  you,  my  Countrymen,  to  judge  what 
"  punishment  would  be  adequate  to  the  crimes  of 
"  these  loyalists  and  their  tools,  who  are  aiming  at 
"  the  same  by  a  sacrifice  of  all  public  virtue  and  the 
"  liberty  of  their  Country. 

"  Ax  Inhabitant." 

With  the  publication  of  this  letter,  the  Manor  of 
Cortlandt  probably  closed  its  literary  labors,  in  the 
cause  of  either  party,  since  the  work  of  the  successive 
seasons  occupied  the  entire  attention  of  the  Tenantry, 
and  the  Proprietors,  also,  found  other  subjects  which 
commanded  their  attention  ;  but  the  great  body  of 
the  farmers,  ou  the  ilanor,  like  those  in  the  neigh- 
boring County  of  Duchess,  continued  to  be  conser- 
vative and  without  sympathy  with  those  who  were  in 
rebellion,  to  the  end  of  the  War. 

During  the  greater  portion  of  the  period  in  which 
had  occurred  the  various  transactions  of  which  men- 
tion has  been  made,  herein,  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Colony  of  New  York  had  not  been  permitted,  by 
the  Colonial  Government,  to  meet  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  public  affairs  and  for  the  transaction  of  the 
public  business  of  the  Colony  ;  but  a  large  proportion, 
if  uot  a  majority,  of  the  Members  of  the  House,  in 
their  individual  characters,  were  known  to  have  sym- 
pathized, to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent,  with  the  less 
radical  portion  of  the  party  of  the  Opposition,  in  the 
Colony,  while  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  of 
the  House,  in  which  was  vested,  ad  interim,  much  of 
the  authority  of  the  House,  was  also  known  to  have 
united  with  the  local  Committees  of  Correspondence, 
in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  in  proposing  the  conven-  j 

1  Vide  pages  43,  44,  45,  ante.  j 


tion  of  a  Congress  of  all  the  Colonies,  for  consultation 
and  advice,  in  the  matter  of  the  great  grievances  to 
which  the  Colonies  were  said  to  have  been  subjected, 
unconstitutionally,  by  the  Parliament  and  the  Minis- 
try of  Great  Britain.  It  was  a  matter  of  deep  con- 
cern, therefore,  both  in  the  Colonial  Government  and 
among  the  Colonists,  generally,  when,  on  the  tenth  of 
January,  1775,  that  body  was  permitted  to  assemble, 
in  an  Adjourned  Session  ;  -  and,  iu  the  absence  of 
more  exciting  occurrences  and  in  view  of  many  anx- 
ious hopes  that  that  Assembly,  which  had  not  been 
concerned  iu  any  of  the  extraordinary  occurrences  of 
the  preceding  twelve  months,  might,  possibly,  become 
instrumental  in  restoring  harmony  between  the 
Mother  Country  and  the  Colonies — "  most  ardently 
"desired  by  all  good  men"-' — the  eyes  of  all  careful 
observers,  in  Europe  and  America,  were  directed, 
wistfully,  toward  the  little  chamber,  in  the  old  City- 
Hall,  in  Wall-street,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in 
which  that  General  Assembly  was  assembled. 

The  members  of  that  Assembly,  as  was  well-known, 
like  the  body  of  the  Colonists  whom  they  respectively 
represented,  were  of  the  confederated  party  of  the 
Opposition,  and,  to  a  man,  antagonistic  to  the  Colo- 
nial policy  of  the  Home  Government ;  but,  also  like 
their  constituents,  they  were  divided — in  some  in- 
stances, they  were  radically  divided — in  their  views 
and  in  their  inclinations,  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  that  opposition  should  be  presented  and 
through  what  instrumentality  it  should  be  exercised. 
A  portion  of  those  members,  respectable  in  character 
and  ability,  but  a  minority  in  numbers,  led  by  George 
Clinton,  Philip  Schuyler,  and  Peter  R.  Livingston, 
asserting  its  continued  loyalty  to  the  Sovereign,  its 
desire  to  eflect  a  redress  of  the  grievances  under 
which  the  Colonies  were  laboring,  and  its  hope  that  a 
reconciliation  between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother 
Country  might  be  secured,  nevertheless,  fell  back  on 
the  Congress  and  on  the  line  of  action  on  which  the 
Congress  had  determined,  notwithstanding  the  well- 
known  tendency  toward  Revolution  of  all  which  that 
Congress  had  done,  and  notwithstanding,  also,  the 
equally  well-known  efliects  of  that  action,  because  of 
its  ill-concealed  encouragement  of  Insurrection  if  not 
of  Rebellion,  on  a  large  portion  of  the  Colonists, 
throughout  the  Continent,  and  ou  the  Home  Govern- 
ment. Another  portion  of  those  members,  ecjually 
respectable  in  character  and  ability,  constituting  a 
large  majority  of  the  House,  and  led  by  Isaac  Wil- 
kins,  James  De  Lancey,  and  Crean  Brush,  was  not 
less  opposed  to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment, nor  less  decided  and  sincere  in  its  opposition 
to  that  policy,  nor  less  desirous  of  eflecting  a  redress 
of  the  grievances  under  which  the  Colouies  were  said 
to  have  been  suflering,  nor  mire  hopeful  that  a  recon- 

-Juumal  of  thf  Asfmhhj,  Die  Martisi,  lu  ho.,  A.M.,  the  10th  Janiiaiy, 
177-1. 

■>  Iit^»t>lulion  of  iIk  lliiiisr  of  Rejirrfriiliilires  of  MiiuachumtlM,  inviting  u 
Meeting  of  Deputies,  in  a  Cungiera  of  the  Continent,  June  17,  1774. 


224 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ciliation  between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Coun- 
try might  be  effected  ;  but  it  also  maintained,  in  op- 
position to  the  minority  of  the  House  and  more  con- 
sistently with  the  uniform  profession  of  loyalty  to 
the  Sovereign  and  of  respect  for  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Constitution,  in  both  of  which  all, 
the  minority  as  well  as  the  majority,  professed  to  be 
in  harmony,  that  a  removal  of  the  causes  of  the  dis- 
affection and  a  restoration  of  harmony  between  the 
excited  disputants  could  not  be  secured  by  the  use  of 
such  means  as  the  Congress  had  recommended  and 
authorized,  no  matter  bj'  whom  organized  and  con- 
trolled ;  and  that,  for  those  well-defined  purposes,  it 
would  be  preferable  to  adopt  and  employ  only  those 
means  which  would  give  offence  to  no  one,  and  only 
those  instrumentalities  concerning  which  there  could 
not  be  raised  any  question  of  their  legitimacy  nor  of 
their  entire  fitness,  within  the  law,  for  the  due  promo- 
tion of  the  great  ends  for  which,  alone,  all  professed 
to  be  contending.  The  fii-st-named  portion  of  the  mem- 
bers, was,  evidently,  determined  to  force  the  Assembly 
into  the  line  of  the  radical  portion  of  the  party  of  the 
Opposition,  for  no  ofher  purpose,  however,  than  that 
of  increasing  the  moral  weight  of  that  particular  fac- 
tion of  the  party,  in  its  desperate  struggle  for  the 
possession  of  the  controlling  power,  in  political  affairs, 
within  the  Colony ;  and  this,  too,  notwithstanding 
that  success  in  such  determined  effort  could  only  re- 
sult in  destroying  the  one  remaining  body,  legally 
constituted  and  entirely  unsmirched  by  any  associa- 
tion with  any  less  legally  constituted  body,  through 
which  the  Home  Government  could  be  reached,  offi- 
cially, in  whatever  action  should  be  taken  in  behalf 
of  "  the  common  cause  ;"  '  and  notwithstanding,  also, 
that  the  supporters  of  the  Congress,  in  the  event  of 
their  success,  would,  thereby,  destroy  a  most  powerfiil 
instrumentality,  then  preparing  to  labor,  independ- 
ently, in  a  line  which  whilst  parallel  to  that  already 
occupied  by  the  Congress  itself,  was,  nevertheless,  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  great  purposes  for  secur- 
ing which  that  Congress  had  been  originally  proposed 
and  was  subsequently  organized,  and  was,  then, 
among  other  less  desirable  purjjoses,  through  its  own 
appointed  instrumentalities,  apparently  laboring.  The 
last-named  portion  of  the  members,  not  less  deter- 
mined than  the  other,  resolutely  maintained  that  the 
Assembly  should  remain  entirely  independent  from 
all  those  popular  Committees  and  Congresses  which 
had  been  moving  and  laboring,  during  the  preceding 
year,  in  lines  of  action  which  they  had  respectively 
approved,  each  for  itself,  for  the  common  purposes ; 


1  "  The  Ministry  alledged  that  the  Congreas  was  no  legal  body,  and 
"  none  could  be  heard  in  reference  to  their  proceedings,  without  giving 
"  that  illegal  body  Bome  degree  of  countenance  ;  that  tliey  could  only 
*'  hear  the  Colonies  through  their  legal  Assemblies  and  tlieir  Agents  prop- 
"  erly  authorized  by  them,  and  properly  admitted  here  ;  that  to  do 
"  otherwise  would  lead  to  inextricable  confusion  and  destroy  the  whole 
■'  order  of  Colony  Government." — (Aiiminl  lligislfr  fur  the  yearVilb,  56.) 

See,  also,  Pnrliuniftitnry  UrgisUr  {.\lmon's)  i.,  115,  IIG,  124. 


and,  with  equal  resolution  and  consistency,  it  evi- 
dently determined,  also,  that  the  Assembly  should 
take  no  official  action  on  any  of  the  occurrences  of 
the  preceding  year,  except  such  as  should  be  brought 
before  it,  officially,  or  such  as  might  have  arisen  from 
some  prior  action  of  the  Assembly  itself ;  and,  more 
important  than  all  else,  it  determined  that,  with  all 
the  weight  of  its  legitimate  and  official  authority  and 
influence  and  with  all  the  personal  influence  of  its 
individual  members,  but  after  a  fashion  and  in  terms 
of  its  own  selection,  and  without  any  violation  of  offi- 
cial or  individual  propriety  or  of  the  Laws  of  the 
Land--especially  without  officially  recognizing  the 
existence  of  any  other  opposition  to  the  Ministry  or 
the  existence  of  any  other  organized  body  which  had 
been,  which  was,  or  which  might  become,  similarly 
employed — it  would  vigorously  oppose  the  obnoxious 
Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Government,  earnestly 
seek  a  redress  of  the  serious  grievances  under  which 
the  Colonies  were  then  laboring,  and  honestly  en- 
deavor to  effect  that  honorable  and  permanent  recon- 
ciliation of  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Country, 
which  all  factions,  and  all  parties,  and  all  sects,  and 
all  classes  of  society,  throughout  the  Colony,  professed 
to  consider  necessary  and  desirable;  and  which, some 
in  one  manner  and  some  in  others,  each  faction  for 
itself,  they  were  endeavoring  to  secure,  for  the  common 
weal.'^ 

The  County  of  Westchester  was  ably  represented 
on  the  floor  of  the  Assembly,  in  the  persons  of  Col- 
onel Frederic  Philipse  and  Judge  John  Thomas,  who 
represented  the  body  of  the  County ;  Pierre  Van 
Cortlandt,  who  represented  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt; 
and  Isaac  Wilkius,  who  represented  the  Borough  of 
Westchester.  Of  these,  Thomas  and  Van  Cortlandt 
were  of  the  minority  of  the  Assembly,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made ;  and  Philipse  and  Wilkins 

2There  is  no  subject  connected  with  the  history  of  the  I'nited  States 
which,  from  the  beginning  until  now,  has  been  more  systematically  and 
recklessly  falsified  than  the  political  character  of  the  members  of  that 
Assembly,  the  influences  which  controlled  that  body,  and  the  action 
which  it  tiiok,  on  the  great  political  questions  of  the  day. 

Xotw  ithstanding  there  was  not  a  member  of  the  party  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  .\ssembly,  Murray  {Impiirtiul  HMonj,  i.,  434)  Lossing  (Field 
Bonk,  ii.,  793)  and,  with  his  characteristic  indirectness  and  malignity 
Bancroft  nflhf  I'niled Sittles,  original  edition,  iv.,2(IS.  209,  iln,  211, 

212,  etc.  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  455,  4.56,  457,  etc.)  stated  or 
insinuated  that  the  "friends  of  the  Government,"  or  "  the  Tories,"  were 
in  the  ascendency  and  controlled  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  Despatches  of  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  to  the 
Home  Government,  which  are  (and  have  been,  since  1775)  accessible  to 
everybody,  abundantly  prove  that  the  Colonial  Government  possessed  no 
more  influence, which  it  could  exercise  over  the  .\ssembly,  than  was  pos- 
sessed by  any  other  political  opponent. — that,  in  fact,  that  b(«ly  was  not 
in  harmony  w  ith  the  Government,  and  acted  adversely  to  the  hopes  of 
the.  Government — Murray,  (Imparliiit  Jlislory,  HMorff  of  Cii  il  U'ur 

in  AmmcH,  Dublin:  1779,  i.,  68  ;  Soule,  {HMoiie  des  TioiihUs,  i.,  129 
etc.,  assert  that  whatever  action  was  taken  by  the  House,  was  uuder  the 
influence  of  the  Lieutenant-governor  of  the  Colony. 

The  action,  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day,  which  the  .\s5embly  took, 
from  day  to  day,  tells  its  own  story,  wherever  it  is  known,  and  stamps 
the  brand  of  infidelity  to  their  duties,  as  historians,  on  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  those  who  have  undertaken  to  discharge  those  duties,  oa 
these  particular  subjects. 


THE  AMERICAN  KE\'OLUTION,  1774-1783. 


225 


were  of  the  majority  of  that  body,  which  has  been 
already  described ;  and  because  of  the  prominent 
jiarts  which  those  Representatives  of  that  County 
respectively  took,  in  the  debates  concerning  the 
momentous  questions  which  were  considered  and 
determined  in  that  Assembly,  and  because  of  the  ills 
which  befell  three  of  those  Representatives,  because 
of  what  they  had  respectively  said  and  done  in  that 
Assembly,  there  is  no  portion  of  the  history  of  rev- 
olutionary New  York  which  possesses  a  deeper  inter- 
est to  those  who  are  of  the  Westchester-county  of 
more  recent  days,  than  that  which  relates  to  the 
action  taken  by  that  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony 
of  New  York,  on  the  political  grievances  under  which 
the  Colony  was  then  said  to  have  been  laboring,  on 
the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Government  through 
which  those  alleged  grievances  had  been  inflicted  on 
the  Colonies,  on  the  means  which  were  best  adapted 
to  the  redress  of  those  alleged  grievances,  and  on  its 
employment  of  those  means  for  that  purpose. 

Although  the  Assembly  had  been  prorogued  to 
meet  on  the  tenth  of  January,  1775,  the  members 
from  the  distant  Counties  were  not  present  on  that 
day,  nor  on  several  succeeding  days;  and,  on  the 
twentieth  of  that  month,  a  "Call  of  the  House"  was 
ordered  to  be  made  on  the  seventh  of  February  ensu- 
ing ;  and  the  Clerk  of  the  House  was  ordered  to 
write  to  the  absent  Members,  to  require  their  punctual 
attendance  on  that  day,'  both  factions  of  the  House 
evidently  understanding  tl>at  that  particular  "  Call  of 
"  the  House  "  carried  with  it,  in  honor  if  in  nothing 
else,  the  additional  provision  that  no  leading  ([ucstion 
which  was  likely  to  be  brought  before  the  Assembly, 
during  that  Session,  should  be  thus  introduced,  until 
after  that  "  Call  "  should  have  been  made,  agreeably 
to  that  Order.-  It  appears,  however,  that  the  minority 
was  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  two  of  the  absen- 
tees, wiihin  a  few  days  after  the  "  Call  "  had  been 
ordered  and  nearly  a  fortnight  before  the  day  on 
which  it  was  ordered  to  be  made — at  which  time,  too, 
it  appeared  to  the  minority  that  it  had  temporarily 
acquired  the  control  of  the  House — and  the  majority 
was  surprised,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  January,  by 

1  Journal  of  the  Hoiue,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  2Uth  Janaary, 
"  1775." 

3  "  It  was  some  Days  before  a  sufficient  numtier  of  Members  got  to  Town 
to  make  u  House,  and  there  nre  still  twelve  of  their  number  absent, 
"  which  has  occasiuued  the  House  to  put  off  tlie  farther  consideration  of 
"  their  IniiH^i  taut  Husiness  to  the  7th  of  next  Mouth,  at  w  hich  Time 
**they  have  ordered  all  their  Members  to  attend." — (LieuttMumt-gurerttor 
tWifen  li>  Hie  Riih,/  Diirliiiuiilh,  "  Xew  York,  21  .January,  177.)."  ) 

In  the  Lieutenant-governor's  Ues(>at<'h  to  the  Eiirl  of  Dartmouth, 
dated  on  the  first  of  February,  1775,  it  is  stated  that  the  Call  of  the  House 
referred  to  was  made  on  a  Motion  offered  by  the  minority  of  the  House, 
for  what  was  supposed  would  be  beneficial  to  its  purposes  ;  and  when  it 
is  remembered  that  the  majority  already  pos»i'SS«'d  the  cimtrol  of  what- 
ever was  brought  forward,  it  will  be  seen  that  that  majority  not  only 
had  no  occasion  to  make  such  a  Call,  but.  also,  that,  when  it  consented 
that  such  a  '*  Call  "  should  be  made,  it  had  entire  confidence  in  its  con- 
tinued supremacy,  even  when  the  entire  strength  of  each  of  the  two  fac- 
tions should  have  been  brought  into  the  House,  an  instance  of  its  temer- 
ity which,  very  nearly,  became  disastrous  to  it. 

15 


the  introduction  of  a  Resolution,  submitted  by  Col- 
onel Abraham  Ten  Rroeck,  of  the  Manor  of  Rens- 
selaerwyck,  to  "take  into  consideration  the  Proceed- 
"  ings  of  the  Continental  Congress,  held  in  the  City 
"  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  Months  of  September  and 
"  October  last." 

Under  any  circumstances  and  in  any  assemblage, 
there  would  be  aroused  an  earnest,  if  not  an  angry, 
opposition  to  any  movement  which  was  covered  with 
as  much  of  bad  faith  and  dishonor  as  was  seen,  sur- 
rounding the  Resolution  which  Colonel  Ten  Broeck 
had  thus  submitted  in  violation  of  the  honorable 
understanding,  between  the  two  fiictions,  which  had 
been  entered  into  when  the  "Call  of  the  House  "  was 
agreed  to,  by  both ;  and,  in  the  instance  under  con- 
sideration, "  a  warm  debate  ensued,"  between  the 
rival  factions  of  the  Assembly,  which  was  followed  by 
a  call  "  for  the  Previous  Question,"  submitted  by 
Colonel  Philipse,  of  the  County  of  AVestchester,  on 
which,  agreeably  to  the  parliamentary  usage  of  that 
period,  the  House  was  carried  from  the  consideration 
of  the  Resolution  which  was  then  before  it,  to  the 
consideration  of  that  "previous  question,"  whether 
the  question  on  the  original  Resolution  should  then 
be  taken,  in  other  words,  if  that  original  Resolution 
should  not,  then  and  there,  be  absolutely  rejected, 
without  being  permitted  to  linger  until  another  day, 
in  the  hands  of  an  adverse  majority.  By  a  vote  of 
ten  to  eleven,  the  House  determined  that  the  question 
on  Colonel  Ten  Broeck's  ill-timed  Resolution  should 
not  "  be  now  put,"  thereby  entirely  defeating  the 
minority,  in  its  certainly  dishonorable  attempt  to 
force  a  consideration  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gress, on  the  Assembly,  in  open  violation  of  its  own 
particular  undertaking,  and  at  the  expense  of  its  own 
honor.' 

Very  reasonably,  although  the  welcome  act  wsis 
done  by  those  who  were  not  of  the  "  friends  of  the 
"Government,"  the  result  of  that  early  struggle  in  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  on  such  a  momen- 
tous question,  was  very  acceptable  to  the  Colonial 
Government*  as  well  as  to  the  Ministry,  at  London 
and,  from  that  date  until  thi.-*,  .separated  from  the  mo- 
tives of  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  who  had  thus 
rejected  the  Resolution,  and  from  the  other  acts  of 
the  series,  in  opposition  to  the  Government,  of  which 


3  Journal  of  llie  Uotue,  "DieJovis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  26th  January, 
"  1775  ; "  Limlennnl-gorenior  Colilen  to  General  Gaije,  "  Xew  York  2"Jth 
"  Jany  1773  ;  "  Hie  mme  In  Hie  hjirl  of  bnrtiiiunth,  "  Xew  Y'ork  1st  Feby 
"1775;"  the  mime  fn  tinreriiitr  Tniini^  "Xew  Y'ork,  Ist  Feby,  1775  ;"  the 
*' mine  to  .Ulinintt  tiriiven,  "Xew  Yohk  2Mth  Feb,  1775." 

<  The  venerable  Lieutenant-governor  of  the  Province  was  evidently  in 
excellent  spirits,  from  that  result,  when  he  w  rote  the  Di^sjiatches  to  Gen- 
eral G  ige  and  the  Karl  of  Dartmouth,  which  were  referred  to  in  the  last 
preceding  Xote. 

5  "  When  the  question  to  adopt  the  Sleasures  recommended  by  the  Con- 
"  gress  was  negatived  by  a  Majority  of  one  only,  in  this  Assembly  nf 
"twenty-six  Individuals,  the  Ministers  were  in  high  spirits;  and  these 
'•  Individuals  were  then  repre.'sented  iw  'all  .Vnierica.'  " — (Governi^r  .Toho- 
stoue's  Si>errli  in  Hie  U'lWe'f  Coiiiniuiiii,  May  15,  1775 — .\lmon's  I'urlimntM- 
ttiry  tieguter^  i.,  47;j.) 


226 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


that  rejection  of  Colonel  Ten  Broeck's  Resolution 
was  only  the  prelude,  that  Vote  of  the  Assem- 
bly has  supplied  a  theme  on  which  those  who 
have  seemed  to  play  the  part  of  historians  of  that 
portion  of  America's  history,  have  based  much 
of  what  they  have  said,  unduly  commendatory 
of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  and  quite  as  unduly 
denunciatory  of  everything  which  pertained  to  New 
York,  unless  of  some  of  the  men  of  New  York, 
of  that  early  period,  whose  characters,  for  fidelity  to 
the  truth  and  tiprightness  in  the  discharge  of  public 
duties,  were  no  better  than  their  own. ' 

The  lesson  which  the  defeat  of  its  dishonorable 
movement,  under  Colonel  Ten  Broeck,  had  given  to 


1  Gordon  (HMnryof  Americnn  RerohitMii,  i.,  471)  led  off,  in  the  work  of 
detraction,  by  saying  "  The  Massacluisetts  Congress  were  displeased  with 
"the  proceedings  of  tlie  General  Assemlily  of  New  York,"  for  this  Vote, 
among  others,  as  if  the  approval  of  any  merely  insurrectionary  body 
were  necessary  to  ensure  th^  respectability,  in  history,  of  any  General 
Assembly,  legally  elected,  legally  convened,  and  acting  in  conformity 
with  law.  Ramsay  {Hv^torij  of  the  Americnn  Ih-vvhifu'tt,  i.,  14.3)  insinua- 
ted, in  the  absence  of  s\ifficient  authority  to  assert,  that  "  the  party  for 
"  Koyal  GovernuuMit," — although  there  was  not  a  member  of  that  party 
witliin  tbe  -Assembly,  and  although  the  Colonial  Government  was  con- 
fes.sedly  without  influence  enough  to  be  made  acquainted  with  its  inten- 
tions— led  the  Assembly  to  reject  the  Resolution.  Grahame  (History  of 
the  Viiiled  .Slates,  iv.,  3Gi))  following  Ramsey,  and,  generally,  in  his  iin- 
creilited  words,  repeated  the  slander  w  hich  that  early  writer  insinuated. 
Leake  (Memoir  of  General  I.ninb,  97)  regarded  the  Vote  as  unpatriotic 
and  "  an  important  ministerial  triumph.''  Lossing  (Field  Book  of  the  Rev- 
olittioii,  ii.,  79:i)  made  "fifteen  of  the  twenty-four  Members  of  the  As- 
"  sembly.  Loyalists  ; "  and  he  attributed  the  Vote  to  that  unduly  assumed 
cause,  although,  in  fact,  every  member  professed  to  have  been  equally 
loyal  to  the  Sovereign.  Bancroft,  also,  as  far  as  his  fragmentary  para- 
graphs may  be  regarded  as  history  (HUtory  of  the  Vnited  States^  original 
edition,  iv.,  207-21U  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  454-4.511)  insinu- 
ated what  he.would  have  been  glad  to  have  asserted,  had  he  possessed  even 
a  shadow  of  evidence  to  support  him,  that  it  was  the  influence  of  the 
Government  and  that  of  the  Established  Church,  the  venality  of  the 
Representatives  in  the  .\ssembly,  the  timidity  of  the  Colonists  themselves, 
and  prejudice  against  lawyei-s  and  Presbyterians,  combined,  which  pro- 
duced that  notable  Vote.  The  servility  of  the  Assembly  to  the  Minis- 
try, singularly  enough,  produced  it,  if  the  acute  and  untrustworthy 
John  C.  Hamilton  (HMory  of  the  Hepnblu;,  i.,  7!)),  is  to  be  believed.  Lodge 
(UiMory  of  the  Knijlit^h  Cobmies,  491,)  one  of  the  latest  specimens  of  Miissa- 
chusetts  dilettanteism,  sneeringly  refei-s  to  the  Assembly  of  New  York 
as  "the  close  corporation  known  as  the  .Assembly,"  as  if  the  General 
Court  of  Massachusetts,  locked  in  its  Chamber,  was  notquiteas  "close" 
a  body,  while  it  was  in  session,  aseven  he  could  find.  Others,  including 
Krothingham  (Itise  of  the  Reimblic,  39S)  to'd  only  of  the  rejection  of  Col- 
onel Ten  Broeck's  Resolution,  and,  by  the  suppression  of  much  of  the 
truth  concerning  the  subject,  left  their  less  informed  readers  to  infer,  if 
the  latter  are  not  directly  told  so,  that  the  Assembly  was  influenced,  in 
that  action,  by  an  antagonism  to  the  popular  cause. 

No  one,  unacquainted  with  tbe  facts  and  depending  on  any  of  the 
above-named  historians  for  information,  can  jiossibly  learn,  from  them, 
that  the  Vote  refeixed  to  was  taken  in  the  interest  of  the  common  cause, 
as  a  prelude  to  what  the  Assembly  intended  to  do,  in  its  own  manner,  in 
support  of  that  cause  ;  that  there  was  not  a  "  friend  of  the  Government," 
or  "  Tory,"  or  member  of  the  "  party  of  the  Government,"  among  the 
members  of  that  Assembly  ;  that  the  Colonial  Government  was  not  con- 
sulted, respecting  anything  which  was  done,  or  to  be  done,  by  that  As- 
sembly ;  and  that  not  even  the  Congress  of  the  Continent,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter,  more  earnestly,  n>ore  powerfully,  or  more  successfully  opposed 
the  Jlinistry  and  demanded  a  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  Colonies, 
than  that  Assembly,  in  every  thing  which  it  did,  on  those  subjects.  Pit- 
kin (HMory  of  the  Vnited  States,  i..  .324,  32.5,)  and  Hildreth  (History  of  the 
Vnited  Stales,  First  Series,  iii.,  56,)  notwithstanding  they  were  New  Eng- 
landers,  did  not  permit  the  truth  to  be  suppressed  ;  but  they  gave  to  the 
Assembly  of  New  York,  at  least  a  portion  of  what  was  due  to  it,  in  honestly 
written  history. 


the  minority  of  the  Assembly,  appears  to  have  been 
well-studied  b}'  those  who  were  of  that  minority  ;  but 
it  did  not  prevent  it  from  continuing  to  hanker  after 
the  leadership  of  whatever  movement,  in  the  direc- 

I  tion  of  a  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  Colonies,  the 

j  Assembly  should  be  inclined  to  take.  Subsequent 
events  very  clearly  indicated,  indeed,  that  the  mi- 
nority desired  to  promote  its  own  factional  interests 
rather  than  to  serve  the  Colony ;  and,  undoubtedly 
with  that  end  in  view,  five  days  after  the  defeat  of  its 
first  ill-timed  movement,  and  apparently  actuated 
only  by  purely  patriotic  motives,  Peter  R.  Living- 
ston, of  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  minority,  offered  a  Resolution  "that  a  day 
"maybe  appointed  to  take  the  state  of  this  Colony 
''into  consideration  ;  to  enter  such  Resolutions  as  the 
"House  may  agree  to,  on  their  Journals;  and,  in 
"  consequence  of  such  Resolutions,  to  prepare  a  hum- 
"  ble,  firm,  dutiful,  and  loyal  Petition  to  our  most  gra- 
"  cious  Sovereign."  Whatever  may  liave  been  the  pur- 
poses of  the  minority,  in  submitting  that  Resolution, 
however,  it  certainly  gathered  no  special  advantages 

I  to  itself,  in  doing  so,  since  the  majority  promptly  ac- 
cepted a  proposition  which  was  perfectly  agreeable  to 
it,  and  added  importance  to  it,  per  se,  by  uniting  with 
the  minority  in  support  of  it,  all  the  members  who 
were  present,  the  conservative  as  well  as  the  radical, 
uniting  in  the  unanimous  adoption  of  it.^ 

Immediately  after  the  adoption  of  the  Resolution 

I  submitted  by  the  Representative  of  the  Living- 
ston Manor,  James  De  Lancey,  of  the  City  of 
New  York,   one  of  the  leaders  of  the  majority 

i  and  the  head  of  that  powerful  family,  moved 
"that  a  Memorial  to  the  Lords,  and  a  Representation 

1  "  and  Remonstrance  to  the   Commons  of  Great  Brit- 

I  "  ain  may  be  prepared,  together  with  the  Petition 
"to  his  Majesty;"^  and,  like  the  Resolution  which 


-Jouninl  of  the  Hmise,  "  Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  31st  January, 
'1775." 

3  The  peculiar  force,  if  not  the  peculiar  assertion  of  the  pohtical 
standing  of  the  General  .Assembly,  with  which  the  proposed  papers  w  ere 

j  vested,  in  the  words  of  the  Resolution,  was  noticed,  in  the  Parliament, 
and  used  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  Parliament's  rejection  of  them — 
in  the  Hotise  of  Lords,  it  was  said,  "the  title  of  the  paper  rendered  it 
"  inadmissible.  It  was  called  '  a  Memorial:  '  now,  '  Memorials  '  are  pre- 
"  sented  from  one  crowned  head  to  another ;  but  as  to  a  '  Memorial '  from 
an  American  Assembly,  it  was  unheard  of,  and  ought  not  to  be  read.'" 

!  In  the  same  debate,  it  was  said,  also,  by  another  Peer,  that  "  the  title 
"  given  to  the  paper  was  suspicious  :  a  *  Petition '  from  the  same  Assem- 
"bly  had  been  presented  (o  the  King,  the  Colonies  not  denying  the 
"supreme  Rights  of  His  Majesty  ;  a  '  Hemonstrance'  to  the  Commons; 
"  and,  now,  a  '  Memorial '  to  the  Lords.  They  dropped  the  usual  word 
"  '  Petition,'  lest,  from  that,  it  should  be  imagined  that  they  acknowl- 
"  edged  the  supreme  power  of  those  branches  of  the  Legislature." — 
(Speeches  of  the  Earl  of  Denbigh  and  Rirl  Goiter,  in  the  Honse  of  Lords,  May 
18,  177.5.) 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Jenkinson,  in  opposition  to  receiving 
the  paper  addressed  to  that  House,  "  urged  that  the  House  had  never  re- 
"  ceived  Petitions  of  this  nature  :  that,  here,  the  name  of  a  Petition  was 
"studiously  avoided,  lest  anything  like  an  obedience  to  Parliament 
•'  should  be  acknowledged.  The  opposition  of  the  Colonies  was  not  so 
"much  against  the  tax  which  gave  rise  to  the  present  dispute,  as  to  the 
"  whole  legislative  authority  of  Parliament,  and  to  any  restrictions  of 


THK  AMEIUCAN  KE VOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


227 


li:id  immediately  preceded  it,  that  Resolution,  also, 
received  the  afiirmative  vote  of  every  member  of  the 
House  who  was  then  present.  * 

Continuing  the  commendable  work  in  which  it  had 
thus  commenced  the  proceedings  of  the  day,  and  ap- 
parently without  any  dissent  from  any  one,  the  House 
then  ordered  that  James  De  Laiicey,  and  Benjamin  ; 
Kissani,  of  the  City  of  Now  York,  Colonel  Philip 
Schuyler,  of  Albany-county,  George  Clinton,  of  Ul- 
ster-county, Dirk  Brinkerhoof,  of  Duchess-county, 
Samuel  Gale,  of  Orange-county,  Isaac  Wilkins,  of  the 
Borough  of  Westchester,  Crean  Brush,  of  Cumber- 
land-county [now  a  part  of  Temow/],  Christopher 
Billop,  of  Richmond-county,  John  Kapelje,  of 
Kings-county,  and  William  Nicoll,  of  Queens- 
county,  or  the  major  part  of  them — all,  except  Philip 
Schuyler  and  George  Clinton  being  of  the  majority  of 
the  House — be  "  a  Committee  to  prepare  a  State'  of  the 

Grievances  of  this  Colony,  and  report  same  to  this 
"  House,  with  all  convenient  speed,  after  the  Call 

thereof,  to  be  had  on  the  seventh  of  February 
"  next."  '  Having  thus  indicated  what  the  House 
proposed  to  do,  in  the  common  cause  in  which  the 
body  of  the  Colonists  was  so  earnestly  engaged,  the 
House  was  then  adjourned. 

Time,  very  often,  produces  marvellous  changes  in 
the  tempers  and  purposes  of  politicians,  especially  in 
those  of  politicians  who  are  not  of  the  controlling 
majority,  in  their  own  party  or  in  the  State;  and, 
very  often,  the  actions  of  those  politicians,  when  the 
latter  are  engaged  in  a  personal,  or  factional,  or  par- 
tisan struggle,  cannot  be  brought  within  the  provisions 
of  any  known  rule  of  action,  of  any  class.     No  reas- 
onable reason  which  would  be  honorable   to  the 
minority  of  the  Assembly,  therefore,  can  be  given  for 
the  eagerness  which  it  displayed,  on  the  sixteenth  of 
February,  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  that  body,  in  j 
which  all  of  both  factions  appeared  to  have  been  i 
united  in  both  purpose  and  action  ;  but,  on  that  day,  | 
Colonel  Philip  Schuyler,  of  Albany-county,  in  behalf  j 
of  that  minority,  renewed  the  conflict  of  factions  | 
which  had  been  opened,  unsuccessfully,  by  Colonel  I 
Abraham  Ten  Broeck,  of  the  Manor  of  Rensselaers- 
wyck,  on  the  preceding  twenty-sixth  of  January. 
For  that  unseemly  purpose,  that  distinguished  niem- 

"  their  trade." — {Speech  of  Mr.  Jeiikimon,  in  the  Hmite  of  Commont,  May 
1.5,  1775.— .Mnion's  I'nrliiiini-iilani  Rrgiiler,  i.,  470.) 

Besiilfs  the  peculiarity  of  the  titles  of  tliose  several  papers,  to  which 
reference  has  been  maile  there  was  a  grave  signifiainie  in  the  fact  that 
they  were  moved  for,  with  those  titles,  by  the  head  of  the  leading  fam- 
ily in  the  Colony  ;  and  that  they  were  ordered  by  an  iinanimons  vote  of 
the  Assembly.  It  has  suited  those  who  have  prefeiTed  to  traduce  New 
York  and  her  General  .\ssembly,  however,  to  regard  both  the  (ieueral 
Assembly  and  its  paiiers  as  only  favorable  to  the  Home  GoTemment  and  | 
antagonistic  to  the  common  causi". 

1  Jouruat  of  the  "  Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  .\.M.,  the  31st  January, 

"  177.5." 

-  In  the  language  of  that  pericxi.  the  word  •'  State,"  as  it  was  used  in 
this  and  similar  connections,  was  the  equivalent  of  the  word  "State- 
"  nient,"  which,  in  such  connections,  is  now  employed. 

ftlie  Houfe,  "Die  Martis,  In  ho.,  A.M.,  the  :Ust  .lanuary,  ■ 
«'  1775."  I 


ber  of  the  minority,  on  the  day  referred  to,  moved 
that  certain  specified  letters,  written  by  the  Assem- 
bly's Committee  of  Correspondence,  during  the  recess 
of  the  House,  and  urging  the  convention  of  a  Con- 
gress of  the  Continent  for  the  consideration  of  the 
grievances  of  the  Colonies,^  should  be  entered  on  the 
Juurnuh  of  the  Ilouxe,  and  copies  of  them  be  sent 
to  the  new.s])apers,  for  publication;  and,  of  course, 
"  debates  arose  upon  the  said  Jlotion,"  which  was 
followed  by  the  emphatic  rejection  of  it,  by  a  • 
vote  of  nine,  in  the  affirmative,  against  sixteen,  in 
the  negative — Judge  Thomas  and  Pierre  Van  Cort- 
landt,  of  course,  being  among  the  former,  and  Colonel 
Philipse  and  Isaac  Wilkins,  of  course,  among  the  lat- 
tor.= 

On  the  following  day,  [February  17],  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Woodhull,  of  Suffolk-county,  akso  a  prom- 
inent member  of  the  minority,  continued  the  faction- 
al strife,  by  offering  a  Resolution  of  Thanks  to  those 
gentlemen  who  had  represented  this  Colony  in  the 
recent  Congress,  "  for  their  faithful  and  judicious  dis- 
"  charge  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  by  the  good 
"  people  of  this  Colony  ;  "  and,  of  course,  "  debates 
"arose  upon  the  said  Motion;"  after  which,  by  a 
vote  of  nine,  in  the  afiirmative,  against  fifteen,  in  the 
negative,  it  was  rejected — Judge  Thomas  being  among 
the  former,  and  Colonel  Philipse  and  Isaac  Wilkins 
being  among  the  latter." 

On  the  twenty -first  of  February,  Peter  R.  Living- 
ston, of  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  continued  the 
struggle  of  the  minority,  by  offering  a  Resolution 
giving  "the  Thanks  of  this  House  to  the  Merchants 
"  and  Inhabitants  of  this  City  and  Colony,  for  their 
"  repeated,  disinterested,  publick-spirited,  and  patri- 
"  otic  Conduct,  in  declining  the  Importation  or  Re- 
"  ceiving  of  Goods  from  Great  Britain,  and  for  their 
"  firm  Adherence  to  the  dissociation  entered  into  and 
"  recommended  by  the  Grand  Continental  Congress, 
"  held  at  Philadelphia,  in  the  Months  of  September 
"and  October  last,  and  that  Mr.  Speaker  signify  the 
"  same  to  the  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
"  in  this  City,  at  their  next  Meeting,  and  order  a  copy 
"  of  the  same  to  be  published  in  the  public  Prints." 
Like  the  other  Res)lutions  of  the  series,  which  had 
preceded  it,  this  peculiarly  inappropriate  Resolution, 
before  such  a  deliberative  body,  after  it  had  been 
amply  discussed,  was  promptly  rejected  by  a  vote  of 
ten,  in  the  affirmative,  among  whom  were  Judge 
Thomas  and  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  against  fifteen, 

*  One  of  those  letters,  if  not  more  of  them,  was  noticed  in  our  statement 
of  the  measures  of  the  Cuniniittcu  of  Correspondence  in  New  York, 
relative  to  its  proposition  for  the  convention  of  a  Congress  of  the  Colo- 
nies, |iage  23,  ante. 

5  Jourtial  of  the  Ilonte,  "Die  Jovis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  ItUh  February, 
"1775." 

*  Jmmtal  of  the  Hniite,  "  Die  Veneris,  1(1  ho.,  A.M.,  the  17th  February, 
"  1775;"  Lit^iteiiniii'ijoreniur  Cvhlen  to  Gmerat  "  Nkw  York '2"th 
"  Fcl.r>-,  177.5." 

See,  also,  Dunlap"s  HiOory  of  Xeic-Yorlc,  ■.,454,  455. 


228 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


in  the  negative,  among  whom  were  Colonel  Philipse 
and  Isaac  Wilkins.^ 

On  the  twenty  third  of  February,  Crean  Brush,  of 
Cumberland-county,  from  the  Committee  which  had 
been  appointed  to  prepare  a  State  of  the  Grievances  of 
this  Colony,  presented  a  Report  from  that  Committee; 
which  was  "  referred  to  the  consideration  of  a  Com- 
"  mittee  of  the  Whole  House,  and  be  proceeded  on, 
"  by  the  said  Committee,  on  Wednesday  next."  - 

Immediately  after  the  Report  on  the  Grievances  of 
the  Colony  had  been  thus  referred.  Judge  John 
Thomas,  one  of  the  Representatives  of  Westchester- 
county,  and  a  leading  member  of  the  minority,  offered 
a  Resolution  providing  that  "  the  sense  of  this  House 
"be  taken  on  the  necessity  of  appointing  Delegates 
"for  this  Colony,  to  meet  the  Delegates  for  the  other 
"  Colonies  on  this  Continent,  in  General  Congress, 
"  on  the  tenth  day  of  May  next."  The  introduction 
of  that  resolution  led  to  a  spirited  Debate  in  which 
the  motives  of  the  rival  factions  composing  the  con- 
federated party  of  the  Opposition  and  the  undue 
assumption  of  authf)rity  which  had  not  been  dele-  i 
gated  to  it,  by  the  recently  held  Congress  of  the  Con- 
tinent, were  freely  and  ably  discussed  by  Colonel 
Philip  Schuyler  and  George  Clinton,  in  support  of 
the  Resolution,  and  by  Crean  Brush  and  Isaac  Wil- 
kins,'  in  opposition  to  it ;  and  the  consideration  of  the 
subject  was  closed  by  the  rejection  of  the  Resolution, 
by  a  vote  of  nine  in  the  affirmative  and  seventeen 
in  the  negative,  the  four  Representatives  from  the 
County  of  Westchester  being  divided  between  the 
two  factions,  as  they  had  beeu  in  the  previous  divi- 
sions of  the  House.* 

The  well-considered  and,  under  the  circumstances, 
the  judicious  determination  of  the  majority  of  the 
General  Assembly,  to  unite  in  the  general  opposition 
to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Government,  in 
the  general  demand  for  a  redress  of  the  a.ssumed  griev- 
ances of  the  Colonies,  and  in  the  generally  expressed 
desire  to  restore  the  harmony  between  the  Colonies 
and  the  Mother  Country,  which  the  infliction  of  those 
grievances  had  disturbed,  without,  however,  recogniz- 
ing the  existence  of  any  other  opposition  thereto,  in 
any  other  person,  in  any  other  organization,  or  in  any 


1  Jovrnid  of  the  Hmtse,  "Die  Martis,  TO  ho.,  A.M.,  the  21st  Febniarj-, 
"1775j;"  Lieutenant-Governor  Colden  to  General  Gnge,  "New  York  20th 
"Febry,  1775." 

^  Journal  of  the  Houte,  "Die  Jovis,  in  ho.,  .\.M.,  tlie  2'iii  February, 
"  1775."  Lieulenmit-governor  CoUhn  to  Gemral  Gage,  "New  York,  2iith 
"  Febry  1775  ;  "  the  same  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "  New  York,  1st  Jfarch, 
"  177.5." 

'Speeches,  made  by  Brush  and  Wilkins,  on  that  occasion,  may  be  seen 
in  Force's  American  Archires,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  1290-1207,  the  former 
re-printed  from  Rivington'it  New-York  Gazetteer,  No.  9H,  New-York, 
Thursday,  March  2,  1775  ;  the  latter  from  tlie  Siime  paper,  No.  103,  New- 
York,  Thursday,  April  6,  1775.  Students  of  the  history  of  the  Eevolu- 
tion  in  the  Colonies  will  be  well  paid  for  the  time  occupied  in  a  careful 
perusal  of  those  Speeches,  in  connection  with  the  other  literature  of  that 
subject,  published  during  that  period. 

*  Journal  of  the  House,  "Die  .lovis,  10  ho., A.M.,  the  23d  of  February, 
"  1775  ; "  Lieuienant-gocemor  Colden  to  the  Eurl  of  Dartmouth,  "  New  York, 
"  1st  March,  1775." 


other  line  of  action,  in  Xew  York  or  elsewhere, 
in  order  that  its  particular  opposition  might  not  en- 
counter that  reasonable  disregard  of  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment which  the  opposition  of  those  who  were  in 
open  insurrection  would  surely  encounter,  was  as  well 
known  to  the  minority  of  that  General  Assembly, 
especially  after  the  rejection  of  the  Resolution  offered 
by  Colonel  Ten  Broeck  and  the  subsequent  adofjtion 
of  those  offered,  respectively,  by  Peter  R.  Livingston 
and  James  De  Lancey,  as  it  was  to  the  greater  number 
of  the  members  of  that  body,  who  sustained  it;  and 
a  decent  respect  for  the  welfare  of  the  Colony,  that 
great  end  which  all  professed  to  regard  as  greater 
than  all  others,  if  that  profession  had  been  honestly 
made,  would,  unquestionably,  have   induced  every 
member  of  each  of  the  factions  to  have  labored,  earn- 
est!}' and  harmoniously,  in  the  sincere  promotion  of 
the  common  cause.    But  it  was  clearly  shown  that 
"  the  common  cause,"  which  was  so  loudly  talked  of, 
was  only  a  secondary  matter  ;  that  per.sonal  and 
factional  interests  were,  in  fact,  regarded  as  superior 
i  to  the  interests  of  the  country  ;  that  it  was  the  pur- 
pose of  the  minority  and  of  those  with  whom  it  affil- 
iated, for  the  especial  advancement  of  their  individual 
and  factional  interests,  to  obtain  the  entire  control  of 
the  political  affairs  of  the  Colony,  even  at  the  expense 
of  a  revolutionary  overthrow  of  the  entire  structure 
of  the  Colonial   Government ;   that,  for   the  pro- 
motion of  that  purpose,   the  series  of  Resolutions 
submitted  by  the  minority,   from  that  submitted 
by  Colonel  Schuyler  to  that  submitted  by  Judge 
Thomas,  was  prepared  and  submitted  with  an  entire 
knowledge  that  it  would  be  promptly  rejected  by 
the  House,  as  inconsistent  with  the  line  of  action 
which  the  majority  had  adopted,  for  its  guidance; 
and  that  the  successive  votes  of  the  General  Assembly, 
by  which  those  Resolutions  were   successively  re- 
jected, divested  of  all  that  was  so  well  known  of  the 
purposes  of  that  body  and  surrounded  with  all  of 
insinuation  and  falsehood  which  inilividual  animosity 
and  factional  zeal  could  contrive,  were  industriously 
presented,  one  after  another,  in  their  nakedform,  to  the 
populace  in  New  York  City  and  elsewhere,  as  evi- 
dences, as  false  as  they  were  mischievous,  of  what 
was  unduly  assumed  to  have  been  the  antagonism  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  the  common  cause,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  for  the  purpose  of  gradually  under- 
mining the  affection  for  the  Mother  Country,  which 
generally  prevailed,  throughout  the  Colony,  and  of 
preparing  the  populace  for  a  revolutionary  transfer  of 
the  legislative,  as  well  as  for  that  of  the  executive 
and  judicial,  authority  of  the  Colonial  Government, 
into  other  channels,  in  the  interest  of  Rebellion, 
wherein  the  control  would  be  assumed  by  other,  if  not 
by  better,  men. 

Having  fully  accomplished  its  preliminary  purpose, 
in  securing  from  the  legally  constituted  Legislature 
of  the  Colony  a  rejection  of  the  several  revolutionary 
Resolutions  which  it  had  submitted,  and  in,  thereby. 


Till':  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


229 


affording  a  pretext  to  those  of  its  confederates,  not  of 
the  General  Assembly,  for  the  assumption,  by  them, 
of  authority,  nominally  in  the  name  of  the  body  of 
the  Colonists  but  really  in  known  opposition  to  the 
inclinations  of  by  far  the  greater  number,  to  call  a 
Convention  of  the  Colony,  in  the  interests  of  Rebel- 
lion, in  -which  should  be  reposed  the  uncontrolled 
power  of  exercising  the  various  functions  of  an  inde- 
pendent, despotic  Government,  without  any  limitation, 
and  in  open  disregard  of  the  existing,  legally-consti- 
tuted Government  of  the  Colony — having  accom- 
plished that  preliminary  purpose,  the  minority  of  the 
Assembly  discontinued  the  submission  of  Resolutions 
of  any  character  ;  and,  as  will  be  seen,  all  its  labors 
were  subsequently  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  its 
factional  purposes,  only,  in  the  consideration  of  the 
papers  which  the  House  had  ordered  to  be  prepared 
and  laid  before  it,  in  which,  however,  the  majority 
afforded  very  slight  reasons  for  complaint. 

On  the  appointed  day,  [March  1,  1775]  the  Assem- 
bly, in  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  Colonel  Ben- 
jamin Seaman,  of  Richmond-county,  occupying  the 
Cliair,  commenced,  the  consideration  of  the  State  of 
the  Colony's  Grievances,  which  had  been  reported  by 
the  Special  Committee  which  had  prepared  it ; '  and 
after  having  spent  the  entire  day  thereon,  as  well  as 
the  whole  of  the  following  day'^  and  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  succeeding  day,'  also,  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House,  the  latter  day's  session  was  closed  by 
the  adoption  of  the  Report,  by  the  Assembly,  with  a 
single  Amendment,  which  was  submitted  by  Colonel 
Philip  Schuyler,  and  supi)orted  by  nine  of  the  minor- 
ity, and  five  of  the  majority — the  only  Amendment 
which  was  submitted  by  any  one — a  marked  feature 
of  the  proceedings  having  been  that  the  amended 
State  of  the  Grievances  of  this  Colony  was  adopted  by 
the  House,  without  a  division.* 

^  Jnnriinl  of  the  Home,  "Die  Mercurij,  lit  h.).,  A.M.,  tlie  latMarch, 

-  Journal  of  the  Ilonse.  "DieJovis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  2d  March,  1775." 
^  Juuiwil  of  the  Hrwite,  "Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  3d  March, 
"  1773." 

*  With  that  lack  of  modesty  and  tnithfiiliies,-<  whicli  characterized  all, 
concerning  hid  own  family,  which  John  C.  Ilaniiltou  wrote,  that  gentle- 
man  (llUtonj  of  the  llepMk,  \.,  .SI,  iji  i  has  undertaken  to  ;;lorify  Colonel 
Schnyler,  his  grandfather,  by  faUifyini;  the  record,  concerning  this 
StaU  of  tiri*frourf». 

In  the  Committee  which  had  been  appointed  for  the  preparation  of  the 
Suie,  in  which  every  member  brought  forward  whatever  he  regarded  as 
a  Grievance,  and  not  in  the  body  of  the  Assenibly,  aa  is  meanly  insinu-  I 
ated.  Colonel  Schnyler  introduced  the  .\ct  of  4th  George  III.,  Chapter 
XV.,  a.s  such  a  Grievance,  which  was  approved  and  accepted  by  the 
Committee,  with  only  two  dissenting  votes,  notwithstanihng  the  over- 
whelming majority,  in  that  Committee,  who  was  opposed  to  Colonel 
Schuyler.  When  the  Report  was  considered  iu  Committee  of  the  Whole 
House,  there  was  not  the  slightest  opposition  to  it ;  and  when  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  rejtorted  the  completed  paper  to  the  House,  John  C. 
Hamilton  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  the  entire  Ulule  was  adopted 
without  a  division. 

He  also  alluded  to  the  third  of  the  Grievances,  offered  in  the  original 
Committee,  by  James  De  Lancey,  recognizing  the  Kight  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain  to  regulate  the  Trade  of  the  Colonies  and  to 
iniiMW!  Duties  on  such  articles,  the  products  of  foreign  Nations,  as 
should  be  imported,  directly,  into  the  Colonies — the  same,  in  substance 


The  State  of  Grievances  which  was  thus  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  included  not  only 
all  thbse  Acts  of  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain, 
relating  to  or  affecting  the  Colony  of  New  York,  for 
which  Colony  only  the  Assembly  presumed  to  legis- 
late, which  the  Congress  of  the  Continent  had  in- 
cluded in  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  C/vevances  which  that 
body  had  adopted  and  published,  but  it  included  the 
additional  Grievance  inflicted  in  the  Act  of  6th 
George  III.,  Chapter  XII.,  "  declaring  the  Right  of 
"  Parliament  to  bind  the  Colonies  in  all  cases  what- 
"  soever,"  and  that  inflicted  in  the  Act  of  35th  Henry 
VIII.,  Chapter  II.,  authorizing  the  removal  of  pris- 
oners accused  of  Crimes  committed  in  America,  to 
England,  for  Trial,  neither  of  which  was  included  in 
that  Bill  of  Rights  and  Grievances  which  the  Congress 
had  published.  It  included,  also,  the  Act  of  7th 
George  III.,  Chapter  LIX.,  "  requiring  the  Legisla- 
"  ture  of  this  Colony  to  provide  for  the  Services  there- 
"  in  mentioned,  without  application  made  to  the 
"  Representatives  of  the  I'eople  of  this  Colony,  in 
"  General  Assembly,  and  holding  up,  by  any  other 
"  Acts,  a  Suspension  of  the  legislative  powers  of  this 
"  Colony,  until  such  Requisitions  be  complied  with ;" 
the  Act  of  14th  George  III.  Chapter  LXXXIII.,  "so 
"  far  as  it  may  be  construed  to  establish  the  Roman 
"  Catholic  Religion  in  the  Province  of  Quebec," 
and  "  so  far  as  it  imposes  Duties  upon  certain  Ar- 
"  tides  of  Merchandise  imported  into  that  Province," 
'■■  which  by  another  Statute  of  the  same  year,  Chajiter 
"  LXXXVIII.,  is  so  extended  as  to  comprehend  all  the 
"  Indian  (Country,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the  Mouth 
"  of  the  Ohio-river  ;"  and  the  four  Acts  especially  re- 
lating to  Boston  and  the  Colony,  of  Ma.ssachusetts- 
Bay,  all  of  which  it  declared  to  be  Grievances  of  this 
Colony  f  and,  as  has  been  said,  it  concurred  in  that 


if  npt  in  words,  as  that,  on  the  same  subject,  which  the  Congress  of  the 
Continent  had  recently  adopted — and  he  glorified  his  grandfather, 
because  of  that  gentleman's  labors  in  opposing  it,  and  iu  endeavoring  to 
qualify  the  Assembly's  recognition  of  that  Right,  through  an  .\mend- 
ment,  which  the  Committee  had  rejected  ;  without,  however,  alluding  to 
that  other  fact  that,  in  all  that  his  grandfather  did,  on  that  occa- 
sion, he  did  in  open  antagonism  to  the  action  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, on  the  same  subject — he  does  not  siiy,  also,  that  all  that  which 
has  been  described  wiu  done  in  the  original  Committee  ;  that  when  the 
Report  of  the  Committee  was  submitted  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
House,  tliiit  larger  body  reversed  the  action  of  the  original  I 'unnnittee, 
and  united  with  Colonel  .Schuyler  and  his  associates  in  the  minority,  in 
their  quulitication  of  that  portion  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental 
Congress ;  nor  that  the  House  itself,  when  it  accepted  the  completed 
SI'ili',  endoi-seil  and  approved  that  i  nipliatic  repudiation  of  .Tames  Duane, 
and  of  .lohn  .\ilams,  and  of  their  unqiialiHed  recognition  of  the  Right 
of  the  Mother  Country  to  regulate  the  Trade  of  the  Colonies  and  to 
receive  the  beneRts  of  that  Commerce. 

Philip  Schuyler  needed  no  such  lictitious  praise,  even  from  his 
grandson  ;  anil,  although  he  was  willing  to  promote  the  interests  of  his 
faction,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  thus  employed,  in  what  he  did 
as  a  member  of  that  Committee  for  preparing  a  State  of  the  iirierance»  of 
thin  (Jolonij,  nor  in  any  proceedings  thereon,  either  in  Counuittee  of  the 
Whole  House  or  in  the  .Vssembly. 

^  ■'  I  waa  inform'd  that  the  Boston  and  Quebec  Kills  were  at  first  re- 
"jected  in  the  Committee  as  not  being  I'art  of  the  Grievances  of  this 
"Colony  ;  it  seems  however  they  were  at  last  brought  into  the  Report, 
"  and  I  am  affraid  may  not  now  be  got  rid  of  in  the  House." — (Uew/cn- 


230 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


action  of  the  Continental  Congress,  moved  by  James 
Duane  and  supported  by  John  Adams,  and  nearly  in 
its  words, ^  recognizing  the  Right  of  the  Parliament 
"  to  regulate  the  Trade  of  the  Colonies,  and  to  lay 
"  Duties  on  articles  that  are  imported,  directly,  into 
"  this  Colony,  from  any  foreign  Country  or  Planta- 
"  tation,  which  may  interfere  with  the  Products  or 
"  Manufactures  of  Great  Britain  or  any  other  parts  of 
"  His  Majesty's  Dominions,"  qualified  however,  by 
"  excluding  every  idea  of  Taxation,  internal  or  exter- 
"  nal,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  Revenue  on  the 
"Subjects  in  America,  without  their  Consent."  It 
will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  State  of  the  Grievances 
of  this  Colony,  adopted  and  published  by  the  General 
Assembly,  was  more  extended  than  the  Bill  of  Rights 
and  Grievances  which  the  Congress  of  the  Colonies 
had  adopted  and  published  ;  and  it  will  be  seen,  also, 
by  any  one  who  will  compare  the  two  papers,  that  the 
former,  both  in  its  tone  and  in  its  terms,  was  quite  as 
firm  and  quite  as  plain  spoken,  on  the  several  sub- 
jects to  which  it  was  devoted,  as  was  the  latter ;  and 
that,  in  the  adoption  and  promulgation  of  that  State, 
the  majority  of  the  Assembly  openly  maintained  its 
character  aiul  standing,  as  intelligent  and  fearless  op- 
ponents of  the  Coloniid  policy  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, without  impairing  its  consistency  as  Members 
of  the  Legislature  of  a  Colony— even  the  factional 
confederates  of  the  minority,  out  in  the  jiopulace, 
because  of  that  Act,  was  compelled  to  acknowledge 
the  fidelity  of  the  majority,  and  to  admit,  in  their 
correspondence  with  each  other,  that  the  State  of  the 
Grievances  in  this  Colony  which  it  liad  i)repared  and 
promulgated,  was  an  accurate  exposition  of  the  feel- 
ings and  opinions  of  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists, 
in  New  York,  wherever  any  feelings  or  opinions,  on 
those  subjects,  really  existed,  concerning  their  griev- 
ances, and  altogetlier  favorable  to  the  common  cause. 

On  the  seventh  of  Mare'li,  James  De  Lancey,  and 
Benjamin  Kissam,  of  New  York  City,  and  George 
Clinton,  of  Ulster-county,  were  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee to  prepare  the  series  of  Resolutions  re- 
quired as  a  basis  for  the  Petition  to  the  King,  which 
had  been  ordered  by  the  House,  on  the  thirty-first  of 
January  preceding ;'  and,  on  the  following  day,  Benja- 
min Kissam  reported,  from  that  Committee,  a  series  of 
Resolutions,  agreeably  to  that  Order.  The  Assembly 
promptly  went  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House, 
with  Colonel  Benjamin  Seaman,  of  Richmond-county, 

atil-ijoi'ernor  Coldeii  to  the  Eiiil  of  harlmoulh,  "  New  York,  1st  March, 
"  1775,") 

1  Bancroft's  Iliston/ of  th"  Uniktl  St(ttfin^  original  edition,  vii.,  I:i0,  140; 
the  same,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  401,  402. 

2 In  a  letter  written  by  Alexander  McDoiigal,  the  well-known  popular 
leader,  addressed  to  Jcsiah  Quincy,  Junior,  then  in  London,  and  dated 
"  New-Yohk.  April  6,  1775,"  the  student  of  the  history  of  the  Revolution, 
in  New  Y'ork,  may  find  much,  relating  to  the  opinions  of  the  revolution- 
ary elenu'ntsin  tliat  Colony,  concerning  this  State,  as  well  iis  cuiioe  ning 
other  kindred  subjects. 

»Joiirw(l  of  the  lions,;  "Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.Jl.,  the  7th  March, 
"  1776." 


in  the  Chair ;  and  proceeded  to  consider  the  Report 
which  had  thus  been  presented;  and,  after  having 
made  some  amendments  in  the  proposed  Resolutions,* 
the  Chairman  reported  the  result  of  the  Committee's 
deliberations  to  the  House;  and,  after  some  discus- 
sion, the  House  agreed  with  the  Committee,  in  its 
Report  and  Resolutions.^ 

The  first  of  these  Resolutions,  following  the  general 
sentiment  of  the  CoIonLsts,  acknowledged  the  Faith 
and  Allegiance  to  the  King  which  were  due  to  him 
from  "  the  people  of  this  Colony."  The  second  ac- 
knowledged that  the  Colonists  "  owe  obedience  to  all 
"  Acts  of  Parliaments  calculated  for  the  general  weal 
"of  the  whole  Empire  and  the  due  regulation  of  the 
"  Trade  and  Commerce  thereof,  and  not  inconsistent 
"with  the  essential  Rights  and  Liberties  of  English- 
"men,  to  which  they  are  equally  entitled  with  their 
"  fellow-subjects  in  Great  Britain."  The  third  de- 
clared "  that  it  is  essential  to  Freedom  and  the  un- 
"  doubted  Right  of  Englishmen,  that  no  Taxes  be 
"  imposed  on  them  but  with  their  consent,  given  per- 
"sonally  or  by  their  Representatives  in  General  As- 
"sembly."  The  fourth  maintained  "that  the  Acts  of 
"  Parliament,  raising  a  Revenue  in  America  especially 
"to  jirovide  for  the  support  of  the  Civil  Government 
"  and  administration  of  Justice  in  the  Colonies,  ex- 
"  tending  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Admiralty 
"beyond  their  ancient  limits,  authorizing  the.  Judge's 
"  Certificate  to  indemnify  the  Prosecutor  from  Dam- 
"  ages  he  would  otherwise  be  liable  to,  giving  them  a 
"  concurrent  Jurisdiction  of  Causes  heretofore  cog- 
"  nizable  only  in  the  Courts  of  Common  Law,  and  by 
"  that  means  depriving  the  American  Subject  of  his 
"  Trjal  by  a  Jury,  are  destructive  to  Freedom,  and 
"  subversive  of  the  Rigiits  and  liiberties  of  the  Colo- 
"nies."  The  fifth  and  last  of  these  Resolutions  de- 
clared "  that  a  Trial  by  a  Jury  of  the  Vicinage,  in  all 
"Ca[)ital  Cases,  is  the  grand  Security  of  Freedom  and 
"  the  Birthright  of  Englishmen  ;  and,  therefore,  that 
"  the  seizing  any  Person  or  Persons,  residing  in  this 
"  Colony,  suspected  of  Treasons,  Misprisions  of 
"  Treason,  or  any  other  Offences,  and  sending  such 
"Person  or  Persons  out  of  the  same,  to  be  tried,  is  dan- 
"gerous  to  the  Lives  and  Liberties  of  His  Majesty's 
"  American  Subjects."" 

The  politicians  of  New  York,  those  of  later  as  well 

^  As  the  action  of  the  Committee  which  resulted  in  those  Amend- 
ments was  not  generally  noticed  on  the  Jouni'tl  or  in  the  lit-port,  it  is 
very  evit'eut  that  they  were,  generally,  only  verbal  corrections,  unim- 
portant in  character,  and  involving  no  distinguishing  princii)les.  But 
there  were  two  amendments,  proposed  by  Colonel  Nathaniel  WoodhuII 
and  George  Clinton  respectively,  which  were  rejected,  although  the 
the  motions  for  amemlment  were  supported,  in  each  instance,  by  several 
members  of  the  ma^iority,  as  well  as  by  the  full  force  of  the  minority  ; 
but  because  the  principle  involved  in  each  of  the  proposed  Amend- 
ments was  distinctly  declared  in  another  of  the  Resolutions,  the  rejection 
of  the  proposition  to  repeat  it,  possessed  no  political  significance  what- 
ever. 

'^Joiiniid  of  the  House,  "Die  3Iercurij,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  8th  JIurch, 
"  1775." 
6  Ilnd. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


231 


as  those  of  earlier  periods,  have  always  been  unlike 
those  of  any  other  Colony,  or  State,  or  Country  ;  and 
in  the  matter  of  these  declaratory  Resolutions,  the 
spirit  and  terms  of  which  were  quite  as  radical  in 
their  character  as  could  have  been  desired  by  the 
most  advanced  republican  who  was  not  an  anarchist, 
the  well-established  reputation  of  those  politicians 
was  amply  sustained — every  member  of  the  majority 
of  the  Assembly,  including  James  DeLancey,  John 
Cruger,  Benjamin  Kissam,  Crean  Brush,  Isaac  Wilkins, 
and  Frederic  Phili])se,  except  John  Coe,  of  Orange- 
county,  and  Dirck  Brinckerhoff',  of  Duchess-county, 
voted  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  them  and,  of 
course,  in  favor  of  the  embodiment  of  their  terms  in 
an  Address  to  the  King  ;  while  every  member  of  the 
minority  of  the  House,  with  Coe  and  Brinckerhoff  of 
the  majority,  voted  in  opposition  to  the  adoption 
of  them.  Factional  and  partisan  bitterness,  very 
often,  produces  such  remarkable  instances  of  the 
inconsistency,  if  not  of  the  incomprehensibility,  of 
mere  politicians  ;  but  history  aflbrds  few,  if  any,  such 
examples,  among  those  who  were  really  patriotic,  as 
were  afforded  by  John  Thomas  and  Pierre  Van  Cort- 
landt,  by  Peter  R.  Livingston  and  Nathaniel  Wood- 
hull,  by  George  Clinton  and  Philip  Schuyler,  in  the 
instance  under  consideration,  when  they  voted 
against  the  Resolutions  which  have  been  fully  de- 
scribed and,  consequently,  against  the  great  political 
principles  which  were  asserted  and  maintained  there- 
in, for  no  other  reason  which  is  now  discoverable 
than  the  peculiar  fact  that  those  Resolutions  had 
proceeded  from  and  were,  then,  supported  by  the 
majority  of  the  Assembly,  by  that  faction  of  the  great 
party  ofthe  Opposition  of  which  all  were  equally  mem- 
bers, to  which  they — those  who  have  been  named 
and  those  who  were  with  them — did  not  belong.' 

Whatever  may  have  influenced  those  who  had  as- 
sumed to  be  the  peculiarly  disinterested  and  sincere 
supporters  of  the  common  cause,  in  their  united  vote 
to  reject  the  Resolutions  which  are,  now,  under  con- 
sideration, those  who  are  of  the  Westchester-county 
of  the  present  day  will  continue  to  be  interested-  in 
the  fact  that,  on  that  very  critical  occasion,  when  the 
eyes  of  all  sober-minded  men,  in  Europe  as  well  as 
in  America,  were  turned  toward  that  small  Assembly- 
chamber,  Isaac  Wilkins,  of  the  Borough  of  West- 
chester, and  Frederic  Philipse,  representing  the  body 
of  the  County,  manfully  declared  the  Rights  of  the 
Colonists  and  those  of  the  Colonies,  and  bravely  re- 
sisted what  were  regarded  as  the  usurpations  of  the 
Home  Government;  while  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  of 
the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  and  John  Thomas,  repre- 
senting the  body  of  the  County,  quite  as  manfully 
opposed  them,  and,  indirectly,  quite  as  bravely  denied 
the  existence  of  those  individual  and  Colonial  Rights, 

>  The  official  record  of  the  votes  of  the  several  Members  of  the  Assem- 
bly, of  both  factions  of  tlic  party  of  tlio  Opposition,  as  it  may  be  seen  in 
the  Jonrunl  of  Of  Ilimae,  is  one  of  the  most  curious  and  most  unaccount- 
able, within  our  knowledge. 


and  quite  as  boldly  sustained  the  Home  Government, 
in  what  it  bad  done,  as  any  open  and  avowed 
"  friend  of  the  Government  "  could  have  done,  had 
one  been  present, — a  lesson  of  the  highest  importance 
to  those  who  shall  incline  to  ascertain  the  exact 
truth,  concerning  the  origin  ofthe  American  Revolu- 
tion and  the  purposes  of  those  who  promoted  it,  with- 
in the  Colony  of  New  York,  may  be  seen  in  the  sim- 
ple record  of  this  single  action  of  the  Representatives 
of  Colonial  New  York,  in  her  General"  Assembly,  in 
1775. 

On  the  day  after  these  Resolutions  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Assembly,  [March  fth,]  that  body  ordered  the 
appointment  of  "  a  Committee  to  prepare  and  lay 
"before  the  House,  with  all  convenient  sj)eed,  the 
"  Draft  of  an  humble,  firm,  dutiful,  and  loyal  Petition, 
"to  be  presented  to  our  most  Gracious  Sovereign," 
pursuant  to  Colonel  Peter  R.  Livingston's  Motion 
on  the  thirty-first  of  the  preceding  January ;  and 
William  Nicoll,  of  Suffolk-county,  Leonard  Van- 
Kleeck,  of  Duchess-county,  and  Isaac  Wilkins,  of 
the  Borough  of  Westchester,  were  appointed  the 
Committee  for  that  purpose.  During  the  same  day, 
Crean  Brush,  from  Cumberland-county,  Colonel  Ben- 
jamin Seaman,  of  Richmond-county,  and  Samuel 
Gale,  of  Orange-county,  were  appointed  a  Committee 
"  to  prepare  the  Draft  of  a  Memorial  to  the  Lords  ;" 
and  Daniel  Kissam,  of  Queens-county,  and  James 
De  Lancey  and  Jacob  Walton,  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  were  appointed  a  Committee  "  to  prepare  the 
"  Draft  of  a  Representation  and  Remonstrance  to  the 
"  Commons  of  Great  Britain,"  both  of  them  pursuant 
to  the  Resolution  offered  by  James  De  Lancey,  to 
which  reference  has  been  already  made.-  The  House 
directed,  also,  that  the  Drafts  of  those  several  papers 
should  be  laid  before  it,  "  with  all  convenient 
"speed."'' 

It  will  be  seen  that  on  neither  of  these  Committees 
was  there  a  single  member  of  the  minority  of  the 
House,  notwithstanding  the  Resolution  on  which  the 
first-named  of  those  Committees  was  ap])ointcd  origi- 
nated with  a  leading  member  of  that  faction,  and 
notwithstanding,  also,  both  the  Resolutions  pursuant 
to  which  all  the  Committees  were  appointed,  had 
been  adopted  in  the  Assembly  by  an  unanimous  vote, 
every  member  of  each  of  the  two  factions,  in  tempor- 
ary harmony  and  good-will,  having  united  in  approv- 
ing and  supporting  them — ^an  evident  result  of  the 
bitter  factional  feeling  which  had  been  aroused,  first  by 
the  evidently  dishonorable  conduct  of  the  minority, 
in  springing  upon  the  Assembly  the  Resolution  which 
was  offered  by  Colonel  Ten  Broeck,  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  January,  for  taking  into  consideration  the 
Proceedings  ofthe  Congress  ofthe  Colonies,  while  a 
"Call  of  the  House,"  asked  for  by  itself  and  for  its 


-  Vide  pages  oO,  51,  ante. 

^Journal  of  the  Hoiw,  "Die  Jovis,  10  ho.,  .4.M.,  the  9th  of  .March, 
"1775.' 


232 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


peculiar  advantage,  was  pending  ; '  and,  subsequently, 
by  the  peculiarly  factional  proceedings  of  the  minor- 
ity, in  the  presentation  of  Resolution  after  Resolu- 
tion, only  for  the  promotion  of  Revolution  ;  and  in  its 
dishonorable  opposition,  while  the  Assembly  was 
considering  the  Sfafe  of  the  Grievances  and  the  series 
of  declaratory  Resolutions,  to  all  of  which  proceed- 
ings reference  has  been  herein  made.^ 

On  the  sixteenth  of  March,  Isaac  Wilkins,  from 
the  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  it,  reported  "  the 
"  Draft  of  a  Petition  to  the  King ;  "  and,  immediately 
afterwards,  Crean  Brush,  from  the  Committee  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  it,  reiwrted  "  a  Draft  of  a  Alemor- 
"ial  to  the  Lords."  During  the  same  day,  James  De 
Lancey,  from  the  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  it, 
reported  "  the  Draft  of  a  Representation  and  Renion- 
"strance  to  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain  ;  "  and  the 
Asseml)ly  prom])tly  referred  all  those  papers,  for  con- 
sideration, to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House.^ 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  the  Assembly  re- 
solved itself  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House, 
upon  the  Draught  of  a  Petition  to  the  King,  Colonel 
Benjamin  Seaman,  of  Richmond-county,  being  in  the 
Chair;  and,  again,  the  minority  displayed  its  fiiction- 
al  animosity  by  presenting  Amendment  after  Amend- 
ment, by  far  the  greater  number  of  them  being  merely 
verbal,  without  disturbing  either  the  sense  or  the 
spirit  of  the  original.  In  one  instance,  however, 
very  unaccountably  and  not  very  consistently.  Colo- 
nel Philip  Schuyler  appeared  to  have  entertained  a 
more  than  usually  tender  regard  for  His  ilajesty's 
"  prerogative,"  in  the  matter  of  the  Paper  Currency 
of  the  Colony,  "  in  the  preservation  of  which  prerog- 
"  ative,"  he  said,  "  we  are  deeply  interested ;  "  and  an 
Amendment,  on  that  subject,  which  he  submitted, 
was  adopted  by  the  House,  without  a  division.  An- 
other Amendment,  concerning  the  Judiciary  of  the 
Colony,  and  entirely  cancelling  the  jjaragraph,  on 
that  subject,  which  the  Committee  had  reported,  was 
submitted  by  George  Clinton,  of  Ulster-county,  and 
agreed  to,  by  an  unanimous  A'ote  of  the  House;  and 
another  Amendment,  submitted  by  Colonel  Frederic 
Philipse,  by  striking  the  words  "  seem  to,"  from  one 
of  the  paragraphs,  and,  by  doing  so,  making  the  Acts 
relating  to  Boston  and  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts- 
Bay  real/i/  "  establish  adangerous  precedent,  by  inflict- 
"  ing  Punishment  without  the  formality  of  a  Trial," 
instead  of  only  seeming  to  do  so,  as  the  original  para- 
graph described  them,  really  strengthened  the  Peti- 
tion, in  its  assertion  of  the  Grievances  to  which  the 
Colonies  had  been  subjected.*  As  the  records  of  the 
closing  portion  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole  House  and  those  of  all  that  the  House, 


1  Vide  pages  49,  50,  ante. 
-  Vide  pages  51-53,  ante. 

3  Jin'rmd  of  the  Hotis",  "  Pie  .Jovis,  10  lio.,  A.M.,  tlie  liitli  March, 
"1775." 

*  Journal  of  the  i/oi>sc,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  lio.,  A.M.,  flie  21tli  March, 
"1775." 


itself,  did,  on  this  subject,  "are  missing,"  in  our  copy 
of  the  Journal,  the  details  of  those  proceedings  cannot 
be  given  ;  *  but  history  bears  testimony  to  the  general 
fact  that,  in  its  amended  form,  the  Petition  to  the 
King  was  duly  agreed  to,  by  the  Assembly.* 

On  the  same  day,  \_March  l-^tli],  the  Meynorial  to  the 
House  of  Lords  and  the  Representation  and  Remon- 
strance to  the  House  of  Commons,  after  several  Amend- 
ments, none  of  them  possessing  any  importance 
whatever  and  only  three  of  them  having  called  for  a 
division  of  the  House,  had  been  negatived  in  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  were  successively  re- 
ported to  the  House  ;  and,  in  the  respective  forms  in 
which  they  were  thus  reported,  the  House  adopted 
them,  in  each  instance,  without  a  division  of  the 
House.' 

On  the  following  morning,  [J/arc^  25/A]  the  en- 
grossed copies  of  the  Petition  to  the  King,^  the  Memor- 
ial to  the  Lords,^  and  the  Representation  and  Remon- 
strance to  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain^^  were  respect- 
ively presented  to  the  House,  read,  and  again  agreed 
to,  in  each  case  without  a  division  of  the  House.  In 
each  instance,  also,  the  Speaker  was  ordered  to  sign 
the  document,  in  behalf  of  the  House;  and,  after 
having  ordered  the  Speaker  to  transmit  these  three 
several  petitions  to  the  King,  the  Lords,  and  the 
Commons,  "  with  all  convenient  speed,  to  Edmund 
"  Burke,  Esquire,  Agent  of  this  Colony  at  the  Court 
"  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  that  a  Letter  be  prepared,  to 
"  be  approved  by  this  House,  to  the  said  Agent,  with 
"directions  that  he  present  the  same,  in  behalf  of 
"this  Colony,  as  they  are  respectively  directed,  as 
"soon  after  the  receipt  thereof  as  possible;"  and 
with  the  additional  Order  "  that  Mr.  Speaker  trans- 
"mit,  at  the  same  time,  to  the  Agent,  the  State  of  the 
"  Grievances  of  this  Colony  and  the  Resolutions  of 
"this  House  thereupon,"  the  House  adjourned." 

On  the  thirty-first  of  March,  the  Assembly  ordered 
the  Speaker  to  send  to  the  Speakers  of  the  several 
Houses  of  A.«sembly  on  this  Continent,  as  soon  after 


5  The  original  Jmtnmta  nf  tlie  Axsemtili/  which  included  the  proceedings 
oftlie  entire  Session  wliicli  is  now  under  consideration,  were  lost  during 
tlie  trouljlesome  times  of  tliat  period  ;  and  the  only  known  copy  of  the 
original  printeil  edition  of  those  Jourtiah  wanted  four  pages,  in  this 
portion  of  it.  Tliose  niissing  pages  contained  the  closing  portion  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  House,  on  the  Petition  to  the  King,  as  stated  in  the 
text,  and  the  opening  of  its  proceedings  on  the  Memorial  to  the  House 
of  Lonls. 

"The  conijileted  Petition  to  the  King,  signed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  As- 
senihly,  may  be  seen  in  tlie  Jonrnal  of  the  Assenihtij,  "  Die  Sabbati,  10 
"ho.,  A.M.,  the  2r)th  March  1775." 

Joiininl  ofthf  Hmi.ie,  "Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  AM.,  the  24th  M.arch 
"  177.")." 

The  defect  in  the  Joiinial,  as  it  is  now  known  to  us,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  leaves  us  without  any  information  concerning 
the  proceedings  of  the  House  on  the  first  twenty  paragraphs  of  the  Me- 
morial  to  the  Hou-te  of  Lords. 

^Journal  of  the  Honxe,  "  Die  Sabbati,  10  ho.,  A.  M.,  tlie  25th  March 
"  1775." 

,»  IIA:1. 

yjonrnol  if  the  Hniisr,  "Die  Sabbati,  i  ho.,  P.M.,  the  25th  March, 
"  1775." 
11  Ihiil. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


233 


the  rise  of  this  House  as  conveniently  may  be,  copies 
of  the  State  of  the  Grievances,  of  the  Resolutions  of 
the  House,  of  the  Petition  to  the  King,  of  the  Memor- 
ial to  the  Lords,  and  of  the  Representation  and  Remon- 
strance to  the  Commons,  requesting  those  several 
Speakers  to  lay  the  same  before  their  respective 
Houses  of  Assembly,  at  their  first  meeting  after  the 
receipt  thereof.' 

On  the  following  day,  [^April  Ist.']  the  Assembly  ap- 
pointed "  a  Standing  Committee  of  Correspondence," 
composed  of  the  Speaker,  [John  Oriiger,']  James  De 
Lancey,  James  Jauncey,  Benjamin  Kissam,  and 
Jacob  Walton,  all  of  them  from  the  City  of  New  York, 
Benjamin  Seaman,  of  Richmond-county,  Isaac  Wil- 
kins,  of  the  Borough  of  Westchester,  Frederic  Phil- 
ipse,  of  Westchester-county,  Zebulon  Seaman,  of 
Queens-county,  John  Rapalje  and  Simon  Boerum,  of 
Kings-county,  Samuel  Gale,  of  Orange-county,  and 
George  Clinton,  of  Ulster-county,  or  any  seven  of 
them,  "  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  obtain  the  most 
"  early  and  authentic  intelligence  of  all  such  Acts 
"and  Resolutions  of  the  British  Parliament  or  Pro- 
"ceedingsof  Administration  as  do  or  may  relate  to 
"  or  atlect  the  Liberties  and  Privileges  of  His  Ma- 
"jesty's  Subjects,  in  the  British  Colonies  in  America 
"and  to  keep  up  and  maintain  a  Correspondence  and 
"  Communication  with  our  Sister  Colonies,  respecting 
"  these  important  considerations ;  and  the  result  of 
"their  Proceedings  to  lay  before  the  House." - 

On  the  following  Monday,  the  third  of  April,  the 
Assembly  adjourned  until  the  third  of  May;^  and 
that  eventful  Session  of  the  last  General  Assembly  of 
the  Colony  of  New  York,  which  was  assembed  lor 
the  discharge  of  legislative  duties,  was  ended. 

That  General  Assembly  and  all  that  it  did,  from 
the  opening  of  the  Session  until  the  final  declaration 
of  its  Speaker  l)rought  that  Session  to  a  close,  have 
been  made  the  themes  of  unceasing  misrepresentation 
and  abuse  or  of  absolute  and  contemptuous  silence, 
from  far  the  greater  number  of  those  who  have  as- 
sumed to  write  or  to  speak  concerning  the  history  of 
that  notable  period.  They  have  been  the  themes, 
sometimes,  of  ignorant  and  unscrupulous  bigots  and, 
sometimes,  of  intelligent  and  unscrupulous  tricksters; 
sometimes  a  personal  and  sometimes  a  local  end  has 
been  served  by  either  a  falsification  or  a  concealment 
of  the  truth,  concerning  them;  and,  sometimes,  frag- 
ments of  useless  and  glittering  rhetoric,  strung  to- 
gether, as  farmers  string  fragments  of  useless  and 
glittering  tin  and  display  them  in  order  to  deceive 
and  to  scatter  unsuspecting  birds  from  their  corn- 
fields, in  like  manner,  have  been  employed  by  literary 
prestidigitators,  in  order  to  deceive  those  who  are 
less  intelligent  than  themselves,  concerning  that  As- 

'Jonnia/  u/  the  Wiutr,  "Die  Veneris,  10  lio.,  .\.M.,  the  3lst  March, 
"  1775." 

^  Jmimal  of  the  Hmw,  "Die  Sabbati,  10  ho.,  .\.M.,  the  Ist  April, 
"1775." 

3  Jintrnat  of  the  Uouse,  "Die  Lumr,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  the  :!<1  April,  177.')." 


scmbly,  and  its  members,  and  their  doings ;  and, 
through  that  deception,  to  promote  their  own  or  their 
party's  or  their  sectional  purposes.  Individual  mem- 
bers of  that  Assembly,  men  of  honor  aiKl  unimpeach- 
able integrity,  have  been  stigmatized  as  "  wretches," 
and  as  "  the  veriest  reptiles  on  earth"  and  charged 
with  ''  corruption  "  and  every  kindred  vice — some  of 
them  were  driven  from  their  families  and  their  homes  ; 
others  of  them  were  lawlessly  seized  and  carried  from 
their  families  and  their  homes,  exiled,  and  held  in 
lawless  bondage ;  and  others  of  them  were  stripped 
of  their  patrimonial  estates  or  of  the  estates  of  their 
own  creation — only  because  they  had  preferred,  as 
Members  of  that  Assembly,  to  assert  the  Grievances 
under  which  the  Colony  was  said  to  have  been  labor- 
ing and  to  demand  a  Redress  of  those  alleged  Griev- 
ances, not  with  any  less  distinctness  of  words  nor 
with  any  less  firmness  of  manner,  but  after  a  manner 
and  through  instrumentalities  of  their  own  selection 
and  which  possessed  their  greater  confidence,  rather 
than  after  a  manner  and  through  instrumentalities 
which  others  would  have  thrust  on  them,  which  their 
own  sense  of  fitness  and  adaptability  had  not  ap- 
proved, which  were  controlled  by  men  in  whose  noisy 
pretensions  to  personal  and  jjolitical  integrity  they 
could  not  repose  confidence.  Measures  which  were 
sincerely  intended  for  the  promotion  of  the  common 
cause  of  the  Colonies,  in  their  struggle  with  the 
Home  Government, — measures  which  presented  noth- 
ing else  than  political  principles  or  recitals  of  facts 
which  no  one,  of  any  sect  or  fiiction,  pretended  to 
dispute  —  were  opposed,  vehemently  and  without 
measure,  within  as  well  as  without  the  Assembly, 
only  because  they  had 'not  originated  and  were  not 
supported  before  the  House,  by  the  opjjosite  faction 
of  the  Opj)osition  ;  and,  with  that  hereditary,  or  sec- 
tional, or  sectarian,  or  partisan  bitterness  which  the 
lapse  of  years  has  served  only  to  intensify,  that  work 
of  depreciation  and  misrepresentation  of  those  meas- 
ures and  of  all  who  favored  them,  continues  to  dis- 
grace much,  at  the  present  day,  which  is  audaciously 
called  "  history." 

A  candid  and  carefully-made  comparison  of  the 
terms  of  those  several  State  of  Grievances,  and  de- 
claratory Resolutions,  and  Pttition,  and  Memorial, 
and  Representation  and  Remonstrance,  which  were 
prepared,  and  agreed  to,  and  presented,  and  published 
by  that  uuicli-abused  General  Assembly  of  Colonial 
New  York,  with  the  several  Resolutions,  and  Decla- 
ration of  Rights,  and  Association,  and  Addresses,  and 
Memorials,  and  Petition,  which,  in  like  manner,  were 
prepared,  and  agreed  to,  and  presented,  and  published 
'  by  the  much-eulogized  Congress  of  the  Continent, 
which  had  assembled  in  Pliiladeli)hia,  in  September, 
1774,  will  clearly  establish  the  fact  that  the  former  were 
1  quite  as  decided,  in  their  tone,  and  quite  as  clear  and 
j  distinct,  in  their  terms,  as  the  latter;  and  such  a 
I  comparison  will  also  clearly  establish  the  fact  that, 
I  in  its  continuous  and  violent  o|)position  to  the  former. 


234 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


in  every  stage  of  its  progress  through  the  House,  the 
minority  of  that  General  Assembly  was  clearly  actu- 
ated by  some  other  motive  than  that  of  simple,  un- 
contaminated*patriotism. 

It  will  be  seen,  also,  by  every  careful  and  candid 
reader  of  the  published  proceedings  of  that  Congress 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  gravamen  of  the  declared  Grievances  of  the 
constituent  Colonies,  of  that  notable  body,  consisted 
of  sundry  Acts  of  Parliament,  all  of  which  were  con- 
sidered as  oppressive,  it  had  made  no  attempt  what- 
ever, either  by  Petition  or  otherwise,  to  induce  the 
Parliament  to  remove  or  even  to  modify  those  Griev- 
ances, or  any  of  them,  by  a  repeal  or  even  by  an 
amendment  of  the  obnoxious  provisions  of  those  op- 
pressive legal  enactments,  contenting  itself,  instead, 
with  preparing,  and  agreeing  to,  and  presenting,  only 
Addresses  to  the  People  of  Great  Britain,  to  the  Inhab- 
itants of  the  Province  of  Qvtbec,  and  to  the  King,  and 
a  Memorial  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  British  Colonies, 
respectively,  not  one  of  whom  possessed  the  slightest 
legislative  authority,  nor  the  slightest  ability,  in  any 
way,  to  remove  nor  even  to  modify  those  Grievances, 
whatever  might  have  been  its  disposition  to  have 
done  so — indeed,  notwithstanding  the  well-known 
desires  of  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists,  throughout 
the  entire  Continent,  notwithstanding  the  known 
purposes  for  which  that  Congress  had  been  convened, 
and  notwithstanding  the  express  i)rovisions  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  Credentials  of  the  several  Del- 
egations, the  proceedings  of  that  Congress  were  mainly 
declaratory  and  justificatory  of  Rebellion,  with  scarcely 
an  effort  to  obtain  a  redress  of  Grievances,  and  nothing 
whatever  for  the  yet  more  desired  reconciliation  and 
union  with  the  Mother  Country,  "so. beneficial  to  the 
"whole  Empire,  and  so  ardently  desired  by  all  British 
"America,"''  for  "the  restoration  of  union  and  har- 
"  mony  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  most 
"  ardently  desired  by  all  good  men."  -  The  tone  and 
the  tendency  of  all  that  it  did,  however,  were  pecu- 
liarly revolutionary,  in  all  which  it  was  eminently 
successful  and,  to  that  extent,  if  no  further,  it  had 
failed  to  represent,  truly,  those  in  whose  name  it  had 
nominally  acted.  On  the  other  hand,  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Colonial  New  York,  the  legitimacy  of  whose 
organization  and  the  entire  legality  of  whose  action,  in 
behalf  of  the  common  cause,  no  one  has  ever  presumed 
to  question;  without  compromising  its  dignity,  as  a 
General  Assembly ;  with  that  common  sense  which, 
in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America,  was,  then,  so  pe- 


1  OredentUth  of  the  Delegation  from  Vinjiuia^  to  the  Coitgrets. 

-  CredeDlifih  of  the  Ik'legation  from  Mnsstichitseth,  to  the  CmigrefJt. 

3  It  is  matter  of  liistory,  well  known  to  every  student,  that  the  action 
of  the  'Congress  on  the  St^folk-cotiHty  liesohttioiis,  {Joitnnil  of  the  Onujress, 
"Saturday,  September  17,1774,  A.M."),  closed  the  door  of  reconcilia- 
tion against  the  Colonies,  and  led  the  Home  Government  to  regard  the 
great  body  of  the  Colonists  as  onlj-  rebels,  against  whom  it  had  become 
the  duty  of  that  Government  to  throw  the  weight  of  its  authoritj',  a 
determination  for  which  those  Colonists,  in  their  individual  relations, 
had  given  no  warrant,  either  in  their  actions  or  their  dispositions. 


culiarly  uncommon ;  without  entangling  itself  with 
any  questionable  alliance;  and  without  belittling  its 
legitimate  influence  by  expressing  its  ofiicial  sym- 
pathy with  any  other  body,  even  in  relation  to  those 
measures  which  were  similar,  in  character  and  pur- 
pose, to  those  of  its  own  enactment — that  General 
Assembly,  quite  as  clearly  and  quite  as  energetically 
as  the  Congress  had  done,  in  behalf  of  its  constitu- 
ents, boldly  declared  the_Grievances  of  those  whom  it 
rejiresented,  in  a  clear  recital  of  the  several  Acts  of 
Parliament  which  had  been  employed  by  the  Home 
Government  for  the  oppression  of  the  Colonists ;  and, 
in  addition  to  that  recital  of  specific  Statutes  which 
were  grievous  in  their  provisions,  it  adopted  a  series 
of  Resolutions,  declaratory  of  the  general  Rights  of 
the  Colonists,  as  Englishmen,  "  to  which  they  were 
"  equally  entitled  with  their  fellow-subjects  in  Great 
"  Britain  " — Resolutions  which  no  one  could  have 
made  stronger,  in  support  of  the  common  cause. 
But,  unlike  that  Congress,  and  more  consistently 
with  its  duty  to  its  constituency  than  anything,  in 
that  connection,  which  the  Congress  had  professed  to 
do,  that  General  Assembly,  in  its  official  character, 
approached  the  King  and  the  two  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, in  whom,  acting  together,  rested  the  only  legit- 
imate authority  which  could  possibly  be  exercised 
for  the  removal  of  those  Grievances  which  it  had 
described,  and  for  the  restoration  of  that  harmony, 
between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother  Country,  which 
the  former  so  earnestly  desired;  and,  unto  these, 
respectively,  it  respectfully  presented  its  manly,  and 
dignified,  and  legally-expressed  prayers  for  the  re- 
peal of  those  several  Acts  or  parts  of  Acts  which  were 
oppressive  or  which  threatened  to  become  so.  In  all 
these,  it  violated  no  law  and  fostered  no  spirit  of  dis- 
affection. Without  the  loss  of  any  of  that  dignity 
which  legitimately  belonged  to  it,  and  without  sacri- 
ficing any  of  that  respect  for  its  constituents  which 
its  duty  recjuired  it  to  maintain,  it  recognized  the 
sovereignty  of  the  King,  as  the  Congress  had  also 
done;  and,  consistently  with  that  dignity  and  that 
respect,  but  with  a  boldness  which  was  peculiarly  its 
own,  at  the  same  time,  it  also  asserted  its  own  stand- 
ing, as  a  General  Assembly,  by  memorializing  instead 
of  petitioning  the  Peers,  and  by  representing  the 
facts  of  the  usurpation,  to  the  Commons,  and  by  sup- 
plementing that  "representation"  with  a  "remon- 
strance" against  the  action  of  that  distinguished 
body,  in  its  serious  disregard  of  the  Rights  of  the 
Colonists.  In  all  these  several  prayers,  with  what- 
ever titles  and  in  whatever  form  they  were  presented, 
the  General  Assembly  employed  terms  which  com- 
manded the  respect  of  those  to  whom  they  were  re- 
spectively addressed  ;  and,  in  one  instance,  so  clearly 
was  the  Grievance  represented  and  so  earnest  was  the 
remonstrance  which  was  made  against  it,  in  the  As- 
sembly's Remonstrance,  that  even  Lord  North  was 
obliged  to  acknowledge  the  force  and  the  fitness  of 
the  plea,  and,  in  his  place  in  the  House  of  Commons, 


TPIE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


235 


to  declare  his  willingness  that  that  Grievance,  if  no 
other  of  the  series,  should  be  duly  removed. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  bi^en  said  in  deprecia- 
tion of  that  particular  Colonial  General  Assembly,  it 
did  not  consider  it  necessary,  nor  even  expedient,  to 
override  the  minority  of  its  members  without  even 
recognizing  their  existence  on  its  Journal,  under 
cover  of  the  subsequently  notorious  "unit-rule,"  in 
recording  the  votes  of  its  members,  nor  in  any  other 
manner;  nor  did  it  conceal  its  proceedings,  whether 
honestly  or  questionably  determined,  by  publishing 
as  complete  what  were  only  mutilated  copies  of  its 
Journal,  all  of  which  the  Congress  had  done.  It  might 
have  been  charged  with  "  corruption,"  with  some  de- 
gree of  propriety,  had  it  purchased  an  appearance  of 
unanimity  in  its  votes  with  unexplained  exceptions 
in  the  mandatory  provisions  of  some  of  its  general  en- 
actments— exceptions  in  favor  of  one  of  the  high-con- 
tracting parties,  which  were  necessarily  conceded  as 
equivalents  for  commercial  trickery  in  another — as  the 
Congress  had  done  ;  but  the  divided  votes  which  are 
presented  on  nearly  every  page  of  its  Journal  very 
clearly  indicate  that,  whatever  of  factional  bitterness 
there  might  have  been,  neither  codfish  nor  rice  was 
recognized  as  an  element  in  the  determination  of 
grave  questions,  affecting  the  peace  of  the  Colonies 
and  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  millions,  in  Europe 
as  well  as  in  America.  On  the  contrary,  what  it  did 
was  done  honorably,  and  openly,  and  in  conformity 
with  the  requirements  of  parliamentary,  as  well  as  of 
constitutional.  Law  ;  not  by  unanimous  Votes,  actual 
or  fictitious,  but  by  a  majority  of  its  members,  duly 
and  courteously  exercising  the  authority  with  which 
that  majority  was  duly  and  legally  vested.  It  was  not 
done  by  the  action  of  the  minority  of  that  Assembly, 
which  represented  the  revolutionary  element  of  the 
Inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New  York  more  completely 
and  with  greaterzeal  than  itrepresented  those  several 
constituencies  who  had  given  seats,  in  that  body,  to 
it ;  but  it  was  done  in  the  face  of  that  tactions  minor- 
ity, and  notwithstanding  its  open,  persistent,  and  res- 
olute opposition.  It  was  not  done  by  reason  of  any 
prompting  or  intiuencc  of  either  the  Colonial  or  the 
Home  Government ;  but  in  well-known  opposition  to 
the  wishes  and  the  expectations  of  both.  It  was  not 
done  because  of  any  popular  influence,  present  or 
prospective  ;  but  only  from  the  personal  knowledge 
of  its  members,  concerning  the  great  wrongs  to  which, 
it  was  said,  the  Colonies  had  been  subjected,  concern- 
ing the  rights  and  the  interests  of  the  Colonists  which 
had  been  invaded,  ancl  concerning  the  measures  which 
were  necessary  for  the  j)rotcction  of  those  invaded 
rights  and  interests,  for  securing  a  redress  of  those 
great  wrongs,  and  for  the  restoration  of  harmony 
and  peace.  In  fact,  that  General  Assembly,  in  all  the 
proceedings  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  more 
clearly  and  more  faithfully  represented  the  interests 
and  the  opinions  and  the  inclinations,  concerning 
governmental  matters,  of  the  aggregate  body  of  the 


Colonists,  in  New  York,  including  every  class,  and 
sect,  and  political  party — and  it  possessed  no  authority 
to  represent  any  other,  and  made  no  pretension  to  do 
so — than  either  the  Congress  of  the  Continent  or  the 
fragmentary  revolutionary  faction  within  the  Colony 
had  done  or  possibly  could  do;  and  there  is  very 
great  reason  for  the  belief  that  its  orderly,  and  digni- 
fied, and  more  practically  sensible  influence  would 
have  been  recognized  beyond  the  limits  of  New  York, 
and  that  it  would  have  succeeded  in  its  honorable 
efforts  and  evidently  earnest  purposes  to  restore,  per- 
manently and  without  dishonor,  that  harmony  be- 
tween the  Colonies  and  the  IMother  Country  which  all 
professed  to  desire,  had  not  the  rashness  of  General 
Gage,  in  Massachusetts,  during  the  brief  recess  which 
it  had  voted  to  itself,  broken  the  well-strained  barriers 
of  Peace,  loosed  the  worst  elements  of  human  nature 
in  the  Colonists,  overturned  everything  which  per- 
tained to  a  Government  of  Law,  and  plunged  the 
Continent  into  all  the  horrors  of  a  needless  and,  nec- 
essarily, a  bitter  fratricidal  War — a  War  which,  at 
its  conclusion,  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county,  or 
those  of  them  who  remained,  more  than  all  New 
England  combined,  had  sorrowful  reasons  for  remem- 
bering, because  of  the  devastated  homesteads,  the 
divided  families,  the  antagonistic  neighbors,  and  the 
remembrance  of  plunder,  and  outrages,  and  butcheries, 
among  them,  of  which  that  War  had  been  so  abund- 
antly and  so  sadly  productive. 

A  few  words  only  are  required  to  complete  the 
record  of  the  results  of  that  much-slandered  General 
Assembly;  and  the  space  which  they  will  occupy 
cannot  be  better  occupied. 

The  Petition  which  was  officially  sent  to  the  Agent 
of  the  Colony,  the  celebrated  Edmund  Burke,  for 
presentation  to  the  King,  was  duly  laid  before  the 
Sovereign  ; '  but,  iinismuch  as  the  General  Assembly 
had,  also,  addressed  the  Parliament,  on  the  same  sub- 
jects, it  is  not  known  that  any  i)articular  attention 
was  paid  to  it. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  May,  tiie  distinguished  Agent  ot 
the  Colony,  offered  to  be  presented  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, the  JRepresentation  and  Remondrance  which  the 
Colonial  General  Assembly  had  addressed  to  that 
body  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  Mr.  Burke  made  a  short 
Speech,  in  which  he  told  the  House  that  "'they  never 
"  had  before  them  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  i)utting 
"  an  end  to  the  unhappy  disputes  with  the  Colonies, 
"  as  at  present ;  and  he  conjured  them,  in  the  most 

1 "  Mr  Biirke  having  delivered  to  me  tlie  Petition  to  tlie  King,  I  ha<l 
"  the  honour  to  present  it  to  His  Majesty,  wlio  wan  pleased  to  receive 
"  it  with  the  most  gracious  expressions  of  reganl  and  attention  to  tlie 
"  hunililo  request  of  his  faithful  subjects  in  New- York,  who  have,  on 
"this  occasion,  manifested  a  duty  to  His  Mi\jesty  and  a  regard  for  the 
"authority  of  the  Parent  State,  which,  had  they  not,  in  the  Memoi  'ml 
"to  till-  //<)((«<■  of  Lonls  and  in  the  Uipiesi-nlali'in  lo  tin-  UoiiKinf  Cuiiiiioiif, 
"been  unfortunately  blended  with  expressions  containing  Claims  which 
"  made  it  impossible  for  Parliiinient,  consistent  with  its  justice  and  dig- 
"nity,  to  receive  them,  might  have  laid  the  foundation  of  that  liccon- 
"ciliation  we  have  so  long  and  so  ardently  wished  fur." — (Tlir  h'Mil  nj 
Darlmoiilli  to  tlorernor  Tijrun,  "  Whitehall,  >Iay  i'J,  17T'i.''j 


» 

236  HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


earnest  manner,  not  to  let  it  escape,  as  possibly,  the 
"  like  might  never  return ;  "  closing  his  remarks 
with  the  statement  that  "  he  had,  several  times  in 
"  the  Session,  expressed  his  sentiments,  very  fullj', 
"upon  everything  contained  in  that  Remonstrance  ; 
"  as  for  the  rest,  it  spoke  so  strongly  for  itself  that  he 
"  did  not  see  how  people  in  their  senses  could  refuse 
"  at  least  the  consideration  of  so  reasonable  and  de- 
"  cent  an  address ; "  and,  after  having  "  stated  the 
"  heads  of  the  Remonstrance"  "  he  moved  for  leave  to 
"  bring  it  up."  The  Ministry  was  not  as  well  dis- 
posed, however,  as  Mr.  Burke  appeared  to  suppose  ; 
and  Lord  North  promptly  took  the  floor,  to  reply  to 
what  that  gentleman  had  said.  He  commenced  by 
asking  the  Clerk  to  read  the  official  record  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  House,  in  December,  1768,  on  a 
Petition  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  what  was  known  as  the  Z'fc/ara/ory  Act;  and  he 
continued  by  saying  that  he  was  "  greatly  in  favour  of 
"  New  York  ;  aud  that  he  would  gladly  do  everything 
"  in  lus  power  to  shew  his  regard  to  the  good  behaviour 
"  of  that  Colony;  "  but  he  declared  that  the  "  honour 
"  of  Parliament  required  that  no  paper  should  be  pre- 
"  sented  to  that  House,  which  tended  to  call  in  ques- 
"  tion  the  unlimited  Rights  of  Parliament."  "As  to 
"  the  Quebec  Duties,"  which  was  one  of  the  Griev- 
ances against  which  the  General  Assembly  had  re- 
monstrated, he  said  "he  did  not  pretend  to  be  iufal- 
"  lible ;  he  confessed  they  were  not  laid  as  they  ought 
"  to  be;  and  he  declared  that  he  was  willing  to  give 
" satisfaction,  in  tliat  point,  immediately."  "This, 
"  however,"  he  said,  "  was  but  a  tritie  to  the  general 
"  ol)jects  of  the  Remonsirance.''  An  earnest  Debate 
ensued,  Messrs.  Cornwall  and  Jenkinson  supporting 
the  Ministry,  and  Messrs.  Cruger,  Aubrey,  Charles 
James  Fox,  and  Governor  Johnstone  supporting  Mr. 
Burke  ;  and  that  was  followed  by  the  submission  by 
Lord  North,  of  an  Amendment  to  Mr.  Burke's  Motion 
"  for  leave  to  bring  up,"  making  it  read  thus  :  "  That 
"  the  said  Representation  and  Remonstrance  (in  which 
"  the  said  Assembly  claim  to  themselves  Rights  derog- 
"atory  to,  and  inconsistent  with,  the  legislative 
"  authority  of  Parliament,  as  declared  hj  the  Declara- 
"  tory  Act)  be  brought  up."  By  a  vote  of  one  hundred 
and  eighty-six  to  sixty-seven,  the  Amendment  was 
adopted ;  and  the  amended  Motion,  of  course,  was 
promptly  rejected,  without  a  division.' 

Three  days  after  that  rejection  of  the  Representation 
and  Remonstrance  of  the  General  Assembly,  by  the 
House  of  Commons,  18,  1775]  the  Duke  of 

Manchester  brought  the  Memorial  which  that  General 
Assembly  had  addressed  to  tiie  House  of  Lords, 
before  that  House,  and  moved  that  it  be  read.  The 
Earl  of  Dartmouth  opposed  the  Motion  ;  and  a  spirited 
Debate  ensued,  in  which  the  Earls  of  Buckingham- 
shire, Denbigh,  Gower,  Hillsborough,  and  Sandwich, 


1  Alinon's  Pui  Uameiiturij  lieijister,  i.,  4C7-47:i ;  Annual  Ileijinter  fur 
1775,  "  Hisfory  of  Europe,"  *llo,  *116. 


and  Lord  Mansfield,  supported  the  Minister,  and  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  the  Earls  of  Shelburne  and 
Effingham,  and  Lord  Camden,  opposed  him.  The 
only  objection  raised  against  the  reading  of  the 
Memorial  was  the  bare  suspicion  that  "  it  contained 
"  matter  derogatory  to  the  supreme  legislative  power 
"  of  Great  Britain  ;"  and  on  that  suspicion,  alone,  the 
Memorial  not  having  been  even  described,  the  House 
sustained  the  Minister,  and  declined  to  allow  the 
Memorial  to  be  read,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to  forty- 
five,  sending  it,  of  course,  into  the  legislative  limbo. ^ 
Well  might  Edmund  Burke  subsequently  say  of  that 
rejection  of  the  Memorial  aud  of  the  Remonstrance  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  Colonial  New  York,  by  the 
two  Houses  of  Parliament,  "  nothing  done  in  Parlia- 
"  ment  seemed  to  be  better  calculated  to  widen  the 
"  breach  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies."  ^ 


2  Alinon's  Purliattieutary  ItetjUter^  ii.,  152-156;  Annual  BcgUler  for 
177o,  "  History  of  Europe,"  *116,  *117. 

It  is  a  reasonable  ease,  in  such  instances  as  those  cited  and  in  those  of 
the  earlier  historians  of  the  American  Revolution  who  lived  and  wrote 
in  Europe,  that  no  more  than  the  rejection,  hy  the  Parliament,  of  the 
two  papers  which  were  sent  to  that  legislature  hy  the  General  Assembly 
of  New  York,  was  mentioned  in  the  writings  of  those  gentlemen  ;  but 
there  is  no  valid  excuse  for  those,  in  America,  who  have  exhausted  all 
their  resources  of  misrepresentation  and  abuse  on  that  General  Assembly, 
charging  it  with  having  been  everything  which  was  detrimental  to  the 
honor  or  the  integrity  or  the  interests  of  the  Colonies,  and  closing  their 
respective  narratives,  on  the  subject  of  that  Assembly,  hy  reciting  no 
more  than  the  facts,  stated  in  the  text — that  its  Mifiiiurial  and  lirmon- 
Mruia-c  had  been  rejected  by  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  without 
having  been  read — without  having  pretended  to  explain  huw  it  were 
possible  that  so  bad  an  Assen\b!y  as  they  had  described,  could,  by  any 
possibility,  have  been,  the  author  aud  publisher  of  such  papers  as, 
because  of  their  peculiarly  republican  averments,  the  Home  Govern- 
ment and  the  Parliament  would  not  allow  to  bo  even  read  in  their 
presence. 

Bancroft,  after  having  consolidated  the  Itemomlrance  aud  the  Meniorial, 
making  them  one  paper,  obliged  liurke  to  offer  both,  on  the  same  day, 
and  in  the  same  House,  all  of  which  were  described  in  the  narrow  com- 
pass of  four  lines,  without  even  a  hint  how  such  an  Assembly  as  he  had 
previously  described,  could  have  prttduced  such  a  paper — his  silence 
serving  to  screen  his  unfaithfulness,  as  a  historian,  both  in  a  falsification 
and  in  a  suppression  of  the  truth.  {Hislun/  nf  Ihc  Vniti'it  tildlcit,  original 
edition,  iv.,2S(; ;  Ihemnie,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  .515.)  John  0.  Hamilton, 
of  course,  by  his  suppression  as  well  as  hy  his  falsification  of  the  truth,  in 
order  that  his  father  and  his  grandfather  might  he  unduly  eulogized,  is 
equally  untrustworthy  {UisUirij  of  the  I{e}mhlit\,  i.,  86.)  Lendrum, 
tory  of  the  Anierkiiu  Iterolntion,  i.,  87;)  "Paul  Allen"  (Ilistorn  of  the 
American  llerolutioit,  i.,  237,  238;)  Gordon,  (Huttorij  of  theAmerican  Rcrolu- 
lion,  i.,  500;)  Ramsay,  {Histoi-ji  of  the  American  Iterolntion,  i.,  171,  172;) 
and  others,  less  prominent  but  not  less  popular,  liave  been  equally  un- 
faithful, as  historians,  in  this  nuitter. 

Lossing,  {Fielil  Hoolc  of  the  Iterolntion  ;)  Frothingham,  (Bisc-  of  lite 
IteiiuhVu- ;)  Ridi)ath,  {Hklorij  of  the  Vniteil  ^tatef  ;)  Lodge,  (Histonj  of  the 
EnijILth  O'lonies  in  America  ;)  Morse,  (Annah  of  the  American  Iterulutiou  ;) 
Warren,  l  Uistoyij  of  the  American  Jterointiou ;)  and  others,  although 
abounding  in  facts  and  fictions  concerning  Massachusetts,  have  not 
spared  a  line  for  the  recognition  of  what  was  done  for  "the  common 
"cause,"  by  the  General  .Assembly  of  the  C'Jlouy  of  New  York. 

Pitkin,  (Huitorij  of  the  L'nited  Wii^es,  i.,  324,  325;)  and  Hildreth,  (History 
of  the  Vnileil  State/',  First  Series,  iii.,  56,  65,)  with  that  fidelity  to  the 
truth  which  distinguished  them,  as  historians,  and  notwithstanding  they 
were  New  Englanders,  not  only  recited  enough  of  the  facts  to  enable 
their  respective  readers  to  understand  what  the  General  Assembly  of 
New  York  really  did,  but  they  also  compared  the  result  of  those  doings 
with  the  doings  of  the  Continental  Congress,  very  much  to  the  credit  of 
the  former,  without  belittling  what  they  regarded  as  also  due  to  the 
latter. 

Annual  Iteijister  fir  177-'),  "History  of  Europe,"  *117. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


237 


Except  those  matters  to  which  we  have  already  re- 
ferred, nothing  which  requires  especial  notice  in  this 
narrative,  occurred  until,  in  February,  1775,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Colony  rejected  the  Resolution, 
submitted  by  Judge  Thomas,  of  Wcstchester-county, 
which  provided  for  the  election,  by  that  General  As- 
sembly, of  Delegates  to  the  proposed  Congress  of  the 
Continent,  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  tenth  of 
May  ensuing,  reference  to  which  has  been  already 
made.*    Four  days  after  that  determination,  by  the 
General  Assembly,  to  take  no  official  action  on  the 
subject  referred  to,  \_Febritary  27,  1775,]  Peter  Van 
Brugh  Livingston  brought  it  before  the  "  Committee 
"of  Observation,"  by  Avhich  name  the  Committee  of 
Inspection  evidently  preferred  to  be  known  ;  and  that 
Committee,  notwithstanding  its  authority  was  limited 
to  other  and  entirely  different  lines  of  duty,  enter- 
tained and  agreed  to  a  Resolution,  offered  by  that 
gentleman,  "  that  the  Committee  take  into  Consider- 
"'  ation,  the  Ways  and  Means  of  causing  Delegates  to 
"  be  elected,  to  meet  the  Delegates  of  the  other  Col- 
"  onies  on  this  Continent  in  General  Congress,  to  be 
"held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  10th   Day  of  May 
"  next."  ^  If  any  other  action  on  the  subject  of  that  Res- 
olution was  taken  at  that  time,  it  was  not  completed 
when  the  Committee  adjourned ;  and  not  until  the 
following  Wednesday,  \^March  1,  1775,]  at  an  Ad- 
journed Meeting  of  the  Committee,  was  the  subject 
disposed  of,  by  ordering  the  publication  of  an  Adver- 
tisement; addressed  "to  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen 
"  of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York,"  in  which 
were  made  a  recital  of  the  recommendation  that 
another  Congress  should  be  convened  at  Philadel- 
phia, on  the  tenth  of  May  ensuing ;  a  suggestion  that 
an  Election  of  Delegates  "  ought  not  longer  to  be  de- 
"layed;"  an  acknowledgment  that  that  Committee 
possessed  "  no  Power  without  the  Approbation  of 
"  their  Constituents,  to  take  any  Measures  for  the 
"  Purpose ;  "  and  a  "  request  "  •'  that  the  Freeholders 
"  and  Freemen  of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York, 
"will  be  pleased  to  assemble  at  the  Exchange,  on 
"Monday  the  (Jth  Instant,  at  12  o'clock,  to  signify 
"  their  Sense  of  the  best  Method  of  choosing  such 
"Delegates;  and  whether  they  will  appoint  a  cer- 
"  tain  Number  of  Persons  to  meet  such  Deputies  as 
"  the  Counties  may  elect  for  that  Purpose,  and  join 
"  with  them  in  appointing  out  of  their  Body  Dele- 
"  gates  for  the  next  Congress."  '    That  Advertisement 
was  published  on  the  following  day,  [J/cor/i  2,  1775;]* 
and,  what  was  very  unusual,  those  who  were  opposed 
to  the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  confederated  party 
ot  the  Opposition  appear  to  have  organized,  for  the 


1  See  page  .')2,  ante. 

i  I'rocf-diiigt  nf  thi-  C"mmitti-e  nf  ObtmalUm  for  llf  City  <iud  O'Uiilij 
of  Kew  York,  at  its  .\4journed  Meeting,  February  27,  177.5. 

'  Prucri-diiiija  of  the  Commill-  i-  of  Obarrrolion  for  llir  Cilij  aud  Omiily 
of  yew  York,  at  its  Adjourned  Meeting,  1st  March,  1775. 

*  Holt's  Acto- Tort  Journal,  No.  1678,  New- YoBK,  Thnrsday,  March  2, 
1775. 


purpose  of  joining  issue  with  the  latter,  at  the  pro- 
posed Meeting,  on  the  questions  which  had  thus  been 
referred  only  to  those  who  were  either  Freeholders 
or  Freemen  of  the  City,  in  whom,  alone,  the  right  of 
the  elective  franchise  was,  then,  legally  vested.^ 

An  unusual  excitement  ap])ears  to  have  been 
aroused  by  the  j)lacards  with  which  the  walls  and  the 
fences  throughout  the  City  were  covered,"  and  by  the 
impassioned  appeals  with  which  the  newspapers  were 
filled;  and  the  morning  of  the  sixth  of  March  opened 
with  many  appearances  which  betokened  the  aj)- 
proach  of  a  serious  conflict  between  the  rival  fixctions. 
As  early  as  nine  o'clock,  the  revolutionary  faction, 
strengthened  by  many  who  were  neither  Freeholders 
nor  Freemen,  began  to  assemble  around  the  Liberty- 
pole,"  on  which  a  large  L'nion  Flag  had  been  raised,, 
at  an  early  hour;  and,  at  eleven  o'clock,  preceded  by 
a  Band  of  ilusic  and  a  large  Union  Flag,  it  moved,  by 
a  circuitous  route,  toward  the  appointed  place  of 
meeting,  picking  up,  as  it  went,  such  a  motley  crowd 
of  "boys,  sailors,  negroes,  and  New  England  and 
"  New- Jersey  boatmen  "  as  a  noisy  Band  and  con- 
tinuous invitations  to  "fall  in,"  which  have  always 
been  incidental  to  partisan  political  processions,, 
could  not  have  failed  to  secure.  The  conservative 
faction,  strengthened  by  "  some  Officers  of  the  Army 
'  "and  Navy,  several  of  His  Majesty's  Council,  and 
"those  Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
"  who  had  refused  taking  into  consideration  the  Pro- 
"  ceedings  of  the  Congress,  together  with  the  Officers 
"of  the  Customs  and  other  Dependents  of  the  Court, 
"  &c.'' — the  Governmental  Party,  a-s  far  as  there  was 
one,  having  evidently  united  with  the  conservative 
faction  of  the  party  of  the  Opposition,  on  that  occa- 
sion— assembled  at  the  Widow  De  La  Montagnie's,. 
at  ten  o'clock ;  and  that,  also,  moved,  quietly,  in  a 
procession,  to  the  Exchange,  in  season  to  take  part  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  proposed  Meeting.  It  is  said 
that  "soon  after  the  parties  met  some  confusion 
"  arose,  but  subsided  without  any  bad  consequences 
— in  other  words,  blows  were  exchanged,  which,  at  one 
time,  threatened  to  become  a  serious  riot. 

Isaac  Low  presided,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
who  had  requested  the  Meeting  and  j)roceeded  to  ex- 
plain the  purposes  of  that  request,  after  which  he  pro- 

5  That  organization  was  effected  at  a  public  Meeting  of  the  Inhabit- 
ants who  disapproved  the  '  rcqueNt  "  of  the  Committee,  which  was  hel.l 
at  the  Widow  De  ha.  Slontagnie's,  in  Broadway,  opposite  tlie  Fields,  on 
Friday  evening,  JIarch  3,  .John  Tlmrber  presiding.— (.-1  Itrondf  'ule,  tigard 
bij  John  Tlmrber,  in  the  Library  of  tlie  New  York  Historical  Society.) 

'■The  Committee  of  Observation  called  its  Meetings  by  means  of  hand- 
bills posted  throughout  the  City  ;  and  the  Meeting  at  the  Widow  De  La 
Montagnie's  was  called  in  the  same  manner. 

'  As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  Liberty-pole  stood  in  the  Fields, 
now  the  Park,  near  the  present  line  of  liroadway,  opposite  the  block 
which  is  bounded  by  Murray  and  Warren-streets. 

It  occupie<l  a  small  lot  of  ground  which  had  been  bought  for  that 
purpose,  by  those  wlio  styled  themselves  "  Sons  of  Litwrty  ; "  and,  ns 
lately  as  1785,  Isaac  Sears,  the  assign  of  one  of  those  who  had  bought  it, 
many  years  previously,  made  a  claim  on  the  City,  and  wa.-  paid  for  his 
interest  therein. — iiloiiwd  of  the  O.rjDoiituoi  of  tlir  Cily  of  .V<-ic  York 
for  18.ifi,  433.) 


238 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


posed  the  following  question :  "  Whether  a  certain 
"Number  of  persons  shall  be  appointed  and  author- 
^'ized  to  meet  such  Deputies  as  the  Counties  may 
"elect,  and  join  with  them  for  the  mle  object  of  ap- 

pointing  out  of  their  body  on  tbe  20th  of  April  next, 
"Delegates  to  the  next  Congress?"  Those  who  were 
opposed  to  the  question,  the  conservative  faction  and 
its  governmental  allies,  promptly  demanded  a  Poll  of 
the  Voters,  giving  as  reasons  for  their  demand,  that 
the  business  of  the  day  was  to  take  only  the  sense  of 
the  Freeholders  and  Freemen ;  that  none  but  those 
of  these  two  classes  of  persons  had  a  right  to  vote  on 
the  question  ;  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  discrim- 
inate them  from  those  who  had  not  such  aright.  The 
large  body  of  the  members  of  the  Committee  who  was 
present,  "  who  had  taken  upon  themselves  the  part  of 
"  Returuing-otiicers,"  of  course,  refused  the  demand— as 
the  number  of  qualified  voters,  then  present,  who  were 
known  to  have  been  opposed  to  the  question,  was  evi- 
dently so  very  largely  in  the  majority,  a  Poll  of  the  Vot- 
ers, had  one  been  permitted,  would  have  determined  the 
question  in  the  negative,  and  have  defeated  the  pur- 
poseof  those  who  wereseekinganotheradvancement  to 
place  and  authority,  in  the  proposed  Congress  of  the 
Colonies — and  the  question  was,  of  course,  declared 
to  have  been  cari-ied,  in  favor  of  the  proposition. 
The  second  question  which  was  proposed :  "  Whether 
"  this  Meeting  will  authorize  the  Committee  to  nomi- 
"  nate  Eleven  Deputies  for  their  Approbation  ? " 
being  of  secondary  importance  to  those  who  had  op- 
posed the  first,  a  Poll  of  the  Voters  was  not  demanded 
thereon;  and,  of  course,  like  the  preceding  question, 
it  was  adopted  "by  a  very  great  Majority  of  the  Peo- 
"  pie,"  promiscuous  in  its  qualifications  for  such  an 
action,  voting  (vVrt  WM.  "The  Business  of  the  day 
"  being  finished,"  as  the  record  stated,  the  assemblage 
dispersed;  and,  as  far  as  that  notable  Meeting  was 
concerned,  the  purposes  of  those  who  had  evidently 
obtained  the  control  of  the  Committee  of  Inspection, 
had  been  fully  secured.* 

There  appears  to  have  been  thirty-eight  of  the 
Members  of  the  Committee  of  Inspection  present  at 
the  noon-day  Meeting,  on  the  Exchange,  which  has 
been  described  ;  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  [March  6,  1775,]  in  their  capacity  as  Returning- 
ofiicers,  they  reported  to  the  Committee  itself,  which 
had  assembled  in  due  form,  the  proceedings  of  that 
popular  assemblage,  including  the  affirmative  an- 
swers to  the  two  questions  which  had  been  presented 
to  it;  and  so  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  Committee 


1  Holt's  Nfw-York  Jimrmil,  No.  1G79,  New-York,  Thursday,  March  9, 
1775  ;  Itiviiigttiii's  Ni-u'-Ywk  Gazr-tteer,  No.  99,  New-Yiikk,  Thursday, 
March  U,  1775  ;  Vnia-edbigs  nf  the  Omwiiltee  nf  ObncmiUnn  for  thr  Cily 
luid  Gmiilij  iif  Nrir  Yin-k,  lith  March,  1775,  into  which  the  record  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Meeting  at  the  Excliauge,  in  tlie  Morning,  was  offi- 
cially copied ;  Jones's  HMiiry  of  New  York  durimj  the  Rn'olutioiiorij 
Wur,  1.,  37,  38,  and  de  Lancey's  Notes  on  Ihut  History,  i.,  480-484  ;  Leake's 
Memoir  of  Geiieml  John  Lamb,  lui);  Dawson  s  Pork  iiiid  its  ]'iciiiily,  38, 
39;  Gordon's  Hisl'iry  of  the  Anieriaoi  lierolnlioii,  i.,  472;  Hildreth's 
History  <f  the  Uiiiled  Stales,  First  Series,  iii.,  71,  72  ;  etc. 


was  the  result  of  the  day's  labor,  that  it  directed  the 
detailed  statement  of  those  transactions,  thus  re- 
ported to  it,  to  be  entered,  in  full,  in  the  Minutes  of 
its  own  proceedings.  Having  thus  disposed  of  the 
main  question,  apparently  to  its  entire  satisfaction, 
the  Committee  then  proceeded  to  nominate,  by  ballot, 
eleven  persons,  "for  the  Approbation  of  the  Freemen 
"  and  Freeholders,  for  the  City  and  County  of  New 
"  York,  to  serve  as  Deputies  to  meet  such  other  Dep- 
"uties  as  may  be  appointed  by  the  remaining 
"  Counties  in  this  Province,  for  the  sole  Purpose  of 
"  electing  out  of  their  Body,  Delegates  for  the  next 
"  Congress ;  "  and  the  choice  of  the  Committee  fell 
on  Isaac  Low,  Philip  Livingston,  James  Duane,  John 
Alsop,  John  Jay,  Leonard  Lispenard,  Abraham  Wal- 
ton, Francis  Lewis,  Isaac  Roosevelt,  Alexander 
McDougal,  and  Abraham  Brasher,'^  notwithstanding 
Isaac  Low  had  i)reviously  "  desired  a  Friend  that  in 
"  Case  he  should  be  put  on  the  Nomination,  to  de- 
"  clare,  in  his  Behalf,  that  he  should  be  under  the  dis- 
"  agreeable  Necessity  of  Dissenting." 

It  will  be  seen  that,  in  this  last  performance,  the 
Committee  of  Inspection,  (or  of  Oliservation,  as  it  was 
pleased  to  call  itself,)  notwithstanding  the  peculiarly 
aristocratic  elements  which  entered  into  its  compo- 
sition, had  accepted,  if  it  had  not  resorted  to,  that 
questionable  element  which  had  been  so  frequent- 
ly employed,  on  former  occasions,  for  the  perform- 
ance of  acts,  which  neither  the  Law  of  the  Land 
nor  their  own  self-respect  would  have  permitted  its 
high-toned  employers  to  do,  directly,  with  their  own 
hands — that  it  had  resorted,  indeed,  to  that  peculiarly 
questionable  element,  outside  the  limits  of  plebeian  re- 
spectability, which  Gouverneur  Morris  had  so  graphi- 
C'llly  described,  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Penu,  which 
has  been  already  laid  before  the  reader.''  It  will  be 
seen  also,  that  in  exact  conformity  with  such  question- 
able practises,  already  very  well  known  to  every  mem- 
be  rof  the  Committee  noise  and  lawless  acts  of  violence, 
in  that  last  instance,  had  accomplished,  at  the  Meet- 
ing at  the  Exchange,  what  an  evidently  insufficient 
supply  of  Freeholders  and  Freemen,  unassisted  by 
those  who  were  not  thus  qualified  to  vote,  could  not 
have  possibly  secured  to  the  Committee,  on  that  oc- 
casion ;  and  that,  among  those  political  tricksters 
among  whom  the  end  justified  the  means — a  class 
which  was  evidently  W'ell  represented  in  the  Com- 
mittee, at  its  Meeting  on  the  evening  of  the  sixth  of 
March — the  introduction  of  that  very  questionable 
mode  of  determining  grave  questions,  involving  the 
weal  and  the  woe  of  the  Colony,  affirmatively,  where, 
otherwise,  the  majority  of  competent  voters  would, 
unquestionably,  have  negatived  those  questions,  was 


-  Proceedings  of  the  Cummillre  of  Olisenuilinn  for  the  Cily  mid  Omnty  of 
New  Ynk,  at  its  Jleeting,  "  Jlonday  Evening,  Gth  Slarch,  1775." 

^Card,  signed  by  Mr.  Low  and  addressed  to  "The  Respectable  Pub- 
"  Lie,"  dated  "New  York,  March  9,  1775." 

*  Gouvernenr  3Iorris  to  3lr.  Penn,  "New-Yurk,  May  20,  1774,"  pages 
11,  12,  onte. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


239 


evidently  regarded  as  an  undoubted  success.  It 
seems,  however,  that,  notwithstanding  all  that  ap- 
parent success,  at  the  Exchange,  the  machinery  oi' 
selfishness  did  not  move  witliout  a  jar,  within  itself, 
as  the  very  decided  testimony  and  dissent  of  Isaac 
Low,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Meeting,  against  whom  some  underhanded  an- 
tagonism had  been  detected,  have  clearly  shown ; ' 
and  it  is  eiiually  susceptibleof  proof  that  a  very  healthy 
feeling  of  disapproval  of  the  dishonorable  and  unwar- 
rantable proceedings,  at  that  Meeting,  which  had 
been  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Committee  of 
Insi)ection  and  had  been  controlled  by  a  majority  of 
the  members  of  that  body,  was  entertained  "  by  a  very 
"great  j\[ajority  of  our  Fellow  Citizens,"  throughout 
the  City.'  Under  these  circumstances,  and  with  these 
warnings,  it  need  not  be  matter  of  surprise  that  the 
Committee  which  had  hastened  to  award  unusual 
honors  to  that  riotous  assemblage,  by  incorporating 
what  was  said  to  have  been  a  record  of  its  tumultuous 
doings  in  the  Minutes  of  its  own  proceedings,  with 
almost  as  much  haste,  although  with  very  much 
less  of  ostentatious  and  noisy  display  than  had  been 
previously  exhibited  in  the  unseemly  approval  of  it, 
at  an  Adjourned  Meeting,  held  within  forty-eight 
hours  after  its  hasty  recognition  of  the  doings  of  that 
assembled  multitude,  and  prompted  by  John  Jay 
who,  only  a  few  hours  before,  had  been  decidedly 
differently-minded — that  Committee,  thus  predisposed, 
thus  bashfully,  thus  hastily,  and  thus  prompted, 
gravely  repudiated  the  questionable  vote  which 
"a  very  great  Majority  of  the  People"  was  said 
to  have  given  in  approval  of  the  fundamental  ques- 
tion, concerning  the  appointment  and  authoriza- 
tion of  Deputies  to  a  proposed  Provincial  Convention, 
which,  a  few  hours  ago,  it  had  declared  to  have  been 
adopted  "  by  a  very  great  Majority  of  the  People,"  at 
the  Exchange ;  and,  quite  as  gravely  and  with  even 
greater  inconsistency,  it  also  yielded  to  those  whom  it 
had  scornfully  disregarded,  at  the  Exchange  as  well 
as  in  its  own  Meeting,  the  right  and  the  propriety  of 
a  Poll  of  the  Voters,  by  which  means  the  mis- 
cellaneous, unfranchised  crowd  would  be  silenced  and 
the  suffrage  and  the  determination  of  the  question, 
concerning  the  election  of  Delegates  to  the  proposed 
Continental  Congress,  be  confined  to  the  Freeholders 
and  Freemen  of  the  City  and  County,  to  whom,  alone, 
the  Committee  had  origin:illy  referred  it.  It  is  a 
notable  fact,  however,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
Committee  repudiated  the  first  Resolution  which  the 
miscellaneous  crowd,  at  the  Hxchange,  was  said  to 
have  adopted,  it  rigidly  maintained  the  equally  ques- 
tionable validity  of  the  second  Resolution,  nominally 
authorizing  the  Committee  to  nominate  eleven  persons 

1  Card,  signed  by  Mr.  Low  and  addressed  to  "  The  Resi'Eitable  Pi  b- 
"  Lie."  dattil  "  Nf.w  York.  Mardi  11,  1775.  ' 

STlie  Coniniiinicatiun,  signed  "  Impahti.vi.,  "  ilated  "New  York, 
"  March  8,  177.V  which  \\a.s  xinoteiX  in  RhiugUm't  Xnr-Ynrk  G<tz<ltf<i; 
Ko.  99,  New-Yokk,  TliHrs<lay,  Marcli '.»,  1775. 


as  candidates  for  the  places  of  Delegates  to  the 
proposed  Provincial  Convention — the  opportunity  to 
obtain  place  and  authority,  no  matter  how  ill-founded 
that  opportunity  might  be,  was  an  object  so  vastly 
more  important  to  those  aristocratic  place-seekers, 
than  all  others,  that,  whether  promising  or  unjjromis- 
ing  of  success,  those  who  controlled  that  Committee 
could  not  possibly  abandon  it  ' — and,  consequently, 
on  the  fifteenth  of  Slarch,  a  Poll  was  opened  in  each 
Ward,  at  the  usual  places  of  Election,  under  the 
inspection,  in  each  instance,  of  the  two  Vestrymen  of 
the  Ward  and  two  Members  of  the  Committee,  who 
had  been  ajjpointed  for  that  duty  ;  and  the  Free- 
holders and  Freemen  of  the  City  then  formally 
determined  that  Deputies  should  be  appointed  for  the 
purpose  named,  and  that  the  eleven  nominees  of  the 
Committee  should  be  such  Deputies,  to  rejjresent  the 
City  and  County  in  the  proposed  Provincial  Congress.* 
The  result  of  the  Poll  was  reported  to  the  Committee 
on  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  [^March  15,  1775] 
when  that  body  ordered  "  that  Circular  Letters  be 
"written  to  all. the  Counties  in  the  Colony,  informing 
"them  of  the  appointment  of  Deputies  for  this  City 
"  and  County,  and  requesting  them,  with  all  con- 
"  venient  speed,  to  elect  Deputies  to  meet  in  Pro- 
"  vincial  Convention,  at  the  City  of  New  York,  on 
"  the  20th  of  next  April,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
"  appointing  Delegates  to  represent  this  Colony  at  the 
"  next  Congress  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  the  10th 
"  day  of  May  next."  ^ 

s  ProceeiUngs  of  the  Comniillee  of  Obsentttion  for  the  Citij  and  Coimtij  of 
Xew  York,  at  an  Af\jonrned  Meeting,  8th  March,  1775. 

4  Holt'.'  yeK-York  .lourual,  Xo.  1080,  New-York,  Thursday,  March  16, 
1775;  Hiciiiijloit's  Xtir-Ynrk  Guzellcer,  No.  100,  New-Yohk,  Thursday, 
March  16,  1775;*  Gaine's  Seir-Yurk  Gazette :  atid  the  Weekli/  Jffrciiry, 
No.  12'23,  New-York,  Monday,  March  20,  1775. 

0  l*roceedintjs  of  the  t'oiinitittce  of  UbM'rrntion  for  the  City  itnil  County  of 
Xeir-York,  "  Com.mittee-Chamiieh,  15th  March,  1775." 

With  tlie  single  exception  of  de  Lancey,  in  his  yotfS  to  Judge  Jones's 
History  of  -Veil-  York  during  Ihi-  Ametican  Rernlution,  as  far  as  our  acquaint- 
ance with  them  extends,  every  writer  on  that  subject,  ourself  included, 
has  supposed  and  stated  that  the  question  of  sending  Delegates  to  a 
proposed  Provincial  Convention  was  nnquestionalily  determined  by  the 
promiscuous  Meeting,  at  the  Exchange,  without  having  seen  that  that 
vote  had  been  subsequently  rcimdiated  by  the  Committee,  for  cause,  and 
that  it  had  been  submitted  to  tlie  Freeholders  and  Freemen,  at  the  Polls, 
and  definitely  determined  by  them,  and  oidy  by  them,  at  the  same  time 
that  Delegates  VN-ere  elected  to  represent  the  City  and  County,  in  that 
Convention. 

*  Holt  and  Gaine  stated  the  vote  to  have  been  eight  liundred  and 
tw(>nty-five  in  favor  of  the  appointment  of  Deputies,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty-three  in  opposition  :  Kivington  stated  the  vote  was  nine  hundred 
and  twenty-nine,  in  favor,  and  one  hundred  and  forty-three  in  opiwsition. 

Tiiey  all  agree  that  numy  voters  declined  to  vote — Holt  and  Gaine 
said,  because  their  votes  were  seen  to  have  been  unneressary ;  Kivington 
.said  "the  frien<l8  of  the  old  fire  l)clegntei>,  (finding  that  they  were  not 
"  permitted  to  vote  for  them  ««  Iiekgtiira)  almost  all  declined  giving 
"  their  voices  at  all." 

They,  evidently  suspected  the  managers  of  the  movement  were  seeking 
to  accomplish  some  mischief  against  those  "  nld  fire  Delegatet ;"  and  it 
maybe  that  Isa<ic  Low,  in  liis  declination  to  apiwar  as  a  candidate,  before 
the  proposed  Convention,  wa?*  inrtuenced  by  that  evidently  "crook<'d'' 
movement.  They  preferred  to  vote  directly  for  Delegates,  instead  of 
leaving  the  ch(»ice  to  an  irresponsible  Convention  of  politicians,  who 
were  evidently  in  the  interest  of  other  aspirants  to  Congressional 
honors  and  emoluments. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


There  is  an  abundance  of  evidence,  of  unquestion- 
able truthfulness,  showing  that  what  has  been  repre- 
sented to  have  been  a  conflict  of  rival  parties,  patri- 
otically representing  antagonistic  political  principles, 
on  the  occasion  referred  to,  was,  in  fact,  like  all  the 
political  contests  which  had  preceded  it,  during  the 
preceding  twelvemonth,  only  personal,  factional, 
and  local,  in  its  origin  and  character ;  that  it  was  not, 
really,  concerning  the  great  questions  arising  from  the 
Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Government  and  the 
Grievances  of  the  Colonies,  relative  to  which  there 
was  very  little  diversity  of  sentiment  throughout  the 
City ;  and  that,  in  fact,  nothing  else  were  involved  in 
the  questions  which  were  submitted  to  the  Meeting, 
than  the  local  and  minor  questions  concerning  the 
control  of  the  political  affairs  of  the  Colony  itself  and, 
especially,  concerning  those  who  should  occupy  the 
places  of  authority,  and  influence,  and  emoluments, 
therein. 

It  was  conceded,  by  contemporaneous  writers  of 
both  factions,  that  there  was,  really,  no  difference  of 
opinion,  among  the  various  classes  and  sects  and 
factions  of  which  the  City  was  composed,  concerning 
the  existing  necessity  for  the  redress  of  what  were 
said  to  have  been  the  Colonial  Grievances,  and  that, 
if  the  Parliament  should  not  interpose  and  indicate  a 
willingness  to  afford  the  relief  which  was  required, 
the  proposed  Congress  ought  to  be  convened,  for  a 
further  consideration  of  the  subject  and  for  such 
further  action  relative  thereto  as  should,  then,  be 
considered  necessary ;  and  no  one,  of  either  faction, 
pretended  to  be  less  loyal  to  the  Sovereign  nor  less 
mindful  of  what  were  generally  regarded  as  his  pre- 
rogatives, than  his  most  loyal  supporters  could  have 
been — indeed,  it  was  a  notable  fact,  that,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Meeting  now  under  consideration, 
even  the  revolutionary  and  miscellaneous  crowd  who 
assembled  under  the  Liberty-pole  was  sheltered  by  a 
large  Union  Flag;  and  that  when  it  moved  from  the 
Fields  to  the  Exchange,  with  its  noisy  drum  and  fife 
and  its  yet  more  noisy  attendants,  it  was  preceded  by 
another  Union  Jack,  inscribed  with  the  name  and 
the  title  of  the  King. 

That  it  might  become  expedient  and  proper  to 
assemble  the  proposed  Congress,  if  the  Parliament 
should  not,  meanwhile,  have  indicated  an  inclination 
to  redress  the  alleged  Grievances  of  the  Colonies,  was 
not  only  conceded  but  freely  acknowledged,  even  by 
those  more  earnest  conservatives  who  had  assembled 
at  the  Widow  De  La  Montagnie's,  on  the  preceding 
Friday  evening ;  but  they,  in  common  with  many 
others,  hoped  and  believed  that  the  Parliament  would 
promptly  indicate  a  willingness  to  afford  the  relief 
which  was  desired;  and,  in  harmony  with  that  hope 
and  that  belief,  with  a  laudable  desire  to  restore  the 
harmony  which  had  formerly  prevailed  between  the 
Mother  Country  and  the  Colonies,  and  not  with  any 
intention  to  oppose  the  convention  of  the  Congress, 
per  se,  they  desired  onlj'  a  postponement  of  the  action. 


in  the  proposed  Meeting,  which  was  designed  for  the 
inauguration  of  a  movement  for  the  election  of  Dele- 
gates to  that  proposed  Congress,  until  the  twentieth 
of  April,  which  would  have  afforded  time  for  the 
receipt  fi'om  London  of  intelligence  concerning  the 
inclination  and  action  of  the  Parliament,  without 
depriving  the  Colony  of  the  opportunity  to  elect  its 
Delegation  to  the  Congress,  in  due  form,  if  it  should 
become  necessary  to  convene  the  Congress.  But 
those  who  were  anxiously  seeking  places  aud  influ- 
ence were  not  ignorant  of  the  well-known  fact  that  a 
sparrow  in  the  hand  is  worth  more  than  a  dove  on 
the  roof ;  and,  consequently,  they  were  not  willing  to 
postpone  the  immediate  action  which  would  surely 
secure  those  desirable  advantages  to  themselves ;  and 
they  acted  accordingly,  marshaling  their  irregular 
allies,  posting  their  handbills  bearing  unfounded 
accusations   against  their  adversaries  (accusations 

{  which  were  promptly  contradicted  in  other  handbills) 
accomplishing,  or  seeming  to  accomplish,  by  noise, 
what,  at  that  time,  they  could  not  have  accomplished, 
and  did  not  accomplish,  regularly,  by  the  votes  of 
those  Freeholders  and  Freemen  who  were,  then, 
present.'    The  result  of  that  hasty  and  violent  action 

j  has  been  noticed,  aud  need  not  be  repeated ;  but,  not- 
withstanding it  was  subsequently  disregarded  by  the 
Committee  which  had  previously  hastened  to  receive 
and  accept  it,  it  served  to  draw  the  lines  of  faction 
with  more  distinctness  and  to  array  neighbor  against 
neighbor,  in  greater  animosity  and  bitterness  than 

I  had  previously  been  witnessed. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  March,  1775,  in  conformity 
with  the  Resolution  adopted  by  the  Committee,  and 
under  its  authority,  Isaac  Low,  the  permanent  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  prepared  the 
following  Circular  Letter;  and,  very  soon  afterwards, 
copies  of  it  were  sent  to  the  several  County  Com- 
mittees, where  such  Committees  could  be  found, 
throughout  the  Colony : 

•'  Xew-York,  16th  March,  1775. 

"  Gentlemen  : 

"  The  late  Congress  having  deemed  it  expedient, 
"that,  in  the  present  critical  State  of  American 
"  Affairs,  another  should  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  the 


'  The  motives  of  those  who,  respectively,  originated  and  opposed  the 
call  for  that  Meeting  may  be  best  seen  and  understood  in  the  placard 
and  newspajier  literature  of  that  notable  event  ;  and.  in  that  connection, 
the  original  Advertisement,  requesting  the  Meeting,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  Holt's  \eii-York  Journal,  No.  1C78,  New- York,  Thursday, 
March  2,  1775,  was  the  first  of  the  series.  The  opponents  of  the  Meeting, 
who  assembled  at  the  ^\■idow  De  La  Montagnie's,  on  the  third  of 
March,  i!^sue^l  a  handbill,  in  which  reasons  for  a  postponement  of  the 
question  were  stated  ;  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  the  Meeting, 
was  held,  [Murch  I'l]  a  calm  appeal,  signed  "  A  Freem.vx,"  and  addressed 
"  Tfi  THE  IxiniiiTANT.?  OF  New  York,"'  vcry  forcibly  urging  a  postpone- 
ment of  the  questions,  was  published  in  Gaine's  Seu-York  Ga-Me  and 
Weekhj  Meratrtf,  No.  1221,  Monday,  March  6,  1775;  a  more  elaborate  ap- 
peal and  argtunent,  to  the  same  effect,  addressed  "  To  the  respectable 
"  Inhabitakts  of  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,"  signed  "A  Citizen  of  New 
"York,''  and  published  in  the  same  issue  of  that  newspaper ;  an  elaborate 
reply  to  the  last,  signed  "  Another  C'itizf,v,  '  and  published  in  Holt's 
Xi-ic-York  Journal,  No.  1079,  New-York,  Thursday,  March  !i,  177.j ;  etc. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


241 


"  lOth  Day  of  May  next ;  and  the  neighbouring  Col- 
"  onies  having  already  appointed  Delegates  for  that 
"  Purpose,  we  beg  Leave  to  call  your  Attention  to 
"that  Subject,  and  to  remark,  that  the  Honour  as 
"  well  as  the  Interest  of  the  Province  requires  that 
"  we  also  should  be  fully  and  properly  represented. 

"  Influenced  by  these  Considerations,  this  City 
"  and  County  conceive  it  highly  necessary  that  a 
"  Provincial  Convention  should,  without  Delay,  be 
"  formed  of  Deputies  from  all  the  Counties,  for  the 
"sole  Purpose  of  appointing,  out  of  their  Body,  Dele-  [ 
"  gates  for  the  next  Congress,  and  therefore  have 
"  already  chosen  their  Deputies  :  They  prefer  this 
"  Mode  to  any  other,  as  it  tends  to  unite  the  Counties, 
"  and  to  preserve  that  Harmony  between  them  so 
"  essential  to  the  Interest  of  our  common  Cause. 

"  Be  pleased  to  communicate  this  Letter  to  the 
"  Inhabitants  of  your  County;  and  should  they  con- 
",cur  with  us  in  Sentiment,  we  beg  they  will  consider, 
"  whether  it  would  not  be  best  to  choose  their  Depu- 
"  ties  so  soon  as  tiiat  they  may  be  down  here  by  the 
"  20th  of  April  next ;  which  Day  we  take  the  Liberty 
"  of  proposing  to  you  as  2>roper  for  the  Meeting  of 
"  the  Convention. 

"  We  forbear  urging  any  Arguments  to  induce 
"  your  Concurrence,  being  well  persuaded  you  are 
"  fully  sensible  that  the  Happiness  of  this  Colony 
"  and  the  Preservation  of  our  Rights  and  Liberties, 
"  depend  on  our  acceding  to  the  General  Union  and 
"  observing  such  a  Line  of  Conduct  as  may  be  firm, 
"  as  well  as  Temperate. 

"  By  Order  of  the  Committee  : 

'•  Isaac  Low,  Chairman.'" 

It  is  a  very  significant  fact  that,  when  the  Com- 
mittee's Circuhir  Letter  was  written  and  made  ready 
for  transmission  to  Westchester-county,  there  was  no 
appearance  whatever,  within  tiiat  County,  of  the 
slightest  organized  opposition  to  either  the  Home  or 
the  Colonial  Government;  and  that,  among  the 
debris  of  what  had  been  conveniently  regarded  as  a 
Convention  of  the  County,  assembled,  in  the  preced- 
ing August,  for  the  election  of  Deputies  to  represent 
the  County  in  the  late  Congress,  at  Philadel[)hia, 
neither  a  County  nor  a  Town  Committee,  actual  or 
imixginary,  remained,  to  bear  testimony  to  the  fact 
that  such  a  Convention  had  ever  existed,  or  to  receive  | 
the  Committee's  Circular  Letter  and  to  take  action  [ 
on  its  recommendation.  Indeed,  there  can  be  very 
little  doubt  that  the  well-to-do  and  generally  con- 
tented farmers,  throughout  that  County,  those  who 
were  Freeholders  quite  as  much  as  those  who  were  i 
only  Leaseholders  of  properties  on  the  various  j 
Manors,  with  here  and  there  a  rare  exception,  had 
continued  to  gather  their  crops  and  to  send  them  to 
•market,  during  the  preceding  Autumn  ;  to  enjoy  their 

'  This  is  a  copy  of  the  original  publication,  as  it  npppenred  in  Oaine's 
yeic-York  Gazette  and  Wtcklij  Mercm-t/j  No.  New- York,  Monday, 

March  20.  1775. 

16 


usual  indoor  and  outdoor  recreations,  during  the  pre- 
ceding Winter  ;  and  to  return  to  the  labors  of  the 
season,  on  their  farms  or  elsewhere,  during  the  ear- 
lier weeks  of  the  Spring,  as  they  had  done,  before, 
year  after  year  and  generation  after  generation, 
knowing  little  and  caring  less  concerning  that  bitter 
struggle  for  commercial  gain,  no  matter  how  law- 
lessly conducted,  or  concerning  that  equally  bitter 
struggle  for  the  honors  and  emoluments  of  political 
place,  no  matter  with  what  auxiliaries  nor  with  what 
disregard  of  individual  and  social  {jroprieties  and  of 
public  morals  that  struggle  should  be  conducted, 
which  had  kept  the  neighboring  City  and  the  entire 
seaboard  in  an  unceasing  and  disgraceful  turmoil, 
during  that  entire  period. 

It  is  not  now  evident,  if  it  ever  was,  that  these 
honest,  hard-working,  contented  men,  in  any  portion 
of  that  unceasing  and  undisguised  indifference  to  the 
clamor  and  the  unblushing  immorality  and  the 
audacious  lawlessness  of  politicians,  of  high  or  of  low 
degree,  beyond  the  borders  of  the  County,  which  they 
had  steadily  and  consistently  presented,  were  really 
offenders  against  any  law,  human  or  divine ;  and  it 
will  require  more  evidence  than  has  yet  been  pre- 
sented by  those  who  have  spoken  or  written  adverse- 
ly concerning  those  quiet  Westchester-county  farmers 
and  their  unostentatious  conservatism,  to  establish 
the  fact,  if  it  be  a  fact,  that,  regardless  of  that  pecu- 
liar standing  which  was  awarded  to  Westchester- 
county,  during  the  period  now  under  consideration, 
and  regardless  of  the  recognized  manhood  of  those 
who  then  lived  there,  the  "  consent "  of  those  farmers, 
previously  given,  was  not  quite  as  necessary  to  have 
warranted  the  invasion  of  their  rural  quiet  and  con- 
tentment, by  those,  not  of  them.selves,  who  were  eager 
to  thrust  upon  them,  uninvited,  new  political  methods, 
new  political  principles,  and  a  new  form  of  political 
government,  none  of  which  had  yet  secured  their 
favor  and  approval,  as  it  was,  then,  and  as  it  has  ever 
since  been,  assumed  to  have  been  necessary,  every- 
where, before  a  political  right  could  be  disturbed  or  a 
new  form  of  political  government  be  established. 

The  farmers  in  Westchester-county,  in  1774  and 
1775,  were  quiet  men,  quietly  pursuing  their  peaceful 
vocations,  interfering  with  no  one,  and  avoiding  the 
interference  of  others.  They  were  not  political  in 
their  aims  or  inclinations  ;  they  had  very  clearly 
manifested,  over  and  over  again,  their  disinclination 
to  be  associated,  in  any  degree,  with  those  who  were 
inclined  to  become,  if  they  had  not  already  become, 
politicians;  and,  as  will  be  seen,  in  their  action,  dur- 
ing the  Winter,  and  in  their  subsequent  actions,  under 
similar  circumstances,  they  were  not  inclined  to  be 
crowded  into  any  political  associations,  without  their 
consent,  without  presenting,  at  least,  an  open,  a  man- 
ly, and  a  vigorous  opposition.  The  reader  will  de- 
termine for  himself,  therefore,  how  much,  if  any, 
there  was  of  individual  and  social  propriety,  and  how- 
much,  if  any,  there  was  of  consideration  for  the  wtl- 


242 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


fare  of  those  farmers  or  for  that  of  the  Colony,  dis- 
severed from  all  other  considerations,  in  the  Com- 
mittee of  Inspection,  alias  the  Committee  of  Obser- 
vation, for  the  City  and  County  of  New  York — a 
merely  local  organization,  vested  with  no  more  than 
the  barest  local  authority,  and  that  confined,  exclu- 
sively, to  an  entirely  different  service — when  it  thrust 
itself,  unasked  and  undesired,  into  the  midst  of  that 
peaceful  and  peacefully  inclined  community,  only  in 
order  to  disturb  that  prevailing  peace  by  marshalling 
those  who  composed  that  rural  coiumunity  into  rival 
parties,  embittered  against  each  other,  without  any 
aim  or  purjjose  in  which  they  were,  or  in  which 
they  were  likely  to  become,  in  the  slightest  degree 
interested,  and  for  nothing  else  than  for  the  promotion 
of  individual  aims  and  for  the  advancement  to  politi- 
cal place  and  authority,  of  aspiring  politicians  who 
were  not  always  entitled,  by  their  individual  integrity, 
to  any  such  advancement,  anywhere. 

As  we  have  said,  there  was  no  Town  or  County 
Committee,  within  Westchester-county,  unto  whom 
the  Chairman  of  New  Y'ork's  Committee  of  Inspec- 
tion could  send  the  Committee's  Circular  Letter,  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  ;  and  other  than  usual 
means,  therefore,  were  necessarily  resorted  to,  to  se- 
cure for  it  even  a  nominal  circulation,  within  that 
County.  It  is  not,  now,  known,  beyond  a  peradven- 
ture,  just  what  means  were  thus  employed;  but  the 
copies  of  that  insidious  Circular  Letter  which  were 
intended  for  residents  of  Westchester-county  were 
evidently  sent  to  a  leading  Westchester-county  poli- 
tician ;  and,  by  him,  whomsoever  he  may  have  been, 
they  were  so  manipulated  that  they  reached  only 
those  residents  of  the  County  who  would  most  surely 
promote  the  political  purposes  of  that  particular 
Westchesterian  who  had  been  thus  entrusted  with  the 
delivery  of  them.' 

1  We  have  preferred  to  consider  that  there  was  an  intermediate  agen- 
cy, between  the  Chairman  of  tlie  New  York  Committee  and  the  several 
Westcliester  county  gentlemen  into  whose  hands  his  Circnlar  Letters 
eventnally  fell,  because  those  gentlemen  were  mainly  residents  of  the 
town  of  Westchester  and  of  the  neighboring  village  of  New  Rochelle  ; 
because  there  was  nothing,  in  that  Circular  Letter,  which  designated 
any  time  or  place  of  meeting,  for  any  Caucus  or  other  Assemblage  which 
might  be  considered  necessary,  for  the  particular  purposes  mentioned  in 
that  Circular  Letter  ;  because,  only  on  the  warrant  of  that  particular 
Circular  Letter,  explicitly  stated  by  them,  a  dozen  men,  from  at  least 
four  different  Towns,  spontaneously  came  together,  at  the  same  time,  in 
a  distant  Town  in  which  none  of  them  lived,  and  on  the  same  errand. 
Not  one  of  the  number  was  from  Towns  lying  northward  from  the  White 
Plains  ;  not  one  had  come  from  all  the  country  lying  westward  from  the 
Bronx-river ;  there  was  not  present  either  a  Van  Cortlandt  or  a  Thom- 
as, already  w^^U-known  popular  loaders,  either  of  whom  would  have 
been  formidable,  as  a  rival,  against  any  new  aspirant  for  the  leadership 
of  the  movement  and  the  spoils  of  office  to  which  that  movement  tended. 
There  was  present,  however,  one  who  had,  previously,  been  politically 
dormant ;  by  whom  the  machinery  of  the  movement  was  evidently  run  ; 
and  by  whom,  subsequently,  as  will  be  hereafter  seen,  entirely  through 
its  instruujentality,  a  place  was  secured  for  himself,  in  the  Congress  of 
the  Continent,  and  an  opening  made  for  the  accession  to  office  and  aris- 
tocratic consequence  and  inHuence,  of  others  of  liis  wide-spread 
family. 

It  will  have  been  seen,  by  every  attentive  reader,  that,  very  evidently, 
Isaac  Low's  paclcage  of  Circular  Letters,  intended  for  circuhition  in 


On  the  twenty-eighth  of  March,  Theodosius  Bar- 
tow, Esq.,  James  Willis,  and  Abraham  Guiou,  Esq., 
all  of  New  Rochelle  ;  William  Sutton,  Esq.,  of  Ma- 
maroneck'-';  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  Thomas  Hunt,  and 
Abraham  Leggett,  of  Westchester  ;  Captain  Joseph 
Drake,  Benjamin  Drake,  Moses  Drake,  and  Stephen 
Ward,  of  East  Chester;  and  James  Horton,  Junior, 
Esq.,  of  Rye,^  all  of  them,  it  said,  "having  received 
"  letters  from  the  Chairman  of  the  City  and  County 
"  of  New  York,  relative  to  the  appointment  of  Depu- 
"ties  for  this  County,"  to  a  proposed  Provincial  Con- 
vention, "met  at  the  White-Plains,  for  the  purpose  ot 
"devising  means  for  taking  the  Sense  of  the  County 
"  upon  the  Subject." 

At  best,  that  meeting  of  local  politicians,  or  ot 
those  who  were  not  indisposed  to  become  politicians, 
from  the  south-eastern  Towns  of  the  County,  no  mat- 
ter by  what  means  they  had  been  induced  to  go  to  the 
White  Plains,  on  that  particular  March  morning,  on 
such  an  unusual  errand,  was  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  a  Caucus  of  those  who  were  known  or  supposed 
to  have  been  in  the  interest  of  the  Morris  family  and 
to  have  favored  the  aspirations  of  those  members  ot 
that  family  who  hankered  after  official  place  and  au- 
thority. Neither  Yonkers,  nor  Greenburgh,  nor  any 
of  the  Towns  to  the  northward  of  tliem  and  of  the 
White  Plains,  were  in  the  slightest  degree  represented 
in  that  important  assemblage;  and  every  one  who  had 
previou.sly  appeared  as  a  leader  of  the  farmers  of  the 
County,  in  their  very  unfrequent  political  doings,  re- 
gardless of  party  associations,  appears  to  have  been, 
also,  very  carefully  excluded,  not  improbably  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  that  harmonious  action,  in  a  pre- 
ordained direction,  which  the  presence  of  older  and 
more  experienced  rivals  might  have  turned  toward 
some  other  part  of  the  County  than  toward  the  Manor 
of  Morrisania. 

The  Caucus  undoubtedly  discharged  all  the  duties 
which  its  controlling  spirit  assigned  to  it — it  took  into 
consideration,  after  a  fashion  of  its  own  creation,  the 
subject  of  the  proposed  election  of  Delegates  to  rep- 
resent the  County,  or  to  assume  to  do  so ;  and  it 
"agreed  to  send  the  following  Notification  to  the 
"principal  Freeholders  in  the  different  Towns  and 
"  Districts  in  the  County,"  the  designation  of  whom, 


Westchester-county,  was  entrusted  to  Lewis  Morris,  of  Morrisania,  in  the 
Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  a  brother-in-law  of  Isaac  Wilkins,  of  that 
Town,  with  the  last-named  of  whom,  as  the  leader  of  the  majority  ot 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  the  reader  has  been  already  made 
acquainted. 

In  all  that  had  previously  been  said  or  done,  in  behalf  of  the  Colony, 
in  its  dispute  with  the  Home  Government,  not  a  Morris  had  been  heard, 
except  in  that  instance  when  one  of  them  described  the  unfranchised 
masses  of  the  Colonists  as  "  poor  reptiles"  {vide  Page  188,  ante);  but  the 
fragrance  of  the  distant  emoluments  and  influences  of  office,  more  fully 
developed  than  ever  before,  had  passed  over  from  the  City  into  Westches- 
ter-county ;  and,  reasonably  enough  to  all  who  knew  of  the  greed  for  of- 
fice which  every  Morris  of  every  period  had  possessed,  both  Lewis  and 
Gouverneur,  to  say  nothing  of  others,  were  no  longer  torpid  and  in- 
different. 

2  Subsequently  distinguished  as  Loyalists. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


243 


in  that  selection,  having  been  left  to  hiiu  by  whom 
the  Caucus  had  evidently  been  controlled — and  hav- 
ing, in  behalf  of  somebody  else  more  than  in  behalf 
of  the  body  of  the  County,  thus  put  the  political  ma- 
chinery in  motion,  satisfactorily  to  themselves  and  to 
their  chief,  the  twelve  gentleman  waded  through  the 
8pring-tiinc  mud,  back,  to  their  respective  homes. 

The  "Notification"  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  that  which  the  Caucus  authorized  to  be  sent  to 
the  elect,  among  the  Freeholders  of  the  County,  was 
in  these  words : 

"March  28th,  1775. 

'•  Sir  : 

"A  number  of  gentlemen  from  different  districts  in 
"  the  county  of  Westchester  having  this  day  met  at 
"  the  White  Plains  to  Consider  of  the  most  proper 
"  method  of  taking  the  Sense  of  the  Freeholders,  of 
"  the  Said  County,  upon  the  Expediency  of  choosing 
"  Dei)uties  to  meet  the  Deputies  of  the  other  Coun- 
"  ties,  for  the  purpose  of  Electing  delegates  to  repre- 
"  sent  this  Colony  in  the  General  Congress  to  be  held 
"  at  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of  May  next,  are  of 
"  opinion  that  the  best  way  of  proceeding  for  that 
"  purpose,  will  be  to  have  a  general  Meeting  of  the 
"  Freeholders  of  the  Said  County. 

"  As  this  County  is  very  Extensive  we  take  the 
"  liberty  of  recommending  the  meeting  to  be  held  at 
"  the  White  Plains  on  Tuesday  the  11th  day  of  April 
"  next  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  at  the  Court 
"  House,  and  therefore  do  desire  you,  to  give  notice 
"  of  the  Same  to  all  the  freeholders  in  your  district, 
"  without  exception,  as  those  who  do  not  appear  and 
"  vote  on  that  day,  will  be  presumed  to  acquiesce  in 
"  the  Sentiment  of  the  majority  of  those  who  vote. 

"  We  are  &c."  ^ 

There  can  be  no  good  reason  for  supposing  that  that 
Caucus  failed  to  employ  the  best  means  which  it 
could  control,  to  secure  the  attendance,  at  the  ap- 
pointed place,  on  the  appointed  day,  and  at  the  des- 
ignated hour,  of  all  those  of  the  farmers  of  the  Coun- 
ty of  Westchester,  whom  it  supj)osed  to  have  been 
friendly  to  the  Morris  family,  and  who  were  willing 
or  who  could  be  induced  to  accept  the  head  of  that 
wealthy  and  aristocratic,  but  really  unpopular,  family, 
as  their  political  leader — to  that  family,  the  slake  was 
a  very  important  one ;  and,  to  secure  that  stake,  it 
played  desperately.  On  the  other  hand,  those  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  County  who  were  conservative  in 
their  political  opinions,  and  those  who  were  not  favor- 
ers of  the  new-born,  but  selfish,  zeal  of  the  Lord  of 

'  Tliis  narrative  of  the  organization  and  doings  of  that  notable  Caucus, 
including  the  copy  of  the  "  Stitifli-ulioii  "  \vhii:li  w  as  issued,  by  ita  au- 
thority, is  based  on  the  elaborate  paper,  signed  by  "Lewis  Morris, 
"  tVioiniKKi,"  which  served  as  the  Credentials  of  those  who  appeared  in 
the  Provincial  Convention,  as  Deputies  from  Westchester-county,  and 
winch  is  preserved  in  the  Crftlmtiah  t>f  ] h'Utjttten^  UiMnrifnl  MmuifirrljitH 
rfliiliinj  III  llii-  H'.ii-  or'  llii-  ItrioliiliMi — Volume  xxiv.,  Page  23— in  the  Ollice 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  Alt  any. 

The  "Siitifimlim,"  as  printed  in  the  text,  was  copied  from  the  original 
Manuscript. 


the  Manor  of  Morrisania,  were  aroused  ;  and,  especi- 
ally in  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  within 
which  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Morrises  was  situat- 
ed, the  ambitious  purjjoscs  of  that  geutleman  and  of 
his  family  were  empathically  snubbed,  by  a  Meeting 
of  his  townsmen,  duly  summoned  to  take  into  consi- 
deration "  whether  or  not  they  should  choose  Deputies 
"  to  represent  them  at  a  Provincial  Convention."  Be- 
sides that  local  and  evidently  personal  rebuke,  by 
the  townsmen  of  the  Morrises,  the  great  body  of  "the 
"  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  County  of  West- 
"  Chester,"  or  such  of  them  as  were  "  friends  of  Gov- 
"  ernment  and  our  hapjjy  Constitution,"  was  earnestly 
appealed  to,  in  the  circulation  of  the  following  stirring 
Address  : 

"  To  (he  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  County  of 
Westchester. 
"  New -York,  April  6,  1775. 

"  You  are  earnestly  desired  to  attend  a  general 
"  meeting  of  the  county,  to  be  held  at  the  White 
"  Plains,  on  Tuesday  next,  the  11th  inst.  to  give  your 
"  votes  upon  the  questions : — 

"  Whether  you  are  inclined  to  choose  deputies  to 
"meet  at  the  city  of  New-York,  in  a  Provincial  Con- 
"vention?  Or, 

"  Whether  you  are  determined  to  abide  by  the 
"  loyal  and  judicious  measures  already  taken  by  your 
"  own  worthy  representatives  in  the  general  assembly 
"  of  this  province,  for  a  redress  of  American  grievances? 

"The  conse(]uences  that  may  arise  from  your  ne- 
"glecting  to  attend  at  the  White  Plains,  on  Tuesday 
"next,  to  declare  your  sentiments  relative  to  the  ap- 
"pointment  of  deputies  to  meet  in  Provincial  Con- 
"gress,  may  be  very  fatal  to  this  county;  the  friends 
"  of  goverment,  and  our  happy  constitution,  are  there- 
"  fore  earnestly  invited  in  person,  to  oj)pose  a  measure 
"so  replete  with  ruin  and  misery.  Remember  the 
"  extravagant  ])rice  we  are  now  obliged  to  pay  for 
"goods  purchased  of  the  merchants,  in  consequence 
"of  the  Non-Imj)ortation  agreement;  and  when  the 
"  NON-EXPORTATION  agreement  takes  place,  we 
"  shall  be  in  the  situation  of  those  who  were  obliged 
"  to  make  bricks  without  straw. 

"  A  WHITE  OAK."' 

-  "A  Correspondent  aciiuaints  us.  That,  on  Monday  the  3d  of  March, 
"the  Inhabitants  of  the  Borough  of  Westchester  met,  in  Consequence  of 
"  a  Summons,  to  give  their  Sentiments  upon  a  Qiiesti  ^n,  whether  or  not 
"they  would  choose  Deputies  to  represent  them  at  a  Provincial  Conveu- 
"  tiou  in  this  City  ;  when  they  declared  themselves  already  very  ably 
"and  efleotually  repre>iented  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Province, 
"by  Isaac  Wilkins,  E8(|uire  ;*  peremptorily  disowned  aH'Cougrossional 
"Conventions  and  Committees,  most  loyally  repeating  the  old  Chonis, 
"  (iod  save  the  King,  which  was  seconded  by  three  heaity  Cheers  ;  and 
'•  then  the  jolly  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  spent  the  Day  with  great 
"  Hilarity  and  good  Humour  over  their  Tankards  and  Bowls."—  (Oaine's 
Xt'W'York  iliizettf,  anil  the  Week-li/  Mercurif^  No.  12'JG,  New-Yobk,  JIon<lay, 
April  10,  177ii.) 

■'This  api>eal,  an  exact  copy  of  the  original,  was  printed  in  Uirinijlua' t 
Siir-York  Gtizetleer,  No.  103,  New-Yobk,  Thursday,  April  6,  1775. 


*The  wife  of  Isaac  Wilkins  was  Isabella  Morris,  sister  of  Oouvemeiir 
and  half-sister  of  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  the  head  of  tliat  family. 


244 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  many  of  the  farm- 
ers of  Westuhester-county,  whatever  their  political 
opinions  may  have  been,  were  nlore  than  usually  ex- 
cited by  these  extraordinary  appeals  and  by  others 
which  have  not  been  preserved,  addressed  to  them  by 
those  whom  they  had  hitherto  regarded  as  leaders  in 
political  affairs ;  but  it  is  equally  clear  that  not  even 
those  extraordinary  means,  thus  employed,  were  suc- 
cessful in  withdrawing  even  a  respectable  minority 
of  the  Freeholders,  to  say  nothing  of  those  heads  of 
families  who  were  not  Freeholders,  who,  at  that  time, 
inhabited  that  extensive  and  thickly  settled  County, 
from  their  homesteads  and  from  the  urgent  duties, 
at  home,  which  the  opening  Spring  had  imposed  upon 
them.  Notwithstanding  all  the  reasons  which  ex- 
isted for  their  continued  attention  to  their  respective 
home  duties,  however,  there  were  some,  relatively  a 
small  proportion,  of  either  party,  those  who  were  op- 
posed to  the  Morrises  and  to  the  proposition  to  elect 
Deputies  to  a  proposed  Convention  of  the  Colony  and 
those  who  favored  both,  who  went  to  the  Plains,  on 
that  Tuesday  morning,  the  eleventh  of  April,  as,  re- 
spectively, they  had  been  requested  to  go.  They 
went,  as  farmers  were  wont  to  go  and  as  they  continue 
to  go,  on  such  occasions,  on  horseback  or  on  foot, 
over  Westchester-county's  Spring-time  muddy  roads 
or  "  across  lots,"  as  best  suited  their  individual  con- 
venience; and  the  little  Village,  what  there  was  of 
it,  scattered  along  the  wide  spread  Post-road,  was  un- 
doubtedly, the  scene  of  many  a  discussion,  friendly  or 
unfriendly,  as  friend  met  friend  or  neighbor  met 
neighbor  in  that  ancient  thoroughfare,  each  intent,  as 
farmers  only  can  be  intent,  on  the  promotion  of  the 
particular  cause  to  which  each  had  become  especially 
devoted.  Reasonably  enough,  the  two  Taverns  which 
were,  then,  prominent  within  the  limits  of  the  Vil- 
lage, were  made  the  stopping-jjlaces  of  those  rural 
incomers  unto  whom  no  Village  householder  had  ex- 
tended a  Village  welcome.  Captain  Hatfield,  the  land- 
lord of  one  of  those  Taverns,  entertaining  those  who 
were  opposed  to  the  Morrises  and  to  the  proposed 
election  of  Deputies,  while  those  Avho  favored  that 
family  and  that  proposed  election,  "  put  up  in  another 
"  Public  House  in  the  Town,"  probably  that  which 
was  kept  by  Isaac  Oakley.^ 


1  Protest  of  the  Tuhabitavts  and  Freeholders  of  Westchesfer-countij,  Xeir- 
Torh,  "CorNTY  or  Westchesteb,  April  13, 1775,"  published  in  liivington' s 
New-York  Gazetteer,  No.  105,  New  York,  Thursday,  April  20,  1775;  and 
in  Gaine's  New-Y'/rk  Gazette  :  and  the  Weekly  Mercury,  No.  1227,  New 
York,  Monday,  .^pril  17,  1775. 

We  have  been  favored  by  our  unwearied  friends,  Hon.  Lewis  C.  Piatt 
and  Hon.  J.  0.  Dyknian  with  information,  concerning  these  two  Tav- 
erns, which  our  reader-s  will  find  worthy  of  their  remembrance. 

Captain  Hatfield's  Tavern  stood  almost  clue  South  from  the  old  Court- 
house, and  nearly  half  a  mile  distant,  on  the  North  side  of  the  OLD  stage- 
road  to  New  York, — the  line  of  that  road  has  boon  changed,  since  1775 — 
on  property  more  recently  owned  by  Samuel  E.  Lyon,  Esq.,  and  now  by 
the  heirs  of  the  late  Alfred  Waller,  Esq. 

The  old  building  has  been  removed  from  the  place  on  which  it  stood, 
in  1775,  to  a  place,  further  to  the  northward,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the 
old  Court-house  ;  ami  is  now  occupied  as  a  tenement. 

Isaac  Oakley's  Tavern  stood  on  the  East  side  of  the  old  stage-road. 


It  is  evident  that  neither  of  the  two  factions  was 
very  punctual  in  its  attendance,  at  the  appointed 
hour — a  practice  which  is  continued  to  this  day,  in 
Westchester-county,  on  similar  occasions — and,  for  a 
reason  which  was  perfectly  obvious,  the  promoters  of 
the  proposed  Meeting,  very  evidently,  were  not  in  a 
hurry  to  assume  the  great  responsibility  of  carrying 
forward  the  schemes  of  the  revolutionary  faction  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  to  which  they  had  been  invit- 
ed, especially  in  view  of  the  greater  number  of  those 
who  were  opposed  to  those  schemes,  and  who 
were  present  and  apparently  prepared  to  oppose 
them  ;  while  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
Morrises  and  to  their  schemes  and  to  the  pro- 
posed election,  and  whose  evidently  superior 
numbers  had  served  to  dampen  the  ardor  of  their  op- 
ponents, could  do  nothing  else  than  to  wait,  and  to 
watch  the  progress  of  events.  Notwithstanding  the 
hour  of  ten  had  been  named  in  the  Notification 
through  which  the  assembled  farmers  had  thus  met,  it 
was  nearly  noon  before  any  attempt  to  organize  a 
Meeting  was  made — probably,  some  whose  presence 
was  desired  and  expected,  had  not  arrived;  probably, 
those  leaders  of  the  movement  who  were  present  were, 
meanwhile,  "  comparing  notes,"  and  arranging  plans 
of  action,  and  enjoying  that  social  glass,  frequently 
renewed,  of  which  their  Chairman  subsequently  made 
mention,  unwittingly ;  most  probably,  the  superior 
numbers  of  those  who  were  known  to  be  opposed  to 
them,  whose  strength  of  numbers  was  being  con- 
stantly increased,  warned  the  ambitious  Lord  of  the 
Manor  of  Morrisania  and  his  adherents  that  "the 
"better  part  of  Valor  is — Discretion." 

About  twelve  o'clock,  however,  those  who  favored 
the  Morrises  and  the  proposed  election  of  Deputies 
appear  to  have  quietly  and  noiselessly  left  the  Tav- 
ern, passed  over  the  old  post-road,  and  re  assembled 
in  the  Courthouse;  organized  a  Meeting;  and  ap- 
pointed Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  its  Chairman.  It  was 
done  quietly,  if  it  was  not  done  secretly :  it  was  done 
quietly,  without  inviting  any  others  than  those  of 
their  own  faction,  to  assemble  with  them :  it  was 
done  quietly  and  in  a  manner  which  clearly  indicated 
that  something  else  than  an  untrammeled  and  un- 
biased expression  of  the  will  of  all  those  who  were 
present — carrying  with  it,  also,  the  assumed  acquies- 
cence of  all  those  who  were  not  present — concerning 
the  Morrises  and  the  questions  which  were  pro- 
pounded in  the  Notification,  was  chiefly  desired,  and 
must  be  procured,  "by  fair  means  or  by  foul :"  most 
evidently,  it  was  done,  quietly,  with  an  inclination  and 
a  hope  that  it  might  accomplish  all  the  purposes  of 


directly  opposite  to  the  old  Court-house.  We  remember  the  old  house, 
very  distinctly,  having  often  seen  it  and,  more  than  once,  at  least  forty 
years  ago,  having  slept  under  its  roof.  It  is  said  that  it  was  burned,  about 
1808  ;  and  tiiat  the  site  remains  unoccupied. 

T)ie  old  Court-house,  the  scene  of  many  an  adventure  during  the  later 
Colonial  era,  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  W.  P.  Fiero, 
Esq.,  on  the  West  side  of  the  stage-road  to  New  York. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


245 


those  who  had  originated  aiul  promoted  it,  secretly 
and  rapidly,  without  alarming  those  who  were  assem- 
bled at  Captain  Hatfield's,  and  before  they  could  be 
brought  to  the  Courthouse,  to  defeat  those  purposes 
and  to  relegate  the  Morrises  to  that  political  obscur- 
ity iu  which,  very  ungraciously,  they  had  so  long  and 
so  ingloriously  rested.  It  was,  in  short,  nothing  else 
than  a  political  coup-de-main;  but,  unfortunately  for 
the  honor  of  those  who  participated  in  it,  it  was  not 
as  respectably  successful  as  those  who  had  contrived 
it,  had  desired. ' 

Intelligence  of  the  movement  of  their  opponents 
very  soon  reached  those  who  were  assembled  at  Cap- 
tain Hatfield's  Tavern ;  and.  we  are  told  that,  un- 
doubtedly with  very  little  delay,  they,  also,  "  walked 
"  down  to  the  Courthouse,  although  not  half  of  their 
"  friends  who  were  expected  had  yet  appeared."  At 
that  time,  when  the  full  force  of  all  who  thus  pre- 
sumed to  act,  in  so  vital  a  question,  in  the  name  of  all 
who  were,  then,  in  Westchester-county — and  that, 
too,  without  any  delegation  of  authority  and,  cer- 
tainly, without  any  exi)ressed  "consent" — was  un- 
doubtedly present  and  acting,  there  was  not  present 
more  than  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  Freeholders  and  others ;  and  there  is  evidence 
that  quite  as  large  a  number,  Freeholders  and  others, 
walked  down  to  the  Courthouse,  from  Captain  Hat- 
field's Tavern,  and  strii)])ed  all  the  novelty  and  all 
there  was  of  what  was  said  to  have  been  integrity 
from  the  exposed  and  unsuccessful  coup-de-main.'^  The 
individual  respectability  of  none  of  these,  of  either 
faction,  appears  to  have  been  imjjeached  by  any  one ; 
but  Colonel  Morris  subsequently  attemi)ted  to  depre- 
ciate tlie  political  standing  of  som&of  those  who  were 


'  From  the  fact  that  the  Meeting  had  been  organized  and  "had  already 
"entered  upon  tlic  business  uf  tlie  day,"  before  it  waa  known  to  those 
who  were  at  Hatfield's  Tavern,  that  any  movement  toward  sucli  an  or- 
ganization had  been  made— a  fact  w  liich  was  openly  stated  in  the  IVuU  fl 
of  tlie  one  faction  witliout  having  been  controverted  in  the  elaborate  re- 
ply of  the  Chairman  of  the  Meeting  —the  secrecy  of  the  niovenjeut  is  es- 
tablished, beyond  a  question.  The  motives  of  those  who  contrived  that 
particular  mode  of  operations,  will  be  manifest  to  all  who  are  ac(iuainted 
with  the  facts  and  with  the  practices  of  unscrupulous  politicians,  in 
Westchester-county  as  often  aa  elsewhere. 

-In  the  narrative  which  the  Chairman  of  the  Meeting  prepared,  ini- 
mediately  after  the  adjournment  of  that  Meeting, he  stated  that  "a  very 
"  numerous  body  of  the  Freeholders  of  the  County  assembled  at  the 
"Court  House;"  and  that  "an  inconsiderable  number  of  Persons 
"( among  whom  were  many  tenants  not  entitled  to  a  vote)  with  Isaac 
"  Wilkins,  Esq.,  and  Col.  I'hilii)se  at  their  head,  then  appeared."  In 
the  I'rolesI  of  llie  Iiilmhilinitu  and  Fncholdi  rs,  subsequently  published,  it  is 
stated,  specifically,  that  when  those  from  Captain  llatfleld's  Tavern  en- 
tered the  Courthouse,  ".the  numbers  on  each  side  seemed  tube  nearly 
"  equal ;  and  both  together  might  amount  to  two  hundred  or,  at  most, 
"two  hundrod  and  fifty."  Nearly  a  month  after  the  publication  of  that 
ProUsI,  and  after  he  had  secured  the  seat  in  the  Continental  Congress 
for  which  he  ba<l  so  earnestly  hankered — his  half-brother,  Gouverneur, 
being  then  an  aspirant  to  a  seat  in  the  proposed  Provincial  Congress,  to 
which  he  was  elected,  on  the  following  day— Lewis  Jlorris  published  an 
elaborate  and  very  minute  reply  to  that  I'luUnI,  in  which,  although 
nearly  every  feature  of  the  latter  waa  bitterly  controverted,  ho  conveni- 
ently said  nothing  whatever  of  the  number  of  those,  of  either  faction, 
who  were  at  the  Plains  ;  and,  therein,  ho  emphatically  acquiesced  in 
what  was  said,  on  that  subject,  with  so  much  precision,  in  the  /^■o^■»<. 


not  of  his  supporters,  by  saying  there  were  among  them 
"  many  tenants  who  were  not  entitled  to  vote,"  etc., 
— they  were  recognized  as  respectable  farmers,  even 
by  that  particular  Morris  who  aimed  to  belittle  them; 
but,  in  the  presence  of  such  as  he,  with  nothing  but 
what  he  had  inherited,  to  ensure  to  him  even  a  nom- 
inal respectability,  they  were  evidently  expected  to 
be  no  more  than  dumb  dogs,  even  while  their  homes 
and  their  properties  were  i)ut  in-  jeopardy  and  the 
peace  and  liai)piness  of  their  families  endangered  by 
the  doings  of  those  "  better  classes,"  before  one  of 
whom  they  then  stood. 

It  is  said  that  Isaac  Wilkins,  of  the  Borough  of 
Westchester,  and  Colonel  Frederic  Philipse,  of  the 
Manor  of  Philipsborough,  both  of  them  Members  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  walked  at  the 
head  of  those  who  moved  from  the  Tavern  to  the 
Courthouse,  and  who  interrupted  the  proceedings  ot 
the  Meeting ;  and  all  agreed  that,  when  the  entire 
number  of  those  new  incomers  had  entered  the 
Courtroom,  without  indecorously  attempting  to  dis- 
turb the  Meeting,  in  the  slightest  degree,  Isaac  Wil- 
kins, in  behalf  of  those  with  whom  he  had  come, 
"  declared  that,  as  they  had  been  unlawfully  called 
"together,  and  for  an  unlawful  purpose,  they  did  not 
"intend  to  contest  the  matter,  by  a  Poll,  which  would 
"  be  tacitly  acknowledging  the  authority  that  had 
"  summoned  them  thither ;  but  that  they  had  come  only 
"with  a  design  to  protest  against  all  such  disorderly 
"proceedings,  and  to  shew  their  detestation  of  all  un- 
"  lawful  Committees  and  Congresses.  They  then  fur- 
"  ther  declared  their  determined  resolution  to  continue 
"steadfast  in  their  allegiance  to  their  gracious  and 
"  merciful  Sovereign,  King  George  the  Third  ;  tosub- 
"  mit  to  lawful  authority  ;  and  to  abide  by  and  sup- 
"l)ort  the  only  true  representatives  of  the  People  of 
"this  Colony,  the  General  Assembly."  They  then 
gave  three  cheers,  and  returned  to  Captain  Hatfield's 
Tavern,  "singing,  as  they  went,  with  a  loyal  enthusi- 
"  asm,  the  grand  and  animating  Song  of 

"  '  God  save  great  George,  our  King, 
"  '  Long  live  our  noble  King  !  etc." 

After  the  protestants  bad  thus  peacefully  left  the 
Courthouse,  the  Meeting  returned  to  the  business 
for  the  transaction  of  which  it  had  been  convened 
and  organized ;  and  the  question  was  submitted,  by 
the  Chairman,  "  Whether  they  would  appoint  Depu- 
"  ties  for  this  County,  to  meet  the  D(!])uties  of  the 
"  other  Counties,  at  the  City  of  New  York,  on  the 
"twentieth  of  April  instant,  for  the  purpose  of 
"  electing  Delegates  to  represent  this  Colony  in  the 
"General  Congress,  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  on 


3  There  ig  very  little  diflerence,  concomiDg  what  occurred  In  the 
Courtroom,  in  the  narrative  drawn  up  by  Lewis  Morris  and  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  Piohsl  which  relates  to  that  subject ;  and  both  are  referred 
to,  fi8  authorities,  for  what  has  been  said,  in  the  te.xt,  relative  thereto. 
Concerning  what  was  done,  elsewhere,  by  the  protestants,  after  they  had 
left  the  Courthouse,  the  Protett  is  our  auflicient  authority. 


246 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  the  tenth  day  of  May  next."  By  an  unanimous 
vote,  it  determined  to  do  so  ;  and  it  then  appointed, 
also  without  opposition.  Colonel  Lewis  Morris  and 
Doctor  Robert  Graham — the  latter  a  kinsman  of  the 
former — both  of  Westchester ;  Stephen  Ward,  of 
Eastchester ;  Colonel  James  Holmes  and  Jonathan 
Piatt,  of  Bedford;  John  Thomas,  Junior,  of  Rye; 
and  Samuel  Drake  and  Philip  Van  Cortlandt, 
both  of  the  Maner  of  Cortlandt ;  a  majority  of 
whom  was  authorized  to  represent  the  County,  and  to 
cast  the  Vote  of  the  County,  in  the  proposed  Con- 
vention. ' 

The  following  Resolutions  were,  then,  submitted 
to  the  Meeting;  and  they  were  duly  adopted,  also 
without  a  dissenting  voice : 

"Resolved:  That  the  thanks  of  this  body  be 
"given  to  the  virtuous  Minority  of  the  General 
"  Assembly  of  this  Province,  and  particularly  to 
"  John  Thomas  and  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Esquires, 
"  two  of  our  Representatives,  for  their  firm  attach- 
"  ment  to  and  zeal,  on  a  late  occasion  for  the  preser- 
"  vation  of  the  union  of  the  Colonies  and  the  Rights 
"and  Liberties  of  America;  and  that  this  Resolve  be 
"communicated,  by  the  Chairman,  to  every  Gentle- 
"  man  of  whom  that  Minority  consisted. 

"  Resolved  :  That  the  thanks  of  this  country  is 
"  due  to  the  Delegates  who  composed  the  late  Con- 
"  gress,  for  the  essential  services  they  have  rendered 
" to  America,  in  general;  and  that  this  Resolve  be 
"  forthwith  published." 

We  are  told,  also,  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Meeting, 
that,  "after  the  business  of  the  day  was  thus  con- 
"  eluded,  the  people  gave  three  huzzas  for  our  gra- 
"  cious  Sovereign,-'  and  dispersed,  quickly,  without  the 
"  least  disorder." 


■  As  Jonathan  Piatt  and  Colonel  Holmes  did  not  accept  the  appoint- 
ment, and  as  only  six  took  tlioir  seats  in  the  Convention,  the  majority 
which  was  necessary  to  cast  the  vote  of  tlie  County  was  reduced  to  four  ; 
and,  thus,  the  control  of  the  Delegation  was  retained  by  those  who  went 
from  Westchester,  Eastchester,  and  Rye. 

-The  practice  of  all,  at  that  period  and  subsequently,  on  all  such  occa- 
sions as  that  referred  to  in  the  text,  will  sufficiently  indicate  to  the 
reader,  that  the  enthusiasm  for  the  King  which  was  displayed,  as  mnch 
by  one  faction  as  by  the  other,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  that  eventful 
April  day,  was  clue  quite  as  much  to  what  had  been  drunk  at  the  two 
Taverns,  before  eithi-r  of  those  factions  had  gone  to  the  Courthouse,  as 
to  the  love  for  the  King  which  either  of  them  really  possessed.  But  the 
Chairman  of  the  Meeting  kindly  furuished  conclusive  evidence  on  the 
Bubject,  when  he  wrote,  •'  much  pains,  I  confess,  were,  on  that  day, 
■' taken,  to  make  temporary  enthusiasts,  and  with  other  more  crhUaru- 
"  ting  spirit  than  the  spirit  of  loyalty." — (/.en  is  3Iorris  In  llie  Piihlick, 
"MoRRiSANiA,  May  7,  1775.") 

Only  culprits  c<mfess  "  a  wrong-doing  ;  and  with  this  '*  confession  " 
of  one  of  tlie  principal  offenders,  on  the  occasion  referre(i  to,  the  reader 
will  be  enabled  to  understand  how  small  an  amount  of  genuine  ^)o/r;o(- 
>'«m  there  was,  in  such  a  crowd,  no  matter  for  whom  it  hurrahed  ;  and 
liow  small  tlie  price  was  with  w-hich  that  crowd  had  been  purchased,  to 
further  the  purposes  of  either  "the  friends  of  the  Government"  or 
those  of  the  revolutionary  faction—  may  he  not  be  enabled  to  understand, 
also,  something  more  of  those  who  originated  and  fostered  the  revolu- 
tionary spirit,  in  the  Colonies,  and  something  more  of  the  means  which 
they  employed,  call  them  what  you  may,  than  those,  claiming  to  be 
"  historians,"  with  a  very  few  really  honorable  exceptions,  have  hitlier- 
to  told  to  him  ? 

One  of  the  most  important  political  movements  in  wliicb  Xew  York 


Although  no  action,  on  that  subject,  appears  to 
have  been  taken  by  the  Meeting,  its  master-spirit 
and  Chairman,  in  his  official  capacity,  appears  to 
have  continued  the  work  for  which  the  Meeting  had 
been  convened,  completing  it  before  he  left  the  White 
Plains,  by  preparing  an  official  narrative  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  Meeting  ;  of  the  Caucus  which  had  "  recom- 
"  mended  "  it;  of  its  Proceedings,  when  convened; 
and  of  its  noisy  loyalty  to  that  "  gracious  Sove- 
"  reign  "  whose  recognized  authority  it  had  so  boldly 
assailed.  That  narrative  was  duly  published  ;  and, 
at  the  e.xpense  of  repeating  some  matters  of  which 
mention  has  been  already  made,  as  an  important 
portion  of  the  historical  literature  of  Westchester- 
county,  a  place  is  made  for  it,  in  this  work.  It  was 
in  the  following  words  : 

"  White  Plains,  ix  the  County  of  AVestchestfr 
"  the  11th  day  of  April  1775. 
"On  the  28th  day  of  March  last,  the  following 
"  Gentlemen  having  received  letters  from  the  Chair- 
"  man  of  the  Committee  of  the  City  and  County  of 
"  New-York  relative  to  the  appointment  of  Deputies 
"  for  this  County,  met  at  this  place  for  the  purpose  of 
"  devising  means  for  taking  the  Sense  of  this  County 
"  upon  the  Subject,  viz  : 

"  Col.  Lewis  Morris,  Theodosiiis  Barlow,  Esq.,  * 

"  Thomas  Hunt,  William  Sutton,  Esq., 

"  Abraham  Leggot,  Capt.  Joseph  Drake, 

"  James  Horton,  Jr.,  Esq.,  James  Willis, 
"  Stephen  Ward,  Benjamin  Drake, 

"  Abraham  Guion,  Esq.,     Moses  Drake, 

"  who  having  taken  the  Same  into  consideration, 
"agreed  to  send  'the  following  notification  to  the 
"principal  freeholders  in  the  different  Towns  and 
"  districts  in  the  County,  viz — 

"  '  March  28th,  1775. 
"  '  Sir.  a  number  of  gentlemen  from  different  dis- 
" '  tricts  in  the  county  of  Westchester  having  this 
" '  day  met  at  the  White  Plains  to  Consider  of  the 
" '  most  proper  method  of  taking  the  Sense  of  the 
" '  Freeholders,  of  the  said  County,  upon  the  Expedi- 
'' '  ency  of  choosing  Deputies  to  meet  the  Deputies  of 
" '  the  other  Counties,  for  the  purpose  of  Electing 


has  ever  been  engaged,  was  carried  through  Westchester-county  in 
known  opposition  to  the  great  body  of  its  inhabitants,  and  in  the  face 
of  a  formal  Protest  of  a  larger  number,  by  only  a  factional  minority,  in 
the  interest  of  an  aspiring  politician,  and  while  that  minority  was  stag- 
gering under  the  evil  influences  of  the  New  England  Bum  which 
had  been  freely  dispensed,  for  that  particular  purpose. 

3  The  narrative,  signed  by  "  Lewis  Morris,  C/ni/rni/iii,"  already  re- 
ferred to,  ha«  afforded  a  sufficient  authority,  for  all  that  has  been  said, 
in  the  text,  concerning  the  Meeting,  after  the  protestants  had  left  the 
Courthouse. 

*.\lthough  the  name  was  thus  written,  in  the  original  manuscript, 
there  can  be  no  doiibt  that  reference  was  made  to  Theo<losius  Bartow, 
second  son  of  the  Eev.  John  Bartow,  the  fiist  Rector  of  the  Parish  of 
Westchester.  Mr.  Bartow  snbseq\iently  held  the  comfortable  and  profit- 
able jdace  of  a  "Commissary  at  Xew  Rocbelle  ;  "  and  his  son,  (subse- 
quently Rector  of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  at  Bedford)  held  the  profitable 
place  of  (Juarter-master,  in  the  Fim  Westchester-county  Regiment. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


2-47 


"  '  delegates  to  represent  this  Colony  in  the  General 
"  '  Congress  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  of 
"  '  May  next,  are  of  opinion  that  the  best  way  of  pro- 
"  '  ceeding  for  that  purpose,  will  be  to  have  a  general 
"  '  Meeting  of  the  Freeholders  of  the  Said  County. 

"  '  As  this  County  is  very  Extensive  we  takethelib- 
"  '  erty  of  recommending  the  meeting  to  be  held  at 
"  '  the  White  Plains  on  Tuesday  the  11th  day  of  April 
" '  next  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  at  the  Court 
" '  House,  and  therefore  do  desire  you,  to  give  notice 
"  '  of  the  Same  to  all  the  freeholders  in  your  district, 
" '  without  exception,  as  those  who  do  not  appear  and 
"  '  vote  on  that  day,  will  be  presumed  to  acquiesce 
"  '  in  the  Sentiment  of  the  majority  of  those  who  vote. 

"  '  We  are,  &c.' 

"  The  above  notice  having  been  generally  given 
"and  distributed,  a  very  numerous  body  of  the  Free- 
"  holders  of  the  County  assembled  at  the  Court 
"  House  at  the  White  Plains,  on  this  day,  and  chose, 
"  Col.  Lewis  Morris  for  their  Chairman. 

"An  inconsiderable  number  of  Persons  (among 
"  whom  were  many  tenants  not  entitled  to  a  vote)  with 
"Isaac  Wilkins,  Esq.,  and  Col.  Philipse  at  their 
"  head,  then  appeared,  and  Mr.  Wilkins  in  their  be- 
"  half  as  he  said,  declared  that  they  would  not  join 
"  in  the  business  of  the  day  or  have  anything  to 
"  do  with  Deputies  or  congresses,  but  that  they  came 
"  there,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  protesting  against 
"such  illegal  and  unconstitutional  proceedings,  after 
"  which  they  departed. 

"  The  following  Question  was  then  put  to  the  peo- 
"  pie  by  the  chairman,  viz  : 

"  '  Whether  they  would  appoint  Deputies  for  this 
"  'county,  to  meet  the  Deputies  of  the  other  counties 
"  '  at  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  20th  of  April  in- 
"  '  stant,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  delegates  to  re- 
"' present  this  colony  in  the  general  congress  to  be 
"'held  at  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  day  of  May 
"  '  next.' 

"To  which  Question  they  unanimously  answered 
that  they  would. 

"They  then  a])pointed  the  following  eight  persons, 
"  or  the  majority  of  them,  to  be  the  deputies  of  this 
"  county,  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  viz  : 
"Col.  Lewis  Morris,       John  Thoma",  Jr.,  Esq., 
"  Stephen  Ward,  Jonathan  Piatt,  Esq., 

"  Samuel  JhaJce,  Esq.,    Robert  Graham,  Esq., 
"  Col.  James  Holmes,      Major  Philip  Van  Courtlandt. 

"The  two  following  Resolves  were  then  unani- 
"  mously  Entered  into,  viz  :  \ 

"Resolved,  that  the  thanks  of  this  Body  be  given  to  ' 
"  the  virtuous  minority  of  the  general  Assembly  of 
"this  Province,  and  particularly  to  John  Thomas  and 
"Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Esqrs.,  two  of  ourrepresenta- 
"  tives  for  their  firm  attachment  to  and  zeal,  on  a  late 
"occasion  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  of  the 
"  Colonies  and  the  rigiits  and  liberties  of  America  ; 
"  and  that  this  Resolve  be  communicated  by  the 


"chairman,  to  every  gentleman  of  whom  that  min- 
"  ority  consisted. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  country  is  due 
"  to  the  delegates  who  composed  the  late  congress  for 
"  the  Essential  Services  they  have  rendered  to  Amer- 
"  ica  in  general,  and  that  this  Resolve  be  forthwith 
"published. 

"After  the  business  of  the  day  was  thus  concluded, 
"  the  people  gave  three  Huzzas  for  our  gracious 
"Sovereign  and  dispersed  quickly  '  without  the  least 
"  disorder. 

"Lewis  Morris,  Chairman." ' 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  revolutionary  faction, 
after  its  Meeting  was  organized,  probably  because  of 
a  consciousness  of  its  own  relative  weakness  within 
the  County,  there  was  an  evident  attempt  to  ajipear, 
at  least,  to  be  fair  and  honest  in  whatever  was  said 
or  done — no  personalities  or  harsh  words,  of  any 
kind,  appear  to  have  been  used  against  those  who  en- 
tered its  Meeting,  and  respectfully  protested  against 
the  organization  and  doings  and  purposes  of  that 
Meeting  ;  the  County,  as  such,  was  not  referred  to,  in 
either  of  the  two  Resolutions  which  were  adopted, 
the  thanks  of  nothing  else  than  those  who  were  then 
present  and  voting  having  been  voted  to  the  minor- 
ity of  the  General  Assembly,  while  an  obligation  then 
due  to  the  Continental  Congress,  which  rested  on  the 
entire  country,  if  that  Meeting  was  not  misinformed, 
was  simply  recognized  by  it,  without  an  attempt 
being  made  for  the  liquidation  of  even  its  own  por- 
tion of  the  debt — it  gave  its  thanks  to  the  minor- 
ity of  the  Colonial  Assembly  ;  but  it  had  no  thanks  to 
spare  for  the  Continental  Congress ; — no  attempt  was 
made,  then  or  afterwards,  to  exult  over  the  results  ot 
the  Meeting ;  the  narrative  written  by  the  Chairman 
of  the  Meeting  continued  that  commendable  courtesy  ; 
and,  the  principal  purpose  of  the  Meeting,  if  not  its 
only  purpose,  the  restoration  of  the  Morris  family  to 
the  political  life  from  which  it  liad  been  excluded, 
having  been  accomplished,  the  peace  of  the  Cr>unty, 
for  the  present,  was  not  further  disturbed  ;  although 
it  is  scarcely  possible  that  every  one  continued, 
thenceforth,  to  regard  all  his  neighbors  with  the 
same  friendly  feelings  which  had  bound  them  togeth- 
er, during  the  past. 

While  the  Meeting  at  the  Courthouse  was  thus 
quietly  engaged  in  the  continued  disciiarge  of  "  the 
"  business  of  the  day,"  those  who  had  protested,  before 
it,  against  the  call  for  the  Meeting  as  well  as  against 
its  proposed  proceedings,  returned  to  Captain  Hat- 
field's Tavern,  where  they  were  joined,  during  the 
afternoon,  by  "  many  of  their  friends  ;"  and  "they 


•  In  some  of  tlio  re-prints  of  tliis  paper,  tliis  word  is  calleJ  "  quietlj' :  " 
we  have  i>referre(i  to  use  the  word  which  was  used  by  the  author,  iu  the 
original  niainiscript. 

-  Tliis  is  an  exiict  copy  of  the  original  manuscript,  which  was  used  as 
the  Credentials  of  the  Deputies  and  has  been  preserved  in  the  t'redtnlialt 
of  Iteletjttltn,  \'oluine  xxiv.,  Page  Jo,  Jlixturii-nt  Mitum^rrijitu  rehui»<t  (f  the 
War  of  the  HevoUiImn,  in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  .\llianv. 


248 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  proceeded  to  draw  up  and  sign  a  Declaration,  which 
"  they  seemed  to  do,"  it  is  said,  "  with  as  much  pat- 
"riotic  zeal  as  ever  warmed  the  hearts  of  true  and 
"  faithful  Subjects;  and,  afterwards,  they  dispersed  to 
"their  different  habitations.' " 

A  narrative  of  the  events  was  subsequently  written, 
probably  by  Isaac  Wilkins,  and,  with  the  Declaration 
affixed,  it  was  printed  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day, 
where,  from  that  day  to  this,  they  have  remained, 
serving  as  authorities  in  the  history  of  that  period. 
The  narrative  and  the  Declaration  are  in  these  words : 

"  County  of  Westchester,  April  13, 1775. 
"  Mr.  Rivingtox, 

"  Be  pleased  to  insert  the  following,  and  you  will 
"  oblige  a  number  of  your  Friends  and  Subscribers : 
"  /^N  Thursday  the  11th  inst.avery  respectable num- 
ber  of  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  county 
"  of  Westchester,  assembled  at  the  White  Plains,  in 
"the  said  County,  agreeable  to  notice  given,  that 
"their  sentiments  might  be  known  concerning  the 
"choice  of  a  committee,  to  meet  other  committees  in 
"  the  city  of  New-York,  for  the  purpose  of  choosing 
"delegates  to  represent  this  colony  in  the  next  Con- 
"tinental  Congress. 

"  The  friends  to  order  and  government  met  at  the 
"house  of  Captain  Hatfield.  Those  who  were  for 
"a  committee,  put  up  at  another  public  house  in 
"the  town.  About  12  o'clock  word  was  brought  to 
"the  gentlemen  at  Captain  Hatfield's  that  the  oppo- 
"  site  party  had  already  entered  ujton  the  business  of 
"tlie  day.  Upon  which  they  immediately  walked 
"down  to  the  Courthouse,  although  not  half  of  their 
"  friends  who  were  expected,  had  yet  appeared ;  where 
"  they  found  the  other  company  collected  in  a  body. 
"  The  numbers  on  each  side  seemed  to  be  nearly 
"  equal,  and  both  together  might  amount  to  200,  or 
"  at  most  250.  The  friends  to  government  then  de- 
"  clared,  that  as  they  had  been  unlawfully  called  to- 
"  gether,  and  for  an  unlawful  purpose,  they  did  not 
"  intend  to  contest  the  matter  with  them  by  a  poll, 
"  wliich  would  be  tacitly  acknowledging  the  author- 
"  ity  that  had  summoned  them  thither  ;  but  that  they 
"  came  only  with  a  design  to  protest  against  all 
"  such  disorderly  proceedings,  and  to  shew  their  de- 
"  testation  of  all  unlawful  committees  and  con- 
"  gresses.  They  then  declared  their  determined 
"resolution  to  continue  stedfast  in  their  allegiance  to 
"their  gracious  and  merciful  sovereign  King  George 
"  the  Third — to  submit  to  lawful  authority,  and  to 
"  abide  by  and  support  the  only  true  representatives 
"  of  the  people  of  this  colony,  the  General  Assembly. 
"Then  giving  three  huzzas,  they  returned  to  Captain 
"HatfieWs,  singing  as  they  went,  with  loyal  enthusi- 
"  asm,  the  good  and  animating  song  of, 

'  Tlif  Dcrlamt ion  here  referred  to,  forms  a  portion  of  the  Protest  wliich  is 
pnMishecl,  in  full,  on  this  page,  below,  ami  on  page  73  post.,  and  the 
reailer  is  referred  to  it,  in  that  place. 


" '  God  save  great  George  our  King, 
"'Long  live  our  noble  King,  &c.' 
"  At  their  return,  finding  that  many  of  their  friends 
'had  arrived  during  their  absence,  and  that  many 
'  still  kept  coming  in,  they  proceeded  to  draw  up,  and 
'  sign  the  following  declaration,  which  they  seemed  to 
'  do  with  as  much  patriotic  zeal,  as  ever  warmed  the 
'hearts  of  true  and  faithful  subjects,  and  afterwards 
'  dispersed  to  their  different  habitations. 
' '  TTTE  the  subscribers,  freeholders  and  inhabitants 
YV  of  the  county  of  Westchester,  having  assem- 
' '  bled  at  the  White  Plains,  in  consequence  of  certain 
' '  advertisements,  do  now  declare,  that  we  met  here  to 
' '  express  our  honest  abhorrence  of  all  unlawful  con- 
' '  gresses  and  committees,  and  that  we  are  determined 
' '  at  the  hazard  of  our  lives  and  properties,  to  sup- 
' '  port  the  King  and  Constitution,  and  that  we  ac- 
' '  knowledge  no  representatives  but  the  General 
' '  Assembly,  to  whose  wisdom  and  integrity  we  sub- 
' '  mit  the  guardianship  of  our  rights  and  privileges. 
'  '  Frederick  Philipse,  Jacob  Post, 

'' Isaac  AVilkins,  Joseph  Gidney, 

'  '  Samuel  Seabury,  James  Baxter, 

'  '  Luke  Babcock,  John  Hart, 

' '  Jonathan  Fowler,  Judge,  Cornelius  Losee, 
' '  Caleb  Fowler,  Judge,        Jesse  Park, 
'  'Jonathan  P.  Horton,  Esq  ;  Roger  Purdy,  jun. 


'  '  William  Sutton,  Esq. ; 

' '  Daniel  Oakly,  Esq. ; 

' '  Benjamin  Fowler,  Esq.  ; 

'  '  William  Davids,  Esq. ; 

' '  William  Anderson,  Esq. ; 

' '  William  Barker,  Esq.  ; 

' '  Capt.  Abra.  Hatfield, Esq. 

' '  Natha  Underhill,  Mayor, 

'  '  George  Cornwell,  Esq. ; 

' '  Philip  Pell,  Esq.  ; 

' '  Joshua  Pell, 

'  '  James  Pell, 

'  '  Edward  Pell, 

'  '  .John  Hunt, 

'  '  Gilbert  Horton, 

'  '  Adrian  Leforge, 

'  '  Joshua  Gidney, 

'  'Jonathan  Gidney, 

'  '  Lieut.  Jonathan  Purdy, 

' '  Solomon  Gidney, 

'  '  Joseph  Bude, 

'  'James  Whetmore, 

'  'Moses  Williams, 

'  'John  Haight, 

'  '  Isaac  Brown, 

'  '  Philip  Kelly, 

'  '  James  Hains, 

'  '  Joseph  Hains,  Jun. 

'  '  James  Hains,  Jun. 

' '  Matthew  Hains, 

'  '  Bartholomew  Hain.s, 

'  '  Gilbert  Hains, 

' '  John  Hains, 


Gilbert  Pugsley, 
Abraham  Leadeau, 
Benjamin  Brown, 
Isaac  Keed, 
Aaron  Buis, 
Moses  Weymen, 
Israel  Underhill, 
John  Baisley, 
David  Oakley,  jun. 
Isaac  Smith, 
John  Hyatt, 
Hezekiah  Cudney, 
Abraham  Odell, 
Thomas  Lawrence, 
John  Seyson, 
Jeremiah  Travis, 
GrifFen  Corey, 
Isaa  Forsheu, 
Gabriel  Requeaw, 
Samuel  Webb, 
Benjamin  Downing. 
Gabriel  Archer, 
Elias  Secord, 
Thomas  Veal, 
James  Pierce, 
Edward  Bugbe, 
David  Haight, 
Sylvanus  Lyon, 
Daniel  Haight, 
John  Williams, 
Joseph  Purdy, 
Ezekiel  Halstead, 
John  Hunt,  jun. 


THE  A3IERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


249 


"  '  Elijah  Hains, 
"  '  Lieut.  Solomon  Fowler, 
"  '  Isaac  Williams, 
'•  '  John  M'Collum, 
"  '  Joseph  Clark, 
'  .Toseph  Oakly, 
"  '  Caleb  Ferris, 

'  Capt.  Benjamin  Griffen, 
"  '  Capt.  .Joshua  Purely, 

'  '  .James  Mott, 

' '  Lieut.  William  Laensberry 

' '  Lieut.  Samuel  I'urdy, 

• '  .John  Rutliu, 

'  '  Nathan  Osborn, 

'  '  Philemon  Halstead, 

'  '  Daniel  I'urJy, 

•  '  .John  Crab, 

'  '  Izariah  Whetmore, 
' '  Capt.  Absolom  Gidney, 
' '  David  Haight, 
' '  John  Brown, 
' '  Jasper  Stivers, 

■  '  Peter  M'Farthing, 

•  '  Joshua  Purdy,  jun. 

'  '  Haccaliah  I'urdy,  jun. 

■  '  .James  Tomkins, 

'  '  Michael  Chatterton, 
'  '  Elnathan  Taylor, 
'  '  Gilbert  Theal, 
'  '  William  Saxen, 
• « Thomas  Champenirs, 
'  '  .John  Champenirs, 
• '  William  Griffin, 
'  '  Isaac  Gidney, 

•  '  .John  Bates, 

• '  Joseph  Haviland, 

'  '  Eleazer  Hart. 

'  'Timothy  Whetmore, 

'  •  James  Hunt. 

'  '  Joseph  Parker, 

'  '  Joshna  Barns, 

'  '  Joseph  Purdy, 
"  '  John  Paik. 
"  '  Samuel  Purdy, 
"  '  Gilbert  Purdy, 
"  'James  Chatterton, 
"  '  John  Dusenburgh, 
'• '  Thomas  Cromwell, 
"'Solomon  Horton, 
"  '  Peter  Busing, 
"  '  Peter  Busing,  jun. 
"  '  James  Kniffen, 
"  '  Nathaniel  Underbill,  jun. 
"  '  Philip  Fowler. 
"  'John  M'Farthing, 
"  '  John  Tomkins, 
"  '  Joseph  Hart, 
"  '  Samuel  Sneden, 
"  '  Peter  Fashee, 
"  '  Jesse  Lawrence, 

"  '  William  Sneden, 


Isaac  Purdy, 
Elijali  Purdy, 
Abraham  Losee, 
Isaac  Tomkins, 
William  Grey, 
Nathaniel  Merit, 
Joseph  Palding, 
Hendricus  Storm, 
Francis  Secord, 
John  Parker, 
Gilbert  Hatfield, 
Gabriel  Purdy, 
Alexander  Haines, 
Benjamin  Ogden, 
Thomas  Mcritt, 
Gilbert  Bates, 
John  Gidney, 
Stephen  Arnode, 
Isr.ael  Secord, 
John  Arnode, 
David  Purdy, 
David  Belcher, 
Jordan  Downing, 
Levi  Devoe, 
Abraham  Acker, 
Corn.  Van  Tassell, 
Elislia  Merit, 
Jacob  Schureman, 
Joseph  Appleby, 
John  Tomkins,  jun. 
Job  Hadden,  jun. 
Patrick  Carey, 
James  Hart, 
Gilbert  Ward, 
Monmouth  Hart, 
William  Dunlap, 
Joshua  Ferris, 
Timothy  Purdy, 
James  Maguire, 
James  Regnaw, 
Daniel  Shadin, 
Samuel  Purdy, 
Sylvan  us  Purdy, 
William  Dalton, 
David  Davids, 
Elijah  Purdy,  jun. 
Elijah  Tomkins, 
Daniel  Jerow, 
Charles  Lawrence, 
.Joseph  Purdy,  jun. 
James  Sniffen,  jun. 
Thomas  Valentine, 
Gilbert  Valentine, 
Abraham  Rich, 
.Andrew  Gerow, 
Gilbert  Hunter, 
Lieut.  Peter  Bonet, 
Isaac  Merit, 
Edward  .Merit, 
John  Gale, 
John  Smith, 


'  Lieut.  Daniel  Knap, 
'  Solomon  Dean, 
'Charles  Vincent,  sen. 
'  Lieut.  Thomas  Hyat, 
'  James  Gidney, 
'  William  Woodward, 
'  Jonathan  Budd, 
'  John  Whetmore, 
'  William  Underbill, 
'  Thomas  Brown, 
'  Lieut.  Isaac  Gidney, 
'  Nehemiah  Tomkins, 
'  Henry  Leforge, 
'  Evert  Brown, 
'  Benjamin  Beyea, 
'  Bartholomew  Gidney, 
'  Josiah  Brown, 
'  Scth  Purdy, 
'Peter  Huggeford, 
'  Jacob  Gidney, 
'  John  Loce, 
'  Elnathan  Appleby, 
'  John  Baker, 
'  Jonathan  Underbill, 
'  James  M 'Chain , 
'  Benjamin  Seacord, 
'Joshua  Hunt, 
'  Betts  Chatterdon, 
'  William  Landrine, 
'  Enoch  Hunt, 
'  Peter  Corne, 
'  Dennis  Kennedy, 
'  James  Hains, 
'  Andrew  Bainton, 
'  Hezekiah  Simmons, 
'Nathaniel  Tomkins, 
'  Caleb  Archer, 
'  Benjamin  Bugbee, 
'  Francis  Purdy, 
'  William  Odell, 
'  Israel  Hunt, 
'Thomas  Tomkins, 
'Frederick  Underbill, 
'Peter  Post, 
'Benjamin  .M'Cord, 
'  John  Williams, 
'John  Ackerman, 
'  Peter  Rusting, 
'  Thomas  Barker, 
'  .leremiah  Hunter 
'  Abraham  Storm, 
'  Peter  Jcnning, 


Roger  Purdy, 
James  Hart,  jun. 
Jonathan  Purdy,  jun. 
Monmouth  Hart,  jun. 
Christopher  Purdy, 
Gabriel  Purdy, 
Edward  Merit,  jun. 
Elijah  Miller, 
Henry  Disborough, 
Benjamin  Hunt, 
Elnathan  Hunt, 
William  Van  Wart, 
Abraham  Storm, 
Thomas  Berry, 
Lancaster  Underbill, 
Charles  Merit, 
Benjamin  Underbill, 
Benjamin  Griffin,  jun. 
Jeremiah  Coon, 
John  Hall, 
James  Angevine, 
Jacob  Coon, 

Jeremiah  Anderson,  jun. 
Gilbert  Williams, 
William  Barker,  jun. 
Gideon  Arden, 
AVilliam  Field, 
Joseph  Purdy, 
George  Storm, 
Jacob  Vermiller, 
Samuel  Heusted, 
Bartow  Underbill, 
Lieut.  John  Warner, 
Nathaifiel  Purdy, 
Isaac  Rennet, 
Samuel  Baker, 
John  Cornwell, 
John  Storm, 
Andrew  Fowler, 
Joshua  Secord, 
George  French, 
John  Underbill, 
Caleb  Gidney, 
William  Underbill,  jun. 
James  Hill, 
William  Watkins, 
John  Rustin, 
Richard  Baker, 
William  .\scough. 
Bishop  Heustice, 
James  Miller, 
Phineas  Hunt,' 


"The  following  persons,  not  being  able  to  attend  at 
the  Plains,  requested  by  their  Friends  that  their 
names  might  be  added  to  the  list  of  protestors,  viz.: 


John  Hunt,  Esq., 
Philip  Palmer,  Esq., 
John  Hitchcock, 


Jeremiah  Hitchcock, 
AVilliam  Bond, 
Joseph  Bond. 


"  The  foregoing  account  is  strictly  true,  as  can  be 


250 


HISTORY  OF  W^ESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


proven  by  the  testimony  (or  if  necessary  by  the  affi- 
davits) of  a  number  of  persons,  of  the  most  unques- 
tionable character  in  this  county.  What  then  must 
we  think  of  such  persons  as  have  propagated  a  report, 
that  the  friends  of  government  were  upon  tliis  occa- 
sion out-numbered  5  to  1,  and  that  many  of  the 
persons  whose  names  were  subscribed  to  the  fore- 
going Declaration,  were  not  on  that  day  present  at 
the  White  Plains?  They  must  be  conscious  to 
themselves,  that  they  have  spread  abroad  a  falsehood, 
and  they  are  hereby  called  upou  if  they  dare  to  set 
their  names  to  those  assertions. 
"  In  what  manner  those  Gentlemen  who  chose  the 
Committee  at  the  Plains  proceeded,  we  cannot  posi- 
tively say  :  But  this  we  can  declare  with  truth,  that 
we  do  not  believe  they  can  produce  to  the  public 
the  names  of  an  hundred  and  fifty  persons  who 
voted  for  a  Committee  that  day,  and  we  are  verily 
persuaded  that  they  did  their  utmost  to  make  their 
party  as  numerous  as  possible.  How  then  can  they 
justify  their  choice  of  a  Conunittee?  Or  how  can 
they  presume  to  impose  upon  the  world,  and  to 
insult  the  loyal  county  of  Westchester,  in  so  bare- 
faced a  manner  ? 

"  It  is  well-known  here,  that  two-thirds  at  least  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  county,  are  friends  to  order 
and  government,  and  opposed  to  Committees  and  all 
unlawful  combinations ' ;  and  it  will  be  made  ap- 
parent to  the  world,  that  they  are  so,  as  soon  as 
certain  resolves  now  signing  freely  by  the  people, 
shall  be  ready  for  publication. — And  one  principal 
reason  why  the  friends  to  government  did  not  assem- 
ble in  greater  numbers  than  they  did  on  Tuesday 
last,  was,  that  many  of  them  had  already,  by  sign- 
ing those  resolves,  testified  their  loyalty  to  the 
King,  their  attaciiment  to  the  constitution,  their 
enmity  to  Committee:',  and  their  accjuiescence  in  the 
prudent  measures  taken  by  their  Assembly  in  the 
late  session,  for  accommodating  the  unhappy  differ- 
ences between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies  ; 
and  consequently  thought  they  had  already  done 
their  duty.- 

"The  Committee  that  was  chosen,  may,  with  some 
kind  of  propriety,  be  said  to  represent  those  partic- 
ular persons  who  chose  them  :  But  how  they  can 
be  denominated  the  representatives  of  the  County 
of  Westchester,  who  in  general  abhor  Committees 
and  Committee-men  ;  and  are  determined  to  take 
no  steps  that  may  have  the  least  tendency  to  lead 
them  into  Rebellion,  we  cannot  conceive.  Certainly 
the  friends  to  government  who  were  collected  at 
Captain  Hatfield's,  had  a  better  right,  from  their 


1  Vide  pages  40,  42,  ante. 

2The  "Resolves,"  referred  to  in  the  text,  aie  undoubtedly  tliose 
which  were  re-produced  ou  page  43,  ante.  They  originated  in 
Duchess-county,  wliicli,  at  tliat  time,  extended,  southward,  to  West- 
chester-county  ;  and  it  is  undei'stood  that  they  were  widely  circulated 
throughout  the  former  County,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent,  through- 
out Westchester-county.  ' 


"  number,  to  determine  that  there  should  be  no  Com- 
"  mittee,  than  the  opposite  party  had  to  appoint  one, 
"  and  might  with  much  greater  propriety  be  said  to 
"  shew  the  sense  of  the  county,  than  the  few  who 
"  acted  without  authority,  and  in  direct  opposition  to 
"government,  and  to  the  determinations  of  our  worthy 
"Assembly.  And  we  doubt  not  but  the  impartial 
"  public  will  consider  the  matter  in  this  light,  and 
"  not  esteem  the  act  of  a  few  individuals,  unlawfully 
"  assembled,  as  the  act  (which  it  most  assuredly  is 
"  not)  of  the  very  respectable,  populous  and  loi/al  coun- 
"  ty  of  Westchester."  ' 

The  promoters  of  the  Meeting  were  evidently  only 
a  minority  of  those  present,  at  the  Courthouse,  on 
that  memorable  eleventh  of  April ;  and  it  is  equally 
evident  that  if  those  who  were  opposed  to  them  had 
pursued  a  different  line  of  conduct  and  had  joined 
issue  with  them,  on  the  main  question,  the  weight  of 
the  County  would  have  been  emphatically  cast  on 
the  side  of  the  conservatives,  and  in  opposition  to 
the  election  of  Delegates  to  the  proposed  Convention. 
But  the  majority,  very  correctly,  considered  that 
were  it  to  assert  its  undoubted  power,  within  the 
Meeting,  and  to  participate  in  the  proceedings  of  that 
Meeting,  no  matter  for  what  pupose,  it  would  be  a 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  the  authority  to  do  so,  of 
those  who  had  called  the  Meeting ;  and  it  confined 
itself,  therefore,  to  simply  protesting  against  the  en- 
tire proceedings,  as  disorderly  and  revolutionary, 
without  appearing  to  have  remembered  that  political 
revolutions  never  move  backward,  voluntarily  ;  and 
that  there  was  not  the  slightest  reason  for  supposing 
that,  in  that  particular  instance,  in  the  absence  of  all 
restraint,  there  would  be  an  exception  to  that  general 
law.  Whether  the  majority,  in  that  instance,  acted 
wisely  or  unwisely,  is  a  question  which  the  reader 
must  determine  for  himself :  it  is  not,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  probable,  however,  that  the  great  movement 
which  was  then  in  progress,  and  which  ended  only  in 
the  entire  separation  of  the  thirteen  Colonies  from 
the  Mother  Country,  was  either  assisted  or  obstructed, 
in  the  slightest  degree,  by  that  peculiar  opposition, 
from  the  conservative  yeomanry  of  Westchester- 
county. 

The  Provincial  Convention  duly  assembled  at  the 
Exchange,  in  the  City  of  Xew  York,  on  the  twentieth 
of  April,  1775,  the  Counties  of  New  York,  Albany, 
Ulster,  Orange,  Westchester,  Duchess,  Kings,  Suffolk, 
and  two  Towns  in  (Queens,  being,  more  or  less,  repre- 
sented by  Delegates — of  the  Delegation  which  had 


"  This  very  important  paper  was  published  in  Itiritiglon' s  Xeic-YorTc 
ClazMecy,  No.  105,  XEw-Yovk,  Thursday,  April  20,  1775,  and,  in  Gaine's 
yeiv-York  (lazelle  :  and  the  W\Mij  Memirij,  No.  1227,  Xew-York,  Mon- 
day.April  17th,  1775. 

The  entire  paper,  including  the  signatures,  as  thev  appear  in  the  text, 
was  very  carefully  copied  from  the  original  publication,  in  Jiivhigtons 
XeK-Yorl:  Gazetteer,  already  referred  to. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  Westchester-county  will 
recognize,  among  the  signers  to  th\s  Protest,  members  of  a  great  number 
'  of  the  leading  families  of  that  ancient  County. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


251 


been  elected  by  the  Meeting  at  the  White  Plains,  all 
were  present,  except  Colonel  James  Holmes  and 
Jonathan  Piatt. 

After  spending  nearly  two  days  in  the  adjustment 
of  its,  sometimes,  very  questionable  membership,^ 
Isaac  Low  and  Jolin  Haring,  who  had  been  members 
of  the  preceding  Congress,  having  declined  re-elec- 
tions, the  Convention  adopted  a  Eesolution  re-elect- 
ing Philip  Livingston,  James  Duane,  John  Jay,  and 
John  Alsop,  all  of  the  City  of  New  York  ;  Simon 
Boerum,  of  Kings-county;  William  Floyd,  of  Suffolk ; 
and  Henry  Wisner,  of  Orange-county ;  all  of  whom 
had  been  Members  of  that  Congress ;  and  added  to 
them.  Colonel  Philip  Schuyler,  of  Albany-county ; 
George  Clinton,  of  Ulster-county ;  Colonel  Lewis  Mor- 
ris, of  Westchester-county ;  Robert  R.  Livingston, 
Junior,  of  Duchess  county  ;  and  Francis  Lewis,  of  the 
City  of  New  York ;  as  Delegates  from  the  Colony  of 
New  York  to  the  second  Congress  of  the  Continent ; 
and,  on  Saturday,  the  twenty-second  of  April,  after 
the  Credentials  of  the  Delegates-elect  had  been  signed 
by  every  member  of  the  Convention,'  that  body  hav- 
ing been  called  for  the  single  purpose  of  electing 
Delegates  to  the  Congress,  it  was  adjourned,  sine 
die? 

The  movement  of  the  Royal  troops  from  Boston  to 
Concord ;  the  reckless  slaughter  of  unresisting  Colo- 
nists who  had  a.ssembled  on  the  Green,  at  Lexington, 

I  Among  the  very  paltrj-  Cn  ilrnlialu  which  were  generally  presented 
by  those  who  aspired  to  seats  in  that  Convention,  those  which  were  pre- 
sented by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Junior,  Egbert  Benson,  and  Morris 
Graham — the  latter  a  kinsman  of  the  Morrises  of  Morrisania — were  de- 
cidedly the  shabbiest.  Throngh  tliem,  however,  a  Livingston  and  a 
Benson  crept  into  place  and  authority. 

-The  peculiar  words  with  which  those  ('mhnluil^  closed,  very  clearly 
indicate  the  ix)litical  status  of  the  Colony,  at  the  date  of  that  Convention. 
They  were  these  .  .  .  "  were  unanimously  elected  Delegates  to  represent 
"this  Colony  at  such  Congress,  with  f\ill  power  to  them  or  any  five  of 
**  them,  to  meet  the  Delegates  from  the  other  Colonies  and  to  concert 
"  and  determine  upon  such  measures  as  shall  be  judged  most  effectual 
"for  the  preservation  and  re  establishnieut  of  .American  Kights  and 
"  Privileges,  and  for  the  restoration  of  harmony  between  (ireat  Britain 
"and  the  Colonies."— (Joii™«I  «/ </i«  Cuitniilitni,  "Die  Sabatti,  11  hora 
"a.  m.  April,  22nd,  1775.") 

'  The  JoHriiuJ  of  this,  the  first,  Provincial  Co'ivenlion  of  the  Colony, 
was  "  printed  in  pursuance  of  a  Resolution  of  the  Legislature,"  in  1842  ; 
and  it  has  been  our  authority,  in  whatever  lias  been  stated,  in  the  text, 
concerning  that  body. 

See,  also,  deLanceys'  Sutes  to  Jones's  HiMnrij  nf  Xrir  York  iluriug  the 
Uemlntiniinrij  War,  i.,  480,  487  ;  Pitkin's  HUlnrij  nf  llir  l  iiittd  tValeit,  i., 
32.'>;  Hildreth's  Htxlurij  < if  the  I'liiteil  States,  First  Series,  iii.,  72  ;  etc. 

Judge  Jones,  {HUton/  nf  Xeic  Vwt,  i.,  38,  39,')  strangely  supposed  the 
Members  to  the  Congress  were  elected  by  the  several  Counties  — those 
from  the  City  of  New  York,  at  that  promiscuous  mass  Meeting,  at  the 
Exchange,  of  which  an  account  has  been  already  presented.  Bancroft, 
with  all  the  authorities'  licfore  him.  {Hixlnrii  of  the  I'tiile'l  Slates,  original 
edition,  vi.,  283  ;  the  smue,  centenary  edition,  iv.,  ^t\3,)  made  all  "  the  ru- 
"  ral  Counties,"  without  exception,  "co-operate  with  the  City,  "  in  elect- 
ing the  Deputies,  although  Richmond,  all  of  Queens  except  two  Towns, 
Tyron,  Cumberland  and  Charlotte-counties,  made  no  pretension  so  send 
Deputies.  lie  said,  also,  that  all  the  members  of  the  former  Congress, 
"except  the  luke-warm  Isaac  Low,  "  were  re-elected  :  both  Isaac  Low 
and  John  Haring,  both  of  them  members  of  that  Congress,  declineil  re- 
elections,  notwithstanding  the  Convention  desired  to  return  them. 
Lossing,  i,Fi«  Iil-y.'"«t  nj  the  Ue,  „liitum,  )  appears  to  have  reganled  the  action 
of  Kew  York,  concerning  the  second  Congress,  as  too  insignificant  to  be 
worthy  of  even  a  {Kissing  allusion. 


and  of  those  who  were  retiring  from  that  place  ;  *  the 
destruction  of  the  Provincial  stores,  at  Concord;  the 
collision  of  the  raiders  with  the  excited  Colonists, 
while  on  their  retreat,  from  Concord  to  Boston  ;  the 
disastrous  result  of  that  retreat ;  the  intense  excite- 
ment into  which  the  entire  Continent  was  consequent- 
ly plunged  ;  the  entire  disregard  of  the  Royal  author- 
ity, in  the  City  of  New  York,  which  immediately 
followed  ;  the  temporary  fortification  of  the  pass,  at 
Kingsbridge  ;  and  the  control,  within  the  City,  which 
the  Committee  of  Inspection  necessarily  a.s.sumed,  are, 
all  of  them,  matters  of  history,  known  to  all  intelli- 
gent persons,  and  need  not  be  repeated,  in  this 
place. 

The  intelligence  of  that  commencement  of  military 
operations,  in  the  field,  was  received  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  on  Sunday,  the  twenty-third  of  April  ;^ 
and,  at  a  Meeting  of  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  on 
the  following  Wednesday,  that  body,  among  other 
proceedings,  resolved  that  "this  Committee  is  further 
"unanimously  of  opinion,  that,  at  the  present  alarm- 
"  ing  juncture,  it  is  highly  advisable  that  a  Provincial 
"  Congress  be  immediately  summoned ;  and  that  it  be 
"  recommended  to  the  Freeholders  and  Freemen  of 
"  this  City  and  County,  to  choose,  at  the  same  time 
"that  they  vote  for  the  new  Committee  aforesaid," 
"  twenty  Deputies  to  represent  them  at  the  said  Con- 
"  gress ;  and  that  a  Letter  be  forthwith  prepared  and 
"  despatched  to  all  the  Counties,  requesting  them  to 
"  unite  with  us  in  forming  a  Provincial  Congress,  and 
"  to  appoint  their  Deputies  without  delay,  to  meet  at 
"  New  York,  on  Monday,  the  twenty-second  of  May 
"  next." ' 


*  Notwithstanding  the  unaccountable  display  of  armed  men,  on  tho 
Green,  no  attempt  whatever  was  made,  by  any  of  them,  to  ojipoae  the 
march  of  the  Royal  Tri)ops  ;  and  when  they  were  ordered  to  disperse, 
they  did  disperse,  all  of  them  seeking  safety  in  running  away,  as  fast 
as  they  could  go.  While  they  were  thus  running  away,  the  Royal 
troops  opened  a  fire  on  them,  with  tlis  result  which  is  known  to  the 
wcrld.  It  is  positively  and  authoritatively  stated,  that,  with  the  ex- 
ception, the  only  exception,  of  one,  who,  when  "  he  was  at  some 
"distance" — out  of  harm's  way — turned  and  "gave  them  the  guts 
"of  his  gun,"  not  a  single  gun  was  tired  by  the  Colonists.  Those 
curious  to  learn  more  on  that  subject — that  "  Battle  "  in  which  one  of 
the  parties  did  all  the  firing,  and  the  other  all  the  KUNMNt; — may  find 
the  testimony  in  Dawson's  Jlnttles  of  the  I'nited  Stateif  hij  Sea  and  Ijmd^ 
.\rticle  "Lexix(;ton  C'o.vcoBn;"     Force's   American  Archives, 

Fourth  Series,  ii.,  489-601  ;  etc. 

5  The  most  grapliic  account  of  the  proceedings,  in  the  City  of  New- 
Y'ork,  on  that  memorable  Sunday,  as  far  as  we  have  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  is  that  presented  by  Judge  Jones,  in  his  Hittunj  o  f  Xeic  York 
diirinij  the  ReroUilionnni  War,  (i.,  39-41.) 

<>  The  Committee  of  Inspection  had  recommended  the  dissolution  of 
that  Committee,  because  it  was  invested  with  [wwers  respecting  only  the 
"  ,Uxocm/i")j  "  of  the  Continental  C<!ngre88  ;  and  it  had  also  recom- 
mended the  election  of  a  new  C'ommitli-e  of  one  hundred  penwjns,  thirty- 
three  of  whom  should  be  a  quorum,  all  of  whom  should  retire  and  the 
Committee  be  "  dissolved  within  a  fortnight  next  after  the  end  of  the 
I  "next  Session  of  the  Continental  Congress." 

I  The  "Committee  of  One  hundred,"  which  was  thus  called,  snbse- 
I  quently  became  the  lo<'al  Conimitteo  of  the  Revolutionary  element,  in 

the  City  of  New  York,  and  well  known  to  every  student  of  the  history 

of  that  period. 

"Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  "  Wednesclay,  April  20, 
I   "  1775." 


252 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Inasmuch  as  the  City  and,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
the  Colony  were  practically  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  the 
Colonial  Government  being  confessedly  unable  to  do 
anything,  even  for  the  maintenance  of  a  shadow  of  its 
official  dignity  and  authority,'  the  calmness  and 
ability  with  which  the  Committee  controlled  the  ex- 
citable masses,  within  the  City — those  who  had  been 
schooled,  for  many  years,  in  acts  of  lawless  violence 
and  destruction,  and  whose  organization  and  leader- 
ship had  not  been  disturbed, — were  peculiarly  note- 
worthy and  entitled  to  the  highest  praise ;  and,  under 
the  circumstances  which  then  existed,  which  clearly 
indicated  that  the  Colonial  General  Assembly  would 
not  re-assemble  on  the  third  of  May,  to  which  day  it 
had  adjourned,  there  was  an  exisiing  necessity  that 
some  other  body,  possessing  a  general  influence, 
should  be  assembled,  in  its  stead,  for  the  control  of 
the  excited  revolutionary  elements,  if  not  to  lead 
them  ;  and  the  call  for  a  Provincial  Congress,  thus 
published,  was,  therefore,  under  the  existing  circum- 
stances, both  prudent  and  praiseworthy. 

It  is  proper,  however,  that  notice  should  be  taken, 
in  this  connection,  of  the  fact  that,  during  the  entire 
j)eriod  preceding  the  publication  of  that  call  for  a 
Provincial  Congress,  there  had  been  a  wholesome  fear, 
among  all  classes,  unless  the  most  radical  and  reck- 
less, that  such  a  body,  called  and  organized  without 
warrant  in  law  and  liable  to  become  controlled  by 
those  who  would  be  inclined  to  resort  to  the  most 
violent  measures,  notwithstanding  the  pretensions  and 
professions  of  thqse  who  promoted  the  call  for  such 
a  body,  would  soOn  become  more  oppressive  than  the 
Colonial  Government,  administered  agreeably  to  law, 
by  the  legally  constituted  officers,  had  ever  been  or 
could  thenceforth  become.  They  referred,  especially, 
in  support  of  their  fears,  to  the  Colony  of  South 
Carolina,  where  such  a  Congress  had  superseded  the 
Colonial  Legislature  ;  and  they  called  attention  to  the 

-  Judge  Jones,  who  was  on  tlie  Bencli  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Colony,  said  that  a  meeting  of  His  JIajesty's  Council  was  held  at  Lieu- 
tenant-governor C'olden's  house,  on  the  afternoon  of  that  Sunday  which 
has  been  made  niemorahle,  in  historj" ;  and  that  the  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  Colony,  the  Attorney-general  of  the  Colony,  the 
Mayor  and  Kecorder  of  the  City,  and  the  Field-oflicers  of  the  City  Militia, 
were  present,  on  invitation.  "  The  Governor  desired  their  advice  in  the 
"  then  critical  situation  of  affaii-s.  Several  things  were  mentioned,  pro- 
"  posed,  agitated,  and  talked  of,  but  to  little  purpose.  .\  Judge  of  the 
"Supreme  Court,''  ['ritomas  Joni%  who  wrote  thii  statement,]  "then 
"present,  boldly  proposed  that  the  Militia  should  be  called  out,  the 
"  Riot  .\ct  read,  and  if  the  mob  did  not  tliereupon  disperse,  to  apprehend 
"  and  imprison  the  ringleaders,  and  by  such  coercive  means  to  secure 
' '  the  peace  of  tlie  City.  Tliis  proposal  was  instantly  opposed  by  William 
"  Smith,  one  of  liis  Majesty's  Council,  who  openly  declared  '  that  the 
' ' '  ferment  which  then  raged  in  the  City  wa;*  general  and  not  confined  to 
"  '  a  few  ;  that  it  was  owing  to  a  design  in  the  British  Ministry  to  en- 
"  'slave  the  Colonies,  and  to  carry  such  design  into  execution  by  dint  of 
"  *a  military  force  ;  that  the  Battle  of  Lexington  was  looked  upon  as 
"  *a  prelude  to  such  intention;  and  that  the  spirit  then  prevailing  in 
"  *  the  Town  (which  he  represented  as  universal)  would  subside  as  soon 
"  '  as  the  gricLvances  of  the  people  were  redressed  ;  and  advised  to  let 
"  'the  populace  act  as  they  pleased ' — Nobody  replied,  the  times  were 
"  critical,  a  declaratijn  of  one's  sentiments  might  be  dangerous,  the 
"  Council  broke  up,  and  nothing  was  done." — (Hhlory  of  Sew  Yorh 
during  the  lieeohttimiarif  Tl'ar,  i.  41.) 


fact  that,  there,  the  entire  machinerj'  of  the  Colonial 
Government  had  been  stopped ;  the  Courts  had  been 
closed ;  and  decrees  of  the  most  oppressive  character 
had  been  enacted ;  and  these,  not  by  the  Colonial 
Government  nor  by  those  who  were  peculiarly  sup- 
porters of  the  authority  of  the  King,  but  by  those  who 
had  assumed  to  lead  the  popular  movement,  who  had 
utilized  the  project  of  a  Provincial  Convention  or 
Congress  as  a  more  powerful  instrumentality  for  the 
acquirement  of  authority  which  they  had  not  previ- 
ously possessed,  for  the  establishment  of  systems  of 
government  which  were  neither  practical  nor  useful, 
and  for  the  gratification  of  malice  and  revenge,  be- 
tween individuals  and  communities,  all  of  them  done, 
too,  in  the  name  of  "  Liberty  "  and  the  "  Rights  of  the 
"  Colonies,"  with  violent  denunciations  of  tyranny  and 
official  oppression,  per  se,  and  with  solemn  appeals  to 
Heaven,  as  guaranties  of  the  self-assumed  righteous- 
ness and  of  the  good  intentions  of  the  self-constituted 
and  lawless  oppressors.-  Reference  was  also  made  to 
other  instances,  in  other  Colonies,  in  which  the  rev- 
olutionary elements,  regardless  of  all  law,  human  or 
divine,  and  governed  only  by  their  own  unbridled 
wills  and  for  their  own  individual  purposes,  had  be- 
come more  oppressive  than  those  Colonial  Govern- 
ments had  been,  against  whom  the  full  force  of  the 
revolutionary  opposition  had  been  so  noisily  hurled  ; 
j  and  it  was  peculiarly  noticeable,  in  the  greater  number, 
;  if  not  in  all,  such  instances,  that  the  most  violent  and 
lawless  of  those  who  were  most  reckless  of  the  rights 
of  individuals,  were  those  demagogues  who,  previously 
to  the  uprising,  had  been  most  unmindful  of  the  com- 
plaints of  the  masses — those  of  the  "poor  reptiles"  of 
their  estimates — and  most  sycophantic  in  their  zeal 
for  the  promotion  of  the  pretensions  of  the  Colonial 
and  Home  Governments. 

That  serious  distrust,  among  thoughtful  men,  to 


1  The  Provincial  Congress  of  South  Carolina  assembled  at  Charleston, 
on  Wednesday,  the  eleventh  of  January,  17T5,  and  adjourned  on  Tues- 
day, the  seventeenth  of  the  same  month.  Besides  approving  the  doings 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  it  forbade  the  commencement  of  any 
Action  for  Debt,  and  the  prosecution  of  any  such  Action  as  had  been 
commenced  since  the  preceding  September,  unless  with  the  consent  of 
the  Committee  of  the  Parish  in  which  the  Defendant  resided;  "that 
"  Seizures  and  Sales  upon  Mortgages  should  be  considered  on  the  same 
"  footing  as  Actions  for  Debts ;  "  "that  no  Summons  should  be  issued 
"  by  any  Magistrate,  in  small  and  mean  Causes,  without  the  like  con- 
"  sent  of  the  Parish  Committee  ;  "  that  "  compensation  should  be  made 
"  by  those  who  raise  articles  which  may  be  exported  "  [which^  ngreetthly 
to ///c  Association  of  the  Conthieuttil  Congress,  u-us  ontii  llice]  "  to  tho«« 
"  who  cannot  raise  such  articles,  for  the  losses  which  they  may  sustain 
"by  not  exporting  the  commodities  theyraise,"  "thatif  the  Exportation 
"  of  Rice  should  be  continued  "  [under  the  eM:eption,  in  its  favor,  lehich  the 
Continental  Congress  had  iiinrff]  "one-third  of  the  Kice  made  in  the 
"  Colony  should  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  Committees"  appointed  to 
receive  it,  for  the  public  use,  at  prices  named  by  the  Congress,  and  pay- 
able in  the  paper  currency  of  the  Colony,  which  was  depreciated  to  seven 
for  one  of  specie  ;  and  other  decrees  of  the  most  oppressive  characters. 

Descriptions  of  that  Provincial  Congress  and  of  its  remarkable  methods 
and  still  more  remarkable  doings,  may  be  seen  in  Ramsay's  History  of  the 
Itevolution  in  tiiwth  Carolina,  i.,  23-25;  Drayton's  Memoirs  of  the  Ameri- 
can lierolution  as  relating  to  South  Oirolina,  i.,  166-180  ;  etc. 

See,  also,  Journal  of  the  Congress,  re-printed  in  Force's  American 
Arehires,  Fourth  Series,  i.,  1100-1118. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


253 


which  reference  has  been  made  in  connection  with 
the  call  for  a  Provincial  Congress,  was  greatly 
strengthened,  immediately  after  the  receipt  of  the  in- 
telligence of  the  military  expedition  to  Concord,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  intense  excitement  which  then 
prevailed  throughout  the  City,  by  the  inroad  into  the 
County  of  Westchester  and  the  City  of  New  York,  of 
a  large  number  of  men,  from  Connecticut,  who  had 
come  on  their  own  motion,  unsolicited  b}'  any  one  in  ; 
New  York  or  elsewhere ;  without  the  slightest  author- 
ity from  the  Government  of  their  own  Colony  ;  and, 
evidently,  bent  on  nothing  else  than  to  be  present  to 
share  in  the  distribution  of  the  booty  which  an  evi-  j 
dently  expected  general  overturning  of  the  homes  j 
and  the  business-othces  and  warehouses  of  that  City 
would  have  placed  within  their  reach.  They  lived, 
on  their  way  through  Westchester-county  as  well  as 
while  they  were  within  the  City,  entirely  on  their 
wits  and  on  the  products  of  their  wits,  professing  to 
have  come  only  "  with  a  view  of  aiding  and  assisting 
"  us  in  preijaring  for  our  defense  ;"  but  their  reckless 
arrogance  and  audacity,  in  their  assumption  of 
authority  in  local  afiairs  as  well  as  in  other  matters, 
in  which  they  were  evidently  sustained  by  some  of 
the  more  desperate  of  the  leaders  of  the  revolutionary 
faction,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  which  were  made 
matters  of  record,  had  they  not  been  only  earlier 
specimens  of  the  peculiarly  "New  England  ideas  "  i 
which,  subsequently,  became  so  common  and  so 
well  known,  would  have  been  regarded,  by  those  of 
later  periods,  as  unaccountable,  if  not  impossible.* 
Thoughtful  men,  therefore,  had  abundant  reason  for 
reflection ;  and  men  of  property  needed  to  provide 
for  the  security  of  their  possessions ;  and  peaceful 
men  and  heads  of  families  did  well,  when  they  sought 
shelter  in  distant  parts  of  the  country,  while  there 
were  so  many  and  such  portentous  warnings  of  the 
ills  which  were  so  evidently  and  so  rapidly  approach- 
ing, i 
The  excitement  and  bitterness  of  factional  strife,  j 
not  always  of  a  purely  political  character,  with  which  j 
the  City  of  New  York  had  been  unceasingly  afflicted,  j 
during  several  years  preceding  the  period  now  under 
consideration,  had  tended  to  the  serious  disturbance 
of  the  individual  and  social  relations  of  many  of  those 
who  lived  in  that  City ;  and  the  political  annals  of 
that  period  afford  ample  testimony  to  the  fact  that  | 
terrorism,  there,  one  of  the  reasonable  results  of  the 
existing  excitement,  was  prevalent,  audacious,  and 
unchecked  by  those  in  authority.  The  County  of  j 
Westchester,  in  her  rural  contentment,  as  has  been 
seen  in  other  portions  of  this  narrative,  had  contin-  j 
ued,  during  the  entire  period  of  that  earlier  revolu- 
tionary era,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  to  enjoy  peace 
and  good-will  among  her  inhabitants ;  but  the  Meet- 
ing at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  eleventh  of  April, 


I  Pnctedingt  of  tha  Committee  of  One  hundred,  .\(^ourned  Meetiog,  May 
3,  1775  ;  Leakt:*s  2demoir  of  General  John  Lamb,  103  ;  etc. 


and  the  military  Expedition  to  Concord,  on  the  nine- 
teenth of  that  month,  with  their  respective  trains  of 
discord  and  malevolence,  appear  to  have  rapidly  dis- 
turbed that  ([uiet  and  neighborly  feeling  which  had 
previously  prevailed,  and  to  have  originated  that 
reign  of  terror,  throughout  that  County,  which,  sub- 
sequently, distinguished  it  so  highly  in  the  annals  of 
partisan  strife.  History  has  recorded  two  notable 
instances  of  that  rapidly  develoi)ed,  so  called,  "  pub- 
'"lic  opinion,"  among  the  new-born  and,  consecjuently, 
unnaturally  zealous  "fire-eaters"  of  that  ancient  and 
orderly  County ;  and  they  may  properly  find  atten- 
tion, at  this  time,  not  only  as  portions  of  the  history 
of  Westchester-county,  during  the  era  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  but  as  instances  of  the  dangers  which 
attend  an  unchecked  zeal,  even  when  exercised  in 
behalf  of  what  may  be  regarded  as  purely  commend- 
able purposes. 

The  first  of  these  acts  of  terrorism,  exercised  by 
the  rampant  revolutionary  elements  in  Westchester- 
county,  was  that  in  the  case  of  Jonathan  Fowler  and 
George  Cornwell,  two  respectable  residents  of  the 
County,  both  of  whom  had  signed  the  Declaraiion 
and  Protest,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  eleventh  of 
April,  as  well  as  the  Eesolves  which  were  referred  to, 
in  that  Declaration  and  Protest,  both  of  whom  were 
compelled  by  that,  so  called,  "  public  opinion,"  to  pub- 
lish a  recantation  of  their  evidently  well-considered 
political  opinions,  which  was  done  in  the  following 
words,  carefully  copied  from  the  original  publication,  in 
Gaine's  New- York  Gazette:  and  the  Weekly  Mercury, 
No.  1229,  New- York,  Monday,  May  1,  1775: 

"To  THE  Printer. 

"  "\TTE  tlie  subscribers  do  hereby  make  this 
YV  public  Declaration,  That  whereas  we 
"  and  several  others  in  Westchester-County,  having 
"  signed  a  certain  Number  of  Resolves,  which  at  the 
"  Time  of  our  said  signing,  we  deemed  Constitutional, 
"  and  as  having  a  Tendency  to  promote  the  Interest 
"of  our  Country;  but  since,  upon  mature  Delibera- 
"  tion,  and  more  full  Knowledge  of  the  Matter,  find 
"  not  only  injurious  to  our  present  Cause,  but  like- 
"  wise  offensive  to  our  Fellow  Colonists.  We  do 
"  therefore  thus  publicly  testify  our  Abhorrence  of 
"  the  same,  and  declare  ourselves  Friends  to  the  Colo- 
"  nies,  and  ever  ready  cheerfully  to  exert  ourselves 
"in  the  Defence  and  Preservation  of  the  same. 

"  Jonathan  Fowler,  Esq. 

"  George  Corxweli.,  Esti. 

"  29th  April,  1775." 

As  both  the  signers  of  that  recantation  were  evi- 
dently intelligent  men,  one  of  them  having  been,  at 
that  time,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  of  the  County,  it  is  not  probable  that 'they  had 
signed  those  Resolves — no  mention  having  been  made 
of  the  Declaration  and  Protest — without  having  under- 
stood the  effect  of  their  action  on  "  the  common  cause;" 


254 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  the  offence  which  thej^  had  given  \o  their  neigh- 
bors, or  to  such  of  them  as  could  inflict  injurj'  on 
them  or  on  their  property,  was  clearly  the  cause 
which  produced  their  recantation. 

The  second  of  those  acts  of  terrorism,  to  which  ref- 
erence has  been  made,  was  that  in  the  case  of  Isaac 
^Vilkins,  that  leading  Member  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  ColoTiy,  in  its  contest  with  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment; that  very  able  "A.  W.  Farmer  "  who, 
with  his  pen,  had  aroused  so  much  indignation  ;  and 
that  spokesman  of  the  protestants,  at  the  Meeting  at 
the  White  Plains,  with  whom  the  reader  is  well  ac- 
quainted. That  gentleman,  in  order  to  secure  his 
personal  safc-ty,  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  home 
and  family,  and  to  take  refuge  in  England.  On  the 
€ve  of  his  dejjarture,  while  he  was  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  he  wrote  the  following  touching  address  to  his 
countrymen,  which  has  been  carefully  copied  from 
Rivington's  Xew-  York  Gazetteer,  No.  108,  New-York, 
Thui-sday,  May  11,  1775  : 

■"My  Countrymen: 

"  Before  I  leave  America,  the  land  I  love,  and  in 
"  which  is  contained  everything  that  is  valuable  and 
"  dear  to  me,  my  wife,  my  children,  my  friends,  and 
^'property;  permit  me  to  make  a  short  and  faithful 
"  declaration,  which  I  am  induced  to  do  neither 
"through  fear,  nor  a  consciousness  of  having  acted 
"wrong.  An  honest  man,  and  a  Christian,  hath  noth- 
^'ing  to  apprehend  from  this  world.  God  is  my  judge, 
"  and  God  is  my  witness,  that  all  I  have  done,  written, 
"  or  said,  in  relation  to  the  present  unnatural  dispute 
"between  Great  Britain  and  her  Colonies,  proceeded 
'■'  froni  an  honest  intention  of  serving  my  country. 
"  Her  welfare  and  prosperity  were  the  objects  towards 
•"  which  all  my  endeavours  have  been  directed.  They 
"are  still  the  sacred  objects  which  I  shall  ever  stead- 
"  ily  and  invariably  keep  in  view :  And  when  in 
"  England,  all  the  influence  that  so  inconsiderable 
"  a  man  as  I  am,  can  have,  shall  be  exerted  in  her 
"  behalf 

"  It  has  been  my  constant  maxim  through  life,  to 
^'  do  my  duty  conscientiously,  and  to  trust  the  issue  of 
"  my  actions  to  the  Almighty. — May  that  God  in 
"  whose  hands  are  all  events,  speedily  restore  peace 
"  and  liberty  to  my  unhappy  country.  May  Great- 
"  Britain  and  America  be  soon  united  in  th^  bands  of 
"  everlasting  amity  :  and  when  united,  may  they  con- 
"  tinue  a  free,  a  virtuous,  and  happy  nation  to  the 
^'  end  of  time. 

"I  leave  America,  and  every  endearing  connection, 
"because  I  will  not  raise  my  hand  against  my  Sover- 
"eign, — nor  will  I  draw  my  sword  against  my  Coun- 
"  try ;  when  I  can  conscientiously  draw  it  in  her 
"  favour,  my  life  shall  be  chearfully  devoted  to  her 
"  service. 

"  Isaac  Wilkins. 

"  New  York, 
"May  3,1775." 


While  these  unwelcome  features  of  the  jjolitical 
movements,  in  Westchester-county,  were  extending 
over  the  entire  community,  Lewis  Morris  was  busily 
employed,  after  his  seat  in  the  forthcoming  Congress 
of  the  Colonies  had  been  secured  beyond  a  peradven- 
ture,  in  an  attempt  to  belittle  the  Declaration  and 
Protest  of  those,  at  the  White  Plains,  who  had  ob- 
jected to  the  proceedings  of  the  Meeting  of  which  he 
was,  there,  the  manager  and  Chairman.  For  that 
purpose,  on  the  seventh  of  May,  he  prepared  an  elab- 
orate reply,  which,  afe^'  days  afterwards,  with  some 
other  historical  material,  he  gave  to  the  newspapers, 
for  publication.  As  an  important  portion  of  the 
local  literature  of  Westchester-county,  of  that  period, 
it  may  properly  find  a  place  in  this  work.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  carefully  prepared  copy  of  it : 

"  To  the  PUBLIC. 

A  Very  extraordinary  paper,  called  a  protest 
ii.  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Freeholders 
"of  the  county  of  West-Chester,  relative  .to  the  elec- 
"  tion  of  deputies  for  the  late  Convention,  and  said  to 
"  have  been  subscribed  by  the  several  persons  whose 
"  names  are  printed  with  it,  was  published  in  Mess. 
"  Rivington  and  Gaine's  Gazetteers,  a  few  weeks 
"  ago. 

"By  whom  this  performance  was  given  to  the  pub- 
"  lie,  is  uncertain,  and  being  as  little  distinguished  by 
"decency  as  by  truth,  there  is  reason  to  suspect,  the 
"  author's  name  will  remain  a  secret. 

"  The  falsities  contained  in  this  representation,  are 
"  too  flagrant  to  impose  upon  any  person  in  this  col- 
"  ony,  and  nothing  but  the  apprehension  of  its  gain- 
"  ing  credit  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  would  have 
"  induced  me  to  have  made  it  the  subject  of  ani- 
"  madversion. 

"  I  shall  pass  over  the  many  little  embellishments 
"  with  which  the  author's  fancy  has  endeavoured  to 
"  decorate  his  narrative;  nor  is  it  necessary  to  call  in 
"question  the  reality  of  that  loyal  enthusiasm,  by 
"  which  it  was  said  these  good  people  were  influenced ; 
"  and  I  really  wish  it  had  been  the  fact,  because  when 
"  inconsistencies  and  fooleries  result  from  inebriety  or 
"  enthusiasm,  they  merit  our  pity,  and  escape  indig- 
"  nation  and  resentment. 

"Much  pains,  I  confess,  were  on  that  day  taken  to 
"  make  temporary  enthusiasts,  aud  with  other  more 
"  e.rhilirating  spu-it,  than  the  spirit  of  loyalty. 

"  To  give  the  appearance  of  dignity  to  these  curious 
"  and  very  orderly  protestors,  the  author  has  been 
"  very  mindful  to  annex  every  man's  addition  to  his 
"  name,  upon  a  presumption  perhaps  that  it  would 
"  derive  weight  from  the  title  of  Mayor,  Esquire,  Cap- 
"  tain.  Lieutenant,  Judge,  &c. 

"  But  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  why  the  publisher 
"  should  be  less  civil  to  the  Clergy  than  to  the  gentry 
"and  commonalty,  Samuel  Seabury  and  Luke  Babcock, 
"  certainly  ought  not  to  have  been  sent  into  the  world 
"  floating  on  a  news  paper  in  that  plain  way, — the 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


255 


'  one  is  the  Reverend  Mr.  Samuel  Seabury,  Rector  of 
'  (he  united  pnrlihes  of  East  and  Went- Chester,  and  one 
'  of  the  Misiionaries  for  propngating  the  gospel,  and 
'  not  POLITICKS,  in  foreign  parts,  &c.,  &c.,  the  other  is 
'  the  Reverend  Mr.  Luke  Babcock,  who  preaches  and 
^  prays  for  Col.  Philips  and  his  tenants  at  Philipsburg. 

"  In  this  formidable  catalogue  of  312  sober  and  loyal 
'  protestors,  there  are  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
'  seventy,  who  after  a  most  diligent  enquiry,  I  cannot 
'  find  have  the  least  pretensions  to  a  vote,  and  indeed 
'  many  of  them  are  lads  under  age.  Their  names  are 
'  as  follows : 


' '  Samuel  Seabury, 
' '  Luke  Babcock, 
'  '  Benjamin  Fowler,  Esq. 
'  '  Joshua  Pell, 
'  '  Edward  Pell, 
'  '  John  Hunt, 
'  '  Gilbert  Horton, 
'  '  Adrian  Leforge, 
'  '  Moses  Williams, 
'  •  Philip  Kelley, 
'  '  James  Haius,  jun. 
'  '  .Matthew  Haias, 
'  '  Bartholomew  Hains, 
'  '  John  Haius, 
'  '  Elijah  Hains, 
'  '  Joseph  Clark, 
'  '  Joseph  Oakly, 
'  '  James  Mott, 
'  '  Daniel  Purdy, 
'  '  John  Crab, 
'  '  Izariah  Whitmore, 
' '  Absalom  Gidney, 
'  '  John  Brown, 
'  '  Jasper  Stivers, 
"  'Peter  M'Farthing, 
'  '  Joshua  Purdy,  jun. 
'  '  Haccalinh  Purdy,  jun. 
'  '  James  Touikins, 
'  '  Gilbert  Thial, 
"  '  AVilliam  Se\en, 
'  '  Thomas  Champeniers, 
"  '  John  Champeniers, 
"  '  Eliazer  Hart, 
"  '  James  Hunt, 
"  '  Joshua  Parker, 
'  '  Joshua  Barnes, 
"  '  John  Park, 
"  '  Samuel  Purdy, 
"  '  Gilbert  Purdy, 
••  '  James  Chalterton, 
"  '  Thomas  Cromwell, 
"  '  Solomon  Horton, 


Timothy  Purdy, 
James  M'Guire, 
James  Regnaw, 
Samuel  Purdy, 
Sylvanus  Purdy, 
AVilliam  Dalton, 
Elijah  Tomkins, 
Charles  Lawrence, 
Joshua  Purdy,  junr. 
James  Snitfen,  junr. 
Peter  Bonet, 
Peter  Fashee, 
Jesse  Lawrence, 
AVilliam  Sniden, 
Solomon  Dean, 
Thomas  Hiat, 
■William  Woodward, 
John  Whitmore, 
William  Underbill, 
Nehemiah  Tomkins, 
Henry  Lefovge, 
F.vert  Brown, 
Benjamin  Beyea, 
John  Lorce, 
Elnatban  Appleby, 
John  Baker, 
Jonathan  Underbill, 
James  M'Chain, 
Joshua  Hunt, 
Bates  Chatterdon, 
William  Londrine, 
Dennis  Kennedy, 
James  Hains, 
Andrew  Bainton, 
Nathaniel  Tomkins, 
Caleb  Archer, 
Benjamin  Bugbe, 
Francis  Purdy, 
William  Odell, 
Israel  Hunt, 
Thomas  Tomkins, 
Frederick  Underbill, 


"  '  Nathaniel  Underbill,  jun.  Peter  Post, 


"  '  Philip  Fowler, 
"  'John  M'Farthing, 
"  '  Jacob  Post, 
"  '  James  Baxter, 
"  '  John  Hart, 
"  '  Cornelius  Losee, 


Benjamin  M'Cord, 
John  Williams, 
John  .Aekeman, 
Peter  Rusting, 
Jeremiah  Hunter, 
Abraham  Storm, 


'  Jesse  Park, 
'  Roger  Purdy,  jun. 
'  Gilbert  Pugsley, 
'  Abraham  Lediau, 
'  Benjamin  Brown, 
'  Aaron  Buis, 
'  John  Baizley, 
'  David  Oakley,  jun. 
'  Isaac  Smith, 
'  John  Hyatt, 
'  Abraham  Odell, 
'  Thomas  Lawrence, 
'  John  Seyson, 
' '  Isaac  Forsheu, 
'  Gabriel  Requeaw, 
'  Gabriel  Archer, 
' '  Elias  Secord, 
'  '  James  Peirce, 
' '  Edward  Bugbe, 
' '  Daniel  Haight, 
'  '  John  Hunt,  junr. 
' '  Abraham  Losee, 
'  '  Isaac  Tomkins, 
' '  Joseph  Paulding, 
'  '  Hendricus  Storm, 
'  '  Francis  Secord, 
'  '  John  Parker, 
'  '  Gilbert  Bates, 
'  '  David  Purdy, 
' '  David  Bleecker, 
'  '  Jordan  Downing, 
'  '  Corn.  Van  Tassell, 
' '  Joseph  Appleby, 
' '  Patrick  Gary, 
'  '  Gilbert  Ward, 
'  '  William  Dunlap, 


Peter  Jeniiing, 

John  Gale, 
John  Smith, 
James  Hart,  junr. 
Jonathan  Purdy,  junr. 
Monmouth  Hart,  junr. 
Christopher  Purdy, 
Gabriel  Purdy, 
Edward  Merrit,  junr. 
Henry  Disborough, 
William  Van  Wart, 
Abraham  Storm, 
Thomas  Berry, 
Charles  Merit, 
Benjamin  Griffen, 
James  Angevine, 
Jeremiah  Anderson,  junr. 
William  Barker,  junr. 
Gideon  Arden, 
Joshua  Purdy, 
George  Storm, 
Jacob  Vermiller, 
Samuel  Heusted, 
John  Warner, 
John  Storm, 
Joshua  Secord, 
John  Underbill, 
William  Underbill,  junr. 
James  Hill, 
AVilliam  Watkins, 
Richard  Baker, 
Bishop  Ileustice, 
Jeremiah  Hitchcock, 
William  Bond, 
Samuel  Sneden, 
Joshua  Ferriss.' 


"  Of  the  others  who  are  Freeholders,  many  also 
"  hold  lands  at  will  of  Col.  Philips,  so  that  the  truth 
"  really  is,  that  very  few  independent  Freeholders  ob- 
"  jected  to  the  appointment  of  Deputies. 

"  Lewis  Mokbis. 

"  morrisania, 
"  May  7,  1775."  ' 

It  will  be  seen  that,  with  more  than  his  usual 
shrewdness,  Lewis  Morris  postponed  his  attempt  to 
reply  to  the  Declaration  and  Protest  which  had  been 
made,  some  weeks  previously,  by  those  who  had  ob- 
jected to  the  Meeting  at  the  White  Plains,  until  after 
his  brother-in-law,  Isaac  Wilkitis,  who  had  led  those 
protestants,  and  who  was  known  to  have  been  the 

I  This  notable  paper,  except  the  list  of  names,  was  published  in  Kiv- 
ingl-'u'4  X'-ir- York  Oazelleer,  No.  108,  Xew-York,  Thursilay,  May  11, 
1775  :  and  the  names  were  published  in  the  next  numtwr  of  that  paper 
— Xo.  109,  Xew-Yobk,  Thursday,  May  18,  1775  ;  the  text  of  the  article 
was  published  in  Maine's  .Veir-  York  Gazelle :  u>i<l  the  Weekly  Mercury, 
Xo.  1231,  Xew-Yobk,  Monday,  May  15,  1775 — although  promise  was 
made  that  the  names  should  be  published  in  the  succeeding  number, 
they  were  not — and  iMith  the  text  of  the  article  and  the  names  appear  in 
Uolf  s  Xeic-York  Jmmml,  No.  1689,  Xew-Yobk,  May  18,  1775. 

From  the  first-named  of  those  two  pjiiwrs,  the  re-print  of  it,  in  the 
text,  was  very  carefully  made 


256 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


author  of  their  Declaration  and  Protest,  had  left  Amer- 
ica, when  he  knew  that  he  was  probably  secured  from 
challenge  concerning  the  untruthfulness  of  whatever 
he  should  write,  in  that  reply — neither  Samuel  >Sea- 
bury  nor  Luke  Babcock  had  written  anything  con- 
cerning the  political  questions  of  that  period ; '  it  was 
not  thought  they  would  do  so;  and  there  was  no 
other  person,  in  Westchester-county,  whose  pen 
promised  trouble  to  the  new-made  leader,  no  matter 
how  much  that  peculiar  failing  which  had  made  his 
family  conspicuous,  throughout  the  Colony,'-  should 
be  manifested  in  whatever  he  should  write. 

The  relative  merits  of  the  two  papers,  the  Declara- 
tion and  Protest  and  the  reply,  will  be  very  readily 
seen,  by  every  careful  reader.  The  author  of  the 
latter  was  very  profuse  in  his  very  general  charge  of 
"falsities  contained  in  this  representation;"  but  he 
failed  to  specify,  even  a  single  instance  in  which  the 
former  had  presented  an  untruth  ;  and  every  one  will 
perceive  that  he  did  not  except,  from  the  general  im- 
peachment, even  those  portions  of  the  Declaration 
and  Protest  which  agreed,  in  their  recital  of  facts, 
with  his  own  statement  of  those  facts,  contained  in 
the  official  report  of  the  proceedings  of  that  Meeting, 
at  the  White  Plains,  written  over  his  own  signature, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  the  Meeting 
was  held,  and  subsequently  presented  by  him,  to  the 
Provincial  Convention,  as  the  Credentials  through 
which  he  and  his  associates  were  admitted  to  seats  in 
that  body,  as,  nominally,  a  delegation  from  West- 
chester-county— if  the  recital  contained  in  the  one 
was  untruthful,  therefore,  the  similar  recital  con- 
tained in  the  other  was,  necessarily,  quite  as  untrust- 
worthy as  the  other.  He  also  impeached  the  "  de- 
"cency"  of  what  the  Declaration  and  Protest  con- 
tained; but,  again,  he  failed  to  specify  in  what  their 
"  indecency  "  consisted.  He  impeached  the  bona  Jide 
of  the  "  enthusiasm  "  of  the  protestants,  at  the  Plains ; 
but  he  "  confessed,"  and  only  those  who  are  guilty 
•'confess,"  that  his  own  companions,  those  who  had 
given  the  much  coveted  place  and  authority  to  him, 
were  also  noisy,  from  the  effects  of  otlier  Spirits  than 
that  of  loyalty  to  the  King — inasmuch  as  each  of  the 
two  factions,  at  the  Plains,  claimed  to  have  been 
noisy  as  well  as  loyal,  the  author  of  the  reply  had 
little  reason  for  making  such  an  objection,  unless 
he  desired  to  secure  to  his  own  faction  the  credit  of 
making  all  the  noise  and  of  expressing  all  the  loyalty 
which  were  then  produced,  by  any  one.     He  ob- 


1  Mr.  Seabury;  in  hia  Memorial  lo  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut, 
presented  on  the  twentieth  of  December,  1775,  in  reply  to  one  of  the 
four  accusations  which  had  been  made  against  him,  expressly  stated  that 
he  had  not,  at  that  time,  written  any  "pamphlets  and  newspapers 
"against  the  liberties  of  America  ;"  which  effsctually  disproves  much 
that  has  been  written,  on  that  subject,  by  modern  bibliographers. 

2"  This  family  are  so  remarkabU  for  ^enlarging  the  truth,^  that  all 
"stories  suspected  of  not  being  true  are  known  throughout  the  County 
"  of  Westchester,  in  the  City  of  Xew  York,  and  on  the  westernmost  part 
"of  Long  Island,  by  the  name  of  ' Morrisanias.'" — (Jones's  History  of 
Xew  York  during  the  Sevolulionary  War,  i.,  140.) 


jected,  also,  that  the  titles  of  those  who  had  signed 
the  Declaration  and  Protest  were  appended  to  the 
names  of  those  to  whom  they  respectively  belonged ; 
but  a  reference  to  the  official  report  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  that  Meeting,  signed  by  himself  and  evidently 
from  his  own  pen,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
will  show  to  any  one  that  the  specific  titles  of  "  Mr. , " 
"  Esq.,  "  "  Captain,"  "  Major,"  and  "  Colonel,"  were 
added  to  eighteen  of  the  twenty-six  names  which 
that  report  contained — indeed,  he  had  given  the 
distinctive  title  of  "Colonel,"  to  himself,  in  three 
different  places,  in  that  report ;  and  that,  too,  with- 
out a  word  of  apology.  He  insinuated  that  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  of  those  who  had  signed  the  Protest 
were  not  voters — "  alter  the  most  diligent  inquiry, 
"  I  cannot  find  they  have  the  least  pretensions  to 
"vote,"  he  said  ;  adding,  "  and  indeed,  many  of  them 
"are  lads  under  age" — but  he  conveniently  omitted 
to  make  a  direct  and  positive  averment  of  such  a 
want  of  qualification,  in  anyone  of  those  protestants ; 
and  he  also  conveniently  failed  to  designate  which  of 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy  whom  he  named,  in  any 
single  instance,  was  a  minor.  Most  of  all,  he  disre- 
garded the  fact  that  the  Declaration  and  Protest,  to 
which  he  assumed  to  make  a  reply,  had  made  no  pre- 
tension to  having  been  made  exclusively  by  "  Free- 
"  holders,"  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  thus  headed : 
"  We  the  subscribers,  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of 
"the  county  of  Westchester,  having  assembled  at  the 
"  White  Plains,  in  consequence  of  certain  advertise- 
"  ments,"  etc.,  from  which  every  appearance  of  ex- 
clusiveness,  in  the  signers  of  it,  was  expressly  ex- 
cluded. Finally  :  he  impeached  the  "  independence  " 
of  those  of  the  signers  of  that  Protest  who  were  Free- 
holders, by  saying  "  many  also  hold  lands  at  will  un- 
"der  Col.  Philips;  "  but  he  conveniently  forgot  to  tell 
how  a  mere  tenant  at  will  could,  thereby,  become  a 
Freeholder,  or  how  many,  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt, 
who  were  only  tenants  or  who  held  lands  at  the  will 
of  the  Proprietors  of  that  Manor,  had  been  induced 
by  other  causes  than  loyalty  to  those  Proprietors  or 
discontent  with  the  General  Assembly,  to  go  to  the 
White  Plains,  to  assist  into  a  place  in  the  revolu- 
tionary organization,  the  young  member  of  that 
"  patriotic  "  family,  Philip,  on  whom,  a  few  months 
before,  the  Royal  Governor,  William  Tryon,  had 
bestowed  a  Royal  Commission  of  Major,  which  he 
then  bore ;  nor  was  it  convenient  for  the  author  of 
that  reply,  to  state,  therein,  just  how  many  of  the 
tenants  and  other  retainers  of  the  lordly  Lord  of  the 
Manor  of  Morrisania  had  been  induced,  contrary  to 
their  unassisted  inclinations,  to  ride  from  the 
Borough  Town  of  Westchester  to  the  White  Plains, 
on  that  eleventh  of  April,  to  assist  in  the  elevation 
of  himself  into  an  office,  no  matter  what.  The  char- 
acter of  Colonel  Frederic  Philipse,  whom  he  was  so 
swift  to  impeach,  whether  regarded  as  a  man  or  as  a 
gentleman,  as  a  landlord  or  as  a  citizen,  was  quite 
as  pure,  and  quite  as  upright,  and  quite  as  worthy  of 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


257 


respect,  as  was  that  of  Colonel  Lewis  Morris  or  that  of 
any  other  member  of  that  unpopular  family ;  and  his 
practises,  in  private  and  in  public  life,  against  which 
not  even  a  Morris,  in  his  bitterest  mood,  could  say 
a  word  of  open  disrespect,  merited  no  such  fling  from 
the  office-seeking  head  of  the  small,  new-born  revolu- 
tionary faction,  then  in  Westchester-county — from 
one  whose  only  antiigonism  to  the  Colonial  and  Home 
Governments  originated  in  and  was  sustained  by  the 
continued  ill-success  of  the  family  of  which  he  was 
the  head,  in  it«  unceasing  hankering  for  that  official 
station  from  which,  except  in  a  single  notorious  in- 
stance, the  controlling  power  within  the  Colony,  for 
many  years,  had  rigidly  excluded  it. 

At  the  same  time,  and  through  the  same  public 
press  in  which  Lewis  Morris  published  his  reply  to 
the  Declaration  and  Protest,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  he  also  published  the  following  Cards,' 
evidently  the  only  trophies  of  the  kind,  which  he  had 
secured,  during  the  political  campaign  in  which  he 
had  been  engaged,  since  the  publication  of  the  Decla- 
ration and  Protest  had  aroused  his  indignation,  and 
the  withdrawal  of  his  brother-in-law  had  left  him 
without  an  opponent : 

I 

"  rphat  our  names  were  not  subscribed  to  the 
1        "  protest  of  West-Chester,  either  by  our- 
"  selves,  or  our  orders  or  permission,  directly  or  indi- 
"  rectly,  is  certified  by  us,  each  for  himself 

"  Peter  Bussing. 
"Peter  Bussing,  jun. 

"  May  4,  1775." 

II 

"Mr.  Rivington, 

"  I  Did  sign  a  protest,  which  was  printed  in  your 
"  paper ;  but  I  did  so,  because  I  was  told  that  the  in- 
"  tent  of  signing  it  was  to  shew,  that  I  was  for  the 
"  liberties  of  the  country. 

"  Samuel  Baker." 

Ill 

"  North-Castle,  May  8,  1775. 

"  Mr.  Rivington, 

"  rN  your  paper  lately  I  saw  my  name  to  a  pro- 
J.  "  test.  I  never  signed  it,  but  went  into  Capt. 
"  Hatfield's  house,  and  wsis  asked,  whether  I  was  a 
"  Whig  or  a  Tory  ?  I  made  answer,  that  I  did  not 
"  understand  the  meaning  of  those  words,  but  was  for 
"  liberty  and  peace.    Upon  which  somebody  put  down 


^  Bici)tglon't  Xew-Tork  GmeUeer,J^o.lOS,  New-Yoek,  Thursday,  May 
11,  1775. 

Any  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  printers,  in  "  making 
".up  "  the  forms  of  a  newspaper,  for  the  press,  will  understand,  from  the 
places  which  these  three  Cards,  and  the  reply  of  Lewis  Morris  to  the 
Declaration  aitd  Protest  (omitting  the  names),  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
Meeting  at  the  White  Plains — five  distinct  articles  relating  to  Westches- 
ter-county— occupy,  together,  in  the  last  Column  of  the  inside  form  of 
the  paper,  that  they  all  proceeded  from  the  same  hand  ;  and  that  the 
three  Cards  of  recanting  protesters  were,  evidently,  among  the  results 
of  Lewis  Morris's  political  pilgrimage  through  that  County,  in  his  dili- 
gent search  for  protestants  who  were  not,  also,  Freeholders. 

17 


"  my  name.  Now,  Sir,  I  desire  that  you  will  print 
"  this  to  shew  to  the  world,  that  I  have  not  deserved 
"  to  be  held  up  in  the  light  of  a  protestor. 

"Jeremiah  Hunter." 

With  these  four  publications — the  reply  to  the  Dcc- 
laration  and  Protest  and  the  three  Cards  of  recanta- 
tion— as  far  as  Westchester-county  was  concerned, 
the  literature  of  the  first  Provincial  Convention  of 
the  Colony  of  New  York  ended — and,  as  every  farmer 
had  returned  to  his  rural  home,  at  the  close  of  the 
eventful  eleventh  of  April,  and  had  resumed  his  work, 
the  necessary  work  of  the  season,  on  his  farm  or  on  the 
river,  with  the  exceptions,  here  and  there,  of  a  disturbed 
mind,  an  angry  thought,  or  an  unneighborly  resent- 
ment, new  features  in  the  social  life  of  Westchester- 
county  farmers,  the  whole  subject  gradually  became  a 
thing  of  the  past,  fit  only  for  material  for  history. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  action  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Inspection,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  April,  providing  for  its  own  dis- 
solution ;  for  the  election  of  a  new  Committee  of  one 
hundred,  to  occupy  its  place,  in  that  City ;  and  for 
the  organization  of  a  Provincial  Congress,  with  gen- 
eral authority  for  the  government  of  the  entire  Col- 
ony.' For  the  accomplishment  of  the  last-named  of 
those  purposes,  a  Circular  Letter  was  addressed,  by 
the  Chairman  of  that  Committee,  to  the  Committees 
of  those  Counties  in  which  Committees  had  been 
chosen,  and  to  prominent  residents  of  those  Counties 
in  which  Committees  had  not  been  chosen,  inviting 
their  co-operation,  and  recommending  them  to  choose 
Deputies  to  the  proposed  Congress,  the  following 
being  a  copy  of  that  Circular  Letter : 

"CIRCULAR. 
"  Committee  Chamber,  New-York,  April  28,  1775. 
"  Gentlemen, 

"The  distressed  and  alarming  situation  of  our 
"  Country,  occasioned  by  the  sanguinary  measures 
"adopted  by  the  British  Ministry,  (to  enforce  which, 
"  the  Sword  has  been  actually  drawn  against  our 
"  brethren  in  the  Massachusetts),  threatening  to 
"  involve  this  Continent  in  all  the  horrors  of  a  civil 
"  War,  obliges  us  to  call  for  the  united  aid  and  council 
"of  the  Colony,  at  this  dangerous  crisis. 

"Most  of  the  Deputies  who  composed  the  late 
"  Provincial  Congress,  held  in  this  City,  were  only 
"vested  with  powers  to  chose  Delegates  to  represent 
"  the  Province  at  the  next  Continental  Congress, 
"  and  the  Convention  having  executed  that  trust 
"  dissolved  themselves :  It  is  therefore  thought 
"adviseable  by  this  Committee,  that  a  Provincial 
"Congress  be  immediately  summoned  to  deliberate 
"upon,  and  from  time  to  time  to  direct  such  measures 
"  as  may  be  expedient  for  our  common  safety. 

"We  persuade  ourselves,  that  no  argumen's  can 


>  7id<  Pa^  2Sl,  oHff . 


258 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  now  be  wanting  to  evince  the  necessity  of  a  perfect 
"  union ;  and  we  know  of  no  method  in  which 
"the  united  sense  of  the  people  of  the  province  can 
"  be  collected,  but  the  one  now  proposed.  We  there- 
"  fore  entreat  your  County  heartily  to  unite  in  the 
"  choice  of  proper  persons  to  represent  them  at  a 
"  Provincial  Congress  to  be  held  in  this  City  on  the 
"  22d  of  May  next. — Twenty  Deputies  are  proposed 
"  for  this  City,  and  in  order  to  give  the  greater  weight 
"  and  influence  to  the  councils  of  the  Congress,  we 
"  could  wish  the  number  of  Deputies  from  the 
"counties,  may  be  considerable. 

"  We  can  assure  you,  that  the  appointment  of  a 
"Provincial  Congress,'  approved  of  by  the  inhabitants 
"  of  this  city  in  general,  is  the  most  proper  and 
"  salutary  measure  that  can  be  adopted  in  the  present 
"  melancholy  state  of  this  Continent ;  and  we  shall  be 
"  happy  to  find,  that  our  brethren  in  the  different 
"Counties  concur  with  us  in  opinion. 

"  By  order  of  the  Committee. 

"  Isaac  Low,  Chairman."  ^ 

As  there  was  not,  at  that  time,  any  Committee, 
within  the  County  of  Westchester,  unto  whom  that 
Circular  Letter  could  be  sent,  it  was  probably  sent,  as 
that  relating  to  the  proposed  Provincial  Convention 
had  been  sent,  to  some  prominent  resident  of  that 
County,  most  convenient  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  the  City,  for  circulation  in  the  several 
Towns,  throughout  the  County  ;  and,  by  that  local  poli- 
tician,whomsoever  he  may  have  been,  it  may  be  reasona- 
bly supposed  that  those  Circular  Letterswhich  were  thus 
sent  to  him,  were  duly  circulated  "  where  they  would 
"  do  the  most  good,"  for  his  own  interest  and  for  those 
of  his  family.  It  is  said,  however,  that  "  a  general 
"notice,"  inviting  a  Meeting  of  the  Freeholders  of 
the  County,  was  published;  and  history  has  recorded, 
over  the  official  signature  of  the  "Chairman  for  the 
"  day,"  that  such  a  Meeting  was  held,  at  the  White 
Plains,  on  Monday,  the  eighth  of  May,  1775,  "  pur- 
"suant  to  a  general  notice  for  that  purpose,"  James 
Van  Cortlandt,  of  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester, 
occupying  the  Chair.  No  pretensions  were  made,  in 
the  official  report  of  the  Meeting  or  elsewhere,  that  the 
attendance  was  large:  on  the  contrary,  it  is  very 
probable  that  not  more  than  two  dozens  were  present. 
Whatever  the  number  may  have  been,  it  assumed  to 
be  the  representative  of  all  who  were,  then,  within  the 
County,  of  every  condition  in  life ;  and,  in  the  name 
and  in  behalf  of  all  those  who  then  lived  therein, 
whether  present  or  absent,  it  appointed  "  a  Committee 
"  of  ninety  persons,  for  the  said  County,"  and  de- 

1  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  proposed  assembly  was,  in  this  Circular 
Letter,  called  a  "Provincial  Congress,"  not  a  "  Convention,"  as  the  last 
was  named. 

-  The  re-print  of  this  Circular  Letter,  in  the  text,  is  made  from  a  care- 
fully-made copy  of  one  of  the  originals,  which  has  been  preserved 
amon^  Associations  in  the  Historical  Majiuscrijjls  relating  to  the  War  of  the 
Revolution,  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  Office,  at  Albany,  Volume  XXX., 
Page  182. 


termined  that  any  twenty  of  them,  "should  be 
"impowered  to  act  for  the  said  County;  "  and  it  also 
determined  to  send  a  Deputation  to  the  proposed 
Provincial  Congress,  referring  to  the  new-appointed 
Committee  of  the  County,  the  nomination  of  those 
who  should  be  members  of  that  Deputation. 

There  were  only  twenty-three  of  the  ninety  who 
had  been  named  for  the  Committee,  present  and  act- 
ing on  the  subject  which  had  been  referred  to  it;  but 
it  was  not  slow  in  nominating,  "  to  represent  the  said 
"County  in  Provincial  Convention,"  Gouverneur 
Morris,  Doctor  Robert  Graham,  Colonel  Lewis 
Graham,  and  Colonel  James  Van  Cortlandt,  all  of 
them  from  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester ; 
Stephen  Ward  and  Joseph  Drake,  from  Eastchester ; 
Major  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  of  the  Manor  of  Cort- 
landt ;  Colonel  James  Holmes,  of  Bedford ;  John 
Thomas,  Junior,  of  Rye  ;  David  Dayton,  of  North 
Castle ;  and  William  Paulding,  of   ;  and,  un- 
doubtedly, with  equal  promptness,  the  Meeting 
confirmed  the  nominations,  by  electing  the  eleven 
nominees  to  seats  in  the  proposed  Congress  of  the 
Colony. 

It  is  said,  in  the  official  report  of  the  Meeting, 
that,  after  the  election  of  the  Deputation,  as  above 
"stated,  "  the  Committee  signed  an  association,  simi- 
"  lar  to  that  which  was  signed  in  the  city  of  Ncw- 
"  York,  and  appointed  Sub-Committees  to  superintend 
"  the  signing  of  the  same  throughout  the  County ;  "' 


3 The  Associalimi,  which  was  thus  "signed  by  the  Committee" — if 
any  others  than  Slembers  of  the  Committee  had  been  present,  they  also 
would  have  signed  it — was  not  that  Association  which  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  had  decreed  and  promulgated,  in  the  preceding  October,  but 
another  and  entirely  different  affair,  which  had  been  drawn  up  by 
James  Duane,  John  Jay,  and  Peter  Van  Schaack,  and  "  set  on  foot  in 
"New-York,"  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  April.  It  had  been  largely 
signed,  in  the  City,  and  copies  of  it  had  been  sent  "  through  all  the 
"  counties  in  the  Province  ; "  and  the  action  taken  at  the  White  Plains, 
concerning  it,  was  only  responsive  to  the  request  of  the  Conmiittee  of 
One  hundred,  which  had  superseded  the  Committee  of  Inspection,  in  the 
City  of  New  York.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  yl««ocia/i<*H,  care- 
fully copied  from  Iticington' a  New-York  Gazetteer,  Ho.  107,  New- York, 
Thursday,  May  4, 1775 : 

PERSUADED  that  the  salvation  of  the  right*  and  liberties  of 
-L  "America,  depends,  under  God,  on  the  firm  union  of  its  in- 
"  habitants,  in  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  measures  necessary  for  its 
"  safety,  and  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  preventing  the  anarchy  and 
"  confusion  which  attend  a  dissolution  of  the  powere  of  government ; 
"we,  the  freemen,  freeholders,  and  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  county  of 
"  New-Y'ork,  being  greatly  alarmed  at  the  avowed  design  of  the  minis- 
' '  try  to  raise  a  revenue  in  America,  and  shocked  by  the  bloody  scene 
"  now  acting  in  the  Massachusetts- Bay  ;  do,  in  the  most  solemn  manner 
"resolve  never  to  become  slaves;  and  to  associate  under  all  the  ties  of 
"religion,  honour,  and  love  to  our  country,  to  adopt,  and  endeavour  to 
"  carry  into  execution,  whatever  measures  may  be  recommended  by  the 
"  continental  congress,  or  resolved  upon  by  our  provincial  convention, 
"for  the  purpose  of  preserving  our  constitution,  and  opposing  the  exe- 
"  cution  of  several  arbitrary  and  oppressive  acts  of  the  British  Parlia- 
"ment,  untila  reconciliation  between  Great  Britain  and  America,  on 
"constitutional  principles,  (which  we  most  aidently  desire)  can  be  ob- 
"  tained ;  and  that  we  will,  in  all  things,  follow  the  advice  of  our 
"general  committee,  respecting  the  purposes  aforesiiid,  the  preservation 
"  of  peade  and  good  order,  and  the  safety  of  individuals  and  private  prop- 
"erty. 

"Dated  in  New-York,  Apnl  and  May,  1775." 

This  Association,  w  ith  some  slight  changes,  was  re-printe<l  (without  any 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


259 


and  after  thai  had  been  done,  the  Meeting  was  ad- 
journed.' 

The  official  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Meet- 
ing does  not  give  the  names  of  any  of  the  ninety  per- 
sons who  were  said  to  have  been  chosen  as  a  "Cora- 
"  niittee  for  the  County  of  Westchester ;"  and  a  careful 
search  for  those  names,  in  other  contemporary  pub- 
lications, has  been  rewarded  with  only  a  partial 
success — the  Credentials  of  the  Deputies  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
reveal  the  names  of  the  following  : 
David  Dan.*^  George  Comb, 

Miles  Oakley,  Micah  Townsend, 

John  G.  Graham,  Benoni  Piatt, 

Samuel  Drake,  Frederic  Van  Cortlandt, 

Lewis  Morris,  James  Varian, 

Jonathan  Platt,^  Samuel  Haviland, 

Michael  Hays,  Benjamin  Lyon, 

Samuel  Crawford,  Robert  Bloomer, 

Gilbert  Thorn,  William  Miller, 

Thomas  Thomas,  Joshua  Ferris, 

James  Newman,  Gilbert  Drake, 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  Chairman. 

It  will  be  evident  to  the  reader  that,  until  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  "Committee  for  the  County  of  West- 
"  Chester,"  by  the  Meeting  which  was  held  at  the 
White  Plains,  on  the  eighth  of  May,  1775,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  there  had  not  been  even  the  slightest 
appearance  of  any  central  organization,  for  political 
purposes,  within  the  County  ;  that,  until  they  were 
crowded  into  the  political  arena,  by  the  place-seekers 
who  were  among  them,  the  hardworking  farmers 
throughout  the  County  had  not  permitted  the 
political  questions  of  the  day  to  disturb  their  peaceful 
labors ;  and  that  the  place-hunting  few,  as  insignifi- 
cant in  numbers  as  they  were  in  honest  patriotism, 

apparent  reason)  appended  to  the  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Convention, 
which  Convention  had  adjourned  a  week  before  the  Association  waa 
written  anil  before  it  was  known  that  any  reason  for  such  an  Asuocialion 
was  imminent.  In  de  Laiicej  's  .Vo(«  to  Jones's  Historyof  Xew-York  dur- 
ino  the  HevoUUionary  War,  i.,  505,  500,  it  lijis  been  again  re-printed,  this 
time  from  the  inaccurate  re-print  just  referred  to,  and,  of  course,  with 
its  imperfections,  together  with  a  more  serious  omission  than  any  whicli 
tliat  had  presented. 

.Judge  Jones,  in  his  Hislorij  of  Sew  Yorli,  i,,  41^5,  gave  a  very  inter- 
esting account  of  the  Association  and  of  the  Higning  of  it,  warmly 
tinted,  of  course,  with  his  peculiar  bitterness;  but,  uevertheless,  he  is 
our  principal  authority 'on  those  subjects. 

•  This  statement  if  the  proceedings  of  the  Meeting  at  which  a  Deputa- 
tion vyas  chosen  to  represent  Westchester-county,  in  the  first  Provincial 
Congress,  is  made  on  the  authority  of  the  oQicial  report  of  that  Ileeting, 
signed  by  "  James  Vas  Cortlandt,  Chairman  for  the  Day,"  and  pub. 
lished  in  Rivington's  New-  York  Gazetteer,  No.  1()8,  New- York,  Thursday, 
May  11,  1775  ;  and  on  that  of  the  Credential*,  signed  by  each  of  the 
twenty-three  Members  of  the  Committee  for  the  County  who  were  then 
present,  which  Credentials  have  been  preserved  among  Credentials  of 
Delegates,  in  the  HiJttorical  Manuscripts,  relating  to  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
(ion,  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  OCBcp  at  Albany,  Volume  XXIV.,  Pago 
133. 

-  The  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  ,Iune,  1775,  issued 
a  Warrant  to  David  Dan,  as  First  Lieutenant,  under  Captain  Jonathan 
Piatt. 

^  The  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  1775,  issued 
a  Warrant  to  Jonathan  Piatt,  its  Captain. 


did  not  constitute  even  a  respectable  minority  of  those 
who  were  heads  of  families  and  householders,  through- 
out the  County.*  It  will  be  seen,  also,  that  the  Mor- 
ris family,  strengthened  by  itsalliance  with  its  kindred 
family  of  Graham,  had  fully  entrenched  itself,  as 
the  political  head  of  the  County  ;  and  it  will  be  par- 
ticularly noticed  of  what  kind  of  material  Delegiites 
were  made,  even  at  that  early  period  of  the  revolu- 
tionary movement  in  Westchester-county,  the  most 
ill-disguised  monarchists  and  even  office-holders 
holding  Commissions  under  the  Crown,  from  among 
the  non-producing  class  iu  that  purely  agricultural 
community,  boldly,  if  not  audaciously,  assuming  to 
be  in  harmony  with  the  industrial  masses  whom  they 
really  despised,  and  crowding  forward,  in  their  greed 
for  place  and  emoluments,  to  seize  whatever  oppor- 
tunity for  advancement,  their  ingenuity  and  their 
superior  intelligence  should  place  within  their 
reach. 

If  a  mere  handful  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  County, 
who  neither  possessed  nor  claimed  to  possess  any 
legal  qualifications  whatever  to  do  such  an  act ;  who 
did  not  act  nor  claim  to  act  under  the  guidance  of 
any  thing  excejJt  its  own  unrighteous  imjjulses ;  and 
who  neither  possessed  nor  claimed  to  possess  even  a 
shadow  of  delegated  authority  from  any  one,  within 
or  without  the  County,  to  do  any  such  acts  or  any 
others,  with  the  authority  and  in  the  name  of  the 
County,  can  be  said,  with  even  a  semblance  of  truth,  to 
have  really  done  so,  the  ancient  and  entirely  conser- 
vative County  of  Westchester,  by  the  revolutionary  ac- 
tion at  the  Meeting  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  eighth  of 
May,  was  wheeled  into  the  front  line  of  the  Rebellion, 

<  In  all  which  has  been  written  concerning  the  political  affairs  of 
Westchester-county,  prior  to  the  first  Session  of  the  First  Provincial  Con- 
gress, which  assembled  on  the  twenty-second  of  May,  1775,  as  far  as  we 
have  knowledge  on  the  subject,  only  fifty-one  persons  hare  been  nanud, 
as  residents  of  tliat  County,  who  favored  the  revolutionary  proceedings 
recommended  by  the  ('ontinental  Congress  of  1774.  Of  these  fifty-one, 
two  were  Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly — one  of  them,  was, 
then,  the  County  Judge,  under  the  Koyal  Government.  Of  the  remain- 
ing forty-nine,  one  rose  no  higher  than  a  place  in  the  Committee  of  hia 
Town  ;  six  were  satisfied  with  only  places  on  the  Committee  of  the 
County,  in  whom,  however,  great  power  in  local  mutters  was  vested, 
and  by  whom  much  money  was  disbursed  for  the  support  of  prisoners  of 
war  quartered  in  their  vicinities  ;  one  aspired  to  both  the  Town  and 
County  Committees,  and  held  seats  in  both  ;  three  were  given  nothing 
else  than  Commissions  in  the  Regiments  of  the  County  ;  eleven  held 
various  Civil  Offices,  as  well  as  Commissions  in  the  Regiments  of  the 
County  ;  one  lield  a  seat  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  was  contented 
w  ith  that  single  place  ;  si.xteeu  held  seats  in  one  or  more  of  the  Provin- 
cial Congresses,  together  w  ith  other  places,  at  the  same  time  or  subse- 
quently ;  five  became  discontented  with  their  associations,  and  were 
accused  of  being  loyalists,  and  were  prosecuted  as  such  ;  leaving  only 
five  of  the  entire  forty-nine  who  did  not,  as  far  as  we  have  knowledge, 
accept  places  of  either  authority  or  emolument.  Even  the  Secretary  of 
the  first  County  Committee  looked  out  for  the  profits  of  otiicial  station, 
and  secured,  through  his  associations,  some  of  the  fat  things  of  place — 
Micah  Townsend,  the  Clerk  of  the  first  County -Committee,  secured  the 
command  of  a  Comimny  of  Colonial  Trooi>s,  early  in  177i> ;  and  lie 
was,  in  other  respects,  well  provided  for,  during  that  era  of  distress  and 
ruin. 

The  reader  may  judge  from  this  e.\hibit  how  much  of  genuine  patriot- 
ism and  how  much  of  personal  selfishness,  controlled  the  revolutionary 
politics  of  Westchester-County,  1774-76. 


260 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


abreast  of  the  most  advanced  of  the  anarchists  of  that 
period  ;  and  if,  without  a  semblance  of  that  "consent" 
of  which  so  much  had  been  said  and  written,  as  a  pre- 
requisite to  any  change  of  government — without,  also, 
any  of  those  qualifications  in  itself  and  authorities 
from  others,  of  which  mention  has  been  made — the 
same  handful  of  new-born  revolutionists,  at  the  same 
time,  can  be  said  to  have  really  done  so,  the  alle- 
giance of  the  great  body  of  the  anti-revolutionary 
farmers  of  that  County,  and  there  were  no  others,  to 
its  Sovereign,  was  violated,  if  not  abrogated,  and  all 
the  obligations  of  that  great  body  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  County,  to  obey  the  legally  established  Gov- 
ernments and  the  legally  enacted  Laws  of  the  Coun- 
try, were  dissolved,  and  all  were  made  subject,  in- 
stead, to  that  self-constituted  County  Committee 
which  was  then  organized  and  taking  its  first  step  in 
Rebellion  ;  to  the  proposed  Congress  of  the  Colony,  in 
whom  was  to  be  vested  absolute,  unrestrained  author- 
ity, in  all  classes  of  governmental  affairs  relating  only 
to  the  Colony  of  New  York  ;  and  to  the  coming 
second  Continental  Congress,  in  whom,  also,  a  simi- 
larly absolute,  unrestrained  authority,  on  every  con- 
ceivable subject,  within  each  and  every  of  the  several 
Colonies,  would,  also,  be  seated;  and,  therefore,  every 
one  of  those  peaceful  and  peacefully  inclined  farmers 
and  every  member  of  their  respective  families  were, 
by  that  handful  of  revolutionists,  insignificant  in 
numbers  and  only  tools  in  the  hands  of  an  unprinci- 
pled master  mischief-maker,  made  subject,  nolms 
volcm,  to  every  edict  which  should  be  pro- 
mulgated by  either  of  those  three  self-constituted, 
unrestrained,  revolutionary  bodies  ;  to  whatever  they 
or  either  of  them  should  determine,  no  matter  how 
monstrous  its  character  might  be ;  and,  very  often,  to 
whatever  individual  members  of  one  or  other  of  those 
bodies,  intoxicated  with  the  possession  of  a  power  to 
which,  previously,  they  had  been  strangers  and  revel- 
ing in  a  despotism  to  which  the  Colony  had  not,  at 
any  period  of  its  existence,  been  subjected,  should  de- 
mand and  require. 

With  those  partisan  catchwords  and  political 
maxims  which,  a  very  short  time  previously,  had 
filled  the  air  with  their  noisiness,  before  the  reader, 
he  will  readily  determine  how  much  of  even  revo- 
lutionary consistency  and  propriety  and  integrity 
there  was  in  those  doings  which  are  now  under 
consideration  ;  but,  among  such  as  those  by  whom 
those  doings  were  inaugurated  and  conducted — 
among  those  whose  aims  were  only  personal  and 
selfish  and  wholly  regardless  of  every  other  principle 
whatever  than  that  of  self-aggrandizement;  among 
whom  the  supremacy  of  the  general  good  of  the 
great  body  of  the  Colony  or  of  the  Continent — the 
"  patriotism"  of  poets,  of  professional  politicians,  and 
of  exuberant  eulogists — was  only  a  toy  intended  for 
nothing  else  than  for  the  temporary  amusement  of 
their  gaping,  credulous  auditory,  while  the  political 
prestidigitator  who  presided  over  the  show,  bedizened 


with  the  tinsel  which  was  not  what  it  seemed  to  be, 
was  secretly  perfecting  the  juggle  which  was  intended 
to  deceive  all  others  than  those  who  were  participants 
in  the  performance  and  sharers  in  the  profits  to  be  de- 
rived from  it, — neither  consistency  nor  propriety  nor 
integrity  was  regarded  or  even  thought  of,  the  cupid- 
ity of  the  end  entirely  justified  the  unrighteousness 
of  the  means ;  and  new  governing  powers  and  new 
rules  of  conduct  and  new  methods  took  their  places 
in  every  Town,  throughout  the  County;  and  old  obli- 
gations were  disregarded,  and  old  guaranties  were  ab- 
rogated, and  the  safety  of  persons  and  of  properties 
rested  on  other  foundations  than  those  which  were 
known  to  and  depended  on  by  those  of  an  earlier 
period. 

The  American  Revolution  had  finished  its  work 
and  was  ended  :  the  long-established  Government  of 
Law  had  been  crowded  aside  and,  in  fact  if  not  en- 
tirely in  form,  had  given  place  to  a  new  Government 
of  arbitrary,  unbridled  Force :  thenceforth,  the  peace 
of  the  County  and  the  rights  of  Individuals  and  of 
Property,  within  the  County,  sacredly  respected  even 
under  a  Monarchy,  were  held  only  by  those  who  pos- 
sessed them,  subject  to  the  unrestrained  will  of  the 
stronger. 

The  careful  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  see,  in 
what  hiis  been  written  in  this  narrative  and  in  the 
testimony  which  has  been  adduced  to  sustain  it,  the 
stern  fact  that,  as  far  as  the  Colony  of  New  York 
was  concerned,  and  we  write  of  no  other  Colony,  the 
opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  Home  Goverment, 
from  1763  until  the  Spring  of  1775,  which,  subsequent- 
ly, became  more  widely  known  as  The  Amekican 
Revolution,  was  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the 
outcome  of  a  popular  movement,  in  which  the  great 
body  of  the  Colonists  or  any  considerable  portion  of 
it  arose  in  opposition  to  a  wrong,  inflicted  or  sought 
to  be  inflicted  by  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  or 
by  any  other  body,  on  the  Colony  or  on  any  individ- 
ual member  of  it,  as  has  been  rhetorically  pretended, 
by  orators  and  poets  and  historians,  from  that  day 
until  the  present ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  origin- 
ated in  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,  among  those  of  the 
commercial  and  mercantile  classes,  relatively  few  in 
number,  whom,  by  reason  of  their  greater  wealth  or 
of  their  higher  social  standing,  we  may  properly  re- 
gard, as  they  were  regarded  by  themselves,  as  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Colony — with  few,  if  any  excep- 
tions, they  were  those  wealthy  and  enterprising 
Merchants,  of  various  names  and  families  and  parties 
and  sects  and  nationalities,  each  of  whom  had  sunk, 
for  all  the  purposes  of  that  particular  movement, 
whatever  of  individual  or  family  or  partisan  or  sec- 
tarian or  national  animosity,  against  others,  he  pos- 
sessed, combined  and  acting  in  a  common  opposition 
to  all  those  measures  of  the  Home  Government  which 
had  tended  to  break  down  the  unblushing  lawlessness 
of  those  confederated  Merchants,  in  their  entire  dis- 
regard of  the  Navigation  and  Revenue  Laws  of  the 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


2G1 


Empire,  and  to  enforce  on  each  of  those  Merchants, 
in  his  individual  business,  that  obedience  to  the  Laws 
which  would  be  no  more  than  his  reasonable  duty, 
while  it  would  also  tend  to  the  suppression  of  that 
corruption  of  the  local  Revenue-officers  and  of  that 
general  practise  of  Smuggling  from  which  he  was  so 
complacently  acquiring  wealth  and  influence.  Except 
wherein  these  aristocratic  Smugglers  employed  their 
ships'  crews  and  the  hnbituis  of  the  docks  and  slums 
of  the  City,  for  purposes  of  intimidation  and  political 
effect,  the  unfranchised  masses  of  the  Colonists,  in  the 
country  as  well  as  in  the  City,  with  very  rare  excep- 
tions, and  the  Freeholders  of  small  estates  and  those 
Freeholders,  of  either  large  or  small  degree,  who  pos- 
sessed no  pecuniary  interest  in  the  foreign  commerce 
of  the  Port,  whether  inhabitants  of  the  City  or  of  the 
rural  Counties,  had  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  inception 
or  in  the  organization  or  in  the  promotion  of  that 
opposition  to  the  Home  Government  which,  subse- 
quently, in  its  more  advanced  stages,  became  known, 
at  home  and  abroad,  as  The  American  Revolu- 
tion. 

In  fact,  while  the  aristocracy  of  the  Colony  was 
thus  confederating  and  consolidating  discordant  ele- 
ments and  plotting  and  breeding  disaffection  to  the 
Mother  Country,  the  unfranchised  Mechanics  and 
Working-men,  residents  of  the  City  and  toilers 
for  their  daily  bread,  with  occasional  exceptions,  pur- 
sued their  respective  industrial  vocations,  peacefully 
and  industriously,  without  taking  any  greater  interest 
in  the  anxieties  of  their  aristocratic  neighbors  than 
those  "  well-born  "  "  Gentlemen  in  Trade "  were 
taking  in  their  welfare  or  in  that  of  their  respective 
families ;  while  the  great  body  of  those  who  occupied 
the  rural  Counties  of  the  Colony,  also  hard-working 
and  peacefully  inclined,  knew  little  of  and  cared  less 
for  what  was  then  disturbing  the  previously  well- 
sustained  quiet  of  the  metropolitan  counting-rooms. 

It  is,  indeed,  true,  in  this  connection,  that  the  aris- 
tocratic Merchants  and  Ship-owners,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  had  been,  during  many  years,  more  or 
less  reasonably  aggrieved  by  reason  of  the  govern- 
mental interference  with  their  well-established  and 
very  profitable  "illicit  trade,"  to  which  reference  has 
been  made:  it  is  also  true  that,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
fluencing and,  if  possible,  of  intimidating  the  Home 
Government,  in  their  opposition  to  that  Home  Gov- 
ernment, because  of  those  assumed  grievances,  those 
high-toned  lawbreakers  had  repeatedly  resorted  to 
the  desperate  means  of,  first,  appealing  to  the  maxims 
and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental  law;  of  employ- 
ing the  former  for  their  partisan  slogan,  and  the  latter 
for  the  foundations  of  their  passionate  appeals ;  and, 
sometimes,  second,  of  employing,  directly  or  indirectly, 
the  floating  and  the  less  respectable  portions  of  the 
populationof  the  City,  assupernu:nerarieson  the  stage 
on  which  they  were  acting  their  several  parts  in  the 
drama  of  theirseemiug  patriotism — means  which  were 
iis  unreal,  in  their  hands,  as  their  own    patrotism,"  so 


called,  was  deceptive  ;  dnd,  particularly,  in  the  last- 
mentioned  of  the  two  means  employed,  as  hazardous 
as  it  was  fraudulent — but  it  is  also  true  that,  while  the 
maxims  and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental  law 
which  they  so  freely  bandied,  were  only  words  of 
convenience,  meaning  nothing  beyond  the  end  for 
securing  which  they  had  been  thus  employed,  their 
auxiliaries,  thus  enlisted  from  among  the  unfranchised 
and  lowly,  if  not  from  among  the  vicious,  were,  by 
those  who  employed  them,  only  regarded  as  temporary 
employees,  engaged  for  the  performance  of  particular 
services,  of  more  or  less  danger  and  lawlessness  ;  and 
not  as  common  heirs  to  a  common  inheritance  for 
which  both  they  and  those  who  had  thus  employed 
them,  as  parties  possessing  an  equal  interest  therein — 
as  the  maxims  and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental 
law,  with  which  both  the  employers  and  the  em- 
ployees, in  this  instance,  were  familiar,  had  clearly 
indicated  to  both — were  jointly  contending. 

The  American  Revolution,  as  we  said  in  the  begin- 
ning, originated,  not  in  a  popular  movement  of  the 
great  body  of  the  Colonists,  nor  in  any  considerable 
number  of  those  Colonists,  in  opposition  to  a  wrong, 
inflicted  or  sought  to  be  inflicted  by  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  or  by  any  other  body,  on  the  Colony  or 
on  any  individual  member  of  it,  but  the  commercial 
and  mercantile  classes,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Colony,  in  their  desperate  efforts  to 
shelter  "the  illicit  Trade" — the  Smuggling — in  which 
they  had  been  so  long  and  so  profitably  employed, 
from  the  obstructions,  more  than  ordinarily  effective, 
which  the  Home  Government  had  raised  against  it, 
subsequent  to  the  establishment  of  the  Peace,  in 
1763.  As  we  have  said,  also,  the  elaborate  essays  on 
the  "Rights  of  Man  and  of  Englishmen,"  on  the 
"  consent "  which  was  necessary  in  order  to  give 
validity  to  Laws,  and,  generally,  on  the  assjimed 
grievances  to  which  the  Colonists  had  been  subjected, 
all  of  them  the  productions  of  well-paid  Counsel  or 
other  interested  writers,  with  which  the  newspapers 
of  that  period  were  filled  to  overflowing,  were  nothing 
else  than  means  employed  for  the  protection  of  that 
prolific,  but  corrupt,  source  of  the  wealth  of  the  Mer- 
chants of  the  City  of  New  York ;  and  the  yells  and 
the  outrages,  inflicted  on  both  persons  and  properties, 
of  those  who  had  been  employed  to  give  ett'ect  to 
those  labored  arguments  of  the  press,  by  what  were 
a^sumed  to  have  been  spontaneous  outbursts  of  popu- 
lar resentment  against  the  usurpations  of  the  Home 
Government — usurpations  of  individual  rights,  by 
the  way,  which  were  only  the  same  as  those  which 
were  subsequently  inflicted,  in  every  State,  on  those 
who  were  not  Freeholders;  and  which  the  Constitu- 
tion for  the  United  States  has  always  inflicted  and 
continues  to  inflict  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  several 
Territories,  who  have  always  been  and  who  arc,  now, 
taxed  without  having  conticnted  to  any  such  taxation, 
their  Delegates  in  the  federal  Congress  having  had  no 
right,  at  any  time,  to  vote  on  any  question  whatever 


260 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


abreast  of  the  most  advanced  of  the  anarchists  of  that 
period  ;  and  if,  without  a  semblance  of  that  "consent" 
of  which  so  much  had  been  said  and  written,  as  a  pre- 
requisite to  any  changeofgovernment— without,  also, 
any  of  those  qualifications  in  itself  and  authorities 
from  others,  of  which  mention  has  been  made — the 
same  handful  of  new-born  revolutionists,  at  the  same 
time,  can  be  said  to  have  really  done  so,  the  alle- 
giance of  the  great  body  of  the  anti-revolutionary 
farmers  of  that  County,  and  there  were  no  others,  to 
its  Sovereign,  was  violated,  if  not  abrogated,  and  all 
the  obligations  of  that  great  body  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  County,  to  obey  the  legally  established  Gov- 
ernments and  the  legally  enacted  Laws  of  the  Coun- 
try, were  dissolved,  and  all  were  made  subject,  in- 
stead, to  that  self-constituted  County  Committee 
which  was  then  organized  and  taking  its  first  step  in 
Rebellion;  to  the  proposed  Congress  of  the  Colony,  in 
whom  was  to  be  vested  absolute,  unrestrained  author- 
ity, in  all  classes  of  governmental  affairs  relating  only 
to  the  Colony  of  New  York  ;  and  to  the  coming 
second  Continental  Congress,  in  whom,  also,  a  simi- 
larly absolute,  unrestrained  authority,  on  every  con- 
ceivable subject,  within  each  and  every  of  the  several 
Colonies,  would,  also,  be  seated;  and,  therefore,  every 
one  of  those  peaceful  and  peacefully  inclined  farmers 
and  every  member  of  their  respective  families  were, 
by  that  handful  of  revolutionists,  insignificant  in 
numbers  and  only  tools  in  the  hands  of  an  unprinci- 
pled master  mischief-maker,  made  subject,  nobris 
volens,  to  every  edict  which  should  be  pro- 
mulgated by  either  of  those  three  self-constituted, 
unrestrained,  revolutionary  bodies  ;  to  whatever  they 
or  either  of  them  should  determine,  no  matter  how 
monstrous  its  character  might  be ;  and,  very  often,  to 
whatever  individual  members  of  one  or  other  of  those 
bodies,  intoxicated  with  the  possession  of  a  power  to 
which,  previously,  they  had  been  strangers  and  revel- 
ing in  a  despotism  to  which  the  Colony  had  not,  at 
any  period  of  its  existence,  been  subjected,  should  de- 
mand and  require. 

With  those  partisan  catchwords  and  political 
maxims  which,  a  very  short  time  previously,  had 
filled  the  air  with  their  noisiness,  before  the  reader, 
he  will  readily  determine  how  much  of  even  revo- 
lutionary consistency  and  propriety  and  integrity 
there  was  in  those  doings  which  are  now  under 
consideration ;  but,  among  such  as  those  by  whom 
those  doings  were  inaugurated  and  conducted — 
among  those  whose  aims  were  only  personal  and 
selfish  and  wholly  regardless  of  every  other  principle 
whatever  than  that  of  self-aggrandizement;  among 
whom  the  supremacy  of  the  general  good  of  the 
great  body  of  the  Colony  or  of  the  Continent— the 
"patriotism"  of  poets,  of  professional  politicians,  and 
of  exuberant  eulogists — was  only  a  toy  intended  for 
nothing  else  than  for  the  temporary  amusement  of 
their  gaping,  credulous  auditory,  while  the  political 
prestidigitator  who  presided  over  the  show,  bedizened 


with  the  tinsel  which  was  not  what  it  seemed  to  be, 
was  secretly  perfecting  the  juggle  which  was  intended 
to  deceive  all  others  than  those  who  were  participants 
in  the  performance  and  sharers  in  the  profits  to  be  de- 
rived from  it, — neither  consistency  nor  propriety  nor 
integrity  was  regarded  or  even  thought  of,  the  cupid- 
ity of  the  end  entirely  justified  the  unrighteousness 
of  the  means ;  and  new  governing  powers  and  new 
rules  of  conduct  and  new  methods  took  their  places 
in  every  Town,  throughout  the  County;  and  old  obli- 
gations were  disregarded,  and  old  guaranties  were  ab- 
rogated, and  the  safety  of  persons  and  of  properties 
rested  on  other  foundations  than  those  which  were 
known  to  and  depended  on  by  those  of  an  earlier 
period. 

The  American  Revolution  had  finished  its  work 
and  was  ended  :  the  long-established  Government  of 
Law  had  been  crowded  aside  and,  in  fact  if  not  en- 
tirely in  form,  had  given  place  to  a  new  Government 
of  arbitrary,  unbridled  Force  :  thenceforth,  the  peace 
of  the  County  and  the  rights  of  Individuals  and  of 
Property,  within  the  County,  sacredly  respected  even 
under  a  Monarchy,  were  held  only  by  those  who  pos- 
sessed them,  subject  to  the  unrestrained  will  of  the 
stronger. 

The  careful  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  see,  in 
what  has  been  written  in  this  narrative  and  in  the 
testimony  which  has  been  adduced  to  sustain  it,  the 
stern  fact  that,  as  far  as  the  Colony  of  New  York 
was  concerned,  and  we  write  of  no  other  Colony,  the 
opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  Home  Goverment, 
from  17(i3  until  the  Spring  of  1775,  which,  subsequent- 
ly, became  more  widely  known  as  The  American 
Revolution,  was  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the 
outcome  of  a  popular  movement,  in  which  the  great 
body  of  the  Colonists  or  any  considerable  portion  of 
it  arose  in  opposition  to  a  wrong,  inflicted  or  sought 
to  be  inflicted  by  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  or 
by  any  other  body,  on  the  Colony  or  on  any  individ- 
ual member  of  it,  as  has  been  rhetorically  pretended, 
by  orators  and  poets  and  historians,  from  that  day 
until  the  present ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  origin- 
ated in  the  City  of  New  York,  among  those  of  the 
commercial  and  mercantile  classes,  relatively  few  in 
number,  whom,  by  reason  of  their  greater  wealth  or 
of  their  higher  social  standing,  we  may  properly  re- 
gard, as  they  were  regarded  by  themselves,  as  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Colony — with  few,  if  any  excep- 
tions, they  were  those  wealthy  and  enterprising 
Merchants,  of  various  names  and  families  and  j^arties 
and  sects  and  nationalities,  each  of  whom  had  sunk, 
for  all  the  purposes  of  that  particular  movement, 
whatever  of  individual  or  family  or  partisan  or  sec- 
tarian or  national  animosity,  against  others,  he  pos- 
sessed, combined  and  acting  in  a  common  opposition 
to  all  those  measures  of  the  Home  Government  which 
had  tended  to  break  down  the  unblushing  lawlessness 
of  those  confederated  Merchants,  in  their  entire  dis- 
regard of  the  Navigation  and  Revenue  Laws  of  the 


THE  AMEKICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


261 


Empire,  and  to  enforce  on  each  of  those  Merchants, 
in  his  individual  business,  that  obedience  to  the  Laws 
which  would  be  no  more  than  his  reasonable  duty, 
while  it  would  also  tend  to  the  suppression  of  that 
corruption  of  the  local  Revenue- officers  and  of  that 
general  practise  of  Smuggling  from  which  he  was  so 
complacently  acquiring  wealth  and  influence.  Except 
wherein  these  aristocratic  Smugglers  employed  their 
ships'  crews  and  the  hnbituis  of  the  docks  and  slums 
of  the  City,  for  purposes  of  intimidation  and  political 
effect,  the  unfranchised  masses  of  the  Colonists,  in  the 
country  as  well  as  in  the  City,  with  very  rare  excep- 
tions, and  the  Freeholders  of  small  estates  and  those 
Freeholders,  of  either  large  or  small  degree,  who  pos- 
sessed no  pecuniary  interest  in  the  foreign  commerce 
of  the  Port,  whether  inhabitants  of  the  City  or  of  the 
rural  Counties,  had  no  part  nor  lot  in  the  inception 
or  in  the  organization  or  in  the  promotion  of  that 
opposition  to  the  Home  Government  which,  subse- 
quently, in  its  more  advanced  stages,  became  known, 
at  home  and  abroad,  as  The  American  Revolu- 
tion. 

In  fact,  while  the  aristocracy  of  the  Colony  was 
thus  confederating  and  consolidating  discordant  ele- 
ments and  plotting  and  breeding  disaffection  to  the 
Mother  Country,  the  unfranchised  Mechanics  and 
Working-men,  residents  of  the  City  and  toilers 
for  their  daily  bread,  with  occasional  exceptions,  pur- 
sued their  respective  industrial  vocations,  peacefully 
and  industriously,  without  taking  any  greater  interest 
in  the  anxieties  of  their  aristocratic  neighbors  than 
those  "  well-born  "  "  Gentlemen  in  Trade "  were 
taking  in  their  welfare  or  in  that  of  their  respective 
families  ;  while  the  great  body  of  those  who  occupied 
the  rural  Counties  of  the  Colony,  also  hard-working 
and  peacefully  inclined,  knew  little  of  and  cared  less 
for  what  wiis  then  disturbing  the  previously  well- 
sustained  quiet  of  the  metropolitan  counting-rooms. 

It  is,  indeed,  true,  in  this  connection,  that  the  aris- 
tocratic Merchants  and  Ship-owners,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  had  been,  during  many  years,  more  or 
less  reasonably  aggrieved  by  reason  of  the  govern- 
mental interference  with  their  well-established  and 
very  profitable  "illicit  trade,"  to  which  reference  has 
been  made :  it  is  also  true  that,  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
fluencing and,  if  possible,  of  intimidating  the  Home 
Government,  in  their  opposition  to  that  Home  Gov- 
ernment, because  of  those  assumed  grievances,  those 
high-toned  lawbreakers  had  repeatedly  resorted  to 
the  desperate  means  of,  first,  appealing  to  the  maxims 
and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental  law ;  of  employ- 
ing the  former  for  their  partisan  slogan,  and  the  latter 
for  the  foundations  of  their  passionate  appeals ;  and, 
sometimes,  second,  of  employing,  directly  or  indirectly, 
the  floating  and  the  less  respectable  portions  of  the 
populationof  the  City,  assupernu:nerarieson  the  stage 
on  which  they  were  acting  their  several  i)arts  in  the 
drama  of  theirseeming  patriotism — means  which  were 
as  unreal,  in  their  hands,  as  their  own  ''  patrotism,"  so 


called,  was  deceptive;  slnd,  particularly,  in  the  last- 
mentioned  of  the  two  means  employed,  as  hazardous 
as  it  was  fraudulent — but  it  is  also  true  that,  while  the 
maxims  and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental  law 
which  they  so  freely  bandied,  were  only  words  of 
convenience,  meaning  nothing  beyond  the  end  for 
securing  which  they  had  been  thus  employed,  their 
auxiliaries,  thus  enlisted  from  among  the  unfranchised 
and  lowly,  if  not  from  among  the  vicious,  were,  by 
those  who  employed  them,  only  regarded  as  temporary 
employees,  engaged  for  the  performance  of  particular 
services,  of  more  or  less  danger  and  lawlessness  ;  and 
not  as  common  heirs  to  a  common  inheritance  for 
which  both  they  and  those  who  had  thus  employed 
them,  as  parties  possessing  an  equal  interest  therein — 
as  the  maxims  and  the  teachings  of  the  fundamental 
law,  with  which  both  the  employers  and  the  em- 
ployees, in  this  instance,  were  familiar,  had  clearly 
indicated  to  both — were  jointly  contending. 

The  American  Revolution,  as  we  said  in  the  begin- 
ning, originated,  not  in  a  popular  movement  of  the 
great  body  of  the  Colonists,  nor  in  any  considerable 
number  of  those  Colonists,  in  opposition  to  a  wrong, 
inflicted  or  sought  to  be  inflicted  by  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  or  by  any  other  body,  on  the  Colony  or 
on  any  individual  member  of  it,  but  the  commercial 
and  mercantile  classes,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Colony,  in  their  desperate  efforts  to 
shelter  "  the  illicit  Trade  " — the  Smuggling — in  which 
they  had  been  so  long  and  so  profitably  employed, 
from  the  obstructions,  more  than  ordinarily  effective, 
which  the  Home  Government  had  raised  against  it, 
subsequent  to  the  establishment  of  the  Peace,  in 
1763.  As  we  have  said,  also,  the  elaborate  essays  on 
the  "Rights  of  Man  and  of  Englishmen,"  on  the 
"consent"  which  was  necessary'  in  order  to  give 
validity  to  Laws,  and,  generally,  on  the  assjimed 
grievances  to  which  the  Colonists  had  been  subjected, 
all  of  them  the  productions  of  well-paid  Counsel  or 
other  interested  writers,  with  which  the  newspapers 
of  that  period  were  filled  to  overflowing,  were  nothing 
else  than  means  employed  for  the  protection  of  that 
prolific,  but  corrupt,  source  of  the  wealth  of  the  Mer- 
chants of  the  City  of  New  York ;  and  the  yells  and 
the  outrages,  inflicted  on  both  persons  and  properties, 
of  those  who  had  been  employed  to  give  effect  to 
those  labored  arguments  of  the  press,  by  what  were 
assumed  to  have  been  spontaneous  outbursts  of  popu- 
lar resentment  against  the  usurpations  of  the  Home 
Government — usurpations  of  individual  rights,  by 
the  way,  which  were  only  the  same  as  those  which 
were  subsequently  inflicted,  in  every  State,  on  those 
who  were  not  Freeholders ;  and  which  the  Constitu- 
tion for  the  United  States  has  always  inflicted  and 
continues  to  inflict  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  several 
Territories,  who  have  always  been  and  who  are,  now, 
taxed  without  having  consented  to  any  such  taxation, 
their  Delegates  in  the  federal  Congress  having  had  no 
right,  at  any  time,  to  vote  on  any  question  whatever 


2G2 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


— were  no  more  than  additional  instrumentalities  in 
the  hands  of  wealthy  and  unprincipled  lawbreakers, 
Snuigglers,  employed  for  the  purpose  of  sheltering 
those  aristocratic  culprits  from  the  penalties  which 
the  Revenue-laws  had  imposed  on  them  and,  if  possi- 
ble, of  enabling  them  to  continue,  with  impunity, 
those  flagrant  violations  of  morality  and  of  Law 
which  men  of  less  wealth  and  influence  could  not 
have  committed  without  having  been  exposed  to  fine 
and  imprisonment  and  confiscation  of  property.  This, 
and  nothing  else,  in  fact,  constituted  the  beginning  of 
what  has  been,  more  recently,  unduly  elevated  to  the 
dignity  of  a  popular  patriotic  uprising,  in  support  of 
violated  Rights  and  for  the  preservation  of  the  Colo- 
nies from  governmental  devastation  and  ruin;  and 
this,  in  its  various  phases,  was  all  there  was  of  that 
notable  Revolution,  until  the  "fire-eaters"  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Virginia,  members  of  the  Continental 
Congress  of  177-1,  seized  the  control  of  that  body, 
which  had  been  convened  for  nothing  else  than  for 
the  promotion  of  reconciliation  and  harmony  and 
peace,  and  transformed  it  into  an  instrumentality  of 
lawless  violence,  of  internal  strife,  and  of  a  disastrous 
Rebellion. 

The  careful  reader  will  not  have  failed  to  see,  also, 
in  what  has  been  written  in  this  narrative  and  in  the 
testimony  which  has  been  adduced  to  sustain  it,  that, 
while  honesty  and  integrity  and  humanity  and  pa- 
triotism formed  no  portion  of  the  motives  which  led 
the  aristocratic  Smugglers,  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
to  inaugurate  and  to  sustain  a  general  disatiection 
against  the  Home  Government;  and  while  their 
aims,  in  thus  creating  and  fostering  a  general  discon- 
tent among  the  Colonists,  were  purely  temporary  and 
selfish,  intended  for  nothing  else  than  to  perpetuate 
their  own  immediate  opportunities  to  make  gain  at 
the  expense  of  the  Laws  and  the  morals  of  the 
Colony,  the  methods  which  those  influential  "  Gen- 
"tlemen  in  Trade"  employed  for  the  promotion  of 
those  individual  and  unholy  purposes,  were  better 
calculated  for  the  production  of  permanent  than  for 
that  of  temporary  results,  since  they  were  employed 
among  those,  no  matter  how  homely  they  were,  whose 
recognized  leaders  were  already  well-schooled  in  the 
theories  of  political  science,  which  had  been  employed 
for  the  texts  of  every  political  essay  and  of  every 
partisan  harangue,  for  years  past,  and  who,  besides 
having  been  politically  ambitious,  were,  also,  very 
shrewd  and  very  energetic  men  ;  and,  as  wealth  and  a 
long  and  successful  career  in  crime  are  frequently 
productive  of  that  arrogance  and  of  that  recklessness 
in  the  selection  and  employment  of  means,  either  for 
the  perpetuation  of  the  opportunities  for  wrong-doing 
or  for  the  protection  of  the  offender  from  the  penalties 
of  an  outraged  Law,  which  tend,  more  surely,  to  the 
production  of  disaster  than  to  that  of  success,  so  the 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  culprits,  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  to  whom  we  have  referred,  in  the  instance  now 
under  consideration,  through  the  means  which  they 


had  employed  for  the  intimidation  of  the  Home 
Government  and  by  their  own  persistent  selfish- 
ness, gradually  produced  a  new  and  powerful  politi- 
cal element,  adverse  to  their  own  pretensions  to 
exclusiveness,  to  which  they  had  been,  previously, 
strangers.  Their  want  of  abilities,  as  navigators  on 
the  troubled  waters  of  Colonial  politics,  was  painfully 
evident  to  all  others  than  to  themselves ;  and  the  ad- 
verse power  of  the  new-formed  political  element  was 
haughtily  disregarded,  until  it  had  become  so  well 
established  that  it  was  enabled  not  only  to  assert  but 
to  maintain  its  standing. 

The  character  and  influence  of  that  new  factor  iu 
Colonial  politics,  during  the  revolutionary  era,  require 
a  few  words  concerning  its  origin,  beyond  what  we 
have  already  said  of  it. 

The  outlay  of  wealth  can  generally  secure  ingenious 
advocates  for  any  cause,  no  matter  how  unsavory  it 
may  be ;  and,  in  that  of  the  confederated  aristocratic 
Smugglers  of  the  City  of  New  York,  of  which  men- 
tion has  been  made,  well-paid  Counsel  and  ready 
writers  for  the  newspapers,  in  their  eagerness  to  sup- 
port their  wealthy  and  liberal  connections  and  clients, 
in  their  systematic  violation  of  the  written  Law  of 
the  land  and  in  their  determined  struggle  to  retain 
the  "  illicit  trade  "  in  which  they  were  so  profitably 
engaged,  in  the  absence  of  better  authorities  for  the 
support  of  their  impassioned  rhetoric,  were  obliged  to 
resort  to  the  fundamental  and  ill-defined  theories  of 
political  science,  with  which,  through  long-continued 
iteration,  the  entire  body  of  the  inhabitants,  the  un- 
franchised as  well  as  the  Iranchised,  had  already 
become  well  acquainted ;  and,  iu  iheir  purposes  to 
oppose  the  Home  Government  and  to  shelter  their 
opulent  employers,  those  who  were  thus  employed, 
speakers  and  writers,  loudly  spoke  and  glibly  wrote 
of  "  the  natural  Rights  of  Man  "  and  of  "  the  Rights 
"of  Englishmen,"  of  "  Magna  Charta,"  and  of  "  repre- 
"sentation,"  and  of  "consent,"  without  the  slightest 
qualification,  as  if  every  man  and  every  Colonist  were 
intended  to  be  included  in  those  general  and  unquali- 
fied terms;  as  if  every  man  throughout  the  Colony 
were  intended  to  be  considered  the  equal  of  every 
other  man,  therein  and  elsewhere ;  as  if  every 
Colonist  of  every  sect  and  party  and  in  every  condi- 
tion of  life  were  entitled,  of  right,  to  be  recognized 
and  received  and  entertained,  as  an  equal,  socially 
and  politically  and  in  every  other  relation,  by  every 
other  Colonist,  of  high  or  of  low  degree — and,  without 
any  qualification,  those  popular  catchwords  with 
which  the  City  had  echoed,  year  after  year,  meant  all 
these,  if  they  meant  anything — all  of  which,  however, 
in  the  spirit  in  which  they  had  been  uttei'ed,  were 
audacious  fictions,  spoken  or  written  in  the  interest 
of  those  who  had  resorted  to  them,  only  for  deceitful 
and  illegal  and  immoral  jnirposes,  as  would  have  been 
quickly  seen  had  ''the  poor  reptiles"  who  had  con- 
stituted that  lowly  mass  of  unfranchised  Working- 
men,  directly  and  unreservedly,  at  any  time,  during 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


263 


that  long  period,  presumed  to  have  asserted,  tor 
themselves,  their  own  manhood,  and  to  have  claimed, 
for  themselves,  those  Rights  which  had  been  spe- 
ciously conceded  as  having  properly  belonged  to 
them  as  much  as  to  any  others.  In  the  progress  of 
events,  however,  either  on  their  own  motion  or  on 
that  of  their  ambitious  leaders— the  latter,  generally 
of  those  who,  before  the  confederation  of  all  parties 
in  an  opposition  to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home 
Government,  had  been  of  the  minority,  among  the 
Colonial  politicians — these  Working-men  had  com- 
menced to  measure  their  own  lowliness  and  their  own 
political  insignificance  with  the  standards  which  had 
been  placed  in  their  hands,  by  their  aristocratic 
neighbors,  for  other  purposes;  to  assert  their  own 
political  manhood ;  and  to  demand  a  hearing  in  even 
the  local  politics  of  the  day  ;  and  in  the  efforts  which 
were  made  by  the  confederated  aristocracy  of  the 
City,  to  relegate  that  new-born  and  growing  power — 
the  growing  power  of  the  great  body  of  the  Mechanics 
and  Working-men,  throughout  the  Colony — back  to 
its  normal  obscurity  and  political  insignificance,  may 
be  seen  the  beginning  of  that  ceaseless  conflict 
between  the  aristocratic  and  the  democratic  ele- 
ments of  this  mighty  Commonwealth,  which,  hav- 
ing been  continued  from  father  to  son,  is  not  yet 
ended. 

As  we  have  already  intimated,  the  confederated 
aristocracy  of  New  York  witnessed  the  appearance  of 
that  new  element  in  the  politics  of  the  Colony,  with 
anxiety  and  alarm ;  and  it  evidently  noticed,  also, 
the  constituent  parts  of  it,  and  duly  measured  its 
probable  strength,  and  judiciously  determined  that, 
in  opposing  it,  "art"  would  be  better  suited  to  ensure 
success  ;  than  anything  of  a  seemingly  unfriendly 
character  would  be — in  other  words,  that  what  ap- 
peared to  be  concessions  to  the  working-classes  should 
be  made,  but  with  sufficient  of  modifications,  in 
reserve,  to  neutralize  the  effect  of  those  seeming  con- 
cessions; and  to  continue,  without  abatement,  the- 
control  of  the  confederated  party  of  the  Opposition  to 
the  Home  Government,  in  the  Colony,  in  those  aris- 
tocratic hands  which  already  possessed  it.  Indeed, 
the  high-toned  "  Gentlemen  in  Trade,"  guided  by 
their  acute  legal  and  political  advisers,  John  Jay  and 
James  Duane,  determined  to  continue  the  same  sys- 
tem of  contemptuous  deceit  and  treachery  which  had 
characterized  all  their  previous  political  intercourse 
with  the  Working-men  of  the  Colony ;  and,  in  doing 
so,  they  very  clearly  indicated,  a  second  time,  how 
ill-qualified  they  were  to  navigate  the  troubled  waters 
of  Colonial  politics. 

The  first  formal  organization  of  those  who  were  in 
confederated  opposition  to  the  Home  Government  of 
that  period,  which  was  made  within  the  City  of  New 
York  and,  probably,  within  the  Colony — the  Caucus  of 
the  confederated  Merchants,  at  Sam.  Francis's,  in 
May,  1774,  which  had  been  evidently  assembled  under 
tlie  inspiration  of  James  Duane  and  John  Jay,  who 


were  notMerchants,  but  Lawyers — was  really  intended 
quite  as  much  for  the  adoption  of  measures  which 
should  practically  rebuke  the  evidently  growing  sense 
of  their  own  political  power  which  has  been  recently 
seen  arising  among  the  Working-men  and  the  lowly, 
throughout  the  City,  if  for  nothing  else,  as  for  the 
adoption  of  measures  in  further  opposition  to  the 
Home  Government,  to  which  it  was  nominally  de- 
voted ;  and,  by  adroitness  in  their  management  of  the 
movement — the  master-spirits  of  that  aristocratic  as- 
semblage were  not  novices  in  political  chicanery — 
while  they  really  secured,  more  firmly  than  ever,  the 
controlling  authority  in  the  confederated  Opposition 
to  the  Home  Government,  in  the  aristocracy  of  the 
Colony,  those  master-spirits  not  only  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  their  own  and  their  family's  further  advance- 
ment, but  they,  also,  so  far  placated  the  disaffected 
Working-men,  by  making  the  greater  number  of  their 
leaders  a  helpless  and  powerless  minority  in  the  pro- 
posed Committee  ofFifty-one,  that  peace  and  harmony 
of  action,  thoroughout  the  entire  Opposition,  were  im- 
mediately restored — they  had  again  deceived  the 
masses  of  the  people  ;  and,  once  more,  a  share  of  that 
confidence  which  those  lowly  masses  had  reposed  in 
their  aristocratic  neighbors,  was  entirely  forfeited. 
Although  that  new-born  element  was  represented  in 
that  Committee  of  Fifty-one,  its  representatives  were 
in  a  powerless  minority ;  and  whatever  was  done  in 
that  body,  whether  the  representatives  of  the  Work- 
ing-men assented  or  dissented,  was,  therefore,  in  fact, 
nothing  else  than  the  act  of  the  confederated  aristoc- 
racy. It  was  not  long,  however,  before  that  fraudu- 
lent treatment  of  the  Working-men  produced  "  the 
"  great  Meeting  in  the  Fields,"  and  the  dissolution  of 
that  incongruous  alliance,  and  the  resumption  of  the 
antagonism  of  the  masses  ;  and  it  was  not  long,  also, 
before  the  confederation  of  the  aristocracy  itself, 
within  as  well  as  without  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one, 
was  broken  by  the  defection  of  those  who  had  been 
the  master-spirits  of  the  organization,  who,  for  the 
advancement  of  their  own  and  their  family's  aspira- 
tions for  place  and  emolument,  had  become  as  un- 
faithful to  their  aristocratic  associates  in  the  Com- 
mittee and  to  the  political  principles  which  that  Com- 
mittee had  so  resolutely  maintained,  as  they  and  those 
whom  they  had  controlled  and  guided,  in  the  Com- 
mittee, a  few  weeks  previously,  had  been,  to  the  great 
body  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  City,  by  whom  that 
Committee  had  been  really  created  and  vested  with 
authority  to  represent  the  entire  body  of  the  Opposi- 
tion, within  the  City  of  New  York.  There  was  no 
abatement  of  the  previously  united  opposition  to 
the  demands  of  the  Working-men,  however;  and  in 
each  of  the  new-formed  factions  of  the  confederated 
aristocratic  Opposition  to  the  Home  Government  and 
in  all  which  they  or  either  of  them  did,  there  was  the 
same  entire  disregard  of  the  political  rights  of  the 
Working-men,  then  without  leaders,  which  had  been 
s!)  clearly  conspicuous  in  all  the  actions  of  thearistoc- 


264 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


racy,  from  the  beginning  of  the  political  troubles, 
within  the  Colony. 

The  reader  has  been  made  acquainted  with  the 
successful  opposition  which  the  Committee  of  Fifty- 
one  had  made  to  the  plan  of  operations  which  the 
Boston-men  had  proposed  and  insisted  on  ;  and  with 
the  successful  establishment,  instead,  of  its  own  pro- 
iect  to  call  a  Congress  of  the  several  Colonies,  for  con- 
sultation and  for  the  promotion  of  harmony,  in  the 
party  of  the  Opposition,  throughout  the  Continent. 
He  will  remember,  also,  the  narrative  of  the  refusal  of 
the  Committee  of  Fifty-one  to  permit  the  Mechanics 
and  Working-men  to  be  represented  on  the  ticket  for 
Delegates  to  the  Congress  of  the  Colonies  which  it 
had  proposed,  and  that  of  the  consequent  failure  to 
elect  its  proposed  Delegation,  when  its  ticket  was 
submitted  to  the  body  of  the  Freeholders  and  Free- 
men of  the  City,  at  the  Polls.  He  will  remember, 
also,  what  has  been  said  of  the  various  movements 
and  counter-movements  of  the  rival  factions,  after  the 
defeat  of  the  Committee's  candidates ;  of  the  treachery 
to  the  Committee  who  had  nominated  them  and  to 
their  aristocratic  associates,  of  four  of  the  five  candi- 
dates of  the  Committee;  of  the  consequent  election  of 
those  five  candidates,  in  the  absence  of  any  other 
candidates,  by  the  united  support,  at  the  Polls,  of  por- 
tions of  both  the  aristocratic  and  democratic  elements ; 
of  the  assembling  of  the  proposed  Continental  Con- 
gress, in  which  there  was  not  a  single  representative 
who  was  in  sympathy  with  or  who  honestly  repre- 
sented the  working  masses  of  the  Colonists ;  of  the 
seizure  of  the  control  of  that  Congress  by  the  "  fire- 
"  eaters  "  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina,  and  the  consequent  transformation  of  it, 
from  the  instrument  for  the  promotion  of  reconcilia- 
tion and  peace,  for  which  it  had  been  specifically 
created  and  put  in  motion,  into  one  for  the  promotion 
of  rebellion  and  bloodshed,  which  was  utterly  obnox- 
ious to  all,  except  a  very  few,  of  the  Colonists  through- 
out the  Continent ;  of  the  entire  neglect,  by  that  Con- 
gress, to  seek  that  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  Col- 
onists from  those  by  whom,  only,  such  a  redress  could 
have  been  made,  notwithstanding  it  was  for  that  par- 
ticular purpose  the  Congress  had  been  convened,  and 
notwithstanding  such  a  reconciliation  was  what  was 
most  earnestly  desired  by  all  good  men  ;  "  and  of 
the  readiness  of  that  Congress  to  inaugurate  a  system 
of  violence,  in  each  of  the  Colonies,  for  which  it  af- 
forded ample  warrants.  He  will  remember,  also, 
what  has  been  stated  concerning  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Colony  ;  its  organization  ;  its  bold  and  deter- 
mined opposition  to  the  obnoxious  Colonial  policy  of 
the  Home  Government ;  its  sturdy  refusal  to  become 
auxiliary  to  or  identified  with  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, notwithstanding  it  was  not  less  determined  in 
its  opposition  to  the  Ministry  ;  its  measures  for  secur- 
ing from  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  the  only 
body  from  whom  it  could  be  obtained,  a  complete  re- 
dress of  what  the  Colonists  regarded  as  grievances  ; 


and  the  unsuccessful  result  of  its  efforts,  in  that  com- 
mendable undertaking,  only  by  reason  of  the  boldness 
of  its  declarations  and  of  the  audacity  of  its  preten- 
sions to  rank,  as  the  legally  constituted  representa- 
tives of  a  free  people,  notwithstanding  they  were  Col- 
onists. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  all  who  are  familiar  with 
the  history  of  Colonial  New  York,  however,  that,  al- 
though the  aristocracy  of  that  old  and  respectable  Col- 
ony had  always  been  consistent  and  united,  in  its  un- 
deviating  disregard  of  the  real  political  rights  of  the 
working  masses,  those  in  the  rural  districts  as  well  as 
those  in  the  Cities,  there  had  been,  during  many  years 
before  the  period  of  which  we  write  [Maij,  1775],  and 
there  was,  then,  a  bitter  feud,  existing  within  itself, 
between  two  rival  families  and  their  respective  asso- 
ciated families  and  their  several  adherents.  It  will, 
also,  be  remembered  that,  during  a  long  period  of 
years,  one  of  those  powerful  families  and  its  friends 
had  occupied  all  or  nearly  all  the  high  places  in  the 
Colonial  Government,  and  had  dispensed  the  exten- 
sive patronage  of  that  Government  and  disposed  of  its 
valuable  emoluments  among  those  who  were  known 
to  have  been  the  friends  and  adherents  of  the  family, 
agreeably  to  the  dictates  of  its  own  controlling  will ; 
while  the  other  of  those  two  antagonistic  families  and 
those  who  had  been  its  friends  and  adherents,  during 
the  same  long  period,  had  uneasily  and  unsatisfac- 
torily reposed  on  nothing  else  than  on  their  own  rural 
respectability,  without  any  place  in  the  Government 
of  the  Colony,  without  any  of  that  influence  which 
place  had  afforded  so  bounteously  to  its  more  powerful 
rival,  and  without  any  of  those  emoluments  of  oflice 
which,  more  than  almost  all  else,  would  have  been  so  ex- 
ceedingly acceptable  to  every  Scotchman  and  to  every 
other  within  whose  veins  the  controlling  blood  was 
Scotch.  The  feud  between  the  De  Lanceys  and  the 
Livingstons,  in  Colonial  New  York,  is  matter  of  his- 
tory which  is  familiarly  known  to  every  New-Yorker 
who  is  reasonably  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his 
own  country. 

When  the  Home  Government,  eager  to  reduce  the 
heavy  land-tax  to  which  the  country  gentlemen  of 
England  had  been  subjected  by  reason  of  the  demands 
of  that  Government,  in  its  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
War  with  France  and  Spain,  first  tightened  the  lines 
of  those  who  administered  the  Customs,  in  the  Col- 
onies, and  thereby  seriously  interfered  with  the  smug- 
gling in  which  every  class  of  the  local  aristocracy  was  so 
largely  and  so  profitably  engaged,  there  was  a  common 
reason,  which  appealed  to  those  of  the  De  Lanceys  and 
those  of  the  Livingstons  with  equal  force,  for  an  op- 
position to  the  Home  Government,  in  which  those  of 
both  the  families  could  harmoniously  unite  and  from 
which  both  could  be  more  surely  benefitted ;  and,  in 
accordance  with  that  teaching  of  common  sense,  that 
opposition  to  the  Home  Government,  of  which  the 
reader  has  been  told,  was  really  established  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  with  its  organized  Committee  of 


THE  AMERICAN  RKVOLl'TION,  1774-1783. 


205 


Fifty-one  and  its  more  noted  Continental  Congress 
among  the  results  of  that  union. 

At  the  time  of  whieh  we  write,  the  threatened  dan- 
ger from  t he  working  classes  ai»i)eared  to  have  heen 
averted  ;  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one,  or  those  who  had 
remained  in  it  after  the  treachery  of  those  who  had 
used  It  for  a  ste])|)ing-st<)ne  to  something  of  greater 
inriuenee,  had  slowly  retired  from  the  field  of  politi- 
cal action  antl  had  been  dissolved  by  its  own  action; 
the  l\)nlinental  Congress  and  its  policy  and  its  meth- 
ods had  been  accepted  by  the  Livingstons  and  their 
friends  and  adherents  as  that  whicli  seemed  to  be 
best  adapted  to  add  strength  to  their  hereditary  a.n- 
tagonism  to  the  De  Lanceys  and  their  friends  and  ad- 
herents; the  Ceneral  Assend)iy  of  the  Colony  and  its 
policy  and  its  methods,  not  less  in  opi)()sili()n  to  the 
(\)lonial  i)oliev  of  the  Home  Government  than  the 
others,  had  been  acee})ted  by  the  De  Lanceys  and 
their  friends  and  adherents,  as  well  us  by  the  great 
body  of  the  Colonists,  throughout  the  entire  Colony, 
as  the  only  legitimate  e.xponent  of  the  will  of  the  Col- 
ony and  the  only  one  which  could  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  obtain  a  hearing  before  the  Home  Govern- 
ment and  the  I'arliament  and  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  from  whom,  only,  a  redress  of  the  grievances 
of  the  Colony  could  be  obtained  ;  and  the  Colony  was 
again  made  the  witness  and  the  victim  of  a  bitter  feud 
between  rival  families,  one  of  them  holding  and  the 
other  endeavoring  to  obtain  all  the  ])]accs  and  influ- 
ence and  emoluments  of  the  Colonial  Government.  A 
Delegation  of  twelve  had  been  elected,  by  a  Conven- 
tion which  had  been  convened  for  that  purpose,  to  re- 
present the  Colony  in  a  second  Congress  of  the  Col- 
onies ;  and  of  that  Delegation,  two  were  Livingstons, 
two  were  of  those  who  had  married  Livingstons,  and 
two  others  were  a.ssured  and  well-tried  supporters  of 
the  Livingston  interest.  The  excitement  which  was 
occasioned  by  "the  news  from  Lexington"  had 
added  strength  to  the  friends  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress and  its  revolutionary  policy,  to  the  Livingston 
interests,  and  to  the  revolutionary  faction,  generally  ; 
and,  in  the  same  interests  and  with  the  same  revolu- 
tionary ends  in  view,  a  Provincial  Congress  had  been 
called  and  elected,  although,  as  was  subsetpiently 
seen,  the  Deputies  thus  elected  were  not  always  pli- 
ant tools,  to  be  handled  by  a  skilful  politician,  for 
purely  jiartisan  jmrposes.  The  control  of  the  politi- 
cal all'airs  of  the  Colony,  it  will  be  seen,  as  far  as  tliosc 
affairs  could  be  controlled  by  the  revolutionary  fac- 
tion, was,  by  the  election  of  the  mend)ers  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  firmly  secured  to  the  Livingstons 
and  to  their  friends;  and  the  government  of  the  Col- 
onists, thenceforth,  was  revolutionary,  without  war- 
rant of  Law,  and  oligarchic. 

In  England,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  the 
Ministry,  revelling  in  the  strength  of  its  party  and 
haughtily  disregarding  everything  of  prudence  and 
conciliation,  had  recently  led  the  Parliament  tocnact, 
first,  the  Hill  for  restraining  the  Trade  and  Commerce 
18 


I  of  the  Provinces  of  Ma.ssachusetts-Bay  and  New 
I  Hanii)shire  and  the  Colonies  of  Connecticut  and 
'  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,  in  North 
America,  with  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  Mritish 
Islands  in  the  West  Indies;  and  to  prohibit  such 
Provinces  and  Colonies  from  carrying  on  any  Fishery 
on  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  or  other  places  therein 
mentioned,  under  certain  specified  conditions  and  lim- 
itations; and,  second,  the  Bill  lor  restraitung  the 
Trade  and  (-ommerce  of  the  Colonies  of  New  Jersey, 
I'ennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Houth  Caro- 
lina, with  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  and  the  British 
Islands  in  the  West  Indies,  under  certain  conditions 
and  limitations — the  Commerce  and  Fishing  Rights 
of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  in  each  instance,  having 
been  left,  undisturbed — and  the  First  Session  of  the 
Fourteenth  Parliament  was  drawing  near  to  its  close. 
The  disturbance  of  Trade  which  was  consequent  on 
the  political  differences,  had  already  i)rodnced  great 
distress,  in  Great  Britain,  among  those  whose  lives 
and  labors  and  properties  were  employed  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  goods  si)ecifically  intended  for  tiie  Ameri- 
can market;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  Merchants,  in 
that  country,  and  those  who  had  given  credits,  com- 
mercial or  financial,  to  the  Colonists,  in  America, 
were  anxiously  considering  in  what  way,  if  at  all, 
since  entire  commercial  non-intercourse,  except  that 
which  was  surrei)titi()us  and  corrupt,'  had  been  or- 
dered by  the  Parliament  as  well  as  by  the  Continental 
Congress,  they  were  to  receive  payment  of  what  was 
due  or  becoming  due  to  them — anxieties  which  were 
not  removed  by  the  aristocratic  and  "  patriotic 
"debtors,"  in  some  of  the  Colonics,  at  least,  whence 
remittances  had  been  entirely  susj)ended  and  where 
the  Courts  of  Justice  were  not  permitted  to  assist  in 
the  collection  of  debts. 

In  New  York,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  as 
far  as  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists  in  the  rural 
Counties  were  concerned,  there  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  any  noticeable  change — the  farmers  had  not 
been  disturbed  in  their  labors,  during  1774;  and  the 
surplus  of  their  ])roductions,  which  had  found  early 
markets,  had  undoubtedly  been  disposed  of  at  those 
better  than  ordinary  prices  which  are  known  to  have 
prevailed,  in  consequence  of  the  increased  demand 
which  had  been  i)roduced,  early  in  the  Autumn,  by 
the  approaching  embargo.    In  the  City,  the  suspen- 

'  Till"  full  liiippliog  of  p<i<«ls,  of  p\ery  ilcpci  iption,  wliicli  wcri>  Nlii|i|iril 
to  Boston,  with  llic  kiioMlcdgo  of  olliocrs  wlio  oociipiod  plai  is  in 

tlio  (iovcrnnii-nf,  on  TninKport  Sliips  nncl  diwgniscil  ns  Stores  for  the 
liojal  Arinv — eonii'tinu's  paiil  for,  a»  Slori'.s  for  tlic  .Vrniv,  by  tlie  KinK's 
Tria.inrer— .subscijuoiitl.v  bocanio  a  suliji'it  of  scanliinK  iiivistipition 
before  tlie  Ilonsu  of  Commons.  The  Sclu  dnles  of  (ioods  tlins  shipped 
afford  amnsin^  evidence  of  what  were  oflicially  eonsidered  a^  Army 
StoreH  ;  tliey  clearly  show,  also,  the  relative  weight  of  morality  and  im- 
morality, whenever  the  profits  of  trade  are  considered,  and  how  Ta.-itly 
more  the  Profit  ami  Iaisb  .Vccounis,  on  their  respei  tivc  LeilKerw,  will  in- 
fluence the  morals  and  the  religion  anil  the  doings  of  "  Men  in  Biisi- 
"  ness,"  Merchants  and  others,  than  anything  which  their  Mothers 
have  tanght  them,  anything  which  their  Bibles  have  presented  to  llicir 
consideration,  or  anything  which  their  consciences  have  brought  before 
them 


266 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sion  of  the  foreign  trade,  by  the  experimental  action 
of  the  first  Continental  Congress,  must  have  been  as 
disastrous  to  the  great  body  of  the  inliabitants — those 
possessing  small  Estates  as  well  as  the  Tradesmen 
and  Mechanics  and  Workingmen,  of  every  lowly 
class — as  that  much  writteu-of  Port  Bill,  imposed  by 
the  retributive  action  of  the  King  and  the  Parliament 
of  Great  Britain,  had  produced  on  the  similar  classes 
who  had  inhabited  the  Town  of  Boston,  in  the  pre- 
ceding year  ;  but  the  men  of  New  York  and  their  de- 
pendent families  had  endured  whatever  of  hardships 
there  had  been  in  the  suspension  of  their  respective 
means  of  support,  without  those  outcries,  nominally 
of  assumed  distress  among  "  the  suffering  inhabitants  " 
— more  loudly  uttered  by  demagogues,  for  other  pur- 
poses, than  by  those  who  were  really  sufferers,  pray- 
ing for  relief — which  had  distinguished  Boston,  a  few 
months  previously,  and  which  had  induced  the  tender- 
hearted, the  world  over,  to  become  politicians  and  to 
reprobate  the  Home  Government  by  whom  the  Port 
Bill  had  been  imposed  ;  to  sympathize  with  those  who 
were  said  to  have  been  "suffering,"  although  the  latter 
could  have  found  renuinerative  laborelsewherethan  in 
Boston ;  and  to  contribute  the  means  which  were  really 
expended,  very  largely,  more  for  the  benefit  of  the  tax- 
payers than  for  that  of  the  "  suffering  poor  "  of  the 
Town.  The  suspension  of  their  business,  by  the  aristoc- 
racy of  America,  who  could  sustain  the  present  strain 
in  order  to  ensure  the  receipt  of  an  ultimate  advantage, 
was,  we  say,  no  less  severe  in  New  York  than  the  simi- 
lar suspension  of  her  business,  by  the  aristocracy  of 
(treat  Britain,  had  been  in  Boston;  and  thesufferngs  of 
of  the  working  classes  were,  undoubtedly,  quite  as  keen- 
ly felt  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other ;  but,  in  the  in- 
stance of  New  York,  there  was  neither  an  api)eal  for 
help  nor  an  ostentatious  display  of  "i)atriotic"  sym- 
pathy, extending  help ;  and  if  the  sufferings  of  the 
lowly  victims,  in  New  York,  were  noticed  at  all,  by 
those  "patriotic"  aristocrats  who  had  produced  those 
distresses,  it  was  only  in  those  congratulatory  remarks, 
not  unfreciuently  seen  in  the  published  correspondence 
of  the  not  distant  later  period,  that  the  necessities  of 
the  working-classes  were  compelling  them  to  enlist  in 
the  Armies,  in  order  to  obtain  even  a  portion  of  the 
food  which  was  needed  to  keep  their  dependent  wives 
and  little  ones  from  starvation,  and  that  "for  the 
"  Rights  of  man  and  of  Englishmen." 

The  "determination"  of  the  Continental  Congress 
of  1774,  to  appoint  Committees  "in  every  County, 
"  City,  and  Town,"  "  whose  business  it  should  be  at- 
"  tentively  to  observe  the  conduct  of  all  persons, 
"  touching  the  Association  "  which  that  Congress  also 
enacted,  and  with  extraordinary  powers  for  persecut- 
ing and  bringing  ruin  on  whomsoever  those  local 
Committees  should  determine  to  put  under  a  ban, 
had  not  yet  become  as  well-seated,  in  the  Colony  of 
New  York,  as  in  some  of  the  other  Colonies;*  but  the 


1  The  followiug  description  of  the  methods  adopted  liy  tliose  local 


City  of  New  York  was  thus  controlled ;  and,  possibly, 
some  of  the  rural  coninumities  who  were  more  than 
ordinarily  revolutionary  in  their  inclinations,  may, 
also,  have  already  appointed  such  Committees.  In 
Westchester-county,  however,  although  the  handful 
of  ofliceseekers  who  hovered  around  the  Morrises, 
and  who  did  what  those  haughty  leaders  told  them 
to  do  in  return  for  official  favors  received  or  looked 
for,  had  recently  apj)ointed  such  a  County  Committee, 
at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  it  had  not  yet  com- 
menced its  subsequently  well-known  work  of  inquisi- 
torial proscription  and  plunder  and  outrage.  There 
were  individuals,  among  the  farmers  or  in  the  little 
villages  or  at  the  several  landings,  who  remembered 
and  continued  to  condemn  the  usurpations  of  i)olit- 
ical  authority  which  had  signalized  the  first  Conti- 
nental Congress  and  had  divided  and  lessened  the 
power  of  the  Opposition ;  and  these  and  others  who 
had  attended  the  recently-held  meeting  at  the  White 
Plains  may  have  been  and  undoubtedly  were  discon- 
tented and  outspoken,  within  their  respective  families 
and  among  their  neighbors,  producing,  in  some  in- 
stances, undoubtedly,  ill-feelings  and  personal  ani- 
mosities and  less  harmonious  neighborhoods.  But, 
notwithstanding  all  these,  the  great  body  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  County  was  entirely  undisturbed ; 
the  labors  <;f  the  day  had  been  done,  as  they  had  pre- 
viou.sly  been  done,  on  the  hundreds  of  homesteads, 
throughout  the  County ;  political  questions  in  which 
they  felt  no  interest  had  not  slackened  the  domestic 
or  the  out-door  industries  nor  lessened  the  holiday 
or  evening  pleasures  of  by  far  the  greater  number ; 
and,  with  here  and  there  a  clearly  perceptible  change, 
the  staid  old  agricultural  County  was  undisturbed,  in 
all  its  various  relations.  The  Colonial  officers  con- 
tinued to  discharge  their  various  duties,  as  their  pre- 
decessors had  done — John  Thomas,  who  had  occupied 
the  Bench  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  since  May, 
1755,  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  office, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  other  office  of  Representative 
of  the  County,  in  the  General  Assembly,  without 

Ciinmiittecs,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  carried  their  new-found 
authority,  although  it  relates  peculiarly  to  Virginia,  is  entirely  applica- 
ble to  the  methods  and  tlie  extent  of  authority  of  similar  Conunittees,  in 
every  other  Colony  :  ''The  AasucUilioiis  first,  in  part,  entered  into,  roconi- 
"  nu  iided  liy  the  i)eople  of  tliis  Colony,  and  adopted  by  what  is  called 
'■  'the  Continental  Congres.",'  are  now  enforcing,  throughout  this  coun- 
"try,  with  the  greatest  rigour.  K  C'ununitlce  has  been  chosen  in  every 
"County,  whose  business  it  is  to  carry  the  Aiisttcuitiint  tii  the  Congress 
"  into  execution  ;  which  C'oiuniittee  assumes  an  authority  to  inspect  the 
"books,  invoices,  and  all  other  secrets  of  the  trade  and  correspondence 
"  of  Merchants;  to  watch  the  coniiuct  of  every  Inhabitant,  without  dis- 
"  tiuction  ;  and  to  send  for  all  such  as  come  under  their  suspicion,  into 
"their  presence,  to  interrogate  tluui  respecting  all  matters  which,  at 
"their  pleasure,  they  think  fit  objects  of  their  in(piiry,  and  to  'stig- 
"  'niatize,'  as  they  term  it,  such  as  they  find  transgressing  what  they 
"  are  now  hardy  enough  to  call  '  the  Laws  of  the  Congress,'  which  '  stig- 
"  '  matiziug '  is  no  other  than  inviting  the  vengeance  of  an  outrageous 
"and  lawless  mob,  to  be  exorcised  upon  the  uuhajipy  victims."— ( T/ic 
E'irl Tiiuimiire  I"  till-  Emi  nf  D<(ilimiiilli,  "Vi'u.i.ixmskvkg,"  IVinjiiiui,] 
"  December  24,  1774,"  laid  before  the  House  of  Commons,  February  1.., 
1775.— Almon's  Piit  Hiniienkn  ii  lleijMei;  House  of  C'onunons,  First  Session, 
Fourteenth  Parliament,  i.,  185,  It-C.) 


TH?:  AMF]]IICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


being  disturbed,  by  any  one;  and  James  De  I^ancey, 
who  had  been  the  Shcrifr  of  tiie  County,  since  June, 
177(1,  and  David  Dayton,  who  had  been  tlie  Surro- 
gate, since  June,  17li(),  and  Jolin  Bartow,  who  had 
been  the  Clerk  of  the  County,  since  April,  17()0,  each 
in  his  appointed  official  place,  continued  to  discharge 
the  official  duties  which  were  incumbent  on  them, 
and  to  receive  and  to  enjoy  the  emoluments  which 
those  several  offices  secured  to  them — the  Courts  of 
tlie  County  continued  their  several  Sessions,  at  the 
appointed  times;  and,  as  we  have  said,  with  occa- 
sional individual  or  neighborhood  exceptions,  a  gen- 
eral (jniet  prevailed,  a  quiet  which  preceded  a  ter- 
rible convulsion,  as  the  reader  will  shortly  see. 

The  machinery  of  government  which  had  been 
created  by  the  revolutionary  elements,  within  and 
without  the  Colony  of  New  York,  was,  very  soon,  put 
in  motion.  It  was  composed  of  only  a  series  of  con- 
claves, each  of  which  exercised,  arbitrarily,  Legisla- 
tive, Executive,  and  Judicial  functions,  unrestrained 
by  either  constitutional  or  statutory  provisions,  and 
controlled,  in  whatever  it  determined  to  do  or  not  to 
do,  only  by  the  individual  impulses  of  such,  within 
this  Colony,  as  the  Livingstons  and  the  Morrises,  the 
Van  Cortlandts  and  the  Thomases,  and  as  James 
Duane  and  John  Jay,  men,  in  every  instance,  who 
were  distinguished  for  their  entire  disregard  of  and  con- 
tempt for  the  unfranchised  and  lowly  masses,  of  every 
class,  as  well  as  of  those  who  were  franchished,  but 
not  "  well-born  " — the  former  being  looked  on,  by 
them,  as  fit  only  for  labor  and  for  fighting ;  and  the 
latter  as  no  better  than  the  others,  unless  on  election- 
days — and  who  represented  only  the  uncontrolled  and 
purely  aristocratic  prejudices  and  antipathies  and  the 
equally  uncontrolled  and  malignant  partisan  animosi- 
ties and  jealousies  of  those  who,  during  many  years, 
had  been  excluded  from  ofiicial  life,  and  who,  by 
the  whirligig  of  rebellion,  were,  then,  first  enjoying, 
in  an  extremely  diluted  form,  what  they  had  so  long 
and  so  anxiously  hankered  for.' 

The  Congress  of  the  Continent  assembled  at  Phila- 
delphia, agreeably  to  order,  on  Wednesday,  the  tenth 
of  May,  177;");  and,  ten  Colonies  being  represented — 
only  three  of  the  Delegates  from  New  York  having  been 
present,  that  Colony  was  not  counted — -it  was  formally 
organized  by  the  election  of  Peyton  Randolph,  of 
Virginia,  as  its  President,  aiul  Charles  Tiiomson,  of 

■  It  was  well-nnid  by  Henry  0.  Van  Sclinack,  in  liiR  Life  of  liis  futlior, 
"  It  will  Honicoly  now  be  ciediteil  timt  iidwoi-h  so  iinilcfincil  and  nxtinor- 
"  iliiiury  shoiilil  have  been  intriisteil  t»i  a  frw  indiviiliialH,  liy  a  propU'  so 
"  jealous  of  encroacliinciits ;  wlioso  stMiso  of  liberty  wJts  so  keen  as  to 
'  'snufT  tlin  appnutcli  of  tyranny  in  evpry  tainted  breeze;'  and  wlio, 
"on  tbeir  own  part,  bail  none  to  war  against  a  preamble." — Van 
Srli!U»ck's  Life  «./  I'rtrr  Vitu  Mnui.  k,  (17. 

Thti  barbarities  wbieli  were  ofticially  inllicted  on  iuilivi<lnuls  anil  fam- 
ilies, in  many  instances  only  for  an  ujiiuiim  extorted  by  tbeir  iK-rsecntors, 
witlii>ut  an  overt  aet  or  tbe  inclination  to  commit  one,  as  tliose  barbarities 
have  iM'en  ollicially  recorded,  were  jH^rfectly  shocking;  ;  and  some  of  those 
which  were  intllcted  on  residents  of  Westchester-eonnty,  under  the 
guidance  of  such  notable  \Vest«-hester-ei»iinly  men  as  .John  .lay  and 
Gouverneur  Morris,  will  find  places  in  other  parts  of  this  narrative. 


2(17 

Peiin.sylvania,  as  its  Secretary.'^  The  history  of  its 
doings,  generally,  is  known  to  every  intelligent  i)er- 
son,  and  need  not  be  re[)eated,  unless  in  such  instances 
as  particularly  related  to  Westchester-county  or  to 
those  who  were  within  the  bounds  of  that  County, 
during  the  period  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

On  Monday,  the  twenty-second  of  May,  1775,  a 
number  of  those  who  had  been  designated  as  Deputies 
from  the  several  Counties  of  the  Colony,  assembled  at 
the  Exchange,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  a  Provincial  Congress  ;  but,  because 
they  conceived  there  was  not  a  sufficient  number  of 
Deputies  present,  they  adjourned  until  the  following 
day,  without  having  attempted  to  organize.  On  the 
latter  day,  [Tucsdai/,  Ma;/  23,  177-'),]  those  Deputies 
who  were  then  }>resent  assembled  at  the  Exchange, 
"  the  Deputies  of  a  majority  of  the  Counties  "  having 
appeared;  and  a  "Provincial  Congress  for  the 
"  Colony  of  New-York  "  was  organized  by  the  election 
of  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston — one  of  the  most 
violent  of  the  former  "  Committee  of  Corres()ondence," 
a  brother  of  the  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Livingston, 
and  a  brother-in-law  and  partner  in  business  of  that 
Earl  of  Stirling,  so  called,  who  figured  so  largely  in 
the  military  history  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution — to 
be  its  President ;  and  John  McKesson  and  Robert 
Benson,  the  latter  a  brother  of  that  Egbert  Benson 
whose  extraordinary  election  as  a  Deputy  from 
Duchess-county  to  the  earlier  Provincial  Convention, 
has  been  already  noticed,  were  elected  to  be  ils  Sec- 
retiiries.-'  Although  the  doings  of  that  body  are  less 
generally  known  than  those  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, the  purposes  of  this  work  will  not  require  any 
further  reference  to  them,  than  to  such  portions  as 
relate  ])articularly,  to  Westchester-county  or  to  those 
who  were  within  that  County,  and  to  such  other  por- 
tions thereof  as,  in  tlieir  effects,  affected  that  County 
or  its  inhabitants,  during  the  period  of  the  War  of 
the  Revolution. 

As  has  been  already  stated,  the  local  Committee  for 
Westchester-county  was  created  on  the  eighth  ol'May, 
1775,  ninety  members  having  been  miraculously 
created  out  of  the  material  of  which  twenty-three 
were  actually  comjiosed ;  and  (iilbert  Drake  was 
made  its  Chairman.^  Micah  Towiisend,  subseiiuently 
holding  other  offices  of  Iioihu',  in  both  Westchester 
and  Cumberland-counties,  was  made  the  Secretary  of 
that  Committee ;  ^  and  its  doings,  as  far  as  they  were 


2  Jouniat  nf  Iho  Cniii/mn,  "  Piiii.ADEi.i'riiA,  Wednesday,  May  10,  177'>." 
Jmtniiit  iif  Ihf  rrnriitriut  ( 'timjrrmi^  *^  {'it\        Nkw-Vokk,  .May '.iilnl, 
**  177'),"  and  addition,  including  the  proceedings  on  the  following;  day. 

<  Cmh  iill-iU  nf  Ih  lr,i,ilex  Id  I'rni  i„ri,il  r„u<jms.  May  8,  \Ti->.—llisl<,r„  i,l 
MttintHi'fiplJt  rt'lufire  Ui  Ihf  Wur  of  tin'  lii'fittiiliim  ;  Cfnlt-iitiiih  of  llrlrijiilrs^ 
xxiv.,  lltl  ;  llirimjtoii' H  .Veic- V-i  A-  (.■i<rW/e.r,  No.  1(18,  Nkh -VoitK,  'liiurn- 
.lay.  May  U,  177,1. 

Xhe  I'mlrii/iaU  ineiitioneil  alK>ve  were  signetl  *'Gilbkut  Dkake, 
**  ClHtiniiaii ;  bnt  those  of  the  Delegates  ele<'ted  to  the  .Second  Provin- 
cial Congress,  signed  by  the  same  person,  bear  the  signature  of  "  Oiluekt 
'•  II.  DitAKE,  Cliiiiniiiiii." — u/ .W<ll<li«cri/rf», etc.:  IVeilenliaUof  bth- 
ij'ilt',  xxiv.,  (m.) 

Hi»U>ricul  Maniticrii'U^  etc.:  Credentials  of  Oelt-ynteit^  x.xiv,.  ti7. 


268 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


recorded  in  the  aiiiials  of  the  County,  will  be  duly 
noticed,  as  the  narrative  progresses. 

The  organization  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the 
twenty-third  of  May,  1775,  has  been  already  men- 
tioned and  described  : '  a  more  particular  description 
of  the  membership  of  that  body  which,  in  the  interest 
of  those  who  were  in  rebellion,  was  to  take  places  be- 
side the  several  departments  of  the  legally  constituted 
Colonial  (fovernment,  in  the  government  of  tlie  Col- 
ony, and  which  was  to  wield  so  important  an  influence 
over  all  who  were  within  the  Colony,  seems  to  be  in- 
cumbent on  us,  in  this  place. 

Of  the  fourteen  Counties  of  which  the  Colony  of 
New  York  was  then  composed,  thirteen  were  properly 
designated  "  the  Counties,"  or  "  the  country  Counties," 
since  they  were  mainly  occupii'd  by  conununitics  of 
farmers,  unless  iji  the  instances  of  the  frontier  Coun- 
ties, in  which  hunters  and  trappers  and  surveying 
parties  and,  not  unfrequently,  families  and  villages  of 
the  aborigines,  aflbrded  considerable  portions  of  their 
continually  changing  i)opulations.  Of  these  thirteen 
rural  Counties,  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Albany 
and  Duchess  and  Westchester  and  Queens  made  pre- 
tensions to  something  of  social  superiority,  somewhat 
akin  to  the  aristocracy  of  the  City  of  New  York  ;  but, 
in  none  of  them,  unless  in  Albany-county,  was  there 
any  j)retension  to  a  controlling  local  aristocracy;  and 
in  all  of  them,  the  actual  tillers  of  the  soil  largely  out- 
numbered all  other  classes,  on  the  Census-lists.  From 
such  widely  dissimilar  constituencies,  in  town  and 
country,  therefore,  even  from  those  who  were  not 
widely  separated  and  differently  situated,  there  could 
not  be  expected  Delegations  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress who  were  homogeneous  in  their  characters  and 
dispositions  and  inclinations;  and  as  all  those  rural 
Delegations  ])Ossessed  more  or  less  of  the  elements 
which  [jrevailed  among  those  who  were  nominally 
their  respective  constituencies,  it  was  to  be  a  work  of 
time  and  patience  and  skill,  in  partisan  and  factional 
discipline,  to  bring  all  of  them  into  "  working  order,'' 
in  the  interest  ol'  the  controlling,  or  revolutionary, 
faction  of  the  aristocracy — a  work  of  which  notice 
will  be  taken,  hereafter. 

The  City  and  County  of  New  York,  of  course,  was 
represented  in  the  Provincial  Congress  by  the  ex- 
tremes of  both  conservatism  and  of  radicalism,  witli 
a  generous  sprinkling  of  those  who  favored  that  po- 
litical association  which  promised  the  greater  pecu- 
niary pr(')fjts ;  and  the  several  Delegations  from  Al- 
bany and  Queens  and  Westchester  and  Duchess-coun- 
ties, respectively  contained,  also,  more  or  less  of  mixed 
memberships.  From  the  remaining  nine  Counties, 
the  Delegations  were  generally  smaller  in  number; 
and,  very  largely,  especially  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
existence  of  the  Congress,  tiiey  were  composed  of 
those  who  had  honestly  come  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
tecting the  Colony  from  the  wrongs  to  which  the 


Home  Government  was  said  to  have  subjected  it ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  their  inclinations  were  peace- 
ful; and  they  preferred  a  reconciliation  with  Great 
Britain,  instead  of  a  Civil  War,  which  had  been  al- 
ready commenced ;  and,  because  they  had  not  yet 
been  corrupted  by  the  social  influences  of  life  in  the 
City  nor  by  the  allurements  of  official  plunder,  they 
were  ready  to  join  with  all  or  with  any,  regardless  of 
their  factional  afliliations,  who  entertained  similar 
views,  in  the  practical  establishment  of  those  funda- 
mental principles.  The  individual  mend)ers  of  the 
first  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  at  theojjcning 
and  during  the  earlier  period  of  the  existence  of  that 
body,  niay,  therefore,  be  classed  as,  firt^t,  the  avowed 
Conservatives,  who  were  led  by  such  as  John  De 
Lancey  and  Benjamin  Kissam  and  Abraham  Walton 
and  Richard  Yates  and  George  Folliot  and  Walter 
Franklin ;  as,  sccoml,  the  "  Corporal's  CJuard "  of 
avowed  llevolutionists,  who  were  led  by  John  Morin 
Scott  and  Alexander  McDougal  and  Abraham  Bra- 
sier ;  as,  f/iird,  a  larger  number,  tho^e  who,  under  the 
guise  of  patriotism,  were  aiming  at  nothing  else  than 
at  places  and  at  the  influences  and  emoluments  to  be 
produced  by  those  places,  who  were  led  by  the  Living- 
.stons  and  the  Van  Cortlandts,  by  Gouverneur  Morris 
and  John  Thomas  and  Melanthon  Smith  and  Abra- 
ham Ten  Broeck  and  Egbert  Dumond  and  Nathaniel 
Woodhull  and  John  Sloss  Hol)art;  and  as,  /u.s/,  out- 
numbering all  others,  those  who  had  lell  their  sev- 
eral rural  homes  and  come  to  the  City  of  New  York, 
for  the  purpose  of  serving  their  country,  without  hav- 
ing had,  at  that  time,  any  other  aim. 

As  the  several  Delegations  voted  as  units,  the  votes 
of  the  several  Counties  having  been  cast  in  accord- 
ance with  the  d(!ternnnation  of  the  majority  of  the 
Delegates  of  each  who  were  then  present,  the  votes 
of  individual  Delegates,  unless  in  instances  of  formal 
dissent,  are  not  recorded  ;  but  tlie  conservatism  of  the 
organized  Congress,  as  an  aggregate,  was  seen,  im- 
mediately after  the  organization  of  that  body  and  the 
adoi)tion  of  its  necessary  /iii/c>!  of  Ortlvr,  on  the  first 
day  of  the  Session,  when  Isaac  Low,  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  who  is  already  so  well  known  to  the 
reader,  had  commenced  tlie  work  of  centralizing  all 
of  political  authority  and  power  which  were  within 
the  Colony,  except  those  of  the  local  police,  in  the 
Continental  Congress,  a  work  which  has  been  per- 
sistently continued  until  this  day,  by  men  of  the  same 
classes  of  society  and  i)olitics,  and  for  the  same  pur- 
l)oses;  and  when,  very  promptly  and  very  aptly,  Gouv- 
erneur Morris,  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  who  was 
already  conspicuously  notorious  for  his  contemptuous 
disregard  of  the  personal  and  political  rights  of  the 
unfranchised  masses  of  the  Colonists,  who  were  only 
"  [)oor  rei)tiles "  in  his  aristocratic  vocabulary,-  had 
seconded  the  motion.  The  Resolution  which  Isaac 
Low  had  thus  offered,  was  in  these  words : 


'  Vide  page  V!U7,  aiite. 


2.Sce  liis  letter  to  Mr.  Penn,  pages  187,  188,  ante. 


THI<:  AMKRK^AN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1788. 


"Resolvkd,  As  the  opinion  of  this  Congress,  that  im- 
"  Illicit  ohedience  ought  to  he  paid  to  every  reeoni- 
"  nienilation  of  the  Continental  C/ongress,  for  tiie  gen- 
"  eral  regulation  of  the  associated  Colonies;  but  this 
"  Congress  is  conijietent  to  and  ought,  freely,  to  de- 
"  liberate  and  determine  on  all  matters  relative  to  the 
"  internal  police  of  this  Colony."  ' 

Such  a  Resolution,  so  evidently  in  the  interest  of 
the  master-s[)irils  of  the  revolt  and  in  that  of  the 
most  ultra  of  the  aristocracy  of  the  (Jolony,  at  the 
same  time  so  radically  subversive  of  those  fundamen- 
tal principles  ol'  government  which  were  professed  to 
have  been  the  basis  of  the  existing  Rebellion  against 
the  Mother  Country,  very  reasonably  excited  imme- 
diate alarm;  and,  notwithstanding  the  Delegates  were 
scarcely  warm  in  their  seats,  the  two  ill-concealed 
monarchists  who  were  temporarily  masquerading, 
within  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  republicans,  and 
tho.se,  of  the  same  class,  elsewhere,  in  whose  behalf 
the  Resolution  had  been  offered,  were  very  ctrectually 
snubbed — on  a  motion  of  John  Aforin  Scott,  the  very 
able  leader  of  the  handful  of  ultra-revolutionists,  sec- 
onded by  David  C'larkson,  both  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  the  liesohition  was  defeated,  only  Richmond- 
county  having  voted  in  favor  of  it,-  neither  the  mover 
nor  the  seconder  of  it  having  received  the  support  of 
the  County  of  whiidi  he  professed  to  have  been  a 
proper  representative.' 

Tiie  signal  rebuke  which  the  not  yet  corrupted 
"country  gentlemen,"  members  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  New  York,  had  thus  given  to  those  who 
had  pro|)o.sed  to  make  the  Colony  of  New  York  and 
all  which  it  possessed  subject,  in  all  its  relations,  ex- 
cept in  the  local  [)ower  of  police,  to  a  foreign  body 
over  whom  neither  the  individual  Colonists  nor  the 
aggregated  Colony  could  possibly  have  exercised  the 
slightest  control,  and  by  whom  both  the  individual 
Colonists  and  the  Colony  in  its  entirety  would  have 
been  subjected  to  an  absolutely  desi)otic  control  by 
those,  of  other  Colonies,  who  already  envi(!d  the  ris- 
ing greatness  of  New  York,  apjicars  to  have  been 
etlective,  in  that  direction  ;  but,  two  days  afterwards, 
the  little  ultra-revolutionary  cli(iue,  within  the  Con- 
gress, taking  courage  from  the  evidently  independent 
si)irit  which  had  been  manifested  by  the  rural  Dele- 


^  Jfittni'il  ttf  lliif  PritriiirUtl  Cinnjn'ns^  **^>  ho.,  P.M.,  May  2:iii.'* 

-The  vote  of  IlichinoiKl-ooiiiity,  in  tliis  t-arJy  inBtjinoc,  in  very  remark- 
able, eHpecially  when  it  m  coiiHiilerud  in  eoiinertion  with  the  later  in- 
stances of  tliut  Coiiiity's  want  of  syiniiatliy  with  l>oth  the  Continental 
(?ongres.s  anil  tliose  wlio  enf;inei*re<l  tliat  nolahh^  Iiody. 

This  vote  also  all'orils  a  li'Siuin  of  tlie  gri  ati  st  si;;niru  ance,  illustnitive 
of  tlio  eflu);!s  of  that  ill-consiilere<l  policy  of  nniforniity  in  political  opin- 
ions, enforceil  liy  a  military  [Hjwer,  which  the  Provincial  Connresn,  in  it." 
later  anil  more  corrupt  ilayd,  ailopteil  anil  enforceil — hy  the  ailoption  unil 
enforcement  of  such  an  extremely  violent  policy,  insteail  of  one  in  which 
conciliation  and  loi-al  peace  niight  have  Iwen  the  more  prominent  fea- 
tures, the  inhaliilantii.of  Kichmonil  county  were  violently  rei«'lleil,  by  the 
ultra-revolutionists,  iw  othei-s  like-situateil  wi  re  similarly  repelleil,  coin- 
iwlliiiy;  them  to  s<!ek  first,  protection,  anil,  next,  fellowship,  anuint^ 
(hose  with  whom  they  had,  previously,  hail  no  syinfMithy. 

^Jouriuil  u/ the  I'rociiicUil  C'oiiyrau,  "5  ho.,  P. SI.,  May  £i'^.'' 


gations,  in  the  former  vote,  and  hoping  that  the  same 
spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  monarchical  iiu^linations, 
which  those  "  country  gentlemen "  had  then  ])re- 
sented,  would  rest,  ])eacefully  and  usefully,  on  an  in- 
clination in  the  opposite  direction,  made  a  movement, 
within  the  Congress,  in  behalf  of  Revolution  and  Rt;;- 
l)ellioii  and  a  Civil  War. 

As  the  Colony  of  New  York  had  not  yet  given  that 
l)ublic  testimony  of  its  entire  and  cordial  accession 
to  the  confederacy  of  the  revolted  Colonies  which  had 
been  given  to  it  by  the  other  Colonies,  in  the  express 
approbation,  by  each,  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  of  1774,  of  which  proceedings  de- 
tailed mention  has  been  made  in  other  jiortions  of 
this  narrative,  an  attempt  was  made,  in  the  Provincial 
Congress,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  to  supply  that 
previously  omitted  ratification  and  approval  of  the 
proceedings  of  that  already  notable  Congress,  and,  by 
that  ratification  and  approval,  to  carry  the  Colony  of 
New  York  within  the  circle  of  the  confederacy  of  the 
revolt,  and  to  make  her  subject  to  influences  and  ob- 
ligations from  which  she  had  jireviously  been  free. 
For  those  purposes,  and  for  others  which  were  not  less 
imi)ortant  although  they  were  less  visible,  John 
Morin  Scott,  the  leader  of  the  revolutionary  cliiiue, 
moved  "in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

"  As  this  Colony  has  not  as  yet  given  that  public 
"  testimony  of  their  entire  and  cordial  actcessioii  to 
"the  confederacy  of  the  Colonies  on  this  Continent 
"which  has  been  given  by  the  other  Colonies,  in  their 
"express  approbation  of  the  proceedings  of  the  last 
"  Continental  Congress,  I  move  that  it  be 

"Rksolved,  That  this  Congress  do  fully  approve 
"  of  the  proceedings  of  the  said  Congress." 

This  Resolution  was  |)rt)m])tly  seconded  by  Thomas 
Smith,  a  brother  of  William  and  of  Joshua  Hett 
Smith  who  subsecjuently  became  more  widely  known 
than  they  were,  at  that  time  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  a 
defeat  of  that  well-devised  plan,  also,  had  not  been 
considered  as  even  iirobable,  by  those  who  liad  de- 
vised it.  Rut,  as  we  are  informed,  "debates  arose  on 
"  the  said  motion  " — there  were  grave  questions,  at 
that  time,  concerning  the  propriety  of  such  an  appro- 
val of  all  the  jiroceedings  of  that  first  Congress,  as 
was  projiosed  by  the  leaders  of  the  ultra-revolution- 
ists—and  the  rural  Delegations  again  determined  on 
the  side  of  j)eace  and  reconciliation  and  Ctdonial  iii- 
de|)endence  from  all  foreign  inlluenees,  by  post]ionini!; 
the  further  consideration  of  the  i)ro|»ositioii,  without 
day,*  where  it  has  remained,  from  that  day  until  the 
present. 

It  is  more  than  possible  that  the  avowed  Conserva- 
tive elements  within  the  Provincial  Congre.s.s  had 
been  hirgely  instrumental  in  securing  both  the.se 
votes,  in  opi)osition  to  the  discordant  ellbrts,  succes- 
sively, of  the  ultra-aristocracy,  represented  by  Isaac 
I>()w  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  of  the  ultra-revolu- 

*  Journal  of  tite  I'roviucial  CongreMj  **'y  bo.,  P.M.,  May  2.'>t>'." 


270 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tionarj'  faction,  represented  by  John  Morin  Scott  and 
Thomas  Smith  ;  but,  whatever  may  have  led  to  the 
practical  rejection  of  those  two  propositions,  each  of 
which  tended  toward  the  centralization  of  the  entire 
authority  and  all  the  power  of  the  several  Colonies, 
iu  the  Congress  of  the  Continent,  thereby  destroying 
the  autonomy  of  each  of  the  Colonies,  without  sub- 
jecting that  Congress,  in  its  exercise  of  that  authority 
and  that  power,  to  any  other  limitation  than  the  un- 
bridled will  of  a  majority  of  the  Delegations  compos- 
ing it,  this  is  clearly  evident :  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress intended,  by  those  two  adverse  votes,  to  declare 
that,  though  a  purely  local  body,  it  was,  nevertheless, 
determined  not  to  divest  itself,  even  by  implication, 
of  that  unquestioned  governmental  supremacy,  within 
the  Colony  of  New  York,  which  it  had  already  ac- 
quired, no  matter  how  ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  had 
determined  to  retain,  within  itself,  and  to  continue  to 
exercise,  unhampered  by  the  interference  of  any 
other  body,  the  several  legislative,  and  judicial,  and 
executive  authorities,  within  the  Colony,  which  it  al- 
ready held,  no  matter  by  what  warrant ;  that  it  would 
yield  to  the  Continental  Congress,  if  it  yielded  any- 
thing to  that  foreign  body,  nothing  else  than  a  volun- 
tary ac(iuicscence ;  that  it  would  promulgate  the  Or- 
ders and  Resolutions  and  "  recommendations  "  of  that 
other  Congress,  if  it  pronuilgated  them  at  all,  not  as 
original  and  .supreme  rules  of  action  of  all  who  were 
or  who  might  be  within  the  Colony  of  New  York, 
but  as  the  bases  of  its  own  local  enactments,  to  the 
latter  of  wiiich,  per  »e,  and  not  to  the  former,  it  re- 
quired the  implicit  obedience  of  all  those  within  or 
to  come  within  the  Colony,  whose  supreme  political 
ruler  it  assumed  to  be  and  to  remain.  In  short,  from 
the  beginning,  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York 
recognized  no  sui)erior,  controlling  power,  except 
that  of  its  own  actual  constituents  ;  and,  at  no  subse- 
(juent  i)eriod — not  even  when  the  Governor  of  New 
York  declined  the  release  of  Alexander  McLeod, 
though  demanded  by  both  the  Government  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  President  of  the  United  States — has 
theri^  been  any  more  resolute  supporter  of  the  Sover- 
eignty of  the  several  States,  any  more  determined  op- 
ponent of  a  transfer  to  any  other  body,  from  the 
People — which  latter  word  is  only  an  equivalent 
term  for  the  State,  and,  in  New  York,  if  not  else- 
where, is  used,  officially,  to  designate  the  State,  it- 
self— of  the  original  authority,  the  Sovereignty  of 
those  several  Peoi)les,  than  was  that  revolutionary 
Congress  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  in  its  opposi- 
tion, on  the  one  hand,  to  its  ultra-aristocratic  master- 
spirits, and,  on  the  other,  to  the  ultra-revolutionists 
among  its  members,  early  in  the  year  1775. 

As  a  ])ortion  of  the  history  f  those  times,  reference 
may  be  made,  in  this  j)lace,  to  an  incident  which 
occurred  in  the  Provincial  (Jongress,  soon  after  that 
body  had  rejected  the  Resolution  which  Isaac  Low 
and  Gouverneur  Morris  had  offered,  of  which  men- 
tion has  been  made.    On  the  same  day,  the  first  day 


of  the  Session  of  that  revolutionary  body,  during  the 
same  afternoon,  a  motion  was  made  by  Alexander 
McDougal,  a  Presbyterian,  providing  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Committee  of  two,  to  apply  to  all  the 
Ministers  in  the  City  who  could  pray  in  English,  "to 
"  make  such  an  arrangement  among  themselves  as 
"would  enable  them  alternately  to  open  the  Congress, 
"every  morning,  with  prayer;"  but  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris, Lewis  Graham,  Colonel  Philip  Van  Cortlandt, 
Colonel  James  Holmes,  Stephen  Ward,  and  John 
Thomas,  Junior,  six  of  the  nine  members  of  the  Con- 
gress who  were  from  Westchester-county,  probably 
recognizing  the  evident  impropriety  of  spreading 
their  politically  dirty  hands  before  Him  who  giveth 
no  favor  to  those  who  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie,  dis- 
sented from  a  majority  of  the  Congress,  and  caused 
their  dissent  to  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  that 
body.' 

On  Friday,  the  twenty-sixth  of  IMay,  the  Prov- 
incial Congress  adopted,  unanimously,  a  Resolu- 
tion, offered  by  Gilbert  Living.ston  of  Duchess- 
county  and  seconded  by  John  De  Lancey  of  New 
York  City,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a 
Committee  of  one  from  each  County,  "to  draw 
"up  and  report  a  proper  Resolve  of  this  Con- 
"gress,  recommending  to  the  different  Counties 
"in  this  Colony,  to  form  themselves  into  County 
"Committees,  and  also  into  Sub-committees  for  their 
"  respective  Townships  and  Districts,  and  recoinmend- 
"ing  the  signing  of  the  General  Asuonation  ;  and  also 
"  to  prepare  and  report  to  this  Congress  a  draft  of  a 
"  letter  to  be  sent  to  the  Committees  and  other  per- 
"  sons  in  the  several  Counties,  for  the  above  purposes, 
"  and  with  copies  of  such  Resolution."  In  that  Com- 
mittee of  one  from  each  County,  Major  Philip  Van 
Cortlandt  represented  Westchester-county  ;  and,  on 
the  following  day,  {May  27,  1775]  it  made  a  Report, 
in  due  form.' 

The  Resolution  which  was  thus  reported,  was  in 
these  words:  "Resolved:  That  it  be  recommended, 
"  and  it  is  hereby  accordingly  recommended,  to  all  the 
"  Counties  in  this  Colony,  (who  have  not  already  done 
"it,)  to  appoint  County  Committees,  and  also  Suh- 
"  committees  for  their  respective  Townships,  Pre- 
"  cincts,  and  Districts,  without  delay,  in  order  to  carry 
"  into  execution  the  Resolutions  of  the  Continental 
"  and  this  Provincial  Congress. 

"  And  that  it  is  also  recommended  to  every  Inhabitant 
''of  this  Colony,  who  has  hitherto  neglected  to  sub- 
"  scribe  the  General  Ansociafion,  to  do  it  with  all  con- 
"venient  speed.  And  for  these  purposes  that  the 
"  Committees  in  the  respective  Counties  in  which 
"  Committees  have  been  formed,  do  tender  the  said 
"  Ansociafion  to  every  Inhabitant  within  the  several 
"  Districts  in  each  County.    And  that  such  persons, 


1  Jmirmil  of  the  Priiriiwial  O'ligress  "5  ho.,  P.M.,  May  2;id." 

^  Jmmuil  i'ftlic  ComjreM,  "4  ho.,  I'.M.,  May  2(ith,  177.'>." 

'  Jvuriial  of  the  Congress,  "  Die  Satuinii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May  27th,  1775." 


THE  AxMERlCAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


271 


"  in  those  Counties  or  Districts  wlio  have  not  appoint- 
"  ed  Coniuiitteos,  as  shall  be  ajipointcd  by  the  uieui- 
"  here  of  tliis  Congress  representing  such  Counties  and 
"  Districts  res|)ectively, '  do  malce  sucii  tender  as  afore- 
"said  in  sucli  C^ounties  and  Districts  respectively; 
"and  that  the  said  Committees  and  persons  respec- 
lively  do  return  the  said  Asxoruilioa  and  the  names 
'•  of  those  who  shall  neglect  or  rel'use  to  sign  the  same, 
"  to  this  Congress,  by  the  fifteenth  day  of  July  next, 
"  or  sooner,  if  j>ossible."' 

The  letter  which  was  rejiorted,  as  a  companion  to 
this  Kesolulion,  was  in  the  following  wortls  : 

"  Nkw-Yokk,  May  1775. 

"  GeXTLEMKN  : 

'•  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  Resolution  of 
'■  this  Congress,  that  it  is  recommended  to  such  of 
"  the  Counties  as  have  not  already  formed  Commit- 
"  tees,  to  do  it  witliout  delay,  and  that.>iich  of  tlie  In- 
"  habitants  of  this  Colony  as  have  hitherto  neglected 
"  to  subscribe  the  General  Association,  do  it,  so  as  to 
"  enable  you  to  make  a  return  within  the  time  limited 
"  in  the  Resolution. 

"  As  the  execution  of  this  Resolve  is  committed  to 
"  your  care,  we  recjuest  you  to  use  your  best  endeavours 
"  to  see  that  this  recommendation  be  complied  with. 
"  It  may,  nevertheless,  be  proper  to  inform  you  that  it 
"  is  the  sense  of  this  Congress  that  no  coercive  steps 
"  ought  to  be  used  to  induce  any  person  to  sign  the 
"  Axi^ocialion.    The  propriety  of  the  measure,  the 

example  of  the  other  Counties,  and  the  necessity  of 
"  maintaining  a  perfect  union  in  every  part  of  this 
"  Colony,  it  is  presumed,  are  sufficient  reasons  to 
"  induce  the  Inhabitants  of  your  County  to  comply 
"  with  this  requisition." 

The  Resolution  and  letter  which  were  thus  reported 
to  the  Provincial  Congress,  were  taken  up,  for  con- 
sideration, on  the  twenty-ninth  of  May;  and,  after 
some  amendments  had  been  made  therein,  they  were 
"  approved,  agreed  to,  and  resolved ;  "  and  five  hun- 
dred copies  were  ordered  to  be  j)rinted  ;  and  as  many 
copies  of  the  letter  as  should  be  necessary  were 
ordered  to  be  signed  by  the  President  and  delivered 
to  the  members  of  the  Congress,  "to  be  by  them 
"  directed."  - 

As  the  County  of  Westchester  had  already  been 
favored  with  the  appointment  of  a  County-committee, 
or  what  purported  to  have  been  such  a  Committee,'' 
it  is  probable  that  it  was  not  considered  necessary,  in 
that  instance,  to  interfere  with  that  former  appoint- 


'  Tlie  uutlioi-ity  which  apppare  to  have  bct-n  vestwl  in  iiienilwrs  of  tlie 
Pri>Tiiicial  Ouigrc^,  to  apitoint  local  CoiiiniitttM^s  when*  the  inhabitants 
lia<l  not  done  si>,  pri<l':ilil.v  origiuatoil  in  that  I'ougrcss,  in  an  earlier 
secrt't  nuM'ting  of  that  body  ;  but  no  record  of  any  sui-li  lu'tion  ia  seen 
on  itH  imblishctl  Jimnuil — like  the  i^t  rrt  Jimniiiln  of  llir  ( "ii/im  ii/nl  ('«m- 
»/rt\M,  tlK>se  of  the  Provincial  Congrei«  of  New  Vtirk,  conid  they 
also  bo  published,  would  umloubtedly  throw  different  tints  of  light  and 
color  on  many  a  romance,  calle<l  "  history." 

-Jotinml  o/Ihe  /Vociiiri-iJ  r.m.jrrx^,  "  Die  J.uuf  4  h.i.,  P.M.,  >Iay  'ZV^, 
• '  177.5." 

■'  See  pages  258,  259,  ante. 


ment ;  and  there  is  very  little  evidence,  as  far  as  wc 
have  been  able  to  fiiul  any,  which  indicates  that  the 
several  Towns  throughout  the  County  paid  any  atten- 
tion to  the  recommendation  of  the  Congress,  lor  the 
ap[)ointinent  of  Town-committees;  '  and  there  is  no 
evidence  whatever,  that  any  attempt  was  made,  in 
any  of  those  Towns,  to  obtain  the  signatures  of  the 
body  of  the  iuhabitanls  of  the  County,  to  the  Genmd 
A-ssociafiun  which  had  been  enacted  by  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  of  1774,  nor  to  any  other  such 
Association-^ — the  Provincial  Congress  had  done 
no  more  than,  nominally,  to  "  recomnientr'  to 
the  inhabitants  to  sign  the  AsKuiiatiun ;  ^  it  not 
only  did  not  authorize  the  employment  of  force  in 
order  to  obtain  signatures  thereto,  but  it  expressly 
ilisclaimed,  in  advance,  the  entertainment  of  any  such 
idea ; '  the  Congress  itself,  by  a  formal  vote,  had  i)Ost- 
poned  a  formal  api)roval  of  that  General  Assoriatiim 
as  well  as  all  of  the  other  tloings  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  who  had  enacted  it ;  "  and,  for  these  reasons, 
as  well  as  for  others  with  which  the  reader  is  already 
familiar,  the  conservative  yeomanry  of  Westchester- 
county  was  not  in  a  hurry  to  either  recognize  or 
sign  it. 

The  Committee  of  the  Provincial  Congress  who 
had  been  ajipoiiited  to  consider  the  very  important 
subject  of  the  Currency,  for  the  support  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, made  a  very  clear  and  able  Report,  on  the  thir- 
tieth of  May,  in  which  some  of  the  commercial 
troubles  produced  or  likely  to  be  produced  by  the 
Rebellion  were  very  graphically  presented;  and  an  issue 


*  There  were  Ooniniitteos  in  a  small  number  of  the  Towns,  at  a  hiter 
period  ;  but  there  is  no  evidence,  as  far  as  we  have  knowletlge,  that 
they  originated  in  the  recommendation  of  the  i^rovincial  Ct>ngress,  nor 
as  early  iw  in  177.'>. 

The  .IsK')<  i/(<i<>ii,  duly  signed  by  those  who  would  sign  it  and  duly 
noting  those  who  declined  to  do  si>,  was  to  be  returned  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth  of  July,  177.1.  The 
tiles  of  that  Congress,  which  are  preserved  in  the  otlico  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  at  Albany,  show,  however,  that  the  only  Counties  or  Towns 
which  made  any  Returns  of  .Vssociatore,  in  response  to  this  Ue.^olution, 
were  Orange,  l  ister,  Suffolk,  Duchess,  one  District  in  Charlotte,  three 
Districts  in  Cumberland,  and  a  few  .scattering  names,  not  more  than 
fifty,  in  yneens  ;  but  there  is  no  such  Keturn  Irom  Wcsti  liester  couiity  ; 
there  is  no  such  Keturn  among  the  archives  of  the  County,  in  tlu'  office 
of  the  County-clerk  ;  and  we  have  faileil  to  And  anything  resembling 
such  a  lieturn,  in  the  ollices  of  the  Town-ch  rks,  in  the  several  Towns. 

The  signer  of  the  following,  which  was  sent  from  .\nii-nia,  in 
Duchess-county,  is  clas,-i*'d  among  the  "  3  Tories"  of  that  "Precinct:  ' 

"Juneyo  f"".  A''  H?.').  This  may  sertyfy  all  \h'\m'\  wliome  It  may 
" cornsern  that  I  the  Svliscriln'r  am  willing  to  do  what  is  best  and 
"  Wright  to  secure  the  priviligs  of  a  niariga  both  sivel  ami  sjicnd  iiiid  to 
"  follow  the  iulvi.se  of  our  K<'verend  l  ongres  so  far  iu<  they  do  the  woni 
"  of  Ciod  and  the  e.\z;imi>le  of  ,Iesvs  Christ  and  I  1io|k'  in  the  grace  of  (iml 
"  uo  more  will  l>e  rei|uired,  as  witness  my  hand, 

"John  G.»iin8kv." 

*See  the  Resolution>  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  [Wge  270,  ante. 

"  See  the  general  Cin-nlar  Letter  of  the  Congress,  on  this  page,  ante. 

The  same  declamtioii,  more  distinctly  nttereil,  may  !«•  s<H-n  in  the 
l^-Uer  of  thr  l*ruvi»ri'il  Cnwjrriw  t<>  ChriMn^thrr  Ynh-ii  mnt  Mtijnr  Yf  lli^ 
Foiw/'i,  of  Trifm-vmnlii ;  in  thnt  fr*>m  thf  mint*'  In  O'lnm  l  Jtitii*'M  Iti^jt-r^,  nl 
Kvnt,  ill  Citmherhintl-raunty ;  and  ill  thnt  fmm  l/w  lutrnf  to  ./(i#-o/i  lUiUr  y 
find  Colonel  /V/en»,  »i/  tSloiicfnttrr-cimnltf — all  of  them  dateil  "In  Phovin- 
"ci.\L  CosiiiFjw,  Nrw  York,  the  :i1b1  May,  177.>." 

^JotiriMl  tij  thv  I'ruL-iiKial  C'tfiij/rtriui,  "  5  ho.,  P.M.,  3lay  ^.'i*"',"  juiges 
93,  ante. 


272 


HISTORY, OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  that  Currency  by  the  Continental  Congress,  with 
^i{^ecif^e(l  provisions  for  the  payment  of  it,  was  recom- 
mended ■ — the  original  i)roposition  for  the  emission 
of  ihose  immense  amounts  of  "  Continental-bills," 
which,  suljsequently  and  with  the  help  of  friendly 
legislation  in  the  Continental  Congress,  afforded  so 
favorable  an  ojjportunity  for  repudiation  by  the 
United  States,  "  the  faith  of  the  Nation  "  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding. 

The  Kei)ort  of  the  Committee  was  "  fully  debated 
"  and  considered,"  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  and, 
by  an  unanimous  vote,  it  was  adopted,  with  an  order 
transmitting  a  copy  of  it  to  the  Delegates  of  the  Col- 
ony, in  the  Continental  Coiigrcss.- 

A  circumstance  occurred,  within  the  rrovinciul 
Congress,  early  in  its  Session,  which  rcciiiires  partic- 
ular notice  in  this  place. 

One  week  after  that  body  had  been  oi  iginally  or- 
ganized, [jl/'f//  -50,  1775]  Benjamin  Kissam,  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  "  moved  in  tiie  words  following, 
"  to  wit :  '  Forasmuch  as  a  reconciliation  between 
"  Great  Britain  and  these  Colonies,  on  constitutional 
"  principles,  is  essential  to  the  well-being  of  both 
"  countries,  and  will  prevent  the  horrors  of  a  Civil 
"  War,  in  which  this  Continent  is  now  about  to  be 
"  involved,  it  is,  therefore,  the  indispensable  duty 
"  of  this  Congress,  to  communicate  to  the  Delegates 
"  of  this  Colony,  in  Continental  Congress,  their  sen- 
"  timeuts  respecting  the  terms  of  such  reconciliation; 
"  I,  therefore,  move  that  a  Committee  be  appointed 

to  i)repare  and  state  the  terms  on  which  such  re- 
"  conciliation  may  be  tendered  to  Great  Britain,  con- 
"  sistent  with  the  just  Liberties  and  Freedom  of  the 
"  subject,  in  America,  to  the  intent  that  the  same, 
"  when  approved  by  this  Congress,  may  be  laid  before 
"  the  said  Delegates,  as  our  sense,  on  this  important 
"  subject,  to  be  humbly  submitted  to  their  considera- 
"  tion." 

A  (piestion  of  such  great  importance  and  so  dis- 
tasteful to  many  of  tlie  Deputies,  was  reasonably  dis- 
cussed with  much  warmth  ;  and  it  is  very  evident 
that,  had  the  vote  been  taken,  at  that  time,  the  mo- 
tion would  have  been  ado[)ted  by  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress. It  was  evidently  approved  liy  a  majority  of 
the  Counties ;  but,  if  the  vote  could  be  posti)oned, 
changes  might  be  effected,  by  fair  means  or  by  foul 
— there  were  astute  and  e.xi)ericnced  politicians  within 
and  around  that  I'rovincial  Congress — and  three  of 
the  Counties  who  were  opposed  to  the  motion  re- 
sorted to  the  tenth  Rule  of  the  Congress,^  not  re- 
sorted to,  on  any  other  occasion,  during  the  entire 


\  Janninl  n/  Die  Pnirimial  Onujnss,  "Die  M;irtis,  U  lu).,  A.M.,  May 
•■30"i',  177:.." 

■^Jimnml  nf  tin:  Praciiui<U  CiiiKjn'ss,  "Die  Martis,  ;)  lio.,  A.M  ,  'Vlay 

"HO,  mis." 

:i 'Hnth.— Thiit  no  (|Ui>stion  shiill  lie  ilctcrniini'il  i.n  till' May  tliat  it  is 
"agitated,  if  tliipc  Coiiiitios  sliall  i-pi|iu'st  tliat  it  lie  ilefi-ncil  to  the 
"lU'xt  ilay." — (Hiilr.t  cflh,-  Criwjri'xs,  in  tlu'  Joiiriml  nf  thr  lyoi-iiu  iiil  Cnii- 
(jresf,  Tuesilay,  'I.ird  of  Blay,  1775.) 


period  of  the  existence  of  that  Congress,  to  secure 
that  advantage  and,  thereby,  if  |)()ssible,  to  defeat  the 
motion — "at  the  request  of  the  Deputies  of  the  City 
"  and  County  of  Albany  and  the  Counties  of 
"  Ulster,  Sufiblk,  and  Charlotte,"  it  was  "  ORr)ERED, 
"  That  the  same  be  deferred."  * 

Although  the  Rule  reipiired  the  Congress  to  resume 
the  consideration  of  the  motion  on  "the  next  day," 
the  Rule  was  disregarded  ;  '  and,  on  the  following 
day  [Jii/ii'  1,  1775,]  Mr.  Kissam,  with  the  leave  of 
the  Congress,  withdrew  the  motion,  "in  order  to 
"  amend  it." " 

On  the  second  of  June,  the  amended  motion  was 
submitted  by  Mr.  Kissam,  "  in  the  words  following, 
"to  wit:  Forasmuch  as  a  reconciliation  between 
"  (ireat  Britain  and  these  Colonies,  on  constitutional 

principles,  is  essential  to  the  well-being  of  both 
"  countries,  and  will  prevent  the  horrors  of  a  Civil 
"  War,  in  which  this  Continent  is  now  about  to  be 
"  involved  :  I  move  that  a  Committee  be  appointed 
"  to  pre])are  a  plan  of  such  accommodation,  and  re- 
"  port  the  same  to  this  House." 

The  revolutionary  faction,  led  by  John  Morin 
Scott  and  Alexander  JIcDougal,  resolutely  opposed 
the  motion  ;  and  the  last-named,  seconded  by  Abra- 
ham Brasher,  moved  (or  the  jjrevious  (juestion,  in  or- 
der to  defeat  it;  but  only  Ulster,  Orange,  Suffolk, 
and  Duchess-counties  favored  the  motion  for 
the  previous  question  ;  and  it  was  defeated  — 
Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  differing  from  all  his  asso- 
ciates from  Westchester-county,  voting  with  the  rev- 
olutionary faction.  The  motion  of  Mr.  Kissam  was 
then  carried,  without  any  di.ssent,  except  that  of 
Philij)  Van  Cortlandt,  who  recorded  that  dissent  on 
the  Joarnnl  of  tlic  Coin/irss. 

Colonel  Woodhull,  of  Sufiblk,  one  of  those  who 
had  opposed  the  motion,  then  moved,  as  an  amend- 
ment of  the  motion,  the  addition  of  these  words: 
"  That  we  may  be  ready,  if  we  shall  think  it  neces- 
"  sary,  to  communicate  our  sentiments  upon  tiiatsub- 
■'  ject  to  our  Delegates  at  Philadelphia  ;"  which  was 
subsequently  adopted,  without  a  division,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words  :  "  Resolved,  therefore.  That,  although 
"  we  would,  by  no  means,  presume  to  dictate  to  the 
"  General  Continental  Ccmgress,  yet  it  is  highly  nec- 
"  essary  that  this  House  be  pre|)ared  to  give  our  sen- 
"  timents  to  our  Delegates,  in  the  said  Congress,upon 
"  such  plan  of  accommodation."  With  the  a])- 
j)ointinent  of  John  Morin  Scott,  Isaac  Low,  Alexan- 
der McDougal,  Benjamin  Kissam,  and  Thomas  Smitii, 
of  the  City  of  New  York  ;  John  Sloss  Hobart,  Colo- 
nel Nathaniel  Woodhull,  and  Thomas  Tredwell,  of 
Suffolk  ;  Robert  Yates  and  Peter  Silvester,  of  the 
City  and  County  of  Albany  ;  Gouverneur  Morris,  of 


*.Jum-twl  of  till'  I'lartiiruil  rmiijnm,  "."i  lu).,  P.M.,  May  .30,  177.5." 
■•.I„iini<il  nf  ilif  I'lariiii  iiil  I  ■oiiijr.'ss,  "  Pii'  Morcnrii,  'J  lio.,  .\,M.,  May 
•M,  177r.." 

^Joiirmil  nj  the  I'lvriiuinl  Oiiiijros,  "Die  Jovis,  'J  lio.,  .June  1,  177o.  ' 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


273 


Westchester-county ;  Ephraim  Paine,  of  Duchess- 
county  ;  John  Williams,  of  Queens-county ;  and 
Paul  Micheau,  of  Richmond-county — six  of  whom, 
including  Messrs.  Scott.  McDougal,  Hobart,  Wood- 
hull,  Paine,  and  Tredwell,  were  undoubtedly  opposed 
to  the  entire  movement — for  a  Committee,  with  in- 
structions to  "  make  rejwrt  with  all  convenient  speed,'' 
the  subject  rested,  temporarily.' 

It  was  not  until  the  twenty-second  of  June,  that 
the  Committee  was  ready  to  report  to  the  Provincial 
Congress  the  result  of  its  deliberations  on  the  sub- 
ject which  had  been  referred  to  it.  On  that  day,  the 
Report  was  presented,  and  read,  twice,  when  the  fol- 
lowing very  significant  Order  thereon  was  made  by 
the  Congress  : 

"  Ordkred,  That  the  same  be  taken  into  consider- 
"  ation  on  Saturday  morning  next ;  that  the  mem- 
"  hers  of  each  County  have  leave  to  take  one  copy 
"  thereof,  each  copy  to  be  numbered  by  one  of  the 
"  Secretaries,  who  shall  take  a  memorandum  of  the 
"  name  of  the  member  who  shall  take  with  him  such 
"  copy  and  the  number  of  the  copy  by  him  taken, 
"  that  all  such  copies  may,  on  Saturday  next,  be  re- 
"  turned  to  and  filed  with  the  Secretaries ;  and  all 
"  the  members  are  directed  by  the  President,  from 
"  the  Chair,  to  take  the  utmost  care  to  preserve  the 
"  said  cojues  secret,  and  to  keep  secret  the  subject 
"  matter  thereof.  And  it  is  agreed  that  no  member 
"  shall  transcribe  the  said  Report,  or  take  any  copy 
"  from  the  copies  taken  out  of  the  House  for  the  use 
"  of  the  members  of  each  County  ;  and  that  all  the 
"  said  copies  shall,  on  Saturday  next,  be  returned  to 
"  the  Secretaries."  ^ 

On  the  following  Saturday  [Jm/ic  24,  1775,]  the 
Provincial  Congress  proceeded  to  consider  the  Re- 
port, agreeable  to  its  Order  made  on  the  preceding 
Thursday  ;  and,  after  the  Report  had  been  read  and 
re-read,  debated  and  amended,  during  the  greater 
portion  of  that  day  and  a  portion  of  the  following 
Tuesday,  the  proposed  "  Plan  of  Accommodation 
"  with  Great  Britain,"  thus  amended,  was  adopted, 
apparently  with  much  cordiality,  by  all,  except  by 
those  of  the  revolutionary  faction.' 

That  very  important  paper,  the  "  Plan  of  Accommo- 
"  dation  with  Great  Britain,"  which  is  essential  to  a 
proper  understanding  of  the  character  of  the  doings 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  at  a  later  period  of 
its  existence,  was,  in  its  completed  form,  in  these 
words : 

"  That  all  the  Statutes  and  parts  of  Statutes  of  the 
"  British  Parliament,  which  are  held  up  for  repeal  by 
"  the  late  Continental  Congress,  in  their  Association, 


^Journal  of  the  ProcitKial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  June  2, 
"  1775." 

^Journal  of  Ute  ProiiitcUtl  Congress,  "Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  Junr  22, 
"1773." 

^  "  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congrets,"  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Die  Martia,  June 
"27,  1775." 

19 


"dated  the  twentieth  day  of  October,  1774,  and  all  the 
"Statutes  of  the  British  Parliament,  passed  since  that 
"  day,  restraining  the  Trade  and  Fishery  of  Colonies 
"on  this  Continent,  ought  to  be  repealed. 

"  That  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  Britain  ought 
"to  regulate  the  Trade  of  the  whole  Empire,  for  the 
"general  benefit  of  the  whole,  and  not  for  the  sep- 
"  arate  interest  of  any  particular  part ;  and  that,  from 
"  the  natural  Right  of  Property,  the  powers  of  Taxa- 
"  tion  ought  to  be  confined  to  the  Colony  Legislatures, 
"  respectively. 

"Therefore,  That  the  monies  raised  as  Duties, 
"  upon  the  Regulations  of  Trade,  ought  to  be  paid 
"  into  the  respective  Colony  Treasuries,  and  be  subject 
"  to  the  disposal  of  their  Deputies. 

"That  in  those  Colonies  whose  Representatives  in 
"General  Assembly  are  now  chosen  for  a  greater  term 
"than  three  years,  such  Assemblies,  for  the  future, 
"  ought,  in  their  duration,  not  to  exceed  that 
"  term. 

"That  the  Colonists  are  ready  and  willing  to  sup- 
"port  the  Civil  Government  within  their  respec- 
"  tive  Colonies ;  and,  on  proper  requisitions,  to 
"  assist  in  the  general  defence  of  the  Empire,  in 
"  as  ample  manner  as  their  respective  abilities  will 
"  admit. 

"  That  if  objections  be  made  that  a  resort  to  a 
"  variety  of  Colony  Legislatures,  for  general  aids,  is 
"  inconvenient,  and  that  large,  unappropriated  Grants 
"to  the  Crown,  from  America,  would  endanger  the 
"  Liberty  of  the  Empire,  then  the  Colonies  are  ready 
"and  willing  to  assent  to  a  Continental  Congress, 
"deputed  from  the  several  Colonies,  to  meet  with  a 
"President  appointed  by  the  Crown,  for  the  purpose 
"  of  raising  and  apportioning  their  general  aids,  upon 
"application  made  by  the  Crown,  according  to  the 
"advice  of  the  British  Parliament,  to  be  judged  of  by 
"  the  said  Congress. 

"And  as  the  free  enjoyment  of  the  Rights  of  Con- 
"  science  is,  of  all  others,  the  most  valuable  branch  of 
"  human  Liberty  ;  and  the  indulgence  and  establish- 
"ment  of  Popery,  all  along  the  interior  confines  of 
"  the  old  Protestant  Colonies,  tends  not  only  to 
"obstruct  their  growth  but  weaken  their  security; 
"that  neither  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  nor 
"  any  other  earthly  Legislature  or  Tribunal  ought  or 
"  can  interfere  or  interpose,  in  any  wise,  howsoever, 
"  in  the  religious  and  ecclesiastical  concerns  of  the 
"  Colonies. 

"  That  the  Colonies,  respectively,  are  entitled  to  a 
"free  and  exclusive  power  of  legislation,  within 
"  themselves,  respectively,  in  all  cases  of  internal 
"polity,  whatsoever,  subject  only  to  the  negative  of 
"  their  Sovereign,  in  such  manner  as  has  been,  hercr 
"  tofore,  accustomed. 

"Resolved:  That  no  one  Article  of  the  afore- 
"  going  Report  be  considered  preliminary  to  another, 
■'  so  as  to  preclude  an  accommodation  without  such 
"Article;  and  that  no  part  of  the  said  Report  be 


274 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"deemeti  binding  or  obligatory  upon  the  Rejire- 
"  sentativea  of  this  Colouy,  in  Continental  Con- 
gress." > 

The  principles  on  which  that  Plan  was  constructed 
and  the  methods  which  were  proposed  for  the  execu- 
tion of  its  provisions  were  so  radically  subversive  of 
all  the  purposes  for  which  Colonies  were  established 
and  protected  ;  so  .singularly  presumptuous  in  claiming 
all  the  privileges  and  benefits  enjoyed  by  English- 
men without  assuming  any  of  the  burdens  under 
which  Englishmen  were  then  staggering;  so  unac- 
countably inconsistent  in  conceding  the  atithority  of 
the  Parliament  to  regulate  their  Trade  and  to 
levy  Duties  on  their  Imports  while,  at  the  same  time, 
they  denied  the  authority  of  that  Parliament  to  im- 
pose Taxes  on  them,  for  general  purposes,  in  the 
same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  and  for  the 
same  purposes  that  it  imposed  similar  Taxes  on 
Englishmen,  in  England ;  so  unduly  arrogaut  iu 
dictating  to  the  Home  Government  and  to  the  Parlia- 
ment what  they  should  do  and  what  they  should  not 
do — including,  in  the  former,  a  removal  of  all  those 
obstructions  to  the  "  illicit  Trade"  of  the  Colonists, 
which  that  Home  Government  and  that  Parliament 
had  interposed — as  the  price  of  their  indirect  proffer 
of  an  abandonment  of  their  rebellious  movements 
and  of  their  return  to  their  duties,  as  snbjects  of  the 
Crown,  that  it  is  difficult  to  bring  one's  self  to  a 
belief  that  the  framers  and  supporters  of  that  pro- 
posed Plan  were  really  sincere  in  proposing  it.  unles.s 
with  the  qualification  that  their  enthusiasm  and  the 
seeming  indifference  of  the  Home  and  Colonial 
Governments  had  blinded  them  to  its  remarkable 
peculiarities,  and  induced  them  to  regard  the  Colonists 
as  something  superior,  in  their  political  standing, 
to  other  subjects  of  the  Crown — as  something  more 
than  subjects,  owing  obedience  to  those  in  authority 
and  to  the  Laws  of  the  land.  Such  a  Plan,  had  it 
been  submitted  to  the  Home  Government  and  to  the 
Parliament,  would,  un(]ue8tionably,  have  aggravated 
instead  of  conciliated,  and  have  widened  the  breach 
which  then  separated  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother 
Country,  instead  of  closing  it.  It  is  serviceable,  how- 
ever, to  the  cai'eful  student  of  the  history  of  that 
j>eriod,  to  indicate  how  mujch  the  Rebellion  had 
already  palled  upon  the  senses  of  even  ihose  who 
were  its  local  leaders ;  how  much  a  reconciliation  wsis 
secretly  hankered  for,  even  among  those  who  were 
blustering  in  fictitious  bravei-y  ;  how  much  of  hypoc- 
risy there  was  among  those  wlio  were  loudly  pretend- 
ing to  be  "patriots,"  in  harmony  wiih  similar 
"patriots"  in  each  of  the  other  Colonies,  all  of  them 
zealously  and  noisily  crowding  the  entire  Continent 
into  an  open  and  unqualified  Rebellion,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  they  were  secretly  determining,  among 
themselves,  by  how  slight  a  bond  they  were  bound  to 
{heir  associates  in  crime,  how  delicately  constructed 

1  Jimmil  i\f  the  I'rminciiil  0»igrtiis,  4  lu).,  P.  M.,  Dii;  Martis,  .Imii-  27, 
177'>. 


were  their  honor  and  their  patriotism,  and  at  what 
price  the  Home  Government  could  purchase  their  ad- 
herence and  their  "patriotism"  and  their  sympathy 
with  their  compatriots,  whenever  that  Home  Govern- 
ment should  incline  to  enter  the  market  of  "  patriot- 
"  ism,"  for  such  a  purpose. 

At  a  very  early  period,  the  security  of  the  pass  at 
Kingsbridge  appears  to  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  the  revolutionary  faction  ;  and  measures  were  taken 
with  the  evident  intention  of  throwing  up  some 
defensive  works,  at  that  point,  for  the  protection 
of  the  City. 

Immediately  after  the  receipt  of  intelligence  con- 
cerning the  raid  of  the  Royal  troops  on  Lexington 
and  Concord,  without  any  formal  order  from  the 
Committee  of  One  hundred,  great  numbers  of  men 
were  employed  in  hauling  the  cannon  from  the  City 
to  Kingsbridge,  in  readiness  for  the  work  of  intrench- 
ment;''  and  on  the  fourth  of  May,  the  Conunittee 
"ordered,  that  Captain  Sears,  Captain  Randall,  and 
"  Captain  Fleming  be  a  Committee  to  procure  proper 
'•judges  to  go  and  view  tlie  ground  at  or  near  Kings- 
'■  bridge,  and  report  to  this  Committee,  with  all 
"convenient  speed,  whether  it  will  answer  the  pur- 
" poses  intended  by  it"' — although  they  were  not 
described,  the  "  purposes  "  referred  to  were,  evidently, 
for  the  protection  of  the  City  from  any  irruption,  by 
land,  from  the  country  Towns. 

The  j)ublished  Proaedimjs  of  the  Committee  of  (hie 
hundred,  iu  the  City  of  New  York,  make  no  mention 
of  the  doings  of  that  Committee  ;  and  it  is  not  proba- 
ble that  it  accomplished  anything,  in  the  way  of  forti- 
fy-ing  Kingsbridge  ;  but,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May, 
the  Continental  Congress  agi-eed  to  the  following 
Resolutions,  "  respecting  New  York,"  one  of  which 
relates  to  the  defence  of  Kingsbridge.  These  Reso- 
lutions were  in  the  following  words  : 

"  1. — Resolveb,  That  a  Post  be  immediately  tfiken 
"  and  fortified  at  or  near  King's-Bridge,  in  the  Colony 
"  of  New-York  ;  and  that  the  ground  l)e  chosen  with 
"a  particular  view  to  prevent  the  communication 
"between  the  Citj^  of  New- York  and  the  country 
"  from  l)eing  interrupted  by  land. 

"  2. — Resolved,  that  a  Post  be  also  taken  in  the 
"  Highlands,  on  each  side  of  Hudson's  River,  and  Bat- 
"  teries  erected  in  such  manner  as  will  most  effectual- 
"  ly  prevent  any  Vessels  passing,  that  may  be  sent  to 
"  harass  the  Inhabitants  on  the  borders  of  said  River ; 
"  and  that  experienced  persons  be  immediately  sent 
"  to  examine  said  River,  in  order  to  discover  where  it 
"  will  be  most  advisable  and  proper  to  obstruct  the 
"Navigation. 

"  3.— Resolved,  That  the  Militia  of  New-York  be 
"  armed  and  trained,  and  in  constant  readiness  to  act 


3  Proceedings  of  the  Ckmncil  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  "  Monday,  May  1, 
"  1775.-' 

JlfiMM/tn  of  the  Committee  of  <uii-  Im  itlrril,  AiIIiuh  iiihI  Jlwting,  "  Tliiin*- 
'*  ihiy  niofitint:,  -Hh  May,  177r>.'' 


THE  AMERICAN  RE 


"  at  a  moment's  wfiriiinp; ;  ancVthnt  a  number  of  Men 
"  be  iinmeiliati'.ly  embotlied,  and  kept  in  that  (-ity,  and 
so  disposed  of  as  to  give  protection  to  the  Inhabit- 
"antii,  in  case  any  insult  should  be  ofiered  by  tiie 
"  Troops  that  may  land  there,  and  to  prevent  any 
"  attempts  that  may  be  made  to  gain  possession  of  j 
"the  City,  and  int<'rru])t  its  iutereourse  with  the 
"  country. 

"4."— [Resoi.vkd.]  "That  it  be  left  to  the  Provincial 
"Congress  of  New-York  to  determino  the  number  of 
"men  sufticient  to  occupy  the  several  Posts  ahove- 
"  mentioned,  and  also  that  already  recommended  to  be 
"  taken  at  or  near  Lake  George,  a.s  well  as  to  guard  the 
"  City,  I'roriiltil,  the  whole  do  not  exceed  the  number 
"  of  three  thousand  men,  to  be  commanded  by  such 
"  Oflicers  as  shall  be  thereunto  appointed  by  said 
"  Provincial  Congress,  and  to  be  governed  by  such 
"  Rules  and  Regiilations  as  shall  be  established  by  said 
"Congress,  until  fartlicr  order  is  taken  by  this  Oon- 
"gress;  J'rovUIrd,  also,  that  if  the  said  Provincial 
"  Congress  should  be  of  opiuiou  that  the  number  j)ro- 
"  posed  will  not  be  sufhcient  for  the  several  services 
"  above  recommended,  that  the  said  Congress  report 
"  their  sentiments  upon  this  subject  to  this  Congress, 
"as  soon  as  may  be. 

'■ .')." — [Resoia'ku.]  "  That  it  be  recommended  to 
"  the  said  Provincial  Congress,  that  in  raising  those 
"  Forces,  they  allow  no  Bounties  or  Clothing,  aud 
"  that  their  Pay  shall  not  exceed  the  establishment 
"of  the  New-England  Colonies. 

"6." — [Resoi.vep.]  "That  it  be  further  recom- 
"  mended  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  aforesaid,  that 
"  the  Troops  be  enlisted  to  serve  until  the  last  day 
"of  December  next,  unless  this  Congress  shall  direct 
"  that  they  be  s()oner  disbanded."  ' 

On  the  following  day,  [May  26,  1775,]  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  further  "  Reholved,  That  it  be  recom- 
"  mended  to  the  Congrojis  aforesiiid,  to  persevere  the 
"  more  vigorously  iu  preparing  for  their  defence,  as  it 
"  is  very  uncertain  whether  the  earnest  endeavours  of 
"  this  Congress  to  accommodate  the  unhappy  diJierences 
"  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,  by  concilia- 
"  tory  measures,  will  be  successful ;  "  and,  in  addition, 
it  "Ordered,  That  the  above  Resolves,  respecting 
"  New-York,  be  transmitted  by  the  President  in  a  let- 
"  ter,  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New- York ;  and 
"  that  it  be  particularly  recommended  to  said  Con- 
"  gress,  by  the  President,  not  to  publish  the  foregoing 
"  Resolves,  but  to  keep  them  as  secret  as  the  nature  of 
"  the  cii.se  requires.'"  - 

On  the  twenty-ninth   of  May,   the   Resolutions  I 
which  had  been  thus  adopted  by  the  Continental 
Congress,  were  received  by  the  Provincial  Congress  ;  ■* 
and  on  the  following  day,  on  motion  of  .Tohn  Morin 


1  Journal  nf  the  CoAlinmtal  Congreff,  "  Thursday,  May  2.i,  17T.>.'" 
5  Jmtmal  of  thf  C/>ntint*ntat  C<r>ngr»»«,  "  Friday,  May  2H,  177.5." 

Jimi-vnl  of  the  Pi-nrittcuil  CongrrMi^  *'  Dies  Lun.'V^,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  May 
2ii'>i,  177.1." 


VOLUTION,  1774-1783.  275 


Scott,  of  the  City  of  New-York,  they  were  taken  into 
coasideration — that  portion  of  them  which  directed 
the  fortifying  of  Kiugsbridge,  w;ls  referred  to  Cap- 
tain Richard  Montgoniery,  of  Ducheas-county,  llenry 
Glenn' and  Robert  Yates,  of  AJbany-county,  and  Col- 
j  quel  .lames  Van  Cortlandt  aud  Colonel  James 
I  Holmes,  of  Weslchest^r-county,  with  orders  "  to  view 
'  "  the  ground  at  or  near  King's  Bridge,  and  re])ort  to 
"  this  Congress  whether  the  ground  near  King's 
"Bridge  will  admit  of  making  a  fortification  there, 
"  that  will  be  tenable ;  and  at  what  particular  place 
"the  ground  will  admit  of  making  the  best  and 
"most  tenable  fortification  :  and  that  they  call  to 
"their  assistance  such  persons  as  they  shall  think 
,  "  neces.sary,  aud  make  re])()rt  to  this  Congress,  with  all 
"  convenient  speed : "  that  portion  of  them  which 
directed  the  erection  of  fortifications  in  the  High- 
lands, on  the  Hudson-river,  wjus  referred  to  Colonel 
James  Clinton  and  Christopher  Tappan,  both  of  Ul- 
ster-county, with  orders  to  "  take  to  their  Jissistance 
"^such  persons  as  they  shall  think  necessary  ;  to  go  to 
"  the  Highlands,  and  view  the  banks  of  Hudson's 
"  river  there  ;  aud  to  report  to  this  Congress  the  most 
"  proper  place  for  erecting  one  or  more  fortifications ; 
"aud,  likewise,  an  estimate  of  the  expense  that  will 
"  attend  erecting  the  same."  * 

Both  theiie  Resolutions  were  initiatory  of  prolonged 
and  not  always  harmonious  and  agreeable  proceed- 
ings, both  without  and  within  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress and  both  without  and  within  the  Congre.ss  of 
the  Continent,  all  of  which  can  be  considered  with 
greater  propriety  iu  the  local  publications  concerning 
the  Towns  of  Kingsbridge  aud  Cortlandt  and  in  the 
general  publications  concerning  the  War  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  than  in  a  general  Hisfary  nf  the 
County  of  Wr-if Chester;  and,  for  that  reason  and  with 
this  introductory  send-off,  the  construction  of  those 
military  works  to  which  the  liesolutions  referred  will 
receive  no  further  attention,  in  this  narrative. 

On  the  thirty -lirst  of  May,  in  its  liirther  considera- 
tion of  the  Resolutions  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
which  have  been  already  laid  before  the  reader,  the 
Provincial  Congress  resolved, "  that  it  be  recommended 
"  to  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Colony,  in  general,  im- 
"  mediately  to  furnish  themselves  with  necessary  arms 
"and  ammunitions;  to  use  all  diligence  to  perfect 
"themselves  in  the  military  art;  and,  if  necessary,  to 
"  form  themselves  into  Companies,  for  that  purpose, 
"until  the  further  order  of  the  Congress;"  and  it 
ordered  the  Resolution  to  be  printed  in  the  news- 
i  papers  and  in  handbills.  At  the  same  time,  it  met 
the  call  of  the  Continental  Congress,  for  men  to  oc-' 
cupy  the  proposed  posts  at  Kingsbridge  and  in  the 
Highlands,  f()r  the  protection  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  for  tluit  of  Lake  George,  referred  to  in  the 
third  and  fourth  Resolutions  of  that  Congress,  by  re- 
solving that  it  "  would  use  all  possible  diligence  in 


*  Jmimut  of  n.-  Prnrinrial  Omgrem,  "  5  ho.,  P.M.,  May  nO,  >77.'.."' 


27G 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  embodying  men  according  to  tiie  said  Resolutions ; " 
and  by  appointing  a  Committee  "  to  report  an  ar- 
"  rangement  of  the  troops  to  be  embodied  for  the 
"  (iofence  of  this  Colony  ;  and  to  report  such  Rules 
"  and  Re(j\ilat\onx  as  would  be  proper  to  be  established 
"by  this  Congress,  for  the  government  of  su(;h 
"  troops." ' 

The  doings  of  the  Provincial  Congress  were,  of 
course,  entirely  in  the  interest  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. 

******** 

Early  in  the  Summer,  as  has  been  stated,  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  ordered  the  enlistment  of  a  large 
armed  force,  of  which  three  thousand  were  to  be 
raised  and  put  into  the  field  by  the  Colony  of  New 
York.  These  troops  were  to  be  commanded  by  such 
Officers  as  should  be  thereunto  api)ointed  by  the 
Provincial  Congress ;  they  were  to  be  governed  by 
such  Rulea  and  Regulations  as  that  Congress  should 
establish  for  that  purpose ;  they  were  to  be  mustered 
into  the  service,  to  serve  no  longer  than  the  last  day 
of  the  succeeding  December ; and  as  there  was  no 
enemy  before  them,  and  as  little  probability  existed 
that  there  would  be  any  one  to  molest  them,  during 
their  short  term  of  service,  the  proffered  opportunity 
to  take  the  field,  as  Continental  Soldiers,  appeared  to 
be  very  inviting — it  seemed,  in  fact,  to  ])romise  what 
would  be  little  else  than  an  organized  picnic-party, 
for  the  succeeding  Summer  and  Autumn  and  early 
Winter  months. 

There  were,  of  course,  plenty  of  applications  from 
those  of  the  well-born,  among  the  revolutionary  fac- 
tion and  from  among  those  who  had  been  instrumental 
in  bringing  the  Livingstons  and  the  Morrises  and 
others  into  authority,  for  each  of  the  offices,  in  each 
of  the  four  Regiments  into  which  the  levy  on  New 
York  was  arranged  ;  but  there  was  an  evident  back- 
wardness, among  the  masses,  from  the  beginning,  in 
enlisting  for  "the  private  station;"  there  was  a 
greater  anxiety,  among  those  who  did  enlist,  con- 
cerning their  pay  and  bounty  and  "  under  clothes,'' 
than  for  the  welfare  of  the  Colony ;  and,  generally, 
there ^vas  very  little  inclination,  any  where,  among 
those  who  had  them,  to  exchange  their  peaceful  oc- 
cupations and  their  domestic  comforts  and  their  quiet 
homes,  under  such  circumstances  as  then  existed,  for 
a  distant  encampment  or  a  distant  military  post  and 
the  sometimes  laborious  and  not  always  well-supplied 
and  always  irregular  lives  of  soldiers,  in  garrison  as 
well  as  in  the  field. 

Of  the  four  Regiments  thus  ordered,  on  the  Conti- 
nental Establishment,  only  the  Fourth,  or  Duchess, 
appears  tohave  had  any  connection  with  Westchester- 
county — James  Holmes,  of  Bedford,  an  experienced 


Journal  of  the  Provincial  Cmigress,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
'3l8t,  1775." 

i  Jourtud  of  the  ConlinenUil  Congress,  "  Thur.iday,  May  2.1,  and  Friday, 
'  May  26,  177.0 — pages  274,  275,  ante. 


soldier  of  the  former  War,  was  its  Colonel;'  and 
Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Cortlandt  Manor,  who  held, 
also,  a  Royal  Commission  of  Major  in  the  Colonial 
Militia,  was  its  Lieutenant-colonel  ;*  Barnabas  Tut- 
hill,  of  Southold,  Suffolk  county,  was  its  ]\Lijor ; 
Benjamin  Chapman  was  its  Quarter-master ;  and 
Ebenezer  Haviland  was  its  Surgeon.''  Of  the  ten 
Companies  of  which  the  Regiment  was  composed, 
thr.ee  were  largely  from  Westchester-county — of  one 
of  these  Jonathan  Piatt,  of  Bedford,  was  Captain,' 
David  Dan,  of  Poundridge,  was  First  Lieutenant;'* 

and  Manning  Bull,  of  ,  was  Second  Lieutenant: 

of  another  of  those  Companies,  Daniel  Mills,  of  Bed- 


3  James  Holmes  was  the  grandson  of  one  of  the  original  proprietors 
and  settlers  of  the  Town  of  Bedford.  He  was  born  in  that  Town,  in 
1737  :  and  a  Captain  in  the  ■\rniy,  during  the  W'ar  with  France,  in  which 
he  gained  great  credit.  He  was  elected  to  the  Provincial  Convention 
for  the  appointment  of  Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774  ; 
and  he  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  whom  he  was  made 
Colonel  of  this  Regiment.  He  went  with  his  Heginient  to  the  northern 
frontier,  and  occupied  Ticonderoga,  very  much  to  his  disgust ;  quarrelled 
with  General  Schuyler,  who  commanded  in  that  Department ;  declined 
to  continue  in  the  service,  after  tlio  term  of  the  enlistment  of  his  com- 
mand had  expired;  became  a  Loyalist;  took  the  Lieutenant-colonelcy 
of  the  Corps  of  the  Westchester-county  Refugees;  continued  to  live  in 
Bedford,  until  about  1810,  when  he  removed  to  New  Havon,  where  he 
died,  on  the  eighth  of  July,  1824,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 

An  extended  notice  of  hin\  may  be  feeen  in  Jones's  Hattonj  of  A>w  York 
during  the  Ilernhilionari/  liar,  ii.,  3.''4 -3:iG ;  and,  in  his  Notes  to  that  His- 
tory (ii.,  618-(121.)  Mr.  de  Lancey  has  re-produced,  in  full,  an  exceed- 
ingly interesting  autobiographical  tract,  from  the  Colonel's  own  pen. 

<  I'hilip  Van  Cortlandt,  eldest  son  of  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  was  born 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  in  1749  (?),  and  was  a  graduate  of  King's  (now 
Columbia)  College,  in  the  class  of  17.i8  (?).  He  was  a  Surveyor  and  a 
Country  Merchant  and  Miller ;  a  Major  in  the  AVestchester-county 
Militia,  under  Covernor  Tryon  ;  and  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress by  whom  he  was  made  Lieutenant-colonel  of  this  Regiment.  He 
continued  in  the  military  service,  until  the  close  of  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution ;  after  which  he  was  one  of  the  (Joniniissioners  of  J'orfeitures ; 
represented  Wcstchester-coiinty  in  the  Assembly,  1788-'9,  1789-'9();  the 
Southern  District,  in  the  Senate,  1791-'4  ;  his  District,  in  Congress,  1793- 
18119;  and  died  on  the  twenty-first  of  November,  1831.— (Bolton's  llistorij 
of  Westrh  fter-coimtii,  original  edition,  i.,  58-60  ;  (/le  «ame,  second  edition, 
i.,  111-112;  etc.) 

5  Barnabas  Tuthill  was  a  resident  of  Southold;  had  not  joined  the 
Regiment,  which  was  then  at  Ticonderoga,  as  late  .is  the  first  of  .Septem- 
ber, when  he  wa-s  in  New  Vork  City,  "unable  to  proceed  for  want  of 
"money  to  pay  his  expenses."  He  appears  to  have  returned  to  the  ser- 
vice, in  1776  ;  but,  during  the  Summer,  he  was  dismissed  from  the  Army, 
at  his  own  request. — {Journal  of  the  Prorincial  Congress,  "4  ho.,  P.M., 
"September  Isf,  1775  ;"  General  McDongnl  to  Robert  I'ates,  "  Tonkers, 
"21  October,  1776.") 

c  The  Roster  of  the  entire  Regiment  may  be  seen  in  the  Historical  Man- 
uscripts relating  to  the  War  of  the  Itn-olntion—MilitUTy  Committee,  xw., 
.531— in  the  office  of  the  .Secretary  of  State,  at  ,\lliany. 

'  Jonathan  I'latt  was  an  aged  man,  whom  Mr.  Bolton  has  erroneously 
made  the  great-grandfather  of  Hon.  Lewis  C.  Piatt  of  White  Plains  ;  he 
was  Mr.  Piatt's  grand-Uncle.  lie  was  elected  a  Delegate  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Convention  called  to  elect  Deputies  to  the  Continental  Congress 
of  1774  ;  he  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee  of  Westchester- 
county,  in  177.')  ;  and  a  member  of  the  fourth  Provincial  Congress,  or,  as 
it  was  called  after  a  while,  the  Provincial  Convention— that  which  de- 
"clared  the  Independence  of  New  York  from  the  King  of  Great  Britain, 
which  had  not  been  done  by  the  Congress,  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  1776. 

"David  Dan  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee  of  Westches- 
ter-county, in  1775,  and  a  member  of  the  Town  Committee  of  Pound- 
ridge, in  1776.  He  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  Company,  in 
Colonel  Thomas's  Regiment,  in  August,  1776. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


277 


ford,  was  Captain  ; '  Elijah  Hunter,  of  the  same  Town, 

was  First  Lieutenant;  -  and  Jolin  Bayley,  of  , 

was  Second  Lieutenant:''  of  the  remaining  Com- 
pany, Ambrose  Horton,  apparently  from  the  White 

Plains,  was  Captain  ;*  David  Palmer,  of   ,  was 

First  Lieutenant :  *  and  Samuel  Tredwell  Pell,  of 


'  Captain  Daniel  Mills  continued  in  the  service,  after  the  Regiment 
was  disbanded,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  serving  as  a  Captain  in  Colonel 
Van  Scliaick'8  Regiment  of  the  New  York  Line,  in  the  Continental 
Army. 

'Elijah  Hunter  was  originally  named  for  Second  Lieutenant,  with 
Samuel  Haight,  subsequently  Sheriff  of  the  County,  us  First  Lieutenant. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  County  Coniniitlee^  representing  lletiford,  1770- 
7  ;  tfubst*quently  became  a  Captain  in  Van  Cortlandt's  Regiment ;  and 
left  the  service  at  the  close  of  1776. 

■■•John  Bayley  evidently  left  the  Regiment  before  it  went  into  active 
service,  since,  in  August,  177.5,  Miles  Oakley,  a  member  of  the  firet 
(^uuty  Conuniltee,  was  appointed  in  his  place,  leaving  tlie  service  at 
the  end  of  the  year. 

The  following  paper,  with  the  names  of  the  men  enlisted  into  this 
Company,  is  taken  from  the  original  manuscript,  among  the  Higtorical 
Mditmcriplfi  relating  to  the  War  of  the  Itevolution  :  MiVUarij  Ifelunts,  xxvii., 
•266  ;  and  will  be  interesting  to  tliose  who  have  descended  from  the  older 
families  of  Bedford  : 

"  BEAilroRn,  July  2!lth,  1775. 
".1  lietnrn  of  the  Men  inlutted  bif  Daniel  Mills^  Capt.  atid  Elijah  Hunter 
firitt  Lent.  / 


'  Abijah  Dan, 

Abijah  Woed, 

"  Jonathan  Weeks, 

John  thomas, 

"  Willis  major  wilks, 

Lewis  Miller, 

*'  John  feris. 

.lames  trowbridg. 

".lames  Raymond,  .Jun' 

Joseph  Clarke,  Jun' 

'  John  Biul, 

.Tolin  ellit,  Jun"" 

'  Amos  Roberts, 

.lanies  Cannady, 

'  Henry  Rich, 

.loliu  Gosseper, 

"  Abram  Nickels, 

James  Jlillei', 

'  Nathanel  Smith, 

Nathan  Holmes, 

'  Mosis  Higgins, 

John  Runnelds, 

*  ebenesor  weeb, 

William  Miller, 

'  Charles  parsons, 

Daniel  Holmes, 

'  .\nibres  Benedick, 

Jeremiah  Lane, 

'  James  Bennet, 

Cidileon  .Smith. 

'  Daniel  McClean, 

Zephaniah  Milller, 

'  Lemuel  Light, 

Isaac  titus. 

'  James  Mills, 

John  Daniels, 

*  Thoniiis  Uoldiog, 

John  Still, 

*  Joseph  Sears, 

George  Garret, 

'  Lowran  Brinney, 

Holmes  astin, 

*  newman  wayrin, 

newman  betts, 

'  Timothy  Conner, 

John  Dayly, 

■  Henry  Noole, 

Shubel  Cuuninggame 

"  .John  Cuuninggame, 

Patrick  Cuhana. 

"  Total  50. 

"  To  Peter  V. 

B.  LiviNOSTOS,  Esq' 

"  }*re«ident,  of  ye  New  York  Provincial  Con/freM.*^ 

<  There  is  some  reason  for  supposing  that  Ambrose  Horton  wiis  im- 
ported from  Southold,  in  Suffolk-county,  to  take  the  command  of  a  Com- 
pany in  this  Regiment ;  but,  wherever  he  may  have  originated,  he 
euliste<I  "fifty-si.x  able  bodyed  men"  for  the  Company;  and  reported 
them  to  the  Provincial  Congre3.s,  from  the  White  Plains,  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  July,  1775,  {HiMorical  Mamtscripfjf,  etc . :  Military  lietitnm^  xwi., 
57.)   Unfortunately,  be  did  not  return  the  names  of  those  enlisted  men. 

'The  First  Lieutenancy  of  this  Company  waa  originally  given  to 
Samuel  Clannon,  who  appears  to  have  given  way  for  David  Palmer, 
api)arently  from  Duchess-county  ;  and,  in  .\ugust,  1775,  the  latter  was 
again  raised,  by  being  apiMiinted  to  the  command  of  a  Company,  in  this 
Regiment.  While  he  held  the  Lieutenancy,  he  enlisted  twenty-three 
men  for  this  Company,  in  Richmond-county,  {Historical  Manuitcriptt,  etc.: 
MUUury  Returns,  xxvi.,  .53.) 


 ,  was  Second  Lieutenant.*    The  names  of  none 

of  those  who  held  Warrants,  as  Non-commissioned 
OtRcers,  in  either  of  these  Companies,  have  been 
preserved;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that,  except  in 
the  instance  of  the  Bedford  Company,  the  names  of 
those  who  were  in  the  ranks,  as  Privates,  are  no 
longer  known.  A  considerable  number  of  the  latter 
classes,  with  no  other  claim  to  distinction  than  their 
physical  ability  to  work  or  to  fight  and  their  good  in- 
tentions, was  j)robably  taken  from  the  yeomaury  of 
Westchester-county  ;  and,  notwithstanding  they  were 
mostly  detained  at  Ticonderoga,  without  having  been 
permitted  to  join  General  Montgomery,  before  Que- 
bec, as  he  particularly  desired  and  requested  they 
should  do,  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  tiiey 
failed,  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  discharge  every 
duty  which  was  laid  on  them,  satisfactorily  to  their 
commanding  Officers.  Some  of  them  are  said  to  have 
served  in  Canada ; '  but  it  is  understood  that  the  Regi- 
ment was  discharged,  at  the  close  of  the  term  for 
which  it  had  been  enlisted ;  and  that  the  greater 
number  returned,  with  honor,  to  their  respective 
homes. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, among  the  Resolutions  relating  to  the  Colony 
of  New  York,  which  it  adopted  on  the  twenty-fifth 
and  twenty-si. \th  of  May, "  included  a  requisition 
"  that  the  Militia  of  New- York  be  armed  and  trained 
"and  in  constant  readiness  to  act  at  a  moment's 
"warning,"  etc.;  and  that  those  Resolutions  were  duly 
transmitted  to  the  Provincial  ('ongress  of  that  Col- 
ony." After  a  prolonged  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject, by  two  Committees  and  by  the  body  of  the 
Provincial  Congress,'"  on  the  ninth  of  August,  a  Re- 
port was  made  and  adopted,  providing  for  the  com- 
plete re-organization  of  the  Militia  of  the  Colony,  and 
for  a  complete  change  in  the  personnel  oi  those  who 
commanded  it."    On  the  twenty-second  of  the  same 


6The  Second  Lieutenancy  of  this  Company  was  originally  given  to 
Nehemiah  Marshall ;  but,  in  July,  1775,  that  gentleman  withdrew  and 
Mr.  Pell  was  ajipointed  to  the  vacancy.  The  latter  was  evidently  pro- 
moted to  the  First  Lieutenancy,  when,  in  August  of  that  year.  Lieuten- 
ant Palmer  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  Company  ;  and,  on  the 
same  day,  Isaac  Van  Waert  was  apjiointed  to  the  vacant  Second  Lieuten- 
ancy. 

'Captain  David  Palmer,  Lieutenant  Samuel  T.  Pell,  and  Lieutenant 
Isiuic  Van  Waert  are  particularly  noticed  as  having  served  in  Canada, 
in  1776,  [Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.:  Military  Committee's  Papern,  xxv., 
TM  ;  the  same  ;  Military  Wc/iirn«,  xxvii.,  166  ;)  audit  may  reasonably  be 
supposcil  that  the  Company  of  which  they  were  OfBcera,  accom|>anied 
them. 

^Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "  Thursday,  May  26,  and  Friday, 
"  May  26,  1775,"  pages  274,  27.5,  ante. 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Dunie,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  May  29th, 
"  1775." 

'0  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  7, 
"1775 ;"  <Ae  same,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  27,  1775  ;"  tlie  same, 
"  Die  Lunie,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  .\ugu8t  7,  1775  ;"  and  the  same,  "  Die  Merciirii, 
"  9  ho.,  A.M.,  August  9,  1775." 

Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Mercnrii,  9  ho.,  .\.M., 
"  August  9,  1775." 


278 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  CX)UXTY. 


mouth,  with  a  verj-  important  change,  which  permit- 
ted those  who  were  not  resident*  of  the  Districts  or 
Beats  to  take  and  to  hold  offices  therein,  that  Report 
was  included  in  an  elaborate  "  AJi/ifia  Bill."  which 
provided  tiiat  every  portion  of  the  Colony  should  be 
divided  into  ''Districts  or  Beats,' in  such  manner 
that  each  of  those  Districts  should  include,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  eighty-three  men  and  boys,  between  six- 
teen and  sixty  years  of  age,  and  capable  of  bearing 
arms.  These  Companies  were  to  be  commanded  by 
Officers  to  be  elected  by  the  respective  Companies, 
and  commissioned  by  the  Provincial  Congress.  One 
fourth  of  the  entire  force  was  to  be  organized  as 
Minute-men;  the  Companies  were  to  be  organized 
into  Regiments ;  the  Regiments  were  to  be  organized 
into  Brigades ;  and  all  were  to  be  commanded  by  a 
Major-general,  to  be  appointed  and  commissioned  by 
the  Provincial  Congress.  Provisions  were  also  made 
requiring  every  man,  between  the  ages  of  sixteen 
"  and  fifty,"  to  provide  liiinself  with  a  musket  and 
bayonet,  a  sword  or  tomahawk,  a  cartridge-box  to 
contain  twenty-three  rounds  of  cartridges,  a  knap- 
sack, one  pound  of  gunpowder,  and  three  pounds  of 
balls;  and  various  other  provisions,  fur  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Militia,  were  also  enacted.' 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  much  discon- 
tent, in  any  part  of  the  Colony,  because  of  the  passage 
of  that  Ordinance  or  Act  for  the  re-organization  of 
the  Militia  ;  but  it  atlbrded  opjiortunities,  in  various 
places,  for  displays  of  that  coiitenipi  for  the  unfran- 
chised and  lowly  masses,  which  those  of  higher  social 
and  political  rank,  even  those  who  were  ostentatiously 
assuming  to  be  the  especial  guardians  and  defenders 
of  the  Rights  of  the  Colonists,  were  not  slow  in  present- 
ing to  the  world.  A  notable  instance  of  this  contempt 
was  seen  at  Yonkers,  where  Frederick  Van  C()rtlandt, 
an  unprovided-for  member  of  that  extended  family, 
aspired  to  the  command  of  the  Company  in  that 
Beat,  probably  as  a  stepping-stone  to  something  bet- 
ter. The  enrolled  members  of  the  Company,  in  whom 
the  right  of  election  rested,  preferred  one  of  their 
own  number,  John  Cock,  for  their  Captain ;  and 
when  the  Poll  was  closed,  it  wiis  found  that  the  aris- 
tocratic aspirant  had  received  only  eleven  votes, 
while  his  plebeian  ojiponent  had  received  forty-eight, 
and  one  had  been  given  to  William  Betts.^  The  de- 
feated aspirant  subsequently  complained  that,  although 
his  successful  opponent  had  signed  the  Amociation, 
he  had  done  so  without  having  heartily  approved  it, 
supporting  his  charge  with  an  affidavit  of  William 
Hadley,'  who  had  aspired  to  the  First  Lieutenancy 


1  That  "  Militia  Bill,"  in  extetao,  waa  published  as  a  Note  to  the  Jmur- 
nal  of  (he  Ptovittcial  Oongrexs,  "  l>ie  JIartis.  9  ho.,  A.M.,  August  22, 
"177.")." 

2  Votes  of  thf.  MilUia  Embodyed  in  ye  PrecinH  of  Che  Ynnkerf  and  of  oji- 
cer»  names  this  24  August,  1775. — HMnriciil  Mumiscrqitf,  etc.  :  MHilanj 
Jteturns,  xxvi.,  23  ;  xxvii.,  263. 

3  "  Wf.st<  h>:ster  Oov.s-tv,  ss. 

"  William  Haiiley,  of  tlie  said  Couiitv,  yeoman,  jxTSoiially  appeaiMl 


I  of  the  Company,  and  had  received  only  twelve  of  the 
sixty  votes  which  were  cast  for  that  office;*  and,  of 
course,  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  the  County 
transmittecl  the   affidavit   to   the   Provincial  Con- 
i  gress,   promising  to  supplement    what    w;us  then 
i  sent  with  evidence  that  Cock  had  "spoken  very  dis- 
I  "respectfully  of  the  Congress;"'  and  invitingthat  body 
!  to  withhold  the  Commission  to  which  Cock  was  en- 

■  titled  under  the  provisions  of  the  Congress's  own 
enactment.^    Six  days  afterwards,  fifty-nine  of  the 

'  Inhabitants  of  Yonkers  jjresented  a  Petition  to  the 

■  Committee  of  Safety,  justifying  their  action  in  elect- 
I  ing  Cock  as  their  Captain,  and  asking  that  he  might 
1  be  commissioned,  as  such;"  but  Isaac  Green,  one  of 


'  "before  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  the  Ciiunty  aforesaid,  and  beiof; 
]  "duly  sworn  on  the  Holy  Evangelists  of  the  Almighty  God,  saith  that 
*'lie  the  De|)oneiit  betn^;  appointed  one  of  the  Sub-Ck>nimittee  for  the 
j  "  superintending  the  signing  of  the  General  AMofialion  of  this  Province, 
!  "carried  the  sanie  to  one,  .lohn  Cock,  of  the  Vonkei's,  in  said  County, 
I  "and  asked  the  said  John  Cock  to  sign  the  siinie ;  he,  the  said  .lohn 
"Cork  taking  the  jien  in  his  hand  uttered  the  following  words:  '  I  sign 
"'this  with  my  hand,  but  not  with  my  heart,  for  I  would  not  have 
"  '  signed  it  li.id  it  iKit  been  for  my  wife  and  family's  sake  : '  and  this  he 
"several  times  rt'peated  in  the  hearing  of  him  the  Deponent.  Arid 
"  further  the  Deponent  Kiith  not. 

"  Wll.J.HM    IlADI  Ey. 

,  "Sworn  the  nth  Sept.,  177.'>, 

"  before  me, 
I  "  Gii.BT  Drake." 

*  Vole*  iif  the  MilUia  Embodyed,  etc. — JtiMorieal  Mann»cript',  etc.,  MUi- 
;  litiy  llelurm,  xxvi.,  23;  xxvii.,  263. 

s  LetUr  from  fiUbert  Drake,  Chairman,  to  John  H'lring,  Chairman  of  tlie 
OmmUlee  of  Safely,  nt  Neir  i'ork;  "  Wiin  e-Plaixs,  .Sept.  11th,  1775."' 

0  Journal  of  the  Commillee  of  .i^ifety,  "Die  Lunse,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  .Septeni- 
"berlB,  n-.l." 

j  The  Petition  thus  presented  has  been  preserved  ;  and  the  following 
I  has  been  copied  from  it— Ki«torieoi  Manuscriptt,  etc.,  PetHionf,  xxxi.,  101. 

1  "To  THE  Hovb''  The  Pbovi.kciai,  Conobess  or  the  Province  of  Sew 
I  "York  in  the  Cm  or  New  York  CoxveniI — Ob  in  their  Reces.«, 
I        "  To  THE  HoxciM'  The  Committee  or  Saftet. 

'  "The  Honorable  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Precinct  of  the 
I  "lower  Y'oukers  in  the  County  of  Wejitchester  Humbly  Sheweth  : 

}  "That  your  Honourable  House  have  made  a  Resolve  and  Published 
"  the  same  Recommending  to  the  Inhabitants  of  every  Town  Manner 
'  "  Precinct  &  District  within  the  Province  aforesaid,  to  meet  nominate 
i  "and  appoint  Captains  and  Other  Officers  To  form  Themselves  as  Com- 
;  "  pany»  of  Militia. 

j  ".\nd  whereas  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Precinct  Did  meet  agreeable  to 
'  "your  said  Resolve  On  the  Twenty-fourth  Day  of  August  Last,  under 
1  "the  Inspection  of  the  fomuiitee  for  that  District  Did  by  a  very  great 
1  ••  JIajority  as  by  the  List  will  appear.  Did  Nominate  and  appoint  Mr. 

"  .lohn  Cock  of  the  said  Precinct  for  his  known  Skill  and  ability  in  the 
'  "  Military  Discipline  and  for  other  good  Cause,  appointe-l  him  Captain 
I  "  of  the  said  Company  for  the  District  aforesaid. 

I  "And  whereas  we  are  informed  that  a  Complaint  hath  been  made  to 
"  the  Commitee  by  a  few  of  the  Inhabitants  against  the  said  Mr.  John 
"Cock  out  of  Spite  and  Malice  and  as  we  conceive  what  has  been  aleg* 
"against  him  was  before  the  .'Signing  the  Association,  we  are  well 
"  assured  that  Since  his  Signing  the  said  .\s80ciation  no  person  Can  ac 
"  cuse  him  of  breaking  the  same  by  any  ways  or  means  whatever. 

"  Therefore  we  the  Petitioners  and  Sul>scribers  Do  Humbly  beg  the 
"  Indulgence  of  This  Honourable  House  To  Grant  unto  M'.  John  Cock 
i  "  the  Commission  of  Captain  for  the  Conijiany  aforesaid  as  we  are  Con- 
!  "vinced  he  was  chosscn  agreeable  to  your  said  Resolve  and  your  Peti- 
'•  tionei-s  as  in  Duty  Itound  shall  ever  piay. 


THE  AMERICAN  llEVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


279 


those  who  Imd  voted  for  Cock,  at  the  Election,  was 
induced  to  join  witli  Goorpe  Hadley,  the  latter  in  a 
second  Affidavit,  sliowinp;  that  Cock  "had  damned  the 
"  Provincial  Congress  of  this  Colony,  and  spoke  dis- 
"  respectfully  of  them ;"  and  these  were  laid  before 
the  Colonial  Committee  of  Safety,  in  opposition  to 
the  Petition  of  the  fifty-nine  and  to  the  claim  of  the 
Captain-elect.  The  result  was  probably  foreseen  by 
the  Petitioners  and  their  successful  candidate — why 
should  the  carefully  expressed  will  of  filty-uine  respec- 
table men,  declared  in  conformity  with  the  published 
terms  of  the  Congress  itself,  be  permitted  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  a  Van  Cortlandt,  the  latter  with  nothing 
else  than  two  e.r-parfe  Affidavits  to  sustain  the  evi- 
dently ridiculous  charge  of  wrong-doitig  in  the  suc- 
cessful canilidate?  and  why,  also,  should  those  other 
successful  candidates  who  had,  also,  been  elected  by 
the  same  great  majority  and  at  the  same  time,  with- 
out even  the  semblance  of  an  accusation  against 
either  of  them,  be  permitted  to  receive  their  Com- 
missions? It  was  true,  that  the  latter  had  not  been 
known  to  have  spoken  disrespectfully  of  either  the 
Axsodfttion  or  of  the  Congress :  it  was  true,  that  they 
had  received  nearly  five-sixths  of  the  votes  which 
were  Ciist:  it  was  true,  that  the  Election  had  been 
held  under  the  inspection  of  the  proper  Committee: 
it  was  true,  that  every  requirement  of  the  Congress's 


'  Charles  Tylor, 

John  Devoe, 

'  Miiitin  I'ost. 

Jacob  Post, 

' .liiiues  Muiiio, 

Henry  Brown, 

'  AiitliJ  Alliuie, 

Henrey  Taylor, 

'  Kilwani  U.vor, 

Authoney  Archer, 

'  li(Mijauiin  Farrington, 

Basal  Archer, 

*  William  Uose, 

Thomas  Oakley, 

'  Hour}  pri'slier. 

Jonathan  Fowler, 

*  Thouius  Furington, 

his 

Abm    X  I'ost, 

'  Jnniea  Kii  h, 

mark 

"  Gilbert  Brown, 

hid 

liig 

Dennis   X  Poet, 

'Tlionios  X  Tii>pit, 

murk 

mark, 

his 

"  Samuel  Laurence, 

William   X  I'ost, 

'  tliunuw  Merrell, 

mark 

'  Samuel  Williaiiia, 

Robert  Brown, 

'  Fredrii'k  lirowii, 

Danel  Ueen, 

"  Israel  I  nilerliill, 

Steiihen  Bastino, 

'•  David  Oakley,  Jmi', 

Bonj'"  Arsdan, 

'.losejih  Oakley,  Jiin', 

Henry  Norris, 

"  George  Crawford, 

John  Gucvnau, 

"  Moses  Oakley, 

Thomas  Kich, 

"Abralium  Rich, 

Klijh  taylor. 

Matliioud  Archer, 

Jacob  Taylor, 

bia 

James  Cniwturd, 

"  Kzk    X  Brown, 

KInathan  Taylor, 

mark, 

Isrcl  I'osI, 

bis 

his 

".\brahaiii   X  Aaten, 

Lewis   X  post, 

mark. 

mark 

"  Kobert  Farriugton, 

John  Warner, 

his 

Francis  .Smith, 

"John    X  Odle, 

Jordan  Norris, 

mark 

frederick  Vennilyt 

his 

John  Corl right. 

"Ab">    X  Oille, 

KdwanI  Cortrighf, 

mark 

IhiW£k  Yunkkks,  Se|il'  1;">,  177'i. 

own  enactments  had  been  duly  observed :  it  was  also 
true,  however,  that  they  were  obnoxious  to  "a  few 
"of  the  Inhabitants,"  and,  therefore,  without  an  ac- 
cusation, without  a  hearing,  without  a  shadow  of 
authority,  even  in  the  elastic  law  of  the  Congress, 
the  expressed  will  of  the  Company  was  disregarded 
and  the  pretended  principles  of  the  Revolution  were 
thrown  aside,  by  the  refusal  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety  to  recognize  either  of  the  successful  candidates, 
and  by  the  issue  of  an  order  for  a  new  Election,' 
which,  if  it  was  held,  was  not  held  until  the  follow- 
ing March. 

With  "the  letter  of  the  Militia  Regulntiuns,"  as  has 
been  said,  there  did  not  appear  to  be  any  extended 
discontentment;  but  with  the  arbitrary  conduct  of 
some  of  those  who  were  to  oversee  the  execution  of  it 
— the  instance,  at  Yonkers,  being  only  one  of  several 
— there  was,  very  reasonably,  much  dissatisfaction 
among  those,  being  men  from  whom  duties  were  ex- 
acted, who  were,  nevertheless,  regarded  and  treated 
as  if  they  were  not  men,  and  as  if  they  possessed  no 
social  or  political  privilege  which  those  who  were  bet- 
ter born  were  legally  obliged  to  recognize  and  re- 
spect. 

In  a  community,  such  as  that  which  constituted 
Colonial  We.stchester-county,  which  was  already 
known  and  distinguished  because  of  its  consistent  con- 
servatism and,  therefore,  because  of  its  backwardness 
in  promoting  the  cause  of  the  Rebellion,  such  a  ty- 
rannical exercise  of  political  authority  as  had  been 
seen  in  connection  with  the  Election  of  Militia 
Officers,  at  Yonkers,  by  those  who  were,  themselves, 
exercising  only  an  authority  which  had  been  usurped 
and  which  was  held  and  exercised  without  due  war- 
rant in  law,  was  everything  else  than  conciliatory, 
and  was  far  better  adapted  to  arouse  and  to  inflame 

t  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safefy,  "  Die  lUnrtu,  S  bo.,  A.M.,  Septoni- 
"bor  19th,  1775." 

The  following  letter,  addressed  by  the  tlolonial  ('omuiittce  of  Safety  to 
Frederic  Van  Cortlandt  and  others.  Informing  them  of  the  remarkable 
residt  (if  this  Election,  in  Yonkers,  will  lntere.st  those  who  desire  to 
learu  the  inside  history  of  the  Revolution,  in  Westchester-county  : 
"  In  COMMITTKK  OK  S.vri';Tv, 
"Nkw-Yokk,  Sept.  19th,  1775. 

"Genti.emkn  : 

"Having  considered  your  report,  and  also  the  report  of 
"your  County  Comniiltee.  concerning  the  Election  of  .lohn  Oox,  as 
"  a  Captain  of  the  Companr  of  Militia  at  Yonkers.  We  have  determined 
'  him  to  be  disigualified  for  a  Commission,  nut  only  because  at  the  time 
"  of  his  signing  the  AmiciiiUim  he  declared  it  to  be  an  involuntary  act,  but 
"also  bocaiise  he  lias  spoke  most  contemptuously  ol  the  Provincial  Con- 
"  greas.  .\nil  in  order  that  the  other  Officers  in  the  Company  may  have 
"a  chance  of  promotion,  which  cannot  be  dune  acconling  to  the  letter  of 
"the  Mililui  HnjiilaliiiK,  you  are  hereby  desired  t'>  cause  a  now  Electior. 
"to  be  nuuli?  of  all  the  Oflicers  of  the  t\)mpany,  pursuant  to  the  said 
"  Uegnluiimi,  taking  care  to  give  public  notice  that  the  said  John  Cocks 
"  cannot  be  admitted  to  any  office  whatsoever. 

"  We  are  respectfully.  Gentlemen, 
"  Your  very  humble  Servants, 
"  By  order  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
"  JoUN  IIakivo,  Chiiinimn. 

■'To    FlU'.llKUIl-   V.    CoRTI.VNnT,  BR.\.r.\MIN 
•■DllAKK,    StKI'HKN    SnKKKN,  TU"M AS  Em- 

"  Mii.vs,  Wii.i  uM   Btrrs    am>  Wii  r.nM 
"lUni.KV,  at  Yonkeix,  Wi  'it.  ln -i.  r  " 


280 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  passions  of  those  who  were  loyal  to  the  universally 
recognized  Sovereign  and  obedient  to  the  public  Laws 
of  the  land,  than  to  soothe  them.  But  the  farmers  of 
the  County  were  generally  peaceable  men,  preferring 
to  endure  a  wrong  instead  of  resenting  and  resisting  it 
by  force;  and  they  appear  to  have  generally  proceed- 
ed, therefore,  to  the  election  of  Officers,  in  the  reor- 
ganized Militia  of  the  County,  with  much  unanimity 
and  general  good  feeling.  The  first  to  respond  to  the 
call  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  the  election  of  its 
Militia  Officers,  was  the  Borough  Town  of  Westches- 
ter, where,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  John 
Oakley  was  elected  to  the  command  of  the  local  Com- 
pany, *  with  Nicholas  Berrian,  for  its  First  Lieuten- 
ant ;  ^  Isaac  Leggett,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and 
Frederic  Philipse  Stevenson,  for  its  Ensign.  '■'  Subse- 
quently, when  West  Farms  and  the  Manor  of  Ford- 
ham  were  separated  from  the  body  of  the  Town  and 
made  a  separate  and  distinct  Beat,  Nicholas  Berrian 
was  elected  to  the  command  of  the  new  Company, 
with  Gilbert  Taylor,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;  Daniel 
Devoe,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant;  and  Benjamin  Val- 
entine, for  its  Ensign.  * 

1  John  Oakley  represented  Westchester,  in  the  County  Committee, 
from  May,  1776,  until  May,  1777. 

2  Nicholas  Berrian  was  one  of  those,  at  Fordham  and  West  Farms,  who, 
in  September,  1775,  petitioned  for  the  establshment  of  a  Company,  in 
that  portion  of  the  Town,  separate  from  the  other  portions  of  it,  {Histori- 
cal Mumwcripls,  etc.:  Petitions,  xxxi.  lU)  ;  and,  in  October  of  the  same 
year,  when  that  Petition  was  granted,  he  was  elected  to  the  command 
of  the  new  Company,  (Hisloriad  Manuscript,  etc.  Militari)  lielums, 
xxvi.,  234.) 

s  Historical  Manuscripts  relating  to  the  ll  or  of  the  lievolution :  MUilAirij 
Ketums,  xxvi.,23;  xxvii.,  263. 

*  Historical  Mamiscripts  relating  to  the  War  of  the  SevohUion:  Military 
Hetums,  xxvi.,  234. 

The  following  list  of  the  names  of  those,  from  West  Farms  and  the 
Manor  of  Fordham,  who  were  summoned  to  meet  at  Westchester  ;  who 
petitioned  for  the  organization  of  the  new  Company  ;  and  who  were  its 
members,  when  it  was  organized,  may  properly  find  a  place  in  this 
narrative.  It  was  copied  from  the  original  manuscript,  {Historical  Man- 
uscripts, Petitions,  xxxi.,  114.) 


Nicholas  Berrian, 

James  McKay, 

Isaac  Valintine, 

Eobert  Campbell, 

Peter  Valintine, 

Eden  Hunt, 

John  Stevens, 

Isaac  Hunt, 

Benjamin  Curser  [Corsaf] 

James  .\rcher. 

Abraham  Dyckman, 

Samuel  Embree,  Jun', 

John  Turner, 

Edward  Harris, 

Benjamin  Valentine, 

John  Collard, 

his 

Cornelius  Jacobs, 

Georg   X  Philpet, 

hezekiah  Ward, 

mark 

Tunis  Garrison, 

Isaac  Valintine,  Junior, 

Isack  Cant, 

Peter  Bussing,  Juner, 

Gilbert  Taylor, 

Peter  Bussing, 

Robert  Gilmer, 

Abraham  Wils, 

Benjamin  Archer,  Jun', 

Benjamin  Curser,  Jr., 

Daniel  Devoe,  Ju', 

Hendrick  Ryer, 

John  Embree,  Sen% 

John  Lint,  [Lentf] 

Jacob  Lent, 

John  Kyer, 

his 

Isaac  Corser,  [Corsaf] 

Abram    X  Lent, 

Isaac  Corser,  Ju', 

mark 

tunus  Leforge, 

Dennis  Ryer, 

Phillip  Hunt, 

Jacob  Valentine, 

Stephen  Embree, 

Abraham  garison. 

Nathaniel  Lawreuc, 

.Tames  Grobe, 

Peter  Devoe, 

John  Embree,  Jun', 

In  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  there  were  eight  Dis- 
tricts or  Beats,  which  appear  to  have  been  the  same, 
in  their  several  territorial  limits,  as  those  under  the 
former  arrangement ;  and  these  elected  the  following 
Officers  for  the  respective  Companies: 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  Francis  Lent 
elected  James  Kronkhyte,  for  its  Captain  ;  Abraham 
Lamb,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ;  Staats  De  Grote,  for  its 
Second  Lieutenant ;  and  David  Peuore,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  Barton  Un- 
derbill elected  Gilbert  Van  Cortlandt,  for  its  Captain; 
Daniel  Hains,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ;  ^  James  Taller, 
for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Haramanos  Gardinear 
minor,  or  "Third,"  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  Jeremiah 
Drake  elected  Gilbert  Lockwood,  for  its  Captain ;  John 
Drake,  for  its  First  Lieutenant; '  Joshua  Drake,  for  its 
Second  Lieutenant ; '  and  Peter  Carman,  for  its  En- 
sign. ^ 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  David  Mon- 
tros  declined  to  make  a  new  Election  ;  and  its  Officers 
under  the  former  arrangement  appear  to  have  been 
retained  and  to  have  received  new  Commissions. 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  Ebenezer 
Theall  elected  Andrew  Brown,  for  its  Captain ;  Samuel 
Haight,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;*  John  Chrissey  Mil- 
ler, for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Solomon  Purdy,  for 
its  Ensign. 

The  northern  division  of  the  District  formerly  com- 
manded by  Levi  Baily  elected  Nathaniel  Delevan,  for 
its  Captain  ; Thomas  Nicholls,  Junior,  for  its  First 


James  Swaim, 

Thomas  Cromwell, 

Nazareth  Breuer, 

Gerrardus  Cromwell 

Thomas  Hunt, 

Obadiah  Hide, 

Abram  Leggett, 

John  Cursor, 

William  Leggett, 

Sirion  Williams, 

John  Leggett,  Jun', 

John  Ryer,  Jun', 

Robert  Hunt,  Juu', 

Jacob  Cliappel, 

Cornelius  Leggett, 

John  Garrison, 

Mr.  Woods, 

John  Jacobs, 

John  Hedger, 

Thomas  Dogherty, 

Thomas  Hedger, 

John  Clark, 

Steiilicn  Edwards, 

John  Devoe, 

James  Rock, 

John  Blizard, 

George  Higby, 

John  Walbrin, 

.Jacob  Hunt, 

John  Warnick, 

Levi  Hunt, 

Thomas  Gemble. 

Jeremiah  Regen, 

5  Darid  Hains  did  not  sign  the  Association  until  the  day  of  the  Elec- 
tion. 

0  John  Drake  did  not  sign  the  Association  until  the  day  of  the  Elec- 
tion. 

'  Joshua  Drake  did  not  sign  the  Association  until  the  day  of  the  Elec- 
tion. He  was  subsequently  made  an  Ensign  in  the  Continental  Service  ; 
but  soon  became  tired  and  resigned,  and  brought  influences  to  bear  in 
order  to  secure  a  Lieutenancy  in  the  same  service,  in  which  latter  opera- 
tion, however,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  successful. 

8  Peter  Carman,  also,  did  not  sign  the  Association  until  the  day  of  the 
Election. 

s  Samuel  Haight  represented  Westchester-county,  in  the  Assembly  of 
the  State,  1782-'3,  1784,  1789-  90,  1791.  1792  ;  he  wa«  Sherifi  of  the 
County,  1792-'6;  and  he  wa«  one  of  the  Senators  from  the  Southern 
District,  1797-1800.  In  1800,  he  represented  the  Southern  District  in 
the  Council  of  Appointment. 

'0  Nathaniel  Delevan  represented  Westchester-county  in  the  .\ssembly 
of  the  State,  1781-2. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


281 


Lieutenant;  Titus  Runnels,  for  its  Secontl  Lieutenant; 
and  Abraham  Furdy,  for  its  Ensign. '  Tiie  southern 
division  of  the  same  former  District  elected  (rideon 
Selah  \_Ser/ci/ .'}  for  its  Captain,  Samuel  Lawrence  for 
its  First  Lieutenant;  Caleb  Hobby,  foritsSecond  Lieu- 
tenant;- and  Abraham  Todd,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  formerly  commanded  by  Joseph  Strang ' 
elected  John  Hyatt,  for  its  Captain  ;  ^  John  Drake,  for 
its  First  Lieutenant;  '  Obediah  I'urdy,  for  its  Second 
Lieutenant;  and  Joseph  Horton,  for  its  Ensign.'' 

The  eight  Com]>anie8,  in  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt, 
whicli  were  thus  reorganized  and  re-ottieered,  were 
known  as  the  North  Hattalion  of  Westchester-county, 
of  which,  soon  al'terwards,  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  was 
made  Colonel,"  tJilbert  Drake  its  I>ieutenant-colonel,' 
Joseph  Strang  its  First  Major, ''  Ebenezer  Purdy  its 
Second  Major, John  Cooley  its  Adjutant,  and  Isaac 
Norton  its  Quartermaster." 

The  District  of  Eastchester  elected  Stephen  Sneden, 
for  its  Captain;'-  Thomas  Pinkuey,  for  its  First  Lieu- 


'  Aliraliaiii  I'linly  was  a  meiiilxr  of  the  County  (,'oniniittef,  represent- 
in;;  the  llanor  of  Cortlamlt,  in  ITTli-",  iHislnrirnl  jl/.oiimn/i/s,  etc.  : 
Mi'irflliiui-niis  I'liju  rs,  xxxviii.,  309.) 

In  April,  1770,  C'lileb  Hobliy,  who  wiis  said  to  have  been  a  "  Gentle- 
"inan,"  received  a  Coniniission  from  the  C'ontineiitiil  Congress,  as  FirRt 
Lieutenant  in  "the  Firet  Regiment  of  New  York  Forre.s,"  {Hixloiinil 
.1/.i//iis<T(j>/.«,  etc.  :  Milil'irii  IMimis,  xxvii.,  liH)  ;  atiil  he  appears  to  have 
joined  the  Seventh,  or  Captain  Hait's,  Company,  {HMmiinl  Maniiscripls, 
etc. ;  Militurij  Otinmisxium^  .xxv.,  IG."),  BVH.)  Soon  afterwards,  it  was  said 
that  -lie  nnd  the  Second  Iiieutenant  and  the  Ensign  of  the  Company 
[Unit's  nr  lli/alt'x]  "  wisli  to  decline  tlie  service  ;  they  will  be  no  loss  to 
"it."  {HitftorU-ul  M'tiiHsrrijits^  etc.  :  MiliUirif  Coiiimittee's  Pttprrs^  x.vv., 
488.) 

.Joseph  Strang  was  snbsetpieiitly  nia<le  First  Mi\jt»r  of  the  Regiment, 
the  Third  of  the  \Vestchester-<'onnly  Militia,  of  which  the  eight  Cimi- 
panies  in  the  Alanor  of  ('ortlandt  apiH'ar  to  have  tteeu  memliers,  (//ts- 
litriral  Mtiiiiim-ripl.t^  etc. ;  Militnrti  Itftnnis^  xxvi.,  He  represented 

the  County  in  the  .\ssombly  of  this  State,  in  178(1-1, 1788,  178'.). 

<  .lohn  Myatt  was  snb(«e<|uently  a  Captain,  in  (ieneral  John  Alorin 
.Scott's  Hrig-.iile. — (loiter  nf  Cn/il'iiH  John  (hlrnru  to  the  Gmivuliim  of  the 
StiUe  •'/ \ew  York,  "FisHKii.i.s,  l:i">  ,JanJ,  1777.") 

6, lohn  Praku  was  a  sou  of  Gilbert  Drake,  Chairman  of  the  County 
t'unnnittee. 

'■>  Josei>h  Horton  did  not  sign  the  iVifiVm  until  the  day  of  the  Elec- 
tion. 

■  Pierre  Van  Corllanilt  was  sul>sei|uently  a  niend>er  of  the  Second  Pro- 
vincial (.'ongre.-*",  177.'>-i!,  and  Chairman  of  its  Committee  of  Safety,  Jan- 
uary ami  February,  177t; ;  a  member  of  the  Thiiil  Provincial  Congress, 
177ii;  of  the  Fourth  Provincial  Congress,  177li;  of  the  Convention  of  the 
Slate  of  New  York,  177t;-7  ;  of  the  First  Council  ot  Sjifety,  1777,  of 
w  hicli  lie  was  the  President  ;  a  Senator  from  the  Southern  District,  1777  ; 
President  of  the  Convention  of  the  State,  1777;  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  State,  1777-17!)r> ;  and  died  on  the  first  of  May,  1819,  aged  ninety- 
four  years. 

GillKrt  Drake  wa.s  Chairman  of  the  County  Committe<>,  in  1775-(; ;  a 
member  of  the  Second  Provincial  Congress,  177.i-f>  ;  of  the  Third  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  1770;  and  of  the  Fourth  Provincial  Congress,  1776-7. 

'Joseph  Strang  ha>l  held  the  command,  uniler  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, of  the  District  conimandcHi,  uiiiler  the  reorganization,  by  Captain 
John  Hyatt. 

Elieiiezer  Piinly  was  a  inenil«er  of  the  County  Committee,  from  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt,  177(>-'7  ;  he  representiil  \Vestcliester  County  in  the 
.\ssombly  of  the  State,  1779-'8tl,  1782-':!,  1784,  1784-'3,  1787,  1791,  1792, 
1795  ;  he  was  one  of  the  Senators  from  the  Southern  District,  1801-'6  ; 
and  County  Judge  in  1797-'8. 

"  Isaac  Norton  was  a  member  of  the  County  Committee,  from  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt,  177ti-'7. 

>s  Stephen  Sneden  represented  the  Town  of  Ea-stchester,  in  the  County 
Committee,  1776-7. 
20 


tenant ; "  Daniel  Sebring,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant; " 
and  William  Pinkney,  for  its  Ensign.''  For  some 
reason  which  is  not  now  known,  a  new  iOlection  was 
held  in  the  following  March,  when  Thomas  Pinkney 
was  made  its  Captain,  William  Pinkney  its  First 
Lieutenant,  John  Sneden  its  Second  Lieutenant,  and 
William  Reed  its  Ensign."'' 

New  Rochelle  and  the  Manor  of  Pelhaiit,  united, 
formed  a  District  or  Beat ;  and  it  elected  Jo.seph 
Drake,  for  its  Captain;"  James  Willis,  for  its  First 
Lieutenant; '"  and  David  Guion,  for  its  Second  Lieu- 
tenant.   It  did  not  elect  an  Ensign. 

The  Manor  of  Philipsborough  included  six  distinct 
Districts  or  Beats — the  Upper,  the  East,  the  Lower, 
the  Yonkers,  the  Tarrytown,  and  the  Associated  Com- 
pany, in  the  upper  part  of  tlie  Manor — and  these 
elected  the  following  Officers  in  their  several  Dis- 
tricts : 

The  Upper  District  elected  Abraham  Ledew,  for  its 
Captain;  "  Benjamin  Brown,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ; 
John  Relyea,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  John 
Oakley,  for  its  Ensign.  John  Relyea  having  declined 
the  proffered  Second  Lieutenancy,  Jonas  Arsor 
[Orsor  f]  was  subsequently  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy."' 

The  East  Company  elected  David  Davids,  for  its 
Captain :  Benjamin  Vermilyea,  for  its  First  Lieutenant; 
Gilbert  Dean,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Gabriel 
Reguaw,  \_Eequa for  its  Ensign.  ''  Captain-elect 
Davids  appears  to  have  declined  the  proffered  office  ; 
and,  at  a  subsequent  Election,  the  Company  elected 
Benjamin  Vermilyea,  for  its  Captain  ;  Gilbert  Dean, 
for  its  First  Lieutenant;  and  William  Fushie, 
\_Foi-shcc  to  its  Second  Lieutenancy;  Ensign  Requa 
evidently  retaining  the  Office  to  which  he  hatl  been 
originally  appointed." 

The  Lower  Company  elected  Isaac  Vermilyea,  for  its 


Thomas  Pinkney  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  Company,  in 
March,  177(1. 

Daniel  Sebring  represented  the  Town  of  Eastchester,  in  the  County 
Committee,  1776-'7. 

15  William  Pinkney  was  promoted  to  the  First  Lieutenancy  in  March, 
1776. 

^'^  Uintoririil  Miiniiscripis  reltiliiiij  to  the  War  of  the  Hendiitum  :  Militui  ii 
Itrtiirnx,  xxvii.,  144. 

1-  Joseph  Drake  was  a  member  of  the  Firstand  Second  Provincial  Con- 
gresses, by  the  former  of  whom  he  was  made  Colonel  of  the  First  West- 
chester-county Regiment,  {Uinlorical  Manuscript*,  etc.  :  MUilnnj  Keturns 
xxvi.,  1:5  ) 

'8  A  very  interesting  .Vflidavit,  made  by  Lieutenant  Willis,  on  the  sixth 
of  .Vugtist,  177(>,  illustrative  of  the  unpopularity  of  Colonel  John  Thomas, 
Junior,  may  bo  seen  in  the  llislurical  Stamtacripts,  etc.  ;  Mitrellone'iiis 
I'liperx,  xxxix.,  347. 

"  .\braham  Ledew  represented  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the 
County  Committee,  in  1776-'7.  This  name  was  written,  elsewhere,  La 
Donx. 

^  lliKlorii  nl  M(iHa»cripl»  relating  to  the  War  of  the  lieivliitiun  :  SlUUunj 
Retiirm,  xxvi.,  140. 

=1  Gabriel  Rcfiua  liveil  about  two  miles  back  from  Tarrytown  ;  in  1777, 
he  was  a  Lieutenant ;  and  he  was  known,  favorably,  at  that  time,  iK'cause 
of  his  capture  of  a  Recniiting  Officer  from  the  City  of  New  Y'ork.  (Pr<i- 
reMinyn  nf  a  Oenernl  Court  Martitil,  "  Peekskill,  .\pril  18,  1777."') 

~  HiMnrv-nl  MnnnKripts  relating  to  the  War  of  the  Ucrolution  ;  MUUarii 
lleliinui,  xxvi,  140. 


282 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Captain;  Israel  Honeywell,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;' 
Dennis  Lent,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Hendrick 
Odell,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  Beat  or  District  of  Yonkers  made  its  election 
of  Officers,  agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Congress's  enactments ;  but  the  result  was  not  satis- 
factory to  Frederic  Van  Cortlandt  and  others,  who 
had  been  rejected  by  the  Company  ;  and,  through 
their  influence  in  the  Provincial  Committee  of  Safety 
and  Provincial  Congress,  the  Commissions  were  with- 
held from  the  Officers-elect,  and  a  new  Election  was 
ordered.'*  For  some  rea.son  which  has  not  been 
stated,  although  it  can  be  very  easily  seen,  that  new 
Election  was  not  held  until  the  eighteenth  of  March, 
1776,  when  John  Warner,  who  had  been  elected 
Second  Lieutenant  in  the  former  Election,  was  made 
the  Captain  ;  Jacob  Post,  Avho  had  been  elected  En- 
sign in  the  former  Election,  was  made  the  First  Lieu 
tenant;  Samuel  Lawrence,  the  Second  Lieutenant;  and 
Israel  Post,  the  Ensign  of  the  Company. 

The  Tarrytown  Company  originally  elected  Abra- 
ham Storm,  for  its  Captain;*  George  Combs,  for  its 
First  Lieutenant;^  Joseph  Appleby,  for  its  Second 
Lieutenant;  and  Nathaniel  Underbill,  for  its  Ensign  ; 
but  all  of  these,  except  Lieutenant  Combs,  having 
declined  the  honors  and  responsibilities  of  offices, 
a  new  Election  was  held,  and  Gload  Requa*  was 
chosen  in  the  place  of  Captain-elect  Storm ;  Cor- 
nelius Van  Tassel  was  chosen  Second  Lieutenant, 
in  the  place  of  Lieutenant-elect  Appleby  ;  and  Sibourt 
Acker  was  chosen  Ensign,  in  the  place  of  Ensign- 
elect  Underbill. 

The  Associated  Company  in  the  upper  part  of 
Philipsborough  elected  William  Dutcher,  for  its  Cap- 
tain ; '  Daniel  Martlinghs,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ; 


1  Israel  Hoiu-ywell  wiis  one  of  the  Commissioners  of  Soiiiicstration  for 
WestclioBter  County,  1777.  Ho  represented  the  Town  of  Westchester  in 
tlio  County  Committee,  177(i-'7  ;  and  lie  was  also  a  Member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1801,  representing  Westchestcr-county. 

Israel  Honeywell,  Junior,  was  said  to  have  been  a  member  of  the 
County  Committee,  representinj;  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough,  177G-'7  ; 
and,  in  1777-'8  and  1778-'9,  he  w,is  Sivid  to  have  represented  Westchester- 
county  in  the  Assembly  of  the  State.  It  is  not  impossible  that,  in  some 
instances,  these  references  have  become  mi.xed. 

2  See  jjages  278,  27'J  ante. 

Jlit^lorical  Ma»nscrq)U  relntiiig  to  the  War  of  the  RecoJittton  :  MUil(irij 
Ki'tunis,  xxvii.,  142. 

*  Abraham  Storm  represented  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the 
County  Committee,  1770-  7. 

5  George  Combs  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee,  appointed 
in  1775  ;  and  in  18IX),  ho  represented  Westchester-county,  in  the  Assem- 
bly of  the  State. 

6  (Uoad  Kecpia  represented  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the  County 
Committee,  177e-'7. 

^  William  Dutcher  was  subsequently  in  conmiand  of  a  ComiKiuy  in 
the  Secret  Service  of  the  Convention  of  the  State,  {UUtorical  Manuscripts^ 
etc.:  Mm-rllanmm  Pajiers,  xxxv.,  467.) 

The  village  of  Irvington,  on  the  Iludson-river,  was  built  on  his  farm  ; 
and  his  largo  house  was  standing  in  the  middle  of  that  village,  within  a 
few  years,  and,  probably,  stands  there,  now. 

Daniel  Martling  was  subsequently  a  Lieutenant  in  Colonel  Thom- 
as's Regiment,  by  whom  he  was  *'  recommended  for  the  Standing  Army," 
ill  1777,  although  he  w.ts  said  to  have  been  "  illiteral,"  (llisturkal  Mami- 
xcrqits,  etc.  :  3Iilitiirij  CoiiDiiittee' s  Pajiers,  xxv, ,  849.) 


Gershom  Sherwood,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ; '  and 
George  Mouson,  for  its  Third  Lieutenant.'" 

The  six  Companies  on  the  Manor  of  Philips- 
borough, and  those  at  Westchester,  previously 
referred  to,  at  Eastcliester,  and  at  New  Rochelle  and 
the  Manor  of  Pelham,  all  of  them  reorganized  and 
re-officered  as  thus  described,  were  known  as  the 
South  Battalion  of  Westchester-county,  of  which, 
soon  afterwards,  Joseph  Drake  was  made  Colonel," 
James  Hammond  its  Lieutenant-colonel,'^  Moses 
Drake  its  First  ]\Iajor,''  Jonathan  G.  Graham  its 
Second  Major,'*  Abraham  Emmons  its  Adjutant,'''  and 
Theophilus  Barton,  Junior,  its  Quarter-master.'* 

The  District  of  Mamaroneck  and  Rye,  except  the 
upper  end  of  King-street,  elected  Robert  Bloomer  for 
its  Captain  ;"  Alexander  Hunt,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ; 
Ezekial  Halsted,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant;  and 
Daniel  Horton,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  in  which  were  included  Harrison's  Pre- 
cinct and  the  upper  end  of  King-street,  elected  Henry 
Dusinberry,  for  its  Captain  ;  Lyon  Miller,  for  its  First 
Lieutenant;'-  Caleb  Paulding  Horton,  for  its  Second 
Lieutenant;  and  Gilbert  Duusiuberry,  forits  Ensign.'^ 
For  some  reason  which  isnow  unknown,  a  second  Elec- 
tion for  Officers  of  this  Company  was  made  on  the 
tenth  of  January,  1776,'^"  when  John  Thomas  Minor 
was  chosen  for  its  Captain,'^'  Gilbert  Dusenberry,  for 

"  Gershom  Sherwood  represented  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the 
County  Committee,  177C-'7. 

1"  George  Morrison  was  the  name  of  this  oBiccr,  (Hixloricid  Mauvst  rijits, 
etc.;  Miscetl<ineiiiis  Papers,  x.xxv.,  G3.) 

"  .loseph  Drake  was  elected  to  the  command  of  the  Company  of  New 
Rochelle  and  Pelham  Manor,  (jxijc  281,  ante  ;)  but,  as  he  was,  also,  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  (congress,  he  found  means,  within  that  body, 
to  secure  his  appointment  to  the  command  of  the  Regiment,  (Hustorical 
Mniiiifcripis,  etc.  :  Milittirj/  ]liiiirm,  x.wi.,  13.) 

12  James  Hammond  represented  the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the 
County  Committi'e,  177G-'7.  A  very  interesting  paper  concerning  his 
conduct  on  the  day  when  the  enemy's  ships  came  to  anchor  olT  Tarry- 
town,  in  July,  1776,  and  concerning  his  doings  "  as  a  buyer  of  Pork  for 
"this  State,"  may  bo  seen  in  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Misccllaucong 
Papers,  x.xxiv.,  549. 

1^  Probably  an  importation  from  Suffolk. 

n  We  have  found  no  other  mention  of  this  person. 

16  .Vbraliam  Emmons,  of  Yonkers,  was  one  of  those,  in  the  Yonkers 
Company,  who  had  voted  for  Frederic  Van  Cortlandt  for  its  Captain,  and 
who  had  united  with  that  gentleman,  who  was  the  defeated  candidate, 
in  disregarding  the  Election  and  securing  the  degnulation  of  John  Cock, 
from  the  office  to  which  he  had  been  elected, — (tiee  paijes  278,  279,  ante.) 

I'J  Thus  printed  in  the  records  of  the  St^ite  ;  but  it  was  probably  intend- 
ed for  Theophilus  Bartow,  Junior,  of  New  Rochelle. 

1'  Robert  Bloomer  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee,  ap- 
Itoiiitedin  Blay,  1775. 

18  Lyon  Miller  was  reported  as  a  Loyalist,  soon  after  his  election  to  the 
Lieutenancy  of  this  Company,  {List  of'  Westchester  Counfi/  Tories,  Hittori- 
cal  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  MiscellaneoHs  Papers,  xxxiv.,  193 ; )  and,  very 
probably,  that  was  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  holding  of  a  new  Election, 
by  the  Company. 

1" Gilbert  Dusenberry  was  promoted  to  the  First  Lieutenancy  of  the 
Company,  at  the  second  Election  for  ofticere,  in  January,  177C. 
llLsfnrieal  Manuscripts,  etc. :  MilUnrij  Hetnrus,  xxvii.,  23C. 

21  John  Thomas,  evidently  a  very  young  man,  but  one  of  the  office- 
holding  Thomas  family.  He  was  probably  the  second  son  of  John 
Thomas,  Junior,  who  was,  at  that  time,  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Congress  and,  generally,  a  leader  of  the  revolutionary  party,  and  a  con- 
tinual office-holder. 

This  Captiiin  John  Thomas  died  January  6,  1835.  — (Bolton's  Uistor;/  nf 
Wcstchestcr-cvunlij,  original  edition,  i.,  254 ;  the  same,  second  edition, 
ii.,  761.) 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


283 


its  First  Lieutenant;  William  Woodward,  for  its  Sec- 
ond Lieutenant;  and  James  Miller,  Junior,  for  its  En- 
sign. 

The  District  which  included  the  eastern  portion 
of  Northcastle  elected  Benoni  Piatt,  for  it.s  Captain  ;' 
David  Holby,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;  Abraham 
Knapp,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant;  and  Jonathan 
Guion,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  which  included  the  southern  portion 
of  Nortlicastle  elected  Benjamin  Ogden,  for  its  Cap- 
tain; Jeremiah  Hunter,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;  Caleb 
Merritt,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  James  Brun- 
dige,  for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  which  included  the  northern  portion 
of  Northcastle  was  so  entirely  opposed  to  the  Rebel- 
lion that  "  there  were  not  persons  sufficient  in  num- 
"  bers  who  had  signed  the  Annocintion  to  make  Offi- 
"  cers  of,  so  that  nothing  was  done,"  in  the  form  of 
an  Election,  during  the  Summer  and  Autumn  of 
1775  ;  but  an  attempt  was  made  to  organize  the  Com- 
pany, in  the  following  January,  when  Joseph  Green 
was  found,  to  accept  the  command  of  the  Company, 
and  Henry  Peers,  to  accept  the  First  Lieutenancy ; 
the  Second  Lieutenancy  and  the  place  of  Ensign  re- 
maining vacant. - 

The  District  which  included  Scarsdale,  the  White 
Plains,  and  Brown's  Point  elected  Joshua  Hatfield, 
for  its  Captain  ;  James  Verrian,  for  its  First  Lieuten- 
ant;'' Anthony  Miller,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  *  and 
John  Falconer,  for  its  Ensign  ;  but,  for  some  reason 
which  is  not  now  known,  a  new  Election  was  made, 
which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Anthony  Miller,  for 
Captain  ;  Nicholas  Fisher, for  First  Lieutenant;"  and 
John  Crumton,  for  Second  Lieutenant ;  Ensign  Fal- 
coner ai)i)earing  to  have  retained  the  Office  to  which 
he  had  been  elected." 

The  District  which  included  the  eastern  portion  of 
Bedford  elected  Lewis  McDonald,  for  its  Captain; 
James  Miller,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ; '  Henry  Lord, 
for  its  Second  Lieutenant;  and  Jesse  Miller,  for  its 
Ensign. 

The  District  which  included  the  western  j)ortion 
of  Bedford  elected  Eli  Seeley,  for  its  Captain  ;  Heze- 

>  Benoni  Piatt  was  a  member  of  tbe  first  County  Committee,  appointed 
in  Mny,  177r>.  The  Hon.  Lewis  C.  Piatt,  formerly  Surrogate  of  the 
County,  is  his  gnuidson. 

-  IlLtttirii-ttl  ]iIit}tuM-riptit  relating  to  the  War  «/  the  HevohttUm :  Militiirii 
HttttntHf  xxvii.,  *J.'i4. 

'.lanim  Variaii  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  ('ummittee,  chosen 
in  May,  1775. 

^.\nthui)y  Miller  was  electeil  to  the  coninian<i  uf  the  Company,  at  the 
necouii  Election,  in  Decenilier,  1775. 

°  Nicholas  Fisher  \va»  a  nienilier  uf  the  (^ounty  t'omuiittet',  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1770.     (lli'<lnrit  iil  MtniMi  riiils,  etc.  :  Milil'irij  Itetilnit,  .\xvii,,  S4.) 

1  Lrtlvr  fr<n,t  llnhert  Uriihum  tu  the  I'rni  iiK  utI  ( 'oh.jim.s "  White  Plains, 
"  Decern'  1775.'*  {MLttorU'ttl  Muuutu'ript.t^  etc,  :  MilUurij  Hetitnts^ 
x.xvii.,  'J4(i.) 

'  James  Miller  appears  to  have  held  offices,  subsetiuently,  in  tbe  New 
York  Ucgiment^,  coniuianded  by  Colonels  Kit/.ema,  tiansevoort,  and  Van 
C«>rtliindt ;  but,  inasmuch  as  there  were  several  persons  Itearing  that 
name — two,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same  Regiment,  bearing  exactly 
opposite  characters — it  is  not,  now,  known  which,  if  either,  was  the 
particular  James  Miller  who  is  named  in  the  text. 


kiah  Grey,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;"  Ephraim  Ray- 
mond, for  its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Gabriel  Higgins, 
for  its  Ensign. 

The  District  of  Poundridge  elected  Joseph  Lock- 
woo<l,  for  its  Captain  ;  Noah  Bouton,  for  its  First  Lieu- 
tenant ;  William  Fausher,  for  its  Second  Lieuten- 
ant; and  Gilbert  Reynolds,  for  its  Ensign." 

The  District  which  included  the  southern  portion 
of  Salem  elected  Abijah  Gilbert,  for  its  Captain  ; Ja- 
cob Hait,  for  its  First  Lieutenant ;  Sands  Raymond,  for 
its  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Joseph  Colcy,  for  its  En- 
sign. 

The  District  which  included  the  northern  portion 
of  Salem  elected  Thaddeus  Crane,  for  its  Captain  ;  " 
Jesse  Truesdale,  for  its  First  Lieutenant;  Ezekiel 
Halley,  for  its  Second  Lieutenant ; and  p]benezer 
Brown,  for  its  Ensign.  For  some  reason,  the  Captain- 
elect  and  the  Ensign-elect  "  did  not  take  their  Com- 
"  missions;"  and  on  the  eighteenth  of  December,  1775, 
a  new  Election  rasulted  in  the  choice  of  Jesse  Trues- 
dale for  Captain;  Ezekiel  Hawley,  for  First  Lieuten- 
ant; Solomon  Close,  for  Second  Lieutenant ;  and  Eli- 
jah Dean,  for  Ensign.''' 

The  Companies  at  Scarsdale  White  Plains  and 
Brown's  Point,  Bedford,  Poundridge,  Salem,  Mama- 
roneck  and  Rye,  Harrison's  Precinct,  and  North- 
castle, eleven  in  number,  which  were  thus  reorgan- 
ized and  re-officered,  were  known  as  the  Middle  Bat- 
talion of  Westchester-county  of  which,  soon  after- 
wards, Thomas  Thomas  was  made  Colonel ;  "  Gilbert 


"Ilc/.i'kiah  (Jray  was  chosen  Captain  of  the  Bedford  Company  of  Min- 
ute-uien,  iTi  February,  1776,  {lliitAtrii-td  Manmcripts^  etc. :  Milititr;/  lie- 
tnniii,  xxvii.,  lllli ;)  a  lleport  on  tbe  military  status  of  which  ('onipany, 
may  be  seen  in  ]IUtfn-iciil  Ultimutcriptu^  etc.  :  Mi'<relltinetiiin  Piijhtx,  xxxix., 
32;i.  He  and  bis  Company,  although  not  regularly  enlisted,  were  or- 
dered to  join  the  Continental  Troops,  at  Peekskill  (lliilin  u  <il  MttmiixTiiits, 
etc.:  MittcellitneniLA  Pujiern^  xxxix.,  ;i*25.) 

"In  April,  1777,  Cilbert  Keynolils  was  a  member  and"Clarck"  of 
tbe  local  Committee  of  Cortlandt  Manor,  (/Vnceei/iiiyn  uf  the  Omitiiiltee, 
"CiiTi.ENSMANNEit,  April  '2"',  1777  " — IliiliirU'id  Muiimeripts,  He.  :  Mis- 
relUtiieous  /'f(/)cr.s-,  xxxvii.,  ,3;U.) 

^0  Abijah  Gilbert  was  a  menil)er  of  the  County  Committee,  from  .Snloni, 
177<l-'7  ;  and  lie  rejirewnited  Westcbester-counly  in  the  .\ssenibly  of  the 
State,  in  177'.i-'80,  17Sl-'2,  17S2-'3,  17S4,  17«4-'5,  17«(1,  17.SS,  17'.n,  1X(HP, 
iwiii-'iil,  1«02,18(«,  1»I4,  and  l»M-'5. 

11  Tbwldeus  Crane  was  api>ointed  Sectind  Major  of  the  Ueginieut  ;  and 
be  was  succeeded  by  Lieutenant  Truesilale,  wlu>  was  elected  Captain,  in 
tbe  following  December.  He  represented  the  County  in  the  .Vssenibly  of 
the  Stati-,  1777-'S,  177S-;i,  17SS-'.I,  and  IMil ;  and  in  the  Convention 
which  ratifieil  the  Cmtslilnlion  jm-  the  t  'liileil  Slulex. 

K/.ekiel  llawley  was  ( 'hairnian  of  the  Committee  at  .Salem,  in  Decem- 
ber, 177li  (llisl,,rital  MiluHarripln,  etc.  :  M'vurlbinrmin  I'ltyiers,  XXXV.  Ii07). 

> '  Hialiiru  ill  MaiiiiM  ripln  reluliiiy  to  the  H'xi-  of  the  Ileniliiliinl  :  Mililiirij 
lletitrm,  xxvii.,  "245. 

Thomas  Thomas  was  a  son  of  Hon.  John  Tbonuis  and  a  brother  of 
John  Thomas,  Junior,  who  was  a  member  of  tbe  Provincial  Ci>ngress. 
He  was  a  nieinliei'  of  tbe  lirst  County  ('onunittee,  app<iinted  in  May, 
1775  ;  and  he  represcntctl  Harrison's  Pri'ciiict  in  the  County  Coniinittce, 
177i»-'7.  He  was  un|M)piilarii.s  a  Military  Ollicer  ;  and  sevenil  Olticei's  re- 
fused to  serve  under  him,  in  August,  177ti,  (IIMurieul  Afuiiiiiu  ripln,  etc.  : 
Mixcillaiiediia  Papem,  xxxix.,  347.)  He  represented  Weatcbester-coiiiity 
in  the  Assembly  of  Uie  SUte,  in  17K0-'l,  178l-'-2,  17»i-'3,  1784,  1784-'5, 
17w;,  17.><7,  17S8,  lTJi!-'3,  1S(K>-'1,  18U'2,  1803,  18l>4:  lie  was  Sherift  of  (he 
Coiiiily,  178»-17!r2 ;  he  was  a  Senator  from  the  .Southern  District,  180.'>-'8  ; 
in  18(17,  he  was  one  of  tbe  Council  of  Appointment  ;  and  be  died  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  May,  1824. 


284 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTt. 


Budd,  its  Lieutenant-colonel ;  Ebenezer  Lockwood,  its 
First  IMajor; '  Thaddeus  Crane,  its  Second  Major;  Jon- 
athan G.  Tompkins,  its  Adjutant ;  ^  and  John  Thomas, 
Junior,  its  Quarter-master.* 

The  provisions  of  the  Provincial  Congress's  enact- 
ment requiring  one-fourth  of  the  Militia  of  the  Coun- 
ty to  be  organized  as  Minute-men,  appear  to  have 
been  very  indifferently  obeyed;  and  the  following  are 
the  Officers  of  the  only  Companies  which  were  raised 
in  Westchester-county,  as  far  as  they  are  now  procur- 
able from  the  records  which  have  been  preserved  : 

The  Company  of  Poundridge  and  Lower  Salem — 
which  was  called,  also,  "  the  First  Company  of  Min- 
"  ute-men  of  the  County " — elected,  originally, 
Ebenezer  Slason,  to  be  its  Captain  ;  Henry  Slason,  to 
be  its  First  Lieutenant ;  Ebenezer  Scofield,  to  be  its 
Second  Lieutenant;  and  Daniel  Waterberry,  to  be  its 
Ensign  ;  but,  subsequently,  when  Captain  Slason  was 
promoted,  Henry  Slason  was  made  Captain,  Ebenezer 
Scofield  was  promoted  to  the  First  Lieutenancy, 
Daniel  Waterberry  to  the  Second  Lieutenancy,  and 
David  Purdy  was  made  its  Ensign.* 


1  Ebenezer  tiockwood  was  a  .lustice  of  the  Peace  and  one  of  tlie 
(jiioriini,  under  the  t'olonial  Government  ;  a  member  of  the  Second, 
Third,  and  Fourth  Provincial  Coiigressea  ;  and  of  the  Convention  of  the 
Slate  ol  New  Vorli.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  tlie  State, 
representing  Westchester-county,  1778-'fl,  17S4-'5,  17SC,  1787,  ]78»;aud 
he  was  County  Judge,  1791-3  ;  and  one  of  the  llegents  of  the  llniver. 
sity,  178-l-'7  ;  etc.  He  died  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  July,  1821,  aged 
eighty-four  years. 

-Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee, 
elected  in  May,  177.5;  a  member  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Provincial 
Congresses,  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  of  the  Council  of  Safety. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  the  State,  178l)-'l,  1781-'2,  178U, 
1787,  1788,  17'.ll,  17y2  ;  of  the  Board  of  Uegcnts  of  the  University,  1787- 
18118;  and  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1801.  He  was  the  First 
Judge  of  the  County,  17"j:5-'7,  1798-1802 ;  and  died  on  the  twenty-sec- 
ond of  May,  182:). 

The  distinguished  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Governor  of  the  Sfcite,  Vice 
President  of  the  llnited  Stiites,  and  one  of  tlie  greatest  men  of  his 
periwl,  was  a  son  of  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins. 

^  John  Thomas,  Junior,  iis  the  reader  knows,  was  one  of  thelea<ling  men 
of  his  party,  in  Westchester-county  ;  a  member  of  its  County  Committee 
and  ot  the  Provincial  Congress ;  and  a  brother  of  the  Colonel  of  the  Reg 
iment.  Although  it  is  said,  positively,  that  he  was  also  the  Quarter 
master  of  this  Regiment,  it  appears  incredible  that  he  was  the  |K'rst)n, 
and  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  the  profits  whii  h  attended  such  an 
otfice  and  the  well  known  proclivities  of  that  family,  in  that  direction, 
whereveran  opportunity  was  presented.  We  prefer  to  believe  that  this 
Quartermaster's  place  was  given  to  that  "  John  Thomas  Minor,"  the 
second  sou  of  John  Thomas,  Junior,  who  had  been  already  elected  to  the 
conunaud  of  the  Company  in  Harrison's  Precinct,  at  a  second  Election, 
after  Henry  Dusenberry  had  been  elected  and  accepted  the  Office,  a  few 
weeks  previously. 

With  the  exception  of  the  two  Companies  in  the  Borough  Town  of 
Westchester  anil  at  Yonkers,  the  elections  of  who.se  Officers  were  sepa- 
rately reported,  the  list  of  Officers  who  were  iiriijiinilli/  elected  by  the  sev- 
eral Companies,  as  stated  in  the  text,  have  been  taken,  generally  without 
any  change  in  the  spelling  of  the  proper  names,  even  when  known  to 
haVe  been  erroneous,  from  the  ]list<iriml  MnimKcrqils,  etc.  :  MilUari/  Ke- 
tunis,  xxvi.,  122-12.'i.  In  the  instances  of  Yonkers,  Eastchester,  Tarry- 
town,  Han'ison,  Scarsdale  and  the  White  Plains,  Saleni,  etc.,  where  jieic 
Elections  were  held,  the  statements  of  those  new  Elections  have  been 
taken  from  the  sevei-al  Returns  of  those  new  Elections,  referred  to,  at  the 
foot  of  each,  respectively. 

<  Letter  from  S<iiimel  Itruke  uml  Leiris  Graham  to  the  Provincial  Cungress, 
"  Ist  March,  177li ;  "  Jvurnal  af  the  Prouinciul  Voiiyreas,  "4  ho.,  P.M., 
"March  1,1876." 


The  Company  of  Bedford  elected  Eli  Seeley,  to  be 
its  Captain ;  *  Zephaniah  Mills,  to  be  its  First  Lieuten- 
ant ;  Cornelius  Clarke,  to  be  its  Second  Lieutenant ; 
and  Philip  Leek,  to  be  its  Ensign  ;  and  their  Commis- 
sions were  issued  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the 
twenty-seventh  of  October,  1775." 

Subsequently,  "agreeable  to  the  Demand  made  by 
"Colon'  Drake  to  the  Sub-Committee  of  Bedford," 
another  Company  of  Minute-men  was  organized,  in 
that  Town,  with  Hezekiah  Gray,  for  its  Captain  ; '  Cor- 
nelius Clark, for  its  First  Lieutenant ;  James  Miller 
for  its  Second  Lieutenant ; "  and  Isaac  Titus,  for  its 
Ensign. 

A  Company  of  nineteen  men  assembled  at  the 
White  Plains  and  constituted  themselves  a  Company 
of  Minute-men,  electing  James  Varian,  to  be  their 
Captain  ; Samuel  Crawford,  to  be  their  First  Lieuten- 
ant ;"  Isaac  Oakley,  to  be  their  Second  Lieutenant ; 
and  Joseph  Todd,  to  be  their  Ensign.'^ 

Besides  these  four  Companies,  such  as  they  were, 
there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  Minute-men 
enlisted  in  the  County — why  should  any  have  been 

In  the  Journals  of  the  Provincial  Ooiigreiis  :  ihrrespondence^  ii.,  90,  Eben- 
ezer Scofield  is  called  "  Ebenezer  Scofield,  Junior  ;  "  and  the  Commis- 
sions of  the  original  (Ifficera  are  said  to  have  been  issued  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  t)ctober,  177.'). 

'  Eli  Seeley  was  originally  elected  to  the  command  of  the  Company  in 
the  western  part  of  the  Town  of  Bedford,  (Paye  283,  uule.) 

*^  Jtnuutiils  of  the  Provincial  Coiujresv  :  (/orrenjjottdntce^  ii.,  90. 

"  TIezekiah  Gray  was  originally  the  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Company 
in  the  western  part  of  the  Town  of  Bedfonl,  of  which  Eli  Seeley  was  the 
Captain,  (Page  283,  ante.) 

*  James  Miller  was  originally  the  Fii'st  Lieutenant  in  the  Company  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  Town  of  Bedford,  of  which  Lewis  McDonalil,  Jun- 
ior, was  the  Captain,  {Page  283,  ante.) 

^  Isaac  Titus  hail  served  in  (Captain  Mills's  ('ompany,  under  Colonel 
Holmes, in  the  Campaign  of  1775,  (Page  277,  ante.) 

The  authority  for  the  statement  concerning  the  second  Company  may 
be  seen  in  a  Letter  from  the  Siib-cotnmitt.ee  at  Bedford  to  the  ( 'hairman  of 
the  County  Commiltee,  "  Bedkoko  15  February  1770," — (Historical Munu- 
scriyta,  etc. :  Military  Ueturns,  xxvii.,  190.) 

•See,  also.  Journal  of  the  Prorincial  Camjress^  "  Die  Martis,  3  ho.,  P.M. 
"Feb.  20th,  1770,"  where  the  Secretary  erroneously  recorded  the  Sub- 
Conunittee  and  the  Company  as  of  Harrison's  Precinct  instead  as  of  Bed- 
ford. 

l"Captain  James  Varian  was  a  member  of  the  first  County  Committee, 
appointed  in  May,  1775,  (Page  2.59,  ante;)  and  First  Lieutenant  of  the 
Scarsdale,  White  Plains,  and  Brown's  Point  (!ompany  of  Militia,  of 
which  Joshua  Hatfield  wsis  the  Captain,  {Paije  283,  ante.) 

"  Lieutenant  Samuel  Craw  ford  was  a  mendier  of  the  first  County  Com- 
mittee, appointed  in  May,  1775,  (Piye  259,  ante  ;)  and  the  only  representa- 
tive of  the  IManor  of  Scaredale,  in  the  County  Committee,  1770-'7. 

The  authority  for  this  sUitement  is  a  ic«<T /mm  Jonathan  G.  Tinnp- 
kins  and  Nicolax  Pixhcrto  the  Prorincial  C<niyrcss^  "  WnrrK  Pl.mns,  Febru- 
"ery  14th,  177G" — (Hixtorical Manuscripts,  etc.:  Mililurii  Returns,  xxvii., 
84.) 

From  the  same  manuscript,  the  follomng  list  of  the  names  of  the  nine- 
teen who  thus  organized  themselves  into  a  Company  of  Minute-men,  has 
been  carefully  copied,  without  changing  the  siielling  of  the  names  : 
*'  Benjamin  Lyon,  .Joseph  Todd, 

"  Olliver  Killick,  .John  Drake, 

",Tohn  Beeks,  Ezekiel  Duten, 

".Stephen  Shelley,  James  Farrel, 

"  Philip  Huestis,  Andrew  Fach, 

"  Micah  Townsend,  Esq.,  James  Brundage, 

"James  Verryan,  Gilbert  Horton, 

"Samuel  Crawford,  David  Johnston, 

"  Isaac  Oakley,  Robert  Graham. 

"  William  Tompsou." 


/ 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  1774-1783. 


285 


expected  from  a  com m unity  in  wliich  the  revolu- 
tionary party  had  scarcely  a  Corporal's  Guard,"  ex- 
cept of  those  who  were  office-holders  or  office-seekers? 
— but  as  soon  as  two  Compauics  had  been  organized, 
the  County  Committee  "took  the  liberty,  with  all 
"  submission,  to  recommend  Samuel  Drake,  to  be 
"  Colonel ; '  Lewis  Graham,  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel ; 
"  Abraham  Storm,  to  be  First  Major;  '  Samuel  Lyon, 
"  of  Northcastle,to  be  Second  Major;  Elijah  Miller,  to 
"  be  Adjutant ; '  and  Josiah  Mills,  to  be  Quarter-mas- 
"  ter* ;"  and  thus  the  re-organization  of  the  Militia  of 
Westchestor-county  and  the  organization  of  her  fight- 
ing population  were  completed. 

There  was  one  feature  in  the  Provincial  Congress's 
enactment  for  the  reorganization  of  the  Militia  which 
was  oppressive  on  the  great  body  of  the  working 
classes,  who  were  unable  to  bear  the  burden  it  im- 
posed ;  and  it  was  made  the  subject  of  serious  com- 
plaint to  those  of  the  well-born  whom,  in  many  in- 
stances, they  had,  unwittingly,  placed  in  authority — 
revolutionary  authority — over  themselves.  Reference 
is  made  to  the  requirement  tliat  every  one,  between 
the  ages  of  sixteen  and  fifty  years,  should  furnish 
him.self  with  a  good  musket  and  bayonet,  a  sword  or 
tomahawk,  a  cartridge-box  and  belts,  twenty-three 
rounds  of  cartridges,  twelve  Hints,  and  a  knapsack ; 
in  addition  to  which  he  was  to  keep,  in  reserve,  a  pound 
of  gunpowder  and  three  pounds  of  bullets,  of  proper 
size  for  his  musket.  These  he  was  recpiired  to  have 
and  to  keep,  continually  ;  and  he  was  recpiired,  also, 
to  parade,  for  drill,  on  the  first  IMonday  of  each 
month.  Heavy  penalties  wereimpo.sed  on  those  who 
should  fail  to  discharge  all  these  re(iuireraent,s ;  with 
levies  on  the  properties  of  the  delinquents,  if  they 
possessed  property,  or,  in  the  absence  of  property, 
they  were  to  be  imprisoned  "  until  sucli  fine,  together 
"  with  the  charges,  should  be  paid,"  which  meant,  at 
that  time,  an  imprisonment  in  a  cold  Jail,  without 
any  other  food  than  that  which  the  prisoners'  friends 
or  the  charitable  could  provide;  without  the  slightest 
opportunity  to  earn  anything,  from  which  to  support 
themselves  or  pay  the  fines;  and  the  starvation  of 

'  Sam\iel  Drake  wa-s  a  lUiMiiber  of  the  Pioviiirial  Convention,  177r)  ; 
a  Mienilier  of  the  first  Coiinty  ('oniniittce,  177r> ;  ami  of  that  of  177(')-'7. 
He  represented  Westehester-connty  in  the  .\ssenihly  of  the  State,  1777- 
177!)-'X(),  17W>-'81,  17«(i  and  1788  ;  etc.    He  viaa  a  resident  of  tlie 
Manor  of  (\irthindt. 

-  Lewis  (trahani  was  ronneoled  witli  the  Morrises,  of  Morrisania,  hy 
marriage  ;  and  he  was  a  member  of  all  the  Provincial  Oongroasesand  of  the 
Convention  of  the  State,  1775-'78.  He  waa  made  Judge  of  the  (tonrt  of 
Admiralty,  in  Kobrnary,  1778. 

^Abraham  Storm  had  Iwen  originally  elected  to  the  command  of  the 
Tarr.vtown  Company  of  Militia,  (I'mje  282,  f(ii('- ,)  and  he  represented 
the  Manor  of  Philipsborough  in  the  County  Committee  of  177li-'7.  He 
lived  at  Tarrytown. 

Klijah  Miller  was  a  resident  andoneof  the  Snl>-committee  of  North- 
castle. 

'This  statement  is  made  on  the  authority  of  a  Letter  frotn  CI ilhrrt 
Dnike,  Clinirnmn  of  the  Conntij  Commillei;  to  IIik  Proviiiriul  CoiujreM, 
"White  Plains,  October  24th,  177.1."  The  Jonrtial  of  the  I'roviticuil 
CoiM^rcw,  ("  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  October,  177.5,")  shows  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  letter,  by  that  body,  and  the  issue  of  the  Commiaeiious  to  the 
several  gentlemen  named. 


those  who  were  dependent  on  the  unfortunate  vic- 
tims." 

While  these  provisions  of  that  enactment  were 
])eculiarly  oppressive  on  that  class  of  i)overty-stricken 
working-men  and  boys,  in  the  Cities,  then  largely  un- 
employed, who  had  been  the  ever-ready,  ever- noisy, 
and  ever-destructive  auxiliaries  of  the  revolutionary 
faction,  in  all  the  riotous  demonstrations  of  the  pre- 
ceding ten  years,  and  while  these  enactments,  there- 
fore, in  those  instances,  appeared  to  be  somewhat  re- 
tributive in  their  character  and  operations,  they  were, 
also,  very  oppressive  on  many  a  farmer  in  Westchester- 
county,  who  had  been  more  peaceful  in  his  inclina- 
tions and  conduct  than  those  working-men,  in  the 
Cities,  had  been.  Indeed,  the  required  equipment, 
in  specified  form,  of  themselves,  and  their  boys,  and 
their  hired  help — their  well-tried  Ibwling-pieces  hav- 
ing been  unavailable  for  that  i)iirpose — and  the  stated 
withdrawal  of  all  of  them  from  their  farms,  for  drill, 
on  frequent,  specified  days,  no  matter  how  necessary 
their  presence,  at  home,  might  have  been,  were  un- 
duly burdensome  on  all  those  farmers,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  opportunity  which  was  thereby  atlbrded,  very 
soon  afterwards,  for  still  greater  acts  of  lawless  op- 
pression, in  the  seizure  of  those  very  equipments, 


"  As  an  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  Rebellion  on  the  great  body  of 
the  lowly  working-nten,  in  this  particular  feature,  as  early  as  in  the 
Autumn  of  177.'i,  and  as  an  eviileuce  of  the  une:i8ines.s  of  tho.se  work- 
ing-men, because  of  this  oppres.sive  enactment,  the  following  homely 
Petition  has  been  copietl  from  the  original  maniisci-ipt,  in  the  Ilistin-U-nl 
Mmiuarrijtt.-i^  etc.:  Petitunut^  xxxi.,  .52  : 

"New  York,  Sept.  yM),  1775. 
"  To  THE  Gentlemen  of  the  Conqiiess  in  New  Vokk. 

"  We  your  humble  Pertisuei's  Ceiitlemen  are  now  warned  To  bear 
"arms  In  Defence  of  our  Country  truly  Tt  is  the  Native  place  of  .some  of 
"us  wich  Now  Gentlemen  may  it  please  your  onnei-s  To  take  it  in  (aui  ■ 
"sideration  we  are  Controld  more  by  poverty  than  By  our  own  will  we 
"  must  Now  beg  of  your  honners  To  take  it  in  Consideration  wtu'e  yiiu 
"  In  our  State  of  Poverty  yon  wold  not  lay  on  us  more  than  we  can 
"  Bare  Sonu^  of  this  poor  Cyty  Now  who  you  have  yon  ha^  e  ('ommand. 
'•To  hare  Arms  In  Defence  of  (Hii-s  Ijilx-rty  and  Kites  Not  our  Kite  but 
"such  gentlemen  as  has  got  lands  and  Kstates  liutsonie  of  us  Now  has 
■'Skareely  got  Victuals  from  <me  Day  to  another  Neyther  fire  Nor  Can- 
"  dies  our  Wifesand  poor  Children  Suffering  for  lireail  and  your  honm-i-s 
"have  pleiwoil  To  lay  im  us  or  some  of  us  such  things  as  we  ('ant  supply 
"oui-selve.q  with  gun  Bagnet  Belts  Cartridge  Box  Powder  and  Ball  lus 
"for  Powder  It  must  Plea.se  your  honners  some  of  you  To  open  a  Store 
"of  it  for  I  have  Tryd  in  this  City  To  get  a  Snmll  (Juantity  hut  Could 
"  Not  and  our  Officers  says  It  will  be  a  fine  to  neglect  having  any  of 
"them  BO  therefore  we  your  humble  perti.souere  Karnestly  Beg  That  It 
"  may  Please  your  honnurs  To  lend  us  such  thing  a.s  you  have  laid  out 
"  for  us  poor  And  Destrcsseil  men  to  get  Gentlemen  we  beg  It  njay  be 
"taken  in  no  afence  we  are  willing  to  beare  with  with  any  thing  It 
"may  plca.se  you  to  put  on  us  if  In  our  iH)wer  some  cant  without  liun- 
"  ning  in  Deat  for  For  them  the  Next  go  to  gall  for  it  will  any  one  p:iy 
"  The  Det  Consider  it  wouhl  Now  for  you  to  loose  All  ycmr  lime  w  ich 
"you  sit  Now  making  laws  for  us  a.s  one  of  us  or  some  of  lis  to  hy  agun 
"  Consider  our  JK)verty  and  as-sist  the  poor  or  make  some  of  those  with 
"  Uullles  Turn  out  an  well  as  we  (U-  supply  us  with  acutrcmenis  I  Im- 
"  magine  some  of  tho.se  Uich  w  ich  have  lands  and  thou.sanils  In  Kstates 
"will  not  get  find  if  neglect  appearing  we  Beg  you  will  think  of  us  aa 
"you  are  our  lied  and  parliament  who  Ever  geto  This  in  Desired  to 
"  Covay  it  to  the  Congress  In  New  York. 

"  Sopteniber  !),  1775." 

With  this  menacing  (laper  Iwfore  one,  it  is  not  difflcuU  to  make  one's 
self  believe  that  the  "  poor  reptiles "  hail  really  some  thoughts  of 
"  biting,"  as  Gouver»eur  Morris  had  foreseen  a  few  months  previously. 


286 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sometimes  with  warrants  of  "impressment,"  nomin- 
ally for  the  equipment  of  Regiments,  in  garrison  or 
elsewhere;  sometimes  with  arbitrary  orders  for  seiz- 
ing them,  on  ex  parte  assumptions  of  the  disaffection 
to  the  Rebellion,  of  those  who  owned  them;  and 
sometimes,  not  unfrequently,  by  inroads  of  organized 
bodies  of  thieves,  from  Connecticut  or  elsewhere, 
who,  without  even  a  shadow  of  legal  or  local  author- 
ity and  only  on  the  shallow  pretext  of  superior  "pa- 
"  triotism,"  overpowered  the  isolated  and  peaceful 
farmers,  and  retired  with  well-supplied  stocks  of  law- 
lessly acquired  plunder. 

The  Provincial  Congress,  like  similar  Congresses  in 
other  Colonies,  and  as  was  foretold  of  this,  by  those 
who  had  opposed  the  creation  of  it,  was  not  long  in 
existence  and  in  possession  of  its  usurped  authority, 
when,  as  has  been  already  stated,  it  commenced  to 
arrest  those,  strangers  and  residents,  who  ventured  to 
differ  from  it  and  to  s|)eak  and  to  act  in  accordance 
with  existing  Laws  and  with  their  own  convictions  of 
duty  ; '  and  it  did  not  hesitate  to  throw  into  prison  - 
or  to  send  into  exile,'  those  whom  it  had  arrested.  It 
waited  for  no  verified  complaint :  it  made  no  pretence 
that  a  breach  of  any  written  Law  or  of  any  other  en- 
actment was  necessary,  to  warrant  an  arrest:  it  re- 
ceived secret,  e.v  parte  "information"  as  all  which 
was  needed  to  authorize  the  arrest,  the  confinement, 
and  the  infliction  of  punishment  on  its  victims,  not 
unfreiiuently  xyithout  a  hearing  or  an  examination: 
and  it  held  those  who  were  accused,  and  tried  them 
in  secret  Sessions,  and  passed  judgments  on  them, 
not  unfrequently  without  permitting  them  to  confront 
their  accusers  or  to  see  and  read  the  papers  on  wliich 
they  liad  been  arrested,  and  held,  and  tried — in  one 
notable  instance,  the  accused  was  not  permitted  to 
xee  the  fifteen  affidavits,  which  had  been  trumi)e(l  up 
against  him,  after  he  had  been  arrested  and  thrown 
into  a  jail,  nor  to  know  their  contents  nor  the  nature 
of  the  accusation,  until  he  was  brought  out  for  trial 
when  they  were  only  read  to  him ;  and  copies  of  those 
affidavits  were  withheld  from  him,  by  a  formal  vote 
of  tlie  Congress,  when  they  were  asked  for  and  wheji 
the  cost  of  copying  them  was  tendered,  only  because 
the  publication  of  those  several  pa|)ers  would  have  ex- 
posed the  fifteen  partisan  tools  and  the  eminently 
genteel  hand  who  had  guided  them  in  a  shameless 

1  See,  in  the  JounmU  aud  Currespmulence  of  tlie  Congresn  and  in  the 
HLilorU-al  Mammripls  relnlimj  lo  Hit:  War  «/  (/ic  liei'iilutitm,  preserved  in 
the  ollice  of  tlie  Secretaiy  of  State,  iit  Alliaiiy,  llip  reci.rds  aud  paperb 
ill  the  several  cases,  among  nthera,  of  Angus  McDonald,  I 'ai>taiii  Pat- 
rick Sinclair,  ('aptain  .Tidiaii  Cliristiaii  Drewidz,  John  Jlorrell,  Adam 
Patrick,  Isaiah  Purdy,  ('aptain  Melancton  Lawrence,  .Joseph  Allicock, 
Captain  Charles  De  liay,  and  .lolm  Caiidell.  A  simple  reference  to  the 
several  papers,  in  detail,  would  require  more  room  than  can  be  given  to 
it,  in  this  place. 

-The  instiincesof  Angus  McDonald,  Captain  Drewidz,  John  Morrell, 
Adam  Patrick,  and  Isaiah  Pnrdy,  already  referred  to,  among  others. 

■'Angus  McDonald  was  sent  to  General  Wooster,  then  in  command  of 
a  body  of  Connecticut  troops  ;  and,  by  him,  he  was  sent  to  Fairfield, 
and  imprisoned,  with  aggravated  severity,  of  which  even  his  jailer  com- 
plained. 


and  unfounded  persecution  of  an  innocent  man,  to  the 
contempt  of  the  country  and  of  the  world.*  It  sat 
in  secret  judgment  over  those  whom  it  bad  arrested, 
in  instances  wherein  it  was,  also,  the  only  accuser ;  ^ 
and  it  recognized  the  existence,  in  merely  local  self- 
constituted  "  Committees,"  in  the  several  Counties,  of 
the  same  authority  to  arrest  and  to  imprison  those 
who  were  obnoxious  to  them,  either  with  or  without 
accusers  or  accusations,  which  it  claimed  for  itself  and 
exercised."  In  short,  it  very  promptly  set  aside  the 
government  of  the  written  Law,  and  established,  in 
its  stead,  that  of  the  unrestrained  will  of  an  oligarchy, 
seated  within  every  Town,  against  which  there  was  no 
other  security,  for  either  persons  or  properties,  than 
the  personal  favor  of  the  stronger  local  power,  no 
matter  how  obtained — all  that,  too,  was  done  in  the 
name  of  Freedom  and  the  Rights  of  Man,  by  those 
who  assumed  to  be  honorable  men,  and,  mo.st  of  all, 
by  those  who  insisted  that  their  allegiance  to  their 
Prince  and  their  attachment  to  "  the  illustrious  House 
"of  Hanover"  were  ranked,  by  themselves,  as  among 
their  most  singular  blessings;'  by  those,  indeed,  who, 
nearly  at  the  same  time,  declared  they  were  "  deeply 
"impressed  with  the  importance,  the  utility,  and  the 
"necessity  of  an  accommodation  with  their  Parent 
"  State ; "  aud  who  were,  also,  they  said,  "  conscious 
"  that  the  best  service  we  can  render  to  the  present 
"  and  all  future  generations  must  consist  in  promoting 
"it."** 


^  Reference  is  liere  made  to  tho  case  of  Timothy  Doughty,  of  Duclieaa- 
coYinty,  in  which  the  victim,  heoause  ho  declined  to  sign  the  General  As- 
sortati/m — tliere  was  no  evidence  whicli  tlie  Congress  considered  refij)ectft- 
ble,  showing  any  other  offence — was  sei/ed  by  Kghert  Benson,  whose 
niethodet  at  an  Election  have  been  noticed  ;  and  sent  to  New  York, 
without  anij  evidence  of  wrong-doing;  and  thrown  into  a  jail, 
without  any  jtrovision  for  his  Kui)port.  At  the  request  of  Benson, 
he  WHS  kept  in  jail,  fur  several  weeks,  without  knowing  for  wliat  he 
had  been  arrested ;  and  that,  tinly  to  enable  his  umaen  and  maligmtnt  ac- 
cuser to  manufacture  evidence  against  him.  Fifteen  Mw77;//wt  affidavits 
were  subsequently  sent  to  the  f-ongress,  and  hkai>//j  the  rirtim^  when  he 
wan  {jiven  a  hearing;  but  their  worthlessness  was  so  evident  that  the 
Congress  discharged  Poughty,  although,  as  stated,  it  would  not  permit 
him  to  have  copies  of  the  papers,  nor  even  to  rea*!  them,  {Junruals  of  thf 
<'oiiiniiU^-f  »f  Sa/Hfi,  September  4th  ;  snnu-,  Sei)tendier  iiStb,  1775; 
Jonrnah  uj  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  .lovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Oirtober 
"  19,  1775  ;  "  the  same,  "  Die  Martis,  9  lio.,  A.M.,  October  24,  1775  ;  "  /V 
titioNH  of  Timothy  bought ij  and  others^  Sejitember  22,  25,  October  4,  11, 
mfy,  {UiHtoriral  Mannsrripbi,eU\:  PetUions,  xxxi.,  90,88,  70,30.) 

'»  Among  other  instiinres,  those  of  Angus  McDonald,  Molancton  Law  - 
rence, and  Captain  Drewit/,,  may  be  referred  to. 

*»  The  local  autliorities  arrested  and  confined,  without  any  trustworthy 
evidence,  Jolm  Morrell,  Adam  Patrick,  and  Isaiah  Purdy,  in  Orange- 
county  ;  the  Berghs,  Timothy  Poughty,  and  Mordecai  Lester,  in  Duch- 
ess county  ;  John  Connor,  in  Tryon-county  ;  Abraham  Lawrence,  in 
Queens  county  ;  etc. 

7  Letter  from  the  Provinci^il  Congress  to  the  Genthnnen  Mt  rrhanLs  of  tlte 
Province  of  (ii^chee.  "  In  Prooincud  Oongresn^  New-York,  June  12th,  1775,' 

^Letter  fr</in  the  Provincial  Chugress  to  the  Delegates  for  the  Colony  of 
New  York,  in  the  <'ontinentul  Congress^  **  In  PROVINCIAL  Congress,  Nkw- 
"  York,  June  28th,  1775." 

See,  also,  the  Plan  of  Accommotlution,  ailopted  in  advance  and  kept  in 
constant  readiness  for  inniicdinfr  use,  by  the  same  Provincial  Congress, 
"4  ho.,  P.M.,  Die  Martis,.June  27th,  1775/'  (sue poijes  27;i,  274,  anf*t ;)  Lttter 
from  the  Provincitd  Congress  to  the  Covuniltve  of  Richmond  county,  *"Nt;w- 
'*  York,  2d  December,  1775  ; "  etc. 


287 


In  the  earlier  days  of  its  existence,  the  Provincial 
Congress  made  those  arbitrary  arrests  without  any  en- 
actment, its  own  or  that  of"  any  other  body,  which 
could  have  afl'ordcd  even  a  sliadow  of  even  revolu- 
tionary law,  if  the  enactments  of  a  body  in  acknowl- 
edged rebellion  may  be  regarded  as  Laws,  for  such  a 
radical  violation  of  what  were  said  to  have  been,  and 
of  what  were,  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Duties 
of  those  in  authority  and  of  the  Rights  of  Person  and 
of  Property  which  belonged  to  thotse  who  were  gov- 
erned ;  but  there  appear  to  have  been  some,  among 
the  supporters  of  the  Rebellion,  who  continued  to 
have  doubts  concerning  the  unauthorized  and  unre- 
strained right  of  arrest,  even  where  an  opposition  to 
the  measures  of  the  Rebellion  was  openly  and  unre- 
servedly expressed. 

On  the  eleventh  of  August,  a  letter  was  received  by 
the  I'rovincial  Congress,  from  the  local  Committee  at 
Brookhaven,  on  Long  Island,  stating  that  certain 
j)ersons,  named  therein,  were counteracting  every 
"  measure  recommended  for  redress  and  grievances, ' 
"and  o|)|)osing  the  measures  of  Congresses  and  Com- 
"  mittees  ;  and  that  they  declared  they  would  furnish, 
"  and  that  it  is  suspected  they  have  furnished,  the 
"  men-of-war  and  cutters  with  provisions,"  ^  in  the 
same  manner  that  the  Asia  and  other  men-of-war 
were  supplied,  w'ith  the  approval  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  at  that  time  and  sul)se(iueiitly,  by  those 
who  were  more  in  favor  with  that  body ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  "  requesting  the  Congress  to  direct  such 
"measures  as  they  shall  think  proper,  to  suppress 
"  such  conduct."  That  letter  was  referred  to  a  Com- 
mittee of  which  Benjamin  Kissam,  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  was  Chairman.  ^  A  Report  from  that  Com- 
mittee was  laid  before  the  Congress,  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  August ;  *  and,  after  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  apparently  without  dissent,  the  following 
enactment  was  made  on  the  general  subject  of  the 
Brookhaven  Committee's  inquiry : 

"  WiiEUKA.s  attempts  may  be  made  to  promote  dis- 
"  cord  among  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Colony,  and  to 
"  assist  and  aid  the  Ministerial  Army  and  Navy,  in 
"  their  endeavours  to  carry  into  execution  the  cruel  and 
"oppressive  Acts  of  Parliament,  against  the  Rights 
"  and  liberties  of  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Continent: 

"  And  as  the  immutable  laws  of  self-defence  and 


'  Tims  priuteil  in  tlie  oflicial  copy  of  thu  Juunml  llie  Pruvimuil  Cmi- 
grem. 

-  Tliosc  who  simll  ilpsiro  to  li^arn  mure  of  that  Brookliavi-n  iimtt(;r 
may  bo  gratified  by  a  perusjil  of  (iaiut!*8  yeic-Yitrk  ituzette  nnd  Mfrmrij^ 
No.  1217,  New- York,  Monday,  February  ('>,  1775  ;  of  a  Letter  from  Mujor 
liei^umin  Fliii/tl  ami  ntJicrs  to  Janu'x  HirinijtoH^  "  Ukook-ma VEN,  Sl'f'- 
"  roi.K-couNTT,  Nkw-Vohk,  March  l!,  177.'>,"  {Uiriaijionn  Xcw-York  duzel- 
leer,  No.  10:i,  New- York,  'rinirs<iay,  .\pril  (>,  177") ;)  aiid  of  a  berttirnlum 
of  the  Iithaltitaiits  of  lirook-ltitre» ,  Sujfitlk-countlf,  \ew  VorA",  **BrooK* 
"  Haven,  Jlarch  10,  177.'>,"  ((Jaiiie's  .Vi  ir- IV.ri  llnzetle  :  anil  the  Weekli/ 
Mrriurii,  No,  122:t,  New-Y'obk,  Monday,  JIarch  2(1.  177,5.) 

3  JoiiriKi/ <>/  (Ae  Prorincuil  Congresx,  "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.  .\.M.,  .\ugU8t 
"  nth,  177,5." 

'  Joiininl  of  the  Prorinciiit  Couijmx,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  lio.  .V.M.,  .\iigU8t 
"  26th,  1775." 


"  preservation  justify  every  reasonable  measure  en- 
"  tered  into,  to  counteract  or  frustrate  such  attempts  : 
"  Therefore, 

"  Resolv  KD,  That  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  be 
"found  guilty,  before  the  Committee  of  any  City 
"or  County,  of  attempting,  (after  the  date  of  this 
"Resolution,)  to  furnish  the  Ministerial  Army  or 
"Navy  with  Provisions  or  other  necessaries,  contrary 
"to  the  Resolutions  of  the  Continental  or  of  this 
"  Congress  ;  ^  or  of  holding  a  correspondence,  by  letter 
"or  otherwise,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  information 
"  to  the  said  Army  or  Navy,  of  the  measures  pursued 
"  by  the  United  Colonies  or  any  of  them  ; "  or  of  ad- 
"  vising  ex|)edicnts  which  the  said  Army  or  Navy 
"  might  or  ought  to  pursue,  against  the  said  Colonies 

f*Th(!  Provincial  Congress  not  only  had  passod  no  RfHoIutioMK  prohibiting 
the  supply  of  '*  tlie  ]\IiniKteriaI  .\nny  and  Navy  with  i)r(ivi8ion»  or  other 
"  necessarii'K,"  thereby,  even  from  the  revolutionary  standpoint,  leaving 
that  bnsuu'KS  open  lo  \vlitinisoe\er  might  endtark  in  it ;  imt,  on  the 
nn.)rning  of  the  tlay  <)n  wliicli  this  enactment  was  made,  it  gave  its  ofTi- 
cial  sjinction  to  the  supply  of  the  Asiti,  man-of-war,  with  Uh  necessary 
supplies,  from  the  City  of  New  York,  and  with  water  and  beer,  from 
Brooklyn,  all  ()f  them  by  .Vbraliaiu  Lett,  the  oflicial  .\gent-victualler 
"  for  His  Majesty's  Ships  in  this  Port,"  (Jnitninl  nf  the  I\oriurU\l  Conijrrss^ 
"  Die  Veneris,  U  lio.,  A.M.,  September  1st,  1775.")  Four  days  afterwards. 
Doctor  McLean  was  authorized  to  supply  the  same  ship,  with  Drugs  ami 
Medicines,  as  he  had  previously  done,  (Jmirnnl  nf  the  C'onniiilter  of  Siifet;/^ 
"Die  Martis,  '.I  ho.,  .V.M.,  Septendier  .jth,  1775.")  On  the  twenty-ninth 
^)f  .lanuary,  177li,  William  .Mien  had  permission  to  go  on  board  the 
.IsiVi,  to  measure  the  men  for  shoes,  and  to  make  and  deliver  a  hundreil 
liaii"s,  if  so  many  should  bo  needed.  {Jonnitil  of  the  Committee  of  Sofefif, 
"Die  Luna',  10  ho.,  .\.M.,  January  29tli,  177(5. ')  On  the  sixteenth  of 
February,  17715,  Henry  White  was  permitted  to  supply  the  Asui  and  the 
PhieiiLr  with  fresh  provisions  and  vegetables.  {Jotmiol  of  the  l\oviiiciiil 
CoiKjrexx,  '  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  February  Kith,  177G.") 

While  the  Provincial  Congress  was  thus  inonopoli/.ing  the  supplying  of 
the  men-of-war,  it  "was  filled  with  the  utmost  anxiety  '  when,  during 
the  Autumn  of  1775,  "  small  boats  from  (Queens  and  Westchester-coun- 
"ties"  undertook  to  enter  into  the  same  business ;  and  "to  [irevent  .so 
"greata  mischief,"  a  small  armed  vessel  was  purclnisod,  "  to  watch  those 
"and  other  dangerous  supplies  of  the  like  kind," — {The  Committee  of 
Sofiiii  to  the  Xeir-  Y<o-k  Deleijoles  in  Continentnl  Comjresn,  "  In  Committee  ok 
"Safety,  New-York,  .lanuary  22,  177(1.")  On  the  seventh  of  February, 
177(),  when  the  Chairman  of  the  Connnitteo  of  the  City  asked  permission 
for  an  Hniutitted  applicant  to  send  on  board  the  Asia,  two  hogsheads  of 
Spirits,  two  dozens  of  Coffee,  anil  one  dozen  of  Cho<'olate,  the  solicited 
permission  was  withheld  until  the  name  of  the  applicant  could  be  ascer- 
tained, which  does  not  appear  to  have  been  .accom]>lished,  {Letter  from 
Henry  Itemnen,  Cliaintotu  of  the  Cmnmittee  of  the  Cil;!,  to  the  Committee  of 
t^ifetji,  and  the  reply  of  the  latter,  both  undated  :  Journal  of  tlie  Committee 
of  tyifeli/:  "  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  .\.M.,  Feh'y  7th,  1770.") 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  hesitation  in  supplying  the  pro- 
visions, on  the  part  of  any  one,  either  in  New  York,  or  in  WeslchestiT- 
county,  or  in  (iueens-county — why  should  there  have  been  ?  Thi'  only 
([Uestion  appears  to  have  been,  />;/  irhom  ami  for  n'hone  pecuniary  benefit 
they  shoidd  lie  thus  supplied.  There  were  those,  in  the  Provim-ial  Con- 
gress, who  were  always  ready  to  enjoy  an  advantage,  in  trade  or  elsts- 
where  :  there  was  a  conunereial  advantage,  in  victualing  the  ships, 
which  those  "(mtriots"  preferreil  to  retain.  Ilail  the  boatmen  of  West- 
chester and  (Jueens  counties,  while  bringing  their  surplus  products  to 
market,  been  wise  enough  to  have  consigneil  their  cargoes  to  some  of 
those  enterprising  "  Merchants,"  .\le.\ander  McDougal  and  his  armed 
vess<d,  watching  "  those  dangerous  supplies,"  woiilil  not  have  been 
necessary. 

Verily,  patriotism  and  jadf  were  riosely  connected,  in  those  times. 
(^  .lames  Duane,  the  friend  and  corresponilent  of  I.ii'iiienant-governor 
Colden,  was,  at  that  tiine,  one  of  thu  Delegates  from  New  York,  in  the 
Congress  of  the  Colonies  ;  and  Egbert  Diiniond,  tin-  frieinl  and  corre- 
I  spondent  of  the  Itoyal  Governor,  William  Tryon,  represented  I'lster- 
county,  in  that  Provincial  Congress,  and  was  prt)bably  preM-nt — he  was 
\  in  New  York — wheu  this  enactment  was  considered  and  adopt^nl. 


288 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  or  any  of  them,  ^  such  person  or  persons,  so  found 
"  guilty,  shall  be  punished  at  the  discretion  of  the 
"  Committee  before  whom  he  or  they  shall  be  so  found 
"  guilty,  or  at  the  discretion  of  the  Congress  or  Com- 
"  mittee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony,  so  as  the  punish- 
"  ment,  by  them,  at  their  discretion  inflicted,  shall 
"not  exceed  three  months  im])risonment  or  other  the 
"  punishments  hereinafter  menlioned,  for  the  first 
"  offence. 

"Resolved,  That  if  any  person  or  persons  shall 
"  be  found  guilty,  before  the  Committee  of  any  City  or 
"  County  in  this  Colony,  of  having  furnished  the, 
"Ministerial  Army  or  Navy  (after  the  date  of  this 
"Resolution,)  with  Provisions  or  other  necessaries, 
"  contrary  to  any  Resolution  of  the  Continental  or  ol' 
"  this  Congress,  such  person  or  persons,  so  found 
"  guilty  thereof,  upon  due  proof  thereof,  shall  be 
"disarmed  and  forfeit  double  the  value  of  the  Pro- 
"  visions  or  other  necessaries  so  furnished,  to  be  ap- 
"  plied  to  the  jniblic  exigencies  of  this  Colony,  in 
"such  manner  as  the  Congress  or  Committee  of  Safety 
"of  this  Colony,  for  the  time  being,  shall  order  and 
"direct.  And  that  such  person  or  persons,  so  found 
"  guilty,  shall  be  put  into  and  detained  in  close  con 
"  finonient,  at  his  or  their  own  expense  and  charge, 
"  until  three  months  after  he  or  they,  resjiectively, 
"  shall  have  paid  such  forfeiture.  And  that  ever^ 
"  such  person  or  persons,  who  shall  be  Ibund  guilty 
"  of  a  second  offence  of  the  same  kind,  shall  be  ban- 
"  ished  from  this  Colony,  for  the  term  of  seven  years 
"from  the  time  of  such  seco.'id  conviction. 

"Although  this  Congress  have  a  tender  regard  to 
"  the  freedom  of  Speech,  the  rights  of  Conscience, 
"  antl  j)ersonal  Liberty,  as  far  iis  an  indulgence  in 
"  these  particulars  may  be  consistent  with  our  gen- 
"  eral  security  ;  yet,  for  the  i)ublic  safety,  belt 

"  Resolved,  That  if  any  person  or  persons  shall, 
"  hereafter,  oppose  or  deny  the  authority  of  the  Con- 
"tinentalor  of  this  Congress,  or  the  Committee  of 
"  Safety,  or  the  Committees  of  the  respective 
"Counties,  Cities,  Towns,  Manors,  Precincts,  or  Dis 
"  tricts  in  this  Colony,  or  dissuade  any  person  or 
"  persons  from  obeying  the  recommendations  of  the 
'•  Continental  or  this  Congress,  or  the  Committee  oi' 
"Safety,  or  the  Committees  aforesaid,  and  be  thereof' 
"convicted  before  the  Committee  of  the  County  or 
"any  thirteen  or  more  of  their  number,  who  shall  or 
"  may  meet  upon  a  general  call  of  the  Chairman  of 
"  such  Committee  where  such  person  or  persons  may 
"reside,  that  such  Committee  shall  cause  such  of 
"  fenders  to  be  disarmed  ;  -'  and  Ibr  the  second  oflence- 

1  Charles  Lee,  the  second  in  cominaml  in  tli*  Continent.al  Army,  IihiI 
not,  tlien,  liiiil  liis  wt'll-deviscJ  "  P?>i)i  "  before  (ipneral  Howe;  (ieiionil 
Saniuol  IL  Piirsons  Imil  not  yet  coinmenceJ  the  siipplv  of  information, 
ctnicerning  projected  military  movements,  etc.,  thnmgh  Squire 
■•Heron,"  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  ;  Israel  Putnam  had  not  yet  led  Robert 
R.  Livinj^ton  to  "question"  "his  very  fidelity  ;"  and  Benedict  Arnold, 
maddened  by  wrongs  imposed  on  him,  had  not  yet  connnenced  his  cor- 
respondence with  .lolin  .\ndr6. 

^Compare  this  particular  penalty  with  the  particular  requirement, 


"they  shall  be  committed  to  close  confinement,  at 
"  their  respective  expense.''  And,  in  case  any  of  the 
"  said  Committees  are  unable  to  carry  this  or  any 
"  Resolution  into  execution,  they  are  hereby  directed 
"  to  ap[)ly  to  the  next  County  Committee  or  command- 
"ing  Officer  of  the  Militia,  or  to  the  Congress  or  the 
"  Committee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony,  for  necessary 
"assistance,  as  the  case  may  require.*  But  if  it 
"  shall  so  happen  that  any  violators  of  this  Resolu- 
"  tion  shall  reside  in  a  County  where  there  is  no 
"  Committee  of  the  County,  in  that  case,  the  matter 
"  shall  be  triable  before  the  Committee  of  the  next 
"County:  Provided  that  no  person  shall  be  tried 
"  before  the  General  Committee  of  the  City  and 
"  County  of  New  York,  upon  the  Resolutions  herein 
"contained,  unless  the  stated  quorum  be  present; 
"and  in  the  City  and  County  of  Albany,  unless 
"  there  are  present  twenty-five  members. 

"  Resolved  farther,  That  the  respective  Com- 
"  mittees  and  the  Militia  of  the  several  Counties,  by 
"  order  of  the  respective  Committees  or  of  the  Com- 
"  missioned  Officer  of  the  Militia  then  nearest,  are 
"  hereby  expressly  enjoined  to  apprehend  every 
"  Iidiabitaut  or  Resident  of  this  Colony,  who  now  is 
"  or  who  shall  hereafter  be  discovered  to  be  enlisted 
"  or  in  arms  against  the  Liberties  of  America,  and  to 
"  confine  such  oti'ender  or  offenders,  in  safe  custody  ; 
"and  his  or  their  i)unishment  is  reserved  to  the 
"  determination  of  this  or  some  future  Provincial 
"Congress.  And  the  Committee  nearest  to  any  per- 
"  son  who  shall  be  so  enlisted  or  liave  taken  up 
"arms  against  the  Liberties  of  America  are  herebj' 
"directed  to  appoint  some  discreet  person  to  take 
"the  charge  of  the  Instate,  both  real  and  personal,  of 
" any  such  i)erson  or  persons;  which  person  so  ap- 
"  pointed  shall  be  invested  with  such  Estate,  and 
"render,  on  oath,  a  just  and  true  account  thereof,  to 
"this  or  some  future  Congress  or  to  Commissioners 
"  by  them  to  be  ai)|)ointed,  and  to  pay  the  issues  and 
"  ])rofits  thereof  to  the  Treasurer  appointed  by  this 
"  Congress,  for  the  use  of  the  associated  Colonies. 

"  Resolved,  That  if  any  person  be  taken  up  on 
"suspicion  of  any  of  the  Crimes  in  the  above  Reso- 
"lutions  specified,  he  shall  immediately  be  taken 
"  before  the  Committee  of  the  City,  Town,  Manor, 

contained  in  the  enactment  concerning  the  Slilitia,  ailojrted  eleven  days 
previously,  10*2  fo(/<-,)  that  ererif  Jtihahilnut^  between  sixteen  and  fifty 
years  of  age,  should  fnlly  equip  himself  with  arms  and  largely  supply 
himself  w  itii  ammunition,  heavy  penalties  being  imposed,  iu  case  of  de- 
fault, in  either  respect. 

^That  particular  feature  of  this  enactment  was  intended  to  imiioverish 
the  victim,  if  he  possesseil  property ,  or  to  leave  him  to  be  starved,  if  he 
had  none  ;  and  the  barbarism  of  the  jirovision  an<l  of  those  who  framed 
it,  was  seen,  sul>se<|uently,  in  the  physical  sufferings  of  .John  O'Connor 
and  Daviil  I'nrdy  ;  and  in  those  of  the  Berghs,  the  Dohbses,  and  Timothy 
Doughty,  (//i«/«)i<<i;  Mmmscripls,  etc.:  Pelilion*,  xx.xi.,  98,  90,  88,  70, 
;ifi  ;  etc.) 

<  N\>t  long  after  this  enactment  was  made,  the  Committee  of  West- 
chester-county,  as  will  be  seen,  hereafter,  called  for  and  received  the 
armed  assistance  of  men  of  Connecticut,  to  enforce  ol.>edience  to  its  Reso- 
lutions or  submission  to  some  of  its  arbitrary  seizures  of  the  properties  of 
some  of  their  law-abiding  neighbors. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


289 


"  Precinct,  or  District  where  the  offender  shall  have 
"  been  taken  up  ;  and  if,  upon  examination,  the  sus- 
"  picion  shall  appear  to  the  said  Committee  to  be 
"groundless,  that  he  be  discharged:  Provided, 
"also,  that  no  person  charged  to  be  an  offender 
"  shall  be  tried  upon  any  of  the  foregoing  Resolves, 
"  until  the  persons  to  be  Judges  of  the  offence  be 
"  first  severally  sworn  to  try  and  adjudge  the  person 
"  so  charged,  without  partiality,  favour,  or  affection, 
"  or  hope  of  reward,  according  to  evidence  ;  and  that 
"  every  witness  who  shall  be  examined  on  such  trial 
"shall  have  the. charge  distinctly  and  clearly  stated 
"to  him ;  and  be  thereupon  sworn  to  speak  the  truth, 
"  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth."  ' 
******* 

It  will  be  seen  that,  by  this  remarkable  enactment, 
every  person  in  the  Colony  was  placed  at  the  mercy 
of  the  local  Committee  of  the  County  in  which  he 
lived  ;  that  no  one  was  permitted  to  disregard  or  to 
treat  with  disrespect  either  the  "  recommendations  " 
or  the  "  Resolutions  "  of  Congresses  or  Committees, 
of  either  high  or  low  degree,  no  matter  with  what 
disclaimers  of  obligation  those  "recommendations" 
and  "Resolutions"  might  have  been  accompanied,^ 
nor  to  dissent  from  whatever  outrages  on  persons  or 
properties  there  might  be  inflicted  on  quiet,  law- 
abiding  persons,  by  even  the  most  insignificant 
"District  Committee"  in  the  Colony,  nor  even  to 
question  the  authority  to  do  whatever  it  should  incline 
to  do,  no  matter  how  monstrous  its  actions  should  be, 
in  any  such  Congress  or  Committee;  that  sequestra- 
tion, if  not  confiscation  and  absolute  sale,^  of  proper- 
ties, real  and  persiuial,  and  close  confinement  in  bar- 
racks or  jails,  and  banishment  from  home  and  family, 
no  matter  at  what  cost  to  him  or  to  those  who  were 
dependent  on  him,  were  penalties  to  which  every  one 
was  subject,  whenever  a  County  Committee  saw  fit  to 
indict  them ;  that,  by  making  the  offences  and  the 
penalties  matters  of  general  interest  to  "  the  associa- 
"  ted  Colonies  " — for  doing  which  no  one  can  pretend 
that  a  local  Provincial  Congress,  even  during  a  Re- 
bellion, could  consistently  assume  to  legislate — this 
enactment  afforded  a  warrant  for  inroads  from  other 
Colonics,  whenever  the  latter  were  inclined  to  make 
them,  for  the  direct  adjustment  of  matters  in  which 

1  Journal  of  Ihe  Provincial  Congrat,  "  4  ho.,  P.M.,  September  1st, 
"1775." 

-  Compare  the  disclaimers  which  accompanied  the  Astociatioiu  which 
were  sent  out,  for  signatures,  (joayet  270,  271,  aiUe;)  with  tlie  penalties 
which  weresubsoqucntly  iinposeU  on  those  who  had  decUued  to  sign  those 
Aisocialioiui,  in  the  orders  issued  for  their  disarumment,  (jiaije  288,  <iM<e  ,) 
in  this  remarkable  enactment ;  and  with  the  multitude  of  arbitrary  ar- 
rests and  painful  imprisonments,  throughout  the  Colony,  with  which 
the  i>age«  of  the  records  of  the  doings  of  the  revolutionary  faction  so  pe- 
culiarly abound. 

3  We  are  sensible  that  the  letter  of  this  enactment  affonls  a  warrant  for 
nothing  else  than  a  sequestration  of  tlie  properties  of  tliose  who  were 
proscribed  ;  but  the  spirit  of  it  was  seen  in  the  action  of  those  Commit- 
tees who  wi-re,  by  this  enactment,  made  niiistei^  of  the  great  Inxly  of  the 
Colonists,  when  those  t'onimittee.s,  as  will  be  seen,  hereafter,  not  only 
sequestrated,  but  contiscatcd  and  sold,  the  properties  of  those  who  were 
personally  obnoxious  to  them. 

•21 


they  possessed  a  conceded  interest;  that  no  appeal 
from  the  judgment  of  such  a  local  revolutionary 
tribunal,  too  often  controlled  by  personal  or  family 
quarrels*  or  by  ecclesiastical  or  neighborhood  feuds 
or  by  foreign  interferences,  was  provided  for  or 
allowed  ;  and  that  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  and 
the  oath  of  his  office,  if  he  held  an  office,  as  far  as 
these  sh(,uld  assert  his  duty  to  his  Sovereign  and  to 
the  Colonial  and  Home  Governments,  must  be  sternly 
disregarded  and  suppressed,  by  every  one. 

History  has  failed  to  record,  in  the  annals  of  any 
other  community,  another  such  instance  of  solemn 
mockery  and  of  refined  hypocrisy  and  of  relentless 
personal  and  partisan  bitterness  as  is  seen  in  this 
enactment,  framed  and  ordained  and  promulgated  by 
men  who  pretended  to  so  much  of  honor  and  intelli- 
gence, to  so  much  of  loyalty  to  the  King  and  of  re- 
gard for  the  Constitution,  to  so  much  of  veneration 
for  the  Rights  of  Man  and  of  reverence  for  the 
supreme  Laws  of  God,  as  were  claimed,  for  themselves, 
by  the  Livingstons  and  the  Morrises,  the  Van  Cort- 
landts  and  the  Clintons,  and  their  several  supporters, 
in  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Colonial  New  York ; 
and  the  annals  of  partisan  malignity,  ecclesiastical  or 
civil,  afford  few  instances  wherein  an  ecclesiastical  or 
civil  enactment,  no  matter  by  what  authority  nor 
under  what  circumstances  it  may  have  been  ordained 
Hnd  promulgated,  has  been  more  relentlessly  enforced, 
in  its  penalties,  than  this  enactment  of  a  revolution- 
ary Congress  was  enforced,  in  the  Colony  and  State  of 
New  York.  Scarcely  a  homestead  existed  in  Colonial 
Westchester-county,  in  which  the  unbridled  despotism 
of  a  self-constituted  Precinct  or  District  or  Town 
Committee  did  not  display  its  ill-gotten,  ill-regulated 
power,  under  the  sanction  of  this  enactment,  protected 
and  supported,  whenever  protection  and  support  were 
needed  to  ensure  entire  success,  by  the  local  and  the 
Continental  military  power  or  by  hungry  ruffians 
from  over  the  border;*  and  there  are  enough  of 

*  "The  information  you  have  received,  in  respect  to  Captain  Cuthbert, 
"is,  I  believe,  in  part  true,  but  hiis  originated  from  a  private  pique,  and 
"is  much  exaggerated.  You  will  observe  I  have  bought  his  wheat  from 
"him,  which  he  readily  sold  me,  at  the  Sitnie  time  complained,  most 
"  bitterly,  of  being  threatened  with  the  lo.ss  of  his  life,  by  the  sanu-  Don 
"you  mentioned,  who.  I  believe,  is  a  very  bad  man.  Many  persons  in 
"  the  Cuuutry  are  seeking  for  private  revenge  under  pretence  of  concern 
"for  the  publick  safety." — General  (Benedict  Arnold  to  Samuel  Chase, 
"SoREL,  May  15,  177G.") 

General  Arnold's  remarks  were  perfectly  applicable  to  every  portion  of 
the  Colony.  Who,  among  historical  students,  does  not  know  that  one 
of  the  most  virulent  of  those  who  persecuted  the  loyal  and  law  abiding 
Colonists,  in  Colonial  New  York — a  very  thinly  disguised  monarchist 
who  was  thus  figuring  as  a  most  zealous  republican — had  been  largely 
prompted  to  play  a  part  in  the  politics  of  the  perio<l  which  was  radically 
distasteful  to  himself,  in  order  that  he  might,  thereby,  revengefully  oi>- 
pose  and  {H-rsecute  the  friends  and  family  of  the  two  young  Imlies,  sisters, 
who  had  successively  preferred  more  graceful  and  more  companionable, 
if  not  as  mentally  and  scholastically  deserving,  suitors  for  their  hands 
and  fortunes  ? 

^Tbis  sentence  has  bi^cn  v\Titten  with  a  perfect  understanding  »f  what 
is  stjkteil  in  the  text,  com-eniing  tliost!  who  p;u>sed  from  Connecticut  into 
Westchester-county,  to  a^ist  the  local  Committees,  in  that  (Aiiinty,  in 
their  work  of  outrage  and  robbery.  Greenwich,  iStamford,  Kidge 
field,  Danbury,  Wilton,  New  (^amuin,    and  the  other  border  Towns 


290 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


merely  incideDtal  allusions,  left  among  the  well-con- 
cealed records  of  those  times,  to  say  nothing  of  those 
more  startling  evidences  which  went,  unrecorded, 
into  the  graves  of  those  who  had  been  thus  plundered 
and  outraged,  when  the  latter  were  carried  to  their 
last  earthly  homes,  to  show  that  the  Drakes  and  the 
Thomases,  the  Odells  and  the  Martlings,  the  Lock- 
woods  and  the  Dutchers,  and  those  who  were  associated 
with  them,  "patriotically  "supporting  what  was  called 
"  the  glorious  cause  of  Liberty,"  were  experts  in  ruth- 
less barbarism,  and  entirely  worthy  of  thecrowns  of  in- 
famy which  history  has  awarded  to  more  distinguished, 
but  not  more  accomplished,  inquisitors  and  despots. 

The  publication  of  this  barbarous  enactment  was 
followed,  immediately,  by  active  preparations  for 
persecution,  by  those,  in  Westchester-county,  who 
were  engaged  in  promoting  the  cause  of  the  Rebel- 
lion ;  and  they  promptly  reported  to  the  Provincial 
Congress,  for  what  purpose  is  very  evident,  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  those,  in  that  County,  who  were  espe- 
cially obnoxious  to  them 
"  Col.  Phillips,^ 


"  Joseph  Harris, 

"James  Harris, 

"Major  Brown's  two  sons 

"  Isaac  and  Josiah  that 

"lives  at  home,' 
"  Lyon  Miller,* 


Bartholomew  Hains,* 
Mr.  Duncan  and  Brown 

at  Marroneck, 
Capt.  Joshua  Purdy,* 
Jeremiah  Travess, 
Solomon  Fowler,' 
Joshua  Purdy,* 


in  Connecticut,  as  ifl  well  known,  were  too  nearly  akin  in  scntiuient  to 
the  Towns  in  Westchester-county  to  have  supplied  rcftj^'cUihl^  men,  for 
6uch  a  questionable  service  ;  and  specimens  of  those  of  Connecticut  who 
were  so  zealous  in  tlie  support  of  the  Rebellion,  in  New  York,  when 
there  was  no  armed  forces  before  them— those,  from  that  Colony  were 
not  80  zealous,  on  the  northern  frontier  and  in  Canada,  at  Kips  Bay  and 
in  Neiv  Jereey,  when  an  armed  enemy  was  either  before  or  behind  them — 
might  have  been  seen  in  those  who  were  led  by  Waterbury  and  by  Sears, 
by  Wooster  and  by  Webb,  of  whom  and  of  whose  peculiarly  "  New  Eng- 
"land  Ideas,"  concerning  the  laws  of  mcuw  et  (num,  history  has  left 
abundant  evidence. 

1  Historical  3lannscripts^  etc.  ;  Mitccllaneous  Papers,  xxxiv.,  193. 

-  Colonel  Frederic  Philipse,  of  Youkers  and  Sleepy  llollow,  Member 
of  the  General  Assembly,  already  made  known  to  the  reader.  He  was 
exiled  ;  and  his  property  sequestrated,  confiscated,  and  sold. 

^  Isaac  and  Josiah  Brown  were  arrested  ;  thrown  into  the  Prison  at 
the  White  Plains ;  and  subsequently  released  on  condition  that  they 
should  board  with  William  Miller,  Deputy  Chairman  of  the  County 
Committee,  at  their  own  expense,  instead  of  at  their  own  homes, 

'  Lyon  Miller  was  First  Lieutenant  in  the  Harrison  Precinct  Company 
of  Militia,  reorganized  under  the  enactment  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 
in  .\ugust,  1775. 

5  Bartholomew  Haines  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  Prison  at  the 
AVhite  Plains.    His  name  will  be  seen,  very  frequently,  in  the  following 

pages  of  this  narrative. 

6  Captain  Joshua  Purdy  was,  probably,  the  person  of  that  name  who 
has  been  referred  to,  elsewhere,  in  these  notes,  in  connection  with  another 
person,  bearing  the  same  name  but  without  a  title,  who  was,  also,  named 
on  this  list  of  the  proscribed  of  Westchester-county.  Although  the  rec- 
ords do  not  mention  the  distinguishing  title,  if  he  had  one,  of  the  victim 
whose  arrest  and  imprisonment  and  conditional  release  are  mentioned 
in  the  note  referred  to,  and,  therefore,  the  untitled  "Joshua  Purdy'' 
has  been  connected  with  those  records,  there  are  circumstances  which 
favor  the  impression  that  Captain  Joshua  was  the  person  to  whom  they 
really  referred. 

'  Solomon  Fowler  was  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  a  second 
time,  in  June,  1776,  and  summoned  to  appear  before  the  *'  Committee 
"  on  Conspiracies,"  soon  after. 

*^  Joshua  Purdy,  either  this  person  of  that  name  or  Captain  Joshua  who 


'  Elijah  Purdy, 
'Gilbert  Horton,'' 
'Edmond  Ward,'" 
'Caleb  Morgain," 
'James  Hortan,  Esq.'^ 
'William  Barker,  Esq.'' 
'Person  Seabury," 
'  Godfrey  Haines,  added 
"on  Saturday  evening, 
'Jeremiah  Travess,  Junr., 
"Joshua 


Jonathan  Pardie,  White 

Plains,'^ 
Saml.  Merrit,  Manor  of 

Courtiandt," 
Mr.  Peter  Hatfield, 
Isaac  Hatfield, 
Edward  Palmer,'* 
Nath.  Whitney,  Esq. 
Pater  Drake," 
Peter  Corney,^" 
Carne." 


There  need  be  no  surprise  that  that  remarkable  en- 
actment and  the  activity  in  enforcing  its  provisions 
which  was  seen  among  those  who  favored  the  Rebel- 
lion and  among  those  who  desired  the  advantages 
which  a  general  breaking  down  of  those  who  opposed 
that  Rebellion  would  probably  ensure  to  them,  in  the 
expected  and  intended  sequestrations  and  confisca- 
tions and  sales  of  properties,  real  and  personal, 
throughout  the  County,  aroused  the  attention  and 
the  indignation  of  the  great  body  of  the  conservative 


is  also  named  on  this  list,  was  reported  to  the  FroTincial  Congress,  a 
second  time  ;  summoned  before  the  "Committee  on  Conspiracies;"  im- 
prisoned at  the  White  Plains  ;  and  released  from  prison  on  condition 
that  he  should  board  with  William  Miller,  Deputy  Chairman  of  the 
County  Committee,  at  his  own  expense,  instead  of  at  his  own  home. 

"Gilbert  Horton  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  the  Prison  at  tlie  White 
Plains. 

'"Edmund  Ward  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  the  Prison  at  the  White 
Plains. 

"  Caleb  Morgan  w;is  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  a  second 
time  :  arrested  ;  and  thrown  into  the  Prison  at  the  White  Plains. 

12  James  Horton,  Esq.,  was  summoned  before  the  "  Committee  of 
"Safety,"  as  the  County  Committee  called  itself,  in  August,  1777;  was 
unusually  independent  in  his  answers  to  that  body  ;  and  appears  to  have 
remained  without  further  trouble. 

13  William  Barker,  Es<i.,  was  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  a 
second  time ;  arrested  ;  examined  by  the  Committee  on  Conspiracies  ; 
and  thrown  into  the  Prison  at  the  White  Plains. 

Kcv.  Samuel  Seabury,  soon  afterwards,  was  seized  and  carried  to 
Conuecticut,  where  he  was  imprisoned.  His  very  peculiar  case  will  be 
noticed  in  the  text,  in  its  order. 

"Godfrey  Haines  was  seized,  and  sent  to  the  City  of  New  York,  a  few 
days  after  the  transmission  of  this  memorandum.  His  case  will  be  seen 
in  the  text  of  this  narrative,  pages  291-296,  post. 

"5  Jonathan  Purdy,  of  the  White  Plains,  was  arrested  and  thrown  into 
the  I'rison  at  that  place. 

I'Saumel  Merrit  was  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  a  second 
time  ;  arrested  ;  and  thrown  into  the  Prison  at  the  Wiite  Plains. 

'8  Edward  Palmer  was  a  resident  of  Cortlandt's  Manor  ;  and  was  subse- 
quently accused  of  enlisting  men  for  the  Royal  .\rmy.  There  are  some 
reasons  for  supposing  that  he  was  the  young  man  who  was  so  ostenta- 
tiously hung,  as  a  spy,  by  the  order  of  General  Putnam,  in  August,  1777, 
of  which  metition  will  be  made  hereafter. 

Peter  Drake  was  one  of  the  Drakes  of  the  Cortlandt  Manor;  and  was 
an  active  Loyalist ;  but  waa  not  disturbed— he  was  a  Drake. 

Peter  Corney  was  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  a  second 
lime  ;  arrested  and  taken  before  the  "Committee on  Conspiracies;"  and 
permitted  to  go  to  Long  Island,  where  he  was  peculiarly  serviceable 
to  those  who  desired  to  remove  from  that  place.  Because  of  this,  the 
Committee  of  Safety  and  Committee  on  Conspinicies  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  permitted  his  son-in-law  to  take  and  occupy  his  property  ;  but 
the  local  Committee  of  Sequestration  disregarded  that  permission  ;  seized 
the  property  ;  and  sold  it,  under  peculiarly  distressing  circumstances. 
{Ulitoricat  Manuscripit,  etc.  :  PetUiom,  xxxiii.,  522;  the  same :  Mincella- 
neotis  Papers,  xxxvii.,  95,  99  ;  xxxviii.,  147  ;  Joni-nal  of  Committee  of 
Safely,  with  Corney'e  son-in  law's  affidavit,  "Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M 
"June  6,  1777.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


291 


farmers  of  Westchestcr-county — they  would  have  been 
less  than  men,  and  unworthy  of  either  respect  or  sym- 
pathy, had  they  remained  passive  spectators  of  what 
was  then  in  progress,  for  the  seizure  of  their  persons, 
for  the  sequestration  of  their  homes  and  of  their 
estates,  and  for  the  impoverisliment  of  their  aged 
parents,  of  their  wives,  and  of  their  dependent  chil- 
dren, without  just  cause,  without  due  process  of  Law, 
and  by  those  who  were  in  acknowledged  rebellion 
against  their  recognized  Sovereign.  Indeed,  the 
honest,  hard-working  yeomanry,  throughout  the 
entire  extent  of  the  County,  those  of  revolutionary 
as  well  as  those  of  conservative  associations,  was  im- 
mediately thrown  into  a  state  of  the  most  intense 
excitement;  suspicion  between  those  who  had  been 
peaceful  neighbors  and  friends,  was  aroused  and 
fostered ;  memories  of  half- forgotten  piques  and 
(juarrels  were  recalled ;  and  the  animosities  and  the 
jealousies  and  the  misunderstandings  and  the  disputes 
of  the  past  were  revived  and  intensified  ;  and,  while 
the  more  zealous  of  the  party  of  the  Rebellion  were 
loud  in  their  threats  and  aggressive  in  their  actions, 
those  who  constituted  the  great  body  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  County  and  who  were  peaceful  in  all  their 
relations,  anxiously  watched  the  progress  of  events, 
and,  in  some  notable  instances,  denounced  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Provincial  Congress  and  the  Congress 
who  had  enacted  them ;  declared  their  confidence — 
their  ill-founded  but  honest  confidence  —  that  the 
Home  Government  would  soon  interfere  for  their  pro- 
tection ;  armed  and  organized  themselves  for  their 
immediate  security  ;  and  established  strong  patrols, 
from  among  themselves,  to  guard  against  surprise,  by 
night  or  by  day.  Violence  on  the  one  side,  of  actions 
as  well  as  of  words,  begat  violence  on  the  other.  A 
lawless  assault  on  the  jiersons  or  the  properties  of  the 
conservatives  and  the  loyal,  by  the  promptings  of 
embittered  human  nature  and  the  unwritten  law  of 
retaliation,  was  followed,  sooner  or  later,  by  equally 
lawless  assaults  on  the  persons  or  on  the  families  or 
on  the  properties  of  those,  of  the  opposite  party,  who 
had  been  the  original  aggressors  ;  and,  very  seldom, 
on  those  occasions,  was  a  tooth  or  an  eye  regarded  as 
a  sufficient  equivalent  for  the  tooth  or  the  eye  which 
had  been  taken.  "  They  hunted  every  man  his 
'■  brother  with  a  net;  "  the  reign  of  peace,  of  happi- 
ness, and  of  prosperity  —  the  era  of  good-feelings 
between  neighbors,  of  regard  among  friends,  of  affec- 
tion in  families — in  the  old  agricultural  County  of 
Westchester  was  ended  ;  and  partisan  strife  and  per- 
sonal and  domestic  misery  and  general  waste  and 
ruin  prevailed. 

Rye,  even  at  a  later  period,  was  noted  for  its  solid, 
unyielding  conservatism  and,  in  Rye  and  through- 
out Westchester-county,  generally,  the  Purdys  were 

1  "The  People  of  Rye  being  wholly  devoted  to  the  Interest  of  the 
"  Crown  shut  their  Eyes  «nd  Ears  against  reason  and  knowledge  "  •  * 
(Petition  of  George  Uarrie,  "Haeblem,  August  20,  177u" — Hittorical 
ManutcripU,  etc.:  Petitions:  xxxiii.,  IbS.) 


peculiarly  noted  for  their  unfaltering  loyalty.-  Early 
in  September,  1775,  before  the  passage  of  the  enact- 
ment by  the  Provincial  Congress,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  could  have  become  generally  known 
throughout  that  "  border  Town,"  Godfrey  Haines,  an 
unmarried  man,  was  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Purdy, 
in  Rye;  and,  in  conversation,  he  condemned  the  re- 
organization of  the  Militia,  by  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress ;  declared  he  would  not  perform  any  duty  in  the 
new-organized  Company ;  and  denounced  the  Con- 
gresses and  Committees,  generally,  saying  "he  had  as 
"  leave  be  in  hell  as  in  the  hands  of  any  of  them,"  an 
opinion  which  was,  probably,  confirmed,  very  soon 
afterwards.  He  evidently  looked  forward  to  an  ex- 
pected movement  of  the  Home  Government,  for  the 
maintenance  of  its  authority ;  he  wished  the  men-of- 
war  would  move  up  the  Sound  ;  and,  in  his  youthful 
outburst  of  indignation,  he  said  he  would  be  one  of 
those  who  would  indicate  the  persons  on  whom  the 
Government  should  first  lay  the  weight  of  its  retribu- 
tive power. 

Of  that  Godfrey  Haines,  nothing  is  now  definitely 
known  beyond  the  facts,  told  by  himself,  ^  that  he 
was  tolerably  well  educated,  but  was  without  any 
available  property ;  but  it  can  be  learned,  from  the 
papers  in  the  case,  that  he  was  not  a  stranger  in  that 
neighborhood  nor  in  that  house.  He  was  evidently  a 
young  man,  suffering  from  wrongs  already  inflicted 
on  him  or  on  his  personal  friends,  po.'sessing  a  fiery 
temper,  and  warmly  indignant  at  the  movements  and 
the  threats  of  the  revolutionary  faction.  He  un- 
doubtedly knew  that  he  was  among  those  who  enter- 
tained opinions  and  preferences  which  were  similar 
in  their  character  to  those  which  he  had  declared ;  but 
the  latter  may  have  been  less  willing  to  declare  what 
they  preferred  and  what  their  opinions  were,  concern- 
ing the  doings  of  those  who  were,  then,  aspiring  to  the 
Government  of  the  Colony — he  was,  however,  less 
fortunate  than  they,  in  the  expression  of  his  opinions 
in  the  presence  of  one  who,  either  through  ignorance 
or  malevolence,  was  mean  enough  to  betray  him. 

Samson  had  his  Delilah ;  and  Godfrey  had  his  Eu- 
nice. Of  Delilah,  not  an  Israelite,  we  know  that  she 
betrayed  her  lover  to  his  enemies,  to  the  oppressors 
of  his  kindred  and  his  people  :  of  Eunice,  an  ignorant, 
unmarried  woman ;  unable  to  write  her  own  name 
and,  probably,  unable  to  read  what  others  had  writ- 
ten— just  such  a  tool,  indeed,  as  suited  the  purposes 
of  such  men  as,  then,  manipulated  her  spitefully- 
told  information — and,  evidently,  a  daughter  or  sister 
or  other  kinswoman  of  the  man  under  whose  roof  and 
in  the  enjoyment  of  whose  hospitality  Godfrey  was. 


-  \t  the  marriage  of  Gabriel  Purdy  to  Charity  Purdy,  at  the  White 
Plains,  on  the  twenty  eighth  of  March,  1775,  a  large  coiniutny,  forty-seven 
in  number,  was  assembled,  among  whom  tliirty-eeven  were  Purdys, 
"and  not  asingle  Whig  among  them." — {Ririiujton's  Xew-York  Gazetteer, 
No.  105,  Xew-Yokk,  Thursday,  April  20,  1775.) 

3  Petition  lo  Die  Procincial  Congreu,  "CiTV  Ball,  October  y»  4th, 
"1775"— page  117,  poet. 


292 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


when  lie  made  those  utterances,  we  know,  also,  that 
she  betrayed  a  guest  of  the  family,  if  not  her  own 
lover,  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  into  the  hands 
of  thdse  who  were  oppressing  his  kindred  and  his 
people.  She  was  not  prompt  in  her  treachery,  which 
clearly  indicates  that  it  was  an  afterthought -prob- 
ably, it  was  a  girlish  act  of  spiteful  retaliation  for 
some  boyish  affront,  to  which  she  had  been  subjected, 
subsequently  to  the  day  on  which  he  had  exposed 
himself  to  her  ignorant  vindictiveness.  Whatever 
incited  her,  however,  the  story  of  Godfrey's  outspoken 
utterances  was  told  by  her,  within  three  or  four  weeks 
from  the  day  of  his  visit  to  Purdy's ;  and,  because  he 
had  evidently  thus  made  himself  obnoxious  to  the  con- 
trolling faction,  although  he  had  not  been  previously 
regarded  with  suspicion,  ^  the  County  Committee, 
with  intemperate  zeal,  promptly  proceeded  to  display 
and  to  exercise  its  new-found  authority — Godfrey  was 
arrested  and  taken  to  the  White  Plains,  on  no  other 
accusation  than  the  merely  verbal  information  of  the 
affronted  Eunice;  and  that  vindictive  maiden  was, 
also,  taken  to  the  same  place,  and  before  the  same 
County  Committee,  there,  in  order  that  her  accusation 
might  be  made  in  a  more  formal  manner. 

None  of  the  details  of  the  doings  of  that  zealous 
County  Committee,  thus  acting  in  its  threefold  char- 
acter of  prosecutor,  judge,  and  executioner,  have  been 
recorded  in  history  ;  but  an  affidavit  was  framed  ;  and 
Eunice  added  "her  mark"  to  it,  and  disappeared — 
even  the  industrious  local  historian  has  not  found  a 
place  for  her,  in  his  genealogical  record  of  the  family 
of  which  abe  was  apparently  a  member.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  copy  of  that  affidavit,  thus  made,  honestly  or 
dishonestly,  by  Eunice  Purdy,  before  the  Committee 
of  Safety  of  the  County  of  Westchester : 

"  Westchester  County,  ss.  : 

"  Eunice  Purdy,  of  Rye,  in  the  said  County, 
"Spinster,  being  duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evange- 
"  lists  of  Almighty  God,  deposeth  and  saith  that,  on  or 
"  about  the  second  of  September  instant,  Godfrey 
"  Hains  was  at  Daniel  Purdy's,  at  Rye,  and  in  con- 
"versation,  at  that  time,  said  he  understood  that  the 
"  Committee  or  Congress  had  made  a  law  to  oblige  all 
"  to  train  under  them  ;  and  that, '  damn  them,  if  they 
"  '  came  after  him,  they  should  either  kill  him  or  he 
'"would  kill  some  of  them  ;  and  that,  dead  or  alive, 
"  '  he  would  be  revenged  ;  ^  and  that  he  had  enough 
"  'in  his  pocket,  then,  for  five  or  six  of  them.'  That 
"he  also  damned  the  Congresses  and  Committees, 
"  frequently,  and  said  that  he  had  as  leave  be  in  hell 

1  It  will  be  seetij  by  refei'ence  to  the  list  of  those  who  were  proscribed, 
(jpage  lUy  ante,)  t\mt  Godfrey  Haines's  name  was  not  on  it,  as  it  was 
originally  written — it  was  "added"  to  tliat  list  "on  Saturday 
'*  evening." 

-  This  remark  very  clearly  indicated  that,  when  Gocifrey  made  these 
violent  remarks,  he  was  smarting  from  wrongs  already  inflicted  on  him- 
self or  on  those  who  were  dear  to  him,  by  those  of  the  revolutionary 
faction  in  Westchester-county  or  by  those,  from  Connecticut,  under 
General  Wooster  or  others,  who  had  come  into  the  County,  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Rebellion. 


"as  in  the  hands  of  the  Congress  or  Committee ;  that 
"  they  would  see  if  they  were  not  all  cut  down,  in  a 
"  fortnight,  at  farthest ;  that  he  wished  the  men-of- 
"  war  would  come  along  the  Sound  ;  and  that  he  wish- 
"edthey  had  raised  their  Company,  three  months 
"  ago,  for  then  the  matter  would  have  been  settled 
"before  that  time;  and  further  this  Deponent  saith 
"  not. 

her 

"  Eunice  4-  Purdy. 

mark. 

"  Sworn  the  28th  September,  1775, ) 
"  before  me,  i 
"  GiLBT.  Drake." 

There  was  no  other  evidence  than  this  evidently 
spitefully-made  affidavit;  and  it  is  said  Godfrey  was 
"convicted,"  on  this  testimony,  of  "denying  the  au- 
"thority  and  speaking  contemptuously  of  the  Con- 
"gresses  and  the  Committee  of  the  County  "' — nothing 
appears  to  have  been  done  on  the  charge,  by  Eunice, 
that  he  had  used  other  and,  apparently,  more  offensive 
words.  He  was  ordered  to  be  disarmed ;  but  the 
judgment  was  returned  unsatisfied,  since  he  had 
concealed  his  ai"ms  and  ammunition  ;  and  the  Com- 
mittee stated  that  it  was  highly  improbable  that  they 
could  be  found.  It  was  determined,  however,  that 
he  was  "a  very  dangerous  man;"  and,  for  its  own 
peace  sake  as  well  as  for  its  own  safety,  that  very 
zealous  Committee  determined  to  send  him  to  the 
Provincial  Congress,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in 
order  that  that  body  might  employ  its  more  practised 
hand,  in  the  further  prosecution  of  him. 

On  the  day  after  he  had  been  tried  and  convicted 
and  punished,  as  far  as  the  Westchester-county  Com- 
mittee could  do  all  these,  [Sepfonbcr  29,  1775,]  God- 
frey was  placed  in  the  custody  of  Daniel  Winter,  and 
sent  to  the  City,  the  following  letter,  from  that  Com- 
mittee, explaining  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
victim  had  been  thus  transported  from  the  County 
in  which  he  had  lived,  being  sent  with  him: 

"  White  Plains,  Sept^  29,  1775. 

"  Gentlemen : 

"We  send  you  by  Mr.  Daniel  Winter,  Godfrey 
"  Hains,  a  person  who  was  accused  and  convicted,  be- 
"  fore  us,  of  denying  the  authority  and  speaking  con- 
"temptuously  of  the  Congresses  and  the  Committee 
'•  of  this  County.  He  was  ordered  to  be  disarmed  ;  and, 
"  upon  examining  him  respecting  his  arms  and  am- 
"  munition,  he  confessed  that  he  has  a  gun,  pistol, 
"  sword,  powder,  and  ball,  but  refused  informing  tbe 
"Committee  where  they  are;  and  as  Hains  is  a  single 
"man,  the  Committee  think  it  highly  improbable  that 
"his  arms  can  be  found. 

"  We  enclose  you  an  affidavit  which  induces  us  to 
"think  him  a  dangerous  man;  and  therefore  send 
"him  to  you  to  be  dealt  with  as  you  think  proper. 

"  After  reading  the  affidavit  we  think  it  needless  to 
"  acquaint  you  that  his  conduct  (by  the  best  infor- 
"  mation  we  can  get)  has  been  very  extraordinary — 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


293 


"such  as  going  armed,  and  giving  out  threats  against 
"some  of  the  Committee  and  the  Connecticut 
"  troops,  etc. 

"  The  committee  think  it  extremely  necessary,  for 
"  the  safety  of  the  County,  that  the  Commis'^ions  for 
"  the  Militia  Officers  should  be  immediately  for- 
"  warded. 

"We  are,  gentlemen, 

"  Your  most  humble  servants, 
"  By  order  of  the  Committee, 

"  GiLBT.  Drake,  Chairman. 
"  To  THE  Committee  of  Safety, 

"  FOR  the  Provixce  OF  New  York." 

Although  the  Autumn  was  well  advanced  and 
the  days  had  become  much  shorter.  Winter  and 
his  prisoner  and  the  guard  who  accompanied  them 
left  the  White  Plains  early  enough  to  reach  the  City 
before  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  September,  the  day  on  which  the  letter  was 
written;'  and  the  first  subject  which  was  brought 
before  the  Committee  of  Saiety,  there,  at  its  morning 
session,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  was  the  letter  from 
the  Committee  of  Wcstchester-county,  which  Winter 
had  brought,  with  his  prisoner. 

Although  Gilbert  Livingston,  and  Alexander 
McDougal,  and  Isaac  Sears,  and  others  of  the  more 
radical  revolutionists  were  present,  in  the  Committee, 
that  body  handled  the  subject  with  great  caution,  and 
determined  to  have  no  connection  with  it,  ordering, 
as  the  result  of  its  deliberations,  "  That  the  said 
"  Godfrey  Haines  be  sent  back  to  the  Committee  of 
"  Westchester,  under  the  care  of  the  persons  who 
"  brought  him  to  tliis  City  ;  and  that  Mr.  Paulding,  a 
"  Deputy  for  the  said  County,  be  requested  to  write  a 
"letter  to  the  said  Committee,  informing  them  that 
"  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee,  that,  agreeable 
"to  the  Resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  this 
"Colony,  the  County  Committees  are  altogether  com- 
"petentfor  punishing  and  confining  persons  guilty 
"  of  a  breach  of  the  said  Resolutions  or  of  either  of 
"  them." 

The  Westchester-county-men  were  not  inclined, 
however,  to  be  troubled  with  the  subject,  especially 
with  the  knowledge  which  they  possessed  concerning 
the  temper  of  many  of  those  who  were  within  that 
County;  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  thirtieth  of  Sep- 
tember, Daniel  Winter  "represented"  to  the  Com- 
mittee in  New  York  "that  the  taking  the  said  God- 
"  frey  Haines  back  will  be  attended  with  danger  of 


1  It  is  not  impossible  that  this  arrest  had  been  made  after  it  had  be- 
come dark,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  September :  it  is  qnite  clear  that  the 
Committee  was  in  session,  that  the  letter  of  tmnsmissinn  was  written, 
and  that  Godfrey  was  hurried  through  the  county,  nfirr  mi,lnujht,  on  the 
fnttomug  mnmiug.  Sccreoy  was  probably  necessary  to  ensure  success, 
where  the  revolutionary  faction  was  so  inslKnifirant  in  numbers,  espe- 
cially, as  will  be  seen  in  the  farther  proceedings  in  this  case,  when  thueo 
who  were  also  active,  in  the  maintenance  of  their  own  rights  and  pro- 
perties, had  been  aroused. 

•  Joumiil  nf  the  CommiUee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Veneris,  0  ho.,  .\.M.,  Sep- 
"  tember  -29, 1775." 


"  his  being  rescued  by  persons  inimical  to  the  cause 
"of  Liberty  ;"  and  that  body  thereupon  reconsidered 
its  Order  of  the  preceding  day,  and  ordered  "  that  the 
"  said  Godfrey  Haines  be  committed  to  the  Jail  in  this 
"City  till  the  further  order  of  this  Committee  or  the 
"  Provincial  Congress  of  this  Colony  ;  and  into  the 
Jail,  in  New  York,  Godfrey  was  accordingly  ca.-t. 
without,  however,  the  slightest  j)rovisiou  for  his  sup- 
port, while  he  should  remain  there. 

The  Jail,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  when  Godfrey 
Haines  was  cast  into  it,  was  confining  other  victims 
of  arbitrary  and  unwarranted  arrests  who,  also,  had 
been  sent  to  the  Congress,  by  the  country  Counties ; 
and  it  may  be  reasonably  supposed  that  his  animosi- 
ties against  the  Congresses  and  the  County  Commit- 
tees and  those  who  favored  them,  were  not,  in  the 
slightest  degree,  modified,  by  his  association  with 
those  prisoners  or  by  his  own  imprisonment.  But,  not- 
withstanding those  animosities,  his  necessities  com- 
pelled him  to  seek  relief;  and,  on  the  fourth  of 
October,  the  fifth  day  of  his  confinement,  he  united 
with  his  fellow-prisoners,  in  the  following  l\titlon, 
probably  written  by  himself,  addressed  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  which  had  reassembled  on  the  morning 
of  that  day  :  * 

"To  the  Honourable  Provincial  Congress. 

"Gentlemen:  As  there  is  Six  of  us  Confined  in 
"  Goal  by  your  order  Charg'd  with  misdemeanors,  we 
"  should  take  it  kind  of  you  if  you'd  bring  us  to  Im- 
"ediate  tryal  or  provide  for  us  in  our  Confinement  as 
"we  have  not  wherewithal  to  suport  our  ourselves. 
"  And  you  will  oblige  yours 

"City  Hall,  October  y"'  4'^  1775. 

"  Godfrey  Hain.s,      Adam  Bergh, 

"Timothy  Doughty,  Christian  Bergh,  Jun'., 

"  John  Dob,  David  Dob." 

That  Petition  was  duly  presented  to  the  Congress, 
on  the  day  of  its  date,  and  was  read  before  that  body  ; 
but  no  action  whatever  appears  to  have  been  taken 
on  it,  *  then  or  subsequently. 

Eight  days  after  the  Provincial  Congress  had 
received  and  read  the  Petition  of  Godfrey  Haines 
and  his  fellow-prisoners,  that  body  received  the  fol- 
lowing Resolution  from  the  Continental  Congress, 
which  probably  served  to  intensify  rather  than 
to  ameliorate  the  prevailing  partisan  animosities; 
and  it  was  certainly  not  well-constituted  for  the  relief 
of  those  who  were  already  imprisoned  on  similar 
charges : 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  several 
"Provincial  Assemblies,  or  Conventions  and  Coun- 
"  cils,  or  Committees  of  Safety,  to  arrest  and  secure 
"  every  person,  in  their  respective  Colonies,  who  is 


3  Journal  of  the  CommiUee  of  Safely,  "Die  Sabluti,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Sep- 
"  tember  30th,  1775." 
*  Historical  Jlanmcriplf,  etc.;  Petitiow,  xxxi.,  70. 

^Journal  of  the  Provinrial  Congreu,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octo- 
"ber  4  th,  1775.  ' 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"going  at  large,  as  may,  in  their  opinion,  endanger 
"  the  safety  of  the  Colonies  or  the  Liberties  of 
"America."  ' 

Appended  to  the  copy  of  this  Resolution  wliich 
was  laid  before  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York, 
was  a  memorandum,  not  included  in  the  official  tran- 
script of  the  Resolution,  and  without  a  signature, 
which  was  in  these  words  :  "  To  be  kept  as  secret  as 
"  its  nature  will  admit ;"  and  it  was  accompanied  by 
extracts  from  letters  which  the  Continental  Congress 
had  received  from  London,  in  one  of  which  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  William  Tryon,  was  mentioned  ; 
and  in  which,  also,  it  was  said  that  "  it  would  be  a 
"  capital  stroke  to  get  possession  of  Tryon."  The 
same  good  fortune  which  Lieutenant-governor  Colden 
had  enjoyed,  in  receiving  early  information  of  what 
was  proposed  or  done  in  the  secret  sessions  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  of  1774,  was  enjoyed  by  Governor 
Tryon,  concerning  the  private  correspondence  and 
the  secret  proposals  and  doings  of  the  Continental 
Congress  of  1775 ; '  and  he  took  refuge,  first,  on  board 


1  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress^  *'  Friday,  October  6, 1775 ; ' '  Journal 
of  Oie  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  lio.,  A.M.,  October  12tli,  1775." 

-Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Jovie,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  October  12 
"1775." 

^Comimre  the  corresiwndence  of  Joseph  Galloway  aDdJauies  Duane  with 
the  voDfiablu  Lieutenant  governor  of  New  York,  and  the  knowledge  of 
the  latter,  concerning  the  secret  doings  of  the  Congress  of  1774,  which  the 
former,  members  of  the  CongrcKs  and  pledged  to  secrecy,  had  coaimuni- 
cated  to  him,  (pages  27,  Xi,  :i4,  ante,)  with  this  later  instance  of  secret 
information  and  copies  of  secret  correspondence,  "  received  from  the 
"  Ji'ountain  Head,"  by  Governor  Tryon,  enabling  him  to  secure  his 
personal  safety  by  taking  refnge,  first,  on  the  Uulifajr,  a  packet-ship, 
and,  finally,  on  the  Dnclu-ss  of  Gordon,  the  latter  lying  under  the  pro- 
tecting guns  of  the  Asia. 

Judge  Jones,  in  his  llistortj  of  Xew  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 
(i.,  Gl,)  said  that  information  was  conveyed  to  the  Governor  by  Kgbert 
Dumond,  a  member  of  the  delegation  from  Ulster-county,  in  tlie  Pro- 
vincial Congress;  and  de  Lancey,  in  his  Sotes  on  that  work,  (i.,  559,500,) 
acquiesced  in  that  statement.  We  cannut  bring  oui-self  to  an  agreement 
with  those  excellent  authorities. 

The  Resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress,  on  Friday, 
the  sixth  of  October;  transmitted  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  the 
I'resident  of  the  Continental  Congress,  on  the  ninth  of  October;  and  was 
not  laid  befcjrc  the  Provincial  Congress,  iintil  the  twelfth  of  October, 
until  which  day  Dumond  could  not  have  had  any  knowledge  of  it.  But, 
on  the  tenth  of  October,  two  days  before  the  Provincial  (jougress  received 
it,  Governor  Tryon  had  received  the  information,  "from  uudoubted  au 
'*thority  from  the  City  of  Philadelphia,"  (^Governor  Trijon  to  the  Mayor  of 
the  CUij  of  Seic  York,  "  New  York,  lO""  Oct.  1775  ;  ";  and  his  subsequent 
statement,  that  he  was  in  correspondence  with  "the  Fountain-head," 
(doveniur  'IVi/on  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "O.v  no.\iU)  the  Dltche,ss  ok 
"  GoHnox  New  Youk  11  th  Nov  177.">,")  confirmed  his  former  statement, 
that  the  information  came  "  from  the  City  of  Philadelphia."  Having 
failed  to  secure  that  guaranty  of  protection  from  the  Corporation  of  the 
City  of  New  Y'ork  which  the  circumstances  led  him  to  ask  for,  he  went 
on  board  the  Halifax:,  on  the  eighteenth  or  nineteenth  of  October, 
{Governor  Tryon  to  Mayor  Hicks,  '  ON  board  rnE  H.M-ifax  Packet,  19"'> 
"October,  1775.") 

As  the  Delegates  from  New  York,  in  Philadelphia,  were  well-informed, 
not  only  concerning  the  Kesolution  but  concerning  the  secret  corre- 
spondence of  the  Continental  Congress,  which  evidently  formed  a  portion 
of  the  information  which  was  comnuinicated  to  the  Governor,  there  is 
reason  for  believing  that  the  correspondent  of  the  Governor  was  a  mem- 
ber of  that  Delegation  ;  and  the  reader  need  not  be  told,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  Lieutenant-governor  Colden  exposed  the  names  of  his  corre- 
spondents, one  of  whom  was  in  the  Delegation  of  1775,  which  was  the 
particular  Delegate  who  was  undoubtedly  the  correspondent,  also,  of 
Governor  Tryun,  especially  since,  as  was  well  known,  the  Governor's 


the  Halifax,  packet,  and,  subsequently,  on  board  ilie 
Duche  8  of  Gordon,  the  latter  lying  under  the  pro- 
tecting guns  of  the  ^^Isia.  The  prisoners  in  the  Jail, 
victims  of  arbitrary  power,  were  less  fortunate,  in 
their  intercourse  with  those  exercising  authority, 
among  the  revolutionary  faction. 

There  is  no  record  of  the  discharge  of  Godfrey 
Haines  from  the  Jail,  in  the  City  of  New  York  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  when  the  record  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  on  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-ninth  of  Sej^teinber,  when  he  was  taken  before 
that  body  by  Daniel  Winter  and  the  guard  who  had 
brought  him  from  the  White  Plains,*  was  laid  before 
the  Provincial  Congress,  after  the  latter  body  had  re- 
assembled, after  its  rece-s,  those  proceedings  were 
officially  approved  ;  ^  and,  subsequently,  the  further 
proceedings  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  thirtieth  of  September,  when  Godfrey  was 
committed  to  the  Jail,  in  New  York,"  were  also  offi- 
cially approved  by  the  same  Provincial  Congress.' 
He  was  not  officially  released ;  but,  very  soon  after 
his  Petition  had  been  filed,  without  receiving  any 
other  attention,  his  necessities  nerved  his  arms  f  and, 
about  midnight,  he  broke  six  grates  out  of  the  win- 
dow of  his  prison,  and  released  himself.  Hastening 
to  the  wharf,  on  the  East  River,  the  starved  fugitive, 
from  whom  all  food  and  drink  had  been  withheld  for 
more  than  a  week,"  he  "  impressed,"  if  he  did  not 
steal,  a  boat ;  and  found  refuge  and  food  on  board  of 

official  and  personal  leanings  were  toward  the  Livingstons  rather  than 
toward  the  rivals  of  the  latter,  the  De  Lancoys,  who  had  previously  oc- 
cupied the  nearest  place  to  the  throne,  in  the  Colony  ;  and,  especially, 
since  the  Delegate  referred  to  was,  by  marriage,  a  member  of  the  Liv- 
ingston family. 

The  Memorandum  which  the  Governor  Is  said  to  have  subsequently 
stated  "  was  the  gruuud  nf  niy  subsequent  conduct  in  removing  on  Board 
"the  Packet,"  {Governor  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  "  Os  uoard  the 
"  Dutchess  of  Gordo.n  New  York  11  th  Nov  177-5,")  bears,  on  its  face,  the 
date  when  he  is  said  to  have  received  it — "  Mem.  Rec'  from  N  York  : 
"the  best  authority  Nov  2  1775  W  T." — and  it  may  have  been  sent  to 
him  by  Egbert  Duniont,  as  stated  b}'  Judge  Jones  and  his  commentator  ; 
but,  when  it  was  siiid  to  have  been  received,  the  Governor  had  surely 
been  on  the  Halifax  or  on  the  Ductless  of  Gordon,  more  than  a  fortnight. 

The  name  of  the  real  author  of  that  Memorandum,  on  which  Governor 
Tryon  is  inconsistently  said  to  have  placed  so  much  dependence,  and  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  transmitted  to  him.  after  he  had  been  roamed  of 
his  danger  and  had  seatred  his  safety,  are  questions  which  need  not  be 
discussed,  in  this  place. 

■•See  page  203,  ante. 

^  Jouniul  of  the  Provincial  Comjress,   "  Die  .Jovis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  October 
"26th,  177.5." 
••See  page  293,  ante. 

•Journal  vf  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Oc- 
"tober,  27,  1775." 

8  "David  Rhea  says  that  Captain  Haines  told  him  he  was  put  in  jail 
"because  he  refused  to  deliver  up  his  arms ;  and  that  his  punishment 
"had  been  determined,  that  he  should  not  eat  nor  drink  until  he  had 
"delivered  them  up." — [Testimony  of  David  Phea,  before  the  CommiUee  of 
Safety -Journal  of  the  Committee,  "Die  Sabbati,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  January 
"  20th,  177C.") 

"  Haines  was  tried  and  sentenced,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  or  twenty-ninth  of  September,  when  his  sentence  of  starvation 
probably  coii,menced  to  run.  Six,  if  not  seven,  days  afterwards,  he 
petitioned  for  food,  saying  "he  had  not  whereHithal  to  suport  himself," 
his  jailers,  in  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,  doing  nothing  more  than  to  read  his 
Petition,  and  to  place  it  on  their  files,  {page  293,  anle.)  It  is  not  probable 
that  his  long  fast  was  continued  longer  thau  the  succeeding  midnight. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


295 


the  Asia,  man-of-war,  then  lying  in  the  stream.' 
Captain  Vandeput  of  that  ship,  treated  him  icindly  ; 
'gave  him  an  order  for  some  oars ;  and  evidently  found 
a  way  to  restore  him  to  his  home,  in  Rye.  He  was 
there,  during  the  same  month,  engaged  in  "  getting 
"  out  a  parcel  of  oars  for  the  man-of-war,"  in  New- 
York,^  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  "  was 
"  determined  to  have  satisfaction  on  some  particular 
"persons,"  evidently  in  retaliation  for  the  wrongs 
which  those  persons  had  inflicted  on  him.^ 

Tlie  subsequent  career  of  that  unfortunate  victim 
of  Westchester-county's  "  patriotism  "  would  afford 
material  for  a  romance,  as  it  has  done  that  for  dis- 
passionate historj'.  During  the  succeeding  Decem- 
ber [1775],  in  company  with  "  one  Palmer  " — said 
to  have  been  of  Mamaroneck — he  loaded  the  Sloop 
Polii/  and  xIh/j,  which  he  had  recently  purchased  from 
Isaac  Gedney,  with  Beef,  Pork,  and  other  Provisions  ; 
and,  taking  on  board  three  quarter-casks  of  Madeira 
Wine,  a  package  of  Turnip.«,  and  other  articles,  all 
of  them  for  General  Howe,  and  other  packages  for 
General  Ruggles,  Mr.  Willard,  and  Mrs.  Ann  Wood, 
together  with  Isaac  Gedney,  Bartholomew  Haines 
(who  was  his  cousin)  Mr.  Palmer  (who  was  one  of  the 
owners  of  the  cargo),  and  seven  other  persons,  pas- 
sengers, he  sailed  for  Boston.  He  sailed  from  New 
York,  on  a  Wednesday,  the  nineteenth  of  December, 
nominally  for  the  West  Indies,  but  undoubtedly  for 
Boston.  It  appears,  however,  that  adversity  still  ac- 
companied him ;  and,  on  the  following  Saturday 
night,  [^December  23,  1775],  the  PoUy  and  Ann  was 
driven  ashore,  at  Squam  Beach,  on  the  coast  of  New 
Jersey,  so  widely  known  as  the  "  graveyard"  of  the 
mercantile  marine  of  the  world. 

The  savory  reputation  of  the  "  wreckers  "  of  that 
treacherous  cosist,  sometimes  made  more  treacherous 
by  reiison  of  the  false  lights  displayed  by  those  who 
lived  there,  will  prepare  the  reader  for  the  remainder 
of  that  sad  story  of  adventure  and  of  disaster — the 
vessel  does  not  appear  to  have  gone  to  pieces ;  and 
that  and  what  remained  of  her  cargo,  after  the 
"wreckers"  had  satisfied  themselves  from  it,  were 
seized  by  the  local  revolutionary  Committee  of 
Monmouth-county,  and  sold,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the 
owners  of  either  the  vessel  or  the  cargo,  but  for  what- 
ever other  purpose  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
Jersey  should  determine;  while  "  the  Captain,  Mas- 
"  ter,  and  Passengers,"  or  such  of  them  as  had  not 
already  abandoned  the  scene  of  their  last  affliction, 
after  nineteen  days  had  elapsed  since  the  wreck  of 


I  Haines  made  this  statement  to  one  of  the  guard  which  subsequently 
conveyed  bin  to  New- York,  after  lie  had  been  re  captured,  {Tettimmiy  of 
Major  Hfitderson^  before  the  CommUtee  of  SftfcOf ;)  and  he  also  made  the 
same  statement  to  David  Rhea,  [Testimony  of  David  Rhea^  before  the  tame 
Commillee:  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safeli/,  ''Die  Sabbati,  lU  bo., 
"A.M.,  January  20.  1776.") 

^  Examination  of  Gilbert  Budd  before  the  Provincial  Congress — Journal 
of  the  Provincial  Congreu,  "Die  Veneris,  5  ho.,  P.M.,  November  3, 
"  177.1." 

^A_fi<lavU  of  Philip  Pinckney,  November  1,  1775 — page  301,  post. 


the  Sloop,  were  ordered  to  be  sent,  duly  guarded,  to 
the  City  of  New  York,  and  delivered  to  the  Committee 
of  Safety  of  that  Colony.  As  may  be  foreseen,  God- 
frey Haines  was  remitted  to  the  tender  mercies  of 
those  from  whom  he  had  escaped,  in  the  preceding 
October.  * 

Three  days  after  Major  Henderson  and  his  prisoners 
reached  New  York,  [Januar!/  28,  1776,]  "The  Com- 
"  mittee  of  Safety  took  into  consideration  the  case  of 
"  Godfrey  Haines,  lately  apprehended  and  sent  here 
"  by  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  New  Jersey  ;  are  of 
"  opinion  that  his  many  and  mischievous  machina- 
"  tions  are  so  dangerous  that  he  ought  to  be  kei)t  in 
"  safe  custody  and  close  jail ;  and  that,  by  the  Res- 
"  olutions  of  the  Continental  Congress  of  the  second 
"  day  of  January  instant,^  they  are  fully  authorized, 
"  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  the  Country,  to  have  him 
"confined;  and  as  the  said  Godfrey  Haines  lately 
"  broke  the  Jail  of  this  City,  and  escaped,  when  he 
"  was  confined  there,  as  a  prisoner,®  and,  continuing 
"  his  evil  practices,'  set  off  to  navigate  a  vessel  loaded 
"  with  Provisions  to  supply  the  Ministerial  Army  and 
"  Navy,  at  Boston,  they  conceive  it  will  be  very 
"  dangerous  to  keep  or  convey  the  said  Godfrey 
"  Haines  to  Ulster-county  Jail,  unless  he  is  fettered 
"  or  manacled ;  therefore 

"  Resolved  and  Ordered,  That  the  said  Godfrey 
"  Haines  be  conveyed  to  Ulster-county  Jail,  to  be 
"  there  confined  in  safe  and  secure  custody,  in  close 
"jail,  until  the  further  order  of  the  Continental  or 
"  Provincial  Congress,  or  of  this  Committee.  And 

"Ordered,  That  the  said  Godfrey  Haines  be  sent, 
"  manacled  or  fettered,  under  guard,  to  Ulster-county 
"  Jail;  and  that  Colonel  McDougal  be  requested  to 
"  procure  an  Officer,  with  a  proper  Guard  of  the 
"  Militia  or  Minute-men  of  this  City,  to  guard  the 
"  said  prisoner  and  the  other  prisoners  heretofore 
"  ordered  to  jail,  to  Kingston,  in  Ulster-county."**  At 
the  same  time,  a  letter  was  written  to  the  Ulster- 
county  Committee,  "praying"  that  body  "  that  very 
"  pariicular  directions  for  keeping  him  in  safe  cus- 
"  tody,  to  prevent  his  escape,  be  given  as  to  Haines, 

<This  statement  is  based  on  the  ^Iffidavit  of  James  IFeifc,  one  nf  the 
passengers;  on  the  Proceedings  of  the  Commillee  of  Safely  of  New- Jersey, 
'•with  resprcl  lo  Uiose  Prisoners;"  on  the  Supplementary  statement  of 
James  n'ebb ;  on  the  Testimony  vf  David  Uhea  ;  and  on  the  SlHlmietit*  of 
Major  Thomas  Henderson  of  the  Monmouth-county  Minute  men,  who  con- 
veyed the  prisoners  to  New  York. 

"The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  that  the  Committee  carefully  con- 
cealed the  notable  enactment  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  of  tlie  first  of 
the  preceding  September,  {rile  payes  287-289,  ante.) 

«The  Coinmittoe  made  no  mention  of  the  fact  that  he  had,  then,  been 
kept  without  food  or  water,  a  full  week  ;  and  that,  siiu  e  his  pniyer  for 
food  had  been  disregarded  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  he  wiw  compelled 
either  to  force  bis  way  out  of  the  prisoner  to  starve,  (vide  pageWi, 
ante.) 

'The  only  "evil  practises "  for  which  he  had  been  condemned  were 
"denying  the  authority  and  speaking  contemptuously  of  the  Congresses 
"and  the  Committee  of  Westcliester-county " — Kunice  Punly  had 
made  other  charges  Hgniiist  him,  which,  however,  had  evidently  been 
dismissed  by  the  County  Coiuniittee,  (vide  page  I'M,  ante.) 

> Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Die  Martis,  .1  ho.,  P.M.,  2^r<l 
"Jan'y,  1770." 


296 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  as  he  formerly  broke  the  Jail,  in  this  City,  and  made 
"  his  escape  ;  "  and,  at  the  same  time,  directing  that 
Committee  to  "appoint  some  person  whom  you  shall 
"  think  proper,  to  supply  them  with  the  necessaries  of 
"  life,  at  their  own  expense,  if  they  can  pay  for  them  ; 
"  and  if  they  cannot,  at  the  public  expense."  ^  Agree- 
ably to  that  prayer,  a  special  Guard  of  Grenadiers  was 
placed  over  Godfrey  and  his  two  fellow-prisoners ; 
and  the  Committee,  in  Kingston,  said,  "  they  will  be 
"  safe,  we  think."  - 

The  subsequent  career  of  Godfrey  Haines,  as  far  as 
it  is  known,  can  be  told  in  few  words — the  severity  of 
the  treatment  which  he  had  received  and  which  he 
continued  to  receive  broke  down  his  health  ;  and  the 
Committee  of  Ulster-county  was  apjilied  to,  to  permit 
him  to  be  removed  from  his  close  confinement  and  to 
have  "  the  liberty  of  the  house,"  until  he  should  have 
recovered  his  health  and  strength.  Permission  was 
accordingly  given  for  his  liberation  from  his  manacles 
and  his  close  imprisonment;  and,  very  evidently,  the 
sympathy  of  those  who  held  him  in  custody  was 
turned  toward  him  far  enough  to  permit  him  to  escape.'' 
We  have  found  nothing  farther  concerning  him. 

There  were  other  arrests  in  Westchester-county 
similar  to  that  of  Godfrey  Haines,  one  of  which,  that 
of  Elijah  Weeks,  was  followed  by  an  attempt  to  rescue 
him,  by  an  armed  force,  among  the  latter  of  whom 
were  Isaac  Gedney,  Junior,^  William  Nelson,*  Joshua 
Boyea,  Jo.^hua  Ferris,'^  Bartholomew  Haines,'  Elijah 
Haines,  William  Haines,  and  Joiin  Haines,  the  per- 
sons who  made  the  arrest  having  been  Job  Haddon, 
of  Harrison  Precinct,  Benjamin  Morrell,  of  New 
York,  and  Isaac  SnitFen,  of  Rye-neck.* 


^  Letter  from  the  Committee  o  f  Sa/eli/  to  the  C>mmitlee  of  Ulster-county 
"In  Committee  of  Safety,  New-Youk,  23rd  Jaiiy,  177G." 

^  Letter  from  the  UUter  county  VommiUee  to  the  Committee  of  Safety^, 
"KiNfiSTON,  January  'iVth,  1776." 

^  Willitwi  Elsworthj  Chairvtan  of  the  Vhter-couiity  Comviittee^  to  the 
Provincial  Congress,  "Kingston,  May  22,  1776;"  Journal  of  the  Prooin 
Cial  Congress,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May  25,  1776." 

*  Isaac  Gidriey,  probably  the  same  person,  visited  Governor  Tryon,  on 
the  Duchess  of  Gordon,  a  few  months  afterwards,  (Eramination  of  Wil- 
liam Sutton  before  the  Westchester-county  Committee,    July  2-3,  177C.) 

5  William  Nelson  was  one  of  those  who,  in  the  following  year,  "were 
"supposed  to  have  gone  to  the  British  Army,"  (List  of  Sundry  Persons, 
Inhabitants  of  Corthindt's  Manor,  etc. :  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc. ;  Mis. 
cellaneous  Papers,  xxxvi.,  594). 

s  Joshua  Ferris,  a  son  of  Caleb  Ferris,  was  cue  of  those  who  went  on 
board  the  Phunijr,  when  that  ship  went  up  the  Hudson,  in  July,  1776, 
{Examination  of  Joshtta  Ferris :  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc. :  MisceltaneoUg 
Papers,  XXXV.,  69,  85.)  He,  or  another  pcnson  bearing  the  same  name, 
wasapiisoner,  intlieJail  at  the  White  Plains,  in  September,  177i;,at  which 
time  he  petitioned  the  Provincial  Congress  "that  His  Irons  may  be 
"taken  off  as  he  caunott  posibly  Shift  Himself  or  get  clear  of  the  Ver- 
"uiin,  with  which  he  is  Greatly  Infected  to  the  great  disturbance  of  his 
"unfortunate  fellow  prisoners,"  (Hisloricid  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Petitions, 
xxxiii.,  82.) 

'  Bartholomew  Haines,  a  cousin  of  Godfrey  Haines,  was  one  of  those 
who  were  reported  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  obnoxious  to  the  revo- 
lutionary faction  iu  Westchester-county,  {page  29U,  ante;)  and  he  was, 
also,  one  of  those  who  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  the  Jail,  at 
the  White  Plains,  in  the  Summer  of  111 {Uistorical  3Iiiuuscripts,  etc. : 
Petitions,  xxxiii.,  108.) 

8  Letter  from  the  Sub-committee  of  the  Committee  of  Westchester-county 
to  the  Prorincial  Congress,  '  White  Plains,  November  1,  1775." 


Among  those  who  were,  also,  arrested  and  thrown 
into  prison,  by  the  Committee  of  Westchester-county, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  enactment  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  which  is  now  under  consideration, 
were  Joshua  Purdy,  Caleb  Morgan,  John  McCord, 
Gilbert  Horton,  Josiah  Brown,  Edmund  Ward, 
Samuel  Merrit,  Philip  Fowler,  Gabriel  Purdy,  Wil- 
liam Barker,  Junior,  John  Besley,  Isaac  Brown,  Bar- 
tholomew Haines,  Joseph  Purdy,  and  Jonathan 
Purdy;  and,  as  an  evidence  of  the  wide-spread  ruin 
which  was  inflicted  on  the  inhabitants  of  the 
County,  by  the  sequestrations  of  the  real  and  personal 
estates  of  those  who  were  "  suspected  "  of  being  op- 
posed to  the  Rebellion,  there  were  sequestrated  in  the 
single  Town  of  Salem,  prior  to  the  sixth  of  December, 
1776,  the  properties  of  Ephraim  Sanford,  Thomas 
Smith,  Benjamin  Close,  Gilbert  Hum,  Samuel  Bax- 
ter, Abraham  Close,  Job  Keeler,  Jonathan  Wallace, 
Ezra  Morehouse,  Jacob  Wallace,  Samuel  Wallace, 
Nathaniel  Palmer,  Nathan  Osborn,  Abraham  Dan, 
Edward  Jones,  and  George  Butson.* 

It  was  a  reasonable  consequence,  under  the  exist- 
ing circumstances,  that  questions  should  be  raised, 
concerning  the  legitimacy  of  any  such  authority  as 
the  Provincial  Congress  had  created,  in  these  enact- 
ments, and  delegated  to  the  several  local  Committees, 
none  of  which  were  recognized  by  the  Law  of  the 
land  and  all  of  which  were  antagonistic  to  those 
Laws.  It  was  a  short-sighted  policy,  also,  even 
among  those  who  were  in  rebellion,  which  inflicted 
penalties,  especially  such  penalties  as  these,  on  those 
persons  who  continued,  peacefullj',  on  their  respec- 
tive farms,  quietly  pursuing  their  daily  labors,  hon- 
estly respecting  the  Laws  of  the  country,  and  con- 
sistently recognizing  and  honoring  the  Sovereignty 
of  the  King,  whom  even  those  who  were  in  rebellion 
quite  as  fully  recognized,  as  their  undoubted  Sove- 
reign ;  and  these,  for  no  other  reason  than  for  disre- 
spectful words,  concerning  the  several  Committees 
and  Congresses,  and  for  the  utterance  of  questions 
concerning  their  respective  authorities.  It  was  a 
reasonable  consequence,  under  existing  circumstances, 
we  repeat,  that  quiet  men  should  become  excited  and 
excitable  men  angry,  and  that  all  .should  become 
alarmed  and  indignant,  when  a  mere  handful  of  their 
neighbors,  without  their  "  consent"  and  without  the 
slightest  warrant  of  Law  and  without  the  slightest 
necessity,  usurped  and  maintained  such  unheard-of 
authority  as  was  created  in  these  enactments;  and  it 
was  equally  reasonable,  under  the  circumstances 
which  then  existed,  that  there  should  be  neighborly 
consultations  and  neighborhood  organizations,  as  well 
as  personal  efforts,  for  the  support  and  protection  of 

*  The  names  of  those  who  were  arrested  and  imprisoned,  which  are 
named  in  the  text,  were  copied  from  a  single  Petition  for  relief,  {Historical 
Manuscripts,  etc. :  Petitions,  x.xxiii..  108) ;  but  there  were  many  others. 
The  names  of^those  farmere,  in  Salem,  whose  Farms,  Stock,  Tools,  Crops, 
Household  Furniture,  etc.,  were  thus  seized  and  sold,  were  taken  from 
the  same  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Miscellaneous  Papers,  xx.w. 
3117,  in  which  the  properties  are  mentioned,  in  detail. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


the  personal  and  domestic  and  political  Rights 
whiih  tiiose  tanners  indisputably  possessed,  under 
the  Constitution  and  the  Laws  of  the  Kinfiduui— they 
would  have  been  unworthy  of  their  manhood  and 
of  their  families,  of  their  homes  and  of  their  Rights, 
had  they  failed  to  become  excited  and  alarmeii,  to 
have  armed  and  organized  and  fought,  for  themselves 
and  their  wives  and  their  little  ones,  for  their  homes 
and  tlu'ir  proi>erties  and  their  Rights,  whenever  anil 
by  whomsoever  and  under  whatever  pretence  of  ill- 
gotten  authority,  these  might  have  been  assailed. 
It  was  a  mistake,  iis  well  iis  a  crime,  therefore,  to  as- 
sume authority  for  the  arrest  and  imjjrisoninent  of 
men  and  for  the  sequestration  of  their  properties  and 
the  im]iovi'rishniont  of  the  aged  and  of  the  dependent 
and  heljtless,  without  a  shadow  of  legal  authority  ami 
in  audacious  defiance  of  it ;  without  a  shadow  of  ex- 
isting necessity,  even  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Re- 
bellion, for  the  enactment  of  such  extreme  measures; 
and  with  u  reasonable  assurance  that  a  manly  self- 
respect  among  those  who  were  proscribed,  would  be 
surely  aroused,  not  only  for  their  own  and  their  fam- 
ilies' protection,  but,  as  far  as  they  could  do  it, 
for  the  suppression  of  that  haughty  lawlessness 
which  had  presumed  to  create  and  to  enforce  so  grave 
an  enactment  of  despotism.  It  was  loudly  declared 
to  have  been  the  most  ardent  wish  of  even  the  most 
advanced  advocate  of  rebellion,  to  have  secured  a 
reconciliation  with  the  ilother  Country  and  a  restor- 
ation of  harmony  and  good-will  among  the  adverse 
parties  throughout  the  several  Colonies  : '  how  much 
more  of  wisdom  there  would  have  been  displayed 
among  those  who  had  seized  the  reins  of  government, 
therefore,  had  they  practised  their  hands  in  the  work 
of  reconciliation  and  harmony  and  goodwill  among 
their  neighbors,  instead  of  driving  the  staid  and  the 
quiet  and  the  conscientious  and  the  law-abiding, 
among  the  latter,  into  active  and  bitter  ])artisauship, 
and  of  spreading  alarm  and  strife  and  misery  and 
ruin  over  the  entire  County.  There  might  have  been 
fewer  transformations  of  moral  and  intellectual  pig- 
mies into  potent  political  giants — there  might  have 
been  a  smaller  number  of  fortunes  rapidly  and  largely 
increased  from  the  plunder  of  neighboring  better- 
provided-for  households  and  farmyards — but  there 
would  have  been,  also,  fewer  outrages  against  the 
I^aws  of  both  man  and  of  God;  less  occasion  for  bit- 
terness among  the  descendants  of  those  who  were, 
then,  neighbors  in  locality,  if  not  in  fact ;  and  very 
much  less  for  the  faithful  historian  to  condemn  and 
to  denounce,  while  reciting  the  annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  as  that  Revolution  was  developed 

1  "The  thought  that  we  might  be  driren  to  the  sad  neceaiity  ot  break- 
"  ing  our  coniwtiiiii  with  Great  Britain,  exclusive  of  tin- carnage  anri 
"  destruction,  which  it  was  ea-sy  to  see  luust  attend  llie  separation,  always 
"  gave  n>e  a  gri'at  deal  ot  grief.  And  even  no%v,  I  would  cheerfully  re- 
"  tire  fnim  pulilic  life,  forever,  renounce  all  chance  for  honors  or 
"profits  from  the  public,  nay,  I  would  cheerfully  contribute  niy  little 
"property,  to  ol>t<iiu  peace  and  lilierty." — (./»/»m  .IiJumi*  Io  ku  Wife, 
"October,  177.'>.") 
22 


and  seen  in  the  agricultural  and  prosperous  and 
peaceful  County  of  Westchester,  in  New  York.  But 
the  end  of  such  outrages  had  not  yet  come. 

While  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Provincial  Congress,  authorizing  local 
Committees  to  seize  and  imprison  ami  disarm  and 
deprive  of  their  estates  those  who  should  become 
obnoxious  to  those  local  demagogues  and  against 
whom,  by  fair  means  or  l)y  foul,  an  accusation  of  nn- 
frieiully  thoughts  or  words  against  the  Rebellion 
could  possibly  be  trumped  up,  was  at  its  height,  and 
while  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  County  were 
already  suffering  from  imjjrisonment,  attended  by 
the  most  distressing  circumstances,  under  the  provis- 
ions of  those  enactments,  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
whom  the  Provincial  I'ongress  had  left  on  duty,  with 
a  limited  authority,  during  a  brief  recess  of  the  lat- 
ter body,  still  further  aroused  the  excitement  and  the 
indignation  of  the  greater  number  of  the  Colonists  in 
New  York,  of  nearly  all  of  those  within  Wcstches- 
ter-county,  by  the  publication  of  the  following  Reso- 
lution and  Orders  : 

"  i.\  com.mittee  of  s.\1-kty, 
"  For  the  Colony  of  New  York, 
"September  16th,  1775. 

'"  Whereas,  a  great  number  of  the  men  enlisted  in 
"  the  Continental  Service,  in  this  Colony,  arc  desti- 
"  tutc  of  Arms,  and  in  order  to  carry  into  execution 
"the  Resolutions  of  the  Continental  Congress,  it  is 
"  absolutely  necessary  to  have  those  troops  armed  : 
"And  WHEREAS,  every  method  to  hire  or  purchase 
"Anns,  hitherto  attempted,  has  failed  to  jjrocure  a 
"  sutficient  number  of  Arms  for  the  said  troops,  and 
"the  only  method  remaining  is  to  impress  Arms  for 
"  their  use, 

"  Resolved,  therefore.  That  all  such  Arms  as  are 
"  fit  for  the  use  of  the  troops  raised  in  this  Colony, 
"  which  shall  be  found  in  the  hands  or  custody  of  any 
"  person  who  has  not  signed  the  (icnernl  Ax.sociafion 
"  in  this  Colony,  shall  be  impressed  for  the  use  of  the 
"  said  troops.  And 

"Ordered,  That  the  person  or  persons  who  shall 
"  have  the  charge  of  the  carrying  this  Resolution  into 
"  execution,  in  each  County,  shall  direct  all  the  Arms 
"that  shall  be  so  impressed,  to  be  collected  at  some 
"  place  in  the  County  where  they  are  impressed,  and 
"  there  valued  and  a|)praised  by  three  indifferent  men 
"  of  reputation  of  the  County,  any  two  of  whom 
"  agreeing,  shall  be  sufficient  to  ascertain  the  price ; 
"that  an  account  be  kept  from  whom  every  Musket, 
"Gun,  or  Firelock,  so  impressed,  shall  have  been 
"taken;  and  each  such  Gun,  3Iu.sket,  or  Firelock 
"caused  to  be  marked  with  the  initial  letter  of  the 
"  name  of  the  County  where  it  is  impressed  and  num- 
"  bered,  the  numbers  following  each  other,  succes- 
"sively ;  and  that  the  same  be  entered  in  a  book  pro- 
"  vided  for  that  purpose,  with  the  name  of  the  owner 
"op|)osite  to  the  number  marked  on  each  Musket, 
"Gun,  or  Firelock,  respectively.  And 


298 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  Orhered,  That  a  Certificate,  specifying  the  value 
"and  the  mark  of  the  Musket,  Gun,  or  Firelock  so 
"  impressed,  appraised,  and  marked,  shall  be  signed 
"  by  the  Aj)praisers  and  Impressers,  which  shall  enti- 
"  tie  the  owner  thereof  to  receive  the  appraised  value 
"  from  the  Treasurer  of  tlie  Provincial  Congress  oi 
"  this  Colony :  Provided  the  same  be  not  returned  at 
"  or  before  the  conclusion  of  the  present  unhappy 
"  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  the  united 
'■  Colonies.  And  tiiat  an  account,  signed  by  the  said 
"  Appraisers  and  Impressers,  of  all  such  Muskets, 
"  Guns,  and  Firelocks,  so  impressed,  shall  be  sent, 
"  Ibrthwith,  to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
"  gress,  or  either  of  them,  to  be  filed.  And  that  all 
"  the  Muskets,  Guns,  and  Firelocks  so  impressed,  on 
"  Nassau  Island,'  be  delivered,  without  delay,  to  Peter 
"  T.  Curtenius,  the  Commissary  of  the  Provincial 
"  Congress  of  this  Colony;  and  those  that  shall  be  im- 
"  pressed  in  the  other  Counties  of  this  Colony,  to  be 
"  deposited  mth  their  respective  Committees,  subject 
"  to  the  order  of  the  said  Provincial  Congress  or  Com- 
"  mittee  of  Safety.  And 

"Ordered,  That  the  Cajjtairis  of  the  respective 
"Companies  of  the  Third  Regiment  of  the  troops  of 
"this  Colony,  who  are  now  in  Sutlbik-county,  be 
"  authorized  to  carry  these  Resolutions  into  execu- 
"  tion  in  Queens-county.  That  Colonel  Lasher-  l)c 
"requested  to  send  two  or  more  Companies  of  his 
"  Battalion,  to  give  such  assistance  in  (Jueens-county 
"  as  may  be  necessary,  at  such  tiTue  and  to  such  place 
"  or  places  as  Colonel  IMcDougal  and  .John  Slo.ss  Ho- 
"  bart,  Esq.,  shall  direct  or  advise.  And 

"Ordered  farther,  That  the  Chairman  of  the 
"  Committee  and  Captain  Dutcher,'' with  such  drafts 
"  from  the  Militia  as  he  siiall  think  necessary,  or  with 
"  the  assistance  of  some  of  General  Wooster's  troops,* 
"be  enabled  to  carry  the  said  Resolutions  into  effect, 
"  in  Westchester-county.  And  that  these  Resolutions 
"be  carried  into  execution,  in  every  other  County,  by 
"the  Chairman  of  the  County  Committee,  with  the 
"assistance  of  the  Militia  Ofticers,  who  are  hereby 
"ordered  to  be  aiding  therein  with  such  jtarts  of  the 
"  Militia  as  each  such  Chairman  shall  think  necessary. 
"And 

"  Ordered,  That  the  several  i)ersons  who  shall  be 
"  disarmed  by  virtue  of  the  above  Resolutions,  shall 
"  be  exempted  from  doing  duty  in  the  Militia,  as  or- 
"dered  by  the  Provincial  Congress  of  this  Colony. 
"  And  farther 

"  Ordered,  That  in  case  any  of  the  non-associators 
"  aforesaid  shall  resist  those  persons  authorized  to 

>  I/ong  Island  was  continued  to  lie  called  "Nassan  Island,  '  long  after 
1775. 

-.Tohn  l.aslier  was  Colonel  of  First  Regiment  of  New  York  City  (uni- 
formed) Militia. 

William  Diitcher,  of  what  is  now  Irvington,  vvas  Cajitain  of  "  the 
"  Associated  C'onirany  of  the  upper  part  of  rhilipseliurgh,  "  {vidr  poge2S2 
anlf.) 

*  General  AVooster  was  encamped  near  Harlem,  on  Manhattan  Island, 
» ith  a  large  hody  of  troops,  brought  thither  from  Connecticut. 


"  put  these  Resolutions  into  execution,  they  (the  per- 
"  sons  hereby  authorized  to  put  in  execution  the 
"above  Resolves)  are  hereby  authorized  to  repel 
"  force  by  force,  and  to  take  into  custody  such  jier- 
"  sou  or  persons  so  resisting,  and  cause  him  or  them 
■'  to  be  brought  before  this  Committee  or  the  Provin- 
"  cial  Congress  of  this  Colony."  ^ 

The  real  purpose  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  in  the 
adoption  and  publication  of  this  Resolution  and  of 
these  several  Orders,  was  the  entire  disarmament  of 
every  one  who,  for  any  reason,  had  neglected  or  de- 
clined to  sign  the  General  As-soridfion  ;  and,  lor  that 
reason,  every  class  of  fire-arms,  whether  adapted  to 
the  uses  of  the  Army  or  not,  was  included,  in  every 
instance,  in  the  Orders  wherein  the  Arms  to  be 
seized  were  specifically  described.  It  will  be  seen, 
also,  that  the  Counties  of  Queens  and  Westchester 
were  especially  noticed  ;  and  that  they,  alone,  were 
selected  for  details  of  foreign  troops,  lor  the  enforce- 
ment, within  each  of  them,  respectively,  of  the  ut- 
most rc()uirements  of  the  Committee's  Orders — be- 
sides the  local  IVIilitia,  in  each  of  the  two  Counties, 
thus  honored  by  the  Committee  of  Safety's  malignant 
animosity,  a  large  additional  force  of  troojis,  from 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  County,  in  each 
instance,  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  those  who 
were  sent,  within  those  Counties,  respectively,  for 
the  "  impressment"  of  the  Arms,  in  order  to  ensure 
the  most  comj)letc  success  of  the  enterprise. 

It  must  have  been  peculiarly  galling,  among  those 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  hear  of  the  "  Rights  of 
"  Man  "  and  of  the  "  Constitutional  Rights  of  English- 
"men  "  and  all  the  other  catchwords  and  maxims  in 
the  science  of  government — generally  true,  in  theory, 
although,  i>ractically,  they  had  been  seized  and  cm- 
ployed  bj'  demagogues,  in  those  instances,  only  for  the 
advancement  of  personal  and  partisan  ends — when  a 
military  force,  no  matter  by  whom  commanded  nor 
of  what  troops  it  was  composed,  was  moved  from  farm- 
house to  farmhouse,  failing  to  call  only  on  those  who 
were  in  favor  with  the  Chairman  of  a  County  Com- 
mittee, for  the  seizure  of  whatever  "  Muskets,  Guns, 
"  and  Firelocks "  the  occupants  of  those  several 
farmhouses  owned  or  had  in  their  possession.  Not 
an  exception  was  made,  no  matter  what  reason  there 
might  have  been  for  such  an  exception  ;  and  every- 
thing which  had  a  gun-lock  on  it,  whether  useful  or 
useless  for  military  purposes — whether  a  young  man's 
fowling-piece,  with  which  he  was  wont  to  have  a  few 
hours'  sport,  when  sriuirrels  and  robins  abounded,  or 
to  have  more  serious  work,  when  foxes  and  more 
formidable  marauders  poached  in  the  poultry-yards 
or  in  the  sheep-i>astures  ;  or  an  old  man's  worn-out 
musket,  a  trusty  friend  in  earlier  AVars  and,  now, 
onlj'  a  remembrancer  of  other  days  and  other  hard- 
ships— everything  was  doomed,  by  that  uew-formed 


^  Journal  nf  the  VomtiiUlet  oj  SiJ'eli/,  "Die  .Sibbati,  '.>  ho.,  .\.JI.,  Septem- 
"  her  16th,  1775." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


power,  to  seizure  and,  practically,  to  tbrleiture.  There 
was  grave  reason  for  increased  discontent  and  excite- 
ment. There  was  ample  reason,  under  the  circum- 
stances which  then  existed,  for  obstructing  the  execu- 
tion of  tlic  t^ommittee's  Orders — indeed,  there  was 
greater  reason  for  concealing  the  objects  whicli  the 
military  force  was  expected  to  seize  and  "impress," 
under  the  provisions  of  these  Orders,  than  there  had 
been  for  tlie  concealment  of  the  Bay  Colony's  military 
stores,  at  Concord,  when  Ijieutenant-colonel  Smith 
and  Major  Pitcaini  were  sent  to  seize  them,  and  for 
resisting  the  aggression  of  the  {committee,  tliaii  there 
had  been  for  the  punishment  of  the  invader,  in  that 
instance,  after  his  work  had  been  finished,  on  tlie 
highway,  between  Concord  and  Charlestown.' 

It  is  said  that,  in  (Queens-county,  "  the  people 
"conceal  all  their  Arms  that  are  of  any  value;  many 
"declare  they  know  nothing  about  the  Congress, 
"  nor  do  they  care  anything  Ibr  the  Orders  of  the 
"  Congress,  and  say  th.at  they  would  sooner  lose  their 
"  lives  than  give  up  their  Arms  ;  and  that  they  would 
"blow  any  man's  brains  out,  who  should  attempt  to 
"  take  them  from  them.  We  are  told,"  the  writer 
continued,  "  that  the  people  have  been  collecting 
"  together,  and  parading,  in  sundry  places,  armed, 
"  and  firing  their  Muskets,  by  way  of  bravado.  On 
"  the  whole,  had  we  the  Battalion  "  [Lasher's}  "  we 
"  believe  we  should  be  able  to  collect  a  very  cousider- 
"  able  number  of  good  Arms  and  support  the  honour  ol 
"  Congress  ;  but  without  it,  shall  not — and  think  that 
"  if  the  Battalion  is  sent  up,  the  sooner  the  better." -' 

There  are  no  known  records  of  the  doings  of  Gil- 
bert Drake  and  Captain  William  L)ut(dier,  in  their 
tours  of  pillage,  among  the  conservative  and 
peaceful  farmers  of  Westchester-connty  ;  but  there 
appears,  from  a  brief  mention  which  has  been  made, 

*  Doctor  Sparks  noticed  this  (►utrage,  in  tliese  words:  "  Tlie  (_'iiniiiiittee 
"  r«.i«oncd  but  iniiM-rfectiy  from  the  facts  of  history  iiuil  the  pi  inciiilcs  of 
"  liiuniLU  nature,  when  tliey  stipposed  tliat  people,  witii  arms  in  tlieir 
"  liands,  would  be  tempted  to  resign  them,  by  such  motives  as  were  held 
"out.  They  must  either  he  treated  as  friends  or  enemies.  If  friends, 
"their  safety  and  interest  reipiired  that  the  soldiers  who  were  to  pni- 
"  tect  their  property  and  ilel'end  their  rights  shouM  he  armed  ;  and  the 
"call  of  patriotism  would  be  the  loudest  that  could  be  mailc  to  them. 
"  While  deaf  to  this  call,  Ihey  would  not  he  made  to  listen  to  the  Orders 
"of  a  Committee  or  the  Resolves  of  a  Conjcress.  If  enemies,  the  sense 
*'of  present  danger,  operating  on  the  fii"st  law  of  nature,  would  prompt 
"them  to  keep  within  their  power,  their  only  sure  means  of  defem.'-. 
"In  either  case,  the  idea  of  taking  away  their  arms,  by  a  compulsory 
"  impressment,  had  little  to  recommend  it,  either  in  policy  or  prudence." 
— {Life  of  (lonvtnieiir  Mnrrix,  i.,  G3.) 

The  Doctor  reasoned,  above,  on  the  ground  that  the  Order  of  tlic  Com- 
mittee wius  an  isolated  act,  disconnectetl  with  any  other  of  the  class ;  and 
he  rei\s<meil  well,  on  that  premise;  but  the  fart  was,  another  OnUrhad 
just  been  made,  iti  xrcrft.  to  seize  the  persons  and  properties  of  those  who 
Were  obnoxious  to  the  Committee  and  its  sulH)rdinate0  ;  auri  it  was  con- 
sidered necessary,  for  the  safety  of  the  marauders,  to  deprive  the 
sei-retly  proposed  victims  of  that  earlier  enactment,  of  their  means  for 
defence,  before  it  commenced,  openly,  its  work  of  lawlessness  and  unt- 
rage,  on  the  persons  and  properties  of  those  who  had  buen  or  wlio  should, 
thenceforth,  be  designated  as  its  victims. 

■-  l.i'llT  frmn  Mitjnr  Il'iVdiim  11  i7/i<iiiik  In  llif  lA^iiiuiilln  i,j  Sfl>V/v, 
"Jam.vii".^,  September '2,'>th,  10  o'clock,  l*.M." 

M^or  Williams  appears  to  have  lieen  a  resident  of  (Queens-county. 


in  other  connections,  that  the  men  of  that  County, 
like  those  of  (iueeus-county,  armed  themselves,  and 
patroled  the  County,  in  large  parties,  to  guard  against 
surprises ;  declaring  their  determination  to  defend 
themselves,  and  saying  "  that  if  any  body  came  to 
"  their  houses  to  take  away  their  Arms,  they  would 
"  lire  upon  them."  '  Itappears,  also,  that  the  declara- 
tion was  fully  sustained  ;  that  the  united  farmers 
proved  more  than  a  match  for  the  local  Militia  and 
the  other  troo})s  which  the  Chairman  of  the  County 
Committee  had  been  authorized  to  call  for  his  sup- 
l)ort ;  and  that,  for  the  more  effectual  accomplish- 
ment of  his  purposes,  that  Chairman  had  assumed 
still  further  authority,  by  calling  on  the  floating 
po])ulation  of  the  neighboring  Towns,  in  Connecticut, 
for  reinforcements^ — as  the  Chairman  of  the  County 
Committee  wa.s  authorized  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  to  call  for  the  entire  Militia  of  the  County, 
already  seem  to  have  been  sufficient  to  fill  three 
Regiments,''  and  as  many  of  General  Wooster's  com- 
mand of  Connecticut  troops,  then  encamped  below 
Harlem,"  and  numbering  "about  400  men,"  '  as 
should  be  ret|uired,  that  opposition  must  have  been 
wide-spread  and  resolutely  maintained,  in  Wesl- 
chester-county,  which  had  retjuired,  in  addition  to 
all  these,  for  its  supi)ression,  an  additional  force, 
drawn  from  what  may  be  properly  called  the  Swiss 
Guards  of  Colonial  America,  mercenaries,  who, 
while  they  i)rofessed  to  have  been  ardent  friends  ot 
Freedom,  were,  nevertheless,  whenever  they  could 
see  any  possible  advantage  to  their  individual  inter- 
ests, constantly  ready  to  enlist  in  any  service,  out- 
side of  Connecticut,  and  to  become,  in  their  new 
associations,  the  most  devoted  of  all  supporters  of 
despotism  and  the  most  relentless  of  all  persecutors 
of  those,  no  matter  of  what  country,  who  dared  to 
(juestion  the  sanctity  of  the  assumed  authority  of 
those  who  employed  them. 

^  Testimony  of  Colonel  Gilbert  Budd  of  Mmiiaroneelc^  before  the  I^orinrliil 
( 'otitjrrns^ — Jtnintal  of  tlie  Prorineial  OnnjrtHs^  "  Die  \*eneris,  10  h4».  A.M.. 
"  November  !i,  ITiri,"  {vide  jnitje  302,  ptmt.) 

*  This  contlict  between  those  who  were  executing  the  Orders  of  the 
f'uininittee  of  Safety,  for  the  tlisarmameiit  of  those  who  had  not  signed 
tlie  and  those,  in  We.stchester-county,  who  were  intended  tu 

have  been  the  victims  vf  the  Committee's  aggressive  policy,  has  been 
studiously  concealed  by  all  who  have  written  on  the  subject  of  the 
.\iuerican  Revolution  ;  but  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  twelfth  of 
December,  gave  the  fonnal  thaidvs  of  that  boily  "to  those  of  the  In- 
"  habitants  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  who  so  cheerfully  gave 
"their  aid,  at  the  request  of  the  Committee  of  Westchester-connly. 
"  in  the  late  suppression  of  the  Insurgents  in  that  Omnty,  against  the 
"cause  of  Liberty."  {Jottnutl  of  the  Prorinrial  Ctoii/reint.  "Die  Marlis,  3 
"ho..  P.M..  Deer.  12tli,  177.'>,")  which  is  ample  authority,  for  the 

i  statenu-nt.  in  the  text. 

I      ■>  See  pages  SKI,  282,  283,  ante. 

I  ''Oeneral  Wottster  and  his  connuand  were  encamped  (»n  property 
belonging  to  Arent  Bussing,  near  Harlem,  from  the  eighteenth  of  .lul>. 
preceding,  {Jounml  of  Prorincial  Co,iijr-ia,  "  Die  Marti.s,  !l  ho.,  .\.  M.. 
"July  ISth,  177.'-..") 

■  "General  Wooster  is  at  Harlem,  with  atwut  40<)  men,  which  appear 
"to  us  to  be  unemployed,"  U.elliT  from  the  Cintimitire  of  Safelij  to  the  C'tm- 
tiiiental  Cotujregu,  "In  Committkk  of  Savkty  fok  Till;  Coi.onv  ok  Nkw 

"  VoHK,  nUKINO  THE  KF.<'K.<S  OK  THE  PROVIM  IAI.  C0MIKR.S.S  NeW-VoHK, 

"Sept.  1»,  1775.''^ 


300 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


It  is  proper  that  notice  shall  he  taken,  in  this  con- 
nection, of  the  fact  that  the  Provincial  Congress,  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  October,  twenty  days  after  that 
body  had  returned  to  its  place  and  to  its  work  and 
thirty-eight  days  after  its  Committee  of  Safety  had 
adopted  and  published  the  Resolution  and  Orders, 
"relating  to  the  impressment  of  Arms,"  wliich  have 
been  thus  described  and  denounced,  passed  a  formal 
Resolution  "  disapproving  "  and,  therefore,  abrogating 
them  ;  ^  but  the  mischief  which  had  necessarily  pro- 
ceeded from  the  adoption  and  publication  and  at- 
tempts to  execute  that  Resolution  and  those  Orders, 
could  not  be  undone;  the  wounds  which  had  been 
inflicted,  were  too  deep  to  be  healed  by  such  an  emol- 
lient; and  an  increased  and  constantly  increasing 
bitterness  of  feeling,  between  the  conservative  and 
the  revolutionary  portions  of  the  inhabitants,  was 
every  where  seen,  scattering  its  baleful  and  ruinous 
influence,  from  one  extreme  of  the  County  to  the 
other. 

The  radical  changes  in  the  characters  and  conduct 
of  the  previously  quiet  and  orderly  and  industrious 
and  prosperous  inhabitants  of  Westchester-county, 
which  were  j)roduced  by  the  succession  of  aggressive 
enactments,  made  and  publislied  by  the  Provincial 
Congress  and  by  its  Committee  of  Safety,  may  be  seen 
in  the  lollowing  letter  and  in  wliat  followed  it,  while 
that  Provincial  Congress  was  in  session: 

"  W nrrii  Pl.\ins,  November  1st,  1775." 

"  Sir  : 

"  The  Committee  of  Westchester-county,  having 
"  been  called  together  upon  a  re(|uest  of  some  of  their 
"  body,  upon  suspicion  of  a  plot  being  contrived  to 
"  carry  oti'  several  ol'  the  members  and  some  others 
"  who  had  shewed  themselves  zealously  iittached  to 
"  the  Liberties  of  this  country,  Mr.  Philip  Piiikney,' 
"  (who  had  given  very  full  information,  to  some  of  the 
"  Committee,  of  the  plot,  and  had  offered  to  swear  to 
"  it,  provided  he  was  brought  by  the  tJommitiee  by 
"  an  ap])earance  of  force,  and  had  engaged  not  to  be 
"  out  of  the  way.)  uj)on  boing  sent  for,  by  some  of  tlie 
"  guard  attending  the  Cominittee,  was  not  to  be 
"  found  ;  whereupon  some  of  the  Committee,  by  order 
"  of  the  whole,  waited  upon  Mr.  Pinkuey,  who,  after 
"  refusing  to  come  before  the  Committee,  and  after  a 
"  great  deal  of  e(iuivocation,  made  the  enclosed  affi- 
"  davit,  before  a  Magistiate,  which  we  have  reason  to 
"  think  is  not  the  whole  truth  ;  for  which  reasons  we 

1  Juunud  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Martis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  October 
"24th,  1775." 

2  There  is  not  the  slightest  mention  of  this  evidently  tricky  Pliilip,  in 
any  of  the  conteinporiiry  records  with  whicli  we  have  any  iicquaintance, 
except  in  this  instance;  and  we  snspect  he  was  dial  lo.valist,  Philip, 
who  fled  to  Nova  Scotia,  at  tlie  close  of  tlie  War,  of  wlioni  Bolton  made 
mention.  He  was  evidently  well-fitted  fi>r  a  "Cow-boy;"  and,  very 
probably,  he  was  one. 

Bolton,  in  his  Hialury  of  Weslcheater  cuwdy,  (original  edition,  i.,  1S5, 
lfi6  ;  the  same,  second  edition,  i.,  248,  249,)  gave  a  sketch  and  pedigree  of 
the  family. 


"  refer  you  to  Colonel  Budd^  and  Mr.  Gill.  Budd 
"  Horton,*  with  whom  Mr.  Pinkney  has  conversed. 

"  As  we  are  only  a  Sub-committee  appointed  to  take 
"  the  examination  of  Mr.  Pinkney  and  such  other 
"  persons  as  might  be  necessary,  and  to  make  a  Re- 
"  port  of  our  Proceedings  to  the  Honourable  the  Pro- 
"  vincial  Congress,  we  beg  leave  to  request  that  Mr. 
"  Pinkney  may  be  sent  for  and  critically  examined, 
"  by  the  Congress,  respecting  the  above  matter,  and 
"  with  relation  to  Oars  being  made  by  the  request  of 
"  Captain  Vandeput;^  and,  also,  that  William  Davis, 
"  (who  was  employed  in  making  the  Oars,)  and  Sarah 
"  Williams,  the  wife  of  Isaac  Williams,  of  Westchester, 
"  may  also  be  sent  for  and  examined  as  witnesses, 
"  respecting  them. 

"  We  also  request  that  Mr.  William  Lounsberry,* 
"  Isaac  Gedney,  Junior,  and  three  hired  men  who 
"  work  at  Justice  Sutton's,'  may  be  .sent  for,  on  account 
"  of  what  Mr.  Piuckney  has  related,  though  not  sworn 
"  to,  that  they,  among  others,  were  Minute-men,  as  he 
"called  them;  that  they  were  to  be  ready,  at  a 
"  moment's  warning,  to  take  ott'  some  persons  who 
"  were  the  most  obnoxious. 

"  We  would  also  request,  when  the  others  are  sent 
"  for,  that  the  before-mentioned  Isaac  Gedney,  Junior, 
"  and  William  Nelson,  .Foshua  Boyea,  Joshua  Ferris, 
"  Bartholomew  Ilains,  Elijah  Hains,  William  Hains, 
"  and  John  Hains,  be  also  taken  and  brought  before 
"  the  Honourable  Congress,  for  taking  up  arms  to 
"  rescue  Elijah  Weeks,  who  was  brouglit  before  the 
"  Committee  upon  a  charge  against  him.  Upon  the 
"  charge,  we  would  mention  the  Widow  Margaret 
"  (iedney,  of  the  White  Plains,  (where  they  left  their 
"  Arms),  Job  Haddon,  of  Hiirrison  Precinct,  Benjamin 
"  Morrell,  of  New-York,  and  Isaac  Sniffen,  of  Rye- 
"  Neck,  as  witnesses. " 

"  For  evidence  to  the  other  charges,  we  beg  leave  to 


Uilbert  Itiidd  of  Slaniaroneck,  was  Lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Second 
Kegiinent  of  Westchester-county  Militia,  (HuiUirical  Mumuicriijls,  etc.: 
Milifnni  llHiinix,  xxvi.,  V.i—p'igiaW.i,  284,  imle.) 

Itoltiin,  in  his  IlisU'rii  of  WeKlrhfuter-comdy,  (original  edition,  ii.,  80, 
81,  .5(IU  ;  the  saiio;  second  cilitiou,  I'.i",  Tl.^,  7Hi,)  gave  an  account  of  his 
family. 

<(iil.  Budd  Horton,  of  Maniaroneck,  was  the  only  representative  of 
that  Town,  in  the  County  Committee  of  1776-'7,  {flistorical  Maiimcriplji, 
etc.:  Miinlluwous  I'aperx,  xxxviii,,  309.)  He  WiLS  captured  and  carried 
away,  by  the  Koyal  troops  or  by  the  local  loyalists,  in  1777,  (Hintorical 
Momm  ripls,  etc.  :  Petition,  xxxiii.,  71(1.) 

5 Captain  Vandeput  commanded  the  Asia,  man-of-war,  then  at  New 
York,    ('onceniing  the  making  of  these  Oars,  vide  page  295,  ante. 

»  See  page  302,  post. 

'  "Jil.<tice  Sutton"  was  the  "William  Sutton,  Esij."  who  was  one  of 
thesigncisof  the  call  for  the  Meeting  at  the  White  Plains,  in  April,  1775, 
as  well  as  one  who  signed  the  Ih-claration  and  Protest,  at  the  same  jdace, 
against  the  proceedings  of  that  Meeting,  (cide  puijm'Hij,  248,  inUe.)  lie  was 
one  of  the  King's  Justices  of  the  i'eace  ;  and  one  of  those  who  were 
reported  to  the  Committee  on  Conspiracies,  in  June,  177t;,  and  ordered  to 
be  arrested,  ([iMtmcal  Munusn-ipUi,  etc. :  MuKtUonemis  Papers,  xxx., 
15(i.)  He  was  sujnmoned  to  appear  before  the  Committee,  {Ibid,  xxxv., 
485  ;)  and  his  rt-xaniination,  before  the  County  Committee,  on  the 
tw  enty-third  of  July,  17TC,  indicated  the  temper  of  that  body  against  the 
De  Lauceys,  aud  all  who  were  connected  with  that  family,  either  by 
kinship  or  in  politics,  (Itiid,  xxxiv.,  531,  605,  537,  535.) 

*  See  page  296,  ante. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


3(H 


"  refer  you  to  Colonel  Budd  and  Mr.  Gill.  Budd 
"  Hortoji. 

"  We  would  not  have  troubled  the  Congress  about 
"  apprehending  the  above-named  persons,  but  that 
"  we  look  upon  ourselves,  at  present,  too  weak  to  do 
"  it,  without  great  danger  ; '  and  we  beg  leave  to  sub- 
"  niit  it,  whether  it  be  not  neeessary,  ibr  the  security 
"  of  many  amongst  us,  as  well  as  to  prevent  Provisions 
"  being  conveyed  to  tlie  Ministerial  Army,  that  a 
"  Guard  be  placed  along  the  Sound,  iu  this  County. 
"  We  are.  Sir, 

"  Your  most  humble  servants, 

"  JoNATH.\x  G.  Tompkins,  -' 
"  Thoma.s  Thomas,  ^ 
"  Jesse  Hunt,* 

"  MiCAH  TOWNSEND,  ^ 

"  Anthony  Miller. 

"To  Nathaniel  Woohhull,  President 
"  of  the  Provincial  Congress  in  New  York." 
The  Affidavit  referred  to  in  this  letter  was  as  follows : 
"  Westchester  County,  ss. 

"  Personally  appeared  before  me,  James  Horton, 
"  Junior,  one  of  His  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace 
"  in  and  for  said  County, '  Philip  Pinkney,  of  full  age, 
"  who  deposeth  and  saitii,  that  on  Wednesday,  the 
"twenty-fifth  day  instant,'*  being  in  company,  he 
"heard  one  say  that  CJodfrey  Haines  was  determined 
"  to  have  satisfaction  on  some  particular  persons,"  and 
"that  there  was  a  tender  e.xpected,  to  take  them  off, 
"instantly;  and  that  this  Deponent  was  asked  if  he 
"would  assist  in  taking  of!"  .ludge  Thomas,'"  private- 
"  ly ;  and  that  they  were  determined  to  have  him,  if 
"  possible  "  ;  and  that  there  was  a  person  to  be  in  a 


^  The  puny  facticm  wtiich,  witli  tlie  aid  of  tlic  military  power,  wus  ex- 
ercising sucli  a  terrible  authority,  in  Weetcliester-county,  here  coiifeased 
itH  weakness,  when  unsupported  l)y  that  power. 

2  See  piige  284,  ante. 

3  See  page  28;i,  ante. 

<  Jesse  Hunt  was  Slieriff  of  Westchester-county,  ITSl-lTS.'i. 

5  Micah  Townsend  was  a  member  of  the  County  Commitler  of  IVT'i-'O, 
and  its  Secretary  :  lie  was  i>ue  of  tlie  ]Mimite-nien,  at  W  hite  IMains,  in 
February,  1770  ;  and  he  was  in  i-oniniand  of  a  Company,  in  the  follow- 
ing Summer.  He  evidently  left  Westchester-county,  soon  afterwards,  as 
he  wa-s  in  the  .\sseinbly  of  the  State,  in  1779-'S(I,  representing  Cumlier- 
laiid-county. 

'Anthony  Miller  was  Second  Lieutenant  of  the  Scarsdale  and  White 
Plains  Company  tif  Militia,  in  177'i,  anil  Captain  of  the  S4iiue  Company, 
in  177B. 

'James  Hurton,  Junior,  was  proscrilx-d  as  a  Tory,  and  ordered  to  b«' 
arrested  in  .Mine,  1770,  (Hi^Un-icul  Mttnitarripl  ■,  etc. :  MinceWntevitK  Puptrs^ 
XXX.,  150.) 

^Thisdate  was,  evidently,  a clericjil  error.  It  was,  undoubtedly,  in- 
tended for  "the  twenty-fifth  ulliiiin,"  October  2.1,  17T6. 

•Of  Godfrey  Haines,  his  grievances,  and  his  threats, see  pages  291-290, 
ante. 

Judge  Thomas"  was  Hon.  John  Thvinias,  County  Judge  t)f  West- 
chester-county, 1755-1777,  and  Member  of  the  tienenil  Assembly  of  the 
Colony,  representing  the  county  of  Westchester,  I74.i-'75,  in  which  latter 
capacity  the  reader  has  already  been  made  aci|uainted  with  him. 

"  Although  the  project  of  carrying  Judge  Thomas  away  from  his  home, 
in  1775,  if  such  a  project  was  really  entertained,  was  not  carried  out  ;  a 
similar  project,  in  1777,  was  successful  ;  and  he  wiis  carried  to  New  York, 
as  Haines  had  been,  and  thrown  into  jirisou,  iu  that  City,  as  Uaiuea  had 
been,  {oide  page*  292,  293,  uri/tf,)  and  died  there. 


"  particular  place,  to  receive  him  from  those  that  took 
"him. 

"  Philip  Pinckney. 
"  Taken  and  sworn  before  me  this 
"  first  day  of  November,  177"), 

"James  Horton,  Jcnr.  "'- 

The  Provincial  Congress  received  the  letter  and  the 
affidavit,  and  placed  them  on  file,  without  taking  any 
other  action  which  was  recorded  on  its  Jouriial,  than 
the  making  of  an  Order  that  Colonel  Budd  and  Gil. 
Budd  Horton,  who  had  evidently  taken  those  papers 
to  the  Congress,  should  attend  that  body,  at  five 
o'clock,  on  the  same  afternoon.'-'  At  the  appointed 
hour,  those  gentlemen  made  their  appearance  before 
the  door  of  the  Assembly  Chamber,  in  the  City  Hall, 
in  which  the  Congress  was  assembled  in  secret  Ses- 
sion ;  and  when  they  were  admitted  into  the  Cham- 
ber, they  were  duly  examined — the  testimony  of  Gil. 
Budd  Horton,  however,  was  evidently  so  entirely  use- 
less that  it  was  not  reduced  to  writing,  and,  conse- 
quently, no  portion  of  it  was  entered  on  the  Journal 
of  the  Provincial  Co/igrrxs.  The  testimony  of  Colonel 
Gilbert  Budd,  as  it  appears  on  that  Jo  in- />  a  I,'*  is  in 
these  words : 

"Col.  Gilbert  Budd  and  Giibudd  Horton,  from 
"Westchester  C^ounty,  attending  according  to  order, 
"  were  called  in,  and  examined  ;  and  the  examination 
"of  (xilltert  Budd  was  taken  in  writing,  and  filed,  and 
"is  as  follows,  to  wit : 

"  Gilbert  Budd,  of  Maniaroneck,  says  that  the  tories 
"are  getting  the  upper  hand  of  and  threaten  them, 
"daily,  and  have  injured  their  private  property,  by 
"  throwing  down  stone  fences  and  cropping  his  horses' 
"tails  and  manes;  that  Piiilip  Pinckney  told  him, 
"  last  Sunday,  that  he  was  in  company,  on  the  tweiity- 
"  fifth  of  October  last,  with  a  man  who  told  him  tiiat 
"  there  would  be  bad  times  in  Mamaroneck,  before 
"long;  and  said  that  some  of  the  people  of 
"the  place  would  be  taken  off;  that  he,  Pinek- 
"  ney,  asked  the  man  that  told  him,  how  they  were  to 
"  be  taken  off ;  he  answered,  that  they  expected  a  ten- 
"der,  in  tlie  harbour,  in  a  few  days;  and  that  she 
"  would  send  barges  on  shore,  in  order  to  carry  the 
"people  off";  that  he,  Pinckney,  further  asked  the 
"  man,  where  they  were  to  be  carried  to,  and  he  an- 
"swered,  '  To  Ciage.'  Mr.  Budd  told  Pinckney  tliat 
"  Crage  was  not  there;  he  answered,  'To  Gage's 
"  'Army  ; '  that  I'inekney  said  he  asked  the  man,  who 
"  the  men  were  that  were  to  be  taken  off";  that  the 

t-The  entire  prostration  of  the  Colonial  (tovernment,  in  New  York, 
and  its  entire  helplessness  Ui  protect  the  Colonists  from  the  outniges  to 
which  they  were  subjected  by  the  promoters  of  the  Kebellion,  is  nowhere 
more  clearly  seen  than  in  this  appearance  of  one  of  those  who  were  in 
rebellion,  l>efore  one  of  the  King's  Justices  of  the  Peace,  to  make  an  olti- 
cial  aindavit  concerning  a  plot  to  <'arry  away  from  his  home,  one  of  the 
leaders  iu  that  Rebellion,  by  those  who  were  nut  in  rebellion. 

"  Jouniul  of  tlie  fVurincial  < 'uiigrew,  "Die  Veneris,  III  ho,,  .\.M.,  No- 
"veniber3d,  1775." 

1<  Juurtiol  uf  the  Provincial  Oiigrcss,  "  Die  Veneris,  5  ho.,  P.  31..  Noveni- 
"  ber  3,  1775." 


302 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  man  intimated  to  him  that  Mr.  Gilbert  Budd  "  [the 
witness]  "and  Mr.  Samuel  Townsend'  were  the  men 
"  that  were  to  be  taken  off ;  and  that  there  was  another 
"that  they  would  have,  at  all  events;  that  Pinekney 
"told  Budd  that  lie  asked  the  man,  who  the  other 
"  man  was  that  was  to  be  taken  ofl";  that  the  man  an- 
"  swered  him  that  Judge  Thomas  was  the  man,  who 
"they  would  have  if  it  co.st  them  the  lives  of  fifty 
"  men  ;  that  Pinekney  told  the  said  l\Ir.  Budd  that 
"there  was  a  number  of  his,  Budd'.s,  neighbour.^,  who 
"  stood  ready  to  assist  the  tender,  in  order  to  take 
"them;  that  Mr.  Budd  asked  Pinekney  if  he  knew^ 
"  who  those  neighbours  were  ;  he  answered  that  one 
"of  them  was  William  Lounsberry  -  and  one,  Isaac 
"  Gedney,  Junr.,  and  all  Sutton's  men,  alluding  to 
"some  hired  servants  of  Sutton's ;  '  that  Pinekney 
"  said  he  came  as  a  friend,  and  advised  Mr.  Budd  to 
"  keep  out  of  the  way,  for  that  he  did  not  think  it  safe 
"  for  him  to  sleep  in  his  house,  one  night.  Mr.  Budd 
"further  says  that  he  heard  that  Godfrey  Haines  said 
"  that  he  was  going  to  get  a  parcel  of  Gars  made  for 
"the  man  of  war;  that  Haines  came  to  iMamaroneck, 
"and  that  the  next  day,  Isaac  Gedney  set  about  mak- 
"  ing  Oars;  that  they  were  making  (as  Budd  uiider- 
"  stood)  by  Haines's  order,  for  Capt.  Vandeput.  Mr. 
"  Budd  says  the  tories  are  eijuipped,  and  constantly 
"  in  arms,  walking  about,  at  night,  6,  8,  and  10  at  a 
"time.  Mr.  Budd  further  says  that  it  is  reported  that 
"those  tories  say  they  are  determined  to  defend  tiieni- 
"  selves;  and  that  if  any  body  came  to  their  houses  to 
"take  away  their  Arms,  they  would  fire  upon  them.' 

The  Congress  appears  to  have  been  in  one  of  it^  j 
temperate  moods  when  that  delegation  from  tlu 
chivalry  of  (  'olonial  Westchester-county,  bearing  th( 
missive  from  the  Goinmittce  of  that  County  and  it^ 
kindred  Affidavit,  approached  its  doors;  and  for  that 
reason,  unless  it  was  because  of  the  siiallovvness  of  the  ! 
several  accusations  and  re()ue.sts  which  were  in  the 
papers  or  of  the  poltroonery  of  those  who  bore  them 
the  Congress  did  no  more  than  to  order  the  letter  and 
affidavit  and  examination  to  be  filed;  to  charge  all 
who  knew  of  "this  mattei,"  "to  keef)  the  whole  of  it 
"a  secret;"  and  to  transmit  a  letter  to  the  Committeeol 
Westchester-county — the  latter,  the  most  noteworthy 


1  Samuel  Townseiiil  represented  the  Tiiwn  of  Kye,  in  tlie  County  Com- 
mittee of  177ii-'7. 

-  On  tlie  tweuty-ninth  of  .\ugust,  ITTii,  "one  I.ounsl)erry  of  Westcliester 
''  County  who  had  headed  a  party  of  ahoiit  14  Tories  wsis  killed  by  a  I'er- 
'*son  named  Flood  on  his  refusal  to  surrender  himself  Prisoner  ;  That  in 
*'hi8  Pocket  hook  was  found  a  O'tiuniission  signed  hy  Genl.  llow  to 
"  Major  Rogers  empowering  him  to  raise  a  Battalion  of  Rangers  with  the 
"Rank  of  Lieut  (^ol  Coninianilant.  Thai  annexed  to  tin's  Wiis  aWarranl 
"  U)  this  Louiisherry  signed  by  Major  Rogers  appointing  him  Cajitain  in 
"  one  of  these  Companies  .V  a  Muster  Roll  of  the  men  already  enlisted," 
[Letier  fr(mi  the  OmmiW'e  uf  HiifHij  t/t  Hi'ui'i-al  WitshitiijUni,  "  Is  CnMjirr- 
"  TKE  OF  Safktv,  Harlem,  Augt  liOtli,  177G."  ) 

Very  probably,  the  William  Lounsberry  who  is  mentioned  in  the  tex( 
was  the  same  Lounsberry  who  had  accepted  a  ('ommission  from  Majoi 
Rogers,  and  wa*  killed,  in  August,  177ri,  as  stated  in  the  letter. 

3  The  Sutton  referred  to  was  William  Sutton,  Ksq.,  living  on  lie  Lan 
cey'd  Neck,  of  which  he  w;us  the  tenant,  [rub- piu/e  '^W}^  atitf.) 


that  it  did,  in  "this  matter" — of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  copy  : 

"  In  Provincial  Congress, 
"At  New-York,  November  3rd,  1775. 
"  Gentlemen  : 

"  We  received  a  letter  of  the  1st  inst.,  from  the 
"Sub-committee  of  your  County,  relative  to  the 
"  conduct  of  the  people  of  Rye ;  and  the  Congress 
"have  directed  me  to  recommend  to  your  Com- 
"mittee  to  make  an  immediate  and  strict  inquiry 
"into  the  matters  to  which  the  letter  refers,  and 
"to  take  the  examinations  on  oath  of  the  wit- 
"nesses;  and  if  you  find  satisfactory  reasons  to  sup- 
"  pose  the  persons  threatened  to  be  in  danger,  that 
"  you  take  the  proper  means  to  protect  them  ;  perhaj)s 
"  the  binding  over  to  the  peace  such  persons  as  may 
"be  strongly  suspected  of  a  design  to  injure  the  per- 
"sons  or  estates  of  those  gentlemen,  may  be  a  useful 
"  expedient.*  If  anything  afterwards  shall  be  thought 
"  necessary  to  be  done,  for  their  further  protection, 
"the  Committee  will  attend  to  it.  If  you  should 
"  find  the  County  unable  to  give  the  necessary  pro- 
"tection,  you  will  transmit  the  examinations  to  us, 
"  that  the  Congress  may  take  such  order  therein,  as 
"  may  be  proper.  The  Committee  may  rest  assured 
"that  this  Congress  will  support  the  friends  of 
"  Liberty,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power. 

"  We  are.  Gentlemen,  your  humble  servants, 
"By  order  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 

"Abraham  Y'ates,  ,1r.,  Pres'l. 
"To  Gilbert  Drake,  Esq.,  Chalninui 

"of  the  ('(Diiuiittee  of  Wtatchestcr-couiitij"'-' 
The  suggestion  which  was  made  in  this  letter,  that 
those  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  in  Westchester- 
cdunty,  whose  safety  was  imperiled  by  the  threats  of 
their  conservative  and  law-abiding  neighbors,  should 
go  before  the  King's  Magistrates  and  ask  that  the 
latter  should  be  put  under  bonds  to  keep  the  peace 
towards  the  former,  vviis  received  witli  disfavor  by 
Isaac  Sears,  of  New  York,  and  Melancton  Smith,  of 
Diiche.ss-county,  and  Doctor  Lewis  Graham  and  John 
Thomas,  Junior— the  latter  a  son  of  one  of  those  who 
had  been  threatened  with  removal  from  the  County — 
and  an  attempt  was  made  by  them  to  strike  out  from 
the  letter  that  portion  "  which  refers  them  "  [tlie 
Committee  of  Westchester-county']  "to  the  Civil  Magis- 
"  trate ; "  but  the  Congress  declined  to  make  the 

*  This  remarkable  suggestion,  that  those,  in  Westchester-county,  who 
were  in  rebellion,  and  who  were  threatened  with  arrest  by  those  of 
their  neighboi-8  who  were  not  in  rebsllioii,  should  go  before  the  King's 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  ask  that  those  loyal  inhabitants  who  were 
inclined  to  support  the  Home  and  Colonial  Governments  and  the  Laws 
and  to  arrest  those  who  Vicre  n\  raheWiun^  tihimld  he  put  under  b(ymls  tn 
pmen-e  the  pence  tumird  the  lulter,  will  be  didy  appreciated  by  the  reader. 
Whatever  the  County  Committee  of  Westchester-county  may  have 
thought  of  it,  it  will  be  evident  to  the  reader  that  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, when  it  wrote  to  that  Committee  and  mailc  that  suggestion,  was 
not  inclined  to  regard  the  men  of  Westchester-county  who  were  in 
rebellion  as  entitled  to  very  much  of  its  respect  and  sympathy. 

'■'  Juuriial  uf  the  Pioi  inciul  Cviigrets,  "  Die  Veneris,  5  ho.,  P.M.,  Novem- 
"  ber3,  1775." 


THE  AMKRTCAN   REVOLUTION,  1774-178:1 


303 


solicited  change,  only  the  four  gentlemen  already 
mentioned  having  arisen  in  favor  of  it.  The  letter 
was  tiansiuitted  to  the  Westchoster-eoiinty  Committee; 
and  iiotliiiig  more  was  heard  on  the  subjects  referred 
to;  and  the  Connnittee  itself,  thenceforth,  gradually 
disappeared  from  the  notice  of  tlie  world. 

The  Provincial  Congress  had  continued  in  session, 
closely  witiulrawn  from  the  sight  of  its  constituents, 
until  the  eighth  of  July,'  when  it  ha<l  taken  a  fort- 
night's rest,  during  which  period  a  "Committee  of 
"Safety  "  was  left  on  duty,  with  large  authority,  load- 
minister  tiu'  affairs  of  the  ne\\;  organization.-  On  the 
twenty-sixth  of  July,  it  ha<l  resumed  its  work,  con- 
tinuing it  without  interruption,  until  the  second  of 
i?e()tcndtcr.  when  it  had  adjourned  I'or  a  month,'^  during 
which  pi  riod,  a  "  C^ommittee  of  Safety  "  had  again 
administered  the  aH'airs  of  the  new  organization.' 
On  the  fourth  of  October,  it  had  re-a.ssend)lcd,  and  re- 
sumed its  work,  continuing  it  until  the  tburth  of  No- 
vember, when  it  adjourned,  or  was  dissolved,  without 
day.* 

The  dissolution  of  the  first  Provincial  Congress, 
which  occurred  at  about  the  close  of  the  first  half- 
year  of  the  entire  and,  as  far  as  the  Colonial  and 
HometTOvernments  were  con  ccriuxl,  of  tlieundisputetl, 
domination  of  the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  purely 
aristocratic  portion  of  the  Colonial  party  of  the  Op- 
position and  its  plebean  au.xiliaries,  over  the  vastly 
greater  body  of  those  who  were  its  fellow-men  and 
fellow -subjects  of  the  Crown  and  fellow-colonists, 
within  the  Colony  of  New  York, — without,  however, 
having  interfered  with  the  administration  of  the 
public  aH'airs  of  the  Colony,  by  the  Royal  Colonial 
Government,  which  was  continued  in  all  else  than  in 
the  jirotection  of  the  Colonists  and  in  the  su|)pression 
of  the  revolt,  which  that  Colonial  (ioveriuncut  had 
not  the  means  for  doing — atibrds  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity for  the  careful  stuilent  of  the  history  of  that 
eventful  period  to  rest,  and  to  review  the  progress  of 
events,  in  New  York,  din  ing  the  preceding  six  months ; 
to  ascertain,  by  comparison  of  its  earlier  professions 
with  its  later  [)ractises,  how  much  of  sincerity  and 
how  much  of  deceit  and  of  fraud  there  had  been,  in 
the  apparent  devotion  of  that  controlling  faction  to 
"  the  Rights  of  man  and  of  Englishmen,'"  of  which  it 
had  said  so  much,  in  it.s  earlier  movements  toward 
political  su|)remacy  ;  to  learn  its  iiuiturcd  views  con- 
cerning the  arrogantly  assumed  i)rerogatives  of  the 
well-born  and  the  contenipluously  assigned  mission  of 
the  lowly,  the  latterto  nothing  else  than  to  submission, 
to  obedience,  and  to  labor ;  and  to  ascertain  and  to 
examine  those  systems  of  government  and  those 


•  Joiiriinl  «/ Ihe  /Vorincii/  Cmiyrent,  May  22,  uiitU  July  8,  1775. 
SJoiirti<i/<>/(Ae  CinamUtee  of  Stifelii,  July  11,  uutil  July  2.5,  1775. 

'  Joumul  of  Ihe  ProeincuU  Congrew,  fiolu  July  20,  until  Septcuilier  2, 
1775. 

*  Jotiriml  of  Ihe  CommilUe  of  >^fil;i,  from  Seiili'iulwr  I,  \iMtit  OctobiT  3, 
1775. 

'  Jounfil  of  Ihe  PrueituUil  Cvngrem,  from  October  4,  until  Noveuibor  1, 
1775. 


methods  of  administration  which,  in  the  unrestrained 
exercise  of  its  recently  acquired,  but  undisputed, 
power,  and  of  its  seemingly  cultured  intellect,  that 
revolutionary  faction  had  practically  regarded  as  tit 
and  proper  for  the  government  of  a  "  free  people." 

*****  x-  * 

During  the  interval,  between  the  dissolution  of  the 
first  and  the  organization  of  the  second  of  the  series  of 
Provincial  Congresses  which  controlled  the  destinies 
of  the  Colony  of  New  \'ork  and  crowded  an  unwilling 
community  into  rebellion  and  ruin,  an  illustration 
was  made,  first  in  the  County  of  Westchester  and 
then  in  the  (.-ity  of  New  York,  of  the  spirit  of  the 
controlling  power,  among  the  disaH'ected ;  of  the 
shallowness  of  the  prevailing  pretensions  to  patriot- 
ism and  personal  integrity  in  those  who  were  en- 
gaged in  the  revolt;  and  of  the  ])ers()nal  character  of 
the  ruttians  who  were  employed — as  they  had  been 
employed  in  the  Stamp-act  and  other  riots,  earlier  in 
the  struggle  of  parties— by  those  who  were  the  master- 
spirits, in  the  works  of  lawlessness  by  means  of  which 
the  Rebellion  was  promoted  and  established  and  made 
respectable." 

At  that  time,  there  was  no  lu-wspaper-press  in  the 
Colonies  which  was  conducted  with  greater  ability 
than  Rivingtou's  ^'ew-y'ork  (iazefteer  ;  or  Coiiiin  fimt, 
Hudson's  River,  New-Jerfeii,  find  Quehcrk  WreL-lij  Ad- 
rertixer,  which  was  published,  weekly,  by  James  Riv- 
ington,  in  the  (]!ity  of  New  York.  It  was  a  news- 
])aper,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word ;  and  it  pub- 
lished the  news  of  the  day,  from  every  (juarter  of  the 
world,  regardless  of  their  political  character,  with 
rare  industry  and  the  most  liberal  impartiality.  Ft 
did  not  accord  with  the  interests  of  some  nor  with  the 
passions  of  others,  however,  that  such  a  faithful 
recorder  of  the  sayings  and  (h)ings  of  every  faction 
and  of  every  i)arty  should  be  continued  in  the  Col- 
onies; and  there  were  times,  also,  when  the  exposure 
of  the  double  dealings  of  particular  individuals,  of 
high  as  well  as  of  low  degree,  in  wcll-{)rinted  columns, 
in  a  widely  circulated  newspaper,  as  .James  Rivington 
had  done,  in  his  (lazrttirr,  were  distasteful  to  those 
who  were  thus  ex[>osed  and  unwelcome  to  those  whom 
the  culprit  was  serving.  It  was  evidently  determined, 
therefore,  that  James  Rivington  should  be  silenced; 
and  that  his  only  means  for  inflicting  pain  on  the 
persons  of  those  who  favored  the  Rebellion  should  be 
taken  from  him. 

There  was,  also,  at  that  time,  no  one,  in  the  Colony 
of  New  York,  who  possessed  greater  intellectual  and 
executive  abilities  combined  with  superior  scholastic 
attainments,  than  Samuel  Seabury,  a  Missionary  of 
the  Society  tor  the  Propagatiim  of  the  CJospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  ordinarily  known  as  "The  Venerable 
"Society,"  Rector  of  the  Established  Church  in  the 

8  "This  I  know,  a  successful  resistance  is  a  'Kkvomtion,'  not  a  '  Ke- 
"  '  BKi.i.ioN.'    •  Rebki.i.ion,'  iuilpeil,  u|ipo«iison  the  back  of  a  Hying  en- 
"  univ  :  but  '  Revoi.i  thin  '  tlaniee  on  the  breastplate  of  the  victorious 
i  "  warrior."— (John  Wilkes,  iii  Ihe  Unuse  <>f  Ommfiu,  February  6,  1775.) 


304 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  and  Master  of  a 
Boarding-school  for  Boys,  in  the  same  Town.  He  was 
the  friend  and   Pastor  of  Isaac  Wilkius,  the  able 
leader  of  the  conservative  majority  of  the  Opposition, 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony;  and  the 
Manor  of  Morrisania  was  within  the  boundaries  of  his 
Parish  ;  and  the  Morrises,  brothers-in-law  of  Isaac 
Wilkins, but  masquerading  as  leaders  in  theRebellion, 
were,  nominally,  if  not  in  reality,  among  his  parish- 
ioners.   He  was  learned,  as  was  well-known  :  he  was 
fearless  in  the  declarations  and  support  of  his  well- 
considered  opinions,  as  was  known  to  his  neighbors 
and  friends:  that  his  convictions  led  him  to  support 
the  conservative  portion  of  the  Opposition,  led  by  his  j 
friend,  Isaac  "  Wilkins,  is  more  than  probable  :  that 
the  same  convictions  led  him  to  oppose,  within  the 
circle  of  his  influence  and  consistently  with  his  min-  | 
isterial  duties,  the  doings  of  the  revolutionary  faction 
of  the  Opposition,  among  whom  his  neighbors  and 
parishioners,  the  Morrises,  were  capering,  was  no  secret. 
When  the  press  was  teeming  with  publications,  ad- 
verse to  the  violence  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  he 
was  improi)erly  designated  as  one  of  the  very  few  who 
had  written  them,  with  no  other  evidence  to  support  the  j 
allegation  than  his  recognized  ability  and  fearless- 
ness;  and  when  "A.  W.  Farmer  "  appeared,  with 
his  practiseil  and  powerful  pen,  arousing  the  most 
violent  bitterness  of  those  who  were  in  rebellion,  the 
intellectual  rustic  who  had  written  them,  by  common 
consent,  wsis  erroneously  but  reasonably  said  to  have  i 
been  the  Schoolmaster  and  Parson  at  Westchester,  | 
while  the  real  but  unrecognized  author  of  the  obnox-  ! 
ious  ])ublications  wiis  generally  i)assed,  unnoticed. 
The  political  Parson,  therefore,  was  very  offensive  to 
those  of  the  revolutionary  faction  who  were  not  his 
neighbors — "  in  justice  to  the  rebels  of  East  and  West 
"  Chester,  I  must  say,"  he  wrote,  in  1770,  "  that  none  ! 
"  of  them  ever  offered  me  any  insult  or  attempted  to  do  [ 
'■  me  any  injury  that  I  know  of" — and  it  was  evidently  ' 
determined  that  he,  also,  like  James  Riviugton,  should 
be  silenced,  even  at  the  expense  of   his  personal 
liberty  and  of  all  which  was  dear  to  him,  on  earth. 

There  was  one  man,  more  than  all  others,  who  was 
qualified  to  enter  on  any  adventure,  no  matter  how 
lawless  nor  how  atrocious,  provided,  and  only  pro- 
vided, he  could  have  an  abundant  force  to  support 
him  and  to  overpower  any  oi)position  which  might 
possibly  arise  to  obstruct  or  to  endanger  him.  He 
had  been  a  privateer,  in  the  War  with  France  and 
Spain ;  and  in  the  only  encounter  which  he  had  had 
with  an  enemy,  he  had  shown  the  white  feather  of  cow- 
ardice, his  crew  having  become  his  accusers.  He  was 
known,  subsequently,  as  one  of  those  blustering,  reck- 
less, law-defying  leaders  of  the  floating  denizens  of 
the  docks,  in  New  York,  ready  to  disregard  all  Rights, 
all  of  every  thing  excepttheir  own  wills,  in  acts  of  which 
only  the  traditional  pirates  and  banditti  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  capable  of  performing,  whenever, 
and  only  whenever,  in  his  judgment,  those  acts  could 


be  done  without  personal  risk  to  the  aggressors,  and 
whenever,  and  at  no  other  time,  those  acts  of  lawless- 
ness promised  that  the  plunder  to  be  secured  there- 
from would  afford  a  sufficient  compensation. 

He  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  keeper  of  a 
low,  unlicensed  alehouse,  a  resort  of  sailors,  boatmen, 
stevedores,  and  such  as  they,  opposite  to  Beekman's 
Slip,  and  that  alehouse  was  his  rendezvous ;  '  and 
those  who  had  resorted  to  Jasper  Drake's,  had  always 
been  his  ready  instruments,  in  whatever  acts  of  vio- 
lence in  which  he  had  ventured  to  engage.  He  had 
never  possessed  the  enljre  confidence  of  the  leaders 
of  the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  Opposition,  in  the 
City  of  New  York  :  he  had  never  been  taken  into  the 
siiiir/iiiii  saiirfonim  of  that  coterie  of  Livingstons  and 
of  Smiths  and  of  Scotts,  whose  had  been  the  unseen 
master-hands  by  whom  such  puppets  as  he  had  been 
handled  and  made  conspicuous  :  he  had  never  been 
permitted  to  occupy  any  place,  in  Committee  or  in 
Congress,  unless  in  minorities  which,  because  of  their 
comparative  insignificance,  were  incapable  of  disturb- 
ing the  harmony  of  the  aggregate  bodies  into  which 
they  had  been  adroitly  introduced. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  he  was  an  ignorant 
blusterer,  as  vain  as  he  was  ignorant;  and  he  needed 
only,  as  General  Charles  Lee  said  of  him,  "  to  have 
"  his  back  clapped  "  by  some  one  in  authority  and  to 
be  shown  that  it  would  be  useful  to  himself — if  he 
could  be  vested  with  an  oftice,  no  matter  what  nor 
how  ephemeral  in  its  character  nor  how  "  impu- 
"  dently  "  bestowed,  so  much  the  better — to  be  ready, 
at  short  notice,  to  exercise  his  entire  power,  as  a  ruf- 
fian of  the  dirtiest  water,  in  any  required  act  of  law- 
lessness, regardless  of  any  Rights  of  Person  or  of  Prop- 
erty, or  of  any  claim  which  age  or  sex  might  inter- 
pose. He  called  himself  a  Merchant,  in  the  City  of 
New  York ;  but  he  had  been  more  conspicuous  in 
shipping  Merchandise  and  Provisions  to  the  eastward, 
clandestinely,  when  such  shipment.s  to  the  eastward 
were  interdicted,  than  in  any  more  legitimate  busi- 
ness. He  had  been  a  member  of  the  recently  dis- 
solved Provincial  Congress,  during  a  portion  of  its 
existence ;  but,  in  entire  harmony  with  his  earlier 
proclivities,  when  there  were  threatenings  of  danger 
from  the  Home  (iovernment,  he  had  abandoned  the 


'A  letter  from  .luliii  Case,  from  the  County  of  Suft'olk,  on  Long 
Islanil,  "to  the  Printer  of  the  \rii--Ynrk  'IdzeUeer,"  and  pulilished  in 
Hii-'mtjImCfi  Scw-York  <l<i::,-ltecr,  No.  ill,  New- York,  Thursday,  January 
1'2,  1775,  narrated  the  method  in  which  those  who  were  not  inclined  to 
favor  the  theories  and  practises  of  the  revolutionary  faction  were 
inveigled  into  that  Tavern,  and,  there,  subjected  to  the  teachings  of 
Alexander  McDougal,  Isaac  Seai-u,  and  others  of  that  faction  ;  and  a 
descrijition  of  the  insults  and  outrages  inflicted  on  those  who  were  inclined 
to  olijcct  to  the  subject  matters  of  those  teachings,  by  those  ale-house 
"patriots,"  especially  by  Isaac  Sears,  may  also  be  seen,  in  the  same 
letter. 

Tlie  atteinpleil  reply  to  .lohn  Case,  in  which  Isaac  Scars  subsequently 
attenipteil  to  raise  new  issues  instead  of  meeting  old  ones,  served  only  to 
establish,  more  clearly,  the  truthfulness  of  Case's  original  statement  ; 
and  those  who  shall  incline  to  pursue  the  inquiry,  may  find  it  in  Holt's 
Xew-Yuik  Juiuml,  No.  1674,  Nkw-York,  Thursday,  February  2,  1775. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


305 


City  of  New  York  ;  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  Novem- 
ber, 1775,  Isaac  Sears  was  safely  housed  in  New 
Haven,  although  it  is  evident  that  he  continued  to 
correspond  with  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the 
former  City. 

On  Monday,  the  twentieth  of  November,  1775,  that 
cowardly  ruffian,  Isaac  Sears,  accompanied  with  six- 
teen others  of  the  same  class,  all  of  them  mounted, 
left  New  Haven,  in  Connecticut,  for  the  purpose  of 
regulating  Westchester-county.  ^  It  had  become  a 
favorite  ))astime,  among  the  rowdies  on  the  borders 
of  Connecticut,  as  it  has  been  a  favorite  pastime 
among  Texan  rowdies  of  a  later  period,  in  their  coun- 
try, to  make  depredatory  raids  on  those  who  lived  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river-boundary  ;  and  those 
"  border  ruffians,"  in  revolutionary  Connecticut,  had 
been  encouraged  to  raid  on  the  conservative  farmers, 
in  Westchester-county ;  to  overpower  those  farmers 
with  nunibers  and,  especially  after  the  disarming  pro- 
cess had  deprived  the  latter  of  the  means  for  protect- 
ing themselves  or  their  property,  to  rob  them  of 
whatever  could  be  carried  away ;  to  return  to  their 
own  side  of  the  Byram-river,  well-laden  with  what- 
ever had  pleased  them  best,  on  the  farms  and  in  the 
farm-houses  which  they  had  visited  ;  and  to  enjoy, 
in  their  own  "  Christian  New  England,"  the  stolen 
products  of  other  men's  honest  and  earnest  toil,  and 
to  be  cheered,  as  "  jjatriots,"  by  their  "  Christian  New 
"  England  "  neighbors. 

The  avowed  purpose  of  that  band  of  acknowledged 
"banditti"^  was  "to  disarm  the  principal  tories 
"  there,"  E'lst  and  West  Chester,']  "  and  secure  the 
"persons  of  Parson  Seabury,  Judge  Fowler,  and 
"Lord  Underbill,"  three  residents  of  Westchester- 
county  ;  and  it  is  said  they  were  joined,  on  their 
way,  by  other  parties  of  men,  numbering  about 
eighty,  under  the  leadership  of  "  Captains "  Rich- 


'  "On  the  20tVi  of  this  inunth,  sixteen  respectjible  inhubitants  of  this 
"town,  in  company  witli  Captain  Seaus,  set  out  from  this  phice,  for 
"£««(  and  Went  Chester,  in  tlie  Province  of  New-York,  to  disarm  the 
"]>rincipal  tories  there,  and  secure  the  persons  of  Pareon  Seabury, 
"  Judge  Fowler,  and  Lord  Underbill."  *  *  »  (The  Connecticut  Journal, 
No.  424,  [Xcw-Huven,]  Wednesday,  November  29,  1775.) 

Frank  Moore,  in  his  Mirii  of  the  American  Revolution,  (i.,  SiO-S.n,) 
published  a  mutilated  version  of  that  editorial  article,  from  the  original 
of  which  the  above  was  extracted — the  other  portions  of  tlie  latter  of 
which  will  be  used  hereafter — and  credited  it  to  The  Pennsylvania  Journal, 
published  in  Philadelphia,  on  the  ninth  of  December. 

2  In  the  preceding  September,  Lord  Dunniore,  then  at  Norfolk,  in 
Vir^iinia,  had  hel]K'd  himself  to  the  type  and  printing-press  of  John  Holt, 
in  that  Town  ;  and  it  was  said  of  the  thief  and  his  confederates,  "  a  few 
"spirited  gentlemen  in  Norfolk,  justly  incensed  at  so  flagrant  a  breach 
"of  good  order  and  the  Constitution,  and  highly  resenting  the  conduct 
"of  Lord  Dunmore  and  the  Navy  Gentry,  who  have  now  conmicnccd 
"downright  Pirates  and  Banditti,  ordered  the  drum  to  beat  to  arms,"  etc. 
{Ejrtract  from  a  contemporurj)  jmblication,  in  Force's  American  Archive«, 
Fourth  Series,  iii.,  847.) 

Besides  the  entire  fitness  of  the  words  to  distinguish  those  who  were 
guilty  of  such  lawless  doings,  a  precedent  for  the  usi  of  those  otherwise 
strong  terms  in  such  specific  connections,  is  afforiled  in  the  above  ex- 
tract, from  unquestionably  revolutionary  authority  ;  and  we  offer  no  apol- 
ogy for  applying  one  or  both  of  them  to  those,  from  Connecticut,  on  the  oc- 
casion now  under  notice,  when  Lord  Dunmore  wnsfar  outdone,  in  wan- 
ton atrocity. 
•28 


ards,  Silleck,  and  Mead.'  It  was  not  pretended  that 
these  enterprising  Connecticut-men-  had  any  other 
warrant  to  engage  in  such  an  undertaking,  than  that 
afforded  in  the  propensity  of  every  cowardly  thief 
to  plunder  those  who  were  known  to  have  been  strip- 
ped of  their  means  for  defence,  and  who  were,  there- 
fore, helpless.  It  was  not  pretended  that  any  of  the 
proposed  victims,  in  the  instance  under  notice,  had 
said  or  done  anything,  in  opposition  to  the  Re- 
bellion, which  had  made  them  amenable  to  the  un- 
bridled caprices  of  those  who  were  in  rebellion ;  and 
it  was  evident  that,  had  those  proposed  victims  thus 
transgressed  against  the  "  Associations  "  or  the  "  rec- 
"  ommendations  "  or  the  "  Resolutions  "  of  the  revolu- 
tionary authorities,  the  local  Committee  in  West- 
chester-county, or  the  Provincial  Congress  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  or  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  the 
last-named  body,  and  not  an  improvised  and  self- 
constituted  power,  in  another  Colony,  was  the  proper 
tribunal  to  take  cognizance  of  such  an  offence.  But 
in  such  a  party,  led  by  such  a  ruffian,  only  the  law 
of  the  will  of  the  stronger  jjossessed  any  authority  or 
secured  any  respect;  and  that  law  of  "the  pirate 
"  and  the  banditti,"  unfortunately,  prevailed  in  the 
instance  now  under  notice. 

The  expedition  evidently  moved  slowly,  on  its 
way  to  New  York ;  *  and,  especially  after  it  had 
passed  the  Byram-river,  it  undoubtedly  foraged  on 
those  who  were  unfortunate  enough  to  live  on  the 
line  of  its  march.  It  pillaged  the  farm-houses;  and, 
at  Mamaroneck,  it  burned  a  small  sloop  which  be- 
longed to  one  who  was  assumed  to  have  been  a 
friend  of  the  Government.*  A  detachment  of  about 
forty  men,  under  a  Captain  Lothrop,  appears  to  have 
been  pushed  forward  to  the  Town  of  Westchester, 
where,  on  Wednesday,  the  twenty-second  of  Novem- 
ber, it  seized  the  person  of  Nathaniel  Underbill,  the 
Mayor  of  that  Borough,  and  that  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Seabury,  who,  as  we  have  said,  was  the  Master  of 


5  "On  their  way  thither"  [for  East  and  West  Chester,]  "they  were 
"joined  by  the  Captains  Richards,  Scillick,  and  Meaii,  with  about  80 
"men."  *  *  »  (The  Omttecticut  Journal,  t\0.  424,  [Nkw  Il.vvEx]  Wed- 
nesday, November  2U,  1775.) 

It  is  due  to  the  respectable  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Connecti- 
cut of  that  period,  that  mention  should  be  made  of  the  fact  that  no  such 
names  as  these  appear  on  the  lists  of  Officers  of  Connecticut  Companies, 
in  177.5,  which  Mr.  Ilinnian  published  in  his  JlisVtricul  O'lleelions  <•/  the 
part  sujituinedbt/  O'Unectivut  ditriu(j  the  War  nf  the  lierohiti'in  ;  and  that  it 
is  very  probable  that  these  three  "  Captains,"  like  that  other  "  rai)tain  " 
who  led  them,  on  that  occiision,  pos,sessed  no  other  warrant  than  that  of 
■'courtesy,"  so  called,  for  the  privilege  of  carrying  the  title. 

*  It  left  New  Haven  on  Monday,  the  twentieth  of  November  ;  but  it 
did  not  reach  Westchester  until  Wednesday,  the  twenty-second,  and  the 
City  of  New  York,  to  which  place  it  extended  its  excursion,  until  noon 
on  Thureday,  the  twenty-third  of  that  month. 

'  "  At  Marinek  they  btniit  a  small  sloop,  which  was  purchased  by  Gov- 
"  eminent,  for  the  puriwse  of  carrying  provisions  on  board  the  Asia." — 
(The  Cmtneclicut  Journal,  No.  424,  [New  H.wex,]  Wednesday,  November 
2'J,  1775.) 

><*«•«  and  burnt  one  sloop  belonging  to  persons  friendly  to  gov 
"ernment." — (Oovenuv  Tryon  to  the  Earl  nf  Itartmouth,  No.  22.  "O.N 
"  Bo.tRn  THE  Ship  Dutch es.-;  oe  Goiidon  New  Youk  ILmibour,  G"'  Dec' 
"1776." 


306 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


a  Boarding-school  and  Rector  of  the  Established 
Church,  in  the  same  place,  the  former,  as  was  sub- 
sequently seen,  only  because  he  had  signed  the 
Declaration  and  Protest,  at  the  White  Plains,  in  the 
preceding  April,^  the  latter,  because  he  was  more 
obnoxious  to  those  Avho  were  in  rebellion,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  greater  intellectual  power  and  of  his 
decidedly  greater  bravery  in  the  assertion  and 
maintenance  of  his  opinions  and  of  his  Rights.^ 
Having  accomplished  its  purposes  in  the  seizures  of 
the  persons  and  in  the  plunder  of  the  properties  of 
the  two  victims,  in  Westchester,  the  detachment  per- 
mitted Mr.  Seabury,  if  not  Mr.  Underhill,  to  send  for 
his  horse ;  and,  then,  it  hastened  away,  on  the  road 
which  connected  that  Town  with  Kingsbridge.  It 
had  not  proceeded  far,  however,  when  it  was  met  by 
the  main  body  of  the  banditti,  with  whom,  with 
characteristic  cowardice,  was  Sears ;  and  the  entire 
party  then  returned  to  Eastchester,  where,  on  its 
way  toward  New  York,  it  had  already  seized  the 
person  of  Jonathan  Fowler,  who  was  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and 
Colonel  of  one  of  the  Battalions  of  the  Colonial 
Militia,  against  whom,  also,  it  seems  there  was  no 
other  complaint  than  that  he,  also,  had  signed  the 
Declaration  and  Protest,  at  the  White  Plains,  in  the 
preceding  April.' 

The  contemporary  records  do  not  present  the  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  the  seizure  of  the  Mayor 
of  the  Borough  of  Westchester ;  but  it  is  probable 
they  were  similar  to  those  which  attended  the  similar 
seizure  of  Judge  Fnwler  and  that  of  Mr.  Seabury — 
the  banditti  undoubtedly  ransacked  the  house  and 
examined  his  papers  and  helped  themselves  to  such 
articles  of  his  movable  property  as  best  pleased 
them.  From  Judge  Fowler's  house,  there  were 
carried  away  a  beaver  hat,  a  silver-mounted  horse- 
whip, and  two  silver  spoons,*  besides  the  sword, 
gun,  and  pistols  which  formed  portions  of  his  offi- 
cial equipments  as  a  Colonel  in  the  Colonial 
Militia;^  and  at  Mr.  Seabury's,  besides  assaulting 
one  of  that  gentleman's  daughters,  thrusting  a  bayo- 
net at  her  breast  and  through  her  cap,  and  tearing 
down  her  hair,  the  marauders  cut  a  quilt  which  was 
in  the  frame,  rendering  it  useless;  examined  his 


1  See  pages  248-250,  ante. 

2  "  At  East  Chester  they  seized  Judge  Foicler,  then  repaired  to  West 
*'  Chester  and  secured  Seabury  and  Underhill." — {The  Cotinecticitt  Journal, 
No.  424,  [New  Haven',]  Wednesday,  November  29,  1775.) 

In  his  Memorial  to  the  General  Assembly  of  0>niieclicut,  Seabury  ex- 
pressly stated  that  he  was  arrested  by  a  detachment ;  that  the  main 
body  of  the  party  was  subsequently  joined,  by  the  detachment ;  and 
that  all,  then,  returned  to  East  Chester. 

3  J/emorifi!  «/  Samuel  Seabury  lo  the  General  Assembli/  of  Connecticut, 
December  20,  1775. 

See,  also,  The  Cunnecticul  Journal,  No.  424,  [New  H.ive.n,]  Wednesday, 
November  29,  1775  ;  Jones's  Hi^tttry  of  Sew  YurTc  durimj  the  Revolutionary 
War,  i.,  66,  G7  ;  etc. 

*  Memorial  of  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  General  Asfembly  of  Connecticut,  De- 
cember 20,  1775. 

&  Jones's  History  of  Keic  York  during  the  Rerolutionnri/  War,  i.,  67. 


private  papers  and  scattered  them ;  and  carried  away 
a  small  sum  of  money,  which  was  in  the  drawer  of 
his  desk.  Of  course,  the  Boarding-school  for  Boys, . 
which  he  had  organized  and  establi-hed  with  so 
much  labor,*  for  the  better  support  of  his  family,  was 
broken  down  ;  and  the  pupils,  five  of  whom  were 
from  Jamaica  and  one  from  Montreal,  the  parents  of 
four  others  being  in  Europe,  besides  "  others  from 
"  New  York  and  the  country,"  were  necessarily  scat- 
tered, inflicting  an  irreparable  injury  to  him  and  to 
his  large  and  dependent  family.' 

When  these  seizures  had  been  accomplished  and 
after  what  had  been  stolen  had  been  sufliciently 
secured,  another  detachment  from  the  main  body  of 
the  banditti  was  sent  back  to  Horseneck  [  West  Green- 
wich, Connecticut,^  as  an  escort  and  guard  of  the  three 
prisoners  and  of  the  booty ;  ^  while  the  main  body, 
itself,  numberingseventy-five  mounted  men,  moved  for- 
ward, from  East  Chester,  toward  the  City  of  New  York.' 

Where  that  large  body  of  horsemen  spent  the  fol- 


*  The  following  advertisement,  copied  from  Sivington's  Xew-York  Ga- 
zetteer, No.  97,  New-York,  Thursday,  February  23,  1775,  will  clearly  in- 
dicate the  high  character  of  that  Colonial  Westchester  Boarding-school 
tor  Boys,  probably  the  prototype  of  those  similar  institutions,  in  more 
recent  days,  which  have  made  Westchester-county  so  widely  known,  in 
the  world  of  Education  : 

"To  the  Public, 
"SAMUEL  SEABURY,  M.A. 

"  Rector  of  the  Parish  of  Westchester, 

~l  r.VTH  opened  a  School  in  that  Town,  and  offers  hie  Service  to 
-* — "  prepare  young  Gentlemen  for  the  College,  the  Compting- 
"  House,  or  any  genteel  Business  for  which  Parents  or  Guardians  may 
"design  them.  Children  who  know  their  Letters  will  be  admitted  to 
"  his  School,  and  taught  to  read  English  with  propriety,  and  to  write  it 
"with  a  fair  Hand,  and  with  gnimmatical  accuracy.  They  will  be  in- 
"structedin  Arithmetic,  if  required,  in  its  utmost  extent;  and  in  the 
"  Elements  of  Geometry  ;  in  Trigonometry,  Navigation,  Surveying,  etc. 
" — The  Latin  and  Greek  Languages  will  be  taught  those  who  are  in- 
"  tended  for  a  learned  Education. 

"There  are  already  eleven  Students  nnder  Mr.  Seabury's  Care,  and  as 
"soon  as  the  Number  of  Scholars  shall  require  it,  a  good  Usher  will  be 
"  provided  :  And  no  Care  or  Uiligence  shall  be  wanting  to  give  Satisfac- 
"  tiou  to  those  Gentlemen  who  shall  favor  him  with  the  Education  of 
"  their  Children. 

*■  Proper  attenti<  n  will  be  paid  to  the  young  Gentlemen,  that  they  be 
"  kept  clean  and  decent,  and  that  they  behave  with  propriety  ;  and  aa 
"  the  most  essential  Part  of  Education  is  to  qualify-  them  to  Disciiarge 
"the  Duties  and  Offices  of  Life  with  Integrity  and  Virtue,  particular 
"Care  will  be  taken  to  explain  to  them  the  Principles  of  Morality,  and 
"the  Christian  Kcligion,  by  frequent  short  Lectures,  adapted  to  their 
"  Capacity. 

"  Board,  (Washing  included)  may  be  had,  in  unexceptionable  Fami- 
"lies,  at  about  twenty  Pounds  per  Ann.  and  the  Tuition  will  be  six 
"  Pounds,  New-York  Currency,  and  eight  Shillings  for  Fire-wood. 

"Westchester  is  about  nineteen  Miles  from  New  York,  by  Land,  and 
"about  fifteen  by  Water;  and  a  Water  i)aseage  may  be  had  almost 
"  every  Day,  when  the  Weather  will  permit,  in  good  safe  Boats." 

"  Memorial  of  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  General  Asionbiy  of  Connecticut,  De- 
cember 20,  1775. 

'  "  Having  possessed  themselves  of  these  three  caitiffs,  they  sent  them 
"to  Connecticut  under  a  strong  guard." — (The  Connecticut  Journal,  No. 
424,  [New  Havex,]  Wednesday,  November  29,  1775.) 

See,  also,  Memorial  of  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Coii- 
neclicnl,  December  20,  1775. 

'  The  Connecticut  Journal,  No.  4.;4,  [New  Haven,]  Wednes<iay,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1775. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


307 


lowing  night  is  not  now  known — it  is  not  in  the 
slightest  degree  probable  that  it  paid  its  way.  in  what- 
ever part  of  Westchester-county  it  billeted  itself — it 
is  very  evident,  however,  that  it  was  expected  by  the 
leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
since  it  was  met  and  escorted  into  town  by  Samuel 
Broome,  John  Woodward,  and  others  of  their  class ; ' 
and  it  is  said,  also,  that  Alexander  McDougal,  Peter 
R.  Livingston,  John  and  Joshua  Hett  Smith — the 
latter  so  conspicuous,  subsequently,  in  the  interviews 
between  General  Arnold  and  Major  Andre  and  in  the 
evident  exposure  of  the  latter  to  arrest — and  a  num- 
ber of  others,  their  confe  lerates  if  not  their  tools, 
were  assembled  on  Hanover-square,  on  which  the 
Bookstore  and  Printing-office  of  James  Riviugton 
were  situated,  apparently  and  nominally  for  military 
exercises,  but  really  for  the  purpose  of  covering  and 
protecting  the  approaching  banditti,  in  its  proposed 
work  of  devastation  and  robbery.'^ 

The  column  appears  to  have  moved  from  East- 
chester,  by  way  of  Kingsbridge  and  the  old  Boston 
post-road,  through  what  are,  now,  the  Central  Park 
and  Madison-s(iuare  and  Broadway  and  the  Bowery 
and  Chatham-square  and  Chatham-street,  to  what  is, 
now.  Pearl-street — then  known  as  Queen-street' — 
which  was  the  direct  route  to  Hanover-square,  the 
objective  point  of  its  march.  With  its  escort  of  local 
symitathizers,  its  progress  was  not  obstructed;  and, 
on  Thursday,  the  twenty-third  of  November,  at  noon, 
when  it  reached  the  Square,  it  "  drew  up,  in  close 
"order,  before  the  printing-office  of  the  infamous 
"  James  Rivington,"  *  those  who  had  already  assembled 
there,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  covering  it,  if  not 
for  the  purpose  of  doing  more  than  that,  should  any 
opposition  to  its  i)urposes  be  manifested  by  any  one 
welcoming  it,  as  their  auxiliaries  and  confederates. 

It  is  said  that,  while  the  main  body  of  the  banditti 
remained  in  position,  in  front  of  the  Bookstore  and 
Printing-office  of  the  proscribed  Englishman,  "a 
"small  detachment  "  entered  the  latter,  and  gathered 
"  the  principal  part  of  his  types,"  which  was  placed 
in  sacks  prepared  for  the  purpose,  destroying  those 


'  Mhmlef  o  f  the  General  Commillee  of  the  City  and  County  o  f  Vew  York, 
Tliursday,  November  il,  1776;  JoDes  s  Ui»Utry  of  New  York  during  the 
Heroltitionarij  War,  i.,  66  ;  Oovertior  Trijon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No. 
22,  Ox  BoAKb  THE  Ship  Dutchess  of  Gordon  New  York  Harbour,  6"" 
Dec  1775  ;  etc. 

-Jones's  Historif  of  \eir  York  during  the  lievolutionary  War,  i.,  66. 

*  Manual  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  .Yeir-  York  for  ISo."),  511. 

<"The  main  IkxIv,  consisting  of  Iri,  then  proceeded  to  New- York, 
"  which  they  entered  at  noon-day  on  horseback,  with  bayonets  fixed,  and 
"in  the  greatest  regularity,  went  down  the  main  street,  and  drew  up  in 
"  cloee  order  before  the  printing-office  of  the  infamous  James  Riving- 
"ton."  {The  Connecticwl  Jonnial,  No.  424,  [New  Have.n,]  Wednesday, 
November  29,  1775.) 

See,  also,  Gorenwr  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "  On  Board 
"the  Ship  Dutchess  of  Gordon  New  York  Harbour.  G">  Dec  1775"  ; 
Petition  of  the  General  Committee  of  the  O/.v  and  County  of  Anc  York  to  the 
ProrincinI  Cotigrest,  {ritle  page  1.14  pott ;)  (he  Provincial  Congrett  of  Xeic 
York  to  the  Goternor  of  Connecticut,  "  In  Provincial  Congress,  New- 
'•  York,  12th  Deer.  1775  ;  "  Jones's  History  of  Xfu;  York  during  the  Rero- 
httionary  War,  i.,  66  ;  etc. 


portions  which  could  not  be  taken  away,  and  demol- 
ishing, also,  his  presses  and  other  office-material.* 

It  is  said  that  three  quarters  of  an  hour  were  spent 
in  that  work  of  reckless  destruction,  without  the 
slightest  attempt  by  cither  the  Municipal  or  the 
Colonial  authorities,  legal  or  revolutionary,  to  inter- 
fere, for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  or  for  the 
protection  of  the  property  of  the  citizen  or  for  that 
of  the  freedom  of  the  Press ;  and,  consequently,  after 
its  appetite  for  outrage  had  become  satisfied,  taking 
with  it  the  type  which  it  had  not  destroyed  and  such 
articles  from  the  Bookstore  as  were  fancied  by  those 
who  entered  it,®  the  banditti  mounted  its  horses,  its 
music  striking  up  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle,  and  its 
local  sympathizers  in  the  Square  and  around  the 
head  of  the  Coffee-house  Slip  giving  it  cheers  which 
were  returned,  and  left  the  City  by  the  same  route  as 
that  on  which  it  had  entered  it.' 


5  "A  email  detachment  entered  it,"  [the  printing-office,]  "and  in  about 
"three-quarters  of  an  hour  brought  off  the  principal  part  of  his  types, 
"  for  which  they  offered  to  give  an  order  on  Lord  Dunmoro  "  [who 
had  previously  stolen  John  Holt's  type  and  prei's,  at  Sorfolk,]  (The  Connecti- 
cut Journal,  No.  424,  [New  Haves,]  Wednesday,  November  29,  1775.) 

They  "entered  his"  [Hivington' s]  "house,  demolislied  his  printing 
"apparatus,  destroyed  a  part  and  carried  off  the  remainder  of  his 
"types." — (Jones's  History  of  Xew  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 

i.  ,  66.) 

See,  also,  Governor  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "  On 
"  Board  the  Ship  Dutchess  of  Gordon  New  York  Harbour,  6"'  Dec 
"1'775  ;"  etc. 

8  Governor  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "On  Board  the  Ship 
"  Dutchess  of  Gordon  New  York  Harbour      Dec  1775." 

'  "  They  then  faced  and  wheeled  to  the  left,  and  marched  out  of  town  to 
"  the  tune  of  Yankee  Doodle.  A  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled  at 
"the  Coffee  House  bridge  on  their  leaving  the  ground,  and  gave  them 
"three  very  hearty  cheers."— (T/ie  Connecticut  Journal,  No.  424,  [New 
Havex,]  Wednesday,  November  29,  1775.) 

The  Petition  of  the  General  Commillee  of  the  City  and  Ontnty  of  New 
York,  laid  before  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  eighth  of  December, 
1775,  presented  the  general  facts  of  the  outrage  on  .James  Kivington,  whil* 
it  also  called  for  the  protection  of  the  City,  by  that  body.  The  de-tpatch  of 
Go  vertwr  Tryoti  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "On  Board  the  ship 
"DuTrHE.ss  OF  Gordon  New  York  Harbour  G""  Dec  1775,"  described 
the  raid  on  Westchester-county  as  well  as  that  on  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  narrated  the  blustering  threats  which  were  made  by  Sears,  to  return 
with  "a  more  numerous  body  of  the  Connecticut  Riotere  and  to  take 
"away  the  Records  of  the  Colony."  The  letter  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
to  the  Governor  of  Connecticut,  "  In  Provincial  Congress,  New- York, 
"12th  Deer.,  1775,"  recited  the  outrage  in  Westchester-county  as  well 
as  that  in  the  City ;  but  in  such  delicate  terms  as  indicated  that  that 
tody  was  either  in  sympathy  with  the  banditti  or  was  intimidated  by  those 
who  were  so.  Judge  Jones,  in  his  Histonj  of  New  Y'rk  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  (i.,  65-68,)  noticed  the  entire  raid,  saying  that  Sears  "en- 
"tered  the  town  at  the  head  of  about  20()  men,  well  mounted,"  which, 
from  the  context,  evidently  included  those  who  had  gone  out  to  meet 
the  banditti.    Gordon,  {History  of  the  .Imericon  Revolulion,  London:  17S8, 

ii.  ,  121,  12'2.)  made  mention  of  nothing  else  than  of  the  robbery  of  the 
printing-office,  of  which  ho  said,  "  While  thus  employed,  people  col- 
"  lected,  and  the  street  was  thronged.  To  prevent  interruption,  he  called 
"out  and  told  them  that  if  they  attempted  to  oppose  him,  he  would 
"order  his  men  to  Are  on  them  ;  and  preparation  was  made  for  doing  it, 
"  in  case  it  should  be  needful.  This  appearance  instantly  cleared  the 
"  street,  when  Captain  Sears  and  his  party  rode  off  in  triiiniph,  with  the 
"  Iwoty  they  were  pleased  to  take  away."  Dunlap,  ( History  of  New  York, 
ii.,  .\ppeudix,  ccxx,)  erroneously  stated  that  the  destruction  of  the 
printing-office  was  effected  "  by  the  Ouinflclicut  Light  Horse,"  on  the 
fourth  of  December.  Bancroft,  {History  of  the  I'niUd  Stales,  original  edit, 
viii.,  275,)  said  Sears  was  "vexed  at  his  want  of  influence,  iniimtient  ut 
"being  overlooked,  and  naturally  inclined  to  precipitate  counsels;'" 
and  in  the  same  work,  centenary  edition,  v.,  184,  the  same  author  stated 


308 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  progress  of  the  banditti,  through  Westchester- 
county,  on  its  return,  was  necessarily  slow,  since  it 
finished,  at  that  time,  the  work  of  pillage  among  the 
farmers  of  that  County,  which  it  had  c(>mmenced  on 
its  outward  march — it  left  the  City  of  New  York  on 
Thursday,  at  two  o'clock ;  and  it  did  not  reach 
Horse-neck,  where  the  detachment  which  was  guard- 


that  Sears  "deserved  a  high  appointment  in  the  American  JJai-y," 
which  lie  did  nut  receive  ;  that  he  was  "  impatient  at  being  overlooked," 
etc.  Not  the  slightest  allusion  is  made  to  the  doings  of  the  banditti  in 
Westchester-county,  in  either  of  the  editions  of  that  much-praised  work. 
Lossing,  {Field  Book  of  (he  Revohdioyi,  ii.,  7911,  797,)  stated  that  Mr.  Riving- 
ton  "  aided  by  his  Koyal  Gazetteer,"  was  very  influential ;  that  he  had  no 
regard  for  the  truth  nor  for  "common  fairness  ; that  Sears  had  gone  to 
Connecticut  "  to  plan  schemes  for  the  future  with  ardent  Whigs  ; "  that 
the  type  which  was  stolen  from  Rivington  was  converted  into  bullets; 
etc.  ;  but  the  truth  is  that  tlie  Eoynl  Uiizette  was  not  established  until 
December,  1777,  as  he  had  stated  on  the  opposite  jiageof  the  Field  Book; 
that  Rivington  publifhed  everything  of  news  and  political  papers,  re- 
gardless of  party  ;  that  Sears  had  removed  his  family  and  himself  to 
New  Haven,  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  threatened  danger  and  to  pout  over 
personal  grievances ;  and  that  the  printers  in  Connecticut  were  too  glad 
to  increase  their  limited  suj>p]i(  s  of  type  to  convert  the  stolen  type  be- 
longing to  Rivington  into  bullets,  for  vhich  cinimon  and  far  cheaper 
lead  was  better  adapted.  Rev.  Doctor  Beardslej*,  {UiMonj  of  the  Fpiscopul 
Church  in  iYmieclietd,  i.,  S02-3UO,  and  Life  find  Correspondence  of  the  lit. 
Ilev.  Seminel  Seobiiry,  L.D.,  35-47,)  apiiropriately  noticed,  iu  detail,  the 
dealings  of  the  banditti  with  Mr.  Seabury,  without,  however,  making 
the  slightest  mention  of  what  was  done  elsewhere  than  in  Westcliestcr- 
county. 

In  Connecticut,  from  that  day  to  this,  llie  doings  of  that  party  of  ruf- 
fians have  been  considered  only  as  praiseworthy.  Governor  Trumbull, 
after  having  snubbed  General  Washingtuu  by  sheltering  and  justifying 
the  wholesale  desertion  of  the  Connecticut  troops  which  the  latter  had 
denounced,  {Compare  General  Washington's  letter  to  Governor  Ti-nmhnll, 
"Cambrioiik,  December  2,  1775,"  with  the  reply,  "Leilvnun,  December 
"  7,  1775 ; "  that  of  the  former,  "  CAMUKinuE,  December  5,  177.'),"  with 
thereply,  "Lebanon,  December  9, 1775"  ;  etc.,)  waited  until  the  following 
June,  before  he  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  the  letter  which  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  had  sent  to  him,  in  December,  1775,  and  then  only  to 
shelter,  if  not  to  jtistify,  the  offenders.  (Jonn.  Trumbull  to  the  Honble. 
Nulhl.  Woodhnll,  "IIartkoku,  June  10,  1775.")  Minman,  (Hi»t/>ricul 
C'ollectivn  of  the  jiart  sustained  by  Connectiivt  dm  inij  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, 79,  80,)  included  that  lawless  raid  among  the  notable  and  praise- 
worthy acts  of  Connecticut  ;  and  the  following,  which  is  the  latest  speci- 
men which  has  met  our  eye,  presents,  at  once,  the  satisfaction  with 
which  respectable  men,  of  our  own  day,  in  Connecticut,  continue  to  re- 
gard that  outrage,  and  the  character  of  what  is  circulated,  in  ^ew  Eng- 
land, as  veritable  history:  "Some  time  during  the  War,  a  paper  was 
"  published  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by  one,  Rivington.  This  paper  was 
"  professedly  and  to  all  outward  appearance  devoted  to  the  British  in- 
"  terests.  It  was  afterwards,  how  ever,  known  to  have  aided  the  Amcr- 
"  leans  much,  and  was  under  the  control  of  Washington  himself  The 
"  hostile  appearance  of  the  sheet,  however,  deceived  the  Americans  aa 
"well  as  their  enemies,  and  about  half  a  dozen  Greenwich  men  re- 
" solved  that  the  press  should  be  stopped;  they  stole  into  the  City,  de- 
"stroyed  the  press,  and  bagged  the  type,  which  they  brought  off  with 
"them  from  the  very  midst  of  a  watchful  enemy.  Messrs.  Andrew  and 
"  Peter  Mead  were  the  principal  men  of  the  expedition.  It  is  said  that 
"  they  only  of  the  company  were  able  to  carry  the  bags  of  type  from  the 
"printing-office  to  the  street  and  throw  them  across  the  backs  of  their 
''  horses.  After  the  type  was  brought  to  Greenwich,  it  was  totally  de- 
"  stroyed,  except  enough  to  print  each  of  the  company's  names,  which 
"the  veterans  kept  for  a  long  time  in  memory  of  their  exploit."  One 
might  readily  suppose  this  latest  tidbit  of  what  has  currency  as  history,  was 
written  in  China  or  Timbuctoo  ;  but  the  curious  reader  may  find  it  in  an 
elegant  and  e.\pensive  History  of  Fairfield  C<mnly,  Connecticut,  compiled 
under  the  supervision  of  D.  Hamilton  Hurd,  and  published  by  J.  W 
Lewis  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  it  18.S1.  It  occupies  a  portion  of  page  378 
of  that  handsomely  printed  volume,  and  afl'urds  a  tine  example  of  the 
character  of  what  is  written,  concerning  New  Euglundei-s  and  their 
character  and  doings,  when  the  jjen  of  the  writer  and  the  patronage  of 
tbe  publisher  are  within  that  pretentious  portion  of  the  Union. 


ing  its  first  collection  of  plunder  and  its  three  pris- 
oners (the  latter  of  whom,  as  the  practise  then  was 
among  that  new-formed  power,  having  been  pro- 
vided, meanwhile,  with  neither  food  nor  shelter)  had 
halted,  until  the  following  Monday,  the  twenty-sev- 
enth of  November.  Its  progress  through  Connecticut 
apj)ears  to  have  been  attended  with  the  highest  pop- 
ular approval ;  many  joined  it,  "  the  whole  making  a 
"  very  grand  procession  ;"  and,  on  Tuesday,  the  twen- 
ty-eighth of  November,  amidst  the  salutes  of  two 
cannon  and  the  cheers  of  the  populace,  it  re-entered 
New  Haven.  The  procession  moved  through  nearly 
every  street  in  the  Town,  stopping  at  every  corner,  in 
order  that  the  crowds  might  gaze  on  the  victims  and 
jeer  at  and  insult  them  ;  and,  after  having  quartered 
the  latter,  at  their  own  expense,  at  one  of  the  Tav- 
erns, the  successful  banditti,  sustained  by  what  there 
was  of  the  ignorance  and  lawlessness  of  the  New 
Haven  of  that  period,  spent  the  remainder  of  the  day 
in  "festivity  and  innocent  mirth.'" 

The  principal  portion  of  the  bitterness  of  the  ban- 
ditti appears  to  have  been  bestowed  on  Mr.  Seabury — 
indeed,  there  was  wisdom  in  that  discrimination, 
since  Judge  Fowler  and  Mayor  Underbill  were  dif- 
ferently constituted  men,  more  easily  intimidated  and, 
therefore,  more  pliable  than  he,  and  very  soon  re- 
canted and  were  dismissed  from  their  confinement'^ — 

'"On  their  way  home  they  disarmed  all  the  tories  that  lay  on  their 
"route  ;  an<l  yesterday  [November  28,]  arrived  here,  escorted  by  great 
"  number  of  gentlemen  from  the  westward,  the  whole  making  a  very 
"  grand  procession.  Upon  their  entrance  into  town,  they  were  saluted 
"  with  the  discharge  of  two  cannon,  and  received  by  the  inhabitants  with 
"every  mark  of  approbation  and  respect.  The  company  divided  into 
"  two  parts  and  concluded  the  daj*  in  festivity  and  innocent  mirth. 
"Captain  Sears  returned  in  company  with  the  other  gentlemen,  and 
*' proposes  to  spend  the  winter  here,  unless  publick  business  should  ro- 
"  quire  his  presence  in  New-York. — Seabury,  Underbill,  and  Fowler, 
"  three  of  the  dastardly  protestors  against  the  proceedings  of  the  Conti- 
"  nental  Congress,  and  who  it  is  believed  had  concerted  a  plan  for  kid- 
"  napping  Captain  Sears,  and  conveying  him  on  board  the  Asia  man-of- 
"  war,  are  (with  the  types  and  arms)  siifely  lodged  in  this  town,  Whore 
"  it  is  expected  Lord  Underbill  will  have  leisure  to  form  the  scheme  of 
"a  lucrative  lottery,  the  tickets  of  which  cannot  be  counterfeited  ;  and 
"  Parson  Seabury  sufficient  time  to  compose  sermons  for  the  next  Conti- 
"  nental  fast."— (The  Connecticut  Journal,  No.  424,  [New  IIaven,]  Wednes- 
day, November  29,  1775.) 

See,  also,  Seahnry's  Memorial  to  tlie  General  Assembly  of  C<>nnecticul,  De- 
cember 20,  1775,  iwfe poflc  1.36,  post;  and  Jones's  History  of  Xcw  York 
during  the  Itevolutionary  War,  i.,  G6,  67. 

-  Although  the  instruments  of  the  recantation  of  these  two  of  the  three 
victims  do  not  appear  in  The  Connecticut  Journ<d,  they  were  printed  ill 
Holt's  New-York  Joumid,  No.  1718,  New-York,  Thursday,  December  7, 
1775,  and  may  be  seen  in  Force's  American  Archives,  IV.,  iii.,  17('8. 

I. 

"Whereas  I.Jonathan  Fowler,  Esq.,  one  of  His  Majesty's  Judges  of 
"the  Inferior  Court  for  the  County  of  Westchester,  in  the  Province  of 
"  New- York,  did,  some  time  ago,  sign  a  Protest  against  the  Honourable 
"Continental  Congress,  which  inconsiderate  conduct  I  am  heartily  sorry 
"  for,  and  do  hereby  promise  for  the  future  not  to  transgress  in  the  view 
"of  the  people  of  this  Continent,  nor  in  any  sense  to  oppose  the  lueae- 
"  ures  taken  by  the  Continental  Congress. 

"  I  do  also  certify  that,  some  time  past,  being  at  Court  at  the  Whitc- 
"  Plains,  T  heard  a  person  say,  whom  several  peojile  present  believed  to 
"be  a  Lieutenant  or  Midshipman  of  the  Asi<i,  man-of-war,  that  the  Cap- 
"tain  of  the  Asin  intended  to  take  Captain  .Sears  up,  and  that  there 
"would  soon  be  delivered,  gratis,  from  on  board  the  man-of-war,  great 
"quantities  of  Paper  Money,  in  imitation  of  Continental  Currency, 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


309 


and  he  was  "  prevented  from  enjoying  a  free  inter- 
"  course  with  his  friends ;  forbidden  the  visits  of 
"some  of  thoni,  thoiigli  in  company  witli  his  guard  ; 
"  prohibited  from  reading  prayers  in  the  Church,  and 
"in  performing  any  part  of  Divine  Service,  thougli 
"invited  so  to  do;  interdicted  tlie  use  of  pen,  inic, 
"  and  paper,  except  for  the  purpose  of  writing  to  his 
"family,  and  tlien  it  was  required  that  his  letters 
"should  be  examined  and  licensed"  the  leaders  of 
the  banditti,^  "  before  they  were  sent  off;  though 
"  Captain  Sears  condescended  that  he  should  be  in- 
"  dulged  in  writing  a  Memorial  to  the  Honourab/e 
"Assembly.  He  received  only  one  letter  from  his 
"  family,  and  that  was  delivered  to  him  open,  though 
"  brought  by  the  post."  Indeed,  with  characteristic 
bravado,  and  entirely  conscious  of  his  influence  among 
those,  in  Connecticut,  who  were  then  controlling  the 
Rebellion,  Sears  told  his  only  remaining  victim — the 
others  having  ransomed  themselves  from  the  hands 
of  their  captors  with  cowardly-made  recantations — 
"  that  they  did  not  intend  to  release  him,  nor  to 
"make  such  a  compromise  with  him  as  had  been 
"made  with  Judge  Fowler  and  Mr.  Underbill,  but  to 
"keep  him  a  prisoner,  till  the  unhappy  disputes  be- 
"tween  Great  Britain  and  America  were  settled — 
"  that,  whatever  he  might  think,  what  they  had  done 
"  they  would  take  upon  themselves  and  support.'" 

At  that  time,  and,  indeed,  until  1818,  the  Govern- 
ment of  Connecticut,  under  her  Charter,  like  that  of 
Rhode  Island,  was  based  on  the  Sovereignty  of  the 
King  of  Great  Britain ;  and  the  lawlessness  of  the 
Rebellion  had  not  been  permitted  to  disturb  the  forms 
and  formalities  of  cither  her  Executive  or  Legislative 
or  Judicial  Departments  of  Colonial  Government — 
adroitly  securing  the  monopoly  of  that  Government 
in  the  hands  of  the  com[)aratively  few  by  whom  it 
was  held  under  the  Royal  Charter  of  1661,  no  matter 
what  the  result  of  the  Rebellion  might  be— and  all 
these  were  being  carried  on,  in  the  several  long-estab- 
lished forms,  nominally  in  the  name  of  the  Sovereign. 
Knowing  these  facts,  Mr.  Seabury  is  said  to  have  ap- 
j)lied  to  the  Magistrates,  in  New  Haven,  for  protec- 
tion and  redress,  since  he  was  held  in  captivity,  in 
that  Town,  by  no  pretense  of  legal  jirocess  nor  by  any 
other  authority  than  the  individual  will  of  the  ruf- 

"  which  would  be  printed  with  the  types  taken  from  Mr.  Holt,  of  Vir- 
"ginia.  ' 

'•As  witness  my  hand  : 

"Jonathan  Fowler. 

"New-Haven,  November  29,  1775." 

ir. 

"Whereas  I.  Nathaniel  CndcrhiU,  of  Westchester,  in  the  Province  of 
"  New- York,  did,  somil'  time  ago,  sign  a  Protest  against  the  Resolves  of 
"the  noiiourable  C'ontinental.Congri'ss,  which  inconsiderate  conduct  I 
"am  heartily  sorry  for,  and  do  hereby  proniiee,  for  the  future,  not  to 
"transgress  in  the  view  of  the  pt^ople  of  this  Continent,  nor,  in  any 
"sense,  to  oppose  the  measures  taken  by  the  Continental  Congress. 

"As  witness  my  hand,  in  New-llaveii,  November  30,  1775. 
"  N.  UNDt  HMH.L, 

**  Mmjorof  the  lUtroutjh  of  tt'enfrftevter,'^ 

^  Memnrial  of  Samuel  Seahunj  to  Die  Genirul  Assembly  of  C'oimeetUiil, 
D«ceml)er  20,  1775. 


fian.  Sears,  who  was,  at  best,  only  a  sojourner  in  that 
Colony  and,  subsequently,  was  sheltered  by  the  (tov- 
ernor,  on  that  ground  ;  but  his  application  found  no 
favor  before  those  Magistrates,  notwithstanding  their 
authority  was  undisputed.  He  then  sought  the  inter- 
ference of  the  local  revolutionary  Committee,  with 
the  same  result.  The  Governor,  also,  disregarded  his 
demand ;  and  when  the  banditti  who  continued  to 
hold  him,  a  captive,  in  the  midst  of  that  Capital-town 
of  the  Colony,  consented  that  he  should  memorialize 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony,  which  does  not 
appear  to  have  been,  then,  in  Session,'^  no  benefit  to 
the  memorialist,  from  tlie  Legislature  of  the  Colony, 
could  have  been  intended." 

While  these  proceedings  were  in  progress,  in  Con- 
necticut, the  revolutionary  authorities,  in  New  York, 
were  almost  etiually  unmindful  of  what  was  due  from 
them,  in  the  protection  of  the  individual  Colonists 
from  the  aggressions  of  their  neighbors,  and  in  the 
support  of  the  autonomy  of  the  Colony,  which  those 
from  Connecticut  were  beginning  to  threaten^ — the 
Colonial  Government  and  the  armed  vessels  which 

2  We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  it  is  said  that  Mr.  Seaburj  's 
Mtmoriiil  was  laid  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  referred  to 
a  Special  Committee  of  seven  members,  of  which  William  Samuel 
Johnson  was  the  Chairman,  and  unto  whom  the  Letter  from  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  of  New  York  had  been  a'r.'ady  referred,  (Bearilsley's  Life 
ayid  Cnrreapondcncc  of  Itt.  Itev.  Samx(cl  ,Se<i6i<n/,  ,  43  ;)  but  in  his 
recital  of  the  circumstances,  in  liis  letter  to  the  Venerable  Society,  on 
the  twenty-ninth  of  December,  1776,  Mr.  Seabury  made  mention  of 
nothing  else  than  of  his  "puting  in  a  Memorial  to  the  Generjil  Assem- 
"bly,"  {Unit,  46  ;)  and  Mr.  Ilinman,  who  was  Secretary  of  State,  with 
the  original  Joiinuils  before  him,  in  his  carefully-made  synopsis  of  the 
doings  of  the  General  .\esenibly,  from  the  opening  of  the  Jlay  Session, 
1774,  until  the  close  of  the  February  Ses.-iion  1778,  stated  that  the  Special 
Session  of  the  General  .\ssend»ly,  which  was  assembleil  by  special  order 
of  the  Governor,  on  the  fourteenth  of  December,  1775,  closed  its  busi- 
ness, and  was  adjourned  by  Proclamation,  on  the  same  day  ;  that  the 
Special  Committee  of  which  Mr.  Johnson  was  Chairman,  was  appointed 
for  an  entirely  ditTereut  purpose  ;  and  that  the  Session  of  the  General 
Assembly  which  next  succeeded  that  which  was  adjourned  on  the  four- 
teenth of  December,  1775,  was  not  commenced  until  the  ninth  of  Jlay, 
1776.  {HiMorical  CuUecfious  of  the  jiart  Aitstaiurdhif  ('on»erttcnt  in  the  liar 
of  the  Iteioliition,  198,  200.)  (ieneral  Peter  Force,  who  diligently  re- 
printed all  the  Journals  of  the  General  Assemhlii,  in  his  elaborate  American 
Archives,  made  no  mention  of  a  Session  of  the  General  .Vsiicmbly,  be- 
tween that  which  was  dissolved  on  the  fourteenth  of  December,  1775, 
and  the  ninth  of  May,  1776,  as  stated  by  Hinman. 

What  mockerj-  there  was  in  that  grace  of  the  banditti,  therefore, 
when  it  favored  its  captive  with  permission  to  memori.alize  an  Aiisembly 
which  had  been  dissolved,  six  days  before  the  Memorial  was  written. 

3  Memorial  of  Sanutel  Seahurtf  to  the  General  Anaevihly  of  Connecticut, 
December  20,  1775  ;  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  New-Tork, 
"  December  211, 1776  "  ;  Jones's  History  of  Nck  York  durimj  the  Revolutionary 
War,  i.,  67,  68. 

<  ncsides  the  unceasing  attempts  to  encroach  on  the  territory  of  New 
Y'ork,  and,  in  other  ways,  to  invade  the  Rights  of  the  Colonists,  in  that 
Colony,  which  Connecticut  and  men  from  Connecticut  were  constantly 
making,  Isaac  Scars,  on  the  occasion  now  under  notice,  with  the  evident 
purpose  of  throwing  all  the  titles  of  properties,  in  New  Y'ork,  and  all 
the  domestic  and  business  relations,  therein,  into  confusion  and  uncer- 
t«iinty,  in  order  to  make  the  inroads  of  depredators  more  certain  of  suc- 
cess, "  intimated  his  design  speedily  to  revisit  this  Province  with  a  more 
"  numerous  body  of  the  Connecticut  Rioters,  and  to  take  away  the 
"  Records  of  the  Province."  (Governor  Tryon  to  the  ICarl  of  Iiartmonth, 
No.  22,  "On  Bo.\Rn  the  Ship  Ditciiess  of  Gordon  Nkw-Yokk  IIab- 
"  BoVR,  G">  Dec'  1775.") 

The  declarations  of  Colonel  Waterbury  and  Isaac  Scars,  on  the  sam 
subject,  subsequently,  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


occupied  the  harbor  and  commaaded  all  the  ap- 
proaches to  the  City,  by  water,  and  by  whom  a  large 
armed  force  could  have  been  thrown  into  the  City,  to 
protect  the  inhabitants  from  such  outrages  as  that 
which  is  now  under  consideration,  meanwhile,  re- 
maining, apparently  unconcerned,  without  raising  a 
hand  or  firing  a  gun  for  that  principal  purpose  of  their 
presence  in  the  Colony. 

In  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  the  outrage  on 
James  Rivington  was  committed,  {^Thursday,  Novem- 
ber 23,  1775,]  Lancaster  Burling  and  Joseph  Totten, 
members  of  the  General  Committee  for  the  City  and 
County  of  New  York,  offered  a  Resolution,  in  that 
body,  citing  Isaac  Sears,  Samuel  Broome,  and  John 
Woodward  to  appear  before  it,  to  answer  for  their 
conduct  in  entering  the  City,  on  that  day,  with  a 
number  of  horsemen,  in  a  hostile  manner,  which  the 
movers  of  the  Resolution  considered  a  breach  of  the 
Association  ;^  but  on  the  following  evening,  probably 
because  it  was  distasteful  to  the  greater  number,  Mr- 
Burling  withdrew  the  Resolution,^  rather  than  to  see 
it  ignominiously  defeated. 

Three  days  after  the  event,  John  Jay,  with  more 
self-respect  and,  certainly,  with  more  respect  for  the 
honor  of  the  Colony,  notwithstanding  he,  also,  ap- 
peared to  take  no  interest  in  any  other  portion  of  the 
general  subject,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the 
former  Provincial  Congress,  in  which  he  warmly  con- 
demned the  proceeding  f  but,  as  has  been  stated,  there 
was,  then,  no  Provincial  Congress  to  receive  and  to 
consider  his  protest. 

On  the  fifth  of  December,  the  General  Committee 
of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York  returned  to  the 
subject  and  adopted  a  well-written  Petition  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  praying  that  that  body  would  take 
measures  to  protect  the  inhabitants  of  the  Colony 
from  a  renewal  of  such  aggressions.* 


*  Mttmips  of  the  General  CoinniHtec  for  the  City  and  Cnantij  of  New  Yorlc^ 
"  Thursday,  November  23,  1775." 

2  Miimtis  of  the  General  Cnmmillee^  etc.,  "Friday,  November 24,  1775." 

3  The  following  are  his  words,  on  the  subject  of  the  raid : 

*  *  *  "The  New-England  e.xploit  is  much  talked  of,  and  conjec- 
"  turefl  are  numerous  as  to  the  part  the  Convention  will  tuke  relative  to 
"  it ;  some  consider  it  as  an  ill  compliment  to  the  Government  of  the 
"  Province,  and  prophesy  that  you  have  too  much  Christian  meekness 
"  to  take  any  notice  of  it.  For  my  own  part,  I  uon't  approve  of  the 
"  feat ;  and  I  think  it  neither  argues  much  w  sdom  or  much  bravery  ;  at 
"  any  rate,  if  it  was  to  have  been  done,  I  wish  our  own  people,  and  not 
"  strangers,  had  taken  the  liberty  of  doing  it. 

"  I  confess  I  am  a  little  jealous  of  tlie  honour  of  the  Province,  and 
"  am  jiersuaded  that  its  reputation  can  not  be  maintained  without  some 
"  little  spirit  being  mingled  with  its  prudence." 

*  Minutes  of  the  General  Committee  of  the  City  and  County  of  Neu>  York, 
"  Tuesday  evening,  December  5,  1775." 

The  record  is  in  these  words  : 

"  A  Draft  of  a  Petition  to  the  honourable  the  Provincial  Congress  for 
"  the  Province  of  New-York,  was  read,  and  is  as  follows,  viz.  : 

"  '  To  THE  Hoxouhable  the  Provi.n'cial  Co.\gre.ss  for  the  Prov- 
'  '  INCE  of  New- York. 

"  '  The  Petition  of  the  General  Committee  for  the  City  and  County  of 
"'  New-York,  humbly  shewcth  : 

"'That  a  body  of  troops,*  from  a  neighbouring  Colony,  did  lately 

*  It  is  evident,  from  these  words,  that  it  was,  then,  supposed  to  have  I 


Three  days  afterwards,  \_December  8,  1775,]  that 
vigorous  demand  for  protection,  made  by  the  1<  cal 
revolutionary  Committee  of  the  City  of  New  York — 
the  Committee  of  Westchester-county  made  no  such 
movement,  nor  any  other,  in  the  matter — was  pre- 
sented to  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  which  body, 
after  some  time  had  been  spent  "in  debates  thereon," 
it  was  sent  to  a  special  Committee,  of  which  John 
Morin  Scott  was  the  Chairman,  with  instructions  to 
"  report  thereon  with  all  convenient  speed."  ^ 

Four  days  subsequently,  [December  12,  1775,]  a 
Report  was  made  by  the  Committee,  with  a  draft  of 
a  letter  to  be  addressed  to  the  Governor  of  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut,  "on  the  subject  matter  of  the  Gen- 
"  eral  Committee's  Petition,"  both  of  which  were 
violently  opposed  by  those  who  were  most  revolution- 
ary in  their  inclinations.  The  debates  were  continued 
through  two  Sessions  of  the  Congress,  and  various 
amendments  were  made  in  the  letter,  when  it  was 
adopted.  Colonel  Gilbert  Drake  and  Stephen  Ward, 
Deputies  from  Westchester-county,  opposing  the 
motion,  and  Colonel  Lewis  Graham,  also  a  Deputy 
from  that  County,  supporting  it.® 

" 'make  their  publick  entry  into  the  City,  at  noon-day,  and  did  seize 
"  *  and  carry  off  the  types  belonging  to  one  of  the  publick  Printers  of 
"  'this  Colony,  without  any  authority  from  the  Continental  or  this  Con- 
•* 'gress,  your  Petitioners,  or  any  other  body  having  power  to  grant 
"  '  such  authority.  And  being  apprehensive  thit  such  Incursions, 
"  '  should  they  be  repeated,  will  be  [iroductive  of  many  groat  and  evil  con- 
"  'sequences  to  the  Inhabitants  of  such  place  wherein  they  may  be  here- 
'  '  after  made,  your  Petitioners  do  therefore  conceive  it  highly  necessary, 
*"  in  the  present  situation  of  publick  affairs,  as  well  for  tliesakeof  inter- 
"  '  nal  peace  and  harmony  of  eaidi  Colony  as  for  the  miiintenancc  of  the 
"  'general  union  of  the  Continent,  now  happily  subsisting,  and  so  esscn- 
"'  tial,  at  this  juncture,  that  each  of  the  a.s3ociated  Colonies  on  the  Con- 
" '  tinent  should  have  the  sole  management  and  regulation  of  its  publick 
" 'matters  by  its  Congress  or  Committee,  unless  otherwise  directed  by 
"  'the  honourable  the  Continental  Congress. 

"  '  Your  Petitioners  do  therefore  most  humbly  pray,  that  this  honour- 
" 'able  House  of  Delegates  would  be  pleiised  to  take  the  premises  into 
'"  their  consideration,  and  devise  some  expedient  topievent,  for  the 
"'future,  the  Inhabitants  of  any  of  the  neighbouring  Colonies 
"  '  coming  into  this,  to  direct  the  publick  affairs  of  it,  or  to  destroy  the 
"  'property  or  invade  the  liberty  of  Its  Inhabitnnts,  without  the  direc- 
"  'tion  of  the  Continental  or  this  Congress,  or  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
"' or  the  Committee  of  the  County  into  which  such  Inhabitants  may 
"  'come,  or  of  the  Continental  Generals,  unless  there  should  be  an  Inva- 
"  *  sion  made  into  this  Colony. 

"  '  And  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray,  etc. 

"  '  By  order  of  the  Committee.' 

"Ordered,  That  the  same  be  fairly  copied,  and  signed  by  the  Chair- 
"  man  of  this  Committee,  and  delivered  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Con- 
"  gress." 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Friday  morning,  December  8, 
"1775." 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Decem- 
"ber  12,  1775;"  and  the  same,  "Die  Martis,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  Deer.  12, 
"1775." 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  very  important  letter: 

"  In  Provincial  Congress, 
"  New-York,  12th  Deer.,  1775. 

"  Sir  : 

"It  gives  us  concern  that  we  are  under  the  necessity  of  addressing 


been  a  regular  military  operation  :  that  the  fact  was,  then,  unknown, 
that  it  was  only  an  inroad  of  banditti,  winked  at,  it  is  true,  but  without 
any  autiiority,  legal  or  revolutionary :  that  the  Committee  did  not  even 
suspect  that  the  raiders  were  only  an  organized  band  of  robbers,  com- 
posed only  of  the  floating  population  of  another  Colony. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


The  Governor  of  Connecticut,  regarding  with  rea- 
sonable contempt  tiie  feeble,  if  not  the  hypocritical, 
outpourings  of  such  a  bashful,  if  not  such  a  double- 
faced,'  body  as  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York 
then  was — at  the  very  moment  when  it  was  consider- 
ing the  proposition  to  send  a  letter  to  him,  on  the 
subject  of  the  raid  which  is  now  under  notice,  it  was 
also  balancing  on  the  tight-rope  of  loyalty  to  the 
King  and  reconciliation  with  the  Home  Government, 

"you  on  a  subject  that  haa  given  great  discontent  to  the  inhabitants  of 
"  the  City  and  County  of  New-York. 

"  We  are  informed  by  a  Petition  from  tlie  Gene'al  Committee,  that  a 
*'body  of  troops  from  your  Colony  lately  made  a  public  entry  into  this 
"  City,  at  noon-day,  and  seized  and  carried  oft  the  types  belonging  to  one 
"of  the  public  priutei's,  without  any  authority  from  the  Continental  or 
"tliis  Congress  or  their  Committee. 

"  While  we  consider  this  conduct  tvs  an  insult  offered  to  this  Colony,  we 
"are  disposed  to  attribute  it  to  an  imprudent  though  well-intended  zeal 
"  for  the  public  cause ;  and  cannot  entertain  the  most  distant  thought 
"that  your  Colony  will  approve  of  the  measure.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
"  use  arguments  to  show  the  impropriety  of  a  proceeding  that  has  a 
"  manifest  tendency  to  interrupt  that  harmony  and  union  which,  at 
"present,  liappily  subsists  throughout,  and  is  so  essential  to  the  interest 
"of  the  whole  Continent.  It  is  our  earnest  desire  that  you  would  take 
"  the  most  effectual  steps  to  prevent  any  of  the  people  of  your  Colony 
"  from  entering  into  this,  for  the  like  purposes,  unless  invited  by  our 
"  Provincial  Congress,  a  Couunittee  of  Safety,  or  the  General  Conimit- 
"  tee  of  one  of  our  Counties,  as  we  cannot  but  consider  such  intrusions 
"as  an  invasion  of  our  essential  rights,  as  a  distinct  Colony  ;  and  com- 
"  nion  justice  obliges  us  to  request  that  you  will  give  orders  that  all  the 
"  types  be  returned  to  the  Chairman  of  the  General  Committee  of  the 
"  City  and  County  of  New-York.  We  beg  you  will  not  consider  this  re- 
"quisitiou  as  an  attempt  to  justify  the  num  from  whom  the  types  were 

taken  :  we  are  fully  sensible  of  his  demerits  ;  but  w«  earnestly  wish 
"that  the  glory  of  the  present  contest  for  Liberty  may  not  bo  sullied  by 
"an  attempt  to  restrain  the  Freedom  of  the  Press. 

"  The  same  body  of  troops,  we  are  informed,  seized  the  Mayor  of  tiie 
"  Borough  of  Westchester,  the  Hector  of  that  Parish,  and  one  of  the 
"Justices  of  the  County,  and  carried  them  to  your  Colony.  Mr.  Seabury, 
"  we  are  informed,  is  still  detained.  If  such  should  be  the  case,  we  must 
"  entreat  your  friendly  interposition  for  his  immediate  discharge;  the 
"  more  especially  as,  considering  his  ecclesiastical  character,  which,  per- 
"  haps,  is  venerated  by  many  friends  to  Liberty,  the  severity  that  has 
"been  used  towards  him  may  be  subject  to  misconstructions  prejudicial 
"to  the  common  cause,  and  the  more  effectually  to  restrain  such  incur- 
"sions  which,  if  repeated,  may  be  productive  of  mischief  of  the  most  se- 
"  rious  consequence  ;  and,  as  wo  would  be  exceedingly  sorry  to  give 
"  room  for  jealousies  among  individuals  in  your  Colony  that  we  are 
"desirous  to  damp  the  spirit  of  Liberty  or  countenance  any  of  its 
"enemies  among  us,  we  propose  to  apply  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
"  not  by  way  of  complaint,  but  for  such  a  general  regulation,  on  this 
"subject,  as  may  as  well  prevent  such  jealousies  as  any  future  incur- 
"sious  by  the  inhabitants  of  either  Colony  into  the  other,  for  the  appre- 
"  bending  or  punishing  any  enemy  or  sujiposed  enemy  to  the  cause  of 
"Liberty,  without  application  to  the  Congress,  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
"or  the  Committee  of  the  County  within  the  jurisdiction  of  which  such 
"persons  shall  reside,  or  command  of  the  Continent<il  Congress. 

"  We  are,  Sir,  with  the  utmost  respect  and  esteem, 
"  Your  mo.  obt.  servta. 

"  By  order  of  the  Provincial  Congress. 
"To  the  HoDble  Jona.  Tkvmuill,  "Nath'i.  Woobhvll,  I'ret'l. 

"  Gov.  of  the  Colony  of  C'oH^^lC^^c«^." 

^  It  is  proper  to  say,  in  this  connection,  that  th«  insincerity  of  the  Pro 
Tincial  Congress  was  never  more  boldly  presented  than  in  its  Order  con- 
cerning the  disposition  which  was  to  bo  made  of  the  letter  which  it  had 
just  ordered  to  be  written  to  the  Governor  of  Connecticut,  in  the  matter 
of  the  raid  of  Connecticut's  rutTians — instead  of  ordering  it  to  be  forwarded 
tu  the  Governor,  it "  Ordekec,  That  the  said  letter  be  engrossed  and  signed 
"  by  the  President,  so  as  to  lie  ready  to  be  transmitted,  when  niREixEn." 
(Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congrat,  "Die  Uartia,  3  ho.,  P.  M.,  Deer.  12, 
"177o.") 

Just  ii-hen  the  Congress  "directed"  it  to  be  "transmitted,"  is  not 
known. 


under  the  leadership  of  Thomas  Smith,  one  of  the 

distinguished  body  of  political  acrobats  of  that  name'^ 
— made  no  reply  whatever  to  its  letter,  until  the  fol- 
lowing June,  when  he  adroitly  turned  the  scale 
against  the  complaining  Provincial  Congress,  by  re- 
minding it  that  the  leader  of  the  banditti  was  a 
resident  of  the  City  of  New  York,^  doing  business  in 
that  City,  and,  also,  a  member  of  the  complaining 
Provincial  Congress;  that  he  was,  therefore,  amena- 
ble, directly,  to  the  Congress  itself,  for  what  he  had 
done;  and  that  it  was  not  expedient,  then,  to  call  the 
rest  of  the  banditti  to  account* — a  conclusion  which 
was  perfectly  reasonable  while  the  complaining  Con- 
gress complacently  permitted  the  leader  of  the  party, 
who  was  the  principal  offender,  to  go  at  large,  witliin 
its  own  jurisdiction,  without  question  concerning  it. 
The  long  process  of  intercolonial  diplomacy,  on 
what,  in  this  instance,  would  have  becii  an  inter- 
esting topic,  had  the  parties  in  that  diplomatic 
correspondence  been  honest  and  consistent,  might 
have  been  productive  of  u,seful  results ;  but  they 
were  neither  consistent  nor  honest;  and,  like  the 
greater  part  of  other  diplomacy,  it  consisted  of  little 
else  than  empty  word-;,  really  meaning  nothing  and, 
really,  producing  nothing.* 

While  that  feeble  demonstration  of  her  "independ- 
"  ence  and  dignity  "  was  being  presented  by  the  revo- 
lutionary authorities  in  New  York,  and  there  was  no 
other  demonstration,  by  either  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment or  the  armed  force  which  occupied  the  harbor 
and  commanded  the  City,  the  Rector  of  the  Parish  of 
Westchester,  as  has  been  already  stated,  remained  in 
captivity,  in  the  hands  of  the  banditti  who  had  seized 

2  Vide  page  .317,  post. 

STlie  notice  of  the  raid  which  was  published  in  The  Connccliait  Jnunml, 
already  copied  into  this  narrative,  clearly  indicated  that  Isaac  Sears 
was  only  a  temporary  sojourner  at  New  Haven,  when  he  made  that 
raid. 

*  Governor  Trumhnll  to  the  President  of  the  Provinciid  Coiujresg  of  Xew 
York,  "IIartfoku,  June  Idth,  1776."' 

5  The  Provincial  Congress  evidently  called  the  attention  of  the  Delega- 
tion in  the  Continental  Congress  to  the  subject,  as  it  promised  to  do, 
in  its  letter  to  Governor  Trumbull  ;  and  on  the  eleventh  of  .January, 
177fi,  the  Delegation  wrote,  in  reply  :  "  We  highly  applaud  the  spirit, 
"  and,  at  the  same  time,  respectful  manner  in  which  you  have  supported 
"the  dignity  and  independence  of  our  Colony,  and  demanded  reiiaration 
"on  the  subject  of  the  Connecticut  inroad.  An  interposition,  so  rash, 
"officjous,  and  violent  gave  us  great  anxiety,  as  it  was  not  only  a  high 
"insult  to  your  authority,  but  had  a  direct  tendency  to  confirm  that  fatal 
"spirit  of  jealousy  and  distrust  of  our  eastern  brethren  which  has  done 
"so  much  injury  to  our  cause,  and  which  every  wi.feand  virtuous  jiat riot 
"should  study  to  suppieiss. "  The  Government  of  Connecticut,  we  are 
"persuaded,  will  not  only  do  you  the  justice  which  you  have  rcc|uired, 
"but  adopt  cfTcctual  means  to  restrain  their  inhabitants  from  simitar  at- 
"  tempts  in  future.  In  this  expectation,  we  shall  take  the  liberty 
"  to  defer  the  application  to  Congress  which  you  direct,  until  we  are 
"favoured  with  a  copy  of  Governor  Trumbull's  answer  to  your  letter." 
{I'hdip  LiviiujHioti,  Jame8  Duaue,  John  Jny,  Henry  Wi&ner,  and  William 
Floyd  to  the  Provinciid  Conyrem,  "  PniLAi>Ei.i'HiA,  5th  January,  17711.") 

The  Governor  of  Connecticut  having,  meanwhile,  taken  no  notice 
whatever  of  the  letter  which  the  Provincial  Congres.s  had  written  to 
him,  in  the  preceding  December,  on  the  8th  of  March,  1771),  the 
latter  informed  the  Delegation  from  New  York  in  the  Continental 
('ongress,  of  that  fact,  (Jourmd  of  the  1\i>riucial  Conyrem,  "Die  \  eneris, 
"10  ho.,  A.M.,  March  8,  1771) ;")  but  there  seems  to  have  been  no  .ic- 
tion,  on  that  subject,  in  the  former  body,  then  or  at  any  other  time. 


312 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


him  and  carried  him  from  his  home ;  and  he  was 
thus  held  by  that  law-defying  gang  of  ruffians,  in  one 
of  the  Capital-towns  of  Connecticut,  in  which  the 
Legislature  was,  then,  in  session,  without  the  slightest 
attempt,  by  the  legally  constituted  Government  of 
that  Colony,  to  interfere,  either  for  the  rescue  of  the 
captive  or  for  the  vindication  of  the  Law  of  the 
land,  which  had  been  indisputably  violated  by  those 
who  held  him.  As  has  been  stated,  the  captive  was 
not  permitted  to  hold  a  free  intercourse  with  his 
friends  ;  the  use  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  unless  for  the 
purpose  of  writing  to  his  family,  was  interdicted;  and 
his  correspondence  with  his  family  was  subjected  to 
examination  by  his  captors.  As  a  matter  of  favor, 
however,  he  was  permitted  to  memorialize  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Colony  within  which  he  was  held  in 
captivity,  although  that  Assembly  had  been  dissolved 
by  Proclamation  of  theGo.vernor,six  days  previously; 
and,  because  that  Memorial  is  a  portion  of  the  revolu- 
tionary literature  of  Westchester-county,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  importance  as  an  authority  in  history, 
a  place  for  it  may  be  properly  found  in  the  text  of 
this  narrative.^    It  was  in  the  following  words: 

"  To  THE  Honorable  General  Assembly  of  the 
"  Gov.  AND  Company  of  the  Colony  of  Con- 

"  NECTICUT,  NOW  SITTING  IN  NeW  HaVEN,  IN 

"said  Colony,  by  special  Order  of  his 
"  Honor,  the  Governor. 

"  The  Memorial  of  Samuel  Seabury,  Clerk,  A.M., 
"  Rector  of  tiie  Parish  of  We-it  Chester,  in  the  County 
"  of  West  Chester  and  Province  of  New  York,  humbly 
"  showelh : — 

"  That  on  Wednesday,  the  22d  day  of  November 
"  last,  your  Memorialist  was  seized  at  a  house  in 
"  West  Chester  where  he  taught  a  grammar  school,  by 
"a  company  of  armed  men,  to  the  number,  as  he 
"su[)poses,  of  ab(jut  forty  ;  that  after  being  carried  to 
"  his  own  house  and  being  allowed  lime  to  send  for 
"  his  horse,  he  was  forced  away  on  the  road  to  Kings- 
"  bridge,  but  soon  meeting  another  company  of 
"armed  men,  they  joined  and  proceeded  to  East 
"  Chester. 

"  That  a  person  styled  Captain  Lothrop  ordered 
"  your  Memorialist  to  be  seized.  That  after  the  two 
"companies  joined,  the  command  appeared  to  your 
"Memorialist  to  be  in  Captain  Isaac  Sears,  and  the 
"  whole  number  of  men  to  be  about  one  hundred. 
"That  from  East  Chester  your  Memorialist,  in  com- 


1  a  portion  of  this  notable  paper  was  publislied  by  Hinmiin,  in  liis 
Hiittoricitl  CoUeclions  of  the  jiart  snsfaiued  bt/  Coinwclicut  diirimj  tkc  War  of 
the  Remlutlmi,  (pages  548-551.)  Rev.  E.  E.  Beardsley,  D.D  ,  in  his  Life 
avd  Correspondence  of  the  Jiigltt  Iteverend  Samuel  Seahui-y,  D.D.,  (Second 
Edition,  30-42,)  i)ui>Iiblied  as  nearly  a  complete  and  accurate  copy  of  it 
as  those  who  printed  liifl  book  would  permit  him  to  give  to  his  readers. 
It  is  believed  that,  witli  his  kind  assistance,  we  have  the  privilege  of 
hiying  an  entirely  accurate  and  complete  copy  of  the  original  manu- 
script before  our  readere,  from  the  copy  of  that  original  which  was  fur- 
nished to  hin>  by  Charles  J.  Hoadley,  the  Librarian  of  the  State  Library, 
at  Hartford,  the  custodian  of  that  paper. 


"  pany  with  Jonathan  Fowler,  Esq.,  of  East  Chester, 
"  and  Nathl.  Underbill,  Esq.,  of  West  Chester,  was 
"  sent  under  a  guard  of  about  twenty  armed  men^  to 
"  Horseneck,'  and  on  the  Monday  following  was 
"  brought  to  this  town  and  carried  in  triumph  through 
"  a  great  part  of  it,  accompanied  by  a  large  number 
"  of  men  on  horsback  and  in  carriasjes,  chiefly  armed. 
"  That  the  whole  company  arranged  themselves  before 
"the  house  of  Captain  Sears.  That  after  firing  two 
"cannon  and  huzzaing,  your  Memorialist  was  sent 
"  under  a  guard  of  four  or  five  men  to  the  house  of 
"  Mrs.  Lyman,  where  he  has  ever  since  been  kept 
"under  guard.  That  during  this  time  your  Memor- 
"  ialist  hath  been  prevented  from  enjoying  a  free  inter- 
"  course  with  his  friends ;  forbidden  to  visit  some  of 
"  them,  though  in  company  with  his  guard ;  prohibited 
"  from  reading  prayers  in  the  church,  and  in  perform- 
"  ing  any  part  of  divine  service,  though  invited  by 
"the  Rev.  Mr.  Hubbard  so  to  do  ;  interdicted  the  use 
"  of  pen,  ink,  and  jiaper,  except  for  the  purpose  of 
"  writing  to  his  family,  and  then  it  was  required  that 
"  his  letters  should  be  examined  and  licensed  before 
"  they  were  sent  off;  though  on  Friday  last,  Captain 
"  Sears  condescended  that  your  Memorialist  should 
"be  indulged  in  writing  a  Memorial  to  this  Hon. 
"Assembly.  That  your  Memorialist  hath  received 
"but  one  letter  from  his  family  since  he  has  been 
"  under  confinement,  and  that  was  delivered  to  him 
"  open, though  brought  by  the  post. 

"  Your  Memorialist  begs  leave  further  to  represent, 
"  that  he  hath  heard  a  verbal  account  that  one  of  his 
"  daughters  was  abused  and  insulted  by  some  of  the 
"  people  when  at  his  house  on  the  22d  of  November. 
"  That  a  bayonet  was  thrust  through  her  cap,  and  her 
"cap  thereby  tore  from"  [Aer]  "head.  That  the 
"  handkerchief  about  her  neck  was  pierced  by  a  bay- 
"  onet,  both  before  and  behind.  That  a  quilt  in  the 
"  frame  on  which  the  daughters  of  your  Memorialist 
"  were  at  work  was  so  cut  and  pierced  with  bayonets 
"  as  to  be  rendered  useless.  That  while  your  Memo- 
"rialist  was  waiting  for  his  horse,  on  the  said  22d  day 
"  of  November,  the  people  obliged  the  wife  of  your 
"  Memorialist  to  open  his  desk,  where  they  examined 
"his  papers,  part  of  the  time  in  presence  of  your 
"  Memorialist.  That  he  had  in  a  drawer  in  the  desk 
"three  or  four  dollars  and  a  few  pieces  of  small  sil- 
"  ver.  That  he  hath  heard  that  only  an  English 
"shilling  and  three  or  four  coppers  were  found  in  the 
"  drawers  after  he  was  brought  away.  That  your 
"  Memorialist  thinks  this  not  improbable,  as  Jonathan 
"  Fowler,  Esq.,  informed  him  that  a  new  beaver  hat,  a 
"silver-mounted  horsewhip,  and  two  silver  spoons  were 
"carried  oft"  from  his  house  on  said  day.  Mr.  Meloy, 
"  also,  of  this  town,  informed  your  Memorialist  that 

2  It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Seabury  did  not  regard  his  captors  as 
''troops"  or  "Light  Horse"  or  military  men,  of  any  class;  he  evi- 
dently considered  them  as  what  are  known  as"  irregulars;"  and,  for 
that  reason,  called  them  only  "armed  men." 

Horse  Neck  of  that  period  is  West  Greenwich  of  this. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


313 


"  he,  the  said  Meloy,  had  been  accused  by  some  peo- 
pie  of  pointing  a  bayonet  at  the  breast  of  a  daughter 
'  of  your  Memorialist,  desiring  your  Memorialist  to  ex- 
'  culpate  him  from  the  charge,  to  which  request  your 
"  Memorialist  replied  that  he  was  not  at  his  house  but 
"  at  his  school  house  when  the  affair  was  said  to  have 
'  happened  ;  but  that  a  daughter  of  your  Memorialist 
"  met  him  as  he  was  brought  from  the  school  house, 
"  and  told  him  that  one  of  the  men  had  pushed  a 
"  bayonet  against  her  breast  and  otherwise  insulted 
"her;  and  your  Memorialist  remembers  that  when 
"he  left  his  house  in  the  morning  his  daughter  had  a 
'  cap  on,  but  when  she  met  him  near  the  school 
"  house  she  had  none  on  and  her  hair  was  hanging 
"  over  her  shoulders. 

"  Your  Memorialist,  also,  begs  leave  further  to 
'  represent  that ■  after  he  had  been  eight  or  ten  days 
'  at  New  Haven,  he  was  carried  by  Mr.  Jonathan 
'  Mix,  to  whose  care  he  was  committed,  to  the  house 
'  of  Mr.  Beers,  innkeeper,  in  said  town,  where  were 
'  Captain  Sears,  Captain  Lothrop,  Mr.  Brown,  and 
'  some  others,  whose  names  he  did  not  know  or  does 
'  not  recollect.  That  several  questions  were  asked 
'  him,  to  some  of  which  he  gave  the  most  explicit 
'  answers,  but  perceiving  some  insidious  design 
'  against  him  by  some  of  the  questions,  he  refused  to 
'  answer  any  more.  That  Captain  Sears  then  ob- 
'  served  to  him,  if  he  understood  him  right,  that  they 
'  did  not  intend  to  release  him,  nor  to  make  such  a 
'  compromise  with  him  as  had  been  made  with  Judge 
'  Fowler  and  Mr.  Underbill,'  but  to  keep  him  a  pris- 
'  oner  till  the  unhappy  disputes  between  Great 
'Britain  and  America  were  settled.  That  whatever 
"  your  Memorialist  might  think,  what  they  had  done 
"  they  would  take  upon  themselves  and  support. 
'  Tliat  your  Memorialist  then  asked  an  explicit  de- 
"  claration  of  the  charges  against  him,  and  was  told 
"  that  the  charges  against  him  were : — 

"That  he,  your  Memorialist,  had  entered  into  a 
"  combination  with  six  or  seven  others  to  seize  Cap- 
'  tain  Sears  as  he  was  passing  through  the  county  of 
"West  Chester,  and  convey  him  on  board  a  man-of- 
'■  war. 

"  That  your  Memorialist  had  signed  a  Protest  at  the 
'  White  Plains,  in  the  county  of  West  Chester, 
"against  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Con- 
"  gress. 

"That  your  Memorialist  had  neglected  to  oi)en  his 
"  church  on  the  day  of  the  Continental  Fast. 

''And  that  he  had  written  pamphlets  and  nt-ws- 
"  papers  against  the  liberties  of  America. 

"To  the  first  and  hist  of  these  charges  your 
"Memorialist  pleads  not  guilty,  and  will  be  ready  to 
"vindicate  his  innocence,  as  soon  as  he  shall  be 
"restored  to  his  liberty  in  that  province  to  which  only 
"  he  conceives  himself  to  be  amenable.'-  He  considers 


1  Vide  pages  308,  309,  ante. 

2  In  our  early  niaiiliood,  after  a  careful  exainiuation  of  uU  the  evidence 

•24 


"it  a  high  infringement  of  the  liberty  for  which  the 
"  virtuous  sons  of  America  are  now  nobly  struggling, 
"  to  be  carried  by  force  out  of  one  colony  into 
"another,  for  the  sake  eitlier  of  trial  or  imprison- 

which  was  acceBsible  to  us,  we  reached  the  conclusions  that  the  celebra- 
ted political  tracts  of  "A.  W.  Farmer"  [n  Westchefter  Farmer]  which 
were  published  in  1774,  aud  which  created  such  an  intense  excitement 
among  the  revolutionary  faction,  were  written  by  Isaac  Wilkins,  of 
Westchester,  and  not  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  also  of  Westchester, 
to  whom  they  liad  been  generally  attributed.  Several  years  afterwards, 
those  conclusions  secured  the  respect  and  deference  of  one  whose  respect 
and  deference,  in  such  matters,  were  distinctions  of  which  any  one 
might  have  been  reasonably  proud,  {Historical  Magazine,  New  Series, 
iii.,  9 — January,  18G8  ; )  and  we  have  not  since  seen  the  slightest  reason 
for  revising  our  early  judgment,  in  that  much  canvassed  question  of 
authorship. 

Within  a  few  months  after  the  publication  of  those  notable  political 
essays,  the  satirist,  John  Trumbull,  wrote  his  versified  version  of  Gen- 
eral Gage's  ProcIanuUinn  of  the  twelfth  of  .lune,  1775,  in  which,  in  the 
following  lines,  the  well-informed  author  of  that  well-written  piece  very 
clearly  indicated  the  person  who,  at  that  early  date,  was  recognized  as 
the  detested  "A.  W.  Farmer  :  " 

"  What  disappointments  sad  and  bilkings, 

"Awaited  poor  departing  W  s; 

"  What  wild  confusion,  rout  and  hobble,  you 

"  Made  with  his  farmer,  Don  A.  W." 
(Trumbull's  Origin  of  MoVimjul,  31,  32  ;)  and  within  six  months  after 
Trumbull's  publication,  Samuel  Seabury,  in  that  portion  of  his  Memorial 
to  the  Ocnei^al  Anst'iitblt/  of  Coiutectivut  which  is  now  under  notice,  added 
his  very  clear,  very  precise,  and  very  unequivocal  testimony,  on  the  same 
interesting  question.  With  these  two  independent  pieces  of  evidence 
before  him,  the  reader  may  easily  ascertain  with  how  much  of  accuracy 
that  early  judgment  was  formed. 

We  are  not  unacquainted,  also,  with  a  paper,  entitled  The  Westchester 
Farmer,  written  by  D.  Williams,  and  published  in  The  Magazine  of  Afner- 
lean  Histi>rij,  viii.,  117— February,  1882.  It  contains  what  purports  to 
have  been  an  unsigned  draft  of  a  Memorial  supposed  to  have  been 
addressed,  or  intended  to  have  been  addressed,  by  Samuel  Seabury,  sev- 
eral years  after  the  occurrences  now  under  consideration,  to  the  Cummis- 
sioners  fcr  atijusting  the  losses  of  the  Loyal  llefugees,  in  which  draft  of  a 
Memorial  he  claimed,  if  the  paper  is  not  something  else  than  what  it 
purports  to  have  been,  to  have  been  the  sole  author  of  the  "A.  W. 
"Farmer"  tracts,  as  well  as  of  various  other  tracts  and  publications. 
But  we  are  constrained  to  say  that,  whether  the  paper  is  what  it  purports 
to  have  been  or  not,  and  whether  it  was  copied  and  delivered  to  the 
Commissioners  or  not,  of  both  of  which  we  have  grave  doubts,  there  are 
evidences  within  itself  of  its  entire  untrustworthiness,  in  its  recital  of 
known  facts  ;  that  we  do  not  believe,  therefore,  that  it  was  written  by 
Samuel  Seabury,  carefully  and  deliberately,  if  he  really  wrote  it ;  and 
that  we  need  more  evidence  than  we  have  yet  seen,  that  he  was  capable 
of  deliberately  and  understandingly  telling  or  writing  unqualified  false- 
hoods, for  any  purpose,  either  while  he  was  in  New  Haven,  in  1775-6,  or 
in  Lond  n,  after  he  had  received  his  Doctor's  degree  from  Oxford  Uni- 
versity, several  yeare  afterwards. 

In  view  of  the  fact,  if  it  is  a  fact,  which  Mr.  Williams  has  copied  from 
Boucher's  Sermons,  that  a  pension  was  granted  to  some  other  person  for 
having  done  what,  in  this  paper,  was  Siiid  to  have  been  done  by  .Seabury, 
it  is  very  evident  the  British  Government  preferred  to  believe  that  Sam- 
uel Seabury  was  not  the  author  of  the  "  A.  W.  Farmer  "  tracts  nor  of 
the  other  publications  named  in  that  draft  of  a  Memorial,  referred  to  in 
Mr.  William's  paper  ;  and  that  it  acted,  accordingly. 

We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  a  great-grandson  of  Samuel  Sea- 
bury, in  a  paper  which  was  published  in  The  American  Quarterly  Church 
Review,  for  April,  1881,  without  any  supporting  testimony  which  any 
Bench  in  the  country  would  have  received  as  evidence,  in  any  case,  un- 
dertook the  ungracious  tiisk  of  showing,  by  argument,  that  Samuel  Sea- 
bury was  not  sincere,  when  he  wrote  the  disclaimer  which  is  now  under 
notice  ;  that  his  words,  on  the  matter  of  his  alleged  authorship  of  the 
political  pamphlets  and  newspaper  articles  referred  to,  were  artfully  in- 
tended to  mislead  the  General  .\ssembly,  beneficially  to  himself;  and 
that,  in  fact,  notwithstanding  what  he  and  others  had  said  and  written 
to  the  contrary,  Samuel  Seabury  was  really  the  author  of  the  "A.  W. 
"  Farmer  "  tracts  !  We  must  be  excused,  however,  for  dissenting  from 
the  conclusions  of  this  younger  member  of  the  Seabury  family,  and  for 


314 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  ment.  Must  he  be  judged  by  the  laws  of  Connecti- 
"  cut,  to  which  as  an  inhabitant  of  New  York  he 
"  owed  no  obedience  ?  or  by  the  laws  of  that  colony 
"in  which  he  has  been  near  twenty  years  a  resident? 
"  or,  if  the  regulations  of  Congress  be  attended  to, 
"  must  he  be  dragged  from  the  committee  of  his  own 
"  county,  and  Irom  the  Congress  of  his  own  province, 
"  cut  off  from  the  intercourse  of  his  friends,  deprived 
"  of  the  benefit  of  those  evidences  which  may  be 
"  necessary  for  the  vindication  of  his  innocence,  and 
"judged  by  strangers  to  him,  to  his  character,  and 
"  to  the  circumstances  of  his  general  conduct  in  life? 

"One  great  grievance  justly  complained  of  by  the 
"  people  of  America,  and  which  they  are  now  strug- 
"  gling  against,  is  the  Act  of  Parliament  directing 
"  persons  to  be  carried  from  America  to  England  for 
"  a  trial.  And  your  Memorialist  is  confident  that  the 
"supreme  legislative  authority  in  this  colony  will  not 
"permit  him  to  be  treated  in  a  manner  so  destructive 
"  to  that  liberty  for  which  they  are  now  contending. 
"  If  your  Memorialist  is  to  be  dealt  with  according  to 
"  law,  he  conceives  that  the  laws  of  Connecticut,  as 
"well  as  of  New  York,  forbid  the  imprisonment  of 
"  bis  person  any  otherwise  than  according  to  law.  If 
"  he  is  to  be  judged  according  to  the  regulations  of  the 
"Congress,  they  have  ordained  the  Provincial  Con- 
"gress  of  New  York  or  the  Committee  of  the  county 
"  of  West  Chester,  to  be  his  judges.  Neither  the 
"laws  of  either  colony  nor  the  regulations  of  the 
"  Congress  give  any  countenance  to  the  mode  of 
"  treatment  which  he  has  met  with.  But  considered 
"  in  either  light,  he  conceives  it  must  appear  unjmf, 
"  cruel,  arbitrary,  and  tyrannical} 

retainiog  our  own  well-considered  opinion  that  Samuel  Seabury  was 
nothing  else  tlian  a  learned,  sincere,  trutliful,  honorable,  and  fearless 
man,  incapable  of  such  dishonorable  trickery  as  has  been  attributed  to 
him.    others  are  at  liberty,  of  course,  to  think  differently. 

1  The  reader  of  the  two  preceding  paragrajjhs,  in  which  the  captive  re- 
sponded to  the  first  and  fourth  of  tlie  charges  which  his  cajilors  had  pre- 
sented against  liim,  cannot  fail  to  find  evidence,  of  the  higliest  character, 
that,  in  his  political  opinions,  Samuel  Seabury  was,  at  that  time,  as  he 
had  previously  been,  in  exact  accord  with  Isaac  Wilkins  and  Frederic 
Philipso,  also  of  W'estchester-county  ;  and  that  he  was  and  had  been  in 
accord  with  the  great  body  of  Americans,  believing  and  maintaining  that 
the  Home  Government  had  invaded  the  personal  and  political  rights  of 
the  Colonists  ;  that  the  latter  had  just  reason  for  complaints  and  opposi- 
tion to  the  Colonial  and  Tlome  Governments,  because  of  those  grievances  ; 
that  the  Colonists  were  justified  in  their  opposition  to  those  obnoxious 
measures  and  to  those  who  enacted  and  promoted  the  execution  of  them, 
as  far  as  that  opposition  involved  no  violation  ot  the  Rights  of  Persons 
or  Properties  nor  of  the  Laws  of  the  Land  ;  and  that  the  Continental 
Congress  of  1774,  until  it  pasised  beyond  the  prescribed  limits  of  its 
authority,  as  that  authority  had  been  specifically  defined  by  its  constitu- 
ent Colonies,  and  until  it  assumed  the  unwarranted  authority  of  legisla- 
tion, thereby  closing  the  open  door  of  reconciliation  with  the  Mother 
Country,  for  the  [iromotion  of  which  it  had  been  expressly  and  solely  con- 
stituted, was  worthy  of  the  respect  and  supi)oit  which  were  given  to  it, 
by  nearly  every  one,  in  the  Colony.  In  common  with  the  great  body  of 
the  Colonists,  throughout  the  entire  seaboard,  he  was  sincere  in  his  con- 
victions that  the  Colonies  were  suffering  from  the  wrongs  which  had 
been  inflicted  on  them  by  the  Mother  Country  ;  and  he  was  willing  to 
resort  to  all  lawful  means  for  their  relief.  But  when  the  entire  ma- 
chinery of  the  party  of  the  Opposition  was  seized  by  those  who  only 
cared  for  the  offices  which  they  could  secure  and  for  the  promotion  of 
only  a  factional  struggle  for  tlie  control  of  the  political  power  of  the 
Colony,  he  i>referred  to  remain  among  the  conservatives,  and  to  act,  if 


"With  regard  to  the  second  charge,  viz. :  That 
"your  Memorialist  signed  a  Protest  against  the  pro- 
"ceedings  of  the  Congress,  he  begs  leave  to  state  the 
"  fact  as  it  really  is.  The  General  Assembly  of  the 
"province  of  New  York,  in  their  sessions  last  winter, 
"determined  to  send  a  petition  to  the  king,  a 
"  memorial  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  a  remonstrance 
"to  the  House  of  Commons,  upon  the  subject  of 
"  American  grievances ;  ^  and  the  members  of  the 
"  house,  at  least  many  of  them,  as  your  Memorialist 
"  was  informed,  recommended  it  to  their  constituents 
"  to  be  quiet  till  the  issue  of  those  applications  should 
"be  known.  Some  time  in  the  beginning  of  April,  as 
"your  Memorialist  thinks,  the  people  were  invited  to 
"  meet  at  the  White  Plains  to  choose  delegates  for  a 
"Provincial  Congress.  Many  people  there  assembled 
"were  averse  from  the  measure.  They,  however,  gave 
"  no  other  opposition  to  the  choice  of  delegates  than 
"  signing  a  Protest.  This  Protest  your  Memorialist 
"signed  in  company  with  two  members  of  the  assem- 
"  bly,  and  above  three  hundred  other  people.'  Your 
"  Memorialist  had  not  a  thought  of  acting  against  the 
"  liberties  of  America.  He  did  not  conceive  it  to  be 
"a  crime  to  support  the  measures  of  the  representa- 
"tivcs  of  the  people,  measures  which  he  then  hoped 
"and  eypected  would  have  good  effect  by  inducing  a 
"  change  of  conduct  in  regard  to  America.  More 
"than  eight  months  have  now  passed  since  your 
"Memorialist  signed  the  Protest.  If  his  crime  was 
"of  so  atrocious  a  kind,  why  was  he  suffered  to 
"remain  so  long  unpunished?  or  why  should  he  be 
"  now  singled  out  from  more  than  three  hundred,  to 
"endure  the  unexampled  punishment  of  captivity 
"  and  unlimited  confinement? 

"  The  other  crime  alleged  against  your  Memorialist  is 
"  that  he  neglected  to  open  his  church  on  the  day  of  the 
"  Continental  Fast.  To  this  he  begs  leave  to  answer  : 
"That  he  had  no  notice  of  the  day  appointed  but 
"  from  common  report :  That  he  reci  ived  no  order 
"  relative  to  said  day  either  from  any  Congress  or 
"  committee:  That  he  cannot  think  himself  guilty  of 
"  neglecting  or  disobeying  an  order  of  Congress, 
"  which  order  was  never  signified  to  him  in  any  way  : 


he  acted  in  any  political  movement,  with  the  conservative  rather  than 
with  the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  party  of  the  Opposition. 

Whatever  he  may  have  subsequently  become,  and  the  persecutions  to 
which  he  was  subjected  by  those  of  the  opposite  faction  of  the  Opposi- 
tion would  have  soured  the  most  amiable  of  dispositions  and  have  trans- 
foimed  those  who  were  more  opposed  to  the  Government  than  he  into 
active  "  friends  of  the  Governmeut,"  when  this  ilemnrial  was  written, 
and  previously  thereto,  Samuel  Seabury,  like  Isaac  Wilkins  and  Frederic 
Philipse  and  the  De  Lauceys  and  the  great  body  of  the  farmers  of  West- 
chester-county  and  those  who  were  not  seekers  for  offices  and  official 
power  and  official  emoluments,  everywhere,  as  far  as  they  were  po'iti- 
cally  inclined,  in  any  direction,  were  unchanged,  conservative  membeis 
of  the  earlier  party  of  the  Opposition  to  the  existing,  governing  Jlinistry, 
without  either  pretending  to  be  or  being,  in  the  slightest  degree,  what 
were  then  known,  distinctively,  as  "friends  of  the  Government,"  orwbut 
have  subsequently  become  known  by  the  technical  term,  as  offensive  .as 
it  was  distinctive,  of  "Tories." 

2  Vide  pages  231,  232,  ante. 

3  Vide  pages  247,  250,  ante. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


315 


"  That  a  complaint  was  exhibited  against  your 
"  Memorialist  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
"  York,  by  Captain  Sears,  soon  after  the  neglect  with 
"  which  he  is  charged,  and  that  after  the  matter  was 
"  Fully  debated,  the  complaint  was  dismissed: '  That 
"  he  conceives  it  to  be  cruel,  arbitranj,  and  in  the 
"  highest  degree  uiijiisf,  after  his  supposed  oflense  has 
"  been  examined  before  the  proper  tribunal,  to  be 
"  dragged  like  a  felon  seventy  miles  from  home,  and 
"  again  impeached  of  the  same  crime.  At  this  rate 
"  of  proceeding,  should  he  be  acquitted  at  New 
"  Haven,  he  may  forced  seventy  miles  farther, 
"  and  so  on  without  end. 

"  Further  your  Memorialist  begs  leave  to  repre- 
"sent:  That  he  has  a  wife  and  six  children,  to 
"  whom  he  owes,  both  from  duty  and  affection,  pro- 
"  tection,  support,  and  instruction.  That  his  family 
"  in  a  great  measure  depend,  under  the  providence  of 
"  God,  upon  his  daily  care  for  their  daily  bread. 
"  That  there  are  several  families  at  West  Chester 
"  who  depend  on  his  advice  as  a  physician,  to  which 
"  profession  he  was  bred.  That  as  a  clergyman  he 
"  has  the  care  of  the  towns  of  East  and  West  Chester. 
"  That  there  is  not  now  a  clergyman  of  any  denom- 
"  iuation  nearer  than  nine  miles  from  the  place  of 
"  his  residence,  and  but  one  within  that  distance 
"  without  crossing  the  Sound ;  so  that  in  his  absence 
"  there  is  none  to  officiate  to  the  people  in  any 
"  religious  service,  to  visit  the  sick,  or  bury  the  dead. 

''  Your  Memorialist  also  begs  leave  to  observe : 
"  That  in  order  to  discharge  some  debts  which  the 
"  necessity  of  his  afl'airs  formerly  obliged  him  to  con- 
"  tract,  he,  about  a  year  ago,  opened  a  grammar 
"  school,^  and  succeeded  so  far  as  to  make  it  worth 
"  one  hundred  pounds,  York  money,  for  the  year 
"  past.  That  he  was  in  a  fair  way  of  satisfying  his 
"  creditors  and  freeing  himself  from  a  heavy  incum- 
"  brance.  That  he  had  five  young  gentlemen  from 
"  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  one  from  Montreal,  four 
"  children  of  gentlemen  now  in  England,  committed 
"  to  his  care,  among  others  from  New  York  and  the 
"  country.  That  he  apprehends  his  school  to  be 
"  broken  up  and  his  scholars  dispersed,  probably 
"  some  of  them  placed  at  other  schools,  and  that  it 
"  may  be  difhcult,  if  not  impracticable,  again  to 
"  recover  them.  That  if  there  should  be  no  other 
"  impediment,  yet  if  the  people  of  West  Chester  are  to 

'Tlie  nifflanly  leader  of  the  banditti  who  seized  Samuel  Seabury  and 
destroyed  or  carried  away  the  property  of  James  Rivington,  had  had  a 
public  controveniy  with  the  latter,  and  had  been  most  ignoniiniously 
defeated,  (deLancey's  A'b(«  on  Jones's  Uisti>rij  of  S'ew  York  during  the 
litrohaionary  War,  i.,  561-568.)  The  te.xt  of  the  Memorial  of  Samuel 
Seaburii,  in  this  place,  indicated  that  the  same  disreputable  habitue  of 
Jasper  Drake's  Bceknian's  Slip  unlicensed  alehouse  had  also  had  a 
political  tilt  with  the  Rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  in  Westchester,  with 
a  similar  result.  The  reader  may  gather  from  those  facts,  without  re- 
sorting to  that  general  fact  of  the  disappointment  of  Sears,  in  his  scram- 
ble for  "a  high  office  in  the  American  Navy,"  of  which  Bancroft  has 
made  mention,  just  what  was  the  rejison  that  that  i-ufflan  was  so 
zealous,  in  his  pursuit  of  the  two  who  had  so  signally  defeated  him. 

:  Vide  pages  304,  :)06,  ante. 


"  be  liable  to  such  treatment  as  your  Memorialist  hath 
"  lately  endured,  no  person  will  be  willing  to  trust 
"  his  children  there.  That  in  this  case,  your  Memor- 
"  ialist  must  lie  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  his  creditors 
"  to  secure  him  from  a  jail,  or  must  part  with  every- 
"  thing  he  has  to  satisfy  their  just  demands. 

"  Your  Memorialist,  thinking  it  his  duty  to  use  all 
"lawful  and  honorable  means  to  free  himself  from 
"  his  present  confinement,  mentioned  his  case  to  the 
"judges  of  the  superior  court  lately  sitting  in  this 
"  town.  Those  honorable  gentlemen  thought  it  a 
"  case  not  proper  for  them  to  interfere  in ;  he  has, 
"  therefore,  no  remedy,  but  in  the  interposition  of  the 
"  Honorable  House  of  Assembly. 

"  To  them  he  looks  for  relief  from  the  heavy  hand 
"  of  oppression  and  tyranny.  He  hopes  and  expects 
"  that  they  will  dismiss  him  from  his  confinement, 
"  and  grant  him  their  protection,  while  he  passes 
"  peaceably  through  the  colony.  He  is  indeed 
"  accused  of  breaking  the  rules  of  the  Continental 
"  Congress.  He  thinks  he  can  give  a  good  account 
"  of  his  conduct,  such  as  would  satisfj'  reasonable 
"  and  candid  men.  He  is  certain  that  nothing  can 
"  be  laid  to  his  charge  so  repugnant  to  the  regula- 
"  tions  of  the  Congress,  as  the  conduct  of  those 
"  people  who  in  an  arbitrary  and  hostile  manner 
"  forced  him  from  his  house,  and  have  kept  him  now 
"four  weeks  a  prisoner  without  any  means  or  pros - 
"  pect  of  relief.  He  has  a  higher  opinion  of  the 
"  candor,  justice,  and  equity  of  the  Honorable  House 
"  of  Assembly,  and  shall  they  incline  to  inquire  more 
"  minutely  into  the  affair,  he  would  be  glad  to  ap- 
"  pear  at  the  bar  of  their  house,  and  answer  for  him- 
"self;  or  to  be  permitted  to  have  counsel  to  answer' 
"  for  him  ;  or,  in  such  way  as  they  in  their  wisdom 
"shall  think  best,  to  grant  him  relief.  And  your 
"  Memorialist,  as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray. 

"  Samuel  Seabuky. 

"  Dated  in  New  Haven  the  20th  day  of  Decem- 
"ber,  1775." 

Three  days  after  this  spirited  Memorial  was  written 
— there  is  no  record  that  it  was  ever  laid  before  a 
General  Assembly ' — as  the  brave  Memorialist  subse- 

3  We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  Hiuman,  in  his  Historical  Col- 
lections of  the  part  svMaiiied  bif  Omnecticut  daring  the  War  of  the  Hevoluti/m, 
{page  548,)  stated  that  Samuel  Seabury  "  brought  his  petition  on  the 
"20th  day  of  December,  1776,*  to  the  General  .Xssembly  of  Connecticut, 
"  then  sitting  at  New  Haven  ;  "  and,  further,  {page  551,)  that  "  the  peti- 
"tion,  in  the  Assembly,  was  referred  to  a  Joint  Committee  of  the  two 
"  Houses,  with  William  Samuel  Johnson,  Esq.,  as  Chairman,  who  re- 
"  ported  that  a  letter  had  been  received  from  the  President  of  the  New 
"  York  Congress,  on  the  subject ;  and  that  to  answer  said  letter,  a  pub- 
"  lie  hearing  should  be  had  before  both  Houses  of  said  .\ssembly."  We 
arc  not  insensible,  also,  that  Mr.  Seabury  addressed  his  Memnriul  "  To 
'•the  Honorable  the  General  Assembly  *  »  *  now  sitting  in  New 
"  Haven,  in  said  Colony,  by  special  Order  of  his  Honor,  the  Governor," 
{ride  page  312.  ante.)  But  the  Journal  of  that  Special  Session,  called  by 
the  Governor,  and  sitting  at  New  Haven,  shows  "  the  General  iVssembly 
"  was  adjourned  by  Proclamation,  on  the  14th  day  of  December,  1775  ;  " 
and  that  there  was  no  other  Session  of  the  .\ssembly,  from  the  latter 

*  Thus  stated  in  that  work. 


316 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


quently  stated,  "the  gang  who  took"  [hini]  "pris- 
'■  oner  thought  proper  to  withdraw  their  guard  and 
"let"  [Jiim']  "return"  to  his  desolated  home.' 

It  was  not  pretended  that  either  the  Executive,  or  the 
Legislative,  or  the  Judicial  authorities  of  the  Colony 
of  Connecticut,  none  of  whom  had  heen  disturbed  by 
the  revolutionary  element  within  that  Colony  and 
all  of  whom  were  enabled  to  discharge  all  their 
legitimate  functions,  had  made  the  slightest  move- 
ment for  the  relief  or  for  the  release  of  the  captive, 
who,  during  the  preceding  nearly  five  weeks,  had 
been  held  in  captivity,  with  the  entire  knowledge 
and  acquiescence  and  in  the  presence  of  each  of  those 
several  departments  of  the  Colonial  Government,  in 
one  of  the  Capital-Towns  of  the  Colony.  It  was  not 
pretended  that  any  one  of  the  seventeen  banditti, 
residents  of  the  Town  of  New  Haven  and  known  to 
all  in  authority,  had  been  called  to  account,  by  any 
one  in  authority,  for  their  flagrant  violation  of  the 
Law  of  the  land.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  evident  that 
his  captors  had  become  tired,  since  they  found  that 
an  able  and  courageous  prisoner,  such  as  Samuel 
Seabury  was,  was  not  likely  to  be  useful  to  either  the 
general  cause  of  the  Rebellion  or  to  those  who  held 
him  ;  and,  therefore,  without  any  oificial  action  which 
has  been  recorded,  either  by  the  oflScial  pens  or  by 
the  traditional  stylus  of  history — ^just  as  •  similar 
political  prisoners,  within  the  memory  of  living  men, 
have  been  informally  and  unceremoniously  ejected 
from  places  in  which  they  had  been  lawlessly  con- 
fined by  warrant  of  no  other  mittimus  than  the  naked 
ipse  dixit  of  reckless  and  law-defying  political  dema- 
gogues possessing  a  revolutionary  power  to  issue  such 
orders — the  guards  which  had  barred  the  outlet  from 
his  improvised  prison  were  removed;  the  doors  were 
opened ;  and  he  was  permitted  to  depart,  without 
hindrance,  and  to  return,  without  molestativ>n,  to  his 
home  and  family. 

He  reached  Westchester,  on  his  return,  on  the  sec- 
ond of  January,  1776  but  his  private  affairs  were 
very  much  disturbed;  ^  his  School,  on  which  he  large- 
ly depended  for  the  payment  of  his  debts  and  for  the 
more  comfortable  support  of  his  family,  was  broken 
up  ;  ■*  his  present  means  were  very  limited — the  ex- 
pense of  his  month's  confinement,  in  the  hands  of  the 
banditti,  had  amounted  to  the  very  large  sum  of  ten 
pounds  sterling^ — his  papers  were  so  much  scattered 


date  until  the  second  T.hursday  of  the  following  May,  see  the  same 
Historical  Collections^  etc.,  200. 

1  Rev.  Samuel  Seubury  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Venerable  Society,  "  New 
"  York,  December  29,  1776." 

2  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  Wkstciiester,  Janu- 
"ary  13,  1776  ;  "  Beardsley's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  lit.  Rev.  Samuel, 
Seabury,  D.D.,  43. 

3  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  Westchester,  Janu- 
"  ary  13, 1776.'' 

*  Beardsley'e  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D., 
48. 

6  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  Westchester,  January 
"  13,  1776." 


that  he  was  unable  to  discharge  his  official  duties 
with  propriety  and  accuracy ;  *  he  and  his  family  were 
subjected  to  constant  annoyances  and  insults ;  '  nis 
house  was  occupied,  soon  after,  by  a  Company  of 
Cavalry,  who  consumed  or  destroyed  all  the  products 
of  his  Glebe,  on  which,  to  a  considerable  extent,  his 
family  was  made  dependent ; "  he  was  thus  made  en- 
tirely dependent  for  support  on  his  small  stipend  as  a 
Missionary  of  the  Venerable  Society ;  and,  finally, 
like  his  friend  and  neighbor,  Isaac  Wilkins,  he  was 
compelled  to  seek  shelter  and  safety  in  flight  '—when 
a  favorable  opportunity  was  afforded,  he  gathered 
such  of  his  effects  as  could  be  conveniently  carried, 
and,  with  his  wife  and  six  children,  he  fled,  first  across 
the  Sound,  to  Long  Island  and,  subsequently,  to  the 
City  of  New  York.^" 

Need  there  be  any  surprise  that,  after  such  an  ex- 
perience of  what,  in  practice,  were  "  the  Liberties  of 
"America,"  Samuel  Seabui-y's  political  opinions  under- 
went a  radical  change — that  he  ceased  to  be  of  the 
party  of  the  Opposition  to  the  Ministry  then  in  place  ; 
and  that  he  became,  decidedly  and  firmly,  "  a  friend 
"  of  the  Government,"  in  other  words,  an  unqualified 
and  distinctive  Tory?  " 

On  the  fourth  of  December,  1775,  also  during  the 
period  between  the  dissolution  of  the  first  and  the 
organization  of  the  second  of  the  series  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congresses,  the  Governor  of  the  Colony,  Wil- 
liam Tryon,  from  his  shelter,  on  board  the  ship 
Dutchess  of  Gordon,  lying  in  the  harbor  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  evidently  and  reasonably  encouraged 
by  the  backwardness  of  the  Deputies  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress ;  by  the  known  inclination  to  peace,  of 
a  large  majority,  if  not  of  nearly  all,  the  Colonists; 
and  by  the  countenance  and  expected  support  of 
sundry  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  Mayor  of  that  City,  Whitehead  Hicks,'^ 

0  Ibid. 

'  Rev.  Samttel  Seabury  to  the  Venerable  Society,  "  New  York,  December 
"  29,  177G." 

8  Beardsley's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D., 
48. 

o  Samuel  Seabury's  name  was  on  the  first  "  List  of  Westchester-county 
"Tories,"  {Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.:  Miscelluneous  Papers,  xxxiv., 
193  )  In  September,  1776,  after  reciting  the  disaffection  of  Kev.  Sanmel 
Seabury,  the  Committee  of  Safety,  five  of  the  Westchester-county  mem- 
bers being  present,  directed  Colonel  Joseph  Drake,  forthwith,  to  remove 
him  from  his  home  to  the  house  of  Colonel  John  Brinckerhoflf,  at  Fish- 
kill,  to  remain  there  till  the  further  order  of  the  Convention  or  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  ;  and  that  he  be  not  permitted  to  leave  the  farm  of  the 
said  Colonel  Brinckerhoff,  except  in  company  with  the  Colonel.  At  the 
same  time  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt,  John  Jay,  and  Robert  Harper  were 
directed  to  ascertain  what  property  Mr.  Seabury  had  which  might  be 
seized  and  sold  forthe  payment  for  his  board  and  lodging,  in  his  involun- 
tary exile,  (.Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho., 
"  A.M.,  September  11,  1776.") 

1»  Beardsley's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D., 
50. 

11  Beardsley's  Life  and  Correspondence  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Sea^ 
bury,  D.D.,  48-50. 

12  Governor  Tryon  to  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York,  "Ship  Dutch- 
"  ESS  OF  GoRUON,  New  York  Harbour,  4th  Dec.  1775." 

This  letter  appeared,  in  print,  in  Gainc's  New-York  Gazette  :  and  the 
Weekly  Mercury,  No.  1261,  New-York,  Monday,  December  11,  1775. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


317 


enclosed  in  which  was  another  letter  addressed  "To 
"  theIxhabitantsof  theColony  ofNew  York.'" 
expressive  of  his  hope  that  some  measure  might  be 
adopted  as  the  basis  of  an  accommodation  between  the 
Mother  Country  and  the  Colony.  It  was  w  ritten  in  a 
spirit  of  kindness  and  regard  for  the  welfare  of  the 
country,  probably  as  a  feeler,  and  certainly  after  con- 
sultation with  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  Eebellion  ; 
and  it  was  well-calculated  to  lead  the  revolutionary 
portions  of  the  Colonists  back  to  their  duty  and  to 
peace,  in  which  it  appears  to  have  been  quite  effec- 
tive— ''  several  of  the  Delegates  "  [m  ihe  Provincial 
Congress']  "were  favorably  disposed,"  we  are  told; 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  the  Colonists,  also,  could  their  well-con- 
sidered and  honest  preferences  have  been  safely  ex- 
pressed, would  have  heartily  concurred  in  the  propo- 
sition. 

It  was  not,  then,  generally  known,  but  the  revela- 
tions made  by  the  publication  of  the  records  of  that 
period  have  recently  shown,  that  that  letter  was  in- 
troductory to  a  movement  toward  a  peaceful  solution 
of  the  political  troubles  of  the  Colonies,  which,  if  the 
letter  should  be  well-received,  the  very  able  family 
of  Smith,  who  had  been  among  the  originators  and 
most  earnest  promoters  of  the  Rebellion,  and  whose 
duplicity  and  hypocrisy  are  well  known,  was  prepar- 
ing to  direct  and  lead.  Thoniiis  Smith,  one  of  the 
brothers,  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress, 
and,  of  course,  in  all  the  councils  of  the  party  of  the 
Rebellion,  enjoying  the  confidence  of  those  who  were 


1  The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  letter,  taken  from  the  Sew-York 
Colonial  ManuscripUi,  ci.,  123,  in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at 
Albany  : 

"  To  THE  Inhabitants  of  the  Colony  of  New  Youk  : 

"  I  take  tliis  public  Manner  to  signify  to  tlie  Inliabitants  of  this  Prov- 
"  iuce,  that  his  Majesty  lias  been  graciously  pleased  to  grant  me  his 
"  Royal  Permission  to  withilraw  from  the  Government ;  and  at  the  siinie 
"  Time  to  assure  them  of  my  Keadiness  to  perform  ever  Service  in  my 
"  Power,  to  promote  the  common  Felicity.  If  I  am  excluded  from 
"  every  Hope  of  being  any  Ways  instrumental  towards  the  Re-establish- 
"  ment  of  that  Harmony,  at  present  interrupted  between  Great  Britain 
"  and  her  Colonies,  I  expect  soon  to  be  obliged  to  avail  myself  of  his 
"  Majesty's  Indulgence. 

"  It  has  given  me  great  Pain  to  view  the  Colony  committed  to  my 
"  care,  in  such  a  turbulent  State  as  not  to  have  afforded  me  since  niy 
*'  Arrival,  any  Prospect  of  being  able  to  take  the  dispassionate  and 
"  deliberate  Sense  of  its  Inhabitants,  in  a  constitutional  Manner,  upon 
"  the  Resolution  of  Parliament  for  composing  the  present  Ferments  in 
"  the  Provinces ;  A  Resolution  that  was  intended  for  the  Basis  of  an 
"  Accommodation  ;  and  if  candidly  considered  in  a  Way  in  which  it  will 
"  be  most  probably  successful,  and  treated  with  that  Delicacy  and 
."  Decency  requisite  to  the  Cultivation  of  a  sincere  Reconciliation  and 
"  Friendship,  might  yet  be  improved  for  the  I'urjiose  of  restoring  the 
"  geneml  Tranquility  and  Security  of  the  Empire. 

"  I  owe  it  to  my  .\ffection  to  this  Colony,  to  declare  my  wish,  that 
"  some  Jleasure  may  be  speedily  adopted  for  Ibis  purpose  ;  as  I  feel  an 
"  extreme  Degree  of  Anxiety,  in  being  Witness  to  the  growing  Calamities 
"  of  this  Country,  without  the  Power  to  alleviate  them:  Calamities 
"  that  must  increase,  while  so  many  of  the  Inhabitants  withhold  their 
"  Allegiance  from  their  Sovereign,  and  their  Obedience  to  the  Patent 
"  Countr)' ;  by  whose  Power  and  Patronage  they  have  hitherto  been  sus- 
"  tained  and  protected. 

"  William  Tryon. 

"  Ship  Di'tchess  of  Gordon, 
"  Harbour  or  Nkw  York,  4th  Dec.  1775." 


concerned  in  them.  Joshua  Hett  Smith,  another  of 
the  brothers,  whose  unholy  associations  with  General 
Benedict  Arnold  and  Major  John  Andre,  at  a  later 
period,  are  well  known,  was  not,  then,  in  any  Com- 
mittee or  Congress  ;  but,  nevertheless,  he  was,  at  that 
time,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  out-doors, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  inner  councils  of  those  who 
were  its  leaders.  William  Smith,  the  elder  of  the 
historical  family  of  that  period  and  allied  to  the  Liv- 
ingstons, by  marriage,  was  the  most  influential  of  all 
those  who  were,  at  that  time,  engaged  in  the  political 
affairs  of  the  Colony.  He  had  been  associated  with 
William  Livingston  and  John  Morin  Scott,  in  the 
historically  famous  "triumvirate."  He  had  professed 
to  approve  the  usurpations  of  legislative  authority 
and  other  questionable  doings  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress of  1774 ;  and  he  is  known  to  have  been  an  outside 
adviser  of  the  factious  minority  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, with  whom  and  with  whose  inconsistency  of  action 
the  reader  is  already  accjuainted.  He  was  the  life-long 
and  confidential  friend  and  the  frequent  host  of  Gene- 
ral Philip  Schuyler ;  and  the  correspondent,  friend, 
and  political  adviser  of  George  Clinton.  He  gave  up 
his  house,  for  the  occupation  of  General  Washington, 
when  the  latter  occupied  the  City;  and,  with  much 
ostentation,  he  appeared  to  be  largely  in  sympathy 
with  those,  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  who  were  in 
the  Rebellion.  But,  notwithstanding  all  these,  Wil- 
liam Smith  adroitly  avoided  the  placing  of  his  name 
to  the  General  Association  of  the  Congress  of  1774, 
that  act  which  was  made  the  political  shibboleth,  after 
the  catchwords  of  "  Rights  "  and  "Liberty"  had  ac- 
complished their  purposes  and  anew  issue,  that  of  an 
implicit  obedience  to  the  powers  which  were,  had 
been  made  by  those  who  were  leaders  in  the  Rebel- 
lion. He  was,  also,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  thus 
masquerading  as  a  confidante  and  an  adviser  of  those 
who  were  leading  the  Rebellion  and  as  a  sympathiser 
with  and  promoter  of  the  Rcbeiyon  itself,  a  Member  of 
the  Colonial  Council  of  the  King;  an  intimate  friend 
and  confidential  adviser  of  the  Governor  of  the  Col- 
ony, William  Tryou — whose  leanings  toward  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  Livingston  family  were  as  distinctly 
seen  as  were  those  of  the  venerable  Lieutenant-gover- 
nor, Cadwallader  Colden,  toward  the  pretensions  of 
the  more  influential  Dc  Lancey  family — and  a  secret 
schemer,  aiming  to  promote  the  interest  of  his  own 
family  by  disarming  the  Rebellion  of  its  strength'^ 
and,  thereby,  effecting  a  reconciliation  with  the  Home 
Government. 

******** 
As  far  back  as  the  eighth  of  June  or  eighth  of  July,  a 
Report  had  been  made  by  a  Committee  which  had  been 
previously  appointed  to  consider  the  subject,  provid- 


2  The  strength  of  the  Rebellion  was  in  the  union  of  all  the  disaf- 
fected Colonies  ;  and,  had  he  succeeded  in  withdrawing  JJew  York 
from  the  existing  confederation,  which  he  and  all  the  Smiths  endeav- 
ored to  do,  that  strength  would  have  been  impaired,  and,  possibly,  the 
confederation  of  tlie  Colonies  effectually  broken. 


318 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ing  "  for  the  dissolution  of  this  Congress  and  election 
"of  a  new  Provincial  Congress  for  this  Colony;"^  but, 
very  probably,  nothing  w^S  really  done  and  deter- 
mined on,  concerning  the  subjects  referred  to.  There 
was  some  action,  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  on 
collateral  subjects;  but  it  was  not  until  a  much 
later  period  that  that  body  was  dissolved — on  the 
fourth  of  November,  either  because  of  the  absence 
of  a  quorum  or  for  some  other  reason,  no  record  of  a 
formal  adjournment  having  been  made,  the  Provincial 
Congress  ceased  to  exist;  and  the  works  which  it  had 
done  as  well  as  its  own  existence,  became  matters  of 
history.  Sooner  or  later.  History  will  assign  each  to 
the  place  to  which  it  is  justly  entitled. 

It  has  been  stated  that,  as  the  out-come  of  the 
various  labors  of  that  body,  on  that  subject,  an  Ordin- 
ance had  been  adopted  by  the  Provincial  Congress, 
on  the  twenty-seventh  of  October,  providing  for  the 
Election  of  new  Delegations  to  a  new  Provincial  Con- 
gress, on  the  seventh  of  November,  and  for  the  as- 
sembling of  that  new  Provincial  Congress,  on  the 
fourteenth  of  that  month;  but  there  is  no  record  of 
any  such  action,  on  the  official  Journal  of  that  body  ; 
and  no  copy  of  that  Ordinance  has  been  found,  not- 
withstanding the  most  diligent  search  and  inquiry 
have  been  made.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  form 
and  character  of  the  document,  it  is  evident,  however, 
that  such  an  Ordinance  was  really  adopted  and 
promulgated,  and  that,  agreeably  to  its  provisions,  on 
the  seventh  of  November,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the 
White  Plains,  for  the  election  of  Delegates  from  the 
County  of  Westchester,  to  the  coming  Congress.^  It 
is  not  stated  in  what  manner  nor  by  whom  the  elec- 
tion was  made ;  but  it  is  stated  that  Colonel  Lewis 

1  In  tliu  JfHtnml  of  the  Provincial  Congrem,  of  the  sixtecutli  of  October, 
it  is  said  the  Report  was  nuido  "on  tlie  oiglitli  of  July  \ast ;"  in  the 
Journal  of  that  body,  of  tlie  eighteenth  of  October,  it  is  said  the  Report 
was  made  **  on  the  eiglith  of  Jmw  Uist ; "  and  in  a  memorandum  ap- 
pended to  the  Jminml  of  that  body,  of  tiie  nineteentli  of  October,  stating 
that  the  Report  was  "wante€,"  it  is  said,  also,  that  it  was  "of  the  8th 

June  last.''  In  the  Jmirnal  of  tke  Proetnciat  f^ontjrf'ns,  of  neither  of 
those  days,  liowever,  does  there  appear  the  slightest  mention  of  any  such 
Repoi't  or  of  the  subject  of  it. 

-  MinuU's  of  Proet'cdings  during  the  rcceJW  of  Oie  Provincial  Congress,  by 
their  Atljmtrninent  on  the  fourth  of  November,  1775. 

^The  following  document,  copied  from  the  original  manuscript,  (Hts- 
lorical  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Credentials  of  delegates,  xxiv.,  24,  G7,)  illustrates 
this  subject : 

"To    THE  HONOIl.iBLE    THE  PKOVINCUL   CoNGRE!!S    OF  THE  CoLONY  OF 

"New  York. 

"  We  the  Committee  for  the  County  of  Westchester  do  humbly  certify 
"  that  at  the  Election  of  delegates  to  represent  the  said  Cimnty  in  the 
"  Next  Provincial  Congress  to  be  held  at  New  York  the  14">  instant, 
"  which  was  this  day  held  at  the  Court  House  of  the  said  County,  Colonel 

Lewis  Ortihuin,  Stephen  Ward,  I^aq.,  Co].  Josei)k  Drake,  Robert  Graham, 
"  Esq.,  John  Thomas,  Jun'  Esq.,  Mr.  William  Puu-tiiig,  Major  Ebenezer 
"  Lockwood,  Col.  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Col.  Gilbert  Drake,  were  duly 
"  elected  agreeable  to  the  resolves  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  to  repre- 
"  sent  this  county  until  the  Second  Tuesday  of  May  next ;  and  that  it 
"  w;is  voted  by  the  people  that  any  three  of  the  said  Deputies  shall  act 
"for  this  county.    Dated  the  7th  day  of  November,  1775. 

"  By  order  of  the  Committee, 

"Gilbert  H.  Dh.\ke,  Chairman. 

"A  true  copy  from  the  minutes  taken  by  I 
"  MlClH  Tow.N'SEND,  Clerk  of  the  Committee."  I 


Graham,  Stephen  Ward,  Esq.,  Colonel  Joseph  Drake, 
Robert  Graham,  Esq.,  John  Thomas,  Junior,  Esq., 
William  Paulding,  Major  Ebenezer  Lockwood,  Col- 
ond  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  and  Colonel  Gilbert 
Drake  *  were  elected ;  and  that  any  three  of  these 
should  have  authority  to  represent  Westchester-coun- 
ty  in  the  coming  Provincial  Congress — Gouverneur 
Morris,  James  Van  Cortlandt,  Philip  Van  Cortlandt, 
James  Holmes,  and  David  Dayton,  all  of  whom  had 
been  members  of  the  preceding  Congress  having  been 
dropped,  and  Major  Ebenezer  Lockwood  and  Col- 
onels Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  and  Gilbert  Drake  sent 
in  their  stead. 

The  day  appointed  for  the  organization  of  the  new 
Provincial  Congress  was  the  fourteenth  of  November; 
but,  on  that  day,  there  was  not  even  a  respectable 
minority  of  the  Delegates  present,  which  may  well  be 
considered  as  indicative  of  the  coolnes-*  with  which  the 
Rebellion  was  regarded  by  the  great  body  of  the  Col- 
onists, in  New  York,  even  at  that  early  period;  and 
of  how  little  warrant  there  had  been,  in  fact,  for  the 
outrages  which  had  been  committed  by  the  preceding 
Congress  and  by  its  Committees,  in  their  name. 

Day  by  day,  the  handful  of  punctual  Delegates 
met  and  adjourned.  They  amused  themselves  by  dic- 
tating letters  to  the  Committees  of  the  faltering 
Counties,  urging  the  attendance  of  their  several  Dele- 
gations, "  in  order  that  the  business  of  the  great  cause 
"  we  are  engaged  in  may  be  no  longer  delayed  or 
"  neglected."  *  Threats  were  made,  in  some  in- 
stances, that  "  the  Continental  Congress''  might  "  find 
"  it  necessary,  for  the  public  service  and  for  the  want  of 
"a  Congress,  to  put  the  Colony  under  a  Military 
"  Government,  directed  by  a  Major-General  and  an 
"  Army,  and  that  at  the  sole  expense  of  this  Colony," 
adding  that  "  many  Gentlemen  present  are  apprehen- 
"  sive  "  that  such  "  would  be  the  consequence  if  a  Con- 
"gress  [were]  not  speedily  formed,  so  as  to  proceed  to 
"business,"  etc.*  On  the  first  of  December,  tlieCommit- 
tee  of  Orange-county  was  asked — the  second  request  of 
the  kind — "that  you  will  not  delay  sending  down  your 
"members  by  next  Monday  morning,  that  the  public 
"  business  may  no  longer  suffer  for  the  want  of  a  repre- 
"  sentation  of  your  County;  for  such  is  the  perilous 
,"  state  of  America,  and  this  Colony  in  particular,  that 


*  It  will  be  seen  that  eight  of  the  nine  Delegates  thus  elected  carried 
titles  with  their  names— the  terms  "Esq."  and  "Mr."  at  that  time, 
having  recognized  places  in  the  order  of  rank— and  that  only  one  of  the 
nine,  William  Paulding,  was  low  enough,  in  the  social  rank,  to  be  a 
plain,  untitled  man. 

s  These  words,  taken  from  the  letter  sent  to  the  Delegates-elect  of 
Kings-county,  on  the  twenty-second  of  November,  represent  the  sub- 
stance of  those  sent  to  (he  Committee  of  Orange-county,  on  the  follow- 
ing day  :  to  the  Delegates  from  Richmond-county  in  the  preceding  Con- 
gress, on  the  twenty-fourth  of  November  ;  and  to  the  Delegates-elect 
and  to  the  Committees  in  the  several  Counties  of  Tryon,  Charlotte,  Cum- 
berland, Orange,  Kings,  and  Duchess  on  the  first  of  December.  {Minutes 
of  the  Proceedings  during  the  Hecess  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  their 
Adjournment  on  the  fourth  of  November,  1775.) 

6  These  were  sent,  on  the  first  of  December,  to  the  Committees  of 
Tryon,  Charlotte,  and  Cumberland-counties,  respectively. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


319 


"  a  Convention  of  the  Deputies  is  absolutely  necessary, 
"  with  the  utmost  despatch."'  To  these  pressing  words, 
the  following  threat  was  appended:  "But  if,  after 
"  such  repeated  applications  to  your  County,  to  be  in 
"  Congress,  by  their  Deputies,  if  you  continue  to  ne- 
"  gleet  a  meiisure  so  necessary  for  your  reputation  and 
"safety,  you  must  not  complain  if  the  Congress  de- 
"  termine  upon  matters  relative  to  your  County,  in 
"  common  with  others,  although  yours  should,  by 
" your  inattention,  be  unrepresented."'  Richmond- 
county  was  not  inclined  to  send  a  Delegation  ; and 
was,  first,  coaxed  to  elect  a  Delegation,  and,  finally, 
threatened.'  How  much  more,  which  was  not  re- 
corded, that  handful  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion, 
in  Colonial  New  York,  said  and  did,  for  the  intimida- 
tion of  those  who  were  less  zealous,  in  that  cause,  is 
not  now  known  ;  but  the  careful  reader  will  not  fail 
to  inquire,  without  obtaining  an  answer,  why  the 
Home  Government  failed,  during  that  long  interval 
of  hesitation  and  of  doubt  among  the  greater  number 
of  the  Colonists,  to  strengthen  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment in  the  maintenance  of  order  and  obedience  to 
the  Laws  ;  why  those  who  were  not  inclined  to  rebel- 
lion were  not  protected  in  the  quiet  possession  of 
their  properties  and  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  their 
respective  vocations  ;  and  why  the  price  which  would 
have  obtained  the  marketable  leaders  of  the  Rebellion, 
for  the  use  of  the  Home  Government,  wiis  not  paid, 
as  the  smaller  and  more  effective  investment,*  or,  if 


1  teller  to  the  Committee  of  Orange-couiily,  "  New-Tobk,  December  let, 
"1775." 

^  Letter  from  Paul  Micheaa  to  Robert  Benson,  "  Richmond-coixtv,  Do- 
"cembcrlst,  1775." 

3  "The  evil  couscquuncea  tliat  will  attend  the  not  having  a  Provincial 
"Congress  to  determine  on  the  measures  necessiiry  to  be  adopted  and 
"carried  into  execution,  at  this  unhappy  crisis,  are  more  easily  con- 
"ceivedthan  e.xpressed  ;  and  rest  assured,  Geullemen,  that  the  neigh 
"bouring  I'olouies  will  not  remain  inactive  spectators,  if  you  show  a 
"  disposition  to  depart  from  the  Continental  I'uiou.  Confusion  and  dis- 
"  order,  w  ith  numberless  other  evils,  you  must  suppose,  will  atteud  the 
"  want  of  a  Congress  for  the  goverunient  of  this  Colony,  until  a  recon- 
"ciliation  with  the  Mother  Country  can  be  obtained,"  (Letter  to  the 
(^mmillee of  Uklimimd-couiilij,  "  Xkw-Yokk,  2d  Dec.  1775.") 

*  It  is  very  well  known  that  the  Jlorrises  were  zealous  loyalists,  in 
Europe  as  well  as  in  .\merica,  until  the  family  lost  its  hold  on  the  Colo- 
nial Government,  by  the  removal  of  the  elder  Lewis,  from  the  office  of 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony.  The  appointment  of  Thonuis  Hutchinson 
to  the  Bench,  to  which  James  Otis,  the  elder,  aspired,  transferred  the 
weight  and  influence  of  the  Otis  family  from  the  side  of  the  Government 
to  the  leadership  of  the  Opposition,  in  Massachusetts.  Israel  Putnam 
was  too  highly  appraised  for  the  Royal  shambles,  and  so  remained  in  the 
market,  until,  on  the  demand  of  the  Livingstons,  he  was  placed  where  he 
could  do  no  further  harm.  The  greater  success  of  Benjamiu  Pratt,  of 
Boston,  and,  subsequently,  that  of  Daniel  Ilorsmauden,  in  the  race  for 
the  place  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  when  James  De 
Lancey  died,  added  fresh  bitterness  to  the  Morrises,  in  the  disappoint- 
ment of  Robert  Uunter  Morris  ;  and  the  disappointment  of  William 
Smith,  on  the  same  occasion,  threw  the  Smiths  into  the  front  rank  of 
the  malcontents,  in  New  York.  Egbert  Dumoud,  of  Ulster  county,  is 
8;iid  to  have  become  informer  of  Congre-sional  secrets  to  Governor  Tryon, 
provisionally,  with  a  hankering  after  the  Shrievalty  of  Ulster-county,  as 
James  Duane  had  communicated  the  secrets  of  the  Congress  of  1774,  to 
Lieutenant-governor  Colden,  undoubtedly  for  an  equivalent,  present  or 
prospective.  Who  supjioses  that  Captain  Gilbert  Livingston,  of  Arnold's 
American  Legion,  and  Robert  G.  Livingston,  Junior,  that  Philip  John 
Livingston,  the  Royal  Sheriff  of  Duchess-couuty,  and  his  brother,  John 


the  heroic  treatment  of  the  troubles  was  preferred, 
why  those  leaders  were  not  arrested  and  punished,  as 
other  and  less  distinguished  violators  of  the  peace 
were  wont  to  be  punished,  in  America  and  elsewhere. 

On  the  first  of  December,  competent  Delegations 
appeared  from  the  five  Counties  of  New  York,  Al- 
bany, Westchester,  Ulster,  and  Suffolk,  with  insuOi- 
cient  Delegations  from  Kings  and  Duchess,  and  no 
portions  of  such  Delegations  from  Richmond,  Queens, 
Orange,  Tryon,  Cumberland,  Gloucester,  and  Char- 
lotte-counties ;  and,  consistently  with  usage  and  the 
Rules  of  the  preceding  Congress,  "the  Representa- 
"  fives  of  a  majority  of  the  Counties  not  being  pres- 
"  ent,"  those  who  were  present  "  could  not  proceed  to 
"  business,  as  a  Congress."*  On  the  sixth  of  that  month, 
competent  Delegations  appeared  from  the  five  Counties 
of  New  York,  Albany,  Westchester,  Duchess,  and 
Suffolk,  with  insufficient  Delegations  from  Kings, 
Ulster,  and  Orange-counties,  and  no  portions,  of  such 
Delegations  from  the  Counties  of  Richmond,  Queens, 
Tryon,  Cumberland,  Gloucester,  or  Charlotte ;  at 
which  time,  directly  in  violation  of  the  rulings,  on 
the  first  of  that  month,  they  declared  that  "  the 
"  Deputies  from  a  majority  of  the  Counties  appeared," 
— a  falsehood,  which,  to  have  established  its  true 
character,  needed  only  a  reference  to  the  Crfdeittluh 
which  were  filed,  as  their  several  authorizations,  by 
the  respective  Delegations, — organized  a  Congress, 
and  proceeded  to  the  discharge  of  those  duties  to 
which  they  had  respectively  as.signed  themselves.* 
There  were  five  Delegations  present,  on  the  first  of 
December,  when  it  was  declare.d  that  "  the  Represen- 
"  tatives  of  a  majority  of  the  Counties  not  being  pres- 
"ent,"  those  who  were  present  "  could  not  proceed  to 
"business,  as  a  Congress:"  five  days  afterwards, 
when  no  more  than  five  such  Delegations  aj)peared, 
with  an  elasticity  of  conscience  and  of  action  which 
was  worthy  of  those  who  were  present,  what  had  been 
declared,  utidcr  similar  circjumstauces,  at  their  former 
meeting,  was  entirely  disregarded  ;  and  what,  at  that 
former  meeting,  was  said  to  have  been  insuflieicnt 
to  have  allowed  the  five  Delegations  who  were  then 
present,  to  proceed  to  business,  as  a  Congress,"  was 
declared,  in  this  later  meeting,  to  be  sufficient 
to  permit  five  Delegations — four  of  the  five  having 
been  of  the  former  five — to  do  what  the  former  five 
"could  not"  do:  with  the  authorized  Delegations  of 


W.  Livingston,  Captjiin  in  Fanning's  King's  .\merican  Regiment,  were 
not  the  better  exponcuts  of  the  real  opinions  of  that  office-seeking 
family  of  Livingstons  ;  and  who  can  doubt,  with  the  roster  of  subsequent 
office  holding  Livingstons  before  him,  that  nmch  of  additional  inHueuce, 
in  favor  of  the  Home  Government,  might  have  been  secured  from  that 
family  and  its  adherents,  had  that  Government  been  as  g- nerous  in  the 
disposition  of  offices  to  members  of  that  peculiarly  otfice-.seeking  family, 
as  the  revolutionary  authorities  and  the  subsequent  State  Government, 
in  New  Y'ork,  unquestionably  «  ere  ? 

&  Minutes  of  the  Proceedings  dtirintj  the  recess  of  the  I'rorincial  i  'imgrets, 
"New  Y'okk,  Friday,  Dec.  Ist,  1775." 

^  Jouniat  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Wednesday  moining,  December 
"Cth,  1775." 


320 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


only  five  of  the  fourteen  Counties  then  present,  the 
Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress  bearing  testimony 
to  that  fact,  it  will  be  seen  and  understood  that  the 
record  which  stated  that  "  the  Deputies  from  a  ma- 
"  jority  of  the  Counties  appeared,"  is  a  false  record  ; 
that  there  was,  really,  no  quorum  present,  even  under 
the  rule  and  usage  of  that  revolutionary  body ;  and 
that,  tested  by  that  rule  and  that  usage,  even  from 
the  convenient  standpoint  of  rebellion,  the  Congress 
was  not  properly  constituted  and  was  without  due 
revolutionary  authority — of  course,  it  possessed  no 
other  authority,  in  the  slightest  degree.^ 

What  was  thus  called  a  Provincial  Congress,  elected 
Colonel  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  of  the  County  of  Suf- 
folk, to  be  its  President ;  and  John  McKesson  and 
Robert  Benson,  the  Secretaries  of  the  former  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  were  elected  Secretaries  of  that.^  It 
assembled,  day  by  day,  until  the  twenty-second  of 
December,  when  it  took  a  recess,  leaving  a  Commit- 
tee of  Safety  to  discharge  some  of  the  duties  which  it 
had  undertaken  to  perform.^  That  Committee,  of 
which  Colonel  Pierre  Van  Cortlundt,  of  Westchester- 
county,  was  the  Chairman,  continued  in  session, 
until  the  twelfth  of  February,  1776,  when  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  was  again  assembled  ;  *  and  that 
Congress  continued  in  session,  until  the  sixteenth  of 
March,  in  that  year,  when  it  took  another  recess, 
leaving,  as  before,  a  Committee  of  Safety,  to  discharge 
some  portions  of  its  self-imposed  duties,  during  its 
absence.*  That  Committee,  of  which  Joseph  Hal- 
lett,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  was  theChairnian,  con- 
tinued in  session,  uutiUhe  8th  of  May,  1776,  when  the 
Provincial  Congress  was  again  assembled — it  is  writ- 
ten that  "  several  matters  of  the  utmost  importance, 


1  John  Leflertse  appeared  in  the  Congress,  nominally  from  Kings-coun- 
ty ;  but  he  did  uot  pretend  to  offer  a  Cri;d<.-iitial,  uor  any  other,  even  the 
slightest,  evidence  that  lie  had  been  appointed,  by  any  one,  to  appear  as 
a  repiesenfative  from  Kings-county  or  in  any  other  capacity,  in  the 
Provincial  Congress  or  elsewhere. 

Peter  Clowes  wns  said  to  have  represented  "  Goshen  Precinct  in  Orange- 
"county;"  but  the  ('redentiuls  which  were  filed  from  Orange-county  de- 
clared that  <«'"  Delegates  should  bo  required  to  represent  that  County; 
and  that  only  when  one  such  Delegate  should  appear  in  the  Congress 
from  "the  North  side  of  the  Mountains"  [(Ac  Uighlundu]  and  one  from 
the  "  South  side  "  of  those  Highlands — Orange  county,  at  that  time,  in- 
cluding what,  now,  is  Rocklaud-county  -  should  that  Delegation  be 
complete  and  authorized  to  represent  the  County.  As  there  was  only 
one,  instead  of  two,  Delegates  ;  and  because  those  Towns  which  were 
below  the  Highlaruds  were  entirely  without  a  representative,  there  was 
no  Delegation  from  Orange-county,  in  the  Congress. 

Thomas  Palmer  and  Moses  Caiitine  w  ere  the  only  Delegates,  out  of  the 
seven  who  had  been  elected,  and  who  were  piesent,  to  represent  Ulster- 
county  ;  but  those  who  had  elected  them  and  given  to  them  all  the  au- 
thority which  it  was  Siiid  they  possessed,  had  declared  that  three  of  those 
seven  should  be  required  to  constitute  a  duly  authorized  Delegation 
from  that  County.  The  two,  therefore,  left  Ulster-county  without  a 
competent  Delegation. 

2  JouriHil  of  the  Provincial  Cvngreat,  "  Wednesday  morning,  December 
"6th,  1775." 

^Juuniiil  of  the  Provincial  CongrenK,  "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Decera- 
"ber  2-2nd,  1775." 

^  Jovriial  of  Ike  Provincial  Cuui/reim,  "Die  Ijunie,  A.M.,  February  12th, 
"  1776." 

i  Joumul  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  March 
"ICth,  177(!." 


"  as  well  to  the  United  Colonies,  in  general,  as  to  this 
"  Colony,  in  particular,  rendering  it  necessary  for  a 
"  speedy  meeting  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  this 
"  Colony,  the  Committee  of  Safety,  therefore,  or- 
"dered  Circular  Letters  to  be  sent  to  all  the  mem- 
"bers,  requesting  their  attendance,  in  Provincial 
"  Congress,  at  New  York,  on  the  first  day  of  this  inst. 
"  May.  On  that  day,  and  every  day,  since,  many 
"members  attended,  but  not  a  sufficient  number  to 
"make  a  Congress,^  until  this  afternoon"  \_May  8, 
1776,]  '  when  a  quorum  was  found  to  be  present,  and 
the  business  was  resumed  and  continued  until  the 
afternoon  of  the  thirteenth  of  that  month,  when  the 
Congress  was  dissolved.* 

During  that  short  period  of  about  six  months,  the 
progress  of  events,  in  America,  was  peculiarly  re- 
markable. 

******** 
The  entire  Colony,  as  far  as  Commerce,  Trade,  and 
the  Mechanic  Arts  were  concerned,  was  plunged  into 
the  greatest  distress:'  the  seamen  were  idle,  in  the 
Ports,  because  there  was  an  interdiction  of  Commerce 
with  foreign  Ports ;  and  commercial  Non-inter- 
course prevailed : the  Mechanics  and  Work- 
ing-men in  the  Cities — some  of  whom  had  been 
the  ever-ready  and  noisy  tools  of  the  dema- 
gogues of  faction,  iu  the  earlier  days  of  the  dis- 
turbances— were  suffering,  unemployed :  "  to  add  to 

I  That  old  story  of  the  dilatoriness  of  the  country  members,  even  iu 
the  face  of  the  most  pressing  necessities  and  of  the  most  urgent  calls,  cer- 
tainly confirm  the  reports  that  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists,  especially 
that  of  the  country-people  was  lukewarm  and  indifferent,  if  they  were 
not  positively  unfriendly,  to  the  Rebellion.  If  the  leaders  among  the 
disaffected,  and  surely  no  others  were  sent  to  the  Provincial  Congress, 
were  astanly,  in  their  attendance,  even  when  the  most  urgent  appeals 
for  their  attendance  were  sent,  as  these  were,  in  the  preceding  December 
and  in  May,  177(i,  how  much  more  indifferent  must  those  have  been, 
who  had  other  and  legitimate  demands  on  their  time  and  attention,  and 
by  whom  an  office  was  neither  looked  for  nor  desired. 

T  Journal  of  the  Proviiwial  Congress,  "Die  Mercurii,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  May 
"8th,  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Luna!,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  May  13, 
"1770." 

There  is  no  record  of  a  formal  adjournment ;  and  it  looks  very  much 
as  if  the  end  of  this  Congress  was  like  its  beginning,  without  a  quorum. 

9  r/ie  Committee  of  Safety  to  General  Schuyler,  "In  Committee  of 
"Safetv,  New  York,  17th  Jany.,  1776,"  and  General  Schuyler's  reply, 
"Albany,  January  25,  1776  ;"  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safely,  "4  ho., 
"P.M.,  Feb.  10,1776;"  etc. 

10  Tlte  action  of  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774,  concerning  the  Com- 
merce of  the  Colonies,  may  be  seen  in  the  Association  which  it  "  recom- 
"  mended." 

"We  beg  leave  to  hint,  that  in  the  present  declension  of  Trade,  the 
"seamen  of  this  Port  ought  to  be  employed  upon  this  article  of  service  " 
[balteaux-jnen,  for  the  Northern  Army,]  "as  well  as  that  of  building 
"batteaux,"  (CommillA-e  of  Safely  to  General  Schuyler,  "In  Committee  of 
"Safetv,  New-York,  17th  Jany.,  1776.") 

II  "We  W(juld  beg  leave  to  mention  it  as  necessary  to  employ  as  many 
"of  the  Carpentere  of  this  City,  as  possible"  [in  the  construction  of 
batteaux,  for  the  Northern  Army]  "  to  prevent  them  and  their  families 
"from  starving  by  means  of  tlie  stagnation  of  business,  which  is  more 
"severely  felt  in  this  City  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Province," 
(The  Committee  of  Safely  to  General  Schuyler,  "In  Committee  of 
"Safety,  New- York,  17th  Jany.,  1776.") 

"  I  cm  easily  conceive  that  it  is  very  difficult,  at  New  York,  for  arti- 
"  ficers  to  procure  a  subsistence  for  their  families— the  like  difficulty 
"prevails  here,"  (General  Schuyler  to  the  Committee  of  S<ifety,  "Albany 
"January  25,  177U.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


321 


their  troubles,  the  troops  from  Connecticut,  who  had 
been  unnecessarily  brought  to  the  City  of  New  York 
— "  the  movement  seemed  to  have  for  its  ead  to  coerce 
"  rather  than  to  defend  New  York  ' " — who  were  unem- 
ployed, endeavored  to  make  additions  to  their  military 
pay,  by  underbidding  the  local  mechanics,  for  work 
to  be  done,  in  that  City  :  ^  and  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress was  compelled  to  seek  employment,  for  both 
classes,  elsewhere;'  to  establish  manufactories  for  the 
employment  of  them ;  *  and  to  supply  provisions  and 
firewood,  to  prevent  their  families  from  starving  or 
perishing  from  the  cold.*  As  many  as  could  do  so, 
said  to  be  one-half  of  the  population,  abandoned  the 
City  of  New  York,  with  their  families,  to  find  safety 
and  employment  and  charity,  elsewhere  ;  °  and  many, 
driven  by  necessity '  and  the  neglect  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  protect  them,*  as  well  as  for  the  promised  pay 

See,  also,  the  Memorial  of  the  Vestry  of  the  City  of  New  York  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  "  May  30,  1776  ;"  etc. 

1  Bancroft's  Jlistory  of  the  United  States,  original  edition,  viii.,  278  ;  the 
same,  centenary  edition,  v.,  185. 

-  "Till-  Kegiuieiit  liere,  from  Connecticut,  can  turn  out  many  Carpen- 
"  teru,  who  consent  to  work  upon  much  more  reasonable  terms  than  the 
"artificer  of  this  City.  It  would,  I  imagine,  be  worth  while  to  pro- 
"vide,  if  possible,  a  suflicient  number  of  tools:  when  the  present  work 
"is  done,  these  tools  cannot  be  considered  an  idle  purchase  :  they  will 
•  'always  be  useful,"  {General  Charles  Lee  to  the  I^ovincial  Congress, 
'•New-Yoek,  February  22,  1776.") 

Already  provided  with  quarters,  rations,  and  pay,  as  soldiei'S,  and 
without  tools,  these  men  could  well  afford  to  underbid  the  local 
Mechanics,  whoso  houserents,  food,  and  other  expences,  including  their 
expensive  tools,  must  be  provided  for,  by  themselves.  But  how  dreary 
the  tunes  must  have  been,  even  in  Connecticut,  when  her  Artisans,  were 
compelled  to  go  into  the  Army,  in  order  to  gain  their  needed  shelter 
and  their  daily  bread. 

^The  Commiltee  of  Safety  to  General  Schuyler,  "In  Committee,  New- 
"  York,  17th  Jan'y.,  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  A.M., 
"  Jany.  24,  1770  ;"  the  same,  "  Die  Sabbati,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  Feby.  3,  1776  ;" 
the  same,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  9,  1776  ;"  Journal  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  "Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March  8,  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Ommittee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Sabbati,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  Feby.  3, 
"1776;"  the  same,  "Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  9,  1770;"  Juimial 
of  the  l\ovinci<U  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March  8,  1776." 

Monies  were  also  "advanced  to  the  distressed  wives  and  friends  of  sun- 
"  dry  soldiers,  now  in  Canada,  in  theservice  of  the  united  Colonies,"  (Jour- 
nal of  Die  I'rorincial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March  8,  1776.") 

'  "  The  Inhabitants  of  this  C'ity  are  much  alarmed  at  various  confident 
"advises  of  your  destination,  with  a  considerable  body  of  forces,  for 
"  active  service,  here.  *  *  *  We  should  not  have  troubled  you  with 
"this  application,  had  it  not  been  to  procure  such  information  from  you 
"as  may  enable  us,  in  a  prudent  use  of  it,  to  allay  the  fears  of  our  in- 
" habitants,  who,  at  this  inclement  season  of  the  year,  will  continue,  as 
"they  have  already  begun,  to  remove  their  women  and  children,  and 
"which,  if  continued,  may  occasion  hundreds  to  perish,  for  want  of 
"shelter,"  {TJie  O^mmiUee  of  Safely  to  General  Clutrles  Lee,  "In  Commit- 
"tee  OF  S.vFETV,  New-Yokk,  21st  Jany,  1776.") 

"This  City  is  in  Terror  and  confusion  :  One  half  of  its  inhabitants 
"have  withdrawn  with  their  effects,  hundreds  without  the  means  to 
"support  their  families,"  {Governor  Tigon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth 
"Ship  Ditchess  of  Gordon  off  New  York  S""  Feby  1776.") 

See,  also,  the  Order  of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  the  male  Refugees,  to 
return  Ui  the  Cily — Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  10 
"ho.,  A.M.,  May  10,  1770  ;"  Memorial  of  the  Vestry  of  the  CUy  to  the 
Provincitd  Congress,  May  30,  1776  ;  etc. 

'  William  Smith,  Chairman,  to  the  Committee  of  Safely,  "Suffolk- 
"  COUNTY,  Jany  24,  1776;" 

^Governor  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "On  Bo.^rd  the 
"Ship  Ditchess  of  Gordon  New  York  H.vrbour,  6th  Deer.  1775  ;"  the 
nme.  No.  25,  "On  Board  the  Ship  Dutuuess  of  Gordon  New  York 
"Harbovr,  3d  Janry  1776;"  etc. 
25 


in  what  was  circulated  as  money,'  were  led  to  enlist 
in  the  short-term  levies  which  then  constituted  the 
Continental  Army,  carrying  into  that  service  no 
greater  symj)athy  for  the  Rebellion  than  they-  had 
previously  possessed,  and  discharging  the  duties 
which  were  thus  imposed  on  them,  with  perfect 
unconcern  and  with  no  greater  animus  than  was 
produced  by  the  expectation  of  receiving  the  stijiu- 
lated  payment  for  the  services  which  were  j)romised. 
Indeed,  the  extent  and  character  of  the  sympathy 
with  the  Rebellion,  as  a  matter  of  principle,  which 
prevailed  among  the  Colonists,  generally,  may  be 
seen,  very  clearly  defined,  in  their  hesitation  t)  take 
the  field  in  support  of  it,  even  where  no  enemy  was 
and  where  none  was  expected,*"  and  in  their  precision 
of  movements,  homeward,  when  the  terms  of  service 
of  those  who  had  been  induced  to  enlist  had  expired. 
There  appears  to  have  been  a  foundation  in  fact  for 
what  Governor  Tryon  wrote  to  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, that  "  was  it  not  from  the  awe  of  the  inhabit- 
"  ants  of  the  neighboring  Colonies  and  the  controul- 
"ing  influence  of  the  Continental  Congress  I  am  per- 
"  suaded  there  would  be  an  immediate  End,  in  this 
■'  province,  to  all  Committees  and  Congresses."" 

As  the  period  of  time  which  is  now  under  review 
\_Nove7Hber  4,  1775,  until  May  14,  1776,]  included  the 
later  Autumn,  the  Winter,  and  the  Spring,  the  farm- 
ers of  Westchester-county,  as  far  as  they  were  per- 
mitted to  do  so,  undoubtedly  pursued  their  usual  vo- 
cations, with  their  usual  diligence  and  quietness — 
they  certainly  harvested  their  various  agricultural 
productions,  and  marketed  the  surplus  of  their  crops,''^ 

'"With  many,  the  principal  inducement  to  enlist  arises  from  the 
"hopes  of  C;ish." — Abraham  Yales,  Junior,  Chairman,  to  the  Committee  of 
Safely,  "  ALB.^NY  Committee  Cii.vmbeu,  llth  April,  1776." 

i^Iu  Orange-county,  "none  but  the  lowerclassof  mankind  will  enlist; 
"and  these  were  conceived  not  to  be  the  men  to  be  depended  on," 
{Elihu  Marvin,  Chairman,  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  "In  County  Com- 
"mittee,  Oxporu,  Feb.  1.'),  1776.")  In  Duchess-county,  enlistments 
could  be  made  only  on  the  stipulation  that  the  men  thus  enlisted  should 
not  be  required  to  do  service  outside  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  (Xephe- 
niah  Plait,  Chairman,  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Povgiikeepsie,  Feb.  9, 
"  1770.")  In  Alb,iny-county,  the  recruiting-officers  " found  great  diffi- 
"culties  for  want  of  money,"  {The  Albany  Committee  tu  the  Committee  of 
Safely,  "Ai.n.iNV,  2  April,  1770.")  The  enlistments  were  so  lew  in  num- 
ber, in  Queens-county,  that  the  recruiting-officers  abandoned  the  under- 
taking, {Journal  of  the  Cmmittee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho., 
"  A.M.,  May  8,  1776.")  In  the  City  of  New  York,  the  success  was  lo 
email  that  the  recruiting-officers  were  dismissed,  "  with  great  re- 
"  luctance,"  and  their  several  recruits  consolidated,  {Journal  of  the 
I^ovincial  Congress,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May  9,  1776.") 

Governor  Tryon  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  No.  22,  "On  Bo.\RD  the 
"Ship  Dutchess  of  Gordon  New  York  H.\rbour,  6th  Deer.,  1776." 

^-  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Jovis,  3  ho.,  P.  31.,  December 
"14,  1775;"  ««m«,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Deer.  15,  1775;" 
Wie  eam«,  "  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  21,  1770;"  (Ac  soni«',  "  Die 
"  Lunte,  3  lio.,  P.M.,  March  4,  1776  ; "  the  same,  "  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho., 
"A.M.,  March  13,  1776  ;"  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "i  ho., 
"P.M.,  Feb.  10,  1776;"  the  same,  "Die  Luna;,  10  ho.,  A.M.,"  and  "4 
"ho.,  P.M.,"  "  March  18,  1776  ;"  the  same,  "Die  MercHrii,4  ho.,  P.M., 
"April  17,  1776;  "  etc. 

The  great  quantities  of  Wheat,  Flour,  fresh  and  salted  Beef  and  Pork, 
Hams,  smoked  Beef,  Tallow,  Lard,  Poultry,  and  other  products  of  the 
farms  in  Westchester-county,  which,  notwitbstamling  the  disturbances 
which  the  farmers  sustiiined,  were  marketed,  exclusively  of  the  supplies 
sent  on  the  multitude  of  Market  sloo|>s  to  the  City  of  New  York,  during 


322 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sometimes  in  the  neighboring  City;  sometimes  for  the 
uses  of  distant  communities,  who  sent  there,  for  sup- 
plies; sometimes  for  the  uses  of  the  Armies,  in  the 
field  ~  and,  whenever  an  opportunity  was  afforded,  to 
the  men-of-war,  in  the  harbor.  The  loCal  Commit- 
tees, sometimes,  consequentially  assumed  to  interrupt 
their  traffic ;  ^  and  the  Committee  of  Safety,  in  order 
to  prevent  ''sundry  persons  from  Connecticut"  from 
purchasing,  for  the  evident  purpose  of  forestalling 
the  market,  "requested  the  Committee  of  the  County 
"  of  Westchester  to  take  effectual  means  to  prevent 
"  the  sale  and  transportation  of  any  barrelled  Beef 
"or  Pork  out  of  Westchester-county,  to  any  person  or 
"persons  residing  out  of  this  Colony,  or  for  the  use  of 
"  any  person  or  persons  residing  out  of  this  Colony, 
"  until  the  further  order  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
"  or  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony ; " 
but,  nevertheless,  the  fertility  of  the  County  and  the 
patient  industry  of  the  greater  number  of  those  who 
lived  therein  were  known  and  utilized,  throughout 
the  entire  seaboard. 

The  same  local  terrorism  which  had  prevailed, 
throughout  the  County,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
former  Provincial  Congress,  was  continued,  with  the 
sanction  of  this;'  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  County  were  seized,  only  on  information  secretly 
conveyed  by  unseen  accusers,  and  cast  into  prison, 
without  a  hearing ;  *  and  some  of  them  were  severely 


the  period  now  under  examination,  prove,  teyond  a  question,  and  apart 
from  every  other  consideration,  how  short  siglited  the  leaders  of  tlie 
Kebellion  were,  when,  through  the  violence  of  their  lawlessnesB,  they 
impaired  tlie  productivenecis  of  so  fruitful  a  source  of  supplies,  both  for 
the  City  and  for  their  Armies. 

1  See  pages        320.  post. 

-   2  Vide  pages  ;V2C,  327,  post. 

2  William  Sutton,  Estj.,  of  Mamaroneck,  appeared  before  the  Congress, 
personally,  and  informed  that  body  that  he  had  been  obliged,  for 
fear  of  injuries,  to  leave  his  home  ;  and  requested  protection  to  return 
to  his  house,  and  to  occupy  it.  lie  is  understood  to  have  been  the  ten- 
ant occupying  what  is  known  as  De  Lancey's  Neck,  [Journal  of  the  Provin- 
cial  CongresSf  *'  Die  Veneris,  lU  ho.,  A.M.,  Deer.  15,  1776  ;  "  Information 
received,  persmtalhjj  from  Edward  F.  de  Lancey,  Esq. ^mi€  of  the  present  own- 
ers of  De  Lanceifs  Neck.) 

Thonuis  Merritt  was  arrested  and  taken  before  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  "on  information  of  persons  from 
*'  Westchester-county,  that  he  had  declared  he  had  seen  people  casting 
"  great  quantities  of  Bullets,  to  kill  the  Whigs ;  and  that  he  knew 
"where  great  quantities  of  those  Bullets  were" — a  trumped-up  charge, 
which  was  so  entirely  transparent  that,  after  his  accusers  and  their  wit- 
nesses had  been  examined  by  the  Committee  of  Safety,  whoso  fondness 
of  i}ersecutiou  was  known  to  all,  Merritt  was  promptly  discharged. 

These  may  serve  as  specimens  of  the  whole  numbt-r. 

<  Benjamin  Hunt  and  Oakley,  of  Eastchester,  were  arrested  be- 
cause they  had  taken  some  Sheep,  Pigs,  and  Poultry,  to  Brooklyn,  said 
to  have  been  for  the  Asia.    W  illiam  Weynian  was  arrested  for  having 

assisted  in  taking  some  produce  to  the  Asia.    Dr.  A/.or  Belts,  of  

 ,  was  arrested  for  violent  words  of  denunciation,  when  the  Con- 
gress arbitrarily  broke  down  his  business,  as  an  inoculator  for  the  Small- 
pox, and  deprived  him  of  the  means  of  support  for  bis  family.  Godfrey 

Haines,  Bartholomew  Haines,  Isaac  Gedney,  and   Palmer,  all  of 

them  of  Eye  or  Mamaroneck,  are  already  known  to  the  reader,  in  the  sad 
story  of  the  Sloop  PoUtj  iiiid  Aim,  {page  295,  ante  ;)  and  .lamesaud  William 
Lounsberry  ;  Isaac,  John,  and  Joshua  Gedney  ;  John  Fowler  ;  Isaac 
and  Peter  Valentine  ;  Isaac,  Joseph,  and  Joshua  Purdy  ;  William  Arm- 
strong ;  William  Sutton  ;  John  Flood  ;  James,  John,  Thomas,  and  Wil- 
liam Haines ;  and  Joshua    Burrell,  besides  several  others,  were  ar- 


treated,  while  they  were  prisoners.*  They  were 
plundered  of  their  Arms,  again  and  again,  some- 
times by  Connecticut-men  called  in  by  the  County 
Committee^  or  by  the  brutal  General  Charles  Lee,' 
and  sometimes  by  orders  from  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress or  its  Committee  of  Safety ;  *  levies  were  made 
on  her  Militia,  for  the  construction  of  the  defen- 
sive works  in  the  City  of  New  York ; '  and  two 
Companies  of  the  new  Regiments  in  the  New- 
York  Line  of  the  Continental  Army  were  assigned  to 
be  raised  in  Westchester-county.'"  It  is  also  note- 
worthy, as  a  portion  of  the  history  of  that  period, 
that  Westchester-county  afforded  the  first  evidence  of 
the  alteration  of  a  Provincial  Bill  of  Credit — one  of 
the  last  emission,  for  five  dollars,  having  been  altered 
so  that  it  appeared  to  have  been  one  of  ten  dollars." 

The  opening  of  the  new  year — the  exact  date  does 
not  appear,  if  it  was  ever  definitely  known — witnessed 
a  transaction  by  which  the  lower  portion  of  the 
County  of  Westchester,  especially  the  Towns  of 
Mamaroneck,  Eastchester,  Westchester,  and  Yonkers, 
was  greatly  disturbed  ;  and  yet  it  was  an  occurrence 


rested  in  connection  with  spiking  of  the  Cannon,  near  Kingsbridge,  of 
which  more  will  be  seen,  hereafter,  (pages  323,  '.iji,  poit.) 

Doctor  Azor  Belts,  Godfrey  Haines,  William  Lounsberry,  Joshua 
Gedney,  Joseph  Purdy,  Joshua  Burrell,  and  Thomas  Haines  were  among 
those  who  were  manacled  and  otherwise  treated  with  great  inhumanity. 
»See  pages  288,  289,  2U0,  299,  ante. 

'  Colonel  Samttel  Drake  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  "New-York,  Feby. 
"16,  1776;"  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Veneris,  3  ho., 
"P.M.,  Feb.  16,  1776  ;"  the  same,  "Die  Sabbati,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  17, 
"1776  ;"  the  same,  "  Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feby.  23,  1776." 

Colonel  Waterbury,  who  accompanied  General  Lee,  through  West- 
chester-county, acknowledged  his  possession  of  thirty  Guns,  two  pairs 
of  Holsters,  nine  Cutlasses,  aud  three  Pistols— how  many  more  he  bad 
seized,  and  retained  or  sent  back  into  Connecticut,  are  uow  unknown  ; 
and  no  record  was  taken  of  the  names  of  those  who  had  been  thus 
plunilcred.  They  must  have  been  taken,  however,  on  the  line  of 
march  of  his  Regiment,  between  the  Sawpitsand  Kingsbridge;  and 
there  was  not  the  slightest  shadow  of  even  revolutionary  authority  for 
the  seizure,  except  the  law  of  the  stronger  and  that  of  thieves. 

6  See  pages  288,  297,  298,  ante. 

5  "  Kesolved  and  Ohoeueu,  That  Colonel  Joseph  Drake  and  Colonel 
"  Thomas  Thomas,  of  Westchester-county,  do  draft  out  of  their  Regiments 
"two  hundred  men,  in  the  following  proportions,  to  wit;  Two  Compa- 
"  nies  of  sixty-five  Privates  each,  besides  tlie  Captains  and  other  inferior 
"  Officere,  out  of  Colonel  Joseph  Drake's  Regiment ;  and  one  Company 
"of  sixty-five  Privates,  with  the  Caj)tain  and  other  inferior  oflicers,  in 
"  Colonel  Thomas's  Regiment,  and  as  many  more  men  out  of  those  two 
"  Regimeuts  as  will  turn  out,  volunteers  for  that  service,  to  be  innne- 
"diatelysent  ti  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,  armed  and  accoutred  in  the 
"best  manner  possible,  and  to  be  joined  to  Colonel  Samuel  Drake's 
"  Regiment,"  [of  Westchester  county  Minute  nu-u  (pages  284,  285,  ante)  which 
was  then  in  the  City]  "and  to  receive  the  same  pay  aud  provisions  as  the 
"other  Continental  forces  in  this  Colony."  {Journal  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  "Die  Jovis,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March  14,  1776.") 

Colonel  Samuel  Drake's  Regiment,  referred  to  in  this  Order,  was  the 
skeleton  Regiment  of  We.stcbester-county  Minute-men,  which  wa* 
then  in  the  Continental  Service,  aud  posted  at  Hoern's  Hook,  on  the 
Island  of  Manhattan,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Harlem-river,  and  opposite  to 
Hell-gate,  where  was  one  of  the  passes  to  Long  Island. 

We  have  not  found  any  record  of  the  three  Companies  which  were 
thus  drawn  from  Westchester-county,  if  they  were  drawn. 

Journal  of  the  Provinciid  Congress,  "Die  Soils,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  18, 
"1771-,." 

Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Veneris,  A.M.,  April  19, 
"1776;"  The  Committee  of  Safetij  to  the  ConimiUee  of  Weslchester-counlij, 
"In  Committee  of  Safetv,  New- York,  April  19,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  177-4-1783. 


323 


which  might  have  been  certainly  foreseen  and  easily 
prevented,  had  those  who  were  immediately  concerned 
in  preventing  it  possessed  the  foresight  and  caution 
which  are  usually  attributed  to  intelligent  men. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  fact  that,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  active  revolutionary  movements  which 
followed  the  receipt  of  intelligence  that  General  Gage 
had  unwisely  commenced  active  military  operations 
in  the  field,  many  of  the  Cannon  which  belonged  to 
private  individuals,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  were 
drawn  to  Kingsbridge ; '  and,  subsequently,  as  the 
political  feeling  became  more  intense,  every  gun  in 
the  City,  no  matter  how  useless  for  any  other  purpose 
than  for  old  metal  it  might  have  been,  was  ordered  to 
the  same  place.^ 

It  is  not  clear  what  good  was  expected  to  be  de- 
rived from  those  movements  of  the  guns ;  but  it  is 
very  clear  that,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1775,  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred  Cannon,  of  all  calibres, 
grades,  and  conditions — some  of  them  good  and  ser- 
viceable ;  others,  less  valuable  and  less  useful ;  the 
greater  number,  honeycombed  and  worthless,  unless 
for  old  iron  ;  and  all  of  them,  unmounted  and  with- 
out carriages — were  accumulated  in  three  large  gath- 
erings, one,  of  about  fifty  guns,  being  at  "  John  Wil- 
"  liams's," '  the  Williams-bridge  of  the  present  day  ; 
one, "  at  or  near  Kingsbridge ; "  and  the  third,  or  larger, 
parcel  within  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  Isaac 
Valentine's  house,  the  Valentine's-hill  of  that  period, 
as  well  as  of  this.*  They  were  entirely  unguarded  ; 
and  it  is  very  evident  that  they  were  lying  side  by 
side,  presenting  an  apparently  formidable  array,  not- 
withstanding their  actually  existing  harmlessness. 

In  view  of  the  seeming  importance  'of  that  impos- 
ing park  of  artillery  and  of  the  entire  absence  of  the 
slightest  care  for  its  safety — in  retaliation,  also,  it 
may  have  been,  for  insults  oflered  and  wrongs  and  in- 
juries inflicted — somebody,  early  in  January,  1776, 
effectually  spiked  all  the  guns  and  plugged  many  of 
them  with  large  stones  forced  into  them,  and  escaped 
without  having  been  discovered.   The  exploit  was 

1  Vide  pages  251,  274,  ante. 

-  "  While  tliis  immaculate  General  "  [Charlex  Lee,]  "  had  the  comniaiid 
"  in  New  York,  about  2  lO  pieces  of  heavy  cannon  which  were  mounted 
"  in  Fort  George  and  upon  the  Battery,  were  forcil)ly  taken  away  by 
"  hie  orders,  and  lodged  upon  the  Common,"  [Ihe  MirAJ  "facing  his 
"Quarters.  But,  lest  upon  the  arrival  of  the  British  Army,  they 
"  shouldbe  retaken,  he  ordered  them  to  be  earried  up  to  King' s  Bridge, 
"about  14  miles  from  New  York.  The  persons  employed  in  this  service 
"  wanting  horses,  applied  to  the  General  to  supply  the  defect.  An  hon- 
"est,  a  virtuous  man,  and  a  Christian,  will  shudder  at  the  answer  : 
"'Chain  20  damned  Tories  to  each  gun,  and  let  them  draw  them  out 
"*and  be  cursed.  It  is  a  proper  employment  for  such  villains,  and  a 
" '  punishment  they  deserve  for  their  eternal  loyalty  they  so  much 
"  '  boast  of,'"  (Jones's  Hislori/  nf  .Vcie  Yvrk,  during  the  Ilevolutioimn/  War, 
i.,  82,  8:i.) 

"  I  counted  two  hundred  and  eighty  pieces  of  Cannon,  from  twenty- 
"four  to  three  pounders,  at  Kingsbridge,  which  the  Committee  had  se- 
"  cured  for  the  use  of  the  Colonies,"  (Doctnr  Benjumin  Church's  treasonable 
letter,  intercepted  in  July,  1775.) 

^Stephen  Ward  to  the  ProuincUd  Congress,  "  March  6,  1776." 

*Ji>unud  of  the  Cnmmittee  nf  Safelij,  "  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  .\.M.. 
"  Jany.  51,  1776." 


soon  made  known,  however ;  and,  as  may  be  reason- 
ably supposed,  not  only  Westchester-county,  but  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  the 
Provincial  Congress  having  taken  a  recess  on  the 
twenty-second  of  December  preceding,  was  thrown 
into  the  greatest  excitement. 

The  local  Committee  of  the  County  of  Westchester, 
amply  endowed,  by  its  own  lawless  zeal  and  by  the 
equally  lawless  grace  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  with 
entire  authority  to  arrest  anybody  and  everybody  on 
whom  its  whims  or  its  animosities  might  rest,  very 
promptly  exercised  its  ill-founded  prerogatives  ;  and  a 
large  number  of  the  residents  of  the  three  Towns  of 
Westchester,  Eastchester,  andMamaroneck,  and  some 
of  those  of  Yonkers,  was  seized,  and  carried  before  it, 
and  examined.  Many  of  these  were  evidently  dis- 
charged, because  nothing  was  shown  to  sustain  the 
suspicions  or  antipathies  which  had  prompted  those 
who  had  seized  them  ;  but  there  w-ere  others,  a  con- 
siderable number,  who  were  filtered  out  from  the 
great  mass  of  the  suspected,  because  of  their  seeming 
or  construed  connection  with  the  spiking  of  the  guns, 
and  sent  down  to  the  City  of  New  York,  to  be  dis- 
posed of,  by  the  generally  relentless  Committee  of 
Safety,  agreeably  to  the  dictates  of  its  stern,  imperious 
will.  Among  those  who  were  thus  selected  to  face 
the  ordeal  of  that  Committee,  in  which  the  great 
professional  experience  of  John  Morin  Scott  was  com- 
bined with  the  savage  coldness  of  Alexander  McDou" 
gal  and  John  Brasher,  were  John  Fowler,  Peter  Val- 
entine, William  Lounsberry,  James  Lounsberry, 
Joseph  Purdy,  AVilliam  Armstrong,  William  Sutton, 
John  Flood,  Isaac  Purdy,  John  Gedney,  John 
Haines,  Joshua  Gedney,  Josiah  Burrell,  William 
Haines,  James  Haines,  Junior,  Thomas  Haines, 
Isaac  Gedney,  Isaac  Valentine,  William  Dicken, 
Isaac  Valentine,  Junior,  and  Cornelius  McCartney — 
the  latter  a  schoolmaster,  in  Yonkers — and  several  of 
these  were  subjected  to  great  hardships  and  cruelty, 
in  the  confinement  to  which  they  were  subjected.* 

On  the  thirty-first  of  January,  1776,  the  Committee 
of  Safety  directed  Jacamiah  Allen  to  remove  those 
of  the  guns  which  were  near  Kingsbridge,  as  well  as 
those  which  were  near  John  Williams's,  "  to  the 
"  larger  parcel  at  Valentine's,  so  as  to  have  them  all 
"brought  together,  for  the  greater  convenience  of 
"  guarding  them  and  drilling  out  the  spikes;"  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  Committee  agreed  to  give  Allen 
twenty  shillings  a])iece  for  clearing  and  unspiking 
the  whole  of  the  guns  and  for  removing  those  at  Wil- 
liams's; but  those  at  Kingsbridge  were  to  be  removed 
at  the  expense  of  the  Commitee." 

'There  are  so  many  entries,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
concerning  the  spiking  of  the  guns  and  those  who  were  supposed  to 
have  been  interested  in  the  transaction,  that  we  cannot  pretend  to  refer 
to  them,  separately.  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  body  of  the  Jourmd, 
during  January  and  February,  1776. 

See.  also,  the  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  during  March,  177C;etc. 

^Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Pie  Merrurii,  10  ho.,  .\..M., 
"  Jany.  31,  1775." 


324 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


On  the  twenty-second  of  January,  one  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Companies  of  the  City  of  New  York,*  prob- 
ably "The  Brown  BrrFS,"  commanded  by  Captain 
Jonathan  Blake,-  was  ordered  into  the  service  of  the 
Colony,  for  the  protection  of  the  guns ;  but  a  draft 
was  subsequently  made  from  the  Minute-men  of  the 
County,  to  discharge  that  service,'  a  Captain,  a  Lieu- 
tenant, two  Sergeants,  a  Corporal,  fourteen  privates,  a 
Guardhouse,  and  all  the  surroundings  of  a  permanent 
outpost  having  been  provided  for  that  easy  purpose.* 
It  might  have  been  expected  that  that  favored  party  of 
White  Plains  Minute-men  would  very  soon  excite  feel- 
ings of  envy  among  those,  surrounding  its  position, 
who  were  not  enjoying  the  feast  of  fat  things  which  it 
had  secured ;  and  it  was  so — David  Barclay,  recom- 
mended by  Stephen  Ward,  the  latter  a  Tavern-keeper, 
near  where  Tuckahoe  is,  and  a  deputy  in  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,'  applied  for  the  job  of  guarding  the 
guns,  offering  to  do  so  for  thirteen  pounds  per  week, 
which  was  less  than  one  half  the  amount  which  had 
been  expended  on  the  skeleton  Company  of  Minute- 
men  who  had  previously  discharged  that  duty ;  *  and 
the  offer  was  promptly  accepted.'  Jacamiah  Allen, 
who  was  drilling  the  spikes  from  the  guns,  appears, 
however,  to  have  been  unwilling  that  any  others 
should  poach  on  his  manor;  and,  very  promptly,  he 
underbid  Barclay,  offering  to  do  the  same  guard-duty 
which  Varian  and  Barclay  had  successively  done,  the 
former  at  a  cost  of  more  than  twentj'-six  pounds  and 
the  latter  at  thirteen,  for  only  six  pounds,  ten  shill- 


I  The  OrmmiUee  of  Safety  to  LuulenatU-eolond  Graham,  "  In  Comiut- 
"tee  or  Safetv,  New-Yurk,  Jany.  22,  17T6." 

>  Comjuire  Captain  JoDathao  B)ake°8  letter  to  the  Committee  of  Safety 
"Head  Qvartf.rs  is  Westchester,  .lauy.  31,  17TC,"  with  the  Roster 
of  O'Umel  Malt-inn' t  llegimetity — Historical  Matiufcripts  relnting  to  the  War 
of  the  lieriilnlioH,  in  the  Secretary  of  State's  Office,  Albany :  MilUary 
]{eturn»,  xxvii.,  1. 

•  ni«  (''mimittee  of  Sofrlji  to  Lievlenanl-eoUxiel  Graham,  "Is  Commit- 
"tee  of  Safety,  New  York,  Jany.  22,  1776." 

"I  hereby  acquaint  you  that  I  have  taken  an  account  from  Capt. 
"Variau  what  the  exjiense  of  pruanling  the  gunn  at  Valentine's  and 
"Williams'  will  be,  thin  week,  viit. :  1  Capt.,  1  Lieut.,  2  Sergeants,  1 
"  Corporal,  and  14  Privates.  0  of  the  above  men  board  at  lOs.  per 
"  week,  and  the  others  draw  provisions  from  the  Commissary,  with  a 
"Guard  iwm  and  firewiKKl,  at  £1.  per  week,  besides  items,  making  in 
"the  whole  about  £26.,  and  last  week  it  was  considerably  more." 
{Strjihni  Ward  !•  I  the  Pnirimutl  0>iiyr<(t»,  "March  .%  1776.") 

It  will  li«  renieml>ered  that  James  Varian,  the  favored  commander  of 
th*  (Juard,  lu  this  instance,  with  eighteeen  others,  had  been  constituted 
a  full-fledged  Conii«ny  of  Westchester-county  Minute-men,  on  the  foiir- 
t«i'Ulh  of  February  precetling  l^vide pages  2J4,  285,  ante:)  and  it  will  be 
seen,  from  that  letter  which  has  been  quoted,  how  soon  and  in  what 
manner  those  nineteen  Westchester-county  "patriots"  reached  the 
sweets  to  which  they  had  a.<l>iri'd — five  held  offices  of  greater  or  lees 
dignity,  while  the  fonileeu  who  held  no  offices  enjoyed  the  comforts  of 
dniuing  their  sup(H>rt  fumi  the  Commisiairy  or  from  the  Treasury  of 
the  Provincial  Oongrt>«»,  in  addition  to  the  |iay  of  soldiers  and  what, 
by  hook  or  by  ciwk,  they  could  pick  up,  in  the  neighborhood  of  their 
quarters. 

This  wM  only  a  uuxlerate  6|iecimen  of  what  constituted  the  greater 
portion  of  the  "  iiatrlotism  "  of  the  Westchester-county  reTOlutioiusts, 
at  that  )K<riod. 

•  STrjiA™  Ward  lu  the  Prwinciat  O'Hjrrts,  "March  5, 1776."' 

•  Ibid. 

'  JoHi-Hiif  of  the  iVor««ctu/  Congrett,  "  Die  Mercurii,  4  ho  ,  P.M.,  March 
"6,  1776." 


ings  per  week ;  and,  of  course,  Barclay  was  superseded 
and  the  coveted  job  was  given  to  the  last  comer.* 
Very  reasonably,  Barclay  complained  to  the  Congress, 
and  made  a  counter-offer  which  was  more  favorable 
than  the  offer  on  which  Allen  had  been  employed ; 
and,  of  course,  the  latter  was  ousted,  leaving  him  in 
possession  * — an  illustration  of  what  material  the  new- 
created  controlling  power,  ("  the  Eing,"  if  the  reader 
pleases.)  in  Westchester-county,  in  1776,  was  com- 
posed ;  and  in  what  the  "  patriotism "  of  that  con- 
trolling power  consisted. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January,  1776,  burning  with 
anxiety  to  be  at  the  head  of  a  separate  command,  away 
from  General  Washington,  and  availing  himself  of 
the  rumor  that  a  heavy  military  force  had  been  sent 
from  Boston,  probably  to  New  York,'"  the  infamous 
Charles  Lee,  who  was,  then,  second  in  command  of 
the  Continental  Army  and  in  the  zenith  of  his  evan- 
escent fame,  induced  the  Commander-in-chief"  to  de- 
spatch him,  from  Boston,  to  the  latter  City,  "with 
"such  volunteers  as  he  "  [co«W]  "quickly  assemble, 
"  on  his  march,  in  order  to  put  the  City  of  New  York 
"  in  the  best  posture  of  defense  the  season  and  circum- 
"  stances  will  admit  of" 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  duties  to  which  General 
Lee  had  been  thus  assigned — in  his  enlistment  of 
men  into  the  service  of  the  Continent ;  in  his  appoint- 
ment of  the  ruffian,  Isaiic  Sears,  to  a  high  militar}' 
office ;  in  the  barbarities  inflicted  on  the  inhabitants 
of  Queens-county,  by  his  authorized  representative, 
Sears ;  in  his  haughty  disregard  of  the  local  authori- 
ties, legal  or  revolutionary,  in  New  York ;  and  in  his 
personal  and  official  intercourse  with  those  authori- 
ties and  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  City — the 
Insfrtictioiis  which  General  Washington  had  given  to 
him,  as  well  as  the  superior  enactments  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  and  his  own  knowledge  of  the 
proprieties  of  intercourse  between  individuals  and  of 
the  character  of  obligations  in  business  relations, 
were  entirely  disregarded  ;  and  he  permitted  himself 
to  be  controlled,  instead,  by  his  own  vile  and  ill- 
controlled  passions  and  by  the  promptings  of  those, 
as  ill-constituted  as  himself,  who  were  gathered 
around  him  and  who  pandered  to  his  vanity  and  his 
malignancy,  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  evil 
purposes.  It  is  not  within  the  purposes  of  this  pub- 
lication, however,  to  take  more  than  a  passing  uotice 

8  JoiirNfll  of  the  CommUtee  of  Safety,  "Die  Luna-,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March 
"  18,  1776  ;"  and  the  same,  "  Die  Martis,  t  ho.,  P.M.,  March  19,  1776." 

9  7«Hm<iI  of  the  Committee  of  Safely,  "  Die  Sabbati,  A.M.,  3Iarch  23, 
"1776." 

General  Waihmgton  to  the  Preridenl  of  Oougreft,  "  Ca3IBSII>ge,  4  Jann- 
"ary,  1776  ;"  the  tame,  "Cambridge,  11  January,  1776;"  Gmenii  Ho**- 
ington's  InsJmctumt  to  General  Lee,  "  Head-Qcarters,  Cambridge,  8  Jan- 
"uaiy,  1776." 

"  General  Washington's  letter  to  John  Adams,  "  Caxbrtdge,  7  Janu- 
"ary.  1776,"  clearly  indicated  that  General  Lee  operated  on  the  Ccm- 
mander- in-chief  through  John  Adams,  who  was,  then,  in  Maasachnsetts. 

12  General  Washington  to  the  O^mmittee  of  Safety,  "  Cambridge,  Jann- 
"ary  S,  1776." 

^ee,  also.  General  Wathington's  Imiinietkmt  lo  General  Lee,  "Ue.(d 
"  QfARTEBS,  Cahbridge,  8  January,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


325 


of  any  of  these  transactions  of  that  early  military 
power,  in  Queens-county  or  in  the  City  of  New 
York  ;  but  those  outrages  which  were  inflicted  by  his 
authority,  on  the  farmers  of  Wcstchester-county, 
while  he  was  marching  tiirough  the  County,  on  his 
way  to  New  York,  may  be  noticed,  in  its  pages — in 
his  progress  over  the  well-known  Post-road,  between 
the  Byram-river  and  Kingsbridge,  the  same  line  of 
march  which  had  been  traversed  by  Sears  and  his 
banditti,  a  few  weeks  previously,  he  appears  to  have 
regarded  himself  as  the  legitimate  possessor  of 
despotic  powers,  while  those  among  whom  he  was, 
were  considered  as  only  base  creatures  who  were 
absolutely  subject  to  his  unbridled  caprices  and  to 
the  most  extravagant  exactions  of  those  who  sur- 
rounded him.  Notwithstanding,  within  the  pre- 
ceding six  or  seven  weeks,  the  farmers  who  lived 
along  or  near  the  line  of  the  Post-road  had  been 
visited  by  Sears  and  his  gang  of  Connecticut  banditti, 
both  on  their  way  to  the  City  of  New  York  and  on 
their  return,  thence,  to  Connecticut,  by  whom,  on 
each  occasion,  they  had  been  ruthlessly  plundered,' 
they  were  again  visited,  during  that  march  of  Con- 
necticut-men, under  General  Lee,  by  that  new  detach- 
ment of  New  England  freebooters,  and  robbed,  to  the 
full  extent  of  the  hungry  desires  of  their  brutal 
visitors.  Indeed,  notwithstanding  the  recent  visita- 
tion of  his  ruffianly  countrymen  to  each  of  these 
j)eaceful  families  and  the  reckless  depredations  of 
those  cowardly  banditti.  Colonel  Waterbury,  who 
commanded  the  Regiment  whom  General  Lee  had 
mustered  into  the  Continental  service — himself,  as 
was  subsequently  seen  and  heard,  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  as  fine  a  specimen  of  the  same  class  as  was 
needed  to  perpetuate  it  '' — under  the  direct  sanction 
of  the  General  and  with  his  orders,  but  without  the 
slightest  authority,  legal  or  revolutionary,  of  either 
the  local  or  the  general  Committees  or  of  either  of  the 
Congresses,  forced  his  way  into  every  house  he 
reached,  ransacked  them,  and  carried  away,  without 
even  a  memorandum  of  the  names  of  those  from 
whom  they  were  taken,  everything  which  bore  the 
semblance  of  Arms,^  leaving  his  victims,  as  far  as  he 
could  possibly  do  so,  entirely  without  the  means  of 
defense,  easy  prey  for  whomsoever  might  next 
appear,  on  an  errand  of  similar  pillage  and  outrage. 

An  amusing  instance  of  the  consequential  airs  as- 
sumed by  the  petty  local  Town-commiltees,  in  West- 
chester-county,  in  whom  had  been  vested  such  extra- 
ordinary powers  over  the  persons  and  properties  of 
those  who  lived  within  the  several  Towns  in  which 


'  Vide  pages  305,  3(i8,  ante. 

2The  associations  and  conduct  of  Colonel  Waterbur)',  while  he  was  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  to  say  nothing  of  his  acknowledged  thefts  in 
Westchester  county,  afford  ample  evidence  of  his  rufflunly  pei-sonal 
character. 

3  Vide  page  322,  ante. 

See,  also,  Jmimnl  nf  the  Prnrineinl  Cnngref,  "Die  Sabbati,  10  ho., 
"A.M.,  Feb.  17,  1776;"  and  the  same,  "Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M., 
"  Febry.  23,  1776." 


those  Committees  were  respectively  located,  was  seen 
in  the  action  of  ''the  Committee  of  Observation  for 
"the  united  Town  of  Bedford  and  Precinct  of  Pound- 
"  ridge  antl  Salem,  in  Westchester,"  on  the  tenth  of 
January,  1776,  in  which  that  pompous  body,  "  con- 
"  ceiving  that  bad  consequences  do  arise  to  this  dis- 
'' tressed  country  from  supplying  the  markets,  at  New 
"  York,  on  supposition  that  the  common  enemy  may, 
"  by  that  means,  be  furnished  with  Provisions,"  for 
the  purpose  of  regulating  that  grave  irregularity,  as 
its  narrow  and  bigoted  understanding  presented  the 
subject  to  its  official  censorship,  bravely,  "Resolved, 
"That  from  and  after  the  date  hereof,  the  said  Com- 
"  mittee  do  hereby  strictly  forbid  any  of  the  inhabit- 
"ants  of  the  said  Town  and  Precincts,  directly  or, 
"  indirectly,  to  carry  or  cause  to  be  carried,  by  land 
"or  water,  provision  ofany  kind  to  the  said  markets; 
"and  do  hereby  direct  the  Minute-men  and  all  others 
"  that  are  friends  to  their  country,  to  do  their  utmost 
"  to  stop  all  drovers  of  fat  Cattle,  Sheep,  Hogs,  Poul- 
"  try,  or  any  other  Provisions  whatsoever,  and  from 
"being  drove  or  carried  through  either  said  Town  or 
"Precincts,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  without  leave 
"of  the  said  Committee,"  on  the  penalty  of  being 
deemed  enemies  to  their  country.* 

In  obedience  to  that  local  law,  it  appears  that 
Jonathan  Booth,  a  drover,  while  on  his  way  to  New 
York  with  a  drove  of  Cattle,  was  detained  at  Bed- 
ford, by  the  Committee  of  that  Town ;  but,  person- 
ally, he  evidently  pushed  forward  to  the  City  of  New 
York;  and,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  January,  1776,  he 
laid  the  subject  before  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
which  was  then  in  ses^sion,  and  solicited  its  more 
powerful  interposition.  Very  promptly,  that  body 
took  the  subject  into  consideration;  and,  without 
much,  if  any,  discussion,  the  Committee  "came  to  a 
"Resolution,"  which  was  delivered  to  the  anxious 
drover,  for  his  comfort  and  relief — the  Committee  of 
Safety  was  not  inclined  to  concur  in  the  questionable 
theory  of  "  patriotic"  economy  which  was  maintained 
by  its  subordinate  Committee  in  Bedford;  and,  after 
having  recited,  in  a  Preamble,  the  facts  and  the 
Resolution  which  have  been  already  presented,  to- 
gether with  the  additional  declaration  that  "  this 
"Committee,  not  doubting  the  good  intentions  of  the 
"said  Committee  met  at  Poundridge,  do  nevertheless 
"conceive  that  the  said  Resolve  has  a  manifest  ten- 
"dency  to  distress,  in  the  article  of  Provisions,  the 
"inhabitants  of  this  City  and  other  friends  to  Liberty 
"  whose  business  may  call  them  thither,"  it  therefore 
"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Commit- 
"tee,  that  no  Committee  ofany  City,  Borough,  Town, 
"or  Precinct  in  this  Colony  ought  to  prevent  any 
"such  supplies  of  Provisions  to  this  City  as  aforesaid, 
"unless  they  shall  have  due  proof  that  such  supplies 
"  are  intended  to  be  furnished  to  persons  engaged  in 

*  Holt's  Setc-York  Journal,  No.  1725,  New  York,  Thursday,  January 
25,  1776;  Joimtal  nf  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Die  Jovis,  10  ho.,  A.M. 
"  Jany.  25,  1776." 


326 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  service  against  the  Liberties  of  America ;  nor  in 
"such  case  any  longer  than  until  such  (Jommiltees 
"respectively  shall,  in  cases  where  such  proof  shall 
"have  been  made,  have  duly  certified  this  Committee 
"or  the  Provincial  Congress  thereof,  and  until  order 
"  shall  have  been  made  thereon,  by  this  Committee 
"  or  the  Provincial  Congress." ' 

The  Committee  of  Bedford  was  undoubtedly  served 
with  a  copy  of  this  enactment  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety;  and  Jonathan  Booth  and  his  drove  of  fat 
Cattle  were  surely  permitted  to  pass  through  that 
Town  and  to  New  York,  without  further  molestation  ; 
but  that  very  zealous  Committee  did  not  appear  to 
have  become  entirely  reconciled  to  the  abridgement 
of  its  pretensions,  made  more  reasonable  by  recent 
action  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  when,  a  short  time 
afterwards,  it  stopped  another  drove  of  Cattle,  be- 
longing to  Joseph  Booth,  of  Newtown,  in  Connecticut, 
while,  like  that  which  had  been  previously  stopped, 
by  the  same  Committee,  it  was  on  its  way  to  the  New 
York  market. 

In  the  latter  instance,  the  obstructed  drover  re- 
turned to  Newtown  ;  procured  a  Certificate  from  the 
Committee  of  that  Town,  declaring  that  he  "  had 
"  lately  served  his  country  as  a  faithful  friend  and 
"soldier  in  the  northern  Army,  under  General  Schuy- 
"ler;  that  he  had  suffered  by  the  stoppage  of  his 
"  Cattle,  at  Bedford,  on  the  way  to  the  New-Y'ork 
"market;  that  he  is  the  owner  of  the  said  Cattle; 
"and  that  the  said  Committee  take  pleasure  in recom- 
"  mending  him  as  a  friend  of  his  country;"  and,  with 
that  Certificate,  he  proceeded  to  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  presented  the  case  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, which  was  then  in  session.  It  is  said  "  the 
"Congress  took  the  same  into  consideration,  and 
"  came  to  the  following  determination,  to  wit : 

"  Whereas  a  large  sup))ly  of  fresh  Provisions  will 
"  be  required  for  the  Continental  Army,  in  and  near 
"  the  City  of  New-York  : 

"  Eesolved  and  Ordered,  That  no  obstruction 
"  whatsoever  be  given  to  any  person  or  persons  in 
"  passing  and  re-passing  through  any  of  the  Counties 
"  in  this  Colony,  with  fat  Cattle,  Sheep,  Hogs,  or  any 
"  kind  of  Provisions,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the 
"  inhabitants  of  the  said  City  of  New- York  or  the 
"  Continental  Army,  in  and  near  the  said  City,  unless 
"such  person  or  persons  shall  have  been  adjudged  to 
"  be,  or  held  up,  as  inimical  to  this  country." 

In  addition  to  that  general  action  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  which  controlled  or  assumed  to  control 
every  other  revolutionary  body  within  the  Colony, 
the  Congress  also  gave  to  the  complaining  drover,  a 
copy  of  the  following  Order  :  "  That  the  bearer 
"  hereof,  Joseph  Booth,  be  permitted  to  pass,  with 
"his  drove  of  Cattle,  to  the  City  of  New-York;"'^ 

1  Journal  of  Committee  of  Safety^  "Die  Jovis,  lu  ho.,  A.M.,  Jany.  25, 
"1776." 

-  Journal  of  Die  Proniicial  Congress,  "Die  .luvis,  4  lio.,  P.M.,  Fel).  29, 
"1776." 


and  he  evidently  returned  to  Bedford,  a  happier  man 
than  when  he  had  left  that  Town,  a  few  days  pre- 
viously. 

In  the  same  connection,  it  may  be  proper  for  us  to 
remind  the  reader  that,  about  a  fortnight  before  the 
Committee  of  Bedford  made  its  second  attempt  to  lay 
a  local  embargo  on  what  was  intended  for  the  New 
Y^ork  market,  the  Committee  of  Safety  itself  had  in- 
terfered with  the  disposition  of  the  surplus  of  the 
products  of  the  farms  in  Westchester-county  to  resi- 
dents of  the  neighboring  Colony  of  Connecticut,  in 
which,  very  probably,  Bedford,  one  of  the  border- 
towns  of  the  County,  had  materially  suffered.  The 
facts  are  thus  related  in  the  official  records  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety ; '  and  the  reader  may  judge 
therefrom,  something  concerning  the  animus  of  the 
Committee  of  Bedford,  when,  on  the  second  occasion, 
it  interfered  with  the  disposition  of  the  products  of 
Connecticut,  within  the  Colony  of  New  York,  while 
the  disposition  of  the  products  of  farms  in  Bedford 
and  its  vicinity,  in  Connecticut,  was  interfered  with 
and  stopped,  summarily,  by  a  higher  authority. 

"  Col.  Gil.  Drake  informed  the  Committee  that 
"  sundry  persons  from  Connecticut  are  purchasing 
"up"  [/or  speculative  purposes  "the  barrelled  Beef 
"  and  Pork  in  Westchester.  Thereupon  the  Conimit- 
"  tee  came  to  the  following  Besolution,  to  wit  : 

"'Whereas  the  Continental  Congress,  by  their 
"  'Resolution  of  the  first  day  of  November  last,  have 
"  '  resolved  that  no  produce  of  the  United  Colonies 
"'be  exported,  except  from  Colony  to  Colony  under 
"  'the  directions  of  the  Committees  of  Inspection  and 
"  '  Observation,  and  except  from  one  part  to  the  other 
"'of  the  same  Colony,  before  the  first  day  of  March 
"  '  next,  without  the  permission  or  order  of  the  Con- 
"  '  tinental  Congress  ; 

" '  And  whereas  this  Committee  of  Safety  for  the 
" '  Colony  of  New  York  conceives  that  it  is  necessary 
"'to  prevent  the  sale  of  all  the  barrelled  Beef  and 
"  'Pork  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  and  to  retain 
'"the  same  for  the  Continental  service  in  this  Col- 
"'ony,  as  such  Provisions  may  be  necessary  for  the 
"'  Continental  Army  in  this  Colony  : 

"  '  Eesolved,  That  the  Committee  of  the  County 
" '  of  Westchester  be  requested  to  take  effectual 
"  '  means  to  prevent  the  sale  and  transportation  of 
'"any  barrelled  Beef  or  Pork  out  of  Westchester- 
"' county,  to  any  person  or  persons  residing  out  of 
"  '  this  Colony,  until  the  further  order  of  the  Provin- 
"  '  cial  Congress  or  of  the  Comuiiitee  of  Safety  of  this 
"'Colony.' 

"  A  draft  of  a  letter  to  the  Committee  of  West- 
"  chester-county  was  read  and  approved  of,  and  is  in 
"  the  words  following,  to  wit  : 
" ' Gentlemen : 

" '  We  have  been  informed  by  a  Gentleman 
"  '  from  your  County,  that  some  of  the  inhabitants  of 

^  Journal  of  the  CommiUee  of  Safety,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Febru- 
•'ary  in,  1770." 


THE  AMERICAN  llEVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


327 


"' your  County  are  disposing  of  their  barrelled  Beef 
"  '  and  Pork,  to  persons  out  of  the  Colony.  We  ap- 
" '  prehend  that  such  Provisions  will  be  wanted  for 
"'the  use  of  the  Continental  Army  in  this  Colony, 
"  'and  that  the  service  may  possibly  suffer  if  all  the 
"'barrelled  Provisions  are  taken  out  of  the  Colony. 
"  '  We  therefore  request  you  to  take  the  most  effectual 
"'  measures  to  carry  the  enclosed  Resolution  into  exe- 
" '  cutiou. 

" '  We  are,  respectfully,  Gentlemen, 
"  'Your  very  humble  servts., 

"  '  By  order  of  the  Committee  of  Safety. 
"  '  To  the  Onnmittee  of  the  Coirnfy  of  We^lc/wster.'  " 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  farmers  of  Wcstchester- 
county,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  were  prohib- 
ited from  finding  a  market  for  the  surplus  of  their 
products,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Colony  or,  at  their 
own  doors,  to  those  who  were  not  of  New  York,  and 
that,  in  consequence  of  that  prohibition,  they  were 
limited  to  those  local  purchasers,  forestallers,  or  specu- 
lators, who  should  incline  to  purchase,  and  at  prices 
which  were  not  regulated  by  competition.  At  the 
same  time,  as  has  been  seen,  the  surplus  products  of 
the  farms  in  Connecticut  were  brought  into  the  Col- 
ony, in  open  disregard  of  the  provisions  of  that  Re- 
soludon  of  the  Continental  Congress  which  was  used  as 
the  warrant  for  the  prohibition  of  the  reciprocal  trade 
of  Westchester-county  with  Connecticut ;  and  the  mar- 
ket of  New  York,  for  nothing  else  than  the  products  of 
the  Colony  of  New  York,  which  the  Resolution  would 
have  guaranteed,  if  it  ha<l  been  impartially  enforced, 
was  recklessly  destroyed,  in  favor  of  the  greed  of  New 
England.  Need  there  be  any  wonder  that  the  Com- 
mittee of  Bedford  objected,  and  embargoed  those  who 
had  come  into  the  Colony,  from  Connecticut,  in  vio- 
lation of  the  Resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress  and 
in  derogation  of  the  interests,  if  not  of  the  Rights,  of 
the  farmers  of  that  Town  ?  Need  there  be  any  surprise, 
when  doubts  are  raised  against  the  integrity  of  those 
who  had  thus  hampered  the  farmers  of  Westchester- 
county,  when  the  latter  had  sought  a  market  for  their 
surplus  products,  compelling  them  to  either  accept  a 
purely  local  market  and  a  depreciated  price  or  to 
hold,  indefinitely,  what  they  had  for  sale?  Can  any 
one  say,  honestly,  that  those  who  made  those  enact- 
ments, purely  in  the  interest  of  the  farmers  of  Con- 
necticut, at  the  expense  of  those  of  Westchester- 
county,  notwithstanding  they  were  unquestionably 
"  patriotic,"  were  anything  else  than  corrupt  legisla- 
tors and  roguish,  dishonest  men?  Will  not  those  who 
know  the  character  of  Gilbert  Drake,  before  and 
during  and  after  the  War,  entirely  understand  that 
his  motive,  in  moving  and  securing  the  embargo  on 
the  products  of  Westchester-county,  without  imposing 
a  similar  embargo  on  the  products  of  Connecticut, 
was  corrupt  and  roguish? 

In  the  same  connection,  and  with  the  same  results, 
a  few  weeks  subsequently,  the  Committee  of  the 
County  of  Westchester,  of  which  the  same  Gilbert 


Drake  was  the  Chairman  and  the  master-spirit,  under- 
took to  prevent  Abraham  Livingston,  the  Contractor 
for  supplying  the  Continental  Army  with  Provisions, 
from  taking  any  Pork  from  that  County,  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  County  of  Duchess,  of  which  Egbert 
Benson  was  the  Chairman,  having  published  a  similar 
manifesto,  to  control  the  market  after  a  fashion  of  its 
own  creation,  in  that  County. 

The  Contractor  encountered  so  much  of  trouble 
from  these  interfering  causes,  that  he  was  constrained 
to  seek  the  interposition  of  the  Committee  of  Safety; 
and,  on  the  twentieth  of  March,  that  Committee,  re- 
sponsive to  the  Contractor's  complaint,  ordered  "that 
"the  respective  Committees  of  the  Counties  of  West- 
"  Chester  and  Duchess  permit  Mr.  Abraham  Living- 
"ston  to  export  Provisions  of  any  kind  whatsoever, 
"  from  either  of  those  Counties  to  New-York,  on  his 
"giving,  or  any  other  such  proper  person  as  is  em- 
"  ployed  on  his  behalf  giving,  such  security  as  the 
"  Committees  approve  of,  to  land  and  store  such  Pro- 
"  visions  in  New-York  or  Kings-county.'" 

The  facts  that  the  Contractor  for  supplying  the 
Continental  Army  with  Provisions  was  subjected  to  the 
hindrances  invented  by  these  local  Committees,  and 
that  the  farmers  within  those  Counties  were  thereby 
prevented  from  selling  their  surplus  supply  of  Pro- 
visions, even  for  the  known  use  of  the  Continental 
Army,  like  those  similar  prohibitions  of  trade,  by 
similarly  arbitrary  authority,  already  noticed,  at  once 
so  remarkable  and  so  unaccountable,  would  have  be-  ^ 
come  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  the  careful  stu- 
dent of  the  history  of  the  men  of  that  i)eriod  and  of 
their  doings,  had  not  time  and  the  opening  of  pre- 
viously concealed  records  revealed  the  explanation  of 
this,  among  others  of  the  mysteries  of  the  polities  of 
the  American  Revolution.  That  explanation  of  the 
restrictions  of  trade,  in  this  instance,  will  be  noticed 
hereafter. 

Early  in  January,  1776,  while  the  conservatism  ot 
the  inhabitants  of  Queens-county  was  occupying  the 
attention  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  ;  while  the 
inhabitants  of  that  County,  because  of  their  decided 
and  outspoken  opposition  to  the  Rebellion  and  to 
the  various  Conunittees  and  Congresses  which  the 
Rebellion  had  called  into  existence,  were  subjected, 
by  the  Provincial  Congress,  to  a  sentence  of  out- 
lawry ; and  while,  in  consequence  of  that  savage 
enactment  and  the  unapcountable  negligence  of  its 
duty  to  do  something  for  their  protection,  by  the 
naval  force  which  then  occupied  the  harbor  of  New 
York  and  commanded  all  the  neighboring  waters, 
that  populous  and  thickly-settled  County  was  over- 
run and  pillaged  and  the  inhabitants  subjected  to  all 
classes  of  barbarities,  by  inroads  from  Connecticut 


^  Jnurnal  of  the  Committee  of  Stifili/,  "Die  Mcrciirii,  AM.,  Murcli  2(1, 
'■  ITTIi." 

i  Jfivrnal  of  the  I'rovhicinl  CotiyrefK,  "Die  .lovis,  3  lio.,  P.M.,  Dccrnir. 
"  21,  1775  ;  "  Jones's  JUalorij  o/AVio  York  during  the  Uevnlnlionanj  Wur, 
i.,  l(J7-nO. 


328 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  Nev'  Jersey,  the  latter  accompanied  by  amateur 
banditti  from  New  York  City,  the  leaders  of  the  Re- 
bellion in  Westchester-county,  aldo,  were  anxious  to 
join  in  the  crusade  of  "  patriotism,"  against  their 
neighbors  on  the  other  side  of  the  Sound — they  had 
had  practise  in  such  a  service  as  that,  in  the  work  of 
harrying  their  conservative  neighbors,  in  Westchester- 
county  ;  they  knew  that  it  was  a  profitable  occu- 
pation ;  and  they  were  anxious  to  participate  in  a 
similar  service,  elsewhere,  where  even  greater  profits 
were  promised.  To  secure  that  much-desidered  em- 
ployment, on  the  eighth  of  January,  1776,  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  County  addressed  the  following  note  to 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  in  the  City  of  New  York: 
"  White  Plains,  8'"  Janry,  1776. 

"Sir: 

The  Committee  of  West  Chester  County  hav- 
"ing  seen  in  the  public  prints  that  many  of  the 
"  Inhabitants  of  Queens  County  are  thrown  out  of  the 
"  Protection  of  the  Provincial  Congress ;  and  having 
"  been  informed  that  they  are  Arming  in  their  De- 
"  fence,  are  greatly  alarmed  at  their  Conduct,  and  beg 
"  leave  to  assure  your  honorable  House,  that  the 
"Friends  of  Liberty  in  this  County  are  willing  stren- 
"  uously  to  exert  themselves  to  reduce  the  Enemies  to 
"their  Country  before  they  are  supported  by  the 
"Regular  Troops  If  it  shall  be  thought  must  advisa- 
"  ble  by  the  Committee  of  Safety,  or  the  Provincial 
"  or  Continental  Congress.  We  are  Sir  Your  most 
_  "  Humble  Servants 

"  By  Order  of  y''  Committee 

"  Wm.  Miller,  D.  Chairman. 

"  To  Mr.  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  President  of  the 
"  Committee  of  Safety."  ' 

As  the  original  letter  remained  among  the  papers 
of  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress and  has  been  preserved,  to  this  day,  among  the 
multitude  of  other  inedited  and  unexplained  manu- 
scripts, in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  Al- 
bany, it  is  very  evident  that  it  was  duly  referred  to 
that  Committee;  that  the  unholy  desires  of  the  "  pat- 
"  riots  "  of  Westchester-county,  to  join  in  the  spolia- 
tion of  fellow-colonists,  in  a  neighboring  County,  with- 
out lawful  reason,  without  any  process  in  law,  and  in 
time  of  Peace,  were  not  reciprocated  by  the  members  of 
that  Committee;  and  that  the  application  was  filed, 
without  having  received  any  other  attention  whatever. 
In  short,  very  appropriately,  the  Committee  of  West- 
chester-county was  told,  by  that  inattention,  either  to 
attend  to  its  own  business,  at  home,  or  to  play  the 
parts  of  freebooters,  if  it  should  continue  to  hanker 
after  the  spoils  to  be  acquired  in  such  an  occupation, 
on  its  own  responsibility. 

In  February,  1776,  a  movement  was  made  by  the 
Committee  of  Westchester-county,  to  consolidate  the 
several  Troops  of  Horse  which  were  then  within  that 
County,  evidently  several  in  number  and  mere  phan- 

I  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.:  Milit  ary  Committee,  xxv.,  02'". 


toms  in  weakness,  the  aggregate  of  their  strength 
having  been  less  than  forty  men  ;  and,  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  that  month,  these  assembled  at  Wilsey  Du- 
senberry's,  in  "Harrison's  Precinct,"  and  arranged 
themselves  into  a  single  Troop,  electing  their  Officers, 
and  duly  reporting  their  doings  to  the  Provincial 
Congress.  The  following  is  the  official  report  of  the 
Election  of  its  Officers,  made  by  two  members  of  the 
County  Committee  aud  transmitted  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  : 

"On  the  13*  of  February,  1776,  The  Troops  of 
"  Horse  in  the  County  of  Westchester  was  Called  to- 
"gether  at  the  House  of  Willsey  Dusinberry  in  Har- 
"  sons  Precinct  and  There  being  Present  between 
"  Thirty  and  fourty  went  into  an  arrangement  for  the 
"  Choice  of  officers  under  the  Inspection  of  (Jol"' 
"Thomas,  Samuel  Haviland,  and  William  Miller 
"Three  of  the  Committee  where  Samuel  Tredwell 
"was  Unanimously  chose  Capt.  and  Thaddeus Avory 
"  was  chose  Leu'  unanimously  Likewise  Abraham 
"  Hatfield  was  Chose  Corneth  by  a  majority  and  Uy- 
"  tendall  Allair  was  Chose  Quartermaster  by  a  ma- 
"jority  also.    Certify ed  by  us 

"  Thomas  Thomas. 
"  Wm.  Miller."^ 

The  Return  was  laid  before  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress on  the  twenty-first  of  February,  when  the  Com- 
missions were  issued  to  the  officers-elect;  ^  and  thus, 
probably,  a  beginning  was  made  of  that  notable 
Troop  of  Horse,  in  Westchester-county,  of  which  so 
much  has  been  said,  in  romance,  if  not  in  history. 

Early  in  February,  1776,  General  Lee,  then  chief 
in  command,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  informed  the 
Cummittee  of  Safety,  then  in  session,  that  he  was 
"  of  opinion  that  the  two  Connecticut  Regiments 
"  and  Lord  Stirling's  would  not  be  sufficient  for  the 
"  services  he  will  have  to  perform  ;  and  he  desired  to 
"know  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  the  Com- 
"  mittee  that  he  should  send  to  Pennsylvania  for  a 
"  Regiment  from  thence."  After  due  consideration, 
the  introduction  of  troops  from  other  Colonies  having 
been  found  unsatisfactory,  because  of  outrages  in- 
flicted by  them  on  the  inhabitants,  the  Committee  of 
Safety  adopted  the  following  Resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  if  General  Lee  shall  think  it 
"necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  any  other  troops  than 
"the  two  Connecticut  Regiments  and  Lord  Stirling's 
"  Regiment,  that  he  be  authorized  and,  in  such  case, 
"  he  is  hereby  authorized,  to  call  in  as  many  of  the 
"  Minute-men  of  this  Colony  as  he  shall,  at  any  time, 
"  think  necessary."  * 

In  accordance  with  the  authority  which  was  thus 
delegated  to  General  Lee,  on  the  following  day, 


2  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Military  Returns,  xxvii.,  2.54. 
s  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Mercurii,  P.M  ,  Feb.  21, 
"1776." 

*  Journal  oj  the  ComiiiiUee  of  Safety,  "Die  Veneris,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb. 
"9,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


329 


[Febniari/  9,  1776]  a  letter  was  ntklressed  to  Colonel 
Samuel  Drake,  ordorliig  the  skeleton  Regiment  of 
Westchester-county  IMiniitc-iucn  into  active  service.  1 
That  letter  may  [jropcily  lind  a  place  in  this  narra- 
tive :  it  wtis  in  the  following  words  : 

"New  York,  Fcb'y  <J"'  177G. 

"  Sir  : 

"  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  Resolution 
"  that  Major  ( ioneral  liCe  now  at  New  York  is  author- 
"  ized  to  call  in  as  many  of  the  Minute  Men  of  thig 
"  Colony  as  he  may  think  necessary. 

"  I  am  directed  by  the  General  to  have  some  Regi- 
"nients  of  Minute  Men  called  here  directly. 

"  Y'our  Kcgimcnt  is  fixed  on  by  the  Committee  of 
"  Safety  of  this  Colony  as  i)ro{)er  to  be  called. 

"  You  are  therefore  on  receipt  hereof  to  march  with 
"your  Regiment  to  New  York  with  all  possible  dis- 
"  patch.  Take  care  that  your  men  have  their  knap- 
"  sacks  and  Blankets  with  them  &  provisiens  for  their 
"  march. — The  (.Quartermaster  ought  by  all  means  to 
"  come  with  the  Regiment. 

"  It  is  not  doubted  but  you  will  give  orders  that 
"your Troops  observe  the  greatest  regularity  in  their 
"  march,  and  if  you  order  the  several  Companies  to 
"  proceed  "  [jirecedc  f]  "  each  other  a  few  miles  in  their 
'  march  they  will  be  more  easily  accommodated. 

"  Sulfer  no  Delay  in  bringing  in  your  Regiment. 
"  I  am  respectfully  Sir  your  very  humble  serv' 
"  R.  Yates,  Ch. 

"  P.S. — It  is  expected  that  Col°  Drake  will  leave  a 
"sufticieut  Guard  of  his  Regiment  at  the  cannon  be- 
"  youd  Kings- bridge. — He  will  be  a  proper  judge  how 
"  many  may  be  necessary  for  that  small  service."  ' 

As  Captain  Varian  and  his  eighteen  companions, 
facetiously  regarded  as  one  of  the  Companies  of 
Minule-men  of  which  Colonel  Drake's  Regiment  was 
subsequently  composed,  were,  then,  unknown  as  sol- 
diers,'^ that  Regiment  could  not  have  possibly  mustered 
more  than  two  Companies  commanded,  respectively,  by 
Captains  Slason  and  Seely ' — that  commanded  by 
Captain  Gray  was  not  organized  until  six  days  after 
the  Regiment  had  been  ordered  into  the  service;* 
and  no  record  appears  of  any  attempt  having  been 
made  to  organize  the  two  Companies,  in  the  Cort- 
landt's  Manor,  for  which  blank  Commissions  had 
been  issued,  in  advance  of  any  organization,  in  the 
preceding  October  ' — although  it  is  understood  that 
those  Companies  which  were  commanded  by  Captains 
Gray  and  Steinrod  subseiiueiitly  joined  it.  There  is 
no  known  Rdiu  n  of  the  actual  strength  of  the  Regi- 
ment, at  any  time;  but  within  a  few  days  after  it  had 

'  UUtofieal  Mnmucripls,  etc. :  Militui  ij  Cimiinillif,  xxv.,  658. 
-  Viile  pages  284,  ante. 
Ibid, 

*  Helnriit  nf  iiii  Elidii<ii  <•/  Ojliins  ,1/ IIkiI  Cniuiiaiiii,  "Bedfoup,  15  Fcby, 
"  177(i  "— 7/i«(«nc.i(  MiiiiUK'-i  ijilf,  utc. :  Mililtmj  Hiliinm,  x.\vii.,  196. 

^  Mnminiinlitni  hit  (lilbt-rt  L>r<iA*<.',  ChtlirmuH  of  Wfslrhenler-couittlj  Commit- 
0*'.  "WuiTE  Pi..\iNS,  October  21,  177.'»  Journal  of  Provincial  Gongre^^y 
"  Die  McrcHiii,  10  bo.,  A.M.,  October  25,  177.')." 

•2G 


entered  the  Continental  service,  and  after  its  rein- 
forcement had  joined  it,  it  numbered  not  more  than  a 
1  hundred  and  fifty  men  ;  *  and  about  two  week.s  subse- 
<iuently,  little  more  than  a  month  after  it  had  been 
mustered  in,  it  was  made  ridiculous  and  the  propen- 
sity to  ollice-holding  among  "  the"friends  of  Liberty," 
in  Westchester-county,  was  forcibly  illustrated  by 
the  following  paragraph,  which  appeared  in  the 
dciieral  Orders  of  the  commanding  Officer  of  the  Con- 
tinental Army  in  New  York  : 

"  Head-Quarters,  March  16,  1776. 
"  As  Colonel  Drake's  Regiment  of  Minute-men 
"consists  of  one  hundred  and  eleven  jjrivate  men, 
"  present,  and  yet  have  no  less  than  four  Field 
"Officers,  two  Cajjtains,  and  thirteen  other  Commis- 
"sioned  Officers,  and  twenty  Non-commissioned 
"Officers,  it  is  unreasonable  to  put  the  Continent  to 
"the  enormous  expense  of  maintaining  so  many 
"  Officers  for  the  use  of  so  few  men  ;  and  it  is  thcre- 
"  fore  ordered  that  one  F'ield-officer,  two  Captains, 
"  four  Lieutenants,  two  Ensigns,  the  Adjutant,  and 
"  Quartermaster,  eight  Sergeants,  eight  Corporals,  or 
"  Drums  or  Fifes,  and  no  other  Officer  do  remain  with 
"  that  small  part  of  the  Regiment ;  the  other  Officers 
"  are  to  return  to  their  County,  in  order  to  complete 
"  their  Corps.  Colonel  Swartwout'  and  Lieutcnant- 
"  colonel  Humphreys**  are  to  observe  the  same  rule  in 
"proportion  to  their  numbers;  and  they  are  all  of 
"  them  to  send  into  Headquarters,  Returns  of  their 
"  respective  Corps,  present.''  ^ 

The  reader  will  become  better  acquainted  with  this 
portion  of  the  history  of  Colonel  Samuel  Drake's 
Regiment  of  Westchester-county  Minute-men,  by- 
and-by. 

The  Regiment,  when  it  reached  the  City  of  New- 
York,  was  employed  in  the  construction  of  a  redoubt, 
on  Hoern's  Hook,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Harlem-river, 
for  the  defence  of  the  pass  of  Hell-Gate  as  well  as  to 
command  the  ferry  to  Long  Island,  which,  even  at 
that  early  period,  had  been  established  at  that  place ; 


0  Captain  Gray's  Company  probably  marched  from  Bedford,  on  the 
sixteenth  of  February,  agreeably  to  the  promise  tliat  it  sliould  do  so  ; 
ami  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  s;inie  mouth.  General  Lee  said  of  the 
lii'giment  and  of  a  Company  detiiclifd  from  another  Rej^iment,  tonrtber 
forming  the  garrison  at  Hoern's  Hook,  "  Dr.ake'8  Keginiunt  of  Minnte- 
"  Men  and  ijiic  mure  Company,  (//(  till  alxntt  tico  hundred,)  are  statioii<-d  at 
"Horn's  Hook,  which  coniniamls  Hell-Gate.  Thoy  are  employed  in 
"  tlirowing  up  a  redoubt,  to  contain  three  hundred  men,"  {Gciu  nil  L,  ,- 
lo  driinal  WaxhiiiijUm,  "New-Yokk,  February  29,  n7().") 

'  Jacobus  Swartwout  was  Colonel  of  one  of  the  Regiuieul*,  so  railed, 
of  Duchess-county  Minute-men,  {Ilislorical  Mamiscrijils,  etc. :  Mililnnj 
IMitriis,  xxvi.,  3.) 

3  Lieutenant-colonel  Cornelius  II  mnphreys  evidently  commanded  the 
Regiment  of  Duchess-couuty  Minute-men,  of  which  John  Van  Ne8.s  was 
Colonel  and  Robert  G.  Livingston,  Junior,  one  of  the  Miyors.  (Jlixloritnl 
^^ll)lllllcrlplll,  etc. :  Military  RiUirm,  xxvi.,  3.) 

9  (tchctuZ  Orders  of  ]A>rd  Sfiriiit'j,  drurrtd  of  the  CoiUinnttul  Ih-oopn^ 
"  llKAi>Qi'.\itTKiis,  March  IG,  1776." 

10  deiwral  Lcc  lo  General  Widhiiiijloii,  "  Nkw-Youk,  February  29,  1776;" 
Jones's  Hixlonj  of  .Vtio  York  during  the  lievolutiontiri/  War,  i.,  G9. 

.\t  the  period  referred  to  in  the  text,  that  was  known  aa  "  Waldron's 
"  Ferry." 


330 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


but  it  was  composed  of  ineu  of  notorious  poverty  and 
meanness,'  by  no  means  representative  men  of  the 
yeomanry  of  Westcb ester-county  ;  "  many  of  them  " 
were,  "destitute  of  "arms"  '  and,  therefore,  useless 
for  soldiers  ;  and  it  appears  tluit,  as  such  characters 
were  apt  to  be,  they  were  recklessly  destructive  of 
the  private  property  of  those  who  were  richer  than 
they,  not  sparing,  even,  the  property  of  those  who 
had  endeavored  to  make  them  more  than  ordinarily 
comfortable.'  The  Lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Regi- 
ment, who  was,  also,  a  Deputy  irom  Westchester- 
county  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  c()m|)lained  to 
that  body  that  the  Regiment  "  lodged  in  an  uncom- 
"  fortable  manner  for  the  want  of  Cribs  for  its  l)eds;  " 
and  he  insisted  that  it  was  "  necessary  that  a  car- 
"  penter  be  sent  to  make  Cribs  for  their  beds;  "  and 
a  car[)euter  was  accordingly  sent  to  Hoern's  Hook, 
for  the  pur[)<ise  of  making  "  Cribs  "  for  the  greater 
comfort  of  Westchester-county's  "  patriotic  "  Minute- 
men.' 

It  docs  not  appear  how  long  that  particular  Regi- 
ment remained  in  the  service  of  the  Continent;  but  it 
was  evidently  mustered  in  for  only  a  short  term  of 
service  ;  and  that,  at  the  expiration  ol'  that  brief  term, 
it  Wiis  discharged  and  mustered  out,  disappearing,  for 
ever,  from  the  6eld  of  military  service. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  January,  177<},  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  ordered  four  Battalions  to  be  raised  for 
the  defence  of  the  Colony  of  New  York  ;  and,  on  the 
twenty -sixth  of  the  same  month,  the  experiment  of 
starting  the  work  of  enlistment,  for  those  four  Battal- 
ions, by  jol)l)ing  out  the  OHices  which  would  l)e  re- 
quired, among  the  several  Counties,  with  invitations 
for  estimates  of  the  numbers  of  men  who  could  "  be 
"speedily  raised  and  armed,"  in  the  respective  Coun- 
ties, by  that  proflered  bait  of  Oflices,  was  the  first  ac- 
tion which  was  taken  by  the  revolutionary  authori- 
ties, in  New  York,  on  that  important  subject." 

On  the  following  day,  [Janiiari/  27,  1770,]  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  issued  its  Instructions  for  the  Rccruit- 
iiKj  Oj/irrrs  who  should  be  employed  in  the  enlistment 
of  men  for  the  service  referred  to,  in  that  new  Order 
— the  pay  of  the  Privates  was  to  be  five  dollars  per 
month ;  each  was  to  receive,  as  a  bounty,  a  ielt  hat,  a 
pair  of  yarn  stockings,  a  pair  of  shoes,  and,  if  they 
could  be  procured,  a  hunting-shirt  and  a  blanket; 
and  the  men  were  to  provide  their  own  Arms.  There 


1  Colonel  Samuel  Diake  to  the  Proeiiiciiil  Omgnss,  "  Nzw-YoRK,  Feby. 
1776,"  compared  with  the  letter  of  Dirck  Leflferts,  poU. 
C 'lonel  ISinnuel  Drake  fo  the  Pruvhieinl  O'lhjress^  "New-York.  Feby. 
"IC,  177G." 

Dirck  Lejferts  to  the  Deputies  of  the  severtd  Couvties^  etc.,  "  May  1, 
"  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Prorincinl  Comjrcss,  "Die  llaitis,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  Marcli 
"12,  1776." 

5  Journal  of  the  CoiitineiUal  GonffresB,  "  Friday,  January  ID,  1770." 

6  Journal  of  the  Committee  nf  Safety,  "Die  Veueris,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  .Jany. 
"26,  1776,"  aod  the  Circular  Letter,  containing  the  proposed  system, 
which  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  ea*:h  of  the  several  County  Committees, 
on  the  same  day. 


was  no  specified  term  of  service ;  but  the  Privates — 
not  the  Officers — were  "  liable  to  be  discharged  at  any 
"  time,  on  allowing  them  one  month's  pay  extraordi- 
"  nary."  ' 

There  appears  to  have  been  great  backwardness  in 
enlisting,  however — those  who  were  expected  to  step 
into  the  ranks  and  to  do  the  fatigue  duty  and  the 
fighting,  while  the  more  favored  ones  of  the  Rebellion 
had  occupied  all  the  offices,  in  advance,  and  were  pre- 
destinated to  enjoy  till  that  was  comfortable  and  to 
issue  all  the  orders  and  to  be  implicitly  obeyed,  were 
slow  in  their  responses ;  only  those  who  were  extreme- 
ly poor,  and  whose  actual  necessities  obliged  them, 
or  those  whose  morals  were  questionable,  and  who 
enlisted  either  to  retire  from  adverse  observation  or 
to  secure  a  wider  field  for  their  unholy  practices,  aj)- 
pcaring  to  have  been  willing  to  support  "the  Liber- 
"ties  of  America,"  in  tlie  field,  even  where  there  was 
no  enemy  and  where  none  was  really  expected.^  In- 
deed, so  discouraging  were  the  rci)orts  from  those  who 
had  been  entrusted  with  the  Warrants  for  recruiting, 
that,  on  the  fifteenth  of  February,  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, on  the  recomnicMdation  of  a  Committee  who 
li:id  been  aj)pointed  to  consider  the  subject,  deter- 
mined to  apportion  a  spocifieil  quota  of  Officers  and 
Privates  to  each  of  the  Counties  in  the  Colony,  in  or- 
der that  the  organization  of  the  required  Battalions 
might  be  effected  in  the  shortest  possible  ])eriod." 
Three  days  sul>sc(iucntly,  \_F<i>ni(iri/  IS,  1771),]  tinothcr 
Committee  who  had  been  appointed  to  apportion  the 
tlifferent  quota  of  Officers  and  Privates  to  be  raised  in 
the  sevcrtil  Counties,  made  a  Report,  which  was 
adopted,  two  Companies,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
being  ajiportioned  to  Westchester- county  ; and,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  a  Circular  Letter  was 
sent  by  the  Provincial  Congress  to  each  of  the  Coun- 
ty-committees throughout  the  Colony,  informing  it  of 
the  arrangement  and  urging  its  attention  to  the  mat- 
ter of  the  enlistments.  As  that  Circular  Letter  is  pe- 
culiarly interesting,  in  its  details  of  the  terms  of  en- 
listment into  the  Continental  Army  of  1776,  a  place 
may  properly  be  found  for  it,  in  these  pages.  It  was 
in  the  following  words : 

"In  Provincial  Congress, 
"  New- York,  Feb.  18,  177(). 

"Sir:  ' 

"  The  Congress  having  determined  that  your  Couu- 
"  ty  shall  have  the  oj)pt>rtunity  of  raising  [^/'o]  Ccm- 
"  panics  in  the  four  Regiments  to  be  raised  by  order 


7  Instrueliona  to  the  Colonels  and  other  Officers  for  Enlistment,  etc., 
"Committee  OF  Safety,  New-York,  Jany.  27,  1776." 

8  Elihu  Marvin,  Chiiinnan,  to  the  Committee  of  Safeti/,  "  In  Coi  NTV 
"C<tMMiTTEE,  OxTOim,  Feb.  15,  1776;"  S^phetiiah  Piatt,  Chairman,  to  the 
Prorincial  Congress,  "Poi'GHKEEifiE,  Feb.  9,  1776;"  Captain  William 
Barker  to  the  Prorincial  C'mgress,  "Amenia,  March  1,  1776";  William 
Smith,  Chairman,  "Suffolk  County,  Jany.  24,  1776;"  Tlie  Committee  of 
Albanij  County  to  the  Committee  of  Safeti/,  ".Vi.hany,  .\pril  2,  1775"  ;  etc. 

^  Jiinrnnl  of  the  Prorincial  Congress,  "Die  Jovis,  P.M.,  Feb.  15,  1776." 
10  Journal  of  the  Prorincial  Congress,  '•  Die  Solis,  lu  ho.,  A.M.,  Feb.  18, 
"  177G." 


THE  AMERICAN  RE 


VOLUTIOiN,  1774-1783. 


331 


"  of  the  Continental  Congress,  for  the  defence  of  this 
"Colony,  have  resolved  that  blank  Warrants  for  the 
"Oliicei"s  of  the  same  shall  be  sent  to  your  Coni- 
"  niittee. 

"  You  will  observe  by  the  enclosed  Resolves  that 
"you  are  restrained  in  the  appointments  to  give  the 
"  i)reference  to  sueh  persons  as  liave  served  their  Coun- 
"  try  in  the  last  Campaign  ;  but  it  is  not,  by  any 
"  means,  the  design  of  Congress  that  men  who  have 
"misbehaved  themselves  should  be  any  further  eni- 
"  ployed. 

"It  is  expected  that  the  people  will  readily  enlist 
"in  these  Regiments,  as  they  are  raised  for  the  ex- 
'■  i)ress  i)urp()se  of  defending  this  ('olony  ;  and  unless 
"  we  raise  them  from  among  ourselves,  in  all  i)rol)a- 
"bility  they  will  be  sent  from  other  C<donies,  which 
"  will  be  to  our  everlasting  disgrace. 

"  We  have  great  confidence  in  your  zeal  for  the 
"common  cause,  and  trust  you  will  exert  yourselves 
"  that  these  levies  be  completed  with  all  possible  de- 
"  spateh. 

"  We  arc,  Sir,  your  very  hble.  servants, 
"  By  order, 
"  Nathaxihl  WooniiuLL,  Tres't." 
"  It  is  expected  that  each  man  furnishes  himself 
"  with  a  good  gun  and  bayonet,  tomahawk,  knapsack 
"or  haversack,  and  two  bills.    But  those  who  are  not 
"  able  to  furnish  thenisefves  with  these  arms  and  ac- 
"  coutrements  will  be  su])plied  at  the  public  expense, 
"  for  the  ])aynient  of  which  small  stop])ages  will  be 
"  made  out  of  their  monthly  ])ay,  till  the  whole  are 
"paid  for;  then  they  are  to  remain  the  property  of 
"  the  men.'" ' 

Notwithstanding  all  the  inducementis  which  the 
Provincial  Congress  and  its  various  office-seeking  re- 
cruiting agents  could  offer,  however,  the  staid  and 
conservative  farmers  of  Westehester-county  were 
slow  to  enlist  into  the  Continental  service — there  had 
been  much  diseonti'ntment  among  those  who  were  in 
the  service,  under  Colonel  llolme.s,  in  the  preceding 
year;^  and  on  the  return  of  tho.se  malcontents,  they 
had  uudoidtledly  told  the  story  of  their  respect- 
ive grievances  to  their  suri>rised  and  sympathetic 
neighbors;  besides  which  hindrance,  the  conserva- 
tism of  the  County  had  been  too  barbarously 
treated  by  those  who  were  in  rebellion,  to  j)ermit  it 
to  extend  to  that  "common  cause"  the  slightest 
favor,  while  the  wound.s.  which  it  had  thus  received 
were  yet  bleeiling.  It  was,  indeed,  true  that  War- 
rants had  been  .sent  with  the  Circular  Letter,  in  Feb- 
ruary; and  it  is  undoubtedly  true,  also,  that  the 
favored  ones,  throughout  the  County,  Warrants  in 
hand  and  OtHces  in  prospective,  had  employed  all 
their  powers  of  conciliation  and  pereuiision  to  ensure 


1  JuHmnl  of  Ihe  Pntincial  Cungrest,    "Die  Solia,  P.M.,  Feb.  18, 
"ITTli." 
'ViJo  p«ges27r),  277,  ante. 


I  a  successful  enlistment  of  the  quota  and  the  conse- 
quent reward  to  themselves  ;  but  Westchester-county 
would  not  be  conciliated  far  enough  to  send  her  well- 
to-do  sons  into  the  Army ;  and  the  Warrants  were  re- 
turned to  the  Congress  and  the  proffered  Offices 
were  not  secured  by  those  who  had  hankered  for 
them.  The  i)rospect  for  the  four  Battalions,  as  far  as 
Westchester-county  was  concerned  in  it,  was  not 
promising;  and  the  Committee  of  Safety  wa.s  already 
entertaining  the  proposal  to  call  back  the  Warrants 
which  had  been  sent  into  the  County,  more  than  two 
months  previously,  when  a  letter  was  received  by 
that  body,  from  nill)ert  Drake,  the  Chairnum  of  the 
Committee  of  the  County,  stating  that  one,  Ezekiel 
Hyatt,  or  Ilaiglit,  with  his  associates,  had  enlisted 
.seventy  men  in  Westchester-county,  for  a  Connecticut 
Regiment ;  but  w:us  inclined  to  take  them,  as  a  por- 
tion oftheqiu>ta  of  that  County,  into  a  New  York 
Regiment,  if  Commissions  could  be  assured  to  those 
who  were  dcsignati'd  as  their  Olliccrs.'* 

Subse(iuently,  it  was  seen  that  the  men  wdiom 
Ezekial  Hyatt,  or  Haight,  or  Hait — for  by  each  of 
these  several  names  that  "  patriotic  "  gentleman  Wiis 
kuovvu,  at  different  times — had  enlisted  into  his  Com- 
pany had  been  entrapped,  by  false  representations;  * 
and  the  revelations  of  unopened  records  of  that 
period,  more  recently  opened,  reveal  the  fact  that 
Commissions  had  already  been  issued,  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  to  Ezekiel  Hait,  Esquire,  as  Cap- 
tain,^ to  Caleb  Hobby,  Gentleman,  as  First  Lieuten- 
ant,'' to  Jose])h  De(troet,  Gentleman,  as  Second  Lieu- 
tenant," and  to  Lsaac  Poineair,  Gentleman,  as  En- 
sign,'* all  dated  on  the  eighth  ofA[)ril,  more  than  a 
fortnight  before  (iilbert  Drake  wrote  to  the  Commit- 
tee of  Safety,  asking  Commissions  for  the  same  Offi- 
cers from  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York  ;  and 
that  each  of  thosi.' Commissions  had  specifically  <le- 
scribed  the  Com])any  to  which  the  holder  of  the  Com- 
mission was  attached,  not  as  belonging  to  a  Connecti- 
cut Regiment,  but  as  "  the  Comijany  of  the  First 
"  Regiment  of  New  York  Forces."  But,  whatever 
schemes  may  have  been  laid  to  carry  the  Company 
into  the  Connecticut  Line  of  the  Continental  Army, 
and  notwithstanding  the  men  enlisted  into  the  Com- 
])any  had  been  fraudulently  entra])ped  into  a  service 
which  they  did  not  intend  to  enter,"  Captain  Hyatt 

s  (lillvrl  Ihake  In  "  Mv.  Moriu  .Sc<.«,"  "  April  the  24tli,  177t> ;  "  Journal 
iif  thi-  CuiiimilUe  nf  Hiift  lji,  "  Die  Jiivis,  111  lio.,  A.M.,  April  2.1,  177(;.-' 

*.l  List  ttf  Die  Offiirrx  mimes  in  Xrir  IV.ri-  'IVoops,  eU. :  Col.  .W</>i>ii<;ii/'» 
Iteijinmil.  (5). — Ilislitrinil  Maiinsi  i  iiih,  etc.  :  MilUiirii  Commillee,  xxv., 
4.S8. 

6  llislnrii-iil  MiiuHitcripfti^  etc. :  Milituri/  /^'/Hr«s,  xxvii.,  88. 
<•  llii^oririil  .V<ii(ii.«<riji/»,  etc.;  Mililnnj  IMnrns,  .\xvii.,  !•(">. 
"  Ili^tnrirtd  ViftiiiM-riplXj  elo. :  Militnnj  fMnnis^  xvvii.,  112. 
» //i.i/..ri.-.i/  .lf.(;ii(»  n;i/.v,  etc.  :  Mililuni  /i'./m-iw,  xxvii.,  KM. 
'  Tliere  iiie  gixHl  reiiwiMs  for  lielieviiiR  that  that  ( 'omiiaiiy,  Hlie  (he 
similar  CuiHimiy  cuiniiiaiKleil  li\  Cornelius  Steeiiroil,  <if  wliirh  iiietitioii 
will  lie  iiiaile,  hereafter,  haJ  Immmi  really  enlisted  for  Colonel  Samuel 
Drake's  Regiment  of  Minnte-nien,  then  at  Iloerii'a  H.Mik,  iis  alreaily 
stateil ;  anil  that  a  .system  of  scheme.s  hail  followeil,  lirsi  with  Alexauilur 
McDuugat,  of  the  first  New-York  Keginient  ;  then  with  some  Cunnectic 


332 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  his  command  were  accepted  by  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  as  one  of  the  two  Companies  required  from 
Westchester-county ; '  and  it  subsequently  constituted 
the  Fifth  Company  of  the  First  Regiment  of  the  New 
York  Line,  commanded  by  Colonel  Alexander  Mc- 
Dougal.^  It  was  said  of  the  Company,  afterwards, 
that  the  Captain  "  has  deceived  the  Convention  " 
{the  rrovincinl  Congress  f]  "  in  Enlisting  the  men 
"  for  G  &  12  months  instead  of  doing  it  for  the 
"  war  ;  "  '  that  the  men,  who  had,  also,  been  deceived 
by  their  Captiiin,  deserted  in  large  numbers  ;  *  that  the 
Regiment  was  greatly  reduced  by  the  desertions,  of 
which  those  from  this  Company  were  part ;  ^  and  the 
Company  was  thereby  disgraced,  through  all  time. 
Of  Captain  Hyatt,  it  was  stated  that  he  was  "unfit" 
to  be  retained  in  the  service,*  as  "  he  wants  authority 
"to  make  a  good  Officer:"'  of  the  three  Subalterns, 
the  same  record  stated,  "  These  three  wish  to  de- 
"  cline  the  service ;  they  will  be  no  loss  to  it."  * 

Two  days  after  Ezekiel  Hyatt,  through  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Westchester-county,  had 
secured  a  place  for  himself  and  his  command,  in  the 
New  York  Line  of  the  Continental  Army,  {April  27, 
1776,]  Cornelius  Steenrod  api)eared,  personally,  before 
the  Committee  of  Safety,  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  informed  that  Committee  "  that  he  can  enlist  a 
"complete  Company  of  men  for  the  Continental  ser- 
"  vice,  in  fourteen  days ;  "  and  the  Committee,  after 
due  consideration  of  the  proposal,  adopted  a  Resolu- 
tion giving  to  him  "full  assurance  that  he  and  his 
"Subalterns,  with  the  said  Company,  will  be  em- 
"  j)loyed  as  part  of  the  troops  raising  for  the  defence 
"of  this  Colony,"  provided  a  full  and  comjjlete  Com- 
pany of  able  bodied  men  should  be  cnli.sted  and  m.ade 
ready  to  join  a  Regiment,  within  the  designated 
period  of  fourteen  days." 

That  Cornelius  Steenrod  was  a  Miller,  on  the  Cort- 
landt's  Manor ;  evidently  a  man  of  some  property  ; 

parties ;  and  finally  with  tlie  Ooiimiitteo  of  Westclipster-ioiinty — each 
scheme  having  lieen  an  imimivenient  on  tliose  whicii  liail  pieceJod  it — 
for  tilt*  (1i8iK)siti(»n  oftlie  Company,  ju«t  as  Kcheme,s  were  formed  for  tlie 
promotion  of  pcTsmial  inlei  ests  of  Othcers,  and  jnst  as  Kniisted  Men  were 
trueked  and  hartered  into  Uef;iments  which  were  foreign  to  them,  for 
tlie  promotion  of  those  scliemeH,  in  another  service,  within  the  nicmorj' 
of  living  men. 

1  Jimnud  I'/ 1  he  Oniiiiiillce  o/  Siifiii/,  "  Die  .lovls,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  April  2.'), 
"  t77(i." 

^  Lilt  of  OJiiirs'  iinmex  of  NfW  Yuri:  Troojin,  vLi.  :  C'oliniel  Mi'Iii'iii/nI'x 
Reijititfiil^ — lli'iti>rU-(ii  Ma«?(.swyj/x,  etc. :   Militiiri/  do-nnniltee,  xxv.,  488. 
3  Ibid. 

*  anm-al  A!<:mntliT  I,:  Uuhn-I  Ynlrs,  "  Y"N units,  21  October, 
"177G." 

5  Ibid. 

^  (leufral  MvDontjaV t  lirroutitmi'Inti/ni  of  LU'uU'iuiut-Otilonel  Vtm  (^n'tlaudt 
— UUUtrk-al  Ma)imn'ipt\  etc.  ;  M'dUtmj  Ctmuitittrf^  xxv.,  845. 

*  Litt  of  (tttift'-rs^  wnttcs  of  Nar  York  Troojift,  viz.  :  Orlouel  MrDntojuVs 
UfLiimHid. —  llishtrirnl  Miiititscrijilfi^  etc.  :  MiUlarij  t 'inntiiillrr^  xxv.,  188. 

«Ibid. 

^  Jimrnnl  of  thi-  Coiimiilln  of  Siifrli/,  "DieSabbati,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  April 
"  27,  1776." 

l*>  Cornelius  Steenrod  was  the  owner  of  three  fulling-mills,  if  not  ot  some 
others;  and  he  aildrcssed  "the  Convention,"  without  dale,  reqiiCHting 
protection  for  hia  millei'S. — Conn-liHs  Stt-rnrod  it>  the  Onivrnfinn,"  with- 
out place  or  date — Juuruuh  of  the  I*rufinciul  Coiiyrcas,  ii.,  147. 


and  an  intimate  friend  and  confidante  of  Stephen  De 
Lancey,  a  son  of  the  late  distinguished  Chief-justice 
De  Lancey,  who  was  also  one  of  the  Proprietors  and  a 
resident  of  that  Manor,"  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
He  was  j^eculiarly  anxious  to  obtain  an  office,  no  mat- 
ter what,  nor  on  what  terms ;  he  was  particularly 
zealous  in  his  desire  that  he  might  administer  test- 
oaths  to  his  neighbors;''  and  it  is  more  than  pi-obable 
that  he  was,  in  fact,  a  "  friend  of  the  Government," 
in  disguise,  notwithstanding  all  his  official  dis- 
claimers.'* He  had  been  in  command  of  one  of  the 
skeleton  Companies  of  Minute-men  of  which  the 
skeleton  Regiment  of  Colonel  Samuel  Drake  had 
been  nominally  composed'^ — it  is  more  than  probable 
that  one  of  those  two  blank  Commissions,  for 
Captains  of  Companies,  which  had  been  issued  in 
advance  of  the  formation  of  those  Companies,'"  was 
held  by  him  ;  and  it  is  far  from  impossible  that  the 
men  whom  he  and  his  Subalterns  had  evidently  on 
hand,  when  he  applied  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  for 
admittance  into  the  service  of  the  Continent,  in  a 
different  Regiment,  had  been  really  enlisted  for  the 
re-inforcement  of  the  former  Regiment,  then  at 
Hoern's  Hook. 

He  evidently  completed  his  Company,  in  season  to 
take  a  place,  as  the  second  Company  of  the  appor- 
tionment to  Westchester-county,  in  the  First  Regi- 
ment of  the  New  York  Line,  in  the  Continental 
Army  of  1776,  commanded  by  Colonel  Alexander 
McDougal,  of  which  it  was  the  Sixth  Company, 
Isaac  Titus  having  been  his  First  Lieutenant,  Isaac 
Ruyckman,  Junior,  his  Second  Lieutenant,  and  Ben- 
jamin Jones  his  Ensign.''  But,  like  Captain  Hyatt, 
Captain  Steenrod  had  deceived  his  men  and  the 
Congress,  in  his  enlistment  of  his  command  for  six 
and  twelve  months  instead  of  for  the  entire  period  of 


11  Conielius  Steenrod  to  the  Commiltee  of  Snfeti/,  "  January  31,  1777  ; "  the 
Onuminxionern of  ^iefjnestratum  tn  the  C^tmiell  of  Hitfelij,  Peeks  Kill,  Jnly 
"24,  1717;"  titepheii  De  Umceij  to  (in-iiel!iis  Steenrod,  "May  3,  1777  ;" 
Tediiiiony  of  Oornetiux  Steenrod  before  the  f\oilinUtee  of  Westx-hester-roimtl^, 
.Iline  13,  1777  ;  VonieUus  Steenrod  tn  tlie  Convention  of  the  Stole,  "  West- 
"CHESTKU  Coi'NTV,  CoiiTi.ANnT  M.\.s'nit,  June  2s,  1777,"  and  the  several 
enclosures  therein  ;  etc. 

12 He  was  anxious,  by  turns,  to  command  a  Troop  of  Hoi-se,  to  com- 
mand a  Com|iany  of  Minute-men,  and  to  raise  and  coiniiiand  a  ( 'ompany 
in  the  Continentiil  Line;  and,  in  neither  of  tliese, does  lie  appear  to  have 
paid  much  respect  to  the  proprieties  of  tlie  iimha  taking. 

13  Cornelim  Steenrod  to  "  the  C<mrailUm,"  without  place  or  date— 
Jourtuds  of  the  I*ri>ri.nrud  t'oittjress,  ii.,  147. 

i^In  June,  177f»,  Isaac  Youngs  testified  before  the  Committee  on  Con- 
spiracies, of  the  Provincial  ('ongre.ss,  that  Tlioiii.TS  Vernon,  that  prisoner 
who  made  so  much  trouble,  bad  informeil  him  that  one  of  the  Captains 
in  McDougal's  Regiment  of  Continentals,  wius  a  loyalist,  in  correspond- 
ence with  Governor  Tryoii,  and  acting  under  the  oidei>i  of  the  (Joveruor. 
(Hhtm-U-al  Manuseriptx,  Hie..  :  Miaell.ineoutt  Vuperx,  xxxiv.,  4iM  ) 

Cornelius  Steenrod  had  only  recently  joined  that  Itegiment,  at  the 
head  of  a  Couipany,  »  hen  that  statement  was  made. 

IS  llemrtd  Lord  Stirlinifs  Generid  Orders,  "  New  York,  March  10, 
"177i;." 

i",7.)«nm!  of  the  ProvinqUd  Cvnijrexs,  "Die  Merciirii,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  Oc- 
"  tober  25,  1776." 

^' List  of  OJleers' mmies  of  New  Yorl  Troo/is,  viz.:  Colonel  MelknujoVs 
Itegirnent — Uisloricul  Manuscripts,  etc.:  MiliUtry  Committee,  xxv.,  488. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


333 


the  War;'  his  command  reciprocating,  like  that  of 
Captain  Hyatt,  by  deserting,  in  great  numbers,  and, 
thereby,  seriously  crippling  tin-  Regiment;'  and,  also 
like  Captain  Hyatt,  personally,  he  was  reported  as 
"unfit"  for  his  command.'  The  similarity  of  that 
Company  and  its  Officers  and  that  commanded  by 
Captain  Hyatt  and  its  Officers  is  singularly  continued 
in  the  fact  tiiat  the  Second  Lieutenant  who  was  with 
Captain  Steenrod  when  the  Company  was  mustered 
into  the  Continental  Service,  was  subsequently 
cashiered,^  assuredly  lor  conduct  which  was  more 
than  ordinarily  bad ;  and  in  the  Report,  concerning 
First  Lieutenant  Titus  and  Ensign  Jones,  that 
"  These  two  are  unfit  for  the  service."'' 

Cai)tain  And)rose  Horton,  who  commanded  one  of 
the  Companies  from  Westchester-county,  in  the  Cam- 
paign of  1775,  appears  to  have  returned  to  the  service, 
probably  from  another  County,  in  1776;*  but  noth- 
ing more  than  a  mere  mention  of  his  name  was  made, 
without  the  sligluest  additional  information.  Neither 
Captain  Daniel  Mills  nor  Captain  Jonathan  Piatt, 
each  of  wliom  had  commanded  a  Company  from 
Westchester-county,  in  the  Campaign  of  1775,  ap- 
pears to  have  returned  to  the  service,  in  1776. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  the  respective  records  of  the 
fraudulent  practices  of  Ezekiel  Hyatt  and  Cornelius 
Steenrod  and  their  respective  associates,  in  their  en- 
listment of  men  for  their  respective  commands;  from 
the  records  of  the  questionable  manner  in  which 
their  respective  Companies  were  carried,  without 
their  consent,  into  a  line  of  the  Continental  Service 
for  which  they  were  not  enlisted ;  from  the  records  of 
the  personal  unfitness  for  their  respective  offices  of 
the  several  Officers  of  both  these  Companies ;  and 
from  those  of  the  consequent  disaffection  and  deser- 
tions of  the  enlisted  men,  that  Westchester-county's 
quota,  in  the  Continental  levy  of  1776,  was  of  question- 
able usefulness  to  the  country  or  the  cause  in  which 
it  was  nominally  engaged.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  Non-commis- 
sioned Officers  and  Privates  of  which  those  Companies 
were  respectively  composed — and  it  is  due  to  the  mem- 
ory of  those  unknown  men  that  it  should  be  said  of 
them  that  no  record  of  bad  conduct,  on  their  parts,  has 

'  Ibiil. 

-iliiiintl  .\h  riiiiihr  Mrlhm.j.il  lo  Hubert  Yiilen,  "YnSKKRS,  21  OrtiiluT, 

"n-i;." 

Ot^tifml  Mi-lhmijuVn  ItecnnnuemUttion  of  Lu'iiteiiitHl-rolmiel  CtirlhtmU. — 
Hi-^tftrir,il  Mnititucrijits^  vtc. :  Miiiltinj  f'nmmittee^  xxv.,  845.  i 

*(itliliiiii  Stfiniiid  III  lite  Prnriiiiiiil  ri/ii;/rejw,  "t'AMi'  at  New  Viirk,  j 
"2()  .IiiiHs  177(;."  I 

<)/  OJirm'  AVmiM  of  AVir-JV>ri-  Trimiis,  vi:.,  (iiUmel  MrlknujiiV a 
Ufijiiiieitt. — IlistnrU-al  Miitiuittrijitti^  t'tf.  :  MiUhtnj  ('ininnittfi\  xxv.,  48.S. 

"  Ucri  iiitinK  Wiirriints  wern  issiiul  ti>  liiiii,  on  tlic  tenth  of  Marcli, 
nVCi,  und  to'l'liiiniiw  I.i'  Foy.  on  tlic  (wi-nty  eiglilli  cif  tin-  siinii' iiiuntli,  fur 
tlio  Nintli  (Iiimiuuiy  i>f  the  Vint  Ucj^imi-nt  of  tliu  Xi  w  York  Line  of  tlii! 
Continental  Army  of  1770  ;  bnl  tlx' r.ionl  wiys,  also,  "Captain  Ilortun 
"anil  Olliri'in'  loniniissions  not  miuiv  onl,"  {llr'  iiiiliiiij  H  drnui/x  ikxiuiI 
bl/lhe  (iiul'cnliim  liitllf  Finl  Arm  Yink  I '<>nliii,-nl'ilg—llMi>riiiil  Mniillscriiils, 
etc.;  MUiOiri)  (V.iimii«.v,  xxv.,  li;.'),  (;7i; ;)  and  it  is  |iri.lialile  that  they 
were  amont;  those  whose  liluDilislinii'ntK  were  uneuccessful  in  obtaiuiDg 
recruitii,  ua  has  been  stated  in  the  text,  (j^iij/t  3'il,  loifo.)  ] 


come  down  among  the  debrit  of  that  period,  since  it 
cannot  be  regarded  as  a  crime  that  some  of  them,  un- 
bidden, in  that  era  of  disregard  of  law,  helped  them- 
selves to  the  freedom,  belonging  to  themselves,  of 
which  their  Officers  had  fraudulently  deprived  them 
— it  cannot  be  consistently  pretended,  by  any  one,  that 
the  Officers  of  those  Companies  were  reasonably  rep- 
resentative men  of  the  great  body  of  the  farmers  of 
Colonial  ^V'estehester-county,  of  that  or  of  any  other 
l)eriod :  whether  or  not  they  may  be  regarded  as 
representative  men  of  that  other  and  smaller  class  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  County,  in  1775-76,  of  those 
whose  "patriotism"  was  only  ill-concealed  selfish- 
ness, of  those  whose  devotion  to  "  the  common  cause" 
was  graduated  with  nothing  else  than  with  the  jjrom- 
ised  profits  of  the  investment,  of  those  whose  zeal 
was  tempered  with  nothing  as  effective  as  with  an 
Office  of  some  sort,  the  reader  can  determine  for  him- 
self, from  the  evidence  which  has  been  already  ad- 
duced, illustrative  of  the  character  and  conduct  of 
the  revolutionary  faction,  within  that  County,  during 
that  later  Colonial  Period. 

Among  the  multitude  of  requirements,  made  by 
General  Lee,  either  on  his  own  motion  or  at  the 
prompting  of  those  who  pandered  to  his  baser  incli- 
nations, and  which  were  obsequiously  obeyed  by  the 
Provincial  Congress,  was  one,  made  early  in  March, 
1776,  for  "a  Magazine  of  Provisions  and  Military 
•'  Stores,  to  be  established  in  Westchester-county," 
the  requisition  being  supplemented  with  a  recommen- 
dation that  "  the  Deputies  of  Westchester-county 
"  purchase  and  deposit,  in  diff'erent  stores  in  that 
"  County,  twelve  hundred  barrels  of  good  salted  Pork, 
"wherever  it  is  to  be  bought;  and  that  the  said 
"  salted  Pork  be  repacked  and  pickled  by  a  sworn 
"  Packer  of  New  York ;  and  that  the  Deputies  of 
"Albany-county  purchase  eighteen  hundreil  and  fifty 
"  bushels  of  good  Peas,  and  send  them  to  the  Depu- 
"  ties  of  Westchester-county,  to  be  by  them  stored  in 
"  the  same  manner."  ' 

The  proi)osed  test  of  the  quality  of  the  Pork  to  be 
purchased  was,  however,  not  satisfactory  to  those 
who  were  manii)ulatiiig  the  Congress,  in  the  interest 
of  the  job;  and,  on  the  ninth  of  March,  when  that 
body  resumed  the  e(msideratioii  of  the  proposition,  it 
was  led  to  suppose  tiiat  the  Resolution  which  had 
been  adopted,  approving  the  same,  was  "  im])erfeet, 
"inadequate  to  the  end,  and  that  the  method  thereby 
"  projjosed  will  create  unnecessary  expense."  It  also 
.•i])pointed  a  Committee  of  three  Deputies,  two  of 
whom  were  .John  Thomas,  Junior,  and  Colonel  Joseph 
Drake,  both  of  them  Deputies  from  Westchester- 
county,  "to  reconsider  the  method  of  establishing  a 
"  Magazine  of  Provisions,  and  to  report  thereon."* 


'Jimriininf  Ihf  Pr«riii,-M  Cniijrivs,  "Pie  Lnna-,  :i  ho.,  P.JI.,  Man  h 
'■4,  1770." 

^  Jimruiil  nf  Ihi-  /Wi'iifidJ  Cmii/rfs*,  "  Die  Salihuti,  10  hn.,  A  JI  ,  March 
"9,  177U." 


334 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  whole  subject  h;id  evidently  been  considered, 
informally,  before  it  was  laid  before  the  Congress — in 
the  expressive  phrase  of  practical  men,  it  had  been 
"  cut  and  dried  " — and  the  Committee  "  speedily  re- 
" turned  and  reported"  a  substitute  for  the  original 
Resolution,  which  was  more  "  perfect,"  more  "  ade- 
"  quate  totheend,"  and  less  expensive,  although  it  was, 
also,  less  favorable  to  the  Congress — it  did  no  more 
than  to  omit  the  provision  for  the  employment  of  a 
Packer  from  New  York,  by  whom,  also,  the  quality  of 
the  Pork  could  have  been  accurately  ascertained, 
leaving  every  other  portion  of  the  original  Resolu- 
tion, in  the  form  in  which  it  had  been  adopted,  five 
days  previously.  The  evidently  i)re-arranged  Report 
and  Resolution  were  promptly  approved,  without  a 
dissenting  voice  ; '  and  the  scheme  was,  so  far,  a  com- 
plete success. 

There  does  not  ajipear  to  have  been  a  doubt  con- 
cerning the  entire  safety  of  such  a  Magazine,  nor  of 
such  a  series  of  Magazines,  notwitiistaiiding  the 
known  hostility  of  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Westchester-county,  within  which 
they  were  to  be  established,  against  all  which  per- 
tained to  the  Rebellion — an  liostility,  too,  which  had 
become  intensified  by  reason  of  the  repeated  and 
ruinous  outrages  to  which  the  Conservatives  among 
them,  and  lew  were  not  Conservatives,  had  been 
subjected;  and  if  anything  were  wanted  to  establish 
the  fact  of  the  (juiet,  law-observing,  and  upright 
personal  character  of  those  much  abused  and  nuicli 
persecuted  farmers  of  Colonial  Westchester-county, 
it  may  be  found  in  that  voluntary  tribnte  to  their 
integrity,  thus  unwittingly,  but  freely,  paid  by  their 
most  virulent  enemies.  A  Military  Magazine  estab- 
lished in  the  midst  of  a  community  who  was  hostile  to 
those  who  gathered  and  establislu'd  it,  without  ample 
provision  for  its  |)rotecti()n,  and  dej)ending,  largely, 
if  not  entirely,  for  its  safety,  on  the  forbearance  ol 
those  among  whom  it  was  placed,  was  an  anomaly 
in  Military  Science;  but  the  farmers  of  Westchester- 
county  were  not  inclined  to  retaliate;  and  those  who 
were  leaders  in  the  Rebellion  could,  therefrom,  have 
learned  something  which  would  have  been  useful  to 
themselves  and  to  their  "common  cause,"  had  not 
they  been  besotted  in  their  greed  for  ()fHce  and  its 
emoluments  and  for  the  authority  and  the  opportuni- 
ties for  personal  aggrandizement  which  office-bearing, 
in  a  revolutionary  era,  always  allbrds  to  those  who 
are  the  grc:ater  zealots. 

The  Deputies  from  Westchester-county  were  not 
slow  in  their  movements,  homeward,  as  soon  as  that 
Report  and  that  Resolution  had  been  adopted,  leav- 
ing the  Deputation  in  the  Congress  without  the 
re(juisite  (luorum,  in  their  eager  pursuit  of  the  advan- 
tages, to  themselves,  which  were  offered  in  their  pur- 
chases of  barrelled  Pork.    The  rea.son  for  the  embargo 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Vout/ress,  "Die  Sabbuti,  lUlio.,  A.M.,  March 
"y,  1776." 


which  had  closed  the  foreign  markets  against  the  pro- 
ducers and  which  had  monopolized  the  trade  in  favor 
of  the  local  buyers  and  at  their  own  prices,  was  then 
made  manifest  to  all  observers ;  and  the  favored  Depu- 
ties, who  were  the  ofiicial  buyers,  and  their  personal 
friends  were  provided  with  an  outlet,  at  fiivorable 
prices,  not  only  for  the  surphis  of  their  own  products, 
but  for  those  additional  stocks  which  the  rigidly 
enforced  embargo  and  their  more  accurate  knowledge 
of  what  the  future  was  to  develope,  had  placed 
within  their  control ;  and  that  without  any  limitations 
concerning  prices  to  be  paid,  and  without  any  danger, 
concerning  the  quality  of  the  article  to  be  sold,  from 
the  adverse  reports  of  a  sworn  Packer  and  Inspector, 
from  the  City  of  New  York. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  March,  a  letter  was  received 
from  General  Washington,  expressing  to  "  the  Com- 
"  manding  Officer  of  the  American  F'orces,  New 
"York,"''  the  suspicions  of  the  Commander-in-chief 
that  the  Royal  Army  which  was  then  enclosed  in  Bos- 
ton would  soon  be  transferred  to  New  York,  and  ap- 
pealing to  the  Provincial  Congress  for  its  best  efforts  "to 
"  prevent  their  forming  a  lodgment  before"  [Ac,  Gcn- 
ertil  WdfifiiiKjfon,]  "can  come  or  send  to  your  assist- 
"ance." 

The  intelligence  thus  communicated  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  for  General  Lord  Stirling  immediately 
submitted  the  letter  to  that  body,  led  to  another 
revision  of  the  Resolution  authorizing  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Military  Magazine  in  Westchester-county, 
already  referred  to,  wiiich  resulted  in  the  ado|)tion  of 
the  following  Resolution,  nut  necessarily  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  other,  nor  probably  regarded  as  such  a 
substitute,  in  j)ractise : 

"  Ordkred,  That  Colonel  Gilbert  Drake  repair 
"  immediately  to  Westchester-county  and  purchase 
"twelve  hundred  barrels  of  the  best  Pork,  and 
"  have  the  same  safely  stored,  agreeable  to  the 
"  Resolves  of  this  Congress,  of  the  ninth  day  of 
"March  instant;  that  betake  with  him,  from  New- 
"  York,  a  sworn  Inspector  and  Repacker  of  Pork,  to 
"  inspect  and  re-pack  the  same ;  and  that  he  i)urchase 
"  and  store,  at  the  cheapest  rate  in  his  power,  Flour 
"  sufiicient  for  the  use  of  five  thousand  nu^ii  for  a 
"  month." 

Notwithstanding  the  adroitness  of  Colonel  Gilbert 
Drake,  in  concentrating  within  his  own  ])erson  the  sole 
authority  to  purchase  all  the  Pork  and  all  the  Flour 
which  were  considered  necessary,  when  the  last- 
named  Resolution  wa.s  ado])teil  by  the  Provincial 
Congress,  his  associates  in  the  De|)Utation  from 
Westchester-county  were  already  in  the  field,  bar- 
gaining for  barrelled  Pork,  under  the  provisions  of 
the   former  Resolution ;   entering  into  comi)etition 


^Slfjihen  Muglun,  A.D.C.,  lo  the  Commanding  OJic<r  of  the  Amerieim 
Forces  in  New  York,  "  Cambriiige,  9tli  Marcli,  1770." 

'ijuiirmil  of  the  Provincial  Comjress,  **  Die  Mercurii,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  March 
"  13,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


335 


with  him,  iiinong  the  sellers  of  Pork,  who  were  not 
slow  to  take  iulviiiitage  of  that  circuiiistaiice,  in  ad- 
vancing the  prices  of  the  goods;  and,  to  a  corre- 
sponding extent,  intercejiting,  atlvantageously  to 
themselves,  the  profits  uC  thosi;  i)articular  transactions 
which,  bnt  for  their  interference,  wonld  have  fallen 
into  his  baski'l. 

The  Provincial  Congress  liad  adjourned,  leaving 
its  Committee  of  Safety  to  discharge  its  ordinary 
duties;'  and  William  Paulding  was  the  only  Deputy 
frotn  Westchester-county  who  remained  in  the  City 
of  New  York.  Hut,  on  the  afternoon  ol' the  first  day 
of  the  existence  of  tliat  Committee,  [JZ-f/r/t  IS,  1770,] 
Mr.  Paulding,  whose  hand  was  evidently  clean  while 
those  of  all  his  fellow  Deputies  were  seriously 
smirched,  "  informed  the  Committee  tliat  several  of  the 

members  from  Westchester-county,  conceiving  that 
'■  they  were  directed  to  purchase  Pork  for  a  Magazine, 
"were  purchasing  (juantities  for  that  |)urp<jse ;  that 
"  Colonel  Gilbert  Drake,  by  a  late  Order  of  the 
"  Congress,  was  also  purchasing  the  whole  quantity 
"directed  to  be  stored  in  that  County,  whereby  there 
"  is  danger  that  the  said  article  of  Provisions  may 
"  be  purchased  at  an  exorl)itant  price."  ' 

Alter  due  consideration  of  the  subject,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  determiiied  to  limit  the  prie(^  to  be 
paid  for>  the  Pork,  leaving  the  rival  buyers  undis- 
turbed, which  was  undoubtedly  done  for  political 
reasons — it  would  not  have  been  prudent  to  have  ar- 
rested the  Deputation  of  a  County,  while  it  was  so 
eagerly  engaged  in  a  still-hunt  for  some  of  the  i)ick- 
ings  which  had  been  placed  within  its  reach,  by  the 
revolutionary  leaders.  The  enactment  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  was  in  these  words: 

"  Whereas  diU'erent  :<J)pointments  have  been  made 
"  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  for  the  purchase  of 
"  barreled  Pork,  in  Westchester-county ;  it  is  therc- 
"  fore 

"Ordered,  That  no  person  employed  in  that  ser- 
"  vice  pay  more  for  that  article  of  Provision  than  four 
"  pounds  per  barrel,  subject  to  the  expense  of  the 
"sellers  for  cartage  to  the  place  of  delivery  in  the 
"County."'' 

On  the  first  of  April,  177G — ample  time  having 
elapsed,  since  the  two  Orders  were  made,  to  enable 
all  which  could  be  done  in  the  way  of  purchases  and 
sales  of  Pork  and  Flour,  to  have  been  done,  satisfac- 
torily to  those  who  were  originally  in  the  secret — the 
Committee  of  Safety  discovered  what  it  regarded  as  a 
fact,  that  such  a  Military  Magazine  as  General  Lee  had 
called  for  and  which  the  Provincial  Congress  had  de- 
liberately established,  would  "  not  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary ;  "  and  it  accordingly  "  Ordered,  That  Colonel 


'  Joiininl  "/  the  PnwiiicUil  Coiujr:  st,  "  Die  Sabbati, !)  bo.,  .\.M.,  March 
"16,  1776." 

-Ji'iinial  nf  the  Ommitlee  of  Sa/etij,  "  Die  Luna",  4  lio.,  P.M.,  March 
"  18,  1776." 
an.iil. 


"  Gilbert  Drake  and  the  other  members  of  West- 
"  chester-County  do  not  purchase  any  more  I'ro- 
"  visions,  until  farther  order ;  and  that  they  return 

j  "  with  all  convenient  speed  to  this  Committee,  an  ao 
"countofall  the  I'rovisions  Ihey  have  purchased,  anil 
"  in  what  stores  they  are  placed."  ' 

It  reipiired  eight  tlays  fur  the  Committee's  letter 
and  Order  to  reach  the  busy  Deputies  and  to  arnst 
their  eager  searches  for  Pork  ami  Flour;  bnt  on  the 
eighth  day,  [April  \),  177(1, J  ( -olonel  Draki-  rei)orted 
that  he,  and  .John  Thomas,  Junior,  and  Major  J.iO(  k- 
wood,  three  of  the  migratory  Deputies,  had  bought 
about  one  thousand  barrels  of  the  former  and  six 
hundred  barrels  of  the  latti'r  ;  '  from  which  one  may 
learn  soniethingoftlie  produetiveiiessof  Colonial  West- 

j  chester-county,  in  1775,  notwithstanding  the  disturb- 
ances, already  referred  to,  to  which  its  inhabitants  had 
been  so  freijuently  and  so  seriously  subji'cted — the 

j  usual  Autumn  and  Winter  sales  of  these  two  staple 
articles  had  been  undoubteiUy  made ;  e.vtraordinary 
sales  had  been  nuide  for  the  Northern  .\riiiy  and  lor 
distant  i)laces,  many  of  them  having  been  made  mat- 
ters of  ofiicial  record;  the  home-eonsuni))! ion  had 
bi'en  sup])lie<l,  freely,  during  the  Autumn,  the  Winter, 
and  the  early  S|)ring  ;  and  the  necessary  sn|)plies, 
also  for  the  lunne  consumiition,  until  the  following 

'  .\utumn,  Inul  been  undoubtedly  reserved  ;  l)nt  the 
supply  was  not  exhausted  ;  and  a  thousand  barrels  of 

:  salted  Pork  and  six  hundretl  barrels  of  Flour  had  been 
found  and  purchased,  on  the  account  of  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  within  the  limited  period  of  three 
weeks,  and  within  the  limits  of  that  single  County. 
The  Westchester-county  farmers  of  our  own  period, 
with  their  greater  numbei's  and  greater  area  of  till- 
able ground,  with  their  modern  appliances  of  artificial 
manures  and  improved  imi)lements — none  of  them,  at 
that  time,  even  hoped  for — and  with  all  the  improved 

•  facilities  of  transit  and  of  transportation  which  they 

i  now  possess,  may  reasonably  hang  their  heads,  in 
humiliation,  on  a  comparison  of  the  results  of  their 
labors  with  the  results  of  the  labors  of  those  industri- 
ous, prudent,  ami  thrifty  men  who  jireceded  them, 
with  smaller  numbers  and  none  of  the  advantages 
which  are  now  accessible  to  every  one. 

Reference  has  been  nuide  to  the  action  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  encouraging  the  establishment  of 
Powder-mills,  and  offering  loans  for  that  purpose, 
without  interest,  to  proper  persons,  in  specified 
Counties,  of  which  Westchester  was  one.  Although 
no  mention  was  subseipiently  nnide  of  the  establisli- 

j  ment  of  such  a  Mill  within  the  limits  of  Westchester- 

!  county,  the  fact  that  such  an  otler  was  nuide  affords 
another  testimony  to  what  has  been  already  adduced 
concerning  the  i)eaceful  disposition  of  the  farmers, 
throughout  that  County,  even  in  the  face  of  the  greatest 

*  Joiinml  of  llie  CommiUee  of  Sufetij,  "  Die  Lunse,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  April  1, 
•'1776." 

^Juiinial  of  the  CommiUee  of  Safelij,  "  Die  Uercurii,  4  lio.,  P.M.,  \\<n\ 
"  17,  1776." 


336 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


aggravations,  since  the  want  of  the  Anns  of  which 
they  had  been  robbed  would  not  have  been  a  hindrance 
to  any  one  who  had  desired  to  destroy  a  Powder-mill; 
and  it  shows,  also,  how  unwise  that  revolutionary 
policy  had  been,  which  had  tended  not  only  to  impair 
the  industrial  usefulness  of  such  a  community,  at  a 
time  when  the  results  of  its  agricultural  and  other  in- 
dustrial labors  were  most  needed,  but  to  make  that 
element,  in  the  Colony,  permanently  antagonistic, 
which,  under  a  peaceful  and  conciliatory  policy,  might 
have  been  made  jiassive  and  useful,  if  not  friendly 
and  co-operative. 

After  the  autocratic  General  Lee  was  ordered  to  the 
South,  in  March,  1776,  the  military  command  of  the 
Continental  forces  in  the  City  of  New  York  was  vested 
in  Cieneral  Lord  Stirling  ;  and,  on  the  thirteenth  ol' 
that  month,  that  comnuinding  Geneial  requested  the 
Provincial  Congress  to  appoint  a  Committee,  to  con- 
fer with  him  on  various  subjects  connected  with  the 
defense  of  the  City  and  Colony.' 

On  the  following  day,  [J/a/'c/i  14, 1776,]  for  the  pur- 
pose of  putting  the  City  into  a  proper  condition  to 
sustain  an  attack,  "  all  the  male  inhabitants,  capable 
"of  fatigue,"  were  ordered  to  "be  immediately  em- 
"  ployed  on  the  fortifications  of  the  City,  and  as  well 
"  all  the  negro  men  in  the  City  and  County  of  New 
"  York  "  were  similarly  ordered ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  the  inhabitants  of  Kings-county  were  ordered 
to  be  similarly  employed  on  the  defences  of  that 
County ;  while  levies  were  made  on  the  southern  part 
of  Orange,  or  what  now  constitutes  Rockland,  County, 
and  on  the  County  of  Westchester,  for  detachments 
from  the  Militia  of  those  Counties,  respectively,  forthe 
support  and  assistance  of  the  working  parties  in  the 
City  of  New  York.^ 

That  i)ortion  of  the  Begii/ations,  thus  agreed  to 
between  General  Lord  Stirling  and  the  Committee  of 
the  Provincial  Congress,  which  related  particularly 
to  Westchester-county,  is  in  the  following  words: 

"  Ithli/.  Resolved  and  Ordered,  That  Colonel 
"  Joseph  Drake  and  Colonel  Thomas  Thomas,  ol 
"  Westchester-county,  do  draft  out  of  their  Regiments 
"  two  hundred  men,  in  the  following  proportions,  to 
"  wit ;  Two  Companies  of  sixty-five  Privates  each, 
"  besides  the  Captains  and  other  inferior  Ofiicers,  out 
"  of  Colonel  Joseph  Drake's  Regiment,  and  one  Com- 
"  pany  of  sixty-five  Privates,  with  the  Captain  and 
"  other  in  ferior  Otficers,  of  Colonel  Thomas's  Regiment, 
"  and  as  many  more  men  out  of  those  two  Regiments 
"  as  will  turn  out,  Volunteers  for  that  service,  to  be  im- 
"  mediately  sent  to  the  City  of  New  York,  armed  and 
"accoutred  in  the  best  manner  possible,  and  to  be 
"  joined  to  Colonel  Samuel  Drake's  Regiment,  and  to 


^  Joiirmil  of  the  Pnmm-ial  C'lmjn'sx,  "Die  Meronrii,  10  ho.,  A.M., 
'  MHrch  13,  177C." 

-  Jiiiinuil  of  the  Pruvinckd  CoiKjress,  "  Die  Jovis,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  March  14, 
'1776." 


"  receive  the  same  pay  and  provisions  as  the  other 
"  Continental  forces  in  this  Colony." 

As  what  was  called  the  Regiment  of  Westchester- 
county  Minute-men,  commanded  by  Colonel  Samuel 
Drake,''  was  then  at  Hoern's  Hook,  opposite  Hell-gate, 
it  will  be  seen  that  Westchester-county  was  largely 
de])ended  on  ;  but  no  record  has  been  found  which 
indicates  which  of  the  Companies  of  the  Militia  of 
that  County  were  thus  drafted  and  sent  to  throw  up 
the  defensive  works  within  the  City  of  New  York, 
nor  is  it  now  known  who,  if  any,  of  the  farmers  of 
that  County,  volunteered  their  services,  for  that  la- 
borious duty. 

As  hiis  been  already  stated,  early  attention  wiis 
paid  by  the  Provincial  Congress  to  the  subject  of  the 
election  of  Dei)uties  to  a  new  Congress  and  to  that 
of  its  own  dissolution.  To  that  end,  on  the  sixteenth 
of  December,  1775,  the  Congress  adoi)ted  the  follow- 
ing Resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Safety  be  and 
"hereby  are  fully  empowered  to  issue  orders  to  the 
"  respective  Counties  in  this  Colony,  to  elect  Deputies 
"  for  a  Provincial  Congress  of  this  Colony,  to  meet 
"  on  the  second  Tuestlay  in  May  next.  The  said 
"  Committee,  by  their  Order,  appointing  the  day  of 
"Election,  in  each  County,  to  be  at  h^ast  twe.nty-one 
"  days  before  the  said  second  Tuesday  in  May  next."* 

Notwithstanding  that  Ecmbifion,  there  appears  to 
have  been  some  other  "  jjlan  for  the  election  of  Depu- 
"ties  to  form  a  Provincial  Congress  to  meet  when  the 
"present  Provincial  Congress  will  expire."  It  is 
not  now  known  what  that  other  "  plan  "  embraced 
nor  by  whom  it  was  introduced  or  supported  ;  but  it 
was  evidently  intended  to  limit  the  right  of  voting 
for  Deputies  to  the  new  Congress,  to  those  who  had 
signed  the  Association,  and  to  have  the  vote  taken  by 
ballot.  It  appears,  also,  to  have  been  resolutely  and 
successfully  opposed,  at  least  as  far  as  the  limitation 
of  the  right  of  suffrage  was  included  in  its  provisions; 
and  its  evidently  radical  sui)porters,  after  their  defeat 
on  that  jjortion  of  the  "plan,"  abandoned  the  pro- 
ject for  an  election  by  ballot.''  The  entire  subject 
was  then  referred  to  a  Committee,  for  further  consid- 
eration ;  and,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  after 
the  said  "plan"  had  been  "read,  and  again  read, 
"  paragraj)!!  by  j>aragrai)h,  amended,  and  corrected," 
it  is  said  to  have  been  "  ajijjroved,"  subject,  however, 
to  a  i'urther  consideration,  on  the  following  morning.'* 


3  Vid(!  i)ages  328,  329,  ante. 

*Joiinml  of  the  Prorincinl  C'ihjicss,  "  Die  Salikiti,  10  lio.,  .\.M.,  Deer. 
"16,  1776." 

Journal  of  the  I'roviiniiil  Conji  ees,  "  Die  Luna',  ID  ho.,  A.M.,  Blarch 
"11,  177C." 

ojoiinml  of  Ihi'  I'mvhuliil  Ciimjrixs,  "Die  Luna-,  1  ho.,  I'.M.,  Marcli  11, 
"  1776.". 

Tile  oijscurity  of  the  Joitnnils  of  tlic  second  Provincial  Congress,  on 
the  subject  under  consideration,  is  relieved,  to  sonic  extent  by  the  Joiir- 
of  the  third  of  those  Congresses  in  an  occasional  reference  to  the 
subject. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


337 


Besides  that  almost  unintelligible  entry  in  the  Jour- 
nah  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  no  mention  appears  to 
have  been  made  on  the  subject,  if  any  thing  i'urther 
was  done  with  it.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  an 
Election  was  ordered  to  be  made  for  Deputies,  on  the 
third  Tuesday,  which  was  the  sixteenth  day,  of  April ; ' 
and  that  the  fourteenth  day  of  May  was  designated  for 
the  meeting  of  the  new  Provincial  Congress.'^ 

The  Provincial  Congress  itself  appears  to  have  been 
disbanded,  informally— its  Journal  makes  no  mention 
of  a  formal  adjournment — on  the  afternoon  of  Mon- 
day, the  thirteenth  of  May,  177(5 ; '  and,  thus  the 
second  Provincial  Congress  of  the  Colony  of  New 
York  and  its  doings,  for  evil  or  for  good,  became  sub- 
jects for  the  pens  of  those  who  should  thenceforth 
assume  the  grave  and  responsible  duties  of  historians. 

We  mentioned,  in  another  part  of  this  narrative,'* 
the  election  of  "  a  Committee  for  the  County  of  West- 
"  Chester,"  on  the  eighth  of  May,  1775,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  Gilbert  Drake  for  its  Chairman,  and 
Micah  Townsend  for  its  Clerk.  It  appears  that,  either 
by  pre-determined  limitation  or  otherwise,  the  term 
of  service  of  that  County  Committee  expired  in  May, 
1776;  and,  in  order  that  the  succession  of  that  body 
might  be  continued,  notice  to  that  effect  having  been 
given,  on  the  sixteenth  of  April,  1776,  "a  Number 
"of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  Westchester- 
"  county  appeared  at  the  Court  House,"  and  "  chose 
"  the  Persons  hereafter  named  to  serve  as  a  Committee 
"  for  the  said  County  from  the  2"^  Monday  in  May, 
"  1776.  to  the  2°''  Monday  in  May,  1777 — any  twenty 
"  whereof  to  be  a  Quorum,  vizt : 


"For  Morrissania. 
"Lewis  Morris,  Jun". 
—1. 

"For  Westchester. 
"  Thomas  Hunt, 
"Abraham  Leggett, 
"  Israel  Honeywell, 
"  John  Oakley, 
"Gilbert  Oakley, 
"  Daniel  White, 
"  John  Smith — 7. 

''  For  Yonkers. 
"  William  Hadley, 
"  William  Betts, 
"  Thomas  E.mmons, 
"  John  Crawford, 
"Fred.  V.  Cortlandt 
—5. 


For  Eastchester. 

Stephen  Sneden, 
Edward  Briggs, 
Daniel  Sebring — 3. 

For  New  Rochclle  and 
Pelhain. 

2-  g  Myers, 

1 1  GUION, 

"«l  Willis, 

iij  LIP  Well,  JuN'. — 4 

For  Mamaroneck. 
Gil  Budd  Horton — 1. 


1  The  elections  in  the  Counties  of  New  York,  Westcliestor,  Duchess, 
Kings,  Queens,  Tryon,  Ulster,  and  Orange  were  held  on  that  day  ;  while 
Albany-county  ajipears  to  have  elected  her  Deputies  on  the  25th  ;  Suf- 
folk, on  the  18th  ;  Richmond-county,  on  the  23rd  ;  and  Charlotte-county, 
on  the  1st  May. 

'Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
"14,  177G." 

^  JotinuU  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Luniv,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  May  13 
"  1776." 

Vide  pages  258,  259,  2G7,  ante. 
27 


"For  PhiUpsburg. 
"  Israel  Honeywell, 

JuN^ 
"  Abraham  Storm, 
"  Peter  Van  Tassell, 
"Glode  Requeau, 
"Abr""  Ledew, 
"James  Hammond, 
"  Joseph  Youngs, 
"Gershom  Sherwood, 
"James  Requeau, 
"  Thomas  Champenois, 
—10. 

"For  W.  Plains. 
"  Benjamin  Lyon, 
"  Joshua  Hatfield — 2. 

"For  Scars  dale. 
"  Samuel  Crawford— 1. 

"For  H.  Precinct. 
"  Thomas  Thomas, 
"  W".  Miller, 
"Isaiah  Maynard — 3. 

"  For  North  Castle. 
"  Michael  Hays, 
"  Peter  Lyon, 
"Jacob  Purdy, 
"  Andrew  Sniffin, 
"  Gilbert  Palmer, 
"Caleb  Merritt,  Jun'. 
"  Caleb  Carpenter — 7. 


For  Rye. 
Samuel  Townsend, 
Israel  Seaman, 
Fred.  Say, 
Samuel  Lyon, 
Gilbert  Lyon, 
John  Thomas,  Jun'^6. 

For  Bedford. 
Elijah  Hunter, 
John  WoolseV, 
Titus  Miller, 
Israel  Lyon — 4. 

For  Poundridge. 
Josh  Lock  Wood — 1 

For  Salem. 
Abijah  Gilbert — 1. 
For    Cortlandfs  Manor. 
Joseph  Travis, 
Daniel  BirdsAll, 
Samuel  Drake, 
Abraham  Purdy, 
Nathaniel  Hyatt, 
Joseph  Lee, 
Ebenezer  Purdy, 
Isaac  Norton, 
Halsey  Wood-^9. 

For  RijcJcs  Patent. 
Hercules  Lent,  1  — 
Total  66." ' 


Of  this  second  County  Committee,  John  Thomas, 
Junior,  of  Rye,  was  made  the  Chairman,  and  Edward 
Thomas  was  appointed  its  Clerk. 

The  day  after  the  dissolution  of  the  second  Pfovin^ 
cial  Congress,  \_May  14,  1776,]  was  the  day  which  had 
been  appointed  for  the  organization  of  the  third  of 
that  series  of  Congresses."  There  was,  however,  on 
that  day  and  on  the  four  succeeding  days,  an  insuffi- 
cient number  of  members  of  the  several  Deputations 
to  form  a  quorum  of  the  Counties ;  but,  on  the  fifth 
day,  \_May  18,  1776,]  the  Counties  of  New  York, 
Richmond,  Suffolk,  Westchester,  Kings,  Charlotte, 
and  Tryon — those  of  Albany,  Queens.  Ulster,  Glou- 
cester, Cumberland,  Duchess,  and  Orange  were  either 
entirely  unrepresented  or  were  without  the  requisite 
numbers  to  make  their  several  Deputations  complete — 
assumed  the  consistent,  counter-revolutionary  respon- 
sibility of  organizing  the  Congress  and  of  proceeding  to 
transact  business.'  It  continued  in  session,  without  tak* 


6  Members  of  a  Commiflee  fcr  Weslctiester-coatUy— Historical  Mantiscripts, 
etc.:  Miscellaneous  Papers,  xxxviii.,  309. 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
"  14,  177G." 

'  Jintnial  of  the  Proviticial  Congress,  "Die  Sal  bati,  10  ho.,  A.M,  May 
"  18,  177G." 

Ulster,  Gloucester,  and  Cumborland-countius  were  entirely  unrepre- 
sented ;  ineteud  of  the  requisite  Oiree,  only  Messrs.  Cuyler  and  Glenn 
appeared  from  Albany-county ;  instead  of  the  requisite  tliree,  only 
Messrs.  Blackwcll  and  Lawrence  appeared  from  Queens-county  ;  instead 


338 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ing  any  recess,  until  the  thirtieth  of  June,  when,  be- 
cause of  supposed  clanger,  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
it  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  fol- 
lowing Tuesday,  \_Jyfy  2,  1776] ;  '  but  the  Journals 
very  clearly  indicate  that  no  such  adjourned  meeting 
was  attempted — the  Deputies  had  more  important 
business  requiring  their  personal  attention  ;  and  the 
third  Congress  was  permitted  to  pass  away,  without 
further  ceremony. 

The  third  Provincial  Congress  was  distinguished  by 
the  entrance  into  it,  among  the  Deputies  from  the 
City  and  County  of  New  York,  of  John  Jay,  James 
Duane,  John  Alsop,  Philip  Livingston,  and  Francis 
Lewis,  notwithstanding  all  of  them  were,  also,  Dele- 
gates from  the  Colony  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
then  in  session,  in  Philadelphia;  and  because  three 
of  those  tjve  are  now  known  to  have  resisted  the  ear- 
lier movements  toward  Independence,  in  that  Con- 
gress,^ and  to  have,  also,  resisted  the  later  movements 
in  that  direction,  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  it  is  a 
reasonable  conclusion  that  the  hegira  of  those  three, 
if  not  that  of  the  whole  number,  had  been  made  for 
the  purpose  of  obstnicting  the  ad()j)tion  of  that  in- 
creasingly jxipular  measure,  as  well  as  that  of  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  new  form  of  government,  through 


of  the  requisite  (Arce,  only  Mr.  SclieDck  apjicarcd  from  Duchess-county; 
and  of  the  reijnieite  /»o  from  Orange-county,  only  Mr.  Little  ajipeared. 

1  Jdiiriial  of  the  I'rin  iiicial  Congress,  "  Sunday  morning,  June  30, 
"  1776." 

Mr.  Bolton,  {nMory  nf  Weslchtster-counly,  original  edition,  ii.,  359  ; 
the  same,  second  edition,  ii.,  5G4,)said  of  the  imaginary  journey  of  the 
Deputies,  from  the  City  of  New  York  to  the  Wliite  Plains,  between  the 
adjournment  of  the  Congress  and  the  day  on  which  it  was  to  bo  re-as- 
seniblcd,  "  The  journey  between  New  York  and  the  Plains  was  per- 
"  formed  by  tlie  members  on  horseback,  Pierre  van  Cortliindt,  the  Presi- 
"  dent,  riding  at  tlioir  head.  As  cxiires.ses  overtook  tlu  in  from  General 
"  Wasliington,  the  House  was  called  to  order,  on  horseback,  and  several 
"  Resolutions  ])assed." 

As  has  been  already  stated,  there  was  not  the  slightest  attempt  made 
to  keep  up  the  organization  ol  the  Congress,  after  its  hurried  and  in- 
formal dissolution,  on  that  eventful  Sunday  ;  that  there  was,  therefore, 
no  such  funereal  procession  as  Mr.  liolton  has  described,  nor  any  such 
olUcial  acts,  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  as  he  has  imagined  ;  and  that  there 
was  no  such  meeting  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  at  the  Wliite  Plains, 
on  Tuesday,  tlie  second  of  July,  ashe  has  left  his  readers  to  suppose. 

As  Jlr.  Bolton  has  not  named  any  aiithority  for  Jiisstiitement,  altliough 
he  was  not  the  tirst  to  print  it,  he  must  be  regarded  as  autliorially 
responsible  for  it ;  and,  therefore,  it  may  be  proper  to  say,  further,  that 
PieiTe  Van  Cortlandt  was  not  the  President  of  the  Congress,  nor  had 
he  been  such,  at  any  time.  General  AVoodhull  having  been  elected  its 
President,  and  John  Haring,  of  Orange-county,  occupied  the  Chair,  as 
President  j)io  tern.,  on  the  last  day  of  its  session.  In  the  same  connection, 
it  may  be  said  that,  although  Colonel  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  was  elected 
as  one  of  the  Deputies  from  Westchester-connty  to  the  third  Provincial 
Congress,  that  under  notice,  he  never  occupied  a  scat  in  it,  even  for  a 
single  day. 

-The  Resolution  of  July  2,  1770,  separating  the  Colonies  from  the  Mother 
Counti'y,  was  not  the  earliest  declaration  of  Independence,  in  the  Colo- 
nies, by  any  means.  The  correspondence  of  Jolin  Adams  is  well  filled 
with  evidence  of  his  correct  judgment  of  the  real  character  of  the  earlier 
enactments  of  the  Continental  Congress  ;  but  the  Resolution  which  was 
introduced  into  that  Congress,  early  in  May,  177r.,  and  adopted  on  the 
tenth  of  that  month,  and  the  Preamble  to  that  Resolution,  which  was 
adopted  on  the  fifteenth,  recomnieiuling  the  adoi)tiun  of  new  forms  of 
Government,  in  the  several  Colonies,  was,  assuredly,  nothing  else  than 
a  Resolution  of  Independence,  thinly  disguised  by  the  prefix  of  another 
niuue. 


the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  at  least  long 
enough  to  enable  the  Eoyal  Commissioners  for  efl'ect- 
ing  a  reconciliation  with  the  Colonies,  who  were  then 
approaching  New  York,  to  exhibit  their  powers  and 
their  inclinations,  in  that  better  desired  measure. 
How  successfully  the  scheme  was  carried  out,  in  the 
latter  body,  will  be  seen,  hereafter. 

***** 

The  deputation  from  Westcb ester-county  to  that 
third  Provincial  Congress,  said  to  have  been  "  duly 
"  elected  to  represent  the  said  County  in  Provincial 
"  Congress  for  twelve  months,  with  such  powers  and 
"  authority  as  was  recommended  in  the  Eesolutions 
"of  the  late  Provincial  Congress  to  be  given  them, 
"  any  three  of  whom  to  be  a  quorum,"  were  Colonel 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel  Lewis  Graham,  Colo- 
nel Gilbert  Drake,  Major  Ebenezer  Lockwood,  Gouv- 
erneur  Morris,  William  Paulding,  Jonathan  G.  Tomp- 
kins, Samuel  Haviland,  and  Peter  Fleming.^ 

During  the  less  than  two  months  which  intervened 
between  the  organization  and  the  untimely  dissolution 
of  that  third  Provincial  Congress,  [J/ay  18  to  June  30, 
1776,]  the  Northern  Array  was  effectually  driven 
from  Canada;  and  all  which  had  been  promised  and 
hoped  for,  in  that  very  well  planned,  but  premature 
and  expensive,  expedition,  produced  nothing  else 
than  disappointment  and  disaster,  the  latter  as  serious 
to  those  of  the  resident  Canadians  who  had  favored 
the  invading  Colonists,  as  it  was  to  the  latter.  In 
South  Carolina,  the  superior  bravery  of  Colonel 
Moultrie  and  his  handful  of  Carolinians,  even  when 
hampered  by  the  superior  authority  but  inferior  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  General  Lee,  had  secured  lasting 
honor  to  himself  and  to  his  gallant  command  and  re- 
newed safety  to  his  own  country ;  and  "  though  not 
"  of  much  magnitude,  in  itself,  it  was,  like  many 
"  other  successes  attending  the  American  Arms,  in 
"  the  commencement  of  the  War,  of  great  importance 
"  in  its  consequences :  by  impressing  on  the  Colonists 
"  a  conviction  of  their  ability  to  maintain  the  con- 
"  test,  it  increased  the  number  of  those  who  resolved 
"  to  resist  British  authority  and  assisted  in  paving 
"  the  way  to  a  declaration  of  Independence."  The 
Continental  Congress  had  yielded  to  the  teachings  of 
its  experience,  and  directed  enlistments  to  be  made 
for  three  years,  instead  of  for  six  months;  but  '  that 
"  zeal  for  the  service  which  was  manifested  in  the 
"  first  moments  of  the  War,  had  long  begun  to  abate; 
"  and  though  the  determination  to  resist  became  more 
"  general,  that  enthusiasm  which  prompts  individuals, 
"  voluntarily,  to  expose  themselves  to  more  than 
"  equal  shares  of  the  danger  and  hardships  to  be  en- 
"  countered  for  the  attainment  of  a  common  good 
"was  sensibly  declining" — in  other  words,  there 
were  more  of  those  who  were  willing  that  somebody 


^Journnl  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Sabbati,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
"18.  177(!." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


339 


else  than  themselves  should  do  whatever  fighting 
might  become  necessary;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  who  were  expected  to  do  the  fatigue  duty  and 
to  hazard  their  lives,  had  begmi  to  see  that  the  offices 
and  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  their  expected 
labor  and  exposure  were  to  be  converted  mainly  to 
the  benefit  of  others  ;  and  their  enthusiasm  for  "  the 
"  Rights  of  Man  and  of  Englishmen,"  which  w^as 
formerly  proclaimed  by  multitudes  of  earnest  men, 
with  scarcely  one  holding  back,  was,  also,  "  sensibly 
"  declining,"  as  Marshall  has  aptly  said — indeed,  en- 
listments were  made  only  among  those  who  were 
desperately  poor  or  among  those  whose  moral  charac- 
ters were  not  unstained;  and  even  these  had  to  be 
bribed  by  bounties,  that  certain  iudication  that  some- 
thing else  than  simple,  unadulterated  patriotism  in- 
spired the  act.  General  Washington  was  at  New 
York,  with  the  main  body  of  the  Continental  Army, 
strengthening  the  defences  and  seeking  means  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  ships  of  war  up  the  Hudson- 
river  or,  through  the  East-river,  into  the  Sound;  urg- 
ing the  increase  of  his  Army  on  those  who  did  no 
more  than  call  on  others,  as  unwilling  as  themselves, 
to  enter  the  ranks ;  and  begging  for  Arms  and  muni- 
tions of  War,  of  which  he  was  almost  destitute,  from 
those  who  had  neither  Arms  nor  munitions  of  War 
to  bestow  on  him  nor  on  any  other.  A  large  body  of 
Militia,  as  will  be  seen,  hereafter,  was  ordered  into 
the  field,  for  the  support  of  the  Army,  to  be  mustered 
in  until  the  close  of  the  year;  a  "  Flying  Camp,"  so 
called,  was  ordered  to  be  composed  of  ten  thousand 
men  from  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Marv'land ; 
and,  on  every  hand,  were  seen  the  active  prepara- 
tions, by  an  unwilling  and  bounty-bought  or  poverty- 
driven  Army,  to  settle  the  dispute  in  which  it  pos- 
sessed no  direct,  if  any,  interest,  by  the  arbitrament 
of  Arms.  ■ 

During  that  brief  period,  also,  the  movements  of 
some  of  those  who  had  assumed  to  be  the  leaders  of 
the  masses,  throughout  the  several  Colonies,  were 
more  frequent  and  more  decided  in  their  tone,  in 
favor  of  Independence— movements,  however,  both 
within  and  without  the  Congress  of  the  Continent, 
and  more  especially  from  the  Delegations  from  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland,  which  encountered  the  most  determined 
and  vigilant  opposition.  It  were  useless  to  pretend, 
with  any  respect  for  the  truth,  that  the  great  body  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Colonies  was  favorably  inclined 
to  or  particularly  interested  in,  a  change  in  those 
who  ruled  them  or  in  the  manner  of  that  rule,  since 
it  was  perfectly  evident  that  they  would  not  be  per- 
mitted to  exercise  any  greater  political  authority  nor 
to  have  their  labors  lessened  nor  their  wants  better 
supplied,  under  one  than  under  the  other  form  of 
Grovernment;  or,  in  New  York,  under  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Livingston  regime  instead  of  that  of  the 
De  Lancey,  under  the  last  of  which  they  had  hitherto 
lived  ;  but  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  elsewhere 


than  in  New  Y'ork,  seeing  before  them  a  semblance 
of  greater  consequence  to  themselves,  in  the  proposi- 
tion for  Independence,  were  rapidly  concentrating 
their  efl[()rts  to  accomplish  that  end.  The  desire  for 
such  a  change  was,  also,  sometimes  promoted  by  the 
consciousness,  among  those  whose  consciences  had 
not  become  charred  by  their  hankering  for  offices,  of 
that  evident  hypocrisy  in  pretending  to  an  earnest 
loyalty  toward  a  monarch  against  whom  they  were 
waging  an  open  and  recognized  public  War,  with 
which  the  Committees  and  the  Congresses  of  the  Re- 
bellion had  continued  to  affront  the  common  sense 
and  the  morality  of  Christendom ;  and  that  moral  in- 
clination to  Independence,  and  those  other  inclina- 
tions, in  the  same  direction,  which  were  prompted  by 
less  holy  influences,  were  all  strengthened  by  the 
alarm  which  was  produced  by  information  that  the 
Colonies  had  been  formally  declared  to  be  in  rebel- 
lion ;  that  mercenaries  had  been  employed  to  assist 
in  reducing  them  to  subjection,  in  which  all  classes 
would  be  subjected  to  a  common  ruin — a  repetition, 
on  a  larger  scale,  but  on  the  other  side,  of  what  had 
been  done,  already,  by  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion, 
in  New  York,  against  the  peaceful,  agricultural 
inhabitants  of  Westchester  and  Duchess  and  Queens 
and  Richmond-counties ;  that  the  Indians  were  to 
be  employed  by  the  Home-Government,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  harassing  the  frontiers  and  threatening  the 
inland  settlements  and  villages;  and  that  the  Slaves 
were  to  be  withdrawn  from  their  masters,  as  far  as 
possible,  and  armed  in  the  service  of  the  King.  All 
these  influences  had  culminated  in  the  submission  to 
the  Continental  Congress  of  a  Resolution,  "That 
"  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be, 
"  free  and  independent  States,  that  they  are  absolved 
"  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that 
"  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
"  of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dis- 
"  solved.  That  it  is  expedient  forthwith  to  take  the 
"  most  effectual  measures  for  forming  foreign  Al- 
"  liances.  That  a  plan  of  Confederation  be  prepared 
"  and  transmitted  to  the  respective  Colonies  for  their 
"  consideration  and  approbation."  It  encountered, 
however,  the  most  serious  opposition,  among  which 
the  Livingstons  and  their  supporters,  Delegates 
from  New  York,  were  peculiarly  conspicuous  ;  and, 
when  the  third  Provincial  Congress  came  to  its  un- 
timely end,  it  was  still  pending,  that  Delegation,  as 
far  as  the  paucity  of  its  numbers  went,  appearing 
conspicuously  among  those  who  were  not  its  sup- 
porters. 

While  these  various  important  matters  were  oc- 
cupying the  attention  of  the  Colonists,  General  Howe 
came  into  the  harbor  of  New  York,  and  occupied 
Staten-island  with  his  entire  command;  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Richmond-county,  as  that  beautiful 
island  was  then  called,  politically,  and  as  it  is  still 
called,  as  might  have  been  reasonably  expected, 
since  they  were  still  smarting    under    the  sen- 


340 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tence  of  outlawry  and  the  consequent  outrages  to 
which  they  had  been  recently  subjected  by  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  and  its  Committee  of  Safety, 
received  the  new-comers,  it  is  said,  "  with  great  de- 
"  monstrations  of  joy,  took  the  Oaths  of  Allegiance  to 
"  the  British  Crown  ;  and  embodied  themselves,  under 
"the  authority  of  the"  [Colonial']  "Governor,  Tryon, 
*'  for  the  defense  of  the  Island.  Strong  assurances  were 
"  also  received  from  Long  Island  and  the  neighboring 
"parts  of  New  Jersey,  of  the  favorable  disposition  of 
''the  people  to  the  Royal  Cause,"  it  was  said;  and 
those  who  had  been  harried  from  their  homes,  and 
who  had  sought  refuge  in  the  swamps  and  thickets  of 
the  country,  victims  of  the  rapine  and  outrages  of 
lawless  and  ruthless  "patriots,"  their  own  country- 
men, quite  reasonably,  hastened  to  seek  the  protection 
of  those  by  whom,  under  a  more  judicious  policy, 
they  would  be  enabled  to  occupy  their  own  homes 
and  to  pursue  the  ordinary  routine  of  their  peaceful 
lives,  in  quietude  and  safety.  A  large  and  well-pro- 
vided force,  for  the  reinforcement  of  General  Howe's 
command,  was  known  to  be  on  the  ocean  and  not 
distant,  convoyed  by  a  strong  naval  force,  under  the 
command  of  Admiral  Howe — the  latter  a  brother  of 
the  General  and,  with  him,  a  half  brother  of  the 
King — and  it  was  already  known  that,  thenceforth, 
New  York  would  be  the  base  of  all  the  military  and 
naval  operations,  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  in  the  next 
campaign. 

On  the  day  after  the  King's  forces  came  into  the 
harbor,  l_June  30,  1776,]  after  it  had  provided  for  the 
removal  "  of  a'l  and  singular  the  public  papers  and 
"money"  which  were  then  in  the  possession  of  its 
Secretary  and  its  Treasurer,  to  the  White  Plains,  the 
Provincial  Congress  was  hastily  adjourned  to  that 
place,  as  has  been  already  stated,  in  order  that  it 
might  escape  from  the  possibly  sudden  attack  on  the 
City,  by  the  Royal  forces — an  attack  by  them,  on  the 
seat  of  the  local  Government  of  the  Rebellion  in  the 
Colony  of  New  York,  and  that  at  an  early  day,  having 
evidently  been  a  feature  in  the  pre-constructed  plans 
of  General  Howe.  The  anxious  Provincial  Congress 
resolved,  however,  that  it  would  re-assemble  at  the 
Court-house,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  following 
Tuesday,  the  second  of  July,  to  resume  its  official 
business,  which  was  thus  interrupted  by  the  appear- 
ance, in  the  distance,  of  danger ;  and  it  resolved,  also, 
that  the  next  Provincial  Congress  should  meet  at 
the  same  place,  on  the  succeeding  Monday,  the  eighth 
of  July. 

In  the  brief  Session  which  was  thus  interrupted, 
and  which  was  not  continued,  at  the  White  Plains  or 
elsewhere,  the  third  Provincial  Congress  continued 
the  injudicious  and  unjust,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
barbarous,  outrages  inflicted  on  those  who  were  not 
inclined  to  accede  to  every  measure  of  the  Congresses 
and  Committees,  no  matter  how  passive  those 
Colonial  Non-jurors  of  America  might  have  been  ; 
and  those  pains  and  penalties  were  inflicted,  directly. 


by  its  own  authority ; '  and  indirectly,  by  the  several 
local  Committees;^  the  Congress,  meanwhile,  ac- 
quiescing in,  if  not  approving,  the  most  barbarous 
treatment  of  its  prisoners  ;  ^  winking  at  the  barbarities 
practised  by  mobs,  on  those  whom  it  had  proscribed ;  * 

1  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Conyrets,  "  Die  Martis,  P.M.,  May  28,  1776  ;" 
the  sa7ne,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May  30,  1776  ;  "  Oie  snme,  "  Die  Martis, 
"  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  4,  1776  ; "  the  same,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June 
"6,  1776  ;"  etc. 

'^Journal  ofthePiovincial  Congress,  "DieLitDse,  4  ho.,  P.M..  June  3, 
"1776;"  the  same,  "Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  C,  1776;"  the  same, 
"Thursday  morning,  June  20,  1776;"  the  same,  "Friday  afternoon, 
"June  21, 1776  ;"  etc. 

2  Henry  Dawkins,  accused  of  counterfeiting,  was  ironed  so  heavily, 
u-Uhin  the  priimi,  tliat  he  was  reported  to  have  been  "  injured  by  his  irons 
"so  that  his  legs  swell ;  "  and  Henry  Youngs,  accused  of  the  same  of- 
fense, also  confined  in  the  Jail,  was  so  much  injured  by  the  irons  with 
which  he  was  additionally  secured,  that  it  became  necessary  to  remove 
them.  [Jounitil  of  the  ProrincUtl  Congress,  "Friday  morning.  9  ho.,  A.M., 
".Tune,  1776;"  the  same,  "Tuesday  morning,  New  Tork,  June  11, 
"1776.") 

*  About  the  middle  of  June,  1776,  mobs  were  raised  by  John  Lasher, 
John  and  Joshua  Hett  Smith,  Peter  Van  Zandt,  and  other  leaders  of  the 
extreme  revolutionary  faction,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by  whom  sev- 
eral citizens  who  were  of  the  Opposition,  but  not  of  the  Rebellion,  were 
seized  by  these  revolutionary  " patriots,"  who  placed  them  on  "sharp 
"rails,"  andcarrieil  them  on  men's  shoulders,  around  the  City,  amidst  the 
huzzas  of  the  mob.  The  progrei^s  of  one  of  these  parties  was  said  to  have 
been  stopped  by  General  Putnam  ;  but  not  until  the  victim  had  sustained 
seriotis  injuries,  (Jones's  History  rif  ^iew  YorTi  during  the  Uevolvtionary  War, 
i.,  101-103;  de  Lancey's  Notes  on  Jones's  UUti>ry,  i.,  596-598.) 

Peter  Elting,  a  brother-in-law  of  Richard  Varick,  wiote  of  these  trans- 
actions, "We  had  some  Grand  Toory  Rides  in  this  City  this  week  &  in  par- 
"  ticular  yesterday.  Several  of  them  were  liandeM  verry  Roughly  Being 
"Caried  trugh  the  streets  on  Rails,  there  Clooths  tore  from  I  here  backs 
" and  there  Bodies  pritty  well  mingled  with  the  du.^t.    Amongst  thorn 

"  were  C  ,  Capt.  Hardenbrook,  Mr.  Rapllje,  Mr.  Queen  the  Poticary, 

"and  Lessly  the  barber.  There  is  hardly  a  toory  face  to  be  seen  this 
"morning."  {Peter  Elting  to  Captain  Richard  Varicl-,  "New  York,  13th 
"June,  1776.") 

On  the  twelfth  of  June,  in  the  afternoon.  Generals  Putnam  and  MitHin, 
who  had  evidently  witnes.sed  the  outrages  to  which  Elting  alluded, 
"complained  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  riotous  and  disorderly 
"  conduct  of  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  City,  which  hadledthis 
"  day  to  acts  of  violence  to\\'ards  some  disafie  cted  persons;"  but  what 
had  shocked  Isniel  Putnam,  by  reason  of  its  b  arbarism,  even  while  the 
"complaint"  of  those  two  Officers  urged  the  Congress  to  condemn  the 
offenders,  one  of  whom  wa.s  then  occupying  a  seat  in  the  Congress,  that 
body  winked  at,  and,  at  the  same  time,  it  screened  the  offenders,  and 
qualified  the  offense— its  words  were  these  :  "  RE.'iOI.VEn  ;  That  this  Con- 
"  gress  by  no  means  approve  of  the  riots  that  Iiave  happened  this  day  ; 
"  they  flatter  themselves,  however,  that  they  have  proceeded  from  a  real 
"regard  to  Lib-rty  and  a  detestation  of  those  jiersons  wlio,  by  their 
"  language  and  conduct,  have  discovered  themselves  to  be  inimical  to 
"the  cause  of  America.  To  urge  the  warm  friends  of  Liberty  to  de- 
"  cency  and  good  order,  this  Congress  assures  the  public  that  effectual 
"  measures  shall  be  taken  to  secure  the  enemies  of  American  Liberty  in 
"  this  Colony,  and  do  require  the  good  people  of  this  City  and  Colony  to 
"  desist  from  all  Riots,  and  leave  the  offenders  against  so  good  a  cauf-e  to  be 
"  dealt  with  by  the  constitutional  representatives  i  f  the  Colony  "—the 
subsequently  infamous  "  Committee  to  detect  Conspiracies,"  then  in  em 
bryo,  having  been,  undoubtedly,  the  "constitutional"  agency  referred 
to,  {Journal  of  the  I'rovincial  Congress,  "Wednesday  afternoon,  .lune  12, 
"1776.") 

It  has  been  said,  apologetically,  that  the  Congress  wjis  intimidated  ; 
and  that  the  mob  was  the  controlling  power  ;  but  the  overwhelming  mil- 
itary force  which  was  then  in  the  City,  with  General  Washington  at  its 
head,  indicated  no  such  state  of  affairs;  and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
that  series  of  Mobs,  directed  by  leaders  of  the  Rebellion — one  of  whom, 
if  no  more,  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congre.ss— against  those  of 
the  Colonists  who  were  not  of  the  Rebellion,  was  intended  to  give  to  the 
new-formed  "  Committee  to  detect  Consiiiracies,"  subsequently  so  ob- 
noxious to  every  honorable  man,  a  good  set-off  in  its  work  of  perseeutii^n 
and  outrage. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


341 


and  compelling  the  latter  to  seek  safety  in  flight.'  It 
as=!unied  judicial  functions,  in  putting  some  of  its 
victims  on  "  trial,"  before  itself  or  a  Committee  of  its 
members ; sometimes  it  graciously  absolved  those 
whom  it  had  seized  on  mere  "informations;"'  and, 
occasionally,  it  honored  a  victim  of  a  local  Com- 
mittee, by  listening  to  an  Appeal  from  the  decision 
of  that  inferior  tribunal,*  although  it  was  not  always 
exempt  from  an  appearance,  at  least,  of  partiality  to 
the  Respondent  in  the  Case.'  In  the  same  connection, 
it  called  into  existence  and  inaugurated  the  "  Com- 
"  mittee  to  detect  Conspiracies,"  that  powerful  in- 
quisitorial agency  of  the  Rebellion,  in  New  York, 
whose  doings  will  be  noticed  more  fully,  hereafter. 
******** 

Those  who  had  been  hoist  with  their  own  petard, 
in  becoming  the  speculative  holders  of  Dutch  Tea, 
which  they  had  smuggled  into  the  Colony,  and  which 
they  could  not,  now,  di.spose  of,  unless  on  terms  and 
at  prices  which  would  have  been  disastrous  to  them, 
pestered  the  Provincial  Congress  with  appeals  for 
relief  from  the  enactments  of  their  own  friends  ;  and 
some  of  them — one  of  them  a  member  of  the  preced- 
ing Provincial  Congresses,  and  another  a  Delegate 
of  the  Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress — were 
charged  with  violating  those  enactments,  in  their 

'  The  Continental  CoDgre.ss  having  authorized  the  employment  of  Con- 
tinental troops  for  such  a  purpose,  a  Regiment  was  sent  to  Hempstead, 
for  the  pnrp<i3e  of  seizing  those  who  were  disaffected  to  the  Reljellion. 
The  proposed  victims  having  heen  disarmed,  by  order  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  during  the  Winter  of  1775-'f>,  they  had  no  means  for  their  de- 
fense, and,  therefore,  they  fled  and  hid  themselves  in  swamps,  in  woods, 
in  barns,  in  hollow  trees,  in  corn-fields,  and  in  the  mai-shes.  Numbere 
took  refuge  in  tlie  pine  barrens  of  Suffolk-county ;  others,  in  small  boats, 
kept  sailing  about  the  Sound,  landing  in  the  night  and  sleeping  in  the 
woo<ls,  and  taking  to  the  water  again  in  the  morning.  They  were  pur- 
sued like  wolves  and  bears,  from  swamp  to  swamp,  from  one  hill  to 
another,  from  dale  to  dale,  and  from  one  copse  of  wood  to  another. 
Numbers  were  taken  ;  some  were  wounded  ;  and  a  few  were  killed — all 
that,  too,  on  a  peaceful,  unarmed,  passive  conmiunity ;  unable  to  dc- 
fitad  itself,  because  it  had  been  stripped  of  its  arms ;  in  advance  of  any 
adverse  movement  :  and  only  to  promote  the  individual  purposes  of  a 
handful  of  ambitious  and  reckless  men  :  all  that,  too,  in  the  name  of 
"  Liberty  "  and  the  "  Rights  of  JIan."  (Jminmlnf  the  Provincial  Conijreft. 
"Sunday  afternoon,  June  .■$(),  177C  Cenenil  Wnnhimjlon  to  the  I'lesidenl 
of  Cniit/rptui,  "  New  York,  ,Iune  28, 1776  ;  "  "  Jones's  Hiatory  of  New  York 
(luring  the  Iteonhitionary  W(ir.  i.,  108,  1(19.) 

■  Journal  of  the  Provincinl  Congress,  "De  Lunne,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May  27, 
"  177(> ; "  the  tame,  "  Tuesday  morning.  New  York,  June  11,  1776  ; "  etc. 

^  The  Proriaciat  Congress  to  the  CommiUee  of  Qiieens-counlij,  "In  Pko- 
"  VINCIAL  CONORES-S  Nf.w-York,  A.M.,  June  11,  1776  ;  "  Journal  of  the 
Prorinrinl  Comjress,  "  Thursday  morning,  June  27,  1770;"  the  same, 
"Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  June  o,  1776." 

*  Jimmul  of  the  Prnrinrial  Congress,  "Saturday.  P.M.,  June  1,  1776 
Uie  name,  "  Die  Martis,  0  ho.,  .\.M.,  June  4,  1776      the  same,  "  Die  Mer- 
"  curii,  9  ho.,  A.  M.,  June  5,  177G  ;  "   the  same,  "  Die  .Tovis,  9  ho.,  A  M., 
"  June  6,  1776  ; "  the  same,  "  Die  Luna;,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  10,  1776." 

5  In  the  Api)pal  of  Thomas  Harriot  from  the  decision  of  the  General 
Committee  of  the  City  and  County  of  New  York,  the  latler  of  whom  n-ns, 
also,  verii  ei-idmlhi  the  Complainant  in  the  original  Case,  on  the  sixth  of  June, 
the  Provincial  Congress,  without  any  application  from  either  party,  volun- 
tjirily  offered  to  give  its  aid  to  the  Respondent,  "  for  the  attendance  of 
"  their  witnesses,"  leaving  the  Appellant  without  any  such  favor.  As 
might  have  been  foreseen,  in  such  an  instance  of  pre-entertained  par- 
tiality in  the  Appellate  body,  the  decision  which  the  General  Committee 
had  maile  in  its  own  Case,  was  sustained  by  the  Provincial  Congress  ; 
and  the  .\ppeal  therefrom,  of  Thomas  Harriot,  was  promptly  dismissed. 


efforts  to  ''  work  off"  some  portions  of  their  stocks  of 
the  article  ;  but,  of  course,  in  such  instances  as  Isaac 
Sears  and  John  Alsop,  the  offenders  sustained  no  evil 
consequences  from  the  exposure  of  their  commercial 
peccadillos.* 

There  were  other  subjects,  of  greater  general  in- 
terest than  these,  which  received  the  hurried  atten- 
tion of  that  very  busy  body  of  men  ;  and  to  some  of 
these,  places  in  this  narrative  may  properly  be 
given. 

The  first  of  these  is  that  "  Committee  to  detect 
"Conspiracies,"  already  alluded  to,  which  originated 
in  that  much  talked-of  "  Hickey  Plot," — the  latter,  a 
partisan  bugbear  which,  before  long,  will  descend  to 
the  low  level  of  "  the  Negro  Plot,"  in  the  same  City 
of  New  York,  in  which  the  conspiracy  against  the 
helpless  victims  was  greater  than  any  which  had  pos- 
sibly existed  among  them,  against  others ;  or  to  the 
lower  level  of  that  "Witchcraft"  excitement,  in 
Salem,  led  by  clerical  narrowness  and  bigotry,  which 
had  brought  so  much  shame  on  the  Mathers  and  on 
Colonial  Massachusetts. 

Sometime  between  Monday  morning  and  Tuesday 
afternoon,  [3fay  20,  21,  1776,] — as  no  entry  of  its  ap- 
pointment was  made  on  the  Journals  of  the  Provincial 
Congress,  nothing  is  known  concerning  the  time  nor 
the  circumstances  of  the  appointment,  unless  from  in- 
ference"— that  body  appointed  a  Committee  "to  con- 
"sider  of  the  ways  and  means  to  prevent  the  dangers 
"  to  which  this  Colony  is  exposed  by  its  intestine 
"enemies."  Beyond  the  single  fact  that  John  Alsop, 
one  of  the  most  determined  enemies  of  Independence 
and  subsequently  a  recognized  Loyalist,^  was  a  mem- 
ber, if  not  the  Chairman,  of  that  Committee,  there  is 
no  record  of  the  names  of  those  who  constituted  it ; 
and,  beyond  the  information  which  was  contained  in 
its  title,  there  is  quite  as  much  obscurity  surrounding 
the  purposes  for  which  it  was  created. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon,  [J/firy  21, 1776.]  as  we  have 
said.  Mr.  .\lsop  submitted  (he  Report  of  the  Ctmimit- 
tee  ; '  and  it  was  duly  debated,  with  several  motions 
for  amendments,  until  the  following  Friday,  \_May 


^  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Oaigrt'ss,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  3Iay 
"29,  1776  ; "  the  same,  "  Friday  Afternoon,  June  14,  1776." 

See,  also,  the  Proviuci<il  Omgress  to  the  Mcgales  in  the  Continentnl  Om- 
grejis,  "In  Pkovincul  Congress,  New  York,  July  28,  177.'i,"  and  the 
"  really  anxious"  rej;/;/  of  Jtmes  Thume,  John  Alsop,  John  Jaij,  Hubert  R. 
Livingston,  Junior,  and  Francis  Lewis,  "  Piiil.\pet,phi.\,  2()th  Sept.  1776  ;  " 
General  M'ushington  t/i  the  I'rovincial  Congress,  *'  Nkw- VoKK,  l.'l  3Iay,  1776," 
enclosing  a  letter  from  Isaiic  Sears,  concerning  those  who  were  under- 
selling their  teas  ;  and  what  shall  be,  hereafter,  saidim  the  subject. 

'  John  .\lsop  dill  not  take  his  seat  in  the  Provincial  Congress  until 
Monday  morning.  May  2()th  ;  but  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  May  21st,  he 
presented  the  Report  of  the  Committee  to  the  (Congress.  The  Com- 
mittee, of  which  he  was  evidently  the  Chairman,  must  have  been  created 
during  that  brief  interval. 

*Sec  his  letter,  resigning  his  seat  in  the  Continent.il  Congr<s.s,  be- 
cause of  the  Declanition  of  Independence.  "  Piiii..\delphia,  10  July, 
"  1770,"  and  Jones's  Histrtry  of  Xew  I'ori-  duriug  the  American  RttuJntiou. 
i.,  .1.'). 

^Journal  of  lite  Provincial  C  wjress,  "  Die  Martis,  4  iio.,  P.M.,  May  21, 
•'1770." 


342 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


24,  1776,]  when  it  was  approved,  not,  however,  with- 
out several  very  important  omissions,  if  the  record  of 
the  approved  Report  may  be  relied  on.*  In  its 
amended  form,  the  Report  was  in  the  following  words : 

"  Your  Committee  do  report:  That  there  is  great 
"  reason  to  believe  that  the  enemies  of  American  Lib- 
"erty  have  a  general  communication  with  each  other 
"through  this  and  part  of  the  neighbouring  Colonies, 
"  by  reason  whereof  the  influence  of  the  British  Gov- 
"ernment  is  much  extended  and  the  minds  of  the 
"  people  poisoned  by  false  reports  and  suggestions. 

"  That  many  ill-disposed  people  have  latelv  resorted 
"unto,  and  a  great  number  dwell  in,  the  southern  and 
"  eastern  parts  of  Queens-county;  that  there  are  also 
"  several  ill-disposed  persons  in  the  City  and  County 
"of  New  York,  and  in  Kings  County,  and  in  sundry 
"other  parts  of  this  Colony,  many  of  whom  will  most 
"  probably  take  up  arms  on  the  part  of  our  foes,  when- 
"  ever  they  shall  see  a  prospect  of  success. 

"  That  from  the  various  reports  and  the  best  intel- 
"  ligence  which  can  be  obtained  from  Europe,  as  also 
"  from  the  positive  assertions  of  the  disaffected  through- 
"  out  this  and  the  neighbouring  Colonies,  and  from 
"  such  of  their  measures  as  have  come  to  the  knowl- 
"edge  of  your  Committee,  there  is  no  room  to  doubt 
"  that  a  large  hostile  armament  will  soon  arrive  in 
"  this  Colony. 

"That  the  greater  part  of  those  who  now  hold  Of- 
"  fices  and  Commissions  under  the  Crown,  and  many 
"others  who  are  generally  rej)uted  inimical  to  Amer- 
"  ican  Liberty,  will  be  liable  to  suffer  injuries  from 
"the  resentment  of  the  people,^  and  the  Colony  in 
"general  exposed  to  great  danger  from  the  active  ex- 
"  ertions  of  those  among  us  who  are  determined  to 
"  assist  in  the  subjection  of  America. 

"  Your  Committee  are,  therefore,  of  opinion  that, 
"  as  well  out  of  regard  to  the  safety  of  individuals  as 
"for  the  general  welfare  of  America,  it  is  highly  and 
"  indispensably  necessary  to  take  speedy  and  effectual 
"  measures  to  prevent  the  hostile  intentions  of  our 
"  foes,  to  stop  the  channels  of  intelligence  and  com- 
"  munication  among  the  disaffected,  and  to  quell  the 
"spirit  of  opposition  which  hath  hitherto  prevailed. 


1  On  Titesday  afternoon,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Sands,  Kiclimond-couuty 
was  ordered  Ui  bo  named  as  one  which  was  especijilly  proscribed  ;  and  on 
motion  of  John  Morin  Scott,  an  oath  of  some  kind  was  ordered  to  "  be 
*'  extended  to  all  sucli  as  refused  to  sign  tiie  Amtciafum,^^  to  wliich  only 
Gonverneur  Morris,  to  bis  honor  be  it  said,  ol)jected.  On  Wednesday 
niorning,  an  attempt  to  authorize  the  seizure  and  detention  of  residents 
of  Queens-county,  as  liostages,  to  secure  the  submission  of  those  who 
were  left  within  that  County,  was  rejected,  only  Westchester  and  Tryon- 
counties  havine  supported  the  proposition.  "  Sundry  other  amendments 
"having  been  made  therein,"  an  attempt  to  commit  the  mutilated  paper 
to  its  jiarent  Committee,  to  re  model  it,  was  rejected.  It  is  evident,  from 
the  final  entry  on  the  subject,  that  other  important  changes  had  been 
made  during  a  session  of  the  Congress,  on  Thursday  evening  ;  but  the 
Jonriifil  of  that  Session  makes  no  mention  of  any  action  on  that 
subject;  and  on  Friday  morning,  the  amended  Report,  from  which  many 
peculiarly  obnoxious  features  had  been  removed,  was  adopted. 

-The  connection  of  the  Mobs,  in  the  City  of  New-York,  already  referred 
to,  with  the  purposes  of  the  authors  of  this  enactment,  is  distinctly  seen, 
in  these  words. 


"  Your  Committee  do  propose  that,  for  these  pur- 
"  poses,  the  following  persons  be  apprehended  by  the 
"  assistance  of  the  Continental  troops,  now  stationed 
"  in  and  near  this  City,  to  wit, 

[The  names  were  not  entered  on  the  Journak.'} 

"  That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the 
"  Commander-in-chief,  now  here,  upon  the  subject  of 
"  apprehending  the  persons  above-named,  and  to  su- 
"perintend  the  taking  of  them.  That  upon  and  after 
"the  apprehension  of  the  said  persons,  such  of  them  as 
"  shall  give  good  and  sufficient  security,  on  oath,  and 
"  otherwise,  as  the  said  Committee  shall  think  proper, 
"that  they  will  not  be  concerned  in  any  measures 
"  taken  or  to  be  taken  against  the  United  American 
"  Colonies,  or  any  or  either  of  them,  and  that  they 
"  will  discover  all  measures  taken  or  to  be  taken 
"  against  the  said  Colonies,  or  any  or  either  of  them, 
"as  far  as  the  same  shall  come  to  their  knowledge,  re- 
"  spectively  be  permitted  to  go  at  large;  and  that  as 
"  to  such  per-sons  as  shall  refuse  such  security,  it  shall 
"  be  in  the  discretion  of  the  said  Committee  to  admit 
"on  their  parol  of  honour,  to  be  given  to  the  said 
"  Committee  or  to  the  Continental  Congress,  as  many 
"  of  the  said  persons  as  may,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
"  said  Committee,  safely  be  trusted  on  their  said 
"  parol,  to  reside  in  some  part  of  one  of  the  neigh- 
"  bouring  Colonies,  such  as  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
"  said  respective  persons,  and  approved  by  the  said 
"Committee;  and  that  all  such  persons  as,  in  the 
"opinion  of  the  said  Committee,  cannot  safely  be 
"trusted  on  their  said  parol,  or  if  to  be  trusted  shall 
"  refuse  to  give  such  parol,  shall  be  reported  to  this 
"  Congress,  to  be  severally  dealt  with,  as  this  Congress 
"  shall  think  proper. 

"  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  the  General  County 
"Committees,  in  the  several  Counties  in  this  Colony, 
"  to  apprehend  all  persons  holding  Military  Commis- 
"sions  under  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  and  also  all 
"such  persons  holding  Civil  Offices  under  the  said 
"  King,  or,  being  possessed  of  influence  in  their  re- 
"spective  Counties,  as  are  suspected  of  holding  prin- 
"ciples  inimical  to  the  said  United  Colonics;  and 
"  a'ter  they  shall  have  apprehended,  to  deal  with  them 
"in  such  manner  as  is  prescribed  for  the  conduct  of 
"  the  Committee  above  named. 

"  All  which  is,  nevertheless,  most  humbly  sub- 
"raitted. 

"  John  Alsop,  Chairman."  ^ 

When  that  Report  was  presented,  read,  and  ap- 
proved, there  were,  throughout  Westchester-county, 
the  entire  body  of  officers  of  the  Colonial  Militia,  in- 
cluding some  of  the  members  of  the  Van  Cortlandt 
and  other  leading  families  ;  the  entire  number  of  the 
King's  Justices  of  the  Peace;  the  entire  bodies  of  the 
Court  of  Sessions  and  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  at  the 


3  Jounml  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.  May  24, 

"n7f.." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


343 


head  of  the  last-named  of  which  was  John  Thomas, 
who  is  already  known  to  the  reader  as,  also,  one  of 
the  members  of  the  former  General  Assembly  and  as 
the  head  of  that  prolific  family  of  office-holders  bear- 
ing that  Welsh  surname ;  and  the  entire  body  of 
County  Officers,  including  those  of  the  Prerogative 
Court,  the  Sheriff,  the  County  Clerk,  etc.  All  these, 
together  with  those  who  were  especially  obnoxious 
and  all  these  whose  social  standing  did  not  warrant 
the  admission  of  them  into  the  first  class,  were  to  be 
apprehended — the  more  jjrominent  by  detachments  of 
the  Continental  Army,  the  less  prominent  by  the 
County  Committee— and  "dealt  with,"  after  a  "man- 
"ner"  which  was  "  prescribed  for  the  conduct'*  of 
those  under  whose  directi(ms  the  several  "  apprehen- 
"  sions"  should  be  made.  No  overt  act  was  cliarged 
against  any  one:  it  was  sufficient  that  "suspicions" 
were  entertained  by  some  one  in  revolutionary  author- 
ity, that  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  County,  no 
matter  whom,  was  "holding  principles  inimical  to  the 
"said  United  Colonies,"  whatever  those  "principles" 
might  have  been ;  and  the  unfortunate  victim,  for 
notliing  else  than  his  opinions'  sake,  was  liable  to  be 
exiled  or  subjected  to  any  other  penalty,  personal  or 
pecuniary  or  both,  as  his  captors,  unrestrained  by  any 
Statute  or  any  enactment  of  the  revolutionary  author- 
ities, should  incline  to  impose  on  him.  It  is  not 
stated  in  the  annals  of  that  period,  however,  that 
either  ilajor  Philip  Van  Cortlandt  or  Judge  John 
Thomas  or  any  other  of  those  officeholders  under  the 
Crown  who  were  also  officeholders  or  supporters  of 
the  Revolutionary  party,  sustained  any  injury  Irom 
the  provisions  of  that  enactment. 

Although  there  is  no  entry  on  the  Journal  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  which  makes  mention  of  the  cre- 
ation of  such  a  Committee,  it  is  very  evident  the  Com- 
mittee was  appointed,  with  instructions  "to  report  a 
"  Law  or  '  set  of  Resolutions  of  this  Congress,  to 
" '  prevent  the  dangers  to  which  this  Colony  is  ex- 
"' posed  by  its  internal  enemies,'"  since,  on  the 
twenty-eighth  of  May,  such  a  Committee  made  a 
Report  to  the  Congress,  through  John  Morin  Scott, 
who  was  probably  its  Chairman.  It  is  not  shown 
what  that  Report  provided  for  ;  but  Richmond-county 
voted  against  it,'  which  may  affiard  some  evidence  of 
the  character  of  the  paper,  since  that  County  and 
Queens-county  were  always  the  especial  objects  of  the 
resentment  of  those  who  were  iu  rebellion,  a  feeling, 
as  far  as  Richmond-county  was  concerned,  which 
was  amply  reciprocated  within  the  succeeding  six 
weeks. 

The  work  of  proscription  did  not  cease  with  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Congress  which  has  been  already  referred 
to.  On  the  fifth  of  June,  in  the  unexplained  words  of 
the  Journal  of  that  body,  "  the  Congress  proceeded  to 
"  hear  the  Resolutions  relative  to  persons  dangerous 


'  Journal  of  (he  Provincial  Comfrea,  "  Die  Martis,  9  bo.,  A.M.,  May  28, 
"1776." 


"and  disaffected  to  the  American  cause  and  to  per- 
"sons  of  equivocal  character."  There  is  not  the 
slightest  allusion  to  the  origin  of  the  Resolutions ;  but 
it  is  very  ])robable  they  proceeded  from  the  Commit- 
tee of  which  John  Morin  Scott  was  the  mouthpiece,  to 
whom  allusion  has  been  made  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph ;  and,  possibly,  they  may  be  the  Report  therein 
referred  to.  Notwithstanding  the  great  length  of  these 
Resolutions,  the  notice  which  was  taken  of  Westches- 
ter-county  and  of  Westchester-county  interests,  in 
their  several  i)rovisions,  render  it  necessary  that  they 
shall  find  a  place  in  this  narrative.  They  were  in 
these  words : 

"  Wherea.s  the  Continental  Congress,  by  their  Re- 
"  solve  of  the  sixth  day  of  October  last,  did  recom- 
"mend  to  the  several  Provincial  Assemblies,  and 
"Conventions,  and  Councils  or  Committees  of  Safety, 
"  to  arrest  and  secure  every  person  in  their  respective 
"  Colonies,  whose  going  at  large  might,  in  their  opin- 
"ion,  endanger  the  safety  of  the  Colony  or  the  lib- 
"  erties  of  America : 

"  And  whereas,  from  sundry  informations  and 
"evidences  exhibited  to  this  Congress,  it  appears 
"  that  the  enemies  of  American  Liberty,  in  this  and 
"the  neighbouring  Colonies,  have  a  general  com- 
"  munication  with  each  other,  by  reason  whereof 
"the  influence  of  the  British  Ministry,  however 
"feeble,  is,  in  some  measure,  sustained,  and  the 
"  minds  of  the  people  frequently  alarmed  and  poi- 
"soned  by  false  reports  and  misrepresentations,  pur- 
"  posely  framed  and  projtagated  with  design  to  pro- 
"  mote  the  views  and  machinations  of  the  enemies  of 
"  America. 

"  And  whereas  certain  persons  in  Queens-county, 
"  Kings-county,  the  City  and  County  of  New  York, 
"Richmond-county,  and  Westchester-county  have 
"  been  repr&sented  to  this  Congress  as  disaffected  to 
"the  American  cause,  and,  together  with  others  in 
"various  parts  of  this  Colony  who,  having  little  or  no 
"  property  in  it,  or  regard  for  its  Rights,  may  be  in- 
"flueuced,  by  the  hope  of  plunder  and  confiscation, 
"  to  take  an  active  part  with  our  enemies,  whenever 
"  it  may,  in  their  opinions,  be  done  with  success : 

"  And  whereas,  from  various  reports  and  the  best 
"  intelligence  which  could  be  obtained  from  Europe, 
"  as  well  as  from  the  positive  assertions  of  the  dis- 
"  affected  throughout  this  and  the  neighbouring  Col- 
"  onies,  there  is  great  reason  to  expect  that  an  hostile 
"  armament  will  soon  arrive  in  this  Colony,  whereby 
"  it  hath  become  highly  expedient  and  necessary  to 
"  provide  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony,  while 
"  employed  in  repelling  a  foreign  invasion,  be  not 
"  injured  or  annoyed  by  domestic  enemies: 

"  Resolved,  therefore.  That  the  following  per- 
"  sons  in  Queens-county,  the  City  and  County  of  New 
"  York,  and  Richmond-county,  whose  conduct  has 
"  been  represented  to  this  Congress  as  inimical  to  the 
"  Cause  and  Rights  of  America,  and  who,  if  sum- 


344 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


"  moned,  would  probably  not  appear,  but  secrete 
"  themselves,  be  arrested  and  brought  before  a  Com- 
"  mittee  of  this  Congress,  hereinafter  nominated  and 
"  appointed,  to  wit : 

"/ft  Queens-county.  —  Richd.  Hulett,  Thos.  Cor- 
"  nell,  Stephen  Hulet,  Jos.  Beagle,  of  Rockaway; 
"  John  Kendall,  at  Danl.  Thomas's,  Flushing;  John 

"  Bodin,           Chase,  of  Jamaica;  John  Hulet,  of 

"  Oyster  Bay  ;  and  Isaac  Denton,  of  near  Rockaway. 

"  Iji  the  Citij  and  County  of  New-  York. — Peter  Mc- 
"  Lean,  Saml.  Galsworthy,  Francis  De  La  Roach.' 

"  In  Richmond-county. — Isaac  Decker,  Abm.  Harris, 
"  Ephm.  Taylor,  and  Minne  Burger. 

"  Afld  that  the  following  persons,  in  the  Counties 
"  aforesaid,  and  in  the  County  of  Westchester  and 
"  Kings-county,  whose  conduct  has  been  represented 
"  to  this  Congress  as  equally  inimical  with  that  of 
"  the  former,  but  who  would  probably  appear  on  be- 
"  ing  summoned,  be  summoned  by  the  said  Committee 
"  to  appear  before  them,  at  such  time  and  place  as 
"  they  may  appoint ;  and,  in  default  of  appearance, 
"  on  proof  of  the  service  of  the  summons,  that  they 
"  be  arrested  in  like  manner  as  the  fonrer,  to  wit: 

[/«  the  City  (Did  County  of  New-  York,']  "  Wm. 
"  Newton,  Linus  King,  John  B.  Dash,  Henry  Law, 
"  Theop.  Hardenbrook,  Saml.  Burling,  John  Woods, 
"  Benjn.  Williams,  Christopher  Benson,  Wm.  Bayard, 
"  Fredk.  Rhinelandcr,  Jas.  Coggeshall,  John  Mil- 
"  liner,  and  Theot.  Bache. 

"  In  Kings-county.  — Theo.  Bache  and  Benjamin 
"  James. 

"In  Qucen.H-cotinty. — Chas.  Arden,  John  IMoore, 
"  Senr.,  and  David  Beatty,  of  Hempstead. 

"In  We»tchester-county.  —  Fredk.  Phillips,  Caleb 
"  Morgan,  Nath.  Underbill,  Saml.  Merrit,  Peter  Corne, 
"  Peter  Huggeford,  James  Horton,  Junr.,  Wm.  Sutton, 
"  Wm.  Barker,  Joshua  Purdy,  and  Absalom  Gidney. 

"  Which  said  Committee  are  hereby  authorized  and 
"  required  impartially  to  inquire  and  determine 
"  whether  any,  and  which,  of  the  said  persons  have 
"  afforded  aid  or  sustenance  to  the  British  Fleets  or 
"  Armies,  contrary  to  the  Resolutions  of  the  Conti- 
"  nental  Congress  or  of  the  Provincial  Congress  or 
"  Committee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony,  or  been  active 
"  in  dissuading  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony 
"  from  associating  for  the  defence  of  the  United  Col- 
"  onies,  against  the  unjust  claims  and  hostile  attacks 
"  of  the  British  Parliament ;  decried  the  value  of  the 


1  As  an  illustration  of  the  mamier  in  which  people  were  secretly  put 
into  danger,  at  that  time,  the  following  instance,  relating  to  tliese  three 
men  is  presented  : 

"An  information,  signed  by  Aaron  Stockliolm,  Samuel  Prinre,  John 
"  Bogert,  and  Thomas  Gardner,  referred  to  this  Congress  hy  the  General 
"Committee  of  the  City  of  New-York,  charging  Teter  McClean,  Samuel 
"Galsworthy,  Francis  Delaroach,  and  a  young  man,  in  military  clotli- 
"  ing,  of  their  acquaintance,  with  uttering  sentiments  highly  inimical 
"and  dangerous  to  the  cause  of  America,  was  read  and  filed. 

"OanKKKP,  That  the  names  be  added  to  tlie  list  of  dangerous,  disaf- 
"fected  persons,  to  bo  apprehended,"  (Juiinml  of  Ihc  I'mritwinl  Comjress, 
"Die  Jovis,  9  ho.  A.M.,  May  30,  177C.") 


"  Continental  money,  and  endeavoured  to  prevent  its 
"  currency,  contrary  to  the  Resolutions  of  the  Conti- 
"  nental  Congress  or  Provincial  Congress  or  Coni- 
"  mittee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony  ;  or  been  concerned 
"  or  actually  engaged  in  any  schemes  to  defeat,  retard, 
"  or  oppose  the  measures  now  pursuing  by  the  United 
"  Colonies,  for  their  defence  against  the  tyrannical 
"  and  cruel  attacks  of  the  British  Ministry  or  their 
"  allies,  adherents,  or  agents. 

"  That  all  such  of  the  said  persons  as  shall  be 
"  found  by  the  said  Committee  to  be  innocent  of  the 
"  said  offences  be  immediately  discharged  ;  and  that  a 
"  Certificate  of  such  acquittal  and  of  the  true  light 
"  in  which  they  may  respectively  appear  to  the  said 

Committee,  under  the  hands  of  the  said  Committee, 
"  be  given  to  them,  the  said  several  persons  so  acquit- 
"  ted  ;  and  that  they  also  report  to  this  Congress,  the 
"  names  of  the  persons  so  acquitted,  that  the  same 
"  may  be  entered  on  their  Journals  and  published,  to 
"  the  end  that  the  reputation  of  such  innocent  persons 
"  may  not  suffer  or  be  injured  by  their  having  been  so 
■'  arrested.  Provided,  nevertheless,  that  it  the 
"  said  persons  so  to  be  acquitted  should  appear  in  a 
"suspicious  light  to  the  said  Committee,  that  the  said 
"Committee  proceed  against  them,  in  the  manner 
"  hereinafter  prescribed  for  their  conduct  against 
"  persons  of  a  suspicious  and  equivocal  character. 

"  And  with  respect  to  all  such  of  the  said  persons 
"  as  the  Committee  shall  find  guilty  of  all  or  any  of 
"  the  said  offences,  the  said  Committee  are  hereby 
"  authorized  and  required  to  commit  to  safe  custody, 
"  all  such  of  them  whose  going  at  large  would,  in 
"  their  opinion,  endanger  the  safety  of  the  Colony  or 
"  the  Liberties  of  America ;  and  that  they  discharge 
"  the  remainder  of  them,  on  their  giving  Bond,  with 
"  good  security,  lo  the  President  of  the  Provincial 
"  Congress,  for  the  time  being,  by  name,  to  cease  and 
•'  forbear  all  oppositicm  to  the  Resolutions  and  meas- 
"  ures  of  the  Continental  Congress  or  Provincial  Con- 
"  gress  or  Committee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony,  for  the 
"  defence  of  the  United  Colonies  against  the  unjust 
"  claims  and  hostile  operations  of  the  British  Minis- 
"  try  to  enforce  them. 

"  And  in  case  it  should  appear  to  the  said  Commit- 
"  tee,  inexpedient  that  any  of  the  said  persons  should 
"  continue  to  dwell  at  his  usual  place  of  residence, 
"  that,  then,  they  do  assign  to  such  person  or  persons 
"  another  place  of  residence,  in  this  or  one  of  the 
"  neighbouring  Colonies,  and  take  his  or  their  parole, 
"  or  word  of  honour,  or,  if  they  should  not  be  deemed 
"  sufficient,  other  security,  to  abide  there  and  not 
"  leave  it,  without  license  from  this  or  a  future  Con- 
"gress;  and,  in  case  of  refusal  to  give  such  parole  and 
"  security,  to  commit  him  or  them  to  safe  custody. 

"And  whereas  it  may  happen  that  the  said 
"  Committee  may  be  informed  of  other  dangerous 
"persons,  not  herein  named,  whom  it  would  be  e.\- 
"  pedient  and  necessary  to  summon  or  apprehend  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  said  Connnittee  be  and  they 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


345 


"  luTcby  are  autliDrized  and  required  to  cause  such 
"pei'sonsto  be  suuuuoued  or  apprehended,  as  they 
"  may  think  proper,  and  to  proceed  against  them,  in  ! 
"the  same  manner  as  is  herein  before  directed,  with  j 
"  respect  to  the  persons  herein  particuhirly  mentioned. 

"And  wiiKitKAs  employing  detachments  of  the 
"  Militia  of  this  (.'oh)uy,  in  arresting  the  saiti  persons, 
"  will  not  only  be  expensive,  but  the  assembling  of 
"  them  may  alarm  the  suspicions  of  the  said  per.soiis 
"  and  their  adherents,  and,  thereby,  tend  to  defeat 
"the  design  of  these  Resolutions;  and  as  the  Con- 
"  tinental  troops  quartered  in  and  near  the  saiil  three 
"  Couiitit's  of  New-York,  Queens,  and  Ilichnioiul,  may 
"be  employed  in  the  said  business,  with  little  trouble 
"  to  themselves  and  with  greater  prospect  of  success: 

"RESOLVED,  THEKKFOUK,  That  the  Said  Committee 
"  be  and  they  hereby  are  authorized  to  confer  with 
'■  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  said  troops,  and  to 
"  request  of  him  such  detachments  of  them  as  may  be 
"necessary  for  the  purpose  aforesaid;  and  that  he 
"give  orders  that  the  said  detachments,  while  so  em- 
"  ployed,  be  under  the  direction  of  the  said  Committee 
"  or  of  discreet  persons  to  be  by  them  appointed. 
"Provided,  xevektiiei.ess,  That  the  said  Com- 
"  mittee  are  hereby  empowered  to  employ  such  de- 
"  tachments  of  the  Militia  as  they  may  think  exped- 
"  ient  for  the  purpose  aforesaid. 

"  AxD  WHEREAS  there  may  be,  and  doubtless  are, 
"  in  other  Counties  of  this  Colony,  divers  dangerous 
"persons  at  present  luiknown  to  this  Congress: 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  lo  the  Com- 
"  mittees  of  all  Counties  in  this  Colony,  to  be  vigilant, 

and  to  use  their  utmost  endeavours,  from  time  to 
"lime,  to  discover  and  summon  or  apprehend  them, 
"  in  like  manner  as  herein  before  described  with 
"  respect  to  the  persons  hereby  ordered  to  be  arrested, 
"and  to  re|)ort  their  proceedings  therein  to  the  Con- 
"gress  of  this  Colony  for  the  time  being. 

•'  And  where.vs  it  may  often  happen  that  the 
"Committees  of  Towns  and  other  districts  in  a  County 
"  may  discover  many  dangerous  persons  whom  it  would 
"be  |)roper,  immediately,  to  secure,  in  which  case  an 
"application  to  the  County  Conuuittee  would  not  only 
"  be  attended  with  great  delay,  but  would  also  afford 
"such  dangerous  persons  an  opportunity  to  escape: 

"  Resolved,  therefore.  That  the  said  Commit- 
"  tees  of  the  different  Towns  and  Districts  in  the 
"several  Counties  in  this  Colony  be  and  they  hereby 
"are  authorized  and  reciiiired  to  cause  all  persons 
"whom  they  may  esteem  dangerous  and  disaffected  to 
"appear  before  them,  either  by  arrest  or  summons,  as 
"the  said  Committees,  in  their  discretion,  may  think 
"  proper,  and  take  from  the  said  persons  respectively, 
"good  and  sufheient  security  to  api)ear  before  the 
"  General  Committee  of  the  County,  at  such  time  and 
"  place  as  they  shall  order  him  to  attend,  aiul,  then 
"  aud  there,  to  answer  such  nuitters  as  shall,  before 
"  the  said  General  Committee, be  alleged  against  him ; 
"and,  on  refusal  to  give  such  securitv,  to  commit  to 
•>,s 


"safe  custody  Ihe  said  person  or  pei"sons  so  refusing, 
"  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  said  General  Com- 
"  mittee,  with  whom  the  accusation  against  the  said 
"  dangerous  and  disaHected  person  or  persons  ought, 
"forthwith,  to  be  lodged  by  the  Committee  of  tlie 
"  Town  or  District  by  whom  they  may  be  apprehended, 
"  sunuiu)ued,  or  eonuaitled,  as  aforesaid. 

"And  whereas  there  is,  in  this  Colony,  divers 
"  persons  who,  by  reason  of  their  holding  Otiices  from 
"  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  from  their  haviug  neg- 
"  lecled  or  refused  to  associate  witli  their  fellow  citi- 
"  zens,  for  the  defence  of  their  common  Rights,  from 
'' their  having  never  mariil'ested,  by  their  conduct,  a 
"  zeal  for  and  attacliment  to  the  American  cause,  or 
"  from  their  having  maintained  an  equivocal  ueutral- 
"  ity,  have  been  considered  by  their  countrymen  in  a 
"  suspicious  light,  wliereby  it  hath  become  necessary, 
"  as  well  for  the  safety  as  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
"  people,  who,  in  times  so  dangerous  and  critical,  are 
"  naturally  led  to  consider  those  as  their  enemies  wlio 
"  withhold  from  them  their  aid  and  infiueuce  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  persons,  who  are 
"generally  supposed  to  come  under  the  above  descrip- 
"  tion,  to  wit : 

"  In  the  City  and  County  of  New-  York. — Oliver  De 
"Lancey,  Chjis.  W.  Aptliorpe,  William  Smith,  John 
"Harris  Cruger,  Jas.  Jauncey,  Junr.,  Wm.  Axtell, 
"  Goldsbrow  Banyar,  Geo.  Brewerton,  Chas.  NicoU, 
"  Gerard  Walton,  Donald  McLean,  Chas.  McEvers, 
"  Benjn.  Hugget,  Wm.  M^  Adam,  John  Cruger,  Ja- 
"cob  Walton,  Robert  Bayard,  Teter  Graham,  Peter 
"Van  Schaack,  Andrew  Elliot,  David  Mathews,  John 
"Watts,  Junr.,  and  Thomas  Jones. 

"  In  Kings-county. — Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  and 
"  John  Rapalje. 

"In  Richmond-county. —  Benjamin  Seaman  and 
"  Christopher  Billop. 

"  In  Queens-county. — Gabriel  Ludlow,  Saml.  Mar- 
"  tin,  Thos.  Jones,*  Archd.  Hamilton,  David  Colden, 
"  Richd.  Colden,  Geo.  D.  Ludlow,  Whitehead  Hicks, 
"  Saml.  Clowes,  Geo.  FoUiot,  Saml.  Doughty,  Danl. 
"  Kissam,  Gilbt.  Van  Wyck,  John  Willett,  David 
"  Brooks,  Charles  Hicks,  John  Townsend,  .John  Pol- 
"  hemus,  Benjn.  Whitehead,  Thomas  Smith,  John 
"  Shoals,  Nathl.  Moore,  Saml.  Hallett,  Wm.  Wey- 
"  man,  Thos.  Hicks,  at  Rockaway,  Benjamin  Lester. 

"In  Wesfchestcr-county.' — Solomon  Fowler^  and 
"  Richard  Morris.* 


'  Tliomaa  Jones,  one  of  tlio  Associafo  Judges  of  the  Suproiue  Court  of 
the  Colony,  was  the  author  of  that  exceeilingly  vahiablc  HisOtrij  of  Srw 
York  during  the  Uernhitinnnrt/  U'tir,  to  which  so  inauy  rcferuuces  are 
iiuulo,  ill  tins  narnitive.  His  wife,  Auiic,  was  tlic  third  daughter  of 
Chief-justice  and  Lieutenant-governor  James  I)e  Laiii  ey,  wlii(  li  was 
hirgely  the  ground  of  liis  oflence  Indore  the  leaderx  of  tlie  lieliclliun. 

-Tile  siualliiesjj  of  the  list  of  the  jiroscrihed  in  \\'eslcli('ster-cuiinty 
may,  prohahly,  he  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  .Fudge  Thomas,  and 
Major  Van  Cortlandt,  and  the  greater  nuiiiher  of  the  Colonial  Ollice- 
hoklers,  in  that  County,  were  masquerailiug,  locally,  with  the  revolu- 
tionary party. 

^Solomon  Fowler  appears  to  have  been  of  Eastchester. 

*  Uicharil  JIoiTis  was  the  Judge  of  the  Colonial  Court  of  Adminilty 


346 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  And  also  all  sucli  other  persons  of  the  like  char- 
"  acter  as  the  said  Committee  may  think  pro])er  to  be 
"  summoned  hy  the  said  Committee,  to  appear  before 
"  them,  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  shall  appoint, 
"  then  and  there  to  show  cause,  if  any  they  have, 
"  why  they  should  be  considered  iis  iriends  to  the 
"  American  cause,  and  as  of  the  number  of  those  who 
"  are  ready  to  risk  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  defence 
"  of  the  Rights  and  Liberties  of  America,  against  the 
"  usurpation,  unjust  claims,  and  cruel  oppressions  of 
"  the  British  Parliament,  which  Rights  and  Liberties 
"  and  which  unjust  claims  and  cruel  oppressions  are 
"  specified  and  stated  in  divers  Addresses,  Petitions, 
"  and  Resolutions  of  the  present  and  late  Continental 
"  Congress,  and,  in  default  of  appearance,  the  said 
"  Committee,  on  proof  made  of  the  service  of  the 
"  said  Summons,  are  authorized  and  directed  to  cause 
"  them  to  be  arrested  and  brought  before  them,  by 
"  Warrant,  under  their  handu,  directed  to  any  Militia 
"  Officer  in  this  Colony,  who  is  hereby  directed  to  ex- 
"  ecute  the  same. 

"  And  if,  on  the  aj)i)earance  and  examination  ol 
"  the  said  persons,  it  shall  ai)pear  to  the  satisfaction 
"  of  the  said  Committee  that  they  or  any  of  them  are 
"  friends  to  the  American  cause,  that  such  of  them 
"  whom  they  shall  so  adjudge  to  be  friends,  be  forth- 
"  with  discharged,  and  a  Certificate  thereof,  under 
"  the  hands  of  the  said  Committee,  given  them,  and 
"  their  names  forthwith  reported  to  this  CJongress, 
"  to  the  end  that  the  same  may  be  entered  on  their 
"  Journals,  and  published,  and  justice  thereby  done 
"  to  their  characters  and  reputations.  And  it  is  fur- 
"  ther 

"  Rkholvei),  That  all  such  of  the  said  persons  as 
"  the  said  Committee  shall  not  adjudge  and  deter- 
"  mine  to  be  I'riends  to  the  American  cause,  the  said 
"  Committee  be  and  they  hereby  are  required  to  treat 
"  and  dispose  of  in  the  following  manner,  to  wit : 


tJjo  Jiiriedictiun  uf  whicli  exteiulctl  over  Comiocticut,  Now  York,  and 
New  Jersi'y.  Hia  fatlier  had  ocfiipieil  llio  placo,  before  him  ;  lie  had  occu- 
pied it  siiicu  August  2,  17ii2  ;  and  ho  wiis,  also,  Clerk  of  tlio  Courts  ol 
Nisi  I'rivis  and  Ceiiural  Jail  Dolivery.  He  was  a  brother  of  Lewis  Mor- 
ris, the  Delsgato  iu  the  Contineiitiil  Congress,  and  of  Staats  Long 
Slorris,  an  officer  iu  the  Eiiyal  Army,  and  liuebaud  of  the  Dowager 
Duchess  of  Gordon  ;  and  Gnnverneiir  Morris  was  his  half-brother.  Ik* 
w;u*,  also,tlie  grandfather  of  Lewis  (i.  Morris,  of  Kordham  Heights. 

Although  lio  was  cliissed,  in  these  Resolutions,  among  those  who  occu- 
l)ied  "an  enuivocal  neutrality  " — ho  preferred  to  retain  his  hold  on  the 
Koyal  Troiisury  as  long  as  possible  ;  and  the  studied  denunciation  of 
him,  in  the.so  Resolutions,  was  admirably  ada|ited  to  secure  the  steady 
payment  of  bis  Salary  and  Fees,  aud  to  secure  the  family  estates,  in 
case  the  Rebellion  should  bo  suppressed— just  eight  weeks  after  the 
presentation  of  this  Report,  ho  was  appointed,  by  the  same  Provincial 
Congress  who  had  received  and  adopted  this  formidable  series  of  Resolu- 
tions, to  the  Bench  of  the  now-formed  revolutionary  Court  of  Admiralty  ; 
anil,  three  years  subsequently,  when  .John  .Jay  ceased  to  be  Chief-juslice 
of  I  lie  new  State,  this  Richard  Morris  was  aiipoiuted  to  succeed  him,  in 
tliat  honorable  aud  iutluential  position.  lie  held  the  latter  ottii  e  until 
September,  IT'JO. 

The  controlling  power  among  the  revolutionary  elements,  in  the 
Colony  as  well  as  in  the  new-formed  State,  was  not  slow  to  reward  the 
Morris  family  with  offices  and  emoluments;  and  the  latter  was  ei|ually 
watchful  of  its  own  interests,  in  accepting  whatever  was  olfered. 


"  That  such  of  them  as  may  be  men  of  influence  in 
"  the  neighbourhood  of  the  place  of  their  present  resi- 
"  deuce,  be  removed  to  such  place,  in  this  or  a  ueigh- 
"  bonring  Colony,  as  will  deprive  them  of  an  o[)por- 
"  tuuity  of  exerting  that  infiuence  to  the  prejudice  of 
"  the  American  cause,  and  respectively  bound  by 
"  their  parole  or  word  of  honour  or  other  security,  at 
"  the  discretion  of  the  said  Committee,  neither  di- 
"  rectly  or  indirectly  to  oppose  or  contravene  the 
"  measures  of  the  Continental  Congress  or  the  Con- 
"  gress  of  this  Colony,  aud  to  abide  in  the  place  aud 
"  within  the  limits  so  to  be  assigned  them,  till  the 
"  further  order  of  the  present  or  future  Provincial 

Congress  or  Continental  Congress  ;  and  in  case  they 
"  shall  refuse  to  give  such  parole  or  other  security,  to 
"  commit  them  to  safe  custody. 

"  And  as  to  such  of  the  said  persons  whose  removal, 
"  in  the  judgment  of  the  said  Committee,  shall  not 
"  appear  necessary,  that  the  said  Committee  do  cause 
"  them  to  be  respectively  bound  with  such  security, 
"  by  parole  or  otherwise,  as  the  said  Committee  shall 
"  deem  necessary,  neither  directly  or  indirectly  to 
"  oi)pose  or  contravene  the  measures  of  the  Conli- 
"  nental  Congress  of  this  Colony.  Pko  VlDED,  never- 
"  THEEESS,  that  the  said  Committee  shall  be  and  they 
"  are  hereby  authorized,  in  case  they  shall,  on 
''  iiKpiiry,  find  any  or  either  of  the  said  persons  to  be 

so  dangerous  as  that  they  ought  not  to  be  admitted 
"  to  go  at  large,  to  order  such  of  them  to  be  kejjt  in 
"  safe  custody. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  said  Committee  and  the 
"  County  Committees  keep  a  just  record  of  all  their 
"proceedings,  in  pursuance  of  these  Resolutions, 
"  and  re[)ort  the  same,  with  the  substance  of  the 
"  evidence  oti'ered  to  them,  for  and  against  the  several 
"  persons  who  shall  be  by  them  apprehended,  sum- 
"  moned,  tried,  and  examined  by  virtue  of  the  afore- 
"  going  Resolutions ;  and  that  they  have  power  to 
'■  send  for  witnesses  and  papers. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  said  Committee  consist  of 
"the  following  gentlemen,  to  wit:  Mr.  Morris,  Col. 
"  Remsen,  Mr.  John  Ten  Broeck,  Mr.  Idaring,  Mr. 
"Tredwell,  Col.  Lewis  Graham,  aud  Mr.  Hallett;' 
"  aud  that  any  five  of  them  be  a  quorum;  and  that 
"  before  they  enter  on  the  business  herein  before 
"  assigned  them,  they  and  also  all  such  of  the  County 
"  Committees  as  may  be  engaged  in  carrying  these 


■Of  these,  Gouverneur  Morris  and  Lewis  Graham  were  from  West- 
chester-county ;  Henry  Romsen  and  Joseph  Uallelt  were  from  the  City 
and  County  of  New  York  ;  John  Ten  Broeck  was  from  Albany-county  ; 
John  llaring  was  from  Orange-county  ;  and  Thomas  Tiedwoll  was  from 
Suffolk.  Subseiiuently.  as  will  be  seen  hereafter,  Henry  Renisen  was 
excused  from  serving  on  the  Committee  ;  and  John  Jay,  of  the  City  and 
County  of  New  York,  and  John  Sloss  Hobarf,  of  Sullolk,  were  added  to 
it.  At  a  still  later  date,  I'hilip  Livingston,  of  the  City  and  County  of 
New  Y'ork,  was  also  nclded  ;  and  Leonard  Gansovoort,  of  Albany-county, 
was  substituted  for  John  Ten  Broeck.  After  the  aimmittee  had  become 
organized,  jolin  llaring  retired  from  it,  Thomas  Randall,  of  New  Y'ork, 
taking  his  place.  .\  few  days  before  the  Congress  was  disbanded,  Joseph 
Ilallett  left  the  Couimitteo. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


347 


"  Resolutions  into  execution  severally  take  an  oath, 
"  diligently,  impartially,  without  fear,  favour,  afTec- 
"  tion,  or  hope  of  reward,  to  execute  and  discharge 
"  the  duties  imposed  on  them,  by  the  aforegoing 
"  Res(dutions. 

"  Uksolvko,  That  the  said  Committee  appoint 
"  such  persons  as  they  may  think  proper,  to  repair  to 
"  the  said  Counties  '  to  inquire  for  and  procure  the 
"  witnesses  against  the  jiersona  herein  directed  to  be 
'■  arrested  or  summoned  to  appear,  and  give  evidence 
"  against  the  said  ])ersons,  before  the  said  Committ-ee  ; 
"  and  that  the  said  persons  be  paid  for  their  troul)leat 
"  the  rate  of  fifteen  shillings  for  each  day  they  shall 
"  respectively  be  employed  on  that  service  ;  and  that 
"  the  witnesses  they  may  direct  to  attend,  as  afore- 
"  said,  be  jviiid  their  reasonable  ex|)cnses  for  travelling 
"  charges  and  subsistence,  to  be  certifie<l  and  allowed 
"  by  the  said  Committee  ;  which  Certificate  shall  be 
"  a  Warrant  to  the  Treasurer  of  this  Congress,  to  pay 
"  tiie  persons  in  whose  favour  such  Certificate  shall 
"  be  given,  the  sum  or  sums  therein  allowed,  as  afore- 
"  said."  '■ 

On  the  fourteenth  '  and  fifteenth  of  June, ^  those 
who  were  members  of  the  Committee,  took  the  oath 
reipiircd  of  them;  on  the  last-named  day,  John 
Mclvesson,  who  wa.s  one,  the  principal  one,  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  was  made  the 
Secretary  of  the  Committee,  also ; and,  with  a  full 
retinue  of  Assistant-secretaries,  Messengers,  Door- 
keepers, and  other  Ollicers,"  on  the  same  day,  Phiiij) 
Livingston,  Joseph  Hallett,  John  Jay,  Thomas  Tred- 
well,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Lewis  Graham,  and  Leon- 
ard Gansevoort — Livingston,  Jay,  and  Gansevoort 
having  been  meanwhile  added  to  the  Committee — 

>  It  appears  rrom  cho  wunis  in  the  text,  that  Richmond,  Kings, 
Queens,  Now  York,  aixl  Wt'stolifster-ciunitiea  were  all  which  were  to  be 
favuml  with  the  alti-ntinii  nf  that  revolu.ionary  Tnqnisition;  an(i,asfar  as 
the  iiriM!e«lini;3  of  that  iiitanioiis  Inxly  have  licen  iierinittf<l  to  he  ex- 
|K>ee<l  to  ihostTiitiiiy  ot  honest  ami  earnest  impiirers,  no  eridcnre  ap- 
|>ean  that  resideiitjj  of  other  Counties  were  suhjected  to  ita  despotic 
practices. 

•Juitnuil  nf  ttte  Prtn-itu-i4il  Co«|/»t.«,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  Jtine 
"5,  1776." 

There  are  intern  il  evidonce.-i,  in  the  twi)  pa)icrs,  that  the  Resolutions 
nhii  h  the  I'lov  noial  Congress  had  adnpled,  un  the  twenty -fourth  ol 
Slay  (/"I;/''  :M-,  ttiih')  and  those  whidi  are  now  under  consideration, 
were  written  liy  .he  same  haii<l  ;  an»l  there  is  evidence  which  cannot  be 
ini(^nndei>tiHHl,  that  that  hand  was  \n*t  .hdiu  Jay's,  nit  some  have  sup 
puseil,  hut  tJouverneur  MoiTis's.  It  is  true  that  Ductor  Siuirks  made  no 
mention  of  the  auhject,  in  his  Life  nf  Onnvunimr  Mt>rri< — it  was  not  his 
puriMMeto  ex|K>se  th.i  wejikne»*es  an<l  the  wrong-iloin^  of  his  aristtn-ratic 
anil  pretentious  suhject.  hut  to  magnify  the  man  and  Win  iloings,  and  to 
eulogi/e  them — and  all  those  who  have  preceded  us  in  narrating  the 
events  nf  tliat  iiericsl,  have,  also,  preferred  to  knnw  nothing  of  this  in 
famous  enactment  and  of  its  const.ipiences  ;  but  it  was  re:dly  en.icted,  in 
New  York,  ft>r  tlie  promotion  of  the  purposes  ofintt'Uded  confiscations  of 
individual  and  family  properties ;  and,  nn<)nestionaMy,  riouverneur 
Morris  was  the  author  of  it,  and  one  of  the  m:ister-spirits  in  the  execu- 
tion of  its  proviijioiia. 

>J>'Hrii/i/  nf  llie  PrvFiiiciiU  Onigrfxi,  "Friday  Afti-rnoon,  June  14, 
"  177fi." 

^Jimrmtl  nf  Ihf   Prurincial  O'ligrfss,  "Vie  Sahhati,  A.M.,   June  l.";, 

"  I77r.." 

>  Ihid. 
•  Ibid. 


being  present,  the  Committee  proceeded  to  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  which  had  been  laid  on  it.' 

This  secretly  acting,  inquisitorial  body,  of  which 
John  Jay  was  made  the  Chairman,  held  secret 
sessions(m  the  fifteenth,  nineteenth,  twentieth,  twenty- 
first,  twenty-second,  twenty-third,  twenty-fourth, 
twenty-fifth,  twenty-sixth,  twenty-seventh,  and 
twenty-ninth  of  June,"*  beyond  which  period  we  do 
not  i>ropose,  at  this  time,  to  follow  it;  and  on  the 
following  day,  when  the  Provincial  Congress  itself 
was  disbanded  and  fled,  every  member  of  this  mighty 
Committee,  with  the  single  exception  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,  had,  also,  left  the  City."  Besides  receiving  an 
anonymous  information  that  Williiim  Sutton,  of  Ma- 
maroneck,  had  been  heard  to  say  "  that,  in  ca.se 
"Independency  was  declared  by  the  Continental  Con- 
"gre.'ss,  there  were  three  Colonels  in  the  Service  who 
■'  would  join  the  Alinisterial  Party  ;  "  and  the  issueof 
Summonses  to  Frederic  Philipse,  of  Yonkers,  Richard 
i\[orris,  of  Scarsdale,  and  Samuel  Merritt,  of  the 
ISTanor  of  Cortlandt,  to  appear  and  answer  before  the 
Committee,  on  the  third  of  July  ;  the  issue  of  similar 
Summonses  to  Solomon  Fowler,  of  Eastchester, 
Nathaniel  Underbill,  of  Westchester,  and  James 
Horton,  Junior,  and  William  Sutton,  both  of  Mama- 
roneck,  to  appear  and  answer,  on  the  fourth  of  July  ; 
the  issue  of  similar  Summonses  to  Peter  Come  and 
Doctor  Peter  Ilnggeford,  both  of  Westchester  county, 
to  appear  and  answer,  on  the  fifth  of  July  ;  and  the 
issue  of  similar  Summonses  to  William  Barker,  Joshua 
Purdy,  and  Absalom  Gedney,  all  of  Westchester- 
county, to  appear  and  answer,  on  the  sixth  of  July," 
the  Committee  appears  to  have  done  nothing  which 
particularly  concerne<l  We.stchester-county,  during 
the  period  now  under  consideration  ;  and,  for  the 
present,  its  doings  are  dismissed.'^    It  may  not  be 


7  Minutes  of  Uie  Ootnmittee  to  Detect  Oompiracie*,  "  Die  Sabbati,  12  ho  , 
Juno  l.'>,  1776." 

8  The  Minutes  nf  the  atiiiiiiitlee,  during  the  brief  period  which  elapseil 
lictween  the  date  of  its  organization  ami  that  of  the  dis.solulion  of  the 
Provincial  Congress — which,  also,  hy  all  parliamentary  and  statutory 
law,  dissolved  the  Committee  which  was  only  its  agent — arc  scattered, 
in  various  places,  and  generally  in  manuscript,  ami  unprinted.  Of  the 
Minutes  of  the  Meetings  referred  to  in  the  text — and,  in  this  place,  we 
do  not  propose  to  refer  to  any  of  subseiiuent  dates — carefully  made  copies, 
from  the  scattered  (triginals,  have  b<'cn  examined,  in  every  instance. 

^  .lones's  Ili-ilnri/  nf  Si-ic  York  tfurimj  the  IlefnlHtit'twrii  Wnr,  ii.,  29fi, 
On  that  day.  Judge  Jones,  who  hail  been  summoned  before  the  Com- 
mittee and  had  come  to  the  City  of  New  York,  to  answer  the  Summons, 
found  only  Gouverneur  Morris  ;  and  by  the  latter,  he  was  |>urolcd  and 
permitted  to  return  to  his  homo,  in  (jueons-eounty. 

1"  .\n  anonymous  Information,  forwarded  by  John  Thomas,  Junior, 
Chairman,  "  In  Committke  of  S.^fftv,  Wiiitf.  Pi.ain.s,  June  'JS,  177(),' 
among  the  papers  of  the  Committee,  ot  the  same  day. 

Minntex  nf  t}ie  Committee  to  Detect  Compiruciea^  "Thursday,  A.M., 
"  June  27,  1776." 

'2  Those  who  are  interested  in  the  metho<ls  of  this  Committee,  the 
subseipiently  much  eulogized  Chief-justice  of  the  State  of  New  York 
and  Chief-justice  of  the  United  States  being  the  presiding  oflicer,  may 
«'e  the  forms  of  its  iitu»mn»A  and  its  P<trnte^  in  Jones's  Ilistttry  of  Sew 
York  duriwjlhe  Itemiluliimary  H'lir,  ii.,  2!t.'>,  296  ;  the  forms  of  its  li'iimiiiM, 
in  its  Miiniles  of  June  1!),  22,  and  24,  1776;  and  those  of  its  various 
DoniU,  in  its  Mimitet  of  June  24,  25,  26,  and  27,  1776. 

The  future  eulogists  of  John  Jay  and  Gouveruevir  Morris  may  advan- 


348 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEll  COUNTY. 


improper  for  us  to  state,  however,  that,  thirteen  days 
after  its  sessions  were  interrupted,  in  tlie  general 
panic  wliich  was  produced  by  General  Howe's 
arrival,  there  remained  twenty-seven  prisoners,  con- 
fined in  the  cells  in  the  City  Hall,  and  forty-three, 
including  the  Mayor  of  the  City,  in  those  of  the  new 
Jail.' 

It  would  appear  incredible  that  such  a  relentless 
spirit  of  partisan  bitterness  could  have  been  enter- 
tained, at  such  a  time,  in  such  a  body  as  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  of  New  York ;  but  the  records  of  the 
Congress  which  clearly  avowed  such  bitterness,  and 
those  of  the  Committee  which  it  created  for  the  pur- 
pose of  executing  its  malignant  enactments,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  unwritten  and  other  informal  testimony 
of  the  terrorism  which  was  at  once  revived,  and  the 
renewed  activity,  in  persecution,  of  every  petty  Pre- 
cinct, District,  and  Town  Committee,  all  bear  ample 
testimony  to  the  fact  that  personal  animosities  and 
partisan  malignity  had  so  entirely  overwhelmed  the 
reason  and  the  judgment  and  the  humanity  of  the 
aristocratic  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  in  their 
haughty  demands  for  uniformity  of  opinion  as  well 
as  of  practice,  in  religion  as  well  as  in  politics,^  that 
not  even  tlve  near  approach  of  an  avowed  and  power- 
ful enemy  nor  the  severely  pressing  necessity  of  pre- 
paring to  receive  and  to  successfully  oppose  that  not 
distant  enemy  could  check  their  headlong  and  reckless 
work  of  arousing  those,  among  themselves,  victims  of 
their  former  oppression  and  plunder  and  outrage — 
many  of  whom,  nevertheless,  would  have  remained 
passive  spectators  of  the  struggle — and  of  forcing 
them,  in  retaliation  and  self-defence,  to  become  earn- 
est and  active,  if  not  desperate,  belligerents,  on  the 
side  and  in  sujjport  of  the  Crown. 

As  portions  of  the  general  subject  of  proscription, 
mention  may  be  properly  made,  in  this  place,  of  two 


tageously  read,  from  tbeso  Miinifrti^  wliat  tho80  diBtiiiguialicd  lawyei'h 
wore  nipalile  of  iluinp;,  judicially,  when  tliey  wore  witliiu  closed  and 
closely  guarded  doors  ;  what  tliey,  then,  regarded  as  olleuces  hefore  the 
law  ;  the  nioihods  which  they  adopted,  in  their  inijuisitorial  process  ; 
and  what  their  judgments  were  and  what  penalties  they  inllicted.. 

With  these  instiances  of  the  capabilities  of  those  two  men  before  us, 
we  have  been  enabled  to  umlorstand,  more  clearly  than  ever  before, 
some  of  actions  of  the  Chief  .Instice  and  of  the  Ambassador  which, 
previously,  had  needed  ailditicjnal  explanation. 

1  I.M  <)/  Pi-isniim  ill  llir  I'ilij  Hull,  AV/r  y„rl,;  July  12,  1770,  and  I.i^l 
Pi-imiiicrs  ill  till-  New  (Imil,  among   the  pa|>er8   of  the  Committee — 
UiMiirUiil  Miiiiiiirrijih,  etc. :  MitiilhiuenHs  Pu/im,  .\xxiv.,  4!in. 

-  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  njiiiiimis  of  it.s  victims,  on  rpiestious 
of  Law,  of  Legislation,  and  of  Political  Economy,  wei-e  regardetl  aa 
matters  of  oflence,  even  where  no  <"•(  which  was  obnoxious  had 
been  ch.Trged  against  them  ;  and  that,  for  those  <.;»'iiiVi(w,  only,  in  many 
instances,  those  viclims  wrTe  subjecti'd  to  punishini'nt.  It  will  be  re- 
membered, also,  that  the  Icad.'rs  of  the  liidielliou  a.ssumed  the  right  of 
determining  when  and  in  what  manner  religious  services  sluuild  be  con- 
ducted by  the  (Ihurches,  in  the  Colonies,  and  those  for  whom  Churches 
anil  individuals  should  and  should  not  offer  their  prayers  to  Almighty 
God.  In  Cimnecticiit,  every  Kjiiscopalian  Church,  except  one,  was 
closed,  because  the  Clergy  would  not  sidunit  to  the  requirements  con- 
cerning their  prayers  to  CJod  ;  and  in  that  single  exception,  the  cour- 
ageous preacher  maintained  his  relations  with  his  Master,  notwith- 
standing the  opposition  ;  and  the  cowards  did  not  seriously  disturb  him. 


or  three  instances  which  occurred  in  Westchester- 
county. 

It  appears  that  it  had  become  the  practise  of  sev- 
eral of  the  local  Committees — those  in  Westchester- 
county,  in  some  instances,  having  been  of  the  num- 
ber— of  sending  those  who  were  offensive  to  them, 
without  the  slightest  authority,  revolutionary  or  con- 
servative, to  the  Forts  in  the  Highlands,  which  were 
then  garrisoned  with  Continental  troops,  "with  orders 
"to  the  commanding  Officers  to  keep  them  at  hard 
"labor,  until  further  orders,''  no  matter  what  the 
disability  of  the  victims  to  sustain  such  hard.ships 
may  have  been — a  process  concerning  the  propriety  of 
which  even  Gencrnl  Putnam,  who  was  then  the  Officer 
in  command  of  the  Army,  in  the  absence  of  General 
Washington,  entertained  some  very  reasonable  and 
very  clearly  expressed  doubts ;  ^  and  the  Provincial 
Congress,  in  consequence  of  those  doubts  and  of  other 
considerations  was  constrained  to  countermand  thf)so 
portions  of  the  commitments  to  those  Forts,  which 
had  imposed  hard  labor  on  the  i)risoners.* 

Another  instance  of  that  spirit  of  persecution  was 
seen  in  the  movement  of  Egbert  Benson,  one  of  those 
who  were  controlled  more  by  their  haughty  and  ill- 
controlled  wills  than  by  any  enactment  of  Committee 
or  Congress  or  by  any  requirement  of  personal  or  po- 
litical integrity,  for  the  employment  of  a  local  force, 
in  the  service  and  pay  of  the  Colony,  for  the  purpose 
of  "  keeping  the  peace  and  order  and  to  sujjpress  the 
'disaffected  in  Duchess-county."^  The  "requisi- 
''  tion,"  for  by  that  expressive  word  the  call  of  Benson 
was  then  known,  was  duly  referred  to  the  Deputations 
from  Duchess,  Westchester,  and  Ulster-counties,  for 
consideration  and  report — Gouverneur  Morris,  Samuel 
Ilaviland,  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  and  Lewis  Gra- 
ham, representing  Westchester-county ;  ®  and,  on  the 
following  day,  that  Committee  recommended  the 
employment  of  one  hundred  men  in  Duclie.ss-county 
and  fifty  men  in  Westchester-county,  "  the  said  men 
"  to  be  raised  in  the  said  Counties  respectively,  and 
"confined  to  the  service  of  those  Counties,  and  to 
'continue  in  pay  until  the  first  day  of  November 
"next,  unless  sooner  discharged  by  this  or  a  future 
"  Congress." ' 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  serious  opposition  to 
I  lie  adoption  of  the  Report,  New  York  City  and  Coun- 
ty leading  in  the  opposition,  but  it  was,  nevertheless, 
adopted;"  and,  two  days  afterwards,  [June  22,  177G,] 


dm  frill  J*lltlim»  to  the   Provilirinl    Cmnji-i-its,  "  HEAD-QI'AKTEItS,  Nkw- 

"  YoKK,  June  3,  177fi." 

*  Joiiniiil  nf  Ihij  Pi-m<im  uil  Coiiijri-ns,  "  Die  Luna>,  4  ho.,  I'. M.,  Juno  li, 
"  177r,." 

^  Jiniriiiil  of  the  Proriiii-itil  < 'niitiri'jtn,  "  \Vednesday  morning,  June  10, 
"17711;"  and  the  same,  "  Wednesday  afternoon,  June  lit,  177G." 

^  Jovniiil  of  the  Proi'iiieiiil  C'oiiyresit^  "  Wednesday  afternoon,  June  19, 
"1770." 

7  Joitniitl  of  the  Provineial  Coiiifreits,  "Thui-sday  morning,  June  20, 
"177G." 

^  Joiiniiil  of  the  Provincial  Onigress,  "Thursday  morning,  June  20, 
"  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


349 


after  various  manipulations,  in  a  second  Committee,' 
by  "  one  of  the  Secretaries, "  ■  and  by  the  Congress  it- 
self,'' the  subject  was  disposed  of,  in  a  series  of  Reso- 
lutions, which,  it  is  said,  "  were  unanimously  ap- 
'  proved  of."  I 
As  that  entire  subject  relates  to  the  local  history  of 
Westche-ster-countv,  at  that  period,  and  to  the  e.stab-  ] 
lishment  of  a  military  police  force,  in  th.it  County, 
evidently  for  the  more  effectual  prosecution  of  the 
proposed  operations  of  the  recently  created  "  Com- 
"  niittee  to  detect  Conspiracies  "  among  the  peaceable 
conservative  residents  of  that  County — as  no  com- 
plaint had  been  made,  by  any  one,  of  the  slightest 
breach  of  the  peace,  in  that  County,  and  as  its  local 
County  Committee  had  ma<le  no  application  for  the 
establishment  of  such  a  military  police  force,  for  any 
purpose,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  as  far  as  the 
Company  in  Westchester-county  was  concerned,  the 
project  wa.s  a  creation  of  the  Deputation  from  that 
County,  and  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  .assist- 
ing the  "Committee  to  Detect  Conspiracies,"  of  which 
Committee  two  members  of  that  Delegation  were  also 
members,  in  harrying  the  conservative  fiirmers  of  the 
County,  in  the  interest  of  "the  cause  of  America"  and 
that  of  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  in  New  York — 
for  these  reasons,  the  Resolutions  may  properly  find 
a  place  in  this  narrative.    They  were  in  these  words: 

"  Whereas,  there  are  sundry  disaffected  and  dan- 
"  gerous  persons,  in  the  Counties  of  Dutchess  and 
"  Westchester,  who  do  now  greatly  disturb  the  peace 
"  of  the  said  Counties,  and  will  most  probably  take  up 
"  arms,  whensoever  the  enemy  shall  make  a  descent 
"  upon  this  Colony,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  said 
"  Counties,  in  particular,  and  of  othei-s  the  good  peo- 
"  pie  of  this  Colony  : 

"  And  WHEREAS,  by  reason  of  the  several  drafts 
"  which  have  been  made  in  the  said  Counties,  accord- 
"  ing  to  the  late  recommendation  of  the  Continental 
"Congress,  the  Jlilitia  thereof  are  rendered  incapable 
"  of  keeping  peace  and  order  in  the  said  Counties, 
"  without  great  inconvenience  to  themselves  and  much 
"  injury  to  and  neglect  of  their  private  property  ;  and, 
"  iniusmuch  as  the  interest  of  this  Colony  may  be  ma- 
"terially  adected  by  any  dissentions  which  may  pre- 
"vail  in  tlu  sai<I  Counties,  while  the  Continental 
"troops  are  engaged  in  the  defence  of  those  Counties  j 
"more  immediately  expr)sed  to  the  inroads  of  the 
"  enemy  :  therefore 

"  Rrsolved,  That  one  hundreil  men,  Officers  in- 
"  eluded,  be  raised  in  Dutchess-county,  and  that  fifty 
"  men,  Ollicers  included,  be  raised  in  Westchester- 
"  county,  and  taken  into  the  pay  and  service  of  this 
"  Congress,  and  confined  to  the  service  of  those  Coun- 
"  ties,  and  to  continue  in  pay  until  the  first  day  of 


1  Journid  of  the  ProviucUtl  Congress^  "Friday  afternuon,  June  '21,  1770.'* 

2  Ibid. 

^  Juurtutl  of  the  Prociucitd  (Jungrets^  "Sattirduv  murning,  June  22, 
"1778." 


"  November  next,  unless  sooner  discharged  by  this  or 
"  a  future  Congress  of  this  Colony  : 

"  That  the  one  hundred  men  to  be  raised  in  Dutch- 
"  ess-county  be  divided  into  two  Companies,  each 
"Company  to  consist  of  one  Captain,  one  Lieutenant 
"three  Sergeants,  three  C()ri)i)rals,  one  Fifer,  one 
"Drummer,  and  forty  Privates;  and  that  the  fifty 
'■  men  to  be  raised  in  Westchester-county  consist  of 
"one  Captain,  one  Lieutenant,  three  Sergeants,  three 
"  Corporals,  one  Fifer,  one  Drummer,  and  forty  Pri- 
"vates;  that  the  jiay  of  those  three  Companies  be 
"  the  same  as  the  pay  of  the  Continental  troops  ;  that 
"  the  Captains  be  allowed  eighteen  shillings  each, 
"per  week;  the  Lieutenants  be  allowed  twelve  shil- 
"  lings  each,  per  week  ;  and  the  Sergeants,  Cori)orals, 
•'Fifers,  Drummers,  and  Privates,  eight  shillings 
"  each,  per  week,  in  lieu  of  all  rations  and  subsistence : 

"That  Melancton  Sniith  be  appointed  Captain  of 
"one  of  the  said  Comi)anies  to  be  raised  in  Dutchess- 
"  county  ;  and  that  John  Durlin  be  apjiointed  Cap- 
•'  tain  of  the  other ;  and  that  Micah  Townsend  be 
"appointed  Captain  of  the  said  Comjiany  to  be  raised 
"in  Westchester-county: 

"That  the  General  Committees  of  the  said  Coun- 
"  ties  be  authorized  to  nominate  and  appoint  the 
"Subaltern  Officers  to  the  said  Companies,  in  their 
"  Counties,  respectively: 

"  That  the  said  three  Companies  be  deemed  one 
'■  Corps;  and  that  Melancton  Smith  be  Captain  Com- 
"  mandant ;  that  Micah  Townsend  be  the  .second 
"Captain  in  rank;  and  that  John  Durlin  be  the 
"  third  Captain  in  rank,  in  the  said  Corps: 

"  That  the  General  Committees  of  the  said  Coun- 
"  ties  be  authorized  and  requested  to  appoint  a  Mus- 
"  ter-master  in  their  respective  Counties,  to  mu.ster 
'  the  said  Comjianies;  and  that  they  transmit  the 
"  names  of  such  Muster-masters  to  the  Committee 
"  appointed  to  audit  the  accounts  of  this  Congress, 
"  without  delay : 

"  That  the  said  three  Companies  be  subject  to  the 
"  order  and  direction  of  the  General  Committee  of 
"their  respective  Counties  or  such  other  jjcrson  or 
"  persons  as  this  or  a  future  Congress  of  this  Colony 
"  shall  direct. 

"  OuDEiiEi),  That  a  certified  copy  of  the  aforesaid 
"Resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the  General  Commit- 
"  tees  of  Dutchess  and  Westchester-counlies.  And 

"  OuDEREi),  That  Commissions  be  immediately 
"issued  to  the  Captains,  and  that  blank  Commissions 
"be  .sent  to  the  said  Committees,  to  be  by  them  issued 
"  to  the  Lieutenants." 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  provisions  were  matle  by 
the  Provincial  Congress  for  either  the  recruiting,  or 
the  e(juipment,  or  the  (juarters,  or  the  transportation 
of  these  men ;  and  there  will  be  some  among  the 
readers  of  this  narrative  who  will  say  that  if  lilty  un- 
armed, scattered  men,  on  foot,  citnld  surely  ensure  the 
peace  of  so  large  and  so  widely  extended  a  community 
as  Colonial  Westchester-county — and  if  those  men 


350 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


could  not  surely  preserve  that  peace,  their  appointment 
were  useless — the  inhnbitants  of  that  County  could  not 
have  been  as  "  dangerous"  and  its  jieace  could  not  have 
been  as  "greatly  disturbed  "  as  the  authors  and  pro- 
moters of  these  Resolutions  had  falsely  pretended, 
among  the  recitals  of  their  Preamble:  others  will 
suspect,  not  without  reason,  that  the  entire  movement 
was  a  purely  political  job,  gotten  up  for  the  pur])ose 
of  affording  p(ditical  sop,  at  the  expense  of  the  Col- 
ony, for  hungry  adherents  of  the  Bensons  and  the 
Morrise — suspicions  which  would  be  well-founded, 
since  neither  of  the  Duchess-county  Companies  were 
subscfiuently  known  in  history,  excei)tthrough  the  re- 
quisition on  the  Treasurer  of  the  Colony,  for  their  Pay 
and  Subsistence;'  while  the  Westchester-county  Com- 
pany, without  having  become  known  to  history,  in  its 
capacity  of  an  armed  police,  is  known,  in  the  military 
annals  of  the  State,^  for  having  done  nothing  else  than 
changed  its  Lieutenant,'  for  asking  for  greater  Pay,* 


1  JoMnml  iif  Ihc  I'roitiiiciiil  Cuiiijresii,  "Die  Veneris,  Novr.  1,  177G,  4 
"o'cloi-k,  I*.M." 

-Ttie  iinly  allusion  to  military  duty  discharged  hy  this  Company, 
wliicli  we  have  found,  is  that  Oj-./ec  of  Ihn  I'roviiirial  Congress,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  .Inly,  "that  Captain  Townsend  of  Westehcster-coiinty 
"return  to  duty,  with  his  CompaMy,  at  the  mouth  of  Croton  river  and 
"  Bucli  places  ailjncpnt  as  the  Officer  or  Officers  commanding  the  Ameri 
"can  troops  or  Jlilitia,  there,  shall  direct,"  [Jniinud  nf  the  I'mvlm-Uil  Con- 
(/ifss,  "  Tliursilay  i  ning,  July  20,1771;;")  which  was  certainly  be- 
yond the  line  of  duties  fur  whii  h  it  had  been  specilii  ally  raisecl. 

SThe  County  Ccmimitteo,  agreeably  to  the  Kesolutious  of  the  Provin- 
cial (longieKH,  presented  in  the  text,  appointed  Samuel  Townsend  to  the  | 
Lioutenaiitcy  of  this  (  onipuuy.  Subsecpieutly,  liieutenaiit  Townsend  was  | 
promoted  to  the  command  of  another  Company  ;  and,  on  the  sixteenth 
of  August,  Zephaiiia  Miller  was  appointed  to  the  vacant  IJeutenantcy, 
(The  (icmnal  Oniimittre  of  WesU  hentrr-rtmilij  li>  the  Cimmil'um  of  the  .S(<i/<>, 
"  August  If),  1776  ;  "  Juiinial  of  the  I'roi  iiicuil  Courentioii,  "  Die  Veneris, 
"11  ho.,  A.M.,  August  10,  1770.") 

♦  The  following,  copied  from  the  original  manuscript,  (Historical  Mim 
untrijilx,  etc.:  Pflitioiis,  xxxiii.,  llKi,  1D4,)  will  bo  interesting  to  our 
readers,  in  this  cvtnnection  : 

"  To  nil'.  IbiNoKAiu.K  run  Convkntion  or  nil'.  St.M'k  ok  Nkw-York. 

"  The  Petition  of  the  Lieutenant  non-commissioned  officers  &  Privates 
"belonging  to  Capt"  Micah  Townsend's  company  raised  to  be  under  the 
"Direction  of  the  Committee  of  Westchester  County,  Humbly  Sheweth, 

"That  the  Honorable  the  Provincial  Congri'ss  of  this  Colony  when 
"  they  gave  Instructions  for  raising  Capt"  Townsend's  (Company  allowed 
"the  liieutenaiit  Via.  per  weels,  and  the  non  commissioned  officers  and 
"  privates  Ss.  per  week  in  lieu  of  liatioiis  and  Subsistence. 

'•That  at  ami  near  the  White  i'lains  ^which  is  the  head  Quarters  of 
"  the  Company)  the  allowance  for  their  subsistance  does  not  amount  to 
"near  enough  to  supiiort  them,  they  being  unable  to  get  victuals  for 
"less  than  Is.  i)er  Meal,  or  to  hire  their  lioaid  at  any  tolerable  rate  but 
"by  the  week  ;  that  your  I'etitiouei-s  entered  the  Company  &  Did  duty 
"in  the  most  busy  season  of  the  year  before  Si  during  Harvest  time  A 
"  have  hail  a  harder  share  of  tluty  than  the  Troops  who  were  allowed  by 
"your  hoiKjiable  House  2U  Dcdiars  Bounty  &  who  have  generally 
"received  near  4(i  Dollars. 

"  Your  Petitioners  therefore  humbly  pray  that  your  honorable  House 
"  will  be  pleased  to  increase  the  I'ay  for  their  Subsistance  so  fur  as  to 
"  enable  them  when  they  live  with  Frugality  to  support  themselves  by  it 
"in  the  part  of  the  County  where  they  may  reside,  or  be  ordered.  And 
"your  Petitioners  as  in  duty  bound  shall  ever  pray,  &c. 

"Zephaiiiah  Miller,  I.,ieutenant,       M'illiain  Freilenborongh, 

"  Jacob  Travis,  Serjent,  Jonathan  Ferris, 

"  William  Martin,*  .Serjent,  Robert  Bloomer,  Juu', 


*The  Deposition  of  John  Martinc,  "  of  the  Manor  of  Philipsbiirg  near 
"the  White  Plains,"  (His/o/icu;  M'timsci-ipl.i,  etc.;  Mi-si-tllaneous  I'apcrs, 
XXXV.,  1!73,)  shows  that  this  was  William  Martiue,  his  sou. 


and  for  drawing  the  Pay  which  was  legitimately  due 
to  it.* 

Another  instance  of  the  spirit  of  jiartisan  bitter- 
ness which  prevailed,  at  that  time,  in  Westchester- 
county,  and  of  the  unholy  zeal  with  which  the  Town 
Committees  urged  forward  the  work  of  persecution 
and  plunder,  among  their  conservative  neighbors,  may 
be  seen  in  the  following  note  which  was  addressed  by 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  Town  of  Salem, 
in  that  County — that  Committee  which,  a  short  time 
previously,  had  laid  an  embargo  on  Cattle  intended 
for  the  supply  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New 
York* — to  the  Provincial  Congress  : 

"to  the  honhle.  the  provincial  congress, 
"  New  York  : 
"  The  Committee  of  Salem,  in  Westchester-county, 
"  liave  the  unhappiness  of  having  a  large  number  of 
"  the  inhabitants  very  much  opposed  to  the  measures 
"  of  the  United  Colonies,  and  numbers  of  them  are 
"determined  not  to  comply  nor  adopt  the  doings  of 
"  the  Congress,  which  makes  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
"  for  said  Committee.  Said  Committee  has  adver- 
"  tised  some,  obliged  others  to  give  bonds,  some  of 
"  one  or  two  hundred  pounds,  some  of  which  have 
"forfeited  their  bonds  and  run  off,  and  have  made 
"considerable  costs,  one  in  jjarticular,  in  sending 
"after  him.  We  desire  to  know  what  shall  be  done 
"with  the  forfeitures,  and  likewise  how  to  proceed  in 
"taking  of  it,  and  how  to  turn  it  into  money  if  taken 
"  in  stock  or  whatever  else,  or  whether  or  no  the  Con- 
"gress  wont  take  the  forfeitures  and  pay  the  cost; 
"  we  desire  you  would  give  us  some  rides  and  direc- 
"  tions  how  to  proceed.  And  likewise,  those  men 
"that  still  behave  inimical,  and  put  tiie  Committees 
"  to  so  much  trouble,  whether  or  no  we  might  not 
"take  cost  of  them  to  pay  us  what  is  reasonable  for 


"Joshua  Mead,  Serjent, 
"Reuben  Bloomer,  Corp', 
"Thomas  Brooks,  Corp', 
"James  Stiobdy,  Corp', 
".\ntliony  Miller,  Kifar, 
"  James  (Carpenter, 
"William  Williamson, 
"Elven  Hyot, 
"  William  Snilfon, 
"  Moses  Higons, 
"John  Beaks, 
' '  William  Seaman, 
"  Elijah  Millor,  Jun', 
" Nathan  Holmes, 
"Samuel  Lyon,  Jun', 
"  Stephen  Munday, 
"  Frederick  Datin, 

"In  Committf.e  of  Sakktv  kok  thf.  Cocn'tv  of  Wf.stchkster  > 
"attiik  Wuitk  Plains,  Sept' ■2"''  1770.  J 
"  Re.solvfi),  that  this  Committee  recommend  to  the  hoiible  the  Con- 
'veution  of  this  State  the  reasonableness  of  increasing  the  .Subsistance 
'  Money  for  Capt"  Townsend's  ('ompaiiy  as  they  are  of  opinion  that  8s 
'per  week  per  Man  is  not  a  sufficient  provision  for  them. 

"By  order  of  the  Committee, 

".TipiiN  Tho.mas,  .Ji'N',  CV/(in-THaH." 
"Juiinml  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "i  ho.,  P.M.,  Deer.  7,  1776." 
^  Vide  pages  149,  lOU,  ante. 


Samuel  Howell, 
Uriah  Travis,  Ju., 
Jonathan  Finch, 
John  Travis, 
James  Miller,  Jun', 
Zechejis  Dilile, 
Absolim  Hiitchiiis, 
Daniel  J>eau, 
Jeremiah  liit/.elle, 
John  Mills, 
Jereiliab  Owen, 
Benjamin  fretenboroiigh, 
Thomas  Ramond, 
John  Broadstreot, 
Samuel  Miller, 
Robert  Merritt. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


351 


"  our  time,  for  we  grow  weary  of  being  called  together 
"to  deal  with  tories.  That  has  been  our  whole  busi- 
"  nesss  ever  since  we  have  been  formed  as  a  Commit- 
"  tee  ;  it  has  cost  me,  in  particular,  not  less  than  six 
"  luuuired  milcn  riding,  and  I  bc^lieve,  at  a  moderate 
"guess,  twenty  or  thirty  dollars  in  cash,  and  I  never 
"  yet  expected  pay  ;  but  I  find  1  cant  live  so,  and  if 
"  the  tories  make  all  the  trouble,  why  ought  they  not 
"  to  pay  all  the  cost,  ttcutlemen,  we  only  want  or- 
"  ders  from  you  to  take  it.  We  have  sent  Mr.  Ben. 
"  Chapman  to  you,  praying  of  you  to  send  us  some  di- 
"  rections  on  this  important  affair,  one  of  the  mem- 
"  bers  of  this  Committee. 

"By  order  of  the  Committee, 

"  EZEKIEL  Hawley,'  Cluiifntan. 
"  June  5th,  177(i." 

That  letter  was  laid  before  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, on  Saturday  evening,  the  eighth  of  June;  and 
the  Journal  of  that  body  states  that  it  was  "  read  and 
"  liled,"  -  the  Congress  itself,  as  will  be  seen  in  its 
s-ubsequent  proceedings  in  the  matter,  hesitating, 
in  view  of  its  atrocious  propositions,  to  give  the 
authority  which  its  writer  had  so  unblusliingly 
solicited. 

With  the  fact  before  him,  that  the  "  large  number 
■' of  the  inhabitants"  of  the  Town  of  Salem  which 
was  referred  to,  in  that  letter,  was  composed  ol 
farmers,  neighbors  of  the  writer  of  it,  and  peacefully 
and  industriously  pursuing  their  usual  vocations; 
and,  with  the  additional  fact  before  him,  that  none  oi 
these  were  even  pretended  to  have  committed  any 
other  olfense,  against  either  the  King  or  the  ('ongress, 
than  the  entertainment  of  political  opinions  which 
wore  ditl'crciit  from  those  entertained  by  Kzekiel 
llawley  and  his  handful  of  "  patriotic"  confederates, 
thereader  will  be  enabled  to  judge,  with  some  de- 
gree of  accuracy,  concerning  the  really  diabolical 
character  of  the  letter  and  that  of  him  who  had 
written  it. 

The  number  of  those  who  were  thus  proscribed  and 
w  hose  properties  were  so  eagerly  hankered  for,  was 
said  to  have  been  "  large;"  the  proposed  victims  were 
"  inhabitants "  of  Salem,  and  neighbors  of  Hawley 
and  bis  confederates  ;  they  were  (juietly  pursuing  their 
usual  ruial  occu|)ations,  doing  no  harm  to  any  one, 
and  violating  no  law,  although  their  opinions,  on 


>  Mr.  Button  said  tliia  Hawley  was  a  grandson  of  Rev.  Thomas  llaw- 
l«y,  I'listor  of  tli»  Congregationul-clnirrli  at  Kiil{;t'l1i'IO,  Cnnneoticnt ;  tlial 
tic  was  Olio  of  tlio  propi  iclorF  of  tin'  Oliliiiij;  ;  tliat  lii'  liolil  a  ('oiiiiiiiaisioii 
ill  tlio  Coiitiiiviital  Army  ;  and  that  lie  was  latieii  ulT  liy  duutli,  Biiddunly, 
ill  I7^^,S.  (//iW-. /■;/•>/  ll'i«/<7ic»<ci'-<-i>nM/y,  origiiiiil  cdiliun,  i.,  174  ; xdik, 
Stccoiiil  udiliiiii,  i.,  7:S8.) 

Tlio  " roiitiiieiilal "  ('i^iiiiiiissioii  referred  to,  by  Mr.  Bolton,  was 
iiotliiiig  oIbo  than  tliat  of  First  lyioutcnant  in  Paplniii  Triio«dalu°B  Com. 
|iany  of  Colonial  .Militia,  "for  the  North  End  of  Salem" — a  local  Com- 
pany of  notoriously  \pry  little  nccoiint,  (/Wnni.«  of  EIn-liou  nf  OJficert, 
DeceiiitK-r  18,  177.'>,  in  the  UUturicul  iWnniwryrf*,  etc.  :  MilUitri/  lietunit, 
xxvii.,  245.) 

-  Joio  iinl  of  the  Prorinciul  Cotigrcst,  "  Die  Sabbati,  6  ho. ,  P.M  ,  June  8, 
"1776." 


partisan  political  questions,  were  not  in  accord  with 
those  which  the  latter  professed  to  hold ;  both,  at  the 
same  time,  concurring,  however,  in  the  recognition 
of  the  King  ol' Great  Britain  as  their  legitimate  Sove- 
reign; both  professing  to  be  equally  and  eiitiiely 
good  and  loyal  subjects  of  that  reigning  Monarch  ; 
both  owing  obedience  to  tlic  Laws  of  the  Lami ;  and 
both,  alike,  recognizing  the  duty  of  that  obedience,'' 
although  only  one  of  the  two  discharged  that  duty,  in 
its  every  day  practice.  Against  those  unoffending 
farmers — as  their  accusers  have  shown,  they  were 
nothing  else — with  a  malignant  zeal  which  betrayed 
its  selfish,  puritanic  origin,  the  writer  of  that  letter 
prayed  that  they  should  be  arrested;  that  their  prop- 
erties, real  and  personal,  should  be  seized,  and  cs- 
cheiited,  and  conliscateil ;  that"  costs"  should  be  paid, 
therefrom,  into  the  willing  hands  of  those  who  shoulil 
have  thus  invaded  their  individual  Rights — Rights 
which  had  been  guaranteed  to  each  of  them,  by  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Laws  of  the  land — that  their  homes 
should  be  violated  and  destroyed  ;  that  their  families 
should  be  made  beggars,  and  be  cast  penniless  on  the 
world;  and  that,  excc[)t  among  those  who  thus  sought 
warrants  to  become  local  ilcspots,  nothing  else  than 
individual  and  domestic  misery  and  general  devas- 
tation and  ruin  should  be  aimed  at  and  obtained. 
Can  anything  more  atrocious  be  conceived?  Can 
those  who  could  calmly  and  deliberately  devise  such 
outrages,  to  be  inflicted  on  a  peacel'ul  community, 
and  that  community  their  own  immediate  neighbors 
and  townsmen,  be  regarded  as  anything  else  than 
monstrosities,  in  human  form,  in  which  only  the 
baser  and  most  brutal  i)assions  had  fouiul  places? 
But,  after  all,  these — the  letter  andtlie  [lassions  which 
had  iiispireil  it  and  the  hand  which  had  written  it — 
were  only  the  legitimate  outcome  of  the  barl^arous 
propositions  which  John  Jiiy  and  CJouverneur  Morris 
and  their  partisan  associates,  taking  tidvantage  of  a 
short  period  of  i)eculiar  anxiety  and  of  labors  of  more 
than  usual  variety  and  importance,  hail  letl  the  jaded 
and  almost  exhausted  Provincial  Congress,  it  may 


3  "  To  do  justiooeven  to  ivln-ls,  let  it  here  bo  iiiomioiiod  lliat  *  *  *  Nay, 
"so  far  wore  tlioy  fioiii  iiitorforiiig  with  the  law,  that  the  .Magi.stratos 
"  (-oiitiiiiiod  in  full  po>«-ossioii  of  llio  Civil  poweiv  and  llio  CoiirtH  of  Jiis- 
" tice  wore  open  ill  the  usual  manner  until  tlio  lioclaratioii  of  liidopon- 
"deiice.  In  .Vpril  Torin,  177('i,  wvoral  rohol  tsoldiei-s  were  iiidiotod  for 
"some  Petty  I.aiceniei<.  trieil,  convicted,  and  punisliod  by  ordiT  of  the 
"Court  without  any  iiitorfeieiice  of  the  Military;  their  Ollicoi-s  at- 
"  tended  tin- trials,  heaiil  the  evidoiiee,  and  upon  their  convii  lion  do- 
"clarod  that  ample  jiistico  wax  done  them,  and  thanked  the  Judge  for 
"  his  candor  and  impartiality,  during  the  course  of  the  trials." — Jones's 
lIMori/  «/Xiir  r„rk  tbiniuj  Ihr  liiiMiiUminnj  ir.ii-,  i,,  i:i7. 

Judge  Jonos,  the  writer  of  the  above  paragr.ipli,  wiis,  at  that  tinio, 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supronio  Court  of  the  Colony,  and  personally 
ucipi.-iinted  with  the  facts  stated.  His  praclioe  was,  in  maltoi>i  in  which 
he  was  personally  conoornod,  to  mention  no  name  ;  and  the  context  cer- 
tainly seems  to  indicate  that  the  Trial  was  in  the  City  of  New  York  ;  tint 
the  leuriK-d  Kditor  of  that  roiiiiukablo  work,  has  stated,  in  the  fmfcr, 
(ii.,  <1'.H.)  undoubtedly  on  coniiK-tont  authority,  that  the  Court  referred  to 
w  lis  held  at  the  White  Plains,  in  Wosti  hestor-coiinty  ;  and  that  the  pre- 
siilingJiiilgeofthnt  Court  w  as  Thomas  Jonos,  the  w  riter  of  the  w  ork  from 
w  hich  this  (laragraph  was  taken. 


352 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


have  been  unwittingly,  to  establish  as  the  formal 
enactments  of  that  revolutionary  body.^ 

As  we  have  said,  the  letter  which  Ezekiel  Hawley, 
in  behalf  of  the  Committee  of  the  Town  of  Salem, 
wrote  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  was  laid  before  that 
body,  on  Saturday  evening,  the  eighth  of  June;  when 
it  was  read  and  filed.''  On  the  following  morning, 
\_Handaij,  June  9,  1775,]  the  Congress  directed  the  fol- 
lowing answer  to  be  made  to  that  remarkable  letter  : 

"In  Provincial  Congress, 
"  New-York,  June  i),  177G. 

"  Sir  : 

"  Your  letter  by  Mr.  Chapman,  of  the  5th  inst.,  was 
"  laid  before  the  Congress,  who  are  of  opinion  that 
"  the  contents  require  the  most  serious  consideration, 
"  and  have  directed  me  to  acquaint  you  that  whenever 
"  several  matters  of  importance  for  the  general  defense 
"  and  preservation  of  the  Colony,  now  under  consider- 
"  ation,  are  despatched,  the  Committee  of  Salem  may 
"  be  assured  a  proper  attention  will  be  made  on  their 
"  application,  the  Congress  not  doubting  that  Commit- 
"tee  will  still  persevere,  with  zeal  in  the  cause  o( 
"their  country. 

"  By  order, 
"  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  President. 
"To  Ezekiel  Hawley,  E.sqk.,  Chairman 
"  of  the  Committee  of  Salem,  Weslchedcr."  ^ 

Had  Gouverneur  Morris  or  John  Jay  been  present, 
when  the  Provincial  Congress  received  or  when  it 
answered  that  letter,  the  answer  would  probably  have 


1  Tlio  imcstion  of  tlie  extent  to  wlikli  the  several  Provincial  Coii- 
gresseB,  iininthieiiceil  by  the  outsiile  iiressuiu  of  lionieinnde  pitrtisan 
demonstrations  or  by  t lie  inside  domination  of  thofse  who  assnined  to  social 
or  intellei  tnal  snperiority,  wonld  have  pven  their  authority  for  the 
enactiiient  and  execution  of  such  violent  nieaKures,  against  those  of  their 
fellow  Colonists  who  did  not  concur  in  all  which  Wiw  done  by  the  Conti 
nental  Congress  of  1774,  as  we  have  noticed,  is  worthy  of  the  examina- 
tion which  it  will  some  day  receive  at  the  hands  of  an  intelligent,  indus- 
trious, and  fearless  student. 

If  we  do  not  mistake,  and  we  incline  to  the  belief  that  wo  do  not, 
when  that  examination  shall  have  been  made,  very  much  of  the 
resiionsibiiity  for  the  multitude  of  atrocious  acts  which  were  done  in 
behalf  of  '*  the  cause  of  America  "  and  of  "  the  Liberties  of  America," 
vvill  be  shifted  from  the  shoulders  of  sensible,  but  modest  and  less  ener- 
getic, men,  where  it  now  rests,  to  those  of  men  who  are  now  represeiiti'il 
as  having  been  incapable  of  such  enormities. 

History  tells  of  more  than  one  instiince  in  which  a  mere  handful  ol 
enthusiasts,  more  or  loss  honest  in  their  professions,  has  fiusteneil  itself 
on  a  great  political  jiarty  which  entertained  none  of  those  enthusiastic 
dogmas  which  the  others  iissiimed  to  believe  and  maintain,  and  which, 
having  thus  fastened  itself  on  the  larger  body,  taking  advantage  ol 
favorable  oiiportunities,  artfully  adapting  itself  to  existing  tenipei-s  and 
circumstances,  and  pereistenlly— sometimes,  impudently— thrusting  ii 
self  into  every  seat  of  inlluence  and  authority  to  which  it  could  possibly 
gain  access,  has  succeeded  in  re-mouhling  the  policy  of  the  party  which 
it  has  invaded  ;  and  made  it  appear  to  bo  what,  originally,  it  was  not ; 
to  maintain  opinions  which,  originally,  it  disclainieil  and  opposeil ;  and 
to  do,  or  permit  to  be  done,  in  its  name,  what,  originally,  it  would  have 
honestly  shrunk  from,  iis  improper  and  unjust.  Such  an  iiistJince,  if  we 
do  not  mistaki',  occurred  in  this  Colony,  in  177.')  anil  177(;  :  wi'  wi  re  pel-- 
soiially  acquainted  with  a  similar  instance,  vastly  more  impurtant  in  its 
coiiseiiuences  than  the  other,  which  occurred  within  the  United  States, 
at  a  comparatively  recent  date. 

2  Vide  page  .351 ,  ante. 

3Jo'inial  of  the  ProeincUd  OiiKjress,  "  Sunday  morning,  .June  9,  177C." 


been  of  a  different  tenor ;  but  Jolin  Morin  Scott,  who 
was  present  on  both  occasions,  and  whose  master 
mind  probably  controlled,  wisely  halted,  and  evidently 
induced  the  Congress  to  halt,  in  the  work  of  pro- 
posed persecution  and  devasttition  and  ruin.  The 
Committee  of  Stilem  was  coldly  dismissed,  without 
even  a  word  of  symiiathy  ;  and  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress paid  HQ  further  attention  to  the  subject. 

With  a  persistency  which  was  worthy  of  a  better 
purpose,  notwithstanding  the  rebuke  which  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  had  thus  administered,  the  Commit- 
tee at  Salem  was  not  disposed  to  be  thus  relegated  to 
the  obscurity  of  a  rural  Town  ;  and,  subsequently, 
two  other  letters,  relating  to  the  same  general  subject 
of  "  the  disaffected  persons  who  were  under  bonds  to 
"  that  Committee,"  were  addressed  by  it,  to  the  Con- 
gress.   The  first  of  these  letters  is  in  these  words  : 

"  Gentlemen  : 

"  As  our  civil  and  religious  j)rivileges  all  lie  at 
"  stake,  we  that  are  friends  thereto  desire  to  lend  a 
"  lifting  hand  in  trying  to  preserve  them  ;  and  as  the 
"  tories  grow  more  and  more  disaffected,  and  are  daily 
"  going  off  on  to  Long  island — four  men  last  week 
"  from  my  neighborhooil,  several  more  from  other 
"  parts,  Capt.  Theal  and  his  sou  John  Lobdiu,  and 
"  Stephea  Delance  "  [Z>e  Lancey  ?'\  "  some  of  them 
"laid  under  £500.  bonds  and  also  the  solemnity  of  an 
"  oath — but  they  regtird  not  any  thing  the  Comuiit- 
"  tee  does  with  them,  so  long  as  they  have  their  lib- 
'•  erty.  It  is  supposed  numbers  are  concealed  on 
"  Long  island.  Please  to  take  it  into  your  wise  cou- 
"sideration,  whether  or  no  it  will  not  be  best  to  send 
"  and  purge  Long  island ;  and  as  I  wrote  to  you  a 
"little  back  by  Mr.  Chapman,  one  of  the  members  of 
"  Sak'in  Committee,  U)  know  what  we  should  do  with 
"  those  that  forfeit  their  bonds,  and  how  we  should 
"get  i)ay  for  the  last,  as  there  is  since  many  more,  we 
"  should  be  glad  of  an  answer. 

"  By  order  of  the  Committee, 

"  Ezekiel  Hawley,  Chairman. 

"Salem,  June  22d,  1776. 
'To  THE  Honourable  the  Pbovincial  Conoress 
"  OF  New-York."  * 

Two  days  after  that  letter  was  written,  [June  24, 
1770,]  the  Sul)-coiniuittees  of  Cortlandt  and  Salem 
united  in  the  following  letter,  also  addressed  to  the 
Proviiicitil  Congress  ;  aiul  in  order  to  expedite  the 
consideration  of  the  subject  to  which  it  was  devoted, 
by  that  body,  E/ekiel  H:iwley  was  formally  directed  to 
forward  it,    witii  all  convenient  speed." 

"Salem,  24th  of  June,  177(i. 

"  Gentlemen  : 

"  Whereas  sundry  persons  of  note  have  lately  ab- 
"sconded  from  our  part  of  the  country,  and  we  have 
"  reiison  to  think,  from  several  circumstances,  are 
"  (with  numbers  of  others)  assembling  together  on 

^  Jutinttil  of  the  Proi'incUfI  Coiitjress  :  Correspoud^nve,  ii.,  lUtJ,  197. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


353 


"  Loug  island,  witli  a  view  to  join  the  Ministerial 
"Army,  we  beg  the  Congress  would  take  the  matter 
"  under  consideration,  and  ad()])b  such  measures  as  to 
'•  youshall  appear  most  proper  for  the  removal  of  such 
"  dangerous  assemblages,  who  we  fear  are  forming 
"  a  combination  to  aid  and  assist  the  Ministerial  Army 
"  when  an  opportunity  shall  permit. 

"  Ordered,  That  the  same  be  forwarded  with  all 
"  convenient  speed  by  Mr.  Ezekiel  Halley. 

"  By  the  joint  order  of  the  Sub-committees  of  the 
"  manor  of  Cortlandt  and  Salem. 

"  Ezekiel  Halley, 
"  Joseph  Benedict, 

"  Chairmen. 

"  To  THE  Honourable  the  Pbovincial  Con- 
gress." ' 

These  two  letters  were  presented  to  the  Provincial 
Congress,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-fourth  of 
June;  read  before  that  body  ;  and  ordered  "  to  remain 
"for  further  consideration;  "  ^  and  there,  as  far  as  we 
have  knowledge,  they  have  remained,  from  that  day 
until  this — the  Provincial  Congress  certainly  paid  no 
further  attention  to  them. 

Closely  connected  with  it,  if  it  was  not  really  the 
basis  of  that  policy  of  proscription  and  persecution 
and  devastation  which  peculiarly  distinguished  the 
entire  series  of  Provincial  Congresses  and  Committees 
of  Safety  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  as  well  as  the 
early  Conventions  and  Legislatures  of  the  State,  after 
the  Colony  had  ceased  to  exist,  was  the  series  of  Tests, 
known  as  Associations,  which  were  enacted,  first,  by 
the  Continental  Congress  of  1774  and,  subsequently, 
in  various  forms,  by  the  Provincial  Congresses  of  New 
York,  b^"  the  latter  of  whom  and  by  their  several 
Committees  of  Safety  they  were,  also,  rigidly  en- 
forced, as  we  have  seen,  in  other  portions  of  this 
narrative. 

One  of  these  Tests,  or  Associations,  adopted  by  a 
Provincial  Committee  of  Safety,  was  proved  to  have 
been  so  etitirely  subversive  of  the  j)ersonal  Rights  of 
those  to  whom  it  was  oflered,  that  numbers  who  had 
previously  favored  or  acquiesced  in  the  Rebellion, 
peremptorily  declined  to  sign  it,  preferring  rather  to 
be  considered  as  disaflected  and  to  be  disarmed,  as 
such,'  and  to  suffer  all  the  other  pains  and  penalties 
and  insults  tf)  which  those  who  were  known  as  "  dis- 
"  affected  "  were  continually  subjected. 

The  disaffection  referred  to  must  have  been  quite 
extended,  seriously  impairing  the  prospects  of  a  polit- 
ical uniformity  throughout  the  Colony,  to  which  the 
leaders  of  the  Rebellion  had  constantly  aspired,  or  the 
Provincial  Congress  would  not  have  turned  aside  from 
its  daily  routine  to  have  noticed  it.  As  it  had  reached 


'  Journal  of  Oie  Provincinl  Congrea:  Gorreapondetice,  ii.,  197. 
*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Oongrut,  "Monday  afternoon,  June  24, 
"1776." 

'Recito/ in  the  Preamble  of  the  new  Association,  adopted  by  tlie  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  on  the  twentieth  of  June,  1776. 
29 


those  proportions  which  entitled  it  to  respect,  how- 
ever, on  the  eighteenth  of  June,  three  days  after  the 
organization  of  "the  Committee  to  detect  Conspir- 
"  acies,"  the  Provincial  Congress  adopted  the  following 
Resolution,  on  the  subject : 

"  Whereas  doubts  have  arisen  respecting  the  true 
"  construction  of  a  certain  Association  ordered  by  the 
"  late  Committee  of  Safety  of  this  Colony,  to  be  pre- 
"  sented  for  subscription  to  the  inhabitants  thereof  : 

"  Resolved,  That  all  doubts  respecting  the  true 
"  construction  of  the  said  Association  ought  to  be  re- 
"  moved ;  and  that  a  Committee  be  appointed  to 
"  prepare  and  report  a  Resolution  for  that  purpose."  * 

On  the  twentieth  of  June,  the  Committee  which 
had  been  appointed  to  consider  the  subject — a  Com- 
mittee composed  of  Thomas  Tredwell  and  John  Sloss 
Hobart,  of  Suffolk,  and  John  Jay,  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  all  of  whom  were  distinguished  for  their  rigid 
and  intense  partisan  feelings — submitted  its  Report, 
evidently  the  work  of  John  Jay,  by  whom  it  was  pre- 
sented. As  it  was  intended  to  be  submitted  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Westchester-county,  and  to  be  em- 
ployed as  the  basis  of  fresh  outrages  against  their 
persons  and  properties,  it  may  properly  find  a  place 
in  this  narrative: 

"  In  Provincial  Congress, 
"  New-York,  June  20,  1776. 

"  Whereas,  the  Continental  Congress,  on  the 
"  fourteenth  day  of  March  last,  did  recommend  to  the 
"  several  Assemblies,  Conventions,  and  Councils  or 
"  Committees  of  Safety  of  the  United  Colonies,  im- 
"  mediately  to  cause  all  persons  to  be  disarmed  within 
"  their  respective  Colonies,  who  were  notoriously  dis- 
"  affected  to  the  cause  of  America,  or  had  not  associ- 
"  ated,  and  refused  to  associate  to  defend,  by  arms, 
"  these  United  Colonies,  against  the  hostile  attempts 
"  of  the  British  Fleets  and  Armies : 

"  And,  whereas,  the  late  Committee  of  Safety  of 
"  this  Colony  did,  thereupon,  on  the  twenty-seventh 
"  day  of  March  aforesaid,  recommend  it  to  the  Com- 
"  mittees  of  the  several  Cities,  Counties,  Manors, 
"  Townships,  Precincts,  and  Districts  in  this  Colony, 
"  forthwith,  to  cause  to  be  disarmed,  all  persons 
"  within  their  respective  districts,  who  were  known 
"  to  be  disaffected  to  the  cause  of  America,  and  also 
"  all  such  persons  as  should  refuse  to  sign  the  foUow- 
"  ing  Association,  viz. : 

"  '  We,  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of   ....  , 

"  '  in  the  County  of  ,  and  Colony 

"  '  of  New  York,  do  voluntarily  and  solemnly  engage, 
"  '  under  all  the  ties  held  sacred  among  mankind,  at 
"  '  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  to  defend,  by 
"  '  arms,  the  United  American  Colonies,  against  the 
"  '  hostile  attempts  of  the  British  Fleets  and  Armies, 
"  '  until  the  present  unhappy  controversy  between 
"  '  the  two  Countries  shall  be  settled.' 


*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Tuesday  morning,  June  18,  1776." 


354 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"And  whereas  it  hath  been  objected  to  the  said 
"  form  of  an  Association,  that,  by  obliging  the  sub- 
"scribers  or  associators,  in  such  general  and  express 
"  terms,  to  defend  the  United  Colonies,  by  arms, 
"against  the  hostile  attempts  of  the  British  Fleets 
"  and  Armies,  it  deprived  them  of  the  Rights  reserved 
"  by  the  Militia  Regulations,  and  imposed  on  them  the 
"  necessity  of  marching  to  the  most  distant  of  the 
"Colonies,  whenever  called  upon,  which  construction 
"  of  the  said  Association,  however  nice  and  casuistical, 
"  is  inconsistent  and  fallacious,  it  being  manifest  that 
"  the  Militia  Regulations  co\x\A,  by  no  rules  of  construc- 
"  tion,  be  supposed  to  be  repealed  and  abrogated  by 
"  any  subtle  implications  drawn  from  the  said  Associ- 
"tion.  But,  as  some  of  the  friends  to  the  American 
"  cause  have  been  influenced,  by  this  objection,  to 
"  refuse  signing  the  said  Association,  and,  in  conse- 
"  quence  thereof,  been  disarmed,  it  hath  become  ex- 
"pedient  that  the  said  Association  should  be  so  ex- 
"  plained  as  to  render  it  free  from  specious  as  well  as 
"solid  objections;  and,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  unanimottsly,  That  nothing  in  the 
"said  Association  contained,  shall  extend  or  be  con- 
"strued  to  extend  to  deprive  those  who  have  sub- 
"  scribed  it  of  any  Rights  reserved  to  them,  in  and  by 
"  the  said  Militia  Regulations  ;  and  to  the  end  that  all 
"  the  Freemen  of  this  Colony  may  associate  for  the 
"preservation  of  American  liberty,  in  a  form  entirely 
"  unexceptionable ; 

"Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  following 
"  form  of  an  Association  be  and  it  is  hereby  recom- 
"  mended  to  them,  viz. : 

"  '  We,  the  subscribers,  inhabitants  of   .    .    .    .  , 

"  'in  the  County  of  and  Colony  of  New 

" '  York,  do  most  solemnly  declare  that  the  claims  of 
"  'the  British  Parliament  to  bind,  at  their  discretion, 
"' the  people  of  the  United  Colonies  in  America,  in 
"  '  all  cases  whatsoever,  are,  in  our  opinions,  absurd, 
"'unjust,  and  tyrannical;  and  that  the  hostile  at- 
"  '  tempts  of  their  Fleets  and  Armies  to  enforce  sub- 
" '  mission  to  those  wicked  and  ridiculous  claims 
"  '  ought  to  be  resisted  by  arms. 

" '  And,  therefore,  we  do  engage  and  associate, 
" '  under  all  the  ties  which  we  respectively  hold 
'•' '  sacred,  to  defend,  by  arms,  these  United  Colonies, 
"  '  against  the  said  hostile  attempts,  agreeable  to  such 
"  '  Laws  and  Regulations  as  our  Representatives  in 
" '  the  Congresses  or  future  General  Assemblies  of 
"  '  this  Colony  have  or  shall,  for  that  purpose,  make 
"  '  and  establish.' 

"  And  that  all  persons  who  have  been  disarmed  for 
'•  refusing  to  associate  with  their  countrymen,  for  the 
"  defense  of  the  United  Colonies,  in  the  form  pre- 
"  scribed  by  the  late  Committee  of  Safety,  as  afore- 
"  said,  may  have  no  pretence  to  complain  of  injus- 
"  tice,  and  that  they  may  have  a  fair  opportunity  of 
"  convincing  the  public  that  their  refusal  to  sign  the 
"  said  Association  did  not  arise  from  a  disinclination 
"  to  defend  the  Rights  of  America,  but  merely  from 


"  objections  to  sign  to  the  form  of  the  said  Association, 
"  and  thereby  be  restored  to  the  privilege  of  bearing 
"  arms  in  support  of  a  cause  so  important  and  so 
"  glorious ; 

"  Resolved,  unanimously.  That  all  persons, 
"  other  than  those  whom  the  Committees  of  the  sev- 
"  eral  Counties  shall  adjudge  to  be  notoriously  disaf- 
"  fected  to  the  American  cause,  who  have  not  asso- 
"  ciated  in  the  form  prescribed  by  the  late  Committee 
"of  Safety,  as  aforesaid,  be  called  upon,  by  persons 
"  to  be  appointed  by  the  said  Committees  of  the  sev- 
"  eral  Counties,  and  requested  to  subscribe  the  Asso- 
"  ciation  contained  and  recommended  in  and  by  these 
"  Resolutions.  And 

"  Resolved,  further.  That  all  such  of  the  said 
"  persons  as  shall  subscribe  the  same,  other  than 
"  notoriously  disaffected  persons,  as  aforesaid,  ought 
"  to  be  considered  and  treated  as  friends  to  their 
"country;  and  that  all  arms  taken  from  them  and 
"  not  disposed  of  to  the  Continental  troops,  be  re- 
"  stored  to  them  ;  and  that  care  be  taken  that  they 
"  respectively  be  paid  the  full  price  allowed,  for  such 
"  of  their  arms  as  may  have  been  delivered  to  the 
"  Continental  troops,  as  aforesaid. 

"  And  further,  that  all  such  of  the  said  persons 
"  as  shall  refuse  to  subscribe  to  the  same,  together 
"  with  all  notorious  disaffected  persons,  be  forthwith, 
"  if  not  already  done,  disarmed,  and  required  on  oath 
"  to  declare  and  discover  whether  the  arms  so  to  be 
"  taken  from  them  be  all  the  arms  they  respectively 
"  have  or  had,  and  if  not,  where  the  residue  thereof, 
"  to  the  best  of  their  knowledge  and  belief,  are  depos- 
"  ited  and  may  be  found ;  and  that  such  of  them  as 
"  shall  refuse  to  take  such  oath,  be  committed  to  s^afe 
"  custody  till  they  will  consent  to  take  it.  • 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  it  be  and  it  is 
"  hereby  recommended  to  the  Committees  of  the  sev- 
"  eral  Counties  in  this  Colony,  to  carry  the  aforesaid 
"  Resolutions  into  execution,  with  diligence  and 
"  punctuality.'" 

It  is  said  that  the  Report  and  Resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  Provincial  Congress, 
evidently  without  the  slightest  consideration  of  their 
characters  and  probable  result,  and  certainly  during 
the  latter  portion  of  an  afternoon  session  of  the  Con- 
gress, in  which,  both  before  and  after  the  presenta- 
tion of  them,  that  body  was  crowded  with  other  and 
very  important  matters  of  business  ;  and  it  is  said  to 
have  ordered,  at  that  time,  that  the  Resolutions 
should  be  printed  in  all  the  newspapers  which  were 
then  published  in  the  City  of  New  York  and  in  hand- 
bills ;  and  "  that  the  Resolutions  be  read  to  every 
"  person  to  whom  the  Association  thereby  recom- 
"  mended  shall  be  offered  for  subscription."  ^ 

Whatever  the  real  motives  of  those  who  had  de- 


l  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Cotujress,  "Thured.iy  Afternoon,  June  20, 
"1776." 
=  Ibid. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


355 


clined  to  sign  the  Association  which  the  Committee  of 
Safety  had  prescribed,  had  been,  they  were  such  as 
had  led  the  Provincial  Congress  to  notice  them, 
respectfully,  and  to  lead  that  body  to  move  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  objections  which  had  been  thus  reasona- 
bly raised  against  that  Association,  by  those  whom  the 
Provincial  Congress's  Committee  was  constrained  to 
recognize  as  "  friends  to  the  American  cause ;  "  and 
it  ill  became  John  Jay,  therefore,  to  display  so  many 
of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his  generally  unamiable 
character,  in  the  contemptuous  and  singularly  insult- 
ing words  which  he  applied  to  those  of  his  fellow 
"  friends  of  the  American  cause"  who  had  presumed 
to  take  their  kno\vledge  of  the  legal  obligations  con- 
tained in  that  objectionable  Association  from  some  one 
else  than  from  himself  and  his  Congressional  con- 
frerie ;  and  an  impartial  examination  of  the  two  forms 
of  Association,  and  a  caretiil  comparison  of  that 
revised  form,  which  he  induced  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress to  substitute  for  that  against  which  the  objec- 
tions had  been  raised,  with  the  latter,  will  clearly 
indicate  to  the  reader  that  the  writer  of  that  revised 
form  had  permitted  his  evil  passions  to  get  the  better 
of  his  personal  integrity,  when  he  belittled  himself 
by  reporting  an  Association  which  was  even  more 
objectionable  in  its  provisions  than  that  which  had 
been  objected  to,  dressed  and  decorated  with  a 
meaningless  Preamble,  evidently  intended  for  the 
beguilement  of  the  unwary,  but  without  containing  a 
single  word  of  provision,  either  in  the  Preamble  or  in 
the  Association  itself,  that  the  signers  of  that  revised 
instrument,  by  that  act,  would  not  deprive  themselves 
of  their  Eights  as  Militia,  and  subject  themselves  to 
be  taken  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Colony,  even  to 
the  extoot  of  the  most  distant  of  the  confederated 
Colonies,  whenever  some  body,  over  whom  they 
could  exercise  no  control,  should  incline  to  order 
them  thither.  Indeed,  instead  of  relieving  the  Asso- 
ciation which  the  Committee  of  Safety  had  recom- 
mended, from  the  uncertainties  of  its  provisions,  the 
only  duty  which  had  been  assigned  to  John  Jay  and 
his  two  rustic  associates,  these  astute  partisans,  in  the 
bitterness  of  their  animosities,  did  nothing  else,  in 
the  way  of  the  duty  which  had  devolved  on  them, 
than  to  indulge  in  contemptuous  sneers  and  inuen- 
does  against  those  who  had  objected  to  the  terms  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety's  Association,  without  includ- 
ing, in  their  revised  form,  the  provisions  of  safety 
which  the  Provincial  Congress  had  evidently  intended 
to  have  inserted;  and,  by  the  addition  of  words  which 
were  not  in  the  former,  they  actually  made  the 
signers  of  the  revised  Association,  more  than  before, 
the  helpless  subjects  of  two  absolutely  despotic 
bodies,  over  neither  of  whom  could  they  bring  any, 
even  the  slightest,  restraining  influence,  no  matter 
how  objectionable  and  oppressive  the  Orders  and 
enactments  of  either  or  both  of  those  bodies  might  be. 

As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  he  is;  and  it 
will  be  difficult,  in  the  light  of  such  actions  as  this, 


to  convince  any  honest  man  that,  whatever  he  may 
have  been  after  he  had  reached  that  place  in  the 
office-bearing  ranks  of  his  countrymen  which  he  so 
greatly  coveted  and  of  which  he  was  so  exceeding 
fond,  while  John  Jay  was  still  struggling  for  place,  it 
mattered  little  under  what  master,  he  was  neither 
more  nor  less  upright,  in  what  he  said  and  did  for  the 
advancement  of  his  individual  or  his  party's  purposes, 
than  are  office-seekers  of  our  own  day,  with  whom  the 
end  in  view  is  generally  made  to  justify  the  means. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress received  a  letter  from  the  President  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  dated  on  the  preceding  day, 
and  enclosing  a  Resolution  of  that  body,'  the  latter 
of  which,  because  of  its  remarkable  character,  is 
entitled  to  a  passing  notice,  in  this  place.  The  Reso- 
lution referred  to  was  in  these  words : 

"  In  Congress,  June  24,  1776. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  persons  abiding  within  any 
"  of  the  United  Colonies  and  deriving  protection  from 
"  the  Laws  of  the  same,  owe  allegiance  to  the  said 
"  Laws  and  are  members  of  such  Colony ;  and  that  all 
"persons  passing  through,  visiting,  or  making  a  tem- 
"  porary  stay  in  any  of  the  said  Colonies,  being  en- 
"  titled  to  the  protection  of  the  Laws  during  the  time 
"of  such  passage,  visitation,  or  temporary  stay,  owe, 
"during  the  same  time,  allegiance  thereto. 

"That  all  persons,  members  of  or  owing  allegiance 
"  to  any  of  the  United  Colonies,  as  before  described, 
"  who  shall  levy  war  against  any  of  the  said  Colonies, 
"  within  the  same,  or  be  adherent  to  the  King  of  Great 
"  Britain  or  others,  the  enemies  of  the  said  Colonies,  or 
"  any  of  them,  within  the  same,  giving  to  him  or  them 
"aid  or  comfort,  are  guilty  of  treason  against  such 
"  Colony. 

"That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Legislatures  of 
"  the  several  United  Colonies  to  pass  Laws  for  punish- 
"  ing,  in  such  manner  as  to  them  shall  seem  fit,  such 
"  persons,  as  before  described,  as  shall  be  proveably 
"attainted  of  open  deed,  by  people  of  their  condi- 
"tions,  of  any  of  the  treasons  before  described. 

"  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  Legislatures  of 
"the  several  United  Colonies,  to  pass  Laws  for  pun- 
"ishing,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  think  fit,  per- 
"  sons  who  shall  counterfeit,  or  aid  or  abet  in  coun- 
"terfeiting,  the  Continental  Bills  of  Credit,  or  who 
"shall  pass  any  such  Bill,  in  payment,  knowing  the 
"same  to  be  counterfeit. 

"  By  order  of  Congress, 

"  John  Hancock,  President." ' 

The  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress  tells  us  that 
this  remarkable  paper  formed  a  part  of  the  Report  of 
the  Committee  on  Spies,  to  that  body ;  and  that  Com- 


1  Journal  of  Die  ProviHcial  CongreM,  "Wednesday  morning,  June  26, 
"  1776." 

s  Journal  of  Ihe  Provincial  CongreM:  Correspondence,  ii.,  196. 
See,  also,  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congrete,  "Monday,  June  24, 
"  1776." 


356 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


mittee  appears  to  have  been  composed  of  John 
Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Edward  Rutledge,  James 
Wilson,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  ;^  but  the  character 
of  those  who  framed  the  Resolution  only  increases 
our  surprise,  and,  more  clearly  than  before,  indicates 
the  desperate  straits  into  which,  even  at  that  early 
date,  the  Continental  Congress  had  been  crowded, 
unless  the  "spies  "  against  whom  the  Committee  ful- 
minated its  Report  were  those  Commissioners  whom 
the  Ministry  had  authorized  to  treat  for  Reconcilation 
and  PeacCj^  and  who  were,  at  that  time,  nearing  and 
not  distant  from  New  York  ;  and  unless,  also,  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  by  these  Resolutions,  proposed  to 
naturalize  Admiral  Howe,  and  General  Howe,  and 
the  forces  which  were  respectively  under  their  com- 
mand; and  to  transform  ail  these,  on  their  arrival 
within  the  harbor  of  New  York,  into  "  members  of 
"  the  Colony  "  of  New  York,  "  owing  allegiance  to 
"  the  Laws  of  the  United  Colonies,"  and  subject  to  be 
tried  on  a  charge  of  "  Treason  against  such  Colony  " 
of  New  York,  should  they  become  prisoners  of  war. 

Whatever  the  purposes  of  the  Continental  Congress 
may  have  been,  in  the  adoption  and  promulgation  of 
these  Resolutions,  no  one  can  attribute  to  the  learned 
lawyers  who  reported  them  the  slightest  sincerity, 
since  none  knew  better  than  they,  that  "allegiance," 
under  any  possible  circumstances,  was  not  and  could 
not  become  due  to  what  was  nothing  else  than  a  mere 
"  Law,"  and  that  the  "  Law  "  of  a  mere  "  Colony," 
w'hich  might  be  enacted  on  one  day  and  be  repealed 
on  the  next;  that  "allegiance"  was,  tiien,  and  would 
always  be,  due  to  nothing  else  than  to  the  Sovereign 
of  whom  the  person  was  or  should  become,  legiti- 
mately, a  subject;  that  an  avowed  sojourner,  "  pass- 
"  ing  through"  a  Colony  or  merely  "visiting"  it  or 
"making  a  temporary  stay"  within  it,  at  the  same 
time  owing  "allegiance"  to  the  Sovereign  of  another 
country,  while  he  would  certainly  owe  obedience  to 
the  local  Law,  during  the  entire  period  of  his  journey 
through  or  of  his  visit  to  or  of  his  temporary  stay 
■within  that  Colony,  by  no  Law  nor  by  any  possible 
interpretation  of  a  Law  which  would  have  been  en- 
titled to  the  slightest  respect,  only  by  reason  of  that 
journey  or  visit  or  temporary  stay,  could  have  been 
said  to  have  surrendered  his  "allegiance"  due  only 
to  his  own  Sovereign,  and,  instead,  only  for  the  same 
reason,  to  have  become  a  subject  of,  owing  "alle- 
"giance"  to,  the  authority  which  controlled  the  place 
of  his  journey  or  visit  or  temporary  stay,  and  espe- 
cially so  while  that  place  was  or  should  continue  to 
be  only  an  acknowledged  dependency  of  a  foreign 
Prince,  to  whom  it  was  or  should  be,  itself,  avowedly 
subject,  and  by  whom  no  such  enactment  or  order  had 


1  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "Wednesday,  June  5,  1776." 

2  "  According  to  the  noble  Lord's  explanation,  Lord  Howe  and  his 
**  brotlier  are  to  be  Bent  as  Spies,  not  as  Commissioners  ;  that  if  they  can- 
"  not  go  on  shore,  they  are  to  soiind  upon  the  coast." — (Speech  of  Charles 
Jamts  Fox,  on  the  Motion  for  Lord  Howes  Ju-^triu-li^ms,  "  House  ok  Com- 
"  MuNs,  Wednesday,  May  22,  17"6.") 


been  made;  that  no  mere  Colony,  dependent  on 
another  and  superior  political  power,  could  possibly 
have  been  said,  sincerely,  by  such  a  Committee,  to 
have  possessed  a  political  Sovereignty,  nor  that,  in  the 
absence  of  such  a  Sovereignty,  there  could  possibly 
have  been  a  respectable  and  competent  charge  of 
Treason  against  it,  in  any  instance  w^hatever;  and, 
more  than  all,  that  such  a  pretense  and  threat  of 
charges  of  Treason  against  a  Colony,  made  by  the 
Committee,  in  its  Resolutions,  was  simply  a  harmless 
thunderbolt,  before  the  Law,  since  the  King  of  Great 
Britain,  against  whom  and  against  whose  authority 
the  Resolutions  were  specifically  directed,  was,  at  the 
time  of  the  adoption  and  promulgation  of  those  Res- 
olutions, actually  the  Sovereign  of  all  those  Colonies 
and  of  all  those  who  were  thus  denouncing  him, 
openly  and  generally  recognized,  throughout  the  for- 
mer, as  the  source  of  all  their  legitimate  political 
authority  and  as  their  King;  and,  by  the  members  of 
that  Committee  and  the  authors  oftho.se  Resolutions, 
themselves,  specifically  recognized  as  the  Sovereign 
to  whom  each  and  every  of  them  was  himself  proud 
to  owe  allegiance.' 

"Allegiance"  and  "Treason"  presupposed  Sov- 
ereignly existing  in  the  Colonies,  without  which  Sov- 
ereignty there  could  not  have  possibly  been  any 
"Allegiance"  due  to  either  of  them  nor  "Treason" 
committed  against  them  or  either  of  them ;  but  it 
would  require  a  bold  man,  possessed  of  a  very  vivid 
imagination,  to  maintain,  seriously  and  honestly,  that 
any  such  Sovereignty  existed  in  the  Colonies,  or  in 
any  or  either  of  them,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  June, 
1776,  when  the  Continental  Congress  adopted  these 
Resolutions,  whatever  there  might  have  been  or  not 
have  been,  in  the  several  States,  a  fortnight  after- 
wards. 

What  the  result  of  this  action  of  the  Continental 
Congress  was,  will  be  seen,  hereafter. 

Another  very  important  subject  which  was  intro- 
duced to  the  notice  of  the  third  Provincial  Congress, 
during  its  very  brief  existence,  was  that  of  supplant- 
ing the  existing  Colonial  Government  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  form  of  Government  which  would 
more  nearly  represent  the  current  spirit  of  those  who 
were  leaders  in  the  Rebellion,  and  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  would  indicate  a  determination  to 
sever  the  political  connection  of  the  Colony  with  the 
Mother  Country. 

On  the  tenth  of  May,  177G,  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, after  a  very  severe  and  very  protracted  consid- 
eration of  the  subject,  had  adopted  a  Resolution;* 
and  on  the  fifteenth  of  the  same  month,  it  had  pre- 


3  See,  in  the  Address  to  the  King,  by  the  same  Continental  Congress  and 
signed  by  each  of  its  members,  individually,  {Journal  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  "Saturday,  .Tuly  8,  1775,'")  what,  at  the  date  of  these  Kesolu- 
tions,  contained,  unaltered,  all  which  had  'ten  said,  foruially,  of  the 
disposition,  Inward  the  King,  of  either  the  Congress  or  of  its  individual 
members. 

<  Jourmtl  of  the  Coutinental  Congress,  "  Friday,  May  10,  177G." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


357 


fixed  to  that  Resolution,  a  Preamble,*  which,  together, 
were  in  these  words  : 

"  Whereas  his  Britannic  Majesty,  in  conjunction 
"  with  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  Great  Britain,  has, 
"  by  a  late  Act  of  Parliament,  excluded  the  inhabi- 
"  tants  of  these  United  Colonies  from  the  protection 
"  of  his  Crown  ; 

"AxD  WHEREAS  no  answer  whatever  to  the  humble 
"  Petition  of  the  Colonies,  for  redress  of  grievances  and 
"reconciliation  with  Great  Britain,  has  been  or  is 
"  likely  to  be  given,  but  the  whole  force  of  that  King- 
"  dom,  aided  by  foreign  mercenaries,  is  to  be  exerted 
"  for  the  destruction  of  the  good  people  of  these  Col- 
"  onies ; 

"  And  WHEREAS  it  appears  absolutely  irreconcilable 
"  to  reason  and  good  conscience  for  the  people  of  these 
"  Colonies,  now,  to  take  the  Oaths  and  Affirmations 
"  necessary  for  the  support  of  any  Government  under 
"  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  it  is  necessary  that 
"  the  exercise  of  every  kind  of  authority  under  the 
"said  Crown  should  be  totally  suppressed,  and  all  the 
"powers  of  Government  exerted  under  the  authority 
"  of  the  people  of  the  Colonies,  for  the  preservation  of 
"  internal  peace,  virtue,  and  good  order,  as  well  as  for 
"  the  defence  of  their  lives,  liberties,  and  properties, 
"against  the  hostile  invasions  and  cruel  depredations 
"of their  enemies,  therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  re- 
"  spective  Assemblies  and  Conventions  of  the  United 
"  Colonies,  where  no  Government  sufficient  to  the 
"exigencies  of  their  affairs  hath  been  hitherto  estab- 
"  lished,  to  adopt  such  Government  as  shall,  in  the 
"  o])inion  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  best 
"  conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of  their  constit- 
"  uents,  in  particular,  and  America,  in  general.' 

The  careful  reader  of  that  Preamble  and  Resolution 
will  not  fail  to  see,  in  every  portion  of  them,  only  In- 
dependence very  thinly  disguised  ;  ^  and  he  will  not 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  those,  within  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  who  were  most  desirous  of  effecting 
a  Reconciliation  with  the  Mother  Country,  were  most 
resolute  in  opposing  the  adoption  of  them  ;  ^  nor 

>  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congreti,  "  Wednesday,  May  15,  1776." 

'  "  Great  Britain  has  at  last  driven  America  to  the  last  step  :  a  com- 

plete  separation  from  her,  a  total,  absolute  Independence,  not  only 
"  of  her  Parlinnient,  but  of  her  Crown,  for  such  is  the  amount  of  the 
"  Resolve  of  the  15th.  Confederation  among  ourselves  or  .\lliauce8 
"  with  foreign  nations  are  not  necessary  to  a  perfect  separation  from 
"  Britain  ;  that  is  effected  by  extinguishing  all  authority  under  the 
"  Crown,  Parliament,  and  Nation,  as  the  Resolution  for  instituting 
"  Governments  has  done,  to  all  intents  and  purposes.  Confederation 
"  will  be  necessary  fur  our  internal  concord,  and  Alliances  may  be 
"so  for  our  external  defense." — (John  A<Uime  to  ilfrs.  Adamt,  "Phila- 
"  DELPHIA,  May  17,  1776.") 

As  the  writer  of  this  paragraph  was  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
who  framed  the  Preamble,  and  as  he  probably  wrote  it,  there  need 
be  no  better  authority  concerning  the  inteut  of  him  who  framed  it, 
as  well  as  concerning  his  understanding  of  the  meaning  and  of  the 
consequences  of  it. 

See,  also,  titepfieti  Hopkins  to  Governor  Cooke,  of  Rhode  /Wrtwrf,  "Phii.a- 
"  DEi.FiiiA,  May  16,  1776." 

3  The  Delegation  from  Pennsylvania,  sulisequently  such  determined 


that,  after  they  had  been  adopted,  those  of  the  Dele- 
gation from  the  Colony  of  New  York  who  had  been 
among  those  who  had  opposed  that  favorable  action, 
very  soon  retired  liom  their  seats  in  the  Continental 
Congress  and  occupied  seats  in  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress of  New  York,^  where,  by  means  of  a  similar 
line  of  action,  adverse  to  the  adoption  of  a  new  form 
of  local  Government  and  to  the  evidently  approaching 
question  of  Independence,  both  those  radical  meas- 
ures might  be  successfully  opposed,  at  least  until  the 
Royal  Commissioners  whom  the  Home  Government 
had  sent  to  effect  a  Reconciliation,  should  have  arrived 
and  presented  their  proposals,  and  until  those  who 
were  anxious  to  figure,  in  New  Y'ork  and  at  London, 
as  di{)loniatists  and  as  peace-makers,  rather  than  as 
friends  or  promoters  of  Independence,  should  have 
had  an  opportunity  to  dispense  with  Independence  ; 
to  restore  the  old  order  of  the  Colonial  Government, 
with  here  and  there  a  revision  which  would  be  lavor- 
able  to  themselves  or  to  their  faction ;  and  to  establish 
for  themselves,  at  least,  such  a  substantial  claim  on 
the  gratitude  of  the  Crown  and  of  the  Nation,  as 
would  ensure  to  them  the  control  of  the  restored  Col- 
onial Governments,  at  home,  if  not  something  more 
acceptable,  abroad.' 


opponents  of  Independence,  were  resolute  opposers  of  this  Preamblo 
and  Resolution,  and  declined  to  vote  on  it,  "as  far  as  was  in  their 
"power,  withdrawing  the  Province  from  this  union  of  the  Colonies, 
"  both  iu  council  and  action." — (The  Philadelphia  Committee  to  the  Com- 
mittees of  the  rural  Counties  of  Pennsylvania,  "  Philadelphia,  May  SJl, 
"1776.")  The  majority  of  the  Delegates  from  New  York  subsequently 
repeated  their  opposition  to  the  measure,  in  the  Provincial  Congress 
of  that  Colony,  where,  also,  tlieir  opposition  to  the  Resolution  of 
Independence  was  so  peculiarly  conspicuous.  Although  we  have  found 
no  record  of  the  action  of  the  Delegations  from  New  Jersey  and  Mary- 
laud,  on  that  particular  question,  the  subsequent  action  of  the  local 
revolutionary  bodies,  in  those  Colouies,  concerning  those  Delegations, 
leaves  no  room  for  doubt  concerning  what  the  action  of  their  respective 
Delegations  hud  been. 

<  John  Alsop  and  Francis  Lewis  took  seats  in  the  Provincial  Congress, 
on  the  twentieth  of  May  ;  John  Jay  appeared  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
that  month  ;  .lames  Duane,  who  had  some  other  place  in  the  Conti- 
nental service,  showed  himself  on  the  second  of  June ;  and  Philip 
Livingston  lingered  until  the  eighth  of  June — all  of  them  wore  there 
in  season  to  accomplish,  as  far  as  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
York  could  be  employed  in  such  a  work,  all  they  had  set  out  to  do, 
in  the  work  of  procrastination,  of  reconciliati(jn  with  the  Mother 
Country,  and  of  continued  Colonial  dependence. 

'  "  Things  have  come  to  such  a  pass,  now,  as  to  convince  us  that  we 
"  have  nothing  more  to  expect  from  the  justice  of  Great  Britain  ;  also, 
"  that  she  is  capable  of  the  most  delusive  arts  ;  for  I  am  satisfied  that 
"  no  Coinniissioncrs  ever  were  designed,  except  Hessians  and  other 
"  foreigners  ;  and  that  the  idea  was  only  to  deceive  and  throw  us  off 
"  our  guard.  The  first  has  been  too  effectually  accomplished,  as  ninny 
"  members  of  Congress,  in  short,  the  representation  of  whole  Provinces, 
"are  still  feeding  themselves  upon  the  dainty  food  of  reconciliaiiou ; 
"  and,  though  they  will  not  allow  tnat  the  expectation  of  it  has  any 
"influence  upon  their  judgment  with  respect  to  their  preparations  for 
"defence,  it  is  but  too  obvious  that  it  has  an  operation  upon  every  part 
"  of  their  conduct,  and  is  a  clog  to  their  proceedings.  It  is  not  iu 
"  the  nature  of  things  to  be  otherwise  ;  for  no  man  tliat  entertains 
"  a  hope  of  seeing  this  di.ipute  speedily  and  equitably  adjusted  by 
"  Commissioners  will  go  to  the  same  expense  and  run  the  same  hazards 
"  to  jireparo  for  the  worst  event,  as  he  who  believes  that  he  must 
"conquer,  or  submit  to  unconditional  terms  and  the  like  concomitants, 
"  such  as  confiscation,  hangiug,  and  the  like."  (General  Washinrjl/m  lo 
his  brother,  Attgustine  Washintjt^m,  "Philadelphia,  31  May,  1776.") 


358 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Although  an  official  copy  of  that  Preamble  and 
Resolution  was  evidently  sent  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress of  New  York,  no  mention  was  made  of  the  re- 
ceipt of  it,  on  the  Journals  of  that  body  ;  but,  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  May,  "  the  order  of  the  day  being 
"  read,  the  Congress  proceeded  to  take  into  considera- 
"tiou"the  Resolution  and  the  general  subject  to 
which  it  particularly  related.' 

*  *  *  *  »  * 

The  Provincial  Congress  having  "  considered  "  the 
Report,  it  also  adopted  it,  evidently  without  debate 
or  a  division  of  the  house, — Westchester-county  was 
unrepresented  in  that  exceedingly  important  vote, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  a  quorum  of  its  Deputation ; 
— and,  after  the  Congress  had  ordered  the  Resolutions 
to  be  published  in  all  the  newspapers  in  the  Colony 
and  in  handbills,  the  latter  for  distribution  in  the 
rural  Counties,'  it  appears  to  have  dismissed  the 
entire  subject  from  its  further  attention. 

The  Resolutions  which  were  thus  adopted  and  pub- 
lished, form  the  foundation  of  the  entire  structure  of 
the  Consfifution  of  the  Slate  of  New  York,  in  all  its 
varied  forms;  and,  for  that  reason,  we  have  not 
hesitated  to  find  places,  in  this  narrative,  for  all 
which  concerned  them.  We  are  not  insensible  of  the 
fact,  however,  that  the  fair  words  which  they  contain 
were  deceptive;  that  the  voice  and  the  votes  to  which 
the  election  of  the  proposed  founders  of  a  State  was 
thus  referred,  were  not  those  of  ''the  Inhabitants" 
who  had  figured  so  largely  in  the  preliminary  Report, 
but  only  those  of  the  Freeholders  and  those  of  the 
tenantry  who  were  of  the  wealthier  class,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  tenantry  of  small  properties  and  of 
the  Mechanics  and  Working-men  of  the  Colony,  and 
certainly  to  the  exclusion  of  those  who  had  been  offi- 
cially proscribed  and  officially  outraged,  and  for  whom, 
under  subsequent  action  of  the  Congress,  yet  more 
atrocious  proscription  and  persecution  and  outrage 
were  held  in  reserve.  We  are  not  insensible,  also, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  seeming  eagerness  of  its 
authors,  at  that  time,  to  remove  the  "many  and  great 
"inconveniences,"  as  well  as  that  power  of  despotic 
oppression  and  tyranny  which  "attended  the  mode  of 
"Government  by  Congress  and  Committees,"  of  some 
of  which  "inconveniences"  and  despotism  the  reader 
has  been  already  made  acquainted,  they  were  not 
subsequently  so  eager — they  certainly  loitered  over 
their  work  until  after  the  Royal  Commissioners  had 
exhausted  their  ingenuity  as  well  as  their  authority 
in  fruitless  efforts  to  effect  a  Reconciliation  and  to 
restore  harmony  between  the  Colonies  and  the  Mother 
Country  ;  and,  even  at  that  later  day,  John  Morin 
Scott  and  Alexander  McDougal  and  others  of  the 
same  class  having,  meantime,  obtained  other  places 


1  Jonmal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
"  24,  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Provi)iciat  Congress  "Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.  M.,  May 
"31, 177G." 


which  filled  their  expectations,  the  puny  thing  which 
was  created  and  entitled  The  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  New  Fori:,  was  introduced  to  the  world,  and  fostered 
by  political  midwives  and  wetnurses  who  cared  noth- 
ing for  it  beyond  what  they  could  severally  make 
from  it.  Most  of  all,  we  are  not  insensible  of  the 
fact  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  fine  words,  concern- 
ing the  "People"  and  the  "Inhabitants"  and  their 
unquestionable  political  authority,  which  were  in- 
cluded in  the  Resolutions,  the  oligarchic  authors  of 
those  Resolutions  carefully  reserved  to  themselves, 
the  sole  authority  to  determine  whether  a  Constitution 
should  or  should  not  be  created ;  and  to  determine,  also, 
if  they  should  consider  a  Constitution  were  necessary 
and  proper,  in  what  words  and  with  what  provisions 
that  Constitution  should  be  composed;  without  the 
slightest  recognition  of  any  existing  Right  or  author- 
ity, in  the  constituent  "People"  or  "Inhabitants,"  to 
consider  all  such  action  of  those  who  pretended  to  be 
the  " representatives"  of  that  "People"  or  of  those 
"  Inhabitants,"  and  to  ratify  and  approve  or  £o  dis- 
allow and  reject  the  same,  or  any  portion  thereof,  at 
its  or  their  pleasure,  as  might  be  done  by  the  recog- 
nized sovereign  power;  and  as, in  this  instance,  it  cer- 
tainly should  have  been  done.'  It  will  be  seen,  here- 
after, in  what  manner  the  "oligarchy"  who  was  seated 
in  the  Provincial  Congress,  controlling  the  aflaira  of 
the  Colony  in  their  own  interest,  and  who  intended 
to  be  re-elected,  betrayed  both  the  "  Inhabitants"  and 
the  "People,"  in  imposing  upon  both,  a  new  form  of 
Government,  without  their  consent,  but  not  until 
their  own  purposes  to  secure  their  own  ends  through 
the  older  Colonial  form,  had  become  unsuccessful. 

The  subject  of  a  new  form  of  Government  was 
scarcely  disposed  of,  when,  on  the  fourth  of  June,  the 
same  "Society  of  Mechanics  in  Union,"  so  called, 
whom  the  master-spirits  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty- 
one  had  deceived  and  betrayed— the  same  who  was 
composed  of  the  fragments  of  that  phantom  which 
had  been  known  by  the  general  title  of  "The  Sons  of 


3  This  peculiarity  of  the  Resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  did  not 

escape  the  vigilant  attention  of  the  Working  men  and  tenants  of  only 
small  properties,  within  the  City  of  New-York — of  those  very  "poor 
"reptiles"  of  whom  Gouverneur  Morris  had  written  to  Mr.  Penn,  in 
Jlay,  1774,  (vule  page  188,  an<c)— and  only  with  whose  very  acceptable 
help,  the  Delegation  to  the  Continental  Congress  of  1774  had  managed 
to  secure  their  seats  in  that  body.  Whatever  may  have  been  their  stand- 
ing in  the  social  scale  of  aristocracy,  but  for  the  co-operation  of  those 
who  constituted  the  so  calleil,  " Society  of  Mechanics  in  Union,"  there 
would  have  been  no  place  for  either  James  Duane  or  John  Jay  in  the 
Continental  Congress  of  1774  or  in  that  similar  Congress  which  succeeded 
it ;  and  without  their  assent  and  approval,  corruptly  secured,  in  every  in- 
stance except  one,  the  members  of  the  Delegation  to  the  first-named  of 
those  Congresses,  if  not  those  to  both,  had  lived  in  fretful  obscurity,  and 
have  died  as  their  respective  ancestors  had  died,  "  unwept,  unhonored,  and 
"  unsung."  There  was  a  fitness,  therefore,  in  the  alarm  of  these  Working- 
men  of  the  City  of  New  York,  because  of  the  contemptuous  disregard 
of  their  political  Rights,  by  those,  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  who  were 
only  the  creatures  of  their  plebeian  will  and  the  administrators  of  their 
inherent  authority.  The  Addiess  of  the  Society,  which  those  working- 
men  subsequently  presented  to  the  I'rovincial  Congress,  on  that  subject, 
a  master-piece  of  political  reasoning,  has  been  preserved  iu  the  archives 
of  the  State,  and  will  be  referred  to  hereaftei-. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


359 


"Liberty,"  and  from  whom  has  proceeded  that  excel- 
lent body,  still  existing,  which  is  distinguished  by 
the  title  of  "The  General  Society  of  Mechanics  and 
"Tradesmen  of  the  City  of  New  York"— presented 
an  Address  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  subject 
of  Independence. 

The  signers  of  that  Address,  the  first  movement 
concerning  Independence  in  the  Provincial  Congress, 
stated  that  they  were  devoted  friends  to  their  bleed- 
ing country;  that  they  were  afllicted  by  beholding 
her  struggling  under  heavy  loads  of  oppression  and 
tyranny,  and  the  more  so,  when  they  viewed  the 
iron  hand  lifted  up  against  her;  that  their  Prince 
was  deaf  to  PetUiom  for  interposing  his  Royal  author- 
ity for  redressing  their  grievances;  that  one  year  had 
not  sufficed  to  satisfy  the  rage  of  a  cruel  Ministry,  in 
their  bloody  pursuits  designed  to  reduce  them  to  be 
slaves  taxed  by  them,  without  their  consent;  that, 
therefore,  they  rather  wished  to  separate  from,  than 
to  continue  connected  with,  such  oppressors;  and 
they  declared  that  if  the  Provincial  Congress  should 
think  proper  to  instruct  their  Delegates  in  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  to  use  their  utmost  endeavors,  in 
that  august  assembly,  to  cause  these  United  Colonies 
to  become  independent  of  Great  Britain,  it  would 
give  them  the  highest  satisfaction ;  and  they  sincerely 
promised  to  support  the  same  with  their  lives  and 
fortunes.' 

A  snow-storm  in  Summer  would  not  have  been 
more  unwelcome  to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  than 
that  Address  was  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  since 
Independence  and  the  much  coveted  Reconciliation 
with  Great  Britain  were  wholly  irreconcilable ;  and, 
without  even  the  usual  courtesy  of  a  consideration  of 
either  the  Address  or  the  very  important  subject  to 
which  it  related,  by  a  Committee  of  the  Congress — 
why  should  "the  poor  reptiles"  who  had  written  and 
presented  such  an  Address  receive  such  attention  and 
enjoy  such  consideration  as  a  reference  of  their 
Address  and  of  their  plea  to  a  Committee  of  the 
Congress,  would  have  indicated,  although  such  a 
reference  was  usual  and  nothing  more  than  respectful 
in  matters  of  so  much  importance  ? — an  Ansiver  was 
made  by  the  President  of  the  Congress,  orally ;  and 
a  copy  of  it  was  evidentlj'  given  to  Lewis  Thibou 
{^Louis  Tiebout,  ?'\  by  whom  the  Address  had  been 
read,  at  the  head  of  "  a  number  of  citizens  who  style 
"themselves  a  'Committee  of  Mechanics,'"  before 
the  Provincial  Congress  itself. 

As  the  "oligarchy"  which  constituted  that  Con- 
gress had  resorted  to  the  extraordinary  precaution  of 
requiring  the  proposed  Address  to  be  delivered  to  it, 
for  its  "  inspection,"  in  order  that  that  aristocratic 
body  should  "  discover  whether  it  is  proper  for  this 
"Congress  to  receive  the  same" — the  bearers  of  it, 
meanwhile,  dancing  an  attendance,  outside,  before  a 

Journal  of  lite  Provincial  Congress,  *' Die  Martis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  4, 
"  177C." 


closed  door — before  it  would  permit  the  Mechanics  to 
enter  the  Chamber  in  which  it  was  sitting,  to  present 
their  Address  and  to  read  it,  there  had  been  ample 
time  to  prepare  the  Answer,  in  season  for  the  oral 
delivery  of  it,  from  the  Chair;  and  there  was  one 
Deputy  present,  and  only  one,  who  was  capable  of 
writing  that  Atiswer,  in  the  terms  in  which  it  was 
constituted.^ 
That  Answer  was  in  these  remarkable  words : 

"In  Provincial  Congress,  June  4, 1776. 

"Sir: 

"We  consider  the  Mechanics  in  Union  as  a  volun- 
"tary  Association  of  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
"this  City,  who  are  warmly  attached  to  the  cause  of 
"Liberty.  We  flatter  ourselves,  however,  that  neither 
"that  Association  nor  their  Committee  will  claim  any 
"authority,  whatsoever,  in  the  public  transactions  of 
"the  present  times;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  they 
"will  ever  be  ready  to  submit  to  that  constitutional 
"authority  which,  by  a  free  election,  has  been  vested 
"in  Congress  and  Committees. 

"This  Congress  is,  at  all  times,  ready  and  willing 
"to  attend  to  every  request  of  their  constituents,  or 
"of  any  part  of  them:  we  are  of  opinion  that  the 
"Continental  Congress,  alone,  have  that  enlarged 
"view  of  our  political  circumstances  which  will  ena- 
"blethem  to  decide  upon  those  measures  which  are 
"necessary  for  the  general  welfare:  we  cannot  pre- 
"sume,  by  any  instructions,  to  make  or  declare  any 
"Resolutions  or  Declarations,  upon  a  so  general  and 
"momentous  concern ;  but  are  determined  patiently 
"to  await  and  firmly  to  abide  by  whatever  a  majority 
"of  that  august  body  shall  think  needful.  We,  there- 
"fore,  cannot  presume  to  instruct  the  Delegates  of 
"this  Colony,  upon  the  momentous  question  to  which 
"your  Address  refers,  until  we  are  informed  that  it  is 
"brought  before  the  Continental  Congress  and  the 
"sense  of  this  Colony  be  required  through  this  Con- 
"gress."  * 

To  that  contemptuous  Answer,  the  Mechanics  in 
Union,  ten  days  afterwards,  [^June  14,  1776,]  sent  a 
second  Address,  in  reply,  in  which,  under  cover  of  an 
inquiry  concerning  one  of  the  Resolutions  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  relating  to  a  proposed  establish- 


2  Joliu  Jay  was  not  in  his  seat,  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  during  that 
entire  day  ;  and,  therefore,  he  had  no  hand  In  it.  John  Morin  Scott  was 
present ;  but  no  one  will  pretend  that  such  a  sturdy  sycopliant  of  the 
popular  element  as  he,  would  have  ventured  to  have  written  sui  h  a  paper, 
so  contemptuously  disrespectful  of  that  great  class  of  generally  unfriiu- 
chised  Working-men.  The  President  of  the  Congress,  General  Woodhull, 
of  Sufiblk,  was  not  handy  with  the  pen;  and  he  possessed  no  such  ani- 
mosity against  "the  lower  classes,"  as  isseen  in  this  .-l«s!Mr.  Itrenuiined, 
therefore,  to  the  high  toned,  "well  born"  Deputy  from  Westchester- 
county,  Gouverneur  Morris  -the  same  who  had  stood  in  the  window  of 
the  Coffee-house,  on  the  nineteenth  of  May,  1774,  and,  thence,  had  stud- 
ied the  rising  power  of  the  democracy,  wliom  he  loathed*— to  write  the 
Answer  of  the  Congress  ;  and  it  was,  uncpiestionably,  he  who  did  it. 

^Jourtial  of  the  Provincial  Congrem,  "Die  Martis,  U  ho.,  A.M.,  June  4, 
"1776."  

*  Vide  page  12,  ante. 


360 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ment  of  a  new  form  of  Government,  but  in  words  and 
in  terms  which  entitled  the  Artisan-author  of  it  to  the 
highest  honors,  the  generally  unfranchised  Working- 
men  of  the  City  of  New  York  manfully  declared  their 
Eights,  as  a  portion  of  that  body  of  the  People, 
throughout  the  Colony,  in  whom,  they  considered, 
were  vested  the  original  power  and  the  source  of  all 
political  authority,  \vithin  the  Colony ;  denounced  the 
assumption,  by  either  of  the  Congresses  or  any  of  the 
Committees,  of  an  authority  over  and  beyond  that 
which  had  been  delegated  to  them,  as  illegal  and  de- 
structive of  the  ends  sought  to  be  secured  by  the 
creation  of  those  several  bodies ;  and  warning  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  the  necessary  consequences  of 
such  an  usurpation.  That  Reply,  most  respectful  in 
its  tone  while  it  was  most  overwhelming  in  its  facts 
and  in  its  argument,  was  evidently  not  permitted  to 
be  presented  to  the  Provincial  Congress;  and,  without 
the  slightest  notice  on  the  olBcial  Journal  of  that 
body — probably,  without  the  slightest  official  action 
by  the  Congress — it  was  buried  in  the  files  of  that 
"oligarchic"  body,  to  await  a  resurrection  in  these 
later  daj's.^ 

On  the  following  day,  {^June  5,  1776,]  the  Provincial 
Congress  was  pestered,  again,  with  that  obnoxious 
subject  of  Independence ;  but,  on  that  occasion,  the 
aristocratic  Colonial  Convention  of  Virginia  was  the 
unwelcome  claimant  on  its  attention ;  and,  con- 
sequently, it  was  constrained  to  be  more  civil  in  its 
words  and  more  respectful  in  its  demeanor  than  it  had 
been,  on  the  day  before,  when  the  plebeian  Working- 
men  of  the  City  in  which  it  was  seated  had  addressed 
it,  respectfully,  on  the  same  subject. 

The  message  which  the  letter  of  Edmund  Pendleton 
had  conveyed  to  the  Provincial  Congress  was  the 
celebrated  and  well-known  Resolutions  of  that  Con- 
vention, adopted  on  the  fifteenth  of  May  preceding, 
through  which  the  Delegation  from  Virginia,  in  the 
Continental  Congress,  was  t««/?-MC^e(/ "  to  declare  the 
"  United  Colonies  free  and  independent  States,  ab- 
"  solved  from  all  allegiance  to  or  dependence  upon 
"the  Crown  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain;  and 
"  that  it  give  the  assent  of  this  Colony  to  such  Decla- 
" ration,  and  to  whatever  measures  maybe  thought 
"  ])roper  and  necessary,  by  the  Congress,  for  forming 
"  foreign  alliances  and  a  Confederation  of  the  Colonies, 
"  at  such  time  and  in  the  manner  as  to  them  shall  seem 
"  best ;  Provided,  That  the  power  of  forming  Go?ern- 
"  ment  for  and  the  regulation  of  the  internal  concerns 
"of  each  Colony  be  left  to  the  respective  Colonial 
"  Legislatures ; "  ^  and  the  Provincial  Congress  ordered 

1  This  admirable  Reply  to  the  Answer  of  the  Provincial  Clongress,  which 
was  more  especially  devoted  to  the  proposal  of  that  body  to  impose  a  uew 
form  of  Government  on  the  Colony  or  State,  without  having  submitted 
it  to  the  body  uf  the  People,  for  ratification  or  rejection,  was  in  these 
words : 

********** 

2  Journal  of  a  Convention  of  DeUgates  from  the  Counties  and  Corporations 
in  the  Colony  of  Virijinia,  Jield  ai  the  Capitol,  in  tlie  City  of  WiUianvsburgb, 
"  Wednesday  May  15,  177U." 


"  that  John  Jay  and  Gouverneur  Morris  be  a  Commit- 
"tee  to  prepare  a  draft  of  an  answer  to  it,  and  to 
"report  the  same'" — without  the  usual  injunction, 
"  with  all  convenient  speed,"  however,  since  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  was  not  in  a  hurry  to  consider  the 
subject  of  Independence ;  and  it  would  not  be  so,  at 
least  until  what  it  evidently  preferred,  the  question  of 
Reconciliation,  should  have  been  met  and  finally  dis- 
posed of 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  succeeding  that  on 
which  the  Resolutions  from  Virginia  had  been  re- 
ceived, \_June  6,  1776,]  the  Committee  to  whom  those 
Resolutions  had  been  referred,  reported  an  answer  to 
the  letter  of  Edmund  Pendleton  which  had  covered 
them  -an  answer  which  was  just  as  icy  cold  and  for- 
mal as  the  Answer  to  "  the  Mechanics  in  Union,"  two 
days  before,  had  been ;  and  which  told,  as  distinctly 
as  the  other  had  told,  how  entirely  obnoxious  to  the 
aristocratic  leaders  of  the  Rebellion,  in  New  York, 
the  proposition  for  Independence  from  Great  Britain 
had  been.  It  simply  acknowledged  the  receipt'of  the 
Resolutions  and  that  of  the  letter  which  had  covered 
them,  saying,  also,  that  they  had  been  communicated 
to  the  Provincial  Congress,  by  whom  "  they  would  be 
"  considered  with  all  the  deliberation  due  to  the  im- 
"  portance  of  the  subject ;  "  that  the  Congress  thanked 
the  Convention  of  Virginia  for  its  attention  ;  and  that 
the  latter  was  "  assured  that  the  Congress  of  this  Col- 
"  ony  will  invariably  adopt  and  pursue  every  measure 
"which  may  tend  to  promote  the  union  and  secure 
"  the  rights  and  happiness  of  the  United  Colonies."  * 

Four  days  after  the  Resolutions  of  the  Convention 


^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June 
"5.  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  6, 
"177G." 

With  this  simple  record  of  one  of  the  coldest  specimeDS  of  polite  disa- 
greement with  another,  on  leconl,  before  him,  the  reader  will  hardly  be 
prepared  to  read  wliat  Bancroft  has  written  of  the  reception  of  the  Kea- 
olutioDs  from  Virginiaand  of  John  Jay's  treatment  of  them.  Ilis  words 
were  these  :  •'  But  early  in  June,  the  New  York  Congress  had  to  pass 
"  upon  the  Virginia  proposition  of  Independence.  This  was  the  moment 
"that  showed  the  firmness  and  the  purity  of  Jay ;  the  darlier  the  hour, 
"the  more  he  stood  ready  to  cheer;  the  greater  the  danger,  the  more 
"promptly  he  stepped  forward  to  guide.  He  had  insisted  on  tlie  doubt- 
"  ful  measure  of  a  second  Petition  to  the  King  with  no  latent  weakness  of 
"  purpose  or  cowardice  of  heart.  The  hope  of  obtaining  redress  had 
"gone;  he  could,  now,  with  perfect  peace  of  mind,  give  free  scope  to  the 
"  earnestness  of  his  convictions.  Though  it  had  been  necessary  for  him 
"to  perish  as  a  martyr,  he  could  not  and  he  would  not  swerve  from  his 
"sense  of  duty." — (Hintory  of  the  United  States,  original  edition,  viii.,  439  ; 
the  same,  centenary  edition,  v,,  305.) 

The  entire  reply  to  the  Convention  of  Virginia,  excluding  the  date  and 
the  signature,  occupies  twelve  lines  of  a  narrow  column,  including  the 
half-lines  of  two  paragraphs.  All  which  it  contained,  concerning  Inde- 
pendence, was  a  formal  acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  the  letter  and 
of  the  Resolutions,  "which  were  immediately  communicated  to  tlie  Con- 
"gress  of  this  Colony,  and  will  be  considered  by  them  with  all  the  de- 
"  liberation  due  to  the  importance  of  the  subject."  Nothing  more  than 
that  was  said  or  done,  on  tlie  subject  of  Independence,  in  connection  with 
the  Resolutions  from  A  irginia,  nor  in  connection  with  anything  else, 
relative  to  that  subject,  until  the  Congress  was  crowded  into  a  considera- 
tion of  it,  by  an  entirely  different  agency,  several  days  afterwards. 

Yet  this  is  "history,"  as  Bancroft  understands  the  meaning  of  that 
term . 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


361 


of  Virginia  had  been  thus  quieted,  \_June  10,  1776,] 
the  Provincial  Congress  wiis  further  vexed,  on  the 
growing  subject  of  Independence,  by  the  receipt  of 
the  following  brief  note  from  those  of  the  Delegates 
of  the  Colony  who  were,  then,  in  Philadelphia : 

"Philadelphia,  June  8,  1776. 

"Dear  Sir : 

"Your  Delegates,  here,  expect  that  the  question  of 
"  Independence  will,  very  shortly,  be  agitated  in 
"  Congress.  Some  of  us  consider  ourselves  as  bound 
"by  our  instructions  not  to  vote  on  that  question; 
"and  all  of  us  wish  to  have  your  sentiments  thereon. 

"The  matter  will  admit  of  no  delay;  we  have, 
"therefore,  sent  an  express  who  will  wait  your 
"  orders. 

"  We  are.  Sir,  with  the  greatest  respect, 

"Your  most  obt.  hum.  servts. 
"  William  Floyd, 
"  Hexry  Wisxer, 
"RoBT.  R.  Livingston, 
"Frans.  Lewis. 
"To  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  Esq.,  Prest. 
"of  THE  Hon. THE  Convention  OF  New- York."' 

This  letter  was  received,  early  in  the  morning,  and 
the  Provincial  Congress,  very  leisurely,  read  it,  in 
secret  Session  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  urgency  for 
speedy  action  which  accompanied  it,  that  was  all 
which  was  done,  concerning  Independence,  at  that  Ses- 
sion.' Late  in  the  afternoon,  the  Congress  very  lei- 
surely returned  to  the  subject ;  and,  then,  it  indulged 
itself  by  hearing  the  reading  of  the  letter,  a  second 
time ;  by  listening,  while  the  Clerk  read  the  powers 
of  the  Provincial  Congress,  which  were  very  briefly 
presented  in  the  Resolutions  calling  for  the  election 
of  its  members ; '  and  by  hearing  the  same  stately 
official  read  the  powers  of  the  Delegates  of  the  Colony 
in  the  Continental  Congress,*  closing  its  desperate 


1  Jouraal  of  the  Provincial  Coagreat,  "  Die  Lunae,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  June  10, 
"1776.  ' 
>lbid. 

» It  waa  stated  iu  the  Ciedentiald  of  the  Deputies  fiom  Orange-county 
that  (lie  Resolutions  of  thesecoud  I'ruvincial  Congress,  providing  for  the 
election  of  the  third  Provincial  Congress  and  defining  ils  authority,  were 
adopteil  on  the  twelfth  of  March  preceding;  but  there  is  no  mention  of 
the  adoption  of  any  Resolutions  whatever,  on  that  subject,  on  that  or  any 
otherday,  ou  the  published  Journal  of  the  secoud  Prorincial  Congress. 

Again  :  we  have  not  found  on  that  Journal,  any  definition  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  third  of  those  Congresses — that  authority  which,  in  the 
text,  the  Secrctarv-  is  said  to  have  read,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  tenth  of 
June — but  the  Credentials  of  the  Deputies  from  Kings-county,  compared 
with  those  of  the  Deputies  from  Orange-county,  indicate  that  the  author- 
ity sought  to  be  delegated  to  that  third  Provincial  Congress  by  its  con- 
stituent Counties,  under  the  Resolutions  providing  for  their  election, 
included  "full  powers,  iu  behalf  of  the  said  County,  to  appoint  Delegates 
"to  represent  the  Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress,  and  to  make  such 
"  orders  and  take  such  measures  as  they  shall  judge  necessary,  not  repug- 
'•nant  to  or  inconsistent  with  any  Rules  or  Orders  of  the  Continental 
"Congres),  for  the  preservation  of  the  Rights,  Liberties  and  Privileges  of 
"the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony." 

The.se,  or  their  equivalents,  were,  undoubtedly,  what  the  Secretary  read 
to  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  stated  in  the  text. 

"The  powers  of  the  Delegates  at  Continental  Congress,"  which  until 
it  became  convenient  to  refer  to  them  In  order  to  promote  a  selfish  end 

30 


effort  to  make  haste  slowly,  in  spending  "some  time, 
"in  the  consideration  of  the  letter"  of  the  Delega- 
tion,* without,  however,  taking  any  action  whatever, 
ou  it  or  on  the  subject  to  which  it  jeferred. 

Nothing  whatever  was  done  by  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, concerning  the  letter  of  the  Delegates  nor  con- 
cerning Independence,  on  the  following  morning, 
[June  11,  1776;]"  but,  during  the  afternoon  of  that 
day,  with  that  peculiar  disregard  for  those  with  whom 
he  was  associated  which  invariablj-  distinguished 
John  Jay  from  all  others,  that  Deputy  presented 
"several  Resolutions  on  the  subject  of  Independ- 
"ence,"  which  were  seconded  by  Colonel  Henry 
Remsen,  of  the  City  of  New  York,  "again  read  by 
"paragraphs,  amended,  and  agreed  to,  and  are  in  the 
"words  following,  to  wit:' 

"Resolved,  unanimously.  That  the  good  people 
"of  this  Colony  have  not,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
"Congress,  authorized  this  Congress  or  the  Delegates 
"of  this  Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress  to  de- 
"clare  this  Colony  to  be  and  continue  independent  of 
"the  Crown  of  Great  Britain. 

"  But  whereas  the  perseverance  of  the  British 
"  King  and  Parliament,  in  an  unjustifiable  attempt  to 
"subjugate  and  enslave  these  United  Colonies,  may 
"  render  a  determination  on  that  and  many  other  im- 
"  portant  points  highly  necessary  and  expedient,  and 
"  a  recurrence  to  the  people  at  large,  for  their  senti- 
"ments  on  every  great  question  that  may  occur  iu 
"the  course  of  the  present  contest  would  be  very 
"  inconvenient  to  them,  and  probably  be  attended 
"  with  dangerous  delay  : 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  therefore.  That  it  be 
"  and  it  is  hereby  earnestly  recommended  to  all  the 
"  Freeholders  and  other  Electors  in  this  Colony,  at 
"the  ensuing  Election  to  be  held  in  pursuance  of  a 
"Resolution  of  the  Congress  of  the  thirty-first  day  of 
"  May  last  past,  not  only  to  vest  their  Representa- 
"tives  or  Deputies  with  the  powei-s  therein  men- 
"  tioned,  but  also  with  full  power  to  deliberate  and 
"  determine  on  every  question  whatever  that  may 
"  concern  or  affect  the  interest  of  this  Colony,  and  to 
"  conclude  upon,  ordain,  and  execute  every  act  and 
"measure  which,  to  them,  shall  appear  conducive  to 
"  the  happiness,  security,  and  welfare  of  this  Colony  ; 
"  and  that  they  hold  and  exercise  the  said  powers  until 
"  the  second  Tuesday  of  May  next,  or  until  a  regular 
"form  of  Government  for  this  Colony  shall  be  estab- 


had  remained  unnoticed,  were  recited  in  their  Credentials,  in  the  follow- 
ing few  words  :  *  *  *  "  to  meet  the  Delegates  from  the  other  Colo- 
"  nies,  and  to  concert  and  determine  upon  such  measures  as  shall  be 
"judged  most  effectual  for  the  preservation  and  re-establisliment  of 
"  American  rights  and  privileges,  and  for  the  restoration  of  harmony 
"between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies,"  {Journal  of  the  Prorincial 
Convention.  '•  Die  Sabbati,  11  hora,  A.M.,  .\pril  22,  1775;  Journal  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  "Thursday,  May  11,  1775.") 

^Journal  of  the  Prorincial  Congress,  "  Monday,  5  P.M.,  June  10,  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress, ' '  Tues<lay  morning,  New-York,  June 
"11,  1776." 

1  Joumalof  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Tuesday,  P.M.,  June  11,  1776." 


362 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  lished,  in  case  that  event  shall  sooner  take  place. 
"  And  it  is  further  recommended  to  the  said  Free- 
"  holders  and  Electors,  by  instructions  or  otherwise, 
"  to  inform  their  said  Deputies  of  their  sentiments 
"  relative  to  the  great  question  of  Independency  and 
"  such  other  points  as  they  may  think  proper."  ^ 

It  needs  very  little  of  knowledge  in  the  science  of 
politics  to  distinguish,  in  these  Resolutions,  a  pro- 
posal that  those  of  the  Colonists,  in  New  York,  who 
were  not  already  proscribed  and  enslaved  by  the 
Resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  adopted  on 
the  fifth  of  June,  six  days  preceding  the  adoption  of 
these  Resolutions,'^  should  debase  themselves  and 
voluntarily  become  unqualified  serfs,  before,  and  en- 
tirely subject  to,  as  absolute  and  unbridled  a  despot- 
ism as  ever  existed  ;  and  that  knowledge  will  serve, 
also,  to  distinguish  the  author  and  supporters  of  such 
Resolutions,  notwithstanding  the  gauzy  masks  which 
ill-supported  their  shallow  pretensions  to  personal 
and  political  integrity,  as  nothing  else  than  monarch- 
ists of  the  most  pronounced  school  of  absolutism, 
provided,  always,  they  should,  themselves,  be  seated 
very  near  to  the  throne.  There  was  an  appendage  to 
those  Resolutions,  which  rendered  the  entire  move- 
ment still  more  remarkable;  and  the  facts  are  not  the 
less  significant  because  those  who  have  written  of  the 
Resolutions  and  of  those  who  wrote  them  and  pro- 
moted their  passage  through  the  Provincial  Congress, 
have  studiously  concealed  not  only  the  license  for  a 
despotism  which  they  contained,  but,  also,  that  secret 
appendage  which  made  entirely  inoperative  all  the 
provisions  which  they  contained  on  the  subject  of  the 
proposed  Independence  of  the  Colonies  from  the 
Mother  Country. 

The  controlling  appendage,  to  which  we  allude  and 
which  has  not  been  heretofore  noticed  by  any  histori- 
cal writer,  was  an  Agreement  which  was  made  be- 
tween the  members  of  the  Provincial  Congress  who 
were  then  present,  John  Jay  having  been  of  the 
number  and  unquestionably  the  leader  in  the  move- 
ment, "  That  the  publishing  of  the  aforegoing  Resolves 


1  By  inuendo,  if  not  directly,  Bancroft,  by  making  no  mention  of  the 
letter  of  the  Delegation  of  the  Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress,  leads 
his  readers  to  suppose  that  these  Resolutions  were  the  outcome  of  the 
Kesolutions  of  the  Convention  of  Virginia,  which  had  been  disposed 
of,  as  we  have  seen,  several  days  previously  and  in  a  lesser  number  of 
words. 

The  same  writer  describes  these  Resolutions,  after  the  rhetorical  flour- 
ish, concerning  the  author  of  them,  which  we  have  elsewhere  quoted, 
as  "calling  upon  the  Freeholders  and  Electors  of  the  Colony  to  confer 
"  on  the  Deputies  whom  they  were  about  to  choose  full  powers  of  admin- 
"  istering  Government,  framing  a  Constitution,  and  deciding  the  great 
"  question  of  Independence,"  [History  of  the  United  SUUes^  original  edition, 
viii.,  440;  the  same,  centennial  edition,  v.,  305.) 

The  venerable  author  saw  nothing  of  that  absolute  despotism,  involv- 
ing "every  question  whatever,"  civil  or  ecclesiastical  or  military,  affect- 
ing not  only  individuals  but  the  Hggregate  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
entire  Colony,  which  those  Resolutionsclearly  and  definitely  established ; 
and  his  eyes  saw  nothing  whatever  of  tha.t  Ayreement  vvhicli  was  appended 
to  them,  which  entirely  dispose  of  his  rhetoric,  and,  as  we  shall  present- 
ly see,  present  John  Jaj'  in  a  somewhat  different  light. 

-  Vide  pages  343-347,  ante. 


"  be  postponed  until  after  the  Election  of  Deputies 
"with  powers  to  establish  a  new  form  of  Govern- 
"  ment " ' — that  is  to  say,  they  were  not  to  be  made 
known  to  the  Freeholders  and  other  voters,  until  after 
the  Election  at  which  the  subject  of  the  proposed 
Independence,  was,  by  virtue  of  these  Resolutions,  to 
be  submitted  to  the  Electors,  at  the  Polls,  should 
have  been  held. 

A  reference  to  the  Resolutions  will  show  to  the 
reader  that,  although  the  question  of  Independence 
formed  the  basis  as  well  as  the  top-stone  of  the  struc- 
ture, they  were  so  contrived  that,  notwithstanding 
that  question  seemed  to  have  been  submitted  to  the 
judgment  of  the  Electors,  at  the  Polls,  that  grave  sub- 
ject was  really  made  dependent,  among  the  various 
other  matters  of  government  of  which  the  Electors 
were  audaciously  asked  to  divest  themselves,  on  the 
unrestrained,  despotic  will  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
itself;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  entire  subject  was 
made  "  a  rider."  as  parliamentarians  call  such  motions, 
which  was  to  be  "  saddled  "  on  an  Order  which  had 
been  alreadj'  made,  for  an  Election,  and  for  an  entirely 
diflerent  purpose.  All  these,  because  they  were  open 
and  intelligible  to  every  sensible  Elector,  were  well 
enough;  and  every  such  Elector,  under  the  closing 
paragraph  of  the  last  Resolution,  might  be  reason- 
ably expected,  "  by  instructions  or  otherwise,  to  in- 
"  form  his  Deputy  of  his  sentiments  relative  to  the 
"  great  question  of  Independency  and  such  other 
"points  as  he  might  think  proper,"  the  aggregate  of 
which  "  instructions  "  might  be  regarded  as  a  reason- 
able indication  of  the  will  of  those  who  had  given 
them,  on  the  great  questions  of  a  new  form  of  Gov- 
ernment and  of  Independence,  without,  however, 
possessing  any  controlling  power  over  the  oligarchic 
Provincial  Congress,  who  might,  nevertheless,  regard 
or  disregard  that  expressed  will  of  its  constituents 
whenever  and  to  whatever  extent  it  own  unrestrained 
will  should  determine,  the  Resolutions  themselves, 
meanwhile,  affording  a  license  to  those  Delegates  who 
remained  in  the  Continental  Congress,  to  continue  to 
withhold  the  assent  of  the  Colony  of  New  York  to 
whatever  action  should  be  taken,  relative  to  Inde- 
pendence, in  that  body.  We  say,  all  these  were  well 
enough,  because  they  were  open  and  intelligible  ;  and 
if  the  question  of  Independence  had  been,  thereby, 
submitted,  even  indirectly  and  insufficiently,  to  the 
arbitrament  of  the  Electors,  there  would  have  been  an 
appearance,  at  least,  of  fairness  and  consistency  ;  but 
John  Jay  had  no  such  intention — he  aimed,  mainly,  to 
hoodwink  those,  in  the  Continental  Congress,  who  were 
anxiously  desiring  the  support  of  New  York  in  their 
effort  to  crowd  the  question  of  Independence  through 
that  body,  by  a  seeming  fairness  on  that  subject; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  by  a  secret  Agreement  (an 
action,  by  a  parliamentary  body,  which  was  unknown 
to  parliamentary  law,  and  without  a  precedent,)  all 


'^Journalof  the  Provincial  tjongress,  "  Tuesday,  P.M.,  June  11,  177<i." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


363 


that  he  and  the  Provincial  Congress  had  done  or  pre- 
tended to  have  done,  thereon,  was  made  inoperative, 
by  withholding  from  the  Electors,  until  after  the 
Election  at  which  the  Resolutions  were  ordered  to 
be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  those  Elector?!,  all 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  any  such  Resolutions! 

If  the  Provincial  Congress  possessed  no  authority, 
legal  or  revolutionary,  "  to  declare  this  Colony  to  be 
"and  continue  independent  of  the  Crown  of  Great 
"Britain,"  as  both  common  sense  and  history,  as  well 
as  the  first  of  John  Jay's  series  of  enabling  Resolu- 
tions, unquestionably  determined,  those  enabling  Res- 
olutions, carefully  concealed  and  rendered  entirely 
inoperative  by  the  Agreement  which  was  subsequently 
appended  to  them,  assuredly  did  not  supply  nor  pro- 
vide for  a  supply  of  that  peculiar  authority  which 
John  Jay  and  the  Provincial  Congress,  then,  regarded 
as  necessary,  for  a  warrant  for  such  a  declaration ; 
and,  consequently,  that  Congress  was,  and  would  ne- 
cessarily continue  lo  be,  as  it  had  previously  been, 
without  the  slightest  authority,  legal  or  revolution- 
ary, to  take  any  action  whatever,  which  tended  to- 
ward a  separation  of  the  Colony  from  the  Mother 
Country.  The  carefully  concealed  Agreement  accom- 
plished the  evident  purposes  of  its  treacherous  au- 
thors, however;  and  the  Delegation  of  the  Colony  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  at  the  same  time,  was  en- 
abled, by  it,  to  make  its  opposition,  in  that  body,  to 
the  Resolution  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  less 
offensive  to  the  majority  of  that  Congress  and  to  the 
revolutionary  elements  throughout  the  Continent; 
but,  notwithstanding  these  successes,  those  Res')lu- 
tions,  as  well  as  the  Agreement  which  was  appended 
to  them,  were  deceptive  and  fraudulent  in  their  char- 
acter, and  intended  by  their  author  and  promoters 
for  nothing  else  than  for  the  advancement  of  decep- 
tive and  fraudulent  purposes.  The  reader  will  see, 
very  soon,  with  what  little  respect  the  declaration 
which  formed  the  basis  of  those  Resolutions,  as  well 
as  the  Resolutions  themselves,  was  regarded  by  the 
same  John  Jay  and  by  nearly  the  same  Provincial 
Congress — then  as  deficient  in  authority  "  to  declare 
"  this  Colony  to  be  and  continue  independent  of  the 
"Crown  of  Great  Britain,"  as  it  had  been,  twenty- 
eight  days  previously — when,  on  the  ninth  of  July 
succeeding,  they  actually  did  declare  this  Colony  to  be 
and  continue  independent  of  the  Mother  Country 
their  acknowledged  want  of  authority,  from  any 
source,  to  do  any  such  action,  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding. 

Were  there  any  doubt,  in  any  mind,  concerning  John 
Jay's  entire  capability  of  practising  the  most  refined 
deceit  and  of  being  most  unqualifiedly  treacherous, 
whenever  his  own  selfish  or  partisan  purposes  could  be 
most  successfully  promoted  by  deceit  and  treachery, 
such  a  doubt  would  be  surely  removed  by  a  knowledge 
of  that  remarkable  transaction — the  adoption  of  a 
series  of  Resolutions,  for  the  seeming  promotion  of  a 
specific  purpose,  while,  secretly,  at  the  same  time,  he 


entered  into  an  Agreement  with  other  persons,  by 
means  of  the  provisions  of  which  Agreement,  secretly 
executed,  the  Resolutions  were  made  inoperative,  and 
the  seeming  support  which  they  appeared  to  extend 
to  the  question  of  Independence,  at  the  same  time, 
was  converted  into  an  illusion  and  a  cheat — which  we 
have  described.  John  Jay  and  all  those  with  whom 
he  was  associated,  in  the  great  political  questions  of 
that  period,  were  aiming  at  something  else  than  Inde- 
pendence, at  something  which  was  directly  antagon- 
istic to  Independence;  and  he  and  they  felt  at  liber- 
ty, under  the  license  of  that  unholy  ambition  which 
controlled  them,  to  resort  to  and  to  employ  whatever 
means,  of  whatever  character,  which  would  promote 
their  controlling  purpose  of  keeping  the  Colony  of 
New  York  out  of  the  current  which  was  evidently 
setting  toward  Independence,  and  in  a  continued  po- 
litical and  commercial  dependence  on  Great  Britain. 
Whether  others  will  justify  either  the  fraud  or  those 
who  perpetrated  it,  is  a  matter  in  which  we  have  no 
concern. 

Having  thus  disposed  of  its  unwelcome  guest,  the 
Provincial  Congress  appointed  John  Jay  and  "Col- 
"  onel  a  Committee  to  draft  an  answer  to  the 

"letter  of  the  Delegates  in  the  Continental  Congress," 
which  had  been  the  basis  of  all  the  proceedings  which 
are  now  under  consideration  ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
such  an  answer,  conveying  a  copy  of  the  Resolufiom, 
but  evidently  not  one  of  the  Agreement,  was  sent  lo 
the  Delegates,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which 
the  Resolutions  were  adopted,  although  no  mention 
was  made  of  any  such  answer  in  the  Journal  of  the 
Provincial  <7ongress — the  files  of  that  body,  however, 
contain  a  letter  from  the  Delegates,  dated  on  the  sev- 
enteenth of  June  and  addressed  to  the  President  of 
the  Provincial  Congress,  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  two  letters,  of  different  dates,  in  one  of  which  "the 
"  sentiments  of  the  Hon.  the  Convention  relative  to 
"  the  important  subject  on  which  we  thought  it  our 
"duty  to  ask  their  opinion,"  had  been  transmitted, 
was  duly  acknowledged.' 

No  further  action,  of  any  kind,  concerning  Inde- 
pendence, was  taken  by  the  Provincial  Congress  ;  and, 
guided  by  the  restricted  authority  expressed  on  its 
Credentials  and  by  the  Resolutions  which  are  now 
under  consideration,  without  having  been  told  of  the 
treacherous  Agreement,  the  Delegation  in  the  Conti' 
nental  Congress  continued  to  withhold  the  assent  of 
New  York  to  the  Resolution  of  Independence,  adopted 
by  that  body,  on  the  second  of  July,  and  to  the 
Declaration  which  it  approved,  two  days  afterwards. 

During  the  very  brief  period  of  the  existence  of  the 
third  Provincial  Congress,  besides  those  general 
enactments  in  which  its  conservative  farmers  were 
more  than  ordinarily  interested,  Westchester-county 
was,  sometimes,  made  the  especial  object  of  the 

'  Francit  Lewis,  Robert  R.  Livingstnn,  John  AUop.  WUli-im  Floyd,  and 
Henry  Wisner  to  Hon.  Nnthauiel  fToodhuU,  President, etc.,  "  PiliLAnEI.PIlIA, 
"17  .lime,  1776." 


364 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


attentions  of  that  body.  An  instance  of  that  class  of 
special  doings  may  be  seen  in  the  Order  which  was 
made  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  on  the  twenty-first 
of  May,  in  these  words:  "Ordered,  That  Colonel 
'■  Ritzema  send  such  prudent  Officer  as  he  shall  think 
'  proper,  to  Westchester- county,  to  apply  to  the 
'■  Chairman  of  the  County  Committee  and  to  the  re- 
"spective  Sub-committees,  in  that  County,  for  such 
"  good  Arms,  fit  for  soldiers'  use,  as  they  may  have 
"  collected  by  disarming  disaffected  persons,  in  that 
."  County;  and  the  respective  Committees  are  hereby 
"  requested  to  deliver  such  of  those  Arms  as  are  fit 
"for  the  Army,  to  such  Officer,  taking  and  preserving 
"  his  receipts  for  the  same :  that  the  said  Committees, 
"  respectively,  take  care  that  all  such  Arms  be 
"  appraised,  and  an  account  of  the  value  of  each  kept 
"  agreeable  to  the  directions  heretofore  given  for  that 
"purpose  ;  and  such  Officer  as  Colonel  Ritzema  shall 
"send  to  collect  those  Arms  is  hereby  directed  to  de- 
"  liver  all  such  Arms  as  he  shall  so  receive,  to  Colonel 
"  Curtenius,  that  they  may  be  repaired,  where  it  may 
"  be  necessary."  * 

It  is  not  now  known  how  many  Arms  were  thus  trans- 
ferred to  the  Provincial  Storekeeper ;  nor  from  whom 
they  had  been  impressed ;  nor  what  disposition  was 
subsequently  made  of  them.  But,  because  the  Third 
Regiment  of  the  New  York  Line  in  the  Continental 
Army,  which  was  commanded  by  Colonel  Ritzema, 
was  one  of  those,  under  General  Alexander  McDougal, 
who  were  engaged  with  the  Royal  Army,  on  Chatter- 
ton's  Hill,  a  few  months  afterwards,  and  because 
Colonel  Ritzema's  Regiment  was  undoubtedly  sup- 
plied with  Arms,  as  far  as  they  went,  from  those 
which  had  been  "impressed"  in  Westchester-county 
and  were  thus  called  in — although  the  Provincial 
Congress  had  disallowed  the  Resolution  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety,  under  which  these  Arms  had  been 
forcibly  taken  from  their  respective  owners,  it  will  be 
seen  that  tiie  Arms  which  had  been  thus  seized  were 
not  returned  to  those  from  whom  they  had  been  taken — 
there  was  evidently  a  master-hand  so  skilfully  direct- 
ing the  progress  of  events  that  those  Arms  which  had 
been  thus  violently  and  illegally  and  wrongly  taken 
from  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county  were  taken 
back  to  that  County,  to  be  employed  in  the  defense 
of  it,  against  the  assaults  of  the  common  enemy. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  Colonel  Thomas 
Thomas  informed  the  Provincial  Congress  that  Elijah 
Hunter,  who  had  been  Second  Lieutenant  in  Captain 
Mills's  Company,  from  Bedford,  during  the  Campaign 
of  177''),'''  and  who  was  a  member  of  the  County  Com- 
mittee of  1776'-77,''  representing  that  Town,  was  desir- 
ous of  raising  a  Grenadier  Company,  to  be  attached 
to  the  Regiment  of  Westchester-county  Militia,  of 


1  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Martis,  10  ho.,  A.M.,  May  21, 
"  1776." 

2  Vide  pages  276,  277,  ante. 

^Members  of  a  Committee  for  Weitchesler-counli/ — Historical  Manmcripis, 
etc.;  Jlfi«ce!ioneOMS  Papers,  xxxviii.,  309. 


which  Thomas  was  the  Colonel ;  and  it  was  intended 
that,  of  that  Company,  Elijah  Huuter  should  be  the 
Captain  ;  *  Richard  Sackett,  the  First  Lieutenant ;  * 
Silas  Miller,  the  Second  Lieutenant;"  and  Jeremiah 
Lounsberry  the  Ensign.*  The  Colonel  also  solicited 
Commissions  for  all  these  aspirants  to  official  author- 
ity, although  there  was  not  the  slightest  pretense  that 
a  single  Private  had  been  enlisted ;  and,  of  course, 
since  a  Thomas  had  made  the  request,  the  Commis- 
sions were  "immediately  issued  to  those  gentlemen."® 

On  the  first  of  June  1776,  the  Continental  Con- 
gress made  a  requisition  for  six  thousand  men  from 
the  Colonies  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, and  New  York,  "  to  be  employed  to  rtinforce 
"  the  Army  in  Canada  and  to  keep  up  the  communi- 
"  cation  with  that  Province ;  " '  on  the  third  of  June, 
a  second  requisition  was  made,  by  the  same  Congress, 
for  thirteen  thousand,  eight  hundred  men  from  the 
Colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
and  New  Jersey,  "to  be  employed  to  reinforce  the 
"  Army  at  New  York;'"  the  eleven  Battalions  al- 
ready "  raised  and  ordered  to  be  raised  for  the  protec- 
"tion  of  the  four  New  England  Colonies,"  were 
declared  to  be  sufficient,"  for  that  purpose  ; '  and  a 
third  requisition  was  also  made  for  ten  thousand  men 
from  the  Colonies  of  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Maryland,  "  for  a  Flying  Camp,  to  be  immediately 
"  established  in  the  Middle  Colonies."  "* 

Of  these  several  requisitions,  one  Battalion  of  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  men  was  called  from  the  Colony  of 
New  York,  for  the  Canadian  service ; "  and  for  the 
reinforcement  of  the  Army  at  New  York,  that  Colony 
was  required  to  furnish  three  thousand  men.'^  All 
were  to  be  taken  from  the  Militia  of  the  respective 
Colonies ;  all  were  to  be  "engaged  "  only  "  to  the  first 
"  day  of  December  next,  unless  sooner  discharged  by 
"  Congress ;  "  and  the  pay  of  the  men  was  to  commence 
on  the  days  on  which  they  respectively  left  their 
homes. 


<  Elijah  Hunter  was  evidently  an  ambitione  man.  In  addition  to 
tlie  Commission,  referred  to  in  tlie  text,  he  managed,  on  the  twenty-first 
of  November,  1776,  to  obtain  the  command  of  the  Sixth  Company  of  tlie 
Second,  or  Van  Corllandt's,  Regiment  of  the  New  York  Line,  in  the 
Continental  Army  of  1776-77,  (lUsturical  Mannficript-^,  etc.:  Militanj  Com- 
mittee, XXV.,  7GI ;)  and  he  retired  from  the  service,  fifteen  days  afterwards, 
(Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.:  MilHari)  Committee,  xxv.,  851,  854,  xxxv., 
321 :)  contenting  himself,  thenceforth,  as  we  shall  see,  hereafter,  with 
liaukering  after  authority  to  continue  the  persecution  of  his  peaceful 
neighbors,  which  Ezekiel  Hawley  had  previously  failed  to  secure.  (Viiii- 
pages  350-35^1,  ante.) 

'  Of  Richard  Sackett,  Silas  Miller,  and  Jeremiah  Lounsberry  no  other 
mention  tlian  this  appears  to  have  beeii  made,  on  tlie  military  recortis 
of  the  Colony  or  Stiite.  It  is  probable  they  were  stars  of  the  smallest 
magnitude. 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Mercurii,  1)  ho.,  A.M.,  May 
"29,  1776." 

T  Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "Saturday,  June  1,  1776." 
8  The  same,  "Monday,  June  3,  1776." 
8  Ibid. 
1"  Ibid. 

Journal  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "Satnrdaj',  June  1,  1776." 
12  Tlie  same,  "  Monday,  June  3,  1776." 
"Ibid. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


365 


Of  the  nine  Provincial  Brigadier-generals  which 
these  requisitions  would  bring  into  the  service,  one  was 
assigned  to  the  Colony  of  New  York  ; '  and,  as  will  bo 
seen,  hereafter,  a  lively  canvass  for  the  place  was  im- 
mediately conimenced  by  John  Morin  Scott,  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  by  the  President  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  Brigadier-general  Nathaniel  Wood- 
hull,  of  Suffolk. 

These  several  requisitions,  with  an  elaborate  appeal 
from  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  were 
laid  before  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  on 
the  morning  of  the  seventh  of  June ; '-  and  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  a  Committee  who  had  been 
appointed  for  the  purpose,  during  the  morning  ses- 
sion, made  a  Report,  apportioning  the  requisitions 
which  had  been  made  by  the  Continental  Congress 
on  the  Colony  of  New  York,  in  due  projjortions,  on 
the  several  Counties,  the  number  apportioned  to 
Westchester-county  having  been  three  hundred  men.^ 
On  the  following  Sunday  afternoon,  the  levies  which 
had  been  made  on  Westchester  and  Orange-counties 
and  Sutiblk  were  ordered  to  constitute  one  Battalion  ; 
and,  for  that  Battalion,  Westchester-couuty  was 
ordered  to  appoint  or  nominate,  one  Colonel,  four 
Captains,  four  First  Lieutenants,  and  four  Second 
Lieutenants.* 

Although  the  Provincial  Congress  was  "of  opinion 
"  that  the  several  levies,"  apportioned  on  the  different 
Counties,  consisting  of  volunteers,  would  be  most 
" advancive  of  the  public  service,  yet"  it  evidently 
knew  that  volunteers  could  not  be  had,  even  under 
such  a  stress  of  circumstances  as  then  existed  and  in 
so  "  glorious  a  cause ;  "  and  drafts  from  the  respective 
Regiments,  in  each  County,  were  also  provided  for, 
in  instances  where  deficiencies  should  be  found;  and 
every  possible  measure  was  employed,  to  secure  the 
armament  and  general  equipment  of  the  men.^ 

Information  had  no  sooner  been  received  by  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  that  a  Brigadier- 
general  was  to  be  appointed  by  that  body,  for  the 
command  of  the  four  Battalions  which  were  to  be 
raised  in  New  York,  than  it  was  announced  "the 
"Congress  conceived  it  necessary  towards  carrying 
"the  several  Resolutions  and  requisitions  of  the 
"Continental  Congress  into  execution,  to  appoint  a 
"Brigadier-general  and  a  Major  of  Brigade  of  the 
"Militia  of  Westchester-county  " — the  Congress  did 
not  reveal  in  what  that  declared  "necessity"  existed, 
however;  and  as  those  offices  had  been  created  on 
the  twenty-second  of  the  preceding  August'  and  had 
not  been  occupied,  during  the  entire  intervening  per- 


1  Journal  of  the  Coulinental  Congresf,  "Monday,  June  3,  1776." 
^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congrete,  "Friday  morning,  9  ho.,  June  7, 
"  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congrett,  "  Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  June  7. 
"  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congresf,  "  Sundiiy  aftornuun,  Juno  9,  1776." 
>  Ibid. 

«  Vide  imge  278,  ante. 


iod,  while  neither  pay  nor  emoluments  were  derivable 
from  them,  it  ia  very  evident  that  that  Brigadier- 
general  and  that  Major  of  Brigade  became  a  "  neces- 
"sity,"  very  suddenly,  and  only  when  a  contingent 
possibility  appeared  that  they,  if  they  were  already 
in  place,  might  receive  the  appointments  to  the  new- 
created  offices  of  the  same  respective  ranks,  in  the 
Brigade  of  Militia  which  the  Continental  Congress 
had  called  into  the  service  of  the  Continent,  with  the 
honors,  the  pay,  the  emoluments,  and  the  increased 
social  and  political  influences  which  they  would  cer- 
tainly ensure.  Not  a  moment  was  lost,  therefore — 
the  Congress  was  not  even  permitted  to  refer  the 
letter  from  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress 
and  the  exceedingly  important  enclosures  which  it 
covered,  to  a  Committee,  for  consideration  and  report 
— when,  with  indecent  haste,  some  ready  made  Cer- 
tificates which  had  evidently  been  kept  on  hand, 
ready  for  immediate  use,  whenever  they  should  be 
needed,  were  laid  before  the  Provincial  Congress, 
showing  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  enlightened 
County  Committee,  in  Westchester-county,  Lewis 
Morris  was  just  the  man  for  a  Brigadier-general's 
command,  and  that  Lewis  Morris,  Junior,  could  not 
be  excelled  as  a  Major  of  Brigade.  With  such  in- 
telligent judges  of  military  matters  and  of  the  re- 
quirements of  those  who  were  to  command  and  handle 
large  bodies  of  soldiers,  as  were  seen  in  the  rustic 
Committee  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  1776-77,  and 
with  Gouverneur  Morris,  the  step-brother  and  uncle 
of  the  two  ambitious  Westchesterians,  present,  and 
directing  the  work,  how  could  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress do  less  than  to  elect  them?  The  record  says, 
"the  Congress  conceive  it  necessary  towards  carrying 
"  these  Resolutions  of  the  Continental  Congress  into 
"execution,  to  appoint  a  Brigadier-general  and  a 
"  Major  of  Brigade  of  the  Militia  of  Westchester- 
"  county  ;  and  Lewis  Morris,  Esqr.,  being  thought  the 
"most  proper  person  for  a  Brigadier-general  of  the 
"  Militia  of  that  Count}','  and  having  been  recom- 
"  mended  by  the  County  Committee,  for  that  pur- 
"  pose,  and  Lewis  Morris,  Junior,  Estjr.,  having  been 
"  also  formerly  recommended  by  the  said  Committee 
"  for  an  appointment,  to  be  the  Major  of  Brigade  of 
"  the  Militia  of  that  County  ; 

"  Resolved  :  That  Lewis  Morris,  Esqr.,  be  ap- 
"  pointed  Brigadier-general  of  the  Militia  of  the 
"  County  of  Westchester,  and  that  Lewis  jMorris, 
"  Junr.,  Esqr.,  be  appointed  Major  of  Brigade  of  ihe 
"  Militia  of  the  said  County." 

The  Secretaries  were  ordered  to  engross  the  Com- 
missions; and  that,  properly  attested,  those  Commis- 
sions be  "  sent  to  those  gentlemen  with  all  possible 


'  As  the  Militia  Bill  which  the  Prorincial  Congress  had  adopted  on  the 
twenty-second  of  August,  1775,  bad  massed  "  the  Jlilitia  of  the  Counties 
"of  Duchess  and  Westchester"  [inio]  "one  otiier  Brigade,"  it  would 
seem  that  Duchess-county  ought  to  have  been  consulted,  in  this  mat- 
ter; but,  very  evidently,  it  was  not. 


366 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


"  despatch,"  *  although  the  Offices  were  only  those  of 
the  Militia,  not  in  active  service  and,  with  a  small  ex- 
ception, not  likely  to  be  so.  The  "  despatch "  was 
"  necessary,"  however,  since  a  full-fledged  Brigadier- 
general  would  be  a  more  imposing  candidate,  when 
the  election  should  be  held  for  the  Brigadier-general 
of  the  four  Battalions  who  had  been  culled  into  the 
service  of  the  Continent ;  and  it  was  not  a  character- 
istic of  the  Morris  family  to  be  backward  when  its  own 
interests  required  attention  and  action,  at  the  front. 
We  shall  see,  hereafter,  how  well  this  well-laid 
scheme  was  counter-schemed  by  more  astute  aspirants; 
how  General  Lewis  Morris  reaped  all  his  military 
honors,  what  there  were  of  them,  in  the  Militia  of 
Westchester-county  ;^  and  that  Brigade-major  Lewis 
Morris,  Junior,  secured  all  the  laurels  which  he 
possessed,  as  an  Aide  of  General  Greene,  a  place  for 
which  he  was  indebted  to  the  personal  favor  of  that 
Officer. 

Two  days  after  the  unseemly  movement  of  the 
Morrises,  [June  9, 1776,]  the  Provincial  Congress  pro- 
ceeded to  the  election  of  a  Brigadier-general  for  the 
command  of  the  three  thousand  men  who  had  been 
called  from  the  Militia  of  New  York,  for  the  rein- 
forcement of  the  Continental  Army,  under  General 
Washington,  who  was  then  in  that  Colony ;  but 
General  Lewis  Morris,  notwithstanding  his  artful- 
ness^ — that  species  of  "  art "  of  which  his  step-brother, 
Gouverneur,  had  written  to  Mr.  Penn,  in  May, 
1774 — was  not  even  mentioned — even  Westchester- 
county  indicated  that  he  was  not  a  favorite,  beyond  a 
known  limit;  and  its  Deputation  in  the  Provincial 
Congress  did  not  jjander  to  his  inordinate  ambition. 
The  canviiss  was,  indeed,  confined  to  two  candidates, 
John  Morin  Scott,  of  the  Citj'  of  New  York,  one  of 
that  celebrated  "triumvirate"  of  the  earlier  periods 
of  the  Revolution  and  a  lawyer  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing, and  "  General  "  ^  Nathaniel  Woodhull,  of  Suffolk, 
a  veteran  of  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and,  at  the 
time  now  under  notice,  President  of  the  Provincial 


1  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congrest,  "  Friday  morning,  9  ho  ,  June  7, 
"1770." 

2  Bolton  said  Lewis  Morris  was  "a  Brigadier-general  in  tbe  Conti- 
*' neiitJil  Army;''  and  in  his  arrangement  of  the  words,  if  they  mean 
anything,  that  he  held  that  Office  before  he  was  sent  to  the  Continental 
Coiigress  of  1775,  {Histori/  nj  Wcflchesler  couiiti/ ,  original  edition,  ii.,  312 ; 
(lie  Slime,  second  edition,  ii.,  428  ; )  but  we  find  no  competent  evidence  of 
the  truth  uf  the  former  statement ;  and  evidence  is  not  necessary  to  show 
the  entire  untnith  of  the  latter. 

5  Nathaniel  Woodhull  appeal's  to  have  been  a  Colonel  of  the  Suffolk 
Militia,  who  was  "reconunended  or  nominated  to  our  Deputies  in  Pro- 
"viucial  Congress  for  a  Brigadier-general,"  by  the  Committees  of  the 
western  Tow  ns  in  Suffolk,  in  a  meeting  held  at  Smithtown,  on  the  sev- 
enth of  .Sei)tember,  1775,  {Hiytorical  Manuscripts^  etc.:  MUituri/  lietnnis, 
xxvi.,  216  ;)  but  a  very  careful  examination  of  the  JonrimU  of  the  Pro- 
vinci^d  Conijre^s  and  of  its  Committee  of  Safety^  from  that  date  until  the 
earliest  mention  of  him  as  a  "  Brigadier  general  "  which  we  have  seen, 
has  failed  to  produce  the  slightest  evidence  of  his  election  to  that  or 
any  other  military  authority,  beyond  his  Colonelcy.  We  incline  to  the 
opinion,  therefore,  that,  although  he  commanded  the  Suffolk  and  Queens 
I^lilitia,  it  was  only  as  the  senior  Colonel,  or  ftolonel-comraandant;  and 
that  he  was  only  a  "Gejieral,"  "  by  courtesy,"  as  it  was  called. 


Congress.  The  canvass  was  evidently  conducted,  as 
we  have  already  stated,  with  spirit ;  but  the  influence 
of  the  Counties  of  Westchester,  New  York,  Tryon, 
Charlotte,  and  Albany,  in  behalf  of  Scott,  was  too 
great  to  be  overcome  by  that  of  the  Counties  of 
Orange,  Suffolk,  Duchess,  and  Ulster,  for  Woodhull, 
the  Counties  of  Richmond,  Kings,  Queens,  Cumber- 
land, and  Gloucester  having  been  absent ;  and  the 
former  was  thus  elected,*  admirably  filling  the  political 
demand,  but  not,  in  the  slightest  degree,  promising  to 
make  the  Brigade  efficient  or  useful,  as  soldiers — like 
other  lawyers,  some  of  them  within  our  acquaintance, 
the  uniform  of  a  General  wa.s  attractive  to  him ; 
he  secured  an  office  of  distinction  ;  and  he  continued 
to  occupy  it,  until,  on  the  establishment  of  the  new 
form  of  Government,  after  having  been  defeated  in 
his  canvass  for  the  office  of  Governor,  he  was  trans- 
ferred into  the  more  comfortable,  if  not  the  more 
profitable  place,  of  Secretary  of  State,  which  he 
occupied  until  1789,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
who  held  the  place  until  1798. 

On  the  following  day,  [June  10,  1776,]  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  elected  the  Field-officers  of  the  Regi- 
ment in  which  the  levies  from  Westchester-county 
were  to  be  enrolled  ;  and  Samuel  Drake,  who  was  then 
commanding  the  skeleton  Regiment  of  Westchester- 
county  Minute-men,  in  the  Continental  Service,^  was 
elected  Colonel;  John  Hulbert,  of  Suffolk,"  was 
elected  Lieutenant-colonel ;  Moses  Hetfield,  of  Or- 
ange-county, was  elected  Major.'  The  Line-officers 
of  the  Regiment  and  the  other  details  of  its  organiza- 
tion of  the  Regiment  will  be  noticed,  hereafter. 

A  matter  of  i)articular  interest  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Westchester-county  occurred  during  the  session  of 
the  third  Provincial  Congress;  and  it  may  properly  be 
mentioned  in  this  narrative. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  on  the  suggestion  of 
General  Lee,  a  Magazine  of  Provisions  was  ordered 
to  be  established,  in  Westchester-county;  that  the 
Delegates  from  that  County  were  authorized  to  jiur- 
chase,  on  the  account  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  the 
Pork  and  Beef  which  were  desired ;  that,  subsequent- 
ly. Colonel  Gilbert  Drake,  the  Chairman  of  the 
County  Committee  and  one  of  the  Deputies  from  the 
County,  so  managed  the  affiiir  that  all  the  purchases 


♦  Jonmal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Sunday  Morning  June  9,  1770." 
'Vide  pages  328-330,  ante. 

^It  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  joined  the  Regiment,  {Colonel  Henry  B.  Liu- 
vifjston  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangement,  *' Fishkilt.,  2-1  Novr.,  1776;") 
and  he  resigned,  on  the  ninth  of  December,  1770,  {John  Hulbert  to  the 
Committee  of  Arrangement,  "  Fish  Kill,  December  9,  1776.") 

William  Goforth,  who  had  served  honorably  in  Canada,  was  elected 
to  the  vacancy,  {Minutes  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangement,  "  Fishkili., 
"Jany  1.3,  1777  ;")  but,  in  February,  he  declined  to  continue  in  the 
place,  {Philip  Van  Cortlandt  to  the  Committee  of  Arrangement,  "FiSHKILL, 
"Feby.  25,  1777.") 

'  Moses  Hetfield  was  Captiiin  of  the  Company  of  Minute-men,  at  Go- 
shen, in  September,  1775;  {Historical  Munuscripts,  etc.:  Milit/iry  Hetitrns, 
xxvi.,  133;)  in  February,  1776,  he  was  nominated  as  First  Major  of  the 
Regiment  of  Goshen,  {the  same,  .xxvii.,  77  ;)  to  which  office  he  was  subse- 
quently appointed,  {the  same,  xxvii.,  135.) 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


3G7 


of  Flour,  Beef,  and  Pork,  with  all  the  golden  oppor- 
tunities for  personal  profits  which  were  thus  afforded, 
were  concentrated  in  his  own  hands;  that  there  were, 
consequently,  rival  purchasing  Agent-i,  by  whom  and 
by  the  shrewd  farmers,  the  prices  of  tho.se  articles 
were  so  greatly  advanced  that  the  Committee  of 
Safety  was  constrained  to  interfere;  and  that,  after 
the  various  buyers,  on  the  account  of  the  Congress, 
had  thus  secured  their  several  harvests  of  the  official 
plunder,  the  authority  was  suspended,  the  Magazine, 
very  soon  after,  being  declared  unnecessary  ; '  and  the 
provisions  which  had  been  bought,  at  high  prices, 
were  thrown  on  the  market  again,  for  such  prices  as, 
under  such  circumstances,  could  be  obtained  for 
them,  from  the  Contractors  and  Commissaries  of  the 
Continental  Army.'^  Under  the  Rules  of  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  the  accounts  and  the  vouchers  had  to 
be  audited,  before  the  former  could  be  closed ;  and 
Colonel  Gilbert  Drake,  who  had  endeavored  to  super- 
sede his  associates,  in  making  the  necessary  pur- 
chases, could  not  produce  a  sufficient  amount  of  those 
vouchers  to  balance  his  accounts — he  had  received 
three  thousand  pounds,  in  money;  fifty  pounds  of 
that  sum  he  could  not  account  for;  he  was  mean 
enough  to  hesitate,  when  the  missing  fifty  pounds 
were  officially  called  for,  preferring,  rather  to  go 
down  to  posterity,  through  all  time,  as  a  defaulter;' 
and  the  matter  was  laid  before  the  Congress,  to  be 
patched  up,  in  some  way  which  would  spare  him 
from  paying  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars, 
which  had  disappeared,  he  did  not  know  how. 

The  subject  was  one  of  those  which,  by  hook  or  by 
crook,  the  Secretaries  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
were  apt  to  pass,  without  making  an  official  record  of 
them ;  and  we  have  found  no  mention  of  it,  on  the 
Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  until  a  special 
Committee  who  had  been  previously  appointed  "to 
"  take  into  consideration  the  case  of  Colonel  Gilbert 
'•  Drake,  relative  to  a  loss  of  fifty  pounds  he  sustained 
"  in  receiving  and  paying  out  the  monies  deposited  in 
"  his  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  and  laying 
"  up  iu  store  a  certain  quantity  of  salted  Pork,  pur- 
"  suant  to  an  Order  of  the  late  Provincial  Congress," 
made  its  report,  on  the  fifteenth  of  June.  In  that 
Report,  the  facts  were  duly  recited,  very  much  to  the 
depreciation  of  the  vindictive  Colonel's  manliness, 
although  it  recommended  that  he  be  allowed  for  his 
loss,  and  that  he  be  also  compensated  "  for  his  other 
"  services,"  the  latter  having  been  asked  for,  by  no 
others  of  the  Deputies  who  had  also  traversed  the 
County  and  had  made  similar  purchases  and  had  been 
contented  with  what  they  had  respectively  made,  iu  the 

1  Vide  pages  333-335,  ante. 

^Journal  of  the  Provinrial  Congress,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Au- 
•'gust  14,  1776." 

^Gilbert  Drake  seemed  to  care  very  little  for  the  respect  of  poster- 
ity ;  and  his  ill-couduct  iu  the  maaagemunt  of  his  moDelary  dealings 
with  others,  after  the  establishment  of  the  Peace,  led  the  Grand  Jury 
to  indict  him,  on  a  charge  of  e.\tortion,  {HecortU  of  the  Court,  in  man- 
uscript, County-clerk's  office,  at  the  White  Plains.J 


operations.  The  Congress  declared,  as  its  opinion, 
"that  Colonel  Gilbert  Drake  sustained  a  loss,  which 
"accrued  in  receiving  and  paying  out  tlie  public 
"  money,  in  purchasing  Pork,  by  order  of  the  late 
"  Provincial  Congress,"  without,  however,  assuming 
the  loss  referred  to  ;  and  then  it  voted  the  gallant 
Colonel,  "  the  sum  of  seventy  pounds,  as  a  compensa- 
"  tion  for  his  services,  expenses,  and  commissions,  in 
"  purchasing  the  said  Pork,  as  aforesaid,"  and  leaving 
him  officially  "whitewashed,"  with  twenty  pounds 
and  what,  besides,  he  had  made  in  the  operations, 
snugly  secured  in  his  pocket-book.  It  was  proven,  in 
that  instance,  that  influence  was  u.-eful,  even 
among  "  patriots ;  "  and  the  Chairman  of  Westchester- 
couuty's  County  Committee,  in  the  same  instance, 
found  it  well  to  have  been  a  Drake.* 

As  we  have  already  stated,-"  the  third  Provincial 
Congress  was  alarmed  by  theentrance  of  General  Howe 
into  the  harbor  of  New  York,  and  precipitately  dis- 
banded, without  a  formal  adjournment,  although  it 
had  previously  provided  for  a  reassembling  of  the 
Deputies,  at  the  Court  House,  in  the  White  Plains,  on 
the  following  Tuesday,  [July  2, 1776.]  As  it  did  n(»t 
thus  resume  its  work,  it  ceased  to  exist;  and,  whether 
for  good  or  for  evil,  the  third  Provincial  Congress  and 
all  which  it  did  and  all  which  it  failed  to  do  became 
subjects  of  history. 

****** 

The  latter  half  of  the  year  1776  was  one  of  the 
most  eventful  periods  in  the  history  of  America,  if 
not  in  that  of  the  entire  civilized  world  ;  and  in  the 
great  drama  of  political  and  military  events,  teeming 
with  immediate  interest  and  with  ultimate  import- 
ance, and  occupying  only  that  short  half-year, 
Westchester-couuty,  in  New  York,  and  those  who 
were,  then,  within  the  limits  of  that  ancient  County — 
the  peaceful  and  industrious  farmers  whose  homes 
were  there,  as  well  those  strangers,  armed  or  unarmed, 
who  had  gone  into  the  County,  uo  matter  for  what 
purpose — occupy  places  which  were,  then,  as  con- 
spicuous as,  since  the  close  of  that  period,  they  have 
been  well-known,  from  one  extreme  of  Christendom 
to  the  other. 

On  the  second  of  July,*  General  Howe  and  the 
army  which  he  commanded,  whose  entrance  into  the 
harbor  of  New  York,  a  few  days  before,  has  been 
already  noticed,' occupied  Stateu-Island — Richmond- 
county — with  the  military  and  naval  forces  which  ho 
had  brought  from  Halifax,  say  seven  thousand,  five 
hundred,  and  fifty-six,  rank  and  file,  including  those 


*  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Die  Sabbati,  A.M.,  June  15 
"  1776." 

5  Vide  page  338,  ante. 

"General  Howe's  Observations  on  a  pamphlet  entitled  Lettei-s  to  a  Xo- 
blenian,  47. 

See,  also,  General  Hoice  to  Lord  George  Gennain,  "  Staten  Islanh,  7th 
"July,  177G;  "  General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the  Coutinentul 
Congress,  "New- York,  July  3,  1776." 

'  Vide  pages  339,  340,  aute. 


368 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


who  were  sick ;  ^  and,  as  has  been  already  stated,  the 
inhabitants  of  that  beautiful  island,  remembering  the 
sentence  of  outlawry  which  had  been  pronounced 
against  them,  by  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  the 
multiplied  outrages  to  which  they  had  been  sub- 
jected, on  warrants  of  the  same  body,  by  those  who 
claimed  to  be  the  special  defenders  of  the  Rights  of 
Man ;  and  being,  also,  relieved  from  apprehensions 
of  a  renewal  of  their  sufferings,  "testified  their 
"  loyalty  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,"  furnishing 
the  new-comers  with  "  fresh  Provisions,  Carriages, 
"  Horses,  etc.,"  ^  and  meriting,  from  him,  the  high 
praise  which  General  Howe  awarded  to  them,  in  his 
despatches  to  the  Home  Government.' 

It  is  proper  that  we  shall  say,  in  this  connection, 
that  General  Howe,  on  his  arrival  at  Sandy-hook,  on 
the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  had  been  met  by  Governor 
Tryon  and  many  others,  "  fast  friends  to  Govern- 
"ment,"  from  whom  he  had  received  "the  fullest 
"  information  of  the  state  of  the  rebels,"  and  of  their 
situation  and  defences,  in  the  City  of  New  York  and. 
on  Long  Island.  His  inquiries,  concerning  the  face 
of  the  country  between  Gravesend  and  Brooklyn  and 
concerning  the  military  works  which  had  been  thrown 
up,  had  afforded  information  which  had  been  so 
entirely  satisfactory  that  he  had  determined  to  land 
the  Army,  at  Gravesend,  immediately,  and  to  move, 
from  that  base,  without  the  slightest  delay  and  with 
only  the  small  effective  force  which  was  then  under 
his  command,  on  the  insufficient  works  which,  at  that 
early  day,  had  been  constructed  in  Kings-county. 
For  the  prosecution  of  that  purpose,  two  days  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Fleet  and  the  Army,  at  Sandy 
Hook,  {^July  1,  1776,]  the  former  had  been  moved  up 
to  Gravesend-bay,  now  so  universally  known  to  New 
Yorkers  as  one  of  their  Summer  resorts,  in  order  that 
the  troops  might  be  landed,  at  daybreak,  on  the 
following  morning,  [-/"/y  2,  1776,]  and,  thence,  make 
the  first  movement  in  the  Campaign,  against  the 
insignificant  works  and  yet  more  insignificant  force 
which,  at  that  time,  were  clustered  around  Brooklyn.'' 

^  General  Howe's  Observations^  45, 
^GeDeral  JIuwe's  Observations^  50. 

3  General  Jloice  Ui  Lord  Geonje  Germaine^  "Stated  Island,  7th  July, 
**1776."    General  Huwe's  Observations,  50. 

4  General  Washington's  means  for  obtaining  intelligence  were  very 
defective — how  should  it  have  been  otherwise,  among  those  whom  the 
Provincial  Congress  had  soured  by  the  outrages  inflicted  on  them  or 
on  their  neighbors  and  friends?  lie  was  not  informed  of  the  arrival 
of  General  Howe,  until  three  days  after  it  had  occurred ;  and  then  only 
through  information  received  through  a  prisoner,  whom  the  Schuyler, 
armed  sloop,  had  captured. 

On  the  same  day  on  which  that  intelligence  was  received  by  him, 
General  Washingion  wrote  to  the  Continental  Congress  :  "  I  could  wish 
"General  Howe  and  his  annament  not  to  arrive  yet,  as  not  more  than 
"a  thousand  Militia  have  come  in,  and  our  whole  force,  including  the 
"troops  at  all  the  detached  posts  and  on  board  the  armed  vessels, 
"which  are  comprehended  in  our  Returns,  is  but  small  and  inciinsider- 
"able  when  compared  with  the  extensive  lines  they  are  to  defend  and, 
"most  probably,  the  Army  that  he  brings.  I  have  no  further  intelli- 
"gence  about  him  than  what  the  Lieutenant"  [Lavisvn,  of  the  armed 
"sloop  Schuyler]  "mentions:  but  it  is  extremely  probable  his  accounts 
"and  conjectures  are  true,"  {General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the 


It  is  not  now  known,  if  it  was  ever  known,  what  the 
result  of  that  early  movement  of  the  Royal  Army 
would  have  been,  had  General  Howe's  purposes  been 
duly  executed ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that, 
with  no  more  than  the  small  force  which  was  then 
under  his  command  and  with  the  reinforcements  which 
an  early  success  would  have  surely  brought  to  him, 
from  Richmond,  Kings,  and  Queens-counties,  the 
insufficiently  armed  and  ill-appointed  handful  of 
half-hearted  men  whom  General  Washington  com- 
manded or  endeavored  to  command,  would  have  been 
entirely  overcome;  and  that,  thereby,  the  physical 
strength  of  the  Rebellion  would  have  been  surely 
broken.^  But  "  the  bright  designs  "  of  God  had  been 
directed  to  an  entirely  diflferent  end;  and  the  up- 
lifted hand  of  General  Howe  fell,  harmlessly,  with- 
out striking  the  meditated  and  well-aimed  and 
powerful  blow — during  the  night,  after  the  Fleet  had 
anchored  in  Gravesend-bay,  and  while  the  prepara- 
tions for  landing  the  troops,  at  the  approaching  day- 
break, were  in  progress,  and  while  the  soldiery, 
smarting  under  the  disgrace  which  had  befallen  it,  at 
Boston,  was  eagerly  preparing  to  recover  its  pro- 
fessional respectability,  in  an  encounter,  in  the  field, 
with  those  by  whom  it  had  been,  there,  humiliated, 
somebody,  history  does  not  say  whom  although  intel- 
ligent conjecture  undoubtedly  supplies  the  informa- 
tion, approached  the  commanding  General  with 
"particular  information  of  a  strong  pass,  upon  a 
"  ridge  of  craggy  heights,  covered  with  wood,  that  lay 
"  in  the  route  the  Army  must  take,  only  two  miles 
"distant  from  the  front  of  the  enemy's  encampment 
"and  seven  from  Gravesend,  which  the  rebels  would 
"  undoubtedly  occupy  before  the  King's  troops  could 


ConlinenttU  Congress,  "  New  ToEK,  27  June,  mt>,"  postscript  dated  "June 
"  28th."] 

On  the  following  day.  General  Washington  wrote  thus:  "I  suppose 
"the  whole  fleet  will  be  in,  within  a  day  or  two."  [It  all  arrired  on 
thit  day,^  "I  am  hopeful,  before  they  are  prepared  to  attiick,  that  I 
"shall  get  some  reinforcements.  Be  that  as  it  m.ay,  I  shall  attempt 
"to  make  the  best  disposition  I  can  of  our  troops,  in  order  to  give  them 
"a  proper  reception,  and  prevent  the  ruin  and  destruction  they  are 
"  meditating  against  us,"  (General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the  Con' 
linenlal  Congress,"  tfEW  York,  29  June,  1776.") 

A  few  days  after  General  Washington  had  thus  conveyed  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  weakness  of  his  command,  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
the  .\ijjutant-general  of  the  .\rmy  is  said  to  have  written  to  a  member 
of  the  same  Congress,  on  the  same  subject,  in  these  words:  "With  an 
"Army  of  force,  before,  and  a  secret  one,  behind,  we  stund  on  a  point 
"of  land  with  six  thousand  old  troops,  if  a  year's  service  of  about  half 
"can  entitle  them  to  the  name,  and  about  fifteen  hundred  new  levies, 
"of  this  Province,  many  disaffected  and  more  doubtful.  In  this  situ- 
"  ation  we  are;  every  man  in  the  Army,  from  the  General  to  the  Pri- 
"vate,  acquainted  with  our  true  situation,  is  exceedingly  discouraged. 
"Had  I  known  the  true  posture  of  affairs,  no  consideration  would  have 
"tempted  me  to  have  taken  an  active  part  of  this  scene  ;  and  this  sen- 
*'timent  is  univei'sal,"  [Adjutant-general  Joseph  Peed  "to  a  Member  of 
"  Congress,"  "New  Yoek,  July  4,  177(i,"  quoted  by  Dr.  Gordon,  in  his 
History  of  the  Pise,  Progress  and  Establishment  of  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  Edition,  London  :  1788,  ii.,  278.) 

6  "  General  Howe  is  sufficiently  strong,  considering  the  goodness  of  his 
"troops,  to  make  a  successful  attempt  upon  the  Americans;  but  being 
"in  daily  expectation  of  the  reinforcements  from  Europe,  he  will  un- 
"doubtedly  remain  inactive  till  their  arrival,"  (Gordon's  History,  etc., 
London  edition,  ii,  278.) 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


"get  up  to  it;  and,  from  the  minutest  description, 
"judging  an  attack  upon  this  post,  so  strong  by 
"  nature  and  so  near  the  front  of  the  enemy's  works, 
"to  be  too  hazardous  an  attempt,  before  the  arrival  of 
"  the  troops  with  Commodore  Hotham," '  \_frniii 
Europe,']  "daily  expected,"  the  General  "declined 
"  the  undertaking;  "  and,  consequently,  the  day-break 
came  and  went  without  tlie  promised  debarkation  of 
the  Army ;  the  Fleet  weighed  its  anchors,  "  passed  the 
"  Narrows,"  came  too  at  the  watering  place,  where  it 
again  cast  its  anchors ;  the  Army  was  landed  on  Staten 
Island,  as  already  stated ;  the  first  mistake  of  the 
Campaign  was  committed;  the  first  disastrous  delay 
was  inaugurated  ;  General  Washington  and  his  feeble 
command  were,  for  the  time,  spared;  and  the  Re- 
bellion was  not  suppressed.  With  an  abundant  naval 
force  under  his  command.  General  Howe  commanded 
and  controlled  all  the  waters  which  were  near  him  ; 
and  Gravesend-bay  need  not  have  been  regarded  as 
the  only  base  which  he  could  have  occupied — he 
could  have  turned  the  tiauk  of  any  or  of  all  the  lines, 
either  of  hills  or  of  armed  rebels,  and  have  landed 
his  command  either  in  front  or  on  the  rear  of  either 
of  the  latter,  as  he  should  have  determined ;  and  he 
could  have  led  his  abundantly  supplied,  admirably 
disciplined,  and  thoroughly  willing  command  to  an 
immediate  and  effectual  success,  had  not  his  willing 
ears  listened  to  those  who  inclined  to  Peace,  and  had 
not  his  sympathies  controlled  his  judgment  and  over- 
come his  sense  of  duty  witli  the  hope  that  tlie  day  of 
reconciliation — of  reconciliation  to  be  secured  through 
himself — was  not  yet  passed.  He  hesitated ;  and  the 
golden  opportunity  passed  away,  never  to  be  re- 
turned. 

On  the  same  second  of  July,  and  while  the  Royal 
Army  was  thus  occupying  Staten  Island,  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  at  Philadelphia,  was  considering  the 
subject  of  Independence. 

****** 

It  will  be  remembered  by  the  reader  that,  in  1774, 
when  the  County  of  Westchester  was  invited,  by  the 
Committee  of  Fifty-one,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  to 


1  Conmiodore  Hotham  did  not  reach  New  York  until  the  twelfth  of 
August,  as  will  be  seen,  hereafter. 

^General  Uoice  to  Lord  George  Germain,  "Staten  Island,  "th  July, 
"  177C." 

See,  also,  [Captain  Hall's]  Hinlnnj  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  174 ; 
Stednian's  History  <>/  the  Americutt  ]r«r,  i.,  luO,  I'Jl. 

Stedniaii  said,  "  the  troops  thus  landed," [on  Staten  /sluiirf,]  "consisted 
"of  two  Battalions  of  Light  Infantry;  two  of  Grenadiers;  the  Fourth, 
"Fiftli,  Tenth,  Seventeenth,  Twenty-second,  Twenty-third,  Twenty  sev- 
"enth,  Thirty-fifth,  Thirty-eighth,  Fortieth,  Forty  second.  Forty-third, 
"  Forty-fourth,  Forty  fifth,  Forty-ninth,  Fifiy-second,  Fifty -sixth,  Sixty- 
"  third,  and  Sixty -fourth  Regiments  of  Foot ;  parts  of  the  Forty-six.th 
"  and  Seventy  first  Regiments  ;  and  the  Seventeenth  Regiment  of  Light 
"  Dragoons.  There  were,  besides,  two  Companies  of  Volunteers,  raised 
"  at  JJew-Vork,  consisting  of  one  hundred  men  each.  The  total  amount 
"was  nine  thousand  men" — in  which  latter  statement,  in  general  terms, 
he  is  contradicted  by  General  Howe,  in  his  Observntiong,  {vide  puges,  3ti7, 
308,  ante.)  although  he  gave  the  aggregate,  including  the  Officers  and 
Staff,  while  General  Howe  included  only  "the  Itank  and  File  of  his 
command. 

31 


369 


unite  with  that  Committee  in  sending  a  Delegation 
to  the  proposed  Congress  of  the  Continent  which  had 
been  called  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  proper  and 
united  opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  Ministry 
and,  lis  far  as  possible,  a  redress  of  the  grievances  of 
the  Colonies,  the  great  body  of  the  farmers  in  that 
County  disregarded  that  invitation ;  and  that  the 
very  few  who  accepted  it,  either  personally  or  by 
their  local  Committees,  assembled  at  the  Court-house, 
in  the  White  Plains ;  called  one  of  the  principal  land- 
holders of  the  County,  who  was,  also,  at  that  time  a 
Representative  of  the  County  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Colony,  Frederic  Philipse  by  name,  to  the 
Chair ;  and  signified  the  opposition  to  the  measures 
of  the  Home  Government,  of,  at  least,  those  who  were 
present,  by  authorizing  the  Delegation  who  had  been 
elected  to  represent  the  City  and  County  of  New 
York,  to  represent,  at  the  same  time,  the  County  of 
Westchester,  in  that  general  assemblage  of  Delegates.^ 

It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Colony,  which  was  convened  in 
January,  1775,  although  there  was  not,  within  it,  a 
single  "  friend  of  the  Government,"  every  member 
having  been  an  avowed  member  of  the  party  of  the 
Opi^osition,  had  presented  the  lamentable  spectacle 
of  a  great  party  divided  into  factions,  each  seeking  to 
secure  the  same  great  result,  but  by  distinct  and 
radically  different  means.  In  the  conflicts  of  factions, 
in  that  body,  it  will  be  remembered  that  no  more 
consistent  and  no  more  steadfast  ojjponents  of  the 
Home  and  Colonial  Governments  were  seen  than  the 
two  Representatives  of  the  County  of  Westchester 
and  the  other  two,  who  represented,  respectively,  the 
Manor  of  Cortlandt  and  the  Borough  Town  of  West- 
chester, although  Frederic  Philipse,  representing  the 
County,  and  Isaac  Wilkins,  representing  the  Borougli, 
were  of  one  faction,  and  John  Thomas,  also  repre- 
senting the  County,  and  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  rep- 
resenting the  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  were  of  the  other 
and  opposing  faction.* 

At  the  adjournment  of  the  House,  in  April,  1775, 
these  four  gentlemen  appeared  to  have  returned  to 
their  respective  homes,  and  to  have  remained  there, 
without  immediately  participating  in  the  political 
events  of  the  day,  except  in  the  instance  of  Frederic 
Philipse  and  Isaac  Wilkins,  who,  eight  days  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  General  Assembly,  united  in  the 
Declaration  and  Protect  against  the  assembling  of  the 
Provincial  Convention  for  the  sole  purpose  of  electing 
Delegates  to  a  second  Congress  of  the  Continent, 
which  Declaration  and  Protest  a  large  number  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  County  of  Westchester  then  signed 
and  published.^ 

It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  among  the  earliest 
of  those  whom  the  handful  of  office-seekers,  in  the 
interest  of  themselves  and  of  the  Rebellion,  proscrib- 

s  Vide  page  208,  ante. 

*  Vide  pages  224,  225,  ante. 

5  Vide  pages  248-2o0,  ante. 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


SYO 


ed,  because  of  his  action  in  the  General  Assembly — 
notwithstanding  it  was  in  an  earnest  opposition  to 
the  Ministry  and  in  an  equally  earnest  support  of  the 
demands  of  the  Colony  for  a  redress  of  grievances — 
because  of  his  Declaration  and  Protest  at  the  White 
Plains,  and,  undoubtedly,  because  of  his  understood 
authorship  of  some  political  tracts  which  were 
obnoxious  to  the  controling  political  faction,  Isaac 
Wilkins  was  obliged  to  seek  personal  safety  in 
flight — he  left  his  family  and  his  estate  and  found  a 
refoige  in  London.' 

After  having  spent  some  months  in  retirement, 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  resumed  his  place  in  the  polit- 
ical turmoil  of  the  period ;  while  Frederic  Philipse 
and  John  Thomas,  the  former  at  Yonkers  and  the 
other  in  the  Harrison  Precinct,  are  not  known  to  have 
taken  any  part  whatever,  in  the  partisan  operations  of 
that  period. 

When  the  spirit  of  proscription  was  introduced  into 
Westchester-county,  destroying  the  peace  which  had 
previously  prevailed  among  its  rural  inhabitants, 
Frederic  Philipse  was  named  among  those  who,  with- 
out the  slightest  evidence  of  any  wrong-doing,  were 
to  be  arrested  and  dealt  with.-  He  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  disturbed,  however,  until  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  notorious  "  Committee  to  Detect  Conspira- 
"  cies,"  of  which  mention  has  been  already  made;^ 
when,  at  the  head  of  the  List  of  Suspected  Persons, 
in  Westchester-county,  who  were  designated  as  the 
victims  of  that  American  Inquisition,  was  placed  the 
name  of  "*  Frederic  Philipse X" — the  asterisk 
before  the  name  indicating  that  he  was  "  to  be  Sum- 
"moned;"  and  the  cross  which  followed  the  name 
indicating  that  he  was  "  to  be  Arrested."  * 

The  Minutes  of  the  Committee  also  indicate  that  on 
the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  1776,  an  Order  was  made 
by  that  body,  "  That  Summonses  issue  against  the 
"  following  persons  as  inimical  to  ,the  Cause  and 
"rights  of  America,  returnable  on  Wednesday  the 
"  third  day  of  July  next  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon 
"  of  the  same  day,  viz :  Frederick  Philipse  and 
"  Samuel  Merritt,  which  said  Summonses  signed  by 
"  all  the  members  present  af  were  delivered  to  the 
"Secretary  with  directions  to  deliver  them  to  the 
"  messenger  to  be  served."' 

The  Summons  thus  issued  was  served  on  Frederic 
Philipse,  at  Philipsborough,  the  present  City  of 
Yonkers,  on  Saturday  evening,  the  twenty-ninth  of 
June ;  and,  on  the  following  Tuesday,  [July  2,  1776,] 
he  made  the  following  reply  to  the  Committee  : 


1  Vide  page  254,  ante. 

2  List  of  WeatcJiester  County  Tories :  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.  ;  Mis- 
cellaneous Papers,  xxxiv.,  193. 

3  Vide  pages  344-347,  ante 

*  Minutes  of  the  Committee  to  Detect  Conspiracies,  "Die  Sabbati,  12  ho., 
"June  15,  1775:"  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.,  Miscellaneous  Papers, 
xxxiv.,  307,  and  xxx.,  150. 

^Minutes  of  the  Committee  to  Detect  Conspiracies,  "Thursday,  A.M., 
*'  June  27,  1776 :  "  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.,  Miscellaneous  Papers, 
xxxT.,  485. 


"Philipsborough,  July  2,  1776. 

"  Gentlemen  : 

"  I  was  served  on  Saturday  evening  last  with  a 
"  paper  signed  by  you,  in  which  you  suggest  that 
"  you  are  authorized  by  the  Congress  to  summon  cer- 
"  tain  persons  to  appear  before  you,  whose  conduct 
"  had  been  represented  as  inimical  to  the  rights  of 
"America,  of  which  number  you  say  I  am  one. 

"  Who  it  is  that  has  made  such  a  representation  or 
"  upon  what  particular  facts  it  is  founded,  as  you  have 
"  not  stated  them,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  imagine ; 
"  but,  considering  my  situation  and  the  near  and 
"  intimate  ties  and  connexions  which  I  have  in  this 
"  country,*  which  can    be  secured  and  rendered 


'  Frederic  Philipse  was  a  native  of  the  Colony  ;  and  the  familj'  had 
been  well  known  residents  of  New  York  for  more  than  a  century  pre- 
ceding the  date  of  this  letter,  and  was  connected,  by  marriage,  with  the 
other  leading  families  of  America — even  George  AVashington  had  not 
scrupled  to  seek  an  alliance  with  it,  if  tradition  speaks  truly. 

The  well-known  Kev.  Timothy  Dwight,  S.  T.  D.,  President  of  Tale- 
college,  writing  of  Yonkers,  in  the  Autumn  of  1811,  said,  "it  is  remark- 
"  able  for  nothing,  except  having  been  the  residence  of  the  family  of 
"  Philipse,  one  of  the  most  distinguised  of  those  which  came,  as  Colonists, 
"  from  the  United  Netherlands.  Colonel  Philipse,  the  last  branch 
*'  resident  in  this  country,  I  knew  well.  He  was  a  worthy  and  re- 
"  spectable  man,  not  often  excelled  in  personal  and  domestic  amiable- 
"  ness.  Mrs.  Philipse  was  an  excellent  woman;  and  the  children,  the 
"eldest  of  whom  was  about  seventeen,  gave  every  promise  of  treading 
"  in  the  same  steps,"  {Travels,  in  New  England  and  New  York,  iii., 
"  442,  443.) 

Mr.  Bolton  [Histm-y  of  Westchester-county,  Second  Edition,  i.,  523,)  quot- 
ing from  an  original  manuscript,  in  the  handwriting  of  John  Jay,  said 
that  that  most  zealous  and  most  malignant  of  all  31r.  Philipse's  perse- 
cutors, s;iiil  of  him,  probably  in  the  later  years  of  the  life  of  the  writer, 
"He  was  a  well-tempered,  amiable  man  ;  and  a  kind,  benevolent  land- 
"  lord.  He  had  a  taste  for  gardening,  planting,  &c.,  and  employed 
"  much  time  and  money  in  that  way.  *  *  *  At  the  commencement 
"  of  our  Revolution,  he,  Frederick  Philipse,  was  inclined  to  the  Whigs, 
"  but  was  afterwards  persuaded  to  favor  the  Tories.*  He  was  removed 
"  to  Connecticut,  on  his  parole.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  favor- 
"able  to  him,  circumstanced  as  he  then  was,  than  to  be  placed  in  such 
"a  state  of  tranquil  neutrality.  On  a  certain  occasion,  he  obtained  per- 
"  mission  to  go  to  New  York,  while  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  On 
'*  being  afterwards  required  to  return,  he  very  impro])erly  and  unwisely 
"yielded  to  the  importunities  of  certain  of  his  friends,  and  refused  to 
"  return.    His  estate  was  confiscated." 

Sabine,  notwithstanding  his  notorious  bitterness,  repeated  the  story  of 
the  moral  worth  of  this  unwieldy,  blind  man,  who  lived  on  his  estate, 
taking  no  part  whatever  in  the  partisan  movements  of  the  period. 
[lAiyalists  of  the  American  BevoUition,  original  edition,  537,  538  ;  revised 
edition,  ii.,  186,  187.) 

The  persecution  of  Frederic  Philipse  and  the  robbery  of  his  family, 
mainl3'  through  the  two  Jays,  is  a  subject  which  some  one  will,  here- 
after, be  very  likely  to  examine  and  expose,  in  all  its  native  ugliness,  to 
the  censure  of  the  world. 


*  No  one  knew  better  than  John  Jay  that  there  was  another  cause 
than  that  named,  which  led  Frederic  Philipse  to  dissent  from  the  doings 
of  John  Jay,  James  Duane,  Governeur  Morris,  et  al.  Frederic  Philipse 
continued  to  be  a  member  of  the  Colonial  party  of  the  Opposition,  in  New 
York,  until,  by  the  advice  of  the  Committee  of  which  John  Jay  was 
one  of  the  master  spirits  and  the  Chairman,  he  was  seized  by  the  military 
power  and  sent  into  exile  ;  and  the  scheme  and  trick  by  means  of  which 
those  exiles  who  had  been  allowed  to  go  into  New  York,  did  not  receive 
the  notices  which  Governor  Trumbull  sent  for  their  return,  affording 
a  pretext  for  the  sequestration  of  their  large  estates,  was  not  a  secret  to 
those  who  were,  then,  in  the  ring  of  "  patriotic  "  money-seekers,  nor  is 
it  a  secret  to  us,  now. 

Common  respect  for  the  truth  should  have  led  John  Jay  to  have  told 
the  whole  of  the  story  concerning  Frederic  Philipse's  visit  to  New  York 
and  his  stay  there,  or  to  have  said  nothing  concerning  it. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


371 


"  happy  to  me  only  by  the  real  and  permanent  pros- 
"  perity  of  America,  I  should  have  hoped  that  suspi- 
"  cions  of  this  harsh  nature  would  not  be  easily 
"  harboured.  However,  as  they  have  been  thought  of 
"  weight  sufficient  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  Congress, 
"  I  can  only  observe  that,  conscious  of  the  upright- 
"ness  of  my  intentions  and  the  integrity  of  my  con- 
"  duct,  I  would  most  readily  comply  with  your  Sum- 
"  mons,  but  the  situation  of  my  health  is  such  as 
"  would  render  it  very  unadvisable  for  me  to  take  a 
"journey  to  New  York,  at  this  time.  I  have  had  the 
"  misfortune,  Gentlemen,  of  being  deprived,  totally, 
"  of  the  sight  of  my  left  eye ;  and  the  other  is  so 
'•  much  attected  and  inflamed  as  to  make  me  very 
"  cautious  how  I  expose  it,  for  fear  of  a  total  loss  of 
"sight.  This  being  my  real  situation,  I  must  request 
"  the  favour  of  you  to  excuse  my  attendance,  to- 
"  morrow;  but  you  may  rest  assured,  Gentlemen,  that 
"  I  shall  punctually  attend,  as  soon  as  I  can,  con- 
"  sistent  with  my  health;  flattering  myself,  in  the 
"  meantime,  that,  upon  further  consideration,  you 
"  will  think  that  my  being  a  friend  to  the  rights 
"  and  interests  of  my  native  country  is  a  fact  so 
"  strongly  implied  as  to  require  no  evidence  on  my 
"  part  to  prove  it,  until  something  more  substantial 
"  than  mere  suspicion  or  vague  surmises  are  proved 
"  to  the  contrary. 

"  I  am.  Gentlemen,  your  most  obedient,  humble 
"  servant  Frederick  Philipse. 

"To  Lkoxahd  Gaxsevoort,  Philip  LrvxNGSxox, 
"Thomas  Tredwell,  Lewis  Graham,  Gouv- 
"ernedr  Morris,  Thomas  Raxdall,  Es- 
"  quires." ' 

As  the  Provincial  Congress,  as  well  as  its  Com- 
mittee to  Detect  Conspiracies,  had  hurriedly  left  the 
City  of  New  York  before  the  day  appointed  for  the 
hearing  of  Frederic  Philipse  and  Samuel  Merritt ;  ^ 
and  as  only  one  of  the  members  of  the  Committee  had 
lingered,  after  the  Congress  and  the  Committee  had 
retired  ; '  the  proceedings  against  them,  at  that  time, 
were  evidently  suspended — the  suspension  of  the 
persecution  of  Mr.  Philipse,  however,  was  speedily 
followed  by  a  similar  proceeding,  of  which  mention 
will  be  made,  hereafter. 

The  fourth  Provincial  Congress  was  directed  to 
meet  at  the  Court-house,  in  the  White  Plains,  on 


•  Force's  American  Archiref,  Fuurtli  Series,  vi.,  1215,  1216. 
'  Vide  pages  'MO  .347,  ante. 

'Judge  Jones,  who  was,  also,  one  of  those  wliom  the  Committee  had 
summoned,  related  the  fact  that,  on  the  thirtieth  of  June,  Governeur 
Morris  was  the  only  member  of  the  Committee  who  had  not  left  the 
City,  in  the  general  panic.  Hatonj  of  Sew  York  during  the  Iterolu- 
lionarij  Mar,  ii.,  206.) 

In  view  of  Governeur  Morris's  great  anxiety  to  go  into  the  City  of  New 
Tork,  then  n  milititry  post  of  the  Royal  Troops,  very  soon  afterwards,  it 
will  hardly  be  necessary  for  us  to  inquire  why  he  was  the  only  member 
of  the  Provincial  Congress  who  voluntarily  exposed  himself  to  supposed 
danger  from  the  approach  of  the  Royal  .\rmy. 

*  Jonrunl  nf  ihe  (tliirtl;  ProcuKutl  Congress,  "  ."'unday  afternoon,  June 

"  ■V',  177(;.  ■ 


until  the  following  day,  Tuesday,  the  ninth  of  July, 
the  Deputies  from  a  majority  of  the  Counties  appeared, 
produced  their  Credentials,  and  organized  the  Con- 
gress. General  Nathaniel  WoodhuU  was  chosen  for 
its  President ;  and  John  McKesson  and  Robert 
Benson,  the  Secretaries  of  the  former  Congresses,  were 
continued  in  the  same  places,  in  this.* 

There  were  only  five  Deputies  present  from  the 
City  of  New  York,  although  twenty-one  had  been 
elected;  but  every  member  of  the  Deputation  from 
Westchester-county — Colonel  Lewis  Graham,  Colonel 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Major  Ebenezer  Lockwood, 
William  Paulding,  Captain  Jonathan  Piatt,  Samuel 
Haviland,  Zebadiah  Mills,  Colonel  Gilbert  Drake, 
Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  General  Lewis  Morris,  and 
Gouverneur  Morris— was  present.*  Of  the  latter 
Captain  Piatt,  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt,  Zebadiah 
Mills,  and  General  Lewis  Morris  were  new  members.' 

After  a  letter  from  the  Delegation  of  the  Colony  in 
the  Continental  Congress,  bearing  date  the  second  of 
July,  "  on  the  subject  of  Independence,  and  request- 
"  ing  instructions  from  this  Congress,"*  had  been  read, 
a  second  letter  from  the  Delegation,  of  a  subsequent 
date,  "  enclosing  the  Declaration  of  Independence," 
was  also  read,  and  referred  to  a  Committee  consisting 
of  John  Jay  and  Abraham  Brasier,  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  Abraham  Yates,  Junior,  of  Albany-county, 
and  John  Sloss  Hobart  and  William  Smith,  of 
Suffolk.' 

The  Declaration  which  was  thus  referred,  was  a 
duly  authenticated  copy  of  A  Declaration  by  the  Rep- 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  General 
Congress  assembled,  of  which  document  mention  has 
been  already  made ;  and,  with  its  authentication, 
in  extenso,  it  was  entered  at  length  on  the  Journal  of 
the  Congress}" 

A  very  important  letter,  concerning  prisoners  of 
Monday,  the  eighth  of  July,  1776 ;  *  but  it  was  not 


^  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "Tuesday,  9th  July,  177C." 

Very  singularly,  and  without  the  slightest  authority  except  that  of 
J.  Warren  Tompkins,  Bolton,  (Hiflonj  of  Westvhester-counlij,  original 
edition,  ii.,  359  ;  the  same,  second  edition,  ii.,  564,)  considered  the  Con- 
gress which  was  assembled,  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  ninth  of  July, 
177G,  as  the  same  body  as  that  which  had  been  in  session,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  from  the  eighteenth  of  May  until  the  thirtieth  of  June,  pre- 
ceding. In  other  words,  both  these  learned  historians  regarded  the 
third  and  the  fourth  Provincial  Congresses  as  one  and  the  same  body. 

5  Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  "  Tuesday,  P.M.,  White  Plai.vs, 
"  July  9,  1776." 

"  The  Journal  of  the  Congress,  July  9,  placed  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's 
name  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  "the  new  members  present"  who 
"  took  the  general  oath  of  secrecy,"  although  the  Colonel  had  headed 
the  Deputation  from  Weatchester-county,  in  the  third  Provincial  Con- 
gress, as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  Credentials  of  that  Delegation, 
in  the  Journal  of  that  Congress,  "Die  Sabbati,  Ic  ho.,  .\.M.,  May  IS, 
"  1776." 

The  explanation  of  that  apparent  contradiction  may  be  found  iu  the 
fact  that  that  short  lived  third  Provincial  Congress  was  dissolved  before 
Colonel  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  took  his  seat  in  it  or  was  qualilicd  to  do  so, 
by  his  taking  the  oaths  of  the  office  of  Deputy. 

8  George  Clinton,  Henry  U'wht,  John  Alsi'p,  H'iZ/wim  Floyd,  and  FranCli 
Letcis,li)  the  Priivincitil  Omgress,  "  PiiiLAnKLI-HiA,  July  2,  1776." 

»  Jimnud  of  the  Prorincid  Omgnss  "  Tuesday,  Utli  July,  1776." 

••"  Ibid. 


372 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


war  and  those  who  were,  also,  confined  in  the  Jail,  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  for  d  ebt,'  was  received  from 
General  Washington,  and  referred  to  a  special  Com- 
mittee ;  ^  and  after  the  transaction  of  some  other  busi- 
ness, the  Congress  adjourned  until  the  afternoon. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  \_Tuesday  July  9, 
1776,]  the  Comrhittee  to  whom  had  been  referred  the 
letter  from  the  Delegation  from  the  Colony  in  the 
Continental  Congress  and  the  Declaration  which 
that  letter  had  covered,  made  a  Report,  thereon,  in 
the  following  words : 

"In  Convention  of  the  Representa- 
"tiyes  of  the  State  of  New  York,^ 
"  White  Plains,  July  9th,  1776. 

"Resolved,  unanimously.  That  the  reasons 
"  assigned  by  the  Continental  Congress  for  declaring 
"the  United  Colonies  free  and  independent  States 
"  are  cogent  and  conclusive ;  and  that,  while  we 
"lament  the  cruel  necessity  which  has  rendered  that 
"  measure  unavoidable,  we  approve  the  same  and 
"  will,  at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  join  with 
"the other  Colonies  in  sujjporting  it. 

"  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  said  Declaration 
"  and  the  aforegoing  Resolution  be  sent  to  the  Chair- 
"  man  of  the  Committee  of  the  County  of  Westches- 
"  ter,  with  order  to  publish  the  same,  with  beat  of 
"  drum,  at  this  place,  on  Thursday  next,"  [^July  11, 
1775]  ;  '■  and  to  give  directions  that  it  be  published, 
"  with  all  convenient  speed,  in  the  several  Districts 
"  within  the  said  County  ;  and  that  copies  thereof  be 
"  forthwith  transmitted  to  the  other  County  Com- 
"  mittees  within  the  State  of  New  York,  with  orders  to 
"cause  the  same  to  be  published  in  the  several 
"  Districts  of  their  respetive  Counties. 

"  Resolved,   That  five  hundred  copies  of  the 

Declaration  of  Independence,  v/'ith  the  two  last  men- 
"  tioned  Resolutions  of  this  Congress  for  approving 
"  and  proclaiming  the  same,  bc  published  in  hand- 
"  bills  and  sent  to  all  the  County  Committees  in  this 
"  State. 


1  Joseph  Reed,  Acfjutanl-general  (by  the  General's  order)  to  the  Provin- 
cial Congress,  "  Head-quarters,  New-York,  July  5th,  T776." 

2  Jonrnal  nf  the  Provinmtl  Cnngrets,  "  Tuesday,  9th  July,  177G." 

3  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  body  of  which  that  Committee  was  a 
part  and  b)  whom  it  had  been  aiipoihted  and  to  wtiom  it  was  to  report, 
was,  specifically,  "a  Provincial  Congress  for  the  Province  of  New 
"  York  ; "  and  because,  at  that  time,  there  had  betin  no  change  in  the 
status  of  the  Deputations  composing  the  Congre^^s,  wlio  represented 
nothing  else  than  certain  specified  Counties,  each  Deimlation  represent- 
ing only  a  single  County  ;  and  because,  at  that  time,  the  Colony  of  New 
Y'ork,  could  not  be  possibly  reganled  as  a  "State,"  the  caption  of  that 
Kei;ort  displayed  nothing  of  historical  or  legal  precision,  notliing  of 
accuracy  of  statement,  and  nothing  of  good  taste. 

The  hand  which  wrote  it  cotiid  not  be  concealed  ;  and  if  the  form  of 
the  writing  answered  the  present  purpose  of  the  writer  of  it,  in  certify- 
ing his  new-born  zeal  for  Independence  to  his  astonished  constituents,  it 
would  probably  answer  an  equally  good  purpose  in  invalidating  the  in- 
strument of  which  it  was  the  head,  in  case  that  "  Reconciliation  "  for 
which  the  writer  of  the  Report  did  not  cease  to  hope  and  to  [U'ay  and  to 
labor,  should  be  effected. 


"  Resolved,  That  the  Delegates  of  this  State,  in 
"  Continental  Congress,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
"authorized  to  consent  to  and  adopt  all  such  mea- 
"  sures  as  they  may  deem  conducive  to  the  happiness 
"and  welfare  of  the  United  States  of  America.'! 

It  is  said  that  the  Report  which  was  thus  made  by 
the  Committee  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the 
Congress  ;  and,  further,  that  an  Order  was  made  by 
the  Congress  directing  that  copies  of  the  Resolutions 
which  constituted  the  Report  should  be  transmitted 
to  the  Continental  Congress.* 

The  reader  need  only  to  be  reminded  that  the 
evident  author  and  the  known  supporters  of  this  series 
of  Resolutions  were  the  same  author  who,  twenty- 
eight  days  previously,  had  written,  and  almost  entire- 
ly the  same  individual  Deputies  who,  at  the  same 
time,  had  voted,  that  the  authority  of  "the  good 
"people  of  this  Colony"  was,  then,  necessary  to  ena- 
ble the  Provincial  Congress  or  the  Delegates  of  the 
Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress  "to  declare  this 
"  Colony  to  be  and  continue  indejjendentof  the  Crown 
"  of  Great  Britain  ;  "  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  such 
authority  already  delegated  to  themselves  or  to  the 
Colony's  Delegates  in  the  Continental  Congress,  it 
was,  at  that  time,  considered  proper  and  necessary  to 
ask  for  authority  to  do  so,  if  it  should  be  subsequently 
considered  expedient  and  proper  to  make  such  a 
declaration  of  Independence,  in  behalf  of  that  "  good 
"people"  of  whom  they,  then,  acknowledged  them- 
selves to  have  been  only  agents  or  deputies  ;  that,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  remembered,  no  such  authority, 
then  nor  subsequently,  had  been  delegated  to  either 
themselves  or  to  the  Colony's  Delegates  in  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  by  that  "good  people"  whose 
servants  and  representatives  both  they  and  the  Dele- 
gates referred  to  acknowledged  themselves  to  have 
been  ;  and  that,  on  the  later  occasion,  which  is  now 
under  notice,  themselves  having  been  the  witnesses, 
they  were  quite  as  much  without  authority,  legal  or 
revolutionary,  "to  declare  this  Colony  to  be  and 
"  continue  independent  of  the  Crown  of  Great 
"Britain,"  as  they  had  been,  on  the  former  occasion, 
of  which  mention  has  been  made.  If  it  had  been  an 
act  of  usurpation  to  have  declared  the  Independence 
of  the  C"dony,  without  the  "consent"  of  the  Colony, 
previously  given,  on  the  former  occasion,  how  much 
less  flagrant  was  the  act,  also  without  having  obtain- 
ed that  "consent,"  on  the  later  occasion,  which  is  now 
under  consideration  ?  Were  John  Jay  and  those  whom 


^  Jounml  of  tlte  Provincial  Congress,  "  Tuesday,  P.M.,  Whitf.  Pr.AiNS, 
"July  9th,  177G." 

The  Jimniid  of  the  CoiitiiienUil  Oingrrss,  of  Jlonday,  the  fifteenth  of 
July,  stated  that  a  coi)y  of  the  first,  second,  and  fourth  of  these  very  im- 
portant Itesolutionshad  been  enclosed,  with  a  number  of  other  papei-s,  in  a 
letter  dated  on  the  eleventh  of  that  month,  and  sent  to  that  Congress  ; 
that  the  letter  and  the  papers  which  were  enclosed  in  it  were  received 
by  the  Continental  Congress,  on  Monday,  the  fifteenth  of  July  ;  that  the 
three  Resolutions  named  were  entered  at  length,  on  the  Jfrnrnal  of  that 
Congress;  and  that  "  the  letter,  with  the  papers  enclosed,"  was  referred 
to  (be  Hoard  of  War. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


373 


he  controlled  really  honest  and  sincere,  when,  on  the 
eleventh  of  June,  preceding,  they  made  the  confession 
of  their  legal  incapacity  to  make  such  a  declaration 
of  Independence,  unless  with  the  previously-obtained 
"consent"  of  that  "good  people"  whose  servants 
and  deputies  they  then  acknowledged  themselves  to 
have  been  ?  If  so,  what  possible  ground  is  there  for 
consistently  regarding  them  as  either  honest  or 
sincere,  when,  on  the  ninth  of  July,  the  occasion  which 
is  now  under  notice,  while  they  were  yet  without  that 
"  consent"  of  their  principals  and  constituents  which 
had  been  previously  regarded  as  essential  to  ensure 
validity  to  any  such  action,  they  actually,  on  their 
own  motion,  made  such  a  declaration  ;  severed  the 
political  connection  which  had  previously  existed 
between  the  Colony  and  Great  Britain;  abrogated 
all  the  Laws  under  which  the  Colony  had  been  pre- 
viously governed ;  de[)osed  the  previously  existing 
Colonial  Government ;  and  usurped,  to  themselves, 
without  the  slightest  limitation,  the  absolute  and 
despotic  control  of  every  thing  relating  to  the  Civil, 
the  Ecclesiastical,  and  the  Military  concerns  of  all  who 
were  within  the  Colony,  not  sparing  even  the  con- 
sciences, the  opinions,  the  properties,  the  liberties,  or 
the  lives  of  those  who  presumed  to  say  to  them, 
"What  doest  thou?" 

We  shall  see,  hereafter,  how  much  of  honesty  and 
integrity  there  were,  in  either  of  these,  when  the  series 
of  Resolutions,  on  the  subject  of  the  Colony's  in- 
dependence, which  is  now  under  consideration,  was 
written  and  adopted  ;  how  little  the  writer  of  them 
honestly  and  sincerely  regarded  those  Resolutions  as 
being,  really,  what  they  appeared  to  have  been  ;  and 
how  little  foundation  in  truth  there  is  for  the  greater 
portion  of  what  has  been  written  concerning  that 
writer  and  what  he  did,  on  the  ninth  of 'July,  177G. 

Having  disposed  of  the  subject  of  Independence  in 
the  curt  and  crispy  Resolution  which  headed  the  series 
which  was  reported  by  the  Committee,  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  turned  to  other  subjects  of  vastly  less 
importance ;  and,  two  days  afterwards,  on  Thurs- 
day, the  eleventh  of  July,  very  probably,  no  record 
of  the  fact  having  been  found,  the  publication  of 
the  Declaration  was  made,  otEcially,  at  the  White 
Plains,  in  conformity  with  the  second  Resolution  of 
the  series,  on  that  subject,  which  had  been  adopted 
by  the  Congress.' 

The  great  importance  of  that  Resolution  which 
gave  the  sanction  of  the  Colony  of  New  York  to  the 
Resolution  for  Independence  which  the  Congress  of 
the  Continent  had  adopted  on  the  second  of  July, 

'  Bolton  stated,  in  bis  JIMtri/  nf  n'eslclwlt  r-cnuiiti/,  (ori)pnal  pdition, 
ii.,  359,  3r>0;  llie  oimr,  second  edition,  ii.,  5I>4,)  that,  on  the  occ(i£ion 
referred  to,  "the  Urclantliim  was  read  by  John  T)ionias,  Esq.,  and 
"  seconded  by  Michael  Varian  and  Sanim  l  t'niwford,  two  prominent 
"  Whigs  of  Scarsilale."  But  he  luis  given  no  authority  for  the  statement ; 
and  unless  by  "  John  Thomas,  Ksq  ,"  the  reailer  of  the  Dcclnrnliim  ou 
the  occasion  referred  to,  he  meant  the  younger  of  the  two  who  bore 
that  name,  we  must  be  excused  for  doubting  the  accuracy  of  the  state- 
ment. 


was  seen  in  the  immediate  abrogation  of  all  the  forms 
of  Law  and  Government  which  had  previously  been 
seen  throughout  the  Colony,  from  the  earlier  period 
of  the  settlement  by  Europeans  within  its  territory; 
and  the  substitution,  in  their  stead,  of  nothing  else 
than  the  government  of  unrestrained  force,  the  Law  of 
the  stronger.  A  general  Jail-delivery,  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  signalized  the  "new  departure" — where 
there  was  no  longer  any  Law,  there  could  not  be  any 
breaches  of  the  Law,  either  in  the  matter  of  pecuniary 
obligations  or  in  that  of  any  other  obligation — and  as 
every  civil  Commission  was  cancelled  by  that  Resolu- 
tion of  Independence  from  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain, 
on  the  authority  of  which  royal  authority  every  such 
Commission  was  based,  every  Court  of  Justice  was 
closed,  every  function  of  Government  was  paralyzed, 
and  because  no  new  form  of  local  Government  and 
no  new  system  of  Statutes  had  been  provided  to  take 
the  places  of  the  others,  which  had  been  thus  vio- 
lently set  aside,  there  was  nothing  but  confusion  and 
uncertainty;  and  had  not  the  general  conservatism  of 
the  Colonists  prevailed  and  jireserved  the  general 
peace,  the  advent  of  Independence,  throughout  the 
Colony  of  New  York,  would  have  been  signalized  by 
many  a  local  scene  of  terrorism  and  of  bloodshed.  It 
was  not  so  in  the  other  Colonies;  and  had  not  the 
master-spirits  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  in  New 
York,  in  the  interest  of  Reconciliation,  obstructed  the 
work  of  creating  a  new  form  of  Government,  quite 
as  effectively  as,  at  the  same  time,  they  were  creating 
a  necessity  for  such  a  new  system — at  least  for  a  Pro- 
visional Government,  if  not  for  a  permanent  one — 
New  York  might,  also,  have  been  fully  prepared  for 
the  great  changes,  in  all  her  governmental  arrange- 
ments, which  were  thus  crowded  on  her.  A  very 
competent  writer,  a  witness  of  the  great  changes  of 
which  he  wrote  and  of  which  we  write,  thus  accu- 
rately and  graphically  described  them:  "The  Decla- 
" ration  of  Independence,  published  by  Congress  on 
"the  fourth  of  July,  1770,  was  the  first  act  that  i)ut 
"an  end  to  the  Courts  of  Law,  to  the  Laws  of  the 
"land,  and  to  the  administration  of  Justice,  under 
"the  British  Crown,  within  the  thirteen  Colonies. 
"The  revolt  was  now  complete.  Upon  this  event, 
"the  Law,  the  Courts,  and  Justice  itself  ceased:  all 
"was  anarchy:  all  was  confusion.  A  usurped  kind 
"of  Government  took  place:  a  medley  of  Military 
"  Law,  Convention  Ordinances,  Congress  Recommen- 
"dations,  and  Committee  Resolutions."^ 

It  is  proper  that  we  shall  say,  however,  that,  not- 
withstanding the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
thus  nominally  accepted  and  approved,  and  notwith- 
standing New  York  was  thus  formally  obligated  to 
stand  or  fall  with  her  sister  States  in  the  support  and 
defense  of  the  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged. 
Independence  had  not  been,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
what  the  revolutionary  faction  of  the  great  party  of 


2  Jones's  HiMtyry  of  Xnp  York  dvri»£  the  lievolntuiHttry  HVir,  ii.,  115. 


374 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  Opposition,  in  New  York,  had  desired  and  aimed 
for;  nor,  since  it  had  been  crowded  through  tlie  Con- 
tinental Congress  witliout  the  approval  of  the  master- 
spirits of  that  revolutionary  faction  of  the  party  and 
in  the  face  of  the  determined  opposition  of  those  who 
represented  or  who,  in  other  Colonies,  were  affiliated 
■with  that  faction,  although  the  Declaration  and  Inde- 
pendence itself  had  been  acquiesced  in  by  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress,  did  the  same  faction  regard  either 
with  the  slightest  favor;  nor,  as  the  subsequent  con- 
duct of  its  leading  members,  those  of  its  number 
from  whom  the  character  and  disposition  of  the 
whole  may  be  fairly  estimated,  in  postponing  the 
establishment  of  a  new  form  of  Government  for  the 
young  State  and  leaving  it  during  more  than  nine 
months  without  the  slightest  semblance  of  a  Govern- 
ment of  any  kind,  clearly  indicated,  did  that  remark- 
able faction,  then,  intend  to  respect  either  the  Reso- 
lution for  Independence  or  the  Declaration  of  it  any 
longer  than  would  be  necessary  to  enable  it  to  effect 
a  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain,  and,  thereby,  to 
secure  to  that  family  of  whom  all  the  faction  were 
either  members  or  hungry  followers,  all  those  ofl5cial 
places,  within  the  Colony,  which  were  then  occupied 
by  their  hereditary  rivals,  and  all  that  influence,  for 
like  i)urposes  of  aggrandizement,  within  other  C  Io- 
nics and  within  the  Congress  of  the  confederacy,  to 
which  that  horde  of  miscellaneous  office-seekers  des- 
perately aspired,  and  to  which,  it  was  fondly  con- 
sidered, it  would  become  reasonably  entitled. 

(Jn  the  afternoon  of  the  ninth  of  July,  immediately 
after  the  Provincial  Congress  had  adopted  the  Report 
of  the  Committee  to  whom  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence had  been  referred,  and,  thereby,  as  far  as  it 
could  do  so,  had  abrogated  every  Law  and  every 
Commission  which  had  rested  on  the  sovereignty  of 
the  King  of  Great  Britain,  with  singular  coolness  but 
entirely  consistent  with  the  absolutism  which  had 
thus  been  inaugurated  and  with  the  disposition  and 
desires  of  those  who  then  controlled  the  Congress, 
the  Sheriffs  of  the  several  Counties  were  "  authorized 
"  and  directed  "  \not  iij  Law,  but  only  by  the  oligarchic 
will  and  the  consequent  ipse  dixit  of  the  Congress,^  "to 
"retain  and  keep  in  their  custody  all  prisoners,  of 
"  whatever  kind,  which  are  or  may  be  in  their  cus- 
"  tody,  until  the  further  order  of  this  Convention, 
"or  until  such  of  them  as  may  be  confined  for 
"debt,  on  civil  process,  shall  be  released  by  the 
"  Plaintiffs  so  brought  against  them  ;  and  thus  pro- 
vision was  made  for  the  safekeeping  not  only  of  the 
victims  of  earlier  lawlessness  but  of  subsequent  abso- 
lutism, the  latter,  by  the  terms  of  the  Resolution, 
concentrated  within  the  Provincial  Congress  itself." 


1  Jimriml  of  the  Piovmcial  Congress,  "  Tuesday,  P.M.,  WiiiTK  Plains, 
"July  9th,  1776." 

2  It  is  very  evident  that  Jamea  De  Lanccy ,  the  Sheriff  of  Westchester- 
counfy,  or  the  Deputy  who  represented  Iiiin,  obeyed  the  Resolution  of 
the  Provincial  Congress  by  holding  in  confinement,  in  the  County  Jail, 
those  "  Prisoners  of  State"  who,  for  political  reasons,  had  been  or  who 


Immediately  after  the  provision  of  depositaries  for 
the  victims  of  its  absolutism,  as  stated  in  the  Resolu* 
tion  above  referred  to,  the  Provincial  Congress  revived 
the  notorious  Committee  to  detect  Conspiracies,  which 
had  ceased  to  exist  by  reason  of  the  dissolution  of  the 
Congress  who  had  created  it;'  united  it  to  the 
Committee  on  Prisoners  of  War,  which  had  been  ap- 
pointed during  the  morning  session;  withdrew  the 
authority  to  interfere  with  those  who  were  suspected 
of  disaffection,  which  had  been  vested  in  General 
Washington,  by  the  preceding  Provincial  Congress, 
puring  the  panic  occasioned  by  the  arrival  of  the 
Royal  Army ;  *  vested  the  consolidated  Committee, 
thus  created,  with  authority  to  "  carry  into  execution 
"all  such  Resolves  of  the  Continental  Congress  and 
"comply  with  all  such  necessary  requisitions  of  the 
''General"  [Washington,']  " as  require  so  much  de- 
"  spatch  as  to  render  an  application  to  this  Congress 
"  impracticable  or  attended  with  dangerous  delay  ;  " 
appointed  John  Sloss  Hobart,  of  Suffolk,  Gouverneur 
Morris  and  Colonel  Lewis  Graham,  of  Westchester- 
county,  Leonard  Gansevoort,  of  Albany-county,  and 
Thomas  Randall  and  Colonel  Henry  Remsen,  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  or  any  three  of  them,  for  such 
Committee ;  "  permitted  "  the  Committee  "  to  proceed 
"iti  the  business  under"  [imtof]  "them  committed, 
"  in  such  a  manner  as  to  them  shall  appear  to  be  most 
"  agreeable  to  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity 
"  and  most  advancive  of  the  public  good :  "  *  and  so  set 
in  motion,  again,  that  concealed  instrumentality  of 
despotism,  which ,  under  the  same  plea  of  "  necessity," 
had  stamped  the  records  and  the  history  of  the  third 
Provincial  Congress  wit^  everlasting  shame;  and,  in 
this  later  instance,  with  such  an  increase  of  authority 
as  made  it,  practically,  an  absolute  power  which  was 
greater  in  its  ability  to  oppress  the  State  than  even 
the  Provincial  Congress  itself.* 


were,  subsequently,  sent  to  him,  (Petition  nf  Joshua  Pardij  and  fourteen 
otiiers,  "  White  Plains  Goal,  August  the  18th,  1770  ;  "  Petition  nf  Jona- 
than Purdij,  Junior,  "  White  Plains  Goal,  August  30th,  1776  ;  "  Petitirm 
of  Henry  Chiise,  "  Wight  Plains  Goal,  August  30,  1776  ;  "  etc.)  as  well 
as  those  Prisoners  of  War  who,  also,  were  sent  to  liira,  for  safe-keeping, 
{Exmninatioittt  of  John  Simpson,  Jaines  Auchnintij,  and  SfVen  oth<'rs.  Prisoners 
of  n'ar,  "  White  Plains  in  Westchester  County,  July  Gth,  1770,  com- 
pared with  the  PetUuin  of  William  McDermnt,  one  of  the  number  ;  with 
the  Paroles  of  Jaines  Auehmutij  and  John  Simpson  and  Willitrm  McDermot, 
dated  October  20,  1776  ;  and  with  the  Petition  of  John  Simpson,  William 
MeDennot,  Willixm  Elder,  and  Joseph  Wfdkomb,  "Octr.,  177C  ;  ")  the  lat- 
ter of  which  Petitions  is  also  interesting  because  of  the  information  which 
it  brings  of  the  treatment  of  Prisoners  of  War,  at  the  White  Plains,  by 
those  who  were  in  authority,  under  the  "Convention  of  the  Represeuta- 
"  tivcs  of  the  .State  of  New  York  ;  "  etc. 
»  Viiie  page  347,  ante. 

*  Journal  of  the  Proi'incUd  Congress, Sunday  Afternoon,  June  30th,  1776." 

^Journal  of  th^  Provincud  Congress,  ''Tuesday,  P.M.,  White  Plains, 
"July  9th,  1770." 

"  Although  the  Provincial  Congress  was  seated  at  a  distance  from 
the  City  of  New  York,  this  Committee  preferred  to  hold  its  meetings 
in  that  City  ;  and,  with  the  unlimited  authority  with  which  it  was 
vested,  with  nothing  to  control  its  own  estimate  of  a  "necessity,"  and 
with  the  strong  arm  of  the  military  i)ower  to  support  that  estimate,  that 
Committee  was,  in  fact,  an  oligarchy  of  absolute  power,  possessing 
greater  means  for  oppression  and  outrage  than  was  held  by  the  Provin- 
cial Congress  which  had  created  it  and  by  whose  warrant  it  acted. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


375 


On  Wednesday,  the  tenth  of  July,  the  Provincial 
Congress  "  resolved  and  ordered  that  the  stylo  or 
"  title  of  this  House  be  changed  from  '  The  Provin- 
"  '  ciAL  Congress  of  the  Colony  of  New- York', 
"which  it  had  previously  borne,  to  that  of  'The 
" '  Convention  of  the  Representatives  of  the 
"  '  State  of  New- York  ; ' ''  ^  and,  thenceforth,  there 
was  no  open  pretension  thattheKing  of  Great  Britain 
was  the  Sovereign  of  that  portion  of  America  or  that 
those  who  were  within  the  bounds  of  her  territory  owed 
the  slightest  allegiance  to  him  or  obedience  to  his 
commands. 

The  fourth  Provincial  Congress,  notwithstanding 
the  momentous  events  which  were  evidently  rapidly 
approaching,  was  immediately  zealous  in  continuing 
the  remarkable  policy  which  had  distinguished  the 
preceding  three  of  the  scries  and  which  had  served 
to  keep  alive  and  to  intensify  the  feuds  of  former  days, 
separating  the  Colonists  into  factions,  bitterly  antag- 
onistic in  feelings  and  in  actions,  instead  of  seeking 
to  conciliate  those  who  differed ;  to  pacify  those  who 
were  discontented ;  to  bring  into  harmony,  the  thoughts 
and  opinions  and  desires  which  were  discordant  and 
jarring;  and  to  secure  concert  of  action,  for  the  pro- 
motion and  support  of  "  the  common  cause,"  among 
those  who  had  previously  differed  only  on  the  means 
which  should  be  employed  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  common  purpose.  But  the  revival,  with  largely 
increased  authority  and  without  any  diminution  of 
malignancy,  of  the  notorious  political  Inquisition — the 
Committee  to  detect  Conspiracies — afforded  abundant 
evidence  of  the  purpose  of  the  master-spirits  of  the 
new-formed  Conviention  to  keep  apart  those  who 
might  have  been  united,  had  a  redress  of  grievances 
been  the  only  purpose  of  the  movements;  and  to 
drive  over  into  the  ranks  of  the  Royal  Army  or  into 
the  service  of  that  Army,  those  who,  under  a  more 
judicious  policy,  would  not  have  become  enemies, 
eager  for  retaliation,  even  if  they  had  not  become 
very  active  friends.  The  outlawry  of  Richmond  and 
Queens-counties  and  the  terrible  outrages  which  had 
been  inflicted  on  their  peaceful  inhabitants,  under 
the  authority  or  with  the  permission  of  the  earlier 
Provincial  Congresses,  had  already  produced  their 
legitimate  results,  in  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
persecuted  and  outraged  inhabitants  of  each  of  these 
Counties  had  accepted  the  protection  of  the  Royal 
Army  and  taken  up  arms  for  retaliatory  action  ;^  and 


^  Jotmml  of  Ihe  ProHncuil  Cougnse,  "Wednesday  luorniiig,  White 
"Plains,  July  10th,  1T76." 

Doctor  Sparks  erroneously  stated,  (  Wriliiigs  of  George  M'lKhiiigtoii,  iii., 
470,  note,)  that  that  change  in  the  title  of  the  Provincial  Congress  was 
made  on  the  iiiiUh  of  July,  and  cited  the  Manuscript  Jounml  of  the  Oan- 
gren,  of  the  ninth  of  July,  as  his  authority  :  we  have  preferred  to  depend 
on  the  official  copy  of  that  Juunuil,  as  it  was  printed  by  order  of  the 
Legislature,  in  1842,  which  clearly  indicates  that  the  change  was  made 
on  the  following  day. 

'John  Adams  was  either  a  very  poor  judge  of  human  nature  or  a  very 
besotted  and  haughty  aristocrat,  regarding  the  masses  as  unworthy  of 
his  sympathy  or  respect,  or  both,  when  he  wrote  of  these  people,  then 


nothing  else  than  a  continued  and  a  more  than  ever 
before  besotted  haughtiness,  utterly  unmindful  of  the 
Rights  of  those  who  were  assumed  to  be  subject  to 
their  authority,  and  a  continued  and  more  than 
ever  before  mulish  stubbornness,  in  their  continued 
determination  to  reduce  every  one  who  opposed  them, 
no  matter  how  slightly,  to  an  unconditional  and  abso- 
lute submission  of  thought,  word,  and  deed,  to  their 
oligarchic  authority,  regardless  of  any  and  every  conse- 
quence to  others  or  to  the  country  at  large — only  such 
a  haughtiness  and  such  a  stubbornness,  indeed,  as  had 
characterized  the  Colonial  policy  and  the  administra- 
tion of  Lord  Bute  and  Lord  North  and  Lord  George 
Germaine  and  their  Tory  associates,  in  England;  the 
same  as  those  which  had  controlled  the  three  Congresses 
which  had  preceded  it,  after  the  members  of  the  first 
of  them  had  been  induced  to  wander  into  the  green 
pastures  of  the  revolutionary  faction — could  have 
induced  the  master-spirits  of  this  new  Provincial  Con- 
gress, under  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  had 
recently  arisen,  to  disregard  the  significant  teachings 
of  their  earlier  policy,  and  to  create  disaffection  and 
to  raise  up  enemies  when  harmony  and  a  concert  of 
action,  in  the  cause  of  their  common  country,  had 
become  so  vitally  necessary.  In  the  prosecution  of 
that  ill-advised  and  injudicious,  as  well  as  barbarous, 
policy,  it  continued  to  make  arrests  of  individuals 
whom  somebody  had  denounced  as  "  suspected  ;  ^  and 
even  individual  members  of  the  Convention,  on  their 
individual  motions,  without  the  slightest  charge  against 
their  victims,  ordered  individuals  into  imprisonment.* 


bleeding  from  every  pore,  from  outrages  inflicted  on  them  by  authority 
or  with  the  permission  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  rejoicing  that 
protection  had  been  extended  to  them  and  to  their  property,  by  stran- 
gers, in  such  svorils as  these  :  "  The  unprincipled  and  unfeeling  and  un- 
"natunil  inhabitants  of  Staten-Ishinil  are  conllally  receiving  the  enemy  • 
"and,  deserters  say,  have  engaged  to  take  arms.  They  are  an  ignorant, 
"  cowardly  pack  of  scoundrels.  Their  numl)er3  are  small,  anil  their 
"spiritless."  (L««cr      Mm.  .-liJ.ims,  "  1'iiii.adei,phia,  July  U,  1770. ") 

Mr.  .\dams  should  have  told  just  what  he  would  have  done,  had  he 
and  his  family  passed  through  such  au  ordeal  of  '•  patriotism  "  as  tlieso 
islanaers  had  sustained,  and  had  he,  as  they  were,  been  without  hope  of 
relief  from  his  own  countrymen.  The  record  of  his  judgment  would, 
then,  have  been  complete. 

3  See  the  instances  of  Christopher  Templer,  {Journal  of  the  Couventi.n, 
"Die  Lun,-*,  i  ho.,  P.M.,  July  22,  177G  ; ")  that  of  Robert  Sutton,  {the 
mme,  "  Die  ilercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  24th,  177G  ;")  that  of  Nicholas 
Couwenhoven,  {Jounml  of  Ok  Cummiihe  of  S<ifitij,  "  Tuesday  afternoon 
"  Augt.  27,  1776 ;  ")  and  many  others. 

<See  the  instance  of  Henry  Chase,  "  committed  to  the  Jail  at  White 
"  Plains,  by  an  order  from  the  Major,"  [iLijor  Webnter,  Diputg  fnna 
Cliiirlutte-counlii.]  {Jotirntil  of  the  Cunventiim,  "  Die  Jovis,  5  ho.,  P.M. 
"July  25,  1776.") 

This  case  of  imprisonment  of  Henry  Chase  very  perfectly  illustrated 
the  despotic  disposition  and  actious  of  those  who  were  then  in  au- 
thority. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  the  date  of  the  entry  of  his  arrest  on  the 
Jounial  of  Oie  Convention,  (he  may  have  been  arrested  much  earlier,)  he 
petitioned  the  Convention  that  he  was  "confined  in  Goal  u|)on  suspision, 
"  without  money  or  friends,"  and  begged  that  body  would  "bestow  its 
"charity  "  upon  him,  {I\tUi>m  of  Henry  Chase  and  three  oOiertt,  "  White 
"  Plains,  July  25,  1776  :  "  Historical  Munuscriptt,  etc. ;  PelUium,  xxxiii. 
152.) 

On  the  thirtieth  of  August,  Chase  again  petitioned  the  Convention, 
as  follows : 


376 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Arrests  were  thus  made,  very  often,  without  the 
slightest  reason,  even  from  the  standpoint  of  those  ex- 
ercising the  authority ; '  and  even  women,  when  they 


"  Wight  Plains  Goal,  August  30,  1776. 
"Gentlemen:  My  coufinement  is  the  Reasou  of  my  Petitioning  to 
*'you  the  Honorahle  Provential  Congress,  hopeing  j'our  Honours  will  be 
"  Pleas'!  to  Take  my  (Jase  into  Consideration  for  the  Comete  of  Safety  " 
[the  C'jinmitb'e  of  Wt'stclu'ster-coimiyl  *  Says  that  tliey  have  no  Right  to 
*'try  me  So  I  leave  my  Case  to  your  Honnours  and  Begg  that  your 
*'Honnours  would  Coucider  me  for  I  have  bin  imprisoned  a  long  time, 
"and  nothing  Appeared  against  me,  So  I  begg  that  your  Hounonrs 
"  would  consider  me  as  Quick  as  Possible  for  I  am  a  Poor  man  and  itt  is 
"  a  Great  Dam  mage  to  me  to  Ly  in  Prison,  so  Gentlemen  I  Leave  my 
"  Case  to  your  Honnours  not  Douting  but  your  wisdoms  Gentlemen  will 
"do  me  jestice,  the  Broken  Petition  from  me, 

"Henry  Chase. 

"  Postscript.  Gentlemen  I  should  be  very  glad  if  your  Honnours 
"  would  be  so  good  as  to  send  for  me  before  your  Hounour  as  Quick  as 
"  Possible  and  in  so  doiug  you  will  greatly  me. 

"  Henry  Chase." 

{Histni-iad  ULntiiscrij^Oi,  etc.:  Pt'litlinis  :  xxxiii.,  100.) 

The  County  Committee  had  officially  informed  Chase,  nine  days  pre- 
viously, that  it  had  no  jurisdiction  of  his  case,  and  directed  him  to  the 
Convention,  {WL'stcliesier-couidy  Committee  U)  Henry  Chase,  "In  Com- 
"mittee  of  Safety  for  the  County  of  Westchester,  White  Plains, 
"Aug.  21,  in6"—Hu<torkitl  31>iiimcript.%  etc.  :  PetUions,  xxxiii,  102;) 
but  no  attention  whatever  was  paid  to  the  ponr  man's  Petition,  by 
either  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  the  State  or  the  Convention  to  whom 
it  wiis  addreiised— he  was  only  "a  Poor  man,"  one  of  the  "poor  rep- 
"  tiles,"  of  earlier  "patriotism." 

On  the  thirteenth  of  September,  the  unfortunate  prisoner  again  pre- 
sented a  Petition  for  relief,  in  these  words  ; 

"White  Plains  Goal,  September  13,  1776. 
"Gentlemen  of  the  Honorable  Provenshall  Conoress. 

"  This  my  Humble  Petition  to  Beg  of  your  Honnours  to  send  for  me 
"  that  I  may  have  my  tryal  for  the  County  Commete  and  the  Commete 
"  of  Safety  siiys  that  they  have  no  Right  to  try  me  and  I  have  desird 
"  them  to  send  me  to  the  Honnourable  Provenshall  Congress  and  they 
'•tell  me  they  Dare  Not  send  me  without  ordi/i-s  from  your  Honnours 
"  Gentfcmen  so  I  shall  be  very  Glad  if  your  Honnours  w  ill  be  Good 
"  Knouf  to  send  for  me  as  soon  as  Possible,  for  I  have  bin  in  Prison 
"Going  on  Eight  weeks  and  I  cant  support  myself  any  Longer,*  So 
"  Gentlemen  I  Shall  be  very  Glad  if  your  Honnours  would  take  my 
"case  into  Consideration  If  your  Honnours  Pleases  so  that  I  may  bo 
"clearJ  or  condeniJ  So  Gentlemen  I  leave  my  case  to  your  Honnours 
"  wise  consideration  not  Douting  but  your  Honnours  will  have  compas- 
"  siou  on  a  Poor  Prisoner. 

"  IIenby  Cihse." 

{HisbiHcal  Miinnscripts,  etc.  :  Petithim,  x.xxiii.,  90.) 

To  this  second  ajipeal,  there  does  not  aiii)ear  to  have  been  made  the 
slightest  answer,  although  it  Wiis  received  by  the  Convention,  and  -'read," 
(Jiinninl  of  Oil-  Oiin-entiim,  Tuesday  morning,  Septr.  17,  1770  ;)  and  His 
tory  is  silent  concerning  the  remainder  of  the  victim's  career. 

Those  who  shall  desire  to  know  who  and  what  kind  of  ^  man  it  was 
who  had  thus  pos-sessed  and  exercised  power  enough  to  point  his  dirty 
finger  at  a  mao  and  cause  him  to  be  thus  outrag  d,  without  any  remedy, 
may  be  gratified  by  turning  to  a  PetUwu  addressed  to  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, on  the  fourth  of  May,  177G,  by  William  Duer,  subsequently  well 
known,  (JiisOtrical  Mnnmcript.'i,  etc.  ;  Pvtiti/ntH,  xxxii.,  85  ;)  and  to  the 
Afc<t^  of  Monies,  p'^  by  Oie  Treasurer  for  which  no  Acco^  h'ts  been  ren- 
dered by  the  persons  io  nhtm  they  were  paid,  reported  by  the  Treasurer 
to  the  Convention,  on  the  eighteenth  of  September,  1770. 

(Uistt>rical  Manuscripts,  etc.  :  Miscellaneous  P.ipcrs,  xxxvi.,  257.) 

1  The  instances  of  Christopher  Templar,  already  referred  to ;  that  of 
Robert  Sutton,  (JounioZ  of  the  Concentlon,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M., 
"July  24,  1776  ;  ")  that  of  John  Thomas,  (the  same,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho., 
"A.M.,  July  27,  1776  ;"  that  of  John  Sutton,  {the  same,  "Die  Sabbati,  3 
"  ho.,  P.M.,  July  27,  1776  ;  ")  and  othera. 


*The  reader  will  remember  that  such  prisoners  as  this,  those  thrust 
into  confinement  because  it  suited  soujebody  to  "  suspect "  them,  were 
compelled  to  support  themselves,  while  in  Jail,  or  to  starve,  unless  some- 
body should  charitably  help  them  to  food. 


refused  to  be  made  tools  for  their  inquisitorial  prac- 
tices, were  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  "  until  they 
"should  make  discovery  or  declaration  aforesaid."^ 
Arrests  were  made  by  military  officers,  even  for  al- 
leged civil  offences ;  ^  and,  of  course,  the  arbitrary 
arrests  of  those  who  were  obnoxious  to  members  of 
the  several  County  Committees  were  continued,  with- 
out abatement* — the  Committee  of  the  City  of  New 
York  assumed  authority  to  pass  over  the  Hudson- 
river,  into  New  Jersey ;  to  arrest  six  persons,  "  in 
"  Bergen  Woods,  near  Bull's  Ferry ;  "  and  to  bring  its 
prisoners  over  the  river,  and  imprison  them  in  the 
Jail  of  the  City.*  Occasionally,  food  was  provided 
for  those  who  were  thus  seized  and  confined ;  ®  but 
such  a  favor  was  exceptional :  in  some  instances,  the 
expense  of  being  confined  was  increased  by  official 
extras ; '  but  there  was  an  instance,  also,  wherein  a 
prisoner,  arrested  by  order  of  the  Commander-in- 
Chief,  was  liberated  from  confinement,  by  the  Con- 
vention, and  given  the  largest  liberty,  with  no  other 
condition  than  that  of  an  elastic  parole,  only  because 
of  his  "connection  with  a  large  family  of  well-attached, 
"warm  Whigs,"  and  because  it  would  be  "the  most 
"politic  course  to  do  so;"*  and  a  second  instance, 
wherein  "a  person  of  equivocal  character,"  in  West- 
chester-county,"  and  who.se  name  was  included  in  the 
List  of  Suspected  Persons  on  which  Frederic  Philipse's 
name  also  appeared,'"  and  who  was  ostentatiously  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  notorious  "  Committee  to 
"detect  Conspiracies,"  of  which  his  half-brother  and 


2  See  the  instance  of  Elizabeth  Hicks,  of  Rockaway,  {Journal  of  the 
Cinuention,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  August  14,  1776.") 

3  See  the  instanc.'S  of  George  Davy  and  William  Tucker,  arrested  by 
Major  Graham,  (Journal  of  the  Contention,  "  Thursday  morning,  July 
"  18,  1776  ;  ")  those  arrested  by  Lieutenant  Brett,  (the  same,  "Die  Veneris, 
"  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Septr.  27,  1776 ;  ")  etc. 

■•The  instances  of  William  Sutton  and  his  son,  John  Sutton,  (the  latter 
discharged  by  the  Convention,)  arrested  by  the  Committee  of  Westches- 
ter-county,  (Jtmrual  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Jovis,  5  ho.,  P.M.  July  25, 
"1776,"  J  and  of  Abraham  C.  Cuyler,  John  Duncan,  Stephen  De  Lancey, 
John  Monier,  and  Benjamin  Hilton,  arrested  and  banished  into  Connuc- 
ticnt,  by  the  Committee  of  .\lbany-county,  (tlie  same,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9 
"ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  21.  1776,")  are  noteworthy. 

^John  Berrian,  Chairman,  to  the  Convention,  "COMMITTEE  CHAMBER, 
"New-Youk,  Augt.  2,  1776;"  Journal  of  the  Gntvention,  "Die  Mer- 
"curii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  7,  1776." 

6  The  instances  of  Ilinier  Van  Housen  and  Henry  Dawkins,  in  the 
Jail  at  the  White  Plains,  (Journal  of  the  Crjuvention,  "  Friday  morning, 
"Augt.  9,  1776,")  may  be  noticed. 

7  William  Sutton  was  arrested  and  confined  in  the  Jail  at  the  Plains, 
furnishing  his  own  food,  as  was  usual  ;  but,  soon  after,  he  was  banished 
to  Philadelphia,  and  there  confined,  "subsisting  himself,"  besides  hav- 
ing been  recjuirecl  to  jiay  to  Lieutenant  Alexander  Hunt,  who  conveyed 
him  to  Philadelphia,  the  expenses  of  his  own  journey,  the  expenses  of 
Hunt  while  thus  engaged  in  escorting  him,  and  twelve  shillings  per  day 
to  the  latter,  "for  his  trouble  in  the  premises."  (Journal  of  the  Con- 
vention, "  Die  Sabbati,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  July  27,  1776.") 

8  See  the  instance  of  Willett  Taylor,  who  was  thus  favored,  at  the  in- 
stance of  General  John  Morin  Scott,  (Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Tues- 
"day  morning,  Augt.  13,  1776;"  llie  same,  " Thursday,  A.M. ,  August 
"15,  1776  ;"  General  John  Morin  Scott  to  John  McKesson,  "New-Tork, 

"hora  vesp.  13th  August,  1776;"  the  same  to  ,  "  New- York, 

"Aug.  13,  1770.") 

^  Minutes  of  the  Commiliee  to  detect  Conspiracies,   "Thursday,  A.M., 
"June  27,  1770." 
^"Historical  3Luniscripts,el{:.:  Miscellaneous  Papers,  xxxvi.,  156. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


377 


anotlier  kinsman  were  leading  members/  was  made  the 
"Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty  of  this 
"State,"  only  thirty-four  days  after  he  had  been  thus 
summoned  to  answer  a  charge  of  having  been  "sus- 
"  pected,"  and  before  he  had  answered  to  that  Sum- 
mons ;  ^  and  a  ttiird  instance,  when  a  leading  member 
of  the  Convention  itself,  because  of  his  known  incli- 
nations and  because  of  his  continued  and  frequent 
correspondence  with  his  friends,  in  the  City  of  New 
York  as  well  as  with  those  in  Philadelphia,  after  both 
those  Cities  had  been  occupied  by  the  Royal  Army ; 
and  because  of  his  expressed  desire  to  go  into  the  City 
of  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  those  friends ; 
and  because  of  his  application  for  a  flag,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  those  desires  into  effect;  became  gen- 
erally and  very  seriously  "  suspected,"  '  without  hav- 
ing been  officially  disturbed,  by  any  one — he  was  not 
one  of  those  "  poor  vipers  "  of  whom  he  had  told,  only 
a  few  months  previously ;  *  nor  did  he  come  within 
the  circle  of  those  whom  the  dominant,  aristocratic 
clique  of  that  period  was  inclined  to  degrade  to  the 
level  of  the  common  people.  There  have  been  some, 
from  that  time  until  this,  who  have  seen  that,  in  the 
hands  of  such  as  then  controlled  the  affairs  of  New 
York,  the  scalesof  justice  were  sadly  tilted;  that  there 
was  one  kind  of  justice  for  one  class  of  the  inhabit- 
ants and  another  kind  of  justice  for  anotlier  class; 
that,  in  practice,  the  vaunted  equality  of  all  men  was 
a  fiction. 

It  was  a  favorite  practice  to  remove  the  victims  of 
these  arrests  from  the  vicinage  of  the  alleged  offence  ; 
and  the  Jail  at  Kingston  was  much  employed,*  al- 
though Morristown,  in  New  Jersey,"  and  Hartford, 
in  Connecticut,'  and  the  City  of  Philadelphia,'*  and 


^  Miiiutet  of  the  Committee  l/>  deled.  Conspiracies,  "  Thuisdtiy,  A.M., 
"June  27,  1770." 

2  Compare  tlie  record  of  the  Smnmrns  of  Richard  Morris,  in  the  preced- 
ing Note,  with  that  of  his  appointment,  in  tlie  Juunml  of  the  CimveiUioii, 
"  Die  Merciirii,  9  ho  ,  A.M.,  July  :U,  1770." 

3  Reference  is  made,  in  this  place,  to  Gouverneur  Morris  ;  and  those 
who  shall  incline  to  know  more  of  the  subjects  referred  to,  are  referred 
to  Doctor  Sparks's  Li/e  of  Gmeenienr  3f>iris,  i.,  154-101,  in  which,  not- 
withstanding the  evident  purpose  of  the  kind-hearted  biographer  to  say 
as  little  in  disparagement  of  the  aristocratic  culprit  as  possible,  the 
careful  reader  will  perceive  the  unceasing  hankerings  of  that  distin- 
guished "patriot,"  for  the  fleshpots  of  monarchy. 

*  Vide  page  188,  ante. 

'The  instances  of  Bloomer  Nelson,  Samuel  Haines,  Josiah  Disberry, 
and  Jacob  Schureman,  residents  ol  Westchester  county,  {Jouninl  nf  the 
CoHveiili'm,  "Thursday  morning,  August  29,  1776;"  Petitum  nf  John 
Sure.  Bloomer  Neelmn,  and  others,  "  KiN(JSTO.V  Goal,  Feb'1 19"",  1777  " — 
Uitb>ric(il  Manuscripts :  I'elUions,  xxxiii.,  G.'JS  ;  P-  lition  nf  Jilnomer  Nelson 
and  three  ollvrs,  "  Kincwton  Goal,  March  20,  1777 — Hislirical  Manu- 
scripts, etc.,:  Petitions,  xxxiii,,  610.)  are  sufiicient  for  this  purpose, 
although  there  are  numerous  others. 

•  Jimnirti  of  Uie  Couvenliin,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho  ,  A.M.,  Augt.  17,  1776 
tile  PresitleiU  of  the  Otuceuti'in  to  the  Committee  nf  Vtster-county,  "  In  Con- 

"  VKXTION   OF   THK    REPRESENTATIVES   OK   THE   STATE   Of   NeW  YoRK, 

"Harlem,  Augt.  17,  1776  ;"  etc. 

"The  instances  of  Abraham  C.  Cuyler,  John  Duncan,  Stephen  I)e 
Lanccy,  John  Monier,  and  Beiuamin  Hilton,  already  referred  to,  will  be 
remembered  by  the  reader. 

^  It  will  be  remembered  that  William  Sutton  of  Mamaroneck  was 
banished  to  Philadelphia. 
32 


"others  "of  the  neighbouring  States,'" — of  course, 
the  older-time  repository  of  the  victims  of  New  York's 
"suspicion,"  at  Litchfield,  in  Connecticut,  was  in- 
cluded ; — did  not  fail  to  receive  their  very  welcome 
supply  of  well-to-do  boarders. 

During  the  first  three  months  of  the  existence  of 
the  Convention,  there  were  thus  lawlessly  seized,  of 
the  residents  of  Westchester-county,  William  and 
John  Sutton,  of  Mamaroneck  ; "  John  Rogers,  a  ser- 
vant of  Lewis  Morris,  of  Morrisania ;  Joseph 
Reade,  of  Westchester;''  Isaac  Underbill,  of  Yon- 
kers,"  and  Philip  Palmer'*  and  James  Horton, 
Junior,'"  besides  a  number  of  others  the  names  of 
whom  were  not  recorded  on  the  Journal  of  tlu 
Convention}' 


^Journal  of  the  CtminUlee  of  Sifetij^  "Saturday  morning,  Novr.  9, 
"  1776." 

^0  J' ami  ol  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Jovis,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  July  18,  1776." 
"  Vide  page  375,  ante. 

^-Journal  of  the  Couivntiioi,  "  Wednesday  morning,  Augt.  28,  1770  ;  " 
the  some,  "  Thureiiay  morning,  Augt.  29,  1770." 

1'  The  Affidavit  on  which  Joseph  Reade  was  ordered  to  be  arrested  is 
such  asingular  production  that  we  are  induced  to  copy  it. 

"  DuToicESs  ConNTV,  ss.  Abraham  W.  D.  Peyster,  being  sworn,  depos- 
"eth  and  saith  that,  on  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday,  the  fourth, 
"  fifth,  and  sixth  days  of  September  instant,  he  w:i3  at  New-Rochelle,  in 
"the  County  of  Westchester;  that  on  one  of  the  above-named  days,  he 
"heard,  (as far  as  he  can  at  present  recollect, 1  either  Theodosius  Bartow, 
"of  New-Roehelle  aforesaid,  or  Anthony  Abrahams,  of  the  Town  of 
"  Westchester,  in  substance,  say,  in  a  conversation  this  Deponent  bad 
"  with  the  one  or  the  other  of  them,  on  the  American  contest,  that  Jo- 
".^eph  Re.ade,  late  of  the  City  of  New- York,  .Vttorney-at-Law,  but,  at 
"present,  as  this  Deponent  undei'stood,  a  resident  in  the  Town  of  Weat- 
"  Chester,  was  reputed  a  great  Tor.v  ;  that  the  chief  of  bis,  the  said  .lo- 
" sepli  Readers,  convereation  Wiis of  the  Tory  kind;  and  that  he,  the 
"said  Joseph  Reade,  had  reported  that,  in  the  late  Battle  on  Long  I»- 
"land,  between  the  American  Army  and  that  of  the  King  of  Great 
"  Britain,  the  .\mericans  had  lost  either  seven  or  fourteen  thousand  men. 
"(This  Deponent  cannot  now  recollect  which  of  the  two  numbers  was 
"mentioned,  but  rather  thinks  fourteen.)  This  Deponent  further  says, 
"tliat  the  amount  of  all  he  heard  at  New-Rochelle,  at  the  time  aforo- 
"  said,  respecting  .loseph  Reade,  was,  that  the  said  Joseph  Reade  was  a 
"great  Tory  and  very  unfriendly  to  the  American  cause,  and  further 
"  this  Deponent  saith  not. 

"A.  W.  D.  Pkvstee. 

"  Sworn  before  me,  this  10th  1 
Sept.,  1770.  J 
"  Abm.  Yates,  June.,  President." 

That  .\braham  W.  De  Peyster  was  an  employ-!  of  the  Convention,  in 
its  work  of  making  arrests  and  conveying  the  victims  into  exile,  as  a 
copyist,  etc.  ;  and  he  was  evidently  an.xious  for  another  job,  of  the  same 
class,  when  he  volunteered  this  singular  testimony.  But  the  Committee 
of  Safety  disappointed  bis  evident  expectations,  by  transmitting  the  Affi- 
davit to  the  Committee  of  Westchester. county,  *'  with  a  letter  requesting 
"them  to  proceed  thereon,"  {Journal  of  the  CommiU.ee  of  Safetij,  "Die 
"Martis,  8  ho.,  A.M.,  Septr.  10,  1770.") 

^*  Journal  of  tlie  Ommittee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Luna?,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  October 
"7,  1770." 

15  Ibid. 

Journal  of  the  Conrenlim,  "Wednesday  afternoon,  July  17,  1776." 

"  Rfa-oLVE»  :  That  General  Jlorris  be  ordered  imnu'diately  to  appro- 
"hend  and  secure  the  persons  ordered  to  be  apprelu  ndoil  by  this  Con- 
"  vention,  yesterday,  and  that  he  be  furnished  with  a  list  of  those  persons 
"nan»!S,"  {Journal  of  the  Cmcentvoi,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt. 
'10,  1770.") 

.\s  no  such  Order  for  the  arrest  of  any  one  as  is  recited  in  the  above 
Resolution  appears  in  the  published  Journal  of  the  Omventiim  of  the  pre- 
ceding day,  it  is  evident  that  this  is  one  of  those  instances  of  arbitrary 
lawlessness,  familiar  to  despots,  of  which  the  records  are  buried  In 
secrscy. 


378 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Those  who  were  supposed  to  have  been  "  disaf- 
"  fected,"  whether  they  were  really  so  or  not,  very 
much  alarmed  the  Convention ;  and  the  reports  of 
the  ill  disposition  of  large  portions  of  the  inhabitants, 
in  various  parts  of  the  State,  were  really  and 
reasonably  sufficient  to  create  alarm,  even  among 
more  resolute  men  than  those  of  whom  the  Conven- 
tion was  constituted.  Those  whom  the  Committees 
and  the  Congresses  had  persecuted  and  outraged  and 
all  whom  their  sufferings  could  influence,  very 
naturally  and  very  reasonably,  were  "  disaffected,"  as 
the  inhabitants  of  Staten-Ijiland  had  been :  many, 
great  numbers,  of  those  who  had  honestly  and  earnest- 
ly opposed  the  Home  Government  and  who  had  bold- 
ly demanded  a  redress  of  the  Colonial  grievances, 
were  also  "  disaffected,"  when  the  fire-eaters'  Heso- 
luHon  of  Independence  was  forced  on  them,  nolens 
volens,  as  Colonel  James  Holmes,  of  Bedford, — who 
had  represented  Westchester-county  in  the  Provincial 
Convention  which  had  sent  the  Delegation  of  the 
Colony  to  the  second  Continental  Congress;  who  had 
represented  the  County  in  the  First  Provincial  Con- 
gress ;  and  who  had  commanded,  throughout  the  en- 
tire Campaign  of  1775,  the  Regiment  of  Troops  in 
which  were  the  Companies  from  the  same  County- 
was  "disaffected,"  thereby.  The  greater  number  of 
those  who  had  held  places  of  honor  and  emolument, 
in  the  Colonial  Government,  notwithstanding  it  was 
politic  to  keep  quiet,  was  also,  more  or  less  ''  disaf- 
" fected;"  and  the  multitude,  whose  timidity  would 
not  permit  them  to  entertain  a  thought  that  Indepen- 
dence would  be  worth  what  it  would  evidently  cost  to 
secure  it,  was  not  very  loud-toned  in  its  favor,  even  if 
it  did  not,  very  often,  lean  toward  "  disaffection." 
Lastly,  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  very  generally, 
anxious  only  to  attend  to  their  business  and  their 
farms,  without  the  distress  and  misery  which  a  Civil 
War  would  necessarily  produce,  and  seeing  no  ad- 
vantage to  themselves  or  to  their  families  by  the 
violent  overthrow  of  one  Government  and  theequally 
violent  establishment  of  another  Government — the 
great  majority,  by  far  the  greater  number,  if  not  the 
almost  entire  body,  of  the  farmers  of  Westchester- 
county,  was  of  that  class — preferred  to  remain  as  they 
had  been,  before  they  had  been  outraged  by  the  new 
regime;  and,  therefore,  were  classed  as  "disaffected." 
There  was  reason,  therefore,  for  the  more  tender 
anxiety  of  the  Convention,  composed  of  those  who 
were  cowards  by  instinct,  since  "  its  chickens  had 
"come  home,  to  roost;"  and,  as  we  shall  see,  its 
anxiety  was  not  relieved  by  what  it  was  subsequently 
required  to  experience.  Governor  Tryon  was  enlist- 
ing as  many  as  he  could  entice  into  the  service  of  the 
King,  both  in  New  York  and  in  other  States ;  *  and 

1  The  Convention  to  the  Continental  (hngreis,-  "  In  Contention  of  the 
"  Representatives,  etc.,  White-Piains,  WESTCHESTER-couNTVj  July 
"11,  1776;"  the  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Friday  moniing,  Augt. 
"9,  1776  ;  "  Report  of  Committee  on  a  more  effectual  mode  of  detecting  and 
defeating  the  designs  of  the  internal  enemies  of  this  State— Journal  of  the 


those  who  were  "disaffected,"  in  Westchester-coun- 
ty and  elsewhere,  were  beginning  to  organize  and  to 
arm,  for  their  own  defence  and,  now  and  then,  in 
support  of  the  Royal  cause.^  The  Troop  of  Horse, 
in  Westchester-county,  of  whom  mention  has  been 
made,  when  a  quota  of  its  members  A^as  ordered  for 
the  reinforcement  of  the  Continental  Army,  at  New 
York,  early  in  July,  1776,  had  refused  to  comply 
with  the  Order  ;^  the  Regiment  of  Westchester  Mili- 
tia, commanded  by  Colonel  Joseph  Drake,  of  New 
Rochelle,  also  declined  to  be  submitted  to  a  Draft, 
for  the  same  purpose,  later  in  July;*  it  knew  that 
very  few  of  the  Militia  of  that  County  could  be  ex- 
pected to  enter  the  service,  even  for  the  protection  of 
the  County  itself;^  and,  on  the  earnest  appeal  of  the 
friends  of  the  Convention,  in  Salem  and  on  Cort- 
landt's  Manor,  for  the  protection  of  the  small  revo- 
lutionary factions,  there,  from  the  greater  number  of 
those  who  were  regarded  as  "disaffected,  in  those 
"  portions  of  the  County,"*  a  special  Company  of  thirty 
men,  to  be  commanded  by  Captain  Samuel  Delavan, 
and  in  addition  to  the  similar  Company  commanded 
by  Captain  Micah  Townsend,  previously  organized,' 
was  necessarily  ordered  to  be  enlisted  and  established, 
at  the  expense  of  the  State,  for  that  particular  ser- 
vice.* Even  the  authority  of  the  Convention  and  that  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety  of  the  State  were  disregarded 
by  Captain  Varian,  of  Westchester-county;'  and  there 


Convention,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Sept.  21,  1776;"  and  many 
others. 

Tlie  instance  of  William  Lounsbeny,  who  refused  to  surrender  and 
was  killed,  while  four  of  his  recruits — Bloomer  Nelson,  Jacob  Schure- 
man,  Samuel  Haines,  and  Joseph  Turner — were  captured,  is  noteworthy. 
Both  Louneberry  and  his  fourteen  recruits  were  Westchester-county 
Loyalists  ;  and  lie  and  they  were  intercepted  in  Westchester-county,  by  a 
party  of  Westchester-county  Militia,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  August, 
1776.  (Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Thursday  morning,  Augt.  29,  1776  ;" 
Committee  of  Safety  to  General  Washington,  "In  Committee  of  Safett, 
"Harlem,  Augt.  30,  1776.") 

^  The  Committie  of  Safety  to  General  Washington,  "FiSHKILL,  10  Oc- 
"tober,  1776." 

A  Corps  of  Westchester  county  Refugees  was  subsequently  raised,  the 
Lieutenant-colonency  of  which  was  taken  by  the  veteran,  James  Holmes, 
of  Bedford,  already  mentioned,  (.4  Short  Account  of  the  Descent  and  Life 
of  James  Holmes,  Esq.,  edit.  181.5,  reprinted,  in  exienso,  in  de  Lancey's 
Xoti-s  to  Jones's  History  of  Xeic  York  dnring  the  HevolntUniary  War,  ii., 
621.)  Two  Battalions  of  Loyalists  were  raised  in  Queens-county  ;  and 
in  several  of  the  other  Counties,  heavy  enlistments  were  also  made. 

^Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Thursday  afternoon,  July  11,  177G;"  the 
tame,  "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  26,  1776." 

*  Colonel  Joseph  Drake  to  General  Lewis  Morris,  "  New-Rociiel, 
"July  24,1776;"  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M., 
"July  31,  1776;"  Colonel  Joseph  Drake  tn  the  President  of  the  Conven- 
tion, *'  New- Rochelle,  6th  August,  1776  ;  "  Journal  of  the  Conventitm, 
"Die  Lunas,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  .\ugt.  5,  1770." 

S  Information  from  G*'neral  George  Clinton  to  the  Convention — Jmtrnal 
of  the  Onivenlion,  "  Tuesday  morning,  Augt.  13,  1776." 

^  Thaddeus  Crane  to  Major  Joseph  Benedict,  "Salem,  September  7, 
"1776;"  Major  Joseph  Benedict  to  Qdonel  Gilbert  Drake,  "Cortlasdt 
"Manor,  18  September,  1776;"  Journal  of  tlie  Convention,  "  Die  Sab- 
"bati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Septr.  21,  1776." 

'  Vide  pages  348-350,  ante. 

'  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Septr.  21,  1776." 

"Compare  ./mmi.t;  of  the  Committee  of  Safrty,  "  Kix<;s  Bridge,  Augt. 
"30,  1776,"  with  the /ouriia/  of  the  Cmwenti/m,  "Monday  morning,  Sep- 
"  tember.30,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


379 


was  good  reason  for  supposing,  it  was  said,  that  a 
correspondence  was  kept  up  between  the  Royal  Army, 
on  Long  Island,  and  prominent  inhabitants  of  that 
County,  as  tar  in  the  interior  as  the  White  Plains,  as 
early  as  the  close  of  August,  in  1776.'  The  inhabit- 
ants of  Kings-county  were  said,  early  in  August,  to 
"have  determined  not  to  oppose  the  enemy;"  and  a 
Committee  was  appointed,  with  considerable  ostenta- 
tion, to  go  to  that  County,  and  to  "inquire  concern- 
"  ing  the  authenticity  of  such  report;  and,  in  case 
"they  find  it  well-founded,  that  they  be  empowered 
"  to  disarm  and  secure  the  disaffected  inhabitants ;  to 
"  remove  or  destroy  the  stock  of  Grain ;  and,  if  they 
"shall  judge  it  necessary,  to  lay  the  whole  County 
"  was'e ;  and,  for  the  execution  of  these  purposes, 
"  they  be  directed  to  apply  to  General  Greene,  or  the 
"Commander  of  the  Continental  Troops  in  that 
"Ciunty,  for  such  assistance  as  they  shall  want;"' 
as  if  such  a  rash  purpose  would  hate  been  permitted 
to  be  carried  into  effect,  under  such  peculiar  circum- 
stances, while  the  entire  military  and  naval  power  of 
the  King,  in  that  part  of  the  Continent,  was  resting 
within  a  mile  of  the  proscribed  County,  and  eager 
for  a  fight.  Duchess-county,  also,  asked  for  further 
l)rotection  from  the  aggressions  of  the  "  disaffected," 
as  Westchester-county  had  done;'  and,  notwithstand- 
ing two  Companies  had  been  already  raised  for  that 
I)urpose  and  were  then  in  service,*  a  third  Company 
was  ordered  to  be  added  to  the  local  force.*  Like 
the  Militia  of  Westchester-county,  that  of  Duch- 
ess-county was  exceedingly  "  disaffected,"  and 
would  not  be  drafted;'  and  with  the  rashness  and 
haughtiness  of  the  despotism  which  it  wielded,  James 
Duane  and  John  Jay  being  present,  the  Committee 
of  Duchess-county,  with  its  local  military  force,  was 
directed  to  assist  in  enforcing  the  Order,'  as  if  one 
who  was  thus  forcibly  crowded  into  the  Army,  after 
the  manner  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse-Cassel  and 
the  other  Old  World  despots,  would  ever  become  a 
useful  and  effective  soldier.  The  lower  portions  of 
Albany-county  and  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  also, 
asked  for  the  enlistment  and  establishment  of  a  local 
military  force,  for  the  only  purpose  of  protecting  the 
very  few  friends  of  the  Convention  who  lived  there, 
from  the  far  greater  number  of  the  "disaffected"  who 
also  lived  there;  ^  and  the  measure  of  the  anxiety  of 


Journal  of  the  CammUUe  of  Safeb),  "Tuesday,  A.M.,  Fiskill,  Sep. 
"tembcr  the  3rd,  1776  ;"  Die  Cmmittee  of  SnfHij  to  the  Chairman  of 
the  Ommitlee  nf  Westcheslercnuiit)/,  "  FisHKlLL,  Septembers,  1776." 
-Jourtfil  of  the  Convention,  '-Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  10, 1776." 
John  Field  and  Jonathan  Paddock  to  tite  President  of  the  Convention, 
"DncHESs,  Sot;THE.\ST  Precinct,  7th  Oct..  1776;"  Journal  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Sifety,  "  Die  Slartis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octr.  8,  1776." 
*  Vide  pages  348,  349,  ante. 

'Journal  of  the  Committee,  "Die  Martis,    Octo.  8th,  P.M.,  1776." 

'  [nformation  given,  personally,  by  Colonel  Humphrey  to  the  Conven- 
tion. (Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Saturday  morning,  September  28,  1776.") 

'Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Saturday  morning,  Septeml)er  28,  177C." 

^Jimnud  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Die  Martis,  9  ho..  A.M.,  Octo- 
"ber  8,  1776." 

See,  also,  S  iin  U'l  T™  Broeck,  Chaiimm,  pro  tern.,  to  the  Chnirmnn  nf 


the  Convention  was  completed  by  the  submission  of 
all  Long  Island,  not  excluding  the  peculiarly  zealous 
revolutionary  County  of  Suffolk,  to  the  authority  of 
the  King."  In  view  of  these  stern  facts,  there  need 
be  no  wonder  that  the  Convention  was  anxious,  con- 
cerning the  "disaffected;"  and  because  of  the  purely 
speculative  disposition  of  the  Eastern  Troops,  and  of 
the  apathy,  if  not  of  the  "  disaffection,"  which  pre- 
vailed in  those  of  the  Middle  States,  especially  among 
those  who  were  forced  into  the  Army,  unwilling  sol- 
diers, from  New  York,'"  there  need  be  no  wonder  that 
General  Washington,  also,  was  anxious,  not  only 
concerning  the  "disaffected"  who  were  within  his 
own  command,  but  concerning,  also,  those  who  were 
scattered  throughout  New  York,  in  the  rural  districts 
as  Well  as  within  the  Cities;  "  nor  that  he  took  unto 
himself  the  authority  to  seize  and  remove  from  their 
homes,  some  of  those  who  were  said  to  have  been 
"  disaffected,"  in  many  instances,  those  who  had  given 
their  paroles  and  were  honorably  discharging  their 
respective  obligations  of  peace  and  quiet,'-  among  the 
former  of  whom  was  Frederic  Philipse,  of  Yonkers, 
whose  almost  total  blindness  and  entirely  harmless 
life  would  have  undoubtedly  sheltered  him,  had  not 
"a  number  of  well-affected  inhabitants"  volunteered 
to  a<!sist  the  General  in  selecting  his  victims,"  and 
included  Mr.  Philipse's  name  on  their  list  of  the  as- 
sumed "disaffected,"'*  who  were  maliciousiy  said  to 
have  been,  also,  dangerous.'^  As  the  General  expressly 


the  Committee  of  Snfetij,  "District  of  M.vsok  Livingston,  October  9, 
"1776;"  (Ac  «<im«  tn  the  same,  "Di.strict  of  Manor  Livino.ston,  Octo- 
''ber  10,  1776;"  Petrm  Van  Gaasbeck,  Chairman,  to  thf  same,  "Manor 
"of  Livingston,  10th  Oct.,  1776;"  Journal  of  Oie  Committee  of 
Safelij,  "Saturday  morning,  Oct.  12,  1776." 

« "  The  inhabitants  of  this  island,  many  of  whom  had  been  forced 
"  into  rebellion,  have  all  submitted,  and  are  ready  to  take  the  Oaths  of 
"Allegiance."  {Genend  Hoice  to  Lord  George  Gvrmaine,  "  C\MP  At 
"Nf.wtown,  Loxr,  Isi.ANn,  3d  September,  1776.") 

See,  also,  John  SZons  Hobart  totheConventiim,  "  Fairfield,  Octor.  7, 1776." 

■0  .Vmoiig  other  authorities,  an  extract  nf  a  letter  ft'om  General  Greene 
to  General  Washington,  quoted  by  Sparks,  in  his  U'ritings  of  George 
\y<isfiington  (iv.,  9,)  is  jH*culiarly  noteworthy,  in  this  connection. 

"  Gtiiiral  Washington  (<)  General  William  Livingston,  "  Head-qiiarteks, 
"  New- York,  6  July,  5  o'clock,  P.M.,  1776  ;  "  the  same  to  General  George 
Clintoti,  "  Head-quarter-s,  New  York,  12  July,  1776;"  the  same  t't  the 
"Secret  CommiOee  of  the  Gmvrntion  of  the  State  of  N^av  York,"  "Head- 
"  QUARTERS,  13  July,  1776;"  the  tame  to  Ote  President  of  the  Prorineial 
Congrem  of  tleio  York,  "New-York  Head-quarters,  July  14,  1776  ;" 
and  many  others. 

>2  General  Washington  to  Govemyr  Trumbull,  "  New-York,  11  August, 
"1776;"  the  same  tn  the  Oonvenlvin,  "Head-quarters,  New- York,  12 
"August,  1776;"  etc. 

General  Washington  to  the  CoavetUion,  "  Head-quartebs,  New- York, 
"12  August,  1776." 

Parole  of  Frederic  PhUipse,  "  Hartfobd,  .\iig<.  28,  1776  ;  "  Petition  of 
Frederic  Philipse.  "  Middletown,  29"'  Novr.  1776." 

15  Frederic  Philipse  was  taken  into  custody  by  an  order  from  General 
Washington,  on  the  ninth  of  August,  and  taken  from  his  own  house,  at 
Yonkers,  to  New  Rochelle,  "where  he  was  closely  confined,  under 
"  guard,  for  eleven  days,"  when  he  was  removed  to  Connecticut,  and 
gave  his  Parole  that  he  would  not  go  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Town  of 
Middletown,  which  no  one  pretends  heattempted  to  violate.  He  re- 
mained there,  until  he  was  officially  permitted  to  go  into  the  City  of 
New  York,  also  on  Parole.  In  the  trick  which  was  subsequently  played 
on  those  who  had  been  thus  favored,  by  ordering  them  to  return  to  Con- 
necticut, but  in  such  a  manner  that  it  was  evident  tl>e  Order  would  no( 


380 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


stated  that  all  these  were  "  apprehended  only  on  sus- 
"  picion,"  *  and  that  not  on  the  personal  knowledge  of 
the  General  himself,  but  on  information  conveyed  to 
him,  unquestionably,  by  the  notorious  "  Committee  to 
"  detect  Conspiracies,"  who  was  then  sitting  in  the 
City  in  which  Head-quarters  then  were,^  the  same 
hands  directed  the  movement  which  had  previously 
directed  the  similar  movements  with  which  the  reader 
is  already  acquainted ;  and  the  Convention  was  con- 
sistent when  it  thankfully  acknowledged  the  great 
favor  which  it  then  enjoyed,  in  having  received  so 
welcome  and  so  powerful  an  accession  to  its  power  for 
persecution,  as  General  Washington  and  the  Army  of 
the  Continent.^ 

Like  the  three  Congressss  who  had  preceded  it,  the 
Convention  was  kept  busy,  with  matters  pertaining  to 
the  Army.  It  authorized  and  superintended  the 
enlistment  of  men,  in  the  service  of  the  State,  for 
local  purposes  ;  *  it  attended  to  that  of  men  for  the 
reinforcement  of  the  Continental  Army  ;  *  and  it  pro- 
vided for  the  payment  of  Bounties,  in  addition  to  the 
stipulated  pay,  to  those  who  thus  enlisted.^  It  resorted 
to  Drafts,  in  order  to  ff]\  the  requisitions  for  men,  when 
enlistments  were  tardy;"  and  where  resistance  was 
made  to  the  Draft,  force  was  authorized,  to  compel 
men  to  fill  the  i-anks."    It  appointed  Officers  of  both 


reach  them,  in  the  distant  City,  Mr.  Philipse  was  included  among  the 
victims  of  somebody's  official  misconduct  ;  and,  as  the  world  knows,  that 
unintentional  failure  to  return  to  his  place  of  confinement,  in  Connecti- 
cut, was  made  the  ostensible  reason  for  the  confiscation  of  his  great 
estate,  in  Westcliester-county  and  elsewhere. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that  Frederic  Philipse  was  any- 
thing else  than  an  honest  friend  of  his  native  country;  tliat  he  ever 
spoke  or  wrote  or  did  anything  whatever  which  could  be  justly  con- 
strued as  inimical  to  his  country  or  favorable  to  the  obnoxious  meas- 
ures of  tlie  Home  Government ;  or  that  he  ever  piirposed  doing  so.  He 
was  almost  totally  blind  ;  and  that  and  his  unusual  corpulency  unfitted 
him  for  the  slightest  personal  opposition  to  or  supiiort  of  any  political 
or  military  movements;  while  his  fondness  for  gardouing,  in  all  its 
branches,  to  which  the  grounds  of  his  Jlanor-houses,  at  Yonkera  and 
Sleepy  Hollow,  bore  ample  testimony,  and  bis  domestic  ties,  and  his  un- 
usual love  of  home,  led  him  to  prefer  the  ipiiet  and  retired  life  for 
which  he  was  distinguished,  instead  of  that  more  active  and  more  pub- 
lic life  to  which,  from  his  rank  and  standing  and  purity  of  character,  he 
was  so  completely  entitled. 

^General  Washiugtnii  bi  G"rernor  Tnimbull,  "New-York,  H  .\ugust, 
"177C." 

2  The  Convention  it^elf  wa.*,  then,  sitting  in  the  old  Dutch  Church  at 
Harlem  ;  but  the  Generars  correspondence,  on  the  subject  under  consid- 
eration, had  been,  undoubtedly,  with  the  Conunittee,  who  was  nearer. 

See,  also,  Gtfiieral  Wai^htu/jt/iii  Ui  Oeiu-ral  M'Uluim  Lirin(/titonj  **nEAD- 
"yu.vRTKK.s,  New-Yokk,  July  d,  1776,  Five  o'clock,  P.M." 

s  Tlie  ConieiUion  to  General  WasliiiigUm,  "  Tuesday,  A.M.,  Augt.  13, 
"1776." 

*Jourtial  of  the  Contenti'm,  "Die  Luna;,  8  ho.,  A.M.,  July  22,  1770  ;" 
the  snme,  "  Die  Martis,  S  ho.,  -\.M.,  July  23,  1776  ;"  lite  Coni-eHtion  to  the 
hepntatton  iit  the  Conlinentnl  Ckjttgref^,  **  H-vri.em,  7  Augt.,  1776  ;"  etc. 

^Jounml  of  the  OmieiUivn,  "Friday  afternoon,  July  19,  1776;"  the 
$ame,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  24,  1776  ;"  the  same,  "Saturday 
"morning,  September  28,  177G  ;  "  etc. 

^Jonriial  of  the  Comenlion,  "DieLunfc,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  .luly  22,  17T6  ;  " 
Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Sofelij,  "  Ax  the  house  of  Me.  Odell,  Puil- 
"ii'se's  Manor,  Augt.  31,  1776  ;"  etc. 

'Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Friday  morning,  July  10,  1776;"  the 
same,  "  Die  Luna',  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  22,  1776  ; "  the  xame,  "  Die  Mercurii, 
"'.)  ho.,  A.M..  July  31,  1776  ;"  etc. 

Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Saturday  morning.  September  28.  1776." 


the  Militia  and  the  tr  .ops  in  the  field  f  it  passed  on  the 
qualifications  of  the  Surgical  Staff and  it  gave  em- 
ployment to  Chaplains  for  the  Army."  Bargains  were 
made  with  favored  Officers,  when  they  entered  the 
service,  conditioned  that  they  should  serve  nowhere 
else  than  in  the  City  of  New  York;'-  and  the  settle- 
ment of  disputes  among  Officers,  concerning  Rank, 
occupied  much  of  its  time  and  attention."  It  exempt- 
ed the  Cavalry  from  the  operations  of  a  general  Draft 
for  men;  and  those  who  were  employed  in  furnaces 
for  smelting  iron,  in  forges  for  making  bar-iron,  in 
steel-manufactories,  in  the  anchor  forge  in  Orange- 
county,  in  .saltworks,  in  paper-mills,  and  in  powder- 
mills,'^  as  well  as  those  in  aflaxseed-mill,  in  Duchess- 
county,'®  and  in  the  workshops  of  a  gunsmith,'^  were, 
also,  exempted  from  every  kind  of  military  duty. 

The  Militia,  of  course,  was  the  sole  dependence  of  the 
Convention,  in  every  emergency  ;'^  and,  whether  well- 
disposed  or  •'disaffected'"' — it  seemed  to  be  equally 

''Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Friday  morning,  July  16,  1776;"  the 
tame,  "Die  Sabbati  9 ho.,  A.M  ,  July  27, 1770  ; "  the  same,  " Die  .Sabbati, 
"9  ho.,  A.  M.,  Augt.  17,  1776  ;"  etc. 

vjrntrnalnf  the  Convention,  "Tuesday,  P.M.,  White  Pl.\ins,  July  9, 
"  1776  ; "  the  same,  "  Die  Sabbati,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  July  27,  1776  ;  "  the  same. 
"Tuesday  afternoon,  Augt.  "20,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

11  Journal  of  the  Convention,  •'  .Monday  morning,  Augt.  26,  1776." 

^- Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Mercurii,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  July  31, 1770." 

'^Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Tuesday,  P.M.,  White  Pl.iix.'S,  July  9, 
"1770;"  the  same,  "Die  Luna-,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  July  22,  1770— the  case  of 
"Colonel  Drake  against  Colonel  Thomas ; "  the  same,  "  Tuesday  morning, 
"Augt.  13,  1770;"  etc. 

n  Jbanin!  nf  the  Convention,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9 ho  ,  A.M.,  Augt.  7, 1776." 

15  Jouninl  of  the  Vuncention,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  August  14, 
"  1776." 

Joimml  of  the  Convention,  'Monday  morning,  August  '26,  1776." 
^'Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Wednesday  morning,  Septr.  25, 
"1776." 

1*  The  authorities  are  so  numerous,  that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  cite 
any  of  them. 

10  The  following,  in  addition  to  what  hiis  been  already  stated  concerning 
the  disaffection  in  the  Continental  .\rmy,  presents  the  subject,  very  clearly. 
The  Militia  of  Westchester-county  contiiined,  of  course,  all  who  were 
frierds  of  the  Convention  and  who  lived  within  the  County  ;  but  the 
number  of  efficient  men  in  the  entire  Brigade  did  not  exceed  the  strength 
of  a  single  Regiment  and  these  were  so  generally  "disaffected,"  either 
with  the  service  or  with  the  General  commanding  them,  or  with  both, 
that  the  latter  regiirded  his  own  life  as  in  danger,  among  them  ;  and, 
therefore,  when  he  was  oniered  to  take  the  command  of  his  Brigade, 
personally,  in  Kew  York,  he  preferred  to  remain  in  Philadelphia,  where 
he  would  be  less  exposed  :  "The  situation  of  my  Brigade  I  was  con- 
"vinced  was  well  known  to  the  Convention,"  were  his  words.  "I  ap- 
"  prebend  that  not  more  than  a  Colonel's  command  was  left  in  it ;  and 
"  as  such  did  not  think  my  presence  was  so  absolutely  necessary.  I  have 
"thought  that  the  existence  of  such  a  Brigade,  in  which  were  so  many 
"dis;ilTected  persons,  was  dangerous  to  the  cause  as  well  as  to  my  own 
■'  life  ;  but  being  desirous  to  participate  in  the  virtuous  opposition  to  the 
"British  tyrant,  I  had  determined,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  join  General 
"^Vashiiigton.  and  contribute  my  assistance  to  him."  {General  Letoit 
Morris  to  the  Convention  "  Phil.ioelphu,  Septr.  24,  1776.") 

The  reader  may  learn  from  this  how  very  little  the  Slorrises  were  re- 
spected, even  among  those  who  were  under  legal  obligations  to  respect 
them,  in  and  throughout  Westchester-county,  in  the  Summer  of  1776. 

The  following  will  further  illustrate  the  "disaffection"  of  the  Militia 
of  Westchester-county,  a  reasonable  result  of  the  outrages  which  had 
been  officially  perpetrated  throughout  that  County,  during  many  months 
preceding:  "  We  suppose  your  Excellency  has  taken  the  necessiiry  steps 
"  to  prevent  their  landing  of  any  men  from  the  ships,  should  they  be  so 
'  inclined,  as  no  reliance  at  all  can  be  placed  on  the  Militia  of  West- 
"  chester-county."  {The  Committee  of  Safely  tn  General  Washinrjlon. 
"FiSHKiLL,  10th  Octr.,  1776.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


381 


relied  on,  no  matter  what  its  temper  might  be — it  was 
drawn  into  the  service,  while  the  other  States  were 
delinquent,'  until  no  more  could  be  taken,  for  any, 
except  for  the  most  tcmjjorary,  purposes.'  It  was 
called  out  to  guard  the  banks  of  the  Hudsoy-river^ 
and  those  of  Long  Island  Sound.*  Reinfbrcemcuts  of 
the  Continental  Army  were  taken  from  it,  whenever 
reinforcements  were  called  for;'  the  passes  in  the 
Highlands  were  constant  sources  of  anxiety  ;  *  and  the 
northern  borders  of  the  State'  and  Long  Island' 
also  enjoying  its  protection.  Sometimes  it  was  em- 
ployed to  drive  Cattle  to  places  of  supposed  safety:* 
sometimes  it  was  employed  in  repairing  roads : some- 


I  "  We  (.an  with  pleasure  assure  you,  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
"  the  levies  ordered  by  tlie  Congress  to  be  raised  from  our  Slilitia,  are 
"completed,  and  at  their  several  stations;  that  almost  the  whole  of  those 
"drafted  in  consequence  of  the  enclosed  Eesoluticu,  will,  by  the  time 
"  this  reaches  you,  be  at  posts  which  is  thought  necessary  to  occupy, 
"least  the  enemy  should  cut  off  the  conmiuuication  between  the  Army  at 
"  New  York  aiul  the  country."  *  *  *  "  It  gives  us  great  pain  to  in- 
"  form  you  that  the  aid  received  from  our  sister  States  is  very  inadequate 
"to  our  expectations,  none  of  them  having  yet  completed  the  levies  di- 
"  rected  by  Congress,  which  leaves  us  reason  to  fear  that  instead  of  using 
"every  means  that  human  wisdom  dictatesfor  ensuring  success,  we  shall, 
"  with  inferior  numbers,  on  the  doubtful  issue  of  a  single  battle,  hazard 
"  the  glorious  cause  for  which  we  have  struggled."  (77ie  Convinilion  to 
the  Deltijiitiim  of  the  State  in  the  Cotdinetdal  Congress,  "  Hahlem,  7th  .\u- 
"gust,  17-C,  A.M.") 
-  The  CutivenlioH  to  General  Washington,  "Fishkiii.,  10th  Octr.,  ITTfi." 
"The  entire  body  of  Westchcster-connty  Slilitia  was  ordered  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Croton-river,  to  ojijiose  any  movements,  in  that  County, 
from  the  enemy's  shipping,  [Journal  of  the  Convetilion,  "Thursday  morn- 
"  ing,  July  25,  1776  ; ")  to  which  the  local  Company,  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Micah  Townsend,  was  added,  on  the  following  day,  (tlie  same.  '-Die 
"  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  July  26,  1776.")  The  entire  body  of  the  Militia 
of  Westchester-county  was  again  called  out.  for  the  same  purpose,  with 
five  days'  provisions,  a  fortnight  afterwards,  (the  snyne,  "Die  Sabbati,  4 
"  ho.,  I'.M.,  Augt.  10,  1776  ")  The  Militia  of  Orange-county,  below  the 
Highlands — now  Rockland-county— was  ordered  out  for  the  protection 
of  the  western  shore  of  the  river,  early  in  the  Autumn,  (the  same, 
"  Thui-sday  afternoon,  October  10,  1776.") 

♦General  Morris  was  instructed  to  guard  the  Sound-shore  of  Westches- 
ter-county,  at  the  same  time  that  he  guarded  the  left  bank  of  the  Hud- 
son. (Journal  of  theConrention,  "  Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt. 10,  1776.") 
See,  also.  Colonel  Joseph  Drake  to  the  Com-enlion,  "Wednesday  morn- 
ing, .\ngt.  28,  1776;"  the  t'oncenlion' s  reply,  "Thursday  morning, 
"  Augt.  2!),  1770." 

'One-fourth  of  the  entire  body  of  the  Militia  of  Westchester,  Duch- 
ess, Ulster,  and  Orange-counties,  to  serve  until  the  last  day  of  the  fol- 
lowing December,  was  ordered  out  for  general  service,  in  July,  (Jour- 
no/  of  the  Convention,  "Friday  morning,  July  10,  1776;"  the  same,  "Die 
"Jovis,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  8,  1776  ;")  one-fifth  of  the  entire  body  of  the 
Militia  of  .Vlbany-county,  to  serve  for  one  month,  and  one-half  of  that 
of  Kings  and  Queens  counties,  to  serve  until  the  first  of  September,  were 
added  to  these,  very  soon  after,  (/*<•  same,  "  Die  Sabbati,  4  ho..  P.M., 
"  Augt.  1(1,  1770  ;")  and,  a  few  da.ys  later,  the  entire  bwly  of  the  .Alilitia 
of  Orange,  Ulster,  Westchester,  and  Ducliess-rountics  was  ordered  to 
hold  itself  in  readiness  to  march,  at  a  moment's  warning,  with  five 
days'  provisions  and  as  much  ammunition  as  possible,  (Journal  of  the 
CommilUe  of  SafHij.  "H.VRLESI,  Augt.  29,  1770.") 

*  The  entries  on  this  subject  are  so  very  numerous  that  we  can  pretend 
to  cite  no  more  than  two  or  three  of  them,  (J<mrnal  of  the  ConveiUion, 
"Friday  morning,  July  16,  1776;"  the  »ame,  "Die  Jovis,  4  ho.,  P.M., 
"Augt.  8,  1770  ;"  etc.) 

*  The  Omeention  to  the  Delegation  from  the  Stale,  in  the  Continental  COn- 
grew.  "  H.^RLEM,  7th  Auguirt,  1770,  A.M.;"  Jouniai  of  Committee  of  Safety, 
"  Tuesday  morning,  Octor.  22,  1776  ; "  etc.  ^ 

*  Inatriittions  to  General  WoodhuU — Journal  of  the  ('«iii  e)i/wn,  "  Monday 
"morning,  Augt.  26,  1776." 

"  General  WoodhuU  to  the  Contention,  "  Jamaica,  .\ugn.st  27,  1770 ;  "  etc. 
1"  The  road  from  the  North  side  of  the  Highlands  to  Kingsbridge  and 


times,  very  frequently,  it  was  called  from  its  homes 
and  its  necessary  labors  on  the  farms,  when  there  was 
not  theslightest  appearance  of  danger,  to  throw  up  the 
defcnceson  which  ordinary  day-laborers,  then  sutlcring 
from  want  of  employment,  had  better  been  employed. 

The  vessels  of  war  which  the  Provincial  Congresses 
had  equipped  and  sent  to  sea,  were  duly  cared  for  ;  " 
and  it  continued  to  give  authority  for  the  equipment 
of  privateers. 

As  the  Convention  was  largely  composed  of  the 
same  persons  as  those  who  had  been  members  of  the 
Provincial  Congresses,  unto  whom  the  exercise  of  des- 
potic power  has  become  not  only  familiar  but  agreea- 
ble and,  sometimes,  profitable,  the  same  range  of 
authority  which  those  Congresses  had  usurped  was 
exercised  by  the  Convention,  without  any  other  Laws 
than  the  promptings  of  their  own  wilN,  as  their 
respective  rules  of  action.  It  continued,  therefore,  to 
provide,  as  best  it  could,  for  the  wants  of  the  Army,  by 
manufacturing  and  by  purchasing  and  distributing 
among  the  Powder-mills,  all  the  Saltpeter  which 
it  could  secure  ;  by  making  or  buying  or  bor- 
rowing Gunpowder,  and  by  distributing  it  or  giving 
it  away;  "  by  searching  for  Lead,  and  opening  Klines, 
and  stripping  Window-sashes,  in  Tryon  and  Albany- 
counties,  and  distributing  it  or  giving  it  away;  and 
it  attended  to  the  search  for  Sulphur  and  Flints  and 
Lead,  and  to  the  testing  of  those  discovered.'*"  It 
busied  itself,  also,  with  the  details  of  distributing  Car- 
tridges'' and  Gunflints.'*  Like  the  Congresses  who 
had  preceded  it,  it  engaged,  directly,  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  Arms  and  Equij)ments,  including  that  of 
Lances,  with  which  somebody  induced  the  Conven- 
tion to  attempt  to  arm  the  Militia  who  had  been 
called  into  the  service  ;  "*  and  it  also  bought  Arms, 

"a  certain  other  small  road  which  leads  from  the  Post-road  aforesaid  to 
"the  dock,  at  Dobbs's  ferry,"  were  oniered  to  be  repaired  ;  and  requisi- 
tions on  the  Slilitia  of  Duchess  and  Westchester-counties,  were  made 
for  that  particular  pnrpose,  (Journal  of  the  Provincial  Concentimi,  "9  ho., 
"A.M.,  Octor.  5,  1770.") 

"  Journal  of  the  Coniinlion,  "Saturday  morning,  September  28,  1776  ;" 
Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Die  Luna",  9  ho.,  .-V.M..  October  7, 
"1770  ;"  the  same,  "  Wednesday  afternoon,  Octor.  10,  1776  ;"  etc. 

^-Journal  of  the  Concention,  "  Die  Veneris,  4  ho.,  P.M..  Augt.  2,  1776." 
Journal  of  llie  Convention,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  Augt.  14, 
"  1770  ; "  the  satne,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Septr  14,  1770  ; "'  etc. 

Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Friday  morning,  July  19,  1776;"  Order 
from  General  Washington  to  John  Livingston,  in  favor  of  the  Convention, 
"  New  York,  July  19,  1776  ;  "  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Sabbati, 
"4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  10,  1776;"(Ae  ame,"Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M., 
"July  ■24,  1770  ;"  etc. 

Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safly,  "Die  Luh»>,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  19, 
"1776  ;"  Journal  of  the  Conven/iim,  "Thursday  afternoon,  July  II, 
"1776;"  the  rn/ne,  "Thursday  nu>rning,  July  IS,  1770;"  the  same,"  Diu 
"Sabbati,  9  ho,  A  M.,  Octor.  5,  1776;"  Uie  same,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho., 
".VM.,  July  27,  1770;"  etc. 

^0  Journal  of  Oie  Convention,  "Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  Septr.  19,  1776." 

"  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Saturday  morning,  July  l:!,  1776." 

18  Jfninin/  of  the  Convention,  '-Thursday  morning,  July  18,  1770  ;"  the 
tame,  '■  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A  M.,  July  27,  1776  ; "  the  same,  " Die  Luna;, 
"9  ho.,  .\.M.,  Augt.  .1,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

"Journal  or"  </ip  Convention,  "  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  July  31,  1776  ;" 
the  same,  "  Friday  morning,  August  2,  1776  ; "  Journal  of  the  Committee  of 
Safely,  "  Die  Mercurii,  4  ho.,  P.  M.,  Sept.  4,  1776  ; "  etc. 

The  manufacture  of  four  thousand  Lances  was  asHigued  to  the  Coun- 


382 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


when  it  could  do  so,^  and,  sometimes,  it  hired  Arms, 
when  it  could  not  in  other  way  procure  them.^  In 
short,  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  left,  in  all  which 
related  to  the  raising,  the  equipment  of,  and  the  fur- 
nishing of  supplies  for,  the  troops,  which  was  permit- 
ted to  be  done  by  any  other  agency;  and  it  affords 
subjects  for  thought  and  inquiry,  as  one  reads  of  its 
uninvited  interference  with  the  instructions  of  the 
Quartermaster-general  of  the  Continental  Army  to 
his  subordinates,  concerning  purchases  of  Timber  and 
Oak-plank  and  old  Vessels,  for  the  obstruction  of  the 
Hudson-river;'  of  its  direct  participation  in  the  pur- 
chase of  Lime,  Brick,  Oak-plank,  Cordwood,  Grain, 
and  Clothing  for  the  Continental  Army,  although  the 
Quartermaster-general's  officers  were  present  and 
engaged  in  the  same  work  and  when  it  also  found  em- 
ployment in  attending  to  the  Cooperage  of  leaky  Oil- 
casks  belonging  to  the  Continent.* 

The  establishment  of  a  new  form  of  Government 


ties  of  Albany,  XJlster,  Orange,  Duchess,  and  Westchester,  eight 
hundred  to  each  ;  and,  in  the  last-named  County,  Stephen  Ward,  William 
Millar,  and  Thuddeus  Crane  were  appointed  "to  procure  the  proportion 
*'  of  Lances  affixed  to  their  respective  names."  {Juiinial  nf  Committee  of 
Safety,  "Die  Mercurii,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Sept.  4,  l"7l>.")  Models  were  made 
from  Spears  procured  in  New  York,  {the  same,  "  Die  Luna>,  11  lio.,  A  M., 
"  Sept.  9, 1776  ;  ")  and,  including  the  long  handles,  five  shillings  and  six- 
pence was  paid  for  those  which  were  not  steeled,  and  six  shillings  and 
six-pence  for  those  which  were  steeled,  {Journnl  of  the  Convention,  "Die 
"  Jovis,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octor.  3,  1770.") 

We  have  not  met  the  slightest  notice  of  the  use  of  those  four  thousand 
Lances,  in  the  service  or  elsewhere  ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that 
they  were  never  used,  by  any  one. 

1  Journal  of  ihe  Coni'enlion,"  Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Aug.  '21, 177C  ;  " 
etc. 

2  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho  ,  A.M.,  August  14, 1770." 
^Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Septr.  21,  177C." 
*  Jonnml  of  the  Convention,  "  Monday  morning.  September  30,  1776  ;  " 

Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safetii,  "Die  Luna;,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  October  7, 
"  1776;"  Ihe  same,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octr.  9,  1776;  tlie  same, 
"  Thursday  morning,  (tctor.  17.  1776  ;"  etc. 

Stephen  Ward,  Gilbert  Strang,  and  Phil.  Leake  were  appointed  to  pur- 
chase coarse  woollen  Cloth,  Linsey-woolsey,  Blankets,  woollen  Hose, 
Mittens,  coarse  Linen,  felt  Hats,  and  Shoes,  for  the  soldiers,  and  to  have 
the  Linen  made  up  into  Shirts,  all  in  Westchester  county  ;  and  three  hun- 
dred pounds— seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars — were  appropriated  for  that 
purpose.  {Jnnraul  of  the  OmimiUeeuf  Safetij,  ''Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M., 
"  Octr.  9,  1776.")  Although  there  were  supplies  of  Grain  much  nearer  to 
the  Army,  and  vastly  more  exposed  to  the  enemy's  foraging  parties,  no 
Grain  was  purchased  elsewhere  than  in  the  Livingston  Manor,  from 
which  three  thousand  bushels  of  Oats,  at  four  shillings  per  bushel,  and 
four  thousand  bushels  of  old  Corn  and  one  thousand  bushels  of  Rye,  the 
two  latter  at  five  shillings  per  bushel,  were  drawn,  at  one  time  ;  but 
Peter  R.  Livingston  was  President  of  the  Convention,  and  Gilbert  Liv- 
ingston and  .lames  Livingston  and  Philip  Livingston  and  Robert  R.  Liv- 
ingston and  James  Duane  and  John  Jay  and  Pierre  A'an  Cortlandt — the 
last-named  three  having  been  Livingstons  by  their  marriages — were 
members  of  that  Convention ;  and  six  of  them  were  present  when  the 
order  was  given.  {Journal  of  the  Convenlimx,  "  Monday  morning,  Septem- 
"  ber  30,  1776.") 

Need  there  be  any  surprise  that,  with  such  an  array  of  strong  men  in 
its  favor,  that  he  more  distant  and  less  exposed  Manor  of  Livingston 
should  be  chosen,  especially  since  the  purchasing  agent  of  the  Quarter- 
master-general of  the  Continental  Army  was  at  Fishkill,  with  funds  to 
meet  the  drafts  of  Dirck  Jansen,  who  was  selected  by  the  Convention,  to 
gather  the  grain  from  the  farmers  or  from  the  manorial  storehouses,  and, 
also,  especially  since  no  inspection  of  either  the  quantity  or  the  quality 
of  what  was  to  be  thus  purchased,  was  provided  for. 

5  Journal  of  the  Commiilee  of  Safety,  "  Friday  morning,  September  27, 
"  177G." 


received  the  dilatory  and  half-hearted  attention  of  the 
Convention — an  abridgement  of  their  existing  des- 
potic authority  was  opposed  by  the  Deputies  who  then 
exercised  it ;  *  and  there  was  a  lingering,  longing  de- 
sire, among  the  master-spirits  of  the  Convention,  for  a 
reconciliation  with  the  Mother  Country  and  a  restora- 
tion of  the  former  form  of  Colonial  Government, 
evidently  with  themselves  and  their  friends  adminis- 
tering it.' 

The  subject  was  introduced  into  the  Convention, 
very  properly,  on  the  day  after  that  body  had  approved 
and  accepted  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  but 
the  consideration  of  it  was  postponed,  from  time  to 
time,  until  the  first  of  August,  when  a  Committee 
was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consid- 
eration and  reporting  apian  for  instituting  and  fram- 
ing a  Form  of  Government,  together  with  a  Bill  of 
Rights,  ascertaining  and  declaring  the  essential  Rights 
and  Privileges  of  "the  good  people  of  this  State,"  as  a 
foundation  for  such  Form  of  Government,  with  instruc- 
tions to  report  to  the  Convention,  on  the  twenty-sixth 


6  As  late  in  the  year  as  the  early  days  of  October,  the  attempt  of  the 
County-clerk  of  Duchess-county  to  continue  the  old  practice  of  holding 
a  County  Court  for  that  County  was  formally  forbidden  by  the  Conven- 
tion, John  Jay,  James  Duane,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  having  been 
present  in  the  Convention, 'Journ  i;  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho., 
"A.M.,  Octor.  5,  1776.") 

'  There  need  be  no  better  evidence  of  that  fact,  although  there  is  an 
abundance,  elsewhere,  than  in  the  successive  orders  for  th«  issue  of  Bills 
of  Credit,  by  the  Convention,  It  continued  to  issue  such  Bills,  in  the 
name  of  the  Colony,  long  after  it  had  professed  to  accept  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  by  which  it  had  ceased  to  be  a  Colony,  {Journal  of  the 
Contention,  "Die  Mercurii,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  7,  177G ")  and,  subse- 
quently, when  a  new  issue  of  such  Bills  of  Credit  was  ordered  to  be 
printed,  (Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Martis,  5  ho.,  P.M  ,  August  13, 
"1776  ")  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed  with  the  insignia  of  the  Corpora- 
tion of  the  City  of  New  York,  {Ibid  ;)  and  the  engravers  of  the  several 
plates  were  instructed  to  leave  a  blank  space  where  the  name  of  the 
maker  of  the  obligation  should  be,  on  those  plates,  in  order  that  such 
name  as  should  be  subsequently  found  to  be  most  useful — the  Colony, 
the  State,  the  City,  or  something  else— might  be  inserted,  with  type, 
after  the  sheets  should  have  been  printed  on  the  plate  press— conclusive 
evidence  that  the  permanence  of  the  new-formed  State  was  regarded  by 
even  the  master  spirits  of  the  Convention,  as  very  questionable. 

In  the  same  connection,  it  may  be  well  to  inquire  and  to  consider  what 
the  Earl  of  Coventry  meant,  when,  in  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
on  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  1779,  he  said,  "  He  lamented  that  a 
"War  so  fatal  to  Great  Britain  should  ever  have  been  begun,  much  more 
"  that  it  should  be  continued  with  so  much  obstinacy;  and  declared  that, 
"had  the  House  paid  attention  to  the  propositions  which  he,  the  last 
"Sessions,  informed  them  he  was  authorized  to  make  from  two  persons 
"of  authority  and  influence,  in  .\merica,  and  which,  had  they  been 
"  listened  to,  by  Parliament,  and  agreed  to,  would  have  been  ratified  by 
"Congress,  we  should  have  been,  at  this  hour,  in  peace  with  America." 
— Speech  of  the  Rirl  of  Coventry,  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  Almon  s  Parlia- 
mentary Register,  xv.,  17. 

"  The  last  Sessions."  during  which  the  Earl  of  Coventry,  by  authority, 
presented  overtures  for  reconciliation  to  which  the  Continental  Congress 
would  have  agreed,  was  the  Fifth  Session  of  the  Fourteenth  Parliament 
of  Great  Britain,  (November  26,  1778,  to  July  .3,  1779,)  long  after  the 
alliance  of  the  United  States  with  France  had  been  perfected,  and 
utilized  in  America.  As  the  Earl,  on  another  occasion,  boldly  acknowl- 
edged his  personal  friendship  and  coriespondence  with  more  than  one  of 
those  who,  then,  were  regarded  as  prime  leaders  in  the  Rebellion,  there 
need  be  very  little  trouble  in  searching  for  the  names  of  those  who  were, 
undoubtedly,  the  mouthpieces  of  the  Continental  Congress,  in  the  work 
of  reconciliation,  on  the  occasion  referred  to  by  the  Earl  of  Coventry, 
in  1779. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


383 


of  August,  less  than  four  weeks  from  the  date  of  its 
appointment.'  The  Committee  who  was  appointed  for 
those  purposes  consisted  of  John  Jay,  Colonel  John 
Broome,  and  General  John  Morin  Scott,  all  of  the 
City  of  New  York;  John  Sloss  Hobart  and  William 
Smith,  of  Suffolk ;  Abraham  Yates,  Junior,  and  Robert 
Yates,  of  Albany-county  ;  Henry  Wisner,  Senior,  and 
Colonel  Charles  De  Witt,  of  Ulster-county ;  William 
Duer,  of  Charlotte-county  ;  Gouverneur  Morris,  of 
Westchester-county  ;  Samuel  Townshend,  of  Queens- 
county;  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  Duchess-county.'' 

The  subject  continued  to  be  played  with,  both  by 
the  Committee  and  the  Convention,  by  both  of  whom 
nothing  was  done,  until  the  Royal  Army  occupied 
the  City  of  New  York  and  prepared  to  extend  its 
operations  into  Westchester-county,  when  other 
subjects  occupied  the  attention  of  both ;  and 
thus  were  the  best  interests  and  the  safety  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  State  endangered — thus  were  their 
properties  and  their  families  and  everything  which 
was  dear  to  them,  subjected  to  the  hazard  of  a  revo- 
lutionary uprising,  of  anarchy,  and  of  entire  de- 
struction— only  because  James  Duane  and  John  Jay 
and  the  Livingstons  and  the  Morrisses  and  their 
friends  preferred  a  reconciliation  and  a  reconstruction 
of  the  former  system  of  Government,  with  themselves 
in  the  offices;  and,  for  the  promotion  of  those  selfish 
purposes,  withheld  every  form  of  Government  from 
the  youngState,  and  exposed  every  one  and  everything, 
within  the  State,  to  lawless  anarchy  and  entire  ruin. 

There  was  scarcely  a  matter,  in  either  the  Judicial 
or  the  Legislative  or  the  Executive  departments  of 
(Tovernment,  with  which  that  Congress  did  not  in- 
terfere ;  ^  and  it  ventured  to  ask  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, only  because  it  lacked  courage  enough  to  do  so, 
to  revise  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  to  exercise 
an  official  censorship  over  the  prayers  of  those  who 
did  not  use  Rituals.* 


I  Jounuil  of  th»  Contention,  "  Die  Jovis,  8  ho.,  A.M.,  August  1, 1776." 
»Ibid. 

'  without  entering  into  details,  the  Convention  provided  for  the  refu- 
Kee  Poor,  from  tlie  City  of  New  Yorli ;  protected  the  Cattle  of  the  farmers, 
from  the  eneniy'8  foraging  parties,  aa  far  as  it  could  do  so  ;  guarded  the 
Militar)--stores  of  the  State  ;  built  Vessels-of-War  ;  obstructed  the  navi- 
gation of  the  iludson  river  ;  arbitrarily  set  aside  the  Elections  of  OfRcere 
who  were  distasteful  to  it ;  borrowed  Money,  whenever  they  could  find 
lenders;  treated  with  the  Indians ;  issued  Paper-currency  ;  gave  employ- 
ment to  grumbling  Mechanics  ;  watched  the  "disaffected,"  in  New  Jer- 
sey ;  lent  Money  to  impecunious  County  Committees ;  guarded  the 
official  Rcconls  ;  ordered  Kasts;  gave  Passes  to  those  making  journeys ; 
seized  the  Royal  Quitrents ;  removed  those  who  were  exposed  to  the 
enemy;  provided  postal  facilities ;  gave  Licenses  to  Innkeepers;  gave 
relief  to  insolvent  Debtors  ;  provided  for  the  care  of  Orphans;  relieved 
distressed  Soldiei's;  etc  ,  etc. 

The  JoumaU  of  the  Convention  and  those  of  Its  Committee  of  Safely  may 
be  referred  to,  by  those  who  shall  desire  further  information  concerning 
the  action  of  the  Convention  or  the  Committee,  thereon. 

*"We  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  to  your  consideration,  also,  the 
"propriety  of  taking  some  measures  for  expunging  from  the  Boitk  of 
"Common  Prayer,  such  parts,  and  discontinuing  in  the  Congregations 
"of  all  other  denominations,  all  such  prayers,  as  interfere  with  the  in- 
"terest  of  the  .\nierican  c^use.  It  is  a  subject  we  are  afraid  to  meddle 
"with,  the  enemies  of  .\merica  having  taken  great  pains  to  insinuate 
"  into  the  minds  of  the  Episcopalians  that  the  Church  was  in  danger. 


While  the  Convention  was  thus  busily  employed — 
and  justice  reiuires  that  its  industry  and  determina- 
tion, in  preparing  for  a  successful  opposition  to  the 
Royal  Armies,  on  the  northern  frontiers  as  well  as  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York,  should  be  fully  and  prop- 
erly recognized — other  events  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  New  York  and  to  her  sister  States,  were  of 
everyday  occurrence. 

As  we  have  already  stated,  the  Royal  troops  which 
had  been  withdrawn  from  Boston  and  carried  to 
Halifax,  during  the  preceding  March,  "having  suffi- 
"  ciently  recovered  from  the  fatigues  and  sickness 
"occasioned  by  their  confined  situation  in  that  town" 
[7?os<on,°]  left  the  later  place,  [JJa/ifa.rl  on  the 
eleventh  of  ■Tune,'' under  convoy  of  Admiral  Shuld- 
ham  ;"  reached  Sandy-hook  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the 
same  month ;  *  landed  on  the  northeastern  shore  of 
Staten-Island,  between  the  second  and  fourth  of 
July ; '  and  were  welcomed  by  the  persecuted  inhabit- 
ants of  that  beautiful  island,  as  their  deliverers  from 
the  terrible  oppression  of  the  revolutionary  powers, 
both  that  of  New  York  and  that  of  New  Jersey.'" 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twelfth  of  July,  for  the 
purpose  of  distressing  the  American  Army,  "by 
"  obstructing  supplies  coming  down  the  river  and  other 
"good  consequences  dependent  on  that  measure" — 
probably,  also,  for  the  purpose  of  offering  encourage- 
ment to  the  cpnservative  farmers  of  Westchester- 
county  to  follow  the  "example  of  those  on  Staten 
Island,  in  declaring  for  the  King — the  Phcenix,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Hyde  Parker,  of  forty  guns,  the 
Hose,  commanded  by  Captain    Wallace,  of  twenty 


"We  would  wish  the  Congress  would  pass  some  Resolve,  to  quiet  their 
"fears ;  and  we  are  confident  it  would  do  essential  service  to  the  cause  of 
"  America,  at  least  in  this  State."  {Journal  of  the  Proeincial  Convention, 
"Thursday  morning,  July  11,  1776.") 

^History  of  the  Civil  H'ai-  in  America.  By  an  Officer  of  the  Army  [Cap- 
lain  Hall]  i.,  173  ;  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  Ed.  Loudon, 
1704,  i.,  I'JO. 

The  Annual  Register  for  1776  ;  History  of  Europe,  166,*  167,*  and,  fol- 
lowing that  authority.  The  History  of  the  War  in  America  between  Creat 
Britain  and  her  Colonies,  Ed.  Dublin,  1779,  i.,  179,  180,  and  Murray's  Im- 
partial History  of  the  War  in  America,  Edit.  Newcastle,  ii.,  153,  say  the 
troops  were  not  comfortable  at  Halifax  ;  and  that  General  Howe  was 
obliged  to  sail  from  there,  because  of  a  scarcity  of  provisions;  but  we 
prefer  the  statement  of  Captain  Hall,  who  was  present,  and  who  wrote 
with  unusual  precision  and  accuracy,  especially  with  Stedman  support- 
ing him. 

^  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  [Capt.  Hall's]  i.,  173;  Stedman's 
Hiitory  of  the  American  War,  i.,  19U. 

'  General  Hmve  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  States  Island,  7  July, 
"  1776  ;"  Annual  Register  fur  1776:  History  of  Europe,  107.* 

^General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gemiawe,  "Staten  Island,  7  July, 
"1776;"  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  Atw:ricn,  i.,  174  ;  Stedman's 
History  of  the  American  ll^ar,  i.,  190  ;  Marshall's  Life  of  George  Washing- 
ton, Ed.  Phila.,  1801,  ii.,  415. 

'General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "Staten  Island,  7  July, 
"  1776  ; "  [Hall's]  HisOiry  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i ,  175  ;  Gordon's 
History  of  the  American  Revolution,  Ed.  London,  1788,  ii.,  278  ;  etc. 

w  General  Hoire  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Staten  Island,  7  July, 
"1776  ; "  Geneml  Howe's  Observations  upon  a  pamphlet  entitled  Letters  to  a 
Nobleman,  Ed.  London,  1780,  M  ;  London  Gazelle,  "  Admiralty  Office, 
■'  August  10,  1776  ;  "  (lorernor  Tryon  to  Lord  George  Germaine  "  Dl'CHESS 
"  or  GoBDoN,  OFF  St.\tfn  Island,  July  8,  1776  ;"  Jo/m  Adams  to  Mr'. 
Adams,  •'Philadelphia,  II  July,  1776." 


384 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


guns,  and  three  tenders,  "  taking  advantage  of  the 
"  tide  and  a  fresh  breeze,"  left  Staten  Island,  and 
passed  the  City,  receiving  the  fire  of  the  American 
batteries  on  the  Red  Hook,  Governor's  Island,  Powle's 
Hook,  and  along  the  line  of  the  Hudson-river,  within 
the  City,  without  sustaining  any  material  damage, 
and  returning  a  fire  which  was  equally  harmless.' 
They  anchored  off  Tarrytown,  during  the  early 
evening ;  ^  but,  if  their  errand  was  to  encourage  the 
farmers  on  the  Philipse  Manor  to  declare  themselves 
favorably  inclined  to  the  King,  their  officers  must 
have  been  sadly  disajjpointed,  since  Lieutenant 
Daniel  Martling,  with  whom  the  reader  is  already 
acquainted,  on  the  first  appearance  of  the  approaching 
vessels,  promptly  .ordered  his  command  to  turn  out, 
to  oppose  any  attempt  which  might  be  made  to  effect 
a  landing  ;  and,  during  the  night,  under  the  personal 
direction  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Hammond,  who  lived 
in  the  vicinity,  cartridges  were  distributed,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  village  and  neighboring  farms 
were  collected,  in  order  that  an  efiective  resistance 
should  be  made.''  Fresh  supplies  of  ammunition 
were  sent,  by  the  Convention,  then  in  session  at  the 
White  Plains  ;  and  measures  were  taken  for  reinforc- 
ing the  inhabitants  ;  ^  but,  although  it  is  said  the  ships 
were  visited  by  one  or  two  periaugas,^  they  appeared, 
while  they  remained  oft' Tarrytown,  to  have  been  sent 
for  no  other  purpose  than  to  take  soundings,"  although 
there  is  little  doubt  that  they  also  cut  oft' the  su[)plies, 
as  well  as  the  communication  between  the  main  Army 
and  that  on  the  northern  frontier,'  and  availed  them- 
selves of  the  darkness  of  uiglit  to  open  communica- 
tions with  those  of  the  neighboring  inhabitants  of 
Westchester  and  Orange-counties,  who  were  supposed 
to  have  been  friendly  to  the  Royal  cause. 

The  successful  passage  of  these  shi[)s,  up  the  river, 
very  reasonably,  created  much  anxiety  and  alarm,  in 
the  Army  and  throughout  the  State.  General  Wash- 
ington, wisely  suspecting  that  the  purpose  of  the 
movement  was  to  encourage  the  tenantry  on  the 
Manors  of  Pliilipsborough  and  Cortlandt  to  declare 
for  the  King,  immediately  ordered  General  George 


1  General  Howe  U>  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Staten  Island,  8  July, 
"1776;  "  the  same  to  the  same,  "State.n  Island,  6  August,  I77fi  ;  " 
General  Washington  to  General  Clinton,  "  Head -qua RTEKS,  New 
"York,  12  July,  1776;"  the  same  to  the  President  of  Covgreis,  "New 
"York,  14  July,  1776;*'  the  same  to  General  Schuyler,  "New  York,  15 
"July,  1776;"  Memoirs  of  Major-'/eneral  Heath,  Ed.  Boston,  1798,  49; 
[Hall's]  History  of  the  CiciUVur  in  America,  i.,  183,  186  ;  Guriion's  Iffstorj; 
of  the  American  Revolution,  ii,  ."JOi. 

"  The  Convention  of  New  Yurk  to  General  Washington,  "  Saturday  morn- 
"  ing,  July  13,1776;"  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America, 
i.,  185;  Gordon'' B  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  il..  SU-l. 

3  Report  and  Evidence  in  the  Case  of  Lieutenant-colonel  Hammond,  — 
Historical  Manuscripts:  Miscellaneom  Papers,  xxxiv.,  549. 

*The  Convention  to  General  Washington,  "  Saturday  Morning,  July  13, 
"  1776." 

6  The  Convention  to  General  Washington  "  In  Convention,  July  15,1776." 
^  The  Cottvenlion  to  General  H'us/ii/ijtoH,  "  Saturday  morning,  July  13, 
"  1776." 

"t  General  Washington  to  John  AuguMine  Washington,  "New  York,  22 
"  July,  1776." 


Clinton,  then  commanding  the  Militia  who  had  been 
called  out  for  the  protection  of  the  passes  over  the 
Highlands,  to  desire  General  Ten  Broeck,  command- 
ing the  Militia  above  the  Highlands,  to  march  down 
with  as  great  a  force  as  he  could  collect,  in  order  the 
more  effectually  to  secure  those  passes,  particularly 
the  road  which  passed  over  Anthony's  Nose ;  and,  at 
the  same  time,  he  authorized  General  Clinton,  if 
there  should  seem  to  be  any  danger  from  those  who 
were  "disaffected,"  to  send  an  express  to  Connecticut, 
desiring  the  western  portion  of  that  State  "  to  col- 
"  lect  all  their  forces  at  the  same  point."  '  As  we 
have  already  stated,  the  Convention  of  the  State, 
then  seated  at  the  White  Plains,  besides  sending  ad- 
vices of  the  threatened  inroad  to  the  officer  command- 
ing the  fort  in  the  Highlands,  also  sent  a  supply  of 
{>owder  and  ball  to  the  inhabitants  of  Tarrytown,  and 
provided  for  reinforcements,  "  along  that  shore,"  and 
solicited  protection  for  King's  Bridge,  "the  destruction 
"of  which  it  apprehended  to  have  been  an  object 
"  with  the  enemy."  ' 

On  the  fourteenth  of  July,  General  Washington 
wrote  to  the  Convention  a  letter  which  is  so  signifi- 
cant of  the  great  anxiety  which  he  felt  and  so  highly 
illustrative  of  his  character,  as  a  great  commander, 
that  we  make  room  for  it,  in  this  i)lace. 

"  New-York  Head-quarter.s. 

"July  14th,  1776. 

"  GextlExMEN  : — 

"  The  passage  of  the  enemy  up  the  North-river  is 
"  an  event  big  with  many  consequences  to  the  public 
"interest.  One  particularly  occurs  to  me  well  deserv- 
"ing  your  attention,  and  to  prevent  which  I  shall 
"gladly  give  every  assistance  in  my  power,  consistent 
"with  the  safety  of  the  Army. 

"  I  am  informed  there  are  several  passes,  on  each 
"side  of  the  river,  upon  which  the  communication 
"with  Albany  depends,  of  so  commanding  a  nature 
"  that  an  inconsiderable  body  of  men  may  defend 
"  them  against  the  largest  numbers.  It  may  be  that, 
"  on  board  these  ships,  there  may  be  troops  for  that 
"  purpose,  who,  expecting  to  be  joined  by  the  disaft'ect- 
"ed,  in  that  quarter,  or  confiding  in  their  own 
"  strength,  may  endeavour  to  seize  those  defiles,  in 
"  which  case  the  intercourse  between  the  two  Armies, 
"both  by  land  and  water,  will  be  wholly  cut  off,  than 
"which  a  greater  misfortune  could  hardly  befall  the 
"  Province  and  Army.  I  must  entreat  you  to  take 
"  the  measure  into  consideration,  and,  if  possible, 
"  provide  against  an  evil  so  much  to  be  apprehended. 
"  I  should  hope  the  Militia  ofthose  Counties  might  be 
"  used  on  such  an  emergency,  until  further  provision 
"  was  made. 

"  I  have  also  thought  it  very  probable  these  ships 


*  General  Washington  to  General  George  Clinton,  "  Head-qvaiiters, 
"  New  York,  12  July,  1776." 

''The  Convention  to  General  Washington,  "Saturday  morning,  July  13, 
"  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


385 


"may  have  carried  up  arms  and  ammunition  to  be 
"  dealt  out  to  those  who  may  favour  their  cause,  and 
"  c()()j>erate  with  them,  at  a  fixed  time.  I  would,  to 
"guard  against  tliis,  submit  to  your  consideration  the 
"propriety  of  writing  to  the  leading  men,  on  our 
"side,  in  those  Counties,  to  be  very  vigilant  in  ob- 
"  serving  any  movement  of  that  kind,  in  order  that 
"so  dangerous  a  scheme  may  be  nipped  in  the  bud; 
"  for  that  purpose,  to  keep  the  utmost  attention  to 
"  tiie  conduct  of  the  princi|vil  Tories  in  those  parts, 
"any  attempts  of  intercourse  with  the  ships,  and  all 
"  other  circumstances  which  may  lead  to  a  discovery 
"of  their  schemes  and  the  destruction  of  their  meas- 
"  ures. 

"  I  am.  Gentlemen,  very  respectfully, 
"  Your  nu).  obt.  ami  very  hble.  servant, 
"  Geo.  \Va81iin(;ton. 

"  To  THE  HONBLE.  THE  rUEHT.  OF  THE 

"  Provincial  Congress  of  New- York." 

As  we  have  said,  the  inhabitantjs  of  the  vicinity  of 
Tarry  town  turned  out  for  the  purpose  of  obstructing 
any  attempt  which  might  be  made,  to  effect  a  landing 
from  the  ships ;  '  but  they  were  farmers,  in  the  midst 
of  their  harvest;  and  when  they  had  been  there  three 
days,  without  having  seen  much  pressing  necessity 
for  their  further  stay  or  any  prospect  of  a  relief  or  of 
a  supply  of  provisions,  although  the  Convention  was 
sitting  within  six  miles  from  them,  they  expressed 
their  desire  to  be  relieved,  and  some  of  them  went 
home,  without  leave,  "in  order  to  attend  to  their  liar- 
"  vests."  - 

Very  ungraciously  and,  certainly,  not  in  such 
words  as  were  calculated  to  inspire  respect  for  those 
who  had  employed  tlicm,  among  those  against  whom 
they  were  thus  tossed,  by  the  aristocratic  master- 
spirits of  the  Convention,^  Orders  were  issued  to 
Ca|)tain  Micali  Townsend,  who  had  probably  been 
sent  from  the  Plains  to  Tarrytown,  on  the  day  after 
the  arrival  of  the  shi[)s,  to  remain  at  the  latter  place, 
with  his  Company;  Colonel  Thomas  was  ordered  to 
seiul  detachments  from  his  Regiment,  to  relieve  those 
who  had  not  returned  to  their  homes;  and  the  pay 
and  rations  allowed  to  the  Continental  troops,  were 
promised  to  those  who  were,  as  well  as  to  those  wlio 
should  be,  called  into  the  service.'  But,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  lJu/ij  10,  1776,]  all  those  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Tarrytown  were  relieved  from  immediate 
danger,  by  the  ships  and  their  tenders  weighing  their 
anchors  and  sailing  up  the  river,  occasionally  firing  a 
shot,  as  they  pa.ssed  a  house  on  the  western  side  the 
river;  and  by  their  anchoring  a  short  distance  below 
Verplanck's-point,  and  "  oj)posite  the  stores  at  Hav- 


■  Viile  l>i»ee  384,  ante. 

^jDUrnal  of  the  Conrniliim,  "Die  Ijiina-,  P.M.,  .Inly  1.%  177ri." 

3  The  C'>»fe»lion  lo  Limtentntt-coloncl  Hnmmniui^  "  In  Convkntion  for 
"  THE  State  of  New- York,  White  Plains,  .July  l.l,  1776." 

*Jnurnaln/  the  Coiiviilion,  "Die  Luu.t,  P.M.,  July  15,  1776  ;"  tlie 
ConveiUion  to  Lieitteiiaut-cnlouel  Hfimmond^  "  Is  Convention  for  the 
"State  of  New- York,  White  Plains,  July  15,  1776." 
33 


"erstraw."  During  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day, 
one  of  the  tenders  beat  up  the  river,  against  an  unfa- 
vorable wind,  sounding  the  river  very  carefully  as 
she  proceeded,  until  she  had  come  within  gun-shot 
of  Fort  Montgomery,  when  her  progress  was  arrested 
by  a  thirty-two  pound  shot,  which  struck  her,  and 
compelled  her  to  put  about,  and  to  run  down  the 
ri\er,  not,  however,  without  having  plundered  a  little 
house  which  stood  near  the  river.* 

During  the  morning  of  that  day,  [^■Talij  1(5,  1776,] 
before  the  intbrmation  of  the  dejjarture  of  the  ships 
from  Tarrytown  had  reached  the  Convention,  that  body 
had  provided  for  the  removal  of  "  all  Provisions  and 
"  other  Stores,  as  well  private  as  public  i)roperty,  which 
"were  stored  in  i)laccs  within  the  district  of  Peekskill 
"  and  so  situated  as  to  be  in  danger  of  being  taken  by 
"  the  enemy,"  "  to  such  places  of  safety  as  the  Sub- 
"  committee  of  Peekskill  shall  think  i)roper ;"  and 
when  the  information  of  the  departure  of  the  ships 
was  received  from  Lieutenant-colonel  Hammond, 
the  Convention  very  j)romptly  despatched  Colonel 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  and  Zephaniah  Piatt,  the  former 
a  Deputy  from  Westchcstcr-county  and  the  latter  one 
from  Duchess-county,  "  to  the  Highlands,  in  order  to 
"  call  out  such  Militia  as  they  may  think  necessary  for 
"the  defence  and  security  of  this  State;  to  direct 
"  their  stations ;  to  reinfcux'e  the  garrisons  of  Forts 
"Montgomery  and  Constitution,  if  expedient;  and  to 
"supply  such  forces  as  may  be  called  out  or  to  ap- 
"  point  proper  persons  for  that  purpose;"  at  the  same 
time,  promising  Continental  pay  and  rations  to  the 
Militia  who  should  be  thus  employed;  and  advancing 
five  hundred  dollars,  to  be  disposed  of  in  procuring 
Provisions  for  the  forces  who  should  thus  be  called 
into  active  service."  The  Convention  fnrther  signified, 
at  the  same  Session,  its  determination  to  protect  the 
State,  as  far  as  it  could  do  so,  by  ordering  into  imme- 
diate service,  one-fourth  of  the  entire  body  of  Militia 
of  the  Counties  of  Westchester,  Duchess,  Orange — 
which  then  included  what  is  now  known  as  Rockland 
—and  Ulster-counties,  "  for  the  defence  of  the  liber- 
"  ties,  proi)erty,  wives,  and  children  of  the  good  peo- 
''  pie  of  this  State  ;  and  as,  at  this  busy  season  of  the 
"  year,  the  service  may  be  inconvenient  to  many  of 
"  them,  each  man  be  allowed  twenty  dollars,  as  a 
"  Bounty,  with  Continental  pay  and  subsistence,  and 
"  be  continued  in  the  service  until  the  last  day  of 
"  December  next,  unless  sooner  discharged."  At  the 
same  time,  the  men  to  be  raised  in  AVestchester  and 
Duchess-counties  were  ordered  to  repair,  immediately, 
to  Peekskill ;  General  Wiishington  was  reiiuested  to 
appoint  an  officer  to  take  command  of  all  the  levies 
to  be  raised,  on  both  sides  the  river ;  to  designate 
what  stations  they  should  occupy ;  and  to  nominate 
two  Deputy  Commissaries  for  the  troops,  on  each  side 


^  LievlenwiU-coloncl  Hammond  to  the  Comeation,  "Tahbvtown,  July 
"Ifi,  1776;"  General  Clinton  to  General  Wathimjlon,  "Fort  Montoom- 
"  r.RV,  J>ily  23,  1776." 

*  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Friday  morning,  July  16, 1776." 


386 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  river;  and  those  who  were  already  in  the 
service,  from  Orange  and  Ulster-counties,  were  order- 
ed to  be  posted  in  the  Highlands,  to  guard  the  defiles, 
therein,  which  were  westward  from  the  Hudson-river, 
as  General  Clinton  should  direct.  The  provisions  of 
these  enactments  were  completed  by  the  appointment 
of  Colonel  Thomas  Thomas  as  the  Colonel-command- 
ing and  Ebenezer  Purdy  as  the  Major,  of  the  troops 
which  were  to  be  drawn  from  Westchester-county ' — 
an  appointment  of  Colonel  which  was  made  in  the 
hurry  of  the  moment  and  under  a  misapprehension, 
the  Convention  having  erroneously  supi)Osed  Colonel 
Thomas  was  the  senior  Colonel  of  the  Westchester- 
county  Militia,  whereas  the  seniority  rested  on 
Colonel  Drake ;  and  which  Election,  subsequently, 
produced  a  serious  rupture  in  the  military  circles  of  the 
County,  and  between  the  two  rivals  and  their  respec- 
tive friends,"  since  Colonel  Thomas  resolutely  retained 
the  authority  which  he  had  thus  received  by  mistake.'' 
A  guard  of  fifty  men  was  also  provided  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  public  stores  of  Provisions,  at  or  near 
Peekskill  ;  *  and  the  Commissioners  for  building  the 
Continental  Ships,  at  Pcmghkeepsie,  were  requested 
to  exert  their  utmost  abilities  and  attention  to  defend 
those  Ships  from  the  hostile  attempts  of  the  enemy, 
and,  if  nothing  else,  to  preserve  the  Oak-plank,  Rig- 
ging, and  other  Stores  from  falling  into  his  hands.^ 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  \_Ji'hj  16,  177(5,1 
the  Convention  appointed  a  secret  Committee  "to  de- 
"  vise  and  carry  into  execution  such  measures  as  to 
"  them  shall  appear  most  eflfectual  for  obstructing 
"  the  channel  of  Hudson's-river,  or  annoying  the  en- 
"  amy's  ships  in  their  navigation  up  the  said  river ; 
"  and  that  this  Convention  pledge  themselves  for  de- 
"  fraying  the  charges  incident  thereto."  That  Com- 
mittee was  composed  of  John  Jay,  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  Robert  Yates,  of  Albany-county,  Major  Chris- 
topher Tappen,  of  Ulster-county,  William  Paulding, 
of  Westchester-county,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  and 
Gilbert  Livingston,  both  of  Duchess-county.  At  the 
same  time,  a  messenger  was  ordered  to  be  sent  to  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  for  the  purpose  of  requesting  him 
to  order  the  forces  of  western  Connecticut  to  be  called 
out,  for  the  further  support  of  those  who  were  occu- 
pying the  passes  in  the  Highlands ;  *  a  Resolution, 


1  Joumal  of  the  Convention,  "  Friday  morning,  July  16, 1776." 

2  Joumal  nf  the  Convention,  '■  Die  Lunae,  9  lio.,  A.M.,  .luly  22,  1776  ;  " 
the  same,  "  Die  Luna>,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  July  22,  1776  ;  "  Colonel  Joseph 
Drake  1(1  the  Coiivenlion,  "  Wuur.  Plains,  23  July,  1776  ;"  the  same  to 
General  Morris,  "New  KorHEL,  July  24,  1776  the  same  to  the  Conven- 
tion, "New  RdrnEi.LE,  6  August,  1776." 

^Preamble  and  UesoUUion  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Luiiji-,  4  ho.,  P.5[., 
"July  22.  1776." 

*  77ie  Convention  to  Colonel  Pierre  Van  Cortlnntlt,  "  In  Cosventio.v  ok 
"  THE  Kepresentatives  of  the  State  of  New-Yiiek,  White  Plains, 
"July  16,  1776." 

^The  Cimvention  to  Jacobus  Van  Zandt,  in  his  ahfience,  trt  the  Capttiins 
Lawrence  and  Tnder,  or  either  of  them,  at  Pottkeepsie,  "In  Convention 
"of  the  Representatives  of  the  State  of  New-Yohk,  White  Plains, 
"July  16,  1776." 

It  appears  that  it  was  subsequently  considered  advisable  to  send  a 


requesting  "  all  Magistrates  and  other  officers  of  jus- 
"  tice  in  this  State,  who  were  well  affected  to  the  liber- 
"ties  of  America,  until  further  orders,  to  exercise  their 
"  respective  offices,"  was  adopted;  and  the  Convention 
also  adopted  Resolutions  declaring  that  "all  persons 
"  abiding  within  the  State  of  New  Y^ork  and  deriving 
"  protection  from  the  Laws  of  the  same,  owe  Allegiance 
"  to  the  said  Laws,  and  are  members  of  the  State  ;  that 
"  all  persons  passing  through,  visiting,  or  making  a 
"  temporary  stay  in  the  said  State,  being  entitled  to 
"  the  protection  of  the  Laws,  during  the  time  of  such 
"  passage,  visitation,  or  temporary  stay,  owe,  during 
"  the  same  time,  Allegiance  thereto ;  and  that  all 
"  persons,  members  of  or  owing  Allegiance  to  this 
"  State,  as  before  described,  who  shall  levy  War 
"  against  the  said  State,  within  the  same,  or  be  adher- 
"  ent  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain  or  others  the  ene- 
"  mies  of  the  said  State,  within  the  same,  giving  to 
"  him  or  them,  aid  and  comfort,  are  guilty  of  Treason 
"  against  the  State,  and  being  thereof  convicted,  shall 
"suffer 'the  pains  and  penalties  of  Death!"'.  The 
Convention  also  "  earnestly  recommended  to  the  Gen- 
"  eral  Committees  of  the  Counties  and  the  Sub-Com- 
"  mittees  in  the  Districts  of  the  several  Counties  in 
"  this  State,  immediately  to  apprehend  and  secure  all 


Ooniniittee  of  the  Convention,  instead  of  a  letter  by  the  hands  of  a 
Jlessenger  ;  and  Colonel  John  Broome,  of  New  York  City,  and  William 
Duer,  of  Charlotte-county,  were  selected  for  that  purpose.  {General 
Washinijlon  to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Comjress,  "  New  York,  19 
"July,  1776."  ) 

■  These  Resolutions  are  almost  identical  with  other  Re.solutions,  of  the 
same  tenor,  which  had  been  adopted  by  the  Continental  Congress,  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  June  preceding,  {ritle  parji's  3.i.5,  3.56,  ante;)  but,  be- 
cause of  the  Bubsei|uent  abrogation  of  all  the  Laws  of  the  Colony,  and 
because  no  other  Laws  had  been  enacted,  even  provisionally,  to  take 
their  places,  the  truth  was.  that,  on  the  day  of  the  adoption  of  these 
Resolutions,  by  the  Convention,  there  were  no  Laws,  of  any  kind,  in 
force,  within  the  State,  nor  any  Courts  to  try  offenders,  of  any  kind; 
and  the  Resolutions  were,  therefore,  practically,  mere  buncombe,  mean- 
ing nothing. 

But  the  ridiculousness  of  the  Resolutions  was  not  confined  to  their 
allusions  to  Laws  which  had  been  formally  abrogated  and  to  Courts 
which  had  been  as  formally  abol  shed.  Obedience  to  the  Laws,  had 
there  been  any  Laws,  would  have  been  truly  due  from  every  one 
within  the  limits  of  the  Stati;  ;  but  that  was  something  which  was 
entirely  distinct  from  Allegiance,  which  was  not  due  to  the  Laws 
but  to  the  Sovereign  to  whose  supieme  authority  the  person  was 
legally  subject,  and  from  whom  even  the  Laws  themselves,  had  there 
been  any,  had  derived  all  the  authority  which  they  could  have  pos- 
sibly possessed.  Treason  has  always  consisted,  and  still  consists,  of 
something  else  than  a  mere  misdemeanor  or  a  simple  felony ;  and 
the  subject  of  another  .Sovereign,  although  a  violator  of  the  lex  loci,  to 
which  he  properly  owed  obedience,  could  not,  then  nor  since,  have  been 
legally  tried  and  convicted  of  Treason,  for  any  such  violation  of  the  local 
Law,  in  the  State  of  New  York  or  elsewhere,  else,  under  these  Resolu- 
tions, every  officer  and  soldier  of  the  Royal  Army,  whether  British  or 
Irish  or  German,  who  were  within  the  State  of  New  Y"ork,  on  and  alter 
the  sixteenth  of  July,  1776,  were  Traitoi-s  "against  the  State."  liable 
to  be  tried  for  that  very  capital  offence,  and  to  "sufl'er  the  pains  and 
"  penalties  of  Death,"  therefor. 

The  Convention,  in  its  eagerness  to  secnr*  the  State,  made  itself 
ridiculous  by  the  passage  of  such  Resolutions,  especially  since  it  was 
exercising  despotic  authority,  unrestrained  by  any  Law,  and  needed  no 
such  Resolution  as  a  warrant  for  declaring  any  one,  no  matter  whom, 
either  with  or  without  a  reason,  to  have  been  a  traitor,  and  to  have  hung 
and  quartered  him  after  the  most  approved  fashion  of  despots,  had  it 
inclined  to  have  done  so. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


387 


'  such  persons,  whose  going  at  large,  at  this  critical 
"  time,  they  shall  deem  dangerous  to  the  Liberties  of 
"  this  State ;"  '  and  the  measure  of  its  zeal  was  filled 
by  asking  a  loan  from  General  Washington,  for  the 
payment  of  what  it  had  undertaken  to  do,  promising 
to  '•  take  the  earliest  care  to  replace  what  nothing 
"  but  urgent  necessity  would  have  induced  it  to  bor- 
"  row  ;"  by  requesting  him  to  send  an  immediate  sup- 
ply of  Ammunition  for  the  troops  who  were  already 
in  motion  and  "  but  ill-supplied  "  with  that  very  nec- 
essary article ;  by  expressing  a  fear  to  him  that  the 
enemy  would  attempt  "  to  cut  oft"  the  communication 
"  between  the  City  and  country,  by  landing  above 
"  Kingsbridge,"  and  its  desire  to  "  have  some  force 
"  ready  to  hang  on  his  rear,  in  case  such  a  step  should 
"  be  taken  ;"  and  by  suggesting  to  the  General,  also, 
that  if  Governor  Trumbull  would  form  a  Camp  of  six 
thousand  men,  at  Byram-river,  the  westernmost  limit 
of  Connecticut,  any  designs  which  the  enemy  might 
have,  to  land  above  Kingsbridge,  would  become  "  ex- 
"  tremely  hazardous."  - 

While  the  Convention  was  thus  bravely  and,  gener- 
ally, with  excellent  judgment,  employed  in  making 
preparations  for  a  vigorous  and  effective  resistance, 
whatever  tlie  purposes  of  the  enemy  may  have  been. 
General  Clinton,  then  at  Fort  Montgomery,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  not  only  welcomed  one  of  the  en- 
emy's tenders,  which  was  beating  up  the  river,  taking 
soundings  as  siie  went,  with  a  thirty-two  pound  shot, 
which  caused  her  to  i)Ut  about  and  run  down  the 
river,  to  the  place  where  the  shii»s  had  anchored  ;  but 
he  also  made  preparations  for  the  removal  of  all  the 
goods,  from  the  storehouses,  and  all  the  Cattle,  Sheep, 
etc.,  from  the  farms  which  were  contiguous  to  the 
river,  to  place-sof  safety  ;  and,  on  the  following  day, 
\_Julij  17,  177<!,]  he  went  down  with  a  force  sufticiently 
strong  to  do  wliat  he  had  |)roposed  ;  successfully  re- 
moved what  iiad  not  yet  been  removed  by  others ; 
and  left  one  hundred  and  eighty  Militia,  under  the 
command  of  a  prudeut  officer,  to  oppose  any  attempt 
which  might  be  made  to  effect  a  landing  or  to  open  a 
communication  with  the  shore.' 

On  the  same  day,  [^■July  17, 177G,]  the  Rose  and  one 
of  the  tenders  ran  up  the  river,  the  former  within 


'  JuumaH  of  tite  HunveiitioH,  "Tuesday  »fteruo«n,  10  .Inly,  1776." 

-  77ie  Conceiilioti lo  ticiieral  WiDtliimjlvii,  '•  WuiTK  Pl.Aixs,  July  10, 1770.  " 

Of  the  last-named  excellent  suggeatiim,  tieneral  WiisliinKton  subse- 
quently wrote,  *  *  *  "but  I  <liil  not  tliink  myself  at  liberty  to 
*' urge  or  retjuest  liis  "  [Gnrermtr  7'ri(iHt(f/r«]  "  interest  in  forming  tli4' 
"Camp  of  six  thousand  men,  as  the  levies,  directed  by  Congress,  on  the 
*'  third  of  June,  to  be  furnished  for  the  defense  of  this  place,  by  that 
"  Governniont,  are  but  little  more  than  one-thiiil  come  in.  .\t  the  same 
"time,  the  proiKL-iition  I  think  a  goo<l  one.  if  it  could  be  carried  into 
"execution.  In  case  the  enemy  should  attempt  to  efTect  a  landing 
"above  Kin^bridge  and  to  cut  ofl'  the  communication  lietween  tlii^ 
"City  and  the  country,  an  .\rniy  to  hang  on  their  rear  would  distress 
"  them  exceedingly.''  {General  W'anhimjUm  the  Pre'<idenl  of  the  Vvnti- 
HCiituJ  t'«ii</re«!,  "Xk«  York,  Hi  July,  17715. "') 

See,  also,  the  (ienerars  unusually  warm  approval  of  the  project,  in  his 
latter  to  the  tk)nvention,  "  HE.vn-yii.vRTEiia,  Xew  York,  July  I'J,  1776." 

^  General  twforge  CliiitoH  iv  Gentral  Washingtoti,  ''FoRT  MoNTOOHF.RY, 
"July  23,  1776." 


three  miles  of  Fort  Montgomery ;  plundered  the 
house  of  a  poor  man — taking,  among  other  things,  "  a 
"  handkerchief  full  of  Salad  and  a  Pig  so  very  poor 
"  that  a  crow  would  scarcely  deign  to  eat  it" — setting 
the  house  on  fire,  when  it  was  left ;  and  then,  return- 
ing to  the  place  where  the  tender  had  run  aground, 
in  the  morning,  cast  her  anchor,  where,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  the  /%a')ji.r  joined  her.* 

The  purposes  for  which  these  vessels  were  sent  up 
the  river  have  never  been  satisfactorily  explained  ; 
and  where  historians  have  referred  to  the  movement 
at  all,  they  have  generally  left  the  subject  imperfectly 
told.  General  Howe,  in  his  first  despatch  on  the  mat- 
ter, informed  the  Home  Government  that  he  had 
■'submitted  to  Admiral  Shuldham's  consideration  the 
"  propriety  of  sending  a  naval  force  up  the  North- 
"  river,  above  the  Town  of  New  York,  with  a  view  to 
"distress  the  rebels  on  that  Island,  by  obstructing 
"  supplies  coming  down  the  river,  and  other  good 
"  consequences  dependent  upon  that  measure,  which 
"  meeting  with  his  approbation,  orders  are  given  for 
"  two  ships,  one  of  forty  and  another  of  twenty  guns, 
"  to  proceed  upon  that  service,  the  first  favorable  op- 
"  portunity ;  and  I  flatter  myself  that  these  ships, 
"more  than  which  cannot  be  spared  at  present  from 
"  the  protection  of  the  transports,  will  prove  of  suffi- 
"cient  force  to  support  themselves  against  all  at- 
"  tempts  of  the  enemy,  from  the  upper  river,  and  to 
"  answer  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  intended,"  ^ 
from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  a  naval  move- 
ment made  for  a  ])urely  military  purpose,  originated 
by  the  General-in-chief  of  the  Army ;  and,  it  is 
said,  unwillingly  acquiesced  in,  by  the  Admiral." 

It  was  said  by  General  Howe,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
the  purpose  was  to  cut  off  the  supplies,  for  the  City, 
which  were  brought  down  the  river  ;  but  he  also 
said,  it  will  be  remembered,  there  were  "other  good 
"consequences  dependent  upon  that  measure,"  of  the 
character  of  which  "  consequences  "  he  prudently  said 
nothing.  If,  among  those  "  other  good  consequences," 
it  was  intended  to  cut  oft"  the  communication,  by  wa- 
ter, between  New  York  and  Albany  and,  therefore, 
between  the  Army  on  the  northern  frontier  and  the 
main  Army,  at  the  former  place,  as  General  Washing- 
ton suspected,'  that  would  have  been  a  well-devised 


*  Gmierul  George  ('Utittfit  to  General  Wunhiugtim,  "FoRT  MONTOOBIERV, 
"July  23, 1776." 

The  sworn  statement  of  Jiuob  Hallsted,  the  owner  of  the  property 
carried  away  or  destroyed,  which  is  a  well-told  narrative  of  some  of  the 
evils  attendant  on  every  War,  may  be  seen  in  the  Hixloricul  Mtniu- 
scripts,  etc.:  MiseelUineuus  Hupers,  xxxv.,  77. 

^  General  Hoice  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "St.vten  Isl.and,  8  July, 
"1776." 

The  direct  authority  for  this  statement  has  been  mislaid  ;  but  a  con- 
tirniation  of  it  nniy  be  seen  in  tieneral  Howe's  statement,  in  his  despatch 
to  Lord  George  Germaine,  ("  St.vten  Isl.\ni),  8  July,  1776,")  that  no 
more  than  the  Pht£nix  SLUd  Hose  con\d  have  been  spared,  at  that  time, 
from  the  protection  of  the  transports,  even  for  the  important  service  in 
which  those  two  ships  were  employed. 

"  General  Washington  to  John  Augustine  Washington,  "  New-Y'oRK,  -2 
i  "July,  1770." 


388 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


purpose,  since  the  same  movement  which  would  have 
cut  the  line  of  communication  between  the  two  Armies, 
would,  also,  have  cut  off  the  supplies  intended  for  the 
City.  It  was  feared,  also,  by  General  Washington,*  that 
troops  were  on  board,  intended  for  the  seizure  and 
occupation  of  the  passes  in  the  Highlands  ;  and  it 
was  also  supposed,  by  the  same  vigilant  commander,'^ 
that  Arms,  for  the  use  of  those  who  were  inclined  to 
declare  for  the  King,  were  carried  up  the  river,  by 
these  ships  and  by  their  tenders. 

The  success  of  the  expedition,  in  the  purpose  for 
which  General  Howe  said  it  was  principally  sent  out 
— to  cut  off  the  supplies  for  the  City — was  unques- 
tionable ;  but  if  that  had  been  the  real  and  principal 
purpose  of  the  movement,  in  view  of  its  complete  suc- 
cess, the  ships  would  not  have  been  withdrawn  after 
so  short  a  stay — the  command  of  the  river,  for  such  a 
purpose  only,  would  have  been  just  as  useful,  ])erma- 
nently,  as  it  had  been  during  the  short  period  of  their 
limited  stay  on  the  river.  There  must,  therefore, 
have  been  ''  other  good  consequences  dependent  on 
'■  that  measure;"  and  we  are  not  inclined  to  admit  that 
any  Arms  were  aboard  the  ships,  for  the  equipment  ol' 
Westcliester-county  Loyalists,  nor  that  any  design 
against  the  Highland  piusses  wiis  on  the  programme 
of  their  proposed  operations — we  incline,  rather,  to 
the  belief  that  only  ostensibly  were  those  ships  sent 
up  the  river  to  cut  off  the  suj>p]ies  ;  and  that,  really, 
they  were  sent  up  to  sound,  not  only  the  river  but  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Fhilipsborough  and  the  Cortlandl 
Manors,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  and,  to  some 
extent,  those  of  Orange-county,  below  the  mountains, 
on  the  western  bank,  as  to  their  disposition  to  declare 
themselves  favorable  to  the  Royal  cause.  The  vigi- 
lance with  which  the  AVestchester-shore  of  the  river 
was  generally  watched  and  the  extreme  backwardness 
of  even  those  who  had  been  outraged  by  the  County 
and  Town  Committees,  to  abandon  their  fsimilies  and 
their  homes,  even  in  retaliation  or  because  of  their 
honorable  loyalty  t(»  their  Sovereign,  were  so  pain- 
fully evident,  however,  that  (reneral  Howe  became 
convinced  that  if  "  the  Militia  of  Westchester-county 
"could  not  be  depended  on,"  in  the  revolutionary 
interest,  it  was  equally  untrustworthy,  in  the  interest 
of  the  King;  that  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county 
were  reliable,  mainly,  in  their  love  of  their  respective 
homes;  that  they  desired  nothing  more  than  a  peace- 
ful occupation  of  their  respective  fiirms;  and  that  he 
need  not  expect  any  military  co-operation  from  them. 
He  learned  the  lesson,  faithfully  ;  and  no  one  who 
reads  what  he  subsequently  wrote,^  no  one  who  studies 

1  General  Washingtvn  to  John  Augustine  Washington,  "N"!W-YoRK,  22 
"July,  1776." 

2  Ibid. 

3  In  his  piiblislied  Despatclies  to  tlie  Home  Government,  while  he  held 
the  chief  commund  of  the  .\i  my  in  .\nierica,  and  in  his  Xurnilive  in  a 
Committee  of  tke  House  of  Commons,  relative  to  his  Conduct,  etc.,  es- 
pecially in  bis  Obsenitlioiis  upon  a  pam]ih!et  entUled  Lettei'S  to  a  Noble- 
man, Oeneral  Howe  told  the  story  of  his  great  exi)ection  of  active  co- 
operation, ill  Ihejifld,  from  those  who  favored  the  Koyal  ca\ise  ;  of  the 


what  he  subsequently  did,  concerning  the  alleged  loy- 
al element  of  the  country,  will  fail  to  trace  the  spirit 
of  both  his  words  and  his  actions,  back  to  the  teach- 
ings of  that  not  unprofitable  expedition  of  the  Plucnix 
and  the  Hose  into  the  western  waters  of  Westchester- 
county. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  real  purposes  of  the 
expedition,  the  eastern  shore  of  the  river  was  so  well 
guarded  that  no  attempt  was  made  to  land,  in  force, 
for  any  purpose,  on  the  Westchester-county  side  of  it, 
nor  was  there  any  open  communication  between  the 
ships  and  the  inhabitants  of  that  County,  although 
it  is  known  that  frequent  communications  were  effect- 
ed, secretly  and  in  the  night,  with  some  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Cortlandt  Manor* — it  is  not  pretended 
by  any  one,  that  any  Loyalist,  from  either  of  the  three 
Counties  of  Orange,  Westchester  and  Duchess,  sought 
refuge  on  board  of  either  of  the  ships.    The  river 


assurances,  to  that  effect,  which  he  received  from  Governor  Tryou  and 
othei-s  ;  of  the  measures  adopted  by  himself,  under  the  most  favorable 
rircumst«nces  ;  and  of  the  bitter  disappointment  which  he  had  experi- 
enced, in  every  instance. 

As  the  inliabitants  of  Staten  Island,  and  those  of  Queens,  Westchester, 
and  Duchess-counties  were  su]iposed  to  have  been  especially  conserva- 
tive and,  consequently,  had  been  most  terribly  outraged  by  the  domi- 
nant faction,  it  Wiis  reasonably  supposed,  by  those  who  were  familiar  witli 
the  fai  t<<,  that  retJiliation  if  not  loyalty  would  induce  these,  especially, 
to  declare  against  those  who  had  oppressed  and ontraged  them  ;  but  the 
peaceful  disposition  of  the  fanners  of  lower  Orange  and  Duchess  and 
Weslchester-counties,  tlieir  simple  domestic  habits  and  cuutrollingloveof 
home,  and  their  almost  universal  contentment  with  their  oKl-time  pivs- 
perity  and  comfort  and  happiness,  were  not  taken  into  consideration  ; 
and,  a-s  the  expeilition  of  the  Pho  nix  and  the  Rose  ascertjiined  and  as 
General  Howe  subsecpiently  learned,  these  were  more  powerful  than  any 
other  consideration— the  farmers  referred  to,  jireferred  to  endure  the 
hardships  to  which  they  might  be  subjected,  al  home,  instead  of  aban- 
doning their  homes  and  wives  and  children,  of  throwing  themselves  into 
what  wouliHiave  been  new  and  untried  associations  ami  inethodsand  ex- 
jieriences,  and  of  being  subjected  to  other  lianlshiiw,  in  the  Held  ur  in 
yai-risimx,  as  severe,  if  not  more  severe,  as  those  from  which  they  would 
have  thus  escaped. 

General  How  e  very  well  said,  after  experience  had  taught  him  the 
fac  t.s,  Miu  h  might  be  said  upon  the  state  of  loyalty  and  the  principles 
"of  loyalty,  in  America.  Aime  are  loyal  from  principle  ;  vmiii/  from  in- 
"terest;  manii  from  resentment;  manii  wish  for  peace,  but  are  indiffer- 
"  ent  which  side  prevails  ;  and  there  are  others  who  wish  success  to  Great 
"  Hritaiu,  from  a  recollectiou  of  the  happiness  they  enjoyed  under  her 
"government."  (Olisermli'iiis  ttpon  a  jxtmpMel  entitled  Letters  to  a  No- 
blenuiu,  311.) 

Although  there  may  have  been  individuals  among  the  farmers  of 
Westchester-county  who,  under  this  classification,  were  "loyal  from 
"  principle  "  or  from  "  interest  "  or  from  "resentment,"  there  can  be 
very  little  doubt  that  the  iniuis  of  those  farmers  were  loyal,  as  far  aa  they 
were  loyal  iiiany  degree,  because  of  their  desire  for  peace,  no  matter 
from  whom  it  might  come,  and  because  of  their  recollectiou  of  the  liap 
piuess  they  had  enjoyed  under  the  Colonial  Government. 

They  practically  illustrated  the  theory  of  the  party  of  the  Opposition 
to  the  Home  Goverinnent,  with  whom  they  hiul  been,  generally,  in  har- 
mony— "  Let  i  s  .4I.o.\e." 

4  General  ]Vashinijlon  to  John  Angusliiie  Washimjl^m,  "  New  York,  22 
"July,  177fi." 

There  is  not  known  to  have  been  any  communication  between  the 
Westchester-county  bank  of  the  river  and  the  ships,  while  the  latter  re- 
mained on  their  lower  amhorage-ground,  except  those  referred  toon 
page  2118,  ante  ;  but,  subseijuehtly,  while  the  ships  were  ofTtho  (^jrtlandt 
Manor,  their  boats  as  we  shall  see,  were  very  active,  duringevery  night ; 
and  it  is  known  the  ships  were  visited  by  some  of  the  neighboring  in- 
habitants. The  guards  were  less  vigilant,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  County, 
than  they  had  been,  near  Tarrytown. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


389 


was  carefully  sounded,  as  far  as  the  tenders  went ; ' 
the  inhabitants,  especially  those  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  river,  were  widely  robbed,  and,  sometimes, 
their  houses  were  burned  ;  -  and  the  line  of  couiniuni- 
cation,  between  the  City  and  the  upper  portions  of 
the  country,  was  effectually  cut ; '  but,  if  the  purpose 
had  been  merely  to  cut  off' the  supplies,  since  the  sup- 
plies of  the  City  which  were  taken  from  Westchester- 
county,  were  drawn,  during  the  harvest-season,  only 
in  very  limited  ([uantilies  and  those  from  only  the  near- 
by farmers,  possessing  only  limited  means,  the  ships 
were  anchored  too  far  up  the  river;  and  that  par- 
ticular purpose  of  the  expedition  must  have  been,  to 
some  extent,  defeated,  by  the  mistake  of  the  officer 
commanding  it. 

The  Militia  who  were  ordered  out  for  the  protection 
of  the  storehouses  and  the  passes  in  the  Highlands, 
responded  with  great  promptitude,*  so  much  so,  in- 
deed, that  General  Washington  was  warranted  in 
calling  to  the  main  Army  some  Massachusetts  troops 
who  had  been  sent  lo  that  vicinity;"  and  the  vessels 
dropped  down  and  anchored  "  a  little  below  Ver- 
"planck's  Point,"  and  ceased  to  make  any  attempt  to 
effect  a  landing,  anywhere.* 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  July,  the  ships  were  said  to 
have  drop[)ed  down  the  river,  still  further,"  probably 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Croton-ri  ver ;  *  and  it  is  very 
evident  they  fell  down  to  their  original  station,  oft 


1  Oeiinral  Clinton  to  General  Washiiujtoii,  "  FoBT  Montuoheky,  July 
"  23,  177C." 

-  CuUiikI  a.  Uawkea  Haij  l»  General  Waaliinijtou,  "  Uaverstraw,  July 
ITVli;"  (lenertll  (.7iii/<.ii  tu  (leneral  W'asUinijtini,  "  FoRT  MONTiJOM- 
*'  EKV,  July  23,  177tj ;  "  E-ftract  front  tt  UMer  dated  itt  Furt  lilonttfonieri/^ 
July  2;i,  177rt,  in  Force's  Aniericttn  Arfhivvn^  V  ,  i.,  r>40. 

^  Jonrnal  of  the  Cuncention,  *' Tluirsdiiy  uiorniug.July  18,  1770  Gen' 
eral  Waahinfiton  to  John  Awjutitine  Wiuihinyt'oi,  *'  New  Youk,  22  July, 
"177U." 

*  Pierre  Van  Otrthtndt  and  Zephaniah  Piatt,  Jnnr.  to  the  Convention, 
"  Peekskill,  July  18,  1776." 

'  General  Washioijton  to  the  Coneentiun,  "  IlEAU-ijUARTERS,  NEW  YORK, 
"July  I'J,  1770." 

^Pierre  Van  (.'orlUuuU  and  Zephaniah  Piatt,  Junr.   to   the  Conveuti'm, 
"  Pekkskill,  July  22,  1770." 
'  Memoirs  uf  Major-yeiieral  HeMh,  50. 

"Pierre  Van  CorlUimlt  and  Zephaniah  Pliitl,  Junr.  to  the  Conreution, 
'■  Ueaimji  abtebs,  MoiTii  OK  Croton,  .\ugt.  2,  177G.'' 

On  thetweuty-si.vtli  of  July,  Jusliuu,  sou  of  Caleb  Ferris — a  member 
of  tlie  County  Couunittee,  Juriug  1775-0 — weut  uu  board  tbe  Phienii, 
remaiuingall  night  ;  awX  Philip  Schuriu:iu  — who  htul  been  in  Boston, 
while  the  K<)yiil  .\rn)y  had  occuitied  the  Town  ;  who  had  been  taken 
pricioner,  by  the  .VuieriCiins;  and  who  hail  been  releaijed  by  reason  of  (»er- 
tkjnal  intlueuce  of  his  friends— Frederic  Secore,  ''one  Bailey,"*  and 
Lewia  Purdy,  "  from  C'rotou  River,"  are  also  known  to  hare  gone  to  the 
same  ohip,  on  that  day  or  subsequently.  {ExamiiuUionA  of  Joshua  Ferris, 
Uiiitoricat  Manuscripts,  etc. :  Miscellaneous  Papers,  xxxv.,  GO,  85.) 


*  On  Sunday  night,  the  twenty-eighth  of  July,  because  the  New  Eng- 
land troops  ^ad  gone  away,  on  the  preceding  day,  leaving  the  river-line 
unguarded,  the  boatd  from  the  shii>s  went  ashore,  "atone  Bailey's," 
near  the  mouth  of  Crotou-rivor ;  "  weut  back,  half  a  mile  ;  and  drove  off 
"  a  pair  of  o.xcn,  two  cows!,  one  calf,  onti  heifer,  and  eleven  sheep  :  no 
"doubt  had  the  assistance  of  some  Tories,  on  shore."  {Pierre  Van 
CortUtndt  and  Zepltaniah  PlaU,  Junr.,  to  the  Convention,  *'  Head  qI'akters, 
"MoiTU  OF  Crot>in,  .\ugt.  2, 1770.") 

Was  the  Bailey,  at  wh^j^e  house  the  lauding  was  thus  made,  the  same 
Bailey  who  waa  seen  ou  board  tbe  Phoenix,  a  few  days  afterwards  ? 


Tarrytown,  during  either  the  second  or  third  of 
August.^ 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  ships  were  thus  alarm- 
ing nearly  every  one,  by  their  movements  up 
the  river,  General  Washington,  notwithstanding  his 
multitude  of  other  cares,  promptly  adopted  measures 
for  securing  the  removal  of  those  unwelcome  visitors 
from  the  waters  of  the  Hudson.  Immediately  after 
their  successful  passage  up  the  river,  the  General 
wrote  to  the  Governors  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Is- 
land, for  the  use  of  some  of  the  galleys  which  those 
States  had  built;  and,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  July, 
he  wrote  to  the  Convention  of  New  York,  telling  it 
what  he  had  done  ;  that  he  was  in  expectation,  "every 
''hour,"  that  three  or  four  of  those  galleys  would  reach 
the  City  of  New  York  ;  that  he  had  one,  ali-eady  ; 
that  if  any  measures  were  being  taken  for  attacking 
the  ships,  in  which  these  galleys  could  be  usefully 
employed,  to  let  him  know  ;  and  that,  "  if  not  other- 
"  wise  materially  engaged,"  he  should  be  glad  to  co- 
operate with  them,  and  to  furnish  any  a-ssistance 
which  the  galleys  could  give.'"  The  reply  of  "the 
"Secret  Committee"  of  the  Convention,  to  whom 
this  portion  of  the  General's  letter  was  referred,  has 
not  been  found  ;  but  the  tenor  of  it  may  be  seen  in 
the  fact  that  two  of  the  galleys  went  up  the  river,  on 
the  twenty-eighth  of  July,  and  three  or  four  more  on 
the  first  of  August;  "  and  that  they  probably  "  ran  into 
"shoal  water  and  creeks,  whence  they  could  warp  out, 
"  at  certain  times  of  tide,  and  annoy  the  shipping." 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  third  of  August,  these 
galleys — bearing  the  names,  respectively,  of  Wa)<h- 
in(/toii,  Laily  Wtishingtou,  Spifjifc,  W/iifiii;/,  Indepen- 
dence, Crane,  and  an  unnamed  whaleboat — boldly  at- 
tacked the  ships,  at  their  anchorage  ;  and  as  this  early 
naval  conflict  occurred  in  the  waters  of  Westchester- 
county,  we  make  room  for  the  contemporary  account 
of  it: 

"Tarkytowx,  (Sunday  morning,)  August 4. 

"Sir: 

"I  have  just  opportunity  to  inform  you  that, 
"yesterday,  at  one  o'clock,  I'.M.,  the  galleys  attacked 
"  the  J'/urni.v  and  the  Hose,  off"  Tarrytown. 

"The  Lady  Washington  fired  the  first  gun  on  our 
"side,  in  answer  to  one  received  from  the  Plmmix: 
"  this  first  shot  from  us  entered  the  P/nrnix.  The 
"  Washiw/fon ,  galley,  on  board  of  which  the  Commo- 
"  dole's  flag  was  hoisted,  then  came  up  within  grape- 
"  shot  of  the  ships,  and  singly  sustained  their  whole 
"  fire,  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  before  any  other 
"of  our  vessels  took  a  shot  from  her  (the  tide  wa.sting 
"  them  more  than  the  pilots  expected  to  the  eastern 
"  shore ;  and  the  Lady  Washington  falling  back  to 


'  Compare  the  letter  of  Pierre  Van  Cortlaudt  and  Zephaniah  Piatt, 
Junr.,  of  the  second  of  August,  with  the  reiwrts  of  the  engagement  be- 
tween the  galleys  and  the  ships,  off  Tarrytown,  un  the  evening  of  tbe 
next  day. 

General  Washington  to  the  Convention,  "  St:\\-\uRK,  July  24,  1776." 
't  Memoirs  of  ^htjor-ijmeral  Ui'oth,  .'il. 
):[HairsJ  Hisli,rg  of  llie  Civil  War  in  Am»rica,  1»U. 


390 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  take  her  station  in  the  line,  according  to  orders). 
"  The  Spitfire  advanced,  in  a  line  with  the  Washing- 
"  ton  ;  and,  with  her,  behaved  well. 

"  We  had  as  hot  a  fire  as,  perhaps,  was  ever  known, 
"  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  The  Washington,  which  1 
"  was  on  board,  during  the  whole  engagement,  had 
"the  ledgings  of  her  bow-guns  knocked  away,  which 
"  prevented  our  working  them,  and  was  otherwise 
"considerably  damaged,  being  thirteen  times  hulled, 
"  had  three  shot  in  the  waist,  many  of  her  oars  car- 
"ried  away,  etc.  The  Lady  Washington,  after  hulling 
"  the  Phfvnix  six  times,  had  her  bow,  and  only,  gun, 
"  a  thirty-two-pounder,  on  which  we  placed  much 
"  dependence,  split  seven  inches,  and  her  gun-tackle>- 
"  and  breechings  carried  away.  The  Spitfire  was 
"  hulled,  several  times,  and  received  one  shot  between 
"  wind  and  water,  which,  not  being  quickly  discov- 
"  ered,  occasioned  her  making  much  water.  The  rest 
"  of  the  galleys  received  considerable  damage  in  their 
"  rigging,  sails,  and  oars.'  Under  these  circumstances, 
"  our  Commodore,  Colonel  Tupper,  thought  it  pru- 
"  dent  to  give  the  signal  for  our  little  fleet  to  with- 
"  draw,  after  manfully  fighting  a  much  superior  force, 
"  for  two  hours. 


1  It  will  be  seen  that  very  little  was  said,  in  this  Report,  of  the  opera 
tions  of  the  Connecticut  galleys,  the  Orane  and  the  Whiliug  :  the  follow- 
ing correspondence  will  i-eniedy  that  defect: 

I. 

"  New-Haven,  October  14, 1770. 

"Sir: 

"  By  Captain  Tinker  am  informed  of  the  misfortune  and  situation  of 
"  the  row-galleys  sent  into  the  Continental  service  from  this  State  ;  anil 
"  as  circumstances  are  altered,  respecting  them,  since  my  hvst  to  you,  on 
"the  subject  of  dismissing  theircrews  and  arms,  must  again  request  your 
"attention  to  that  matter,  that  the  crew  of  the  Cnine,  Captain  Tinker, 
"who  escaped,  may  be  dismissed,  and  be  admitted  to  return  to  the  eni- 
"  ployment  of  this  State  ;  and  that  if  the  i  rews  of  the  other  two  galleys 
"can  be  of  no  further  service  to  you,  they,  likewise,  may  be  dismissed  ; 
"  of  one  or  both,  as  you  see  tit,  as  we  can  employ  them  to  advantiige  on 
"board  uin-  armed  vessels,  fitting  out,  into  which  service  they  are  desir- 
"oi.s  of  entering. 

"  The  galleys  lieing  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Continent,  are  es- 
"teemed  to  be  at  the  Coutinuntiil  care  and  risk. 

"This  State  readily  submits  to  your  Excellency's  directions  what  is 
requisite  and  proper  relative  to  the  men  and  their  arms. 
"  I  am,  with  esteem  and  respect, 

"Sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"  ,IONTH.  TkUMIIUI.I,. 

"To  His  ExcELLENcv  Genkuai,  Washinuton." 

II. 

"  IlEAn  cji'AKTERS.OctoberlS,  1776. 

"Sir: 

"  The  very  critical  state  of  our  Army  and  frequent  movements  of  the  en- 
"  emy  render  it  almost  impossible  for  the  Geiieial  to  write,  himself,  with- 
"  out  neglecting  more  important  duties.  He,  therefore,  directs  iiie  toan- 
"  swer  your  letter  of  the  14th,  and  to  say  that  the  Captains  of  the  galleys 
"from  your  State  have  misbehaved,  in  variably,  from  the  first  moment  they 
"  came,  to  the  time  of  their  departure  from  hence,  about  a  week  ago  ; 
"  that  the  accumulation  of  business  and  a  hope  that  they  would  retrieve 
"their  reputation,  prevented  your  having  an  earlier  information  of  their 
"behaviour.  They  are  now  under  the  sentence  of  a  Court  Martial  for 
"  misbehaviour,  in  the  fiiiit  attack  made  on  the  ships  in  the  North  River  ; 
"and  on  every  other  occasion,  since,  have  manifested  such  want  of 
"  spirit  and  judgment  as  to  be  despised  by  the  whole  Army.  .  .  . 
"  1  am.  Sir,  by  his  Excellency's  command, 
"Your  most  obedient,  bumble  servant, 

"Joseph  Heed,  Adjulanl-gttieral.'^ 


"  Never  did  men  behave  with  more  firm,  deter- 

" mined  spirits,  than  our  little  crews;  one  of  our  tars, 
"being  mortally  wounded,  cried  to  his  mess-mate,  'I 
"  'am  a  dying  man  :  revenge  my  blood,  my  boys,  and 
"  'carry  me  alongside  my  gun,  that  I  may  die  there.' 
"  We  were  so  preserved  by  a  gracious  Providence, 
"  that  in  all  our  galleys,  which  consisted  of  six,  we 
"  we  had  but  two  men  killed  and  fourteen  wounded, 
"two  of  which  are  thought  dangerous.  We  hope  to 
"  have  another  touch  at  these  Pirates,  before  they 
"  leave  our  river,  which  God  prosper. 

"  P.  S.  The  following  are  the  particulars  of  the 
"galleys,  with  their  killed  and  wounded,  viz.:  the 
"  Washington,  Captain  Hill,  four  wounded  ;  the  Whit- 
"  ing,  McCleave,  one  killed,  four  wounded;  the  Spit- 
" fire,  Grimes,  one  killed,  three  wounded ;  the  Crane, 
"  Tinker,  one  wounded ;  on  board  a  whaleboat,  two 
"  wounded." 

It  appears  that  one,  Anderson,  had  proposed  a  scheme 
to  the  Continental  Congress  for  destroying  the 
British  fleet,  then  lying  in  the  harbor  of  New  York, 
with  fire-ships ;  and  he  had  been  ofiiciaily  recom- 
mended to  General  Washington,  by  the  President  of 
the  Congress,  with  a  request  that  the  experiment 
should  be  made.'  The  General  had,  accordingly, 
employed  Anderson  in  constructing  two  fire-vessels; 
and,  on  the  eiglitli  of  August,  they  were  sent  up  the 
river,*  for  the  purpo.se  of  destroying  a  portion,  at  least, 
of  the  squadron  which  seems  to  have  continued  to 
occupy  its  anchorage,  off  Tarrytown,  although,  by 
some,  it  is  said  to  have  dropped  down  the  river,  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Lower  Yonkers.  One  of  these  vessels 
was  commanded  by  Captain  Fosdick,  the  other  by 


-The  Pviinsylrauifi  Jounial ;  and  the  Wcehht  Adi'ertiaer,  No.  1757, 
PHii.AnEi,i"iiiA,  Wednesday,  August  7,  1771). 

For  other  accounts  of  this  early  naval  action,  see  an  Extract  uf  a  letter 
from  New  Yorh,  dated  August  4,  1770,  in  Force's  American  Ai-chit't-s.Tifth 
Series,  i.  751 ;  General  Woshimjtim  to  the  President  of  ( 'ongress,  "  New-York,  5 
"August,  177G  The  VenmyUania Evening  Po«<, Volume  II.,  No.  241,  Phil- 
AUEi.riiiA,  Tuesday,  August  li,  1776;  The  Coniiecticnt  Oazelte  and  Uni- 
nrsal  liitfllitjenerr.  Vol.  II.,  No.  666,  New-London,  Friday,  .August  16, 
177U;  [Ilall'sJ  Uvitonj  of  the  Civil  War  in  America^  i.,  186,  who  said 
"  most  of  till;  galleys  were  ran  on  shore,  and  taken ;  "  Memoirs  of  Gen- 
eral H'  uth,  .M  ;  Ramsay's  7/i/</or//  of  the  Americm  lievohttion.  Edit.  Lon- 
don, 17iU,  i.,  '2'J8,  a  mere  mention  ;  Allen's  Ui&torij  of  the  American  Rev- 
olution, Edit.  Baltimore,  1S22,  i.,  429  ;  Wilson's  Hiulvry  of  llu-  American 
HevoUition,  lOd.  Baltimore,  lS4:i,  157;  Force's  American  Archives,  V.,  i., 
751  ;  Irving's  Life  of  WuMnglon,  Edit.  New  Y'ork,  1856,  ii.,  299. 

No  others  of  the  many  writers  on  the  American  Revolution  and  Gen- 
eral Wiushington,  as  far  a.s  we  have  seen  them,  including  Stednian, 
Murray,  Andrews,  Lamb,  Marshall,  Ilildi'cth,  Pitkin,  Lendruin,  Hinman, 
Losaing,  liaiK'roft,  Carrington,  liidpath,  etc.,  nor  the  local  historian, 
Bolton,  have;  paid  the  slightest  attention  to  it. 

We  learn  from  the  records  of  the  "  Governor  and  Council,  or  Commit- 
"tee  of  War,"  of  Connecticut,  thai  the  Whiting  and  the  ^  Vowe  were 
owned  by  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  were,  probably,  those  which 
were  loaneil  to  General  Washington  ;  that  the  Whiting  wasa  new  vessel, 
cummanded  by  Captain  .lohu  McCleave,  was  manned  with  fifty  men,  in- 
cluding her  officers,  and  armed  with  four  cannon,  taken  from  the  Jlfi- 
/(ertv(,  eight  swivels,  and  five  luusketj* ;  and  that  the  Crane  was  also  a 
new  vessel,  (Commanded  byt/apt;rin  .lehial  Tinker,  was  manned  with  fifty 
men,  including  her  officers,  and  armed  with  two  Continental  nine-pound- 
el's,  two  three-poundei-s,  eight  swivels,  and  ten  muskets. 

3  Sparks's  Writings  of  George  Washingtxin,  iv.,  19,  note. 

*  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  51. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


391 


Captain  Thomas,  both  of  them  volunteers  from  the 
Army  ;  and  tliey  must  liave  succeeded  in  passing  up 
the  river  and  in  being  concealed,  without  having 
been  seen  by  the  enemy  ;  and  no  one,  ashore,  apjiears 
to  have  given  the  slightest  inlbrmation  eonceriiing 
them. 

We  are  told  these  vessels  were  sloops, '  ])rol)ably 
such  as  ordinarily  sailed  on  the  North-river  ;  and  that 
the  night  of  the  fourteenth  of  August  was  ap])()inted 
for  the  attempt  to  burn  the  ships;  Init,  from  some 
unexplained  cause,  without  having  aroused  any  sus- 
picion, however,  the  attempt  was  not,  then,  made. 
Two  nights  later,  thatof  the  sixteenth  of  August,  it  was 
"  pretty  dark,"  and  the  tide  was  ;dso  favorable  ;  and  the 
mischief-laden  sloops  were  unmoored,  and  allowed  to 
drift  with  the  tide,  silently,  up  the  river,  toward  their 
proposed  victims.  The  jRo,se's  tender  is  said  to  have 
been  anchored  as  a  look-out,  ahead  of  the  ships  ;  '  and 
Captain  Thomas,  without  having  been  discovered  by 
the  enemy,  steered  his  sloop  alongside  of  her;  grappled 
her;  and  lighted  his  tires.  The  flames  from  the  burn- 
ing vessels  afTorded  light  to  CajHain  Fosdick,  who, 
with  very  great  ability,  so  directed  his  sloop  that  she 
fell  alongside  of  the  J'/ki  /iLv,  luid  grap- 
pled her,  notwithstanding  every  etlbrt 
of  seamansliip,  on  board  the  ship,  was 
made  to  prevent  it.  AV'ith  her  fires 
fiercely  burning,  the  sloop  continue*! 
alongside  the  P/iwni.v,  nearly  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  during  which  time  the  latter 
was  also  set  on  fire,  in  four  places;  and 
she  was  finally  saved  from  total 
destruction,  "  almost  miraculously,"  by  a 
sailor  who  leaped,  naked,  on  board  the 
sloop,  and,  with  an  axe,  "  disengaged  the 
"chain  of  the  grappling  wliieh  had 
"  linked  the  two  vessels  together."  '  It 
is  said,*  very  reasonably,  that  the  low- 
ness  of  the  burning  sloop,  when  alongside 
of  the  viistly  larger  frigate,  prevented  the 
more  complete  ignition  of  the  latter  ;  and 
that,  after  the  vessels  had  been  separated, 
tiie  slooj)  was  sunk  by  her  intended  victim.  We 
are  told,''  also,  that,  as  soon  as  she  was  disentan- 
gled from  the  burning  sloop,  "the  Plurnix  either  cut 
"or  slipped  her  cable;  let  fall  her  foresail;  wore 
"around;  and  stood  up  the  river;  being  imme- 
"diatcly  veiled  from  the  spectators  by  the  darkness  of 
"  tlie  night ;"  that  "  the  Jiose  and  the  other  two 
"  tenders  remained  at  their  moorinurs,  although  it  was 


1  M-mniff  .,/  i;,  ,v  riil  Jl<„lh,  51. 
Ibiil. 

^[HaU'sl  lllfUnij  nf  the  Ciril  ll'.ir  i,i  America,  i.,  l.sfi. 

*  We  have  tiikeri  this  iiiiiiuto  description  of  the  .'\si<aiilt  on  the  enemy's 
ships  from  Captnin  Hall's  Huitonj  nf  the  CU-il  War  in  Ameria,  i.,  18(>, 
187,  because  it  is  so  clearly  stated,  and  because  it  is  the  work  of  an  oIK- 
cer  of  the  Royal  .\rniy,  and,  therefore,  is  not  likely  to  have  been  over- 
stated. 

'  Gordon's //Wor;/  of  the  American  Recolntion,  ii.,30.'). 

*  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  54. 


"  said  that  one  of  the  tenders  was  deserted  by  her 
"  crew,  for  a  time ;"  that  the  tender  which  was  grappled 
by  Captain  Thomas  was  burned  to  the  water's  edge 
and  was  towed  to  the  shore,  by  the  Americans,"  by 
whom  one  iron  six-pound  gun,  two  three-pounders, 
one  two-pounder,  ten  swivels,  a  caboose  and  apron, 
some  gun-barrels,  cutla.>-ses,  grapplings,  chains,  etc., 
were  taken  from  the  wreck  ;  and  that  the  gallant 
crews  of  the  fireships  sustained  neither  loss  nor 
injury,  exee|)t  in  the  instance  of  one  man,  who,  in 
setting  fire  to  his  vessel,  was  considerably  burned  in 
his  face,  hands,  etc.,  and  in  that  of  Captain  Thomas, 
who,  it  was  feared,  perished  in  the  attempt  to  fasten 
his  vessel  to  the  tender  which  it  destroyed  or  in 
making  his  escape,  by  swimming,  as  he  was  not  sub- 
seiiuently  heard  of.  As  (Jeneral  Washington  stated 
in  the  letter  from  which  we  derive  the  information, 
when  writing  of  him,  "  his  bravery  entitled  him  to  a 
"  better  fate." " 

Notwithstanding  the  bravery  and  skill  of  those  who 
conducted  the  firevessels  and  the  considerable  success 
which  attended  their  efforts,  it  is  said  that  the  advan- 
tages gained  would  have  been  largely  increased  had 


THK  AMERICAN  FIRESHIPS. 


the  galleys  more  actively  co-operated  with  them  ;  and 
there  was  evidently  some  dissatisfaction  displayed, 
because  of  that  nautical  backwardness ;  '■*  but  these 


T  Lieutenant  Loudon,  of  I'olonel  Nicoll's  Regiment,  and  two  privates 
of  hisCompany,  (General  Heathto  General  Washingtmi,  "Kinu's  Bridi;e, 
"August  20,  1776.") 

1^  General  }ya8hington  to  Governor  TnimhuU,  "New-York,  .Xugust  18, 
"  177f>." 

»  Ibid. 

General  Heath  reported  to  General  Washington,  on  the  morning  after 
the  attack,  that  the  galleys  Dull/  iVanhintjton  and  Lnhpendeaee  had  be- 
haved well,  in  their  co-operation  with  the  firevess<-ls,  while  the  other 
galleys  were  inactive  ;  and  the  Coniinander-in-chief  answered,  on  the 
same  day,  expressing  his  pleiusure  in  hearing  of  the  good  behavior  of 
those  w  ho  had  participated  in  the  adventure,  and  instructing  General 
Heath  to  "  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  inactivity  of  the  other  galleys, 
"and  inform  him  thereof." — {Richard  Carey,  Jun.  A.D.C.to  General 
Heath,  " HF.AD-qrARTER.'!,  August  17,  1776.") 

In  Adjutant-general's  Reed's  reply  to  Governor  Trumbull's  letter  con- 
cerning the  Connecticut  galleys,  after  having  recited  the  notorious  mis- 


392 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


repeated  attacks  aud  the  want  of  intercourse  with 
the  fleet  abd  the  perils  to  which  they  were  exposed, 
prompted  tlie  commanders  of  the  ships,  on  tlie  eigh- 
teenth of  jVugiist,  less  than  forty-eight  hours  after  the 
last  attack  had  been  made  on  them,  to  take  advantage 
of  a  strong  easterly  wind  and  a  very  rainy  morning, 
to  run  down  the  river,  past  the  fortifications  thrown 
up  by  the  Americans,  and  to  join  the  main  body  of 
the  fleet,  off  Staten  Island,  a  feat  which  was  success- 
fully accomplished,  without  any  considerable  dam- 
age, "  the  air  resounding  with  acclamations  from  the 
"  fleet,  re-echoed  by  the  Army  encamped  on  the 
"heights  above,'"  as  they  came  to  the  anchorage. 
During  the  period  occupied  in  this  early  naval  de- 


bebavior  of  the  crewB  uf  all  of  them,  "  in  the  lirst  attack  made  on  the 
"ships  in  the  North  River,''  for  which  they  hail  heen  tried  and  con- 
demned by  a  Continental  Court-martial,  that  olhccr,  writing  "by  bis  Ex- 
"  cellency's commands."  (rith-  jmijf  :i'J)i,  «/i(^  )saidof  the  subsequent  opera- 
tion of  those  galleys,  "  In  the  late  atfair.  Captain  McC'leave  must  be  ex 
"  cepted  from  the  general  censure,  as  he  managed  with  i<rndence  and 
"propriety.  Hut  Ca])tain  Tinker,  with  the  wind  at  South,  ami  on  the 
"  tide  of  Hood  "  [lhtndi>f  liile  '!]  "when  the  ships  could  move,  left  his  vessel, 
"th(»ugh  stationed  as  a  guard,  to  go  up  to  King's  Bridge,  aftereome 
"clothes,  as  he  pretends.  The  consequence  wa*",  that,  in  the  hurry  and 
"  confusion,  and  long  before  thny  were  in  ilanger,  they  left  the  gal- 
'*  ley  agro\ind,  though  they  might  have  burned  or  bilged  her.  The  enemy 
"  took  pos.sessiou  of  her,  in  half  an  liour  ;  and  she,  with  the  other,  left 
"  untlei-  the  like  circumstances,  will  probably  j)rove  the  most  formidable 
"  force  they  can  have,  to  oppose  us,  on  the  river.  There  was  a  jilace  of 
"safety  provided  for  the  other  galleys,  which  they  might  have  got  into, 
"as  well  as  McCleave  ;  but  tliey  passeil  it,  in  their  hurry."  ((Icneial 
Wttithtitgfon^  Ihrmujh  tho  AdjiU^tut-f/eiieral,  to  (ioi-enior  T7-»mbiitI^  '  Heao- 
"Ql'ARTEKS,  October  11^,  1776.") 

1  [Hall's] //i.i?</<-j/  nf  llie  Cu'il  War  in  Aimricii,  i.,187. 

For  other  accounts  of  this  daring  feat,  inatteutpting  totlestroy  these  shifts, 
and  of  the  8ubse<iUcnt  escape  of  the  latter,  see  Gen'-nil  Heath  to  Gfia-ral 
Washinijton,  *'  King's  BRintiK,  17  August,  I77ti ;"  OfiifrtU  Wtmhiuijton  to 
the  Premlnit  of  Onigress,  "Nf.w-Yohk,  August  17,  1776;"  llif  sumr  to 
Goreruor  TnimbnU,  "  New  Yukk,  August  IK,  1776;"  General  Ileuth  to 
General  Washington,  "  KiNo's  ItitinoE,  18  August,  1770  ;"  E-rnminalion 
of  Jonnthan  Wontlnian  and  two  others,  ttev'rtets,  enclosed  by  General  fier- 
cer to  General  Washington,  "  Newark,  August  19,  1776  ;  "  Extract  from 
a  letto-  dated  "  New  York,  August  I'J,  1776,"  published  in  Force's  Anter- 
ic€iH  ^ic/n'ivd,  Fifth  Series,  i.,  Ul6li ;  (.ieneral  Il.ath  to  General  Washing- 
t4m,  "  Kino's  Briocje,  August  20,  1776  ;"  'lite  Pennsijleania  Keening  Vast, 
Vol.  II.,  No.  247,  Pnii.AiiEi.niiA,  Tuesday,  August  2<l,  1776;  The  Venn- 
sylcania  ./miiM.i/, No.  175!l,  Pnii.AOEi.rHiA,  Wednesday,  .\ngust  21, 177(>  ; 
TJv  Conneetient  Gazelle  and  Vnieersal  Int/  UitjenccT,  Vol.11.,  No.  667,  New 
London,  Friday,  August  2'J,  1776  ;  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  Wi-bi) ; 
Gordon's  History  of  the  American  lierolntion,  ii.,  305;  Force's  A7nerican 
Archiees,\.,  i.,  !l8:i ;  Irvirig's  Life  nf  George  Washiiigtvn,  ii.,  306.  307  ;  etc. 

\\'hat  purports  to  have  been  copied  from  a  coiitemporury  drawing  of 
the  brilliant  scene,  made  by  Sir  .lames  Wallace,  who  bad  command  of 
the  Hose,  on  the  occasion  now  under  notice,  may  be  seen  in  7'//e  Maniutl 
of  the  Corporation  if  the  City  of  Sew  Yorh  for  1864,  opposite  page  672. 
It  is  underetooil  to  have  been  copied  from  the  original  drawing,  in  the 
British  Museum  ;  and  it  has  been  re-prodnced,  in  perfect  facsimile,  but 
reduced  in  size,  for  the  illustration  of  this  article.    i^Videpage  31)1,  ante.) 

What  the  local  historian  of  Westchester-county  possibly  intended  for 
a  description  of  this  daring  attempt  to  destroy  the  ships,  was  in  these 
words,  taken  from  his  description  of  the  property  of  the  late  Elijah 
Ilich,  near  Y'onkein:  "Here,  in  1777,  a  memorable  engagement  took 
"  place  between  the  two  British  frig.ates,  the  /losc  aud  the  I'ha'nix,  which 
"  lay  off  at  anchor,  and  the  gun-boats  of  the  jiatriots  which  sallied  out 
"of  the  harbor  of  Yonkers,  having  in  tow  a  large  tender  filled  with 
"combustibles,  intending  to  run  it  alongside  of  the  frigates.  Th(i  crews, 
"  however,  kept  it  off,  by  means  of  spars  ;  and  a  heavy  fire  of  grape  and 
"cannister  compelled  the  gun-boats  and  their  brave  crews  to  seek  shelter 
"  in  the  mouth  of  the  Saw  Mill.  The  year  previous,"  he  continued, 
"  General  Heath  had  been  requested  by  the  person  in  command  of  the 
"  fireships,  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  burning  of  these  vessels,"  quoting. 


monstration,  so  interesting  to  those  of  Westchester- 
county  who  lived  near  the  line  of  the  Hudson-river, 
neither  of  the  great  opposing  powers,  in  the  City  of 
New  York  and  on  Long  Island,  on  the  one  side,  and 
on  and  around  Staten  Island,  on  the  other,  did  any 
thing  else  than  to  strengthen  their  respective  forces 
and  prepare  for  the  rapidly  approaching  contest. 
General  Washington  continued  to  strengthen  his  de- 
fences, both  in  the  City  of  New  York  and  on  Long 
Island  ;  but  the  backwardness  of  the  distant  States, 
in  sending  reinforcements  to  the  Army,  not  only 
caused  a  constant  anxiety,  at  Head-quarters,  but  an 
alarm  which  extended  beyond  the  lines  of  the  Camp.'-' 


in  full,  what  General  Heath,  in  his  Memoirs,  under  the  date  of  the  six- 
teenth of  August,  1776,  hid  said  of  the  attempt  to  destroy  these  ships, 
which  is  the  subject  of  the  narrative,  in  the  text.  (History  of  Westehester- 
eonitty,  original  edition,  ii.,  4.59,  460  ;  the  same,  second  edition,  ii.,  627, 
628.) 

As  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  ships,  when  they  were  attacke<l, 
were  off  Tarrytown,  instead  of  below  Y'oukere;  as  Yonkers,  in  1777,  was 
within  the  British  lines,  and  so  conld  not  have  alTorded  a  rendezvous,  in 
the  Saw-Mill-river,  for  .\mericttn  gun-boats  and  fireships,  during  that 
year  ;  as  the  Pha  nij-  and  the  Hose  had  dropped  down  to  the  anchorage  of 
the  Royal  Fleet,  off  .Staten  Island,  on  the  eighteenth  of  August,  17'6, 
two  days  after  the  engagement  des<  ribed  in  the  text ;  .and  as  the  au- 
tliiirity  whom  be  quoted,  in  full,  descriiied  the  engagement,  of  which  he 
was  an  eye-witness,  as  having  taken  place  on  the  sixteenth  of  August, 
1771!,  it  will  be  evident  to  the  reader  that  the  historian  of  Westchester- 
ciuiuty,  as  well  us  his  posthumous  Editor,  blundered. 

2  In  order  that  the  reader  may  understand  the  gravity  of  the  subject, 
and  be  the  better  prepared  for  the  recital  of  the  narrative  of  those  stir- 

I  ring  events  which  occurreil  within  the  succeeding  month,  we  make 

I  room  for  the  following  : 

I  •*  It  gives  us  great  pain  to  inform  yon  that  the  aid  received  from  our 
"sister  States  is  very  inadequate  to  our  expei  tations,  none  of  them  hav- 
''ing  yet  comjtleted  the  levies  diri'cted  liy  Congress,  which  leaves  us 
"reason  to  fear  that,  instead  of  using  every  means  that  human  wisdom 
"dictates,  for  ensuring  success,  we  shall,  (with  inferior  numbers,)  on 
"the  doubtful  issue  of  a  single  battle,  hazard  the  glorious  cause  for 
"  which  we  have  hitherto  struggled."  (Thr  Convention  nf  Neir  I'ln  k  to  the 
Delegation  from  Xew  York  in  the  Continental  Congress,  "Harlem,  7th  An- 
"gust,  1776,  A.M.  ") 

"  It  is  our  great  misfortune  that,  at  this  important  crisis,  this  State  is 
"  unalde  to  make  tho.s«  exertions  which  the  canst' of  .\merica  requires. 
"From  the  disaffection  of  some  among  us;  from  the  want  of  arms  ; 
"from  the  exposed  situation  of  Long  Island  and  our  frontiers  ;  from  the 
"  IHissessiou  of  one  County  by  the  enemy;  and  from  the  probability  of 
"our  being  called  upon  to  reinforce  the  northern  Army,  we  are  unable 
"  to  add  much  strength  to  your  Excellency's  command,  being,  by  the 
"sevenil  reasons  above-mentioned,  deprived  of  the  .issistauce  of  iiiik' 
"Counties  out  of  fourteen  which  compose  this  State.  Nothwithstandiug 
"all  these  difficulties,  we  are  determined  to  combat  every  obstacle  and 
"to  strain  every  nerve  in  defense  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  America, 
"  which  we  conceive  to  be  most  materially  interested  in  the  safety  of  this 
"State.  By  our  Rescdutions  for  ordering  the  several  drafts  made  in  the 
"Counties  of  Suffolk,  Queens,  Kings,  AVestchester,  Duchess,  Ulster,  and 
" Orange,  to  the  environs  of  New  Y'ork,  we  hope,  in  about  six  days,  to 
"add  near  three  thousand  men  to  your  Army. 

"  We  lament,  exceedingly,  that  we  should  have  occasion  to  complain 
"  of  the  languid  efforts  which  the  neighbouring  States  have  made  for 
"  our  assistance.  From  the  zeal  they  professed  for  the  public  cause  ; 
"  from  the  vicinity  of  some  of  them  to  this  invaded  country  ;  ami  from 
"  the  dangerous  situation  in  which  Connecticut,  Massiichusetis,  Penn- 
"  sylvania,  and  Jersey  must  be  in,  should  the  enemy  succeed  in  their 
"designs  against  this  State,  we  expected  the  most  strenuous  and  expe- 
'•ditious  exertions.  How  great  our  concern  [is]  at  finding  so  considera- 
"  ble  a  deficiency  in  the  establishment  of  this  Army,  your  Excellency 
"may  easily  judge  from  the  feelings  of  a  patriotic  bosom,  on  the  im- 
"  portance  of  the  cause  and  the  dangers  to  which  it  is,  by  these  means, 
"  exposed. 

"  We  flatter  ourselves,  however,  that  this  supineness  will  not  be  of 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


393 


General  Howe,  on  the  coiitnirv,  had  been  strength- 
ened, on  the  twelfth  of  July,  by  the  arrival  of  his 
brother,  Admiral  Lord  Howe,  with  the  long  expected 
reinforcements  for  the  Royal  Army  and  he  brought, 
also,  a  Commission  from  the  King,  appointing  his 
brother.  General  Howe,  and  himself  '^  to  be  Commis- 
sioners for  granting  pardons  to  those  of  the  Ameri- 
cans who  should  ask  for  the  clemency  of  the  Sover- 
eign.' On  the  twelfth  of  August,  the  two  fleets, 
under  the  convoy,  respectively,  of  Commodore  Ho- 
tham  and  the  Repulse,  met  ofl"  Sandy-hook,  and  entered 


"  any  Juration  ;  and  that  the  Continentiil  Congress  will  dense  means  of 
"  affording  the  niodt  exiwditious  and  effectnal  a^istance  to  preserve  a 
'•  .State,  the  loss  of  wliich,  from  its  geographical  situation  and  the  politi- 
"cal  character  of  too  many  of  its  inhabitants,  would  be  almost  fatal  to 
'•  the  cause  of  .American  liberty."  (The  Contention  of  Sew  York  to  Gen- 
tni?  Wasliintjlon,  "  Harlem,  Augt.  9,  1776.") 

"  1  am  e.vtremely  concerned  that  the  quotas  of  men  to  be  furnished  by 
'*the  ueigliboring  States  have  proved  so  deficient.  The  busy  season 
"and  harvest,  to  whicli  it  has  been  ascribed,  being  now  over,  in  a  great 
"degree,  I  Hatter  mjself,  from  the  zeal  they  have  heretofore  manifested, 
"  they  will  alford  every  possible  assistance,  They  are  well  apprised  of 
"the  importance  of  this  State,  in  the  present  contest,  and  the  necessity 
"  of  maintaining  it  against  the  attempts  of  the  enemy."  (General  lf<w/i- 
imjton  to  the  Comention,  "  New-Yokk,  .\ugust  11,  1776.") 

How  ill-founded  General  Washington's  faith  in  the  sincerity  of  the 
other  States  was,  beyond  the  limits  of  their  respective  individual  inter- 
ests, has  been  duly  recorded  in  history,  is  well-known  to  every  intelli- 
gent reader,  and  need  not  be  repeated,  in  this  place. 

'  (i^eiKraJ  Washington  lo  General  Schuyler,  "  Xew  York,  15  July,  1770  ;" 
The  Annual  Register  for  1776  :  History  of  Europe*  167;  etc. 

Stedman,  (Bistury  of  the  American  War,  i.,  191,)  said  the  Admiral  and 
his  command  arrived  at  Sandy-hook,  on  the  first  of  July  ;  but  his  error 
will  be  evident  to  every  one. 

-As  the  remarkable  influence  which  the  General  and  the  Admiral  pos- 
sessed over  the  King,  even  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  has 
been  fre<iuently  noticed  and  very  rarely  explained,  a  passing  notice  of 
the  reason  for  that  influence  may  not  bo  unwelcome  to  the  reader. 

tie  Lancey,  in  his  Xotes  on  Jones's  History  of  Xeic-York  during  the 
Htcolulionary  Wnr,  (i.,  722,)  has  partly  "let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,"  by 
saying  they  "were  sons  of  Emanuel  Scrope  Howe,  second  Viscount 
"  Howe,  by  Mary  Sophia,  an  illegitimate  daughter  of  George  I.,  by  his 
*' mistress,  the  Hanoverian  Baroness  Kihnausegge,  and,  consequently, 
"in  point  of  fiict,  first  cousins  once  removed  of  George  III."  But  our 
friend  appears  to  have  gone  a  little  astray,  since  George  III.  was  the 
grciit-grandson  of  George  I. ;  and  the  children  of  a  daughter  of  the  latter 
could  hardly  have  been  "first  cousins  once  removed"  of  the  former. 
Besides,  if  our  memorj-  serves  us  correctly,  the  mother  of  the  Howes, 
whomsoever  she  may  have  been,  was  a  paramour  of  Frederic  Lewis,  son 
of  George  II.,  and  father  of  George  III.,  even  after  her  convenient  mar- 
riage with  Viscount  Howe  ;  and  the  very  distinctive  features  and  the 
l>eculiar  physical  ailments  of  the  two  brothers,  which  they  shared  with 
the  King,  very  clearly  indicated  whose  offspring  they  were,  although 
they  were  born  in  wedlock  and  were,  therefore,  nominally,  Howes. 
They  were,  in  fact,  half-brothers  of  the  King. 

3  The  extent  of  the  authority  of  the  brothers.  Admiral  and  General 
Howe,  as  Commissioners  for  the  restoration  of  Peace,  in  America,  lias 
been  so  variously  slated,  that  the  careful  reader  will  do  well  to  refer  to 
their  Commission,  which  may  be  found  in  a  most  singular  connection 
with  a  mass  of  p<ipers  concerning  the  Exiiedition  commanded  by  Geneial 
Burgoyne,  which  appear  lo  have  l>een  laid  before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, early  in  1778.  (.Minon's  Parliamentary  Register,  London  :  1778, 
viii.,  308-312.) 

When  Lord  North,  closely  pinned  in  debate,  declared  that  "  taxation 
"  was  not  to  be  given  np  :  it  was  to  be  enforced :  but  whether  at  present 
'  or  hereafter  was  a  point  of  [lolicy  which  the  Commissioners  would 
"  learn,  on  the  spot,  by  s>mnding  the  people  upon  the  spot,"  there  was 
jHjlnt  as  well  as  wit  in  what  Charles  James  Fox  said,  in  reply  :  "  Accord- 
"ing  to  the  noble  Lord's  explanation.  Lord  Howe  and  his  brother  are 
"  to  be  sent  out  as  »pi'^,  not  as  Commissioners,  and  if  they  cannot  get  on 
"shore,  they  are  to  toHiuf  ujion  the  coasts."  (iMbates  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  May  22,  1770  ;  .\lmou's  Purliametitury  Register,  iv.,  120.) 

34 


the  harbor  together,  bringing  another  heavy  rein- 
forcement to  the  Royal  Army,  as  well  as  the  much 
needed  Camp-equipage;  *  two  days  later,  [_Atif/usl  14, 
1776,]  Sir  Peter  Parker  reached  Staten  Island,  with 
the  remains  of  the  expedition  which  had  been  sent 
to  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas ;  •'  and,  at  the  same  time, 
Lord  Dunmore,  ''  with  the  refugees  and  blackamoors 
"  from  Virginia,"  *  and  Lord  William  Campbell,  re- 
cently Governor  of  South  Carolina,  also  joined 
General  Howe.'  Although  General  Howe  made  no 
mention  of  them,  in  his  desjiatches  to  Lord  George 
Germaine,  it  is  said  the  Royal  Army  was  strength- 
ened, also,  about  the  same  time,  by  the  accession  of 
"  several  Regiments  from  Florida  and  the  West  Iii- 
"dies;""  and,  although  about  one  half  the  German 
troops  had  not  arrived — they  were  on  the  ocean,  but 
were  not  immediately  expected — the  strength  and 
discipline  and  appointments  and  spirits  of  the  Army 
were  greatly  superior  to  those  of  the  American  Army, 
and  reasonably  promised  greater  success,  in  the 
field. 

The  Convention  of  the  State,  during  that  period  of 
suspense,  removed  back  from  the  White  Plains  to 
Harlem,  occupying  the  old  Church-building  of  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church;'  and,  nearer  to  the  scene 
of  the  expected  troubles,  it  provided  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Hudson-river  and  Long  Island  Sound, 
where  the  enemy  was  expected  to  make  a  landing,  in 
force,  by  ordering  the  entire  Militia  of  Westchester- 
county  to  appear,  with  five  days'  provisions,  to  take 
possession  of  such  points,  on  the  river  and  Sound,  as 
General  Morris  should  regard  as  most  exposed  to  the 
enemy  ;  to  remain  in  service  during  ten  days  ;  to  re- 
ceive Continental  pay  and  subsistence  ;  and  iliat  each 
man  who  should  not  have  arms  should  bring  with 
him  a  shovel,  spade,  or  pickaxe,  or  a  scythe  straight- 
ened and  fixed  on  a  pole^" — the  latter,  not  easily  to 


*  General  Hoice  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Staten  Island,  15  Au- 
"gust,  1776;"  Annual  Register  for  1776:  History  of  Europe,*  169  ;  Mem- 
oirs of  General  Heath,  53  ;  Gordon's  Histirry  of  the  American  Sevolulion, 
ii.,  304,  305. 

5  General  Hove  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Staten  Island,  15  August, 
"1776;"  Governor  Tryon  to  the  same,  "Ship  Di  chess  of  Gordon,  off 
"ST.iTEN  Island,  August  14,  1776,"  postscript,  dated  "August  15, 
''  1776  ; "  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  306  ;  etc. 

'Jones's  History  of  Sew  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  i.,  103. 

'  General  Howe  lo  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Staten  Island,  I5th 
"August,  1776." 

>  Annual  Register  /or  1776 :  History  of  Europe,  169  ;  Gordon's  History  of 
the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  306. 

'That  old  Church-edifice  occupied  the  Church  lot,  on  the  South  sideot 
the  Great  Way,  or  Church-lane,  not  far  from  the  Harlem-river.  As  the 
Streets  and  Avenues  now  run,  it  was  inside  of  the  block  bounded  by  the 
First  and  Second-avenues  and  One  hundred  and  twenty-fourth  and  One 
hundred  and  twenty-fifth-streets,  near  the  present  intersection  of  the 
First-avenue  and  One  hundred  and  twenty-fourth-street,  as  it  has  been 
described  to  us  by  our  friend,  James   Kiker,  Esq.,  of  Waverly,  New 

I  Vork,  the  distinguished  historian  of  Harlem,  etc. 

The  fe.itures  of  the  old  building  may  be  seen  in  the  View  of  Harlem 

I  from  Morritania,  copied  from  the  original  drawing,  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum ;  and  reproduced  in  the  Manual  of  tJte  CorjKiration  of  the  City  of 

I  .Yeir  Fori /or  18t'a,  oppvisite  page  010 ;  and,  again,  on  page  '218  of  this 
work,  for  the  illustration  of  this  article. 

i      10  JoiinwJ  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  P.M.,  .Vugt.  10,  1776." 


394 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


be  done,  as  any  Westchester-county  farmer  could 
have  told  those  Deputies  by  whom  this  order  was 
made.  As  we  have  elsewhere  stated/  Kings-county 
"  determined  not  to  oppose  the  enemy,"  although  the 
latter  had  not  made  any  attempt  to  occupy  it ;  and 
the  Convention,  it  will  be  remembered,  made  some 
rash  movements  toward  crowding  all  who  lived  within 
that  County  into  still  greater  acts  of  hostility  against 
the  Americans,  instead  of  inspiriting  them  and  secur- 
ing their  continued  fealty  to  the  State  of  which  they 
were  members.  It  provided  for  the  removal  of  all 
which  remained,  of  those  Cannon  which  had  been 
brought  from  the  City  and  laid  on  the  roadsides  of  the 
County  of  Westchester — those  which  had  been  spiked 
and  unspiked,  guarded  and  left  unguarded,  at  such 
heavy  cost,  some  months  previously  — and  General 
Clinton  was  requested  to  have  carriages  made  for  such 
of  those  guns  as  he  should  consider  necessary  for  the 
defenceof  the  works  to  the  northward  of  King's  Bridge.' 
At  the  suggestion  of  General  Washington,*  measures 


because  of  "suspicions"  which  somebody  had  en- 
tertained concerning  them,  to  the  several  County 
Committees,  but  in  a  tone  of  mildness  which  was  re- 
markably unusual ; '  and,  in  other  ways,  endeavoring 
to  serve  the  cause  of  the  country — one  of  the  most  re- 
markable of  the  multitude  of  subjects  which,  at  that 
time,  crowded  themselves  before  the  Convention,  for 
its  consideration,  was  a  letter  from  John  Sleght, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Kingston,  "  stating 
"  that  the  women  surround  the  Committee-chamber, 
"  and  say,  if  they  cannot  have  Tea,  their  husbands 
"  and  sons  shall  fight  no  more."" 

At  length,  every  preparation  for  service  in  the  field 
having  been  made,  on  Thursday,  the  twenty-second 
of  August,  the  Campaign  was  opened.  Had  Lord 
Howe  been  despatched,  with  the  heavy  reinforcements 
which  he  brought,  directly  to  New  York  instead  of 
to  Halifax — and,  since  it  was  known,  in  England, 
that  New  York  would  be  the  base  of  all  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Campaign,  there  was  no  other  reason 


••  ViKW   UF   IIAIJLAEM   I'ltd.M   MOKISANIA  IN  THE  I'KoNIMI.  <>!  \^<\\W,   -l.l' I  I.M' ,  \~,i'h>." 

[Copied  from  the  original  in  the  British  Museum  for  George  H.  Moore  by  Richard  Sims  ] 


were  taken  for  the  removal  of  the  women,  children, 
and  infirm  persons,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  to 
places  of  greater  safety  ;  ^  for  obstructing  the  naviga- 
tion, in  both  the  Hudson  and  the  East-rivers,  as  well 
as  in  Buttermilk-channel,  the  latter  separating  Gov- 
ernor's-island  from  Long  Island  ;  *  providing  for  the 
temporary  support  of  those  who  should  be  driven 
from  their  homes,  by  the  enemy ;  '  transferring  the 
disposition  of  those  whom  it  had  cast  into  prison, 


iVide  page  379,  ante. 

2  Vide  pages  322-324,  ante. 

3  Journal  of  thf  Convention,  "  Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M. ,  August  16, 1776." 
General  Washiiiglon  to  the  Convention,  "  Head-qi'ARTERS,  New-Yohk, 

"Aug.  17,  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  17, 
"  1776  ;"  the  same,  "Die  Veneris,  3  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  23,  1776;"  Ihe 
same,  "  Monday  morning,  Augt.  26,  177G  ;  "  etc. 

«  Journal  of  the  Convention,"  Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,. August  16, 1776  ;" 
the  mmf,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  17,  1776  ; "  Journal  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety,  "Die  Luna>,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  19,  1776;"  Journal 
of  the  Convention,  "  Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  24,  1776 ;  "  etc. 

T  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Solis,  8  ho.,  A.M.,  Augt.  25,1776." 


than  the  bad  judgment  of  those,  in  England,  who 
controlled  the  movements  of  the  troops,  that  he  was 
not  thus  sent — the  Campaign  could  have  been  opened 
several  weeks  earlier,  when  General  Washington  was 
much  less  prepared  to  receive  an  enemy,  and,  therefore, 
when  a  complete  success  in  the  suppression  of  the  Re- 
bellion was  very  much  more  promising;  but  that  Al- 
mighty power  which  controlled  all  things,  had  other 
purposes  ;  and  the  cause  of  America  was  promoted  by 
that  remarkable  blunder  among  those  who  opposed  it. 

On  the  morning  of  Thursday,  the  twenty-second  of 
August,  as  we  have  said,  the  active  operations  of  the 


>  Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Monday  morning,  Augt.  26, 1776." 

''Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Monday  morning,  .\ugt.  26,  1776." 

It  may  be  proper  for  us  to  say  that  the  Chairman's  letter  was  re- 
ferred to  the  Deputation  from  Ulster  county  ;  and  that,  a  few  weeks 
subsequently,  tired  of  waiting  for  the  Tea,  "  mobs,  from  different  parts 
"of  the  country,"  went  to  Kingston;  broke  open  the  buililings  which 
contained  it  ;  and,  undoubtedly,  helped  themselves  and  their  mothers 
and  sisters  and  wives  and  daughters  to  what  was  then  officially  called 
"  that  detestable  article  called  Tea." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


395 


Royal  Army  were  commenced  by  the  movement  of 
the  Britislx  Grenadiers  and  Light  Infantry  and  tiie 
Hessians,  or  ratlier  the  German,  Grenadiers,  Liglit 
Infantry,  and  Chasseurs — tiie  last-named  commanded 
by  the  Count  Donop — the  whole  numbering  "  not  less 
"than  four  thousand  men,"  '  of  the  I'lite  of  the  Army, 
the  whole  commanded  by  General  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton, to  Graveseud  Bay,  near  Coney-island,  where, 
under  the  fire  of  three  frigates  and  two  bombketches,' 
the  naval  portion  of  the  movement  liaving  been  com- 
manded by  Commodore  Hotham,  the  entire  detach- 
ment, with  forty  pieces  of  artillery,  were  landed,  in 
two  hours  and  a  half,  without  meeting  the  slightest 
opposition  from  the  Americans.  This  Division  of  the 
Royal  Army  having  met  with  no  resistance,  the  re- 
mainder of  the  Army  and  of  the  arliiiery — except  two 
Brigades  of  Germans,  under  General  de  Heister,  and 
another  Brigade  of  Germans,  a  detachment  of  the 
Fourteenth  Infantry,  from  Virginia,  some  convales- 
cents and  some  recruits,  all  of  them  commanded  by 
Lieutenant-colonel  Dahymple,  which  were  left  for 
the  protection  of  Staten  Island— were  also  landed  on 
Long  Island,  during  the  morning.'' 

The  purposes  of  this  work  do  not  require  us  to  fol- 
low the  immediately  subsequent  operations  of  the  two 
Armies ;  and  the  general  knowledge  which  prevails 
concerning  the  disastrous  Battle  of  Long  Island," 
made  more  disastrous  by  reason  of  "  the  obstinate, 
"self-conceited,  inefficiency,"  if  not  by  the  criminal 
disobedience  and  neglect,  of  General  Israel  Putnam  ; 
concerning  the  remarkable  retreat  of  the  American 
Army,  from  Long  Island,  made  more  remarkable  and 
successful  through  the  nautical  skill  of  Colonel  John 
Glover  and  his  Regiment  of  Marblehead  fishermen  ; 
concerning  the  successful  occupation  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  by  the  Royal  Army,  made  more  suc- 
cessful by  reason  of  the  arrant  cowardice  of  those 
who  had  been  posted  at  Kip's-bay,  for  the  pur- 
j)ose  of  obstructing  any  attempt  which  the  enemy 
should  make  to  effect  a  lauding  at  that  place,  as 
well  as  by  reason  of  the  greater  cowardice  of  the 
Brigade  of  Jlas.sachusetts  troops,  commanded  by 
General  Fellows,  and  that  of  the  Brigade  of  Con- 
necticut troops,  commanded  by  (ieneral  Parsons, 
both  of  them,  eight  BegimentS,  in  all,  sent  for  the 
support  of  the  small  shore-guard ;  concerning  the 
successful  evacuation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  by 
the  American  Army,  made  more  successful  by  the  tact 
and  hospitality  of  Mary  Lindley  Slurray  and  by  the 


l[Hall'8l  }{i^lorij  of  the  Vu-U  War  in  America,  i.,  188. 

See,  hIso,  Stodnian's  Hhitonj  of  the  Amcricun  U'ur,  i.,  193. 

2 [Hall's]  HUlorij  «/  the  Civil  War  in  .Imm'cii,  i.,  188  ;  Stediimn's  Hit- 
tory  of  the  Avieriran  War,  i.,  193. 

^General  //"ire  to  Lord  George  Ot-rmaine,  "Newtown,  LoNfi  Ts(.ani>, 
"3  Sept.,  1770  ;"  General  Wanhinglmito  Gnteral  Heath,  "  IlEAD-yi  AHTKRs, 
"  New-York,  23  .Vuguat,  177G  ; "'  the  same  to  the  I'rrxid-  nt  nf  the  Coiigre»i>, 
"New-York,  .\ngnst  23,  177f>;"  [llall'sj  lliMoni  of  the  (Hril  War  in 
America,  i.,  188:  JItnnoirs  of  General  Urath,  .W  ;  SteilniRn'8  }{}>ttorij  of 
the  American  War,  i.,  193  ;  Gordon's  Hiftori/ of  the  Amtrican  Hevolution, 
ii.,  306 ;  etc. 


soldierly  ability  and  the  knowledge  of  the  ground,  of 
Aaron  Burr;  concerning  the  brilliant  skirmish  on 
Harlem  Heights,  made  more  brilliant  by  the  daring 
bravery  of  IMajor  Leitch,  of  Virginia,  and  that  of  Col- 
onel Thomas  Knolton,  of  Connecticut ;  and  concerning 
the  apparent  inactivity,  in  both  the  Armies,  which 
prevailed,  during  several  succeeding  weeks, — the  gen- 
eral knowledge  which  prevails,  concerning  all  these 
subjects,  renders  anything  else  than  a  mere  reference 
to  them,  unnecessary.  But,  nevertheless,  there  were 
some  minor  operations,  of  both  parties,  during  that 
period,  which  may  well  receive  passing  notices. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 
August,  two  ships  and  a  brig  anchored  a  little  above 
Throgg's-neck  ;  and  before  the  troops  whom  General 
Heath  had  sent  for  the  purposes  of  protecting  the 
neighboring  property,  could  reach  the  shore,  several 
barges  had  gone  ashore,  on  City-island  ;  killed  several 
cattle  ;  *  and  carried  away  the  dead  animals  and  one 
of  the  inhabitants.  The  troops  managed  to  secure 
the  remainder  of  the  cattle  which  were  on  the  island.* 

As  there  was  an  evident  intention,  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy,  to  occupy  one  or  more  positions,  on  New 
York-island  or  within  Westchester-county  or  both, 
General  Heath,  who  commanded  all  the  Continental 
troops  at  Kingsbridge  and  in  the  last-mentioned 
County,  with  that  faithful  attention  to  his  duties 
which  so  generally  characterized  him,  ordered  a 
chain  of  vedettes  and  other  sentries  to  be  maintained 
at  Morrisania,  Hunt's-point,  Throgg's-neck,  and  other 
points,  on  the  Sound,  in  order  that  the  movements  of 
the  enemy,  had  he  inclined  to  move  to  those  neigh- 
borhoods, or  to  either  of  them,  might  be  promptly 
made  known  to  him.''  The  usefulness  of  that  wise 
precaution  will  be  seen,  hereafter. 

For  the  purpose  of  cutting  the  line  of  communica- 
tion of  the  City  of  New  York,  through  the  Sound, 
with  the  sea — the  way  to  the  ocean,  by  way  of  the 
Narrows,  having  been  already  occupied  by  him — the 
enemy  very  judiciously  occupied  Barren-island,  be- 
longing to  Westchester-county,  Montresor's — now 
Randall's — island,  and  what  is  now  known  as 
Ward's-island — the  latter  two  belonging  to  the 
County  of  New  York,  all  of  which,  to  some  ex- 
tent, at  lea.st,  commanded  the  passage  to  and 
through  the  Sound  ; '  and,  on  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
of  September,  a  considerable  body  of  troops  was 
landed  on  Montresor's-island,*  which  entirely  com- 


<  Colonel  .(osepli  Drake,  in  his  letter  to  the  Convention,  dat«d  "New- 
"RocHELL,  .\ugt.  '28,  177li,"  said  "  they  have  not  been  able  to  plnndtr 
"  much;  they  got  from  Mineford's-islaud  "  [ii«i<;  Cilii-islaml,]  "4  horned 
"  cattle  and  some  ponltrv,  whirli  is  all  wc  have  been  able  to  learn  they 
'  have  plundered."  In  Ills  Memairs,  (lage'iG,) General  Heath  said  "the 
"enemy  carried  off  one  man  and  14  cattle." 

^  Memairn  nf  fli-neral  Heath,  55,  56;  Colonel  Ji>sej>h  Drake  to  General 
Morris,  "New  Kochei.,  Augt.  27,  1770" — Hiflorical  Manuscripts,  etc.: 
Miaeellanet'us  Papers,  xxxvi.,  :139. 

o  Memoim  of  General  H,  alh,  59. 

■  Stednian's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  199. 

^Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  59. 


396 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


manded  the  Manor-house^ — all  there  was,  at  that 
time,  of  Morrisania,  except  the  small  farmhouses  of 
the  manorial  tenantry,  which  were  scattered  over  the 
surrounding  country.  The  channel  which  separated 
Morrisania,  in  Westchester-county,  from  Montresor's- 
island,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  being  quite  narrow, 
and  a  heavy  picket  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  mounted 
men  having  been  constantly  maintained  at  Morrisania, 
the  sentries  of  the  respective  forces,  posted  within  half- 
gunshot  distance,  sometimes  fired  at  each  other,  in 
violation  of  the  inconsistent  usages  of  War;  and 
General  Heath  has  recorded  some  interesting  instances 
of  both  the  friendly  and  the  unfriendly  correspond- 
ence of  these  very  important  minor  outposts.''  But 
a  cou2Jle  deserters  from  a  man-of-war  which  was  an- 
chored off  the  island,  conveyed  such  information  to 
General  Heath  as  led  him  to  sujjpose  that  the  entire 
force  which  occupied  that  island  could  be  easily  cap- 
tured ;  and,  having  submitted  the  subject  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  General  Officers  of  his  Division  and 
to  General  Washington,  and,  having  received  the  ap- 
proval of  all,  he  proceeded  to  make  the  attempt. 
Two  hundred  and  forty  men  were  detached  for  that 
purpose ;  and  the  command  of  the  expedition  was 
given  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Michael  Jackson  and 
Major  Logan  and  Major  Hatfield,  the  latter  of  West- 
chester-county. They  were  to  embark,  at  the  new 
Bridge  over  the  Harlem-river,  on  board  of  three 
large  floats ;  to  be  covered  by  a  fourth  float,  similar 
to  the  others  and  carrying  a  detachment  of  Artillery, 
with  a  light  three-pounder  gun;  to  fall  down  the 
Harlem-river,  with  the  ebb,  during  the  night,  to 
Morrisania  ;  and  the  calculation  was  so  made  that,  at 
daybreak,  the  young  flood  should  be  so  much  made, 
at  the  island,  as  to  cover  the  flats,  at  the  proj)osed 
place  of  landing,  sufficiently  for  the  floats  to  leave 
Morrisania,  and  be  run  ashore.  The  various  sentries, 
on  the  line  of  the  Harlem-river,  were  said  to  have 
been  informed  of  the  character  of  the  movement,  and 
instructed  to  permit  the  exjiedition  to  pass  down  the 
river,  without  challenging  it ;  and  every  promise  of  a 
successful  result  was  heard  from  all  who  were  to  be 
concerned  in  it  or  who  knew  of  the  proposed  plan  of 
operations.  Notwithstanding  one  of  the  sentries  had 
not  been  told  of  the  expedition  or  had  misunderstood 
the  Order  which  had  been  given  to  him,  and  had 
resolutely  disregarded  the  entreaties  for  silence  which 
had  been  made,  and  had  discharged  his  musket, 
giving  an  alarm,  the  enemy  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  disturbed ;  and  the  three  floats  ran  up  to  the 
place  appointed  for  the  landing,  without  serious  op- 
position, and  at  the  appointed  time.  But,  there,  a 
new  and  entirely  unlooked-for  obstruction  was  encoun- 
tered. The  orders  were  that  the  float  which  contaiiied 
the  three  commanding  Officers  should  run  ashore, 
between  the  other  two ;  that  the  two  Majors  should 
jump  ashore,  one  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left, 


1  Memoirs  of  Oe)ieral  Heath,  G2,  63. 


and  take  command  of  the  men  who  were  on  those  two 
outside  floats,  respectively,  while  Lieutenant-colonel 
Jackson  should  retain  the  command  of  those  who 
were  on  the  central  float ;  and  that  the  three  parties 
should  act  in  concert.  The  Officers  and  those  who 
were  on  the  central  float  sprang  ashore,  as  they  were 
expected ;  received  and  repulsed  a  charge  which  the 
enemy's  guard  made  on  them;  but  failed  to  receive 
the  slightest  support  from  those  who  were  on  the 
other  two  floats,  who,  instead  of  landing,  sullenly 
"  lay  upon  their  oars."  The  enemy  seeing  that  dis- 
affection, rallied,  and  returned  to  the  charge,  with 
great  spirit;  and  the  Americans,  those  from  the  cen- 
tral float,  finding  themselves  deserted,  returned  to 
their  own  float,  with  heavy  loss;  and  the  entire  ex- 
pedition withdrew  from  the  island — whether  the 
fourth  float,  on  which  were  the  Artillery  and  which 
was  intended  as  a  covering  party,  performed  any  ser- 
vice, is  not  now  known,  as  nothing  whatever  has 
been  said  of  it,  in  the  narrative  of  the  encounter  and 
retreat.  It  is  said  that  Lieutenant-colonel  Jackson 
received  a  musket-ball  in  his  leg;  that  Major  Thomas 
Henley,  one  of  the  Aides-de-camp  of  General  Heath, 
who  had  insisted  on  going  out  with  the  expedition, 
as  a  Volunteer,  was  shot  through  his  heart,  as  he  was 
getting  into  the  float;  that  Major  Hatfield  was 
missing ;  and  that  the  Americans  lost,  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  fourteen  men.'^ 

There  was  a  wide-spread  sorrow  expressed  for  the 
death  of  Major  Henley,  who  appears  to  have  been  a 
general  favorite ;  and  the  cowardice  of  those  who 
held  back  their  support  was  as  widely  reprobated ; 
but,  in  the  prevailing  temper  of  that  period,  although 
the  delinquents  were  arrested  and  tried  by  Court- 
martial,  nothing  appears  to  have  been  done  with 
them,  beyond  the  cashiering  of  one  of  the  Captains.^ 


2  The  most  complete  account  of  tliis  disastrous  expedition  is  that  of 
General  Heath,  in  his  Memoirs,  G3-6(i ;  but  the  Orders  which  were 
given  to  Lieutenant-colonel  Jackson  by  General  Heath,  "King's  BiiiD(iE, 
"September  22,  177C ; "  David  How's  Dianj,  Edit.  Morrisania,  1865, 
September  22,  1776 ;  General  Orders,  "  Head-quakters,  Harlem- 
"liEKJHTS,  September  24,1776;"  Lieutenant-colouel  Tench  Tilyhman  to 
\yillinm  Duer,  "  Head-quarters,  Haklem-heights,  September  25, 1776  ; ' 
Extract  of  a  letter  from  on  Officer,  at  Harlem,  dated  September  25,  1776, 
in  Force's  American  Archives,  Fifth  Series,  ii.,  524  ;  Extract  from  a  letter 
from  Mount  Washinylvn,  datiiji  .'>eptember  26,  1776  ;  John  Adams  to 
Mrs.  Adams,  "  Pmii.adei.piiia,  October  8,  1776  ;  "  Gordon's  History  of  the 
American  llevolntion,  ii.,  336— who  says  there  were  Jive  boats,  one  of 
which  was  sunk  by  the  fire  of  the  P/nme,  frigate— etc.,  may  be  usefully 
consulted  concerning  it. 

3  General  Orders,  Head-qvarters,  Harlem-heioiits,  September  29, 
1776  ■  Proceedings  of  a  Getwral  Court-martial  of  the  Line,  held  on  the 
Heights  of  Harlem,  by  order  of  His  Excellency  George  Washington,  Esq., 
General  and  Commander-in  chief  of  the  Forces  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  for  the  trial  of  the  CajHains  Wisnrr  and  Scott,  in  the  service  of 
said  States,  September  30,  1776  ;  AdjnUmt-geneial  heed  tv  General  Beall, 
"  Heai>-qi  arters,  Oct.  5,  1776  ;  "  the  members  of  the  General  Court- 
martial  to  Adjtttaiit-yeneral  liecd,  "  Camp  near  Head-qvarters,  October 
"  6,1776;"  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  66. 

The  atrocities  of  both  Ofticsrs  and  Privates  of  the  American  Army  and 
the  inadequacy  of  the  punishments,  therefor,  to  which  the  delinquents 
were  then  subjected,  may  be  seen  in  multitudes  of  instances,  throughout 
the  contemporary  publications;  but  the  letter  of  General  Washington, 
written  to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  "  Heiuhts  or 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


397 


The  apparent  inactivity  of  the  two  opposing  Ar- 
mies, during  several  weeks  after  the  occupation  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  was  not  understood,  even  by 
the  Congress,  and  created  some  uneasiness;'  but  both 
were  actively  employed,  the  Royal  Army  in  throwing 
up  a  line  of  defences,  on  the  high  grounds  overlook- 
ing the  Harlem-plains,  from  the  South,  in  order  to 
protect  the  City  from  an  attack  from  the  landside, 
when  the  main  Army  should  be  put  in  motion,  for 
other  operations;-  and  the  American  Army  in  not 
only  throwing  up  defences  on  the  high  grounds  over- 
looking the  Harlem-plains,  from  the  North,  in  order 
to  protect  itself  from  any  attack  which  might  be 
made  on  it,  in  that  remarkably  strong  position,'  but 
in  throwing  up  defensive  works,  in  its  rear  and  at 
distant  points,  in  order  to  guard  against  any  surprise, 
by  the  enemy,  of  either  of  those  points.* 

During  that  long  interval  of  apparent  inactivity  in 
the  two  Armies,  the  Convention  of  New  York  and  its 
Committee  of  Safety  were  not  idle  nor  inattentive  to 
the  interests  of  the  country.  It  provided  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  women,  children,  and  infirm,  and  that 
of  the  poor,  from  the  City  of  New  York,  in  some  in- 
stances into  Westchester-county  ;  ^  aud  the  care  of 
the  public  records  also  received  its  careful  attention.* 
When  the  enemy's  shipping  threatened  the  shores  of 
Suffolk,  it  appealed  for  help  from  Connecticut,  in 
view  of  its  own  inability  to  afford  protection  ; '  when 
the  Army  retreated  from  Long  Island,  wisely  foresee- 
ing that  the  Horses,  Cattle,  Hogs,  and  Sheep,  within 
the  County  of  New  York  and  the  lower  portions  of 
Westchester-county,  would  become  exposed  to  the 
depredations  of  the  enemy,  the  Committee  of  Safety 
ordered  them  to  be,  forthwith,  driven  into  the  interior 
parts  of  the  State,  and  requested  General  Washing- 
ton to  make  that  order  public,  and  to  give  all  possible 
assistance  in  carrying  it  iuto  execution  ;  *  and,  subse- 


"Haerlem,  24  September,  1776,"  may  be  referred  to,  as  a  specimen  of 
all  of  them. 

'  The  correapondence  of  John  .\dams  with  his  wife,  which  has  been 
published,  will  show  the  anxious  uncertainty  which  prevailed  in  the 
Congress. 

2  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Cii  il  Wur  in  America,  i.,  201  ;  Stedman's  His- 
tory of  the  American  Wtir,  i.,  210. 

'  General  lloxce  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Yoiik  Isuxd,  2.')  Sept., 
"  1776  ;  "  Anuutil  Hegister  for  177  6  :  Hittory  of  Europe,  *176  ;  [Hall's]  His- 
tory of  the  Civil  ir.ir  in  America,  i.,  201  ;  Stedman's  Hittory  of  the  Ameri- 
can War,  i.,  209,  210  ;  etc. 

Memoirg  of  General  Heath,  67,  68. 

i  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safely,  "  Txiesdny  afternoon,  Augt.  27, 
"  1776  ; "  the  sam;  "  FiSHKir.L,  in  Di  T(  HE.<s  CoiiNTV,  September  the  2nd, 
"1776;"  Joiiraiil  of  the  Conrenlii/n,  "Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Septr. 
"7th,  1776  ; "  ./ouriml  of -the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Monday  afternoon, 
"  Sept.  23,  1 776  ;"  etc. 

<•  Journal  of  the  Conrenlion,  "Die  Jovis,  8  ho.,  P.M.,  Augt.  22,  1776;  " 
Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Tuesday  afternoon,  .\ugt.  27,  1776  ;" 
the  tame,  "  Die  Jovis,  9  ho.,  .\.M.,  Sept.  1'2,  1776  ;"  Journal  of  the  Conven- 
tion, "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octor.  4,  1776  ;"  etc. 

'  The  Convfulion  to  the  Committees  of  Slonington,  New-London,  Groton, 
Lyme,  Saybrook,  Guilford,  Xeu!  Haven,  Stratford,  Fairfield,  Milford,  Nor- 
walk,  Stumfitrd,  and  Borseneck,  (in  each  instance)  "Wednesday  morning, 
"  Augt.  28,  1776  ;"  the  tame  to  Governor  3Vi<mlii/l, "  Wednesday  morning, 
"  Habuem,  '28th  .\ugt.,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

^  Journal  of  the  Commiltee  of  Safely,  "  At  the  house  ok  Mb.  Odell, 


quently,  when  the  purpose  of  the  enemy  to  occupy 
Westchester-county  had  become  more  evident,  Steph- 
en Ward  was  appointed  a  Commissary  "  to  purchase 
"all  the  Cattle  fit  for  the  use  of  the  Army,  within 
"  that  County,  and  to  drive  them  down  to  the  Army, 
"  at  King's  Bridge,  as  fast  as  they  may  be  wanted ; 
"  Provided,  that  so  much  shall  be  left  as  is  abso- 
"  lutely  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  families  from 
"whom  the  same  shall  be  taken."'  At  the  same 
time,  orders  were  given  by  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
"that  if  any  person  shall  refu.se  to  part  with  his 
"Cattle,  at  a  reasonable  price,  the  Commissary  be 
"  directed  to  drive  them  down  to  the  Army,  and  re- 
"  turn  to  the  owner  the  money  for  which  they  were 
"  sold,  after  deducting  the  contingent  charge  ;  "  "  that 
"  all  the  Hides  of  the  Cattle  so  driven  and  killed,  be 
"  carefully  preserved  and  sent  to  some  safe  place,  on 
"  the  North  side  of  the  Highlands,  where,  being  ap- 
"  praised  by  persons  hereafter  to  be  named  for  that 
"  purpose,  ihey  shall  be  paid  for,  by  the  State ; " 
"  that  Gil.  Budd  Horton,  Alexander  Hunt,  James 
"Varian,  and  Joseph  Youngs  be  appointed  Commis- 
"  sioners  to  drive  all  the  Horses,  Hogs,  Sheep,  and 
"  Cattle,  from  those  parts  of  the  County  of  Wcstches- 
"  ter  which  lay  upon  the  Sound  or  the  Hudson 's-river, 
"  and  which  are  any  waj'  exposed  to  the  enemy,  and 
"  to  billet  them  out  upon  the  farms  that  lay  in  the 
"  interior  part  of  the  County,  till  the  same  can  be 
"  otherwise  disposed  of ;  and  that  a  reasonable  com- 
"  peusation  be  allowed  them,  for  their  trouble ;  " 
"that  the  farmers  in  the  Countj'  of  Westchester  im- 
"  mediately  thresh  out  all  their  Grain,  as  the  Straw 
"  will  be  absolutely  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  Army, 
"and  as  those  who  do  not  comply  with  this  Resolu- 
"tion  will  be  in  danger  of  having  their  Straw  taken 
"  for  the  use  of  the  Army,  even  though  the  same 
"  should  not  be  threshed  ;  "  "  that  His  Excellency 
"  General  Washington  be  empowered  to  order  any 
"  Straw  in  the  County  of  Westchester  to  be  taken  for 
"  the  use  of  the  Army,  paying  to  the  owners  a  reason- 
"  able  compensation  therefor ;  "  "  that  the  Chairman 
"  or  Deputy  Chairman  of  the  County  of  Westchester, 
"  for  the  time  being,  on  application  from  the  Commis- 
"sary-general,  be  empowered  to  take  so  much  of  the 
"  Grain,  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  as  shall  be 
"  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  Army,  allowing  to  the 
"  owners  thereof  the  now  current  price,  and  paying 
"them  ujion  the  delivery.  Provided,  always,  tiiat 
"so  much  shall  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  owners  as 
"will  be  sufficient  to  support  their  families  for  nine 
"months,  and  to  perfect  the  fattening  of  such  Hogs 
"as  may,  now,  be  actually  put  up,  for  that  purjrose; '' 
"  that  His  Excellency  General  Washington,  in  case 
"  that  the  Cattle,  Hogs,  Sheep,  Horses,  or  Hay,  in  the 
"  County  of  Westchester,  should  be  in  danger  of  fall- 

"  Phiui-se's  Manor,  Augt.  31,  1776  ;"  the  CummiUeeof  Safety  to  General 
n'aihington,  "  Augt.  31,  1776." 

^Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safeti/,  "Monday  morning,  Octor.  14lh, 
"1776." 


398 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  ing  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  be  empowered 
"  either  to  remove  it  or  them,  therefrom,  or,  if  that 
"  should  not  be  practicable,  to  destroy  the  same ;  " 
"  that  the  Commissary  or  Commissaries  hereby  ap- 
"  pointed  be  empowered  to  appoint  Agents  under 
"  them,  and  to  call  upon  any  officer  commanding  any 
"  part  of  the  Militia,  for  such  detachments  of  the  men 
"under  his  command  as  will  be  necessary  to  carry 
"  the  same  into  execution  ;  "  "  that  Mr.  Stephen  Ward 
"  apply  to  the  Commissary -general  for  such  sums  of 
"  money  as  will,  from  time  to  time,  be  necessary  to 
"carry  the  above  Resolves  into  execution;"  and 
"  that  a  copy  of  the  above  Resolutions  be  sent  to  His 
"  Excellency  General  Washington  and  to  the  Com- 
"  missary -general,  requesting  their  assistance  in  car- 
"rying  the  same  into  execution."  ^  In  the  absence  of 
General  Lewis  Morris,  whose  hankerings  were  evi- 
dently for  something  else  than  for  active  service  in 
the  field,  at  the  head  of  his  Brigade,'  Colonel  Joseph 
Drake,  of  New  Rochelle,  the  senior  Colonel,  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  Westchester-county  Militia, 
with  instructions  to  "  call  out  as  many  of  the  Militia, 
"with  five  days  provisions,  as  he  shall  think  suffi- 
"  cient  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  enemy's  ships,'' 
"  now  in  the  Sound,  and  to  prevent  all  communica- 
"  tion  with  the  disaffected  inhabitants  in  said  County  ; 
"  and  that  he  send  notice,  from  time  to  time,  to  the 
"  Convention,  of  every  remarkable  occurrence  ;  and, 
"  for  that  purpose,  that  he  is  hereby  empowered  to 
"  press  horses,  when  he  shall  think  it  necessary."  *  In 
faithful  compliance  with  the  Order  thus  sent  to  him, 
enough  of  the  Militia  were  ordered  out  to  guard  from 
Rye-neck  to  Rodman's-neck,  Colonel  (Jraham's  Regi- 
ment being  at  Throgg's-neck  ;  and  Colonel  Budd  was 
to  send  a  hundred  men  and  to  guard  from  the  Snuff- 
mills  to  Rye-neck.''  Two  days  after  the  disastrous 
engagement  on  Long  Island,  the  Convention  ad- 
journed from  Harlem  to  Fiskill ;  ®  and  its  Committee 

^  Joimvd  of  the  CommiUen  of  Safely,  "  Monday  morning,  Octor.  14tli, 
"177C." 

These  Kcsolutiona  were  proposed  by  Robert  R.  Livington. 

20n  the  sixteenth  of  September,  "  tlie  Convention  was  informed 
"  that  the  Militia  of  Westchester-coiinty  are  not  so  properly  arranged 
"and  managed  as  they  ought  to  be,  at  this  critical  juncture,  which  is 
"occasioned  by  the  absence  of  General  Morris;"  and  it  "Therefore, 
"  Resolveu,  That  General  Morris,  now  at  the  General  Congress,  do  im- 
"  niediately  return  and  lesume  the  command  of  his  Brigade  ; "  and 
ordered  the  Resolution  to  be  transmitted  to  General  Morris, "  with  the 
"utmost  despatch."  {Journal,  "  Die  Luna',  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Sept.  16,  1770.") 
The  General's  reply  to  that  order  of  the  Convention,  dated  "  Phil-^iiei,- 
"I'lin,  Septr.  24,  1776,"  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  displays  of  evi- 
dent cowardice  and  military  imbecility  on  record,  {t:ide  ikmjc  204,  «/((t;) 
and  if  the  withering  rejoinder,  written  by  Robert  R.  Livingston,  which 
the  Committee  of  Safety  sent  to  the  General,  with  a  peremptory  Order 
to  take  the  command  of  his  Brigade,  dated  "  Octol)er  the  8th,  1776,"  did 
not  effect  its  purpose,  it  certainly  conveyed  to  the  bashful  Brigadier  an 
evidence  of  what  others  thought  of  his  remaikable  ('onduct,  as  a  soldier. 

3 Two  ships  and  a  brig  came  to  anchor,  a  little  above  Throgg's-neck, 
on  the  twenty-seventh  of  August;  and  made  a  raid  on  City-island' 
{vicie  page  .'i'J5,  ante.) 

*  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "Tuesday  morning,  August  27, 
"1776." 

6  Colonel  Joseph  Drake  to  the  Convention,"yiv.v. -UocHKLh,  Augt.  28,1776." 
<>Jouriial  of  the  Convention,  "Thursday  morning,  Augt.  29,  1776." 


followed,  holding  sessions,  while  on  it  way,  at  King's 
Bridge,'  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Odell  on  Philipse's 
Manor,**  at  the  house  of  John  Blagge,  at  Croton- 
river  f  and,  possibly,  elsewhere.'"  It  constructed  fire- 
ships,  for  the  protection  of  the  Hudson-river  from 
the  enemy's  vessels and  it  continued  the  support  of 
the  State's  cruisers,  on  the  ocean.'-  It  attended  to  the 
removal  of  the  military  stores  which  were  endangered 
by  the  movements  of  the  enemy  ;  "  it  ordered  all  the 
bells  to  be  taken  from  the  Churches"  and  all  the  brass 
knockers  from  the  doors  of  houses,'*  "  in  order  that  the 
"  fortune  of  War  may  not  throw  the  same  into  the 
"  hands  of  our  enemy  and  deprive  this  State,  at  this 
"critical  period,  of  that  necessary,  though  unfortu- 
"  iiate,  resource  for  supplying  our  want  of  cannon  ;  " 
it  provided  Lances  for  those  of  the  Militia  whom  it 
was  unable  to  provide  with  other  arms  ;  and  when 
General  Washington's  supply  of  Gunpowder  had  be- 
come unsafely  small,  it  replenished  it  from  its  own 
resources."  It  appointed,  on  the  motion  of  John  Jay, 
a  special  "  Committee  of  Safety  and  Correspondence 
"  for  that  part  of  this  State  which  lies  below  the 
"  Highlands,"  Colonel  Henry  Remsen,  Major  Garret 
Abeel,  and  Major  Peter  Pra  Van  Zandt,  all  of  them 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  having  been  appointed  as 
that  Committee  but,  notwithstanding  James  Duane 
and  John  Jay  and  William  Duer  were  also  appointed 
"  to  draw  up  Instructions  "  for  that  Committee,  and 
notwithstanding  the  stirring  events  of  which  that 
portion  of  the  State,  "  below  the  Highlands,"  very 
soon  became  the  scene,  nothing  more  was  heard  of 
either  the  Instructions  or  the  Committee  of  Safety 
which  was  thus  erected.  It  strengthened  the  works 
which  had  been  thrown  up  for  the  defense  of  the 
Highlands ;  and  it  added  to  those  defences  some 
"  works  on  the  East  side  of  the  river,  about  three 
"  miles  below  Fort  Montgomery,  at  a  place  called 
"  Red  Hook,  near  Peekskill,  which  are  well-calcu- 


'  Journal  of  the  Commiltee  of  Safety,  "  KlNu'8  BRinoE,  Augt.  30,  1776." 

^Journal  of  t)ie  Committee  of  Safety,  "At  the  iiovse  OF  Mk.  Ol)Ei,L, 
"  PiiiLii'SE'.s  Manok,  Augt.  31,  1770," 

^Jouriiiil  of  Ihi!  Committee  of  Safety,  "  CuoTON-niVER,  AT  the  house  of 
".Tno.  BLAniiK,  Augt.  31,  1776." 

1"  There  is  no  record  of  the  doings  of  the  Committee,  on  Sunday,  the 
first  of  September,  although  it  evidently  continued  its  journey,  from  the 
Croton-river  to  Fishkill,  on  that  day. 

"Journal  of  the  Cotireiitiou,  "Tluii-sday  morning,  Augt.  29,  1776  ;"  the 
.wrac,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Sept.  21,  IT'S  General  Washiui/tou 
to  the  Convention,  "  HEAn-giHETERS,  Heights  of  Harlem,  Sept.  20, 
"  1T76  ;  "  etc. 

^'^Jouriud  of  the  Committee  of  S<i/e()/,  "  Tuesday  afternoon,  Septr.  24, 
"1776;"  the  samr,  "  Wednesday  morning,  Septr.  25,  1776;"  Jonniul  of 
the  Coneetilion,  "Saturday  morning.  September  28,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

13  Journal  of  the  Commiltee  of  Safety,  "  P.M.,  September  .%  1770  ;"  Jour- 
nal of  the  Cnnvention,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Sept.  7,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

^ijonrnal  of  the  Convention,  "  Die  .lovis,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Sept.  H,  17  76;" 
General  Washington  to  the  Convention,  "  Head-quarters,  New-York, 
"Septr.  8,  1770." 

Journal  of  the  Convefntion,  "  Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Sept.  7,  17  70.' 
16  Vide  i)ages381,  382,  ante. 

'^T  Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Friday  morning,  Sept.  27,  1770  ;" 
Journal  of  the  Convention,  "  Saturday  morning,  September  28,  1776." 
i»JoHnHil  of  the  Convention,  "Die  Sabbati,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Sept.  7,  1770." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


399 


"  lated  to  prevent  the  enemy's  landing  on  tluit  side 
"  and  becoming  masters  of  tiie  Highlands,  opposite  to 
"  Fort  3Iontgomery."  '  When  the  evacuation  of  the 
City  of  New  York  was  made  at  the  expense  of  largo 
quantities  of  Flour,  it  appointed  Agents,  with  instruc- 
tions to  ])urchase  all  the  Flour  which  could  be  ob- 
tained iu  Duchess,  Orange,  and  Ulster-counties,  and 
to  send  it  to  the  Commissary-general  of  the  Army, 
at  Spyt  den  Duivel-creek  :  -  when  the  Army  needed 
Pork,  Beef,  and  other  Stores,  the  Convention  opened 
its  Storehouses,  in  Westchester-county,  into  which 
it  had  gathered  large  (piantitics  of  the  products  of 
that  County,  the  crops  of  the  preceding  year:^  it 
purchased  material  for  and  provided  for  thef  manufac- 
ture of  Clothing,  for  the  Army:*  it  busied  itself 
about  salting  Pork,  in  the  County  of  Westchester, 
during  the  approaching  season :  ^  and  whatever  it 
supposed  would  promote  the  common  cause  and 
whatever  it  was  requested  to  do,  for  that  purj)ose,  by 
either  the  Continental  Congress  or  the  Commander- 
in-chief  or  the  General  commanding  the  northern 
Army,  was  done,  to  the  full  extent  of  its  ability  and 
resources,  with  cheerfulness,  promptitude,  and  thor- 
oughness, never  failing  to  receive,  in  return,  the  un- 
qualified and  entire  approval  of  him  whose  entire 
approval  was  never  idly  bestowed. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  September,  the  American 
Army,  at  Kingsbridge  and  its  dependencies,  which 
included  General  Heath's  command,  in  Westchester- 
county,  consisted,  nominally,  of  four  thousand,  five 
hundred,  and  twenty-eight  Commissioned  Officers, 
Staff,  and  Non-commissioned  Officers,  and  twenty- 
seven  thousand,  three  hundred,  and  seventy-seven 
rank  and  file,  exclusive  of  Colonel  Knox's  Regiment 
of  Artillery,  which  contained,  nominally,  five  hundred 
and  forty-three  men,  including  all  the  Commissioned 
and  Non-commissioned  Officers  and  Staff,  and  exclus- 
ive, also,  of  Colonel  Durkee's  Regiment  and  a  Compa- 
ny of  Artillery,  both  of  them  at  Powle's-hook,  now 
Jersey  City,  from  whom  no  Returns  had  been  received, 
during  that  week.  But  of  those  nearly  twenty-eight 
thousand  men,  in  the  ranks,  four  thousand,  four  hun- 
dred, and  tifty-three  were  present,  sick;  three  thou- 
sand, four  hundred,  and  thirty-three  were  absent,  sick; 


■  Jxiirniil  of  the  Convoilion,  "  Die  Sabbati,  4  ho.,  P.M.,  Septr.  7,  1770." 

-  ComiHiss)irij-grner<il  Tiiimbiill  to  ilii'  Convention,  "King's  Bridge,  16 
"Sept.,  177G  ; "  Journal  of  the  Coneeulion,  "Dies  Martis,  4  ho.,  P.M., 
"Septr.  17, 177G." 

Wc  have  follow  ed  Washington  Irving,  in  liis  historical  writings,  in  our 
orthograpliy  of  the  name  of  tliat  celebrated  stream,  notwithstanding  the 
usual  manner  of  spelling  the  words  is  considerably  dilVercnt. 

^Journiil  of  the  Pi-4iviiici'it  Congriw,  "Die  Mercurii,  !)  ho.,  .\.M.,  Septr. 
"  18,  1776  ;"  Ihi-  s<i»i.',  "Die  Veneris,  9  ho.,  A.M.,  Octor.  4,  1776." 

*Jmimiil  of  the  Pmi  inciul  Con<jri  s.i,  "  Dio  Jovis,  it  ho.,  A.M.,  Octor.  3, 
"  1776  ;  "  Jmtrnal  of  the  Cvmmilt.e  "f  Siif  lij,  "  Die  Mercnrii,  9  ho.,  A.M., 
"Octr.  9,  1776;  "  Ihe  mme,  "  Thursilay  morning,  Octor.  17,  n76." 

Stephen  Ward,  Gilbert  Strang,  and  Phil.  Leak  were  appointed  to  buy 
coarse  woollen  Cloth,  Linsey-woolsey,  Blankets,  woollen  Hose,  Mittens, 
coarse  Linen,  felt  Hats,  and  Shoes,  to  tlie  value  of  three  hundred 
pounds— seven  huiulred  and  fifty  dollars— in  Westcheeter-countj ;  and 
they  were  ordered  to  have  the  Linen  niaile  up  into  Shirts. 

'  Jminidl  of  Ihe  Committee  of  Safety,  "Thursdny,  Octor.  10,  1776." 


three  thousand,  eight  hundred,  and  thirty  were  ab- 
sent, "on  command;"  and  ninety-six  were  on  fur- 
lough; leaving  only  about  sixteen  thousand  men,  in- 
cluding the  Artillery  and  excluding  the  Olliccrs,  who 
were  actually  present  and  fit  for  duty."  Of  these,  thir- 
teen Regiments  were  Militia,  temporarily  serving  in 
the  service  of  the  Coiitiiiont ; '  and,  since  the  disastrous 
results  on  Long  Island  and  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
the  entire  Army  was  greatly  dispirited  and  inspired 
no  confidence  iu  its  Commander-in-chief."  On  the 
thirtieth  of  September,  the  number  of  rank  and  file. 


Gniend  Rcttint  of  Ihr  Anutj  in  ihf  service  of  the  Vnitcd  Stairs  nf  AnH  ricii 
'it  Kinifs  liridijc  and  its  di'iit'ndenci/'s,  Sept.  21,  1776. 
-  Ibid. 

8"  The  check  our  detiU'hnicnt  siiKtiiitU'd  on  llir  27lli  ultimo  bus  dis- 
"pirited  too  great  a  proporliuti  of  our  troops,  and  filleil  their  ;ninds  with, 
"apprehension  and  de.^pair.  The  Militia,  instead  of  calling  forth  tlieir 
"  utmost  efforts  to  a  brave  and  maidy  opijosition,  iu  order  to  repair  our 
•'lossies,  are  dismayed,  intractable,  and  impatient  to  return,  fireat  uum- 
"  bers  of  them  have  gone  off  ;  iu  some  instances,  almost  by  whole  Regi- 
"ments,  by  half  ones,  and  by  Companies,  at  a  time.  This  circumstance, 
"of  itself,  independent  of  others,  when  fronted  by  a  well-appointed 
"enemy,  superior  in  number  to  our  whole  collected  force,  would  bo 
"  sufficiently  disagreeable  ;  but,  when  their  examjile  has  infected  another 
"part  of  the  Army,  when  their  want  of  discipline  and  refusal  of  almost 
"every  kind  of  restraint  or  government  have  produced  a  like  conduct 
"but  too  common  to  the  whole  and  an  entire  disregard  of  that  order 
"and  subordination  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  an  .\rmy,  and  which 
"had  been  inculcated  before,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  our  military  es- 
"  tablishnieut  would  admit  of,  our  condition  becomes  still  more  alarm- 
"  ing;  and,  with  the  deejiest  concern,  I  am  obliged  to  confess  my  want 
"of  confidence  iu  the  generality  of  the  troops."  (Oineral  M'iiahingt<m  lo 
the  President  of  Ihe  Congress,  "New-York,  September  2,  1770.") 

"Before  I  conclude,  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  mentioning  to  Congress 
"the  great  distress  we  are  in  for  want  of  mouey.  Two  months'  pay  (and 
"more  to  some  Battalions)  is  now  due  to  the  troojis,  here,  without  any- 
"  thing  in  the  Blilitary  chest  to  satisfy  it.  This  occjtfjions  much  dissatis- 
"  faction  and  almost  a  general  uneasiness.  Not  a  day  pa8.ses  without 
■' complaiuts  and  the  most  importunate  and  urgent  demands,  on  this 
"  head.  As  it  may  injure  the  service  greatly,  and  the  want  of  a  reg- 
"  ular  supply  of  Cash  produces  conse(iuences  of  the  most  fatal  tendency, 
"  1  entreat  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this  subject,  and  that  we  may 
"be  provided,  as  soon  as  can  be,  with  a  sum  eijual  to  every  present 
"claim."  {General  yVashington  to  tlie  I'resideut  of  the  Congress,  "New- 
"YoKK,  6  September,  1776.") 

In  his  letter  to  the  Congress,  on  the  eighth  of  September,  the  Gen- 
eral said,  "On  every  wide,  there  is  a  choice  of  difficulties  ;  and  every 
"measure,  on  our  part,  however  ])ainful  the  rellectiou  is,  from  e.\i>eri- 
"ence,  is  to  be  formed  with  some  apprehension  that  all  our  troops 
"will  not  do  their  duty."  .After  the  experience  of  the  Geueral  had 
been  made  more  complete,  by  the  cowardice  of  the  troops  at  Kip's- 
b»y,  he  thus  wrote,  also  to  the  Congress,  "  We  are  now  encamped,  with 
"the  main  body  of  the  Army,  on  the  Heights  of  Haeiiem,  where  I  should 
"hope  the  enemy  would  meet  with  a  defeat,  in  case  of  an  attack,  if  the 
"  generality  of  our  troops  wxnild  btdiave  with  tolerable  bravery.  But 
" e.\perience,  to  my  extreme  allliction,  has  convinceil  me  that  this  is 
"rather  to  be  wished  for  than  expected.  However,  I  trust  that  there 
"are  many  who  will  act  like  men,  and  show  themselves  worthy  of  the 
"blessings  of  freedom."  {Letter  to  tlie  Congress,  "  Hii.vl>-qu.\RTKiis,  .\T 
"Colonel  Morkis's  iiovse,  16  September,  1776.")  On  the  day  after  the 
date  of  the  Retitnis  of  Ihe  Ai  nnj  whicli  are  referred  to  in  the  text,  the 
(ieueral  wrote  to  his  brother,  "the  de|>cndence  which  the  Congress  have 
"placed  iipim  the  Militia  has  already  greatly  injured  and,  I  fear,  will 
"  totally  ruin  our  cause.  Being  subject  to  no  control,  themselves,  they 
"introduce  disorder  among  the  tr(»ups  whom  we  have  attempted  to  dis- 
"cipline  ;  while  the  change  in  their  living  brings  on  sickness;  and  this 
"causes  an  impatience  to  get  home,  which  spreads,  universally,  and  in- 
"troduces  abominable  desertions.  In  short,  it  is  not  in  the  power  of 
"  words  to  describe  the  task  I  have  to  perform.  Kifly  thousand  pounds 
"  would  not  induce  me  again  to  undergo  what  I  have  done."  (General 
WushingloH  to  John  Angnttine  Washington,  "UkiuiITS  OF  HAERI.EM,  22 
"September,  1776.") 


400 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


present  and  fit  for  duty,  including  Colonel  Knox's 
Regiment  of  Artillery,  was  reduced  to  fifteen  thou- 
sand, one  hundred,  and  four;'  and  on  the  fifth  of 
October,  the  same  rank  and  file,  present  and  fit  for 
duty,  including  the  Artillery,  numbered  only  fourteen 
thousand,  four  hundred,  and  eighty-six,  exclusive  of 
seven  skeleton  Regiments  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island,  forming  two  nominal  Brigades,  each  with  its 
full  complements  of  Officers  and  Stafl',  in  which  there 
were  nominally  twelve  hundred  and  seventy-five  men, 
present  and  fit  for  duty.  There  was,  also,  a  body  of 
Massachusetts  Militia,  "  computed  at  four  thousand, 
"  so  scattered  and  ignorant  of  the  forms  of  Returns 
"that  none  can  be  got;"  and  a  Regiment  of  New 
Hampshire  Militia  was  posted  at  the  White  Plains 
and  another  at  the  Fishkills,  "  under  the  like  circum- 
"  stances."  ^ 

While  the  American  Army  was  thus  made  weaker, 
day  by  day,  by  the  disaffection  or  the  despair  of  the 
sickly,  despondent,  home-sick,  and  ill-provided-for 
men  who  composed  it — men  who,  iu  multitudes  of 
instances,  had  enlisted  either  from  necessity,  occas- 
ioned by  the  prevailing  prostration  of  every  kind 
of  business,  or  because  they  had  been  enforced 
to  do  so,  by  drafts,  or  because  it  had  afforded  oppor- 
tunities for  speculation  and  plunder,  without,  in 
either  class,  the  slightest  pretence  to  a  care  for  "  the 
"  cause  of  America  "  or  to  even  a  love  of  country — 
the  Royal  Army,  well-appointed  and  well -officered, 
numbered  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  effective  men, 
exclusive  of  those  who  were  left  for  the  protection  of 
Staten  Island  and  of  those  who  were  sick.'  Indeed, 


1  Selum  of  Brigiidet  under  the  immediate  command  of  Hi»  ExcelU  ncy 
George  WanhiiujUm,  "  Uaui.km  Heights,  Head-quabtees,  September  30, 
"l"7(i." 

2  Wcvklif  Return  of  the  Regiments  of  Horse  and  Foot,  under  the  immediate 
comnunid  of  His  Excftleiicij  George  Washington^  *^  Wx^vz^i  Heights,  Oc- 
"tober  5,  1776." 

General  Lincolu's  command  can  scarcely  be  regardi-ii,  with  any  pro- 
priety, as  a  portion  of  the  main  Army  nor  as  a  part  of  tlie  fighting  force 
of  any  .\rmy,  since  it  was  sent  for,  to  perform  police  duty,  to  ijuiet  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Convention  of  New  Yorlv  u!i  account  of  tlie  disaf" 
fected,  in  that  Stiite — those  whom  the  Congresses  and  the  (;ommittee8 
had  forced  into  disaffection,  by  the  outrages  wliich  had  been  inflicted 
on  them,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  secure  an  entire  conformity  of  political 
opinions  with  the  official  opinions  of  the  dominant  faction. 

3  General  Howe's  Returns  show  thiit,  when  he  occupied  Staten  Island, 
after  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements  brought  by  Lord  Howe,  say  on  the 
iiinth  of  .\ugu8t,  his  command  numbered,  including  his  Officers,  twenty- 
nine  thousand,  three  hundred,  and  eight,  of  whom  twenty  four  thousand, 
two  hundred,  and  twenty-seven  were  rank  and  file,  fit  for  duty.  (Reply 
to  the  Observations  of  Lieut.  Gen.  Sir  William  Howe,  on  a  pamphlet,  en- 
titled Letters  to  a  Nobleman,  Second  Edition,  37.)  Three  days  after  the 
date  of  that  Return,  [August  12,]  the  two  fleets,  convoyed,  respectively,  by 
Commodore  Hotham  and  the  Repulse,  came  into  the  harbor  of  New  York, 
with  the  Guards  and  the  Fii"st  Division  of  the  Hessians,  {Compare  Lord 
George  Germaine's  despateh  to  General  Howe,  dated,  "  Whitehall,  21 
"June,  1776,"  wit/i  General  Howe's  d&tpaieh  to  Lord  George  Germaine, 
dated  "  Staten-Isl.vnd,  15  August,  177C  ;  ")  and,  two  days  subsequently, 
[j4ti3HS(  14,]  Sir  Peter  Parker  and  Lord  Dunniore  also  arrived,  {General 
Howe  to  Lord  George  Gerrniiine,  "  Sr.\TEX-IsLAND,  1.5  August,  177C,")  the 
former,  with  what  remained  of  the  forces  which  had  been  sent  to  Vir- 
ginia and  the  Carolinas,  "  as  well  as  with  some  Regiments  from  Florida 
"and  the  West  Indies,"  (^Hnwfi  Register  for  1776:  History  of  Europe, 
*169,)  numbering,  "at  least,five  thousandmen,"  (Jones's  Historf/  of  New 


in  the  graphic  language  of  one  of  the  most  able  writ- 
ers of  that  period,  at  the  time  now  under  considera- 
tion an  intimate  friend  of  the  master-spirits  of  the 
Convention  of  New  York,  "  The  British  Army  was 
"commanded  by  able  and  experienced  Officers;  the 
"  rebel  by  men  destitute  of  military  skill  or  experience 
"  and,  for  the  most  part,  taken  from  mechanic  arts  or 
"  the  plough.  The  first  were  possessed  of  the  best 
"  appointments,  and  of  more  than  they  gould  use  ; 
"and  the  other  of  the  worst,  and  of  less  than  they 
"  wanted.  The  one  were  attended  by  the  ablest  Sur- 
"geons  and  Physicians,  healthy,  and  high-spirited; 
"  the  other  were  neglected  in  their  health,  clothing, 
"  and  pay,  were  sickly,  and  constantly  murmuring 
"and  dissatisfied.  And  the  one  were  veteran  troops, 
"  carrying  victory  and  conquest  wheresoever  they  were 
"  led  ;  the  other  were  new-raised  and  undisciplined, 
"  a  panic-struck  and  defeated  enemy,  whenever  at- 
"  tacked — such  is  the  true  comparative  diflTerence 
"  between  the  force  sent  to  suppress,  and  that  which 
"supported,  the  Rebellion."* 


York  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  i.,  110 :)  Ihe  latter,  "  with  the  refu- 
" gees  and  blackamores  from  Virginia,"  {the  same,  i.,  103,)  "about  a 
"thousand  more  "  {the  tame,  i.,  110.)  The  Second  Division  of  the  Hes- 
sians, theSi.Yteenth  Kegiment  of  Light  Dragoons,  the  horses  for  remount- 
ing the  Seventeenth  Regiment  of  Dragoons,  the  diaught-horses  for  the 
Artillery  and  baggage,  four  hundred  and  two  German  and  not  far  from 
five  hundred  British  recruits,  and  the  Prince  of  Waldeck's  Regiment  of 
German  troops,  all  of  whom  joined  General  Howe,  while  he  was  in 
Westchester-county,  as  we  shall  see,  hereafter — were  on  their  way  to 
America,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write.  {Lord  George  Germaine  to  Gen- 
eral Howe,  "  Whitehall,  21  June,  1776.")  There  were,  also,  some  Pro- 
vincial "Corps,  already  raised,"  of  whom  we  have  seen  no  Returns, 
{Genend  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Statex-Island,  1G  .\ugn6t, 
"  1776,  ")  probably  not  strong  in  numbers,  but,  nevertheless,  entitled  to 
notice,  in  this  connection. 

From  these  facts,  it  appears  that  the  entire  force,  present  and  com- 
manded by  General  Howe,  before  he  opened  the  Campaign  on  Long  Is- 
land, was  upwards  of  forty  thousand  men,  exclusive  of  the  Marines  on 
the  several  Fleets,  which  could  have  been  called  ashore,  had  there  been 
any  necessity  for  their  services.  Only  one  Brigade  of  Hessians,  a  detach- 
ment of  the  Fourteenth  Regiment,  some  convalescents,  and  those  re- 
cruits which  had  already  arrived,  were  left  on  Staten  Island  ;  and  the 
Sick-list  was  very  small  ;  there  were  no  detiichiuents  on  special  duties  ; 
and  there  could  have  been  none  absent  on  furlough  :  it  is  very  clear, 
therefore,  that  when  the  Royal  Army  was  moved  from  Staten  Island,  it 
numbered  very  little,  if  any,  less  than  thirty-eight  thousand  effective 
men,  including  its  Otticcrs.  In  the  liattle  of  Long  Island,  it  was  said  to 
have  lost  only  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  of  all  classes,  {General Howe 
to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "Newtown,  Long  Island,  3  Sept.,  1776  ;") 
only  "about "  ninety-two  were  said  to  have  been  killed  or  wounded  at 
Harlem.  {General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Head-quarteiis, 
"  York  Island,  21  September,  1776  ; ")  the  occupation  of  Powle's-hook, 
Long  Island,  and  the  City  of  New  Y'ork  required  detachments,  of  course; 
but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Army  which  General  Howe  mo\ed 
fromThrogg's-neck  numbered  very  little,  if  any,  less  than  thirty  thous- 
and, Officers  and  men,  fit  for  active  service. 

In  confirmation  of  this  estimate  of  the  strength  of  General  Howe's 
command,  in  Westchester-county,  we  may  be  permitted  to  state  that, 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Second  Division  of  the  Hessians  and  of  those 
other  reinforcement*  to  which  Lord  George  Germaine  made  reference, 
already  noticed,  but  with  the  losses  which  it  had  sustained  in  Westches- 
ter-county and  at  Fort  Washington  deducted,  on  the  twenty-second  of 
November,  1776,  "the  force  under  General  Howe's  immediate  command," 
is  said  to  have  been  thirty-one  thousand,  seven  hundred,  and  fifty-five. 
Officers  and  men,  fit  for  active  service.  {Keply  to  the  Observations  of 
Lieut.  Gen.  Sir  William  Howe,  on  a  pamphlet  entitled  Letters  to  a  Jfo- 
hleman,  37.) 

<  [Joseph  Galloway's]  Letters  to  a  Nohleman,  34,  35. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


401 


As  we  have  said,  the  two  Armies  were  occupied, 
during  several  weeks  after  the  Royal  Army  had  taken 
the  City  of  Now  York,  in  throwing  up  defensive  i 
works — the  American  Army,  on  the  Heights  of  Har- 
lem, to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  the  present 
village  of  Manhattanville,  back,  to  Kingsbridge,  and 
in  the  more  exposed  portions  of  Westchester-county : 
the  Royal  Army,  on  the  Heights  of  Harlem  and  on  I 
A''andewater's  Heights,  southward  from  the  village  of  j 
Manhattanville,  and  thence  to  McGowan's-pass.  where 
the  postroad  to  the  northward  and  eastward  descended 
from  the  high  grounds,  forming  the  northernmost 
portion  of  the  present  great  City's  Central  Park,  to 
the  Harlem-plains,  below ' — and  some  time  was,  also, 
necessarily  employed  by  General  Howe,  in  obtaining 
information  concerning  the  face  of  the  country,  in 
the  rear  of  the  positions  occupied  by  the  American 
Army,  "upon  a  supposition  that  the  enemy"  [_fhe 
American  Armyl  "  should  remove  from  King's- 
•'  Bridge,"  which  information,  thus  sought  in  ad- 
vance of  any  movement  of  the  Army,  was  become 
more  necessary  since  he  had  found  the  Americans 
not  so  well-disposed  to  join  and  to  serve  the  Royal 
Army,  in  the  field,  as  he  had  been  taught  to  expect ; 
and  because  the  country  referred  to,  the  County  of 
Westchester,  "  was  so  covered  with  wood,  swamps, 
"and  creeks,  that  it  was  not  open,  in  the  least  de- 
"  gree,  to  be  known,  but  from  post  to  post  or  from 


iVide  page  307,  ante. 

See,  also,  General  Hotre  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New  York 
"Island,  25  September,  177fi;"  the  same  to  the  same,  "New-Yohk,  30 
"  November,  177G  ;  "  Speech  of  Sir  IVilliam  Howe  hefort:  a  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Cf/mmong,  April  29,  1779, — Almon's  Parliamentary  Register,  xii. 
323;  Testimoutf  of  the  Earl  of  Com icallis  before  a  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  May!!,  1779. — Almon's  Parliamenlarij  Kegisln-,  xiii.,  3;  etc. 

'  Vide  page  386,  ante. 

That  diKippointnient  was  expressed  to  the  Hume  Gorernment.  in  the 
General's  despatch  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  September,  177G,  in  these 
wonls :  "  We  must  also  have  recruits  from  Europe,  not  finding  the  Anier- 
"  icjins  disposed  to  serve  with  arms,  notwithstanding  the  hopes  held  out 
"to  me,  upon  my  arrival  at  this  post."  In  his  Speech  before  a  Commit- 
tee of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  ttcentij-ninlh  of  April,  1779,  the  Gen- 
eral repeated  the  expression  of  his  disappointment,  on  that  subject,  in 
these  emphatic  words:  "I  miutt,  here,  add,  that  I  found  the  Americans 
"  not  so  well-disposed  to  join  us,  and  to  serve,  as  I  had  been  taught  to 
"expect."  The  careful  student  of  the  history  of  that  period  will  also 
bear  testimony,  in  confirnuttion  of  what  General  Howe  thus  wrote  and  i 
raid,  that  the  .Vmericans,  those  who  had  been  persecuted  and  outraj;ed  ' 
because  of  "suspicions"  that  they  were  " disaflected,"  notwithstanding 
the  very  reasonable  reasons  which  they  had  for  thus  transferring  their 
atrength  to  the  Royal  Army,  generally  remaine<l  at  their  homes,  with 
their  families,  without  voluntarily  taking  up  amis,  in  either  Army  ;  and 
that  the  Loyal  Dattalions  were  composed,  almost  exclusively,  of  the 
floating  population,  largely  men  of  foreign  birth  or  Americans  whose 
immoralitit!S  or  necessities  had  induced  them  to  enter  the  service.  They 
were  relatively  few  in  nunilicrs  ;  and  but  for  the  personal  respectability 
of  th(.<se  who  led  them,  their  services  would  have  been  only  nominal. 

We  are  not  unmindful,  in  what  we  have  thus  said,  of  the  great  use  of 
(hat  loyal  element  which  Joseph  Galloway  made  in  his  very  lawyer-like 
publicatiims;  but  we  have  also  borne  in  mind,  that  those  publications 
were  made  for  personal  and  partisan  purposes  ;  and  that,  like  his  earlier 
awociutes  in  duplicity  and  treachery,  he  was  capable  of  resorting  to  un- 
savory means  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  given  end  in  which  he  wad 
personally  interested,  justifying  the  employment  of  those  means  by  the 
character  of  the  proposed  end,  and  l>oUlly  and  unreservedly  doing  evil  in  | 
order  that  what  he  was  pleased  to  regard  as  good  might,  therefrom,  be  | 
iecnreil; 

35 


"  accounts  to  be  collected  from  the  inhabitants,  who 
"are  entirely  ignorant  of  military  description.'"  In- 
deed, during  that  period,  because  of  the  character  of 
the  country,  in  its  advantages  for  defensive  opera- 
tions, and  because  of  his  great  disappointment,  in  his 
failure  to  receive  the  support,  in  arms,  from  those 
who  were  disaffected,  which  he  had  been  led  to  ex- 
pect, General  Howe,  also,  became  dispirited  and  dis- 
heartened, even  to  the  extent  of  losing  confidence  in 
his  own  abilities  and  in  those  of  his  immense  and 
well-otficered  and  well-disciplined  command  to  make 
any  further  progress,  during  that  Campaign,  nor 
until  the  arrival  of  heavy  reinforcements,  during  the 
ensuing  Winter  and  Spring.*    General  Howe  had 


3  General  Howe's  Speech  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
April  29,  1779. 

In  his  e.xamination  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  on 
the  sixth  of  May,  1779,  the  Earl  of  Cornwallis  testified  that  "  the  knowl- 
"edge  of  the  country  of  America,  for  military  purposes,  was  extremely 
"difficult  to  be  obtained  from  the  inhabitants  ;''  that  "the  country,  in 
"  general,  is  so  covered  with  wood  and  so  favorable  to  ambuscades  that, 
"  certainly,  it  was  very  difficult  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  it  by  recon- 
"  noitering ; "  and  that  he  "  never  saw  a  stronger  country  or  one  better 
"calculated  for  the  defensive."  In  anotlier  portion  of  his  testimony, 
the  Karl  stated,  "  I  can  only  say  that  it  is  a  very  strong  country,  very 
"  rugged,  very  hilly,  and  verj-  woody  ;''  and  that, although,  "by  no  means 
**equally  so,"  his  former  description  was  "applicable,  in  some  degree, 
"  to  all,"  General  Gray,  before  the  same  Committee  and  on  the  same  day, 
testified  that ''the  inhabitantsof  the  country,  in  general,  were  so  very  much 
"  against  us  that  they  deserted  the  country  wherever  we  came ;  and  we 
"could  get  no  intelligence  that  we  could  possibly  depend  on;"  that 
"that  part  of  .\nierica  where  I  have  been,  is  the  strongest  country  I  ever 
"  was  in.  It  is  every  where  hilly  and  covered  with  wood,  intersected  by 
"ravines,  creeks,  and  niarsliy  grounds:  and  every  quarter  of  a  mile,  is 
"a  post  fitted  for  ambuscades.  Little  or  no  knowledge  could  be  obtained 
"  by  reconnoitering ;  "  and  "  America  is,  of  all  countries,  the  best  calcu- 
"  latcd  for  the  defensive :  every  one  hundred  yards  might  bo  disputed, 
"at  least  that  part  of  it  that  I  have  seen." 

During  a  visit  which  he  made  to  us,  at  our  home,  near  the  White 
Plains,  previously  to  the  late  Civil  War,  General  .John  E.  Wool,  a  vet- 
eran in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  was  peculiarly  emphatic  con- 
cerning the  natural  capabilities  of  Westchester-county,  for  a  defensive 
warfare. 

*  "  Upon  the  present  appearance  of  things,  I  look  upon  the  further 
"progress  of  this  Army,  for  the  Campaign,  to  be  rather  precarious,  an 
"attack  upon  Khode  Island  excepted,  which  I  would  willingly  defer, 
"(or  a  short  time,  in  case  it  should  be  thought  advisible  to  employ  our 
"whole  force  together.  *  *  *  But,  in  my  situation,  I  presume,  I 
"  must  not  risk,  as  a  check,  at  this  time,  would  be  of  infinite  detriment 
"  to  us. 

"The  enemy  is  too  strongly  posted  to  be  attacked,  in  front ;  and  in- 
"  numerable  difficulties  .are  in  my  way  of  turning  him,  on  either  side, 
"though  his  .\rmy  is  much  dispirited  from  the  late  success  of  his 
"Majesty's  arms;  yet  have  I  not  the  smallest  prospect  of  finishing  the 
"contest,  this  Campaign,  nor  until  the  Kebels  sec  preparations,  in  the 
"Spring,  that  may  preclude  all  thoughts  of  further  resistance.  To  this 
"  etid,  I  would  propose  eight  or  ten  liue-of-battJe  .^hips,  to  be  with  us  in 
"  February,  with  a  oumborof  jiupernuuu'rary  Seamen,  for  manning  boats, 
"  having  fully  experienced  the  want  of  them,  in  every  movenieut  we  have 
"made.  We  must,  also,  have  recruits  from  Europe,  not  finding  the 
".\mericans  disposed  to  serve  with  arms,  notwithstanding  the  hopes 
"held  out  to  nie,  upon  my  arrival  at  this  port."  —  {General  Hotre  to  Lord 
George  Germaine,  "New- York  Island,  25  September,  177G,"  received  by 
his  lordship,  November  2,  177C.) 

"  With  regard  to  the  knowledge  of  the  country,  so  necessary  to  be  ob- 
"tained  previous  to  the  movement  from  New-York,  I  beg  leave  to  nien- 
"  tion  the  difficulties  we  labored  under,  in  that  respect,  throughout  the 
"  War,  The  country  is  so  covered  with  wood,  swani|w,  and  creeks,  that 
"  it  is  not  open,  in  the  least  degree,  to  be  known  \<\\t  from  p*>st  to  post  or 
"from  accounts  to  be  collected  from  the  inlial'itants,  who  are  entirely 
"ignorant  of  military  description.    These  circonl^t.llll.^■-  »irf.  therefore 


402 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


not  learned  the  more  modern  military  theory  of  "  at- 
"trition,"  no  matter  at  what  cost,  nor  was  he  of  the 
same  school  of  politics  as  that  in  which  Bute  and 
Germaine  and  Dundas  and  Wedderburne  and  Jay 
and  Duane  and  the  Livingstons  and  the  Morrises 
were  preceptors,  of  high  or  low  degree:  on  the  other 
hand,  he  did  not  expose  his  command  where  the 
object  to  be  attained  was  inadequate,'  nor  was  he 
inclined  to  visit  the  country,  even  that  portion  of  it 
which  was  antagonistic  to  the  Royal  Army,  with  se- 
verity.'^ 

Whatever  may  have  inspired  and  encouraged 
him,  notwithstanding  all  Avhichs  he  had  previously 
said  of  the  "innumerable  difficulties  in  his  way, 
"of  turning  him,"  (he  enemy,"^  "on  either  side," 
and  of  his  own,  evidently  well-considered,  appre- 
hensions of  an  unfavorable  result,  should  an  at- 
tempt be  made  to  do  so.  General  Howe  determined 
to  endeavor  to  turn  the  left  flank  of  the  American 
Army,  encamped  on  the  Heights  of  Harlem  and  in 
Westchester-county,  with  a  view  of  compelling  it  to 
abandon  its  very  strong  position  and,  if  possible,  of 
bringing  it  to  action.  As  the  defensive  works,  on  the 
high  grounds  to  the  southward  of  the  Harlem  plains, 
with  the  moderate  detachment  which  he  could  leave, 
for  the  purpose  of  occupying  them  and  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  with  the  further 
protection  which  was  afforded  by  the  Fleet  and  the 
increased  safety  which  had  been  afforded  by  the  cap- 
ture of  the  American  works  at  Powle's-hook,  appeared 
to  afford  all  the  protection  which  would  be  necessary, 
there  seemed  to  have  been  little  probability  that 
General  Washington  would  make  any  attempt  to  re- 
cover, or  even  to  raid,  that  (/ity ;  and  the  determination 
of  General  Howe  was,  therefore,  a  reasonable  one,  and, 
with  such  a  force  and  with  such  appointments  as  he, 
then,  controlled,  there  was  a  reasonable  probability 
that  it  would  be  attended  with  an  entire  success. 

On  Sunday,  the  fifteenth  of  September,  in  order  to 
draw  the  attention  of  the  Americans  from  the  prep- 
arations which  were  being  made,  on  Long  Island,  for 


"  the  cause  of  some  unavoidable  delay,  in  our  moTements.  I  raust,  here, 
"  add  that  I  found  the  Americans  not  so  well-disposed  to  join  us,  and  to 
"serve,  as  I  had  been  taught  to  expect ;  that  I  thought  our  farther 
•*  progress,  for  the  present,  precarious ;  and  that  I  saw  no  prospect  of 
"  finishing  the  War,  that  Campaign.  These  sentiments  I  communicated 
'to  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  letters  last  mentioned." — (General 
Howe' 6  Speech  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commoiui,  April  29,  1779.) 

1  "  The  most  essential  duty  I  had  to  observe  was,  not  wantonly  to  coin- 
"mit  his  Majesty's  troops  where  the  object  was  inadequate.  I  knew, 
"  well,  that  any  considerable  loss  sustained  by  the  Army  could  not, 
"speedily  nor  easily,  be  repaired.  I  also  knew  that  one  great  point 
"  towards  gaining  the  confidence  of  an  Army — and  a  General  without  it 
"  is  upon  the  most  dangerous  ground— is  never  to  expose  the  Troops, 
"  where,  as  I  said  before,  the  object  is  inadequate." — (General  Howe's 
Speech  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  April  29,  1779.) 

2  "Although  some  persons  condemn  nie  for  having  endeavoured  to  con- 
"ciliate  his  Majesty's  rebellious  subjects,  by  talking  every  means  to  pre- 
"  vent  the  destruction  of  the  country  instead  of  irritating  them  by  a  con- 
"trary  mode  of  proceeding;  yet  am  I,  from  many  reasons,  satisfied,  in 
"  my  own  mind,  that  I  acted,  in  that  particular,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
"King's  service." — (General  Howe's  Speech  before  a  CommiUee  of  tJie 
Hou»e  of  Commons,  Apvil  29,  1779.) 


the  occupation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  by  the  Royal 
Army — which  was  successfully  accomplished,  later  in 
the  day — the  Phcenix,  of  forty-four  guns,  and  com- 
manded by  Captain  Hyde  Parker,  the  Eoebuck,  of 
forty-four  guns,  and  commanded  by  Captain  Ham- 
mond, and  the  Tartar,  of  twenty-eight  guns,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Ommany,  each  with  a  tender,  had 
been  moved  up  the  Hudson-river,  as  far  as  Blooming- 
dale;''' and  they  had  remained  at  anchor,  at  that  place 
after  the  Royal  Army  had  occupied  that  City,  cover- 
ing the  left  flank  of  the  lines  and  very  effectually 
closing  the  navigation  of  the  lower  portion  of  the 
river,  to  the  Americans.  But,  about  eight  o'clock,  on 
the  morning  of  Wednesday,  the  ninth  of  October, 
they  got  under  way  and  stood,  with  an  easy  southerly 
breeze,  up  the  river.  The  Americans,  with  great 
labor  and  outlay  of  means,  had  constructed  a  chevaux- 
de-frise,  for  the  protection  of  the  navigation,  above 
Fort  AVashingtou  audit  was  hoped  it  would  have 
intercepted  the  further  passage  of  the  ships  while  the 
batteries,  at  Fort  AVashington  and  Fort  Lee,  and  the 
galleys,  which  had  been  stationed  behind  the  chevuux- 
de -/rise,  played  on  them;  but,  "to  the  surprise  and 
"  mortification"  of  General  Washington  and  his  com- 
mand, they  passed  all  the  obstructions,  "without  the 
"  least  difficulty,  and  without  receiving  any  apparent 
"  damage  from  our  forts,*  though  they  kept  up  a 
"  heavy  fire  from  both  sides  of  the  river."  * 


5(?™era!  Wathinglan  to  the  Prendent  of  Oongreu,  "  Head-quabtebs, 
"at  Colonel  Mohkis's  HotJSE,  16  September,  1776;"  General  Hoice 
to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Head-qvarteks,  New-Yoek,  September  21, 
"  1776  ; "  The  New-York  Gazette  and  the  Weekly  Mercury,  No.  131)3,  New- 
York,  Monday,  October  14,  1776. 

General  Heath,  {Memoirs,  60,)  said  these  Ships  were  "sent  up  the 
"river,  as  far  as  Greenwich,"  only,  on  the  fourteenth  of  September. 

<  Doctor  Sparks,  in  his  Writings  of  George  Washington,  (iv.,  30,  note,) 
said  "  the  mode  of  constructing  the  chevaux-de-frise  was  a  contrivance  of 
"  General  Putman's ; "  and,  in  support  of  that  statement,  he  quoted  from 
a  letter  written  by  the  General  to  General  Gates,  dated  July  20th,  in 
which  were  these  words  ;  "  We  are  preparing  chevaux-dc-frise,  at  which 
"  we  make  great  dispatch  by  the  help  of  ships,  which  are  to  be  sunk ;  a 
"  scheme  of  mine,  which  you  may  be  assured  is  very  simple,  a  plan  of 
"which  I  send  you." 

Had  not  the  General's  own  words  been  given  in  support  of  the  state- 
ment, we  should  have  supposed  the  Doctor  had  mistaken  the  General  for 
Colonel  Rufns  Putnam,  who  was  an  Engineer:  and  the  more  so,  since 
even  the  most  zealous  of  the  General's  biographers  and  eulogists  are 
silent,  on  this  subject.  Possibly,  however,  that  silence  may  be  accounted 
for,  from  the  result  of  the  professional  stupidity  of  the  Engineer,  whom- 
soever he  may  have  been. 

5  In  this  instance.  General  Washington  was  mistaken,  since  the  "shipa 
"suffered  much,  in  their  masts  and  rigging;"  and  Captain  Parker  sub- 
sequently reported  that  the  Pho-nix  lost  a  Midshipman,  two  Seamen,  and 
one  Servant,  killed,  and  a  Boatswain,  a  Carpenter,  eight  Seamen,  a  Ser- 
vant, a  negro  Man,  and  a  private  Marine,  wounded  ;  that  the  Jioebuck 
lost  a  Lieutenant,  a  Midshipman,  and  two  Seamen,  killed,  and  a  Mid- 
shipman, two  Seamen,  and  a  Corporal  of  Marines,  wounded  ;  and  that  the 
Tartar  lost  a  Midshipman,  killed,  and  a  Lieutenaut  of  Marines  wounded. 
— (Keport  of  the  Kilted  and  Woimded  on  board  His  Majesty's  Ships  past- 
ing the  Batteries,  the  0th  of  October,  1776.) 

See,  also.  Admiral  Lord  Howe's  despatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Ad- 
miralty, "Eagle  off  New-Y^oek,  November  23,  1776." 

''General  Washington  to  the  Congress,  "Heights  of  Harlem,  7  Octo- 
"  her,  1776,"  postscript,  dated  "October  Oth  Lietitenaut  colonel  Tench 
Tilghman  to  tlie  CommHtte  of  Safety,  "  HEAD-Ql  AitTERS,  Hablem-U  eights, 
"9  Octr,  1776  ;"  General  George  Clinton  iothe  Convention,  " King's Beidgi, 
"  10  October,  1776 ;  "  The  New-York  Gazette  and  the  Weekly  Mercury  No. 


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THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783.  403 


It  would  not  have  been  very  apparent  how  these 
vessels  could  have  passed  such  seemingly  Ibrniidable 
obstructions,  "without  the  least  difhculty,"  nor  for 
what  especial  reason  General  Washington  was  "  sur- 
"  prised  and  mortified,"  when  such  a  passage  had  been 
successfully  acoinplished,  had  not  General  George 
Clinton,  who  commanded  the  Militia  of  the  State 
who  had  been  called  out  for  the  reinforcement  of  the 
Continental  Army,  at  Kingsbridge,  informed  the 
Convention  that  the  ships  had  "  passed  by,  in  shore, 
"  East  of  our  obstructions  in  the  river"  ' — that  the 
deep  waters  of  the  river,  in  shore,  immediately  around 
the  point  which  juts  into  the  river,  at  that  place,  had 
been  left  entirely  unprotected — a  fact  which  reflects 
very  little  credit  on  the  skill  or  the  forethought  of  either 
the  Engineer  or  those  who  were  employed  in  build- 
ing the  obstructions,  especially  since  the  Phanix  and 
the  Roue  and  their  respective  tenders  had  ]>assed  the 
same  obstructions,  in  the  same  way,  on  the  eighteenth 
of  August,  after  the  galleys  and  the  fireships  had 
rendered  their  longer  stay,  in  the  waters  of  the 
Hudson-river,  both  unprofitable  and  hazardous.'^ 

After  the  vessels  had  passed  the  obstructions,  they 
ran  up  the  river  as  far  as  Dobbs's-ferry,  where  they 
again  cast  anchor.  On  their  passage  up  the  river,  they 
captured  two  or  three  small  river-craft — one  (/f  them 
loaded  with  Rum,  Sugar,  Wine,  etc. — and  sunk  a  sloop 
which  had  on  board  a  machine  invented  by  Mr. 
Bushnell,  for  blowing  up  the  British  Fleet.'  Two 
new  ships,  purchased  for  the  further  obstruction  of 
the  channel  of  the  river,  were  driven  ashore,  near 
Yonkers — one  of  them  was  afterwards  recovered,  how- 
ever, by  a  party  of  men  whom  General  Clinton  sent 
from  Kingsbridge,  for  that  purpose  ;*  and  two  galleys, 
which  had  been  stationed  near  the  obstructions,  were 
also  driven  ashore,  near  Dobbs's-ferry,  and  captured 
by  the  enemy.*    While  the  ships  were  at  anchor,  off 


1303,  Xew-York,  Slonday,  October  14,  177G  ;  The  Freeman's  Journal  and 
Xeic-Hampiihire  Gazelle,  Volume  1,  Number  27,  Portsmouth,  Tuesday, 
November  26,  1770;  The  Pennsylvania  Journal,  No.  1767,  Philadelphia, 
WednestUiy,  October  16,  1776;  Sauthier's  Plan  of  the  Operations  of  the 
Xfng't  Army  under  the  comnuwd  of  General  WUliam  Howe,  K.  B.,  in 
Nta  York  and  But  Xew  Jersey,  Ed.  London  :  1777 — opposite —  ;  Memoirt 
•/  Geiiei<ii  Heath,  68  ;  etc. 

^General  George  Clinton  to  the  Convention,  "King's  Bridge,  10  Oc- 
"tober,  1776." 

'  Vide  page  392,  ante. 

•  CUe  late  Charles  J.  Bushnell,  of  New  York,  well  known  among  nu- 
mlsmatista  and  antiquaries,  wa^  of  the  same  family  as  the  Mr.  Busliuelt 
nferred  to,  in  tlie  text ;  and  he  gathered,  with  great  labor  and  much 
SMt,  ever.Niliing  which  was  known  to  exist,  concerning  that  early  in- 
ventor. The  onlj'  description  of  the  machine  for  destroying  vessels  at 
kochor,  invented  by  him  and  destroyed  by  the  enemy  whom  it  was  in- 
tended to  annoy,  as  far  as  we  have  knowledge,  may  be  seen  in  the  iVe- 
tmoirt  of  General  Heath,  69. 

•  We  have  some  reasons  for  supposing  that  both  these  ships  were 
MTed  ;  although  no  direct  evidence  ap{>ear«  that  more  than  one  of  them 
was  brought  off.  See,  however,  £i«i/«ia«/-fo/o«f/  Tilghman  to  General 
Bealh,  "  Head-qI'abtkrs,  October  9,  1776;"  Cb/o«oJ  Heed  to  the  same, 
"October  9,  1770  ;  "  Gnirral  i'uf/iain  to  the  same,  "  Wednesday,  noon  ;  " 
lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman  to  Jlobert  R.  Livingston,  "  IIead-quajetees, 
"  Hari.em  IIeiohts,  October  10,  1776  ;"  etc. 

•  ti«u<eiiaii(«  Pultinm  and  Cleaves  to  General   Washington,  "North 


Dobbs's-ferry,  a  boat's  crew  was  sent  ashore,  and  sig- 
nalized its  presence  by  plundering  a  store,  and  by 
staving  the  casks  and  setting  the  building  on  fire  ; 
but  the  fire  was  extinguished  by  the  Americans,  after 
the  enemy  had  returned  to  his  boat.* 

The  movement  of  the  ships,  up  the  river,  and  the 
consequent  control  of  the  latter,  notwithstanding  the 
obstructions  on  which  so  much  dependence  had  been 
rested,  very  promptly  called  forth  the  entire  energies 
of  General  George  Clin  ton' and  General  Heath,*  both  of 
them  in  Westchester-county,  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  effecting  a  landing  and  for  the  protection  of  the 
property  which  was  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  his 
tenders  and  boais ;  and,  of  course,  the  vigilant  Com- 
mander-in-chief immediately  des])atched  an  express 
to  the  Convention,  that  notice  might  be  immediately 
communicated  to  General  James  Clinton,  command- 
ing the  forts,  in  the  Highlands,  putting  him  on  his 
guard,  and  directing  that  precautions  should  be  taken 
to  prevent  the  river-craft  from  tailing  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy — the  General  was  not  informed  of  the 
destination  of  the  shii)s  nor  of  the  purposes  of  the 
movement;  but  he  was  not,  apparently,  very  much 
alarmed,  and  supposed,  only,  that  they  were  sent  to 
cut  off  the  communication  of  the  American  Army,  by 
water,  to  the  northward ;  "  probably  to  gain  recruits ;" 
and  to  close  the  supplies  of  the  Americans,  especially 
those  of  Boards,  for  the  construction  of  Barracks, 


"River,  October  9,  1776;"  General  George  Clinton  to  the  Convention, 
'■King's  Bridge,  10 October,  1776  ;  "  TIte  Philadelphia  Evening  Post,  Vol- 
ume 2,  Number  270,  Philadelphia,  Saturday,  October  12,  1776;  The 
Pemifylvania  Journal,  No.  17G7,  Philadelphia,  October  16,  1776  ;  Me- 
moirs of  General  Heath,  08,  69. 
6  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  00. 

Among  the  incidents  of  1770,  ISolton  related  the  following  :  "Upon 
"the  9th  of  October,  a  body  of  1100  British  troops  embarked  on  board 
"batteaux  at  Peekskill  and  the  same  night  proceeded  to  Tunytown, 
"where  thej'  landed  at  daybreak,  and  occupied  the  heights  adjoining.'* 
— {History  of  Westchester-county,  second  edit.,  i.  348.) 

Although  the  historian  has  referred  to  "Gaine's  WeeJily  Mercury,'"'  * 
as  his  authority,  we  have  faile<i  to  find  the  slightest  evidence,  anywhere 
that  such  a  movement  as  he  luis  thus  described  was  really  made  ;  and 
with  the  best  of  evidence,  accessible  to  every  one,  that  there  were  no 
British  troops  in  Westchester-county,  until  sevei-al  days  after  the  date 
referred  to,  nor,  then,  within  many  miles  from  Peekskill,  we  dismiss  the 
statement  as  something  else  than  History. 

'  General  Clinton  sent  out  the  detachment  of  troops  which  rescued  one 
of  the  ships  which  were  driven  ashore,  near  Yonkers. — (General  George 
Clinton  to  the  Cmiventiou,  "  King's  Bridge,  10  October,  1770.") 

8  General  Heath  ordered  Colonel  Sargent,  with  five  hundred  Infantry 
and  forty  Cavalry  ;  Captain  Horton,  of  the  .\rtillery,  with  two  twelve- 
pounders  ;  and  Captain  Crafts,  with  a  howitzer,  to  march,  immediately 
and  with  all  possible  expedition,  to  Dobbs's-ferry  ;  and  the  entire  Divis- 
ion was  formed,  in  order  of  battle,  and  "moved  down,  over  the  different 
"grounds  which  it  was  supposed  might  be  the  scene  of  action." — (Me- 
moirs of  General  Heath,  69  ) 

See,  also,  Genmil  Heath's  Orders  to  Colonel  Sargent,  "  KiNo's  Bridoe, 
"October  9,  1776;"  David  How's  l>inry,  October  9,  1776;  Colonel  Sar- 
gent to  Gtneral  Heath,  "  Half  piust  two  o'clock  at  night,  DoBU's  Ferry, 
"  October  10,  1770  ;  "  General  Heath's  Orders  to  Colonel  Sargent,  "  KiNu's 
'•  Bridge,  October  10, 1776 ; "  etc. 


*  We  have  not  found  a  file  of  Gaine's  AVw- Tort  Gazelle  and  the  Weekly 
Mercury  of  the  latter  portion  of  1770  ;  and  the  well-informed  Mr.  Kclby, 
of  the  New  Y'ork  Historical  Society,  informs  us  that  such  a  file  is  not 
known  to  him,  anywhere. 


404 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


which  it  should  have  received,  at  an  earlier  day,  and 
of  which  it  was  in  great  need.' 

The  enemy's  Squadron  got  under  way,  again,  dur- 
ing the  evening,  and  sailed  up  the  river,  as  far  as 
Tarrytown  ;  where  it  anchored,  and  remained  during 
the  entire  period  which  was  occupied  by  those  stirring 
and  momentous  events  of  which  their  own  movement, 
up  the  Hudson-river,  was  the  earlier  portion. - 

When  the  information  of  that  movement  of  the 
enemy's  ships  reached  the  Committee  of  Safety,  at 
Fishkill,  it  was,  evidently,  very  much  alarmed  ;  but, 
with  that  promptitude  which  the  emergency  de- 
manded, it  immediately  ordered  three  hundred  of 
the  Militia  of  Ulster-county  to  be  sent  down,  without 
any  delay,  to  Peekskill,  "  well  armed  and  accoutred, 
"and  with  three  days'  provisions;"  that  a  sufficient 
number  of  the  Militia  of  Orange-county,  below  the 
mountains — now  Rockland-county — should  be  called 
out  for  the  due  protection  of  that  portion  of  the 
western  bank  of  the  river,  and  one  hundred  from  the 
Militia  of  the  same  County,  above  the  mountains, 
should  be  called  out  and  sent  to  Peekskill,  with  three 
days'  provisions;  that  all  ihe  Rangers  which  had  been 
enlisted  for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers  of  Ulster- 
county  should  be  marched  to  Fishkill,  evidently  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  the  more  violent  of  the  disaf- 
fected, in  Duchess-county,  in  check ;  and  it  also  sent 
expresses  to  General   Schuyler,  commanding  the 
Northern  Army,  and  to  General  George  Clinton,  at 
Kingsbridge,  declaring  its  helplessness  and  begging 
"  the  most  speedy  succour."    It  also  wrote  a  letter  to 
General  Washington,  in  which  the  condition  of  the 
country  was  thus  described  ;  "Nothing  can  be  more 
"  alarming  than  the  present  situation  of  our  State. 
"  We  are  daily  getting  the  most  authentic  intelli- 
"gence  of  bodies  of  men,  enlisted  and  armed,  with 
"  orders  to  assist  the  enemy.    We  much  fear  that 
"  those,  co-operating  with  the  enemy,  will  seize  such 
"  passes  as  will  cut  off  all  communication  between  the 
"  Army  and  us,  and  prevent  your  supplies.  We 
"dare  not  trust  any  more  of  the  Militia  out  of  this 
"County,  [Z>Mc/tess.]    We  have  called  for  some  aid 
"  from  the  two  adjoining  ones ;  but  beg  leave  to  .sug- 
"  gest  to  your  Excellency  the  propriety  of  sending  a 
"  body  of  men  to  the  Highlands  or  Peekskill,  to 

1  General  Washington  to  the  Conlinenlal  Congress,  "  Heights  of  Haer- 
"  LEM,  7  October,  177C,"  postscript  dated,  "October  9th  ;"  the  same  to 
General  Schai/ler,  "  HEAD-QUABTKns,  Harlem  Heights,  October  10, 
"  177G." 

2  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman  to  Ihe  Convention,  "  Head-qvabteks, 
"  Harlem-Heights,  October  10,  1770  ;  "  Colonel  Sargent  to  General  Heath, 
"  Half- past  two  o'clock  at  uight,  Dobb's  Ferrv,  October  10,  1776;"* 
Colonel  Ann  Hatvlces  Ilaij  to  the  Convention,  "  HAVEBSTaAw,  October  10, 
"1770;" 

*  It  is  very  evident  that  this  letter  was  written  at  half-past  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  tenth  of  October,  since  it  was  received,  at  King's 
Bridge,  and  answered,  by  General  Heath,  on  that  day  ;  and  the  Colonel 
and  his  command,  pursuant  to  Orders  thus  conveyed,  countermarched  to 
King's  Bridge,  where  they  arrived  "  At  Night,"  of  the  same  day.— (Gene- 
ra; Heath's  Orders  to  Colonel  Sargent,  "  Kings  Bridge,  October  10,  1776  ;" 
David  How's  Diari/,  10  October,  1776 ;  Memoir  of  General  Heatli,  i;9.) 


"secure  the  passes,  prevent  insurrections,  and  over- 
"  awe  the  disaffected.  We  suppose  your  Excellency 
"  has  taken  the  necessary  steps  to  prevent  their  land- 
"  ing  of  any  men  from  the  ships,  should  they  be  so 
"  inclined,  as  no  reliance  at  all  can  be  placed  on  the 
"  Militia  of  Westchester-county."  Two  days  after- 
wards, Robert  R.  Livingston,  himself  a  memb*  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety  and  present  when  the  letter 
from  which  we  have  quoted  was  written,  addressed  a 
personal  letter,  appealing  to  General  Washington  to 
do,  for  the  protection  of  the  Highlands — behind 
which  all  the  immense  estates  of  the  Livingston  family 
were,  then,  very  securely  situated — and  for  that  of 
the  State,  what  he,  therein,  elaborately  described; 
although  he  must  have  known,  when  it  was  written, 
that  General  Washington  could  not,  possibly,  comply 
with  a  single  one  of  the  many  requests  which  that 
letter  contained.* 

In  the  same  connection,  and  in  order  that  the 
reader  may  understand  the  temper  of  the  great  body 
of  the  people,  beyond  the  limits  of  Duchess  and 
Westchester-counties,  we  find  room  for  the  reply  of 
the  Colonel  commanding  the  Militia  of  Orange- 
county,  below  the  mountains,  to  the  requisition  which 
was  made,  by  the  Committee  of  Safety,  for  men 
enough  to  protect  that  portion  of  the  western  bank 
of  the  river,  to  which  reference  has  been  made.  It 
was  in  these  words :  "  We  are  in  daily  expectation  of 
"their"  [the  ships]  "proceeding  up  the  river;  and  I  am 
"sorry  to  inform  the  Committee  of  Safety  that,  should 
"they  attempt  to  land  with  one  barge,  I  cannot  com- 
"mand  a  force  sufficient  to  j)revent  their  penetrating 
''the  country.  I  have  exerted  myself  to  muster  the 
"Militia,  but  have  liot  been  able  to  raise  a  guard  of 
"more  than  thirty- eight  men  of  my  Regiment,  at  one 
"time,  at  Nyack.^  The  wood-cutters  employed  by 
"order  of  General  Heath  have  been  with  me,  but 
"have  received  orders  to  proceed  in  cutting  wood  for 
"the  Army;  and  I  have  not,  at  present,  but  eleven 
"men  to  guard  the  shore  between  Verdudigo  Hook 
"and  Stony  Point.*  In  this  situation,  I  leave  the 
"Committee  of  Safety  to  determine  what  can  be  ex- 
"pected  from  me,  in  a  way  of  opposition. 

"  My  whole  Regiment  consi.sts  of  but  three  hundred 
"men  :  most  of  them  are  without  arms,  they  having 
"been  taken  for  the  Continental  troops.  Most  of  my 
"men  refuse  to  attend  the  service,  though  repeatedly 


^Journal  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Tliursday  afternoon,  Octor.  10, 
"1776." 

*  Robert  It.  Licingston  to  General  Washington,  "Fishkill,  12  October, 
"1776." 

5  As  the  ships  were  anchored  off  Nyack  as  well  as  off  Tarrytown,  those 
Tillages  being  exactly  opposite,  the  former  on  the  western  and  the  latter 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  and  as  two  boats"  crews  had  made  an 
attempt  to  go  ashore,  at  Nyack,  on  the  preceding  Sunday,  it  will  be  seen 
why  the  Colonel  mentioned  Nyack,  especially,  in  his  despatch  to  the 
Committee  of  Safety. 

I'  The  shore-line  thus  described  includes  the  entire  western  bank  of  that 
portion  of  the  Hudson-river  which  is  known  as  Haverstraw  Bay,  extend- 
ing from  a  short  distance  above  Nyack  to  within  a  short  distance  from 
the  southernmost  entrance  into  tlie  Highlands. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


405 


"  summoned.  Many  reasons  are  assigned  for  this 
"  desertion  of  the  service,  such  as,  that  the  troops  last 
"  raised  were,  by  the  Convention,  expressly  levied  for 
"the  purpose  of  protecting  the  shore;  that  this  in- 
"  duced  many  of  their  people  to  enlist,  but  they  have 
"  been  drawn  off  from  the  immediate  defence  of  their 
"  wives,  children,  and  property,  to  guard  the  eastern 
"  shore  of  the  river,  contrary  to  their  expectations. 
"  Others  declare  that  if  they  leave  their  business, 
"  their  families  must  starve,  as  they  have  all  their 
"  Corn  and  Buckwheat  to  secure,  and  have  been  so 
"called  off,  during  the  Summer,  by  the  public 
"troubles,  as  not  to  have  been  able  to  put  in  the 
"ground,  any  Winter  Grain,  and  would,  therefore,  as 
"  leave  die  by  the  sword  as  by  famine.  A  third  set, 
"  and  the  most  numerous,  declare  that  the  Congress 
"  have  rejected  all  overtures  for  a  reconciliation,  in- 
" consistent  with  Independency;  that  all  they  desire 
"is  peace,  liberty,  and  safety;  and  that  if  they  can 
"procure  that,  they  are  contented."  ' 

It  will  be  seen,  from  this  official  statement,  that 
there  were  other  Militia  than  that  of  ^V■  estchester- 
county  on  whom  "no  reliance  at  all  could  be  placed," 
in  that  hour  of  extreme  danger;  and,  when  t;iken 
into  consideration,  in  connection  with  the  facts  that 
the  Counties  of  Richmond.  Kings,  Queens,  and  Suf- 
folk had  returned  to  their  allegiance  to  the  King ; 
that  Duchess-county  was  in  open  and  armed  op])osi- 
tiou  to  the  Convention,  and  was  kept  in  subjection 
only  by  the  occupation  of  the  County  and  the  support 
of  the  few  friends  of  the  Convention  who  lived  there, 
by  five  hundred  armed  men,  drawn  from  Connecticut; 
and  that  the  Manorof  Livin^^ston,  including  the  whole 
of  the  lower  portion  of  Albany-county,  was  almost 
entirely  "  disaffected,"  Colonel  Hay's  exposition  of 
the  temper  of  the  farmers  of  Orange-county  very 
clearly  established  the  fact  that  "disaffection"  was 
not  peculiar  to  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county ; 
and  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  not 
been  received  with  any  favor,  by  the  greater  number 
of  the  inhabitants  of  New  York. 

The  purposes  of  the  enemy,  in  sending  the  Phtrni.v 
and  her  consorts  up  the  Hudson-river  and  in  anchor- 
ing them  off  Tarrytown,  as  we  have  seen,  were  var- 
iously interpreted  by  General  Washington  and  the 
Committee  of  Safety;  and  they  have  continued  to 
receive  the  scattered  attention  of  those  who  have 
written  on  the  subject,  to  this  day.-    But,  while  the 


1  Colonel  Am  Hauies  Hag  to  the  Convention,  "  Havebstsaw,  Octor. 
"  15,  177C." 

2  Miirshnll,  (Life  of  George  Waehiiiglon,  Ed.  Philudelphia  :  1804,  ii., 
495,496,)  very  accurately,  stated  the  object  of  tlie  movement  was  to  se- 
cure to  Geueral  Howe  tlip  possession  of  the  North-river  above  Kings- 
bridge,  without,  liowever,  stating  more  than  that.  Sparks,  (Life  of  Gturge 
WmhiiigUjn,  Ed  Boston  :  1842,  l'J4,)  said  they  "secured  a  free  passage  to 
"  the  Highlands,  thi  ieby  preventing  any  supplies,  from  coming  to  the 
"  American  .\rmy,  by  water."  Hihheth,  {llitlorij  of  the  United  Slatef, 
ill.,  154,)  said,  only,  they  "  cut  off  all  supplies  from  the  country.  South 
"  and  West  of  that  river,"  the  Hudson.  Bancroft,  (Wtlory  j/  Ihe  Vnilxd 
State*,  original  edition,  ix.,  174  ;   the  name,  centenary  edition,  v.,  439,) 


surmises  of  General  Washington  and  those  of  the 
Convention  were  thrown  out  before  the  ships  had 
reached  the  anchorage-ground  to  which  they  had 
been  ordered  and,  therefore,  before  either  their  des- 
tination or  the  purposes  for  which  they  had  been 
ordered  to  move  up  to  Tarrytown  were  definitely 
made  known  to  any  one,  except  to  their  own  OfKcers, 
there  is  no  evidence  whatever,  in  the  subsequent 
conduct  of  those  ships,  to  give  the  slightest  weight  to 
any  of  those  earlier  surmises,  no  matter  by  whom 
originated;  and  the  direction  in  which  the  ahirm  of 
the  Commander-in-chief  and  the  Convention  trended, 
in  the  light  afforded  by  immediately  subsequent 
events,  was,  certainly,  not  the  right  one — the  ships 
certainly  made  no  attempt  to  renew  the  previously 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  give  countenance  and  sup- 
port, for  military  purposes,  to  the  disaffected  farmers 
of  Westchester-county:  they  certainly  made  no  at- 
tempt whatever  to  seize  the  forts  in  the  Highlands 
and  to  occupy  the  water  communication  through  the 
Highlands :  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
that  they  effected  or  attempted  to  effect  combinations 
with  anybody,  on  shore,  for  any  purpose  whatever. 
Had  their  purpose  been  to  cut  off  the  supplies  of  the 
American  Army,  as  some  have  supposed  and  stated — 
a  project  which  would  have  been  unnecessary,  if  the 
American  Army  was  to  be  obliged  to  abandon  its 
strong  position,  near  Kingsbridge,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  falling  on  its  rear — the  ships  would 
not  have  anchored  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the 
American  lines ;  nor  would  they  have  chosen,  as 
their  station,  the  widest  part  of  the  river,  at  that 
place  quite  three  miles  wide,  of  which  two-thirds  or 
more  are  shoal-water,  over  which  the  small  river-craft 
could  pass  and  re-pass,  with  impunity  ;  while,  within 
four  miles,  equally  good  anchorage  grounds  could 
have  been  found,  equally  safe  from  interference  from 
the  Americans,  less  exposed  to  the  heavy  winds  of  the 
season,  which  would  have  required  not  more  th:in  one- 
half  the  extent  of  guard-duty,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
which  would  have  been  equally  effective,  for  the  pur- 
pose named.  Had  the  purpose  been,  as  others  have 
supposed,  to  have  obstructed  the  retreat  of  the  Amer- 
ican Army  and  the  removal  of  its  stores  and  heavy 
guns,  by  water,  it  is  equally  strange  that  the  place 
which  was  designated  for  the  anchorage  of  the  ships 
was  situated  not  far  from  ten  miles  above  the  Ameri- 
can lines,  within  which  General  Washington  held  an 


referred  to  nothing  else  than  to  the  Phmnix  and  the  Roebucli  and  the  ten- 
ders; and,  very  cautiously,  for  reasons  which  are  not  unknown  to  us,  he 
said  nothing  whatever  concerning  the  purposes  of  the  expedition.  Ir- 
\iog,  (Life  of  Wiishinglon,  Ed.  Sew  York;  185(5,  ii.,  3(i7-;)73,)  in  Ihe 
most  carefully  prepared  descriplion  of  all,  with  a  grave  error  in  his  de- 
scription of  the  passage  of  the  ships  through  Ihe  obstructions,  and 
another  in  making  General  Washington  do  what  was  done  by  General 
Heath,  recited  all  the  surniisei.  of  the  inhabitants  and  others,  concern- 
ing the  object  of  the  movement,  without  pretending  to  offer  any  of  his 
own. 

No  other  writer  of  the  history  of  that  period  has  noticed  the  subject, 
notwithstanding  its  great  importance. 


406 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


undisputed  line  of  communication  with  New  Jersey, 
protected  by  tlie  guns  of  both  Fort  Washington  and 
Fort  Lee,  over  which,  if  adversity  had  overtaken  him, 
he  could  have  securely  retreated.  For  these  reasons, 
and  with  the  knowledge  which  all  the  events  of  that 
period  in  which  that  particular  Squadron  was  con- 
cerned, has  imparted,  we  have  seen  no  reason  for  con- 
curring with  those  who  have  already  written  concern- 
ing the  purposes  of  General  Howe,  in  the  removal  of 
the  Squadron  which  had  covered  the  left  flank  of  his 
lines,  from  its  anchorage,  off  Bloomingdale,  to  a  dis- 
tant anchorage,  off  Tarrytown,  when  he  had  no  fur- 
ther use  for  it,  at  the  former  station,  and  expected  to 
make  it  useful,  for  the  same  purpose,  in  the  latter ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  from  the  best  evidence  which 
we  have  been  able  to  control,  we  have  formed  an  opin- 
ion, concerning  those  purposes,  which  differs  from 
all  those  to  which  we  have  referred  and  of  all  of 
which  we  have  heard.  That  opinion  may  be  thus 
stated  :  when  preparations  were  being  made  by  Gen- 
eral Howe,  for  the  military  occupation  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  before  any  movement  for  that  purpose 
was  actually  made,  these  ships  were  moved  up  the 
Hudson-river,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island,  for 
the  purpose,  as  General  Howe  subsequently  informed 
the  Home  Government,  of  drawing  the  attention  of 
the  Americans  to  that  side,  while  the  real  operations 
were  to  be  made  on  the  other  side.  In  short,  the 
movement,  on  that  occasion,  was,  primarily,  a  feint ; 
but  it  had  served,  also,  to  command  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  river  ;  to  prevent  the  retreating  Americans 
from  removing  their  stores  or  heavy  guns,  from  the 
City  to  Kingsbridge,  by  water ;  and,  therefore,  to 
throw  into  the  hands  of  the  Royal  Army,  both  stores 
and  guns  which  the  Americans  could  ill-afford  to 
lose.  Subsequent  to  the  establishment  of  the  former, 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  the  Squadron,  at  its  anchor- 
age, off  Bloomingdale,  had  effectually  covered  the 
left  flank  of  the  enemy's  lines,  which,  without  such  a 
protection,  would  have  been  negligently  exposed  to 
the  well-known  enterprise  of  the  Americans  ;  and,  as 
far  as  we  have  seen  it,  there  is  not  the  slightest  evi- 
dence that  the  Squadron  had  been  engaged  in  any 
other  service.  At  the  time  now  under  notice,  Gen- 
eral Howe  was  again  preparing  to  move  his  great 
command,  at  that  time,  by  way  of  the  Sound,  into 
Westchcster-county ;  and  he  did  no  more,  concern- 
ing that  Squadron,  in  that  connection,  than  he  had 
done,  in  the  former  instance,  when  he  had  moved 
that  command  from  Long  Island  to  the  City  of  New 
York — he  caused  it  to  be  moved  further  up  the  river, 
evidently,  again,  in  order  "to  draw  the  enemy's" 
l_the  Americans'^  "  attention  to  that  side,"  while  he 
and  his  command  should  effect  a  landing,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  County,  with  lesser  opposition  and 
difficulty  ;  and  it  is  not  improbable,  in  view  of  the 
recognized  purposes  of  General  Howe,  in  proposing 
to  move  his  command  into  Westchester-county,  that 
it  was  expected,  also,  to  cover  that  flank  of  the  Army, 


in  whatever  operations  it  should  become  engaged, 
within  that  County.  We  believe  that  these  were  the 
only  purposes  for  which  the  Squadron  was  moved  up 
the  river ;  and  we  also  believe  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
a  feint,  the  movement  was,  again,  an  entire  success :  be- 
cause of  the  subsequent  movements  of  the  two  Armies, 
it  was  not  required  for  any  other  purpose. 

Having  detached  two  Brigades  of  British  and  one 
Brigade  of  Hessian  troops,  the  whole  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieutenant-general  Earl  Percy,  to  occupy 
the  exterior  lines,  on  the  high  grounds  to  the  south- 
ward of  the  Harlem-plain,  for  the  protection  of  the 
City  of  New  York,^  and  another  Brigade  of  British 
troops  to  garrison  the  City  itself,^  "all  previous  arrange- 
"ments,  having  been  made,"  early  on  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  the  twelfth  of  October,  the  first  detachment 
of  the  forces  designated  for  that  purpose,  under  the 
personal  command  of  General  Howe,  embarked,  at 
Kip's-bay,'  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in  flat-boats, 
batteaux,  etc. ;  and,  having  passed  through  Hell- 
gate,  landed — the  Cary/ort,  frigate,  having  been  so 
placed  that  she  could  cover  the  descent — about  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  Throgg's-neck,  in  the 
Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  in  Westchester- 
county.* 

It  was  an  exceedingly  foggy  morning;  ^  and,  from 
the  fact  that  General  Washington  made  no  allusion 
to  the  enemy's  movement,  in  letters  written  by  him, 
on  that  day,  respectively,  to  the  President  of  the  Con- 
gress and  to  Governor  Cooke,  of  Rhode  Island,  not- 
withstanding his  Headquarters,  in  the  elegant  man- 
sion of  Colonel  Roger  Morris,  more  recently  owned 


'  General  Home  to  Lord  George  Germame,  "  New  York,  November  30, 
"1776." 

2  General  Howe  made  no  mention  of  a  third  Brigade  of  British  troops 
having  been  left,  to  garrison  the  City  ;  but  common  sense  tells  us  there 
must  have  been  siicli  a  Garrison,  within  the  thickly  settled  portions  of 
the  City;  and  Captain  Hall,  (HisWrij  nf  the  Civil  iVar  in  America,  i.,203,) 
and  Stedman,  (Hisionj  o  f  the  American  War,  i.,  210,)  both  of  them  officers 
of  the  Royal  Army,  have  left  records  of  the  fact. 

3  Captain  Hall,  (History  of  the  VivU  liar  i'k  America,  i.,  203,)  said  the 
troops  were  embarked,  for  this  movement,  in  Titrtle  h&y  ;  but,  inasmuch 
as  the  naval  portiuns  of  the  movement  were  made  under  the  personal 
superintendence  of  Admiral  Lord  Howe,  we  have  preferred  his  statement, 
in  his  despatch  to  the  Admiralty,  ("Eagle,  off  'New-York,  November 
"2.!,  1T7G,")  that  the  embarkation  was  at  Kip's-ba.y. 

*Admiral  Lord  Howe  to  Mr.  Stcpliens,  Secretarijof  the  Admiralty,  "  Eagle, 
"off  New-York,  November  23,  1776;"  General  Howe  to  Lord  George 
Germaine,  "New-York,  November  30,  1776;"  General  'Washiitgton  to 
General  Heath,  "  Headquarters,  October  12,1776  ;"'  the  same  to  the  Con- 
gress, "Heights  OF  Haerlem,  12  October,  1776,"  postscript  dated,  "Oc- 
"  tober  13th  ;  "  Diary  of  David  Htm,  October  12,  1776  ;  General  Wathing- 
ton  to  Governor  Cooke,  "Headquarters,  Harlem  Heights,  October  12, 
"  1776;"  postscript  dated  "  October  I3th  ;  "  CJolonel  SmalUcood  to  the 
Maryland  Convention,  "Camp  OF  THE  JIaryland  Regulars,  Head-quae- 
"  TERS,  October  12,  1776  ;  "  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Harlem,  in  The  Penn- 
sylvania Evening  Post,  Voluni"  2,  Number  271,  Philadelphia,  Tuesday, 
October  15,  1776  ;  the  same,  in  The  Pennsylvania  Journal,  No.  1767,  Phil- 
adelphia, Wednesday,  October  16,  1776  ;  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War 
in  America,  i.,  203;  Stedman's  History  of  the  Amei  ican  War.  i.,  210  ;  Gor- 
don's Histwy  of  lite  American  ItevoUUion,  ii.,  336  ;  Memoir  of  General  Heath, 
70  ;  etc. 

6  Admiral  Lord  Howe  to  Mr.  Stephens.  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty,  "  Ea- 
'■  gle,  off  New-York,  November  23,  1776;"  General  Howe  to  Lord 
George  G«rrmaiHe,  "  New  YoRK,  30  November,  1776  ;"  [Hall's]  History 
of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  203. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  1774-1783. 


4(17 


by  lladame  Jumel,'  commanded  a  fine  view  of  the 
East-river  and  Sound;  and  because  the  intelligence 
of  the  movement  which  he  first  received,  was  con- 
veyed to  him,  by  express,  from  General  Heath,  after 
the  landing  had  been  made,*  it  may  be  reasonably 
supposed  that  the  movement  of  the  Royal  Army,  into 
Westchester-county,  was  unknown  to  him,  until  after 
it  had  been  accomi)lished  ;  that  the  left  flank  of  the 
American  Army  had  been  successfully  turned,  a  sec- 
ond time,  without  his  knowledge ;  and  that  the  latter 
was  placed,  again,  by  reason  of  that  successful  move- 
ment of  the  enemy,  in  such  a  critical  situation  that 
its  very  existence  was  threatened — it  is  noteworthy, 
also,  that  if  a  dense  log  had  served  to  secure  the  es- 
cape of  the  American  Army  from  what  appeared  to 
have  threatened  its  entire  destruction,  at  Brooklyn,  a 
similarly  dense  fog,  on  the  occasion  now  under  notice, 
had  afforded  a  similar  advantage  to  the  Royal  Army, 
in  its  effort  to  recover  the  great  military  advantages 
which  it  had  lost,  on  the  former  occasion. 

During  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  [^October  12, 
1776,]  the  second  detachment  of  the  Royal  Army 
passed  Hell-gate,  in  forty-two  sail  of  vessels,  includ- 
ing nine  ships ;  and  it  was,  also,  safely  landed.' 

The  naval  portion  of  that  very  important  movement 
was  performed  under  the  personal  supervision  of 
Admiral  Lord  Howe,  assisted  by  Commodore  Ho- 
tham  ;  and  the  assistance  of  most  of  the  Captains  of 
the  Fleet  and  that  of  the  naval  officers,  in  general, 
which  were  freely  given,  secured,  for  that  difficult 
movement,  the  most  complete  success,  the  only  loss 
sustained  having  been  that  of  an  artillery-boat,  with 
three  six-pounders  and  three  men,  which  was  upset 
and  sunk  by  the  rapidity  of  the  current,*  probably  in 
Hell-gate. 

General  Howe,  notwithstanding  his  successful  oc- 
cupation of  Westchester-county,  was  made  the  object 
of  much  censure,  because  of  his  movement  to 
Throgg's-neck,  first,  because  of  the  danger  to  which 
the  City  of  New  York  was  exposed  by  the  withdrawal 
of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Army  ;  and  the  tempta- 
tion which  was  offered  to  General  Washington  to 

1  The  fine  old  mansion  still  uccnpies  its  place,  with  few,  if  any,  altera- 
tions, ou  the  high  grounds  forming  the  southern  bunk  of  the  Harlem- 
river,  near  One  hundred  and  sixtj-ninth-street.  a  little  helow  the  High- 
bridge  of  the  Crotou-acqueduct.  Madame  Jumel,  who  was  al»o  the  widow 
of  Aaron  Burr,  has  been  dcail,  many  yeara  ;  and  the  right  to  the  owner- 
ship of  the  property  has  been  bitterly  contested,  in  the  Courts ;  but  the 
old  house  remains — and  long  may  it  remain. 

-  Colonel  Uurrisons  replij^  uiuler  General  Washington't  ingtructiottg^ 
"  Uead-qi  aetebs,  Octolwr  12,  I77C  ;  "  Colonel  Kicing  to  the  Maryland 
Council  of  Siifetij,  "  Camp  near  Hableh,  October  13,  1776." 

'  General  Wofhinyton  to  the  Conrjrest,  "  Ueigiits  or  Harlex,  12  Octo- 
"ber,  1776;"  postscript,  dated  "October  i;!th  ;  "  Uie  same  to  General 
Ward,  "  Head-quarters,  Harlem  Heights,  October  13,  1776 ; "  Eitract 
of  a  Letter  from  Harlem,  dated  October  13,  in  The  Peurunjlcania  Ecening 
Potl,  Volume  2,  Number  271,  Philadelphia,  Tuesday,  October  15,  1776  ; 
the  tame,  in  The  PenmyUatiia  Join-nat,  So.  1767,  Philadelphia,  Wednes- 
day, October  16,  1776;  Memoin  of  General  Heath,  71. 

*  Admiral  Lord  Hoiceto  Mr.  Utepheiit,  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty,  "Ea- 
"OLE,  OFF  New-York,  November  23, 1776  ;"  General  Huice  to  Lord  George 
Germaine,  "New- York,  30  November,  1776  ; "  [Uall'sJ  ifu<or^  of  the 
Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  202. 


make  a  dash,  in  that  direction,  instead  of  moving  the 
American  Army  into  Westchester-county ;  ^  in  which 
latter  case  the  three  Brigades  commanded  by  General 
Lord  Percy  would  have  been  seriously  imperiled  ; 
and,  second,  because  he  had  landed  on  Throgg's-neck, 
which  was  really  an  island,  instead  of  on  the  main- 
land, where  none  of  the  difficulties  to  which  he  was 
exposed,  on  the  Neck,  would  have  been  encountered.* 
But.  if  the  General  noticed  the  first  of  these  criti- 
cisms, we  have  seen  no  mention  of  it ;  and,  in  answer 
to  the  second,  without  pretending  to  offer  any  further 
explanation,  although  it  is  understood  that  he  could 
easily  have  done  so,"  he  said,  before  the  Committee  of 
the  Hou-e  of  Commons,  who  was  considering  his 
conduct,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army,  that 
the  landing  at  Pell's-neck  instead  of  at  Throgg's- 
neck,  "  would  have  been  an  imprudent  measure,  as  it 
"  could  not  have  been  executed  without  much  un- 
"  necessary  risk."  ^ 

Throgg's-neck  is  a  peninsula,  on  the  eastern  border 
of  Westchester-county,  which  stretches  upwards  of 
two  miles  into  the  Sound.  It  was  separated  from  the 
mainland  by  a  narrow  creek  and  a  marsh,  and  was 
surrounded  by  water,  every  high-tide.  At  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  a  bridge  across  the  creek,  connecting 
with  a  causeway  across  the  mai'sh,  afforded  means  for 
communication  between  the  mainland  and  the  Neck; 
besides  which,  however,  the  upper  end  of  the  creek  was 
fordable,  at  low-water.'  As  early  as  the  third  of  Oc- 
tober, General  Heath,  who  commanded  those  detach- 
ments from  the  Army  who  were  in  Westchester-county, 
had  reconnoitred  his  position,  accompanied  by  Colonel 

5  Annual  Register  for  1776,  Hi»lory  of  Europe,  176*. 

^[Hall's]  Hktfjri/  of  the  CiiU  War  in  America,  i.,  203;  Stedman's 
History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  210  ;  etc. 

It  is  very  evident,  from  indirect  questions  pnt  to  the  Government's  wit- 
ness against  Sir  William  Howe,  Geneial  Robertson,  before  a  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1779,  that  Lord 
George  Germaine  was  also  inclined  to  criticise  the  occupation  of  Throgg's- 
neck,  adversely. 

'It  is  said  that  the  place  for  the  landing  of  the  troops  was  entirely 
entrusted  to  the  naval  officers,  by  whom  Throgg's-neck  was  selected, 
because  of  the  unfitness  of  Pell's-neck,  fur  that  purpose ;  and  a  glance 
at  the  official  Chart  of  the  Coast  Survey,  will  satisfy  any  one  of  the  wisdom 
displayed  in  the  choice— the  shallowness  of  the  water,  elsewhere,  would 
have  prevented  the  co-operation  of  the  larger  vessels  of  evi-ry  class  ;  and, 
certainly,  the  landing  of  the  troops  at  Pell's-neck  could  not  have  been 
covered  by  any  vessel  of  force  sufficient  for  such  a  purpose,  without  which 
no  prudent  officer  would  have  attempted  a  landing,  anywhere. 

But  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton  has  left  a  testimony  on  this  subject, 
which  disposes  of  every  cavil.  On  the  margin  of  his  own  copy  of  Sted- 
man's History  of  the  American  War,  (i.  211,) he  wrote  these  words:  "  It 
"  had  been  proposed  to  Sir  William  Howe  that  the  troops  should  have 
"  been  inarched  to  Harlem  Point  "  [Hoern'n  Book,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Har- 
lem  Iliver,  oppotite  Hell-gate,^  "  there  met  by  the  boats,  pa.ssed  to  City 
"Orchard"  [CUy-i»land f]  thence  to  Mill'sCreek,"  [Xew  BocMle-harbor,] 
"  and  Kochelle.  This  was  overruled  ;  and  the  above  move  to  Frog's 
"  Point  took  place.  Lord  Howe  objected  to  Mill's  Creek,  under  an  idea 
"  that  it  would  not  be  safe  for  ships  to  lay  there." 

»  Speech  of  Sir  William  Howe  before  a  CommiOeeof  Oie  House  of  Com- 
mom,  April  29,  1779. 

'  Although  Throgg's-neck  is  only  a  short  distance  from  where  we  have 
lived  during  the  past  twenty-seven  years,  we  have  never  been  on  the 
ground  ;  and  we  have  depended,  for  what  we  have  said  of  it,  on  General 
Heath,  {Memoirs,  67,)  and  on  our  unwearied  friend,  William  H.  Do  Lan- 
cey,  Esq.,  who  is  familiar  with  that  portion  of  the  County. 


408 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Hand,  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Continental  Foot ; 
and,  in  doing  so,  he  had  "taken  a  view"  of  the  cause- 
way and  the  bridge,  between  the  mainland  and  the 
Neck,  at  the  western  end  of  which  a  large  quantity  of 
cord-wood  had  been  piled,  "  as  advantageously  siiu- 
"  ated  to  cover  a  party  defending  the  pass,  as  if  con- 
"  structed  for  the  very  purpose,"  as  he  has  stated. 
Considering  it  possible  that  the  enemy  might  make  a 
lodgment  on  Throgg's-neck,  the  General  immediately 
ordered  Colonel  Hand  to  detail  one  of  his  best  Subal- 
terns and  twenty-five  picked  men,  to  that  pass,  "  as 
"  their  alarm-post,  at  all  times,"  with  orders,  if  the 
enemy  should  effect  a  landing  on  the  Neck,  immedi- 
ately to  take  up  the  planks  of  the  bridge ;  to  oppose 
the  movement  of  the  enemy,  to  the  mainland  ;  and,  in 
case  the  fire  of  the  detachment  should  appear  to  be  in- 
sufficient to  check  the  advance  of  the  enemy,  over  the 
causeway,  to  set  fire  to  a  tide-mill  which  stood  on  the 
mainland,  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  bridge.^ 
He  also  ordered  Colonel  Hand  to  detail  another  party 
to  guard  the  fording-place,  at  the  head  of  the  creek  ; 
and  to  reinforce  both  these  parties,  if  the  enemy 
should  efi'ect  a  landing  on  the  Neck;  and  he  promised 
the  Colonel  that  he  should  be  properly  supported. 
Colonel  Hand  carefully  obeyed  all  these  Orders,  we 
are  told  ;  and  the  only  lines  of  communication  with 
the  mainland,  from  Throgg's-neck,  were  thus  care- 
fully guarded,  when  General  Howe  and  his  command 
debarked  on  that  isolated  ground. 

When  the  enemy  had  effected  a  landing,  on  the 
Neck,  in  the  morning,  his  advance  pushed  forward, 
towards  the  causeway,  for  the  purpose  of  occupying 
that  line  of  communication  with  the  mainland;  but 
the  detachment  whom  Colonel  Hand  had  sent  for  the 
protection  of  it,  had  taken  up  the  flooring  of  the 
bridge,  iigreeably  to  the  General's  orders  ;  and  it  also 
opened  a  fire  on  the  enemy,  with  its  rifles,  compelling 
him  to  fall  back  to  the  main  body.  A  similar  move- 
ment of  the  enemy  against  the  fording-place,  at  the 
head  of  the  creek,  met  with  a  similar  repulse;  and  no 
further  movements,  toward  the  mainland,  appear  to 
have  been  made  ;  and,  by  way  of  precaution,  abreast- 
work  was  thrown  up,  on  the  Neck,  by  the  Royal 
troops,  to  cover  the  approach,  by  way  of  the  cause- 
way.^ 


1  We  are  indebted  to  our  friend,  Edward  F.  de  Lanccy,  Esq.,  of  Mama- 

roneck,  for  the  following  account  of  that  old  Mill ; 

"The  Mill  and  dam,  at  Westchester,  were  built  by  Colonel  Caleb 
"  He.athcote,  the  first  Mayor  of  the  Borough-Town  of  Westchester,  at  his 
"own  expense.  It  stood  till  February,  1875,  when  it  was  accidentally 
"burnt.  The  outside  had  been  renewed,  from  time  to  time  ;  buttlie  frame 
"  was  the  original  one,  of  massive  hewn  timber  ;  and  at  the  time  of  its 
"  destruction,  it  was  the  oldest  Mill,  in  Wostchester-county,  and,  probably, 
"  in  the  State. 

"  By  the  original  Grant  to  Colonel  Heathcote,  the  inhabitants  reserved 
"the  right  to  have  their  own  grain  ground,  free.  This  was  afterwards 
"commuted  to  a  toll,  payable  to  the  present  'town'  of  Westchester, 
"  which  the  Town  enjoyed,  as  a  source  of  revenue,  till  the  Mill  was  burnt ; 
"and  the  right  to  which  it  still  retains,  if  the  Mill  shall  be  rebuilt." 

2  Memoirs  of  Geneml  Heath,  68. 
^  Memoirs  of  General  Heuthj  70. 


Besides  the  despatch  of  an  express  to  Head-quar- 
ters, with  intelligence  of  the  enemy's  movements,  to 
which  reference  has  been  made,*  General  Heath  rein- 
forced the  guard,  at  the  bridge,  by  ordering  Colonel 
Prescott,  the  hero  of  Bunker's-hill,  with  his  Regiment, 
and  Captain-lieutenant  Bryant,  of  the  Artillery,  with 
a  three-pounder,  to  march  to  that  place  ;  and  Colonel 
Graham,  of  the  New  York  Line,  with  his  Regiment, 
and  Lieutenant  Jackson,  of  the  Artillery,  with  a  six- 
pounder,  was  ordered  to  march  to  the  head  of  the 
creek,  for  the  reinforcement  of  the  guard  who  had 
been  posited  at  that  place.  Besides  the  throwing  up 
of  an  earthwork,  opposite  the  western  end  of  the 
causeway,  the  addition  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by 
General  McDougal  to  General  Heath's  command,  and 
an  irregular,  scattering  fire  which  was  indulged  in, 
by  both  parties,  nothing  further  was  done  by  either 
of  the  Annies,  during  that  day.'' 

When  the  intelligence  of  the  movement  of  the 
greater  portion  of  the  Royal  Army  into  Westchester- 
county,  reached  Head-quarters,  General  Washington 
appears  to  have  given  way  to  despair,  in  view  of  his 
powerlcssness,  and  to  have  become  despondent ;  al- 
though he  a|)pears  to  have  really  believed  that  the 
movement  was  not  anything  else  than  a  feint.  It  is 
true  that  he  ordered  every  Regiment  who  was  under 
his  immediate  command,  to  be  under  arms,  there,  that 
it  might  be  ready  to  act  as  occasion  might  require; 
that  he  authorized  General  Heath  to  make  such  dis- 
position of  the  troops,  in  Westchester-county,  inclu- 
ding two  Regiments  of  Militia  who  were  posted  near 
Kings-bridge,  as  he  should  think  proper;  and  that  he 
begged  and  trusted  that  every  possible  opposition  would 
be  given  to  the  enemy,  adding  "  God  bless  and  lead  you 
"on  to  Victory;  "  *  but  it  was  hardly  consistent  with 
his  duty,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Army,  at  that 
important  moment,  to  remain  at  Head-quarters ;  to 
give  the  absolute  command  of  all  the  trooj)s  which 
were  before  the  enemy  to  an  Officer,  excellent  though 
he  evidently  was,  as  a  subordinate,  whose  experience 


*  Vide  page  407,  ante. 

6  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  70. 

^  General  Washinffton,  hy  his  Secretrtrt/,  Calnnel  Robert  IT.  Harrison,  to 
General  Heath,  " Head-qxtabters,  12  October,  1776." 

In  the  same  connection,  it  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  the  General  Orders 
of  the  day  and  there  were  no  After  Orders,  on  that  eventful  twelfth  of 
October,  made  no  mention  whatever  of  the  movement  of  tlie  enemy  or  of 
the  disposition  of  the  American  troops ;  that  they  were  written,  entirely, 
in  only  tliree  short  Uaea— (General  Ordi'rs,  "  Head  quakters,  Harlem 
'■  Heights,  October  12,  1776")— that  General  Washington,  on  that  day, 
appeal's  to  have  completed  none  of  his  letters  which  were  unfinished 
when  General  Heath's  e.xpress  arrived  at  Head-quarters;  and  that  no 
allusion  whatever  was  made,  by  him,  to  the  enemy's  occupation  of  West- 
chester-county nor  to  any  movement  of  his  own  command,  consequent 
on  that  occupation,  in  anything  which  he  wrote  or  ordered  to  be  written 
on  that  day,  which  we  have  found,  except  in  that  note,  written  by  his 
Secretary,  under  his  own  eye,  to  General  Heath,  of  which  mention  has 
been  made  in  the  text.  As  stated  in  the  text,  he  certainly  rodeoverto  the 
village  of  Westchester  and  to  the  head  of  the  creek,  towards  night,  and 
looked  at  the  preparations  which  had  been  made,  at  those  places,  to 
check  any  movement  which  the  enemy  should  make  ;  but,  beyond  tliat 
informal  inspection,  he  evidently  did  nothing  whatever,  as  the  Com- 
mander in  chief  of  the  American  Army. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  1774-1783. 


409 


was  so  very  limited ;  to  transfer  to  that  officer  the  en- 
tire responsibility  of  the  opposition  which  was  to  be 
made  against  the  powerful  enemy  who  was  actually 
moving  against  the  very  existence  of  the  young 
States,  not  yet  confederated  and  very  poorly  connect- 
ed even  by  the  ties  of  a  common  danger ;  and  to  give 
to  him  his  parting  if  not  his  farewell  blessing;  and 
nothing  else  than  the  bitterness  of  despair,  the  hope- 
lessness which  seemed  to  overwhelm  all  other  traits 
of  his  character,  could,  possibly,  have  produced  such 
unusual,  such  remarkable,  such  extremely  dangerous 
results.  It  is,  indeed,  stated  that  he  rode  over  to  the 
village  of  Westchester  and  to  the  head  of  the  creek, 
late  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  no  one  has  pretended  that 
he  issued  an  Order  or  did  any  other  act  which  the 
Commander-in-chief,  under  such  peculiar  circum- 
stances, might  have  been  expected  to  have  done.' 

When  General  Greene,  who  was  at  Fort  Constitu- 
tion, as  Fort  Lee  was  then  called,  heard  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  enemy,  he  wrote  to  General  Washington, 
stating  that  three  Brigades,  at  that  time  in  New 
Jersey,  were  in  readiness  to  be  sent  over  the  river, 
for  the  reinforcement  of  the  main  Army;  and  he 
hoi)ed,  if  the  force  which  .was  then  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  river  was  insufficient  to  repel  the  enemy,  that 
those  Brigades,  and  he  with  them,  might  be  ordered 
to  cross  the  river,  for  its  reinforcement,  during  the 
hitter  part  of  the  coming  night,  as  the  enemy's  ship- 
ping might  move  up,  from  below,  and  impede,  if 
they  should  not  totally  stop,  the  troops  from  crossing.'^ 
But  the  proffered  help  was  not  accepted  ; '  and  Greene, 
notwithstanding  his  honorable  anxiety,  appears  to 
have  remained  in  New  Jersey,  without  having  receiv- 
ed any  answer  to  either  his  offer  of  help  or  his  rea- 
sonable enquiries. 

But  the  interregnum  continued  only  during  a  few 
hours  ;  and,  gradually,  the  reason  of  the  Commander- 
in-chief  resumed  its  sway,  his  mental  and  physical 
strength  wiis  restored,  and  he  was,  again,  the  respon- 
sible head  of  the  American  Army.  During  the  even- 
ing, as  we  have  already  seen,  the  Brigade  commanded 
by  General  McDougal  was  ordered  to  move  for  the 
reinforcement  of  General  Heath's  command;*  and, 

'  "  Our  men,  wlio  are  posted  on  the  passes,  seemed  to  be  in  great  spir- 
"  Its,  when  I  left  them  last  night."  {Letter  to  the  Pretident  of  the  Coa- 
grett,  "  Heights  or  U.vki.em,  12  October,  1776,"  postscript,  dated,  "Oc- 
"tober  13th.") 

'  General  Greeite  In  Oeiun-al  Wiishiaglon,  "  Fom  CONSTITUTION,  October 
"12,  five  o'clock,  177fi." 

'  We  arc  not  insensible  that  the  General's  grandson  has  said  that 
"  piirt  'if  the  troops  were  called  over,  but  Greene  was  not,"  (Greene's 
Life  nf  Siithnnael  Greene,  Eilit.  New  York  :  isr>7,  i.,  235  ;)  bnt  he  Rave  no 
authority  for  the  statement,  and  wo  have  found  none  ;  and  we  preler  to 
believe  that  the  proffered  help  wa«  not  accepted,  at  <Aa((ini«,  although 
some  portions  of  General  Greene's  command  were  moved  into  Westchcs- 
ter-county,  within  a  day  or  tw^o,  and  after  the  Conmiander-in  chief  had 
recovered  from  his  temporary  desiiondoncy  and  had  resumed  the  command 
uf  the  .\nny. 

*  OWrmW  .Smn/Iirond  (o  (Ac  Marijland  Conrcntiim,  " C.VMP oftiif.  M.\RV- 
"l»ni)  liEiii'LARS,  Heau-oi  artkr!!,  October  12,  17"l>,"  postscript,  signed 
by  rhris'r  Richmond,  .\djutant,  anil  dated  "Sunday,  Octoljer  13,  177C;  " 
Coltmfl  Firing  In  Ike  Mnnilnnd  Count  U  of  Sn  felif,  "  C.KMP  KE.KR  IIari.f.M, 

October  13,  1776;"  Memiiira  of  (;,„e,  fU  Jl.:„lli,  71. 


with  that  Order,  the  record  of  that  great  day  in  the 
history  of  Westchester-county  was  closed. 

On  the  following  morning,  [Sundai/,  October  13, 
1776,]  General  Washington  became  almost  satisfied 
that  the  enemy's  movement  was  not  a  feint ;  that  his 
main  body  was  on  Throgg's-neck ;  and  that  he  "had 
"  in  view  the  prosecution  of  his  original  plan,  that  of 
"  getting  in  the  rear  of  the  Americans  and  of  cutting 
"off  their  communication  with  the  country."^  That 
change  in  the  General's  opinion,  as  far  as  there  was  a 
change,  appears  to  have  been  produced  by  the  fact  that 
General  Howe  had  made  no  attempt  to  make  a  land- 
ing at  Morrisania,  as  the  former  had  supposed  he 
would  have  done;  and,  the  first  time,  he  "thought  it 
"  would  be  advisable"  to  reinforce  and  protect  the 
troops  who  had  been,  for  more  than  twenty-four 
hours,  guarding  the  two  passes  through  which  the 
enemy  could  open  communications  with  the  main- 
land ;  and  he  "  recommended"  the  posting  of  small 
bodies  of  observation,  at  Pell's-point,  at  the  mouth  of 
Hutchinson's-river,  at  Hunt's-point,  and  at  Willett's- 
point,  without,  however,  giving  an  Order,  for  the 
execution  of  either  of  these."  At  the  same  time,  he 
strengthened  the  force  already  in  Westchester-county, 
by  moving  the  Brigade  which  had  formerly  been 
commanded  by  General  Heath,  for  its  support.^ 

He  also  ordered  Colonel  Tash,  with  his  Regiment 
of  New  Hampshire  Militia,  then  at  the  White  Plains, 
to  march  to  Fishkill,  "  with  all  possible  despatch," 
for  the  assistance  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  in  hold- 
ing the  disaffected  in  check;  *  he  called  a  meeting  of 
the  General  Officers,  at  noon,  "at  or  near  King's 
"  Bridge," — as  "  we  are  strangers  to  a  suitable  place," 
it  was  left  for  General  Heath  to  determine  where  he 
would  have  them  meet;*  and,  finally,  in  these  ringing 
sentences,  he  attempted  to  arouse  the  Army  to  a  sense 


6  GenereU  Wathington  to  General  Ward,  "  HEAD-QrARTEftS,  Hablrh 
"  Heights,  October  13, 1776." 

'"I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  his  Excellency  (as  the  enemy  did  not 
" attempt  landing  at  Jlforrtsania,  this  morning,)  thinks  it  would  bo  ad- 

visable  to  send  a  stronger  force  towards  the  two  passes,  near  the  enemy, 
"where  our  men  Were  posted,  yesterday,  and  also  to  tlirowupsome 
"  works  for  tlieir  cover  and  defence.  lie  also  rcconmiends  strongly  to 
"  your  attention,  the  keepingagood  look  out  at  I'ell's-point,  at  the  mouth 
"  of  E;istch(  ster  creek,  and  at  Hunt's  and  Willett's-points,  for  the  sake  of 
"gaining  intelligence,  these  posts  to  be  regarded  as  look  outs  only." 
{Colonel  William  Grayion,  A.D.C.  to  General  Heath,  "  IIkad  qi'artkrs, 
"October  13,  177C.") 

"  MemnirH  of  Gt>neral  Heath,  71, 

H  General  IVaitliington  to  Colonel  Taxh,  "  IIeao-qdarters,  October  13, 
"1776;"  C'donel  It.  H.  Harriium  In  the  Congress,  "  HEAD-QtJARTER.s, 
"  IIari.km  Heights,  October  14,  1776." 

It  is  proper  for  us  to  say,  in  this  pl.aco,  that  the  Committee  desired 
only  two  Companies  ;  and  ordered  the  remainder  of  the  Regiment  back 
to  Peeksklll,  {Cohmel  Thomas  Tash  In  the  Krw  Hampshire  Committee  of 
Safflii,  "  I'EAK.SKii.i,,  IN  Coi  RTLANn  Manor,  October  26,  1776.") 

»  CoUmel  Joseph  Keid  to  General  Heath,  "October  13,  1776." 

It  was  stated  in  Colonel  Reed's  note  that  "  it  being  necessary,  since  the 
"late  movement  of  the  enemy,  to  form  some  plan"  of  operations  for  the 
.Vmerii'.an  .\rmy,  it  is  only  reasonable  to  sup|K>se  theGeneral  Officers  were 
called  together,  for  an  Interchange  of  opinions,  on  that  subject.  The 
Ciuincil  was  evidently  convened  at  General  Heath's  quarters,  {Memoirs 
nf  General  Hfalb,  71  ;)  Imt  nothing  appears  to  have  been  done,  because,  it- 
is  said,  of  the  absence  of  Generals  Lee,  Greene,  and  Meitser. 


410 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  its  duty,  to  the  country  and  to  the  world :  "  Aa  the 
"  enemy  seem,  now,  to  be  endeavouring  to  strike  some 
"stroke,  before  the  close  of  the  Campaign, "  were  his 
words,  "  the  General  most  earnestly  conjures  both  Offi- 
"  cers  and  men,  if  they  have  any  love  for  their  country 
"  and  concern  for  its  liberties  and  regard  to  the  safety 
"of  their  parents,  wives,  children,  and  countrymen, 
"  that  they  will  act  with  bravery  and  spirit,  becoming 
"  the  cause  in  which  they  are  engaged ;  and  to  encour- 
"age  and  animate  chem  so  to  do,  there  is  every  ad- 
"  vantage  of  ground  and  situation,  so  that,  if  we  do 
"not conquer,  it  must  be  our  own  faults.  How  much 
"  better  will  it  be  to  die  honourably,  fighting  in  the 
"  field,  than  to  return  home,  covered  with  shame  and 
"disgrace,  even  if  the  cruelty  of  the  enemy  should 
"  allow  you  to  return  !  A  brave  and  gallant  beha- 
"  viour,  for  a  few  days,  and  patience,  under  some  lit- 
"  tie  hardships,  may  save  our  country  and  enable  us 
"  to  go  into  Winter^qUarters  with  safety  and  honour." 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  of  October,  Gen- 
eral Heath,  with  all  the  Generals  under  his  com- 
mand, reconnoitred  the  enemy,  on  Throgg's-neck ;  ^ 
and,  soon  afterwards.  General  Washington,  accom- 
panied by  the  Generals  of  the  Army  who  were  at 
Head-quarters,  also  visited  all  the  posts,  beyond 
Kingsbridge,  and  the  several  passes  and  roadways 
which  led  from  Throgg's-neck  and  from  the  adjacent 
Necks,  into  the  country,'  acquainting  himself,  as  far 
as  he  could  do  so,  by  personal  reconnaissance,  with 
the  strength  and  position  and  purposes  of  the  enemy  ; 
with  the  character  and  condition  of  the  outlets,  from 
Throgg's-neck  and  from  the  other  similar,  but  leaser. 
Necks,  in  that  vicinity,  from  which  the  enemy  might 
incline  to  move  into  the  interior  of  the  County;  with 
the  capabilities,  for  defensive  purposes,  which  those 
outlets  severally  possessed ;  and  with  the  necessities, 
for  military  purposes,  which  each  of  these  several 
subjects  presented,  for  his  attention. 

During  the  same  day,  [October  14,]  General  Lee 
reached  Head -quarters,  on  his  return  from  the  South; 
and  the  command  of  all  the  troops  in  Westchester- 
county,  then  the  greater  portion  of  the  Army,  was 
given  to  him,  with  the  request,  however,  that  he 
would  not  assume  the  command  until  he  should  have 
made  himself  acquainted  with  the  different  portions 
of  the  post,  their  circumstances,  and  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  troops  which  had  been  made;  *  and,  in 


1  General  Orders,  "  HKAD-QUABtKuS;  BAHLEat  HkIghts,  OctoW  l.^, 
"  1776." 

2  Memoirs  of  leiieral  Ilealh,  71. 

3  Colonel  HarrUon  to  the  Cmtgress,  "  IlKAii-in  Ani  KUS,  IIauI.kM  Heights, 
"  October  14,  1770  ;  "  Oic  same  to  Peter  R.  Linngslon,  "  IlEAD-QiiAKTEns, 
"  Hari.km  HKKiiiTS,  Octuber  14,  1770  : Memoirs  of  thmcrul  Uenth,  71. 

4  Memoirs  of  General  Heathy  71 . 

There  is  nothing  which  indic.ited  the  general  consciousness  of  the  help- 
lessness of  the  country,  ut  the  time  of  whidh  we  write,  as  much  as  the 
general  dependence  of  the  country,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Army,  on  Gen- 
eral Charles  Lee,  an  officer  of  large  military  pretentions;  the  ambitious 
leader  of  that  party,  in  the  Congress  and  elsewhere — mainly  New  Eng- 
landers — who  was  inclined  to  depreciate,  if  not  to  (piticially  embarrass, 
General  W  ashington  ;  and  the  self-appoinled  and  very  w  illing  and  very 


the  General  Orders  of  the  day,  the  Commander-in- 
chief  ordered  Colonel  Bailey's  Regiment  to  join 
General  Clinton's  Brigade,  and  Colonel  Lippet's 
Regiment  to  join  General  McDougal's  Brigade — each 
of  them  "to  take  their  tents  and  cooking  utensils, 
"and  to  lose  no  time;" — the  two  Connecticut  Regi- 
ments, commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonel  Storrs 
and  Major  Graves,  were  ordered  "  to  be  in  readiness 
"  to  march  into  Westchester,  at  a  moment's  warning;" 
and  Generals  Putnam  and  Spencer,  the  former  com- 
manding Heard's,  Beall's,  and  Weedon's  Brigades, 
and  the  latter  commanding  Lord  Stirling's,  Wads- 
worth's,  and  Fellows's  Brigades,  were  ordered  to  re- 
main on  Harlem  Heights  and  to  continue  the  works 
of  entrenchment  thereon.  General  Putnam  on  all 
those  proposed  defensive  works  which  were  above 
Head-quarters,  including  those  of  Fort  Wiishington  :^ 
those  below  Head-quarters,  immediately  in  front  of 
the  enemy's  works,  which  were  occupied  by  Lieuten- 
ant-general the  Earl  of  Percy  and  three  Brigades, 
having  been  assigned  to  General  Spencer.^ 

As  General  Heath  was  continued  in  the  command 
of  all  the  troops  within  Westchester-county,  until 
further  orders,  notwithstanding  the  assignment  of 
General  Lee  to  the  same  command,  the  former  in- 
structed General  Nixon,  who  had  been  ordered  from 
New  Jersey,  with  his  Brigade,  to  "  have  the  troops 
"which  have  mnrched,  this  day,  to  the  eastward  of 
"  the  Bridge,  by  Williams's,"  '  [  Williams' s-bridge,] 
"comple.ely  ready  to  turn  out,  in  case  the  enemy 
"should  make  an  attack,  that  night;"  instructing 
him,  at  the  same  time,  "should  the  attack  be  made 

unscnipulous  critic  of  everything  and  everybody,  unless  of  himself  and 
of  those  who  were  pandering  to  his  unholy  ambition  and  applauding 
even  his  scurrility.  He  wieJded  a  very  glib,  but  a  very  poisonous,  tongue, 
and  a  sharp  and  venomous  |>en,  both  of  which  were  ready  for  immediate 
use,  whenever  his  paiixions  or  his  interests  reipiired  their  co  operation.  He 
was  generally  haughty,  in  bis  demeanor  ;  he  was  alw.ays  unprincipled, 
for  good  ;  he  never  ceased  to  be  avaricious,  even  to  meanness  and  dis- 
honesty. A  huckster  of  his  own  political  and  military  opinions  and  as 
eociations,  he  was  never  contented  wiih  the  prices  which  his  wares  com- 
manded in  the  market  of  the  world  ;  and,  after  he  had  disgusted  even 
his  own  party  and  had  become,  himself,  disgusted  with  all  mankind,  ho 
died,  *' unwept,  unhonoreil,  and  unsung." 

The  country  has  had  other  men  of  straw  whom  it  has  also  grasped,  in 
its  hours  of  great  an.xiety  and  great  danger,  almost  counterparts  of  that 
on  whom  the  .\rniy  and  the  country  leaned,  so  confidently  and  so  lovingly, 
from  early  in  1775  until  the  Sunnuer  of  1778  ;  and  just  as  the  broken 
reed  of  that  early  period  pierced  the  hand  which  leaned  on  it,  so  have 
these  latter  pretenders,  these  latter  selfish  and  unpatriotic  tools  »f  un- 
scrupulous and  designing  men,  wounded  those  whose  confidence  they 
had  secured,  and  brought  shame  and  dishonor  on  the  country  which  had 
petted  them. 

s  The  position  assigned  to  Maji»r-gen<-ra!  I*u(?iam,  not  immediately  in 
front  of  the  enemy,  but,  in  the  ri  ar,  where  In^  could  do  no  more  th.an 
oversee  the  construction  of  certain  specifii'd  defensive  works,  is  peculiarly 
noteworthy — the  disiister  on  Long  Island  wiis  too  distinctly  renienilwred 
to  allow  him  to  be  posted,  again,  where  he  could  possibly  do  any  harm. 

''General  Orders,  " Heah-qvartkhs,  Habi.f.m  Heights,  October  14, 
'"1770." 

'  We  have  not  found  any  other  description  of  these  troops  than  what 
General  Heath  and  David  How  wrote  concerning  them  :  the  former 
saying,  "two  or  three  Brigades  have  moved,  this  day.  beyond  Wil- 
"liams's;"  (Letter  to  Colonel  Horrient,  "Kixii's  BRinuE,  October  14, 
"  1770  ;")  and  the  latter,  "  14.  There  has  bi'eii  two  Brigades  JlarchJ  By 
'•  hear  This  Day  Towards  forgg's  point."    (Diary,  " October  14,  1770.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


411 


"  towards  Frog's  Point,"  to  "  endeavour  to  support 
"the  Regiments  that  are  posted  at  the  passes,  there;" 
"  should  the  attack  be  made  at  or  near  East  Chester 
"  binding,"  to  "  make  the  best  disposition  of  his 
"troops  and  repel  the  enemy;"  and  if  any  new 
movement  of  the  enemy  should  be  discovered,  "to 
"  send  notice  thereof,  immediately,  by  one  of  the 
"  Liglit-horsemen."  General  Heath  also  informed  Gen- 
eral Nixon  "that  a  guard  was  absolutely  necessary  at 
"  Rodman's-point,"  [the  same  ns  Pell's-poinf,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Hutchinson' s-river,  from  Tlirogg's- 
neck,\  "next  to  East-Chester-creek."  He  said  that 
Colonel  How  was  near  the  landing-place,  "  with  a 
"  Regiment  of  Militia;"  but  it  was  evident  that  not 
enough  was  known  of  Colonel  How's  military  quali- 
fications for  the  command  of  so  important  a  position  ; 
and  General  Nixon  was  directed  to  make  inquiries 
on  the  subject.' 

While  the  military  authorities  were  thus  engaged 
in  preparing  to  meet  the  enemy,  in  arms,  whenever 
the  latter  should  endeavor  to  move  from  the  Neck  on 
which  he  was  then  quietly  encamped,  the  Convention 
of  New  York,  by  its  Committee  of  Safety,  as  we  have 
already  stated  in  our  review  of  the  proceedings  of 
that  Convention,^  as  soon  as  information  could  have 
possibly  reached  it,  that  the  enemy  had  moved 
towards  Westchester-county,  provided  for  the  imme- 
diate disposition  of  all  the-  Cattle,  Horses,  Hogs, 
Sheep,  Grain,  Straw,  and  Hay,  on  the  well-culti- 
vated farms  throughout  that  County,  in  order  that 
the  enemy  should  not  secure  them  for  his  Com- 
missariat ;  and  the  careful  reader  may  gather  from 
that  decided  action  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  how 
completely  desolated  all  that  flourishing  County 
must  have  become,  before  that  enemy  secured  a  foot- 
hold on  the  main-land — indeed,  before  that  foothold 
had  been  secured,  all  that  portion  of  the  County 
which  was  below  Tarrytown,  the  White  Plains,  and 
Rye  had,  probably,  been  generally  stripped  of  the 
various  agricultural  productions  of  that  season, 
excepting  only  the  Potatoes,  the  Buckwheat,  and  the 
Corn  ;  and,  of  the  Live-stock,  of  every  description,  it 
is  scarcely  probable  that  any  remained,  within  that 
portion  of  the  County. 

In  connection  with  this  notice  of  the  removal  of  the 
Live-stock  and  Crops,  we  may  properly  mention  that, 
very  largely,  the  inhabitants  of  those  portions  of  the 
County  which  were  likely  to  be  exposed  to  the  de- 
predations of  either  of  the  two  Armies — and  one  of 
these  Armies  was  quite  as  bad  as  the  other,  in  the 
work  of  plunder  and  devastation  and  outrage — re- 
moved from  their  several  rural  homes,  with  as  many 
of  their  effects  as  they  could  take  with  them,  to  places 
of  supposed  greater  safety    and  it  is  scarcely  proba- 

'  General  Henlh  to  Oeneral  A'lxon,  "  King's  Bbidge,  October  14,  1776." 
-  Vide  i>ag(>s  3!I7,  3!I8,  aiite. 

'Jounuil  of  the  CommUtee  of  Safe^,  "Monday  morning,  Octor.  14, 
"1776." 

*  Tlio  Morris  fiiniily  )utd  left  Horriaknia,  at  tlie  first  ap|>eumnce  of  diin- 


ble  that,  in  all  the  lower  Towns  of  the  County,  in 
which  the  tramp  of  armed  men  was  soon  to  be  heard, 
many  of  the  inhabitants  remained,  unless,  here  and 
there,  where  the  head  of  a  family,  accompanied  by  a 
faithful  negro,  lingered  on  the  deserted  homestead, 
in  order  that  the  property  which  could  not  be 
removed  might  not  be  left  entirely  uncared  for. 

The  Convention  was  also  mindful  of  the  danger  to 
which  the  records  of  the  City  and  County  of  New 
York,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Borough  of  Westchester 
and  those  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  were  exposed, 
by  the  movement  of  the  enemy  into  the  last-named 
County.  All  these  had  been  removed  from  their 
proper  places  and  lodged,  for  greater  safety,  in  private 
houses,  in  different  parts  of  the  County,  where,  it  was 
feared,  they  would  become  exposed  to  the  enemy:  and 
William  Miller,  of  Harrison's  Precinct,  Theodoras 
Bartow,  of  New  Rochelle,  and  John  Cozine  were 
appointed  Commissioners  for  collecting  them  and 
removing  them  to  Kingston,  in  Ulster-county,  with 
instructions  to  gather  and  remove  the  scattered 
papers,  "  with  all  possible  expedition,"  and  to  deliver 
them,  at  Kingston,  to  Dirck  Wynkoop,  Abraham 
Hasbrouck,  and  Christopher  Tappen  ;  and  the  Com- 
missioners were  authorized  to  call  for  a  military 
guard,  "  to  attend  the  said  records,  in  their  removal."* 

On  the  fifteenth  of  October,  the  local  Committee  of 
Poundridge  became  so  much  alarmed,  by  reason  of 
the  movements  of  the  "disaffected,"  in  its  vicinity, 
that  the  subject  was  laid  before  the  Convention  ; "  and 
the  local  Convention,  and  even  individual  members 
of  that  body,  continued  to  worry  General  Washington 


ger,  (Lewis  Mnn-ix  to  the  Coiivenlion,  "Philadelphia,  Septr.  24,  1776.") 
John  Jay  obtained  a  leave  of  absence,  on  the  fifteenth  of  Octolicr,  to 
assist  in  the  removal  of  his  aged  parents,  with  their  effects,  from  tlieir 
home,  at  Kye,  to  a  place  of  safety,  one  of  the  most  honorable  acts  of  his 
life,  (Jonriial  of  Ihe  (Jonreiition,  "Tuesday  afternoon,  15  October.  1770.") 
Tlie  pathetic  story  nf  rhoebe  Oakley,  {Petition,  December  2,  177G,)  and 
other  evidences  of  equal  value,  clearly  indicate  that,  among  those  who 
are  less  known  to  fame  but  equally  worthy  of  respect,  the  removal  of 
families  and  their  effects,  to  places  of  supposed  greater  safety,  at  the  time 
of  which  we  writi',  very  generally  prevailed. 

^Journal  of  the  Convention,  "Tuesday  morning,  Octor.  15,  1776." 

"As  the  note  of  the  Committee  indicated  the  feeling  of  the  more 
active  of  the  disaffected,  at  that  time — although  the  great  body  of 
those  who  were  discontented  matle  no  attempt  to  take  up  arms  or  to 
join  the  Royal  Army,  preferring  to  remain  at  home,  in  peace — we  make 
room  for  it,  in  this  place  ; 

"  Poi'KDRiDOE,  October  15,  A.D.,  1776. 

"  Hosoi'nF.D  Sirs  : 

"  We,  tlie  Sub  committee  of  Poundridge,  in  West-Chester  County, 
"  beg  leave  to  inform  your  Honours  that  we  are  apprehensive  that 
"there  is  danger  of  our  prisoners  leaving  us  and  going  to  the  Min- 
"isterial  Army,  as  we  are  not  more  than  nine  or  ten  miles  from  the 
"  water,  where  the  Sound  is  full  of  the  Ministerial  ships  and  tenders. 
"  One  of  our  number  is  already  gone  to  Long-Island,  and  numbers  arc 
"gone  from  other  places,  which  are,  no  doubt,  now  with  the  Minis- 
'•  tcrial  Army.  There  are  disaffected  pei-sons  daily  going  over  to  them, 
"  which  gives  us  much  trouble.  Therefore,  we  humbly  beg  your  Ilon- 
"ours  would  give  us  some  directions  concerning  them,  that  they  may 
"  be  3p«!edily  removed  at  some  farther  distance.  We  would  also  inform 
"you  that  for  the  misdemeanors  of  one  of  them  and  our  own  sjifety.  we 
"  have  been  oldiged  to  commit  him  to  gaol  at  the  White  Plains. 

"These,  with  all  proper  respects,  from  yours  to  serve, 

"  JosiIl'A  Ambler,  Chninnnn  of  Omimitlee. 

'•To  THE  IldSm  RABLE  CONVENTION  OF  THE  STATE  OK  NeW-YoIIK." 


412 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


with  recitals  of  dangers  from  the  "  disafl'ected"  who, 
singular  as  it  appeared  to  those  local  despots,  were 
not  inclined  to  submit,  passively,  to  whatever  of 
insult  or  of  injury  those  in  revolution  should  be  in- 
clined to  impose  on  them — only  in  very  exceptional 
instances,  however,  did  that  "  disaflection"  extend 
beyond  a  disinclination  to  approve,  in  formal  words, 
all  which  the  Congresses  had  done,  while  the  inclina- 
tion to  approve  the  Colonial  policy  of  Great  Britain  was 
no  stronger  ;  and  the  general  disinclination  to  leave 
their  homes  and  their  families  and  to  resort  to  arms, 
or  to  render  any  assistance  whatever,  which  the 
"disafl'ected,"  everywhere,  presented,  was  as  pro- 
ductive of  disappointment  to  the  commanders  of 
the  Royal  Army  as  it  was  to  General  Washington. 
Neither  General  Howe  nor  General  Washington 
understood  of  what  that  disaflection "  was  gen- 
erally composed;  and  partisan  writers  and  parti- 
san orators,  from  that  day  to  this,  have  delighted 
to  make  that  "  disaffection"  something  else  than  it 
really  was,  and  to  invest  the  "  disaffected,"  as  a  class, 
with  characteristics  and  aims  to  which,  unless  in 
exceptional  instances,  they  were  strangers.  Had  the 
conservative  farmers  of  Westchester-county  —  and 
these  were  not  unlike  the  great  bodies  of  the  farmers, 
in  all  the  Colonies — been  permitted  to  dissent, 
quietly,  from  the  policies  of  both  the  Home  Gov- 
ernment and  the  Continental  Congress,  and  to 
have  approved,  quietly,  of  the  spirited  opposi- 
tion to  the  Colonial  policy  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment and  of  the  almost  audacious  demands  for 
a  redress  of  the  grievances  of  the  Colonics,  which 
were  made  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony 
of  New  York,  as  they  were  certainly  and  generally 
inclined  to  do ;  and  had  not  the  aristocratic  and 
haughty  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  faction,  in  New 
York,  attempted  to  secure  uniformity  of  merely  po- 
litical opinions — and  those  to  be  only  such  opinions 
as  they  should  dictate,  by  the  methods  which  charac- 
terized the  bigoted  and  relentless  Clergy,  in  cases  of 
religious  dissent  from  their  Calvinistic  Congregation- 
alism, in  puritannic  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut — 
as  the  those  high-toned  leaders  persistently  attempted, 
it  is  doubtful  if"  disaffection  "  would  have  been  heard 
of,  unless  in  some  individual  instances,  which  would 
have  been  harmless  because  of  their  insignificance; 
and  it  is  morally  ceiiain  that,  if  the  love  of  home  and 
the  sense  of  wrongs  inflicted  by  the  Mother  Country 
and  the  respect  for  those  bearing  authority,  which 
everywhere  prevailed,  had  been  permitted  to  exercise 
the  influences  which  they  would  have  surely  exercised, 
especially  if  they  had  been  supported  by  that  forbear- 
ance and  by  that  respect  for  freedom  of  conscience,  in 
political  affairs,  and  by  those  aj^peals  for  harmony 
which  every  Christian  man  would  have  employed  and 
none  but  civilized  savages  would  have  declined  to  em- 
ploy, New  York,  if  not  the  entire  Continent,  would 
have  appeared,  in  the  Autumn  of  177G,  as  she  had  ap- 
peared in  the  Spring  of  1774,  before  the  spirit  of  fac- 


tional strife  had  blighted  the  hopes  of  patriots,  united, 
as  one  man,  regardless  of  family  feuds  and  ecclesiatical 
differences  and  social  inequalities,  demanding  and,  if 
needs  be,  supporting  in  arms,  the  Rights  and  the  honor 
of  the  Colony  and  of  the  Continent.  But  that  control- 
ling faction  had  other  ends  than  those  of  the  country's 
welfare  in  view ;  and  a  narrow,  bigoted,  haughty,  and 
relentless  proscription  and  persecution  of  those  whose 
political  opinions  differed  from  their  own,  very  rea- 
sonably caused  "  disaffiection  "  among  the  victims, 
without,  however,  leading  them,  to  any  considerable 
extent,*  to  strike,  in  retaliation — they  would  have  been 
worthy  of  all  which  was  heaped  on  them,  had  they 
endured  that  proscription  and  that  persecution,  with- 
out becoming  "disaffected:"  it  was  honorable  that, 
although  "  disaffected,"  they  declined  to  take  up 
arms,  even  in  retaliation  or  self-defence,  when  those 
arms,  thus  employed,  would  have  been  employed 
against  their  own  country. 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  movement, 
which  is  worthy  of  especial  notice,  in  either  Army, 
on  the  fifteenth  of  October;  but  in  the  General  Orders 
of  that  day,  Colonel  Joseph  Reed's  Regiment  was 
ordered  to  join  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General 
McDougal;  and  Colonel  Hutchinson's  Regiment  was 
ordered  to  join  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General 
Clinton.  The  Regiments  commanded,  respectively, 
by  Colonels  Sargent,  Ward,  and  Chester  and  by  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Storrs,  were  formed  into  a  Brigade,  to 
be  commanded  by  Colonel  Sargent;  and  the  Regi- 
ments commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Douglass, 
Ely,  Horseford,  and  by  Majors  Rogers  and  Graves, 
were,  also,  formed  into  a  Brigade,  to  be  commanded 
by  General  Saltonstall.  The  several  Brigades  of  the 
Army  were  formed  into  Divisions,-  those  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Brigadier-generals  Heard,  Beall,  and 
Weedon  were  to  form  the  Division  to  be  commanded 
by  Major-general  Putnam  ;  those  commanded,  respect- 
ively, by  Brigadier-generals  Lord  Stirling,  Wads- 
worth,  and  Fellows  were  to  form  the  Division  to  be 
commanded  by  Major-general  Spencer;  those  com- 
manded, respectively,  by  Brigadier-generals  Nixon, 
McDougal,and  James  Clinton,  the  last  commanded  by 
Colonel  Glover,  were  to  form  the  Division  to  be  com- 
manded by  Major-general  Lee ;  those  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Brigadier-generals  Parsons,  Scott,  and 
George  Clinton  were  to  form  the  Division  to  be  com- 


1  The  reader  has  been,  already,  informed  of  what  General  Howe 
stated  on  the  backwardness  of  the  Colonists,  even  of  those  who  had 
claimed  to  have  been  loyal,  in  talcing  up  arms  against  their  own  country, 
(vide  jwjfs  3S8,  401 ,  ante.)    We  need  not  repeat  the  statements. 

2  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  and  one  which  has  seriously  perple.^ed  those 
who  have  attempted  to  study  the  history  of  that  period  and,  very 
often,  has  led  them  astray,  that,  until  the  time  now  under  notice,  the 
Eegiments  of  the  Army  were  not,  generally,  arranged  into  Brigades 
and  Divisions  ;  and  that  neither  Brigadier-generals  nor  Major-generals 
had  any  specified  Eegiments  under  their  especial  conunaiid— they  com- 
manded those  who  were  present  and  on  duty,  wherever  they  might  hap- 
pen to  be ;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at,  th  t  there  was  so  little  of 
order  and  discipline  in  the  Army  :  it  is  rather  remarkable  there  were  as 
much  of  them  as  there  api)ears  to  have  been. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


413 


manded  by  Major-general  Heath  ;  those  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Brigadier-generals  Saltonstall,  Sar- 
gent, and  Hand  were  to  form  the  Division  to  be 
commanded  by  Major-general  Sullivan ;  iind  the 
Massachusetts  Militia,  then  serving  with  the  Army, 
was  to  be  formed  into  a  Division  to  be  commanded  hy 
Majnr-general  Lincoln.'  At  the  same  time,  the  Gen- 
eral, in  the  most  pressing  terms,  exhorted  all  Officers 
commanding  Divisions,  Brigades,  and  Regiments,  to 
have  their  Officers  and  the  men  under  their  respective 
commands  properly  informed  of  what  was  expected 
from  them,  that  no  confusion  might  arise  in  case  they 
should  be  suddenly  called  to  action,  which,  there  was 
no  kind  of  doubt,  wns  near  at  hand ;  and  he  hoped 
and  flattered  himself  that  the  only  contention  would 
he  who  should  render  the  most  acceptable  service  to 
his  country  and  his  j)osterity.  He  also  desired  that 
the  Officers  would  be  particularly  attentive  to  the 
mens's  Arms  and  ammunition, that  there  might  be  no 
deficiency  or  application  for  Cai  fridges  when  they 
were  called  into  the  field. 

On  Wednesday,  the  sixteenth  of  October,  General 
Wa-hington,  accompanied  by  the  other  Generals, 
made  a  carelul  reconnaissance  of  the  ground  at  and 
near  Pell's  or  Rodman's-neck,'^  towards  which,  it  is 
very  evident,  his  attention  had  been  particularly  di- 
rected, as  the  point  towards  which  the  next  move- 
ment of  the  enemy  would  probably  be  directed.* 

With  all  the  information,  concerning  "  the  enemy's 
"  intention  to  surround  "  the  American  Array,  which 
the  General  had  been  able  to  .^ecure;  with  all  the 
knowledge  which  his  personal  and  careful  reconnais- 
sance of  the  country  had  imparted  to  him  ;  and  with 
all  the  intelligence  concerning  "  the  turbulence  of 
"  the  disaffected  in  the  upper  parts  of  this  State," 
which  the  Convention  had  communicated  to  him,  he 
re-iissembled  the  Council  of  War  which  had  met  and 
adjourned  on  the  preceding  Sunday,^  {_October  13 ;] 
and  he  laid  all  these  matters  before  it,  for  its  consid- 
eration. 

That  very  notable  Council  was  assembled  at  the 
Head-quarters  of  General  Lee  ;  and,  besides  the  Com- 


'  Although  General  Lincoln  wns  considered  and  named,  in  the  Grnerul 
Ordef  now  under  notice,  as  a  Slajor-general,  it  is  probable  that  that  was 
only  his  rank  in  the  .Militia  of  Massachusetts,  since,  in  the  Cunncil  of  War, 
which  was  held  on  the  following  day,  [October  16,]  ho  w:is  ranked  aa 
only  a  Brigadier-general,  and  then  only  at  the  lower  end  of  the  line  of 
Brigadiere. 

•Ueneral  Ordcrt,  "  UEA»-QU.\BTEits,  Uablem  Heights,  October  15, 
"  1776." 
'  Mrmoin  of  Gaieral  Beulh,  71. 

*  The  first  reconnaissance  which  the  General  made,  after  the  enemy's 
occupution  of  Tlirogg's-neck,  included  "the  Necks  adjacent," so  that  he 
was  not  ignorant  of  the  character  of  the  ground  on  and  near  Pell's- 
Beck  ;  but,  on  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth— probably  because  of  infor- 
mation received,  on  the  preceding  day,  from  some  deserters  from  the 
fleet,  who  had  been  taken  to  Head-quarters  and  personally  examined  by 
the  General,  with  evident  confidence  in  their  testimony,  (OViimil  Wimliinri- 
Im  to  Gocemor  Tninibull,  "  HeaI)-«carters,  Heights  or  Harlem,  Octo- 
"bor  16,  1776,")— another  and  more  minute  exnminatioD  of  the  ground 
was  made,  as  stated  in  the  text. 

'Vide  iiage  4l»U, ante. 


I 

mander-in-chief.  Major-generals  Lee,  Putnam,  Heath, 
Spencer,  and  Sullivan  ;  Brigadier-generals  Lord  Stir- 
ling, Mifflin,  McDougal,  Parsons,  Nixon,  Wadsworth, 
Scott,  Fellows,  Clinton,  and  Lincoln ;  and  Colonel 
Knox,  commanding  the  Artillery,  were  present — al- 
though General  Greene  was  at  the  Head-quarters  of 
the  Army,  on  Harlem-heights,  he  was  evidently  out 
of  humor  and  was  not  present.®  After  the  Command- 
er-in-chief had  communicated  to  the  assembled  Gen- 
erals those  letters  from  the  Convention  of  the  State 
and  those  "  accounts  of  deserters  showing  the  enemy's 
"  intention  to  surround "  the  American  Army,  to 
which  reference  has  been  made,  and  after  much  con- 
sideration and  debate,  the  following  question  was 
stated:  "Whether,  (it  having  appeared  that  the  ob- 
''  structions  in  the  North  River  have  proved  insnffi- 
"  cient,  and  that  the  enemy's  whole  force  is  now  in 
"  our  rear,  on  Frog  Point,)  it  is  now  deemed  possible, 
"  in  our  present  situation,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 
"  cutting  off  the  communication  with  the  country  and 
"  compelling  us  to  fight  them,  at  all  disadvantages, 
"  or  surrender  prisoners  at  discretion?"  With  only 
one  dissenting  voice,  that  of  Genera!  George  Clinton, 
the  Council  agreed  that  "  it  is  not  possible  to  prevent 
"  the  communication  from  being  cut  off ;  and  that 
"  oue  of  the  consequences  mentioned  in  the  question 
"  must  certainly  follow."  Largely,  if  not  entirely,  in 
deference  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  the  Council  resolved,  however,  apparently 
with  entire  unanimity,  "  that  Fort  Washington  be  re- 
"  tained  as  long  as  possible."  ' 


^General  Greene  to  Governor  Uooke,  " Hbad-qc aeters,  New-York  Is- 
"land,  October  16,  177U." 

Singular  ns  it  would  appear  to  be,  were  not  the  propensity  for  securing 
all  the  honor  which  belongs  to  them  and  as  much  more  as  is  possible,  so 
genenilly  prevalent  among  those  who  have  occupied  public  places,  Gor- 
don, who  was  so  largely  the  exponent  of  General  Greene's  ujtinions  and 
pretensions,  made  the  latter  take  a  leading  part,  in  the  Council,  in  op- 
posing the  movement  of  the  iVrmyfrom  HarleniHeights  ;  but  the  official 
Minutes  of  the  Council  clearly  show  that  General  Greene  was  not  present, 
and,  therefore,  could  not  have  taken  any  part  in  the  proceedings  of  that 
body,  {CoDipiire  the  Proceedings  of  a  Council  of  General  Officers  at  the 
Head  quartei-s  of  Gi  nenil  Lee,  October  16,  1776,  irilh  Gordon's  History  of 
the  American  Revolution  ii..  :t.'58.) 

'>  ProceedinijB  of  a  L'ounril  of  Getieral  Officers  held  at  the  Head-quarters  of 
General  Lee,  October  16,  177fi. 

Because  of  evident  eiTors  in  the  copy  of  that  paper  which  is  printed  in 
Force's  American  Aichives,  V.,ii.,ni7,  1118,  we  have  preferred  the  copy 
of  it,  evidently  taken  from  the  original  manuscript,  which  appears  in 
Sparks's  Writings  of  George  Washington,  Ed.  Boston:  18.34,  iv.,  155,  note. 

In  his  evidently  new-born  zeal,  adverse  to  the  military  and  personal 
rhanicter  of  General  Charles  Lee,  Bancroft  has  exposed  his  entire  ina- 
bility to  understand  and  correctly  describe  a  military  movement,  what- 
ever his  capability  of  understanding  and  correctly  describing  a  political 
movement  nuiy  be,  in  what  he  ha*  written  concerning '•  the  origin  of 
"  the  retirement  of  the  .\merican  .-Vrmy  from  New  York."  (Histonjof  the 
I'nited  Stiites,  Edit.  Boston  :  1860,  ix.,  175,  note  ;  the  same,  centenai-y  edi- 
tion, v.,  440,  note.) 

Ill  his  attempt  to  tiike  from  General  Lee  everthing  of  credit  for 
having  united  with  others,  in  ailvising  that  "retirement  of  the  Amer 
"ican  .\nuy  from  New  York,"  which  is  now  umler  consideration, 
that  venerable  and  distinguished  histonan  haj4  entirely  disregarrled  the 
action  of  that  Council  of  War,  in  which  the  C'oniniander  in-chief  was 
officially  informed,  the  first  time,  of  the  opinions  of  the  General  Officers, 
couccming  the  further  occupation  of  the  Heights  of  Harlem  by  the  main 
botly  of  the  American  Army,  on  which  opinions  the  General  Orders  for 


414 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  several  positions  occupied  by  the  different  por- 
tions of  the  Army,  from  day  to  day,  have  not  been 
noticed,  with  any  degree  of  particularity,  in  any  of 
the  official  documents  or  publications  of  that  period, 
as  far  as  we  have  knowledge  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
the  command  of  Major-general  Spencer  was  moved 
from  the  exterior  lines,  on  the  Heights  of  Harlem,  to 
which  it  had  been  ordered  on  the  preceding  Monday, 
[^October  14,]'  and  carried  into  Westchester-county — 
the  Brigades  commanded,  respectively,  by  Brigadier- 
generals  Wadsworth  and  Fellows  were  moved  to 
Kingsbridge,^  probably  further  northward  ;  and  the 
Brigade  commanded  by  Brigadier-general  Lord  Stir- 
ling, to  which  the  Regiments  commanded,  respect- 
ively, by  Colonels  Weedon  and  Eeed  were  added,^ 
was  pushed  forward,  first,  to  the  Mile  Square  and, 
afterwards,  to  the  White  Plains.*  A  portion,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Glover 
was  evidently  moved  to  support  whatever  guard  there 
may  have  been  posted  on  the  outlet  from  Pell's,  or 
Rodman's,  neck  ;^  two  Regiments  of  the  Massachu* 


that  "  retirement"  were  largely  based,  and  from  the  date  of  which 
officially  expressed  opinions,  alone,  that  of  "the  origin  of  the  retire- 
"ment  of  the  American  Army  from  New  York"  can  be  accurately  ascer- 
tained. 

Surely  the  histonan  could  not  have  been  sincere  when  he  described 
the  hurried  movement  of  the  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Small- 
wood,  on  the  twelfth  of  October,  to  oppose  the  progress  of  the  enemj' 
from  Throgg's-neck,  as  a  "  retirement  of  the  American  Army  from  New 
"  York  ;  "  and  because  the  weight  of  his  authorities,  in  support  of  his 
fancy,  was  confined  to  a  single  letter,  written  by  the  Adjutjiut-general  of 
the  Army  to  his  wife,  on  the  day  after  the  enemy  lauded  on  Throgg's- 
neck,  in  which  that  officer  said,  "  The  principal  part  of  this  Army  is 
"moved  off  this  islaud " — a  movement  from  the  works  on  Harlem 
Heights,  which  was  only  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  enemy  in  check, 
and  that  not,  by  any  means,  in  fact,  approaching  a  moveuieut  of  "the 
"  principal  part  of  the  Army,"  m»r  with  either  an  intimation  or  a  pretense 
that  it  was  a  "  retirement  of  the  American  Army  "  from  its  strong  posi- 
tion— without  any  other  testimony  whatever  to  support  it,  we  are  con- 
strained to  attribute  the  statement  under  consideration,  either  to  have 
been  an  ebullition  of  his  antipathy  against  General  Lee  or  one  of  the 
reasonable  results  of  his  ignorance  of  what  was  necessary  to  constitute 
a  "retirement  of  the  American  Army  from  New  Y'ork." 

It  would  have  been  more  creditable  to  the  authorial  reputation  of  that 
venerable  writer  of  history,  had  he  read  what  General  Washington  in- 
structed his  Secretary  to  write  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  on  the 
seventeenth  of  October,  the  day  after  the  Council  had  advised  him  of  the 
inexpediency  of  holding  the  Heights  of  Harlem,  with  the  main  body  of 
the  Army,  on  the  subject  of  the  "  change  of  our  disposition,  to  couDtcr- 
"  act  the  operations  of  the  enemy,  declining  an  attack  on  our  front." 
Had  he  read  that  very  simple  statement,  he  would  have  ascertained  that 
the  Commander  in  chief  was  not  aware,  on  the  seveuteeuth  of  October, 
that  any  portion  of  the  .\rmy,  at  that  time,  had  been  "  taken  from 
"  hence,"  in  the  sense  of  a  "  retirement  of  the  Army  ;"  that  the  "  change 
"of  the  disposition"  of  the  Army  had  not,  then,  been  made;  that  that 
proposed  "change  of  our  disposition"  was  frankly  stated  to  have  been 
*'  determined  "  on,  in  the  Council  of  General  Officers,  on  the  preceding 
day  ;  and  that  "  Gener;il  Lee,  who  arrived  on  Monday,  had  strongly 
"urged  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  measure,"  not  yet  executed. 

I  Vide  page  410,  ante. 

'Memoirs  of  General  Healh,''t\. 

3  General  Orders,  '•  Uead-quaeters,  Hahlem  HiiGHTS,  October  17, 
"1776." 
<  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  74. 

5  The  action  which  occurred  on  the  eighteenth  of  October,  the  day 
after  that  of  which  we  write,  was  maintained  by  the  Regiments  com- 
manded, respectively,  by  Colonels  Shepard,  Read,  Baldwin,  and  Glover, 
all  of  them  belonging  to  the  Brigade  commaud<'d  by  Colonel  Glover,  in 
the  absence  of  General  James  Clinton. — (  rnic  j)ii</cj>  417-42^.  iiint) 


setts  Militia,  from  the  command  of  Major-general 
Lincoln,  were  "  sent  up  the  river,"  [the  Hudson-river,'] 
"  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  ships,"  [^AePhcenix,  the 
Roebuck,  and  the  Tartar,  then  lying  off  Tarrylown,] 
"  and  to  oppose  any  landing  of  men,  that  they  may 
attempt ®  while  the  Head-quarters  of  that  small 
Division  and,  probably,  the  two  remaining  Regiments, 
were  posted  on  Valentine's-hill,'  in  the  Town  of 
Yonkers,  one  of  those  ridges  which  formed,  and 
which  still  form,  a  distinguishing  feature  in  the  to- 
pography of  Westchester-county  ;  and,  at  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  the  most  southerly  of  those  high 
grounds,  extending  northerly  as  far  as  the  White 
Plains,  which  were  subsequently  occupied  by  detach- 
ments of  the  American  Army,  while  the  main  body 
of  that  Army  was  laboriously  and  painfully  occupied 
in  its  famous  retreat,  with  its  baggage  and  stores, 
from  the  Heights  of  Harlem  to  the  high  grounds  at 
the  last  mentioned-place  ;  *  and  General  Heath's  Di- 
vision was  posted  in  a  line  extending  from  Fort  In- 
dependence to  Valeutine's-hill.'  It  is  said,  also,  that 
»  line  of  entrenched  encampments  was  also  formed, 
along  the  high  grounds,  on  the  western  side  of  the 
Bronx-river,  from  Valentine's-hill,  on  the  South,  to 
Chatterton's-hill,  opposite  the  White  Plains,  on  the 
North  ;  "  but  by  which  of  the  Regiments  they  were 


General  Washington  to  Governor  Trumbull,  "Heights  or  Uablzm, 
"15  October,  1776." 

"  Mewoirs  of  General  Hralh,  73. 
F  9  Vide  pages  415  ;  420,  427  ;  4.30  ;  etc.,  post. 

5  The  two  Regiments  of  Connecticut  encamped  on  the  Harlem-river, 
belonging  to  General  Parson's  Brigade,  {General  Orders,  "  Uead-QVAK- 
"  TERS,  Harlem  Heights,  October  15,  177G,")  were  ordered  to  pass  over 
the  new  Bridge  and  join  Colonel  Swartwout ;  and,  with  his  Regiment, 
to  form  a  Hank-guard.  Of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Paisons, 
the  Regiments  conuuanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Prescott  and  Hunt- 
ington were  ordered  to  occupy  Fort  Independence  ;  Colonel  Ward,  with 
his  Regiment,  was  ordered  to  Fletcher's,  to  the  eastward  of  Foit  Inde- 
pendence ;  the  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Tyler 
and  Wyllys,  were  ordered  to  form  a  Reserve  ;  and  Captain  Treadwell, 
with  a  three  pounder,  and  Lieutenant  Berbeck,  with  a  howitzer,  were 
attached  to  the  Brigade.  Of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Scott, 
the  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Lasher  and  Mal- 
colm were  ordered  to  form  a  Reserve  ;*  Colonel  Drake,  with  his  Regi- 
ment, was  ordered  to  occupy  the  Redoubt,  in  Bates's  cornfield ;  Colonel 
Hardenberg,  with  his  Regiment,  was  ordered  to  occui)y  the  Redoubt,  on 
Cannou-hill  ;  and  Lieutenant  Fleming  and  Fenno,  each  with  a  three- 
pounder,  were  attached  to  the  Brigade.  Of  General  George  Clinton's 
Brigade,  the  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Nicolls 
and  Thomas  were  ordered  to  form  a  Reserve  ;  Colonel  Pawling,  with  his 
Regiment,  was  ordered  to  occupy  Valentine's  cornfield,  with  Colonel 
Graham  and  his  Regiment  on  his  left ;  and  Captain  Bryant,  withatliree- 
pounder,  and  Lieutenant  Jackson,  with  a  six  pounder,  were  attached  to 
the  Brigade.    {Division  Orders,  "  KiNo's-BEiroE,  October  17, 1776.") 

10  General  Howe  lo  Lord  George  Germainc.  "  New-York,  30  November 
"1776  ; "  Santhier's  Plan  of  the  Operations  of  the  King's  Annij  under  the 
Command  of  General  Sir  William  Howe  K.  B  ,  in  New-Yorkand  East  Xev- 
Jersey;  A  Plan  of  the  Countri/  from  Frog's  Point  to  Ooton  lliver  shewing 
the  positions,  etc.  ;  Annual  Reqisler  for  mc> :  Hislorij  of  Europe,  *177  ; 
Gordon's  Histnri/  of  the  American  RemliUion,  ii.,  339  ;  Marshall's  Life  of 
George  Washington,  ii.,  500  ;  etc. 

Reference  may  properly  be  made,  in  this  place,  to  the  two  Maps,  named 
among  the  authorities  referred  to,  in  this  instance -one  of  them  drawn 


*  There  are  some  reasons  for  supposing  that  those  two  Regiments  con- 
stituted the  force  left,  under  Colonel  L.isher,  for  the  protection  of  Fort 
Independence,  when  the  Division  was  moved  to  the  White  Plains. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


415 


constructed  and  by  whom  occupied,  we  are  unable  to 
state  witb  certainty,  although  we  suspect  that  the 
Massachusetts  Militia,  commanded  by  General  Lin- 
coln, and  the  two  Brigades  of  General  Spencer's  Di- 
vision, commanded,  respectively,  by  Generals  Fel- 
lows and  Wadsworth,  who  had  been  moved  from  the 
Heights  of  Harlem  to  Kingsbridge,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  October,  were  the  artificers  who  constructed  and 
the  soldiers  who  occupied  that  very  greatly  important 
line  of  hastily  constructed  earthworks. 

There  had  not  been  much  haste  displayed  in  the 
American  Army,  in  changing  its  position  on  the 
Heights  of  Harlem,  made  really  strong  by  the  outlay 
of  immense  labor,  notwithstanding  the  enemy  had 
completely  turned  its  left  flank,  occupied  a  position 
on  its  rear,  and  with  the  veriest  mite  of  an  effort  was 
capable  of  throwing  a  strong  force  across  its  entire 
rear,  of  seizing  every  line  of  communication  and 
every  strong  position,  and  of  forming  such  a  line  of 
offensive  operations,  covered,  on  either  flank,  by  the 
ships  off  Tarrytown  and  the  fleet  off  Throgg's-neck, 
which  the  Americans,  in  their  generally  unknown 
weakness  and  poverty  of  supplies,  could  scarcely 
have  hoped  to  overcome.  But  General  Washington 
had  a  lingering  suspicion  that  the  movement  of  the 
enemy  to  Throgg's-neck  was  only  a  feint;  that  he 
remained  in  that  unseemly  position  only  to  await  the 
proper  time  when  he  could  quickly  embark  again, 
and  drop  down  to  Morrisania,  on  one  tide ;  and  that 


by  Claude  Joseph  Sauthier,  a  celebrated  Engineer  in  the  service  of  the 
King,  and  published  by  William  Faden,  in  London,  in  1777  ;  the  other, 
drnwuby  the  Engineers  of  the  American  Army  for,  and  preserved  by, 
General  Washington,  and  engraved,  from  tlic  original  niannscript,  for 
the  illustnition  of  the  original  edition  of  Chief-justice  Marshall's  Life  of 
George  Wmhintfion,  published  in  I'hiladelphia,  in  18(14. 

Asboth  of  these  Maps  weie  originally  official,  one  British  and  the 
other  American  ;  asboth  were  published  from  the  respective  manuscripts, 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  fac-Hinih- ;  and  as  both  are  historical  autliorities 
of  the  highest  character,  they  will  be  frequently  referred  to,  in  our  nar- 
rative of  the  Military  Operations  in  Westchester-ctmnty  ;  and,  in  order 
that  our  readers  may  also  enjoy  the  benefits  to  bo  derived  from  a  use  of 
them,  wliilo  reading  the  story  of  Westchester-county's  revolutionary 
history,  the  Publishers  have  rc-produced  them,  at  our  reepiest,  as  nearly 
in  exact  ftc-fimitc  of  the  original  piiblications,  as  jwssihle.  Sautliier's 
Map  will  be  found  opposite  Jtagf*  227  of  this  work,  ante ;  and  General 
Washington's  Map  will  be  found  opposite  this  page  of  the  same. 

We  may  be  iwrmitted,  however,  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  a  sin- 
gular error  which  was  made  in  lettering  the  British  Map.  Where  "  Pliil- 
"Ipsburgh,"  [I'liilqisboroiigh,]  or  Yonkers,  should  have  been  designated 
the  word  "  Wepperham  " — intended  for  '"Neperhan,"  the  name  of  the 
atream,  popularly  known  as  the  "  Sawmill-river,"  at  the  mouth  of  which 
Philipshorougb,  oi  Yonkere,  stood — has  been  erroneously  inserte<i ;  and, 
instead  of  designating  Tari-j-town,  not  "  Terrytow  11,"  as  situated  miles 
ufcurctbe  I'ocaiitico,  on  whiuli  the  upper  Maiiorliouse  of  the  Manor  of 
PhilifMborough  yet  stjimU,  that  noted  village  ought  to  have  been  desig- 
DKteJ  ((W.iii  tliat  stream—  indeed,  the  Pocantico  ismade  to  appear  as  if  it 
were  the  NuiKirhan,  or  Sawmill-river  ;  and  Dobbs's-ferry  and  Tarrytown 
are  const(iiiently  crowded  up,  into  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Croton- 
river,  although  they  are  several  miles  below  tliat  stream  ;  and  all  the 
other  lettering  of  the  Map  is  similarly  forced  to  the  northward,  unduly, 
in  order  that  it  may  be  nia<le  to  correspond  with  the  river-villages. 

Probably  misled  by  the  errors  referred  to,  in  the  official  Map,  theheftii- 
tiful  Map  of  the  same  Military  Operations,  which  illustrates  Stedinan's 
Uittorij  of  the  American  H  iir.  luvs  repeated  the  mistakes,  in  all  their  ug 
linesB  ;  and  the  first  edition  of  Lossiiig's  Field-book  of  the  Heioluti»n  per- 
petuated the  unwelcome  errors. 


caution  was  necessary.^  Besides  that  caution,  in  the 
Commander-in-chief,  there  was  a  great  scarcity  of 
the  moans  for  transporting  the  Stores  and  Baggage  to 
another  and  distant  position  ; and,  with  commenda- 


■  Colonel  Harriton  to  General  Heath,  "  Head-quaiiteus,  October  12, 
"177(i  ;  "  Colonel  Grayson  to  the  same,  "  IlEAn-QiiAUTEU.s,  October  13, 
"177G;"  the  same  to  Governor  Tnimbiill,  "  Heah-quakteus,  IIaulem 
"  Heiohts,  October  15,  177G;"  etc. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth  of  October,  while  the  enemy  was 
seen  in  motion  to  the  eiMdoiirii  of  Throgg's  neck,  when  that  fact  was 
coiuiuunicated  to  General  Washington,  by  General  Heath,  the  latter  was 
ordered  to  return  to  hisconimand,  which  had  been  posted  with  its  right 
at  Valentine's  and  its  left  at  Fort  Indepeiulence,  and  to  have  it  "  formed, 
"  ready  for  action,  immediately,  and  to  take  such  a  position  as  might  ap- 
'*  pear  best  cak;ulated  to  oppose  the  enemy,  should  tlu^y  attempt  to  land 
"another  body  of  troops  on  Morrisania,  which  he  lliouglit  not  improba- 
"  hie  ;  "  and  General  Heath  "  immediately  obeyed  the  Order."  (Memoirs 
of  General  Heath,  72.) 

2  That  scarcity  will  bo  evident  to  the  reader  of  Gem-ral  Orders  of  the 
seventeenth  of  October,  in  which  "some  Regiments  "  are  ordered  "  to 
"  move  towards  them,"  [the  enemt/,]  in  which  Orders  were  also  included 
for  the  government  of  those  Regiments,  in  the  tiansportation  of  their 
Tents  and  Baggage. 

See,  also,  (^iiartervtaster-general  MiJJlin  to  William  Dner,  "MoifNT  Wasic- 
"iNGTON,  October  20,  1776." 

Gordon,  when  describing  the  movement  from  Harlem  Heights,  said, 
"The  movement  was  attended  with  much  difficulty,  for  want  of  Wag- 
"  gons  and  Artillery  horses.  When  a  part  was  forwarded,  the  other  was 
"fetched  on.  This  was  the  general  way  of  removing  the  Cainp-equip- 
"  page  and  other  aiipendages  of  the  .\rmy.  The  few  Teams  which  were 
"at  hand,  were  in  no  wise  equal  to  the  service  ;  and  their  deficiency 
"could  be  made  up  only  by  the  bodily  labor  of  the  men."  (History  of  the 
American  lievolvlion,  ii.,  339,  340.) 

It  would  be  useful,  were  some  one  to  ascertain  aud  to  inform  the  world 
of  historical  literature,  just  why  there  was  such  a  remarkable  scarcity 
of  Teams,  in  such  an  old-settled  agricultural  community  a«  occupied  the 
lower  Towns  of  Westchester  county,  in  the  Autumn  of  1770,  especially  of 
those  Teams  which  were  required  by  the  American  Army,  by  whom  that 
portton  of  the  County  had  been  occupied,  during  several  weeks  preceding 
the  date  of  the  retreat  from  Harlem  Heights.  There  would  be  some 
curious  revelations  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  Quarter  master-general's 
Department ;  but  there  would,  also,  be  some  very  much  more  curioils 
revelations  of  thefts  of  horses,  by  the  Otticers  of  the  Army,  not  for  their 
present  purposes,  but  for  their  use,  in  the  future,  after  their  retirement 
from  the  service.    Vide  General  OrJers, October  31,  1770. 

The  farmers  of  Westchester-county  were  robbed,  indiscriminately,  not 
only  by  the  camp  followers  and  the  privates  of  the  Army,  but  by  the 
Othcers,  including  Field-ofh<-erK ; and,  in  that  work  of  iilunder,  the 
records  are  singularly  ample  in  their  evidence  that  the  plunderers  were 
almost  exclusively  men  and  Officers  of  the  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut 
Lines.t  At  a  later  period  than  that  which  is  now  under  consideration, 
even  a  Major-general  of  the  Continental  Army  was  confederated  with 
similar  thieves  ;  and  gave  orders  on  the  Paymasters  of  the  Army  for 


*  The  Committee  of  Safety  to  the  Prendenl  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
"In  Committee  of  Safety  Foit  the  ^tate  of  New  Y'onK,  Fismkill, 
"  November  28,  177C  ;"  Deposition  of  John  Marline,  "  13  November,  177fi  ;" 
heposititjn  of  Marmaduie  Foster,  ''13  November,  177C  ;"  PetUionof  Pheebe 
Vakley,  "2  December,  177U  ; "  liepusition  of  Tahnan  Pngsley,  "2  Deceni- 
"ber,  1776;"  Deposition  of  Ebmezer  ISiirrUl,  "2  December,  1770;"  Jour- 
nal of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  "  Monday  morning,  2  December,  177(;  ;  " 
the  Committee  of  Safety  to  General  Ileolli,  "  In  Committee  of  Safety  fou 
"THE  State  of  New  Yokk,  FisnKii.i,,  Decembers,  1776;"  Petition  of 
Inhabitants  of  Wettchcster  county,  "  Westchester-countv,  December  23, 
"1776;"  etc. 

fTho  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Artificers,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Brewer,  and  the  Regiment  of  Connecticut  troops,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Charles  Webb,  were  especially  notorious,  as  thieves. 

See,  General  Order  for  securing  Sergeant  Tripp  and  others,  "PekkSkim,, 
"  11  December,  1776  ; "  Minutes  of  Court  Mtrtiidfor  bid  of  Majnr  Austin, 
"  Phimpsbcko,  November  12,  1776;"  Commitment  of  Captain  Phineas 
Furd  to  the  Duchess-county  Jail,  ••  liy  the  Committee  of  Safety  of  the 
"State  of  New.YoKK,  Fisuiuii.,  .January  the  1st,  1770;"  etc. 


416 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


ble  prudence,  a  removal  of  Head-quarters  from  the 
strong  position  which  they,  then,  occupied,  was  not 
attempted  until  every  possible  preparation  for  a  suc- 
cessful removal  of  them  had  been  duly  made.  Every 
portion  of  the  Army  was  so  disposed,  however,  that 
all  could  be  concentrated  around  Head-quarters,  in  a 
short  time,  should  such  a  movement  become  neces- 
sary, although  the  enemy  was,  also,  properly  and 
effectively  guarded ;  and,  although  there  was  no  ap- 
pearance of  liaste,  in  anything  which  was  done,  there 
was,  also,  abundant  evidence  that  the  Commander-in- 
chief,  no  longer  given  away  to  despondency,  was  en- 
tirely mindful  of  the  great  responsibility  which,  then, 
rested  on  him. 

While  all  these  anxieties  had  prevailed  throughout 
the  American  Army,  and  while  all  these  precautions 
were  being  taken  by  General  Washington,  General 
Howe  and  the  main  body  of  the  Royal  Army  had 
been  quietly  encamped  on  Throgg's-neck.  With  the 
exception  of  a  scattering  fire  across  the  marsh  which 
separated  the  Neck  from  the  mainland,  which  seems 
to  have  done  no  material  damage,'  there  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  any  offensive  movement  what- 
ever;^ and  there  is  very  little  rea.son  for  supposing 
that  the  entire  period  of  the  stay  of  the  Army,  at  that 
place,  was  not  duly  occupied  in  the  transportation  of 
Stores  and  Provisions  and  means  for  Transportation 
and  what  must  have  been  regarded  as  necessary  rein- 
forcements.' 

It  is  not  an  uncommon  occurrence  for  those  who  are 
without  information,  during  a  War,  to  condemn  what 
they  regard  as  the  tardiness,  sometimes  as  the  crimi- 
nal tardiness,  of  a  commanding  General,  in  the  move- 
ment of  his  command  on  some  enteri)rise  on  which 
the  faultfinders  have  rested  large,  very  often  unduly 
large,  expectations ;  and  General  Howe  has  not  es- 
caped from  that  very  common  condemnation.    As  we 


payment  of  the  transportation  of  the  plunder,  from  the  scenes  of  tlie 
thefts  to  the  homes  of  the  thieves  and  of  their  accessories,  of  high  or 
low  degree,  in  the  neighboring  State  of  Connecticut.* 
1  Memoirs  (if  General  Ueiitli,  70,  71. 

-  .Judge  Jones,  in  his  remarkably  accurate  Histonj  of  New  York  during 
lite  Iteoolulionanj  War,  (i.,  122,)  said  of  General  Howe's  occupation  of 
Tlirogg's  neck,  "  here  a  whole  fortnight  was  spent  in  doing  nothing 
"  (plundering  the  inhabitants  and  stealing  their  horses  excepted)."  \Ve 
incline  to  the  belief,  liowcner,  that  General  Howe  had  no  communica- 
tion with  the  mainland  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  seize  horses;  and  there 
could  not  have  been  much  opportunity  for  plunder,  by  the  troops,  unless 
on  the  Neck,  for  the  same  controlling  reason. 

Tlie  Judge  was  also  evidently  in  error  as  to  the  period  of  General 
Howe's  occupation  of  the  Neck— he  landed,  there,  on  the  twelfth  of  Oc- 
tober, and  he  moved  from  it,  on  the  eighteenth  of  the  same  month,  which 
can  hardly  be  said,  with  propriety,  to  have  been  "  a  whole  fortnight." 

3  General  Howe  U>  Lord  George  Germuine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  177G." 


*  General  George  Clinton  to  Lieulenant-colanel  Hamilton^  "  Poughkeep- 
"siE,  28  December,  1777." 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Major-general  referred  to  in  the  Note,  also 
inspired  the  destruction  of  the  White  Plains,  in  which  Major  Austin  also 
first  plundered  those  whose  houses  he  destroyed.  {Testimony  of  Sergeant 
Churchill  and  Tilltij  How,  on  the  trial  of  Major  Awtin,  as  to  the  robbery, 
and  Major  Analiu's  Defence  before  the  same  Courts  as  to  the  original  author 
of  the  deva«»tAtion.) 


have  already  stated,*  he  has  been  condemned  for  hav- 
ing blundered  because  he  occupied  Throgg's-neck  in- 
stead of  some  more  favorable  point,  on  the  mainland ; 
but,  MS  we  have  also  shown,  whatever  of  censure  there 
may  have  been  due  for  having  thus  blundered  in  occu- 
pying that  isolated  Neck,  if  there  was  any  blunder  in 
the  case,  it  belonged  to  Admiral  Lord  Howe  instead  of 
to  the  General,  his  brother.  General  Howe  has  been 
condemned,  also,  because  of  his  long  stay  on  Throgg's- 
neck,  without  having  attempted  to  move  from  that 
position,  in  any  direction  whatever,*  but  surely  no 
one  would  have  desired  him  to  move  into  an  enemy's 
country,  in  the  face  of  an  active  military  force  of  that 
enemy,  without  a  Commissariat,  without  the  neces- 
sary military  Stores  which  would  become  necessary  in 
his  conduct  of  the  proposed  movement  into  that  ene- 
my's country,  and  without  the  slightest  pretense  to 
the  necessary  means  for  transporting  even  his  Officers' 
baggage,  of  all  of  which  the  first  and  second  detach- 
ments had  taken  comparatively  little  to  the  Neck, 
and  of  all  of  which  the  subsequent  and  main  supplies 
I  were  held  back  by  adverse  winds,  which  prevented 
the  vessels  which  bore  them  from  passing  through 
Hell-gate.*  In  addition  to  the  delays  in  moving  the 
Commissariat,  the  military  Stores,  and  the  Horses 
and  Waggons  of  the  Quarter-master-general's  Depart- 
ment,' to  which  reference  has  been  made,  some  delay 
was  also  experienced  in  moving  three  Battalions  of 
Hessians,  from  Staten-island,  for  the  reinforcement 
of  the  main  body,  on  the  Neck  ;  *  and  thus,  in  Gen- 
eral Howe's  own  words,  "  Four  or  five  days  had  been 
"  unavoidably  taken  up  in  landing  at  Frog's-Neck, 
"  instead  of  going,  at  once,  to  Pell's- point,  which 
"  would  have  been  an  imprudent  measure,  as  it  could 


*  Vide  page  407,  ante. 

5  [Hall's]  lliftortj  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  203  ;  Stedman's  History 
Hf  the  Anieriean  War,  i.,  210,  211  ;  Gordon's  Hiilorij  of  the  American  Jiev- 
olntion,  ii.,  337  ;  Adolphus's  Hiitanj  of  England,  Ed.  London  :  181)5,  ii., 
379;  Sparks' s  Lt/e  of  George  Washington,  194;  Irving's  Life  of  George 
Washington,  ii.,  385  ;  etc. 

6  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  1776  ;"  General  Howe's  Speech  before  a  Commitiee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mmis,  April  29,  1779  ;  Annual  Register  for  1776  ;  History  of  Europe,  170*  ; 
etc. 

The  adverse  winds,  which  prevented  the  supplies,  etc.,  from  passing 
Hell-gate,  were  referred  to  by  General  Howe  in  his  letter  to  Lord  George  Ger- 
maine, "  New-Y'ork,  30  November,  1776  ;"  and  in  those  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
Tench  Tilghman  to  William  Duer,  "  Hf.ad-qi  arteus,  H.kulem  Heights, 
"October  17,  1776;"  General  Washington  to  the  Q>nlincntal  Cotigrcss, 
"Harlem  Heights,  October  IS,  1776  ;  "  etc. 

'  "  He  transported  Carriiiges  with  him  from  England  ;  and  whatever 
"more  he  wanted  were  procured  on  Long  Island  and  Staten  Island," 
(Galloway's  Ueplg  to  the  Observations  of  Lieutenant-general  Sir  William 
Howe,  9.) 

8  In  his  despatch  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New- York,  30  Novem- 
"  ber,  1776,"  General  Howe  .stated  that  "three  Battalions  of  Hessians 
"  were  drawn  from  Staten  Island  ; "  but  in  his  Speech  before  a  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  April  29,  1779,  when  his  conduct,  as  Command- 
er-in-chief of  the  King  s  forces  in  North  America,  was  under  considera- 
tion, he  stated,  without  contradiction,  that  the  reinforcement  consisted 
of  "  the  Second  Division  of  Hessians."  We  have  preferred  the  former 
statement;  because  there  was,  then,  only  one  Brigade  of  Hessians  OD 
Staten  Island;  and  because  the  "Second  Division  of  Hessians,"  under 
General  Knyphausen,  had  not,  then,  reached  America. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


417 


"  not  have  been  executed  without  much  unnecessary 
"  risk."  » 

Having  at  length,  completely  effected  his  occupa- 
tion of  Throgg's-neck  and  completely  provided  for 
his  probable  need.s,  General  Howe  determined  to  open 
his  operations  in  We=tchester-county,  without  further 
delay  ;  and,  at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Friday, 
the  eighteenth  of  October,  the  van  of  the  Royal 
Army,  consisting  of  the  Light  Infantry  and  Grena- 
diers of  the  British  Regiments  and  a  portion,  at  least, 
if  not  all,  of  the  German  Chasseurs,  was  re-embarked, 
in  flat  boats,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Neck ;  and, 
having  passed  around  the  Point  of  Throgg's-neck, 
was  landed  on  Pell's,  or,  as  it  was  sometimes  called, 
Rodman's,  neck,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Hutchinson's- 
river,  in  the  Town  of  Eastchester.^  The  main  body 
of  the  Army  crossed  over  to  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Neck ;  and,  during  the  day,  that,  also,  with  all  its 
various  appointments  and  stores  and  supplies,  was 
carried  over  to  Peli's-neck.^ 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  movement  of  the  van 
of  the  Royal  Army  was  seen  by  the  Americans, 
through  the  darkness  of  the  very  early  morning, 
notwithstanding  one  of  the  best  of  the  Brigades  in 
the  American  service,  that  of  General  James  Clin- 
ton, then  commanded  by  Colonel  Glover  of  Marble- 
head,  had  been  posted,  as  a  guard,  in  front  of  Pell's- 
neck,  the  place  of  its  debarkation ;  and  not  until 
daylight  had  revealed  the  similar  movement  of  the 
main  body  of  the  Army,  was  there  any  suspicion, 
among  the  Americans,  anywhere,  that  such  a  move- 
ment was  imminent — indeed,  the  van  had  landed  and 
moved  up  toward  the  main-land,  a  full  mile  and  a 
half,  before  either  of  the  movements  was  discovered.* 

The  movement  of  the  main  body,  in  upwards  of 
two  hundred  boats,  formed  into  four  grand  divisions 
and  covered  by  the  smaller  armed  vessels  of  the 
Fleet,  was  discovered,  "early  in  the  morning,"  by 
Colonel  Glover  himself;  by  whom,  after  he  had  sent 
Major  Lee,  the  Brigade-Major,  as  an  express  to  Gen- 
eral Lee,  whose  Quarters  were  three  miles  away  from 
that  place,  the  entire  Brigade  which  he  commanded, 
was  called  to  arms,  and  moved  down  the  Neck,  to 
oppose  the  landing  of  the  enemy  and  to  hold  him  in 
check,  until  reinforcements  should  be  sent  or  other 
Orders  be  received. 


'  General  Howe't  Speech  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Oommow, 
April  29,  1776. 

'  Admiral  Lord  Horn  to  Mr.  Siephent,  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty '•'ExG^.r., 
"OFF  Xew-York,  November  2.3,  1776  ;"  General  Hotte  to  Lord  George 
Germaine.  "  New-York,  November  30,  1776,  "  Lusbington's  ii/e  0/ Lord 
Harrit,  81 ;  Gordon's  UisUrri/of  the  American  Recolulion,  ii.,  338. 

"  Admiral Loril  Hovceto  Mr.  Stephens,  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty," E.\GLi:, 
'•  OTT  New-York,  November  23,  1776  ;  "  Getieral  Hotce  to  Lord  George 
Germaine,  "New-York,  November  30,  1776;"  David  How's  Diary, 
October  1«,  1776:  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  205  ; 
ilfmioiri  of  General  Heath,  72  ;  Gordon's  HisUiry  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, ii.,  338  ;  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  211 ;  etc. 

*  Extract  of  a  Utter  from  Mih  S/iiarc,  [evidently  written  by  General  Glo- 
ver,] dated  October  22,  1776,  in  The  Freeman's  Journal  and  Sew  Hampshire 
GaitUe,  Yol.  I,  No.  27,  Portsmouth,  Tuesday,  November  26,  1776. 
37 


Although  the  full  strength  of  the  Regiments  com- 
manded, respectively,  by  Colonels  Shepard,  Read, 
Baldwin,  and  Glover — the  latter,  at  that  time,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Curtis — was  less  than  eight  hun- 
dred effective  men,*  the  brave  fisherman  who  tempo- 
rarily commanded  the  Brigade  pushed  forward  toward 
the  place  where  the  enemy's  Light  Infantry  and 
Grenadiers  and  Chasseurs  had  landed,  and  where  the 
main  body  was  about  to  land,  although  the  rough 
and  broken  ground  over  which  the  Brigade  was 
moved  compelled  him  to  leave,  on  his  route,  the  three 
field-pieces  which  he  had  taken  from  his  encamp- 
ment.   He  had  not  marched  more  than  half  the  dis- 


'The  followins,  from  the  General  Reluma  of  the  Army,  will  serve  to 
show  the  strength  of  that  little  detachment,  both  before  and  after  the 
spirited  little  affair  which  is  now  under  notice  : 


September  21,  1776. 


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*  This  Regiment  was  forniorly  commanded  by  Colonel  Learned,  under 
whom  William  Shepard  was  Lieutenant-colonel  ;  but,  at  the  particular 
request  of  General  Washington,  (Letter  dated  "  Head-qu.\rters,  Heights 
"OF  H.tRLEM,  September  30,  1776,")  the  latter  was  promoted  to  the  Col- 
onelcy and  the  command  of  the  Regiment,  by  a  vote  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  on  the  second  of  October,  1776.  {Jour)ial  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  "  Wednesday,  October  2,  1776.") 

As  the  Regiment  really  commanded  by  Colonel  Shepard  was  often 
alluded  to  as  "Late  Learned's,"  this  explanation  becomes  necessary,  in 
order  to  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the  subject,  correctly. 


418 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tance,  however,  before  his  further  progress  was  ar- 
rested by  the  unexpected  appearance,  on^his  front, 
of  the  advance-guard  of  the  enemy's  van,  the  main 
body  of  whom,  as  we  have  already  stated,  had  been 
pushed  forward,  at  an  early  hour,  to  occupy  the 
landing-place  and,  if  necessary,  to  cover  the  descent 
of  the  main  body ;  and  who,  in  the  absence  of  any 
opposing  force  of  the  Americans,  had  evidently  sent 
out  a  strong  detachment  of  its  force,  to  see  what  was 
to  be  seen  and  to  take  advantage  of  any  favorable 
circumstances  which  should  be  presented,  in  a  move- 
ment over  the  Neck,  toward  the  main-land. 

With  admirable  skill  and  with  a  deliberate  cool- 
ness which  would  have  done  honor  to  a  soldier  of 
larger  pretensions,  Colonel  Glover  threw  forward  a 
Captain,  with  ibrty  men,  to  feel  of  that  advanced 
party  of  the  enemy  and,  if  possible,  to  mask  the  at- 
tempt to  dispose  of  the  main-body  of  his  Brigade,  in 
ambuscade,  for  the  further  obstruction  of  the  enemy's 
advance  towards  the  main-land,  which  was,  also,  a 
part  of  the  Colonel's  improvised  plan  of  operations. 
The  plan  which  was  thus  admirably  devised,  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  by  Colonel  Glover,  was  quite  as 
admirably  and  quite  as  successfully  executed  by  the 
soldiers  of  his  command  —  Colonel  Read  and  his 
Regiment  were  concealed  behind  a  stone  wall,  on  the 
left  side  of  the  road;  Colonel  Shepard's  Regiment 
was  concealed  behind  "a  fine  double  stone  wall,"  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  and  in  the  rear  of 
Colonel  Read's  command ;  Colonel  Baldwin  and  his 
Regiment  were  similarly  posted,  on  the  right  and  in 
the  rear  of  Colonel  Shepard's  command;  and  Captain 
Curtis,  with  Colonel  Glover's  own  Regiment,  was 
similarly  posted  where  the  field-pieces  had  been  left, 
some  distance  in  the  rear ;  the  Captain  and  his  com- 
mand who  had  been  thrown  out,  in  front,  having, 
meanwhile,  evidently  held  the  enemy's  advance  in 
check  and  successfully  masked  the  very  important 
movements  of  the  Brigade,  on  their  rear. 

Wlien  the  disposition  of  the  Brigade  had  been  thus 
successfully  and  satisfactorily  effected.  Colonel  Glover 
rode  forward  to  the  Company  whom  he  had  employed 
as  a  mask,  and  personally  assumed  the  command  of 
it — the  name  of  the  Captain  who  had  so  boldly  con- 
fronted the  enemy  and  held  him  in  check,  before  the 
Colonel  had  completed  the  disposition  of  the  main 
body  of  the  Brigade,  behind  the  very  convenient  stone 
walls,  on  his  rear,  has  not  been  recorded — ordering 
it  to  advance  toward  the  enemy ;  which  was  promptly 
done.  When  it  had  marched  to  "within  fifty  yards" 
of  the  place  where  the  enemy  had  halted,  the 
latter  opened  his  fire,  without,  however,  inflicting 
any  loss  on  his  assailants ;  and  the  latter  returned  the 
fire,  killing  or  seriously  wounding  four  of  the  enemy 
— "  we  returned  the  fire  and  fell  four  of  them,"  are 
the  quaint  words  of  Colonel  Glover,  in  his  description 
of  the  opening  of  this  spirited  affair.  Five  rounds 
were  exchanged  by  the  Americans ;  and  they  had 
sustained  a  loss  of  two  men  killed  and  several 


wounded,  when  the  enemy,  who  had,  meanwhile, 
been  largely  reinforced,  pressed  forward,  in  a  charge 
on  the  gallant  little  party.  As  it  would  have  been 
useless,  under  the  existing  circumstances,  to  have 
made  auy  further  resistance.  Colonel  Glover  ordered 
the  Captain  commanding  to  fall  back,  which  was 
done  with  order  and  coolness — "  I  ordered  a  retreat, 
"  which  was  masterly  well  done  by  the  Captain  that 
"  commanded  the  party,"  are  the  Colonel's  words, 
descriptive  of  the  retrograde  movement — the  enemy 
cheering  and  pushing  forward,  in  pursuit. 

Without  supposing,  for  a  moment,  that  the  glory 
of  a  complete  victory  had  not  been  already  gained, 
the  Chasseurs  and  Light  Infantry  and  Grenadiers 
pressed  forward,  in  column,  along  the  narrow  country 
road,  until  they  approached,  "within  thirty  yards," 
the  heavy  stone  wall,  on  their  right  flank,  behind 
which  the  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Read, 
was  concealed  ;  when  the  latter  rose  and,  from  behind 
its  substantial  breastwork,  poured  into  them  a  full  and 
destructive  fire.  Without  attempting  to  even  return 
the  fire,  the  advancing  column  broke  and  fell  back 
and  awaited  the  support  of  the  main  body,  some 
portion  of  whom  had  evidently  effected  a  landing ; 
while  Colonel  Glover  and  his  concealed  command 
patiently  and  hopefully  awaited  a  renewal  of  the 
movement. 

An  hour  and  a  half  are  said  to  have  passed,  before 
the  enemy  again  advanced,  when,  with  what  were 
supposed  to  have  been  four  thousand  men,  strength- 
ened with  seven  pieces  of  artillery,  he  again  appeared, 
keeping  up,  as  he  advanced,  a  constant  and  noisy  but 
entirely  harmless  fire,  and  approached   the  heavy 
stone  wall,  on  his  right  flank,  behind  which  Colonel 
Read  and  his  men,  made  more  confident  by  the  result 
of  their  earlier  success,  were  securely  crouched,  in 
complete  readiness  to  receive  him.    The  advancing 
column  seems  to  have  learned  nothing  from  the  les- 
son which  the  Americans  had  taught  the  advance, 
earlier  in  the  morning;  and,  with  an  appearance  of 
bravado,  it  moved  foi'ward,  in  the  midst  of  the  smoke 
of  its  own  uselessly  expended  gunpowder,  as  if  there  i 
were  not  an  enemy  within  a  day's  march  of  it,  until 
it  had  approached  within  fifty  yards  of  the  first  line  I 
of  the  ambuscade,  when  Colonel  Read  and  his  com- 
mand arose,  as  they  had  arisen  when  the  advance  had  I 
approached,  earlier  in  the  day,  and  threw  on  it  a  j 
deliberate  and  destructive  fire.    The  suddenness  ot  i 
the  attack  and  the  evident  strength  of  its  sheltered  I 
assailants  brought  the  advancing  column  to  a  sudden  i 
halt;  and  it  is  said  that  the  Americans  maintained  | 
their  ground  until  they  had  thrown   seven  well- 
directed  volleys  into  the  closed  ranks  of  the  enemy,  i 
by  whom,  meanwhile,  the  fire  was  returned  "'with  ; 
"showers  of  musquetry  and  cannon-balls,"  as  Colonel  j 
Glover  has  stated,  concerning  it.  ' 

Having  thus  bravely  maintained  his  ground,  until 
a  retreat  had  become  necessary.  Colonel  Read  fell 
back,  without  returning  to  the  roadway,  until  he  had 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


419 


passed  the  left  flank  of  the  Regiment  commanded  by 
Colonel  Shepard,  who  had  remained,  in  concealment, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  road,  during  the  entire 
morning;  and  there,  covering  Colonel  Shepard's  left 
flank,  the  Regiment  was  re-formed,  and  rested  on  its 
arms. 

The  enemy  evidently  misunderstood  the  character 
of  the  retreat  of  Colonel  Read  and  his  brave  com- 
mand— like  the  Officer  commanding  the  detachment, 
in  the  morning,  he  appears  to  have  supposed  that  he 
liad  repulsed  the  Americans;  and  that  nothing  re- 
mained to  be  done,  except  to  gather  the  fruits  of  his 
success — and  he  cheered  and  pushed  forward,  along 
the  narrow  roadway,  until  the  head  of  his  column 
had  advanced  within  easy  gun-shot  distance  from  the 
second  line  of  the  ambuscade,  on  his  left  flank,  where 
Colonel  Shepard  and  his  command  were  concealed, 
as  we  have  said,  behind  "a  fine  double  stone  wall ;" 
when  the  latter  sprang  to  their  feet,  and,  from  behind 
their  all-sufficient  shelter,  poured  into  him  a  well- 
directed  and  effective  fire.  The  column  was  again 
brought  to  a  sudden  and  unexpected  halt;  and  along- 
continued  and  well-sustained  fire  was  kept  up,  by 
each  of  the  belligerent  parties- — it  is  said  that  seventeen 
volleys  were  fired  by  the  Americans ;  and  that  the 
enemy's  line  was  broken,  "several  times,  once,  in 
"  particular,  so  far  that  a  soldier  of  Colonel  Shep- 
"ard's"  [/^eiz/weH^]  "  leaped  over  a  wall,  and  took  a 
"hat  and  canteen  off"  of  a  Captain  that  lay  dead  on 
"  the  ground  they  retreated  from." 

But  the  disparity  of  numbers  between  the  opposing 
forces  was  so  very  great  that  prudence  dictated  a  re- 
treat of  the  two  Regiments  wiio  had  so  successfully 
held  the  enemy  in  check  ;  and  Colonel  Glover  ordered 
them  to  fall  back  and  re-form  and  rest  on  their  arms, 
in  the  rear  of  the  third  line  of  the  ambuscade,  behind 
which  the  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Baldwin 
was  concealed. 

The  advancing  column  of  the  enemy  was  again  put 
in  motion  ;  but  the  record  of  the  events  of  the  day 
make  no  mention  of  any  mere  waste  of  ammunition 
nor  of  any  shouts  of  exultant  success  ;  and  it  is  evi- 
dent that  it  moved  forward,  soberly  and  cautiously, 
as  was  becoming,  in  view  of  the  heavy  losses  which  it 
had  already  sustained  and  of  those  to  which  it  was 
predestined.  It  had  not  proceeded  far  before  Colonel 
Baldwin  and  his  command  arose  from  their  conceal- 
ment, behind  the  third  line  of  the  ambuscade;  and,  sud- 
denly and  unexpectedly,  they  delivered  a  destructive 
fire,  into  the  head  of  the  column.  It  is  said,  however, 
that,  in  this  instance,  the  ground  was  much  in  favor 
of  the  enemy,  enabling  him  to  bring  his  artillery  to 
bear  on  the  Americans;  and  that  the  opposition  of 
the  latter  was,  in  consequence  of  those  disadvantages, 
neither  as  spirited  nor  as  effective  as  that  which  had 
been  made  by  Colonels  Read  and  Sheperd.  The  Amer- 
icans were  compelled  to  retreat  "  to  the  bottom  of 
"the  hill,-"  or  high  ground  on  which  the  ambuscade 
was  formed  ;  through  a  brook,  the  bridge  over  which 


had  been  previously  taken  up,  by  Colonel  Glover ; 
and  up  the  slope,  on  the  opjjosite  side  of  the  brook,  to 
the  place,  on  the  high  ground,  where  Captain  Curtis 
and  Colonel  Glover's  Regiment  and  the  three  field- 
pieces  were  posted. 

It  appears  that  the  enemy  did  not  pursue  the  re- 
treating Americans,  but  contented  himself,  until  late 
in  the  day,  with  a  continued  fire  of  his  artillery,  over 
the  little  valley  and  the  brook,  the  Americans,  of 
course,  returning  it — the  latter,  without  sustaining 
any  loss  whatever  from  the  enemy's  fire;  while  the 
former  evidently  sustained  very  little,  if  any,  from 
the  Americans'  fire  on  him. 

The  Americans  having  been  in  front  of  the  enemy, 
from  an  early  hour,  in  the  morning,  all  the  day, 
without  food  or  drink,  "  at  dark,"  they  fell  back,  three 
miles,  and  bivouaced — "  after  fighting  all  day,  with- 
"out  victuals  or  drink,  lay  as  a  picquet,  all  night,  the 
"  heavens  over  us,  and  the  earth  under  us,  which  was 
"  all  we  had,  having  left  all  our  baggage  at  the  old 
"  encampment  we  left  in  the  morning,"  are  Colonel 
Glover's  words,  concerning  that  portion  of  his  Brig- 
ade's movements — and,  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
the  nineteenth  of  October,  they  marched  to  the  Mile 
Square,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Bronx,  in  the 
Town  of  Yonkers.* 

The  strength  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colo- 
nel Glover  has  been  already  stated,  in  detail,  from 
official  sources ;  and,  because  Colonel  Glover  would 
not  have  left  the  encampment  and  all  the  baggage 
and  stores  of  the  Brigade  without  a  sufficient  guard, 
there  is  an  evident  truthfulness  in  his  statement  that 
he  carried  from  his  encampment  only  "about  seven 
"  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  three  field-pieces."  But, 
in  the  same  connection,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  two  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by 
Colonel's  Read  and  Shepard,  sustained  almost  the 
entire  attacks  of  the  enemy — Colonel  Baldwin  fell 
back,  without  having  sustained  any  other  than  an 
artillery-fire;  and  Captain  Curtis  only  saw  the 
enemy,  in  the  distance,  on  the  other  side  of  the  val- 
ley— and  that,  therefore,  the  number  of  Americans 
who  were  actually  engaged  did  not,  probably,  exceed 
four  hundred  rank  and  file.  The  strength  of  the 
enemy  who  was  actually  engaged  has  not  been  stated 
by  any  of  the  foreign  authorities ;  and  we  can  do  no 
more  than  state  the  facts  which  are  well-authenticated, 
and  to  draw  our  conclusions  !rom  them.  It  is  known 
that  the  detachment  of  the  Royal  Army  which  was 
first  moved  to  Pell's-neck  was  composed  of  the  Light 


•  We  have  depended,  in  this  statement  of  tlic  spirited  action  at  Pol- 
ham,  on  Colonel  Glover's  homely  description  of  it,  contained  in  a  letter, 
dated  at  "  Mile-sqv are,  October  'I'l,  ITTii,"  which  was  eviileutly  written 
for  the  eye  of  a  friend,  although  it  very  soon  found  its  way  into  the 
newspapers,  from  one  of  which — The  Freeman'^  Jonrtml  and  Neir  Hamp- 
shire OazeUe,  Vol.  1.,  No.  27.,  Pohtsmoi  Tii,  Tuesday,  November  20,  1776 
— we  made  our  copy.  Force  copied  it,  with  some  unimportant  variations, 
in  his  /Imerienii  Archives,  V.,  ii.,  1188,  1189 ;  but  wo  have  preferred  to  use 
the  contemporary  edition. 

2  Vide  piige  417,  ante. 


420 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Infantry  and  Grenadiers  of  tlie  Army;*  and  if  the 
Chasseurs  of  the  German  auxiliaries  were  also  includ- 
ed, as  more  than  one  of  the  authorities  have  stated,^ 
and  as  was  more  than  probable,  the  previously  large 
force  of  the  detachment  was  very  largely  increased. 
The  advance-guard  from  that  detachment  was  said  to 
have  been  only  thirty  men  ;  ^  and  these  were  met  and 
held  in  check  by  a  Captain  and  forty  men.  These, 
naturally  enough,  fell  back  on  the  main  body,  not  on 
that  of  the  Army  itself,  but  on  that  of  the  detach- 
ment which  had  been  moved  from  Throgg's-neck,  in 
advance  of  the  main  body  of  the  Army ;  and,  since 
that  detachment  had  been  thus  sent  forward,  in  ad- 
vance, for  the  express  purpose  of  holding  back  any 
force  of  the  Americans  who  should  incline  to  obstruct 
the  landing  of  the  main  Army,  there  can  be  no  reason- 
able doubt  that  almost  the  entire  force  of  the  detach- 
ment was  moved  forward,  against  Colonel  Glover  and 
his  command.  In  the  absence  of  official  Returns,  the 
number  of  men  actually  included  in  that  detachment 
can  be  only  surmised ;  but  the  Light  Infantry  and 
Grenadiers  of  the  entire  British  Army,  added  to  the 
Chasseurs  and  other  Light  Infantry  and  the  Grena- 
diers of  the  German  mercenaries — the  Chasseurs  tak- 
ing with  them  their  light  regimental  fieldpieces — 
could  have  been  scarcely  less  than  four  thousand  men, 
the  number  stated  by  Colonel  Glover. 

The  losses  sustained  by  the  Americans,  in  this  ac- 
tion, were  six  men  killed,*  and  Colonel  Shepard  and 
twelve  men  wounded  f  those  of  the  British  were  three 
men,  killed,  and  Lieutenant-colonel  Musgrave,  com- 


1  Luahington's  Life  of  Lord  Harris,  81 . 

See,  also,  Extract  from  a  letter  from  Fort  Lee,  dated  October  20,  1776, 
in  The  Penn^jlvania  Jotinial,  No.  1768,  Philadelphia,  Wednesday,  Octo- 
ber 23,  1770  ;  Sautliier's  Plan  of  the  Opmilions ;  etc. 

-  Extract  from  a  letter  from  Mount  WiishimjtoH,  dated  October  23,  1776, 
in  The  Penmi/tcunia  Jnunuil,  No.  17C9,  Philapei.piiia  Wednesday,  Octo- 
ber 30,  1776  ;  General  Huire  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Yoek,  30 
"November,  1776;"  Sautliier's Han;  etc. 

3  Colonel  Glover's  letter, dated,  "Mile-Square,  October  22,  1776." 

*  We  are  not  insensible  that  Colonel  Glover,  in  bis  letter  of  which  so 
much  <ise  has  been  made,  in  the  preparation  of  this  narrative,  stated  tliat 
eifjht  vfevfi  killed;  but  the  ttfficial  Returns,  referred  to,  below,  clearly 
indicated  that  only  six  were  killed — no  Returns  of  the  Wounded  having 
oeen  made,  only  the  Killed  can  be  noticed. 

The  Return  of  the  Regiment  conmianded  by  Colonel  Read  shows  that, 
of  that  Regiment,  Samuel  Cole,  of  Captain  Pond's  Company,  Uaniel 
Deland,  of  Captain  Warren's  Company,  and  Ezekiel  Fuller,  of  Captain 
Peters's  Company, were  killed.  (A  Return  of  the  Killed,  Miss'ng, titc,  with- 
out date,  in  Force's  American  Archives.  V.,  ii.,  718.) 

The  Return  of  Colonel  Shepard's  Regiment  sliows  that,  of  that  Regi- 
ment, Sergeants  .lames  Scott  and  Charles  .\<lams  and  Private  Thaddens 
Kemp,  all  of  them  of  Captain  Bolster's  Company,  were  killed.  {A  Itelum 
of  the  Killed,  Taken,  and  Missing  of  the  Third  Kegimenf,  commanded  hy 
Colonel  Shi-pard.  etc.,  "North-Castle,  November  10,  1776.") 

The  ReHirn  of  Colonel  Baldwin's  Regiment  shows  that  that  Regiment 
Btistained  no  loss,  on  the  day  under  consideration.  {Return  of  the  Killed, 
Wounded,  Prisnners,  and  Missing  in  the  Britjade  commanded  by  GurdonSal- 
totistall,  Esq.  "  North-Castle.  November  19,  1776.") 

The  Return  of  Colonel  Glover's  Regiment  shows  that  that  Regiment, 
commanded  by  Captain  Curtis,  on  the  occasion  now  under  consideration, 
sustained  no  loss— it  was  not  under  the  enemy's  fire.  {.4  Return  of  the 
Officers  and  Privates  Killed.  Miasinq,  and  Taken,  in  the  Fourteenth  Regiment, 
etc.,  "  Camp,  North  Castle,  November  l!l,  1770.") 

6  Cokiiiel  Glover's  letter,  "  Mile  Square,  October  22,  1776." 


manding  the  First  Battalion  of  Light  Infantry,  and 
Captain  Evelyn,  of  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  Foot,  and 
twenty  men,  wounded ;  *  those  of  the  Chasseurs,  on 
whom,  in  such  mixed  detachments  as  that  under  no- 
tice, the  severest  losses  usually  fell,  have  not  been 
stated;  but  they  were  said  to  have  been,  and  they 
probably  were,  very  severe.' 

It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  pretended  that  Gen- 
eral Lee  gave  any  Order  or  any  support  to  Colonel  Glo- 
ver, notwithstanding  the  latter  despatched  his  Major 
of  Brigade  to  the  General,  with  information  of  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy  to  Pell's-neck,  before  he  ordered 
his  command  to  move  down  the  Neck,  to  oppose  the 
enemy's  progress;*  and,  in  truth,  nothing  -what- 
ever has  been  recorded  of  the  doings  of  General  Lee, 
on  that  eventful  eighteenth  of  October.  It  is  said, 
on  the  other  hand,  that,  early  in  the  morning  of  that 
day,  the  Officer  commanding  the  Regiment  which 
guarded  the  pass  to  Throgg's-neck,  by  way  of  the 
causeway  and  bridge,  from  the  Village  of  Westchester, 
suspected  the  enemy  was  preparing  to  move  from  the 
Neck,  and  sent  an  express  to  General  Heath,  with 
the  information  ;  that  the  latter  ordered  one  of  his 
Aide's  to  gallop  to  Valentine's,  near  whose  house 
General  George  Clinton  and  his  Brigade  were  posted, 
with  Orders  that  the  Brigade  should  be  formed,  "  in- 
''stantly  ;  "  that  Geneial  Heath  reached  Valentine's 
"  by  the  time  the  Brigade  was  formed,"  and  ordered  the 
I  Officer  in  command  "  to  march  with  the  utmost  expe- 
I  "dition,  to  the  head  of  the  causeway,  to  reinforce 
"the  troops,  there,  himself  moving  on  with  them  ;  " 
that,  while  on  the  march,  another  express  met  Gen- 
eral Heath,  informing  him  that  the  entire  force  of 
the  enemy  was  in  motion,  and  seemed  to  be  moving 
towards  the  ford,  at  the  head  of  the  creek  which  sep- 
arated Throgg's-neck  from  the  mainland  ;  that  the 


0  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"1776." 

'  It  was  not  the  practise,  when  this  skirmish  occurred,  to  notice,  in 
detail-  the  operatii.iiis  of  the  German  mercenary  troops,  in  the  despatches 
of  tlie  Royal  Commander-in-chief  to  the  Home  Government  ;  and  the 
losses  sustained  by  those  troop.'*,  in  whatever  act  ions  tliey  were  engaged, 
were  seldom,  if  ever,  included  in  the  detailed  Reports  of  Casualties 
which  were  sent  to  and  published  by  the  Government,  at  London.  The 
Reports  of  (be  operations  and  the  casualties  of  those  troops  were  made 
to  the  several  sovereign  Princes,  Electors,  etc.,  of  whom  those  troops 
were,  respectively,  subjects  ;  and,  except  in  some  few  instances,  when 
individual  enterprise  luis  unearthed  some  of  th^m,  the  text  of  those 
Reports  and  much  of  the  official  correspondence  remain  in  their  original 
repositories,  unopened  and  seetuingly,  uncared  for. 

The  reports  of  deserters  and  other  uiiofficial  reports  made  the  total 
loss,  including  both  British  and  German,  from  eight  biindreil  toa  thou- 
sand men  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  make  one  believe  that  four  hundred 
Americans,  familiar  from  their  childhood  with  the  use  of  firearms,  shel- 
tered by  ample  defences  from  which  they  could  fire  deliberately  and 
with  their  pieces  rested  on  the  tops  of  their  defences,  could  have  possibly 
fired  volley  after  volley,  into  a  large  body  of  men,  massed  in  a  closely 
compacted  column  and  cooped  up  in  a  narrow  country  roadway,  without 
having  inflicted  as  extended  a  damage  on  those  who  received  their  fire, 
as  deserter  after  deserter,  to  the  number  of  more  than  half  a  dozen,  on 
ditl"'^rent  daj'S,  without  any  connectitin  with  each  other,  severally  and 
separately  declared  had  been  inflicted  on  the  enemy's  advance,  on  the 
occasion  now  under  consideration. 

e  Colonel  Glover's  letter  dated  "  MiLE  Square,  October  22,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


421 


Brigade  was  immediately  halted,  the  men  were  or- 
dered to  jirime  and  load  their  pieces,  and  the  rear 
Regiment  was  ordered  "  to  file  off  by  the  left  and  to 
"  march,  briskly,  to  reinforce  the  Americans,  at  the 
"  pass,  at  the  head  of  the  creek  ;"  that,  while  the  Brig- 
ade was  thus  halted.  General  Washington  rode  up,  in- 
quired and  was  informed  of  "the  slate  of  things;" 
ordered  General  Heath  to  return,  immediately,  evi- 
dently with  all  the  troops  who  were  with  him,  and  to 
have  the  entire  Division  which  he  commanded  form- 
ed, ready  for  action,  and  to  take  such  a  position  as 
should  appear  to  behest  adapted  for  holding  the  ene- 
my in  check,  if  he  should  attempt  to  effect  a  landing 
at  Morrisania,  which  the  Commander-in-chief 
"  thought  not  improbable  ;  "  and  that  such  a  disposi- 
tion as  was  thus  ordered,  was  promptly  made  of  the 
three  Brigades  commanded,  respectively,  by  Briga- 
dier-generals Pi.rsons,  iScott,  and  George  Clinton,  of 
whom  the  Division  commanded  by  Major-general 
Heath  was  then  composed.^  Indeed,  notwithstand- 
ing the  evident  movement  of  the  main  body  of  the 
enemy,  from  Throgg's-neck,  to  the  eastward,  the  con- 
trolling suspicion,  to  which  we  have  already  alluded,'' 
that  the  real  intention  of  General  Howe  was  to  de- 
ceive General  Washington  and,  instead  of  making 
Pell's-neck  or  some  otlier  point  further  to  the  east- 
ward the  base  of  his  operations,  to  effect  a  landing  at 
Morrisania;  to  move  from  that  point,  as  his  base; 
and  to  take  the  Americans,  on  the  Heights  of  Har- 
lem, on  their  left  flank  or  on  their  rear,  induced  Gen- 
eral Washington  to  do  little  more,  during  that  day, 
[Friday,  October  18,]  than  to  watch  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  ;  to  extend  his  line  of  detached  parties, 
along  the  high  grounds  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Bronx-river,  northward,  as  rapidly  as  the  enemy  should 
show  an  inclination  to  move,  in  force,  in  that  direc- 
tion ;  to  continue  the  Head-quarters  of  the  Army  on 
the  Heights  of  Harlem ;  and  to  hold  the  main  body 
of  that  Army  in  constant  readiness  to  move  in  what- 
ever direction  it  should  become  necessary  to  confront 
and  oppose  the  enemy.  On  Colonel  Glover  and  on 
his  Brigade,  therefore,  during  that  eventful  Friday, 
rested  the  great  responsibility — a  greater  responsibil- 
ity than  either  the  Colonel  or  his  command  had  any 
knowledge  of— of  being  the  only  armed  force  which 
was  in  front  of  the  Royal  Army,  opposing  the  progress 
of  the  latter  into  the  interior  of  Westchester-county  ; 
and  of  being  the  only  force,  of  any  kind,  which,  on 
that  day,  fired  a  shot  on  the  advancing  column  of 
that  Army — how  well  that  opposition  to  the  enemy's 
advance  was  directed  and  how  entirely  successful  it 
was,  in  that  opposition,  have  been  already  told  and 
need  not  be  repeated.  Not  until  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  nor  then,  until  after  Colonel  Glover  and  his 
exhausted  command  had  fallen  back,  three  miles,  in 
the  direction  of  Dobbs's-ferry,  did  the  powerful  ad- 


Memoin  of  General  Heath,  72. 
Vide  pages  408,  409,  415,  ant*. 


vance  of  the  Royal  Army  venture  to  cross  the  little 
valley  over  which  it  had  been  cannonaded,  by  the 
Americans,  during  a  large  portion  of  the  day  ;  '  and 
after  its  progress  toward  the  mainland  was  thus  re- 
sumed, it  made  no  attempt  to  pursue  the  retreating 
Americans,  contenting  itself",  on  the  contrary,  with 
quietly  moving  eastward,  toward  New  Rochelle, 
where  it  also  bivouaced.  and  rested  from  the  anxie- 
ties and  the  dangers  to  which  it  had  been  exposed,* 
the  main  body  of  the  Army,  meanwhile,  lying  on  its 
arms,  at  the  place  of  debarkation,  during  the  whole 
of  that  day  and  the  following  night,*  if,  indeed,  it 
did  not  do  so  until  the  twenty-first  of  October.'' 

The  great  service  which  Colonel  Glover  and  his 
command  had  thus  performed,  and  the  great  skill 
and  the  equally  great  bravery  which  they  had  dis- 
played, in  the  discharge  of  that  very  important  duty, 
were  favorably  noticed,  officially,  at  that  time ; '  and, 

3  Colonel  Glover's  letter,  "BIiLE  Square,  October  22,  1770." 
*  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gvrmuiiie,  "  New- York,  30  November, 
"1776." 

6 ''On  the  18th,  our  army  re  embarking,  proceciled  along  the  coast 
''about  six  miles  fiirtlier,  iu  tlieir  boats,  ami  then  re  landed  at  Pell's 
"Point,  and  lay  on  our  arms  that  night."  {[Hall's]  Bistury  of  the  Civil 
War  in  A7iurica,  i.,  20.^.) 

8  We  are  not  insensible  of  the  tact  that  General  Howe,  in  his  despatch 
to  Lord  George  Gernjaine,  dated  "New  York,  30  November,  1776," 
said  "the  main  body  advanced,  immediately,  and  laid,  that  night," 
[IVidaij,  October  18,]  "  upon  their  arms,  with  the  Left  upon  a  creek 
"opposite  to  East  Chester  and  the  Bight  near  New  Rochelle;" 
and  that  Sauthivr's  Plan  of  the  O/ierutitins  of  the  King's  Army  confirmed 
tlie  statement.  But  General  Wusliington's  Manuscript  Plan  of  the 
Couiitnj  took  no  notice  of  any  such  occupation  of  tlie  mainland,  as 
was  thus  stated,  previously  to  the  twenty-first ;  Captain  Hall,  who 
was  in  the  Royal  Army,  made  no  nrention  whatever  of  any  move- 
ment of  that  Army,  during  the  intervening  peiiod,  except  of  that 
of  the  advance,  who  encountered  General  Glover,  (Histori/  of  the  Civil 
War  in  America,  i.,  205  ;)  and  Stednian,  who  is  said  to  have  been  inspired 
by  General  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  in  his  Historij  of  the  American  War,  (i.,  212,) 
was  equally  silent,  on  that  subject.  Colonel  Harrison's  letter  to  William 
Dner,  "Camp  on  Valentine's  Hills,  October  21,  1776"— "Since  his 
"Excellency's  letter  of  yesterday,  nothing  of  importance  has  transpired, 
"unless  the  marching  of  the  enemy,  to-day,  from  Eastchester  towards 
"  New  Rochelle,  is  considered  in  that  light  "  —  General  George  I'lintcju's 
Information  relating  to  the  Enemg,  dated  "October  21,  1776,''  i'l  which  the 
enemy  was  said  to  "now  lay  from  where  they  first  landed,  extended 
"about  one  mile  Eiist  of  New  Rochelle;"  and  General  Washington's 
despatch  to  the  Continenbil  Congress,  dated  '•  Head-qo.ikters,  Wiuve- 
"  Plains,  25  October,  1770,"  all  clearly  indicated  that  such  a  movement 
of  the  main  body  of  the  King's  Army  was  not  made  on  the  eighteenth  ; 
and  nobody  has  pretended  that  Colonel  Glover  confronted  the  entire 
Royal  Army  and  held  it  in  check,  during  the  whole  of  the  day,  as  he 
must  have  done,  had  that  Army  moved  from  Pell's-neck,  on  that  day. 
We  prefer  to  believe,  therefore,  that,  although  the  advance  and,  possibly, 
some  otlier  detachments  of  that  Army  may  have  moved  and  occupied 
the  country  between  Hutchinson's  river  and  New  Rochelle,  on  the 
eighteenth,  nineteenth,  and  twentieth  of  October,  "  the  main  boriy  "  re- 
mained ou  Pell's-neck,  until  the  twenty  first,  as  stated,  indirectly,  by 
Hall  and  Stedman,  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  General  Washington. 

Bolton,  in  his  Hint/irg  of  Westche»ter-covntg  (original  edition,  i.,  444  ; 
(?ie  same,  second  edition,  i.,  69."),)  informed  his  readers,  that,  "  on  the 
"eighteenth  of  October,  1770,  Lord  Howe,  the  British  comiiiander,  took 
"  post  in  the  village  "  of  New  Rochelle;  but  it  is  very  likely  that  "  Lord 
"  Howe,"  who  was  .\dmiral  of  the  Fleet,  remained  on  board  one  of  the 
vessels  of-war — he,  certainly,  was  not  at  New  Rochelle,  on  the  day  of 
the  debarkation  of  the  .\riiiy,  on  Pell's-neck. 

'"The  next  day.  Gen.  Lee  (under  whose  command  we  are)  came 
"and  publickly  returned  his  thanks  to  Colonel  Glover  and  the  Officers 
"  and  soldiers  of  hie  command,  for  I  heir  noble  spirited  and  soldier-like 
"conduct,  during  the  battle  ;  and  that  nothing  in  his  power  should  be 


% 


422 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


from  that  time  until  the  present,  with  more  or  less 
minuteness  and  precision,  they  have  been  noticed  by 
those,  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  America,  who  have 
written  of  the  events  of  the  Campaign,  in  Westchester- 
county,  in  the  Autumn  of  1776  ' 


"  wanting  to  serve  those  brave  Officers  and  men."  (Extract  of  a  Utter 
from  "  Camp  at  Mile  Square  in  Kast  Chester."  dated  23  October, 
1776,  in  The  Freemnn' s  Journal  or  XeivHampshire  Gazette,  Yo\.  I.,  No.  25. 
Portsmouth,  Tuesday,  November  12,  177G.) 

General  Wasliiiigtoii  conveyed  his  sense  of  the  merit  of  Colonel 
Glover  and  his  command,  in  these  words: 

"General  Orders. 
"  Head-qvarters,  Harlem  Heights,  October  21,  1776. 
"  (Porofe,  Heath.)        ,    .  (Co«»fers;<)«,  Sullivan.) 

"The  hurried  situation  of  the  General,  for  the  two  last  days,  having 
"prevented  him  hum  paying  that  attention  to  Colonel  Glover  and  the 
"Officers  and  soldiers  who  were  with  him,  in  the  skirmish,  on  Friday 
"  last,  that  their  merit  and  good  behaviour  deserved,  he  tlatters  himself 
"that  his  thauks,  tliough  delayed,  will,  nevertheless,  be  accept;ible  to 
"  them,  as  they  are  offered  with  great  sincerity  and  cordiality.  At  the 
"same  time,  he  hopes  that  every  other  part  of  the  Army  will  do  their 
"duty  with  equal  duty*  and  zeal,  whenever  called  upon;  and  that 
"  neither  dangers,  diHii  ulties,  nor  hai-dships  will  discourage  soldiers  en 
"gaged  in  the  cause  of  Liberty,  and  contending  for  all  that  freemen 
"hold  dear  and  va'uable." 

'David  How,  in  his  homely  Dinrij,  under  that  date,  [October  18,]  no- 
ticed the  engagement,  in  these  words  :  "  18.  The  Regulars  Landed  above 
"Frogg's  point  on  the  main  Land.  Our  people  fought  Them  Killed  a 
"  great  many  Both  sides  we  have  not  The  Particulars  as  yet."  Limlen- 
anl-coUmel  Tench  Tihjhmnn  to  Willinm  Diier,  "Head-quarters,  King's 
"  Bridge,  October  211, 177ii,''  made  a  passing  and  complimentary  allusion 
to  the  affair  ;  Geueriil  Washitujtoit,  through  /(i«  Secreiarij,  to  the  Continentut 
Congresit,  "King's  Bridge,  October  20,  1776,  half-after  one  o'clock, 
"P.M.,"  gave  a  brief  and  complimentary  account  of  the  skirmish;  an 
Extract  of  a  MIer  from  Fori  Lee,  daleii  "  October  20, 1776,"  and  published 
in  Ihe  Pennsiilrania  Jonrnal,  No.  1768,  Philadelphia,  Wednesday,  Oc- 
tober 23,  1776,  and  by  General  Force,  in  his  American  Archive*,  V.,  ii., 
1130,  gave  a  very  good  and  genenilly  correct  account  of  it;  another 
Extract  of  a  letter  from  F^irt  Lee,  <luUd  "October  20,"  and  published  in 
the  same  newspaper,  on  the  following  Wednesday,  also  gave  a  good,  brief 
description  ;  an  Extract  of  a  letter  from  an  Ojhcer,  dated  "  Near  New 
"Rociielle(in  the  vicTxiTY  OF  N EW-YoRK )  October  20,  1776,"  made  a 
brief  and  exagg"rated  allusion  to  it ;  un  Editorial  article,  in  a  Newport 
newspaper  of  the  twenty-first  of  October,  copii  d  by  The  Freeman  s  Journal 
I r  Xew- Hampshire  G  izetle,  Vol.  I.,  No.  24.,  Portsmouth,  Tuesday,  Novem- 
ber 5,  1776,  and  by  General  Force,  in  the  American  Archiceo,  V.,  ii.,  1174, 
contained  a  statement  of  theskirmish,  giving  theiommand  toGeneral  Lee 
and  making  other  serious  eirors  ;  some  Liformution  relatintj  to  the  enemy, 
commaniculed  to  the  Neio-York  Convention,  evMenWy  by  General  George 
Clinton,  on  the  twenty-first  of  October,  1776,  gave  a  brief  description  ; 
an  allusion  which  was  made  to  it,  with  the  report  of  a  deserter  as  to  the 
enemy's  loss,  may  be  seen  in  an  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Fort  Lee,  dated 
"Octcber  22,"  and  published  iu  Tlu  Philadelphia  Evening  Post,  Vol.  II., 
No.  276,  Philadelphia,  Saturday,  October  26,  1776  ;  with  the  letter, 
evidently  written  by  General  Glover,  dated  "Mile  Square,  October  22, 
"1776,"  and  published  in  The  Freeman^g  Journal  and  Xeir-Hampshire 
Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  No.  27,  Portsmouth,  Tuesday,  November  26,  1776,  and  by 
General  Force,  in  the  A7neti^an  Archives,  V.,  ii.,  1188,  1189,  the  reader 
is  already  acquainted  ;  an  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Motiut  Washingtot^, 
dated  October  2:i,  1776,  written  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  engagement, 
and  published  in  The  Pennsijhania  Journal,  No.  176!),  Philadelphia, 
Wednesday,  October  30,  1776,  confirmed  the  statement  that  the  loss  was 
largely  sustained  by  the  German  troops;  and  infurnied  that  deserters 
stated  the  entire  loss,  British  and  German,  to  have  amounted  to  "more 
"than  eight  hundred  men,  killed  and  wounded  ;"  a  brief  reference  was 
made  to  the  skirmish,  iu  an  Extract  of  a  letter  from  East  Chester,  dated 
October  23,  published  in  The  Freeman  s  Journal  or  New-TIampshire  Gazette, 
Vol.  I ,  No.  24,  I'orismciuth,  Tuesday,  November  5,  1776 ;  an  excellent 
and  very  full  description,  evidently  written  by  one  who  participated  in 
the  fight,  appeared  in  an  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Camp  at  Mile  Square  iu 
East  Chester,  dated  23  October,  1776,  which  Wiis  printed  in  The  Freeman's 


*Thu8  printed. 


It  is  said,  witheome  degree  of  probability,  that,  on 
the  morning  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  the  second 
day  after  the  enemy  occupied  Pell's-neck,  General 
Washington  employed  Colonel  Rufus  Putnam,  an 
Officer  and  an  Engineer  in  whom  much  confidence 


Journal  or  New-Hampshire  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  No.  25,  Portsmouth,  Tuesda}', 
November  12, 1776,  whence  it  was  re-printed  by  Frank  Moore,  in  his 
Diary  of  the  American  Eevolution,  i.,  326,  327  ;  General  Howe's  despatch  to 
Lord  George  Germaine,  dated  "New-Tork,  30  November,  1776,"  contained 
the  official  report  of  the  skirmish;  Captain  Hall,  in  his  History  of  the 
Civil  War  in  America,  (i.,  205,)  made  mention  of  it,  stating,  also,  that  the 
Light  Infantry  lost  "about  thirty  killed  and  wounded,"  without  making 
the  slightest  allusion  to  either  the  Grenadiers  or  the  German  troops; 
Stedman,  in  bis  History  of  Die  American  War,  (i.,  211,  212,)  described  the 
skirmish,  very  briefly,  stating  "thirty-two  were  killed  and  wounded  on 
"the  side  of  the  English,"  without  alluding  to  that  of  any  of  the  other 
troops  ;  Judge  Jones,  in  his  Histnry  of  Xe,w  York  dtiring  the  Bevolutionary 
War,  ti.,  122,)  made  only  a  geuenil  reference  to  it,  among  a  number  of 
skirmishes  in  Westchester-county,  and  his  Editor,  de  Lancey,  made  no 
mention  of  it ;  Gordon,  in  his  HisUmj  of  the  American  Revolution,  (ii.,  ;:*39,) 
gave  a  singularly  inaccurate  description,  making  General  Lee  the  com- 
mander, in  person,  without  naming  Colonel  Glover,  in  any  way  ;  Genera  1 
Heath,  in  his  Memoirs,  (72,  73.)  mentioned  it  with  some  particularity,  but 
witlu)Ul  alluding  to  Colonel  Glover,  in  connection  with  it ;  Judge 
Mai-shall,  in  his  Life  of  George  Washington,  (ii.,  499.)  briefly  alluded  to  it ; 
Ramsay,  in  his  History  o/  the  American  Herolution,  (Edit.  London:  1791, 
i  ,  308,  309,)  gave  the  personal  command  to  General  Lee,  without  allud- 
ing to  Colonel  Glover ;  Mi-s.  Warren,  in  her  Jtise  and  Progress  of  the 
Ami-rican  Revolution,  (i.,  327,)  grouped  all  the  o])eratioiis  of  the  Armies, 
while  en  route  to  the  White  Plains,  without  making  special  mention  of 
either;  Adolphus,  in  his  History  of  England,  (Second  edition,  ii.,  380,) 
made  honorable  mention  of  Colonel  Glover  and  of  the  engagement ;  Ser- 
geant Lamb,  of  the  Rnyal  Welsh  Kusileers,  in  his  Journal  of  Occurrences 
durinfj  the  late  American  War,  (Edit  Dublin  ;  18u9;  127,)  made  honorable 
mention  of  it,  giving  the  personal  command  to  General  Lee  ;  Paul  Allen, 
in  his  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  (i.,  511,  512,)  also  gave  the 
Command  to  General  Lee,  requiring,  however,  the  "  whole  force  of  the 
"British,  in  solid  columns,"  to  overcome  the  handful  of  Americans ; 
Morse,  in  his  Annals  of  the  American  Revolution,  (Edit.  Hartford  :  1824, 
262,)  mentioned  it,  inciilentally,  giving  the  personal  command  to  General 
Lee  ;  Kamsjiy,  in  his  Life  of  George  Washington,  (Sixth  edition,  46,)  did 
no  more  than  to  aisually  allude  to  the  entire  series  of  afl'aiis,  without 
particularly  mentioning  either  of  them  ;  Dunlap,  in  his  History  of  Xew 
York,  (ii.,  80,)  did  the  same,  honorably  mentioning  all,  without  selecting 
either,  for  special  praise  ;  Lossing,  in  his  Pictitrial  Field-book  of  the  Revo- 
lution,  (original  edition,  li..  820,)  found  room  for  no  more  than  two  lines 
of  description  of  this  gallant  affair,  which  was  a  part  of  his  subject: 
although  he  had  devoted  eight  pages  to  Christopher  Columbus  and  four- 
teen to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Captain  John  Smith,  and  Pocahontiis,  which, 
certainly,  had  no  connection  with  that  pubject,  the  American  Revolu- 
tion ;  and,  in  those  two  lines,  he  committed  a  singularly  important  error  ; 
Irving,  in  his  Life  of  George  Wtuhington,  (Edit.  1856,  ii.,  385,  386,)  gave 
an  excellent  little  notice  of  it ;  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  Uniltd 
Stales,  (original  edition,  ix.,  177,  and  in  tJiesame,  centenary  edition,  v.,  441,) 
while  he  had  been  singularly  profuse  in  what  had  no  bearing  whatever  on 
the  history  of  the  United  States,  dismissed  the  subject  in  less  than  four 
lines  ;  Dawson,  in  his  Battles  of  the  L'nited  Stales,  (i.,  177,)  made  only  an 
incidental  allusion  to  it,  instead  of  appropriating  a  Chapter  of  his  work 
to  that  special  subject,  as  he  should  have  done  ;  Colonel  Carrington, 
in  his  Rattles  of  the  American  Revolution,  (23.5,)  made  honorable  mention 
of  the  affair  ;  the  local  historian,  Bolton,  in  his  History  of  Wtslchesler- 
counly,  (original  edition;  i.,  1.53,  and  in  the  same  tcork,  second  edition,  i., 
245,)  probably  alluded  to  this  engagement,  when  in  each  instance,  he 
devoted  two  lines  and  a  half  to  the  subject,  in  the  course  of  which,  how- 
ever, in  each  instance,  the  reader  was  gravely  informed  that  the  Koyal 
Army  was,  at  that  time,  "under  Lord  Howe,"  the  Admiral  commanding 
the  Fleet.  In  other  parts  of  his  work,  (original  edition,  i.,  .'46-648  ; 
second  edition,  ii.,  73,  74,)  he  presented  copies  of  what  General  Heath 
and  two  of  the  letter-writers  had  written  on  the  subject,  without  a 
single  additional  word,  where  something  of  descriiition  of  localities,  if 
nothing  else,  would  have  been  more  than  ordinarily  useful.  Tlie  Annual 
Register  for  1776:  History  of  Europe,  *17G  ;  Murray,  in  his  Impartial 
History  of  the  War  in  America,  (Edit.  Newcastle-ujion-Tyne,  sine  anno, 
ii.,  175) ;  The  History  of  the  War  in  America,  (Ed.  Dublin  :  1779,  ii.,  193) ; 


423 


was  justly  reposed,  to  make  a  personal  reconnaissance 
of  the  enemy's  strength  and  position.'  It  is  said  that, 
in  the  discharge  of  that  service,  Colonel  Putnam  was 
accompanied  by  Adjutant-general  Reed  and  a  guard 
of  twenty  men.  It  is  said,  also,  that,  from  the 
heights  of  Eastchester,  they  saw  a  small  body  of  the 
enemy,  near  the  Church,  in  that  village,  but  could 
learn  nothing  from  the  inhabitants,  as  the  houses 
were  all  deserted.  The  Adjutant-general  is  said  to 
have  left  Colonel  Putnam,  at  that  place,  to  attend 
to  other  duties ;  and  that  the  latter  requested  him 
to  take  back  the  guard,  as  he  thought  he  could 
succeed  better,  in  what  he  hud  to  do,  by  himself  It 
is  said,  also,  that  Colonel  Putnam  then  disguised 
himself,  and  set  out  for  the  White  Plains,  a  place 
which  he  had  never  visited  ;  nor  did  he  know  the 
road  which  led  to  it.  Immediately  afterwards,  he 
came  to  a  road  which  turned  off,  to  the  right,  and 
which  he  followed,  a  short  distance  and  until  became 
to  a  house,  where  a  woman  informed  him  that  the 
road  he  was  then  on  led  to  New  Rochelle  ;  that  the 
enemy  was  there ;  and  that  the  latter  had  posted  a 
guard,  at  a  house,  then  in  sight.  Returning  to  the 
roadway  from  which  he  had  diverged,  he  continued 
his  j(»arney  towards  the  White  Plains,  and  had  ap- 
proached ■'  within  three  or  four  miles  of  that  place,"  ' 
when  he  saw  a  house,  with  men  about  it,  only  a 
short  distance  from  him.  Before  he  advanced,  he 
carefully  examined  the  men,  with  his  field-glass  ;  and 
having  ascertained  that  the  house  was  a  Tavern  and 
that  the  men  were  not  British  soldiers,  he  went  for- 
ward ;  called  for  some  oats  for  his  horse ;  and,  sitting 


d'  Auberteuil,  iu  bis  Essais  hutoriqtiei  et  poWiiiues  mr  la  KevolxUion  de  F 
Amtrique  SeptentrionaU,  (Edit,  a  Bruxelles  :  1782,  ii.,  38)  ;  Andrews,  iu 
his  UUtory  of  the  War  tcitJi  America,  France,  Spain,  and  Holland,  (Edit. 
London:  178C,  ii.,  24:i-2ii) ;  Soules,  in  his  Ilisloire  iles  Troubles  de  I' 
Amtriqne  Anglaite,  (Edit.  Paris  :  1787,  i.,  342-345)  ;  Clias  and  Lebruu,  in 
their  Hittoire politique  et philo^ophiqne  de  Ui  Rf.cohUion  de  V  Amtriqne  Sep' 
teiitrionale,  (Edit.  Paris:  An  ix.,  183)  ;  Colonel  Humphreys,  in  his  Essay 
on  the  Life  of  Major-general  Israel  PM<<i<im,  (Edit.  Boston:  1818,  120, 
127)  ;  Pitkin,  in  his  Political  and  Civil  Histnnj  of  the  Vntted  Stales,  (Ed. 
New  Haven:  1828,  i.,  37!l)  ;  Sparks,  in  his  Life  of  George  WoJihinglnn, 
(Edit.  Boston  :  1842,  104)  ;  Lossin;;,  in  his  Seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
»ix,  (Edit.  New  York:  1847,  2u7)  ;  Hildreth,  in  his  History  of  the  United 
Suites  of  Auierica,  (First  Series,  iii.,  154)  ;  Hamilton,  in  his  History  of  the 
Bepublic  (f  the  United  Statisof  America,  (i.,  129,  13LI)— where  the  enemy 
is  made  to  force  himself  over  the  causeway  leading  from  Throgg's-neck 
to  the  village  of  Westchester  ;  Greene,  in  The  Life  of  Xalhanael  Greene, 
(Edit.  New  York  :  1807,  i.,  2.3G-2.38)  ;  Ridpath,  in  his  Popii/ar  History  of 
the  VnUed  States  of  America,  (Edit.  New  York:  1880,  313)  ;  although  all 
of  them  made  mention  ot  the  movement  of  the  Royal  Army  from 
Throgg's  neck,  made  no  mention  whatever,  of  this  spirited  and  impor- 
tant skirmish. 

Disregarding  those  who  made  no  mention  of  Colonel  Glover  and  his 
brave  command,  the  reader  will  find  in  the  character  and  number  of 
those  «ho  did  recognize  and  describe  the  achievements  of  those  brave 
men,  on  that  eighteenth  of  October,  sufficient  evi<iencc  of  the  great 
Importance  which  those  achievements  possessed  and  the  great  influence 
which  they  secured,  both  in  America  and  iu  Europe,  both  of  which  are 
our  sufticient  warrant  for  devoting  both  labor  and  space,  in  our  pres- 
entation of  them  to  our  readers,  in  as  complete  and  as  accurate  a  form 
u  possible. 

^  Memoir  of  Colunet  Ituf us  Putnam,  in  Hildreth's  Biographical  and  His- 
torical Memoirs  of  the  Early  Settlers  of  Ohio,  Gl-l>3. 

'Probably  between  the  present  villages  of  Tuckaboe  and  Scarsdale, 
near  the  line  of  the  Harlem  Railroad. 


quietly  down,  listened  to  the  conversation  of  the  as- 
sembled countrymen,  whom  he  discovered  to  be 
Whigs.  From  these,  Colonel  Putnam  ascertained 
that  a  large  body  of  the  Royal  Army  was  lying  near 
New  Rochelle,  which  was  about  eleven  miles  distant 
Irom  the  White  Plains,  with  good  roads  and  an  open, 
level  country  between  the  two  places  ;  and  that  at 
the  Plains,  was  a  large  quantity  of  American  Stores, 
guarded  by  only  about  three  hundred  Militia.  He 
ascertained,  also,  that  a  detachment  of  the  enemy 
was  posted  near  Mamaroneck,  only  seven  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  White  Plains  ;  while,  on  the  other 
side,  was  the  Hudson-river,  on  which  were  half  a 
dozen  armed  vessels  of  the  King's  Fleet,  within  seven 
miles  from  the  same  place;  and  he  understood,  at 
once,  that  the  principal  Magazine  of  Provisions  for 
the  American  Army,  which  General  Washington  had 
ordered  to  be  brought  to  the  White  Plains,  for  the 
greater  security  of  it,  was  enclosed,  On  three  sides,  by 
the  King's  forces,  and  was  within  easy  striking  distance 
from  either  of  those  three  positions.  Colonel  Putnam 
waited  no  longer,  at  the  Tavern,  and  proceeded  no 
further,  on  the  road  towards  the  White  Plains ;  but, 
turning  his  horse  towards  the  Bronx-river,  westward 
from  Ward's  Tavern,^  where  he  then  was,  over  Ward's 
Bridge,  he  hastened  back  to  Head-quarters,  "  with  his 
'■'  all-important  discoveries."  It  appears  that  Colonel 
Putnam  and  the  Adjutant-general  had  passed  over 
the  same  ground,  in  the  morning;  and  the  former 
was  surprised,  therefore,  when  he  approached  the 
high  ground,  westward  from  the  Bronx-river,  to  see 
that  it  was  occupied  by  armed  men ;  but  he  ascer- 
tained with  his  field-glass  that  they  were  Americans  ; 
and  when  he  reached  the  encampment,  he  found  it 
was  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Brigadier-general 
Lord  Stirling,  of  Major-general  Spencer's  Division, 
who  had  been  pushed  forward,  in  advance  of  the 
main  Army,  during  that  day,  to  occupy  that  very  im- 
portant pass  and  to  fortify  it.* 

After  Colonel  Putnam  had  refreshed  himself  and  his 
horse  at  the  Head-quarters  of  the  Brigade — as  Lord 
Stirling  was  a  bon  vivant  and  an  extravagant  liver,  the 
weary  Colonel  was,  undoubtedly,  well-refreshed — he 
set  out  for  Head-quarters,  by  way  of  Yonkers,  a  road  on 
which  he  had  not  previously  traveled  ;  and  as  it  was 
dark,  and  because  the  country  over  which  he  was  to 
pass  was  largely  inhabited  by  those  who  were  un- 
friendly to  the  Americans,  rendering  it  hazardous  for 
him  to  make  inquiries,  his  journey  was  peculiarly 
dangerous.  It  is  said,  however,  that  he  reached 
Head-quarters,  in  safety,  about  nine  o'clock ;  that  he 
was  received  by  General  Washington,  who  heard  his 
verbal  Report  and  examined  the  sketch  of  the  country 
which  he  made  for  the  illustration  of  the  Report  and 

3  The  position  of  that  noted  Tavern  may  be  ascertained  by  a  reference 
to  the  Plan  of  the  Country  from  Frog^s  Point  to  Croton  Jiiver,  opposite  page 
415,  ante  :  if  we  are  correctly  informed,  the  property  is  now  owned  and 
occupied  by  Hon.  Silas  D.  Gifford,  recently  County  Judge  of  Westchestei- 
county. 

♦  Vide  page  414,  ante. 


424 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


to  show  the  relative  positions  of  the  several  bodies  of 
the  King's  forces  and  the  Magazine,  at  the  White 
Plains ;  that  the  General  was  surprised  that  the  Army 
was  so  greatly  imperiled,  "complaining,  very  feelingly, 
"  of  the  gentlemen  of  New  York,  from  whom  he  had 
"  never  been  able  to  obtain  a  plan  of  the  country, 
"and  saying  that  it  was  by  their  advice  he  had  or- 
"dered  the  Stores  to  the  White  Plains,  as  a  place  of 
"  safety ;"  that  General  Greene  and  General  George 
Clinton  were  called  in,  to  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of 
the  sketch ;  that  Colonel  Putnam  "  was  charged  with 
"  a  letter  to  Brigadier-general  Lord  Stirling,  and 
"  ordered  immediately  to  his  Camp,  which  he  reach- 
"  ed,  by  the  same  route,  about  two  o'clock  ;"  that, 
"  before  daylight,  the  Brigade  was  in  motion,  in  full 
"march  for  the  White  Plains,  where  it  arrived,  about 
"nine  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-first  of 
"October;"  and  that  "thus  was  the  American  Army 
"  saved  by  an  interposition  of  Providence,  from  a 
"probably  total  destruction." 

While  these  various  movements  were  in  pro- 
gress, and  while  his  attention  to  the  great  events 
which  were  passing  immediately  before  him  must 
have  been  close  and  constant.  General  Washington's 
interest  in  the  future  was  not  neglected.  He  deter- 
mined, therefore,  to  establish  a  Magazine  of  Pro- 
visions, to  the  northward  of  the  Highlands  and 
" remote  from  the  North  River;"  and  the  Quarter- 
master-general of  the  Army  was  instructed  to  ascer- 
tain the  opinions  of  William  Duer  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  on  the  subject;  and,  in  the  mean  time, 
the  former  of  the  two,  who  was  never  absent  when  any 
opportunity  for  making  money  was  presented,  was 
ordered  by  the  Quartermaster-general  to  purchase, 
without  the  slightest  limitation  of  prices  or  any  check 
whatever,  as  to  qualitiesor  quantities  or  places  or  times 
of  delivery,  thirty  thousand  bushels  of  Grain,  one- 
half  of  it  to  be  Corn  and  the  other  half  to  be  Oats,  one 
thousand  tons  of  Hay,  and  five  hundred  tons  of  Rye- 
straw — as  Robert  R.  Livingston  was  to  be  consulted 
concerning  the  places  where  all  these  should  be  deliv- 
ered, it  is  very  clear  that  the  Quartermaster  general 
intended  that  large  liberty,  in  the  expenditure  of  the 
public  monies,  which  he  had  authorized,  should  be  ex- 
ercised within  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  where  that 
family  and  its  adherents  would  enjoy  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  that  questionable  source,  instead  of  ex- 
pending those  monies  within  those  other  portions  of 
the  State  where  the  dominant  party  possessed  no  in- 
terest, although  the  former  was  perfectly  secure  from 
loss  and  the  latter,  very  largely ,  were  exposed  to  the 
inroads  of  the  enemy.  Instructions  were  also  given, 
also  without  limitation,  for  the  purchase  of  Horses  and 
Oxen  ;  and  if  they  could  not  be  purchased,  the  lucky 
agent  was  authorized  to  hire  them,  "  at  the  most  rea- 
"sonable  rates."  '    It  was  for  the  purpose  of  making 


1  Qii  irtermaaler-gctieral  Mijliii  to  Willuim  Duer,  "Mount  Washington, 
"  October  20, 1776." 


such  opportunities  as  these,  that  the  dominant  faction 
had  revolted;  and  in  such  bauds  as  those  of  William 
Duer  and  the  Livingstons,  such  opportunities  never 
failed  to  be  made  useful,  always  to  themselves  and 
sometimes  to  the  State  and  the  Country. 

There  was  ample  reason,  however,  for  the  anxiety 
of  General  Washington,  concerning  Provisions  for 
the  supply  of  the  Army,  since,  at  the  time  when  he 
ordered  the  establishment  of  a  Magazine,  in  the  up- 
per part  of  Duchess-county,  there  were  not  more  than 
fifteen  hundred  barrels  of  Flour  and  two  hundred 
barrels  of  Pork,  at  Kingsbridge  and  on  the  Heights 
of  Harlem;  and  there  were  very  few  live  Cattle,  of 
any  kind,  collected,  at  any  place  within  the  neighbor- 
hood of  t  he  Army.  As  the  enemy  had  the  control  of 
the  navigation  on  the  Hudson-river,  as  well  as  of  that 
on  the  Sound,  there  could  not  be  any  transportation  of 
the  much-needed  supplies,  by  water;  and  the  great 
scarcity  of  teams,  growing  more  and  more  evident,  day 
by  day,  rendered  the  prospect  of  a  transportation,  by 
land-carriage,  of  what  would  become  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Army,  exceedingly  discouraging, 
especially  since  the  enemy  had  indicated  his  intention 
to  cut  oft"  the  lines  of  communication  by  land,  as  well 
as  those  by  water.  The  General  was  necessarily  led, 
therefore,  to  concentrate  whatever  of  supplier  he  had, 
at  the  White  Plains  ;  to  request  and  entreat  that  ev- 
ery possible  exertion  should  be  made  to  have  large 
quantities  of  Provisions  carried  to  the  interior  parts 
of  the  country,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  enemy,  and 
with  the  utmost  expedition  ;  and  to  inform  the  Com- 
missary-general of  the  Army  that  a  failure  to  effect 
these  would,  he  feared,  he  was  certain,  be  productive 
of  the  fatal  consequences  attending  on  mutiny  and 
plunder,  adding,  significantly,  "  indeed,  the  latter 
"  will  be  authorized  by  necessity." 

With  such  testimony  as  this,  and  there  is  an  abun- 
dance of  other  testimony  which  is  even  stronger  in 
its  terms,  the  honest  historian  of  these  events  finds 
great  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  facts  with  the  per- 
sistent assertion  that  the  AVar  of  the  Revolution  was 
originated  by  the  great  body  of  the  Colonists  arising, 
en  masse,  for  the  protection  of  their  several  prop- 
erties and  homes  and  families  from  outrages  threat- 
ened or  inflicted  by  a  foreign  tyrant ;  that  it  was  con- 
ducted by  that  same  great  body  of  people,  through 
agencies  of  its  own  appointment  and  under  its  con- 
trol, always  unselfishly  and  with  nothing  else  than 
the  common  weal  in  view  ;  and  that  the  willing  hands 
and  the  patriotic  hearts  of  the  entire  body  of  the  peo- 
ple were  in  accord  with  the  patriotism  of  the  Army 
which  it  had  created,  which  it  was  sustaining  with 
all  which  it  possessed,  and  on  which,  alone,  all  its 
hopes  for  security,  for  happiness,  for  prosperity,  and 
for  peace,  were  rested.  Surely,  where  mutiny  and 
plundering  were  oflicially  threatened  in  default  of 


2  General  Washington  to  Colonel  Joseph  Trumbull,  Commissary  general  oj 
Provmons,  "  Head-qua RTf'HS,  King's  Bridge,  October  20, 1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


425 


contributions,  forced  contributions,  demanded  and 
expected,  tliere  could  not  liave  been  much  sympathy 
between  the  Army  and  the  body  of  the  people  ;  and, 
surely,  in  that  condition  of  the  popular  feeling,  the 
Army  can  scarcely  be  said,  in  truth,  to  have  been 
fighting  for  the  cause  of  the  country,  at  large,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  as  Armies  have  always  fought,  at  the 
expense  of  the  body  of  the  people,  of  the  working-bees 
of  the  hive,  for  the  promotion,  only,  of  the  private  ends 
and  the  private  aims  and  the  private  interests  of  an 
individual  or  of  a  family  or  of  a  faction  or  of  a  party, 
neither  of  them  a  producer  nor  anything  else  than  a 
cumbrance  and  a  burden  on  those  who  have  labored. 

It  will  be  seen,  from  General  Washington's  anxiety 
concerning  his  supplies  and  concerning  the  lines  of 
communication  between  the  Army  and  the  country, 
and  from  other  evidence,  that  he  was  becoming  con- 
vinced that  the  enemy  intended  to  take  NewRochelle 
for  the  base  of  his  proposed  operations,  and,  from  that 
place,  hy  way  of  the  White  Plains,  to  form  his  com- 
mand, in  a  line,  to  the  Hudson-river,'  at  Tarrytown — 
a  plan  of  operations,  as  we  have  already  stated,-  which 
was  formed,  after  due  consideration,  before  General 
Howe  had  left  the  City  of  New  York,  as  will  have 
been  seen  in  the  disposition  of  the  Phoenix,  the 
Roebuck,  and  the  Tartar,  oft'  Tarrytown,  to  cover  the 
objective  point,  the  right  of  the  proposed  new  line, 
of  the  Army,^  and  in  the  selection  of  Mill's-creek, 
or  New  Rochelle-harbor,  as  the  base  of  his  opera- 
tions, the  left  of  the  proposed  line,*  and,  because 
of  that  new-born  conviction,  as  early  as  noon,  on  the 


'See,  also,  General  WatUington,  thromjh  his  Secretary,  to  the  Presidmt  of 
Ihe  Coiitiuentiil  Cotujress,  "KiNu"s  BiiiuuE,  October20,  177(i,  lialf-afterone 
"  o'clock,  P.  M." 

•  Vide  i)age  231,  ante. 

3  Vide  page  229,  230,  ante. 

We  are  not  insensible  that  Bancroft,  {llUtory  of  ttic  Vitited  Statrs,  origi- 
nal edition,  ix.  177 ;  centenary  edition,  1876,  v.,  441,)  said  it  was  as  early  as 
his  fifth  day  on  Throgg's-ncck,  that  General  Howe  "  gave  up  the  hope  of 
'*  getting  directly  in  Washington's  rear  ; and  that,  in  consequence  of 
that  disappointment  and  at  that  time,  "  he  resolved  to  strike  at  AVhite 
'•Plains."  Little  credit  is  given  to  General  Howe  and  the  very  able 
Officers  whom  he  commanded,  by  any  cue  who  can  really  suppose  they 
would  open  a  Campaign,  or  even  a  series  of  important  movements,  without 
having,  previously,  formed  a  plan,  as  carefully  and  as  intelligently  con- 
structed as  possible,  for  the  general  guidance  of  the  oiierations  of  the 
Army  ;  and  if  from  nothing  else,  the  selection  of  Tarrytown  and  New 
Rochelle-harbor,  as  the  two  extremes  of  the  proposed  line,  while  the  Army 
was  yet  unknown  on  Throgg's-neck,  might  have  indicated  to  a  less  ex- 
perienced reader  than  the  venerable  ex-Secretary  of  War,  that  the  pro- 
posed lino  from  New  Rochelle,  by  way  of  the  White  Plains,  to  Tarry- 
town, was  vastly  more,  in  the  milit.-iry  operations  of  the  Royal  .\rmy, 
than  a  sudden  inspiration  which  sprung  up  to  cheer  the  disappointed 
General,  when,  on  the  sixteenth  of  October,  the  latter  is  alleged  to  have 
given  up  all  hope  of  getting  in  the  rear  of  the  Americans — the  whole 
of  it  a  finely  constructed  creation  of  the  venerable  historian's  peculiarly 
lively  and  poetical  imagination. 

There  is  an  abundance  of  testimony  showing  that  General  Howe's 
original  purpose  was  to  take  Tarrytown  and  New  Rochelle,  as  the  extremes 
of  his  proposed  lines ;  and,  because  the  venerable  historian  did  not  ap- 
pe»r  to  have  been  governed  by  it,  preferring,  rather,  to  pay  deference  to 
Ik  phantom  of  his  own  creation,  it  must  have  been  that  he  did  not  under- 
stand it.  Whatever  it  may  have  been  which  inspired  the  historian, 
however,  what  he  wrote,  on  the  subject  under  notice,  is  not  historical, 
although  it  bears  the  name  of  History. 

*  Vide  page  231,  note  7,  ante. 

38 


twentieth  of  October,  the  entire  military  force,  except 
the  Regiments  which  were  intended  to  garrison  Fort 
Washington,  was  drawn  into  Westchester-couuty  ;  ev- 
ery height  and  pass  and  advantageous  ground,  be- 
tween New  Rochelle  and  the  Hudson-river,  was  occu- 
pied by  an  American  force  suflBciently  strong  to  hold 
it,  temporarily  f  the  Head-quarters  of  the  Army  were 
removed  from  Harlem  Heights  to  Kingsbridge;"  and, 
although  there  are  no  direct  testimonies  on  the  sub- 
ject, it  is  very  evident  that,  at  least  as  early  as  the 
close  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  the  proper  disposi- 
tions for  the  movement  of  the  main  body  of  the  Army 
— the  garrison  of  Fort  Washington  and  a  guard  at  the 
barracks,  at  Fort  Independence,  only  excepted — to  the 
high  grounds,  to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  the 
White  Plains,  had,  also,  been  entirely  completed. 

On  the  twentieth  of  October,  Lieutenant-colonel 
Harcourt,  with  the  greater  portion  of  the  Sixteenth 
Regiment  of  Light  Dragoons — the  other  portion  of 
the  Regiment  having  embarked  on  a  transport  which 
had  not  come  into  port — and  the  whole  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Regiment  of  Light  Dragoons,  joined  General 
Howe ;  and,  on  the  next  day,  {^October  21, 1776,]  thus 
strengthened,  the  Right  and  Center  of  the  Royal  Ar- 
my were  moved  to  a  position,  about  two  miles  to  the 
northward  of  New  Rochelle,  on  the  road  to  the  White 
Plains,  Lieutenant-general  Heister  occupying  the 
ground  which  had  been  thus  abandoned,  with  one 
Brigade  of  British  and  two  Brigades  of  Hessians, 
constituting  the  Left  of  the  Army and,  early  in  the 
morning  of  that  day,  the  Queen's  Rangers,  a  Corps  of 
Loyalists  commanded  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Rogers, 
were  detached  and  pushed  forward,  to  take  possession 
of  Mamaroneck,*  the  last-named  of  which  places  was 


6  General  Washington,  through  his  Secretary,  to  the  Congress,  "  Kino's 
"  Bridije,  0ctober20,  1770,  half-after  one  o'clock,  P.M." 

6 Sparks,  {Writings  of  George  Washington,  iv.,  152,  note,)  said,  "  TleaJ- 
"  quarters  remained  at  Haerlem  Heights,  as  appears  by  the  Orderly  Book, 
"  till  the  twenty -first ; "  and  the  Orderly  Book  of  both  the  twentieth  and 
the  twenty-first  of  October  gives  weight  to  his  statement.  But,  because 
the  entire  military  force,  except  the  garrison  of  Fort  Washington,  had 
been  moved  into  Westchester-county  as  early  as  noon,  on  the  twentieth  ; 
because  General  Greene  had  found  Head- quarters,  "  near  King's  Bridge," 
on  the  evening  of  the  nineteenth,  {Letter  to  the  Continental  O^igress, 
"Camp  at  Fout  Lk.e,  (lately  Fort  Constitution,)  October  20,  1776;") 
because  Lieutenant-colonel  Tench  Tilghman,  one  of  the  General's  Aids, 
had  addressed  a  letter  to  William  Duer,  dated  "  HEAn-QUARTERS,  Kin<!'8 
"Bridge,  October  20, 1776 ;  "  because  Colonel  Harrison,  the  General's 
Secretary,  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, dated  "  King's  Bridge,  October  20,  177C,  half-after  one  o'clock, 
"P.M.;"  and  because  General  Washington,  himself,  had  addressed  a 
letter  to  Colonel  Joseph  Trumbull,  Commissary-general  of  Provisions, 
dated,  "  HEAD-QrARTEUs,  King's  Brhige,  October  20,  1770,"  we  prefer 
to  consider  the  Ordirly  linok — which  was  in  evident  disorder,  from  the 
eighteenth  until  the  twenty-third  (only  a  single  entry  appearing  in  it, 
during  that  long  interval)— and,  necessarily,  Doctor  Sparks,  to  have  been 
in  error ;  and  that  Head  quarters  were  really  at  or  very  near  to  Kings- 
bridge,  as  early  aa  the  afternoon  of  the  nineteenth. 

■  Sautliier's  Plan  of  the  Operations  af  the  King's  Army. 

«  General  Itoive  to  Lord  George  Germnine,  "  New- York,  30  November, 
"1770;"  [llM's\  History  of  the  Cii-U  War  in  Amerira,  i.,  205  ;  .Sted- 
man's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  212  ;  Gordon's  History  uf  Ihe 
American  Ileiolntion,  ii.,  339  ;  Sauthier's  Plan  of  Ihe  OperatUms  of  the 
King's  Army  ;  Plan  of  the  Country  from  Prog's  Point  to  Croton  ffic  r  ; 
etc. 


426 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


shamefully  abandoned  by  the  Americans  who  were 
posted  there,  on  the  approach  of  the  enemy ;  and 
that,  "  not  for  want  of  numbers,  but  for  want  of  a 
"good  Officer  to  lead  the  men."  ' 

When  the  intelligence  of  the  enemy's  movements, 
on  the  twenty-first  of  October,  was  received  at  Head- 
quarters, which  had  been  removed  to  Valentine's- 
hill,  General  Washington  was  absent,  on  a  tour  of 
inspection.^  Evidently  aroused  by  the  information 
which  he  had  received,  on  the  preceding  evening, 
from  Colonel  Putnam,  he  had  left,  early  in  th«  morn- 
ing of  that  day,  to  visit  the  posts  on  the  left  of  the 
American  line  and  at  the  White  Plains  ;  and  when 
the  express  arrived  with  the  very  important  intelli- 
gence of  the  enemy's  movements,  it  was  immediately 
transmitted  to  him,  by  his  Secretary,  Colonel  Harri- 
son,' although  he  was  evidently  quite  well  informed 
of  those  movements,  even  of  that  towards  Mamaro- 
neck,*  from  other  sources  of  intelligence. 

While  the  General  was  at  the  White  Plains,  on  that 
tour  of  inspection,  \_October  21,  1776,]  he  jDersonally 
examined  the  Stores  which  had  been  accumulated 
at  that  place,  and  renewed  his  earnest  entreaties^ 
with  the  Commissary-general  of  Provisions  to  supply 
the  posts  in  that  vicinity,  in  time,  with  Flour  and 
Beef,  for  present  use ;  to  form  other  Magazines  of 
Provisions,  "  in  secure  places,  removed  from  the  wa- 
"  ter,  in  Connecticut  and  at  such  others  as  were  men- 
"  tioned  in  my  last,  and  circumstances  may  direct."* 
From  the  same  place,  the  General  ordered  the  Officer 
in  command,  at  Mamaroneck,  to  make  the  best  stand 
he  could,  with  the  troops  under  his  command,  against 
the  enemy  ;  and  told  him  of  his  intention  to  order  an 
attack  on  the  enemy's  flank ' — how  little  the  General 
thought  that,  at  that  very  time,  the  Officer  whom  he 
was  thus  addressing  had  shown  himself  to  be  only  a 
contemptiljle  poltroon."  At  the  same  time,  he  or- 
dered Colonel  Lachlan  Mcintosh,  who  was  then  in 
Connecticut,  with  two  Regiments  of  Massachusetts 
troops,  preparing  to  make  a  movement  against  the 
enemy,  on  Long  Island,  to  suspend  that  proposed  ex- 


1  General  Washhiglon  h  Colonel  Lachlan  Mcintosh  of  Georgia^  "  White- 
"  Plains,  October  21,  177G;"  Limlenunt  colonel  TUghman  to  William  Duer, 
"  HEAD-QUARTEns,  Valkntine's-Hill,  22  Oct.,  1776." 

2  Cfolonel  R.  H.  Harrison  to  William  hner,  "Camp  on  Valentine's- 
"  Hills,  October  21,  1776  ;  "  the  same  to  the  Continental  Congress,  '*  Head- 
"  QCAKTEiiS,  Valentine's-Hill,  October21,  1776;"  3Iemoirs  of  General 
Heath,  73,  74. 

3  Cohntel  R.  H.  Harrison  to  William  Dner,  "  Camp  on  Valentine's- 
"HiLL,  October21,  1770." 

*  General  Washington  to  Major  Zabdiel  Rogers,  "  White-Plains,  Goto- 
"ber  21,  1776." 

6  "Iliave  no  reason, either  from  information  or  obserTation,  to  alter 
"my  opinion  of  yesterday,  and,  therefore,  again  and  again  entreat  your 
"every  exertion  to  supply  tliese  posts,  in  time,' with  Flour  and  Beef  for 
"  present  use,"  were  his  words. 

6  General  Washington  to  Colonel  Jos.  Tnimbiill,  Commissary-general  of 
Provisions,  "  White-Plains,  October  21, 1776." 

'  General  Washingloii  to  Major  Zabdiel  Rogers,  "  White-Plains,  Octo- 
"ber21,  1776." 

^General  Washington  to  Colonel  Mcintosh,  "White-Plains,  October 
"21, 1776." 


pedition,  and,  with  Lieutenant-colonel  Livingston, 
who  was  in  the  same  State,  with  a  considerable  force, 
to  march,  immediately,  towards  Byram-river — that 
which  forms  the  boundary  between  the  States  of  New 
York  and  Connecticut,  near  the  Sound — and  to  re- 
ceive orders,  on  his  arrival  at  the  river,  from  Briga- 
dier-general Lord  Stirling,  then  at  the  White  Plains, 
for  the  disposition  of  the  men  under  his  command.' 

While  the  Commander-in-chief  was  thus  employed, 
on  the  extreme  left  of  the  American  line.  General 
Howe  having  been  equally  active,  during  the  same 
period,  only  a  few  miles  distant,'"  the  extreme  right 
of  that  line,  at  Kingsbridge,  was,  also,  the  scene  ot 
bustle  and  active  preparation  for  a  movement — Orders 
had  been  issued  for  the  movement  of  the  Division 
commanded  by  Major-general  Heath,  then  occupying 
the  grounds  around  Kingsbridge  and,  thence,  north- 
ward, to  Valentine's-hill,  to  the  extreme  left  of  the 
proposed  line,  in  the  new  position,  to  the  northward 
and  eastward  of  the  White  Plains,  which  had  been 
selected  for  the  immediate  occupation  of  the  Army." 
That  movement,  as  we  have  said,'^  had  evidently  been 
determined  on,  at  least  as  early  as  during  the  preced- 
ing night,  after  the  return  of  Colonel  Putnam,  and  was 
not  consequent  on  either  the  movement  of  the  Royal 
Army,  during  the  same  morning,  or  the  observations 
of  General  Washington,  on  his  tour  of  inspection ; 
but  there  was,  evidently,  some  cause  for  the  eight 
hours  of  delay,  beyond  the  hour  appointed  for  the 
movement  of  the  Division  and  the  extreme  scarcity 
of  Teams,  for  any  purpose,  as  we  have  already  stated," 
which  was  producing  great  anxiety  and  trouble, 
throughout  the  entire  Army,  may  have  caused  the 
delay. 

The  Division  commanded  by  Major-general  Heath, 
as  we  have  said,  (except  General  George  Clinton, 
with  the  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by 
Colonels  Nicolls,  Pawling,  Graham,  and  Swartwout,) 
was  ordered  to  move,  left  in  front,  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  if  possible :  the  advance-guard  was  to 
consist  of  one  hundred  men,  taken  from  General 
Scott's  Brigade  ;  and  was  to  be  followed  by  the  heavy 
artillery,  of  which  two  heavy  iron  twelve-pounders 
were  to  be  moved  with  that  Division :  the  column 
was  to  follow,  in  platoons  or  by  file,  the  six  and  three- 
pound  guns  to  be  moved  between  the  first  and  second 
and  between  the  third  and  fourth  Regiments  of  each 
Brigade:  each  Regiment  was  ordered  to  throw  out  a 
flank-guard:  and  General  Parsons  was  ordered  to 


^General  Washington  la  Colonel  Mcintosh,  "White-Plains,  October  21, 
"1776." 

Two  miles  from  New  Kochelle,  say  nine  miles  from  the  White  Plains. 
Division  Orders,  "King's  Bridge,  October  21,  1776." 

12  Vide  page  249,  ante. 

13  The  Division  was  ordered  to  march  fr<'m  the  left,  near  Valentine's, 
"if  possible,  at  eight  o'clock,  this  morning,"  {Division  Orders,  "King's 
"Bridge,  October  21,  1776  :  ")  it  was  not  until  "about  4  o'clock,  P.M. 
"our  General's  Division  moved  from  above  Kingsbridge,"  (JIfemojrs  •/ 
General  Heath,  73). 

H  Vide  page  239,  ante. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


427 


furnish  a  rear-guard  of  fifty  men.  Each  of  the  Brig- 
ades of  the  Division  was  to  have  a  wagon-load  of 
Tools,  which  was  ordered  to  be  moved  with  the  heavy 
artillery.  A  number  of  the  Spears  which  were  at 
Fort  Independence  was  to  be  loaded  on  each  wagon, 
with  the  Tools;  and  Colonel  Thomas  and  Colonel 
Drake  were  respectively  ordered  to  send  to  each  of 
the  Regiments  of  the  Division,  a  Guide,  who  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  road  to  the  White  Plains 
and  with  the  vicinity  of  that  place.  It  was  ordered, 
in  case  the  Division  should  be  attacked,  while  on  its 
march,  that  the  line  should  be  instantly  formed  ;  with 
the  reserves  at  one  hundred  paces  distant,  in  the 
rear;  with  the  light  artillery  as  it  was  posted  on  the 
march;  and  with  the  heavy  artillery  ])osted  on  the 
nearest  commanding  height  and  covered  by  the  Regi- 
ment commanded  by  Colonel  Prescott.  General 
George  Clinton,  with  all  the  Regiments  of  his  com- 
mand, except  the  Westchester-county  Regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Thomas,  was  ordered  to  remain 
where  he  was  then  posted,  until  the  afternoon,  and  to 
forward  all  the  Stores,  Provisions,  etc.,  which  would 
not  be  required  for  the  use  of  the  detachment  which 
was  to  be  left  in  the  barracks, in  Fort  Independence; 
after  which  he  was  to  move  his  Brigade,  on  the  Alba- 
ny road,  as  far  as  Dobbs's  Ferry,  where  he  would  re- 
ceive his  Baggage,  etc.,  from  the  boats  on  which  they 
had  been  forwarded ;  and  to  join  the  Division, 
at  the  White  Plains,  without  delay.  A  de- 
tachment of  six  hundred  men,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Lasher,  was  ordered  to  remain, 
near  Kingsbridge,  until  further  orders — two  hundred 
and  fifty  of  the  number  were  to  occupy  the  barracks 
of  Colonel  Thomas's  Regiment ;  fifty  were  to  be  posted 
in  Colonel  Swartwout's  regimental  barracks  ;  fifty  were 
to  be  posted  in  General  Scott's  Brigade  barracks ;  fifty 
were  to  occupy  the  regimental  barracks  of  Colonel 
Prescott ;  fifty  were  to  occupy  the  barracks  of  Colonel 
Pawling's  Regiment ;  fifty  were  to  be  posted  in  the 
'barracks  of  Colonel  NicoU's  Regiment ;  and  the  re- 
maining fifty  were  to  be  posted  in  the  barracks  of 
Colonel  Graham's  Regiment — and  it  was  also  ordered 
to  mount  the  proper  guards  and  pickets  ;  and  to  es- 
tablish alarm-posts,  in  the  different  works.  The 
guards  then  posted  at  Morrisania  were  to  be  called  in, 
during  the  evening  of  that  day,  and  to  follow  the  Di- 
vision, on  the  following  morning;  and  a  small  guard, 
evidently  to  be  supplied  from  the  detachment  at  Fort 
Independence,  was  to  be  continually  posted  on  the 
high  grounds,  toward  Morrisania,  for  the  security  of 
the  detachment.'  All  these  specific  Orders,  which 
were  evidently  issued  much  earlier  than  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  were  unquestionably  obeyed,  as  far 
as  they  could  be  obeyed,  with  entire  precision  and 
promptitude ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  was  not  until  about 
four  o'clock,  in  the  afternoon  of  that  October  day, 
that  the  Division  was  enabled  to  move ;  not  until 

'Dimioii  Order$,  "King's  Beidge.  October  21, 1776." 


eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  that  it  passed  Head- 
quarters, on  Valentiiie's-hill ;  and,  after  a  tedious  and 
wearisome  night-march,  not  until  four  o'clock,  on  the 
following  morning — that  of  Tuesday,  the  twenty-second 
of  October — that  it  reached  Chatterton's-hill,  the  last 
of  the  line  of  entrenched  works,  near  the  village  of 
the  White  Plains.  During  the  same  day,  General 
Pleath  moved  the  Division  to  the  high  ground,  to  the 
northward  of  the  little  village;  and,  there,  it  evi- 
dently rested  from  the  fatigue  which  was  consequent 
on  the  laborious  movements  of  the  preceding  thirty- 
six  hours. ^ 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  reader,  that  the  Division 
which  was  thus  pushed  forward,  to  the  White  Plains, 
was  in  light  marching  order,  evidently  taking  with  it 
no  more  than  the  personal  Baggage  of  the  Officers  and 
men ;  that  it  was  pushed  forward,  with  all  possible  ex- 
pedition, if  it  may  not  properly  be  said  to  have  been 
by  a  forced  march  ;  and  that  it  was  not  halted  on  its 
line  of  march,  until  it  had  reached  Chatterton's-hill. 
It  had  moved  along  the  roadway  leading  to  the  White 
Plains,  behind  and  under  cover  of  the  line  of  en- 
trenched camjjs,  stretched  along  the  high  grounds, 
westward  from  the  Bronx-river,  from  Valentine's-hill, 
on  the  South,  to  the  White  Plains,  on  the  North, 
which  had,  already,  been  thrown  up  and  occupied,  '  and 
it  reached  the  Plains  and  rested  on  the  high  grounds, 
at  that  place ;  and  it  was  subsequently  moved  into  the 

•  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  73-75. 

3  Sciuiliier's  Plan  of  the  Operations  of  the  Eiiig^s  Annij ;  Plan  of  the 
Country  from  Frog's  Point  to  Crot>m  River;  Dawson's  MiUturij  Retreats 
through  ]yestcheMer-county ,  in  177G,  35-37  ;  etc. 

We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that,  in  tliis  instance,  the  greater 
number  of  those  who  have  preceded  us,  in  writing  of  that  military  re- 
treat of  the  .\mcricans,  have  maintained  that  those  defensive  works  were 
thrown  up  by  the  retreating  Army,  ou  its  march  to  the  White  Plains, 
instead  of  by  detachments  moved  forward,  for  that  specific  purpose,  be- 
fore the  retreat  of  the  main  body,  from  Kingsbridge,  had  been  fully  de- 
termined on.  Among  tliose  from  whom  we  have  thus  dissented,  are  the 
despatch  of  General  Howe  to  Lord  Geoi'ge  Germaine,  "  New-York, 
"30  November,  177C  ;  "  Annual  Register  forlTid:  History  of  Europe,  *177'; 
History  of  the  War  in  America,  Dublin:  1779,  i.,  194  ;  [Hall's]  History  of 
the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  207  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, ii.,  1539;  Stedman's  History  of  the  Ameriean  War,  i.,  212;  Mar- 
shall's ii/eo/  George  Washington,  ii.,  500  ;  Andrews's /f(«(ory  of  the  War, 
ii.,  244;  Murray's  Impartial  History  of  the  War  in  America,  ii.,  177  ; 
Ramsay's  History  of  Out  American  Revolution,  i.,  309  ;  Morse's  Annals  of 
the  American  Revolution,  2Ij3  ;  Sparks's  Life  of  George  Washington,  195; 
Irving's  Life  of  George  Washington,  ii.,  384,  385  ;  Hamilton's  History  of 
the  Republic,  i.,  130;  Lossing's  Pictorial  Field-book  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, ii.,  821  ;  Carrington's  Battles  of  the  American  Revolution,  236,  etc.; 
but  we  have  preferred  the  testimony  of  Division  Orders  for  the  move- 
ment of  the  troops,  the  narrative  of  tlie  movement  which  was  written 
by  the  Major-general  commanding  the  Division,  the  official  Maps  of  the 
movement  drawn  by  both  the  .\merican  and  the  Royal  Engineers,  and 
our  own  well-settled  convictions  of  the  improliability  that  the  main  Army 
had  been  employed  in  throwing  up  entrenchments  or  that  its  laborious 
retreat  to  the  Plains  was  made  more  laliorious  by  continuous  halts  for 
the  purpose  of  throwing  up  earthworks,  for  any  purpose.  When  the 
retreat  was  originally  determined  on,  the  necessity  for  a  prompt  and 
immediate  occupation  of  the  new-selected  |>osition  was  too  evident  to 
admit  of  any  such  halts,  for  any  such  purposes ;  and,  in  the  great 
scarcity  of  Teams  for  the  removal  of  the  Stores  and  Baggage  and  Artil- 
lery, which  required  the  men  to  take  the  places  of  beasts  of  burden, 
in  dragging  and  carrying  what  needed  to  be  transportcil,  the  main 
bofly  of  the  .\miy  needed  no  additional  labor,  nor  is  it  in  the  slightest 
degree  probable  that  any  such  additional  labor  was  really  imposed  on  it. 


428 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


position  which  had  been  appointed  for  it,  on  the  ex- 
treme left  of  the  proposed  line  of  the  Army,  its  left 
resting  on  a  "deep  hollow,  through  which  ran  a  small 
"  brook,^  which  came  from  a  mill-pond,^  a  little  above."' 
On  the  eastern,  or  opposite  side,  of  that  "deep  hol- 
"  low,"  "  there  was  a  very  commanding  ground,"  from 
which  the  Division  could  have  been  enfiladed;*  and 
the  ground  occupied  by  the  Division,  descended, 
gradually,  from  the  extreme  left  to  the  right  of  the 
line.* 

On  the  high  ground,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
"deep  hollow,"  General  Heath  posted  the  Regiment 
of  New  York  troops  commauded  by  Colonel  William 
Malcolm,  and  Lieutenant  Fenno  of  the  Artillery,  the 
latter  with  a  field -piece,  with  instructions  to  occupy  a 
position  in  the  skirt  of  the  wood  which  covered  the 
upper  portion  of  the  high  ground,  "  at  the  South  brow 
"  of  the  hill and  there,  that  covering  party  remained, 
until  the  American  Army  retreated  into  the  high 
grounds  of  Northcastle.^ 

While  the  Division  commanded  by  General  Heath 
was  thus  hurrying,  by  a  forced  march,  towards  the 
White  Plains,  during  the  night  of  the  twenty-first  of 
October,  another  portion  of  the  American  Army  was 
engaged  in  a  brilliant  dash  on  the  enemy's  outpost, 
at  Mamaroneck. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  on  the  twenty-first 
of  October,  when  the  Right  and  Center  of  the  main 
body  of  the  Royal  Army  were  moved  forward  to 
a  position  between  New  Rochelle  and  the  White 
Plains,  the  Queen's  Rangers,  a  select  body  of  Loy- 
alists, commanded  by  the  celebrated  partisan,  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Robert  Rogers,'  were  pushed  forward 


1  Then  and  now  known  as  the  Slamaroneck-river. 

2  Then  known  as  "  Horton'e  pond  :  "  now  known  as  "St.  Mary's 
"  Lake." 

3  The  entire  property  included  in  this  portion  of  our  narrative,  is 
now  owned  by  Cliarles  Deutermann,  Esq. 

*  Now  forming  a  portion  of  what  is  known  as  "  The  Underliill 
"  Farm." 

5  Tliis  description  of  the  ground  occui>ied  by  tlie  Division  commanded 
by  General  Ileath,  has  been  taken,  largely  in  his  own  words,  from  his 
Memoirn^  evidently  written  by  himself,  page  75.  For  our  statements 
concerning  the  present  names  and  owners  uf  the  several  properties  re- 
ferred to,  we  are  indebted  to  the  Hon.  J.  O.  Dykman,  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  a  resident  of  the  White 
Plains. 

6  Memoirs  oj  General  Heath,  75. 

'  The  Queen's  Bangers,  subsequently  so  widely  known,  had  been 
raised  in  Connet-ticut  and  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  for  the  duties  which 
their  name  implied  ;  and,  at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  they  were  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant-colonel  Hubert  Rogers,  who  had  so  much  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  partisan,  on  the  frontiei*s,  during  the  War  with 
France.  They  were  "all  Americans,  and  all  Loyalists." — (Shucoe's 
Journal  of  the  Operaliiim  of  the  Qwm''s  litnigers,  18.) 

These  Rangers  were  said,  by  the  biographer  of  their  distinguished  Com- 
mandant, of  a  later  period,  to  have  been  "disciplined,  not  for  parade,  but 
"  for  active  service.  They  were  never  to  march  in  slow  time  ;  were  directed 
"to  fire  with  precision  and  steadiness;  to  wield  the  bayonet  with  force 
"and  effect;  to  disperse  and  rally  with  rapidity.  In  short,  in  the  in- 
"  structions  for  the  management  of  the  Corps,  its  conmiander  seems  to 
"  have  anticipated  the  more  modern  tactics  of  the  French  Armj*." — 
i^Memoir  of  Lieutenant  coloiwl  Sinicoe, — Simcoe's  Journal  of  the  Operations 
of  the  Queen's  Bangers,  viii.) 


to  Mamaroneck,  which  they  had  occupied  early  in 
the  morning  of  that  day." 

It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  while  General 
Washington  was  at  the  White  Plains,  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  October,  he  had  received  information  of  that 
occupation  of  Mamaroneck ;  and  that  he  had  deter- 
ined  to  make  an  attack  on  the  Queen's  Rangers  who 
were  posted  there.'  In  accordance  with  that  deter- 
mination and  with  Orders  which  were  undoubtedly  is- 
sued by  General  Washington,'"  General  Lord  Stirling, 
who  had  reached  the  White  Plains,  with  his  com- 
mand, during  the  morning  of  that  day,  detached 
Major  Green,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  from 
the  First  and  Third  Virginia  Regiments,  and  Colonel 
John  Haslet,  with  six  hundred  men  from  his  own — 
the  Delaware — and  other  Regiments,  with  orders  to 
fall  on  the  Rangers,  during  the  coming  night.  The 
movement  was  made  with  good  judgment  and  ability; 
the  Rangers  were  entirely  surprised,  through  the 
carelessness  of  their  sentries ;  and,  as  was  stated  by  an 
Officer  in  the  Royal  Army,"  they  were  "very  roughly 
"  handled."  In  consequence  of  the  bad  conduct  of  the 
guides  whom  Colonel  Haslet  had  employed,'^  how- 
ever, the  success  was  not  as  complete  as  it  probably 
would  have  been,  had  the  guides  done  their  duty 
properly.  As  it  was.  Colonel  Haslet  and  his  gallant 
command  handled  the  Rangers  "  very  roughly,"  kill- 
ing and  wounding  a  considerable  number ;  "  carrying 
back,  to  the  White  Plains,  thirty-six  prisoners,"  and 


8  General  Washington  to  Cohniel  Lachtan  Mcintosh,  of  Georgia,  WiiiTE- 
"  Plains,  October  21,  1776;"  the  same  to  Major  Zabdiel  Rogers, 
"White-Plains,  October  21,  1776  ;"  Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  General 
Officer,  datt'd  "MovnT  Washington,  October  23,  1776  ;"  General  Roue 
to  Lord  George  Germniiie,  "  New-York,  30  November,  1776  ;"  [Hall's] 
Hislori;  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  205  ;  Stedman's  History  of  the 
American  War,  i.,  212  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Iterolution,  ii., 
339  ;  Sauthier's  Plan  of  the  Operations  uf  the  King's  Army ;  Plan  of  the 
Covntry  from  Frog's  Point  to  Oroton  River;  etc. 

^  Vide  page  250,  ante. 

'0  In  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghnian's  letter  to  his  father,  dated  "  Vai- 
"  entine's-Hill  4  MILES  FROM  KiNGSBRiDGE  22  October  1776,"  it  is  ex- ^ 
pressly  stated  that  "the  General  " — by  which  term  he  referred  to  Gen- 
eral Washington,  whose  Aide-de-Camp  he  wiis  and  with  whom  he  had 
been,  while  the  Commander-in-Chief  was  at  the  White  Plains — "  detached 
"Major  Green  *  *  »  to  fall  upon  Sogers  in  the  Night,  which  they 
"  did,"  etc. 

11  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  A7nerica,  i.,  205. 

12  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman,  in  the  letter  to  his  father,  to  which  we 
have  already  referred,  stated  that  "  had  not  the  Guides  posted  Haslet 
"wrong  the  whole  party  consisting  of  400  must  have  fallen  into  our 
"Hands  ;"  and  Colonel  Haslet,  in  his  Letter  to  General  CiEsar  Rodney, 
dated  "  October  28,  1776,"  said,  "  had  not  our  guides  deserted  us  on  the 
"first  outset,  he  and  his  whole  party  must  have  been  taken." 

See,  also.  General  Washintjtun,  through  his  Secretary,  to  Governor  Trum- 
bull, "Camp  on  Valentine's-Hill,  October  22,  1776." 

13  In  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghnian's  letter  to  his  father,  already  men- 
tioned, it  is  said  "they  counted  2.5  killed  in  one  Orchard,  how  many  got 
"  oft"  wounded  we  dont  know  ;"  and  in  Colonel  Haslet's  letter  to  General 
Rodney,  already  referred  to,  it  was  said,  "his  Lieutenant  and  a  number 
"  of  others  were  left  dead  on  the  spot." 

^*  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghmanfo  his  father,  "Valentine's-Hill  4  miles 
"from  Kingsbridge,  22  October,  1776;"  Coloyiel  Haslett  to  General  Rod- 
ney, "  White-Plains,  October  28,  1776  ;"  etc. 

A  list  of  thirty-one  of  those  prisoners  may  be  seen  in  Force's  American 
Archives,  V.,  ii.,  1203  ;  but  the  evident  slaughter  of  the  names  has  made 
that  record  useless  to  every  one  who  is  unacquainted  with  the  names  of 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


429 


including,  among  the  trophies  of  their  bravery,  "  a 
^'pair  of  Colors,  sixty  stund  of  Arms,  and  a  variety  of 
"plunder,"'  among  the  latter  of  which  were  "a  good 
•"many  Blankets."^  On  the  side  of  the  Americans, 
"three  or  four  were  left,  dead,  and.  about  fifteen  were 
"  wounded,  among  the  latter,  Major  Green,  of  the 
"Second  Virginia  Regiment,  wounded  in  the  shoul- 
"  der,  and  Captain  Pope,  who  acted  as  Major,  and 
"behaved  with  great  bravery,  wounded  in  the  leg.'" 
•General  Lord  Stirling  is  said  to  have  been  "so  highly 
"  pleased  with  the  success  of  the  expedition,  that  he 
"  thanked  Colonel  Haslet  and  his  command,  pub- 
"  Holy,  on  the  parade."  * 


families  of  whom  they  were  probably  membere.  As  many  of  them  appear 
*o  have  been  of  W'estchester-county  origin,  we  append  the  list,  corrected 
A3  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  correct  it : 


*Joseph  Dean, 

♦Jonathan  Austin, 

*Stephen  Law, 

Francis  Baslcy, 

♦Ulijah  Carle, 

James  Sharp, 

♦John  Angevine, 

Solomon  Parent, 

♦Joseph  Carle, 

.lonathau  Eddy, 

Walter  Brown, 

*Stephen  Travis, 

Gilbert  Myers, 

♦James  Cannady,t 

♦Frederic  Bevoe, 

♦Moses  Travis, 

David  Lawrence, 

Abraham  Brown, 

♦James  Angevine, 

♦Elnathan  Appleby, 

John  Charlick, 

Jedediah  Davis, 

Jeremiah  Wood,  * 

Jacob  Cadwell  Burr, 

Reuben  Stivers, 

James  Jleleon,  [*-Nelson  f] 

♦David  Travis, 

Noah  Brown, 

John  Worden, 

AVilliam  VVaahburn. 

♦Elijah  Bartow, 

1  Colonel  Hatlet  foGeneral  Rodney,  "  White-Plains,  October  28, 1776." 

^  LieuteiuitU-colonel  Tilghman  to  his  father,  "  A'alentine's-Hill,  4  miles 
*'rR0M  Kingsbridge,  22  October,  1776." 

'  Colonel  Haslet  to  General  Rodney,  "'Wiiite-Plains,  October  28, 1776." 

< Those  who  shall  desire  to  learn  more  of  this  affair  are  referred  to 
general  Washington  6  letter  to  Governor  Tnimbiill,  "Camp  on  Valen- 
"  TINE's-HiLL,  October  22,  1776  ;  "  the  same,  tu  the  Continental  Congress, 
*' Head-qvarters,  White-Plains,  25  October,  1776;"  Extract  of  a 
letter  from  Fort  Lee,  dated  "  October  22,"  in  The  Philadelphia  Evening 
Post,  Vol.  II.,  No.  276,  "Philadelphia,  .Saturday,  October  26,  1776;" 
Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  General  Officer,  dated  "  Mount  Washingtoni 
■"October  23,  1776,"  iu  The  Pennsylvania  Jounuxl,  No.  1769,  "Philadel. 
"  PllIA,  Wednesday,  October  :!0,  1776,"  and  in  Force's  Amei-ican  Archives, 
•T.,  ii.,  1203  ;  /16ram  Clark  to  Colonel  Dayton,  "  Eliza  bethtown,  October 
"26,  1776;"  Extract  from  a  letter  published  by  the  Continental  Congress,  in 
The  Pennsylvania  Journal,  No.  1770,  "Philadelphia,  Wednesday, 
"November  6,1776;"  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New- 
"  York,  30  November,  1776  ;"  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America, 
I.,  205  ;  (ionion's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  339  ;  Memoirs  of 
General  H»ilh,  74,  75 ;  etc. 

Bolton,  in  his  history  of  Westchester-counly,  (original  edition,  i.,  311  ; 
second  edition,  i.,  499)  prefi.xed  to  General  Heath's  mention  of  this  affair 
(except  the  date,  which  the  latter  had  correctly  stated,)  the  singular  in- 
formation that  it  occurred  on  "  the  day  previous  to  the  battle  at  White 
"  Plains,"  [Oc(o6ct-  27,]  and  that  the  command  of  the  Americans  was  held 
by  Colonel  Smallwood,  of  the  Maryland  Line  of  the  Continental  Army. 

Bancroft,  in  his  History  uf  the  I'nilt  d  Slates,  (original  edition,  ix.,  178  ; 
centenary  edition,  v.  442,)  regarded  the  Rangers  as  only  "a  picket  of 
"Rogers's  Regiment  of  R<ingei-8,"  notwithstanding  General  Howe  had 
described  it,  definitely,  as  a  detachment  of  the  entire  "Corps  of  Rjin- 
"gers,"  not  a  portion  of  it,  only,  which  had  been  sent  forward, 
"  to  take  possession  of  JIamaroneck  ; "  and  no  one,  of  either  Army,  con- 


♦Thosewhoare  thus  designated  (♦)  were,  probably,  of  Westchester- 
county  families. 

t  James  Canuady  was  one  of  the  Bedford  Company  who  had  served 
throughout  the  Campaign  of  1775,  under  Colonel  James  Holmes,  (rule 
page  101,  ante.) 


On  the  twenty-second  of  October,  General  Howe 
Strengthened  his  outpost,  at  Mamaroneck,  which  Col- 
onel Haslet  had  so  rudely  assaulted,  during  the  i)re- 
ccding  night,  by  moving  the  Sixth  Brigade  of  Brit- 
ish troops,  commanded  by  Brigadier-general  Agnew, 
to  that  place  ;  ^  and,  on  the  same  day.  Lieutenant- 
general  Knyphausen,  with  the  Second  Division  of  the 
Hessians  and  the  Regiment  of  Waldeckers,  number- 
ing eight  thousand  men,  who  had  arrived  at  New 
York,  on  the  eighteenth,*  landed  on  Myers-point,  now 
known  as  Davcnport's-neck,  near  New  Rochelle,'  to 
which  place  they  had  been  taken,  from  the  City  of 
New  York,  on  the  flatboats  of  the  Army.* 

As  all  intercourse  between  the  City  of  New  York 
and  the  Army,  which  was  so  exceedingly  important, 
depended  on  the  King's  troops  and  Navy  being  mas- 
ters of  the  Sound,  armed  vessels  were  stationed,  at 
short  distances  from  each  other,  from  Hell-gate  to 
New  Rochelle  ;  and  every  possible  assistance  was  af- 
forded by  Admiral  Lord  Howe,  to  facilitate  the 
movements  of  the  Army  commanded  by  his  brother. 
Indeed,  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  best-informed 
writers  of  the  history  of  those  operations  of  the 
King's  Navy,  himself  an  Officer  of  the  Army  and 
a  personal  witness  of  what  he  described,  "  a  vigor 
"and  exertion,  unequalled  in  any  former  expedi- 
"  tion,  prevailed  through  all  classes  in  the  Navy, 
"extinguishing  jealousies,  and  banishing  all  those 
"ideas  of  pre-eminence  and  rank  that  sometimes  sub- 
"  sist  between  the  Fleet  and  the  Army ;  and  which 


sidered  it  asonly  a  picket,  or  it  would  not  have  been  mentioned  in  the 
despatches  of  both  the  Generals  commanding  nor  have  found  a  place  on 
either  of  the  official  Maps  of  the  Caini)aign. 

6  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Yoek,  November  30, 
"1776  ;  "  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  205  ;  Sauthier's 
Plan  of  the  Operations  of  the  King^s  Anny  ;  A  Plan  of  the  Country  from 
Fi-og^s  Point  to  CroUm  River  ;  etc 

8  "  New-Y'ork,  October  21,  1776.  On  Friday  sixty-five  sail  of  vessels, 
"  under  convoy  of  the  Diamond  and  Ambuscade,  with  the  second  divis- 
"  ion  of  the  Hessians  and  one  thousand  Waldeckers,  under  the  command 
"  of  the  Generals  Knyphausen  and  Schinidtz,  and  a  number  of  recruits  for 
"  the  British  troops,  in  all  about  eight  thousand  effective  men,  arrived 
"  off  Sandy-Hook.  They  sailed  from  Plymouth  Sounil,  the  27th  of  July. 
"In  the  fleet  are  several  victuallers  and  vessels  laden  with  draught- 
"  horses  for  the  train  and  baggage  of  the  Army."  (Tlie  New-York  Ga- 
zette and  Weekly  Mercury,  No.  1304,  New-York,  Monday,  October  21, 
177G.) 

See,  also,  Lord  George  Germaine  to  General  Howe,  "  Whitehall,  21 
"June,  1776." 

"  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New-York,  November  30, 
"1776  ;  "  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  206  ;  Sauthier's 
Plan  of  the  Operations  of  the  King^s  Army  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  Amer- 
ican RevohUi^m,  ii.,  339  ;  Plan  of  the  Country  from  Frog's  Point  to  Croton 
River ;  etc. 

Bolton,  in  his  History  of  Westchester-county,  (original  edition,  i.,  140  ; 
second  edition,  i.,  688)  said  General  Knyphausen  landed  on  Myers  point, 
or  Davenport's  neck,  "ten  days  previous  to  the  battle  of  White-Plains," 
[October  18,]  the  day  on  which  he  had  reached  Sandy-hook  ;  anil  in  the 
first  of  the  two  editions,  he  cited,  as  his  authority,  Stedman's  History  of 
the  American  War,  in  which  there  is  not  the  slightest  mention  of  the  date 
of  the  debarkation  of  the  Division,  beyond  the  fart  that  it  was  after  the 
twenty-first  of  October,  seven  days  before  the  action  on  Chatterton's- 
hill. 

s  Admiral  Lord  Howe  to  Sir.  Stephens,  Secretary  to  the  Admiralty, 
"E.vGLE,  OFF  New-Y'ork,  November  2.3,  1776." 


430 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  have  too  often  fatally  contributed  to  national 
"  dishonor."  ' 

During  the  following  night,  \_Tuesday,  October  22,] 
the  Division  of  the  American  Army  which  was  com- 
manded by  Major-general  Sullivan  reached  the  White 
Plains,^  and,  probably,  occupied  a  position  in  the 
proposed  new  line  of  the  Army,  on  the  right  of  that 
already  occupied  by  the  Division  commanded  by 
Major-general  Heath  ;  although  we  have  not  found 
any  information,  on  that  subject,  among  the  con- 
temporary authorities.^ 

While  General  Sullivan  and  his  command  were 
thus  moving  towards  the  White  Plains,  a  raid  was 
made  from  the  Regiment  which  occupied  the  en- 
trenched Camp  at  Mile-Square,  in  which  a  Corporal 
and  two  Privates,  with  the  approval  of  the  Colonel, 
"  went  out  to  see  what  they  could  pick  up,"  and  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  in  "a  number  of  fat  Cattle,"  with- 
out pretending,  however,  that  they  had  belonged  to  the 
King's  Army  ;  *  and,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  following 
day,  [  Wednesday ,  Ociober  23,]  the  same  small  party 
went  out,  again,  but  in  a  different  direction — "going 
"directly  to  the  rear  of  the  Hessian  Camp,"  [near 
East  Chester,']  ''  they  went  into  a  house  where  they 
"  washed  for  the  Officers,  and  were  bringing  off  three 
"  tubs  of  Shirts,  when  the  man  of  the  house  informed 
"  the  Camp."  The  marauders  were,  of  course,  com- 
pelled to  retreat ;  but,  meeting  some  of  their  com- 
rades,— probably  the  party  referred  to  in  the  following 
paragraph, — they  rallied,  drove  back  their  Hessian 
pursuers,  killed  the  Major  who  commanded  the  latter 
— from  whom  they  took  his  Commission  and  ten 
guineas,  in  money — and  a  number  of  others,  and  cap- 
tured three  prisoners,^  evidently  securing  to  them- 
selves, also,  very  great  credit. 

'  [Hall's]  Jfi«?ori/  nf  the  Ciril  War  in  America,  i.,  206. 
2  Memoirs  of  Geiierul  Henlh,  75. 

'  It  is  one  of  the  singular  portions  of  the  history  of  that  eventful  Cam- 
paign, that  the  only  mention  which  we  have  found,  concerninj;  General 
Sullivan's  servires,  as  Major-general  commanding  one  of  the  great 
Divisions  of  the  .\morican  Army,  in  Westchester-county,  is  that  merely 
incidental  remark,  by  CJeneral  Heath,  to  which  wo  have  referred.  There 
appears,  also,  in  the  manuscript  papers  of  General  Sidlivan,  which  we 
have  carefully  examined,  personally,  next  to  nothing  on  the  subject ; 
there  is  nothing  in  the  carefully-prepared  Memoir  of  him,  by  his 
faithful  biographer,  Hon.  Thomas  C.  Amory,  which  throws  the  faint- 
est light  on  the  subject ;  and  Mr.  Amory,  whom  it  is  our  privilege  to 
number  among  our  oldest  and  dearest  personal  friends,  is  entirely  un- 
able to  atTord  the  slightest  information. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  placed  in  command  of  a  great  Pi- 

ision  of  the  .\rniy.  while  older  and  more  pretentious  Major-generals 
were  left  in  less  inipoi-tant  positions,  it  cannot  be  pretended  that  that 
silence  was  produced  by  any  want  of  respect  for  either  his  militiii'y 
character  or  his  military  services. 

*  Extract  of  a  lelt^r  from  "  C\MP  at  Mile-Square  Eastchesteh," 
dated  "23  October,  177G,"  published  in  The  Frveman's  Jonrnul  or  Xeic- 
Hompi'hire  Gn:ette,  Volume  I.,  Number  25,  Poktsmovtm,  Tuesday,  No- 
vember 12,  1776. 

5  Ibid. 

In  Lieutenant  colonel  Tench  Tilghman's  letter  to  William  Duer.  dated 
'  HEAn-cjUARTEUs,  White-Plaixs,  October  2:i,  1776,"  the  narrative  was 
differently  told,  giving  the  entire  credit  for  the  insignificant  affair  to 
General  Lee,  as  was  usually  done,  in  siich  cases,  and  stating  that  it  oc- 
curred on  the  evening  of  the  twenty-second  ;  and  an  E-dract  of  a  letter 
Jrom  Head-quarlei-s,  published,  officially,  by  the  Congress,  "  October  25, 


During  the  same  day,  [  Wednesday,  October  23,] 
Colonel  Glover,  commanding  the  Brigade  of  whom 
Brigadier-general  James  Clinton  was  the  commander 
— the  same  who  had  distinguished  themselves  on  the 
preceding  Friday — sent  out  a  party,  mostly  composed 
of  men  belonging  to  his  own  Regiment,  to  see  what 
was  to  be  seen  and  do  what  they  could  do.  It  is  said 
that  that  Scouting-party  met  a  body  of  the  enemy 
and  attacked  it,  killing,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
twelve  Hessians — one  of  them  a  Field-officer,  on 
horseback — and  taking  three  prisoners,  besides  the 
horse  of  the  Officer  who  was  killed  ;  with  the  loss  of 
one  man,  of  Colonel  Baldwin's  Regiment,  who  was 
mortally  wounded.* 

On  the  same  day,  [Wednesday,  October  23,]  the 
Head-quarters  of  the  Army  were  established  "  on  the 
"Plain,  near  the  cross-roads,"  at  the  White  Plains.' 

During  the  entire  period  succeeding  the  determina- 
tion to  move  the  main  body  of  the  American  Army 
from  the  Heights  of  Harlem  to  the  White  Plains, 
there  were  the  most  active  preparations  to  secure  a 
successful  retreat,  throughout  every  portion  of  the 
Armj\  It  is  said  the  Mortars,  some  of  the  Cannon,  a 
portion  of  General  Washington's  Baggage,  and  some 
of  the  Sick  had  been  taken  to  the  western  side  of  the 
Hudson-river,  before  that  determination  was  made;" 
on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second,  the  Sick  who 
had  not  been  sent  over  the  Hudson-river,  were  sent 


*'177G,"and  copied  into  The  Vemisi/lmvia  Jo7fnial,  No.  1770,  Phila- 
delphia, Wednesday,  November  6,  1776,  stated  that  the  affair  oc- 
curred on  AVednesday,  the  tvienty-third  of  October,  as  stated  in  the  text ; 
that  the  supporting  party  belonged  to  Colonel  Hand's  Keginient  of  Kifle- 
men,  instead  of  to  Colonel  Glover's  Regiment ;  that  the  Americans 
buried  ten  of  the  Hessians,  on  the  field  ;  and  that  the  only  loss  sustained 
by  the  Aniericans  was  "one  lad  wounded,  supposed  mortally."  A  hiter 
from  It  Gnitlemim  in  the  Armij,  ilated  "Camp  near  the  Mills,  abouj 
" THREE  JULES  North  OF  THE  White  Plains,  November  1,  1776,"  imb- 
lished  in  Force's  American  Archives,  V.,  iii.,  473,  stated  that  "our  people 
"  buried  thirteen  Hessians  left  dead  on  the  field  ; "  that  "  one  wounded 
"  Lieutenant  was  taken  ;"  that,  "  although  we  had  not  one  man  killed 
"on  the  ground,"  we  had  " six  or  eight  wounded,  but  one,  it  is  thought, 
"moi'tally;"  and  that  the  Major's  Commission  was  found  on  the 
ground  ;  "but  whether  it  belonged  to  any  of  the  slain  or  to  some  Officer 
"who  might  be  wounded  and  carried  off,  they  could  not  determine." 

6  Colonel  Glover's  letter,  dated  "  Mile-Sqi  are,  October  22,*  1776," 
published  in  The  Frceman^s  Jourital  and  Xeir-Hampshire  Gazette,  Vol. 
I.,  No.  27,  I'onTSMOVTH,  Tuesday,  November  26,  1770. 

'  Doctor  Sparks,  in  the  Writings  of  George  Washington,  iv.,  152,  note  ; 
Memoir  of  General  Heath,  75. 

Compare,  also.  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman  to  the  New  York  Convention, 
"  Head-qlarters,  VALENTiNE's-Hn.L,  OctobeT  22,  1776,"'  with  the  same 
to  William  Dner,  "  HEAn-gi'ARTEKS,  White-Plains,  October  23,  177G." 

8  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Fort  lee,  dated  "  October  20,  1776,"  published 
in  The  Pennsi/lvania  Journal,  No.  1769,  Philadelphia,  Wednesday,  Oc- 
tober 30,  1776. 

See,  also.  General  Washington  to  General  Greene,  "AVhite-Plaixs, 
"November?,  177G;"  General  Washington  to  General  Lee,  "Peekskill, 
"November  12,  1776  ;  "  etc. 


*The  structure  of  this  letter  clearly  indicates  that  it  was  written  by 
instalments — that  it  was  connnenced  on  the  twenty-second,  and  received 
additions  on  the  next  day,  on  the  succeeding  Sunday,  and  after  the  en- 
gagement on  Chatterton's  hill,  which  occurred  on  the  following  Mon- 
day. 

This  is  stated  in  e.xplanation  of  the  seeming  discrepancy  in  the  date 
of  the  letter  and  that  of  the  affair  which  is  under  notice. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


431 


to  the  White  Plains,  reaching  that  place  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning ;  ^  and  the  Comnumder-in-chief  "  was 
"  almost  the  whole  time  on  horsehack,"  '■'  his  Corre- 
spondence^ and  even  the  Orderly-books  of  the  Army* 
clearly  indicated  that  his  personal  supervision  of  the 
entire  movement  and  of  all  which  pertained  to  it  was 
unstintingly  given. 

It  is  not  now  known  when  General  Lee  and  his 
Division  commenced  its  Laborious  march,  towards  the 
White  Plains ;  ^  but  it  "  was  attended  with  much  dif- 
"  ficulty,  for  want  of  Wagons  and  Artillery-horses. 
"The  Baggage  and  Artillery,"  it  was  said,*  "were 
"carried  or  drawn  off  by  hand.  When  a  part  was 
*'  forwarded,  the  other  was  fetched  on.  This  was  the 
"  general  way  of  removing  the  Camp-equipage  and 
"other  appendages  of  the  Army.  The  few  Teams 
"  which  were  at  hand,  were  no  wise  equal  to  the  ser- 
"vice;  and  their  deficiency  could  be  made  up  only 
"by  the  bodily  labor  of  the  men."  Sometimes,  the 
toiling  column  was  in  open  view  of  the  enemy,  and 
at  no  considerable  distance  from  him;  and  it  is  not 
explained  why  he  did  not  disturb  it,  which  he  did 
not,  although  he  could  have  easily  done  so,  and  have 
captured  the  greater  number  of  the  Cannon,  Wag- 
ons, Horses,  etc.,  which  the  American  Army  pos- 
sessed. Surely  the  little  tree-fringed  Bronx  did  not 
offer  any  serious  obstruction  :  surely  the  entrenched 
Camps  behind  which  the  heavily  laden  column  was 
slowly  marching,  and  which  were  abandoned  when 
the  column  reached  Uiem,  those  who  had  occupied 
them  falling  in  and  increasing  the  strength  of  the 
moving  force,  did  not  intimidate  him  :  rather  let  it 
be  supposed  that  General  Howe's  well-settled,  well- 
supported  policy  of  exposing  his  men,  in  assaults  on 
, entrenchments,  only  when  the  objects  to  be  attained 
by  such  assaults  were  adequate  to  the  loss  of  men,  in 
such  assaults — "  not  wantonly  to  commit  His  Majes- 
"  ty's  troops,  where  the  object  was  inadequate,"  was 
his  own  description  of  it — controlled  him,  as  it  had 
done  in  Brooklyn,  while  the  King's  Army  was  on 
Long  Island.    It  appears,  however,  that  General  Lee 

!  How'e  Diary,  October  22  and  2.3,  1776. 

^Sparka's  Writings  of  George  ]yashingtonj  iv.,  524. 

3Tho  twenty-second  of  October  afforded  tlie  only  letter  in  his  pub- 
lished Correspondence,  between  the  fifteenth  of  October  and  the  sixth 
of  November  ;  and  Doctor  Sparlis,  wlio  comlucteii  l)is  Writings  througli 
Iho  Press,  stated,  in  explanation,  "  tlie  unsettled  state  of  tlie  Army, 
"for  several  days  siicceeding  the  date  of  this  letter,"  [tluU  of  the  sixth 
of  Nortmber,}  "allowed  very  little  leisure  to  the  Connnander-in-chief 
"for  writing."— (irriiinjs  o/  George  Wnsliiugton,  iv.,  157,  note.) 

*In  the  published  Orderhj-honks  of  the  Army,  there  does  not  appear  a 
aingle  entry,  not  even  of  a  Parole  and  Countersign,  between  the  eight- 
eenth and  twenty-fifth  of  October. 

5  It  must  have  been  as  early  as  the  twenty  second,  since  the  column 
had  reached  Ward's  Uridge,  now  Tuckahoe,  early  ou  the  morning  of 
the  twenty-fourth,  (iUmoirs  of  General  Henth,  76  ;)  it  was  still  on  its 
march,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  (Goloitel  li.  Jl.  Hm-riaon  to  the  Cuntiiientol 
Ooagresa,  "  llE.vn-yrAKTKRs,  Wihte-PlaiN!!,  26  October,  177G ; ")  and  did 
not  join  the  main  body  of  the  Army,  at  the  W'hite  Plains,  until  the 
twenty-sixth,  (Mentoirs  of  General  Heulli,  75  ;)  possibly,  not  until  the 
twenty-eighth.  (GfcneraJ  Glocer's  leUer,  dated  "  Mile-Square,  October 
"22,  1776.") 

'Gordon's  IIi4lmij  of  the  American  Revolulitm,  ii.,  .339,  340. 


varied  his  duties  by  throwing  a  party  of  his  command, 
over  the  Bronx,  during  the  night  of  Wednesday,  the 
twenty-third  of  October,  in  order  to  beat  up  the  out- 
posts of  the  enemy ;  and  one  of  these,  near  Ward's 
Tavern,  between  Tuckahoe  and  Scarsdale,  and  occu- 
pied by  two  hundred  and  fifty  Hessians,  was  success- 
fully attacked,  early  in  the  following  morning, 
\_Thursday,  October  24,]  ten  of  the  number  having 
been  killed,  and  two  taken  prisoners ; '  and  it  has 
been  stated  that,  reciprocally,  a  dash  was  made  on  the 
rear  of  the  slowly  moving  column,  somewhere  in  the 
line  of  march,  in  which,  among  other  losses,  General 
Lee  and  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  latter  of 
the  New  York  State  Artillery,  lost  their  Baggage.'* 
The  column  reached  the  White  Plains,  however,  on 
Saturday,  the  twenty-sixth  of  October,  with  very  lit- 
tle loss  of  either  Stores  or  Troops.'  The  movement 
of  eight  thousand  men,  with  a  train  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  Wagons,  which  "  filled  the  road  for  four 
"  miles,"  and  with  Artillery,'"  under  such  peculiar 
circumstances,  with  such  a  scarcity  of  the  means  for 
transportation,  and  in  the  face — often,  within  half  a 


'  Editorial  in  a  Hartford  newspaper,  October  28,  copied  in  The  Free- 
7Hrt»'s    Journal  and  Xew-Hanipsh're  Gazette,  Volume  I.,  Number 
Portsmouth,  Tuesday,  November  5,  1776  ;  Memoirs  of  General  Hiuth,  76. 

8  Hon.  James  A.  Hamilton,  of  Dobbs's-ferry,  in  a  conversation  with  us,, 
many  years  ago,  told  U3  that  his  father,  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton, 
lost  his  Baggage,  on  the  march  of  General  Lee's  command  from  Harlem 
Heights  to  the  White  Plains ;  and  The  Middle^^ex  Journal  and  Evening 
Advertiser,  No.  120(1,  Lonud.n  :  From  Saturday,  December  21,  to  Tuesday, 
December  24,  1776,  cuntiiine  a  letter  from  Westchester,  dated  November 
10,  1776,  and  carried  to  England  by  the  Fotny,  in  which  it  was  stated, 
"  Upon  landing  at  New-Rochelle,  we  found  the  church  full  of  Salt.*  Our 
"troops  advanced  to  this  place  where  we  took  General  Lee's  baggage." 

In  the  same  number  of  the  same  newspaper,  another  letter  ^'  from  an 
"  Officer  in  Gen.  Ilotce^s  Army,  in  the  Province  of  New  J'ori,"  dated' 
"Nov.  11,  1776,"  is  printed,  in  which  it  is  said,  ".\  little  beyond  West 
"  Chester  some  of  our  people  found  a  pipe  of  wine,  directed  for  General 
"  Lee,  and  nine  puncheons  of  rum,  which  the  General  ordered  to  be 
"staved,  lest  the  soldiers  should  get  drunk." 

Meimtirs  of  General  Heath,  76  ;  Stedman's  History  of  the  American 
TVur,  i.,  212  ;  Marehall's  Li/f  of  George  Washington,  ii.,  502. 

Colonel  .John  Glover,  in  the  letter  from  which  we  have  learned  so 
much  of  this  Campaign,  and  who  was  with  General  Lee,  stated,  evidently 
erroneously,  that  the  column  did  not  reach  the  White  Plains  until  ten 
o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  the  twenty  eighth  of  October,  after  having 
marched  during  the  whole  of  the  preceding  night,  (Colonel  Glover^s  h  t- 
<er,dated  "  MiLE-SyUARE,  October  22,  1776,"  published  in  The  Freeman's 
Journaland  yeW'Hampshire  Gazette,  Volume  I.,  Number  27,  Portsmouth, 
Tuesday,  November  26,  1776  ;)  but  the  Lrttir  from  a  Gentleman  in  the 
Army,  dated  "Camp  near  the  Mills,  abiht  three  miles  North  of 
"the  White  Plains,  November  1,  1776,"  reprinted  in  Force's  American 
Archives,  V.,  iii.,  471-474,  stated  that  "General  Lee  reached  the  Plains, 
"and  uutrched  out,  westward,  between  the  main  body  of  the  Army  and 
"the  river,"  [that  is,  he  occupied  the  right  of  the  line,  between  General 
Sullivan's  command  and  the  l}ron.c-river.]  "  This  was  on  the  25th  and 
"  2Gth  of  October,"  the  author  of  the  letter  added.  The  official  Plan  of 
the  Countrt/  from  Frog's  Point  to  Croton  i^iferand  Sauthier's  Plan  of  the 
Operafiom,  etc.,  each  stated  that  the  columu  was  not  in  motion  after  the 
twenty-seventh  of  October. 

There  is  abundant  evidence,  within  Colonel  Glover's  own  letter,  that 
he  was  in  error,  two  days,  in  this  particular  statement. 

Colonel  Glover's  letter,  dMed  "  Mile  .Scjuahe,  October  22,  1776." 


*  That  Salt  is  said  to  have  been  owned  by  the  .State  of  New  York.  It 
was  very  valuable  ;  and  the  loss  of  it  was  also  noticed  in  the  Aint  riciin 
records  of  that  period. 


432 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


mile  and  in  open  sight — of  an  active,  powerful,  well- 
supplied,  and  well-disciplined  enemy,  with  very  lit- 
tle, if  with  any,  loss,^  was  a  feat  which  reflected  and 
continues  to  reflect,  the  highest  honor  on  both  the 
General  in  command  and  the  men  whom  he  com- 
manded. The  entire  Army,  except  the  troops  who 
had  been  left  on  Mount  Washington  and  at  Kings- 
bridge — about  fourteen  hundred  at  the  former,  and 
six  hundred  at  the  latter — was,  then,  concentrated  at 
the  White  Plains,^  awaiting  and  preparing  for  the 
great  events  which  were  rapidly  approaching. 

The  White  Plains,  the  place  which  appeared  to  have 
been  designated  by  both  the  great  opposing  powers, 
as  if  by  mutual  consent,  for  that  on  which  the  great 
questions  then  pending  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  united  States  of  America  were  to  be  determined 
by  the  arbitrament  of  Arms,  the  County-seat  of  the 
ancient  County  of  Westchester,  is  situated  on  the 
upper  extremity  of  a  fine  plain,  about  twenty-six 
miles  from  the  City  of  New  York.  At  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  the  Village  was  composed  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  comfortable  dwellings,  scattered 
along  the  sides  of  two  or  three  roads  which  converged 
at  that  place,  two  Taverns,  a  Presbyterian  Meeting- 
house and  a  Wesleyan  jMethodist  Chapel,  and  the 
Court-house  of  the  County,  within  which,  probably, 
all  the  County-ofhces  were,  also,  sheltered.  About 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  westward  from  the  principal 
roadway  of  the  unpretentious  little  Village,  flowed 
the  small  stream  which  was,  then,  as  it  is,  now,  called 
"  The  Bronx-river,"  forming  the  western  boundary  of 
the  plain  referred  to,  and  separating  it  from  "The 
"  Manor  of  Philipseborough  ;  "  to  the  Northwest  and 
Northeast  of  the  Village,  respectively,  were  bold  and 
sometimes  abrupt  elevations,  united  by  less  elevated 
ground  with  a  gradual  descent  toward  the  Village, 
the  whole  forming  the  northern  boundary  of  "the 
"  White  Plains,"  below;  and  beyond  those  flanking 
elevations  and  that  intervening  high  ground,  to  the 
northward  of  the  Village,  and  not  more  than  a  mile 
distant  from  the  northern  extremity  of  it,  in  the  Town 
of  Northcastle,  was  the  high  and  rocky  ground  which 
is,  now,  so  well  known,  in  history,  as  that  to  which 
the  American  Army  swung  back,  after  the  action  on 
Chatterton's-hill.^ 

1  "  You  are  misinformed  as  to  the  quantity  of  Provisions  we  have  lost. 
"  When  General  Lee  removed,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  eighty  or  ninety 
"  barrels  of  Provisions,  of  all  kinds,  for  want  of  Wagons." — (Lieuteuanl- 
colonel  Tench  Tilghman  to  Witluim  Duer^  "Head-quarters,  White- 
"  Plains,  October27, 1776.") 

Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  (original  edition,  ix.,  179  ; 
the  same,  centenary  edition,  v.,  443,)  said  "sixty  or  seventy  barrels  of 
"  Provisions"  weie  lost.  We  have  heard  of  no  other  loss,  except  that  of 
General  Lee's  Baggage  and  Wine. 

2  Colonel  11.  H.  HarrUon  to  the  Continental  Congress,  "  Head-quar- 
"  TERS,  White-Plains,  25  October,  1776." 

3  Our  own  knowledge  of  the  ground,  as  it  was,  more  than  thirty  years 
ago,  forms  the  groundwork  of  this  description  ;  and  w«  have  been  fa- 
vored, further,  in  our  work  of  describing  the  topograjihy  of  that  vicinity, 
with  the  assistance  of  our  valued  friend  of  many  years,  Hon.  Lewis  C. 
Piatt,  formerly  Surrogate  of  the  County,  and  with  that  of  our  not  less 
esteemed  friend,  Hon.  J.  0.  Dykman,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  both 


The  site  of  the  encampment  which  the  American 
Army  occupied  was  on  the  high  grounds,  northwest- 
ward and  northeastward  from  the  Village,  and  the 
lower  grounds  between  them ;  with  covering  positions, 
on  either  flank.  A  temporary  line  of  works  had  been 
previously  constructed  along  the  northerly  line  of  the 
road  which  extended  from  the  Meeting-house  of  the 
Presbyterian -church,  past  the  house  of  Jacob  Purdy, 
to  the  Bronx-river* — that  road  which  connected  the 
White  Plains  with  Dobbs's-ferry  ;  but  the  entrench- 
ments which  were  thrown  up  for  the  defence  of  the 
Army,  occupied  a  line  from  the  Bronx-river,  at  a  point 
which  was  nearly  opposite  to  the  residence  of  the  late 
William  Roberts,  on  the  right ;  over  the  summit  of 
the  hill  which  is  to  the  northward  of  the  Harlem 
Railroad  Station,  then  owned  by  'Squire  Jacob  Purdy, 
more  recently  by  his  son,  Jacob,  and  now  by  numer- 
ous owners,  eastward,  over  properties  more  re- 
cently owned  by  the  younger  Jacob  Purdy,  Daniel 
Dusenberry,  and  Alexander  C.  Tompkins — those  of 
Jacob  Purdy  being  now  owned  by  numerous  per- 
sons ;  those  of  Daniel  Dusenberry,  by  his  children ; 
and  those  of  Alexander  C.  Tompkins,  by  his  widow 
— to  the  Post-road,  which  was  the  principal  street  of 
the  Village.  Occupying  the  Post-road  was  a  strong 
earthwork,  some  small  remains  of  which,  bearing  an 
old  howitzer,  en  barbette,  may  still  be  seen,  opposite  to 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Tompkins,  already  referred  to  ; 
and,  eastward  from  that  central  earthwork,  up  the 
gradual  slope,  over  properties  recently  owned  by 
Leonard  Miller,  John  Fisher,  the  widow  of  James 
Fisher,  and  Henry  Willetts — those  of  Leonard  Miller 
being  now  owned  by  his  two  sons;  those  of  John 
Fisher,  by  numerous  persons;  and  those  of  Henry 
Willetts,  by  Charles  Deutermann — to  what  was  then 
known  as  Horton's-pond,  now  known  as  "  St.  Mary's 
"  Lake,"  of  which  mention  has  been  already  made.^ 
The  right  flank  of  the  line  was  covered  by  the  Bri- 
gades commanded,  respectively,  by  Generals  McDou- 
gal  and  Lord  Stirling;"  audits  left  was  covered  by 


of  whom  are  old  residents  of  the  Village,  and  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
ground. 

*  Veiy  much  more  importance  has  been  recently  attached  to  this  evi- 
dently temporary  line  of  defence  than  it  was  entitled  to  enjoy.  It  was 
probably  thrown  up  by  the  small  body  of  Militia  who  had  occupied  that 
position,  as  a  guard  of  the  Stores  which  had  been  accumulated  at  that 
place,  while  the  main  Army  occupied  the  Heights  of  Harlem  ;  but  the 
subsequent  occupation  of  the  ground,  which  has  been  do.scribed  in  the  text, 
by  the  main  Army,  was  followed  by  the  construction  of  a  line  of  works, 
on  the  high  ground,  on  the  rear  of  that  temporarj'  line,  the  last-named 
of  which  was  abandoned  on  Saturday,  the  twenty -sixth  of  October.* 

5  This  description  of  the  line  of  defences  occupied  by  the  American 
AiTuy,  at  the  WHiite  Plains,  was  originally  prepared,  more  than  thirty 
years  ago,  with  great  care,  from  every  authority  which  wiis  then  known  to 
us  and  from  information  derived  from  aged  people  who  have  since  passed 
away  ;  and  the  present  ownership  of  the  several  properties  over  which 
the  line  extended  has  been  ascertained  and  communicated  to  us  by  Hon. 
Lewis  C.  Piatt  and  Hon.  J.  0.  Dykman,  to  whom  w  e  have  already  grate- 
fully referred. 

6  "  I  now  snatch  an  opportunity  by  the  Post  of  informing  you  that 


*  "26 — We  Have  ben  a  moveing  our  Tents  to  the  top  of  the  Hill  th  s 
"  Day."— (David  How's  Diari/,  October  26,  1776.") 


THE  AMEKICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


433 


the  Brigades  conithanded,  respectively,  by  Generals 
George  Clinton,  John  Morin  Scott,  and  Samuel  H. 
Parsons,  the  two  former  having  been  posted  near  the 
Purchase,'  and  the  latter  at  the  head  of  King-street, 
near  Rye  pond.- 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  October,  the  small  force 
which  had  been  left  in  Fort  Independence,  when 
General  Heath's  Division  was  moved  from  near 
Kingsbridge  to  the  White  Plains,^  was  ordered  to  re- 
move the  Cannon  and  Stores  from  that  post  to  Fort 
Washington  ;  to  burn  the  several  Barracks  which  had 
been  erected,  there,  with  so  much  difficulty  and  at  so 
great  an  expense ;  and,  "  with  all  possible  dispatch," 
to  move,  by  way  of  the  Albany  post-road,  as  far  as 
Dobbs's-forry,  to  the  White  Plains ;  *  and,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  without  having  removed  the  Cannon, 
three  hundred  stand  of  Small-arms,  five  tons  of  Bar- 
iron,  and  "  a  great  quantity  of  Spears,  Shot,  Shells, 
"  etc.,  too  numerous  to  mention,"  which  were  within 
or  near  the  Fort,  and  all  of  which  were  recklessly 
abandoned,^  that  small  command,  numbering  not  more 
than  four  hundred  effective  men,^  joined  the  main 
body  of  the  Division,'  on  the  left  of  the  line,  at  the 
White  Plains.  The  enemy,  who  had  occupied  the  en- 
tire lower  portion  of  Westchester-county,  since  the 
American  forces  had  been  concentrated  at  the  Plains, 
occupied  the  position,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on 
which  Colonel  Lasher  had  abandoned  it.* 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  judging  from  The 
General  Returns  of  the  Army,  dated  on  the  third  of 
November,  the  Army  commanded  by  General  Wash- 


"  General  Ucnougal's  Brigade,  of  which  the  Maryland  Regulars  is 
"  a  part,  having  laid  in  the  woods  for  three  nights,"  [preceding  the  day 
of  the  action  oh  Chatterton^s-hilt,  that  is  to  sny,  on  the  nights  of  thettceniij- 
fifUt,  lirentii-airth,  and  twent;i-sevenlh  of  October,]  "  two  miles  from  this 
"  place,  and  to  the  right  of  the  main  body,  as  a  covering  party,  was  or- 
**  dered  to  advance  along  the  road,  about  a  mile,  near  a  place  called  the 
"Mile-stone,  and  there  take  post,  which  was  accordingly  done."  {Letter 
to  a  Gentlemnn  in  Annapolis,  dated  "  White-Pi.aixs,  October  29,  1776," 
re-print«d  in  Force's  American  Archives,  V.,  ii.,  1284.) 

'  '■  I  am  so  closely  confined  to  my  post,  on  the  left  of  the  whole,  as  not 
"  to  have  been  a  quarter  mile  West  from  this  for  four  days  past.  Near 
"three  thousand  of  the  enemy,  yesterday  and  the  evening  before,  filed 
"off  to  the  left,  aud  were  seen  advancing  towards  King's  street  and  the 
"Purchase  road.  .  .  .  Our  lines  were  manned  all  night,  in  con- 
"•equence  of  this ;  and  a  most  horrid  night  it  was  to  lay  in  cold 
"trenches.  ...  I  have  only  time  to  add  that  I  am  with  usual 
"  health,  though  in  no  better  lodging  than  a  soldier's  tent,  with  our  old 
"friend  General  Scott."  {General  George  Clinton  to  John  McKesson, 
"C.^MP^■E.^K  White-Plains,  October  31,  17"fi.") 

'"On  the  same  evening,"  [October  23,]  "Col.  Tyler's,  Huntington's,  and 
"Throop's  Regiments,  of  General  Parson's  Brigade  and  of  our  General's 
"  Division,  moved,  and  took  post  at  the  head  of  King-street,  near  Rye- 
"pond.  " — (Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  75,76.) 

»  Vide  pages  2.51,  ante. 

♦  Genernl  Heath  to  Colonel  Lasher,  "  Wiiite-Plains,  October  27,  1776  ; " 
General  Greene  to  General  Mifflin,  "  Fort  Lee,  October  27,  1776  ; "  Mem- 
oirt  of  General  Beath,  79,  80. 

'  General  Greene  lo  General  Wnshinglnn,  "  Fort  Lee,  October  29, 
"1776." 

*Oolonel  Lasher  to  General  Heath,  "  Camp  at  King's  Bridge,  October 
"26.  1776." 
'  Memoirs  of  Gniernl  Heath,  79,  80. 

*  OoloH^'l  iMsher  lo  General  Heath,  "  Camp  at  King's  Bridce,  October 
"26,  1776." 


ington,  in  person,  was  composed,  nominally,  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  four  hundred,  and  fifty  men,  of 
whom  about  twelve  thousand  and  fifty  were  sick, 
on  independent  commands,  or  on  furlough;  leaving 
only  about  thirteen  thousand,  four  hundred,  rank  and 
file,  present  and  fit  for  duty.**  The  supply  of  Pro- 
visions, as  the  reader  has  been  already  informed,'" 
was  exceedingly  scanty ;  "  the  Medicine-chest  was 
almost  destitute  of  both  instruments  and  drugs ;  ''^  and 
Clothing  was  a  luxury  in  which  very  few  could  com- 
fortably indulge  themselves.'''  The  troops,  as  we  have 
already  stated,'*  were  dispirited  and,  often,  disaffected ; 


s  The  General  Returns  of  the  Army,  dated  on  the  third  of  November, 
six  days  after  the  action  on  Ohattorton's-hill,  showed  an  aggregate  of 
twenty -five  thousand,  two  hundred,  and  seventeen,  "rank  and  file," 
including  the  llatrosses  of  ten  Companies  of  Artillery  and  excluding, 
of  course,  the  Commissioned  Officers,  the  Staff',  and  the  Non-commis- 
sioned Officers  of  the  Army.  Adding  to  these,  those  who  had  been 
killed  and  missing  during  the  period  which  had  intervened  between 
the  time  of  which  we  write  and  the  date  of  the  Returns  referred  to, 
in  which  occurred  the  action  on  Chatterton's-bill  and  all  the  other 
military  operations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  White  Plains  ;  and  it  will  be 
seen  that,  when  tlic  Army  occupied  tlie  high  grounds,  to  the  north- 
ward of  that  Village,  excluding  the  Sick,  those  who  were  on  Com- 
mands, and  those  who  were  absent,  on  Furloughs,  the  effective  force 
was  only  thirteen  thousand,  four  hundred,  and  four,  ''  rank  and  file." 

1"  Vide  pages  248,  2."i0,  ante. 

"■'His,"  [General  Washini/lon' s,]  "apprehensions  are  exceedingly 
"great  lest  the  Army  should  suffer  much  for  want  of  necessary  supplies 
"of  Provisions,  especially  in  the  article  of  Flour.  From  the  best  in- 
"telligence  he  is  able  to  obtain,  there  is  not  more,  in  Camp  and  at 
"  the  several  places  where  it  has  been  deposited,  than  will  serve  the 
"  Army  longer  than  four  or  five  days,  provided  the  utmost  care  and 
"economy  were  used  in  issuing  it  out;  but  from  the  waste  and  em- 
"  bezzlement,  for  want  of  proper  attention  to  it,  as  is  reported  to  him, 
"  it  is  not  probable  that  it  will  last  so  long." — {Colonel  Robert  H.  Har- 
rison, Secretary  of  Gim-ral  Washington,  to  Colonel  Joseph  Trtinibull,  Com- 
missary-general of  Prorisions  "  White-Plains,  November  1.  1776.'') 

*2  '*  We  want  Jledicine,  much  :  none  can  be  had,  here.  Our  sick  have  " 
[(ieeii]"and  are  suffering  extremely." — {Colonel  Smallmood  lo  the  Coun- 
cil of  Safely  of  Maryland,  "  Philipse's  Heights,  October,  1776.") 

"  I  wrote  a  hasty  letter,  some  time  ago,  requesting  from  the  State 
"of  New  York,  that  they  would  allow  me  the  remainder  of  the 
"stock  of  Medicines  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  State,  of  which  they 
"  were  so  good  as  to  allow  me  one-half,  early  in  the  Summer,  for  the 
"  use  of  the  Army.  The  demand  for  3Iedicines  is  very  great ;  and  we 
"cannot  procure  a  sufficiency,  at  any  rate." — {Doctor  John  Morgan, 
Medical  Director  of  the  Army,  to  John  Jay,  "  North-Castle,  October  28, 
"1776.") 

A  letter  from  Doctor  John  Pine,  of  the  Maryland  Line,  to  James 
Tilghman,  of  .\nnapolis,  dated,  "Camp  at  White-Plains,  November  7, 
"  1776,"  contains  a  detailed  statement  of  the  entire  destitution  of  the 
Army,  and  of  the  consequent  sufferings  of  the  sick  and  wounded. 

>3"The  Rebel  Army  are  in  so  wretched  a  condition,  as  to  Clothing  and 
"Accoutrements,  that  I  believe  no  Nation  ever  saw  such  a  set  of  tatterde- 
"  malions.  There  are  few  Coats  among  them  b\it  what  are  out  at 
"  elbows  ;  and  in  a  whole  Regiment  there  is  scarce  a  pair  of  Breeches. 
"  Judge,  then,  how  flicy  must  be  pinched  by  a  Winter  Campaign." — {Let- 
ter from  an  Offlcr  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Regiment  to  his  friend  in  London, 
"New-York,  October  30, 1776,"  re-printed  in  Force's  American  Archives, 
v.,  ii.,  1293,  1294.) 

"  We  are  requested  by  the  Generals  of  our  State  to  inform  you  of  the 
"absolute  necessity  our  troops  are  in  for  want  of  Clothing." — {Charles 
D.  Witt,  Robert  Harper,  and  Lewis  Graham  to  the  President  of  the  Xew 
York  Convention,  "  White  Plains,  October  24,  1776.") 

"  The  Colonel  and  Major  Barber  came  here,  last  evening;  and  the 
"Regiment  is  now  within  a  few  miles  of  this  place,  marching  with 
"  cheerfulness ;  but  great  part  of  the  men  ['""<>]  barefooted  and  bare- 
legged." {Richard  Stockton  to  Abram  Clark,  "  Saratoga,  October  28 
"1776.") 

"  Vide  pages  223,  224,  ante. 


434 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  term  of  service  of  very  many  of  them  had  nearly 
expii-ed  ; '  and,  very  largely,  that  short  term  was  made 
very  much  shorter  by  shameful  desertions.'  There 
was  no  harmony  of  sentiment,  no  common  feeling  of 
patriotism,  no  sympathy  with  each  other  as  fellow- 
countrymen  engaged  in  a  common  cause,  in  any  por- 
tion of  the  Army.  The  Eastern  troops  were  stigma- 
tized as,  generally,  nothing  else  than  a  mass  of 
speculating  poltroons,  for  which,  very  often,  there 
was  abundant  reason  ; '  and  they,  reciprocated  the  ill- 
feeling  of  those  from  the  Middle  and  Southern  States, 
by  branding  them  as  "  Aristocrats "  and  "  Mac- 
caronis  "—the  former  of  the  two  sobriquets  in  allusion 
to  the  distinctions  of  rank  which  were  maintained 
among  those  troops,  so  different  from  the  practice 
of  the  New  Englanders ;  the  latter,  in  contemptuous 
reference  to  the  Regiments,  from  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States,  who  were  uniformed,  well-equipped. 


^  Many  of  the  troops  were  enlisted  to  serve  only  until  the  fii^st  of 
December  ;  and  the  temis  of  service  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  re- 
mainder would  expire  on  the  last  day  of  December,  ensuing. — {General 
WaeliingUm  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  '•  HE.\i>-Qr.\nT£HS,  AT  Colo-NEL 
"MoHRis's  House,  18  September,  1770;"  etc.) 

2  General  Washinglon  to  the  Qtficers  and  Soldiers  of  the  rennsylvania  As- 
sociation, "  Heai>-«u.\rters,  Xew-Yoek,  8  August,  1776;  "  Wie  ««me  (o 
the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  New- York,  2  September,  177G  ; "'  General 
Schuyler  to  Genend  Gules,  "Saratoga,  October  ;!0,  177G  ;"'  etc. 

3  The  following  is  a  specimen  of  a  multitude  of  such  testimonials  of 
the  speculative  propensities  of  the  New  England  troops,  in  the  Army 
of  the  Revolution,  and  of  their  too  frequent  dishonesty  in  their  oper- 
ations, which  are  accessible  to  every  one.  Every  careful  student  can  com- 
mand many  such  evidences  ;  but  this,  written  by  the  Conmiissary-gen- 
eral  of  Provisions  of  the  Continental  Army,  himself  a  Connecticut- 
man,  to  his  father,  Jonathan  Trumbull,  who  was,  then,  the  Governor 
of  Connecticut,  will  be  sufficient,  for  the  purposes  under  consideration. 

"  Nobth-Castle,  4th  December,  1776. 

"  Honoured  Sir  : 

"  Enclosed  I  send  you  Returns  of  some  of  the  Regiments  of  Con- 
"necticut  Militia  under  counnand  of  Major  General  Wooster,  such  as 
"  I  can  get ;  though  I  have  called  and  called  again  and  again  for  them, 
"  I  believe  there  are  but  one  of  them  really  true,  that  is  Major  Brins- 

made's,  who  seems  to  be  the  honestest  man.  The  fact  is,  they  can't 
*'make  their  AVeekly  and  Provision  Returns  agree;  for  this  reason, 
"  they  have  made  a  number  of  Brevet  Officers.  They  doubt  whether 
"these  Officers  will  be  allowed  extra  rations:  to  avoid  that,  they  re- 
"  turn  so  many  more  men  as  to  cover  the  extra  rations  of  those  Otli- 
"  cers.  You'll  see  by  adverting  to  the  Returns,  that  some  Companies 
"have  more  Officers  than  Privates,  at  best  ;  but  not  content  with  that, 
"  and  instead  of  sending  home  the  Officers  who  have  very  few  men, 
"  almost  none,  and  turning  over  those  few  men  into  other  Companies, 
"  they  add  Brevet  Officei-s,  not  only  to  pick  the  pockets  of  the  pub- 
"  lick,  here,  but,  also,  those  Brevet  Officers  are  to  be  dismissed  from 
"the  Militia  Rolls,  at  home  ;  and,  in  a  few  times  more  being  called 
"forth,  there  will  be  no  Slilitia  left  in  the  State. 

"  These  things  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  report  to  you,  as  the  char- 
"acter  of  the  State  is  at  stake;  and  how  the  Officers  who  have  done 
"  these  things  w  ill  get  along,  here,  I  don't  know,  as  we  now  make 
"  Weekly  Ration  Returns  as  well  as  Returns  of  the  Army,  by  which 
"  they  must  be  discovered.  The  consequence  is  bad  to  the  Officers  ;  how- 
"  ever,  they  must  take  their  fate. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  have  the  character  of  the  State  suffer  liy  such  conduct 
"  of  its  Officers. 

********* 
"  I  am,  honoured  Sir,  your  dutiful  Son, 
'•Jos.  Trumbull. 

"  Governour  Trumbull." 

We  have  seen  no  evidence  that  either  General  Wooster  or  Conmiis- 
sary-geueral  Trumbull  took  any  steps  for  either  the  arrest  of  the  of- 
fenders or  a  suppression  of  the  offences. 


and  properly  disciplined  * — adding  fuel  to  the  flame  of 
discord,  which,  on  more  than  oue  occasion,  required 
all  the  good  judgment  and  determination  of  which 
the  Commander-in-chief  was  master,  to  prevent  a 
serious  outbreak.^ 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  on  Monday,  the  twenty- 
first  of  October,  the  Right  and  Centre  of  the  Royal 
Army  were  moved  to  a  position,  on  the  road  leading 
to  the  White  Plains,  about  two  miles  to  the  northward 
of  New  Rochelle ;  and  that  Lieutenant-general  Heis- 
ter,  with  the  Left  of  the  Army,  consisting  of  one 
Brigade  of  British  and  two  Brigades  of  Hessian  troops, 
moved  forward  aud  occupied  the  position  which  had 
beeu  thus  abandoned.^  It  will  be  remembered,  also, 
that,  on  the  same  day.  Lieutenant-colonel  Rogers, 
with  the  Corps  of  Loyalists  known  as  "  The  Queen's 
"  Rangers,"  was  detached  from  the  main  body  of  the 
Army,  and  pushed  forward  to  take  possession  of  Mamar- 
oneck,'  where,  on  the  following  night,  he  and  his 
command  "were  roughly  handled,"  by  a  party  of 
Americans  who  had  been  despatched  from  the  AVhite 
Plains,  for  that  purpose ;  *  which  led  General  Howe, 
on  the  following  day,  [Tuesday,  October  22,]  to  move 
the  Sixth  Brigade  of  British  troops,  commanded  by 
Brigadier-general  Agnew,  to  sustain  that  important 
post."  It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that,  on  Sunday, 
the  twentieth  of  October,  the  Royal  Army  was 
strengthened  by  the  addition  of  a  portion  of  the  Six- 
teenth and  the  whole  of  the  Seventeenth  Regiments 
of  Light  Dragoons,  the  former  commanded  by  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Harcourt,  an  Officer  of  great  merit;'" 
and  that,  ou  Tuesday,  the  twenty -second  of  October, 
it  was  further  strengthened  by  the  arrival,  at  New 
Rochelle,  of  Lieutenant-general  Knyphausen,  with 
the  Second  Division  of  Hessians  aud  the  Regiment  of 
Waldeckers." 

Taking  counsel  of  his  experience.  General  Howe 
ordered  Lieutenant-general  Heister,  with  the  Left  of 
the  Army,  to  join  in  the  movement ;  and,  on  Thursday, 
the  twenty-fourth,  and  on  Friday,  the  twenty-fiftb,  of 
October,  the  main  body  of  the  Royal  Army  was 
moved  from  the  positions  on  which  it  had  rested,  for 
several  days,  towards  Scarsdale.'-    It  moved  in  two 

•1  Reed  s  Life  of  Joseph  Heed,  i.,  2.39-24-2  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  Amer- 
ican Beiotution,  ii.,  304,  317,  324,  331,  333-335  ;  Marshall's  Life  of  George 
Washington,  ii.,  473,474  ;  etc. 

'  General  Orders, "  New- York  August  1, 1776 ; "  Gordon's  History  of  the 
American  Pevolution,  ii.,  304;  etc. 

6  Vide  page  2i'J,  ante. 

See,  also.  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germnine,  "  New-York,  30th 
"November,  1776;''  [Hall's]  History  of  the  CiiU  War  in  America,  i., 
205  ;  etc. 

'  Vide  page  249,  ante. 

8  Vide  pages  '252,  253,  ante. 

8  Vide  page  253,  ante. 

1*  Vide  page  249,  ante. 

11  Vide  pnge  253,  ante. 

12  Information  was  received,  at  the  White  Plains,  as  early  as  two  o'clock 
on  Thursday  afternoon,  [Ortober2i,]  that  the  Royal  Army  had  struck  its 
tents,  on  its  position  near  New  Roclielle,  "early  this  murnirjg  ;"  and 
that  it  was,  then,  "advancing  from  that  to  this  place,  along  the  common 
"road."— (Ge/ierai  George  Clinton  to  John  3[cKesson,  Secretary  to  theSeio- 
York  ConveiUion,  "  White-PlaI.ns,  October  24,  2  P.  M.,  1776.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


435 


columns,  with  great  caution  ; '  and,  on  the  twenty-fifth 
of  October,  when  the  heads  of  the  columns  reached 
Scarsdale,  after  their  two  dajs'  march,  they  were 
halted;  and  the  Army  encamped  in  a  line  which  was 
parallel  with  the  Bronx-river  and  with  the  line  of 
march,  on  the  opposite  side  of  that  little  stream,  on 
which  General  Lee,  with  his  heavily  laden  column) 
was  transporting  the  Baggage  and  Stores  of  the  Amer- 
ican Army,  to  the  White  Plains- — in  many  places,  the 
two  were  not  more  than  a  mile  distant  from  each 
other  ;  and,  in  one  place,  if  not  in  others,  the  toiling 
Americans  were  directly  within  sight  of  their  powerful 
enemy. 

The  object  of  General  Howe,  in  halting  at  Scars- 
dale,  with  his  Eight  within  four  miles  of  the  Ameri- 
can lines,  at  the  White  Plains,  and  of  remaining  en- 
camped at  that  place,  without  making  a  movement,  of 
any  kind,  during  nearly  three  days,  was  not  under- 
stood by  those,  in  Europe,  who  were  inclined  to  con- 
demn his  conduct,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
Army,  before  the  Parliament  and  the  country  ;  and 
the  evidently  studied  silence,  on  that  subject,  which 
the  General  maintained,  was  not  calculated  to  quiet, 
nor  even  to  lessen,  the  fault-findings  of  those  who 
were  his  political  and  personal  enemies.    But,  what- 

In  his  letter  totbe  President  of  the  Pongress,  dated  "  Head-qt  arters, 
"  White- Plains,  25  October,  1776,"  Colonel  Robert  H.  Harrison,  General 
Washington's  Secretary,  stated  that  "about  two  o'clock  this  afternoon, 
"  intelligence  was  brought  to  Head-quarters,  that  three  or  four  detach- 
"mentsof  the  enemy  were  on  their  mHrch,  and  had  advanced  within 
"about  four  miles  of  this  place.  It  has  been  fully  confirmed,  since,  by 
"a  variety  of  persons,  who  have  been  out  to  reconnoitre." 

If  General  Clinton  did  not  make  a  mistake  in  the  date  of  his  letter,  of 
which  we  have  no  evidence,  the  movement  of  the  Royal  .\rmy  was  com- 
menced ou  Thursday,  [Oftofce/- 24  ;]  and  the  letter  of  Colonel  Harrison 
clearly  indicated  that  it  had  already  reached  Scai-sdale,  within  four  miles 
of  the  Plains,  before  the  movement  was  known  at  Head  quarters,  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  [Friday,  CJclobi  r  25.] 

The  failure  of  General  Washington  to  obtain  information  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  King's  troops,  of  which  so  many  instances  have  been  seen, 
was  nowhere  more  evident  than  in  the  instance  now  under  considera- 
tion- «ne  of  the  reasonable  results  of  the  outrages  to  which  the  inhabit- 
ants had  been  subjected,  by  both  the  Congresses  and*the  Committees,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  by  the  unrestrained  thieves,  among  both  the  Officers 
and  the  Privates  of  the  Army  whom  General  Washington  commanded, 
oa  the  other. 

-  "  General  Howe  thought  it  necessary  to  jiroceed  with  great  circum- 
"epection.  The  progress  was  slow  ;  the  march  of  the  Arm}',  close;  the 
"encampments,  compact  and  well-guarded  with  artillery  ;  and  the  most 
"soldier-like  caution  used,  in  every  respect." — (Anuual  Register  Jor 
1776;  History  of  Europe,  *177.) 

"The  British  continued  moving  up,  but  with  great  caution,  theirrear 
"scarcely  advancing,  when  they  came  to  encamp  again,  much  further 
"than  where  the  advance  had  moved  from.'' —  {Memoirs  of  Major-gen- 
tral  Heath,  76.) 

"The  caution  of  the  English  General  was  increased  by  the  evidences 
"of  enterprise  in  his  adversary.  His  object  seems  to  have  been  to  avoid 
"skirmishing,  and  to  bring  on  a  general  action,  if  that  could  be  effected 
"under  favorable  circumstances  ;  if  not,  he  knew  well  the  approaching 
"diwolution  of  the  American  Army,  and  calculated,  not  without  reason, 
"  to  derive  from  that  event  nearly  all  the  advantages  of  a  victory.  He 
"proceeded,  therefore,  slowly.  His  marches  were  in  close  order;  his 
"  encampments  compact,  and  well  guarded  with  artillery ;  and  the  ut- 
"  most  circumspection  was  used,  not  to  expose  any  part  which  might  be 
"vulnerable."— (Marshall's  Lifeof  George  Washington,  ii.,  501.) 

S  G<->iiT(i;  Hoicrto  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  Xew-York,  30  Xovcniber, 
"1776  ;"  Sauthier's  PJan  i)/(Ae  0;)e)ii<ion»,  etc.;  Gordon's  i/i«/</ry  o/ (Ae 
American  Rerululion,  ii.,  340  ;  etc. 


ever  may  have  been  thought  and  said  of  his  failure  to 
cross  the  Bronx  and  to  attack  the  heavily  laden  col- 
umn commanded  by  General  Lee,  the  maxims  of  mil- 
itary science,  at  that  time,  forbade  a  movement  towards 
the  White  Plains,  then,  leaving  his  left  flank  and 
his  rear  exposed  to  the  three  Divisions  commanded, 
respectively,  by  Generals  Lee,  Spencer,  and  Lin- 
coln.' There  was  a  possibility  that  the  separation 
of  those  three  Divisions  from  the  main  body  of  the 
Army  might  have  enabled  him  to  attack  the  Ameri- 
cans, en  detail,  and  to  overcome  them  more  completely 
than  if  they  had  been  in  one  body  ;  but  he  had  excel- 
lent evidence  of  the  vigilance  and  the  enterprise  of 
those  who  were  nearest  to  him  ;  and  his  ruling  prin- 
ciple, to  avoid  an  unnecessary  exposure  of  his  men 
evidently  led  him  to  the  safe  conclusion  that,  in  such 
a  series  of  undertakings  on  the  divided  forces  of  the 
Americans,  if  more  than  one  attack  on  them  were  to 
be  made,  the  last  one  of  the  series  should  be  that 
on  that  portion  of  the  American  Army  which,  then, 
occupied  the  entrenched  Camp,  at  the  White 
Plains,  a  conclusion  in  which  he  would  have  been 
entirely  sustained  by  every  intelligent  soldier,  of  that 
period,  in  Europe  or  in  America. 

Notwithstanding  the  silence  of  General  Howe, 
concerning  his  purpose  in  moving  his  command  to 
Scarsdale,  instead  of  to  the  White  Plains,  there  is  rea- 
son for  supposing  that  it  was  done  for  the  purpose  of 
cutting  ofl'  the  column  commanded  by  General  Lee, 
before  it  could  join  the  main  body;  that  preparations 
for  the  movement,  on  the  following  morning,  were 
made  on  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  day  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Royal  Army,  at  Scarsdale;  and  that  it 
was  prevented  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  column  which 
it  was  intended  to  attack,  from  its  designated  route, 
into  a  road  which  was  further  westward,  so  that,  when 
the  time  came  for  the  attack.  General  Lee,  by  a 
forced  march,  during  the  night,  was  several  miles 
nearer  to  the  main  body  of  the  Army,  and  entirely 
beyond  the  reach  of  General  Howe.* 


3  other  instances  of  that  peculiar  caution  were  seen,  at  the  White  Plains, 
three  days  after  the  instance  now  under  notice,  when  the  main  body  of 
the  Army  was  halted,  until  the  Americans  had  been  driven  from  Chat- 
terton's-hill,  and,  most  disastrously  to  the  Americans,  in  the  following 
year,  when  the  fruits  of  the  victory,  at  Germantown,  were  lost  by  the 
halt  of  the  main  body,  in  order  to  dislodge  a  handful  of  the  Royal  Army 
who  had  occupied  and  who  held  the  Chew  mansion. 

■i  In  a  letter  which  was  written  by  an  Officer  of  the  Royal  Army,  dated 
on  the  tenth  of  Xovember,  and  printed  in  The  Middlesex  Jonrnal  and 
Eiening  Adeerliser,}so.  1209,  Lo.NDON  :  From  Saturday,  December  21,  to 
Tuesday,  December  24,  1771;,  will  be  found  our  authority  for  what  we 
have  saiil  of  the  purposes  of  General  Howe,  of  his  preparations  for  carry- 
ing out  those  purposes,  and  of  the  cause  of  his  disappointment ;  and  a 
reference  to  the  letter  of  Colonel  Glover,  with  w  hich  our  readers  areal- 
reaily  familiar,  ("  lIiLE-.Syi  ARE,  October  22,  1776,")  there  is  an  ample 
confirmation  of  each  of  the  statements — the  Colonel  erroneously  stated 
that  the  Royal  Army  was  moved  from  New  Kochelle,  on  Sunday,  the 
twenty  seventh  of  October,  insteail  of  on  Friday,  the  twenty-fifth  of  that 
month,  and  so  continued  to  be  two  days  too  late,  in  each  of  his  subsequent 
statements;  but,  in  all  else,  his  statements  of  the  movement  of  General 
Howe :  of  the  discovery,  by  General  Lee,  of  the  purpose  to  cut  him  oH 
from  the  main  body  of  the  Army  ;  of  the  consequent  detour  of  the 
column,  into  the  Dobbs's-ferry  road  ;  of  its  forced  night-march  ;  and  of 


436 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


At  length,  all  the  necessary  preparations  having 
been  completed,  early  in  the  morning  of  Monday, 
the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  the  Royal  Army 
struck  its  tents,  in  the  encampment,  at  Scarsdale, 
which  it  had  occupied  since  the  preceding  Friday ; 
and,  in  two  columns,  right  in  front,  it  moved  towards 
the  White  Plains. '  The  right  column,  which  was 
composed  mostly  of  British  troops,  was  commanded 
by  Lieutenant-general  Sir  Henry  Clinton  ;  ^  the  left 
column,  with  whom  was  General  Howe, 'was  com- 
posed mostly  of  German  troops,  and  was  commanded 
by  Lieutenant-general  Heister.  * 

The  American  pickets  were  driven  in,  by  the  Light 
Infantry,  of  the  right  column,  and  by  the  Chasseurs, 
of  the  left  column  ;  ^  and  when  the  moving  columns 
reached  Hart's-corners — now  known  by  the  name  of 
Hartsdalc — they  encountered  a  body  of  New  England 
troops,  composed  of  a  "  part  of  General  Wadsworth's 
"  Brigade,  with  some  other  Regiments,"  ^  the  whole 
under  the  command  of  Major-general  Spencer,'  and 
numbering  not  far  from  twenty-six  hundred  Officers 
and  effective  men,*  whom  General  Washington  had 

its  arrival  at  the  White  Plains,  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  following  morn- 
ing, were  in  entire  harmony  with  what  was  stated  by  the  British  Officer, 
through  The  3Iiddtesex  Jimnial. 

1  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Tork,  30  November, 
"  1770  ;  "  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  207  ;  Stednian's 
History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  212  :  Gordon's  Histimj  of  the  American 
Sevolution,  ii.,  340;  Marshall's  Life  of  George  Waxhington,  ii.,  503  ;  etc. 

^Sauthier's  Plan  of  the  Operatiom,  etc.;  Stedman's  Uiatorij  of  the 
American  War,  i.,  212  ;  etc. 

'Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  212  ;  Marshall's  Life  of 
George  Witshingfon,  ii.,  503  ;  etc. 

*  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine.  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  1776  ;"  Sauthier's  Plan  of  Ike  Operations,  etc.  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the 
American  Krvohttion,  ii.,  340  ;  etc. 

Very  singularly,  Marshall,  (/.'/«  of  Grorge  Washington,  ii.,  503,)  stated 
that  the  left  col  lunn  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant-general  K  nyphausen, 
who  had  not  left  the  Second  Division  of  German  troops,  whom  lie  com- 
manded, which  was,  then,  at  New  Rochelle. 

<>  General  Howe  lo  Lord  George  Gennaine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  1776  ; "  [Hall's]  IFislory  of  the  CioU  War  in  America,  i.,  207  ;  Stedman's 
History  of  the  Ami-rican  War,  i.,212  ;  Marshall's  Life  of  George  Wathing- 
ton,  ii.,  503 ;  etc. 

^Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  Gentleman  in  the  Army,  dated  "Camp  near 
"the  Mill.*!,  about  three  miles  North  of  Wmite-Pi.ains,  November 
"1,  1776,"  re-printed  in  Force's  American  Archives,  "V.  iii.,  473, 
474. 

We  have  learned  from  the  Iteturns  of  the  Killed,  Wounded,  and  Missing, 
on  that  day,  of  Regiments  who  are  known  to  have  taken  no  part  what- 
ever in  the  subseiiuent  action  on  Chatterton's-hill,  of  what  Keginients 
that  force  who  met  tlie  King's  troops,  near  Hart's-corners,  was  com- 
posed: it  contained  the  llegiments  commanded  by  Colonels  Silliman, 
Selden,  Sage,  and  Douglass— the  latter  commanded  by  Dieutenant-colo- 
nel  Arnold — all  of  them  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Wads- 
worth  ;  the  Kegimeut  commanded  by  Colonel  Chester,  of  the  Brigade 
commanded  by  Colonel  Sargent ;  the  Regiments  commanded  by  Colonels 
Baldwin,  Douglass,  an<l  Lieutenant-colonel  Ely,  of  the  Brigade  com- 
manded by  General  Saltonstall  ;  and  the  Regiments  commanded  by 
Colonels  Holman  and  Smith,  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General 
Fellows.  All  these  made  Iteturns  of  Casualties  sustained  by  them,  on  that 
occasion  :  how  many  other  Regiments  there  were,  whose  bashfulness 
forbade  the  making  of  any  Returns,  we  have  not  ascertained. 

'  Letter  from  a  Gentleman  in  the  Army,  "Camp  near  the  Mills,  about 
"  THREE  MILES  NoRTH  OF  White-Plains,  November  1,  1776  ;  "  Mem- 
oir of  Colonel  Bei\iamin  Tallmadge,  prepared  by  himself,  at  the  request  of 
his  children,  13  ;  etc. 

8  We  are  not  insensible  of  the  fact  that  "a  Gentleman  in  the  Army," 
from  whose  letter,  dated  "Camp  near  the  BIills,  about  three  miles 


sent  out,  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check.  These  were 
posted,  advantageously,  "  on  the  old  York  road,"  it  is 
said ; "  and  it  is  also  said  that  when  the  left  column  of 
the  Royal  Army  "  had  advanced  within  musket-shot 
"  of  our  troops,  a  full  discharge  of  musketry  warned 
"  them  of  their  danger.  At  first,  they, "  [the  Hessians,'] 
"  fell  back ;  but,  rallying  again,  immediately,  and  the" 
[righf]  "  column  of  British  troops  having  advanced 
"upon  our  "  [General  Spencer's']  "left,  it  became  nec- 
"essary"  [for  him]  "to  retire;"'"  taking  the  opportu- 
nity, "  occasionally,"  to  form  behind  the  stone  walls, 
on  the  line  of  his  retreat,  and  to  annoy  those  who 
pursued  him  " — it  has  been  said,  however,  that  the 
flight  of  that  large  detachment  was  hastened  by  the 
appearance,  on  its  front,  of  the  British  Light  Dra- 
goons ;  and  that  the  retreat  was  not  such  an  one  as 
reflected  credit  on  its  discipline,  as  soldiers,  or  on  its 
bravery,  as  men."  A  large  portion,  if  not  the  whole, 
of  the  detachment,  terror-stricken  and  without  any 
appearance  of  order,  sought  "the  ford" — a  shallow 
portion  of  the  Bronx-river,  apparently  a  short  distance 
below  the  present  railroad-bridge,  between  Hartsdale 
and  the  White  Plains — closely  pursued  by  Colonel 
Rail,  with  the  Brigade,  composed  of  the  Regiments 
of  Lossberg,  Knyphausen,  and  Rail,  whom  he  com- 
manded; '*  and,  having  passed  the  little  stream,  the 
cowardly  fugitives  found  refuge  in  the  neighboring 


"  North  OP  White-Plains,  November  1,1776,"  we  have  already  made 
extracts,  stated  that  the  command  of  General  Spencer,  on  the  occasion 
under  notice,  "  consisted,  in  the  whole  of  five  or  six  hundred  men  ; "  but, 
on  the  third  of  November,  five  days  'after  the  engagement,  the  same 
Regiments  reported  an  aggregate  strength  of  four  thousand,  seven  hun- 
dred, and  ninety-six,  of  whom  five  hundred  and  sixty  Officers,  non-com- 
missioned Officers,  and  Musicians,  and  two  thousand  and  seventy-six 
Privates  "fit  for  duty,"  were  present.  {General  Hetum  of  the  Army 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  November  3,  1776.)  We  have 
determined,  therefore,  that  the  effective  strength  of  the  Regiments,  on 
the  occasion  under  notice,  before  they  were  met  by  the  enemy,  was  not 
far  from  twenty-six  hundred  men,  as  we  have  said  in  the  text. 

Lieutenant  colonel  Tench  Tilghinan,  one  of  the  Aides  of  General 
Washington,  in  a  letter  to  his  father,  dated  "White-Plains,  3l8t  Octo- 
"  ber,  1776,"  said,  "On  Monday  morning  we  reel  Information  that  the 
"  Enemy  were  in  Motion  and  in  March  towards  our  Lines,  all  our  Men 
"  were  immediately  at  their  Alarm  Posts  and  about  20(10  detached  to  give 
"the  Knemy  as  much  annoyance  as  possible  on  their  approach  ;"  and 
Brigade-major  Tallmadge,  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Wads- 
worth,  himself  present  and  a  participant  in  the  affair,  stated,  {Memoir  of 
Colonel  Bciijinnin  Tallmadge,  prepared  by  himsflf  13,)  that  it  was  "a  de- 
tachment of  20fK)  or  3000  men  ;"  both  of  which  statements,  from 
those  who  were  entirely  competent  to  make  them  with  accuracy,  go  far 
to  confirm  what  we  have  more  definitely  stated  in  the  text. 

^  Memoir  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  prepared  by  himself,  13. 

l"  The  same,  13,  14. 

11  The  same,  14, 

12  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  340,  341,  343. 

1''  Brigade-major  Tallmadge's  description  of  the  retreat,  leaves  no  room 
for  questioning  the  accuracy  of  our  statement,  in  the  text. 

n  It  was  that  Brigade,  commanded  by  the  same  Colonel,  Rail,  who 
was  captured  at  Ti'enton,  in  the  following  December;  and  we  have  as- 
certained the  Regiments  of  whom  it  was  composed,  from  the  despatch  of 
General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  dated  "New-York,  December 
"  29,  1776,"  announcing  that  disaster  to  the  Royal  Army,  to  the  Home 
Government. 

In  the  despatch  of  General  Washington  to  the  Congress,  dated  "  Head- 
"  quarters,  Newtown,  27th  December,  1776,"  the  Regiment  of  Loss- 
berg is  called  the  Regiment  of  Landspatch.  We  have  preferred  to  follow 
General  Howe,  as  our  authority,  in  this  instance. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


437 


hills  of  Greenburgh, '  and  were  reported  among  the 
"Missing,"  which,  in  that  Array,  too  often,  artbrded 
a  resting-phice  for  the  name  and  the  fame  of  a  cow- 
ard and  poltroon.'  In  the  instances  now  under  con- 
sideration, many  of  these  bashful  New  Englanders 
purged  themselves  of  some  j)ortion  of  the  reproach 
produced  by  their  cowardice,  by  returning,  as  they 
found  opj)ortunities,  in  small  parties, to  the  Camp, 
at  the  White  Plains,^  exemplifying  the  truth  of  the 
old  couplet : 

"He  who  fights  and  runs  away, 

"  Will  live  to  fight,  another  day ;  " 

while  their  Hessian  pursuers,  probably  checked  in 
their  further  progress  by  their  discovery  of  the  troops 
on  Chatterton's-hill,  of  whom  the  reader  will  learn 
more,  hereafter,  occupied  a  position  on  the  high 
ground,  westward  from  the  Harlem  Railroad,  between 
Chatterton's-hill  and  the  present  railroad-station,  at 
Hartsdale.  * 

An  amusing  incident  connected  with  that  disgraceful 
retreat  of  General  Spencer's  command,  was  related  by 
Major  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  then  Brigade-major  of 
General  Wadsworth's  Brigade  and,  himself,  one  of  the 
fugitives — subsequently  better  known  in  connection 
with  the  detention  of  Major  Andre.  After  having  de- 
scribed the  retreat  of  the  detachment  of  Americans 
and  the  ])ursuitby  the  Brigade  of  Hessians,  the  rush 
of  the  former  for  the  ford  and  the  anxiety  of  the  fu- 
gitives to  pass  the  river,  he  said,  "'  They,"  {_the  Amer- 
icans,] "  immediately  entered  the  river  and  ascended 
"the  hill;  while  I,  being  in  the  rear  and  mounted  on 
"horseback,  endeavored  to  hasten  the  last  of  our 
"  troops,  the  Hessians  being  then  within  musket- 
"shot.  When  I  reached  the  bank  of  the  river,  and 
"  was  about  to  enter  it,  our  Chaplain,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
"  Trumbull,  sprang  up,  behind  me,  on  my  horse,  with 
"  such  force  as  to  carry  me,  with  my  accoutrements, 
"  together  with  himself,  headlong  into  the  river.  This 
"so  disconcerted  me,  that,  by  the  time  I  reached  the 
"opposite  bank  of  the  river,  the  Hessian  troops  were 
"  about  to  enter  it,  and  considered  me  their  prisoner," 
in  which,  however,  they  reckoned  without  their  host, 
since  he  watched  for  an  opportunity,  and  escaped,  by 


I  Indeed,  they  were  among  those  hills  as  soon  as  they  had  passed  the 
Bronx,  at  the  ford  ;  and,  there,  they  found  safety,  for  a  few  days,  as  we 
shall  see,  hereafter. 

Irving  facetiously  remarked,  {Life  of  George  Wmliinglon,  ii.,  393,) 
they  "  scattered  tlieniseives  among  the  hills,  but  afterwards  returned  to 
**  Head-quarters. ' ' 

s  It  is  amusing  to  see  Connecticut-men  claim  that  these  poltroons  were 
those  who  fought  the  Battle  and  defended  Chatterton's  hill,  without 
alluding  to  any  other  troops,  unless  without  giving  them  credit  for  hav- 
ing done  anything  worthy  of  notice.  {LeUer  from  a  Gmtteman  m  the 
.irmy,  "C.KMP  NE.kR  THE  Mills,  ABOUT  three  jiiles  North  krom  the 
"White  Plains,  Xovemlier  1,  1776  ;"  Ilinnian's  IlUtorical  Colleclion, 
of  the  part  lakrn  by  Voiniectioit,  (biri/ig  the  War  of  the  Ilerolutioii,  !)1  ;  etc. 

'  Gordon's  Hixlory  of  the  Americ'iu  Rei  oliitioii,  ii.,  343  ;  etc. 

*  General  Bmre  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  '•  New-York,  30  November, 
"  1776  ;'•  Sauthier's  Plui,  of  the  Oiieralions,  etc.  ;  [Hull's]  }lviturij  of  the 
Cird  War  m  America,  i.,  208  ;  Gordon's  Hiftonj  of  the  American  lleeolu- 
»io»,  ii.,  340  ;  etc. 


way  of  what  have' been  more  recently  known  as 
"  the  Mill-lane"  and  the  road  to  Dobbs's-ferry,  con- 
veying to  General  Washington,  at  Head-quarters, 
information  of  the  situation  of  the  troops,  on  the  op- 
posite bank  of  the  river. ^ 

On  the  left  of  the  line  of  march  of  the  Royal  Army 
and  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Bronx-river,  which 
flowed  through  a  marshy  valley  of  some  extent,  at  its 
biise,  arose  the  bold  and  rocky  height  which  was  known , 
then,  and  is  still  known,  as  "  Chatterton's-hill."  It  is 
one  of  the  range  of  high  grounds,  on  the  western  side 
of  the  Bronx,  on  which  the  line  of  entrenched  en- 
cam])inents  had  been  thrown  up  by  detachments  from 
the  American  Army,  the  latter  then  occupying  the 
Heights  of  Harlem,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the 
enemy  from  crossing  the  Bronx  and  closing  the  line 
of  communication  between  the  Army  and  the  coun- 
try— the  same  line  of  defensive  works,  indeed,  which 
subsequently  covered  the  retreat  of  the  Army,  from 
Harlem  Heights  to  the  White  Plains — audit  extended, 
northwardly,  to  within  a  short  distance  from  the 
American  lines — the  latter  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
little  stream  and  of  the  marshy  intervale — and  really, 
to  some  extent,  it  commanded  the  right  and  centre  of 
them.''  It  had  been  occupied,  and  an  earthwork  of 
small  pretensions  had  been  thrown  up,  on  it,  prob- 
ably by  the  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Militia,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  John  Brooks,  then  of  General 
Lincoln's  Division  and  subsequently  Governor  of 
Massachusetts ; '  and,  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  the 


'  Memoir  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Tallmadge,  prepared  by  himself,  14. 
'  Our  personal  knowledge  of  the  ground  is  our  authority  for  this  de- 
scription of  it. 

Stedman,  in  his  History  of  the  American  War,  (i.,  214,)  attempted  to 
qualify  that  fact—"  it  rose  so  gradually  from  the  Bronx,"  he  said,  "  that 
"  its  crest  was  not  within  random  cannon-shot,  as  was  proved  by  many 
"of  our  Battalions  lying  upon  it,  on  their  arms,  the  whole  evening  after 
"the  action;" — but,  nevertheless,  those  who  know  the  entire  ground, 
composing  Chatterton's-hill  and  its  dependencies,  will  fully  sustain  us, 
in  what  we  have  said,  in  the  text,  on  that  subject. 

'  Because  a  portion  of  General  Lincoln's  Division,  with  all  of  that  of 
General  Spencer,  had  been  detached  from  the  main  body  of  the  Army, 
and  sent  forward,  with  orders  to  occupy  all  the  high  grounds,  between 
Yalentine's-hill  and  the  White  Plains,  and  to  strengthen  them  with  en- 
trenchments ;  and  because  the  Regiment  conunanded  by  Colonel  Brookft 
formed  a  portion  of  one  of  the  Divisions  who  were  thus  detailed  to  occupy 
and  to  strengthen  those  high  grounds  ;  and  because  we  have  not  found 
the  slightest  allusion  to  the  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Brooks, 
in  any  of  the  descriptions  of  the  movements  of  troops,  at  any  time  pre- 
vious to  the  attack  on  Chatterton's-hill,  by  the  Royal  troops  ;  and  be- 
cause we  cannot  find  any  Order,  from  Head-quarters,  for  any  other  oc- 
cupation of  Chatterton's-hill,  until  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  of 
October,  when  Colonel  Haslet,  with  his  well-tried  command,  was  ordered 
by  General  Washington  "to  take  possession  of  the  hill  beyond  our  lines 
"  and  the  command  of  the  Militia  Regiment  there  posted,"  {Cohmel  HaS' 
let  to  Gcniral  Itodney,  "  November  12,  1776,")  when  a  Regiment  of  Alilitia, 
w  hose  subsequent  conduct  clearly  identified  it  as  that  commanded  by  Col- 
onel Brooks,  was  found  in  possession  of  the  ground — all  these  reasons 
lead  us  to  the  conclusion  stated  in  the  text. 

We  are  not  insensible  that  words  employed  by  Colonel  Harrison,  in 
his  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  dated  "White-Plains,  29 
"October,  1776,"  have  been  construed  to  mean  that  troops  had  been  sent 
down,  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  "  with  a  view  of 
"  throwing  up  some  lines,  ' on  Chatterton's-hill  ;  and  that  the  biogra- 
pher of  Colonel  Rufus  Putnam,  (Memoir  of  Coloiu  l Itufm  Putnam,  iu  Hil- 
dreth's  Biographical  and  Hitiorical  Memoirt  of  the  Early  Settler t  of  Ohio^ 


438 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


twenty-eighth  of  October,  General  Washington  or- 
dered Colonel  Haslet,  with  his  Regimentof  Delaware 
troops,  and  General  McDougal,  with  his  Brigade,  the 
latter  comi)Osed  of  the  Eegiment  of  New  York  troops 
whom  he  had  formerly  commanded,  the  Eegiment  of 
the  same  Line  who  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Eitzema,  the  Eegiment  of  Maryland  troops  whom 
Colonel  Smallwood  commanded,  and  the  Eegiment  of 
Connecticut  troops  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles 
Webb,  to  occupy  the  same  position.' 

It  appears  that  Colonel  Haslet's  command  was  the 
first  of  the  reinforcements  to  reach  the  hill ;  ^  and  it 
is  very  probable  that  it  was  either  that  Eegiment  or 
that  commanded  by  Colonel  Brooks  or  both,  together, 
on  the  summit  of  the  high  ground,  on  his  right,  which 
led  Colonel  Rail  to  check  his  Hessian  Eegiments,  in 
their  pursuit  of  the  fugitive  New  Englanders,  and  to 
occupy  the  position  on  the  high  ground,  nearer  to 
Hartsdale,  to  which  i"eference  has  been  made,  whence 
he  could  move,  if  such  a  movement  should  become  ex- 
pedient, on  the  right  flank  and  rear  of  whatever  force 
of  the  Americans  should  occupy  Chatterton's-hill — a 
movement,  by  the  way,  since  it  was  evidently  made 
by  Colonel  Eall,  on  his  own  impulse,  which  reflected 
gi"eat  credit  on  the  military  abilities  of  that  subse- 
quently unfortunate  Oflicer.'^ 

While  Colonel  Rail  was  thus  engaged,  on  the  left 


64,)  has  stated  that,  on  that  morning,  that  Engineer  had  heen  ordered  to 
tliat  hill,  to  superintend  the  construction  of  some  more  important  en- 
trenchments. But  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  with  either  of  these 
statements,  if  not  distorted,  in  what  we  have  written  concerning  the 
probable  pre-occupation  of  Chatterton's-hill,  by  the  Regiment  of  Massa- 
chusetts Militia  commanded  by  Colonel  John  Ih  ooks. 

It  is  very  evident  that  wliafuver  defensive  works  there  may  have  been 
on  the  hill,  at  the  time  of  the  engagement,  if  there  were  any,  they  af- 
forded no  shelter  for  the  uien.~{Lientfnant-coloiicl  Tifghman  to  Willi'ini 
Duer,  "Head-quarters,  White-Plains,  October  29,  177t>.") 

See,  also.  Lieutenant  coluiul  Tilghmun  /iis /«(/«  >•,"  Wiiite-Plaixs,  31 
"October,  177C.'" 

'  Colonel  H<is!et  to  General  Cxsar  Uodney,  "  November  12, 1776  ;"'  Retnni^ 
of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  McDongat,  November     177G  ;  etc. 

2  Voluuel  ILish-t  to  General  Ciimr  Ilodnen,  "November  12,  177fi." 

.\s  the  Delaware  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Haslet,  was  of  the 
Brigade  commanded  by  General  Lord  Stirling,  and  was  ordered  by  Gen- 
eral Washington  "  to  take  possession  of  the  hill  and  the  command  of 
**the  jMilitia  Regiment  there  posted  ;  which  was  done,'*  of  which  there 
has  been  no  question  ;  and  since  the  Brigade  which  was  conmianded  by 
General  McDougal  subsequently  moved  up  the  same  hill,  which  no  one 
has  ever  pretended  to  deny,  it  is  not  evident  why  Colonel  Carrington, 
(Buttles  of  the  Aiiwrican  Revolution,  240,)  without  the  slightest  authority 
to  sustain  him,  made  a  special  attempt  to  belittle  Colonel  Haslet,  indi- 
vidually, and  as  an  Officer— he  could  not  belittle  his  doings  nor  those  of 
his  command,  on  that  lield — because,  iu  his  Report  of  the  action,  to  Gen- 
eral Rodney — the  only  Report  from  an  actual  participant  in  the  affair, 
which  has  come  down  to  us — he  described,  in  detail,  his  own  and  his 
gallant  Regiment's  portions  of  the  doings  on  that  historically  important 
occasion. 

3  "  Colonel  Kali  .  .  .  took  possession  of  it.  with  great  alacrity,  to 
"  the  approbation  of  Lieutenant-general  Heister,  who  wasacquainted  with 
"  this  movement  by  Sir  William  Ei-skine,"  the  (Quartermaster-general  of 
the  British  .\rmy. — (General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gerniaine,  "New-York, 
"  30  November,  1776.") 

It  will  be  seen,  from  that  paragraph,  that  the  action  of  Colonel  Rail, 
in  thus  occupying  a  position  on  the  right  flank  of  the  Americans  who 
were  occupying  Chatterton's-hill,  received  the  favorable  notices  of  both 
the  British  and  the  German  Generals,  commanding  ;  we  shall  see,  here- 
after, how  important  that  action  was,  in  the  subsequent  engagement. 


of  the  enemy's  line  of  march,  the  two  columns  con- 
tinued their  movements  toward  the  American  lines, 
"as  if  they  meant  to  attack  us,  there,"  as 
General  Washington's  Secretary  subsequently  de- 
scribed the  movement  * — indeed,  General  Howe  sub- 
sequently stated  that  "  an  assault  upon  the  enemy's 
"  right,  which  was  opposed  to  the  Hessian  troops, 
"  was  intended."  *  The  Army  was  formed,  evidently, 
for  a  general  movement  on  the  right  and  center  of 
the  American  lines,  with  its  right  resting  on  the  road 
which  led  from  the  White  Plains  to  Mamaroneck, 
about  a  mile  from  the  center  of  the  former,  and  its 
Left  on  the  Bronx-river,  about  the  same  distance  from 
the  extreme  right  of  the  American  entrenchments ;  ^ 
and  what  appeared  to  have  been  the  decisive  hour  in 
which  the  future  of  America  was  to  be  determined, 
by  the  arbitrament  of  arms,  had,  at  length,  been 
reached.  But  the  bright  designs  of  God,  concerning 
America,  were  widely  different  from  those  of  men  ; 
the  future  of  those  thirteen  new-born  members  of  the 
community  of  nations,  in  His  purposes,  was  not  de- 
pendent on  the  result  of  an  assault  on  the  improvised 
lines  of  defense,  on  the  high  grounds,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  AVhite  Plains  ;  and  the  powerful  arm  which  was 
already  uplifted  and  ready  to  strike  a  crushing  blow 
on  that  which  God  had  predestinated  for  other  ends, 
was  restrained  by  an  unseen  power,  a  power  before 
which  the  King  of  Great  Britain  and  all  his  Armies 
were  as  nothing,  by  the  same  power  which  had  re- 
strained the  same  arm,  uplifted,  at  Gravesend  and  be- 
fore Brooklyn,  at  Kip's-bay  and  on  Throgg's-neck — 
the  handful  of  American  troops,  on  the  summit  of 
Chatterton's-hill,  a  phantom  which  seemed  to  augur 
ill  for  the  left  flank  and  rear  of  the  Eoyal  Army, 
was  seen  by  General  Howe ;  the  further  advance  of 
the  main  body,  toward  the  American  lines,  was 
stayed:  the  uplifted  arm  fell,  without  having  struck 
the  blow  which  was  intended ;  the  right  and  center 
of  the  American  line  remained,  unharmed ;  and 
another  opportunity  for  the  determination  of  the 
great  dispute,  between  Great  Britain  and  America, 
was  lost,  never  to  be  be  regained. 

♦  Colonel  Robert  H.  Harrison  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  White- 
"  Plains,  '29  October,  1776." 

6  Speech  of  General  Howe  before  a  Commiilee  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
April  29,  1779— Almon's  Parliamentari/  Register,  Fifth  Session,  Four- 
teenth Parliament,  xii.,  324  ;  Narrative  of  Lieutenuntrgeneral  Sir  Willi<im 
Hoive,  6. 

6  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New-York,  3nth  Novem- 
"ber,  177C  ;"  Sauthier's  Phn  of  the  Operations,  etc. ;  Gordon's  History  of 
the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  340  ;  etc. 

Stednian  stated,  {History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  214,)  that  "  th« 
"  Right  wing  of  the  British  did  not  extend  beyond  the  center  of  the 
"  American  .\rmy,"  which  is  in  harmony  with  what  General  Howe  had 
stated  concerning  the  distance  of  his  Right  from  the  American  lines — 
he  referred  to  the  center,  without  having  made  the  .slightest  allusion  to 
the  left,  where  General  Heath  was  posted.  Stedmaii  continued:  "That 
"part  of  the  enemy's  position,"'  [the  American  center,]  "did  not  seem  to 
"be  considered  :  all  the  attention  of  the  British  Commander  being  fixed 
"on  another  part  of  the  field  " — as  we  have  already  seen,  "  an  assault 
"  upon  the  American  right,  which  was  opposed  to  the  Hessian  troops, 
"was  intended  ;"  and  the  British  troops  were  to  have  been  spared,  for 
other  services,  elsewhere. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  1774-1783. 


439 


The  lorce.on  the  summit  of  Chatterton's-hill,  which 
had  thus,  insensibly,  arrested  the  progress  of  the 
Royal  Army,  in  its  movement  against  the  Right  and 
Center  of  the  American  lines,  was,  of  course,  that  of 
whom  we  have  already  made  mention — the  Regiments 
commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Brooks  and 
Haslet,  the  lirigade  commanded  by  General  McDou- 
gal  not  having  reached  the  hill ;  and  against  that 
small  force,  the  Hessian  Artillery,  from  the  Plain,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Bronx,  not  far  from  the 
present  railroad-station,  at  the  White  Plains,  opened 
a  vigorous  fire,'  with  no  other  effect,  however,  than 
the  wounding  of  one  of  the  Militia,  which  so  greatly 
alarmed  his  comrades  that  the  entire  Regiment 
"  broke,  and  fled,  and  were  not  rallied,  without  nuich 
"  difhculty.'"-  Soon  after  the  cannonade  was  com- 
menced, General  McDougal  and  his  command  reached 
the  hill-top ;  and  the  command  of  the  entire  force  de- 
volved on  and  was  assumed  by  that  very  inexperienced 
Officer.  After  several  changes,  in  the  positions  ofthe 
several  Regiments,  the  line  was  formed,  with  the 
Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Militia,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Brooks,  sheltered  by  a  stone  wall,  and  sup- 
ported by  the  Regiment  of  Marylanders  commanded 
by  Colonel  Smalhvood — the  latter,  the  remains  of  that 
fine  body  of  "  Maccaroiiies,"  so  called  by  the  New 
Englanders,  whose  gallant  conduct,  at  the  Battle  of 
Long  Island,  had  won  the  admiration  and  sorrow  of 
General  Washington,  and  which  has  been  generally 
honored  in  history — on  the  extreme  right,  confront- 
ing Colonel  Rail  and  his  Brigade,  who  were  resting  on 
their  arms,  on  the  summit  of  the  adjacent  hill, 
further  to  the  southward.  On  the  left  of  the  Mary- 
landers,  was  posted  the  Delaware  Regiment,  proud 
of  its  name  of  "  The  Blue  Hen's  Chickens,"  whom 
Colonel  Haslet  commanded  :  the  remainder  of  Gen- 
eral McDougal's  Brigade,  composed  of  the  First  Regi- 
ment of  the  New  York  Line,  formerly  commanded  by 
Colonel  McDougal,  at  that  time,  by  one  of  its  Captains, 
whose  name  was  not  recorded  ;  the  Third  Regiment 
of  the  same  Line,  commanded  by  Colonel  Rudolphus 
Ritzema ;  and  the  Regiment  of  the  Connecticut 
Line,  commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  Webb,  occupy- 
ing the  left  of  the  very  feeble  line^ — with  the  excep- 
tion ofthe  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Brooks, 
no  portion  of  that  force  was  composed  of  Militia :  all, 
except  that  Regiment,  were  Continental  troops.*  The 


^  Lieiitenant-eolonel  Tilghman  to  Tl'ffliVim  Duer,  "Head-quarters, 
"  White- Plains,  October  29,  1776  ;"  Wie  some  to  Ais  father,  "White- 
"  Plains,  31  October,  1776  ;  "  Ck>lonet  Robert  H.  Harrison  to  Gorenmr 
Tniuibii/I,  "White-Plains,  November  2, 1776;"  OiUmel  Haslet  to  Gen- 
tral  Ciesur  Kodnei/,  "  November  12,  177G"  ;  etc. 

'  Coloitel  Hunle.t  to  General  Ciexar  Bodneii,  "  November  12,  1776." 

'Colonel  Hatlet  to  General  Cee$ar  Rodney,  "November  12,  1776;" 
Captiiiii  Hull's  unpublished  Memoir  of  hie  ReroliUionnry  Serricef,  quoted 
in  CampbeH's  Reroluliouary  Serrici-t  and  Oicil  Life  of  General  William 
Hull,  by  his  daughter,  54,  55  ;  etc. 

<  Colonel  Carrington,  {Rattles  of  the  Ameiican  Revolution,  240,)  was  at 
«ome  pains  to  introduce  Colonel  Mon-is  Graham,  of  the  New  York  Mili- 
tia, and  to  place  his  name  where  it  would  appear  among  those  of  Colo- 
nels commanding  Regiments  who  had  occupieil  and  defended  ChattertoD's- 


Company  of  New-York  Artillery,  with  two  small 

field-pieces,  commanded  by  Captain  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton and  forming  a  portion  of  the  Brigade  com- 
manded by  General  McDougal,  was,  also,  present ; 
but  history  has  not  recorded  the  name  of  the  Officer 
who,  then,  commanded  it.^ 

The  cannonade  of  the  little  party,  on  Chatterton's- 
hill,- was  continued  by  the  Hessian  Artillerists,  with- 
out cessation,  while  the  General  Officers,  it  is  said," 
assembled  in  Council,  without  having  dismounted ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  noisy  demonstration,  so 
very  characteristic  of  Germans,  in  their  use  of  gun- 
jiowdcr,  was  continued,  with  unabated  ardor,  until 
the  movement  of  their  companions  in  arms,  up  the 
steep  and  rugged  hill-side,  of  which  the  reader  will 
learn  more,  hereafter,  obliged  the  gunners  to  suspend 
their  operations." 

"Upon  viewing  the  situation,"  in  deference  to  the 

hill  ;  but  no  other  writer  than  he  has  thus  honored  Colonel  Graham, 
himself  unworthy  of  any  such  authorial  favor;  and,  besides.  Colonel 
Carrington  coulil  have  easily  ascertained  that  Colonel  Graham's  com- 
inanil  was  a  portion  of  tile  Brigade  coniinanded  by  General  George  Clin- 
ton, who  was  posted  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  American  line,  not  far 
from  two  miles  from  Chatterton's-hill. 

No  one  has  pretended  that  the  Aclj\itant-geneval  of  the  Army  was  on 
Chatterton's-hill,  on  that  eventful  Jlonday  ;  but  he  must  have  been  there, 
if  Colonel  Carrington  is  correct,  since  it  was  he  who  accused  Colonel 
Graliam  of  cowardice,  on  which  Colonel  Carrington  has  based  his  favor 
to  the  bashful  New-Yorker. 

6  It  is  a  notable  fact  that,  notwithstanding  all  which  has  been  written, 
in  these  latter  days,  of  tlie  great  services  of  that  Company,  of  which  con- 
temporai-y  writers  were  entirely  silent,  the  name  of  the  Ofticer  who  waa 
in  actual  comnuiud,  on  Chatterton's-hill,  was  not  mentioned  by  any  one, 
of  that  period,  who  wrote  concerning  the  Battle. 

There  is  a  tradition  that,  a  short  time  before  the  date  under  considera- 
tion. Captain  Hamilton  was  in  the  City  of  New-York,  then  in  possession 
of  the  King's  Army  ;  and  there  is,  certainly,  written  evidence,  over  hie 
own  signature,  that  he  was  in  the  same  City,  on  the  sixth  of  November, 
eight  days  after  the  Battle  :  it  is  possible,  therefore,  that,  because  the 
command  was  not  in  the  official  commander,  on  the  occasion  under  con- 
sideration, the  name  of  the  actual  commander  was  not  regarded  as  worthy 
of  being  recorded. 

8  "I  saw  their  General  Officers,  on  horseback,  as.semble  in  Council." 
— {Colonel  Haslet  to  Geiural  Cmar  Rodtieij,  "November  12,  1776.") 

'  There  is,  evidently,  considerable  exaggeration  in  what  was  written 
of  that  cannonade,  by  "  a  Gentleman  in  the  Army,"  in  his  letter,  already 
resorted  to,  dated  "Camp  near  the  Mills,  about  three  miles  North 
"  OF  THE  White  Plains,  November  1, 1776  ; "  but  we  make  room  for  it. 
"  The  scene  was  grand  and  solemn  ;  all  the  adjacent  hills  smoked,  as 
"though  on  fire,  and  bellowed  and  trembled  with  a  perpetual  cannonade 
"  and  fire  of  field-pieces,  liowitz,  and  mortars.  The  air  groaned 
"with  streams  of  cannon  and  musket-shot ;  the  air  and  hills  smoked  and 
"  echoed,  terribly,  with  the  bursting  of  shells ;  the  fences  and  walls  were 
"  knocked  down,  and  torn  to  pieces  ;  and  men's  legs,  arms,  and  bodiea 
"mingled  with  cannon  and  grape-shot,  all  round  us.  I  was  in  the  ac- 
"  tion,  and  under  as  good  a<lvantage8  as  any  one  man,  to  observe  all  that 
"  passed,  and  write  these  particulars  of  the  action  from  my  own  obsorva- 
"tion." 

A  very  near  connection,  by  marriage,  of  our  own  family,  then  living 
where  what  was,  lately.  Hall's  Tavern,  at  Hall's-corners,  now  known  as 
Elmsford,  on  the  road  leailing  from  the  White  Plains  to  Tarrytown,  told 
us,  many  years  ago,  that  he  heard  that  severe  cannonade,  and  saw  the 
smoke  occasioned  by  it,  and  very  clearly  remembered  It  ;  and,  as  may  be 
reasonably  supposed,  under  such  circumstances,  he  regarded  it  as  some- 
thing more  than  ordinarily  terrible. 

What  we  have  said  concerning  the  extent  of  time  thus  occupied  by  the 
Hessian  .\rtillerists,  in  their  cannonade  of  the  .-Vmericans,  was  authorized 
by  Colonel  Haslet,  in  his  letter  to  General  Rodney,  already  referred  to  ; 
by  Campbell's  Rewlutiimarij  Services  and  Ciril  Life  of  General  William  Hull, 
54 ;  etc. 


440 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


standard  military  maxim,  of  that  period,  which  re- 
quired the  immediate  removal  of  everything  which 
might,  possibly,  jeopardize  a  flank  or  the  rear  of  a 
column,  no  matter  how  insignificant  it  might  other- 
wise be;  and,  undoubtedly,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  impromptu  Council,  of  which  mention  has  been 
made,  General  Howe  determined  to  dislodge  the 
Americans  who  had  occupied  Chatterton's-hill,  before 
he  proceeded  further,  in  his  movement  against  the 
main  body  of  the  American  Army,  then  within  its 
line  of  entrenchments,  and  awaiting  his  evidently  in- 
tended assault.  With  that  purpose  in  view,  the  main 
body  of  the  Royal  Army  was  ordered  to  rest  on  its 
arms,  on  the  Plain,  within  a  mile,  and  in  open  sight, 
from  the  American  lines ;  orders  were  issued  for  a 
Battalion  of  Hessians  to  pass  over  the  Bronx-river,' 
supported  by  the  Second  Brigade  of  British  troops, 
composed  of  the  Fifth,  Twenty-eighth,  Thirty-fifth, 
and  Forty-ninth  Regiments  of  Foot,  commanded  by 
Brigadier-general  Leslie;  and  by  the  Brigade  of  Hes- 
sians, composed  of  Linsing's,  Mingerode's,  Len- 
gereck's,  and  Kochler's  Regiments  of  Grenadiers  and 
his  own  Regiment  of  Chasseurs,  commanded  by  Colo- 
nel Donop — the  last  mentioned  Brigade  to  be  taken 
from  the  right  of  the  Army,  where  it  had  been  posted 
— for  the  purpose  of  assaulting  the  position  on  Chat- 
terton's-hill, in  front ;  and  Colonel  Rail  was  ordered 
to  move  the  Brigade  which  he  commanded,  on  a 
charge,  on  the  right  of  the  Americans,  simultane-  j 
ously  with  the  movement  of  the  Hessian  forlorn-hope  | 
and  its  supporting  parties,  on  their  front.' 


1  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New-Yoek,  30  November, 
"1776." 

General  Howe  did  not  state  which  particular  Battalion  of  Hessians 
was  thus  employed  ;  and  we  have  not  found,  in  any  of  the  contemporary 
authorities,  anything  which  throws  any  light  on  the  subject. 

Baucroft,  who  hasenjoyed  unusual  opportunities  foracquiring  informa- 
tion on  the  subject  of  the  German  mercenaries,  has  said,  [Uistorij  of  the 
United  Stales,  original  edition,  ix.,181  ;  centenary  edition,T.,  444,)  that  that 
forlorn-hope  was  composed  of  the  Lossberg  Battalion  ;  but  if,  as  he  has 
conceded  ou  another  page,  that  Battalion  was  a  portion  of  the  Brigade 
commanded  by  t'olonel  Rail,  it  was,  already  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Bronx,  and  in  position  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  it  would  have 
been  withdrawn  from  that  important  position  to  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
river,  by  way  of  the  ford,  and  then  moved  to  the  western  bank,  again, 
at  a  place  where  the  depth  of  water  made  the  passage  much  more  difficult, 
as  a  forlorn-hope ;  while  it  could  have  acted  as  such  a  forlorn-hope,  had 
that  been  desired,  by  simply  marching  up  the  Jlill-lane,  and  climbing  up 
the  side  of  the  hill,  without  the  unnecessary  labor  and  risk  of  passing 
and  re-passing  the  river. 

That  Battalion  of  Hessians  who  fonned  the  forlorn-hope  continues  to 
be,  to  us,  a  subject  on  which  we  need  and  seek  for  further  information, 
especially  since  it  was  definitely  and  very  reasonably  stated  in  The  ^MimaJ 
Register  for  1776,  (History  of  Europe,  *178,)  that  it  was  one  of  the  Bat- 
talions of  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Donop  ;  in  which  The 
Bistorrj  of  the  Wur  in  America,  Edit.  Dublin,  1779,  (i.,  195),  concurred, 
both  of  which  statements  are  in  entire  harmony  with  our  own  conclus- 
ions, on  that  subject,  at  the  present  time. 

2  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Yobk,  30  November, 
"  1776." 

The  Begiments  of  which  the  Second  Brigade  was  composed  were 
named  in  General  Howe's  despatch  to  Lord  Germaine,  above  mentioned, 
and  in  the  Ilelum  of  the  Killed,  Wounded,  etc.,  of  the  Brigade,  in  the  ac- 
tion; those  of  which  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Donop  was 
composed  may  be  seen  in  the  same  lieturn,  as  well  as  in  the  Report  of 
the  distribution  of  the  Army,  made  by  General  Howe. 


The  appearance  of  the  Royal  Army,  as  the  main 
body  was  thus  halted,  with  detachments  moving 
towards  the  Bronx,  for  the  jiroposed  assault  ou  Chat- 
terton's-hill, was  thus  described  by  an  eye-witness, 
himself  an  Officer  among  the  Americans  who  were, 
then,  awaiting  the  assault  on  their  position  :  "  Its  ap- 
"pearance  was  trulj' magnificent.  A  bright  autumnal 
"sun  shed  its  full  lustre  on  their  polished  arms;  and 
"  the  rich  array  of  dress  and  military  equipage  gave  an 
"  imposing  grandeur  to  the  scene,  as  they  advanced,  in 
"  all  the  pomp  and  circumstances  of  War,  to  give  us 
"  battle;"  ^  and,  with  the  main  bodies  of  thetwQ  armies, 
each  resting  on  its  arms,  anxious  spectators  of  the 
scene,*  the  Battalion  of  Hessians  which  had  been 
designated  for  the  forlorn-hope,  in  the  proposed  as- 
sault, and  the  British  Regiments  who  had  been  de- 
tached for  its  sujDport,  moved,  steadily,  toward  the 
Bronx,  in  front  of  the  hill,  on  their  mission  of 
death. 

It  is  probable  that  the  little  river,  where  the  as- 
saulting party  attempted  to  pass  it,  was  deeper  than 
elsewhere,  above  or  below  that  place,  as  it  has  been, 
during  the  entire  period  of  our  personal  knowledge  of 
the  locality  ;  and  the  Hessian  forlorn-hope,  conse- 
quently, found  "some  difficulty  in  passing"  the 
stream;*  but  it  struggled  successfully,  and  evidently 
reached  the  opposite  bank  without  having  sustained 
any  loss,  the  Twenty-eighth  and  Thirty-fifth  Regiments 
of  British  Foot,  followed  by  the  Fifth  and  Forty- 
ninth  Regiments  of  the  same  arm  of  the  service,  and, 
subsequently,  by  the  Brigade  of  Hessians  commanded 
by  Colonel  Donop,*  finding  "  a  place  most  practica- 
"ble" — probably  "  the  ford,"  where  the  fugitive  New 
Englanders  and  their  Hessian  pursuers  had  passed 
the  river,  earlier  in  the  morning,  was  the  more  prac- 
ticable place  referred  to  ' — hastening  forward,  in  the 

8  Captain  William  Hull,  quoted  in  The  Revolutionary  Services  and  Civit 
Life  of  General  William  Hull,  by  his  daughter,  54. 

Concerning  the  same  subject,  General  Heath,  who  was  on  the  opposite 
extremity  of  the  line  of  the  main  body,  wrote,  (Memoirs, 1$,)  "The  sun 
"shone  bright ;  their  arms  glittered;  and,  perhaps,  troops  were  never 
"  shown  to  more  advantage,  than  these  now  appeared." 

*  General  Botce  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "New-Tork,  30  November, 
"1776;"  [Hall  s]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  208,  209  ;  Gor- 
don's History  of  the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  341  ;  Stedman's  History  of 
the  American  War,  i.,  215  ;  etc. 

*  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Toek,  30  November, 
"1776." 

See,  also,  The  Annual  Register  for  1776,  History  of  Europe,  *178  ; 
tory  of  the  War  in  America,  Edit.  Dublin;  1779,  i.,195,  etc. 

^General  Howe  to  Lord  Giorge  Germaine,  "New-Yoek,  30  November, 
"1776." 

See,  also.  The  Annual  Register  for  1776,  History  of  Europe,  *178  ;  etc. 

It  is  very  probable  that  it  was  that  accidental  separation  of  the  Begi- 
ments composing  the  support  of  the  Hessian  forlorn-hope,  and  the  conse- 
quent assault  on  the  Americans  in  three  distinct  movements,  which  led 
Captain  Hull,  (in  Campbell's  Revolutionary  Sen-ices  and  Civil  Life  of 
General  William  Hull,  55,)  to  suppose  the  assault  had  been  originally 
ordered  to  be  made,  in  that  manner. 

'  In  what  manner  the  assaulting  party  crossed  the  Bronx-river  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  the  speculation*  of  several  modern  >vriters,  led  and, 
probably,  inspired  by  the  unscrupulous  John  C.  Hamilton,  {History  of  the 
Republic  of  the  United  Stales,  i.,  133,)  who  said  the  Hessian  forlorn-hope 
"refused  to  wade  the  tangled  stream  ;  and  a  temporai-y  bridge  was  begun" 
and,  finally,  completed, — of  which  bridge,  he  related  several  incidents. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


441 


order  in  which  we  iiave  uanied  them,  for  the  support 
of  the  sliiveriiig,  h:ilf-ilro\viied  Germans,  who  were 
undoubtedly  waiting,  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
stream,  for  their  eo-operation. 

When  the  movement  of  the  assaulting  party,  toward 
the  ford,  was  seen  from  the  summit  of  the  hill,  Colonel 
Haslet  applied  to  General  McDougal  for  the  two  field- 
pieces,  in  order  that  a  lire  might  be  opcued  on  the 
advancing  column;  but  (leneral  McDougal  spared 
only  one  of  the  two  guns;  and  that  was  so  poorly 
appointed  that  the  Colonel  was  obliged,  i)ersonally, 
to  assist  in  dragging  it  along  the  rear  of  his  Regiment, 
to  the  place  where  ho  desired  to  post  it.  While  it 
was  being  tlius  slowly  dragged  along  the  rear  of  the 
line  of  Americans,  it  is  said  that  a  shot  from  the  Hes- 
sian guns  struck  its  carriage,  scattering  the  shot,  etc., 
and  leaving  a  wad  of  tow  blazing  in  the  middle  of  the 
debris.  With  the  exception  of  a  single  man,  who 
"  was  prevailed  upon  to  tread  out  the  blaze  and  col- 
"  lect  the  shot,"  "  all  the  Artillery-men  fled,"  leaving 
Colonel  Haslet  and  the  field-piece  entirely  unsup- 
ported ;  but  it  appears  that  some  of  these  later  fugi- 
tives returned ;  nuide  a  couple  of  discharges  ou  the 
euemy;  and  then  retired,  "'with  the  field-piece,"  not 
to  be  seen  again,  until  after  they  were  securely  tjuar- 


of  eacli  of  which  his  fathi  i's  (^>iui>suiy  of  Artillery  and  his  father  were, 
invariahlv,  the  principal  subjects. 

Such  a  speculation  would  reipiire  little  reflection,  in  ortler  to  show  its 
iniprobahility  to  any  one  ;  but  Lossing,  (Field  book  nf  the  lie  mint  ion, 
original  edition,  ii.,822;)  Irving,*  (I.ife  of  tironjf  Wnghiiiiitiin,  ii.,  .'iil2  ;) 
and  otIieiN  having  followed  that  leader,  and  repeated  his  errors.  Bui 
tieueral  Howe's  despatch  to  Lord  George  (^erniaiiie  left  no  room  for 
doubting,  and  clearly  indicated  thai  the  troops  forded  the  stream  ;  ."^au 
thier's  r/.oi  iif  thr  Oyii/n/ioiis,  etc.,  (the  liritish  ollicial  Map.l  c  learly  in 
(licated  that  the  Royal  trooite  crossed  the  river  at  "  The  Ford,"  designated 
on  the  Map;  Ttie  Plan  of  thr  Comitnj  from  Frotja  Point  to  Cntton  liiver, 
((General  Washington's  Map, )  did  the  same,  also  designating  the  "  Ford  ;'" 
The  .liiwiKiJ  Itrijintir  for  ITTli,  (History  of  Europe,  17S,*|  clearly  under- 
stood the  river  was  forded  ;  Stcdnian,  in  his  JliMnnj  of  the  Ameriaiu 
Wnr,  (i.,  214,)  said,  "  A  part  of  onr  left  wiug  pas.sed  the  ford,  whi<  h  wiis 
"entirely  under  command  of  onr  cannon;"  Sergeant  Land>,  of  the 
Welsh  Fnsileei-s,  in  his  Jonrunl  of  Ocrm-renos  iluriiitj  the  lute  Ainericau 
Wnr,  (page  1211, 1  Slid  the  entire  assjiulting  party,  whom  he  described,  in 
detail.  "  marched  down  and  cnissed  the  ford  ;  "  Doctor  .\ndrews,  in  his 
Hirlonj  of  the  U'nr,  (ii.,  lift,)  stated  the  a.ssaullingpai  ty  '  marched  down 
"  to  the  ford,  and  crossed  it;"  (ieneral  Heath,  an  eje-witneas  of  the 
ntovenient,  stated,  in  his  Mrmoim,  (iKige  78,)  that  "a  part  of  the  left  col- 
"  nmn,  composed  of  British  and  Hessians,  forded  the  river,"  etc.  ; 
Chief  justice  Marshall,  in  his  Life  of  George  Woshinglim.  (ii.,  r>(l4,)  with 
lienenil  Washington's  juiiH'rs  before  him,  clearly  knew  nothing  of  any 
bridge,  constructed  by  the  Itoyal  Army;  aud  lloclor  Sparks,  also  with 
the  papers  of  Ueni'nil  W;u5liington  before  him,  in  his  Life  nf  (Jeorr/r 
n'nihiiojioii,  (la^e  lOi;,)  after  having  described  all  the  troops  who  h.-id 
been  ordered  to  make  the  assault,  .said,  -'they  forded  the  Bronx,  and 
"  forme<l  in  goo<l  onler  on  the  other  side  ;"  and  we  prefer  to  follow  our 
own  convictions,  that  no  bridge  was  constructed  by  the  Royal  Army,  on 
that  occasion,  especially  since  those  well-cousideiXMl  convictions  are  so 
amply  sustaineil  by  such  unquestionable  authorities. 

With  the  story  of  the  bridge,  other  similarly  gioiiudless  stories  for 
which  that  phantom  bridge  had  afforded  loundations,  notw  ithstanding 
the  etTect  w  ith  whii  h  they  have  been  related  by  their  iuveutor,  also  van- 
ish as  the  reader  will  shortly  s«'e. 


•.Mr.  Irving,  snliscpiently,  explained  to  us,  personally,  how  he  had 
fallen  into  the  error  :  and  requested  us  to  pay  no  respect  to  the  erroneous 
8latemenl«,  contained  in  his  work,  concerning  them. 
3'J 


I  tered,  with  the  main  body  of  the  Army,  within  the 
lines,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. ' 
The  Twenty-eighth  and  Thirty-fifth  Kegiments  were 

I  the  first  portion  of  the  sujjporting  i)arty  who  succeeded 
in  crossing  the  river;  '  and  they  moved  from  the  ford, 

'  along  the  road  which  has  more  recently  been  known 
as  "  The  Mill-lane,"  extending  between  the  base  of 

j  Chatterton's-hill  and  the  bank  of  the  Bronx,  until 
they  had  reached  a  \nnnt  which  was  opposite  to  the 

I  right  of  the  American  line,  on  the  toj)  of  the  hill,  ^ 
when  they  faced  to  the  left  and,  with  the  shivering 
llessiaus  on  their  front,  they  climbed  up  the  steep 
and  rugged  hill-side,  in  good  order  and  with  the  great- 
est steadiness,*  the  fire  of  the  Hessian  Artillerists,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  at  least  that  j)ortion  of 
it  which  was  directed  against  the  American  right, 
having  been  suspended,  in  order  that  they  might  not 
be  exposed  to  unnecessary  danger.^ 

On  that  portion  of  the  American  line  which  was 
exposed  to  that  assault,  on  its  front,  as  well  as  to  the 
movement  of  the  Hessian  Brigade  commanded  by  Col- 

,  onel  Hall,  who  had  been  ordered  to  charge  on  its  right 

i  Hank,  simultaneously  with  the  movement  ou  its  front, 

1  Colonel  Hiislet  to  General  Cirsar  liodneij,  "  November  12,  ITTfi." 

Among  the  creations  of  John  C.  Hamilton's  very  able  but  very  un- 
scrupulous pen  Wii."  one,  based  on  the  .-^tory  of  the  bri<lge  w  hich  we  have 
already  noticeil,  concerning  the  Artillery  Company  of  w  hich  his  father, 
.\lexaniier  Hamilton,  was  the  C'a|>tain,  and  what  he  assumed  to  have 
I  been  the  womlerful  services  of  that  Company,  on  the  occasion  now  under 
notice. 

As  we  have  already  stateil,  {ride  page  i'.V.),  ante,)  there  are  veiy  grave 
doubts  concerning  Caiitaiu  Hamilton's  presence,  with  the  Company,  on 
Cliatterton's-hill,  on  the  eventful  day  of  the  Battle  ;  and  it  is  of  ques- 
!  tionable  |)ropriety,  therefore,  to  identify  him  w  ith  the  shortcomings  of 
his  command,  so  gmphically  jiortrajed  by  Colonel  Haslet,  in  his  letter 
to  General  Rodney,  to  which  we  have  referred,  in  thi'  text— shorlcoin- 
iugs  which  were  certainly  such  as  reflected  nothing  else  than  disgrace 
on  both  the  body  of  the  Company  and  the  Otlicer  who  was  in  com- 
mand, ou  .that  occasion,  whomsoever  he  may  have  been. 
Generals  Washington,  Howe,  Coruwallis,  Robertson,  and  Heath,  and 
:  Captains  Harris  and  Hall,  all  of  whom  witnessed  the  action  and  de- 
j  scribed  it,  and  Gordon,  Stcduiau,  Jlarshall,  and  Sparks,  all  of  them 
j  standard  historiau.s,  whose  ailvautages  for  aoiuiring  accurate  informa- 
tion were  in  nowise  neglected,  were  uniformly  and  rigidly  silent  on 
the  subject  of  the  alleged  services  of  Captain  Hamilton's  Company  of 
.\rtillery;  while  the  advei-se  testimony  of  Colonel   Haslet,  which  we 
have  stated  in  the  text,  sujjporled,  in  a  great  measure  by  that  of  Cap- 
tain Hull,  the  latter  concerning  the  other  of  the  two  pieces  and  those 
who  nninned  it,  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  line,  (Campbell's  The  Iler- 
olutionarij  Serricen  oiiri  Ciril  Life  of  General  William  Hull,  [A,)  leaves 
nothing,  concerning  that  Company,  on  that  occasion,  to  which  the 
admirers  of  Alexander  Hamilton  can  refer,  w  ith  any  pleasure,  the  pre- 
1  tensions  of  his  son,  to  which  we  have  referred,  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

'-  General  Hoice  to  Lord  George  Germuiiie,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  177G  ;"  Tlie  Annual  Ilegisler  for  177G,  History  of  Europe,  178  *  ;  History 
of  the  n'ar  in  America,  Edit.  Dublin  :  17"!),  i.,  l!).');  etc. 

^Sauthier's  Plan  of  the  Operatiitns  of  the  King's  Army,  etc. 

General  Heath,  an  eye-witness,  siiid,  that,  after  they  had  "forded  the 
"river,"  they  "marched  along,  under  the  cover  of  the  hill,  until  they 
"had  gained  sufficient  gro\ind  to  the  left  of  the  Americans,  when,  by 
"facing  to  the  left,"  etc.— (.l/cmoirs,  78.) 

^General  Howe  tn  Jjord  George  (Sernitiine,  *^ 'Sr.w'-YonK,  30  November, 
*'  177C;''  The  Annuol  Register  for  177('»,  History  of  Europe,  17K*  ;  etc. 

General  Heath,  who  witnessed  the  movement,  said  that,  "by  facing 
"to  the  left,  their  column  became  a  line,  parallel  with  the  .Americans, 
"  when  they  briskly  ascended  the  hill.    .    .    .    — {Memoirs, 
I      '  .Veinoirs  of  General  Heath,  78,  79. 


442 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


were  posted,  as  we  have  already  stated,  the  Regiment  of 
Massachusetts  Militia  commanded  by  Colonel  Brooks, 
sheltered  behind  asrone  wall  and  supported  by  there- 
mains  of  the  Maryland  Regiment  commanded  by  Col- 
onel Smallwood, '  and,  probably,  by  the  Third  Regi- 
ment of  New  Yorkers  commanded  by  Colonel  Ritze- 
ma ;  ^  and,  against  these,  the  two  assaulting  parties 
simultaneously  directed  their  overwhelming  power. 
There  was  no  Artillery  to  hurl  destruction  on  either 
of  the  assailants:  since,  by  that  time,  the  Delaware 
Regiment,  immediately  on  their  left,  was  confronted 
by  the  Fifth  and  Forty-ninth  Regiments,  who  had 
also  crossed  the  river  and  were  climbing  the  hill-side, 
"zealous  to  distinguish  themselves,"  there  was  no 
support  for  the  hard-pressed  "  Maccaronis  "  and  their 
New  York  comrades :  and  nothing  else  than  their 
own  resolute  wills  and  their  strong  arms  and  their  not 
generally  trusty  and  always  ill-supplied  muskets  were 
there,  to  su])[)ort  those  less  than  eleven  hundred  Offi- 
cers and  Privates  in  their  approaching  struggle  with 
two  well-disciplined,  well-armed,  well-commanded 
British  Regiments,  besides  the  Hessian  forlorn-hope, 
on  their  front,  and  three  equally  well-disciplined, 
well-armed,  and  well-commanded  Hessian  Regiments, 
on  their  right  Hank. 

It  is  recorded  that  the  Regiment  of  jNIilitia,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Brooks,  notwithstanding  the  shel- 
ter afforded  by  the  stone  wall,  "  fled  in  confusion, 
"without  more  than  a  random,  scattering  fire;"'' 
leaving  the  Marylanders  and  New-Yorkers,  alone  and 
unsu[)ported ;  and  it  also  recorded  that  these  last- 
named  Regiments  advanced  to  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
meeting  their  assailants,  and  throwing  on  them,  while 
they  were  climbing  the  hill-side,  an  etTective,  plung- 
ing fire,  compelling  them  to  fall  back.*  But  the 
retreat  of  the  Militia,  to  whom  appears  to  have  been 
assigned  the  part  of  holding  Colonel  Rail  in  check, 
having  entirely  ex{)osed  the  right  flank  of  the  two 
Regiments  to  the  charge  of  his  Brigade,  while  the 
three  Regiments  of  British  and  Hessian  troops  who 
were  climbing  up  the  eastern  face  of  the  hill,  not- 
withstanding the  check  which  they  had  sustained, 
were  rallied  and  renewed  their  assault  on  the  front  of 
the  position,  the  conflict  was  too  unecpuil  to  be  long- 
sustained  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  stubborn  bravery 
which  was  necessary  to  sustain  it,  with  such  great 
odds  against  the  Americans,  during  the  long  period 
of  not  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour,*  the  two  brave 


'  Colonel  HasUl  to  General  Csuar  Rodnei/,  "November  12,  1776." 

2  Wo  have  found  no  mention  of  the  movement  of  the  Regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Kitzema  for  the  support  of  tlio  Regiments  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Brooks  and  Smallwood,  on  the  riglit  of  the  line  ; 
but  it  is  reasonable  that  support  was  needed,  there;  and  there  is  sat 
isfactory  evidence  that  Colonel  Ritzema  and  his  command  icere  realltj 
Iherr,  during  the  action :  we  shall  not  stop  to  enqnire  just  when  they 
went  to  that  very  exposed  position. 

3  Colonel  Hdslet  to  General  Ciesur  liodiw}/^  "November  12,  1T7G." 

*  Letter  to  a  Gfnllemnn  in  Annnpnlis^  dated  "  White-Pi-aixs,  October  20. 
"  1776." 

6  "After  a  smart  engagement  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  obliged 


Regiments  were  compelled  to  "  give  way  "  — they  fell 
back,  fighting  as  they  went,  as  brave  men  would  be 
likely  to  do,  under  such  circumstances. 

But  the  action  on  Chattertou's-hill  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  simultaneous  assaults  on  the  front  and 
right  flanks  of  the  Americans  who  occupied  it.  Very 
closely  after  the  Twenty-eighth  and  Thirty-fifth,  the 
Fifth  and  Forty-ninth  Regiments  also  lorded  the 
Bronx  ;  and  moved  to  the  positions  which  had  been 
assigned  to  them,  respectively ;  and  climbed  up  the 
side  of  the  hill ; '  and  assaulted  the  position  which 
was  occupied  by  "  The  Blue  Hen's  Chickens  "—the 
Regiment  of  Delaware  troops,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Haslet — "  foemeu  worthy  of  their  steel."  That  Kegi- 
ment  numbered  very  few,  if  any  more,  than  three  hun- 
dred fighting  Officers  and  Privates  ;  and  yet,  single- 
handed — the  two  Regiments  on  its  right  were  already 
engaged,  with  assailants  on  both  their  front  and  flank  ; 
and  the  First  New  York  Regiment  and  the  Regi- 
ment of  Connecticut  troojis,  the  latter  commanded  by 
Colonel  Charles  Webb,  were  also  employed  in  oppos- 
ing Colonel  Donop's  Brigade  of  Hessians,  who  were 
"  ascending  the  height,  with  the  greatest  alaci'ity  and 
"in  the  best  of  order" — that  single  regiment  bravely 
sustained  the  attack,  until  after  the  Regiments  which 
had  covered  its  right  had  given  way,  when  "  part  of 
"  the  first  three  Companies  of  the  Regiment  also  rc- 
"  treated,  in  disorder,"  with  considerable  loss.*  The 
left  of  the  Regiment,  however,  with  the  greater  num- 
ber of  its  Otticers,  notwithstanding  the  retreat  of  the 
Regiments  on  its  right  and  that  of  its  own  three  Com- 
panies had  exposed  its  right  to  the  combined  assaults 
of,  at  least,  the  Hessian  Battalion  who  had  been  the 
forlorn-hope  and  two  of  the  British  Regiments  and 
Colonel  Rail's  entire  Brigade,  while  two  other  British 
Regiments  were  on  its  front,  fell  back  only  far  enough 
to  occupy  "  a  fence,  on  the  to])  of  the  hill,''  a  position 
which  it  continued  to  occupy  and  defend,  successfully . 
until  the  two  Regiments  which  covered  its  left  had 
also  given  way,  when,  it,  also,  "  retired,"  the  last  of 
the  Americans  who  remained  on  the  hill,  and  that 
resolute  force,  small  as  it  was,  who  held  back  the  suc- 
cessful assailants,  then  eager  to  become  pursuers,  and 
covered  the  retreat  of  those  who,  then,  remained  of 
the  defenders  of  Chatterton's-hill."' 


"our  men  to  give  way." — {Colonel  lioherl  H.  Httrriaon  to  the  Pre»idenl  of 
Ihf  Congress,  "  W'HiTE-Pi.AiNS,  October  2!),  1770.") 

"  After  a  very  smart  engagi'ment  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minwies,  they 
"obliged  our  men  to  give  way." — {Colonel  Robrrt  }{,  Httrrifon  to  General 
Schuyler,  "White  Plains,  November  1,  1776. ') 

"The  Militia  Regiment  fled  *  *  Colonel  Smallwood,  in  a  quarter 
"of  an  hour  afterwards,  gave  way,  also." — {^Colonel  Haslet  tii  General 
Ctrsar  Rodney,  "November  12,  1776.'") 

<>  Colonel  HmUtto  General  Ciesnr  Rodney,  "  November  12,  1776.  " 

'  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gennidne,  "  New-Vouk,  30  November, 
"1776  ;  '  The  Amiunl  Register  for  1776,  History  of  Europe,  178*  ;  History 
of  the  War  in  America,  Edit.  Dublin  :  1779,  i.,  l;i.5  ;  etc. 

^Riiurns  of  the  Strength  of  the  Regimentt  engaged,  etc.  (Vide  page  44.5, 
post.) 

'  Colonel  Haslet  to  Getwrnl  Cfesnr  Rodney,  "November  12,  1776." 
1"  Oi,lonel  Haslet  to  General  Ciesar  Rodney,  "  November  12,  1776." 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


443 


But  the  action  was,  also,  not  confined  to  the  as- 
saults on  nor  to  the  defences  of  the  right  and  center  of 
the  Americans,  on  the  top  of  that  notable  hill.  The 
four  Regiments  composing  the  Brigade  commanded 
by  (Jeneral  Leslie,  were  soon  followed,  "with  the 
"  greatest  alacrity  and  in  the  best  order,"  through  the 
river,  at  the  lord,  and  up  the  Mill-lane,  and  up  the 
eastern  face  of  the  hill,  by  the  Chasseurs  and  by  three, 
if  not  by,  four,  Regiments  of  Hessian  Grenadiers, 
com[iosing  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel 
Donop.'  In  front  of  these,  on  the  summit  of  the  hill, 
were  the  skeleton  First  New  York  Regiment,  formerly 
commanded  by  General  McDougal,  but  then  evidently 
without  Field-officers  and  commanded  by  one  of  its 
Captains  ;  and  the  Regiment  of  Connecticut  troops 
commanded  by  Colonel  Charles  Webb,  very  little 
stronger  in  efl'ective  men,  than  the  other;  and,  very 
probably,  one  of  the  two  field-pieces  which  constituted 
the  armament  of  the  Cimipany  of  New-York  Artillery 
of  whom  Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  official  com- 
mander— the  other  of  the  two  pieces,  as  the  reader 
will  remember,  was  posted  on  the  extreme  right  of 
the  line,  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Haslet.'  All 
these  numbered,  in  the  aggregate,  not  many,  if  any, 
more  than  four  hundred  fighting  Officers  and  Pri- 
vates;' and,  with  their  only  piece  of  artillery  dis- 
mounted, evidently  before  the  assailants  commenced 
to  ascend  the  hill,'  and  without  any  support  or  defen- 
sive works,  it  is  scarcely  jjrobable  that  much  was 
expected  from  so  feeble  a  body,  in  the  face  of  so 
heavy  a  body  of  assailants.  But  the  records  indicate 
that  all  those  of  the  two  feeble  Regiments  who  were 
present  on  the  field,  performed  their  duty  satisfacto- 
rily to  the  Commander-in-chief;'  and,  we  are  t(d(l 
that,  when  an  effort  was  made  by  the  assailants  to 
turn  the  left  of  the  line,  a  detachment  from  Colonel 
Webb's  Regiment,  commanded  by  Captain  William 
Hull,  defeated  the  attempt,  with  spirit  and  prompti- 
tude, although  he  was  opposed  by  more  than  double 
the  number  of  his  own  commaDd.  * 

'  O'eiiern/  Iluice  In  Lord  Genrge  (lennaiiie,  "New-Yokk,  30  November, 
"1776."  The  .IiiiiimI  lleijisler  for  177t>,  Iliatory  of  Europe,  178  *  ;  The 
Hintiirij  of  the  Wtir  in  Atiieriea,  Kdit.  Dublin  :  1779,  1!)5  ;  etc. 

It  H  po.-«iblu  timt  one  of  the  Uejiimentsof  that  Brigade  bad  been  de- 
tailed, to  itet  (w  tile  forlorn-bope,  in  the  assault,  as  we  have  already  stated, 

-  Viile  page  4-11 ,  ante. 

'  Keluriu  of  the  Strength  of  the  Regiments  •■ngiiged,  etc.  (Vide  page  44.T, 
post.) 

<Ca|)tain  Hull  s  tinpublisbcd  Memoir,  quoted  in  Campbell's  Reeoln- 
tiOHury  .Sri  icta  mid  Cii-il  Lije  of  General  William  Hull,  54. 

As  the  fire  of  the  Hessian  Artillerists  had  been  susiiended  when  the 
a^iailants  had  commenced  to  ascend  the  hill,  it  is  verv  evident  that, 
wlu  II  Colonel  Donop,  the  last  to  reach  the  ground,  lussaulted  the  left  of 
the  .\nn  rican  line,  there  was  no  artillery  on  the  hill,  in  front  of  him, 
mounletl  and  effective. 

'  General  McDougal  complained  of  Colonel  Webb ;  but,  in  General  Or- 
lin-i,  Oeneral  Washington  stated,  " The  representation  made  of  Colonel 
"Webb's  Regiment,  yesterday,  by  {Jeneral  McDougal,  appearing  to  bv 
"a  mistake,  and  that  they  kept  the  iwst  assigned  them,  notwiflistanding 
"a  severe  canuonade,  the  Genera'  take.s  the  first  opportunity  to  make  it 
"known,  to  prevent  any  unfavorable  impression."— (GeiieriiJ  Order; 
"Heao-wi  AKTERs,  W II iTE-l'LA INS,  October 'iit,  177C.") 

^Captain  Hull's  uupnblished  Memoir,  quoted  in  Campbell's  Revolu- 
tionary Sernctt  and  CirU  Li/e  of  Geneial  W'illiiim  Hull,  55 ;  Governor 


On  every  part  of  the  ground,  except  those  portions 
which  had  been  occujjied  by  the  Company  of  New- 
York  Artillery  and  the  Regiment  of  Massachusetts 
Militia,  the  battle  had  been  resolutely  sustained;' 
and  the  assailants,  in  more  than  one  instance,  had 
been  compelled  to  fall  back  ;   but  the  opposing  forces 
were  so  unequal  in  their  strength  that  a  successful 
occupation  of  the  hill  could  not  have  been  exjjected, 
by  any  one — indeed,  the  fact  that  the  entire  detach- 
ment was  not  cut  off  from  the  main  body  of  the  Army, 
and  captured  by  the  enemy,  reflects  the  highest  honor 
on  those  who  occupied  the  hill,  and  fills  one  with 
wonder  and  admiration.    It  is  doubtful  if  any  who 
'  were  not  too  much  disabled  to  be  removed,  were  taken 
prisoners;  all  who  were  able  to  move  off  the  hill, 
moved  off,  by  the  left  flank,  by  way  of  the  road 
which  led  from  the  Wiiite  Plains  to  Dobbs's   lerry" — 
they  moved  sullenly, in  a  great  body,  neither  run- 
I  "ning  nor  observing  the  best  order,"  "  covered  by  apor- 
I  tion  of  the  Delaware  Regiment — and,  having  crossed 
the  bridge  over  which  the  roadway  jiassed  the  Bronx, 
the  site  of  that  which  now  affords  a  passage  over  the 
river,  near  the  present  railroad-station  at  the  White 
I  Plains,  they  fell  in  on  the  rear  of  (leneral  Beall's 
j  Maryland  Flying  Camp,  which  General  Putnam  was 
!  leading  for  their  support,  on  the  hill ;    and  joined  the 

main  body  of  the  Army,  within  the  lines, 
j     After  he  had  gained  possession  of  the  hill,  the  ene- 
my made  no  attem])t  whatever  to  pursue  the  retreating 
I  Americans;  but  formed  and  dressed  his  line,  "  and 
I   

I  Brookx  lo  Ihi- ri  esideiil  „f  Ih,  funrl  M  ,rli,il  for  thr  li  i.d  of  C  nn  al  Hull, 
"  Boston,  Kebruary  4,  1814.  " 

■"The  gaining  of  this  important  post  took  up  a  considerable  lime, 
"which  Wiis  prolonged  by  the  enemy's  still  supporting  a  broken  ami 
"scattered  engagement,  in  defence  of  the  adjoining  walls  and  hedges." 
[/.-nres .■"]—( '/'/('•  AuHual  Wijistrr  for  177G,  History  of  Kurope,  *I7«.) 

Thf  lIMorij  of  the  War  in  .iiifrica,  Kdit.  Dublin,  177!),  (i.,  lU.') ;)  (ior- 
don's  Hvilorii  of  Ihr  Ano  riran  It'  i  nhilion,  (ii.,  341  ;)  and  others,  also,  bear 
testimony  to  the  gallantvy  of  the  .\nuTican  troops. 

.  .  "our  Troops  made  as  good  a  Stand  a.s  could  be  expecteil  and 
"did  not  quit  the  Ground,  till  they  came  to  push  their  Itayonets."— 
Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghmnn  to  his  Father,  "  WniTE-Pi  Aixs,  31st  October, 
"1776." 

'Letter  to  a  Gentlemen  in  Annapolis,  dated  "White-Plains,  October  29, 
"  1770,"  published  in  The  Pfnnsyltania  Journal,  No.  1771,  I'iiilaiiel- 
PHIA,  Wednesday,  November  13,  17711. 

'*Oiir  own  knowledge  of  tbi'  ground  and  its  approaches  enable<l  us  to 
make  the  statement  which  appears  in  the  text ;  and,  by  a  reference  to  .4 
Plan  of  the  Oamtry  from  Frogs  I'oint  to  Croton  liirt-r,  the  ri*ader  may 
see  the  evidence  of  the  accuracy  of  that  statement. 

I"  Ij-Uer  from  the  While  Vlitins,  dated  October  '28,  177G.  at  two  o'clock, 
P.M.,  published  in  7'he  Pennsyhunia  Evening  Pout,  Vol.  II.,  No.  a78, 
'  Philaoeli'IIIA,  Thursday,  October  31,  1776,  and  in  The  Pennnylvania 
Journal,  No.  1770,  Piiii.ai>ei.i-hia,  Wednesday,  November  C,  1776. 

"  Memoirs  of  Major-general  Heath,  79. 

See,  also,  WUIiam  Jhn-rimn  to  the  Maryland  Council  of  Softly,  "(Jeokok- 
"town,  Kent-coi  ntv,  '28  November,  1776." 

'2  Colonel  Hadel  to  General  C»'ar  Rodney,  '  November  12." 

Letter  to  a  l^entlmtan  in  .4(*m«^(o/(j*,  dated  "  White-Plains,  October  29 
"  1776  ;"  published  in  The  Pinnsytranin  J'airnal,  No.  1771,  Philadel- 
phia, Wednesday.  November  13,  1776. 

M  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  79. 

General  Howe,  in  his  despatch  to  Lord  lieorge  (iermaine,  dated  '•  New  - 
"  York,  30  November,  1776,"  stated  that,  after  the  engagement,  "  the 
"  Hessian  (Jrenadiers,"  [those  who  had  assaulted  the  l^ft  of  the  Ami  ricaus,] 
"  were  ordered  forward,  upon  the  heights,  within  cannon-sliot  of  the 
"entreuchiiients,  the  Bronx,  from  its  winding  course,  being slill  between 


444 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


prepared  his  dinner,  for  the  purpose  of  doing  which 
he  tore  down  and  burned  a  barn  which  belonged  to 
John  Hunt,  on  property,  on  the  western  portion  of 
the  hill,  which,  in  our  younger  days,  belonged  to  his 
two  sons,  Thomas  and  Jacob  Hunt.  ' 

The  strength  of  the  Americans,  under  General 
Spencer,  who  were  engaged  on  the  Plain  ;  who  were 
alarmed  at  either  the  Hessians  or  the  Light  Dragoons ; 
and  who  fled,  over  the  river  and  far  away,  among  the 
hills  of  Greenburgh,  was,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
not  far  from  twenty-five  hundred  elfective  Officers  and 
Privates:  that  of  the  Regiments  who  composed  the 
force  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  who  defended  the  position, 
and  who  were  really  the  heroes  of  the  day,  exclusive 
of  the  Company  of  Artillery,  who  rendered  no  effect- 
ive service,  was  not  far  from  seventeen  hundred  eftect- 


"  them  and  the  enemy's,"  [(fce  Americriu's.]  "  riglit  flank;  the  Second 
"  Brigade  of  British,"  [thnse  ir?io  had  asstiuUed  thv  fronts  of  the  right  and 
centre  of  the  Americans,]  "formed  in  tlie  rear  of  the  Hessian  Grena- 
"diers;  and  the  two  Brigades  of  Hessians,  on  the  left  of  the  Second 
"  Brigade,  with  their  left  upon  the  road  leading  from  Tarrj-town  to  the 
"White  Plains" — that  is  to  s-iy,  the  entire  force,  on  the  western  hank  of 
the  Bronx,  was  moveil  northward,  until  its  left  was  above  that  oUl  road, 
still  continued,  which  extends  from  the  bridge,  near  the  railroad-station, 
westward,  over  Chatterton's-hill. 

1  Information  conmiunicated  to  us,  persi>nally,  more  than  tliirty  years 
since,  by  the  two  gentlemen  named,  who,  then,  were  our  near  neighbors 
and  personal  friends. 

2  The  Helnrus  of  t>ie  Eillfil,  Wounded,  mid  Missing,  in  each  of  the 
several  Regiments  who  had  formeil  that  bashful  detachment  leave  no 
room  for  doubt  concerning  tlie  Regiments  of  whom  it  was  really 
composed— indeed,  there  may  Iiave  been  otliei-s  whose  modesty  forbade 
the  making  of  any  such  Returns,  and  who  have  tliereby  escaped  our 
notice. 

The  Regiments  of  whom  we  find  mention,  as  we  have  already  stated, 
were  those  conmianded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Silliman,  Seldeu,  Sage, 
and  Douglass  (the  latter  commanded  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Arnold,)  all 
belonging  to  the  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Wadsworth  ;  the  Regi- 
ment commanded  by  Colonel  Chester,  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by 
Colonel  Sargent ;  the  Regiments  commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels 
Baldwin,  Douglass,  and  Lieutenant  colonel  Ely,  of  the  Brigade  com- 
manded by  General  Saltonstall ;  and  the  Regiments  commanded,  respec- 
tively, by  Colonels  Holmau  and  Smith,  of  the  Brigade  commanded  by 
General  Fellows— all  of  them  New  Englanders  and  some  of  them 
experts  in  running,  as  was  shown  at  Kip's-bay,  in  the  preceding  Sep- 
tember. 

The  Returns  of  the  strength  of  each  of  those  several  Regiments,  on 
the  twenty-first  of  September,  on  the  fifth  of  October,  and  on  the  third 
of  November, — the  last,  five  days  after  the  action, — were  as  follows  : 


September  21. 


Regiments. 

ic 
O 

3 

1 

a 

land. 

JS 

Vile. 

Q 

9* 

s 

1  Com.  0 

« 

Non-coi 

Fit  for 

Sick,  pi 

Sick,  a 

s 

o 

o 

c 

o 

1  Furlovi 

Tot 
Rank  an 

Colonel  SilHman's  

26 

4 

47 

194 

57 

81 

60 

392 

30 

4 

45 

271 

46 

116 

52 

485 

33 

4 

44 

217 

54 

142 

65 

487 

104 

149 

4 

47 

262 

38 

1 

554 

25 

5 

38 

225 

147 

19 

77 

468 

Lt.-Col.  Ely's  

'  76 

'46 

344 

102 

"  72 

591 

Colonel  Smith's  

35 

6 

48 

336 

85 

76 

46 

543 

•• 

ive  Officers  and  Privates. '  The  strength  of  all  the 
force  which  was  directed  against  that  feeble  body  of 
men  cannot  be  definitely  ascertained,  since  the  Hes- 
sian Artillerists,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river, 
whose  fire  was,  certainly,  to  some  extent,  effective, 
were  clearly  as  much  a  portion  of  that  antagonistic 
force  as  those  who  crossed  the  river  and  assaulted  the 
position  or  as  those  who  charged  on  the  right  flank  of 
thestruggling  Americans,  and  assisted  in  driving  them 
from  the  hill.  Besides  those  Hessian  Artillerists,  there 
were  four  Regiments  of  British  troops,  commanded 
by  General  Leslie ;  the  Hessian  Regiment,  probably 
from  Colonel  Donop's  command,  who  occupied  the 
place  of  danger  and  honor,  as  the  forlorn-hope;  the 
three  Regiments  of  Hessians,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Rail ;  and  the  four  or  five  Regiments  of  Hessians, 


October  5. 


Regiments. 

Com.  Officers. 

Non-c<mi.  Off. 

Fit  for  Duty. 

Sick,  present. 

c 

a, 

<« 

a 

!S 

c 

S 

o 

o 
a 
O 

•n 

V 

J3 
U> 

.£ 

"H 
p: 

Colonel  Silliman'8  

24 

2 

47 

152 

83 

105 

49 

389 

Colonel  Selden'K  

3(1 

4 

45 

24(1 

73 

107 

73 

476 

Colonel  Sage's  

32 

4 

45 

162 

194 

155 

62 

494 

22 

3 

49 

liOl 

62 

120 

93 

476 

( 'olonel  *'hester's  

31 

4 

4.1 

2()2 

123 

23 

133 

'  2 

,-.43 

(Colonel  lialdwin's  

28 

37 

234 

122 

34 

74 

464 

24 

4 

41 

144 

24 

5 

17 

190 

Lieut. -Col.  Ely's  

30 

3 

39 

219 

6 

27 

9 

•  2- 

263 

('olonel  liolnian's  

34 

47 

286 

148 

70 

85 

589 

35 

5 

48 

327 

90 

.  '* 

48 

r-39 

Total  

29(1 

39 

443 

2227 

925 

720 

643 

4 

4423 

November  3. 


Regiments. 

Com.  Officers. 

Non-com.  Off. 

1  Fit  for  Duty. 

c 

a 
it 

Xl 

Sick,  absent. 

On  Command. 

V 

£ 

c 

_i 

Total, 
Offl's  and  men. 

(loloncl  .''illiman's .  .  . 

14 

2(- 

140 

18 

160 

58 

376 

418 

Colonel  Seidell's.  .  ,  . 

15 

I 

27 

224 

42 

142 

69 

477 

521 

15 

46 

170 

72 

185 

61 

478 

541 

Colonel  Douglass's.  .  . 

19 

4 

37 

228 

36 

128 

72 

'  1 

465 

525 

Colonel  Chester's  .  .  . 

4 

■m 

234 

107 

41 

135 

3 

52(1 

558 

Colonel  Baldwin's  .  .  . 

27 

3 

44 

288 

50 

32 

56 

426 

500 

Colonel  Dougliiss's.  .  . 

21 

4 

35 

56 

41 

25 

22 

'  1 

145 

205 

Lieut. -Col.  Ely's  .  .  . 

29 

3 

38 

119 

53 

57 

IS 

247 

317 

Colonel  Holman's  .  .  . 

22 

4 

29 

306 

102 

84 

80 

.572 

627 

Colonel  Smith's.  .  .  . 

13 

5 

36 

311 

51 

116 

52 

53(1 

584 

184 

33 

343 

2076 

572 

970 

613 

5 

4236 

4796 

It  will  be  seen  that  five  hundred  and  sixty  Officers,  Staff,  non-commis- 
.Moned  Officers  and  Musicians,  and  two  thousand  and  seventy-si.x  Pri- 
vates, present  and  fit  for  duty,  survived  the  hazards  of  the  engagement, 
and  had  returned  to  the  Camp,  five  days  after  the  Battle  ;  and  the  reader 
will  readily  perceive  that  our  estimate  of  the  effective  strength  of  the 
detachment  on  the  occasion  under  consideration,  is  a  reasonable  one, 
sustained  as  it  is  by  the  contemporary  statement  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
Tilghman,  one  of  the  Aides  of  General  Washington,  (,LeUcr  to  hit  father, 
"  WniTK-pL.M.vs,  31"  October,  177C;")  and  by  that  of  Brigade-major 
Tallmadge,  of  General  Wadsworth's  Brigade,  himself  a  participant  in  the 
affair  on  the  Plain  and  in  the  discreditable  retreat,  {Memoir  of  Vohnel 
Benjamin  Tallmadge,  prepared  by  himself,  13;)  for  both  of  which  see 
pages  43f>,  437,  ante. 

1  The  Returns  of  the  strength  of  these  several  Regiments,  on  the 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


445 


coiiimauded  by  Colonel  Doiiop,  each  or  all  of  whom 
could  not  have   contained  less  than  six  hundred 


twoiity  fiiist  of  Septeinlier,  the  fifth  of  October,  ami  on  the  third  of 
November— tlio  last,  five  days  after  the  Battle, — were  as  follows; 


September  21. 


Re^iiiieiitn. 

£ 

y 

3 

Staff. 

Non  com. 
Officers. 

Fit  for  Duty. 

o 

it 
u 
(O 

Sick,  absent. 

■0 

a 

S 

3 

a 
0 

•d 
& 
.a 

,3 
3 

1       Total,  1 
Rank  and  File.' 

Colonel  Smallwood's  .  .  . 
Colonel  Uitzenia's  

Late  Col.  McDoucars  1 
First  New-York  Reg't.  | 
Colonel  Webb's  

41 
•16 
■i'i 

*2r> 
l:i 

3 
5 

5 
2 

48 
33 
41 

20 

2r) 

427 

265 
435 

215 

219 

39 
22 

■49 

89 

294 
611 
125 

44 

38 

80 
66 
8 

79 

192 

'  4 

2 

840 
417 

568 

387 
540 

137 

20 

167 

1561 

199 

501 

425 

6 

2752 

Octobei 

Regiments. 

t 

9 

£ 

iB 

cd 
Si 

Non-com. 
Officers. 

Fit  for  Duty. 

a 
« 

2 
if 
oS 

■a 

1 

On  Command. 

Furlougbed. 

Total, 
Rank  and  File,  t 

Colonel  Brooks's  

Colonel  SumllwoiHl's .  .  .  . 
Colonel  Rit/.eina's  

Late  (;ol.  MeDouKal's  ) 
First  New- York  Keg't.  J  ' 
Colonel  Webb's  

t 

ru 

18 
27 

14 

9 

'  5 
3 
4 

5 

3 

.  . 

49 

28 
34 

19 

21 

322 
217 
38.T 

1.53 

185 

190 
34 
0 

30 

90 

191 
57 
149 

67 

40 

'  71 

72 
29 

78 

210 

-6 

2 

774 

381! 
.'>09 

328 

533 

99 

20 

161 

1'262 

350 

504 

400 

•2590 

Novemlier  3. 


Regiments. 

[  Com.  Officers. 
Staff. 

Non-com. 
Officers. 

[  Fit  for  Duty. 

I  Sick,  present,  j 

Sick,  Rbsen 

■0 
s 

d 

s 
s 

0 

0 
c 

0 

Furlougbed.  | 

ToUiI, 
Rank  and  File. 

•£  1 
ll 

CH  as 

Colonel  Brooks's  .  .  . 
Colonel  Smallwood's  . 
Colonel  Rit/.eiiia's.  .  . 
Colonel  Haslet's  .  .  . 
Late  Col.  MoDougal's  \ 
Ist  New- York  Reg't.  §  J 
Colonel  Webb's .... 

30  5 
301  8 
21;  4 
13  3 

2li  5 

16  3 

.50 
37 
27 
21 

19 

27 

340 
298 
198 
273 

142 

191 

81 
84 
12 
26 

22 

73 

46 
354 

61 
228 

76 

46 

'  .57 
61 
21 

13 

208 

19 
1 
10 

1 
9 

40 

480 
794 
342 
548 

254 

527 

2951 

571 
809 
394 
585 

299 

573 

3291 

Total  

131  28 

181  1442 

298 

811 

360 

It  will  be  seen  that  three  hundred  and  forty  Officers,  Staff,  non-com- 
missioned Othcers,  and  Jlusicians,  and  one  thousand,  four  hundred,  and 
forty-two  Private^*,  present  and  fit  for  duty,  survived  the  Battle,  and,  five 
days  after  that  event,  were  returned  as  effective.  The  losses  which  they 
ha«l  sustained,  in  the  action,  and  the  probable  alisence  of  some,  on  that 
occasion,  must  be  taken  into  the  account;  and  we  believe  that  the  num- 
ber of  Officei-s  and  Privates  who  were  actually  engaged  was  about  that 
which  we  have  stated  in  the  text. 

Gordon,  {Hitbiry  of  the  American  Kevolution,  ii.,  341,)  reduced  the  nuin 


*  Not,  then,  in  the  service. 

t  "  General  Lincoln's  Militia  from  Massachusetts,  so  scattered  and 
"  ignorant  of  the  forms  of  Returns,  that  none  can  be  got." 

t  In  the  original  Eetnnu,  the  total  of  Rank  and  File  is  stated  at  836 : 
we  have  lieeii  unable  to  ascertain  where  the  error  in  the  details,  is. 

I  In  the  original  Kelurns.  the  total  of  Rank  and  File  is  stated  at  314  : 
We  have  been  unable  to  ascert.tin  where  the  error  in  the  details,  is. 


OlHcei's  and  Privates,  making  an  aggregate  of  about 
seven  thousand,  five  hundred  efl'ective  men. ' 

The  loss  sustained  by  the  Americans  was  not  as 
great  as  was,  at  first,  supposed  ' — the  return  to  the 
Camp  of  the  greater  number  of  the  fugitive  New  Eiig- 
landers  reduced  the  supj)0.sed  losses  from  "  between 
"  four  or  five  hundred  in  killed,  wounded,  and  misa- 
"  ing,"  which  was  the  first  estimate,  to  twenty-two 
killed,  twenty-four  wounded,  and  one  missing,  in  the 
detachment  commanded  by  General  Spencer;^  and, 
exclusive  of  the  losses  sustained  by  the  Regiments 
commanded,  respectively,  by  Colonels  Haslet  and 
Brooks,  of  which  no  Returns  have  been  found,  the  loss 
of  those  who  were  on  the  top  of  the  hill  and  who 
fought  the  battle,  was  two  Captains,  four  Sergeants, 
one  Corporal,  and  eighteen  Privates,  killed;  one  Col- 
onel, three  Lieutenants,  one  Ensign,  four  Sergeants, 
and  forty-three  Privtites,  wounded ;  and  sixteen  Pri- 


ber  of  those  who  remained,  after  the  Militia  had  given  way,  to  8i.\  hun- 
dred men;  Chief-justice  Marshall,  (Ilistonj  «/  George  Wusltingttm,  ii., 
502,)  and  Doctor  Sparks.  (Lift-  of  General  M'ushiiiijlwt,  190,)  each  with  the 
papers  of  General  Washington  before  him,  statcil  the  force  under  Gen- 
eral McDoiigal  was  "about  sixteen  hundred"  men. 

1  General  Howe  was  silent  concerning  the  iiunuM'ical  strengtli  of  the 
force  which  he  had  thus  employed  ;  and  none  of  the  British  authori- 
ties were  any  more  coniinuuicative.  Stediiian,  however,  {Hislonj  of  the 
American  War,  i.,  215,)  clearly  intimated  that  tiic  force  which  was  re- 
quired to  take  and  occupy  Chatterton's-hill,  when  diverted  for  that 
purpose,  so  greatly  weakened  the  Royal  .\rniy,  then  on  the  White 
Plains,  that  "  it  was  obvious  that  the  latter  could  no  longer  ex|)ediently 
"attempt  anything  against  the  enemy's"  [ftie  Amerintnx' \ main 
"  body." 

W'e  may  be  allowed  to  s;iy,  ill  this  connection,  that  the  practise  of 
that  period,  in  making  mention  of  the  strength  of  detachnieiits  or  of  that 
of  the  Army  itself,  was  to  include  only  the  Rank  and  Kile,  excluding 
the  Commissioned  Officers,  the  Staff,  and  the  11011-comnilssioiied  Officers, 
all  of  them,  to  some  extent,  at  least,  effective  fighting  men. 

'-'  Compare  the  letter  from  Colonel  Robert  H.  Harrison,  the  Secretary 
of  General  Washington,  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  dated  "  White- 
"  Pl.vi.vs,  29  October,  1770,"  with  General  Washington's  letter  to  the 
same,  dated  "  White-Plains,  0  November,  1770,"  in  the  latter  of  which 
he  Sitid,  "I  am  happy  to  inform  yon,  that,  in  the  engagement  on  Mon- 
'•  day  se'nniglit,  1  have  reason  to  believe  our  loss  was,  by  no  means,  so 
"  considerable  as  wiis  conjectured,  at  fii'st." 

See,  also.  Colonel  Robert  H.  Hurrison^s  letter  to  Governor  TnimbtiU, 
"White-Plains,  November  0,  1770;"  llie  same  to  Governor  Cmike, 
"  WiiiTE-Pl..4iNS,  November  G,  1770;  "  etc. 

'  The  following  table  will  show  the  losses  which  were  sustained  by  each 
of  the  several  Regiments  who  composed  that  tietachment  : 


Killed. 

Wounded. 

Miasg. 

Regiments. 

m 

_. 

« 
U 

rivatei 

p 

B. 

X 

a 

s 

_. 

rivatei 

•ivates 

% 

£ 

CO 

w 

C/J 

d 

a. 

1 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

6 

1 

t 

9 

C^ilonel  Chester's  

I 

3 

1 

1 

Colonel  Ilolnian's     .  ... 

1 

8 

Colonel  Smith's  

1 

•  i 

1 

ToUl  

3 

1 

18 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

!_ 

n! 

446 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


vates,  missing' — among  those  who  were  killed  were 
Captains  Bracco  and  Scott,  of  Colonel  Smallwood's 
Regiment;  and,  among  those  who  were  wounded,  were 
Colonel  Smallwood  and  Lieutenants  Goldsmith  and 
Waters,  of  the  same  Regiment.  ^  General  Howe  re- 
ported to  the  Home  Government,  evidently  including 
all  who  were  captured  in  Westch ester-county,  that 
one  Captain,  two  Lieutenants,  one  Quarter-master, 
and  thirty-five  Privates  were  taken,  "October  12 — 
"White  Plains;"''  but  we  have  no  means  for  ascer- 
taining who  of  these  were  taken  prisoners  on  the 
twenty-eighth  of  October.  The  loss  sustained  by  the 
Second  Brigade  of  British  troops,  commanded  by  Gen- 
eral Leslie, was  Lieutenant-colonel  Carr,Captains  Deer- 
ing  and  Gore,  Lieutenant  Jocelyn,  Ensign  Eagle,  oiu 
Sergeant,  and  twenty-nine  Rank  and  File,*  killed; 
Lieutenant-colonel  Walcott,'' Captain  Fitzgerald,  Cap- 
tain-lieutenant Ma.ssey,*  Lieutenants  Taylor,  Banks, 
and  Roberts,  twelve  Sergeants,  and  one  hundred  and 
two  Rank  and  File, '  wounded  ;  and  two  Rank  and 
File,  *  missing. '    The  three  Regiments  composing  the 


1  The  I'olluwiiig  table  will  sliuw  the  losses  which  were  sustained  by  each 
of  the  several  Regiments  whu  were  posted  on  the  hill. 


Reginient.s. 

Killed. 

'Wounded. 

Missing. 

1  Lieut.  1 

1  Ensign.  { 

■(* 

at 
CO 

1  Corporal. 

1  Privates. 

1  Colonel. 

1  Captain. 

1  Lieut. 

1  Ensign. 

X 

S; 
u 
« 

CO 

Corporals. 

1  Privates. 

Officers. 

m 

<u 
% 

G 
6 

4 

16 

Colonel  Brook.s'.s  *  .  .  . 
Colonel  Smallwood's .  . 

Late  Col.  Mi'DongarsI 
First    New- York  V 
Resj't  J 

■2 

3 
1 

1 

7 
9 

2 

1 

2 
1 

1 

3 

25 
10 

8 

Total,  as  far  as  reported 

2 

4 

1 

18 

1 

• 

•■5 

I 

4 

43 

Doctor  Pine,  in  bis  letter  to  .lames  Tilghman,  dated  "Cami'.*t  thi: 
"  White-Pi.ains,  November  7,  1770,"  Said,  "  the  number  of  killed  and 
"wounded,  us  the  report  is,  in  the  Camp,  amounts  only  to  about  ninety  ; 
"  but  from  the  wounded  1  saw,  myself,  in  the  hospital  and  adjacent 
"  houses,  there  must,  at  leimt,  be  an  hundred  and  thirty  wounded.  The 
"  number  of  killed  I  don't  know." 

-  Letter  lo  a  Geiilkman  in  .1  i/Hap"Jis,  dated  "  Wiiite-Pi.ains,  October  2'', 
"  1770;"  imblished  in  Tlie  IVtiMi/lnwin  Journal,  fSo.  1771,  Phii.adei.- 
iMiiA,  Wednesday,  November  1776,  and  in  Force's  American  Arckivrn, 
v.,  ii.,  V^M;  LU  nteiiant-culonel  Gift  Ut  the  Mitrtjland  Council  of  Safetff, 
"Camp  befokk  the  White-Pi.ains,  2  November,  177G  ;  "  etc. 

^  Return  of  Prisoners  lal  en  during  (/ic  Oimpat'jii,  1776,  signed  by  "  Jos- 
"  Loring,  Commissary  of  Prisoners,"  appended  to  (Jeueral  Howe's  de- 
spatch to  Lord  tieoige  Germaine,  dated  "  New-Yukk,  3  December,  1776." 

■•In  General  Leslie's  Return,  the  killed  were  stated  to  have  been  only 
twenty-two  Rank  and  File. 

In  General  Leslie's  Return,  no  mention  wa-s  made  of  a  Field-officer  of 
the  Fifth  Regiment  having  been  wounded. 

In  General  Leslie's  Return  of  (tjlieers  wounded,  Captain  Mafisey's  name 
is  amon^  those  of  the  Lieutenants,  although  the  tabular  statement  re- 
turns him  !\s  a  Captain,  in  which  it  agrees  with  General  Howe's  Report. 
He  wai*  a  Captain-Lieutenant. 

'  In  General  Leslie's  Return,  the  wounded  were  slated  to  have  num- 
bered one  hundred  and  twelve  Rank  and  File. 

8  In  General  Leslie's  Return,  no  mention  was  made  of  any  missing  Rank 
and  File. 

'  In  this  statement,  we  have  followed  General  Howe's  Return  of  Com- 
*  No  Returns  from  these  Regiments  have  been  found. 


Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  Rail  sustained  a  loss 
of  eight  Rank  and  File,  killed  ;  Lieutenant  Muhlhau- 
sen,  one  Sergeant,  and  forty-four  Rank  and  File, 
wounded;  and  one  horse,  killed.  The  Regiment  of 
Chasseurs  and  the  four  Regiments  of  Grenadiers — 
one  of  them,  probably,  the  half-drowned  forlorn-ho])e 
— composing  the  Brigade  commanded  by  Colonel 
Donop,  sustained  a  loss  of  four  Rank  and  File,  killed  ; 
Captain  De  Westerhagen,  Lieutenant  De  Rau,  and 
fourteen  Rank  and  File,  wounded  ;  and  two  Rank  and 
File,  missing. "' 

As  far  as  our  knowledge  of  it  extends,  history  is 
wholly  silent,  concerning  the  influences  which  con- 
trolled General  Washington  and  concerning  the  ob- 
jects which  he  had  in  view,  when  he  determined  to 
occui)y  Chatterton's-hill,  with  so  large  a  projjortion 
of  his  already  feeble  and  uncertain  Army,  including 
three  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best  three,  of  his  Regi- 
ments;" and,  especially,  at  a  later  hour,  when,  at 
a  critical  moment  and  in  the  face  of  an  overwhelming 
enemy,  he  determined,  also,  to  strengthen  the  force 
whom  he  had  already  sent,  and  to  hold  the  position, 
at  all  hazards,  sending,  for  those  purposes,  another 
very  strong  detachment  of  those  troops  in  whom  he 
reposed  his  greatest  confidence,  as  soldiers,  and  whom 
he  could  ill-spare  from  the  insutHciently  manned  lines 
which  he,  himself,  was  then  occupying. 

At  best,  Chatterton's-hill,  at  that  time,  was  an  iso- 
lated position  ;  beyond  the  American  lines  ;  too  dis- 
tant to  be  supported  from  the  main  body,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  enemy  occupying  the  Plains,  unless  in 
force  and  at  great  risk  ;  with  no  line  of  communica- 
tion with  the  main  body,  which  was  not  commanded 
by  the  enemy;  and  with  no  opening  for  a  retreat  of 
the  occupying  force,  in  case  of  a  disaster,  unless  to 
the  westward,  into  the  neighboring  hills  of  Green- 
burgh,  which  were  already  occupied  by  the  fugitive 
New  Englanders  whom  General  Spencer  had  at- 
tempted to  command.  It  could  hardly  be  considered, 
therefore,  with  any  degree  of  propriety,  as  anything 
else  than  a  detached  and  indei)endent  position,  form- 

misHioned  and  Xon-evnuuisKioned  ({[Heerf,  Rank  and  File,  Kdled,  Wuuuded, 
and  MinrtuKj,  etc.,  appendeil  to  his  despatch  to  Lord  George  Germaine, 
ilated  "New-York,  3  December,  1776."  We  have  compared  it  with  the 
Return  of  the  Killed  and  Wounded  of  the  Second  Brigade,  etc.,  made  \>\ 
General  Leslie  ;  and  find  tliat,  although  the  details  of  the  cla.ssifications 
differ,  the  aggregate  of  the  British  loss  is  the  same — one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  Officers  and  Men. 

General  Hoire's  Return  of  Commisttioned  and  Xoti-cnmmmtoned  (tffieerA, 
Rank  and  File,  Killed,  Wounded,  and  Missing,  appended  to  his  despatch 
to  Lord  George  Germaine,  dated  "New-York,  3  December,  1776." 

It  is  i)roper  for  us  to  say,  however,  that  that  Return  induiled  al! 
the  losses  sustained  by  the  Regiments  referred  to,  from  the  nineteenth  to 
the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  both  these  dates  included  ;  and  it  is  possi- 
ble, therefore,  that  some  of  the  casualties  named  in  the  text  were  sus- 
tained elsewhere  than  on  or  near  Chatterton's-hill.  We  have  no  means 
for  ascertaining  their  exact  losses,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  October. 

11  We  are  not  insensible  tliat  Stedman,  in  his  History  of  the  American 
War,  (i.,  214,)  said  "the  reason  of  their  "  [the  Americans,]  "occupying 
"  this  posture,"  [on  Chatterton's-hill,]  "  is  inexplicable,  unless  it  be  that 
"  they  could  not  be  contained  within  the  works  of  their  Camp;"  but 
the  reason  assigned  was  too  evidently  ridiculous  to  be  regarded  with  the 
slightest  respect. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


447 


iiig  no  portion  of  the  Aiiu'rioau  lines  ;   and  nothing 
else  thiui  a  supposition,  on  the  part  of  (roneral  Wash- 
ington's advisers  anil  on  that  of  the  (Jeneral  himself, 
thai  the  continued  ()eeu[)alion  of  it  was  absolutely  es- 
sential to  the  safety  of  the  main  body,  in  the  position 
whieh  it  then  occupied,  could  possibly  have  led  him 
to  make  such  a  costly  and  hazardous  experiment,  un- 
der tiie  existing  circumstances  and  in  the  iramediati 
presence  of  such  an  overwhelming  enemy,  as  the  con- 
tinued occupation  and  defence  of  Chatterton's-hill. 
But  (reneral  Washington  had  evidently  planned  bet- 
ter than  he  knew  ;   and,  in  the  proviilence  of  (Jod, 
sonic  results  which  were  more   beneficial    to  the 
Americans  than  any  which  he  had  conceived  and 
ho[)ed  for,  were   niupiestionably  derived  from  thai 
seemingly  unpromising  experiment  of  occupying  and 
holding  tiiat  exceedingly  exposed  position,  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Bronx;  among  which  result-*,  in 
America,  we  may  mention  the  effect  of  that  occupa- 
tion, as  an  apparent  menace  against  the  left  Hank  and 
rear  of  the  Royal  Army,  in  whatever  movement  that 
Army,  under  (Jeneral  Howe,  should  make  against  the 
American  lines;  tlie  delay  in  that  evidently  projected 
movement  of  the  Royal  Army,  to  enable  its  command- 
ing (xcneral  to  remove  what  ajtpeared  to  have  been  a 
dangerous  element  from  Chatterton's-hill — a  delay 
whieh  enabled  the  Americans  to  strengthen  their  de- 
fensive works  and  to  become  better  prep.ared  for  de- 
fending them,  whenever  the  Royal  Army  should  move 
against  them  ; — and  the  reduction  of  that  great  Army, 
which  was,  then,  in  front  of  the  American  lines,  and 
ready  to  move  against  them,  for  the  purpose  of  assault- 
ing the  Americans  who  had  occupied  the  hill  as  well 
for  that  of  holding  the  hill,  subsequently,  which  re- 
duction of  the  strength  of  his  main  body  compelled 
General  Howe  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of  reinforcements, 
to  abandon  his  intention  to  assault  the  works  which 
sheltered  the  main  body  of  the  American  Army,  and, 
finally,  to  retire  from  Westchester-county — the  first- 
mentioned   of  which   consequences   aflbrding  still 
further  time  and  opportunities  to  General  Washing- 
ton and  his  feeble  command  :  the  latter  two  afibrding  to 
the  Americans,  everywhere,  the  tclat,  as  well  as  some 
of  the  advantages,  of  better  generalship  and  of  conse- 
quent success.    All  these,  among  other  not  much  less- 
important  results,  although  they  were  probably  hid- 
den from  General  ^\'ashington,  when  he  devised  and 
ordered  the  movement,  were,  unquestionably,  among 
the  residts,  in  America,  of  that  "  inexplicable  "  occu- 
pation of  Chatterton's-hill,  on  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-eighth  of  October,  ITTli:  with  the  results,  in 
Europe,  of  that  occupation,  we  have  nothing  to  do,  in 
this  place.' 


'  In  our  preparation  nf  tliis  ileiicriptinn  of  the  engagement  on  Chatter- 
toii's-liill,  j;<  niT,il!y  calked  "  Tiik  Batti.k  "F  Wiiitk-Pi.mns,"  \vc  have 
exaiiiini-<l  and  useil  Th.-  biiinj  of  Ihirld  Huir  ;  the  Letter  from  the  W  hite 
Ptaiiw,  daK-d  October28,  ITTfi,  piiblisbedin  The  Veiiniujlcanvi  Joiinuil,  No. 
ITTit,  PiiiLADELPiii.\,  Wednee<la)-,  November  6,  ITTti  ;  the  I.'-Uer/roiii  the 
H7u7c-r(uiii>,  dated  Orlober  28,  ITTC,  at  two  o'l  lotk,  P.M.,  piiblUhed  in 


As  we  have  elsewhere  stated,  theadvancing  columns 
of  the  Royal  Army  had  been  formed,  in  line,  with  the 
Right  resting  on  the  road  leading  from  the  White 
Plains  to  Mamaroneck,  and  the  Left  resting  on  the 


The  I'eniisi/leiiiiiit  Kreiiiiuj  Post,  Vol.  II.,  No.  278,  I'liii.ADKi.i'iiiA,  Thurs- 
day, Octolter  :U,  I77(>,  and  in  The  PeuufylvauUi  Joimutl,  No.  1770,  Piiii.A- 
OEi.piiiA,  November  (i,  177<i  ;  theX.«//er  of  (,'olotiel  Itnbert  II.  Ilai-rimti  to 
tUe  rresUleiil  of  the  Cuiiij}  ess,  dated  "  WniTK-l'l.AINS,  October  29,1771; ; "' 
Ihe  Letter  tt>  a  Geidli  iiHin  in  Aninipoliii,  dated  "  WlIiTE-I'l.AINS,  October 
*'2U,  1770,"  published  in  The  Peinis/iletinia  Jounud,  No.  1771,  Phii.ahki.- 
I'HIA,  Wednewlay,  Novonibei- 177(>  ;  the  Letter  from  (he  Cumii,  dated 
Will iK-l'i.AiNs,  October2i),  177ti,  published  in  The  Fnemati'sJouniiit,  «r 
I  Seir  Ilmniishiie  Ga.-.ille,\ul.  I.,  No.  26,  I'oKTSMorTIl,  Tuesday,  Novem- 
ber T.',  1771;  ;  Geiieriil  (irder  of  the  Armij,  in  the  case  of  ('olouel  Webb, 
'•  HKAn-gi'Ain'Kits,  Wiin  K-I'i.AiNS,  October  2'.l,  1770;"  Lieutenant  entotn  l 
Tihjhmnn's  letter  to  iVillium  l>Mr,  dated  "  IlEAD-yUAItTBKs,  WiiriE- 
"  I'l.Ai.vs,  October  29,  177G ;  "  the  same  to  his  fiilher,  dated  "WiilTE- 
"  Plains,  October  :!1,  17711;"  the  Letter /mm  Stnm/onl,  dated  October 
30,  1770,  published  in  The  tVeenuin''8  Jonrnnl,  or  New-fiittnpshire  Gazette, 
Vol.  I.,  No.  2.''>,  I'oiiTs.McPi'Tii,  Tuesday,  November  12,  17711 ;  the  Letter  of 
Colonel  Hohert  H.  Iliirrisou  In  Ccnerol  Schinjler,  •' WiiiTE-Pl.AiNs,  Novem- 
"berl,  1770;"  the  Letter  from  n  Genlleninn  in  the  ,\rm;i,  ilateil  "  ('ami- 

"  NEAK  THE  M1I.I..S  AllOl'T  TIIHEE  .MILES   NoRTU   OE  THE   WlllTE  PLAINS, 

"November  1,  177(1,"  published  in  The  I'enusijlennoi  Erening  I'nsl,  Vol.  II., 
No.  2SI>,  PiiiLAPELi'iliA,  Tliiirsday,  November  14,  177(1,  in  Force's  .Imcr- 
iciiu  .{rehires,  V.,  iii.,  471-474,  and,  in  a  mutilated  form,  in  Kiauk  Moore's 
liitirij  of  the  .{mericiin  Herolnlion,  i.,  ^IJ.'i-lW?  ;  Colonel  Robert  II.  llarrison^s 
letter  to  Gorernor  Trnnihnll,  dated  "  Wiiite-Plaixs,  November  2,  177(1  ; '' 
Lientenont-rolonel  Titijhinnn's  letter  to  WiIWdii  Dner,  dated  "Head  yi  All- 
"tkr.«,  near  White-Plains,  November  2,  177(i;"  Colonel  Gist's  letter 
lo  the  Manjluid  Conniil  of  t>iifetij,  date<l  "Camp  before  the  White- 
"  Plains,  2  November,  1770  ;  "  Generol  \i'(ishin<iton's  letter  lo  Ike  I'resi- 
>Unl  of  the  CoH'jriss,  ilaled  "White-Plains,  November  0,  1770  ;"  Ciiloiiel 
Hobert  II.  Harrison's  teller  to  Gorernnr  Trninbull,  dalefl  "  White-Plains, 
"November  (;,  1770;''  Colonel  Haslel's  letter  to  General  Ciesar  Hotlneij, 
dated  November  12,  1770  ;''  Dnelor  Pine's  tetter  to  James  Til(/hnian, 
dated  "Camp  at  the  White-Plains,  November  7,  177'j;"  General 
Howe's  (lenpaleh  to  h>ril  Geortje  Germaine,  fiiiteil  "  New-Yokk,  November 
"30,  1770;"  the  Ij'tter  of  William  Harrison  to  the  Maryland  Conneil 
of  Safelij,  dated  "  Geohoetown,  Kent-i'oi  ntv,  2Sth  November, 
"1770;  "  General  Helnms  of  the  .inn;/,  September  21,  October  o,  and 
November  3,  1770 ;  Itelnrns  of  Killed,  Wonnded,  find  Missing,  [in  the 
.\iiicrican  Army,]  11/  several  .ielions,  published  in  Force's  Ameriean  .{reh- 
ires, v.,  iii.,  7I.V730;  Return  of  (.Commissioned  and  Non-comntissifjned  (tf' 
^fleers  and  Rank  and  I'de,  Rilled,  {VoHnded,  and  Missing,  from  the  \lth  Sep- 
tember ht  Ihe  lO(/j  Norcniher,  inelnsiee,  appended  to  General  Howe's  despateh 
to  Ijord  George  (rermaine,  "New- York,  3  I>eceinber,  1770;"  Sautbier's 
Plan  of  Ihe  Operations  of  the  King's  .  \rmy  under  the  Comnumd  of  Sir  iVil- 
liant  Howe,  K.B.,  in  Xeir- York  and  Ea.tt  Sew  Jersey  against  the  .imeriean 
Forces  commanded  by  General  Washington,  from  Ihe  I2tk  of  (letober  to  the 
2Sth  of  Soecndter,  1770  ;  .1  Plan  of  the  Connlry  from  Frog's  Point  to  Crolon 
River;  The  K.rominatiou  of  Joseph  lialloway,  Rs'/.,  before  a  Committee  of 
the  Hiotse  of  Onnmons;  [CJalloway's]  hite.rsto  a  Nobleman  ;  The  Sarralire 
of  Sir  Williiim  Howe,  .  .  with  sione  itbservat'ums  upon  a  pamphlet  enti- 
tled Letters  to  a  Nobleman  ;  [Galloway's]  Reply  to  Ihe  Observations  of 
Lieut,  (ien.  Sir  William  Howe,  on  a  iiamphlet  entitled  Letters  to  a  Sable- 
man  ;  .\lmon's  Parliamentary  Register,  Volumes  -XL,  XII.,  and  XIII.; 
The  Annual  Register  for  1776  ;  The  History  of  Ihe  War  in  .Imeriea,  Edit., 
Piiblin  ;  17'<9;  [llall'sj  History  of  Ihe  Civil  War  in  .\merica  ;  Essois  hisbo-- 
ignes  et  politiqnes  sttr  la  li' volntiioi  de  I' .Xmeriqne  Seplentrixmale,  par  IVI.  Hil 
liard  d'.Vuberteiiil  ;  .\iii\rcwss  Hinlory  af  the  War  with  .Unerica,  Frame, 
Spain,  and  Holland;  Souies's  Hisloire  des  TrtmbUs  <b'  V  Ano'rigue  .Anglaise  ; 
Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  Kiimsey's  History  of  Ihe 
.imerican  Rcvolulion ;  Murray's  Impartial  History  of  the  War  in  .imeriea  ; 
Stedman's  History  of  the  War  in  America ;  Memoirs  of  Major-general 
Heath  ;  Chaset  Lebruu's  Histoire  pol'Uigneetphilosf}phignede  la  Revolution  de 
t'.linrrupie  Septenlrinnale ;  Jlarshall's  Life  "f  George  Washington  :  Warren's 
History  of  the  .-tmericon  Revotuti'oi  ;  Adolphiis's  History  of  England ;  Ser- 
geant Lamb's  Journal  of  1  tcnirrence.'i  during  lite  Itite  .Imeriettn  War :  Hum- 
plireys's  Life  of  General  Pntuam  ;  Paul  .Mien's  History  of  the  .imerican 
Revoluli/ai  ;  Slorse's  .tnnals  of  the  .inieriean  Revolution  ;  Ramsay's  Life  of 
George  Wathinglmi :  Pitkin's  PolUicnl  and  Civil  History  of  tlie  f'nited  Slates 
of  America  ;  Sparks's  Writings  of  George  Washington;  Dun]ikpCa  History  of 
Sew  York;  Sparks's  Life  of  George  Washington  ;  Lossing's  Seventeen  hun- 


448 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Bronx  ;  and  that  it  had  been  halted,  within  a  mile  of 
the  American  lines,  to  enable  a  heavy  detaehment  of 
both  British  and  Hessian  troops  to  dispossess  a  body 
of  American  troops  who  had  occupied  Chatterton's- 
hili,  and  who  appeared  to  menace  the  left  flank  and 
rear  of  the  Left,  in  its  proposed  movement  against 
the  American  lines.'  The  result  of  that  assault  on 
Chatterton's-hill  has,  also,  been  duly  noticed  ; '-  but 
the  success  of  that  movement  did  not  disturb  the  main 
body,  who  remained,  resting  on  its  arms,  where  it  had 
been  halted,  during  the  remainder  of  the  day  and 
throughout  the  following  night;  and,  there,  "with 
"  very  little  alteration,"  it  encamped,  on  the  following 
day  ^ — it  had  been  so  much  reduced,  in  effective 
strength,  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  assaulting  parties, 
and,  as  was  said  by  an  intelligent  officer,  "the  difh- 
"culty  of  co-operation  between  the  Left  and  Right 
"  wings  of  our  Army  was  such,  that  it  was  obvious 
"  that  the  latter  could  no  longer  ex])cdiently  attempt 
"  anything  against  the  enemy's  main  body."  *  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  the  Eight  of  the  Royal  Army^ 
who  was  not  expected  to  participate  in  the  proposed 
assault  on  the  American  lines,  and  who  was  not  con- 
cerned in  the  assault  on  Chattertou's-hill,  further 
than  to  detach  the  Hessians  commanded  by  Colonel 
Donop,  who  were  in  that  wing  of  the  Army,  for  the 
purpose  of  assisting  in  that  important  operation,  was 
not  inclined  to  rest,  as  the  Left  of  the  Army  had  been 
ordered  to  do  and  had  done;  and  a  j)ortion  of  it,  at 
least,  wa.s  moved  forward,  on  the  main  road  of  the 
Village,  in  front  of  the  Left  of  the  American  lines, 
which  was  occupied,  as  the  reader  will  remember,  by 
the  Division  commanded  by  (ieneral  Heath.' 

We  have  been  told  that  the  advancing  ctdnmii  w;is 

fired  <nul  :*evciitJt-sir ;  ( 'ainiilieH's  Jifrahtlionai-t/  Scri'U'ea  tnid  Cirit  Life  of 
Generiil  William  Hull;  H  hitimn'e  Historical  ColleclioH  of  the  part  miftlainetl 
by  Cntwcclient,  during  llir  War  of  the  Iteeohition :  I.ossing's  I'ictorial 
Field-book  of  the  Jterohition  ;  Hildroth's  Histonj  of  the  United  Staten  of 
America:  living's /,//V' "/  Oconje  Washington;  Hamilton's //is/r<ri/o/ (Ac 
Hejmblie  of  the  Jhiilcd  Statts  of  America^  as  tracedin  the  Writings  of  AU'X- 
andir  Jlanidftoi  :  I)a«siin's  Militarg  lielnotgthrough  Westehester-countif^  in 
1770,  (an  nnpublisliL'd  nianu8crii)t  ;)  'Mouve^s  lHarg  of  the  Ameri4-an  Itevo- 
hition  ;  Memoir  of  Cvlonel  Benjamin  TaUmadge,  prepared  by  hiniHcIf,  at 
the  re(jiiest  of  his  (Children  ;  Dawson's  linttles  of  the  United  States,  bij  Sea 
and  Land;  Stark's  Memoir  and  Officifd  Corresiiondcnee  of  Gen.  John  Stark, 
with  Notices  of  .  .  .  and  of  Colonel  Uobi  rt  Itogers ;  Cireene's  The  Life 
of  Nathfinael  Greene,  Major-gctieral  in  the  Artni/  of  the  llt  rolntion.  Edit. 
New-York  :  1807  ;  Di-akc's  Life  and  Coi-rcsjwndenee  of  Henrij  Knox, 
Major-general  in  the  Ileeolutionanj  Anny ;  .Tones's  HistA>rtj  of  Sew  York 
during  the  flevohdionarij  War,  and  de  Lancet's  SoleA  on  that  work  ;  Ban- 
croft's i/istoci/ <// (Ac  United  Stales,  hoi\\  the  original  and  the  centenary 
editions ;  Bolton's  History  of  Westehester-eounty,  both  editions  ;  Tarbox's 
Life  of  Israel  Pulnom ;  Carrington's  B"(//c,s  the  American  Iterolntinn ; 
and  Ridpath's  History  of  the  United  Slates. 

Those  works,  bearing  on  the  subject,  in  the  (lei'inan  language,  which  are 
in  our  own  library,  were  put  away,  and  couM  not  be  reached  without 
undue  labor  ;  and  we  were  notjihysically  able  to  go  elsew  here,  to  con 
suit  them.    For  those  reasons,  they  have  not  been  t^\an\ined. 

1  A'ide  pages  438,  439,  44<l,  ante. 

2  Vide  pages  442—144,  ante. 

^General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gennaine,  "New-Yokk,  30  November, 
"  1770  ;  "  Stednian's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  215;  [Hall's]  Hulory 
of  the  Civil  War  In  .imerica,  i.,  209  ;  etc. 

■*  Stedman'8  History  of  the  American  H'ar,  i.,  210. 

^  Memoirs  of  Major-general  Heath,  78. 


led  by  a  detachment  of  about  twenty  Light  Dragoons, 
capering  and  brandishing  their  sabres,  who  leaped  the 
fence  of  a  wheat-field,  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
on  which  the  Regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Mal- 
colm had  been  jjosted."  The  horsemen  evidently  sup- 
posed the  hill  was  unoccupied;  and,  it  is  probable, 
they  expected  to  turn  the  flank  of  the  American  lines, 
and  to  secure  an  easy  victory  ;  but  Lieutenant  Fenno 
and  his  field-piece  were  also  on  "  the  South  brow  of 
"  the  hill ;  "  '  and,  when  the  horsemen  approached, 
he  gave  them  a  shot  which,  "  by  striking  in  the  midst 
"of  them,"  killed  one  of  them.*  The  troop  was  im- 
mediately "  wheeled,  short  about,  and  galloped  out  of 
"  the  field  as  fast  as  they  came  in ;  rode  behind  a  little 
"hill,  in  the  road;  and  faced  about;  "  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  column,  at  the  same  time,  as  they  suc- 
cessively came  up,  wheeling  to  the  left,  by  platoons  ; 
and,  passing  through  a  gateway  or  bars,  directed 
their  march,  westward,  to  the  place  where  the  Left 
of  the  Army  had  been  halted."  With  that  move- 
ment of  the  extreme  Right  of  the  Army,  and  with 
that  of  the  Hessian  and  British  troops,  on  the  high 
grounds,  on  the  Avestern  bank  of  the  Bronx,  on  its 
extreme  Left,  already  mentioned,  the  Royal  Army 
closed  the  operations  of  the  day. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  delay  which  was  \iro- 
duced  by  the  halt  of  the  Royal  Army,  ou  the  Plain,  was 
the  salvation  of  the  American  Army,  within  the  lines; 
since  it  afforded  time  for  strengthening  the  works  be- 
liind  which  the  latter  was,  then,  posted,  and  for  prepar- 
ing it  for  falling  back,  soon  afterwards,  and  occupying 
another  position,  which  would  be  more  defensible  and 
not  so  accessible  to  the  King's  troops.  But  it  is  scarcely 
true  that,  since  the  morning  of  the  preceding  day,  the 
Americans  had  "drawn  back  their  encampment "  and 
"strengthened  their  Hues  by  additional  works,"  to 
such  an  extent,  in  either  instance,  that  "the  designed 
"attack  upon  them,"  on  the  morning  after  the  engage- 
ment, [7W«rfa(/,  October  29,]  need  have  been  "deferred," 
for  no  other  reasons  than  these,  notwithstanding  (ien- 
eral Howe  is  re])orted  to  have  informed  the  Home 
Government  that  such  had  been  the  case  "' — the  re- 
ported witiidrawal  of  the  American  encamjjment  was, 
probably,  nothing  more  than  the  removal  of  the 
Stores,  back,  to  the  high  grounds  of  Newcastle,  which 
was  commenced  on  that  day  ;  "  and,  notwithstanding 

6  Vide  iMigc  252,  ante. 
-  Ibid. 

^In  the  Jtetnrn  of  the  Killed,  Wounded,  and  Missing^  of  the  Hoyal  .{riiiii, 
appended  to  General  Howe's  desi>atch  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  dated 
"Nf.w-Yobk,  3  December,  1776,"  it  was  stated  that  the  only  one 
of  either  of  the  two  Kegiinents  of  the  Light  Dragoons  then  in 
America,  who  was  killed,  from  the  nineteenth  to  the  twenty-eighth  of 
October,  inclusive,  was  one  Kauk  and  File,  of  flie  Seventeenth  Itegi- 
ment ;  and,  very  probably,  that  one  was  the  same  to  whom  we  have  re- 
ferred, in  the  text. 

^  Memoirs  of  Major  general  Jfeatli,  7?*. 

1"  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gennaine,  "  New-Yokk,  30  November, 
"1770." 

11  David  How's  Diary,  October  29  and  30,  1770. 

See,  also.  Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman  to  his  father,  "  White  Plains,  31 
"October,  1776  "  ;  Memoirs  of  Major-general  Heath,  79  ;  etc. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


449 


the  interval  had  been  undoubtedly  occupied  by  the 
Americans,  in  industriously  strengthening  their  posi- 
tion, they  could  scarcely  have  made  defensible  and 
formidable  what,  only  a  few  iiours  previous,  had  been 
hardly  respectable.  Indeed,  at  no  time,  even  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  were  the  defences 
of  the  American  lines,  immediately  above  the  Plains, 
in  any  respect  formidable ;  and  the  center,  where  the 
post-road  passed  through  them,  was  decidedly  the 
weakest  portion.  Tliey  liad  been  hastily  constructed, 
without  the  superintendence  of  experienced  Engi- 
neers. The  stony  soil  prevented  the  ditch  from  being 
made  of  any  troublesome  depth  or  the  parapet  of  a 
troublesome  height :  the  latter  was  not  fraised  :  only 
where  it  was  least  needed — probably  because  the  con- 
struction of  it,  elsewhere,  had  been  interfered  with — 
was  there  the  slightest  appearance  of  an  abatis.* 
There  was  little  foundation,  therefore,  for  General 
Howe's  transparent  excuses ;  and  it  would  have 
been  more  creditable  to  his  candor,  had  he  told 
the  true  reason  for  his  failure  to  assault  the  lines, 
on  the  morning  after  the  Battle  and  while  the 
troops  who  had  been  designated  to  make  the  as- 
sault, with  their  line  unbroken,  were  resting  on 
their  arms,  within  a  mile  and  in  open  sight  from  the 
works  which  they  were  expecting  to  assault,  and 
ready  to  move  against  them,  at  a  moment's  notice — 
the  fact  was  simply  this,  as  we  have  already  seen,^ 
"  the  Army  could  no  longer  expediently  attempt 
"anything  against  the  enemy's"  [the  Americans'^ 
"  main  body  ;"  and  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  be 
reinforced,  before  the  Americans  should  be  attacked. 

During  Tuesday,  the  twenty-ninth  of  October,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  Royal  Army,  "with  very  little  al- 
"teration"in  its  position,  encamped  on  the  Plain, 
and  awaited  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  ;  ^  and,  not- 
withstanding the  loss  of  Chatterton's-hill,  in  the 
opinion  of  some  of  the  American  Officers,*  had  made 

I  lo  this  description  of  the  character  of  the  American  defenses,  we  have 
followed  Studuian,  {IIMnri/  of  the  American  War,  i.,  213,)  who  was 
probably  present,  in  the  Royal  Army. 

We  are  not  insensible  that  Bancroft,  (nislonj  of  the  United  Stales,  origi- 
nal edition,  ix.,  180  ;  the  same,  centenary  edition,  v.,  444,)  has  so  framed 
bis  sentence  that  his  readers  must  suppose  the  abatis  was  us  extended  as 
the  "lines  of  entrenchments  ;"  but  tlie  feebleness  of  the  Army  and  the 
scarcity  of  teams  could  not  have  securetl  so  great  a  work,  in  so  short  a 
lime  ;  neither  General  Washington  nor  General  Heath  nor  General 
Knox,  among  the  Americans,  nor  General  Howe  nor  General  Lord 
Cornwallirt,  among  the  King's  troops,  all  of  whom  have  more  or  less 
described  the  American  defenses,  has  made  the  slightest  allusion  to 
such  a  general  defense,  before  the  long  line  of  American  entrenchments ; 
and  Stednian  expressly  stated  that  "the  point  of  the  hill,  on  theenemy'g 
"  right,"  [thai  on  the  line  of  the  Harlein  Railroad,  immediately  northward 
from  the  Itaiiroad-statioH,]  "exceedingly  steep  and  rocky,  was  covered  by 
"  a  strong  abatis  in  front  of  the  entrenchment,"  the  very  place,  as  we 
have  said  in  the  text,  where  such  an  additional  mean  of  defense  was 
least  needed.  For  these  reasons,  we  prefer  to  believe  that  the  American 
lines  were  not,  generally,  furnished  with  an  abatis. 

'  Vide  page  448,  ante. 

'  General  Jlowe  to  Lord  Ueorge  Gemiaine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
"  1776." 

*  General  Heath  said,  (Sfomoirs,  79,)  "the  British  having  got  posses- 
"  eion  of  this  hill,  it  gave  them  a  vast  advantage  of  the  American  lines, 
"  almost  down  to  the  center;'  and  General  Knox,  in  a  letter  to  his 
40 


it  necessary  for  the  American  Army  to  abandon  the 
position,  the  work  of  strengthening  its  lines  was  con- 
tinued, with  unabated  industry.* 

During  Wednesday,  the  thirtieth  of  October,  the 
King's  troops  were  occupied  in  throwing  up  some 
defensive  works  and  redoubts,  on  the  Plain,  in  front 
of  the  American  lines,''  and  an  entrenchment  on  the 
summit  of  Chatterton's-hill;'  and,  during  the  after- 
noon of  the  same  day,  four  Regiments,  from  the  lines 
on  New-York-island,*  and  two  Regiments  of  the  Sixth 
Brigade,  who  had  been  posted  at  Mamaroneck, 
after  the  Queen's  Rangers  had  been  so  "  roughly 


brother,  dated  "Ne.\ii  Wiiite-Pi.ains,  32  miles  from  New-York,  1 
"Nov:  177(>,"  said  "  the  enemy's  having  possession  of  this  hill  obliged 
"  us  to  abandon  some  sliglit  lines  thrown  up  on  the  White  Plains." 

5  There  was  something  which  required  explanation  in  what  was  written 
by  General  Washington's  Secretary  and,  undoubtedly,  with  his  ap- 
proval, to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  when  he  said,  "  Our  post,  from 
"  its  situation,  is  not  so  advantageous  as  could  be  wished  ;  and  was  only 
"  intended  us  temporary  and  occasional,  till  the  Stores  belonging  to  tlie 
"  .\rmy,  which  hail  been  deposited,  heie,  could  be  removed."— (OiJoik/ 
Robert  11.  Harrison  to  the  I\esident  of  the  Congress,  "  White-Plains,  29 
"October,  177fi." 

"  The  Stores  belonging  to  the  Army,"  at  that  time  and  for  some  time 
previous,  had  not  been  so  abundant  as  to  have  been  burdensome  ;  and, 
if  there  had  been  judicious  oversight,  they  could  have  been  carried  a 
couple  of  miles  further,  to  a  place  of  greater  safety,  when  they  were 
carried  to  the  White  Plains,  saving  the  repeated  re-handling  of  them 
and  the  construction  of  two  distinct  lines  of  works  for  nothing  else  than 
for  the  "  temporary  and  occasional"  protection  of  them. 

There  is,  generally,  a  prodigality  in  the  expenditure  of  both  money 
and  materials  and  labor,  in  all  which  relates  to  Armies  ;  but  there  seems 
to  have  been  an  excess  of  prodigality  in  the  use  of  all  these,  of  which 
the  .\merican  Army  had  such  an  insufficient  supply,  if  the  only  purpose 
of  the  two  lines  of  entrenchments,  one  at  the  foot  and  the  other  on  the 
crest  of  the  high  grounds,  at  the  White  Plains,  had  been  only  for  the 
"temporary  and  occasional  "  protection  of  a  few  Stores,  handled  and  re- 
handled,  over  and  over  again,  the  whole  of  which  could  have  been  con- 
sumed by  the  Army,  in  less  than  six  days,  probably  in  half  that  time.* 

If  there  had  been,  in  fact,  no  other  reason  than  these,  for  occupying 
and  fortifying  that  position,  there  was  reason  for  General  George  Clin- 
ton's doubts,  when  he  wrote,  "  Uncovered,  as  we  are  ;  daily  on  fatigue  ; 
"  making  redoubts,  tleches,  abatis,  and  lines;  and  retreating  from 
"  them  and  the  little  temporary  Inits  made  for  our  comfort,  before  they 
"  are  well  flnished,  I  fear,  will  ultimately  destroy  our  Army,  without 
"  fighting."  ..."  However,  I  would  not  be  understood  to  con- 
"  dcmn  measures.  They  may  be  right,  for  aught  I  know.  I  do  not  un- 
"  derstand  much  of  the  refined  art  of  War :  it  is  said  to  consist  of 
"  strategem  and  deception."— (Geuerai  George  Clinton  to  John  McKesson, 
"  Cami'  near  the  White  Plains,  October  31,  1776.") 

6  Colonel  Robert  II.  Harrison  to  the  I'midi  tit  of  the  Congress,  "  White- 
"  Plains,  October  31,  1776  ;"  Letter  from  a  Genthman  in  the  Army,  dated 
"  Camp  near  the  Mills,  aroi  t  three  miles  North  oe  the  White- 
"  Plains,  November  1,  1776,"  published  in  The  Pennsylvania  Evening 
Pos*,  Vol.  II.,  No.  280,  Philadelphia,  Thursday,  November  H,  1776  ;  .We- 
moim  of  General  Hiath,  80;  etc. 

T  LieiUenant-colotxl  Gist  to  the  Man/land  Conncil  of   Safely,  "Camp 
"bekore  the  White-Plains,  2  November,  1776." 
8Vido  page  400,  ante. 


♦"His,"  [Ueneral  Wathington't,]  "apprehensions  are  exceedingly 
"  great  lest  the  Army  should  suffer  much  for  want  of  necessary  supplies 
"  of  Provisions,  especially  in  the  article  of  Flour.  From  the  best  in- 
"  tclligence  he  is  able  to  obtain,  there  is  not  more  fn  Camp  and  at  the 
"  several  places  where  it  has  been  deposited,  than  will  servo  the  Army 
"  longer  than  four  or  five  days,  proviiled  the  utmost  care  and  economy 
"  were  used  in  i.ssuing  it  out ;  but,  from  the  waste  and  embez./.lement, 
"  for  want  of  proper  attention  to  it,  as  it  is  reported  to  him,  it  is  not 
"  probable  that  it  will  last  so  long."— (Cu/oiie(  Robert  II.  Harriton  to 
Colonel  Joseph  Trumbull,  Commissary-general  of  Provisions,  "  WuiTK- 
"  Plains,  November  1,  1776.") 


450 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"handled"  by  the  Americans/  joined  the  main 
body  of  the  Army,  on  the  Plain,  for  the  reinforce- 
ment of  it.^ 

During  the  same  day,  {^Wednesday,  October  30,] 
the  Americans  were  not  idle — they  probably  kept  up 
an  appearance  of  continuing  their  labor  in  strength- 
ening their  works,  while  they  were,  also,  preparing 
for  an  abandonment  of  them  but  no  official  record 
has  come  doAvn  to  us,  concerning  their  doings,  on 
that  day. 

Having  been  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  six 
fresh  and  effective  Eegimeuts  to  his  already  powerful 
command.  General  Howe  determined  to  attack  the 
American  lines,  on  the  following  day,  [^Thursday, 
October  31 ;  ]  and,  for  that  purpose,  all  necessary  pre- 
parations were  duly  made  ;  but  the  preceding  night 
and  the  morning  of  that  day  were  very  rainy  ;  and  the 
proposed  movement  was  necessarily  postponed.* 

During  the  same  day,  ^Thursday,  October  31,]  the 
Americans  remained  within  their  works,  quietly  pre- 
paring for  the  abandonment  of  them  and  carefully 
watching  every  movement  of  their  enemy. 

Supposing  that  one  of  the  objects  of  General  Howe 
was  to  turn  the  flank  of  the  lines;  to  seize  the  bridge 
over  the  Croton-river ;  and,  thereby,  to  cut  off  the 
communication  of  the  Army  with  the  upper  country. 
General  Washington  detached  General  Rezin  Beall, 
with  three  fine  Regiments  of  Marylanders,  to  occupy 
that  very  important  pass;  and  General  Lord  Stirling 
was  ordered,  with  the  Brigade  which  he  commanded, 
"  to  keep  pace  with  the  enemy's  left  flank,  and  to 
"  push  up,  also,  to  Croton-river,  should  he  plainly 
"  perceive  that  the  enemy's  route  lays  that  way."  ^ 
At  the  same  time  that  the  Army  was  being  rapidly 
diminished  by  the  desertions  of  the  Militia,''  to  say 
nothing  of  stragglers,'  those  who  remained  at  their 


1  Vide  page  253,  ante. 

^  Geiwral  Hnire  to  Lord  George  Oennaine,  New-York,  30  November, 
"177G;"  [Hall's]  Ilialonj  of  the  Civil  War  in  Ameriea,  i.,  tWd  ;  Stednmn's 
History  of  the  Awerican  H  a?-,  i.,  215  ;  etc. 

'How's  Diimj,  October  30;  LtU-r  frcm  Uuiitenanl  coionel  Tilghman  to 
his  father,  "  White-Plains,  31  October,  1776." 

*  General  Rnwe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New  York,  30  November, 
"  1776  ;"  [Hall's]  Histonj  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  209  ;  Stedman'e 
History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  215  ;  etc. 

^Lieutenant-colonel  Tilghman  to  Willi^im  Dtier,  "White-Plains,  Octo- 
"l)er31,  177r.." 

''"Our  Army  is  decreasing,  fast:  several  gentlemen  who  have  come 
"  to  Camp,  within  a  few  days,  liave  observed  large  numbers  of  Militia 
"  returning  home,  on  the  different  roads." — {Colonel  Robert  H.  Harrison 
to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  White-Plains,  October  31,  1776.") 

"It"  [o  reinforcement,]  "will  arrive,  very  seasonablj',  and  in  part 
"make  up  for  the  deficiency  occasioned  by  daily  desertions  of  our  men, 
"  who  are  returning  to  their  homes  in  the  most  scandalous  and  infamous 
"  manner.  The  roads  are  crowded  with  them." — {Colonel  Robert  H. 
Harrison  to  Governor  Trumbull,  "White-Plains,  November  2,  1776.") 

'  "  The  General,  in  a  ride  he  took,  yesterday,  to  reconnoitre  the 
"  grounds  about  this,  was  surprised  and  shocked  to  find  both  Oflficers 
*' and  Soldiers  sliaggling  all  over  tlie  country,  under  one  idle  pretence 
"or  other,  when  they  cannot  tell  the  hour  or  minute  the  Camp  may  be 
"attacked,  and  their  services  indispensably  necessary.  He  once  more 
"positively  orders  that  neitlier  Officer  or  Soldier  shall  stir  out  of  Camp, 
"without  leave:.  .  ."{General  Orders,  " Head-qvarW.rs,  White 
"  Plains,  October  31,1776.") 


post  were  evidently  diligently  employed  in  preparing 
to  move  to  a  new  position — an  operation  in  which 
the  great  scarcity  of  teams  added,  very  greatly,  to  the 
personal  labor  of  the  men^ — and,  during  the  follow- 
ing night,  that  of  Thursday,  the  thirty-first  of  Octo- 
ber," the  entire  line  of  the  Army,  taking  the  extreme 
left  of  the  line  for  the  pivot,'"  swung  back,  from  the 
lines  which  it  had  constructed,  with  so  much  labor, 
on  the  high  grounds,  above  the  Plains,  until  its  rear 
rested  on  the  more  advantageous  high  grounds  of 
Northcastle  ; "  within  a  mile  from  the  position  which 
it  had  abandoned  ;'^  and  authoritatively  described  as 
"  grounds  which  were  strong  and  advantageous,  and 
"  such  as  they,"  [<Ae  ICing's  troops,^  "  could  not  have 
"  gained  without  much  loss  of  blood,  in  case  an 
"  attempt  had  been  made."" 
A  strong  party  was  left  in  possession  of  the  lines 


^  Colonel  Robert  H.  Harrison  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "White- 
"  Plains,  October  31,  1776." 

^  Chief  justice  Marshall,  {Life  of  George  Washington,  ii.,  505,)  stated,  in 
harmony  with  what  General  Howe  also  stated  in  his  despatches  to  Lord 
George  Germaine,  {ride  page  448,  ante,)  that  the  American  Army  was 
withdrawn  from  the  lines  on  the  night  after  the  engagement  on  Chat- 
terton's-hill ;  and  that  it  was  moved,  a  second  time,  during  the  night  of 
the  thirty  first  of  October,  to  the  high  grounds  of  Northcastle,  which  he 
erroneously  supposed  to  have  been  five  miles  from  the  White  Plains, 

We  cannot  reconcile  either  of  these  statements,  without  some  qualifi- 
cation, with  well-known  facts  which  iuilic.ate,  beyond  a  peradventure, 
that  the  lines  which  the  main  body  had  occupied,  from  the  beginning, 
were  fully  occupied  until  the  evening  of  the  thirty-first  of  October,  as 
stated  in  tho  text ;  and  we  await  the  appearance  of  new  evidence  which 
can  throw  more  light  on  the  subject,  without  jjermitting  ourown  well- 
considered  convictions  to  l>e,  in  the  meantime,  disturbed  by  what  ap- 
pears to  have  been  written  ambiguously. 

i^"Tlie  left  of  our  General's  Division  was  not  to  move;  but  the  re- 
"uiaiuder  of  his  Division  and  all  the  other  Divisions  of  the  Army 
"were  to  fall  back  and  form,"  on  that  stationery  pivot,  {Memoirs  of 
Gnitral  Heath,  70;)  the  whole  occupying  a  new  line,  without  having 
disturbed  the  relative  positions  of  any  of  the  Kegiments  or  Divisions  of 
whom  the  Army  was  composed. 

'I  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  ii.,  313,  344  ;  Marshall's 
Life  of  George  Washington,  ii.,  506  ;  tieneral  Hoive  to  Lord  George  Ger- 
main*,  "  New-York,  30  November,  1776;"  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil 
War  in  America,  i.,  210;  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  i.,  21G  ; 
etc. 

12  Hall  and  Stedman  erronously  supposed  the  new  position  was  North 
of  the  Croton-river.  General  Howe,  very  accurately,  stated  it  was  "one 
"mile  back  from  their  entrenchments."  Chief  justice  Marshall,  as  we 
have  seen,  erroneously  supposed  it  was  five  miles  from  the  White  Plains. 
Hildreth,  {History  of  the  United  States,  iii.,  154,)  said  it  was  two  miles  in 
the  rear  of  the  first  line.  Irving,  {Lifeof  George  Washingtifti,  ii.,  397,) 
said  it  was  five  miles  distant.  Lossing,  {Pictorial  Field-hook  of  the  Rero- 
Intion,  ii.,  823,)  said,  uncertainly,  it  was  "toward  tho  Croton  River." 
General  Kno.\,  in  a  letter  written  to  his  brother,  dated  "  Near  White- 
" Plains,  .32  miles  from  New-York,  1  Nov.  1776,"  said  "the  enemy's 
"possession  of  this  hill  obliged  us  to  abandon  some  slight  lines  thrown 
"np  on  the  White  Plains.  This  we  did,  this  morning,  [and  retired  to 
"some  hills  about  half  a  mile  in  the  rear." 

As  the  left  of  the  former  line  did  not  move  from  the  position  which  it 
had  occupied  since  the  twenty-second  of  October;  and  because  the 
remainder  of  the  Army,  without  disturbing  the  formation  of  the  line, 
did  no  more  than  to  swing  back,  on  a  pivot,  into  its  new  jiosition,  the 
extreme  right  could  not  have  been  more  than  two  miles  distant  from 
the  former  line,  probably  it  was  not  much  more  than  half  that  distance. 

13  General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  White-Plains, 
"6  November,  1776." 

See,  also,  Gor.lon's  History  of  tlte  American  Revolution,  ii.,  344  ;  Mar- 
shall's Life  of  Genrgi  Washington,  ii.,  506  ;  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Civil 
War  in  America,  i.,  210  ;  Stedman's  History  of  the  American  War,  i  ,  216  ; 
etc. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


451 


which  had  been  vacated ; '  and,  during  the  night,  it  set 
fire  to  several  barns  and  one  house,  which  contained 
forage  ;  and  some  Provisions  which,  for  the  want  of 
team-i,  could  not  be  removed,  were  also  destroyed.'' 

On  the  morning  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  main 
body  of  the  American  Army  from  its  lines,  at  the 
head  of  the  Wliite  Plains,  \_Fridaij,  Nocembcrl,  1776,] 
General  Howe  gave  orders  for  the  occupation  of  those 
lines,  by  the  Royal  Army  ;  but,  again,  a  violent  rain 
interposed;  and  the  project  was  abandoned.^  At  a 
later  hour,  however,  the  Hessian  Grenadiers  were 
moved  from  Chatterton's-hill,  and  occupied  those 
lines,*  very  possibly  as  the  beginning  of  a  movement 
against  the  new  position  of  the  American  Army, 
which,  after  a  due  examination  of  its  strength,  was 
conducted  no  further.* 

1  Letter  from  a  GenVeinan  in  the  Army,  '•  Camp  near  the  Mills,  about 
"  THREE  MILES  North  OF  THE  White-Plains,  November  1,  1770,"  puli- 
lislie<l  HI  Ihe  Peiiusyhuinia  Kceiiiuij  I'osL,  No.  28U,  Philadelphia,  Tliuis- 
day,  November  14,  1776  ;  General  Jloice  to  Lord  Geortje  Germaiiie^  "New- 
"  YoRK,:i()  November,  177G  ;  "  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Virit  War  in  Amer- 
ica, i.,  210  ;  Gordon's  History  o  f  the  American  Ueroliition,  ii.,  344  ;  etc. 

^Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  80. 

See,  also,  a  Letter  from  a  Gentleman  in  the  Army,  Anted  "  Camp  near 
"the  Mills,  about  three  miles  North  oi'  the  White-Plains,  Novem- 
"berl,  177G,"  published  in  The  I'ennsyhania  Erenimj  Post,  No.  280, 
Philadelphia,  Thursday,  November  14,  177(5;  General  George  Clinton  to 
John  MeKeason,  "Camp  at  the  old  place,  near  the  White  Plains,  2 
"November,  1776  ;"  General  Hoite  to  Lord  George  Gennaine,  *^  Hew- 
"York,  :)0  November,  1770  ;"  etc. 

General  Howe  and  several  othei-s  have  fallen  iuto  the  error  of  sup- 
posing that  the  Village  of  the  White-Plains  was  also  burned,  on  the 
occasion  now  under  notice :  it  was  not  burned  until  the  night  of  the 
fifth  of  November,  when,  after  he  had  robbed  the  huust'S,  it  was 
destroyed  by  ai)arty  of  MassiH-Iiusetts  truops,  commaiided  by  Jlajor  Austin. 

'In  the  cross-cxamiiiation  of  General  Lord  Coi  iiwallis.  by  the  mem- 
bers of  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Comniuns,  ('it  the  sixth  of  May, 
1779,  his  Lordship  was  <u>ked,  "Was  there  not  a  time,  at  the  White 
"Plains,  when  our  .\riiiy  lay  on  their  arms,  intending  to  attack  the 
"  enemy,  but  were  prevented  by  rain?,"  to  which  he  replied,  "  After 
"the  enemy  fell  back  to  the  heights,  near  Nortli-Castle,  they  left  an 
"advance  Corps  on  the  heighls  of  the  White  Plains  ;  there  were  or- 
"dei's  given  for  an  attack  of  that  Corps,  which  was  prevented  by  a  vi- 
"olentrain.  We  did  not  lay  upon  our  anus."  The  inquiry  was  con- 
tinued by  the  ('oiiimittee  asking,  "  From  the  situation  of  the  relicl 
*' Army  aiul  of  our's,  was  that  siorni  in  their  or  our  faces?"  to  which 
bie  Lordship  replied,  I  do  not  apprehend  that  the  attack  was  pre* 
"vented  by  the  storm  of  rain  being  in  either  of  our  faces;  there  are 
"other  effects  of  a  storm,  hiicIi  as  s|H>iliiig  the  roads  and  preventing 
"the  dr»v>'ing  of  artillery  up  steep  hills."  The  Committee  continued, 
by  asking,  "  Whether  if  the  jiowder  was  wet,  on  both  sides,  the  at- 
"  tacks  might  not  have  been  made  by  bayonets  ?  ;  "  to  which  his  Lord 
ship  replied,  "  I  do  not  recolh-i-t  that  I  sjtiii  the  powrler  was  wet ;"  and, 
there,  the  subject  was  droj^pwl. — (Alnion's  I'urt inmentanj  Register,  Fifth 
Si-Bsiou  of  the  Fourteenth  ParliaUH  nt  of  Great  lirilain,  xiii.,  14.) 

*  General  Uoice  to  Lord  George  Gernudne,  ■'  Nkw-Yokk,  aO  November, 
"  1770." 

'  Although  it  was  not  stated,  at  the  time,  and  notwithstanding  it  has 
not  been  stated,  since  that  time,  that  General  Howe  proposed  to  attJick 
the  Americans,  in  their  new  position,  on  the  mjrning  after  it  was  taken 
by  them,  we  are  sure  that  that  was  his  purpose,  when  he  ordered  the 
Hessian  Grenadiers  from  Chatteiton"s-liiU  ;  and  made  the  preparations  for 
"drawing  of  artillery  up  steep  hills,"  to  w  hich  General  Lord  (^rnwallis 
referreil,  in  his  testimony  ;  and  ordered  or  approved  the  uiovenient  on 
the  extreme  left  of  the  .\merican  lines,  of  which  mention  will  be  made, 
hereafter.  Nothing  else  than  such  a  i>roJect,  it  seems  to  us,  could  have 
warranted  all  these  openttions  ;  and,  certainly,  nothing  else  could  have 
leil  some  of  the  British  writers,  including  Captain  Hall,  {History  of  the 
Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  210,)  to  consider  the  occapation  of  the  aban- 
doned lines,  by  the  Hessian  Grenadiers,  as  u  pursuit  of  the  fugitive 
Americans. 


On  the  morning  of  Friday,  the  first  of  November, 
simultaneously  with  the  movement  of  the  Hessian 
Grenadiers  and  with  other  equally  important  prepa- 
rations— the  whole,  we  believe,  preparatory  to  an  as- 
sault on  the  new  position  of  the  American  Army,  in 
the  high  grounds  of  North  Castle, — a  heavy  body, 
from  the  Right  of  the  Royal  Army,  with  a  number  of 
field-pieces,  was  moved  against  the  extreme  left  of  the 
American  lines,  where  the  Division  commanded  by 
General  Heath  was  posted,  and  opened  a  heavy  fire  ; 
which  was  returned  by  Captain-lieutenant  Bryant 
and  Lieutenant  Jackson,  of  the  American  Artillery, 
neither  party  sustaining  any  loss  which  was  particu- 
larly worthy  of  record. "  A  violent  rain,  however, 
again  interposed;  and  the  project,  whatever  it  may 
have  been,  was  abandoned.' 


General  Heath  has  left  a  very  minute  description  of  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  and  of  his  own  preparations  to  oppose  those  movements, 
{Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  80,  81  ;)  and  we  make  room  for  it,  because  of 
its  groat  local  interest,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  White  Plains:  "OurGen- 
"eral's  first  anxiety,"  General  Ileatli  stateil,  speaking  of  himself,  *' was 
"  for  Colonel  Malcolm's  Regiment,  on  the  hill,  to  the  East  of  the  hollow, 
"on  the  left,  lest  the  enemy  should  push  a  Column  into  the  hollow, 
"and  cut  the  Regiment  off  from  the  Division.  He,  therefore,  ordered 
"  Major  Keith,  one  of  his  Aides,  to  gallop  over,  and  order  Colonel  Mal- 
"colni  to  come  off.  immediately,  with  Lieutenant  Feuno's  Artillery ,  but, 
"  upon  a  more  critical  view  of  the  ground,  in  the  hollow,  (at  the  head 
"of  which  there  was  a  heavy  stone  wall,  well-situated  to  cover  a  body  of 
"troops  to  throw  a  heavy  fire  directly  down  it,  while  an  oblii|ue  fire 
"  could  be  thrown  in,  on  both  sides,)  he  ordered  Major  Pollard,  his  other 
"Aide,  to  gallop  after  Keith,  and  countermand  the  first  order  ;  and  to 
"direct  the  Odonel  to  remain  at  his  post:  and  he  should  be  supported. 
■'  A  strong  Regiment  was  ordered  to  the  head  of  the  hollow,  to  occupy 
"the  wall. 

"The  cannonade  was  brisk,  on  both  sides,  through  which  the  two 
"Aides-de-camp passed,  in  going  and  returning.  At  this  instant.  Gen- 
"eral  Washington  rode  up  to  the  hill.  His  first  question  to  our  General, 
"  was,  '  How  is  your  l)ivisi(jn  ?  '  He  was  answered,  '  They  are  all  in  or- 
"  '  der.'  '  Have  you,'  said  the  Comlnander-iii  chief,  'any  troops  on  the  hill, 
"'  over  the  hollow? '  He  was  answered, '  Malcolm's  Regiment  is  there.'  '  If 
"  'you  do  not  call  them  ofr,immPdiately,'  says  the  General,  'you  may  lose 
"  '  them,  if  the  enemy  push  a  column  up  the  hollow.'  He  was  answered, 
" '  that,  even  in  that  case,  their  retreat  should  be  made  safe  :  that  a  strong 
"  Regiment  was  posted  at  the  head  of  the  hollow,  behind  the  wall ;  that 
"  this  Regiment,  with  the  oblique  fire  of  the  Division,  would  so  check  the 
"  enemy,  as  to  allow  Malcolm  to  make  a  safe  retreat.  Th<?  (Jomniander- 
"  ill-chief  coiicliuled  by  wiying,  '  Take  care  that  you  do  not  lose  them.' 

"The  Artillery  of  the  Division  was  so  well  directed  as  to  throw  the 
"British  artillery-men,  several  times,  into  confusion  ;  and,  fiinling  that 
"  they  could  not,  here,  make  any  impression,  they  drew  back  their  pieces, 
"the  Column  not  advancing,"  [itrohahly  because  of  the  failure  of  the  main 
body  to  advance  against  Ihe  American  lines,  in  cooperation  with  this  de- 
tachment, as  we  have  already  stated.] 

"The  British  Artillery  now  made  a  circuitous  movement  ;  and  came 
"down,  toward  the  American  right.  Here,  unknown  to  them,  were 
"some  twelve-pounders,  Uiion  the  discharge  of  which,  they  made  off 
"  w  ith  their  field-pieces,  as  fast  as  their  hoi-ses  could  draw  them. 

"  .\  shot  from  the  Aniericau  cannon,  at  this  place,  took  off  the  head  of  a 
"Hessian  artillery-man  :  they  also  left  one  of  their  artillery-horses,  dead 
"on  the  field.  What  other  loss  they  sustained,  was  not  known.  Of  our 
"General's  Division,  one  man,  only,  belonging  to  Colonel  Paulding's 
"Regiment  of  New- Y^ork  troops,  was  killed."  t 

"  Testimony  of  Lord  CornwaVis,  before  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  vide  Note  3,  of  this  page,  ante. 


*  For  descriptions  of  the  various  localities  mentioned  in  this  statement, 
by  General  Heath,  see  page  428,  ante. 

tThe  Returns  of  General  George  Clinton's  Brigade,  dated  "  Peekskill, 
'•  November  17,  1776,"  noted  that  casualty,  and  gave  the  name  of  the 
man  — William  Phoeuix,  of  Captain  C'aulmes's  Company. 


452 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Having  been  thus  frustrated  in  all  his  efforts 
to  cut  oif  the  communications  of  the  American 
Army  with  the  upper  country  as  well  as  with  New 
England  and  to  draw  General  Washington  to  give  him 
battle,  in  a  general  engagement — in  other  words, 
having  been  completely  outgeneraled  by  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  forces  whom  his  associates  in 
arms  had  so  contemptuously  ridiculed — General  Howe 
determined  to  abandon  the  attempt ;  ^  and  to  with- 
draw his  great  and  powerful  command  from  West- 
chester-county,  in  search  of  laurels  on  other  and  more 
in viting  fields.  The  two  Armies  continued  in  their 
respective  lines,  not  more  than  a  long  cannon-shot 
from  each  other,  ^  until  the  following  Saturday  night, 
\^November  2,]  when  the  American  sentries  heard  what 
they  supposed  to  have  been  the  rumbling  sound  of  mov- 
ing artillery.'  On  Monday  night,  the  fourth  of  No- 
vember, however,  the  entire  encampment  of  the  enemy 
was  broken  up;  and,  on  the  following  morning, 
[Tuesday,  November  5,]  he  made  a  sudden  and  unex- 
pected movement  from  all  the  posts,  in  front  of  the 
American  lines,  which  he  had  previously  taken* — as 
early  as  the  preceding  Monday,  [^October  28,]  evidently 
preparatory  to  this  movement,  General  Knyphausen, 
who  had  been  left  at  New  Rochelle,  with  the  Second 
Division  of  the  German  troops,  to  keep  open  the  com- 
munication between  the  Army  and  the  Fleet, '  had 
been  ordered  to  leave  the  Regiment  of  Waldeckers, 
who  formed  a  portion  of  his  command,  at  rhat  place, 
and  to  move  with  the  remainder  of  the  Division, 
six  fresh  Battalions  of  Hessians,  towards  Kingsbridge  ; 
and,  on  Saturday,thesecondof  November,  he  had  occu- 
pied a  position,  on  New-York-island,  near  that  place: 
on  Sunday,  the  third  of  November,  the  entire  Army 
had  been  ordered  to  provide  itself  with  forage,  for 
Ihree  day's  consumption:  on  the  following  day,  [J/o/i- 
dai/,  November  4,]  Major-general  Grant,  with  the 
Fourth  Brigade  ot  British  troop-<,  had  been  moved 
down  to  Mile-Square  and  Valentine's-hill ;  General 
Agnew,  with  the  Sixth  Brigade  of  British  troops,  the 
same  who  had  been  moved  to  Mamaroneck,  on  the 
morning  after  the  Queen's  Rangers  had  been  so 
''roughly  handled"  by  Colonel  Haslet  and  his  com- 
mand, "  had  been  moved  from  that  place  to  a  bridge 


1  "  I  did  not  think  the  driving  their  rear-guard  further  back,  au  object 
**of  the  least  couBetiuonce,"  were  General  Howe's  official  words,  de- 
Bcrii)tiTe  of  that  very  important  determination. 

See,  also,  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Cii'il  War  in  Amrrica,  i.,  211  ;  Sted- 
man's  JlisU>ry  of  the  Atiiericiin  Wur,  i.,  216  ;  Memoirs  of  General  Heath, 
81  ;  Gordon's  llittoyy  nf  the  American  Revolution^  ii.,  344  ;  Marshall's 
Life  of  Geonje  IVtishimjIon,  ii.,  .^00,  5U7  ,  etc. 

^  Memoirs  of  Genera!  Heath,  SX-Ki  ;  Letter  dated  "  Ne.vu  Head-Quau- 
"teks,  Noutii-Castle,  Nov.  5,  177tj,"  published  in  The  JV«m<iii'«  Jour- 
nal and  New- Hampshire  Gazette,  Vol.  T.,  No.  2('i,  PoitTSMOUXn,  Tuesday, 
November  19,  1776. 

3  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  8:i. 

<  General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  *'  White-Plains,  G 
*'  November,  1776  ;  "  the  same  to  Governor  Livingston,  "  White-Plains, 
"7  November,  1776;"  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  83;  Marshall's  Life 
of  George  Wanhington,  ii.,  507  ;  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Bei'o- 
lut'mi,  ii.,  344  ;  etc. 

Vide  pages  429,  434,  ante.  ^  Vide  pages  428,  429,  ante. 


over  the  Bronx-river,  near  De  Lancey's  Mill,  [now  the 
village  of  West  Farms,']  in  the  Town  of  Westchester  ; 
and  the  Waldeckers  whom  General  Knyphausen  had 
left  at  New  Rochelle,  on  the  preceding  Monday,  was 
moved  to  another  bridge,  also  over  the  Bronx-river, 
three  miles  above  the  other,  [then  and  noiv  known  as 
Williams' s-bridge :]  and  every  other  necessary  prepara- 
tion for  an  orderly  and  undisturbed  retreat  had,  in  the 
meanwhile,  been  taken.' 

During  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  the  fifth  of  Novem- 
ber, inspired  by  the  teachings  of  General  Israel  Put- 
nam,* and  in  harmony  with  the  advanced  New  Eng- 
land ideas,  of  that  period,  with  which  the  inhabitants 
of  Westchester-county  had  already  become  well- 
acquainted,"  as  well  as  with  those  of  an  immediately 
subsequent  period,'"  a  body  of  Massachusetts  troops,  led 
by  Major  Austin,  of  Colonel  Brewer's  Regiment,  left 
the  Camp,  and  went  down  into  the  Village  of  the 
While  Plains,  which  the  enemy  has  abandoned,  dur- 
ing the  earlier  portions  of  the  day.  The  purposes  of 
that  party  were  such  as  New  Englanders  of  that  period 
were  apt  to  regard  as  peculiarly  "  patriotic  " — they 
evidently  went  down  to  see  what  the  merciless  Hes- 
sian and  British  soldiery  had  left,  when  the  Royal 
Army  had  retreated  ;  to  select,  for  their  own  or  their 
families'  uses,  and  to  carry  away,  into  New  England, 
whatever,  of  that  remainder,  should  best  suit  their 
own  tastes ;  to  dispossess  the  women  and  children 
who  were  mostly  the  occupants  of  the  houses  ;  and  to 
burn  what  they  did  not  care  to  steal,  sparing  almost 
nothing  of  either  public  or  private  properties,  just  to 
"strike  terrour  into  the  Tories  and  influence  in  our 
"favour,"  as  these  New  England  thieves  "patrioti- 
"  cally  "  expressed  it.  That  was  the  prevailing  New 
England  idea  of  the  period,  taught  and  illustrated  by 


"  General  Hoicc  to  Lord  George  Oermaine,  *'New-Touk,  30  November 
"  1776  ;  "  [Hall's]  Hisiorij  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  211  ;  etc. 

8  "The  question  being  asked  Miyor  Austin,  whether  he  had  any 
"  orders  for  burning  said  houses,  he  confesseii  that  he  had  no  orders 
"for  it;  but  he  alleged,  as  an  excuse,  his  being  in  company  with 
"  some  of  the  General  Officers,  just  before  the  houses  were  burnt  on  the 
"Plains,"  [those  containing  the  forage,  etc.,  which  had  been  burned  when 
the  Army  ei'acnated  the  lines,  on  the  evening  of  the  thirty  Jirst  of  October,] 
"and  heard  General  Putnam  say  he  thought  it  wonld  be  best  to  burn 
*'all  the  houses,  etc.;  and  finding  there  was  houses  burnt  on  the 
"Plains,  soon  after,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  burn  the  said  housi'S, 
"as  he  did." — {Defence  of  Major  Austin,  before  the  Conrt-marti-d,  "Phii,- 
"  ii"SBURO,  November  12,  1776.") 

9  The  reader  will  remember  the  unauthorized  raids  of  the  banditti,, 
under  Isaac  Sears,  David  Waterbury,  David  Wooster,  and  other  "p»- 
"triotic"  New  Englanders,  during  which  the  most  barefaced  rob- 
beries of  the  fanners'  projierties,  throughLiut  Westchester-county, 
had  been  perpetrated  by  large  bodies  of  armed  men.  from  Connecticut, 
against  whom  the  isolated  and  unarmeii  farmers  had  been  powerless. 

K'-'The  enemy  have  retreated  from  the  Wliite  Plains.  It  was  a  happy 
"thought,  the  burning  of  a  few  houses,  upon  our  retreat  from  thence. 
"The  measure  convinced  them  they  had  little  to  expect  from  pcnetrat- 
•'  ing  the  country.  They  saw  liow  much  we  would  Kftcriflce,"  [»/  the 
property  of  olh  rs,]  "to  the  safety  of  our  Army  and  disiulvantJtge  of 
"  theii'S  ;  at  the  sjime  time,  it  must  have  struck  terrour  into  the  Tories 
"and  influence  in  our  favour,  from  the  strong  motive  of  interest,  as 
"  they  i)erceive  their  dwellings,  etc.,  depend  on  our  success." — {Cohmel 
Jed.  Huntington  to  Governor  Trumbull,  "  Camp,  Noiith-Ca.stle,  7th  No- 
"vember,  1776.") 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1783. 


453 


NewEnglandersofthe  most  elevated  stations;  audit  was 
evidently  regarded,  by  the  New  England  Major  and  his 
"  Christian"  followers,  not  only  a  duty  but  a  virtue,  to 
obey  the  teachings  of  such  "patriotic  "and  "  virtuous" 
preceptors. 

The  Major  and  his  men  entered  house  after  house, 
as  they  lyent  down  the  roadways  leading  through  the 
Village  ;  carrying  from  each,  such  articles  as  pleased 
their  cupidity  ;  *  hastening  the  occupants  from  the 
houses,  without  suffering  them  to  dress  the  children, 
where  there  were  children,  "  but  drove  them  out  of 
"  doors,  naked  ;"  carrying  the  sick  and  helpless,  out- 
doors, on  their  beds,  and  leaving  them  exposed  to 
the  rigors  of  that  Xoveraber  night;  ^  insulting  the 
females,*  with  ill  language  and  threats,  in  the  presence 
oftbe  Major;  and,  then,  setting  fire  to  the  houses.^  The 
Court-house,  the  Meeting-house  of  the  Presbyterian- 
church,  and  the  greater  number  of  the  dwellings,  in- 
cluding that  of  Doctor  Graham,  ®  together  with  all, 
of  furniture  and  provisions  and  clothing,  which  the 
rapacious  enemy  had  spared  for  the  use  and  support 
and  protection  of  the  helpless  inhabitants,  unless 
such  portions  of  each,  which  the  new-comers  had 
taken  away,  to  the  Major's  marquee  or  elsewhere, 
were  thus  wantonly  and  criminally  destroyed.' 

That  great  outrage,  inflicted  on  the  inhabitants  of 
Westchester-county,  called  forth  the  denunciations  of 
the  Commander-in-chief,  in  the  General  Orders  of 
the  Army,  *  and  those  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of 
the  State ; '  the  leader  of  the  band  of  ruffians  who 

'  "  When  she  went  out  of  the  house,  some  of  the  men  began  to  carry 
"  things  out  of  the  house  ;  wheu  she  asked  them  whj-  tliey  took  those 
"things.  Then  Major  Austin  spake;  and  told  her  lie  should  carry 
"  them  to  the  General's  ;  and  alleged  General  Sullivan's  orders  for  it." 
— (ifm.  Ailams's  lestiniotnj,  before  the  Onirt-martial  fur  the  trial  of  Major 
Avtliii,  "  Philipsbu BO,  November  12,  IVVC") 

"On  the  night  of  the  5th  instant,  he  had  been  out  on  a  scouting  party, 
"  with  Me^or  Austin;  and,on  their  return.the  Major  ordered  him  back, with 
'■  five  men,  to  the  houses  which  they  burned ;  and  told  him  to  take  good  care 
"of  whatever  things  he  got ;  to  keep  them  safe  ;  and  bring  them  off,  to  his 
"  markee  ;"  etc. — (Testimomj  nf  Sergeant  Churchill,  at  the  s;ime  trial.''  Nov- 
"  ember  13,"  in  which  Captain  Keith  and  James  Linzer  fully  concurred.) 

"  Farther  says,  that  what  things  were  tied  up,  in  two  blankets,  were 
■'carried  to  the  Major's  markee  ;  and  all  the  rest  were  left  with  the  wo- 
"  men."— (Tetlininnij  of  TUleij  Hoir,  at  the  same  trial,  "  Xovember  13  ; " 
in  which  James  Linzer  and  Captain  Keith  fully  concurred.) 

-  TeMimotuf  nf  3fr«.  Adtims^  at  the  same  trial. 

'  Teflim-nij  of  Tilley  IIuic,  ami  of  James  Liitzer,  aiui  of  Cuji/oin  Keith,  at 
•ame  trial. 

*  TeMimony  of  Jlrt.  Ailamit,  at  the  same  trial. 

'  "Mtyor  Austin  told  his  men  to  go  and  set  the  other  houses  on  fire, 
"aa  quick  as  he  could." — (Te'timony  of  Mrs.  Adams,  at  tho  same  trial.) 

See,  also,  the  testimony,  on  the  same  subject,  of  Sergeant  Churchill, 
of  Tilley  How,  of  James  Linzer.  and  of  Captain  Keith,  at  the  same  trial. 

•Understood,  from  aged  peo|de,  many  years  since,  to  have  occupied 
the  lower  portion  of  the  pro|>erty  now  occupied  by  the  rcsi)ected  widow 
of  the  late  C.  Halsey  Mitchell — that  portion  of  that  property,  indeed, 
which  was  occupied,  so  many  years,  for  the  Law-olficea  of  Minott 
Mitchell,  Esq.,  so  long  the  head  of  the  Uar  of  Westcliester-county. 

General  Orders  of  the  Army,  "  nK.M>-gl  AKTERS,  Wmite-I'l.ms.'!,  No- 
"vember  6,1776  ;  "  'ITie  Commitlie  of  S<ifely  .for  the  Slate  of  yew- York  to 
the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  Is  Committee  or  Sakety  fob  the  State 
"  or  Niw-YORK,  FiSHKit.1.,  Kovcmbcr  28,  1776  ;  "  Memoirs  of  General 
Htath,  83  ;  etc. 

*GeHtral  Orders  of  the  .irmy,  "Head-qiarters.  Wiiite-Pi.ains,  No- 
"  Tember  6, 1776." 
*ConimitUe  of  Snfelt/ for  the  State  of  Seic-York  t  t  the  Ih-esideut  of  the 


had  inflicted  the  great  wrong,  only  after  the  most 
vigorous  effort  of  General  Lee,  was  mildly  "  dis- 
"  missed  from  the  service,"  by  the  verdict  of  a  second 
Court-martial,  who  sat  in  judgment,  on  the  culprit; 
and  he  was  turned  over  to  the  Convention  of  the  State, 
to  be  dealt  with,  in  an  action  by  the  State,  resulting 
in  his  escape  from  the  Jail  at  Kingston,  which  closed 
the  subject,  on  the  pages  of  history. 

On  Wednesday,  the  sixth  of  November,  General 
Howe,  with  that  portion  of  the  Royal  Army  whom  he 
had  not  pushed  forward  toward  Kingsbridge,  en- 
camped at  Dobbs's-ferry ; "  and,  on  the  same  day, 
General  Washington  called  a  Council  of  his  General 
Officers,  to  consult  on  such  measures  as  should  be 
adopted,  in  case  the  enemy  should  continue  to  fall 
back,  on  the  City  of  New  York.'^ 

On  Thursday,  the  seventh  of  November,  the  en- 
emy's park  of  Artillery  was  moved  to  Kingsbridge, 
under  a  strong  escort,  with  a  detachment  of  Chasseurs, 
to  join  the  Division  commanded  by  General  Knyphau- 
seii ; "  and  his  foraging  parties  were  busily  employed 
in  collecting  Grain  and  Hay,  and  in  driving  in  Cattle, 
from  all  those  portions  of  the  County  which  were  below 
Tarrytown,  the  Plains,  and  Rye." 

On  Friday,  the  eighth  of  November,  two  Battalions 
of  Light  Infantry  and  the  remainder  of  the  Chasseurs, 
with  four  field-pieces,  took  post  on  the  line  of  com- 
munication with  Kingsbridge ; and,  on  the  part  of 
the  Americans,  the  troops  belonging  to  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  more  Southern  States,  began 
to  file  off,  from  the  lines  which  were  occupied  by  the 
American  Army,  "  as  fast  as  our  situation  and  circum- 
"  stances  would  admit,  in  order  to  be  transported  over 
"the  river,  with  all  expedition."  *® 

On  Saturday,  the  ninth  of  November,  the  Division 
commanded  by  General  Heath,  who  had  performed 
so  distinguished  a  part  in  the  military  operations,  in 
Westchester-county,  was  moved  from  the  extreme  left 


Congress,  "In  Committee  of  Safetv,  foe  the  State  c,f  Xew  York, 
"FisHKii-L,  November  28,  1776." 

Report  of  the  General  Conrt-tnartial,  held  by  order  of  Major-general 
Lee,  for  the  triid  of  Major  Austin,  "PiiiLiPSBURG,  November  12, 1776." 

General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-York,  30  November, 
'•  1776      [Hall's]  History  of  the  CHtil  War  in  America,  i.,  211,  212  ;  etc. 

12  General  Washington  to  tlie  President  of  the  Congress,  "  White-Plains, 
"6  November,  1776." 

The  Council  referred  to  agreed,  unanimously,  that,  in  ca.se  the  enemy 
was  really  retreating  towards  New  Y'ork,  it  would  be  proper,  immediate- 
ly, to  throw  a  body  of  troops,  into  New  Jersey;  that  those  troops  who 
were  from  the  States  to  the  westward  of  the  Hudson,  should  be  thus  de- 
tached, the  others  to  l>e  subject  to  "the  movements  of  the  enemy  and 
'■the  circumstances  of  the  American  Army  ;"  and  that  three  thousand 
men  should  be  detailed  to  take  post  at  Feekskill  and  the  i»isses  in  the 
Highlands,  for  the  delunce  of  those  posts,  for  erecting  fortiticntions,  etc. 

13  Geiieral  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gennaine,  "  New-Yoek,  30  Xovetnber, 
"1776." 

^*  General  McDougal  to  Colonel  DelViU,  "  White-Pi.ains,  November  7, 
"1776  ;"  Memoirs  of  General  lle^dh,  84. 

1'  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  "  New-Y'ohk,  30  November, 
"1776." 

1'  General  Washington  to  General  Greene,  "Head-qcabters,  8  November, 
"1776." 


454 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  line,  which  it  had  so  honorably  occupied ;  and 
took  up  its  line  of  march,  towards  Peekskill,  where  it 
was  to  be  permanently  posted,  for  the  defense  of  the 
Highlands ; '  and,  on  Sunday,  the  tenth  of  November, 
General  Washington  left  the  White  Plains,  to  take 
command  of  those  troops  who  had  crossed  the  Hud- 
son-river, and  who,  soon  afterwards,  were  engaged  in 
that  disastrous  retreat,  through  the  Jerseys,  and  in 
that  subsequent  recovery  of  the  greater  part  of  that 
State,  which  so  greatly  distinguished  him,  as  a  com- 
manding General,  and  which  have  been  recorded,  with 
such  entire  approbation,  on  the  pages  of  history.'^ 
General  Lee  was  left  at  the  White  Plains,  with  his 
own  Division  and  those  commanded  by  Generals 
Spencer  and  Sullivan,  generally  New  York  and  New 
England  troops,  with  orders  to  watch  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  ;  to  secure  and  carry  off"  the  Stores ; 
and,  then,  to  follow  the  main  body  of  the  Army,  into 
the  Jerseys.^ 

While  General  Washington  and  the  main  body  of 
the  American  Army  were  thus  falling  back  from  their 
position,  at  North  Castle,  General  Howe  and  the  main 
body  of  the  Royal  Army  continued  to  fall  back  and 
approach  Kingsbridge.  On  Sunday,  the  tenth  of 
November,  a  Brigade  of  Hessians  was  moved  to  that 
place,  to  increase  the  strength  of  General  Knyphau- 
sen's  already  strong  Division;*  and,  two  days  after- 
wards, [Tuesday,  November  12,]  the  main  body  of  the 
Royal  Army  broke  up  the  encampment,  at  Dobbs's- 
ferry,  which  it  had  occupied  since  the  preceding  Wed- 
nesday, and,  in  two  columns,  moved  towards  Kings- 
bridge,  resting,  on  the  following  day,  [  Wednesday, 
November  13,]  on  the  heights  of  Fordham,  and  form- 
ing a  line,  with  the  Right  upon  the  road  leading  to 
the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  and  covered  by 
the  Bronx-river,  and  with  the  Left  on  the  Hudson- 
river,^  where  it  remained,  until  the  preparations  for 
the  assault  on  Fort  Washington,  wiiich  had  been  rea- 
sonably determined  on,  had  been  completed.'' 

The  progress  of  the  Royal  Army  through  West- 
ch ester-county  was  distinguished  by  the  outrages 
which  were  inflicted  on  the  inhabitants,  without  respect 
to  persons  or  sexes,  on  both  those  who  were  entirely 
conservative  and  disposed  to  favor  the  Royal  cause 
and  those  who  were  radically  and  actively  opposed  to 
it — as  General  Washington  described  them,  while 
forewarning  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey  of  what  the 
fate  of  that  people  would  be,  "they  have  treated  all, 
"  here,  without  discrimination :   the  distinction  of 

1  Memoirs  of  Gaicral  Heath,  84. 

'General  Washington  to  the  President  of  the  Congri/ss,  'Teekskill,  11 
*'  November,  1770." 

'^Instructions  of  General  Washington  to  General  Lee,  "Head-quarters, 
"near  THE  White-Plains,  10  November,  1776;"  Return  of  the  Cunti- 
neutal  Troops  under  the  command  of  General  Lee,  "North-Castle,  No- 
'■  vember  16,  1776  ;"  Memoirs  of  General  Heath,  Si. 

*  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Gennaine,  "New- York,  30  November, 
"  1776." 

!■  General  Howe  to  Lord  George  Germaine,  '•  New-York,  30  November, 
"  177«  ;"  [H  ill's]  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America,  i.,  212  ;  etc. 
o  [Hall's]  History  of  the  Cicil  War  in  America,  i.,  212. 


"  Whig  and  Tory  has  been  lost  in  one  general  sceni 
"  of  ravage  and  desolation."  '  In  that  work,  the  Hes- 
sians and  the  British  troops  were  equally  notorious ; 
and  what  the  soldiery  spared,  was  frequently  carried 
away  by  the  soldiers'  wives  and  mistresses,  who 
formed  a  part  of  the  retinue  of  the  Army.*  Indeed, 
the  warmth  of  controversy  called  out  from  one  of  the 
most  prominent  Loyalists  of  that  period,  the  following 
graphic  description  of  the  outrages  inflicted  by  the 
King's  troops:  "The  inhuman  treatment  alluded  to, 
"  was  the  indiscriminate  plunder  suffered  to  be  com- 
"  mitted,  by  the  soldiery  under  his  command,  on 
"Staten  Island,  Long  Island,  the  White  Plains,  and 
"  in  the  Province  of  New  .Tersey,  where  friend  and 
"  foe,  loyalist  and  rebel,  met  with  the  same  fate — a 
"series  of  continued  plunder,  which  was  a  disgrace  to 
"an  Army  pretending  to  discipline,  and  which,  while 
"  it  tended  to  relax  the  discipline  of  the  troops,  could 
"  not  fail  to  create  the  greatest  aversion,  even  in  the 
"breast  of  loyalty  itself,  to  a  service  which,  under  the 
"  fair  pretence  of  giving  them  orotection .  robbed  them, 
"  in  many  instances,  of  even  the  necessaries  of  life."  * 
But  the  sufferings  endured  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Westchester-couiity  were  not  confined  to  those  which 
were  produced  by  the  outrages  inflicted  by  the  Royal 
Army  and  its  followers.  We  have  already  alluded,'" 
incidentally,  to  the  robberies  of  Horses  which  were 
inflicted  on  the  farmers  of  that  County,  by  Officers  of 
the  American  Army,  for  their  private  uses,  at  their 
respective  homes — not  by  the  Rank  and  File,  nor  by 
the  soldiers'  wives  and  concubines,  nor  in  a  foreign 
country  ;  but  by  the  Commissioned  Officers  of  the 
Army  of  Americans  who  had  been  moved  into  the 
County,  for  the  protection  of  the  inhabitants  and  of 
their  properties.  To  such  an  extent  were  those 
robberies  of  Horses,  to  be  sent  to  the  homes  of  the 
thieves,  for  their  private  uses,  carried  on,  that,  after 
several  General  Orders,  bearing  on  the  subject,  had 

1  General  Washinglonto  Governor  Livingston,  " WiinE-l'LAixs,  7  No- 
"  vember,  1770." 

Ill  a  letter  to  Genenil  Greene,  written  on  the  same  day,  the  (ieiieral 
said,  "Tliey,"  [the  farmers,  in  Ni  w  Jersey,]  "may  rely  upon  it,  that  the 
"  enemy  wil  Heave  nothing  they  find  anions  them;  nor  do  they  dis- 
"  criminate  between  Whig  and  Tory.  Woful  e.xperience  Inui  convinci  d 
"  the  latter,  in  the  niovenieiitsof  the  enemy,  in  this  State,  of  this  trnth." 
— (General  Washington  to  General  Greene,  "  Whitk-I'lai.vs,  November  7, 
"1771-..") 

8  "The  people  who  remained  in  that  part  of  the  country,"  [Weslcliet- 
ter-couiily,]  "  through  which  they  pass'd,  have  been  most  cruelly  plun- 
"  dered  ;  many  helpless  women  had  even  their  shifts  taken  from  their 
"  backs  by  the  soldiers'  wives,  after  the  great  plunderers  had  done  ;  and, 
"  in  this  general  ravage,  no  discrimination  was  made  of  Whig  or  Tory." 
(lA^Uer  from  Stamford,  A&tei  "12th  Nov.  1776,"  published  in  The  Free- 
man's  Journal,  or  New-Hampshire  Gazette,  Vol.  I.,  No.  28,  Portsmouth, 
Tuesday,  December  3,  1776.) 

f  [Galloway's]  lleply  to  the  Observations  of  Lieut.  Gen.  Sir  William 
Howe  on  a  pamphlet  entitled  Letters  to  a  Nobleman,  17,  18. 

On  the  general  subject,  see,  also.  General  McDougal  to  Colonel  De 
Witt,  "White-Plains,  7  November,  1776;"  Letter  to  a  Gentleman  in 
Virginia,  "  Head-quarters,  White-Plains,  November  8,  1776,"  iinli- 
lished  in  Force's  American  Archives,  V.,  iii.,  603  ;  The  Committee  of  Safety 
to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "  In  Committee  of  Safety  for  the 
"State  of  New-Y'ork,  Fishkill,  November  20,  1776;"  etc. 

10  Vide  pages  415,  416,  ante. 


THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,  1774-1Y83. 


455 


been  issued,  without  having  checked  the  career  of 
robbery,  General  Washington  was  constrained  to 
issue  another,  iu  these  words,  sufficiently  illustrative 
of  the  practices  and  of  his  views  concerning  them  : 
"  It  is  with  a.stonishnient  the  General  hears  that  some 
"Officers  have  taken  Horses,  between  the  enemy's 
"  Camp  and  ours,  and  sent  them  into  the  country,  for 
"their  private  use.  Can  it  be  possible  that  per- 
"sons  bearing  Commissions  and  fighting  in  such 
"  a  cause,  can  degrade  themselves  into  plunderers  of 
"Horses?  He  hopes  every  Officer  will  set  his  face 
"against  it,  in  future;  and  does  insist  that  the 
"  Colonels  and  commanding  Officers  of  Regiments  im- 
"  mediately  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  report  to  him 
"  who  have  been  guilty  of  these  practices  ;  and  that 
"they  take  an  account  of  the  Horses  in  their  re- 
"spective  encampments;  and  send  to  the  Quarter- 
" master-general  all  that  are  not  in  some  public 
"  service." ' 

While  some  of  the  Officers  of  the  American  Army 
were  thus  employed  in  replenishing  their  own  stables, 
at  their  respective  homes,  from  the  stables  of  the 
farmers  of  Westchester-county,  others  of  that  Army, 
Officers  and  Privates,  were  systematically  visiting  the 
houses  of  those  farmers  and  robbing  them  of  what- 
ever was  acceptable  to  them.  Like  the  British  and 
Hessians,  they  were  not  respecters  of  either  the 
friends  of  the  American  cause  or  those  of  the  King ; 
nor  did  they  hesitate  to  rob  helpless  and  unprotected 
females  and  their  families  ;  sometimes  turning  them 
out  of  their  houses,  undressed  and  in  their  night- 
clothes  ;  and,  generally,  adding  personal  abuse  of 
their  victims  to  the  crime  of  robbing  them.  Nothing 
whatever  was  unacceptable  to  the  thieves;  and  the 
bags  of  Feathers  and  of  unmanufactured  Wool,  the 
Desks  and  Tea-tables  and  Chairs,  the  Book-cases  and 
Books,  the  Andirons  and  brass  and  copper  Kettles, 
the  linen  Curtains  and  Looking-glasses  and  women's 
Hat.s,  the  Churns  and  Washtubs,  the  sets  of  Sleigh- 
harness  and  skips  of  Bees,  which  appear  recorded 
among  the  articles  which  were  thus  stolen  by  the 
soldiers  whom  JIassachusetts  and  Connecticut  had 
sent  into  the  Army,  very  clearly  indicated  that  while 
the  Horses  of  the  farmers  of  Westchester-county 
were  stolen  for  the  supplying  of  the  stables  of  the 
thieves,  at  their  respective  homes,  the  Household 
Furniture  belonging  to  the  same  farmers,  and  the 
Clothing  of  their  wives,  and  their  unmanufactured 
Wool  and  Feathers,  and  their  Bees,  were  also  stolen 
for  the  purpose  of  enriching  the  homes  and  the  work- 
rooms and  the  gardens  of  those  same  "  Christian " 
New  Englanders,  and  the  wardrobes  of  their  families. 
Among  those  who  were  thus  robbed  were  Miles  Oak- 
ley, who  was  the  Landlord  of  the  Tavern,  contiguous 
to  the  Court-house,  in  the  Village  of  the  White 
Plains  ; '  John  Martina,  the  grandfather  of  the  late 

>  Gnural  Onlen,  "  Head-qi'artf.iis,  Wmitk-Plalns.  <>ctob«'r  177r,." 
'On  page  68,  ante,  note  1,  we  referred  to  a  Tavern,  also  contiguous  to 
tlie  Court-liouso,  which,  in  .\pril,  1775,  was  said  to  liave  l)een  the 


Caleb  Marline  of  Greenburgh  and  of  the  widow  of 
the  late  Thomas  Dean  of  Tarrytown,  whose  home- 
stead is  now  occupied  by  Isaac  F.  Van  Wart,  of 
Greenburgh ;  Talman  Pugsley,  who  is  said  to  have 
lived  where  the  brick  School-house  now  stands,  oppo- 
site to  the  residence  of  Abraham  Beare,  of  Green- 
burgh; Ph(L>be  Oakley,  who  was  the  sister-in-law  of 
Talman  Pugsley  ;  Marmaduke  Foster,  who  was  the 
son-in-law  of  John  Martine  ;  and  Solomon  Pugsley 
and  the  widow  Elizabeth  Pugsley,  whose  places  of 
residence  are  not  known  to  us ;  and  their  Depositions 
and  Statements  and  the  Schedules  of  the  articles 
stolen  from  John  Martine  and  his  son  in-law,  afford, 
at  once,  the  evidence  of  the  robberies  and  of  the  com- 
forts which  were  to  be  found  in  the  homes  of  the 
quiet  and  industrious  and  intelligent  residents  of 
Westchester-county,  at  that  time.'  Among  the  thieves 
whose  names  have  come  down  to  us,  were  Major 
Bacon,  Captains  Gale,  Shaddock,  and  Ford,  and 
others,  of  Colonel  Brewer's  Regiment  of  Artificers,  of 
the  Massachusetts  Line  ;  and  Officers  and  Privates  of 
the  Regiment  of  Connecticut  troops,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Charles  Webb.* 

In  view  of  these  great  outrages,  and  of  many  others 
of  which  no  records  have  been  preserved,  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  for  the  State  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  President  of  the  Continental  Congress,  in  which 
are  these  concluding  words :  "  I  have  the  satisfaction 
"  to  assure  you  that  the  fortitude  of  this  State  and 
"  their  zeal  for  the  glorious  cause  in  which  we  are 
"  engaged,  is  not  abated  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  are 
"  prepared  to  meet  even  severer  misfortunes,  with  a 
"  spirit  and  firmness  becoming  the  generous  advo- 


nieeting-placo  of  Lewis  Morris  and  his  friends ;  to  liave  been  liept  by 
Isaac  Uttkley ;  and  to  Imve  stood  until  about  1808,  when  it  was 
burned. 

Unless  tliere  were  two  Taverns,  in  the  White  Plains,  with  Oakleys 
for  their  Landlcjrds,  in  1775  and  1771! ;  or,  unless  Miles  had  succeeded 
Isaac,  as  the  Lamllord  of  the  one  Tavern  which  was  "  Oakley's 
"Tavern,"  between  April,  1775,  and  Xoveniber,  1770,  we  were  probably 
in  error,  in  ouv  former  statement,  concerning  the  imine  of  the  Oakley 
who  was  the  Landlord  of  that  Tavern  which  was,  there,  mentioned: 
and  if  only  one  "Oakley's  Tavern"  was  in  existence,  in  the  White 
Plains,  at  that  time,  it  was  among  the  buildings  which  were  burned 
by  Major  Austin,  on  the  filth  of  November,  1776,  (i  i'de  pages  452,  453, 
ante ;)  and,  therefore, was  not  standing  until  1868,  as  stated  on  page  244. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  facts  ;  and  so  leave  the  matter 
iu  doubt. 

3  Petition  of  Miles  Oakley  to  General  Washimjlon,  "  November  9,  1776  ;  " 
Deposition  of  John  Murtine  and  Memorandutn  of  Goods  plnmlercd  from 
him,  "dated  November  13,  177G  "  ;  Deposition  of  Talman  I^sley,  "dated 
"the  second  day  of  I>ecember,  1776  "  ;  Petition  of  Phoebe  Oakletj  to  the  C«n- 
vention  of  New-  York,  and  her  Deposition,  ' '  dated  the  second  of  December, 
"1776"  ;  Deposition  of  Mnrvmflvke  Foster  and  a  List  of  Articles  taken  by 
the  sttldiers,  from  him,  "dated  the  thirteenth  of  November,  1776"  ;  Re- 
lease, by  Stephen  Oakley,  "  in  behalf  of  Solomon  Piujsley  and  the  teiJow 
'•Elizabeth  Pugsley,  to  Captain  Ford,  "for  the  things  that  said  Captain 
"Ford  and  his  men  did  take  out  of  the  house  of  Solomon  Pugsley,  near 
"  the  lines  of  the  enemy,  at  White  Plains,  on  Philips's  Manor  ; "  etc. 

No  more  interesting  jMipers,  connected  with  the  history  of  that  period 
and  illustrative  of  the  morality  and  integrity  of  New  Knglanders  of  the 
era  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  can  be  found,  anywhere,  tliau  these. 

*  Depositions  of  Phtihe  Oakley,  John  Martine,  Tatman  Pngsley,  and 
Marmaduke  Foster ;  Helease,  by  Sleplten  Oakley  to  Captain  Ford ;  Deposition 
of  Ebenezer  Biorill,  "dated  the  second  day  of  December,  1776  "  ;  etc. 


456 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  cates  for  Liberty.  Unhappily  am  I  to  add,  that, 
"  amidst  all  our  suffering,  the  Army  employed  for 
"  the  protection  of  America  have  not  refrained  from 
"  embittering  even  the  calamities  of  War.  At  a 
"  time  when  the  utmost  resources  of  this  State  were 
"  laid  open  to  their  wants,  and  the  members  of  Con- 
"  vention  personally  submitted  to  the  labour  and 
"  fatigue  which  were  necessary,  on  a  sudden  emer- 
"  gency,  and  after  frequent  losses  of  Provisions  and 
"  Barracks,  to  supply  two  numerous  Armies,  aug- 
"  mented  by  the  Militia,  with  every  article  which 
"  they  required,  the  Court-house  and  the  remains  of 
"  the  Village,  at  the  White  Plains,  which  had  been 
"  spared,  on  the  retreat  of  our  forces,  was,  after  the 
"  enemy  had,  in  their  turn,  retired,  wantonly  de- 
"  stroyed,  without  the  Orders  and  to  the  infinite  re- 
"  gret  of  our  worthy  General.  Besides,  in  spite  of 
"  all  his  Excellency's  efforts,  wherever  our  troops 
"  have  marched  or  been  stationed,  they  have  done 
"  infinite  damage  to  the  possessions  and  farms,  and 
"  have  pilfered  the  property  of  the  people. 

"  I  am  directed.  Sir,  to  submit  it  to  the  honourable 
"  Congress,  whether  some  effectual  remedy  ought 
"  not  to  be  provided  against  such  disorderly  and  dis- 
"  graceful  proceedings.  The  soldier  who  plunders 
"  the  country  he  is  employed  to  protect,  is  no  better 
"  than  a  robber,  and  ought  to  be  treated  accordingly  ; 
"  and  a  severe  example  ought,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
"  Committee,  to  be  made  of  the  Officer  who,  without 
"  necessity  or  his  General's  permission,  set  fire  to  the 
"  Court-house  and  other  buildings,  at  the  White 
"  Plains.  He  is  guilty  of  the  crime  of  Arson  ;  and  if 
"  he  cannot  be  punished  by  the  Articles  of  War,  he 
"  ought  to  be  given  up  to  the  Laws  of  the  land.  If 
"  so  glaring  a  violation  of  every  sentiment  of  human- 
"  ity  should  be  passed  over,  in  silence,  if  the  Army 
"  is  not  seasonably  restrained  from  such  acts  of  bar- 
"  barity,  the  consequence  must  be  fatal  to  the  cause 
"  of  a  people  whose  exalted  glory  it  is  to  be  advocates 
"  for  the  Rights  of  Mankind  against  the  tyranny  and 
"  oppression  of  lawless  power."  ' 

The  conduct  of  General  Washington,  in  the  trying 
events  of  that  memorable  Campaign,  in  Westchester- 
county,  has  received  the  unqualified  approbation  of 
his  country  and  of  the  world,  and  secured  for  him  the 
highest  honors,  as  a  Soldier  and  as  a  commanding 
General.  The  conduct  of  General  Howe,  during  the 
same  Campaign,  received  nothing  else  than  the  ap- 
proval of  the  King,  his  step-brother,  and  that  of  the 
party  of  the  Opposition,  in  the  Parliament,  of  which 
he  was  a  member,  and  which  was,  peculiarly,  the 
party  who  was  in  sympathy  with  America. 

Both  the  Admiral  and  the  General,  commanders, 
respectively,  of  the  King's  Fleet  and  Army,  were  ac- 
cused, by  the  Press  of  Great  Britain  and  in  the  Par- 


1  The  Cammitlee  of  Safety  to  the  President  of  the  Congress,  "In  Commit 
"  TKE  or  Safety  for  the  State  of  New- York,  Fishkii.i,,  November 
"  20,  1776." 


liament,  with  want  of  wisdom,  in  the  formation  of 
their  plans ;  and  with  want  of  vigor  and  energy,  in 
the  execution  of  those  plans.^  "  A  connection  with 
"the  Opposition,  and  a  resolution,  assumed  before 
"  their  departure  from  England,  to  frustrate  every 
"measure  of  the  "  [</ien]  "  present  Administration, 
"  and,  thereby,  to  bring  them  "  [the  Administration,'] 
"  into  disgrace  with  their  Sovereign  and  the  Nation," 
were,  also,  boldly  charged  on  the  two  brothers  while 
others  shrewdly  suspected  that  their  poverty,  not 
"  their  will,  consented  " — they  said  that  it  was  "  ob- 
"  vious  to  all,  that,  had  the  Admiral  destroyed  the 
"  rebel  ships,  in  their  ports,  or  effectually  blockaded 
"  up  their  harbors,  no  valuable  captures  of  Tobacco  or 
"  Indigo  could  have  fallen  to  the  share  of  the  British 
"  Admiral ;  "  and  they  did  not  hesitate  to  assert  that 
large  fortunes  were  accumulated,  from  that  source.* 
They  also  took  advantage  of  the  friendship  which 
had  existed  between  the  family  of  Howe  and  the 
Americans,  during  the  French  War ;  and  they  boldly 
charged  the  brothers  with  positive  friendship  for  the 
American  cause.*  All  of  these  charges  were,  prob- 
ably, more  or  less  true.  The  two  brothers  were 
indolent  men  ;  fond  of  company,  wine,  and  play : 
they  were,  in  fact,  identified  with  the  party  of  the 
Opposition :  they  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  the 
sympathy,  which,  to  some  extent,  they  felt  for  the 
Americans:  like  other  Commanders,  in  both  ancient 
and  modern  times,  they  probably  kept  a  sharp  eye  on 
the  spoils.  But  there  were,  also,  other  circumstances, 
of  which  their  accusers  knew  nothing  and  of  which 
the  world,  to-day,  knows  only  very  little,  which  largely 
controlled  them  ;  and  it  is  only  reasonable  and  fair, 
therefore,  that  the  accused  should,  also,  be  heard  on 
the  subject — when  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons was  charged  with  the  grave  duty  of  inquiring 
into  the  conduct  of  General  Howe,  during  his  com- 
mand of  the  King's  troops  in  North  America,  that 
distinguished  Oflicer  made  a  written  defense,  in  which 
we  find  the  following  words,  relative  to  the  operations 
of  the  Royal  Army,  in  Westchester-county  : 

"  From  the  twelfth  of  October,  the  day  the  Army 
"landed  on  Frog's-neck,  to  the  twenty-first  of  the 
"  same  month,  we  were  employed  in  getting  up  Stores 
"and  Provisions;  and  in  bringing  over  the  Dragoons, 
"  the  Second  Division  of  Hessians,  and  the  carriages 
"  and  horses  for  transportating  Provisions,  Artillery, 
"  Ammunition,  and  Baggage.    Four  or  five  days  had 

2  [Galloway's]  ie««r«  (o  a  A'oWcman,  36  ;  [Galloway's]  i?epii/ <«  the  Ob- 
servations of  Lieut.  Gen.  Sir  William  Ilowe,  on  a  pampblet,  entitled 
Letters  to  a  Xobleman  ;  Letter  from  "  Cicero  "  to  Lord  Huioe,  2,  3  ;  Wraxall's 
Memoirs  of  his  own  Time,  Edit.  Philadelphia  :  184.5,  163 ;  etc. 

3  A  Letter  to  the  Right  Honorable  Lord  Viscmmt  H  e.  Edit.  London: 

1779,  42,  43  ;  Letter  from  "  Cicero"  to  Lord  Howe,  196  ;  Wraxall's  Mem- 
oirs, 163  ;  etc. 

*  A  Letter  to  the  Uiijht  HonoraUe  Lord  Viscount  H — —e,  43,  44  ;  Ie(fer 
from  "  Cicero  "  to  Lord  Howe,  1,  2;  etc. 

6  A  Letter  to  the  Hirjht  Honorable  Lord  Viscount  H  e,  42,  43 ;  Letter 

front  "  Vicero"  to  Lord  Howe,  7-9;  The  Middlesex  Journal  and  Adver- 
tiser, No.  1207,  London  :  From  Saturday,  December  14,  to  Tuesday,  De- 
cember 17,  1776 ;  etc. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


457 


"  been  unavoidably  taken  up  in  landing  at  Frog's- 
"  neck,  instead  of  going,  at  once,  to  Pell's-point, 
"  which  would  have  been  an  inn)rudent  measure,  as  it 
"  could  not  have  been  executed  without  much  un- 
"  necessary  risk. 

"  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  the  engagement 
"  at  the  White-Plains  took  place.  But  it  has  been 
"  asserted,  that,  by  my  not  attacking  the  lines,  on  the 
"  day  of  that  action,  I  lost  an  opportunity  of  deslroy- 
"  ing  the  Rebel  Army  ;  and  it  has  been  also  said, 
"that  I  might  have  cut  off  the  enemy's  retreat  by  the 
"  Croton-bridge.  Sir  :  an  assault  upon  the  enemy's 
"  right,  which  was  opposed  to  the  Hessian  troops, 
"  was  intended.  The  Committee  must  give  me  credit 
"  when  I  assure  them,  that  I  have  political  reasons, 
"and  no  other,  for  declining  to  explain  why  that  as- 
"  sault  was  not  made.  Upon  a  minute  inquiry,  those 
"  reasons  might,  if  necessary,  be  brought  out,  in  evi- 
"  deuce,  at  the  Bar.  If,  however,  the  assault  had  been 
"  made,  and  the  lines  carried,  the  enemy  would  have 
"got  off,  without  much  less;  and  no  way  had  we, 
"  that  I  could  ever  learn,  of  cutting  off  their  retreat 
"  by  the  Croton-bridge.  I  cannot  conceive  the  foun- 
"dation  of  such  an  idea.  By  forcing  the  lines,  we 
"  should,  undoubtedly,  have  gained  a  more  brilliant 
"  advantage,  some  Baggage,  and  some  Provisions  ;  but 
"  we  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Rebel  Army 
"  could  have  been  destroyed.  The  ground  in  their 
"  rear  was  such  as  they  could  wish,  for  securing  their 
"  retreat,  which,  indeed,  seemed  to  be  their  particular 
"  object.  And,  Sir,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  confess  that, 
"  if  I  could,  by  any  manoeuvre,  remove  an  enemy 
"  from  a  very  advantageous  position,  without  hazard- 
"  ing  the  consequences  of  an  attack,  where  the  point 
"to  be  carried  was  not  adequate  to  the  loss  of  men  to 
"  be  expected  from  the  enterprise,  I  should  certainly 
"  adopt  that  cautionary  conduct,  in  the  hopes  of 
"meeting my  adversary  upon  more  equal  terms."  ' 

The  careful  student  of  that  portion  of  the  history  of 
our  own  country  which  relates  to  the  Campaign  in 
Westchester-county,  in  1776,  will  arise  from  the  ex- 
amination of  it  with  the  words  on  his  lips  which  the 
Apostle  Paul  employed,  in  another  connection  :  "  God 
"  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
"  found  the  wise,  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weake 
"things  of  the  world,  to  confound  the  mighty  things, 

and  vile  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are 
"  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  and  things  which  are 
'  not,  to  bring  to  nought  things  that  are."^ 


^t>prech  of  Geueral  Howe  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mniit,  April  29,  1779 — .Mmon's  Pnrliameiitary  Beijitler,  Fifth  Session, 
Fuurteentb  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  xii.,324. 

S<*,  also,  The  N<irmlire  of  Sir  Witluim  Hotce,  G,  7. 

2  The  Seire  Tettatieiit,  Genevan  Version,  Edit.  London  :  159-3, 1  Corinth- 
Una,  i. ,  27, 

41 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  DURING  THE  COLONIAL  AND 
PROVINCIAL  PERIODS. 

BY  J.  THOMAS  SCHARF,  A.M.  LL.D. 

"The  history  of  nations,"  said  Taine,  "is  the 
history  of  the  men  who  make  up  nations;  it  is  in  the 
homes  of  the  common  people,  their  daily  lives  and 
their  ambitions,  that  we  find  the  motives  which 
actuate  the  most  important  national  events,  revolu- 
tionize governments  and  change  the  political  geogra- 
phy of  continents."  To  no  communities  could  this 
judicious  comment  of  the  keenest  of  critics  be  more 
aptly  applied  than  to  those  which,  derived  from  all  the 
maritime  peoples  of  Europe,  laid  broad  and  deep  the 
stable  foundations  of  Caucasian  civilization  in  North 
America  and  erected  upon  them  the  impregnable 
structure  of  free  government.  Writers  of  history 
never  so  generally  recognized  as  they  do  now  that  to 
construct  an  intelligent  and  comprehensive  narrative 
of  a  State,  or  its  divisions  they  must  seek  the  source  of 
truth  and  the  springs  of  action  at  the  firesides  of  the 
pioneers  of  population  and  the  civil  establishment. 
No  department  of  historical  research  is  more  fascinat- 
ing to  the  student  or  the  reader  than  that  which  throws 
a  penetrating  light  upon  the  domestic  life  of  the 
founders  of  our  present  society  and  government,  and 
brings  them  out  in  bold  relief  as  they  transacted  their 
business  and  household  affairs,  paid  court  to  the 
blooming  maidens  who  became  their  wives,  reared 
their  children,  mingled  in  their  feasts  and  festivals, 
built  their  churches  and  struggled  to  bequeath  to 
their  children  the  heritage  of  honored  names  and 
goodly  estates.  Rich  as  were  all  the  early  settle- 
ments of  North  America  in  this  field  of  study,  no 
section  is  more  attractive  than  that  in  which  West- 
chester County  is  embraced.  The  successive  tides  ot 
Dutch  and  English  immigration,  the  original  sharp 
definition  of  the  lines  which  separated  the  two  nation- 
alities, the  obliteration  of  those  lines  by  a  merging  of 
racial  interests,  the  institution  of  slavery,  the  growth  of 
the  colony  toward  moneyed  prosperity,  the  influence  of 
the  Revolutionary  War  in  domestic  circles,  the  politi- 
cal and  social  readjustment  which  followed  it — all 
these  epochs  are  vitalized  by  stirring,  important  and 
interesting  incidents  and  phases  that  are  gifted  with 
an  enduring  charm  for  the  generations  succeeding  the 
actors  in  them. 

Traders  rather  than  colonists,  the  Dutch  settlers 
were  slow  to  move  northward  on  the  Hudson  until 
the  purchases  of  Indian  lands  by  the  West  Indian 
Company,  by  Brons  and  by  Adrian  von  der  Donck. 
About  1623  they  began  to  undertake  the  colonization 
of  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  and  were  followed  by  the 
English  and  the  Huguenots.  "  Westchester,"  writes 
Mrs.  Catharine  Van  Cortlandt, '  in  a  hitherto  unpub- 

•  To  Mrs.  Van  Cortlandt,  the  author  of  this  chapter  is  deeply  indebted. 


458 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lished  sketch  of  the  early  settlers,  their  manners  and 
customs,  "  was  not  as  Dutch  a  county  as  many  others, 
although  many  of  its  settlers  were  Hollanders  and 
their  descendants.  The  Dutch  language  was  not  so 
much  spoken  as  in  Rockland  or  Orange.  In  the 
southern  part  of  the  county  the  Huguenot  and 
English  stocks  prevailed,  and  the  near  proximity  of 
New  York  caused  an  advance  in  their  customs  and 
manners.  In  the  Dutch  Churches  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  county  the  congregations  clung  tenaciously 
to  their  language  and  usages,  yielding  to  the  encroach, 
ments  of  the  English  step  by  step  and  grudgingly." 

The  few  adventurers  who  challenged  fortune  out- 
side of  Manhattan  '  toward  the  close  of  the  first  quar- 
ter of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  pushed  up  the 
river,  invaded  the  primeval  forests  with  a  view  of 
securing  land  for  cultivation,  or  else  established  fish- 
eries on  the  shore.  Many  probably  made  their  first 
dwellings  along  the  river  in  caves  formed  by  digging 
into  the  bank ;  but  they  soon  learned  from  the  Indians 
the  construction  of  bark  wigwams,  which  afforded  a 
much  more  comfortable  abode,  and  which,  when  im- 
proved by  the  devices  which  suggested  themselves  to 
the  European  mind,  became  the  log  cabins  renowned 
in  song  and  story.  The  house  of  logs  from  which 
the  bark  had  been  peeled  was  a  mark  of  gentility 
and  a  second  story  was  a  luxury,  although  the  oc- 
cupant might  have  to  reach  his  chamber  under  the 
roof-poles  by  ascending  steps  on  the  outside,  or  by 
climbing  up  a  perpendicular  ladder  within  the  house. 
A  dwelling  of  logs  hewn  and  squared  with  the  broad 
axe  and  adze  was  the  highest  of  the  kind.  But  about 
1635  a  class  of  immigrants  began  to  arrive  who  gave 
a  new  character  to  the  Hudson  region.  They  were 
Hollanders  and  Huguenots,  who  came  with  large 
amounts  of  ready  money  to  occupy  vast  grants  of 
land,  most  of  which  had  manorial  rights  attached  to 
them.  With  their  large  families  and  troops  of  ser- 
vants, white  and  black,  they  of  necessity  erected 
large  and  comfortable  mansions  on  the  plan  of 
those  from  which  they  had  taken  their  departure  in 
the  Fatherland.  "  In  New  York  and  the  region  about 
the  Hudson  River,"  wrote  Rev.  Edward  Eggleston, 
"  the  foundation  form  of  the  early  dwelling  was  the 
Dutch  house  built  with  its  gable  to  the  street.  The 
top  of  the  gable  wall  was  notched  into  corbel  steps. 


for  much  valuable  information  pertaining  to  the  early  history  of  West- 
chester Coiinty  that  could  not  elsewhere  be  obtained.  The  family  records 
in  her  possession  are  improved  in  their  historical  worth  by  her  arrange- 
ment of  them,  and  by  her  clear  and  logical  deductions  from  the  facts 
which  they  contain.  She  has  taken  the  utmost  interest  in  the  prei>ara- 
tion  of  this  history  aud  has  contributed  to  it  material  that  is  unique  both 
in  its  character  and  importance. 

'In  the  Indian  language,  Manak^tditnitieuks — "the  place  where  they  all 
got  drunk" — so  called  by  the  Indians,  says  that  indefatigable  chronicler 
John  F.  Watson,  in  commemoration  of  their  first  meeting  with  Captain 
Hudson,  when  that  celebrated  man  made  them  acquainted  with  the 
peculiar  effects  of  strong  drink,  which  according  to  the  tradition  handed 
down  to  their  descendants  by  these  unsophisticated  savages,  "produced 
staggering  and  happy  feeling." — ^^'ntson's  "  Xew  York  in  Ihe  Olden 
Tim$." 


and  the  black  fire-bricks  of  the  kiln  were  laid  alter- 
nating with  red  or  yellow  ones  to  make  checks  on 
the  gable  front."  Mrs.  Van  Cortlandt  sketches  the 
houses  of  the  middle  class  and  farmers,  which,  she 
says,  were  of  rough  stone  when  they  were  not  of 
brick.  She  adds  :  "  The  windows  were  filled  in  with 
small  panes  of  glass ;  the  heavy  wooden  outside 
shutters  swung  upon  massive  iron  hinges.  They  had 
usually  a  crescent  cut  near  the  top  to  admit  the  early 
light,  and  were  held  back  by  an  iron  somewhat  in  the 
shape  of  an  S  inserted  in  the  stone  wall.  As  ground 
was  cheap,  these  houses  were  large  in  extent  and  com- 
monly a  story  and  a  half  in  height,  the  roof  sloping 
steejjly  from  the  ridge  pole,  and  dormer  windows  broke 
its  uniformity.  Double-pitched  houses  were  of  later 
date,  as  were  those  in  the  interior  of  the  county  shin- 
gled on  the  sides  as  well  as  on  the  roof.  The  front 
door  was  invariably  divided  into  halves  ;  in  the  upper 
half  were  two  bull's  eyes  of  glass  to  light  the  hall,  and 
it  was  graced  with  a  heavy  brass  knocker.  The  lower 
half  had  a  heavy  latch.  A  wide  piazza  surrounded 
the  house.  In  the  villages  a  front  stoop  was  common, 
with  benches  on  each  side.  Here  the  families  took 
their  evening  rest  and  the  neighbors  discussed  the 
questions  of  the  day.  The  houses  mostly  had  a 
southern  exjjosure.  Attached  to  them  was  usually  an 
extension  for  the  kitchen  and  the  use  of  the  servants, 
which  was  generally  built  of  brick.  Many  bricks 
were  brought  from  Holland,  but  these  extensions  or 
wings  were  most  frequently  built  of  rough  bfick  from 
the  kilns  on  the  Hudson  River,  of  which  early  men- 
tion is  made. 

"  In  houses  of  much  size  the  rooms  were  often 
wainscoted  to  the  height  of  about  three  feet,  or  a 
chair  board  (a  beveled  moulding)  ran  about  the  same 
height  from  the  floor.  Sometimes  the  wainscot  was 
carved,  as  well  as  the  paneling  about  the  deep  wooden 
seats  and  the  mantel-pieces.  The  fire-places  occupied 
a  large  space,  in  some  very  old  houses  being 
placed  cornerwise.  Tiles,  usually  of  Scripture  scenes, 
adorned  the  fire-places.  Some  were  of  quite  fine 
ware,  entirely  white,  as  in  the  Van  Cortlandt  Manor- 
house,  where  one  or  two  were  spared  by  the  soldiers 
when  removing  the  rest  to  use  as  plates.  The  fire- 
irons,  fender  and  andirons  were  of  solid  brass  and  always 
as  brilliant  as  hands  could  make  them,  forming  with 
the  fire  a  perfect  picture,  but  alas  for  those  who  in 
biting  winter  days  could  not  get  close  to  that  fire !  " 

As  the  colony  grew  stronger  the  Dutch  scattered 
farther  in  the  interior  and  luxury  invaded  the  towns 
which  they  and  the  other  settlers  founded  along  the 
Hudson.  As  they  built  better  houses  they  made  or 
imported  fine  furniture  for  them,  but  the  earlier 
equipments  of  the  living  rooms  were  as  rude  in  char- 
acter as  scant  in  number.  The  pallet  on  the  floor — 
"  the  Kermis  bed,"  as  the  Dutch  called  it — was  an 
occasional  resort,  even  in  good  houses.  The  Labadist 
travelers  in  1688  sojourned  in  a  tavern  near  the  Hud- 
son that  put  its  guests  to  sleep  on  a  horse  bedding  of 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


459 


hay  before  the  fire ;  and  a  hundred  years  later  Cha- 
teaubriand found  an  inn  on  the  New  York  frontier 
where  everybody  slept  about  a  central  post  that  up- 
held the  roof,  heads  outward  and  feet  toward  the  cen- 
tre. This  was  the  manner  common  in  England  in 
King  Alfred's  day,  thirteen  centuries  ago.  Such  poor 
people  in  the  colonies  as  possessed  tastes  too  luxuri- 
ous to  enjoy  a  deer-skin  on  the  hearth,  were  accus- 
tomed to  fill  their  bed-sacks  and  pillows  with  fibrous 
mistletoe,  the  down  of  the  cat-tail  flag,  or  with  feath- 
ers of  pigeons  slaughtered  from  the  innumerable 
migrating  flocks.  Cotton  from  the  milk-weed,  then 
called  "  silk  grass,"  was  used  for  pillows  and  cush- 
ions. 

No  contrast  could  be  sharper  than  that  between 
such  primitive  accommodations  and  the  elegance 
which  marked  the  manor-houses,  which  were  the 
pride  of  the  colony.  The  patroons,  and  indeed  all 
the  landed  proprietors,  gloried  in  the  solid  magnifi- 
cence of  their  household  appurtenances.  Mrs.  Van 
Cortlandt  has  written  of  these  stately  houses  so 
graphically  that  pictures  of  them  may  be  recreated 
in  the  mind's  eye  from  her  description  :  "  The  fur- 
niture of  well-to-do  people  was  massive  and  costly 
and  that  of  the  plainer  classes  good  and  made  to  last. 
Large  sideboards  were  loaded  with  silver  beakers, 
tankards,  candlesticks  and  mugs.  The  latter  were 
used  at  funerals  to  hold  mulled  wine.  In  Albany  it 
was  the  custom  to  borrow  these  mugs  of  all  the  rela- 
tives and  return  them  after  the  funeral  filled  with 
the  fragrant  compound,  and  doubtless  this  was  also 
done  in  Westchester.  The  sideboards  also  held  in- 
laid mahogany  boxes,  which  contained  the  spoons 
and  forks.  A  cellaret  of  mahogany  bound  in  brass 
and  lined  with  metal  was  the  receptacle  of  the  wine 
bottles.  Heavy  old  mahogany  chairs,  with  leather 
bottoms,  and  massive  tables,  whose  leaves  let  down, 
completed  the  furniture  of  the  dining-room.  The 
cupboards  set  in  the  walls  held  china,  which  was  of- 
ten very  beautiful,  especially  that  of  the  favorite  Lowe- 
stoffe  and  Chinese  makes.  The  glassware  was  finely 
cut,  and  some  of  the  goblets  had  stems  adorned  with 
spiral  threads  of  opaque  glass.  Pewter  platters, 
plates,  dishes  and  mugs  were  in  daily  use. ' 

"The  bed-room  furniture  embraced  an  enormous 
four-post  bedstead,  the  posts  handsomely  carved  and 
supporting  a  canopy  or  tester  hung  with  dimity  or 
fringed  chintz  curtains  and  a  fringed  valance  to 
match.*    A  sacking  bottom  was  pierced  at  intervals 


1  These  pewter  utensils  were  highly  valued.  One  man,  in  1690,  leaves 
to  his  wife  "her  bed  and  some  small  reversions  of  pewter,"  and  to  his 
daughter  "  two  great  charges  of  pewter,  two  pewter  platters  next  to 
them,  two  lesser  platters,  a  flaggon  and  a  cow."  A  widow,  in  1688,  re- 
linipiislies  her  thirds  in  favor  of  her  two  sons,  who  promise  her  a  certain 
yearly  allowance— "only  her  wearing  clothes,  witli  her  bed  and  what 
belonged  to  it  and  her  ptweter— those  to  remain  to  her  and  to  be  at  her 
disposal."— //i«(-)ry  of  Itije  b>/  Hev.  Cluti.  W.  TInird. 

-  One  must  have  slept  in  a  Dutch  bed  to  understand  the  bliss  or  agony 
resulting  from  its  peculiar  arrangement.  Going  to  bed  in  this  case  is  a 
science.    Tlie  first  difficulty  for  a  novice  is  to  let  himself  drop  into  the 


with  large  holes,  worked  with  coarse  linen  thread  in 
button-hole  stitch.  Through  these  orifices  a  stout 
rope  was  inserted  and  drawn  around  the  correspond- 
ing pegs  in  the  bedstead  by  strong  hands,  and  upon 
this  foundation  great  feather  beds  were  piled.  In 
the  guest  chamber,  over  the  blankets  and  sheets  was 
spread  a  white  quilt,  which  was  often  a  work  of  art, 
so  beautifully  was  it  quilted  and  so  well  were  roses 
and  tulips  delineated  by  the  needle  upon  its  surface. 
The  small  wash-stands  were  frequently  three-cor- 
nered, and  the  ware  they  held  was  usually  dark  blue 
and  white.  Venetian  blinds  shaded  the  windows, 
and  were  very  troublesome  because  of  the  entangling 
of  the  cords  which  raised  and  lowered  them.  A 
large  stufied  chair,  covered  with  chintz  or  dimity, 
was  an  indispensable  piece  of  furniture,  as  was  also 
a  bright  brass  warming-pan.  After  a  while  great 
tin-plate  stoves  warmed  the  bed  chambers,  the  Frank- 
lin stoves  being  reserved  for  the  parlors  and  sitting- 
rooms. 


OLD  STYLE  SILVER  TEA  SERVICE. 


"  The  toilet  table  was  usually  of  wood,  in  half-moon 
shape,  the  top  covered  with  linen  or  muslin  beauti- 
fully quilted.  I  have  such  a  cover,  veiy  artistically 
worked  with  oak  leaves  and  acorns.  Sometimes  the 
bed  and  window-curtains  were  of  chintz,  worked 
with  birds  and  flowers  never  known  to  nature.  One 
set  yet  preserved  represents  Fame  with  a  trumpet 
hovering  over  Washington,  upon  whose  brow  she  is 
placing  a  laurel  wreath.  The  curious  and,  in  some 
cases,  very  beautiful  blue  and  white  counterpanes, 
still  to  be  found  in  old  houses,  were  woven  at  a  fac- 
tory in  the  interior  of  Westchester  County.  Infants 


very  middle  of  the  feathery  mass,  on  hit  bat-k ;  he  sinks  and  the  soft  masa 
closes  round  him,  leaving  but  a  longitudinal  strip  of  his  body  exposed. 
Now  comes  the  last  and  most  difficult  act.  By  an  adroit  twist  of  his 
wrist  he  m>ist  bring  the  narrow  down  coverlet  right  over  the  aperture  ; 
if  he  succeeds  he  soon  falls  into  blissful  oblivion  ;  if  he  fails  he  will 
feel  for  the  remainder  of  the  night  as  though  he  were  lying  in  a  bed 
of  hot  ashes  and  having  iced  water  poured  over  hini.  The  "  sinap 
band,"  or  "  bunk,"  was  an  humbler  style  of  bedsteail  in  use,  buc  it  had 
also  its  bed  of  live-geese  feathers. 


460 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


were  put  to  rest  in  heavy  mahogany  cradles,  which 
had  a  sort  of  roof  extending  over  the  head  to  shield 
the  child's  eyes  from  the  light. 

"  The  parlors  or  drawing-rooms  were  laid  with 
Turkey  carpets,  and  round  mirrors  hung  on  the 
walls.  They  were  topped  with  brass  eagles,  and  fitted 
with  branches  for  holding  the  wax  candles  used  by 
the  rich.  Other  mirrors  were  oblong,  and  divided 
by  a  gilt  moulding  about  a  foot  and  a  half  from  the 
top.  In  some  cases  the  upper  division  was  of  glass ; 
but  more  frequently  it  held  a  picture.  I  have  one  the 
upper  compartment  of  which  displays  a  group  of 
military  weapons,  drums,  etc.,  with  a  female  figure 
mourning  the  death  of  Washington.  Mantel  glasses 
were  separated  into  three  divisions  by  strips  of  nar- 
row gilt  moulding.  Small  tables,  with  claw  feet 
holding  a  ball,  were  used,  and  mahogany  stands, 
with  tops  that  turned ;  these  could  be  placed  in  the 
corners  to  occupy  very  little  room. 

"  Tall  eight-day  clocks  in 
mahogany  or  ebony  and  gilt 
frames  were  found  in  all  house- 
holds of  the  better  class.  One 
that  was  stolen  from  the  Van 
Cortlandt  manor-house  during 
the  Revolution  was  cased  in 
gilded  ebony,  and  above  its  face 
was  a  painting  of  the  Queen  of 
Sheba  on  her  way  to  lay  her 
gifts  at  the  feet  of  King  Solo- 
mon. If  these  big  time-pieces 
were  not  decorated  with  a  fig- 
ure-painting, a  marine  view  or 
a  landscape,  they  bore  the  sun 
and  moon  between  the  dial  and 
the  top  of  the  frame. 

"At  the  entertainments  of  the 
rich  the  tables  fairly  groaned 
under  their  weight  of  viands, 
fowl,  fish,  oysters  and  clams 
burdened  them,  while  the  choice  wines  tickled  the 
palates  of  connoisseurs.  Perhaps  they  favored  none 
more  than  the  renowned  vintage  of  the  south  side  of 
the  island  of  Madeira.  For  a  more  potent  drink 
they  resorted  to  '  rack  punch,'  a  concoction  in  which 
the  strong  arrack  was  the  principal  ingredient. 
Toasts  were  drunk  at  all  dinners,  the  gentlemen  pro- 
posing the  ladies  and  the  ladies  the  gentlemen. 

"  There  was  plenty  of  employment  for  sportsmen. 
Wild  turkeys,  pheasants,  quail  and  other  feathered 
game  abounded,  and  Cooper  tells  us  that  as  late  as 
1755 '  nothing  was  easier  than  to  knock  over  a  buck  in 
the  Highlands.'  The  negroes  were  uniformly  good 
shots,  and  used  pointers  and  setters  when  hunting. 

"  The  kitchen  fire-places  were  of  huge  size.  A  large 
back-log  was  rolled  into  the  yawning  cavity  by  the  unit- 
ed power  of  stout  men-servants,  and  on  the  massive  iron 
andirons  hickory  and  other  wood  was  piled,  while  the 
whole  fiery  mass  was  kept  in  place  by  a  heavy  fore- 


"  grandfather's  " 

CLOCK. 

All   sorts  of  meats. 


stick.  The  iron  shovel  and  tongs  seemed  fit  for  the 
use  of  giants.  Before  these  leaping  flames  and  glow- 
ing logs  stood,  in  the  morning,  a  ponderous  tin '  Dutch 
oven,'  on  whose  spear-like  spit  revolved  a  turkey,  a 
saddle  of  mutton  or  a  roast  of  beef.  The  spit  was 
turned  by  one  of  the  many  little  darkeys  who  peopled 
the  kitchen  of  every  great  homestead.  In  a  corner 
of  the  fire-place  stood,  on  thick  squat  legs,  a  bake-pot, 
filled  with  a  savory  mess,  and  its  iron  lid  covered  with 
hot  embers.  From  beneath  the  chimney-piece  swung 
the  crane,  whose  long,  horizontal  arm  bore  a  profusion 
of  pot-hooks  and  trammels,  from  which  depended 
innumerable  pots,  long-handled  frying-pans  and  other 
paraphernalia  of  the  cuisine.  But  no  kitchen  utensil 
was  more  unique  than  the  wooden  bowls  which  the 
Indians  fashioned  from  the  knots  of  the  maple  tree 
and  sold  to  the  house-keepers.  Scoured  to  immaculate 
whiteness,  they  had  their  place  in  every  family  and 
were  highly  prized. 

"  At  Christmas  and  other  holiday  seasons  the  stu- 
pendous brick  ovens,  without  which  no  gentleman's 
house  could  be  thought  thoroughly  equipped,  would 
be  filled  three  times  a  day — first  with  generous  loaves 
of  wheat  and  rye,  then  with  chicken  and  game  pas- 
tries, and  lastly  with  the  succulent  mince,  apple  and 
cranberry  pies. 

"  A  necessary  labor  in  spring  and  autumn  was  the 
making,  or  dipping,  of  tallow  candles.  Six  cotton 
wicks  would  be  doubled  over  a  rod,  then  dipped  in 
the  melted  tallow  and  drawn  between  the  manipu- 
lator's finger  and  thumb  until  the  tallow  gained  some 
consistency.  The  rod  was  hung  up  while  the  candles 
dried  and  a'  second  dipping  and  drawing  finished  the 
work.  Presently  some  unknown  genius  invented  a 
frame  that  held  thirty-six  wicks,  and  eight  or  ten 
such  frames  made  the  labor  quick  and  easy  of  perform- 
ance. Tin  molds  were  employed  when  a  small  supply 
of  candles  was  needed,  and  the  big  box  of  '  dips '  near- 
ly empty.  Mr.  Jesse  Ryder,  of  Ossining,  says  that  at 
one  time  cotton  was  so  high  priced  that  tow  was  used 
for  wicks,  and  the  '  dips '  gave  a  poor  light.  Candle- 
sticks for  the  kitchen  were  cut  from  large,  square 
wooden  blocks. 

"'^Killing  time'  was  a  country  festival-  Before 
Christmas  the  oaken  lard  kegs  and  the  capacious 
beef  and  pork  casks  were  cleaned.  Then  the  hogs 
and  cattle  were  slaughtered,  and  abundant  supplies  of 
souse,  sausage,  hams,  jowls,  bacon,  pork  and  beef  laid 
away.  Curing  occupied  much  time  with  the  rude 
implements  of  the  day.  Sausage  meat  cut  into  half- 
inch  pieces  was  thrown  into  wooden  boxes  two  and 
a-half  or  three  feet  long  by  ten  inches  deep,  where 
men  armed  with  spades  ground  to  a  razor-edge, 
chopped  it  into  tiny  fragments.  By  the  help  of  a 
small  tin  tube,  it  was  packed  in  small  linen  bags,  or 
casings,  as  they  were  called. 

"  Soap-making  was  an  occupation  of  the  spring. 
Great  leach  tubs  standing  out  of  doors  on  high 
frames  were  filled  with  wood  ashes,  on  which  water 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


4G1 


was  slowly  poured  to  i)roduce  lye,  and  the  work  of 
soap-boiling  began.  To  be  perfect  soft-soap,  it  must 
be  '  white  as  snow  and  thick  as  liver.' 

"  Matches  were  not  known  ;  so  the  tinder-box,  with 
its  flint  and  charred  linen  rag,  did  duty.  When  ill- 
ness was  in  the  household,  or  the  nursery  needed  a 
light,  a  minute  wax  taper  floating  in  a  wine-glass 
filled  with  sperm  oil  provided  a  faint  ilhimination. 
Sperm  oil  lamps  came  into  use  very  much  later." 

Washington  Irving  brought  out  with  fine  detail 
many  features  of  the  old  Dutch  social  life.  In  his 
facetious  notices  of  New  York  in  the  early  colonial 
days  he  merely  made  fictitious  personages  to  move 
amid  actual  scenes.  His  "  Knickerbocker  "  is  made 
to  say  of  the  "  grand  parlour :"  "  In  this  sacred 
apartment  no  one  was  permitted  to  enter,  excepting 
the  mistress  and  her  confidential  maid,  who  visited  it 
once  a  week  for  the  purj)ose  of  giving  it  a  thorough 
cleaning  and  putting  things  to  rights,  always  taking 
the  precaution  of  leaving  their  shoes  at  the  door,  and 
entering  lightly  on  their  stocking  feet.  After  scrub- 
bing the  floor  and  sprinkling  it  with  fine  white  sand, 
which  was  curiously  stroked  into  angles  and  curves 
with  a  broom ;  after  washing  the  windows,  rubbing 
and  polishing  the  furniture,  and  putting  a  new  bunch 
of  evergreens  in  the  fire-place,  the  window-shutters 
were  again  closed  to  keep  out  the  flies,  and  the  room 
carefully  locked  up,  until  the  revolution  of  time 
brought  round  the  weekly  cleaning  day. 

"As  to  the  family,  they  always  entered  in  at  the 
gate,  and  most  generally  lived  in  the  kitchen  .  .  . 
The  fire-places  were  of  a  truly  patriarchal  magni- 
tude, where  the  whole  family,  old  and  young,  master 
and  servant,  black  and  white,  nay,  even  the  cat  and 
dog  enjoyed  a  community  of  privilege,  and  each  a 
right  to  a  corner. 

"  In  these  primitive  days,  a  well-regulated  family 
always  rose  with  the  dawn,  dined  at  eleven  and  went 
to  bed  at  sundown."  Our  frugal  ancestors  were 
averse,  it  seems,  to  giving  dinners,  but  the  wealthier 
classes  "  that  is  to  say,  such  as  kept  their  own  cows^ 
and  drove  their  own  wagons,"  gave  tea-parties.  On 
these  occasions  the  company  assembled  about  three 
o'clock,  and  went  away  at  six — even  earlier  in  winter- 
time.  "  Knickerbocker  "  describes  these  parties, — 

"  The  tea  was  served  out  of  a  majestic  delft  tea-pot, 
ornamented  with  paintings  of  fat  little  Dutch  shep- 
herds and  shejiherdesses  tending  pigs,  with  boats 
sailing  in  the  air,  and  houses  built  in  the  clouds,  and 
sundry  other  ingenious  Dutch  fantasies.  The  beaux 
distinguished  themselves  by  their  adroitness  in  re- 
plenishing this  pot,  from  a  huge  copper  tea-kettle, 
which  might  make  the  beaux  of  the  present  day 
sweat  merely  to  look  at  it !  To  sweeten  the  beverage, 
a  lump  of  sugar  was  laid  beside  each  cup,  and  the 
company  alternately  nibbled  and  sipped  with  great 
decorum."  In  such  parties  propriety  and  dignity  of 
deportment  prevailed ;  "  the  young  ladies  seated 
themselves  demurely  in  their  rush-bottomed  chairs. 


and  knit  their  own  woolen  stockings,  speaking  but 
little,  and  chiefly  in  brief  answers  to  questions  put  to 
them,  few  and  far  between.  As  to  the  gentlemen, 
each  of  them  tranquilly  smoked  his  pipe,  and  seemed 
lost  in  contemplation  of  the  blue  and  white  tiles 
with  which  the  fire-places  were  decorated,  wherein 
sundry  passages  of  Scripture  were  piously  por- 
trayed." 

The  dress  of  the  people  varied  with  their  fortunes 
and  the  change  from  the  log  cabin  epoch  to  that  of 
the  wealthy  and  courtly  inhabitants  of  the  broad 
manors.  The  men  who  first  adventured  into  the 
woods  learned  from  the  Indians  to  wear  dressed  skins 
and  moccasins,  but  with  those  of  the  towns  and  farm- 
steads their  ambition,  as  well  as  that  of  their  women- 
folk, was  to  dress  in  the  manner  of  "the  best  fashion 
at  home."  Long  hair  was  universal  in  the  days  be- 
fore periwigs.  Cutting  the  hair  short  was  the  brand 
of  disgrace  and  the  mark  of  identification  aflixed  to 
a  servant  who  ran  away  before  his  term  of  indenture 


BEXJAMIX  franklin's  CREAM-POT. 


had  expired.  Puritanism  was  somewhat  successful 
in  its  fight  against  long  hair,  but  when  the  periwig 
re-appeared,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  it  proved  too 
enticing  for  human  vanity  to  resist.  It  probably  suc- 
cumbed at  length  to  the  very  completeness  of  its  vic- 
tory. Not  only  men  of  dignity  wore  it,  but  many 
humbler  men  followed  their  example.  "  One  finds," 
says  Mr.  Eggleston,  "  half-fed  country  schoolmasters 
in  wigs  ;  tradesmen  also  proceeded  to  shave  off  their 
natural  hair  and  don  the  mass  of  thread,  silk,  horse- 
hair or  women's  hair,  with  which  wigs  of  various 
kinds  were  compounded.  Apprentice  lads  under 
twenty  are  described  in  advertisements  of  runaways 
lis  wearing  wigs ;  hired  servant^  aped  the  quality,  and 
transported  rogues  were  tricked  out  in  wigs  to  make 
them  marketable."  After  1750  the  decline  of  the 
'  wig  began,  but  the  natural  hair  was  curled,  frizzled. 


462 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


powdered,  queued  and  clubbed.'  The  rage  for  grow- 
ing the  longest  possible  switch  of  hair  infected  all 
classes ;  sailors  and  boatmen  wrapjjed  in  eelskin 
their  cherished  locks,  and  the  back  countryman  was 
accustomed  to  preserve  his  by  enveloping  it  in  a  piece 
of  bear's  gut  dyed  red,  or  clubbing  it  in  a  buckskin 
bag.  Women  wore  the  lofty  "  tower "  or  "  com- 
mode" head-dress,  which,  in  the  exaggeration  that 
preceded  its  abolition,  usually  exceeded  in  its  height 
the  length  of  the  face  below  it.  The  Dutch  dames 
did  not  fall  victims  to  any  of  the  eccentricities  of 
fashion  ;  but  with  their  close-fitting  caps,  velvet  bod- 
ices, short  and  voluminous  skirts — the  muslin  petti- 
coats crisp  and  stiff  with  starch — the  household  keys 
hanging  from  their  girdles  and  their  capacious  pock- 
ets filled  with  scissors,  pin-cushion  and  other  domes- 
tic tools,  made  a  stubborn  fight  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  female  dandyisms  imported  from  across 
the  Atlantic. 

In  course  of  time  the  homespun  linsey  became  the 
ordinary  wear  in  the  farmers'  homes,  but  up  to  the 
opening  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch  "My  Lady 
of  the  Manor "  luxuriated  in  costumes  that  rivaled 
the  extreme  modes  of  European  aristocratic  cir- 
cles. She  might  be  a  year  late  in  adopting 
them,  but  she  was  not  responsible  for  their  delay 
in  reaching  her,  and  there  are  certain  cotemporary 
records  which  leave  no  doubt  in  the  mind  that  she 
and  her  daughters  were  not  backward  even  in  adopt- 
ing and  continuing  the  ultra  decollete  gowns  which 
the  Stuart  Restoration  made  indispensable  to  an  Eng- 
lish fashionable  woman.  They  embraced  themselves 
in  the  cruel  stays  that  comj)ressed  their  figures  into 
the  wasp-like  waist  then  the  object  of  foolish  admira- 
tion, and  tilted  themselves  forward  on  the  pinching 
and  high-heeled  shoes,  which  had  passed  from  Louis 
Quatorze  to  Charles  II.,  and  thence  to  the  colonies. 
The  stalwart  and  heroic  impulses  which  united  the 
colonies  In  their  revolt  against  the  British  monarchy 
penetrated  all  classes  of  society,  and  as  the  crisis  ap- 
proached dress  became  simpler  and  the  great  ladies 
co-operated  with  their  lords  to  represent  in  their  own 
persons  the  economy  and  plainness  which  typified  the 
coming  era  of  war  and  republicanism. 

As  to  the  women  in  their  homes,  Mrs.  Van  Cort- 
landt  has  to  say, — 

"  Knitting  was  an  art  much  cultivated,  the  Dutch 
women  excelling  in  the  variety  and  intricacy  of  the 
stitches.  A  knitting  sheath,  which  might  be  of  silver 
or  of  a  homely  goose  quill,  was  an  indispensable  uten- 
sil to  the  dame,  and  beside  it  hung  a  ball  pin-cushion. 
Crewel  work  and  silk  embroidery  were  fashionable, 
and  surprisingly  pretty  effects  were  produced.  Every 
little  maiden  had  her  sampler,  which  she  began  with 


1  The  Assembly  of  New  York  resolved  September  9,  1730,  that  a  tax 
of  three  shillings  be  laid  "  on  every  inhabitant,  resident  or  sojourner, 
young  or  old,  within  the  colony,  that  wears  a  wig  or  peruke  made  of 
human  or  horse  hair  mixed,  by  whatever  denomination  the  panie  may  be 
distinguished."  —  "  HUlm:  3Ing."  vol  H.,  Xo.  12,  December,  1878. 


the  alphabet  and  numerals,  following  them  with  a 
Scriptural  text  or  verse  of  a  metrical  psalm.  Then 
the  fancy  was  let  loose  on  birds,  beasts  and  trees. 
Most  of  the  old  families  possessed  framed  pieces  of 
embroidery,  the  handiwork  of  female  ancestors,  some 
of  which  can  stand  comparison  with  the  Kensington 
productions  of  this  day.  Flounces  and  trimmings 
for  aprons,  worked  with  delicately  tinted  silks  on 
muslins,  were  common.  The  hand  painting  of  strips 
of  trimming  for  dresses  is  not  a  modern  art.  I  have 
several  yards  of  fine  muslin  painted  in  the  early  days 
with  full-blown  thistles  in  the  approj^riate  colore. 
Fringe  looms  were  in  use  and  cotton  and  silk  fringe 
was  woven.  The  former  was  used  for  the  fine  dimity 
wrappers  worn  in  the  morning.  These  garments  were 
trimmed  with  cotton  inserting  and  a  cotton  cord  and 
tassels  confined  them  at  the  waist.  Chintz,  usually  of 
East  India  manufacture,  with  vivid  colors  on  a  white 
ground,  was  in  vogue,  and  made  up  into  a  sack  and 
petticoat.  Large  and  showy  patterns  of  flowers  and 
buds  prevailed. 

"  For  fiill  dress,  brocades  and  moire  antique  were 
worn.  The  robe  of  a  bride  in  1748  was  of  moire  an- 
tique with  a  long  train,  the  sleeves  coming  to  the 
elbow.  The  bosom  and  sleeves  were  trimmed  with 
lace,  headed  by  a  narrow  pinked  ruffle  of  the  silk. 
The  exquisitely  quilted  petticoat  came  from  Holland, 
as  did  the  clocked  silk  stockings,  a  present  to  the 
bride.  Canton  crape,  levantine,  lutestring  silk 
and  other  silks  were  worn  by  the  ladies.  Leno,  a 
muslin  with  a  very  open  mesh,  was  used  for  trimming. 
Dainty  half  handkerchiefs,  with  narrow  embroidered 
borders  of  gold  or  silver  thread,  were  worn  as  fichus. 
Powder  was  in  general  use  and  the  hair  was  dressed 
on  high  rolls  in  front  and  tied  behind  in  a  sort  of  bag- 
shaped  queue.  Aprons  much  trimmed  and  embroid- 
ered were  a  part  of  full  dress,  and  hoops  were  also 
in  vogue.  Slippers  of  silk  and  kid  had  immensely 
high  heels,  sloping  to  the  instep,  and  it  is  a  marvel 
how  the  wearers  balanced  themselves.  Fortunately, 
the  dance  they  favored  was  the  slow  and  stately 
Minuet.  Necklaces  were  mostly  made  of  heavy  gold 
beads,  plain  or  carved.  Fans  were  very  large  and 
handsome.  Here  and  there  in  old  families  still  are 
seen  very  beautiful  chatelaines,  from  which  hung  the 
watch  and  seals. 

"  When  calves  were  killed  for  family  use,  the  skins 
were  tanned  and  kept  until  the  peripatetic  shoemaker, 
who  traveled  through  the  country,  made  his  annual 
visit,  when  he  halted  long  enough  to  make  shoes  for 
the  elders,  the  children  and  the  servants.  The  tail- 
oress,  too,  made  yearly  or  semi-yearly  visits  and  un- 
dertook to  turn  the  homespun  cloth  into  garments. 
The  coming  of  the  mantua-maker,  with  her  European 
patterns,  created  a  lively  stir  among  the  matrons  and 
maidens.  Sewing  in  those  days  was  done  with  fine 
linen  thread,  that  even  yet  defies  time  and  wear  to 
destroy  it." 

Among  the  Dutch,  the  opulent  burghers  compared 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


463 


to  their  wives  and  daughters  as  the  peacock  does  to 
the  hen.  The  women's  dress  was  sober,  but  the  men's 
many  coats,  their  silk  and  velvet  small-clothes,  their 
silver  buttons '  and  fine  linen  stood  for  a  good  deal  of 
money  in  each  individual  instance.  The  English 
colonial  gentlemen  did  not  stint  themselves,  but  kept 
as  close  to  the  models  of  the  London  tailors  iis  time 
and  distance  would  permit.  Lacking  any  other  ex- 
emplar for  such  display,  they  could  find  one  in  the 
€quii)ment3  of  the  British  officers  stationed  in  New 
York.  Captain  Cresar  Carter,  who  was  stationed  there 
in  1692,  was  the  envied  possessor  of  a  wardrobe 
which  cost  nearly  a  thousand  dollars  outside  of  his 
military  accoutrements.  Jacques  Cosseau,  a  mer- 
chant who  was  a  bankrupt  before  his  death,  in  1682, 
possessed  but  three  old  coats,  the  same  number  of  old 
shirts,  two  pair  of  worn-out  breeches  and  one  neck- 
cloth ;  but  Dr.  Jacob  De  Lange,  a  prosperous  profes- 
sional gentleman,  rejoiced  in  this  sort  of  wardrobe, — 

Valuation. 


£  ».  d. 

One  gros.  grained  cloak,  lined  with  silk  2  10  0 

One  Mack  broad  cloth  coat  1  10  0 

One  black  broad  cloth  suit  1  5  0 

One  colored  serge  suit  (the  new  suit  v\ith  silver  buttons)  5  0  0 

One  colored  cloth  waistcoat,  with  silver  buttons.  ...  1  40 

Three  silk  drawers  2  0  0 

Two  calico  Jniwera  0  2  6 

Three  white  dmwei-s  0  GO 

Two  silk  night  caps  0  4  0 

One  pair  jellow  hand  gloves  with  black  silk  fringe  .  .  0  14  0 

Five  pair  of  white  calico  stockings  0  9  0 

One  i>air  black  worsted  stockings  0  4  0 

One  i>air  gray  worsted  stockings  0  5  0 

One  coat  lined  with  red  serge  1  15  0 

Two  old  coats  1  10  0 

One  fine  black  hat,  one  old  gray  hat,  one  black  hat.  .  .  1  10 

One  black  gros-grained  suit  1  17  0 


Mrs.  De  Lange  was  a  fashionable  lady,  well  -known 
to  the  families  along  the  Hudson  in  1685.  Here  is  the 
appraisement  of  her  costumes  and  their  accessories : 


Valuation. 

£  «.  d. 

One  under  petticoat,  with  a  body  red-bay  0  17  0 

One  under  petticoat,  scarlet  1  15  0 

One  red  cloth  petticoat,  with  black  lace  2  15  0 

One  8tri|)«d  stuff  petticoat  1  8  0 

One  colored  drugget  petticoat,  with  red  lining  0  16  0 

One  colored  drugget  petticoat,  with  gray  lining  ....  0  16  0 

One  do         do        do                do         ....  0  6  0 

One   do         do         do            white  lining  0  10  0 

One  do  do  do  do  ....  0  8  0 
One  do        do        do                do  with  pointed 

lace  0  8  0 

One  black  silk  petticoat,  with  ash  gray  silk  lining  ...  1  00 

One  black  pottofoo  petticoat,  with  black  silk  lining.  .  .  2  15  0 

One  black  pottofoo  petticoat,  with  taffeta  lining.  .  .  .1  13  0 

One  black  silk  potoso-a-samare,  with  lace  3  0  0 

One  black  tartanel  saniare,  with  a  tucker  1  10  0 


>  Silver  buttons  and  buckles  marked  every  gentleman's  costume.  The 
plate  silver  buttons,  made  of  Spanish  dollars  and  smaller  coins,  which 
flourished  in  England  in  the  days  of  Qiieen  Anne,  were  worn  in  Amer- 
ica. Wl  full  dress  for  gentlemen  required  knee  and  shoe-buckles,  which 
were  of  silver  or,  for  great  occasions,  of  paste,  artistically  set  in  blue 
enamel  and  gold,  and  costing  one  hundred  dollars  the  pair.  Ttie  busi- 
ness of  the  dealer  in  buckles  was  as  important  as  that  of  the  hair-dresser 
or  the  maker  of  stays. 


i  «.  (I. 

Three  flowered  calico  saniare  2  17  0 

Three  calico  night  gowns,  two  flowered,  one  red.  ...  0  70 

One  silk  waistcoat,  one  red  calico  waistcoat  0  14  0 

One  pair  bodice  0     4  0 

Five  [lair  white  cotton  stockings  0     9  0 

Three  black  love-hoods  0     5  0 

One  white  love-hooil  0     2  6 

One  black  silk  crape  saniare,  with  a  tucker  1  10  0 

Two  pair  sleeves,  with  great  lace  1  30 

Four  cornet  caps,  with  lace,  one  without  lace  3     0  0 

One  black  silk  rain  cloth  0  10  0 

One  yellow  love-hood  0  10  0 

One  black  plush  mask  0  16 

One  embroidered  purse  with  a  silver  bugle  and  chain 

to  the  girdle,  a  silver  hook  and  eye  1     4  0 

Five  small  East  India  boxes  0     1  6 

Five  hair  curlings  0     7  0 

Four  yellow  love  drowlas  0     2  0 

Jeuelri/. 

One  silver  thread  wrought  small  trunk  3     0  0 

wherein  are  the  following: 

One  pair  black  pendants,  with  gold  hooks  0  10  0 

One  gold  lioat,  wherein  thirteen  diamonds  to  one  white 

coral  chain   16     0  0 

One  pair  gold  stiicks  or  pendants,  in  each  ten  dia- 
monds                                                            25     0  0 

Two  diamond  rings  24     0  0 

One  gold  ring,  with  a  clap  beck  0  12  0 


One  gold  ring,  or  hoop,  bound  round  with  diamonds  .  2    10  0 

Mr.  Samuel  Leete,  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Mayor  and 
Aldermen  in  1679,  who  is  styled  "  a  literary  gentle- 
man," was  worth  £23  10s.  in  garments  and  furniture. 
Cornelius  Steenwyck,  "  one  of  the  principal  merchants 
and  leading  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam,"  who  died  in 
1686,  kept  the  following  enviable  total  of  chattels  in 


the  "  great  chamber  "  of  his  house : 

Valuation . 

£  ».  ((. 

Pl.ite  of  all  kinds,  723  ounces   216  0  0 

Different  species  of  money   300  0  0 

Gold  chain,  gold  metal,  gold  child's  whistle   49  0  0 

One  cloth  coat,  silver  buttons   4  15  0 

One  stufl'  coat,  silver  plate  buttons   4  00 

One  black  coat  and  breeches   2  00 

One  pair  cloth  breeches    0  10  0 

One  cloth  coat,  gimp  buttons   2  10  0 

One  black  cloth  coat   2  10  0 

One  black  velvet  coat,  old   3  0  0 

One  colored  stuff  coat  and  breeches   1  10  0 

One  silk  coat,  breeches  and  doublet   1  5  0 

One  silver  cloth  breeches  and  doublet   0  6  0 

One  old  velvet  waistcoat,  with  silver  lace   0  15  0 

One  old  coat,  silver  plate  buttons   2  30 

Six  pieces  of  clothes,  as  coats,  breeches  and  doublets  ....  2  50 

One  buff  coat  and  silk  sleeves   1  10  0 

One  yellow  silk  scarf,  with  silver  fringes   1  5  0 

One  light-colored  gros  green  closk   1  00 

One  dark-coloreil  gros  green  cloak,  with  lining   2  5  0 

One  cloth-colore<i  cloak,  with  lining  of  bay,  with  wrought 

silver  buttons   2  10  0 

Twelve  rush  leather  chairs   5  8  0 

Two  velvet  chairs  with  fine  silver  lace   1  00 

One  cupboard  or  case  of  French  nut  wood   20  0  0 

One  round  table   2  0  0 

One  square  table   10  0  0 

One  cabinet   6  0  0 

Thirteen  pictures   9  10  0 

One  great  looking-glass   6  0  0 

One  bedstead,  two  beds  and  furniture   25  0  0 

Ten  pieces  of  china  dishes  or  porcelain   4  00 

Five  alabaster  images   0  15  0 

One  piece  of  tapestry  work,  for  twelve  cushions   3  12  0 

One  flowered  tabliy  chimney  cloth   0  12  0 


464 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


£  s.  d. 

One  pair  floweied  tabby  curtains  for  windows   0  4  0 

One  dressing-box   1  10  0 

One  small  picture   0  8  0 

One  ivory  compass   0  6  0 

A  parcel  of  silver  lace   2  12  0 

Four  diaper  table-cloths   3  0  0 

Two  small  ditto   0  12  0 

Two  small  ditto,  old   0  8  0 

Seventeen  napkins   0  17  0 

One  carpet   2  0  0 


It  is  not  the  easiest  of  tasks  to  follow  up  the  evolu- 
tions of  dress  as  styles  grew  into  extravagance  up  to 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century.  When 
peacock  gorgeousness  prevailed,  men  and  women  vied 
with  each  other  in  the  costliness  of  their  costumes, 
and  sartorial  sobriety  was  left  to  some  families  of  un- 


HEAD-DRESS 
Of  a  Lady  of  Fashion  in  1770. 

mixed  Dutch  blood.  The  price  of  good  cloth,  prior 
to  the  Revolution,  being  a  guinea  a  yard,  gentlemen 
of  a  frugal  disposition  would  have  a  coat  turned  when 
it  had  lost  its  original  freshness,  so  as  to  make  it  do 
duty  twice  as  long.  After  that  it  went  to  the  servant. 
Mechanics,  workingmen  and  country  people  wore 
leather  breeches,  leather  aprons  and  baize  vests  of 
red  or  green.  The  dress  of  a  runaway  apprentice  is 
described  in  an  advertisement  of  1753  :  "  A  blue  coat 
with  black  mohair  buttons,  blue  lapelled  waist-coat, 
the  lapells  lined  with  black  velvet,  a  pair  of  black 
leather  breeches  with  solid  silver  buttons  and  a  brown 
wig." 

To  the  cumbrous  hoops,  which  came  into  fashion 
after  the  "  wide  skirts"  of  the  ladies,  succeeded  the 
"  bishop,"  a  half-circular  pillow  stuffed  with  horse- 


hair and  supposed  to  give  more  natural  elegance  to 
the  figure.  This,  in  turn,  was  superseded  by  the 
"queue  de  Paris,"  an  abridged  edition  of  the  "  bishop," 
and  not  unlike  the  "bustle"  of  our  day.  The  press, 
during  all  this  time,  tried  in  vain  to  exercise  its  nas- 
cent power  by  denouncing  folly.  An  editor  gives  vent 
to  his  indignation  in  the  following  outburst  (1754) : 
"These  foreign  invaders  first  made  their  attack  upon 
the  stays,  so  as  to  diminish  them  half  down  the  waist, 
exposing  the  breast  and  shoulders.  Next  to  the 
caps ;  cut  off  the  flappets  and  tabs,  bored  and  pad- 
locked the  ears.  Next  came  the  wide  hoops  and 
French  pocket-holes;  and,  last  of  all,  have  lately 
shortened  the  rear,  so  that  the  heels  and  ancles  are 
exposed,  even  to  the  very  gusset  and  clock !  0,  shame ! 
shame  !"  The  indignant  editf)r  should  have  reflected 
that  when  stockings  are  made  of  a  "  lively  green" 
color,  with  "great  red  clocks,"  like  the  pair  worn  by 
a  very  worthy  lady  of  that  period  on  her  wedding- 
day,  it  was  intended,  probably,  that  they  should  be 
seen,  as  high,  at  least,  as  the  gusset  and  clock. 
Ladies'  shoes  were  of  calf-skin,  with  a  white  band  of 
sheep-skin  attached  to  the  top.  This  was  a  neat 
dress  shoe. 

In  the  matter  of  bonnets  and  hats,  the  shapes,  for 
a  long  time,  were  far  from  graceful.  The  prettiest 
was  the  "skimmer"  hat,  made  of  some  shining  mater- 
ial like  silver  tinsel,  with  a  flat  crown  and  large  brim  ; 
the  "horse-hair"  bonnet  was  very  light,  but  stifl'; 
the  bath-bonnet,  made  upon  the  principle  of  the  mod- 
ern gentleman's  crush-hat, — one  could  sit  on  it, — was 
more  becoming  than  the  mush-melon  bonnet,  ribbed 
and  stiff-looking,  which  was  in  use  just  before  the 
Revolution  ;  the  whalebone  bonnet  was  an  improve- 
ment upon  the  last-named;  it  was  stiffened  only  in 
front.  The  calash  bonnet  was  made  of  green  silk 
and  so  constructed  that  it  could  be  folded  back  like 
the  top  of  a  calash  or  gig  when  the  wearer  went  in- 
doors. The  "  wagon  "  was  a  black  silk  affair  with  the 
shape  of  a  wagon-top,  and,  at  first,  used  exclusively 
by  the  Quaker  ladies.  However,  as  it  was,  from  its 
shape,  an  excellent  protection  against  the  sun's  rays, 
many  ladies  in  the  country  adopted  it,  making  it  of 
some  light  material  trimmed  with  gay  ribbons.  The 
only  straw  bonnet  mentioned  during  a  long  period, 
was  the  "  bee-hive,"  worn  by  old  ladies.  A  large, 
flat,  white  beaver  was  once  worn,  with  scarcely 
any  crown,  and  fastened  under  the  chin  by  two 
strings.  The  only  kind  of  wrap  used  by  the  ladies 
was  the  loose  cloak  which,  with  slight  alterations 
in  the  cut,  went  by  the  names  of  roquelaure,  capu- 
chin and  cardinal.  After  the  Revolution  the  in- 
fluence of  French  fashions  was  felt  throughout  the 
republic.  American  ladies  wore  the  limp-skirted, 
short-waisted  dress  of  the  dames  dii  Directoire  about 
the  time  that  their  husbands  and  beaux,  having  dis- 
carded the  long-cherished  cue,  wore  their  hair  close- 
cropped,  h  la  Brutus. 

Parasols  came  in  fashion  very  late;  so  with  umbrel- 


MANNEKS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


4G5 


las.  Men  wore  "rain  coats,"  and  women  "camblets," 
for  protection  against  the  weather.  Watson  says  the 
first  umbrellas  were  carried  by  British  officers,  and 
were  deemed  effeminate  by  the  people.  Yet,  in  an 
old  advertisement  of  171)9,  a  milliner  proposes,  in 
addition  to  her  regular  modish  business,  to  "  cover 
umbrellas  in  the  neatest  manner  ;"  that  useful  article 
must  have  become  common  already  at  that  time. 
Ladies  careful  of  their  complexion  at  one  period 
wore  a  black  velvet  mask  in  winter,  "  with  a  silver 
mouth-piece  to  keep  it  on  by  retaining  in  the  mouth." 
Rather  an  inconvenient  arrangement  and  one  which 
compelled  silence.  The  earliest  kind  of  watches  worn 
in  the  colony  had  cases  of  shagreen,  turtle  shell  or 
pinchbeck.  After  that  the  finest  gentleman  was  con- 
tent to  carry  a  silver  watch-  The  first  gold  watches 
were  an  article  of  jewelry,  becoming  only  to  wealthy 
and  fiishionable  ladies.  Old  gentlemen,  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  carried  a  tall,  gold-headed  cane, 
and,  generally,  a  gold  snuti'  box,  from  which  they  were 
ever  ready  to  offer  a  sociable  pinch  to  an  acquaint- 
ance. They  held  on  to  the  very  last  against  the 
abolishment  of  the  cue  or  pig-tail,  and  clung  to  the 
large  silver  buttons,  which  were  once  a  mark  of  wealth 
and  dignity.  These  buttons  were  often  made  of 
coins — quarter-dollars  being  used  for  the  coat  and 
"  eleven  penny  bits "  for  the  vest  and  breeches. 
Spectacles  were  rarely  used,  even  by  the  aged  ;  a 
young  man  or  woman  wearing  glasses  was  something 
unheard  of;  our  fathers  had  keener  and  stronger  eyes 
than  we. 

The  Revolution  brought  about  a  greater  simplicity  ' 
of  manners ;  the  "coarse"  element  came  in  after-  [ 
wards  when  the    power  of  money  "  began  to  be  felt.  ] 
The  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld  Liancourt,  writing  | 
about  the  social  life  of  the  Americans  some  time  after 
the  Revolution,  remarks  :  "  Luxury  is  very  high  there, 
especially  at  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  makes 
a  dangerous  progress  every  year.  .  .   .  There  are  some 
persons  who  surpass  their  neighbors,  already  too  far 
advanced,  in  luxury ;  these  injure  the  manners  of  the 
country.  ..."  He  adds  that  luxury  is  much  less  prev- 
alent in  the  country  towns,  but  is  continually  in- 
creasing, and  often  out  of  proportion  with  wealih. 

The  same  writer  summarizes  his  views  in  the  fol- 
lowing two  paragraphs — the  first  is  less  a  criticism 
than  a  correct  explanation  of  the  absence  of  an  idle, 
highly  refined  society ;  the  second,  a  just  homage  paid 
the  American  people  and  a  prophetic  view  of  the 
future  greatness  of  our  country  : 

"  An  European  coming  into  the  new  world,  and 
bringing  with  him  the  need  of  the  usage  of  the  politer 
attentions  of  that  which  he  has  quitted ;  he,  above  all, 
who  brings  with  him  the  need  of  what  we  call  in  France 
the  charms  of  society,  which  we  know  so  well  how  to 
appreciate,  of  which  we  know  how  to  participate,  and 
which  affords  us  so  many  moments  of  happiness,  such 
a  man  will  not  find  himself  satisfied  in  America,  and 
his  recollections  will  be  continually  sprinkling  his 


life  with  melancholy.  He  cannot,  if  his  heart  has 
an  occasion  for  a  friend,  hope  to  find  there  the  sweetness 
of  a  constant  and  avowed  friendship.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States  have  been  hitherto  too  much  en- 
gaged in  their  respective  occupations  for  the  entice- 
ments of  polished  society  to  be  able  to  withdraw  their 
attention  from  them  ;  they  have  not  leisure  to  conse- 
crate to  friendship. 

"Such  an  European  ought  to  have  for  along  time  for- 
gotten Europe  in  order  to  live  quite  happy  in  America. 
But  if  he  can  readily  lose  the  remembrance  of  it,  or 
take  with  him  there  the  dearest  objects  of  his  affection, 
he  will  lead  in  America  a  happy  and  tranquil  life. 
He  will  there  enjoy  the  blessing  of  liberty  in  the  great- 
est extent  which  it  is  possible  to  desire  in  any  polished 
country.    He  will  see  himself  with  an  active  people. 


THOMAS  SULLY. 


easy  in  their  circumstances,  and  happy.  Every  day 
will  bring  him  to  observe  a  new  progress  of  this  new 
country.  He  will  see  it  every  day  take  a  step  toward 
that  strength  and  greatness  to  which  it  is  called; 
towards  that  real  independence  which  is  for  a  nation 
the  result  of  having  the  means  of  satisfying  itself." 

The  wealthy  people  of  the  province  were  liberal 
patrons  of  art.  Very  many  of  them  had  been  edu- 
cated in  the  European  schools,  and  in  the  vast  col- 
lections of  the  Old  World  had  learned  to  know  a  good 
j)ainting,  a  meritorious  marble,  a  fine  bit  of  porcelain 
or  glass,  or  anything  commendable  in  the  way  of  de- 
coration and  bric-a-brac.  They  encouraged  native 
genius  and  were  tolerant  of  its  crudities.  In  the 
manor-houses  along  the  Hudson  were  works  of  John 
Trumbull,   Charles  Wilson    Peale,  Gilbert  Stuart, 


466 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Thomas  Sully,  Washington  Allston  and  other  Ameri- 
can painters.  The  social  atmosphere  of  these  great 
houses  possessed  a  warmth  and  refinement  that  were 
favorable  to  artistic  appreciation.  Painters  were  wel- 
come guests  within  their  walls.  Peale  made  excur- 
sions into  this  region,  and  Sully  visited  the  home  of 
Governor  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  to  obtain  sittings  for 
the  admirable  portrait  which  he  produced  of  the 
statesman. 

The  wealthy  people  kept  large  amounts  of  money 
in  their  houses.  In  1774  a  lady,  who  died  in  New 
York,  owned  estates  in  Westchester  County,  and  the 


in  1776  from  a  house  in  the  Neutral  Ground  of  W  est- 
chester  County  : 


executor's  inventory  showed  that  she  had  these  sums 
of  cash  on  hand : 

£.     8.  rf. 

Paper  money,  amongst  which  are  some  Jersey  notes  calcu- 
lated at  the  old  rate   3988     1  4 

1  Bunch  gold.    Amount  1012     4  7 

1  Bunch  gold   191     7  8 

4  Bags  qt.  .500  dollars  each  or  2noo  

1  Do.  288.    1  Do.  2811    1  Do.  113.  2G81  dollars  1U72     8  10 

1  Bag  small  silver  £72  48.  Oi/  

1  Do.  £60.    1  Do.  £3f..    1  Do.  £20  

1  Do.  £10 12s.  4d   198    16  4 

1  Bag  qt.  730  piatareans  

1  Bag  125   09    13  9 

1  Bag  (jt.  112  oz.  dipt  silver  calculated  at  91  oz   50     8  0 

2  Bags  coppers   13     0  0 

1  Wedge  of  gold  2  oz.  18  dw.  IG  grs  

Total   6593    19  8 

How  amply  furnished  were  the  old-time  houses  is 
shown  in  the  subjoined  inventory  of  property  removed 


50  linen  sheets. 

11  damask  table  cloths. 
21  homespun  cloths. 

4  breakfast  cloths. 
6  coverlids. 

12  damask  napkins. 
56  homespun  napkins. 

9  towels. 
C  towels. 
29  pillow  cases. 
1  linen  table  cloth. 
1  fine  sheet. 

5  blue  and  white  window  cur- 

tains. 

5  window  curtains. 
9  blankets. 

1  rug. 

3  glasses  with  black. 

4  small  sconces. 
3  gilt  glasses. 

10  small  gilt  pictures. 
1  mahogany  clock. 

3  oval  pictures. 

1  oval  old  lady's  fan. 
1  large  Dutch  cupboard. 
1  large  not  sett  up. 

1  mahogany  table. 

2  round  mahogany  tables. 
1  round  stand. 

1  square  tea  table. 

1  boilsted,  small,  with  drawers. 

1  copper  tea  kitchen  and  stand. 

1  old.iapanncd  tea  table. 

1  mahogany  dining  table. 

1  large  boilsted  table. 

2  square  tables. 
1  fine  screen. 

13  large  painted  pictures 
12  small  painted  pictures. 

1  large  cedar  chest. 
8  pairs  handirons. 
1  old  desk. 

1  old  painted  cupboard. 

1  marble,  mortar  and  kettle. 

2  pair  brass  scales  and  weights. 
2  copper  pye  pans. 

4  sauce  pans. 

4  copper  kettles. 
2  tea  kettles. 

2  skillets. 

1  warming  pan. 
1  apple  roaster. 

3  skimmers. 

1  cheese  toaster. 

1  pewter  coftee  kettle. 

1  pewter  tea  pot. 
27  pewter  dishes. 

11  pewter  plates, 

12  pewter  soup  plates. 

6  pewter  butter  plates. 
3  pewter  mugs. 

2  pewter  salons. 

5  pewter  basons. 

6  pewter  spoons. 

3  pewter  measures. 

1  small  brass  kettle. 

2  brass  ladles. 

4  puffet  pans  (Note— Pufiet  was 

a  light  cake.) 
6    plates. 

3  pudding  dishes. 

1  copper  fish  kettle. 

4  brass  kettles. 


2  stew  pans. 
2  coffee  pots. 
9  wooden  plates. 

6  bowls. 

1  hang  iron. 

2  toasters. 

2  jiggin  irons. 

1  baking  pot. 

2  brass  mortars. 

1  lime  squeezer. 

2  dripping  pans. 

1  ladle. 

2  flesh  forks. 
1  cake  i)an. 

1  gridiron. 

2  waffle  irons. 
1  cullander. 

G  brass  candlesticks. 

1  snuffers  and  stand. 

2  pairs  kitchen  hand  irons. 

7  iron  pots. 

1  hand  skillet. 
1  sheep  shears. 

3  tubs. 

4  pails. 

3  pairs  branches. 
3  chains. 

12  caudle  moulds. 

8  emuotliing  irons. 
47  pattee  pans. 

3  tea  boards. 

15  black  leather  bottom  chairs. 

9  straw  bottom  chairs. 

4  milk  tubs. 

1  brass  plate  warmer. 
1  brass  stand. 
1  wine  cooler. 
1  stone  milk  pot. 

1  lace  table  cloth,  cover  and  sheet. 
7  feather  beds. 

1  sett  green  bed  curtains  with 
ring. 

1  sett  red  and  white  calico  cur- 
tains, 
blue  bed  curtains. 

1  red  silk  bedquilt. 

2  desks. 

1  book  case. 

2  chests  drawers. 

5  feather  beds. 
1  picture. 

3  pairs  hand  irons. 

1  toilet  and  looking  glass. 
1  mahogany  bedstead  with  two 
setts  rods.  1  sett  lath. 
18  silver  table  spoons. 

1  silver  soup  spoon. 

2  castors. 
2  niuge. 

4  candlesticks. 

6  salt  cellars. 
1  sett 

1  eased  bowl. 

1  tea  pot. 
6  spoons. 

An  old  fashioned  of  plate. 

2  milk  pots. 

1  chafing  dish. 
15  tea  spoons. 

2  tea  tonge. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


467 


S  sheep. 
3  Iambs. 
3  hogs. 

1  large  steel  gray  horse. 
1  mare. 
1  jonng  mare. 
1  young  mare  with  foal. 
1  horse. 

7  hogs  and  pigs. 
20  hoi'ses. 


1  tin  case. 

1  screen. 

2  carpets, 

1  churn. 

2  waffcl. 
Settee  and  twelve  chairs. 

1  dining  table. 
14  cons. 

5  yearlings. 
13  sheep. 

13  lambs  (left  on  the  way  tired). 

There  was,  however,  one  r.hxas  of  settlers  as  sharply 
distinguished  in  their  social  life  as  in  their  language 
and  nativity  from  the  Dutch  and  English.  These 
were  the  worthy  and  admirable  Huguenots,  the  French 
Protestant  exiles,  who  came  into  the  county  so  early 
in  its  history  and  gave  to  their  settlement  the  name 
of  New  [Rochelle,  in  memory  of  the  ancient  French 
city  which  had  been  the  scene  of  their  most  lustrous 
glory  and  most  poignant  suffering. '  Mainly  well- 
educated  men  and  women,  skilled  artisans  and  good 
citizens,  no  acquisition  to  the  colony  was  more  valua- 
ble. Of  the  first  house  which  they  built,  Rev,  L.  J. 
Coutant  has  given  a  graphic  description.  It  was 
erected  upon  the  point  now  known  as  Hudson's  Park. 
Mr.  Coutant  writes, — 

"  During  the  pleasant  weather  of  the  autumnal  months  (circa  1G90),  a 
house  was  built  on  Bonnefoy's  Point, — not  a  very  commodious  one,  nor 
yet  very  elegant  in  its  architectural  design.  An  excavation  was  made  in 
the  earth  to  tlie  depth  of  five  or  six  feet,  and  faced  around  with  stones, 
after  the  manner  of  building  cellar-walls  at  the  present  day,  preparatorj- 
to  the  erection  of  the  supei-structure.  On  these  stone  walls  were  placed 
logs,  in  successive  tiers,  until  a  desirable  height  was  reached  sufficient  to 
make  one  story  above  ground  and  a  large  garret  for  a  sleeping  apart- 
ment. The  whole  was  roofed  over  with  long  grass,  bound  firmly  on  to 
the  rafters  with  strong  cords,  interlaced  with  polos  running  lengthwise 
of  the  roof;  so  that  this  primitive  dwelling,  with  the  exception  of  its 
cellar-walls,  or  ground-work,  was  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  thatched 
log  house.  The  work  of  building  this  edifice  was  accomplished  by  the 
voluntary  and  united  labor  of  the  whole  colony — men  and  women  both 
doing  what  they  could  to  hasten  its  completion. 

"  lucidents  peculiarly  interesting  cluster  around  this  primitive  cottage. 
It  was  ajoiut-stock  possession — a  common  property,  in  which  all  had  an 
interest— a  sort  of  headquarters,  a  public  house  indeed,  to  which  the 
settlers  nightly  resorted  for  social  intercourse  or  recreation  when  the 
toils  and  adventures  of  the  day  were  over.  On  the  Sabbath  it  was  the 
temple  whither  the  settlers  went  up  to  worship  and  listen  to  the  religious 
Instructions  of  the  pious  Bonrepas,  their  beloved  pastor,  and  to  join  in  the 
raptures  inspired  by  the  singing  of  Marot's  hymns.  It  is  surprising  to 
see  what  exjiedients  necessity  will  adapt ;  into  how  narrow  a  comjiajts 
It  will  compress  the  proprieties  of  life,  both  civil  and  religious;  how  few 
and  simple  are  the  requirements  of  society  and  genuine  religion,  when 
stripped  of  the  conventional  superfluities  bestowed  by  pride  and  wealth. 

"In  this  same  house  the  first  child  was  born,  to  one  Louis  Guion,  and 
there  the  first  Huguenot  marriage  took  place,  the  groom  being  .lean 
Coutant,  and  the  bride  the  daughter  of  David  Bonnefoy.  The  marriage 
ceremony  was  perfonned  by  the  Right  Rev.  David  de  Bonrepas,  who 
Dnited,  in  his  niiniaterial  functions,  the  several  offices  of  bishop,  priest 
and  presbyter  to  the  French  Protestant  Church  at  New  Rochelle.^ 

In  addition  to  much  other  useful  information,  Mr. 
Coutant  has  communicated  the  following  observa- 
tions upon  the  social  characteristics  and  domestic 
economy  of  the  early  Huguenots. 

1  The  details  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Huguenots  were  prepared 
by  Rev.  Charles  E.  Lindsley,  D.D.,  for  his  chapter  upon  New  Rochelle, 
and  are  transferred  to  his  chapter  by  reason  of  its  being  the  most  proper 
place  for  their  insertion. 

'  Contant's  "  Reminiscences  "' 


"  Not  in  former  times,  as  now,  were  the  families  in  country  villages  or 
districts  dependent  on  the  butcher's  stalls  for  the  daily  supply  of  their 
table,  nor  yet  \ipon  the  baker's  shops  and  the  flour  mercliunts  for  bread 
and  pastry.  These  staples  of  life,  iis  well  as  their  wearing  apjiarel,  were 
furnislied  upon  their  own  premises.  Their  <  ereals  were  gathered  from 
their  fields,  threshed  and  winuowed  upon  their  own  barn-floors,  and  car- 
ried to  the  mill  in  bags  to  be  converted  in  Hour,  which  was  kneaded  and 
bilked  by  the  good  matrons,  in  the  old  fashioned  brick  ovens,  constructed 
in  the  immense  kitchen  chimney-backs.  And  as  to  pastry,  all  of  it,  not 
even  excepting  wedding-cake,  was  prepared  in  the  same  way.  Their 
herds  of  kiue  and  flocks  of  sheep,  grazing  upon  their  pasture  fields,  and 
the  poultry  in  their  barn-yards  supplied  them  with  fresh  meat,  butter 
and  eggs  the  whole  year  round.  The  writer  himself,  although  not  as 
old  as  some  men  whom  he  knows,  can  well  remember  the  time  when  a 
single  small  cow  or  a  young  steer,  slaughtered  once  a  week,  sufficed  to 
supply  the  families  of  New  Rochelle  and  East  Chester  with  all  the  fresh 
meat  that  was  needed,  over  and  above  that  raised  on  their  own  premises. 
Thus  a  thrifty  farmer,  in  the  early  summer  or  spring,  would  slaughter 
a  calf,  sheep  or  lamb  and,  reserving  what  was  required  for  his  own  use, 
send  the  rest  to  his  neighbors,mntil  they  in  turn  did  the  same  thing  ;  and 
thus  the  supply  was  mutual  and  alternate.  This  policy  was  frequently 
adopted  also  upon  tlie  occurrence  of  a  stone,  or  ploughing  '  frolic,'  as 
they  were  called,  or  upon  the  raising  of  a  barn  or  some  other  heavy-tim- 
bered building,  on  which  occasions  a  supply  of  goodfold  Jamaica  rum  acted 
as  a  sort  of  steam  power,  and  at  night  the  affair  was  often  concluded  by 
a  liberal  supply  of  lamb  or  veal  pot -pie  and  generous  potations  of  old 
cider. 

"  The  cellar  of  the  well-to-do  fanner  was  his  larder, being  fully  stocked 
with  barrels  of  salted  meat  and  hogsheads  of  cider,  as  also  with  potatoes, 
turnips,  butter,  lard  and  such  other  provisions  as  were  needful  for  family 
use.  Even  mechanics,  carpenters,  shoemakei-s,  weavers,  tailors,  coopers, 
and  blacksmiths  bad  each  his  acre  of  land,  cow  and  fatted  pig,  and  what- 
ever they  lacked  of  other  provisions  they  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  by 
an  exchange  of  labor  for  farmers'  products,  at  the  rate  of  four  dollars  per 
hundred  weight  of  beef,  eighteen  cents  per  bushel  for  potatoes,  fifty 
cents  a  barrel  for  apples,  seventy-five  cents  a  bushel  for  wheat,  fifty 
cents  for  rye  and  not  more  than  thirty-six  cents  a  bushel  for  Indian  corn, 
and  other  produce  in  proportion  ;  while  the  wages  of  the  laboring  man 
ranged  from  fifty  to  eighty  doUai's  a  year,  with  board,  and  from  fifty  to 
seventy-five  cents  a  day.  The  wages  of  mechanics  were  from  seventy- 
five  cents  to  one  dollar  a  day,  if  boarded,  and  from  one  dollar  to  a  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  where  they  boarded  themselves.  Carpenters, 
w  heelwrights  and  blacksmiths  were  employed  upon  many  of  the  utensils 
of  husbandry  in  those  days  to  which  they  are  strangers  at  the  present 
time.  The  former  made  the  farmer's  ox-sleds,  plows,  harrows,  cider- 
mills,  crackles  and  other  implements  for  working  in  flax  ;  the  latter 
forged  his  plow-shares,  colters,  chains  and  crowbars.  The  manufacture 
of  flax  and  wool  spinning-wheels  was  usually  done  by  cabinet-makers 
and  turners,  which  class  of  mechanics  was  far  from  numerous. 3  The 
turning  was  performed  on  the  old-fashioned  pole  lathe. 

"The  dress  worn  by  men  consisted  of  pantaloons,  vest  and  coat ;  the 
latter  trimmed  with  large  brass  buttons,  and  an  overcoat,  or,  as  it  was 
then  called,  a  malch-coat,  a  wool  hat  made  very  much  in  the  form  of  the 
felt  hats  worn  at  the  present  day ;  laced  or  low-quartered  shoes,  and 
woolen,  home-knit  stockings.  Those  garments  as  a  general  thing  con- 
stituted a  gentlenum's  wardrobe  or  outfit  for  the  winter.  In  summer, 
linen  was  usually  worn.  The  ordinary  dress  worn  by  elderly  women 
was  the  old  style  sliort-gown  and  petticoats,  of  homespun  or  linsey- 
woolsey.  Wlien  they  went  abroad,  however,  this  was  generally  ex- 
changed for  a  short waisted  gown  of  the  same  material  in  winter;  but 
in  summer  of  some  lighter  fabric.  Those  who  could  afford  it  occasion- 
ally wore  silk.  The  head-dress  consisted  of  a  cap  with  a  wide  border 
and  high  crown,  over  which,  when  abroail,  they  wore  a  plain  silk  bon- 
net. The  young  women  wore  frocks  of  a  similar  style  and  material,  but 
no  caps.  Their  long  tresses  were  parted  in  front,  combed  back  and 
braided  into  a  cue ;  rolled  up  spirally  upon  the  back  of  the  head,  and 
secured  by  a  huge  turtle-shell  or  horn-comb.  Small  side  combs  were 
also  used  to  keep  the  hair  evenly  parted  in  front.  The  shape  of  their 
hats  varied  constantly,  a,s  now,  in  acconlanco  with  the  fickle  dictates  of 
fashion.    At  one  time  it  would  be  a  fur  cap,  somewhat  like  that  worn 


3  Archer  Craft  was  among  the  first  whom  the  writer  recollects  that 
wrought  at  cabinet-making  and  turning  in  New  Rochelle,  and  also  made 
and  repaired  spinning-wheels.  His  shop  was  at  Upper  New  Rochelle. 
He  was  aucceedeil  by  Peter  Bonnett,  .Jr.,  who  continued  the  business 
until  spinning  w  heels  fell  into  disuse. 


468 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTS. 


by  men  at  the  present  time,  but  trimmed  with  ribbons  and  ornamented 
witli  featliers,  white  or  black  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  wearer.  At 
another,  the  hat  would  flatten  down  and  spread  out  into  an  immense 
disk  of  braided  leghorn  or  straw,  held  in  place  by  a  broad  ribbon  tied 
under  the  chin.  Presently,  almost  while  we  were  yet  gazing  in  admira- 
tion, they  assumed  the  form  of  a  huge  tin  scoop  in  front,  projecting  be- 
yond the  face  some  ten  or  twelve  inches,  with  high  crowns  to  make 
room  for  the  large  comb. 

"  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  all  of  these,  to  us,  outlandish  costumes  and 
fashions  looked  well  hi  tlieir  time.'  Boys,  until  grown-up,  mostly  w.^nt 
barefooted  ;  nor  was  it  at  all  uncommon  to  see  grown-up  men  pursuing 
their  occupations  without  shoes  upon  their  feet.  All,  of  course,  wore 
shoes  and  yarn  stockings  in  winter.  Moreover,  the  young  man  who 
could  afford  a  pair  of  calf-skin  boots  with  white  or  red  sheep-skin  tops 
was  regarded  with  admiration  by  the  belles  of  the  town.  He  was  a  rare 
bird,  indeed,  and  likely  to  become  the  target  for  the  arrows  of  the  mis- 
chievous blind  deity.  All  the  more  so,  if  these  (ornamental  appeuilages 
supported  a  trim,  symmetrical  form,  attired  in  buff  colored  corduroy  pan- 
taloons, white  vest,  a  blue  broadcloth  swallow-tailed  coat,  trimmed  with 
glistening  brass  buttons,  the  collar  extending  high  in  back  of  the  neck, 
and  the  tail  reaching  to  within  a  foot  of  the  floor ;  the  whole  sur- 
mounted with  a  high,  bell-crowned  beaver  hat ! 

"  'Attired  in  this  most  marvellous  array. 

Thus  walked  and  talked  the  dandy  of  his  day.' 

"  In  these  early  times,  the  children  in  farming  districts  were  early 
taught  habits  of  industry,  the  boys  going  to  school  in  winter,  and  as- 
sisting in  the  work  of  the  farm  in  sunmier  and  autumn.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  ime  or  more  of  them  would  be  put  out  to  learn  a  trade,  and 
bound  by  indentures  to  serve  five  years  as  apprentices.  The  girls  mean- 
time, while  attending  the  district  school,  assisted  their  mother  in  house- 
hold duties,  and  indeed  some  of  them  did  not  hesitate  to  help  at  an  emer- 
gency in  the  out-iloor  work  upon  the  farm — in  such  light  occupations  as 
stirring  and  raking  hay  and  pulling  flax.  Nor  by  so  doing  did  they  at 
at  all  lose  Ciiste  or  conipromise  their  claims  to  gentility.  Almost  every 
young  man  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  Wiis  familiar  with  the  processes  of 
farming,  supplemented  frecpiently  by  the  knowledge  of  some  mechanical 
employment.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  the  girls  had  a  jiractical  acquaint- 
ance with  the  business  of  housekeeping  in  all  its  branches.  Although 
not  put  to  a  trade,  yet,  before  they  arrived  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  they 
may  be  said  to  have  learned  at  least  one  trade,  at  home.  They  were 
thoroughly  proficient  in  the  art  of  spinning  and  making  up  homespun 
fabrics.  But  although  thns  early  tra  ned  to  habits  of  industry,  and  to 
contribute  their  share  of  labor  towards  the  support  of  the  family,  the 
young  people  of  both  sexes  were  by  no  means  deprived  of  amusements. 
They  had  their  holiday  seasons  and  afternoon  and  evening  sports.  They 
enjoyed,  in  winter,  skating  and  riding  down  hill,  and  spinning  tops,  fly- 
ing kitesand  playing  ball  in  the  spring  ;  and  a  great  many  other  athletic 
games  and  innocent  amusements  which  are  now  obsolete  and  forgotten. 

''There  is  yet  one  more  pha^e  of  domestic  and  social  life  among  the 
early  settlers  of  this  part  of  the  country  and  their  immediate  descendants 
which  ought  not  to  be  pas.sed  over  entirely  without  notice,  as  it  is  one 
most  intimately  connected  with  human  welfare  anil  happiness  in  this  our 
earthly  lot.  I  refer  to  the  subject  of  courtship  and  marriage.  In  those 
times  the  marriage  of  young  people  was  the  rule  and  not  the  exception. 
At  all  events  the  practice  was,  as  it  seems  to  me,  much  more  general 
than  at  the  present  time  ;  and  there  was  a  good  reason  for  it.  Jlarriage 
did  not  then  demand,  on  the  part  of  one  or  both  of  the  parties  to  it,  the 
possession  of  an  independent  fortune  !  Love  and  marriage,  on  the  con- 
trary, came  first,  and  a  reasonable  amount  of  worldly  success  afterwards. 
To  this  mutual  industry  and  economy  contributeil.  The  endless  cere- 
mony, ]iarade  and  lavish  expenditure  of  time  and  money  upon  bridal 
costumes,  trousseaus  and  wedding  tours  were  unknown  to  the  simplicity 
of  those  times.  If  it  had  not  been  so,  thecostly  paraphernalia  of  a  wed- 
ding would  have  driven  the  young  lovers  of  that  day  into  the  despair  of 
a  hopeless  celibacy  !  Mutual  happiness  and  success  in  life,  and  not  idle 
vanity  or  foolish  display,  were  then  supposed  to  be  the  true  and  proper 
inducements  to  matrimony.  Such  alliances  were  more  easily  and  natur- 
ally formed,  too,  from  the  fact  that  population  was  less  transient  than 
now.  That  is  to  say,  families  more  frequently  lived  during  their  entire 
lives  upon  estates  which  had  descended  from  father  to  sun  through  sev- 
eral generations.  Weddings,  too,  even  among  families  of  some  wealth, 
were  very  simple  affairs.  They  took  place  at  the  residence  of  the 
bride's  parents — usually  in  the  evening.  The  ceremony  was  invariably 
performed  by  a  minister,  in  the  presence  of  a  few  of  the  relatives  and 
friends,  and  was  followed  by  a  season  of  festivity  and  merriment.  For 


the  newly-married  couple  to  set  up  housekeeping  cost  but  a  trifls.  For 
twenty-five  dollars  a  year  two  rooms  could  be  procured  sufficiently  am- 
ple for  a  modest  beginning.  For  as  much  more,  they  could  be  furnished 
with  all  that  was  needful  for  housekeeping  in  the  way  of  furniture,  etc.; 
the  wife,  as  a  general  thing,  providing  beds,  bedding  and  such  carpets 
as  she  had  been  able  to  manufacture  as  the  fruit  of  her  own  handiwork 
and  industry  ;  so  that  the  entire  outlay,  in  cash,  for  the  first  year,  over 
and  above  what  was  provided  by  the  pareuts,  would  not,  perhaps,  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  dollars,  rent  included.  These  facts  refer,  of  course,  to 
succes-sful  marriages — that  is,  to  the  great  majority.  For  the  few  fail- 
ures, want  of  suflicient  previous  acquaintance  of  the  parties  (a  thing  Ijy 
no  means  so  common  then  as  now)  or  improvident  habits  were  chiefly 
accountable.  The  state  of  society  I  have  been  attempting  to  describe 
was  that  which  existed  in  New  Rochelle  and  Pelham  from  seventy-five 
to  one  hundred  years  ago  ;  and,  indeed,  much  earlier,  for  the  habits  and 
customs  of  the  generation  which  preceded  the  War  of  the  Revolution 
were  substantially  the  same  with  those  of  their  immediate  descendants." 

Settling  in  a  country  where  water-courses  were  so 
numerous,  the  early  Dutch  did  most  of  their  traveling 
on  the  North  River  or  the  Sound  and  its  tributary 
streams.  The  periauger  was  in  constant  use  for 
water  transportation.  Charlevoix  calls  it  pirogue, 
a  canoe  formed  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  while  Cooper, 
in  the  "Water  Witch,"  says:  "It  partook  of  a 
European  and  an  American  character ;  it  possessed 
the  length,  narrowness  and  clean  bow  of  the  canoe, 


A  DOCTOR  OF  THE  OLDEN  TIME. 


from  which  its  name  was  derived,  and  the  flat  bottom 
and  lee  boards  of  a  boat  constructed  for  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  low  countries."  Mrs.  Van  Cortlandt 
says:  "Sloops  did  a  great  business  in  carrying 
passengers,  their  leisurely  movements  quite  suit- 
ing the  quiet  tourists  of  those  days."'  "The  very  rich 
had  for  state  occasions  their  coach  drawn  by  four 
stout  horses  of  Flemish  blood,  with  coachman  and  out- 
riders in  appropriate  liveries.  Such  equipages,  how- 
ever, were  few  in  number  and  attracted  great  atten- 
tion when  upon  the  road.  Box  wagons,  guiltless  of 
springs,  were  owned  by  some  farmers,  but  for  easy 
travel  a  good  horse  was  preferred,  the  man  riding  in 
front  and  the  wife  or  daughter  behind  upon  a  pillion. 
Physicians  needed  and  bestrode  stout  nags,  always 
carrying  saddle-bags  and  the  few  simple  surgical  in- 
struments then  known.  The  infallible  lancet  was 
stored  in  the  l)ig  ])ocket-book,  as  at  least  once  a  year, 
usually  in  the  spring,  'a  good  bleeding'  was  deemed 
a  necessity.  Blooded  horses  were  not  scarce,  for  many 
of  the  gentry  kept  racing  stables. 

"In  winter  the  people  rode  about  in  huge  sleighs, 
some  of  which  were  of  great  length  and  had  covers, 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


469 


halt' extending  over  tlieni.  The  horses  were  decked  with 
a  prnt'usion  of  brass  bells  strung  upon  leather  straps. 
When  the  youths  and  maidens  went  for  long  drives 
they  carried  foot-stoves — a  tin  box  pierced  with  holes 
and  set  in  a  wooden  frame,  and  enclosing  an  iron  cup 
filled  with  hot  embers." 

The  quarter  of  a  century  following  the  achievement 
of  national  independence  was  a  period  fraught  with 
mechanical  inventions  that  imparted  a  powerful 
BtinuiUis  to  the  material  progress  of  the  country.  The 
steam-engine  was  being  vastly  improved,  the  appli- 
cation of  the  newly-discovered  power  to  milling  and 
manufacturing  was  making  rapid  progress,  and  the 
locomotive  and  steamboat  were  taking  shape  in  the 
minds  of  Oliver  Evans,  Stephenson,  Rumsey,  Fitch 
and  Fulton.  In  1803  Oliver  Evans  had  begun  to  build 


steam-engines  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1813  published 
an  article  in  which  he  claimed  that  in  1773  he  had 
suggested  steam  as  a  motor  on  land,  and  in  1778  had 
proposed  its  application  to  boats.  In  1804  he  built  a 
machine  for  cleaning  docks,  and  propelled  it  by  its 
own  engine  overland  to  the  Schuylkill  River,  where 
he  launched  it  into  the  stream,  fixed  a  paddle-wheel 
to  it  and  navigated  it  around  to  the  Delaware.  He 
proposed  to  construct  a  steam  road  carriage  for  freight, 
at  a  cost  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  that 
would  transport  one  hundred  barrels  of  flour,  at  the 
speed  of  two  miles  an  hour,  and  successfully  endeav- 
ored to  enlist  the  Philadelphia  and  Columbia  Turn- 
pike Company  in  his  project.  He  unquestionably  had 
worked  out  the  idea  of  the  steamboat  and  locomotive 
in  his  mind,  but  the  world  laughed  at  him  when  he 
predicted  that  "  The  time  will  come  when  people 


will  travel  in  stages  moved  by  steam-engines  from  one 
city  to  another  almost  as  fast  as  the  birds  can  fly — 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  an  hour." 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution  James  Rum- 
sey  propelled  a  boat  by  steam  on  the  Potomac  River 
in  the  presence  of  a  party  of  observers,  one  of  whom 
was  Washington,  who  certified  to  what  Rumsey  had 
accomplished.  The  Rumsey  Society,  of  which  Benja- 
min Franklin  was  president,  was  formed  to  aid  him, 
and  there  ensued  a  sharp  controversy  for  priority  of 
invention  between  Rumsey  and  John  Fitch.  The 
latter  had,  in  July,  1786,  experimented  on  the  Dela- 
ware with  a  steamer  moved  by  upright  paddles,  fitted 
at  the  gunwales,  but  his  first  successful  boat  was 
operated  in  July,  1788.  He  changed  the  paddles  to 
the  stem  of  the  craft,  where  they  worked  nearly  as 
well  as  a  wheel.  Fitch  is  believed  to  have  invented 
the  first  double-acting  condensing  engine,  transmitting 
power  by  means  of  cranks,  produced  in  any  country. 
He  took  his  boat  to  New  York  and  exhibited  it  on 
the  Collect,  where  it  was  finally  beached  and  aban- 
doned to  decay. 

In  1804,  John  C.  Stevens,  of  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  con- 
structed a  steamboat  on  the  Hudson  that  was  driven 
by  a  Watts  engine,  with  a  tubular  boiler  of  his  own 
invention  and  a  screw  propeller.  Chancellor  Living- 
ston and  Nicholas  Roosevelt  were  interested  in  this 
undertaking,  which  was  a  failure,  as  the  machinery 
shook  the  boat  to  pieces. 

It  was  reserved  for  Robert  Fulton  lo  make  of  the 
steamboat  a  practical  and  commercial  success. 
Racked  by  Chancellor  Livingston's  money  he  built  in 
New  York,  in  ISOtJ,  a  steamer  which  he  named  the 
"  Clermont,"  the  title  of  the  Livingston  country-seat. 
She  was  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  in  length, 
eighteen  in  width,  seven  in  depth,  and  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  tons  burthen.  Her  engine  was  bought  from 
Watt  &  Boulton.  On  Friday,  August  7,  1807,  she 
started  on  her  first  voyage  to  Albany,  and  reached 
there  in  thirty  hours,  an  average  for  the  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  of  five  miles  an  hour.  In  September 
she  began  running  regularly  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  public,  making  the  round  trip  in  seventy-two 
hours,  for  which  each  passenger  was  charged  fourteen 
dollars.  Livingston  had  already  received  from  the 
Legislature  the  grant  of  the  exclusive  privilege  of  navi- 
gating the  waters  of  New  York  by  steam,  and  Fulton 
was  admitted  as  sharer  in  this  franchise.  Before  the 
War  of  1812  they  had  built  six  steamboats  for  traffic 
on  the  Hudson  and  ferriage  in  New  York  Harbor. 

In  1796  there  were  in  the  whole  State  thirty-eight 
coaches,  seventy-three  chariots,  five  post-chaises, 
ninety-one  phaetons,  seventy-two  coaches,  one  hun- 
dred and  three  "  other  four-wheeled  carriages  "  and 
one  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  curricles, 
chaises,  top-chairs,  steel-spring-chairs,  sulkies  and 
wooden-spring  chairs.  "The  light  open  chair,  or  the 
covered  chaise,"  says  Mr.  Eggleston,  "  was  generally 
preferred.   These  were  better  suited  to  the  roughness 


OLIVER  EVAN.S. 


470 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  sinuosity  of  the  roads  than  the  coach.  The 
chaise  was  a  kind  of  two-wheeled  gig,  having  a  top, 
and  sometimes  drawn  by  one  and  sometimes  by  two 
horses ;  the  chair  had  two  wheels,  but  no  top ; 
the  sulky,  which  was  much  used,  differed  from  the 
chair  chiefly  in  having  room  for  but  one  person- 
Ladies  took  delight  in  driving  about  alone  in  open 
chairs,  to  the  amazement  of  European  travelers,  who 


OLIVER  EVAXS'  STEAM-CARRIAGE. 

deemed  that  a  paradise  in  which  women  could  travel 
without  protection." 

These  luxuries  of  travel  were  of  later  date  than  the 
time  when  the  Indian  trail  known  as  "  The  Old  West- 
chester Path  "  was  the  principal  thoroughfare  between 
New  York  and  New  England.  In  lt)83  the  ferryman 
to  Long  Island  kept  "  two  boats  for  cattle  and  horses 
and  also  two  boats  for  passengers."  The  ferriage  for 
the  former  was  6".  a  head,  and  for  the  latter  1*.  The 
Dutch  yachts  (so  called)  were  from  one  to  two  weeks 
in  a  voyage  to  Hudson  and  Albany,  or  Albania,  as  it 
was  then  called.  They  came-to  every  night,  prefer- 
ring ease  to  speed,  and  traveled  only  by  daylight. 
All  on  board  spoke  Dutch.  In  1673  the  post  or  mes- 
senger was  instructed  to  apply  to  the  Governors  for 
"  the  best  direction  how  to  form  the  best  Post-Road  ;" 


fitch's  first  steamboat. 


to  establish  places  on  the  road  where  to  leave  the 
way -letters,  and  "  to  mark  some  Trees  that  shall  direct 
Passengers  the  best  way,  and  to  fix  certain  Houses 
for  your  several  stages  both  to  bait  and  lodge  at." 
The  messenger  was  to  provide  himself  with  "  a  spare 
horse,  a  Horn,  and  good  Portmantles."  Travelers 
who  wished  to  avail  themselves  of  the  messenger's 


company  were  permitted  to  do  so,  and  he  was  in- 
structed to  afford  them  the  best  help  in  his  power. 

Miss  Sarah  Knight,  of  Boston,  came  to  New  York, 
in  1704,  on  a  visit  to  some  friends.  She  availed  her- 
self of  the  guidance  and  protection  of  the  post-rider, 
and  made  the  journey,  on  horseback,  in  two  weeks. 
Her  journal,  printed  for  private  circulation,  contains 
graphic  and  quaint  descriptions,  and  reveals  a  shrewd 
observer  of  men  and  things.  It  has  proved  of  inesti- 
mable value  to  all  writers  about  the  olden  time.  She 
gives  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  hardships  of  travel 
in  those  days, — hardships  bravely  borne,  in  1702^ 
by  another  lady,  Mrs.  Shippen,  who  travelled  from 
Boston  to  Philadelphia  on  horseback,  carrying  Or 
baby  on  her  lap}  We  get  here,  also,  an  insight  into 
the  primitive  postal  system :  "  Tuesday,  October  y" 
third,  about  8  in  the  morning,  I  with  the  Post 
proceeded  forward  .  .  and  about  2,  afternoon, 
arrived  at  the  Post's  second  stage,  where  the  west- 
ern Post  met  him  and  exchanged  letters. 
Having  here  discharged  the  Ordinary  for  self  and 
guide,  as  I  understood  was  the  custom,  about  3,  after- 
noon, went  on  with  my  third  guide,  who  rode  very 


fitch's  steamboat. 


hard :  and  having  crossed  Providence  ferry,  we  come 
to  a  River  which  they  generally  ride  through.  But  I 
dare  not  venture,  so  the  Post  got  a  lad  and  canoe  to 
carry  me  to  the  other  side,  and  he  rid  through  and. 
led  my  horse.  .  .  Rewarding  my  sculler,  again 
mounted  and  made  the  best  of  my  way  forward.  The 
road  here  was  very  even  and  y=  day  pleasant,  it  being 
now  near  sunset.  But  the  Post  told  me  we  had  near 
14  miles  to  ride  to  the  next  Stage,  where  we  were  to 
lodge.  I  asked  him  of  the  rest  of  the  road,  foreseeing 
we  must  travel  in  the  night.  He  told  me  there  was  a 
bad  river  to  ride  through,  which  was  so  very  fierce  a 
horse  could  sometimes  hardly  stem  it :  but  it  was 
narrow,  and  we  should  soon  be  over." 

The  post-oflSce  scheme  for  British  America  was  first 
devised  in  the  year  1700,  by  Colonel  J.  Hamilton,  of 
New  Jersey,  and  son  of  Governor  Andrew  Hamilton. 
He  obtained  a  patent  and  the  profits  accruing.  He- 

1  "Foot-prints  of  a  Letter-Carrier,"  by  James  Bees. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


471 


afterwards  sold  it  to  the  crown.  The  first  regular 
post-office  established  in  the  colonies  by  Parliament 
was  in  1710.'  The  chief  office  for  North  America 
was  established  in  New  York.  The  necessity  for  in- 
creased postal  facilities  had  been  represented  to  the 
home  government  in  17U4,  by  the  Governor  of  the 
province  of  New  York,  who  wrote  that  ' "  The  post 
that  goes  through  this  place  goes  eastward  as  far  as 
Boston  ;  but  westward,  he  goes  no  further  than  Phila- 
delphia :  and  there  is  no  other  post  upon  all  this  con- 
tinent." As  late  as  the  year  ISIO  the  mail  between 
Canandaigua  and  Genesee  River  was  carried  on  horse- 
back— part  of  the  time  by  a  woman.  In  1730  the 
postmaster  of  New  York  published  a  notice  inviting 
application  for  the  office  of  foot-post  to  Albamj  this 
winter.  Letters  to  distant  places,  however,  were  gen- 
erally carried  by  messengers  on  horseback.  At  first 
a  satchel  or  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  sufficed ;  then  a 
light  vehicle  was  required  ;  finally  the  stage  coaches, 
which  were  first  started  for  the  benefit  of  travelers, 
became  the  proper  means  of  transportation  for  the 


THE  STEAMER  "  CLERMONT." 


ever-increasing  mail  matter.  Until  1755  there  had 
been  but  one  a  week,  eastward  and  westward  from 
New  York,— Boston  and  Philadelphia  being  still  the 
extreme  points, — and  this  only  in  the  summer ;  once  a 
fortnight  was  the  winter  arrangement.  In  1755  it 
was  arranged  that  the  New  England  post  should  start 
weekly  all  the  year  round.  When  this  post  was  first 
established,  in  1672,  by  Governor  Lovelace,  it  was  to 
"sett  forth  from  this  citty  of  New  Yorke  monthly,  and 
thence  to  travail  to  Boston,  from  whence  within  that 
Month  hee  shall  return  againe  to  this  citty." 

An  independent  post-office  was  established  in 
New  York  in  1775,  at  the  suggestion  of  William 
Goddard,  the  publisher  of  the  Maryland  Journal, 
and  John  Holt,  the  New  York  printer,  was  appointed 
postmaster.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  "Sons  of 
Liberty,"  a  popular  association  of  Americans,  were 
connected  with  this  movement ;  for  one  of  the  first 


>n)id. 

*  Letter  of  Lor.1  Bellomont,  in  Doc.  rel.  to  Colonial  Hist,  of  N.  Y., 
quoted  by  Rev.  (,'.  W.  Baird. 


acts  of  its  members  was  to  send,  through  this  office, 
threatening  letters  to  the  leading  members  of  the 
Tory  party. 

Mr.  James  Rees,  from  whose  "  Foot-prints  of  a 
Letter-Carrier"  we  have  quoted  the  above  paragraph, 
says  :  "  Nor  was  it  until  1732  that  the  first  stage-route 
to  Philadelphia  was  established  ;  stages  also  departed 
for  Boston  monthly,  taking  a  fortnight  on  the  route." 
Advertisements  of  that  year  mentioned  the  departure 
of  the  post  "in  order  to  perlbrm  his  stage,"  but  we 
find  no  reference  to  "  stage-wagons"  or  "  stage-coaches" 
before  1756,  when  the"  first  stage-coach''  is  announced 
to  run  between  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  "  three 
days  through."  In  1753,  William  Vandrills  informed 
"gentlemen  and  others  who  have  a  mind  to  transport 
themselves,  wares  or  merchandise  from  New  York  to 
Philadelphia,"  that  he  has  "fitted  a  stnye  boat,"  which 
will  "sail  from  New  York  to  Amboy  and  thence  by 
wagons  to  Burlington,  and  thence  take  passage  to 
Philadelphia."  In  1765  a  rival  of  the  "  First  Stage- 
Coach  "  put  on  the  line  a  "  covered  Jersey  wagon," 
— an  improvement,  it  seems,  on  the  other  "coach." 
Competition  was  roused,  and  in  the  following  year 
(1766)  a  third  stage,  yclept  "The  Flying-Machine," 
proposed  to  make  the  trip  in  two  days,  and  allured 
travelers  with  the  promise  of  "  good  wagons  and 
seats  on  springs."  Through  fare,  twenty  shillings. 
When  the  capital  of  the  province  had  accomplished 
no  more  during  a  century  as  regards  traveling  facili- 
ties, it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  Westchester 
County  was  able  to  boast  of  superior  accommodations. 
Public  travel  was  in  its  infancy  :  the  hardy  colonist 
bestrode  his  own  good  horse  and  started  on  a  distant 
journey  with  no  more  concern  than  we  board  a  rail- 
road train  nowadays.  After  the  Revolution,  however, 
there  was  a  marked  and  general  improvement.  A 
stage  line  was  begun,  in  1785,  between  New  York  and 
Albany.  In  1787  stage  communication  with  Boston 
was  had  three  times  a  week  in  summer  and  twice  a 
week  in  winter,  and  the  towns  in  Westchester 
County  had  a  stage  from  New  York  City  every  other 
day. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  the  mails  did  not 
carry  tons  of  printed  matter,  as  in  our  time.  The 
first  newspaper  printed  in  New  York  was  the  yew 
York  Gazette,  a  weekly,  established  by  William  Brad- 
ford, in  1725.  It  was  printed  on  a  half-sheet  of  fools- 
cap. The  type  was  large  and  much  worn.  The  first 
daily  paper.  The  New  York  Daily  Advertiser,  published 
by  F.  Child  &  Co.,  only  made  its  appearance  in  1785. 
Westchester  had  no  newspaper  until  after  the  Revo- 
lution, but  its  people  not  only  read  the  New  York 
journals,  but  also  advertised  in  them.  Here  are  some 
advertisements  inserted  by  the  people  of  Rye,  and 
preserved  in  Mr.  Baird's  history  of  that  town  : 

"Oct.  23,  1749.  W«>.  Bl  ETlS,  Hat-Maker,  Now  living  at  Harrison's 
Pnichiise,  in  Rye,  carries  on  the  Hatter's  Trade  there,  and  makes  and 
sells  as  good  Hats  a«  any  in  the  Province,  for  ready  Jloney,  or  short 
Credit.  Wm.  Bvbtis." 


472 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"July  3,  1775.  Stolen  out  of  the  pasture  from  the  subscriber  at 
K.ve  the  21st  June  1775,  a  sorrel  mare,  about  14  hands  high,  a  natural 
trotter,  marked  with  a  ball  face,  her  main  hanging  on  the  near  side, 
four  3'ear  old.  Any  person  that  will  apprehend  the  thief  and  mare,  so 
that  the  owner  can  have  his  mare  again,  shall  be  paid  the  sum  of  five 
pounds,  and  for  the  mare  only  three  pounds  paid  by  me. 

"  William  Lvox." 

"July  1,  1771.  Capt.  Abraham  Bush,  of  Kye,  in  the  province  of 
New  York,  on  a  voyage  from  the  eastward,  bound  home,  coming  out  of 
Milford  harbour,  in  Connecticut,  Sunday  morning  the  14th  day  of  last 
April,  about  three  hours  after  his  departure,  saw  (above  half  sound  over 
towards  Long  Island)  a  wreck  .  .  .  which  he  brought  into  Kye  har- 
bour. Any  pel-son  proving  his  property  in  said  scow  and  boom,  by 
applying  to  siiid  Bush,  in  Rye,  may  have  them  again,  paying  him  for 
his  trouble  and  the  charge  he  hath  been  put  to. 

"Al!R.\HAM  BlSH." 

As  may  be  supposed,  educational  facilities  were  not 
very  great  while  the  county  was  thinly  settled.  The 
mother  was  often  the  only  teacher,  and  the  Bible  the 
first  text-book.  In  the  city,  the  school-master  was 
always,  e.v  officio,  clerk,  chorister  and  visitor  of  the 
sick.  The  catechism  was  taught,  in  Dutch,  by  these 
hard-worked  pedagogues.  As  the  population  in- 
creased, very  good  schools  were  established.  West- 
chester County  had  several,  principally  under  the 
direction  of  some  of  the  Huguenot  immigrants,  who 


"  THE  FLYING  MACHINE." 


were  gentlemen  of  culture  and  not  accustomed  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  Books  were  few  in  the  early 
days,  and  there  was  little  to  develop  literary  taste, 
but  the  Dutch  were  not  illiterate.  There  must  have 
been  a  peculiar  meaning  in  the  singular  custom  ex- 
isting among  the  Dutch  families  of  that  period,  of 
the  father  giving  a  bundle  of  (joose  quills  to  his  son 
and  telling  him  to  give  one  to  each  of  his  male  pos- 
terity. Watson  saw  one  which  had  a  scroll  appended 
saying,  "This quill, given  by  Petrus  Byvanck  to  James 
Bogert,  in  1789,  was  a  present  in  1689  from  his  grand- 
father from  Holland."  As  early  as  1690  the  people 
of  Rye  made  an  effort  to  procure  a  schoolmaster,  and 
in  many  of  the  towns  the  proprietors  offered  the 
privileges  of  a  school  to  all  who  would  contribute 
toward  the  erection  of  a  school-house.  The  English 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts  included  the  tuition  of  youth  in  its  programme 
of  proselytism,  and  established  teachers  at  various 
points  in  the  county.  The  best  educational  advan- 
tages were  enjoyed  by  that  section  of  the  county 
formerly  a  part  of  Connecticut,  as  that  colony  ri- 
valed Massachusetts  in  its  care  for  the  instruction  of 
the  young.    In  New  York  no  provision  was  made 


for  a  general  system  of  education  before  the  Revolu- 
tion. Whatever  was  done  for  this  interest,  was  done 
by  individuals  or  religious  bodies. 

The  good  people  of  Westchester  were  not  more 
free  from  superstition  than  their  neighbors.  In 
1672  a  number  of  inhabitants  of  that  locality  com- 
plained to  the  Governor  and  Council  that  "  a  witch 
had  come  among  them  from  Hartford,  where  she  had 
been  before  imprisoned  and  condemned."'  The  woman 
was  removed.  A  similar  complaint  was  also  made 
in  1673 ;  "  but  the  Military  Governor,  Captain  Colve, 
a  son  of  the  ocean,  not  under  this  land  influence  per- 
haps, treated  it  as  idle  or  superstitious,  and  so  dis- 
missed the  suit."  A  man  and  his  wife,  similarly 
accused,  in  1665,  had  not  got  off  so  easily ;  they  were 
tried  and  found  guilty.  Belief  in  witchcraft  was 
nothing  uncommon,  in  those  days,  in  Europe  as  well 
as  in  the  colonies. 

The  husbandry  of  the  pioneers  brought  forth 
abundant  yields.  The  soil  was  adapted  to  the  culture 
of  wheat,  corn,  rye  and  other  cereals;  to  peaches, 
apples,  cherries  and  the  various  berries ;  and  to  a  most 
prolific  pasturage.  Every  farmer  kept  sheep,  and  had 
his  wool  spun  in  his  own  home.  The  weaving  was 
done  by  men,  who  kept  and  worked  small  hand-looms 
in  their  houses.  Blankets,  sheetings  and  coarse 
cloths  were  produced  in  very  considerable  quantities. 
Much  flax  was  raised,  and  was  also  spun  at  the  fire- 
sides of  the  people,  where  the  hum  of  the  large  and 
small  wheels  sounded  through  the  day  and  evening. 
The  linen  was  of  remarkable  excellence.  Table- 
cloths and  napkins,  woven  in  diamonds  and  squares, 
were  as  smooth  and  glossy  as  satin,  while  the  sheeting 
was  fine,  even-threaded  and  most  durable.  Every 
farm  had  a  wood-lot,  in  which  the  men-servants  exer- 
cised their  thews  in  preparing  the  immense  logs  for 
the  gaping  fire-places  that  daily  swallowed  fuel  by 
the  cord.  They  also  cut  chestnut  rails  for  the  zigzag 
fences  that  took  the  place  of  stone  walls  in  regions 
where  trees  were  more  numerous  than  boulders. 

Most  of  the  farm  labor  was  performed  by  negro  and 
Indian  slaves,  between  whom  and  their  masters  the 
kindliest  relations  existed,  as  a  rule.  These  bonds- 
men identified  themselves  with  the  families  in  which 
they  were  raised,  and  exhibited  a  pride  and  import- 
ance scarcely  excelled  by  their  masters.'    "  It  is  not 


'  The  Dutch  settlers  in  Westchester  County  obtained  their  first  .\fri-  I 
can  slaves  under  the  "Freedoms  and  Exemptions"  granted  by  the  n 
West  India  Company  in  1629,  which  promised  that  to  all  planters  of  col-  I 
onies  in  the  New  Netherlands  '*  the  Company  will  use  their  endeavors  I 
to  supply  the  Colonists  with  as  many  Blacks  as  they  Conveniently  Can ;  | 
in  such  manner,  however,  that  they  shall  not  be  bound  to  do  it  for  a  J 
longer  time  than  they  shall  think  proper.''    In  1G44  Nicholas  Toorn,  at  I 
Rensselaerwyck,  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  a  young  black  girl — to  be  ' 
returned  at  the  end  of  four  years,  "if  yet  alive,"  to  the  director-gen- 
ei-al  or  his  successor.    The  average  price  of  slaves  was  one  hundred  dol- 
lars in  our  money  each  for  men  and  two  hundred  dollars  for  women. 
The  treatment  of  them  was,  on  the  whole,  humane.    In  1644  an  ordi- 
nance was  passed  which  emancipated  those  who  had  served  the  company 
eighteen  or  nineteen  years  on  condition  of  a  yearly  small  payment  in 
wheat,  peas,  beans  and  hogs,  but  a  failure  to  comply  with  the  conditions 


:\IAXNKKS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


47  2a 


eas\-,"  Cooper  makes  Miles  Walliiigroid  say,  to  de- 
scribe the  affection  of  an  attached  slave,  which  has 
blended  with  it  the  pride  of  a  jjartisan,  the  solicitude 
of  a  parent  and  the  blindness  of  a  lover."  A  com- 
mon custom  amonp;  the  Dutch  was  to  assign  to  each 
child  in  the  household,  when  it  had  reached  six  or 
eight  years,  a  slave  of  the  same  age  and  sex,  who 
clung  to  the  little  msister  or  mistress  with  an  affection 
that  was  fully  returned  and,  in  many  instances,  lasted 
through  life. 

There  is  a  fact  connected  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  the  colony  of  New  York  which  is  too 
honorable  for  our  forefathers  to  be  omitted  here,  for 
in  no  section  was  it  more  true  than  in  Westchester. 
The  slaves  lived  under  the  same  roof  and  partook  of 
the  same  food  as  their  nuistcrs ;  they  were  allowed 
much  familiarity  and  indulged  in  great  freedom  of 


I  had  them,"  says  he,  "were  very  free  and  I'auiiliar ; 
sometimes  sauntering  among  the  whites  at  meal-time, 
with  hat  on  head,  and  freely  joining  occasionally  in 
conversation,  as  if  they  were  one  and  all  of  the  same 
lK)Uschold." '  "Yet,"  says  Watson,  "no  case  had 
ever  occurred  of  'amalgamation,'  and  no  instance  of 

j  mixed  colour  had  been  seen  until  produced  by  some 
in  the  British  army  coming  among  them.    The  first 

{  instance  of  the  kind  j)roduced  emotions  of  surprise 

j  and  dislike." 

One  of  the  Old  World  customs  brought  over  by  the 
early  settlers  was  the  investiture  "by  turtf  and  twigg," 

I  a  relic  of  feudal  times.    It  consisted  in  the  delivery 

I  of  a  turf,  a  stone,  a  branch  or  some  other  object  as  a 
.symbol  of  the  transfer  of  the  soil.  Anciently  this  had 
been  practiced  by  the  feudal  lord  in  conl'erring  a  fief 
upon  his  vassal.    It  was  observed  on  Mauursing 


PK I .M ITI V E  ( H EE.se- PR ES.S. 


speech.  Captain  Graydon,  who  was  quartered  at 
Flatbusli  while  a  prisoner  in  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence, testifies  to  this  :  "  Their  blacks,  when  they 

inrolTeil  a  return  of  the  lar;garil  to  slavery.  In  KiKi  the  General  Assem- 
bly proviiled  penalties  fur  selling  any  coniniodity  to  any  slave  and 
for  any  person  buying  from  tlieni  or  giving  them  credit.  The  same  en- 
actment includoil  a  rigid  fugitive  slave  law  and  conuuanded  all  consta- 
bles and  inferior  oHicers '•  to  prejw  men.  horses,  boats  or  pinnaces  to 
pnmie"  runaway  slaves  "by  sea  or  land,  and  to  make  diligent  hue  and 
cry,  as  by  the  law  rcijuired."  Later  statutes  pennitted  masters  to  puu'sh 
al>Te6  with  any  chastisement  nut  extending  to  life  or  member ;  for- 
blde  the  assemblage  of  more  than  three  slaves  ;  ordered  that  the  chil- 
dren of  slave  women  shall  be  slaves:  that  each  town  or  manor  may  have 
k  whipper  of  slaves  ;  that  any  slave  presuming  to  strike  any  Christian 
or  Jew  shall  be  committed  to  prison  and  suffer  corporal  punishment ;  for- 
bide  the  harboring  of  slaves;  provided  that  every  nui-ster  or  the 
•X«cat«<r  of  a  will  freeing  a  slave  must  give  two  hundred  iwunds 
Mcurity  that  such  slave  shall  not  become  a  public  charge,  and  that 
the  owners  of  slaves  executoil  for  murder,  arson  or  other  terrible  crime.s 
•hall  be  paiil  for  them.  The  trafTic  in  flaves  l)egiin  to  ilecline  in  1718, 
■lldinlT2-t  there  were  but  six  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-one 
in  the  province.    In  1755  there  were  but  seventy-three  held  in  West- 

43 


Island  in  ItiiiS,  and  at  Budd's  Neck,  with  all  due 
formality,  as  late  as  1768.  In  a  dispute  between 
Samuel  Odell  and  the  heirs  of  Jonathan  Vowles  about 
the  southernmost  part  of  that  island,  John  Frost  tes- 
tified that  in  1()93  he  went,  by  request  of  Vowles,  to  the 
said  island, "  where  he  did  see  Jonathan  Vowles  .  .  . 
cut  a  turff  upon  the  same,  as  also  cut  a  stick  or  twigg 
thereon  ;  and  the  said  Jonathan  Vowles  did  then  and 
there  deliver  the  said  turfe  and  twigg  to  the  said 
Samuel  Odel,  who  tiesiretl  this  deponent  to  take 
notice  that  Jonathan  Vowles  did  putt  him  in  full  and 
peaceable  possession." 
The  life  of  the  early  settlers  was  marked  by  sim- 


rhester  County.  Slavery  ceased  forever  in  the  State  of  New  York  under 
the  law  of  1S17,  which  enacted  that  every  "  negro,  nuilatto  or  mustee 
within  this  .State,  born  before  the  4th  day  of  July,  17!)!l,  shall,  from  and 
after  the  4th  day  of  .Inly,  18-.i7,  be  free." 

'  1733 — Mr.  Silas  Wood  gives  the  population  of  the  province  this 
year  to  be  'iO,291,  of  which  7231  were  slaves. — Walson. 


4726 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


plicity  and  naturalness  in  their  social  relations. 
Their  ont-door  amusements  were  of  the  kind  that  pro- 
moted vigorous  bodies.  The  Dutch  skated  on  the 
frozen  streams  in  winter,  as  they  had  done  in  Hol- 
land, while  the  English  were  mightily  given  to  riding 
and  hunting.  As  in  all  new  countries,  women  were 
in  the  minority ;  the  demand  exceeded  the  supply, 
and  she  was  usually  an  incorrigible  old  maid  who 
passed  her  twentieth  year  without  finding  a  husband. 
The  marriage  festival  was  an  event  to  which  friends 
and  neighbors  from  all  the  country  round  were  bid- 
den ;  much  ale  and  liquor  was  drunk,  and  the  dancing 
was  kept  up  the  night  through.  There  does  not,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  been  the  strictest  morality  observed 
concerning  the  relation  of  men  and  women,  for  on 
January  5,  1658,  the  Council  of  the  New  Netherlands 
issued  a  very  stringent  order  against  those  who  had 
had  their  banns  published  and  then  had  not  had  the 
ceremony  performed.  It  was  ordained  that  "  all  per- 
sons whose  banns  have  been  published,  after  the  third 
proclamation  shall  have  been  made  and  no  lawful  im- 
pediment occurring,  shall  cause  their  marriage  to  be 
solemnized  at  the  longest  within  one  month  after  the 
last  proclamation,  or,  within  the  said  term,  to  appear 
and  render  in  his  reasons  for  his  refusal,  as  it  behooves 
him ;  and  this  under  the  penalty  of  ten  guilders  for 
the  first  week  after  the  expiration  of  said  month,  and 
for  the  succeeding  weeks  twenty  guilders  for  each 
week,  until  the  time  he  shall  have  made  known  the 
reason  of  his  refusal. 

"  Furthermore,  no  male  and  female  shall  be  permitted 
to  cohabit  before  they  shall  have  been  lawfully  mar- 
ried, in  the  penalty  of  one  hundred  guilders,  or  as 
much  less  or  more  as  their  circumstances  shall  be 
found  to  warrant.'  ' 

The  English  colonists  took  a  patriotic  pride  in 
celebrating  what  was  called  "  A  Merry  English  Wed- 
ding." No  matter  how  poor  the  new-made  husband, 
he  must  find  money  for  the  Gargantuan  spreads 
which  the  guests  expected.  The  minister  finished  the 
ceremony  by  kissing  the  bride;  then  all  the  gentle- 
men followed  his  example,  while  it  was  the  bride- 
groom's privilege  to  kiss  each  of  the  ladies.  A  bride 
might  receive  the  salutations  of  a  hundred  men  in 
the  course  of  the  day;  and  as  if  this  were  not  enough, 
the  men  called  on  the  bride  afterward,  and  this  call 
was  colloquially  known  as  "  going  to  kiss  the  bride." 
A  practice  among  the  ruder  frontier  people  was  to 
carry  off  the  bride  and  hold  her  prisoner  until  she  was 
ransomed  by  the  groom  providing  entertainment  for 
the  captors. 

The  ancient  custom  of  erecting  May-poles  and 
dancing  around  them  prevailed  until  a  late  day. 


■  This  and  succeeding  extracts  from  the  colonial  laws  of  New  Amster- 
dam and  New  York  are  from  the  "  Historical  Magazine."  published  by 
Henry  B.  Dawson,  at  Morrisania.  Mr.  Dawson  enjoyed  fnll  authority 
from  the  New  York  City  authorities  to  examine  the  records.  Transla- 
tions of  the  Dutch  documents  were  carefully  made  under  his  supervision 
from  the  originals  and  compared  with  the  Westbrook  translations. 


Sometimes,  when  a  bridegroom  had  given  offense  by 
evincing  stinginess,  not  inviting  his  friends  to  his 
wedding-feast,  or  in  the  case  of  an  ill-matched  couple, 
a  May-pole  adorned  with  ragged  stockings  in  lieu  of 
flowers  was  placed  before  his  door.  New  Year's  day 
was  celebrated  among  the  New  York  Dutch  by  the 
calls  of  gentlemen  upon  their  female  friends,  who  set 
out  tables  with  great  stock  of  eatables  and  potables. 
This  day  and  the  church  festivals,  kept  alike  by  the 
Dutch  and  English,  brought  an  intermission  of  labor 
to  the  New  York  slaves,  who  gathered  in  throngs  to 
devote  themselves  to  wild  frolics.  Debauchery  pres- 
ently usurped  the  place  of  innocent  enjoyment  and 
these  assemblages  were  converted  into  orgies.  Con- 
sequently, on  December  1,  1655,  the  Council  pro- 
claimed "  that  from  this  time  forth,  on  the  New  Year 
and  May-days,  there  shall  be  no  firing  or  May-poles 
planted  ;  nor  shall  there  be  any  beating  of  the  drum  ; 
nor  shall  there  be  on  the  occasion  any  wines,  brandy- 
wines  or  beer  dealt  out"  under  a  fine  of  twelve  guilders 
for  the  first  ofl^ense,  twenty-four  for  the  second  and 
corporal  correction  for  the  third. 

The  colonial  funeral  deserved  to  rank  as  a  festive 
occasion — a  time  of  much  eating  and  drinking. 
Whole  pipes  of  Madeira,  with  several  hogsheads  of 
beer,  were  drunk  at  single  funerals  in  New  York,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  food  eaten  and  the  tobacco  smoked 
by  friends  who  made  a  day — and  sometimes  a  night — 
of  it  in  honor  of  the  departed.  Legislative  inter- 
ference was  more  than  once  invoked  to  prevent  the 
friends  of  the  deceased  from  eating  and  drinking  his 
widow  and  children  out  of  house  and  home,  and  sensi- 
tive men  were  known  on  their  death-beds  to  forbid 
the  distribution  of  liquors  at  their  obsequies.  The 
precaution  was  well-timed,  for  funerals  sometimes 
became  the  occasions  of  drunkenness  and  riot.  There 
was  an  early  custom  of  firing  volleys  over  the  graves 
of  persons  of  rank  and  distinction,  even  though  the 
one  interred  might  be  a  woman. 

There  were  many  other  sources  of  expense.  The 
"  underbearers  "  who  carried  the  cofiin,  walking  with 
their  heads  and  shoulders  covered  Avith  the  pall- 
cloth,  wore  plain  gloves;  but  the  pall-bearers,  the 
minister  and  many  of  the  friends  were  presented  with 
costly  gloves  of  silk  or  leather.  So  many  gloves  were 
received  by  persons  of  wide  social  connections  that  a 
considerable  revenue  was  derived  from  the  sale  of 
them.  If  the  means  of  the  family  permitted,  fine  linen 
scarfs,  caught  on  one  shoulder,  with  a  bow  of  white  or 
black  ribbon  and  fastened  under  the  opposite  arm  with 
ribbon,  were  furnished  to  the  clergy,  physicians  and 
pall-bearers.  Mourning  rings  were  large  and  elabor- 
ate. "The  most  common  figure  upon  them,"  says 
Mrs.  Van  Cortlandt,  "  was  a  willow  tree  and  urn  done 
in  hair.  I  have  seen  long  pins  of  the  same  kind  worn 
like  the  present  scarf-pins,  and  heavy  rings  of  white 
enamel,  with  the  name  of  the  person  in  whose  memory 
they  were  given  inserted  in  gold  letters."'  The  ex- 
penseof  making  such  presents  can  readily  be  imagined. 


472c 


If  the  distance  to  the  burying-ground  was  short, 
the  deceased  was  carried  on  a  bier.  The  slaves  fol- 
lowed, with  spotless  napkins  pinned  over  the  left 
arm  a  little  above  the  elbow. 

This  ostentation  prevailed  until  the  Revolutionary 
War  compelled  economy  to  be  observed.  A  specimen 
account  is  that  rendered,  in  1760,  by  William  Cook 
to  the  estate  of  Mrs.  James  Alexander,  widow  of  the 
prominent  lawyer  and  mother  of  Lord  Stirling.  It 


read  thus : 

£  s.  d. 

'•  To  ye  rectors   0  l:!  0 

To  opening  ye  (Trinity)  vault   0  9  0 

To  5  belle  tooling,  18».  each   4  10  0 

To  ye  pall   0  IS  0 

To  ye  clearks  fees .'   0  5  tl 

To  H  invitations,  at  18s.  each   2  14  (I 

To  cleaning  ye  church   0  12  0 

To  6  Porters,  at  (w   1  lU  " 


11      IT  G 

To  a  coffin  covereil  with  clutli  and  lined  within. 

Finding  for  ditto,  double  gilt  furniture,  full  trimmed 
with  all  belonging,  except  cloth,  lining  and  Rib- 
bon  10       tl  0 

To  making  up  a  state  room,  finding  stuft  i  tacks  .  .  .   (I     14  0 

10     14       0 " 

And  this  does  not  include  the  funeral  baked  meats, 
the  gloves,  mouruing  rings  and  other  items  of  ex- 
pense. 

The  Dutch  were  thorough  church-goers,  and  on 
Sundays  never  failed  to  attend  "  Kerck,"  to  listen  to 
the  much-respected  dominie.  The  duration  of  the 
sermon  was  limited  to  one  hour,  and,  in  order  that 
the  preacher  should  not  exceed  it,  an  hour-glass  was 
placed  upon  the  clerk's  desk,  and  he  was  thus  made 
the  time-keeper.  Another  church  custom  was  that 
the  collection  wii.s  taken  in  a  bag,  which  the  deacon 
carried  fixed  to  a  long  black  pole,  at  the  end  of  which 
was  fa.stened  a  bell  to  arouse  the  sleepers.  It  was 
also  the  custom  for  the  sexton  to  notify  the  people  of 
the  hour  of  service  by  rapping  at  their  doors  with  his 
ivory-headed  cane  and  calling  out :  "  Church-time !" 
for  which  he  was  paid  by  each  family  two  shillings 
per  annum.  He  also  carried  to  the  clerk  all  written 
requests  for  the  prayers  of  the  congregation.  "  The 
clerk  had  a  long  rod,  slit  at  the  end,  into  which  he 
inserted  the  note,  and  handed  it  up  to  the  minister, 
who  occupied  a  very  high  pulpit  in  the  shape  of  a 
half  globe,  raised  on  the  top  of  a  demi-column  and 
canopied  with  a  sounding-board.  The  minister  wore 
a  black  silk  mantle,  a  cocked  hat  and  a  neck-baud, 
with  linen  cambric  'beft'y'  on  his  breast,  for  cravats 
were  then  uncanonical."  ^ 

The  Sabbath,  therefore,  was  generally  respected; 
but  that  there  were  many  unruly  spirits  who  pro- 
faned it  is  evident  from  the  ordinance  of  October  26, 
1656,  which  forbade  all  the  usual  pursuits  of  trade 
and  labor, — "  much  less  any  idle  or  unallowed  sports, 
such  as  drinking  to  excess,  frequenting  inns  or  tap- 

'  "  Ohien  Time  in  Sew  York,  by  those  who  knew.'"  Published  anony- 
mously in  1833. 


houses,  dancing,  card-playing,  tick-tacking,  playing 
at  ball,  playing  at  bowls,  playing  at  nine-pins,  taking 
jaunts  in  boats,  wagons  or  carriages,  before,  between 
or  during  divine  service;  and,  particularly,  no  inn- 
keeper nor  tapster  shall  be  allowed,  before,  between 
nor  during  divine  service,  to  follow  his  customary 
business  nor  undertake  to  tap,  hand  out,  give  or  sell 
any  brandywines,  beers  or  ardent  spirits,  directly  or 
indirectly."  Very  heavy  fines  were  provided  for 
infringement  of  this  enactment,  and  when  the  British 
came  into  possession,  they  legislated  in  the  same 
direction. 

The  connection  between  the  state  and  the  church 
was  very  close  in  the  New  Netherlands,  and  the 
Council  was  intolerant  toward  dissenters.  The  ordi- 
nance of  February  1,  1656,  is  an  example.  It  abso- 
lutely prohibited  "  all  public  or  private  conventicles 
or  assemblies  as  are  without  the  wonted  (and  only 
allowed  by  God's  word)  Reformed  and  appointed  as- 
sembly of  the  Reformed  Religion,  in  conformity  with 
the  synod  of  Dort,  here,  in  this  land,  in  our  Father- 
land and  in  other  Reformed  Churches  observed  and 
followed,  under  the  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds 
Flemish,  to  be  incurred  by  all  those  persons  who  in 
such  public  or  private  assemblies,  without  the  wonted 
and  authorized  assembly,  whether  on  the  Sunday  or 

'  any  other  day,  being  unauthorized,  shall  presume  to 
exercise  the  profession  of  Preaching,  Prelection  or 
singing  ;  and  twenty-five  pounds,  alike  Flemish,  to  be 
incurred  over  and  above  by  every  male  and  female, 
married  and  single,  who  may  be  found  in  such  as- 
sembly." It  is  curious  that  while  the  Dutch  authori- 
ties thus  interdicted  all  religions  but  their  own,  they 
protested  in  this  ordinance  that  they  intended  no 
"  prejudice  to  any  patent  heretofore  given  by  them, 
or  any  lording  over  the  conscience,  or  prohibiting  the 
reading  of  God's  holy  word,  or  the  domestic  praying 
and  reading  of  each  one  in  his  family;  but  all  public 
and  private  conventicles  and  assemblies,  whether  in 
public  or  private  houses,  without  the  aforesaid  wonted 
and  established  Reformed  Divine  worship." 

When  the  English  regime  began,  it  evinced  more 
liberality  to  every  sect  except  the  Roman  Catholics. 
The  articles  of  capitulation  expressly  provided  that 
"the  Dutch  here  shall  enjoy  the  liberty  of  their  con- 
sciences in  divine  worship  and  church  discipline." 
Noue  but  Protestant  ministers  were  allowed  to  oftici- 
ate  within  the  government,  but  difference  of  judg- 
ment was  allowed  to  all  who  professed  Christianity. 
The  English  made  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry 
and  poor  a  chief  care  of  their  admininistration,  and 
their  laws  and  edicts  relating  thereto  are  multifari- 
ous. They  appointed  overseers  for  each  parish  to 
levy  assessments  for  the  building  of  churches,  the 
payment  of  the  clergy  and  the  maintenance  of  pau- 
pers, and  while  they  tolerated  other  forms  of  faith, 
they  compelled  every  person  to  pay  the  rates  of  the 

I  church  "  whereof  lie  doth  or  may  receive  benefit." 

I  Governor  NicoUs  expressed  the  exact  obligation  in 


472d 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  order  that  "  every  township  is  obliged  to  pay  their 
minister  according  to  such  agreement  as  they  shall 
make  with  him,  and  no  man  to  refuse  his  proportion, 
the  minister  being  elected  by  the  major  part  of  the 
householders  inhabitants  of  the  town."  It  was  the 
original  scheme  of  the  English  that  in  each  parish  a 
church  "should  be  built  in  the  most  convenient  part 
thereof,  capable  to  receive  and  accommodate  two 
hundred  persons,"  but  this  was  found  impracticable, 
for  in  1655  it  was  provided  that  such  churches  should 
be  built  within  three  years  afterward,  and  to  that  end 
a  town  rate  or  tax  was  authorized  to  begin  that  year. 
In  default  of  payment  of  the  church  rates  by  towns 
or  individuals,  a  summary  process  was  authorize<l  for 
the  collection  of  the  assessments  and  subscriptions. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
Church  of  England  immediately  became  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  New  York.  The  controversy  be- 
tween Governor  Sloughter  and  the  Assembly,  in  1693, 
points  the  religious  history  of  the  time.  All  the 
members  of  the  Assembly  but  one  were  Dissenters, 
and  in  considering  a  bill  for  settling  a  ministry  they 
obstinately  refused  to  incorporate  an  amendment  sub- 
mitted by  the  Governor,  providing  that  the  bill  should 
be  presented  to  him,  "  to  be  apj)roved  and  collated." 
His  object  was  to  construct  it  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  as  the  Assemblymen  could 
not  be  coerced  or  persuaded,  he  prorogued  the  session 
and  scolded  them  vigorously  in  an  address  wherein  he 
notified  them  that  he  "  would  take  care  that  neither 
heresy,  schism  nor  rebellion  be  i)reached  amongst 
you." 

This  enactment  of  September  2i,  1693,  required 
the  establishment  of  a  "a  good,  sufficient  Protestant 
minister,  to  officiate  and  have  the  care  of  souls  within 
one  year  next"  in  specified  districts.  Two  were 
ordered  for  Westchester  County — "  one  to  have  the 
care  of  Westchester,  East  Chester,  Yonkcrs  and  the 
Manor  of  Pelham  ;  the  other  to  have  the  care  of  Rye, 
Mamaroneck  and  Bedford."  Each  was  to  be  paid 
fifty  ])Ounds  per  annum  by  a  levy  laid  upon  the  peo- 
ple, which  they  might  pay  "in  country  jiroduce  at 
money  price."  Iron-clad  enactments  protected  the 
pastor  against  the  possibility  of  non-payment  of 
salary.  The  justices  of  the  county  were  required  to 
issue  warrants  to  the  constables  to  summon  the  free- 
holders on  the  second  Tuesday  of  January,  to  choose 
ten  vestrymen  and  two  church  wardens;  the  justices 
and  the  vestrynien  laid  the  tax,  and  if  it  was  not  paid, 
the  constables  had  the  power  to  distrain  for  it.  At 
each  stage  of  the  proceedings  fines  were  provided  for 
persons  or  officials  who  failed  to  discharge  their 
duties.' 


iTbe  language  of  Hie  act  refers  only  to  a  "Protestant  Ministcr.'i 
.'There  can  be  no  doubt,"  stiys  Mr.  Dawson,  in  the  "Historical  Maga- 
zine," "that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Assembly  to  iiroviJe  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Dissenting  clergy.  Tlie  act  was  very  loosely  worded, 
which,  as  things  stood  when  it  was  made,  conld  not  be  avoided.  The 
Dissenters  could  claim  the  benefit  of  itas  well  as  Churchmeu,  and  unless 


The  Puritans  were  keenly  affected  by  this  is.sue. 
Francis  Doughty,  who  had  been  expelled  by  the  Con- 
gregationalists  from  Taunton,  Mass.,  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  Puritan  or  Presbyterian  minister  in 
New  York.  He  officiated  from  1643  to  1648,  and  was 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions  from  the  Puri- 
tans and  Dutch  of  the  city.  Puritans  were  certainly 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Westchester.  In  volume 
iii.  page  557,  of  the  Documentary  History  of  New 
York,  there  is  an  interesting  description  of  a  Puritan 
service  at  Westchester  in  165(5,  conducted  by  two  lay- 
men, Robert  Bassett  and  a  Mr.  Bayley,  who  were  prob- 
ably ruling  elders,  one  reading  a  sermon  and  the  other 
leading  in  prayer.  When  the  colony  was  surrendered 
to  the  Duke  of  York,  in  September,  1044,  there  were 
within  its  bounds  six  Puritan  ministers  settled  with 
their  flocks.  There  were  Puritan  bands  at  Rye  and 
Westchester  without  pastors.  ^ 

Governor  Andros  did  not  trouble  the  Puritan 
churches,  which  lost  some  of  their  veteran  pastors, 
but  continued  to  increase  in  numbers.  Nathaniel 
Brewster  settled  at  Brookhaven  and  supplied  East 
Chester  in  1665.  In  1674  Eliphalet  Jones  supplied 
Rye  and  Ezekiel  Fogg  supplied  East  Chester.  In 
1()75  Peter  Prudden  preached  at  Rye,  and  Thomas 
Denham  settled  there  in  1677.  Thus  within  twelve 
years  there  were  five  Presbyterian  clergymen  exercis- 
ing their  functions  in  Westchester  County.  They  and 
their  flocks  shared  in  the  struggle  which  all  Dissenters 
liadtomake  with  GovernorSloughter's  efforts  to  estab- 
lish the  Church  of  England  as  the  State  Church,  but 
still  Presbyterianism  flourished.  In  Westchester 
County  Rev.  John  Woodbridge  located  at  Rye  and 
Rev.  Warham  Mather  at  Westchester  in  1684. 

These  two  clergymen  were  among  the  most  import- 
ant personages  in  the  lively  episode  which  followed  the 
conversion  of  Rev.  William  Vesey,  a  Puritan  pastor  in 
New  York,  to  the  Church  of  England  His  change 
of  faith  is  said  to  have  been  procured  by  Colonel 
Heathcote,  who,  upon  his  settlement  at  Scarsdale, 
Westchester  County,  in  1692,  showed  himself  a  still 
zealous  proselyter  for  the  Church  of  England.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, dated  April  10,  1704,  he  relates  a  contention  that 
was  of  great  moment  at  the  time  : 

The  people  of  Westchester,  East  Chester  and  a 
place  called  Lower  Yonkers  agreed  Avith  one  War- 
ren Mather,  and  the  people  of  Rye  with  one  Mr. 
Woodbridge,  both  of  New  England,  there  being  at 


wrested  from  its  true  bearing,  it  admitted  a  construction  in  their  favor. 
In  fact,  it  was  arbitrarily  and  illegally  wrested  from  its  true  hear- 
ing anil  made  to  answer  the  purpose  of  the  Knglish  rimrcli  i>arty, 
whicli  was  a  very  small  minority  of  the  people  affected  by  the  operation 
of  the  law.  The  act  itself  is  a  conclusive  argument  against  the  alleged 
establishment  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  province  of  New  York. 
It  was  not  established  of  any  law  of  the  province,  nor  by  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal law  of  lOngland  extending  over  the  province,  wliich  was  thus  ex- 
cluded or  modified  by  express  law  made  by  competent  authority. 

2  "  I'urifanism  in  New  York,"  hy  Kev.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.D.  Mug- 
azine  of  Americtni  History^  January,  1 883. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


me 


that  time  scarce  six  in  the  whole  county  who  so  luucli 
as  inclined  to  the  church.  After  Mather  luid  been 
witli  them  some  time,  Westclicster  parish  made 
choice  of  me  for  one  of  their  church  wardens  in  hopes 
of  using  my  influence  with  Colonel  (Governor)  Fletch- 
er to  have  Mather  inducted  to  the  living.  I  told 
them  it  was  altogether  impossible  for  me  to  comply 
with  their  desires,  it  being  wholly  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England  to  compel  the  subject  to  pay  for  the 
maintenance  of  any  minister  who  was  not  of  the  Na- 
tional Church,  and  that  it  lay  not  in  any  Governor's 
power  to  help  them,  but  since  they  were  so  zealous  for 
having  religion  and  good  order  settled  amongst  'em,  I 
would  propose  a  medium  in  that  matter,  which  was 
that  there  being  at  Boston  a  French  Protestant 
Minister,  Mr.  Bondett,  a  very  good  man,  who  was 
in  orders  from  my  Lord  (Archbishop)  of  London,  and 
the  people  of  New  Rochelle  being  destitute  of  a  min- 
ister, we  would  call  Mr.  Bondett  to  the  living,  and  the 
parish  being  large  enough  to  maintain  two,  we  would 
likewise  continue  Mr.  Mather  and  support  him  by 
subscription.  The  vestry  seemed  to  be  extreamly  well 
pleased  with  this  proposal  and  desired  me  to  send  for 
Mr.  Bondett,  which  I  immediately  did,  hoping  by  that 
means  to  bring  them  over  to  the  church  ;  but  Mather, 
apprehending  what  I  aimed  at,  persuaded  the  vestry 
to  alter  their  resolutions,  and  when  he  came  they 
refused  to  call  him,  so  that  jjrojection  failing  me,  and 
finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  progress 
toward  settling  the  church  so  long  as  Mather  contin- 
ued among  us,  I  made  it  my  business  in  the  next 
place  to  devise  ways  to  gett  him  out  of  the  country, 
which  I  was  not  long  in  contriving,  which  being 
effected  and  having  gained  some  few  proselytes  in 
every  town,  and  those  who  were  of  the  best  esteem 
amongst  'em,  who  having  none  to  oppose  them,  and 
being  assisted  by  Mr.  Vesey  and  Mr.  Bondett,  who 
very  often  preached  in  several  parts  of  the  country, 
baptizing  the  children,  by  easy  methods  the  people 
were  soon  wrought  into  a  good  opinion  of  the  church 
and  indeed  beyond  my  expectations." 

It  is  not  explained  by  what  means  Heathcote  drove 
the  Puritan  clergymen  out  of  the  country,  but  it  is 
not  doubtful  that  he  turned  many  of  the  Presbyterians 
over  to  the  Anglican  faith  and  prepared  the  way  for 
the  work  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  an  organization  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which  sent  John  Bartow  out  as  a  mission- 
ary. He  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Puritan 
Churches  of  East  Chester,  Westchester  and  Jamaica 
by  Governor  Cornbury,  and  the  Puritan  ministers, 
Joseph  Morgan,  of  Westchester,  and  John  Hubbard, 
of  Jamaica,  were  forced  to  retire  from  their  church 
buildings  and  parsonages.'   The  latter  made  a  fight, 


1  "  I.onI  Cornbury,  equally  zealous  with  his  predecessor,  Fletcliep 
for  the  spri-ad  of  the  Church  of  Kngland,  aiwunied  the  right  that 
Fletcher  had  claimed  to  induct  ministers  into  parishes,  aud,  undercolor 
of  a  law  that  had  no  existeui  u,  put  the  missionaries  of  the  .Society  in 


but  Cornbury  ousted  him  in  favor  of  Bartow,  who 
then  attacked  Morgan,  with  the  result  narrated  in  his 
own  letter  of  December  1, 1707,  to  the  secretary  of  the 
Society : 

"  Not  long  after  this  my  Lord  (Cornbury)  requested 
me  to  go  and  preach  at  East  Chester;  accordingly  I 
went  (tho'  some  there  had  given  out  threatening 
words  should  I  dare  to  come),  but  tho'  I  was  there 
very  early  and  the  people  had  notice  of  my  coming, 
their  Presbyterian  minister,  Mr.  Morgan,  had  begun 
service  in  the  meeting-house,  to  which  I  went 
straitway  and  continued  the  whole  time  of  service 
without  interruption,  and  in  the  afternoon  I  was  per- 
mitted to  perform  the  Church  of  England  services, 
Mr.  Morgan  being  present,  and  neither  he  or  the 
people  seemed  to  be  dissatisfied,  and  after  some  time 
of  preaching  there  afterwards  they  desired  me  to 
come  oftener,  and  I  concluded  to  minister  there  once 
a  month,  which  now  I  have  done  for  about  three 
years,  and  Mr.  Morgan  is  retired  into  New  England."  - 

Puritanism  lost  somewhat  of  its  hold  upon  the 
people  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  of  Cornbury ; 
but  with  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Hanover  to 
the  English  throne,  in  1714,  persecution  of  the  Puri- 
tans in  America  ceased.  On  November  22,  1718, 
Rev.  Wm.  Tennent  settled  at  East  Chester  and  began 
to  rebuild  Puritanism  in  the  county.  He  removed  to 
Bedford  May  1,  172(1,  and  remained  until  August, 
1726,preachingin  all  the  townships,  WhenMethodism 
divided  the  churches  of  the  colony  into  antagonistic 
forces  he  became  one  of  its  leaders.  An  impetuous 
revival  of  faith  occurred,  which  was  guided  by  Thomas 
Smith  at  Rye  and  Samuel  Sackett  at  Bedford.  Ten- 
nent and  his  adherents  were  excluded  from  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  in  1741,  in  the  absence  of  the  entire 
Presbytery  of  New  York.  The  excluded  Methodists 
rallied  around  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  in  1745  it  combined  with  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York  in  erecting  the  Synod  of  New  York,  all 
of  whose  churches  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Meth- 
odists. In  1 7r)2  the  Rye  Church  united  with  the  Synod 
and  thus  all  the  original  Puritan  Churches  of  New 
York,  organized  in  the  seventeenth  century,  were 
combined  in  one  compact  Synodical  organization.  On 


possession  of  churches,  glches  and  parsonages.  This  was  done,  or  at- 
tempted, at  Westchester  and  East  Chester,  Kye  and  Bedford.  In  Rye 
only,  of  all  these  towns,  no  church  had  been  ljuilt ;  hut  a  tax  was 
levied  ujwu  the  inhabitants  for  its  erection,  and  meanwhile  the  house 
and  lands  which  had  been  i)rovided  for  a  minister  and  held  by  a  suc- 
cession of  pastors,  were  taken  for  the  missionary.  '  ("The  Presliy- 
terians  in  the  Province  of  New  York,"  Kev.  Charles  W.  Baird,  M,ig. 
Amer.  JIM.,  1879,  Vol.  III.,  Part  II.) 

2  "Colonel  Heathcote  represents  that  Morgan  «us  ready  to  conform. 
But  in  this  case  he  wits  hasty  in  judgment.  Morgan  was  of  tougher 
fibre  than  Vesey.  He  resisted  all  the  influence  brought  to  bear  upon 
him  and  remained  faithful.  He  labored  for  many  years  as  a  Presby- 
terian mini.ster  and  died  in  New  Jersey  in  connection  with  the  ."Synod  of 
Philadelphia.  Rye  was  taken  possession  of  Iiy  Thomas  Pritcliard  and 
afterwards  by  Mr.  Muirson.  and  John  Jones,  pastor  of  Bedford,  was 
forced  to  retire  lo  Connecticut  after  arrest  and  reprimand  before  the 
Council." — JlrU/tjs'  "  Puritanimi  iti  Xew  York." 


4:12d 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  order  that  "  every  township  is  obliged  to  pay  their 
minister  according  to  such  agreement  as  they  shall 
make  with  him,  and  no  man  to  refuse  his  proportion, 
the  minister  being  elected  by  the  major  part  of  the 
householders  inhabitants  of  the  town."  It  was  the 
original  scheme  of  the  English  that  in  each  parish  a 
church  "should  be  built  in  the  most  convenient  part 
thereof,  capable  to  receive  and  accommodate  two 
hundred  persons,"  but  this  was  found  impracticable, 
for  in  1655  it  was  provided  that  such  churches  should 
be  built  within  three  years  afterward,  and  to  that  end 
a  town  rate  or  tax  was  authorized  to  begin  that  year. 
In  default  of  payment  of  the  church  rates  by  towns 
or  individuals,  a  summary  process  was  authorized  for 
the  collection  of  the  assessments  and  subscriptions. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
Church  of  England  immediately  became  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  New  York.  The  controversy  be- 
tween Governor  Sloughter  and  the  Assembly,  in  1693, 
points  the  religious  history  of  the  time.  All  the 
members  of  the  Assembly  but  one  were  Dissenters, 
and  in  considering  a  bill  for  settling  a  ministry  they 
obstinately  refused  to  incori>orate  an  amendment  sub- 
mitted by  the  Governor,  providing  that  the  bill  should 
be  presented  to  him,  "  to  be  apjtrovod  and  collated." 
His  object  was  to  construct  it  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  as  the  Assemblymen  could 
not  be  coerced  or  persuaded,  he  prorogued  the  session 
and  scolded  them  vigorously  in  an  address  wherein  he 
notified  them  that  he  "would  take  care  that  neither 
heresy,  schism  nor  rebellion  be  preached  amongst 
you." 

This  enactment  of  September  22,  1693,  required 
the  establishment  of  a  "  a  good,  sufficient  Protestant 
minister,  to  olKciate  and  have  the  care  of  souls  within 
one  year  next "  in  specified  districts.  Two  were 
ordered  for  Westchester  County — "  one  to  have  the 
care  of  Westchester,  East  Chester,  Yonkers  and  the 
Manor  of  Pelham  ;  the  other  to  have  the  care  of  Rye, 
Mamaroneck  and  Bedford."  Each  was  to  be  paid 
fifty  pounds  per  annum  by  a  levy  laid  upon  the  peo- 
ple, which  they  might  pay  "  in  country  jiroducc  at 
money  price."  Iron-clad  enactments  jjrotected  the 
pastor  against  the  possibility  of  non-payment  of 
salary.  The  justices  of  the  county  were  required  to 
issue  warrants  to  the  constables  to  summon  the  free- 
holders on  the  second  Tuesday  of  January,  to  choose 
ten  vestrymen  and  two  church  wardens ;  the  justices 
and  the  vestrymen  laid  the  tax,  and  if  it  was  not  paid, 
the  constables  had  the  ])ower  to  distrain  for  it.  At 
each  stage  of  the  proceedings  fines  were  jirovided  for 
persons  or  officials  who  failed  to  discharge  their 
duties.' 


I  The  laaguage  of  the  act  refers  only  to  a  "Protestant  Minister.', 
.'There  can  be  uo  Joubt,"  says  Mr.  Dawson,  in  the  "Historical  Jlaga- 
zine,"  "that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  .\ssembly  to  provide  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Dissenting  clergy.  Tlie  act  was  very  loosely  worded, 
which,  as  things  stood  when  it  was  niaile,  could  not  be  avoided.  Tlie 
Dissenters  could  claim  the  benefit  of  itas  well  as  Cbun  huii-n,  and  unless 


The  Puritans  were  keenly  aflFected  by  this  issue. 
Francis  Doughty,  who  had  been  expelled  by  the  Con- 
gregationalists  from  Taunton,  Mass.,  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  Puritan  or  Presbyterian  minister  in 
New  York.  He  officiated  from  1643  to  1648,  and  was 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions  from  the  Puri- 
tans and  Dutch  of  the  city.  Puritans  were  certainly 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Westchester.  In  volume 
iii.  page  557,  of  the  Documentary  History  of  New 
York,  there  is  an  interesting  description  of  a  Puritan 
service  at  Westchester  in  1656,  conducted  by  two  lay- 
men, Robert  Bassett  and  a  Mr.  Bayley,  who  were  prob- 
ably ruling  elders,  one  reading  a  sermon  and  the  other 
leading  in  prayer.  When  the  colony  was  surrendered 
to  the  Duke  of  York,  in  September,  1644,  there  were 
within  its  bounds  six  Puritan  ministers  settled  with 
their  flocks.  There  were  Puritan  bands  at  Rye  and 
Westchester  without  j)astors.  ^ 

Governor  Andros  did  not  trouble  the  Puritan 
churches,  which  lost  some  of  their  veteran  pastors, 
but  continued  to  increase  in  numbers.  Nathaniel 
Brewster  settled  at  Brookhaven  and  supplied  East 
Chester  in  1665.  In  1674  Eliphalet  Jones  supplied 
Rye  and  Ezekiel  Fogg  supplied  East  Chester.  In 
1()75  Peter  Prudden  i)reached  at  Rye,  and  Thomas 
Denham  settled  there  in  1677.  Thus  within  twelve 
years  there  were  five  Presbyterian  clergymen  exercis- 
ing their  functions  in  Westchester  County.  Thej'  and 
their  flocks  shared  in  the  struggle  which  all  Dissenters 
had  to  make  with  Governor  Sloughter's  efforts  to  estab- 
lish the  Church  of  England  as  the  State  Church,  but 
still  Presbyterianism  flourished.  In  Westchester 
County  Rev.  John  Woodbridge  located  at  Rye  and 
Rev.  Warham  Mather  at  Westchester  in  1684. 

These  two  clergymen  were  among  the  most  import- 
ant personages  in  the  lively  episode  which  followed  the 
conversion  of  Rev.  William  Vesey,  a  Puritan  pastor  in 
New  York,  to  the  Church  of  England  His  change 
of  faith  is  said  to  have  been  procured  by  Colonel 
Heathcote,  who,  upon  his  settlement  at  Scarsdale, 
Westchester  County,  in  1692,  showed  himself  a  still 
zealous  proselyter  for  the  Church  of  England.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Society  for  the  Proi)agation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, dated  April  10,  1704,  he  relates  a  contention  that 
was  of  great  moment  at  the  time : 

"The  people  of  Westchester,  East  Chester  and  a 
place  called  Lower  Yonkers  agreed  with  one  War- 
ren Mather,  and  the  people  of  Rye  with  one  Mr. 
Woodbridge,  both  of  New  England,  there  being  at 


wrested  from  its  true  bearing,  it  admitted  a  construction  ill  their  favor. 
In  fact,  it  was  arbitrarily  and  illegally  wrested  from  its  true  bear- 
ing and  niiule  to  answer  the  purpose  of  the  Englisli  Church  party, 
which  was  a  very  small  minority  of  the  people  affected  by  the  operation 
of  the  law.  The  act  itself  is  a  conclusive  argument  against  the  alleged 
establishment  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  province  of  New  York. 
Itwjiii  not  established  of  any  law  of  the  province,  nor  by  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal law  of  Knglaiid  e.vteudiiig  over  the  province,  which  was  thus  ex- 
cluded or  modified  by  express  law  made  by  competent  authority. 

-  "  I'uritaiiism  in  New  York,"  by  Kev.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.D.  Mag- 
uziite  of  Amtrricati  Uistory^  JunuAry^  laii^. 


MANNEKS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


that  time  scarce  six  in  the  whole  county  who  so  mucli 
as  inclined  to  the  church.  After  Mather  had  been 
with  them  some  time,  Westclicster  parisli  made 
choice  of  me  for  one  of  their  church  wardens  in  hopes 
of  using  my  influence  with  Colonel  (Governor)  Fletch- 
er to  have  Mather  inducted  to  the  living.  I  told 
them  it  was  altogether  impossible  for  me  to  comply 
with  their  desires,  it  being  wholly  repugnant  to  the 
laws  of  England  to  compel  the  subject  to  pay  for  the 
maintenance  of  any  minister  who  was  not  of  the  Na- 
tional Church,  and  that  it  lay  not  in  any  Governor's 
power  to  help  them,  but  since  they  were  so  zealous  for 
having  religion  and  good  order  settled  amongst  'em,  I 
would  propose  a  medium  in  that  matter,  which  was 
that  there  being  at  Boston  a  French  Protestant 
Minister,  Mr.  Bondett,  a  very  good  man,  who  was 
in  orders  from  my  Lord  (Archbishop)  of  London,  and 
the  people  of  New  Rochelle  being  destitute  of  a  min- 
ister, we  would  call  Mr.  Bondett  to  the  living,  and  the 
parish  being  large  enough  to  maintain  two,  we  would 
likewise  continue  i\Ir.  Mather  and  support  him  by 
subscription.  The  vestry  seemed  to  be  extreamly  well 
pleased  with  this  proposal  and  desired  me  to  send  for 
Mr.  Bondett,  which  I  immediately  did,  hoping  by  that 
means  to  bring  them  over  to  the  church  ;  but  Mather, 
apprehending  what  I  aimed  at,  persuaded  the  vestry 
to  alter  their  resolutions,  and  when  he  came  they 
refused  to  call  him,  so  that  projection  failing  me,  and 
finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  progress 
toward  settling  the  church  so  long  as  Mather  contin- 
ued among  us,  I  made  it  my  business  in  the  next 
place  to  devise  ways  to  gett  him  out  of  the  country, 
which  I  was  not  long  in  contriving,  which  being 
effected  and  having  gained  some  few  proselytes  in 
every  town,  and  those  who  were  of  the  best  esteem 
amongst  'em,  who  having  none  to  oppose  them,  and 
being  assisted  by  Mr.  Vesey  and  j\[r.  Bondett,  who 
very  often  preached  in  several  parts  of  the  country, 
baptizing  the  children,  by  easy  methods  the  people 
were  soon  wrought  into  a  good  opinion  of  the  church 
and  indeed  beyond  my  expectations." 

It  is  not  explained  by  what  means  Heathcote  drove 
the  Puritan  clergymen  out  of  the  country,  but  it  is 
not  doubtful  that  he  turned  many  of  the  Presbyterians 
over  to  the  Anglican  faith  and  jirepared  the  way  for 
the  work  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,  an  organization  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which  sent  John  Bartow  out  as  a  mission- 
ary. He  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Puritan 
Churches  of  East  Chester,  Westchester  and  Jamaica 
by  Governor  Cornbury,  and  the  Puritan  ministers, 
Joseph  Morgan,  of  Westchester,  and  John  Hubbard, 
of  Jamaica,  were  forced  to  retire  from  their  church 
buildings  and  parsonages.'    The  latter  made  a  fight, 


'  "  Ixinl  Cornbury,  eqimlly  zealous  with  his  predecessor,  Fleteberi 
for  the  spri'ad  of  the  Cluirch  of  England,  assnnied  the  right  that 
Fletcher  had  claimed  to  iudiict  ministers  into  |iarislies,  and,  undercolor 
of  a  law  that  had  no  existence,  put  the  missionaries  of  the  Society  in 


but  Cornbury  ousted  him  in  favor  of  Bartow,  who 
then  attacked  Morgan,  with  the  result  narrated  in  his 
own  letter  of  December  1, 1707,  to  the  secretary  of  the 
Society : 

"  Not  long  after  this  my  Lord  (Cornbury)  requested 
me  to  go  and  preach  at  East  Chester;  accordingly  I 
went  (tho'  some  there  had  given  out  threatening 
words  should  I  dare  to  come),  but  tho'  I  was  there 
very  early  and  the  people  had  notice  of  my  coming, 
their  Presbyterian  minister,  Mr.  Morgan,  had  begun 
service  in  the  meeting-house,  to  which  I  went 
straitway  and  continued  the  whole  time  of  service 
without  interruption,  and  in  the  afternoon  I  was  per- 
mitted to  perform  the  Church  of  England  services, 
Mr.  Morgan  being  present,  and  neither  he  or  the 
peoj)le  seemed  to  be  dissatisfied,  and  after  some  time 
of  preaching  there  afterwards  they  desired  me  to 
come  oftener,  and  I  concluded  to  minister  there  once 
a  month,  which  now  I  have  done  for  about  three 
years,  and  Mr.  ]\Iorgan  is  retired  into  New  England."  - 

Puritanism  lost  somewhat  of  its  hold  upon  the 
people  in  consequence  of  the  opposition  of  Cornbury; 
but  with  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Hanover  to 
the  English  throne,  in  1714,  persecution  of  the  Puri- 
tans in  America  ceased.  On  November  '22,  1718, 
Eev.  Wm.  Tennent  settled  at  East  Chester  and  began 
to  rebuild  Puritanism  in  the  county.  He  removed  to 
Bedford  May  1,  1720,  and  remained  until  August, 
1726,preachingin  all  the  townships.  WhenMethodism 
divided  the  churches  of  the  colony  into  antagonistic 
forces  he  became  one  of  its  leaders.  An  impetuous 
revival  of  faith  occurred,  which  was  guided  by  Thomas 
Smith  at  Rye  and  Samuel  Sackett  at  Bedford.  Ten- 
nent and  his  adherents  were  excluded  from  the  Synod 
of  Philadelphia  in  1741,  in  the  absence  of  the  entire 
Presbytery  of  New  York.  The  excluded  Methodists 
rallied  around  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick, 
and  in  1745  it  combined  with  the  Presbytery  of 
New  York  in  erecting  the  Synod  of  New  York,  all 
of  whose  churches  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Jleth- 
odists.  In  1 752  the  Rye  Church  united  with  the  Synod 
and  thus  all  the  original  Puritan  Churches  of  New 
York,  organized  in  the  seventeenth  centurj',  were 
combined  in  one  compact  Synodical  organization.  On 


possession  of  churches,  glebes  and  parsonages.  This  was  done,  or  at- 
tempted, at  Westchester  and  East  Chester,  Rye  and  Bedford.  In  Rye 
only,  of  all  these  towns,  no  church  had  been  built;  but  a  tax  was 
levied  ui)on  the  inhabitants  for  its  erection,  and  meanwhile  the  house 
and  lands  which  had  been  provided  lor  a  minister  and  held  by  a  suc- 
cession of  pastors,  were  taken  for  the  mis-sionary."  ("The  Presby- 
terians in  the  Province  of  Xew  York,"  Rev.  Charles  W,  Baird,  Mug. 
Amer.  Hist.,  1879,  Vol.  HI.,  Part  II.) 

-"Colonel  Heathcote  represents  that  Morgan  was  ready  to  conform. 
But  in  this  case  he  wits  hasty  in  judgment.  Jlorgan  was  of  tougher 
tibre  than  Vesey.  He  resisterl  all  the  influence  brought  to  bear  upon 
him  and  remained  faithful.  He  labored  for  many  years  as  a  Presby- 
terian minister  and  died  in  New  Jersey  in  connection  with  the  .Synod  of 
Philadelphia.  Rye  was  taken  possession  of  by  Tliom:4s  Pritchard  and 
afterwards  by  Mr.  Muirson.  and  John  Jones,  pastor  of  Bedford,  was 
forced  to  retire  to  Connecticut  after  arrest  and  reprimand  before  the 
Council." — Uriggs'  " Purilattinn  in  Xew  York." 


472/ 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


November  29,  1769,  Mr.  De  Witt  offered  in  the  As- 
sembly a  bill  "  to  exempt  the  inhabitants  of  the  Coun- 
ties of  Westchester,  New  York,  Queens  and  Richmond 
from  any  taxation  for  support  of  the  Ministers  of 
churches  to  which  they  do  not  belong."  And  this 
was  finally  passed  with  amendments  applying  it  es- 
pecially to  persons  not  in  communion  with  the 
Church  of  England. 

The  Dutch  pioneers  on  Manhattan  found  it  con- 
venient to  adopt  the  currency  of  the  Indians,  who 
took  the  common  periwinkle,  called  by  them  "Metean- 
hock,"  found  in  great  quantities  along  the  shores, 
and  having  broken  it  so  as  to  secure  the  thick  portion 
at  the  stem,  they  made  of  this  beads  about  the 
size  of  a  straw  and  a  third  of  an  inch  in  length.^  This 
was  the  white  sewan  of  least  value.  A  black  bead  of 
the  same  description  was  made  from  the  large  round 
clam  called  the  "  quahaug."  These  beads  were  woven 
into  belts,  and  divided  into  pieces  of  different  values. 


Thirty  Dollars. 

THE  Bearer  is  en- 
titled  to  recci'vc  Thirty 
SpanSJh  milled  D  O  L 
LARS,  or  an  equal 
Sum  in  Gold  or  Silver, 
according  to  a  Refo 
lution  of  COAfGRESS 
/of  the  I4i]i  fanuary, 

^779- 

AO  Dollars. 


cox  irNl-ATA  I,  critllKNCV. 

Four  beads  counted  for  a  stuy  ver  or  two  for  a  cent, 
and  a  braided  string  a  fathom  long  was  valued  at  four 
guilders,  equivalent  to  $1.(56.  Sewant  was  conanonly 
measured  by  spans,  and  the  Indians,  in  their  traffic 
with  the  Dutch,  always  chose  as  traders  their  men 
who  could  cover  the  greatest  length  between  finger 
and  thumb. 

But  counterfeits  sprung  up,  and  the  currency  in 
course  of  time  became  debased.  The  Indian  money 
was  even  imported  from  Europe,  where  imitations 
were  made  of  porcelain,  but  this  base  article  could 
not  impose  on  the  natives,  and  the  counterfeit  failed 
as  a  speculation.  The  "  good  splendid  sewant  of  Man- 
hattans "  was  the  genuine  article  and  passed  in  all 
the  Indian  country  roundabout,  for  this  island  and 
the  neighboring  sections  were  the  great  mint  of  the 
Indians.    Up  the  North  River,  in  Westchester  and 

1  "  KeminiBcences  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  Vicinity." — Henry  B. 
Dawson,  New  York,  18dj. 


elsewhere,  sewant  had  its  legal  tender  value  well  de- 
fined until  so  many  broken,  unstrung  and  badly  made 
pieces  came  into  circulation  that  the  Dutch  govern- 
ment— coin  still  being  scarce — was  obliged  to  find 
a  new  currency.  Beaver-skins  supplied  the  de- 
ficiency and  became  the  next  fiat  money  of  the  day. 
This  was  an  article  less  subject  to  fluctuations  and 
was  divided  into  "  whole  beavers  "  and  "  half  beav- 
ers," the  former  being  rated  at  about  three  dollars. 
What  little  of  the  Dutch  currency  was  in  circulation 
was  known  as  "  Hollands.  '  In  contracts  for  sale  and 
purchase  of  real  estate  and  personal  property,  the 
distinctive  sorts  of  payment  were  usually  expressed  ; 
and  if  not  stated,  it  was  understood  that  sewant  was 
the  consideration.  There  were  certain  sorts  of  con- 
tracts, however,  such  as  ocean  freights,  in  which,  by 
the  customs  of  merchants,  it  was  implied  that  pay- 
ment was  to  be  made  in  beavers.  On  account  of  the 
debasement  of  the  sewant  currency,  the  Council  or- 
dered in  May,  1650,  that  six  white  or 
three  black  sewants  should  pass  for  one 
stuyver  (half  a  cent),  and  the  base  strung 
sewant,  eight  white  or  four  black  for  one 
stuyver. 

Legal  tender  legislation  was  not  then 
.so  well  understood.  Many  people  refused 
to  accept  the  base  sewant  until,  in  the 
following  September,  the  Council  enacted 
"  that  the  base  strung  sewant  should  be 
received  by  every  one  without  distinction, 
in  payment  for  small  daily  and  necessary 
commodities  in  housekeeping,  and  that  it 
should  be  current  as  follows:  For  twelve 
guilders  or  under,  all  may  be  paid  in 
base  strung  sewant ;  from  twelve  to  twen- 
ty-four guilders,  half  base  and  half  good 
strung  sewant;  and  in  larger  sums  agree- 
ably to  the  agreement  between  buyer  and 
seller."  In  1658  the  rate  was  again  al- 
tered to  eight  white  and  four  black  of 
sewant  for  one  stuyver.  The  colony  was 
from  a  superabundant  and  depreciated 
which  was  intrinsically  worthless.  Bea- 
had  an   actual  value  apart  from  that 


the  good 
suffering 
currency, 
vers,  which 


which  legislation  could  place  upon  them,  appre- 
ciated until  they  were  rated  at  sixteen  guilders  each  ; 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  provisions  and  house- 
hold necessaries  followed  the  upward  movement  of 
the  currency  which  kept  anything  like  an  even  ratio 
with  real  money.  Shop-keepers,  tapsters,  brewers, 
bakers,  grocers  and  workingmen  charged  a  difierence 
of  eighty,  ninety  or  a  hundred  per  cent,  between 
sewant  and  beaver  in  taking  pay  for  their  goods 
or  their  labor.  The  Council  struggled  bravely  to 
enhance  the  value  of  the  sewant  by  resorting  to  the 
fiction  that  values  can  be  controlled  by  arbitrary 
enactment.  Its  next  law  (November  11,  1658)  was 
"  that  the  brewers,  tapsters,  bakers,  and  other  shop- 
keepers and  common  grocers,  should  sell  the  daily 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


472,7 


necessary  family  commodities  to  the  buyers  at  their 
different  prices,  to  wit,  silver  money,  beavers  and 
sewant:  as  forinstance,  the  brewers  should  deliver  one 
barrel  of  good  beer  for  ten  guilders  (about  #3.80)  in 
silver  money,  according  to  the  Holland  value  of 
fifteen  guilders  in  beavers,  the  beaver  at  eight  guilders 
to  twenty-two  guilders  ;  in  sewant  eight  white  or  four 
black  for  a  stuyver." 

It  is  testimony  to  the  drinking  customs  of  the 
Dutch  families'  that  beer  and  wine  were  estimated 
by  the  law  as  necessaries  of  which  no  household 
should  be  deprived  by  exorbitant  or  fluctuating 
prices. 

The  cost  of  the  malt  liquor  was  made  little  enough 
in  this  ordinance  of  l<i58,  and  it  was  equally  accom- 
modating in  providing  that  French  wine  should  cost 
no  more  than  eighteen  stuyvers  (nine  cents)  the  pint 
in  silver  money  ;  Spanish  wine  no  more  than  twen- 
ty-four stuyvers,  and  brandywine  only  five  stuyvers 
for  a  gill.    Yet  these  prices,  which  were  ofticial,  so  to 


'  Their  English  successors  followed  them  bravely  in  this  respect 
The  amount  of  liquor  it  required  to  help  in  conducting  an  election  in 
New  York  in  17SS-,39  wim  something  staitlins;.  The  3fa/7o;iii«  o/ --liiier- 
icon //is(oi;/ for  Dt'cenibcr,  1884,  printed  the  following  bill,  indorsed  as 
election  expenses  for  those  years  and  divide<l  equally  between  James 
Alexander  and  Kventhuss  Van  Home: 

£        9.  ((. 

"  To  nfi'o  Rail.  Jamaica  Rum  for  Punch,  "i'^  liall.  ditto 

for  Drams  ye  morning,  02  Gall,  at  3s.  M  .   .  .      .  II)        I  (i 

To  C«sh  for  3; .;  Gall.  Brandy  at  7  1        4  i; 

To  Cash  for  S  Gall.  Linie-Juice  at  48  1       12  0 

To  73%  ft)  Single  refined  Sugar  whereof  is  left  l)J^, 

Return  65%  lb  at  Up  16  1 

To  a  Barrill  for  \Vine  >t  Shrub  7        9  U 

To  104  Bottels  for  Wine  >t  Rum  whereof  there  is  3  re- 
turned. Remains  1111  Rot.  f<?  40pg  1        8  1 

To  7  pds  Candles  at  Two  Nights  i)        .">  :i 

To  the  Carting  Wine  A- Shrub  0        2  0 

To  2  Loads  woo<le  and  carting  0        n  3 

To  4  Case  Bottels  broke  0        6  0 

To  3  Tapea  0        1  0 

To  1  Gugs  0        2  6 

To  Mr.  Smith  for  G  Bottels  o        1  8 

 0        4  2 

To  Mrs.  Lancellet  acct.  for  earthen  A  Glass  Broak  .  .  3  n  0 
To  John  Benck  acct.  for  pipes  and  mugs  (i      17  3 


To  John  Berbai  k  for  breail   (I  17  8 

To  .Fohn  Outhout  acct.  barrills  deducted   4  1  o 

To  John  Br.ushers  acct.  for  Tobaco   n  15  0 

T"  Garrad  Duyke  mending  glass   I)  5  :i 

To  William  Walton  for  a  pyd  wine  li;  (i  0 

To  yi  hornpipes   2  0  0 

To  Robin  the  tidier   0  ]2  I) 

To  y' other  3  each  0   1  7  n 

Til  the  Prum   d  12  (» 

To  tunis  Teahut  for  a  spad  stolen   1)  7  o 

To  Mr  Alexander  for  Chease,  to  John  Wright  ....  2  id  10 

To  Zenger  A  Golett   2  5  0 

To  .\ngeneta  Adolph   5  0  I) 

To  W"  Langford   1  4  4 

To  Mr.  Ale.xander   1  <)  73^ 

£72  o  1^, 

£  ».  </. 

.Vlexander  36       o  7 

Van  Horne  .^g      0  7 


£72      5      2  " 


speak,  were  subject  to  the  competition  set  uj)  by  the 
smugglers,  whose  illicit  tratlc  in  the  harbor  and  for  a 
long  distance  up  the  Hudson  had  much  to  do  with 
stocking  the  bars  of  the  tapsters  and  the  cellars  of  the 
manorial  lords,  besides  furnishing  the  Indians  and 
slaves  with  the  cheap  licpiors  that  incited  them  to 
riot,  "  whereby,"  says  the  ordinance  of  October  26, 
IG/it),  "  almost  all  the  calamities  occur."  This  omni- 
bus enactment  proceeded  after  the  smugglers  with  a 
stinging  thong.  Five  hundred  guilders  was  the  fine 
fixed  for  the  first  offense,  and  the  forfeiture  of  the 
"  banjue,  yacht,  boat  or  canoe  "  the  owner  whereof 
attempted  to  evade  the  custom  officers,  for  the  second. 
Still  the  rewards  of  the  jirohibited  trade  were  so 
tempting,  that  the  many  seamen  engaged  in  it  contin- 
ued to  run  the  gauntlet.  They  brought  their  cargoes  to 
the  numerous  secure  nooks  on  the  river-shore  in 
Westchester  County,  and  wIumi  the  contraband  goods 
were  once  unloaded  and  run  into  the  back-country, 
they  might  defy-  detection. 

In  pursuing  the  smugglers  the  Council  did  not 
omit  to  pay  attention  to  various  frauds  perpetrated  by 
lawful  traders.  The  comprehensive  enactment 
aimed  at  the  smugglers  also  embraced  a  fulmination 
against  the  bakers.  It  obliged  them  "  at  least  once 
or  twice  a  week,  to  bake  both  coarse  and  white  loaves 
of  bread,  both  for  Christians  and  Indians,  at  the  es- 
tablished price  and  weight  of  one  double  coarse  loaf, 
eight  pounds,  for  fourteen  stuyvers,"  and  smaller 
loaves  in  proportion.  The  double  white  loaf  was  re- 
quired to  weigh  two  pounds,  and  to  be  sold  for  eight 
stuyvers.  In  case  of  light-weight  bread,  or  over- 
charges, the  bread  was  forfeited  and  the  baker  fined 
twenty-five  guilders  for  the  first  offense,  fifty  for  the 
second,  and  for  the  third  six  hundred  guilders  and 
absolutely  prohibited  from  conducting  the  business. 
No  bakers  were  permitted  "  to  sell  any  bread  made 
of  sifted  bran,  whether  at  wholesale  or  retail,  to 
Christians  or  Indians;  but  the  bakers  of  coarse  bread 
may  make  their  coarse  bread  of  the  ground  grain  as 
it  comes  from  the  mill."  It  was  further  enacted  that 
in  consequence  of  "  the  many  frauds  in  baking  and 
tapping,"  "  no  person  shall  follow  the  business  of 
baking  and  tapping  without  first  having  made  appli- 
cation to  those  of  the  magistrates  in  their  respective 
districts,  and  having  procured  from  the  same  or  their 
authorized  agents  a  license  for  that  business,"  which 
was  to  be  renewed  quarterly. 

The  criminal  law  was  rigorously  administered  in 
the  primitive  days,  and  its  penalties  were  almost 
ferociously  harsh.  About  the  time  of  the  settlement 
of  New  York  hanging  was  succeeding  beheading  in 
the  northern  European  countries  as  the  means  of 
executing  those  convicted  of  ca[>ital  crime,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  hangman  became  one  of  the 
officials  of  the  colonies.  His  methods  were  far  more 
brutal  and  painful  than  those  which  a  more  humane 
civilization  ha.s  since  devised.  Instead  of  the  modern 
trap,  or  other  appliances  designed  to  dislocate  the 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


vertebrte  of  the  convict,  the  old-time  gibbet  was 
merely  two  ui)rights  with  a  cross  beam,  from  which 
depended  the  rope  and  uoose.  He  was  driven  under 
it  in  a  cart,  the  noose  fastened  about  his  neck  and  the 
cart  driven  ofi',  leaving  him  to  perish  slowly  of 
strangulation.  Such  malefactors  were  always  hanged 
in  chains  and  their  bodies  left  swinging  in  the  irons 
for  months,  a  supposed  ghastly  and  terrible  warning 
to  evil-doers.  Sometimes  the  hangnuin  would  jump 
upon  the  shoulders  or  swing  from  the  feet  of  the 
criminal  in  order  to  expedite  the  strangling  process. 

The  stocks,  the  i)illory  and  the  whipping-post  were 
instruments  of  ])UQishnu'nt  for  lesser  olfenscs.  They 
were  part  of  the  judicial  equi])ment  of  every  county 
town  or  seat  of  government,  and  stood  conveniently 
near  to  the  court-house  or  jail,  for  in  the  early  days 
both  were  usually  situated  in  one  building.  Punish- 
ment by  the  pillory  was  much  the  more  severe,  the 
victim  being  in  a  standing  position  ;  but  even  that  by 
the  stocks  was  exceedingly  i)ainful,  and  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  men  to  swoon  under  the  agony  of 
either  the  pillory  or  the  stocks.  But  while  the 
colonists  followed  European  precedent  in  the  infliction 
of  rigorous  penalties,  and  their  laws  embraced  many 


THE  STOCKS. 


statutory  crimes  now  abolished,  yet  they  made  no  use 
of  such  instruments  of  torture  as  the  rack,  wheel, 
thumb-screw  or  pincers,  found  in  all  European  prisons 
and  even  the  ducking-stool  seems  not  to  have  been 
employed  outside  of  New  England. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  the  I'oregoing  that  the 
government  of  New  Amsterdam,  which  exercised 
jurisdiction  over  Westchester  County,  went  a  long 
distance  into  the  detsiils  of  every-day  life,  and  was 
almost  microscopic  in  its  purview  of  the  incidents  of 
trade  and  jiersonal  relations.  While  this  is  true,  it 
was  yet  liberal  and  generous.  Modern  criticism  may 
take  exception  to  its  religious  intolerance,  but  that 
was  more  apparent  than  real.  The  Dutch  settlers  at 
Manhattan  and  above  on  the  Hudson  were  soon  joined 
by  English  Puritans,  Huguenots  from  Rochelle, 
Waldeuses  from  the  Piedmont  country  of  Erance, 
German  Lutherans  and  Anabaptists,  Swedes  and 
Catholic  Walloons.  They  lived  together  amicably, 
because  the  Dutch  trend  in  the  new  country  was 
toward  tolerance,  whatever  it  might  have  been  in  the 
old. 

Incidents  that  took  place  within  and  around  the 
historic  houses  of  Westchester  County  during  the  ' 


1  Revolution  reveal  much  of  the  methods  and  sur- 
roundings of  the  peoj)le  in  those  days.  '  The  phleg- 
matic Dutchman  who  then  occupied  the  Livingston 
house  at  Dobbs  Ferry,  was  for  a  time  frightened 
away  by  the  hum  of  cannon-balls  about  his  premises. 
When,  in  1777  General  Lincoln  made  the  place  his 
headquarters,  he  j)iled  four  barrels  of  gunpowder  in  a 
little  shed  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  answering  the 
proprietor's  remonstrances  with  the  remark  that  "  it 
was  a  good  dry  place  for  it."  After  the  army  marched 
away  the  Dutchman  found  that  the  barrels  contained 
nothing  but  sand,  and  had  been  placed  there  as  a  ruse 
to  deceive  the  enemy  if  any  of  their  spies  should 
come  prowling  about. 

Here  Washington  entertained  the  Due  de  Lauzun, 
Count  de  Rochambeau,  Steuben  and  others  of  the  dis- 
tinguished foreign  oflicers,  on  July  6,  178L  Alexan- 
der Hamilton  presided,  and  his  graceful  manners  and 
witty  speeches  provoked  universal  admiration.  Here 
also  Washington  and  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and  their 
respective  suites  met  to  arrange  for  the  evacuation  of 
New  York  by  the  British.  On  the  sequestration  of 
the  Philipsburgh  Manor  the  property  was  purchased 
by  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston,  and  it  thence  took 
his  family  name. 

The  Roger  Morris  house,  at  the  most  elevated 
point  of  Harlem  Heights,  where  the  steep,  rocky 
right  bank  of  the  Harlem  River  slopes  gently  to  the 
southwest,  was  built,  in  1758,  for  the  man  whose 
name  it  bears.  He  was  a  captain  in  the  British 
army,  and  in  that  year  married  the  lovely  Mary 
Philipse,  for  whose  hand  Washington  is  said  to  have 
been  an  unsuccessful  suitor.  A  lively  fancy  may  be 
I)ermitted  to  call  up  his  emotions  when,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1776,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  American 
army,  he  made  the  residence  of  the  woman  who  had 
rejected  him  his  headquarters,  or  when,  in  July, 
1790,  as  President  of  the  LTnited  States,  he  revisited 
it,  she  and  her  husband  being  attainted  fugitives 
from  the  home  which  the  new  governnu^nt  had  con- 
fiscated. The  wealthy  Frenchman,  Stephen  .Jumel, 
bought  it,  and  his  wife  adorned  it  with  an  exquisite 
taste  and  lavish  hand.  There  she  lived  until  her 
death,  in  1865;  there,  in  the  days  of  her  widowhood, 
she  married  Aaron  Burr,  and  it  was  over  this  very 
valuable  estate  that  her  heirs  wrangled  until  the 
courts  disposed  of  it.'- 

During  and  after  the  fight  at  Chatterton's  Hill 
Washington  had  his  headquarters  in  the  Miller  house 

1  .Soldiers  and  marauders  plundered  indiscriminately  in  Westchester 
County,  until  Washington  sent  .\aron  Burr  to  take  command.  A  letter 
from  Judge  Samuel  Youngs,  of  Mount  Pleasant,  printed  in  the  "  His- 
torical Magazine"  for  June,  1S71,  says:  "No  man  went  to  bed  but 
under  the  apprehension  of  having  his  house  plundered  or  burnt,  orhim- 
self  or  family  massacred  before  morning.  Some,  under  the  character  of 
Whigs,  plundered  the  Tories  ;  while  others  of  the  latter  description, 
pluudcred  the  Whigs.  Parties  of  marauders  assuming  either  ehariicter 
or  none,  as  suited  their  convenience,  indiscriminately  assailed  both 
Whigs  and  Tories."  Burr  came  to  the  county  in  the  fall  of  1778  and 
stopped  all  this  by  military  rule  and  strict  enforcement  of  order. 
-  Benson  J.  Lossiug  in  AppleUm's  Jvunial,  vol.  x.,  1873. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


472i 


at  White  Plains,  which  until  recently  was  in  the  pos- 
session of  that  tiimily,  by  whose  name  it  is  still  known. 
He  was  frequently  at  the  Birdsall  house,  in  Peekskill, 
which  was  one  of  the  first  buildings  erected  in  the  vil- 
lage. It  was  a  favorite  tavern  and  was  repeatedly  vis- 
ited by  the  ofticers  when  the  allied  armies,  under 
Washington  and  Rochambeau,  menaced  the  English 
positions  in  and  about  New  York.  It  stands  on  the 
old  post  road  and  is  still  kept  as  a  tavern.  Near  by  are 
yet  seen  the  remains  of  the  old  fort  which  crowned  this 
elevated  position  at  the  mouth  of  the  Highland  Gorge.' 

It  appeal's  from  some  Revolutionary  papers  that 
there  were  localiti("s  in  Westchester  County  which  are 
now  unknown.  Washington,  in  his  order-book,  under 
date  of  October  24,  1782,  directs : 

"The  tents  being  too  cold  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  sick,  the  regimental  surgeons  will  send  no  more 
to  the  flying  hospital,  but  have  such  as  are  hospital 
patients  sent  to  the  huts  at  New  Boston."'  Where 
was  "  New  Boston  ? "' 

On  the  night  of  the  13th  of  May,  1781,  Lieutenaut 
Colonel  Greene,  the  hero  of  Red  Bank,  was  killed  at 
his  quarters  on  the  Groton  River,  near  the  site  of  the 
present  dam,  l)y  a  party  of  I)e  Lancey's  corps.  Pay- 
master Thomas  Hughes,  of  the  American  army,  who 
was  in  the  house  at  the  time,  contrived  to  escape.  A 
letter  describing  the  action,  written  a  few  hours  after- 
ward, he  dates  at  Rhode  Island  Village.  Where  was 
"  Rhode  Island  Village  ?"  - 

The  old-tinu'  taverns  of  the  county  had  their  rec- 
ords worthy  of  preservation.  One  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  these  was  the  "  Blue  Bell,"  concerning  the 
location  of  which  there  has  been  much  controversy. 
In  vol.  iv..  No.  6,  of  the  Historical  Magazine, 
June,  1880,  Gharles  A.  Campbell  thus  indicates  it  in 
a  quotation  from  an  old  chronicle  : 

"The  holy  Ntoraincnt  wius  adniiiiietercd  to  the  Huguenots  of  New  Ro 
chelle  four  times  a  year,  viz.,  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsunday  and  the 
middle  of  September.  During  tlie  iiitermi^ions  tliat  occurred  the  com- 
municants walkeil  to  New  York  for  that  jiurpose.  Prior  to  their  de- 
parture, on  a  Sunday,  they  always  collected  the  young  children  ami  left 
them  in  the  care  of  their  friends,  while  they  set  off  early  in  the  morning 
and  walked  to  the  city  barefooted,  carrying  their  shoes  and  stockings  in 
their  hands,  .\bout  twelve  miles  from  New  York,  at  a  place  niiice  culled 
the  Bliif  J>V(i,  there  «as  a  large  rock  by  the  roadside  coveriil  with 
re^Jar  ;  here  they  stopped  for  a  short  time  to  rest  and  take  some  refresh- 
ments, and  tlien  proceeded  on  their  .journey  till  they  came  to  Kresh 
Water  Pond,  within  the  bounds  of  the  city.  Here  they  washed  their 
feet,  pnt  i>n  their  shoes  and  stockings,  and  walked  to  the  French  Church 
(the  old  church  I)u  St.  Esprit  in  Pine  Street),  where  they  generally  ar- 
rired  by  the  time  service  begun." 

A  writer  in  the  same  magazine  (vol.  viii..  No.  4, 
October,  1881 )  located  the  tavern  on  the  east  side  of 
the  old  King's  Bridge  road,  "  opposite  the  old  yellow 
house  now  standing  south  of  One  Hundred  and 
Eighty-iii-st  Street,"  and  added  that  it  was  directly 
east  of  Fort  Washington,  and  was  demolished  about 


Jtiig.  vol.  iii.  No.  2,  April,  187!).    The  same  number  mentions 
that  on  his  entrance  to  New  York,  in  November,  1783,  he  stopped  at 
Day's  Tavern,  opposite  the  Point  of  Rocks,  at  the  junction  of  the  Har- 
lem and  Kingsl>ridge  roads. 
>  Ilitlo.  .V.iy.,  vol.  vi.  No.  1,  January,  1881. 

43 


1820.  To  support  his  statement  against  those  writers 
who  urged  that  it  was  on  the  west  side  of  that  high- 
way, he  quotes  at  length  (vol.  iv.  p.  4f)0;  v.  p.  142 ; 
vi.  pp.  64,  22,  300),  from  the  reminiscences  and 
papers  of  Isaac  M.  Dyckmaii  and  Blazius  Ryer.  He 
contends  that  the  mistake  arose  from  the  location  of 
another  old  house  about  half  a  mile  south  of  the 

Blue  Bell,"  and  which  was  on  the  west  side  of  the 
road  and  was  destroyed  by  fire  about  1846.  The 
Magazine  of  American  History  for  November,  1881, 
reviews  all  this  testimony  and  draws  the  deduction 
that  the  colonial  tavern  was  on  the  west  side,  but  that 
some  time  after  1802,  the  first  hostelry  of  the  name 
having  been  abandoned  iu  1787,  Blaze  Moore  revived 
the  old  sign  of  the  "Blue  Bell  "  at  a  tavern  which  he 
kept  on  the  east  side.'' 

Lossing's  gossij)  of  this  venerable  house  of  refresh- 
ment* acce])ts  the  west  side  theory  and  makes  it  a 


THE  PILLORY. 


structure  that,  when  he  wrote,  was  still  stauding  and 
occupied  as  a  dwelling.  He  quotes  Cadwallader  Col- 
den,  who,  in  October,  1753,  wrote  to  his  wife  of  having 
rested  at  it  on  a  journey  to  New  York,  when  it  was 
"  very  well  kept  by  a  Dutchman  named  Vanderventer, 
and  our  food  and  lodgings  were  very  comfortable." 
Tradition  says  that  General  Heath  occupied  it  for 
his  headquarters  in  October,  1776,  and  that  Washing- 
ton and  Lee  met  there  on  the  morning  when  they 
followed  the  American  army  and  journeyed  together 
to  the  Bronx.  It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Hessian 
Colonel  Ralle  after  the  assault  on  Fort  Washington. 
One  of  his  aides  fell  in  love  with  the  pretty  sister  of 
young  Vanderventer,  and  promised  to  remain  in 
America  if  she  would  marry  him.  Her  mother  and 
Ralle  favored  the  union,  and  despite  the  opposi- 
tion of  her  brother,  they  were  married  in  Ralle's  own 

3  The  abundant  references  for  this  theory  include  the  records  of  the 
Van  Olilem's  tract.  Gauthier's  survey  of  the  northern  part  of  New  York 
Island,  nuule  by  onler  of  Lord  Percy,  in  Xovendier,  1770,  locates  the 
"  Blue  Bell on  the  west  of  the  roa<l  on  the  lane  leading  to  Fort  Wash- 
ington. In  1848  John  Macdonald  made  the  note  that  "the  olrl  stone 
house  in  the  field  west  of  the  road  at  Fort  Washington  was  the  '  Blue 
Bell '  tavern  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  kept  by  Jacob  Moore."' 

*  Applclmi'$  Joimiitl,  December  13,  1873. 


472/ 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


room  by  his  chaplain  the  night  before  his  departure  1 
from  the  "  BUie  Bell."  The  young  husband  was  made  | 
prisoner  by  Washington  at  the  battle  of  Trenton,  and  j 
refusing  to  be  exchanged  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States,  and  settled  in  East  Jersey. 

On  October  24,  1783,  Washington  stood  in  front  of 
this  tavern  to  review  the  troops  as  they  were  inarching 
into  New  York.  There  he  confided  to  the  care  of  i 
Major  Robert  Burnet,  commanding  the  rear-guard,  a 
young  deserter  from  the  British  army,  who  had 
secretly  married  an  American  girl  at  the  "  Blue  Bell  " 
on  the  preceding  day.  Thus  twice  the  venerable  inn 
had  been  the  scene  of  a  clandestine  wedding.  ' 

The  October,  1881,  issue  of  the  Hhtorieal  Magazine 
has  these  additional  notices  of  old  houses  on  the 
King's  Bridge  road, — 


THE  BLUE  BELL  TAVERN. 


The  Cross  Kkvs,  the  very  old  stonchouee  on  this  road,  at  alvout  One 
Hundred  and  Sixty-fifth  Street,  is  probably  the  only  survivor  of  the 
outward  Revolutionary  inns.  It  was,  traditionally,  one  of  Washington's 
Rti)i>ping-places,  and  was  known  as  the  Cross  Keys,  by  reason  of  two 
keys  being  crossed  on  the  sign-board.  It  is  said  to  have  been  kept  by 
David  Wares. 

The  Uyckman  nousE,  the  only  real  Dutch  farm-house  extant  on  this 
road,  standing  not  far  from  the  twt'lve-niile  stone,  was  built  by  .Jacob 
Dyckman,  as  we  are  told  by  Isaac  M.  Dycknian,  the  present  representa- 
tive of  the  name  at  King's  Bridge,  just  after  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
original  family  mansion  being  burned  by  the  enemy.    The  said  Dyck- 
nian, a  very  enterprising  and  wealthy  man,  was  the  projector  of  the  j 
bridge  across  Harlem  River,  sometimes  called  by  his  name,  and  owned 
the  land  on  which  the  large  hotel  at  King's  Bridge  now  stands.    The  I 
old  one  stood  on  about  the  same  foundation,  and  was  burnt  down  some  i 
forty  years  ago.    Kifty-five  years  ago  it  is  remembered  as  kept  by  James  I 
Devoe.    (ieneral  Heath,  in  his  "Memoirs,"  speaks  of  it  as  Hyatt's  tav- 
ern.   This  was  in  1777.     Devoe  subsequently  hired  it   to  one  Jacob 
Hyatt.    Doubtless  it  whs  sometimes  called  Djckman's  tavern,  from  the 
Dyckman  ownei-ship. 

The  McComb  Hoi  se,  at  King  s  Bridge,  long  the  property  of  Joseph 
Godwin,  Esq.,  is  said  to  have  been  used  as  a  tavern  during  the  Revo" 
lution,  and  Mrs.  Robert  McComb  was  accnstonied  to  point  out  to  her 


1  The  New  York  Faciei  of  June  10, 1748,  contains  the  following  adver- 
tisement ; 

"The  Blue  Bell  Bbvived.— Stephen  Dolbeer  begs  leave  to  acquaint 
his  friends  and  the  public  in  general  that  he  has  opened  the  Blue  Bell 
Tavern,  at  Fort  AVasliington,  where  he  hopes  for  the 
continuance  of  his  form^-  customers  and  all  those  gen- 
tlemen who  please  to  favour  him  with  their  custom  ^»  / 
shall  be  waited  on  in  the  genteelest  manner.  .\lso  f  //  X 
good  stabling  and  pasture  for  horses."  / 

In  the  hailtj  Advertiser  of  February  17,  1787,  John 
Battin  advertises  that  his  porter  house,  at  the  sign  of  the 
Blue  Bell,  Sloat  Lane,  will  remove  on  the  first  of  Maj* 
to  the  house  opposite  to  the  one  he  then  oci  upied.  The  carrying  of  the  sign 
to  the  city  probably  disposes  of  the  Revolutionary  Blue  Bell,  as  Colles,  in 
bis  road  map  of  1789,  marks  the  old  house  as  Wuldron's  Tavern. 


guests  one  of  the  upper  rooms  as  once  the  lodging-room  of  General 
Washington.  The  venerable  Dr.  Bibby,  of  Cortlaodt  House,  states  that 
this  property  was  purchased,  shortly  after  the  War  of  Independence, 
of  the  heirs  of  Eden  Mefcalf  by  .Me.tander  Mc('omb,  of  New  York, 
the  father  of  General  .\lcxander  McComb,  of  the  I'nited  States  anny. 

The  Century  House. — The  oldest  farm-house  now  standing  on  or 
near  the  King's  Bridge  road  is  that  known  as  "  the  Century  House."  It 
is  on  the  Harlem  River  bank,  and  belongs  to  the  ancient  Nagle 
family,  original  landholders  of  that  iiart  of  the  island  with  the  Dyrk- 
mans.  Its  date,  marked  on  a  stone  inserted  in  the  front  wall,  is,  if  we 
remember  right,  1734.  It  is  described  by  \V.  C.  Smith  in  his  article  on 
the  Roger  Morris  house. — Mug.  of  Am.  Hist.,  vi.  1(13. 

There  were  two  "  Black  Horse  "  inns  of  fame.  That 
of  the  colonial  and  Revolutionary  period  was  situated 
near  McGown's  Pass,  and  was  still  standing  in  1812. 
The  second  was  built  in  1805  near  the  Tabby  Hook 
Landing,  or  what  is  now  called  Inwood  .Street,  and 
was  the  half-way  house  for  the  Albany  coaches  be- 
tween their  starting-point  in  New  York  City  and  the 
first  change  at  Yonkers.^  Henry  Norman  was  its 
builder  and  original  proprietor,  and  when  the  Widow 
Crawford  kept  it,  a  sign,  bearing  the  figure  of  a  black 
horse,  swung  from  a  pole  in  front  of  the  door. 
Neither  the  inn  nor  the  land  on  which  it  stands  has 
had  many  owners.  In  1740  John  Schuyler,  Jr., 
Philip  Schuyler,  Stephen  Bayard,  Jr.,  and  James 
Stephenson  had  it  by  letters  patent  from  the  King  ; 
from  them  it  passed  to  John  Livingston,  who  sold  it, 
with  all  its  rights  and  titles,  "  except  to  gold  and  sil- 
ver mines,"  to  Johannis  Seckeles;  he  to  Henry  Nor- 
man ;  he  to  a  Dyckman,  and  the  latter  to  the  Flint 
family. 

These  are  pictures  of  days  that  have  long  faded 
into  the  azure  of  history,  but  it  .seems  as  if  the  writer 
can  almost  touch  the  men  and  women  who  figured  in 
them  as  he  scans  the  records  they  have  left  of  their 
work  and  their  play,  their  strong  attachments  and 
their  fierce  resentments,  their  deeds  in  peace  and  war. 
They  are  very  real  when  one  accompanies  them  in 
their  homes  and  follows  them  through  the  routine  of 
the  day.  They  were  brave,  sturdy,  passionate,  faith- 
ful and  aggressive  people,  fitted  to  conquer  virgin 
soil  and  found  the  nation  that  stands  the  peer  of  the 
ancient  commonwealths  from  which  they  were  de- 
rived. Straight  down  in  an  unbroken  line  from  them 
we  trace  the  march  of  progress  that  leads  to  the  im- 
perial New  York  of  the  present  day  and  the  noble 
environment  of  Westchester  County.  Their  sons  and 
daughters  have  been  worthy  of  them,  and  in  the 
people  of  the  county  to-day  we  see  preserved  those 
traits  of  moral  worth,  of  maternal  enterprise,  and  of 
lofty  patriotism  which  are  the  safeguard  ol'  the  most 
highly  developed  American  communities. 


-  Apptetou' B  Joiim4il,  November  7,  1874. 


GENERAL  HISTORY 


FROM  1783  TO  1860. 


473 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL  HISTORY  FROM  1783  TO  1860. 

BY  REV.  WILLIAM  S.  COFFEY,  M.A. 
of  East  Chester. 

Poet-Bevolutionary  Narrative — Public  Works— Political  History. 

It  will  be  readily  conceived  that  years  must  have 
elapsed  before  the  memory  of  the  wrongs  and  of  the 
emotions  which  they  aroused  should  have  disappeared 
to  any  extent  among  the  inhabitants  of  Westchester 
County,  who  had  suffered  so  much  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary conflict.  The  bitter  animosities  in  families 
and  between  neighbors  which  had  been  engendered, 
it  were  hard  for  the  most  considerate  to  lay  aside,  and 
it  were  scarce  possible  that  the  most  trifling  disagree- 
ment should  not  reproduce.'  The  high-handed 
measures  of  confiscation,  which  followed  the  procla- 
mation of  peace,  served  to  inflame  anew  the  old  sores ; 
and  the  accusations,  indictments,  prosecutions  and 
inflictions  for  offenses  of  the  war-time,  which  filled 
up,  for  several  years  after  it,  the  proceedings  of  the 
County  Court  of  Sessions,  are  but  indications  not  more 
of  the  outrages  reprehended,  than  of  the  subsequent 
unwillingness  to  condone  and  forget  them.  The 
many  missed  faces,  the  traces  of  care  and  anxiety  on 
those  one  did  meet,  the  decayed  and  vacant  houses 
and  dilapidated  barns,  the  marked  change  in  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  well-to-do  families,  the  alteration 
in  the  moral  tone,  not  only  of  the  young,  but  of  many 
past  the  years  of  early  life  who  in  them  had  been 
most  exemplary,  the  number  of  diseased  and  wounded 
men,  many  of  whom  were  hastening  to  their  graves, 
the  often  felt  presence  still  of  the  lawless  marauder 
daring  enough  to  follow  his  once  riskless  trade — all 
this  kept  up  long  the  general  sadness  and  tearfulness. 

This  story,  indeed,  would  be  incomplete,  if  men- 
tion were  not  made  of  the  hundreds  of  excellent  people 
who  reluctantly  left  the  county  for  foreign  homes. 

But  to  those  who  did  remain  is  the  credit  due  that 
they  settled  themselves  t)  their  old  employments, 
much  impoverished,  but  with  strong  wills,  and  not  a 

•MtOor  Samuel  Pell,  who  before  the  war  had  become  engaged  to  his 
cousin,  Mary  Pell,  seems,  from  letters  of  expostulation  with  him  of 
his  brother,  Philip  I'ell.  to  have  been  very  anxious,  as  the  contest  was 
closing,  to  abruptly  leave  the  service.  He  had  so  distinguished  himself, 
•specially  at  the  Battle  of  Saratoga,  as  to  have  received  the  highest  en- 
cuminnis,  and  his  family  was  anxious  lest  he  should  be  a  loser  by  his 
impatience.  But  at  the  dawn  of  peace  he  returned  home  and  claimed  his 
affianced,  who  indignantly  spurned  him  with  the  declaration  that  she 
would  not  have  one  come  near  her,  who  bad  the  scent  of  a  rebel.  Neither 
of  them  ever  married. 

Will  one  wonder  at  the  bitter  feelings  of  an  old  inhabitant 
cf  East  Chester,  when  he  remembered  that  his  mother,  with  himself 
an  infant  in  her  arms,  was  compelled  to  escape  in  the  dead  of  the 
night  from  her  burning  home- set  on  fire  by  the  enemy,  in  pursuit  of  her 
husband  ?  The  very  man  who  had  informed  them  of  Captain  L.'s  arrival 
home,  how  must  he  have  been  maddened  in  his  turn  when  he  remem- 
bered that  he  had  been  lashed,  again  and  again,  to  force  from  him  his 
money,  and  had  sjKjnt  night  after  night  away  from  his  homo  and  family 
to  avoid  the  violence  and  robbery  of  hostile  neighbors? 
44 


few  with  great  hopes.  Patriotic  expressions,  declara- 
tions of  the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  wise  counsel- 
ings  as  to  the  public  policy,  and  as  to  the  courses  of 
action  in  the  several  industries  and  interests,  mingle 
in  the  letters  of  the  day,  with  the  usual  detail  of  inci- 
dent, and  ever  and  anon  with  passionate  denunciation 
of  the  past  follies  of  neighbors  bringing  so  much  trou- 
ble. 

The  farms  of  the  County,  with  soil  none  the  best  to 
be  sure,  were  in  a  while  restored  to  their  former  yield- 
ing power,  and  signs  of  the  old  comfort  and  thrift 
began  to  appear.  It  was  not  long  before  it  was  real- 
ized that  the  former  strength  and  prosperity  were  fast 
returning.  The  population,  which  had  decreased 
some  one  thousand  or  twelve  hundred,  began  to  show 
marks  of  increase. 

Perhaps  nothing  gave  a  stronger  impulse  to  the  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  the  county  than  the 
demand,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  for  the 
products  of  the  American  soil  in  foreign  markets, 
during  the  distracting  and  devastating  war  on  the 
European  Continent.  The  prices  which  the  farmer 
obtained  were  almost  fabulous,  and  all  the  other  in- 
dustries, of  course,  flourished  under  the  good  fortune. 
In  connection  with  this,  it  must  also  be  stated  that  the 
freedom  of  the  seas  was  now  open,  unrivaled,  to  the 
new  nation,  whose  fine  harbors  so  distinctively 
seemed  to  point  out  the  commercial  consequence  to 
which,  under  a  wise  policy,  she  might  attain.  The 
Port  of  New  York  was  especially  marked  for  its  ac- 
tivity, and  the  number  of  vessels  which  weekly  started, 
freighted  for  foreign  markets,  seem,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, almost  incredible.  Of  course,  from  this 
prosperity  of  the  city,  Westchester  County,  in  its 
turn,  derived  much  advantage. 

In  noting  the  progress  of  the  several  towns,  we  are 
struck  with  the  steadily  increasing  traffic  by  land  and 
water,  and  with  the  multiplication  of  the  facilities  for 
intercommunication.  Smaller  roads  are  being  con- 
structed and  ready  access  afforded  to  the  mills,  to  the 
villages  and  to  the  River  and  the  Sound.  The  old 
thoroughfares  are  being  improved  and  new  lengths  of 
road  take  the  place  of  impracticable  old  ones.  On 
the  east  side  of  the  county,  by  act  of  the  Legislature 
of  1800,  under  a  company  of  which  Philij)  Pell,  John 
P.  Delancy,  Cornelius  Rosevelt,  Peter  J.  Munroe 
and  Gabriel  Furman  are  the  members  mentioned  in 
the  bill,  a  turnpike  road  was  constructed  from  East 
Chester  to  Byram  River,  over  which  soon  passed  the 
eastward  stage  to  Greenwich,  Stamford,  Danbury, 
New  Haven  and  on  to  Boston,  of  course  covering  the 
various  villages  of  the  county  which  were  on  the 
route. 

But  still  other  matters  attract  our  attention.  The 
religious  services  have  been  resumed  at  all  the  old 
points  and  the  church  edifices  have  been  repaired  or 
rebuilt.  Where  titles  were  defective  and  action  of 
the  town  was  required,  the  steps  thought  proper  were 
taken  at  town-meeting,  or  where  an  act  of  the  Legis- 


474 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lature  was  needed  to  protect  a  neighbor  or  his  family 
from  wrong,  it  was  applied  for  and  obtained.  Take, 
as  an  instance,  the  Act  passed  June  19,  1812,  for  the 
heirs  of  a  valued  citizen  and  patriot,  John  G.  Wright, 
in  which  it  was  provided  that  "  letters  patent  issue 
for  Charity  Wright,  his  widow,  and  for  his  heirs  for 
five  hundred  acres  in  the  tract  set  apart  for  the  use  of 
the  line  of  this  State  in  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  which  said  John  Wright  was  a  Surgeon's 
mate  in  the  General  Hospital  in  the  Northern  De- 
partment." 

The  machinery  of  the  higher  courts  was  set  in 
motion   and   crimes  were  promptly  punished  and 


W  V^»w\  ^  wis.  V^-iO^  - 


wrongs  more  thoughtfully  and  certainly  redressed. 
The  education  of  the  children  became  more  an 
object  of  attention  under  new  incentives  and  ne- 
cessities. The  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  9th  of 
April,  1795,  by  which  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  pounds  was  given 
annually  for  five  years  for  school  purposes  to 
the  County  of  Westchester,  grew  out  of  this  feeling, 
and  were  responded  to  according  to  the  conditions 
of  the  gift  by  the  voters  of  each  town,  in  the 
appropriation  of  a  sum  equal  to  one-half  of  what  was 
received,  school  commissioners  being  chosen  for  the 
distribution  of  the  moneys.  The  above  is  a  fac- 
simile of  a  paper  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Town 


Clerk  of  East  Chester,  in  which  is  certified  the 
amount  of  school  money  allotted  to  that  town.  This 
was  the  first  apportionment  under  the  act. 

Just  as  readily,  in  1812,  when  an  equal  sum  to  that 
appropriated  by  the  State  was  in  a  new  Act  asked 
of  each  town,  the  vote  was  readily  given,  and  the 
proper  officers  named.  During  this  period,  through- 
out the  county,  school-houses  were  being  restored  or 
re-erected.  Provision  for  the  poor  was  also  freely 
made  yearly  by  the  several  towns  and  by  the  Board 
of  Supervisors. 

In  1786  eighteen  hundred  pounds  were  appro- 
priated for  the  erection  of  court-houses  and  jails 
at  White  Plains  and  Bedford.  After 
the  burning  of  the  public  buildings  at 
White  Plains  in  the  war,  prisoners  had 
been  confined  in  the  jails  at  New  York, 
Westchester  and  Kingston,  and  in  other 
places,  temporarily,  for  safety,  and  the 
courts  were  held  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Bedford  and  the  church 
building  at  East  Chester  (not  yet  used  for 
religious  purposes). 

This  steady  and  quite  regular  increase 
is  the  more  wonderful  as  remembered  in 
connection  with  the  known  fact  of  heavy 
losses  by  the  removal  of  some  of  the  best 
people  of  the  County  to  large  farms  and 
more  productive  localities  in  the  northern 
and  central  regions  of  the  State.  To  the 
adjoining  city  there  was,  and  ever  since 
has  been,  a  large  annual  contribution  of 
those  preferring  the  haunts  of  trade.  The 
names  of  Westchester  County  settlers  ap- 
pear in  large  numbers  in  the  City  Direc- 
tory of  the  early  years  of  this  century, 
and  in  the  Record  Books  of  Deeds, 
Mortgages  and  Wills,  at  the  county  seats 
of  Northern,  Central  and  Western  New 
York.  In  many  cases  the  farmer  soldiers 
of  the  Revolution,  or  those  to  whom  they 
had  sold  out  their  "  rights,"  were  event- 
ually settling  on  the  lands  which  had 
been  laid  out  for  and  divided  among 
the  troops  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Charles  Ward,  on  the  16th  of  June,  1795,  from 
Palatine  Bridge,  on  the  Mohawk,  writes:  "Business 
goes  on  briskly  this  summer,  and  my  crops  like  to 
be  good,  and  I  have  the  prospect  of  getting  in  a 
large  crop  of  wheat." ' 

At  the  height  of  this  prosperity  the  course  which 
England  and  France  thought  fit  to  take  to  weaken 
each  other  in  1806  had  the  most  serious  effect  upon 
the  United  States,  whose  interest  and  desire  was  to. 
avoid  all  complications  and  preserve  peace.  In  this 
"  afflicting  crisis,"  the  consequences  of  which  were 

1  Cbarles  Ward,  eldest  son  of  Stephen  Ward,  and  for  several  yeal'^ 
";ift  'r  peace  "  the  town  clerk  of  East  Chester.  In  1S03  be  represented 
llontgoniery  County  in  the  New  York  Assembly. 


GENERAL  HISTORY 


FROM  1783  TO  1860. 


475 


felt  throughout  the  laud  in  the  depreciation  of  values, 
particularly  of  the  agricultural  products,  the  Em- 
bargo Act,  which  prohibited  any  exportation  of 
goods  whatever,  brought  the  people  into  the  still 
more  subdued  position,  strongly  stated  at  the  time 
as  "one  in  which  they  shall  sell  nothing  but 
what  they  sell  to  each  other"  and  "all  our  surplus 
produce  shall  rot  on  our  hands."  ■  The  reduction  in 
the  prices  went  on  until  it  amounted  to  sixty  per 
cent.  Wheat,  which  had  been  selling  per  bushel 
at  two  dollars,  scarce  brought  seventy-five  cents. 
And  not  only  were  the  citizens  of  the  county 
affected  by  the  diminished  value  of  their  goods, 
but  also  many  of  them  by  the  stoppage  of  the 
returns  from  their  ventures,  in  the  ships  and  their 
cargoes,  in  which  they  had  joined  interest  with  the 
traders  of  the  city. 

The  citizens  of  Westchester  County  were  prepared 
without  distinction  of  party  to  enter  with  their  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  State  into  the  defense  of  their  com- 
mon country  in  the  War  of  1812.  There  is  abundant 
evidence  that  the  factious  spirit  which  appeared  in 
New  England  made  but  little  show  in  these  parts. 
The  questions  discussed  were  rather  as  to  the  wisdom 
and  the  vigor  which  characterized  the  movements  in 
asserting  the  national  dignity  than  .  as  to  the 
necessity  of  them.  Time  had  been  allowed,  since  the 
aggressive  act  of  1806,  to  the  most  partial  to  realize 
the  narrow  and  contemptuous  feeling  of  the  enemy, 
and  new  evidence  was  continually  turning  up,  in  the 
acts  of  impressment  and  uncalled-for  interference 
with  our  marine,  that  self-preservation  was  the  neces- 
sity of  the  hour.  The  numbers  of  foremost  citizens 
of  our  towns,  who  are  remembered  as  in  later  yeai-s 
referring  with  pride  to  their  military  services  in  the 
last  war  with  Great  Britain,  show  that  by  the  best 
members  of  the  community  there  was  evinced  at  the 
time  all  that  zeal,  which  anxiety  for  the  reputation  of 
the  county  could  desire.  In  the  positions  of  home 
defense,  as  well  as  of  active  duty  at  distant  points, 
and  in  the  invoked  labors  of  placing  "  the  city  "  in  a 
condition  for  resistance,  the  sons  of  Westchester  were 
behind  none  of  their  countrymen. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  condition  of  the 
county  during  the  war  shows  indications  rather  of 
prosperity  than  of  embarrassment.  The  prices  were 
encouriiging  to  labor,  and  a  number  of  the  citizens  of 
those  times  laid  then  the  foundations  of  their  future 
wealth.  The  crops  seem  to  have  been  abundant.  So, 
when  peace  was  restored,  there  was  a  broad  basis  laid 
upon  which  a  substantial  prosperity  might  steadily  be 
realized.  As  in  the  colonial  period,  so  for  many 
years  after  it,  the  population  was  made  up  of  thrifty 
farmers,  the  colored  race  (not  very  valuable  as  lielp, 
certainly  not  as  property),  of  a  few  tradespeople  and 
mechanics,  and  of  a  sprinkling  of  men  of  wealth, 


■Ganlenier's  speech  iu  Congress,  February,  1S08,  IlUlarical  3l<(^ii:iiie, 
November,  1S73. 


the  influence  of  whose  hereditary  or 'acquired  for- 
tunes was  distinctly  felt  in  all  the  neighborhoods  in 
which, they  had  settled.  From  the  following  paper 
may  be  obtained  an  impression  of  the  financial 
strength  of  the  county,  and,  what  will  be  to  many  of 
interest,  the  names  of  leading  persons  in  it  in  the 
various  walks  of  life  : 

Statement  OF  THE  AMOUNT  OP  iNTEBNAi.  Duties  imposed  by  the  Laws 
OK  THE  United  States  (except  those  on  Furniture,  Watches  and 
Stamps)  Paid  nv  EACH  Person  in  the  Third  Collection  District 
Of  New  York  durinu  the  year  1815. 


$25.88 

$17.50 

Archer,  .John  (of  G.  B.) 

.  24.98 

Bareinore,  Nathan'I  &  Son 

1.87 

19.50 

1.25 

4.00 

22,50 

Anderson,  .Jeremiah  .  . 

.  2.00 

22.50 

4.00 

22.50 

Archer,  John  (of  E.  C.) 

.  38.54 

14.69 

15.00 

2.00 

2.6.5 

2.00 

0.84 

21.88 

0.49 

21.88 

1.13 

27.18 

4.00 

Anderson,  Joseph,  Jr.  . 

.  3.18 

4.(10 

2.00 

1.00 

Beekman,  Stephen  D.  . 

.  4.00 

Carpenter,  Mary  .... 

1.00 

11.00 

Carpenter,  Cliarles  .  .  . 

4.00 

4.00 

2.00 

1.00 

2,00 

7.00 

4.00 

1.00 

1,00 

Buckley,  Gershum  .  . 

.  .  4.00 

2.(K) 

Browne,  Ilachali.ah  .  . 

.  .  4.00 

18,50 

1.00 

l.OO 

1.00 

Calliun,  Tlionias  Mc  .  .  . 

2.00 

4.00 

2.00 

2.00 

Carpenter,  William  .  .  . 

2,00 

4.00 

9.10 

4.00 

2.tK) 

2.00 

Cornwell,  Jonathan  .  .  . 

2.00 

1.00 

2.(K) 

Brown,  Thomas  (of  Rye 

.  .  9.00 

Constant,  St.  John   .  .  . 

2.00 

Brown,  Gilbert  (W.  P.) 

.  .  5.00 

Constant,  Silas 

2  00 

2.00 

Cooper,  Elias  

3,00 

Brundage,  Edward,  Jr  . 

.  .  1.00 

Coggshall,  Gideon,  .  .  . 

.  4.00 

Bates,  Neamiah  S  .  .  . 

.  .  23.88 

Crooker,  Benjamin  .  .  . 

.  19..")(l 

2.00 

Carvill,  George,  Jr  .  .  . 

.  2.00 

1.00 

1.00 

Burling,  Thomas  H  ,  . 

.  .  4.00 

1.00 

4.00 

.  2.00 

4.00 

Clark,  John  G  

2.00 

4.00 

2.00 

1.0(1 

1.00 

Bailey,  Gilbert  .... 

2.00 

Carpenter,  James  .  . 

.  2.00 

Bailey,  Josepli  

.  .  1.00 

Crane  &  Titus  

77.81 

.  29.38 

Brown,  Stephen  (C.  T.) 

.  .  35.76 

3.77 

2.00 

17.47 

8.00 

Covenlioveu,  Martha  .  . 

.  17.50 

2.00 

Clark,  John  G  

21.88 

Brown,  Stephen,  Jr.  (C. 

T.)  3.5 .7e 

Cook,  Elizabeth  

.  14..5U 

lU  cdle,  William  .... 

2.(K) 

21.88 

Brown,  Thomas  (C.  T.) 

.  .  2.0(1 

21.88 

Brown,  Cornelius  .  .  . 

.  .  23.38 

Cooper,  John  (W.  C.)  .  . 

21.88 

l.OO 

Clark,  Stephen  

.   18  00 

Brown,  John  

21.88 

22.50 

Brown,  Henry  .... 

.  .  14..59 

.  22..W 

Baldwin,  Kbeuezer.  .  . 

.  .  17..>0 

476 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Diicher,  William  i  .  ,  ,  . 

12.00 

SI  .00 

1.00 

Guion,  John  (of  Yonkers)  . 

21.80 

Dusenbferry,  Charles  (G.  B.); 

1.00 

21.88 

4.00 

Green  &  Carpenter  .  .  *  . 

21.8.3 

24.50 

21.88 

Davenport,  Lawreuce     .  . 

2.00 

21.88 

20-50 

21,88 

1.00 

1.88 

2.00 

21.88 

Dusenberry,  Charles  (C.  t.)  25.88 

14.50 

Baggetj  Herman  .  . 

1.00 

17.50 

Dyckman,  Elizabeth  .  .  .  . 

11.00 

Guion,  John  (of  N.  R.) .  . 

21.88 

3.00 

0.42 

83.88 

41.65 

Dusenberry,  John  H;  .  .  . 

1.00 

Griffin,  Daniel  

20.55 

Donell.  Flofo  Mc  

2.00 

13.46 

a.oo 

3.00 

1.00 

Hammond,  Abraham  .  . 

2.00 

Dunalil,  Alexander  Mc  .  .  . 

2:00 

1.00 

2^.77 

1.00 

2:50 

Hammond,  William  .  .  . 

2.00 

23.55 

2.00 

11.88 

Hevland,  Solomon  .  .  . 

1.00 

Dyckman,  William  If  .  .  . 

17.50 

Hollpy,  Caleb  

1.00 

21.88 

2.00 

17.50 

2.00 

21.88 

Horton,  Jonathan  P  .  .  . 

1.00 

Dusenberry,  John  

14..^9 

Howlaud,  John  (of  Rye)  . 

2.00 

24.10 

1.00 

Dyckman,  Benjamin  .  .  . 

17.50 

1.00 

2.00 

Halsted,  Philemon  .  .  . 

1.00 

6.16 

2.00 

771.20 

Haight,  .Tohn  

2.00 

2.00 

Hevland,  Benjamin  .  .  . 

3.00 

Foster,  Marmaduke  .... 

2;07 

1.00 

1.00 

2.00 

2.00 

2.00 

2.00 

Fowler,  Benjamin  (of  Yon 

2.00 

24.41 

1.00 

1.00 

2.00 

Franklin,  Ulorianna  ;  .  .  . 

2.00 

Hopkins,  James ... 

2.  IX) 

13.27 

1.00 

2.0O 

1.00 

1.00 

4.00 

2.00 

2.00 

Fiehl,  Uobert  

1.00 

Hadley,  Charles  

2.0U 

1.00 

2.ro 

2.00 

2.00 

Flneliiis,  Robert  

5.00 

1.00 

Ferris,  Stei)lien  

31.15 

Ilarvy,  James  

22.51 

Ilarvy,  Thomas  M   .  .  . 

4.00 

Kowlcr,  Moses  

5.24 

1.00 

Fiirlies,  Abraham  Q  ,  .  .  . 

2.29 

2.00 

Flauderine,  .James  .  .  .  . 

1.75 

Havland,  Bettjamin  .  .  . 

5.i)0 

Foster,  Robert  K  

7.06 

17.59 

Fowler,  Benjamin  >  .  .  .  . 

17.50 

2.00 

21.88 

22.88 

21.88 

Haight,  Moses  .  . 

.  1.00 

21.88 

Hammond,  Abyah  .  .  . 

.  33.00 

Fowler,  Philemon  

14.. '59 

Hallack,  Robert  

.  2.00 

Hunt,  Isaac  

1.00 

Faile  &  Hall  

21.85 

Howard.  Ward  

2:^.88 

Ferris,  Sands  &  Benjamin  . 

2t.88 

Hunt,  .Toseph  

.  •8.00 

Fowler,  Alexander   .  .  .  . 

15.00 

Haight,  Oileb  

.  2.00 

Frost,  Joseph  and  Jacob  .  . 

15.00 

Havland,  Gilbert  .... 

1.00 

22.50 

lIofTniau,  Stephen  B.  .  . 

.  1.00 

Griffin,  John  

3.00 

Hnstace,  Joshua  .... 

.  l.OII 

1.00 

17.15 

Griffin,  Henry  

4.00 

21.88 

Hubbard,  John  

21.88 

Gilbert,  Jacob  

2.00 

2.00 

Halsted,  Hyatt  

.  22..5n 

4.00 

Hcister  &  Smith  

.  22.50 

4.00 

2.88 

1.00 

Hoiig,  Isaac  &  Co  .  .  .  . 

.  22..50 

2.00 

llyati,  .l.  seph  R  .  .  .  . 

15.00 

H&igbt  JoD&tb&D 

814.59 

IVIorrill  Rivers 

$1  00 

Caleb 

15.00 

Merritt  Daniel 

2  00 

QBigbt  Joseph 

22.50 

Martland,  Benjamin 

2.00 

Hyatt,  Nathaniel  .... 

14.59 

Martin  Caleb 

4  00 

Hyatt  John  .... 

1.54 

Martine,  John  ... 

2  00 

Hnniniond  Israel ... 

13.88 

Mead,  Joshua   .  . 

1  00 

Hunt,  Stephen  

17.77 

2.00 

Hatfield,  Abraham  .  .  . 

9.74 

Mead,  Solomon  ... 

2.00 

HortOD  John 

21  09 

Mead  Allen 

4  00 

Handford,  Andrew  ... 

.  13.66 

Mandeville,  James  ... 

26.50 

Hopkins  Ezra 

22.26 

31 0  rgan  A  b  i j  ah 

1  00 

17.24 

Morgan,  Moses  .  .      ,  . 

2  00 

Horton  Wright  . 

11.42 

Morgan,  Benjamin 

4.00 

Jay  Mary 

12  00 

Marsh  John  F 

2  00 

Jasard     .      .  .... 

Morris  James 

9  00 

1  n  gei"8el  Job  n  ... 

1.00 

M  orris  Lew  is 

23  (X) 

Jones,  William  . 

4.00 

Morris  Ricliard  V 

5  00 

14.00 

Morris  Governor 

14  00 

Jones,  Zopber.  .  .  .  .  ■ 

26.83 

Miller  James 

1  00 

Jarvis  Jesso 

2  00 

Merritt,  Jotham 

I  00 

Jackson  Thomas 

1  O'l 

Merritt,  Phebe 

2  00 

Johnston  ^V'illiam  ... 

21.88 

Mead,  Martin  

2  00 

Jones  Daniel 

22  50 

Mott,  Richard 

2  00 

John  Wm.  S.  St. 

22.50 

Morgan  Charles 

I  00 

John  Gold  St 

15  82 

Montross,  Nathaniel .  .  . 

2.00 

Jesop  Samuel 

2  10 

Merrit,  James.  .  .  . 

17  60 

Kemeyt  William 

2  00 

McKeel  Jesse 

1  00 

K  erney  J  no 

8  00 

Miller,  Hetty 

1  00 

K  n  app  Sy  1  van  us 

1  00 

Mabie,  Jolin 

1  OiJ 

Keeler  Walter 

1  (X) 

Marti  in  g  Samuel 

0  87 

Knapp  Samuel 

2  00 

Merry,  Tliomas  H 

1  ou 

Kirby  Tliouias 

'1  88 

McKeel,  Jacob 

2  00 

Ivipp  Gilbert     *  • 

25.27 

Mead  Benjamin 

1  (.K) 

Kent  Jeremiah* 

1  5'' 

Mesier,  Peter  A 

214  8'* 

Ijockwood  Kichard  H 

11.65 

Miller,  John 

11  G9 

Leonard  Abrahani 

3  98 

Miller  James 

43  00 

I.>awrence^  TbomaSf  Jr. 

22.47 

Mandeville  Cornelius 

11.31 

Lawrence,  Isttiic  &  Joseph 

23.87 

Slarshall  Joseph 

3  92 

Lent  Abstilom 

21  88 

Marshall,  Ezra  

12.9') 

Lynt,  Jacob .....   •  . 

14.59 

Marsha)  1  Moses 

13  75 

Lyon,  VV.  S.  Jt  A  .  .  .  . 

22. .50 

Merritt  Daniel 

194  05 

Livin^jston,  Philip  I.  .  . 

l.(X) 

Martling  John 

26  75 

Lyon  Jonathan  .  .  .  .  * 

4.(X) 

Mortross  David  G 

Le wi^  JH  ar^aret 

2"^  88 

Marks  Michael 

2i  88 

Lyon  Siiiiiuel 

1  00 

Marks  Moses  I 

21  88 

Lewis,  JatiieA 

4  00 

Morrel  Susannah 

17  50 

Lockw(K>d  Abraham 

2.00 

Mead  Robert 

20  5(1 

Lonnybiiry,  Stephen  .  .  . 

2.00 

Marshall  A  Haight 

21  88 

Lyon  James 

1  00 

Nelson,  Absjilom 

4  1)0 

Lee  Uobert  P 

4  00 

Nash,  Joseph 

2  00 

Lynch  Oominick 

9  00 

Newman  Noah 

4  82 

2.00 

Odell  Jonathan  D 

o  ^)Q 

Lee  Elijah 

2  00 

Odel  1  Jonathan 

1  00 

Lockwood  Ezra  ..... 

1.00 

Odel)  Jackson 

4  00 

Lyon  Holley 

1  00 

Odell,  Isaac. 

2  00 

Lei^get  Thomas 

9  00 

Odell,  Jacob  . 

9  00 

Lawrence  Thomas  P.  . 

4.00 

Oppie,  John 

4  00 

LamontAgnOi  Jacob  De . 

4.00 

Owen,  John  .  . 

23  88 

Lawrence  Joel 

2  00 

Oakley,  Isaac  . 

4  ()0 

Lockwood  Ebenezer  Jr 

21.88 

Olmsted,  David  .  . 

1.00 

14.59 

Odell  Jonathan 

2.'J  75 

LawTlnce'samber" 

21  88 

Oakley  Charles 

21  88 

T 

14  59 

Odell,  Abraham  &  Son 

21.88 

Lyon  Hyatt 

15  (X) 

14  59 

Log'^et  Abrahani  . 

14..59 

Oakley  Augustus 

21  88 

Ijce  Edwird 

35  75 

Odell  William  D 

9  77 

Mott  Samuel  C 

*>2  58 

Odell,  Daniel  &  Co 

17.H8 

4  00 

Paulding,  John,  Jr 

76,05 

SIcGowen  Wary 

1  00 

Preastly,  Edward 

4.00 

Merritt  Jonathan 

2  00 

l*urd v  A  ugustus 

8  22 

Merritt  Robert  .  ... 

2.00 

1.00 

2.00 

2.00 

4.00 

4.00 

2.O0 

Park.  Rt)ger  

2.00 

Miller,  Richard  

.  1.00 

Pngsley,  I.  and  Jeremiah 

.  337.90 

2.00 

Purdy,  Thomas  ... 

.  4.00 

1.00 

Piigsley,  S.  and  Jeremiah 

.  3NI.21 

GENERAL  HISTORY 


FROM  1783  TO  1860. 


477 


Piiriy,  Roger   ?2.(K) 

I'lirily,  Natliaiiiel   l.()0 

ProvcKist,  Will.  S   2.00 

Pino,  Samuel   2.00 

Park,  Jee»e   1.00 

Park,  Jesse,  Jr   1.00 

Puitly,  Ann   1.00 

Punly,AVilliam   2.00 

Purdy,  fJeaniiah   1.00 

Puriner,  Joliu   l.iK) 

Purdy,  Thomas   4.00 

Pears,  Daniel   4.a) 

Po.-it,  James   1.00 

Post,  Isaac   1.00 

Post,  Jacob   I.OO 

Pealor.  George   18..i0 

P»i,'sly,  Taiinan   1.00 

IVipliam,  William   2.00 

Pell,  Caleb   l.OII 

I'unly,  Timothy   XilO 

Purily,  Samuel   11.00 

Punly,  Elijah   1.00 

Pelton,  Oaniel   22.88 

Pell,  David  I   l.(X) 

Purdy,  Ebenezer   1.00 

Peck,  Jerod   2.3.88 

Pugsley,  Hannah   l.oO 

Punly,  Isaac   4.00 

Pcnfteld,  Henry  L   W.-iO 

Purdy  Jt  Hawiey   21.88 

Perry,  Talraan  &  Monson  .  55.16 

Parker,  Isiuic   14.59 

Philips,  James   24.00 

Purdy     Bcdle   22  50 

Penfield,  Henry  L   17.50 

PutUy,  Hudd   21.88 

Purdy,  James  H   6.-57 

Kuimby,  Elijah  

Quick,  John   1.00 

Quimby,  William     ....  3.00 

Requa,  Isaac   2.5.88 

Reed,  Aaron   4.0O 

Rayniuiid,  Joshua   2.'iu 

Rapelyc,  George   0.00 

Byer,  William   2.00 

Riymond,  Medad   1.00 

Bundel,  Samuel   2.00 

Bundle,  John   4.iiO 

Reed,  Archer   2.00 

Roger,  David,  Jr   2.00 

Raymond,  Henry  (of  Bed- 
ford)   25.88 

Raymond,  Heury  (W.  C.)  .  1.00 

Reed,  Mary   1.00 

Roraer,  John   14. .59 

Re<|ua.&  Dean   21.88 

Bequea,  Daniel   17. .50 

Bundle,  Solomon   21.88 

Bundle,  William      ....  14..59 

Baymond,  Seth   24  (lit 

Bich,  Elijah    18.00 

Roliertsoii,  Zabud   21.88 

Rider,  Fowler  F   21.88 

Koe,  Benjamin   3.56 

Raymond,  Enoch   7.84 

Smith,  Thomas  G   2.MI 

Smith,  William   2.00 

Si'liureman,  John  

Sniffen,  James  

StraiiR,  Joseph    2.IX) 

Str.uipc,  Henry   2.00 

Strang,  Daniel  22.88 

Btraiig,  H.  ami  Joseph.  .  .  21.88 

Seama  -,  Sylvanus   1.00 

Smith.  Wm   H   16..59 

Sherwood.  Jonathan.  .  .  .  2.00 

Seymaii,  Drake   2.00 


Smith,  John  $23.88 

Smith,  Thomas   23.88 

Smilli,  Philip   23.88 

Swartout,  Bernardus,  Jr  .  .  2.00 

Sherwood,  Bishop   4.00 

Smith,  Caleb,  Jr   2.00 

Smith,  Isiuic  and  Jesse.  .  .  23.88 

Styiuup,  .lesper   1.00 

Smith,  Matson   (i.OO 

Stning,  Ebenezer   2.(»0 

Strang,  Samuel   4.011 

Silknian,  Daniel   2.110 

Silkinan,  John   1.00 

Sutton,  Wiuford   1.00 

Seacoid,  Daniel   1.00 

Simpson,  Thomivs   2.00 

Soraerville,  James   4.00 

Slater,  Wm   1.00 

Shutc,  Elisha   1.00 

Smith,  David   17.50 

Shavanali,  Patrick   21.88 

Scofield,  Ebenezer   14.59 

Smith,  Abel   22.50 

See,  Peter   21.88 

Smith,  Benjamin   22.50 

Smith  &  Fish   22.50 

Smith,  Reuben   50.74 

Schofield,  Richard   2.78 

Sherwood,  Gilbert   5.80 

Strang,  Peter   2.61 

Smith,  Stephen   2.33 

Thornton,  Thomas   4.00 

Titus,   Rebecca   2.O0 

Theal,  Thomas   2.00 

Theal,  Billey  2,00 

Tompkins,  .Mexander  .  .  .  I.IKJ 

Tompkins,  W.  G   4  00 

Tompkin.s,  Xoah   1.00 

Trip,  Daniel   2.00 

Thomas,  .Mathow   2.00 

Thorn,  Samuel   4.00 

Titus,  Samuel   2.C0 

Thomas,  Thomas   2.03 

Tompkins,  Caleb   4.00 

Tompkins,  Jonathan  G.  .  .  2.(X) 

Twitching,  Henry   15.59 

Thompson,  Charles   4.00 

Thomas,  Tompkins  ....  23.88 

Titus,  John,  Jr   2:3.88 

Theal,  Hachaliah   2.00 

Todd,  Ira   2.00 

TowDsend,  John   4.(X) 

Todd,  Abraham  2.00 

Taylor,  Elizabeth   4.00 

Tidd,  William   2.00 

Tompkins,  Noah  B   21.88 

Talt,  Elias   10.59 

Tompkins,  G.  and  S.  B.  .  .  22.50 

Thorn  >t  Conkliu   22.50 

Taft  *  Dreslirew   21.88 

Trowbriilge,  Samuel.  .  .  .  21.81 

Taylor,  Samuel  90 

Tcrtulus,  Townsend  ....  l.(HJ 
Underbill,  Solomon  ....     1  (Kl 

Underbill,  Bishop   23.88 

Underhill,  Nichohis  ....  2.U0 
Underbill,  Frederick.  .  .  .  4.(X) 

Underhill,  Peter   4.00 

Underhill,  Ijiincastcr.  .  .  .  22.88 

Underhill,  Gilbert   16.59 

Underbill,  Thomas  ....     2. On 

Underhill,  Joshua   2.00 

Underhill,  Caleb   2.(X) 

Underbill,  .Vbraham  I  .  .  .  I.OO 
Underhill,  James  (X.  C).  .  2.(K) 
Underhill,  Jaiue3(of  Soincrs)  17.25 
Underhill,  Roliert   2.tHi 


Unaernill,  ■John  B.  x,  Oo  .  . 

if  21 .88 

15.00 

l.(X) 

Unuerniil  &  \VeeKS  .  .  .  . 

14.57 

Ward,  .loiiatlian  

4.00 

Underhill,  B  and  J.  B  .  .  . 

22.50 

Watts,  Robert  

IC.OO 

LnMorhill,  liiibert  (oi  e>. 

.  31.7.3 

2.fK) 

4.00 

2.00 

1.00 

1.00 

2.00 

1.00 

2.00 

Walker,  Thomas  

0.00 

an  Cortlandt,  An^cnstus. 

8.(X) 

1.00 

22.88 

Weed,  .\nania8  

1 .00 

2.00 

White,  Ebenezer  J  .  .  .  . 

2.00 

Van  Cortlandt,  Pierre  .  , 

4.00 

2.00 

0.00 

2.00 

Van  Cortlandt,  Philip  ,  . 

6.00 

Webbers,  Is:uic  .  .      .  .  . 

2.00 

16.59 

Valentine,  Gcrsiuim  B  .  . 

21.88 

21.88 

14.59 

21.88 

Vantastle  &  Sarles  .  .  .  . 

110.47 

Williams,  John  and  George.  21.88 

1.40 

2  00 

22.50 

It':!  .1 ....  y.. 

2.(X) 

1.00 

Williams,  William  

22.50 

4.00 

15.00 

W  -I        T,,.  — 

4.(X) 

Williams,  Elisha.  .  .  .    •  , 

22.50 

W  hitmore,  fjl^'ckeah.  .  > 

1  00 

Williams,  Williams  (of  Bed 

1.00 

ford)   

21.88 

2.00 

24.09 

Willett,  Waite  

1.00 

1.40 

Williams,  Raymond  .  .  , 

7.92 

AViUiamson,  William,  Jr.  . 

4.98 

Wright,  Nathaniel.  .  .  . 

4.03 

2.00 

8.00 

Yerks,  John  F  

21.82 

Warner,  William  .... 

1  00 

37.88 

Warner,  John  

1.00 

22.50 

The  emancipation  of  the  slave  in  Westchester 
County  was  iiiidoubtedly  less  a  blessing  to  him  than 
to  his  owner.  Whatever  may  be  the  experience  now 
in  the  more  genial  climate  of  the  South,  as  to  the  ele- 
vation. happine.ss  and  increase  of  the  colored  race, 
after  the  recovery  of  its  freedom,  the  result  here  was 
most  disastrous.  It  was  not,  however,  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  the  master,  for  certain  is  it  that  the  Westches- 
ter agriculturalist  found  himself  called  to  more  intel- 
ligent and  remunerative  tillage  when  relieved  of  the 
scarcely  profitable  help  of  his  bondman.  Such  is 
the  universal  testimony. 

What  a  .-ight  must  have  presented  itself  as  over  our 
three  great  thoroughfares,  not  only  the  farmers  of  the 
county,  but  often,  as  when  the  river  and  sound  were 
ice-bound,  those  of  the  regions  beyond  passed  into 
the  city  with  their  heavy  loads  of  produce.  There 
were  hours  of  the  day  when  the  roads,  it  is  said,  were 
fairly  blocked  by  the  heavy  traffic  upon  them,  and  eye 
witnesses  declare  that  at  night  even  the  floors  of  the 
bar  and  sitting-rooms  of  the  taverns  were  spread  over 
with  the  sleepers  tarrying  to  rest  themselves  and 
their  teams  for  a  few  hours  on  the  way. 

The  activity  thus  apparent  was  accompanied  with 
such  improvements  in  the  several  neighborhoods  as 
readily  to  attract  the  attention  of  travelers.  The 
care  taken  of  the  highways  and  of  the  various  public 
buildings  may  be  seen  in  the  town  and  church  records. 
A  reference  to  some  of  the  private  accounts  shows  in 
the  repair  of  houses  and  estates  a  careful  and  yet  lib- 
eral expenditure. 

It  is  proper  here  to  say  that  about  this  time  the 


HlSTOllY  OF  WESTCHESTBll  COUNTY. 


i 


478 


Poor  House  of  the  County  was  built.  The  date  of  its 
construction  is  1827.  It  is  situated  in  the  town  of 
Mt.  Pleasant,  about  five  miles  north  of  White  Plains, 
and  two  miles  east  of  Tarrytown,  in  a  beautiful  portion 
of  the  county.  The  farm  contains  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  acres,  and  the  institution  several  build- 
ings of  stone. 

At  about  the  same  period  the  State  Prison  at  Sing 
Sing,  in  this  county,  was  erected.  It  was  built  from 
1825  to  1829,  by  the  convicts  themselves.  The  prison 
was  built  here  because  of  the  marble  quarries  upon 
which  the  labor  of  the  convicts  might  be  employed. 
It  covers  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  land  lying 
on  the  Hudson  River,  and  a  more  healthful  or  beau- 
tiful location  could  not  have  been  selected. 

If  the  eye  be  allowed  to  pass  over  the  Table  of  Pop- 
ulation which  will  be  found  inserted  at  the  end  of  this 
chapter,  he  will  remark  how  rapid  after  1835  the 
increase.  We  turn  readily  to  the  cause,  and  delay  for 
moment  to  detail  the  steps  taken  in  the  construction 
of  the  railroads  which  afford  such  facilities  for  tra- 
versing the  county. 

Public  Works.  —  The  New  York  and  Harlem 
Railroad  Company  was  incorporated  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  New  York  on  the  25th  of  April, 
1831.  Audits  franchises  which  were  increased  by 
several  subsequent  acts  during  the  next  eight  years, 
covered  only  the  City  and  County  of  New  Y'ork  and 
extended  only  as  far  as  the  Harlem  River.  The  dif- 
ficulties which  the  company  had  here  to  master,  were 
he  cause  of  much  of  its  embarrassment  in  after  years. 
The  route  on  Manhattan  Island  presented  the  most 
formidable  natural  obstacles,  and  entailed  conse- 
quently the  heaviest  expenditures.  On  the  17th  of 
April,  1832,  the  Legislature  by  act  incorporated  the 
New  York  and  Albany  Railroad,  with  a  charter 
authorizing  the  construction  of  a  road,  commencing 
on  the  island  of  New  York,  where  the  Fourth  Av- 
enue terminates  and  extending  to  the  city  of  Albany. 
This  Company  not  being  able  to  avail  itself  of  its 
privileges,  "  after  six  years  of  vicissitude  and  vain 
effort "  surrendered  its  rights  in  Westchester  County  to 
the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad.  The  compact 
made  between  the  two  companies,  the  Legislature  in 
May  1840  affirmed,  empowering  the  Harlem  Com- 
pany to  construct  a  bridge  over  the  Harlem  River 
and  a  railroad  through  Westchester  County  to  an 
intersection  with  the  New  York  and  Albany's  line  of 
road  which  would  be  at  the  southern  boundary  of 
Putnam  County.  The  first  portion  of  the  road  which 
it  was  determined  to  build,  was  as  far  up  as  White 
Plains,  and  amusing  enough  are  the  limited  calcula- 
tions made  by  the  engineers  of  the  day,  to  meet  the 
question  as  to  the  ability  of  Westchester  County  to 
support  a  railroad.  The  passengers  and  freight  from 
five  supposed  points  at  which  they  would  come  on  the 
road,  are  figured  out  by  one  of  the  engineers  on  the 
basis  of  stage  fares  and  tonnage  prices,  and  the  result 
is  that  $47,788  would  be  received  from  passengers  and 


«!60.980  from  freight  or  a  total  of  $108,768,  which  it 
was  said  would  fully  meet  all  expenditures  and  yield 
a  profit  of  at  least  25  per  cent,  on  the  capital  in- 
vested. Another  engineer  calculates  upon  an  imme- 
diate income  of  $60,000,  $950  of  which  is  to  come  from 
the  Catholic  School  at  Fordham  and  Powell's  School 
at  Westchester.  The  following  is  another  statement 
ventured  by  the  President  of  the  New  York  and 
Albany  Railroad  in  1838.  "The  town  of  East  Ches- 
ter will  contribute  along  with  Kain's  Marble  Quarry 
$15,000,  and  six  other  towns  of  Westchester  County 
$16,000  to  support  a  railroad."  It  is  safe  to  affirm 
that  no  one  took  as  much  interest  in  the  construction 
of  this  road  as  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris.  The  route 
found  to  be  the  most  advantageous  after  leaving  the 
Harlem,  was  to  aim  directly  for  Mill  Brook,  and  thence 
along  it  to  the  valley  of  the  Bronx  near  William's 
Bridge,  and  thence  along  that  valley  to  White  Plains, 
the  whole  distance  being  20  miles.  Here  were  found 
broad  level  flats  above  the  bed  of  the  streams  avera- 
ging 500  feet  in  width,  skirted  by  table  lands  of  gravel 
30  feet  above  the  flat  and  averaging  200  feet  in  width, 
affording  great  facilities  for  grading.  Rock  occurs  at 
a  few  points,  chiefly  granite  and  gneiss,  offering  stone 
for  culverts  at  reasonable  distances  and  inconsidera- 
ble expense.  The  road  was  constructed  and  in  use 
to  Fordham  by  October  1841 '  to  William's  Bridge  by 
1842,  to  Tuckchoe  by  July,  1844  and  to  White  Plains 
later  in  the  same  year,  passing  through  the  towns  of 
Morrisania,  West  Farms,  Yonkers,  Eist  Chester,  Scars- 
dale,  Greenburg  and  White  Plains.  Says  one  long  an 
employee  of  the  road,  "the  first  running  of  the  trains 
through  the  county  was  a  matter  of  great  curiosity, 
and  crowds  of  people  surveyed  it  from  the  adjoining 
hills.''  From  the  report  of  the  company  in  1846,  we 
learn  that  the  cost  of  construction  of  six  miles  of 
road  from  the  south  side  of  Harlem  River  Bridge  to 
William's  Bridge  was  $38,475  per  mile,  while  the 
thirteen  miles  of  road  from  William's  Bridge  to  White 
Plains  cost  $11,277  per  mile.  Stages  from  the  import- 
ant villages,  were  immediately  put  on  for  the  nearest 
stations  as  the  work  advanced.  It  is  stated  as  a  fact 
that  the  company  suffered  severely  at  first  from  the 
dishonesty  of  the  conductors  who  collected  their 
fares  on  board  of  the  trains.  The  building  of  the 
road  above  White  Plains  seems  to  have  been  pro- 
ceeded with,  after  very  little,  if  any,  delay.  In  the 
report  above  cited  the  completion  of  the  whole  dis- 
tance is  promised  by  May,  1847.  Mr.  Allan  Campbell, 
the  engineer,  thus  details  the  route  chosen :  "  It  pur- 
sues the  valley  of  the  Bronx  for  three  miles,  when  it 
passes  to  the  valley  of  the  Saw  Mill  by  Davis's  Brook 
and  Fly  Brook  .  .  .  The  Saw  Mill  is  then  fol- 
lowed to  its  head-waters,  where  the  ridge  (of  high 
broken  ground  running  from  east  to  west  about  eight 
or  ten  miles  above  White  Plains,  the  principal  obsta- 


•  Coiiimittco's  Keport  to  Stockholders,  October  15,  1841. 


GENERAL  HISTORY 


FROM  1783  TO  1860. 


479 


cle)  is  passed  with  a  cutting  of  only  nine  feet.  The 
line  now  descends  by  the  Kisco,  a  branch  of  the  Croton 
and  Muddy  Brook,  to  Cross  River;  thence  over  broken 
ground  between  this  strcann  and  the  Croton  to  the 
valley  which  is  occupied  through  the  remainder 
of  Westchester, — a  very  direct  line  has  been 
obtained  at  an  expense  which  must  be  regarded  as 
moderate,  only  four  structures  of  any  considerable 
magnitude  being  required,  one  of  sixty  feet  over  the 
Bronx,  one  of  eighty  feet  over  the  Titicus,  one  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  over  the  Cross  River 
and  one  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  over  the  Croton 
at  the  county  line — a  single  track  with  twenty-five 
feet  width  in  excavations  and  sixteen  feet  at  top  of 
embankments — a  substantial  and  permanent  track 
over  which  passenger  trains  may  be  transported  at 
great  speed."  The  road  was  opened  to  Croton  Falls 
in  June,  1847,  and  passed  through  the  towns,  above 
White  Plains,  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  Xew  Castle,  Bedford, 
Lewisboro  and  North  Castle,  and  through,  it  is  said, 
ninety-seven  farms.  The  following  familiar  names 
of  Westchester  County  have  been  connected  with 
the  direction  of  the  Harlem  :  Gouverneur  Morris, 
Thomas  W.  Ludlow,  J.  Warren  Tompkins,  Thomas 
H.  and  Edward  G.  Faile,  John  Alstyne,  Samuel  E. 
Lyon,  Philip  Dater,  Francis  W.  Edmonds,  Francis 
Eain,  Lancaster  Underbill,  Albert  Smith,  William  C. 
Wetmorc,  Edward  Haight,  Peter  Lorillard,  William 
H.  Leonard,  John  E.  Burrill,  Nathaniel  P.  Bailey, 
Augustus  A.  Cammann  and  others,  of  whom  Gouver- 
neur Morris  was  for  a  while  Vice-President,  and  Mr. 
Wetmore  and  Mr.  Edmonds  for  short  periods  Presi- 
dents of  the  road.  The  following  engineers  are  re- 
membered in  connection  with  its  construction  and 
improvement:  James  J.  Shipman,  Mr.  Shotwell,  Mr. 
Morgan,  Allan  Campbell,  James  B.  Sargent  and 
J.  C.  Buckhout.  The  present  incumbent  is  F.  S. 
Curtis.' 

The  original  capital  of  the  company  was  but  $350,- 
000,  which,  in  1832,  was  increased  to  $500,000,  with  a 
stipulation  that  the  road  should  be  completed  to  the 
Harlem  River  in  1835.  Although  this  was  not  done, 
the  Legislature,  in  the  latter  year,  authorized  the 
company  to  increase  the  capital  to  $750,000,  to  bor- 
row $400,000,  and  in  1839  to  convert  the  bonds  into 
stock.  When  the  extension  through  Westchester 
County  was  begun,  the^capital  had  been  swollen  to 
$1,950,000,  and  still  another  increase  of  $1,000,000 
was  needed  to  carry  the  road  through  the  county. 
When  the  line  was  completed  to  Chatham  Four  Cor- 
ners, in  1852,  it  had  cost  $7,948,118,  and  its  liabilities 
were  over  $11,000,000.  In  1872  the  company  leased 
the  New  York  and  Mahopac  Railroad  from  Golden's 
Bridge  to  Lake  Mahopac,  and  on  April  1st  of  that 
year  was  itself  leased  for  four  hundred  and  one  years 


'Tlic  fullowing  toast  waa  Rivuu  at  a  celebration  of  ouo  of  the  early  de- 
velupiiieuts of  the  i-oiul.    "The  Locomotive,  the  ouly  good  motive  fol- 
ding a  iiiaii  niton  a  ntil.'* 


by  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road Company,  at  eight  per  cent,  in  stock  and  inter- 
est on  the  bonded  debt.  The  amount  of  stock  is 
$9,450,000  ;  funded  debt,  .$10,(518.069;  floating  debt, 
$700,000— total,  $20,708,009.  The  road  now  extends 
to  Chatham,  from  whence  it  reaches  Albany  over  the 
tracks  of  the  Boston  and  Albany  road. 

The  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road, which,  before  1870,  was  the  New  York  and  Hud- 
son River  Railroad,  passes  along  the  western  shore  of 
the  county  through  the  towns  of  King's  Bridge  (now  in 
the  city  of  New  York),  Yonkers,  Greenburgh,  Mt. 
Pleasant,  Ossining  and  Cortlandt — a  distance  of  about 
thirty  miles.  The  charter  was  obtained  from  the 
Legislature  in  May,  1846,  but  although  the  import- 
ance of  the  construction  of  the  road  was  urged  in  the 
newspapers  of  the  day,'^  the  work  was  not  actually 
commenced  until  the  middle  of  the  succeeding  year. 
Meanwhile  the  company  had  appointed  as  chief  en- 
gineer, Mr.  John  B.  Jervis,  a  gentleman  of  large  ex- 
perience, and  who  proved  throughout  admirably  fitted 
for  the  arduous  duties  that  fell  on  him.  The  com- 
pany at  this  time,  it  seems,  complained  that  they  were 
not  met  in  a  fair  and  equitable  spirit  by  the  owners 
of  the  land  through  which  the  road  would  pass,  "  who 
would  derive,"  it  was  said,  "  far  greater  benefit  than 
the  company  itself  could  expect."  In  the  summer  of 
1847  the  route  which  Mr.  Jervis  deemed  it  highly 
important  should  follow  closely  the  river,  and  which 
had  been  divided  into  sections,  was  placed  under  con- 
tract, and  by  November  all  the  contractors  on  the 
line  of  the  road  had  commenced  work  and  the  desire 
was  to  push  it  forward  with  all  speed  Mr.  Jervis,  by 
the  following  remark  in  his  reporc  of  January,  1848, 
indicates  his  own  anxiety  :  "  The  contractors  cannot 
induce  men  to  work  at  night."  But  the  men  were 
found  as  untractable,  when  national  feuds  sprang  up 
among  them,  and  efforts  were  made  to  drive  each  other 
from  the  line.  This  rioting  between  the  "Corkonians 
and  the  Far  Downs  "  delayed,  of  course,  the  work.  But 
obstacles  unavoidable  occurred,  which,  in  a  large 
measure  were  owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  road  to 
the  river,  adverse  winds  and  tides  often  hindering 
the  workmen.  From  the  same  cause  in  the  cuttings 
which  were  found  at  points  very  hard,  much  trouble 
was  occasioned  by  the  flow  of  the  water  into  the 
crevices  in  the  rock.  The  board,  however,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  engineers  did  everything  it  could  to 
encourage  the  contractors,  adopting  the  principle  of 
making  allowances  when  unforeseen  difficulties  were 
presented  in  the  execution  of  the  work. 

"  The  plan  of  grading,"  says  Mr.  William  C.  Young, 
who  became,  in  1849,  chief  engineer,  "  for  the  road- 
bed south  of  Poughkeepsie  was  for  a  double  track, 
having  a  width  of  twenty-six  feet  in  rock-cuttings, 
twenty-two  feet  in  tunnel  cuttings  and  twenty-four 
feet  between  bridge  abutments.   The  embankments 


2 See  iovrnulnf  Commerce,  JuDuaiy  0, 1874. 


480 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


have  been  designed  thirty  feet  wide,  having  a  wide 
margin  of  ten  feet  between  the  face  of  the  river-wall 
and  the  west  rail  of  the  track.  These  dimensions 
have  been  carried  out  in  the  construction  of  the  road- 
bed as  nearly  as  could  be  done  consistently  with  an 
early  ojjening  of  the  road  for  public  use." 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1849,  passenger  travel 
over  the  road  as  far  as  Peekskill  was  commenced. 
At  this  time  Mr.  Jervis  became  Consulting  Engi- 
neer of  the  company.  The  average  number  of  pas- 
sengers per  day  for  the  first  month  (October)  was 
eight  hundred  and  thirty,  and  the  total  number 
twenty-one  thousand  five  hundred  and  ninety-three  ; 
and  for  the  next  month  (November)  the  average  num- 
ber was  ten  hundred  and  fifty-five,  and  the  total  num- 
ber twenty-seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-one. 
At  this  time  it  was  calculated  that  the  land  taken  for 
the  roadway  in  Westchester  County  had  cost  the  com- 
pany, exclusive  of  agencies  and  other  charges,  $185,- 
905.02,  and  also  that  the  grading  had  involved  an 
expenditure  of  not  far  from  a  million  of  dollars,  which 
was  about  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  above  the 
cost  as  estimated  by  the  original  lettings  in  1847.  The 
first  train  conductors  on  this  road  were  J.  D.  Elliot 
and  H.  E.  Newell. 

Of  the  many  interesting  incidents  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  the  running  over  the  road  in  this  county,  none 
perhaps  created  more  of  a  sensation  than  the  double 
accident  just  above  Croton,  on  the  4th  of  December, 
1851.  It  seems  that  the  four  o'clock  afternoon  train 
from  New  York  was  stopped  by  the  conductor  (Carey) 
to  put  off  two  men  who  would  not  pay  their  fare,  and 
was  run  into  by  an  engine  without  cars,  and  five  or 
six  passengers  were  severely  injured.  But  the  five 
o'clock  express  train  (Morgan's)  which  followed,  having 
switched  off"  to  the  west  track,  on  coming  abreast  of 
the  wrecked  train  halted  to  render  assistance,  and 
while  so  doing  was  run  into  by  the  five  and  a-half 
Peekskill  train  (Nichols),  which  had  also  taken  the 
west  track,  but  was  driving  ahead  heedless  of  danger 
at  the  usual  speed.  Here  again  others  were  hurt, 
some  very  seriously.  The  company  exhibited  on  the 
occasion  great  concern  for  the  sufferers,  and  visited 
with  prompt  punishment  the  offending  officials. 

The  Vanderbilt  influence  came  into  control  of  the 
New  York  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  in  1864,  but 
the  road  between  New  York  and  Albany  was  operated 
independently  of  the  Central  Railroad  until  1870, 
when,  in  accordance  with  the  legislative  act  of  No- 
vember, 1869,  authorizing  a  consolidation  of  the 
whole  interest  between  New  York,  Buffalo  and  Sus- 
pension Bridge,  the  consolidated  organization  as- 
sumed the  title  of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hud- 
son River  Railroad  Company.  The  Hudson  River 
road  cost,  to  build  and  equip,  $78,014,954,  or  $76,272 
per  mile  of  track. 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad 
extends  through  the  county,  making  a  junction  with 
the  Harlem,  at  Washiugtouville  in  the  town  of  East 


Chester,  and  so  passes  into  the  city.  It  runs  in  its  course 
from  the  Connecticut  line  through  the  towns  of  Rye, 
Harrison,  Mamaroneck,  New  Rochelle,  Pelham  and 
East  Chester,  covering  a  distance  of  13.61  miles.  The 
work  of  constructing  this  part  of  the  road  was 
carried  on  during  the  years  1847  and  1848.  On 
Christmas  day,  1848,  a  party  of  gentlemen  made  an 
excursion  over  it  from  New  York  to  New  Haven, 
returning  the  next  day.  The  road  was  opened  for 
business  on  the  following  day.  The  character  of  the 
ground  of  the  road  in  this  county  is  described  as 
"heavy  with  rough  heavy  cuttings."  It  was  at  first 
a  single  track  road.  The  line  as  surveyed  was  fol- 
lowed. AtPelhamvillethe  original  embankment  was 
as  it  is  now.  The  numerous  curves  on  the  road  were 
caused  by  the  restricted  financial  condition,  making 
it  necessary,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  cuttings  and 
embankments.  The  desire  had  been  to  build  the 
road  in  a  substantial  and  permanent  manner,  but  it 
was  found  difficult  to  complete  it  in  any  shape.  Mr. 
Sidney  S.  Miller,  one  of  the  original  contractors  and 
most  active  of  the  projectors  of  the  road,  is  still  living 
at  Madison,  N.  J.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  when  the 
trains  first  commenced  to  run,  the  passengers  were 
booked  as  in  the  old  stage-coach  times,  their  names 
being  duly  reported  by  the  conductors  to  the  com- 
pany. This  company  was  originally  "  The  New  York 
and  New  Haven,"  but  in  1872  was  consolidated 
with  the  Hartford  and  New  Haven  Company,  and 
the  new  system  took  the  name  by  which  it  is  now 
known.  In  1873  the  company  leased  the  Harlem 
River  and  the  Port  Chester  Railroad,  between  the 
Harlem  and  New  Rochelle,  and  opened  it  for  use.  It 
runs  from  its  depot  at  the  Harlem  River  through  the 
t  iwns  of  Morrisania,  Westchester,  Pelham  and  New 
Rochelle,  where  it  joins  the  New  Haven  road.  It  is 
sometimes  denominated,  the  Harlem  River  Branch  of 
the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad, 
and  has  opened  out  one  of  the  most  beautiful  portions 
of  the  county.  In  the  spring  of  1872,  the  work  of 
construction  began  by  filling  in  the  bulkhead  at  the 
Harlem  River,  and  a  fine  dock  and  slip  of  land  was 
formed.  Blasting  had  to  be  done  on  the  Morris  es- 
tate where  rock  of  a  lava-like  appearance  was  found, 
and  seams  and  colors  of  the  same  in  fine  curves, 
angles,  etc.  The  pile  building  came  in  for  a  share  of 
careful  attention,  as  after  passing  Port  Morris  piles  of 
sixty  and  eighty  feet  in  length  were  used,  which  made 
a  substantial  job  throughout.  The  rock  cutat  Hunt's 
Point  bridge  caused  a  great  deal  of  trouble  on  ac- 
count of  the  wet,  spongy  nature  of  the  soil, — one 
would  have  expected  the  softest  nearest  the  water. 
The  Bronx  River  was  bridged  by  a  strong  Jackknife 
Draw.  Filling  for  embankment  across  Pelham  Salt 
Marsh  was  a  tedious  job,  as  firm  bottom  was  hard  to 
find.  East  Chester  Bay  reached  a  fine  piece  of  work 
was  done  in  building  the  pile-bridging  across  it.  Too 
much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  E.  W.  Reid,  General 
Superintendent  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 


GENERAL  HISTORY 


FROM  1783  TO  ISGO. 


481 


Han  ford  Railroad  Company,  for  the  substantial  and 
workmanlike  manner  in  which  as  the  whole  job,  so 
especially  the  erection  of  the  piers  and  approaches  of 
the  fine  pivot  drawbridge  was  conducted.  The  stone 
for  the  masonry,  of  the  very  first  quality,  was  furnished 
by  the  veteran  Mr.  Beattie,  of  Stony  Creek,  Conn. 
Borrow  pits  were  necessary  on  Bartow  embankments 
and  at  Timpsons.  As  material  for  them  was  lack- 
ing on  the  wdiole  line,  ballast,  except  the  broken  stone 
ballast,  was  brought  from  as  far  as  New  Canaan.  The 
construction  of  the  fresh  water  swamp  trestle  ended  the 
work  that  was  of  any  size  or  account  before  reaching 
the  junction  with  the  main  line,  near  New  Rochelle 
village.  The  contractors  were,  Sections  one  and  two, 
Peter  Sanford  &  Co. ;  sections  two,  three  and  foun 
Dunn  &  Lowther  ;  sections  six  and  seven,  Beattie  & 
Edwards;  sections  eight,  nine  and  ten,  Richard 
Dooley.  Under  Mr.  Reid's  care  the  whole  line  has 
been  since  improved  in  every  way  and  ranks  first  class. 
The  stations  along  this  road  are  Port  Morris,  Casa- 
nova, Hunt's  Point,  West  Farms,  Van  Nest,  West- 
chester, Timpsons,  Baychester,  Bartow,  Pelham 
Manor  and  New  Rochelle  Junction.  The  road  is 
12.13  miles  in  length. 

New  Yokk  City  and  Northern  Railroad. — 
This  road  has  reached  its  present  condition  and  as- 
sumed its  present  name  after  having  passed  through  a 
very  varied  experience,  and  been  known  under  several 
different  titles.  The  pereons  with  whom  the  idea 
originated  were  John  Q.  Hoyt  and  Andrew  McKin- 
ney,  who  were  instrumental  in  organizing  what  was 
known  as  the  New  York  and  Boston  Railroad,  in 
1871.  Of  this  organization  John  Q.  Hoyt  was  presi- 
dent, and  Andrew  McKinney,  treasurer.  The  road 
was  to  run  from  New  York  to  Brewsters,  in  Putnam 
County,  and  was  there  to  connect  with  roads  leading 
to  Boston.  The  larger  part  of  the  right  of  way  was 
purchased,  considerable  grading  done,  and  a  portion 
of  the  track  was  laid,  but  much  of  the  right  of  way 
was  obtained  under  conditions  which  were  never  sat- 
isfied, and  the  land  reverted  to  its  original  owners. 
In  1871  a  combination  was  formed  between  this  road, 
the  Dutchess  and  Columbia  Railroad  and  the  Harlem 
Extension,  the  consolidation  being  known  as  the 
New  York,  Boston  and  Montreal  Railroad.  Under 
this  new  organization,  of  which  George  H.  Brown 
was  president,  large  loans  were  negotiated  in  Europe, 
the  principal  creditor  being  the  Franco- Egyptian 
Bank  of  Paris, and  Bishop  Scheim  and  T.  Gold  Schulz 
of  London,  who  advanced  several  millions  of  dollars; 
but  the  foreclosure  of  prior  mortgages,  and  the  sale 
of  the  road  rendered  these  advances  a  complete  loss, 
and  a  suit  has  long  been  pending  in  the  United 
States  Courts  to  determine  the  j)crsonal  responsibility 
of  the  trustees  who  had  the  handling  of  the  funds. 
At  the  time  of  the  sale  under  foreclosure,  the  road 
was  purchased  by  the  former  bond-holders,  and  was 
reorganized  under  its  present  name,  in  1878.  The 
rat  president  was  A.  B.  Stout,  who  shortly  after  re- 
45 


signed  and  was  succeeded  by  Robert  M.  Galloway, 
who  has  retained  the  position  till  the  present  time. 
The  first  secretary  was  Calvin  Goddard,  who  still 
holds  the  position.  When  the  road  was  built,  its 
New  York  terminus  was  at  High  Bridge,  but  an  ex- 
tension, something  over  a  mile  in  length,  connects 
with  the  Eighth  Avenue  Elevated  Road.  This  ex- 
tension was  made  under  a  separate  organization 
known  sis  "  the  West  Side  and  Yonkers  Railroad," 
and  furnishes  the  most  direct  road  for  rapid  transit 
between  New  York  and  the  interior  of  Westchester 
County. 

At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  present 
company,  a  contract  was  made  with  Louis  Rob- 
erts, to  finish  the  building,  and  to  equip  the  road. 
This  task  was  performed  by  Mr.  Roberts  in  a  most 
active  and  energetic  manner.  The  right  of  way  was 
repurchased,  the  grading  finished,  and  the  track  laid 
and  the  completed  road  opened  for  business  in  the 
spring  of  1881.  The  length  of  this  road  from  High 
Bridge  to  Brewsters  (Putnam  County)  is  fifty-three 
miles,  and  the  length  of  the  extension  from  High 
Bridge  to  Eighth  Avenue  is  one  and  one-sixteenth 
miles.  The  benefit  of  this  road  to  the  property 
holders  along  its  entire  length  can  scarcely  be  over- 
estimated. 

The  general  superintendent  and  the  heart  and  soul 
of  the  enterprise  is  Mr.  Frank  S.  Gannon,  whose 
whole  life  has  been  identified  with  railroad  manage- 
ment. Mr.  G.innon  was  born  in  Spring  Valley,  Rock- 
land C.)uiity,  N.  Y.,  but  removed  to  Orange  County 
when  a  boy.  He  became  connected  with  the  Erie 
Railroad  in  1867,  as  telegraph  operator  and  agent  at 
various  stations.  In  1870  he  became  connected  with 
the  Midland  Railroad  where  he  remained  till  1875, 
when  he  went  to  the  Long  Island  Railroad  as  tele- 
graphic train  dispatcher  and  master  of  transportation, 
and  the  value  of  his  services  were  fully  recognized  by  all 
who  had  any  connection  with  that  road.  Mr.  Gannon 
became  connected  with  the  Northern  Railroad  in 
April,  1881,  construction  trains  being  the  only  ones 
then  running.  The  bridge  over  Harlem  River  was 
finished  May  1,  and  passenger  trains  began  running 
to  Brewsters  on  that  day,  and  in  the  Fall  of  that 
year  the  road  was  finished  and  in  good  condition.  The 
road  was  laid  through  a  sparsely  settled  district  and 
during  the  first  year  trains  were  run  at  a  loss,  but 
from  that  time  to  the  present  the  business  has  been 
constantly  increasing  and  has  now  reached  large  pro- 
portions. As  an  illustration,  we  may  mention  that 
in  the  Summer  of  1881,  five  hundred  cans  of  milk 
were  brought  daily  to  the  city,  and  at  the  present 
time  the  number  is  one  thousand  and  five  hundred. 
The  New  York  Central  &  Harlem  Railroads  did  not 
at  first  consider  the  new  road  as  a  competitor,  but 
soon  had  reason  to  change  their  views,  and  after  a 
war  of  rates  they  were  glad  to  make  arrangements 
with  the  new  company.  The  road  has  a  lea.se  of 
pier  44,  New  York  City,  and  cars  can  now  be  run 


482 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


from  this  road  to  all  portions  of  the  country  without 
breaking  bulk.  When  they  first  began  transporting 
cars  upon  floats,  three  or  four  cars  a  day  was  consid- 
ered a  good  business,  while  thirty  or  forty  are  now 
carried  in  the  same  length  of  time.  As  one  item  we 
may  mention  that  three  hundred  tons  of  ore  are  daily 
brought  from  the  Tilly  Foster  mine  and  other  mines 
along  the  road,  and  coal  is  brought  direct  from  the 
mines  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  central  portions  of 
Westchester  County  without  change  of  cars.  Under 
Mr.  Gannon's  careful  management  the  direction  of 
trains  has  been  so  perfect  that  no  accident  from  col- 
lision has  occurred  since  the  road  commenced  running, 
while  the  rapid  increase  of  business  both  in  freight 
and  passenger  traffic  must  continue  to  increase  to  an 
indefinite  extent. 

The  value  of  the.«e  facilities  for  communication 
with  the  city,  and  of  the  towns  and  villages  with  each 
other,  which  these  one  hundred  miles  at  least  of 
rail  coaching  in  the  county  affords  can  scarcely  be 
estimated  whether  we  look  to  the  addition  of  inhabi- 
tants or  the  increase  in  the  value  of  real  estate. 
This  has  indeed  been  attended  by  a  great  reduction 
in  the  amount  of  its  agricultural  productions.  Taking 
the  average  of  crops  of  the  whole  county  the  yield  is 
found  to  be  about  two-fifths  less  than  that  of  forty 
years  ago — before  this  immigration.  The  following 
table  will  present  to  the  eye  the  steady  decrease 
which  has  taken  place  in  this  direction  since  the 
opening  out  of  this  region  as  a  place  of  residence  for 
business  men : 


1839.  1»54.  1874.  1879. 

Wheat        .  .  .   35,267  3.'j,248  24,426  22,698 

Kye                      99,574  51,404  57.0J9  55,130 

Oats                    449,090  204,759  173,894  238,509 

Corn                   318,028  402,2381^  323,076  377,357 

Potatoes  ....  620,920  286,249  334,966  326,092 

Hay                     77,873  90,496%  73,113  69,221 

Buckwheat.  .  .  57,226  20,89t^  13,364 

Wool                    52,085  6,069 


From  this  exhibit  of  decline  we  turn  to  mark  the 
increase  in  the  value  of  the  real  and  personal  estate 
of  the  county.  In  the  year  1840  the  aggregate  value 
was  $10,650,064;  in  the  year  1860,  $41,527,907, 
and  in  1884  $73,860,487. 

These  values,  if  viewed  by  their  proportions  to  the 
entire  estate  values  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  the 
three  years  named,  show  how  much  the  County  has 
kept  up  its  relative  financial  consequence,  notwith- 
standing the  immense  growths  of  the  great  cities 
and  the  subtractions  from  1874  of  the  values  of 
the  three  towns  of  Kingsbridge,  Morrisania  and 
West  Farms.  The  total  equalized  estate  value  of 
the  State  in  1840  was  $639,171,000,  in  1860  $1419,- 
297,520  and  in  1884  $3,014,591,372,  the  proportion 
being  to  that  of  the  county  in  1840  as  60  to  1,  in 
1860  as  34  to  1  and  in  1884  as  41  to  1.  This  it  is 
believed  could  be  even  more  strongly  presented. 
But  while  thus  noticing  the  great  increase  in  wealth, 
it  is  more  of  a  satisfaction  to  observe  the  accom- 


panying advantages  moral  and  intellectual.  The 
schools  of  the  county  have  been  brought  up  to  a 
standard  which  will  compare  favorably  with  the  most 
approved.  Institutions  of  an  eleemosynary  character 
have  been  organized  and  opportunities  for  mental 
culture,  additional  to  those  which  proximity  to  the 
city  affords,  are  devised  and  well  supported.  By  the 
increase  of  churches  and  of  religious  ministrations 
the  spiritual  necessities  of  the  people  are  subserved. 
Reference  also  should  be  made  to  the  newspaper  of 
the  county,  which  has  had  a  usefulness  which  cannot 
but  with  injustice  be  undervalued.  It  is  a  pleasure  to 
speak,  with  the  confidence  of  due  consideration,  of  the 
skill  and  ability  which  has  been  displayed  in  its  man- 
agement, to  which  is  added  regret  that  the  files  of  the 
more  than  fifty  journals  published  in  the  county  in 
the  last  seventy-five  years  have  not  been  more  care- 
fully preserved.  Not  only,  in  consequence,  have  in- 
teresting facts  been  lost,  but  the  subjects  from  time  to 
time  moving  the  public  mind  are  not  so  easily  recalled 
or  understood.  The  first  known  newspapers  of  this 
County  were  started  in  the  same  year,  1810, —  the 
Somers  J/uaeMm,  published  by  Milton  F.  Gushing,  and 
the  Westchester  Gazette,  by  Robert  Crombie.  It  would 
appear  that  the  Sing  Sing  Republican  is  the  legitimate 
successor  of  this  Westchester  Gazette.  The  Eastern 
State  Journal  and  the  Highland  Democrat,  (formerly 
Westchester  and  Putnam  Democrat,)  both  started  in 
1845,  claim  rank  next  for  age,  succeeded  by  the  two 
Yonkers  papers,  the  Gazette  (at  first  Herald)  of  1852 
and  the  Statesman  (formerly  Westchester  iS'ewa)  of 
1853.  With  reference  to  these  newspapers,  as  also  to 
the  many  others,  which  will  be  named  in  the  history 
of  the  several  towns  it  is  but  right  to  declare  how 
well,  for  purposes  of  information,  intellectual  advant- 
age, and  amusement,  the  wants  of  these  localities  and 
of  adjoining  ones  have  been  met  by  these  bene- 
factors. 

Political  History. — The  period  between  the 
declaration  of  peace  and  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
Constitution  in  1789  was  marked  in  Westchester 
County  by  little  of  concerted  and  united  action  in 
reference  to  the  politics  of  the  State  or  National 
governments.  In  1784  Gen.  Pierre  Van  Cortlaiidt, 
of  the  town  of  Cortlandt,  was  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  State,  and  Generals  Lewis  Morris,  of  Morrisania, 
and  Stephen  Ward,  of  East  Chester,  were  in  the  State 
Senate.  Gen.  Thomas  Thomas,  of  Rye,  was  in  the 
Lower  House,  having  as  his  colleagues  Philip  Pell, 
Jr.,  of  Pelham,  Abijah  Gilbert,  of  Salem,  Ebenezer 
Purdy,  of  North  Salem,  Zebediah  Mills,  and  Samuel 
Haight,  sterling  men  in  the  trying  times  just  past. 
The  next  year's  election  substituted  Ebenezer  Bur- 
ling, of  East  Chester,  and  Ebenezer  Lockwood,  of 
Poundridge,  in  place  of  Messrs.  Mills  and  Haight.  In 
1786  Jonathan  G.Tompkins  of  Scarsdale,  ancSamuel 
Drake  were  chosen  instead  of  Burling  and  Purdy, 
and  in  1787  Jonathan  Rockwell,  Joseph  Strang,  and^ 
Ebenezer  Purdy,  (who  was  again  returned,)  took  ihc 


GENERAL  HISTOllY  FKOM  1783  TO  18G0. 


483 


seals  of  Drake,  Gilbert  and  of  Pell,  (who  had  become 
Surrogate.)  The  Hon.  Richard  Morris,  of  Scnrsdale, 
had  been  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  since  1779,  and 
John  Thomas,  of  Rye,  or  Jesse  Hunt,  of  Westchester, 
sheriffs  since  1777.  Richard  Hatfield,  of  White  Plains, 
was  Surrogate  from  1778  till  1787.  In  the  list  of  su- 
pervisors of  the  county  from  1783  to  1789  occur  at 
least  half  a  dozen  of  the  names  of  the  county  officials 
just  given,  and  to  these  may  be  added  the  following 
conspicuous  members  of  the  Board:  Benjamin  Stev- 
enson, of  New  Rochelle,  also  one  of  the  Judges  of  the 
County;  Gilbert  Budd,  of  Rye ;  Abel  Smith,  of  North 
Castle;  Hachaliah  Browne  and  Thaddeus  Crane,  both 
of  Upper  Salem;  Daniel  Horton,  of  White  Plains; 
James  Hunt,  of  East  Chester;  William  Miller,  of 
Harrison;  James  Kronkhite,  of  Ryker's  Patent,  or 
Cortlandt;  and  Philip  Pell,  of  Pelham,  who  vras,  in 
1787,  also  sheriff  of  the  county.  From  these  details 
may  be  gathered  a  conception  of  the  leadership  in  the 
political  affairs  of  the  County  during  the  period  im- 
mediately succeeding  the  Revolution. 

The  first  political  differences  of  a  serious  nature 
which  arose  in  the  State  sprang  up  as  the  generally 
realized  insufficiency  of  the  government  by  a  Confed- 
eracy brought  forth  various  plans  for  the  increase  of 
its  powers  and  efficiency.  It  was  felt  that  the  union 
of  the  States  was  merely  in  name,  when  the  credit 
which  that  union  established  was  at  the  mercy  of  the 
States  in  their  capricious  dealings  with  it. 

To  the  disappointment  keenly  enough  felt  by  the 
enthusiastic  friends  of  the  Revolution  was  added  a 
mortifying  sense  of  the  apparent  fulfillment  of  the 
predictions  of  the  enemies  of  the  Republic,  that  the 
whole  movement  would  prove  a  failure,  not  more 
from  its  own  folly  than  from  the  incompetency  of  the 
untaught  and  inexperienced  movers  in  it.  In  speak- 
ing of  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  one  of  the 
Loyalist  newspapers  says :  "  When  the  lunacies  of  the 
former  are  separated  from  the  villanies  of  the  latter, 
the  deluge  of  destruction  that  is  certainly,  though 
slowly,  rolling  after  them  will  rapidly  come  on  and 
.overwhelm  them  and  their  infatuated  votaries  in  pro- 
digious ruin."  Here  in  this  County,  where  the"  West- 
chester County  Farmer"  had  poured  forth  his  entreat- 
ies and  forebodings  in  view  of  the  uprising  against  the 
British  authority,  the  anxiety  for  the  success  of  the 
new  government  could  not  but  be  intensified  by  these 
recollections,  and  by  the  daily  contact  with  the  many 
who  had  anticipated  disa-ster.  But  notwithstanding 
all  this  desire  to  avoid  a  failure,  there  was  a  deep 
feeling  that  the  safety  of  the  people's  rights  was  and 
would  be  much  better  secured  under  the  more  readily 
iDVokcd  protection  of  the  State  than  under  the  dis- 
tant care,  with  distracting — oftentimes  contradicting 
— interests,  of  a  General  Government.  The  head  of  the 
State  of  New  York  at  this  time  was  George  Clinton, 
its  great  war  Governor,  who,  by  his  popularity,  as 
much  as  by  his  office,  was  possessed  of  great  influence 
\with  the  people.    While  professing  a  sincere  desire 


for  the  continuance  of  the  then  Federal  compact,  and 
for  its  usefulness,  and  that  the  General  Government 
should  inspire  respect  at  home  and  abroad,  Governor 
Clinton  resisted  with  ardor  and  firmness  the  making  of 
any  concessions  which  should  weaken  the  State  au- 
thority or  further  abridge  its  powers.  The  influence 
of  his  position  and  arguments  on  the  public  mind  can 
readily  be  seen.  But  still  abler  and  more  practiced  pens 
and  voices  were  showing  into  what  a  pitiable  condi- 
tion public  affairs  were  running.  General  Schuyler, 
Chief  Justice  Livingston,  John  Jay  and  Alexander 
Hamilton  were  setting  forth  and  urging  the  necessity 
for  a  change.  Another  call,  more  commanding  the 
country  over,  was  heard  from  Virginia,  suggesting  that 
the  powers  of  the  central  government  be  increased. 

In  the  convention  which  met  at  Philadelphia  this 
county  shares  indeed  with  the  State  at  large  in  the 
honor  of  being  represented  by  General  Hamilton,  but 
it  is  a  pleasure  to  remember  that  in  the  person  of 
G  uverneur  Morris  (a  distinguished  and  influential 
delegate  from  Pennsylvania),  who  was  born  on  West- 
chester soil  and  who  returned  again  to  represent  her 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  whose  remains  are 
sacredly  enshrined  in  her  bosom,  she  was  present  to 
form  that  wise  and  beneficent  instrument.  The  Con- 
stitution thus  offered  to  the  States  for  adoption  met 
with  the  fiercest  opposition.  Not  only  were  its  fea- 
tures faulted,  but  the  conduct  of  the  Convention  in 
transcending,  as  asserted,  its  powers,  was  fiercely  as- 
sailed. "  Instead  of  amending  the  Constitution,"  said 
Mr.  Jones,  "  it  had  framed  one."  In  Albany  the  new 
Constitution  was  publicly  burned.  In  the  choice  of 
delegates  to  a  convention  which  was  now  ordered  to 
meet  at  Poughkeepsie,  to  pass  upon  its  adoption  by 
the  State,  the  greatest  excitement  prevailed,  and  the 
terms  Federalist  and  Anti-Federalist,  as  applied  to 
separate  parties,  began  to  be  used.  The  result  in 
Westchester  County  proved  that  a  deep  interest  was 
felt  in  the  maintenance  of  a  union  between  the 
States.  Thaddeus  Crane,  of  North  Salem,  Richard 
Hatfield,  of  White  Plains,  Philip  Livingston  and 
Lewis  Morris,  of  Westchester,  Lott  W.  Sarles,  of 
New  Castle,  and  Philip  Van  Cortlandt  were  chosen 
over  their  Anti-Federalist  opponents  by  very  large 
majorities.  The  Convention  met,  and  on  the  26th  of 
July,  by  a  vote  of  thirty  to  twenty-seven,  ratified  the 
proposed  Constitution.  In  the  affirmative  vote  are 
found  the  names  of  all  the  Wettchester  delegates. 
At  the  election  for  members  of  Assembly  the  strong 
party  feeling  is  manifested  by  a  complete  change  in 
the  representation,  the  following  persons,  strong 
Federalists,  being  returned :  Thaddeus  Crane,  of 
North  Salem  ;  Jonathan  Horton  and  Philip  Livings^ 
ton,  of  Westchester;  Judge  Nathan  Rockwell,  of 
Lewisboro  ;  Walter  Seaman  and  General  Philip  Van 
Cortlandt.  At  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  in 
December,  however,  such  was  the  political  complex* 
ion  of  the  two  Houses  that  the  five  delegates  to  repre* 
sent  the  State  in  the  Continental  Congress  were 


484 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


chosea  from  the  Auti-Federal  party,  one  of  the  five 
being  Philip  Pell,  of  this  county.  The  satisfactory 
working  of  the  new  Constitution,  the  popularity  of 
Washington's  administration  and  the  great  advan- 
tages which  the  proximity  of  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  this  county  was  offering,  were  all  favor- 
able to  the  Federal  party.  Majorities  in  its  favor 
continued  through  the  succeeding  ten  years,  in  which 
two  of  the  elections  held — -those  of  1792  and  1796— 
had  a  direct  bearing  on  national  politics.  Washing- 
ton entered  without  dissent  upon  a  second  term  of  of- 
fice, General  Stephen  Ward,  of  East  Chester,  being  one 
of  the  electors  of  this  State  and  in  1797,  John  Adams, 
with  the  twelve  votes  of  the  State  of  New  York,  was 
chosen  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  At  the  elec- 
tion in  1798  there  were  plain  indications  of  a  falling 
away  of  the  strength  of  the  administration  party 
throughout  the  State,  which,  although  not  borne  out 
by  the  result  the  next  year,  were  more  than  realized 
at  the  Presidential  contest  of  1800.  Among  the  elec- 
tors chosen  by  the  Legislature  was  Colonel  Pierre 
Van  Cortlandt,  Jr.,  of  this  county,  who  had  married  a 
daughter  of  ex-Governor  George  Clinton,  still  the 
leader  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  State.  General 
Thomas,  of  Rye,  an  active  Republican,  who  had  been 
out  of  the  Assembly  for  some  years,  is  again  restored 
to  it.  The  hold  thus  taken  upon  the  popular  vote 
was  retained  with  much  tenacity  during  the  whole 
period  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration.  The  coun- 
try was  on  the  high  road  of  prosperity.  All  interests 
shared  in  the  general  thrift.  The  ruling  party  must 
naturally  benefit  from  such  favoring  circumstances. 
Its  leading  men  in  Westchester  County  in  these  days 
of  Jefferson  rule,  besides  Judge  Thomas  and  Colonel 
Van  Cortlandt,  were  Senator  Ebenezer  Purdy,  of 
North  Saiem  ;  Abijah  Gilbert,  of  Salem  ;  and  Jona- 
than Ward,  of  East  Chester.  The  position  of  Senator 
Purdy  was  also  a  commanding  one  in  the  Republican 
party  at  large.  In  1802  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  Appointment,  in  whose  hands  was  the  po- 
litical patronage  of  the  State.  In  1803,  as  chairman 
of  the  caucuses  of  the  Republican  members  of  the 
State  Senate,  he  exercised  a  commanding  influence 
in  securing  the  nomination  of  General  Morgan  Lewis 
and  preventing  that  of  Aaron  Burr  as  the  standard 
bearer  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  State  in  the 
election  for  Governor.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
movement  which  forced  his  re.nignation  of  his  seat  in 
180C  arose  from  the  knowledge  of  his  devotion  to 
Governor  Lewis,  whose  prestige  and  strength  it  was 
thought  desirable  to  destroy.  It  would  seem  that 
General  Thomas,  who  was  transferred  from  the  House 
to  the  Senate  in  1804,  was  in  perfect  accord  with  Mr. 
Purdy,  and  being  himself  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
Appointment  in  1806,  joined  with  his  associates  in 
removing  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  pronounced  opponent 
of  Governor  Lewis,  from  the  mayoralty  of  the  city  of 
New  York. 

An  event  of  much  pride  to  the  county  in  1806  was 


the  election  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  to  be  Governor  of 
the  State.  Mr.  Tompkins,  although  never  represent- 
ing Westchester  County  in  official  position,  having  in 
early  life  made  New  York  City  his  home,  was,  never- 
theless, a  native  of  it,  having  been  born  at  Scarsdale, 
and  being  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  first  settlers  of 
the  adjoining  town  of  East  Chester.  His  father, 
Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  had  represented  the  county 
in  the  legislative  body,  which  adopted  the  first  State 
Constitution  in  1777,  and  also  in  the  convention 
which  framed  the  second  in  1801.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Assembly  during  the  Revolution,  and  several 
years  after  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  also  for  along 
period  a  Judge  of  the  county,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
son  Daniel's  election  as  Governor  he  had  been  for 
twenty-one  years  a  Regent  of  the  University  of  the 
State.  The  opponent  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  was 
Governor  Lewis,  the  Federalists  in  this,  as  in  the 
previous  election,  not  setting  up  any  candidate  from 
their  own  ranks.  It  is  a  gratification  to  record  the 
promotion  at  this  same  time  to  the  State  Senate  of 
Jonathan  Ward,  of  East  Chester,  a  son  of  General 
Stephen  Ward,  of  earlier  fame  and  usefulness. 

In  the  year  1807  questions  arose  which,  in  their 
bearings  on  political  parties,  involved  more  than 
personal  considerations.  The  British  government, 
with  its  usual  total  indifference  to  the  rights  of  other 
nations  when  its  own  interests  are  involved,  adopted 
an  order  by  which  trade  between  its  enemies  and 
neutral  powers  was  forbidden.  France,  in  its  turn, 
issued  decrees  which  had  the  same  result.  The  United 
States  having  expostulated  with  these  governments  to 
no  effect.  Congress,  at  the  instigation  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
passed  an  Embargo  Act  upon  all  vessels  within 
the  limits  of  the  United  States.  No  clearances  were 
to  be  furnished,  and  vessels  sailing  from  one  port  of  the 
United  States  to  another  therein  were  required  to 
give  bonds  that  the  goods  with  which  they  were 
laden  should  be  landed  in  some  port  in  the  United 
States.  The  object  of  this  bill,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Madison,  was  to  make  it  "  the  interest  of  all  nations 
to  change  the  system  which  has  driven  our  commerce 
from  the  sea."  "  Great  Britain  will  feel  it  (this  em- 
bargo) in  her  manufactures,  in  the  loss  of  naval  stores, 
and  ...  in  the  supplies  essential  to  her  colonies." 
"  France  will  feel  it  in  the  loss  of  all  which  she  has 
hitherto  received  through  our  neutral  commerce, 
and  her  colonies  will  be  cut  off  from  the  sale  of  their 
productions  and  the  source  of  their  supplies."  "They 
have  forced  us  into  the  measure  by  the  direct  effect  on 
us  of  measures  founded  in  an  alleged  regard  for  their 
own  eventual  safety  and  essential  interests."  "TJie 
ocean  presents  a  field  only  where  no  harvest  is  to  be 
reaped  but  that  of  danger,  of  spoliation,  and  of  dis- 
grace." *  It  will  be  readily  understood  that  this  mea- 
sure, bearing  so  hardly  upon  the  interests  of  all  classes 


1  National  Inteliigencer ,  Dec.  23,  1807.  Hist.  Magazine,  Nov.  1873,  p. 
315. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  FROM  1783  TO  1860.  485 


of  the  community  must  have  called  forth  the  most 
violent  objection  and  put  to  the  severest  strain 
the  devotiiin  of  the  Republican  party  to  their  great 
Head,  the  President,  and  to  his  destined  successor, 
the  then  Secretary  of  State.  The  Representative  in 
Congress  from  this  District,  General  Philip  Van  Cort- 
landt,  voted  against  the  Embargo,  and  was  drawn  into 
opposition  to  Mr.  Madison's  aspirations.  It  is  certain 
also  that  the  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  did  not 
apitrove  of  the  "Act."  But  notwithstanding  their 
dissatisfaction,  these  gentlemen  still  adhered  to  their 
party  affinities,  and  by  their  course,  no  doubt,  greatly 
counteracted  the  tendency  of  these  measures  to  pro- 
duce political  changes  among  their  followers  in  New 
York.  So  their  columns  seem  not  to  have  seriously 
wavered  in  Westchester  County  at  the  next  Senatorial 
election,  when  the  Southern  District,  which  lay  in 
New  York  City,  Long  Island,  Staten  Island  and 
Westchester  County,  elected  both  the  Republican 
candidates.  In  the  selection  of  Presidential  electors, 
which  soon  followed,  the  fact  that  the  difference  on 
this  point  in  the  party  was  regarded  of  no  moment  is 
apparent  in  the  concession  i>f  six  votes  to  George 
Clinton,  one  of  whom  in  all  likelihood  was  Mr.  White, 
of  Westchester  County.  The  Embargo  bill  was  re- 
pealed before  the  close  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  adminis- 
tration, and  in  place  of  it  was  enacted  what  has  been 
entitled  "  the  Non-intercourse  Law,"  which  f(>rbade 
both  importation  and  exportation.  This  change,  in 
connection  with  fresh  evidences  of  English  animosity, 
seems  to  have  had  the  effect  to  intensify  the  national 
feeling,  and  the  consequence  was,  in  1810,  an  over- 
whelming defeat  of  the  Federalists  in  all  portions  of 
the  State.  But  the  divisions  in  the  Republican  party 
that  succeeded  this  victory  gave  their  opponents  the 
opportunity  in  the  Presidential  contest  two  years  after 
to  decide  to  which  of  the  Republican  candidates 
should  fall  the  vote  of  the  State,  and  the  suffrages 
were  given  to  De  Witt  Clinton.  Mr.  Madison  was, 
however,  re-elected. 

General  Van  Cortlandt  ardently  supported  Mr. 
Clinton;  but  Governor  Tomjikins,  though  unwilling 
to  be  regarded  as  inimical  to  him,  yet  felt  himself 
bound  to  support  Mr.  Madison  as  the  representative 
not  only  of  the  national  Democracy,  but  of  the  meas- 
ures which  Congress  had  adopted  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  national  honor.  But  Mr.  Clinton  would  allow 
of  no  half-way  support.  The  consequence  was  that 
the  difference  soon  shaped  itself  in  the  State  as  be- 
tween these  two  favorite  citizens,  and  it  needed  but 
little  time  to  prove  that  the  largest  sympathies  were 
with  the  farmer's  boy,  as  the  Governor  was  styled. 
Mr.  Tompkins  is  described  as  a  man  of  much  more 
than  ordinary  intellectual  strength  and  culture,  but 
is  better  remembered  for  a  cordiality  and  kindliness 
of  manner  that  gave  him  great  acceptablenesa  and 
influence  in  his  public  and  private  relations.  In  the 
year  181.5  Mr.  Jonathan  Ward,  who  had  represented 
^Westchester  County  in  the  State  Senate,  was  sent  as 


member  of  Congress  to  Washington,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  this  election  had  much  political  signifi- 
cance, from  Mr.  Ward's  known  opposition  to  Mr. 
Clinton.  When  the  Presidential  choice  was  to  be 
made  of  a  successor  to  Mr.  Madison,  it  was  evident 
that  the  choice  lay  between  Mr.  James  Monroe  and 
Governor  Tompkins.  The  preferences  of  Mr.  Madi- 
son had  much  weight  with  the  Republican  i)arty,  and 
Mr.  Monroe  was  elected,  with  Governor  Tompkins  as 
Vice-President.  With  the  removal  of  this  gentleman 
to  Washington,  the  fortunes  of  De  Witt  Clinton  re- 
vived, and  the  Republicans  naming  him,  he  wa.s, 
almost  without  opposition,  elected  Governor  of  the 
State.  But  the  truce  in  party  dispute,  so  welcome, 
was  but  the  precursor  of  a  contest  in  the  State,  and 
in  the  County  of  Westchester,  of  uncommon  bitter- 
ness. It  might  be  right  hereto  state  that  the  cham- 
pionship by  Mr.  Clinton  of  the  measures  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  importance  of  which 
was  the  more  evident  as  the  work  progressed,  gave 
him  an  increased  hold  upon  the  confidence  of  the 
people.  This  however  was  more  immediately  felt  in 
the  neighborhoods  to  be  benefited  than  in  others,  as 
Westchester  County,  where  the  influence  could  only 
be  indirect. 

"  It  was  a  deceitful  calm,"  says  the  historian  of 
"  New  York  Politics,"  speaking  of  Mr.  Clinton's  all 
but  unanimous  election.  The  elevation  of  one  so  re- 
gardless of  party  restraints  was  a  bitter  realization  to 
the  extreme  Democracy.  The  Federalists,  in  their 
turn,  in  expectation  of  some  advantage,  were  only  too 
glad  to  revive  the  old  controversies,  and  Mr.  Clinton 
was  inclined,  in  his  party  conduct,  to  draw  the  line  as 
between  his  personal  friends  and  opponents.  In 
Westchester  County  the  election  for  Senators,  in  the 
spring  of  1819,  was  carried  on  with  great  animation. 
Mr.  John  Townsend,  of  East  Chester,  who  had  been, 
a  year  or  two  before,  a  member  of  the  Lower  House, 
was  elected  Senator  in  opposition  to  Pierre  Van  Cort- 
landt, the  Clinton  candidate.  It  was  at  this  timetliHt 
the  significant  name,  "Bucktail,"  designating  the 
opponents  of  Mr.  Clinton,  sprang  into  use.  To  the 
Tammany  Society,  a  secret  political  organization  of 
New  York  City,  this  gentleman  was  particularly 
odious,  and,  as  one  of  the  insignia  of  this  "  order  " 
was  the  tail  of  the  deer  worn  in  their  hats,  the  other 
party  soon  ap]>lied  the  term  to  all  who  sympathized 
with  them  in  their  feelings  and  action.  The  buck- 
tail,  an  emblem  of  success  in  the  chase,  was  gladly 
appropriated  by  the  Anti-Clintonians  and  became  the 
favorite  decoration  in  each  political  campaign.  It 
must  have  been  somewhere  about  this  time  that  the 
following  incidents,  related  in  a  Journal  of  a  trip  to 
visit  Chief  Justice  Jay  and  General  Philip  Van  Cort- 
landt, occurred  :  "  We  now  found  ourselves  in  the 
town  of  North  Castle,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were 
assembled  at  this  time  to  choose  their  officers.  We 
discovered  that  they  were  all  Bucktails.  My  friend, 
whose  enthusiasm  counterbalances  his  prudence,  ven- 


486 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tured  on  the  hopeless  task  of  converting  them  to 
Clintonism.  Accordingly,  having  singled  out  one 
who  appeared  to  be  the  deceutest  man  among  them, 
he  led  him  into  a  long  argument,  by  which  to  con- 
vince him  that  Tompkins  was  a  defaulter,  and  conse- 
quently unfit  to  be  entrusted  with  the  highly  respon- 
sible office  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  great  State. 
That  the  Bucktail,  in  his  attempt  to  prove  the  im- 
maculate purity  of  the  man  of  his  party,  was  foiled 
by  the  superior  address  and  ingenuity  of  his  antago- 
nist, is  not  saying  that  he  was  convinced."  We  give 
this  other  extract  from  the  journal — "  '  Who  is  this?  ' 

whispered  I.    'Dr.  C  k,  the  sheriff  of  the  county,' 

replied  my  companion,  '  and  a  warm  Clintonian.' 
'And  you,  doctor,  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  too;  how 
goes  the  election?'  Here  a  dialogue  commenced  on 
the  topic  next  to  the  heart  of  these  two  men,  who^ 
alike  forgetful  of  the  rain,  which  now  began  to  fall, 
.  .  .  these  two  mad  politicians  kept  up  their  jab- 
ber a  full  half-hour,  cold,  wind  and  rain  notwith- 
standing." Another  extract — "  A  few  minutes  suf- 
ficed to  bring  us  to  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Van  Cort- 
landts.  ...  I  had  not  another  opportunity  of 
drawing  Hannibal  into  the  recital  of  his  campaigns 
till  the  hour  of  retiring ;  his  attention  was  wholly 
occupied  by  Cooper  and  his  plans  for  bringing  in  De 
Witt  Clinton." 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Governor  Clinton 
was  re-elected  in  1820,  a  deadly  blow  was  the  actual 
result,  for  both  to  the  Senate  and  Assembly  pro- 
nounced majorities  against  him  were  returned. 

Mr.  Tompkins,  who  had  been  brought  out  to  oppose 
Mr.  Clinton,  had  a  majority  of  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one  in  the  Southern  Senatorial 
District,  which  included  Westchester  County.  The 
address  at  this  election  of  a  body  of  Federalists, 
which,  it  is  asserted,  had  very  little  influence  with  the 
main  force,  is  here  recalled,  because  on  the  list  of 
signatures  to  it  the  first  is  that  of  a  greatly  respected 
citizen  of  Mamaroneck,  Peter  Jay  Munro,  a  lawyer 
of  much  eminence  in  this  county,  and  because  the 
list  includes  also  that  of  James  A.  Hamilton,  son  of 
General  Hamilton,  long  a  resident  of  Tarrytown,  on 
the  Hudson. 

The  significance  of  this  paper  was  not  only  its  open 
assault  on  the  friends  of  Governor  Clinton  for  their 
devotion  to  him,  but  in  this  galvanic  disj^lay  of  the 
death  scene  of  the  distinguished  party  to  which  they 
had  belonged,  the  signers  sought  their  own  future 
political  advancement. 

It  is  proper  here  to  say  that  for  two  successive 
terms  the  Third  Congressional  District  of  the  State, 
which  consisted  of  Rockland  and  Westchester,  was 
ably  and  faithfully  represented  by  Mr.  Caleb  Tomp- 
kins, of  White  Plains,  and  that  for  three  years,  from 
1820  to'1823,  the  position  of  County  Judge  was  held 
by  William  Jay,  son  of  the  Chief  Justice. 

The  great  political  event  which  now  falls  under 
notice  is  the  assembling  of  the  convention  ordered  for 


the  revision  of  the  State  Constitution,  and  the  pres- 
ence in  it  of  three  distinguished  citizens  of  the 
county,  all  members  of  its  bar — Peter  A.  Jay,  Peter 
J.  Munro  and  Jonathan  Ward.  It  would  seem  that 
whatever  the  motive  elsewhere,  the  political  did  not 
enter  in  the  selections  thus  made  in  Westchester 
County. 

Governor  Tompkins  was  called  to  preside  over  the 
convention,  and  in  the  appointment  of  committees  it 
is  a  matter  of  no  little  honor  to  Westchester  that 
Mr.  Monroe  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
the  judiciary  department  and  Mr.  Ward  a  member  of 
that  on  the  council  of  revision.  One  of  the  marked 
periods  in  the  debates  of  this  body  was  that  in  which 
the  right  of  the  colored  population  to  vote  at  elec- 
tions was  discussed.  The  question  was  handled  very 
dispassionately,  but  Mr.  Jay's  speech  appears  to  have 
been  one  of  the  very  ablest  on  the  subject.  By  far  the 
severest  work  of  the  convention  was  the  consideration 
of  the  report  of  the  Judiciary  committee,  when  strong 
political  feeling  was  aroused.  The  question  really 
was  the  deposition  of  the  old  Judges.  Mr.  Munro, 
although  assisted  by  Mr.  Van  Buren,  struggled  un- 
successfully to  prevent  the  sweeping  change. 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  following  the  con- 
vention. Senator  John  Townsend,  of  East  Chester, 
was  made  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appointment, 
the  sessions  of  which  were  the  last  held  in  the  State, 
its  powers  passing  by  the  new  Constitution  to  the 
Governor  and  the  Senate.  Mr.  Townsend,  at  the  next 
election  in  the  county,  was  made  its  Sheriff  and  Mr. 
John  Hunter,  of  Pelham,  was  returned  under  the 
new  apportionment  one  of  the  four  Senators  of  the 
Second  Senatorial  District.  In  1824,  in  the  list  of 
Presidential  electors,  the  last  selected  by  the  Legis- 
lature, are  the  names  of  the  two  brothers  John  and 
James  Drake,  both  natives  of  Westchester  County, 
the  first  residing  in  New  York,  but  the  latter  on  his 
estate  at  East  Chester. 

As  well-known,  the  election  for  President  was 
thrown  into  the  House  of  Representatives,  where  Mr. 
John  Quincy  Adams,  after  several  ballotings,  was 
elected,  Mr.  Joel  Frost,  of  Putnam  (bounty,  the  mem- 
ber from  the  Fourth  Congressional  District,  giving  his 
vote  to  William  H.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  then  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury. 

The  following  detailed  statement  of  the  Electoral 
vote  of  Westchester  County,  beginning  with  the  year 
1828,  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  political  opinions  of 
the  citizens  of  Westchester  County  from  that  date  to 
the  present  time : 

ELECTORAL  VOTE  OF  WESTClIESTEtt  COUNTY. 

Year.      Name  of  political  Name  of  candidate.  Number 

party.  of  votes. 

1828  Andrew  Jackson   3788 

 Jolin  Qiiincy  Adams  315.3 

1832  Democratic  Andrew  Jackson  3133 

Whig.  .  ■  Henry  Clay  2293 

183G  Democratic  Martin  Van  Buren     ....  3009 

Wbig  VVni.  H.   1  arrison  1749 

Scattering   287 


GENERAL  HISTORY 


4118a 

4412 

Whig  

4258 

2146 

Whig  

4:il2 

FioeSoil  .... 

1312 

5283 

Whig  

4(133 

61 

4600 

Whig  

■UM 

3641 

.  .  .  Johu  Bell  

.  8100 

Ropuhlican  .  .  . 

6771 

1864  Domocratic.  .  . 

.  .  .  Geo.  B.  McCloUan  

9353 

7593 

11,667 

9641 

1872  Domocratic.  .  . 

11  112 

10,223 

1876  Democratic. 

12,050 

Rppiiblican .  .  . 

.  .  .  Rutherford  1!.  Hayes  .  .  .  . 

9574 

11,858 

11,367 

1:1  524 

Republican  .  .  . 

.  .  .  James  G.  Blaiue  

11,286 

435 

In  referring  to  thethirty  years  before  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election,  some  of  the  facts  and  events  are  important 
and  interesting  enough  for  record  and  consideration. 
General  Aaron  Ward  of  Sing  Sing  was,  six  times 
elected  a  member  of  Congress  fulfilling  his  duties  to 
the  eminent  satisfaction  of  his  constituents  and  the 
pride  of  his  neighbors.  General  Ward  was  an  officer 
of  the  War  of  1812,  and  for  some  years  Brigadier 
General  of  the  Fifteenth  Brigade  and  Fourth  Division 
of  the  Militia  of  the  State.  In  the  convention  in 
1846,  for  amending  the  constitution.  General  Ward 
represented  the  county  and  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  the  militia  and  military  officers.  Mr. 
John  Hunter  of  Hunter's  Island,  Pelham,  in  1823,  for 
one  year,  and  from  1836,  for  eight  years  Senator  from 
Westchester,  was  a  man  of  large  wt-alth  and  high 
social  position  and  an  affable  and  a  considerate  gen- 
tleman. He  was  a  very  strong  supi)<)rt(!r  of  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  during  whose  administration  Mr.  Philip 
Schuyler,  a  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Hunter  and  a  resi- 
dent of  this  county  for  many  years  held  the  con- 
sulship at  London.  Mr.  Hunter  was  also  a  member  of 
the  constitutional  convention  ofl84C. 

Mr.  Allen  McDonald  of  White  Plains  held  a  seat 
in  the  Senate  for  two  terms  and  is  said  to  have  been 
exceedingly  popular.  In  1836,  he  was  appointed 
Adjutant  General  of  theState.  Mr.  William  Nelson, 
of  Peekskill,  who  commenced  his  political  career  by 
two  terms  in  the  Assembly,  in  1819  and  1820,  had 
already  in  1815  been  district  attorney  of  the  Eleventh 
District  and  was  again  in  1822  of  the  county.  From 
1824  to  1828,  Mr.  Nelson  was  State  Senator  and 
from  1847  to  1851  the  member  of  Congress  from  this 
District.  In  all  these  positions  Mr.  Nelson  merits 
the  approbation  due  for  faithful  service.  He  died  in 
86(5  or  ]8()7. 


FROM  1783  TO  I860.  487 


The  Anti-Masonic  excitements  at  such  a  high 
pitch  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  much  less 
either  politically  or  socially  aff'ected  this  county  The 
brethren  of  the  order  quietly  abandoned  their  local 
organization  and  bided  the  passing  away  of  the  storm. 
The  effect,  however,  of  this  ephemeral  political  move- 
ment was  to  make  the  Democratic  party  as  a  party 
more  compact  and  consequently  stronger  and  better 
prepared  for  its  mission.  This  was  illustrated  no 
where  more  thoroughly  than  among  the  "  once  set 
not  easily  moved  "  farmers  of  Westchester  County. 

But  the  business  disasters  of  1837  made  much  more 
of  an  impression  upon  them.  The  impulsive  trifling 
of  President  Jackson  with  the  finances  of  the  coun- 
try, which  at  that  time  was  supposed  to  throw  a  halo 
around  his  inflexible  will  and  courage,  brought  upon 
his  successor,  through  the  troubles  which  in  his  ad- 
ministration the  people  were  made  to  suffer,  an  ob- 
loquy and  blame  which  Mr.  Van  Buren  did  not  indi- 
vidually deserve. 

The  fact  that  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  coun- 
ty was  reduced  from  over  one  thousand  two  hundred 
in  1836  to  two  hundred  and  seventy  in  1840  shows, 
making  all  allowances  for  the  humors  of  the  "  log- 
cabin  and  hard  cider  "  campaign,  that  a  deliberate, 
sober,  first  and  second  thought  of  the  people  was 
making  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  his  great  party  eat  the 
bread  of  affliction.  From  this  time  for  some  years 
the  two  parties  were  more  closely  matched.  In  fact 
the  lines  of  both  were  much  disturbed.  The  ques- 
tions of  the  Tariff  and  Internal  improvement  were 
those  which  divided  the  professed  politicians,  but 
personal  preferences  and  antipathies  in  certain  divi- 
sions and  localities  were  confounding  plans  and  calcu- 
lations. The  advent,  too,  of  a  secret  political  organi- 
zation, styled  Native  American,  which  had  in  the 
several  towns  a  large  following,  was  very  unsettling 
as  to  the  county  and  town  nominations  and  elections. 
To  be  added  to  all  this  was  the  dissensions  which 
sprang  up  as  the  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery 
was  discussed.  As  a  consequence,  the  majority  of 
Mr.  Polk  in  the  county  over  Mr.  Clay  was  still  less 
than  that  of  his  party  four  years  before. 

The  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union,  which  in- 
creased the  Southern  strength  and  the  war  with 
Mexico,  which  necessarily  followed  it,  added  new 
subjects  for  difference  of  opinion  and  debate.  At  the 
Gubernatorial  election,  in  1846,  the  defection  in  the 
Democjatic  party,  which  ensured  the  defeat  of  Silas 
Wright,  brought  on  confusion  and  revolt.  The  feel- 
ing was  intensified  when  the  death  of  Mr.  Wright  in 
the  succeeding  August  was  announced.  During  that 
summer,  at  the  primary  meetings  and  conventions  of 
the  Democracy,  bitter  struggles  were  taking  place.  In 
September  the  State  convention  met  at  Syracuse,  and 
the  Radicals,  being  deprived,  as  they  alleged,  of 
their  proper  representation  assembled  in  October,  at 
Herkimer.  Mr.  Hunter's  name  appears  in  the  call. 
In  this  internal  dissension  the  question  involved  was 


488 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  territories.  The 
Herkimer  convention  demanded  tlial  the  principle  of 
non-extension,  called  also  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  be  in- 
troduced into  the  party  platform.  The  Whigs  in  the 
canvass  of  1847  were  signally  victorious,  but  the 
seat  of  Mr.  James  E.  Beers  in  the  Assembly  was  con- 
tested by  Colonel  J.  R.  Hayward,  who  had  held  it  the 
previous  year.  Mr  Hayward  was  unsuccessful.  In 
1848  the  breach  between  the  two  factions  was  made 
still  wider  at  the  meeting  of  the  two  conventions 
styled  the  "Old  Hunker"  and  the  "Barnburner," 
in  both  of  which  Westchester  Democrats  were  repre- 
sented. Among  the  names  best  remembered  in  the 
ranks  of  these  two  divisions  are  in  the  first,  Dr. 
Benjamin  Brandreth,  .Tesse  Lyon,  Andrew  Findlay, 
Warren  Tompkins,  Abraham  Strong,  and  in  the  sec- 
ond Joseph  H.  Anderson,  Colonel  Hayward,  Judge 
Schrugam,  Honeywell  Watson,  Robt.  H.  Coles,  Will- 
iam Fisher,  Dr.  Finch,  and  Samuel  Ferris. 

Upon  the  nomination  of  General  Lewis  Cass  for  the 
I'rcsidency  a  complete  division  took  place,  and  sepa- 
rate National  and  State  tickets  were  selected.  Mr. 
VanBuren  was  named  as  the  Free  Soil  candidate  fir  the 
high  position  which  he  formerly  held.  In  the  election 
which  followed  the  Whig  candidate  General  Zachary 
Taylor,  who  was  elected,  received  in  this  county  a 
majority  over  the  entire  opposing  vote.  General  Cass 
fell  behind  Mr.  Van  Buren  six  thousand  votes  in  the 
State  but  largely  exceeded  him  in  Westchester  County. 
Some  of  the  most  ardent  leaders  of  the  Democracy  of 
earlier  days  had  by  this  time  become  the  stanchest 
friends  of  the  policies  advocated  by  the  Whigs.  The 
old  Senator  and  Sheriff,  John  Townsend,  is  mentioned 
in  this  connection. 

The  history  of  the  next  four  years  is  of  the  weak- 
ening of  the  hold  thus  obtained  by  the  Whigs.  The 
death  of  General  Taylor,  the  accession  of  Mr.  Fill- 
more, whose  views  were  materially  different  from  Gen. 
Taylor's,  and  the  exactions  of  the  "  Southern  Oli- 
garchy," as  Mr.  Sumner  used  to  style  the  Southern 
leaders  of  both  sides,  brought  in  serious  dissensions 
among  the  friends  of  the  party  in  power.  The  Com- 
promise measures  of  Mr.  Clay,  however,  served  both 
the  great  parties  as  a  cement  for  the  divisions  in  their 
ranks  and  within  the  old  lines  was  carried  on  the 
Presidential  contest  of  1862.  The  county  of  West- 
chester gave  Franklin  Pierce,  who  was  elected,  twelve 
hundred  clear  majority.  The  number  of  votes  cast 
had  increased,  it  would  seem,  over  sixteen  hundred. 
Little  is  remembered  of  an  exciting  or  important  na- 
ture during  this  national  administration,  so  far  as  this 
neighborhood  is  concerned,  save  the  hardly-sup- 
pressed indignation  (first)  at  the  quite  unnecessary 
strain  which  the  abettors  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
were  putting  upon  the  feeling  of  loyalty  and  obedi- 
ence among  the  people  and  (second)  at  the  intervention 
for  conscience  or  for  effect,  of  the  small  body  of 
Abolitionists,  who  really  had  no  following  in  tliis 
county. 


But  the  Presidential  election  of  1856  developed  the 
fact  of  great  impatience,  and  of  great  unwillingness 
to  be  made  uncomfortable,  by  extremists.  Although 
the  free  soil  vote,  less  than  one-fourth  in  1848,  was,  in 
1856,  more  than  one-third,  it  meant  not  for  a  moment 
interference  with  slavery  in  the  Southern  States.  The 
sentiment  of  abhorrence  for  the  institution  never  took 
form  beyond  its  non-extension,  and  the  rights  of  the 
States  were  as  fully  cherished,  as  devotion  to  the 
Union  was  afterward  the  absorbing  principle.  State 
sovereignty  had  free  and  open  statement,  and  the 
charge  of  intermeddling,  whenever  alleged,  was 
laughed  down  as  an  absurd  insinuation. 

The  course  of  Mr.  Buchanan  in  his  Lecompton 
policy,  which  was  believed  to  be  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty,  upon 
which  he  was  elected,  brought  out  the  indignant  op- 
position of  a  portion  of  his  northern  and  western 
supporters,  and  their  representatives  in  Congress, 
prominent  among  whom  was  Mr.  John  B.  Haskin,the 
member  from  the  Ninth  District  of  New  York,  in 
which  was  Westchester  County.  In  the  Congressional 
election  of  1858,  in  this  District,  the  course  of  the  ad- 
ministration was  made  the  issue,  and  Mr.  Gouverneur 
Kemble,  having  been  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
party,  Mr.  Haskin  was  placed  by  his  friends  in  the 
political  field.  He  was  supported  by  the  Republicans, 
and  elected,  by  a  small  majority,  over  his  opponent. 
To  this  election,  and  that  in  the  sixth  district  of 
Pennsylvania,  where  Mr.  Hickman,  an  associate  of 
Mr.  Haskin,  was  in  like  manner  opposed  by  the 
whole  strength  of  the  administration,  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  country  were  turned.  Said  a  gentleman  from 
Morrisania,  "Should  Mr.  Haskin  be  defeated,  and  an 
administration  candidate  be  elected,  every  post-office 
and  every  office  of  the  Government  would  be  illumin- 
ated." An  incident  in  Congress,  of  a  startling  na- 
ture, in  the  early  part  of  1860,  brings  to  notice  the 
continued,  determined  and  ardent  part  taken,  after 
his  re-election,  by  the  representative  of  Westchester 
County  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  duties.  While  ad- 
dressing the  House  Mr.  Haskin  accidentally  let  fall 
from  the  breast  pocket  of  his  coat  a  loaded  revolver. 
On  the  question  of  the  propriety  of  carrying  this  wea- 
pon into  the  House,  not  only  in  Congress,  but  among 
his  constituents  and  throughout  the  country,  warmest 
discussions  followed.  The  e.xplanation  given  was 
preparation  for  self-defense  in  the  unprotected  neigh- 
borhood in  Washington,  in  which  Mr.  Haskin  re- 
sided, in  which  much  lawlessness  prevailed. 

Many  years  have  passed  since  this  incident,  but, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  Rebellion  which  soon  fol- 
lowed and  the  tragic  and  dastardly  scenes  in  it,  it  il- 
lustrates the  dangers  in  public  life  at  the  time  and 
the  unflinching  determination  of  those  calle;l  to 
mingle  in  the  discu.-isions  introductory  to  the  strife. 

We  come  now  to  the  stirring  canvass  and  clecti<in 
in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  carried  into  the  Presiden- 
tial chair,  and  when  the  party  which  had  so  long, 


GENERAL  HISTORY  FROM  1783  TO  18()0. 


489 


almost  continuously,  conducted  the  govcrmuent, 
passed  into  that  long  exile  which  has  just  been  ter- 
minated. At  the  State  Convention  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  in  which  Thomas  Smith,  Gilbert  S.  Lyon 
and  Abraham  Hyatt  represented  this  county,  the 
Hon.  Edwin  Crosswell,  of  Greenburgli,  was  named  as 
one  of  the  two  delegates  from  the  Ninth  District  to 
the  National  Convention  of  the  Democratic  party,  to 
be  held  at  Charleston  in  the  next  April,  to  nominate 
its  candidate  for  President.  At  a  convention  of  Demo- 
crats of  the  Ninth  District,  dissatisfied  with  the  ac- 
tion of  the  State  Convention,  William  Radford,  of 
Yonkers,  afterward  member  of  Congress,  was  chosen 
delegate  to  Charleston. 

The  State  Convention  of  the  Republicans  was  held 
in  April,  1860,  at  Syracuse,  and  E.  F.  Shonnard,  of 
Y^onicers,  and  Harvey  Kidd,  of  Westchester,  from  the 
First  Assembly  District,  Edmund  J.  Porter,  of  New 
Rochelle,  and  John  J.  Clapp,  from  the  Second  As- 
sembly District,  Odle  Close,  of  North  Salem,  and  J. 
H.  Piatt,  of  Ossining,  from  the  Third  Assembly  Dis- 
trict, represented  this  county.  The  Hon.  Edmund  J. 
Porter,  formerly  Corporation  Counsel  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  was  chosen  as  the  delegate  to  the  Na- 
tional Republican  Convention  at  Chicago,  at  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated. 

On  the  ticket  voted  for  Presidential  Electors,  on 
the  Republican  side,  the  Ninth  Congressional  District 
candidate  was  the  Hon.  William  H.  Robertson,  then 
County  Judge;  and  on  the  other  ticket,  whose  motto 
was  said  to  be  "  Union  for  the  sake  of  the  Union," 
wa*  placed  the  name  of  the  Hon.  Abraham  B.  Con- 
ger, of  Rockland,  formerly  State  Senator.  Amid  the 
heated  discussions  in  the  county,  at  the  public  gath- 
erings preparatory  to  the  election,  peace  and  order 
were  everywhere  preserved  ;  and  when  the  result  was 
reached,  although  the  majority  in  Westchester 
County  was  decidedly  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  ver- 
dict was,  as  readily  as  after  any  previous  contest,  ac- 
cepted and  sustained. 

Among  those  chosen  for  office  at  this  time  was 
Edward  Haight,  who,  although  in  the  opposition, 
proved  to  be  a  valuable  and  useful  member  in  the 
Lower  House  at  Washington,  during  the  first  two 
years  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration. 

With  a  statement  of  the  patriotic  movement,  be- 
fore the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  save  the 
Union,  in  which  this  county  participated,  we  com- 
plete this  bird's  eye  view  of  its  political  history.  To 
the  convention  to  be  assembled  at  Albany,  delegates 
from  the  three  Assembly  Districts  were  chosen, 
and  the  following  well-known  citizens  attended  its 
sessions :  W.  W.  Woodworth  and  Thomas  Smith,  of 
Yonkers,  Darius  Lyon,  of  East  Chester,  Dr.  W.  J. 
McDermott,  of  Westchester,  from  the  First  District ; 
Alexander  M.  Bruen,  the  Hon.  James  E.  Beers,  of 
Port  Chester,  the  Hon.  John  W.  Mills  and  the  Hon. 
E.  G.  Sutherland,  both  of  White  Plains,  from  the 
Second  District ;  Judge  Robert  S.  Hart,  Uriah  Hill, 
46 


s  William  S.  Tompkins  and  James  M.  Baird  (afterward 
!  Register  of  the  county),  from  the  Third  District. 
I     The  following  gentlemen  had  been  selected  as  al- 
!  ternates:  William  Radford,  James  Parker,  P.  L.  Mc- 
Clellan,  Abraham  Hatfield,  William  L.  Bard,  Henry 
E.  Bird,  Frost  Hortou,  Columbus  W.Seeley,  Drs.  Ben- 
jamin Brandreth  and  William  P.  Woodcock,  and  the 
Hon.  Jacob  Odell.  The  assemblage  proved  to  beoneof 
the  most  august  in  the  history  of  the  State.  The  call  and 
the  resolutions  passed  had  in  view  the  urging  upon 
the  government  of  a  conciliatory  course,  the  non-en- 
forcement of  its  authority  unless  attacked,  and  the 
adoption  of  n)easures  of  compromise. 

Perhaps  the  effect  of  this  action  in  New  York  and 
of  others  at  the  time,  was  the  longer  restraining  the 
arm  of  the  government  until  some  overt  act  against 
its  constituted  authority  should  be  committed  which 
would  unite  the  whole  people  in  rebuking  seces- 
sion and  disunion.  A  resolution  offered  by  Judge 
Hart,  of  this  couaty,  and  passed  by  this  convention, 
looking  to  the  possible  necessity  for  further  delibera- 
tion and  action  by  this  body,  makes  the  more  clear 
how,  by  the  precipitancy  of  the  South,  these  well- 
meaning  and  persistent  efforts  for  conciliation  were 
rendered  ineffectual. 

We  present  now,  from  the  several  censuses  of  the 
State  and  General  Government,  a  view  of  the  growth 
of  the  County  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Colonial  period  to  the  year 
1880. 


THE  TEN  (.OLONLiL  CENSUSES  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


4 

00 

Oi 

CD 
f-H 

316 
294 
307 
146 

CO 

o 

ei 

l- 
1-1 

OO 
C4 

^ 

IUjU 
951 

•. 
CO 

r- 

t- 
eo 
I- 

I- 
I— t 

us 

t~ 
t- 
»-l 

Mfu  

1U54 



672 

2435 

2511 

3153 

3813 

1879 

21  lU 

'*    16  and  under  60 

m 

560 
75 

2U90 
3(13 

2'<12 
228 

ms 

1039 

5204 
549 

382 

1018 

"White  Females  under  10 

7U7 

944 

577 

2095 

2263 

2440 

3483 

1701 

1890 

**    16  and  upwards 

1640 

-22.33 

2379 

5266 

539 
62 

-169 
386 
74 

au 

912 
155 
92 

 1  

176 

153 

72 

187 

303 

296 

793 

269 

3U4 

**    16  and  underdo 

180 

270 

418 

916 

127 



27 

66 

77 

68 

Black  Females  under  10 

151 

140 

62 

138 

238  267 

766 



96 

254 

72 

140 

279 

280 

867 



4'i 
29 
39 

ll'< 
83 

1063 

1946  2818 

1409 

6033 

i74.i 

92X6 

10703 

13257  '  21745 

•  N.  y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  iT.  p.  20. 
>•  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  T.  p.  339. 
'  X.  Y.  Census,  1855,  Iiitrod.  p.  v. 

^  Doc.  Hist.  X.  Y.,  vol.  i.  p.  (»:).    X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  v.  p.  702. 
«  X.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  Till.  v.  p.  929.    Doct.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  i.  p.  694. 
'  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  vi.  p.  !:«.    Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  I.  p.  694. 
!  N  Y.  Ool.  JISS.,  vol.  vi.  p.  392.    N.  Y.  Census,  1885,  lutrod.  p.  vi. 
>■  X.  Y.  Col.  .M.SS.,  vol.  vi.  p.  5.'>0. 
'  Doc.  Hist.  X.  Y.,  vol.  i.  p.  6Jt;. 

)  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  vol.  viii.  p.  457.    X.  Y.  Doc.  Hi»t.,  Vol.  i.  p.  097- 


490 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


THE   POl'l  LATION  OF  WESTCHESTER  COl'NTY  EROM  1782  TO  1880. 


Year.  Population. 

1782   8,524 

1786   20,554 

1790   24,003 

1800   27,373 

1810   30,272 

1814   26,367 

1820   32,638 

1825   33,l.'il 

1830   36,456 

1835   38,789 


Year.  Population. 

1840   48,686 

1845   47,394 

1850   58,263 

1855   80,678 

1860   99,497 

1865   101,197 

1870   131,348 

1875   103,5641 

1880   108,9881 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65.' 


BY  FREDERICK  WHITTAKER. 
Late  second  lieutenant  and  brevet  captain  Sixth  New  York  Veteran 
Volunteer  Cavalry. 


From  Lincoln's  Election  to  the  Takingof  Sumter— The  Two  Y'ears'  Volun- 
unteers— The  Three  Years'  Volunteers— Home  Affairs  to  the  Election  of 
Governor  Seymour — The  Draft  Kiots—  From  the  Riots  to  the  Close  of 
the  War — The  .\id  Societies— The  Bounty  Bonds— The  Return  of  the 
Volunteers— The  Roll  of  the  Dead— The  Drafted  Men— The  Grand 
Army  Posts. 

From  Lincoln's  Election  to  the  taking  of 
Sumter. — From  the  day  when  the  votes  were  counted, 
after  the  famous  election  of  1860,  the  question  of  Civil 
War  was  reduced  to  one  of  time.  The  party  that  then 
came  into  power  affected  to  believe  that  it  would  not 


1  If  to  these  last  two  enumerations  be  added  the  population  of  West 
Farms,  King's  Bridge  and  Morrisania,  which,  in  1874,  were  annexed  to 
the  city  of  New  York,  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  within  the  bounds 
of  the  old  Westchester  County  was,  in  187.5,  139.758,  and,  in  1860,  l.Sd.OU. 

2  The  information  contained  in  this  chapter,  as  to  the  towns  of  Cort- 
landt  and  Yorktown,  is  from  material  gathered  by  the  editor-in-chief. 
The  records  of  Cortlandt  were  carefully  kept  by  Mr.  Coffin  S.  Brown, 
who  Wiis  supervisor  at  the  time  of  the  war,  and  took  a  pride  in 
the  matter.  The  items  concerning  the  men  enlisted  come  from  the 
reports  of  the  State  .\djutant-General,  in  the  form  of  the  original 
muster-rolls  of  all  the  regiments  that  left  the  State.  Of  recruits  that 
joined,  after  first  muster,  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  a  full  and  au- 
thentic list ;  therefore  I  have  not  attempted  a  partial  one.  The  informa- 
tion as  to  bounty  bonds  is  obtained  from  the  records.  The  particulars  as 
to  relief  societies  are  credited  as  follows :  Port  Chester,  Mr.  John  E.  Mar- 
shall, treasurer,  who  kindly  loaned  me  his  book  of  accounts;  Ossining, 
Mrs.  Catharine  E.  Van  Cortlandt,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  society, 
who  sent  nie  the  final  report  of  its  work,  having  bunted  up  the  same 
with  much  trouble  ;  Cortlandt,  Mr.  Andrew  R.  Slartin,  from  Mr.  Coffin 
S.  Brown.  I  have  further  to  acknowledge  use  of  the  files  of  the  Eastern 
Statf  Jountal,  from  Mr.  Hendrickson,  the  present  proprietor  ;  of  the 
Yoiikers  Gazette,  in  the  year  1864,  from  the  gentlemen  in  charge  of  the 
office.  The  sources  of  other  information  are  mentioned  in  the  body  of 
the  chapter.  A  history  of  the  county  during  the  war  might  easily  be 
expanded  into  a  volume  of  a  hundred  pages  or  more. — F.  Whitt.\ker. 

[Much  valuable  and  interesting  matter  relating  to  the  late  Civil  War 
can  be  found  also  in  the  respective  town  histories  published  elswhere  in 
this  work. — Editob.J 


come ;  but  its  adversaries  steadily  jjredicted  its  oc- 
currence, or  confined  themselves  to  the  expression  of 
a  hope,  against  probability,  that  "the  evil  might  be 
spared  the  nation."  Westchester  County,  from  its 
position,  close  to  the  metropolis  of  American  com- 
merce, might  be  expected  to  take  a  commercial  view 
of  the  question,  and  did  so.  The  distribution  of  par- 
ties within  its  limits  was  similar  to  that  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  the  issue  between  the  supporters  of 
opposite  views  of  the  government  was  strongly  marked. 
As  in  New  York,  the  three  factions  into  which  the 
one  party  was  divided,  sunk  their  issue  in  a  common 
electoral  ticket,  whose  expressed  bond  of  union  was 
hatred  to  the  "  Black  Republicans"  and  "Aboli- 
tionists" as  a  class.  The  leading  papers  of  the 
county  were  the  Eastern  State  Journal  of  White 
Plains,  the  Ifighland  DemocratofPeekskiW,  and  the 
Yonkers  Herald.  All  three  were  well  established, 
marked  by  vigorous  writing,  well  able  to  support  their 
editors,  and  all  exist  to-day,  under  the  same  names, 
except  the  Herald,  which  was  changed  to  the  Gazette 
in  May,  1864. 

The  attitude  of  parties  in  the  county  is  best  exhib- 
ited by  the  way  in  which  these  papers  treated  the 
question  on  the  eve  of  election  and  immediately 
thereafter.  The  headlines  of  the  Eastern  State  Jour- 
nal, which  we  have  taken  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the 
whole,  and  wherein  the  tickets  were  printed  on  the  2d 
of  November — the  Friday  before  election-day — read 
thus : 

"  Union  Electoral  Ticket,  Anti-Lincoln,  Anti- 
Black  Republican." 

No  President  is  named.  There  are  thirty-three 
electors,  and  W.  Kelly  is  named  for  Governor.  The 
editorial  on  the  subject  says, — 

"  This  is  the  day  on  which  the  fate  of  battle  is  suspended.  Let  every 
true  man  do  his  duty.  ...  Be  at  the  polls  early.  .  .  .  Vote 
before  breakfast  if  possible.  Permit  no  Black  Republican  enemy  of  his 
country  to  deprive  you  of  a  sacred  right,  or  swerve  you  from  yotir  pur- 
pose. Challenge  every  illegal  vote.  Permit  no  imolent,  paid  and  drilled 
Wide  .\ wakes  to  dictate  the  law  or  your  duty.  .  .  .  Stand  firm  and 
defiant— and  get  in  every  vote  possible  for  tlie  Union  Ticket. 

Further  on,  and  scattered  through  the  paper,  are 
statements  that  the  '  Black  Republicans  are  panic- 
struck;'  adjurations  to  'bring every  man  to  the  polls;' 
'  to  vote  against  the  Negro  and  Black  Republican 
ticket,  next  Tuesday.'  '  Cast  your  vote  against  Negro 
Suffrage.    Be  true,'  etc. 

The  result  of  these  appeals  comes  out,  two  weeks 
after,  in  the  official  canvass  of  the  vote :  "  Union 
Electoral ''  ticket,  eight  thousand  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six;  "Republican"  ticket,  six  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy-one.  The  majority  of  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-five  cast  against  the 
latter  ticket  is  not  sustained  in  other  cases,  the  ma- 
jority for  Kelly  for  Governor  being  about  a  thousand^ 
while  that  for  the  Congressman  is  only  six  hundred 
and  fifty.  The  neighboring  counties  of  Putnam  and 
Rockland  show  about  the  same  state  of  parties. 

The  editorial  comment  on  the  result  of  the  election, 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


491 


after  an  admission  that  the  country  districts  had  car- 
ried the  State  for  the  Republicans  by  "about  sixty 
thousand  majority,"  is  as  follows: 

"The  result  is  deeply  to  be  regretted,  not  so  much  on  party  grounds,  as 
for  the  continued  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country.  .  .  .  The 
election  of  a  sectional  President— against  which  WASHINGTON  warned 
his  countrymen  in  his  farewell  address-has  now  been  tried,  and  we  are 
to  witness  the  result.  We  hope  for  the  best,  yet  we  are  not  without  se- 
rious apprehensions.  .  .  .  The  Union  Klectoral  ticket  gets  about  thir- 
teen hundred  majority,  but  the  State  is  black  enough.  New  York  City 
gives  the  Union  Electoral  Ticket  28,(iOO  majority." 

From  this  time  forth  the  tone  of  the  paper  is  mor- 
bidly mournful ;  but  few  comments  are  made  till  the 
assembling  of  Congress,  when  President  Buchanan's 
message  is  praised  as  being  "  an  able,  statesmanlike 
and  patriotic  production,"  and  the  rest  of  the  paper, 
u])  to  the  4tli  of  March,  1861,  is  occupied  with  copies 
of  letters  from  prominent  Southerners,  in  advocacy  of 
secession, includingthe  "  farewell"  of  Howell  Cobb,  in 
which  he  alludes  to  Mr.  Buchanan  as  the  "  last  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States."  The  points  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  message,  briefly  stated,  were, — that  the 
Union  was  in  peril ;  that  there  was  no  similarity  be- 
tween the  attitude  of  South  Carolina  in  the  nullifica- 
tion of  1832  and  her  secession  of  December  20,  18()0  ; 
because,  in  1832  the  sympathy  of  other  States  was 
against  her;  while,  in  1860,  that  of  the  Gulf  States 
was  with  her.  That  the  trouble  had  arisen  in  con- 
sequence of  the  Northern  States  interfering  with 
slavery — a  thing  they  had  "  no  more  right  to  meddle 
with,  in  other  States,  than  in  Ru-sia  "  That  the  ques- 
tion had  arisen,  what  was  to  be  done?  That  he  was 
of  opinion  that  secession  was  "  unconstitutional,"  but 
also  of  opinion,  "  after  much  serious  reflection  "'  that 
the  United  States  "  had  no  power  to  coerce  a  seceding 
State,"  closing  this  part  of  the  argument  with  the  re- 
mark :  "  The  fact  is,  the  Union  rests  on  public  oi)inion, 
and  can  never  be  cemented  by  the  blood  of  its  citizens 
shed  in  civil  war."  A  week  after  the  secession  of 
South  Carolina  the  Eastern  Stale  Journal  published  a 
aermon,  by  Rev.  H.  S.  Van  Dyke,  in  Brooklyn,  on 
"Abolitionism,"  in  which  the  Bible  defense  of  slavery 
was  promulgated,  and  Abolitionists  were  denounced 
as  "  infidels."  This  srrmon  occupied  ten  columns  of 
the  paper,  in  small  type,  and  the  editor  drew  attention 
to  the  leading  point — the  "  identity  of  Abolitionism 
and  infidelity."  Extracts  from  Southern  papers  form 
the  staple  of  news  for  the  next  few  weeks,  and  on 
January  11th  the  editor  announced,  ''  The  mission  of 
Black  Republicanism  is  the  destruction  of  the  Union. 
The  mission  is  rapidly  being  accomplished.  South 
Carolina  leads  offin  seceding.  . .  .  Those  who  organized 
the  Republican  party  are  responsible  for  the  present 
condition  of  affairs."  January  18th,  the  statement 
was  made  that  "  Yancey,  Toombs  and  Rhett  are  no 
more  disunionists  than  Horace  Greeley."  In  this 
morbid  strain  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the 
county  appears  to  have  run  till  February  1st,  when  a 
"State  Convention  of  Democrats"  was  announced,  to 
^insist"  that  there  shouUl  be  "  no  coercion,  no  civil 


war,"  with  the  assertion  :  "  The  border  States  mV/  not 
pertiiit  Lincoln  to  coerce  the  Gulf  States."  [The 
italics  are  copied.] 

I  regret  extremely  that,  from  this  period  to  the 
10th  of  May,  there  is  a  gap  in  the  files  of  this  paper  ; 
so  that  it  is  not  possible  to  say  how  the  Westchester 
County  Democrats  officially  took  the  news  of  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter.  It  can  only  be  judged  from 
the  coincidence  of  the  tone  of  this  and  the  other 
papers  of  the  county  with  that  of  the  New  York 
papers  of  the  same  opinion.  That  it  could  not  have 
changed  materially  is  plain  from  the  first  heading 
that  strikes  the  eye  on  May  10th,  which  is  "  Peace  ! 
Peace!  Down  with  the  Black  Republicans,"  though, 
among  the  news  items,  appears  the  drilling  of  a  com- 
pany in  White  Plains,  raised  by  Captain  (afterwards 
Colonel)  Janies  J.  Chambers,  in  which  complimentary 
notice  is  given  the  men. 

The  news  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  and  espe- 
cially that  of  its  surrender,  as  is  well  known,  pro- 
duced a  great  change  of  public  opinion  in  the  city  of 
New  Y'ork,  in  favor  of  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  of  an  ett'ort  to  put  down  the  Rebellion. 

The  bombardment  of  the  fort  began  on  Friday, 
April  12,  1861 ;  the  place  was  surrendered  by  Major 
Vnderson  on  Saturday,  13th,  after  an  attack  in  which 
one  man  was  wounded — none  killed — on  the  side  of 
the  United  States  forces.  The  news  was  published  in 
the  papers  of  Sunday,  the  14th,  with  the  head-line, 
in  the  iVcff  York  Herald,  "  Dissolution  of  the 
Union,"  and  the  j)eople  had  all  Sunday  to  think  over 
the  news,  and  the  comments  made  thereon  by  the  op- 
ponents of  the  administration.  The  exasperation  of 
feeling  produced  l)y  the  news  itself  was  intensified  by 
the  way  in  which  these  comments  were  made,  and 
especially  by  the  call  made  for  a  "  peace  meeting  "  in 
New  York  City.  The  Herald,  in  the  same  issue  in 
which  the  surrender  of  the  fort  and  the  "  dissolution 
of  the  Union  "  was  announced,  stated  that  a  "  prelim- 
inary meeting  "  had  been  held  on  Saturday  evening, 
at  which  steps  were  taken  to  call  a  great  mass-meet- 
ing, to  "  force  "  the  administration  to  surrender,  and 
desist  fi-om  Mr.  Lincoln's  expressed  intention  to 
"  coerce  the  seceding  States."  Westchester  County 
was  represented  at  this  preliminary  meeting  by  some 
prominent  officials,  who  held  to  the  extreme  Demo- 
cratic doctrine  of  "  States  rights." 

On  Monday  morning,  April  loth,  a])peared  Mr. 
Lincoln's  proclamation.  It  called  for  seventy-five 
thousand  militia,  for  three  months,  to  suppress  the 
Rebellion.  That  proclamation  had  the  effect  of  a 
spark  to  a  train  of  gunpowder  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  the  effect  was  felt  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester in  a  proportionate  degree.  Men  who  had 
been  waiting,  sick  at  heart,  in  view  of  the  quiet  way 
in  which  the  government  was  apparently  submitting 
to  destruction,  realized  that  the  end  of  submission  had 
come  at  last,  and  that  public  opinion  might  be  in- 
voked to  repel  the  snicide  of  a  nation.    Then  came 


492 


HISTOK^  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  sudden  outburst,  in  the  city,  of  a  popular  anger, 
which  filled  the  streets,  in  five  minutes  from  the  first 
rush  into  the  open  air,  with  a  dense  crowd  of  excited 
men,  whose  only  purpose  seemed  to  be  to  make  every 
Democratic  newspaper  in  New  York  "  hang  out  the 
flag."    They  were  roused  at  last. 

The  Two  Years'  Volunteers. — When  such  a 
state  of  feeling  showed  itself  in  a  city  which  had 
cast  a  heavy  majority  against  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  may 
well  be  supposed  that  in  Albany,  where  his  friends 
and  partisans  were  in  the  ascendant  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, it  would  rise  still  higher. 

Such  was  the  case ;  and  the  singular  anomaly  was 
presented,  in  the  history  of  that  stirring  time,  that 
the  President's  demand  found  itself  far  behind  the 
popular  judgment  of  the  needs  of  the  case.  The  call 
was  for  seventy-five  thousand  militia  for  three  months' 
service.  It  arrived  on  the  15th  of  April.  On  the 
very  next  day  the  New  York  Legislature  passed, 
with  an  unexampled  celerity,  and  the  Governor 
signed,  a  law  providing — in  addition  to  the  quota  as- 
signed to  New  York  State  under  the  call  (thirteen 
thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty  men) — for  thirty 
thousand  volunteers,  to  serve  for  two  years.  The  law 
authorized  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  comp- 
troller, attorney-general.  State  engineer  iind  sur- 
veyor, and  State  treasurer,  or  a  majority  of  them,' 
to  "  accept  the  services,  and  to  cause  to  be  mustered 
into  the  service  of  the  State,"  the  volunteers  named, 
"  in  addition  to  the  present  military  organization  of 
the  State,  and  as  a  part  of  the  militia  thereof"  It 
further  provided  for  pay  and  allowances,  the  same  as 
then  prevailed  in  the  United  States  service,  to  the 
force  to  be  raised,  and  that  the  men  should  be  "  liable 
at  all  times  to  be  turned  over  to  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  order  of  the  Governor,  as  a  part 
of  the  militia  of  the  State,  upon  the  requisition  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States." 

The  first  formal  identification  of  Westchester 
County  with  the  two  years'  volunteers,  and  the  only 
one  in  the  county  in  the  shape  of  a  body  of  men  ac- 
credited thereto,  came  from  the  village  of  Port  Ches- 
ter, in  the  shape  of  Company  B,  Seventeenth  In- 
fantry, known  as  the  ''  Westchester  Chasseurs." 

The  interest  that  attaches  to  this  company,  as  being 
the  first  to  volunteer,  in  a  body,  for  the  credit  of  the 
town,  makes  its  personalty  worthy  of  special  notice. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  muster-roll,  with 
remarks  on  the  military  history  of  the  company  and 
its  oflicers : 

Captain,  N«lson  B.  Bartram  ;  First  Lieutenant,  John  Vickers  ;  Second 
Lieutenant,  Charles  Hilbert ;  First  Sergeant,  James  Fox  ;  Sergeants, 
Tliomas  Beal,  Louis  Neetliing  and  August  Dittnian  ;  Corporals,  William 
Crothere,  John  Beal,  Joseph  Beal  and  Robert  Magee  ;  Drummers,  Ste- 
phen Floots  and  William  Fairbanks  ;  Privates,  Aug.  Adams,  Charles  H. 
Burns,  John  Burns,  William  Baker,  Ardemus  Barnes,  Edward  Bowen, 
George  Buckley,  Edward  Bradley,  Darius  Butterfield,  Frederick  Cross, 
Amasa  Conover,  James  Cunningham,  Richard  Conkling,  John  P.  Denip- 
sey,  Thomas  Donohue,  Silas  Downes,  James  Dooley,  John  G.  Dewire, 
Thomas  C.  Ely,  Edgar  Ferris,  William  Farrington,  Charles  Frear,  John 
Fay,  John  Ferguson,  John  Gibson,  Benjamin  Glauson,  Conrad  Graff, 


George  Gurtsey,  W.  S.  Gregory,  Charles  Gedney,  John  Hart,  Barney 
Hammil,  Joseph  Hibbert,  William  Hennessey,  S.  J.  King,  Daniel  Key- 
ser,  W.  H.  Lee,  T.  H.  Lockwood,  Seaman  Jlorrell,  Alexander  McCloud, 
Theodore  Miller,  Christoplier  Menken,  George  and  Henry  Marshall, 
John  Murphy,  John  Murty,  C.  McGrath,  T.  McKay,  M'illiam  McKeel, 
John  Martin,  T.  McQuade,  W.  O'Reilly,  Jared  Palmer,  Henry  Siltz, 
Robert  Sergeant,  T.  Topping,  Jlorris  Thomas,  James  H.  Taylor,  James 
Worden,  Anthony  Warner,  W.  Whelpley,  W.  Woods,  Max  Weber  and 
Louis  Zulnaga. 

liemurke. — Captain  Bartram  was  promoted  to  major  November  2, 1861, 
and  to  lieutenant-colonel  June  20,  18G2,  being  mustered  out  with  the 
regiment  June  2,  1863,  from  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  service,  which 
was  two  yeai-s.  Lieutenants  Vickers  and  Hilbert  were  both  promoted  to 
be  captains,  and  mustered  out  at  the  expiration  of  term.  i 

Sergeant  James  Fox  was  promoted  to  second  lieutenant,  but  resigned! 
in  a  few  months  ;  Thomas  Beal  was  promoted  to  a  commission  August  3,1 
1862,  and  mustered  out  with  the  regiment  as  second  lieutenant  in  thM 
following  year.  I 

Captain  Bartram,  at  the  time  of  his  enlistment,  waa 
vice-principal  of  one  of  the  New  York  public  schoolsJ 
earning  a  good  salary  ;  and  many  people  thought  him 
one  of  the  most  foolish  of  men,  to  throw  up  a  good 
place,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  "  serving  his  coun- 
try," so  low  had  then  become  the  popular  estimate  of 
the  value  of  patriotism.  The  effect  of  such  publica- 
tions as  we  have  briefly  noticed  in  the  case  of  the 
White  Plains  paper,  echoed,  in  terms  of  the  same  or 
greater  strength,  by  other  papers  of  the  county,  had 
certainly  not  tended  to  encourage  good  feeling  ;  and  it 
reflects  on  Bartram  and  the  town  of  Port  Chester  a 
credit  that  no  other  town  in  the  county  can  share, 
that  he  managed  to  get  his  company  mustered  into 
the  service,  in  its  entirety,  as  he  did.  He  appears  to 
have  begun  his  work,  almost  the  day  the  law  was  pro- 
mulgated— April  18th — in  the  form  of  a  general  order 
from  the  adjutant-general  of  the  State, — and  had  his 
men  ready  to  leave  Port  Chester  before  the  end  of  the 
month.  Even  then,  however,  they  might  never  have 
been  mustered  in  as  a  company,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  energy  and  patriotism  of  a  few  men  in  Port  Ches- 
ter, who  took  hold  of  the  matter  and  held  up  his 
hands.  This  matter  brings  us  to  the  history  of  a 
movement  started  at  the  same  time,  in  which,  also, 
the  town  of  Port  Chester  set  the  rest  of  the  county  a 
good  example. 

Before  the  Bartram  company  was  fairly  organized, 
it  became  plain  that  something  was  necessary  to^sup- 
ply  the  families  of  the  volunteers  of  the  town,  who 
were,  in  many  instances,  married  men  with  children. 
Therefore,  on  the  30th  of  April,  Mr.  James  H.  Titus, 
a  well-known  citizen  of  the  place,  set  the  ball  rolling 
by  subscribing  a  hundred  dollars  towards  a  fund  for 
this  purpose,  with  twenty-nine  dollars  additional,  to 
pay  the  fares  of  the  men  to  the  camp  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Regiment  in  New  York.  He  was  closely  fol- 
lowed. May  3d,  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Abendroth,  with  a  hun- 
dred dollars,  and,  by  the  9th  of  May,  the  subscriptions 
amounted  to  four  hundred  and  forty-four  dollars.  All 
this  money,  and  much  more  afterwards,  was  raised  by 
a  "  Union  Defense  Committee,"  of  which  Mr.  Titus, 
an  ardent  Republican,  was  chairman,  and  Mr.  John, 
E.  Marshall,  an  equally  uncompromising  Democrat,  > 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


493 


of  the  war  stamp,  was  treasurer.  This  union  of  both 
l)artics,  in  the  same  cause,  did  much  to  soften  the 
acerbities  of  political  strife  in  Port  Chester  all 
through  the  war,  and  makes  the  personality  of  this 
Defense  Committee — the  first  in  the  county — as  in- 
teresting as  that  of  the  banner  company  of  the  coun- 
ty, for  whose  assistance  it  was  originally  organized. 
The  names  are  as  follows: 

Chairman,  James  H.  Titus  ;  Secretary,  George  P. 
j    Titus  ;  Treasurer,  John  E.  Marshall. 

Military  Committee :  Messrs.  S.  K.  Satterlee,  Aug- 
ust AViggen,  August  Van  Ammeringe,  William  L. 
Bush,  George  P.  Titus  and  Augustus  M.  Halsted. 
Relief  Committee :  Messrs.  William  P.  Abendroth, 
Noah  Tompkins,  John  W.  Lounsberry,  George  L. 
•  Cornell,  James  H.  Titus  and  E.  Sones.  Finance  Com- 
mittee :  Messrs.  E.  S.  Swords,  William  B.  Halsted 
and  John  E.  Marshall. 

In  all  the  money  raised  by  this  committee  during 
the  war,  to  which  reference  will  afterwards  be  made, 
the  only  item  which  is  not  that  of  relief,  in  weekly 
payments,  to  the  wives  and  parents  of  actual  soldiers, 
is  found  in  the  sums  first  subscribed  by  Mr.  Titu.s, 
and  ajiplied  to  the  purposes  of  the  company  itself 
The  hundred  dollars  served  to  keep  the  men  together, 
by  enabling  their  board  to  be  paid  in  the  city  till  ac- 
cepted ;  while  their  fare  was  provided  for  to  the  camp. 
It  is  probable  that,  if  this  sum  had  not  been  raised, 
the  company  would  have  disbanded,  and  been  lost 
sight  of,  as  were  others.  The  town  of  Cortlaudt,  al- 
most at  the  same  time,  sent  out  sixty  men,  raised  by 
Mr.  Benjamin  R.  Simpkins.  For  the  want  of  the 
money  that  kept  the  Port  Chester  company  together, 
this  fine  body  of  young  men  became  lost  in  the  great 
city  of  Xcsv  York,  and  drifted  into  different  regiments, 
80  that  not  a  man  of  the  sixty  was  ever  credited  to  the 
county,  and  not  a  few  of  them  returned  home.  An- 
other party  of  sixteen  went  ofl'to  AVhite  Plains,  under 
the  command  of  Mr.  William  M.  Bleakley,  of  Ver- 
planck's  Point.  On  the  roll  of  Company  A,  Twenty- 
seventh  Regiment,  they  appear  as  credited  to  Elmira, 
of  all  places  in  the  world.  Mr.  Blenkley  afterwards 
became  Captain  Bleakley  in  the  Twenty-seventh, 
and  was  discharged  in  February,  1862.  The  com- 
pany of  Mr.  Joseph  J.  Chambers  is  another  instance 
of  the  same  state  of  affairs ;  for,  though  the  men  un- 
doubtedly hailed  from  White  Plains,  they  are  like- 
wise credited  to  Elmira,  their  captain  being  made 
lieutenant-colonel  on  the  21st  of  May. 

Yorktown  also  lost  a  great  number  of  men  in  the 
same  way,  no  mention  of  them  being  found  in  the 
official  records  of  the  two  years'  volunteers  ;  and  of 
other  towns  there  is  still  less  trace,  in  any  documents 
by  which  official  proof  can  be  furnished  of  the  facts. 
The  whole  history  of  the  two  years'  volunteers,  in 
Westchester  County,  is  one  of  men  pressing  their  ser- 
vices on  the  government,  which  seemed  not  to  want 
them ;  and  it  cost  more  trouble,  in  the  months  of 
\April  and  May,  1S()1,  to  get  into  the  army  at  all,  than 


it  afterwards  did  to  get  out  of  the  draft.  Captain 
Bartram,  being  a  man  of  sense  and  experience,  with 
a  pride  in  his  place  of  residence,  managed  to  identify 
Port  Chester,  officially,  with  the  movement,  but  no 
other  town  in  the  county  could  boast  an  equal  rec- 
ord, either  in  volunteering  or  in  patriotic  efforts  to 
help  soldiers  by  private  means.  But  the  two  years' 
volunteers  were  not  long  in  being  filled  up ;  and 
the  serious  nature  of  the  war,  with  the  equally  serious 
way  in  which  it  was  regarded  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
State,  appeared,  almost  before  the  last  man  was  mus- 
tered into  the  United  States  service.  The  first  order 
of  the  adjutant-general,  April  18th,  called  for  "sev- 
enteen regiments  of  infantry  or  rifles."  A  second 
order  appeared,  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  call- 
ing for  twenty-one  regiments  more;  so  that  the  com- 
plete quota  of  two  years'  volunteers,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  included  all  regiments,  up  to  the  Thirty- 
eighth.  Within  a  week  from  the  time  the  Port  Ches- 
ter company  was  finally  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service — May  22d — the  Thirty-ninth  Regiment 
was  mustered  in  as  an  additional  force,  and  the  term 
of  service  of  the  men  enlisted  was  three,  instead  of 
two  years.  From  henceforth  the  history  of  the  coun- 
ty, during  the  war,  was  to  become  one  of  quotas  to 
be  filled  and  calls  to  be  met,  while  the  ideas  with 
which  the  two  years'  men  had  gone  away,  that  the 
struggle  would  soon  be  over,  had  settled  down  into 
the  sober  conviction  that  the  three  years'  term  would 
be  the  earliest  within  which  the  battle  would  be  ter- 
minated. 

The  Three  Years'  Voluxteers.— The  first  regi- 
ment taken  into  the  United  States  service  from  the 
State  of  New  York  for  the  term  of  three  years  was 
mustered  in  on  the  28th  of  May,  1861.  The  first 
identification  of  Westchester  County  with  the  three 
years'  volunteers  comes  on  the  rolls  of  the  J^ourth 
New  York  Cavalry,  which  was  mustered  by  companies, 
beginning  August  10  and  ending  November  15, 
1861.  The  muster-rolls  of  the  regiment  disclose  the 
following  names : 

The  non-coiiimissioned  stafT  has  (from  Yoiikers) :  Sergcimt-Major, 
lieinliard  Kuehl  ;  Hospital  Stewards,  Max  Leehler  and  Charles  Reiss; 
Color  Sergeant,  T.  R.  Dodge  ;  Veterinary  Surgeons,  F.  II.  Walter  and 
Rudolph  Rodenhausen  ;  Quartermaster-Sergeant,  John  R.  Suiter  ;  Com- 
missary-Sergeant, t'liailes  E.  Oormoer. 

[N.  B. — The  muster-roll  of  the  above  men  in  the  State  at^utant-gen- 
cral's  olflce  does  not  show  the  certificate  of  the  United  States  mustering 
officer,  nor  is  it  dated  ;  but  the  men  served,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertiiined]. 

The  company  rolls  are  more  regular  in  form,  and  the  following  is  their 
report  as  affecting  Westchester  County; 

Oimpiiiiy  B  (frum  Yimiers). — Captain, Wm.  R  Parnell;  First Lieuttnant, 
Christopher  Dolan  ;  Non-Commi.ssioned  Officers,  C.  R.  Frampton,  James 
Mcl'owell,  T.  II.  Philipsen,  Henry  T.  Clench,  Duncan  Murchison,  Au- 
gust Ittmann,  John  Crean,  Michael  Cogan,  William  Ilillman,  James  P. 
Mist,  Kniil  liossart,  Charles  Dingier,  Francis  H.  Tarleton,  Charles  Kirk, 
Martin  Rabin,  Merritt  Livingston,  Dennis  Costollo,  John  McAdams. 

Private  soldiers  :  Michael  Barry,  .\lbert  Rurbank,  William  Bren,  Peter 
Burns,  Peter  Brown,  Thomas  Brady,  Owen  Creally,  John  Cunningham, 
Patrick  Coffey,  William  Crozier,  Thomas  Conroy,  William  Cas.«,  Fred. 
Delinger,  Hudolph  Dcimar,  Jacob  Da  Costa,  Edward  Durier,  William 
Davis,  John  Freeman,  Jlichael  Fanning,  John  Geary,  Matthew  Guinan, 
Joseph  tiarry,  Michael  Hirlig,  Michael  Hyland,  Patrick  Joyce,  Charles 
JttCol>,  John  Johnson,  John  Kuntze,  Jacob  Kern,  August  Koch,  Charles 


494 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEK  COUNTY. 


Le  Gard,  W.  Jleyer,  \V.  MaeJer,  William  McHale,  George  Montgomery, 
Peter  Jliirray,  Arthur  Murphy,  Doualcl  McDouakl,  Conrad  Meyer,  Thos. 
McCarthy,  Patrick  Maloiiey,  Philip  Meyer,  Patrick  O'Connor,  William 
O'Connor,  Uenry  Peasba,  Philip  Plessing,  Thomas  Kouan,  Patrick 
Boach,  Jacob  Roth,  Julius  Richter,  Michael  Smith,  James  Smith,  John 
Smith,  Owen  Sweeny,  Joseph  Shorau,  George  Swau,  Edwin  Teal,  Edward 
Turner,  Jabez  Weeks  and  Walter  Wall. 

Coiiipatitj  C{from  I'oyilers).— Captain,  Ralph  H.  Olmstead,  the  only 
commissioned  ofBcer  ;  Nou-Commissioned  OfiHcers,  Charles  H.  Hawking, 
James  Olmstead,  James  Magarity,  Charles  R.  Smith,  John  Lowry,  Ma- 
lachi  Kelly,  William  H.  Keeps,  John  Mulheren,  Henry  M.  Hyer,  George 
F.  Kuhn,  John  H.  Davis,  Peter  F.  Gownas,  Thomas  Giff  and  Joseph  A. 
Moore,  Alfred  Eyre,  Lewis  H.  Denisou  and  William  B.  Miner. 

Privates  as  follows  :  William  Barton,  Daniel  Buddy,  James  L.  Cole- 
man, Reuben  H.  Chase,  John  Cole,  Samuel  Couroy,  Alanson  H.  Corn- 
stock,  Daniel  J.  Cronin,  John  R.  Dodge,  Gilbert  B.  Edwards,  Monroe 
Estes,  A\"illiam  Forrest,  George  Giles,  Michael  Gornily,  James  Gray,  Gil- 
bert Hummel,  James  Hitchcock,  Jas.  H.  Howell,  Jeremiah  G.  Huckey, 
Daniel  Lewis,  Peter  Mallon,  George  H.  Miner,  Charles  Miller,  John 
Henry  May,  Michael  McGinniss,  Thoiiias  Mullen,  Arthur  Murdoch, 
Andrew  Overbaugh,  Pliilander  Payne,  Dennis  Ryan,  Sam'l  Smith,  David 
Shaw,  Henry  Stone,  John  R.  Suiter,  Moses  H.  Terwilliger,  Charles  T. 
Terwilliger,  Thomas  P.  Terwilliger,  Richard  ^'aughan,  Eugenius  Walker, 
John  Welsch,  Alva  Wickham,  Garry  B.  Wheeler,  Nicholas  Wolvau  and 
Joseph  T.  Ward. 

Company  F  (frinn  I'cnifar.'i).— Captain  Samuel  Genther  the  only  name. 

Tlie  names  of  Henry  Jones,  of  Rye,  and  Jacob  Roseubauni,  of  Tarry- 
town,  in  Company  L,  with  that  of  James  McAvoy,  of  Rye,  in  Company 
M,  make  up  the  total  in  the  regiment  credited  to  the  county  of  West- 
chester. 

The  next  orgauizatiou  in  which  the  county  ap- 
pears to  have  taken  any  official  part  is  the  Fifth  In- 
dei)endent  Battery,  mustered  into  the  United  States 
service  November  8,  1861,  in  New  York  City.  The 
roll  of  this  battery  contains  the  names  of  Privates 
Charles  Cadigan  and  John  Turbitt,  from  Y^onkers  ; 
Benjamin  Moore  and  Charles  Moore,  from  Mount 
Vernon ;  and  Charles  Travers,  from  Peekskill. 

The  First  Regiment  Mounted  Rifles,  which 
was  mustered  into  the  service  in  squadrons  and  com- 
panies, all  the  way  from  August  31,  1861,  to  Septem- 
ber 9,  1862,  can  be  noticed  here,  although  a  little 
out  of  its  order,  to  make  room  for  the  only  regiment 
in  which  Westchester  County  could  be  said  to  be 
fully  represented  during  the  war.  The  rolls  of  the 
First  Mounted  Rifles  contain,  in  Company  F,  the 
names  of  John  Blatchley,  Charles  Polhemus  and 
Peter  See,  of  Tarrytown ;  Thomas  Gerhardt,  James  D. 
Nation,  George  D.  Newman,  James  W.  Porteous,  Al- 
bert Sherwood  and  William  Wallace,  of  Mount 
Pleasant ;  and  Frederick  Gertman,  of  Harrison. 

This  concludes  the  three  years'  volunteers  raised 
in  Westchester  County  as  organizations,  of  which 
the  records  are  accessible,  in  an  official  form,  up  to 
the  raising  of  the  regiment  whose  rolls  are  next  in 
order. 

The  Sixth  Heavy  Artillery  was  originally  raised  at 
'ionkers  for  the  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  New 
York  Infantry,  and  mustered  into  the  service  from 
the  2d  day  of  September,  1862,  for  three  years.  It 
then  consisterl  of  eight  companies,  but,  in  December 
of  the  same  year  two  more  were  added,  and  the  whole 
was  mustered  in  as  the  Sixth  Heavy  Artillery  at 
Fort  McHenry,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Gompany  A  contains  the  following  names : 

From  Peekskill;  Privates,  Gabriel  S.  Adams,  Charles  E.  Orne,  J.  H. 


Wright,  C.  P.  Crueger,  W.  N.  Lent,  D.  R.  Goethius,  W.  T.  Travis,  J.  C. 
Halstead,  John  Smith,  W.  H.  Dutcher,  C.  E.  Snedicor,  T.  Garrison,  D.  A. 
Lent,  W.  M.  Austin,  Aug.  Acker,  Lewis  Blakely,  J.  Bartlett,  Val.  Ben- 
inghoB,  Daniel  Couklin,  John  Cook,  G.  A.  Cruger,  T.  A.  Conklin,  Har- 
vey Conklin,  Patrick  Curtis,  Patrick  Conly,  Emmanuel  Dadson,  Willett 
Deuike,  Howard  Diveu,  D.  H.  and  M'.  B.  Dykmans,  Martin  Dallaway, 
John  Dobson,  Levi  Ellis,  W.  Fitzgerald,  Hiram  Fisher,  Abram  J.  Fields, 
H.  M.  Gillette,  David  Giles,  James  Griffin,  W.  A.  Giraud,  Isaac  W.  How- 
land,  Stephen  Hyatt,  Jackson  Head,  Alonzo  Hadden,  W.  Halstead,  John 
Henry,  Jr.,  Peter  Haines,  Joseph  Hanlig,  Michael  Kelly,  W.  Kurte, 
Samuel  E  ,  Richard  and  Jerome  Lent,  J.  H.  Lantz,  Abraham  E.,  Thoma* 
and  William  E.  Lounsbury,  James  and  Henry  Liudsey,  Patrick  and 
John  Lynch,  Ferdinand  Lent,  W.  J.  Malone,  Joseph  McClain,  Aaron 
Mackey,  James  Moriarty,  Jefferson  McCoy,  H.  W.  Owens,  William  A. 
and  Obediah  Robertson,  A.  H.  Rooke,  Alex.  Soper,  L.  Shoulder,  S.  S. 
Starr,  C.  W.  Smith,  Bruce  Scribner,  Richard  Tamer,  John  Turbusb, 
G.  W.  Tompkins,  John  Van  Tassel,  John  Wessels,  John  W.  Williams, 
Nathan  Wright,  David  H.  Williams,  Samuel  Williams,  Fred.  Young, 
Cornelius  Zelyph,  J.  0.  Ryder,  W.  H.  Townsend. 

From  Yonkers,  J.  H.  Boyce,  J.  B.  Black,  Frank  Birdsall,  Charles  E. 
Bennenta,  Walter  R.  Boyce  and  Willett  Frost. 

Oniiptniy  B  contains  the  following  : 

From  Greenburgh  :  Privates,  B.  Armstrong,  U.  T.  Archer,  A.  Sylvester, 
Joseph  Archer,  David  Brown,  J.  W.  Brown,  Oscar  Brown,  W.  H.  Brown, 
J.  H.  Brewer,  John  Conlan,  Theodore  Coles,  H.  R.  Gilbert,  G.  W.  Lint, 
0.  D.  King,  W.  H.  Lush,  Samuel  H.  Lynt,  Orlando  Melrose,  M.  McCul- 
lagh,  James  Mosher,  William  O'Brien,  W.  Storms,  Thomas  Secord,  Sim- 
eon Lee,  J.  S.  Secord,  W.  P.  Tompkins,  J.  H.  Van  Tassel,  Theodore 
Y'erks  and  William  Lakin. 

From  White  Plains  :  Privates,  M'.  A.  Ackerman,  W.  P.  Andrew,  AUen 
Ames,  Fremer  Brickies,  Michael  Butler,  John  Banta,  D.  P.  Barnes, 
W.  H.  Baldwin,  A.  JI.  Bogart,  W.  Benedict,  J.  H.  Carpenter,  Victor  M. 
Collins,  Michael  Dempsey,  H.  R.  Finch,  H.  Fowler,  John  Gedney,  D.  0. 
Greenough,  J.  T.  Hatfield,  Con.  HoUyer,  S.  H.  Hopkins,  W.  H.  Horlon, 
William  Jephsuu,  Devius  Lloyd,  Robert  Moore,  M.  Morouey,  M.  Metzler, 
Felix  McLeod,  N.  F.  Norris,  N.  S.  Northroji,  Martin  O'Rourke,  I'atrick 
O'Donnell,  S.  C.  Purdy,  Eugene  Purdy,  Charles  Pruck,  Richard  and 
Martin  Rourk,  Mervin  Sniffen,  N.  P.  Snitfen,  J.  G.  Terrell,  J.  A.  Tomp- 
kins, Alexander  Yosburgh,  Jerome  Weeks,  Morris  Welsh  and  F.  W. 
Hagner.    (See  also  Co.  I.) 

From  Scarsdale  :  Privates,  J.  M.  Boultou,  Asa  Carpenter,  Patrick 
Conley,  Andrew  Champion,  James  Deboe,  A.  L.  Dobbs,  Elbert  Fuller, 
Patrick  Gorman,  S.  V.  Lake,  Lawrence  Lowe,  Robert  Ogden,  Jacob 
Steoffen,  Eli  Tifford,  Charles  Wrede,  David  A.  Weed. 

From  Harrison:  Privates,  Patrick  Burns,  Joseph  W.  Haviland. 

Compnuy  C  was  raised  at  \\'est  Farms,  as  follows: 

Captain,  Benjamin  B.  Valentine,  and  First  Lieutenant,  James  Smith, 
from  that  place,  with  Second  Lieutenant,  George  C.  Kibbe,  from  Y'onkers; 
Sergeants,  James  D.  Turnbull,  George  Borland,  James  C.  Cogswell  and 
Andrew  Mood,  from  West  Farms;  Corporals,  William  Rasperry,  John 
Williamscm,  Josejih  Hue^ton,  Eugene  Maginnis,  from  same  place. 

I'rivatcs,  Samuel  Archer,  J.  N.  Buckridge,  W.  Blake,  Thomas  Conner, 
W.  Corsa,  William  Carroll,  J.  F.  and  William  Carson,  T.  Cromwell,  Jas. 
Connaughton,  Gilbert  Cromwell,  Chas.  Day,  W.  R.  Eaken,  G.  Edmeston, 
J.  B.  Eakeus,  H.  B.  Ferguson,  W.  B.  Frazier,  Alex.  Gowdy,  Richard 
Graham,  Bernard  Glenson,  James  Grayson,  Michael  Graham,  Job  Har- 
greaves,  John  Hannon,  F.  Hitchcock,  Abram  Hinchcliffe,  Jeremiah 
Hanson,  Stephen  A.  Harris,  John  Julian,  W.  Kelley,  Matthew  Kerrigan, 
David  Kinlock,  John  Lounsberry,  James  Lummel,  Paul  Lounsberry, 
James  McGill,  W.  McCord,  Aaron  Miller,  Andrew  Mclntyre,  Glaa 
McNair,  John  Moody,  John  Murphy,  William  Mitchell,  W.  H.  Maxwell, 
Charles  Messer,  Michael  Murray,  Andrew  Moore,  Jlichael  Moran,  Chu8. 
Moran,  Richard  Mitchell,  Patrick  McCord,  Thomas  Nichols,  James 
Ormeston,  Samuel  B.  Pierce,  Robert  Parsons,  W.  K.  Raymond,  James  B. 
Raymond,  S.  G.  Ridgway,  James  Sloan,  David  H.  Scofield,  Jas.  Sherry, 
H.  W.  St.  John,  James  Schneider,  C.  H.  Stanley,  J.  W.  Taylor,  W.  Tot- 
man,  James  Thompson,  John  Valentine,  George  Wallen,  W.  Wright, 
Patrick  Weldon,  Robert  Walsh,  William  Wesley,  John  Weeks,  James  T. 
Wilson,  Henry  Webb,  JIatthew  Kelley,  all  from  West  Farms. 

Company  D  shows  the  following  list  of  names  : 

From  Bedford:  Privates,  D.  I.  Darby,  Benjamin  Ballard,  W.  G.  Hal- 
left,  David  tisborn,  Isiuic  Adams,  Elisha,  Enoch  and  William  A.  Avery, 
W.  F.  Banks,  L  riah  Biennis,  Frederick  Bullman,  William  H.  and  Wil- 
liam A.  Clark,  John  Craft,  John  Crook,  E.  C.  Devoe,  James  Elmore, 
H.  F.  Fiuch,  Charles  Fisher,  N. Gaming,  George  Harrison,  G.  \V.  Holley,\ 
Tim.  Hinchy,  Daniel  Hoolam,  Ed.  Jackson,  Alex.  Johnson,  John  Kalt, 
David  Kniffln,  Oscar  Lent,  J.  H.  Lounsbeny,  Lewis  Matchett,  Stephen 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-G5. 


495 


Matthews,  William  JIcGlynn,  David,  Frank,  James  and  William  J. 
Hiller,  Divid  Slosher,  David  JIuultoii,  John  Powers,  John  Kogars, 
Henry  Schojtler,  Daniel  Springsteel,  Charles  Waterbury,  W.  A.  Watcr- 
hury,  George  W.  Zar. 

From  North  Salem :  Samuel  S.  Austin,  Andrew  Quick,  H.  B.  Slauson, 
James  B.  I'ayue,  Halstead  Baker,  Charles  H.  Bates,  M.  F.  Brundage, 
J.  N.  Oree,  J.  E.  F.  Ferguson,  Jlortimer  liiggins,  David  Knapp,  Marsden 
Light,  Stephen  D.  Metritt,  Ezra  Jliller,  George  Keynolds,  Cornelius 
Smith,  Alva  Tompkins,  John  C  Wood. 

From  Poundridge':  Alpheus  Birdsall,  Charles  H.  Brush  and  Alanson 
Dickson. 

Compmiij  E  contains  the  following  names  : 

From  Port  Chester  :  Sergeants,  Cliarle.s  Mackintosh,  G.  W.  V.  Bouton, 
Cephas  Peck  and  James  Ueynolils  ;  Corporals,  Thomas  M.  Smith,  John 
L.  Little,  Thomas  Conlin,  Frank  Kelley  and  James  Taylor,  Jr. ;  Slusi- 
cian,  John  Towusend  ;  Privates,  William  Ashby,  Peter  and  Jeremiah 
Butterfield,  J.  A.  and  Edwanl  Billington,  G.  S.  Burger,  W.  E.  Briggs, 
Thomas  Colvin,  Owen  Dutly,  Henry  C.  Fox,  Thomas  Golden,  Luke  Gaff- 
ney,  Thomas  T.  Halpin,  John  Hughes,  John  Miller,  Joseph  H.  Morrell, 
Michael  Jladigan,  Barney  JIcDonald,  William  Reynolds,  \\' alter  and 
George  E.  Rood,  John  Riley,  John  St.  John. 

From  Harrison  :  Sergeant,  Theodore  M.  Swift ;  Corporal,  Henry  C. 
Weeks ;  Privates,  Thomas  L.  Ackerman,  Philander  Blauvelt,  Joseph 
Brooks,  Stephen  Burger,  Samuel  B.  Farringtou,  Allen  M.  Foster,  Jlat- 
thias  Houff,  Nehemiah  Harris,  Henry  M.  Hees,  William  Hicks,  John 
Haiues,  David  King,  T,  W.  Johnson,  Harvey  R.  King,  Henry  Lowrey, 
W.  H.  Mosier,  .\lphonso  D.  Peck,  W.  H.  Romer,  Jacob  Scliiele,  Stephen 
Waterbury,  John  JI.  Weeks,  George  Wood,  Robert  Farrington. 

From  New  Rochelle  :  Corporal,  John  Flandreau  ;  Privates,  Dennis 
Buckley,  Martin  Burns,  R.  W.  Deveau,  Joshua  Fields,  Fred.  Hatfield, 
William  Mercer,  W.  Pagan,  W.  Schwab,  James  Secor,  Charles  Thatcher. 

From  Scansdale:  Musician,  George  W.  Downing;  Private,  Benjamin 
Odell. 

From  Westchester :  Privates,  John  Costlow,  William  Geary,  W.  W. 
HoUen,  W.  Leonard,  Christopher  JIulligan,  Michael  McCaw,  Henry 
Keiuuiuller,  Richard  Sullivan. 

From  North  Castle  :  Elisha  Ferris,  G.  W.  Knapp,  Jacob  W.  Lewis, 
D.  R.  Merritt,  C.  S.  Palmer,  Edward  Tucker,  Cornelius  Van  Scoy,  Wil- 
liam Williams,  William  Glennon. 

From  Yorktowu  :  Elias  Fouutjiin. 

Company  F contains  the  following  names  : 

From  Yonkers:  Sergeants,  Thomas  R.  Price,  Patrick  Kelly,  .\bel 
Waters  ani  Lemuel  R.  Knitlin  ;  Corporals,  J.  J.  Brady,  James  T.  Earle, 
J.  E.  Beaslcy,  Benjamin  Price,  Judsoii  .Vbbott  and  Edgar  C.  Nodine  ; 
Privates,  Nat.  .\rcher,  James  Burke,  William  Brugg,  James  Boyue, 
Michael  Bennet,  F.  E.  Barnes,  James  Brown,  Daniel  Casey,  Patrick 
Collins,  Andrew  Conlan,  James  Carroll,  John  Cogblan,  Joseph  Cain, 
John  Darlington,  Michael  Donohue,  John  Foley,  S.  B.  Forman,  Patrick 
Gorman,  J.  D.  Gilbert,  Francis  Goodwin,  John  Henry,  Jacob  D  Haines, 
James  Hart,  Hugh  Hurst,  M'illiam  Hamilton,  Demetrius  Hallett,  Timo- 
thy Kelly,  William  Kailey,  Thomas  Kain,  T.  W.  Lounsbury,  William 
Lindsay,  Solon  Lapham,  Thomas  Lanny,  J.  T.  Morris,  J.  T.  JIi  Mahon, 
Philip  McGraw,  .Micliael  Norris,  John  (I'Donnell,  Michael  O'Rourke, 
William  Pope,  Thimias  Ryan,  .lames  Pilson,  Thomas  Reiff,  James  Reid, 
Geo.  Rein,  T.  A.  Smith,  J.  E.  Sherwood,  R.  Sherwood,  William  Thonip- 
«>n,  Win.  Vail,  Geo.  Voltz,  Stephen  Van  Wart,  Cornelius  Vandervlandt, 
Bichaixl  and  James  Welsh,  William  Watson,  Aaron  Whitlock. 

From  Peekskill :  Sergeant,  George  Hanlock  ;  Corporals,  Thomas  Tuttle 
and  Jacob  Giles  ;  Privates,  Robert  Brown,  Dennis  Bradley,  Jacob  Boyce, 
Andrew  Corry,  John  Conover,  W.  D.  Cannon,  Jlichael  Fagan,  William 
H.  and  Gilbert  Gilleo,  T.  J.  Head,  Robert  Hamilton,  William  Harl, 
Aolick  .loyce,  Barney  Key,  .\braham  Lent,  John  Laforge,  James  Laf- 
ferty,  T.  McLaughlan,  Stephen  McGoveru,  Jeremiah  Miller,  Bariiett 
HcCann,  James  JIaguire,  George  W.  Mott,  .lesse  B.  Miller,  J.  W.  Powell, 
W.  H.  M.  F.  Seward,  W.  S.  Shriiupton,  Fred.  Stockholm,  Elijah  Travis. 

Compunij  H  contains  th>^  following  names,  all  from  the  villageof  Jlor- 
tiaania,  then  a  part  of  the  county  : 

Captain,  Henry  B.  Hall  ;  First  Lieutenant,  David  Hazel ;  Second  Lieu, 
tenant,  Gonverneur  Morris,  Jr. 

Sergeants,  James  E.  Jacobs,  John  E.  Myers,  George  Denerlein ;  Pri- 
Tates,  Christian  .\iichler,  Jos.  H.  Brown,  John  Banr,  Peter  Bergenger, 
Joaeph  Behrens,  E.  H.  Blauvelt,  Jacob  Bock.  J.  J.  Callahan,  W.  Camp- 
bell, W.  B.  Conlon,  George  Cramer,  John  Cam|ibell,  Frank  Dick«,  Jo- 
•eph  Dawson,  Phil.  Deahl,  T  M.  Dean,  Henry  Donohoe.  Philip  Fox,  John 
J. Folks,  Richard  Freischbier,  Wm.  Green,  Mortimeraiul  William  Gress- 
beck,  Andrew  Gourty,  James  Gilhooly,  John  Graff,  Michael  Golden, 
enry  Herbet,  Fred.  Herroii,  Biirkhard  and  Joseph  Haas.  J.  A.  Hoyt, 


Morgan  Hogan,  R.  11.  Herrington,  Morris  Hoag,  George  Hutton,  Fred. 
Kolbe,  C.  R.  Kellner,  I'eter  Koos,  Jacob  Kraus,  George  Kassel,  Garrett 
Keany,  John  Klotz,  James  Lyons,  James  Lawrence,  E.  S.  Myers,  Henry 
Miller,  Pat.  Meagher.  John  Malone,  John  Murphy,  Thos.  Mvirray,  Gott- 
lieb Jlotzger,  John  Metzger,  John  McNally,  Francis  Myers,  Paul  Miller, 
George  K.  Mills,  Pat.  Nolan,  Charles  H.  Nichols,  JamesO'Brien,  Charles 
H.  Piatt,  Wesley  Philips,  Daniel  C.  O'Neil,  Henry  Quackeubush,  Timo- 
thy Redden,  John  Steiuer,  Charles  and  Thomas  M.  Stevens,  John  A.  and 
Charles  Shintler,  George  Smith,  Andrew  Stackinger,  Wm.  Schwartz, 
Frank  Steiner,  .\.  Sanguinetti,  William  Tanner,  Joseph  Tremmell, 
Edward  Warner,  William  Walsh,  Edward  ^\'ilkinson,  John  S.  Wallace, 
Anthony  Webber,  Fred.  Wessel,  George  Van  Winkle,  Conrad  Zaff,  Wil- 
liam Gioslion. 

Compauy  I  contains  the  following  names  : 

Captain  Clark  Peck,  First  Lieutenant  Charles  C.  Hyatt,  and  Second 
Lieutenant  J.  H.  .Vshton,  from  Ossining  ;  with  First  Sergeant  Leonard 
Cronk^  from  the  same  place. 

From  Ossiiiiiig,  besides  the  above  :  Privates  Benjamin  Ackerly,  George 
W.  Briggs,  H.  Chapman,  J.  M.  Clare,  Stephen  C.  Chadeayne,  Martin 
Cavanagh,  Charles  Dingue,  James  H.  Doty,  Thos.  Donohue,  Jos.  Din- 
gue,  Wm.  Garrett,  Alonzo  Geroe,  .\aron  L.  Griffin,  Peter  Ganong,  Peter 
Hughes,  Jonathan  Knight,  Wm.  Knight,  George  W.  Knapp,  Daniel 
Luther,  Abni.  M.  Miller,  Thos.  Taflee,  J.  L.  Van  Wort,  James  Wilson 
and  James  Young. 

From  New  Castle:  .Vliel  .'kdams,  Abram  Harrison,  Harrison  Adams,  J. 
M.  Birdsall,  James  Brundage,  Wm.  Briudley,  George  Daniels,  George 
Eniier,  Charles  Fisher,  Henry  Feeks,  L.  H.  Hntcliings,  Edward  Mel- 
rose, Eugene  Marshall,  .lames  Magin,  George,  William  and  Warren 
Outhouse,  W.  E.  Reynolds,  Christian  Baper,  C.  R.  Reynolds,  John 
Scully,  Hiram  Smalley,  Ale.xander,  William  H.  and  James  Yerks. 

From  Yorktown  :  Michael  Barnes,  J.  M.  Craft,  Anson  Edwards,  John 
S.  Johnson,  Clifton  R.  Nicliols,  Joseph  Rhodes,  .Jesse  K.  Sarles,  Jackson 
Y'oung. 

From  Cortlandt  :  Privates,  John  Brackin,  William  Connor,  Charles 
Hartman,  Robert  Hitchcock,  Elvin  Howes,  Henry  C.  Purdy,  Daniel 
Ryan. 

From  North  Castle  ;  Privates,  W.  H.  Dayton,  Lewis  M.  White. 

From  Mount  Pleasant :  Privates,  John  W.  Farrington,  Ab'm  B.  Ham- 
mond, Henry  E.  Higgins,  Benjamin  F.  Melrose,  James  0.  Yerks  and 
Theo.  Y'oung. 

From  Bedford;  Privates,  James  Peeks,  David  Miller,  Charles  A.  Miller 
Alfred  C.  Miller,  William  Taylor,  Hiram,  James  E.  and  Jonas  .\.  Wor- 
den. 

Company  K  contains  the  following  names : 

I'irst  Lieutenant,  Frederic  Shonnard,  from  Y'onkers. 

From  Harrison  :  Private,  Peter  Busket. 

From  White  Plains  :  Privates,  Martin  Bennett,  Patrick  Connolly, 
Henry  Earle,  Jos.  Flanigan,  Adam  Fowler,  F.  W.  Hagner  (see  Co.  B) 
R'>')ert  E  Higgins,  William  Lyons,  Henry  Luens,  Thomas  Mo  ire, 
.lohn  Moulte,  John  Qjiil  m,  F.  C.  Pcirly,  .Tolin  M  C  illough. 

From  Scarsdale :  Privates,  Asa  Carpenter,  Elbert  Fuller,  Othniel  Mer- 
ritt. 

From  West  Farms  :  Privates,  ,Iohu  Clauile,  Edward  Cromwell,  Peter 
Dodge,  Simon  Kurkabittich,  John  F.  Mullin,  Martin  Moran,  John 
Schappler.  .lohii  Roan,  Orlaiulo  Vreeland,  William  Phelps,  Charles  and 
Frederick  Sagenian,  Joseph  Davis,  George  Philips. 

From  Greenbiirgh  :  Privates,  Edward  F'ulun,  .John  Golden,  George 
Lloyd,  Michael  McCulloch,  Joseph  O'.Malley,  Francis  Talaor,  W.  B. 
Adams. 

Compiiiii/  L  was  chiefly  recruited  in  Putnam  County,  but  it  has  the 
following  names  from  Westchester  County  ; 

From  Yorktown  :  Sergeant,  William  Emmerson  ;  Corporal,  John  Ham- 
ilton ;  Privates,  Jordan  Ackerman,  James  Barnes,  John  D.  Crawford, 
Herman  G.  and  Samuel  M.  Grey,  Thomas  Higgins,  John  Ritz,  John  W. 
Weeks. 

From  Y'onkers :  Privates,  James  JlcCann,  John  Soth. 

From  Cortlandt :  Private  .Vbraliam  Florence,  and  from  Greenburgh, 
Privates  .James  Britlifle,  William  Denke. 

Oniipiiny  .M  is  the  last  fr  «m  the  county,  and  has  the  following  names: 

Captain  Joseph  T.  Tompkins,  from  ^lorrisania ;  First  Lieutenant, 
.Justus  T.  Crosby,  from  North  Salem. 

From  Jlonnt  Pleasant :  First  Sergeant  J.  H.  Goodell,  and  Privates 
Henry  Brown,  James  H.  Devlin,  Patrick  Galloon,  Cina  Giusippa,  Thos. 
Mullen,  Richanl  Seeley,  .Antonio  Superno. 

From  Y'onkers  :  Sergeants  W.  Elmemlorf  and  David  C.  Mnnson,  with 
Privates  Peter  Brooks,  Clias.  Baker,  Lewis  Baur,  .MonzoBird,  W.  Kline, 
Abram  Cornell,  Charles  Cape,  Thomas  Connor,  >Iicliael  Delaney,  Michael 


496 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Dorr,  John  Gleason,  Dennis  Harrington,  Francis  Helnjinger,  Thomas 
Hampson,  George  Hendrickson,  Daniel  Losee,  H.  R.  Mason,  W.  Mc- 
Causeland,  Jolm  G.  JIcLean,  \Vm  O'Xeil,  Fred.  Raisler,  Sej'uiour  H. 
Reynolds,  ,Iohn  Smith,  Pati  Victor,  Oscar  Weeks,  Charles  L.  De  Witt. 

From  North  Salem  :  Privates,  Daniel  Crane,  James  Dailey,  George  I'ul- 
ler,  Lewis  Higgins,  Henry  Hawley, 

From  North  Castle  :  Corporal,  Frederick  Kratz ;  Privates,  David  Mar- 
shal, Hudson  and  George  Reynolds. 

From  Bedford:  Sergeant,  Edward  T.  Palmer  ;  Privates.  John  Banker, 
George  \.  Felt,  Josh\ia  Fowler,  John  A.  Keeler,  John  A.  Lockwood, 
Abram  Philips,  John  Rich. 

From  Poundridge  :  Corporals,  Theodorick  Barrclaiigh,  Andrew  Sco- 
fleld  ;  Privates,  James  Allstream,  Theodore  Birdsall,  George  Dixon, 
Charles  Hamilton,  Thos.  E.  Halford,  Joseph  M.  Halford,  Isaac  W.  Miller, 
John  Piatt,  Nathaniel  W.  Sylvester. 

From  Lewisborough  :  Privates,  William  Bennett,  Frank  Gmba. 

From  Ossining  ;  Privates  Joseph  E.  Brown,  Miles  0"See,  Harvey  G. 
Ross. 

From  White  I'lains  :  Private  John  Cooley. 

The  last  orgauization  with  which  the  county  ap- 
pears to  have  been  identified  is  theSixteenth  (Sprague 
Light)  Cavalry,  which  was  mustered  into  the  service 
from  June  to  October,  1863.  The  companies  of  this 
regiment  in  wliich  the  county  furnished  men,  officially 
accredited  thereto,  were  K,  L  and  M,  in  which  the 
following  names  appear : 

Compauy  K. — Privates  Charles  H.  Ackerman,  Philip  Apel,  Henry  .\pel- 
baus,  John  Baker,  John  Baureis,  Anthony  Chichester,  Robert  Clark, 
Gustavns  Dalilgren,  Ernest  Diezelski,  Gustavus  Francis,  Lorenzo  Hacket, 
Frederic  Haller,  John  Hoffman,  William  Moore,  Theodore  Pickerj', 
Henry  Raymond,  James  T.  Scanlan,  William  Shields,  Walter  Smith, 
Henry  R.  Thompson,  George  Thompson,  John  Walsh  and  Henry  Zollin- 
ger, all  of  Mount  Pleasant,  chiefly  recruited  by  Captain  Ronald  Mc- 
Nichol. 

John  Armstrong,  Edwin  D.  Barlow,  Franz  Carl  Digel,  Thomas  D<inn. 
Pat.  Haviland,  IVlilton  A.  Hewen,  and  George  Weaver,  of  Yonkers. 

Theodore  Bennett,  Patrick  Byrne,  William  H.  CoUyer,  .Tolin  Harkins, 
John  Kurzook,  Dennis  Murley,  John  Murphy,  John  Quicker.  Frank 
Verder  and  Joshua  R.  Williams,  of  Greenburgh. 

Onnpiinij  L. — James  Kirwin,  William  Mai-3hall,  Daniel  C.  Bannatine, 
James  Murray,  John  Schwartz,  Nicholas  Seray,  .Archibald  Van  Orden, 
of  Greenburgli. 

John  Breadle,  John  M.  Bloom  Patrick  Brennan,  Michael  Collins, 
Henry  Davenport,  .\ndrew  J.  Fleming,  John  Fitzpatrick,  John  Hunt, 
Charles  Hart,  Charles  Lewis,  of  White  Plains. 

Omipnny  M. — William  Norris,  Richard  A.  Adams,  Richard  Bell,  of 
Greenburgli.  appear  as  sergeants,  while  Corporal  Edward  H.  Lynch  hails 
from  the  same  jilace. 

Privates  Jlichael  Buckley,  Charles  B.  Brown,  Patrick  Byrnes,  John 
Barrett,  William  Biederlieck,  William  CoUyer,  James  Carroll,  John  Ca- 
rey, Henry  Connor,  Thomas  Clark,  J.  H,  Connors,  Thomas  Cusick, 
Charles  Coyle,  James  Clark,  Martin  Dooley,  William  Davidson,  Michael 
DriscoU,  Patrick  Donnelly,  Henry  Davis,  Charles  Damain,  James  M'. 
Elliott,  John  Gilligan,  W.  H .  fJibbs,  William  Gregory,  Richard  Hore, 
Conrad  Hauser,  Thomas  Hill,  Isidor  Hausle,  Armand  Jouanne,  Thomas 
Kearns,  Charles  Keenan,  Peter  Ledgwidge,  Patrick  Larkin,  Charles  P. 
Lange,  Patrick  Lyons,  Henry  Lehmuhle,  John  McQrath,  .lames  Slooney, 
John  Miles,  John  Miller,  Robert  Milligan,  Charles  Mader,  John  O'Con- 
nell,  Martin  Peterson,  Francis  Quinn,  James  Rogers,  Hugh  M.  Robert- 
son, Martin  Ruian,  Charles  Radetzky,  David  Shannon,  George  Smith, 
Francis  Smith,  W.  H.  Smith,  Charles  H.  Von  Tine,  Laurence  Williams, 
Thomas  White,  Dick  Williams,  .\lbert  Wilson,  Joshua  Williams  and 
August  Yobiges,  of  Greenburgli. 

This  closes  the  history  of  the  three  years'  volunteers 
in  Westchester  County,  as  far  as  the  original  enlist- 
ments are  concerned,  the  names  being  taken  from  the 
original  muster-rolls,  but  not  including  subsequent 
enli.stments,  which  do  not  appear  in  the  publication 
issued  by  the  State  adjutant-general.  It  is  a  matter 
of  regret  that  this  has  never  been  done,  as  in  some 
other  States ;  but,  the  population  of  New  York  being 


so  large  and  the  men  sent  from  the  State  so  numerous, 
this  has  been  hitherto  deemed  impracticable. 

The  doings  of  the  men  who  went  from  the  county 
to  the  field,  their  sufi'erings  and  losses,  will  be  best 
told  under  a  later  head.' 

Home  Affaie.s,  to  the  Election  of  Governor 
Se\"mour. — A  history  of  the  county  during  the  war, 
which  did  not  take  notice  of  the  bitter  political  divi- 
sions within  its  limits,  would  be  a  farce  ;  but  it  is  im- 
portant, in  stating  the  facts  that  appear,  to  bear  in 
mind  the  pre-existing  prejudices  which  had  made 
them  possible. 

The  prime  cause  of  the  divisions  was  the  near 
neighborhood  of  the  city  of  New  York,  on  which  the 
j  county  depended  for  mental  and  moral  aliment,  and 
I  whose  opinions  and  passions  it  reflected.  As  in  the 
Revolution,  Westchester  County  became  a  sort  of 
debatable  ground,  where  both  parties  raged.  The 
reproachful  terms  of  "  Whig,"  "  Tory,"  "  Cowboy" 
and  "  Skinner"  were  changed  to  "  Abolitionist," 
"  Copperhead,"  "  Nigger- Worshipper"  and  "  Traitor." 
Families  were  divided,  churches  rent  into  factions, 
and  actual  fighting  was  only  saved  the  county, 
during  the  draft  riots  of  1863,  by  the  fact  that  the 
]  rioters  did  not  get  their  courage  to  the  fighting  point 
till  it  was  too  late  to  do  an\'thing. 

The  most  prominent  factor  in  the  feeling,  as  shown 
in  the  comments  of  the  Eastern  State  Journal, 
already  quoted,  was  intense  dislike  of  the  Republicans, 
rather  than  active  sympathy  with  the  Secessionists. 
At  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  the  majority  of 
the  voters  of  the  county  honestly  believed,  with  the 
Eastern  State  Journal,  that  all  Republicans  were 
designing  knaves,  who  earnestly  wished  to  break  up 
the  Union. 

Up  to  the  death  of  the  old  Whig  party,  the  distinc- 
tion between  that  and  the  Democracy  had  been 
broad,  simple  and  easily  understood.  The  one  party 
I  was  centralizing,  the  other  decentralizing.  The  dis- 
turbing element  of  slaverv  bad  altered  all  this ;  the 
old  line  of  demarcation  had  vanished;  but  extreme 
partisans,  on  both  sides,  kept  on  talking  and  thinking 
about  abstractions  that  had  ceased  to  have  any  real 
existence.  Under  the  operation  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law,  the  Democrats  had  become  advocates  of  "  Federal 
Coercion,"  in  favor  of  slavery,  in  Kansas;  while  the 
Republicans  preached  the  most  extreme  doctrines 
of  "  State-rights,"  in  the  "personal  liberty  laws," 
by  which  the  Northern  States  resisted  or  evaded  the 


j     'To  complete  the  history  of  the  three  years'  volunteers  who  ac" 

i  tually  went  from  Westchester  County  would  involve  the  names  of  all 
men  who  enlisted  after  the  formation  and  mustering  of  each  company.  I 
contemplated  gathering  these  in  as  far  as  possible,  but  soon  found  that 

'  a  complete  list  would  be  impracticable,  while  an  incomplete  one  might 
give  just  offense  to  men  whose  names  would  be  unavoidably  left  out,  from 
lack  of  information.   I  have,  thorefore,  preferred  to  insert  only  those 

j  names  found  in  the  official  muster-rolls,  published  by  the  State,  which 
contains  ninety  or  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  actual  enlistments.  After 

I  the  draft  began,  in  ISfiS,  the  records  are  no  guide,  a*  men  were  credite 
to  any  place  where  bounties  could  be  obtained — the  higher  the  better. 

i  — F.  W.] 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


497 


operation  of  the  United  States  marshals,  whenever 
it  was  sought  to  enforce  the  act.  Individuals  of  the 
party,  like  Wendell  Philips,  openly  denounced  the 
Union  as  "a  covenant  with  death,  and  a  league  with 
hell."  Furthermore,  a  spirit  of  sectional  pride,  roused 
by  the  arrogant  bearing  of  Southern  members  of 
Congress  and  by  the  assault  of  Brooks  of  South  Caro- 
lina, on  Charles  Sumner,  was  gradually  becoming 
more  and  more  prominent.  The  young  men  of  the 
party,  not  unjustly  denominated  "  sectional,"  in  the 
North,  were  getting  ready  to  fight,  just  as  the  Southern 
youths  were  preparing,  in  their  own  States,  for  the 
coming  conflict.  The  Democrats,  who,  under  Thomas 
Jefferson,  had  been  distrustful  of  the  Constitution,  and 
insisting  on  amendments  in  the  direction  of  personal 
liberty,  had,  in  18t30,  become  the  most  ardent  of 
"  Constitution-worshippers,"  insisting  on  the  absolute 
perfection  of  the  instrument  and  on  the  right  of 
Southern  States  to  the  fullest  protection,  under  its 
provisions,  for  their  slaves,  in  the  free  States.  In  the 
legal  aspect  of  the  case,  they  had  the  advantage  of 
the  Supreme  Court  on  their  side.  The  Republicans, 
on  the  other  hand,  treated  the  "  constitutional"  argu- 
ments as  not  practical,  and  constantly  shifted  the 
ground  to  that  of  the  right  or  wrong  of  slavery. 
They  cultivated  habits,  which  did  not  leave  them, 
during  the  war,  of  decrying  their  opponents  as 
"dough-faces;"  "trucklers  to  the  South;"  "men 
devoid  of  proper  spirit, "  and,  after  the  war  had 
begun,  even  as  "traitors."  The  Democrats  retorted, 
with  equal  conviction,  charges  that  the  Republicans 
were  not  "  true  Union  men  ;"  that  they  were  not  "  for 
the  Union,  under  all  circumstances,  with  or  without 
slavery." 

It  was  the  grain  of  truth  at  the  bottom  of  all  these 
recriminations  that  rendered  them  so  exasperating, 
causing  party  feeling  to  run  higher  in  the  county 
than  in  any  other  patt  of  the  Union,  save  the  city  of 
New  York,  Southern  Indiana  or  New  Jersey. 

It  has  been  often  said  that  "  the  war  between  the 
North  and  South  would  never  have  t.aken  place  bad 
the  people  of  the  two  sections  known  each  other  bet- 
ter." It  is  equally  true  that  the  party  divisions  that 
rent  Westchester  County  would  never  have  risen  to 
such  proportions  and  bitterness  had  the  members  of 
both  parties  tried  to  see,  in  the  minds  of  the  others, 
the  real  convictions  which  underlay  the  apparently 
radical  ditterences  in  politics.  The  literature  of  the 
time,  carefully  perused,  now  that  the  film  of  pa.ssion 
has  cleared  from  the  mental  sight,  will  show  that 
there  was  not  an  actual  "Secessionist"  to  be  found 
in  the  county.  Even  the  Democrats  disapproved  of 
secession,  though  they  held  to  Buchanan's  doctrine 
that  the  Union  "rested  on  public  opinion,"  and 
"could  never  be  cemented  by  the  blood  of  its  cit- 
izens." Their  real  hatred  of  the  Republicans  was 
owing  to  a  fear  of  centralization  and  military  despot- 
ism, which  after-facts  showed  to  be  unjustified  by  the 
-designs  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  adminstration. 


The  Eastern  State  Journal,  from  which  we  continue 
to  quote,  as  being  published  at  White  Plains,  the 
county-seat,  and  as  the  otiicial  county  paper,  will 
show  the  state  of  feeling  of  eight  thousand  voters  of 
the  county  better  than  anything  else. 

The  Journal,  on  the  17th  of  May,  18t>l,  put  at  the 
head  of  its  columns  the  following  card,  which  it  kept 
up  till  the  November  of  the  following  year,  as  an  ex- 
plicit statement  of  its  position  in  the  contest.  It  was 
as  follows  : 

"the  trie  sentiment. 

Mr.  Lincoln  is  nnt  the  I'nUed Staleit  govemnwnt.  The  government  WOVHS 
and  tt'fi  Off  allegiance  In  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  is  not  ours,  and  we  dt)  not  owe 
allegiance  to  hint.  Mr.  Lincoln^s  term  of  office  is  brit'f  and  fieeting  :  the 
government,  we  hojw,  will  last  forever. 

The  leader,  in  the  first  paper  in  which  this  "  true 
sentiment  "  is  put  forth,  is  an  argument  to  prove  that, 
when  the  war  is  over,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  should 
at  once  be  enforced.  On  the  21st  of  May,  the  editor,  iu 
answer  to  a  Republican  paperj  ust  started — the  MorrUa- 
nia  Journal — explains  the  "true  sentiment "  at  length  ; 
accuses  the  Republicans  of  carrying  on  the  war  for 
party  purposes,  simply,  and  ends  with  the  assertion  : 
"  the  Republicans  stand  by  their  administration  ;  the 
Democrats  by  our  government."  From  this  time  to 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the  fight  is  carried  on  with  the 
Morrisania  Journal.  The  paper  is  full  of  sneers  at 
"  Abolitionists,"  and  teems  with  assertions  that  "  the 
volunteers  in  the  field  are  in  the  proportion  of  three 
Democrats  to  one  Republican,"  with  the  further  as- 
sertion that  "  all  Abolitionists  are  cowards."  In 
July  the  paper  drops  politics  on  the  first  page,  and 
begins  to  put  in  serial  stories,  paying  much  attention 
to  local  items,  and  ignoring  the  war  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. It  is  full  of  a  Fourth  of  July  local  celebration; 
and  the  only  indication  of  the  old  feeling  crops  out  in 
a  paragraph,  "No  abolitionism.  The  border  Slave 
States  might  be  conciliated,  if  a  promise  was  given 
them  that  their  slaves  should  be  retained."  The 
editor  hopes  that  "  Horace  Greeley  will  be  thrown 
overboard,"  and  that  "  Democrats  will  be  called  to 
advise  Mr.  Lincoln." 

The  news  of  Bull  Run  brings  a  marked  approval 
of  the  "  peace  resolution,"  introduced  by  Mr.  Benja- 
min Wood  in  Congress,  and  laid  on  the  table  bj'  Mr. 
Washburn,  of  Illinois.  The  editor  asks,  "  When  will 
the  war  end?"  and  says  that  "  another  administration 
must  come  in  before  peace  is  likely  to  be  restored  to 
the  country."  In  August  the  editor  indignantly  re- 
pudiates the  assertion  that  "  the  anti-slavery  feeling 
is  spreading  at  the  North,"  but  admits  the  "  apostasy  " 
of  several  Congressman,  who  are  voting  with  the  ad- 
ministration to  prosecute  the  war.  It  glories  in  the 
fact  that  Mr.  Haight,  the  member  from  the  home  dis- 
trict, is  still  /)pposed  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
It  further  glories  in  the  fact  that  the  Democratic 
State  Convention  has  refused  to  join  the  Rei)ublicans 
in  nominating  a  "  Union  State  Ticket  "  of  both  par- 
ties, united  only  in  prosecuting  the  war. 


498 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


This  refusal  is  justified  by  the  radical  difference  on 
the  subject  of  slavery.  August  16th  begins  the  bitter 
controversy  on  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus, 
when  the  sheriff  of  Kings  County  tried  to  get  out  of 
Fort  Lafayette  the  Baltimore  police  commissioners, 
confined  there  under  an  order  of  General  Banks,  for 
treasonable  action  in  Maryland.  From  this  time  it 
seems  that  the  Republican  papers,  recently  estab- 
lished in  the  county,  are  beginning  to  "strike  back," 
for  the  editor  is  very  indignant  at  being  classed  with 
the  Yonhers  Herald  and  Highland  Democrat  as  "  three 
penny-whistle,  traitor  sheets."  He  indignantly  asks, 
"  if  all  the  men  opposed  to  the  Mexican  War  and 
that  of  1812  were  traitors  ?"  and  answers  : 

"No,  we  are  not  traitore.  We  admit  that  the  secessionists  forced  the 
war  on  ns.  .  .  .  Bat  we  hate  Abraham  Lincoln's  principles.  .  .  , 
We  have  exposed  corruption  wherever  we  have  found  it.  .  .  .  If 
this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it.  .  .  .  If  hatred  of  the  Chicago 
platform  be  treason,  we  are  traitors.  So  are  three-fourths  of  our  soldier's, 
and  they  would  refuse  to  march  a  step  if  they  thought  that  their  loyalty 
was  to  be  measured  by  such  a  standard,    .    .  ." 

Next  week  the  White  Plains  paper,  with  the  High- 
land Democrat  and  Yonkers  Herald,  were  formally  pre- 
sented by  the  grand  jury  in  the  following  terms  : 

THE  PIIESENT.MENT. 

"  The  Grand  Jury  of  the  county  of  Westchester,  recognizing  the  ex- 
istence of  the  war  in  which  the  country  is  now  engaged,  with  an  armed 
rebellion  in  a  portion  of  the  confedeiacy  ;  and  the  necessity  for  its  vigo- 
rous prosecution,  until  an  honorable  peace  is  conquered  ;  and  desirous 
of  having  public  opinion  so  fixed,  and  individual  action  so  shaped,  in 
the  hitherto  loyal  county  of  Westchester,  in  regard  to  the  war,  as  to 
prevent  breaches  of  the  peace  ;  feel  it  a  duty  to  call  the  attention  of  all 
loyal  citizens  and  the  magistracy  of  the  county  to  the  importance  of 
every  one  within  its  borders  contributing  every  honorable  effort  to  the 
sustaining  of  the  Federal  arm,  in  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  laws 
of  the  land  and  in  crushing  out  the  rebellion  of  the  southern  traitors.  They 
therefore  admonish  all  citizens  of  the  fact  that  in  a  state  of  war,  inter- 
national as  well  as  local  law  declares  the  giving  of  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemies  of  a  governmeut,  either  by  overt  acts,  in  assisting  its  enemies, 
or  by  WRITINGS  or  PUBLICATIONS,  tendiug  to  give  such  aid  and 
comfort,  the  crime  of  misirrisioii  nf  treason,  to  be  punished,  on  conviction, 
by  imprisonment. 

"  The  Grand  Inquest  of  the  county,  having  had  brought  to  their  at- 
tention sundry  articles,  which  have  appeared  in  newspapers,  published 
within  this  county,  denying  the  justice  o  f  the  n-ar  in  which  w'e  are  engaged, 
treiiting  it  as  a  party  war,  and  not  involving  in  its  issues  the  government 
itself  and  our  national  existence,  and  therein  symjiathizing  with  the 
traitors  to  the  Republic,  deem  it  proper,  in  conservation  of  the  peace  of 
the  county,  that  the  proprietors  and  editors  of  these  papers  should  be  by 
them  publicly  admonished  of  the  great  moral,  if  not  legal,  crime,  in 
which,  from  partizan  motives,  they  have  been  indulging,  to  the  danger 
of  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  people,  And,  lest  injustice  should  be  done 
to  loyal  newspapere,  the  following  journals  are  particularly  designated 
as  disseminators  of  doctrines  which,  in  the  existing  state  of  things,  tend 
to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the  government,  and  to  prevent 
a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  by  which  alone  the  supremacy  of  the 
government  is  to  be  maintained,  and  national  peace  and  prosperity  wit- 
nessed in  the  land. 

"The  Yonkers  Herald,  Highland  Democrat  and  Eastern  Sfaffi  Jnnrnul 
have,  from  the  time  of  the  issue  of  the  President's  Proclamation,  imme- 
diately after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  steadily  treated  the  war  which 
has  followed,  in  the  extracts  and  articles  they  have  published,  as  an  un- 
holy and  partizan  war,  unjustly  commenced  and  prosecuted  by  the  adminis- 
tration. In  so  doing,  it  has  evidently  been  their  i)urpose  to  consolidate  a 
party,  by  the  aid  of  whose  opposition  and  influence  they  might  prevent 
enlistments  and  retard  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war. 

[Two  New  York  City  papers  are  further  mentioned  as  circulating  in 
the  county,  with  similar  doctrines  and  the  presentment  proceeds ;] 


"  The  Grand  Jurors,  therefore,  invoke  the  attention  of  the  District  At^ 
torney  of  this  county  to  the  prosecution  of  the  editors  and  proprietors 
named,  if  hereafter,  after  this  public  notice  of  their  evil  courae,  they 
shonld  persist  in  thus  continuing  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies 
of  the  government,  and  they  request  him  to  certify  and  transmit  a  copy 
of  this  presentment  to  the  United  States  District  Attorney  of  the  South- 
ern District  of  New  York,  witii  a  view  to  his  commencing  such  proceed- 
ings thereon  as  the  nature  of  the  circumstances  requires. 

"Stephen  Lyon,  Foreman. 

"  W.  SwiNBUENE,  Clerk." 

This  document  naturally  produced  quite  an  excite- 
ment in  the  office  of  the  Eastern  State  Journal,  and 
the  editor,  being  a  White  Plains  man,  living  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  court-house,  and  personally 
known  to  all  the  members  of  the  grand  jury,  exerted 
himself  to  the  utmost  to  get  rid  of  the  stain  it  pro- 
duced on  his  reputation.  He  managed  to  get  a  letter 
from  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  which  he  pub- 
lished in  his  next  week's  paper,  stating  that  he  (the 
foreman)  had  voted  against  putting  the  Eastern  State 
Journal  on  the  list  of  papers  presented,  but  that  he 
had  been  outvoted  and  therefore  had  signed  the  pre- 
sentment. Mr.  Lyon,  in  thus  letting  out  the  secrets 
of  the  grand  jury  room,  did  what  he  could  to  save  a 
neighbor  by  further  saying  that  he  was  "  one  of  nine  '* 
who  voted  to  strike  the  Journal  off  the  list.  Next 
week  the  indefatigable  editor  managed  to  get  two 
more  men  who  were  on  the  grand  jury  to  say  that 
theg  voted  against  the  presentment,  and  as  soon  as 
this  consummation  was  reached  he  burst  out  into  in- 
dignant denunciation  of  the  men  who  voted/o?-it,  as 
a  "  corrupt  and  debauched  clique  ;  "  "  curs  who  have 
snarled  and  snapped  at  our  heels  for  years,"  who 
need"' a  sound  kicking"  for  " besliming  and  befoul- 
ing all.  they  touch,"  while  "their  putrid  breath  so 
corrupts  the  air"  that  the  editor  can  hardly  draw  his 
breath. 

The  presentment,  however,  had  a  marked  effect  on 
the  tone  of  the  paper  for  some  weeks,  for  the  next  edi- 
torial conclusion  on  '•  what  patriotism  demands  of 
party  organization  "  in  the  crisis  is  that  the  Demo- 
crats should,  in  future,  "stick  together  on  local 
issues  "  and  let  the  administration  carry  on  the  war 
without  interference. 

Next  week  the  editor  speaks  of  the  "determined 
and  loyal  course  of  the  President."  After  that  he 
explains  his  motto  in  a  different  spirit;  prints  Union 
letters  and  speeches,  in  one  of  which  a  War  Democrat 
declares  "compromise  impracticable;"  and  so  the 
paper  swims  quietly  along  until  the  State  election,  at 
which  Democrats  are  exhorted  to  "Stick  to  your 
party,"  "Vote  the  Democratic  State  Ticket,"  "Stand 
by  the  old  party,"  "Don't  be  humbugged  by  the  cry 
of  no-partyism,"  "It  is  an  old  dodge,"  etc.,  etc.  The 
result  of  the  election — for  Secretary  of  State  and  other 
officers,  in  the  off  year — giving  the  Republicans  a  ma- 
jority of  all  they  wished,  with  the  first  appearance  of 
Judge  Robertson  in  the  capacity  of  State  Senator, 
the  editor  finds  comfort  in  the  removal  of  Fremont — 
effected  about  the  same  time — which  he  assumes  as  a 


THE  CIVIL  WAK,  1860-65. 


499 


mark  of  "proper  respect  to  the  sentiments  of  the 
Democracy  of  the  North." 

It  would  take  us  far  beyond  the  limits  of  such  a 
chapter  as  this  to  follow  the  course  of  political  opin- 
ion at  the  county  capital  with  any  minuteness;  but 
the  tone  of  the  Edsteni  Slate  Journal  grows  stronger 
and  stronger  in  opposition  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
war  during  the  year  1862,  though  the  obnoxious 
"true  sentimeut"  is  dropped.  There  are  no  more 
articles  openly  abusing  "  Abolitionists:"  but  the  paper 
sticks  to  the  doctrine,  as  late  as  April  20,  18(52,  that 
"the  general  government  has,  even  in  war,  no  more 
power"  to  coerce  a  rebellious  State  "tlian  the  Consti- 
tution gives  it,"  and  therefore  none  to  confiscate  slaves 
or  set  them  free-  The  abuse  of  "Abolitionists"  is 
changed,  as  the  summer  goes  on,  to  philippics  on 
"lazy,  mindless  negroes,"  and  predictions  of  a  "San 
Domingo  massacre  "  if  the  slaves  of  the  South  are 
ever  freed.  As  tlie  autumn  comes  on,  however,  the 
nomination  of  Horatio  Seymour  puts  the  editor  on 
his  feet  again,  and  he  begins  to  threaten  the  "  Aboli- 
tionists "  more  boldly  every  day.  In  December  he 
closes  the  year  1862  by  referring  to  the  coincidence 
of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
the  election  of  Jlr.  Seymour  to  be  Governor  of  New 
York  as  "The  Two  Proclamations."  The  one  he 
concludes  to  be  mere  "waste  paper,  impossible  of  en- 
forcement," while  the  other  is  "A  proclamation  that 
the  State  of  New  York  is  free  once  more."  The  lines 
"The  Democracy  Triumphant,"  "The  Administration 
is  not  the  Government,"  came  out  in  every  issue,  and 
it  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  in  this  paper,  as  in  the 
Yonkers  Herabl- Gazette,  as  the  virulence  of  the  tone 
increases,  so  does  the  pressure  of  the  county  advertis- 
ing increase  also,  showing  what  powerful  influences 
were  behind  the  papers,  in  the  shape  of  tlie  county 
officers. 

The  extracts  from  the  Eastern  State  Journal  have 
been  given  in  full,  because,  as  appeal's  above,  a  part 
of  the  grand  jury  thought  it  not  quite  disloyal  enough 
to  be  included  in  the  presentment,  and  therefore  its 
tone  can  be  taken  as  that  of  the  more  moderate  Dem- 
ocrats who  stayed  at  home  during  the  war  and  voted 
for  Horatio  Seymour,  as  they  did.  The  figures  of  the 
election  in  the  county  are  rather  against  the  assertion 
of  the  Journal  that  "three-fourths  of  the  volunteers 
from  the  county  were  Democrats,"  for  the  vote  cast 
for  Seymour  for  Governor  is  seven  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-six,  a  decrease  from  the  Presiden- 
tial vote — given  at  the  beginning  of  this  section — of 
only  two  hundred  and  sixty  votes,  while  the  Repub- 
lican vote  is  onlv  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  <. 
fifty  -six,  which  is  a  decrease  of  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  votes  from  that  cast  for  the  Lin- 
coln electors  two  years  before. 

The  Draft  Riots. — The  most  conspicuous  inci- 
dent in  the  home  history  of  the  county  during  the 
Civil  War,  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Seymour,  was  the 
occurrence  of  the  draft  riots,  which,  beginning  in  the 


city  of  New  York,  partly  spread  into  the  county  it- 
self. 

The  troubles  in  the  city  began  on  Monday,  July 
13,  1863.  The  New  York  papers  of  that  day  re- 
cord that  the  draft  was  begun  on  the  previous  Satur- 
day, in  the  Twenty-second  Waid,  at  No.  ()77  Third 
Avenue,  and  that  "  all  was  quiet,  with  plenty  of  good- 
natured  joking  at  the  names  of  the  citizens  as  they 
were  drawn."  They  also  announce  that  the  next 
place  to  be  opened  would  be  at  the  corner  of  Broad- 
way and  Forty-fifth  Street,  on  Monday  morning. 
Tims  it  will  be  seen  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Fort 
Sumter  excitement,  a  serious  action  had  taken  place 
on  Saturday  and  that  the  people  had  all  Sunday  to 
think  over  it.  In  the  first  case  the  result  of  the 
thought  had  been  in  the  direction  of  patriotism  ; 
this  time  it  was  to  be  different,  owing  to  the  difference 
in  the  character  of  the  individuals  composing  the  two 
crowds.  That  of  IStil  was  raised  down-town  among 
men  who  were,  for  the  most  part,  well  educated  and 
self-supporting,  actuated  by  a  sentiment  in  which 
nothing  personal  was  contained.  No  matter  what  its 
object  or  action,  the  crowd  which,  in  April,  1861, 
compelled  the  hanging  out  of  the  flag,  was  "a  mob  " 
to  all  intents  and  purposes.  Its  action,  however,  was 
marked  by  no  single  instance  of  violence,  and  it  re- 
quired no  act  from  the  persons  at  whom  its  anger  was 
leveled  beyond  the  simple  "  hanging  out  of  the 
I'nited  States  fl.Tg." 

The  mob  of  July,  1863,  was  of  a  very  different 
character,  and  it  began  its  work  in  districts  high  up- 
town, then  chiefly  occupied  by  squatters'  shanties, 
pigs  and  goats.  The  men  composing  it  were  animat- 
ed by  no  sentiment  beyond  escaping  the  draft  in  some 
manner,  they  knew  not  how.  Their  general  ignorance 
made  their  action,  from  the  first,  one  of  unreasoning 
violence,  quickly  degenerating  into  murder,  arson  and 
rapine  of  all  sorts. 

Briefly  catalogued,  the  first  day's  work  was  the 
burning  of  the  jirovost  marshal's  offices,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  lists  (under  the  idea  that  if  they  were  once 
destroyed  the  draft  could  not  be  enforced),  tearing  up 
railroad  tracks,  cutting  of  telegraph  wires,  mobbing 
of  individual  soldiers  found  on  the  streets,  murder  of 
some  of  them,  resistance  to  the  police  accompanied 
by  murder,  burning  of  an  orphan  asylum  for  colored 
children,  burning  and  sacking  of  many  j)rivate 
houses,  hanging  of  negroes  wherever  they  were  to  be 
found  by  the  mob,  attack  on  the  counting-room  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  rescue  of  the  same  by  a  charge 
of  police  under  Captain  Thome. 

Second  day:  murder  of  Colonel  O'Brien,  of  the 
Eleventh  Regiment,  when  he  was  away  from  his 
troops,  general  control  of  the  city  by  the  mob,  troops 
telegraphed  for,  fierce  fighting  by  the  police  to  main- 
tain a  semblance  of  ord^-r. 

On  this  day  Westchester  County  became  involved 
in  the  disturbances.  Crowds  visited  the  enrolling 
offices  of  Morrisania  and  West  Farms,  tore  up  the  en- 


500 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


rolling  lists,  destroyed  the  telegraph  offices  at  Wil- 
liams' Bridge  aud  Melrose,  ripped  up  some  rails  on 
the  New  Haven  and  Harlem  roads,  near  the  Bronx 
River,  had  pickets  on  both  roads  as  far  as  Mount 
Vernon  to  signal  when  a  general  attempt  to  tear  up 
tracks  might  be  safe,  but  were  quieted  in  Morri^ania 
and  West  Farms  by  appeals  made  by  Supervisor 
Cauldwell  and  Mr.  Pierre  C.  Talman.  A  telegraph 
operator  on  this  day  tried  to  put  an  instrument  into  a 
store  at  Hunt's  Bridge,  near  Mount  Vernon,  but  the 
proprietor  was  intimidated  by  a  message  from  sympa- 
thizers with  the  mob,  that,  if  the  instrument  was  not 
removed,  the  store  would  be  gutted.  On  this,  the 
second  day,  there  was  a  complete  reign  of  terror, 
though  no  violence  seems  to  have  been  committed  in 
the  county  beyond  the  acts  chronicled  above. 

On  Wednesday  evening  a  meeting  was  called  in 
the  town  hall,  at  Tremont,  which  was  heavily  attend- 
ed by  the  people  of  West  Farms,  Morrisania  and 
the  vicinity.  This  was  presided  over  by  Mr.  John  B. 
Haskin,  and  is  fully  reported  in  the  New  York  Herald 
of  Friday,  till  which  time  the  notes  of  the  reporter 
seem  to  have  been  crowded  out  in  the  pressure  of 
other  news.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  Herald 
reports  of  the  incidents  of  the  week  seem  the  best  to 
be  found,  the  facts  being  given  fully,  without  attempt 
to  color  them  in  either  direction.  The  Herald  report 
is  here  used, — 

"  Mr.  Haskin,  in  biking  tlie  cliair,  said  that : 

"They  had  met  in  a  crisis  wliich  required  the  greatest  coolness  and 
judgment  on  the  part  of  tlie  people.  He  hoped  that  the  proceedings 
would  be  characterized,  hereaftei',  as  the  c*>nduct  of  honest  and  law- 
abiding  citizens.  That  it  wiia  not  their  interest  to  uphold  the -Adminis- 
tration in  the  odious  and  unconstitutional  Conscription  .Act  (cheers),  but 
there  was  a  way  to  test  it,  in  the  courts.  In  his  opinion,  the  act  of  17!l2, 
providing  for  calling  out  the  militia,  was  fully  equal  to  the  present 
emergency  in  the  history  of  the  Rebelliou.  That  the  men  who  made 
the  Constitution  passed  that  act,  with  the  express  object  of  giving  power 
to  raise  the  trooiis  necessary  in  emergencies.  When  Jlr.  Lincoln  made 
his  first  call,  it  was  good  enough  for  the  purpose.  Then  the  State  had  a 
Republican  Governor.  Now  it  had  a  Democratic  governor,  and  the  old 
law  was  worthless.  The  chief  executive  of  tlie  State  was  to  be  deprived 
of  his  power,  that  his  duties  might  be  transferred  to  government  satraps, 
toexecute  the  will  of  the  irresponsible  authoritiesat  Washington  (cheers). 
This  was  an  insult  to  Sir.  Seymour,  and  an  insult  to  the  loyal  people  who 
elected  him  (great  cheei"s).  If  the  Administration  were  afraid  to  trust 
the  governor,  afraid  to  trust  the  people  of  the  State,  it  was  a  fresh  proof 
of  the  imbecility  of  the  men  who  now  controlled  the  destiny  of  the  Re- 
public (cheers).  He  argued  that  the  State  courts  must  declare  the  act 
constitutional  or  unconstitutional,  aud  by  their  decrees  the  (iovernment 
must  abide.  Therefore,  why  this  excitement  ?  Their  rights  would  be 
protected,  their  privileges  maintHined,  no  matter  at  what  hazard  or 
what  cost  (cheers).  He  referred  to  the  exemption  clause  ($300.00)  as 
being  an  invidious  distinction  between  the  rich  and  poor  (Yes,  yes).  It 
was  undemocratic,  unwise,  aud  he  did  not  wonder  that  they  objected  to  it. 
He  preferred  the  old  law,  under  which  all  classes  bore  equal  responsi- 
bility (cheers).  Our  recent  brilliant  victories  made  it  easy  for  volunteers 
to  be  raised,  to  put  down  the  rebellion.  Let  the  Government  abandon 
the  conscription  act  and  throw  itself  on  the  patriotism  of  the  people 
(great  cheers).  There  were  men  enough  to  volunteer,  good  nten,  of  their 
own  free  will.  Such  men  would  tight  better,  and  be  an  honor  to  the  ser- 
vice. He  went  on  in  this  strain,  for  some  time,  and  then  denounced  the 
rioters  for  robbery,  and  declared  the  hanging  of  inoffensive  negroes  a  dis- 
grace to  the  age  in  which  we  live.  They  ought  rather  to  be  protected,  as 
the  weak  have  a  right  to  the  protection  of  the  strong.  He  was  sure  that 
this  meeting  did  not  approve  of  the  burning  of  Orphan  Asylums,  be  they 
for  blacks  or  whites.  There  should  be  no  distinction  of  nationalities, 
colors  or  races.    Then  the  speaker  denounced  the  excesses  of  Know- 


Nothingism  bitterly,  the  audience  applauding  heartily.  He  alluded  to 
General  McClellan,  who  was  cheered  enthusiastically,  and  General 
Grant's  name  was  also  greeted  with  cheers,  the  news  of  Vicksburg 
being  fresh  at  the  time. 

"  Mr.  Pierre  C.  Talman  followed  in  a  similar  strain,  expressing  his  con- 
fidence that  the  meeting  before  him  would  be  the  last  people  in  the  world 
to  violate  the  laws.  He  reminded  them  that  the  abolitionist  fanatics, 
who  were  rapidly  losing  their  grip  on  the  people,  desired  nothing  better 
than  to  regain  it,  through  the  excesses  of  a  mob.  (Groans  for  the  Ab- 
olitionists). But  the  workingmen  of  Westchester  County  were  always 
ready  for  peace  and  the  law  (cheers).  He  animadverted  on  the  exemp- 
tion clause,  as  an  odious  distinction,  and  reminded  them  that  the  Gov- 
ernor (great  cheers)  wanted  it  tested  in  the  State  courts  and  declared  un- 
constitutional (cheers).  Then  he  denounced  the  excesses  in  New  York, 
which,  he  said,  were  all  committed  by  thieves,  who  had  taken  advantage 
of  the  excitement  to  disgrace  the  people.  Mr.  Talman  was  much  ap- 
plauded. 

"  During  his  speech,  however,  he  was  interrupted  by  a  man,  who 
asked  if  it  was  not  true  that  Mr.  Hasklu  had  a  negro  in  his  employment 
and  what  right  he  had  to  keep  one  V  Haskins  got  up  at  once  and  replied 
that  he  had  such  a  man,  the  same  who  hoisted  the  first  Union  flag  on 
Roanoke  Island,  that  it  was  no  one's  business  whether  he  kept  an  Irish- 
man, German,  Swede,  Xegro,  or  anybody  else  in  his  employment  ;  that 
he  intended  to  keep  the  man  as  long  as  he  pleased.  The  statement  was 
cheered  and  his  questioner  was  silenced. 

This  meeting  adopted  a  set  of  resolutions,  condemning  the  draft ; 
expressing  confidence  in  Horatio  Seymour,  in  his  efforts  to  get  it  declared 
unconstitutional ;  affirmed  the  judgment  of  the  people  of  Morrisania 
and  West  Farms,  that  the  act  was  unconstitutional,  and  deprecated  mob 
violence.  They  appointed  Messrs.  Talman,  G.  W.  Caldwell,  Franklin  W. 
Gilley,  Thomas  K.  Sutton,  John  B.  Haskin,  John  Kirby  and  Terence 
Kennedy,  a  committee,  '  to  wait  on  Moses  G.  Sheard,  Esq.,  Federal  Pro- 
vost Marshal  of  the  district,'  to  '  insist  that  the  draft  be  stopped,  till  the 
State  court  could  decide  whether  it  wascsnstitutional.' " 

The  proceedings  of  this  meeting  have  been  given 
in  full  because  it  was  the  most  important  occurrence 
in  the  county  during  the  draft  riots.  The  speakers 
managed  the  mass  of  ignorant  and  excited  men, 
whom  it  was  their  task  to  quiet,  with  singular  skill. 
They  flattered  them  artfully  with  assurances  that 
their  opposition  to  the  draft  was  all  right;  appealed 
to  their  self-respect  in  the  most  ingenious  way,  and 
the  appointment  of  the  committee  ended  the  whole 
matter.  The  county  was  quiet  thereafter,  the  more 
so  that  the  same  day,  the  return  of  the  troops  from 
Pennsylvania  and  the  report  of  fierce  fighting  in  the 
city,  in  which  the  mob  was  getting  the  worst  of  it, 
had  a  tendency  to  kill  the  idea  that  attempts  at 
violence  were  to  be  made  with  safety. 

In  other  parts  of  the  county  the  disturbances  went 
no  further  than  aimless  tumults,  which  resulted  in  no 
actual  bloodshed  as  far  as  the  facts  can  be  ascertained. 
Mr.  Thomas  J.  Byrne,  the  county  enrolling  officer  at 
White  Plains,  was  fired  at  on  Monday  evening  as  he 
was  driving  home,  but  returned  the  fire  with  a  revol- 
ver and  got  away  safe.  His  house  was  visited  by  a 
mob  on  Wednesday  evening,  after  dark  ;  the  enroll- 
ment papers  burned,  the  house  sacked  and  his  wife 
and  two  children  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  Edward  Haight,  for  fear  of  violence.  Mr.  Byrne 
himself  was  away  from  home  at  the  time  or  the  con- 
sequences might  have  been  more  serious. — New  York 
Herald,  summary  of  Friday.  On  Wednesday  the 
Hudson  River  train  was  stopped  at  Yonkers,  the  rails 
having  been  torn  up  between  that  place  and  the  city, 
so  that  the  Canadian  mail  had  to  be  taken  to  New  York 
on  the  boat.    The  citizens  of  Yonkers  formed  two 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1800-05. 


501 


companies  of  Home  Guards  to  keep  property  and  life 
safe,  but  there  was  no  serious  disturbance.  The 
arsenal  was  guarded  day  and  night. 

At  Tarrytown  a  guard  was  also  formed,  and  pro- 
cured a  cannon  to  overawe  the  mob,  so  that  all  was 
peaceful  along  the  Hudson  River.  On  the  same  day 
— Wednesday — there  was  very  nearly  being  a  serious 
disturbance  in  the  town  of  East  Chester,  at  the  village 
of  Mount  Vernon,  which  illustrates  the  character  of 
the  ignorant  prejudice,  that  culminated  in  such  ex- 
cesses as  were  committed  in  New  York  City. 

A  mob  of  men,  from  the  quarries  at  the  village  of 
Tuckahoe,  actually  set  out  from  that  place,  gathering 
recruits  from  the  villages  near  them,  armed  with 
sticks,  stones  and  any  rude  weapon  they  could  lay 
their  hands  on,  and  took  up  their  march  for  the  vil- 
lage of  Mount  Vernon,  with  the  avowed  object  of 
"  burning  down  the  houses  of  all  the  Kepublicans  in 
the  place."  These  ignorant  men  were  probably  ex- 
cited by  the  accounts  given  in  the  city  papers,  of  the 
way  in  which  the  same  vengeance  had  been  meted 
out  to  well-known  Republicans  in  the  city,  one 
house  having  been  actually  burned  down  "  because 
Horace  Greeley  once  boarded  there,"  as  reported  by 
Tribune,  Herald  and  World.  At  all  events,  they 
started  out,  and  the  news  reached  Mount  Vernon, 
where  a  Home  Guard  had  been  hastily  formed  of  the 
citizens,  who  were  much  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  being 
attacked,  both  from  the  city  and  the  river.  Volun- 
teers were  called  for  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy  ;  and  a 
drummer-boy,  home  on  sick  furlough  at  the  time,  was 
found,  who  said  he  would  go.  A  horse  was  furnished 
him,  and  he — boy-like — must  needs  put  on  his  uni- 
form and  ride  off.  He  met,  about  two  miles  from  the 
village,  coming  out  of  the  lane  from  Bronxville, 
towards  Mount  Vernon,  a  confused  crowd  of  men, 
who  stopped  him  and  asked  "where  he  was  going." 
He  replied  "  To  Bronxville ; "  and  asked  in  turn 
"Where  are  you  going? "  The  reply  was  "  We  are 
going  to  raise  hell."  With  that  they  began  to  throw 
atones  at  him  and  yell,  so  that  he  was  glad  to  wheel 
the  horse  and  gallop  away.  Probably  the  fact  of  his 
youth  and  apparent  innocence  saved  him  from  serious 
harm,  <br  no  effort  was  made  to  pursue  him,  and  he 
got  off  safe.  Returning,  and  trying  to  take  a  short 
•cut  across  the  swamp  towards  Mount  Vernon,  he  got 
his  horse  mired  just  behind  the  house  of  Mr.  John  G. 
Satterlee,  afterwards  known  as  "  the  Corson  Place," 
And  had  to  leave  the  animal  and  run  the  rest  of  the 
way  to  tlie  village  on  foot.  Preparations  were  made 
to  receive  the  expected  rioters  by  the  Home  Guards, 
who  occupied  two  buildings,  one  being  a  cartridge 
factory  on  Fifth  Avenue,  near  First  Street.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  afternoon  the  rioters  made  their  ap- 
pearance, but,  in  the  mean  time,  they  had  been  met  by 
-several  prominent  Democrats  of  the  place,  at  a  turn 
in  the  road,  known  as  "  Sageman's  Corners,"  where 
they  were  induced  to  give  up  their  design  of  actual 
^ATson,  but  were  obstinate  in  their  determination  to 


j  march  into  Mount  Vernon.    They  came  down  the 
[  White  Plains  road,  w  here  it  runs  into  Fourth  Avenue, 
I  Mount  Vernon;  threw  stones  at  windows  in  First 
Street,  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue,  and  in  Fourth 
Avenue  itself;  shouted,  flourished  sticks  and  yelled; 
I  but  after  marching  a  little  way  down  First  Street, 
turned  back  at  the  bridge  over  the  New  Haven  track, 
known  as  "  Scott's  Bridge,"  and  went  away,  dispersing 
j  to  their  homes. 

Thus  ended  the  last  actual  attempt  at  violence  in 
the  county  of  Westchester,  of  which  any  trace  ex- 
ists. The  Mount  Vernon  affair  is  mentioned  in  none 
of  the  journals  accessible  at  the  time  of  writing,  and 
the  facts  have  been  collected  with  considerable  diiH- 
culty. 

Two  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  mob,  who  marched 
at  their  head  in  Mount  Vernon,  were  recognized  by 
one  of  the  witnesses,  but  it  is  not  necessary  at  this 
late  date  to  mention  their  names.  One  is  since  dead  ; 
the  other  was,  for  several  years  after  the  war,  a  town 
official  and  one  of  the  best-natured  of  men  at  ordi- 
nary times.  The  whole  history  of  the  little  fracas 
shows  the  state  of  excitement  into  which  the  more  ig- 
norant people  of  the  county  were  worked  by  the  in- 
flammatory appeals  of  the  papers  opposed  to  the  war, 
and  how  nearly  the  county  was  disgraced  by  blood- 
shed. Men,  who  at  other  times  would  not  have 
harmed  a  kitten,  were  frenzied  with  imaginary  wrongs 
and  ready  for  any  violence,  short  of  actual  murder. 
That  they  were  not  ready  for  that,  save  under  strong 

I  provocation,  is  .shown  by  the  fact  that  they  spared  the 
rash  little  drummer-boy,  who  actually  rode  into  the 

j  midst  of  them  in  uni/orni. 

(  His  horse  was  struck  by  a  few  stones,  but  they 
could  not  have  seriously  intended  to  hurt  the  boy,  or 
they  could  have  done  so  when  they  had  him  in  their 
power,  through  his  own  ignorance  of  the  duty  of  a 
scout.  His  name  was  Joseph  H.  Porter,  and  he 
afterwards  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  New  York 
Cavalry,  from  New  York  City,  and  served  to  the 

I  close  of  the  war.  His  statements  are  corroborated, 
as  to  the  behavior  of  the  rioters  in  Mount  Vernon 
itself,  by  Mr.  Donald  Ferguson,  of  Mount  Vernon, 
Mr.  A.  B.  Kitson,  one  of  the  Home  Guard,  now  a 
resident  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  others  } 


iThe  above  account   of  the  part  taken  by  the  draft  rioters  at 
i  Mount  Vernon  has  been  obtained  with  considerable  difficulty,  on  ac- 
count of  the  lapse  of  time  since  the  events  occurred,  and  the  indisposi- 
tion of  most  citizens  of  the'  place  to  speak  of  what  they  considered  a 
disgrace  to  the  village, 
i      The  main  facte — that  a  mob  was  organized  near  Tuckahoe,  with  the 
I  object  of  riot  and  areon  at  Mount  Vernon  ;  that  the  mob  actually  marched 
to  the  villiige ;  passed  through  First  (or  Front)  St.,  and  retired  without 
,  doing  any  damage  of  consequence  ;  and  that  their  arrival  was  signaled 
'  by  a  rash  little  clrummer  boy  — seem  to  be  fully  established. 

The  Home  Guards,  as  I  learn  from  one  of  the  surviving  members, 
I  first  organized  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  and  elected  William  M.  H.  Barker 
I  their  captain.  They  expected  an  attack  in  the  night,  and  threw  out  pick- 
ets towards  Scott's  Bridge,  at  the  foot  of  Eleventh  .\venue,  in  Mount 
'  Vernon,  the  main  body  remaining  at  Iloole's  shop,  in  the  village.  The 
j  pickets  remained  out  all  night  and  came  in  at  daylight  on  Wednesday 
morning,  when  the  whole  force  was  dismissed,  the  danger  being  judged 


502 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Froji  the  Riots  to  the  Close  of  the  Wak. — 
The  suppression  of  the  draft  riots  in  New  York  City, 
the  capture  of  Chattanooga,  and  the  general  advance 
of  the  Armies  of  the  Potomac  and  the  West,  in  the 
spring  of  1864,  had  their  influence  in  Westchester 
County  to  elfect  a  change  in  the  conduct  of  the  lead- 
ing papers.  In  Yonkers,  in  particular,  this  change 
was  judged  so  necessary  that,  on  the  7th  of  May,  the 
editor  of  the  Herald,  of  that  town,  formally  re- 
signed his  place,  and  the  Herald  passed  into  the 
control  of  a  stock  company,  known  as  the  "  Yonkers 
Democratic  Publishing  Association,"  under  which 
the  paper  (which  seems,  from  the  farewell  of  the 
editor,  to  have  been  in  a  far  from  flourishing  con- 
dition) was  carried  on  to  the  close  of  the  war.  Its 
tone,  under  the  new  control,  is  no  longer  one  of  open 
hostility  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  but  deals 
chiefly  in  personal  attacks  on  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  account 
of  his  "frivolous  nature  "  and  "buffoonery."  On  the 
21st  of  May,  1864,  the  celebrated  forged  pr  )clama- 
tion  of  Joe  Howard  and  the  suppression  of  ihe  copies 
of  the  World  and  Journal  of  Commerce,  which 
contained  them,  are  noticed,  with  much  outcry  for 
the  "  liberty  of  the  press."  The  split  in  the  Repub- 
lican party,  threatened  by  the  nomination  of  Fre- 
mont, under  the  inspiration  of  Gratz  Brown  (who 
afterwards  ran  with  Horace  Greeley,  in  1872,  on  the 
Democratic  ticket),  is  noticed,  with  unconcealed 
hopes  of  a  favorable  issue  for  the  Democracy. 

The  cry  of  "  corruption"  was  thus  raised  in  the 
same  issue  of  the  paper, — 

"  The  stench  of  official  corruption  in  Washington  at  this  moment  is 
ranker  than  tliat  even  arising  from  tlie  tliuneanris  of  niiburied  bodies  of 
horsesand  men,  that  strew  tlie  suil  of  Virginia.    Tliere  may  have  been 


over  for  the  time.  When  the  mob  really  came,  the  few  men  wlio  were 
at  the  cartridge  factory  and  elsewhere  were  not  regularly  organ- 
ized. 

The  route  of  the  mob  to  the  village  was  down  the  extension  of  Fourth 
Avenue,  and  when  they  bad  made  their  short  march  they  went  to 
Gould's  Hotel,  where  they  consumed  a  great  deal  of  liijuor.  They  were 
dissuaded  from  fightiug  by  prominent  citizens  of  the  place,  among  whom 
the  names  of  Judge  Stevens,  Judge  Pemberton,  George  (iould  and  Darius 
Lyon  are  mentioned,  as  the  men  who  really  saved  Mount  Vernon  from  a 
bloody  riot. 

As  the  rioters  came  along,  they  pressed  into  the  service  every  man 
they  met  on  the  road. 

On  their  return  they  passed  by  the  houses  of  John  G.  Satterlcy  and 
John  F.  Jarvis,  who  then  resided  at  wliat  was  afterwards  known  .is  "  The 
Corson  Place."  Part  of  tlieui  were  on  foot  and  part  driving  in  all  sorts 
of  vehicles.  Part  had  guns  or  pistols,  a  few  old  swords,  but  the  majority 
had  nothing  but  clubs  made  out  of  fence  pickets.  In  front  of  Mr.  Sat- 
terley's  house,  and  in  plain  sighi  of  Mr.  Jarvis's,  they  had  a  drunken 
fight,  in  which  some  .shots  were  fired,  of  which  more  than  one  struck  the 
porch  pillars  of  Mr.  .Satterley's  house.  A  club,  in  the  coni-se  of  this 
fight,  was  thrown  over  Mr.  Satterley's  fence  into  his  garden,  and  was 
kept,  for  some  years  after,  by  the  family,  as  a  relic  of  the  draft  riots. 

The  witnesses  exaniiued  by  rae,  in  investigating  the  aSaii',  unite  in 
their  stories  as  to  the  above  facts. 

They  are  Mr.  A.  B.  Kitson,  of  37  South  St.,  Boston,  Mass.  (then  a 
member  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Home  Guards)  ;  Mrs.  Higgins,  of  Mount 
Vernon  (at  the  time  of  riot  Miss  Eva  Satterley) ;  Mrs.  John  G.  Satter- 
ley,  her  mother  ;  Mr.  John  F.  Jarvis,  of  Mount  Vernon  ;  and  Mr.  Joseph 
H.  Porter,  the  drummer-boy  of  the  story,  who  afterwards  entered  the 
13th  N.  Y.  Cavalry  and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war. 

Mr.  John  G.  Satterley  died  a  few  years  since. 


corruption  under  previous  administrations ;  but  under  that  of  'honest 
old  .\be '  it  is  positively  frightful." 

On  the  28th  the  Yonkers  Herald  wants  General 
Dix  punished  "  by  damages  in  a  civil  action,"  since 
he  "  cannot  be  reached  by  the  State  courts,  or  court- 
martial,"  for  having  closed  the  World  and  Journal  of 
Commerce,  because  there  is  "no  hope  in  Congress  " — it 
is  "  too  thoroughly  servile."  "  No  Senate,  in  the  cor- 
ruptest  days  of  Rome,  registered  every  decree  of  its 
military  tyrant  with  more  slavish  alacrity  than  is  dis- 
played by  the  administration  majority  in  fulfilling 
,  the  will  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Noticing  the  nomination  of  Lincoln  at  the  regular 
Republican  Convention,  the  Yonkers  Herald  remarks  : 

"Another  four  years  of 'Honest  old  Abe'  would 
leave  nothing  but  the  shadow  of  a  Republic  on  the 
American  continent."  It  thanks  the  Eastern  State 
Journal  and  Highland  Democrat  for  the  welcome 
extended  by  them  to  the  paper  under  its  new 
management.  On  the  4th  of  June  the  name  of  the 
paper  is  changed  to  the  Gazette  (under  which  it  still 
exists)  and  a  great  "  boom  "  begins  in  the  advertising 
columns,  from  the  quantity  of  county  advertising 
thrown  in,  as  in  the  case  of  the  East-rn  State  Journal, 
by  the  county  officials.  On  the  same  day  begins  a 
series  of  controversies  with  the  Yonkers  Statesman, 
formerly  the  Examiner,  the  leading  Republican  news- 
paper of  the  county,  with  regard  to  accusations 
against  the  Gazette  of  "disloyalty."  The  extract  is, — 

"  We  confess  to  the  smallest  possible  amount  of  respect  for  Republican 
professions  of  '  loyalty,' or  Republican  charges  of  'disloyalty.'  The 
word  is  not  American,  nor  Republican  even  —here  it  originally  expressed 
the  treasonable  attachment  of  the  loyal  Tories  to  George  the  Third,  in 
his  wanton  war  against  .Vmericau  liberty  ;  and,  as  now  used,  it  generally 
means  partisan  devotion  to  .\braham  Lincoln,  not  in  resistance  to  a 
Southern  Rebellion,  but  in  a  would-be  second  war  on  the  liberties  of 
.\merican  citizens."' 

June  11th  comes  the  notice  of  the  Democratic 
Convention  being  called  by  August  Belmont,  on 
which  the  editor  exhorts  his  readers  that  "  Civil 
liberty  cannot  survive  another  term  of  Abraham 
Lincoln."  Next  week  comes  an  article  on  "  Recon- 
struction," from  which  we  extract, — 

•'jWhat  is  the  political  relation  of  the  rebellious  States  to  the  Union  ? 
Have  their  own  acts  and  ordinances  taken  them  out  of  it,  as  they  them- 
selves claim  If  not,  has  the  President,  or  Congress  even,  the  right  to 
expel  States  from  the  I'nion  ?  If  these  .States  are  still  members  of  the 
Union,  can  new  States  be  carved  out  of  them  without  their  own  consent, 
against  the  prohibition  of  the  Constitution  on  that  head?  On  some  of 
these  points  we  entertain  very  decided  opinions,  which  we  refrajn,  how- 
ever, from  expressing  in  this  article." 

From  thence,  through  July  and  August,  the  Gazette 
is  much  exercised  at  the  "  progress  of  military  des- 
potism" in  regard  to  the  suppression  of  the  bogus 
proclamation,  and  especially  when  the  New  York 
grand  jury,  appealed  to  by  Judge  Russell  to  investi- 
gate in  the  matter,  considers  it  "inexpedient  to  en- 
quire into  the  action  of  the  general  government  as 
to  certain  newspapers  in  this  city."  The  Gazette 
calls  on  the  judge  to  summon  another  grand  jury,  and 
on  Oakey  Hall,  the  district  attorney,  to  do  his  best  to 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-1)5. 


503 


secure  a  conflict  between  the  State  of  New  York  and 
the  United  States  on  the  subject,  saying, — 

"  We  sincerely  trust  the  authorities  of  the  state  will  not  be  intiniidateil  , 
by  this  declaration  of  war  u|k)U  then\  by  Sir.  Lincoln.    Let  it  be  made 
known  to  him  that  he  cannot  |ilay  the  dictator  over  the  people  and 
tows  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  or  let  us  prepare  for  worse  than  .\u8trian 
alsvery." 

From  this  time  to  the  middle  of  September  the  | 
Qazette  is  occupied  with  definitions  of  principles,  such 
as  this  :  "  Pie  who  avows  that  he  is  not  for  the  Union,  i 
without  conditions,  is  disunionist,  let  him  be  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  or  Jetlerson  Davis.  .  .  .  The  only 
Union  man  is  he  who  is  for  the  Union,  without  condi- 
tions." There  are  also  a  number  of  stories  about  the 
"branding"  of  United  States  recruits,  which  are  re- 
peated from  week  to  week,  with  the  obvious  intention 
of  discouraging  ignorant  men  from  enlisting. 

As  the  election  approaches,  the  Gazette  becomes 
more  and  more  pronounced  in  its  appeals  to  the 
people  in  favor  of  slavery,  such  as  this  : 

"Thb  DiFVERKNcE. — The  Democratic  Platform  is,  the  I'uion  at  all 
hazards;  the  Kvpublican  Platform  is,  .\bolition  at  all  hazards.  The  dif- 
Ikrence  between  the  candidates,  Lincoln  is  for  the  Union,  without  slav- 
vrj;  McClellan  is  for  the  I'nion,  with  or  without  slavery  ;  Lincoln  is  for 
the  Union  on  certain  conditions ;  McClellan,  at  all  hazards ;  Lincoln 
has  been  tried  and  found  wanting  ;  SIcCIellan  ba«  always  shown  himself 
eqnal  to  the  emergency.  With  this  brief  and  intelligent  view  of  the 
nvrits  of  the  present  contest,  no  thinking  man  will  hesitate  regarding 
how  or  where  bis  vote  shall  be  cast." 

From  henceforth  (October  1,  1864)  to  election  the 
paper  is  full  of  reports  of  mass-meetings,  political 
advertising  and  appeals  to  voters  to  "Register,  regis- 
ter," till  November  13th,  when  the  conclusion  is, 
"The  grand  old  Democratic  party  of  the  State  of 
New  York  yields  the  battle-field,  covered  with  all  the 
glory  a  nobly  contested  struggle  can  confer  upon  it." 
A  touch  of  liumor  is  conferred  on  this  issue  of  the 
paper  by  a  glance  at  the  advertising  column,  exactly 
opposite  to  the  editorial.  The  advertisement  is  as  j 
follows: 

"The  Re-election  of  ABR.\II.\M  LINCOLN,  and 
The  election  of  ANDREW  .JOHNSON,  and 
TheUNIVKKSAL  UNION  TItll  Ml'H  will  be  cele- 
bntted  in  Yonkers,  Tuesday  evening,  Novend)er  l.")th,  by  a  TORCHLIGHT 
PEOCESSIOX  and  ILLUMINATION.    All  UNION  men  and  LOYAL 
oitlMDs  are  cordially  invited  to  take  a  share  in  the  celebration.  Y'on- 
km,  Not.  9,  18C4. 
"N.  P.  Otis,  Sec.  Johs  V.  PAonox,  Chairman."' 

The  Gazette  subsides  after  this  till  December  3d, 
when  a  sermon  is  preached,  from  which  we  cull : 

"  CHARITY. 

"The  meddle:iome  notions  of  New  England  Puritanism  .  .  .  found  a 
eongenial  topic  in  the  slaver\-  question,  and  decreed,  at  an  early  day, 
QMt  there  should  no  longer  be  peace  on  earth  or  good  will  among  men 
■Blew  the  negroes  were  emancipated.  .  .  .  The  full  fruits  of  such  teach-  ' 
iagB  are  just  now  visible  in  the  want  of  charity  manifested  by  the  sup- 
portere  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  towards  their  political  opponents. 
DMferences  of  opinion  .  .  .  are  made  the  subject  .  .  .  of  unjust  charges 
«f  disloyalty  and  treason  to  the  country.  .  .  .  This  bitterness  and  un- 
^•rity  are  a  stain  on  the  national  character.  They  constitute  a  stiite  of 
Ming  discreditable  to  charitable  people  and  which  dese^^■es  the  severest 


condemnation.    For  the  credit  of  our  conunon  humanity,  we  wish  there 
were  less  of  it  prevalent  among  us." 
December  24th  the  Gaxelle  says : 

".•Vny  I*resident,  not  wedded  to  a  line  of  policy  which  he  knows  the  South 
'  will  never  acquiesce  in, — the  abolition  of  slavery, — would  see  that  it  is  just 
the  time  to  e.xteud  the  olive-branch  of  peace  ' ;  but  announces,  with  great 
relief,  that  the  "  Yonkei'squota  is  at  last  filled."    Great  troubleseems  to 
have  existed  on  this  point  of  ipiotas  during  the  year,  for  there  are  fie- 
quent  appeals  to  the  "  rich  men  of  Yonkers  to  come  forward,  especially 
!  those  that  have  not  been  drafted,  and  hi  lp  the  rest  to  buy  substitutes." 
'  This  is  especially  the  case  in  the  issue  of  June  18th,  when  the  drafts 
were  threatened. 

I  February  4,  ISb.l,  records  the  pa-^sage  of  the  constitutional  amendment 
against  slavery  with  a  great  lamentation  as  being  "irritating  to  the 
South.  '  February  llth  records  the  fact  that  "  in  the  Legislature  of 
this  State  the  Democrats  all  voted  against  the  adoption  of  the  amend- 
ment." 

February  18tli,  comes  the  following: 

"  If  JlcC'lellan  had  been  elected,  the  Albany  Argus  truthfully  says,  the 
people  of  the  South,  who  long  for  peace,  would  have  been  looking  as 
eagerly  for  the  Fourth  of  March  as  the  Democrats  of  the  North.  Gen- 
eral JlcC'lellan  would  have  treated  with  the  States  of  the  Confederacy, 
separately,  for  a  return  to  the  Union  ;  would  have  appealed  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  would  have  concerted  with  the  generals  of  the  Confederacy  to  de- 
tach their  armies  from  the  dynasty  at  Richmond." 

JIarch  llth  the  paper  rejoices  over  the  rejection  by  New  Jersey,  Dela- 
ware and  Kentucky  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment,  and  hopes  that  one 
more  State  will  follow  their  example,  so  as  to  make  the  adoption  im- 
possible. 

The  quota  continues  to  be  a  subject  of  grave  anxiety,  and  the  fact  is 
noticed  that  Yonkers  has  spent  S19.5,00O  in  town  bonds,  with  8144,000 
in  county  bonds,  in  filling  the  different  quotas. 

.\pril  8tli,  "  Richmond  is  ours  at  last."  The  paper  wants  a  "  magnan- 
imous peace  and  amnesty."  Notes  the  fact  that  "three  hundred  millions 
have  been  paid  out  in  four  months  to  bounty  jumpers,"  and  that  "only 
two  hundred  thousand  of  the  half  million  called  out  in  July,  1864,  have 
reached  the  field." 

.\pril  15th,  ■Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow."  "Stop  the 
draft."  Very  bitter  flings  at  Jefferson  Davis,  in  a  burlesque  proclama- 
tion. 

April  2'2d  conies  a  sudden  change.    "The  National  Bereavement." 
The  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  is  referred  to  thus:  "The  darkest 
crime  that  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  this  nation  has  been  commit- 
ted, and  forever  after  will  leave  a  foul  blot  on  its  pages  .  .  .  Party  lines 
are  obliterated  in  the  presence  of  the  nation's  dead.  .  .  .  He  has  been 
removed  w  hen  we  least  could  afford  to  lose  him  .  .  .  Our  beloved  Presi- 
dent .  .  .  His  well-known  kindness  of  heart.  ..." 
The  editor,  in  conunenting  on  the  assassination,  admits  that  if'might 
i  have  l)een  a  wise  move  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  or  during  the  darker 
I  days  of  the  struggle  ;"  but  regrets  it  as  being  so  " foolish  and  useless" 
at  the  moment  when  it  occurred.    lie  pleads  for  mercy  to  the  South,, 
and  so  closes  the  connection  of  the  l'oiii>Ts  Gazette  with  the  history  of 
the  war  in  Westchester  County. 

There  was  quite  a  little  excitement  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  when 
every  one  was  hastening,  like  the  editor  of  the  G-izelte,  to  addjhiskick  to 
the  fallen  Davis,  as  to  a  plot  to  blow  up  the  Croton  Dam.  which  was 
alleged  to  have  been  seriously  considered  in  Canada  under  the  orders  of 
the  notorious  Jake  Thomjaon. 

A  man  who  claimed  to  be  a  government  spy,  and  who  passed  by  the 
aliases  of  James  Watson  Wallace  and  Sanford  Conover,  in  his  testimony 
in  Wellington,  swore  to  having  had  conversations  with  the  aforesaid 
Jake  in  January,  1865,  concerning  this  and  other  plots. 

Later  in  the  year  (July,  1S65),  in  the  Toronto  Globe,  appeared  a  letter 
from  this  sjime  Wallace  or  Conover,  in  which  he,  on  20th  March  of  that 
year,  makes  to  Thompson  the  proposition  to  have  the  dam  destroyed,  on 
the  ground  that  "  one  of  my  aunts,  a  Virginia  lady,  an  enemy  of  every- 
thing Yankee,  owns  the  land  on  which  the  dam  is  built,  and  her  resi- 
dence and  out-buildings  are  only  a  few  rods  from  the  abutments  of  the 
work.  This  will  afloid  you  some  idea  of  the  facilities  we  have  at 
'  command  to  accomplish  our  objei  t.  The  necessary  men  for  the  business 
are  engaged." 

This  letter  api>ears  to  be  genuine  and  shows  on  its  face  that  it  was  a 
mere  decoy  to  get  Thompson  to  answer  explicity  that  he  upprured  such  a 
scheme.  Instead  of  this,  the  man  who  took  him  the  letter  swears 
tliat  he  said  :  "  Is  the  man  mad  ?  Is  he  a  fool  ?"  and  tabooed  the  whole 
proposition. 


504 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  scheme,  as  hatched  by  the  United  States  detective,  was  an  in- 
geniuus  one,  to  make  Thompson  tliiuk  the  project  of  blowing  up  the 
L'roton  Dam  a  fensible  one,  but,  as  a  serious  measure,  it  never  had  any 
existence,  outside  of  the  brain  of  the  detective. 

The  Aid  Societies. — We  have  noticed,  under  the 
head  of  the  "Two  Years'  Volunteers,"  the  patriotic 
manner  in  which  all  parties  joined,  in  Port  Chester, 
in  the  effort  to  avert  suffering  from  the  families  of  the 
first  company  that  went  from  the  county.  Other 
towns  were  by  no  means  idle  in  the  g;ood  work  ;  but 
it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  records  of  these 
societies  have,  for  the  most  part,  perished,  and  that 
particulars  of  names  and  of  the  work  done  are  not 
accessible. 

The  local  papers  from  which  they  might  be  gleaned 
have  for  the  most  part  perished,  the  editors  keeping 
no  regular  files ;  and  the -references  to  Westchester 
County  in  the  cily  papers  are  few  and  far  between. 
From  the  New  York  Herald  of  August  17,  1861,  we 
learn,  by  an  item,  that  the  town  of  Bedford  held  a  fair 
on  the  16th,  under  the  auspices  of  the  ladies  of  Kato- 
nah,  in  which  Judge  Robertson  auctioned  off  the 
goods,  and  read  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Lincoln,  stating 
that  she  had  presented  the  "  Havelocks  "  sent  from 
Katonah  to  the  Second,  Ninth,  Twenty-seventh  and 
Tammany  Regiments,  and  that  they  had  been  received 
"  thankfully  and  with  cheers." 

The  town  of  Cortlandt,  thanks  to  the  care  of  Mr. 
Coffin  S.  Brown,  who  was  supervisor  at  the  time,  has 
preserved  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  first  soci- 
ety raised  in  that  town,  April  27,  1861.  The  officers 
of  this,  which  was  denominated  the  "Soldiers'  Relief 
Association,"  were :  President,  Mrs.  Daniel  Jones  ; 
Secretary,  Miss  Amelia  B.  Mills ;  Treasurer,  Miss 
Sarah  Taylor.  The  committee  to  raise  funds  was ; — 
Mrs.  John  B.  Mills,  Mrs.  Conrad  Quin,  Mrs.  Edward 
Mills,  Mrs.  Joseph  Mason,  Misses  Amanda  Wright  and 
Augusta  Taylor.  This  association  held  weekly  meet- 
ings throughout  the  war,  sent  out  large  supplies  of 
lint,  bandages,  clothing  and  supplies  for  the  Sanitary 
and  Christian  Commissions,  and  otherwise  did  noble 
work,  being  one  of  those  bands  of  noble  women  in 
the  Northern  States  who,  together,  managed  to  raise 
the  sum  of  seventeen  millions  of  dollars,  by  strictly  vol- 
untary contributions,  for  those  great  charitable  so- 
cieties. 

No  record  is  accessible  of  the  work  done  by  this 
Cortlandt  committee  ;  but  in  this,  as  in  all  else,  Port 
Chester  sets  a  good  example,  by  the  careful  way  in 
which  her  papers  were  preserved  by  Mr.  Marshall, 
the  treasurer. 

These  records,  already  referred  to,  under  the  topic 
of  the  two  years'  volunteers,  show  that  the  first  fervor 
of  patriotism  required  much  stimulation  to  keep  it  at 
a  comfortable  point.  The  first  week's  work  in  Port 
Chester  left  the  treasurer  with  a  balance  of  over 
two  hundred  dollars  to  distribute ;  but  the  next,  in 
spite  of  new  contributions,  the  fund  sunk  to  eighty 
dollars,  and  the  Tituses,  father  and  son,  seem  to  have 
had  to  stir  themselves  to  get  subscriptions.    By  the 


4th  of  June  the  balance  rose  to  a  hundred  and 
eighty  dollars;  on  the  8th,  Mr.  S.  K.  Satterlee  ap- 
pears to  have  taken  up  the  business  of  collecting, 
for  he  brought  in  two  hundred  and  six  dollars  in  a 
lump,  all  of  which  was  paid  out  the  same  day,  for 
the  families  of  soldiers,  or  to  the  military  commit- 
tee for  expenses  of  recruiting.  The  balance  sunk, 
by  the  7th  of  July,  to  seventeen  dollars  and  ninety 
cents,  the  payments  made  being  in  small  sums  to 
wives  or  parents  of  soldiers,  on  a  weekly  allowance, 
scaled  according  to  the  number  of  mouths  to  feed. 
The  low  state  of  the  fund  seems  to  have  started  the 
committee  to  work  again  raising  subscriptions,  for, 
on  the  8th,  the  balance  rose  to  two  hundred  dollars, 
brought  in  by  members  of  the  committee.  During 
the  rest  of  the  month  the  debit  side  of  the  treasurer's 
cash  account  is  empty,  while  the  drafts  for  families 
are  unceasing  till  the  20th  of  July,  from  which  time 
to  the  23d  there  was  a  stream  of  subscriptions,  attest- 
ing the  way  in  which  the  news  of  the  disaster  at  Bull 
Run  (July  21st)  had  waked  up  Port  Chester.  The 
end  of  the  month  left  the  balance,  in  spite  of  the  same 
drafts  as  usual,  $333.63,  which  was  increased,  on  the 
11th  of  August,  by  fifty  dollars  from  George  Cornell 
and  five  dollars  from  William  P.  Abendroth.  John 
Palmer  is  credited,  August  20th,  with  fifty  dollars ; 
September  12th,  John  A.  Merritt  gave  a  hundred  doj- 
lars ;  but  these  are  the  only  items  worthy  of  particu- 
lar notice,  and  the  aspect  of  the  account  was  by  no 
means  encouraging — the  givers  being  few,  while  the 
wives  of  soldiers,  on  the  other  side  of  the  page,  in- 
creased in  number,  as  the  weeks  went  on  and  the  war 
progressed.  By  the  25th  of  September  the  balance 
sunk  to  sixty-six  dollars.  All  the  efforts  of  the  com- 
mittee to  increase  the  subscriptions  seem  to  have  been 
useless,  for  the  debit  side  of"  cash  "  continued  to  grow 
smaller  and  smaller,  till,  by  the  5th  of  October,  1861, 
it  sunk  to  its  lowest  point  during  the  war,  seven  dol- 
lars and  eighty -nine  cents.  This  state  of  things  excited 
the  committee  to  redoubled  exertions,  and  they  raised 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  next  day  ;  but  by  the 
end  of  the  month,  in  spite  of  this  and  two  hundred 
more,  the  balance  on  hand  was  only  twenty  dollars 
and  forty-nine  cents. 

The  committee  was  reaching  the  limits  when  such 
work  was  a  proper  measure  for  the  relief  of  the  fami- 
lies of  volunteers.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  fact  is 
revealed  that  the  members  had  raised,  by  voluntary 
subscription,  in  the  village  of  Port  Chester,  the  sum 
of  $3289.25,  and  had  expended,  for  relief,  $3215.57, 
almost  of  all  which  was  given  in  sums  of  from  three  to 
six  or  seven  dollars  per  week.  During  the  early 
months  of  1862  the  amounts  contributed  for  the  re- 
lief increased  notably,  and  especially  do  the  names  of 
the  donors  increase  in  number,  every  member  of  the 
conunittee  seeming  to  have  been  hard  at  work,  while 
other  people  were  inspired  by  them  to  "  go  and  do 
likewise,"  so  that  the  balance  never  fell  below  a  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  was  generally  nearer  two  hundred. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


505 


in  spite  of  increasing  appeals  for  help.  At  the  close 
of  the  "  voluntary  period,"  as  it  may  be  called,  when 
the  system  of  helping  the  families  of  volunteers  gave 
way  to  the  juster  and  more  practical  method  of  relief 
by  town  and  county  bonds,  the  record  shows  that 
there  had  been  raised,  in  Port  Chester,  $4403.75, 
of  which  the  balance  remaining  on  hand,  when  the 
first  bonds  were  received,  wa-s  $218.53 — a  result  that 
shows,  even  at  the  present  day,  when  the  paper  is 
yellow  with  age,  the  ink  faded  and  brown,  that  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  Port  Chester,  in  the  persons  of 
their  relief  committee,  were  in  the  right  place  during 
the  war. 

But  the  time  had  come  when  this  system  of  relief 
was  to  give  way  to  another.  On  the  1st  of  September, 
1862,  came  the  first  town  bonds,  into  the  hands  of  the 
committee,  and  with  them,  alas!  the  first  token  of 
that  "  bounty  system,"  which  was  to  do  more  to  de- 
grade the  name  of  the  American  soldier  than  any- 
thing that  occurred  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war. 
The  account  of  this  change  brings  us  naturally  to  the 
facts  on  record,  in  regard  to  the  cost  of  the  war  to  the 
county,  made  necessary  by  the  unconcealed  aver- 
sion of  a  part  of  the  people  to  engage  in  a 
struggle  from  which  the  romance  had  departed,  and 
where  nothing  remained  but  the  grim  reality  of 
death,  to  be  faced  as  best  the  heart  might  be  found 
therefor. 

The  work  of  the  Union  Defense  Committees,  there- 
fore, gave  way  to  that  of  the  "  Ladies'  Aid  Societies  " 
and  the  "Councils"  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commissions,  whose  sphere  of  action  was  diH'erent. 
I  am  glad  here  to  give  a  specimen  of  what  that  sphere 
was,  by  the  final  report  of  the  Sing  Sing  Council,  which 
has  come  into  my  hands  since  the  above  was  written. 
This  rejwrt  is  dated  27tli  of  July,  18Go,  after  the  re- 
turn of  most  of  the  volunteers,  and  we  extract  as  fol- 
lows: 

"This  Association  commenced  its  labors  the  27th  ot  April,  1881,  just 
fotir  years  mid  three  months  ago.  Since  that  period  they  have  received 
n766.8g  from  donations,  festivals,  church  collections,  lectures,  Ac,  and 
the  Sanitary  Commission  Sociables.  These  sociable^s  sent  in  S129  by  their 
ti«B8nrer,  Miss  Hiibbell.  They  have  expended  $.1378.09,  leaving  a  sur- 
plus of  S588.7'J.  It  must  be  remembered  that  nearly  an  equal  amount 
bus  been  given  in  garments,  materials  and  hospital  stores,  and  during 
tbe  past  year,  also,  the  Christian  Conmiission  has  had  in  active  operation 
■  Society  in  this  village,  sending  constiintly  to  the  front  supplies  of 
clothing  and  hospital  stores.  Taking  all  this  into  consideration,  Sing  Sing 
hw  great  reason  for  congratulation  that  the  cry  for  help  fell  uot  on  un- 
heeding eai-8,  and  that  her  chiMren  have  uot  been  weary  of  well  doing. 
The  number  of  garments  sent  away  exceed  0000.  Several  pieces  of  mus- 
lin were  sent  away  by  the  Woman's  Central  .Vssociation  to  be  made  up  ; 
•od  when  after  battles  the  calls  were  urgent,  efficient  help  wa.s  rendered 
by  the  ladies  of  New  Castle,  Pine's  Bridge  and  Pleasantville.  It  would 
occnpy  too  much  time  and  space  to  thank  all  who  have  aided  in  this 
noble  work,  but  the  nutnagers  must  express  their  grateful  obligations  to 
the  clergy  of  the  village  for  their  co-operation  and  hearty  good-will,  and 
■bo  to  the  editors  of  the  two  papers  who  have  constantly  published  all 
their  reports  and  notices  free  of  expense.  They  also  desire  heartily  to 
thank  Messrs.  Tallcot  and  Burrhns  for  the  use  of  the  rooms  for  several 
years.  Since  the  commencement  of  this  society  three  active  and  useful 
managers— Mrs.  NefT,  Mrs.  Weston  and  Mrs.  Truesdell— have  entered 
into  their  rest.  Their  associates  gratefully  recall  their  labors  and  pleas- 
ant comixtnionship.  .  .  While  unfeignedly  grateful  to  their  Heavenly 
^l^ther  that  war  has  ended  and  peace  dwells  again  in  the  land,  it  is  with 

47 


saddened  hearts  that  the  managers  recall  the  thought  that  they  will 
never  again  meet  as  a  Soldiers' Aid  Society.  .  .  The  great  motive  for  labor, 
which  united  them  and  caused  so  close  a  bond,  has  passed  away.  The 
many  pleiisaiit  and  painful  associations  are  things  of  the  past.  .  .  United 
in  our  common  ('hristian  work,  wo  can  never  in  after  days  forget  the 
bond  of  union  that  kept  us  together  during  the  four  years  of  the  war. 

"  (Signed  by)  Mrs.  .Jesse  Ryder,  first  directress  ;  Mre.  Pentz,  second  di- 
rectress ;  Mrs.  J.  M.  Smith,  thinl  directress  ;  Mrs.  J.  Van  Wyck,  fourth 
directress  ;  and  Mnies.  Van  Hoesen,  .1.  S.  King,  G.  Brandreth,  Dr.  Pro- 
vost, Cunningham.  Ilowsley,  L.  Miller,  Campbell,  Marsland,  Woodruff, 
Biirnes,  C.  Suiitli,  Benjamin  and  McCord,  and  Misses  Sing,  Ryder,  Lud- 
lum  and  Snowden. 

"  List  of  articles  sent  from  Sing  Sing  Union  Relief  Association  from 
the  spring  of  1801  to  July  25,  180.5  :— 1080  flannel  shirts,  501  flannel 
drawers,  581  cotton  shirts,  57  double  gowns,  53  Canton  flannel  bed- 
gowns, 982  pairs  of  socks,  58  pairs  of  mitts,  171  havelocks,  12  pairs  Can- 
ton flannel  drawers,  15  blankets,  92  quilf.s,  505  sheets,  84  surgical  shirts, 
472  towels,  1303  pocket-handkerchiefs,  200  pillow-cases,  01  bed-ticks,  371 
pail's  of  slippers,  04  pairs  cotton  drawers,  330  needle-books,  1 23  eye-shades> 
02  arm-slings,  218  ring-pads,  98  hop-pillows,  18  napkins,  17  pil- 
low-ticks, 90  pillows,  88  sets  of  bandages  rolled,  800  bandages,  24  flannel 
bandages,  8  caps,  3  cravats,  43  old  linen  sliirts,  105  packages  lint  (large 
bags  mostly),  :i7  packages  old  muslin,  80  packages  old  linen,  2  pieces 
new  muslin  for  bandages,  03  neck  comfortei's,  3  coats,  2  pairs  pantaloons, 
1  jacket,  1  vest,  0  packages  half-worn  garments,  12  bbls.  dried  apples,  2 
bbls.  pickles,  20  jars  pickles,  1  bbl.  wine,  4  bbls.  hospital  stores,  4  boxes 
ditto,  1  box  claret,  1  box  whiskey,  0  boxes  jelly,  4  demijohns  wine,  1 
demijohn  brandy,  250  bottles  wine,  with  fruits,  preserves,  farina,  corn 
starch,  arrow-root,  spices,  tea,  coffee,  cocoa,  chocolate,  sardines,  tobacco, 
hay  rum,  oatmeal,  crackers,  bologna  sausages,  1000  packages  magazines, 
papers  and  books,  and  200  books. 

"  Mas.  Catherine  E.  Van  Cortlanpt, 

"Secretary  and  Treasurer." 

The  Bounty  Bonds. — The  first  burden  which  was 
officially  taken  on  itself  by  the  county  of  Westchester 
during  the  war  came  in  the  shape  of  bonds  issued  by 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  under  the  provisions  of  an 
act  passed  by  the  Legislature  March  1,  1862,  "to  re- 
lieve the  families  of  volunteers  in  the  field."  The 
amount  issued  was  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  was 
placed  in  bonds  of  varying  amounts,  bearing  seven 
per  cent,  interest ;  issued  to  the  supervisors  of  the 
different  towns  for  sale,  the  proceeds  to  be  expend- 
ed in  relief  to  the  families,  in  much  the  same  manner 
as  that  adopted  by  the  Port  Chester  Volunteer  Com- 
mittee. The  amounts  issued  to  the  different  towns 
varied  from  twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  or  less,  to 
ten  thousand,  according  to  population.  The  last  of 
these  bonds  was  paid  off  in  the  year  1867. 

From  this  time  the  county  took  no  further  action, 
in  regard  to  the  war,  till  July  27,  1864,  when,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  drafts,  the  increasing  claims  of  the 
bounty  jumpers  and  the  difficulty  the  towns  found 
in  floating  their  bounty  bonds,  the  burden  was  as- 
sumed by  the  county,  as  it  had  been  in  the  relief  of 
volunteers,  in  1862.  The  sum  of  five  hundred  and 
sixty-five  thousand  dollars  was  raised  in  county 
bonds ;  distributed  to  the  supervisors  of  the  towns,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  first  set  of  relief  bonds,  the  rate  of 
interest  being  seven  per  cent. ;  the  principal  payable 
in  periods  ranging  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years.  The 
first  hundred  of  these  bonds  was  cancelled  at  the  end 
of  the  year  1876,  and  the  last  sixty-two  in  April, 
1881.  The  amount  raised  all  went  to  answer  a  single 
coil  for  troops ;  and,  when  the  next  one  came,  the 
State  was  obliged  to  step  in  to  help  the  towns,  which 


506 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


actually  made  money  on  the  difference  between  the 
bounties  they  paid  and  the  amount  awarded  them  by 
the  State. 

In  a  sketch  necessarily  so  brief  and  fragmentary 
as  this  must  be,  on  account  of  the  small  space  given 
and  the  magnitude  and  number  of  the  events  to  be 
treated,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  give  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  all  the  sums  paid  out  in  the  county.  The 
annals  of  a  single  town  will  serve  as  a  specimen  of 
the  way  in  which  the  money  was  raised  and  expended, 
the  table  at  the  end  of  this  section  giving  the  total 
for  the  county. 

The  town  of  Cortlandt — then  one  of  the  largest  in  the 
county — raised,  in  the  year  1862,  $20,000  for  bounties, 
of  which  $16,795  was  expended,  and  324  men  sent 
out — an  excess  of  13  over  the  town  quota.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1803,  the  town  raised  $14,000  more,  besides  sums 
paid  by  substitutes,  and  sent  out  its  quota  of  116  men. 
In  February,  1804,  it  raised  $85,000  to  send  out  73  men. 
In  March,  1864,  $20,000  was  used  to  send  out  49  men, 
with  $5000  more,  paid  by  drafted  men  for  substitutes. 
In  July,  1864,  the  town  received,  from  the  county 
bonds  already  mentioned,  $107,800  ;  raised  $15,375  in 
town  bonds;  assessed  the  drafted  men  in  the  sum  of 
$10,595,  with  a  further  sum  of  $30,175,  which  the 
drafted  men  thcmselvts  paid,  making  their  own 
bargains,  and  thus  managed  to  fill  the  town  quota  of 
219  men.  The  total  cost  of  this  draft  is  estimated  at 
$164,500,  or  thereabout.  On  the  last  call,  made  after 
the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  100  men  were  furnished 
at  a  cost  of  .$60,000,  but  the  town  received  from  the 
State  an  amount  sufficient  to  leave  it  a  gainer  of 
about  $7000,  that  being  the  excess  of  the  State  money 
furnished  for  bounties. 

The  history  of  all  the  towns,  during  the  war,  shows 
how,  as  the  needs  of  the  contest  slowly  but  surely  in- 
creased, what  had  been  left,  at  first,  to  individual 
patriotism,  was  gradually  shifted,  first  on  the  towns, 
then  on  the  county,  finally  on  the  State.' 


1  The  following  table,  taken  from  the  reports  of  the  superTisurs  of  the 
county,  niada  to  the  State  Bureau  of  Military  Statintics,  shows  the  total 
amount  of  money  paid  out  by  the  towns  and  the  county  itself,  during 
the  war,  for  war  imrposes. 

The  towns  of  liedford,  Cortlandt,  FmsI  Chester,  Greenburgb,  Harrison, 
Lewisborough,  JIajnaroneck,  Slorrisania,  Blount  Pleasant,  New  Cas- 
tle, New  Rochellc,  North  Castle,  North  Salem,  Ossining,  Pelliani,  Pound- 
ridge,  Rye,  Scarsdale,  Somery,  Westche»iter,  Vonkei"s  and  Yorktown  paid 
out :  For  town  bounties,  $2,459,697.79  ;  for  fees  and  expenses,  $20,402.94; 
for  interest  on  loans,  $199,658.07  ;  for  principal  of  loans,  $704,585. .iO  ;  for 
support  of  families  of  volunteers,  $73,732.35;  making  total  expended  for 
war  purposes,  $3,524,137.05. 

The  county  laid  for  the  same  items  the  sum  of  $1,347,235.70.  The 
towns  of  West  Farms  and  White  Plains  made  no  report  and  are  not,  there- 
fore, included  in  the  above  summary. 

The  towns  and  county  together  thus  expended, for  war  purposes,the  total 
sum  of  84,871,37^.81,  or  very  nearly  live  millions  of  dollars.  Of  this 
sum,  the  county  and  towns  received  from  the  State  Paymaster  General 
in  cash,  $172  4o0.0U  ;  in  State  bonds,  $458,600.00;  and  for  interest  on 
State  bonds.  $4802.49  ;  a  total  of  $035,912.49  ;  thus  leaving  the  actual 
expense  to  the  towns  and  county,  $4,235,400.32. 

The  reports  on  which  the  above  table  is  founded  were  made  as  fellows; 

Bedford,  January,  1808  ;  Cortlandt,  December,  1800  ;  East  Chester, 
October,  1800  ;  Greenburgb,  February,  18G6  ;  liarrisou,  December,  1805  ; 


The  facts  shown  by  the  enormous  expenditure,  in 
contrast  with  the  number  of  men  actually  sent  to  the 
front,  are  also  very  instructive  as  to  the  way  in  which 
the  political  disturbances  that  marked  the  county 
and  a  part  of  the  Northern  States  during  the  war 
increased  the  cost  and  made  the  victory  more  difficult 
of  achievement.  The  price  of  substitutes  steadily 
rose  as  the  election  of  1864  approached,  while  the  last 
draft,  after  the  contest  was  settled,  was  effected  with- 
out difficulty  and  left  some  of  the  towns  actual  gainers 
by  the  affair. 

It  is  further  worthy  of  remark,  though  this  is  outside 
of  a  local  history,  that  the  substitutes,  obtained  at  a 
cost  of  from  five  to  six  hundred  dollars  a  man,  seldom 
went  to  the  front  at  all,  but  remained  at  home,  breed- 
ing that  odious  class  of  men  denominated  "bounty- 
jumpers,"  who  drifted  from  regiment  to  regiment,  and 
from  broker  to  broker,  till  the  figures  of  men  enlisted 
into  the  United  States  service,  on  paper,  must  prob- 
ably be  diminished  by  at  least  one-third,  if  not  one- 
half,  to  allow  for  the  number  of  re-enlistments  and 
desertions. 

This  part  of  the  history  of  the  county  is  one  in 
which  few  of  its  citizens  can  take  much  pride,  and, 
to  explain  it,  we  must  go  to  such  records  as  exist  of 
the  state  of  political  feeling  in  the  county,  as  shown 
by  the  columns  of  its  political  organs,  already  refer- 
red to. 

A  summary  of  the  figures  in  the  town  of  Cortlandt 
shows  that  it  cost,  to  send  out  each  man  who  was  enlist- 
ed, as  follows:  In  1861,  nothing  ;  in  1862,  $51.82  per 
man  ;  in  1863,  $120.70  per  man,  from  the  town,  with  a 
probable  hundred  more  from  each  drafted  man  for  asub- 
stitute ;  in  1864,  an  average  of  $519.60  per  man,  be- 
fore election ;  and  nothing  for  the  last  draft,  in  which 
the  cost  fell  on  the  State,  and  the  towns  were  gainers 
to  the  extent  of  about  $70  per  man  enlisted. 

The  Return  of  the  Volunteer.s. — From  the 
moment  that  General  Lee  surrendered  his  army,  at 
Appomattox  Court-House,  the  thoughts  of  the  volun- 
teers in  the  field  were  turned,  with  a  unanimity  sel- 
dom seen  in  the  history  of  war,  towards  the  homes 
they  had  left  so  readily  at  the  beginning  of  the  con- 
test, at  the  call  of  their  country. 

The  impatience  became  so  great,  after  the  final  col- 
lapse of  the  Rebellion,  when  Johnston  and  Kirby 
Smith  had  surrendered,  that  the  men  in  the  field 
could  hardly  be  kept  by  the  colors,  for  the  necessary 
purposes  of  police;  breaking  out  into  open  mutiny 
in  some  instances,  Avhen  it  was  proposed  to  put  them 
into  the  regular  army;  indignantly  spurning  the  idea 
that  they  were  professional  soldiers  at  all ;  demand- 


Lewisborough,  January,  1868 ;  Mamaroneck,  December,  I860 ;  Mor- 
risania,  December,  1800;  Mount  Pleasant,  Febi'uary,  1868  ;  Newcastle, 
July,  1865  ;  New  Rochelle,  March,  1800  ;  North  Castle,  March,  1806  ; 
North  Salem,  January.  1808;  Ossining,  December,  1805  ;  Pelham,  June, 
1808  ;  Poundridge,  October,  1800  ;  Rye,  December,  1805  ;  Scarsdale,  June, 
1806  ;  Somers,  October,  1806  ;  W'estchester,  November,  1866  ;  Youken, 
March,  1807  ;  Y'orktown,  December,  1865  ;  AVeslchesler  County,  Decoiii\ 
ber,  1805.  ' 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


507 


ing,  now  that  tlieir  work  had  been  done,  that  they 
should  be  discharged  and  sent  home  as  soon  as  pos 
sible. 

The  diflerent  regiments  and  organizations  from 
Westchester  County  wore  in  the  same  category  with 
the  rest,  and  their  liistory,  to  the  time  they  returned 
home,  is  revealed  by  the  official  records  of  the  State. 

Company  B,  of  the  Skventeenth  IIegiment, 
the  banner  company  of  the  county,  from  Port  Chester, 
served  its  term  of  two  years,  and  was  mustered  out  on 
the  3d  of  June,  1863;  the  recruits,  enlisted  for  three 
years,  after  the  company  was  in  the  field,  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  Twellth  Regiment  New  York  Volun- 
teers. This  regiment,  being  also  a  two  years'  organ- 
ization, had  already  been  mustered  out;  but  the 
recruits  for  three  years,  with  a  part  of  the  Twelfth 
New  York  iNIilitia,  with  which  it  had  been  consoli- 
dated February  3,  18(j2,  were  formed  into  a  bat- 
talion, which,  in  its  turn,  was  mustered  into  the  Fifth 
New  York  Veteran  Volunteers  on  the  2d  of  June, 
1864.  The  whole  force  remained  in  the  service  till 
finally  mustered  out  August  21,  1865. 

The  next  organization  in  rank  is  that  part  of  the 
Fourth  Nkw  York  Cavalry  recruited  at  Yonkcrs 
by  Captain  Parnell-  On  the  expiration  of  the  original 
term  of  service  the  regiment  was  mustered  out,  and 
the  re-enlisted  men,  with  the  later  recruits,  consoli- 
dated with  the  Ninth  New  York  Cavalry,  February 
27, 1865,  under  the  name  of  Companies  B,  E  and  L, 
of  that  regiment ;  with  which  it  remained  to  the  close 
of  the  war,  being  mustered  out  July  17,  1865. 

The  Fifth  Battery  Light  Artillery,  remarka- 
ble as  being  the  only  place  where  the  name  of  a 
Mount  Vernon  man  appears  as  having  been  an 
original  member,  was  retained  in  the  service  till  July 
6, 1865,  when  it  was  also  mustered  out. 

The  First  Regiment  Mounted  Rifles  was  con- 
solidated with  the  Third  New  York  Cavalry  July 
21,  1865,  the  whole  force  being  known  as  the  Fourth 
Provisional  New  York  Cavalry.  This  regiment 
remained  in  the  service  till  finally  mustered  out,  on 
the  29th  of  November,  1865. 

The  Sixth  Heavy  Artillery-,  being  a  three 
years'  regiment,  was  mustered  out  June  25,  1865;  but 
the  re-enlisted  veterans  and  the  recruits  whose  terms 
were  not  yet  out  were  formed  into  a  battalion  of  four 
companies.  The  remaining  members  of  the  Tenth 
and  Thirteenth  Regiments  of  artillery,  in  the  same 
condition,  were  added  to  the  Sixth  two  days  after; 
and  the  whole  force  remained  in  service  till  August 
24,  1865,  when  they  were  finally  mustered  out. 

The  Sixteenth  (Sprague  Light)  Cavalry 
closes  the  history  of  the  connection  of  the  county 
with  the  war.  This  force  was  consolidated  with  the 
Thirteenth  New  York  Cavalry  June  23,  186'),  the 
consolidated  regiment  being  known  as  the  Thin! 
Provisional  New  York  Cavalry,  under  which  name  it 
was  mustered  out  September  21,  1865. 
The  Roll  of  the  Dead.— I  regret  much  that 


there  is  no  reliable  official  record  accessible  of  the 
names  of  men,  bona  fide  residents  of  the  different 
towns  in  the  county,  who  enlisted  therefrom  and  died 
in  the  service.  In  some  towns  the  patriotism  of  the 
pcoj)le  in  charge  secured  such  a  record ;  but  even 
then  the  papers  are,  in  too  many  cases,  cast  aside  in 
a  mass  of  rubbish,  impossible  of  extrication. 

The  following  names  are  given  from  the  town  of 
Cortlandt,  on  the  authority  of  Post  Abraham  Vos- 
hurgh,  of  Peekskill,  No.  95,  Department  of  New  York, 
G.  A.  K. 

Ihi'rU  Liijht  Cavalry^  Compamj  F. 
Sergeant  Thomas  McCiitcliiMi,  killeil  in  action  at  Culpeper,  Va.,  Oc- 
toliiT,  1S03  ;  Piivate  William  Haines,  killed  in  action  at  Brandy  Station, 
on  tlie  same  day,  during  tlie  advance  from  llappahanuoi  k  Station;  and 
Privates  George  Archer  and  Delancey  Cole,  died  in  liuspital  and  in  Polio 
Isle  Prison,  respectively.  [None  of  these  names  are  in  the  _/ira(  nuister- 
rolls  of  this  reglmentj. 

Sitlh  Heavy  ArliUcnj. 
Colonel  J.  Howard  Kitching,  died  of  wounds  received  at  Cedar  Creek, 
October  19,  18G4.  The  G.  A.  R.  J'ost,  at  Yonkers,  is  named, 
after  him,  "  Kitching  Post,  No.  G;i,  Department  of  New  York,  G.A.R." 
Killed  in  action  :  Sergeant  William  II.  Lent,  Petersburg;  Corporal 
Henry  M.  Gillett,  Cedar  Creek ;  Privates  P.  Corne  Cruger,  David  A. 
Lent,  Cedar  Creek;  William  Fitzgerald,  James  Sluriarty,  Alexander 
Super,  James  Christian,  (Jeorge  liradley — all  at  Petersburg;  Frederick 
YiMing,  Abram  A.  Wooil,  Washington  A*an  Scoy  and  .John  Foley  at  .Spott- 
sy.vauia.  May  H),  Died  in  hospital :  Corporal  Theodore  Garrison  ; 

Privates  .lohn  (.'ouklin,  Frank  Bieakley,  John  Henry  Lent  and  .\brahani 
Lent ;  Private  John  Terbnsh  died  at  home  from  disease  contracted  in  the 
army.  Firet  LieutJinant  Richard  Slontgomery  Clilleo,  died  at  home,  on 
sick  leave  ;  Private  (^harles  Conklin  was  killed  at  I'o  River.  Va.,  May  12, 
186i. 

Hawkins''  Zouaves,  Kiiith  New  Yorlc  VoluiiUers. 
Color-Sergeant  William  Patterson,  killed  at  Antietam  with  the  colors, 
September  17,  18G2.    Died  in  hospital:  Privates  William  Van  Houtvu, 
Rosier  Garrison,  John  Rennet,  G.  W.  Wilco.x,  from  wounds. 

Niiielei'iitli  N'-io  York  Vvlunlefrs. 
Privates  George  Dyknmn,  James  Free  and  Jeffers  .n  Lent,  died  in  the 
service. 

Twaiti/Sfventh  New  York  Volunteers. 
Privates  Thomas  Hawkins,  killed  in  action  ;  Jeremiah  Murden,  mur- 
dered in  Elmini,  in  trying  to  arrest  a  deserter,  June,  1861;  (ho  was  the 
fii-st  soldier  said  to  be  killed  from  the  town  of  Cortlandt) ;  Private  Charlea 
Gardner  died  in  hospital. 

Forty-fourth  New  York  Volunteers  {Ellstcorth  Aiengcrs). 
Private  Thonuis  Wildey,  Company  A,  killed  at  Hanover  Court-House, 
Va. 

Forty-citjhth  New  York  Volunteers, 
Captain  Lewis  Lent,  killed  in  action. 

Fi/ty-Jirst  New  York  Volunteers. 
Color-Sergeant  George  W.  Fisher,  killed  with  the  colors  at  Petersburg, 
Va.,  Juiy  29,  1864  ;  Private  James  D.  Odell,  killed  at  Roanoke  Island. 

Fifty-ninth  New  York  Volunteers. 
Privates  Edgar  Sutton  and  Pierce  Miller,  killed  at  Antietam;  John 
Fitch  and  Benjamin  Gandcer,  died  at  Andersonville;  George  Fowler,  died 
at  .\nnapolis,  after  being  paroled. 

Seventieth  New  York  Volunteers. 
Joseph  DaTenportandJamesCuinniings,  died  in  hospital  from  wounds. 

Ninety-Jirat  New  York  Volunteers. 
William  Stocker,  died  in  hospital. 

Ninely-llflh  N'W  York  Volunteers. 
Lieutenant  Edwin  B,  Lent,  died  at  home  from  wounds. 

Miscflliiwous. 

C.  .\.  Turner,  38lh  N.  Y.,  wounded  at  Fredericksburg,  died  at  liomo  ; 
Calvin  Lounslmry.  prisoner  from  MOth  N',  V.,  nevercame  iKick  ;  Sergeant 
D.ivid  Ferris,  144th  N.  Y.,  killed  at  Fair  Oaks;  Henry  Foruian,  Company 


508 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


C,  133d  N.  T.,  died  at  Baton  Rouge,  in  service  ;  George  Tice,  JeEse  Sey- 
mour, Isaac  Brodie,  IGStli  N.Y.  died  in  service  ;  Henry  Halstead  (colored), 
30tli  N.  y.,  killed  at  Deep  Bottom  Va. ;  John  W.  Kimpp  (colored),  Co.  B, 
29th  Conn.,  died  iu  service. 

From  the  town  of  Yorktown  there  is  a  partial  list, 
showing  that  of  the  Sixth  Heavy  Artillery,  from 
that  town,  the  following  men  fell : 

George  Guinea,  Harvey  L.  Searles,  Lewis  M.  Searles.  Obadiah  Oakley 
and  T.  .1.  Head,  died  in  service  ;  Peter  Ames,  12th  N.  Y.,  was  killed  at 
Fair  Oaks  •  Cyrus  H.  Brown  (regiment  unknown)  was  killed  at  Peters- 
burg; George  Poworsand  Eugene  M.  Wright,  69th N.  Y.;  John  Jones. 
4th  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  Joshua  B.  Young,  9.ith  X.  Y.  ;  William  and  ESias 
Searles  .57th  N.  Y'.  ;  William  Sheppard  and  William  Sherwood,  87th  N. 
Y.,  all  died  in  service. 

This  is  the  most  reliable  list,  that  I  have  been 
able  to  obtain,  of  men  who  actually  died  in  the  ser- 
vice, excluding  those  who  are  marked  as  having 
"  died  since  the  war."  Were  there  any  sort  of  local 
pride,  in  the  different  towns  in  the  county,  regarding 
the  action  of  its  citizens  during  the  war,  the  list 
could  doubtless  be  extended  far  beyond  the  present 
limits;  but  the  readers  of  this  chapter  will  see  for 
themselves,  iu  the  unfortunate  differences  that  existed 
in  the  county,  on  account  of  the  war,  the  reason  why 
such  records  were  poorly  kept.  Save  by  the  families 
of  those  who  actually  went  to  the  front,  but  little 
interest  seems  to  have  been  taken  by  any  one  in  the 
deeds  of  the  Union  armies,  and  the  records  were  not 
kept,  principally  because  the  majority  of  the  voters  in 
the  county  did  not  elect  officials  who  cared  to  per- 
petuate the  services  of  the  soldiers. 

Since  the  close  of  the  war  there  has  been  a  move- 
ment, in  the  establishment  of  Grand  Army  Posts  at 
different  places,  to  collect  these  records  in  something 
of  a  reliable  form.  The  graves  of  Union  volunteers 
are  decorated  annually,  but  these  do  not  rejiresont,  to 
any  degree,  men  who  went  to  the  service  from  West- 
chester County,  but  rather  those  who  have  come  to  it 
since  the  war.  Many  of  them  are  those  of  men  who 
died  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  so  the  records  do 
not  properly  come  in  at  this  place. 

It  only  remains  to  give  a  short  list  of  a  few  of  the 
men  who  were  drafted  and  furnished  substitutes  for 
this  chapter  to  be  finished. 

The  Drafted  Men. — The  records  of  the  draft  in 
West  Chester  County,  as  far  as  regards  the  names  of 
the  men  drafted,  are  generally  missing,  though  the 
bonds  necessary  to  save  them  from  going  to  the  front 
remained,  to  be  finally  extinguished,  in  1881.  In  the 
town  of  East  Chester,  however,  I  have  succeeded  in 
securing  a  copy  of  the  names  of  the  men  drafted,  and 
the  prices  paid  for  substitutes,  which  makes  very 
interesting  reading  at  the  present  day. 

It  embraces  the  calls  for  July,  1804,  and  the  last 
call  in  December  of  the  same  year.  Mr.  Stephen 
Bogart  was  supervisor  for  the  year,  and  his  name 
appears  among  the  list  of  the  drafted  men.  The 
numbers  drawn  by  the  provost  marshal  appear  to  have 
been  taken  at  random  over  the  county,  for  they  are 
not  continuous.    The  first  man  caught  in  East  Chester 


is  No.  964,  William  M.  Harward,  while  the  highest 
number  is  3241.  There  were  two  hundred  and  thir- 
teen men  drawn  in  the  town,  altogether.  Some  took 
the  commutation  of  three  hundred  dollars,  allowed  by 
the  State,  and  furnished  their  own  substitutes,  in  the 
best  way  they  knew  how.  Others  furnished  the  sub- 
stitutes at  a  definite  cost;  but  the  greater  part  let  the 
town  military  committee  do  all  the  work,  through  the 
bounty  brokers,  who  settled  the  whole  business. 

Of  the  whole  two  hundred  and  thirteen,  only  two 
entered  the  service,  taking  the  bounty  money  them- 
selves. 

Their  names  will  be  found  in  the  list. 

The  following  men  were  paid  the  commutation  of 
three  hundred  dollars,  under  the  Conscription  Act, 
and  made  their  own  bargains  with  substitutes,  at  their 
own  risk  : 

William  Holdredge,  James  Cordial,  William  Searing,  Charles  Kane, 
John  L.  Brown,  Ferdinand  Holm,  Michel  Donohue,  Jacob  Grubb,  Jacob 
Ruinliiudt,  Chri.-<tian  Gcissnian,  Patrick  Scott,  John  Mullaly,  Samuel  B.  i| 
Lyons,  John  JIuller,  Otto  Wi  igand,  John  Hinz,  Charles  Bock,  Stephen 
Bogart,  Thomas  McConnel,  John  Stinard,  William  Gordon,  George  Rob- 
inson, William  Hagemeyer,  Theodore  Holly,  Daniel  Kane,  Samuel  Ber- 
tine,  Ferdinand  Haag,  William  Doolittle,  William  Trilient,  Cornell  Val- 
entine, John  Kennedy,  Abrani  M.  Bennett,  Philip  Haag,  .James  Hunt. 
Christian  Rost,  William  >Iulloy,  Jacob  Hyser,  George  Horst,  Thomas 
Dooling,  Thomas  Donaldson,  Francis  Schleicher,  Philip  Flood,  William 
Ilickey,  William  B.  Jones,  \\'illiam  Deverman,  Walter  H.  Manning,  John 
Pugmire,  Thomas  Barker,  Frederick  Von  Garrell,  Thomas  Hunt  and 
Louis  Behr. 

The  following  men  furnished  their  own  substitutes, 
at  a  cost  of  four  hundred  dollars  : 

Charles  Leland,  .\aron  R.  Haiglit,  Isiuic  Richards,  A.  M.  Hungerford, 
George  Ferris,  Samuel  Horton,  Robert  Hall,  Gideon  Mead,  Warren 
Ackernian,  Timothy  Bennett,  Samuel  Burpo,  W.  H.  Hustis,  Constantine 
Weiss,  Edgar  Schiefllein,  John  Boda,  Alexander  Masterton,  Henry  A. 
Bowerman,  Janus  H.ay,  Aaron  M.  Diedercr,  John  M.  Masterton,  B.  F. 
Bowernian,  S.  Pnrdy  Carton,  David  Dunham,  Robert  M.  M;isterton,  S. 
Moore,  George  King,  Thomas  VV.  Atkinson,  Edward  Kendrick,  John 
Ostrander,  0.  L.  Underbill. 

The  following  men  had  substitutes  furnished  by  the 
town  at  an  expense  of  four  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars : 

William  M.  Harward,  Frederick  Knolting,  John  T.  Underbill, Samuel 
Trelese,  Henry  Hargrave,  John  Casey,  Frederick  Sargent,  Henry  Lins, 
John  W.  Coburn,  John  S.  Yorke,  M.  B.  Valentine,  Christopher  Wintler, 
John  W.  Combs,  Edward  Hoole,  John  A..  Bowerman. 

Atacostof  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars: 

John  Duffy,  William  Preston,  James  Joy,  August  Donges. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  ten  dollars: 

Patrick  Garvin,  .\ndrew  Kapp,  James  Waddock,  Andrew  Clark. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  dollars : 

Timothy  Rain,  Lawrence  Daniels,  Nicholas  Bowden,  Sanford  Fleming, 
Henry  Grant. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  forty-five  dollars  : 

Carl  Moser,  E.  A.  Phelps. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars: 

William  Traband,  Bernard  Hufnagel,  Lawrence  Clemens,  William  E. 
Howe,  William  Purcells,  Charles  V.  Morgan,  Frederick  Boda,  John 
King,  G.  W.  L.  Underhill,  Isaac  Secor,  Joseph  D.  Disbrow,  Samuel  B. 
Wiley,  Stephen  Higgins. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  seventy  dollars: 

Josiah  Zabriskie,  William  H.  Oakley. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


509 


At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars: 

Jiinies  Murray,  William  1'.  Sleight. 

At  a  cost  of  four  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollars- 

John  Donlin,  liawrence  Horton. 

At  a  cost  of  five  hundred  dollars : 

Walter  B.  Conistock,  Itaac  Weeks,  John  Cojie,  Henry  Linderinan, 
John  Mulloy,  William  Rickcrt,  Theodore  Horr,  John  Farley,  James 
Crottey,  Henry  Lihnian,  Withael  Jackson,  Lewis  Gale,  George  P.  Sinn, 
Anthony  Heebe. 

At  a  cost  of  five  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  : 

Tillman  Holly,  John  Knapp 

At  a  cost  of  five  hundred  and  ninety  dollars : 

Charles  Lamar,  Ernest  Krbert,  William  Murphy,  Jacob  Putney,  John 
Williams,  David  Jones,  Joaquin  Jones,  Charles  E.  Manning,  William 
Brown,  George  Francis,  Patrick  JIdS'ully,  John  .Starr,  Jolin  I'.  Min- 
nich,  Edward  Dill.  Thomas  Davis,  John  A.  lliitcliin.'ion,  Hugh  Callahan, 
Philip  H.  Harsiiiger,  Henry  Haniill,  Carey  P.  Poplin,  John  Rigby,  To- 
bias .\kerB,  John  Jolly.  Charles  Stewart,  .Michael  Fanning,  Timothy  G. 
Ltmib,  George  W.  Dullion,  Jolin  West,  John  Smith,  Frederick  Kline, 
James  Cameron,  Lorenzo  Covaglio,  Wolsley  Baxter,  Theodore  Handy, 
David  Boweu,  James  Hughes,  James  Fisher,  John  Nichols,  Jlorris 
Earle. 

At  a  cost  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  : 

John  F.  Jarvis,  Joseph  Harper,  .\mos  Wieney,  Tim.  Crowley,  Charles 
Helwig. 

At  a  cost  of  eight  hundred  dollars  : 

Francis  Scber,  Sanford  Hallock,  John  G.  Satterlee,  Michael  Quinlan, 
Charles  Weeks,  William  H.  Dufi',  (Jeorge  H.  Archer,  .losejih  S.  Gregory, 
Darins  Lyon,  .Joseph  Harper  (second  call),  Oliver  U,  King,  D.  Laniour- 
eaux,  Henry  Skidmoro,  S.  G.  Vredenburg,  David  Quackinbush,  Christ- 
ian Stark. 

At  a  cost  of  eight  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  : 

Slichael  SlcCormick. 

The  following  men  were  drafted  and  entered  the 
service,  receiving  the  sums  set  opposite  their  names : 

Edwani  Barnum,  5450.00;  Christian  Knapp,  $310.00. 

The  only  item  in  the  account  that  is  perplexing 
is  one  which  states  that  "one  recruit"  was  furnished 
under  the  second  call  for  five  hundred  and  ninety 
dollars,  this  being,  probably,  at  a  time  when  the 
draft  was  nearly  over  and  matters  carelessly  man- 
aged. 

The  Grand  Army  Post.s.— This  chapter  would, 
by  many,  be  judged  to  have  been  properly  completed 
with  the  disbandment  of  the  soldiers  and  the  pay- 
ment of  the  debts  accruing  from  the  Civil  War,  but 
the  publishers  of  this  history  have  considered  that 
the  real  Ixistory  of  the  contest  in  Westchester  County 
can  never  be  said  to  be  finished  till  that  of  the 
"Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,"  within  its  borders, 
be  also  told. 

That  the  writer  of  the  preceding  pages  should  have 
been  requested  to  add  thereto  on  account  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Grand  Army  in  the  county  seems 
both  natural  and  proper,  and  he  undertakes  the  ta.sk 
with  willingness,  injismuch  as  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
misapprehension,  among  the  people  at  large,  as  to 
the  object  and  scope  of  action  of  the  body  of  veterans 
which  e.xi.st.s'undor  that  name.  A  brief  sketch  of  the 
order  itself,  and  of  the  connection   of  this  county 


therewith,  will  prove  of  interest  to  all  patriotic  citi- 
zens, of  whatever  faith  in  politics. 

The  first  "  post  "  of  the  order  was  formed  in  one  of 
the  Western  States,  in  the  year  after  the  close  of  the 
war,  but  it  was  not  till  the  year  18()7  that  the  idea 
was  developed  into  a  harmonious  whole,  with  a 
regular  system  of  military  discipline,  and  the  differ- 
ent units  of  "  post,"  "department"  and  "  national  " 
headquarters.  In  its  hierarchy,  the  familiar  routine 
of  military  life  was  followed,  as  tar  as  [)ossible,  with 
features  common  to  secret  social  and  benevolent 
societies,  following  the  father  of  all  such  bodies — 
Freemasonry. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  organization  of  the  order 
there  was  a  great  deal  more  of  this  similarity  than 
now  prevails,  the  initiation  being  of  a  solemn 
character,  calculated  to  try  the  nerves  of  the  recruits  ; 
the  forms  of  Masonry  being  imitated  by  the  institu- 
tion of  the  successive  degrees  of  "recruit,"  "  soldier  " 
and  "  veteran " — so  called.  These  degrees  were 
abolished  by  the  National  Encampment,  a  few  years 
after  the  first  formation  of  the  order,  and  the  rules 
have  been  simplified  in  regard  to  initiations  and 
other  points  of  ritual,  till  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  in  any  sense  a 
"  secret "  society,  any  more  than  an  army  in  the  field, 
in  which  the  countersign  forpa.'^sing  a  sentry  at  night 
is  the  only  thing  not  patent  to  all  the  world. 

The  objects  of  the  order,  set  forth  in  the  rules  and 
regulations  (Chap.  1,  Art.  11)  are  as  follows  : 

"1.  To  preserve  and  strengthen  those  kind  and  fraternal  feelings 
which  bind  together  the  sohliers,  sailors  and  marines  who  united  to 
suppress  the  late  Rebellion,  an<l  to  perpetuate  the  memory  and  history  of 
the  dead. 

"2.  To  assist  such  former  comrades  in  arms  as  need  help  and  protec- 
tion, and  to  extend  needful  aid  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  who 
have  fallen. 

"3.  To  maintain  true  allegiance  to  the  United  States  of  America, 
based  upon  a  paramount  respect  for,  and  fidelity  to,  the  National  Gov- 
ernment and  laws  ;  to  discountenance  whatever  teuds  to  weaken  loj'alty, 
incites  to  insurrection,  treason  or  rebellion,  or  in  any  manner  impairs 
the  efficiency  of  our  free  institutions  ;  and  to  encourage  the  spread  of 
universal  liberty,  equal  rights  and  justice  to  all  men." 

The  persons  eligible  to  membership  are  all  Ao«or- 
ably  discharged  soldiers,  sailors  and  marines,  "  who 
served  between  April  12,  1861,  and  April  9,  1865,  " 
and  the  members  of  State  regiments  that  were  must- 
ered into  United  States  service  between  those  dates, 
and  became  "subject  to  the  orders  of  United  States 
general  officers."  No  person  who  has  at  any  time, 
even  under  compulsion,  borne  arms  against  the 
United  States  can  be  admitted  to  membership,  even 
though  otherwise  eligible. 

The  last  roster  of  New  York  (1885)  shows  a  total  of 
five  hundred  and  forty-one  posts  in  the  State,  with  an 
average  of  fifty  members  or  over.  Of  these,  the  county 
of  Westchester  counts  as  her  own  the  following : 
Post  Kitching,  No.  GO,  of  Yonkers  ;  Post  Vosburgh, 
No.  95,  of  Peekskill;  Post  Powell,  No.  117,  of  Sing 
Sing;  Post  McKeel,  No.  120,  of  Katonah ;  Post 
Morell,  No.  144,  of  Sing  Sing  :  Post  Stewart  llart. 


510 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


No.  169,  of  Mount  Kisco;  Post  Famsworth,  No.  170, 
of  Mount  Vernon  ;  ;Post  H.  B.  Hidden,  No.  330,  of 
City  Island ;  Post  Charles  Lawrence,  No.  378,  of 
Port  Chester;  Post  Cromwell,  No.  466,  of  White 
Plains ;  Post  W.  B.  Burnett,  No.  496,  of  Tarrytown, 
and  Post  Horatio  Seymour,  No.  590,  of  Yonkers, 
making  a  total  of  twelve  posts  at  the  present  writing. 
The  Tarrytown  post  was  lately  organized,  to  replace 
an  older  post  (Acker,  No.  182)  which  had  given  up 
its  charter  to  the  Department  Encampment,  owing  to 
the  lack  of  interest  manifested  by  the  citizens  of  the 
place  ;  but  reorganized  with  its  present  name  and 
number,  under  the  energetic  management  of  a  veteran 
who  had  formerly  commanded  the  Peekskill  post,  but 
had  moved  to  Tarrytown,  after  his  term  of  office  in 
Peekskill  had  expired.  Horatio  Seymour  Post  is  an 
off-shoot  of  Kitching,  No.  60. 

Without  further  delay  we  append  the  rosters  of  the 
posts,  in  numerical  order. 

Kitching  Post,  J^o.  60,  of  Yonkers. — This  post  was 
chartered  January  7,  1868,  but  the  name  of  the  must- 
ering officer  failed  to  be  recorded  on  the  minute-book 
of  the  post.    The  charter  members  were : 

E.  Y.  Morris,  S.  C.  Van  Tassel,  James  Stewart, 
Patrick  Kelly,  G.  W.  Farnum,  A.  H.  Tompkins,  E. 
C.  Nodine,  James  Carter,  George  Hendricksoii,  Wil- 
liam Keilley  and  D.  S.  Munu. 

The  Post  Commanders  to  date  have  been  as  follows : 
E.  Y.  Morris,  for  1868  and  1869;  D  S.  Munn, 
1870;  John  Kuester,  1871  and  1872:  William  Reil- 
ley,  1873  and  1874;  James  Cadis,  1875  and  1876; 
Henry  Osterheld,  1877,  1878  and  1879;  John  C. 
Schotts,  1880;  F.  A.  Curran,  1881  ;  James  V.  Law- 
rence, 1882;  S.  C.  Van  Tassel,  1883;  G.  B.  Baich, 
1884;  James  Sheridan,  1885. 

The  officers  for  1886  are:  Commander,  James  Sheri- 
dan; S.  V.  C,  A.  Kipp;  J.  V.  C,  James  Taylor;- 
Surgeon,  George  Lockwood;  Chaplain,  Wm.  H. 
Yerkes;  Officer  of  the  Day,  John  Rice;  Officer  of  the 
Guard,  Oscar  T.  Barker;  Adjutant,  C.  D.  Betts;  Q. 
M.,  Henry  Ferguson ;  Q.  M.  S.,  Joseph  Irving. 

The  following  is  a  complete  list  of  all  members  of 
the  post,  from  its  organization  to  the  year  1885,  with 
the  military  history  of  each  man  in  brief.  The  term 
of  service,  where  not  otherwise  stated,  is  "  three 
years,  or  during  the  war."  Names  marked  with  a 
star(*)  are  those  of  members  who  have  died  since  the 
formation  of  the  post.  Names  marked  with  a  dag- 
ger (t)  are  those  of  wounded  men  or  pensioners.  The 
descriptive  book  of  Kitching  Post  is  not  as  full 
on  the  subject  of  wounded  men  as  it  should  be,  and 
there  are  many  men  in  the  post  who  have  suffered 
wounds,  not  recorded  in  the  list  furnished  by  the  ad- 
jutant.   Where  no  rank  is  given  "  private  "  is  meant. 

Memhers, 

E.  Y.  Morris,*  capUiin,  (ith  N.Y.  Art.  (two  yeara,  ten  and  a  half  niontlis); 
S.  C.  Van  Taseel,  second  class  fireman,  U.  S.  Navy  (ten  months);  James 
Stewart,  f  5tb  Conn.,  wounded ;  Oco.  W.  Faruliam,  corporal,  'I'M  Conn. ; 
E.  C.  Nodine,  Cth  N.  Y.  Art. ;  I*.  Kelly,*  Gtli  N.  V.  Art.  ;  Wni.  Riley,  f 
5l6t  N.  Y.  (loss  of  left  arm,  [lension);  G<  o.  Ilendrickson  and  Jas.  Carter, 


6th  N.  T. ;  B.  S.  Munn,  66th  N.  Y. ;  A.  H.  Tompkins,  drummer,  I68th  N. 
Y. ;  A.  0.  Kirkwood,  47th  Ma»3. ;  Joseph  Cain.*  6th  N.  Y. ;  Ed.  \V.  Jenkins, 
second  lieutenant,  'JOth  N.  Y.  ;  John  Harvey,  drummer,  6th  N.  Y.  ; 
Joseph  S.  Whiting,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav. ;  Geo.  Grasse,  32d  N.  Y.  Battery  ; 
John  R.  Senner,*  oth  N.  Y.  Inf.;  Wm.  E.  Bio  >mer,  marine,  U.  S. 
Navy;  M.  H.  Ellis,  captain,  175th  N.  Y.  ;  J.  W.  Jestly,  2)th  N.  Y.  ;  Geo. 
Heisler,  6th  N.  Y.  ;  Archibald  Taylor,  10th  N.  Y.  ;  John  H.  Drake,  47th 
N.  Y.  ;  .Tames  Edie,  Uth  N.  Y.  ;  John  B.  Whiting,  17th  N.  Y.  ;  Ira  B. 
Travis,  11th  N.  Y.  ;  HoUis  H.  Parse,  321  N.  Y. ;  Janns  Brazier,  loOth 
N.  Y.  ;  John  Kuester,  12")tli  N.  Y. ;  John  W.  Coons,  second  class  fireman, 
U.  S.  Navy ;  Chas.  M^olff,  bd  N.  Y.  ;  D.  L.  Barton,  loth  N.  Y.  Cav.  ; 
David  Blauvelt,  captain,  22d  N.  J. ;  P.  H.  Merwin,  22d  N.  Y. ;  Wm.  W. 
Yerks,  6th  N.  Y.  ;  Andrew  J.  Joslyn,  139th  N.  Y. ;  Sherman  Smith, 
musician,  17tli  Conn.  ;  Henry  B.  Ferguson,  6th  N.  Y. ;  Daniel  Batty, 
132d  N.  Y.  ;  Alfred  M.  Bowler,  J.  J.  Cunningham,  Geo.  H.  Gale,  Joseph 
Glosque*  and  Wm.  Dykes,*  all  of  17tli  N.  Y.  ;  David  Zarr,  127th  N.  Y.  ; 
Thomas  Oliver,  37th  N.  Y.  ;  Jas.  II.  Mealing,  6th  N.  Y. ;  Grilfln  Mackey, 
drnramer,  95th  N.  Y. ;  Wm.  L.  Halsey,  artificer,  1st  N.  Y.  Engineers; 
E.  S.  Brown,  37th  N.  Y. ;  H.  H.  Taylor.*  K  6th  N.  Y. ;  Wm.  H.  Danks, 
15th  X.  Y. ;  Philip  Emrick,  48th  N.  Y. ;  Thos.  C.  Lawrence,  17th  N.  Y.  ; 
Geo.  E.  H.  Wildey,  31st  Iowa;  Harvey  Brower,  2d  N.  J.  Cav.;  James 
Cadis,  25th  N.  J.  ;  Frederick  .\ngell,  4th  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Joseph  Irving,  1st 
N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Richard  Laurie,  2d  N.  Y.  Art. ;  S.  S.  Crane,  Sth  N.  Y.  Mili- 
tia (three  months);  Wm.  Fulton,  4th  N.  Y.  ;  William  Bates,  Uth  R.  I.  ; 
Robert  U.  Savage,  72d  N.  Y.  ;  Jame<  .Sheridan,  5th  N.  Y.  ;  L.  C.  Minor, 
drum  major,  7th  Conn. ;  Jas.  H.  Cable,  private,  1st  N.  Y.  Engineers  ; 
Matthew  Faulds,  musician,  79th  N.  Y. ;  James  Keeler,  private,  15th  N. 
Y. ;  Clark  Nodine,  private,  6th  N.  Y. ;  Robert  Allison,  private,  36th  N. 
Y. ;  E.  J.  Oliver,  landsman,  U.  S.  Navy;  E.  R.  Keyes,  chaplain,  6th  N. 
Y.  ;  Thomas  McKay,  6th  N.  Y.  Ait.  ;  F.  G.  Howlett,  8th  N.  Y. ;  Thos. 
Dugan,  5th  U.  S.  Cav.  ;  Geo.  Eimer,  Gth  N.  Y. ;  Wm.  H.  Veitch,  lands- 
man, U.  S.  Navy;  Thos.  McMinn,*  U.S.  Maiines;  Oscar  T.  Barkei, 
landsman,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  George  Smith,  Ist  N.  Y.  Cav. ;  J.  H  Brown, 
I'.'.Hh  N.  Y. ;  Wm.  Svvann,  4th  N.  Y.  Vol.  ;  C.  G.  Otis,  colonel,  2l8t  N.  Y. 
Cav.  ;  Uenjamiu  Bower,  17th  N.  Y.  Vol.  ;  Joseph  Jlills  and  Wm.  .\ngell, 
loth  N.  Y.  N.  G.  (three  months);  J.  F.  Fiizsimmons,  second  lieutenant, 
'J9th  N.  Y.  ;  Herman  Mentzer,  Ist  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Michael  Larkin,  3J 
Prov.  Cav.  ;  James  H.  Pooley,  assist^mt  surgeon,  U.  S.  Vols.  ;  Edward 
Keenan,  67th  N.  Y. ;  Andrew  McDonald,  Sth  N.  Y.  Militia  ;  Geo.  W. 
Greene,  3'Jth  N.  J.  A'ol. ;  Geo.  P.  Trask,*  74tli  N.  Y.  ;  Augustus  Bailey, 
musician,  7th  Mass.  ;  Thomas  Scofield,  39th  N.  J.  ;  LewLs  F.  Clark,  1st 
Conn. ;  Chas.  H.  Carlton,*  4th  Ver. ;  Julius  0.  Hicks,  150th  N.  Y.  ; 
James  Pilson,  corporal,  (ith  N.  Y.  Art. ;  Thos.  Feathei-stone,  1st  N.  Y. 
Cav.  ;  C.  W.  Br.ggs,  6th  N.  Y.  ;  James  Andrews  and  Geo.  A.  Barker,  17th 
N.  Y. ;  Edward  Knowlden,  31st  N.  Y.  ;  Isaac  A.  Brewer  and  Johu 
Loftus,  I'.  S.  Navy  ;  Stephen  P.  Grey,  56th  N.  Y. ;  Albert  Ludke,  Ist  N. 
Y.  Cav.  ;  Louis  Springer,  'ItA  Conn.  ;  Chas.  H.  Pease,  58th  Mass.  ; 
Bernard  Koch,  52d  N.  Y.  ;  Thomas  Hill,*  I7th  N.  Y. ;  Chas.  L.  Wilde, 
musician,  6th  N.  Y.  Art. ;  Henry  Osterheld,  musician,  5th  N.  Y. ;  J.  C. 
Cambell,  17th  N.  Y. ;  Thomas  Hawthorn,  li6th  N.  Y.  ;  Bernard  Logue, 
17th  N.  Y.  ;  Geo.  Bowland,  Uth  N.  Y.  ;  Chas.  W.  Whitefield,  99th  N.  Y.  ; 
John  McWilliams,  1st  N.  Y.  Cav. ;  Solon  Lapham,  6th  N.  Y. ;  James 
Persise,  seaman,  U.  S.  I>avy  ;  Alonzo  Grey,  private,  50th  N.  Y.  Vol.  ; 
Lewis  G.  Jones,  fireman,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  Robert  Lee,  57th  N.  Y.  ;  Michael 
Hemmingway,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Martin  Coyne,  landsman,  U.  S.  Navy  ; 
Job  Hargreavee,  6(h  N.  Y.  ;  Jere.  S.  Clark,  captain,  2d  U.  S.  Art.  ;  Jas. 
W.  Brown,  oth  N.  V. ;  Wm.  Pope,  6th  N.  Y. ;  John  C.  Light,  150th  N. 
Y. ;  James  McVicker,  67th  N.  Y. ;  Chas.  Grimshaw,  22d  N.  Y. ;  Nelson 
R.  Wood,  landsman,  U.  S.  Navy ;  E.  Edward  Wildnian,  captain,  1st 
Conn.  Vol. ;  Wm.  R.  Jarman,  7th  N.  J.  ;  H.  P.  Weimar,  3d  N.  Y.  Art,  ; 
Wm.  Arbuckle,  musician,  17th  N.  Y.  ;  John  Fyfe,*  musician,  178lh  N. 
Y.  ;  Boyd  Vance,  corporal,  177th  N.  Y.  ;  Wm.  Savage,  Sth  Conn.  ;  Harry 
J.  Parnell,  5t,th  N.  Y.  ;  Thomas  Hampson,  Gth  N.  Y.  Art. ;  Wm.  U. 
Randall,  ooth  Engineers ;  Joseph  P.  Curtis,  Gen.  Mounted  Service ; 
Arthur  F.  Stewart,  list  N.  Y. ;  James  Auld,  acting  ensign,  U.  S.  Navy  ; 
Geo.  W.  Thorpe,  91st  N.  Y. ;  Gilbert  llividau,  colonel,  37th  N.  Y. ; 
Thos.  Stansfield,  17th  N.  Y.  ;  Chas  R.  FMsher,  15lh  N.  Y.  ;  Christian 
Shaker,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.;  Frederick  Gugel,  2d  N.  J.  Cav.  ;  Robt.  Light, 
128th  N.  Y.  ;  John_  Merwin,  ]U3d  N.  Y. ;  Christian  Kaiser,  H5th  N.  Y. ; 
Geo.  Yerks,  1st  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Geo.  Grassy,  Ist  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  Chas.  Seeloy, 
23d  U.S.  Inf.;  Thomas  McCall,  17th  N.  Y. ;  James  G.Stevens,  12th 
Jlass. ;  Chrystie  Sheridan,  96th  N.  Y. ;  Geo.  H.  King,  49th  N.  Y.  ; 
Jlichael  Sullivan,  96th  N.  Y. ;  John  H.  Matthews,*  sergeant,  12th  N.  Y.  ; 
John  Wallace,  sergeant,  23d  U.  S.  Inf.  ;  Louis  Friede,  sergeant,  41st  N. 
Y. ;  Geo.  Voltz,  6th  N.  Y.  Art. ;  Peter  Whalen,  22d  N.  Y.  ;  John  Ham- 
mond, fireman,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  Wm.  Fulton,  4th  N.  Y.  ;  Thomas  Reynolds,* 
Goth  N.  Y. ;  David  Murray,  2d  N.  Y.  Mounted  Rifles  ;  Albert  Seeveis,  22d 


\ 


THE  CIVIL  WAK,  1860-65. 


511 


N.  J.  ;  .lulin  Cahill,  15th  N.  Y.  Militia  (tliree  months);  Dan.  Spriiigsteel, 
6th  N.  Y.  .Vi  t. ;  Andrew  Stftik,  191st  N.  Y.  ;  Thoums  Ciirian,  diumnier, 
22t]  N.  J.  ;  Hugh  II.  Ferguson,  48th  N.  Y. ;  Adrian  11.  Hcndriilt,  niiisi- 
ciHU»,  8Gth  N.  Y.  ;  Wni.  Ljiuli,  1st  U.  S.  Art.  ;  Edward  Kiiincv,  l)ngler; 
9th  U.  S.  Inf. ;  Pliilip  Riley,  .■)th  Vet.  Vols. ;  .Jacob  Rtifl,  C.lh  N.  Y.  Art.! 
Jus.  Brazier,  Sr.,  h'Sth  N.  Y.  ;  Geo.  Wilier,  :i:id  N.  .1.;  (  has,  .1.  Luther, 
16lh  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  It.  P.  Wheeler,  sergeant,  (i2d  N.  Y.  ;  .las.  Smith,  iOth 
N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  James  McLean,  16tli  Conn.  ;  Edward  Starr,*  .'8lli  Mass.  ; 
Jacob  II.  Lockhard  and  Geo.  Belts,  seamen,  U.  S.  Navy ;  Alirani 
Hinchilitr,  nth  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  Chas.  B.  Nelie,  74th  N.  Y. ;  I'hilip  Fisher 
and  John  C.  Shotts.  17th  N.  Y. ;  Wni.  W.  Yerks,  eth  N.  Y.  Art. ;  Daniel 
Murray  and  E.  A.  Jackson,  2d  N.  Y.  Rifles  ;  Arthur  Stewart,  41st  N.  Y. ; 
Jacob  Gilleo,  Gth  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  John  Carey,  GUth  N.  Y.  ;  Chas.  II.  0. 
Rease,  68th  Mass. ;  Wm.  J.  Gardinier,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  Calvin  C.  Brown, 
0th  N.  Y.  ;  Stephen  W,  Johnson,  corporal,  3d  N.  Y.  ;  Edward  Kcnncy, 
bugler,  0th  U.  S.  Inf.  ;  Samuel  L.  Manus,  Kth  N.  Y. ;  George  Fink,  Gth 
N.  Y.  ;  James  Kairns,  2d  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  James  Auld,  ensign,  U.  S.  Navy  ; 
T.  M.  O'Keefe  O'Riley,  r>th  N.  Y.  Cav. ;  Geo.  H.  Washington,  11th  U.S. 
Col.  Art.  ;  Michael  T.  Sullivan,  01st  N.  Y. ;  Patrick  Murphy,  18th  X.  Y. 
Cav. ;  Nathan  Buckley,  0th  N.  J.  ;  William  Carroll,  Gth  N.  Y.  Art. ; 
Augustus  Kipp,  32d  N.  Y. ;  Geo.  W.  Waltei-s,  69th  N.  Y.  ;  Garret  Majory, 
17th  N.  Y.  ;  Francis  Ilaller*  3d  N.  J.  Cav.  ;  Wm.  Shaw,  musician,  17th 
N.  Y. ;  Chas.  D.  Betts,  corporal,  132d  N.  Y.  ;  Henry  Voight,  :)tli  Vet. 
Vols.  ;  James  V.  Lawrence,  Albert  Roos  and  Patrick  O'Donnell,  2d  N. 
y.  Art.  ;  Thomas  T.  Daly,  loth  N.  Y.  ;  S.  0.  Van  Ta.ssel,  (second  muster) 
Kavy  ;  John  Zimmcr,  loth  N.  Y.  Art.;  Michael  Murphy,  Gist  N.  Y. : 
John  II.  Rein,  79th  N.  Y.  ;  Conrad  Dietrick,  48th  N.  Y.  ;  Edward  J. 
Mitchell,  37th  N.  J.;  Andrew  Dixon,  3d  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  John  Zeller,  20th 
N.  Y. ;  James  B.  Everest,  51st  Mass.  ;  Daniel  Pool,  quarter  gunner,  U. 
8.  Navy  ;  John  Foley,  Gth  N.  Y. ;  John  II.  Williams,  26th  V.  S.  Colored 
Troops ;  Thomas  Ilampson,  Gth  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  Thomas  J.  Dillon,*  COth  N. 
Y.  ;  John  G.  Smith,  45tli  N.  Y. ;  Isaac  L.  Phillips,  musician,  17th  N.  Y.  ; 
Kdward  Keenau,  G7th  N.  Y.  ;  Caleb  Wolhuyser,  4th  N.  Y.  Art.  ;  Dewitt 
C.  Taylor,  17th  N.  Y.  ;  Jacob  Brill,  2d  N.  J.  ;  Bernard  Donohue,  loth  N. 
Y.  ;  Wm.  Dyke.s  1st  N.  Y.  Rillcs  ;  James  H.  Tracy,  oGth  N.  Y.  ;  Thos. 
Madden,  32d  N.  Y.  ;  David  J.  Miller,  128th  N.  Y.  ;  John  Baldwin.  I02d 
N.  Y.  ;  George  Humphreys,  Hist  Mass.  ;  John  F.  Doremus,  ."jCtli  N.  Y.  ; 
Conrad  Roth,  183d  Ohio;  li.  C.  Uickerson,  llth  N.  J.  ;  G.  B.  Balch,  as- 
sistant surgeon,  9Sth  N.  Y. 

Abraham  Vosburgh  Post,  Ko.  95,  of  Peekskill. — This 
post  was  organized  at  Peekskill,  July  25,  1879,  by 
Comrade  Francis  M.  Clark,  of  Barbara  Freitchie  Post, 
New  York  City,  as  mustering  officer. 

The  officers  of  the  new  post  were  as  follows  : 

Commander,  George  W.  Robertson  ;  S.  V.  C,  John 
Smith,  Jr. ;  J.  V.  C,  Abraham  G.  Conkling;  Sur- 
geon, Charles  McCutchen ;  Officer  of  the  Day,  Wil- 
liam A.  Sipperly ;  Chaplain,  William  H.  Griffin; 
Quartermaster,  Thomas  Flockton ;  Adjutant,  Wil- 
liam J.  Chariton;  Officer  of  the  Guard,  Samuel  Tate; 
Sergeaiit-Majur,  William  J.  Mahon  ;  Q.  M.  Sergeant, 
William  L.  Wood. 

The  officer.-^,  together  with  Comrades  William  Coul, 
John  Acker,  Nathaniel  J.  Travis  and  Philip  H. 
Sparks,  constituted  the  charter  members  of  the  post. 

The  officers  of  the  post  remained  unchanged  for 
two  years,  after  which  Commander  Robertson  retired 
and  John  Smith,  Jr.,  became  Commander,  all  the 
other  officers  being  promoted  one  step. 

In  1882,  Abraham  ^Conkling  became  Commander 
and  a  further  promotion  took  place. 

In  1883,  Charles  McCutcheu  became  Commander, 
and  held  the  office  for  one  year. 

In  1884,  William  J.  Sipperly  became  Commander. 

The  officers  for  1885  were  as  follows : 

Commander,  William  J.  Charlton  ;  Senior  Vice-Commauder,  George  E. 
Craft ;  Junior  Vice-Commander,  John  H.  Pierce  ;  Surgeon,  William  II. 
Griffin :  Officer  of  the  Day,  Joseph  L.  Mason  ;  Chaplain,  Smith  A. 


Barker ;  Quartermaster,  Henry  S.  Free  ;  Officer  of  the  Guard,  Philip  H. 
Spnrks;  Scrgeant-Major,  Theodore  II.  Gallagher;  Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant, Marvin  li.  Smith. 

Commander,  George  E.  Craft;  Senior  Vice  Conjniander.  John  H. 
Pierce ;  Junior  Vice-Commander,  Samuel  Tate;  Surgeon,  William  II. 
GrifRn  (since  died,  vacancy  tilled  by  John  W.  Acker) ;  Oflicer  of  tho 
Day,  Joseph  L.  Mason  (since  removed,  vacancy  filled  by  William  \ 
Sipperly)  ;  Chaplain,  Sniitli  A  Barker:  OHicer  of  the  Guanl,  Philip  F. 
Sparks  ;  Quartermaster,  Emmett  Sarles  ;  Adjutant,  Marvin  R.  Smith  ; 
Quurtermaster-.Sergeant,  William  J.  Chaillon. 

The  roster  of  the  post,  I'urnished  by  the  Com- 
mander, is  as  follows,  the  term  of  service,  where  not 
otherwise  mentioned,  being  three  years,  the  arm  of 
the  service  infantry,  unless  otherwise  specified. 

Augustus  Acker,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  John  W.  Acker,  corporal,  .lOth 
N.  Y.,  prisoner  at  .\ndersonville  ;  Oscar  Acker,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.,  ten 
months;  Horace  .\nderson,  3d  N.  Y.,  si.\  months;  John  Acker,  Gtli 
N.  Y.  H.  Art.,  eighteen  months;  Charles  Balluffl,*  hospital  steward, 
1st  N.  J.  Art.;  Smith  A.  Barker,  2d  Penn.  Res.,  wounded  Sept,  17,  18G2; 
Josiah  Bartlett,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Wm.  M.  Bleakley, captain, 27tli  N.  Y. 
Jacob  Boyce,*  two  years,  Lyman  Boyce,  Dennis  Bradley,  G.  W.  Briggs,* 
and  Stephen  W.  Byington,  all  of  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Char.  Cable,  124th 
N.  Y.,  wounded  April  25,  18Go  ;  John  Cahill,  3d  N.  Y.  U.  Art.;  Cornelius 

D.  Callahan,  53d  N.  Y.;  W'illiam  J.  Charlton,  first  sergeant,  5th  N.  Y., 
commissioned  second  lieutenant,  but  not  mustered  ;  St.ates  Clark,  5th 
N.  Y.,  wounded  February  Glh  and  March  31,  18C5;  Garrett  I).  Clark, 
Gth  N  Y.  II.  Art.;  Abraham  G.  Conklin,  27th  N.  Y.;  Eber  H.  Conklin, 
13th  N.  Y.  S.  M.,  three  months;  Daniel  Conklin,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.; 
JetTerson  Conklin,  2d  N.  Y.  M.  Vols  ;  Samuel  H.  Conklin,*  Gth  N.  Y.  H. 
Art.;  H.  S.  Constant,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Wm.  Coul,  IGSth  N.  Y.;Geo. 

E.  Craft,  corporal,  9th  N.  Y.;  George  A.  Cruger,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  John 
W.  Crumb,  chaplain,  N.  Y.  S.  M.,  three  months ;  Patrick  Curtis,  Gth 
N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  William  H.  Denike,  47th  N.  Y.;  ThomUs  G.  Depew, 
musician,  lG8th  N.  Y.;  James  Downes,  UOth  Ills.;  William  H.  Dutcher, 
Gth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Jefferson  Dyckman,  2d  N.  Y.  M.  Vols.;  Harvey  S. 
Elkins,  48tli  N.  Y.;  John  Evans,  27th  N.  Y.;  Thomas  Flockton,  Otli 
N.  Y.;  J.  Foster,  88th  Oliio  ;  H.  S.  Free,  landsman,  U.  S.  S.  "  Vanderbilt," 
one  year  ;  Theo.  H.  Gallagher,  sergt.-maj.,  152d  N.  Y.  (gunshot  in  right 
leg  at  Spottsylvania  March  12,  18G4);  Wm.  E.  Gallaher,  22d  N.  Y.  S.  M. 
(three  months);  Anson  L.  Gilbert,  sergeant,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A. ;  David  R. 
Goetechius,  captain,  0th  N.  Y.  H.  A. ;  James  Gordon,  corporal,  90th  N. 
Y.  ;  Jacob  H.  Green,  landsman,  U.  S.  S.  "  Vanderbilt"  (one  year) ;  Wm. 
H.  Grilfln,  17th  N.  Y.  (wounded  August  30,  1802) ;  Henry  Ilagaman,! 
Gth  N.  Y.  II.  A.  ;  James  H.  Haight,  llth  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  Charles  B. 
Haines,  Gth  N.  Y.  II.  A.  ;  Lemuel  Haines,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav. ;  Geo.  S.  Han- 
cock, sergeant,  Gth  N.  Y.  U.  A.  ;  Robert  S.  Hancock,  landsman,  U,  S.  S. 
"Isonomie;"  Jacob  Hays,  corporal,  8Gtli  N.  Y.  ;  John  Herschel,  mu- 
sician, Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A. ;  Henry  Hilliker,  landsman,  U.S.  S. '"  Isonomie  ; " 
John  M.  Hilliker,  .59th  N.  Y.  (twenty-eight  months;  ten  months 
iu  U.  S.  Navy) ;  Wm.  H.  Hughes,  0th  N.  Y  ;  John  Jarrold,  5th  N.  Y. ; 
Julius  John,  first  sergeant,  103d  N.  Y. ;  John  Kane,*  corporal,  Gth  N. 
Y.  H.  A.  ;  Jacob  Keifer,*  14th  N.  J.  ;  Anthony  Kevan,  corporal,  I70th 
N.  Y.  ;  David  La  Fountain,  seaman,  U.  S.  Navy  (twenty-one  months); 
Robert  D.  Lent,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A. ;  Wm.  A.  Lent,  landsman,  U.  S.  Navy 
(one  year; ;  Ismic  McCoy,  Glh  N.  Y.  II.  \.  ;  Charles  McCntclieoii,  second 
lieutenant,  2d  N.  Y.  Cavalry;  Davison  McCutcheon,  corporal,  2d  N.  V. 
Cav. ;  Aaron  Mackey,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.  ;  Wm.  J.  Mahon,f  sergeant,  Gth  N. 
Y.  H.  A.  (wounded  May  3oth  and  October  10,  18U4) ;  Joseph  L.  Miuson, 
corporal,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.  ;  David  W.  Jliller,  4th  N.  Y.  H.  A.  (thirty-ouu 
mouths) ;  Charles  E.  Orne,  sergeant,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.  (seven  months)  ; 
Henry  Otis,  sergeant,  95th  N.  Y. ;  John  H.  Pierce,  second  lieutenant, 
2d  N.  Y.  ;  John  W.  Powell,  corporal,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  \.  (wounded  May3i), 
18G4)  ;  Eugene  B.  Pringle,*  5th  N.  Y.  H.  A.  ;  George  W.  Robertson, 
first  lieutenant,  71st  N.  Y.  S.  M.  (eight  mouths) ;  Emmett  Sarles,  Gth  N. 
Y.  H.  A.  ;  James  H.  Seabury,  Gth  N.  Y.  11.  A.  ;  Cornelius  V.  Simjikins, 
9th  N.  Y.  ;  W  ui.  .\.  Sipperly,  sergeant,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.  (wounded  June  2, 
18G4)  ;  Wm.  E.  Sloat,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.  ;  Charles  W.  Smith,  Gth  N.  Y.  H. 
A.  ;  George  H.  Smith,  91st  N.  Y. ;  George  W.  Smith,  captain,  90th  N. 
Y. ;  John  Smith,  Jr.,  second  lieutenant,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  \.  (wounded  Oc- 
tober 19,  1864  ;  Marvin  11.  Smith,  landsman,  U.  S.  Navy  ;  Stephen  W. 
Smith,*  musician,  lC8th  N.  Y.  ;  Philip  F.  Sparks,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A  ; 


*  Deceased. 


512 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Stephens  S.  Starr,  Gth  N.  T.  H.  A.;  Elias  Stillwell,*  6th  N.  T.  H.  A. 
Frederick  Stockholm,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  A.  ;  Martin  Stottler,  first  lieutenant, 
6th  Conn.;  Samuel  Tate,  9th  N.  T. ;  Nathaniel  J.  Travis,  0th  N.  Y.  H. 

A.  (wounded  August  1!),  18G4)  ;  Elias  Tyrrell,  40tli  N.  Y.  ;  John  E.  Valk, 
95th  N.  Y.  (woiuidefl  October  27,  1864)  ;  Cornelius  B.  A'an  Horn,  ser- 
geant, 139th  N.  Y.  ;  Warren  Vau  Scoy,  9th  N.  Y. ;  Charles  Wiley,  drum 
niajiir,  9th  N.  Y.  ;  John  N.  Williams,  9th  N.  Y.  (five  months) ;  Samuel 
Williams,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.  ;  William  L.  Wood,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  A.  (nine 
months)  ;  Charles  J.  Wright,  lieutenant-colonel,  39th  U.  S.  C.  T.  (two 
years  and  seven  mouths). 

Powell  Post,  No.  117,  of  Sing  Sing. — This  post  was 
mustered  into  service  September  5,  1879,  by  Comrade 
Henry  Osterheld,  of  Kitching  Post,  with  the  follow- 
ing charter  members : 

Gilbert  Deering,t  ITlh  N.  Y.;  Abraham  Miller,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  John 
Gibney,tl2th  U.  S.  Inf.;  William  Uell,  .VJth  N.  Y.;  Garrett  Tenhageu, 
56th  N.  v.;  Smith  A.  Palmer,  18th  Conn.;  George  W.  Bell,  2d  N.  Y.; 
Charles  Ferris,*  1st  N.  J.;  Richard  Kromer,  SOth  N.  Y.  Battery  ;  Francis 
J.  Jennings,  17th  N.  Y.;  Daniel  Luther,t  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  William  H. 
Tuttle,  17th  N.  Y.;  Geo.  W.  Romaine,  U.  S.  S.  -'Nyack  Jos.  B.  Eaton, 
7th  Conn.;  A'alentiue  Dietrich,  G9th  N.  Y.  S.  M.;  James  McCormack, 
aith  N.  Y.;  Charles  F.  Rudgers,  l(l.3tli  N.  Y.;  A.  J.  Norricks,  l.j7th 
N.  Y.;  George  E  Vau  Matten.f  9  th  N.  Y.;  John  W.  Hoffman,  U.  S.  S. 
"  Vanderbilt ;"  Thomas  K.  Tompkins,  5Gth  N.  Y.;  Wm.  G.  Hull,  26th 
N.  Y.;  Thos.  C.  Mealing,  U.  S.  S.  "Augusta;"  William  Ward,  U.5th 
N.  Y.;  Patrick  Cullen,  17th  N.  Y.;  James  Wilson,  6th  N.  Y.;  William 
Tuustall,  13th  N.  Y.;  James  S.  Van  Cortlandt,  155th  N.  Y.;  George 
Nichols,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Charles  Schoomaker,  20th  N.  Y.;  Neheniiah 
Sperry,t  "lOth  N.  Y.;  James  Young,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Patrick  Cannon, 
17th  N.  Y.;  William  Whiting,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  William  B.  Jones,  4th 
U.  S.  Art.;  John  J.  Griffin  and  Jeremiah  McCue,  Glh  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  and 
Henry  C.  Hickerson,  llth  N.  Y. 

Tlie  Commanders  of  the  post  have  been  as  follows: 

For  1879  and  1880,  Gilbert  Dearing;  for  18^1,  John  J.  Mahauy  and 
Henry  C.  Hickerson  ;  for  1882  and  1883,  Henry  C.  Symouds  ;  for  1884, 
Valentine  Dieterich  ;  and  for  1885,  Chellis  1).  Swaiue. 

The  officers  for  1886  are, — 

Commander,  S.  H.  Smith  ;  Senior  Vice-Commander,  W.  G.  Hull ;  Jun- 
ior Vice-Coniniander,  George  Nichols;  Surgeon.  George  "N'annetta  ;  Chap- 
lain, J.  Hoffman  ;  Oliicer  of  Day,  T.  Storms ;  Officer  of  Guard,  M. 
Smith  ;  Adjutant,  J.  Kling ;  Quartermaster,  G.  Dt-aring ;  Sergeant 
Major,  Chellis  D.  Swain  ;  Quartermaster-Sergeant,  W.  Bell. 

The  members  of  the  post,  after  charter  members, 
are  as  follows  : 

Patrick  Readdy.f  6th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Nelson  Baker,  1st  U.  S.  C.  T.; 
Michael  Seitz,*  1st  N.  Y.  Engineers;  Abraham  Tuttle,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  A.; 
George  E.  Van  Wart.f*  5th  N.  Y. ;  Thomas  Swords,  1st  N.  Y.  Engineers  ; 
, James  Hyland,  13th  N.  Y.  11.  A.;  John  Connolly,  17th  N.  Y.;  Abrani 
Jones,  1st  N.  Y.  Cav.;  Hemy  ('.  Symonds,  2d  U.  S.  .\rt.;  William  W. 
Ryder,  17th  N.  Y.;  Wm.  Nolan,  U.  S.  S.  "General  Price  ;"  William  H. 
Caine,  84tli  N.  Y.  S.  M.  (tliree  months) ;  Andres  J.  Disbrow,  S7th  N.  Y.; 
Chas.  P.  Turner,  U.  S.  S.  "  Stars  and  Stripes  ;"  Jas.  H.  Worden,  U.  S.  S. 
"Morning Light ;"  Theodore  C.  Sherwood,  10?dN.  Y.\  Theodore Crofut, 
17th  N.  Y.;  Samuel  Bennett,-}-*  21»t  U.  S.  C.  T.;  Charles  Maguire,  U.  S. 
S  '•  Princeton  ;"  Stephen  Jackson,  99th  N.  Y.:  Jacob  Kling,t  31st  N.  Y. ; 
Lockwood  Hutchings,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Benjamin  H.  Sheron,t  loOlh 
N.  Y.;  George  W.  Smith,  Gth  N.  Y.  Battery  ;  John  J.  Mulvany.f  104th 
N.  Y.;  Pennington  Watson,  186th  Pa.;  Thomas  Donohue,  Gth  N.  Y.; 
Wm.  N.  Dands,  1st  N  Y.  Engineei-s  ;  Henry  Hunter,  llth  N.  Y.  H.  A.; 
George  Augesdorler,  GGth  N.  Y.;  Silas  W.  Edgerton,t  34th  Mass.;  Orser 
Sarles,  S.  S.  "Owasco;"'  Jas.  P.  Holmes,  F.  S..S.  -'Vicksburg  ";  Jno.  Daly 
and  Norman  Minnerly,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Chellis  D.  Swaine,t  llth  N.  Y. 
Cav.;  Eli  Valentine,  18th  N.  Y.;  Andrew  Philips,!  1st  Maine  Cav.;  Wm. 

B.  Ackerly.t  U.  S.  S.  "  Potomac  ;"  Harry  Terwilliger,  5Gth  N.  Y.;  Jas. 
McGraw,  43d  N.  Y. ;  Absalom  N.  IngersoU,  U.S.  Marine  Corps;  James 
D.  0.  Stoutenburg,  150th  N.  Y.;  Charles  Valentine,  lG8th  N.  Y.;  Jamis 
Hatch,  2d  N.  Y.;  Hiram  Osborn,  75th  N.  Y.;  Joseph  Holloway,  4th  Ohio  ; 
Samuel  H.  Smith,!  llth  Conn.;  Elbert  T.  Weeks,t  17tli  N.  Y.;  Joseph 
King,  U.  S.  S.  "Tacony  ,"  William  Heunessy,  17th  N.  Y.;  William  H. 


Reynolds,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Frederick  Seitz,  lOtli  U.  S.  Inf.;  Peter  Ward, 
5th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Sumner  A.  Smith,  49th  N.  Y.;  John  Corning,  35th 
N.  J.;  Jesse  G.  Miiler,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  William  H.  Clark,  51st  N.  Y.; 
William  Reed,  40th  N.  Y.;  George  Allen,  7th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  James  Arden 
Haight,  IGth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Thomas  S.  Storms,  24th  N.  Y.  Battery;  Thos. 
McGee,  5th  Conn.;  Arthur  Bushel,  1st  N.  i'.  Cav.;  Alexander  Helsey, 
7th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  George  Wheeler,  14Gth  N.  Y.;  John  J.  Murphy,  7th 
N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Joseph  C.  Newman,  40th  N.  J.;  Joseph  Roderiques,  U.  S. 
S.  "Mississippi;"  Albert  Drehfall,  58th  N.  Y.;  S.  J.  Chambers,  7th  N.  Y. 
S.  M.  (three  months);  Hugh  Murphy,  U.S.S."Anacosta  ;"  Michael  Smith, 
1st  N.  Y.  Engineers;  Charles  B.  .Johnson.  5th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Peter  Parker, 
U.  S.  S.  "North  Carolina  ;"  Benjamin  Harris,  15th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Hiram 
Van  Tassell,  95th  N.  Y.;  and  Augustus  Stockholdt,*  22d  N.  Y.  Vol. 

McKeel  Post,  No.  120,  of  Katonah.—TYns,  post  was 
organized  September  30,  1879,  the  mustering  officer 
being  Comrade  Herman  W.  Thum,  of  Koltes  Post, 
New  York  City.    The  charter  members  were,— 

E.  B.  Newman,  J.  T.  Lockwood,  E.  S.  Folsom,  S.  S.  Austin,  Clark  See, 
W.  L.  Hull,  A.  S.  Knapp,  E.  A.  Teed,  Charles , Fisher,  Edgar  Hitt,  J.  B. 
Turner,  Charles  Corbyn,  E.  H.  Avery,  C.  W.  Varian,  A.  P.  Quick  and 
James  A.  Tuttle. 

The  Commanders  of  the  post  to  date  are  as  follows  : 

For  1879,  1880  and  1881,  E.  B.  Newman ;  for  1882,  Edgar  Hilt  ;  for 
1883,  W.  L.  Hull ;  for  1884,  E.  S.  Folsom  ;  for  1885,  E.  A.  Reynolds. 

The  officers  for  188b  are  as  follows : 

Commander,  Abraham  Knapp;  Senior  Vice-Conimander,  A.  P.  Quick; 
Junior  Vice-Comnuinder,  W  H.  Dingee  ;  Surgeon,  D.  F.  Avery  ;  Chap- 
lain, C.  Corbyn  ;  Officer  of  Day,  Edgar  Hitt  ;  Officer  of  Guard,  G.  M. 
Avery  ;  Adjutant,  E.  S.  Folsom  ;  Quartermaster,  J.  A.  Tuttle ;  Sergeaut- 
Jlajor,  K.  .\.  Reynolds. 

The  names  of  comrades  of  the  post  not  dropped  at 
the  time  of  the  report  are  as  follows : 

E.  B.  Newnian,t  sergeant,  48th  N.  Y.  (wounded,  Andersonville  pris- 
oner, leg  amputated) ;  J.  F.  Lockwood, f  4th  N.  Y.  U.  A.;  E.  S.  Folsom, 
1st  N.J.  Art.;  S.  S.  Austinf  first  lieutenant,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  Clark 
See,t  4th  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  W.  L.  Hull,  Gth  Conn.;  A.  S.  Knapp,  E.  A.  Reed, 
Edgar  Hitt,  A.  P.  Quick,  R.  A.  Reynolds,  G.  G.  Ferguson,  D.  W.  Miller, 
all  of  4tli  N.  Y.  H.  A.;  J.  B.  Turner,  U.S.S. '  Gi^fysburg  ;"  Chas.  Corbyn, 
170th  N.  Y,;  E.  H.  Avery,  Gth  N.  Y.  H.  .V.;  C.  W.  Varian,  sergeant,  165th 
N.  Y.;  J.  A.  Tuttle,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.;  D.  F.  Avery,  38tli  N.  Y.;  J.  N.  Purdy.t 
Gth  U.  S.  Inf ;  George  M.  Avery,  5th  N.  Y.;  W.  11.  Dingee,  150th  N.  Y.; 
Richard  Wheatley,  chaplain,  28th  Conn.;  C.  M.  Sarles,  4th  N.  Y.;  Jarvis 
Pugsley,  48th  N.  Y.;  L.  E.  Miller,  84th  Pa. 

Morell  Post,  No.  144,  of  Sing  Sing. — This  post  was 
organized  on  the  18th  of  December,  1883,  at  Sing 
Sing,  N.  Y.,  princijnilly  from  members  of  Powell  Post, 
in  the  same  town,  and  now  numbers  the  following  of- 
ficers and  members  : 

Commander  :  Silas  W.  Edgerton,  chaplain  of  Sing  Sing  Prison.  Com- 
mander Edgerton's  military  record  is  an  excellent  one,  he  having  en- 
tered the  service  as  a  private  in  the  34th  Slass.  in  1862,  and  being  dis- 
charged as  captain  and  brevet-major  in  the  192d  N.  Y.  Vols.,  after  a 
period  of  three  and  one-half  years.  Commander  Edgerton  w  as  wounded 
at  Mine  Run,  Va.,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1864,  a  piece  of  shell  taking  ef- 
fect in  liis  right  breast  and  rendering  amputation  of  the  right  arm 
necessarj'.  Since  the  war  he  has  become  a  clergyman,  and  is  respected 
wherever  he  is  known. 

Senior  Vice-Commander:  Hiram  Osboril,  first  lieutenant  of  the  75th 
N.  Y. ;  promoted  from  the  ranks,  with  three  yeai-s'  service. 

Junior  Vice-Commander :  William  W.  Ryder,  ex-private  of  the  17th 
N.  Y.,  with  two  years'  service. 

Officer  of  the  Day :  Sumner  Smith,  ex  sergeant,  49th  N.  Y.,  three 
years. 

Surgeon :  George  W.  Bell,  2d  N.  Y.  Cav.,  three  years. 


t  Wounded  iu  action. 


*  Dead  since  muster. 


t  Wounded. 


*  Dead  since  muster. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  1860-65. 


513 


Quartermaster:  Nchciuiali  Sperry,  1st  Sergeant,  49th  N.  Y.,  throe 
years. 

Clia|ilaiii  :  llciirv  AUiiii,  ITtli  ('oiiii.,  two  and  oue-half  years. 

A<li>ilaiit|:  .lames  jMiCoruiii  k,  ;ilth  N.  Y.  aud  'Jil  N.  V.  Cav.,  lour  yeare 
ami  a  hall'  in  serviie  ;  wuiindeil  in  thigh  and  hip  by  Knfield  bullet,  at 
Cedar  Creek,  iu  cavalry  engagenicut,  November  12,  1804. 

tlllieer  of  the  liuard  :  liarrett  Teu  Ilagen,  corporal,  5Gth  N.  Y.,  with 
four  and  a  half  yeare'  service. 

yuarlerniaster-Scrgeant :  A.  J.  Kowicki,  15(itl>  N.  Y.,  two  and  a  half 
yeai*s'  service. 

Sergeant-Mnjor  :  .loliu  L.  Knapp,  second  lieuttmint,  ISth  N.  Y.  S.  51., 
with  one  and  a  half  years'  service. 

The  nieinbcrs  are  as  tullows  : 

Joseph  B.  Eaton,  lieuteuaut,  Ttli  Conn.,  three  years  ;  .\brani  .loncs, 
captain,  1st  N.  Y.  t'av.,  three  and  a  ijuarter  years  :  Abraham  11.  Miller, 
6th  N.  Y.  II.  A.,  eighteen  months;  John  J.  Gritlin,  sergeiiut,  Otli  N.  Y. 
H.  A;  two  and  a  half  years  ;  William  II.  Clark,  51st  \.  Y'.,  discharged 
after  eighle<'n  months  tor  wound  received  at  Second  Bull  Kun  in  lJ<ti*J  ; 
Jeremiah  JlcCue,  (;th  N.  Y.  II.  .\.,  four  and  a  half  years  ;  (ieo.  Wheeler, 
until  N.  Y.,  two  and  a  half  yeain ;  Kli  Valentine,  ISth  N.  Y.  S.  M., 
eighteen  months;  Wm.  Fagan,  1st  t'onn.,  two  years;  Chas.  O.  Jolinc,* 
lieutenant-colonel  and  .\.  D.  (J.,  four  yeare  (since  died)  ;  Willian>  L. 
Malion,  sergeant,  (ith  N.  Y.  II.  A.,  three  years;  li.  S.  Sheron,  ISlltli 
N.  Y.,  two  ami  a  half  yeare  (wounded  SOth  May,  18fi4,  at  Bethlehem 
Church,  Va.,  and  l'.)tli  October,  at  Cedar  Creek) ;  John  Ni.xon,  3(1 
N.  Y.,  two  and  a  half  yeare;  Joseph  Ilubbel,  2:id  N.  Y.  S.  SI.,  thirty- 
Dim-  days  ;  Henry  Tw  itchell,  .id  Miiss.  II.  A.,  two  and  a  half  yeaiis ;  S.  J. 
(Ihamliers,  7th  N.  Y.  S.  M.,  three  months  ;  Charles  K.  Lewis,  U.  S.  S. 
"Nyack,''  nine  months  ;  Pennington  Watson,  sergeant,  IStith  Pa.,  two 
jreai's;liilnian  Rico.  l.Sdth  I'a.,  tw  o  year«  ;  Geo.  .\yles,  17th  N.Y.,  two  years; 
Clement  C  Moon,  tint  lieutenant,  iOth  Mass.,  six  months  ;  Wm.  Kelsey, 
Coriioral,  IXIlth  Pa.,  two  years;  Oscar  Knajip,  tii-st  sergeant,  4tli  N.  Y. 
H.  \.,  tliree  years;  and  Keuben  Bunyea,  no  record  given  by  the  ad- 
jutant. 

The  ofticers  for  188(J  are  as  follows  : 

Commander,  Silas  W.  Edgertun;  .Senior  Vice-Commander,  Iliram  Os- 
born  ;  Junior  Vice-('onimander,  William  W.  Uyder  ;  Surgeon,  Samuel 
J.  Chamhei's  ;  Cliaplaiii,  James  o.  Knapp;  Ulhcer  of  Day,  .Mprani  Jones; 
Officer  of  Guard,  Wm.  II.  I  lark;  .^djutjtnt,  James  McCorniick  ;  l^nar- 
tcmiaster,  Nehemiah  Sperry  ;  Sergeaut-JIajor,  John  L.  Knapp;  Quarter- 
master-Sergeant, .\uselni  J.  Nowicki. 

Sfeivart  Hart  I'ost,  No.  ]()!),  of  Mount  KUco. — This 
post  was  organized  and  mustered  into  service  on  the 
21st day  of  July,  J88(t,  on  the  nineteenth  anniversary 
of  the  battle  of  lUiU  Run,  by  Comrade  Herman  \V. 
Thuni,  of  Koltes  Post,  32,  of  New  York  City. 

The  charter  members  were  : 

George  W.  lieil,  K.  T.  Bailey,  William  Bird,  O.  Clark,  Geo.  W.  Cutler, 
Matthew  Cutler,  Edward  (  liapin,  I  riali  Dingee,  .\le.\ander  Hamilton, 
Henry  E.  lltitchins,  James  llill,  .\rthur  Matthews,  James  Matthews, 
Benjamin  E.  Merritt,  .\.  J.  Osborne,  Wesley  Piei-sall  and  Franz  Seitz. 

The  officers  of  the  post  to  date  are  as  follows  : 

Commanilers:  E.  T.  I};iiley,  lor  18811,  1881  and  1882  ;  George  Beil,  1883  ; 
P.K.  H.  Sawyer,  1884  ;  E.  T.  Bailoy,  188.5. 

Senior  Viec-Comniandei-s :  Ale.\ander  Hamilton,  188i) ;  Wni.  Baird, 
1881  and  1882  ;  Samuel  W.  Palmer,  188:!,  1881  and  1SS.5. 

Junior  Vice-Commanders:  C.  W.  Piei-sall,  1880  and  18.S1  ;  Samuel  W. 
Palmer,  1882  :  W.  T.  Cole,  1883  ;  Wesley  Picrsall,  1884  and  188."). 

Surgeons:  None  in  1880;  L.  F.  Pelton,  1881,  1882  and  1883;  Uriah 
Bingec,  1884  and  188.'). 

Chaplains:  O.  Clark,  18.S();  D.T).  Gritlin,  1881  ;  P.  K.  11.  Sawyer,  1882  ; 
A.J.Osborne,  188:! ;  Merritt  .\. Louden,  1884  ;  Bernard  .\.  Mulvcy,  188.'j. 

Officers  of  the  Day :  George  W.  Cvitler,  1880, 1881  and  1882  ;  Daniel 
Wood,  1883,  1884  and  18S.5. 

Officers  of  the  Guard :  Uriah  Dingee,  1880,  1881  ;  Daniel  Wood,  1882, 
1883  and  1884;  Henry  E.  Hutchins,  18S5. 

Quarterma.<!ters  :  George  Beil,  1880,  1881  and  1882  ;  Silas  D.  Louden, 
1883  and  1884  ;  George  Beil,  1885. 

Attjutants  :  Benjamin  E.  Merritt,  1880  ;  Edward  Cliapin,  1881,  1882 
Mid  1883;  Benjamin  E.  Merritt,  1884  and  1885. 
48 


The  complete  list  of  the  comrades  of  the  post  to  date 
is  as  follows  : 

E.  T.  Bailey,  second  lieutenant,  05th  N.  Y.  V.  (discharged  for  di.iabil- 
ity) ;  Alexander  Hamilton,  major  and  A.  A.  G.  on  General  .staff;  George 
Beil,  i)rivate,  7th  N.  Y.  V.  (served  as  Hrigade  Orderly  in  :!d  Brig.,  Ist 
Div.,  2d  Army  Corps) ;  Benjamin  E.  Merritt,  5th  N.  Y.  II.  .\rt.  from  181)2 
to  1865  ;  Wesley  Piersall.t  5th  N.  Y.  II.  .\rt.  (wounded  at  battle  of  Win- 
chester in  1SG4,  ami  ai)ensioner)  ;  Georgt;  W.  Cutler,  sergeant,  5th  N.  Y. 
II.  .\rt.;  Edward  Chapin,  2d  Connecticut  Light  Battery  ;  William  Bird, 
loth  Connecticut  ;  A.  J.  Osborne,  2:id  Connecticut  ;  Oliver  Clark,  5th 
N.  Y'.  H.  .\rt.;  Henry  E.  Hutcliin8,t  4',)th  N.  Y.  V.  (wounded  an<l  a  [len- 
sioner) ;  Matthew  Cutler,  corporal, 5th  N.  Y'.  II.  Art.  (one  year)  ;  Arthur 
MaMhcws,  5th  N.  Y.  II.  Art.  (one  year) ;  James  Hill,  :56th  N.  Y.  V.  (two 
years) ;  James  Slatthews,  5th  \.  Y.  Vet.  Vol.  (two  years) ;  Uriah  Dingee, 
4th  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  William  F.  Banks,  6th  N.  Y.  11.  Art.;  P.  Cormick,t 
7th  N.  Y.  II.  Art.  (served,  altogether,  fourteen  years  in  U.  S.  service, 
woundeil  and  a  pensioner)  ;  William  Matthew  s,  17th  N.  V.  V.  (two  years)  ; 
Samuel  W.  Palmer,  sergeant,  ls(  N.  Y'.  Mounted  RiHcs  ;  William  Wil- 
liams, 6th  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Silii>*  I).  Loudon, f  sergeant,  Ktth  Connecticut 
I  wounded  and  a  pensioner) ;  Daniel  Wood,  57th  N.  Y'.  V.;  Charles  Itay- 
inond,5th  N.  Y.  II.  Art.;  Elisha  Ferris,  6th  N.  Y'.  H.  Art.;  George  W. 
.Vckerly,  1st  N.  Y'.  Mounted  Rifles  (two  years)  ;  Daniel  Gritlin,  North 
Atlantic  Scjuadron  (clerk)  ;  Thomas  J.  Ackerman.t  6th  N.  Y.  H.  Art. 
(lost  right  arm  by  a  cannon-ball  and  a  pensioner);  J.  W.  Farrington, 
nth  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Charles  P.  Kennedy,  otli  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Hiram  Smal- 
ley  and  Alexander  Yerks,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  Art.;  Israel  T.  See,  17th  N.  Y.  V.; 
Elisha  B.  Sarles,t  4'.)th  N.  Y'.  V.  (wounded  in  the  Wililerne.ss  and  a  pen- 
sioner) ;  William  Louden, t  5tli  N.  Y'.  H.  .\rt.  (wounded  at  Locust  tlrove, 
Va.,  Nov.  24,  1863,  ami  a  pensioner)  ;  John  Palmer,  12ilth  N.  Y.  V.;  Philip 
Ilon'inan,  3i'th  N.  J.  V.  (one  year) ;  James  Feeks,  12th  N.  Y.  V.  (wounded 
and  a  pensioner)  ;  Tliom:is  Ryan,  7th  N.  Y'.  Y.  (eighteen  months) ;  C. 
Van  Tassell,  5th  N.  Y'.  V. ;  E.  Reilly,  5th  N.  Y.  H.  Art.  (eighteen  months) ; 
Edward  Tucker,  16tli  Veteran  Reserve  Corps  ;  .\brah.  Forkhill,  1st  N.  Y. 
Mounted  Rifles  (two  years)  ;  Wm.  A.  Beekinan, 4th  N.  Y'.  H.  .\rt.  (twen- 
ty-one months)  ;  Geo.  W.  Fosliay,  6th  N.Y'.  11.  .\rt.;  Wm.  Braun,t  2d 
U.  S.  .\rt.  (wounded  and  a  pensioner) ;  Bernard  A.  Mulvey,  landsman  on 
U.  S.  S.  "Santee"  ;  John  Dexter,  6tli  N.  Y.  H.  Art. 

Sinec  organization  of  post  the  following  members 
have  died  : 

Daniel  D.  Miller,  6th  N.  Y.  H.  .\rt.  (a  three  years'  man  who  died  Jan- 
uary 13,  1885)  ;  L.  F.  Pelton,  surgeon,  U.  S.  V.  (died  September  17, 1883) ; 
Harvey  Ferris,  ,5th  N.  Y.  II.  Art.  (three  years,  died  Septembers,  1881); 
P.  ILK.  Sawyer,  assistant  surgeon,  H2dN.  Y.  V.  (died  JlarchSl,  1885). 

This  closes  the  record  of  the  post,  for  which  I  am 
indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Comrade  Beil,  its  first 
organizer.  No  list  of  officers  for  1886  furnished.  Com- 
rade Beil  has  been  since  transferred  to  Farnsworth  Post. 

Farnsworth  Post,  No.  170,  of  Mount  Vernon. — This 
post  was  organized  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  18S0,  and 
mustered  into  service  by  Comrade  Henry  Osterheld, 
of  Kitching  Post,  No.  (JO,  of  Yonkers. 

The  charter  members  were  as  follows : 

.lames  N.  Jenkins,  F.  Whittaker,  .lolin  G.  Fay,  And.  Bridgeman,  Geo. 
W.  Hertholf,  N.  Van  Ilorson,  Wm.  Wilson,  Jr.,  I).  E.  Horton,  Wm.  G. 
Thiselton,  J.  L.  D.  Biker,  Frederick  Sauter,  Simon  Sternhagen. 

The  officers  of  the  post  to  date  are  as  follows : 

Commanders :  James  H.  Jenkins,  1880,  1S81  and  1882  ;  Frederick  Whit- 
taker, 1883  ;  Nathan  Van  Ilorson,  1884  and  1885. 

Senior  Y'ice-Commanders  :  F.  Whittaker,  1880  and  1881  ;  John  G.  Fay, 
1882 ;  Nathan  Van  Uorson,  188:1  ;  and  Joseph  H.  Porter,  1884  and 
1.S85. 

Junior  Vice-Commanders :  John  G.  Fay,  1880  and  1881 ;  Nathan  Van 
Horson,  1882;  Wm,  Wilson,  Jr,,  1883  ;  Wm.  A.  Anderson,  1884 ;  Henry 
S.  Spronll,  1885. 

Chaplains  :  Nathan  Van  Horson,  1880  and  I88I ;  Joseph  11.  Porter, 
1882  and  1883  ;  Stephen  P.  Hunt,  1884  and  1885. 


t  Wounded. 


514 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Surgeons :  George  W.  Bertholf,  1880 ;  Charles  J.  Nordquiet,  1881  ami 
1882;  Julius  Dieckman,  1883;  J.  Q.  A.  Hollister,  1884  and  1885. 

Officers  of  tlif  Day  :  Wm.  Wilson,  Jr.,  ISSO,  1881  aiid  1882;  Samuel 
Tieliaut,  1883  ;  J.  L.  D.  Riker,  1881 ;  John  G.  Fay,  ISSf). 

Officers  of  the  Guard:  J.  L.  D.  liiker,  1880,  1881,  1882  and  1883; 
Will.  II.  Mercer,  1884  anil  188.5. 

t^uarteruiastei-s :  Andrew  Bridgeman,  188t) ;  Samuel  Tiehaut,  1881; 
Herman  VVei.^s,  1882,  1883,1884  and  188."). 

Adjutants:  W.  G.  Tliiselton,  1880,  died;  Wm.  A.  Anderson,  1880, 
1881  and  1882;  James  U.  Jenkins,  1883  and  1884;  Wm.  Wilson,  Jr., 
188.'). 

Sergeant-Major :  John  II.  Davis,  1880  to  1885. 
Quarterm;ister-Sergeant :  George  W.  Van  Pelt,  1882  to  1885. 

The  offit-ers  for  188(5  are  a.s  follows  : 

Commander  :  James  H.  .lenkins  (fourth  term). 

Senior  Vice-Comniander  :  Joseph  11.  Porter  (third  term). 

Junior  Vice  Commander :  John  H.  Davis. 

Cliaplain  :  Stephen  P.  Hunt  (third  term). 

Officer  of  the  Day :  J.  L.  D.  liiker. 

Snrgeon:  J.  Q.  A.  Hollister  (third  term). 

Officer  of  the  Guard  :  \Villi:im  H.  Mercer  (second  term). 

.Adjutant:  William  Wilson,  Jr.  (second  term). 

Qnarternia-ster  :  Henry  S.  SprouU. 

Past  Commanders :  Nathau  Van  Uorson,  George  W.  lieil. 

The  names  of  the  comrades  of  the  post  are  as  fol- 
lows, with  their  regiments  and  military  history  in 
brief: 

James  N.  Jenkins,  captain,  23d  C.  V.,  throe  years;  F.  Whittaker,  ^ 
lieutenant,  6th  N.  Y.  Cav.,  four  years:  John  G.  Fay,  captain,  3d  N.  V. 
Inf.,  three  yeai-s;  A.  Bridgeman,  sergeant,  5tli  N.  Y.  Cav.,  three  years; 
W.  (i.  Tliiselton,*t  firet  sergeant,  6tli  N.  Y.  H.  Art.,  three  years  ;  Win. 
Wilson,  Jr.,t  Ciiptain,  33d  N.  J.  Inf.,  four  years  :  N.  Van  Xorson,t  pri- 
vate, 7'.nh  N.  1'.  Inf.,  three  years  ;  D.  E.  Norton,  private,  (ith  N.  V.  II. 
Art.,  three  years  ;  J.  L.  D.  Kiker,  private,  14tli  N.  \.  Inf.,  three  years  : 
(ieorge  Bertholf.  i>rivate,  31ith  N.  J.  Inf,  nine  months;  Freil.  Sauter,* 
private,  8th  X.  Y.  H.  .Vrt ,  two  yeai-s  ;  Oliver  Koot,t  private,  (ith  X.  Y.  11 
.\rt.,  three  years ;  S.  O.  Howe,  private,  8tli  N.  Y.  M.,  three  months; 
Henry  S.  Sproull,  private,  71st  N.  Y'.  M.,  three  months  ;  Wni.  A.  .Ander- 
son, hospital  steward,  V.  S.  A.,  three  and  one-half  years;  Samuel  Tie- 
bant,  second  lieutonant,  .'itli  N.  \.  Inf..  two  years  ;  James  B.  Spici'r, 
private,  22d  N.  Y.  M.,  three  niuntlis ;  Simon  Sternhagen,  sergeant,  1st 
N.  Y.  M.  R.,  three  years  and  four  months  ;  Michael  Redmond,*  sergeant, 
127th  N.  Y.  Inf.,  three  years  ;  Leonard  D.  Tice,  captain,  5th  Vermont, 
three  yeara :  C.  J.  Nordipiist,  major,  iltli  N.  Y.  S.  M.,  three  years;  Vin- 
cent .Morgan,  Oth  X.  Y.  11.  Art.;  John  L.  Tice,«t  private,  oth  VeniionI, 
three  yeai-s;  John  L.  Piper,  private,  11th  N.  Y.  V.,  s<'Veninonths  ;  New- 
ton C.  Dealing,  private,  33d  N.  J.  V.,  three  years  ;  Joseph  H.  Porter, 
corporal,  13th  N.  V.  Cav.,  two  years  ;  Jacob  Schetiermann,  17th  N.  Y'. 
S.  M.,  thirty  days  ;  S.  M.  Saunders,  captain,  l.'>8lh  N.  Y".,  three  months ; 
H.  S.  Sclienck.  private,  3stli  N.  Y'.,  two  years  ;  Herman  Slagle,  private. 
1st  N.  Y.  v.,  fouryears;  H.  C.  Weiss,  sergeant,  lith  N.  Y.  H.  Art.,  three 
years  ;  George  Van  Pelt,  sergeant,  l.")8th  N.  Y.,  three  years;  John  II. 
Davis,  private,  12th  N.  Y.,  oiic>  year  ;  Stephen  P.  Hunt,  private,  8lh 
N.  Y.  H.  .\rt.,  eighteen  mouths;  .\Ifred  Coidey,  captain  and  brevet  ma 
jor,  l.')6th  N.  v.,  three  years;  (iideon  D.  Pond,  private,  10th  Conn.,  four 
months ;  (Jeorge  II.  Urown,  sergeant,  Gth  Ind.  N.  Y.  liiittery,  three 
years ;  Valentine  M.  Hodgson,  first  sergeant  and  brevet  captain,  <i7tli 
X.  Y.Res.  Corps,  live  years  ;  John  Koedding,  private,  .'iSth  N.  Y'.,  three 
years;  William  Mitchell,  private,  lllSth  N.  Y.,  two  years  and  eight 
months,  det.  serv.  2d  V.  S.  II.  .\rt.;  Nicholas  Wilhelm,  private  68th 
N.  \'.,one  year  and  four  months  ;  William  Jlercer,  corporal,  litli  X.  Y'. 
H.  .\rt.,  three yeais  ;  John  S.  Willis,  corporal,  1st  N  Y.  Kngini-ei-s,  three- 
years  ;  .\ntun  Russi,  private,  3d  X.  J.  Battery, two  yeara  ;  Lewis  Kessler, 
landsman  navy,  one  year  and  three  months  ;  Michael  P.  Murphy,  ser- 
geant, (ilstN.  Y.,  one  year  and  two  months;  W.  N.  Valentine,  corpe>ral, 
Ist  X.  Y.  Cav.,  four  years  ;  Julius  Dieckman,*  niiijor,  15th  X.  Y".  U.  .\rt., 
four  years  and  six  months ;  John  P.  Kraeher,  private,  lith  N.  Y".  II.  Art., 
two  years  and  nine  months ;  N.  Buckley,  i>rivate,  9th  N.  J.,  two  years 
and  one  month  ;  Paul  Wagner,  private,  4lBtX.  Y.,  three  years;  John 
Zimmer,  private,  1.5th  N.  Y.  H.  Art.,  one  year  and  nine  months;  T.  M. 


t  Wounded.  *  Died. 


Reilly,  first  lieutenant,  5th  N.  Y.  Cav.,  four  years  and  two  months ;  Da" 
vid  C.  Curtis,  quartermaster,  173d  N.  Y.,  one  year  ;  John  S.  Tyler,  corpo- 
ral, 7th  Mich.,  15tb  V.  S.,  three  years  ;  L.  -\.  Van  Buskirk,  private,  :«d 
N.  J.,  two  years  ;  Nelson  Jenkins,  private,  39th  N.  J.,  nine  months  ;  Chas. 
J.  Chatfield,  first  lieutenant,  23d  N.  Y.,  three  years  and  four  mouths  ; 
George  W.  Cooper,  captain.  71st  N.  Y.,  two  years  and  three  months ; 
John  SIcier,t  sergeant,  52dN.  Y.,  three  years  ;  Oscar  II.  Riker,  private, 
oth  X.  J.  Battery,  one  year  and  eight  mouths  ;  Jerome  Chappell,  quar- 
termaster-sergeant, 82d  N.  Y.,  three  yeare  ;  J.  0.  A.  Hollister,!  cap- 
tain, 112th  X.  Y.,  three  years  ;  David  Lyon,  private,  .38th  N.  Y.,  two 
years  and  three  months  ;  J.  Stewart,  private,  8th  Wise,  one  year  :  Wm. 
H.  Mandeville,  sergeant,  5th  N.  Y".  Ind.  Battery,  three  years. 

This  closes  the  record  of  the  Post  to  date.  Since 
the  above  was  written  T.  Whittaker  has  left  the  Post 
and  joined  Chas.  Lawrence  Post,  No.  387,  of  Port 
Chester. 

H.  B.  Hidden  Post,  No.  330,  of  City  /s/a«(Z.— This 
post  was  organized  by  Comrade  James  H.  Jenkins,  of 
Farnsworth  Post,  January  27, 1883. 

The  charter  members  were, — 

(Jeorge  E.  Pinckney,  first  lieutenant,  131st  X.  Y.;  Oswald  Bergen, 
U.  S.  S.  "Santee  ; Joseph  H.  Glazier,  84th  N.  Y.;  William  Sconsbough, 
U.  S.  S.  "  Wissahickou  ; "  Henry  Buhre  t  ^Sth  N.  Y.;  Theodore  Bishop, 
r.  S.  S.  "  San  Jacinto  ;  "  Eugene  Heed,  32d  "  Maine  ;  "  S.  T.  Graham, 
r.  S.  X.;  William  K.  Miller,  oth  X.  Y.;  George  W.  Banta,  17t;th  X.  Y.; 
and  Jerome  Bell,  1st  X.  Y.  Cav. 

Since  organization  the  following  have  been 
mustered  into  the  post : 

Richard  Sherwood,  135th  N.  Y.;  E.  H.  Gurney,  8th  N.  Y'.  Cav.;  John 
S.  Serord,  (ith  N.  Y.  H.  .\rt.;  Williaui  McGloiu,  U.  S.  S.  "Vincennes;" 
Michael  Egaii,  45th  X.  Y.;  John  JlcXaniara,  1st  X.  Y.  51.  Rifies ;  Robert 
Brown,  Ellsworth  Zouaves;  Thom;is  JlcCarty,  1st  X.  Y.  Cav. 

The  Commanders  of  the  post  to  date  arc  as  follows  : 

Jerome  Bell,  1883  ;  George  E.  Pinckney,  1884;  Jerome  Bell,  1885. 

During  the  past  year  this  Post  has  moved  its  head- 
(juarters  to  New  York  City. 

Charles  Lairrence  Post,  No.  378. — This  post  was  or- 
ganized on  the  29th  of  May,  1883,  and  mustered  into 
service  by  Comrade  Frederick  Whittaker,  of  Farns- 
worth Post  No.  170,  of  Mount  Vernon,  in  time  for 
Decoration  Day. 

The  charter  members  were : 

liicbanl  Enoch,  Charles  De  Mott,  J.  J.  Martin,  Matthew  Dougbtss, 
Whitman  Sackett,  .lohn  E.  Weed,  W.  II.  Mosier,  J.  A.  Louden.  George 
Bulkley,  Henry  Diet/.,  Nicholas  Fo.\,  Daniel  Booth,  Thomas  IVIcGoverD. 

The  officers  of  the  post  to  date  are  a.s  follows: 

Commanders:  Richard  Enoch,  1883  and  1884;  Charles  De  Mott, 
188.5. 

Senior  Vice-Commanders :  J.J.Martin,  1883;  John  Foran,  1884  and 
188.'.. 

Junior  Vice-Commanders  :  Whitman  Sackett,  1883  ;  .\rdemas  Barnes, 
1884  ;  Nicholas  Fox,  1885. 
Surgeons:  William  H.  Hyler,  1883;  X.J.  Sands,  1884  and  1885. 
Chaplains  ;  John  E.  Weed,  18,S3  and  1884  ;  W.  F.  Wakefield,  1885. 
Officer  of  the  Day  :  George  Bulkley,  188;!,  1884  and  18,S5. 
Officers  of  the  Guard  :  Xichobis  Fox,  18.83  and  ISM  ;   R.  Foskey,  1885. 
Quartermasters  :  William  H.  Mosier,  188:j  and  18.>i4  ;  H.  Dietz,  1885. 
Adjutants:  Charles  De  Mott,  1883  and  1884;  William  II.  Hyler,  1886. 
Sergeant-Major :  C.  S.  Higgins,  first  appointment,  1885. 
Ouarterinaster-Sergeant :  A.  Barnes,  first  appointment,  1885. 

The  officers  for  188()  are  as  follows  : 

t  Wounded. 


THE  CIVIL  WAR,  18(j0-65. 


516 


ConimanJer,  John  Foraa  ;  Senior  Vice-Coiiiniander,  Nicholas  i'ox,; 
Junior  Vico-C'uninmnilor,  Cliarlcs  Hughes  ;  Surgeon,  Dr.  N.  J.  SanJs  ; 
Chaplain,  Rev.  W.  F.  Wakofleld  ;  Officer  of  tlie  Day,  George  \V.  Hiilk- 
ley;  Officer  of  the  Guard,  .(ohn  A.  lioudcn  ;  Adjutant,  Uicluvrd  Enorli  ; 
Quartcrmitstcr,  William  11.  llyler;  .Sergeant-Major,  Charles  de  Mott ; 
Qnarterniarter-Sergeant,  Henry  Diet/.. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  comrades  of  the  post 
to  date,  with  a  record  of  service  : 

Nicholati  Fo.\,  28tU  ('onn.,  three  years;  Daniel  Booth,  17th  Conn., 
three  years;  Charles  Hocple, '2Sth  Conn.,  three  yeai-s;  John  Sherwood, 
lOUi  ('4)nn.,  thrpe  years  ;  J.  H.  Kascoe.t  otli  (Nmn.,  three  yeara  ;  .Mbro 
Weir.t  i'ltli  Conn.,  three  yeai-s ;  Cliarli-s  Mughe.s,  luth  I'onii.,  Iliree 
years;  William  H.  Bailey,  (itli  Conn,  three  yeara;  W.  Sackett,t  17th 
Conn.,  three  years;  J.  A.  Louden,  17th  Conn.,  three  years;  John 
Foran,  1st  Miiss.  H.  Art.  ;  H.  D.  Cordner,  Ist  Mass.  H.  Art.,  three 
yei>s:  T.  J.  (Vdes,  .'ith  Mass.  Vid.,  three  years;  H.  M.  Lisle,  Ist  N.  Y. 
Vol.,  three  years  ;  ,\rdenias  Hiirnes,  .\niu£a  Conover,  Henry  l»ietz,f  Geo. 
Buckley  and  J.  J.  ^lartin,  all  of  17th  X.  Y.  Vol.  (the  I'oit  Chester  com- 
pany!;  William  Sniith.t  7llth  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  G  J.  McBride, 
97th  X.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years;  Stephen  lUuxomel.t  127th  N.  Y:  Vol., 
three  yeare  ;  Alex.  McBride,  4'.lth  X.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  A.  J.  Maris. 
65th  X.  "k.  Vol  ,  three  yeai>  ;  U.  L.  IMace,  127th  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three yeai-s; 
Fred.  Brittnor,  74tli  X.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  diaries  De  Mott,  22d  X  Y. 
Vol.,  three  years  ;  W.  H.  Madden,  liOd  X.  Y.  Vol.,  throe  years  ;  Wallace 
McBride,  KWth  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  I).  A.  BntterHeld,t  51st  N.  Y. 
Vol.,  three  years;  M.  Billingtou,  .'15th  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  M. 
Dougliuss,  7'.ilh  X.  Y'.  Vol.,  three  yeare;  K.  Baruch,t  7th  N.  V.  Vol., 
three  years;  J.  McGovern,  82d  .\.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  K  ichard  Enoch, f 
Sad  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ;  J.  K.  Weed,  4iPth  N.  Y.  Vol.,  three  years  ; 
Junes  B.  Lynch,  llt'Jth  I'a.  Vol.,  three  yeans;  G.  L.  Drnnien,  1st  X.  J. 
Vol.,  three  yeai-s;  Kdward  Knott, f  3d  N.J.  Vol.,  three  years;  Wilhani 
F.  Wakefield,  2d  N.  Y.  Art.,  three  y»ars  ;  C.  S.  Higgins,  4th  X.  Y.  H. 
Art.,  three  years  ;  William  II.  Mosier,  W.  H.  Hees,  S.  D.  Burger,  TlioniiL-i 
J,  Halpiii,!  Sullivan  tiockwood  and  John  Hughes,  all  of  the  (>th  X.  Y.  H. 
Art.,  three  years  ;  B.  Foskey,'.lth  N.  Y.  Cav.,  Kdwin  Cluiicli,f  2d  N.  Y. 
0»v.,  (i.  K.  Blackniaii,t  lid  X.  Y.  Cav.,  all  three  years  ;  William  II.  liy- 
IcrwHS  in  the  l.'iOth  N.  Y'.  Vol.,  and  also  in  the  V.  S.  S.  "  Wateree, "  for 
the  whole  jieriod  of  the  war,  and  after  ;  Thomas  G.  Sutton  belonged  t  j 
the  Veteran  Volunteer  Battery  of  Xew  Y'ork  State. 

Of  the  New  York  State  Militia,  niu.stered  into  the 
United  States  service  for  periods  of  three  months  or 
more,  there  are : 

Ilenry  Dietz,  J.  J.  Post  and  E.  F.  Terhune,  71st ;  X.  J.  Sands,  l.'.tli ; 
0.  H.  Kniffen,  loth ;  William  Morrison,  l.'itli  ;  George  E.  Jurdine,  37th 
Bcgiments. 

Cromwell  Post,  No.  466,  of  White  Plaim. — This  post 
was  organized  March  19,  1884,  by  Comrade  James  H. 
Jenkins,  of  Farnswortli  Post. 

The  charter  members  were  Valentine  M.  Hodgson, 
Edward  B.  Long,  John  C.  Verplanck,  George  W. 
Brown,  Edward  W.  Bogart,  Henry  I.  Williams, 
Berlin  K.  Palmer,  David  P.  Barnes,  George  W. 
Coventry,  James  S.  Snedeker,  Richard  Roach,  Charles 
Whiston  and  George  Lewis. 

Valentine  M.  Hodgson  Wiis  Commander  for  1884, 
and  the  officers  for  1885  were  Commander,  Edward  B. 
Long;  S.  V.  C,  Crawford  N.  Smith;  J.  V.  C, 
Cleorge  W.  Coventry  ;  Surgeon,  David  P.  Barness  ; 
Chaplain,  David  W.  Bogart ;  Officer  of  Day,  George 
W.  Brown  ;  Officer  of  Guard,  Henry  J.  Williams ; 
Adjutant,  Edward  W.  Bogart;  Q.  M.,  Berlin  H. 
Palmer  ;  Q.  M.  S.,  James  McCarty. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  members,  with  their 
military  history  in  brief : 

Valentine  M.  Hodgson,  first  lieutenant,  67th  N.  Y'.;  Edward  I!. 
Long,  IstN.  J.:  John  C.  Verplanck,  musician,  :t2d  N.  V.;  George  W 


Hrown,  .i.3d  Ky.;  James  S.  Snedeker,  landsman,  gunboat  "Jlybiscus;" 
Berlin  H.  I'almer,  .^Ist  X.  Y.;  Edward  W.  liogart,  'J.5tli  X.  V.;  David  I'. 
Barnes,  firat  sergeant,  (ith  N.  Y.  II.  .\it.;  K.  Uoach  and  H.  I.  Williams, 
fith  N.  Y.  II.  Art.;  George  W.  Coventry,  4(ltli  N.  Y.  ;  Charles  B.  Whiston, 
27th  N.  v.;  Robinson  W.  Smith,  711111  N.  Y.:  Sidney  Marline,  :i2d 
X.  v.;  James  H.  Bmlway,  :?Sth  X.  Y.:  Daniel  W.  Flandiow,  '.).')th  N.  Y.; 
Daniel  W.  Bogart,  ill  ummer,  !l5tli  X.  Y.;  James  .\.  McCarty,  4tli  X.  Y'.; 
George  H.  Morse,  2'.ltli  Mass.;  Oscar  Stephens,  .Ith  N.  Y.;  Crawford  X. 
Smith,  lid  V.S.  Inf.;  Thomns  Rush,  lt«4th  N.  V.;  Henry  A.  Maynard, 
21st  X.  Y.;  .lolin  I.owry,  lid  Refjt.  I'rov.  X.  Y.  (,'av.;  John  Simnioiis,  49tli 
N.Y.;  Alexander  Jones,  12Xth  \.  V.;  Itenjainin  S.  Dick,  22d  X.  V.  S.  M.; 
Mervin  Sniffin,  I'ltli  X.  Y.  H.  Art.;  J.  (i.  Spencer,  yeoman,  U.  S.  S.,  "Katah- 
din  ;  "  Stanley  F.  Newell,  37th  N.  Y. 

Ward  B.  Burnett  Post,  I\<i.  496,  of  Tavrijtown. — This 
l)ost  was  organized  July  1,  1S84,  W.  C.  Reddy,  of 
Post  Rice,  New  York  City,  being  the  mustering  officer. 

Charles  N.  McCUitclu-n,  late  of  Vosburgh  Post, 
Pcekskill,  was  the  organizer  and  first  Commander  of 
this  post  for  1884,  and  was  succeeded  by  C.  J.  Car- 
penter, who  is  the  present  Commander. 

The  charter  members  were  : 

Richard  B.  Coutant,  Charles  N.  McCutcheii,  Henry  White,  J.  ('. 
Jones,  Louis  Ilelwig,  Thomas  Arthur,  (.'liarles  Iluniidireys,  Joseph  8. 
M.  Slagle,  J.  .1.  Liiison,  .\le\and6r  Hamilton,  Jacob  Van  Tassell, 
Harry  J.  Parnell,  C'.  T.  Carpenter,  E.  T.  Yocoui,  Thomas  Rawclitle, 
William  Covert,  Bishop  Armstrong,  William  C.  Ciishiiig,  Jacob  Wood, 
Ilenry  Humphreys,  tJeorge  B.  <!ypher  and  James  D.  See. 

Since  organization  of  the  post  the  following  mem- 
bers have  been  mustered  in :  Thomas  Birdsall, 
Thomas  Taxter,  Sylvester  Gesner,  B.  Frank  Davis 
and  Elias  Bryant. 

The  list  sent  by  the  Commander  of  the  post  did  not 
give  the  regiments  of  the  members  in  full. 

B.  F.  Davis  and  (".  J.  Carpenter  belonged  to  the 
Seventh  and  Eighth  Regiments  of  New  York  Militia, 
respectively,  and  served  for  three  and  six  mouths. 

The  post,  in  succeeding  one  that  had  succumbed, 
after  a  struggle  of  several  years,  has  probal)ly  Imt  a 
short  existence  before  it. 

Of  the  charter  members  several  seem  to  have  joined 
by  transfer  from  other  posts. 

C.  Theodore  C'arpenter,  Commander  ;'Edward  S.  Yocom,  Senior  Vice- 
c  oniniander  ;  Thonuvs  ItawcliH,  Junior  Vice-Commander;  William  E. 
Gushing,  Adjutant  ;  Bishop  .Armstrong,  (iuai  terniaster  ;  Thonia.'*  liinlsall. 
Chaplain;  Jacob  W.  Wood,  Officer  of  Day  ;  Ilenry  llumphiey.  Officer  of 
Guard. 

Horatio  Seymour  Post,  No.  590,  of  Yonkers. — This 
post  was  mustered  in  at  Yonkers  on  Tuesday,  June 
29,  1886,  by  Comrade  John  C.  Shotts,  of  Kitching 
Post,  with  the  following  membership : 

Commander:  Frederic  Slionnaid,  major,  Cth  X.  Y.  H.  A.;  Senior  Vice- 
Goinniandcr  :  Fisher  A.  Baker,  lieutenant-colonel,  18th  Mass.  Vol.;  Ju- 
nior Vice-Comniander :  Edward  J.  Maxwell,  fi|-st  lieutenant,  Olid  N.  Y'. 
Vol.;  Surgeon:  Dr.  Galusha  H.  Balch,  assistant  surgeon,  2d  N.  Y.  Vet. 
Cav.;  Chaplain  :  John  Forsyth  ;  Officer  of  the  Day  :  James  V.  Law  rence  ; 
brevet-major.  Gen.  Stall';  Officer  of  the  Guard:  Augustus  W.  Xichol ; 
tjuartermaster  :  William  Welsh,  captain,  (iSth  N.  Y.  Vol.  (by  proxy  of 
(y'oinrade  Matt.  Ellis,  formerly  of  Kitching  I'ost)  ;  .\<ljutaiit ;  James  F. 
t'arrell,  aiptaiu,  .'>tli  X.  Y.  .\rt.;  Sergeant-Major:  George  W.  Farnum, 
corporal,  2Ud  Conn.  yuartermaster-Sergeaut;  Tlios.  Ewing,  bievet 

niiijor  general,  .\rmy  of  the  Fioiilier. 


t  Wounded. 


516 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 
BY  J.  THOMAS  SCHAKF,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

One  has  but  to  glance  at  any  good  map  of  New 
York  City  to  realize  what  must  with  almost  absolute 
certainty  be  the  rare  good  fortune  of  Westchester 
County.  The  great  metropolis  has  already  stretched 
its  briarean  arms  in  all  directions  from  its  northern 
limits,  and  its  geographical  necessities  compel  it  to 
spread  outward  like  a  fan  over  the  surface  of  West- 
chester County.  Its  present  corporate  shape  may  be 
compared  to  the  Cleopatra's  needle,  which  now  forms 
one  of  its  notable  monuments.  The  city  is,  in  fact,  a 
rude  obelisk,  with  its  base  on  the  boundary  line  of 
Yonkers  and  its  apex  at  the  Battery.  The  general 
uniformity  of  the  outline  is  preserved  on  the  one  side 
by  the  East  River  and  on  the  other  side,  and  much 
more  regularly,  by  the  Hudson.  These  great  water 
highways  necessarily  interpose  a  formidable  obstacle 
to  the  spread  of  population  in  either  direction,  and 
although  the  introduction  of  steam  ferriage  and  the 
construction  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge  have  modified  the 
inconveniences  of  tran.sit  across  broad  rivers,  the  gen- 
eral trend  of  population  continues  to  the  northward. 
Elevated  railroads  and  the  development  of  transpor- 
tation facilities  have  brought  all  portions  of  the 
county  within  easy  reach,  and  New  York  is  steadily 
absorbing  the  outlying  territory.  Morrisania  and 
Fordham  have  already  been  appropriated,  and,  with 
the  accelerated  ratio  of  increasing  population,  the 
day  is  probably  not  far  distant  when  almost  the  entire 
county  will  have  become  little  more  than  a  suburb  of 
New  York. 

A  writer  of  twenty  years  ago,'  speaking  of  the  con- 
templated imjjrovements  beyond  the  then  northern 
boundaries  of  the  city,  says  :  "  Assuredly  this  region 
will  be  the  site  of  the  future  magnificence  of  this  me- 
tropolis. During  the  coming  five  or  ten  years  the 
Fifth  Avenue  will  no  doubt  be  soonest  built  up,  and 
built  up  grandly,  but  the  city  will  not  stop  on  that 
account;  it  will  be  succeeded  by  an  age  of  imperial 
magnificence.  That  will  be  the  day  for  the  now  ne- 
glected west  side  of  the  island.  The  poetical  prophecy, 

'  Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  way,' 

and  which  is  fast  becoming  historical  truth,  will  re- 
ceive another  illustration."  Much  of  this  prediction 
has  already  been  realized  and  a  comparatively  brief 
period  in  the  future  may  be  expected  to  work  a  won- 
derful transformation  in  the  physiognomy  of  those 
portions  of  Westchester  County  which  as  yet  have 
not  assumed  the  distinctively  urban  character. 

While  the  people  of  Westchester  may  felicitate 
themselves  on  the  added  prosperity  and  increase  in 


values  of  property  which  the  change  will  involve,  they 
will  have  to  deplore  the  inevitable  loss  in  picturesque- 
ness,  beauty  and  variety  of  interest  which  the  county 
now  presents  to  the  eye  in  such  eminent  degree. 
Cities  are  ruthless  destroyers  of  rural  scenery.  They 
fill  up  the  bosky  dells,  demolish  the  picturesque  crag 
and  towering  hill,  mow  down  the  lordly  giants  of  the 
forest  and  annihilate  the  general  aspect  of  rural  love- 
liness and  peace.  The  least  sentimental  of  land- 
owners must  regret  the  inflow  of  urban  population, 
when,  as  in  Westchester,  it  involves  the  destruction 
of  as  lovely  bits  of  landscape  as  the  eye  of  man  ever 
rested  on.  Traversed  by  picturesque  ridges  and 
romantic  streams,  with  the  blue  expanse  of  Long 
Island  Sound  on  the  one  side  and  the  lordly  Hudson 
on  the  other,  the  county  is  exceptionally  favored 
by  nature,  and  there  is  no  strip  of  territory  of  equal 
extent  in  the  whole  country  which  combines  in  the 
same  degree  advantages  of  location  and  beauty  of  sur- 
face with  the  artificial  adornments  wrought  in  the 
lapse  of  many  generations  by  intelligent  direction  and 
skill. 

While  the  bolder  beauties  of  the  Hudson  are  not 
comprised  within  its  limits,  its  territory  adjacent  to 
the  borders  of  that  classic  stream  has  long  been  a 
favorite  theme  for  song  and  story.  Cooper,  Paulding 
and  Irving  have  drawn  a  rich  store  of  literary  mate- 
rial from  within  its  confines,  and  the  bold,  original 
genius  of  Poe  found  much  of  its  inspiration  while  the 
poet  was  roaming  along  the  banks  of  the  river  or 
gazing  from  the  windows  of  his  little  cottage  at  Ford- 
ham. 

The  development  along  the  shore  of  the  Hudson  is 
a  striking  indication  of  what  may  be  anticipated  for 
the  whole  of  Westchester  County.  "  The  whole  re- 
gion of  country  bordering  the  Hudson  River,  north 
of  Spuyten  Duyvel,"  says  a  writer,-  "  was,  until  within 
a  very  recent  period,  occupied  by  isolated  residences 
and  grand  estates,  some  of  them  embracing  several 
thousand  acres.  Notable  examples  were  the  Philipse 
and  Livingston  Manors,  the  titles  to  which  came  di- 
rectly from  the  crown.  Gradually  these  extensive 
tracts  were  sub-divided,  leaving  still,  however,  large 
areas  in  the  possession  of  single  individuals.  Many 
of  these  smaller  estates  have  undergone  a  process  of 
improvement  and  embellishment,  until  the  lordly 
mansions  on  the  Hudson  have  become  famed  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  for  their  beauty  and  picturesque 
surroundings.  .  .  .  Art  has  done  its  share  to  add 
to  the  charms  of  the  landscape.  Here  are  the  resi- 
dences of  many  leading  New  Yorkers, — elegant,  com- 
fortable homes,  surrounded  with  tastefully  ornament- 
ed grounds,  and  presenting  all  the  evidences  of  that 
domestic  enjoyment  which  is,  after  all,  the  sun  of 
human  happiness." 

Following  the  course  of  the  Hudson  within  the 
boundaries  of  Westchester  County,  we  pass  in  succes- 


1  Tlie  Growth  of  New  York,  New  York,  1865,  p.  42. 


-  Description  and  Map  of  Castle  Sidge,  Tarrytuwn. 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


517 


sion  through  many  noted  localities.  The  first  point 
of  interest  is  High  Bridge,  now  within  the  corporate 
limits  of  New  York,  winch  carries  the  waters  of  the 
Croton  Reservoir  across  the  valley  of  tiic  Harlem 
River  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  feet,  and  is  one 
of  the  noted  engineering  triumphs  of  the  world. 

The  hamlet  of  King's  Bridge  is  charmingly  located 
in  a  beautiful  valley,  near  the  point  where  the  Harlem 
flows  into  the  Hudson.  High,  rolling  liiils  encom- 
pass it,  on  the  crests  of  which  are  fortifications  and 
finegrowtiis  of  timber.*  The  locality  was  first  selected 
by  the  Dutch  as  the  site  of  their  projected  city.  New 
Amsterdam,  but  afterwards  abandoned. 

After  leaving  King's  IJridge  we  approach  the  city  of 
Yonkers,  the  largest  town  in  the  county,  pausing  by 
the  way  to  take  a  glance  at  Vort  Washington  and  the 
Spuyten  Duyvel.  From  IManhattanvillc  to  Fort 
Washington,  two  miles  below  Spuyten  Duyvel,  the 
shore  line  presents  a  fine  range  of  heights,  once  hand- 


Westchester  County  proper  begins  at  the  Spuyten 
Duyvel.  The  scenery  in  the  immediate  vicinity  is 
very  fine.  At  Riverdale  Station,  on  the  Hudson 
liiver  Railroad  (the  first  station  beyond  the  Spuyten 
Duyvel),  a  splendid  view  is  had  of  the  Hudson,  with 
the  villiis  clustered  along  the  eastern  bank  and  the 
Palisades  showing  their  perpendicular  fronts  against 
the  swelling  outlines  of  the  Ramapo  Range.  The  city 
of  Yonkers  is  seen  in  the  distance,  and  near  at  hand 
are  the  convent  of  Mount  St.  Vincent  and  the  castle- 
like mansion  (belonging  to  the  convent)  which  was 
formerly  the  property  of  Edwin  P'orrest,  the  tragedian. 

The  scenery  in  the  immediate  iieighborhood  is  made 
up  of  undulating  hills,  sloping  gently  to  the  river's 
range,  with  innumerable  mansions  and  cottages  em- 
bowered in  trees.  The  settlement  of  Kiverdale  is 
unique  in  its  way,  being  a  group  of  handsome  resi- 
dences, the  effect  of  which  is  unbroken  by  meaner 
dwellings  or  business  houses. 


VIEW  OF  FOKT  WASHINGTON,  188<i.' 


somely  wooded.  The  mounds  of  the  old  fort  mark  a 
spot  which  was  famous  in  Revolutionary  annals.  The 
loss  of  this  important  post,  followed,  as  it  was,  shortly 
afterward  by  the  fall  of  Fort  I^ee,  on  the  ojiposite  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  was  a  disastrous  blow  to  tlie  American 
cause  and  spread  consternation  and  gloom  throughout 
the  colonies.  Washington  Heights,  which  crown  the 
ridge  near  the  site  of  Fort  Washington,  are  the  site 
of  many  fine  residences. 

The  Spuyten  Duyvel,  it  is  said,  derives  its  name 
from  a  legendary  anecdote  narrated  by  Washington 
Irving,  who  ascribes  the  performance  from  which  it 
arose  to  Anthony  Van  Corlaer,  trumpeter  to  the 
doughty  Governor  Stuyvesant.  The  original  legend 
asserts  that  a  valiant  Dutchman,  obstinately  bent  on 
crossing  the  stream  in  a  storm,  attempted  to  swim 
across  "  en  spyt  den  duyvel  "(in  spite  of  the  devil), 
but  midway  sank  and  was  seen  no  more. 

1  From  "  Hudson  River  IlliiHtrateil."  Copyright,  187.').  By  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co. 


The  approach  to  the  city  of  Yonkers  is  extremely 
interesting  and  picturesque.  Handsome  knolls  and 
ranges  of  hills  line  the  edge  of  the  valley,  and,  on 
a  fine  eminence,  is  the  large  stone  mansion  of  the  Van 
Cortlandts,  tlic  road  to  which  lies  through  the  wooded 
range  known  as  "Cortlandt's  Ridge."  It  passes  over 
a  deep  ravine,  through  which  flows  a  sparkling  brook, 
and  is  lined  by  masses  of  jagged  rock.  In  front  of 
the  mansion  a  handsome  view  is  obtained  of  the  valley 
of  Yonkers,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  flows  Tii)i)et's 
Brook.  On  the  west  side  of  the  ridge  is  a  charming 
view  of  the  Hudson  River,  the  Palisades  and  adjacent 
hills.  The  ancient  residence  of  the  Cortlandt  fiimily 
stands  in  the  valley  below,  about  a  mile  from  King's 
Bridge.  A  portion  of  the  estate  has  been  laid  out  as 
a  park. 

Yonker.s,  seventeen  miles  from  the  City  Hall  of 
New  York,  is  doubly  interesting  from  its  historical 
associations  and  its  size  and  importance  as  the  prin- 
I  cipal  town  in  the  county.    As  the  seat  of  thePhilipse 


518 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Manor  it  was  formerly  known  as  Philipsburgh.  The 
old  Philipse  manor-house  is  one  of  the  landmarks  on 
the  river.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  are  many  pala- 
tial residences,  including  "  Greystone,"  the  residence 
of  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Tildeii.  For  many  years  Yonkers 
was  an  easy-going  Dutch  village,  but  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  it  sprang  into  sud- 
den life  and  activity  and  soon  became  a  flourishing 
suburb  of  the  metropolis.  It  is  now  one  of  the  hand- 
somest cities  in  the  country. 

Hastings,  the  first  village  al)ove  Yonkers,  is  the  spot 
wlicre  Cornwallis,  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Washington, 
crossed  the  river  to  attack  Fort  Lee.  About  a  mile 
further  on  is  Dobbs  Ferry,  near  which  was  fought  the 


the  river,  embowered  in  a  dense  growth  of  shrubbery. 
It  is  of  stone,  with  many  gables,  the  eastern  side 
being  clothed  with  ivy  from  slips  presented  to  Irving 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott  at  Abbotsford.  The  original 
structure  was  the  "  Woolfert's  Roost,"  which  gives  its 
title  to  one  of  Irving's  sketches.  On  the  opposite 
bank  is  Tappan,  memorable  as  the  scene  of  the  mas- 
sacre of  Baylor's  regiment  by  the  British  under 
General  Grey,  and  from  the  fact  that  about  a  mile 
from  the  town  Major  Andre,  the  victim  of  Arnold's 
treachery,  was  executed  and  biu'ied. 

Tarrytown,  about  a  mile  beyond  Tappan  and  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  was  the  scene  of  Andre's 
capture.    Here  was  erected  a  monument  in  honor  of 


THE  CITY  OF  YONKERS.' 


battle  of  White  Plains  in  October,  1776.  The  Living- 
ston manor-house,  near  by,  was  the  headquarters  of 
Washington  and  also  the  spot  where  the  conference 
was  held  in  1783,  between  George  Clinton  and  Sir 
Guy  Carleton,  the  British  commander,  with  reference 
to  the  evacuation  of  New  York  City.  At  Dobbs 
Ferry  the  Hudson  widens  into  a  bay  which  is  known 
as  the  Tappan  Zee. 

Irvington,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Dobbs 
Ferry,  derives  its  name  from  Washington  Irving, 
whose  former  residence,  "  Sunnyside,"  is  one  of  the 
chief  points  of  retreat  on  the  river.    It  stands  near 


'From  "  Hudson  River  Illustrated.  "  Copyright,  1876.  By  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co. 


Van  Wart,  who  was  one  of  the  three  American  mili- 
tiamen who  seized  the  unfortunate  young  officer. 
Here  also  is  the  famous  old  Dutch  Church,  lieavy  with 
the  marks  of  more  than  two  centuries,  and  Sleepy 
Hollow,  described  by  Irving  in  his  well-known  legend 
narrating  the  luckless  courtsliip  of  Ichabod  Crane. 
The  neighborhood  is  rich  in  interesting  associations 
growing  out  of  the  residence  here  for  many  years  of 
Washington  Irving  and  members  of  his  household ; 
and  the  romantic  beauty  of  the  surroundings  fully 
fortifies  the  deep  and  strong  affection  which  Irving 
contracted  for  his  riverside  cottage  and  the  adjacent 
neighborhood.  Tarrytown  is  now  a  charming  sub- 
urban locality,  its  hills  affording  handsome  sites  for 
many  beautiful  villas  surrounded  by  well-kept  gardens 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


519 


and  lawns.  Nearly  opposite  Tarrytowii  the  Palisafles 
roiin  11  lofty  eliti'  near  the  shore,  ealled  Point-no- 
Point,  and  the  scenery  on  both  banks  of  the  river  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood  is  indescribably  beautiful. 

Sing  Sing,  noted  as  the  site  of  one  of  the  State 
Prisons,  is  tiie  next  town  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
river.  The  surrounding  scenery  is  picturescjue. 
About  a  mile  to  the  east  of  the  town  are  the  Chappaqua 
Springs.  On  the  west  side  of  the  river  are  (Jrassy 
Point  and  Stony  Point,  with  Forts  Clinton  and  Mont- 
gomery, both  noted  strongholds  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  About  two  miles  above  Sing  Sing  is  the  source 
of  theCroton  River,  which  furnishes  the  water  supply 
for  New  York  City.  It  is  conveyed  by  an  aiiueduct 
forty  miles  long,  with  sixteen  tunnels  and  forty-four 
bridges.  Croton  Point,  four  miles  above  Sing  Sing, 
is  a  tongue  of  land  projecting  into  the  river  and 
covered  with  vineyards  and  orchards-  It  separates 
Tappan  Zee  from  Haverstraw  Bay.  At  its  extremity 
a  noble  view  of  the  river  is  obtained.  Some  distance 
below  is  Point-no-Point  and  in  the  opposite  direction 
the  Highlands  loom  into  view.  The  upper  end  ol 
Haverstraw  Bay  is  nuirked  by  Stony  Point  on  the 
west  and  Verjilanck's  Point  on  the  east.  Verplanck's 
Point  was  also  the  site  of  a  fort  in  the  Revolutionary 
period.  The  view  from  this  spot  is  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful, commanding  the  passage  through  the  Highlands 
at  West  Point.  Nearly  opposite  is  Gibraltar  or 
Caldwell's  Landing,  which  marks  the  commencement 
of  the  Highlands. 

'*  lly  \voo*lo(i  bluft"  we  stfal,  by  U'aiiin^  lawn  ; 
By  palace,  village,  cot,  a  sweet  siir|>ri3e 
.\t  every  tm  ii  tlie  vision  breaks  upon  ; 
Till  to  our  woniiering  and  iiiiliTted  eyes 
The  liiglilanil  roi  ks  and  hills  in  solemn  gramleiir  rise.  ' 

It  was  here  that  the  search  was  made  many  years 
ago  forsunken  Ireasuresupposed  to  have  been  deposited 
by  the  noted  buccaneer  and  freebooter.  Captain  Kidd. 

Beyond  Verplanck's  Point,  on  the  east  bank,  is 
Peckskill,  forty-three  miles  from  New  York.  It  .stands 
upon  a  broad  bay,  at  the  mouth  of  a  creek,  and  looks 
out  upon  the  Dunderberg  or  Thunder  Mountain.  It 
is  historically  noted  a.s  the  pbice  where  Edward  Pal- 
mer, a  British  s|)y,  was  executed  by  order  of  General 
Putnam.  He  was  hanged  from  a  tree  on  the  village 
green.  The  beautiful  Highlands  rise  in  their  lovely 
majesty  to  the  northward  and  westward  of  the  town, 
and  the  river,  pent  up  into  a  narrow  channel  between 
their  flinty  jaws,  rusiies  onward  in  impetuous  course 
only  to  spread  out  again  in  the  beautiful,  jjlacid  bay 
ot  JIaverstraw.  There  is  no  grander  river  scenery  in 
the  world  than  at  this  portiou  of  the  Hudson.  Writ- 
ing of  the  Highlands,  Dr.  Mitciiell  says,—"  This  solid 
barrier  of  ro(;k,  which  is  sixteen  miles  wide  and 
extends  along  both  sides  of  the  Hudson  to 
the  distance  of  twenty  miles,  in  ancient  days 
seems  to  have  impeded  the  course  of  the  water 
and  to  have  raised  a  lake  high  enough  to  cover 
all  the  country  to  Quaker  Hill  and  the  Taghkanic 


Mountains  on  the  east,  and  to  Shawanguiik  and  the 
C'atskillson  the  west,  exteiuling  to  the  Little  Falls  of 
the  Mohawk,  and  to  the  lladley  Falls  of  the  Hud- 
son, but  by  some  convulsion  of  nature  the  mountain 
chain  had  been  broken,  and  thus  the  rushing  waters 
found  their  way  to  the  now  New  York  Bay." 

Near  Peekskiil  the  territory  of  Westchester  termi- 
nates at  the  boundary  Hue  which  sei)arates  it  from 
Putnam  County.  It  would  be  impossible  to  depict  in 
language  the  manifold  beauties  and  advantages  of 
its  Hudson  Riverfront,  already  lined  with  beautiful 
homes  and  destiued  to  become,  no  doubt,  in  coui-se  of 
time,  one  of  the  most  densely  populated  localities  in 
all  the  world.  For  nearly  fifty  miles  it  presents  an 
unbroken  succession  of  pictures<iue  building  sites 
with  charming  prospects  of  hill  and  river  scenery, 
thought  by  many  to  be  unrivaled  in  any  quarter  of  the 
globe. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  county,  skirting  Long 
Island  Sound,  a  widely  ditfereiit  panorama  is  presented, 
but  one  which  also  has  individual  charms  and  beau- 
ties of  its  own.  The  shore  line  is  broken  into  many 
promontories  or  i)eninsulas  and  the  general  efl'ect  is 
remarkably  diversified  and  l)eautiful.  Westchester, 
the  townslii])  contiguous  to  New  York  City  on  the 
east,  presents  a  rolling  surface,  with  fine  grass  and 
|)asture  lands,  which  are  abundantly  watered  by  small 
streams  and  springs.  TheBronx  River,  flowingthrough 
the  middle  of  the  township,  is  the  principal  stream, 
and  along  its  banks  are  many  beautiful  localities. 
The  general  a])pearance  of  the  valley  is  most  romau- 
tic.  East  of  "Bronxdale"  is  a  low  tract  of  land 
known  as"  Bear  Swamp,"  which  tlerives  its  name  from 
the  savage  animal  that  formerly  made  its  home  in  the 
morass.  Throckmorton's  Neck,  between  Westchester 
Creek  and  Pelham  Bay,  is  the  site  of  many  hand- 
some resiliences  which  command  noble  views  of  Long 
Island  f?ound.  At;  its  extremity  stands  Fort  >Scluiyler, 
one  of  the  defenses  of  New  York  City  from  approach 
by  way  of  the  Sound.  Here  the  tides  from  opposite 
directions  meet  in  the  Sound.  Opposite  City  Island, 
on  the  northeast  side  of  the  point,  are  the  well-known 
Stei)ping-Stones,  a  line  of  rocks  projecting  from  the 
Long  Island  shore,  wliich  become  visible  at  low 
water.  On  the  highest  of  them  stands  the  light- 
house known  as  "  Stepping-Stone  Light."  On  the 
northeast  side  of  the  point  lies  Locust  Island,  and  on 
the  south  are  many  handsome  residences  liiiiiiir  the 
western  shore  of  the  East  River,  including  the  old 
Livingston  place,  noted  for  its  beautiful  cedar  of 
Lebanon,  .said  to  be  the  finest  in  the  United  States.  It 
is  fifty  feet  in  height  and  its  branches  extend  for  a 
distance  of  fifty  feet.  On  the  road  from  the  Point  to 
Westchester  village  are  many  beautiful  residences.  On 
the  eastern  side  of  Westchester  Creek,  in  Castle  Hill 
Neck,  stands  the  old  Wilkins  mansion,  now  a  farm- 
house, in  which  it  is  said  three  Loyalist  clergymen, 
including  Dr.  Seabury,  (afterwards  bishop  of  Connecti- 
cut), were  secreted  during  the  Revolution. 


520 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Cornell's  Neck,  iu  the  southwest  corner  of  the  town, 
between  the  Bronx  River  and  Pugsley's  Creek,  com- 
mands some  beautiful  views  of  East  River  and  the 
adjacent  islands.  The  noted  property  known  as 
"  De  Laucey's  Mill "  is  located  about  three  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Bronx  and  opposite  the  village 
of  AVest  Farms.  The  township  of  the  latter  name — 
formerly  ])art  of  the  borough  of  Westchester  and  uotv 
incorporated  with  the  city  of  New  York — contains 
many  beautiful  sites,  among  them  being  the  former 
residence  of  the  poet,  Joseph  Rodmsiu  Drake,  on 
Hunt's  Point,  near  its  extremity,  overlooking  the  East 
River  and  Flushing  Bay.  Near  the  entrance  of  Jef- 
ferd's  Neck  is  Rose  Bank,  the  beautiful  estate  of 
William  H.  Leggett,  on  the  bank  of  the  East  River, 
which  here  has  the  appearance  of  a  lake.  In  front  of 
the  house  a  view  is  had  of  Riker's  Island,  the  Two 
Brothers,  the  entrance  to  Hell  Gate,  with  New  York 
City  in  the  distance.  The  ancient  ^lanor  of  Mor- 
risania,  also  at  one  time  a  part  of  Westchester  County, 
is  now  a  district  of  New  York  City.  It  was  originally 
a  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians,  as  is  shown  by  the 
numerous  remains  discovered  in  mounds,  etc.,  and  re- 
mained but  sparsely  settled  for  years.  In  1848,  how- 
ever, it  began  to  yield  to  the  encroachment  of  the 
city's  poj)ulation,  and,  iu  course  of  time,  a  flourisliing 
town  was  built  up.  It  now  forms  the  thickly-popu- 
lated Twenty-third  Ward  of  New  York  City.  Mott 
Haven,  which  occu])ied  part  of  the  ancient  tract  of 
Morrisania,  is  the  seat  of  an  extensive  iron  foundry 
established  by  Jordan  L.  Mott.  Adjoining  it  is  the 
Harlem  Bridge,  atibrding  communication  with  the 
city  proper.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  bridge  is  the  ter- 
minus of  the  New  Haven  and  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road, with  a  large  depot  and  dock.  On  an  elevation 
northeast  of  the  depot  stands  the  manor-house  of 
what  at  one  time  was  known  as  "  Old  Morrisania," 
with  the  ancient  vault  of  the  Morris  family.  On  the 
east  side  of  the  Mill  Brook,  at  the  southwest  angle  of 
the  old  township  of  Morrisania,  stands  the  country- 
seat  of  the  noted  statesman, (xouverneur  Morris.  It  is 
eight  miles  from  New  York  City  and  nearly  o])])()site 
Hell  Gate,  commanding  a  noble  view  of  the  surround- 
ing country  and  the  river.  The  Mill  Brook  Valley 
passes  near  the  old  mansion  to  its  junction  with  the 
Harlem  Kills.  It  was  the  scene,  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, of  many  daring  exploits  of  Enoch  Crosby,  the 
noted  spy.  About  two  miles  from  Harlem  Bridge, 
near  the  banks  of  the  stream,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Tremont,  lived  the  celebrated  Charlotte  Temple. 

East  of  the  brook  and  nearly  opposite  North  and 
South  Brother  Islands,  East  River,  lies  Port  Morris, 
said  to  be  "  unsurpassed  for  the  anchorage  of  large 
vessels  by  any  port  in  the  world."  At  one  of  the  docks 
here  the  famous  "  Great  Eastern  "  rode  in  safety.  Just 
above  Port  Morris,  opposite  Riker's  Island,  there  is 
an  admirable  site  for  a  navy-yard,  with  the  means  at 
hand  for  constructing  a  fresh-water  basin  to  be  sup- 
plied by  the  Bronx,  in  which  large  fleets  could  be 


floated.  The  natural  advantages  of  the  locality  as  a 
shipping  and  terminal  point  are  indeed  exceptionally 
fine,  and  must  be  greatly  enhanced  by  the  completion 
of  the  Hell  Gate  improvement. 

The  town  of  Pelham,  adjoining  Westchester  on  the 
east,  presents  a  singular  variety  of  outline,  due  to  the 
incorporation  within  its  boundaries  of  Hunter's 
and  City  Islands,  which  cause  it  to  project  far  out 
into  Long  Island  Sound.  It  is  historically  noted  as 
the  scene  of  the  nuirder  of  the  famous  zealot,  Anne 
Hutchinson,  who,  fleeing  from  the  stern  Puritans  of 
Massachusetts,  settled  either  on  Pelham  Neck  or  in 
the  inunediate  vicinity.  Pelham  Neck  is  now  the 
site  of  many  handsome  residences,  chief  among  which 
for  its  historical  interest  is  the  Bowne  dwelling,  which 
itands  on  the  spot  once  occupied  by  the  manor-house 
of  Thomas  Pell,  first  lord  of  the  Manor  of  Pelham, 
from  which  the  township  derives  its  name.  A  fine 
view  of  City  Island  and  the  Sound  and  Pelham  Bay 
is  to  be  obtained  from  this  locality.  City  Island  is  .so 
named  from  the  hopes  of  the  early  settlers,  inspired 
by  its  great  advantages  of  location,  that  it  would  one 
day  become  the  site  of  a  great  commercial  city.  It  is  a 
beautiful  spot,  but  its  only  important  industry  is  a 
large  dock-yard,  at  which  a  number  of  noted  yachts 
have  been  built.  To  the  eastward  lies  Hart  Island,  the 
site  of  a  city  hospital  and  work-house.  Hunter's 
Island  is  connected  with  the  main  land  by  a  stone 
causeway  ami  bridge.  From  the  mansion,  about  the 
middle  of  the  island,  a  noble  view  is  afibrded. 

New  Rochelle,  the  next  township,  possesses  a 
double  interest  on  account  of  its  natural  beauties  and 
interesting  liistorical  associations  as  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Huguenot  settlement.  In  its  immediate  vi- 
cinity the  waters  of  the  Sound  are  dotted  with  numer- 
ous islands,  and  in  the  distance  the  shores  of  Long 
Island  present  a  smiling  landscape,  varied  by  cosy 
villages  and  jjrosperous  looking  farm-houses.  Nearly 
opposite  the  town  of  New  Rochelle  is  a  promontory 
extending  into  the  entrance  to  Hempstead  Bay, 
which  is  known  as  Kidd's  Point,  from  tlie  i)opular 
supposition  that  Captain  Kidd,  the  ])irale,  buried 
some  of  his  ill-gotten  treasure  there.  The  lands  of 
this  portion  of  the  county,  as  a  rule,  are  level  and 
stony,  but  the  soil  is  productive  and  there  are  hand- 
some growths  of  timber  on  the  unimproved  tracts. 

Mamaroneck,  adjoining  New  Rochelle  on  the 
east,  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Indians,  who  are 
supposed  to  have  been  attracted  bj'  the  renuirkable 
beauty  of  the  scenery.  The  Mamaroneck  River, 
which  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  town,  is  a 
romantic  stream,  winding  through  a  picturesque  and 
fertile  country  and  forming  some  charming  valleys. 
The  general  surface  of  the  township  is  broken  by 
hills  and  the  scenery  is  often  wild  and  impressive. 
The  town  is  well  watered  by  streams  and,  altogether, 
presents  unusual  attractions  as  a  place  of  residence. 

Rye,  the  last  of  the  townships  that  front  on  the 
Sound,  has  the  general  characteristics  of  this  portion 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


521 


of  the  country  strongly  defined.  The  surface  of  the 
shore  is  broken  and  rocky,  while  the  interior  com- 
prises fertile  ridges  and  plains.  Along  the  water- 
front are  a  number  of  islands,  chief  among  which  is 
Manussing,  on  which  the  first  settlements  were 
made. 

The  interior  townships  of  Westchester  County  are 
Korth  Salem,  Lewisboro,  Poundridgc,  Bedford, 
North  Castle  and  Harrison  in  the  northern  portion  ; 
WhitePlains,Scarsdale  and  East  Chester  (with  a  small 
water  front  at  the  head  of  Pelham  Bay)  in  the  east- 
ern portion.  New  Castle  west  of  the  centre,  and  York- 
town,  Somers  and  North  Salem  in  the  western  por- 
tion. Those  fronting  on  the  Hudson,  beginning  at 
New  York  City  and  traveling  westward,  are  Yonkers, 
Grcenburgh,  Mount  Pleasant,  Ossiningand  Cortlandt. 
The  entire  face  of  the  county  is  well  watered  by  a  num- 
ber of  streams  and  lakes  and  is  remarkable  for  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  its  scenery  in  almost  every  part.  It  may 
be  said  to  consist,  roughly  speaking,  of  several  ridges 
of  hills  parallel  to  the  Hudson  River,  and  separated 
by  valleys.  These  hills  constitute  two  general  ranges, 
one  extending  along  the  Hudson  and  the  other  along 
the  boundary  line  between  the  States  of  New  York 
an<l  Connecticut.  They  are  broken  up  into  a  number 
of  smaller  hills  and  ridges,  whose  general  course  is 
north  and  south.  The  highest  are  from  six  hundred 
to  one  thousand  feet  above  tide-water.  The  valleys, 
also  extending  north  and  south,  are  bordered,  as  a 
rule,  by  cultivated  slopes,  which  add  much  to  the  va- 
riety and  interest  of  the  scenery.  The  roads  running 
north  and  south,  as  they  follow  the  general  course  of 
the  valleys,  are  usually  level,  but  those  extending 
from  east  to  west,  across  the  hills  and  ridges,  are  very 
uneven  and  marked  by  many  deep  ascents  and  de- 
BCents.  In  some  portions  of  the  county  the  hills  are 
rocky  and  precipitous  and  the  scenery  bold  aud  im- 
pressive. 

The  principal  streams  of  the  county  are  Peekskill 
Creek,  Furnace  Brook,  the  Croton,  Pocantico  and 
Neperhan  Rivers,  and  Tippett's  Brook,  tributary  to  the 
Hudson  and  the  Bronx  Rivers ;  Westchester  and 
Hutchinson's  Creeks,  Mamaroneck  aud  Byram  Rivers, 
flowing  into  Long  Island  Sound ;  Maharness  and  Stam- 
ford Mill  Rivers,  flowing  east  into  Connecticut ;  aud 
Muscoot  Creek,  Plumb  Brook,  and  Titicus,  Cross  and 
Kisco  Rivers,  tributaries  of  the  Croton.  A  number  of 
small  lakes  are  located  chiefly  in  the  more  hilly  dis- 
tricts in  the  north  and  west.  The  chief  of  those  are 
Waccabuc, in  Lewisboro;  Cross  Lake,  in  Poundridge; 
Byram  Lake,  in  North  Castle;  Rye  Pond,  in  Harri- 
son ;  and  Croton  and  Mohegan  Lakes,  in  Yorktown. 
The  southeastern  portion  of  the  county  along  the 
Sound  is  deeply  indented  by  bays  and  estuaries,  which 
in  some  instances  are  bonlored  by  large  marshes.  By 
the  reflux  action  of  the  tide  in  the  streams  flowing 
into  the  Sound,  hydraulic  power  is  furnished  which  is 
utilized  in  several  places. 

The  geological  formations  of  the  county  have  al- 
4'J 


ready  been  described,  but  it  may  be  added  that  to  its 
other  advantages  as  a  place  of  residence  Westchester 
adds  the  important  one  of  an  abundance  of  building 
stone  of  the  best  quality.  There  are  valuable  quar- 
ries of  marble  at  Sing  Sing  and  traces  of  valuable  ores 
have  been  discovered.  Several  mineral  springs  have 
been  found  in  dirterent  portions  of  the  county,  chief 
among  which  is  Chappaqua  Springs,  three  miles  east 
of  Sing  Sing,  and  esteemed  for  its  medicinal  qualities. 

The  soil  of  Westchester,  owing  to  the  disintegration 
of  natural  rock  from  which  it  is  derived,  is  mainly  of 
a  light  and  sandy  character,  capable  of  great  improve- 
ments and  rendered  very  fertile  by  judicious  cultiva- 
tion and  the  application  of  manures.  Drift  deposits 
and  alluvium  appear  on  the  Hudson,  along  the  Sound 
and  in  other  localities.  These  furnish  a  much  more 
productive  soil.  The  agricultural  interests  of  the 
county,  as  fully  set  forth  in  the  township  histories,  are 
mainly  devoted  to  supplying  milk  to  the  New  York 
market,  and  to  gardening,  fruit-raisiug  aud  fattening 
cattle.  The  mechanical  industries  are  very  large  and 
important.  Immense  quantities  of  brick  and  tile  are 
manufactured  along  the  Hudson  for  exportation. 
In  the  southern  part  of  the  county  a  large  number  of 
the  inhabitants  are  employed  in  New  York  City.  The 
county,  as  we  have  indicated,  is  steadily  becoming 
more  and  more  popular  with  the  class  who  appreciate 
the  great  advantages  of  semi-rural  homes  as  a  relief 
from  the  cares  of  business.  In  the  summer  months 
the  population,  of  course,  is  greatly  increased.  Many 
wealthy  inhabitants  of  New  York  have  summer  resi- 
dences in  the  county,  and  not  a  few  prefer  to  live  here 
both  winter  aud  summer.  Among  those  whose  pala- 
tial residences  adorn  the  county  are  Hon.  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  Royal  C.  Vilas,  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
the  Hamiltons,  Lorillards,  Jays,  Tituses,  Wetmores, 
Havcmeyers,  Jay  Gould,  Cyrus  W.  Field,  David  Dud- 
ley Field,  James  B.  Colgate,  AV.  H.  Beers,  William 
Allen  Butler,  John  B.Trevor,  David  Hawley,  Thomas 
W.  Ludlow,  Leonard  W.  Jerome,  S.  H.  Kneeland, 
George  H.  Halsey,  T.  B.  Underbill,  Nathaniel  Val- 
entine, Isaac  W.  Fowler,  Jacob  D.  Odell,  Charles  E. 
Waring,  Edward  Haight,  James  T.  Adee,  Lorillard 
Spencer,  W.  A.  Dooley,  P.  R.  Uuderhill,  L.  D.  Hunt- 
ingdon, Adrian  Iselin,  George  G.  Sickles,  John  Ste- 
phenson, E.  H.  De  Lancey,  E.  F.  DeLancey,  J.  Hair- 
land,  G.  R.  Jackson,  J.  M.  Tilford,  G  W.  Quintard, 
C.  L.  Tiffany,  David  Dows,  Philip  Schuyler,  the  Burrs, 
the  Sacketts,  the  Minturns,  General  E.  L.  Viele,  H. 
A.  Chauncey,  Professor  J.  W.  Draper,  P.  J.  Armour, 
Cortlandt  Palmer,  J.  C.  Fargo,  E.  O.  Matthiessen, 
Eliphalet  Wood,  H.  R.  Bishop,  James  Benedict,  the 
late  William  E.  Dodge,  Robert  Hoe,  John  T.  Terry, 
George  Lewis,  S.  B.  Scheffelin,  the  Beekmans,  John 
Anderson,  A.  C.  Kingsland,  H.  Aspinwall,  0.  B.  Pot- 
ter, General  George  W.  Morell,  the  Onderdonks,  Col- 
onel Van  Cortlandt,  Philip  Van  Wyck,  D.  L.  Sey- 
mour, William  Nelson  and  many  others  of  equal 
prominence. 


522 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Population.  —  The  population  of  Westchester 
County  in  1880,  when  the  last  census  was  taken,  was 
108,988,  a  loss  of  22,360  as  compared  to  the  census  of 
1870,  when  the  population  was  131,348.  This  loss 
was  due  to  the  annexation,  in  1874,  of  part  of  the 
county  to  the  city  of  New  York.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
to  note  that  the  county  lost,  through  this  annexa- 
tion, near  thirty-seven  per  cent,  of  ita  foreign  born 
population,  as  against  nine  and  one-third  per  cent,  of 
its  native  population. 

In  1880  there  was  a  slight  preponderance  of  fe- 
males— 54,976  against  54,012  males  ;  but  the  balance 
stood  on  the  other  side  as  regards  children  from  five 
to  seventeen  years, — 15,332  being  boys  and  14,748 
girls.  There  were  22,043  men  fit  for  military  duty, 
— i.e,  from  eighteen  to  forty-four  years  old,  inclusive ; 
7826  were  over  forty-four  years  of  age,  making  the 
total  voting  population  29,869. 

The  death-rate  per  thousand  was  small,  as  com- 
pared to  that  of  the  whole  State.  The  census  tables 
do  not  give  the  mortality  in  each  separate  county, 
but  in  groups  of  several  counties.  Group  No.  1,  com- 
prising Kings,  Queens,  Richmond, Rockland  and  West- 
chester, exclusive  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  pre- 
sents a  total  population  of  299,075  souls,  and  a  mor- 
tality of  4881,— males,  2622;  females,  2259,- which 
gives  a  death-rate  of  16.32  per  thousand.  The  death- 
rate  for  the  whole  State  is  17.38.  The  Westchester 
group  is,  therefore,  greatly  favored  by  Nature  and 
may  boast  of  an  uncommonly  healthy  climate.  The 
difference  between  these  two  rates  will  be  better  un- 
derstood when  it  is  remembered  that  the  mortality  in 
the  whole  State — 88,332  deaths  in  a  population  of 
5,082,871  inhabitants — includes  that  of  all  the  large 
cities  where  death's  harvest  is  always  greater  than  in 
the  rural  districts.  The  deaths  in  New  York  City 
and  Brooklyn  alone  aggregate  43,208,  or  very  near 
half  the  number  of  deaths  in  the  whole  State,  and, 
taken  from  their  joint  population  of  1,772,962,  aver- 
age 24.94  per  thousand. 

The  population  of  the  various  towns  in  the  county, 


according  to  the  census  of  1870  and  1880,  was  as 
follows : 

1880.  1870. 

Bedford  Town,  including  Mt.  Kiseo  and  Village  .  .  3731  3697 

Mount  Kisco  Village   728 

Cortlandt  Town,  including  Peekskill  Village  .  .  .  12,064  11,094 

Peekbkill  Village   0893  6i>(X» 

East  Chester  Town,  including  Mt.  Vernon  Village  8737  7491 

Mount  Vernon  Village   4580  2700 

Greenburgli  Town,  including  Tarrytown  Village  .  8934  10,790 

Tarrytown  Village   3025 

Harrison  Town   1494  787 

Lowisboro  jTown   1612  1001 

Mamaroneck  Town   1863  1483 

Mount  Pleasant  Town,  including  North  Tarrytown 

Village   5450  5210 

North  Tarrytown  Village   2804 

New  Castle  Town   ■  2297  2152 

New  Rochelle  Town   5276  3915 

North  Castle  Town   1818  1996 

North  Salem  Town   1693  1754 

Ossining  Town,  including  Ossining  Village .      .  .  8709  7798 

Sing  Sing  Village   0578  4690 


Pelham  Town   2540  1790 

Poundridge  Town   1034  1191 

Bye  Town,  including  Port  Chester  Village  .  .  .  .  6576  7150 

Port  Chester  Village   3254  3797 

Scarsdale  Town   614  517 

SomersTown   1630  1721 

Westchester  Town   6789  6015 

White  Plains  Town,  including  White  Plains  Vil'go  4094  2030 

White  Plains  Village   2381 

Yonkers  City   18,892  18,357 

Ward  1   5149 

Ward  2   6917 

Ward  3    6953 

Ward  4   873 

Yorktown  ■   2481  2625 

There  were  in  Westchester  County  in  1880, — 

Native  Born   85,278 

Foreign  Born   23,710 

Total   108,988 

Of  the  Foreign-born  there  were, — 

From  Ireland   14,503 

From  Germany   6,579 

From  England  and  all  other  countries   2,628 


Agricultural  Products. — The  agricultural  re- 
sources of  our  county  make  a  very  fair  showing.  While 
our  farms  are  not,  as  in  some  of  the  Western  States, 
immense  territories,  yielding  fabulous  crops,  they 
give  evidence  of  the  prosperity  of  the  many,  rather 
than  the  opulence  of  a  few, — a  healthy  state  of  things, 
indicating  the  thrift,  independence  and  contentment 
of  the  people.  Westchester  County  contains  2991 
farms,  of  which  2385  are  cultivated  by  their  owners, 
455  are  rented  for  fixed  money  rentals  and  151  are 
rented  for  shares  of  products. 

Of  these  farms,  888  have  an  area  of  from  50  to  100 
acre«  ;  909  from  100  to  500  acres  ;  17  measure  over  500 
and  under  1000  ;  and  3  over  1000  acres.  There  are  only 
4  farms  under  three  acres  ;  183  are  over  3  and  under  10 
acres  ;  290  over  10  and  under  20  acres  ;  and  697  over 
20  and  under  50  acres.  It  will  be  seen  from  these 
figures  that  the  majority  of  our  farmers  own  enough 
land  to  raise  either  profitable  crops  or  live  stock. 
The  smaller  farms  are  well  adapted  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  fruits  and  vegetables  and  the  raising  of  poul- 
try, a  by  no  means  insignificant  feature  in  our  list  of 
productions. 

The  total  farming  area  of  the  county  is  255,774 
acres.  Of  this,  141,583  acres  are  tilled  land,  includ- 
ing fallow  and  grass  in  rotation  ;  62,265  acres  are  in 
permanent  meadows,  pastures,  orchards  and  vineyards. 
There  are  40,462  acres  in  woodland  and  forest,  and 
11,464  acres  in  old  fields  and  other  unimproved  lands. 

The  value  of  farms,  including  land,  fences  and 
buildings,  is  set  down  at  $33,264,505.  That  of  farm- 
ing improvements  and  machinery  at  $597,892;  of 
live  stock  at  $1,805,838.  The  cost  of  building  and 
repairing  ferries,  in  1879,  was  $129,336  ;  that  of  fer- 
tilizers purchased  during  the  same  year,  $48,645,  The 
estimated  value  of  all  farm  productions  sold,  consumed 
or  on  hand,  for  1879,  was  $2,544,041. 

The  live  stock  of  the  county  and  its  productions  in 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY 


AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


523 


the  year  1879  were  as  follows :  Horses,  6919;  mules  and 
asses,  40 ;  working  oxen,  2418;  milch  cows,  19,168; 
other  cattle,  5302 ;  sheep,  exclusive  of  spring  lambs, 
1646;  swine,  8207;  wool,  spring  clip  of  1880,  6069 
lbs. ;  milk  sold  in  1879,  or  sent  to  cheese  and  butter 
factories,  5,637,072  gallons ;  butter  made  on  farms, 
616,825  lbs. ;  cheese  made  on  farms  2540  lbs. 

Cereal  productions :  Barley,  84  acres  produced  2094 
bushels;  buckwheat,  1101  acres,  13,464  bushels ;  In- 
dian corn,  11,131  acres,  377,357  bushels  ;  oats,  9004 
acres,  238,509  bushels;  rye,  4038  acres,  55,130  bush- 
els ;  wheat,  1582  acres,  22.698  bushels.  There  were 
also  produced  in  1879,  300  tons  flax-straw  and  10  lbs. 
maple  sugar;  63,408  acres  of  hay  were  mown,  yield- 
ing 69,221  tons. 

There  were  on  hand,  June  1,  1880,  exclusive  of 
spring  hatching,  116,782  barn-yard  fowls  and  7506 
other  poultry.  The  number  of  eggs  produced  in  1879 
was  662,672  dozens  ;  13,475  pounds  of  honey  and  363 
pounds  of  wax  were  gathered  in  1879 ;  3  acres  cul- 
tivated in  tobacco  yielded  1825  pounds;  326,092 
bushels  Irish  potatoes  were  raised  on  3876  acres. 

The  value  of  orchard  products,  sold  or  consumed 
in  the  year  was  $164,196  ;  that  of  garden  products, 
$54,105. 

There  were  19,653  cords  of  wood  cut  and  the  value 
of  forest  products  sold  or  consumed  during  the  year 
was  $90,095. 

Spring  wool  (1880),  1646  fleeces,  weighing  6069 
of  all  pounds  ;  100  pounds  broom  corn,  and  82  bush- 
els dry  beans  were  gathered  in  1879. 

These  figures  speak  highly  for  the  productiveness 
of  our  soil  and  the  industry  of  our  farmers. 

Manufacturing  Industries. — Not  less  inter- 
esting is  the  report  on  the  manufacturing  interests 
of  the  county.  While  Westchester  County  stands 
seventeenth  on  the  list  as  regards  the  number  of  es- 
tablishments and  the  amount  of  capital  invested,  it 
will  compare  favorably  with  the  most  important  man- 
ufacturing counties.  The  true  criterion  of  prosper- 
ity is  not  so  much  the  amount  of  capital  and  the 
namber  of  manufacturers,  as  the  proportion  of  work- 
ing people  who  find  employment  at  fair  wages  and 
the  margin  of  profits  after  all  expenses  are  paid. 

A  comparison  of  the  various  factories  of  our  manu- 
fiacturing  interests  with  those  of  some  other  counties 
liaving  a  larger  number  of  manufacturing  establish- 
ments will  show  that  Westchester  County  is  particu- 
larly favored  in  this  respect.  The  census  reports 
give  the  number  of  manufacturing  establishments  in 
this  county  as  502,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $5,659,- 
424r-an  average  of  $10,841.48  per  establishment.  The 
number  of  hands  employed  during  the  year  was  10,- 
502;  to  wit:  7,542  men,  2,286  women,  and  674  child- 
ren and  youths — an  average  of  nearly  21  hands  per 
establishment. 

Three  million  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  sixty-four  dollars  were  dis- 
tributed as  wages  among  these  10,502— an  average  of 


$307.69  per  hand.  As  five-sixteenths  of  the  hands  are 
women  and  children,  who  earn  much  less  than  the 
men,  the  wages  of  the  latter  arc  considerably  above 
the  average. 

The  material  consumed  was  worth  $7,762,838.  If 
we  add  this  to  the  amount  paid  for  wages  and  we  de- 
duct the  total  from  the  gross  amount  of  products, 
$14,217,985,  we  have  a  net  balance  of  $3,223,783,  repre- 
senting nearly  57  per  cent,  profit  on  the  capital  in- 
vested. 

Examining  other  tables,  we  find  that  Erie,  the 
largest  manufacturing  county,  has  5,281  establish- 
ments, with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $62,719,399,  an 
average  of  $11,688.57  per  establishment.  Forty-eight 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-eight  hands  find 
employment,  at  a  cost  of  $22,867,176 — an  average  of 
$468.62  per  hand.  But  Erie  has  a  large  number  of 
industries  requiring  skilled  mechanics,  such  as  the 
manufacturing  of  agricultural  implements,  bridge- 
building,  carriage  and  wagon-building,  railroad  cars, 
cooperage,  foundry  and  machine  works  (which  alone 
employ  2,048  men),  ship-building,  marble  and  stove 
works,  tanneries,  etc.  The  mechanics  get  higher 
wages,  and  the  average  wages  of  ordinary  working- 
men  are  thereby  much  reduced. 

The  product  of  these  5281  manufacturing  establish- 
ments aggregates  the  enormous  sum  of  $179,188,685  ; 
but  the  material  used  costs  $130,108,417,  and  this, 
added  to  the  wages  and  deducted  from  the  gross  toial 
of  products,  leaves  a  profit  margin  of  $26,203,092,  or 
not  quite  42  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested. 

Onondaga  County  with  1277  establishments  used 
a  capital  of  $13,995,627,  or  $278.75  per  hand.  The 
material  used  cost  $12,222,132,  and  the  gross  pro- 
ducts aggregate  $20,428,477.  After  deducting  wages 
and  cost  of  material  we  have  here  $4,210,718  for 
profit  margin — not  quite  38  per  cent,  on  the  capital 
invested. 

We  give  th&se  figures  with  no  desire  to  makeinvid- 
uous  comparisons,  but  to  show  that  Westchester 
county,  with  its  502  establishments  and  modest  work- 
ing capital,  is  doing  a  safer  business  than  most  of 
its  wealthier  sister  counties. 

The  variety  of  industries  is  great,  as  compared  to 
the  total  number  of  establishments.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows, the  figures  showing  the  number  of  establish- 
ments engaged  in  the  industry :  Agricultural  imple- 
ments, 1 ;  boots  and  shoes,  11 ;  bread  and  baking  pro- 
ducts, 12  ;  brick  and  tile,  21 ;  buttons,  1 ;  carpets,  1 ; 
carriages  and  wagons,  14  ;  cheese  and  butter  factory, 
1 ;  men's  clothing,  7 ;  combs,  1 ;  cooperage,  1 ;  files, 
2;  flouring  and  grist-mill  products,  24;  foundry  and 
machine-shop  products,  24;  men's  furnishing  good.s, 
1 ;  gas  and  lamp  fixtures,  2;  curried  leather,  1 ;  malt 
liquors,  4 ;  planed  lumber,  2 ;  sawed  lumber,  13 ; 
marble  and  stone  work,  8  ;  musical  instruments,  1 ; 
floor  oil-cloth,  1 ;  patent  medicines,  1  ;  steel  pens,  1  ; 
pickles,  preserves  and  sauces,  5;  printing  and  pub- 
lishing, 5  ;  rubber  and  elastic  goods,  1 ;  saddlery  and 


524 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


harness,  19  ;  sash,  and  doors,  9  ;  scales  and  balances, 
1  ;  ship  building,  9;  shirts,  5;  silk  and  silk  goods, 
8 ;  slaughtering  and  packing,  2  ;  soap  and  candles,  2 ; 
spectacles  and  eye-glasses,  1 ;  sugar  and  molasses 
refinery,  1 ;  tinware,  copperware  and  sheet-iron  ware, 

23  ;  tobaccO)  cigars  and  cigarettes,  13  ;  wire,  1 ;  wool 
hats,  3. 

Among  the  liiost  important  industries  is  that  of 
foundry  aiid  machine-shop  products  in  which  the 
capital  invested  is  $1,067,400.    It  is  represented  by 

24  establishments,  and  gives  employment  to  2190  men 
whose  average  wages,  however,  are  only  ;?244.83. 
The  material  used  amounts  to  $1,130,382,  and  the 
products  to  $2,814,036i  The  margin  of  profits  is 
$647,464. 

The  manufacture  of  carpets  is  one  of  the  best  pay- 
ing industries.  A  single  establishmeut,  with  a 
capital  of  $800,000  (the  largest  invested  by  any  one 
firm),  manufactures  $2,646,946  worth  of  goods,  using 
$1,313,634  of  material,  and  paying  $600,000  wages  to 
1606  hands-^an  average  of  $378.66  per  hand.  This 
establishment  employs  the  largest  number  of  women 
—1000,  506  men  and  100  children. 

The  highest  average  of  wages  is  paid  by  the  eye- 
glasses and  spectacle  manufacturers,  $525.77 ;  they 
employ  90  men,  6  w^omen  and  1  child.  The  printers 
and  publishers  payj  on  an  average  $495  per  hand ;  the 
scales  and  balances  manufacturer.-*,  $487.50,  and  the 
ship-builders  a  little  over  $500 ;  but  these  indus- 
tries employ  only  men  and  these  in  limited  num- 
ber. 

The  worst  paid  bread-winners  are  the  shirt  makers. 
The  five  firms  engaged  in  this  business  give  employ- 
ment to  15  men,  477  women  and  4  children,  at  average 
wages  of  $142.23.  Total  amount  of  wages  $70,550 ; 
material  used,  .$335,600;  gross  receipts,  $477,750. 
Profit  margin,  $71,600,  on  a  working  capital  of 
$49,000. 

One  steel  pen  manufacturer  with  a  capital  of  $22,- 
500,  employs  5  men  and  45  women,  on  average  wages 
of  $200.  Aggregate  of  wages  and  material,  $13,450. 
Gross  products,  $24,000. 

The  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  is  another  im- 
portant industry,  giving  employment  to  673  men,  180 
women  and  36  children,  whose  average  wages  are 
$291.29.  The  capital  invested  in  this  business  is 
$333,600,  the  material  used  cost  costs  $865,544,  and 
the  amount  of  products  is  $1,235,644.  Eleven  estab- 
lishments are  engaged  in  this  business. 

Eight  firms  are  engaged  in  marble  and  stone  work. 
Most  of  the  granite  works  in  the  country  are  suited 
for  rough  work  only,  and  the  stone  is  quarried  for 
local  use.  A  coarse-grained  gneiss,  striped  alternately 
light  and  dark,  which  is  quarried  near  Hastings,  is 
extensively  used  in  New  York  City  for  general  con- 
struction purposes. 

The  Tuckahoe  marble  is  quarried  at  several 
points.  The  following  interesting  account  of  the 
belts  of  Dolomite  of  Archiean  age  in  which  these 


quarries  are,  is  taken  from  "  Notes  by  Professors 
Cook  and  Smock,"  published  in  the  census  reports 
(vol.  X.) 

"  One  of  these  belts  reaches  New  York  Island, 
crossing  the  Harlem  River  at  King's  Bridge;  another 
crops  on  the  Sound  near  Rochelle;  others  strike  the 
river  at  Hastings,  Dobb's  Ferry,  Sing  Sing  and  other 
points,  and  furnish  stones  good  for  construction  pur- 
poses and  of  varied  colors.  The  best  marble  obtained 
from  these  deposits  are  those  of  Tuckahoe  and  Pleas- 
antville.  The  first  is  white,  rather  coarse  in  texture 
and  regular  in  quality,  and  the  better  grades  have 
been  used  for  some  of  the  finest  buildings  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  notably  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral. 
The  color  changes  to  light  gray  by  exposure. 

"  At  the  quarry  of  the  Tuckahoe  Marble  Company 
the  finest  grade  is  nearly  a  pure  white,  but  this  is 
available  only  in  small  quantities,  and  is  used  for 
monumental  and  ornamental  work.  In  Mr.  John  F. 
Masterdon's  quarry  this  same  material  is  quarried 
more  extensively. 

"  In  composition  the  stone  from  these  quarries  is  a 
Dolomite,  containing  a  small  amount  of  iron  and 
some  mica.  The  buildings  constructed  of  the  stone 
from  the  Tuckahoe  Marble  Company's  quarry  are 
those  of  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  New  York 
City,  and  the  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  at 
Boston.  Those  constructed  of  the  material  from  Mr. 
Masterdon's  quarry  are  the  New  York  Life  Insurance 
building,  New  York  City,  the  City  Hall,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  and  the  Hotel  Vendome,  Boston. 

"  At  Pleasantville,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Tucka- 
hoe quarries,  a  coarse,  crystalline  white  marble  oc- 
curs; formerly  this  was  quite  extensively  quarried  for 
building  purposes.  The  front  of  the  Union  Dime 
Savings  Bank  building,  in  New  York  City,  is  built  of 
this  stone.  Its  structure  being  quite  coarse,  it  is  not 
well  adapted  for  carved  work.  It  has  also  been  found 
to  break  easily,  especially  when  used  for  long  columns, 
and  it  would  not  be  a  safe  stone  on  this  account  for 
all  kinds  of  work.  The  stone  is  remarkable  for  its 
crystalline,  the  crystals  being  unusually  large  and  con- 
spicuous, and  from  this  peculiar  appearance  it  has 
received  the  name  of  '  snow  flake '  marble.  This 
quarry  has  recently  [1880]  been  furnishing  about 
twenty-five  tons  of  stone  per  day  lor  making  soda 
water." 

Finances. — -The  valuation  and  taxation  of  the 
county  in  1880  were  as  follows : 

V;ilue  of  re.al  estate,  S5-2,09.'),188  ;  of  personal  property,  $3,.W9,G58. 
Sliite  tax:  schools,  $7:^,.')4.'') ;  other  piiiposes,  $I22,U01.  County  tax  for 
other  pui-iioses  than  schools,  3278,821.  Tax  in  the  school  districts,  S204, 
7M;  in  minor  civil  divisions,  $626,62:3.  Grand  total  of  taxes  paid  $1. 
306,626. 

The  gross  indebtedness  of  the  county  in  1880  was  82,071,757  ;  divided 
as  follows:  bonded  debt,  S2,967,.'>.36  ;  floating  debt,  814,221.  The  sinking 
fund  of  S.'i,647  (belonging  to  i'eekskill)  reduced  the  total  to  $2,9r)(i,ll(i 
net.  This  amount  is  subdivided  as  follows  :  county  debt,  $:520,()(X) ;  towii- 
shij)  debt,  $1,083,278.  School  district  debt,  S931.  City  and  town  debts 
81,554,258  bonded,  and  813,290  floating  debt,  less  85,647  sinking  fund. 
Net  debt,  $1,561,901. 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  AT  THE  PRESENT  DAY. 


The  city  aiiU  town  debt  is  divided  as  follows  : 

Yonkors  takes  the  lead  witli  a  bonded  debt  of  $1,3S9,IK)(1  ;  the  purpose 


for  wliich  bonds  arc  issued  being, — 

For  bridges   ?22,()fl0 

I'ublic  buildings   12,000 

Kefuudiug  old  debt   730,OI)() 

Water  works   62'),0(10 


Total  $l,38a,ii'0. 

Sing  Sing  had  a  floating  debt  of .  .  .  857G 

I'eckskill,  bonded  debt    fl35,208 

Less  sinking  fund   5,r>47 

 129,.'i61 

Port  Chester,  floating  debt   lll.UOO 

White  Plains,  bonded   823,300 

Floating   1,000 

  24,000 

Mount  Vornou,  bonded   86,".5i) 

Floating   1,111 

  7,SG4 


The  finaucial  report  of  the  mayor  of  Yonkersfor  the  fiscal  year  end- 
ing March  1,  1885,  shows  the  condition  of  the  bonded  debt  to  be  as  fol- 


lows: 

Consolidatiou  bomls,  amount  outstanding   So25,noo 

Water               "          "             "    745,000 

Bridge               "          "             "         ....  14,000 

Public  Building  and  Dock  "        "    30,000 


Total  amount  outstanding  March  1   $1,314,000 


There  was  paid  during  the  previous  year  825,000  on  consolidation  and 
fS.tKX)  on  bridge  bonds.  Water  bonds  were  issued  to  the  amount  of 
115,000. 

The  county  treasurer's  report  for  the  quarter  euiling  January  31, 
1886,  shows  the  disbursements  during  the  quarter  to  have  been  SCO,- 
019.76,  and  the  balance  on  hand,  February  1,  $40,258.19. 

The  total  amount  paid  on  account  of  the  county  in- 
debtedness during  the  year,  as  shown  by  reports,  was 
twenty-one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
dollars. 

Education. — The  people  of  our  county  manifest 
a  constant  interest  in  educational  affairs  and  the  con- 
dition of  our  schools  is  such  as  we  may  justly  be 
proud  of.  There  has  been  for  many  years  a  steady 
improvement  in  the  character  of  school  buildings  and 
the  methods  of  teaching  have  been  as  steadily  per- 
fecting themselves.  The  teachers'  institutes  held 
yearly  are  of  indisputable  benefit  and  their  effects  are 
already  felt  in  the  schools. 

At  the  spring  holding  of  the  institute,  at  New 
Rochelle,  May,  1885,  seventy-one  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  number  of  teachers  were  in  attendance. 

The  school  commissioners'  report  for  1885-86  shows 
in  the  three  school  commissioners'  districts  of  our 
county  the  following  : 

The  Duuiberof  teachers  in  the  couuty  is  334,  apportioned  by  districts 
u  follows : 

let  Commissioners'  District   C6 

2d  "  "    138 

3d  '■  "    ...  130 

The  total  number  of  pupils  of  school  age  in  the  county  was 

30^647,  as  follows : 

1st  Commissioners'  District   0,767 

2d  "  "    12,884 

3d  "  "    10,!l9ii 

The  average  attendance  in  the  county  was  9,440,  di 

Tided  as  follows  : 

Ist  Commissionei's'  Distnct  , 

2d  "  "    4,110 

3d  •'  "    3,453 


525 


The  School  Commissioners  are  for  the,— 

l.st  Di.'trict  Jared  Sauford 

2d       "   James  B,  Lockwood 

3d       "   John  \V.  Wttel,  Peekskill 

The  citj'  of  Yonkers  being  a  separate  commissioners 
district,  is  accordingly  not  included  in  the  above  cal- 
culation. 

The  number  of  children  of  school  age  residing  in 
the  district  of  Yonkers,  at  the  beginning  of  1885,  was 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty-two ;  of  these 
one  thoiLsand  five  hundred  and  thirty-nine  attended 
private  schools  and  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
forty-eight  the  public  schools.  Yonkers  has  thirteen 
private  .schools  and  seven  public  school  buildings; 
one  of  which  is  built  of  frame  and  six  of  brick. 

In  the  couiitj'^  towns  there  are  forty-six  private 
schools,  with  a  total  membership  of  four  thousand  and 
thirteen  pupils. 

Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  school  buildings 
in  the  county  at  the  present  time  (1885)  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  are  built  of  frame,  twenty-eight  of 
brick  and  four  of  stone. 

The  county  school  libraries  contain  twenty-seven 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  volumes,  val- 
ued at  nineteen  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
four  dollars.  The  Yonkers  library,  three  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes,  valued  at  thirty -eight 
hundred  dollars.' 

According  to  the  annual  report  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction  for  1886  Westchester 
County  has  ninety-one  children  over  five  and  under 
twenty  one  years  of  age,  for  each  qualified  teacher; 
forty-eight  children  attending  school  any  portion  of 
the  year  for  each  qualified  teacher;  twenty-eight 
children  the  average  daily  attendance  for  each  teach- 
er; 30.76  per  cent,  of  average  daily  attendance  on 
whole  number  of  children  between  five  and  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  and  58.33  per  cent,  of  average  daily  at- 
tendance on  whole  number  of  children  attending 
school  any  portion  of  the  year. 

The  Yonkers  report  shows  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  children  of  school  age  for  each  qualified  teacher; 
sixty-one  the  whole  number  of  children  attending 
school  any  portion  of  the  year,  for  each  qualified 
teacher ;  thirty-seven  the  average  daily  attendance 
per  teacher;  21.51  the  per  cent,  of  average  daily  at- 
tendance on  the  whole  number  of  children  of  school 
age,  and  60.65  the  per  cent,  of  average  daily  attend- 
ance on  the  whole  number  of  children  attending 
school  any  portion  of  the  year. 


1  The  number  of  school  buildings  and  books  has  increased  since  this 
report. 


526 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  BENCH  AND  BAR.* 

BY  HON.  ISAAC  N.  MILLS, 
Judge  of  the  County  Court. 

Preparatory  to  writing  this  chapter  we  have 
carefully  examined  the  court  records,  in  the  county 
clerk's  office  at  White  Plains,  from  the  earliest  times  . 
perused  the  fragments  of  history,  here  and  there  ex- 
tant, bearing  upon  the  subject,  and  such  biograph- 
ical sketches  of  judges  and  lawyers  as  can  be  found  : 
and  also  received  from  the  lips  of  some  of  the  veteran 
members  of  the  bar  and  old  residents  of  the  county  a 
mass  of  traditionary  information,  giving  the  names, 
characteristics  and  relative  standing  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  bar  for  nearly  a  century  past,  and 
abounding  in  interesting  reminiscences  and  anecdotes, 
the  publication  of  which  the  limits  of  this  chapter  do 
not  permit. 

Westchester  County  has  had  an  established  bench 
for  about  two  hundred  years,  and  an  established  bar 
for  nearly,  if  not  quite,  that  length  of  time.  A  period 
80  long  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  rich  field  for  histori- 
cal investigation.  While,  in  the  main,  the  materials 
in  hand  are  abundant,  still,  in  some  cases,  it  has 
seemed  impossible  to  recover  from  oblivion  the  biog- 
raphy of  one  who,  from  the  frequent  appearance  of 
his  name  upon  the  records  of  the  court,  we  should 
judge  to  have  been  in  his  time  a  leading  counselor  and 
advocate. 

With  this  mass  of  materials  before  us,  it  is  no  easy 
task  to  write  a  chapter  upon  the  bench  and  bar  of 
Westchester  County ;  it  would  be  much  easier  to  write 
a  volume. 

Under  the  scheme  of  this  work,  however,  many  of 
the  leading  judges  and  lawyers  are  treated  of  at 
length  elsewhere,  in  separate  biographies,  or  in  con- 
nection with  the  history  of  the  several  towns  where 
they  resided  and  whose  names  they  have  honored  by 
their  lives  and  work. 

As  to  the  living  judges  and  lawyers,  we  shall  under- 
take merely  to  give  their  names  and  residences,  and 
leave  to  the  future  historian  the  presentation  of  their 
characteristics  and  careers  when  their  life-work  shall 
be  complete. 

The  history  of  the  bench  of  Westchester  County 
begins  in  the  year  1688,  when  John  Pell  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  judge  of  the  county.  On  pages  11 
and  12,  liber  B  of  deeds,  in  the  office  of  the  register  of 
the  county,  his  commission  is  stated  in  the  following 
words : 

"James  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  England,  Scot- 
land, France,  Ireland,  &c.,  to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come, 


'Many  Interesting  facts  relating  to  the  history  of  the  bench  and  bur 
in  Westchester  County  may  bo  found  in  this  volume  in  the  chapter  on 
the  Civil  History,  prepared  by  the  Kev.  William  J.  Gumming,  of  York- 
town. 


greeting :  know  ye  that  we  have  assigned,  constituted  and  aiipciiud  d, 
and  by  those  presents  do  assign,  constitute  and  appoint,  our  trusty  and 
well  beloved  8ub.ject,  John  Pell,  Esq.,  to  be  judge  of  our  inferior  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  to  be  holden  in  our  county  of  Westchester,  in  our 
ti  rritory  and  dominion  of  New  England,  with  authority  to  use  and  ex- 
ercise all  power  and  jurisdiction  belonging  to  said  court  and  to  do  that 
which  to  ju.stice  doth  appertain,  according  to  the  laws,  customs  and  stat- 
utes of  our  kingdom  of  England,  and  this,  our  territory  and  dominion, 
and  the  said  John  Fell,  assisted  with  two  or  more  justices  of  the  peace 
in  our  said  county,  to  hear,  try  and  determine  all  causes  and  matters 
civil  by  law  cognizable  in  the  said  county,  and  to  award  execution 
thereon.  Accordingly,  in  testimony  whereof  we  have  caused  the  great 
seal  of  our  said  territory  to  be  hereunto  atBxed.  Witness,  Sir  EJmuu  d 
Andros,  Knt.,  our  Captain-generall  and  Governor-in-Chief  of  our  terr  i- 
tory  and  dominion  aforesaid,  this  25th  day  of  August,  in  the  fourth 
year  of  our  reign,  A.  D.  1688." 

We  have  given  elsewhere  a  very  full  account  of 
the  Pell  family,  in  connection  with  the  founding  of 
Pelham.  The  first  Court  of  Sessions,  shown  by  the 
court  records,  was  held  on  the  3d  of  June,  1684,  the 
next  year  after  the  county  was  established.  The  rec- 
ord does  not  show  who  presided,  or  who  sat  as  associ- 
ate judges.  We  have  not  been  able  to  learn  from  any 
source  the  name  of  the  presiding  judge.  It  is  pos- 
sible, therefore,  that  some  one  may  have  been  ap- 
pointed, or  acted,  as  judge  of  the  county  before 
Judge  Pell;  or  it  may  be  that  he  had  been  ap- 
pointed and  acted  prior  to  the  appointment  above 
detailed. 

Caleb  Heathcote  was  the  next  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  holding  that  office  from  a.d. 
1693  to  1720.  He  was  the  sixth  son  of  Gilbert 
Heathcote,  of  Chesterfield,  England,  who  had  fought 
with  distinction  in  the  Parliament  army  during  the 
civil  war  which  cost  Charles  the  First  his  head.  The 
Heathcotes  were  an  ancient  and  honorable  family  of 
Derbyshire.  They  are  mentioned  as  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  at  Chesterfield  during  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV.    (1470-1471  ).'^ 

A  romantic  story  is  told  of  the  cause  of  Caleb 
Heathcote's  emigration  to  America.  He  was  engaged 
to  a  very  beautiful  young  lady,  who  jilted  him  for  his 
elder  brother,  Sir  Gilbert  Heathcote  (afterwards  M. P. 
for  London  and  Lord  Mayor  of  that  city  in  1711). 
Caleb  came  to  New  York  in  1692.  "  From  the  time 
of  his  arrival  he  became  a  leading  man  in  the  colony," 
and  being  possessed  of  great  wealth,  which  he  had 
acquired  in  mercantile  pursuits,  he  made  extensive 
purchases  of  lands  in  Westchester  County.  These, 
on  the  21st  of  March,  1701,  were  "erected  into  the 
lordship  and  manor  of  Scarsdale,  to  be  holden  of  the 
King  in  free  and  common  soccage,  its  Lord  yielding 
and  rendering  therefore  annually,  upon  the  festival 
of  Nativity,  five  pounds  current  money  of  New  York, 
etc."  Besides  his  judgeship,  Mr.  Heathcote  held  other 
offices  of  honor  in  the  province.  He  was  colonel  of 
the  Westchester  militia  all  his  life,  "first  mayor  of 
the  borough  of  Westchester,  a  councilor  and  survey- 
or-general of  the  province,  mayor  of  New  York  for 
three  years,  for  a  time  commander  of  the  colony's 


2  MS.  book  of  Sir  William  Heathcote,  f|UOted  by  Bolton. 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


527 


forces,  and  from  1715  to  his  death,  in  1721,  receiver- 
general  of  the  customs  of  all  North  America-"  ' 

A  sincere  churchman,  he  was  senior  warden  of 
Westchester  Parish  from  16C5  to  17C2,  and  senior 
warden  of  the  parish  of  Rye  frcm  1703  to  1710.^ 

William  Willett,  who  succeeded  Colonel  Heathcote 
as  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  the  county 
in  1721,  was  the  son  of  Colonel  Thomas  Willett,  of 
Flushing,  Long  Island,  and  the  grandson  of  Honor- 
able Thomas  Willett,  first  mayor  of  New  York.  The 
Willetts  descend  from  the  Rev.  Thcmas  Willett,  a 
distinguished  English  divine,  who  died  in  1597.  The 
descendants  of  Honorable  Thomas  Willett  occui)ied 
prominent  positions  in  the  province,  such  as  high 
sherifl's,  judges  and  mayors. 

Frederick  Phillips  was  judge  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  from  1732  to  1734.  His  full  history  is 
given  in  connection  with  Yonkers,  where  his  resi- 
dence was  located,  and  ako  in  the  history  of  Green- 
burgh. 

Israel  Honeywell,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the 
town  of  Westchester,  where  he  had  a  number  of  local 
office!-,  was  judge  of  the  same  court  from  1734 to  1737, 
and  again  from  1740  to  1743.  Samuel  Purdy,  of  Rye, 
was  also  judge  of  that  court  in  1734-37,  and  again 
from  1740  to  1752. 

John  Thomas  was  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  in  1737-39,  and  again  from  1765  to  1776.  Judge 
Thomas  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Thomas,  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  Honorable  Propagation  Society  at 
Philadelphia,  and  first  rector  of  St.  George's  Church, 
Hempstead,  L.  I.,  in  1704.'  Judge  Thomas  was  the 
most  prominent  personage  in  Rye.  He  espoused  the 
patriotic  side  in  the  Revolution,  and  his  influence 
was  greatly  felt  in  its  behalf.  In  1777  a  party  of 
British  troops,  making  oneof  their  frequent  raids  into 
the  interior  of  the  county,  seized  Judge  Thomas  at 
his  house  in  "  Rye  Woods."  He  was  particularly 
obnoxious  to  the  British,  who  had  long  been  seeking 
to  effect  his  capture.  He  was  taken  to  New  York  and 
cast  in  a  prison,  where  he  died  soon  after.  He  was 
buried  in  Trinity  Church-yard.* 

John  Ward,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Common  Pleas 
in  1737-39  and  1752-54,  was  from  East  Chester.  He 
died  in  1754.  Probably  a  relative  of  Hon.  Stephen 
Ward. 

Lewis  Morris,  Jr.,  of  Morrisania,  sat  on  the*  bench 
of  that  court  in  1738-39.  A  notice  of  him  will  be 
found  in  the  history  of  Morrisania. 

William  Leggett,  of  West  Farms  (then  part  of  the 
town  of  Westchester),  was  judge  of  the  same  court  in 
1762-54.  He  was  the  third  son  of  Gabriel  Leggett, 
of  Essex  County,  England,  who  "  emigrated  to  this 


>"Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York." 

*  Button's  "History  of  Westctiestcr  County."  See  also  Edward  F.  de 
lancey's  cliapter  on  tlio  "Manors  of  Westchester  County,"  in  tliis 
Tolnme,  and  his  sketcli  of  Maniaroneck. 

•Bolton's  "History  of  We.itcUcstor,"  vol.  ii.,  Apiwndi.'i  A, 

^Buird's  "History  of  Rye." 


country  in  1661,  and  in  right  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Richardson,  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  John  Rich- 
ardson (one  of  the  joint  partners),  became  possessed 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  [Planting]  Neck."  Judge 
Leggett  was  mayor  of  the  borough  of  Westchester, 
A.I).  1734. 

Nathaniel  Underbill,  judge  from  1755  to  1774,  was 
the  great-grandson  of  the  "  redoubtable  "  Ctiptain  John 
Underbill,  a  soldier  under  the  illustrious  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange,  in  the  Low  Countries,  who 
came  to  New  England  in  1630,  and  attained  such  dis- 
tinction there  that  he  was  api)ointed  one  of  the  first 
deputies  from  Boston  to  the  General  Court,  and  one 
of  the  earliest  officers  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery.^  Nathaniel  Underbill  was  elected  mayor 
of  the  borough  of  Westchester  in  1775.  He  filled 
various  other  offices  and  died  in  1784. 

Jonathan  Fowler  was  judge  in  1769-71  and  1773-75. 
No  positive  data  are  to  be  found  concerning  this  per- 
sonage. In  all  likelihood  he  was  the  son  of  Caleb 
Fowler,  county  judge  during  the  intervening  year 
1772  and  until  1776.  Caleb  Fowler  was  a  resident  of 
the  West  Patent  of  North  Castle,  where  he  owned  a 
good  deal  of  property.  He  was  surrogate  in  1761-66. 
His  son  Jonathan  (one  of  the  twelve  children)  was 
appointed  one  of  the  executors  of  his  will,  which  in- 
strument, dated  in  the  year  1760,  was  ofi'ered  for  pro- 
bate September  14,  1784.  The  persons  already  men- 
tioned appear  by  the  court  records  to  have  been  the 
presiding  judges  of  the  County  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  during  the  colonial  period  and  at  the  times  re- 
spectively given.  The  list  differs  somewhat  from  that 
given  in  the  New  York  Civil  List  or  in  Bolton's  His- 
tory, but  is  believed  to  be  substantially  correct. 

From  May,  1776,  until  May,  1778,  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  held  no  session  in  Westchester  County. 
After  the  latter  date  there  was  a  principal  or  "first" 
judge,  as  he  was  called,  in  this  court,  and  a  number 
of  associate  judges.  Sometimes  there  was  as  many 
as  five  associate  judges  at  one  time. 

Robert  Graham,  of  White  Plains,  was  the  first  to 
fill  this  oflice  of  "  first  "judge.  A  biographical  notice 
of  this  distinguished  man  is  given  elsewhere. 

Stephen  Ward,  of  East  Chester,  appointed  in  1784, 
was  for  many  years  "  first "  judge  of  the  County 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  "  He  was  the  son  of  Ed- 
mund Ward,  of  East  Chester,  for  a  long  time  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  and  grandson  of  Ed- 
mund Ward,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  who  removed  to 
East  Chester  about  the  latter  period  of  the  seven- 
teenth century."  Hon.  Stephen  Ward  was  an  ardent 
patriot,  and  was  proscribed  at  an  early  period  of  the 
Revolution  by  the  Loyalist  party  and  a  price  set  upon 
his  head.  "  Ward's  house  "  was  the  scene  of  several 
engagements  between  the  Americans  and  the  British, 
and  was  finally  burned  down  by  the  latter  in  1778. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood,  of  Poundridge,  was  the  next 


s  Algerine  Captive,  by  D.  Updike  Ifndi'rliill,  fiuolcd  by  Bolton. 


528 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  first "  judge,  1791-94.  Judge  Lockwood  was  known 
as  "  Major "  Lockwood  through  the  Revolutionary 
War,  he  having  been  a  major  in  the  regiment  of 
Westchester  County  Militia,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Thomas  Thomas,  and  engaged  in  active  service  dur- 
ing most  of  the  campaign  of  1776.  From  1776  to  1783 
he  filled  several  public  offices.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Provincial  Congress,  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Safety,  member  of  the  Provincial  Convention  for 
forming  a  Constitution  of  Government  for  the  State, 
and  was  returned  a  member  of  the  Legislature  for 
several  years  after  the  close  of  the  war. 

Judge  Lockwood  was  born  in  Stamford,  Conn.,  and 
was  the  fourth  son  of  Joseph  Lockwood,  who  emi- 
grated to  Poundridge  in  1743. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  of  Scarsdale,  father  of  Vice- 
President  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  was  first  judge  from 
1794  to  1797.  "  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
vention which  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence and  the  first  Constitution  of  the  State.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature  and  remained  in  that 
capacity  during  the  whole  period  of  the  Revolution, 
and  on  the  institution  of  the  University  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  regents,  which  situation  he  held 
until  his  resignation  of  it,  in  1808."  ' 

Judge  Tompkins  was  the  son  of  Stephen  Tompkins, 
whose  ancestors  emigrated  originally  from  the  north 
of  England  and  landed  at  Plymouth,  Mass.  Jonathan 
was  adopted  by  Jonathan  Griffin,  from  whom  he  re- 
ceived bis  middle  name,  Griffin.  Judge  Tompkins 
died  in  1823,  aged  eighty-seven  years. 

Ebenezer  Purdy,  of  North  Salem,  sat  on  the  county 
bench  1797-1802  (the  Purdys  are  numerous  and  the 
only  Ebenezer  we  find  among  them  is  put  down  by 
Bolton  as  the  son  of  Abraham  Purdy,  of  Yonkers ; 
born  1754.) 

John  Watts,  who  was  "  first  judge  "  of  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  in  Westchester  County  from  1802  to 
1807,  was  born  in  New  York,  of  which  city  his  father 
(also  named  John)  was  a  prominent  citizen  and  a 
member  of  the  King's  Council.  Judge  Watts  received 
a  legal  education  and  was  eminently  qualified  for  the 
bench.  At  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  was  appointed 
royal  recorder  of  the  city  of  New  York,  1774.  and  was 
the  last  to  hold  the  position.  From  1791  to  1794  he 
was  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  of  New  York,  and  after- 
wards he  became  a  member  of  Congress.  His  home 
was  at  No.  3  Broadway,  New  York.  He  was  one  of 
the  wealthiest  men  in  New  York  City,  and  owned 
much  property  not  only  there,  but  also  throughout  the 
State.  He  had  a  fine  residence  in  Westchester 
County,  near  the  village  of  New  Rochelle,  on  a  slope 
overlooking  Hunter's  Island,  and  there  lived  in 
very  good  style-  In  person,  he  was  remarkably  fine- 
looking.  He  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Peter  De 
Lancey,  of  "The  Mills,"  in  the  town  of  Westchester. 
In  Mr.  Watts'  character,  equanimity  was  the  most 


noticeable  trait.  As  a  writer  and  speaker,  he  possessed 
much  conciseness  of  expression,  and  Samuel  B. 
Ruggles  once  said  of  him,  that  "John  Watts  could 
express  more  on  a  page  of  note  paper  than  most  men 
could  on  a  sheet  of  foolscap."  Mr.  Watts  died  Sep- 
tember 3,  1836,  being  then  within  three  days  of  eighty- 
seven  years  of  age.  Of  his  family  of  eight  or  nine 
children,  but  one  survived  him,  and  that  one  was 
childless.  He  had  three  grandchildren,  however,  one 
of  whom,  John  Watts  De  Peyster,  now  living  in  New 
York,  was  his  chief  legatee.  Mr.  AVatts  was  the 
founder  and  endower  of  the  Leeke  and  Watts  Orphan 
House,  corner  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street  and 
Ninth  Avenue,  New  York. 

Caleb  Tompkins,  son  of  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  of 
Scarsdale,  and  eldest  brother  of  Vice-President 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  was  first  judge  of  the  County 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  from  1808  to  1820,  and  again 
from  1823  to  1846.  He  died  January  1,  1846,  aged 
eighty-six  years  and  nine  days.  He  was  buried  at 
White  Plains.  Mr.  Tompkins  was  a  learned  jurist 
and  a  man  of  great  abilities.  He  possessed,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  the  gifts  and  virtues  for  which  the 
Tompkins  family  has  ever  been  noted. 

Nehemiah  Brown,'-*  who  served  two  terms  as  county 
judge,  was  of  the  ancient  family  of  Brownes  of  Rye 
and  of  Hastings,  England,  and  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Peter  Brown,  whose  name  is  inscribed  on  the  Pil- 
grim's Monument  at  Plymouth,  Mass. 

He  was  born  at  Rye,  Westchester  County,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1775,  and  until  his  death,  on  November  1, 
1855,  occupied  the  lands  on  which  he  was  born,  and 
which  had  been  held  by  his  family  since  the  first  set- 
tlement of  the  town.  Few  men  were  better  known 
in  his  county  or  held  in  higher  esteem.  Of  sound 
judgment,  inflexible  integrity,  withal  genial  and  given 
to  hospitality,  his  counsel  was  widely  sought  and  val- 
ued. He  received  a  captain's  commission  in  the  War 
of  1812,  but,  as  far  as  is  now  remembered,  was  not  en- 
gaged in  the  field,  being  detailed  to  assist  in  the  for- 
tifications of  Throgg's  Neck  and  other  points  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the 
Legislature  in  1824,  and  two  terms  as  county  judge, 
occupying  the  bench  with  Judges  William  Jay,  Con- 
stant and  others.  A  righteous  man  and  beloved,  he 
left  a  rich  heritage  of  memories  to  his  family  and 
friends'. 

Judge  Brown's  first  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of 
Major  Seymour,  of  Greenwich,  Conn.  The  second 
was  Pamelia,  daughter  of  Dr.  Clark  Sanford,  of 
Petersburg,  Va.  The  third  and  surviving  wife  was  j 
Abby  Jane,  daughter  of  David  Brown,  of  Rye.  His  ' 
only  children  were  by  his  second  wife,  viz. :  Sanford 
C.  Brown,  a  young  man  of  exceeding  promise,  who, 
although  dying  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  years,  from 
exposure  in  Asia  Minor,  on  business  for  his  firm,  waa[l 
a  prominent  director  and  member  of  the  Stamfon 


•  Bultun'ii  "  History  of  Wcstchoster." 


-  This  sketch  was  prupurcd  aud  iuserted  by  the  editur. 


4 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


529 


Manufacturing  Company,  and  universally  popular  in 
business  and  social  circles  ;  Mary  P.,  wife  of  Samuel 
K.  Satterlee,  of  Rye;  and  Anna  Evelyn,  wife  of  Dr. 
Arthur  F.  Bissell,  of  New  York  City. 

William  Jay,'  second  son  of  the  Hon.  John  Jay, 
filled  the  intervening  term  between  Judge  Tompkins' 
two  terms — that  is,  from  1821)  to  1823.  Judge  Jay  was 
born  at  New  York  June  1789.  His  early  educa- 
tion, which  was  conducted  under  the  care  of  his 
father,  was  finished  at  Yale  College,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1808.  Adopting  the  profession  of  the  law,  he 
speedily  became  jjrominent  in  its  practice,  and  in 
1818  was  ajipointed  by  Governor  Tompkins  judge  of 
the  County  Court  of  Westchester.  This  office  he 
beld  with  honor  to  himself,  and  to  the  credit  of  the 
community  of  wliicli  he  formed  a  part,  until  1842 
when  he  was  relieved  from  the  j)osition  by  Governor 
Bouck,  in  compliance  witli  tlie  demand  of  that  portion 
of  the  Democratic  party  whose  sympathies  were  with 
the  South  and  slavery,  and  on  account  of  his  plainly 
expressed  views  in  favor  of  Abolition.  From  his  earli- 
est years  he  seemed  destined  to  be  a  life-long  defender 
of  the  right  and  a  stern  opponent  of  wrong,  in  whatever 
shape  they  appeared.  As  early  as  1815  he  was  the 
means  of  organizing  a  temperance  society,  one  of  the 
first  in  the  country,  which,  at  the  time,  seemed  likely 
to  be  overwhelmed  with  intemperance  and  its  accom- 
panying evils.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
American  I?il)le  Society,  and  till  the  close  of  his  life 
was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  devoted  supporters  of 
the  institution,  which  has  printed  the  word  of  God 
in  almost  every  known  language,  and  distributed  it 
freely  in  every  clime. 

When  the  evils  of  slavery  began  to  be  one  of  the 
Tital  questions  of  the  time,  the  cause  of  human  free- 
dom found  in  Judge  Jay  an  enthusiastic  advocate. 
In  182()  there  was  living  in  this  county  a  freeman  of 
color  named  Horton.  Going  to  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton, he  was  there  arrested  as  a  fugitive  slave  and 
advertised  for  sale,  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  arrest 
and  imprisonment.  Providentially,  a  copy  of  the 
newspaper  containing  the  advertisement  came  into 
the  hands  of  Judge  Jay,  and  he  made  ajiplicatiou  to 
Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  to  demand  his  release  as  a 
free  citizen  of  the  State  of  New  York.  This  was  one 
of  the  first  events  in  the  history  of  the  great  struggle 
against  slavery,  which  ended  only  when  battle-fields 
had  been  stained  with  the  blood  of  its  supporters. 
Throughout  this  long  contest  Judge  Jay  Avas  ever 
active  with  tongue  and  pen  in  behalf  of  liberty.  In 
1835  an  effort  was  made  by  the  slavery  power, 
through  I'resident  Jackson,  to  prevent  the  circula- 
tion of  Abolitionist  documents  by  means  of  the 
United  States  mails.  This  effort,  so  repugnant  to  the 
principles  upon  which  our  government  was  founded, 
was  met  by  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  with 
a  dignified  and  earnest  reply,  which  was  written  by 


'  Tbis  sketch  was  prepared  and  inserted  by  tlie  editor. 

to 


Judge  Jay,  and  was  one  of  his  ablest  efforts.  When 
the  Legislature  seemed  about  to  pass  laws  intended 
to  crush  the  efforts  of  the  Abolitionists,  by  prohibit- 
ing the  publication  and  circulation  of  Anti-Slavery 
documents,  he  charged  the  grand  jury  of  the  county 
that  any  laws  tending  to  prevent  freedom  of  speech 
or  of  the  press  were  null  and  void.  The  official  mani- 
festo of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  also 
written  by  him,  and  was  signed  by  men  whose  names 
are  now  famous  in  history. 

After  being  relieved  from  the  office  of  judge  he  went 
to  Europe,  extended  his  travels  to  Egypt,  and  made 
a  careful  examination  of  the  institution  of  slavery  as 
it  existed  there.  A  firm  believer  that  the  time  would 
come  when  men  should  "  beat  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares," and  "  learn  war  no  more,"  he  became  presi- 
dent of  the  American  Peace  Society,  and  published  a 
work,  "  War  and  Peace — the  evils  of  the  first,  with 
plans  of  preserving  the  last."  This  book  led  to  the 
famous  protocol  adopted  by  the  Congress  of  Paris 
after  the  Crimean  War,  the  first  united  international 
effort  to  have  arbitration  take  the  place  of  war.  In 
1833  he  published  the  life  and  writings  of  liis  father, 
the  chief  justice. 

Judge  Jay  was  an  able  writer  and  possessed  reason- 
ing powers  of  the  highest  order.  The  works  which  he 
published  were  forty-three  in  number,  and  to  analyze 
them  would  require  a  volume.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  all,  without  exception,  were  devoted  to  the  ele- 
vation of  society,  by  the  removal  of  the  evils  which 
retard  its  progress.  His  useful  and  eventful  life 
ended  October  14,  1858.  This  event  caused  heartfelt 
grief  among  all  who  realized  the  value  of  the  friend  of 
humanity.  The  various  societies  of  which  he  was  a 
member  paid  tributes  of  respect  to  his  memory,  and 
Frederick  Douglas,  as  the  fit  representative  of  the 
race  for  whose  freedom  he  had  labored  so  long  and 
so  well,  delivered  an  eloquent  and  fitting  eulogy.  It 
was  his  fortune,  like  that  of  many  others  who  have 
labored  in  a  noble  cause,  not  to  be  permitted  to  see 
the  result  of  his  labors.  The  end  of  slavery,  for  which 
he  toiled  so  long,  came  not  till  years  after  he  had 
passed  away,  and  was  accomplished  by  means  of 
whicli  he  never  dreamed.  But  of  all  the  names  that 
grace  the  list  of  the  friends  of  humanity  and  freedom, 
none  deserves  a  higher  place  than  that  of  William 
Jay. 

His  portrait  is  placed  over  the  bench  in  the  county 
court-house  at  White  Plains,  in  grateful  and  appro- 
priate recognition  of  the  illustrious  position  which 
the  name  of  Jay  holds  in  the  annals  of  Westchester 
jurisprudence.  After  Judge  William  Jay  left  the 
bench,  in  1823,  Judge  Caleb  Tompkins  was  re-ap- 
pointed to  the  position  of  first  judge,  which  he  held 
up  to  184(),  when  he  died. 

George  Case,  of  New  Rochelle,  a  side-judge  of  the 
Common  Pleas  and  General  Sessions  of  the  county, 
during  the  last  two  years  of  Judge  Tompkins'  life,  often 
presided  as  first  judge  in  his  absence.    It  is  said  that 


530 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Mr.  Case  came  from  New  York  City  and  began  to 
practice  in  Westchester  County  in  1834.  He  resided 
at  New  Rochelle  and  died  there  in  1863.  He  had  the 
reputation  of  being  somewhat  arbitrary  in  his  actions 
while  judge,  and  was  not  regarded  as  an  eminently 
learned  jurist,  but  was  respected  by  all  as  a  man  of 
entire  integrity.  He  was  a  widower  when  he  came 
to  New  Rochelle,  and  had  a  daughter,  who  died  before 
him.    He  had  a  considerable  fortune. 

Robert  S.  Hart,  now  living  (1886)  at  Bedford,  was, 
in  1846,  appointed  to  succeed  Judge  Tompkins.  He 
was  nominated  by  Governor  Silas  Wright  and  unani- 
mously confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Judge  Hart  is  still 
in  vigorous  health  and  active  practice,  and  in  years 
of  practice  is  the  senior  member  of  the  Westchester 
bar.  He  was  the  last  of  the  judges  appointed.  His 
successor,  Albert  Lockwood,  of  Sing  Sing,  was  elected 
under  the  Constitution  of  1846  as  county  judge,  and 
those  who  have  occupied  the  position  since  have  been 
elected.  Mr.  Lockwood  proved  to  be  a  very  success- 
ful judge,  and  gained  a  most  enviable  reputation, 
especially  for  judicial  fairness. 

John  W.  Mills,  of  White  Plains,  succeeded  Mr. 
Lockwood  on  the  bench  in  1851.  He  had  studied 
law  under  J.  Warren  Tompkins,  and  before  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  became  deputy  county  clerk,  De- 
cember 30,  1836.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
1837,  was  appointed  master  in  Chancery  in  1844,  and 
an  examiner  in  Chancery  in  1846.  He  was  county 
judge  from  1851  to  1855,  surrogate  from  1862  to  1870, 
and  was  supervisor  of  White  Plains  several  times. 
He  was  at  one  time  associated  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  with  J.  Warren  Tompkins,  subsequently 
with  John  J.  Clapp,  and  afterwards  with  Robert 
Cochran.  Later  still  he  was  the  senior  member  of 
the  law-firm  of  Mills,  Cochran  &  Verplanck.  After 
the  dissolution  of  the  firm  he  attended  to  private 
business  only.  Mr.  Mills  died  suddenly,  September 
25,  1882,  of  apoplexy,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his 
age.  At  one  time  he  had  a  very  large  and  lucrative 
practice,  perhaps  the  largest,  of  the  members  of  the 
Westchester  bar  at  that  time. 

Judge  William  H.  Robertson'  who  succeeded  Judge 
Mills  in  1855,  is  a  son  of  Henry  Robertson,  of  whom 
a  brief  sketch  appears  in  another  part  of  this  work. 
He  was  born  at  the  family  homestead  in  Bedford, 
October  10,  1823.  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  his 
father's  farm,  and  his  early  education  was  obtained 
at  the  district  schools  and  at  Union  Academy,  in  Bed- 
ford, of  which  Alexander  G.  Reynolds  was  principal. 
He  taught  school  for  a  considerable  time  in  Bedford 
and  Lewisboro.  He  read  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Robert  S.  Hart,  in  Bedford  village,  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1847,  and  in  1854  formed  a  partnership 
with  Odle  Close  for  the  practice  of  law  in  White 
Plains,  under  the  finn-name  of  Close  &  Robertson, 
which  has  continued  till  the  present  time.  Before 


1  This  sketch  was  prepai-ed  and  insei-ted  by  the  editor  of  this  work. 


attaining  his  majority  his  taste  for  politics  developed 
itself  and  he  took  a  warm  interest  in  the  Harrison 
campaign  of  1840.  His  first  vote  was  cast  for  Henry 
Clay  in  the  fall  of  1844.  The  next  spring  he  was 
elected  town  superintendent  of  schools,  and  continued 
in  that  position  for  several  years.  He  has  been  four 
times  supervisor  of  Bedford  and  twice  chairman  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors.  His  legislative  career  be- 
gan in  1848,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  Assembly, 
and  he  was  re-elected  the  following  year.  In  1853  he 
was  chosen  to  the  State  Senate,  where  he  at  once  took 
a  prominent  position.  Among  other  public  acts,  he 
introduced  the  bill  for  establishing  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Instruction,  which  may  justly  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  edu- 
cational history  of  the  State.  In  the  Assembly  of 
1849,  and  also  in  the  Senate  of  1855,  he  supported 
Hon.  W.  H.  Seward  for  United  States  Senator.  Only 
one  other  person,  Reuben  Wells,  of  Warren,  voted.;- 
twice  for  Mr.  Seward  for  that  office.  In  1855  Mr. 
Robertson  was  elected  county  judge  of  Westchester 
County,  and  was  twice  re-elected  to  that  responsible 
position,  thus  holding  it  for  twelve  years,  and  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  the  office  with  such  ability  and 
fairness  as  to  win  the  commendation  of  the  members 
of  the  bar,  and  merit  the  respect  of  all  classes  of 
citizens. 

He  served  six  years  as  inspector  of  the  Seventh 
Brigade  New  York  State  Militia,  was  chairman  of  the 
military  committee  appointed  by  Governor  Morgan 
in  1862  to  raise  and  organize  State  troops  in  the  Eighth 
Senate  District,  and  was  commissioned  to  superintend 
the  draft  in  Westchester  County. 

In  1860  he  was  a  member  of  the  Electoral  College, 
and  voted  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  supported  him 
again  in  the  National  Convention  of  1864,  and  during 
his  whole  administration  was  one  of  his  most  loyal 
and  faithful  adherents.  In  1866  he  was  elected  a 
representative  in  'the  Fortieth  Congress  by  a  majority 
of  two  thousand  two  hundred  over  William  Radford, 
who  had  represented  the  district  for  the  two  terms 
immediately  preceding.  While  member  of  Congress 
he  voted  for  the  impeachment  of  President  Johnson, 
took  an  active  part  in  the  legislation  which  led  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Southern  States  to  the  Unioi|> 
and  throughout  his  term  devoted  himself  to  the  in- 
terests of  his  district  and  his  constituents. 

Judge  Robertson's  second  term  of  service  in  the 
State  Senate  began  in  1872  and  continued  without 
interruption  for  ten  years,during  the  last  eight  of  which 
he  was  president  pro  tern,  of  that  body.  He  served 
as  chairman  of  the  Committees  on  Commerce  and 
Navigation,  Rules,  Literature  and  Judiciary.  As  the 
head  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  for  eight  years,  he 
occupied  a  position  of  great  responsibility  and  useful- 
ness, and  it  is  freely  conceded  by  all  who  are  capable 
of  judging,  that  it  is  due  to  his  ability  and  watchful- 
ness that  many  unwise  and  improper  bills  were  pre- 
vented from  becoming  laws.    As  a  Senator  be  par- 


I 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


531 


ticipated  in  six  State  trials — those  of  Judges  Barnard, 
McCunn,  Curtis  aud  Priudle,  Superintendent  De  Witt 
C.  Ellis,  of  the  Bank  Department,  and  Superin- 
tendent John  F.  Smythe,  of  the  Insurance  Depart- 
ment 

In  1876  Mr.  Kobertson  was  one  of  three  gentlemen 
of  this  State  who,  at  the  request  of  the  President, 
visited  Florida  to  supervise  the  counting  of  the  votes 
for  the  office  of  President. 

In  1872  the  personal  and  political  friends  of  Mr. 
Robertson  throughout  the  State  made  a  vigorous 
eflPort  to  place  him  in  nomination  for  the  Governor- 
ship, and  with  excellent  prospects  of  success,  until 
the  assembling  of  the  convention,  when  the  name  of 
the  honored  soldier  and  statesman,  General  John  A. 
Dix,  was  presented,  and  he  was  chosen  to  head  the 
ticket.  Again,  in  1879,  Judge  Robertson  had  a  strong 
support  for  the  nomination,  but  owing  to  the  opposi- 
tion of  what  was  known  as  the  "  machine"  influence 
in  the  party,  he  was  defeated. 

In  February,  1880,  Mr.  Robertson  was  appointed  a 
delegate  to  represent  the  State  in  the  National  Con- 
vention to  be  held  in  Chicago  in  June.  A  vote  was 
passed  at  the  State  Convention,  instructing  its  dele- 
gates to  vote  as  a  unit,  the  purpose  being  to  enable 
the  majority  of  the  delegates  to  carry  it  en  masse  for 
General  Grant.  Mr.  Robertson  had  been  in  Congress 
with  Mr.  Blaine,  was  his  warm  admirer  and  personal 
friend,  and  believed  him  to  be  the  favorite  of  the 
Republicans  of  Westchester  for  the  Presidential  nom- 
ination. Soon  after  the  State  Convention  he  pub- 
lished a  letter  in  the  Albany  Journal,  in  which  he 
repudiated  theprinciple  of  the  unit  rule,  and  declared 
for  Mr.  Blaine.  The  letter  attracted  attention 
throughout  the  country  and  gave  its  author  great 
prominence  in  the  opposition  to  the  "  third  term 
movement."  It  is  generally  conceded  that  it  was  his 
leadership  and  organizing  ability,  more  than  that  of 
any  other  man,  that  broke  the  power  of  the  "  unit 
rule "  in  Republican  conventions,  and  defeated  the 
"third  term"  candidate. 

In  March,  1881,  Mr.  Robertson  was  nominated  by 
President  Garfield  for  collector  of  the  port  of  New 
York.  His  political  acts  having  been  distasteful  to 
the  Senators  from  this  State,  they  demanded  the 
withdrawal  of  his  nomination  by  the  President.  This 
being  refused,  a  bitter  contest  followed,  which  was 
ended  by  the  resignation  of  the  Senators  in  May,  and 
the  confirmation  of  Mr.  Robertson  soon  afterward. 
He  did  not,  however,  assume  the  collectorship  until 
the  1st  of  August,  as  the  Legislature  (he  being  in 
the  Senate)  did  not  adjourn  till  late  in  July.  His 
judicial  and  legislative  experience  had  prepared  him 
for  the  most  difficult  duly  of  the  position,  the  consid- 
eration aud  decision  of  intricate  points  of  revenue 
law,  and  he  discharged  its  obligations  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  importers,  and  with  the  almost  universal 
commendation  of  the  public  press. 

Mr.  Robertson  has  been   conspicuous  and  influ- 


ential in  local  and  State  Conventions  for  many  years, 
took  an  active  part  in  the  National  Conventions  of 
1864,  1876, 1880  and  1884,  and  was  for  fifteen  years  a 
member  of  the  Republican  State  Committee.  In  his 
political  life  he  has  been  remarkably  successful,  hav- 
ing never  been  defeated  when  a  candidate  before  the 
people,  although  his  principal  canvasses  have  been 
made  in  a  district  of  which  the  party  majority  was 
against  him.  He  has  achieved  this  result  by  the 
strength  of  his  personal  character,  his  fidelity  to 
friends,  his  uniform  and  sincere  courtesy,  his  unques- 
tioned integrity  and  his  legal  and  business  ability. 
He  possesses  in  an  unusual  degree  "  the  genius  of 
common  sense,"  an  acute  knowledge  of  human 
nature  and  thorough  self-control.  He  is  of  literary 
tastes  and  studious  habits,  and  values  no  less  than  his 
political  honors  the  degree  of  LL.D.,  which  was 
conferred  on  him  by  Williams  College  in  1876. 

In  1865  Mr.  Robertson  married  Miss  Mary  E. 
Ballard,  daughter  of  Hon.  Horatio  Ballard,  who  was 
a  prominent  lawyer  of  Cortland  County,  and  well 
known  throughout  the  State.  In-  1869  he  built  the 
house  at  Katonah,  where  he  has  resided  since  that 
time.  In  the  community  where  he  lives,  he  is  a 
judicious  and  willing  counselor  of  all  who  seek  his 
advice,  a  liberal  contributor  to  religious  and  chari- 
table objects,  a  public-spirited  citizen  and  a  valued 
friend. 

Robert  Cochran,  who  succeeded  Judge  Robertson 
in  1867,  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1824,  and 
after  being  graduated  from  Columbia  College,  became 
associated  in  the  practice  of  the  law  with  George  T. 
Strong,  with  whom  he  remained  for  several  years. 
Subsequently  he  went  into  partnership  with  General 
Munson  I.  Lockwood  at  Sing  Sing,  and  afterwards 
(in  1857)  with  Samuel  E.  Lyons,  at  White  Plains. 
Still  later  he  became  a  law  partner  of  Judge  John  W. 
Mills,  formerly  county  judge. 

In  1854  he  was  elected  supervisor  of  White  Plains, 
and  at  the  annual  session  of  the  board  took  a  promi- 
nent and  influential  part  in  procuring  the  passage  of 
the  resolutions  to  change  the  location  of  the  court- 
house from  the  old  site  on  Broadway  and  to  erect  the 
new  buildings  where  they  now  stand.  He  was  elected 
on  the  Democratic  ticket  as  a  delegate  to  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  in  1867,  and  at  the  annual 
election  in  that  year  was  elected  county  judge  of 
Westchester  Cotmty  for  the  term  of  four  years.  In 
1874  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  district  attorney, 
and  in  1875  was  elected  supervisor  of  White  Plains, 
over  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  the  then  Republican  incum- 
bent. In  all  these  positions  Judge  Cochran  dis- 
charged the  duties  confided  to  him  with  marked 
ability,  and  no  one  ever  questioned  his  integrity.  In 
the  practice  of  his  profession  ha  was  remarkably  suc- 
cessful, and  was  regarded  by  his  associates  at  the  bar 
as  a  learned  and  brilliant  lawyer.  He  is  reputed  to 
have  been  one  of  the  ablest  judges  who  ever  sat  upon 
the  county  bench.    He  was  learned  in  the  law,  con- 


532 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


scientious  and  painstaking  in  his  opinions  and  emi- 
nently courteous  and  dignified. 

About  1877  Judge  Cochran  was  compelled  by  fail- 
ing health  to  retire  from  the  active  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  died  December  14,  1880,  in  Brooklyn, 
whither  he  had  removed.  The  cause  of  his  death  was 
consumption,  brought  on  by  malaria.  He  left  a 
widow  and  several  children  by  a  former  wife. 

Silas  D.  Gifford,"  then  of  Morrisania,  was  chosen  in 
1871  to  succeed  Judge  Cochran.  He  was  born  at 
Canaan,  Columbia  County,  New  York,  January  31, 
1826.  His  grandfather,  Amaziah  Gifford,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  said  to  have  run 
away  from  home  at  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  joined 
the  armj'  and  served  four  years.  He  then  went  to 
Columbia  County,  where  he  lived  for  some  years, 
when  he  was  accidentally  recognized  by  an  ac- 
quaintance, which  led  to  his  restoration  to  his  friends 
and  relatives  in  Dutchess  County.  He  married  Sarah 
Whitman,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  four  children, 
— David,  who  died  in  Rensselaer  County ;  Samuel, 
who  moved  to  the  West ;  Mary,  wife  of  Silas  Devol ; 
and  Isaac  S.  The  latter  was  a  Baptist  clergyman,  and 
was  settled  in  Caanan,  Columbia  County,  at  the  time 
when  his  son,  the  present  judge,  was  born.  He  mar- 
ried Annis,  daughter  of  Jonathan  Ford,  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  five  children, — Amanda  M  ; 
Horace  C,  of  Berlin,  Rensselaer  County;  Silas  D., 
Edwin  S.,  of  Stamford,  Conn. ;  and  Sarah  J.,  wife  of 
John  M.  Lyons. 

Judge  Gifford  resided  with  his  parents  at  Caanan 
till  he  reached  the  age  of  twelve,  and  then  removed 
with  them  to  Berlin,  Rensselaer  County.  He  after- 
wards became  a  student  in  the  well-known  collegiate 
institution  at  Williamstown,  Mass.  His  father  sub- 
sequently removed  to  Bedford,  in  this  county,  and 
upon  leaving  college,  his  son  made  his  home  at  the 
same  place.  The  first  episode  of  his  life  was  a  ser- 
vice of  one  year  as  school-teacher  at  Sleepy  Hollow, 
near  TarrytoAvn,  where  he  was  a  successor  of  the  im- 
mortal "  Ichabod  Crane,"  though  his  career  as  an  in- 
structor of  youth  did  not  terminate  as  disastrously  as 
did  that  of  his  "  illustrious  predecessor."  He  then 
entered  the  law-oflice  of  Hon.  Robert  S.  Hart,  at 
Bedford,  and  upon  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1852, 
establislied  an  office  of  his  own  in  Morrisania,  and 
has  kept  his  law-office  there  until  the  present.  Be- 
coming prominent  in  politics  and  in  his  profession, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  town  superintend- 
ent of  common  schools,  elected  justice  of  the  peace  in 
1856,  and  re-elected  at  the  close  of  his  term.  In  1862 
he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Morgan  surrogate  of 
Westchester  County,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Hon.  Robert  H.  Coles.  He  was 
elected  supervisor  of  Morrisania  in  1870.  His  elec- 
tion to  the  office  of  county  judge  of  Westchester 
County  occurred  in  1871,  and  he  held  the  office  con- 


1  This  sketch  was  prepared  and  inserted  by  the  editor. 


tinuously  till  the  close  of  1883.  Upon  the  occasion 
of  his  retirement  from  a  position  he  had  so  long  and 
worthily  filled,  he  was  presented  by  the  officers  of  the 
court  with  a  beautiful  gavel,  as  a  token  of  their  high 
appreciation  of  the  dignity  and  impartiality  which 
had  ever  characterized  his  discharge  of  official  duties, 
and  of  their  esteem  of  his  many  excellencies  as  a 
citizen. 

He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Recruiting 
Committee  during  the  late  war,  was  instrumental  in 
organizing  several  companies  of  volunteers,  and  by 
his  active  energy  the  quota  of  troops  required  from 
his  town  at  that  time  was  supplied  without  the  neces- 
sity of  a  draft.  During  long  years  of  prominence  in 
political  affairs  he  has  always  been  recognized  as 
among  the  leaders  of  his  party,  and  his  official  career 
has  been  an  honor  to  himself  and  to  the  community 
whose  suffrages  placed  him  in  a  well-deserved  posi- 
tion. He  married  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John 
Rae.  They  have  two  children,  Jessie  and  Stanley, 
both  now  living  with  their  jjarents  at  Marble 
Hall. 

Judge  Gifford  lives  in  the  village  of  Tuckahoe,  in 
the  town  of  East  Chester,  in  a  mansion  known  far 
and  wide  as  "Marble  Hall."  It  stands  upon  the  site 
of  the  home  of  Stephen  Ward,  a  prominent  Revolu- 
tionary hero,  who  was  surrogate  of  the  county  and 
a  citizen  of  character  and  influence.  This  locality 
was  the  scene  of  a  sanguinary  conflict  between  the 
contending  forces  in  the  Revolution,  when  Ward's 
house  was  burned. 

The  present  incumbent,  Isaac  N.  Mills,  of  East 
Chester,  was  chosen  at  the  election  of  1883  to  succeed 
Judge  Gifibrd,  and  is  the  present  county  judge.  The 
following  sketch  of  Judge  Mills  is  taken  from  the)l| 
Mount  Vernon  Chronicle  of  October  19,  1883,  and  is 
inserted  in  this  chapter  upon  the  sole  responsibility  of 
the  editor : 

"  It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  tell  the  people  of  the 
town  of  East  Chester  who  the  Republican  nominee  for 
county  judge  is ;  but  in  order  that  those  outside  of 
our  town  who  do  not  know  him  may  be  able  to  fully 
realize  his  fitness  for  the  office  he  seeks,  the  following 
sketch  of  his  life  may  prove  useful : 

"  He  is  a  descendant,  on  his  father's  side,  from  a 
family  of  farmers,  of  moderate  means,  who  have  re- 
sided and  filled  farms  in  the  town  of  Thompson, 
Windham  Co.,  Connecticut,  prior  to  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  On  his  mother's  side,  he  is  descended  from 
a  family  of  Rhode  Island  Quakers,  residents  of  that 
State  for  many  generations,  to  a  branch  of  which  fam- 
ily General  Greene,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  belongs. 
Mr.  Mills  was  born  in  the  town  of  Thompson,  Conn., 
September  10,  1851,  and  is,  therefore,  thirty-two 
years  of  age.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  decided  to 
become  a  lawyer  and  entered  the  Providence  Confer- 
ence Seminary,  at  Greenwich,  R.  I.,  to  j)repare  for 
college.  In  the  winter  of  1869  and  1870  he  taiigiit  » 
a  district  school  for  a  term,  near  Newport,  at  the  same 


« 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


5:53 


time  working  evenings,  in  order  to  keep  up  his  | 
studies  in  ills  ehiss  iit  tlie  seminary.    In  the  sununer  j 
oC  1870  Mr.  ^lills  gniduated  from  the  seminary  with  1 
the  hijrhest  rank  in  his  class.    That  same  fall  he  en-  ! 
tered  Auiherst  College,  where,  during  the  four  years 
course,  several  prizes  for  excellence  in  Latin,  Greek, 
philosophy,  physiology,  debate  and  extemporaneous 
speaking  were  awarded  to  him.  In  1874  he  graduated 
as  the  valedictorian  of  his  class — a  class  numbering 
in  all  ninety-five  members,  out  of  which  seventy-five 
graduated.    Of  that  class,  two  of  the  graduates  are 
now  professors  in  Columbia  College,  one  is  a  professor 
at  Williams  College  and  several  others  are  prominent 
in  other  professions.    Mr.  Mills  then  entered  Colum- 
bia Law  College,  of  New  York  City,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  187<).    In  October,  187G,  he  came  to 
Mount  Vernon  and  became  a  member  of  the  law-firm 
of  Mills  &  Wood.    He  continued  as  such,  in  the 
active  practice  of  law,  until  May,  1882,  when  that  firm 
was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent.    Since  then  he  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  legal  practice  in  this  county 
and  in  New  York  City.  Wliile  a  resident  here  he  has 
been  a  close  student  of  the  law,  and  has  devoted  him- 
self exclusively  to  its  practice.    It  is  conceded  by  all 
who  know  him  that  he  is  honest,  upright  and  able. 
He  has  been  engaged  in  many  important  litigations  ' 
and  has  been  largely  succcsslu!  in  them.    The  judges 
and  lawyers  before  whom  and  with  whom  he  has  prac- 
ticed s|)eak  of  him  in  the  highest  terms.    There  is  no 
one  at  the  Westchesi  er  County  bar  who  is  more  devoted  j 
to  the  interests  of  his  clients,  or  earnest  or  successful  in  i 
their  advocacy.    He  will,  if  elected,  make  an  excep-  I 
tionally  able  and  un(iucstionably  upright  judge,  and 
for  this  reason  sliould  receive  the  votes  of  his  feilow- 
citizeus.    His  ability  as  a  lawyer,  his  thoroughness,  1 
his  keenness  in  detecting  the  salient  point,  and,  above 
all,  his  judicial  temperament,  the  proprietor  of  the 
Chronicle  can  speak  most  uncjualifiedly,  because  he 
has  known  Mr.  Mills  as  a  fellow  law  student  and  a 
partner  in  the  practice  of  the  law  for  eight  years.  In 
the  law  school  he  ranked  among  the  very  brightest, 
keenest,  hard-working  men,  and  his  record  at  the 
Westchester  bar  is  one  full  of  honor." 

Only  three  of  the  judges  of  the  present  Supreme 
Court  have  been  Westchester  men,  viz. :  tlie  late 
William  M.  Scrugham,  of  Yonkers;'  Abraham  B. 
Tappan,  of  Fordham,  who  is  now  living,  and  .Jackson 
0.  Dykman,  the  present  incumbent. 

Judge  Dykman- was  born  in  the  town  of  Patter- 
son, in  Putnam  County.  His  great-grandfather,  .Jo- 
seph Dykman,  settled  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Southeast,  in  that  county,  and  became  a  captain  in 
the  Continental  army  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

His  early  life  was  the  uneventful  career  of  a  boy 
in  the  country,  attending  the  common  school  of  the 
neighborhood  and  working  on  a  farm.    In  this  man- 


Sh'c  history  of  that  town. 

This  aketcU  was  preptued  and  inserted  by  tlie  editor. 


ner  he  obtained  sufhcient  education  to  enable  him  to 
teach  a  common  school  at  a  very  early  age.  He 
pursued  this  occupation  until  he  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  William 
Nelson,  then  a  prominent  lawyer  at  Peekskill,  West- 
chester County,  who  manifested  a  lively  interest  in 
his  advancement,  and  gave  him  generous  aid.  After 
his  admission  to  the  bar,  he  settled  in  Cold  Spring, 
Putiuini  County,  where  he  was  shortly  after  elected 
school  commissioner,  and  subsequently  district  attor- 
ney of  the  county. 

In  the  spring  of  18()6  he  removed  to  White  Plains, 
in  Westchester  County,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
In  the  fall  of  18G8  he  was  elected,  by  a  very  hand- 
some majority,  district  attorney  of  Westchester 
County,  then  a  very  responsible  positiou,  which  he 
tilled  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  people.  He 
particularly  distinguished  himself  by  the  energy, 
skill  and  success  with  which  he  prosecuted  the 
famous  Buckhout  murder  trial,  one  of  the  celebrated 
cases  in  the  history  of  the  county. 

In  the  fall  of  1875  he  was  elected  to  the  high  office 
of  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New 
York  for  the  Second  Judicial  District  by  a  union  of 
both  political  parties.  He  was  nominated  and  su])- 
ported  as  the  regular  candidate  of  the  Kepublican 
party  and  elected  by  the  people  by  a  majority  ex- 
ceeding ten  thousand. 

That  nomination,  made  by  a  party  with  which  he 
had  never  acted,  was  a  splendid  tribute  to  his  ability, 
integrity  and  impartiality,  and  the  result  has  shown 
that  the  confidence  of  the  people  was  not  misplaced. 
In  the  iierfornumce  of  his  judicial  duties,  Judge 
Dykman  is  ever  patient,  affable  and  courteous.  He 
is  kind  and  obliging  to  the  members  of  the  bar,  and 
especially  so  to  the  younger  lawyers.  He  has  been  a 
member  of  the  general  term  of  the  Supreme  Court 
from  the  time  he  took  his  seat  on  the  bench,  and  his 
oi)ini()ns  in  that  court,  in  the  numerous  cases  on  ap- 
j)eal,  evince  laborious  research,  sound  judgment  and 
discretion  and  absolute  fairness  and  impartiality,  and 
demonstrate  the  propriety  of  his  elevation  to  the 
high  judicial  position  he  occui)ies. 

At  the  circuit  for  the  trial  of  cases  he  is  a  fiivorite 
with  both  lawyers  and  suitors  for  his  j)atience  and 
impartiality.  He  manifests  great  love  for  justice  and 
right  and  deep  abhorrence  for  wrong  and  oppression. 

He  is  emphatically  a  man  of  the  people,  with 
whom  he  has  always  mingled  freely  and  sympathized 
fully,  and  whose  interests  he  has  ever  been  ready  to 
maintain  and  defend.  He  li.stens  with  willingness  to 
the  petitions  and  complaints  of  all,  and  the  people 
love  him  and  place  reliance  upon  hiin.  He  is  a  man 
of  simple  habits  and  mode.st  deportment,  but  stu- 
diously observes  the  qualities  of  amenity  and  pro- 
priety, and  treats  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact 
with  great  consideration  and  politeness. 

In  many  ways  he  is  an  illustration  of  what  may  be 
accomplished  under  ourrepublican  iustitutions,  where 


534 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


all  positions  are  within  the  grasp  of  those  who  desire 
to  attain  them.  By  energy  and  perseverance  he  ha.s 
risen  to  a  high  position  without  the  aid  of  wealth  or 
influence. 

The  people  have  found  him  a  man  on  whom  they 
could  rely,  and  have  accordingly  bestowed  on  him  their 
confidence  and  raised  him  to  eminence,  and  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  he  has  fulfilled  all  their  expec- 
tations. There  never  was  a  stain  on  his  private 
character  nor  on  his  public  record  ,  and  the  breath  of 
suspicion  has  never  assailed  him. 

In  his  domestic  and  private  life  he  has  been  ex- 
emplary and  fortunate.  He  was  early  married  to 
Miss  Emily  L.  Trowbridge,  of  Peekskill,  a  descendant 
of  the  New  Haven  family  of  that  name,  a  most  excel- 
lent and  domestic  lady,  who  aided  and  encouraged 
him  in  all  his  struggles;  and  he  never  hesitated  to 
declare  that  he  owes  his  success  and  advancement  to 
her  untiring  energy  and  zeal,  her  wise  counsel  and 
her  laudable  ambition.  In  many  dark  days  she 
showed  him  the  silver  lining  of  the  cloud  and  gave 
him  new  hope  and  energy.  She  still  lives  to  share 
his  honors  and  his  prosperity  as  she  shared  his 
adversity, — -a .  noble  example  of  a  faithful  wife,  a 
devoted  mother  and  a  benevolent  Christian  woman. 

They  have  two  sons,  both  of  whom  are  lawyers. 
The  elder,  William  N.  Dykroan,  married  Miss  Bell 
Annan,  and  is  practicing  his  profession  very  success- 
fully in  Brooklyn.  The  youngest,  Henry  T.  Dykman, 
married  Miss  Ella  B.  Clyne,  of  Dutchess  County,  and 
is  practicing  law  in  White  Plains,  where  he  has  accu- 
mulated a  very  good  practice. 

Such  is  the  Honorable  Jackson  O.  Dykman,  and 
his  example  may  well  be  imitated  by  the  young  men 
of  the  country. 

He  is  a  Democrat  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  term, 
but  not  a  partisan,  and  a  consistent  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  surrogates,  as  given  in 
the  New  York  civil  list.  Most,  if  not  all,  are  men- 
tioned biographically  in  our  sketches  of  the  bar,  which 
ibllow, — 

17.30,  Gilbert  Willet. 
1754.  Jolin  Bartow. 
17G1.  Caleb  Fowler. 
176(5.  David  Daton. 
1778.  Rieliard  Hatfield. 
1787.  Philip  Pell,  Jr. 
1800.  Samuel  Youngs. 
1802.  Edward  Tboin.os. 
1808.  Ezra  Lockwood. 

1810.  Samuel  Youngs. 

1811.  Ezra  Lockwood. 
1813.  Samuel  Youngs, 

Samuel  Clowes  was  the  first  lawyer,  of  whom  any 
record  can  be  obtained,  who  practiced  in  Westchester 
County.  He  was  a  Queens  County  man  and  filled 
the  office  of  clerk  of  that  county  from  April  30,  1701, 
to  July,  1710.  Having  moved  to  Westchester  County, 
he  soon  rose  to  prominence,  and  from  1717  to  1744  j 
he  was  one  of  the  two  leading  attorneys  of  the  West-  | 


1815,  Henry  White. 
1819,  Samuel  Youngs. 
1821,  Ebenezer  Whfte,  .Jr. 
1828.  Jonathan  Ward. 
1840.  Alexander  H.  Wells. 
1844.  Frederick  J.  Coffin. 
1847.  Lewis  C,  Piatt. 
1855,  Robert  H,  Coles. 
18G2,  Silas  D.  Gifford. 
1862,  John  W,  Mills. 
1870,  Owen  T,  Coffin. 


Chester  bar,  and  doubtless  the  first  prosecuting  attor- 
ney of  Westchester  County,  December  9,  1722,  oc- 
curs the  following  entry  in  the  court  records  of  White 
Plains:  "The  Court  of  Gen'l  Sessions  appoints  Mr. 
Samuel  Clowes  counsel  for  the  King  in  all  cases 
where  he  is  not  already  concerned  for  the  subject." 
After  1744,  owing  to  his  advanced  age,  he  gave  up  the 
active  practice  of  a  profession  in  which  he  had  risen 
to  eminence,  commanding  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  his  brother  lawyers  and  of  the  people.  Mr.  Clowes 
died,  full  of  years,  in  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  in  1760. 
In  his  will,  which  bears  date  of  July  24,  1759,  but 
was  not  offered  for  probate  until  August  28,  1760,  he 
put  down  his  age  at  eighty-five  years  and  five  months.' 
He  was,  therefore,  over  eighty-six  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  the  exact  date  of  which  we  have 
failed  to  discover. 

Another  lawyer,  whose  name  appears  simultane- 
ously with  that  of  Mr.  Clowes,  in  1717,  in  connection 
with  a  number  of  proceedings  in  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  was  Vernon.  His  first  name  is  omit- 
ted in  the  court  records,  and  little  is  known  of  him 
beyond  the  fact  that  he  practiced  law  until  1728. 

Mr.  Murray  and  Mr.  Jamison  are  next  mentioned — 
first  name  omitted— as  practicing,  from  1719  to  1736- 
37,  in  Westchester  County.  The  former  was,  no  doubt, 
Joseph  Murray,  of  New  York,  member  of  the  Colo- 
nial Council  of  New  York  from  1744-58.^  He  died  in 
1758.  There  can  be  also  little  doubt  that  "  Mr.  Jam- 
ison''was  David  Jamison,  one  of  the  patentees  of 
Harrison's  Purchase  (the  town  of  Harrison),  at  one 
time  chief  justice  of  New  Jersey  and  attorney-gen- 
eral of  New  York.'' 

Mr.  Wileman  (doubtless  Henry  Wileman)  practiced 
occasionally  in  the  Westchester  County  Courts  from 
1720  to  1725.* 

John  Chambers,  of  New  York,  practiced  in  the 
Westchester  courts  from  1724  to  1751.  He  was  an  able 
and  successful  lawyer,  he  and  Mr.  Clowes  doing  al- 
most all  the  legal  business  until  Mr.  Clowes  retired, 
in  1744,  when  Chambers  retained  the  lion's  share. 

Other  lawyers,  hailing  principally  from  New  York 
City  or  from  Queens  County,  appeared  infrequently 
in  the  County  Courts  in  those  early  years.  They  were 
Whitehead,  1721;  Costifin,  1728;  Price,  1728;  T. 
Smith  (possibly  Thomas  Smith,  of  New  York,  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  in  1775), 
whose  name  is  frequently  mentioned,  1727-69 ;  Ed- 
wardBlagge,  1728-32;  Seymour,  1729;  Lodge,  1731-56; 
Kelley,  1732-51;  Warrol,  1732;  White,  1740-41; 
Crannel,  1744;  Green,  1744-47. 

John  Bartow,  of  Westchester  town,  was  a  lawyer  of 
some  repute  from  1742  until  1772.  He  at  one  time 
(1760-64)  held  the  office  of  county  clerk.  He  died  in 
1802,  at  eighty-seven  years  old.    Mr.  Bartow,  we 


1  Record  of  Wills,  N.  Y,  City,  vol,  xxii,  p,  232. 

2  N,  Y,  Civil  List, 

3  Bolton,  pp,  367-,368,  foot  note,  and  N,  Y,  Civil  List, 
»  N,  Y.  Civil  List, 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


535 


l)elieve,  was  the  first  attorney  resident  in  Westchester 
County. 

.John  Alsop,  of  New  York,  practiced  law  in  West- 
chester County,  with  remarkable  success,  between 
1744  and  1759,  inclusive. 

Benjamin  Nicoll,  lawyer  of  New  York,  was  clerk 
of  Westchester  County  in  1745.  He  died  about 
1759-()0,  as  there  is  an  entry  in  the  record  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  May,  17G0, 
of  an  order  appointing  Thomas  Jones  attorney,  in  a 
certain  cause,  "  in  the  room  of  Benjamin  Nicolls,  de- 
ceased."   Mr.  Nicoll  was  a  lawyer  of  great  ability. 

Timothy  Wetniore,  referred  to  above,  was  one  of  the 
leading  attorneys  at  this  bar  previous  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  James  Wetmore,  of 
Rye,  and  a  man  of  influence  in  the  community.  Pie 
was  graduated  from  King's  College  in  1758,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  April  26,  1760.  He  was  a  pro- 
nounced Tory,  and  signed  the  protest  at  White 
Plains,  April  11,  1775,  against  Congress  and  com- 
mittees, and  pledged  his  life  and  property  to  support 
the  King.  He  afterwards  removed  to  the  province  of 
New  Brunswick  where  he  practiced  his  profession 
many  years  and  held  situations  of  honor  and  trust. 
In  1800  he  returned  to  New  York,  where  he  died 
March,  1820,  aged  eighty-three  or  eighty-five  years.^ 

The  court  records  furnish  us  with  the  names  of  a 
number  of  lawyers  who  practised  for  one  or  more 
years  in  the  county.  Having  failed  to  obtain  such 
information  concerning  them  as  could  be  embodied 
into  a  biographical  notice,  we  give  here  merely  the 
names  and  dates  at  which  they  appear  on  the  records, 
between  174.")  and  1776, — Samuel  Clowes,  Jr.,  1745-55 ; 
Parker,  1747-49;  McEvers,  1748,  1749  and  1756; 
Bennett,  1748-58;  John  Cortlandt,  1750-56;  Scott, 

1752-  53;  Moore,  1752-65  ;  Augustine  "Van  Cortlandt, 

1753-  67;  Woods,  1762-76;  Ludlow,  1761-71;  Kent, 
1762-72;  Ryker,  1765-(38  ;  Helme,  1765-73;  Vincent, 
Matthews,  1770-71  ;  Benson,  1771 ;  Antill,  1771 ; 
Townsend,  1770-76  (probably  Micah  Townsend, 
Esq.,  of  White  Plains)  ;  Jphn  McKcs.son,  1771 ; 
Wickham,  1763-72;  De  Peyster,  1773 ;  Murray,  1774; 
and  Bogart,  1776. 

Hon.  Richard  Morris  (of  the  Morrises,  of  Morrisa- 
nia,  and  whose  biography  is  given  in  another 
chapter)  practiced  in  Westchesfer  County  (1752-76)  ; 
He,  with  Thomas  Hicks  (1752-64),  Benjamin  Kissam 
(1750-75)  and  Timothy  Wetmore,  afterwards  attorney- 
general  of  the  province  of  New  Brunswick,  became 
the  leading  lawyers  after  Alsop  and  Nicolls  had 
ceased  to  figure.  Thomas  Jones  (1760-71)  and 
Samuel  Jones  (1764-76)  did  also  a  good  deal  of  legal 
business. 

Gouverneur  Morris,  son  of  Hon.  Lewis  Morris, 
fourth  proprietor  and  second  lord  of  the  Manor  of 


'Communicated  by  .Tosiah  Mitchell,  Esq.,  Authorities  N.  Y.  Revo- 
lutionary Papers,  p.  159;  Sabin's  "Loyalist,"  p.  415;  "Wetmore 
Memorial,"  Muiisell  i  Rowland,  Albany,  1861. 


Morrisania,  practiced  law  in  Westchester  County 
about  the  year  1772.  He  had  graduated  at  King's 
College  (now  Columbia),  in  1768.  Entering  upon  the 
practice  of  law,  he  soon  gained  a  high  reputation.  lu 
1775  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial  Congress  in 
New  York.  The  same  year  he  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  for  Public  Safety  for  Westchester 
County.  In  1776  he  was  one  of  the  committee  for 
draughting  a  Constitution  for  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  went  to  France  in  1787  and  remained  in  Paris 
until  1795,  as  American  minister,  witnessing  thus  the 
terrible  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution  from  its  in- 
cipiency  to  its  consummation. 

He  exhibited  as  great  ability  in  his  public  capaci- 
ties as  he  had  displayed  oratorical  talents  and  legal 
learning  at  the  bar.  He  was  a  member  cf  the  con- 
vention which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States;  "was  chosen  Senator  of  New  York  in  1800, 
and  in  1808  appointed  one  of  their  commissioners  to 
lay  out  the  city  of  New  York  into  streets  and  avenues  • 
north  of  Bleecker  Street.  In  the  summer  of  1810  he 
examined  the  route  for  the  Erie  Canal,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  originating  and  promoting  that  noble 
work."  2 

He  died  in  1816,  aged  sixty-four.  His  wife  was  Ann 
Carey  Randolph,  daughter  of  Thomas  Randolph,  of 
Roanoke,  and  a  descendant  of  the  celebrated  Pocahon- 
tas. He  left  a  son,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Esq.,  of  Mor- 
risania. Barber,  already  quoted,  says  of  him — "  The 
activity  of  his  mind,  the  richness  of  his  fancy  and 
the  copiousness  of  his  eloquent  conversation  were  the 
admiration  of  all  his  acquaintances,  and  he  was  uni- 
versally admitted  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and 
prominent  men  of  our  country." 

The  illustrious  John  Jay,  LL.D.,  first  chief  justice 
of  the  United  States  under  the  Constitution  of  1789, 
practiced  in  the  Westchester  County  Courts  from  1769 
to  1776.  Judge  Jay  was  the  eighth  child  of  Peter 
Jay,  Esq.,  merchant,  by  his  wife,  Mary  Van  Cortlandt. 
He  was  born  on  the  12th  of  December,  1745.  He  re- 
ceived a  collegiate  education  at  King's  College  and 
took  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1764.  Already 
he  had  decided  upon  the  law  as  his  profession,  and  in 
1768  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  A  mere  outline  of 
the  life  of  this  great  citizen  would  fill  more  space  than 
we  can  devote  to  the  bench  and  bar  of  Westchester 
County.  From  the  day  when  he  was  appointed  to 
the  First  American  Congress,  in  1774,  to  the  year 
1801,  when  he  retired  from  public  life  to  enjoy  well- 
earned  rest  at  Bedford,  in  this  county,  his  career  was 
of  usefulness  and  patriotic  devotion.  Chief  justice 
of  New  York  from  1777  to  1779,  President  of  Con- 
gress, minister  plenipotentiary  to  Spain  in  1779,  a 
signer  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  with  Great 
Britain  in  1783,  chief  justice  of  the  United  States 
in  1789  and  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Great  Britain 
in  1794,  he  rendered  the  most  eminent  services  to  the 


,  8  Barber,  Hist.  Coll.  of  N.  Y. 


536 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


government  he  had  helped  to  form.  He  closed  his 
Ijnblic  career  as  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
from  1795  to  1801.  He  died  full  of  years  and  honor, 
May  17,  1829.  The  following  entry  appears  in 
the  record  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  West- 
chester County,  under  date  of  May  25,  1829 :  "  The 
court  and  members  of  this  bar,  entertaining  the  high- 
est respect  for  the  pure  and  exalted  character  of  the 
late  venerable  John  Jay,  do  resolve  that  we  will  wear 
crape  upon  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days  in  token  of 
our  respect."  Ability,  firmness,  patriotism  and  in- 
tegrity^— all  that  go  to  make  man  great, — he  possessed 
in  an  eminent  degree ;  and,  better' still,  he  was,  as  the 
last  lines  of  his  epitaph  recite,  "in  his  life  and  in  his 
death,  an  example  of  the  virtues,  the  faith  and  the 
hopes  of  a  Christian." 

John  Jay,' son  of  William  Jay,  distinguished  as  an 
author  and  jurist,  and  grandson  of  the  illu.strious 
chief  justice  whose  name  and  works  are  emblazoned 
•on  the  scroll  of  American  fame,  was  born  in  New 
York,  June  23,  1817.  His  early  life  was  passed  in  the 
home  of  his  grandfather,  at  the  family  seatin  Bedford, 
where  he  remained  till  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1829. 
His  early  education  began  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances,  and  was  finished  at  Columbia  College, 
where  he  graduated  with  high  honors  in  183G.  He 
began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Daniel  Lord, 
Jr.,  having  as  a  fellow-student  Hon.  William  M. 
Evarts.  During  his  college  days  the  Anti-Slavery 
movement  began  to  be  the  all-absorbing  topic  of  the 
hour,  but  there  are  few  of  the  rising  generation  who 
can  appreciate  the  difficulties  which  a  young  man  of 
talent  and  ancestral  name  would  encounter  in  allying 
himself  to  the  then  unpopular  party,  and  identifying 
himself  with  the  avowed  opponents  of  the  system 
which  was  supported  by  the  wealth  and  power  of  the 
country,  and  the  authority  of  the  Church,  and  de- 
clared to  be  in  full  accord  alike  with  the  teachings  of 
the  Bible  and  the  Constiiution,  established  by  the 
founders  of  the  republic,  which  controlle  d  the  actions 
of  every  department  of  the  government,  and  moulded 
the  views  and  commanded  the  supf.ort  of  every  officer, 
from  the  President  to  the  postmaster  of  the  humblest 
village.  To  those  who  can  understand  the  power  and 
influence  of  this  institution  in  the  day  when  Mr.  Jay 
began  his  life-work,  the  destruction  of  slavery  must 
appear  as  the  miracle  of  modern  times. 

In  1834  he  became  a  manager  of  the  New  York 
Young  Men's  Anti-Slavery  Society.  On  the  4th  of 
July  of  that  year,  a  day  sacred  to  freedom,  an  anti- 
slavery  meeting  in  New  York  was  disj^ersed  by  a  mob, 
and  the  citj'  was  the  scene  of  riot  and  outrage,  against 
which  the  authorities  afforded  no  protection.  Among 
the  residences  marked  out  for  attack  was  that  of  Dr. 
Abraham  R.  Cox,  with  whom  Mr.  Jay  was  then  living, 
but  the  determined  action  of  a  few  young  men,  who, 
with  himself,  prepared  for  an  armed  resistance,  in- 


I  Tills  sketch  was  prepared  and  inserted  by  the  editor. 


duced  the  mob  to  pass  on  to  places  that  were  not  pro- 
tected by  equally  brave  defenders.  From  that  time 
until  the  day  when  slavery  came  to  an  ignominious 
end  he  was  in  full  accord  with  the  leaders  of  emanci- 
pation, and  in  1839  he  took  an  active  part  in  prepar- 
ing the  way  by  which  the  Abolitionists  became  a  dis- 
tinct political  party,  with  platforms  and  candidates  of 
their  own.  In  that  year  he  presented  to  the  Whig 
National  Convention  an  elaborate  report  as  to  the 
powers  and  duty  of  Congress  under  the  Constitutioa 
to  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories,  and  in  a 
speech  on  the  "  Dignity  of  the  Abolition  Cause,"  he 
urged  political  action  and  the  use  of  the  ballot,  call- 
ing upon  the  friends  of  the  cause  to  no  longer  confine 
themselves  to  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  under- 
standing. During  the  same  year  he  was  brought  still 
more  prominently  into  notice  through  a  controversy 
with  some  of  the  higher  officials  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  arising  from  the  exclusion  from  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  a  colored  candidate  for  priestly 
orders.  In  1842  he  delivered  an  address  on  the 
"  Progress  and  Results  of  Emancipation  in  the  West 
Indies,"  and  to  his  far-seeing  mind  the  time  seemed 
not  distant  when  a  similar  result  would  be  accom- 
plished in  our  own  land.  la  1844,  when  the  question 
of  Texan  annexation  was  attracting  the  attention  of 
the  country,  he  was  the  organizer  of  a  demonstration 
against  the  project,  and  was  supported  by  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  the  day,  the  presiding 
officer  of  the  meeting  being  the  venerable  Albert 
Gallatin,  the  last  survivor  of  the  Cabinet  of  Jefferson. 
Although  in  the  Presidential  contest  which  succeeded, 
a  strong  effort  was  made  to  induce  the  Abolitionists 
to  cast  their  votes  for  Henry  Clay,  yet,  through  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Jay,  and  the  leaders  whose  views 
were  identical  with  his  own,  sixty  thousand  votes 
were  given  by  the  new  party  for  the  Hon.  John  P. 
Hale,  who  was  thus  the  first  Anti-Slavery  candidate 
presented  for  the  suffrages  of  the  country. 

In  the  practice  of  his  profession  Mr.  Jay  was  fre- 
quently called  upon  to  defend  in  the  courts  persons 
arrested  as  fugitive  slaves.  In  the  peculiar  state  of 
feeling  which  then  existed,  the  defense  of  these  cases 
could  not  fail  to  attract  public  attention  in  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  the  reported  cases,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  "In  re  Kirk,"  "la  re  Da 
Costa  "  and  the  famous  "  Lemon  Case,"  which  were 
conducted  by  him  with  matchless  ability,  must  ever 
be  an  important  chapter  in  the  legal  hi.story  of  the 
times. 

In  1848  Mr.  Jay,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  made  a 
visit  to  Europe,  and  during  his  travels  formed  many 
acquaintances  among  the  most  prominent  men  of  the 
day.  While  in  France  he  did  not  fail  to  visit  what 
was  to  him  a  spot  endeared  by  ancestral  tradition,  the 
"City  of  the  Huguenots."  Upon  his  return  he  re- 
sumed his  labors  for  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  when 
the  country  was  agitated  by  the  proposal  to  rejieal  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  he  was  among  the  first  to  gird  for 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


537 


the  coming  struggle,  and  a  call  prepared  by  himself, 
and  headed  by  the  significant  words,  "  No  violation 
of  [ilighted  faith,"  "No  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise," filled  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  on  the  even- 
ing of  January  30,  18j4,  with  the  best  citizens  of  New 
York.  The  resolutions  drawn  by  him  were  adopted 
by  acclamation,  and  the  opinions  thus  expressed 
found  a  ready  response  in  every  free  State  throughout 
the  Union.  A  succession  of  meetings  organized  by 
him  for  the  same  object  served  to  intensify  this  feel- 
ing, and  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  of  which  Mr.  Jay  was  justly  considered 
one  of  the  most  prominent  founders.  In  the  Presi- 
dential campaign  of  1856  he  could  not  fail  to  take  a 
conspicuous  part,  and  a  speech  delivered  by  hira  at 
Bedford  on  the  8th  of  October,  "  America  Free  or 
America  Slave,"  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  political 
documents  of  the  time.  During  this  time  he  was  un- 
ceasing in  his  labors  to  gain  the  influence  of  the 
church  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  freedom, — labors  which 
unfortunately  met  with  bitter  opposition,  which  only 
served  to  show  him  in  his  true  character  as  a  fearless 
champion  of  the  right. 

Throughout  the  struggle  which  culminated  in  the 
triumph  of  the  Republican  party  and  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Mr.  Jay  was  a  conspicuous  actor. 
Informed  at  an  early  hour  of  the  Confederate  design 
to  seize  the  national  capital,  he  called  the  attention 
of  the  nation  to  the  danger,  and  prompt  means  were 
taken  to  avert  it.  In  April,  18(51,  he  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  great  meeting  in  Union  Square 
New  York,  from  which  proceeded  a  flood  of  patriot- 
ism that  swept  the  Northern  States.  During  the 
war  he  was  one  of  the  most  eSicient  members  of  the 
Loyal  League  of  New  Y'ork,  and  afterwards  of  the 
Union  League  Club,  in  the  councils  of  which  he  has 
•ever  held  an  important  place.  When  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Union  League,  and  by  the  authority 
of  Secretary  Stanton,  colored  regiments  were  raised, 
lie  made  an  eloquent  address  to  the  second  of  these 
commands  previous  to  its  departure  for  the  seat  of 
war.  His  son,  Colonel  William  Jay,  who  served 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  war  on  the 
staffs  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  generals,  fre- 
quently received  visits  from  his  father,  who  was  a 
witness  of  the  destruction  of  several  national  vessels 
by  the  ironclad  "  Merrimac,"  and  her  subsequent  de- 
feat by  the  "  Monitor,"  and  accompanied  President 
Lincoln,  Mr.  Stanton  and  Mr.  Chase  on  their  return 
to  Washington  from  Fortress  Monroe,  a  few  days  af- 
ter the  famous  fight. 

lu  the  fall  of  1S(55  he  again  visited  Europe,  and 
presided  at  the  Thanksgiving  dinner  at  the  Grand 
Hotel,  in  Paris,  on  the  7th  of  December,  where,  at 
his  suggestion.  Southern  gentlemen  who  acquiesced 
ID  the  result  of  the  war,  were  invited  to  take  part  in 
the  festival. 

During  his  absence  Mr.  Jay  was  elected  president 
of  the  Union  League  Club,  and  when  a  disposition 
51 


was  manifested  on  the  part  of  some  of  its  members  to 
dissolve  the  organization,  on  the  ground  that  its  work 
was  finished,  his  influence  was  given  in  behalf  of  the 
majority,  who  believed  that  the  club  had  an  impor- 
tant duty  to  perform  in  the  future.  In  18G7  he  was 
appointed  by  Governor  Fenton  a  commissioner  to 
represent  the  State  at  the  establishment  of  the  Na- 
tional Cemetery  on  the  battle-field  of  Antietam,  and 
true  to  his  nature,  he  was  prompt  to  sustain  the  view 
that  liberality  and  magnanimity  alike  required  that 
the  Confederate  dead  should  also  receive  honoralJle 
burial.  In  April,  1869,  he  was  nominated  by  Presi- 
dent Grant  to  the  important  position  of  minister  to 
Austria,  a  nomination  which  was  unanimously  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate ;  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  Union 
League,  an  address  was  delivered  to  their  retiring 
president  by  Dr.  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  in  response  to 
which  Mr.  Jay  expressed  the  belief  that  the  honor 
was  intended  as  a  compliment  to  the  club,  and  as  a 
recognition  of  the  efficient  aid  it  had  furnished  to  the 
government  in  its  struggle  for  existence.  While 
minister  at  Vienna  he  was  empowered  to  negotiate 
a  treaty  which  should  determine  the  status  of  Aus- 
trian subjects  who  had  become  naturalized  as  Ameri- 
can citizens,  and  it  was  finally  ratified  by  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  government,  after  much  opposition  from 
successive  war  ministers,  who  naturally  regarded  it 
as  an  effort  to  aid  Austrian  subjects  to  evade  the  mili- 
tary service  of  the  Empire.  Another  convention  was 
concluded  by  Mr.  Jay  in  1871,  with  Count  Andrassy, 
affording  to  each  country  a  mutual  protection  in  trade 
marks,  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  our  manufac- 
turers, and  this  treaty  is  remarkable  as  being  the 
highest  recognition  that  the  Kingdom  of  Hungary 
had  received  in  four  hundred  years. 

The  Vienna  Exposition  of  1873  led  many  Ameri- 
can citizens  to  visit  the  Austrian  capital,  and  in- 
creased the  social  duties  of  the  Legation.  The  tem- 
porary suspension  by  the  President  of  the  American 
Commission,  on  the  ground  of  irregularities  in  the 
management,  and  the  oflicial  duties  which  devolved 
upon  Mr.  Jay  in  consequence,  aroused  much  personal 
feeling  against  him,  and  gave  rise  to  much  abuse  and 
misrepresentation  in  both  the  European  and  Ameri- 
can press.  Charges  made  against  him  were,  after 
full  examination,  found  to  be  groundless,  and  his 
character  as  a  wise  and  able  representative  of  this 
nation  was  fully  sustained. 

In  1874  he  resigned  his  diplomotic  position  and  re- 
turned to  America  during  the  following  year.  In 

1876  he  delivered  before  the  New  Y'ork  Historical 
Society  the  Centennial  Oration  in  commemoration  of 
the  battle  of  Harleni  Plains,  and,  at  the  request  of  the 
same  society,  prepared  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
John  Lothrop  Motley,  his  predecessor  at  Vienna,  a 
paper  which  excited  considerable  controversy.  In 

1877  he  was  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury chairman  of  a  committee  to  investigate  the  af- 
faire of  the  New  Y'ork  Custom  House ; — and  his  re- 


538 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


port  led  to  many  changes  and  reforms  in  that  branch 
of  the  national  service.  During  the  same  year  he 
was  iigain  elected  president  of  the  Union  League,  and 
upon  his  declining  a  re-nomination,  in  1878,  he  was 
succeeded  by  George  Cabot  Ward. 

In  January  and  February,  187S,  he  took  an  active 
part  in  opposing  the  ill-advised  attempt  of  the  city 
officials  to  erect  an  armory  for  the  National  Guard  in 
Washington  Square,  and,  in  company  with  many  of 
the  best  citizens,  deemed  it  of  importance  that  the 
few  breathing-places  in  the  crowded  portions  of  the 
city  should  not  be  diminished. 

With  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  that  portion 
of  Westchester  County  which  had  been  the  home  of 
his  ancestors,  as  well  as  his  own,  he  was  prominent 
in  the  formation  of  a  society  for  village  improvement, 
known  as  the  Katonah  Association,  which  has  been 
of  great  and  lasting  benefit  in  elevating  the  taste  of 
the  community. 

The  news  of  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield 
reached  Mr.  Jay  while  yet  in  Europe,  and  at  a  meet- 
ing of  American  citizens  held  at  Paris,  an  eloquent 
address  was  delivered  by  him,  portraying  in  vivid 
language  the  duties  of  the  hour. 

The.  frequent  contributions  from  his  pen  upon  the 
questions  of  the  day  are  well-known  to  all,  but 
among  tliem  especial  mention  may  be  made  of  arti- 
cles which  appeared  in  the  International  Review,  on 
the  Catholic  question  and  on  Presidential  elections. 

The  four  hundreth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Martin  Luther  occurred  November  4,  1883,  and  the 
event  was  duly  celebrated  by  a  public  meeting  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ameri- 
can Evangelical  Alliance.  "Never  before,"  says  the 
New  York  Herald,  "  was  such  a  throng  gathered 
under  its  roof,"  and  the  opening  address  made  by  Mr. 
Jay,  as  president  of  the  Alliance,  was  an  effort 
worthy  of  himself  and  of  the  fame  of  the  "Great 
Reformer." 

IJ])on  the  seventy-ninth  annivei-sary  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society  he  read  a  carefully  prepared 
and  highly  interesting  paper  upon  the  peace  negotia- 
tions of  1782-83.  This  paper,  which  was  printed,  is 
a  valuable  contribution  to  national  history. 

To  enumerate  the  various  speeches  delivered  by  Mr. 
Jay  upon  important  occasions,  in  which  he  has  ex- 
prcfsed  hi.s  views  upon  national  questions,  and  the 
various  writings  he  has  contributed  to  our  historical 
and  political  literature,  would  far  exceed  present 
limits.  Through  a  long  life  he  has  been  a  conspic- 
uous actor  upon  the  stage  of  jniblic  events,  and  his 
views  and  ofjinions  have  never  failed  to  attract  atten- 
tion and  command  respect,  and  his  name  will  de- 
scend to  ]jostcrity  sus  unsullied  as  that  of  his  illus- 
trous  ancestor.  During  his  whole  career  he  has  never 
in  any  controversy  8to|)ped  to  consider  the  odds 
against  which  he  was  fighting.  To  him  to  undertake 
has  been  to  continue,  and  tiie  sentiment  ascribed  to 
the  Hero  of  Switzerland  seems  to  have  been  the 


motive-power  of  his  own  actions:  "  Je  ne  sais  pas  H 
la  cfios^cat  possible,  jnaisje  .saiji  yii'il  faut  la  /aire." 

In  him  the  spirit  of  the  Huguenots  lives  again,  and 
in  him  we  see  a  worthy  successor  of  the  gallant  host 
who  fought  at  Ivry,  and  followed  as  their  oritlanime 
the  helmet  of  Navarre. 

When  the  sessions  of  court  began  to  be  resumed, 
in  1778,  an  entirely  new  set  of  lawyers  appeared. 
From  that  time  to  1794  the  name  of  Pell  appears 
very  frequently  on  the  records.  This  was  doubtless 
Hon.  Philip  Pell,  born  July  7,  1753,  "judge-advo- 
cate of  the  Continental  army  in  the  Kevolutiouary 
war,  and  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati  Society."  Mr. 
Bolton  says  of  him:  "  This  illustrious  individual  had 
the  honor  of  riding  by  the  side  of  General  Washing- 
ton when  he  entered  New  York  City  upon  '  evacu- 
ation day,'  November  25,  1783.  He  was  a  graduate 
of  King's  College  (now  Columbia)  in  176G,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  one  of  the  best  Greek  scholars  of 
that  day."  Hon.  Philip  Pell  was  the  grandson  of 
Philij),  fifth  son  of  Thomas,  eldest  son  of  Lord  John 
Pell.  He  lived  in  Pclham  and  was  twice  married — 
first,  to  Mary  Ward  ;  second,  to  Anna  Lewis.  He  died 
in  1811,  and  left  an  only  son,  like  him  named  Philip, 
the  father  of  Philip  Pell,  of  San  Francisco,  Cali- 
fornia. 

Richard  Hatfield  was  another  leading  lawyer  in 
Westchester  County  after  177G,  the  period  of  his 
greatest  activity  ceasing  about  17!U),  though  he  con- 
tinued to  plead  occasionally  after  that  date.  He  was 
evidently  an  energetic  man,  of  uncommon  activity, 
and  filled  many  offices.  He  held  that  of  county 
clerk  from  1777  to  1802,  was  surrogate  of  the  county 
from  1778  to  1787,  a  delegate  to  the  State  Convention 
which  ratified  the  Constitution  in  1788  ;  member  of 
Assembly  in  1794;  member  of  the  Council  of  Ap- 
pointment of  the  State  in  1795,  and  member  of  the. 
State  Senate  from  1795  to  1803.  He  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  White 
Plains,  and  assisted  in  organizing  the  Methodist 
Church  there  also.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  White 
Plains  in  1813,  and  left  a  son  Richard,  whose  name 
also  appears,  but  infrequently,  as  practicing  law  in 
Westchester  County,  and  a  daughter  Esther.  Another 
daughter  married  James  Woods,  and  left  a  son,  Rich- 
ard Hatfield  Woods. 

John  Strang,  one  of  the  attorneys  of  the  Supreme 
Court  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  of  Westchester  County  in  May,  1779,  and 
remained  in  practice  until  in  the  year  1797.  During 
this  ])eriod  he  was  one  of  the  three  leading  lawyers 
of  the  county.  Mr.  Strang  was  the  son  of  ]Major 
Joseph  Strang,  a  Revolutionary  character  of  note  in 
Yt)rktown,  and  was  born  near  Crompond-  He  studied 
law  in  the  ollicc  of  John  Jay,  afterwards  chief  justice 
of  the  United  States.  His  place  of  residence,  at 
least  during  a  portion  of  the  period  of  his  activity  as 
an  attorney,  was  in  Redlbrd,  and  there  Peter  Jay 
Munro  was  a  student  in  his  office  for  a  few  months. 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAB. 


539 


Probably  at  the  termination  of  his  career  of  active 
iiactice  he  removed  to  Peekskill.  At  least  he  lived 
;  liere  for  many  years  towards  the  close  of  his  life  at 
:he  house  of  his  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Underbill  Strang. 
.Mr.  Strang  died  about  the  year  1830,  being  then 
nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  He  never  married.  A 
few  old-time  residents  of  Peekskill  remember  him  as 
he  appeared  late  in  life,  and  how  he  used  to  pace  up 
and  down  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  his  residence,  hold- 
ing in  front  of  him  a  long  cane,  which  he  grasped  a 
little  above  the  middle,  and  wearing  a  shirt  with  a 
ruffled  bosom  and  a  tightlj'-fitting  dress  coat.  In 
stature  he  was  small.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  man 
(if  reserved  manners  and  of  strong  likes  and  dislikes. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  buried  at  Cronipond-  A  tra- 
dition among  the  descendants  of  Underbill  Strang  is, 
that  John  Strang  was  an  assistant  judge  ad»-ocate  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and,  but  for  the  fact  that  he 
was  away  on  a  furlough,  would  have  acted  as  judge  at 
the  trial  of  Major  Andre. 

William  Popham,  of  Scarsdale,  practiced  in  the 
^\'^■stchester  County  Courts  in  1785.    This  gentleman, 
better  known  as  Major  William  Po])ham,  descended 
,  from  a  very  old  and  distinguished  family,  the  Pop- 
hams  of  Popham,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire,  Eng- 
iand.    The  sixth  in  descent  from  Gilbert  Popham, 
I  the  founder  of  the  family  in  the  year  1200,  was  Sir 
John  Popham,  Knight  of  the  Bath,  lord  chief  justice 
*  of  the  Queen's  Bench.    The  Pophams  took  sides 
against  the  King  in  the  English   Revolution  and, 
'  upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  John  Popham, 
j  the  direct  ancestor  of  Major  Popham,  removed  to 
:  Ireland.    He  was  for  many  years  a  gentleman  of  the 
I  household  to  King  James  the  First,  and  married,  it  is 
said,  a  daughter  of  the  celebrated  president  John 
Bradshaw.     His  great-grandson,  William  Popham, 
of  Bundon,  county  of  Cork,  Ireland,  was  the  father 
of  Major  William  Popham-    This  gallant  soldier  was 
born  in  Ireland  in  1752  and  came  to  America  with 
his  parents  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years.  The 
Pophams  settled  in  the  town  of  Newark  (State  of 
Delaware),  where  William  spent  his  youth  and  re- 
ceived a  finished  education.    He  was  intended  for  the 
ministry,  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution- 
ary War  he  entered  the  American  army.' 

He  distinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  Long 
Island — his  first  engagement — and  was  made  a  cap- 
tain. At  White  Plains  and  at  Brandywine  ho  again 
gave  proofs  of  indomitable  valor  and  military  ability. 
He  acted  as  aid  to  General  Clinton  in  the  Northern 
Division  of  the  army,  and  was  also  the  aid  of  General 
Sullivan  in  the  western  exi)edition  among  the  In- 
dians. After  the  war  he  resided  a  few  years  in  the 
city  of  Albany,  where  he  entered  upon  the  study  of 
the  law,  and  pra(tice<l  his  ])rof(ssi()n.  He  thence  re- 
moved to  New  York  City,  wlii  re  he  practiced  law  for 
a  few  years.    In  the  year  1787  he  purchased  a  farm 


in  Westchester  County,  which  he  made  his  abode. 
He  was  then  clerk  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  an 
office  which  he  held  until  it  was  abolished.  He  died 
at  New  York,  September,  1847,  aged  ninety-five  years. 
He  was  a  remarkably  religious  man  and  a  member  of 
the  Episcopal  Church.  "  He  was  the  friend  and 
companion  of  Washington,  and  claimed  as  his  inti- 
mates many  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  day. 
He  belonged  to  the  old  school  of  American  gentle- 
man, and  in  mind  and  body  was  distinguished  for  ac- 
tivity and  sprightlincss.  He  was  an  accomplished 
scholar,  and  in  every  particular  a  thoroughbred  gen- 
tleman."^ Major  Popham  was  president  of  the  New 
York  Society  of  the  Cincinnati.  His  remains  repose 
in  the  Popham  family  vault,  near  St.  James'  Church, 
Scarsdale. 

Other  lawyers  mentioned  between  1778  and  1800 
are  Nathaniel  Lawrence,  district  attorney  in  1796, 
whose  name  is  not  frequently  mentioned,  however,  in 
the  court  records ;  Cutting,  1785-88 ;  Skinner,  1787- 
1805;  Troup  1787-95  (probably  Robert  Troup,  of 
New  York;  he  had  a  good  practice  in  this  country); 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  of  the  town  of  Cortlandt,  ad- 
mitted in  1787,  but  not  often  in  court;  Frederick 
Prevost,  1787 ;  John  Johnston,  1787;  Augustus  James, 
1787;  Ogilvie,  1787-93;  Lewis,  1787;  Watkins,  1788; 
Brookholst  Livingstone  (afterward  judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court),  1788;  Adrian  Kissam,  1789;  Aaron 
J.  Lawrence,  1790;  Oliver  L.  Ker,  1790-93;  Read, 
1790-94;  Thomas  Cooper,  1790-98;  Josiuh  Ogden 
Hoffman,  1790;  Francis  Lynch,  1790-94;  James  Mor- 
ris, 1791-94;  William  Wyche,  1793-96;  George  D. 
Cooper,  1793-1812;  Cadwallader  D.  Golden,  179  8; 
James  Woods,  who  had  a  good  practice  from  1794  to 
1811 ;  Charles  Thompson,  who  did  a  fair  legal  business 
from  1794  to  1816;  Joseph  Constant,  179-3-99;  and 
Benjamin  Ferrio,  179-5-1805. 

At  this  i)eriod  Aaron  Burr  frequently  had  cases  in 
this  court,  especially  between  and  including  the  years 
1785  and  1794,  when  he  may  be  said  to  have  been 
one  of  the  active  members  of  the  bar.  Alexander 
Hamilton,  his  distinguished  political  opponent,  also 
tried  cases  in  this  county  about  that  time,  but  they 
were  very  few  in  number. 

Peter  J.  Munro  was  the  leading  lawyer  from  1789 
until  1821.  He  lived  in  Mamaroneck,  but  most  of 
his  business  was  done  in  New  York,  where  he  had  an 
office.  He  was  paralyzed  for  some  years  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  September  22,  1833,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

Edward  Thomas,  surrogate  of  Westchester  County, 
was  a  leading  lawyer  and  had  an  extensive  practice, 
1780-1806.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Judge  John 
Thomas,  the  patriot  who  died  a  ])ris()ner  in  New 
York,  in  1777.  lOdward  Tbonuis  marrieil  Anne  Oak- 
ley.   He  died  in  1806,  aged  forty-four  years.  His 


'  Bolton'a  "History  of  Wmtcheater  County." 


3  Nrio  York  Erpnu,  Soptombor  27,  1847,  fi-um  wbicli  must  of  the  aburo 
la  condonaod. 


542 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Chauncey  Root  Mitchell,  who  practiced  ia  West- 
chester County,  1808-11,  was  the  fourth  child  of  Rev. 
Justus  Mitchell,  of  New  Canaan,  Conn.,  and  was  a 
brother  of  Minott  Mitchell,  of  White  Plains.  He 
was  born  June  25,  1786,  married  Anna,  dauo:hter  of 
Hon.  Robert  Johnston,  of  Bomers,  moved  shortly 
thereafter  to  Delhi,  Delaware  County,  and  died  there 
February  5,  1814,  aged  twenty-seven  years.  He  was 
possessed  of  brilliant  talents,  and  was  highly  gifted  as 
an  orator.^ 

David  Brush,  of  Greenwich,  Connecticut,  practiced 
here  occasionally,  1810-27  ;  and  William  Silliman,  of 
East  Chester  had  a  small  practice,  but  was  principally 
in  New  York. 

BalsaminC.  Austin,  surrogate  of  Putnam  County  in 
1813,  practiced  in  this  county,  1813-22.  He  was  a 
man  of  ability,  and  but  for  his  unfortunate  intemperate 
habits  would  have  acquired  a  lirst-class  practice.  He 
lived  in  Peekskill  .during  these  years  and  then  went 
to  Washington,  D.  C,  where  he  died  during  Tyler's 
administration.    He  was  married  to  a  Miss  Diven. 

John  McDonald,  a  native  of  White  Plains,  prac- 
ticed law  from  1814  to  1826  with  moderate  success. 
He  then  moved  to  New  York  and  became  a  master 
in  Chancery  there.  He  spent  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  in  gathering  materials  for  a  history  of  West- 
chester County.  The  result  of  his  labors  is  a  manu- 
script which  is  deposited  in  the  Lennox  Library, 
New  York. 

Aaron  Warcl,  of  Sing  Sing,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1816.  His  history  is  given  in  connection  with  his 
native  town.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
more  noted  as  a  politician  than  as  a  lawyer.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  law-firm  of  McDonald  &  Ward, 
1816-18,  of  Ward  &  Miller,  1825-29,  and  of  Ward  & 
Lockwood,  1831  and  onward.  The  firm  of  Ward  & 
Lockwood  did  a  large  pension  business. 

J.  White  Strang,  who  was  admitted  to  the  West- 
chester County  bar  in  1819,  was  a  man  of  command- 
ing talents  and  a  good  orator.  He  was  the  son  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Strang,  who  was  one  of  the  earliest 
physicians  who  practiced  in  Peekskill.  He  studied 
law  with  William  Nelson,  in  Peekskill,  and  after 
being  admitted  to  practice,  was  engaged  in  a  number 
of  cases  in  which  Nelson  was  employed  on  the  other 
side,  and  the  intellectual  combats  between  the  two 
are  yet  remembered,  by  some  of  the  old  members  of 
the  bar,  as  having  been  the  occasion  of  brilliant  dis- 
plays of  legal  abilities  on  both  sides.  Although  a 
brilliant  and  able  man,  he  seemed  averse  to  business. 
Had  it  not  been  for  this  fault,  it  ia  thought  that  he 
would  have  obtained  a  very  prominent  position  at  the 
bar.    He  died  about  1831. 

From  about  1820  to  1850,  Richard  R.  Voris  was  the 
leading  advocate  of  the  county.  His  family  was  of 
Dutch  origin,  and  settled  at  Jamaica,  L.  1.    He  was. 


1  Cothren's  "  History  of  .\ncient  Woodbury,  Coun.,"  vol.  i.  page  G41. 
He  was  the  grandfather  of  Chauncey  M.  Depew 


in  early  life,  a  merchant  in  New  York  City,  and  after 
being  successful  for  some  time,  met  with  reverses  and 
failed.  Then  he  studied  law  with  McDonald,  at  one 
time  of  the  firm  of  McDonald  &  Ward.  He  began 
the  practice  of  law  at  Sing  Sing  about  1820,  and  con- 
tinued it  there  till  his  death,  in  1852.  He  left  a 
widow  and  two  children, — Elizabeth  L.,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Marlborough  Churchill,  and  Edgar  M., 
who  was  for  many  years  a  successful  physician  at 
New  Rochelle. 

Richard  R.  Voris  was  district  attorney  for  several 
years  before  the  Constitution  of  1846. 

He  was  large  and  portly,  of  very  fine  presence  and 
great  dignity  and  courtesy.  He  was  very  successful 
as  a  jury  advocate.  His  style  in  speaking  was  lucid, 
simple  and  still  ornate,  and  his  delivery  was  very 
easy  and  natural.  He  has,  we  think,  the  reputation 
of  having  been  the  ablest  jury  orator  this  county  has 
ever  had.  Old  residents,  in  speaking  of  the  lawyers 
of  their  earlier  days,  commend  Nelson  for  practical 
business  sense,  Minott  Mitchell  for  astuteness,  both  in 
counsel  and  practice,  J.  Warren  Tompkins  for  gen- 
eral ability,  and  Voris  for  eloquence  at  the  bar.  They 
were  all  undoubtedly  lawyers  of  much  more  than 
average  ability,  and  for  many  j'ears  were  some  or  all 
of  them  engaged  in  all  the  important  litigations  be- 
fore the  courts  of  the  county. 

William  W.  McClelan  practiced  somewhat  in  this 
county  during  the  first  half  of  this  century,  especially 
in  the  second  quarter  of  it.  He  was  born  at  Troy,  N.  Y., 
in  1788,  and  was  a  son  of  Hugh  Stuart  McClelan, 
who  was  assistant  commissary-general  of  the  Conti- 
nental army  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  a 
distinguished  patriot.  The  familj^  emigrated  to  this 
county  from  Scotland  in  colonial  day.s  ;  and  it  has,  in 
its  various  members,  exhibited  a  good  degree  of  that 
sturdy  independence  -and  persistence  which  charac- 
terize people  of  that  nationality. 

William  W.  was  well  educated  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  where  he  studied  law  in  the  then  well-known 
law-office  of  Woods  &  Bogart,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  New  York  Common  Pleas  on  the  30tli  of 
December,  1809;  in  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  13th 
of  May,  1813,  as  attorney  ;  and  on  the  15th  of  May, 
1816,  as  counselor;  in  the  Mayor's  Court  of  New  Y'ork 
City  on  the  20th  of  May,  1815  ;  in  Court  of  Chancery 
on  the  15th  of  June,  1820;  and  in  the  Westchester 
Common  Pleas  on  the  24th  of  September,  1832.  He 
was  appointed  master  in  Chancery,  on  the  10th  of 
July,  1815,  and  held  the  office  for  many  years.  He 
practiced  his  profession  assiduously  and  successfully 
in  the  city  of  New  York  until  the  year  1831,  when  he 
largely  retired  from  practice,  and  established  himself 
at  New  Rochelle,  where  he  continued  to  act  as  coun- 
selor and  adviser  until  the  time  of  his  death,  in 
November,  1854.  He  was  really  more  of  a  New  York 
City  than  a  Westchester  County  attorney,  and  his 
principal  achievements  at  the  bar  were  in  that  city. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  tol- 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


543 


erant  of  all  religious  belief-  In  1831  he  married 
Frances  15.  Vickcrs,  at  New  York  City,  and  reared  a 
family  of  five  children,  one  of  whom,  Pelham  L.,  was 
for  a  time  district  attorney  of  this  county  and  still  re- 
sides in  the  village  of  Mount  Vernon,  and  is  an  at- 
torney and  counselor  in  active  practice. 

Hon.  William  Nelson,  late  of  Peekskill,  was  in  the 
first  half  of  this  century  prominent  in  this  county, 
both  as  a  lawyer  and  a  business  man. 

His  paternal  ancestors  were  of  linglish  origin  and 
Puritans.  The  first  one  of  them  who  came  to  this 
country  settled  upon  a  farm  in  Mamaroneck,  in  this 
county,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  Nelsons  were  leading  men  in  the  county  during 
the  colonial  times.  One  of  them,  Polycarpua  Nelson, 
was  a  signer  of  the  famous  declaration  by  the  chief 
citizens  of  this  country,  in  supi)ort  of  William  and 
Mary,  and  in  opposition  to  the  House  of  Stuart. 

A  branch  of  the  Nelson  family  settled  in  Dutchess 
County,  where,  at  Crum  Elbow  Creek,  on  June  29, 
1784,  William  Nelson  was  born.  His  father,  Thomas 
Nelson,  was  a  farmer,  and  William  was  reared  as  a 
farmer's  son,  working  upon  the  farm  in  summer  and 
attending  district  school  in  winter.  He  did  not  have 
the  advantages  of  a  collegiate  education.  He  studied 
law  at  Poughkeepsie  in  the  ofBce  of  Theron  Eudd, 
then  an  attorney  of  distinction  and  large  practice, 
and  in  1807  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  bad  in- 
tended settling  in  the  extreme  West,  which  was  then 
Buffiilo,  but  circumstances  diverted  him  to  Peekskill, 
where  he  spent  a  long,  busy  and  honorable  life.  He 
probably  did  as  much  as,  if  not  more  than,  any  other 
person  to  promote  the  growth  and  development  of 
that  place.  Among  other  good  works,  he  was  largely 
instrumental  in  establishing  the  deservedly  famous 
Peekskill  Academy.  As  a  lawyer  he  ranked'  high, 
not  so  much  for  eloquence  or  skill  at  the  bar  as  for  in- 
dustry, good  common  sense  and  integrity.  His  ster- 
ling qualities  were  appreciated  by  the  people,  and 
brought  him  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  and  many 
public  honors. 

From  1815  to  1818  he  was  district  attorney  of  his 
district,  comprising  the  counties  of  Westchester, 
Putnam  and  Rockland.  Afterwards,  when  his  district 
comprised  Westchester  alone,  he  held  the  same 
position.  He  held  it  altogether  more  than  twenty- 
five  years.  He  was  also  an  Assemblyman  from  1819  to 
1822;  State  Senator,  and  as  such,  a  member  of  the 
court  for  the  correction  of  errors  from  1824  to  1827  ; 
and  Congressman  from  1847  to  1851. 

In  1812  he  married  Cornelia  M.  Hardman,  and 
lived  happily  with  her  until  her  death — a  period  of 
fifty-seven  years.  He  survived  her  only  five  weeks, 
and  died  on  the  2d  day  of  October,  18G9,  in  the  eighty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age.  They  reared  a  large  number  of 
children,  several  of  whom  have  attained  to  prominent 
positions,  and  fully  maintain  the  distingui.shed  name 
of  the  family. 

William  Nelson  had  the  happy,  and,  for  lawyers, 


somewhat  rare,  fiiculty  of  business  skill  and  sagacity 
in  the  management  of  his  own  affairs.  He  left  an 
estate  valued  at  nearly  one  million  dollars.  In  this 
resj)cct  he  undoubtedly  excelled  all  other  members  of 
the  Westchester  County  bar,  past  or  present. 

His  character  has  been  well  expressed  by  another, 
in  these  words:  "  Mr.  Nelson  had  great  natural  vigor  of 
character ;  was  painstaking  and  unwearied  in  every 
duty  to  which  he  addressed  himself.  He  was  wise 
in  counsel,  and  eminently  sagacious  and  practical, 
genial  in  nature,  courteous  in  manner,  simjile  in  his 
mode  of  life,  and,  above  all,  possessed  a  rare  single- 
ness of  purpose  and  integrity  of  nature.  These 
qualities,  in  addition  to  a  piety  that  was  devout,  but 
unobtrusive,  enabled  him  to  sway  a  large  influence 
over  his  friends  and  neighbors,  and  all  other  ]ier- 
sons  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  His  whole  life 
illustrated  the  true  republican  simplicity  and  integ- 
rity which  characterized  the  earlier  days  of  the  State." 

Joseph  Warren  Tompkins,  for  many  years  a  lead- 
ing lawyer  in  the  county,  was  a  native  of  White 
Plains  and  a  nephew  of  the  late  Governor  Daniel  D. 
Tompkins.  He  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1822, 
and  immediately  thereafter  began  to  study  law  in  the 
otfice  of  Minott  Mitchell.  He  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  1825,  opened  an  office  in  White  Plains  a'nd 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  under  the 
most  favorable  auspices.  He  soon  commanded  a  large 
and  lucrative  professional  business,  which  he  retained 
to  the  end  of  his  busy  life.  Up  to  within  a  few  years  of 
his  death  he  had  been  employed  in  nearly  every  case 
of  magnitude  in  this  and  the  adjoining  counties  of  Put- 
nam and  Rockland.  Mr.  Tompkins  died  at  his  resi- 
dence in  White  Plains,  August  23,  1872,  in  the 
seventy-first  year  of  his  age.  He  left  a  widow  and 
two  children.  He  was  a  strong  advocate  before  a 
jury,  and  in  the  trial  of  a  good  case  had  few  equals. 

Albert  Lockwood  held  a  position  of  prominence  in 
his  day  at  the  Westchester  County  bar.  He  was  the 
sixth  child  of  Stephen  Li^kwood,  who  was  b'jrn  in 
Connecticut  in  1764,  and  married  Sarah  Ingersoll  in 
1790.  Albert  was  born  in  Stanwich,  Conn.,  November 
18,  1802.  The  family  removed  from  Connecticut  to  the 
town  of  Ossining,  Westchester  County,  about  1825, 
where  Stephen  Lockwood  j)urchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  located  about  a  mile  from 
Sing  Sing.  Albert  worked  with  his  father  and 
brothers  on  the  farm  in  summer,  and  taught  the  dis- 
trict school  during  the  wintar,  and  daring  his  leisure 
time  studied  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  when 
about  twenty-seven  years  old,  and  in  1831  formed 
a  partnership  with  General  Aaron  Ward,  of  Sing 
Sing,  which  lasted  until  about  1848.  From  1847 
until  1851  Mr.  Lockwood  was  county  judge,  and  fur- 
ther political  honors  would  doubtless  have  been  be- 
stowed upon  him  but  for  his  death,  which  occurred 
November  18,  1852.  In  1852  he  was  the  Republican 
nominee  for  Supreme  Court  justice.  In  1833  Mr. 
Lockwood  married  Eliza  Jane,  daughter  of  Jacob 


544 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


Arthur,  of  Kinderhook,  N.  Y.,  a  latly  of  estimable 
character,  who  died  in  1850.  Their  children  were 
Arthur  I.,  now  of  San  Antonio,  Texas,  and  Frederick 
E.,  Isabella  B.,  Albert  C,  and  Theodore,  all  of  New 
York  City. 

Mr.  Lockwood  was  a  man  of  upright  character  and 
was  highly  respected.  He  was  not  eminent  as  an 
advocate,  but  was  posse.^sed  of  good  common  sense, 
and  was  a  safe  adviser  in  legal  matters.  Through 
the  political  influence  of  his  partner.  General  Aaron 
Ward,  who  was  for  a  long  time  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, Mr.  Lockwood  obtained  a  great  deal  of  pension 
business.  Ralph  Lockwood,  a  brotlier  of  Albert,  was 
an  attorney  in  New  York,  and  acquired  a  large  busi- 
ness and  a  high  reputation.  General  Munson  I. 
Lockwood,  at  one  time  clerk  of  Westchester  County, 
and  agent  and  warden  of  Sing  Sing  Prison,  was  an- 
other brother.' 

Stephen  D.  Horton  gave  promise  of  obtaining  emi- 
nence at  the  bar,  but  met  with  an  early  death.  •  He 
was  descended  from  Barnabas  Horton,  who  came  to 
this  country  from  England  in  1640.  Stephen  was  the 
son  of  Wright  Horton,  of  Yorktown,  and  Ann  Quers 
his  wife,  and  was  born  in  Yorktown  October  3,  1808. 
He  came  to  Peekskill  in  1831,  began  the  study  of  law 
with  Hon.  William  Nelson,  became  the  partner  of  the 
latter  in  1835,  and  a  few  years  afterwards  engaged  in 
practice  by  himself.  He  died  March  5, 1842,  and  was 
buried  in  the  yard  attached  to  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  Peekskill.  He  was  married  to  Delia 
Clapp,  sister  of  Dorlon  Clapp,  of  Peekskill,  and  had 
one  daughter,  who  was  born  in  1842  and  died  in  1855. 

Robert  H.  Coles,  surrogate,  1855-62,  was  originally 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Tarrytown.  He  studied 
law  in  the  office  of  Minott  Mitchell,  at  White  Plains, 
and  located  in  New  Rochelle,  where  his  energy  and 
devotion  to  his  profession  soon  obtained  him  a  good 
practice.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Westchester  Fire 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York  in  its  early  days, 
when  it  was  located  at  New  Rochelle.  He  was  a 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  an  active  worker  for  his 
party.  His  death  occurred  January  15,  18()2.  He 
was  then  barely  thirty  years  old.  He  was  buried  in 
the  church-yard  at  Sleepy  Hollow.  Mr.  Coles  was  not 
regarded  as  a  brilliant  lawyer,  but  he  was  pushing 
and  energetic  and  was  considered  honest  and  reliable. 
He  was  married  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Robert 
Palmer,  of  White  Plains,  and  had  two  daughters  and 
one  son. 

Elijah  Yerks  was  a  lawyer  of  considerable  promi- 
nence in  Westchester  Counly  for  many  years.  He 
was,  in  1805  or  180G,  born  near  Unionville,  in  Mt. 
Pleasant,  and  in  early  manhood  was  proprietor  of  a 
country  store.  He  subsequently  began  the  study  of 
law  in  the  office  of  Minott  Mitchell,  at  White  Plains, 
and  on  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  in  1833,  located  in 


1  The  above  biography  was  kindly  communicated  by  Mr.  Fred.  E. 
Lockwood. 


Peekskill.  In  1840  he  removed  to  Carmel,  Putnam 
County,  where  he  and  Owen  T.  Coffin,  the  present 
surrogate  of  Westchester  County,  were  the  only  rep- 
resentatives of  the  legal  profession.  After  four  or  five 
years  he  returned  to  Peekskill,  and  later  removed  to 
Tarrytown,  where  he  died  in  1864.  He  was  unmar- 
ried. Mr.  Yerks  was  one  of  the  most  systematic  and 
painstaking  of  men.  He  was  not  quick  nor  brilliant, 
and  was  not  considered  as  more  than  a  fair  orator,  but 
he  was  a  reliable  adviser.  He  was  economical  and 
accumulated  property  to  the  amount  of  twenty  or 
thirty  thousand  dollars. 

Alexander  H.  Wells  was  born  at  Cambridge, 
Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  to  which  place  his  father, 
Daniel  Wells,  emigrated  from  Hebron,  Conn.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Cambridge  Academy,  and  studied 
law  while  filling  the  office  of  surrogate,  to  which, 
owing  to  his  political  influence,  he  was  appointed  by 
Governor  William  H.  Seward  in  1840,  and  which  he 
held  until  1844.  He  was  made  warden  of  Sing  Sing 
Prison  in  1848.  Mr.  Wells  was  a  political  writer  and 
edited  the  Haversfmw  Weekly  Times  four  years,  the 
Hudson  River  Chronicle  three  years  and  the  Troy 
Dnihj  Times  three  years.  He  wrote  with  force  and 
facility,  but  his  impetuous  nature  led  him  often  into 
mistakes  which  a  more  prudent  journalist  might  have 
avoided.    He  died  in  Sing  Sing  in  1857. 

Frederick  J.  Coffin,  who  succeeded  A.  H.  Wells  as 
surrogate  in  1844,  was  born  at  Nantucket  in  1783. 
His  parents  removed  to  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  when  he  was 
a  mere  child.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1806 
and  almost  immediately  thereafter  came  to  West- 
chester County.  He  settled  in  Somers,  and  married 
Charlotte  Green.  He  was  a  master  in  Chancery  for 
many  years,  and  at  one  time  a  justice  of  the  peace  in 
Somers.  He  also  held  for  a  period  the  office  of  post- 
master of  that  town.  During  his  incumbency  in  the 
surrogate's  office  he  lived  in  White  Plains.  At  the 
close  of  his  term  he  removed  to  New  York,  where  he 
died  October  23,  1860. 

Mr.  Coffin  was  a  pleasant,  kindly  man,  and  as 
lawyer  had  a  good  practice.  His  powers  as  a  speaker 
were  good,  and  his  reputation  for  integrity  was  high. 
While  many  of  his  decisions  in  cases  coming  before 
him  as  surrogate  were  appealed,  it  is  said  that  his 
finding  was  sustained  in  every  case. 

Mr.  Coffin's  children  were  Mary  E.,  now  of  New 
York  City;  George  G.,  of  New  York;  Isaac  G.,  of 
Brooklyn  ;  Jarvis  B.,  of  San  Francisco  ;  and  Sarah 
Ann,  Robert  A.,  Frederick  J.  and  Josiah  B., 
deceased. 

William  Warburton  Scrugham,  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  for  the  district  including  Westchester 
County  and  the  first  lawyer  who  practiced  in  the 
village  (now  city)  of  Yonkers,  was  the  son  of  an 
Irishman  who  came  to  this  country  from  Dublin  about 
the  year  1810,  and  opened  a  dry-goods  store  in  the 
lower  part  of  New  Y^ork  City.  William  was  born  in 
March,  1820,  and  was  dej)rived  of  both  his  parents  when 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


545 


very  young.  He  was  entered  at  a  boarding-school 
in  Westchester  County  while  little  more  than  a  child, 
and  remained  there  for  many  years,  after  which  he 
was  transferred  to  the  grammar  school  of  the  Colum- 
bia College,  in  New  York,  where  he  continued  to  stay 
until  1838.  He  then  began  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  Samuel  E.  Lyons,  at  White  Plains,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  1843.  In  the  latter  part  of 
that  year  he  removed  to  Yonkers,  then  a  mere  hamlet, 
the  people  of  which  were  almost  all  tenants  of  Lemuel 
Wells.  In  184()  he  was  elected  supervisor  of  the 
town  of  Yonkers,  and  he  held  that  office  for  many 
consecutive  years,  until  he  declined  to  serve  any 
longer.  In  1847  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Supervisoi-s. 
At  the  first  election  for  district  attorney  under  the 


JUDGE  WILMAM  W.  SCRUGHAM. 

present  Constitution  he  was  chosen  to  the  office,  and 
he  performed  its  duties  for  about  nine  years  (1847- 
56).  He  was  indorsed  by  both  political  parties  for 
the  office,  and  his  election  was  practically  unani- 
mous. In  184SI  he  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel 
in  the  Seventeenth  Regiment  of  the  State  Militia.  In 
1859  he  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
New  York,  and  he  was  incumbent  in  that  office  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  August  9,  18fi7. 

Judge  Scrugham  did  not  like  the  excitement  inci- 
dent to  the  trial  of  causes,  and  would  very  rarely 
enter  upon  them  alone,  even  in  his  own  cases,  but 
when  he  did  engage  in  such  a  trial  he  was  found  to 
be  prepared  on  every  point.  In  his  office  of  public 
prosecutor,  however,  he  tried  all  his  cases  without 
assistance,  believing  it  to  be  his  duty  to  do  so.  In 
the  conduct  of  his  cases  he  showed  good  judgment. 
52 


His  practice  grew  with  the  growth  of  Yonkers,  and 
he  was  enabled  to  follow  his  inclinations.  He  devoted 
himself  chiefly  to  real  estate  and  counsel  business. 
As  a  judge  he  produced  a  favorable  impression,  and 
he  would  have  undoubtedly  been  re-elected  but  for 
his  death.  He  was  possessed  of  a  pleasant  and 
genial  wit.  Judge  Scrugham  was  married,  in  1859, 
to  Miss  Mary  Kellinger,  of  Y''onkers.  They  had 
three  children, — two  daughters  and  one  son. 

John  J.  Clapj),  originally  from  Greenburgh,  stud- 
ied law  at  the  office  of  J.  Warren  Tompkins,  at 
White  Plains,  and  located  in  that  town  when  he  was 
admitted  to  practice.  He  was  a  man  of  strong 
common  sense  ;  manifested  good  abilities,  both  in  the 
office  and  before  the  court.  His  standing  as  a  trial 
lawyer  before  the  jury  was  high.  He  was  energetic 
in  disposition,  an  indefatigable  student  of  the  law, 
and  acquired  a  competence.  He  died  early,  in  186<i, 
being  then  about  forty-five  years  of  age.  He  married 
Maria  Banta.  They  had  three  sons, — John  Henry, 
Peter  B.  (who  died  young)  and  Oscar. 

Jonathan  Henry  Ferris  was  born  in  the  ham- 
let of  Oregon,  in  the  town  of  Cortlandt,  was  gradua- 
ted from  Williams  College,  and  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Hon.  William  Nelson,  of  Peekskill.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  about  1842,  began  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  in  Peekskill,  and  soon  after- 
wards entered  into  a  partneiship  with  Calvin  Frost, 
which  lasted  for  many  years.  A  number  of  years 
before  the  close  of  his  life  he  went  to  New  York  and 
practiced  there.  Later  he  went  to  Haverstraw,  and 
finally  he  returned  to  Peekskill.  The  following  year 
he  fell  into  the  Hudson  River  from  a  dock  in  New 
York  while  preparing  to  board  a  steamboat  for  Peeks- 
kill,  and  contracted  pneumonia  therefrom,  which 
resulted  in  his  death,  on  June  7, 1873. 

Mr.  Ferris  was  a  man  of  brilliant  abilities,  which 
became  obscured  to  a  degree  by  some  unfortunate 
habits  into  which  he  fell.  He  was  refined  in  his  tastes, 
quick  in  his  conceptions,  emotional  and  sympathetic 
in  his  disposition,  polished  in  his  manners  and  grace- 
ful and  effective  in  speaking  and  writing.  He  was  a 
great  reader,  and  was  possessed  of  vast  stores  of  in- 
formation.   He  built  up  a  large  practice. 

Leonard  P.  Miller  who  lived  in  New  Rochelle  for  many 
years,  and  practiced  somewhat  in  this  county,  was  a 
man  of  rare  ability  as  a  speaker.  He  was  a  son  of 
Nicholas  Miller,  a  school-teacher,  and  afterwards, 
from  1845  to  1855,  a  hotel-keeper  at  New  Rochelle. 
He  graduated  at  Columbia  College  with  a  higla  repu- 
tation as  a  scholar,  especially  in  the  classics,  and  was 
offered  a  professorship  in  Greek  at  that  college.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  tutor  in  the  family  of  John 
Hunter,  of  Hunter's  Island,  and  educated  the  grand- 
son, the  present  John  Hunter.  While  in  that  posi- 
tion his  unoccupied  time  was  devoted  to  the  study  of 
law,  under  the  instruction  of  W'illiara  W.  McClelan, 
and  about  1850  he  was  duly  admitted  to  practice. 
His  time  and  attention  were  chiefly  occupied  with 


546 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  management  of  several  large  estates,  viz. :  the 
Hunter,  Overing,  Van  Cortlandt  and  other  estates. 
He  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  several  of  those  noted 
ejectment  suits,  in  which  the  title  of  large  tracts  of 
land  held  under  patents  in  Ulster,  Sullivan,  Greene 
and  Delaware  Counties  were  tested. 

About  1850  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  the 
late  Captain  Josiah  Le  Count,  and  had  one  son,  John 

H.  ,  who  is  now  a  prominent  lawyer  in  New  York 
City.    As  a  speaker,  he  was  brilliant  and  captivating. 

A  devoted  adherent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  he  was  ordained  as  a  lay  preacher,  and  on 
several  occasions  ])reached  eloquent  sermons  to  large 
audiences.  He  died  at  New  Rochelle,  October  16, 
1876,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  Although  he  did  not 
participate  largely  in  the  general  practice  of  law, 
owing  to  his  special  engagements,  and  so  did  not 
become  as  widely  known  in  the  county  as  a  law- 
yer as  some  others;  yet  he  was  a  man  of  superior 
qualities,  and  well  deserves  to  be  I'emembered. 

John  M.  Mason,  late  of  Yonkers,  deserves  notice 
as  a  member  of  the  Westchester  County  bar,  although 
he  practiced  chiefly  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Mason  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  on 
November  8,  1821.  He  graduated  at  Columbia  Col- 
lege, and  studied  law  with  his  father,  Hon.  John  L. 
Mason,  who  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  from  May 

I,  1849,  to  January  1,  1852,  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
New  York  Superior  Court. 

In  1849  Mr.  Mason  formed  a  partnership  in  the 
law  with  his  cousin,  John  M.  Knox,  under  the  name 
of  Knox  &  Mason,  which  continued  until  his  death, 
and  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  for  ability  and  integrity. 

Mr.  Mason  possessed  a  clear  and  acute  mind  and 
a  remarkable  tenacity  of  purpose,  which,  with  his 
untiring  diligence  and  application,  made  him  a  most 
serviceable  and  efficient  adviser  and  advocate.  He 
was  highly  esteemed  by  the  members  of  his  j)rofes- 
sion,  who  invariably  found  him  candid  and  liberal  in 
his  jiractice,  while  zealous  in  behalf  of  his  client  and 
his  cause.  He  was  very  patient  and  j)er8evering  in 
his  examination  of  intricate  questions,  and  in  that 
importan*  branch  of  the  law  wliich  relates  to  titles 
of  real  estate,  was  especially  skilled.  During  most  of 
his  active  professional  life  he  was  a  constant  sufferer 
from  physical  ailments,  against  which  he  struggled 
with  an  endurance  and  patience  which  exhibited,  in 
a  most  striking  manner,  energy  and  resolution. 

Mr.  Mason  took  up  his  residence  in  Yonkers  in 
1854,  and  participated  actively  in  every  movement  by 
which  its  growth  and  interests  have  been  promoted. 
In  announcing  his  death  to  School  No.  6,  Thomas 
Moore,  principal,  appropriately  said :  "  I  consider 
John  M.  Mason  the  father  of  the  public-school  sys- 
tem in  Yonkers,  and  the  main  promoter  of  education 
in  our  county." 

At  the  organization  of  School  No.  6  in  Yonkers,  in 
I\Iay,  1861,  Mr.  Mason  was  elected  one  of  the  trus- 
tees, and  he  served  for  some  fifteen  years,  most  of  the 


time  as  president  of  the  board.  Neither  the  arduous 
duties  of  his  profession  nor  bodily  infirmity  influ- 
enced him  to  neglect  his  duties  to  the  school.  In  all 
weathers,  and  at  all  seasons,  he  was  j^romptly  in  his 
place.  His  time  and  labor  were  given  without  stint, 
and  the  high  standard  of  public-school  education  in 
that  city  is,  no  doubt,  mainly  due  to  Mr.  Mason's 
devotion  and  influence.  As  counsel  of  the  water 
commissioners,  Mr.  Mason  rendered  important  ser- 
vices to  that  city  in  conducting  the  intricate  proceed- 
ings for  the  condemnation  of  land  and  water  rights. 

He  died  at  Yonkers  on  the  17th  day  of  February, 
1878,  leaving  a  widow  and  six  children. 

Elisha  P.  Ferris,  late  of  White  Plains,  was  a  lawyer 
in  good  practice  and  repute  from  1865  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  occurred  February  8!h,  1882. 

His  family  is  an  old  one  in  this  county,  and,  by  in- 
termarriage, connected  with  the  Purdy  and  several 
other  old  Westchester  families.  He  was  born  Febru- 
ary G,  1840,  at  White  Plains,  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  that  place,  studied  law  there  iu  the  office  of 
the  late  John  J.  Clapp,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1862.  He  always  kept  his  office  at  White  Plains. 
Industrious,  patient  and  reliable  in  business,  he  built 
up  a  lucrative  practice.  His  popularity  with  his  fel- 
low-townsmen was  great,  and  he  held  many  local  of- 
fices and  positions  of  trust,  among  others,  justice  of 
the  peace,  president  of  the  village,  president  of  the 
Board  of  Education  and  supervisor. 

His  health  failed  him,  and  for  several  of  his  latter 
years  he  suffered  from  consumption,  but  displayed 
great  resolution  in  resisting  the  disease  and  in  attend- 
ing to  his  businessu  He  was  a  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  and  a  prominent  Mason. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1868,  he  was  married  to 
Sarah  Wright,  of  Whitestone,  Long  Island.  She 
survived  him,  with  three  children— daughters. 

John  Seymour  Bates  was  born  iu  Bedford,  and  a 
son  of  Nehemiah  Bates,  who  was  for  many  years  a 
merchant  at  Bedford  village,  and  once  county  clerk 
of  the  county.  The  family  came  to  Bedford  from 
Stamford,  Conn.,  and  were  among  the  first  settlers. 

He  graduated  at  Columbia  College  in  the  class  of 
1838,  studied  law  in  New  York  City  with  George  N. 
Titus,  a  lawyer  of  high  standing,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  about  1840.  He  returned  to  Bedford  village 
about  1844,  and  practiced  law  there  until  about  1876, 
when  his  health  fiiiled  and  he  retired  from  active 
practice.  He  removed  to  Harlem,  and  there  died  in 
1884.    He  was  district  attorney  from  1806  to  1868. 

As  a  lawyer,  he  was  quick  in  perception,  sound  in 
judgment,  fluent  and  ornate  in  speech,  and  of  rare 
coolness  and  self-command. 

Of  the  lawyers  who  have  passed  away  within  the 
last  decade,  none  stood  higher  in  general  estimation 
than  Amherst  Wight,  Jr.,  of  Port  Chester.  The  son 
of  Amherst  Wight,  who  for  sixty  years  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  York  City  bar,  and  in  his  prime  a 
very  prominent  lawyer,  he  may  be  said  to  have  in- 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


547 


herited  his  fondness  for  the  legal  profession  and  his 
ability  in  its  practice.  The  father,  Amherst  Wight, 
Sr.,  was  a  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  and  belonged 
to  an  old  Massachusetts  family.  He  married  Johan- 
na Bonnett,  who  belonged  to  an  old  and  distinguished 
New  York  City  family.  The  son,  Amherst  Wight, 
Jr.,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  August  15,  1828. 
He  attended  a  jirivate  school  to  his  thirteenth  year 
and  then  went  into  his  father's  law-office.  The  father 
was  an  eminent  scholar,  learned  not  only  in  law,  but 
in  general  studies  as  well,  and  he  gave  his  personal 
attention  to  his  son's  education.  Under  the  tuition 
of  the  father,  the  son  in  time  became  a  ripe  scholar 
and  acquired  a  liberal  education. 

In  1855  the  son  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  New 
York  City.  In  April,  185(5,  he  married  Adele  Gris- 
wold,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  S.  Griswold,  of  that  city. 
The  father  and  son  entered  into  a  law  partnership 
under  the  name  of  Amherst  Wight  &  Sou,  and  prac- 
ticed in  New  York  City.  The  firm  did  a  large  busi- 
ness, especially  in  real  estate  law. 

In  1864,  on  account  of  the  ill  health  of  his  wife, 
Amherst  Wight,  Jr.,  removed  to  the  country  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  Port  Chester.  The  change  did 
not  restore  the  health  of  Mrs.  Wight,  and  in  June  of 
that  year  she  died.  Although  not  at  first  designing 
to  engage  in  Westchester  practice,  he  found  himself 
gradually  involved  in  it.  Accordingly,  in  1870  he 
formed  a  law  partnership  with  John  H.  Clapp,  a  son 
of  John  J.  Clapp,  and  opened  an  oflSce  in  Port  Ches- 
ter, in  addition  to  the  office  in  New  York  City.  This 
partnership  continued  until  Mr.  Wight's  death,  and 
conducted  a  very  large  and  valuable  business. 

His  sterling  qualities  won  for  him  the  confidence 
and  regard  of  the  community  in  which  he  resided  ; 
and,  although  a  sincere  and  outspoken  Republican, 
he  was  several  times  elected  to  prominent  positions 
in  his  district,  which  was  very  largely  Democratic. 
Among  other  public  positions  which  he  held  by  pop- 
ular suffrage  were  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Rye, 
1871  and  1872,  member  of  the  State  Assembly,  1873 
to  1875,  and  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
village  of  Port  Chester.  He  was  also,  in  the  fall  of 
1876,  the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress  in  his 
district.  In  August,  1867,  he  married  Ellen  M.  Aben- 
droth,  a  daughter  of  William  Philip  Abendroth,  late 
of  Port  Chester.  He  died  at  Port  Chester  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1877.  He  left  surviving  him  his  widow  and 
four  children — three  (two  sons  and  a  daughter)  by  his 
first  wife  and  one  (a  daughter)  by  his  second.  His 
death  was  universally  deplored  as  a  great  public  loss. 
He  had  the  entire  confidence  and  respect  of  all,  both 
as  a  lawyer  and  as  a  citizen.  As  an  advocate  his 
standing  was  not  exceptionally  high,  but  as  a  prudent 
and  reliable  counselor  he  had  no  superior  among  his 
Westchester  cotemporaries. 

John  A.  Husted,  for  many  years  an  active  and  in- 
fluential attorney  at  Tarrytown,  was  born  at  Round 
Hill,  Conn.,  March  21,  1831.  In  his  youth  his  parents 


moved  to  Western  New  York,  and  in  the  year  1853, 
he  came  to  Tarrytown,  New  York ;  and  while  engaged 
in  teaching  school  he  commenced  the  study  of  law 
with  Elijah  Yerks,  Esq.,  a  lawyer  of  that  village. 
After  a  year  or  two  he  went  into  the  office  of  J. 
Warren  Tompkins,  at  White  Plains,  New  York, 
and  continued  his  studies  until  September  1,  1856, 
when  he  was  duly  admitted  in  the  Supreme  Court  as 
an  attorney  and  counsellor-at-law,  and  at  once  com- 
menced to  practice  law  in  Tarrytown.  There  for  a 
number  of  years  he  was  engaged  in  some  of  the  most 
important  ejectment  and  partition  actions  ever  tried 
in  Westchester  Co.  He  was  an  excellent  equity  law- 
yer.   He  died  at  Tarrytown,  N.  Y.,  October  9,  1884. 

Edward  P.  Baird,  formerly  of  Yonkers,  for  many 
years  enjoyed  the  largest  and  most  lucrative  practice 
in  that  city.  He  was  at  one  time  counsel  for  the  Mu- 
tual Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  in  refer- 
ence to  its  Westchester  business ;  also  counsel  for  the 
Yonkers'  banks,  and  for  many  important  estates. 
The  people  of  that  city  intrusted  him  successively 
with  the  important  offices  of  corporation  counsel  and 
city  judge.  He  was  a  son  of  the  eminent  theologian, 
the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Baird,  of  Yonkers,  and  a 
brother  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  M.  Baird,  still  of  that 
city.  His  life  was  spent  in  Yonkers  from  early  child- 
hood until  1882,  when  he  removed  to  Minneapolis 
and  settled  there  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
died  there  October  27,  1885,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of 
his  age,  leaving  a  widow  and  two  children. 

Isaiah  Thornton  Williams,  who  recently  died  at 
Chappaqua,  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  at  the 
Westchester  County  bar  dui'ing  the  past  twenty  years. 
He  was  born  at  New  Ipswich,  N.  H.,  on  February  12, 
1819.  He  came  of  an  old  New  England  family  on  his 
father's  side,  being  able  to  trace  his  paternal  ances- 
try to  one  of  the  Pilgrims  who  came  over  in  the 
"  Mayflower  ; "  while  on  his  mother's  side,  he  came 
of  a  Southern  family.  His  uncle  on  that  side,  Judge 
Tenney,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana,  not  only 
distinguished  himself  in  the  field  of  jurisprudence, 
but  also  gained  a  less  enviable  fame  on  the  field  of 
honor,  being  killed  in  a  duel,  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss 
acting  as  his  second.  Mr.  Williams  was  educated  at 
the  Academy  of  Exeter,  N.  H.  While  there  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson, 
and  was  invited  by  him  to  spend  a  part  of  the  vaca- 
tion at  his  home  in  Concord.  This  acquaintance  rip- 
ened into  a  friendship,  which  lasted  unabated  until 
the  death  of  Mr.  Emerson.  Through  Mr.  Emerson, 
Mr.  Williams  made  the  acquaintance  and  acquired  the 
friendship  of  A.  Bronson  Alcottand  Henry  D.  Thoreau. 

After  leaving  the  academy  he  went  to  Buffalo,  and 
studied  law  in  the  office  of  Henry  K.  Smith,  and  after- 
ward in  that  of  President  Fillmore,  where  he  remained 
some  years.  During  Mr.  Fillmore's  administration 
he  was  a  frequent  guest  at  the  White  House,  and  met 
many  of  the  prominent  statesmen  of  that  period. 

He  continued  in  the  active  practice  of  law  at  Buf- 


548 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


falo  until  1854,  when  he  moved  to  New  York  City, 
and  there  opened  an  office.  He  soon  built  up  a 
large  practice,  being  retained  in  many  suits  of  the 
first  importance.  He  had  been  in  New  Y'ork  but  a 
very  few  years,  when  he  formed  the  closest  friend- 
ship with  Horace  Greeley,  continuing  unimpaired  to 
the  last  sad  days  of  Mr.  Greeley's  life.  He  was  re- 
tained by  Mr.  Greeley  to  defend  The  Tribune  in  the 
many  libel  suits  which  were  brought  against  that  pa- 
per during  Mr.  Greeley's  management,  among  the 
most  noted  of  which  were  the  cases  of  the  notorious 
Count  Johannes,  and  of  Dewitt  C.  Littlejohn,  at  that 
time  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  in  both  of  which 
cases  Mr.  Williams  was  successful.  He  was  also  as- 
sociated with  Charles  O'Conor  in  several  important 
suits.  For  a  time  he  was  partner  of  Francis  B. 
Cutting;  but  his  mind  was  of  a  cast  which  rendered 
him  impatient  of  partnerships,  and  he  much  pre- 
ferred to  be  alone,  assisted  only  by  clerks.  He  did 
not  confine  himself  wholly  to  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, but  took  an  active  part  in  the  political  strug- 
gles of  1856,  when  he  made  speeches  in  favor  of  his 
old  friend,  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  in  1860,  when  he  spoke 
for  Lincoln.  During  the  war  he  took  a  part  in  the 
exciting  controversies  of  that  period,  sharing  in  the 
dangers  which  surrounded  Mr.  Greeley  and  those 
who  acted  with  him. 

Mr.  Williams  did  not  confine  himself  to  those 
questions  of  public  interest  which  pertained  more 
especially  to  America.  In  1857  he  visited  Europe, 
where  he  interested  himself  in  the  ballot  question 
which  then  agitated  England,  making  speeches  in  its 
favor  both  in  England  and  Wales.  While  abroad  he 
visited  the  principal  capitals  of  Europe,  enjoying  ex- 
ceptional facilities  for  meeting  prominent  men, 
because  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  letters  of  introduction.  In 
Paris,  in  London  and  at  Oxford  University  he  re- 
ceived marked  attention  from  men  distinguished  in 
scholarship,  politics  and  law,  by  whom  he  was  sought, 
for  his  brilliant  conversational  powers.  While  in 
Paris  he  was  thrown  into  the  society  of  Charles 
Sumner,  between  whom  and  Mr.  Williams  a  friend- 
ship was  formed,  which  survived  with  unabated 
warmth  for  many  years. 

In  1867  excessive  labor  in  his  profession  broke  down 
his  health,  and  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  the  prac- 
tice of  law.  He  thereupon  accepted  the  position  of 
register  in  bankruptcy  for  New  York  County.  He 
acquired  a  high  reputation  in  that  office,  writing 
many  valuable  opinions.  In  1872  he  threw  himself 
heart  and  soul  into  the  political  struggle  for  the 
Presidency  between  Mr.  Greeley  and  General 
Grant,  speaking  in  several  States  in  favor  of  the 
former. 

In  1860  Mr.  Williams  went  to  live  at  Fordham,  then 
in  Westchester  County,  but  since  annexed  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  remained  until  1869,  when  he 
bought  a  farm  near  Mr.  Greeley's  residence  at  Chap- 
paqua,  in  which  h  e  took  great  interest  and  pride.  In 


1877  he  resigned  the  registership  of  bankruptcy  and 
returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  opened 
an  office  at  White  Plains,  having  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  M.  M.  Silliman.  In  1881  he  dissolved  this 
partnership  and  returned  to  New  York,  although  he 
had  built  up  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  in  West- 
chester County,  and  there  continued  in  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
His  last  birthday,  on  which  he  reached  the  age  of 
sixty-seven,  was  spent  in  arguing  a  case  before  the 
Court  of  Appeals  at  Albany. 

In  1849  he  married  Ellen  E.  White,  a  daughter  of 
Ferdinand  Elliot  White,  of  Boston.  She  died  in 
1877,  and  he  did  not  marry  again. 

In  Westchester  County  he  was  one  of  the  original 
incorporators  of  the  Westchester  Historical  Society 
and  one  of  its  vice-presidents.  At  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  for  many  years  before,  Mr.  Williams  was  a 
member  of  "All  Saints"  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  at  Briar  Cliff,  and  was  greatly  interested  in 
the  temporary  home  for  destitute  children.  He  also 
took  an  active  part  in  the  meetings  of  the  Bedford  Far- 
mers' Club.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  Chappaqua 
on  April  5, 1886,  after  a  few  hours  illness,  of  neuralgia 
of  the  heart,  in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  leaving  four  sons 
and  one  daughter  surviving  him.  He  was  well  read 
not  only  in  the  law,  but  in  general  literature,  and  in 
social  intercourse  he  was  a  most  kind,  entertaining 
and  courteous  gentleman. 

Reuben  W.  Van  Pelt,  late  of  Yonkers,  for  many 
years,  especially  in  his  early  manhood,  held  a  very 
high  position  both  at  the  Westchester  and  the  New 
York  City  bars.  He  was  of  very  great  capacity  as  a 
lawyer  and  early  in  his  practice  gained  full  recogni- 
tion of  his  abilities.  As  a  young  man  he  made  phe- 
nominal  progress  in  his  profession. 

Unfortunate  circumstances  several  years  ago  divert- 
ed him  largely  from  legal  practice,  and  afterwards  he 
engaged  in  various  speculative  ventures,  none  of 
which  proved  successful.  He  died  at  Putnam,  Conn., 
on  the  2d  day  of  May,  1886. 

In  the  prime  of  his  practice  as  a  lawyer  he  deliv- 
ered some  of  the  finest  arguments,  both  before  the 
court  and  before  the  jury,  that  ever  have  been  heard  , 
in  the  county.  He  was  of  good  origin  and  had  a  liberal 
education.  His  ability,  energy  and  industry  are  ac- 
knowledged by  all  who  knew  him. 

David  B.  Williamson  was  a  son  of  Major-General 
Williamson,  of  Maryland,  who  acquired  distinction  , 
in  the  organization  of  the  National  Guard  of  that 
State.  He  was  born  in  Maryland,  but  lived  abroad 
during  most  of  his  youth,  and  was  educated  in  Ger- 
many. For  some  time  he  was  an  attache  of  the  United 
States  Legation  at  Madrid.  He  was  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age  when  he  returned  to  this  country 
and  began  the  study  of  law  in  New  Y''ork,  where  he 
made  his  home.  He  took  a  warm  interest  in  the 
State  Militia  and  was  a  member  of  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment.   General  Fitzgerald  appointed  him  his  chief- 


\ 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


549 


of-staff,  a  position  which  he  held  for  several  years. 

He  was  prominent  among  the  military  lawyers  who 

Diirrow  tTulin  C 

Shrub  Oak 

codified  the  laws  affecting  the  National  Guard,  and 

was  chosen  president  of  the  National  Guard  Asso- 

ciation.   Mayor  Edwa 

■d  Cooper,  of  New  York  City, 

^taniaroncck. 

appointed  him  park  commissioner,  and  for  four  years 

he  served  as  treasurer 

of  the  board. 

He  married  a 

daughter  of  Elias  Butler,  of  Hyde  Park,  who,  with  five 
children,  survives  him.    He  died  July  12, 1886,  at  his 

home  in  Dobbs  Ferry, 

aged  fifty -five 

years. 

The  present  members  of  the  Westchester  bar  are 

Drajier,  .\lonzo  ,  .  ....... 

 Sing  Sing. 

men  of  ability  and  integrity,  and  many  of  them  are  in 

Ellis   Matt.  II 

Ely,  W.  H.  H  

Yonk©rs. 

the  enjoyment  of  lucrative  practice 

and  of  high  re- 

pute,  not  only  within  the  county,  but  throughout  the 

State  and  at  the  bar  of  the  Court  o 

f  Appeals.  We 

here  give  their  names  and  residences.  Several  of  them, 

however,  have  retired  from  active  practice,  or  prac- 

tice chieflv  in  New  York  Citv. — 

WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  BAR. 

ITit^^h     TVi  drill  rifrt 

Mount  Kisco. 

Westchester. 

Westchester. 

Piiob-ijViIl 

Westchester. 

Pu<ibuVitl 

Harrison. 

rioorw     T(-»lin  T 

Mount  Vernon. 

Ctott-v    T?/\hort  P  Tr* 

Vonkers. 

Tarrytown. 

rJiffnrrl    Silas  T> 

White  Plains. 

Atkins,  T.  Astley  .... 

\  onkers. 

Clnrtiin    Pliorlec  V 

Bailev,  S.  C.  H  

Cortlandt. 

(Griffin    T-Tonrv  P 

Sing  Slug. 

Yonkers. 

Westchester, 

Halsey  Edward  G 

Pppkfiktll 

Slamaroneck. 

TTiii-t   T?nht»rt  S 

Banks,  Charles  G  .  .  .  . 

New  Rochelle. 

Hart  Rc'inald 

Peekskill. 

Barnett,  William  E  .  .  . 

Pelham  Manor. 

Hawlcv  l^avid 

Peekskill. 

Westchester 

Ppplcskill 

Mount  Vernon. 

PppL'oL'ill 

Westchester. 

Yonkers. 

tJAlla    F  \V 

Brown,  William  Reynolds 

Wniite  Plains. 

Tarrytown. 

Hartsdale. 

TTimt    Ttiiip^  TNf 

Yonkers. 

PTiinf  Tiavtil 

Buel,  Oliver  P  

Vonkers. 

Butler,  William  Allen 

Yonkers. 

Butler,  William  Allen,  Jr 

Yonkers. 

(fiinfin  ir  ti\rt    R  V 

Hartsdale. 

 Peekskill. 

Burns,  Arthur  J  

Yonkers. 

Pa^L-ct  ill 

Chamberlain,  Henry  C.  . 

Inderhill. 

Clapp,  John  H  

Port  Chester. 

Sing  Sing. 

Oose,  Odle  

White  Plains. 

.Srarsdale. 

•Sing  Sing. 

1."    1 1 , ,ir(T    Wi  1 1      ni  O 

Coffin,  Owen  T  .  .  . 

Peekskill. 

Conklin,  William  H  .  .  . 

New  Rochelle. 

Collins,  William  H  .  .  . 

Mount  Vernon. 

Couch,  Franklin  

Peekskill. 

Keye8,  Edwin  K  

 Yonkers. 

Crumb,  L.  F  

Peekskill. 

Collins,  S.  W  

Harrison. 

Crane,  Joseph  T  

Mount  Kisco. 

 Sing  Sing. 

Crane,  A.  B.  .  . 

Hartsdale. 

Larkin,  Francis,  Jr  

Cowles,  Charles  P .  .  .  . 

Rye. 

Cowles,  Edward  B.  .  .  . 

Rye. 

Rye. 

550 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Lent,  Herbert  D  Mount  Vernon. 

Littel,  John  W  Peekskill. 

Lockwood,  James  B   'White  Plains. 

Logan,  Edgar  Yonkers. 

Long,  Louis  L  Armonk. 

Long,  Jacob  L  Armonk. 

Lovatt,  Edward  T  Tarrytown. 

Lyon,  Addison  J  Mount  Vernon. 

McCord,  Robert  Peekikill. 

McClellan,  P.  L  Mount  Vernon. 

McClelland,  Charles  P  Dobbs  Ferry. 

Marshall,  William  J  Mount  Vernon. 

Marshall,  Stephen  S  AVhite  Plains. 

MilLs,  Isaac  N  Mount  Vernon. 

Millard,  James  S  Tarrytown. 

Mitchell,  Josiah  S  White  Plains. 

Murray,  William  Dobbs  Ferry. 

Moran,  James  H  White  Plains. 

Neil,  E.  C  S')mei-s. 

Nelson,  Henry  C  Sing  .Sing. 

Noxon,  Charles  H  Kew  Rochelle. 

Owens,  Silas  J  Peekskill. 

Ostrander,  Charles  H  Mount  Vernon. 

Peck,  J.  A  Port  Chester. 

Paulding,  Hiram  White  Plains. 

Peake,  Cyrus  A  Yonkers. 

Pemberton,  Wm.  H  Mount  Vernon. 

Pentz,  George  B  Y'onkers. 

Peters,  J.  Montgomery  East  Chester. 

Piatt,  William  P  White  Plains. 

Piatt,  Lewis  C  White  Plains. 

Porter,  David  B  Kyo. 

Post,  John  J  Eye. 

Poucher,  George  W  Yonkers. 

Prime.  Ralph  E  Yonkers. 

Prime,  Alanson  J  Yonkers. 

Purdy,  William  F  Tarrytown. 

Purdy,  Elias  P  White  Plains. 

Roosevelt,  Henry  E   New  Rochelle. 

Reevs,  Gabriel  Yonkers. 

Reynolds,  Pierre  .  ,  .  Sing  Sing. 
Riley,  William  ....  Yonkers. 
Robertson,  William  H.  Katonah. 
Romer,  William  .  .  .  White  Plains. 
Roosevelt,  Charles  H.  New  Rochelle. 
Sanders.  James  P.  .  .  Yonkers. 

Sheil,  Denis  R  Wms.  Bridge. 

Sheldon,  George  P  White  Plains. 

Silkman,  Theodore  H  Y'onkers. 

Silkman,  James  B  Yonkers. 

Silliman,  Minott  M  White  Plains. 

Skinner,  William  M  White  Plains. 

Skinner,  William  M.,  Jr  White  I'lains. 

Small,  John  C  Yonkers. 

Smith,  Duncan  Yonkers. 

Smith,  Marvin  R  Peekskill. 

Stilwell,  Benjamin  S  Yonkers. 

Suits,  David  Mount  Vernon. 

Sweny,  William  H  Yonkers. 

Squires,  Ebenezer  P  Rye. 

Tilden,  .Samuel  J  Yonkers. 

Tierney,  Michael  J  New  Rochelle. 

Taylor,  Allen   .  .Yonkers. 

Terwilliger,  J.  W  Sing  Sing. 

Thayer,  Stephen  H.,  Jr  Yonkers. 

Titus,  Charles  T.  Scarborough. 

Travis,  Eugene  B  Peekskill. 

Travis,  David  W  Peekskill. 

Underbill,  A.  S  Sing  Sing. 

Valentine,  William  G  Sing  Sing. 

Van  Cott,  William  H  Mount  Vernon. 

Verplaiick,  David  White  Plains. 

Watson,  Samuel  Sing  Sing. 

Westcott,  Clarence  L  White  Plains. 

Williams,  Elliott  Chappaqna. 

Williams,  David  0  Mount  Vernon. 

Wood,  Joseph  S  Mount  Vernon. 


Woodworth,  William  A  White  Plains. 

Wells,  Edward  Peekskill. 

AVilliams,  R.  H  Chappaqua. 

Yale,  Lucius  T  Tarrytown. 

Young,  Charles  H  New  Rochelle. 


The  present  distinguished  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  from  this  county,  Hon.  Jackson  0.  Dykman, 
and  surrogate,  Hon.  Owen  T.  Coffin,  are  treated  of  at 
length  in  another  part  of  this  work. 

As  we  review  the  Westchester  judges  and  lawyers, 
their  records,  professional  and  otherwise,  we  readily 
conclude  that  the  county  has  been  especially  gifted 
in  both.  Its  judges,  at  least  in  the  past,  have  been 
learned,  upright  and  faithful  to  duty.  There  is 
neither  record  nor  tradition  that  any  of  them  ever 
was  guilty  of  corrupt  or  improper  conduct  in  hi» 
position.    Each  has  left  the  ermine  unsullied. 

The  lawyers,  as  a  class,  have  been  exceptionally 
able,  dignified,  courteous,  industrious,  true  to  the 
interests  of  their  clients  and  trusted  counselors  of  th 
court.    Many  of  them,  as  Benjamin  Nicoll,  Timoth 
Wetmore,  Richard  Morris,  Gouverneur  Morris,  John 
Jay,  Philip  Pell,  Richard  Hatfield,  John  Strang- 
Peter  Jay  Munro,  Edward  Thomas,  Martin  S.  Wil 
kins,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  William  Nelson,  Minot 
Mitchell,  Richard  R.  Voris,  Joseph  Warren  Tomp 
kins,  Albert  Lockw'ood,  John  J.  Clapp,  Jonatlia 
Henry  Ferris,  Amherst  Wight,  Jr.,  and  Isaiah  T 
Williams,  were  lawyers  of  unusual  ability  and  high 
reputation.    By  their  careers  at  the  bar,  they  honored] 
the  legal  profession,  and  remain  bright  examples  foi 
the  emulation  of  their  successors. 


BIOGRAPHY.' 


HON.  OAVEN  T.  COFFIX. 

Of  the  existing  generation  of  public  men,  there  is 
none  who  is  more  thoroughly  identified  with  the 
public  affairs  of  Westchester  County  than  its  present 
surrogate,  Owen  T.  Coffin,  who  was  born  July  17i 
1815,  at  Wa.shington,  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.  He  is 
descended  from  an  honorable  ancestry,  being  sixth  in 
the  line  from  Tristram  Coffin,  who  came  from  Devon-j 
shire,  England,  and  was  subsequently  chief  magis-| 
trate  of  the  island  of  Nantucket.  The  energy  of  the 
ancestor  has  been  impre.ssed  upon  his  descendants, 
and  their  name  is  identified  with  many  of  the  mosi 
importantbusiness  enterprises  of  the  country.  Amon| 
the  most  conspicuous  of  these  descendants  was  Isaa< 
Coffin,  a  gallant  naval  officer,  who,  previous  to  thi 
Revolution,  was  in  the  British  service,  and  rising  tc 
the  rank  of  admiral,  was  knighted  by  his  sovereignj 

>  The  following  biographical  sketches  of  members  of  the  WeetchMte 
County  bench  and  bar  were  prepared  and  inserted  in  this  chapter  b 
I  the  editor. 


THE  BE.NX'H  AND  BAR. 


551 


and  received  a  grant  of  the  Magdalen  Islands,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  are  still  in  the 
possession  of  his  family.  He  was  afterwards  a  mem- 
ber of  Parliament,  and  distinguished  both  as  a  wise 
and  a  witty  legislator. 

Robert  Coffin,  the  father  of  Owen  T.,  was  a  thrifty 
farmer  and  a  man  of  high  standing  and  great  influ- 
ence in  his  town,  of  which  he  was  a  magistrate  for 
many  years,  and  although  not  a  member,  he  was  an 
adherent  of  the  principles  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
which  was  very  numerous  in  the  section  where  he 
lived.  Taking  a  great  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
State,  he  represented  his  county  for  a  term  or  two  in 
the  Legislature.  He  married  Magdalen,  daughter  of 
Taber  Bentley  and  granddaughter  of  Col.  James 
Vanderburgh,  who  was  one  of  the  most  influential 
citizens  of  Beekman,  Dutchess  County,  and  a  worthy 
representative  of  an  ancient  family,  who  came  from 
Holland  and  settled  in  that  region  at  an  early  day. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  in  177fi, 
and  a  zealous  friend  of  the  patriot  cause.  At  his 
house  Washington  and  Lafayette  were  frequently 
entertained,  with  many  of  their  brother  officers.  The 
mother  of  the  present  surrogate  possessed  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  true  and  noble-hearted  woman,  which 
greatly  endeared  her  to  her  family  and  friends ;  like  her 
husband,  she  was  in  sympathy  with  the  principles  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  and  excelled  in  those  qualities 
which  have  made  the  members  of  that  faith  models 
of  morality  and  virtue.  Between  herself  and  her 
children  there  existed  a  most  affectionate  confidence, 
and  their  joys  and  sorrows  were  made  her  own. 

The  children  of  Robert  and  Magdalen  Coffin  were 
ten  in  number.  Jane,  the  oldest  (now.  deceased), 
married  Caleb  Morgan,  of  Poughkeepsie,  and  Alex- 
ander H.,  the  second  child,  is  living  in  that 
city.  Hezekiah  R.,  Charles  and  Sarah,  wife  of 
Henry  M.  Swift,  live  in  Dutchess  County.  Eliza 
married  George  B.  Caldwell,  of  Poughkeepsie. 
George  W.  is  mayor  of  Santa  Barbara,  Cal.  Wil- 
liam H.,  deceased,  left  a  family  now  living  in 
New  York,  and  Robert  G.  is  on  the  old  homestead, 
about  half  a  mile  south  of  the  village  of  Mechanic, 
Washington  township,  Dutchess  County. 

Owen  T.  Coffin  was  the  seventh  child  and  the  fourth 
son,  and  remained  on  the  farm  with  his  parents,  as- 
sisting them  during  the  summer  and  attending  the 
excellent  Quaker  school  in  the  winter  months.  When 
fourteen  years  old  he  was  sent  to  the  academy  at 
Sharon,  Conn.,  and  thence  to  Kinderhook  Academy, 
where  he  was  distinguished  for  his  assiduous  attention 
to  study  and  for  his  great  fondness  for  mathematics, 
in  which  he  attained  proficiency.  Entering  Union  I 
College  in  1833,  he  graduated  in  1837  with  great 
credit  in  the  same  class  with  Hon.  John  K.  Porter, 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  between  whom  and 
himself  there  has  been  a  constant  friendship.  After 
leaving  college  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office 
of  Judge  Rufus  W.  Peckham,  and  for  a  time  had 


charge  of  the  portion  of  his  business  usually  attended 
to  by  a  managing  clerk.  Upon  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  in  1840,  he  established  practice  in  Carmel,  Put- 
nam County,  where  he  remained  two  years,  gaining  a 
large  business  and  winning  respect  and  confidence. 
In  1845  he  became  a  member  of  the  well-known  law- 
firm  of  Johnston,  Coffin  &  Eniott,  of  Poughkeejjsie. 
He  retired  from  the  firm  to  form  a  copartnership  with 
General  Leonard  Maison,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and 
proniinentin  State  affairs.  He  continued  thepracticeof 
his  profession  in  Poughkeepsie,  holding  several  i)laces 
of  trust,  among  them  the  office  of  district  attorney, 
until  1851,  when  he  received  an  invitation  from  Hon. 
W.  Nelson  and  his  son,  W.  R.  Nelson,  to  associate 
himself  with  them  as  a  partner  in  a  law-office  estab- 
lished in  Peekskill,  and,  having  accepted  the  invita- 
tion, he  removed  to  this  county,  which  has  since  been 
his  place  of  residence.  In  1871  he  was  elected  surro- 
gate of  Westchester  County,  re-elected  in  187(5  and 
again  in  1882,  and  holds  the  office  at  present. 

When  one  considers  the  extent  of  Westchester 
County,  its  wealth  and  population,  it  is  evident  that 
the  office  of  surrogate  is  one  of  the  most  important  in 
the  gift  of  the  people.  The  incumbent  is  frequently 
called  upon  to  decide  questions  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance and  involving  extensive  interests. 

To  the  solution  of  these  questions  Mr.  Coffin  has 
applied  with  unceasing  industry  the  powers  of  an  ac- 
tive and  vigorous  mind,  well  stored  with  legal  knowl- 
edge, and  a  reputation  for  honor  and  integrity  which 
renders  his  ojiinions  and  decisions  worthy  of  the  re- 
spect and  confience  of  his  legal  brethren,  and  of  the 
entire  community.  To  determine  these  questions 
requires  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  statutory  law, 
and  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  cases  in  which 
the  brightest  lights  of  legal  science  have  given  their 
interpretations  of  law.  That  Mr.  Coffin  possesses 
these  qualities  in  the  fullest  degree  is  a  fact  that  is 
fully  recognized,  and  it  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
those  most  capable  to  judge  that  of  all  who  have  held 
the  office  in  Westchester  Co.,  no  one  deserves  to  occupy 
a  higher  rank,  and  few  have  had  a  more  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  the  members  of  the  legal  profession 
in  the  State  of  New  York.  To  mention  even  a  tithe 
of  them  would  far  exceed  these  limits,  but  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  state  that  he  had  abundant  opportunity  of 
witnessing  the  efforts  and  studying  the  methods  of 
such  "legal  giants  "  as  Daniel  Cady,  Joshua  A.  Spen- 
cer, Greene  C  Bronson,  Hiram  Denio,  Ambrose  L. 
Jordan,  and  others  famous  for  learning  and  eloquence. 

Mr.  Coffin  married  Belinda  E.,  daughter  of  Gen. 
Leonard  Maison,  in  1842.  By  this  marriage  he  had 
three  children,  two  of  whom  died  in  early  childhood, 
and  one,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  the  late  Edward  B.  Piatt, 
is  living  in  Dutchess  County.  ]Mrs.  Coffin  died  in 
1856,  and,  in  1858,  he  was  again  married  to  Harriette, 
daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Bancroft  Barlow,  and 
a  sister  of  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  of  New  York  City.  On 
her  father's  side,  Mrs.  Coffin  is  related  to  Joel  Barlow, 


552 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


I 


the  distinguished  author  of  "  The  Columbiad,"  and 
on  her  mother's  to  Major  Charles  Wadsworth,  who, 
when  Sir  Edmund  Andros  demanded  the  charter  of 
Connecticut,  snatched  it  in  the  darkness  caused  by 
the  sudden  extinction  of  the  lights,  and  hastened  to 
conceal  it  in  the  famous  "Charter  Oak." 

By  this  second  marriage  Mr.  Coffin  has  two  chil- 
dren, Magdalen  Bentley  and  Samuel  Barlow,  who  is 
now  a  student  in  Union  College.  A  third  child  died 
in  infancy. 

Previous  to  his  election  as  surrogate  he  was  elected, 
in  1859,  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Cortlandt,  but  de- 
clined all  offers  of  re-election.  He  takes  a  deep  in- 
terest in  educational  matters,  and  has  been  for  twenty- 
five  years  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Peekskill  Academy.  For  many  years  he  has  been  a 
member  and  warden  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at 
Peekskill,  and  a  regular  attendant  upon  and  devout  i 
participator  in  its  services.  j 

In  the  words  of  one  who  has  known  him  for  many 
years — "Though  past  his  sixty-ninth  year,  Mr.  Coffin 
is  still  in  the  vigor  of  active  life.  This  is  no  doubt 
owing  to  the  regularity  of  his  habits  and  his  great 
fondness  for  out-door  work  in  field  and  garden.  No 
one  is  more  systematic  in  his  industry.  By  it  he  is 
enabled  to  discharge  promptly  all  official  duties,  to 
give  considerable  time  to  general  reading  and  to  work 
every  day  with  his  own  hands  on  his  ample  grounds 
situated  on  the  river-bank  at  Peekskill,  which  Barry 
Gray  named  Sunset  Hill.  Should  a  stranger  call 
there  in  the  early  morn,  or  Just  before  the  close  of  day, 
in  the  season  for  it,  and  when  the  weather  is  propi- 
tious, and  should  he  encounter  a  slender  man,  in  shirt 
sleeves,  with  a  sharp  face,  aquiline  nose,  bright,  but 
fixed  and  cheery  look,  iron-gray  beard  and  hair,  the 
whole  head  General  Jackson  like,  and  should  he  re- 
ceive frank  and  cordial  reception,  enlivened  with  some  [ 
sportive  remark,  he  may  know  that  he  is  face  to  face 
with  Owen  T.  Coffin,  surrogate  of  Westchester 
County." 


EDWARD  WELLS. 

Mr.  Wells,  a  leading  member  of  the  bar  of  West- 
chester County,  was  born  in  Durham,  Greene  County, 
New  York,  December  2,  1818.  His  father,  Noah 
Wells,  was  a  native  of  Colchester,  New  London 
County,  Conn.,  where  he  married  Dimmis,  daughter 
of  David  Kilbourne.  Both  families  came  from  Eng- 
land, and  their  genealogies  have  been  published  by 
their  members.  The  ancestry  of  Mr.  Wells,  on  his 
father's  side,  has  been  very  thoroughly  traced  in  the 
"  History  of  the  Wells  Family,"  by  the  late  Albert 
Wells,  of  New  York,  a  work  of  the  greatest  value, 
and  embracing  the  results  of  extended  research  ;  and 
his  genealogy  on  his  mother's  side  appears  in  the 
"  History  of  the  Kilbourne  Family,"  written  by  Hon.  | 
Payne  Kenyon  Kilbourne. 

The  children  of  Noah  Wells  were  Eev.  Noah  H. ; 
Albert,  who  was  thirty  years  principal  of  Peekskill 


Military  Academy ;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Hiram  Bell 
(deceased),  of  East  Haddam,  Conn. ;  Francis  H.,  a 
prominent  lawyer  of  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  and  Edward. 

Noah  Wells  removed  to  Greene  County  in  1810, 
and  died  in  June,  1829.  His  widow  then  removed  to 
Fishkill  Landing,  in  Dutchess  County,  and  her  son 
Edward  was  fitted  for  college  at  Newburgh  Academy, 
which  was  then  under  the  management  of  his  brother 
Albert,  who  was  his  guardian.  In  1835  they  re- 
moved to  Sing  Sing,  where  he  continued  his  studies 
at  Mount  Pleasant  Academy,  then  under  his  brother's 
charge,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  preparatory 
course  entered  Yale  College  and  graduated  in  1839. 
He  returned  to  Sing  Sing  and  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  General  Aaron  Ward,  who  was  associated 
with  Albert  Lockwood,  and  remained  till  1842,  being  ' 
for  a  portion  of  the  time  assistant  teacher  in  Mount 
Pleasant  Academy.  He  then  removed  to  White 
Plains  and  studied  with  Minott  Mitchell,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  as  attorney  and  solicitor  in  October, 
1842,  and  in  1845  as  counselor-at-law. 

Upon  his  admission  he  removed  to  Peekskill  and 
established  his  practice  in  partnership  with  John 
Currey.  This  partnership  was  dissolved  five  years 
later.  Mr.  Wells  has  continued  the  business  till  the  I 
present  time,  and  has  established  not  only  an  exten- 
sive practice,  but  a  highly  honorable  reputation  as  a 
counselor.  In  1850  he  was  nominated  by  the  Whigs 
for  district  attorney,  was  elected  by  a  majority  of 
three  hundred  and  thirty  and  at  the  conclusion  of  his 
term  re-elected  by  the  largely  increased  majority  of 
one  thousand  one  hundred,  and  declining  a  nomi- 
nation for  a  third  term,  devoted  his  time  and  labors  to 
the  practice  of  his  profession. 

He  has  ever  taken  an  active  part  in  all  efforts  to 
promote  the  moral  welfare  of  the  community  and  was 
for  several  years  president  of  the  Westchester  County 
Bible  Society.     He  is  a  zealous  advocate  of  the 
temperance  cause  and   fearlessly  supports  its  prin- 
ciples.   At  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party  in  j 
1854,  he  found  its  views  coincident  with  his  own,  and 
has  ever  since  been  a  prominent  member  of  that  or- 
ganization.   Fervid  in  his  opposition  to  slavery,  he  i 
was  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Union  in  the  war  which  | 
ended  in  the  destruction  of  the  system  which  had  so 
long  been  a  blot  on  the  nation. 

He  married  Hannah  Hamill,  daughter  of  Rev. 
Charles  W.  Nassau,  D.D.,  of  Lawrenceville,  N.  J., 
who  was  formerly  a  professor  and  for  a  time  the  presi- 
dent of  Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pa.  Their  chil- 
dren are  Edward,  Jr.,  who  graduated  from  Yale  College 
in  1884 ;  Charles  Nassau,  now  a  student  of  Lafayette 
College;  and  Anna  Hamill,  who  resides  with  her  par- 
ents at  Peekskill.  [ 

Mr.  Wells  is  a  man  of  extensive  learning,  the  pos- 
sessor of  a  large  and  valuable  library,  well  versed  in 
general  literature,  and  especially  in  the  study  of 
Roman  civil  law,  and  holds  an  honorable  position  as 
a  member  of  the  legal  fraternity. 


1 

1 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


553 


CHARLES  THORN  CROMWELL. 

Mr.  Cromwell  is  a  descendant  of  the  famous  family 
whose  history  was  for  so  many  years  identified  with 
that  of  the  British  Empire.  Among  his  ancestry  are  en- 
rolled the  names  of  Thomas  Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex, 
.Secretary  of  State  to  Henry  VIII.,  who  was  beheaded 
July  28, 1540  ;  Sir  Henry  Cromwell,  of  Hinthinhrook, 
surnamed,  for  his  munificence,  the  Golden  Knight ; 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Lord  Protector  of  England,  and 
many  others.' 

Two  nephews  of  the  Lord  Protector  came  to  this 
country ;  one  settled  in  South  Carolina  and  the  other 
in  Westchester  County.  It  is  from  the  Westchester 
branch  of  the  family  that  Charles  Thorn  Cromwell  is 
descended.  His  father,  John  I.  Cromwell,  who  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Thorn,  of  Glen  Cove,  L.  I.,  was  a 
wholesale  dry-goods  merchant  in  New  York  City  un- 
til the  war  was  declared,  in  1812,  with  Great  Britain. 

At  that  time  he  gave  up  his  business,  and,  raising 
a  company  of  volunteers,  marched  with  it  to  the 
northern  frontier,  becoming  actively  engaged  there 
in  most  of  the  battles  which  took  place.  He  was  ap- 
pointed second  lieutenant  of  artillery  and  was  in  com- 
mand of  a  company  at  the  battle  of  Plattsburg, 
where  he  also  acted  as  quartermaster.  His  bravery 
won  for  him  the  respect  and  esteem  of  his  superior  of- 
ficers, and  he  was  brevetted  first  lieutenant  as  a  reward 
of  merit.  Many  flattering  letters  from  the  generals 
under  whom  he  served,  from  time  to  time,  are  still  in 
the  possession  of  his  son,  notable  among  which  is  an 
autograph  note  from  Major-General  McComb. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  his  name  was  honorably 
mentioned  in  general  orders  and  the  government  of- 
fered him  a  position  upon  the  peace  establishment, 
which  he  declined,  in  order  that  he  might  retire  from 
active  life,  which'he  did.  Removing  to  Glen  Cove,  he 
purchased  a  farm  and  resided  upon  it  until  his  death, 
in  1824. 

Charles  Thorn  Cromwell,  his  third  child,  was  born 
in  New  York,  May  8,  1808.  After  attending  private 
schools  at  Jam  iica  and  Flushing,  L.  I.,  he  entered 
Union  College,  graduating  in  1829.  While  there, 
with  three  others,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead,  he 
organized  the  "  Sigma  Phi  Society."  After  his 
graduation  he  entered  the  law-office  of  Minott  Mit- 
chell, at  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  and  remained  with 
him  two  years,  when,  with  two  friends,  he  made  a 
tour  of  Europe.  He  spent  a  year  in  most  interesting 
and  profitable  diversion,  and  then  returned  to  New 
York  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

He  opened  an  office  in  the  city,  where  he  remained 
for  many  years,  building  up  for  himself  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  practice.  Twenty  years  ago  he  retired 
from  business,  though  his  name  is  still  connected 
with  the  legal  firm  which  he  organized,  and  whose 
office  is  at  No.  21  Park  Row. 

•  For  a  full  account  of  the  Cromwell  family,  see  "  Foster's  British 
Statesmen,"  vi.  2;  also,  "'Carljie's  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Cromwell," 
i.  32-411. 


During  his  active  career  Mr.  Cromwell  handled 
many  prominent  cases  with  such  skill  as  to  win  for 
himself  not  only  a  high  reputation  in  commercial 
centres,  but  also  the  regard  and  respect  of  the  entire 
profession. 

j  For  many  years  he  has  lived  in  his  beautiful  resi- 
dence on  Manersing  Island,  near  Port  Chester,  spend- 
ing his  winters  in  New  York. 

i     He  is  a  member  of  Christ  Church  (Episcopal)  and 

j  was  formerly  one  of  its  vestrymen,  having  conlibuted 
largely  toward  its  erection.  He  married  Henrietta 
Amelia  Brooks,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Brooks,  of 
Bridgeport,  Conn.  She  is  a  descendant  of  Colonel 
John  Jones  and  Theophilus  Eaton,  first  Governor  of 
the  colony  of  New  Haven.  There  were  three  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom  (the  eldest  son)  was  drowned  from 
a  yacht  in  Long  Island  Sound.  Those  surviving  are 
Oliver  Eaton  and  Henrietta,  who  married  John  De 

'  Ruyter. 

Mr.  Cromwell,  though  well  along  in  life,  still  re- 
tains his  strength,  and  his  name  continues  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  every  progressive  and  benevolent  move- 
ment in  and  about  the  village  which  is  the  home 

I  of  his  choice.  He  is  at  present  one  of  the  oldest  liv- 
ing members  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Club. 

I   

WILLIAM  PATTERSON  VAX  RENSSELAER. 

Mr.  Vau  Rensselaer  was  the  second  son  of  the  pa- 
troon,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  and  was 
born  March  6,  1805.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of 
Judge  William  Paterson,  of  New  Jersey.  After 
graduating  at  Yale  College,  in  1824,  he  was  commis- 
sioned aid-de-camp  toGovernor  De  Witt  Clinton,  with 
the  title  of  colonel,  which  post  he  soon  relinquished, 
and  from  1826  spent  four  years  in  Europe,  traveling 
extensively  and  pursuing  legal  studies  in  Edinburgh. 

I  Upon  his  return  he  entered  the  office  of  Peter  A, 
Jay,  then  a  well-known  lawyer  in  New  York.  For  a 
number  of  years  afterward  he  resided  in  Albany  and 

I  Rensselaer  County,  but  the  last  twenty  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  at  his  home  at  Manursing  Island,  near 
Rye,  Westchester  County.  He  died  in  New  Y'ork, 
November  13, 1872. 

He  inherited  from  his  distinguished  father  many 
noted  characteristics.  Conspicuous  among  these  was  a 
true  simplicity.  Free  from  all  pretension  and  eminent- 
ly unselfish,  he  found  his  happiness  in  a  life  of  retire- 
ment and  in  unobtrusive  but  earnest  endeavors  to  do 
good.    A  genuine  sympathy  with  works  of  Christian 

^  benevolence  was  another  inherited  trait.    He  was  an 

I  attentive  observer  of  the  great  and  philanthropic 
movements  of  the  day  and  a  most  liberal  supporter 
of  every  worthy  cause  whose  claims  were  brought  to 
his  notice. 

■  A  man  of  noble  impulses  and  clear  convictions,  he 
was  no  less  decided  in  the  rebuke  of  injustice  and  in- 
iquity that  in  the  approval  of  that  which  was  good. 

The  uprightness  and  elevation,  the  kindliness  and 
generosity  of  his  nature,  his  fine  intellectual  gifts  and 


554 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


high  culture,  and  with  all  an  unaffected  humility, 
the  fruit  of  true  religion,  made  him  the  marked  ex- 
ample of  a  Christian  gentleman. 


SAMUEL  .TONES  TILDEN. 

In  an  old-fashioned  frame  dwelling-house  still 
standing,  though  considerably  older  than  our  Federal 
Constitution,  Mr.  Tilden  was  born  on  the  9th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1814.  The  old  homestead,  where  four  genera- 
tions of  the  family  have  been  reared,  fronts  upon  the  i 
long  street  which  constitutes  the  back-bone  of  the 
village  of  New  Lebanon,  in  the  county  of  Columbia, 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Tilden's  ancestry  may  be  traced  back  to  the 
latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  to  the  county  ^ 
of  Kent,  in  England,  where  the  name  is  still  most  ' 
honorably  associated  with  the  army,  the  navy  and 
the  church.  In  1634  Nathaniel  Tilden  was  among 
the  Puritans  who  left  Kent  to  settle  in  America. 
Eleven  years  previous  he  had  been  mayor  of  Tenter- 
den.  He  was  succeeded  in  that  office  by  his  cousin 
John,  as  he  had  been  preceded  by  his  uncle  John  in 
1585  and  1600.  He  removed  with  his  family  to  Scit- 
uate,  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  in  1634.  He 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  locate  that  town,  and  ' 
the  first  recorded  conveyance  of  any  of  its  soil  was 
made  to  him.  His  brother  Joseph  was  one  of  the 
merchant  adventurers  of  Loudon  who  fitted  out  the 
"  Mayflower."  This  Nathaniel  Tilden  married  Hannah 
Bourne,  one  of  whose  sisters  married  a  brother  of 
Governor  Winslow  and  another  a  son  of  Governor 
Bradford.  Among  the  associates  of  Joseph  Tilden  in 
fitting  out  the  "  Mayflower"  was  Timothy  Hatherby, 
who  afterward  married  the  widow  of  Nathaniel  Til- 
den, and  was  a  leading  citizen  of  Scituate  until  ex-  I 
pelled  from  public  life  for  refusing  to  prosecute  the 
Quakers. 

Governor  Tilden's  grandfather,  John  Tilden,  set- 
tled in  Columbia  County,  since  then  uninterruptedly 
the  residence  of  this  branch  of  the  Tilden  family. 
The  Governor's  mother  was  descended  from  William 
Jones,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  colony  of  New 
Haven,  who,  in  all  the  histories  of  Connecticut,  is 
represented  to  have  been  the  son  of  Col.  John  Jones, 
one  of  the  regicide  judges  of  Charles  the  First,  who 
is  said  to  have  married  a  sister  of  Oliver  Cromwell 
and  a  cousin  of  John  Hamden.  The  Governor's 
father,  a  farmer  and  merchant  of  New  Lebanon,  w'as 
a  man  of  notable  judgment  and  practical  sense  and 
the  accepted  oracle  of  the  county  upon  all  matters  of 
public  concern,  while  his  opinion  was  also  eagerly 
sought  and  justly  valued  by  all  his  neighbors,  but  by 
none  more  than  by  the  late  President  Van  Buren, 
who,  till  his  death,  was  one  of  his  most  cherished 
and  intimate  personal  friends. 

Samuel  J.,  after  a  suitable  preparatory  education  ; 
at  Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  was  entered  at  Yale  j 
College  in  the  class  of  1833,  where,  however,  in  con- 
sequence of  ill  health,  he  was  not  able  to  complete 


the  course.  He  concluded  his  collegiate  studies  at 
the  New  York  University,  and  then  took  the  course 
of  law  in  that  institution,  at  the  same  time  entering 
the  law-office  of  the  late  John  W.  Edmunds,  then  a 
prominent  member  of  the  New  York  bar.  While 
yet  in  his  teens  he  was  a  watchful  student  of  the  polit- 
ical situation,  and  tradition  has  preserved  many  inter- 
esting stories  of  his  triumphs,  both  of  speech  and  pen, 
in  the  political  arena.  Young  and  obscure  as  he  then 
was,  Presidents  .lackson  and  Van  Buren  had  few 
more  effiective  champions  in  this  State  of  the  great 
measures  of  their  respective  administrations  than  this 
stripling  from  New  Lebanon. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1841.  Four  years 
before,  and  when  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he 
delivered  a  speech  in  Columbia  County  onthesubject 
of  "  Prices  and  Wages,"  which  not  only  attracted  the 
attention  and  won  the  admiration  of  the  leading 
political  economists  of  that  time,  but  is  to-day  one  of 
perhaps  the  half-dozen  most  profound,  comprehen- 
sive and  instructive  papers  on  that  complicated  sub- 
ject now  in  print  in  any  language. 

Uj)on  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Tilden  opened 
an  office  in  Pine  Street,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
which  will  be  remembered  by  his  acquaintances  of 
that  period  as  a  favorite  resort  for  the  leading  Demo- 
crats, whether  resident  or  casually  on  a  visit  to  that 
city. 

In  1844,  in  anticipation  and  preparation  for  the 
election  which  resulted  in  making  James  K.  Polk 
President,  and  Silas  Wright  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  Y^ork,  Mr.  Tilden,  in  connection  with  John  L. 
O'Sullivan,  founded  the  newspaper  called  the  Daily 
News,  by  far  the  ablest  morning  journal  that  had  up 
to  that  time  been  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  Its  success  was  immediate  and  complete, 
and  to  its  efficiency  was  largely  due  the  success  of  the 
Democratic  ticket  that  year.  As  Mr.  Tilden  did  not 
propose  to  enter  into  journalism  as  a  career,  and  had 
embarked  in  this  enterprise  merely  for  its  bearing 
upon  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1844,  he  retired 
from  it  soon  after  the  election,  presenting  his  entire 
interest  in  the  property  to  his  colleague. 

In  the  fall  of  1845  he  was  sent  to  the  Assembly  from 
the  city  of  New  Y'ork,  and  while  a  member  of  that 
body  was  elected  to  the  convention  for  remodeling 
the  Constitution  of  the  State,  which  was  to  commence 
its  sessions  a  few  weeks  after  the  Legislature  adjourned. 
In  both  of  these  bodies  he  was  a  conspicuous  author- 
ity, and  left  a  permanent  impression  upon  the  legis- 
lation of  the  year,  and  especially  upon  all  the  new 
constitutional  provisions  afl'ecting  the  finances  of  the 
State  and  the  management  of  its  system  of  canals.  In 
this  work  he  was  associated,  by  personal  and  political 
sympath}^  most  intimately  with  Governor  Wright, 
Michael  Hoff"man  and  with  Azariah  C.  Flagg,  then 
the  controller  of  the  State,  who  had  all  learned  to 
value  very  highly  his  counsel  and  co-operation. 

The  defeat  of  Mr.  Wright  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and 


1] 


VIEWS  AT  •"GRAYSTONE. 

YONKERS,  N.  Y. 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


555 


the  coolness  which  had  grown  up  between  the  friends 
of  President  Folk  and  the  friends  of  the  hite  President 
Van  Buren,  resulted  fortunately  for  Mr.  Tilden,  if  not 
for  the  country,  in  withdrawing  his  attention  from 
politics  and  concentrating  it  upon  his  profession.  He 
inherited  no  fortune,  but  depended  upon  his  own  ex- 
ertions for  a  livelihood.  Thus  far  his  labor  for  the  State, 
or  in  his  profession,  had  not  been  lucrative,  and,  de- 
spite his  strong  tastes  and  pre-eminent  qualifications 
for  political  life,  he  was  able  to  discern  at  that  early 
period  the  importance,  in  this  country  at  least,  of 
a  pecuniary  independence  for  the  successful  prosecu- 
tion of  a  ])()litical  career.  With  an  assiduity  and  a  i 
concentration  of  energy  which  has  characterized  all 
the  transactions  of  his  life,  he  now  gave  himself  up  to 
his  profession.  It  was  not  many  years  before  he  be- 
came as  well  known  at  the  bar  as  he  had  before  been 
known  as  a  jiolitician.  His  business  developed  rapidly, 
and  though  he  continued  to  take  more  or  less  interest 
in  political  mattei-s,  they  were  not  allowed  after  1857 
to  interfere  with  his  professional  duties. 

From  that  time  until  1869,  when  he  again  conse- 
crated all  his  jiersonal  and  professional  energies  to 
the  reform  of  the  municipal  government  of  New  York 
City,  a  period  of  about  twenty  years,  his  was  nearly  or 
quite  the  largest  and  most  lucrative  practice  in  the 
country  conducted  by  any  single  barrister.  During 
what  may  be  termed  the  professional  parts  of  his 
career  he  has  associated  his  name  imperishably  with 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  forensic  struggles  of  our 
time. 

It  was,  however,  duringthis  period  of  Mr.  Tilden's  life, 
in  which  he  was  devoting  himself  almost  exclusively 
to  his  profession,  that  his  name  figures  prominently 
in  one  of  the  most  important  political  transactions  in 
American  history.  The  convention  held  in  1848  at 
Baltimore  for  the  selection  of  a  Presidential  ticket  to 
be  supported  by  the  Democratic  party  presumed 
to  deny  to  the  regular  delegates  from  New  York 
State,  of  whom  Mr.  Tilden  was  one,  admission  to 
their  body  upon  equal  terms  with 'the  delegates  from 
other  States,  assigning  as  a  reason  that  the  convention 
which  chose  them  had  declared  that  the  immunity 
from  slavery  contained  in  the  Jeffersonian  ordinance 
of  1787  should  be  applied  to  all  the  Territories  of  the 
Northwest,  so  long  as  they  should  remain  under  the 
government  of  Congress.  Mr.  Tilden  was  selected  by 
his  colleagues  of  the  delegation  to  make  their  report  to  i 
their  constituents, — a  report  which  helps  to  make  the 
Utica  Convention  of  June,  1848,  one  of  the  most  mo- 
mentous in  the  history  of  the  country. 

"With  this  intolerant  proscription  of  the  New  York  Deinocnvcy  began 
the  disastrous  schism  which  was  destined  to  rend  in  twain  both  the  great  ( 
parties  of  the  country  and  practically  to  annihilate  the  political  organi-  1 
zation  which  had  given  a  wise  and  beneficent  government  to  the  country 
for  half  a  century.  Then,  too,  and  there  were  laid  the  foundations  of  the 
political  conglomerate,  which  in  18(i(i  acipiired,  and  for  a  (juarter  of  a 
century  retained,  uninterrupted  control  of  our  Federal  (iovernment.  .  .  . 

"  Just  twenty-eight  years  after  the  delegate  from  Xc-w  York,  who  had 
been  selected  by  his  colleagues  for  the  purjwse,  broke  to  their  outraged 
constituents  the  story  of  their  State's  humiliation,  that  same  delegate 


received  the  suffrages  of  a  large  majority  of  his  countrymen  for  the  high- 
est honoi'  in  their  gift ;  and  to-day,  through  that  delegate's  influence, 
another  citizen  of  New  York  who  was  nominated  by  a  Democratic  Na- 
tional Convention,  which  imposed  no  sectional  tests,  and  who  was 
elected  without  the  vote  of  a  single  slaveholder,  becomes  the  chief  magis- 
trate and  most  honored  citizen  of  the  Kepublic. 

'The  wheel  is  come  full  circle.' 

and  the  bones  of  the  Democratic  party  that  were  broken  ujwn  the  cross 
of  slavery  in  1848,  now,  after  an  interval  of  thirty-six  years,  are  once 
more  knit  together,  and  the  tra<litions  and  the  doctrines  inherited  from 
the  golden  age  of  the  Republic  are  about  to  resume,  not  merely  their 
oHicial,  but  their  moral  supremacy  in  the  nation."  > 

The  four  years  from  18t)9  to  1878  were  mainly  de- 
voted by  Mr.  Tilden  to  the  overthrow  of  what  was 
known  as  the  Tweed  Ring,  which  had  thoroughly  de- 
bauched every  branch  of  the  New  York  City  govern- 
ment, legislative,  executive  and  judicial,  and  was 
threatening  the  State  government  also  with  its  foul 
embrace. 

"The  total  surrender  of  my  professional  business  during  that  period," 
he  has  siiid  in  one  of  his  published  conimunications,  "  the  nearly  absolute 
withdrawal  of  attention  from  my  private  afl'airs,  and  from  all  enterprises 
in  which  I  am  interested,  have  cost  nie  a  loss  of  actual  income,  which* 
with  e.xpenditures  and  contributions  the  contest  has  required,  would  be 
a  respectable  endowment  of  a  public  charity. 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  these  things,"  he  adds,  "to  regret  them.  In  my 
opinion,  no  instrumentality  in  human  society  is  so  potential  in  its  influ- 
ence on  the  well-being  of  mankind  as  the  governmental  machinery 
which  administers  justice  and  makes  and  executes  laws.  No  benefaction 
of  private  benevolence  could  he  so  fruitiul  in  benefits  as  the  rescue  of" 
this  machinery  from  the  perversion  which  had  made  it  a  means  of  con- 
spiracy, fraud  and  crime  against  the  rights  ami  the  most  sacred  interests 
of  a  great  community." 

When  Mr.  Tilden  thus  wrote  he  had  not  exper- 
ienced nor  could  he  have  foreseen  the  legal  consum- 
mation of  his  labors  in  the  arrest,  imprisonment  or 
flight  of  all  the  parties  who,  only  a  few  months  before, 
seemed  to  hold  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  Empire 
State  in  the  hollow  of  their  hands,  nor  the  condemna- 
tion of  Tweed  to  the  striped  jacket  and  cell  of  a  felon, 
nor  the  recovery  of  verdicts  which  promised  to  restore 
to  the  city  treasury  many  millions  of  ill-gotten  plun- 
der. 

Nor  could  he  have  foreseen,  among  the  most  direct 
and  immediate  results  of  his  labors  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  the  New  York  City  and  State  governments, 
his  election  as  Governor  in  the  fall  of  1874,  by  a  ma- 
jority of  more  than  fifty  thousand  over  General  Dix, 
the  Republican  candidate. 

The  talents  and  jniblic  virtues  which,  as  a  municipal 
reformer,  won  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  his  na- 
tive State  and  made  him  Governor,  on  this  new  and 
wider  theatre  won  the  confidence  and  admiration  of 
the  nation  and  made  him  its  choice  by  a  considerable 
popular  majority  for  the  Presidency  in  1876.  It  was 
not,  however,  in  the  order  of  Providence  that  he 
j  or  the  people  were  to  enjoy  the  legitimate  fruits  of 
this  latter  victory. 

When  Congress  convened  in  the  winter  of  1876- 
77,  and  proceeded  to  discharge  its  constitutional 


I  "  Writings  and  Life  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,''  edited  by  John  Bigelow. 

Pub.,  Harper  4  Brothers,  1885. 


556 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


duty  of  counting  the  electoral  votes  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  it  appeared  that  there  were  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  uncontested  electoral  votes  for 
Samuel  J.  Tilden  for  President  and  for  Thomas  A. 
Hendricks  for  Vice-President,  one  hundred  and  six- 
ty-five uncontested  electoral  votes  for  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes  for  President  and  William  A.  Wheeler  for 
Vice-President,  and  twenty  votes  in  dispute.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-five  votes  were  necessary  for  a 
choice;  consequently,  one  additional  vote  to  Tilden 
and  Hendricks  would  have  elected  them,  while  twen- 
ty additional  votes  were  required  for  the  election  of 
the  rival  candidates.  The  whole  election,  therefore, 
depended  upon  one  electoral  vote.  This  gave  to 
the  mode  of  counting  the  vote  an  importance 
which  it  had  never  possessed  at  any  of  the  twenty- 
one  previous  elections  in  the  history  of  our  govern- 
ment. 

The  provisions  of  the  Constitution  relating  to  the 
mode  of  counting  the  vote  were  sufficiently  vague  to 
furnish  a  pretext  for  some  diversity  of  opinion  upon 
the  subject,  wherein  the  temptation  to  find  one  was 
so  great.  A  majority  of  the  Senate  being  Republi- 
cans and  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
being  Democrats,  that  the  Senate  would  not  agree  to 
to  count  any  one  of  these  twenty  votes  for  Tilden  and 
Hendricks  was  assumed;  and  to  avoid  a  conflict  of 
jurisdiction,  which  was  thought  by  some  to  threaten 
the  peace  of  the  country,  a  special  tribunal,  to  consist 
of  members  of  Congress  and  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
fifteen  in  number,  was  created,  upon  which  the  duty 
of  counting  the  electoral  vote  was  devolved  by  an  act 
of  Congress.  One  of  the  membei's  of  this  tribunal  was 
classified  as  an  Independent,  seven  as  Republicans 
and  seven  as  Democrats.  The  Republicans  voted  to 
count  all  the  votes  of  the  three  contested  States  for 
Hayes,  and  the  Indei)endent,  voted  with  them,  and 
the  candidate  elected  to  the  Presidency  by  a  consid- 
erable popular  majority  was  compelled  to  give  place 
to  the  candidate  of  a  minority. 

The  circumstances  under  which  Mr.  Tilden  was 
deprived  of  the  Presidency  made  it  inconvenient,  in- 
deed impossible,  to  obey  the  counsels  and  warnings 
of  declining  health  to  lay  down  the  leadership  of  the 
great  party  whose  unexampled  wrong  was  represented 
in  his  person,  until  he  could  surrender  it  into  the 
hands  of  its  proper  national  rejiresentatives.  As  soon, 
however,  as  the  National  Democratic  Convention  as- 
sembled in  1880,  he  felt  constrained  to  address  to  the 
chairman  of  the  New  York  delegation  the  memorable 
letter  in  which  he  proclaimed  his  well-considered  in- 
tention to  retire  from  public  life,  for  the  labors  of 
which  he  had  long  felt  his  health  and  strength  were 
unequal.  In  1884  he  was  obliged  to  repeat  his  resolu- 
tion, to  prevent  his  nomination  by  the  delegates  to  the 
National  Convention,  who  were  almost  unanimously 
chosen  because  of  their  avowed  partiality  for  Mr.  Til- 
den as  their  candidate,  notwithstanding  his  impaired 
and  failing  health.    Finding  it  impossible  to  obtain 


his  consent  to  run,  the  convention  accepted  a  candi- 
date of  his  choice  from  the  State  which  he  had  served 
so  long  and  faithfully,  and  his  choice  was  ratified  by 
the  nation  at  the  general  election. 

Mr.  Tilden  is  now  enjoying  the  repose  he  has  so 
fially  earned,  and  such  health  as  repose  only  could  con- 
fer, at  his  princely  home  of  Greystone  on  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson,  now  the  pilgrim's  shrine  of  the  reinstated 
party,  which  Jefferson  planted  and  which  Jackson 
and  Van  Buren  watered. 

"He  is  one  of  tlie  few  surviving  statesmen  who  had  the  good  fortune 
to  receive  early  political  training  in  the  golden  age  of  the  Democratic 
party,  when  public  measures  were  thoroughly  tested  by  the  Constitution 
and  by  public  opinion,  and  when  by  ample  debate  the  voters  of  the 
whole  nation  were  educated,  not  only  to  embrace,  but  also  to  com- 
prehend, the  principles  upon  which  their  government  was  conducted,— 
a  training  to  which  his  subsequent  political  career  bears  continual  testi- 
mony. Whatever  heresies  of  doctrine  have  crept  into  our  public  policy 
since  those  days,  the  responsibility  for  them  will  not  rest  with  him.  In 
all  the  papers  and  speeches  with  which  from  time  to  time  he  has  endeav- 
ored to  enlighten  his  countrymen,  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  a  line  or  a 
thought  not  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  the  eminent  statesmen 
who,  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  our  national  history,  traced  the  limits 
and  defined  the  functions  of  constitutional  Democracy  in  America.  From 
that  epoch  to  this  there  has  been  scarcely  a  <iuestion  of  public  concern 
having  its  roots  in  the  Constitution  which  Mr.  Tilden  has  not  carefulh' 
considered  and  more  or  less  thoroughly  treated.  He  was  a  champion  of 
the  Union  and  of  President  Jackson  against  the  Nullifiers  and  Mr.  Cal- 
houn. He  denounced  the  American  system  of  Mr.  Clay  as  unconstitu- 
tional, inequitable  and  sectional.  He  vindicated  the  removal  of  the 
government  deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank  by  President  Jackson, 
and  exploded  the  sophistical  doctrine  of  its  lawyers  that  the  Treasury  is 
not  an  executive  department.  He  vindicated  President  Van  Buren  from 
the  charge  made  by  William  Leggett  of  unbecoming  subserviency  to  the 
Slaveholding  States  in  his  Inaugural  Address.  He  was  among  the  first 
to  insist  upon  free  banking  under  general  laws,  thus  opening  the  busi- 
ness equally  to  all,  and  abolisliing  the  monopoly  which  was  a  nearly 
universal  superstition.  He  exposed  the  perils  of  banking  upon  public 
funds.  He  advocated  the  divorce  of  bank  and  State,  and  the  establish, 
ment  of  a  sub-treasury.  He  asserted  the  supervisory  control  of  the 
Legislature  over  corporations  of  its  own  creation.  He  exposed  the  enor- 
mities of  Mr.  Webster's  scheme  to  pledge  the  public  lands  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  debts  of  the  States.  He  drew  and  vindicated  in  a  profoundly 
learned  and  able  report  the  Act  which  put  an  end  to  the  discontentH  of 
the  New  York  'Anti-renters.'  He  wrote  the  protest  of  the  Democracy 
of  New  York  against  making  the  nationalization  of  slavery  a  test  of 
party  fealty.  He  was  the  first,  we  believe,  to  assign  statesmanlike  rea- 
sons for  opposing  coercive  teaiperance  legislation.  He  pointed  out,  as 
no  one  had  done  before;  the  danger  of  sectionalizing  the  government. 
He  planned  the  campaign,  he  secured  the  requisite  legislation,  he  bore 
much  the  largest  share  of  the  expense,  and,  finally,  he  led  the  storming- 
party  which  drove  Tweed  and  his  predatory  associates  to  prison  or  into 
e.xile.  He  purified  the  judiciary  of  the  city  and  State  of  New  York  by 
procuring  the  adoption  of  measures  which  resulted  in  the  removal  of 
one  judge  by  impeachment  and  of  two  judges  by  resignation.  He  in- 
duced the  Democratic  Convention  of  1874  to  declare,  in  no  uncertain 
tone,  for  a  sound  currency,  when  not  a  single  State  Convention  of  either 
party  liad  yet  ventured  to  take  a  stand  against  the  financial  delusions  be- 
gotten of  the  war,  which  for  years  liad  been  sapping  the  credit  of  the 
country.  It  was  at  his  instance  that  the  Democratic  party  of  New  York, 
in  the  same  Convention,  pronounced  against  third-term  Presidents,  and 
eftectively  strengthened  the  exposed  intrenchments  which  the  country, 
for  eighty  years  and  more,  had  been  erecting  against  the  insidious  en- 
croachments of  dynasticism.  During  his  career  as  Governor  Mr.  Tilden 
applied  the  principles  of  the  political  school  in  which  he  had  been  edu- 
cated to  the  new  questions  which  time,  civil  war  and  national  affluence 
had  made  paramount.  He  overthrew  the  Canal  Iting,  which  had  become 
ascendant  in  all  the  departments  of  the  State  government.  He  dispersed 
the  lobby  which  infested  the  legislative  bodies.  He  introduced  a  practi- 
cal reform  in  the  civil  service  of  this  State,  and  elevated  the  standard  of 
official  morality.  In  his  messages  he  exposed  the  weakness  and  inade- 
quacy of  the  financial  policy  of  the  party  in  power,  the  mismanagenieni 
of  our  canal  system,  the  Federal  assaults  upon  State  sovereignty,  and 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


55T 


the  pressiiiK  need  of  radical  reforms  both  in  tlie  Stjite  iinj  Federal  iid- 
ministrations."  ' 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  Tilden,  also,  to  say  that  he  has  rare- 
ly discussed  any  matter  of  public  concern  without 
planting  the  structure  of  his  argument  upon  the  solid 
ground  of  fundamental  principles.  Always  cautious 
in  the  selection  of  his  facts,  singularly  moderate  in 
his  statements  and  temperate  in  his  language,  he, 
better  than  perhaps  any  other  statesman  of  our  time, 
can  afford  to  be  judged  by  his  record.  Who  that  has 
figured  so  prominently  in  public  affairs  has  said  or 
written  less  that  he  would  prefer  not  to  have  said ; 
less  that  his  maturer  judgment  cannot  approve; 
less  that  will  not  commend  itself  to  the  deliberate 
judgment  of  thoughtful  men  and  to  an  uni)rejudiced 
posterity  ? 


HON.  CHAUXCEY  M.  DEPEW. 

Mr.  Depew,  distinguished  as  a  lawyer  and  states- 
man, was  born  at  Peokskill,  April  23,  1834.  His 
ancestry  was  of  the  Huguenot  race,  from  which  have 
sprung  so  many  noble  men  to  make  immortal  names 
in  history.  His  family  were  early  settled  at  Peeks- 
kill,  where  his  father,  Isaac  Depew,  resided  on  the 
farm  which  had  been  the  home  of  his  ancestors  for 
two  hundred  years.  His  early  years  were  spent  on 
the  old  homestead,  and  his  educa"tiou  was  finished  at 
Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1856.  Resolved 
to  enter  the  legal  profe-sion,  he  studied  law  with 
Hon.  William  Nelson,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1858,  and  commenced  practice  in  his  native  town. 
His  natural  ability,  sound  knowledge  of  the  law  and 
great  oratorical  talent  caused  his  rapid  advancement. 
In  his  youth  he  took  part  in  politics,  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Republican  State  Convention  in  1858,  and  a 
distinguished  and  effective  speaker  in  the  campaign 
of  1860.  In  every  Presidential  contest  from  that  time 
to  the  present,  his  speeches  have  been  listened  to  by 
thousands  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  his  opinions 
have  never  failed  to  attract  attention  and  command 
respect.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was  adjutant 
of  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  N.  Y.  V.,  and  served 
three  months.  In  1861  he  was  elected  member  of 
Assembly,  and  re-elected  in  1862.  His  legislative 
career,  which  was  marked  with  great  ability,  prepared 
the  way  for  a  still  higher  position,  and  in  1863  he 
was  elected  Secretary  of  State.  He  received,  but  de- 
clined, the  appointment  of  commissioner  of  emigra- 
tion, but  served  for  one  year  as  tax  commissioner  for 
the  city  of  New  York.  In  1866  he  received  from 
President  Johnson  the  appointment  of  minister  to 
Japan, — a  position  which  he  resigned  after  holding 
the  commission  for  one  month.  He  was  appointed 
one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  new  capitol  at  Albany 
in  1871.  The  Liberal  Republican  party  gave  Mr. 
Depew  the  nomination  for  Governor  in  1872 ;  but  he, 


•  "Writings  and  Speeches  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,"edited  by  John  Bigelow, 
preface. 


together  with  the  rest  of  the  ticket,  failed  of  election. 
During  the  controversy  which  led  to  the  resignation 
of  Hon.  Roscoe  Conkling  as  United  States  Senator, 
Mr.  Depew  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  among 
the  candidates  pro})osed  as  his  successor,  but  with- 
drew his  name  in  the  interests  of  harmony.  He  was 
appointed  one  of  the  regents  of  the  university  in' 
1877,  a  position  which  he  still  retains.  For  several 
years  he  was  vice-jtresident  and  general  counsel  for 
the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad, 
and  is  now  (1886)  president  of  the  road, — a  position 
which  furnishes  ample  scope  for  his  abilities. 

Among  the  prominent  orators  of  the  day,  there  are 
few  who  have  been  more  frequently  called  upon  to 
deliver  addresses  upon  occasions  of  public  import- 
ance. A  speet'h  delivered  in  the  IjCgislature,  in  1802, 
upon  the  subject  of  "State  Finances"  has  been  con- 
sidered one  of  his  best  efforts,  and  attracted  wide 
attention.  On  the  4tli  of  July,  1876,  he  delivered 
the  centennial  oration  at  Sing  Sing,  and  made  a 
brilliant  address  at  Kingston  on  July  30,  1877,  the 
anniversary  of  the  formation  of  the  State  govern- 
ment. On  September  23,  1880,  he  addressed  a  large 
assembly  at  Tarrytown,  in  commemoration  of  the 
capture  of  Major  Andre,  and  he  was  the  orator  of  the 
day  upon  the  occasion  of  unveiling  the  statue  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  in  Central  Park.  At  the  elec- 
tion of  a  United  States  Senator,  in  1885,  he  was  ten- 
dered the  nomination  by  all  divisions  of  the  Repub- 
lican party,  but  declined  to  be  considered  a  candi- 
date, and  the  choice  fell  upon  Hon.  William  M. 
Evarts. 

Upon  his  maternal  side,  Mr.  Depew  is  connected 
with  the  family  of  the  celebrated  Roger  Sherman,  of 
Connecticut,  his  mother  being  a  granddaughter  of 
the  sister  of  that  illustrious  statesman. 

He  married,  in  1871,  Elise,  daughter  of  William 
Hegeman,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  and  has  one  son,  who- 
bears  his  father's  name. 


FRANCIS  LARKIN. 

Francis  Larkin,  well  and  prominently  known 
among  the  legal  fraternity  of  Westchester  County, 
was  born  at  Sing  Sing,  August  9,  1820.  His  father, 
John  Larkin,  came  from  the  neighborhood  of  Belfast, 
Ireland,  and  after  his  arrival  in  this  country,  married 
Elizabeth  Knox,  who  was  also  born  in  Ireland,  near 
Donegal.  The  early  part  of  Mr.  Larkin's  life  was 
passed  on  a  farm,  upon  which  he  worked  till  he  at- 
tained his  majority.  After  teaching  school  for  a 
while,  he  resolved  to  study  for  the  legal  profession,  and 
entered  the  office  of  Richard  R.  Voris,  Esq.,  who  was 
a  prominent  lawyer,  and  District  Attorney  of  the 
County.  In  1847  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  as  at- 
torney and  counsellor  at  law.  Immediately  after  his 
admissioii  he  established  his  practice  in  Sing  Sing,  and 
has  continued  it  to  the  present  time,  and  by  strict  at- 
tention to  the  duties  of  his  profession,  has  established 
an  enviable  reputation,  commanding  the  confidence 


558 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTi. 


of  a  very  extended  clientage.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Republican  party,  and  received  its  nomi- 
nation for  Congress,  in  1864:,  but  as  the  district  was 
strongly  Democratic,  his  opponent,  Hon.  William 
Radford,  was  elected. 

He  has  held  the  offices  of  trustee  and  president  of 
the  village  of  Sing  Sing,  and  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
in  1851  was  elected  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Ossi- 
ning,  in  which  positions  he  performed  the  duties  of 
the  offices  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

He  was  married  April  1, 1852,  to  Sarah  E.,  daugh- 
ter of  Ebenezer  Hobby,  of  New  York.  Their  children 
are  Mary  E.,  wife  of  Adrian  H.  Joline,  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  New  York  City  ;  Sarah,  wife  of  Dr.  Joel 
Madden;  Frank,  who 
married  Lily,  daughter  of 
Oeorge  A.  Brandreth ; 
John,  Adrian  H.,  and 
Alice.  Of  these  Frank 
and  John  are  practicing 
lawyers,  and  both  gradu- 
ates of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, and  the  youngest 
son,  Adrian  H.,  is  now  a 
student  at  the  same  insti- 
tution. The  youngest 
daughter  is  at  present 
studying  at  the  school  for 
young  ladies  under  the 
tuition  of  Miss  Dana,  at 
Morristown,  N.  J. 


HON.  SAMUEL  PCKDY. 

The  family  of  which 
Mr.  Purdy  is  a  represent- 
ative has  long  been  settled 
in  Westchester  County, 
their    ancestor    b'e  i  n  s 


Francis  Purdy,  who  was  A  yk  \  k    n  ' 

living  in  Fairfield,  Conn.,  ^/ A^(AyKA.Jc\y) 


previous  to  1659.  The 
line  of  descent  is  as  follows, — 1st,  Francis;  2d, 
John  ;  3d,  Joseph  ;  4th,  Jonathan ;  5th,  Jonathan  ; 
'6th,  Benjamin  ;  7th,  Sylvanus  ;  8th,  Samuel  M. 

Sylvanus  Purdy,  the  father  of  Samuel  M.,  married 
Effiilinda,  daughter  of  Andrew  Purdy,  of  East  Chester, 
and  his  son  was  born  at  the  homestead  of  his  maternal 
gi'andfather,  August  28,  1824.  This  homestead  (which 
was  on  the  farm  formerly  belonging  to  Bartholomew 
Ward,  and  sold  by  him  to  Andrew  Purdy),  stood  in 
what  is  now  the  village  of  Mount  Vernon,  at  the 
•corner  of  Sixth  Avenue  and  Fourth  Street,  on  the 
■east  side,  and  now  belongs  to  the  heirs  of  John 
Stevens.  The  early  boyhood  of  Mr.  Purdy  was  passed 
at  this  place,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve  he  went  to 
Mamaroneck,  and  attended  a  school  taught  by  John 


M.  Ward,  a  well-known  teacher  of  that  day.  Here 
he  prepared  to  enter  Columbia  College,  a  plan  which 
he  afterwards  abandoned,  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
his  school  term  he  entered,  in  1843,  the  law  office  of 
Samuel  E.  Lyon.  In  this  office  he  remained  four 
years,  was  then  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  established 
his  practice  at  West  Farms.  During  his  first  year 
there  he  was  elected  to  the  offices  of  Justice  of  the 
peace  and  town  clerk,  and  has  been  continuously 
re-elected  to  ihe  former  position.  He  was  elected 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  West  Farm,  and  held 
that  office  in  1855,  1856,  1862,  1863,  1864,  1865,  1866, 
1867  and  1868,  being  four  times  elected  without 
opposition,  and  at  the  other  elections  by  a  very  large 
majority.  In  1867  he  was  elected  member  of  Assembly 

by  a  majority  of  eight 
hundred  and  twenty,  and 
served  on  the  committee 
on  internal  affairs.  The 
following  year  he  was  re- 
elected, and  was  re-ap- 
pointed on  the  above- 
named  committee. 

His  practice  as  a  law- 
yer has  been  almost  en- 
tirely confined  to  real 
estate.  In  this  branch 
of  legal  knowledge  he 
has  few  equals,  and  it 
may  be  safely  said  that 
there  is  no  one  who  is 
more  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  history 
of  the  land  titles  in  this 
county.  He  is  constantly 
called  upon  to  decide 
(piestions  concerning  an- 
cient boundaries,  the  lo- 
cations of  which  have 
passed  from  memory.  The 
amount  of  money  invest- 
^  ,t  upon  the  security  of 

^^-^^-^  real  estate  in  this  county, 

and  of  which  he  has  the 
charge  and  oversight,  exceeds  a  million  dollars,  which 
shows  better  than  any  words  can  express,  the  con- 
fidence which  is  jjlaced  in  him  by  the  community 
where  his  clientage  is  so  large. 

He  was  in  early  life  a  Whig,  but  joined  the  Demo- 
cratic party  at  the  election  of  Buchanan,  and  has  ever 
since  been  connected  with  it. 

He  married,  in  1847,  Rachel,  daughter  of  Caleb 
Purdy,  of  Harrison.  Their  only  son,  Caleb,  a  young 
man  of  great  promise,  died,  in  1869,  soon  after  his 
graduation  from  Columbia  College. 

Mr.  Purdy  is  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
and  now  holds  the  position  of  senior  warden,  and  is 
superintendent  of  the  Sabbath -school. 

Soon  after  establishing  his  practice  at  West  Farms 


\ 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


559 


he  purchased  tlio  homestead  formerly  belonging  to 
Dr.  William  Hoffman,  on  the  west  side  of  Main 
Street,  or  the  old  Boston  Post  Road,  which  lias  ever 
since  been  his  residence. 

Mr.  Purdy  is  a  type  of  the  self-made  man.  Com- 
nienciog  with  small  means  he  has  accumulated  a  com- 
petency ;  by  strict  attention  to  business,  and  by  his 
integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose,  he  has  gained  what 
is  of  still  greater  importance,  the  confidence  and  re- 
si)ect  of  the  entire  community. 

WILLIAM  AU(iU.STI-S  HEACH. 

On  Broadway  in  Tarrytown  stands  the  handsome 
stone  mansion,  which  for  four  years  previous  to  his 
death  was  the  residence  of  William  Augustus  Beach, 
formerly  a  leading  lawyer  in  New  York  City,  and  is 
at  present  occupied  by  his  family. 

Mr.  Beach  was  born  at  Saratoga  Sjirings,  New 
York,  December  10,  1809.  His  father.  Miles  Beach, 
was  an  early  settler  and  successful  merchant  in  that 
village.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Catharine  Warren,  was  a  first  cousin  of  General 
Warren  of  Revolutionary  fame.  Augustus  (as  Mr. 
Beach  was  usually  known)  received  no  college  educa- 
tion. He  studied  law  in  his  native  village  and  for 
some  years  after  his  admission  to  the  bar  was  engaged 
there  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  the  law 
firm  of  which  he  was  a  member,  Nicholas  Hill,  Jr., 
and  Augustus  Bockes,  who  was  later  a  supreme  court 
judge  of  that  district,  were  the  other  partners.  From 
the  first,  he  showed  remarkable  powers  in  influencing 
juries  to  the  conclusions  he  desired,  and  a  keenness 
in  seizing  upon  the  jjoints  of  advantage  in  his  cases, 
and  he  soon  acquired  a  local  reputation  as  an  advo- 
cate of  ability. 

In  1851  he  removed  to  Troy,  New  York,  where  he 
made  his  residence  for  the  next  twenty  years.  In 
this  new  and  larger  field,  he  achieved  a  proportion- 
ately greater  fame  and  success.  He  founded  the  firm 
of  Pearson,  Beach  &  Smith,  which  later,  on  the  re- 
tirement of  Hon.  Job  Pearson,  became  Beach  & 
Smith.  Legal  interests  of  great  importance  were  in- 
trusted to  his  care,  and  he  became  attorney  and  coun- 
sel for  all  the  large  railroad  corporations  in  the  city. 

When  the  Hudson  River  Bridge  Company  secured 
articles  of  incorporation  for  the  purpose  of  bridging 
the  Hudson  River  at  Albany,  the  city  of  Troy,  which 
was  opposed  to  the  building  of  the  bridge,  engaged 
Mr.  Beach  to  endeavor  to  prevent  its  construction  by 
an  appeal  to  the  courts.  A  preliminary  injunction 
was  obtained  enjoining  the  bridge  company  from 
proceeding  with  their  work, but  an  attempt  to  have  the 
injunction  made  permanent  resulted  in  the  case  being 
carried  into  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
where  the  bill  of  complaint  was  dismissed. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Seymour, 
while  the  Civil  War  was  in  progress,  Mr.  Beach  was 
retained  to  defend  Col.  North  and  others,  who  were 
charged  with  tampering  with  the  votes  of  soldiers. 


This  case  was  carried  into  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  where,  during  that  time  of  high  politi- 
cal excitement,  it  occasioned  widespread  interest.  Mr. 
Beach  not  only  succeeded  in  procuring  the  accjuittal 
of  his  clients,  but  also  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
proceedings  which  ended  in  the  discontinuance  of  the 
sy.stem  of  substituting  military  inquisitions  for 
authorized  civil  courts.  His  argument  was  listened 
to  by  Senators  and  Representatives  and  his  skillful 
conduct  of  the  case  made  him  the  recipient  of  many 
enthusiastic  manifestations  of  approbation. 

In  1868  he  obtained  the  acquittal  before  the  courts 
of  impeachment  of  canal  commissioner  Robert  C. 
Dorn. 

During  his  residence  in  Troy  he  was  frequently 
tendered  the  nomination  to  a  judgeship,  but  declined 
the  honor.  The  title  of  judge,  however,  was  com- 
monly prefixed  to  his  name. 

In  1871  he  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  com- 
manded at  once  a  large  practice,  and  was  pitted  in 
the  legal  arena  against  the  foremost  lawyers  of  the 
city.  He  took  the  place  of  Charles  A.  Rapallo,  now 
a  justice  of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals,  in  the 
firm  of  Rapallo,  Daly  &  Brown.  Afterwards  on  the 
withdrawal  of  Mr.  Daly,  the  firm  became  Beach  & 
Brown.  Their  office  was  in  the  Herald  building.  Mr. 
Beach  became  engaged  in  a  number  of  noteworthy 
cases.  In  the  action  brought  by  the  Erie  Railway 
Company  against  Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt,  popularly 
known  as  the  five  million  dollar  suit,  Messrs.  Beach 
and  Rapallo  were  retained  by  Mr.  Vanderbilt, .  and 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  verdict  in  his  favor.  In  the 
celebrated  suit  of  Bowen  vs.  Chase,  which  involved 
the  title  to  the  valuable  real  estate  left  by  Madame 
Jumel,  Mr.  Beach  appeared  for  the  plaintiff' and  was 
opposed  by  Charles  O'Connor.  The  trial  lasted  for 
over  a  month,  and  resulted  in  the  disagreement  of 
the  jury. 

In  the  prosecution  of  Edward  S.  Stokes  for  the  mur- 
der of  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  he  assisted  the  district  attor- 
ney, with  the  result  that  Stokes  was  convicted  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree.  In  a  re-hearing  of  the 
case  Mr.  Beach  did  not  appear  and  the  decision  was 
reversed.  When  Frank  Walworth  was  tried  for  kill- 
ing his  father  Mr.  Beach  and  Charles  O'Connor  de- 
fended him,  and  Mr.  Beach  refused  any  remuneration 
for  his  services. 

Perhaps  the  most  widely  known  of  his  cases  was 
the  suit  brought  by  Theodore  Tilton  against  Henry 
Ward  Beecher.  He  was  senior  counsel  for  Mr.  Tilton 
and  was  assisted  by  "Wm.  Fullerton,  General  Roger  A. 
Pryor,  Samuel  D.  Morris  and  Thomas  E.  Pearsall. 
For  Mr.  Beecher  appeared  William  M.  Evarts,  John 
K.  Porter,  Austin  Abbott,  Benjamin  F.  Tracy,  Thomas 
G.  Shearman,  John  L.  Hill  and  John  W.  Sterling. 
In  summing  up  the  evidence  for  Mr.  Tilton,  Mr, 
Beach  occupied  the  sessions  of  the  court  from  June 
10th  to  June  23d,  187o.  The  result  of  this  trial,  as  is 
well  known,  was  the  disagreement  of  the  jury. 


560 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


After  this  time  his  activity  in  the  pursuit  of  his 
profession  began  to  decrease.  For  ten  or  fifteen  years 
previous  to  his  death  he  suffered  from  heart  disease, 
which  gradually  grew  worse,  and  in  the  first  half  of 
1884  his  condition  became  very  serious.  The  imme- 
diate cause  of  his  death  was  a  congestive  chill,  taken 
at  the  house  of  his  physician,  at  Tarrytown,  at  one 
o'clock  Saturday  afternoon,  June  28,  1884.  He  was 
removed  to  his  own  home  on  Broadway,  in  Tarry- 
town,  and  died  there  at  forty  minutes  past  three 
o'clock  the  same  afternoon. 

In  person  he  was  somewhat  above  the  medium 
height  and  well  proportioned.  He  had  a  massive 
head  and  regular  and  strongly  marked  features.  His 
white  hair,  which  only  partly  covered  his  head,  when 
brushed  back,  as  he  always  wore  it,  showed  a  broad, 
full  forehead.  He  wore  a  chin  beard  which,  in  his 
advanced  years,  was  white.  In  disposition  he  was 
genial. 

He  left  a  wife  and  six  children.  He  married  Jen- 
nie Wilson,  daughter  of  Jesse  Wilson,  of  Albany,  in 
1858.  His  children  were  Captain  Warren  Beach,  at 
present  a  member  of  General  Hancock's  staff;  Judge 
Miles  Beach,  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  New 
York  ;  John  Beach,  of  Knoxville,  Tenn.;  Anna,  wife 
of  Walter  S.  Ajjpleton,  of  the  firm  of  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.;  William,  aged  eleven  years  ;  and  George,  aged 
ten  years. 


J.  >tALrOLM  SMITH. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Smith  have  been  citizens  of 
Westchester  County  for  many  generations  i)ast.  His 
great  grandfather,  John  Smith,  was  a  tenant  and 
afterward  the  owner  of  one  of  the  farms  of  tiie  Manor 
of  Phillipsburg.  This  homestead,  situated  about 
two  miles  east  of  Sing  Sing,  he  left  by  will  to  his  son 
Caleb  Smith,  who  died  in  1832,  at  an  advanced  age. 
The  latter  married  Elizabeth  Sherwood,  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  a  large  family.  One  of  their  sons 
Isaac  C.  Smith,  was  born  in  1797,  and  married  Maria, 
daughter  of  (ieorge  Titlar,  who  came  when  a  child  to 
this  country  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  was  a  soldier 
during  the  Revolution,  and  one  of  the  company  who 
laid  the  great  chain  across  the  Hudson  River  at  West 
Point.  Mr.  Smith  died  in  1877,  leaving  three  chil- 
dren,— George  T.,  Cornelia  (wife  of  James  T.  Stratton, 
of  Oakland,  Cal.,  late  United  States  Surveyor-Gen- 
eral of  that  State),  and  J.  Malcolm  Smith,  who  was 
born  in  New  Y'^ork,  March  11,  1823,  while  his  parents 
were  residing  temporarily  in  that  city,  but  removed 
with  them  to  Sing  Sing  in  early  infancy.  His  father 
was  desirous  of  giving  him  a  collegiate  education, 
and  with  that  view  he  attended  the  preparatory 
school  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  subsequently 
entered  the  Wesleyan  University.  Here  he  con- 
tinued till  he  passed  the  sophomore  examination, 
when  he  was  compelled  to  leave  college  on  account 
of  ill  health,  and  was  principally  engaged  in  out- 
door pursuits  until  pa.st  the  age  of  thirty.  During 


this  time  he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
established  his  practice  at  Sing  Sing,  where  he  re- 
mained till  1868.  While  a  resident  Mr.  Smith  was 
elected  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  village,  and  was  also 
elected  justice  of  the  peace  for  three  successive  terms. 
He  was  for  a  number  of  years  one  of  the  loan  com- 
missioners for  Westchester  County,  and  for  five  years 
prior  to  1867  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  At 
the  general  election  in  1867  he  was  made  county 
clerk  of  Westchester  County  and  removed  to  White 
Plai  ns  in  1868.  Finding  the  records  and  business  of 
the  important  office,  to  which  he  had  been  chosen,  in 
great  confusion,  as  reported  by  a  committee  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  he,  upon  taking  possession  of 
the  ofiice,  at  once  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of 
bringing  order  out  of  comparative  chaos.  So  well 
did  he  perform  his  duties  that  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term  he  was  re-elected,  and  in  1873  was  chosen  for  a 
third  term  without  opposition,  his  election  being 
especially  favored  by  the  most  prominent  lawyers  of 
the  county  without  regard  to  party  ties.  Upon  his 
retirement  from  office  the  following  appeared  in  one 
of  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  county,  reflect- 
ing, in  substance,  notices  which  appeared  in  nearly 
all  the  county  papers: 

"J.  Slalcolm  Smith.  Esq.,  whose  third  term  of  office  as  County  Clerk 
of  this  County  expired  on  the  fli-st  of  the  present  month,  carries  with 
him,  in  retiring  from  his  official  labors,  the  respect,  good  opinion  and 
confidence  of  our  entire  community  ;  and  our  Board  of  Supervisors,  on  the 
eve  of  his  retiring  from  the  office  which  he  hits  so  long  and  soahly  titled, 
took  occasion  to  give  public  and  official  cei  tification  to  the  correct  and 
efficient  manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  the  various  and  important 
duties  of  the  office  during  the  past  nine  years,  in  the  unanimous  adop- 
tion of  the  Report  of  its  Standing  Committee  on  County  Clerk." 

The  rei)ort  of  the  Supervisors'  Committee  referred 
to  closes  as  follows  : 

"  Your  Committee  wotild  report  that  at  the  reque.st  of  J.  Malcolm 
Smith,  the  present  County  Clerk,  who.se  term  of  office  is  about  to  expire, 
they  have  made  a  thorough  investigation  ae  to  the  present  condition  of 
the  books,  papers  and  records  of  the  office,  and  find  the  minutes  of  all 
the  Courts  duly  recorded  ;  the  Registers  of  Actions  and  Special  Proceed- 
ings written  up  to  date  and  properly  inde.\ed  ;  the  Judgments  docketed 
in  the  most  plain  and  neat  manner;  the  Lis  Pendens,  Sherifl""8  Certifi- 
cates, Assignments,  &c.,  all  recorded  and  plainly  indexed  ;  and  every- 
thing relating  to  the  papers  and  records  of  the  olfice  showing  that 
regularity  and  order  i)revail  throughout,  and  that  no  unfinished  busi- 
ness will  be  left  to  he  performed  by  Mr.  Smith's  successor  in  office. 

'•Mr.  Smith  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  for  twenty  years  prior 
to  his  retirement  from  office  held  a  prominent  position  iu  the  councils  of 
his  party." 

Since  his  retirement  he  has  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  law  in  White  Plains,  devoting  himself 
more  especially  to  examination  of  titles  and  matters 
of  law  pertaining  to  real  estate.  He  has  been  for 
forty  years  connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  aud  is  well  known  as  an  active  and  influ- 
ential member,  largely  aiding  financially  and  by  judi- 
cious counsel  in  the  erection  of  churches,  both  in 
Sing  Sing  and  White  Plains.  He  has  been  an  ex- 
tensive traveler  in  various  portions  of  the  United 
States  and  few  men  in  this  county  have  a  wider  circle 
of  acquaintance.  He  married  Hannah,  daughter  oi 
James  McCord,  of  Sing  Sing.    They  have  one  child. 


I 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


561 


Ella,  wife  of  Charles  V.  Moore,  of  the  well-known 
insurance  firm  of  W.  M.  Onderdonk  &  Co.,  of  New 
York  City. 

A  few  words  should  be  added  concerning  his  father. 
Captain  Isaac  C.  Smith.  Durinp;  his  whole  life  Cap- 
tain Sniitli  was  identified  with  the  growth  and  busi- 
ness of  Sing  Sing.  He  was  the  builder  of  the  steam- 
boat "Mount  Pleasant"  in  18H5  and  the  "Tele- 
graph "  in  1836,  and  was  the  projector  of  the  morning 
steamboat  line  from  Sing  Sing  to  New  York.  He 
was  the  builder  of  more  than  one  hundred  ves.sels, 
from  a  small  sloop  to  a  ship  of  three  thousand  tons. 
During  his  life  he  bore  a  part  in  the  erection  of  five 
churches,  and  was  known  as  the  "  father  of  Sing 
Sing  Methodism,"  being  one  of  the  original  corpora- 
tors of  the  first  church  of  that  denomination  in  the 
village,  and  the  largest  contributor  towards  its  erec- 
tion. After  a  life  of  active  usefulness,  he  died  while 
on  a  visit  to  his  son  in  White  Plains,  having  reached 
his  eightieth  year. 


HON.  .lOHX  B.  HASKIN. 

Among  the  political  leaders  of  Westchester  County 
a  prominent  place  must  be  given  to  Hon.  John  B. 
Haskin,  who  is  descended  from  a  long  line  of  true 
American  ancestry.  His  grandfather,  Benjamin  F. 
Haskin,  was  a  native  of  Sheffield,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  was  born  in  17G7,  and  removed  when  a 
young  man  to  Poughkeepsie,  where  he  entered  a  store 
a.s  clerk,  and  became  partner.  He  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Gilbert  Cornwell,  who  lived  at  Nine  Part- 
ners, and  removing  to  New  York,  became  largely  con- 
nected with  shipping  interests,  and  the  owner  of 
several  vessels.  His  children  were  Henry  R.;  Benja- 
min F.,  a  sea-captain  who  settled  in  Peru,  where  his 
descendants  are  still  found ;  William  E.,  of  Daven- 
port, Iowa,  who  died  in  1884,  Harriet,  wife  of   

Collins;  Maria,  wife  of    Graham;   Jane,  wife 

of  Casper  Trumpy,  now  living  at  Greenwich,  Ct.;and 
Caroline,  wife  of  William  Brown,  of  Yonkers,  who 
died  in  ISS'). 

Henry  R.  Haskin,  the  oldest  son,  was  born  October 
27,  1794,  and  died  January  24,  1848.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  St.  Mary's  College,  Maryland  ;  was  a  mid- 
shi])man  in  the  War  of  1812;  was  with  Commodore 
Chauncey  at  the  battle  of  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  was 
wounded  there.  He  was  a  man  of  good  education 
and  ability,  and  established  business  in  a  store  on 
Varrick  Street,  New  York.  In  1816  he  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Bussing,  who  lived  near 
Williams'  Bridge,  and  was  a  descendant  of  Aaron 
Russing,  who  came  from  Holland,  and  settled  at  Har- 
lem. He  was  the  owner  of  a  fiirm  of  four  hundred 
acres  in  the  Manor  of  Fordham,  which  he  left  to  his 
two  sons,  Johannes  and  Petrus.  It  remained  in  the 
hands  of  their  descendants  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  and  a  portion  of  it  is  now  in  Bedford  Park. 
The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Henry  R.,  who 
died  in  California  ;  John  B. ;  and  William  E.,  now 


treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Excise  in  New  York.  Af- 
ter the  death  of  Mi-s.  Haskin,  Mr.  Haskin  was  mar- 
ried a  second  time,  to  Ann,  daughter  of  Benjamin  F. 
Lowe,  and  they  had  two  children — Harriet,  wife  of 
R.  Ridgly  Wheatly,  of  New  York,  and  Benjamin  F., 
a  member  of  the  Excise  Board  of  New  York,  who 
died,  greatly  lamented  by  his  many  friends,  March 
1,  1884. 

John  B.  Haskin,  the  second  son,  was  born  at  the 
Mansion  House,  in  Fordham,  August  27,  1821,  the 
place  of  his  birth  being  now  a. portion  of  Woodlawn 
Cemetery.  His  mother,  whose  name  he  never  fails  to 
mention  in  terms  of  the  utmost  respect  and  affection, 
was  a  woman  of  great  energy  and  determination, 
qualities  which  she  transmitted  to  her  son.  His  early 
education  was  received  at  the  j)ublic  school,  and  when 
fourteen  years  old  he  entered  the  law-office  of  George 
Wilson.  His  natural  quickness  and  ability  were  such 
that  in  four  years  he  was  sufficiently  expert  to  take 
charge  of  the  law-office  of  John  M.  Bixby.  From 
his  earliest  days  he  was  brought  in  constant  contact 
with  politics  and  politicians,  and  having  passed  the 
requisite  examination,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  May 
16,  1842,  his  certificate  being  signed  by  Hon.  Samuel 
Nelson,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Five  years 
later  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  civil  justice,  and 
held  court  at  the  corner  of  Bowery  and  Third  Street, 
and  continued  in  this  position  till  1849,  when  the 
office  was  abolished.  He  seemed  naturally  destined 
for  active  political  life,  and  his  influence  and  ability 
were  soon  felt  in  the  councils  of  his  party.  Fortu- 
nately for  himself  and  the  public,  he  was  not  a  man  to 
be  bound  by  party  trammels,  or  to  be  the  obsequious 
slave  of  i)arty  rule.  He  called  himself  a  "  National 
Conservative  Democrat,"  and  might  almost  be  said  to 
be  his  own  party.  In  1848  Mr.  Haskin  removed  from 
New  York  and  settled  at  Fordham,  near  the  scenes 
of  his  early  childhood.  The  Democracy  of  his  native 
county  had  to  some  extent  escaped  the  corrujjting  in- 
fluences which  had  made  the  party  in  New  York  a  dis- 
grace to  the  city  and  the  State.  Here  he  came  in  con- 
tact with  a  class  of  politicians  who  were  more  able  to 
appreciate  his  true  position  and  ready  to  join  their 
forces  with  his  own.  In  1850  he  was  elected  super- 
visor, and  was  re-elected,  and  one  of  his  many  acts  for 
public  benefit  was  his  successful  effort  to  erect  a  free 

1  bridge  over  Harlem  River. 

In  1853  he  was  appointed  corporation  attorney  and 
held  office  till  1856.  In  that  year  he  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  Congress  for  the  Ninth  District  on  the  regular 
Democratic  ticket.  It  was  soon  evident  tiiat  he  was 
not  the  man  to  sit  on  a  back  seat.  His  first  speech 
attracted  at  once  the  attention  of  the  House,  being 
made  in  opposition  to  the  attempt  of  Alexander  H. 
Stephens  to  disgrace  Admiral  Hiram  Paulding  for 
causing  the  arrest  of  the  noted  filibuster,  William  H. 
Walker.  This  sj)ee<'h  marked  Mr.  Haskin  as  one  of 
the  acconiplij^lu'd  orators  of  the  House.    In  the  fierce 

'  political  strife  which  followed  the  attempt  to  introduce 


562 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


slavery  into  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  he  took  at  once  j 
a  jDrominent  position,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  raise 
his  voice  against  the  Lecompton  fraud,  among  the  j 
most  active  of  the  adherents  of  Senator  Stephen  A. 
Douglass,  and  an  untiring  organizer  of  the  Democrats 
in  the  House  against  the  administration.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  a  man  who  ventured  to  kick  over  the 
traces  of  party  discipline  was  speedily  denounced  as 
a  traitor  to  his  party,  but  his  opposition  to  Buchanan 
has  been  more  than  justified  by  the  impartial  verdict 
of  history. 

In  1858  Mr.  Haskin  was  an  Independent  candidate 
for  Congress,  his  opponent  being  Gouverneur  Kemble, 
of  Cold  Spring.  This  was  probably  the  most  exciting 
political  contest  ever  witnessed  in  the  district,  and 
resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Haskin  by  a  majority 
of  thirteen  votes.  His  nature  showed  itself  when  he 
stated  from  his  seat  in  Congress,  "  I  came  here  with 
no  party  collar  on  my  neck."  His  independence  was 
too  plain  to  be  misunderstood,  and  an  attack  upon 
him  in  the  personal  organ  of  President  Buchanan 
was  answered  by  him  in  an  able  speech  on  the  floor 
of  the  House,  in  which  his  position  and  relation  to 
the  Democratic  party  were  fully  explained.  "  I  am  a 
Democrat, — a  Democrat  in  essence,  in  substance,  and 
not  in  mere  form  ;  Democracy,  according  to  my  read-  j 
ing,  is  the  rule  of  the  people  under  the  law."  In  the 
Thirty-sixth  Congress  he  was  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Public  Expenditures,  and  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Printing,  and  organized  the  re- 
search into  current  corruption  known  as  the  "Covodc 
Investigation."  Among  his  most  intimate  friends 
was  Senator  Broderick,  of  California,  who  had  been 
his  early  schoolmate,  and  the  friendship  then  begun 
continued  till  the  day  when  theSenator  fell,  the  victim 
of  a  duel  occasioned  by  political  animosity.  It  devolved 
upon  Mr.  Haskin  to  deliver  a  fitting  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  his  friend,  which  was  a  masterpiece  of 
pathetic  eloquence. 

His  last  speech  in  Congress  was  delivered  February 
23,1861.  It  was  a  characteristically  bold  and  clear 
review  of  the  agitation  which  led  to  the  great  crisis 
in  our  history  ;  expressed  his  belief  that  the  perilous 
condition  of  the  country  was  directly  traceable  to  the 
conduct  of  President  Buchanan,  and  contained  a 
scathing  denunciation  of  the  treasonable  acts  of  his 
Cabinet. 

During  the  course  of  the  war  a  weaker  man  in  his 
position  would  have  been  a  Copperhead,  but  in  Mr. 
Haskin  the  Union  found  a  strong  supporter.  In  1863 
he  was  elected  supervisor  of  West  Farms,  and  con- 
ducted with  success  the  measures  for  raising  troops 
and  a.ssisting  the  government  in  its  efforts  to  subdue 
rebellion.  Prominently  identified  with  all  local  im- 
provements, his  most  active  efforts  were  devoted  to 
the  establishment  of  the  public  school  in  his  district 
on  a  sure  foundation.  In  the  face  of  bitter  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  many  of  the  wealthy  men  in  the 
vicinity,  he  succeeded  in  procuring  the  erection  of 


the  present  school  building  at  Fordham,  at  a  cost  of 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  which  must  ever  remain  a 
monument  to  his  energy  and  public  spirit. 

Mr.  Haskin  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Peter  Val- 
entine, a  representative  of  one  of  the  oldest  families 
in  the  county.  Their  children  are  Elizabeth,  wife  of 
E.  V.  Welsh ;  Emma,  wife  of  Colonel  J.  Milton 
Wyatt ;  John  B.,  Jr.,  Adele  Douglass,  wife  of  Joseph 
Murray,  Jr.;  and  Mary. 

The  estate  of  Mr.  Haskin,  at  Fordham,  though 
now  a  part  of  the  great  city,  has  not  yet  lost  its  rural 
beauty.  Here,  surrounded  by  all  that  can  make  life 
enjoyable,  he  passes  his  days  in  the  society  of  his 
family  and  friends.  The  visitor  will  find  there  as  his 
host  one  who  is  thoroughly  versed  in  the  ways  of  the 
world;  and  whose  intimate  acquaintance  with  politics 
and  politicians  has  made  the  name  "  Tuscarora  Has- 
kin "  one  of  the  best  known  in  Westchester  County. 

As  a  politician  Mr.  Ha.skin  has  been  remarkably 
successful,  but  the  secret  of  his  success  and  influence 
may  be  stated  in  a  few  words.  Utterly  fearless  in 
the  expression  of  his  views,  his  friends  know  him  as 
one  upon  whom  they  can  depend,  while  his  enemies 
find  in  him  a  man  who  can  neither  be  frightened  nor 
cajoled.  A  weak  politician  of  an  inferior  grade  will 
truckle  to  his  adversaries  and  strive  to  conciliate  by 
unworthy  means.  Mr.  Haskin  is  the  type  of  a  poli- 
tician who  boldly  defies  his  opjjonents  and  challenges 
them  to  a  contest  which  they  generally  have  the  pru- 
dence to  avoid.  Among  the  notable  instances  of  his 
traits  may  be  mentioned  his  fearless  letter  to  the 
authorities  of  the  St.  John's  College,  of  Fordliain, 
representatives  of  a  power  to  which  weaker  politi- 
cians would  have  yielded  with  obsequious  reverence, 
while  his  bold  and  scathing  rebukes  of  many  of  the 
prominent  politicians  of  the  present  time  are  too  well 
known  to  require  mention,  and  his  firm  self-reliance 
has  shown  by  its  success  the  truth  of  the  saying, 
"They  can  concjuer  who  believe  they  can." 

MATHIAS  liANTA. 

Mr.  Banta,  who  is  among  the  best  known  jurists  of 
Westchester  County,  and  by  his  activity  in  the  es- 
pousal of  every  just  cause  has  brought  himself 
prominently  before  its  people,  both  in  i)olitical  and 
social  life,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  October 
3,  1828.  He  was  one  of  ten  children  and  the  only 
son  of  Solomon  Banta,  who  married  Maria  Roome,  of 
New  Jersey. 

While  quite  young  his  father  sent  him  to  Public 
School  No.  3,  in  the  Ninth  Ward,  New  York  City, 
from  which  he  graduated.  He  then  attended  the 
private  school  of  Mr.  Starr,  in  Amos  Street,  leaving  it 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  enter  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York. 

In  1848,  after  his  graduation  from  college,  he 
entered  the  law-oflice  of  David  E.  Wheeler  a-s  manag- 
ing clerk,  remaining  in  this  position  till  the  death  of 
his  employer,  in  186'J,  when  the  business  was  divided, 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


563 


the  real  estate  portion  of  it  falling  into  his  own 
haiuls. 

Mr.  Banta  has  since  continued  to  manage  the  busi- 
ness. By  his  faithful  attention  to  the  interests  of  his 
clients  and  his  sivill  in  the  inanageinent  of  the  aflaii-s 
which  thoy  liavc  placed  in  his  hands,  he  has  accumu- 
lated for  himself  an  extended  and  hicrative  practice, 
which  is  continually  increasing. 

In  1870,  after  a  long  residence  in  New  York,  he  re- 
moved to  Mamaroneclc,  where  he  resides  at  present. 
From  his  arrival  in  Westchester  County  he  has 
deeply  interested  himself  in  its  politics.  Being  a 
Democrat,  he  immediately  identified  himself  with  his 
party  in  IMamaroneck,  and  was  elected  in  1877  super- 
visor of  the  town,  an  ofiice  he  continues  to  hold.  Tiie 
liberal  course  pursued  by 
him  in  the  County  Board 
so  won  tiie  apj)roval  of  his 
jtarty  that  in  188')  lie  was 
made  their  nominee  for 
surrogate,  and  received  a 
large  majority  of  the  votes 
cast  at  the  election.  A  pre- 
viously rendered  decision, 
however,  to  the  effect  that 
no  vacancy  existed,  de- 
prived him  of  the  ofiice. 

In  1849  Mr.  Banta  mar- 
ried Miss  Eliza  Gedney. 
They  have  three  children, 
— Hannah  M.,  wife  of 
William  A.Turner;  Ever- 
etta,  wife  of  F.  S.  Sheldon  ; 
and  Eloise  J. 

He  is  an  attendant  of 
tlie  Methodist  Church,  of 
Maniaroneck,  and  is  high- 
ly respected  in  the  com- 
munity as  an  honorable 
and  useful  eitizen. 


HOX.  ERNEST  HALL. 

Hon.  Ernest  Hall,  prom- 
inent as  a  member  of  the 
bar,  and  a  judge  of  the  City  Court  of  New  York,  was 
born  in  London,  England,  October  24,  1844.  His 
father,  Henry  B.  Hall,  was  a  landscape  and  portrait 
engraver,  came  to  America  with  his  family  in  1850 
and  settled  at  Woodstock,  in  Morrisania.  He  after- 
wards removed  to  George  Street,  near  the  Boston 
road,  where  he  died  in  1884. 

Judge  Hall  attended  the  old  Public  School  No. 
3,  on  Fordham  Avenue  (now  Third  Avenue), 
near  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-ninth  Street,  from  1851 
to  1858,  when  he  graduated.  He  then  obtained  a 
position  in  the  well-known  publishing  house  of  the 
Putnams,  and  remained  until  186(1.  In  the  fall  of  that 
year  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Henry 
Spratley,  of  Morrisania.    He  continued  there  until 


1861,  when  he  entered  the  office  of  Carpentier  & 
Beach,  in  New  York,  and  remained  until  May,  18()4. 
In  1863  he  joined  the  Seventy-first  Regiment  New 
York  Militia  during  the  Gettysburg  campaign,  and 
returned  at  the  close  of  the  riots  in  New  York.  He 
resumed  his  law  studies  until  August  24,  1864,  when 
he  joined  the  navy  as  a  landsman,  and  w;uj  detailed  as 
clerk  on  hoard  the  receiving  ship  in  Brooklyn  Navy- 
Yard.  He  was  afterwards  on  the  United  States 
steamer  "  Mohican,"  commanded  by  Daniel  Annnen, 
now  rear  admiral  on  the  retired  list,  and  was  at- 
tached to  the  North  Atlantic  Squadron.  While  on 
this  vessel  he  was  clerk  to  the  executive  officer.  He 
was  engaged  in  both  battles  of  Fort  Fisher,  N.  C,  in 
December,    1864,    and    January,  1865,  spent  the 

winter  on  the  Ogeechee 
River,  in  Georgia,  and 
assisted  in  the  dismant- 
ling of  Fort  McAllister, 
which  had  previously 
been  captured  by  Sher- 
man's army.  He  came 
North  in  March,  and  re- 
ceived his  discharge  in 
Boston,  May  24,  1865. 
He  then  entered  the  law 
school  of  the  University 
of  the  City  of  New 
York  in  the  senior  class, 
graduated  June  17,  1866, 
and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  He  established  an 
office  for  the  practice  of 
law  in  Morrisania,  which 
he  continued  till  1877, 
when  he  removed  to  New 
York,  and  was  elected 
judge  of  the  City  Court 
November,  1881,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  still  holds. 

From  1869  to  1873  he 
was  a  member  of  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  town  of 
Morrisania.  In  the  latter 
year  he  was  appointed  counsel  to  the  corporation,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  until  the  time  of  the  annexa- 
tion to  the  city  of  New  York.  He  was  subsequently 
appointed  by  E.  Delafield  Smith,  then  corporation 
counsel  of  the  city  of  New  York,  to  attend  to  all  suits 
then  pending  affecting  the  annexed  district,  and  was 
continued  in  this  position  by  William  C.  Whitney, 
the  successor  of  Mr.  Smith.  He  was  also  counsel  of 
the  Board  of  Excise,  of  the  German  Savings  Bank 
and  of  the  Fire  Department  of  Morrisania.  He  is 
a  member  of  Post  Lafayette,  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic,  and  assisted  in  its  organization. 

Judge  Hall's  brothers,  as  well  as  himself,  were 
actively  engaged  in  the  late  war.  Henry  B.  Hall  was 
major  of  the  Sixth  New  York  Artillery,  fought  at  the 


564 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


battle  of  Bull  Run,  was  wounded  at  Brandy  Station 
in  1863,  and  was  discharged  from  service  upon  re- 
covering from  his  wound.  Charles  B.  Hall  was  a 
member  of  the  Seventy-first  Regiment  in  1861,  and 
afterward  joined  the  Ninety -fifth  Regiment  New  York 
Volunteers,  and  his  brother  Alfred  wasamember  of  the 
Seventy-first  Regiment  in  18()2-63.  Judge  Hall  has 
four  sisters — Annie,  wife  of  Edmund  H.  Knight  (she 
died  in  1858,  leaving  three  children);  Emily,  wife  of 
William  Moniberger  ;  Alice  and  Eliza,  both  unmar- 
ried. 

Judge  Hall  married  Charita,  daugliter  of  Cyprian 
Tallient.  Their  children  are  Charita,  Alma  and 
Edna. 

He  is  well  known  as  an  able  and  distinguished 
member  of  the  bar,  and  is  especially  noted  for  the 
clearness  and  perspicuity  with  which  he  delivers  his 
charges  to  the  jury.  Gifted  with  a  voice  of  remark- 
able power,  his  enunciation  aud  his  reasoning  arc 
alike  perfect.  Every  point  of  the  subject  is  laid  down 
in  so  careful  a  manner  as  to  render  it  perfectly  plain 
to  the  most  common  intellect,  and  with  an  impar- 
tiality which  leaves  no  ground  for  the  charge  of  in- 
tentional bias  on  either  side  of  the  case.  As  an  active 
and  energetic  politician,  he  is  one  concerning  whom 
it  is  safe  to  prophesy  still  higher  positions  in  the 
future. 

The  brothers  of  Judge  Hall  constitute  the  well- 
known  firm  of  H.  B.  Hall's  Sons,  steel  engravers,  and 
their  name  is  known  in  connection  with  the  finest 
specimens  of  that  art  to  be  found  in  this  country. 


HON.  SAMUEL  AVILLIAM  JOHNSOX. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  a  great-great-grandson  of  the  dis- 
tinguished American  clergyman.  Dr.  Samuel  John- 
son, who  was  born  in  Guilford,  Conn.,  October  14, 
1696,  and  died  at  Stratford,  in  the  same  State,  June  6, 
1772. 

His  son,  William  Samuel  Johnson,  was  first  presi- 
dent of  Columbia  College,  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion that  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  first  delegate  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  from  the  State  of  Connecticut.' 

A  grandson  of  William  Samuel  Johnson,  was  aNew 
York  lawyer  of  i)rominence  and  was  a  mend^er  of  the 
Senate  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  married  Miss  Lau- 
ra Wolsey,  sister  of  President  Wolsey,  of  Yale  College. 
Their  second  child  and  oldest  son,  Samuel  William,  was 
born  in  the  city  of  New  Y^'ork,  October  27,  1828. 
After  a  preparatory  course  in  private  schools  of  the 
city  he  entered  Princeton  College,  graduating  in  1849. 
He  then  entered  the  Law  School,  Cambridge,  Mass., 
and  after  a  full  course  graduated  in  1851.  He  after- 
ward entered  the  law-office  of  District  Attorney  N. 


I  For  a  full  description  of  hie  life,  see  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  ;  also 
"Life  of  Dr.  Samuel  .Johnson,"  by  E.  E.  Beardsley  (New  York,  1874). 


Bowditch  Blunt,  remaining  till  1852,  when  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar. 

Immediately  after  admission  Mr.  Johnson  removed 
to  Cattaraugus  County,  N.  Y^,  where  he  remained  for 
thirteen  years  in  charge  of  a  large  landed  interest. 
In  1865  he  retired  from  active  life,  removing  at  the 
same  time  to  Rye  Neck,  where  he  has  since  resided. 
He  has  been  active  in  the  politics  of  the  county  ever 
since  his  arrival  in  it.  He  early  connected  himself 
with  the  Democratic  party  in  the  home  of  his  choice 
and  has  held  several  important  political  positions. 

In  1871  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  John  T. 
Hoffman  commissioner-general  and  chief  of  ord- 
nance for  the  State  of  New  Y'ork.  He  has  been  nine 
times  elected  supervisor  of  the  town  of  Rye  and  was 
for  two  years  chairman  of  the  board.  For  three  years 
he  was  a  member  of  Assembly  from  the  Second  Dis- 
trict of  Westchester  County.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  he  is  the  fourth  member  of  the  family  in  the  di- 
rect line  who  has  represented  a  constituency  in  State 
Legislatures.  He  also  interested  himself  in  military 
affairs.  From  1853  to  1872  he  held  commissions 
from  the  State  of  New  Y''ork,  the  last  one  being  that 
of  brigadier-general. 

He  has  been  prominent  in  club  life  and  is  at  pres- 
ent a  member  of  the  Manhattan,  University  and  St. 
Nicholas  Clubs,  of  New  York  City.  He  is  also  a 
director  in  the  North  River  Fire  Insurance  Company 
and  a  trustee  of  the  Port  Chester  Savings  Banks. 

He  married  ]\Iiss  Frances  Ann  Sanderson,  of  New 
York,  who  died  at  her  home  in  Mamaroneck  in  1879. 
Their  only  living  child,  William  Samuel,  is  a  member 
of  the  bar  in  New  York  City,  and  resides  with  his 
father. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  a  highly  respected  and  useful  citi-  • 
zen  and  his  liberal  spirit  and  cordial  disposition  has 
made  him  many  warm  and  lasting  friendships. 


HON.  G.  HILTON  SCRIBNER. 

The  ancestors  of  the  family  of  which  Mr.  Scribner 
is  an  honored  representative  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  and  the  name  is  fre- 
quently found  in  the  annals  of  that  town.  That  of 
Samuel  Scribner  occurs  in  1754,  and  during  the 
following  year  he,  in  company  with  one  of  his 
neighbors,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians  and 
carried  to  Canada,  where  he  was  sold  as  a  captive,  but 
was  subsequently  ransomed  by  the  colonial  govern- 
ment. In  1756  he  joined  the  regiment  of  Colonel 
Nathan  Meserve,  which  was  raised  for  the  Crown 
Point  expedition,  and  served  from  May  to  December 
of  that  year.  In  1757  he  was  a  soldier  in  the  regi- 
ment of  Colonel  Thomas  Tash,  and  in  the  following 
year  appears  as  one  of  the  regiment  raised  by  Colonel 
John  Hart.  The  Revolution  found  in  him  a  man 
ready  for  the  hour,  and,  though  exempt  by  age,  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  enlist  in  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  John  Stark,  which  took  an  active 


N 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


565 


part  in  tlie  battle  of  Bimkor  Hill.  Among  the  list 
of  soldiers  in  the  town  of  Salisbury,  May  27,  177t),  are 
tbfi  names  i>f  Edward,  Ebene/er,  Benjamin  and  Jon- 
atiian  Seribner. 

David  Seribner,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  p;rands()n  of 
yanuiel,  was  born  May  12,  17G7,  and  was  tbc  father  of 
thirteen  eliildren, — David,  Hannah,  Sarah,  Eben. 
Sewall  15.,  Silas,  Ruth,  Jaeob  D.,  Jonathan,  Albert  G., 
Hannah  D.,  Alfred  and  Almira  H. 

Sewall  B.  Seribner  was  born  March  12,  1793,  and 
removed  from  his  native  place  (Andover,  N.  H.)  to 
Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  in  ISlli.  At  that  time  the 
present  eity  of  Kochester  was  a  mere  hamlet,  and  Mr 
Seribner  was  among  the  pioneers  in  what  is  now  one 
of  the  most  prosperous  portions  of  the  State. 

In  1821  he  married  Clarissa  De  Wayne  Hilton> 
(laughter  of  David  Hilton,  who  was  descended  from 
a  noted  line  of  English  ancestry,  whose  family  records 
are  unbroken  from  June  23,  1295,  to  the  present  time. 
The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Gilbert  Hilton 
Seribner,  Alsada,  Arveda  (wife  of  William  E.  Stick- 
land,  of  Rochester),  Albert  S.  (who  died  in  18r)2), 
Mary  (wife  of  Van  Buren  Denslow),  Celesta  (de- 
ceased) and  Celia  M. 

Gilbert  Hilton  Seribner  was  born  in  Ogden,  Mon- 
roe County,  N.  Y.,  June  23,  1831,  and  his  early  edu- 
cation was  received  iu  the  common  schools  of  his  na- 
tive place,  which  offered  exceptional  advantages.  He 
subsequently  became  a  student  at  the  Genesee  Wes- 
leyan  Seminary,  at  Lima,  N.  Y.,  and,  after  remaining 
there  two  years,  entered  college  at  Oberlin,  where  he 
received  the  highest  honors  for  his  thoroughness  and 
originality.  At  the  close  of  his  collegiate  course,  in 
1853,  he  went  to  New  York  and  began  life  in  the 
great  city  without  friends  or  accjuaintance,  and 
with  little  to  encourage  him,  but  an  amount  of 
determination  and  energy  with  which  he  could 
not  fail  to  work  his  way.  Commencing  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Daniel  B.  Taylor 
who  enjoyed  a  large  practice  and  was  the  possessor  ot 
one  of  the  largest  law  libraries  in  the  city,  the  young 
student,  by  indefatigable  labor,  soon  made  himself 
useful  in  his  chosen  [irofession,  and,  iu  1855,  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  and  soon  after  called  to  i)ractice  in 
the  United  States  Courts  as  proctor,  solicitor  and  ad- 
vocate. Rising  rapidly  in  his  profession,  his  prudence 
and  ability  soon  gained  him  a  large  and  lucrative 
practice,  and  he  was  frecpiently  retained  as  counsel 
for  many  monied  corporations  and  large  estates.  In 
1862  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  North  Amer- 
ica Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  of  which 
he  became  a  director  and  counsel,  and,  after  long  and 
arduous  labor  in  collating  and  analyzing  facts  and 
statistics  in  relation  to  travel  and  accidents,  framed  a 
bill,  which  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  allowing 
that  company  to  insure  against  accidents  to  travelers. 
This  was  the  first  authority  granted  iu  this  country 
for  accident  insurance. 
Mr.  Seribner  came  to  Yonkers  in  1858,  and  since 


that  time  his  life  and  career  have  been  identified  with 
the  history  of  Westchester  County.  Upon  coming  to 
Yonkers  he  built  a  house  on  Woodworth  Avenue, 
near  Locust  Street,  there  being  at  that  time  very 
(ew  dwellings  in  that  vicinity.  His  iiome  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  beautiful  locust  grove.  He  subsecjuently 
moved  to  a  residence  at  "  Hillside,"  near  the  corner  of 
liroadway  and  High  Street.  His  present  residence, 
••  Inglehurst,"  was  purchased  in  the  spring  of  1880,  and 
from  its  elevated  position  commands  one  of  the  finest 
views  of  the  Hudson  River.  It  is  also  a  landmark, 
being  situated  at  the  extreme  north  bounds  of  the 
•  Lemuel  Wells  estate,"  which  embraced  the  greater 
l)art  of  the  thickly-settled  portion  of  the  city  of 
Yonkers. 

The  first  official  position  held  by  Mr.  Seribner  was 
that  of  village  trustee,  in  1863.  At  that  time,  with  a 
few  others,  he  organized  a  very  thorough  temperance 
relorm.  Born  of  Whig  j>arentage,  he  early  attached 
himself  to  that  party,  and  remained  a  member  while 
it  had  an  existence.  He  attended  the  convention 
which  nominated  Fremont,  iu  1856,  and  since  that 
time  has  been  an  able  and  earnest  supporter  of  the 
Republican  i)arty.  In  1863  he  was  made  chairman  of 
the  Coutity  Committee.  It  was  due  to  his  ownership 
and  efforts  that  the  Statesinnn,  the  leadingRepublican 
paper  in  the  county,  was  established.  In  addition  to 
his  extensive  law  practice,  he  was  for  a  time  the  pres- 
ident of  the  Palisades  Bank  of  Yonkers,  and  also  a 
director  of  several  large  corporations. 

In  1868  he  retired  from  the  practice  of  law  and  with 
bis  family  made  a  long  tour  iu  Europe.  He  made  a 
second  trip  in  1870,  was  present  at  the  declaration  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and  enjoyed  special  oppor- 
tunities of  visiting  the  armies  of  the  contending 
powers. 

Previous  to  his  departure  for  Europe  he  had  re- 
ceived and  declined  a  nomination  for  State  Senator, 
but  upon  his  return,  in  the  fall  of  1870,  was  elected 
member  of  the  Assembly  by  a  very  large  majority, 
and  was  the  first  member  other  than  a  Democrat  who 
had  been  elected  from  the  district  for  over  thirty 
years.  The  weight  of  his  ability  and  influence  was 
soon  felt  and  he  soon  became  a  leader  in  the  Legis- 
lature and  in  his  party,  devoting  much  of  his  time 
and  etlbrt  to  opposing  the  measures  of  the  "Tweed 
Ring,"  then  in  the  height  of  its  power,  but  destined 
to  a  sudden  and  disiistrous  fall.  In  March,  1871,  he 
wiis  instrumental  in  organizing  the  Young  Men's 
State  Republican  Association,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  unite  discordant  elements  and  end  the  strifes  which 
had  impaired  the  usefulness  of  the  party.  This  or- 
ganization very  naturally  chose  Mr.  Seribner  for  its 
president,  and  having  shown  himself  a  competent  and 
faithful  leader,  he  was  nominated  by  acclamation  at 
the  State  Convention  in  Syracuse,  in  1871,  for  Secre- 
tary of  State,  a  nomination  which  was  signally  con- 
firmed at  the  succeeding  election  by  a  majority  of  over 
twenty  thousand.    Soon  after  the  close  of  the  Legis- 


566 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lature  of  1871  the  representatives  of  the  insurance, 
banking  and  other  corporate  interests  of  the  State 
united  in  a  complimentary  tribute  to  Mr.  Scribner 
for  his  intelligent,  able  and  successful  opposition  to  un- 
just legislation  while  a  member  of  Assembly.  The 
ceremony  of  the  presentation  of  a  service  of  silver 
plate  took  place  in  the  chambers  of  the  Board  of  Un- 
derwriters in  New  York,  and  an  address  engrossed  on 
parchment,  signed  by  and  presented  on  behalf  of  the 
presidents  of  more  than  fifty  of  the  monied  institu- 
tions of  New  York,  was  not  only  a  compliment  to 
Mr.  Scribner's  character,  but  a  certification  that  he 
had  performed  his  public  services  in  an  acceptable 
manner. 

Notwithstanding  the  engrossing  cares  of  an  active 
political  and  business  life,  he  has  never  permitted  his 
tastes  for  literature  and  art  to  become  dull  or  enfee- 
bled. Often  organizingaud  always  connected  with  one 
or  more  literary  circles,  he  has  not  suffered  his  love  of 
learning  to  be  stifled  by  the  cares  and  responsibilities 
of  his  profession  or  the  routine  of  daily  labor.  To 
him  is  due  the  credit  of  establishing  the  Bancroft 
Society  of  New  Y^ork,  and  also  "  The  Society  o) 
Pundits,"  a  literary  circle,  which  for  many  years  con- 
tinued its  meetings,  and  embraced  in  its  membership 
some  of  the  brightest  men  and  women  of  the  city 
which  he  had  made  his  home.  He  was  also  for  many 
years  a  trustee  of  the  Bible  Union  and  also  of  the 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary. 

The  profound  problem  of  the  origin  of  life  upon 
our  planet  has  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  greatest 
minds  in  the  world  of  science,  but  still  remains  a 
question  to  which  there  seems  no  reply.  Next  to  this 
comes  the  inquiry  as  to  the  place  of  its  first  manifes- 
tation, the  determination  of  which  would  appear 
equally  hopeless.  Devoting  his  leisure  time  and 
thought  to  this  and  kindred  subjects,  Mr.  Scribner  has 
embodied  his  theories  and  the  results  of  his  investiga- 
tions in  a  monograph  entitled  "  Where  did  Life 
Begin?"  This  work,  which  appeared  in  November, 
1883,  immediately  attracted  the  attention  of  the  inves- 
tigating and  scientific  public.  It  is  a  carefully  pre- 
pared and  forcibly  written  treatise,  having  for  its 
object  the  establishment  of  the  theory  that  all  life, 
both  vegetable  and  animal,  must  have  had  its  origin 
within  the  polar  circles,  and  further,  that  by  the  cool- 
ing of  the  earth's  substance,  and  the  consequent 
lowering  of  surface  temperature  at  the  poles,  all 
organic  life  has  been  gradually  driven  to  the  temperate 
and  to  the  equatorial  regions.  To  express  an  opinion 
as  to  the  truth  or  fallacy  of  this  theory  would  in  this 
place  be  presumptuous,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
the  hypothesis  has  not  only  been  well  received  by 
the  press  and  scholars,  but  has  been  the  means  of 
turning  the  attention  of  men  of  science  to  a  closer 
consideration  of  the  subject,  and  the  discoveries  that 
may  follow  may  far  exceed  the  most  sanguine  expec- 
tations of  its  author. 

Upon  his  retirement  from  political  life  Mr.  Scribner 


accepted  the  ofiice  of  vice-president  of  the  Belt  Rail- 
road (so-called)  of  New  York,  and  retained  that 
position  until  1880,  when  he  was  chosen  pi-esidcnt, 
a  position  which  he  still  holds.  He  is  also  connected 
with  many  associations  of  asocial  and  charitable  nature, 
being  a  member  of  the  Union  League  Club,  president 
of  the  Skin  and  Cancer  Hospital  of  New  York,  an 
institution  which  has  done  much  to  relieve  human 
suffering;  a  member  of  both  the  British  and  the 
American  Associations  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, and  trustee  of  St.  John's  Hospital  in  Yonkers. 

He  married  Sarah  Woodbury,  daughter  of  Hon. 
James  Osgood  Pettengill  of  Rochester,  who,  as  a  leg- 
islator, and  as  an  officer  and  patron  of  the  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary  and  other  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, is  well  known  in  Western  New  York.  His  father. 
Captain  James  Pettengill,  came  from  Salisbury, 
N.  H.,  and  settled  at  Ogden,  Monroe  ^County,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century.  The  ancestors  of 
the  various  families  of  this  name  were  four  brothers, 
Matthew,  David,  Andrew  and  Benjamin,  who  came 
from  Yorkshire,  England,  in  1640,  and  settled  in 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  whence  they  removed  to  Salis- 
bury. The  mother  of  Mrs.  Scribner  was  Emeline, 
daughter  of  Manlius  G.  Woodbury,  who  was  an  early 
settler  and  was  made  alderman  in  the  first  charter 
election  in  the  city  of  Rochester. 

Mr.  Scribner  has  six  surviving  children, — Gilbert 
Hilton,  Jr.,  Howard,  Florence,  Marion,  Marguerite 
and  Osgood  Pettengill. 


CHAUNCEY  SMITH. 

Phillip  Smith  was  born  in  Connecticut,  March  15, 
1774,  and  married  Sally  Smith  November  23,  1799. 
She  was  a  granddaughter  of  Benjamin  Stebbins,  who 
came  from  England  and  settled  in  Deerfield,  Mass., 
and  was  probably  the  ancestor  of  the  families  of  that 
name  in  this  country.  Phillip  and  Sally  Smith  lo- 
cated shortly  after  their  marriage  at  Bedford,  West- 
chester County,  N.  Y.,  and  were  members  of  the  old 
Episcopal  Church  of  that  place.  They  were  parents 
of  eight  children,  of  whom  Cliauncey  Smith  was  the 
sixth  and  was  born  November  10,  1810. 

Bedford  was  then  the  county-seat  and  a  place  of  no 
small  importance;  in  fact,  the  principal  village  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Smith  at  an  early  age  entered  the  High 
School  and  academy  at  Bedford,  which  was  an  insti- 
tution of  note,  second  to  none  in  the  State,  and  in- 
cluded among  its  pupils  Hon.  William  H.  Robertson, 
Hon.  James  W.  Husted  and  many  others  of  distinc- 
tion. A  short  time  after  graduating  he  studied  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  January  7,  1851. 

He  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  John  P.  Horton, 
of  New  Castle,  Westchester  County,  whose  wife  was 
Elizabeth  Fowler,  both  descended  from  old  West- 
chester County  families. 

Elizabeth  was  a  first  cousin  of  Isaac  Van  Wart,  who 
was  one  of  the  captors  of  Major  Andre.  Mr.  Smith 
moved  to  White  Plains  and  was  appointed  deputy 


THE  BENCH  AND  BAR. 


567 


county  clerk  in  1847,  and  appointed  county  clerk  the 
same  year,  to  fill  a  vacancy. 

In  January,  1847  or  1848, he  was  appointed  agent  of 
Sing  Sing  State  Prison,  and  after  leaving  Sing  Sing 
practiced  law  in  White  Plains  for  several  years. 

He  removed  to  Morrisania  shortly  after  the  settle- 
ment of  the  new  village,  about  tliirty  years  ago,  and 
opened  a  law-ofticc  where  he  continued  successfully 
the  practice  of  his  profession  up  to  the  winter  of  1877, 
when  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  business  on  account 
of  a  paralytic  stroke.  He  was  an  old-school  type  of  a 
Christian  gentleman,  highly  resi)ected  in  all  the  walks 
of  life,  and  active  in  the  true  interests  of  the  society 
and  community  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  inti- 
mately acquainted  with,  and  highly  respected  by.  the 
men  who  were  first  con- 
nected with  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  Mor- 
risania, such  as  Nicholas 
McGraw,  Jordan  L.  Mott) 
Gouverneur,  Henry  and 
William  H.  Morris,  Rob- 
ert H.  Elton,  Hon.  Silas  D. 
Giftbrd  and  many  others 
and  was  well  known 
throughout  the  county. 
He  was  naturally  of  a 
retiring  disposition,  and 
altliough  often  urged  to 
accept  i)ul)lic  otHce,  he 
refused.  He  continued 
an  invalid  from  1S77  lo 
his  death,  which  occurred 
December  25, 1883,  at  the 
homestead  in  which  he 
had  resided  for  more  than 
twenty-five  years.  He  left 
two  daughters  and  one 
son,  W.  Stcbbins  Smith, 
who  is  a  member  of  the 
bar,  in  active  prac- 
tice, particularly 

in  the  counties  of    V  ^^Z'-^^C-'Z^'T^  <?-€^^, 

New  York  and 

Westchester.  Mr.  Smith  studied  law  in  the  office 
of  his  father  and  attended  the  Columbia  College 
Law  School,  from  which  institution  he  received  his 
diploma,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  June  12,  1871. 


KDWAKD  TRAFFORD  LOVATT. 

Mr.  Lovatt  was  born  May  22, 1850,  at  Newark,  N.  J. 
His  father  was  .John  Lovatt  and  his  mother  Mary 
Ann  Lovatt.  He  was  the  eldest  of  six  children. 
Educated  both  in  the  ordinary  English  branches  and 
in  the  classics  in  the  public  schools  of  that  city,  he 
graduated  with  high  honors  at  the  Public  High  School 
when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old,  receiving  his 
diploma  on  July  21,  186').  He  then  went  to  the  city 
of  New  York  and  began  life  as  an  errand  bov  in  a 


wholesale  fancy  goods  house,  but  his  parents  having 
removed,  on  May  23,  186(5,  to  the  village  of  North 
Tarrytown,  in  Westchester  County,  he  entered  his 
father's  silk  mills,  in  that  village,  to  learn  silk  manu- 
facture, and  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  that 
industry. 

On  May  22,  1871,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Theodosia 
Tompkins,  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  most  respected 
families  of  Westchester  County,  she  being  a  grand- 
niece  of  the  Hon.  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  formerly 
Governor  of  New  York  and  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States. 

P"or  several  years  after  marriage  Mr.  Lovatt  re- 
mained at  his  trade,  but  it  being  distasteful  to  him  he 
determined  to  become  a  lawyer,  which  had  always 

been  his  great  ambition. 
In  order  to  do  this,  not 
having  the  means  to  at- 
tend college,  he  laid  out 
the  same  course  of  reading 
as  he  would  have  been  re- 
quired to  take  if  attending 
law  school,  and  whilebusy 
in  the  mills  during  the 
day,  pursued  his  studies  at 
night  and  early  in  the 
morning,  thus  mastering 
the  many  thousands  of 
pages  of  legal  text  works 
necessary  to  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  i)rin- 
ciples  of  law.  Entering  a 
law-ofBce  in  Tarrytown, 
he  completed  the  three 
years'  clerkship  then  ne- 
cessarj'  for  a  student's  ad- 
mission to  practice.  On 
February  14,  1878,  he 
passed  the  prescribed  ex- 
amination, was  sworn  in 
as  an  attorney-at- 

  law,  and  in  May, 

1878,  was  admitted 
as  a  Counsellor  of 
the  Supreme  Court.    His  energy,  perseverance  and 
knowledge  of  the  law  soon  gave  him  a  leading  place 
in  his  profession  at  the  Westchester  County  bar. 

He  has  been  engaged  in  numerous  cases  of  import- 
ance, both  in  the  criminal  and  civil  courts,  many  of 
which  have  been  reported.  He  has  been  remarkably 
successful  as  an  advocate.  Among  the  many  cases  in 
the  criminal  courts  in  which  he  was  counsel  for  the 
defense,  some  of  the  more  prominent  murder  trials 
were  those  of  William  Newman,  Fitzgerald,  Brown- 
lee,  Coleman  and  Angelo  Cornetti,  the  last-named 
being  the  first  tried  in  this  State  under  the  amend- 
ments to  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure,  by  which 
all  capital  cases  can  be  appealed  and  execution  of 
sentence  thereby  stayed  until  the  appeal  can  be  heard. 


568 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


He  has  also  tried  a  great  number  of  civil  causes 
and  has  met  with  unusual  success.  He  was  one  of 
the  counsel  in  the  famous  "  Anderson  Will  Case,"  in 
which  a  large  sum  of  money  was  recovered  for  his 
clients, — two  little  girls,  aged  ten  and  twelve  years, 
grandchildren  of  John  Anderson. 

He  has  built  up  an  extensive  and  lucrative  prac- 
tice, has  acquired  property,  and  his  pleasant  and 
modest  house  on  Beekman  Avenue,  North  Tarrytown, 
is  provided  with  all  the  surroundings  and  appoint- 
ments necessary  to  make  it,  what  it  certainly  is,  a 
happy  home. 

No  person  in  his  neigh- 
borhood takes  a  deeper 
interest  in  educational 
matters.  Being  a  firm 
believer  in  the  public- 
school  system  of  the  State, 
he  is  one  of  its  most  active 
supporters  and  is  now 
president  of  the  Board  of 
Education  of  the  village. 

Mr.  Lovatt  has  always 
been  an  ardent  Republ 
can,  and  upon  the  princi- 
ple that  all  good  citizens 
should  participate  in  the 
politics  of  the  State  and 
country,  he  has  taken  a 
very  active  part,  having 
been  a  delegate  to  most 
of  the  conventions  held 
by  his  party. 

In    March,   1883,  al- 
though running  against  a 
highly  respected  citizen 
of  his  village,  he 
was  elected  pres- 
ident, having  re- 
ceived four-fifths 
of    the  ballots 
cast. 

In  November 
of  the  same  year, 
in  the  Republi- 
can County  Con- 
vention, he  was  unanimously  nominated  for  district 
attorney  of  Westchester  County. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Republican  County  Com- 
mittee and  enjoys  the  friendship  and  confidence  of 
the  other  leaders  of  the  party.  He  is  of  a  genial  and 
social  disposition  and  has  a  large  circle  of  warm 
friends.  He  is  a  member  and  trustee  of  St.  Paul's 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  North  Tarrytown. 

He  is  an  effective  public  speaker,  easy  in  his  man- 
nei's,  ready  and  fluent  in  speech,  possessing  a  large 
fund  of  mother  wit.  His  studious  habits,  quick  per- 
ception, faculty  of  illustration,  clear  judgment  and 
logical  conclusions  carry  conviction  with  them. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 

BY  GEOKGE  JACKSON  FISHER,  M.D., 
Of  Sing  Sing. 

Excepting  to  gentlemen  of  the  medical  profession, 
]  there  is  nothing  particularly  interesting  in  the  life  of 
i  a  physician  or  the  transactions  of  a  medical  society. 
I  Each  family,  though  familiar  with  its  own  medical 
'  adviser,  seldom  looks  beyond  its  favorite  to  learn  the 

traits  of  character,  the 
extent  of  acquirements  or 
the  skill  of  others.  The 
technical  studies,  and 
subtle  researches  of  physi- 
cians, who  strive  to  keep 
abreast  with  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  medical 
sciences,  possess  no  inter- 
est or  charm  to  the  gen- 
eral public.  It  is  only 
concerned  with  powers 
and  results,  and  these  only 
when  disease  interferes 
with  the  performance  of 
the  daily  routine  of  busi- 
ness and  pleasure,  or 
when  danger  threatens 
life.  So  it  becomes  a 
difficult,  perhaps  a  need- 
less, and  almost  certainly 
a  thankless  task  to  at- 
tempt to  write  the  sketch 
proposed. 

On  the  1st  day  of  June, 
1858,  the  writer 
of  this  chapter 
read  the  annual 
address,  as  presi- 
dent, before  the 
Medical  Society 
of  the  County 
of  Westchester, 
taking  for  his 
theme  "  Biogra- 
phical Sketches  of  the  Deceased  Physicians  of  West- 
chester County,  N.  Y.,"  which  address  was  subse- 
quently published  in  pamphlet  form,  "  by  order  of  the 
Society."    (New  York,  1861,  8vo.,  pp.  52.) 

He  must  now  go  back  seven  and  twenty  years,  and 
make  extracts  from  that  "  plain,  unvarnished  tale  of 
character,  merits,  traits  and  experience  of  those  med- 
ical men  who  have  previously  been  the  incumbents  of 
the  field  we  now  occupy,"  to  which  will  be  added 
brief  sketches  of  several  honored  members  of  our  be- 
loved profession  who  have  since  been  called  from 
their  labor — some  at  the  full  end  of  man's  allotted 
time,  and  others  abruptly,  in  the  prime  of  man- 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSIOxN. 


569 


hood's  vigor,  and  in  the  midst  of  their  greatest  use- 
fulness.' 

Over  twenty  years  ago,  Dr.  James  Fountain  gave 
the  writer  a  little  document  that  was  previously 
supposed  to  be  irrecoverably  lost,  which  contains  the 
original  records  of  the  first  five  meetings  of  the  Med- 
ical Society  of  Westchester  County.  This  book  was 
restored  to  the  society,  by  which  it  is  now  preserved. 
It  begins  thus, — 

"  At  a  respectable  Jleetiug  of  Physicians  of  the  County  of  Westchester 
on  the  8th  Day  of  5Iay,  1797— at  the  House  of  William  Barker  in  the 
White  Plains — Present — 


'  Archibald  McDonald. 
Charles  McDonald. 
John  IngersoU. 
Elisha  Bniister. 


Lyman  Cook. 
David  Rodgers. 
Matsou  Smith. 
Elias  Cornelius. 


"  That  a  due  improvement  and  proper  regulations  may  be  maid  in  the 
Practice  of  Physic  within  the  County  of  Westchester  and  for  the  Purpose 
of  a  necesaar>"  and  immediate  compliance  with  the  Law  of  the  Legislature 
passed  the  last  Session.  The  Physicians  aflforesaid  formed  themselves 
into  a  Society  to  be  known  and  called  hereafter  by  the  name  and  style  of 
the  Medical  Sociely  uf  Ihe  County  of  Westchester.  Upon  Motion  Doct'.  A. 
McDonald,  of  the  white  plains,  was  Elected  president  of  the  Society  Pro 
tempore,  and  upon  said  motion  Doctr.  JIatsou  Smith,  of  New  Rochelle, 
was  Elected  Secretary  thereof. 

"  The  Society,  Pleased  with  the  present  progress  and  deslreous  that  the 
Boanl  shall  hereafter  exist  upon  the  most  fair  and  respectable  terms:  and 
that  the  Physicians  of  the  County  shall  indiscriminately  receive  an  invi- 
tation to  unite  with  the  present  members  and  to  encourage  this  Laud- 
able dissign."    (Here  ends  the  firet  page.) 

"  Jtesolred  upon  motion  that  the  following  resolution  be  inserted  in  the 
Ditnbnnj  Journal  and  Mount  Pleasant  liegisler: 

"  Kesolred  upon  motion  the  Physicians  of  Westchester  County  be  in- 
discriminately informed  that  it  is  the  intention  and  hearty  wish  of  the 
Members  of  the  Society  that  there  may  be  a  iverfect  union  of  the  Profes 
sion  of  Physic  within  the  County  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the 
Practice  upon  a  liberal  and  satisfactory  Plan,  that  there  may  be  a  due 
observance  of  the  law  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State :  And  that  an  oppertunity  may  be  given  for  such  an  union,  the  So- 
ciety have  proposed  a  meeting  on  the  l:!th  Day  of  June  ne.xt,  at  House  of 
Miy'.  Jesse  Hally,  in  Bedford,  and  hope  this  mode  will  be  considered  un- 
eiiuiviciilly  an  invitation.  Should  any  gentleman  neglect  the  present 
season  of  uniting  with  the  Society  after  the  Meeting  afforesaid,  no 
gentleman  can  expect  admission  in  the  Society  without  a  vote  for  the 
purpose. 

"  I'pon  motion  resolved  that  Docf.  .\.  5IcDonald,  David  Rodgers  and 
Matson  Smith  l>e  a  Commit  ee  to  propose  a  Constitution  for  this  Society 
against  the  Meeting  at  BedfonI,  which  Constitution  shall  be  Subject  to 
Amendment. 

"  The  Board  .\<^journ■d  to  Meet  at  the  House  of  Maj' Jesse  Hally,  in 
Bedford,  on  the  13th  Day  of  June  next. 

"M.tTso.N  Smith, 

Secretartf  Pro.  Tempore.^* 

The  second  meeting  took  place,  as  pro})Osed,  at 
Major  Holly's  house,  June  13,  1797,  at  which  seven- 
teen doctors  were  present.  After  the  transaction  of 
business  it  was 

"  Vminimouihj  resoUed  that  the  Rev"!  Robt.  Z.  Whitmore  be  invited 
to  preach  a  Sermon  before  the  Society  at  their  next  meeting.  The 
board  .\tljourned  to  meet  at  the  House  of  Mr.  Sutton  Craft,  Near  New 
Castle  Church,  on  Tuesday,  the  8th  Day  of  .\ugust  Next,  at  10  o'clock 
A.M.' 

Only  six  members  were  present  at  the  third  meeting. 

1  The  biographies  of  living  medical  men  which  have  been  inserted  in 
the  chapter  by  the  editor  of  this  history  are  indicated  by  foot-notes,  and 
the  writer  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  them.  They  have  been  prepared 
by  various  persons,  ami  are  inserted  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  publishers  of  the  work. 

54 


No  mention  is  made  concerning  the  sermon,  and  we 

are  left  in  doubt  as  to  whether  it  was  preached  or  not. 

The  fourth  meeting  occurred  September  12,  1797, 
at  Mr.  Sutton  Craft's,  with  eight  members  present. 
This  is  the  first  meeting  at  which  it  appears  that  any- 
thing strictly  medical  was  proposed.  "  Doctor  Eben- 
ezer  White  was  appointed  to  deliver  a  dissertation 
on  the  utility  of  a  Medical  Society,"  at  the  next 
meeting. 

The  fifth  meeting  took  place  at  White  Plains, 
"Tuesday  the  31st  day  of  October,  a.d.  1797."  Eight 
doctors  were  present.  At  this  meeting  the  con.stitu- 
tion  was  adopted.   This  is  given  in  full  in  the  minutes. 

The  sixth,  and  last  meeting  recorded  in  this  little 
manuscript  of  thirteen  pages  was  the  annual  meeting, 
which  was  held  in  Bedford  on  Tuesday,  May  8,  1798, 
at  which  twelve  members  were  present.  Dr.  Lemuel 
Mead  "  delivered  a  dissertation  upon  Physiology  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Society." 

The  records  of  the  society  from  this  meeting  to  June, 
1830,  are,  unfortunately,  lost.  The  society,  I  believe, 
has  never  failed  to  convene,  at  least  annually,  since 
its  organization.  At  the  present  time  it  holds  four 
sessions  a  year,  each  of  which  is  fairly  well  attended. 
It  has  served  the  general  purposes  for  which  it  was 
founded,  though  it  cannot  boast  of  having  made  any 
considerable  contributions  to  medical  literature.  Its 
publications  consist  of  several  editions  of  its  consti- 
tution and  bye-laws, — a  "Fee  Bill,"  1868;  "Proceed- 
ings of  the  Society  at  its  annual  meeting,  held  in  the 
village  of  Sing  Sing  June  3, 1856,"  8vo.,  pp.  50,  Sing 
Sing,  1857 ;  and  two  pamphlets  of  "  Biographical 
Sketches  of  Deceased  Physicians  of  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y.,"  8vo.,  pp.  52,  1861 ;  "  In  Memoriam," 
8vo.,  pp.  41,  1875  ;  and  a  "  List  of  Registered  Physi- 
cians," 1881. 

The  individual  members  of  the  society  have  made 
no  insignificant  additions  to  the  literature  of  the  pro- 
fession. Appended  will  be  found  as  nearly  a  com- 
plete list  of  the  contributions  as  it  has  been  possible 
to  make  at  this  time.  By  this  it  will  be  seen  that 
more  than  a  hundred  articles,  aggregating  about 
twenty-two  hundred  pages  of  medical  matter,  have 
been  put  in  print  by  our  physicians  during  the  past 
sixty  years. 

A  c'HRiiNOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  THE  CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  MEDICAL  LITERATURE 
MADE  BY  THE  PHYSICIANS  OF  WE.<TCHF.STEB  COUNTY,  N.  V.  [1825-1885], 

This  list  must  prove  interesting,  not  only  to  the  physicians  of  the 
present  time,  but  to  those  who  may  follow  us  in  the  future.  If  each  of 
the  counties  of  our  State  has  contributed  as  much  as  Westchester,  the 
aggregate  must  amount  to  many  volumes  of  no  inconsiderable  value. 

1825. 

"  .\n  .\ccount  of  an  Epidemic  Erysipelatous  Fever  Prevailing  in  the 
Counties  of  Westchester  and  Putnam,  in  the  State  of  New  York."  By 
James  Fountain,  JI.D.  Pp.  31).  [N.  Y.  Med.  and  Phys.  Jr.,  vol.  iv.  pp. 
330-359.    New  York,  1825.] 

"Observations  on  Prenanthes  .Mtissima."  By  Dr.  James  Hubble,  of 
Westchester,  N.  Y.  Pp.  3.  [.V.  ¥.  Med.  and  Phy».  Jr.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  4S4- 
486.    New  York,  1825.] 

"On  ihe  Employment  of  Calomel  and  Opium  in  Dysentery."  By  Dr. 
Moore  Hoit,  of  Peekskill,  N.  Y.  Pp.  4.  [Ibid.,  vol.  iv.  pp.  487- 
490.] 


570 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


182G. 

"  Keflections  on  Diseases  of  Irritatiou."  By  James  Fountain,  M.D. 
Pp.  5(1.  [A:  y.  Med.  and  Plnis.  Jr.,  \o\.  v.  pp.  145-1G4 ;  pp.  397-426. 
New  Yorlc,  1826  ] 

"A  Case  of  Oljorea  Sancti  Viti."  By  James  Fountain,  M.D.,  of 
Yorktown,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y,  I'p.  5.  [Ibid.,  vol.  v.  pp.  563- 
.5CT.] 

1827. 

"  Observations  on  Intermittent  Fever"  By  James  Fountain,  M.D. 
Pp.  27.  [N.  Y.  Med.  and  Phiju.  J):,  vol,  vi.  pp.  629-556.  New  York, 
1827.] 

1828. 

"  A  Case  of  Pseudo  Sypliilis."  By  James  Fountain,  M.D.  Pp.  3. 
[N.  Y.  Med.  ami  Phys.  Jr.,  vol.  vii.  pp.  348-351.    New  York,  1828.] 

1829. 

"Practical  Observations  on  Punctured  Wounds."  By  James  Foun- 
tain, M.D.,  of  Yorktown,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y'.  P.  3.  [K  Y. 
Med.  r„id  Phtjs.  Jr.,  vol.  i.  New  Series,  pp.  308-31(i.    New  York,  1829.] 

1837. 

"  An  Essay  on  Typhus  Fever."  By  James  Fountain,  M.D.,  of  West- 
chester County,  N.  Y.  Pp.  31.  [Trans,  of  the  Med.  .Soc.  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  vol.  iii.  pp  207-237.    Albany,  N.  Y.,  1837.] 

1847. 

"  On  the  Nature  of  Phlegmasia  Duleiis."  I!y  James  D.  Trask,  M.D. 
Pp.  38.  Jr.  Mrd.  ScL,  N.  S.,  vol.  xiii.  p.  26    January,  1847.] 

"An  Address  to  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society  on  the  Laws 
of  Epidemics,  as  e.\hihited  in  those  that  have  prevailed  in  that  county 
during  the  last  twenty  years."  By  Benjamin  Bassett,  M.D.,  president 
of  the  Society.  Pp.  9.  [The  X.  Y.  Jr.  of  Med.  and  7%<-  Collalend 
Sck-iic's,  vol.  ix.  pp.  183-192.    New  York,  1847. 

"  Baptista;  Tinctoria"  [Indigo  Weed.]  By  James  Fountain,  M.D. 
[A'.  1'.  Jr.  of  Med.  atid  The  VolhUeral  Sciences,  vol.  ix.  pp.  4111,  411.] 

1848. 

"  Monograph.  A  Statistical  Inquiry  into  the  Causes,  Symptoms,  Pa- 
thology and  Treatment  of  Rupture  of  the  Uterus."  By  James  D.  Trask, 
M.I).  Pp.  79.  [Am.  Jr.  Med.  Soc,  N.  S.,  vol.  xv.  January,  1848,  p. 
104-146;  April,  1848,  p.  383-418.]    Includes  303  cases. 

"Congenital  Enlargement  of  Kidney."  By  G.  J.  Fisher.  P.  1.  [Am. 
Jr.  Med.  Sci.,  N.  S.,  vol.  xv.  p.  570.    April,  1848.] 

1853. 

"  Amputation  of  the  Thigh  for  Caries."  By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp. 
4.    [Nelson's -Vort/ieni  Lunnel,  vol.  vii.  p.  161.    June,  1853.] 

"  Report  of  Pliysician  and  Surgeon  of  New  York  State  Prisons  at  Sing 
Sing  for  the  year  1853."  By  Geo.  .1.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.8.  [Anmml  Re- 
port ofIiispeet''rs,for  1853,  p.  132-140.] 

1854. 

"  Report  of  the  Pliysician  and  Surgeon  of  New  Y'ork  State  Prisons  at 
Sing  Sing  for  the  year  1854."     By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.    Pp.  13.  [An- 

niitil  Report  of  Iiiqieetorsfor  18,-)4,  p.  298-310.] 

18.-)5. 

"  Prize  Essay.  Statistics  of  Placenta  Prsevia."  By  James  D.  Trask. 
M.D.  Pp.97.  [Extracted  from  the  Trans. /liM.  Jfed.  Aesu.,  vol.  viii.  p. 
572-689.    Philadelphia,  1855.]   251  cases. 

1856. 

"  Cases  of  Rupture  of  the  Womb,  with  Remarks  ;  Being  a  Sequel  to  a 
Monograph  upon  this  Subject,  in  this  Journal  for  January  and  April, 
1848."  By  James  D.  Trask,  M.D.  Pp.31.  [Am.  Jr.  Med.  Sci.,  Jf.  S., 
vol.  xxxii.  p.  81-111.] 

"  Report  of  Conmiittee  on  .Medical  Topograpliy,  Epidemics  and  En- 
demics of  the  Southern  Section  of  Westchester  County."  By  James  D. 
Trask,  M.D. ,  of  White  Plains.  Pp.26.  [Proc.  of  Med.  Soc.  of  West- 
chester County,  1857,  p.  3-28.] 

•'  Case  of  Phlegmasia  Dolens  after  Typhoid  Fever,  and  the  Same  of  the 
Upper  and  Lower  Extremities  after  Parturition."  By  James  Fountain, 
M.D. ,  of  Jefferson  Valley.  Pp.2.    [Ibid.  p.  iO-il.] 

"  A  Case  of  Chronic  Nephretis,  &c."    By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.    Pp.  4. 
[Trans.  Med.  Soc.  S.  of  N.  Y.,  18.56,  p.  173-176.] 
"  Cases  Illustrating  the  Effects  of  Needle.*  .Accidentally  Penetrating  Dif- 


ferent Portions  of  the  Body."  By  Geo.  J,  Fisher,  M.D.,  ofSiiigSing, 
N.  Y.    Pp.  5.    [Proc.  of  Med.  Soc.  of  Westchester  County.,  p.  29-33.] 

"  An  Apology  for  a  Report  on  Surgery  for  the  Northern  Section  of 
Westchester  County."  By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  4.  [Ihid.,  p 
33-36.] 

1857. 

"Removal  of  a  Large  Fibrous  Nasal  Polypus,  by  the  Knife."  By  G. 
J.  Fisher,  M.D.    Pp.  2.    [.4m.  Med.  MoiitUy,  vol.  viii.  p.  15-17.] 

"  Double  Monstrosity."  By  G  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  2.  [Am.  Med. 
Motdhhj  for  Oct.,  18,)7,  vol.  viii.  p.  229. J 

"  A  Case  of  Chronic  Tubercular  Splenitis."  By  G.J.  Fisher,  M.D. 
Pp.  .3.    [Trans.  Med.  Soc.  S.  of  N.  Y..  1857,  p.  17,5-177.] 

"  Remarks  on  Table  of  Coutents  and  General  Index  of  Transactions  of 
Med.  Soc.  of  the  State  of  N.  Y."  "  List  of  Presidents  of  Med.  Soc,  of  State 
of  N.  Y.,  1807-18.77."  "Titles  of  Articles  in  the  Trans.  M.  S.  of  S.  of 
N.  Y.,  1832-18.57."  "  General  Index  of  Trans.  M.  S.  of  S.  of  N.  Y., 
1832-1857."  By  Geo.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  50.  [Trans.  1857,  p.  179- 
227.] 

"  Puerperal  Mania  :  Has  it  any  Connection  with  Toxajmia  V  "  By  J. 
Foster  Jenkins,  51. D.  Pp.  7.  [Reprinted  from  Am.  Med.  MontMij, 
N.  Y.,  Nov.,  1857.] 

1858. 

"Splitting  of  the  Alveolar  Process  of  the  Lower  Jaw."  By  G.  J. 
Fisher,  M.D.    Pp.  2.    [Dental  Register  of  the  West,  vol.  xii.  p.  187-189  ] 

"Report  on  Spontaneous  Umbilical  Hemorrhage  of  the  Newly-Born." 
By  J.  Foster  Jenkins,  M.D.  Pp.58.  [Reprinted  from  Trans,  of  the  Am. 
Med.  Assoc.,  vol.  xi.  p.  263-318.    Phila.,  1858.] 

"  Biograpliical  Sketches  of  the  Deceased  Physicians  of  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y.  Being  the  Annual  Address  before  the  Westchester 
County  Medical  Society,  at  its  sessson  held  in  White  Plains,  June  1, 
1858."  By  George  J.  Fisher,  .V.M.,  M.D.  Published  by  order  of  the 
society.    Svo,  pp.  52.    New  York,  1861. 

1860. 

"  Spontaneous  Complete  Inversion  of  the  Uterus ;  reposited  recovery." 
By  G.J.  Fisher,  M.D.    P.  1.    [/Im.  Jr.  Jl/ed.  Sci.,  N.  S.,  vol.  xl.  p.  341.] 

1861. 

"A  Successful  Case  of  Ovariotomy."  By  G.  J.  Fisher,  A.M.,  M.D., 
of  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  Pp.  2.  [The  Am.  Med.  Times,  N.  S.,  vol.  iii.  p. 
3,5.5-357,  N.  Y.,  1861.] 

"  Rupture  of  the  Uterus ;  an  account  of  three  cases,  with  remarks,  etc." 
By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.,  of  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  Pp.  9.  [Trans,  of  the  Med. 
Soc.  of  the  State  of  N.  Y.,  p.  171-179.  Albany,  1861.] 

"  On  the  .\nimal  Substances  Employed  as  Medicines  by  the  Ancients." 
By  (i.  J.  Fisher,  A.M.,  JI.D.,  of  SingSing,  N.  Y.  Read  before  the  West- 
chester Co.  Med.  Soc.,  June  11,1861.  Pp.  16.  [From  the  Am.  3[ed. 
Monthly  for  January,  1862.] 

1862. 

"  A  Description  of  the  Newly-invented  Elastic  Tourniquet,  for  the  use 
of  Armies  and  Employment  in  Civil  Life.  Its  Uses  and  Applications, 
with  Remarks  on  the  Different  Methods  of  Arresting  Hemorrhage  from 
Gun.shot  and  other  Wounds."  Pp.31.  N.  Y.,  1862.  [Tliis  tourniquet, 
called  Lombert's,  was  invented  by  Dr.  Charles  A.  Lee,  who  wrote  this 
anonymous  pamphlet.] 

1863. 

"  Relations  of  War  to  Medical  Science.  The  annual  address  delivered 
before  the  Westchester  County  Med.  Soc,  June  15,  1863."  By  J.  Foster 
Jenkins,  M.D.  Pp.  16.  [Published  by  request  of  the  Society.  N.  Y'., 
1863.] 

"  Report  of  Fifty-seven  Cases  of  amputation  in  the  Hosidtals  near 
Sharpsburg,  Md.,  after  the  Battle  of  Antietam,  September  17,  1872."  By 
G.J.  Fisher,  M.D.,  of  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  Pp.8.  [Am.  Jr.  of  the  Med. 
Sci.,  N.  S.,  vol.  xlv.  pp.  44-51.  Phila.  1863.] 

186.5-68. 

"Diplotcratology.  An  Essay  on  Compound  Human  Monsters,  Com- 
prising the  History,  Literature,  Classification,  Description  and  Embryol- 
ogy of  Double  and  Triple  Formation,  Including  the  so-called  Parasitic 
Monsters,  Foetus  in  Fietu,  and  Supernumerary  Formation  of  Parts  or 
Organs  in  Man."  ByG.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  193;  126  figures  on  32 
lithographic  plates.  [Trans,  of  the  Med.  Soc.  of  the  State  of  N .  Y.  1865, 
p.  232-268.  Ibid.,  1866,  p.  207-296.  Ibid.,  1867,  p.  396-430.  Ibid., 
1868,  p.  276-316.] 


THE  MP]DICAL  PROFESSION. 


571 


1866. 

"  On  Provision  for  the  Insane  Poor  of  the  Stale  of  New  York  and  the 
Adaptation  of  the  '  Asylum  and  Cottage  Plan  '  to  their  wants  ;  as  illus- 
trated by  the  History  of  the  Colony  of  Kitz  James,  at  Clermont,  France." 
By  Charles  A.  Lee,  M.D.  Pp.  ISO.  [Trans.  Hied.  Soc.  of  tlie  State  of  N. 
y.  for  ISfiO,  p.  156-18.').] 

1868. 

"  Report  on  Insanity."  Ily  Charles  A.  Lee,  M.D.  Pp.  32.  [E.xtracted 
from  the  Trans,  of  the  Am.  Mod.  Assoc.  vol.  xix.,  p.  161-168.  I'hila. 
1868.] 

"  Report  on  Texas  Cattle  Disease."  By  George  J.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp. 
2.    [Report  of  Jletropolitan  Board  of  Health,  1868,  p.  189-190.] 

186P. 

"  Report  to  Metropolitan  Board  of  Health  of  Sanitary  Inspector  of  the 
Town  of  Ossining."  By  George  ,1.  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  2.  [Report 
Met.  Bd.  of  Health  for  1869,  p.  16.'>-166.] 

1870. 

"  Does  Maternal  Mental  Infiuence  have  any  Constructive  or  Destruc- 
tive Power  in  the  Production  of  Malformations  or  Monstrosities  at  any 
Stage  of  Embryonic  Development  ;"  By  G.  J.  Fisher,  M.D.,  of  Sing 
Sing,  N.  Y.  Pp.  .57.  [Reprinted  from  vol.  xxvi.  of  the  Am.  Jr.  of  Jii- 
ianitii  for  January,  1870.  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1870. 1 

"Three  Cases  of  Imperforate  Anus,  with  Remarks."  By  J.  H.  Pooley. 
M.D.  Pp.  20.  [Reprinted  from  Am.  Jr.  Olist.,  vol.  iii..  No.  1,  May,  1870.] 

"  Tent  Hospitals."  By  J.  Foster  Jenkins,  M.D.  Pp.  25.  [Trans.  Am. 
Social  Scieiice  Amoc.  Cand)ridge,  Mass.,  1S74.] 

"A  Medico-Legal  Opinion  relating  to  the  sanity  of  Carlton  Gates." 
By  Charles  A.  L«e,  M.D.  Pp.  :iO.  [Papers  read  before  the  Med.-Leg.  Soc. 
of  the  City  of  New  York.    First  series,  p.  204-233.] 

1871. 

'•  A  Contribution  to  the  Natural  History  of  Tubercles."  By  C.  F. 
Rodeustein,  iM.D.  Pp.  2(\  [Read  before  the  Yonkers  Med.  Association. 
Published  at  the  request  of  Jled.  Soc.  of  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.  Re- 
printed from  the  A'.  Y.  Med.  Jr.,  Dec,  1871.] 

"The  Late  Dr.  John  Conolly,  of  Hanwell,  England."  By  Charles  .\. 
Lee,  M.D.    Pp.  12.    [Reprinted  from  the  Am.  Pract.  for  Aug.  1871.] 

"  Report  of  the  Surgical  Cases  Treated  in  the  St.  John's  Riverside 
Hospital,  Yonkers,  X.  Y.,  during,  the  Year  1870."  Hy  J.  H.  Pooley 
M.D.    Pp.19.    [Reprinted  from  the  .Y.  1',  .Ue</.  J/-.,  Nov.,  1871.] 

"  Suggestions  Relative  to  the  Sequestration  of  the  Person  of  Alleged 
Lunatics."  By  R.  L.  Parsons,  M.D.  Pp.  ii.  [Papers  read  before  the 
Med. -Legal  Soc.  of  the  City  of  New  York.    First  series,  p.  332-37H.] 

'  Medico-Legal  Considerations  upon  Al  'oholism,  and  the  Moral  and 
Criminal  Responsibility  of  Inebriates."  By  Paluel  De  Marmon,  M.D. 
Pp.  24.  [Read  before  the  Med.-Leg.  Soc.  of  the  City  of  New  York,  March 
31,  1871.  Reprinted  from  the  Mid.  World,  Dec.  1871  ;  also  in  first  series 
of  papers  read  before  Med.-Leg.  Soc.  of  the  City  of  New  York,  p.  374- 
402.  J 

"  Medico  Legal  Suggestions  on  Insanity."  By  Charles  A.  Lee,  M.D. 
Pp.  22.  [Papers  read  before  the  Med-Leg.  Soc.  First  series,  p.  467- 
488.] 

1872. 

"On  Imperforate  Anus:  the  Rectum  Communicating  with  the  Vag- 
ina." By  J.  H.  Pooley,  M.D.  Pp.34.  [Reprinted  from /Im.  Jr.  o/ 06- 
■■itelrict,  A-c,  vol.  iv..  No.  4,  Feb.,  1872.] 

' The  Origin  of  Cassarean  Section;  an  historical  sketch."  By  C.  F. 
Rodenstein,  M.D.  Pp.  19.  [Reprinted  from  the  N.  Y.  Med.  Jr.,  April, 
1872.] 

"Two  Ca.se8  of  Rare  Disease  of  the  Tongue."  By  .1.  H.  Pooley,  M.D. 
Pp.  4.    [Extracted  from  Amer.  Jr.  Med.  Sci.  for  April,  1872.1 

"RopL.rt  of  the  Surgical  Cases  Treated  in  the  St.  John's  Riverside 
Hospital,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  during  the  year  1871  (second  year)."  By 
J.  H.  Pooley,  M.D.  Pp.  20.  [Reprinted  from  the  X.  Y.  Med.  Jr.,  Nov., 
1872.] 

"Some  General  Remarks  on  the  Surgery  of  Chihlhood."  By  J.  H. 
Pooley,  yi.  D.  Pp.  13.  [Reprinted  from  "  Trans.  Med.  Soc.  of  the  Slate 
of  New  York,"  1872.] 

1873. 

"Thermometry  in  Cerebro-Spinal  Meningitis."  By  C.  F.  Rodenstein, 
M.D.  Pp.  13.  [Road  before  Med.  Soc.  of  the  County  of  \Vestchester. 
Reprinted  from  Dr.  Brown-Sequard's  "  .Vrcliives  of  Scientific  and  Practi- 
cal Medicine,"  vol.  i.  p.  210-222,  March,  1873.] 


"Nrt'vus."  By  J.  H.  Pooley,  SI.D.  Pp.  28.  [Reprinted  from  N.  Y. 
Med.  Jr.,  June,  1873.] 

"Report  of  the  Surgical  Cases  Treated  in  the  St.  John's  Riverside 
Hospital,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  during  the  year  1872  (third  year)."  By  J.  H. 
Pooley,  M.D.    Pp.  30.    [Reprinted  from  .V.  1'.  Med.  Jr.,  Oct.,  1873.] 

"  Case  of  Epithelioma  of  the  Cheek  and  Lower  Eyelid.  Removal — 
Blepharoplasty."  liy  J.  II.  Pooley,  M.D.  Pp.  7.  [Reprinted  from 
".\rchives  of  Oi)hthalmolugy  and  Otology,"  vol.  iii.,  1873.] 

1874. 

"Cases  in  Surgery,  Lumbar  Colotomy,  etc."  By  J.  II.  Pooley,  M.D. 
Pp.  11.    [R.'printed  from  the  K  Y.  Med.  Jr.,  Jan.,  1874.] 

"  Injections  of  Tincture  of  Iodine  into  the  Cavity  of  the  I'terus  in 
Hemorrhage  after  Delivery."  By  James  D.  Trask,  M  D.  Pp.15.  [Re- 
printed from  Jr.  of  Obstetrics  for  Feb.,  1x75.] 

".Morphine-Poisoning  Successfully  Treated  by  .\tropia  and  Electricity  ." 
ByJ.D.  Trask,  M.D.  I'p.  13.  [Reprinted  from  the  S.  Y.  Med.  Jr., 
Aug.,  1874.] 

"Report  of  the  Surgical  Cases  Treated  in  the  St.  .John's  Riverside 
Hospital,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  during  the  year  1873  (fourth  year)."  By 
J.  H.  Pooley,  M.D.  Pp.  29.  [Reprinted  from  .V.  Y.  Med.  Jr.,  Dec, 
1874,  and  Jan.,  1875.J 

"  Injuries  which  Happen  to  the  Wrist-Joint  and  to  the  Parts  in  its 
Vicinity,  as  Results  of  Falls  upon  the  Hand.  An  examination  of  the  evi- 
dence on  which  is  based  the  establishment  of  the  occurrence  of  luxations 
at  the  wrist  and  radio-carpal  articulations  ;  also  a  consideration  of  the 
nature  of  the  deformity,  of  the  symptoms  and  of  the  treatment  of 
Colles'  fracture,  with  a  n'mme  of  the  literature  of  this  subject,  being 
the  Merritt  H.  Cash  prize  essay  for  1874."  By  Thomas  K.  Cruse, 
M.D.  Pp.  63.  [Trans.  Med.  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  1874, 
p.  56-118.] 

1875. 

"  De  Mortuis  Nil  Nisi  Bonuni.  Biographical  sketches  of  lately  de- 
ceiiseil  nu-mbers  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  Westchester.'* 
Published  by  the  vote  of  the  Society,  passed  June  16,  1874.  8vo,  pp. 
40.    Katonah,  N.  Y.,  1875. 

'  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Late  James  Fountain,  M.D.,  of  Jeffer- 
son Valley,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y'."  By  James  H.  Curry,  M.D. 
Pp.  9.    Katonah,  N.  Y.,  1875. 

"  Biographical  Sketch  of  Philander  Stewart,  M.D.,  of  Peekskill, 
N.  Y."    By  J.  H.  Curry,  M.D.    Pp.  4.    Katonah,  N.  Y.,  1874. 

"Biographical  Sketch  of  Peter  Moulton,  M.D."  By  Dr.  William  C. 
Pryer.    Pp.  9.    Katonah,  N.  Y.,  1875. 

"  Tecratology."  By  CJeorge  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.4.  [Johnson's 
'■  Cyclopa'dia,"  vol.  iv.  p.  782-785.] 

'•Inaugural  and  .Vnnivei-sary  Addresses  delivered  before  the  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  at  its  Sixty-ninth  Session,  held  at 
the  City  of  Albany,  February  2,  3,  and  4,  1875."  By  the  President, 
George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.,  of  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  8vo,  pp.  57.  New 
York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1875.  [Trans,  of  the  Med.  Soc  of  the 
State  of  New  York  for  the  year  1875,  p.  4-15,  p.  54-111.] 

1877. 

"  .\  Brief  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Circulation  of 
the  Blood."  By  George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  14.  [Reprinted 
by  the  I'opuUir  Science  Monthly,  July,  1877.] 

1878. 

"  On  the  Effect  of  Atropine  in  Diminishing  the  Pains  and  Shorten- 
ing the  Duration  of  the  Fii-st  Stage  of  Labor."  By  Henry  L.  Ilortoii, 
M.D.  [Reprinted  from  the  .4m.  Jr.  of  Obstetrics  mid  Diseases  of  Women 
and  Children,  vol.  xi..  No.  3,  July,  1878.]     Pp.  20.    New  York,  1878. 

"Clinical  Notes  in  Obstetrics  and  Gynawology."  Read  before  the 
Yonkers  Med.  Association  March  15,  1878.  By  Eugene  Peugnet,  M  D. 
Pp.  83.    [Reprinted  from  the  Ohio  3fe  /.  mid  Siinj.  Jr.,  Columbus,  1878.] 

1879. 

"Observations  on  the  Digestion  of  Milk."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D. 
[N.  r.  Med.  Jr.,  Sept.,  1879.] 

1880. 

"Case  of  a  Rare  Variety  of  Human  Diprosopic  Monster,  with  Olwer- 
vations  on  the  Genus  Diprosopus."  Bv  George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D. 
Pp.  4.  [.\nnals  of  the  Anatomical  and  Surgical  Society,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  vol.  ii.  p.  193-197.] 


572 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


18S0-83. 

"  Historical  ami  Bibliographical  Xotes  :  A  Series  of  Sketches  of  the 
Lives,  Times  and  Works  of  the  Old  Masters  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery." 
By  George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.  aJO.  [Annals  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery,  Jfew  Tork  and  Brooklyn,  vols,  ii.-viii.,  1880-83.  Vol.  ii. : 
Pare,  Eustachius,  Colot,  Fallopius,  Taliacotius,  Columbus,  Wiseman, 
Fabricius  ab  Aquapendente,  Guy  de  Chauliac,  Harvey.  Vol.  iii.:  Har- 
vey, Ehodion,  Hippocrates.  Vol.  iv.-Herophilus  and  Erasistratus,  Galen. 
Vol.  v.:  Celsus.  Vol.  vi.;  JIundinus,  Bbazes.  Vol.  vii.:  Avicenna,  Hally 
Abbas.    Vol.  viii.:  Albucasis,  Avenzoar.] 

1881. 

"  Milk.  An  essay  read  [before  the  Med.  Soc.  of  the  County  of  West- 
chester Tuesday,  June  21,  1881,"  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.,  Mount  Vernon, 
N.  Y.    [The  Med.  Record,  vol.  xx.  p.  149-151.] 

"Skimmed  Milk  as  an  Article  of  Food."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D. 
[The  Med.  Record,  vol.  xx.  p.  459-461.] 

l"  One  Mode  of  Improving  Cow's  Milk  for  Human  Food.  Read  be- 
fore the  Tonkers  Med.  Soc.  Oct.  7,  1881."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  {Ihid., 
vol.  XX.  p.  539-541.] 

"Kumyss."    By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  vol.  xx.  p.  673-675.] 

"One  Phase  of  the  Germ  Theory.  Bead  before  the  Tonkers  Med. 
Soc.  April  22,  1881."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  [Ibid.,  vol.  xiv.  p.  568- 
569.] 

"  The  Tartrate  of  Quinoline  as  an  Antiperiodic."  By  Edwin  I.  Harring- 
ton, M.D.  Pp.  3,  and  temperature  charts.  {Med.  Bulletin,  Phila.,  Nov. 
1881.] 

"  Nicholas  Tulp — (1593-1672)."  A  sketch  by  George  Jackson  Fisher, 
M.D.,of  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  Pp.  5.  [X.  C.  Med.  Jr.,  vol.  vii.  p.  204-208, 
Wilmington,  N.  C,  1881.] 

"On  the  Private  Care  of  the  Insane."  By  Kalph  L.  Parsons,  M.D. 
Pp.  26.  [Reprint  from  The  Alienist  and  yetirologist,  St.  Louis,  Oct. 
1881.] 

1882. 

"  Imperfect  Nutrition  in  Infants."  By  E.  H.  Hermance,  M.D.,  Ton- 
kers, N.  Y.    [The  Med.  Jtec,  vol,  xxii.  p.  32.>,] 

"Acute  Milk-Poisoning,"  By  E,  F,  Brush,  M,D.  [The  Med.  Rec, 
vol.  xxii.  p.  424-420.] 

188:!. 

"  Vaccination  Observations  and  Suggestions.  "  ByE.  F.  Brush,  M.D. 
[The  Med.  Rrc,  vol.  xxiii.  p.  677-670.] 

"  (EsophagitiB  as  a  Disease  of  Infancy."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  [Ibid., 
vol.  p.  xxiii.  35-37.] 

"  Reciprocal  Insanity.  '  By  Ralph  L.  Parsons,  M.D.  Pp.  17.  [Re- 
printed from  the  Alienist  and  yinrologitt,  Oct.  1883.] 

"  Jury  Trial  of  the  Insane."  By  Ralph  L.  Parsons,  M.D.  Pp.27. 
[Papers  read  before  the  Med.-Legal  Soc,  of  the  City  of  X.  Y,,  1883,  p. 
327-353.] 

1884. 

"  Sketch  of  Abfil-Walid  Mohammed  Ibn- Ahmed  Ibn-Mohainmed  Ibn- 
Roshd  (commonly  called  .\verroes)."  By  George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D. 
Pp.  5.    (Pop.  tk-i.  Monthlij,  July,  1884,  p.  4<i5-l()9.] 

"  .\  Memorial  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  the  Wte  John  Foster 
Jenkins,  A.M.,  M.D,,  of  Tonkers,  N.  T."  By  George  Jackson  Fisher, 
M.D.,  of  Sing  Sing,  N.  T.  Pp.  21.  [Reprinted  from  the  Transactions  of 
the  Jled.  Soc.  of  the  State  of  N.  T.,  by  order  of  the  Med.  Soc.  of  West- 
chester Co.,  N.  Y,  Syracuse,  N,  Y.,  1884.] 

"The Faculty  of  Speech."  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  [Populur  Science 
Monthly,  April,  1884.] 

"  Au  Obstinate  Case  of  Ovarian  Dysmenorrhea,  Oophorectomy,  with 
Remarks  on  the  I  tility  of  the  Operation."  By  E.  H.  Hermance,  M.D., 
of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.    [The  Med.  Rec.  vol.  xxv.  p.  4.30-431.] 

1885. 

"History  of  Surgerj-."  By  George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.  Pp.57. 
[Intemiilioruil  Encyclupeedia  of  Surgery,  N.  Y.,  1886,  vol.  vi.  p.  1146-1202,] 

"  Vesical  and  Renal  Calculi— Open  Urachus — Lithotomy,"  By  A.  C. 
Benedict,  M.D.,  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.  [The  Med.  Rec,  vol.  xxvii.  p,  208. 
N.  Y.,  1885.] 

"  Traumatic  Gastric  Fistula  Opening  into  the  Pancreatic  Duct,  result- 
ing in  death  after  forty  years."    By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  I 
N.  Y.    [The  Med.  Rec,  vol.  xxvii.  p.  623-624,  N.  Y.,  1885,]  | 

"Intubation  of  the  Larynx,"  By  E.  F.  Brush,  M.D.  [Hid,  vol.  I 
xxvii.  p.  200-207.  N.  Y,,  1SS5,]  | 


Dr.  Peter  Hugeford,  of  Cortlandtown,  was  probably 
the  first  regular  physician  in  the  northwestern  por- 
tion of  Westchester  Countj'. 

He  was  an  Englishman  by  birth  and  education,  an 
accomplished  medical  practitioner  and  a  gentleman 
of  the  decided  English  stamp,  as  can  be  seen  by  his 
full-length  portrait  which  now  hangs  in  an  ancient 
parlor  of  his  granddaughter,  Mrs.  Betsey  Field,  a 
widow  of  over  eight}'  years,  residing  near  the  village 
of  Peekskill.  He  was  a  successful  practitioner  pre- 
vious to  the  Revolution.  Being  a  Royalist,  he  retired 
to  the  British  army  when  war  was  declared.  His  fine 
farm  of  two  hundred  acres  was  confiscated,  and  sub- 
sequently given  by  government  to  John  Paulding,  for 
his  service  as  one  of  the  three  captors  of  Major 
Andre. 

He  was  probably  the  most  accomplished  physician 
of  his  day  in  this  country. 

Dr.  Stanly,  of  Cortlandtown,  was  cotemporary 
with  Dr.  Hugeford.  He  emigrated  from  Connecticut, 
and  settled  in  Cortlandtown,  at  precisely  what  date  is 
not  known.  He  was  celebrated  for  his  great  caution ; 
he  carried  with  him  his  scale  and  weights,  and  at  all 
times  weighed  carefully  every  dose  of  medicine  he 
administered. 

He  had  one  son,  whom  he  educated  thoroughly  to 
the  medical  profession.  Young  Dr.  Stanly  married 
the  only  child  of  Richard  Currie,  a  wealthy  farmer  of 
this  county.  They  united  under  the  most  auspicious 
and  flattering  circumstances.  He  died  jJreuiaturely 
of  brandy,  his  wife  of  opium,  leaving  a  large  family, 
i  most  of  them  in  indigent  circumstances. 

Dr.  Elias  Cornelius,  of  Somers,  was  a  native  of 
Long  Island,  and  served  as  surgeon's  mate  in  the 
Revolutionary  army.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he 
settled  in  the  western  part  of  Somers,  where  he  prac- 
ticed his  profession  over  forty  years  with  eminent 
success  and  credit.  During  the  Revolution  he  con- 
tracted the  habit  of  smoking,  snuffing  and  tippling, 
but,  contrary  to  the  generally  received  opinion,  was 
never  intoxicated  during  his  long  and  arduous  life. 

Dr.  James  Fountain  says:  "Dr.  Cornelius  was 
truly  a  pattern  physician  ;  with  a  very  limited  medi- 
cal education,  he  commenced  the  active  duties  of  his 
profession,  but  full  of  energy  and  ambition,  he 
studied  and  practiced  both  by  day  and  by  night.  He 
kept  three  good  horses,  and  rode  off  rapidly,  and  on 
his  arrival  at  home  he  gave  his  horse  over  to  his 
groom,  and  went  directly  into  his  office,  and  there 
spent  all  his  available  time  in  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge or  in  the  compounding  of  medicines.  He 
availed  himself  of  every  means  of  information ;  he 
commenced  taking  the  first  medical  periodical  ever 
published  in  America,  viz. :  The  Medical  Jteposifory, 
and  ever  since  continued  to  read  it.  He  had  also  all 
the  principal  authors  of  his  day,  and  studied  them 
thoroughly.  Having  been  inspired  by  a  genuine 
love,  with  the  requisite  enthusias.m,  for  his  profession, 
he  gave  it  his  undivided  attention,  and  the  whole 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSI(X\. 


573 


force  of  his  energies  and  talents  were  made  sub- 
servient to  it.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
years,  having  been  blessed  with  a  large  family,  which 
were  carefully  and  respectably  bred.  One  of  his  sons, 
having  been  thoroughly  educated,  became  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  and  accomplished  divines  in  the 
New  England  States." 

He  commenced  life  in  extreme  poverty,  and  left 
his  heirs  an  estate  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Dr.  Lyman  Cook,  of  Cortlandtown,  was  an  eminent 
and  successful  physician.  He  was  chosen  the  dele- 
gate of  the  Westchester  County  Society,  which  he 
represented  by  attending  the  first  meeting  of  the 
State  Medical  Society  in  1807. 

He  engaged  somewhat  in  politics,  and  was  once 
elected  to  the  office  of  high  sheriff'  of  the  county. 
He  removed  to  one  of  the  Western  States,  where  he 
located  as  a  physician. 

Dr.  Elias  Quereau,  of  Yorktown,  was  born  in  the 
city  of  Xew  York,  and  pursued  his  medical  studies 
under  Dr.  Hugeford.  Early  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  he  married  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he 
engaged  in  practice  for  a  short  time. 

Owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  he  fre- 
quently changed  his  residence  and  field  of  practice. 
Being  a  Royalist,  he  embarked  for  St.  John's,  with 
other  refugees,  but  soon  returned  to  his  native  State 
in  consequence  of  the  inclemency  of  the  Canadian 
climate.  He  finally  settled  in  Yorktown,  in  this 
county,  which  was  the  native  place  of  his  wife,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life. 

In  Yorktown  he  seems  to  have  commenced  anew. 
He  joined  the  Baptist  denomination  and  became  an 
active  member.  With  a  few  others  he  built  a  church, 
which,  under  the  charge  of  Elder  E.  Fountain,  was  a 
prosperous  society,  was  kept  together  forty  years  by 
their  united  aid,  and  continues  to  the  present. 

He  was  a  modest,  quiet  and  unassuming  man,  and 
a  pious,  consistent  and  benevolent  Christian.  His 
Sunday  earnings  he  invariably  set  apart  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  church,  believing  that,  as  his  duties  on  that 
sacred  day  were  labors  of  love  and  necessity,  he  had 
no  right  to  appropriate  the  avails  thereof  to  the  com- 
mon purposes  of  life.  He  died  in  his  eighty-sixth 
year,  leaving  several  children  and  many  friends  to  la- 
ment his  loss. 

Dr.  Francis  Fowler  practiced  in  White  Plains  and 
vicinity  about  eighty  or  ninety  years  ago.  He  came 
from  Newburgh,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and  soon  af- 
ter his  arrival  married  a  sister  of  ex-Sheriff"  Amos 
W.  Hatfield,  of  White  Plains.  His  talents  and 
practice  are  said  to  have  been  respectable  and  gave 
promise  of  good  success,  but  in  a  few  years  after  set- 
tling in  White  Plains,  he  died,  leaving  a  widow,  but 
no  children. 

Dr.  Brewster  also  practiced  in  White  Plains  prev- 
ious to  or  about  the  time  of  Dr.  Fowler,  but  nothing 
further  is  known  of  him. 


Dr.  William  Baldwin,  late  of  New  York  City,  lies 
beneath  a  large,  plain,  but  handsome  monument,  in 
the  yard  of  the  first,  or  old  Methodist  Church,  of 
White  Plains.  He  was  born  in  Northford,  Conn., 
commenced  ])ractice  about  1800,  and  married  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  John  Falconei',  a  prominent  citi- 
zen of  White  Plains,  where  he  practiced  with  con- 
siderable success  for  about  fifteen  years.  He  then 
removed  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  located  him- 
self in  East  Broadway ;  became  a  prominent  and  suc- 
cessful practitioner  in  that  section  of  the  city,  and 
gained  a  more  than  ordinary  practice  and  honorable 
position  among  his  })rofessional  brethren.  He  left  a 
widow,  but  no  children. 

Dr.  Seth  Miller,  of  Sing  Sing,  was  born  in  April, 
17(56.  He  came  from  Lower  Salem,  and,  after  prac- 
ticing several  years  at  New  Castle,  settled  at  Sing 
Sing,  before  1700,  being  the  first  physician  to  locate 
in  the  latter  village.  Mrs.  John  Miller,  who,  in  1858, 
was  eighty-six  years  old,  stated  that  Dr.  Miller  had 
attended  her  husband  when  he  was  suff'ering  from  the 
yellow  fever.  It  was  the  first  case  of  the  disease  known 
in  Sing  Sing,  and  did  not  spread,  Mr.  Miller  being 
the  solitary  victim.  He  had  contracted  it  during  a 
visit  to  New  York,  where  it  was  raging  at  the  time. 

Dr.  Miller's  eldest  daughter  married  Dr.  Kissam,  of 
New  York,  and  his  second  became  the  wife  of  Dr. 
Wallace,  of  Troy.  She  was  extremely  beautiful  and 
highly  accomplished,  and  is  said  to  have  been  so  well 
versed  in  medicine  that  she  undertook  to  continue 
her  husband's  practice  after  his  death.  Her  father  is 
said  to  have  been  very  skillful  and  enjoyed  the  confi- 
dence of  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  patients.  His 
health  began  to  fail  several  years  before  his  death, 
and  he  invited  Dr.  Jeremiah  Drake  Fowler  to  settle 
at  Sing  Sing  and  participate  in  and  eventually  suc- 
ceed to  his  practice.  He  died  November  23, 1808,  in  the 
forty-second  year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  the 
cemetery  at  Sparta,  below  Sing  Sing. 

Dr.  Archibald  Maodonald,  of  White  Plains,  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  early  physicians 
of  the  county  and  prominent  among  the  founders  of 
the  Medical  Society.  He  was  a  native  of  Inverness, 
Scotland,  and  came  of  the  Glengarry  branch  of  the 
Macdonalds.  His  father,  in  1745,  joined  the  forces  of 
Charles  Edward,  the  last  of  the  Stuart  pretenders  who 
endeavored  to  regain  by  arms  the  British  throne,  and 
perished  in  battle  when  his  son  was  but  a  few  weeks 
old,  so  that  the  parent  and  his  youngest  child  never 
saw  each  other.  The  embryotici)hysician  was  brought 
to  this  country  about  1757,  when  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  by  his  brother,  a  British  officer  serving  in  Can- 
ada. He  received  his  medical  education  in  Philadel- 
phia, at  the  charge  of  this  brother,  who  may  be 
supposed  to  have  procured  him  the  position  which  he 
subsequently  held  of  surgeon  in  the  King's  army. 
After  practicing  in  North  Carolina,  in  1787  he  mar- 
ried in  Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1795  removed 
to  White  Plains,  where  he  practiced  until  his  death, 


574 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


December  21,  1813,  iu  his  sixty-ninth  year.  The 
genealogy  of  the  family  indicates  that  one  of  his 
ancestors  married  a  daughter  of  Eobert  Bruce.  Per- 
sonally very  popular,  his  practice  was  large  and  his 
professional  reputation  so  high  that  he  was  often 
called  long  distances  for  consultations. 

His  son,  James  Macdonald,  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  David  Palmer,  of  White  Plains,  and  Dr.  David 
Hosack,  of  New  York.  As  an  investigator  of  insan- 
ity, in  the  ti'eatment  of  which  he  became  an  expert, 
he  visited  the  principal  lunacy  asylums  of  Europe; 
and,  on  his  return  to  this  country,  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  proprietors  of  the  Sanford  Hall  Asylum, 
at  Flushing,  L.  I.  He  died  in  1849,  leaving  his 
brother,  Allen  Macdonald,  in  charge  of  that  institu- 
tion. 

Dr.  Stephen  Fowler,  a  native  of  Orange  County, 
N.  Y.,  practiced  in  New  Castle,  Westchester  County, 
eight  years  previous  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1814,  when  he  was  but  thirty-five  years  of  age.  De- 
spite his  youth,  he  was  quite  successful,  and  accumu- 
lated in  that  short  time  a  moderate  fortune.  He  died 
from  typhoid  pneumonia,  which  was  then  epidemic 
in  the  neighborhood.  Dr.  Joshua  W.  Bowron  was 
one  of  his  students,  and  upon  his  death  located  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  his  office. 

Dr.  Donal,  ofColaburg  (now  Croton),on  the  Hud- 
son, was  a  young  man  who  began  practice  in  1814, 
during  the  prevalence  of  typhoid  pneumonia,  and  won 
much  praise  for  his  successful  treatment  of  the  dis- 
ease by  the  stimulating  plan.  He  removed  to  New 
York  and  died  there. 

Dr.  Clark  Sanford  resided  at  Greenwich,  Conn.,  but 
for  thirty  years  prior  to  his  death,  in  1820,  when  he 
was  over  sixty  years  old,  had  a  wide  professional  con- 
nection in  Westchester  County.  He  was  a  native  of 
Vermont,  and  the  manufacturer  of  a  superior  article 
of  pulverized  Peruvian  bark.  His  grinding-mills 
were  at  Byrom's  Mills,  now  called  Glenville;  they 
were  the  first  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the 
United  States,  and  his  son  John  continued  and  en- 
larged the  business  with  great  profit.  He  is  spoken 
of  as  "  a  bold  practitioner  of  both  medicine  and  surg- 
ery." He  was  a  very  eccentric  man  and  an  inveter- 
ate smoker,  always  carrying  his  pipe  between  his  lips 
or  in  his  boot  leg.  He  could  never  endure  the  smell 
of  ipecacuanha,  which  produced  in  him  an  asthmatic 
affection.  He  educated  to  the  profession  his  son  Jo- 
sephus,  who  settled  in  the  South  and  died  there.  An- 
other son,  Henry,  became  an  apothecary  in  New  York 
City. 

Dr.  William  H.  Sackett,  born  at  Greenwich,  Conn., 
in  1781,  made  his  home  at  Bedford,  Westchester 
County,  about  1805,  and  married  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Jesse  Holly  some  three  years  later.  A  man  of  splen- 
did general  culture,  and  a  keen  student  of  the  new 
lights  then  being  thrown  upon  the  science  of  medi- 
cine by  Cullen,  Brown,  Darwin  and  Rush,  he  was  es- 
teemed the  most  accomplished  physician  in  the 


county.  He  had  graduated  at  Yale  and  pursued  bis- 
medical  studies  under  Dr.  Perry,  at  Ridgefield,  Conn. 
Prompt  in  response  to  calls,  he  rode  the  country  over 
on  a  fast  gray  mare  which  is  still  associated  with  his 
memory.  To  his  excessively  arduous  labor  is  attrib- 
uted his  premature  death,  for  he  passed  away  Decem- 
ber 29,  1820,  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  the  preceptor  of  Dr.  Joseph  Baily  and  Dr.  Mead, 
of  Tarry  town. 

Dr.  Ebenezer  White,  son  of  Eev.  Ebenezer  White, 
of  Southampton,  L.  I.,  was  born  in  the  lower  section 
of  Westchester  County,  in  1744,  located  in  Yorktown 
before  the  Eevolution  and  was  so  ardent  a  patriot 
that  the  British  made  several  attempts  to  capture 
him.  Once  a  squadron  of  horse  were  sent  to  Crom- 
pond  with  orders  to  surround  his  house  and  take 
him  prisoner,  so  that  he  might  be  exchanged  for  a 
British  surgeon  whom  the  Americans  held.  A 
friendly  warning  enabled  him  to  escape,  but  they 
seized  Dr.  James  Brewer,  who  resided  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  in  a  skirmish  with  a  party  of  Americans 
who  fired  upon  them  as  they  were  passing  along 
Stoney  Street,  Dr.  Brewer  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
expired  the  next  morning,  November  20,  1780,  in 
the  arms  of  Dr.  White.  He  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  thirty-nine  years  old,  and  the  husband 
of  Hannah  Brewer,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  and 
three  daughters.  Dr.  James  Brewer,  of  Peekskill, 
was  his  grandson.  Dr.  White  was  prominent  in  poli- 
tics and  the  church.  He  was  once  elected  to  the 
New  York  State  Senate,  and  died  March  8,  1825, 
aged  eighty-one. 

Dr.  Henry  White,  son  of  Dr.  Ebenezer  White,  was 
born  at  Y''orktown,  August  31,  1781,  and  studied  med- 
icine under  the  tuition  of  his  father.  In  1802  he  at- 
tended the  medical  lectures  at  Columbia  College.  In 
1803  he  was  in  partnership  with  Dr.  Joshua  Secor,  in 
New  York  City,  but  in  the  same  year  returned  to  the 
place  of  his  nativity.  In  1804  he  practiced  at  Hack- 
ensack,  but  once  more  came  back  to  Yorktown  in  the 
same  year.  The  Westchester  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, in  1809,  elected  him  delegate  to  the  State  So- 
ciety for  four  years.  He  was  for  several  years  surro- 
gate of  the  county,  and  in  1823  became  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  He  continued 
the  general  practice  of  medicine  until  about  1840,  af- 
ter which  he  accepted  no  calls  except  as  consulting 
physician.    He  died  in  November,  1857. 

Dr.  Elisha  Belcher  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn., 
in  1757,  and  became  surgeon's  mate  and  surgeon  iu 
the  Eevolutionary  army.  Stationed  at  Greenwich, 
Conn.,  he  made  that  place  his  residence  after  peace  had 
been  declared,  and  extended  his  practice  across  the 
State  line  into  Westchester  County.  He  educated 
many  young  men  in  the  profession,  including  his  sons 
Dr.  William  N.  Belcher,  of  Sing  Sing,  and  Dr.  Elisha 
R.  Belcher,  of  New  York  City.  Four  of  his  seven 
daughters  married  physicians — the  fourth  becoming 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Stephen  Fowler,  of  North  Castle,  and 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


575 


after  his  death  the  wife  of  Dr.  Henry  White,  of  York- 
town.  Other  daughters  married  Dr.  Darius  Mead,  of 
Greenwich,  Conn.,  Dr.  David  Palmer,  of  White 
Plains,  and  Dr.  Bartow  F.  White,'  of  Somers,  son  of 
Dr.  Ebenezer  White.  Dr.  Elisha  Belcher  died  in 
December,  1825,  as  he  was  approaching  his  sixty- 
ninth  year. 

Dr.  John  Ingersoll,  born  about  1745  ;  the  place  of 
his  nativity  is  unknown  ;  came  from  the  vicinity  of 
Horseiieck  prior  to  1804,  and  settled  three  miles  north 
of  Yonkers,  where  he  died  of  delirium  tremens  in 
August,  1827.  Being  the  first  physician  about 
Yonkers,  he  had  a  practice  which  obliged  him  to  ride 
from  King's  Bridge  to  the  outskirts  of  White  Plains, 
and  he  would  encounter  the  darkest  night  and  the 
most  pitiless  storm  rather  than  neglect  his  duty  at  the 
bedside  of  a  patient.  Until  inebriety  conquered  him 
he  was  fairly  successful  as  a  physician  and  was  espe- 
cially fiivored  in  obstetrical  cases,  but  his  surgery  is 
recorded  to  have  been  very  bungling — probably  be- 
cause of  a  lack  of  training  in  that  department. 

Dr.  Samuel  Adams,  a  Scotchman  by  birth  and  sur- 
geon in  the  British  army,  went  upon  the  medical  staff 
of  the  American  forces  during  the  Revolution,  and 
then  bought  a  farm  near  Mount  Pleasant,  which  for 
nearly  fifty  years  he  cultivated  while  practicing  his 
profession.  Uncouth  in  his  manners  and  abrupt  in 
speech,  his  surgical  skill  yet  caused  him  to  be  em- 
ployed in  difficult  cases  in  all  parts  of  the  county, 
and  his  services  were  in  constant  requisition.  Hia 
energy  and  will  were  indomitable,  his  perseverance 
unflinching,  and  he  was  a  tyrant  over  his  professional 
associates  and  his  patients.  His  operations  were  of 
the  heroic  kind,  and  their  progress  emphasized  with 
profuse  oaths,  the  expressions  of  his  passionate  tem- 
per. He  seems  to  have  lived  and  died  an  avowed 
atheist.  He  served  a  term  in  the  State  Legislature, 
and  was  over  ninety  years  of  age  when  he  died,  about 
1828. 

Dr.  Jeremiah  Drake  Fowler,  born  December  28, 
1785,  at  Peekskill,  studied  at  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  degree,  and  located  at  Sing  Sing.  No  med- 
ical man  could  have  been  more  popular  than  he  was 
in  his  day,  and  he  earned  his  eminence  legitimately 
by  skill  in  his  profsssion.  He  was  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society,  and 
several  times  its  delegate  to  the  State  Society.  In 
1817-18-he  was  elected  Justice  of  the  peace  and  was 
also  a  practical  surveyor.  Through  going  security  for 
friends  he  nearly  ruined  himself  financially,  and  died 
October  28, 1828. 

Dr.  Samuel  Strang,  of  Peekskill,  was  a  son  of  Ma- 
jor Joseph  Strang,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  The  fam- 
ily name  of  L'Estrange  has  been  corrupted  from  the 
original  French  form.  They  were  Huguenot  emigres 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1686.  Dr.  Strang  was 
born  in  Yorktown  in  1766,  studied  with  Dr.  Ebenezer 
White,  married  his  daughter  and  moved  to  Peeks- 


kill,  where  he  died  in  December,  1831.  He  was  the 
preceptor  of  his  son,  Dr.  Eugene  J.  Strang,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  after  practicing  one  year. 

Dr.  William  F.  Arnold,  born  at  Chatham,  Rensse- 
laer County,  New  York,  June  1,  1809,  learned  the 
drug  business  in  the  store  of  Drs.  Piatt  and  Nelson,  at 
Rhinebeck,  and  was  aided  by  friends  to  attend  a 
course  of  lectures  at  Rutgers  Medical  College.  When 
he  located  at  White  Plains,  about  1829,  he  was  almost 
penniless,  but  his  abilities  soon  procured  him  a  re- 
munerative i)ractice.  In  May,  1832,  he  married  Miss 
Williams,  of  Rhinebeck,  and  shortly  afterward  removed 
to  New  York  City  on  account  of  his  failing  health, 
but  within  a  brief  period  returned  to  White  Plains, 
where  he  and  his  brother  conducted  a  drug-store  in 
Connection  with  his  office  practice.  In  the  autumn  of 
1843  he  went  to  St.  Thomas,  W.  I.,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  his  health  and  practiced  dentistry  there,  but 
his  disease  gained  on  him  so  rapidly  that  in  the 
course  of  a  year  or  two  he  started  to  return  home  and 
died  on  the  voyage. 

Dr.  Howard  Lee,  of  Sing  Sing,  practiced  there 
previous  to  1838,  but  made  no  mark  on  cotemporary 
records. 

Dr.  David  Rogers  moved  from  Fairfield,  Conn., 
to  Rye,  in  1810,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  retirement.  His  son.  Dr.  David  Rogers,  Jr., 
settled  at  Mamaroneck  in  1800,  and  from  1817  to  1820 
was  president  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  So- 
ciety ;  moving  to  New  York  City,  in  1820,  he  died  there 
in  1843  or  '44,  aged  nearly  seventy.  His  sons,  Dr. 
David  L.  and  Dr.  James  Rogers,  followed  him  in  the 
profession  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Matson  Smith,  of  New  Rochelle,  was  born  in 
1767,  at  Lyme,  Conn.,  where  he  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Samuel  Mather,  whose  daughter  became  his  first 
wife.  In  1787  he  came  to  New  Rochelle,  and,  notwith- 
standing his  youth,  quickly  established  a  remarkably 
large  practice,  which  in  time  covered  most  of  the 
southern  towns  of  the  county.  A  memoir  of  him,  pre- 
pared by  his  son.  Dr.  Joseph  Mather  Smith,  says: 
"  Devoted  to  the  practice  of  physic  proper,  obstetrics 
and  surgery,  it  may,  perhaps,  be  said,  aside  from  some 
of  the  rarer  and  more  delicate  operations  of  surgery, 
which  he  referred  to  special  experts,  that  he  was 
equally  skillful  in  these  departments."  He  adopted 
vaccination  at  a  very  early  date  after  its  introduction 
into  this  country,  and  took  great  pains  to  remove  the 
doubts  of  those  whose  minds  wavered  in  relation  to 
its  value.  He  was  a  close  student  of  the  modifications 
of  disease  induced  by  atmospheric  influences,  and  of 
rare  and  new  forms  of  epidemic  maladies.  His  "Ac- 
count of  a  Malignant  Epidemic  which  prevailed  in 
the  County  of  Westchester  in  the  Summer  of  1812" 
was  a  most  important  contribution  to  the  history  of 
the  scourge  of  typhoid  pneumonia,  so  fatal  about  that 
time  in  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States,  and  a  valu- 
able aid  to  the  treatment  of  it.  He  was  for  several 
years  president  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical 


576 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Society,  and  in  1830  received  from  the  regents  of  the 
University  of  New  York  the  honorary  degree  of  Doc- 
tor of  Medicine.  He  was  a  devout  Christian  and 
foremost  in  educational  projects,  as  well  as  in  advo- 
cating the  temperance  cause.  He  died  March  17, 
1845. 

Dr.  Joseph  M.  Scribner  was  born  at  Bedford,  West- 
chester County,  May  11,  1793,  and  was  licensed  by 
the  Medical  Society  of  the  county  in  April,  1817,  after 
having  studied  with  Dr.  William  H.  Sackett  and  at- 
tended lectures  at  the  New  Y'ork  City  Hospital  and 
the  Medical  Institution  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Opening  an  office  two  and  a  half  miles  southeast  of 
Sing  Sing,  he  remained  there  a  year  and  spent  the 
next  year  at  Bedford.  For  the  succeeding  fifteen 
years  he  had  his  office  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Tar- 
rytown  ;  then  moving,  in  1885,  into  that  village,  he 
continued  his  practice  up  to  his  death,  on  December 
27,  1847.  He  died  of  ship-fever,  contracted  while  at- 
tending at  the  almshouse  upon  emigrants,  among 
whom  the  disease  had  broken  out  at  sea. 

Dr.  Joseph  Roe,  born  near  Flushing,  L.  I.,  in  1811, 
graduated  at  the  College  of  Physicians,  New  Y^ork 
City,  having  previously  been  instructed  by  Dr.  John 
Graham  and  Drs.  Bedford,  Pendleton  and  Bush.  Lo- 
cating at  White  Plains,  he  went  into  partnership  with 
Dr.  David  Palmer,  then  the  only  physician  in  the 
place.  He  contracted  ship-fever  at  the  same  time  and 
under  the  same  circumstances  as  Dr.  Scribner ;  in  at- 
tending upon  the  latter  he  sacrificed  his  own  strength, 
and  died  January  11,  1848.  For  many  years  he 
availed  himself  of  the  practice  of  the  county  alms- 
house as  a  school  of  observation,  and  was  exceedingly 
kind  to  the  forlorn  and  helpless  paupers.  He  was 
the  inventor  of  an  improvement  on  Amesbury's  splint. 
His  name  was  coupled  with  that  of  Dr.  Scribner  in 
resolutions  of  regret  passed  by  the  County  Medical 
Society,  June  6,  1848,  for  "  the  death  of  two  of  our 
most  worthy  and  esteemed  professional  brethren." 

Dr.  Isaac  Gilbert  Graham,  born  at  Woodbury, 
Conn.,  September  10,  17G0,  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Andrew 
Graham,  who  fitted  him  for  the  profession.  At  a 
very  early  age  he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  in 
the  American  army,  and  at  West  Point  came  under 
the  personal  notice  of  Washington,  who  is  said  to 
have  conceived  a  warm  feeling  for  him,  because  of 
his  medical  knowledge  and  his  sturdy  patriotism.  He 
was  granted  an  annual  pension  of  four  hundred  and 
forty  dollars  by  the  government  for  his  services.  In 
1784  he  settled  at  Unionville,  Westchester  County, 
and  practiced  for  nearly  half  a  century.  He  was 
considered  very  skillful  in  treating  cases  of  small-pox, 
or  "  winter  fever,"  as  it  was  then  called,  by  inocula- 
tion, and  is  alleged  to  have  earned  fourteen  hundred 
dollars  in  one  season  by  this  branch  of  practice, 
although  he  devoted  much  time  to  the  poor,  from 
whom  he  never  looked  for  any  recompense.  He 
died  September  1,  1848. 

Dr.  Stephen  Allen  Hart,  born  June  11,  1820,  at 


Shrub  Oak,  Weschester  County,  was  a  student  under 
Dr.  John  Collett,  and  in  the  spring  of  1846  obtained 
his  diploma  from  the  University  Medical  College,  in 
New  Y'ork  City.  His  career  was  brief,  as  he  died  at 
Yorktown,  where  he  had  practiced,  on  February  22, 
1849. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Drake,  born  in  Yorktown,  August 
27, 1763,  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Peter  Hugeford  and  Dr. 
Ebenezer  White.  He  attended  medical  lectures  and 
dissections  in  New  York  City,  and  was  one  of  the 
students  obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight  from  the  mob 
which  attacked  the  dissecting  departments.  Subse- 
quently to  practicing  for  a  short  time  in  the  town  of 
his  birth,  he  changed  his  location  to  Peekskill,  where 
he  died  February  1,  1850.  With  him  perished  the 
name  of  his  family.  While  in  his  general  practice  he 
always  had  his  fair  proportion,  it  was  in  the  ob- 
stetrical branch  that  he  especially  bore  off  the  palm. 

Dr.  George  C.  Finch  was  born  April  6,  1817,  at 
Croton  Falls,  Westchester  County,  and  had  for  his 
first  preceptor  in  medicine  Dr.  Seth  Shove.  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  granted  him  his 
degree  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  the  spring  of  1841. 
He  employed  the  next  term  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  Y''ork,  and, 
after  being  associated  with  Dr.  Shove,  went  to  his 
native  place  to  practice.  So  strong  was  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  followers  of  Hahnemann,  that  when 
invited  to  meet  a  distinguished  member  of  that  school 
in  consultation,  he  replied:  "I  would  be  pleased  to 
meet  with  Dr.  J.  as  an  old  friend  and  preceptor,  but  not 
as  a  physician."  For  six  years  he  was  supervisor  of 
North  Salem  ;  in  1853  represented  his  district  in  the 
Legislature,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death.  May  28, 
1856,  was  one  of  the  committee  for  erecting  new 
public  buildings  for  the  county. 

Steven  Archer  was  the  son  of  John  Archer,  of  Tar- 
ry town,  where  he  was  born  September  9,  1803.  He 
married  Emeline  Ascough,  and  after  her  death  was 
married  to  Deborah  Underbill.  His  children  were 
Sarah,  wife  of  William  Macy,  of  New  Y'ork  ;  Isaac; 
and  Emma,  wife  of  Dr.  Joseph  Hasbrouck.  He  died 
December  16,  1877. 

Dr.  Joshua  W.  Bowron,  born  at  Washington, 
Dutchess  County,  in  April,  1788,  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Stephen 
Fowler,  graduated  at  the  Barclay  Street  College  of 
Medicine,  New  York  City.  Hebegan  practice  nearSing 
Sing,  but  soon  removed  to  New  Castle  to  occupy  the 
field  vacated  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Fowler,  which  he, 
filled  for  nearly  forty  years.  In  1848  and  1849  he  was 
president  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society. 
His  labors  were  so  enormous  that  when  about  sixty- 
two  years  old  he  broke  down  under  an  apoplectic 
stroke,  and  died  February  20,  1857. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Bassett,  born  at  Derby,  Conn.,  De- 
cember 6,  1784,  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  practiced  at  Yorktown  from  1826  to 
1829,  and  then  settled  at  Peekskill,  where  he  died 
March  21,  1858.    He  was  president  of  the  Westches- 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


577 


ter  County  Medical  Society  in  1846  and  1847,  and  in 
the  latter  year  delivered  an  address  "  On  the  laws  of 
epidemics  as  exhibited  in  those  that  had  prevailed  in 
the  county  the  preceding  twenty  years."  In  1831  he 
wrote  a  valuable  treatise  on  "  Epidemic  Dysentery 
and  Intermittent  Fever,"  published  in  the  New  York 
Medical  Journal  for  jNIuy  of  that  year.  About  the 
same  time  he  prepared  several  articles  on  the  effect 
of  sulphate  of  quinine,  but  it  is  not  known  when  they 
were  published.  He  honored  his  profession  except 
in  placing  too  low  an  estimate  on  the  value  of  his 
services  ;  "his  charges  were  so  small  that  he  was  un- 
able to  live  in  the  manner  suitable  to  a  inan  of  his 
ability,  skill  and  position." 

Dr.  James  Fountain  was  spoken  of  in  the  biograph- 
ical sketch  prepared  by  Dr.  James  Hart  Curry,  at  the 
request  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society, 
as  "one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his 
time,  in  the  region  round-about  him."  Born  at  Bed- 
ford, January  30,  1790,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine 
under  Dr.  Sackett,  and  was  one  of  the  first,  if  not  the 
very  first,  student  from  Westchester  County  to  matric- 
ulate in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
New  York  City,  where  he  graduated  March  16,  1812. 
Beginning  practice  in  his  native  county,  in  a  year  he 
moved  to  Scaten  Island,  but,  at  the  solicitation  of  his 
father,  soon  returned  to  Jefferson  Valley.  He  had 
become  a  meml)er  of  the  Westchester  County  Medi- 
cal Society  a  year  before  his  graduation,  and  when, 
fifty  years  afterward,  he  resigned,  he  said,  in  liis  char- 
acteristic letter : — 

"I  witnessed  its  (tlie  Society's)  gradual  rise  to  distinction  until,  in  tlie 
acme  of  its  usefulness  and  glory  it  wns  crippled  by  au  act  of  our  ignorant 
legislature.  To  court  popularity  and  to  support  a  mistaken  Democracy, 
they,  in  their  zeal  to  level  all  distinctions  among  men,  passed  a  law  de- 
claring the  ignorant  <|uack  and  the  most  learned  physician  on  a  perfect 
level  and  equally  entitled  to  protection.  Since  then  our  authority  to 
keep  down  rjuackery  haa  ceased,  sn  that  now  a  large  portion  of  our  best 
practice  is  enjoyed  by  ignorant  quacks  under  the  cloak  of  liomojopathy. 
The  consequences  to  our  society  are  almost  ruinous.  Shorn  of  its  power, 
its  members  have  become  discouraged,  and  a  few  only  of  the  most  faith- 
ful are  found  attending  its  meetings.  AU  our  struggles  must  be  laborious 
so  long  as  ignorance  of  physiology  prevails  among  the  people,  and  that 
must  continue  a  long  time. 

"  I  am  now  in  my  seventieth  year.  I  consider  myself  professionally 
dead.  It  is  my  last  prayer  that  you  may  persevere  until  the  rays  of 
knowledge  shall  illumine  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  induce  them  to 
value  the  realities  of  knowledge  over  ignorance  and  regard  our  profession 
in  its  true  light." 

He  was  frequently  a  delegate  to  the  New  York 
State  Medical  Society,  and  at  the  session  of  184t)  was 
made  a  j)ermanent  member.  His  numerous  contri- 
butions to  the  medical  journals,  as  full  a  list  of  which 
as  can  be  made  is  embodied  in  the  foregoing  schedule 
of  professional  writings  by  Westchester  physicians, 
bear  witness  to  his  profound  research  as  well  as  to  his 
pugnacious  disposition.  Having  been  thrown  in  his 
early  practice  greatly  upon  his  own  resources  for 
medical  agents,  no  drug-stores  being  near  him,  he 
became,  of  necessity,  conversant  with  our  indigenous 
medical  botany,  and  applied  it  with  marked  results, 
and  often  with  great  success.    He  boldly  and  contin- 


ually, and  without  the  aid  of  the  chemist,  prescribed 
such  potences  as  lobelia,  Scutellaria,  actia  sanguin- 
aria,  ergot,  juglans,  Indian  hemp  and  many  of  the 
vegetable  acids.  But  he  was  by  no  means  restricted 
to  any  set  of  drugs  or  stereotyped  forms  of  practice. 
If  heroic  practice  means  anything.  Dr.  Fountain  was 
a  hero  of  the  boldest  stamp.  Arsenic,  strychnine, 
mercury,  tartar  emetic,  the  lancet  and  the  blister 
were  the  great  weapons  of  his  warfare,  and  he  was 
not  afraid  to  use  them.  In  his  treatment  there  was 
no  half  and  half — he  gave  disease  no  quarter — and  it 
must  be  confessed  that  often,  in  drawing  out  the 
enemy,  he  shook  the  citadel  terribly,  but  when  he  had 
slain  the  foe,  if  the  patient  survived,  like  a  discrimi- 
nating general,  he  was  quick  to  take  advantage  of  cir- 
cumstances, stopping  medication  when  he  thought 
the  case  would  warrant,  or  modifying  it  as  the  symp- 
toms might  demand.  In  his  treatment  of  old  dis- 
eases, especially  those  of  the  lungs,  as  in  asthma  of 


.TAMES  FOUNTAIN,  M.D. 

the  aged,  hydrothorax  and  bronchorrhoea,  notwith- 
standing (or  rather  by  the  aid  of)  blood-letting,  an- 
timony, ptyalisni  and  blistering,  he  was  remarkably 
successful,  often  holding  the  disease  in  abeyance  for 
many  years  after  it  had  become  apparently  incur- 
able. 

Neither  in  auscultation  or  percussion,  nor,  in  fact, 
in  any  of  the  more  modern  modes  of  physical  explo- 
rations, did  he  ever  make  much  proficiency,  and  he 
professed  but  little  fiiith  in  them,  believing,  until  his 
death,  that  the  rational  signs  of  disease  would  gen- 
erally lead  the  rational  practitioner  to  a  correct  diag- 
nosis. 

In  surgery  he  was  not  a  brilliant  operator,  although 
his  isolated  jjosition  and  immense  practice  continu- 
ally forced  him  to  use  the  knife.  It  was  his  boa.st, 
and  true,  that  during  a  practice  of  fifty  years  no 
irregular  practitioner  had  been  able  to  make  any  head 
in  all  his  field  of  practice,  and  it  must  be  added  that 
during  his  prime  it  was  a  risky  matter  for  any  i)hy- 


578 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sician,  regular  or  otherwise,  to  infringe  upon  his 
domain.  His  cultivated  mind  and  vastly  superior 
medical  attainments  made  him  the  natural  antagonist 
of  empiricism,  and  his  indomitable  will,  his  con- 
sciousness of  his  own  superiority,  raised  the  hands  of 
others  against  his.  "  In  fact,"  his  son,  Hosea  Foun- 
tain, wrote,  "  he  was  in  hot  water  the  most  of  thetime. 
Of  course  such  a  man  had  bitter  enemies  and  strong, 
warm-hearted  friends."  His  field  of  labor  extended 
from  Fishkill  to  Tarrytown,  and  from  the  Hudson 
River  to  beyond  the  Connecticut  line.  "  He  kept  the 
best  horses  and  rode  constantly  in  the  saddle  ;  he  was 
very  active,  was  up  and  away  before  we  were  up. 
Would  ride  all  day,  and  then  in  hot  weather  I  have 
known  him  to  strip  to  the  skin  and  help  his  man  draw 
hay  off  by  moonlight ;  then  off  in  the  morning  again 
as  usual."  In  1862  he  removed  to  Waverly,  N.  Y., 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  with  his  son.  He 
died  May  19,  1869,  during  a  visit  to  his  old  home  in 
Jefferson  Valley,  and  was  buried  in  the  Presbyterian 
grave-yard  at  Crompond. 

Dr.  Seth  Stephen  Lounsbery'  was  born  at  Bedford, 
Westchester  County,  September  11,  1837,  and  in  1861 
received  his  diploma  from  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  having  previously 
studied  medicine  under  the  direction  of  his  uncle,  Dr. 
William  Minos.  After  a  year  of  city  practice  he 
accepted,  September  1.5,  1862,  a  commission  as  assist" 
ant  surgeon  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventieth  Regi- 
ment New  York  Volunteers,  and  on  December  22, 
1864,  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  surgeon  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Regiment.  In  these  com- 
mands, notwithstanding  his  feeble  constitution,  he 
served  in  the  field  almost  continuously  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  At  Cold  Harbor  he  narrowly  escaped 
being  taken  prisoner,  and  he  witnessed  most  of  the 
movements  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  around  Rich- 
mond and  at  the  Weldon  Railroad.  In  October,  1865, 
he  was  associated  with  Dr.  William  S.  Stanley  in  his 
practice  at  Mamaroneck,  where  he  continued  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  died,  April  25,  1872,  at  his 
father's  home  in  Bedford.  In  1866  he  joined  the 
Westchester  County  Medical  Society,  and  was  usually 
present  at  its  meetings. 

Dr.  Caleb  W.  Haight  ^  was  born  in  New  York  City 
February  20,  1820  ;  came  with  his  family  to  Bedford 
when  he  was  a  very  young  child.  In  the  spring  of 
1842  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Shove  as  a  student, 
and  in  March,  1846,  graduated  at  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  beginning  practice  in  September 
at  Chappaqua.  Eighteen  months,  subsequently,  he 
removed  to  Pleasantville,  where  he  died  March  5, 
1873.  In  1848  he  became  a  member  of  the  West- 
chester Medical  Society,  in  which  from  time  to  time, 
he  acceptably  filled  all  its  important  oflices.  He  was 
a  constant  attendant  at  its  meetings,  and  contributed 


liberally  to  its  transactions.  In  1860  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
in  1861  of  the  New  Y^ork  State  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  Peter  Moulton,^  at  his  death  the  oldest  member 
of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society,  and  prob- 
ably the  oldest  physician  in  active  practice  in  the 
county,  was  born  at  Oxford,  N.  H.,  October  7,  1794. 
In  May,  1816,  he  began  to  study  medicine  with  Dr. 
Cyril  Carpenter,  of  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  and,  as 
a  student  was  successively  under  Dr.  Daniel  Ayers, 
of  Openheim,  N.  Y.,  and  Dr.  Nathaniel  Drake,  of 
Peekskill.  He  completed  his  studies  as  the  private 
pupil  of  Dr.  Cyrus  Perkins,  professor  of  anatomy  and 
surgery  in  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  attended  lec- 
tures and  fulfilled  all  requirements  necessary  for  his 
degree  as  doctor  of  medicine,  but  could  not  obtain  it 
because  two  conflicting  boards  of  trustees  claimed  to 
control  the  affairs  of  the  institution.  He,  however, 
on  November  8,  1819,  passed  an  examination  before 
the  censors  of  the  medical  society  of  the  county  of 
New  York,  who  granted  him  a  license  to  practice, 
which  for  the  greater  part  of  his  professional  life,  was 
his  only  diploma.  But  on  March  27,  1860,  the  regents 
of  the  State  University,  at  the  instance  of  the  State 
Medical  Society,  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  doctor  of  medicine,  and  in  1864  he  was  elected 
a  permanent  member  of  the  State  Society.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1819,  he  established  himself  in  East  Chester,  and 
his  reputation  for  learning  and  skill  soon  spread 
throughout  that  part  of  Westchester  County.  His 
practice  extended  into  the  towns  of  White  Plains, 
Scarsdale,  Yonkers,  Greenburgh,  New  Rochelle,  Pel- 
ham,  Mamaroneck  and  Rye.  In  1835  or  '36  he  trans- 
ferred his  location  to  New  Rochelle,  where  he  prac- 
ticed for  nearly  forty  years. 

About  two  years  before  his  death,  while  walking 
upon  the  track  of  the  New  Haven  Railroad,  a  short 
distance  above  New  Rochelle,  he  was  struck  by  an 
engine  and  he  and  his  medicine  chest  thrown  thirty 
feet  forward  and  down  an  embankment  twenty  feet 
deep.  Refusing  to  go  into  the  train,  he  walked  home 
with  his  precious  chest  under  his  arm.  "On  my  en- 
trance," says  Dr.  Pryer,  "  he  called  out,  'doctor,  I 
have  a  broken  arm.'  Proceeding  to  examine  the  arm 
very  tenderly,  fearful  of  giving  pain,  I  said,  'are  you 
sure  it  is  broken? '  'Oh,  yes,'  said  he,  '  see  here,'  and 
he  shook  the  elbow  to  and  fro  again  and  again,  until 
the  broken  bones  grated  against  one  another  in  a 
manner  that  produces  a  shudder  to  this  day  when  the 
sensation  comes  back  to  me.  The  doctor's  scientific 
interest  in  proving  the  fracture  was  so  great  that  it 
overcame  entirely  all  sense  of  pain." 

As  a  surgeon  Dr.  Moulton  was  bold  and  skilful, 
but  it  was  as  an  obstetrician  that  he  most  excelled, 
and  he  is  said  to  have  assisted  at  the  birth  of  more 
children  than  any  other  jihysician  in  the  county.  He 


1  Biographical  sketcli  liy  William  S.  Stanley,  M.D.,  JIamaroneck. 
-  Biographical  sketch  Ijy  Setli  Shove,  M.D. 


3  Biographical  sketch  read  before  the  Westchester  County  Medical 
Society,  February  17,  1874,  by  Dr.  William  C.  Pryer. 


THE  MEDICAL 


was  an  accomplished  botanist  and  drew  many  of  bis 
medicines  from  native  plants  gathered  in  his  daily 
walks.  It  is  not  known  at  what  date  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Westchester  Counter  County  Medical 
Society,  but  since  1831  he  held  the  following  offices: 

Kleoteil  in  1831,  censor;  1833-34,  treasurer;  1838,  vice  president ; 
183C-37,  president  ;  1838,  censor;  1841,  essayist  for  fall  meeting;  1842, 
coniniittee  to  draft  rate  bill,  serving  with  Drs.  Livingstone  Koe  and 
Gates ;  ISoI,  reported  a  case  of  puerperal  peritonitis,  treated  by  "  opium 
alone;"  1852,  censor;  1853,  vice-president  and  committee  to  report  on 
"Ship  Fever;"  1854,  vice-president;  1855,  committee  on  surgery; 
1857,  essayist,  also  committee  on  Indigenous  Medical  Botany  and 
served  on  this  committee  six  years ;  1858,  delegate  to  American  Jledii  iil 
Association  ;  18(>3,  vice-president  and  delegate  to  American  Jledical  As- 
sociation ;  18(iG,  delegate  to  American  Medical  Association. 

On  December  1,  1873,  Dr.  Moulton  rose  early,  vis- 
ited various  patients,  traveled  to  New  York  City  and 
back  on  professional  business,  and  in  the  evening 
made  visits  to  the  sick  in  East  Chester,  Cooper's  Cor- 
ners, Mamaroneck  and  Scarsdale,  in  the  teeth  of  an 
easterly  storm.  When  he  reached  home  he  was  too 
feeble  to  ascend  to  his  bed-room  and  remained  in  his 
office  all  night  in  his  wet  clothing.  Pneumonia  su- 
pervened and  he  died  on  December  7th.  On  the  9th 
a  meeting  cf  the  citizens  of  New  Rochelle,  at  the 
Town  Hall,  passed  resolutions  of  respect  to  his  mem- 
ory, and  similar  action  was  taken  by  the  Board  of 
Education  and  the  Huguenot  Lyceum,  of  both  of 
which  he  had  been  a  member.  He  had  been  made  an 
honorary  member  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical 
Society  at  its  annual  meeting  in  1869,  and  at  the  meet- 
ing in  1872,  at  White  Plains,  he  met  his  brother  mem- 
bers for  the  last  time.  On  the  day  of  his  funeral,  busi- 
ness was  suspended  in  New  Rochelle,  flags  hung  at 
half-mast  from  the  public  and  many  private  buildings, 
the  church,  school  and  engine-house  bells  were  tolled, 
the  schools  were  dismissed  and  the  scholars  stood  bare- 
headed in  the  street  as  the  cortecje  passed.  No  such 
honors  had  ever  been  paid  to  any  private  citizen  of 
the  town. 

Dr.  Philander  Stewart'  was  born  in  Dan  bury,  Con- 
necticut, June  20,  1820,  and  in  1840  began  to  study 
for  the  profession  in  Brookfield,  the  adjoining  town. 
At  the  medical  institution  of  Yale  College  he  at- 
tended his  first  course  of  lectures  and  graduated  at 
Jeffierson  College,  Philadelphia,  in  18-14.  After  two 
years  of  practice  in  Roxbury,  Connecticut,  he  came 
to  Peekskill,  and  although  in  three  years  he  had 
established  remunerative  professional  connections 
there,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  avail  himself  of 
another  course  of  lectures  and  clinical  observations 
under  Prof  Pancoast.  Then  he  resumed  his  field  of 
labor  at  Peekskill  and  cultivated  it  for  upwards  of 
thirty  years,  hi  the  year  1857  he  made  a  trip  to 
Europe  and  pursued  his  investigations  for  some  time 
in  the  hospitals  and  medical  schools  of  the  United 
Kingdom  and  the  Continent.    He  early  attached 


'  Biographical  sketch  by  Dr.  James  Hart  Curry,  read  before  the  West- 
chester County  !k[edical  Society  at  its  annual  meeting,  June  IG,  1874. 


PROFESSION.  579 


himself  to  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society, 
in  which  he  held  every  office,  many  of  them  for  suc- 
cessive terms,  and  was  fretjuently  its  delegate  to  the 
State  Society.  For  twenty  years  he  was  a  member 
of  the  latter  body,  making  it  a  point  never  to  be  ab- 
sent from  its  meetings.  He  was  also  from  the  begin- 
ning a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
and  made  long  and  expensive  journeys  to  meet  its 
annual  sessions.  As  an  operating  surgeon,  for  years 
he  was  among  the  first  in  all  the  region  about  him. 
His  manipulations  and  operations  for  strangulated 
hernia  were  very  fretjuent  and  successful,  as  was  his 
management  in  all  cases  of  difficult  parturition.  He 
performed  many  amputations.  His  hand  was  steady, 
his  instruments  many  and  various,  his  knives  were 
sharp,  his  determination  almost  dogged,  his  judg- 
ment good  and  he  was  never  taken  by  surprise.  In 
auscultation  and  percussion  he  was  far  above  the 
average,  his  touch  being  delicate  and  his  ear  acute. 
If  his  diagnosis  was  sometimes  shaped  too  much  by 
his  preconceived  notion  of  things,  and  hence  may 
have  missed  the  mark,  it  was  no  more  so  than  is  pecu- 
liar to  independent  minds.  His  prognosis  was  re- 
markably true;  he  had  an  almost  intuitive  knowledge 
of  the  end  from  the  beginning. 

By  being  thrown  from  his  carriage  on  May  2G,  1869, 
Dr.  Stewart  broke  an  arm  and  was  stunned  by  a  blow 
upon  the  head.  Terrible  paroxysms  of  pain  in  the 
head  attacked  him ;  in  October,  1872,  he  began  to 
lose  memory  of  names  and  i)laces,  his  penmanship 
became  entirely  changed  and  he  wrote  with  difficulty. 
A  consultation  with  Dr.  Brovvn-Sequard  on  Decem- 
ber 3,  1873,  resulted  in  pronouncing  his  case  hopeless. 
He  visited  patients  the  next  day,  but  was  at  once 
prostrated  mentally  and  physically,  and  after  ten 
weeks  of  darkness  of  intellect  he  died  February  11, 
1874. 

Dr.  Havilah  Mowry  Sprague,'  born  at  Scotland, 
Windham  County,  Conn.,  July  4,  1835,  received  his 
first  tuition  in  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Hutchins. 
West  Killingly,  Conn.,  and  in  1858  became  a  student 
under  Professor  A.  C.  Post,  New  York  City.  He  at- 
tended the  New  York  University  Medical  College, 
and  received  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  1859-60  the 
first  prize  for  the  best  report  of  clinical  cases — a  post- 
mortem set  of  instruments,  which  were  finally  used 
at  his  own  autopsy. 

He  graduated  March  4, 18()4,  receiving  also  a  "  Cer- 
tificate of  Honor"'  for  having  pursued  a  more  extend- 
ed course  of  study  than  is  required  by  law.  In  the 
competitive  examination  for  the  position  of  "  Junior 
Walker "  in  the  New  York  Hospital,  he  passed  an 
examination  of  superior  excellence  and  was  appointed. 
While  here  he  passed  the  United  States  Army  Medi- 
cal Examining  Board,  standing  No.  2  in  general  merit 
out  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  candidates  exam- 
ined (it  is  said  that  No.  1  was  the  son  of  the  president 


-  Biography  by  Dr.  John  Parsons,  King's  Bridge. 


580 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  Examining  Board).  He  was  commissioned 
assistant  surgeon  United  States  army  May  28,  1861, 
and  ordered  to  New  Mexico,  but  upon  his  arrival 
in  Missouri  was  attached  to  the  array  of  General 
Lyon,  was  present  when  he  was  killed  at  Spring- 
field, and  subsequently  received  the  thanks  of  the 
commanding  general  for  bravery  and  skill  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  wounded. 

Dr.  Sprague  was  transferred  to  Assistant  Surgeon 
General  Wood's  office,  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  remained 
until  early  in  1863,  when  he  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Eliot  General  Hospital,  in  St.  Louis.  That  was 
shortly  discontinued,  and  he  took  charge  of  the  hos- 
pital steamer  "  City  of  Memphis,"  transporting  the  sick 
and  wounded  of  Grant's  army  around  Vicksburg  to 
hospitals  up  the  river.  During  the  final  days  of  the 
siege  of  Vicksburg  he  displayed  exalted  bravery  and 
fidelity  in  attention  to  the  men  torn  with  shot  and 
shell,  sent  to  his  steamer  for  such  aid  as  the  surgeons 
could  render  them.  In  November  he  was  ordered  on 
duty  as  secretary  of  the  Army  Medical  Examining 
Board,  in  New  York  City,  and  then  to  command  of 
the  McDougall  General  Hospital,  at  Fort  Schuyler, 
New  York  Harbor.  Thence  he  was  returned  to  the 
Examining  Board,  and  in  May,  1865,  resigned  from 
the  army,  his  name  standing  high  on  the  list  for 
promotion.  He  began  the  practice  of  medicine  at 
West  Farms,  and  in  1868  moved  to  Fordham.  He  was 
appointed  health  officer  of  the  town  of  West  Farms, 
was  the  first  physician  to  the  "  Home  for  Incurables," 
and  first  physician  to  the  "  House  of  Rest  for  Con- 
sumptives," at  Tremont.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Westchester  County  Medical  Society,  president  of  the 
Y'onkers  Medical  Association,  was  elected  a  dele- 
gate to  the  American  Medical  Association  for  1874 
from  the  latter  society,  and  was  preparing  to  at- 
tend its  meeting  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  when  he  was 
arrested  by  death ;  was  a  corresponding  member  of 
the  American  Microscopic  Society,  and  member  of  the 
New  York  Pathological  Society.  He  was  deeply 
learned  in  pathology,  and  marvelously  skilled  in  the 
use  of  the  microscope  and  the  preparation  of  speci- 
mens. On  May  30,  1874,  he  died  at  the  "  House  of 
Rest,"  where  he  had  been  seized  with  a  malarious  at- 
tack during  a  visit  on  the  previous  day.  An  autopsy 
was  made,  and  his  brain  was  found  to  weigh  sixty 
ounces. 

John  Foster  Jenkins,  A.M.,  M.D.,  was  born  at 
Falmouth,  Mass.,  April  15,  1826.  His  preliminary 
course  of  medical  reading  was  under  Dr.  Alexander 
M.  Yedder,  at  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  and  in  1848  he  re- 
ceived his  degree  from  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  The  next  year  he  de- 
voted to  an  extra  course  of  didactic  and  clinical  lec- 
tures at  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  Bosion.  From 
May,  1849,  to  May,  1856,  he  practiced  in  the  city  of 
New  York  (except  that  from  November,  1850,  to  July, 
1851,  he  was  in  Europe,  employing  most  of  that  time 
at  the  lectures  and  clinics  and  in  the  hospitals  of 


Paris).  In  May,  1856,  he  located  in  Yonkere  as  a 
general  practitioner  of  medicine,  surgery  and  obstet- 
rics. In  August,  1861,  he  entered  the  service  of  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission  as  hospital  visitor 
and  associate  secretary,  and  in  May,  1863,  succeeded 
Frederick  Law  Olmsted  as  general  secretary,  an  oflSce 
which,  in  May,  1865,  he  was  compelled  to  resign  be- 
cause of  the  failure  of  his  health  in  the  performance 
of  its  arduous  obligations.  He  renewed  his  j^ractice 
in  Y'onkers,  and,  in  1869,  made  a  second  voyage  to 
Europe.  On  June  21,  1877,  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  but 
declined  to  accept  because  of  his  doubt  as  to  the 
legality  of  the  meeting  at  which  he  was  chosen. 
Other  offices  which  he  held  were  as  follows:  Physi- 
cian of  the  St.  John's  Riverside  Hospital,  at  Yonk- 
ers  ;  surgeon  of  the  Yonkers  Board  of  Police  ;  senior 
warden  of  St.  Paul's  Parish,  Yonkers  ;  president  of 
the  Yonkers  Medical  Association  (of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  founders) ;  president  of  the  Westchester 
County  Medical  Society ;  vice-president  of  the  New 
York  Obstetrical  Society ;  permanent  member  of  the 
American  Jledical  Association ;  member  of  the  Amer- 
can  Public  Health  Association  ;  corresponding  Fellow 
of  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine ;  member  ot 
the  American  Social  Science  Association.  In  1878  he 
spent  six  months  at  the  sanitary  resorts  along  the 
Mediterranean  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  for 
nearly  three  years  after  his  return  kept  steadily  at  his 
work.  He  died  October  9,  1882,  and,  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  the  Yonkers 
Medical  Association,  at  its  next  meeting,  unanimously 
resolved  to  change  its  name  to  the  "Jenkins  Medical 
Association." 

Dr.  Jenkins  was  a  student  and  an  ardent  lover  of 
medical  literature,  both  ancient  and  modern.  He 
collected  a  large  and  valuable  medical  library.  His 
contributions  to  the  literature  will  be  found  in  the  list 
at  the  head  of  this  chapter. 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Horton  was  born  at  Croton,  West- 
chester County,  December  6,  1826,  and  accumulated 
by  manual  labor  the  money  which  enabled  him  to 
enter  the  Albany  Medical  College,  from  where  he 
graduated  in  1858,  but  continued  to  serve  some  time 
afterward  as  house  surgeon.  In  1859  he  removed  to 
Morrisania  and  entered  upon  a  large  and  successful 
practice.  In  1879,  and  again  in  1881,  he  visited 
Europe,  but  his  health,  which  had  greatly  failed,  was 
only  partially  restored,  and  on  September  13,  1884, 
he  again  sailed.  At  Florence,  Italy,  a  cold,  which  he 
caught  while  waiting  outside  the  railway  station,  de- 
veloped into  p  leurisy  and  ended  fatally  on  February 
24,  1885,  at  Rome.  His  remains  were  brought  to  his 
home  and  interred  March  3d,  at  Sing  Sing. 

Dr.  Piatt  Rogers  Halsted  Sawyer,  born  August  14, 
1834,  at  Westport,  N.  Y.,  studied  medicine  with  Dr. 
Bridges,  at  Ogdensburgh,  N.  Y.,  while  engaged  as 
principal  of  the  High  School  of  that  town.  After  a 
course  of  lectures  at  the  University  of  Vermont  he 


THE  i\mDICAL  PROFESSION. 


581 


entered  the  Albany  Medical  College,  from  which  he 
graduated.  At  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  he  was 
commissioned  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Forty-second 
Regiment,  New  York  Volunteers,  and  was  promoted 
to  surgeon  of  the  Ninety-sixth  liegiment.  After  the 
muster  out  he  practiced  at  Port  Henry,  N.  Y.,  then 
at  Gloversville,  and  in  18G8  settled  at  Bedford,  West- 
chester County,  where  he  died  March  31,  1885. 

He  was  for  two  terms  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
in  1881  was  elected  school  commissioner  and  re- 
elected in  1884.  He  was  a  member,  from  its  organi- 
zation, of  Stewart  Hart  Post,  G.  A.  R.,  Mount 
Kisco,  and  its  commander  for  one  year ;  and  an  earn- 
est and  active  member  of  Kisco  Lodge,  F.  and  A.  M. 
Among  other  offices  he  had  held  were  those  of  vice- 
president  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society, 
president  of  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society 
and  for  several  years  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  Bedford 
Academy. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


GEORGE  JACKSON  FISHER. 

George  Jackson  Fisher,  M.D.,  who  has  contributed 
more  to  the  medical  literature  of  Westchester  County 
than  any  man  either  living  or  dead,  was  born  in 
Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  November  27,  1825,  and 
is  a  descendant  of  the  early  Dutch  settlers,  whose 
original  name  was  Vischer.  His  father,  who  had  been 
a  merchant  in  the  city  of  New  York,  removed  to  the 
central  part  of  the  State,  and  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits,  when  his  son  George  was  but  eleven  years 
of  age.  To  his  somewhat  solitary  life  in  the  country 
the  doctor  attributes  his  fondness  for  Nature.  To 
him  she  has  always  had  "  a  voice  of  gladness,  and  a 
smile  and  eloquence  of  beauty,"  and  much  of  his  life 
has  been  spent  in  holding  communion  with  her  visi- 
ble forms.  This  is  the  secret  of  his  preference  for 
rural  and  village  life,  instead  of  the  allurements  of  a 
city  practice.  The  principal  portion  of  his  office  pu- 
pilage was  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Nelson  Nivison, 
then  of  Mecklenburgh,  Tompkins  County,  N.  Y., 
now  professor  of  physiology  and  pathology  in  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Syracuse  University.  Dr. 
Fisher  attended  his  first  courses  of  medical  lectures 
at  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Buf- 
falo, at  which  time  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  Frank  Hastings 


Hamilton,  James  P.  White  and  other  celebrated  pro- 
fessors gave  character  to  this  excellent  school  of  med- 
icine. He  next  attended  the  lectures  and  demonstra- 
tions at  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  ol 
the  City  of  New  Yoi'k,  where  Mott,  Pattison  and 
Draper  were  the  great  luminaries  of  science  and 
practice.  Here  he  graduated  in  the  class  of  1849. 
Immediately  thereafter  he  entered  into  a  copartner- 
ship with  his  preceptor.  In  1851  he  removed  to 
Sing  Sing,  where  he  has  continued  his  practice  to  the 
present  time.  In  his  time  he  has  performed  most  of 
the  important  operations  of  surgery,  including  ampu- 
tations, trephining,  ovariotomy,  the  Ctesarean  sec- 
tion, the  removal  of  uterine  fibroids,  and,  on  two 
occasions,  the  ligation  of  the  common  carotid  artery, 
with  successful  results.  He  has  been  the  recipient  of 
many  honors,  among  which  was  the  honorary  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  in  1859,  from  Madison  Univer- 
sity ;  twice  the  presidency  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
Westchester  County;  in  1864,  vice- 
president  of  theMedical  Society  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  in 
1874  president  of  the  same ;  cor- 
responding member  of  the  Boston 
Gynaecological  Society ;  Fellow  of 
the  New  York  Academy  of  Medi- 
cine ;  member  of  the  New  York 
Lyceum  of  Natural  History ;  corres- 
ponding  member  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  ; 
permanent  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  of  the  American  Medical 
Association ;  delegate  from  the  Medical  Society  of  the 
State  of  New  York  to  the  International  Medical  Con- 
gress in  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  etc.  He  has  also  held 
the  office  of  president  of  the  village  of  Sing  Sing, 
and  was  for  several  years  physician  and  surgeon  of 
the  State  Prisons  at  Sing  Sing,  for  both  males  and 
females.  For  twenty  years  he  was  brigade-surgeon, 
N.  Y.  S.  M.,  and,  for  a  like  period,  United  States 
examining  surgeon  in  the  Pension  Bureau. 

On  several  occasions  he  served  as  a  volunteer  sur- 
geon for  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  after 
the  great  battles  of  the  Rebellion,  and  also  as  medical 
director  of  a  floating  hospital. 

His  professional  essays  which  have  been  thus  far 
printed  amount  to  not  less  than  one  thousand  octavo 
pages.  They  embrace  a  variety  of  interesting  topics; 
among  them  are  the  following  titles :  ''  Biographical 
Sketches  of  Deceased  Physicians  of  Westchester 
County,  N.  Y."  (1861) ;  "  On  the  Animal  Substances 
employed  as  Medicines  by  the  Ancients"  (1862); 
"  Diploteratology,"  or  an  essay  on  "  Double-Mon- 
sters "  (Trans,  of  the  Med.  Soc.  of  the  State  of  y.  Y., 
1865-68) ;  "A  Brief  History  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Cir- 
culation of  the  Blood  "  (Pop.  Sci.  Monthly,  July,  1877) ; 
"  Teratology  "  [Johmon's  Universal  Cychpcedia,  vol.  i  v.); 
"Influence  of  the  Maternal  Mind  in  the  Production 
of  Malformations "  {Amer.  Journ.  of  Insanity,  vol. 
xxvi.  January,  1870) ;  "  Sketches  of  the  Lives,  Times 


582 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  Works  of  some  of  the  Old  Masters  of  Anatomy, 
Surgery  and  Medicine  "  (consisting  of  twenty  sketches, 
in  Annals  of  Anatomy  and  8ur(jery,  vols,  ii.-viii., 
1880-83);  "History  of  Surgery"  (International 
Encyclopaedia  of  Surgery"  vol.  vi.,  N.  Y.,  1886). 
Several  minor  articles  could  be  added  to  the  above  list. 

Dr.  Fisher  has  shown  a  profound  interest  in  the 
literature  of  his  profession,  both  ancient  and  mod- 
ern. His  library,  which  is  quite  well  known  to  the 
medical  scholars  of  the  country,  contains  about 
four  thousand  volumes,  including  many  of  the 
rarest  books  now  existing,  in  most  of  the  depart- 
ments of  the  healing  art.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
collection  of  the  medical  classics  equal  to  his  to  be 
found  in  private  hands  in  the  United  States.  It 
includes  large  series  of  works  illustrating  the  devel- 
opment of  anatomy,  surgery,  materia  medica  and 
medicine,  from  the  earliest  periods  to  the  present 
time.  His  collections  of  works  pertaining  to  the 
history  of  medicine,  and  the  biography  of  physicians 
and  surgeons,  are  quite  extensive. 

The  doctor  has  also  been  to  great  pains  and  cost  in 
collecting  the  bibliography  of  teratology,  a  subject  to 
which  he  has  bestowed  special  attention.  Mention 
should  also  be  made  of  his  collection  of  medals  relat- 
ing to  the  medical  profession  ;  and,  also,  of  his  collec- 
tion of  more  than  one  thousand  engraved  portraits  of 
celebrated  physicians,  surgeons,  anatomists  and  medi- 
cal authors.  His  library  is  enriched  by  a  well- 
selected  collection  of  medical  essays,  embracing 
about  three  thousand  pamjihlcts,  all  carefully  cata- 
logued and  indexed.  His  private  museum  contains 
collections  of  typical  objects  in  conchology,  palseon- 
tology,  mineralogy  and  archaeology.  The  latter  de- 
partment is  quite  rich  in  specimens  of  the  stone 
implements  of  the  American  aborigines. 

It  is  to  Dr.  Fisher  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  his- 
tory of  the  town  of  Ossining,  which  forms  one  of  the 
chapters  of  this  work. 

THE  JAY  FAMILY. 

The  Jay  family,*  so  well-known  throughout  West- 
chester County,  and  indeed  throughout  the  whole 
'country,  trace  their  ancestry  to  Pierre  Jay,  who  left 
France  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

He  was  an  active  and  opulant  merchant,  extensively 
and  profitably  engaged  in  commerce.  He  married 
Judith,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Francois,  a  merchant  in 
Rochelle.  One  of  her  sisters  married  M.  Mouchard, 
whose  son  was  a  director  of  the  French  East  India 
Company.  Pierre  Jay  had  three  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter. The  sons  were  Francis,  who  was  the  eldest; 
Augustus,  born  March  23,  1665  and  Isaac.  The 
daughtei-'s  name  was  Frances.  Mr.  Jay  seems  to 
have  been  solicitous  to  have  one  of  his  sons  educa- 
ted in  England.  He  first  sent  his  eldest,  but  he  un- 
foi-tunately   died  of  sea-sickness  on   the  passage. 

iThe  Jay  family  and  Johu  f'larkson  Jay,  M.D.,  (compiled  from  a 
sketch  of  the  Jay  family  in  "  Baird's  History  of  Rye.") 


Notwithstanding  this  distressing  e^ent,  he  immedi- 
ately sent  over  Augustus,  who  was  then  only  twelve 
years  old.  In  1683,  he  recalled  Augustus  and  sent 
him  to  Africa,  but  to  what  part  or  for  what  purpose 
is  now  unknown. 

During  the  absence  of  Augustus,  the  persecution  of 
the  Protestants  in  France  became  severe;  and  Pierre 
Jay  became  one  of  its  objects.  Dragoons  were  quar- 
tered in  his  house,  and  his  family  were  subjected  to 
serious  annoyance.  He  was  imprisoned  in  the  castle 
of  Rochelle,  but  was  released  through  the  influence 
of  some  Roman  Catholic  connections.  Having  at 
the  time  several  vessels  out  at  sea  which  were  ex- 
pected soon  in  port,  he  desired  a  Protestant  pilot  in 
his  employ  to  take  the  first  of  these  vessels  that 
should  arrive  to  a  place  agreed  upon  the  Island  of 
Rhe.  The  ship  that  arrived  first  was  one  from  Spain, 
of  which  he  was  the  sole  owner.  The  pilot  was 
faithful  to  his  trust,  and  in  due  time  Mr.  Jay  reached 
England  and  rejoined  his  family,  whom  he  had  sent 
to  England  some  time  before,  at  Plymouth. 

Augustus  Jay  returned  to  France  from  Africa, 
ignorant  of  these  family  changes.  As  it  was  unsafe 
to  appear  in  Rochelle  openly,  he  was  secreted  for  some 
time  by  his  aunt,  Madame  Mouchard,  a  Protestant, 
but  whose  husband  was  a  Roman  Catholic.  With 
the  help  of  his  friends  he  escaped  to  the  West  Indies, 
and  thence  to  Charleston,  S.  C.  The  climate  proving 
unfavorable,  he  removed  to  Philadelphia  and  after- 
wards to  Esopus  on  the  Hudson  River,  where  he 
entered  into  business  ;  but  ultimately  settled  in  New 
York.  He  re-visited  France  and  England  in  1692,  and 
saw  his  father  and  sister  ;  his  mother  had  lately  died. 

In  1697  he  married,  in  New  York  Anna  Maria, 
daughter  of  Balthazar  Bayard,  the  descendant  of  a 
Protestant  professor  of  theology  at  Paris  in  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIII.,  who  had  been  compelled  to  leave 
Paris  and  take  refuge  with  his  wife  and  children  in 
Holland  ;  whence  several  members  of  the  family  came 
to  America.  Mrs.  Jay  was  a  woman  of  eminent 
piety.  It  is  mentioned  that  she  died  while  on  her 
knees  in  prayer. 

Augustus  Jay  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of  eighty- 
six,  respected  and  esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  died  in  New  York  where  he  had  j^ursued  his 
calling  as  a  merchant  with  credit  and  success,  March 
10,  1751. 

Peter  Jay,  only  son  of  Augustus,  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Jacobus  VanCortlandt,  January  20, 1728. 
Like  his  father,  he  was  a  merchant  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Having  earned  a  fortune  which  added  to  the 
property  he  had  acquired  by  inheritance  and  mar- 
riage, he  thought  sufiicient,  he  resolved  when  little 
more  than  forty  years  old,  to  retire  into  the  country, 
and  for  this  purpose  purchased  a  farm  at  Rye,  where 
he  died  April  17,  1782. 

James  Jay,  third  son  of  Peter,  born  October  16, 
1732,  became  Sir  James  .Jay,  Kt.;  he  resided  for  some 
years  in  England,  and  returned  after  the  Revolution 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


583 


to  New  York,  where  he  lived  uutil  his  death,  Octo- 
ber 20,  1815.  On  his  return  from  Enghmd  in  1784 
or  1785,  he  brought  propositions  from  the  Countess  of 
Huntington  to  some  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  for 
establishing  settlements  of  emigrants  among  the 
Indians,  with  a  view  to  civilizing  them,  and  convert- 
ing them  to  Christianity.  General  Washington  in  a 
letter  to  him  dated  January  2'^,  1785,  expresses  his 
entire  approval  of  the  plan,  and  suggests  that  it 
should  be  brought  before  Congress.' 

Peter,  fourth  son  of  Peter  Jay,  and  brother  of  the 
former,  was  born  December  IJt,  1734,  and  married  in 
17St',  Mary  Duyckinck.  Though  he  had  the  misfor- 
tune of  losing  his  eyesight  in  early  life  through  an 
attack  of  small-pox,  many  interesting  stories  are  re- 
lated of  his  ingenuity  and  sagacity  and  he  is  said  to 
have  possessed  a  fine  mind  and  an  excellent  character. 

John  Jay,  sixth  son  of  Peter,  was  born  December  12, 
1745.  His  boyhood  was  spent  at  Rye  and  New 
Rochelle.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  17G8.  On  I 
Ajtril  28.  1774,  he  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  William 
Livingston,  afterwards  governor  of  New  Jersey.  He 
soon  took  a  foremost  position  in  the  politics  of  the 
country,  and  was  prominent  in  the  debates  of  the  first 
and  the  second  Continental  Congress.  In  1777  he  was 
appointed  chief  justice  of  the  State  of  New  York.  In 
1778  he  was  elected  president  of  Congress.  In  1779 
he  was  sent  as  Minister  to  Spain,  and  from  thence,  in 
1780,  went  to  Pans  as  Commissioner  to  assist  in  the 
negotiation  of  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain. 
He  returned  to  New  York  in  1784,  after  an  absence  of 
five  years,  and  was  received  with  tokens  of  esteem 
and  admiration.  December  21, 1784,  he  was  appointed 
by  Congress,  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  and  held 
the  office  for  five  years.  He  was  one  of  the  con- 
tributors to  The  Federalist.  In  1789  he  was  appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  United  States, — an  office  which  he 
was  the  first  to  fill.  In  1794  he  was  sent  as  special 
Minister  to  London,  upon  a  delicate  and  most  im- 
portant mission,  relating  to  difficulties  growing  out 
of  unsettled  boundaries  and  certain  commercial  com- 
plications. He  discharged  this  duty  with  great 
ability,  and  upon  his  return  to  America,  in  1795,  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  At  the  end  of  three  years  he  was  re- 
elected, and  at  the  expiration  of  a  second  term  was 
solicited  to  become  a  candidate  for  election  a  third 
time.  But  he  had  determined  to  renounce  public 
life,  and  though  nominated  again  in  1800,  to  the 
ofiice  of  chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  declined 
the  honor,  and  retired  to  his  paternal  estate,  at  Bed- 
ford ;  a  property — part  of  the  Van  Cortlandt  estate — 
which  his  father  had  acquired  by  marriage  with 
Mary,  a  daughter  of  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt.  There 
he  lived  tor  twenty-eight  years  a  peaceful  and  hon- 
ored life.  In  1827  he  was  seized  with  severe  illness, 
and  after  two  years  of  weakness  and  suflering,  was 


'  ■"  Writings  of  Washington,"  by  .Tared  Sparks.    Vol.  IX.,  [ip.  SC-i*!i. 


Struck  with  palsy,  May  14,  1829,  and  died  three  days 
after.  He  was  buried  in  the  family  cemetery  at  Rye. 
His  public  reputation  as  a  patriot  and  statesman  of 
the  Revolution  was  second  only  to  that  of  Washing- 
ton, and  his  private  character  as  a  man  and  a  Chris- 
tian is  singularly  free  from  stain  or  blemish.^ 

Peter  Augustus,  eldest  son  of  John  Jay,  was  born 
January  24,  177t).  He  graduated  from  Columbia 
College  in  1794  and  studied  law  under  Peter  J. 
Monroe.  He  married  Mary  Rutherford,  daughter  of 
General  Matthew  Clarkson,  and  became  prominent 
in  the  legal  profession  and  public  affairs.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  State  Assembly  in  1816 ;  recorder 
of  New  York  in  1818;  a  member  of  the  convention 
which  framed  the  constitution  of  the  State  in  1821, 
and  for  many  years  president  of  the  New  York  Histori- 
cal Society,  trustee  of  Columbia  College,  etc.  He  re- 
ceived the  degree  ofLL.D.  in  1831,  from  Harvard,  and 
in  1835  from  Columbia.    He  died  February  20,  1843. 

John  Clarkson  Jay,  M.D.,  eldest  sou  of  Peter 
Augustus,  was  born  September  11,  1808,  and  mar- 
ried Laura,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Prime.  Heis  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  estate  atRye,andthe  present  well-known 
representative  of  the  family  in  Westchester  County. 
After  a  thorough  preparation  in  private  schools,  among 
which  were  those  of  the  blind  teacher,  Mr.  Nelson, 
and  the  IMcCulloch  school  at  Morristown,  N.  Y.,  he  en- 
tered Columbia  College,  from  which  he  graduated,  to- 
gether, with  the  late  Secretary  of  State,  Hamilton 
Fish,  and  many  other  distinguished  men  in  the  class 
of  1827.''  In  1831  he  took  his  degree  as  M.D.  He  has 
been  a  deep  student  of  natural  history,  especially  of 
conchology,  and  the  valuable  collection  of  shells, 
formerly  in  his  possession,  and  which  is  now  in  the 
New  York  Museum  of  Natural  History,  having  been 
purchased  by  Miss  Wolf  and  presented  to  that  in- 
stitution by  her,  in  memory  of  her  father,  has  the  rep- 
utation of  being  the  finest  in  the  country.  On  this 
blanch  Dr.  Jay  has  written  several  pamphlets, among 
which  are  the  following :  "  Catalogue  of  Recent 
Shells,  etc.,"  New  York,  1835,  8vo,  pp.  56 ;  "De- 
scription of  New  and  Rare  Shells,  with  four  plates," 
New  York,  1836,  2d  ed.,  pp.  78 ;  "  A  Catalogue,  &c., 
together  witli  a  description  of  new  and  Rare  Species," 
New  York,  pp.  125,  4to.,  ten  plates.  The  article  on 
shells  in  the  narrative  of  Commodore  Perry's  expedi- 
tion to  Japan,  is  also  by  him.  He  has  been  con- 
nected with  many  prominent  literary  and  social  or- 
ganizations, both  in  Westchester  County  and  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  where  he  spends  much  of  his  time. 
He  has  been  for  many  years  a  trustee  of  Columbia 
College,  and  has,  at  two  different  periods,  served  as 
trustee  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of 
the  City  of  New  York.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  at  one  time  recording  secretary  of  the  New  York 
Yacht  Club,  the  annals  of  which  will  show  the  lively 
interest  which  he  took  in  its  management  and  general 

Tlie  Life  of  .loliii  Jay,"  in  2  vols.     By  Ills  son,  William  ,Tay. 
3See  "Continued  Catalogue  of  Columbia  College." 


584 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


affairs.  The  records  of  the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History,  now  known  as  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  will  exhibit  the  interest  mani  tested 
by  him  iu  that  most  useful  organization. 

Dr.  Jay  is  an  Episcopalian  and  has  been  connected 
for  many  years  with  Christ  Church,  Rye,  of  which  he 
is  warden.  He  is  well  known  throughout  Westches- 
ter County,  where  he  has  long  been  greatly  appre- 
ciated for  his  social  and  literary  qualities. 

These  and  many  other  illustrious  names  have 
adorned  the  history  of  the  Jay  family  in  America, 
the  members  of  which  have  ever  been  faithful  to  their 
country,  faithful  to  their  religion  and  faithful  to  them- 
selves. Their  residence  there  has  added  lustre  to  West- 
chester County,  and  their  noble  influence  will  be  re- 
membered while  American  history  continues  to  be  read- 


WILLIAM  ANDERSON  VARIAN. 

William  Anderson  Varian,  M.D.,  is  descended  from 
an  old  French  family,  who  came  to  this  country  at  an 
early  date,  the  regular  line  of  descent  being  as  fol- 
lows :  First,  Isaac,  who  was  living  in  New  York  in 
1720  and  died  about  1800 ;  second,  James,  born  Janu- 
ary 10.  1734,  died  Decemb(fl-  11,  1800;  third,  James, 
born  November  22, 1765,  died  December  26,  1841 ; 
fourth,  Dr.  William  A.  Varian,  who  was  born  at  Scars- 
dale  January  23,  1820.  His  mother  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  John  Cornell,  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  and  of  a  family  noted  for  patriotism  and  vir- 
tue. He  attended  school  in  his  native  place  up  to  the 
age  of  sixteen,  and  then  went  to  White  Plains,  where 
he  was  a  student  at  the  academy  for  three  years.  He 
then  entered  the  office  of  Livingston  Roe,  M.D.,  and 
continued  with  him  for  the  same  period.  The  death 
of  his  father,  which  occurred  about  that  time,  ren- 
dered it  necessary  for  him  to  labor  for  his  own  sup- 
port, and  for  a  while  he  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in 
East  Chester.  He  afterwards  entered  the  office  of 
Dr.  James  R.  Wood,  a  prominent  physician  of  New 
York,  and  remained  under  his  instruction  for  three 
years,  at  the  same  time  attending  the  lectures  at  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  where  he  graduated,  with  the  degree  of 
M.D.,  March  4,  1846.  After  practicing  for  one  year 
in  New  York  he  removed  to  King's  Bridge,  which  has 
ever  since  been  his  home,  and  has  been  constantly 
employed  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1849 
he  purchased  a  portion  of  the  old  Macomb  estate  and 
erected  his  present  residence.  He  married  Frances 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Francis  Losee,  September  11, 
1845.  Their  children  were  Sarah  (deceased),  Pamelia 
(wifeof  Maynard  L.  Granger),  James  (of  Neola,  Iowa), 
George  Dibble  (deceased),  Sarah  and  Alice  (both  de- 
ceased). 

Dr.  Varian  is  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  King's 
Bridge  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
the  locality  and  its  early  families.  When  he  com- 
menced practice,  the  country  round  was  thinly  set- 
tled, and  his  rides  to  visit  his  patients  extended  from 


One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Street  on  one  hand  to  Green- 
burgh  on  the  other.  He  was  also  frequently  called  to 
the  villages  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and 
on  one  occasion,  while  crossing  during  a  cold  winter 
night,  his  boat  became  fast  in  the  floes  of  floating  ice 
and  drifted  below  Fort  Washington  ;  he  and  his  two 
companions  narrowly  escaping  a  watery  grave.  He 
was  present  when  ground  was  broken  for  the  Hudsjn 
River  Railroad  and  was  surgeon  for  the  company  of 
contractors,  they  paying  him  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
five  cents  a  month  for  each  man  on  the  work. 

In  1850  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Edwin  N. 
Bibby,  a  prominent  physician  of  New  York,  and  this 
acquaintance  ripened  into  a  deep  friendship,  which 
lasted  till  the  death  of  Dr.  Bibby,  in  1882.  He  was 
for  many  years  his  family  physician.  Dr.  Bibby  hav- 
ing retired  from  practice  and  spent  the  last  years  of 
his  life  on  the  Van  Cortlandt  Manor.  During  the 
late  war  Dr.  Varian  was  a  strong  friend  of  the  Union 
and  plainly  outspoken  in  his  sentiments.  During  the 
riots  in  1863  his  life  was  repeatedly  threatened,  and 
for  a  while  he  made  his  professional  visits  armed  with 
a  double-barreled  gun  and  a  revolver,  which  he 
would  have  unhesitatingly  used  had  occasion  required. 
In  politics  and  religion  he  maintains  independent  and 
liberal  views,  and  the  evening  of  his  life  is  passed  in 
the  enjoyment  of  friends  and  home.  He  had  for  many 
years  been  one  of  the  police  surgeons  of  New  York  and 
commands  the  respect  of  his  professional  brethren. 

HOSEA  FOUNTAIN,  M.D. 

Hosea  Fountain,  M.D.,  the  second  son  of  James 
Fountain.  M.D.,  was  born  at  Jefferson  Valley,  a  ham- 
let in  the  northern  portion  of  Yorktown,  July  24, 
1817.  His  ancestry,  both  paternal  and  maternal, 
were  English.  The  Fountain  family,  probably,  were 
of  Norman  origin,  and  are  supposed  to  be  descended 
from  Sir  John  Fountain,  a  monument  to  whom  is 
found  in  a  village  church-yard  in  Devonshire,  Eng- 
land. Moses  Fountain  emigrated  from  Bedfordshire, 
England,  in  1650.    The  genealogy  is  as  follows, — 

Moses  Fountain. 

Moses  Fountain  (whom  w  e  find  in  the  town  of  Bedford  in  1741.) 
I 

Matthew  Fountain  (who  being  a  loyalist  during  the  Revolution,  moved 
I  within  the  English  lines  to  East  Oiester.) 

Rev.  Ezra  Fountain  (pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Bedford  for  thirty- 
j  five  years.) 

I  i  i 

James,  M.D.  Hosea.  Tyler. 


Jabes  Husted.     Hosea)  Cyrus  Horton.   Ezra  James,  M.D. 

Elias.  ) 

Dr.  Fountain's  maternal  grandfather  lived  at  Cos- 
cob,  Conn.,  prior  to  the  Revolution,  but  being  a 
loyalist  his  property  was  confiscated  and  he  was 
obliged  to  accept  a  settlement  at  the  hands  of  the 
British  government  at  St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 
Charlotte  Husted  wa.s  born  there,  but  at  the  age  of 
twelve  or  thirteen  years,  came  to  New  York  to  reside 


I 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


585 


with  her  aunt,  who  was  a  Van  Guilder.  Here,  doubt- 
less, Dr.  James  Fountain  made  her  acquaintance. 

Hosea  Fountain  received  his  English  education  in 
the  district  school  of'his  native  village,  and  at  a  school 
kept  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Patterson,  in  Patterson,  Putnam 
County,  X.  Y.  His  professional  studies  were  pursued 
at  several  schools.  He  attended  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Fairfield  College,  Fairfield,  N.  Y.,  1835-36  ; 
Jefl'erson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  1836- 
37  ;  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  New  York, 
1837-38,  and  would  have  graduated  at  the  latter  in 
March,  1838,  if  he  had  reached  his  majority.  For 
this  reason  we  find  him  in  1838-39  at  the  Medical 
Institution  of  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  Ct.  He  re- 
ceived his  degree  of  M.D.  March  26,  1839,  from  the 
College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  of  New  York, 
and  spent  six  months  in 
the  New  York  Hosjiital. 
He  practiced  medicine 
with  his  father  at  Jeffer- 
son Valley  for  a  time,  and 
after  his  marriage  with 
Mary  Horton,  daughter  of 
Joel  and  Harriet  Mont- 
rous  Horton,  in  February 
19,  1840,  he  settled  at 
Peekskill.  In  1843  he 
removed  to  Somers,  and 
later  in  1854  or  1855  he 
purchased  the  property  on 
which  he  resided,  until  his 
death,  August  28,  1885. 
Yorktown  and  the  adjoin- 
ing town  of  Somers  were 
the  field  of  his  profession- 
al labors,  until  April,  1884, 
more  than  forty  years.  He 
was  laid  to  rest  Septem- 
ber 1,  1885.  The  funeral 
took  place  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  which  was 
filled  with  those  who 
themselve-i  or  in  their 

families,  had  had  the  benefit  at  one  time  or  another  of 
his  professional  services.  June  20,  1872,  he  married, 
as  his  second  wife,  Mary  Brett,  daughter  of  James  and 
Helen  Ann  Brett,  of  Fishkill  and  grand-daughter  of 
Ebenezer  White,  M.D.,  of  Somers.  She  survives  him. 
The  issue  of  the  first  marriage  are  Harriet  Louise, 
Eliiis,  Charlotte  (now  Mrs.  Erskine  Wcstervelt,  of 
Hackensack,  N.  J.),  and  Mary  Emma  (now  Mrs. 
Theodore  F.  Tompkins,  of  Yorktown.)  Of  the  second, 
Grace,  Elias  Fountain  (who  was  second  lieutenant  of 
the  Si.xth  New  York  Heavy  Artillery,  and  died  from 
the  effects  of  a  wound  received  at  Cedar  Creek,  Va., 
October  19,  1864),  and  his  sister,  Harriet  Louise,  who 
died  ten  days  later  from  a  gangrenous  sore-throat,  con- 
tracted from  him  while  caring  for  him  in  his  last  illness. 
55 


< 


THE  HASBROUCK  FAMILY. 

The  Hasbrouck  family  is  of  French  Huguenot 
origin,  and  descended  from  Abraham  Hasbroucq,  who 
was  a  native  of  Calais.  His  father  moved  to  the 
Palatinate,  in  Germany,  with  his  two  sons,  Jean  and 
Abraham,  and  a  daughter.  Here  they  lived  for 
several  years,  and  in  1675  Abraham  Hasbroucq  came 
to  America  "  with  several  of  his  acquaintances,  the 
descendants  or  followers  of  Peter  Waldus."  He 
landed  at  Boston,  and  in  July,  1675,  found  his  way  to 
Esopus,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  found  his 
brother  Jean,  "who  had  come  two  years  before."  The 
next  year  he  married  Marie,  daughter  of  Christian 
Duyou  (Deyo),  with  whom  he  was  acquainted  in  the 

Palatinate.  She  died 
March  27, 1741,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight.  In  1677 
he,  with  twelve  others,  ob- 
tained a  patent  from  Gov- 
ernor Andross,  for  a  large 
tract  o'f  land  at  New 
Paltz,  in  Ulster  County, 
where  he  and  his  brother 
settled  and  "  lived  and 
died  there."  Abraham 
Hasbroucq  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Walloon 
Protestant  Church,  at 
New  Paltz.  He  was  a 
very  prominent  citizen, 
and  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  Provin- 
cial Assembly.  On  Sun- 
day, March  17,  1717,  he 
was  struck  with  apoplexy, 
"  whereof  he  died  very 
suddenly  at  a  very  good 
old  age,  and  rests  in  the 
Lord  till  his  coming  to 
judge  both  the  quick  and 
the  dead."  He  left  five 
  children, — Joseph,  Solo- 
mon (who  died  April  3, 
1753),  Daniel  (died  January  25th,  1759,  aged 
sixty-seven),  Benjamin  and  Rachel,  (wife  of  Louis 
Dubois). 

Joseph,  the  eldest  son,  married,  in  1706,  Elsie,  daugh- 
ter of  Captain  Joachim  Schoonmaker,  whose  father, 
Hendrick  Joakimse  Schoonmaker,  "  was  a  native  of 
Hanse  Town,  in  Germany."  Joseph  Hasbrouck  died 
January  28, 1723-24,  age  forty  years  and  three  months. 
His  wife,  Elsie,  died  July  27, 1764,  aged  seventy-eight 
years,  eight  months,  three  days,  "and  was  buried 
at  New  Paltz  by  the  side  of  her  husband.  She 
brought  up  all  her  children  in  honor  and  credit." 
They  left  "  six  sons  and  four  daughters," — Abraham  ; 
Isaac  D. ;  Rachel,  born  1715,  died  1756,  wife  of  Jan 
Eltinge;  Mary,  wife  of  Abraham  Hardenberg,  born 


586 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


January  10,  1714,  died  1774;  Sarah,  wife  of  William 
Osterhoudt,  born  February  21,  1709,  died  1780;  Ben- 
jamin ;  Jacob,  who  married  Mary  Hoornbeck ;  and 
Colonel  Jonathan.'  The  names  of  one  son  and  one 
daughter  do  not  appear.  Abraham,  the  eldest  son, 
was  born  on  the  old  family  homestead  at  Guilford, 
Ulster  County,  August  21,  1707.  He  married  his  first 
cousin,  Catharine  Bruyn,  January  5,  1788-89.  She 
was  born  June  24,  1720,  and  died  August  10,  1793. 
She  was  a  daughter  of  Jacobus  Bruyn,  and  his  wife, 
Tryntie,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  Joakim 
Schoonmaker,  and  died  August  27, 1763,  aged  seventy- 
eight.  The  father  of  Jacobus  Bruyn  "  was  a  native 
of  Norway,  and  came  here  in  the  Dutch  time,  and 
married  Gertruy  Esselstein."  Jacobus  Bruyn  lived  at 
Bruynswyck,  in  Ulster  County,  and  died  November 
21,  1744,  aged  sixty-four.  He  had  a  sister  E-sther, 
who  married  Zachariah  Hoffma'n.  Abraham  Has- 
brouck  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Ulster 
County,  and  was  for  thirty  years  a  member  of  the 
Legislature.  He  settled  in  Kingston  in  1735,  and 
died  there  November  10,  1791,  and  "was  buried  the 
next  day  with  the  honors  of  war."  He  left  eight 
children, — Elsie,  wife  of  Abraham  Salisbury;  Catha- 
rine, wife  of  Abram  Houghtaling ;  Mary,  wife  of 
David  Bevier ;  Jonathan,  who  married  Catharine, 
daughter  of  Cornelius  and  Catharine  Wynkoop ;  Jo- 
seph, who  married  Elizabeth  Bevier;  Jacobus,  who 
married  Maria,  daughter  of  Charles  De  Witt ;  and 
Daniel,  who  married  Rachel,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Jonathan  Hasbrouck  (his  uncle),  of  Newburgh. 

Isaac  Hasbrouck,  the  second  son  of  Josejjh,  was 
born  March  12,  1712  (O.S.).  In  1766  he  married 
Antie  Low,  widow  of  John  Van  Gaasbeck.  They  had 
three  children — Joseph,  Elsie  and  Jane,  wife  of  John 
Crispell.  Isaac  died  April  6,  1778,  "and  was  buried 
at  the  Shawangunk  church-yard,  near  the  burying- 
place  of  Jacobus  Bruyn's  family."  His  widow, 
Antie,  died  October  2,  1784. 

Joseph  Hasbrouck,  the  son  of  Isaac  and  Antie, 
married  Cornelia,  daughter  of  Edmond  Schoonmaker, 
and  they  were  the  parents  of  nine  children — Stephen; 
Sarah,  wife  of  David  Tuttle  ;  Maria,  wife  of  Thomas 
Ostrander ;  Jane,  wife  of  Cornelius  De  Witt ;  Katy, 
wife  of  Samuel  Johnson ;  Levi,  George,  Abel  and 
Augustus. 

Augustus  Hasbrouck  married  Jane  Eltinge,  and 
left  children — Dr.  Stephen,  of  Yonkers;  Dr.  Joseph, 
of  Dobbs  Ferry;  Wilhelnms,  Cornelius,  Richard, 
Augustus,  Cornelia,  wife  of  William  Simpson,  Abra- 
ham, James  H.,  Aaron,  David,  Herman  and  Edward. 


1  Col.  Jonathan  Hasbrouck  was  the  youngest  child,  and  was  born  April 
12,  1722.  He  married  Tryntie,  daughter  of  Corneli\is  Dubois,  and  set- 
tled in  Newburgh.  He  died  .luly  31,  1780,  and  "  was  buried  on  his  own 
land  by  two  of  his  sons,  between  his  house  and  the  North  River."  His 
homestead  is  the  famous  "  Washington's  Headquarters,"  at  Newburgh, 
now  uwned  by  the  State  of  New  York.  He  left  children  — Cornelius, 
Isaac,  Jonathan,  Rachel  and  JIary.  He  was  a  very  tall  man,  being  six 
feet  four  inches  in  height. 


Stephen  Hasbrouck,  M.D.,  son  of  Augustus  Has- 
brouck and  Jane  Elting,  was  born  in  Bergen  County, 
N.  J.,  January  29,  1842.  His  maternal  grandfather 
was  pastor  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Paramus 
for  thirty  years.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  young  Has- 
brouck went  to  Great  Fulls,  Mass.,  where  he  engaged 
as  a  clerk.  He  stayed  three  years,  then  returned  home, 
and  attended  the  Normal  School  at  Trenton,  and 
afterwards  entered  business  as  a  commission  mer- 
chant in  New  York.  In  1862  he  entered  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  afterwards  studied 
in  the  New  York  Homceopathic  Medical  College. 
At  the  close  of  the  late  war  a  colony  from  New  Or- 
leans, composed  of  persons  who  had  been  disloyal  to 
the  Union,  resolved  to  seek  a  new  home  in  Brazil. 
They  numbered  about  three  hundred  souls,  and  en- 
gaged the  services  of  Dr.  Hasbrouck  as  surgeon  to  the 
expedition.  The  experience  of  a  few  years  convinced 
most  of  them  that  they  had  not  bettered  their  condi- 
tion by  leaving  their  native  country,  and,  through  the 
influence  of  Dr.  Hasbrouck,  the  captains  of  some  ol 
the  United  States  war  vessels  were  induced  to  bring 
back  the  relics  of  the  colony,  who  returned  much 
better  reconciled  to  the  government  and  the  starry  flag 
than  when  they  went  away.  While  in  Brazil  he  wrote 
a  history  of  the  practice  of  homcejpathy  in  that 
country,  which  was  published  by  the  New  England 
Medical  Gazette.  He  was  on  the  island  of  St.  Thomas 
during  the  hurricane  and  earthquake  which  devas- 
tated it,  and  published  the  first  description  of  the 
fearful  scene  of  destruction.  On  his  return  he  gradu- 
ated from  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Medical  Col- 
lege, and  settled  at  Dobbs  Ferry,  where  he  remained 
three  years  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1874 
he  removed  to  New  Y'ork,  where  he  stayed  till  1881, 
when  he  made  a  very  extensive  tour  in  Europe  and 
the  East,  visiting  Egypt  and  Palestine  and  most  ot 
the  countries  of  the  Old  World.  Returning  from  his 
travels  in  1883,  he  settled  in  Yonkers,  which  has  since 
been  his  home. 

He  married  Anna  M.,  daughter  of  Captain  John 
Stillwell,  of  New  York,  and  has  two  children — Au- 
gustus and  Mabel.  He  holds  a  good  position 
among  the  members  of  the  homoeopathic  medical  pro- 
fession, and  is  esteemed  as  a  useful  and  worthy 
citizen. 

Dr.  Hasbrouck's  maternal  grandfather,  Wilhelmus 
Elting,  was  of  Huguenot  origin,  and  his  ancestry 
could  be  traced  back  to  Henry  IV.  of  France.  Dr. 
Hasbrouck  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Brazilian  army  dur- 
ing the  war  with  Paraguay,  and,  while  in  South 
America,  passed  through  several  epidemics  of  small- 
pox and  cholera.  He  was  in  St.  Thomas  during  a 
violent  epidemic  of  yellow  fever,  and  the  good  results 
that  followed  his  methods  of  treatment  proved  their 
efijcacy. 

Joseph  Hasbrouck,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Bergen 
County,  New  Jersey,  March  20,  1839,  and  remained 
in  his  native  village  till  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  he 


\ 


THE  MEDICAL  I*R0FES8I0X. 


commenced  teaching  school,  in  which  he  was  engaged 
for  two  years. 

At  the  establishment  of  the  New  Jersey  Normal 
School  he  entered  that  institution,  and  graduated  in 
due  time.  He  then  engaged  in  teaching  until  he 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-nine.  During  the  latter 
part  of  this  period  he  pursued  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  in  18(59  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  im- 
mediately investigated  the  system  of  homoeopathy, 
and  has  since  practiced  it.  His  first  year  of  practice 
was  at  Goshen,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.  From  thence 
he  removed  to  Newton,  Sussex  County,  N.  J.,  and 
was  the  first  to  practice  homu'opathy  in  that  county. 
In  1875  he  removed  to  Dobbs  Ferry,  which  has  since 
been  his  place  of  residence.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Westchester  County  Homeopathic  Medical  Society, 
and  was  its  president  for  two  yeai-s.  He  has  been 
four  times  married.  His  wives  were  Sarah  and  Anna 
D.,  both  daughters  of  Elias  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey, 
and  cousins  of  Hon.  Wm.  L.  Dayton  ;  Emma,  daugh- 
ter of  Steven  Archer;  and  Ellen  M.,  daughter  of  Rev. 
D.  L.  Marks,  of  the  New  York  Conference.  Of  the 
children  of  Dr.  Hasbrouck,  his  eldest  son,  Dayton, 
Avho  died  January  13,  1885,  at  the  age  of  twenty  four, 
was  at  the  time  of  his  death  a  member  of  the  senior 
class  of  the  New  York  Homoeopathic  College.  His 
surviving  children  are  Edith  S.  and  Mabel  E.,  twin 
daughters,  and  an  infant  son,  David  Marks. 

Although  not  a  professional  politician,  he  has  al- 
ways taken  a  deep  interest  in  political  affairs,  and  is 
■especially  interested  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  locality  in  which  he  lives.  He  has  been 
for  several  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education 
of  Dobbs  Ferry,  and  is  its  present  president.  He  is 
also  health  officer  of  the  village,  and  president  of  the 
savings  bank.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  Re- 
publican party  since  its  organization,  and  has  always 
taken  a  deep  interest  in  its  success. 

His  residence  is  one  of  the  historical  land  marks 
of  Westchester  County.  It  is  the  old  Livingston 
mansion,  formerly  the  residence  of  Van  Brugh  Liv- 
ingston. It  was  at  this  house  that  General  Washing- 
ton, Governor  Clinton  and  General  Sir  Guy  Tarleton 
met  on  the  suspension  of  hostilities.  May  3,  1783,  to 
arrange  for  the  evacuation  of  New  York.  The  man- 
sion, which  is  a  well-preserved  relic  of  olden  times, 
stands  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  Albany  post  road,  a 
short  distance  below  Livingston  Avenue.  The  place 
was  sold  by  Van  Brugh  Livingston  to  Steven  Archer 
in  1836,  and  was  his  residence  till  the  time  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1877,  and  was  purchased 
from  his  heirs  by  Dr.  Hasbrouck  in  1882. 

Dr.  Levi  Wells  Flagg  was  born  in  West  Hartford, 
■Conn..  February  14,  1817.  After  receiving  a  thorough 
primary  education,  he  became  a  student  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated  in  1839.  Among  his  class- 
mates were  Charles  Astor  Bristed  and  John  Sher- 
wood, of  New  York,  Rev.   Francis   Wharton,  joint 


587 


author  of  "  Wharton  and  Stille's  Medical  Jurispru- 
dence," and  Hon.  H.  L.  Dawes,  of  Massachusetts,  ex- 
Governor  Hall  of  Missouri,  Prof.  J.  D.  Whitney,  of 
California,  the  eminent  chemist  and  geologist,  and 
others  who  have  become  distinguished. 

After  graduating  he  went  south  and  spent  three 
years  in  teaching  in  St.  Francisville,  Louisiana.  Re- 
turning to  his  native  place  in  1842,  he  studied  medi- 
cine for  a  year  with  Dr.  Pinckney  W.  Ellsworth.  At 
ihe  expiration  of  that  time  removing  to  New  York 
City,  he  entered  the  office  of  Prof  Willard  Parker, 
with  whom  he  remained  two  years.  In  1847  he 
graduated  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 
(old  Crosby  Street  school),  and  in  the  following  year 
establishedhimself  in  Yonkers  as  an  allopathic  physi- 
cian. Shortly  afterward  he  was  induced  to  investi- 
gate honKL'opathy,  the  result  being  a  conviction  as 
he  said  of  its  superiority  over  the  old  system  of 
practice.  He  at  once  became  its  strong  advocate 
and  the  pioneer  practitioner  in  the  county.  His  suc- 
cess in  introducing  the  new  system  was  most  marked  ; 
he  grew  rapidly  in  favor  with  the  community,  ac- 
quiring wealth  and  a  pre-eminent  position  among 
the  physicians  of  the  locality. 

Notwithstanding  his  change  of  faith,  the  relations 
between  himself  and  his  old  teacher.  Professor  Par- 
ker, greatly  to  the  honor  of  the  latter  ever  continued 
of  the  most  friendly  character. 

Dr.  Flagg  avoided  politics  entirely,  and  never  held 
any  public  office  of  a  political  character.  He  always 
devoted  himself  wholly  to  his  profession,  in 
which  he  was  a  zealous  and  untiring  worker  ;  a 
portion  of  a  year  spent  in  Europe  and  a  short  time 
in  Mexico,  being  almost  the  only  relaxation  he  al- 
lowed himself  between  the  commencement  of  his 
practice  and  his  death  on  May  15,  1884. 

When,  in  1865,  the  Westchester  County  Homoeo- 
pathic Medical  Society  was  organized,  he  was  elected 
its  president  and  held  that  office  for  three  years.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy. 

He  married  on  May  17,  1848,  Charlotte  Whitman, 
of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  had  eight  children,  five  of 
whom  are  still  living.  Their  names  are  Howard  W., 
Marietta  W.,  Lucy  W.,  George  A.  and  Robert  N. 
Flagg,  M.  D.,  who  succeeds  to  the  practice  of  his 
father.' 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  present  our  readers 
with  the  above  brief  outline  sketch  of  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  successful  physicians  as  well  as  most 
useful  and  upright  citizens  that  it  has  ever  been  the 
good  fortune  of  Westchester  County  to  possess.  Dr. 
Flagg  came  to  Yonkei-s  when  the  village  was  in  its 
infancy  and  for  thirty-six  years  watched  its  develop- 
ment and  growth.  No  one  was  or  could  be  better 
known  than  he.    By  his  steadfast  integrity,  his  pro- 

1  The  above  with  slight  modification  is  from  the  "  Biographical  cyclo- 
pedia of  honin'opathic  physicians  and  surgeons."  (S.  A.  George  it  Co. 
1873.) 


588 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


fessional  ability  and  his  genial  and  winning  manner 
he  won  for  himself  the  respect  of  the  business  com- 
munity, an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice  and  a 
high  social  standing.  His  death  not  only  creates  a 
vacancy  beside  the  family  hearth,  but  is  also  a  loss  to 
the  city  and  county  in  which  he  lived,  which  is  irre- 
parable. 


ADRIAN  Iv.  HOFFMAN. 

Dr.  Adrian  K.  Hoffman,  who  is  remembered  as  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  of  Westchester 
County,  was  born  at  the  Manor  of  Livingston,  in 
Columbia  County,  March  26, 1797.  Entering  the  pro- 
fession of  medicine  at  an  early  age,  his  first  experi- 
ence was  on  a  three  years'  cruise  as  surgeon's  mate  on 
board  the  United  States  man-of-war  "  Franklin," 
commanded  by  Commodore  (afterwards  Admiral) 
Charles  Stewart.  After  his  return  Dr.  Hoffman  set- 
tled at  Sing  Sing,  and  for  nearly  half  a  century  prac- 
ticed his  profession  with  great  success.  His  reputa- 
tion was  widely  extended,  and  he  was  justly  esteemed 
by  his  fellow-citizens  as  a  wise  and  skillful  physician 
and  a  prudent  and  able  man  of  business.  He  was 
chosen  several  times  as  president  of  the  village  of 
Sing  Sing  by  unanimous  elections. 

He  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Dr.  John  Thompson, 
of  Saratoga  County,  with  whom  he  had  studied  medi- 
cine. The  issue  of  this  marriage  were  Cornelia,  who 
married  Alfred  Buckhout,  and  died  in  January,  1866  ; 
John  Thompson,  who  became  in  succession  twice 
recorder,  twice  mayor  of  the  city  of  Xew  York  and 
twice  Governor  of  the  State,  and  who  married  Ella, 
daughter  of  Henry  Starkweather,  of  New  York ;  Mary 
E.,  wife  of  Colonel  Charles  O.  Joline ;  Emma  Kis- 
sam,  who  married  Rev.  M.  M.  Wells,  and  occupies  the 
homestead  at  Sing  Sing;  and  Katharine,  who  first 
married  Captain  Charles  C.  Hyatt,  United  States 
Army,  and,  after  his  decease,  married  General  Wil- 
liam H.  Morris. 

After  a  long  life  of  active  usefulness  Dr.  Hoffman 
died  May  6,  1871,  universally  beloved  and  mourned 
by  all  his  neighbors.  On  the  day  of  his  funeral  the 
houses  and  places  of  business  were  draped  in  mourn- 
ing and  all  business  was  suspended.  He  is  spoken 
of  with  loving  respect  by  those  who  knew  him  and  yet 
survive,  and  by  the  children  of  others,  with  whom  his 
name  is  a  household  word. 


HENRY  ERNEST  SCHMID,  M.D. 

Henry  Ernest  Schmid,  M.D.,  who  is  a  well-known 
member  of  the  medical  profession,  was  born  in  Sax- 
ony, Prussia,  May  1,  1824.  His  father,  who  was  a 
publisher  and  connected  with  the  famous  family  of 
Tauchnitz,  intended  him  to  follow  his  profession. 
After  receiving  his  early  education  at  the  great  Latin 
school  at  Halle,  Dr.  Schmid  commenced  a  higher 
literary  course  for  that  purpose.  His  father,,  unfor- 
tunately, incurred  the  censure  of  the  government,  and 
this  changed  the  whole  tenor  of  the  son's  life.  The 


latter  emigrated  to  this  country  in  1853,  and  soon 
after  his  arrival  went  to  Virginia,  and  having  an 
early  predilection  for  the  study  of  medicine,  pursued 
that  branch  of  science  at  Winchester  and  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia.  For  a  while  he  was  connected 
with  a  newspaper  in  Richmond,  and  in  1859  was  sent, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Episcopal  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  as  medical  missionary  to  Japan.  While  in 
that  country  he  organized  a  hospital  and  his  practice 
increased  to  an  enormous  extent  among  the  natives, 
who  were  quick  to  learn  the  superiority  of  foreign 
practitioners.  Owing  to  the  failure  of  his  health  he 
obtained  a  position  on  board  the  flag-ship  of  an  Eng- 
lish surveying  fleet  as  interpreter.  In  this  capacity 
he  visited  Corea  and  northern  China,  Borneo,  Java 
and  Sumatra.  The  ship,  having  narrowly  escaped 
destruction  in  a  typhoon,  went  to  Cape  Town  for  re- 
pairs, and  Dr.  Schmid  embraced  the  opportunity  to 
make  an  extensive  tour  in  southern  Africa.  He  after- 
wards went  to  St.  Helena  and  the  Azores,  and  thence 
to  England,  returning  to  this  country  in  1862. 

He  came  to  White  Plains,  Westchester  County,  in 
1859,  when  he  made  a  short  visit.  Upon  his  return 
from  England  he  settled  in  this  place,  and  has  been 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  With  a  devoted  love  of  science,  Dr. 
Schmid,  while  in  Japan,  made  many  valuable  collec- 
tions for  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  which  led  to 
his  being  made  a  member  of  the  Oriental  Society, 
and  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science. 

In  his  profession  he  has  enjoyed  a  very  extensive 
practice,  and  is  justly  considered  one  of  the  leading 
physicians  of  the  county.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Medical  Association,  the  State  Medical 
Society  and  the  Westchester  County  Medical  Society. 
As  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  village  he  is  president 
of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, and  is  a  member  of  the  vestry  of  Grace  Episco- 
pal Church.  He  is  also  the  physician  in  charge  of 
St.  Vincent  Retreat  for  the  Insane.  He  married  Eu- 
genia, daughter  of  Eugene  T.  Prudhomme,  of  White 
Plains,  and  they  have  three  children — Theodora,. 
Gertrude  and  Permetta. 


CHARLES  J.  NORDQUIST. 

The  father  of  Charles  J.  Nordquist,  M.D.,  the  well- 
known  physician,  was  Lars  Peter  Nordquist,  who 
was  born  at  Sounerly,  in  Sweden,  March  29,  1781. 
He  was  a  surgeon  in  the  Swedish  army,  which  he 
entered  April  22,  1802,  remaining  in  the  employ  of 
the  government  till  his  decease,  in  1824.  He  was  an 
eminent  physician  and  was  the  recipient  of  many 
high  appointments  both  in  military  and  civil  life. 
On  the  16th  and  17th  of  March,  1809,  he  accompanied 
the  Royal  Mounted  Life  Guards  in  their  retreat  upon  ' 
the  ice  over  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  afterward  be- 
came surgeon  to  Bernadoth,  King  of  Sweden.  On 
January  3,  1812,  he  married  Sophia  Christina  Weu- 


I 


•I 


THE  .^lEDICAL  PKOFESSION. 


589 


gren  (daughter  of  Ivan  Weugren  and  Sophia  Chris- 
tina Habicht)  who  was  born  December  18,  1782,  and 
died  June  10,  1830. 

Charles  J.,  their  son,  was  born  at  Jousered,  near 
Oottenberg,  Sweden,  on  the  llith  of  July,  1821.  He 
was  left  iit  three  years  of  age  in  the  care  of  his 
father's  cousin,  Lars  Peter  Afzelius,  dean  of  Alingsas, 
who  sent  him  at  the  age  of  nine  to  the  high  school  in 
that  place.  Here  he  remained  for  eight  years,  when 
he  removed  to  Stockholm  for  the  purpose  of  acquaint- 
ing himself  with  the  drug  trade.  After  three  years 
of  practical  experience  as  a  pharmacist,  he  entered 
the  Carlingasta  Institute,  where  he  studied  medicine, 
graduating  in  1842.  A 
year  spent  in  traveling 
through  Europe  followed 
his  graduation,  after 
which  he  sailed  for  the 
United  States,  arriving  at 
New  York  in  1843.  He 
engaged  first  as  a  drug 
clerk,  but  in  1848,  having 
meanwhile  mastered  the 
English  language,  he  es- 
tablished a  store  of  his 
own  on  the  corner  of 
Broome  and  Mulberry 
Streets,  New  York. 

Disposing  of  this  at  a 
profit  to  himself,  he  en- 
gaged until  1854  in  the 
fitting  out  and  selling  of 
drug-stores.  He  then  en- 
tered the  University  Jled- 
ical  College  of  the  city  of 
New  Y'ork,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  185(3.  After 
practicing  two  years  in 
New  Y'ork  City,  he 
removed  to  Tucka- 
hoe,  N.Y.  In  1861 
he  joined  the  Ninth 
Regiment  as  surgeon, 
and  like  his  father's, 
his  army  life  was  an 
eventful  one.  From  the  time  he  was  commissioned, 
he  rose  rapidly  in  favor  with  his  superiors  and  received 
one  mark  of  respect  after  another  with  enviable  rapid- 
ity. He  was  ap])oiiited  chief  surgeon  of  the  Third 
Brigade,  medical  director  of  the  Second  Division,  and 
finally  medical  inspector  of  the  First  Army  Corps. 

On  February  1,  1864,  he  received  a  note  of  thanks 
from  the  commanding  general  for  the  efficient  manner 
in  which  he  had  performed  his  duties ;  and  two  years 
after  the  dei)arture  of  the  Ninth  Eeginient  from  New 
Y'ork,  he  was  presented  by  its  non-commissioned 
ofticers  and  privates  with  a  handsome  gold  watch  and 
chain  as  a  token  of  their  resi)ect  and  esteem. 

Unlike  some  of  the  officers  of  the  late  war,  Dr. 


Nordquist  did  not  make  use  of  his  official  power 
to  shirk  his  duty  in  the  hour  of  danger,  but  was  pres- 
ent and  actively  engaged  at  every  battle,  in  which 
his  division  participated.  On  the  fields  of  Harper's 
Ferry,  Cedar  Mountain,  Rappahannock  Station,  Thor- 
oughfare Gap,  Second  Bull  Run,  Chantilly,  South 
Mountain,  Antietam,  First  Fredericksburg,  Chancel- 
lorsville,  Gettysburg,  The  Wilderness,  Laurel  Hill, 
Spottsylvania  and  Coal  Harbor  he  was  present  in  per- 
son, administering  the  comforts  of  his  profession  to  the 
sick  and  dying  soldiery.  As  a  surgeon,  he  was  most 
successful,  and  several  of  his  cases  are  mentioned 
in  the  surgical  history  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion. 

At  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, on  the  1st  of  July, 
1863,  he  was  taken  prison- 
erby  the  Confederates  and 
was  held  for  three  days 
and  nights  upon  one  pint 
of  flour  without  the  means 
of  preparing  it  for  food. 
Being  placed  by  his  cap- 
tors in  one  of  the  churches 
of  the  town,  he  escaped 
by  crawling  into  the  stee- 
ple and  remaining  con- 
cealed till  the  advance  of 
the  Union  troops.  On 
June  23,  1864,  he  closed 
his  career  in  the  army  and 
sought  again  the  quiet  of 
his  home  in  Tuckahoe. 
Here  he  has  since  re- 
mained, honored  and  re- 
spected  among  his  asso- 
ciates in  the  profession 
and  looked  up  to  with 
pleasure  by  the  many 
friends  who  surround 
the  home  of  his  adop- 
tion. 

He  is  a  Republican 
in  politics,  and  held 
the  office  of  coroner 
for  four  years.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  is  well- 
known  for  his  liberality.  He  married  on  April  28, 
1846,  Harriet  Louise  Goodwin,  and  has  had  three 
children,  all  daughters,  of  whom  one  died  in  early 
vouth  and  two  still  survive  and  are  married. 


D.  JEROME  SANDS. 
To  chronicle  within  the  limits  of  this  work,  all 
that  is  either  important  or  interesting  in  the  record  of 
a  family  prominent  in  English  and  American  history 
for  a  period  of  more  than  eight  hundred  years  would 
be  impossible,  and  but  a  brief  outline  of  it  can  be  given 
here. 

The  first  trace  of  the  familv  is  found  in  the  reign  of 


590 


HISTOKi'  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Edward  the  Confessor  (son  of  Ethelred  and  Emma) 
before  the  conquest,  1042  to  1066,  when  Ulnod  dwelt 
in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  in  the  County  of  Hampshire,  at 
a  place  called  Sandes.  From  this  the  surname  (at  the 
time  of  the  Holj'  Wars)  of  Sandes,  Sandis,  Sandys, 
Sands  is  derived.  Sir  John  Sandys  of  Hampshire 
was  a  knight-baronet,  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II., 
1377-1399.  John  Sands,  born  in  1485  at  Horborm, 
Straffordshire,  died  in  1625  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  forty.  His  wife  lived  to  be  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  old.  Sir  William  Sandys  was  the  first 
baron  of  the  name.  By  his  eminent  services  to  the 
Kings  Henry  VII.  and  VIII.,  he  advanced  his  family 
to  wealth  and  honor.  He  was  prominent  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Cornish  Rebellion,  and  was  created 
Lord  Sandys  in  1524  by 
Henry  VIII.,  who  ap- 
pointed him  Lord  Cham- 
berlain in  1526.  The  same 
king  made  him  a  Knight 
of  the  Garter  and  employ- 
ed him  in  the  wars  with 
France,  after  which  he 
was  created  Baron. 

Sir  William,  Lord 
Sandys,  his  grandson,  was 
a  member  of  Parliament, 
and  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners appointed  by 
Queen  Elizabeth  for  the 
trial  of  Thomas  Howard, 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  Jan- 
uary 16,  1571;  also  for 
that  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots,  October  12,  1586, 
and  Philip  Howard,  Earl 
ofArundel,April  18,1589. 
He  was  imprisoned  lor  a 
short  time  in  1600  for 
joining  with  Robert,  Earl 
of  Sussex,  in  an 
insurrection  in 
London.  His 
princely  man- 
sion at  Basing- 
stoke, called  the  Vine,  was  famous  as  the  reception 
place  of  the  State  embassy  sent  by  King  Henry  IV.  of 
France  to  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1601. 

Edwin  Sandys,  D.  D.,was  an  eminent  Prelate  of  Eng- 
land. Hewasbornin  1519,  became  Master  of  St.  Cath- 
erine College  in  1547,  Prebendarj-  of  Peterboro  in  1549 
and  of  Carlisle  in  1552.  He  was  Vice-Chancellor  of 
Cambridge  University  in  1553,  and  a  strong  advocate 
of  the  reformation.  He  preached  a  sermon  in  favor 
of  the  royal  claims  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  refused  to 
proclaim  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  for  which  he  was 
deprived  of  his  honors,  sent  to  the  Tower  and  after- 
ward to  Marshalsea,  where  he  was  imprisoned  for 
seven  months. 


Pursued  by  the  persecution  of  his  enemies,  he 
escaped  from  England  in  May  1554.  In  1558,  after 
the  coronation  of  Elizabeth,  he  returned  to  England. 
Under  her,  he  held  many  important  positions.  He 
was  one  of  the  nine  Protestants  sent  to  dispute  with 
nine  Catholics  before  Parliament,  and  in  1559  became 
Bishop  of  Worcester.  He  was  appointed  by  Queen 
Elizabeth  one  of  a  commission  under  Bishop  Parker 
to  i:)repare  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  known  as  the 
Bishops'  Bible.  In  1570  he  became  Bishop  of  London, 
and  in  1576  Archbishop  of  York.  He  died  at  the 
Archiepiscopal  palace  of  Southwell,  Juh-  10,  1588, 
and  his  alabaster  tomb  and  effigy  are  looked  upon  by 
visitors  to  this  day  with  peculiar  interest. 
^  Sir  Edwin  Sandys,  son  of  the  preceding,  born 
in  Worcester,  1561,  was 
an  English  statesman  ot 
great  ability.  He  travel- 
ed extensively  on  the 
continent,  after  which  he 
published  "Europte  Spec- 
ulum, or- a  Survey  of  the 
State  of  Religion  in  the 
Western  part  of  the 
World."  He  was  knight- 
ed by  James  I.  in  1603, 
and  became  an  influen- 
tial member  of  the  Sec- 
ond London  Company  for 
Virginia,  into  which  he 
introduced  the  vote  by 
ballot.  He  was  the  trea- 
surer or  chief  officer  of 
the  company,  and  was 
indefatigable  in  promot- 
ing public  prosperity  and 
security.  In  1620,  Span- 
ish influence  having  been 
exerted  against  him, King 
James,  in  violation  of  the 
charter,  forbade 
^ y  y^  his  re-election. 
^^y^^^-^  -George,  a  bro- 
ther of  Sir  Ed- 
win, was  a  fa- 
mous English  poet.  He  was  educated  at  Ox- 
ford, and  published  "A  Relation  of  a  Journey 
Begun  A.D.  1610,  in  Four  Books,  Containing 
a  Description  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  of  Egypt, 
of  the  Holy  Land  and  of  the  Remote  Parts  of  Italy 
and  Adjoining  Islands also  a  "  Translation  of  Ovid's 
'Metamorphoses.'"  In  1621  he  became  colonial 
treasurer  of  Virginia,  where  he  distinguished  himself 
by  his  public  zeal.  He  executed  all  orders  concern- 
ing staple  commodities  ;  to  him  is  due  the  build- 
ing of  the  first  water  mill;  he  promoted  the  establish- 
ment of  iron  works  in  1621,  and  in  the  following 

'From  Appleton's  " Encyclopiedia." 
-  Also  from  Appleton. 


9 

I 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


591 


year  introduced  ship  building.    While  in  Virginia 

he  triinslatcd  tlie  last  ten  books  uf  the  "  Metamor- 
phoses," and,  alter  returning  to  Enghind,  in  1026,  he 
published  the  translation  of  the  whole.  He  also  wrote 
poetical  versions  of  the  Psalms,  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
Ecclesiastes,  Lamentations,  etc.,  and  of  the  Song  of 
Solomon.  His  life,  by  tiie  Rev.  J.  H.  Todd,  is  pre- 
fixed to  "  Selections  from  Sandy "s  Jletrical  Para- 
phrases." (Loudon,  1839.)  Samuel  Sandys,  who,  in 
1741,  accused  Sir  Robert  Walpole  of  fraud  and  cor- 
ruption, was  appointed  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
in  1742;  created  Lord  Sandys  by  George  II.,  1743; 
was  First  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  1761 ; 
and  died  1770.  These  and  many  other  gentlemen 
whose  names  are  conspicuous  in  English  history,  were 
members  of  the  family  in  the  direct  line.  Though 
many  of  their  descendants  have  also  been  prominent 
in  this  country,  the  family  is  still  influential  in  Eng- 
land. Its  i)resent  representative  there  is  Baron 
Augustus  Frederick  Arthur  Sandys,  born  March  1, 
1840;  married,  August  3,  1872,  Augustus  Ann,  second 
daughter  of  the  late  Charles  Hes  Vocux,  Bart.  His 
seat  is  at  Ombersley  Court,  Droitwich.  The  first 
known  member  of  the  American  family  was  Henry 
Sandy,  who  came  to  Boston,  Mass.,  and  established 
himself  as  a  merchant.  He  was  prominent  as  a  relig- 
ious worker,  and  upon  one  occasion,  when  he,  with 
others,  was  in  the  act  of  starting  a  new  church  at 
Rowley,  a  clerk  called  him  Sands,  which  was  the  ori- 
gin of  the  present  spelling. 

D.  Jerome  Sands,  M.D.,  president  of  the  village  of 
Port  Chester,  and  one  of  the  first  physicians  in  West- 
chester County,  is  one  of  his  direct  descendants.  In 
his  qualities  of  perseverance  and  persistency  in  sup- 
port of  principle,  Dr.  Sands  strongly  resembles  his 
illustrious  ancestry.  He  was  born  November  20, 
1814,  and  was  the  second  child  of  David  Sands  and 
Elizabeth  Brady,  of  New  Castle,  N.  Y.  His  father, 
who  was  a  farmer  and  civil  engineer,  early  sent  him 
to  the  school  at  his  native  place,  after  which  he  also 
attended  a  higher  academy  at  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  After 
leaving  Sing  Sing  he  spent  a  year  or  two  in  farming 
and  study  together.  At  the  close  of  this  time  he  en- 
tered the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  graduating  in  1840.  Shortly  after 
this  he  began  the  long  and  successful  professional 
career,  in  Port  Chester,  which  has  ended  not  only  in 
the  possession  of  an  extended  and  lucrative  practice, 
but  in  winning  a  host  of  warm  and  steadfast  friends. 

Dr.  Sands  has  given  much  of  his  time  to  outside 
work.  He  is  at  present  a  director  of  the  First  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Port  Chester.  For  over  ten  years  he 
was  trustee  of  the  village,  and  is  now  its  president. 
He  is  also  health  oflicer  of  the  town  and  a  member  of 
the  County  Medical  Society.  He  married,  on  the  27th 
of  April,  1842,  Miss  Ann  Maria  Green,  of  Port 
Chester,  and  has  had  three  children, — one  daughter, 
who  died  in  childhood,  and  two  sons,  who  are  still  living. 
Morton  J.  Sands,  M.D.,  the  oldest,  practices  with  his 


father,  and  Purdy  G.,  the  youngest,  who  holds  the 
position  of  town  clerk,  is  a  civil  engineer  at  Port 
Chester.  Dr.  Sands  has  also  a  grandchild, — Benjamin 
J.,  a  son  of  Morton  J. 


NORMAX  K.  FREEMAN. 

Norman  K.  Freeman,  M.D.,  who  is  the  oldest 
])hysician  in  the  southern  portion  of  Westchester 
County,  was  born  in  Warren,  Herkimer  Countj', 
N.  Y.,  May  3,  1814.  The  ancestors  of  the  family  were 
three  brothers  who  came  from  the  north  of  England, 
where  the  home  is  still  found,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  They  landed  in  Philadelphia, 
but  one  of  them  went  to  Massachusetts,  and  has  many 
descendants  in  that  jjortion  of  the  country  and  in  the 
northern  part  of  this  State.  Another  of  the  brothers 
was  drowned  in  the  Delaware  River,  and  his  widow, 
with  the  surviving  brother,  made  their  home  at 
Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  where  four  generations  oi'  their 
descendants  are  interred  in  the  old  buryiiig-ground. 

Thomas  Freeman,  one  of  the  descendants,  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolution  and  a  prisoner  in  the  Sugar- 
House  in  New  York,  and  on  board  a  prison  ship,  from 
which  he  escaped  by  swimming.  He  married  Sallie 
Moore,  of  Scotch  descent.  Their  children  were  John, 
Smith,  Ariel,  Thomas,  Linus,  Moores,  Rachel  (wife  of 
Moses  Freeman,  her  cousin),  Polly  (wife  of  Thomas 
Edgar)  and  Henry.  Of  these  children,  Henry  Free- 
man was  born  June  21,  1789.  In  his  early  manhood 
he  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  and  subsequently 
went  to  Warren,  where  his  uncle  Isaac  resided,  and 
was  the  builder  of  the  first  mill  in  that  place.  He 
remained  there  till  1822,  when  he  removed  to  Rich- 
field, Otsego  County,  and  purchased  a  farm  on  the 
west  side  of  Canaderago  Lake,  which  he  made  his 
home  until  his  death,  in  1869.  He  married,  in  1813, 
I  Mercy,  daughter  of  Holden  and  Rhoda  Sweet,  of 
Berlin,  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.  Their  children 
were  Norman  K. ;  George  S.,  born  August  25,  1815, 
and  died  unmarried  Jan.  30,  1840;  Emily,  born  Oct. 
21, 1816  (wife  of  Borelli  Ingalls) ;  and  Delos,  born  April 
22, 1819.  He  died  August  8, 1843,  without  descendants. 

Dr.  Norman  K.  Freeman  remained  on  his  father's 
farm,  attended  the  district  school,  then  taught  school 
and  worked  by  the  month  for  the  neighboring  farm- 
ers, giving  half  his  wages  to  his  father  and  educat- 
ing himself  with  the  remainder.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  went  to  New  York  and  served,  until  1837,  as  a 
clerk  in  a  store  on  Maiden  Lane.  In  1838  he  returned 
to  Richfield,  and  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Alonzo 
Churchill.  Two  years  later  he  went  to  Geneva  and 
continued  his  studies  under  the  instruction  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Spencer,  who  was  then  president  of  the  Ge- 
neva Medical  College.  He  graduated  February  8, 
1842,  and  his  diligence  and  skill  were  so  well  known 
to  Dr.  Spencer  that  he  was  received  by  him  as  a  part- 
ner. In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  Wiis  comj)elled,  by 
the  failing  health  of  his  brother  Delos,  to  accompany 
him  on  a  trip  to  the  South,  and  after  his  death  oc- 


592 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


curred,  in  1843,  he  came  to  Westchester  and  began 
practice  with  Dr.  Wm.  Bayard,  a  physician  of  great 
local  prominence.  He  remained  with  Dr.  Bayard  till 
June,  1845,  and  then  established  a  practice  on  his 
ovfn  account,  which  he  has  continued  with  unabated 
zeal  to  the  present.  He  was  thephysician  of  St.  John's 
College,  at  Fordham,  from  1845  till  1850,  when  the 
failure  of  his  health  compelled  him  to  retire  to  his 
farm  in  Richfield.  He  remained  there  till  1852,  and 
then  returned  and  resumed  his  practice,  and  purchased 
a  homestead  of  William  Simpson,  on  the  west  bank 
of  Bronx  River,  which  he  has  since  made  his  resi- 
dence. Under  the  administration  of  President  Fill- 
more, he  was  for  three  years  postmaster  at  West 
Farms,  and  was  assistant  inspector  of  the  Metropolitan 
Board  of  Health  while  it  continued  to  have  an  exist- 
ence. Dr.  Freeman  was  married,  October  17,  1837, 
to  Ann  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Samuel  W.  Lowerre, 
of  New  York  City,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons.  Only 
two  are  now  living, — Norman,  who  is  a  broker  in  New 
York,  and  Wm.  Francis,  who  is  in  business  in  the  city 
of  Albany.    Both  are  married  and  have  children. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is  no  man  to  whom  West 
Farms  is  more  indebted  for  its  present  efBcient 
Union  schools  than  to  Doctor  Freeman.  His  exertions 
in  this  respect  were  crowned  with  well-merited  suc- 
cess, though  his  efforts  met  with  the  most  determined 
opposition  from  many  who  might  have  been  expected 
to  show  better  judgment. 

The  Union  school  established  by  his  active  zeal  and 
determination  was  the  first  organized  in  the  State 
under  the  act  of  1853.  For  twenty-one  years  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  for  twenty 
years  of  that  time  clerk  of  the  board.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  to  anticipate  the  time  when  the  t^parsely 
settled  districts  of  Morrisania  and  West  Farms  would 
become  thickly  populated  portions  of  New  York  City, ' 
and  he  was  among  the  foremost  in  promoting  the 
cause  of  annexation. 

In  all  his  views  he  has  ever  been  greatly  in  advance 
of  his  times,  and  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
them  in  course  of  time  adopted  by  the  community, 
which  at  first  opposed  them.  A  strong  advocate  of 
temperance,  his  practical  devdtion  to  the  cause  has 
been  a  prominent  feature  of  his  life,  and  the  reward 
of  his  temperance  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two,  and  after  a  life  of  constant  and  severe 
labor,  he  is  to-day  as  hale  and  hardy  as  a  man  of  fifty. 
During  his  professional  career  his  practice  embraced 
a  very  large  portion  of  the  county,  and  there  is  no  one 
who  is  a  better  representative  of  its  local  practitioners. 

DR.  JAMES  BATHGATE. 

The  parents  of  Dr.  James  Bathgate,  who  is  well 
known  as  the  oldest  resident  physician  in  Morrisania, 
were  Charles  and  Margaret  Bathgate,  who  came  from 
Scotland,  and  settled  at  West  Farms.  Their  children 
were  Charles  and  John  (both  deceased),  Dr.  James 
Alexander  (now  living  in  Morrisania),  Jane,  the  wife 


of  William  J.  Beck  (deceased),  of  West  Farms,  and 
Margaret  Ann.  The  father  of  this  family  was  a 
skillful  agriculturist,  and  noted  for  his  superior  horses 
and  cattle,  which  he  raised  on  his  farm.  He  removed 
from  West  Farms  to  Morrisania,  where  the  younger 
children  were  born.  James  first  attended  school  at 
Harlem,  from  whence  he  went  to  Mount  Pleasant 
Academy,  at  Sing  Sing.  He  was  subsequently  a 
student  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
and  studied  medicine  with  Professor  Joseph  M. 
Smith,  one  of  the  professors  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons,  and  graduated  from  that  institu- 
tion in  1847.  He  was  for  three  years  assistant  and 
resident  physician  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
New  York  Hospital,  and  subsequently  physician  in 
the  New  York  Dispensary,  but  his  health  failing,  he 
removed  from  New  York  and  settled  at  Morrisania 
upon  a  farm  which  was  purchased  from  Gouverneur 
Morris.  From  that  time  to  the  present  Dr.  Bathgate 
has  devoted  his  time  and  attention  to  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the  State  Medical 
Association,  and  takes  an  active  interest  in  all  that 
tends  to  advance  its  interests,  and  he  enjoys  a  very 
extensive  practice  in  Morrisania  and  the  surrounding 
country.  During  his  long  practice  at  Morrisania  he 
has  never  failed  to  command  the  confidence  and  re- 
spect of  the  community,  in  which  his  professional 
services  have  been  uniformly  successful.  In  political 
affairs  he  is  a  strong  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  Republican  party,  but  without  being  a  politician 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term.  The  Bath- 
gate estate,  in  Morrisania,  which  is  now  rendered  ex- 
tremely valuable  by  the  advancement  of  New  York 
City,  is  a  farm  purchased  from  Gouverneur  Morris. 
The  estate  is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  old  Patent 
Line,  which  separates  Morrisania  from  the  patent  of 
West  Farms.  It  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mill 
Brook,  and  extends  south  to  the  tract  which  was 
bought  by  Jordan  L.  Mott  and  others,  who  founded 
the  new  village  of  Morrisania,  the  south  line  being 
near  One  Hundred  and  Seventieth  Street,  and  the 
north  line  a  short  distance  south  of  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-fifth  Street. 

The  residence  of  Dr.  Bathgate  is  very  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  west  side  of  Third  Avenue,  and  still 
retains  much  of  the  rural  beauty  that  once  distin- 
guished it,  and  here  he  enjoys  a  quiet  home  in  the 
com|)any  of  his  brother  and  sister,  who  are,  like  him- 
self, unmarried.  St.  Paul's  Church,  of  Morrisania,  is 
on  the  south  side  of  the  estate,  and  the  church  lot 
was  presented  to  the  congregation  by  this  family. 

JAMES  W-  SCRIBNER. 

Dr.  James  W.  Scribner  was  born  at  Tarrytown, 
January  17,  1820.  His  grandfather,  Enoch  Scribner, 
was  a  resident  of  Bedford,  Westchester  County,  to 
which  place  he  is  supposed  to  have  moved  from  Con- 
necticut, and  died  July  18,  1848,  at  the  age  of  eighty. 
He  married  Mary  Miller,  and  they  were  the  parents 


1 


I 


THE  MEDICAL 


of  two  sons,  Joseph  M.  and  James  W.  The  former 
was  born  May  11,  1793,  and  was  a  prominent  physi- 
cian. He  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Ward,  of  Sing  Sing,  of  a  family  long  known  in  this 
county,  and  died  December  28,  1847,  leaving  four 
children, — Dr.  James  W.,  John  C,  Mary  (wife  of 
Robert  Jameson)  and  Philip  W.  His  son,  James  W., 
attended  the  public  schools  until  he  was  fifteen  years 
old,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  collegiate  school 
of  Bedford,  of  which  Samuel  Holmes  was  principal. 
Having  acquired  a  good  classical  education,  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine  with  his  father,  who 
was  then,  and  had  been  for  many  years,  one  of  the 
physicians  in  charge  of  the  Westchester  County 
almshouse,  where  the  son  had  ample  opportunity  of 
seeing  much  practice  while  yet  a  student.  After  at- 
tending three  courses  of  lectures  at  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York,  he  graduated 
as  "  M.D."  in  1847. 

The  next  year  he  began  practice  in  his  native 
town,  and  continued  it  until  the  close  of  his  life, 
being  invariably  favored  with  a  large,  remunerative 
and  responsible  practice.  He  became  his  father's 
successor  in  the  profession,  and  was  appointed  to  fill 
his  place  at  the  Almshouse. 

During  his  entire  life  Dr.  Scribner  held  a  high 
position  among  his  professional  brethren  in  the 
county.  So  acute  were  his  perceptions,  so  widely 
read  was  he  in  his  profession,  and  so  skillful  in  ap- 
plying his  acquirements  to  practical  use,  that  if  he 
had  made  a  si)ecialty  of  any  one  department  of  med- 
icine, he  would  have  become  renowned  as  a  leader 
in  it.  But  he  devoted  himself  to  general  practice, 
and  was  satisfied  to  gain  a  local  reputation  as  a  skill- 
ful physician,  surgeon  and  obstetrician.  It  is  seldom 
that  any  one  becomes  as  accomplished  in  all  these 
divisions  of  practical  medicine  as  was  Dr.  Scribner. 
His  counsel  was  frequently  sought  by  physicians  at 
a  distance,  and  in  his  own  neighborhood  he  was  the 
one  always  sent  for  when  consultation  was  required 
in  cases  of  prolonged  illness  or  in  emergencies.  He 
was  devoted  to  his  profession  and  to  the  friends  he 
had  acquired  in  following  it,  and  could  seldom  be 
induced  to  withdraw  himself  from  his  work  for  relax- 
ation or  amusement.  During  the  last  year  of  his  life, 
while  suffering  from  the  acute  pains  of  a  malignant 
disease  and  from  the  depression  naturally  arising 
from  it,  he  attended  regularly  to  business  day  and 
night,  without  murmur  or  complaint,  ministering 
unto  hundreds  who  were  far  less  in  need  of  help  than 
he  was  himself,  until  his  force  was  all  expended,  and 
he  laid  down  his  labor  and  his  life  together.  In  all 
his  professional  relations  he  was  pre-eminently  a 
silent  man,  never  gossiping  about  his  cases  in  the 
sick  room,  and  seldom  indulging  in  conversation, 
even  upon  topics  of  general  interest.  Though  digni- 
fied and  courteously  reserved  in  his  intercourse  with 
the  world,  among  his  friends  he  was  always  cheerful 
and  fully  enjoyed  light  amusements  and  harmless  jokes. 


PROFESSION.  593 


Dr.  Scribner's  professional  silence  grew  out  of  his 
hatred  for  shams  of  all  kinds.  His  profession  was  to 
cure,  not  to  amuse,  and  he  never  sought  to  win  suc- 
cess by  any  means  outside  of  his  .skillful  treatment  of 
cases.  Operations  of  a  complicated  nature  and  re- 
quiring the  highest  skill  were  performed  by  him;  but 
his  modesty  kept  him  from  rej)orting  the  cases,  and 
they  remain  unknown  to  all  except  the  ones  who 
were  directly  benefited  by  his  art. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  his  moral  and  professional 
worth  were  alike  appreciated  by  the  entire  commu- 
nity. For  several  years  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  village,  held  the  highest  offices  in  the  Westches- 
ter County  Medical  Society,  and  was  a  delegate  to 
the  National  Medical  Association  in  1871.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  So- 
ciety and  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
an  honorary  member  of  the  California  State  Medical 
Society.  For  several  terms  he  was  chosen  president 
and  director  of  the  Westchester  County  Agricultural 
Society,  and  was  an  able  and  efficient  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education  of  Tarrytown. 

He  married  Margaret  E.  Miller,  and  left  two 
daughters, — Josie  and  Ella.  By  his  death,  which 
occurred  January  28,  1880,  the  community  suflered 
an  irreparable  loss;  all  classes  mourned  him  as  a 
friend,  and  it  was  with  feelings  of  no  common  vener- 
ation that  his  friends  and  neighbors  bore  to  their 
final  home  the  remains  of  one  who  had  been  in  all 
the  relations  of  life  a  useful  and  honored  man. 


SAMUEL  SWIFT. 
Samuel  Swift,  M.D.,  is  descended  from  an  old 
English  family  who  came  to  New  England  at  an 
early  date.  His  immediate  ancestors  were  residents 
of  Dorchester,  Mass.  He  was  born  in  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  August  5,  1849,  his  father,  Samuel  Swift,  being 
then  a  prosperous  merchant  in  New  York.  His 
mother  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Samuel  Phelps,  of 
West  Hampton,  Mass.,  of  a  family  well  known  in  the 
history  of  that  portion  of  the  country.  Dr.  Swift  re- 
sided in  Brooklyn  till  1858,  when  he  went  to  Massa- 
chusetts and  entered  Williston  Seminary.  In  1865 
he  entered  Yale  College,  and  graduated  in  1868  with 
the  degree  of  Ph.B.  In  the  fall  of  1869  he  joined 
the  Medical  Department  of  Cambridge  University, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  He  then  entered  the 
Medical  Deparnuent  of  Columbia  College,  and  was 
also  a  private  pupil  of  Dr.  T.  M.  Markoe.  In  1872 
he  graduated  and  received  the  diploma  of  M.D.,  and 
was  the  valedictorian  of  his  class.  After  completing 
his  studies  he  made  a  short  tour  to  Europe,  where  he 
spent  six  months,  principally  in  Germany.  Previous 
to  his  trip  he  had  been  appointed  resident  physician 
at  the  "  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital,"  in  New  York, 
obtaining  this  position  by  a  successful  competitive 
examination ;  after  completing  his  services  there  he 
was  for  a  time  connected  with  the  Northeastern 
Dispensary. 


50+ 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


In  the  fall  of  1873  he  came  to  Yonkers,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  Here  he  entered  into  a  business 
partnership  with  Dr.  J.  Foster  Jenkins,  a  physician 
of  great  skill  and  reputation,  and  this  connection  con- 
tinued till  the  death  of  Dr.  Jenkins,  in  1882.  In  his 
profession  Dr.  Swift  has  attained  an  enviable  and 
well-merited  reputation.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  of  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  of  the  Westchester 
Medical  Society,  the  Jenkins  Medical  Society  of 
Yonkers  and  the  Boylston  Medical  Society  of  Boston, 
Mass.  He  has  always  been  identified  with  the  Demor 
cratic  party,  and  in  1882  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city 
of  Yonkers.  He  has  also  been  president  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  and  is  justly  recognized  as  a  prominent 
and  useful  citizen  and  a  skillful  medical  practi- 
tioner. 

He  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Hon.  Henry  E. 
Davis,  late  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  New 
York,  and  has  one  child,  JIartha.  He  is  a  member 
of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  where  he  has  served 
as  vestryman  since  1877,  and  is  at  present  junior 
warden  of  the  church. 


AUGUSTUS  VAX  CORTLAXDT. 

Dr.  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  was  born  August  31, 
1826,  and  died  December  24,  1884.  He  was  the  son 
of  Frederick  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  and  Harriet, 
daughter  of  Peter  Jay  Munro,  of  Mamaroneck.  His 
paternal  grandfather  was  James  Morris,  of  Morrisania, 
and  his  grandmother  Helen  Van  Cortlandt.  His 
father  took  the  name  of  Van  Cortlandt  to  inherit  an 
estate  at  Lower  Yonkers,  now  called  King's  Bridge. 
The  house  in  which  Dr.  Van  Cortlandt  was  born  was 
afterwards  purchased,  with  a  small  portion  of  the 
property,  by  Hon.  Waldo  Hatchings. 

Dr.  Van  Cortlandt  was  sent  at  an  early  age  to  a 
school  at  White  Plains.  He  had  a  wonderful  memory 
and  learned  very  rapidly.  When  the  California  fever 
broke  out  he  went  to  California,  and  upon  his  return 
to  New  York  began  the  study  of  medicine.  When 
the  war  opened  he  joined  the  Ninth  New  York  Regi- 
ment and  went  to  Washington.  With  a  number  of 
others,  he  shortly  left  the  Ninth  and  joined  the  Twelfth. 
On  the  return  of  his  regiment  he  went  out  with  the 
Seventh.  On  returning  home  he  was  sent  to  David's 
Island  as  physician.  Subsequently  he  commenced 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  New  Rochelle,  which  he 
continued  until  his  death. 

His  practice  was  never  very  remunerative,  being 
principally  among  the  poor,  by  whom  he  seemed  to 
be  much  beloved. 


PIERRE  CORTLANDT  VAX  AVYCK. 

Pierre  Cortlandt  Van  Wyck,  M.D.,  was  born  at  the 
old  Van  Cortlandt  Manor-house,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Croton  River,  September  24,  1824. 


His  father,  Philip  Gilbert  Van  Wyck,  was  the 
nephew  and  adopted  son  of  General  Philip  Van  Cort- 
landt, who  died  a  bachlor  and  left  his  large  estate, 
including  the  Van  Cortlandt  Manor,  to  be  divided 
between  his  two  nephews,  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  and 
Philip  G.  Van  Wyck. 

Dr.  Van  Wyck's  mother  was  Mary  Smith  Gardiner, 
daughter  of  Colonel  Abraham  Gardiner,  who  was  one 
of  the  lineal  descendants  of  Lion  Gardiner,  of  Gardi- 
ner's Island. 

Coming  of  a  race  of  those  who  had  from  the  earliest 
history  of  the  country  been  foremost  in  patriotism, 
generosity  and  the  development  of  all  the  nobler 
traits  of  human  nature,  descended  from  the  Van 
Cortlandts,  Van  Rensselaers,  Gardiners  and  Van 
Wycks,  whose  names  are  so  intimately  interwoven 
with  the  early  history  of  our  own  country,  he  never 
forgot  the  traditions  of  his  ancestry,  but  was  always 
the  genial,  high-toned,  honorable  gentleman. 

Beginning  life  under  these  favorable  auspices,  he 
entered  Princeton  College  and  graduated  with  the 
class  of  1845. 

He  began  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  care  of 
Dr.  Adrian  K.  Hoffman.  He  was  afterwards  a  student 
at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  New 
York,  where  he  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Willai'd  Parker. 

He  graduated  in  1849,  and  was  afterwards  appoint- 
ed by  President  Taylor,  United  States  inspector  of 
drugs,  at  the  port  of  New  York. 

While  holding  this  position  he  became  interested 
in  the  firm  of  Radway  &  Co.,  in  which  he  still  held 
an  interest  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  1862  he  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln 
assessor  of  internal  revenue  for  the  Fourth  District 
of  New  York. 

He  organized  the  district  and  continued  to  admin- 
ister it  ably  and  efficiently  until  it  was  consolidated 
in  1871.  In  .January,  1882,  President  Arthur  ap- 
pointed him  superintendent  of  the  United  States 
Assay  Office  in  New  York,  to  succeed  Mr.  Thomas  C. 
Acton,  who  was  made  Assistant  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States. 

In  politics  he  was  a  Whig  until  1856,  when  he 
joined  the  Republican  party  during  the  Fremont  cam- 
paign. He  had  always  been  prominent  in  the  coun- 
cils of  his  party  and  was  many  times  sent  as  a  dele- 
gate to  State  and  National  Conventions,  and  was  one 
of  the  famous  three  hundred  and  six  who  voted  so 
persistently  for  General  Grant  at  Chicago  in  1880. 

When  the  nomination  of  General  Garfield  was 
announced.  Governor  Dennison  of  Ohio,  came  to  the 
New  Y''ork  delegation  and  said  that  any  candidate 
they  named  for  Vice-President  would  be  nominated. 
Dr.  Van  Wyck  proposed  the  name  of  Chester  A. 
Arthur,  which  was  unanimously  indorsed. 

Dr.  Van  Wyck  had  been  the  personal  friend  of 
President  Arthur  for  twenty  years,  and  was  with 
him  on  that  memorable  night  of  September  19,  1881, 


THE  .MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


595 


when  the  sad  news  came  that  President  Garfield  had 
passed  away,  and  he  was  one  of  the  nine  persons 
present  when  the  oath  of  ofBce  was  administered  by 
Judge  Brady  to  the  new  President  during  the  silence 
and  solemnity  of  the  midnight  hour. 

Dr.  Van  Wyck  had  a  brilliant  mind,  cultivated  by 
deep  study  and  extensive  foreign  travel,  combined 
with  refined  and  artistic  tastes.  He  lived  and  died  a 
bachelor.  He  was  a  man  of  domestic  habits,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  care  and  comfort  of  his  sisters, 
Miss  Joanna  L.  Van  Wyck  and  Mrs.  Annie  V.  R. 
Wells,  who  resided  with  him  at  the  Van  Wyck  man- 
sion, Grove  Hill,  in  the  village  of  Sing  Sing.  This 
had  always  been  the  seat  of  generous  and  refined  hos- 
pitality, and  it  was  at  this 
home  that  he  died  sud- 
denly, of  pneumonia,  on 
the  23d  day  of  April,  188;;. 

The  funeral  was  largely 
attended,  not  only  by  hi> 
associates  and  friends  in 
his  own  circle  of  life,  but 
by  all  his  numerous  ten- 
antry and  the  poor  of  the 
surrounding  country,  who 
found  him  always  a  friend 
and  brother  to  each  and 
all,  irrespective  of  race  or 
creed. 

Of  him  it  may  well 
be  said  :  "  Write  me  as 
one  that  loves  his  fellow- 
men." 

The  interment  took 
place  in  the  family  burial 
ground  at  Croton,  where 
repose  the  remains  of 
those  sterling  Revolution- 
ary patriots,  Lieutenant 
Governor  Pierre 
Van  Cortlandt 
and  his  sons. 
General  Philip 
and  General 
Pierre,  and  of  his  grandsons,  General  Philip  G. 
Van  Wyck  and  Recorder  Pierre  C.  Van  Wyck  and 
numerous  other  members  of  the  Van  Cortlandt  and 
Van  Wyck  families. 

Of  the  ancestry  of  Dr.  Van  Wyck  a  few  words  may 
be  added. 

Cornelius  Barentse  Van  Wyck  came  to  America  in 
1660,  from  Wyck,  a  town  on  the  river  Teck  in  Hol- 
land. He  married  Anna  Polhemus ;  their  son  Theo- 
dorus  who  was  born  September  17,  16tiS,  and  died 
December  4,  17')3,  married  Margaretta  Brinckehoff, 
February  3,  168.5.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  one  of  whom*  Abraham,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 7,  1695,  married  Catherine  Provost  in  1717. 
Of  their  nine  children,  the  eldest,  Theodorus,  born 


November  30,  1718,  married  Helena  Sanford,  August 
2,  1740,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children  ; 
one  of  their  sons,  Abraham,  was  born  in  1748,  and 
married  Catherine,  daughter  of  Lieut.  Gov.  Pierre 
Van  Cortlandt,  January  7,  1776.  Their  children  were 
Theodorus,  Pierre  Cortlaudt,  Van  Wyck  (who  was  for 
many  years  Recorder  for  the  City  of  New  York)  and 
Philip  Gilbert  Van  Wyck,  who.  was  born  June  4, 
1786,  and  married  Mary  Smith,  daughter  of  Col  Abra- 
ham Gardiner,  and  granddaughter  of  David  Gardiner, 
fourth  proprietor  of  Gardiner's  Island.  Their  chil- 
dren were  Joanna  Livingston  Van  Wyck,  now  resid- 
ing at  Sing  Sing;  Catherine,  wife  of  Stephen  H.  Bat- 
tin  ;  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  who  died  unmarried,  Jan- 
uary 12,1842;  Eliza,  wife 
of  William  Van  Ness  Liv- 
ingston, who  died  Decem- 
ber 9, 1865 ;  Gardiner,  who 
died  unmarried,  April  7, 
1860 ;  Annie  Van  Rens- 
selaer, who  married  the 
late  Hon.  Alexander 
Wells,  of  the  Supreme 
Bench  of  California,  and 
whose  only  child,  Ger- 
trude Van  Cortlandt,  mar- 
ried Schuyler  Hamilton, 
Jr.,  great-grandson  ot 
Alexander  Hamilton  ; 
David  Gardiner,  who  died 
unmarried,  December  16, 
1848,  and  Dr.  Pierre  Cort- 
landt Van  Wyck,  the 
subject  of  this  article. 

The   Van   Wycks  of 
Holland,  are  an  aristo- 
cratic and  wealthy  fami- 
ly, and  continue  to  bear 
the  same  coat  of  arms  as 
those  brought by 
the  Van  Wycks 
to  this  country 
upwards  of  two 
centuries  ago. 


HEXRY  K.  HUXTIXGTOX. 

The  first  known  ancestor  of  Henry  K.  Huntington, 
^I.  D.,  in  America,  was  one  to  whom  tradition  ^has 
assigned  the  name  of  Simon.  He  \vas  an  English- 
man, and  in  1633  started  with  his  wife  and  family  for 
this  country.  His  death  occurred  during  the  voyage, 
and  his  son  Christopher,  who  succeeded  to  the  pater- 
nal cares,  brought  the  family  first  to  Norwich,  Conn., 
and  finally  to  Windham,  in  the  same  State,  where  a 
permanent  settlement  was  effected.  The  branch  of 
the  family  from  which  Dr.  Huntington  is  descended 
has  apparently  remained  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  original  homestead,  for  we  find  by  an  examina- 


596 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tion  of  the  records  that  Samuel  Howard  Huntington, 
his  father,  who  was  born  December  14,  1793,  was 
married  in  Hartford  October  19,  1835,  the  lady  being 
his  second  wife.  Her  name  was  Sarah  Blair  Watkin- 
son,  and  she  was  a  daughter  of  Robert  Watkinson,  a 
merchant  residing  in  Hartford. 

Henry  K.,  their  son,  was  born  at  Hartford  March 
27,  1845.    He  remained  in  his  native  town  till  1862, 
in  which  year,  having  meanwhile  graduated  from  the 
Hartford  public  school,  he  entered  Trinity  College. 
In  1867,  after  graduating  there,  he  made  a  first  at- 
tempt at  self-support.    Proceeding  as  far  west  as 
Racine,  Wis.,  he  engaged  as  a  tutor  in  the  college 
there.    A  year's  experience  as  an  instructor,  how- 
ever, convinced  him  that 
teaching  was  not  his  forte, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  first 
term  he  resigned  his  posi- 
tion at  Racine,  with  the 
intention     of  studying 
medicine. 

Retracing  his  steps,  he 
came  eastward,  and  in 
1868  entered  the  Univer- 
sity (medical  college)  of 
the  city  of  New  York, 
from  which  he  graduated 
in  1871.  The  success 
which  has  attended  him 
as  a  physician,  has  con- 
vinced him,  as  well  as  his 
many  friends,  that  he 
made  no  mistake  in  his 
second  choice  of  a  pro- 
fession. Immediately  fol- 
lowing his  graduation,  he 
devoted  sixteen  months 
to  service  in  the  Charity 
Hospital  on  Black- 
well's  Island.  As  a 
reward  for  the  profi- 
ciency with  which  he 
had  performed  his  du- 
ties there,  he  was 
commissioned  in  1872  with  the  re-organization  of  the 
Convalescent  Hospital  on  Hart's  Island,  and  to  him  is 
due  the  credit  of  originating  what  is  now  known  as 
the   Hart's  Island  Hospital. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1873,  he  removed  to  New 
Rochelle,  where  he  still  resides.  By  careful  attention 
to  the  needs  of  his  patients  and  faithfulness  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  professional  duties,  he  has  won  for 
himself  not  only  a  large  and  extended  practice,  but 
also  the  esteem  of  bis  fellow-townsmen 

He  is  a  member  of  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  was 
formerly  a  trustee  of  the  public  schools  and  is  con- 
nected with  the  County  and  State  I\Iedical  Associa- 
tions. He  is  at  present  physician  to  the  Board  of 
Health  of  the  town  of  New  Rochelle. 


Dr.  Huntington  married  Sept.  23, 1873,  MissMoruca 
Frances  De  Figaniere,  and  has  no  children.  He  is 
one  of  the  most  successful  physicians  in  the  county. 


MAXIMILIAN  JOSEPH  EEINFELDER. 

Maximilian  Joseph  Reinfelder,  M.D.,  was  born  in 
Munich,  Kingdom  of  Bavaria,  March  4,  1821.  His 
father,  Ferdinand  Reinfelder,  was  a  surgeon  in  the 
military  academy  of  that  capital,  where  he  was  in 
active  service  thirty-three  years.  From  his  four- 
teenth year  Dr.  Reinfelder  paid  great  attention  to 
the  study  of  the  natural  sciences,  especially  chemis- 
try, in  which  he  graduated  from  the  University  of 
Munich  in  1844.    From  1847  to  1850  he  pursued  his 

medical  studies  there. 

Attracted  by  the  large 
field  of  usefulness  which 
America  affords  to  scien- 
tific men  as  medical  prac- 
titioners, as  well  as  by  his 
natural  and  unconquer- 
able predilection  for  this 
country  almost  from  his 
childhood,  he  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1854. 

Notwithstanding  the 
thoroughness  of  his  Euro- 
pean medical  education, 
he  matriculated  at  the 
Univereity  Medical  Col- 
lege, in  New  Y'ork  City. 
His  object  in  doing  this 
was  to  familiarize  him- 
selt  with  American  medi- 
cal authorities,  and  iden- 
tify himself  with  Ameri- 
can interests;  also  to  ob- 
serve and  study  the  great 
changes  which  took  place 
during  twenty  years  in 
all  branches  of  medical 
science.  Having  fin- 
ished the  courses  pre- 
scribed in  the  school 
of  medicine,  he  was  graduated  in  1869,  receiving,  be- 
side his  regular  diploma,  a  certificate  of  honor,  as  an 
evidence  of  having  pursued  a  fuller  course  of  medical 
instruction  than  that  usually  followed  by  students. 
He  continued  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Yonkers, 
where  he  has  been  located  for  the  last  thirty-one  years. 
He  is  a  man  of  acknowledged  reputation  in  the  pro- 
fession, and  is  at  present  consulting  physician  to  St. 
John's  Riverside  Hospital.  He  is  a  Fellow  of  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  also  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Westchester  Medical  Society. 

He  was  married,  in  1854,  to^  Miss  A.  Merz,  of  Lin- 
dau.  Lake  Constance,  Bavaria,  and  has  one  daughter, 
Armina  J.,  who  resides  with  him  at  the  present  time. 
He  is  now  a  gentleman  of  advanced  years.  By 


THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 


597 


carelul  attention  to  the  wants  of  his  patients,  and 
strict  economy  in  the  management  of  his  private  af- 
fairs, he  has  accumulated  for  himself  an  extensive 
practice  and  a  moderate  fortune.  He  is  greatly  re- 
si)ected  in  the  city  of  his  adoption  both  as  a  private 
citizen  and  an  influential  physician. 


RALPH  BAKXARD  GRI.sWOLD. 

The  family  of  Ralph  Barnard  Griswold,  M.D.,  was 
originally  English.  The  first  ancestor  in  this  coun- 
try was  Roger  Griswold,  who  came  to  New  London, 
Conn.,  before  the  Revolution,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
Fort  Griswold,  near  that  city,  was  named  after  some 
of  the  members  of  the  family. 

Ralph  Barnard  Gris- 
wold, M.D.,  son  of  Lucius 
and  Julia  Elizabeth  (Bar- 
nard) Griswold,  was  born 
at  Colebrook,  Litchfield 
County,  Conn.,  January 
18,  1835.  His  parents 
moved  to  the  thriving  vil- 
lage of  Winsted  in  1848, 
where  he  attended  the 
district  school,  after  which 
he  became  a  pupil  of  St. 
James'  School,  taught 
by  Revs.  Jonathan  and 
James  R.  Coe.  He 
taught  school  in  the 
academy  at  Winchester 
Centre  and  also  nine 
months  at  Stroudsburg, 
Pa.  His  success  was  so 
great  there  that  he  was 
urged  to  tarry  longer. 
For  years,  however,  it 
had  been  his  desire  to 
become  a  physician,  and 
while  yet  en- 
gaged as  a 
teacher  in 
Stroudsburg, 
he  fully  de- 
cided to  exe- 
cute this  purpose.  He  read  medicine  with  H.  B.  Steele, 
M.D.,  of  Winsted,  Conn.,  and  attended  his  first  course  of 
lectures  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New 
York,  and  a  full  course  at  the  Eclectic  Medical  Insti- 
tute of  Cincinnati,  O.,  where  he  graduated  in  Feb  1857. 

It  had  been  his  father's  wish  that  he  should  spend 
some  time  in  Europe  to  further  advance  his  medical 
education,  but  being  of  an  ambitious  turn  of  mind, 
and  having  confidence  in  his  own  ability,  he  decided 
not  to  accept  the  kind  offer  thus  made.  In  April, 
1857,  he  came  to  North  Castle,  where  he  immediately 
began  the  practice  of  medicine  and  has  succeeded  in 
building  up  a  business  second  to  none  in  this  part  of 
the  county.    He  is  now  called  to  Stanwich,  Round 


Hill,  Armonk,  Bedford,  New  Castle  and  Long  Ridge, 
and  is  the  leading  physician  in  North  Castle,  his 
post-office  address  being  Banksville,  Fairfield  County, 
Conn.  He  is  town  physician  and  is  also  health 
officer  of  the  Board  of  Health. 

He  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at 
Winsted,  Conn.,  in  his  seventeenth  year,  and  in  1857 
brought  his  letter  from  this  church  to  the  Middle 
Patent  Methodist  Church,  where  he  has  been  an 
acceptable  member  for  twenty-eight  years,  hold- 
ing the  offices  of  trustee,  steward  and  chorister  from 
the  time  of  his  arrival  to  the  present.  He  has  been 
since  his  earliest  recollection  connected  with  Sabbath- 
schools,  either  as  a  pupil,  superintendent  or  teach- 
er. For  fifteen  years  Dr. 
Griswold  has  managed  the 
financial  matters  of  the 
church  of  which  he  is  a 
member,  and  has  rendered 
valuable  service  in  the 
collection  of  funds  neces- 
sary for  its  support. 

May  1,  1858,  he  married 
Mary  Jane  Early.  Four 
children  were  born  to 
them,  of  whom  William  L. 
Griswold,  Ph.B.,  M.D., 
now  practicing  medicine 
in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  and 
Julia  Alice  Griswold  are 
still  living.    Hehas  held 
the  office  of  commissioner 
of  highways  of  his  town 
for  five  consecutive  terms 
of  three  years  each,  and 
still  holds  the  position. 
He  has  also  been  tendered 
the   nomination  for  su- 
pervisor, but  owing  to- 
pressure  of 
pr  ofessional 
business,  has 
been  obliged 
to  decline  the 
honor.  He 

has  always  been  a  temperance  man,  and  became  espec- 
ially active  in  that  work  in  1870,  when  he  assisted  in 
organizing  the  Middle  Patent  Division  of  the  Sons  of 
Temperance.  He  was  made  its  first  Worthy  Patriarch, 
and  some  three  years  afterward  was  elected  Grand 
Worthy  Patriarch  of  the  Grand  Division  "Sons  of  Tem- 
perance "  of  Eastern  New  York,  embracing  in  itsjuris- 
diction  some  thirteen  counties  of  the  State.  He  is  also 
an  ex-officio  member  of  the  National  Division  of  the 
same  association.  He  has  always  been  a  consistent 
Republican,  not  having  missed  either  a  town  or 
State  election  in  over  twenty-eight  years.  He  has 
identified  himself,  irrespective  of  party,  church  or  state,, 
with  any  and  every  cause  which  bethought  was  for  the 


598 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


benefit  of  the  community,  being  always  ready  to  lend 
a  helping  hand.  He  has  often,  after  a  day  of  toil  or 
a  thirty  or  forty-mile  ride,  driven  away  again  some 
five  miles  to  drill  or  take  charge  of  a  company 
of  singers  in  giving  a  concert  or  entertainment 
for  some  weak  society.  His  liberal  tendencies, 
together  with  his  cordial  disposition  and  the  valuable 
services  which  he  has  in  times  past  and  still  con- 
tines  to  render  the  community  in  which  he  lives, 
have  endeared  him  to  its  people  and  made  his  name 
an  honor  to  the  county  of  his  adoption. 

AVALTON  .JAY  CARPENTER. 

Walton  Jay  Carpenter,  M.D.,  is  descended  from  an 
English  family  who  came 
to  New  England  during 
the  seventeenth  century. 
From  thence  a  branch  re- 
moved to  the  town  of  Pur- 
chase, in  Westchester 
County,  where  they  took 
up  land  and  engaged  in 
farming.  Charles  B.  Car- 
jienter,  father  of  Walton 
Jay,  was  of  this  line.  He 
married  Rachel  White, 
and  of  their  five  children, 
Dr.  Carpenter  was  the 
oldest.  He  was  born  in 
Duauesburgh,  Schenec- 
tady County,  N.  Y.,  Sep- 
tember 11,  1852,  and  re- 
moved with  his  family 
■when  but  four  years  of  age 
to  Illinois.  After  a  stay 
of  two  years  in  the  West 
the  family  returned  to 
Duanesburgh  where  the 
youth  attended  the  public 
school,  leav- 
ing at  the age 
of  fifteen  for 
the  Delaware 
Literary  In- 
stitute,where 

he  passed  two  winters.  A  period  of  three  years,  divided 
between  teaching  and  study  followed ;  then  a  two  years" 
course  of  select  studies  at  Union  College  and  a  term  of 
medical  preparation  under  the  celebrated  professor. 
Dr.  Alfred  Loomis,  of  New  York.  In  the  fall  of  1875 
he  entered  the  medical  department  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  finally  fin- 
ished his  course  in  the  spring  of  1877,  when  he 
graduated. 

He  first  settled  at  Round  Hill,  Connecticut,  where 
he  practiced  for  a  few  months,  in  connection  with  his 
uncle,  J.  C.  White,  M.D. ;  but  this  town  not  offering 
the  advantages  which  he  craved,  he  returned  to  New 
Y^ork  City  and  entered  upon  a  post-graduate  course 


at  the  University,  after  completing  which  in  1878  he 
removed  to  Katonah,  where  he  still  resides. 

He  has  by  care  and  industry  succeeded  in  building 
up  for  himself  an  extensive  practice,  and  has  during 
his  residence  in  Katonah  effected  many  cures  which 
will  render  his  reputation  permanent  and  bis  presence 
in  the  place  a  continual  agency  for  good.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Katonah,  and 
also  a  member  of  the  following  Masonic  organiza- 
tions :  Kisco  Lodge,  No.  708  ;  Croton  Chapter,  No. 
202 ;  and  Crusade  Commandery,  No.  56. 

He  married  April  30,  1884,  Miss  Anna  L.  Green, 
daughter  of  Alsoph  Green,  of  Katonah. 

Dr.  Carpenter  is  connected  with  the  Westchester 
Medical  Society,  among 
the  members  of  which  he 
is  widely  known  and  as 
widely  respected- 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I.ITERATl'KE  AND  LITERA- 
RY MEN,  OF  WESTCHES- 
TER COUNTY. 

BY 

j.  thos.  scharf,  a.m.,  ll.d 

Westchester  County 
has  good  reason  to  pride 
herself  on  her  contribu- 
tions to  the  literature  ot 
the  country.   Few,  if  any, 
counties  in  the  Union,  can 
show  an  equally  brilliant 
record.    She  has  given 
birth  to  many  noted  wri- 
ters and   has  nurtured 
many  more.    The  great- 
est literary  genius,  proba- 
bly, that  our 
country  has 
produced,  the 
weird,  uncan- 
ny Poe,  found 
inspiration 

within  her  borders,  on  the  banks  of  the  lordly 
Hudson,  and  that  sunny,  facile  intellect  which 
dwelt  in  the  pure  and  lofty  brow  of  Washington 
Irving  found  equal  delight  in  exploring  the  mystic 
nooks  and  windings  of  its  "  Sleepy  Hollows."  Feni- 
more  Cooper,  the  great  pioneer  of  American  fiction, 
roamed  over  its  rugged  hills  and  through  its  pleasant 
meadows,  and  treading  close  upon  his  heels  came 
James  Kirke  Paulding,  Irving's  friend  and  collabora- 
teur,  whose  strong  Americanism  was  quite  as  pure 
and  unadulterated  as  was  that  of  the  patriotic 
Cooper.  Among  political  writers,  Westchester  pre- 
sents the  great  names  of  Hamilton,  Tom  Paine,  Sea- 
bury,  Wilkins,  the  Jays,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Daniel 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


599 


D.  Tompkins,  John  Bigelow,  Horace  Greeley,  James 
Watson  Webb,  besides  a  host  of  lesser  celebrities. 

George  Washington,  tliough  not,  projierly  si)eaking,  a 
literury  character,  deserves  to  be  included  among  those 
who  have  transmitted  noble  tlioughts  as  well  as  noble 
deeds  to  his  countrymen.  His  association  with  the 
people  of  Westchester  County  during  the  Revolution- 
ary era  is  fully  set  forth  elsewhere  in  this  work. 
Among  his  writings  are  to  be  found  vivid  bits  of 
description  of  AV^estchester  localities,  with  which  he 
became  familiarized  in  passing  through  tlie  county. 
The  Sparks  collection  of  Washington's  writings  fills 
twelve  large  octavo  volumes.  His  first  ap[)earance  as 
an  author  was  in  the  publication,  in  1754,  at  Williams- 
burg, Ya.,  and  in  London,  of  his  journal  of  his  pro- 
ceedings "  To  and  from  the  French  of  the  Ohio,"  a 
brief  tract  written  hastily  from  the  rough  notes  taken 
on  his  exjjedition.  His  State  papers,  correspondence 
and  "  Farewell  Address  "  are  too  well  known  to  need 
description  here.  Major  John  Andre,  whose  mournful 
fate  is  indissolubly  linked  with  the  glorious  deeds  of 
Washington,  spent  the  closing  days  of  his  career  in 
Westchester.  He  was  a  poet  as  well  as  a  soldier  and 
an  accomplished  man  of  letters. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Yice-President  of  the  United 
States,  belongs  to  the  political,  rather  than  to  the 
literary  history  of  Westchester  County,  although  his 
talents  as  a  speaker  and  writer,  entitle  him  to  recog- 
nition as  a  man  of  letters.  He  was  a  native  of  Scars- 
dale. 

Samuel  J.  Tilden  may  be  included  in  the  same 
category,  and  can  be  claimed  as  one  of  the  celebri- 
ties of  Westchester  County,  where,  at  his  beautiful 
estate  "  Greystone,"  he  spends  much  of  his  time  in 
elegant  and  scholarly  retirement. 

General  John  C.  Fremont,  the  soldier,  explorer, 
author  and  politician,  resided  at  one  time  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  in  the  house  built  by  General  James  Wat- 
son Webb.  His  wife,  who  is  the  daughter  of  Senator 
Benton,  of  Missouri,  is  a  woman  of  great  accomplish- 
ments and  decided  literary  tastes.  General  Fremont, 
who  was  born  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  January  21,  1813,  is 
known  to  literature  by  his  graphic  reports,  which 
were  published  by  the  federal  government,  of  his 
Western  explorations.  Devoting  himself  in  early  life 
to  civil  engineering,  he  obtained  an  appointment  in 
the  government  expedition  for  the  survey  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mississippi,  and  was  afterwards  employed 
at  Washington  preparing  maps  of  the  country  ex- 
plored. In  1842,  at  the  head  of  a  small  force,  he 
crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  opened  to  com- 
merce and  emigration  the  Great  South  Pass.  His 
report  of  his  adventures  was  so  interesting  that  it 
was  reprinted  by  publishers  in  this  country  and  in 
England  and  was  translated  into  various  foreign  lan- 
guages. He  next  accomplished  an  expedition  to 
Oregon,  and,  striking  southward  and  westward,  after 
incredible  hardships,  succeeded  in  exploring  the  re- 
gion of  Alta  California,  including  the  Sierra  Nevada, 


the  valleys  of  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento  and  the 
gold  region.  Returning  to  Washington  in  1844,  he 
published  another  report,  and  upon  its  completion 
set  out  on  another  exi)edition  to  the  Pacific,  tlie  re- 
sult of  which  was  the  acquisition  of  California  by  the 
United  States.  He  was  sent  to  Washington  in  1850 
as  the  first  United  States  Senator  from  California. 
In  1856  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  during  the  Civil  War 
held  a  commission  as  major-general  in  the  Union 
army.  A  superb  edition  of  his  reports,  entitled  "Fre- 
mont's Exi)iorations,"  was  published  in  1859. 

Among  other  names  associated  with  the  history  of 
Westchester  County  which  have  attained  to  distinc- 
tion in  literature  are  those  of  J.  Rodman  Drake,  John 
Savage,  William  Leggett,  Robert  Rogers,  David 
Humphreys,  Guliau  C.  Verplanck,  Ann  Eliza  Bleeck- 
er,  Mrs.  Haven,  James  Parton,  Rev.  Thomas  Allen,  a 
chaplain  of  the  Revolutionary  army  at  White  Plains, 
who  took  an  active  part  in  the  political  discussions  of 
the  time;  Charles  Tafin  A rmand,  the  Marquis  de  la 
Rouarie,  an  eloquent  and  persuasive  speaker  and 
writer,  who,  in  1778,  was  actively  engaged  in  West- 
chester County  in  opposing  Simcoe,  Emmerick  and 
Baremore,  the  Loyalist,  whom  he  captured  near  King's 
Bridge  November  8,  1779;  Aaron  Burr,  who  was  sta- 
tioned in  Westchester  County  in  the  winter  of  1778- 
79,  and  whose  duel  with  Hamilton  took  place  at 
Weehawken ;  Nathaniel  Chipman,  LL.D.,  the  Ver- 
mont jurist,  who  participated  in  the  battle  of  White 
Plains ;  Joel  Barlow,  the  author  of  the  "  Columbiad," 
and  Rev.  William  Crosswell,  D.D.,  clergyman  and 
scholar,  born  at  Hudson,  November  7,  1804,  and 
died  at  Boston  November  9,  1851 ;  James  De  Lancey, 
the  jurist,  born  in  1703  and  died  in  1760;  General 
Oliver  De  Lancey,  of  the  British  army,  who  fought  at 
White  Plains  ;  Horace  Green,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  the  dis- 
tinguished physician  and  medical  writer,  who  died  at 
Greenmount,  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.,  December  24,  1802; 
Rev.  Freeborn  Garretson  Hibbard,  D.D.,  at  one  time 
editor  of  the  Northern  Christian  Advocate  and  author 
of  several  books,  born  at  New  Rochelle,  February  22, 
1811 ;  James  Macdonald,  M.D.,  author  of  valuable 
papers  on  the  treatment  of  insanity,  born  at  White 
Plains,  July  18,  1803,  died  at  Flushing,  Long  Island, 
May  5, 1849;  Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  the  noted 
navalofEcerandauthorof  the livesof  Paul  Jones, O.  H. 
Perry,  Stephen  Decatur  and  many  other  works,  born  in 
New  York,  April  (!,  1803,  lived  in  Mount  Pleasant,  on 
the  Sing  Sing  road,  and  died  at  Tarrytown,  Septem- 
ber 13,  1848  ;  Benjamin  Moore  Norman,  the  author 
of  interesting  books  of  travel,  born  at  Hudson,  De- 
cember 22,  1809,  died  near  Summit,  Miss.,  February 
1,  1860  ;  Rear  Admiral  Hiram  Paulding,  son  of  John 
Paulding,  one  of  Andre's  captors,  and  a  distinguished 
naval  officer  and  author  of  a  "  Journal  of  a  Cruise 
Among  the  Islands  ofthe  Pacific,"  born  in  Westchester 
County,  December  11,  1797;  Calvin  W.  Philleo,  the 
novelist,  born  at  Yernon,  July  14,  1822,  died  at  Suf- 


600 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


field,  Conn.,  June  30,  1858;  Winthrop  Sargent,  the 
soldier,  statesman  and  writer,  who  fought  at  White 
Plains;  Joseph  Mather  Smith,  M.D.,  the  eminent 
physician  and  medical  writer,  who  was  a  native  of 
New  Rochelle;  John  Savage,  the  editor  and  poet, 
who  lives  at  Fordham ;  John  Canfield  Spencer,  LL.D., 
lawyer  and  politician,  a  native  of  Hudson,  who  is 
known  to  the  literary  world  for  having  edited  the  first 
American  edition  of  De  Tocqueville's  "  Democracy 
in  America,"  with  an  original  preface  and  notes ; 
William  Leete  Stone,  the  noted  journalist,  who,  in 
1813,  edited  the  Herkimer  American  and  afterwards  a 
political  paper  at  Hudson,  becoming  finally  one  of 
the  proprietors  of  the  New  York  Commercial  Adver- 
tiser; Peter  Van  Schaack,  LL.D.,  jurist,  loyalist  in 
the  Revolutionary  War  and  author,  born  at  Kinder- 
hook,  where  he  died,  September  27,  1882;  Aaron 
Ward,  lawyer,  politician  and  author,  born  at  Sing 
Sing,  July  5,  1790 ;  Robert  Watts,  M.D.,  physician 
and  medical  writer,  born  at  Fordham  in  1812;  and 
Thurlow  Weed,  the  journalist  and  politician,  born  at 
Cairo,  N.  Y.,  November  15,  1797,  and  whose  early 
life  was  passed  as  a  cabin  boy  on  the  Hudson. 

Of  contemporary  writers,  the  following  have  been 
more  or  less  identified  with  Westchester  County  : 

General  Adam  Badeau,  author  of  the  "  History  of 
General  U.  S.  Grant,"  etc.,  who  lived  in  North  Tarry- 
town,  Mount  Pleasant,  from  boyhood  until  about 
1856 ;  Clarence  Cook,  the  art  critic,  who  attended 
school  at  Irving  Institute,  Tarrytown,  and  lived  at 
Irvington;  A.  C.  Wheeler  ("Nym  Crinkle"),  poet 
and  critic,  who  also  attended  school  at  Irving  Institute 
and  lived  at  North  Tarrytown  ;  Charles  A.  Brace, 
author  and  philanthropist,  who  lived  at  Hastings ; 
Frank  Vincent,  Jr.,  author  and  traveler,  who  wrote 
"  The  Land  of  the  White  Elephant,"  "  Through  and 
Through  the  Tropics"  and  "  Norsk,  Lapp  and  Finn," 
and  whose  home  is  in  Tarrytown  ;  Rev.  William  C. 
Wilkinson,  D.D.,  formerly  professor  in  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary,  who  has  written  a  critique  on 
Arnold's  "  Light  of  Asia,"  etc.,  and  who  resides  at 
Tarrytown  ;  Stephen  H.  Thayer,  the  poet,  who  wrote 
"  Songs  of  Sleepy  Hollow,"  and  lives  in  North  Tarry- 
town ;  Latham  C.  Strong,  poet  and  journalist,  wlio 
wrote  "  Castle  Windows,"  "  Poke  O'Moonshine,"  etc., 
and  was  a  resident  of  North  Tarrytown  until  his 
death;  Hamilton  Mabie,  editor  of  The  Christian  Union, 
who  lived  in  North  Tarrytown ;  Marshall  H.  Bright, 
editor  of  The  Christian  at  Work,  who  lives  in  Tarry- 
town ;  Rev.  Pharcellus  Church,  D.D.,  the  author  of 
a  number  of  books,  reviews,  etc.,  and  a  resident  of 
Tarrytown ;  Rev.  Jacob  Dutcher,  author  of  "  The  Old 
Home  by  the  River,"  who  was  born  in  Greenburgh ; 
Minna  Irving,  poetess,  a  contributor  to  The  Century, 
whose  full  name  is  Minna  Irving  Odell,and  who  lives 
in  Greenburgh ;  Henry  Drisler,  scholar,  author  and 
professor,  who  lived  in  Greenburgh ;  Rev.  John  A. 
Paine,  professor  in  Robert  College,  Constantinople, 
archseologist  to  the  Palestine  Exploring  Expedition, 


and  author  of  a  work  on  that  subject,  whose  home  is 
in  Tarrytown  ;  Colonel  Church,  editor  of  The  Army 
and  Navy  Journal;  E.  Z.  C.  Judson  ("Ned  Bunt- 
line  "),  who  lived  at  Chappaqua;  Dr.  Edward  Bright, 
editor  of  The  Examiner,  who  lives  at  Yonkers ;  and 
Robert  B.  Coffin  ("  Barry  Gray  "),  who  lives  at  Kato- 
nah. 

In  music  and  the  fine  arts  Westchester  is  also  not 
without  distinction.  Among  composers  may  be  men- 
tioned George  F.  Bristow  and  Francis  H.  Nash,  both 
residents  of  Morrisania  ;  and  among  painters,  Albert 
Bierstadt,  the  famous  landscape  painter,  who  lived 
within  the  corporate  limits  of  Tarrytown,  and  whose 
residence  was  destroyed  by  fire ;  Francis  W.  Ed- 
monds, Edward  W.  Nichols,  Tait,  Gustave  M.  Ar- 
nolt,  the  young  German  painter  of  animals,  and 
Samuel  Fanshaw  and  Robert  Hite,  both  of  them  emi- 
nent painters  on  ivory.  Robert  Walter  Weir,  the 
distinguished  painter,  who  succeeded  C.  R.  Leslie  as 
instructor  in  drawing  at  West  Point,  was  born  at 
New  Rochelle  on  June  18,  1808. 

The  earliest  of  the  Westchester  County  literati  was 
Adrian  Van  der  Donck,  a  graduate  of  the  University 
of  Leyden,  who  was  appointed  by  the  patroon  of 
Rensselaerwick  sheriff'  of  his  colony,  and  came  to  New 
Netherland  in  1642.  In  1648  he  was  granted  a  tract 
of  land  at  Yonkers.  In  the  deed  he  was  spoken  of  as 
Yonker  Van  der  Donck,  Yonker  being  the  usual  title 
of  gentleman.  His  name  appears  among  the  signers 
of  a  tract,  published  at  the  Hague  in  1650,  describing 
the  New  Netherland.  It  has  been  translated  by  Mr. 
Henry  C.  Murphy  for  the  New  York  Historical  Soci- 
ety, and  published  by  them,  and  also  by  James  Len- 
ox, of  New  York.  Owing  to  its  attacks  on  the  gov- 
ernment of  Kieft  and  Stuyvesant,  Van  der  Donck 
was  denied  access  to  the  colonial  records  during  the 
preparation  of  his  "  Description  of  New  Netherland," 
which  has  been  translated  and  occupies  one  hun- 
dred and  six  pages  of  the  "New  York  Historical  So- 
ciety's Collections,"  1841.  It  describes  the  rural  pro- 
ducts, animals  and  inhabitants  of  the  colony.  The 
date  of  the  first  edition  is  unknown.  The  second  was 
published  at  Amsterdam,  in  1656,  by  Ebert  Nieu- 
wenhof,  who  introduced  the  work  with  a  poetical 
preface. 

Right  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D.,  first  bishop  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  may  be  classed 
among  the  literary  men  of  Westchester,  from  the  fact 
that,  while  in  charge  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Westches- 
ter, he  wrote  and  published,  anonymously,  during  the 
Revolutionary  period,  a  series  of  pamphlets  in  de- 
fense of  the  crown,  under  the  signature,  it  is  said,  of 
"  A.  W.  Farmer."  He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Seabury,  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  at  New  London,  Conn.,  and 
was  born  at  Croton,  November  30,  1729,  and  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  in  1748.  He  then  went  to  Scotland  to 
study  medicine,  but  while  in  that  country  also  de- 
voted his  attention  to  theology,  and  was  ordained  by 


LITERATUllE  AND  LITEllARY  MEN. 


601 


the  Bisliop  of  London  in  1758,  and,  on  his  return, 
settled  at  New  Jkunswiek,  N.  J.,  as  a  missionary  of 
tlie  rroi)agation  Society.  In  1757  he  removed  to  Ja- 
maica, and  from  thence,  in  1766,  to  Westchester, 
where,  in  addition  to  his  church,  he  had  charge  of  a 
sciiool.  The  authorship  of  tlie  '"  Farmer  "  pamphlets, 
which  were  commonly  attributed  to  him,  caused  him 
to  be  seized  by  the  Whigs,  in  1775,  and  carried  to 
New  Haven,  where  he  was  imprisoned.  As  the  fact 
of  the  authorship  could  not  be  established  by  legal 
proof,  he  was  suffered  to  return  to  Westches  er,  where 
he  renewed  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Loyalist  cause. 
Upon  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  he 
removed  to  New  York  City.  Here  he  remained  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  officiating  part  of  the  time  as 
chaplain  to  the  King's  American  Regiment,  and 
jjracticiug  medicine.  In  1783,  having  been  elected 
bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Connecticut,  he  sailed  for 
England  and  applied  for  consecration  to  the  Arch- 
bi-hop  of  York,  the  See  of  Canterbury  being  va- 
cant. His  application  was  refused,  in  consequence  of 
the  inability  of  the  English  bishops  to  dispense  with 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  crown.  In  August, 
1784,  he  made  a  similar  application  to  the  bishops  of 
the  Scottish  Church,  by  whom  he  was  consecrated,  at 
Aberdeen,  November  14,  1784.  In  the  spring  of  the 
following  year  he  returned  to  America  and  began  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  as  bishop.  He  displayed  con- 
siderable ability  and  force  as  a  writer  on  a  variety 
of  topics,  and  rendered  important  services  to  his 
church  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Liturgy  and  other 
matters.  He  died  February  25,  1796,  at  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  where  he  had  filled  his  father's  place  as 
rector  of  the  church,  besides  discharging  his  epis- 
copal duties.  The  "  Farmer  "  pamphlets  have  been 
attributed  to  Isaac  Wilkins,  and  also  to  Dr.  Chand- 
ler, Dr.  Inglis  and  Dr.  Myles  Cooper,  but  it  is 
believed  they  were  written  by  Seabury.  The  strong- 
est evidence  is  found  in  the  draft  of  a  document  in 
Seabury's  own  writing,  in  which  he  states  that  he  was 
the  author  of  a  |)amplet,  entitled  "  Free  Thoughts  on 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Congress  at  Philadelphia," 
which  was  published  shortly  after  the  first  Congress 
broke  up,  and  other  publications  which  followed,  all 
of  them  signed  "  A.  W.  Farmer."  He  also  states 
that  on  the  19th  of  November,  1775,  an  armed  force 
of  one  hundred  horsemen  came  from  Connecticut  to 
his  house,  and,  not  finding  him  at  home,  beat  his 
children  to  compel  them  to  tell  where  their  father 
was,  "  which,  not  succeeding,  they  searched  the  neigh- 
borhood and  took  him  from  his  school,  and,  with  much 
abusive  language,  carried  him  in  great  triumph  to 
New  Haven,  seventy  miles  distant,  where  he  was  pa- 
raded through  most  of  the  streets,  and  their  success 
celebrated  by  firing  cannon,  &c."  At  this  time,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  statement,  Dr.  Seabury  "  lived  at 
Westchester,  in  the  then  province  of  New  Y'ork,  and 
was,  though  not  wealthy,  yet  in  easy  circumstances, 
and  supported  a  large  family — viz.,  a  wife  and  si.\: 
66 


children — comfortably  and  decently  ;  that  his  income 
was  at  least  £200  S^erl.  p''  a"",  arising  from  his  Par- 
ish, Glebe  &  from  a  grammar  School,  in  which  he 
had  more  than  20  young  Gentlemen,  when  the  Re- 
bellion began."  The  "Free  Thoughts  "  of  Seabury, 
we  are  told,  excited  the  bitterest  feeling.  It  was  re- 
printed in  London,  in  1775,  "  for  Richardson  &  Ur- 
quhart,  at  the  Royal  Exchange."  Mr.  Trumbull 
says  that  "  when  coj)ies  of  these  pamphlets  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Whigs,  they  were  disposed  of  in  such 
a  manner  as  most  emphatically  to  express  detestation  of 
the  anonymous  authors  and  their  sentiments.  Some- 
times they  were  publicly  burned,  with  imposing  for- 
mality ;  sometimes  decorated  with  tar  and  feathers 
[from  the  Turkey-buzzard,  as  '  the  fittest  emblem  of 
the  author's  odiousncss '],  and  nailed  to  the  whip- 
ping-post." Rev.  Jonathan  Boucher,  writing  of  Sea- 
bury's authorship  of  the  pamphlets,  states  that, 
"  being  attributed  to  another  gentleman,  he  alone  de- 
rived any  advantage  from  them,  for  to  him  the  Brit- 


REV.  ISAAC  WILKINS,  D.D. 

ish  government  granted  a  handsome  pension,  whilst 
the  real  author  [Seabury]  never  received  a  farthing." 
Who  the  spurious  pensioner  was,  Mr.  Boucher  does 
not  state.  Bishop  Seabury  received  the  degree  of 
A.M.  from  Columbia  (then  King's)  College,  N.  Y.,  in 
1761,  and  that  of  D.D.  from  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford, England.  His  son  Charles,  a  distinguished 
clergyman  and  father  of  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D., 
of  New  York,  was  born  at  Westchester,  May  20,  1770. 

Isaac  Wilkins,  D.D.,  was  born  at  Withywood  in 
the  Island  of  Jamaica,  December  17,  1742,  and  was 
the  son  of  Martin  Wilkins,  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
judge,  who  came  to  New  Y'ork  in  order  to  educate 
his  son.  His  parents  died  when  he  was  a  child  and 
his  care  and  education  devolved  on  his  aunt,  Mrs. 
Mary  Macey,  his  mother's  sister.  He  graduated  at 
King's  College  in  1760,  and  was  married,  November 
7,  1762,  to  Isabella,  daughter  of  Hon.  Lewis  Morris. 
They  resided  at  Morrisania  for  a  year  or  two,  when 
Mr.  Wilkins  purchased  an  estate  known  as  Castle 


602 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Hill  Neck,  in  Westchester  County.  In  1772  he  was 
sent  to  the  Colonial  Legislature  from  the  borough  of 
Westchester  and  took  an  active  part  in  its  proceed- 
ings until  April,  1775,  on  the  side  of  the  Loyalists. 
As  the  reputed  author  of  the  "Westchester  Farmer" 
pamphlets,  he  became  obnoxious  to  the  Whigs  and  was 
forced  to  leave  for  England,  where  he  remained  about 
a  year,  making  eveiy  effort  to  reconcile  the  dispute  be- 
tween the  colonies  and  the  mother  country.  He  then 
returned  to  his  family,  whom  he  removed  from 
Castle  Hill,  which  had  been  laid  waste  and  made 
desolate,  to  Long  Island,  where,  at  Newtown  and 
Flatbush,  he  resided  until  the  peace.  He  sold  his 
farm  in  1784  and  took  his  family  to  Nova  Scotia, 
where  he  purchased  a  farm  and  returned  to  his  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  He  was  sent  to  the  Assembly  of  the 
province,  and  soon  after  placed  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
mittee for  the  distribution  of  lands  to  the  American  refu- 
gee Loyalists.  In  1798  he  returned  to  New  York,  and 
while  preparing  for  the  ministry  was  called  to  the 
partial  rectorship  of  St.  Peter's,  Westchester.  As 
soon  as  he  was  ordained  deacon  he  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  his  duties.  He  was  ordained  a  priest  by 
Bishop  Provoost,  January  14,  1801.  He  was  now  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a  pension  from  the  British  govern- 
ment of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  per  annum. 
In  1811  the  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  King's  College.  He  died  at  the  rectory  in  West- 
chester February  5, 1830,  in  his  eighty-ninth  year. 

Right  Rev.  William  Heathcote  De  Lancey,  D.D., 
D.C.L.,  Protestant  Episcopal  bishop  of  Western  New 
York,  was  one  of  Westchester's  most  distinguished 
sons.  He  was  born  at  Mamaroneck  October  8,  1797, 
and  died  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  April  5, 1865.  He  gradu- 
ated at  Yale  in  1817,  studied  theology  under  Bishop 
Hobart,  was  ordained  deacon  in  1819  and  priest  in 
1822,  and  soon  after  became  assistant  to  Bishop 
White  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  annually  chosen 
secretary  of  the  Diocesan  Convention  of  Pennsylvania 
from  1825  to  1830,  and  was  secretary  of  the  House  of 
Bishops  from  1823  to  1829.  He  was  provost  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  from  1828  to  1833;  trav- 
eled in  Europe  in  1835  and  on  his  return,  after  the 
death  of  Bishop  White,  succeeded  to  the  rectorship 
of  St.  Peter's,  Philadelphia.  In  1838  he  was  chosen 
fir>t  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Western  New  York,  and 
was  consecrated  May  9,  1839.  The  Hobart  Free  Col- 
lege at  Geneva  was  chiefly  indebted  to  his  efforts  for 
its  maintenance.  In  1852  he  was  a  delegate  to  Eng- 
land from  the  Episcopal  bishops  of  the  United  States, 
and  was  one  of  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  High 
Church  party.  He  received  the  degree  of  D.C.L. 
from  the  Oxford  University  in  1852 ;  D.D.  from 
Yale  in  1828  and  LL.D.  from  Union  College  in  1847. 

Thomas  Paine,  the  noted  political  and  atheistic  wri- 
ter, is  identified  with  Westchester  County  by  the  fact 
that  for  his  Revolutionary  services  the  State  of  New 
York  granted  him  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  New 
Rochelle,  where  he  resided  part  of  the  time  after  his  re- 


turn to  the  United  States,  in  1802.  Paine  was  a  native 
of  Thetford,  Norfolk,  England,  born  January  29, 1737  ; 
died  in  New  York  City,  June  8, 1809.  His  parentage 
was  humble  and  his  educational  opportunities  lim- 
ited. For  a  time  he  preached  occasionally  as  a  dis- 
senting minister,  and  in  1774,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Franklin,  came  to  America.  He  soon  became  known 
as  a  writer  of  uncommon  force  and  logic  and  an  op- 
ponent of  slavery.  His  celebrated  pamphlet,  "  Com- 
mon Sense,"  in  which  he  advocated  the  independence 
of  the  colonies,  was  published  in  January,  1776,  and 
had  an  extraordinary  influence  in  disseminating  re- 
publican ideas.  His  subsequent  publications  were  of 
inestimable  benefit  to  the  patriotic  cause.  He  was  out- 
lawed in  England  for  his  celebrated  "  Rights  of  Man," 
which  appeared  in  1791,  in  answer  to  Burke's  "  Re- 
flectionson  the  French  Revolution,"  and  in  September, 
1792,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  French  National 
Convention.  In  consequence  of  his  outspoken  op- 
position to  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI.,  he  narrowly 
escaped  being  put  to  death  during  the  Reign  of  Ter- 


THO.MAS  PAINE. 


ror.  His  remains  were  taken  to  England  in  1819  by 
William  Cobbett.  A  monument  was  erected  to  his 
memory  in  1839,  near  his  original  burial-place  in  New 
Rochelle. 

The  literary  reputation  of  John  Jay  is  chiefly  that 
which  attaches  to  his  political  character,  but  he  is 
pre-eminently  worthy  of  being  ranked  among  the  lit- 
erary men  whom  old  Westchester  has  either  pro- 
duced or  nurtured.  Of  Huguenot  descent  and  a 
native  of  New  York  City,  born  December  12,  1745, 
he  graduated  at  Columbia  College  and  was  a  delegate 
to  the  First  Revolutionary  Congress  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  three  years  later  chief  justice  of  his 
State,  and  subsequently  minister  to  Spain  and  ne- 
gotiator of  the  peace  with  Great  Britain,  Secretary  of 
State,  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  and  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York.  Notwithstanding  these  various 
trusts,  he  was  enabled  to  spend  nearly  thirty  years  of 
retirement  in  pleasant  country  life  at  Bedford,  West- 
chester County,  where  he  died  on  the  17th  of  May, 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


603 


1829,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  His  life  has  been 
written  by  his  son,  William  Jay.  His  national  state 
papers,  written  when  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  his  contributions  to  the  Federalist,  were 
powerful  aids  to  the  patriot  cause.  His  "  Address  to 
the  People  of  Great  Britain,"  in  1774,  called  forth  ex- 
pressions of  admiration  from  Jefferson.  He  was  also 
the  author  of  a  number  of  other  political  treatises  of 
great  clearness  and  vigor. 

William  Jay,  second  son  of  Chief  Justice  Jay,  was 
also  a  person  of  decided  literary  talent.  He  was  born 
June  16,  1789,  graduated  at  Yale,  and  studied  law  at 
Albany  under  John  B.  Henry,  until,  compelled  to 
abandon  study  by  an  affection  of  the  eyes,  he  retired 
to  his  father's  country-seat  at  Bedford.  In  1812  he 
married  the  daughter  of  John  McVickar,  a  New 
York  merchant.  He  was  appointed  first  judge  of  the 
county  of  Westchester  by  Governor  Tompkins  and 
was  succes'iively  reappointed  by  Clinton,  Marcy  and 
Van  Buren.  Throughout  his  life  he  was  a  prominent 
opponent  of  slavery  and  in  this  connection  published 
m.iny  addresses  and  pamphlets,  which  were  collected 
by  him  in  his  "  Miscellaneous  Writings  on  Slavery," 
published  at  Boston  in  1854.  In  1832  he  published 
"  The  Life  and  Writings  of  John  Jay."  He  died  at 
his  residence  in  Bedford,  October  14,  1858. 

John  Jay,  son  of  William  Jay,  born  June  23,  1817, 
and  a  graduate  of  Columbia  College  in  1836,  is  also 
the  author  of  several  pamphlets  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, together  with  many  other  papers  on  topics  of 
public  interest.  He  studied  law  in  the  city  of  New 
York  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839.  His 
residence  of  late  years  has  been  the  old  homestead  at 
Bedford.  In  April,  1869,  he  was  appointed  minister 
to  Austria  and  represented  this  country  with  dis- 
tinction at  the  Court  of  Vienna. 

Gouverneur  Morris,  the  noted  statesman  and  writer, 
was  a  native  of  Morrisania.  The  first  of  his  ances- 
tors who  emigrated  to  America  was  Richard  Morris, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  an  officer  in  Cromwell's  army. 
He  came  to  New  York  after  a  short  residence  in 
the  West  Indies  and  purchased  an  estate  at  Harlem, 
which  was  invested  by  the  Governor  with  manorial 
rights.  His  son  Lewis  succeeded  to  the  estate  and 
during  the  last  eight  years  of  his  life  was  Governor  of 
New  Jersey.  His  eldest  son,  Lewis,  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  New  York  Legislature.  The  second  Lewis 
had  four  sons,  of  whom  the  youngest  was  Gouverneur, 
who  was  born  January  31,  1752.  At  an  early  age  he 
was  placed  in  the  family  of  M.  Tetar,  at  New  Ro- 
chelle,  where  he  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  French  language.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  graduated  at  King's  College,  distinguishing  him- 
self by  a  floridaddress  on  "  Wit  and  Beauty."  He  then 
studied  law  in  the  office  of  William  Smith,  colonial 
historian  of  New  York,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
began  the  publication  of  a  series  of  anonymous  news- 
paper articles  against  a  proposition  in  the  Assembly 
for  raising  money  by  emitting  bills  of  credit.  In 


1775  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress, in  which  he  soon  attracted  attention  by  a 
speech  on  the  mode  of  issuing  a  paper  currency  by 
the  Continental  Congress.  Its  chief  suggestions 
were  afterwards  adopted  by  that  body.  In  1777  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress 
and  the  following  winter  was  one  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  army,  then 
stationed  at  Valley  Forge.  He  was  also  chairman  of 
the  committee  appointed  in  1779  to  consider  the  dis- 
patches from  the  American  commissioners  in  Europe, 
which  were  the  basis  of  the  subsequent  treaty  of 
peace.  In  the  discussion  of  the  question  as  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  New  York  over  the  New 
Hampshire  grants,  now  the  State  of  Vermont,  Morris 
was  supposed  to  be  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  that 
region  and  consequently  lost  his  election  by  the  Legis- 
lature to  Congress.  He  continued  to  reside  in  Philadel- 
phia and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
In  the  early  part  of  1780  he  commenced  the  publica- 


GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 

tion  of  a  series  of  essays  on  the  state  of  the  national 
finances,  which  were  then  in  a  desperate  condition. 
He  attacked  with  great  ability  the  laws  making  the 
receipt  of  paper  money  at  a  fixed  value  compulsory, 
and  also  those  regulating  the  prices  of  commodities. 
In  May,  1780,  Morris  was  seriously  hurt  by  being 
thrown  from  his  carriage  and  it  was  necessary  to 
amputate  one  of  his  legs.  In  1781  he  was  appointed 
by  Robert  Morris,  who  had  been  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  national  finances,  his  assistant.  He  performed 
the  duties  of  this  position  for  three  years  and  a  half. 
In  1786  his  mother  died.  Her  life  interest  in  the 
estate  at  Morrisania  thus  terminated,  and  the  prop- 
erty passed  into  the  possession  of  the  second  son, 
Staats  Long  Morris,  a  general  in  the  British  army, 
the  eldest  son,  Lewis,  having  received  his  portion 
during  his  father's  life-time.  Gouverneur  purchased 
the  estate  from  his  brother.  In  1787  he  took  his  seat 
as  delegate  from  Pennsylvania  in  the  convention 


604 


HTSTOKY  OP  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
President  Madison  bears  testimony  to  his  exertions 
for  the  promotion  of  harmony,  and  states  that  the 
draft  of  the  Constitution  was  placed  in  his  hands  to 
receive  its  finished  form.  In  1788  he  sailed  for  France 
and  in  January,  1791,  visited  London  by  appointment 
of  President  Washington  as  a  private  agent  to  the 
British  government  to  settle  unfulfilled  articles  of  the 
treaty  of  peace.  During  his  stay  in  London  he  re- 
ceived his  appointment  as  minister  to  France.  During 
the  troubled  times  of  the  Directory  in  Paris  he  con- 
ducted the  affairs  of  his  oflice  with  great  tact  and 
prudence.  In  August,  1794,  he  was  succeeded  by 
Monroe,  his  recall  having  been  asked  by  the  French 
government  after  the  recall  of  Citizen  Genet  at  the 
request  of  the  United  States.  He  next  made  a  tour 
of  Europe,  and  while  in  Vienna  endeavored  to  secure 
the  release  of  Lafayette  from  Olmiitz.  In  October, 
1798,  he  returned  home.  In  1799  he  was  chosen 
United  States  Senator  from  New  York.  He  sided  in 
the  Senate  and  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  with  the 
Federalists.  His  term  closed  in  March,  1803,  after 
which  he  resided  at  Morrisania.  On  Christmas  day, 
1809,  he  married  Miss  Anne  Carey  Randolph,  of  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  Morris  delivered  funeral  orations  on 
Washington,  Hamilton  and  Governor  George  Clin- 
ton and  an  inaugural  discourse  before  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  on  his  election  as  president,  and 
contributed  frequently  in  the  later  years  of  his  life  to 
the  New  York  Euening  Post,  the  Examiner  and  the 
United  States  Gazette.  He  was  an  early  advocate  of 
the  Erie  Canal  and  chairman  of  the  canal  commis- 
sioners from  their  first  appointment,  in  March,  1810, 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  November 
6,  1816.  His  life,  with  selections  from  his  corre- 
spondence and  papers,  by  Jared  Sparks,  was  published 
in  1822.  In  person  he  so  closely  resembled  Wash- 
ington that  he  stood  as  a  model  of  his  figure  for 
Houdon,  the  i-culptor. 

The  association  of  Alexander  Hamilton  with  the 
history  of  Westchester  County  is  of  a  tragic  char- 
acter, for  it  was  at  Weehawken  that  he  lost  his  life  in 
the  duel  with  Burr,  July  12,  1804.  One  of  his  best 
known  productions — his  description  of  the  fate  of 
Major  Andre — also  links  him  with  the  literary  chron- 
icles of  the  county,  and  one  of  his  strongest,  political 
papers  was  his  reply  to  Dr.  Seaburys  supposed  "  West- 
chester Farmer"  pamphlets.  Of  Andre  he  wrote, 
"  Never,  perhaps,  did  any  man  suff"er  death  with  more 
iustice  or  deserve  it  less."  Of  the  famous  Federalist, 
papers,  Hamilton  wrote  fifty-one  out  of  eighty-five 
numbers.  His  life  and  public  services  are  too  well 
known  to  require  consideration  here.  His  fame  will 
chiefly  rest  upon  his  able  adminstration  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department.  In  the  eloquent  language  of  Web- 
ster, "he  smote  the  rock  of  the  national  resources  and 
abundant  streams  of  revenue  gushed  forth.  He 
touched  the  dead  corpse  of  the  public  credit  and  it 
sprung  upon  its  feet." 


James  A.  Hamilton,  son  of  Alexander  Hamilton, 
lived  in  Greenburgh,  north  of  Dobbs  Ferry,  from 
1835  until  his  death.  He  was  the  author  of  an  interest- 
ing volume  entitled  "Reminiscences  of  Men  and 
Events  at  Home  and  Abroad  During  Three-Quarters 
of  a  Century,"  published  by  Charles  Scribner  &  Co., 
New  York,  1869. 

General  Alexander  Hamilton,  grandson  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  lives  in  Tarrytown,  Greenburgh. 
He  has  written  tragedies,  poema,  prose,  etc.,  and  is 
a  highly  cultivated  and  accomplished  litterateur. 

David  Humphreys,  the  soldier  poet  of  the  Revolu- 
lution,  composed  his  "  Address  to  the  Armies  of  the 
United  States  of  America"  in  1782,  while  encamped 
at  Peekskill,  the  foe  being  in  possession  of  New  York 
and  Charleston.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Congregational 
clergyman.  Rev.  Daniel  Humphreys,  and  was  born  in 
Derby,  Connecticut,  in  1753.  He  was  educated  at 
Yale,  where  he  formed  a  personal  and  literary  friend- 
ship with  Dwight  and  Trumbull.  He  entered  the  Rev- 
olutionary army,  and  became  a  member  of  Washing- 
ton's military  family,  with  the  rank  of  colonel.  He 
wrote  alife  of  General  Putnam,  and  a  number  of  poems 
and  plays.  After  the  war  he  resided  with  Washington 
at  Mount  Vernon,  and  when  he  became  President, 
traveled  with  him  to  New  York.  Among  his  poetical 
productions  is  "Washington's  Farewell  to  the  Army," 
in  verse.  He  held  the  diplomatic  post  of  ambassador 
to  Lisbon,  1794-1797,  and  minister  to  Spain,  1797-1802. 
He  died  at  New  Haven,  February  21, 1818. 

Robert  Rogers,  the  noted  ranger  and  writer,  nar- 
rowly escaped  being  captured  by  Lord  Stirling's 
troops  at  Mamaroneck,  so  that  his  associations  con- 
nected with  Westchester  County  were  not,  perhaps, 
of  the  pleasantest  character.  He  was  then  a  colonel 
in  the  British  service,  commanding  the  Queen's 
Rangers.  Alter  the  incident  at  Mamaroneck  he  went 
to  England,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  command  by 
Colonel  Simcoe.  He  was  a  native  of  Dunbarton,  New 
Hampshire,  and  early  achieved  reputation  as  comman- 
der of  a  company  of  Rangers  during  the  French  War. 
His  name  is  perpetuated  by  "Rogers'  Slide  "  on  Lake 
George,  so-called  from  the  daring  act  of  Rogers  in 
escaping  from  the  Indians  by  sliding  down  the  steep 
face  of  the  mountain  to  the  shore  of  the  lake.  After 
many  romantic  adventures  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  he  figured  in  1775  as  an  ardent  patriot. 
Washington,  however,  suspected  him,  and  in  June 
1776,  ordered  his  arrest.  He  professed  to  l)e  on  his 
way  to  off'er  his  services  to  Congress,  which  body 
ordered  his  return  to  New  Hampshire.  He  soon  after 
openly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  King.  He  was  pro- 
scribed and  banished  by  his  native  State,  and  his  sub- 
sequent history  is  unknown.  Rogers  published  in 
1765,  his  "Journals,"  a  spirited  account  of  his  early 
adventures  as  a  ranger,  and  in  the  same  year,  "  A 
Concise  Account  of  North  America."  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  he  published  a  tragedy,  "Ponteach,"  founded 
on  scenes  of  frontier  life. 


LTTERATTIRE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


605 


Rev.  Nathaniel  Scudder  Prime,  D.D.,  author  of  a 

"  Treatise  on  Baptism  "  and  the  "  History  of  Long 
Island,''  died  at  Mamaroneck,  March  27,  185().  He 
was  born  at  Huntington,  L.  I.,  April  21,  1785  ;  gradu- 
ated in  1804  at  Princeton  College,  from  which,  in 
1848,  he  received  the  degree  of  D.D.,  and  was  or- 
dained a  Presbyterian  minister  October  24,  1809. 

In  the  spring  of  1830  the  Rev.  Dr.  Prime  came  to 
Sing  Sing  with  his  family  from  Cambridge,  Washing- 
ton County,  N.  Y.  He  had  been  invited  by  the 
trustees  of  the  Mount  Pleasant  Academy,  in  Sing 
Sing,  to  be  its  principal  and  had  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment. Having  been  the  principal  of  the  academy  in 
Cambridge,  he  brought  several  pupils  with  him,  and 
a  high  reputation  as  a  scholar  and  teacher. 

Dr.  Prime  was  a  very  remarkable  man.  His  father 
and  grandfiither  were  men  of  learning,  and  he  him- 
self had  made  great  attainments  in  the  ancient 
languages,  j)hilosophy  and  mathematics.  There  was 
probably  no  superior  to  him  as  a  teacher  in  this 
country  at  that  time.  His  two  eldest  sons,  Alanson 
Jeimain  and  Samuel  Iren;eus,  were  associated  with 
him  in  the  work  of  instruction. 

The  Female  Seminary  in  Sing  Sing,  then  under  the 
care  of  Miss  Dawson,  was  soon  purchased  by  Dr. 
Prime,  and  his  daughters.  Miss  Maria  M.  Prime  and 
Miss  Cornelia  Prime,  conducted  the  school  with  great 
success. 

The  academy  flourished  and  attracted  students  from 
distant  parts  of  the  country. 

The  Presbyterian  congregation  of  the  village  invited 
Dr.  Prime  to  take  charge  of  the  pulpit,  and  he 
preached  in  it  as  stated  supply  about  three  years.  He 
identified  liimself  with  the  improvement  of  the  place, 
taking  an  active  part  in  all  public  movements  of  a 
philanthropic  and  moral  character.  In  addition  to 
the  sons  and  daughters  already  named,  two  sons 
more  were  trained  in  the  academy,  Edward  D.  G. 
Prime  and  William  C.  Prime,  the  first-named  graduat- 
ing at  Union  Colhge  and  the  other  at  Princeton. 
The  oldest  son,  A.  J.  Prime,  pursued  the  study  of 
medicine  with  Dr.  A.  K.  Hoffinan,  and  was  for  many 
years  a  successful  physician  at  White  Plains,  where 
he  died  April  3,  1864,  aged  fifty-three  years. 

During  the  time  of  Dr.  Prime's  principaiship  of  the 
academy,  and  almost  entirely  through  his  persever- 
ance and  enterprise,  the  large  and  handsome  stone 
building  now  occupied  by  the  institution  was  built, 
and  it  stands  as  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

In  the  year  183o  Dr.  Prime  and  bis  family  removed 
to  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  where  they  conducted  a  female 
seminary  and  also  the  Newburgh  Academy. 

His  sou,  Rev.  Samuel  Irenieus  Prime,  D.D.,  who 
died  in  1885,  was  for  many  years  the  editor  of  the 
New  York  Observer,  and  known  throughout  the 
country  as  a  graceful  writer  of  travels  and  religious 
works,  as  well  as  for  his  able  editorial  management  of 
the  Observer.  He  was  born  at  Ballston_  N.  Y., 
November  4,  1812,  graduated  at  Williams  College  in 


1829,  was  ordained  a  Presbyterian  minister  and  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  D.D.  from  Hampden-Sidney 
College,  Virginia.  His  brother,  E.  D.  Prime,  also  of 
the  Observer,  and  W.  C.  Prime,  formerly  of  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce,  were  also  residents  of 
Sing  Sing  in  early  life. 

John  Swinburne,  A.M.,  the  distinguished  scholar 
and  teacher,  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  August  11, 
1803.  His  father  was  a  native  of  England,  and  came 
to  this  country  when  a  young  man.  His  mother  was 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was  brought  to  the  United 
States  by  her  parents  in  early  childhood.  After  their 
marriage  his  parents  settled  in  Brooklyn,  where  they 
had  three  children, — two  sons  and  one  daughter. 
John  was  the  eldest  of  the  three.  When  twelve 
years  of  age  he  lost  his  father  by  death.  His  educa- 
tion, from  its  earliest  stages  until  he  entered  on  the 
duties  of  active  life,  was  directed  by  an  English  gen- 
tleman of  rare  attainments  as  a  scholar  and  eminent 
skill  as  a  teacher,  and  the  successful  results  of  his 
training  were  finely  illustrated  in  the  subsequent 
career  of  his  gifted  pupil.  After  leaving  school  he 
turned  his  attention  far  a  short  time  to  mercantile 
pursuits,  and  was  engaged  as  book-keeper  by  a  large 
commercial  house  in  North  Carolina.  Not  finding 
this  sphere  of  effort  congenial  to  his  taste,  he  returned, 
after  a  year  and  a  half,  to  Brooklyn,  where  he  estab- 
lished, and  successfully  conducted  for  ten  years,  a 
select  school.  On  October  5,  1825,  he  was  married  to 
Mary  W.,  daughter  of  Isaac  Searles,  of  Brooklyn.  A 
few  years  afterward  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  the 
position  of  principal  of  White  Plains  Academy,  an 
incorporated  literary  institution  under  the  care  of  the 
regents  of  the  State.  This  position  he  filled  with  the 
highest  credit  to  his  ability  as  an  educator  of  youth. 
While  principal  of  this  academy  he  received,  as  an 
entirely  voluntary  tribute  to  his  learning  and  skill, 
the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  the  Wes- 
leyan  University  at  Middletown,  Conn.  The  president, 
Rev.  Wilbur  Fiske,  D  D.,  LL.D.,  in  presenting  this 
degree,  said,  in  his  letter  to  Professor  Swinburne :  "This 
honor  is  regarded  by  our  Faculty  and  Board  of 
Trustees  as  justly  due  to  your  superior  scholarship,  as 
proved  by  the  fact  that  your  scholars,  who  enter  our 
Institution,  are  the  best  fitted  of  any  we  receive." 

In  1841,  Professor  Swinburne,  who  desired  a  school 
which  should  be  subject  to  his  sole  authority,  and  in 
which  he  might  carry  out  practically  and  fully  his 
views  of  the  proper  education  of  boys,  established 
"The  White  Plains  Institute,"  a  boarding-school  for 
boys.  The  reputation  of  it-*  proprietor  and  principal, 
as  an  accomplished  instructor  and  as  a  Christian  gen- 
tleman of  the  highest  qualities,  was  so  extensively 
known  and  fully  established,  that  from  its  opening 
apjdicants  for  admission  to  the  institute  were  more 
numerous  than  could  be  received.  He  now  found 
himself  in  just  the  sphere  of  educational  effort  which 
he  had  long  wished.  His  school  was  his  own,  was  ad- 
mirably located,  liberally  furnished  in  every  depart- 


606 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ment,  and  would  rise  or  fall  as  his  long-cherished 
ideal  of  such  a  school  should  find  practical  realiza- 
tion from  his  efforts.  To  say  that  his  success  was 
pre-eminent  is  only  to  state  a  fact  testified  to  by  all 
who  know  the  history  of  the  school.  The  prominent 
characteristic  of  its  instruction  throughout  was 
thoroughness.  Mastery  of  the  study  pursued,  at  every 
step  of  progress  made,  was  the  end  aimed  at  and  re- 
quired ;  and  in  this  feature  it  strikingly  resembled  the 
celebrated  Rugby  School  of  Dr.  Arnold  in  England. 
His  scholars  who  left  the  school  to  enter  upon  a  col- 
legiate course  uniformly  took  a  high  rank,  and  often 
the  highest  rank,  in  scholarship  in  the  institutions 
they  joined;  and  those  who  pursued  a  course  prepara- 
tory to  a  business  life  have  almost  iiivariabh'  been 
found  among  the  most  successful  and  honored  in  the 
circles  of  mercantile  and  commercial  enterprise. 
The  advanced  years  of  the  professor  are  often  glad- 
dened now  by  visits  from  his  former  pupils, — gener- 
ally gray-headed  men  and  distinguished  in  their  sev- 
eral spheres  of  life,  who  approach  their  venerable 
teacher  and  friend  with  strong  and  often  touching 
expressions  of  respect,  gratitude  and  aifection.  The 
lapse  of  years  and  the  changes  of  more  than  a  gen- 
eration seem  only  to  have  strengthened  and  made 
more  tender  the  ties  which  were  created  by  the  rela- 
tion that  once  existed.  From  his  early  youth  the 
professor  evinced  a  remarkable  genius  for  mathemat- 
ics. While  yet  a  young  man  he  was  a  contributor  to 
some  of  the  ablest  mathematical  periodicals  of  the 
country.  Even  now,  when  more  than  eighty  years  of 
age,  he  is  often  found  engaged  in  mathematical  in- 
vestigations, as  a  mere  pastime.  This  natural  capac- 
ity ibr  and  pleasure  in  this  science,  connected  with  a 
peculiar  facility  in  simplifying  to  young  minds  its 
rules  and  processes,  enabled  the  professor  to  awa- 
ken in  his  school  that  fondness  for  mathematical 
studies,  and  secure  that  unusual  advancement  in 
them,  which  was  one  of  the  marked  results  of  his 
teaching. 

With  the  literature  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome 
he  has  rare  familiarity.  Many  of  the  most  elegant 
of  the  classic  authors  of  antiquity  in  their  original 
languages  are  to  him  as  hand-books,  and  his  transla- 
tions of  a  number  of  them  into  our  vernacular  tongue 
are  among  the  permanent  and  most  valuable  fruits  of 
his  scholarly  labors.  He  is  now  just  finishing  a  trans- 
lation of  the  works  of  Horace,  which,  in  fidelity  to 
the  original  text,  and  in  perspicuity  and  elegance  of 
expression,  will,  in  the  opinion  of  classical  scholars 
who  have  had  the  privilege  of  examining  his  work, 
be  superior  to  any  we  now  have.  It  is  earnestly  de- 
sired that  he  will  give  these  translations  to  the  world 
through  the  press,  and  that  his  health  and  strength 
will  be  continued,  that  he  may  personally  superintend 
their  publication. 

Among  the  sciences  to  which  he  has  succes^sfully 
given  his  attention  is  mineralogy,  and  through  more 
than  half  a  century  he  has  been  engaged  in  collecting 


specimens  from  different  parts  of  the  world,  till  he 
has  now  a  choice  and  valuable  cabinet. 

In  1853  Professor  Swinburne  met  with  an  irrep- 
arable loss  in  the  death  of  his  wife.  This  most 
estimable  lady,  naturally  active  and  energetic,  pos- 
sessed of  superior  practical  wisdom  and  endowed 
with  great  tenderness  of  affection,  had  rendered 
invaluable  aid  in  the  administration  of  a  school 
whose  government  was  peculiarly  parental.  Even 
after  the  lapse  of  more  than  thirty  years,  the 
testimony  borne  to  her  watchful  care  and  mater- 
nal kindness,  by  those  once  pupils  of  the  school, 
is  a  most  touching  tribute  to  her  memory,  and 
furnishes  pathetic  proof  of  the  great  loss  sus- 
tained by  the  school  in  her  decease.  The  uninter- 
rupted prosperity  of  the  institute  had  secured  to  its 
proprietor  a  handsome  competency ;  and  having  no 
longer  the  important  aid  of  his  wife,  he  decided  to 
retire  from  the  school  to  whose  interests  he  had  given 
the  best  years  of  his  life.  In  the  sphere  of  a  teacher 
of  youth  for  thirty  years.  Professor  Swinburne  had 
earned  and  received  its  highest  honors,  and  he  could 
now  lay  aside  its  labors  in  the  gratifying  conscious- 
ness that  to  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, second  in  importance  to  none  that  can  employ 
the  human  mind,  he  had  given  his  best  powers  and 
most  devoted  efforts. 

Since  his  retirement  from  teaching,  he  has  contin- 
ued his  residence  in  White  Plains,  and  has  often 
been  honored  by  his  fellow-citizens  with  positions  of 
responsibility  and  trust.  On  the  organization  of  the 
fire  department  of  the  town,  he  was  made  its  first 
president,  and  continued  such  for  a  number  of  years. 
When  the  village  was  incorporated,  he  was  elected 
its  first  president,  and  re-elected  for  several  successive 
terms.  He  was  made  the  first  president  of  the  White 
Plains  Savings  Bank,  and  president  and  treasurer  of 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Westchester  Avenue. 
At  the  opening  of  the  AVar  of  the  Rebellion,  and 
through  its  whole  progress,  his  influence  was  power- 
fully felt  in  support  ot  the  cause  of  the  Union.  In 
his  eloquent  appeals  at  public  gatherings  to  the  pa- 
triotism of  those  who  could  take  the  field,  as  well  as 
by  his  liberal  contributions  of  money  to  aid  in  the 
raising  and  equipment  of  military  organizations  and 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  families  of  soldiers  who 
were  absent  at  the  seat  of  war,  he  rendered  most  val- 
uable aid  and  inspired  hearts  in  many  an  anxious 
home  with  gladness  and  hope.  Professor  Swinburne 
is  a  firm  believer  in  the  Christian  faith.  For  more 
than  forty  years  he  has  been  in  communion  with  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  a  liberal  supporter 
of  its  worship  at  home  and  of  its  benevolent  efforts 
through  the  land.  Although  eighty-three  years  of  age 
and  laboring  under  the  physical  infirmities  incident 
to  his  years,  his  mental  faculties  continue  unim- 
paired, and  he  enjoys  his  literary  labors  as  highly, 
and  enters  into  the  current  affairs  of  the  day  as  ear- 
nestly and  welcomes  the  society  of  his  friends  as  cor- 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


607 


dially,  as  when  in  the  prime  of  life.  The  ciirle  of 
his  friends  is  ahnost  unlimited,  and  rarely  has  a  man 
lived  who  could  boast  of  those  more  devoted. 

Robert  Havell,  an  eminent  English  engraver  and 
publisher,  resided  for  many  years  in  Sing  Sing.  Mr. 
Havell  distinguished  himself  as  the  publisher,  as  well 
as  the  chief  engraver,  of  that  world-renowned  and  su- 
premely sumptuous  work,  Audubon's  "  Birds  of  Amer- 
ica." This  work  appeared  in  ten  magnificent  vol- 
umes, so  large  as  to  occasion  the  invention  of  the  term 
elephant  folio.  They  contained  over  five  hundred 
plates,  colored  to  the  life,  each  bird  being  shown  in 
life  size,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  large  specimen  of 
the  wild  turkey.  The  subscription  price  was  one 
thousand  dollars  per  copy.  Mr.  Havell  spent  fourteen 
long  years  in  engraving,  with  his  own  hands,  the  most 
difficult  portions  of  this  work.  He  also  employed  a 
full  force  of  assistants.  Besides  this  work,  Mr.  Havell 
als  )  published  the  grand  work  of  Lord  Kingsborough 
on  the"Auti(iuitiesof  Mexico,"in  nine  quarto  volumes, 
richly  illustrated.  The  subscription  price  of  this 
work  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds  per 
copy.  To  the  above  must  be  added  Donnovan's  '•  In- 
sects of  India  "  and  "  Insects  of  China,"  two  exceed- 
ingly beautiful  illustrated  works  in  quarto,  and  a  su- 
perb folio  on  "Lilies  and  Amaryllas.'  After  the 
completion  of"  The  Birds  of  America,"  Audubon  in- 
duced Mr.  Havell  to  accompany  him  to  this  country. 
He  came  to  Sing  Sing,  one  day,  to  enjoy  the  scenery, 
and  while  there  made  a  bid  on  a  parcel  of  laud  then 
being  sold  at  auction,  and  had  it  struck  off  to  him. 
This  surprised  him,  as  he  had  made  his  bid  more  in 
jest  than  in  earnest.  However,  he  accepted  ihe  bar- 
gain, and  subsequently  built  a  house  on  the'  grounds 
and  occupied  it  as  his  residence  for  many  years.  He 
eventually  removed  to  Tarrytown,  where  he  died  a 
few  years  since.  The  Havell  mansion  was  situated 
on  the  high  grounds  nearly  opposite  the  grand  gate- 
way of  Dale  Cemetery.  The  little  avenue  leading  to 
these  places  still  bears  his  name. 

That  distinguished  English  writer  on  mental  disor- 
ders, the  late  Dr.  Forbes  Winslow,  resided  in  Sing 
Sing  for  several  years  during  his  boyhood.  His  moth- 
er, who  was  then  a  widow,  and  her  two  sons,  Forbes 
and  Octavius,  both  of  whom  subsequently  became 
celebrated,  one  as  a  physician,  the  other  as  a  divine, 
resided  for  several  years  in  a  house  that  then  stood 
where  the  present  mansion  of  Mr.  Frank  Larkin  now 
s.ands. 

Rev.  Robert  Bolton,  author  of  Bolton's  "History  of 
Westchester  County,"  was  born  in  the  city  of  Bath, 
England,  April  17, 1814.  He  was  the  eldest  of  the 
fourteen  children  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Bolton  and  Anne, 
daughter  of  the  distinguished  Rev.  William  Jay,  of 
Bath. 

The  Bolton  family  is  of  ancient  British  stock,  their 
genealogy  being  traced  up  to  the  time  of  the  Con- 
quest ;  resident,  anciently,  at  Bolton  and  Blackburn, 
in  Lancashire,  and  Wales,  in  Yorkshire.  In  the  long 


line  of  the  Bolton  ancestry  the  name  of  Robert  is 
rarely  without  a  bearer.  A  number  of  these  were 
distinguished  for  their  learning  and  i)iety.  A  Rob- 
ert, born  in  1572,  was  noted  at  Lincoln  and  Brazen 
Nose  Colleges,  Oxford,  for  his  varied  accomplish- 
ments, and  afterward  as  a  divine.  A  Robert,  born 
iu  England  in  1688,  became  a  prominent  mer- 
chant in  Philadelphia.  His  son  Robert,  born  in 
1722,  was  a  merchant  in  Savannah,  Georgia.  His  son 
Robert,  born  in  1757,  became  a  very  prominent 
merchant  of  Savannah,  and  the  owner  of  muih 
valuable  real  estate-  His  son  Robert,  born  in  17S8, 
in  Savannah,  became  a  merchant  in  Liverpool,  Eng- 
land, afterward  the  rector  of  Christ  Church,  P(  I- 
ham,  Westchester  County,  and  subsequently  chaj)- 
lain  to  the  Earl  of  Ducie,  at  Tortworth,  in  Glou- 
cestershire. His  son  Robert  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Mr.  Bolton  and  his  four  brothers  became  clergy- 
men in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  He  was 
ordained  a  deacon  in  October,  1868,  and  a  presbyter 
in  June,  1869.  He  was  rector  of  St.  John's  Church, 
South  Salem,  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

His  brother,  William  Jay,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
was  rector  of  St.  James',  Bath,  England,  and  an  au- 
thor of  note;  John  is  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  West- 
chester, Pa. ;  Cornelius  Winter  is  rector  of  the  Church 
of  the  Redeemer,  Pelhamville,  Westchester  County; 
and  James  was  the  incumbent  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel, 
Kilburu,  London.  All  of  Mr.  Bolton's  sisters  who 
survived  youth  achieved  distinction  in  teaching,  in 
literature  or  in  art. 

Robert  Bolton  was  educated  in  England,  and  stud- 
ied medicine  there,  but  never  practiced  it  as  a  pro- 
fession. He  came  to  this  country  in  1836,  and  set- 
tled at  Bronx ville,  in  East  Chester,  becoming  a 
farmer.  From  there  he  removed  to  New  Rochelie 
and  published  his  first  book,  "The  Guide  to  New 
Rochelie."  He  then  removed  to  Tarrytown  and  en- 
gaged in  teaching,  an  occupation  to  which  he  gave 
attention  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  there  be- 
came principal  of  the  Irving  Institute,  and  enjoyed 
intimate  relations  with  Washington  Irving,  who  had 
long  been  a  close  friend  of  his  father.  He  next  re- 
moved to  Bedford,  taking  charge  of  the  Female  In- 
stitute there,  and  afterward  founded  a  school  in  Lew- 
isboro. 

While  preparing  the  "  Guide  to  New  Rochelie  "  he 
became  interested  in  Westchester  County  history,  and 
at  once  began  the  collection  of  the  materials  which 
he  published  in  two  volumes  in  1848.  The  labor 
involved  in  this  work,  in  the  searching  of  collections 

1  of  documents,  the  examination  of  papers  and  the 
personal  visitation  of  every  spot  of  interest  and 
nearly  every  person  of  advanced  age,  was  very  great. 
His  knowledge  of  the  history  of  county  localities  was 
remarkable.     He  was  actively  engaged  in  the  revi- 

I  sion  of  his  history  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was 
also  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  the  Protestant 


608 


HISTORY  OP  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Episcopal  Church  in  Westchester  County,"  and  of 
the  "  Memoirs  of  the  Bolton  Family." 

In  1838  he  married  Elizabeth  Rebecca,  daughter  of 
James  Brenton,  of  Newport,  R.  I.;  she  died  in  1852. 
In  1854  he  married  Josephine,  daughter  of  Brewster 
Woodhuli,  of  Patchogue,  L.  I.,  by  whom  he  had 
eleven  children. 

Mr.  Bolton's  father  founded  the  celebrated  Bolton 
Priory,  at  Pelham,  with  which  the  family  name  has 
been  so  prominently  connected.  He  purchased  this 
estate,  charmingly  situated  upon  the  shore  of  Long 
Island  Sound,  in  1837,  and  erected  thereon  a  hand- 
some stone  edifice  f  )r  a  residence,  and  laid  out  the 
grounds  with  surpassing  taste.  This  was  afterward 
used  for  a  young  ladies'  school,  and  under  the  man- 
agement of  Miss  Nanetta  Bolton,  became  justly 
famous.  Here  Robert  Bolton,  the  historian,  died 
October  11,  1877. 

Beside  being  a  laborious,  painstaking  historian,  a 
diligent  teacher  and  an  earnest  minister,  Mr.  Bolton 
was  accomplished  in  many  ways.  He  was  dexter- 
ous in  wood-carving,  apt  with  his  pencil  and  skill- 
ful in  painting.  He  had  a  passion  for  the  antique, 
and  was  a  man  of  peculiarly  fine  and  cultivated 
tastes. 

Rev.  Cornelius  Winter  Bolton,  brother  of  Robert 
Bolion,  the  historian,  was  born  in  Bath,  England, 
June  3,  1819.  He  came  to  this  country  and  studied 
divinity  at  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Theological 
Seminary  at  Alexandria,  Va. ;  was  admitted  to  dea- 
con's orders  in  1847,  and  was  ordained  priest  in  1848. 
In  1850  he  became  assistant  minister  of  Christ 
Church,  Baltimore,  and  in  1855  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Pelham.  In  1858  he  was  rector  of  South 
Youkers  Church,  and  he  then  became  minister  of  St. 
George's  Chapel,  in  New  York  City.  He  became 
rector  of  St.  Mark's  Church,  New  Castle,  in  1867, 
and  then  of  St.  Stephen's,  North  Castle,and  at  pres- 
ent is  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Pel- 
hamville. 

In  1856  he  married  Cornelia,  daughter  of  Cor- 
nelius Glen  Van  Rensselaer,  Esq.,  of  Greenbush, 
Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  C.  W.  Bolton  is  the  author  of"  The  Shepherd's 
Call,"  the  "Sunday-school  Prayer-Book"  and  other 
publications.  In  1854  he  edited  Jay's  "Female 
Scripture  Characters"  and  Jay's  "Autobiography 
and  Reminiscences."  In  1881  he  edited  and  pub- 
lished his  brother  Robert's  "  History  of  Westchester 
County." 

Edmund  March  Blunl,  the  nautical  writer,  was  for 
many  years  a  resident  of  Sing  Sing.  He  was  born 
at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  June  20,  1770,  and  died  at 
Slug  Sing,  January  5,  1862,  in  the  ninety-third  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  the  publisher  of  the  Ntwbiiryport 
Herald,  and  in  1796  he  published  his  first  "Coast  Pilot," 
which  is  still  in  use,  and  which  has  been  translated 
into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe.  He  also  published 
"Strangers' Guide  to  New  York  City"  in  1817,  and 


numerous  nautical  books  and  charts.  He  lived  about 
forty  years  in  the  house  in  State  Street,  Sing  Sing,  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Helm. 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Bleecker,  the  poetess,  was  at  one 
time  a  resident  of  Westchester  County,  having  lived 
at  Poughkeepsie  a  year  or  two  just  after  her  marriage. 
Mrs.  Bleecker  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Brandt 
Schuyler,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
October,  1752.  In  1769  she  married  Mr.  John  J. 
Bleecker,  of  New  Rochelle,  and  removed  with  him  to 
Poughkeepsie.  After  leaving  Poughkeepsie,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bleecker  settled  at  Tomhanick,  a  beautiful  little 
village  about  eighteen  miles  above  Albany.  She  died 
there  November  23,  1783.  Her  poems  were  written 
without  a  view  to  publication,  but  several  of  them 
were  printed  in  the  earlier  numbers  of  the  New  York 
Magazine.  A  collection  of  her  poems  and  stories  was 
published  in  1793,  under  the  supervision  of  her 
daughter,  Margaretta,  who  added  a  number  of  verses 
and  essays  from  her  own  pen. 

Gulian  C.  Verplanck  belongs  to  the  literary  char- 
acters of  Westchester  County  by  right  of  residence, 
for  many  years  dividing  his  time  between  the  city  of 
New  York  and  the  Verplanck  homestead  at  Fishkill 
Landing,  on  the  Hudson,  a  well-preserved  old  man- 
sion, in  which  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  was 
founded.  A  graduate  of  Columbia  College,  he  studied 
law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  after  spending 
several  years  in  Europe  returned  to  New  York,  and 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  In  1818 
he  delivered  the  first  of  the  series  of  public  addresses 
on  which  his  literary  reputation  mainly  rests.  About 
1820  he  was  appointed  professor  of  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity  in  the  General  Protestant  Episcopal 
Seminary,  and  in  1824  published  a  volume  of  essays 
on  this  subject.  In  1825  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
Congress  from  New  York  City  and  remained  in  the 
House  eight  years.  He  was  especially  prominent  in 
advocacy  of  the  bill  extending  the  term  of  copyright 
from  twenty-eight  to  forty-two  years.  For  several 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Senate. 
In  1827  Verplanck,  Sands  and  Bryant  united  in  the 
production  of  an  annual  called  7'he  Talisman.  Mr. 
Verplanck  also  wrote  a  number  of  essays  on  a  variety 
of  subjects  and  published  an  edition  of  Shakespeare's 
plays,  with  notes  from  various  sources,  including 
some  from  his  own  pen.  Mr.  Verplanck,  who  was 
born  in  New  York  City  August  6,  1786,  died  there 
March  18,  1870.  His  private  life,  says  Bryant,  "  was 
as  beautiful  as  his  public  life  was  useful  and  benefi- 
cent." 

James  Fenimore  Cooper  is  another  distinguished 
name  which  may  be  included  among  the  literati  or 
Westchester  County,  for  his  first  novel  was  written 
while  he  resided  at  Mamaroneck.  Cooper  was  born 
at  Burlington,  N.  J.,  September  15, 1789.  His  father, 
Judge  William  Cooper,  removed  the  following  year 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Otsego  Lake,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
had  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  on  which  he 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


609 


established  a  settlement,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  oC 
Cooperstown.  In  this  (Vonlicr  home,  in  the  midst  of 
a  population  of  settlers,  tra])i)ers  and  Indians,  youiif^ 
Cooper  imbibed  that  knowledge  of  backwoods  lil'c 
and  of  the  habits  of  the  aborigines  which  afterwards 
served  him  so  well  in  the  construction  of  his  romances. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  entered  Yale  College,  and 
after  remaining  there  three  years  received  an  ap- 


of  the  bishop  of  Western  New  York.  They  settled 
in  the  village  of  Mamaroneck,  in  Westchester  County, 
and  not  long  after  Cooper's  mind  was  accidentally 
turned  to  the  field  of  fiction.  One  day,  after  reading 
an  English  novel,  he  remarked  to  his  wife  that  he  be- 
lieved he  could  write  a  better  story  himself.  To  test  the 
matter  he  wrote  "  Precaution."  He  had  not  intended 
to  publish  the  novel,  but  was  induced  to  do  so  by  his 


])()intment  as  midshipman  in  the  United  States 
Navy.  In  the  latter  he  obtained,  during  the  si.x 
years  of  his  service,  a  familiarity  with  nautical  life 
which  he  utilized  with  splendid  results  in  his 
famous  sea-stories. 

Ill  1811  Cooper  resigned  his  commission  in  the 
navy  and  married  Miss  De  Lancey,  a  member  of  the 
well-known  New  York  family  of  that  name  and  sister 
£7 


wife  and  his  friend,  Charles  Wilkes.  The  descrip- 
tions of  English  life  and  scenery  gave  it  great  popu- 
larity in  England  where  it  was  re-published.  The 
"Spy,"  which  followed,  was  as  thoroughly  American, 
and  obtained  great  success,  not  only  iu  this  country, 
but  abroad.  It  was  almost  immediately  re-])ublished 
in  all  parts  of  l']urope.  "  The  Pioneers"  was  the  first 
of  the  series  of  frontier  and  Indian  stories,  on  which 


610 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  novelist's  reputation  chiefly  rests.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  "  The  Pilot,"  the  first  of  his  sea-stories. 
Other  novels  followed  in  quick  succession,  and 
Cooper's  reputation  grew  apace.  He  was  also  sharply 
criticised  and  became  involved  in  various  contro- 
versies, which  culminated  finally  in  a  series  of  libel 
suits  against  his  detractors  in  the  newspapers.  In 
1826  he  visited  Europe,  and  upon  his  return  to  this 
country  made  his  home  at  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  Dur- 
ing his  residence  abroad  (1826-33)  he  was  every- 
where received  with  marked  attention.  His  literary 
activity  was  unchecked  by  his  wanderings,  and  during 
his  .stay  in  Europe  he  wrote  a  number  of  novels. 
After  his  return  to  this  country  he  wrote  the  "  Naval 
History  of  the  United  States,"  which  excited  an 
acrimonious  di.scussion  as  to  the  correctness  of  his 
account  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie.  In  one  of  his 
libel  suits  Cooper  defended,  in  person,  the  accuracy 
of  his  version  of  the  battle.  A  lawyer,  who  was  an 
auditor  of  the  closing  sentences  of  his  argument,  re- 
marked, "  I  have  heard  nothing  like  it  since  the  days 
of  Emmet."  Cooper  continued  to  write  with  amaz- 
ing fertility  and  vigor  almost  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
which  was  terminated  by  dropsy,  September  14,  1851. 
Notwithstanding  his  defects  of  style,  his  romances  are 
conceded  to  be  among  the  most  vivid  and  original  of  j 
all  American  works  of  fiction.  He  was  the  first  of 
his  countrymen  who  obtained  a  wide  recognition  in 
other  portions  of  the  world.  His  works  were  tran.s- 
lated  into  many  languages,  and  the  Indian  tales  | 
esjjecially  were  universal  favorites  in  Europe.  The 
great  French  novelist,  Balzac,  said  of  him,  "  With, 
what  amazing  power  has  he  painted  nature!  How 
all  his  pages  glow  with  creative  fijel  Who  is  there 
writing  English  among  our  contemporaries,  if  not 
of  him,  of  whom  it  can  be  said  that  he  has  a 
genius  of  the  first  order?"  "The  emj)ire  of  the 
sea,"  says  the  Edinburf/h  Review,  "  has  been  con- 
ceded to  him  by  acclamation  ;  "  and  the  samejournal 
adds,  "  In  the  lonely  desert  or  untrodden  prairie, 
among  the  savage  Indians,  or  scarcely  less  savage 
settlers,  all  equally  acknowledge  his  dominion." 

Of  all  the  writers  who  have  in  any  way  been 
associated  with  tlie  history  of  Westchester  County, 
Washington  Irving  is  perhai)s  the  most  illustrious. 
Born  in  New  York  City,  his  whole  life,  with  brief  in- 
tervals, was  spent  within  the  borders  of  the  county, 
and  some  of  his  very  best  work  bears  the  impress  of  ' 
local  influences.  On  the  "  lordly  Hudson  "  Irving  I 
"  chose  and  built  the  home  where  he  lived  for  many 
years,  and  in  which  he  did  much  of  his  life's  best 
work,  and  here  he  died." 

"  Westchester,"  said  another  eulogist  of  Irving,  "  has 
a  claim  peculiarly  her  own,  for,  while  we  are  joint- 
heirs  with  others  of  his  fame,  Irving  was  here 
honored  during  his  life  for  other  qualities  besides 


1  Address  of  Chief  .Tustice  Noah  Davis  at  the  Irving  anniversary,  at 
Tanytown,  N.  Y.,  April :),  1883. 


i  those  of  the  gifted  author,  as  he  was  here  also  known 
as  the  good  citizen,  the  genial  neighbor  and  the 
Christian  gentleman." 
,  Irving  first  came  to  know  Tarrytown  and  Sleepy 
I  Hollow  when  a  lad  of  fourteen  or  fifteen.  He 
(  spent  some  of  his  holidays  here,  and  formed  an 
f  attachment  for  the  spot  which  never  left  him.  Irving 
was  born  on  the  8d  of  April,  1783,  in  a  house  which 
stood  on  William  Street,  New  York  City,  next  to  the 
i  corner  of  Fulton.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of 
I  William  Irving,  a  merchant  and  native  of  Scotland, 
who  had  married  an  English  lady.  He  had  an  ordi- 
nary school  education,  but  early  developed  a  taste  for 
literature.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  began  the  study 
of  law.  His  brother,  Dr.  Peter  Irving,  edited  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  and  for  this  paper  Washington 
Irving  wrote  a  series  of  essays  on  the  theatres,  man- 
ners of  the  town  and  kindred  topics,  with  the  sig- 
nature of  Jonathan  Oldstyle.  In  1804  for  the  benefit  of 
his  health  he  visited  the  south  of  Europe,  returning 
by  way  of  Switzerland  to  France  and  proceeding 
thence  after  a  sojourn  of  a  few  months  in  Paris  to 
England  via  Flanders  and  Holland.  While  at  Rome 
he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Washington  Allston, 
the  artist,  with  whom  he  studied  painting  for  a  time 
with  the  idea  of  himself  becoming  a  painter.  After 
an  absence  of  two  years,  however,  he  returned  to 
New  York,  in  March,  1806,  and  again  took  up  the 
study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  never 
practiced.  About  this  time  he  wrote  and  published 
his  portion  of  the  "  Salmagundi "  papers,  which  ap- 
peared as  a  serial.  Paulding  wrote  a  portion  of  the 
work,  William  Irving  the  poetry  and  Washington 
Irving  the  remainder.  In  December,  1809,  he  pub- 
lished "  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York,"  an 
extravagant  burlesque,  which  excited  general  laugh- 
ter, although  it  was  gravely  held  up  to  reprehen- 
sion in  an  address  before  the  Historical  Society  of 
New  York.  It^  grotesque  descriptions  of  Dutch 
manners  and  customs  in  the  colony  of  New  Nether- 
lands are  full  of  humor.  After  the  publication  of 
this  work  Irving  engaged  as  silent  partner  with  two 
of  his  brothers  in  mercantile  business.  The  second 
war  with  Orcat  Britain  breaking  out,  he  joined  the 
military  staM'  of  Governor  Tompkins,  with  the  rank 
of  colonel.  After  the  war  he  paid  a  visit  to  the 
British  Islands,  and  inteiuled  to  make  a  tour  of  the 
Continent,  but  business  reverses  involving  the  ruin 
of  his  firm  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  purpose. 
Irving  now  turned  to  literature  for  support,  and 
through  the  friendly  aid  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  secured 
the  publication  of  the  "  Sketch  Book  "  by  Murray, 
the  great  English  publisher,  who  bought  the  co|)y- 
right  for  two  hundred  pounds,  which  he  subsequently 
increased  to  four  hundred  pounds. 

In  1820  Irving  took  up  his  residence  in  Paris,  where 
he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Tom  Moore.   While  in 


-  Address  of  James  Wood,  Tarrytown  celebration,  1883. 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


(Ill 


Paris  he  wrote  "  Bracebridge  Hall."  The  winter  of 
1822  wiis  spent  in  Dresden.  Returning  to  Paris  in 
1S23  he  published,  in  December  of  the  following  year, 
his  "  Talcs  of  a  Traveller,''  for  which  he  received  from 
ilurray  the  sum  of  £1500.  In  1826,  after  spending  a 
winter  in  the  south  of  France,  he  went  to  Madrid, 
where  he  wrote  his  "Life  of  Columbus,"  the  English 
edition  of  which  brought  him  3000  guineas.  His 
"Conquest  of  Granada"  and  "  Alhambra"  followed. 
In  July,  182!t,  having  been  appointed  Secretary  of 
Legation,  at  London,  he  left  Spain  for  England.  In 
1S;-!1  he  received,  from  the  University  of  Oxford  the 
degree  of  LL.D.  After  an  absence  of  seventeen  yeai*s 
he  returned  to  America,  in  May,  1832.  His  arrival 
was  commemorated  by  a  public  dinner  in  New  York 
City,  at  which  Chancellor  Kent  presided.  A  few 
months  later  he  made  a  journey  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, which  he  described  in  his  "  Tour  of  the  Prai- 
ries." In  183(3  he  published  "Astoria "and  subse- 
quently the  "Adventures  of  Captain  Bonnevill."  From 
1839  for  two  years  he  contributed  a  series  of  papers  to 
the  Kiiickcrbocher  MiKjaziiie.  A  number  of  these 
papers,  together  with  others,  were  published  in  1855, 
in  a  volume  which  received  the  title  "  Woolfert's 
Roost." 

In  1842  Irving  was  appointed  Minister  to  Spain,  an 
oflice  which  he  retained  for  the  next  four  years.  He 
then  returned  home  and  for  the  rest  of  his  life  resided 
at  his  cottage  residence  "Sunnyside,"  near  Tarry- 
town,  the  spot  wliich  he  had  described  years  before  in 
the  "  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow  "  as  the  castle  of  the 
Herr  Van  Tassel,  and  of  which  he  wrote — "  If  ever  I 
should  wish  for  a  retreat  whither  I  might  steal  from 
the  world  and  its  distractions,  and  dream  quietly  away 
the  remainder  of  a  troubled  life,  I  know  of  none' more 
promising  than  this  little  valley."  Here  in  this  re- 
treat he  lived  in  the  midst  of  a  family  circle  composed 
of  his  brother  and  his  nieces,  hospitably  entertaining 
his  friends  and  engaged  in  writing  his  biographies  of 
Goldsmith  and  Mahomet  and  his  "  Life  of  Washing- 
ton." 

His  life  at  "Sunnyside"  was  simple,  kindly  and 
affectionate.  He  was  a  good  friend  and  neighbor  and 
a  devout  communicant  at  Christ  Episcopal  Church  in 
Tarrytown.  For  many  years  he  was  a  vestryman  and 
warden,  and  it  was  his  i)ractice  during  the  greater 
part  of  this  time  to  take  up  the  collection  at  the  Sun- 
day services.  He  never  married,  having  lost  by  death 
his  betrothed  wife,  Matilda  Hoffman,  a  beautiful 
young  girl.  His  death  occurred  at  Tarrytown,  No- 
vember 28,  1859,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  beautiful 
cemetery  of  Sleepy  Hollow.  The  ivy  upon  the  tower 
of  Christ  Church  wiis  taken  from  "Sunnyside"  and 
planted  by  Irving  himself.  It  was  originally  brought 
from  ^lelrose  Abbey,  His  pew  in  the  church  is 
marked  with  his  name  and  Wiis  set  apart  years  ago  by 
the  vestry  for  the  use  of  any  members  of  the  Irving 
family  who  might  wish  to  worship  there.  As  near 
the  pew  as   it  could  be  placed  is  a  mural  tablet 


erected  by  the  vestry  to  his  memory.  In  the  centre 
is  the  Irving  coat  of  arms  and  on  the  stone  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : 

Wasliington  Irving, 
Born  in  the  City  of  New  York,  April  3,  1783. 
Fur  ninny  years  n  cuninuiuicant  ami  warden  of  thid  dinrch, 
And 

Reix>atc<lly  one  of  Its  delegates  to  the  Convention 
Of  the  Diocese. 
Loved,  Honori'cl,  Itovered. 
lie  fell  lusleep  in  Jesns, 
November  2Sth,  18.',9. 

Irving  died  at  "  Sunnyside,"  having  just  taken  leave 
of  the  family-circle.  Three  days  later  he  was  buried  in 
the  old  Dutch  Church  cemetery,  where  he  had  some  time 
before  selected  the  spot  for  his  grave,  and  where  the 
remains  of  the  brothers  and  sisters  who  had  died  before 
him  were  buried.  An  account  of  the  funeral  says :  "  It 
was  a  remarkable  assemblage  from  the  city,  of  men  of 
worth  and  eminence,  the  friends  of  his  youth  and  mid- 
dle-life, and  universally  of  the  population  of  the  town 
and  adjacent  country,  where  he  wiis  beloved  by  all.  The 
area  of  Christ  Church,  Tarrytown,  where  the  funeral 
services  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  had 
been  a  member,  were  performed,  was  much  too  lim- 
ited to  contain  the  7iumbers  which  thronged  to  the 
simple  ceremony.  The  neighboring  hillside  was  cov- 
ered, and  the  road  to  the  cemetery  lined  with  specta- 
tors, villagers  and  others,  clad  in  their  Sunday  attire. 
The  shops  of  Tarrytown  were  all  closed.  Thus  was 
borne  to  the  grave  with  simple  but  heartfelt  honors  all 
that  was  mortal  of  Washington  Irving.  Eulogies,  res- 
olutions and  addresses  fi"om  civic,  religious,  literary 
and  other  societies  followed  his  death.  The  city  gov- 
ernment of  New  York,  the  Athena'um  Club,  the  New 
York  Historical  Society,  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  heaped  these  honors  on  his  tomb,  while  per- 
sonal tributes  in  sermons,  editorial  articles  and  vari- 
ous reminiscences  were  called  forth  in  great  num- 
ber." 

"  By  his  will,  says  the  same  account,  "  which  made 
ample  provision  to  continue  the  home  at  'Sunnyside' 
to  the  brother  and  nieces  bj'  whom  Mr.  Irving  had 
been  surrounded,  he  left  his  manuscripts  to  his  neph- 
ew, Pierre  M.  Irving,  who  had  been  his  assistant  in 
some  of  his  more  important  labors  of  research,  as  his 
literary  executor."  Mr.  Irving  afterwards  published 
a  memoir  of  his  distinguished  uncle.  Mr.  George  P. 
Putnam,  the  New  York  publisher,  issued  a  uniform 
edition  of  Washington  Irving's  works,  in  1847,  which 
yielded  Mr.  Irving  and  his  rejiresentatives  more  than 
§150,000. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1883,  the  centennial  anniver- 
sary of  Irving's  birth  was  commemorated  at  Tarry- 
town by  "  The  Washington  Irving  Association,"  which 
had  been  formed  on  the  19th  of  March  for  t'nc  pur()ose 
of  appropriately  observing  the  anniversary.    The  ex- 


612 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ercises  took  place  on  the  evening  of  April  3d,  at  the 
Second  Reformed  Church.  Judge  Noah  Davis  pre- 
sided, and  from  New  York,  Brooklyn  and  many  adja- 
cent points  many  came  to  swell  the  assemblage.  The 
church  wasbeautifully  decorated  with  flowers  and  ever- 
greens. As  a  prelude  to  the  addresses,  Miss  Hawes 
played  the  overture  from  the  opera  of  "  Rij)  Van  Win- 
kle" on  the  organ.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  Judge 
Davis,  Mr.  James  Wood,  president  of  the  Westchester 
County  Historical  Society  ;  Rev.  James  Selden  Spen- 
cer, Donald  G.  Mitchell,  Charles  Dudley  Warner  and 
Professor  William  C.  Wilkinson.  A  poem  by  Mr. 
Stephen  H.  Thayer,  of  Tarrytown,  was  read  by  Rev. 
Washington  Choate.  Letters  of  regret  from  a  number 
of  invited  guests  were  also  read,  among  them  being 
responses  from  Governor  Cleveland,  John  G.  Whit- 
tier,  George  William  Curtis,  John  Jay  and  President 
Porter,  of  Yale.  Miss  Sears  sang  "  The  Lost  Chord,'" 
and  Professor  T.  S.  Doolittle,  D.D.,  jironounced  the 
benediction.  At  the  request  of  the  committee  of  ar- 
rangements the  Misses  Irving  opened  "  Sunnyside  " 
to  the  public,  and  for  several  days  persons  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  availed  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  visit"  Woolfert's  Roost,"  which  remained  as 
it  was  at  Mr.  Irving's  death.  A  memorial  volume 
containing  an  account  of  the  commemoration,  with 
the  addresses  and  poem,  was  afterwards  published  by 
the  Irving  Association.  It  is  embellished  by  fine 
steel  portraits  of  Irving  and  Matilda  Hoflinan  and  by 
views  of"  Sunnyside,"  Chri.st  Church,  the  old  mill  in 
Sleepy  Hollow  and  "Woolfert's  Roost." 

Among  the  literati  of  Westchester  County  the  name 
of  Henry  B.  Dawson  suggests  itself,  at  once,  as  among 
the  most  prominent  of  those  identified  with  the  work 
of  historical  research  in  America.  Although  not  a 
native  of  the  county,  he  has  been  so  completely  a 
part  of  its  social  and  literary  life  for  more  than  a 
generation,  that  he  may  justly  be  regarded  as  one  of 
its  representative  men. 

Henry  Barton  Dawson  wa.sborn  atGosberton,in  Lin- 
colnshire, about  ten  miles  southwest  of  Boston,  Eng- 
land, on  Friday,  June  S,  1821.  His  father,  Al>raham 
Dawson,  was  born  in  July,  1795,  at  Wisbeach,  in  the 
neighboring  county  of  Cambridge,  where  his  grand- 
father, originally  of  LincoliLshire,  was  then  residing. 
His  father'.>5  mother,  a  Miss  Culy,  belonged  to  a  family 
of  French  Huguenots,  who  lived  on  a  farm  called 
Guyhirn,  near  Wisbeach.  His  mother  was  Mary 
Barton,  second  daughter  of  John  Barton,  of  the  parish 
of  Bicker,  five  miles  north  of  Gosberton.  Mr.  Barton 
was  a  respectable  farmer.  His  daughter,  Mary,  mar- 
ried Abraham  Dawson,  May  15,  1820. 

Henry  Barton  Dawson  was  their  only  son  and  the 
eldest  of  six  children.  He  received  his  first  instruc- 
tion from  a  school-mistress,  who  found  him  an  apt  and 
ready  pupil.  At  nine  years  of  age,  having  in  the 
meantime  had  the  care  of  the  village  school-master, 
he  attended,  for  a  year,  the  noted  school  of  Mr.  Moses 
of  Donnington.    The  last  school  in  his  native  county, 


at  which  he  was  taught,  was  kept  by  Mr.  Greenfield, 
a  pupil  of  Mr.  Moses,  who  carried  him  through  a 
course  of  practical  surveying. 

In  the  spring  of  1834  his  parents,  with  their  fiimily, 
removed  from  England  to  the  United  States.  They 
landed  at  New  York  on  the  9th  of  June  in  the  same 
year.  His  father's  chief  reason  for  emigrating  was  his 
dissatisfaction  with  the  British  government.  AtMan- 
hattanville,  eight  miles  from  New  York,  he  established 
himself  as  a  gardener,  an  occupation  which  he  con- 
tinued to  pursue  until  a  short  time  before  his  death, 
in  January,  1872.  Henry  attended  the  public  schools 
in  West  Seventeenth  Street,  New  York,  and  at  Man- 
hattanville  until  the  spring  of  1836,  exce])t  during  the 
summer  of  1835,  when  he  was  at  work  with  his  father. 
In  March,  183C,  he  left  school  in  order  to  assist  his 
father,  who  was  then  gardener  at  the  Bloomingdale 
Lunatic  Asylum.  Before  he  left  the  trustees  of  the 
Public  Sciiool  Society  tendered  him  a  free  scholar- 
ship in  college,  but  the  limited  means  of  his  father 
would  not  admit  of  his  acceptance.  He  continued  to 
work  in  the  garden  of  the  asylum  with  his  father  until 
the  fall  of  1837,  when  the  family  removed  to  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  with  the  intention  of  settling  on  a  farm.  His 
father,  however,  resumed  his  occupation  of  gardener, 
and  Henry  continued  to  assist  him  for  a  short  time. 
He  then  became  an  apprentice  to  a  wheel-wright,  Mr. 
Ira  Bower,  and  soon  after  a  clerk  in  the  book-selling 
and  publishing  house  of  Messrs.  Mack,  Andrus  & 
Woodruff,  at  Ithaca.  In  the  winter  of  1838-39  he  left 
the  latter  to  take  the  position  of  confidential  clerk  for 
Judge  Gere,  a  wealthy  resident  of  the  town,  and  in 
April,  1839,  returned  to  New  York,  where  his  em- 
ployer had  established  a  large  lumber-yard.  His  salary 
at  this  time  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars 
a  year.  Mr.  Dawson  continued  in  this  business,  under 
successive  employers,  until  May,  1844,  when  he  was 
engaged  by  Messrs.  Comstock  &  Co.,  of  Cortlandt 
Street,  large  dealers  in  patent  medicines,  as  book- 
keeper. He  also  i)erformed  the  duties  of  their  cashier 
and  corresponding  clerk.  In  June,  184r),  he  became 
book-keejier  for  Messrs.  Gumming,  Main  &  Co.,  drug- 
gists, with  whom  he  remained  one  year. 

Although  Mr.  Dawson  had  contributed  articles  for 
the  daily  press,  generally  on  ])olitical  topics,  as  early 
as  the  winter  of  1840,  his  first  pecuniary  venture  in 
literature  was  brought  about  in  a  rather  singular  way. 
Having,  in  1845,  while  still  employed  by  Comstock  & 
Co.,  advanced  some  money  to  the  proprietor  of  The 
Cnj»tnl  Fount,  a  weekly  temperance  and  literary  new.s- 
paper,  he  was  obliged  to  take  the  printing-office  and 
paper  in  repayment  of  his  loan.  For  more  than  a 
year  he  edited  and  published  the  paper  besides  dis- 
charging his  duties  as  book-keeper,  and  finding  the 
work  too  burdensome,  he  finally,  in  184G,  gave  up  his 
position  with  Gumming,  Main  &  Co.,  and  devoted 
all  his  time  to  the  newspaper.  In  November  of  the 
same  year  he  was  obliged  to  discontinue  its  publica- 
tion with  the  loss,  not  only  of  the  original  loan,  but 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


013 


also  of  all  his  savings.   The  paper  was  the  organ  of 

tlie  Order  of  tho  Reclial)ites,  and  Mr.  Dawson's  uncom- 
promising spirit  having  involvt'd  him  in  diliicuUios 
with  the  principal  officers  of  the  order,  the  paper 
suffered  from  the  enmities  thus  aroused. 

Mr.  Dawson  next  accepted  the  agency  of  the  Inter- 
national Art  Union,  and  in  the  following  year,  tliat 
of  the  American  Art  Union,  wliicli  hitter  lie  retained 
until  the  concern  was  closed  hy  the  Sujireme  Court. 
After  this  he  was  an  ofiicer  of  the  Wall  Street  Ferry 
to  Brooklyn,  and  was  successively  connected  with 
three  different  insurance  companies  in  New  York.  In 
l<sr)(),  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  coni))any  of  which 
he  was  secretary,  he  was  again  left  without  employ- 
ment, and  accepted  an  offer  from  Messrs.  Johnson, 
Fry  &  Co.,  Puhlishers,  to  write  a  work  for  them  on 
the  military  and  naval  history  of  this  country.  This 
was  his  first  hook,  although  he  had  already  heconie 
known  among  historical  writers,  hy  "The  Park  and 
its  Vicinity,"  written  for  and  published  in  the  "  Man- 
ual of  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New  York  " 
for  18'););  the  "  Life  and  Times  of  Anne  Hutchinson," 
written  for  the  Baptist  Historical  Society  ;  and  "The 
Retreats  through  Westchester  County,  in  1776,"  writ- 
ten for  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 

"The  Battles  of  the  United  States  by  Sea  and 
Land,"  which  is  the  title  of  the  military  and  naval 
work,  written  for  Messrs.  Johnson,  Fry  &  Co.,  was 
published,  as  a  serial,  in  forty  numbers,  the  first 
luunber  appearing  in  the  autumn  of  1858.  ]5esides 
its  merits  as  a  ])()pular  work,  it  is  of  recognized  value 
as  an  historical  auth'  rity,  the  events  of  each  battle 
being  given  in  detail  with  copious  references,  the 
principal  documents  relating  to  the  engagement,  and, 
occasionally,  biograjihical  sketches  of  the  prominent 
actors.  The  success  of  the  work  was  so  decided  that 
he  undertook  to  write  a  complete  military  history  of 
the  United  States,  but  the  Civil  W ar  stopped  the  work 
as  it  also  did  the  progress  of  the  "  Life  and  Times  of 
Governor  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,"  which  he  had  under- 
taken at  the  rcfpiest  of  the  family. 

While  writing  the  "  Battles,"  he  became  involved 
in  a  controversy  concerning  the  merits  of  Major  Gen- 
eral Israel  Putnam,  with  Messrs.  Griswold  and  Dom- 
ing, of  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  the  Daily  Post  of  that 
city.  The  correspondence  attracted  the  attention 
of  scholars  throughout  the  entire  country,  the  Legis- 
lature of  Connecticut  being  led  by  it  to  take  special 
action  on  the  subject;  and  the  letters  were  subsc- 
(picntly  collected  and  published  in  a  handsome  vol- 
ume, copies  of  which  have  commanded  prices  as 
high  as  fifty  dollars  each. 

In  1862  Mr.  Dawson  was  enabled  to  make  a  com- 
plete transcript  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  of 
moneys  for  the  municipal  purposes  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  during  the  entire  occupation  of  that  city  by  the 
Royal  Army,  1776  to  178.5,  together  with  all  the  mil- 
itary orders  on  which  those  receipts  and  disburse- 
ments rested,  and  all  the  vouchers  of  the  auditors 


appointed  by  the  successive  Commanders-in-chief 

through  whom  those  accounts  were  settled. 

As  none  of  these  were  ])reviously  known  and  as  the 
Finance  Department  of  the  city  needed  only  these  to 
make  the  financial  records  of  the  city  complete  from 
a  very  early  period,  this  work  of  Mr.  Dawson  wiis  wel- 
comed by  the  city  authorities  as  few  such  works  have 
ever  been  welcomed.  The  mayor  honored  it  by  send- 
ing it  to  the  common  council  with  a  special  message; 
and  the  latter  sjjread  not  only  the  message,  but  the 
entire  financial  and  historical  statement  made  by  Mr. 
Dawson  on  its  Minutes,  made  a  liberal  ajjpropriation 
for  his  compensation  ;  gave  to  him  an  official  vote  of 
thanks,  a  copy  of  which  elegantly  engrossed  and 
framed  ornaments  his  dining-room  ;  and  gave  to  him, 
also,*  the  unusual  privilege  of  copying  and  jiublishing 
any  of  its  ancient  records  and  files  which  he  should, 
at  any  time,  desire  to  employ. 

Mr.  Dawson's  edition  of  the  "  Fanleralist"  was  the 
first  of  a  projected  series  of  historical  works  upon  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  be  completed  in 
seven  octavo  volumes,  namely,  "  the  F(ederalist,"  two 
volumes;  "the  Anti-Fcederalist,  two  volumes,  which 
were  to  consist  of  contemporary  articles  written 
against  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution;  and  a 
"  History  of  the  Constitution,"  an  original  work, 
written  by  Mr.  Dawson,  three  volumes.  Other  en- 
gagements, however,  prevented  him  from  completing 
a  work  which  would  doubtless  have  proved  a  mo.st 
important  contribution  to  the  political  literature  of 
the  United  States. 

In  1863  the  first  volume  of  Mr.  Dawson's  edition 
of  "The  Fcederalist"  appeared.  The  distinguishing 
feature  of  this  edition  was  the  restoration  of  the 
original  text  and  the  rejection  of  unauthorized  muti- 
lations. Prefixed  was  an  historical  and  bibliograph- 
ical introduction,  giving  a  careful  review  of  the  polit- 
ical condition  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1787;  an 
account  of  the  causes  which  led  its  authors  to  write 
the  series  of  articles  of  which  the  work  is  composed ; 
the  names  of  the  writers  of  the  several  articles ;  a 
list  of  the  different  editions  which  Mr.  Dawson  had 
found  ;  and  a  very  elaborate  analysis  of  "  The  Fieder- 
ali.st"  itself  The  peculiar  merit  of  that  edition  of 
this  celebrated  work  was  recognized  by  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, Williams  College  and  several  others,  as  well 
as  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  all  of  whom  added  it  to  their  respective  lists 
of  text-books  ;  by  the  leading  scholars  of  that  j)eriod, 
led  by  the  venerable  Joshua  Quincy,  and  by  the  At- 
torney General  and  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  each  of  whom  adopted  it  as  the  edition 
of  "The  Fcederalist,"  which  should,  thenceforth,  be 
used  in  their  respective  offices. 

The  publication  of  "The  iMcderalist"  called  forth 
an  attack  on  the  volume  and  its  editor  by  the  Hon. 
John  Jay,  grandson  of  one  of  the  authors  of  the 
original  work  and  more  recently  United  States  minis- 
ter to  Austria-Hungary.    It  was  also  assailed  by  the 


614 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


venerable  James  A.  Hamilton,  sou  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  another  of  its  authors.  These  articles 
were  printed  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  and 
created  much  excitement  among  the  politicians  and 
historians.  Mr.  Dawson  replied  to  each  and  the 
controversy  proved  highly  interesting.  The  inter- 
course between  Mr.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Dawson 
was  afterwards  resumed  and  their  personal  relations 
were  perfectly  friendly  until  the  death  of  the  for- 
mer. 

In  1863  Mr.  Dawson  also  published  his  work  on 
"  The  Assault  of  Stoney  Point  by  General  Vnthony 
Wayne."  It  was  an  elegant  volume,  illustrated  by 
maps  and  fac-similes.  The  germ  of  the  work  was  a 
paper  read  April  1,  18(52,  before  the  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Societies.  In  preparing  it 
he  had  the  use  of  the  correspondence  and  other 
family  papers  of  General  Wayne  himself 

In  18()4  Mr.  Dawson  reprinted  the  "  J\ederalist  Cor- 
respondence "  with  John  Jay  and  James  A.  Hamil- 
ton as  the  first  nunil)er  of  a  protracted  series  entitled, 
"  Current  Fictions  Tested  by  Uncurrent  Facts."  In 
the  following  year  lie  i)ublished  "  The  Diary  of  David 
Dow,"  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  which,  like  all  of 
Mr.  Dawson's  j)ul)]ications,  was  exhaustively  anno- 
tated, and  an  edition  of  Driiig's  "  Recollections  of  tlie 
Jersey  Prison-Ship,"  which  was  j)ublished  originally 
at  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1829,  being  compiled  from 
Mr.  Dring's  manuscripts  by  Albert  Gorton  Greene, 
the  well-known  scholar  and  poet.  The  value  of  the 
work  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  addition  of  an 
elaborate  appendix  prepared  by  Mr.  Dawson. 

A  new  edition  of"  The  Park  and  its  Vicinity  "  has 
been  printed  as  No.  I.  of  his  "Gleanings  in  the 
Harvest  Field  of  American  History,"  but  has  not 
been  jjublished.  Several  of  his  works  already  men- 
tioned had  been  issued  as  numbers  in  this  series — 
namely,  the  "  Diary  of  David  How "  as  No.  IV. ; 
"  Putnam  Correspondence  "  iis  No.  V.,  and  "  Stoney 
Point"  as  No.  XI.  The  series  is  elegantly  printed, 
in  uniform  style,  royal  octavo,  and  the  editions 
are  all  limited.  Besides  these  various  works  Mr. 
Dawson  has  written  a  pai)er  on  "  The  Sons  of  Liberty 
in  New  York ;"  one  on  "  The  Battle  of  Harlem 
Heights,"  and  one  on  "The  City  of  New  York  on 
Sunday  Morning,  Ai)ril  23,  1775,"  all  of  them  for  the 
New  York  Historical  Society ;  one  on  the  "  Battle  of 
Bennington "  for  the  Vermont  Historical  Society  ; 
and  one  on  the  "  Battle  of  Long  Island  "  for  the  Long 
Island  Historical  Society,  together  with  several  minor 
tracts,  and  numerous  articles  for  periodicals  with 
which  be  has  had  no  editorial  connection;  and  he 
edited,  in  ISOl,  for  the  Mercantile  Library  Associa- 
tion of  New  York  City  a  volume  of  original  papers, 
generally  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  to  which  he 
added  voluminous  notes.  The  introduction  to  the 
last-named  volume,  which  bore  the  title  of  "New 
York  City  During  the  American  Revolution,"  at- 
tracted much  attention,  since  it  contained  a  carefully 


prepared  and  minute  description  of  the  city  as  it 
was  at  that  early  period,  as  if  written  at  the  time  and 
by  one  who  was  personally  acquainted  with  every 
part  of  it,  and  with  the  principal  persons  who  lived 
there.  Like  the  greater  number  of  Mr.  Dawson's 
works  this  volume  was  printed  in  elegant  form  for 
private  circulation,  and  commands  very  high  prices 
when  copies  are  thrown  on  the  market.  In  1866  he 
edited  the  official  "  Record  of  the  Trial  of  Joshua 
Hett  Smith,  Esq.,,  for  Alleged  Complicity  in  the 
Trea,son  of  Benedict  Arnold,"  of  which  only  fifty 
copies  were  printed ;  and  five  large  octavo  volumes  of 
selections  from  the  Uisiorical  Magazine,  bearing  the 
general  title  of  "The  JIagazine  Miscellany,"  and 
elegantly  printed  in  an  edition  of  only  twenty-five 
copies,  have  also  appeared  under  his  editorial  super- 
vision. 

In  the  spring  of  186"),  Mr.  Dawson  was  invited  to 
take  the  editorial  charge  of  Tlie  Gazette,  a  Democratic 
newspaper,  published  weekly  at  Yonkers,  N.  Y., 
which  invitation  he  accepted.  During  the  eleven 
months  of  his  connection  with  the  (Jazette,  he  gave  a 
new  character  to  the  publication,  and  proved  himself 
an  able  controversialist  and  critic.  His  last  number 
appeared  on  the  31st  of  March,  1866.  The  historical 
and  bibliographical  material  with  which  he  occupied 
the  first  ])age  of  the  Gazette,  at  once  commanded  at- 
tention from  the  leading  men  of  the  country.  Judge 
Nelson,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
ordered  a  great  case  to  be  re-argued,  in  order  that  ar- 
ticles bearing  on  it,  which  had  appeared  in  the  Gazette 
after  the  case  had  been  argued,  could  be  judicially 
admitted  as  authorities  before  the  decision  of  the 
court  was  given  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  authoritative 
character  of  those  articles,  which  were  from  Mr. 
Dawson's  pen,  were  seen  in  the  decision  of  the  court 
given  by  that  distinguished  jurist.  In  Brodhead's 
"Hi.story  ofthe  State  of  New  York,"  and  in  other  works 
of  equally  high  character,  the  historical  articles 
which  Mr.  Dawson  prepared  for  Tlie  Gazette,  were  re- 
peatedly referred  to  as  standard  authorities.  Odd 
numbers  of  the  Gazette  of  that  period  are  eagerly 
sought,  and  command  high  prices;  files  of  it  are 
bound  and  carefully  preserved  in  the  state  and 
historical  society's  libraries ;  and  it  is  known  that, 
during  the  past  year,  fifteen  dollars  were  paid  for  an 
unbound  file  of  it  for  the  twelve  months  during 
which  Mr.  Dawson  was  its  editor. 

Four  volumes  of  selections  from  the  more  im- 
portant articles  in  the  Gazette  have  been  printed  un- 
der the  general  title  of  the  "  Gazette  Series."  The 
titles  of  the  several  volumes  are:  vol.  i.  "Papers 
concerning  the  capture  and  detention  of  Major  John 
Andre,"  collected  by  Henry  B.  Dawson,  Yonkers, 
N.  Y.,  1866;  vol.  ii.,  "Papers  concerning  the  bound- 
ary between  the  States  of  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey," written  by  several  hands,  Yonkers,  1866 ;  vol. 
iii.,  "  Papers  concerning  the  town  and  village  of 
Yonkers,  Westchester  County,"  a  fragment,  by  Henry 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


015 


B.  Dawson,  Yonkers,  1866;  vol.  iv.,  "Rambles  in 
Westchester  County,"  a  fragment,  by  Henry  B.  Daw- 
son, Yonkers,  1866.  The  authors  of  the  articles  in 
vol.  ii.  were  General  John  Cochrane,  Attorney-Gen- 
eral of  New  York ;  Hon.  J.  Ronieyn  Brodhead,  (two 
articles) ;  William  A.  Whitehead,  of  Newark,  in  reply 
to  the  last;  Mr.  Dawson  himself,  who  endeavored  to 
act  as  umpire  between  the  two;  Jlr.  Whitehead,  in 
reply  to  Mr.  Dawson;  Mr.  Dawson,  in  reply  to  Mr. 
\Vliiteiiead  ;  and  the  Attorney-General  of  New  York 
in  closing  the  argument.  The  correspondence  closes 
with  a  [)ostscript  by  Mr.  Dawson.  The  volume  was 
subse<iuently  printed  for  the  use  of  the  United  States 
Court  in  one  of  the  boundary  suits ;  and  the  argu- 
ments and  evidence  which  Mr.  Dawson  presented  in 
his  articles,  are  said  to  have  influenced  Judge  Nelson 
in  determining  the  case  for  New  York.  The  Andre 
volume  is  probably  the  most  perfect  "  Andreana"  in 
print.  The  series  of  volumes  has  been  sold  at  one 
hundred  dollars  for  the  set,  the  edition  being  very 
small,  only  twenty-six  copies  having  been  printed. 

A  month  or  two  after  dissolving  his  relations  with 
the  (razette,  Mr.  Dawson  purchsised  The  Historical 
Magazine,  of  which  he  became  the  editor  and  pub- 
lisher. His  first  number  was  that  for  July,  1866. 
Ten  volumes  having  been  completed  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  he  began  in  January,  1867,  a  new  and  en- 
larged series  of  the  work  giving  double  the  number 
of  i)ages  and  making  two  volumes  in  a  year.  As  ed- 
itor of  this  publication  Mr.  Dawson  has  achieved 
wide  reinitation  among  literary  people,  and  especially 
among  the  students  of  every  branch  of  American 
history.  The  magazine  became  a  mine  of  historical 
information,  and  continues  to  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  standard  references  of  American  literature. 

In  1S68  the  "  Manual  of  the  New  York  Common 
Council  "  passed  into  the  editorial  care  of  the  new 
clerk,  Joseph  Shannon,  and  his  deputy,  F.  J.  Twoniey. 
It  now  began  to  be  issued  in  an  enlarged  and  im- 
proved form.  Mr.  Dawson,  on  invitation,  furnished 
the  historical  material  and  added  some  new  features 
to  the  work.  The  Charter  of  the  city  was  collated 
by  him,  critically,  with  the  ancient  parchments,  and 
was  first  printed  accurately  in  the  manual.  Mr. 
Dawson  also  furnished  an  elaborate  paper  on  the  bat- 
tle of  Harlem  Heights  and  the  death  of  Colonel 
Knowlton.  The  State  authorities  of  New  York  subse- 
f]uently  employed  him  to  examine  and  report  on  the 
boundaries  of  that  state  on  the  lines  of  New  Jersey, 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut ;  and  the  vestry  of 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,  invited  him  to  become 
the  historian  of  that  ancient  and  noted  parish.  Mr. 
Daw.son  did  nothing  under  either  of  these  re- 
quests, but  his  selection  indicates  the  estiuuition  in 
which  he  is  held  as  an  authority  on  historical  ques- 
tions relating  to  New  York. 

Mr.  Dawson  has  long  conducted  an  extensive  corres- 
pondence with  literary  people  and  conspicuous  actors 
in  public  events.    He  has  been  elected  a  resident  mem- 


ber of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  the  American 
Institute,  and  the  American  Geographical  and  Statis- 
tical Society;  an  honorary  member  by  the  IMinnesota 
and  the  New  England  Methodist  Historical  Socifcties, 
and  a  corresponding  member  by  the  Massachusetts, 
Vermont,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, Wisconsin,  Chicago,  and  New  England  Historic- 
Genealogical,  the  Long  Island,  the  Oneida  and  the 
Cayuga  County  Historical  Societies;  and  also  by  the 
Worcester  (JMassachusetts)  Society  of  Antiquity,  the 
American  Statistical  Association  and  the  Albany  In- 
stitute. 

^Ir.  Dawson  pos.sesses  a  tine  library  on  American 
history — the  result  of  many  years  of  historical  in- 
quiry, and  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  valuable 
collections,  for  practical  purposes,  in  the  country.  Not 
only  on  the  special  subjects  of  which  he  has  written, 
but  in  the  general  field  of  American  history,  Mr. 
Dawson's  searching  and  retentive  inti^llect  Inis  stored 
up  a  mass  of  most  valuable  information,  in  the  use  of 
which  he  is  skilled  by  long  practice  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  niake  him  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  con- 
troversialists. 

In  religious  opinion  he  is  a  resolute  and  uncom- 
promising Calvinistic  Baptist;  and  in  politics  an  old- 
fashioned  "States-lights  Democrat."  He  voted  for 
Polk  for  President  in  1844,  and  attached  himself  to 
that  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  known  as  the 
"  Barnburners,"  which,  in  1848,  assisted  in  forming 
the  Free  Soil  |>arty.  During  the  Presidential  canvass 
of  that  year,  he  was  a  member  of  the  New  York 
City  committee  of  that  party,  and  in  1849  was  on  the 
"general  committee"  of  the  city — what  was  known  as 
"the  old  men's  committee" — of  which  S.  J.  Tilden, 
B.  F.  Butler,  ex-Attorney-General  of  the  United  States, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt,  (Jeorgc  H.  Purser,  Jlark  S{)encer, 
Anthony  J.  Bleecker,  John  Van  Buren,  David  Dudley 
Field,  Lucius  Robinson,  Nelson  J.  Waterbury  and 
other  well-known  politicians  were  members.  He  ad- 
hered to  the  Free  Soil  [)arty  and  its  successor,  the 
Republican  party,  till  the  War  of  Secession,  to  the 
last-named,  however,  not  as  a  "  Republican,"  but  as 
"a  Democrat  opposed  to  the  administration."  Since 
the  close  of  the  War  he  has  been,  as  he  maintains  he 
had  been  before  the  War,  a  Democrat  and  a  rigid 
opponent  of  centralized  power  both  in  State  and 
Federal  government. 

Mr.  Dawson  was  married  May  28,  184'),  to  Cathe- 
rine, daughter  of  Abraham  D.and  Esther  (Whelpley) 
Martling,  of  Tarrytown,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y., 
one  of  the  oldest  families  of  the  county.  They  have 
had  nine  children — 1,  Spencer  H.  C,  born  May  11, 
1846,  died  July  1),  1871;  2,  Henry  B.,  Jr.,  born  De- 
cember 1<»,  1847,  died  March  10,  1876;  3,  William 
^lartling,  born  August  '11,  184!l ;  4,  Stephen  Van 
Rensselaer,  born  September  21,  1851 ;  5,  George 
Cooley,  born  September  25,  1853,  married  Mary  Kate 
Dean  November  16, 1881 ;  6,  Mary  Dawson,  born  June 
17,  1855,  married  William  H.  Halsey  July  6,  1875;  7, 


616 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Catheriue  Martling,  born  April  9,  1859;  8,  Esther 
Martling,  boru  July  17,  1861,  died  March  16,  18G5; 
and  9,  Caroline  Dutcher,  born  August  31,  1803,  died 
April  22,  1880.  They  have  also  had  an  adopted 
daughter,  Anna  Augusta,  born  October  30,  1851,  who 
died  May  31,  1878. 

James  Kirke  Paulding,  the  friend  of  Irving  and 
his  associate  in  the  production  of  the  Sabiiayimdi 
papers,  was  of  Westchester  extraction,  though  a  native 
of  Dutchess  County.  His  grandfather,  many  years 
previous  to  the  Revolution,  settled  in  Westchester 
County  on  a  farm  at  Tarrytown,  still  in  possession  of 
his  descendants.  The  family  removed  to  a  tract  of 
land  in  Dutchess  County  which  had  been  granted 
them  by  King  William  III.  This  change  was  made 
in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  the  Paulding  resi- 
dence being  "  within  the  lines,"  that  is  in  the  dis- 
trict intervening  between  the  British  Army  at  New 
York  and  the  American  forces  in  the  Highlands,  and 
the  Pauldings  being  Whigs  they  were  exposed  to  the 
de|)redations  of  the  British  troops  and  their  Tory 
allies.  Paulding  was  born  at  a  place  called  Pleasant 
Valley  in  Dutchess  County,  August  22,  1779.  His 
father  was  a  leader  of  the  Whig  party  in  the  county 
of  Westchester,  a  member  of  the  first  committee  of 
safety  and  subsequently  Commissary  General  of  the 
New  York  quota  of  troops.  He  was  financially 
ruined  by  furnishing  the  army  with  supplies  obtained 
on  his  personal  credit  for  which  he  could  obtain  no 
compensation  from  the  government. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  the  family  returned  to 
their  former  home  in  Westchester,  and  Paulding  was 
educated  at  the  village  school — a  log  house  nearly 
two  miles  distant  from  his  residence.  Here  he  receiv- 
ed all  the  education  he  ever  obtained  from  tuition. 
On  arriving  at  manhood  in  180U  he  removed  to  New 
York  City,  staying  at  first  with  Washington  Irving's 
brother,  William,  who  had  married  Paulding's  sister. 
His  first  attempts  in  literature  were  his  contributions 
to  the  Salina<iundi  i)apers.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
War  of  1812  he  published  a  clever  satire  on  the  policy 
of  England  toward  America  with  the  title  of"  The  Di- 
verting History  of  John  Bull  and  Brother  Jonathan" 
which  was  reprinted  in  one  of  the  English  journals. 
Following  this  was  "  The  Lay  of  the  Scottish  Fiddle," 
a  parody  of  the  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  in  which  he 
satirized  the  predatory  warfare  of  the  British  on  the 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  described  the  burning  and 
sacking  of  Havre-de-Grace  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sus- 
([uehanna  by  Admiral  Cockburn's  fleet.  It  was  re- 
published in  London  in  handsome  style  with  a  com- 
plimentary preface  and  provoked  a  fierce  review  from 
the  London  Quarterlij.  He  next  j)ublished  "  The 
United  States  and  England,"  a  strong  defense  of  this 
country  against  the  strictures  of  the  Quarterbj,  which 
attracted  the  notice  of  President  Madison.  In  1815  he 
])ublished  his  "Letters  From  the  South  by  a  Northern 
Man,"  written  after  a  visit  to  Virginia,  and  in  1818  his 
principal  poetical  work  "  The  Backwoodsman."  He  next 


published  the  novel  "Konigsmark,' '  or,  as  it  was  after- 
wards called,  "Old  Times  in  the  New  World,"  the  scene 
of  which  is  laid  amongst  the  early  Swedish  settlers 
on  the  Delaware.  These  were  followed  by  a  number  of 
tales  and  sketches  and  his  "Life  of  Washington,  '  pre- 
pared chiefly  for  the  more  youthful  class  of  readers. 
In  1836  he  published  a  defence  of  slavery  under  the 
title  "  Slavery  in  the  United  States."  Most  of  his  works 
were  republished  by  Harper  &  Brothers  in  a  uniform 
edition  in  1835.  Paulding  was  thoroughly  Ameri- 
can in  spirit  and  feeling,  and  his  writings  did  much 
to  confirm  and  strengthen  in  the  popular  mind  the 
sentiments  of  patriotism  engendered  by  the  Revolu- 
tion and  the  war  of  1812.  Their  value  was  recog- 
nized officially  by  his  appointment  in  1814  or  1815 
as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Navy  Commissioners, 
then  first  established.  He  was  transferred  several 
years  later  to  the  post  of  Navy  Agent  for  the  port  of 
Xew  York,  which  he  retained  for  twelve  years  under 


JOSEPH  RODMAX  DRAKE. 

different  administrations  and  resigned  to  accept  the 
position  at  the  head  of  the  Navy  De|)artment,  under 
the  administration  of  President  Van  Buren.  Upon 
the  accession  of  President  Harrison  to  office,  he  re- 
signed and  soon  afterwards  retired  to  a  pleasant 
residence,  "  Hyde  Park,"  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Hudson  iu  the  county  of  Dutchess,  where  he  spent 
the  closing  years  of  his  life.  He  died  in  the  eighty- 
second  year  of  his  age,  on  the  6th  of  April  1860.  The 
"Literary  Life  of  James  K.  Paulding,"  by  his  son,  AVil- 
liam  Irviug  Paulding,  was  published  in  1867. 

Near  the  road  leading  from  West  Farms  to 
Hunt's  Point,  on  the  sound  and  on  the  edge  of  the 
marshes  which  border  the  Bronx  River,  stands  an 
ancient  burial  place  in  which  repose  the  remains  of 
Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  the  poet  who  charmed  the 
senses  of  thousands  with  the  music  of  "The  Culprit 
Fay,"  and  strung  the  patriotic  feelings  of  Americans 
to  the  highest  tension  when  his  muse  sung  of  the 
national  glory.    Dying  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  his 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


617 


was  a  life  of  promise  cut  short  long  before  the  maturi- 
ty of  his  gifts  could  be  reached.  All  readers  know- 
that  he  forever  celebrated  the  rural  beauties  of  the 
Bronx  in  some  of  his  daintiest  verse,  and  it  was 
proper  that  he  should  be  laid  to  rest  near  its  banks. 
But  whatever  fitness  there  might  have  been  in  the 
selection  of  his  burial  place  is  lost  in  the  neglect  into 
which  it  was  afterward  permitted  to  fall.  One  who 
visited  it  in  1865  *  gave  a  most  depressing  description 
of  its  forsaken  and  desolate  appearance.  The  entire 
iuclosure  was  covered  with  briers,  weeds  and  rank 
grass,  which  grew  thickly  around  the  i)<)et's  monu- 
ment. This  was  a  neat  marble  shaft,  eight  feet  high, 
bearing  the  inscription, — 

"  Sncrcd 
to  the  iiicmory 
of 

Juseph  K.  Drake,  M.D., 

who  died  Scjit.  21st, 
1820. 

Aged  25  years. 
Xone  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
Xor  named  him  but  to  praise."' 

The  salt  marsh  surrounded  the  knoll  on  which  the 
cemetery  is  laid  out  and  the  Bronx  at  that  point  is 
but  a  lazily  flowing  stream.  At  the  rate  of  decay 
then  in  progress  the  people  of  a  few  generations  later 
would  be  compelled  to  refer  to  books  and  maps  to 
know  where  the  grave  of  Drake  was  situated. 

J.  Rodman  Drake  was  born  in  New  York  City, 
August  7,  1795.  He  studied  medicine  under  Dr. 
Nicholius  Romayne,  and  shortly  afterwards  married 
Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Henry  Eckford,  a  connection 
that  placed  him  in  affluent  circumstances.  The  youth- 
ful couple  took  a  trip  to  Europe,  but  Drake's  health 
soon  after  failed,  and,  after  spending  the  winter  of 
1819  in  New  Orleans,  in  the  hope  of  regaining  it,  he 
returned  to  New  York  fatally  smitten  with  consump- 
tion, dying  on  September  21,  1820,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five. 

Drake  was  a  poet  from  his  boyhood.  Some  of  his 
youthful  compositions  have  been  preserved  and  show 
great  fluency  and  aptness  of  expression.  In  March, 
1819,  he  published  the  first  of  the  famous  "Croakers," 
the  verses  to  "  Ennui,"  which  were  written  in  con- 
junction with  his  friend,  Halleck.  "  The  Culprit 
Fay"  was  written  to  refute  an  assertion, by  Fenimore 
Cooper  and  Halleck,  that  the  rivers  of  this  country 
furnished  no  such  romantic  associations  as  the  Scot- 
tish streams  for  purposes  of  poetical  composition. 
The  scene  is  laid  in  the  highlands  of  the  Hudson,  but 
the  chief  associations  relate  to  salt  water,  "  the  poet 
drawing  his|inspiration  from  his  familiar  haunt  on  the 
Sound,  at  Hunt's  Point."  "The  Culprit  Fay  "  is  an 
exquisite  creation  of  the  fancy  and  will  always  re- 
Uiin  for  its  author  a  niche  in  the  gallery  of  American 
poets.    A  selection  of  his  poems,  including  "The 

•  Hist.  >Iaf;.,  Feby.,  1ST2. 

58 


Culi>rit  Fay,"  was  made,  and  published  in   1S36,  by 

j  his  only  child,  the  wife  of  Commodore  McKay. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe,  wrote  some  of  his  most  noted  pro- 
ductions while  a  resident  of  Westchester  County, 
including  the  famous  "Raven".  Although  he  was  very 
poor  during  most  of  the  time,  this  was  probably 
the  brightest  period  of  his  melancholy  life ;  for  he  was 
happier  in  the  companionship  of  his  wife,  the  lovely 
Virginia  Clemm,  and  her  mother,  than  at  any  other 
stage  of  his  chequered  career.  His  wife's  death, 
after  a  residence  in  the  county  of  about  three  years, 
was  a  sad  blow  to  the  poet's  sensitive  organization  ; 
but  it  is  plciiisant  to  think  that  the  sweetest  as  well  as 
the  saddest  memories  of  his  "dear  heart"  his  "dear 
Virginia,"  were  associated  with  the  charming  land- 
scapes of  Morrisania  and  Fordham.  Poe  was  nearly 
thirty-four  years  old  when,  in  the  autumn  of  1844,  he 
removed  to  New  York  City  from  Philadelphia.  Born 
in  Boston,  in  January  LSll,  his  early  life  was  as 
chequered  and  eventful  as  his  manhood  was  dark 
and  stormy.  The  Poe  family  was  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  respectable  in  Maryland.  Edgar's  grand- 
father was  a  quartermaster-general  in  the  Continen- 
tal Army  and  the  friend  of  Lafayette.  His  father 
while  a  law  student  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful 
actress,  Elizabeth  Arnold,  and  went  on  the  stage.  He 
was  discarded  by  his  family,  and  he  and  his  wife  died 
within  a  few  weeks  of  each  other  in  Richmond,  Va., 
leaving  three  children,  Henry,  Edgar  and  Rosalie,  in 
a  state  of  destitution.    Edgar  was  adopted  by  Mr. 

I  John  Allan,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Richmond,  from 
whom  he  derived  his  middle  name.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Allan  treated  him  with  great  kindness,  and  after  a 
tour  of  the  British  Islands  in  1816,  placed  him  at 
school  at  Stoke  Newington  near  London,  where  he 
remained  four  or  five  years.  In  1822  he  returned  to 
Richmond,  and  in  1825  was  entered  as  a  student  at 
the  University  of  Virginia.  His  life  at  the  University 
was  marked  by  many  youthful  excesses,  which  finally 
resulted  in  his  expulsion.  He  was  very  much  in  debt 
and  upon  Mr.  Allan's  refusal  to  satisfy  the  claims  of 
some  of  his  creditors  he  quarreled  with  his  benefactor 
and  set  out  to  join  the  Greeks,  who  were  then  in  the 
midst  of  their  war  with  Turkey.  After  wandering  in 
Europe  for  about  a  year,  he  finally  made  his  way  to 
St.  Petersburg  where  he  became  involved  in  a  quarrel 

'  with  the  Russian  authorities,  from  which  he  was  extri- 
cated through  the  kind  offices  of  the  American 
minister,  Mr.  Middleton.  Returning  to  America  he 
was  again  taken  into  favor  by  Mr.  Allan,  who  sent 
him  to  West  Point,  where  his  conduct  was  so  irregular 
that  in  ten  months  after  his  admission  he  was  cash- 
iered. He  was  again  received  into  Mr.  Allan's  family 
but  another  rupture  ensued,  in  consequence,  it  is  said, 
of  Poe's  uncivil  behavior  toward  Mr.  Allan's  .«econd 
wife.    Mr.  Allan  died  a  few  years  latter,  leaving  Poe 

j  nothing. 

Thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  Poe  turned  to 
'  literature  for  support.    In  1829,  he  had  published  in 


\ 


618 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Baltimore  a  volumeof  poems,  "  Al  Aaraaf,  Tamerlane 
and  Minor  Poems,"  which  iiad  been  received  withfiivor. 
He  seems  to  have  had  but  little  difficulty  in  obtaining 
employme'itfrom  magazines  and  newspapers,  but  the 
pay  was  meagre.  In  despair  he  enlisted  in  the  army 
and  then  deserted.  Luckily  for  him,  in  1833  he 
entered  the  competition  for  prizes  offered  by  the 
Baltimore  Saturday  Visitor  for  a  story  and  a  poem. 
He  was  awarded  both  prizes  but  was  subsequently 
excluded  from  the  second  prize  and  only  given  that 
for  the  story.  His  story  was  the  "  MSS.  found  in  a 
Bottle"  and  his  poem  "  The  Coliseum."  His  produc- 
tions attracted  the  notice  of  John  P.  Kennedy,  the 
novelist,  who  befriended  him  and  finally  secured  him 
employment  on  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger. 
This  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  beginning  of  Poe's 
literary  career.    In   1835,  he   was  made  editor  of 


have  sheltered  Washington  and  some  of  his  generals 
in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  The  front  window's 
command  the  Boulevard  (formerly  Bloomingdale 
Road)  and  the  new  Riverside  Park.  The  Hudson  is 
seen  through  the  trees,  with  the  lofty  Palisades  be- 
yond, a  view  still  meet  for  the  poet,  and  far  more 
i  picturesque  and  beautiful  when  Poe  looked  upon  it. 
Poe  was  often  seen  walking  along  the  banks  of  the 
river,  and  he  and  his  wife  no  doubt  were  wont  to  sit 
at  the  western  window  and  watch  the  decline  of  the 
sun  as  it  sank  to  rest  behind  the  embattled  front  of 
the  Palisades.  The  room  formerly  occupied  by  Poe 
and  in  which  "  The  Raven"  was  written,  is  an  apart- 
ment of  moderate  size,  on  the  second  floor  of  the 
house.  Its  windows  look  out  upon  the  Hudson.  The 
mantel,  a  relic  of  by-gone  days,  is  of  wood,  curiously 
carved  and  painted  in  imitati'^n  of  ebony.    Here,  be- 


THE  HOrSE  IX  WHICH  I'OE  WROTE      THE  UAVEX. 


that  publication  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars 
per  annum  and  removed  to  Richmond,  where  he  mar- 
ried his  cousin,  Virginia  Clemni. 

In  January,  1837,  he  left  Richmond  and  returned 
to  Baltimore,  whence  he  proceeded  to  Philadelphia 
and  New  York.  In  Philadelphia  he  obtained  employ- 
ment as  a  contributor  to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
and  in  May,  1839,  was  made  its  editor.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  took  charge  of  Graham's  Magazine. 
In  the  spring  of  1843,  he  wrote  "The  Gold  Bug,"  for 
which  he  received  a  prize  of  one  hundred  dollars. 
He  had  previously  written  a  number  of  critical  pa- 
pers and  stories,  among  them  "The  Mystery  of  Marie 
Roget."  In  the  autumn  of  ]S44  he  removed  to  New 
York.  His  residence  at  first  was  on  what  is  now 
Eighty-fourth  Street.  The  house,  a  large  bleak 
structure,  stands  on  a  rocky  elevation.    It  is  said  to 


fore  the  old  fashioned  fire-place,  the  poet  sat  and 
dreamed  his  wonderful  dreams,  the  weirdest  of  which, 
perhaps,  is  embodied  in  "  The  Raven-" 

Poe's  next  place  of  residence  was  Fordham.  In 
the  winter  of  1846,  says  one  of  his  biographers,  he 
was  living  in  extreme  destitution  at  Fordham.  In 
the  meantime  he  had  been  employed  by  Willis  & 
Morris,  as  critic  and  assistant  editor  of  The  Mirror,  a 
position  which  he  retained  about  six  months,  and  as 
associate  editor  with  C.  F.  Briggs  of  The  Broadv:ay 
Journal.  The  latter  publication  ceased  in  January, 
184G,  and  Poe  then  began  a  series  of  papers,  "  The 
Literati  of  New  Y'ork  City,"  which  were  published  in 
The  Lady's  Book.  Their  pungency  and  pereonality 
created  for  him  many  enemies.  His  troubles  now  be- 
gan to  thicken.  His  wife's  health,  which  had  always 
been  delicate,  was  failing  rapidly  and  Poe  was  sub- 


LITERATI- HE  AND  IJTHHAKV  MEN. 


619 


hi.s    cottage-  His 


jected  to  the  agony  ol'  seeing  her  lading,  day  by  day, 
without  the  means  at  hand  to  minister  properly  to 
her  comfort.  His  necessities  were  finally  made  known 
by  some  friendly  hand  in  the  newspapers  and  a  sub- 
scription was  raised  in  his  behalf.  But,  although  his 
sufterings  were  extreme,  he  must  have  had  many 
gleams  of  happiness  in  the  little  old-fashioned  cottage 
at  Fordham.  It  is  a  quaint  little  structure,  a  story 
and  a  half  high,  with  a  white  shingled  gable-end  to- 
ward the  street  and  a  porch  on  one  side.  It  is  perched 
on  the  top  of  a  hill  and  is  surrounded  by  old  fruit- 
trees,  mossy  stone  walls  and  thickets  of  brambles  and 
flowers.  In  one  of  his  papers  on  the  Literati,  Poe 
severely  criticised  Dr.  Thoma.s  Dunn  English,  who 
retorted  in  a  personal  article  which  was  reproduced 
in  the  Evening  Mirror.  Poe  thereupon  sued  for  libel 
and  recovered  from  the  Mirror  several  hundred  dol- 
lars, with  which  he  refitted 
life  at  this  time  was  one  of 
singular  domestic  tranquillity 
and  sweetness.  His  mother-in- 
law,  Mrs.  Clemm,  who  seems  to 
have  been  much  attached  to 
him,  watched  over  him  with 
tender  kindness  and  solicitude, 
and  managed  the  affairs  of  the 
little  household  with  great  skill 
and  prudence.  Poe's  affection 
for  his  wife  and  her  mother  is 
the  one  bright  spot  in  his 
sombre  life.  In  a  tender  letter 
of  June  12,  184(5,  to  his  wife  he 
speaks  of  Mrs.  Clemm  as  "  our 
mother,"  and  declares  that  liis 
"dear  Virginia "  is  his  "great- 
est and  only  stimulus  now,  to 
battle  with  this  uncongenial, 
unsatisfactory  and  ungrateful 
life.'"  Nearly  all  the  personal 
reminiscence.*  of  Poe  which  tell 
of  his  life  at  Fordham  are  of  a 
bright  and  pleasing  character. 

One  of  his  friends  describes  his  wife  as  looking  very 
young.  "She  had  large,  black  eyes  and  a  pearly 
whiteness  of  complexion  which  was  a  perfect  pallor. 
The  pale  face,  her  brilliant  eyes  and  her  raven  hair 
gave  her  an  unearthly  look.  One  felt  that  she  was  al- 
most a  disrobed  spirit,  and  when  she  coughed  it  was 
made  certain  that  she  was  rapidly  passing  away." 
Mi-s.  Clemm,  we  are  told,  "was  a  tall,  dignified  old 
lady  with  a  most  lady-like  manner,  and  her  black 
dress,  though  old  and  much  worn,  looked  really  ele- 
gant on  her."  The  same  informant  says,  "the  cot- 
tage had  an  air  of  taste  and  gentility  that  must  have 
been  lent  it  by  the  presence  of  its  inmates.  So  neat, 
so  poor,  so  unfurnished,  and  yet  so  charming  a  dwel- 
ling I  never  saw." 

A  short  distance  back  of  the  cottage  there  is  a 
rocky  elevation,  crowned  with  cedars.    It  overlooks 


a  pleasant  landscape  and  the  hills  of  Long  Island  in 
the  distance.  Tradition  asserts  that  this  was  a  favor- 
ite spot  of  Poe's,  and  here,  perhaps,  he  wove  in  his 
brain  the  ideas  which  found  expression  in  "  Eureka," 
"  Annabel  Lee,"  "  For  Annie"  and  "  Ulalume,"  all 
of  which  were  written  while  he  lived  at  Fordham. 
.\nother  favorite  resort  was  the  Aqueduct  pathway, 
leading  from  High  Bridge  to  Fordham. 

A  recently  published  description  of  the  cottage  and 
its  surroundings  says:  "  Two  years  ago  the  place  was 
sold  at  public  auction,  under  foreclosure,  and  it  was 
bid  in  for  five  thousand  seven  hundred  dollars.  The 
unpaid  taxes  and  accrued  interest  amounted  to  some- 
thing more  than  that.  From  the  railroad  station  the 
road  winds  up  the  Fordham  hill  to  the  cottage,  with 
the  native  rock  as  a  pavement.  The  cottage  seems 
no  more  than  a  little  paint-box,  shingled  on  the  sides 
as  well  as  the  roof,  and  covered  with  vines  on  which 


KIHiAU  AI.LAX  I'OE  S  HO.MK  AT  FOKDHA.M. 


the  foliage  is  now  appearing.  It  is  only  a  few  feet 
from  the  road,  but  in  summer  is  almost  obscured  by 
the  trees.  Within,  the  rooms  are  more  spacious  than 
they  appear  from  the  road.  A  cherry-tree  planted 
by  Poe,  now  vigorous  and  thrifty,  shades  a  pleasant 
porch.  There  are  two  good-sized  rooms,  a  bed-room 
and  a  kitchen  on  the  lower  floor.  In  the  front  room 
Virginia,  Poe's  invalid  wife,  lay  through  her  sickness, 
and  died.  On  the  upper  floor  there  are  three 
rooms,  one  of  them  quite  large.  The  old-fashioned 
chimney  passes  through  it,  aftbrding  an  old-time  fire- 
place, which  in  winter,  when  filled  with  crackling 
wood,  would  be  a  cheerful  place.  It  was  a  favorite 
room  with  the  poet,  and  here  he  wrote  "  Ulalume  " 
and  "  Eureka." 

"Poe  moved  to  Fordham  from  Amity  Street. 
Washington  Square  was  then  the  centre  of  the  fine 


620 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


residences  of  the  city,  and  his  huiise  in  Amity  Street, 
into  which  he  moved  when  the  "  Raven  '  had  brought 
him  a  reputation,  was  only  a  short  distance  from  tlie 
square.  He  had  been  engaged  on  the  Evening  Mir- 
ror at  a  salary  of  ten  dollars  a  week,  and  in  a  suit 
against  the  paper  for  libel,  after  resigning  his  posi- 
tion, he  secured  a  verdict  and  obtained  several  hun- 
dred dollars.  With  this  money  he  secured  the  Ford- 
ham  cottage,  at  a  rental  of  one  hundred  dollars  a  year, 
furnished  it  and  removed  there  with  his  wife  and  her 
mother,  Mrs.  Clemm,  who  remained  there  until  Poe's 
death  in  1849.  The  grounds,  comprising  about  two 
acres,  are  as  interesting  as  the  house,  and  have  asso- 
ciations reaching  back  to  Revolutionary  times, 
when  this  neighborhood  was  a  part  of  the  '  neutral 
ground '  and  the  field  of  Cooper's  '  Spy.'  The  lawn 
slopes  into  a  grassy  hollow.   A  massive  ledge  of  blue- 


THE  OI-U  DUTCH  CHURCH,  FOKDHAM. 

gray  rock  overlooks  the  valley  at  the  height  of  a  hun  • 
dred  feet  and  forms  the  eastern  wall  of  the  place.  The 
site  is  said  to  have  been  occupied  at  one  time  by  a 
British  batteiy.  Now  a  tennis  club,  composed  of 
young  men  and  women  of  Fordham,  meets  on  the 
lawn  in  summer.  The  rocky  ledge  commands  a  view 
of  the  Long  Island  hills  in  purple  background  and 
against  the  horizon.  lu  the  growth  of  the  city  it  is 
likely  to  become  one  of  the  choice  sites  for  resi- 
dences. 

"  The  place  rents  for  four  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
For  several  years  it  has  been  occupied  by  Mrs.  E.  D. 
Dechert,  the  widow  of  an  engineer  who  drew  many 
of  the  plans  of  Central  Park,  and  afterward  most  of 
the  avenues  and  drives  of  Fordham.  A  few  of  those 
who  knew  Poe  and  his  family  are  still  living  in  the 
neighborhood.    One  of  these  was  his  nearest  neigh- 


bor, Mrs.  Reuben  Cromwell,  then  a  young  girl.  She 
said  recently  that  the  first  time  she  saw  Poe  he  was 
up  in  a  cherry-tree  picking  the  fruit,  and  his  wife 
stood  beneath  the  tree.  '  He  was  a  nice-looking 
young  man,'  continued  Mrs.  Cromwell,  '  and  soci- 
able.' His  wife  had  come  out  here  to  get  the  good 
air,  he  said,  and  to  dig  in  the  ground  and  get  well. 
But  she  was  too  thin  and  weak  to  dig.  She  soon  be- 
came ill  and  never  came  out  until  she  was  buried. 
Her  mother  they  called  Muddie,  and  Mr.  Poe  they 
always  called  Eddie.  They  were  awful  poor  ;  poorer 
than  I  ever  want  to  be. 

"  Mrs.  Cromwell  describes  going  over  to  the  house 
the  morning  that  she  heard  of  Poe's  death.  Mrs.  Clemm 
was  packing  his  things,  having  received  a  letter  from 
him  the  day  before,  in  which  he  wrote  of  his  intended 
marriage  to  a  Baltimore  lady,  and  said  that  he  would 
come  on  for  her.  She  was  overcome  when 
informed  of  his  death,  and  was  sure  that  he 
would  not  have  died  had  she  been  there  to 
'  nurse  him  in  his  bad  spell.'  The  neighbors 
raised  money  to  enable  her  to  go  to  Baltimore. 
Poe  had  not  paid  any  rent  for  several  months, 
and  Mrs.  Clemm  afterwards  returned  and  sold 
their  few  effects.  Among  these  Mrs.  Cromwell 
obtained  the  family  Bible,  a  rocking-chair  and 
a  clock,  which  she  still  retained  as  relics  of  her 
distinguished  but  unfortunate  neighbor." 

In  January,  ]847,  Poe's  wife  died  and  was 
buried  in  the  church-yard  of  the  old  Dutch 
Church,  on  the  King's  Bridge  road,  about  half 
a  mile  to  the  westward  of  the  cottage.  She 
was  laid  in  the  vault  belonging  to  the  Valen- 
tine family,  who  owned  the  cottage  which  Poe 
rented.    In  1878  the  remains  were  taken  to 
Baltimore,  to  be  placed  beside  those  of  her 
devoted  "  Edgar,"  and  the  vault  itself  has  now 
disappeared.    After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Poe's 
sister,   Rosalie,   came  to  live  with  him  at 
Fordham.     Poe  continued  to  reside  in  the 
cottage  until  June,  29,  1849,  when  he  started 
forth  on  the  journey  which  terminated  in  his 
death.    Before  leaving,  he  arranged  his  papers  and 
instructed  Mrs.  Clemm  as  to  what  disposition  to  make 
of  them  in  case  he  died.    After  spending  some  time 
in  Richmond  he  started  on  his  return  to  New  Y'ork, 
but  got  no  farther  than  Baltimore  when  he  was  lakeu 
ill,  and  died  in  an  infirmary  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1849,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight. 

Rev.  Daniel  Curry,  D.D.,the  clergyman  and  author, 
was  born  near  Peekskill,  November  26,  1809;  gradu- 
ated from  the  Wesleyan  University  in  1837,  and  in 
the  same  year  became  principal  of  the  Troy  Con- 
ference Academy,  at  West  Poultney,  Vermont.  In 
1839  he  became  a  professor  in  the  Georgia  Female 
College  at  Macon,  and  in  1841  entered  the  Georgia 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
He  filled  pastoral  charges  at  Athens,  Savannah  and 
Columbus,  and  in  1844  was  transferred  to  the  New 


LITKRATl'RE  AND  LITERARY  MKN. 


H21 


York  Conference  where  he  continued  to  engage  in 
pastoral  work  until  1854,  when  he  was  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  Indiana  Asbury  I'liiversity,  at  Green- 
castle,  Indiana.  After  three  years  he  returned  to 
New  York  and  in  1864  was  elected  editor  of  the 
Christian  Advocate,  at  New  York.  He  was  re-elected 
in  18()8  and  1872,  and  in  187(5  became  the  editorofthe 
jAidifs:'  Jiejiositort/  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
Dr.  Curry  has  written  much  for  the  periodicals  of 
his  church  in  addition  to  the  articles  which  he 
gave  to  his  regular  editorial  work.  He  has  pub- 
lished a  "Life  of  Wyckliff,"  "The  Metropolitan  City 
of  America,"  and  a  "  Life  of  Bishop  Davis  W. 
Clark,"  and  has  edited  the  writings  of  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  James  Floy,  and  an  edition  of  Soutliey's  "  Life 
of  Wesley." 

Rev.  Robert  Baird,  D.D.,  the  author  and  philan- 
thropist, spent  the  closing  houi"s  of  his  busy  life  in 
Westchester  County,  dying  at  Yonkci-s  on  the  15th  of 


REV.  D.\Nir.L  CTRRY,  D.I). 


March,  1863.  Born  in  Fayette  Co.,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1798,  he  was  graduated  at  Jefferson  College  in  1818, 
and  received  the  degree  of  D.D.  in  1842.  From 
1835  ro  1843  he  was  the  most  part  of  the  time 
in  Europe,  striving  to  revive  the  Protestant  faith  in 
the  south  of  the  continent,  and  to  i>romote  the  cause 
of  temperance  in  the  North.  He  published  a  number 
of  valuable  works.  His  son.  Professor  Henry  M. 
Baird,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Yonkers,  professor  of  Greek 
in  the  University  of  New  York,  is  a  distinguished 
scholar  and  liistorian.  He  has  published  a  book  of 
travels  entitled,  "  Modern  Greece,"  and  more  recently 
a  "  History  of  the  Rise  of  tlie  Huguenots  of  France,'" 
2  vols.  8vo.,  which  has  taken  rank  among  the  more 
important  historical  works  of  the  day. 

Another  son.  Rev.  Charles  W.  Baird,  D.D.,  is  the 
author  of  two  cha])ters  of  this  work,  the  histories  of  the 
the  towns  of  Rye  and  Harrison,  and  is  a  distinguished 
litcrateur.  He  was  born  in  Princeton,  N.  J.,  August 
28,  182S.  and  was  graduated  at  the  Tnivei'sity  of  the 


city  of  New  York  in  1848  and  at  the  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  1852.  He  was  ordained  for  the 
ministry  and  in  1852-i54  was  the  American  chaplain 
in  Rome,  Italy.  In  1859-61  he  was  the  minister  at 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  on  Bergen  Hill,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  and  since  May  9,  1861,  has  been  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Rye,  N.  Y.  Dr.  Baird 
has  written  "  Eutaxia :  Historical  Sketches,"  New 
York,  1855 ;  "  A  Book  of  Public  Prayer,"  New 
York,  1857;  "  History  of  Rye,  N.  Y.,"  1870;  "His- 
tory of  Bedford  Church,"  1882;  "History  of  the 
Huguenot  Immigration  to  America,"  2  vols.,  1885. 

Elias  Cornelius,  D.D.,  the  educator  and  missionary, 
was  born  at  Somers  in  1794,  graduated  at  Yale  Col- 
lege in  1818  and  died  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  February 
12,  1832.  In  early  life  he  studied  theology  and  in 
1816  visited  the  Cherokee  and  Chickasaw  Indians  as 
a  missionary.  In  1818  he  went  to  New  Orleans  in 
the  employ  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  Connecti- 
cut. In  July,  1819,  he  was  installed  with  Dr.  Wor- 
cester at  Salem,  but  upon  being  appointed,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1826,  secretary  of  the  American  Educational 
Society  he  was  dismissed.  He  contributed  to  the 
Quarterly  Journal  and  published  the  reports  of  his 
educational  society. 

His  father  was  surgeon's  mate  of  Colonel  Angell's 
regiment  during  the  Revolution,  and  at  one  time  an 
inmate  of  the  "Jersey"  prison-ship.  He  died  at 
Somers,  June  13,  1823,  aged  sixty-five  years. 

Among  the  eminent  men  who,  after  having 
made  high  reputations  for  themselves  in  other 
localities,  selected  Yonkers  as  the  home  of  their  ad- 
vanced life,  is  Professor  William  Holmes  Chambers 
Bartlett.  For  more  than  forty  years  he  was  identified 
with  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  first  as  a  cadet,  and  subsequently  as  Professor 
of  Natural  and  Experimental  Philosophy.  The  lead- 
ing particulars  of  his  life,  obtained  in  outline  from 
Cullum's  "  Register  of  the  Officers  and  Graduates  "  of 
the  academy,  with  such  details  as  we  have  been  able 
to  gather  from  other  sources,  are  as  follows : 

Professor  Bartlett  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
I  September,  1804,  but  as  his  parents  removed  imme- 
i  diately  after  his  birth  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  his 
childhood  and  youth  were  passed  in  the  latter  State, 
and  it  was  from  it  that  he  was  in  due  time  sent  to 
West  Point.    His  parents  were  poor,  and  as  there 
were  then  no  schools  at  the  West,  he  had  no  home 
advantages  for  education.    Attracting,  however,  the 
notice  of  Missouri  men  who  were  able  to  command 
'  the  influence  of  Senator  Thomas  H.  Benton,  an  ap- 
pointment-was procured  for  him  as  a  cadet.    He  was 
received  at  West  Point  on  the  1st  of  July,  1822,  at 
seventeen  years  and  eight  months  of  age,  stood  at  the 
head  of  his  class  through  his  whole  four  years  of 
study,  and  was  graduated  at  its  head  on  the  1st  of 
July,  1826,  having  served  as  Acting  iVssistant  Profes- 
sor of  Matiiematics  during  the  last  two  years  of  his 
'  course.    From  August  30,  1S2(;.  to  August  30,  1829, 


622 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


he  coDtiuued  to  be  employed  at  the  academy,  first  as 
Assistant  Professor,  and  later  as  Principal  Assistant 
Professor  of  Engineering.  In  1828  he  took  part  as 
assistant  engineer  in  the  construction  of  Fortress 
Monroe,  Va.,  and  from  1829  to  1832  was  engaged  in 
the  construction  of  Fort  Adams,  Newport  Harbor; 
R.  I.  From  1832  to  1884  he  was  assistant  to  the  chief 
engineer  at  Washington,  D.  C.  In  the  latter  year 
he  returned  to  the  Point,  and  became  Acting  Profes- 
sor of  Natural  and  Experimental  Philosophy.  To 
the  fiill  professorship  in  this  department  he  finally 
received  an  appointment  from  General  Jackson 
in  1836,  and  continued  to  fill  the  position  until 
1871,  when  he  resigned  and  was  appointed  colonel 
in  the  regular  army  on  the  retired  list.  The  instru- 
ment by  which  he  was  appointed  to  his  professorship 
in  1836  is  still  in  his  possession.  It  was  forwarded 
to  General  Cass,  and  sent  by  him,  through  his  son, 
to  Professor  Bartlett.    It  was  as  follows: 

"  I  hereby  appoint  Second  Lieut.  'Williaiu  H.  C.  liartlett,  of  the  Corps 
of  Engineers,  Prof,  of  Nat.  and  Exper.  I'liilosophy  (vice  Courtney 
resigned. 

(Signed,)  .\m>re\v  Jackson. 

During  the  student  days  of  Professor  Bartlett,  as  we 
have  seen,  he  spent  two  years  in  teaching  in  the  acad- 
emy. Many  men,  afterwards  distinguished  in  United 
States  history,  and  several  who,  on  both  sides,  in  our 
civil  contest,  became  men  of  mark,  were  at  the  institu- 
tion. Leonidas  Polk,  a  relative  of  James  K.  Polk,  and 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Louisiana,  was  his  room-mate, 
and  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  afterwards  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  was  both  his  room-mate  and  class- 
mate. Jefferson  Davis,  Robert  E.  Lee  and  Charles 
Mason  (afterwards  Judge  Mason,  of  Iowa)  were  under 
his  instruction,  as  were  many  others  who  in  due  time 
became  widely  noted. 

While  engaged  in  the  construction  of  Fort  Adams, 
between  1829  and  1832,  Professor  Bartlett  contributed 
to  SiUimnn^s  Journal  a  paper  on  "  The  Expansibility  of 
Coping  Stones,"  which  has  been  frequently  referred 
to  by  foreign  writers.  During  his  life  in  Washington 
(1832  to  1834),  as  first  assistant  to  Chief  Engineer  (Gen- 
eral) Gratiot,  he  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  engi- 
neering on  the  Cumberland  National  road,  and  with 
fortifications  all  over  the  country.  In  1840  he  was 
ordered  by  President  Van  Buren,  through  his  Secre- 
tary of  War,  Mr.  Poinsett,  to  examine  the  European 
observatories,  with  a  view  to  improving  the  course 
of  instruction  in  astronomy,  practical  and  theoretical, 
in  the  Military  Academy.  In  this  work  he  was  absent 
from  the  country  about  five  months,  and  made  many 
valuable  aciiuaintances  in  Europe.  On  his  return 
he  submitted  to  the  War  Department  the  report  of 
his  work,  the  receipt  of  which  was  duly  acknowledged. 
It  is  a  misfortune,  however,  that  this  valuable  report 
has  in  some  way  been  lost.  Frequent  search  has 
been  made  for  it,  but  without  success.  It  suggested 
a  plan  for  an  observatory  to  be  located  in  Washington 
City. 


In  addition  to  these  labors,  the  Professor,  dui  ing 
his  long  service  at  the  Point,  prepared  several  text- 
books for  the  use  of  the  cadets.  In  1839  he  pub- 
lished a  "  Treatise  on  Optics ;"  in  1858,  one  on 
"Synthetical  Mechanics,"  and  another  on  "Spherical 
Astronomy,"  and  in  1859  one  on  "  Acoustics  and 
Optics "  and  another  on  "  Analytical  Mechanics." 
Before  finally  retiring  from  his  professorship  he  also 
published  an  article  entitled  "  Strains  on  Rifle  Guns," 
which  will  be  found  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Volume  I.  It  was  also  sep- 
arately published.  All  this  shows  the  years  of  his 
life  at  West  Point  to  have  been  busy  and  productive. 
In  1847  Geneva  College  conferred  upon  the  professor 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  The  degree  of  Master 
of  Arts  had  been  conferred  upon  him  as  an  honorary 
degree  by  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton, 
ten  years  before.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Philosoph- 
ical Societies  of  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  and  is  one 
of  the  original  corporators  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Science,  incorporated  by  Congress. 

His  books  and  his  writings  in  periodicals  are  a 
monument  to  Professor  Bartlett's  scholarship  and 
industry.  The  value  of  his  books  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  they  have  passed  through  a  succes- 
sion of  editions.  The  ninth  edition  of  "  Analytical 
Mechanics"  was  published  in  1874.  AVe  judge  from 
a  mere  pa.ssing  sentence  in  the  preface  to  the  second 
edition  that,  in  the  so-called  conflict  between  scien- 
tists and  the  Bible,  this  eminent  scholar  and  scientist 
has  no  sympathy  with  Anti-Theism.  Speaking  of  a 
mathematical  formula  which  he  framed  and  which 
expresses  the  laws  that  govern  the  action  and  reaction 
of  forces  upon  bodies,  he  says  of  this  formula, — 

"  It  embraces  alike,  in  their  reciprocal  action,  the 
"gigantic  and  distant  orbs  of  the  celestial  regions 
"  and  the  proximate  atoms  of  the  ethereal  atmosphere 
"  which  pervades  all  space,  and  establishes  an  un- 
"  broken  continuity  upon  which  its  divine  architect 
"  and  author  may  impress  the  power  of  His  will  at  a 
"  single  point  and  be  felt  everywhere." 

This,  even  in  an  academy  text-book,  is  a  strong 
tribute  to  Theism,  and  when  it  is  added  as  a  fact  that 
Professor  Bartlett  is  a  worthy  member  of  the  Ei)i.sco- 
pal  communion,  [it  may  be  safely  taken  as  a  tribute 
to  Theism  in  its  Christian  phase. 

In  1871,  at  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  Professor 
Bartlett  was  retired  at  his  own  request.  On  the  1st 
of  July  he  removed  from  West  Point  to  Yonkers, 
and  took  possession  of  a  fine  residence  which  he  had 
purchased  for  himself  on  Locust  Hill  Avenue.  Here 
he  has  since  lived.  At  the  time  of  his  retirement 
from  the  Point  he  was  elected  actuary  of  the  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  and  this  posi- 
tion he  still  holds,  faithfully  fulfilling  its  duties  day 
by  day,  even  at  eighty-one  years  of  age.  He  has  ren- 
dered exceedingly  valuable  service  to  the  comi>any. 
Among  his  labors  have  been  the  construction  of 
tables  to  facilitate  their  oflSce  work,  and  the  prepara 


LITEKATI  RE  AND 


LITEUAHV  .MEN. 


tioii  ol'  an  ehibonite  report  of  thirty-oue  years  of  the 
working  ot'tlieir  institution. 

Professor  Barllett  was  married  during  his  work 
upon  Fort  Adams,  in  Newport  Harbor,  February  4, 
1829,  to  Miss  Harriet  Whitehorne,  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel Whitehorne,  a  merchant  of  that  phice.  He  has 
had  eight  children,  of  whom  four  sons  and  three 
daughters  are  yet  living.  Jlrs.  Bartlett  is  also  still 
spared.  The  professor,  though  somewhat  infirm,  is 
still  both  mentally  and  physically  active,  keeps  up  a 
deep  interest  in  passing  events,  and  is  a  fluent  and 
sprightly  conversationalist  and  companion,  full  of  rem- 
iniscences of  the  ccuntry's  history,  and  of  an  eventful 
and  interesting  personal  life. 

Rev.  John  A.  Todd,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Second 
Reformed  Church  of  Tarrytown,  N.  Y.,  who  con- 
tributed to  this  work  the  two  chapters  on  the  history 
of  the  townships  of  Greenburgh  and  Mount  Pleasant, 
is  a  native  of  Somerset  County,  N.  J.,  and  a  graduate 
of  Rutgers  College  and  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
After  completing  his  course  at  the  Seminary,  in  1848, 
he  was  settled  towards  the  latter  part  of  that  year  as 
pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Griggstown,  N.  J. 
His  personal  connection  with  Westchester  County 
dates  back  to  1855,  when  he  accepted  the  call  of  the 
Second  Reformed  Church  of  Tarrytown,  and  entered 
upon  his  duties  as  pastor.  Having  lived  since  then 
in  themid'it  of  the  historical  scenes  of  which  he  has 
written,  and  having  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  many 
whose  ancestors  had  long  lived  there  before  them  and 
had  borne  a  prominent  part  in  the  great  revolutionary 
struggle,  he  has  had  peculiar  opportunities  of  in- 
formation in  regard  to  the  localities  described. 

Among  other  productions  of  Dr.  Todd's  pen  may  be 
mentioned  his  "  Discourse  on  the  Character  and  Death 
of  Washington  Irving,"  1859;  "Memories  of  the  Rev. 
Peter  Labagh,  D.D.,  with  Notices  of  the  History  of 
the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  North 
America,"  1860  ;  "The  Law  of  Spiritual  Growth,  a  re- 
view of  Boardman's  'Higher  Christian  Life,'"  in  the 
Princeton  Review  of  October,  1860 ;  "  The  Man  for  the 
Times,"  an  Oration  delivered  before  the  (iovernor  of 
the  State,  the  Trustees,  and  the  Alumni  of  Rutger's 
College,  at  the  Dedication  of  Geological  Hall,  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J.,  June  18, 1872;  "The  Posture  of  the 
Ministers  and  People  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
during  the  Revolution,"  prepared  by  request  of  a 
committee  of  the  <  Jeueral  Synod,  and  published  by 
order  of  the  Synod  in  the  volume  of  Centennial  f>it<- 
courses,  1876;  "The  Good  Fight  and  the  Victor's 
Crown,"'  a  Memorial  Discourse  on  the  Life,  Character 
and  Services  of  the  Rev.  Abraham  Moesle,  D.D., 
1882  ;  "  Letters  from  Europe,  from  Canada  and  the 
Saguenay,  from  Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island, 
Cape  Breton,  and  Newfoundland,"  1880-1884.  Dr. 
Todd  has  also  published  a  number  of  translations 
from  the  German  and  the  Spanish,  both  in  prose  and 
verse. 


Since  completing  the  two  chapters  included  \n  this 
work,  he  has  resigned  his  pastoral  charge,  but  will 
continue  to  reside  in  Tarrytown,  and  be  chiefly  oc- 
cupied in  literary  pursuits. 

James  Parton,  the  well-known  historical  writer, 
received  his  early  education  in  Westchester  County. 
He  is  a  native  of  England,  born  at  Canterbury,  Feb- 
ruary 9,  1S22.  Brought  to  the  United  States  when 
but  five  years  of  age,  he  was  educated  in  New  York 
City  and  vicinity,  chiefly  at  a  school  at  White  Plains. 
For  seven  years  he  taught  school,  finally  becoming 
known  as  a  writer  by  his  editorial  contributions  to 
the  Home  Journal.  His  first  published  work,  which 
appeared  in  1855,  was  the  "  Life  of  Horace  Greeley," 
It  was  a  successful  piece  of  work,  and  secured  the 
author  employment  in  the  compilation  of  "The  Hu- 
morous Poetry  of  the  English  Language,"  which  a])- 
peared  in  1857.  It  was  followed,  in  1859,  by  the 
"  Life  and  Times  of  Aaron  Burr,"  and  in  1860  by  the 
"Life  of  Andrew  Jackson."  In  1864  his  "Life  of 
Benjamin  Franklin "  appeared.  Since  then  he  has 
been  a  prolific  writer  of  recognized  popularity.  In 
1856  he  married  Sara  Payson  Willis,  sister  of  N.  P. 
Willis,  the  poet,  and  herself  widely  known  for  her 
literary  productions  under  the  nam  deplume  of  Fanny 
Fern. 

John  Bigelow,  the  veteran  writer  and  politician, 
was,  for  three  years,  a  resident  of  Westchester  County 
as  one  of  the  inspectors  of  the  state  prison  at  Sing 
Sing.  Mr.  Bigelow  was  appointed  to  this  position  in 
1845,  and  during  his  term  of  service  introduced  va- 
rious reforms  in  the  prison  discipline.  Mr.  Bigelow 
is  a  native  of  Maiden,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.  He  was 
born  November  25,  1817;  graduated  at  Union  Col- 
lege 1835 ;  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  New  York  City  in  1839.  For  ten  years  he  was 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  occupying 
himself,  at  the  same  time,  more  or  less  with  literature 
and  literary  journalism.  In  1850  he  became  one  of 
the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the  New  York  Evening 
Post,  and  sustained  this  relation  more  than  ten  years. 
In  1856  he  published  a  life  of  General  Fremont, 
when  the  latter  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
He  spent  the  years  1859  and  1860  abroad,  writing 
letters  to  the  Evening  Post.  He  had  previously  written 
interesting  narratives  of  trips  to  Jamaica  and  Hayti  ; 
the  former  presenting  his  views  of  the  practical  work- 
ing of  emancipation  in  Jamaica.  Early  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  President  Lincoln  he  was  appointed 
consul  at  Paris,  and  upon  the  death  of  the  minister, 
Mr.  Dayton,  in  18()4,  was  chosen  to  succeed  him. 
While  consul,  he  published  in  French,  for  the  in- 
formation of  the  people  of  France,  a  valuable  work 
on  the  resources  of  the  United  States.  Early  in  1867 
he  returned  to  the  United  States,  bringing  with  him 
the  original  manuscri]Hs  of  Benjamin  Franklin's 
autobiography,  which  he  published  in  the  following 
year,  with  notes  and  an  introduction  by  himself. 
Mr.  BigeJow  is  the  author  of  some  valuable  mono- 


624 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


graphs  on  social  and  political  phases  of  French  his- 
tory, as  well  as  of  many  other  papers  and  sketches. 
In  December,  1871,  he  submitted  to  Senator  Conk- 
ling,  of  New  York,  an  elaborate  scheme  for  the  com- 
memoration of  the  first  centennial  anniversary  of 
American  independence  in  1876,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  the  New  York  Tribune,  and  first  directed 
public  attention  to  the  approach  of  that  occasion. 
Mr.  Bigelow  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Governor  Til- 
den  for  the  Presidency,  and  for  some  years  has  been 
prominent  before  the  public  as  Mr.  Tilden's  trusted 
adviser  and  intimate  friend.  Early  in  1886  he  #as 
appointed  United  States  Sub-Treasurer  at  New  York, 
and  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  but,  before  qualifying, 
resigned  the  position,  not  caring  to  undertake  its 
arduous  duties.  Upon  the  retirement  of  Louis  J. 
Jennings,  he  was  appointed  editor  of  the  New  Y'ork 
Times,  but  found  the  labors  of  daily  journalism  too 
arduous  for  his  tastes. 

Alice  B.  Haven,  the  author  of  a  number  of  poems  and  ; 
tales  under  the  name  of  "  Cousin  Alice,"  is  a  resident  of 
Mamaroneck.  She  was  born  at  Hudson,  N.  Y.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Bradley.  She  became  a  contribu- 
tor to  the  periodicals  of  the  day  at  an  early  age,  and 
in  1846  was  married  to  Joseph  C.  Neal,  author  of  the 
"  Charcoal  Sketches."  Upon  his  death  a  few  months 
later,  she  took  charge  of  the  literary  department 
of  Nerd's  Gazette,  of  which  her  husband  had  been  a 
proprietor,  and  conducted  it  for  several  years  with 
success.  She  also  contributed  frequently  to  the  lead- 
ing monthly  magazines.  "  The  Gossips  of  River- 
town,  with  Sketches  in  Prose  and  Verse,"  from  her 
pen,  was  publislied  in  1850.  She  is  also  the  author- 
ess of  a  series  of  popular  juvenile  works  published 
under  the  name  of  "  Cousin  Alice."  In  1853  Mrs.  j 
Neal  was  married  to  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Haven,  and  has  [ 
since  resided  at  Mamaroneck. 

Cornelius  Mathews,  the  novelist,  play-wright  and 
journalist,  was  a  native  of  Port  Chester.  He  was 
b(u-n  October  28,  1817.  His  early  country  life  on  the 
banks  of  Byram  River  and  the  rolling  uplands  of  Rye 
and  it-<  picturesque  lake,  made  a  deep  impression  on 
liis  mind,  as  is  shown  by  traces  in  many  pages  of  his 
writings.  He  was  among  the  early  graduates  of  the 
New  York  University  in  1835,  and  began  his  literary 
career  while  still  a  youth.  To  t\\e  Aiiierican  Monthly 
Magazine  of  183G,  he  contributed  both  prose  and 
verse.  He  was  also  a  contributor  to  the  New  York 
Reriev  and  the  Kidckerbocker  Magazine.  In  1837 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  "  Behemoth  "  he  pro- 
duced an  original  romance,  describing  the  efforts  of  a 
supposed  anti-Indian  race  to  overcome  the  ])re-his- 
toric  animal  known  as  the  mastodon.  From  Decem- 
ber 1840,  to  May  1842,  he  edited  the  Arcturus,  [ 
a  monthly  magazine,  besides  writing  a  comedy  and  j 
another  novel.  In  1843  he  ])ublished  a  volume  of 
poems,  and  in  1846  his  tragedy  "  Witchcraft,"  was 
successfully  produced.  This  was  followed  by  a  num- 
ber of  tales  and  sketches.    A  collected  editi^m  of  his  \ 


writings  was  published  by  the  Harper's  in  1843.  Mr. 
Mathews  was  also  a  constant  writer  in  the  journalism 
of  the  day  and  has  been  prominently  identified  with 
the  discussion  of  the  international  copyright 
question. 

William  Leggett,  the  well-known  writer,  married 
in  New  Rochelle  and  spent  the  closing  years  of  his 
life  there.  Mr.  Leggett  was  born  in  New  York  City 
in  the  summer  of  1802  and  was  partially  educated  at 
Georgetown  College.  In  consequence  of  his  father's 
failure  in  business,  he  was  withdrawn  before  the  com- 
pletion of  his  course,  and  in  1819  accompanied  his 
father  to  Illinois,  where  the  family  settled.  In  1822 
he  entered  the  navy  as  midshipman  but  resigned  his 
commission  in  1826.  Shortly  afterwards  he  published 
"  Leisure  Hours  at  Sea,"  a  volume  of  verses  written 
at  intervals  during  his  naval  career.  He  also  wrote  a 
prose  tale  "The  Rifle,"  in  which  he  portrayed  the 
scenes  and  incidents  of  western  pioneer  life.  Other 
stories  followed  and  were  afterwards  collected  and 
published  under  the  titles  of  "  Tales  by  a  Country 
School-master,"  and  ''  Tales  of  the  Sea."  In  1828  he 
married  Miss  Almira  Waring  of  New  Rochelle,  and 
in  November  of  the  same  year  commenced  the 
publication  of  The  Critic,  a  weekly  litei'ary  periodical. 
It  was  discontinued  at  the  end  of  six  months  and 
united  with  the  Mirror,  to  which  Mr.  Leggett  became 
a  contributor.  In  the  summer  of  1829,  he  became, 
with  Wm.  C.  Bryant,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  New 
York  Evening  Post,  a  position  which  he  retained 
until  December,  1836.  He  became  a  zealous  Demo- 
crat and  an  earnest  advocate  of  free-trade,  as  well  as 
a  strong  opponent  to  the  United  States  Bank.  After 
his  retirement  from  the  Evening  Post,  he  established 
The  Plain  Dealer,  which  he  conducted  with  ability. 
It  was  involved,  however,  in  the  failure  of  its  pub- 
lisher, and  ceased  to  exist  at  the  end  of  ten  months. 
Mr.  Leggett  did  not  engage  in  any  literary  or  news- 
paper work  after  this,  his  health  having  become 
impaired.  He  passed  the  brief  remainder  of  his  life 
at  his  country  place  at  New  Rochelle,  which  had 
been  his  residence  since  his  marriage.  In  May  1839 
he  was  appointed  by  President  Van  Buren,  diplo- 
matic agent  to  the  Republic  of  Guatemala,  but  he 
died  while  preparing  to  start  for  his  post,  on  the  29th 
of  May,  1839.  He  was  a  writer  of  great  fluency  and 
persuasive  force,  and  a  man  who  possessed  in  an  emi- 
nent degree,  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 

Elise  Justine  Bayard,  daughter  of  Mr.  Robert  Bay- 
ard, of  Glen  wood,  near  Fishkill,  was  the  author  of  a 
number  of  poems,  some  of  which  have  appeared  in 
the  Knickerbocker  Magazine  and  Literary  World.  She 
married  Mr.  Fulton  Cutting,  and  died  about  1850. 

Hon.  William  Cauldwell,  so  well-known  as  the 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Sunday  Mer- 
cury and  as  a  legislative  representative  of  Westches- 
ter County,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  Octo- 
ber 12,  1824.  His  father,  Andrew  Cauldwell,  who 
married  Margaret,  daughter  of  William  Giften,  was  a 


LITERATI  RH  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


G25 


native  of  Kilinaiuock,  Scotland,  and  came  to  this 
country  about  181 G.  Tlie  primary  education  of  his 
son  was  obtained  at  the  then  well-known  high  school 
ill  Crosby  Street,  Xew  York,  but  at  the  early  age  of 
eleven  he  went  at  the  reijuest  of  his  uncle,  Adam 
Giffen,  to  Louisiana,  and  lived  for  a  while  at  St.  Mar- 
tinsville in  that  State.  He  afterwards  attended  school 
at  Opelousas,  but  his  school-life  there  was  somewhat 
suddenly  terminated.  His  teacher,  a  Mr.  Tinnerman. 
who  Wivs  an  old  soldier  of  Napoleon,  had  heard  that 
the  noted  Colonel  David  Crockett  was  to  pass  through 
that  place  on  his  way  to  Texas,  where  he  was  destined 
to  end  his  eventful  career  at  the  fated  Alamo.  Re- 
solved to  be  one  of  the  brave  colonel's  followers,  he 
announced  his  intention  to  his  pupils,  and  instructed 
them  to  inform  their  parents  and  guardians  that  the 
institution  would  close.  After  this,  young  Cauldwell 
attended  Jefferson  College,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  south  of  Placiuemine,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years.  He  then  returned  to  his  native 
city,  and  entered  a  dry-goods  store,  but  at  the  end  of 
two  years,  following  the  bent  of  his  inclination,  he 
drifted  into  a  printing  office,  where  he  learned  the 
trade.  This  office  was  conducted  by  Samuel  Adams, 
whose  murder  by  John  C.  Colt  caused  a  great  sensa- 
tion throughout  the  country.  After  the  tragic  death 
of  Mr.  Adams,  young  Cauldwell  secured  a  position  as 
compositor  on  the  Sunday  Atlm,  and  remained  on 
that  paper  till  about  1850.  At  that  time  one-third  of 
the  Sunday  Mercury  was  owned  by  Elbridge  G.  Page, 
who  was  a  regular  contributor  to  its  columns  under 
the  name  of  "  Dow,  Jr.,"  and  his  "  Short  Patent  Ser- 
mons," were  a  well-known  feature  of  the  paper,  and 
a  source  of  amusement  to  thousands  of  readers.  This 
share  Mr.  Cauldwell  purchased,  and  Page  went  to 
California,  where  he  died  some  years  after.  At  the 
time  when  Mr.  Cauldwell  became  connected  with  the 
Mrrcurij,  it  was  a  small  sheet,  with  a  comparatively 
limited  circulation.  He  immediately  went  to  work 
with  etiergy  and  vigor  to  make  it  the  foremost  i)apev 
of  its  kind.  It  was  the  pioneer  of  Sunday  journalism, 
and  from  tliat  time  to  the  present  its  circulation  has 
constantly  increased,  and  its  sales  now  number  7"),0fl0 
copies  weekly.  The  best  humorous  writers  of  the 
country  have  contributed  to  its  columns,  and  here 
appeared  the  brilliant  sketches,  written  by  men  of 
whose  life  and  history  the  world  knows  nothing,  but 
whose  norm  de  pbnne,  are  household  words,  and  known 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Among  these 
w.'ie  'Mh-pheus  C.  Kerr,"  (Robert  H.  Newell)  whose 
witty  papers  were  the  delight  of  Abraham  Lincoln  ; 
"  Doesticks,"  ( Mortimer  G.  Thompson) ;  Charles  F. 
Brown,  known  the  world  over  as  "  Artemus  Ward  ;  " 
Joseph  Barber,  author  of  a  long  series  of  racy 
papers  under  the  name  of  the  "  Disbanded  Volun- 
teer,'" and  a  host  of  others  whose  i)roductions  were 
the  delight  of  the  reader,  and  made  the  Sunday  Mer- 
cury a  welcome  visitor  to  many  thousands  of  house- 
holds.   I'n'ler  liis  skillful  nnd  energetic  manngenient. 


the  paper  has  increased  its  size  to  a  Journal  of  fifty- 
si.x  columns,  and  two  of  Hoe's  perfecting  presses  are 
re(iuired  to  work  off  its  regular  edition. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1848  an  association 
of  householders,  of  whom  Mr.  Cauldwell's  father  was 
one,  purchased  a  tract  of  land  north  of  the  Harlem 
River,  and  laid  out  the  village  of  Morrisania,  His 
father,  as  well  as  his  brother-in-law  and  himself, 
joined  in  the  purchase  of  one  share,  or  an  acre  of 
land,  and  Mr.  Cauldwell's  father  was  the  first  to 
erect  a  house,  which  he  built  on  "  Lot  64  "  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Morrisania,  located  on  Washington  Avenue, 
between  what  is  now  One  Hundred  and  Sixty-ninth 
and  One  Hundred  and  Seventieth  Streets.  In  the 
autumn  of  1848  William  Cauldwell  and  family  occu- 
pied a  portion  of  his  father's  residence,  and  during 
this  time  he  purchased  from  Robert  H.  Elton  a  plot 
of  ground  at  the  corner  of  One  Hundred  and  Sixty- 
sixth  Street  (then  George  Street)  and  Boston  Avenue 
(then  known  as  the  old  Boston  Post  Road),  and  next 
north  of  the  famous  land-mark  known  as  Pudding 
Rock,  and  here  built  in  1852  the  mansion  which  has 
since  been  his  home.  In  1855  the  inhabitants  of 
Morrisania  village,  unwilling  to  remain  longer  a  part 
of  the  town  of  West  Farms,  resolved  to  form  a 
separate  township,  which  was  done  in  the  same  year. 
Of  the  new  town,  Gouverneur  Morris  was,  in  1856,  the 
first  supervisor,  and  was  succeeded  the  next  year  by 
Mr.  Cauldwell,  who  held  the  office  for  fifteen  terras, 
and  up  to  the  time  (1874)  when  the  town  was  annexed 
to  the  city  of  New  Y'ork. 

For  twelve  years  Mr.  Cauldwell  was  also  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  town  of  Morrisania, 
and  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
of  Westchester  County  in  1866,  and  held  the  same 
position  in  1868  and  1869.  In  1867  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  were  equally  divided  between  the  Demo- 
cratic and  Republican  parties.  Mr.  Cauldwell  re- 
ceived the  Democratic  nomination  for  chairman, 
having  for  his  competitor  ex-Senator  Hezekiali  D. 
Robertson.  After  one  hundred  and  eleven  ballots 
had  been  taken,  the  opposing  candidates  withdrew, 
and  united  upon  Abraham  Hatfield,  an  old  and  re- 
spected citizen  of  Westchester,  as  presiding  officer  for 
that  year.  The  handsome  gold  mounted  gavels 
which  were  presented  to  Mr.  Cauldwell  as  testi- 
monials of  his  service  as  chairman  of  the  board, 
are  highly  prized  by  him.  His  first  appear- 
ance in  active  politics  was  in  1856,  at  which  time  he 
was  an  ardent  worker  to  secure  the  election  of  .Tames 
Buchanan,  for  President,  and  .John  B.  Haskin  for 
Congress,  and  in  1858  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
re-election  of  Mr.  Haskin.  In  1863  he  was  instru- 
mental in  procuring  the  passage  of  an  act  authorizing 
the  construction  of  a  hoi-se  railway  for  Morrisania 
and  West  Farms,  an  enter|)rise  which  was  rapidly 
pushed  to  completion,  and  since  its  organization  has 
been  treasurer  of  the  company.  In  1867  the  ques- 
tion of  rapid  transit  began  to  attract  public  atten- 


626 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tion,  and  having  been  in  that  j'car  elected  to  the 
State  Senate  (his  opponent  being  Hon.  James  W. 
Husted),  his  influence  secured  the  passage  of  the  first 
act  ever  passed  by  the  Legislature  for  that  purpose. 
In  1869  he  was  re-elected,  and  in  1871  he  again 
received  the  unanimous  nomination  of  his  party,  but 
was  defeated  by  the  Hon.  W.  H.  Robertson.  To  show 
Mr.  Cauldwell's  adaptability  for  public  affairs,  he  was 
at  one  and  the  same  time  holding  the  offices  of  State 
Senator,  president  of  the  Board  of  Town  Trustees, 
chairman  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  county, 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  president  of  the 
Saving's  Bank  and  chairman  of  the  Democratic  General 
Committee  of  Morrisania,  and  in  all  of  these  his  duties, 
varied  as  they  were,  have  been  faithfully  jjerformed. 
True  to  the  Union  during  the  war,  his  duties  as  super- 
visor were  so  faithfully  performed,  that  he  was  the 
recipient  of  most  honorable  testimonials  from  the 
Citizens'  Mutual  Protection  Association,  and  an  en- 
grossed copy  of  the  action  of  that  body,  neatly 
framed,  is  among  the  treasures  which  adorn  his 
library. 

In  1874  his  fellow  citizens  again  called  upon  him 
to  go  to  the  Legislature,  in  order  to  perfect  the  some- 
what rude  Act  of  Annexation,  which  had  been  passed 
in  1873.  He  was  elected  by  a  very  large  majority, 
and  devoted  himself  to  the  matter  with  such  energy 
that  a  new  act  was  passed  so  perfect  in  its  details, 
that  no  need  to  amend  it  has  yet  occurred.  It  is  a 
somewhat  curious  circumstance,  that  when  elected 
to  the  Assembly,  he  met  in  the  Legislature  both  of  his 
former  competitors  for  senatorial  honors,  Hon.  W.  H. 
Robertson  and  Hon.  James  W.  Husted,  the  former  as 
President  of  the  Senate,  the  latter  as  Speaker  of  the 
Assembly.  With  every  work  of  a  public  nature  in 
the  town  of  Morrisania,  Mr.  Cauldwell  has  been 
prominently  identified.  During  the  fifteen  terms  in 
which  he  held  the  office  of  supervisor,  nearly  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  of  dollars  passed  through  his  hands  ; 
and  his  duties  were  performed  with  such  exactness  as 
to  merit  and  receive  the  complimentary  endorsement 
of  those  who  were  appointed  as  a  board  of  audit  to 
examine  his  accounts,  and  the  fact  remains  on  record 
that  for  this  long  service,  Mr.  Cauldwell  received  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  for  incidentals 
(his  own  services  being  voluntary),  which  speaks  vol- 
umes for  his  unselfishness.  It  is  also  worthy  of  men- 
tion that  the  entire  quota  of  eight  hundred  men  re- 
quired from  his  town  by  the  various  drafts  during  the 
war,  was  filled  by  volunteers'and  substitutes  procured 
through  his  efforts. 

Among  the  men  who  are  much  indebted  to  him  for 
their  success  in  public  life,  may  be  mentioned  Waldo 
Hutchins  and  Clarkson  N.  Potter,  both  of  whom  be- 
came prominent  members  of  Congress. 

In  1876  Cauldwell  became  the  sole  proprietor 
of  the  Sunday  Mercury,  afad  in  1883  he  purchased  the 
building  No.  3  Park  Row,  New  York,  which  is  fitted 
with  every  appliance  for  a  first-class  printing  and 


publishing  office.  He  was  married  October  27,  1845, 
to  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  George  Dyer.  Their 
children  are  Leslie  G.,  Nettie  G.  and  Emily  L.,  wife 
of  Thomas  Rogers. 

His  career  has  been  alike  creditable  to  himself, 
and  to  the  county  which  he  has  so  ably  represented, 
and  in  his  profession  as  a  publisher,  few  can  show 
a  more  successful  record,  and  none  a  more  honorable 
one. 

Horace  Greeley,  the  noted  journalist,  spent  much 
of  his  leisure  at  his  country  home  in  Westchester 
County,  and  breathed  his  last  at  Chappaqua.  Mr. 
Greeley  was  born  at  Amherst,  N.  H.,  February  3, 
1811.  He  received  a  common-schoool  education, 
which  was  supplemented  by  his  own  unwearied  efforts 
in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen, his  parents  having  removed  to  Vermont,  he  ob- 
tained employment  as  apprentice-boy  in  the  office  of 
Northern  Spectator, 'Pwltwey^y^i.  In  1830  he  re- 
turned home,  owing  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  pa- 
per, but  soon  afterwards  secured  another  position  as 
apprentice  at  Erie,  Pa.,  for  fifty  dollars  a  year. 

In  August,  1881,  having  saved  enough  money  to  pay 
his  traveling  expenses,  besides  giving  twenty-five  or 
thirty  dollars  to  his  father,  he  arrived  in  New  York 
City  "  with  a  suit  of  l)lue  cotton  jean,  two  brown 
shirts  and  five  dollars  in  cash."  He  obtained  work 
as  a  journeyman  printer,  and,  in  1834,  commenced 
with  Jonas  Winchester  (afterwards  publisher  of  the 
New  World)  a  weekly  paper,  of  sixteen  pages  quarto, 
called  the  New  Yorker.  Although  conducted  with 
mu(^h  ability  it  was  not  successful,  and  was  finally 
abandoned.  While  editing  this  journal  Mr.  Greeley 
also  conducted,  in  1838,  The  Jeffersonian,  published 
by  the  Whig  Central  Committee  of  the  State,  and  the 
Log  Ca6/n,  a  campaign  paper,  published  in  the  Presi- 
dential contest  of  1840. 

On  Saturday,  April  20,  1841,  Mr.  Greeley  began 
the  publication  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  which  soon 
obtained  recognition  for  the  spirited  and  independent 
tone  of  its  utterances.  In  1848  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives, 
and  in  1851  visited  Europe  and  was  chosen  chairman 
of  one  of  the  juries  of  the  World's  Fair,  at  London. 
While  in  Paris  the  Emperor  had  him  impi'isoned 
for  his  caustic  criticism  of  the  imperial  govern- 
ment, but  he  was  soon  released  through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  American  Minister.  His  letters 
from  Europe,  written  to  the  Tribune,  were  pub- 
lished in  a  volume  entitled  "Glances  at  Europe." 
In  1856  he  published  his  "History  of  the  Struggle  for 
Slavery  Extension,"  and,  three  years  later, "  An  Over- 
land Journey  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco,"  a 
series  of  letters  reprinted  from  the  Tribune.  Of  Mr. 
Greeley's  editorial  work  on  the  Tribune  it  may  be  said 
that  it  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  literary  agen- 
cies in  forming  the  Republican  Party  and  in  paving 
the  way  for  the  downfall  of  slavery.  The  Tribune  was 
interdicted  in  many  Southern  homes,  on  account  of 


LTTKHATrRE  AM 


)  LITKKAltY  MKX. 


its  nidical  ami  uiiooniproinisiiig  utterances,  and  Hor- 
ace Greeley  drew  upon  himself  tlie  wrath  of  the  en- 
tire slave-holding  section.  His  style  was  rugged, 
trenchant  and  forcible;  always  breathing  the  spirit 
candor  and  sincerity.  In  18(i4  and  1867  were  j)ub- 
lished  the  two  subscrii)tion  volumes  of  Mr.  (Jreeley's 
''American  CJontiict,  or  History  of  the  War  for  the 
Union."  The  sale  soon  reached  one  hundred  thou- 
sand copies,  but  was  cheeked  for  some  years  after  it 
had  become  known  that  Mr.  Greeley  had  generously 
consented  to  athx  his  name  to  the  bail-bond  of  Jef- 
ferson Davis. 

In  18G7-6S  Mr.  Greeley  contributed  to  theJVV"-  York 
Lcdin'i-  aseries  of  autobiographic  reminiscences,  which 
were  afterwards  republished  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Re- 
collections of  a  busy  life."  In  1870  he  reprinted  from 
the  Tribune  a  series  of  "  Essays  on  Political  Econ- 
omy," defending  the  "  protection  theory,"  which  were 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Henry  Clay.  In  1872  he 
published  "  What  I  Know  about  Farming.''  He  also 
originated  and  edited  the  Tribune  Almanac,  which  for 
many  years  has  been  a  standard  hook  of  reference. 

In  1872  Mr.  Greeley  was  nominated  for  President 
of  the  United  States  by  the  Liberal  Republican  and 
Democratic  Conventions,  but,  as  is  well  known,  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated  by  General  Grant.  His  po- 
litical reverses  and  the  death  of  his  wife  proved  too 
great  a  strain  for  his  frame,  enfeebled  by  overwork, 
anxiety  and  weary  vigils  at  his  sick  wife's  bedside. 
He  died  November  29,  1872,  at  the  residence  of  Ur. 
Choate,  several  miles  from  his  home  at  Chappaqua. 
Mr.  Greeley's  strict  integrity,  guilelessness  of  charac- 
ter, simplicity  and  candor,  as  well  as  his  lofty  aspira- 
tions and  great  services  to  his  country,  caused  him  to 
be  universally  mourned,  and  nowhere  more  so  than  in 
Westchester  County,  where  he  was  so  well  known. 

James  Watson  Webb,  the  noted  journalist,  resided 
at  Mount  Plea.sant  from  about  1848  to  18()1,  when  he 
was  apfiointed  minister  to  Brazil.  Born  atClaverack, 
N.  Y.,  February  8,  1802,  he  entered  the  United  States 
Army  as  second  lieutenant  of  artillerj'  August,  1819, 
but  resigned  in  1827  to  take  charge  of  the  Mornim/ 
Courier,  which  had  been  established  in  New  York 
City  in  May  of  that  year.  In  1829  he  purchased  the 
Enquirer  and  combined  the  two  with  the  name  of  the 
Morninf/  Courier  and  New  York  Enquirer.  He  became 
the  sole  editor,  and,  in  the  following  year,  sole  pro- 
prietor, which  position  he  retained  for  thirty-four 
years.  At  an  early  period  his  paper  became  identified 
with  the  principles  of  the  Whig  party,  of  which  it 
was  an  able  exponent.  In  18')  1  he  was  appointed 
enginer  in  chief  of  the  State  of  New  York,  with  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general.  In  1849  he  was  appointed 
minister  to  Austria,  and  in  1861  nunister  to  Constan- 
tinople, but  this  appointment  was  exchanged  for  the 
mission  to  Brazil.  In  1865,  being  in  Paris,  he  nego- 
tiated a  secret  treaty  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  for 
the  withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico. 
In  1869  he  resigned  the  mission  to  Brazil  and  re- 


turned to  New  York  City,  where  he  allerwards  re- 
sided. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  great  pulpit  orator  and 
author,  has  made  his  summer  home  at  Peekskill  for 
many  years.  Mr.  Beecher  comes  of  a  remarkable 
family.  His  father,  Lyman  Beecher,  was  one  of  the 
famous  divines  of  his  day,  and  of  his  four  sons  each 
rose  to  eminence  in  the  ministry,  while  his  two 
daughters  were  equally  prominent  in  literature,  ime 
of  them,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  achieving  a 
world-wide  reputation  as  the  author  of  "  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin."  Henry  Ward  Beecher  was  born  in  Litch- 
field, Conn.,  June  24,  1813,  graduated  at  Amherst 
College  in  1834,  and  studied  divinity  at  the  Lane 
Theological  Seminary  at  Cincinnati.  He  first  had 
charge,  as  an  ordained  minister,  of  a  Presbyterian 
congregation  at  Lawrenceburgh,  Ind.,  whence  he  re- 
moved in  1839  to  Indianapolis.  In  1847  he  left  the 
latter  city  to  accept  the  pastorate  of  Plymouth  Con- 
gregational Church  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  which  he  has 
rendered  famous  throughout  the  land  as  the  church 
in  which  he  preaches.  Mr.  Beecher  has  been  equally 
successful  on  the  lecture  platform,  and  has  long  occu- 
pied an  undisputed  position  as  one  of  the  leading 
orators  of  the  country.  He  has  been  a  voluminous 
contributor  to  the  press,  and  assisted  in  founding  two 
religious  newspapers — The  Independent,  and  The  Chris- 
tian Union,  both  of  which  achieved  a  large  circula- 
tion and  commanding  influence.  He  has  published 
a  number  of  essays,  lectures,  etc.,  in  book  form,  which 
have  been  read  by  many  thousands  of  people,  and  his 
published  sermons  have  long  commanded  a  host  of 
readers.  In  April,  1865,  Mr.  Beecher,  at  the  request 
of  the  federal  government,  delivered  an  oration  at 
Fort  Sumter  on  the  anniversary  of  its  fall,  and  on  the 
occasion  of  the  formal  restoration  of  the  national  flag 
by  Ma,jor  Anderson.  Besides  his  other  literary  labors, 
Mr.  Beecher  edited  "  The  Plymouth  Collection  of 
Hymns  and  Tunes,"  a  work  largely  used  by  churches 
that  practice  congregational  singing.  In  1867  he 
wrote  for  the  New  York  Ledger,  for  which  he  had  pre- 
viously contributed  a  series  of  papers  teaching  the 
art  of  profit  and  enjoyment  in  familiar  objects — a  novel 
entitled,  "  Norwood ;  or.  Village  Life  in  New  Eng- 
land," which  was  afterwards  published  in  book  form. 
In  1872  he  published  "The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ: 
Part  I. — Earlier  Scenes,"  of  which  the  introductory 
"  Overture  to  the  Angels,"  had  appeared  in  1869.  In 
the  same  year  he  accepted  the  "  Lyman  Beecher  Lec- 
tureship on  Preaching,"  then  recently  founded  in  the 
theological  department  of  Yale  College.  Mrs.  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  has  also  contributed  to  the  press,  and 
in  1859  published  anonymously  a  work  of  fiction, 
"  From  Dawn  to  Daylight :  A  Simple  Story  of  a  West- 
ern Home,  by  a  Minister's  Wife."  Her  "Motherly 
Talks  with  Young  Housekeepers  "  appeared  in  1873. 

Alexander  H.  Wells  was  born  January  18,  1805, 
at  Cambridge,  Washington  County,  N.  Y..  to  which 
his  father,  Daniel,  son  of  Edmonds  Wells,  had  emi- 


628 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


grated  from  Hebron,  Tolland  County,  Conn.,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  Edmonds 
Wells  was  one  of  six  patentees  of  the  tract  twelve 
miles  square  now  embraced  in  the  townships  of  Cam- 
bridge, White  Creek  and  Jackson,  Washington  Coun- 
ty. On  his  mother's  side  Alexander  H.  was  descended 
frem  Rev.  Elijah  Lothrop,  a  stern  Whig,  who  was 
the  Congregationalist  minister  at  Gilead,  Tolland 
County,  Conn.,  during  the  Revolution.  Gilead  was 
also  the  residence  of  Rev.  Dr.  Peters,  the  historian, 
who  was  roughly  treated  by  his  patriotic  neighbors 
and  finally  driven  out  of  the  town,  whence  he  escaped 
to  England.  Hannah,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Lothrop, 
married  Daniel  Wells.  When  a  girl,  she  saw  the 
people  riding  Peters  on  a  rail,  and  when  he  returned 
to  this  country  the  reminiscence  was  renewed  in  con- 
versation between  them.  Alexander  H.  was  the 
youngest  son  and  sixteenth  child  of  his  parents.  He 
graduated  at  Cambridge  Academy  and  devoted  his  life 
to  politics  and  journalism.  In  1840  Governor  Sew- 
ard appointed  him  surrogate  of  Westchester  County, 
and  in  1848  he  was  appointed  warden  of  Sing  Sing 
prison  by  David  D.  Spencer,  Isaac  N.  Comstock  and 
John  B.  Gedney,  the  first  inspectors  under  the  con- 
stitution of  1847.  In  the  fall  of  1848  he  was  himself 
elected  to  Gedney's  place  in  the  board.  He  was  edi- 
torof  the  Weekly  T'/z/jcs,  Haverstraw,  Rockland  County, 
four  years ;  of  the  Hudson  Hirer  Chronicle,  Sing  Sing, 
three  years;  and  of  the  Daihj  Times,  Troy,  three  years. 
As  a  journalist  he  possessed  much  force  and  facility, 
but  his  headstrong  disposition  carried  him  into  fre- 
quent situations  from  which  he  was  forced  to  retreat. 
As  usual  with  men  of  his  combative  temperament — 
for  he  was  happiest  in  a  controversy — he  had  warm 
friends  and  bitter  enemies. 

In  1829  he  married  Mary  Collins,  of  Bloomfield,  X. 
J.,  and  they  had  two  children,  one  of  whom,  Mary 
Elizabeth,  was  born  January  3,  1S38,  and  died  Au- 
gust 7,  1848.  Margaret,  the  oldest  daughter,  married 
Horace  Stone,  a  St.  Louis  merchant,  and  died  in  1881, 
leaving  one  son,  Hamilton  Stone. 

Mr.  Wells  died  at  Sing  Sing  December  21,  1857, 
and  is  buried  in  Dale  Cemetery,  beside  his  youngest 
daughter  and  his  wife.  The  latter  survived  him  fifteen 
years,  dying  October  21,  1872. 

Mr.  James  Wood  has  contributed  largely  to  the  lit- 
erary development  of  Westchester  County  by  his 
writings,  his  lectures  and  his  earnest  efforts  to  pro- 
mote intellecttial  activity  and  especially  historical  re- 
seiirch.   He  is  the  author  of  two  chapters  in  this  work 
— that  on  the  Indians  of  Westchester  County  and 
another  on  the  Early  Exi)lorations  and  Settlers  of  the 
County,  and  has  aided  the  compiler  in  many  ways— 
by  suggestions,  by  correcting  manuscripts  and  read-  j 
ing  proof  and  by  lending  his  valuable  support  in  var- 
ious directions  to  the  jiromotion  of  the  enterprise. 
He  is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  public-soirited  gentlemen  in  the  county  and  as  j 
ne  of  its  most  cultured  and  useful  citizens. 


James  Wood  was  born  November  12,  1839,  at  the 
place  where  he  now  resides,  and  where  his  father  and 
grandfather  lived  before  him,  one  mile  north  of  the 
present  village  of  Mount  Kisco,  in  the  town  of  Bedford. 
He  bears  his  grandfather's  name.  His  father's  name 
was  Stephen.  He  died  in  1876.  His  brothers  were 
j  Henry,  Charles  and  John  J.,  of  whom  the  first  alone 
is  now  living.  There  were  three  sisters.  James  is  the 
youngest  of  the  family. 

The  family  came  from  Long  Island  early  in  the  last 
century.    They  are  descended  from  Jonas  Wood,  who 
came  from  Halifax,  in  England,  in  1635,  and  was 
named  in  the  patent  of  Hempstead  in  1644.    He  was 
connected  with  the  family  of  Lord  Halifax, 
j     Mr.  Wood's  mother  was  Phoebe,  daughter  of  Caleb 
I  Underbill,  of  Yorktown,  a  descendant  of  John  Un- 
derbill, who  came  from  Ettington,  in  Warwickshire, 
England,  and  settled  at  Oyster  Bay,  Long  Island,  in 
1667.    The  Underbill  mansion  and  buildings  are  still 
standing  at  Ettington,  while  numerous  brasses  and 
t  monuments  to  members  of  the  family  remain  in  the 
!  old  parish  church.    The  estates  are  now  in  the  pos- 
j  session  of  Lord  Frere's  family — the  Shirleys — with 
whom  the  Underbills  intermarried.    Another  John 
;  Underbill  of  this  family  was  chaplain  to  Queen  Eliz- 
abeth, and  was  made  Bishop  of  Oxford  in  1589. 
Mr.  Wood  married,  June  7,  1866,  Emily  Hollings- 
j  worth  Morris,  daughter  of  Henry  Morris,  of  Phila- 
j  delphia.    They  have  thi-ee  children, — Ellen  M.,  Caro- 
I  lina  M.  and  Levi  HoUingsworth. 

Mr.  Wood  attended  the  Reynolds  Academy,  at 
Bedford,  in  1850  and  '51,  Westtown  School,  Pa.,  in 
1851  and  '52,  and  entered  the  sophomore  class  in 
Haverford  College,  Philadelphia,  in  1853.  From  this 
college  he  has  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  He  is 
now  a  member  of  the  cori)oration  of  the  college  and  of 
the  board  of  managers. 

Mr.  Wood  has  never  held  any  political  office  except 
that  of  supervisor  of  his.  native  town  in  1862  and  '63. 
He  has  never  allowed  his  name  to  be  used  in  connec- 
tion with  a  political  nomination. 

Mr.  W^ood  has  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  farm  and  in  importing  and  breeding  fine 
sheep.  He  has  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  the 
agricultural  press,  has  delivered  many  agricultural 
addresses,  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  discussions 
of  the  Bedford  Farmers'  Club  and  has  held  official  po- 
sitions in  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Society. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  incorporators  of  the 
Westchester  County  Historical  Society,  and  has  been 
its  president  since  1879.  He  has  read  a  number  of 
papers  before  the  society.  He  has  taken  especial  in- 
terest in  local  Indian  history  and  has  an  extensive 
collection  of  Indian  implements  and  remains. 

He  has  also  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  West- 
chester County  Bible  Society,  which  has  long  been  an 
important  auxiliary  to  the  American  Bible  Society. 
He  has  been  its  treasurer  since  1878. 
Mr.  AVood  is  a  member  of  the  religious  Society  of 


LITERATI  RE  AM)  LITERARY  MEN. 


(529 


Friends,  as  were  also  his  father  and  grandfather.  He 
has  been  the  clerk  (presiding  officer)  of  their  Yearly 
Meeting  for  the  States  of  New  York  and  Vermont  and 
is  now  clerk  of  the  Representative  Meeting.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Missionary  and  Educational  Boards  of 
that  denomination. 

Mr.  Wood  has  frequently  ai)peared  upon  the  lecture 
platform,  with  a  variety  of  subjects,  in  aid  of  various 
institutions  and  charities.  In  this  way  he  has  largely 
sustained  the  Mount  Kisco  Lyceum  and  Free  Library 
Association,  of  which  he  has  been  the  president  since 
its  organization,  in  1S80. 

Besides  the  management  of  his  farm  and  personal 
aflairs.  Mr.  Wood's  most  active  business  connections 
have  been  with  a  number  of  estates  as  their  trustee. 
He  is  the  president  of  the  Genesee  Salt  Company, 
whose  works  are  at  Pifford,  in  Livingston  County, 
New  York,  and  have  the  capacity  for  producing  five 
thousand  bushels  of  salt  per  day.  He  is  also  presi- 
dent of  the  Oakwood  Cemetery  Association. 

Mr.  Wood's  family  have  been  unfortunate  in  hav- 
ing their  homesteads  destroyed  by  fire.  A  uew  house, 
built  by  his  father,  was  burned  in  1819.  The  one 
built  upon  the  same  site,  and  in  which  Mr.  Wood  was 
born,  was  destroyed  in  1861*.  Upon  this  site  Mr. 
Wood,  in  1870,  built  the  large  stone  house  in  which 
he  now  resides.  The  farm  buildings  are  largely  of 
stone,  and,  with  the  green-houses,  grapery,  museum 
of  curiosities,  vineyards  and  orchards  of  many  kinds 
of  fruits,  combine  to  make  an  attractive  country 
home. 

Mr.  Joseph  Barrett,  author  of  the  town  histories  of 
Bedford,  North  Castle  and  New  Castle,  in  this  work, 
is  a  gentleman  of  cultured  literary  taste  and  a  clear 
and  interesting  writer.  He  was  born  in  Bedford, 
May  25,  1840,  was  prepared  for  college  at  the  old 
Bedford  Acadamy  and  graduated  at  Lafayette  Col- 
lege, Easton,  Pa.,  in  1861.  He  was  school  commis- 
sioner, i.e.  Superintendent  of  Schools,  for  the  third 
school  district  of  Westchester  County  from  1867  to 
1875  inclusive  and  occasionally  prepared  and  read 
papers  before  teachers'  societies,  and  once  before  the 
State  Association  of  Superintendents  and  Commis- 
sioners. On  the  4th  of  July,  187i),  he  read  an  histor- 
ical address  on  the  town  of  Bedford.  Mr.  Barrett  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Westchester 
County  Historical  Society  and  in  1878  read  a  paper 
before  the  Society  on  "  Enoch  Crosby,  the  Spy  of  the 
Neutral  Ground."  For  many  years  years  he  was  sec- 
retary of  the  Bedford  Farmers'  Club,  being  then  a 
farmer,  and  has  written  a  number  of  articles  on  agri- 
cultural topics.  From  July,  1881,  to  July,  1885,  he 
was  special  deputy  collector  in  the  New  York  Cus- 
tom House,  and  from  November,  1884,  to  July,  1885, 
cashier  of  that  institution. 

William  Allen  Butler,  the  noted  author  of  "  Noth- 
ing to  Wear,"  and  of  a  number  of  other  poetical  and 
prose  compositions,  is  a  resident  of  Yonkers.  He  is 
the  son  of  the  eminent  lawyer  and  politician,  Benja- 


min F.  Butler,  of  New  York,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  cabinets  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  William 
Allen  Butler  was  born  in  Albany,  in  1825.  After  a 
course  of  study  at  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  he  read  law  in  his  father's  office  and  then  went 
abroad,  where  he  remained  a  year  and  a  half.  Al- 
though since  1855  engrossed  with  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  New  York  City,  Mr.  Butler  has  devoted 
much  time  to  literature.  Among  his  writings  are 
some  spirited  translations  from  the  German  poet 
Uhland,  a  series  of  biographical  and  critical  sketches 
of  the  old  masters,  some  pleasant  descriptions  of  Gld 
World  localities,  and  a  number  of  poems,  including 
clever  satires  on  social  follies.  Of  these  the  most 
successful  was  "  Nothing  to  Wear,"  which  was  printed 
anonymously  in  1857.  Many  editions  were  published 
in  England  as  well  as  in  this  country  and  the  poem 
was  translated  into  both  French  and  German.  In 
1871  Mr.  Butler  jiublished  "  Lawyer  and  Client,''  a 
valuable  exi)osition  of  the  relations,  rights  and  duties 
which  ought  to  exist  between  the  two.  In  the  same 
year  appeared  a  volume  of  "  Poems,"  containing  the 
translations  from  Uhland,  "Nothing  to  Wear,"  poems 
of  travel  and  other  verses.  Other  published  works  of 
Mr.  Butler  are  "  The  Bible  By  Itself,"  an  address  be  - 
fore the  New  York  Bible  Society,  1860  ;  "  Martin  Van 
Buren,  Lawyer,  Statesman  and  Man,"  1862,  a  compre- 
hensive though  brief  biography  of  that  eminent 
statesman. 

Mr.  Butler  has  lived  in  Yonkers  nearly  a  score  of 
years,  and  his  family  by  their  culture  and  taste,  to- 
gether with  the  accessory  advantage  of  wealth  and 
liberality  in  the  use  of  it,  have  been  one  of  many 
who  have  made  themselves  felt  in  the  city  socially 
and  in  many  varieties  of  useful  work. 

Frederic  S.  Cozzens,  author  of  the  "Sparrowgrass 
Papers,"  etc.,  was  a  resident  of  Yonkers.  He  was  boi  n 
in  New  York  City,  March  5, 1818,  and  died  at  Brook- 
lyn, December  23,  1869.  Mr.  Cozzens'  occupation 
was  that  of  a  wine  merchant,  but  he  early  evinced  a 
taste  for  literature,  and  contributed  a  number  of  pojv 
ular  sketches  to  the  Knickerbocker  and  Putnam'x 
Magazines.  In  1853  he  published  a  volume  of  sketches 
in  prose  and  verse,  entitled  "  Prismatics,  by  Richard 
Hay  ward."  It  was  illustrated  by  Darley,  Hensett, 
Elliott  and  others.  His  "  Sparrowgrass  Papers,"  de- 
scribing a  cockney's  residence  in  the  country,  were 
first  written  for  Ptdnam'.n  Monthly,  but  in  1856 
were  published  in  book  form.  He  also  published,  in 
connection  with  his  business,  a  pleasant  miscellany, 
entitled  The  Wine  Press,  which  he  continued  to 
edit  for  seven  years,  relinquishing  the  publication  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  A  collection  of 
essays  on  gastronomic  and  kindred  topics  from  its 
pages  was  published,  in  1867,  with  the  title,  "Sayings 
of  Dr.  Bushwhacker  and  Other  Learned  Men." 
Another  book,  "  Acadia ;  or  A  Sojourn  Among  the 
Blue  Noses,"  had  been  published  nine  years  before, 
in  1858,  and  one  year  later,  in  1868,  his  last  work,  a 


630 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  Memorial  of  Fitz-Greeue  Halleck,"  was  published 
by  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 

The  twin  brothers,  Willis  Gaylord  Clark  and  Lewis 
Gaylord  Clark,  were  born  at  Otisco,  Onondaga  Coun- 
ty, N.  Y.,  in  1810.  Willis,  on  the  completion  of  his 
education,  went  to  Philadelphia  and  commenced  the 
publication  of  a  weekly  paper,  similar  to  the  JVew 
Yoi'k  Mirror,  which  wa.s  soon  discontinued.  He  then 
associated  himself  with  Rev.  Dr.  Brantley,  a  Baptist 
clergyman,  as  assistant  editor  of  the  Columbian  Star, 
a  religious  publication, from  which  position  he  retired  to 
take  charge  of  the  Philadelphia  Gazette,  the  oldest  daily 
newspaper  in  that  city.  He  became  its  proprietor 
and  remained  at  its  head  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Mr. 
Clark  died  in  1841.  He  was  the  author  of  a  number 
of  short  poems  and  of  a  series  ofshort  essays,  anecdotes, 
etc.,  entitled '' Ollopodiana,"  which  were  published 
in  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine,  then  edited  by 
his  brother  Lewis.  The  latter  conducted  the  Knick- 
erbocker for  many  years,  and  became  wideh'  known 
by  his  monthly  "Editor's  Table,"  a  selection  from 
which  was  published  with  the  title,  "Knick-knacks 
from  an  Editor's  Table,''  in  1852.  He  died  at  Pier- 
mont-on-the-Hudson,  Novembers,  1873. 

The  noted  naval  commander,  Matthew  Galbraith 
Perry,  whose  claim  to  literary  distinction  rests  upon 
the  notes  which  he  furnished  for  an  interesting  ac- 
count prepared  by  F.  L.  Hawks  and  George  Jones,  c)f 
his  naval  expedition  to  Japan,  resided  at  one  time  in 
Mount  Pleasant,  on  the  Sing  Sing  road.  Commodore 
Perry  was  born  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  1794,  and  was  a 
brother  of  the  famous  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  who 
fought  the  battle  of  Lake  Erie.  As  commander  of  the 
"  Cyane,"  he  fixed  the  first  settlement  of  Liberia,  and 
in  a  cruise  in  the  schooner  "Shark,"  in  1821-24,  he 
captured  several  pirates.  He  took  an  active  part  in 
the  Mexican  War,  and  in  1852-54  commanded  the 
expedition  to  Japan,  with  which  country  he  negotiated 
an  important  treaty,  ^larch  21,  1854. 

Another  great  naval  hero,  Admiral  D.  G.  Farragut, 
was  a  resident  of  Westchester  County  (Hastings,  in 
the  town  of  Greenburgh)  in  18<51-62. 

John  Orde  Creighton,  another  commodore  of  the 
United  States  navy,  who  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  died  at  Sing  Sing,  October  13,  1838.  Commo- 
dore Josejih  B.  Hull,  of  the  Ignited  States  navy,  was 
also  born  in  Westchester. 

John  Lorimer  Worden,  who  commanded  the  iron- 
clad "  Monitor  "  in  the  famous  engagement  with  the 
ironclad  "Merrimac,"  in  Hampton  Roads,  March  9, 
1862,  was  born  at  Mount  Pleasant  on  March  12,  1817. 
He  was  appointed  a  midshipman  in  the  I'nited  States 
n&xy  on  January  12,  1835;  lieutenant,  November  30, 
1846;  commander,  May  27,  1862  ;  captain,  February 
3,  1863  ;  and  commodore.  May  27,  1868.  In  April, 
1861,  he  was  sent  with  dispatches  to  Fort  Pickens, 
and  captured  by  the  Confederates,  and  kept  in  prison 
seven  months.  In  the  engagement  with  the  "  Merri- 
mac," Captain  Worden's  eyes  were  severely  injured 


by  the  explosion  of  a  shell  from  the  "  Merrimac '" 
upon  the  eyehole  of  the  pilot-house.  In  the  command 
of  the  ironclad  "  Montauk,"  of  the  South  Atlantic 
Blockading  Squadron,  he  engaged  Fort  McAllister, 
January  27, 1 863,  and  on  February  28th  attacked  and 
destroyed  the  privateer  steamer  "  Nashville,"  under 
the  guns  of  that  fort.  He  was  in  the  attack  of 
Charleston,  under  Du})ont,  April  7,  1863,  and  on  De- 
cember 1,  1869,  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
United  States  Naval  Academy,  at  Annapolis. 

Rev.  David  Cole,  D.D.,  has  been  a  Yonkers  pastor 
since  1865,  and  is  the  oldest  of  eight  children  of  Rev. 
Isaac  D.  Cole  and  Anna  Maria  Shatzel.  On  his 
father's  side  he  is  of  unbroken  Holland  descent.  The 
original  spelling  of  the  family  name  was  "Kool." 
His  mother's  parents  were  John  M.  Shatzel,  Jr.,  and 
Barbara  Wood.  The  former  was  a  son  of  John  M. 
Shatzel  and  Anna  Maria  Tremberin,  both  born  at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  and  the  latter,  a  daughter  of 
Ebenezer  Wood,  of  Welsh,  and  Margaret  Hubbard, 
or  Hoeber,  of  Holland  descent. 

On  preserved  New  Amsterdam  (New  York)  records, 
the  name  "  Kool  "  first  appears  with  official  papers  ol' 
1630  and  1633.  Lenart  Kool,  as  Director  Minuit's 
deputy  secretary,  signed  the  famous  patent  to  Kiliaen 
Van  Rensselaer  for  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Hudson 
River,  August  13,  1630,  and  Barent  Jacobsen  Kool, 
as  an  officer  of  the  West  India  Company,  with  six 
others,  signed  a  "  Condition  and  Agreement "  between 
Jacob  Van  Curler  and  certain  Indian  chiefs  on  the 
8th  of  June,  1633.  Whether  these  were  related  is 
not  known.  The  latter  was  the  earliest  American 
ancestor  of  Rev.  Dr.  Cole.  The  form  of  his  name  in- 
dicates that  he  was  a  son  of  Jacob  Kool.  The  father 
is  not  known  to  have  come  to  America.  The  son,  in 
an  affidavit  madein  January,  1645,  and  still  preserved, 
represents  himself  as  then  thirty-five  years  old,  which 
shows  that  he  was  born  (of  course  in  Holland)  about 
1610. 

The  prominent  position  he  occupied  in  1633,  at 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  proves  that  he  must  then 
have  been  in  New  Amsterdam  and  with  the  West 
India  Company  a  considerable  time.  Without  doubt 
he  came  to  the  colony  with  Minuitand  hissuite  about 
I  1625  or  162().  He  retained  his  connection  with  the 
company  till  the  surrender  of  1664,  occupying  even  to 
that  date  one  of  its  houses  for  its  officers  on  Bridge 
Street.  After  this  he  followed  some  of  his  children  to 
Ulster  County,  where  his  name  appears  on  a  list  of 
male  inhabitants  as  late  as  1689.  The  date  of  his 
death  is  not  known. 

The  line  from  him  to  Rev.  Dr.  Cole  is  in  hand 
without  a  break.  It  is  widely  represented  by  de- 
scendants in  different  States  of  the  Union,  but  it  is 
especially  to  be  noted  that  from  its  earliest  appear- 
ance in  America  it  has  never  failed  to  be  represented 
by  resident  families  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

].  Barent  Jacobsen  Kool  and  Marretje  Leenderts 
had  nine  children,  viz.:   Jacob  Barentsen,  Aeltje, 


LTTERATUHH  AND 


Dievertje,  Apollouia,  Leendert,  Arent,  (Ist)  Theunis 
A  rent,  (2d),  and  Pieter. 

2.  Jacob  Barentsen  Kool  (born  before  1089)  and 
Marretje Simons  had  eight  children,  viz.:  Barent(lst), 
Barent  (2d),  Simon,  Arent,  JIarretje,  Barent  (3d), 
Chiartje  and  Jacob. 

■i.  Jacob  Kool  (baj)ti/cd  at  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  Janu- 
ary 1,  1073)  and  Barbara  llanse  settled  at  Tappan,. 
X.  Y.,  about  1695,  and  united  with  the  New  Reformed 
Church,  organized  the  year  before.  They  had  six 
children  born  in  Tappan  between  1G9')  and  1707,  viz.: 
Geertje,  Jacob,  Jr.,  Tryntje,  Jan,  Barent  and  Abra- 
ham. This  family  first  introduced  the  Kool  line  into 
the  lower  part  of  Orange  (now  Eockland)  County, 
where  its  representatives  have  been  numerous  and 
prominent  ever  since. 

4.  Abraham  Kool  (baptized  at  Tappan  November  2, 
1707)  and  Annetje  Meyer  had  eight  children,  viz. ; 
Jacob,  Ide  (1st),  Ide  (2d),  Isaac,  Johannes,  Rachel, 
Abraham  and  Andreas. 

5.  Isaac  Kool  (born  Januarj-  21st  and  baptized  at 
Tappan  February  15,  1741)  and  Catharine  Scrven 
(l)orn  at  Tappan  August  28,  1747)  were  married  at 
Tappan  by  Rev.  Samuel  Verbryk,  pastor  of  the  Tap- 
pan  Reformed  Church,  October  15,  1764.  They  set- 
tled at  New  City,  in  their  native  county,  and  had  fif- 
teen children  born  there,  viz.:  Abraham,  Breghje, 
Rachel,  John,  Jacob,  Anna,  Elizabeth,  David,  Isaac, 
Jr.,  Mary,  Margaret,  Philip,  Catharine,  Andrew  and 
Sarah.  In  1794  the  parents  removed  to  Broadalbin 
(or  Fondabush),  in  P^ulton  County,  where  the  father 
died  and  was  buried  in  October,  1800.  The  mother, 
after  his  death,  returned  to  Rockland  County,  where 
she  died  in  1832.  It  was  in  this  generation  that 
the  spelling  of  the  family  name  was  changed  to 
"  Cole."  The  pronunciation  under  its  earlier  and  later 
forms  was  the  same.  The  change  in  spelling  was 
adopted  to  protect  the  name  against  mispronunciation 
by  an  incoming  people  not  acquainted  with  Hol- 
land forms  and  sounds. 

6.  David  Cole  (born  at  New  City  September  26th 
and  baptized  at  Clarkstown,  by  Rev.  Nicholas  Lan- 
sing, October  5,  1777)  married  Elizabeth  Meyer,  at 
Kakiat,  .January  11,  1798,  the  ceremony  being  per- 
formed by  Rev.  George  G.  Brinkerhoft'.  The  wife  was 
a  daughter  of  Johannes  Meyer  and  Tryntje  Van  Hou- 
ten,  both  born  in  the  county,  but  of  Holland  descent. 
These  had  three  children — Isaac  D.,  Catharine  and 
Eliza.  The  last  died  unmarried  in  1851.  The  second, 
Mrs.  Thomas  Lippincott,  who  died  September  23, 
1881,  is  represented  numerously  by  descendants  in 
New  York  City  and  elsewhere.  The  first  was  the 
father  of  Rev.  Dr.  Cole. 

7.  Rev.  Isaac  D.  Cole  was  born  at  Spring  Valley, 
Rockland  County,  N.  Y.,  January  25th  and  baptized 
at  Kakiat  by  Rev.  Geo.  G.  Brinkerhofi",  March  25, 
1799.  He  was  a  resident  of  New  York  City  with 
brief  intervals,  from  1801  to  1826,  and  was  married, 
November  3,  1821,  by  Rev.  Christian  Bork,  to  Anna  ' 


LITERARY  MEN.  631 


Maria  Shatzel,  born  in  the  city  November  3,  1797. 
His  history  is  given  with  fulness  of  detail  in  the 
"  History  of  Rockland  County,"  published  in  1884, 
under  the  editorial  direction  of  his  son.  After  sev- 
eral years  of  teaching  in  New  York  City  he  entered 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  New  Brunswick,  N,  J., 
in  1826,  and  having  been  licensed  to  the  missionary 
in  1829,  at  once  became  pastor  of  the  Reformed 
Church  at  Tappan,  in  wliich  his  ancestors  had  wor- 
shipped from  its  beginning,  more  than  a  century  and 
a  quarter  before,  and  continued  in  his  pastorate,  with 
an  interval  of  one  year,  till  his  retirement  from  the 
active  duties  of  the  ministry  in  1864,  at  sixty-five 
years  of  age.  Subsequently  and  until  his  death,  on 
the  80th  of  August,  1878,  he  lived  at  Spring  Valley 
upon  the  family  home-ground  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years,  which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father. 
His  sterling  character,  his  remarkable  gifts  as  an  in- 
structor, his  special  life-work  in  the  ministry,  the 
valuable  influence  of  his  precept  and  example  and 
the  preciousness  of  his  memory  are  so  fully  put  on 
record  in  the  hi.story  mentioned  above  that  they  need 
no  reproducing  here.  The  children  of  Rev.  Isaac  D. 
Cole  and  Anna  Maria  Shatzel  were  eight,  viz. :  David, 
Caroline,  Elizabeth,  Juliana  (1st),  Juliana  (2d,)  Cathar- 
ine Amelia,  Margaret  Ann,  Benjaiiiiii  Wood  and 
Isaac  D.,  Jr.  Of  these  children,  Juliana  (1st),  Caro- 
line Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Dr.  James  J.  Stephens),  Catha- 
rine Amelia  (Mrs.  Benjamin  L.  Disbrow)  and  Isaac 
D.,  Jr.,  late  president  of  the  Knickerbocker  Fire  In- 
surance Company,  of  New  York  City,  have  passed 
away. 

What  has  thus  been  given  shows  that  Rev.  Dr. 
Cole  belongs  to  one  of  the  oldest  New  York  families. 
It  is  not  believed  that  there  are  any  older,  though 
there  may  be  a  very  few  others  as  old.  The  family  is 
of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Holland  from  its  very 
start  in  that  country.  It  was  identified  with  the 
organization  of  the  first  Reformed  Church  in  New 
Amsterdam  (the  "  Church  in  the  Fort ")  and  subse- 
quently with  the  organization  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  Kingston,  Tappan,  Clarkstown  and  West 
Hempstead  (or  Kakiat),  and  it  also,  before  1800, 
founded  a  Reformed  Church  in  Fondabush,  Fulton 
County,  which,  however,  was  changed  to  a  Presby- 
terian Church  in  1825.  Rev.  Dr.  Cole  is  thus, 
through  his  father,  of  strictest  Holland  descent.  He 
I'eels  the  derivation  of  liis  name  irom  so  historic  a 
stock  and  is  equally  alive  to  the  character  for  sim- 
plicity and  spotless  business  integrity  which  has  been 
handed  down  through  the  American  generations. 
With  the  exception  of  the  first  member  of  the  line, 
who  was  a  government  ofl5cer,  all  the  generations, 
down  to  his  father,  were  farmers.  All  of  them  were 
continuously,  and  many  of  them  ofiicially,  connected 
with  the  life  and  work  of  the  Reformed  Churches. 
Purity  of  life,  probity  in  dealing,  steadiness  of  aim 
and  purpose  have  been  the  heritage  handed  down  to 
him,  and  this  heritage  he  cherishes  with  the  most 


632 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COTOTY. 


sacred  reverence  and  would  not  exchange  for  any 
other  form  of  inheritance  whatever. 

Rev.  Dr.  Cole  was  born  at  Spring  Valley  September 
22,  1822,  during  a  brief  summer  visit  of  his  parents, 
then  residents  of  New  York  City,  to  the  old  family 
homestead.  Being  the  first  child  of  a  conscientious 
and  gifted  teacher,  his  training  naturally  engaged  his 
fathei''s  close  thought.  The  course  taken  with  him  was 
such  as  to  give  to  his  mind  an  early  and  strong  bias 
for  the  study  of  languages,  without,  however,  impair- 
ing his  education  in  other  branches.  But  his  father's 
view  of  the  importance  of  languages  was  such  that  he 
was  started  in  Latin  at  four,  in  Greek  at  six  and  in 
Hebrew  at  nine,  and  was  prepared  for  college  at 
twelve  years  of  age.  No  effort  was  spared  to  lay  his 
foundations  solidly.  The  consequence  was  the  awaken- 
ing of  an  enthusiasm  for  languages  which  has  shaped  a 
life,  and  is  one  of  its  leading  characteristics.  From 
twelve  to  sixteen  years  of  age  study  was  suspended 
duriug  the  summers,  and  training  on  a  farm  substi- 
tuted, for  the  building  up  of  a  physical  and  mental 
strength  that  had  been  too  severely  taxed.  The 
winters,  however,  continued  to  be  devoted  to  study. 
In  November,  1838,  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  entered 
the  Grammar  School  of  Rutgers  College.  After  a 
year  spent  in  reviewing  old  studies,  and  especially 
in  earnest  work  upon  mathematics,  he  entered  the 
Sophomore  Class  of  the  college  in  October,  1839,  from 
which,  in  July,  1842,  he  was  graduated.  Being  too  well 
prepared  for  college  at  his  entrance,  he  had  thrown 
himself  upon  his  past  studies  to  a  large  extent,  and 
as  a  result,  came  to  his  graduation,  though  with  credit, 
yet  without  distinction.  At  once  after  graduation  Le 
began  to  teach  near  his  father's  residence  at  Tappan, 
and  continued  teaching  from  August,  1842,  to  No- 
vember, 1858,  more  than  sixteen  years,  devoting  him- 
self through  almost  the  whole  period  to  the  teaching  i 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  alone.  During  his 
work  as  a  teacher  he  prepared  many  young  men  for 
college,  several  of  whom  were  graduated  with  honor. 
His  greatest  successes  as  a  teacher  were  attained  during 
several  years  in  the  principalship  of  an  academy  at 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  during  which  his  students  were  sent 
to  Princeton,  Rutgers,  Harvard,  Yale,  Union,  Am- 
herst and  the  Universities  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

In  1855,  prominently  through  his  influence,  the 
State  Normal  School  of  New  Jersey  was  brought 
into  being,  of  which,  by  the  appointment  of  Governor 
Rodman  M.  Price,  he  was  one  of  the  first  trustees.  In 
1857  he  became  a  professor  in  that  institution,  resign- 
ing his  trusteeship  to  accept  the  post.  For  several 
years  during  his  teaching  life,  however,  he  had  been 
privately  studying  for  the  ministry,  and,  in  connection 
with  his  teaching  work,  had  established  and  carried 
on  an  enterprise,  on  which,  as  a  foundation,  many 
years  ago,  grew  up  the  present  Fifth  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Ti'enton.  Having  induced  his  pastor  and 
friends  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  city  I 


to  build  a  house  for  the^  purpose  in  the  suburbs,  he 
founded  and  conducted  a  large  Sunday-school  in  it, 
and  soon  after  began,  while  still  a  layman  and  prin- 
cipal of  an  academy,  to  preach  twice  in  it  every  Sab- 
bath, and  lecture  in  the  houses  of  his  hearers  on 
Thursday  evenings.  From  this  work  and  from  his 
professorship  in  the  State  Normal  School  he  passed 
into  the  ministry  in  1858.  Several  offers  of  pulpits 
were  at  once  made  to  him,  but  he  decided  to  accept 
the  charge  of  the  new  Reformed  Church  at  East 
Millstone,  N.  J.  Here  he  was  ordained  November 
23,  1858,  and  remained  pastor  until  April  1,  1863.  In 
February  of  that  year  he  had  been  called  to  the  pro- 
fessorship of  the  Greek  language  and  literature  in 
Rutgers  College,  and  had  accepted  the  call.  Entering 
upon  his  new  post  March  Ki,  1863,  he  remained  in  it 
till  January  1,  1866.  During  this  period  of  three 
years,  however,  he  was  several  times  urged  to  re-enter 
the  pastorate.  The  teaching  in  the  college  was  a 
fascination  to  him,  but  the  attraction  to  the  pulpit 
proved  the  stronger,  and  in  December,  1865,  a  call 
from  the  Reformed  Church  of  Y^onkers  was  accejited. 
From  the  10th  of  that  month  he  has  been  connected, 
as  its  pastor,  with  the  history  and  life  of  that  church. 
During  his  professorship  at  New  Brunswick  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him  by 
the  trustees  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  at 
Lancaster,  Pa. 

The  period  from  1861  to  1865  was  with  Dr.  Cole 
one  of  strong  decision  and  great  activity.  From  the 
firing  on  Sumter  he  took  the  most  pronounced  position 
for  the  Union,  and  during  his  pastorate  at  East  Mill- 
stone, and  his  college  life  at  New  Brunswick,  was  at 
all  times  forward  in  sustaining  the  government  and 
making  sentiment  for  it  by  writing  and  speaking  in 
its  behalf  Many  incidents  of  interest  in  his  history 
in  that  connection  might  be  related,  but  want  of 
space  excludes  them  here. 

Dr.  Cole's  activity  as  a  writer  began  soon  after  his 
graduation  from  college,  but  confined  itself  for  some 
years  to  newspaper  articles.  His  first  book  was  a  small 
"  Manual  of  English  Grammar,''  published  in  1848, 
and  his  only  other  b(»ok  written  during  his  teaching 
life  was  a  larger  one,  entitled  "  Principles  of  English 
Grammar  Applied,"  issued  in  1853.  These  books 
were  intended  mostly  for  his  own  use,  but  had  a  con- 
siderable circulation  in  the  schools  of  New  Jersey  in 
their  day.  It  was  not  till  about  1855  that  he  began 
to  appear  much  as  a  public  speaker.  At  this  time,  in 
addition  to  his  evangelistic  work,  before  alluded  to, 
in  Trenton,  he  became  deeply  enlisted  in  a  new 
educational  movement  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey, 
and,  by  permission  of  the  State  Legislature,  joined 
with  others  in  pressing  the  interests  and  wants  of  the 
public  schools  upon  the  members  assembled  for  the 
purpose  in  joint  session.  He  also  formed  one  of  a 
company  who  visited  the  various  counties  of  the 
State,  speaking  everywhere  for  the  cause  of  popular 
education.  Several  of  his  addres.ses  on  these  subjects. 


LITERATURE  Ax\I 


from  1855  onward,  were  printed.  Besides  this,  he 
spoke  in  various  places  upon  topics  connected  with 
higher  education.  In  December,  1854,  he  read  an 
important  paper  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution  on 
"  Classical  Education,"  which  was  published  in  Bar- 
nard's American  Journal  of  Education,  and  drew 
commendation  from  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  In 
1855-56  he  was  New  Jersey  editor  of  the  ^eic  Yor/: 
Teacher  and  wrote  many  of  its  editorials.  After 
his  entrance  into  the  ministry,  in  1858,  he  dropped 
speaking  and  writing  in  the  special  interest  of  edu- 
cation, finding  enough  to  do  for  his  pulpit  and  in  the 
defense  of  the  Union  cause  during  the  war.  During 
his  ministry  he  has  been  absorbed  in  two  specialties, 
the  one  being  his  principal  and  the  other  his  second- 
ary object  of  pursuit. 

The  former  is  the  critical  study  of  the  Bible  origin- 
als and  the  development  of  the  Bible's  thought,  and 
the  latter  is  the  tracing  of  Divine  Providence  through 
history.  Of  the  results  of  his  Bible  study,  he  has 
written  and  printed  very  much,  but  not  in  pamphlet  or 
book-form.  Upon  history,  his  researches  have  been 
mostly  of  local  bearing,  being  developments  of  church 
and  local  annals.  In  October,  18(35,  he  delivered  an  his- 
torical address  upon  his  first  church  at  East  Millstone, 
then  ten  years  old ;  in  18t;8,  another  upon  his  church 
at  Yonkers,  then  twenty-five ;  and  in  1883,  a  third 
upon  the  same  church,  then  forty  years  old.  All 
these  were  published  by  the  congregations.  His 
Thanksgiving  sermon  of  1866  wius  also  published  by 
his  people,  and  his  Centennial  Thanksgiving  sermon 
(1876)  on  "Our  American  Kepublic,  the  Child  of 
Special  Providence,"  was  called  for  by  a  representa- 
tion from  the  uniting  congregations  that  heard  it,  and 
published.  The  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Church  published  also  a  sermon  he  preached  before 
it  in  1S74  on  "  Ofierings  to  the  Lord,"  being  its  "  An- 
nual Sermon  on  Benevolence."  In  1876,  Dr.  Cole 
himself  published  a  large  octavo  volume,  the  fruit  of 
very  great  labor,  giving  the  genealogy  of  his  own 
Holland  family  from  1580  to  date.  In  October,  1882, 
at  the  call  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  Yonkers,  he  de- 
livered in  the  open  air,  to  many  thousands  of  people, 
a  bi  centennial  oration  commemorative  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  Manor  (now  the  city)  Hall  of  Yonkers, 
which  was  printed  and  very  widely  circulated.  In 
1883  and  1884  he  edited  the  "  History  of  Rockland 
County,"  alluded  to  above.  In  Sei)tember,  1884,  as 
president  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  he  presided  at  the  installation  of  Rev.  Jolin 
G.  Lansing,  D.D.,  as  professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  New  Brunswick,  and  delivered  a  sermon 
on  "  God's  noteworthy  preparations  of  the  two  original 
languages  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  become  the 
conveyancers  of  His  divine  revelation  to  men,  and 
His  no  less  noteworthy  preparations  of  a  modern 
language  to  effect  the  spread  of  this  revelation  over 
the  earth."  The  sermon  was  published  with  the 
proceedings  of  the  day.  In  October  of  the  same  year, 
59 


)  LITERARY  MEN.  033 


in  the  same  capacity,  he  presided  at  the  first  session 
of  the  centennial  of  the  same  seminary,  and  delivered 
the  "  Response "  to  the  "  Address  of  Welcome," 
which  was  printed  in  a  volume  with  the  proceedings. 
His  latest  publication  has  been  the  "History  of  Yon- 
kers," contained  in  this  work.  In  all  his  published 
historical  addresses  he  has  had  in  view  one  controlling 
object — to  hold  up  in  the  most  conspicuoub  light  the 
I'rovidence  of  God  as  manifested  in  the  details  of 
church,  historical,  community  and  family  life. 

Dr.  Cole  married,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1844,  Abbie 
D.  Wyckoff,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  Wyckoff  and  Eliza- 
beth Van  Deventer,  of  New  Brunswick,  both  of  purest 
Holland  descent.  The  children  have  been  six  in 
number,  of  whom  the  third  died  in  infancy,  in  1855, 
viz.:  Mary  Elizabeth  (wife  of  Rev.  James  Henry 
Bertholf,  of  Nassau,  Rensselaer  County,  N.  Y.),  Isaac 
D.,  Ella,  J.  Wyckoff,  Frank  Howard  and  Edward  R. 
None  of  the  sons  are  married.  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Ber- 
tholf have  four  children,  viz. :  Harry  W.,  Charles 
Howard,  Bessie  and  Griffith  Diirst. 

Thomas  Henry  Edsall  is  descended  from  Samuel 
Edsall,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Reading,  Berkshire,  Eng- 
land, by  his  marriage  with  Ruth  Woodhull,  daughter 
of  Richard  Woodhull,  Estj.,  a  native  of  Thenford, 
Northamptonshire,  England.  Samuel  Edsall  came  to 
Boston,  Mass.,  in  1648,  settled  among  the  Dutch  in 
New  Amsterdam  in  1655,  and  afterwards  became 
quite  prominent  in  the  colonial  aflairs  of  New  Yc^rk 
and  New  Jersey.  Mr.  Woodhull  came  to  Lynn,  Mass., 
about  1G40,  and  was  an  early  settler  and  leading  citi- 
zen of  Southampton  and  Brookhaven,  L.  I.  Other 
immigrant  ancestors  of  Mr.  Edsall  came  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  from  Holland  and  France  (Huguenot). 
In  the  last  century  several  of  his  progenitors  bore 
arms  in  the  old  French  War  and  in  support  of  Amer- 
ican independence  during  the  Revolution.  He  is  the 
only  son  of  the  late  Thomas  Edsall,  Esq.,  and 
Phebe  A.  Jones,  daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  Nathaniel 
Jones,  of  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and  was  born  Octo- 
ber 7,  1840,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  After  complet- 
ing his  academic  education  he  entered  Brown  Univer- 
sity at  seventeen,  and  was  graduated  in  1861.  The 
following  year  he  assisted  in  raising  a  regiment  of  in- 
fantry, which  was  afterwards  consolidated  to  form  the 
One  Hundred  and  Seventy-sixth  New  York  Volun- 
teers— "Ironsides" — of  which  he  was  commissioned 
adjutant.  The  regiment  was  assigned  to  the  "  Banks 
Expedition "  and  served  in  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf.  During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1863  ilr. 
Edsall  was  detached  and  assigned  to  duty  at  head- 
quarters under  the  chief  engineer  of  the  department. 
In  November  he  returned  to  New  York  and  was  mus- 
tered out  with  his  regiment.  He  then  studied  law 
with  O'Connor  &  Dunning  and  at  Columbia  College 
Law  School,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  spring  of 
1865,  and  has  since  been  in  practice  in  New  York 
City.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Dunning, 
Edsall,  Hart  &  Fowler. 


634 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


For  several  years  Mr.  Edsall  has  devoted  much 
attention  to  historical  and  genealogical  researches, 
and  has  contributed  several  papers  on  those  subjects 
to  the  New  York  Historical  and  the  New  York  Gen- 
ealogical and  Biographical  Societies,  some  of  which 
have  been  published.    He  has  given  special  study  to 
the  early  history  of  King's  Bridge  and  its  neighbor- 
hood, where  he  has  resided  for  several  years,  in  Spuy- 
ten  Duyvil.   Mr.  Edsall  has  prepared  a  very  inter- 
esting and  valuable  history  of  that  town  for  this  work, 
which  is  published  elsewhere.  He  is  a  member  of  the  ' 
University  Club,  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  a  | 
trustee  of  the  New  York  Genealogical  and  Biograph-  i 
ical  Society  and  the  vice-president  of  the  Society  of  ' 
the  Sons  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

Josiah  Sherman  Mitch- 
ell, son  of  Minot  Mitchell, 
one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished members  of  the 
Westchester  County  bar, 
was  born  at  White  Plains, 
February  2,  1816.  He 
studied  law  in  his  father's 
office,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1845.  He  is 
still  (1886)  pursuing  the 
practice  of  his  profession, 
and  resides  in  White 
Plains.  Mr.  Mitchell  has 
devoted  a  good  deal  of 
study  to  the  history  of  his 
locality,  and  is  recognized 
as  an  authority  upon  that 
subject.  Besides  writing 
the  very  able  and  inter- 
esting history  of  White 
Plains  for  this  work,  he 
has  written  a  number  of 
other  articles  on  sub- 
jects relating  to  White 
Plains,  or  other  points 
in  the  county,  but  none 
of  them  have  hitherto 
appeared  in  printed 
form.  He  prepared  two 
papers  on  "The  French  in  Westchester  County," 
■which  were  read  before  a  social  club  of  White  Plains, 
and  has  read  two  papers  before  the  Westchester  County 
Historical  Society,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  one  of 
them  being  a  "Life  of  Ann  Hutchison,"  the  other  a 
review  of  the  events  succeeding  the  battle  of  White 
Plains,  giving  reasons  for  Howe's  retreat.  A  paper 
has  also  been  written  by  Mr.  Mitchell  in  which  he 
brings  forward  arguments  to  show  that  the  sect  of 
Methodists  acquired  a  foothold  in  Westchester  County 
before  having  done  so  in  New  Y'ork  City, — a  conclu- 
sion contrary  to  the  received  teaching  on  that  point, 
which  is,  that  the  Methodist  Societv  in  this  countrv 


acquired  its  first  converts  in  the  latter  place.  The 
paper  is  deposited  with  the  pastor  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  at  White  Plains. 

Mr.  Mitchell  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  Elizabeth  Anderson,  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
Joseph  H.  Anderson.  Their  children  were  William 
Anderson,  who  is  now  a  manager  of  one  of  the  de- 
partments of  the  New  York  Safe  Deposit  Company, 
of  New  York  City,  and  Anna  Caroline.  His  second 
wife  was  Margaret  Louise  Dusenbury.  Their  only 
child  is  Charles  Halsey. 

Rev.  William  Samuel  Coffey  was  born  in  the  city 
of  New  York  in  1827,  and  in  1847  graduated  from 
Columbia  College.    After  studying  for  the  ministry 

he  graduated  from  the 
General  Theological  Sem- 
inary of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  1850, 
and  was  ordained  deacon 
in  the  same  year  at  Trin- 
ity Church,  New  York. 
In  1851  he  received  the 
full  orders  of  the  priest- 
hood at  Grace  Church, 
Brooklyn  Heights.  On 
February  1,  1852,  he  be- 
came rector  of  St.  Paul's 
Church,  East  Chester,  and 
his  pastorate  has  continu- 
ed to  the  present  time,  a 
period  of  over  thirty-four 
years,  during  which  he 
has  been  most  efiicient 
and  active  in  his  minis- 
terial   labors,    and  has 
greatly  endeared  himself 
to  the  community.  He 
has  held  the  commissions 
of  the  State  as  chaplain 
of  the  Third  Regiment 
and  consequently  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  Regi- 
ment N.  Y.  S.  N.  G.  In 
-    1856  he  founded  Trin- 
ity Church  at  Mount 
Vernon. 

Mr.  Coffey's  literary  work  has  only  been  second  in 
importance  and  value  to  his  labors  in  the  ministrj-. 
He  delivered  the  centennial  address  of  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  East  Chester, 
in  October,  1865,  and  a  memorial  paper  in  1875  upon 
the  life  and  services  of  Rev.  Thomas  Standard,  D.D., 
at  the  dedication  of  a  tablet  erected  in  his  honor  in 
the  church.  He  also  delivered  a  historical  address 
in  October,  1884,  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Westchester, 
upon  the  eminent  career  of  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  as 
rector  of  that  parish.  To  these  volumes  he  has  con- 
tributed three  important  chapters, — "  The  General 
History  of  Westchester  County  from  1683  to  1774  ;" 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


635 


"  The  General  History  of  Westchester  County  from 
1783  to  1860,"  and  the  "History  of  the  town  of  East 
Chester,"  which  is  a  complete  review  of  that  town  in 
all  its  social,  political  and  religious  aspects  from  the 
earliest  period  to  the  present  year.  The  public  ad- 
dresses of  Mr.  Coffey  upon  religious  and  secular  topics 
and  occasions  have  been  numerous,  while  for  many 
years  he  has  contributed  to  the  newspapers  of  the 
country  the  results  of  his  profound  thought  and 
thorough  scholarship  as  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
questions  which  interest  mankind.  On  October  4, 
1S7G,  he  married  Henrietta,  daughter  of  Henry  P. 
Kellogg,  of  New  Rochelle,  and  has  two  sons,  both  of 
whom  are  living. 

John  William  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  the  late 
chemist  and  physiologist,  was  born  in  Liverpool, 
England,  May  5,  1811,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
in  1886,  lived  at  Irvington,  in  Westchester  County. 
He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  London.  Emi- 
grating to  America  in  1833,  he  continued  his  chemical 
and  medical  studies  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  took  the  degree  of  M.D.  in  1836. 
Besides  holding  prominent  professorships  in  various 
seats  of  learning,  he  contributed  a  large  number  of 
valuable  works  to  the  literature  of  America.  Between 
1838  and  1857  he  furnished  to  the  Edinburgh  Philo- 
sophical Journal  about  forty  treatises,  besides  con- 
tributing to  other  scientific  journals.  He  was  the 
author  of  a  "Treatise  on  the  Organization  of  Plants," 
4to,  1844;  a  popular  "Text-Book  on  Chemistry," 
1846;  another  on  "Natural  Philosophy,"  1847;  a 
"  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe ;  " 
"Thoughts  on  the  Future  Civil  Policy  of  America;  " 
"  History  of  the  American  Civil  War,"  3  vols.,  1867-68 ; 
and  "  Memoirs  on  the  Chemical  Action  of  Light." 
His  most  elaborate  work  is  a  treatise  on  "  Human 
Physiology,  Statical  and  Dynamical,"  1856. 

Robert  Bonner,  the  proprietor  of  the  New  York 
Ledger,  born  in  Londonderry,  Ireland,  about  1820,  of 
Scotch-Presbyterian  ancestry,  is  or  was  a  resident  of 
Westchester.  While  a  lad  in  the  printing-office  of 
the  Hartford  Courant  it  is  said  he  could  set  up  more 
type  in  a  day  than  any  man  in  the  State.  He  went 
to  New  York  City  in  1844,  purchasing  the  Ledger, 
then  an  obscure  sheet,  and  brought  it  to  the  position  it 
now  occupies  by  engaging  Fanny  Fern,  Edward  Ever- 
ett, Henry  Ward  Beecher  and  other  eminent  writers 
as  contributors. 

General  Adam  Badeau,  the  author  of  a  "  History 
of  General  Grant "  and  numerous  newspaper  and 
magazine  articles,  was  born  in  New  York  and  resided 
in  Westchester  County.  He  was  made  captain  and 
aide-de-camp  of  United  States  Volunteers  in  April, 
18(52,  and  afterward  appointed  on  the  staff  of  General 
Sherman.  He  was  severely  wounded  at  Port  Hudson, 
joined  General  Grant  in  January,  1864,  as  his  military 
secretary,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
was  made  brevet  brigadier-general  United  States 
army  for  faithful  and  meritorious  services  in  the  war. 


He  became  colonel  and  aide-de-camp  to  the  general 
of  the  army  in  March,  186j,  and  continued  to  May, 
1869,  when  he  was  retired.  He  was  secretary  of  lega- 
tion to  the  English  court  at  London. 

Rev.  Wm.  E.  Turner,  of  P^lmsford,  kindly  furnishes 
the  following  account  of  the  early  life  and  literary 
labors  of  Jay  Gould,  the  noted  financier,  who,  while 
a  mere  lad,  wrote  the  history  of  Delaware  County : 

"  Jay  Gould  did  not  in  early  life  enjoy  the  advan- 
tages of  a  literary  education.  His  only  opportunities 
were  first  in  a  private  school  taught  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, for  the  benefit  of  a  few  of  the  neighbors,  by  a 
young  man  named  Oliver.  He  subsequently  removed 
to  the  academy  in  Franklin,  where  young  Gould  fol- 
lowed him  and  very  early  finished  his  education. 
Hence  it  could  not  be  said  that  he  ever  acquired  much 
of  a  literary  taste,  but  rather  a  business  education. 
He  did,  however,  write  the  history  of  Delaware 
County,  which  is  still  extant  and  certainly  a  very 
creditable  performance  for  a  youth  of  sixteen  years 
of  age.  His  education,  as  we  have  said,  was  more  of 
a  business  character.  Hence  we  see  him,  after  spend- 
ing a  little  time  as  clerk  in  a  country  store,  engaged 
in  measuring  the  distances  and  assisting  in  plotting 
the  maps  of  Ulster  and  Scoharie  Counties.  We  should 
not  forget  to  mention  that  his  first  business  venture 
was  with  a  mouse-trap  which  he  had  constructed  and 
brought  to  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  purpose  of 
placing  it  among  the  curiosities  and  useful  exhibits  of 
the  Crystal  Palace.  This  venture  seems,  in  some  re- 
spects, to  have  been  unfortunate ;  for,  while  on  his 
way,  as  he  was  admiring  the  wonders  of  the  city,  a 
thief  stole  the  trap.  The  offender,  however,  was 
caught  and  on  his  arraignment  before  the  Police  Court 
it  was  recorded  that  the  mouse-trap  had  taken  larger 
game— it  had  caught  a  thief. 

"At  an  early  age — before  he  was  twenty — he  left 
his  native  town  to  engage  in  a  large  business  in  Penn- 
sylvania— managing  the  financial  affairs  of  a  tannery, 
said  at  that  time  to  be  the  largest  in  the  country,  if 
not  in  the  world." 

Mr.  Gould's  life  story,  as  told  by  himself  before  the 
Senate  Labor  Committee  in  New  York,  in  September, 
1883,  was  as  follows :  Having  stated  that  he  was  born 
in  Roxbury,  N.  Y^.,  on  May  27,  1836,  he  said  he  as- 
sisted his  sisters  in  tending  the  cattle  and  one  day  he 
said  to  his  father  he  would  like  to  go  to  school.  The 
father  replied  that  he  was  too  young,  "  but,"  said  the 
witness,  "I  was  determined  to  secure  an  education, 
as  I  was  then  fourteen  years  of  age.  At  last,"  said 
the  witness,  with  a  smile,  "  I  fell  in  with  a  black- 
smith, and  as  I  could  write  a  good  hand,  I  told  him  I 
could  keep  his  books.  He  consented  and  that  was 
the  first  occupation  that  brought  me  remuneration." 

He  had  a  taste  for  mathematics;  used  to  get  up  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  study  till  six  and 
in  this  way  prepared  himself  for  a  start  in  life. 

Mr.  Gould  then  proceeded  to  say  that  he  heard  of 
a  man  in  Ulster  County  who  was  making  a  map  of 


63G 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


that  county,  and  having  a  great  taste  for  surveying  he 
(the  witness)  went  and  offered  his  assistance.  He 
was  thereupon  engaged  at  twenty  dollars  per  month, 
but  his  work  proved  so  unsatisfactory  that  his  em- 
ployer told  him  the  work  he  i)erformed  was  a 
silly  lot  of  stuff.  "  After  that,"  said  the  witness,  "  I 
had  not  the  heart  next  day  to  ask  anybody  to  give 
me  a  dinner."  He  finally  went  to  a  quiet  place, 
where  nobody  could  see  him,  and  had  a  good  cry. 
He  then  went  to  his  sister's  house,  where  he  went  up 
stairs  and  prayed,  after  which  he  felt  better.  After 
that  he  resolved  not  to  go  home  again,  but  to  go 
ahead  and  die  in  the  last  ditch.  He  returned  to  his 
task  of  completing  the  map  and  made  similar  sur- 
veys of  Delaware  and  Albany  Counties,  from  which 
he  realized  five  thousand  dollars,  which  was  his  first 
capital. 

After  the  panic  of  1857  he  came  to  New  York  and, 
owing  to  the  depreciation  of  values  in  property,  he 
was  able  to  buy  on  credit  the  bonds  of  the  Rutland 
and  Washington  Railroad  for  ten  cents  on  the  dollar. 
He  took  charge  of  the  railroad  and  was  its  president, 
treasurer  and  general  manager.  He  conducted  the 
road  until  its  consolidation  with  the  Rensselaer  and 
Saratoga  road,  when  he  was  able  to  sell  out  his  in- 
terest at  a  large  profit.  Subsequently  he  took  a  bank- 
rupt friend's  interest  in  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburgh 
road  and  held  it  till  he  was  able  to  sell  it  to  advan- 
tage. He  became  a  large  owner  of  Union  Pacific 
stock  in  consequence  of  a  misunderstanding  with 
parties  interested  and  also  owing  to  the  illness  of  Mr. 
Horace  F.  Clark  in  Chicago.  The  road  was  then  in 
a  bad  way,  the  stock  going  down  to  fifteen,  and  the 
only  thing  he  could  do  to  save  himself  was  to  hold 
on  to  what  he  had,  while  at  the  same  time  he  still 
kept  buying.  He  made  up  his  mind  to  stick  to  the 
road  and  build  it  up,  and  he  persevered  till  it  at  last 
paid  dividends.  Before  the  road  became  a  success  a 
great  clamor  arose  that  it  was  Jay  Gould's  road,  as 
though  that  was  a  dangerous  thing.  He  was  then 
engaged  in  selling  out  his  stock,  which  was  soon  in 
the  hands  of- seven  thousand  investors,  representing 
the  earnings  of  many  widows  and  orphans. 

The  next  venture  was  the  building  up  of  the  Gould 
railroad  system  in  the  South  and  West.  It  began  with 
purchase  of  the  Missouri  and  Pacific  from  Commo- 
dore Garrison.  Other  roads  were  purchased  and 
connections  were  made  to  different  points.  Mr. 
Gould  said  that  he  had  at  this  time  passed  the  point 
where  money-making  was  an  object,  and  his  only 
idea  was  in  carrying  out  the  system  to  merely  see 
what  could  be  done  by  combinations.  The  lines  now 
spread  through  Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas  and  Indian  Territory,  Texas,  Louis- 
iana and  Mexico.  There  _are  central  connections  at 
Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  New  Orleans.  All 
the  construction  of  this  system  of  roads  was  com- 
pleted in  1882,  and  represented  about  ten  thousand 
miles  of  road.     The  earnings  of  the  lines  when  he 


took  jDossession  of  them  were  about  seventy  thousand 
dollars  a  month.  The  earnings  for  the  month  of 
August,  1883,  were  five  million  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  In  building  up  this  system,  the  Southwest 
has  been  opened  up  and  the  country  thrown  open  to 
civilization.  Mr.  Gould  stated  that  he  was  a  director 
in  the  Chicago  and  Northwest,  Chicago  and  Rock 
Island,  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western,  New 
York  and  New  England  and  several  other  smaller 
lines. 

Incidental  to  his  railroad  interests  he  has  become 
largely  interested  in  the  telegraphic  business.  This 
was  on  account  of  the  intimate  connection  between 
the  two  industries.  He  was  instrumental  in  starting 
the  American  Union  to  make  it  a  competing  line  with 
the  Western  Union.  He  found  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  accomplish  this  on  account  of  the  extent  of  the 
latter's  connections.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to 
getting  control  of  Western  Union  by  buying  stock 
when  it  was  low.  Finding  it  a  paying  investment,  he 
had  been  constantly  increasing  his  interest.  His 
subsequent  history  as  a  .successful  business  man,  and 
finally  as  one  of  the  greatest  magnates  of  Wall 
Street,  is  well  known,  but  has  little  to  do  with  the 
literary  annals  of  Westchester  County. 

Another  Westchester  County  litterateur,  Mr.  Fred- 
erick Whittaker,  is  a  prolific  writer  of  stories,  and 
widely  known  for  his  "  Life  of  Custer."  Mr.  Whit- 
taker is  the  second  son  and  fourth  child  of  Henry 
Whittaker  and  Catharine  Maitland,  and  was  born  in 
Sloane  Street,  London,  on  December  12,  1838.  His 
father  was  a  solicitor  with  a  large  practice,  but  was 
ruined  by  indorsing  for  a  noble  client.  Lord  Kensing- 
ton, the  original  of  Thackeray's  "Lord  Crabs"  in  the 
"  Ye]low])lush  Papers."  Mr.  Whittaker  was  compelled 
to  flee  from  England  to  escape  imprisonment  for  debt. 
For  some  years  he  wandered  from  place  to  place  with 
his  family  on  the  Continent,  and  finally,  in  1850, 
came  to  this  country,  settling  in  New  York,  where  he 
obtained  a  good  practice  as  a  lawyer,  and  wrote  the 
first  book  on  practice,  under  the  code.  "Whittaker's 
Practice  "  was  a  standard  book  until  superseded  by 
later  decisions  and  later  books.  Frederick  Whit- 
taker's education  in  the  mean  time  was  of  a  desultory 
character,  and  his  attendance  at  school  was  limited  to 
six  months  at  a  Mr.  Walker's  private  school  in 
Brooklyn.  His  father  tried  to  make  a  lawyer  of  him, 
but  the  boy's  tastes  inclined  to  literature.  At  sixteen 
he  entered  the  office  of  N.  Dane  Ellingwood,  a  law- 
yer, as  office-boy,  and  two  or  three  years  later  ob- 
tained a  position  in  the  office  of  Henry  G.  Harrison, 
architect.  A  defect  in  his  eyesight,  however,  which 
was  now  discovered,  put  an  end  to  his  efforts  to 
become  an  architect.  In  the  mean  time  he  had  made 
many  boyish  attempts  at  literary  composition,  and 
finally  succeeded  in  getting  into  print  in  a  magazine, 
now  extinct,  called  TJie  Great  Republic  Monthly. 
When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  he  joined  a  cavalry 
regiment,  and  on  his  return  obtained  employment  as 


LITERATURE  AND  LITERARY  MEN. 


637 


a  book  canvasser,  and  afterwards  as  a  school-teacher. 
After  repeated  faihires  to  secure  the  publication  of 
some  of  his  writings  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Mayne 
Reid,  who  jiublished  a  little  song  "Starlighted  Mid- 
night "  from  his  pen  in  his  (Reid's)  magazine,  Onward. 
Reid  gave  him  some  good  advice,  and  pointed  out  the 
coui-se  he  should  pursue  in  order  to  succeed.  Mr. 
Whittaker's  next  step  was  the  publication  by  Frank 
Leslie  of  some  stories  of  adventure  which  he  had 
submitted.  In  1870,  with  some  money  inherited  from 
English  relatives,  he  was  enabled  to  buy  his  present 
home  at  Mount  Vernon.  He  also  married  and  set  to 
work  in  earnest  to  earn  a  living  by  his  pen.  This  he 
succeeded  in  doing  by  writing  serials  and  dime  novels 
for  Muuro,  of  the  Fireside  Companion,  Beadle  and 
others.  He  also  contributed  a  set  of  papers  to  the 
Army  and  Navy  Journal,  called  "  Volunteer  Cavalry ; 
the  Lessons  of  the  Decade."  These  attracted  much 
attention,  and  in  1874  Mr.  Whittaker  became  the 
first  National  Guard  editor,  and  afterwards  assistant 
editor  of  the  Journal.  In  1876  he  left  it  for  a  time 
and  wrote  the  "  Life  of  General  Custer."  In  the 
following  year  he  returned  to  the  Journal  and  also 
wrote  a  good  deal  for  the  Galaxy  magazine.  He  also 
l)ublished  a  novel,  "  The  Cadet  Button,"  about  this 
time.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged  in  writing 
serials  for  a  living,  and  has  also  written  a  play, 
"Napoleon,"  intended  for  Edwin  Booth,  but  never 
acted.  He  compiled  for  this  work  the  chapter  on 
"  Civil  War"  in  Westchester  County. 

Eliza  W.  Farnham,  philanthropist  and  author,  was 
born  at  Rensselaerville,  November  17,  1815,  and  died 
in  New  York  City,  December  1-5,  1864  Her  maiden- 
name  was  Burhaus.  She  went  to  Illinois  in  1885, 
and  was  married  there  in  the  following  year  to 
Thomas  J.  Farnham.  In  1841  she  returned  to  New 
York,  and  was  employed  in  visiting  prisons  and 
lecturing  to  women.  In  the  spring  of  1844  she 
accepted  appointment  as  matron  of  the  Female  De- 
partment of  the  State  Prison,  at  Sing  Sing.  In  1848 
she  was  connected  with  the  Institution  for  the  Blind, 
in  Boston,  and  from  1849  to  1856  resided  in  California. 
She  returned  to  New  York  and  published  "Calilbrnia, 
in  Doors  and  Out."  She  was  also  the  author  of 
several  books,  and  was  active  iw  promoting  social  re- 
forms and  the  rights  of  women. 

Rev.  William  James  Cumming,  author  of  the  his- 
tories of  the  towns  of  Cortlandt  and  Yorktown  in 
this  work,  and  compiler  of  the  Civil  List,  was  born  in 
New  York  City,  July  22, 1847,  and  is  the  son  of  John 
Pollock  Cumming  and  Isabella  Pollock,  both  of  Ban- 
gor, Ireland.  He  was  educated  at  the  public  schools 
of  New  York  City  and  in  the  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  where  he  graduated  in  1867.  He  studied 
for  the  ministry  at  the  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
graduating  in  1S71  and  was  ordained  August  8,  1876, 
since  which  time  he  has  been  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  at  Yorktown.  Previous  to  that  time, 
1872-75,  he  taught  school  at  Norwalk,  Conn.,  and  in 


New  York  City.  His  literary  work  has  comprised  a 
number  of  historical  papers  and  newspaper  articles, 
and  lie  is  a  member  of  the  Westchester  Historical 
Society  and  secretary  of  the  Westchester  Bible  So- 
ciety. 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Culver,  author  of  the  town  histories 
of  Somers  and  North  Salem  in  this  work,  was  born 
on  the  6th  of  April,  1842,  in  the  town  of  Somers,  in 
the  house  now  owned  and  occupied  by  James  P.  Teed. 
His  father  was  Edward  W.  Culver,  the  son  of  Joshua 
Culver,  and  he  was  born  in  the  house  directly  oppo- 
site Mt.  Zion  Church.  The  Culver  family  are  of 
Welsh  descent.  Charles  E.  Culver's  mother  was 
Sarah  J.,  daughter  of  Samuel  Teed.  She  was  born  in 
the  Teed  homestead,  now  the  residence  of  her  brother, 
James  P.  Teed.  The  Teed  family  are  of  French  ex- 
traction. His  parents  removed  to  New  York  City 
when  he  was  a  child,  and  among  the  earliest  of  his 
recollections  is  the  attendance  at  a  private  school  in 
Amos,  (now  West  Tenth)  Street.  Owing  to  continued 
ill  health  in  childhood  and  by  advice  of  a  physician, 
his  father  disposed  of  his  business  in  the  city,  and  re- 
moved to  North  Salem  on  a  farm.  Charles  then  at- 
tended the  preparatory  department  of  the  North 
Salem  Academy.  John  F.  Jenkins,  A.M.,  was  the 
principal,  his  daughter.  Miss  Mary  Jenkins,  having 
charge  of  the  preparatory  department.  The  family 
then  removed  to  Whitlockville,  (now  Katonah,)  and 
Charles  attended  the  private  school  of  Mrs.  Miller 
and  Miss  Mitchell,  near  that  place.  He  continued 
his  studies,  after  the  close  of  the  latter  school,  at  the 
public  school  and  under  tutors.  In  18()()  he  began 
the  study  of  dentistry  in  New  York,  intending  to 
complete  the  course  at  the  Baltimore  Dental  College, 
but  the  approach  of  the  war  and  excitement  of  the 
times  turned  his  attention  to  other  than  civil  pur- 
suits. In  1861-62—63  he  was  engaged  in  various 
government  employments,  both  under  the  State  and 
nation.  He  was  married  in  New  York  City  in  1863, 
and  removed  to  West  Farms,  where  he  carried  on  the 
manufacture  of  writing  ink.  In  1864  he  removed  to 
Northern  Illinois  and  remained  West  ten  years,  being 
a  resident  of  Chicago  during  the  memorable  fire  of 
1871,  where  his  publishing  business,  as  well  as  his 
home  and  everything  he  possessed,  including  a  fine 
library,  were  completely  destroyed,  his  family  and 
himself  escaping  with  but  the  clothing  they  wore. 
In  1869  he  started  the  publication  of  the  Chicago  Dis- 
patch,  a  weekly  Sunday  paper,  under  the  firm-name 
of  Culver,  Harris  &  Wilson.  Charles  E.  Harris  (Carl 
Pretzel)  is  now  the  publisher  of  PretzeFs  Weekly. 
Col.  T.  B.  Wilson  was  from  Alabama,  and  had  charge 
of  the  Masonic  department  of  the  paper.  After  the 
firm  had  sold  out  the  publication,  Mr.  Culver  became 
connected  with  the  daily  press  of  Chicago,  having 
began  to  wTite  for  the  press  when  a  mere  lad.  His 
first  real  newspaper  work  was  done  for  the  late  Horace 
Greeley  about  1861,  since  which  time  he  has  been 
more  or  less  actively  engaged  as  correspondent  or  in 


638 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


an  editorial  capacity.  He  has  had  two  children,  both 
now  deceased.    In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 

Rev.  David  Cole,  D.D.,  of  Yonkers,  who  has  con- 
tributed so  much  towards  this  history  of  Westchester 
County,  has  furnished  us  with  the  following  interest" 
ing  sketch  of  a  few  of  the  authors  and  writers  in  hi'' 
locality : 

Pastors,  editors  and  newspaper  correspondents  have> 
of  course,  in  Yonkers,  as  in  other  places,  written  volu- 
minously. We  have  already  spoken  of  all  editors 
and  conductors  of  papers  who  live  in  the  city,  and 
will  not  bring  them  in  here.  But,  among  paper  cor- 
respondents, many  facile  Yonkers  pens,  driven  both 
by  ladies  and  gentlemen  among  us,  have  been  driven 
to  purpose  upon  articles  that  have  appeared  in  our 
own  and  in  outside  papers  and  periodicals.  We  can- 
not mention  these,  but  confine  ourselves,  in  the  fol- 
lowing catalogue,  to  writers  who  have  published  pam- 
phlets or  books. 

Lyman  Cobb,  Sr-,  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1800, 
and  one  of  the  greatest  educators  and  most  indefati- 
gable authors  of  his  time,  spent  the  last  five  years  of 
his  life  in  Yonkers.  Mr.  Cobb  began  teaching  at 
sixteen,  and  published  his  famous  "  Cobb's  Spelling- 
Book "  at  nineteen  years  of  age.  This  book  went 
into  all  the  schools  of  the  country.  His  subsequently 
published  books  were  very  numerous.  They  included 
five  reading-books,  a  speaker,  a  dictionary,  an  expos- 
itor, a  miniature  lexicon  and  extended  to  many  other 
volumes.  At  his  death  he  left  unfinished  a  concord- 
ance, a  national  dictionary  and  a  pronouncing  Testa- 
ment. Mr.  Cobb  was  as  active  in  humane  enterprises 
as  he  was  in  educational  and  literary  work.  He  was 
a  member  of  each  of  many  benevolent  societies  of 
prominence,  and  a  leader  in  them  all.  He  was  noted 
for  intelligent  zeal,  for  promptness  in  action,  for  kind- 
ness of  heart  and  for  simplicity  of  conduct.  His 
death  occurred  on  October  26,  1864,  and  he  left  in 
Yonkers  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  prominent 
in  Yonkers  business  life,  and  have  both  been  men- 
tioned in  their  places  in  this  work. 

J.  Henry  Pooley,  M.D.,  who  has  been  spoken  of 
among  the  Yonkers  physicians,  was,  during  his  long 
residence  and  practice  in  Yonkers,  a  frequent  writer 
of  pamphlets  and  fugitive  articles  upon  professional 
subjects,  some  of  which  at  least  attracted  wide  notice. 
These  were  his  diversions.  He  did  not  make  writ- 
ing a  profession. 

Several  leading  business  men  of  Yonkers  have  done 
more  or  less  amateur  writing,  now  and  then  throwing 
their  productions  into  pamphlet  form.  Among  these, 
one  is  Mr.  Robert  P.  Getty,  whose  overflowing.life  has 
made  itself  felt  in  so  many  and  such  various  direc- 
tions. Mr.  Getty's  home  delight  has  been  in  his 
library,  within  the  walls  of  which  he  has  collected 
and  systematically  filed  newspapers  and  other  regis- 
ters of  passing  events,  with  which  he  has  kept  up 
familiarity  to  such  a  remarkable  degree  that  he  is  al- 
most an  encyclopaedia  of  the  history  of  New  York  and 


its  vicinity.  He  has  grappled  with  history,  with 
science  and  with  social,  political  and  financial  econ- 
omy, and  has  written  considerably  on  them  all,  and 
many  articles  he  has  printed.  One  little  waif  of  his, 
in  doggerel  verse,  will  keep  his  memory  alive.  It  is 
entitled,  "  Chi-onicles  of  Yonkers."  It  was  published 
in  1864  without  name,  and  thrown  upon  the  tables  of 
a  fair  held  in  the  interest  of  the  New  York  Sanitary 
Commission,  to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  fair.  It 
is  sprightly  and  pungent,  full  of  caustic  allusionsto  the 
early  history  of  Yonkers,  as  well  as  hits  at  the  living 
men  and  the  usages  of  the  place  at  the  time  in  which 
it  was  written.  But,  most  of  all,  it  helps  to  reveal 
the  mind  and  vivacity  of  the  writer,  who  has  himself 
been  one  of  the  institutions  of  Yonkers  since  1849. 

Hon.  G.  Hilton  Scribner,  who  came  to  Yonkers 
about  twenty  years  ago  as  a  practicing  lawyer,  and 
who,  from  1871  to  1873,  was  Secretary  of  State, 
has  now  long  confined  himself  to  the  management  of 
a  New  York  City  railroad.  He  is,  however,  another 
of  the  amateur  writers  of  Yonkers.  His  most  not- 
able production  is  a  monograph,  published  about  two 
years  ago,  entitled  "  Where  did  Life  Begin  ?  "  It  has 
attracted  wide  attention  for  its  subject,  for  the  way  in 
which  the  subject  is  treated,  and  from  the  fact  that 
several  minds  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  seem  al- 
most simultaneously  to  have  set  forth  its  theory, 
which  is,  that  all  life  of  all  varieties  began  at  the 
poles.  Mr.  Scribner  does  not  make  writing  a  pursuit, 
but  writes  in  a  neat,  self-controlled  and  pleasant  style, 
which  always  insures  respectful  attention  for  what- 
ever he  prints. 

Foremost  among  the  writers  of  Yonkers  is  the 
Rev.  Henry  Martyn  Baird,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  an 
accomplished  linguist,  and  one  of  the  best  read 
and  mo.st  scholarly  of  men.  He  has  been  professor 
of  Greek  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York 
since  1859.  His  writings  have  been  numerous.  A 
list  of  them  may  easily  be  obtained.  It  is  enough 
here  to  cite  his  last  and  greatest  work,  entitled  "  Rise 
of  the  Huguenots  of  France,"  published  in  two  vol- 
umes in  1879.  Dr.  Baird  was  widely  known  before, 
but  this  masterly  work  gave  him  a  greatly  increased 
reputation.  Its  style  is  a  model,  it  thrills  with  in- 
terest, its  grasp  is  profound,  and  altogether  it  is  a 
masterpiece.  The  notices  of  it  by  foreign  as  well  as 
home  journals,  while  independent  and  in  many  cases 
ably  critical,  have  been  most  flattering,  and  some 
have  not  hesitated  to  rank  the  work  with  the  great 
histories  of  Prescott  and  Motley.  Dr.  Baird  is  still 
prosecuting  his  researches  into  his  great  subject,  and 
further  volumes,  we  understand,  may  be  expected  in 
due  time. 

Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  the  author  and  teacher  of  physical 
culture,  died  at  his  residence  in  Yonkers,  in  1886, 
from  erysii)elas.  A  couple  of  weeks  before  his  death 
he  fell  from  his  horse  and  received  an  injury  to  his 
left  leg,  below  the  knee.  On  Wednesday  following 
he  came  to  New  York,  and  in  returning  home  was 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


639 


carried  past  Yonkers  to  Hastings.  He  walked  home, 
a  distance  of  about  four  miles.  The  exertion  proved 
too  much  for  his  injured  log,  causing  erysipelas  to 
set  in. 

Dr.  Lewis  was  a  native  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
sixty-three  years  old.  He  studied  medicine  in  the 
Harvard  Medical  School,  and  began  the  practice  of 
his  profession  in  Auburn  in  1845,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two.  Two  years  later  he  removed  to  Buffalo, 
where  he  practiced  five  years,  and  wrote  and  pub- 
lished a  number  of  papers  on  the  causes  and  treat- 
ment of  cholera,  which  ravaged  that  city  in  1849  and 
1851.  Dr.  Lewis  during  those  years  of  practice  be- 
came impressed  with  the  necessity  of  physical  culture 
to  prevent  disease,  and  in  1855  he  gave  up  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession,  and  began  a  course  of  lecturing 
and  writing  on  the  subject  of  public  and  personal 
hygiene.  During  four  years  he  lectured  almost  every 
night,  giving  his  days  to  the  invention  of  his  new 
system  of  gymnastics. 

In  18(j0,  having  j)erfected  this  system,  he  aban- 
doned the  platform  and  settled  in  Boston,  where  he 
established  his  normal  school  for  physical  training. 
He  was  assisted  in  teaching  by  the  cele- 
brated Dr.  Walter  Channing,  Dr.  Thomas 
Hoskins  and  other  well-known  medical 
scholars,  and  within  seven  years  more  than 
four  hundred  persons  had  been  graduated 
from  his  normal  school,  and  were  spreading 
the  principles  of  his  system  of  physical  training 
throughout  the  land.  He  next  established  a  seminary 
for  girls  in  Lexington,  Mass.,  his  object  being  to  illus- 
trate the  possibilities  in  the  physical  development  of 
girls'during  their  school-life.  This  seminary  rapidly 
became  popular,  and  attracted  pupils  from  all  parts  of 
the  country  and  even  from  Central  America  and  the 
West  Indies.  Dr.  Lewis  remained  in  Boston  until  1882, 
when  he  removed  to  Yonkers  and  established  a  maga- 
zine in  Xew  York  devoted  to  sanitary  and  social 
science,  and  known  as  IHo  Lewis'  Monthbj. 

Dr.  Lewis  published  a  number  of  books  on  physical 
culture  which  had  a  wide  circulation,  the  most  promi- 
nent of  them  being  "Our  Girls,"  "Our  Digestion" 
and  "  Weak  Lungs." 

Besides  the  authors  mentioned,  the  celebrated  nov- 
elist Mrs.  E.  D.  E.  N.  Southworth  has  been  a  resident 
of  Yonkers  since  1876.  She  was  born  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  December  26,  1819,  her  parents  being 
Charles  Le  Compte  Nevitte,  a  merchant  of  Alexan- 
dria, Va.,  and  Susannah  George  Wailes  Nevitte,  of 
St.  Mary's,  Md.  She  married  Frederick  H.  South- 
worth,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  1840.  Her  first  story  was 
written  in  the  latter  part  of  1846,  and  published  in 
the  Baltimore  Saturday  Visitor  of  that  year.  From 
1847  to  1857  all  her  writings  were  issued  in  the  Wash- 
ington National  Era.  Her  first  novel  in  book-form 
was  published  by  the  Harpers  of  New  York,  in  1849, 
after  having  been  run  through  tl;e  Era.  From  1857 
she  has  been  writing  for  the  Nev  York  Ledger. 


Since  the  latter  year  she  has  published  through 
the  New  York  Ledger  only.  She  is  at  present  (Decem- 
ber, 1885)  writing  her  sixty-seventh  novel.  Her 
works  have  been  republished  in  P^ngland,  and  trans- 
lated into  German,  French  and  Spanish.  Mrs.  South- 
worth  is  a  lady  of  refinement,  of  great  intelligence 
and  extensive  reading,  esjiecially  familiar  with  all  the 
characters  and  phases  of  Washington  life,  and  a  most 
interesting  conversationalist.  She  is  so  devoted  to  her 
work  as  to  be  seldom  seen  in  public.  She  is  under- 
stood to  be  an  admirer  and  perhaps  a  disciple  of 
Swedenborg.  Her  disposition  is  one  of  great  amia- 
bility, and  she  is  noted  for  her  practical  sympathy 
with  and  ready  hand  for  all  who  are  in  trial  and  need. 

It  would  not  be  possible  to  give  the  names  of  all 
Yonkers  men  and  women  who  have  simply  published 
pamphlets  or  been  active  in  newspaper  correspond- 
ence. Among  the  latter  have  been  several  Yonkers 
ladies,  some  of  whom  have  been  professional  paper 
and  magazine  contributors,  writing  under  assumed 
names.  We  have  tried  to  recall  at  least  all  writers  of 
books,  and  hope  that  to  this  extent  our  effort  has 
been  a  success. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CIVIL  HISTORY. 

BY  REV.  WILLIAM  J.  CUMMING, 
Of  Yorktown. 

October  3,  1642,  John  Throgmorton  (or  Throck- 
morton) and  some  friends,  who  had  suffered  in  the 
persecution  against  Roger  Williams,  obtained  permis- 
sion of  the  authorities  of  the  New  Netherlands  to 
settle  thirty-five  families  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Westchester,  and  doubtless  the  settlement  was  made 
shortly  after  this  date.  This  territory  had  been  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians  in  1640,  and  bore  the  name 
Vredeland — land  of  peace.  '  This  grant  was  con- 
firmed by  William  Kieft,  director-general,  July  6, 
1643.  John  (or  Jan)  Throckmorton  was  to  receive 
the  land  in  fee-simple  and  to  be  allowed  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  religion,  on  condition  that  he,  his  associates 
and  successors  should  "  acknowledge  as  their  lords 
and  patroons"  the  Dutch  authorities.  This  grant 
really  made  John  Throckmorton  the  patroon  of  the 
portion  of  Vredeland  granted  to  him.  The  settle- 
ment was  designated  by  the  Dutch  Oostdorp  and  by 
the  English  Easttown.  This  is  the  first  civil  division 
in  what  is  now  Westchester  County,  ^  in  which,  doubt- 


■O'Callaghan'e  "Historj'  of  the  New  Netherlaods,"  vol.  ii.  p.  312. 
2  See  "  History  of  Town  of  Westchester,"  below. 


640 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


less,  English  ideas  and  government,  subject  to  the 
supremacy  of  the  Dutch,  prevailed, 

August  3,  1639,  the  Dutch  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  land  on  the  Hudson,  north  of  Manhattan  Island, 
from  the  Indians.  In  1646,  Adriaen  van  der  Donck 
received  a  grant  of  this  tract,  called  Nepperhaem, 
where  Yonkers  now  stands,  from  the  Dutch.  '  This 
grant  was  made  under  the  "  Charter  of  Privileges  and 
Exemptions,"  issued  June  7,  1629,  "  which  provided 
that  any  member  of  the  company  who  should  pur- 
chase of  the  Indians,  and  found  in  any  part  of  New 
Netherland  (except  Manhattan)  a  colonic  of  fifty 
persons  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  should  be  in  all  re- 
spects the  feudal  lord  and  patroon  of  the  territory  of 
which  he  should  thus  take  possession."  ^  This  colony 
bears  the  name  of  Colen  Donck.  Here  we  have  the 
second  civil  division. 

In  1655,  Thomas  Pell,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  laid  claim 
to  Vredeland  under  color  of  an  Indian  conveyance 
of  November  14,  1654,  and  called  it  Westchester. 
Settlement  took  place  shortly  after  by  the  English 
from  New  England.  April  2,  1655,  the  Dutch  or- 
dered them  off.  March  6,  1656,  an  order  was  issued 
by  the  director-general  and  Council  for  the  arrest  of 
the  English  intruders.  A  force,  sent  for  the  purpose, 
arrested  twenty-three  persons  and  brought  them  to 
New  Amsterdam.  On  the  16th  the  prisoners  offered 
to  submit  to  the  Dutch  authority.  Their  offer  was  ac- 
cepted. They  requested  the  privilege  of  choosing 
their  own  officers  and  of  making  and  administering 
their  own  laws.  They  were  granted  the  same  privi- 
leges as  the  freemen  of  the  villages  of  Middleborough, 
Brenkelen,  Midwout  and  Amersfoort.  They  were 
allowed  to  nominate  double  the  number  of  persons, 
from  whom  the  executive  would  make  selections. 
These  officers  were  called  "Schepens."^  *  The  civil 
designation  originally  given  to  Throckmorton's  set- 
tlement Oostdorp  or  Easitown,  was  continued. 

"  In  the  municipal  government  of  these  settlements  two  systems,  es- 
sentially different  ill  principle  obtained.  In  the  'Colonies  '  the  superin- 
tending power  was  lodged  in  one  individuiil,  who,  though  the  immediate 
vassal  of  the  sovereign  authority  from  which  he|  derived  his  lauds,  was 
himself  lord  paramount  in  his  manor,  where  he  not  only  represented 
the  sovereign,  but  exercised  feudal  jurisdiction  over  his  colonists,  who 
stood  towards  him  in  the  same  relation  ho  occupied  towards  tlie  supreme 
head  of  the  State.  ...  In  return  for  this  obedience  the  patroon  was 
bound  to  protect  the  colonists,  who  had  the  ailditioual  right  to  address 
themselves  by  appeal  to  the  supreme  authority  at  Amsterdam,  in  case 
they  were  either  aggrieved  or  oppressed.  .  .  . 

"Towns  or  communes  sometimes  acquired  independence  of  these 
feudal  lords,  and  held  their  privileges  directly  from  the  crown.  They 
were  incorporated  and  held  land  in  fee,  and  possessed  the  rights  of 
patroons.  They  named  persons  from  whom  the  executive  selected  offi- 
cers called  '  schepens. '  These  constituted  a  board  of  conmiunication  with 
their  sovereign  head,  were  a  local  court  of  justice,  and  had  a  sellout  or 
sheriff,  a  secretary  and  a  marshal.  Their  official  term  was  one  year. 
One  hundred  years  before  the  Dutch  settlement  there  were  in  Holland 


1  O'Callaghan's  '■  History  of  the  New  Netherlanile,"  vol.  ii.  p.  382. 

2  Civil  List  of  State  of  Xew  York,  1880,  p.  57. 
» O'Callaghan's  "Hist,  of  S.  H." 

<  O'Callaghan's  "  History  of  X.  H.,"  pp.  312-313. 
'  There  is  among  the  records  of  the  town  of  Westchester  one  entitled 
'  The  Book  of  Courts  Acts  from  16.57  to  ViGl.  ' 


300  such  municipalities.  Both  ideas  came  with  the  people  and  were 
found  here. 

"  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  while  every  colonie,  and  almost  every  ham- 
let, had  its  local  magistracy,  the  citizens  of  New  Amsterdam  [New  York 
City],  the  capital  of  the  whole  province,  continued,  greatly  to  their  dis- 
content, without  a  voice  in  the  management  of  their  municipal  affairs. 
The  government  of  the  city  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Director- 
General  and  his  council."  ' 

Colendonck,  (Yonkers)  was  under  the  government 
of  a  patroon,  such  as  is  described  above  ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing statement  gives  some  idea  of  the  "  Charter  of 
Privileges  and  Exemptions"  issued  by  the  West 
India  Company's  College  of  Nineteen,  June  7,  1629, 
in  accordance  with  which  the  grant  was  made  tO' 
Van  der  Donck : 

"The  Patroon  had  power  to  appoint  officers  and  magistrates  in  all' 
towns  and  cities  on  his  lands  ;  to  hold  manorial  courts,  from  which,  in 
cases  where  the  judgment  exceeded  fifty  guilders,  the  only  appeal  was  to 
the  Director-General  and  Council  ;  in  short,  to  hold  and  govern  liis 
great  manor  with  as  absolute  a  rule  as  any  baron  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  power  of  the  Patroons  over  their  tenants  was  almost  unlimited.  No 
man  or  woman,  son  or  daughter,  man-servant  or  maid-servant  could 
leave  a  Patroon's  service  during  the  time  they  had  agreed  to  remain, 
except  by  his  written  consent,  no  matter  what  abuses  or  breaches  of  con- 
tract existed  on  part  of  the  Patroon.  This  charter  prescribed  regula- 
tions and  granted  privileges  with  regard  to  trade,  gave  to  the  freemen 
all  the  land  they  could  cultivate,  and  exempted  them  from  taxation  for 
ten  years.  Churches  and  schools  were  required  to  be  established,  and 
the  manufacture  of  cloths  was  prohibited.  The  company  retained  the 
fur  trade  and  fettered  commerce.  Several  directors  of  the  company 
availed  themselves  of  the  advantages  offered.  The  Patroon  of  Bens- 
selaerswyck,  however,  was  the  only  one  who  established  a  manorial 
court,  and  he  rendered  the  privilege  of  appeal  nugatory  by  exacting  of 
his  tenants,  as  a  condition  to  the  occupation  of  land,  that  they  would  not 
avail  themselves  of  it.  This  monopoly  had  a  disastrous  effect  upon  the 
colony.  Differences  arose  between  the  company  and  the  Patroons,  and 
a  new  policy  wa.'^,  therefore,  inaugurated.  In  1638  free  emigration  was 
encouraged,  and  in  164<)  (.luly  19)  the  College  of  Nineteen  passed  an  or- 
dinance materially  modifying  the  Charter  of  Privileges  and  Exemptions. 
The  policy  of  free  emigration,  free  lands  and  free  trade,  incomplete  as  it 
was,  increased  at  once  the  prosperity  of  the  colony."  ' 

In  what  is  now  Westchester  County  we  have,  there- 
fore, both  systems — in  Colendonck  the  government  of 
a  patroon  or  feudal  baron,  in  Oostdorf  the  commune 
or  town,  with  some  local  autonomy. 

The  New  Netherlands  were  governed  by  the  ''Dutch 
Roman  [or  Civil]  Law,  the  imperial  statutes  of  Charles 
v.,  and  the  edicts,  customs  and  resolutions  of  the 
United  Netherlands'*  and  such  ordiuances  as  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company  should  prescribe. 

The  boundary  between  the  New  England  colonies 
and  the  New  Netherlands  had  been  in  dispute.  By 
the  treaty  of  1650  Greenwich  on  the  main  land  and 
Oyster  Bay  on  Long  Island  became  the  eastern  limits 
of  the  latter. '  November  15,  1663,  Westchester  was 
ceded  by  Stuyvesant  to  Connecticut,  and  English  law 
and  customs  prevailed.  Less  than  a  year  later,  Sep- 
tember 8, 1664,  the  New  Netherlands  surrendered  to  an 
English  squadron  under  Richard  Nicolls.  The  New 
Netherlands  became  New  York,  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  w&re  succeeded  by  the  Duke  of  York 
(to  whom  his  brother,  Charles  II.,  "  by  the  most  des- 

6  O'Callaghan's  "  Histoiy  of  N.  N.,"  pp.  391-393. 

'  Civil  List  of  State  of  N.  Y.,  1880,  pp.  57-.58. 

9  Civil  List  of  state  of  N.  Y.,  1880,  p.  23. 

3 Bancroft's  "Hist,  of  U.S."  (last  edition),  vol.  i.  p.  508. 


CIVIL  HISTOKY. 


641 


potic  instrument  recorded  in  the  colonial  archives  of 
England,"  which  ignored  alike  English  charters  and 
Dutch  claims),'  and  the  civil  law  gave  place  to  the 
common  law.  With  the  exception  of  a  brief  period  of 
Dutch  occupation  in  1673  to  1674,  English  rule  re- 
mained until  the  Revolution.  Anglo-Saxon  ideas 
and  customs  still  predominate.  Richard  Nicolls  took 
Stuyvesant's  place,  and  found  it  profitable  employ- 
ment, for  the  fees  received,  to  issue  new  patents  to  the 
old  settlers.  The  Duke  of  York,  whose  deputy  the 
Governor  was,  promised  more  privileges  than  he  ever 
gave. 

County  under  English  Rule. — Changes  in  the 
proprietors  and  systems  brought  with  them  local 
changes.  Colendonck  (Yonkers),  the  second  civil  divi- 
sion of  what  is  now  called  Westchester  County,  had 
been  blotted  from  the  map  by  the  massacre  of  its  in- 
habitants by  the  Algonquin  Indians  in  September, 
1655.-  Nothing  remained  but  the  charter.  In  1664, 
only  Westchester,  formerly  called  by  the  Dutch  Oost- 
dorp,  or  Easttown,  remained.  "A  convention  of  two 
delegates  from  each  town  on  Long  Island'  was  held 
at  Hempstead  in  February,  1665,  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  from  the  Governor  the  code  which  he  had 
prepared,  and  which  was  called '  the  Duke's  Laws.'  The 
code  was  chiefly  compiled  from  laws  then  in  force  in 
New  England,  'with  an  abatement  of  the  severity 
against  such  as  differ  in  matters  of  conscience  and 
religion.'  The  only  popular  feature  of  the  code  was 
the  one  organizing  the  town  courts.  It  provided 
for  the  election,  by  a  majority  of  the  freeholders  of 
each  town,  of  eight  overseers,  to  try  minor  causes, 
and  adopt  local  ordinances,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  Court  of  Assize.  Four  were  to  retire  each  year, 
and  from  them  a  constable  was  to  be  elected  on  the 
1st  or  2d  of  April,  to  act  with  the  overseers,  his 
election  being  subject  to  confirmation  by  the  justice, 
in  whose  hands  the  local  administration  was  really 
vested.  Long  Island,  Stateu  Island  and  parts  of  West- 
chester were  united  in  a  shrievalty  called  Y'orkshire, 
and  divided  into  three  districts,  called  ridings.  The 
English  system  of  sheriff's  courts  was  introduced. 
Ttie  Governor  and  the  Council  appointed  each  year  a 
sheriff  for  the  whole  of  Yorkshire,  and  three  justices 
of  the  peace  for  each  riding,  who  were  to  continue  in 
office  during  the  Governors  pleasure,  and  were  to  hold 
a  Court  of  Sessions  in  each  riding  three  times  a  year, 
in  which  the  Governor  or  any  of  his  councilors  might 
preside.  Besides  their  local  duties,  the  high  sheriff" and 
justices  were  to  sit  with  the  Governor  and  his  Council 
in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province,  called  the  Court 
of  Assize,  which  was  to  meet  at  New  Y'ork  once  a 
year,  on  the  last  Thursday  in  September.  This  court 
was  also  a  legislative  body,  as  it  was  invested  with 
'  the  supreme  power  of  making,  altering  and  abolish- 

>  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the  U.  S.,"'  vol.  i.  p.  518  (last  edition). 

Ibid. 

'This  ii  a  mistake;  Westchester  was  repreeeDted  by  Edward  Jeesup 
and  John  Qiiinby. 
60-61 


ing  any  laws,'  except  customs  laws,  in  which  it  could 
only  recommend  changes.  Town  officers  were  required 
to  make  assessments  annually,  and  taxes  were  levied 
through  the  Courts  of  Sessions,  which  made  requisi- 
tions upon  the  town  authorities.  The  delegates  to  the 
convention  asked  for  power  to  choose  their  local  magis- 
trates. This  was  denied,  the  Governor  exhibiting  his 
instructions  from  the  Duke  of  York,  'wherein  the 
choice  of  all  the  officers  of  justice  was  solely  to  be 
made  by  the  Governor.'"  *  From  1665  to  1683  the 
inhabited  portion  this  county  formed,  with  Staten 
Island,  Kings  County  and  Newtown,  the  West  Riding 
of  Yorkshire. 

Westchester  County,  with  substantially  the  same 
boundaries  as  at  present,  was  erected,  November 
1,  1683,  by  the  following  act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
assented  to  by  the  Governor  and  Council : 

"An  Act  to  divide  the  Province  of  New  York  and  dependencies  into  shiret 
and  counties^  et:. 

"  Having  taken  into  consideration  the  necessity  of  dividing  the  Prov- 
ince into  respective  countys,  for  the  better  governing  and  settling  courts 
in  the  same,  be  it  enacted  by  the  Governor.  Council  and  the  Represen- 
tatives, and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  the  said  Province  be  di- 
vided into  twelve  countys  as  foUoneth  .  The  County  of  Westchester  to 
conteyne.  West  and  Eastcliester,  Bronx-land,  Fordham,  Anne  Hook's 
Neck,  Richbell's,  Miuiford's  Islands,  and  all  the  land  on  the  uiaine  to 
the  eastward  of  Manhattan's  Island,  as  farre  as  the  government  extends, 
and  the  Yonker's  land,  and  northward  along  Hudson's  Kiver  as  fane  as 
the  Highland.  .  .  . 

"The  bill  having  been  three  times  read  before  the  governor  and 
Council,  is  assented  to  the  first  of  November,  1683."' 

This  act  is  confirmed  by  one  passed  October  1, 
1691  (3d  William  and  Mary). 

The  dividing  line  between  this  State  and  Connecti- 
cut was  in  dispute.  As  this  was  a  border  county,  it 
was  involved.  Prior  to  the  taking  of  the  New  Neth- 
erlands by  the  English  a  controversy  was  going  on 
between  the  Dutch  and  colony  of  Connecticut.  This 
was  inevitable  from  the  fact  that  the  charters  came 
from  different  nations.  There  could  have  been 
but  one  outcome — the  Dutch  were  obliged  to  yield 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Connecticut  would  have 
pushed  their  settlements  to  the  Hudson  River.  The 
charters  granted  by  the  English  did  not  settle  matters. 
The  Duke  of  York's  domain  extended  to  the  Con- 
necticut River,  that  of  Connecticut  to  the  "South 
Sea." 

The  determination  of  the  boundary  line  settled  the 
civil  status  of  Bedford  and  Rye.  Both  colonies  ac- 
knowledging one  supreme  authority  an  amicable  ad- 
justment was  possible.  Commissioners  were  sent  over 
for  the  purpose  in  1664.  The  line  decided  upon  was 
to  be  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson  River  and  was 
located  at  the  Mamaroneck  River.  The  towns  named 
above  fell  to  our  neighbor.  The  matter  was  reopened 
in  1683  and  the  dividing  line  placed  by  agreement  at 
Byram  River.    Bedford  and  Rye  became  a  part  of 


■•Civil  List  of  State  of  New  York,  1880,  pp.  45  and  46. 
Provincial  Laws  of  X.  Y.,  Co.  Clerk's  Office,  Queen's  Co.,  L.  I.,  as 
quoted  by  Bolton — "  History  of  West  Co.,"  vol.  i.  pp.  7  and  8  (new  edi- 
tion). 


642 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


New  York.  The  King  died  before  this  settlement  re- 
ceived his  approval,  and  the  subject  was  an  open  one 
once  more.  March  29,  1700,  William  III.  approved 
of  the  agreement  of  1683.  The  line  was  not  finally 
established  until  May  14,  1731,  by  which  the  "  Ob- 
long," a  tract  of  sixty-one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  forty  acres,  extending  as  far  north  as  the  Massa- 
chusetts line,  was  ceded  to  New  York,  in  compensa- 
tion for  loss  of  territory  along  the  Sound,  in  addition 
to  the  towns  named  above.  That  portion  of  the  "  Ob- 
long "  which  belongs  to  this  county  was  erected  into 
the  town  of  Salem  (now  Lewisboro).  By  an  act  enti- 
tled "  An  Act  to  ascertain  Part  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  Boundaries  of  the  County  of  Westchester 
and  Eastern  Boundaries  of  the  County  of  Orange  and 
Part  of  the  Northern  Bounds  of  Queens  County," 
passed  December  31,  1768  (9th  George  III.),  the  wa- 
ter boundaries  were  given  more  definitely. 

Courts. — By  the  act  of  1683,  Westchester  was 
made  the  county-town,  and  the  courts  there  estab- 
lished. From  the  report  to  the  Committee  on  Trade 
on  province  of  New  York,  of  February  22, 1687,  made 
by  Governor  Dongan,  who  had  summoned  the  General 
Assembly  of  1683,  we  gain  some  idea  of  the  courts 
established  by  the  act  referred  to, — 

Courts  of  Justice  are  uow  established  by  Act  of  Assembly,  and  they 
are  : 

"  1.  The  Court  of  Chancery,  consisting  of  Governor  and  Council,  is  the 
Supreme  Court  of  this  province,  to  which  appeals  may  be  brought  from 
any  other  court. 

"  2.  The  Assembly  finding  the  inconvenience  of  bringing  y«  ]ieace, 
sheriffs,  constables  @  other  persons  concerned  from  the  remote  parts  of 
this  government  to  'New  York,  did,  instead  of  the  Court  of  Assizes  which 
was  yearly  held  for  the  whole  Government  of  this  province,  erect  a  Court 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  to  be  held  once  every  year  within  each  county, 
for  the  determining  of  such  matters  asshould  arise  within  them  respect- 
ively, the  members  of  which  court  were  appointed  to  be  one  of  the  two 
judges  of  this  province,  assisted  by  three  justices  of  the  peace  of  that 
wherein  such  court  is  held,  which  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  has  like- 
wise power  to  hear  appeals  from  any  inferior  Court. 

"  4.  There  is  likewise  in  every  county,  twice  in  every  year  (except  in 
New  York,  where  its  four  times,  (a'  in  Albany,  where  its  thrice),  Courts 
of  Sessions  held  by  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  respective  counties, 
as  in  England. 

"5.  In  every  town  within  y  Government  there  are  3  Commissioners 
appointed  to  hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  dif!erence  not  exceeding 
the  value  of  £.3,  which  shall  happen  in  the  respective  towns,"  1 

By  the  act  of  General  Assembly  })assed  May  6, 1691, 
and  ordinance  of  1(599,  several  changes  were  made  in 
the  judicial  system  of  the  iirovince.  A  Supreme 
Court  was  established,  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Termi- 
ner as  a  distinct  court  was  abolished,  and  its  jurisdic- 
tion vested  in  the  Supreme  Court,  which  retained  also 
the  name  for  its  criminal  circuit,  the  functions  of  the 
Court  of  Sessions  were  confined  to  criminal  matters, 
and  a  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  erected  for  each  coun- 
ty, with  cognizance  of  all  actions,  real,  personal  and 
jnixed,  where  the  value  exceeded  five  pounds.  From 
the  civil  list  of  the  province  of  New  York  for  1693^ 
we  learn  something  of  civil  affairs  in  this  county, — 


"  Justices  in  Westchester  County  :  Caleb  Heathcote,  Esqr.,  Judge  of 
Common  Pleas  ;  Joseph  Theall,  Wm.  Barnes,  Daniel  Strange,  James 
Mott,  John  Hunt,  Thomas  Chadderton,  ThomasPinckney,  Esqrs.;  Benj. 
Collier,  Sheriff ;  Joseph  Lee,  Clerk  of  County  ;  Collectors,  Assessors  and 
Constables  elective. 

An  account  of  all  Eslabliskmenls  of  Jurisdiction  Within  this  Province. 
Singh  Justice. — Every  Justice  of  the  Peace  hath  power  to  determine 
any  suite  or  controversy  to  the  value  of  40s. 

"  Quarter  Sessions. — The  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  Quarter  Sessions  have 
all  such  powers  and  authorities  as  are  granted  in  a  commission  of  y' 
Peace  in  England. 

'•  Count//  Court. — The  County  Court  or  Common  Pleas  hath  cognizance 
of  Civil  Accons  to  any  value,  excepting  what  concerns  title  of  land  and 
noe  Accon  can  be  removed  from  this  court,  if  the  damage  be  under  €20. 

"  Sujireme  Court. — The  Supreme  Court  hath  powers  of  King's  Bench, 
Common  Pleas  &  Exchequer  in  England  and  noe  Acc6n  can  be  removed 
from  this  court  if  under  £100. 

"Chancery. — The  Governor  &  Council  are  a  Court  of  Chancery  and 
have  powers  of  the  chancery  in  England,  from  whose  sentence  or  decree 
nothing  can  be  removed  under  £300. 

"  Prerogative  Court. — The  Governor  discharges  the  place  of  Ordinary 
in  granting  administracOns  and  proveing  Wills,  etc.  The  Secretary  is 
Register.  The  Governor  is  about  to  appoint  Delegates  in  the  remoter 
parts  of  the  Government,  with  supervisors  for  looking  after  intestate's 
estates  and  provideing  for  orphans." 

Minor  criminal  offenses  were  looked  after  by  the 
Court  of  Sessions,  and  the  more  flagrant  by  the  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  their  circuits  through  the 
counties.  They  had  for  this  purpose  "a  commission 
of  oyer  and  terminer  and  general  jail  delivery,  in 
which  some  of  the  county  judges  were  joined."'^ 

Smith,  in  his  "  History  of  New  York,"  gives  us  an 
interesting  account  of  the  courts  as  they  were  in 
1757,— 

"Justices  of  the  peace  are  appointed  by  commission  from  the  Govern- 
ors, who,  to  serve  their  purposes  in  elections,  sometimes  grant,  as  it  is 
called,  the  administration  to  particular  favorites  in  each  county,  which  is 
the  nomination  of  officers  civil  and  military  ;  and  by  these  means  jus- 
tices have  been  astcmisliingly  multiplied.  There  are  instances  of  some  of 
these  who  can  neither  write  nor  read.  These  Genii,  besides  their  ordi- 
nary powers,  are  by  acts  of  assembly  enabled  to  hold  courts  for  the  de- 
termination of  small  causes  of  5  pounds  and  under  ;  but  the  parties  are 
privileged,  if  they  choose  it,  with  a  jury  ;  the  proceedings  are  in  a  sum- 
mary way,  and  the  conduct  of  the  justices  has  given  just  cause  to  innu- 
merable complaints.  The  justices  have  also  jurisdiction  with  crimes 
under  the  degree  of  grand  larceny  ;  for  any  three  of  them  (one  being 
of  the  quorum)  may  try  the  criminal  without  a  jury,  and  inflict  punish 
ments  not  extending  to  life  or  limb. 

"  The  Sessions  and  Court  of  Common  Pleat. — The  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  takes  cognizance  of  all  causes  where  the  matter  in  demand  is  in 
value  above  5  ponmls.  It  is  established  by  ordinance  of  the  Governor  in 
Council.  The  judges  are  ordinarily  three,  and  hold  their  offices  during 
pleasure.  Thro'  the  infancy  of  the  country,  few,  if  any  of  them,  are 
acquainted  with  the  law.  The  practice  of  these  courts  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  common  bench  at  Westminster.  They  have  each  a  clerk,  conunis- 
sioned  by  the  Governor,  who  issues  their  writs,  enters  their  minutes  and 
keeps  the  records  of  the  country.  They  are  held  twice  every  year. 
These  judges,  together  with  some  of  the  justices,  hold  at  the  same  time 
a  court  of  general  sessions  of  the  peace.    .    .  . 

"  Sujjreme  Court. — The  judges  of  this  court,  according  to  the  act  of 
Assembly,  are  judges  of  the  Nisi  Prius^  of  course,  and  agreeably  to  an  or- 
dinance of  the  Governor  and  Co\incil,  perform  a  circuit  thro'  the  counties 
once  every  year.  They  carry  with  them  at  the  same  time,  a  commission 
of  oyer  and  terminer  and  general  jail  delivery,  in  which  some  of  the 
county  justices  are  joined.  The.v  have  but  two  clerks — one  attendant 
upon  the  Supreme  Court  at  New  York  and  the  other  on  the  circuits."  * 

From  these  accounts  and  other  sources  we  gain 
some  idea  of  the  judicial  system  of  the  county  during 


1  O'Callaghau's  "Doc.  History  of  N.  Y.,"  vol.  i.  pp.  147 and  148. 
-'  O'Callaghau's  "  Doc.  History  of  N.  Y.,''  vol.  i.  pp.  ai.'i  and  319. 


s  Civil  List,  1880,  p.  209. 

'•Smith's  "History  of  N.  Y.,"  vol.  i.  pp.  3i;0-377. 


CIVIL 


colonial  times.  Under  the  Duke's  Laws  there  ex- 
isted a  Court  of  Sessions  with  both  civil  and  criminal 
jurisdiction,  held  three  times  a  year  by  the  resident 
justices  of  the  peace  and  the  Town  Court,  held  by  the 
constable  and  at  least  five  overseers  of  town.  The 
latter  court  had  both  legislative  and  judicial  func- 
tions, while  the  former  exercised  some  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  supervisors.'  From  1C83  to  1G91  we  have 
the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  with  civil,  criminal 
and  appellate  jurisdiction,  held  by  one  judge  and 
three  resident  justices  of  the  peace ;  a  Court  of  Sessions, 
with  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  and  power  to 
audit  and  levy  tlie  county  and  town  charg»^s,  held 
twice  each  year ;  and  a  Town  Court,  held  by  three 
commissioners.  From  1691  to  1776  there  were  Cir- 
cuit Courts  held  annually  by  one  of  the  Supreme 
Court  justices,  who  had  a  commission  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer,  in  which  some  of  the  county  judges  were 
associated  ;  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  composed  of 
one  judge  and  two  or  more  justices  of  the  peace,  which 
took  cognizance  of  all  actions,  real,  personal  and 
mixed,  where  the  matter  in  demand  exceeded  the 
sum  of  five  pounds  in  value  ;  the  Court  of  Sessions, 
whose  jurisdiction  was  now  confined  to  criminal 
cases  ;  the  Justice's  Court  in  the  various  towns.  The 
people  had  comparatively  little  voice  in  their  own 
government.  The  judges  of  the  various  courts,  jus- 
tices of  peace,  sheriff,  county  clerk,  surrogate,  and, 
in  fact,  all  officers,  except  the  town  officers  (supervis- 
ors, collectors,  assessors  and  constables),  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor,  who  was  responsible  only 
to  the  King.  Most  of  the  officers  thus  appointed  held 
office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Governor.  This  con- 
dition of  affairs  produced  dissatisfaction  among  the 
people,  and  led  to  an  almost  perpetual  conflict  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  General  Assembly. 
The  elective  officers  were  the  overseers,  supervisors, 
collectors,  assessors  and  constables  of  the  town,  the 
mayor,  aldermen  and  Common  Council  of  the  town  or 
borough  of  Westchester,-  (  which  had  a  special  charter) 
and  representatives  in  the  General  Assembly. 

CorxTY  uxDER  THE  CONSTITUTION. — When  New 
York  ceased  to  be  a  colony  of  England  and  became 
an  independent  State,  great  and  radical  changes  in 
principle  were  made,  yet  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment was  but  little  changed.  The  source  of  authority 
was  changed,  not  its  expression.  The  Constitution  of 
1777  substituted  for  a  Governor  appointed  by  the 
King  one  elected  by  the  people ;  the  Council  ap- 
pointed by  the  King  or  Governor  became  a  Senate, 
elected  by  the  people ;  and  the  General  Assembly 
elected  by  the  people  remained.  The  apportionment 
in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  \vi\s  according  to 
population, — a  principle  not  previously  recognized. 
The  number  of  elective  officers  remained  the  same,  but 
the  appointing  pow»r  was  vested  in  the  Council  of 


•  See  Supervisors,  below. 

2  See  Histori'  of  Town  of  Westchester. 


HISTORY.  643 


Appointment,  presided  over  by  the  Governor,  who 

had  a  casting  vote,  consisting  of  one  Senator  elected 
annually  by  the  Assembly  from  each  of  the  four  sena- 
torial districts.  A  Governor  and  Council  holding  office 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  King  gave  place  to  a  Governor 
and  a  Council  elected  by  the  people  for  a  limited 
term,  and  thus  became  directly  amenable  to  them. 
The  elective  franchise  in  principle  remained  the 
same,  with  the  single  exception  that  there  was  no 
discrimination  on  account  of  religion.  The  property 
qualification  was  still  retained.  The  judicial  system 
remained  largely  the  same.  The  common  and 
statute  law  of  Great  Britain  and  the  acts  of  Colonial 
General  Assembly,  except  so  far  as  they  conflicted 
with  the  new  order  of  things,  were  made  the  law  of 
the  State  until  modified  by  the  Legislature.  The 
radical  change  was  in  the  constitution  of  the  court  of 
final  resort.  Under  the  colonial  system  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  were  the  court  for  the  correc- 
tion of  errors  and  appeals,  from  whom  appeals, 
where  the  value  exceeded  five  hundred  pounds,  or 
where  the  Episcopal  Church  was  involved,  lay  to  the 
King  in  Privy  Council.  Under  the  first  constitution 
the  executive  had  no  judicial  functions;  the  court  of 
final  resort  was  called  the  Court  for  the  Trial  of 
Impeachments  and  the  Correction  of  Errors,  consisting 
of  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  Senate,  chancellor  and 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  One  other  important 
change  was  made.  In  England  the  granting  of  pro- 
bates was  a  royal  prerogative  and  in  the  colony  was 
vested  in  the  King's  representative,  the  Governor. 
The  Governor  of  the  State  was  stripped  of  this  au- 
thority, which  was  granted  to  the  surrogates  of  the 
counties  and  the  Court  of  Probate.  With  these  ex- 
ceptions, the  colonial  courts  were  recognized,  and 
we  have  the  Court  of  Chancery  with  equity  powers, 
the  Supreme  Court,  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Court  of 
Sessions  and  the  Justices'  Courts.  Their  powers  re- 
mained substantially  the  same.  The  Supreme  Court 
judges  held  Circuit  Courts  and  Courts  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer  in  each  of  the  counties.  In  the  latter,  two 
or  more  judges  of  the  Common  Pleas  were  associated. 

The  Constitution  of  1821  extended  the  elective 
franchise  by  virtually  removing  the  property  qualifi- 
cation, except  in  the  case  of  colored  persons,  who 
were  to  be  freeholders  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars and  tax-payers.  The  appointing  power  was 
vested  in  the  Governor  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate.  The  offices  of  sheriff  and  county  clerk 
became  elective  (term  of  service  three  years).  The 
justices  of  the  peace  were  to  be  appointed  by  the 
supervisors  and  judges  of  the  County  Court. 

The  courts  in  name  remained  the  same,  but  the 
constitution  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  somewhat 
changed  and  a  Circuit  Court  was  added.  "The 
Supreme  Court  sat  four  times  a  year  in  review  of 
their  decisions  and  for  the  determination  of  questions 
of  law.  Each  justice  was  empowered  to  hold  circuit 
courts  and  any  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  could 


644 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


likewise  preside  at  the  Oyer  and  Terminer." '  ^ 
The  Constitution  provided  that  the  State  should 
be  divided  into  not  less  than  four  nor  more  than 
eight  circuits-'  Each  district  had  its  circuit  judge, 
who  possessed  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  at  chambers,  in  the  trial  of  issues  joined  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  in  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner. The  Courts  of  Common  Pleas  and  Sessions 
and  Justices'  Court  were  continued.  Prior  to  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution  most  offices  were  held 
either  during  good  behavior  or  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  appointing  power.  The  judges  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  were  appointed  for  the  term  of  five 
years,  and  the  surrogates  for  four  years.  In  1823  the 
Court  of  Probates  disappears,  and  appeals  from  the 
surrogates  lay  to  the  chancellor.  The  justices  of  the 
peace  became  elective  in  1826. 

The  Constitution  of  1846  extended  the  franchise 
to  every  resident  white  male  citizen  who  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  The  XV.  Amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  erased  the  word 
white.  All  judicial  offices  of  the  State,  all  county 
offices  and  almost  all  civil  offices  in  the  gift  of  the 
State  became  elective.  The  Court  for  the  Final  Im- 
peachment and  the  Correction  of  Errors  disappears.  A 
new  Court  of  Appeals  is  established,  the  constitution 
of  which  was  somewhat  modified  by  the  amendment 
of  1866.  A  new  Supreme  Court  was  erected,  vested 
with  the  powers  hitherto  possessed  by  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  Court  of  Chancery  and  the  Circuit  Court. 
The  County  Court  takes  the  place  of  the  Common 
Pleas  and  the  county  judge,  with  two  justices  of  the 
peace,  holds  the  Court  of  Sessions.  The  jurisdiction 
of  the  former  was  much  greater  than  its  predecessor. 
This  county  forms  part  of  the  Second  Judicial  Dis- 
trict. At  the  present  time  the  Supreme  Court  holds 
four  terms  and  the  County  Court  five  each  year  at  the 
court-house,  White  Plains. 

County-Seat. — By  an  act  of  General  Assembly  en- 
titled "  An  Act  for  the  more  orderly  hearing  and  deter- 
mining matters  of  controversy,  "  etc.,  passed  October 
29, 1683,  it  was  directed  that  Courts  of  Session  for  West- 
chester County  should  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesdays  of 
June  and  December,  one  to  be  held  at  Westchester 
and  the  other  at  East  Chester.  On  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  December  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  and 
General  Jail  Delivery  was  to  be  held.  Westchester 
remained  the  shire  or  county-town  until  November  6, 
1759,  when  the  last  session  of  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  was  held  there.  *  The  New  York  Post-Boy  of 
February  13,  1758,  contained  the  following  item : 
"  New  York,  Februarv  13th. —  We  hear  from  AVest- 
chester  that  on  Saturday  the  4thinst.,  the  court-house 
at  that  place  was  unfortunately  burnt  to  the  ground, 


1  Civil  List,  1880,  pp.  211  and  212. 

-  It  seemed  to  have  had  same  powers  as  general  term  of  present  Su- 
preme Court. 
3  Westchester  County  was  in  the  Second  Circuit. 
*  See  records  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 


We  have  not  heard  how  it  happened."  ^  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  court-house  on  February  4,  1758,  and  the 
felt  necessity  for  a  more  central  location  for  the  coun- 
ty town,  led  to  the  passing  of  the  following  act  on 
December  16,  1758 :  "  An  Act  to  impower  the 
Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Aldermen  of  the  Borough 
of  Westchester,  in  conjunction  with  the  Supervisors 
of  the  said  County,  to  ascertain  and  fix  the  place  for 
erecting  a  new  Court-House  and  Gaol  for  the  said 
County ;  and  for  raising  a  sum  not  exceeding  One 
thousand  Pounds,  on  the  Estates,  real  and  personal,  of 
all  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  said 
County,  for  and  towards  erecting  the  said  Court- 
House  and  Gaol."  White  Plains  was  selected  as  the 
place,  and  on  November  7,  1759,  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas  held  its  first  session  in  the  court-house.*  The 
act  of  February  6,  1778,  directed  the  supervisors  to 
meet  in  the  court-house.  In  July,  1776,  the  Provin- 
cial Convention  met  in  it.  November  5,  1776,  the 
building  was  burned  by  some  of  the  American  troops, 
the  records  having  previously  been  removed  to  a  safe 
place.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  the  courts 
were  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Bedford 
until  its  destruction  by  the  British,  in  1779.  From 
this  time  until  November,  1884,  they  were  held  at  the 
meeting-house  in  Upper  Salem.  The  act  of  April  11, 
1785,  ordered  them  to  be  held  in  the  Presbyterian 
meeting-house  at  Bedford  until  the  court-house  should 
be  rebuilt  or  until  further  orders  of  the  Legislature. 
The  act  of  May  1,  1786,  directed  the  erection  of  court- 
houses at  both  White  Plains  and  Bedford  and  eigh- 
teen hundred  pounds  was  appropriated  for  the  purpose. 
Stephen  Ward,  Ebenezer  Lockwood,  Jonathan  G. 
Tompkins,  Ebenezer  Purdy,  Thomas  Thomas,  Richard 
Hatfield  and  Richard  Sacket,  Jr.,  superintended  their 
construction.  The  first  session  of  the  County  Court 
was  held  in  Bedford  court-house  January  28, 1788,  and 
that  at  White  Plains  on  May  26th  following.  The 
courts  were  held  alternately  at  these  places  untill870, 
when,  by  chapter  five  hundred  and  fifty  by  the  laws  of 
1870,  it  was  directed  that  they  be  hereafter  held  in  the 
new  court-house  at  the  latter.  The  present  county 
buildings  were  erected  in  1856-57,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  consisting  of  Abraham  Hatfield,  States 
Barton,  William  Marshall,  Jr.,  Daniel  Hunt  and 
George  G.  Finch,  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  dollars. ' 

Elections. — During  the  colonial  period  elections 
were  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  April  in  each  of  the 
towns  for  choosing  of  town  officers,  and  as  often  as 
writs  of  election  directed  to  the  high  sheriff"  were 
issued  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  members  of  the 
Colonial  Assembly.   The  places  where  the  latter  were 


6  Bolton's  "History  of  Westchester  County,"  vol.  ii.  p.  299  (new 
edition). 

«  Court-house  cost  £2000.  Additional  appropriations  were  made  in 
17fiO  and  1762. 

'  Proceedings  of  Board  of  Supervisors,  1873,  p.  714. 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


645 


held  were  within  the  bounds  of  the  civil  divisions 
represented.  Tlie  representative  for  the  countj'  was 
elected  at  first  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county, 
and  later  near  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house  at 
White  Plains.'  The  voting  in  all  cases  was  viva  voce. 
The  Constitution  of  1777  made  provision  for  a  trial  of 
voting  by  ballot.  The  act  of  March  27,  1778,  au- 
thorized the  use  of  the  ballot  in  the  election  of  Gov- 
ernor and  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  that  of  February 
13,  1787,  extended  it  to  the  election  of  members  of 
the  Legislature.  Doubtless  up  to  the  passage  of  the 
latter  act  elections  were  carried  on  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  they  had  been  during  colonial  times.  The 
act  last  mentioned  provided  that  they  should  be  held  in 
every  borough,  town,  district,  precinct  or  ward  under  the 
supervision  of  inspectors  chosen  for  that  purpose. 
Until  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  March  27, 1799,  the 
canvassers  were  a  joint  committee  of  the  Legislature, 
the  boxes  containing  the  ballots  being  sent  by  the 
sheriff  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  purpose.  After 
that  date  there  were  local  canvassers.  The  result  was 
recorded  by  the  town  clerk,  who  made  return  to  the 
county  clerk,  who  made  record  and  transmitted  it  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  who,  with  the  comptroller  and 
treasurer,  constituted  a  State  Board  of  Canvassers. 
The  act  of  April  17,  1822,  instituted  a  County  Board 
of  Canvassers,  consisting  of  one  inspector  of  election 
from  each  town.  Each  town  or  ward  was  made  an 
election  district.  The  act  of  April  5,  1842,  made  the 
supervisors  the  county  canvassers,  and  provided  for 
the  division  of  towns  and  wards  into  a  convenient 
number  of  election  districts.  This  duty  devolved 
upon  the  supervisors,  assessors  and  clerks  of  towns, 
who  were  required  to  do  it  where  the  population  ex- 
ceeded five  hundred. 

Election  Days.— The  act  of  February  13,  1787, 
appointed  the  last  Tuesday  of  April  the  day  for  the 
general  election,  which  might  be  held  for  five  days. 
By  the  act  of  April  17,  1822,  it  was  changed  to  the 
first  Tuesday  of  November,  and  the  polls  were  opened, 
bj'  adjournment  from  place  to  place,  for  three  succes- 
sive days.  The  act  of  April  5,  1842,  the  Tuesday  suc- 
ceeding the  first  Monday  of  November  was  desig- 
nated, and  the  election  was  confined  to  one  day. 
The  election  for  town  officers  takes  place  on  the  last 
Tuesday  of  March. 

SrPERVisoRS.— By  the  "Duke's  Laws,"  promul- 
gated in  1(565,  the  Courts  of  Sessions  levied  the  taxes 
upon  the  towns.  By  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
passed  October  18,  1701  (13th  William  III.),  the  jus- 
tices of  the  peace,  in  special  or  general  session,  were 
directed  to  levy  once  a  year  the  necessary  county  and 
town  charges  and  allowance  for  their  representative 
in  the  General  Assembly,  to  make  provision  for  the  poor, 
and  to  issue  warrants  for  the  election  of  two  assessors 


'  "An  act  to  fix  and  ascertain  the  place  for  election  of  representatives 
to  serve  in  General  Assembly  for  cjunty  of  Westclieater,  passed  the  25th 
of  November,  ]7il." 


and  one  collector,  and  for  the  collection  of  taxes.* 
These  duties  were  transferred  to  a  Board  of  Supervis- 
ors by  an  act  of  General  Assembly  i)asscd  June  19, 
1703  (2d  Anne),  entitled  "  An  Act  for  the  better  ex- 
plaining and  more  effectually  putting  into  Execu- 
tion an  Act  of  General  Assembly  made  in  the  third 
year  of  the  Reign  of  their  late  Majesties  King  William 
and  C^ueen  Mary,  entitled  an  Act  for  defraying  the 
publick  and  necessary  charges  thro'out  this  Province 
and  for  maintaining  the  poor  and  Preventing  Vaga- 
bonds." The  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  each 
town  were  authorized  to  choose  once  each  year,  on 
the  first  Tuesday  of  April  (unless  otherwise  directed), 
one  supervisor,  two  assessors  and  one  collector.  The 
supervisors  elected  were  directed  to  meet  in  the  county 
town  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  October,  ascertain  the 
contingent  charges  of  the  county  and  such  sums  as 
were  imposed  by  the  laws  of  the  colony,  apportion  to 
each  town,  manor,  liberty,  jurisdiction  and  precinct 
their  respective  quotas,  and  to  transmit  them  to  the 
assessors  of  the  different  towns,  etc.,  who  should  ap- 
portion them  among  the  inhabitants.  The  supervis-' 
ors  were  authorized  to  choose  annually  a  treasurer. 
The  Court  of  Sessions  was  thus  relieved  of  that  por- 
tion of  its  duties  which  was  legislative  and  not  judi- 
cial. Supervisors  had  been  chosen  in  several  of  the 
towns  before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1703  (East  Ches- 
ter, 1686;  Mamaroneck,  1697;  New  Rochelle,  1700), 
but  what  were  their  duties  it  is  impossible  to  state. 
The  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  supervisors  prior 
to  1772  having  been  lost  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  we  can  only  surmise  what  sections  of  the  county 
came  under  the  provisions  of  the  act.  East  Chester, 
Westchester,  Philipsburg,  Pelliam  Manor,  Morrisania, 
Mamaroneck,  New  Rochelle,  Bedford  and  Rye  prob- 
ably elected  these  oflficers.  The  census' for  1712  gives 
some  idea  of  the  civil  divisions  recognized  by  law  or 
usage,  with  the  population  of  each, — 


"  Westchester     572 

East  Cliester   300 

Kye   516 

New  Rochelle   304 

Yoinikers   260 

Philipsburg   348 

5lo  Marroiiack   84 

Morrisania   02 

Pelham     62 

Bedford   172 

Cortland's  Pattent   91 

Ryke's  Pattent   32 

Scarsdale   12 

Total  2815  " 


November  1,  1722  (9th  Geo.  I.),  an  act  was  passed 
entitled  "An  Act  to  increase  the  number  of  Supervis- 
ors in  the  county  of  Westchester,  and  that  no  wages 
of  Supervisors  shall  be  any  part  of  the  said  county's 
rate  for  the  future."  After  authorizing  the  choice  of 
a  freeholder  by  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants,  it  was 


2  Civil  List,  1880,  p.  209. 

3  O'Callaghan's  "Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  V.,"  vol.  i.J 


646 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


provided  that  in  case  of  failure  to  elect,  or  where  there 
were  not  more  than  twenty  inhabitants,  the  owner  of 
the  manor  or  his  steward  should  be  supervisor.  The 
freeholders  of  the  Manor  of  Cortlandt  were  author- 
ized, by  the  act  of  December  16,  1737,  to  elect  annu- 
ally one  supervisor,  one  treasurer,  two  assessors  and 
one  collector,  and  Ryke's  Patent,  by  the  act  of  Janu- 
ary 27,  1770,  were  granted  a  similar  privilege.  While 
much  is  left  to  surmise  prior  to  the  year  1772,  the 
records  give  both  the  towns  and  the  supervisors  who 
represented  them  from  that  day  to  this.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  list  for  1773: 

"  Wm,  Barker,  Esq.,  for  Scarsdale  ;  Doct.  Haverlond,  for  Rye  ;  Col. 
Cortlandt,  for  Yonkers;  Jas.  Pell,  for  Pelliam  ;  Col.  Holmes,  for  Bed- 
ford; Jas.  Ferris,  Esq.,  for  Westchester;  Col.  Morris,  for  Morrisania; 
.\bijah  Gilbert,  for  Salem  ;  Wm.  Davis,  for  Philipsborougli ;  Doct. 
Daton,  for  North  Castle  ;  Stephen  Ward,  for  Eastchester  ;  Wm.  Sutton, 
Esq.,  loan  officer  and  supervisor  for  Memorineck  ;  Justice  Lockwood,  for 
Poundridge ;  Maj.  Cortlandt,  for  Cortlandt  JIanor ;  Jas.  Cronkhite,  for 
Ryks  Patten  ;  Doct.  Graham,  for  the  White  Plains."  i 

The  supervisors  met  at  first  in  the  county  town, 
Westchester.  This  place  being  inconvenient,  the 
supervisors  were  directed  to  meet  in  the  school-house 
at  Rye,  by  an  act  entitled,  "  An  Act  to  alter  the  place 
of  the  supervisors'  meeting  in  the  county  of  West- 
chester," passed  29th  of  November,  1745,  with  the 
privilege  of  adjourning  to  such  place  as  the  majority 
should  deem  proper.  The  population  of  the  northern 
portions  of  the  county  increased  rapidly,  and  for  their 
convenience  the  place  of  meeting  was  changed  by  act 
of  February  6,  1773,  to  the  court-house  at  White 
Plains,  with  the  same  privilege  of  adjournment.  After 
the  burning  of  the  court-house,  in  1776,  the  super- 
visors became  a  vagrant  body,  with  no  certain  meeting- 
place.  They  met  in  Bedford,  Manor  of  Cortlandt  or 
Salem.  But  few  towns  were  represented.  All  through 
these  trying  years  we  find  about  the  same  persons 
present, — Ebenenezer  Lockwood,  of  Poundridge  ; 
Major  Joseph  Strang,  of  Manor  of  Cortlandt;  Israel 
Lyon,  of  Bedford  ;  Jacob  Purdy,  of  North  Castle  ; 
and  Abijah  Gilbert,  of  Salem.  May  31,  1784,  the 
supervisors  met  at  the  house  of  John  Cromwell,  in 
Harrison's  Precinct,  and  there  were  present  the  fol- 
lowing persons : 

John  Thomas,  Rye ;  Wm.  Paulding,  Manor  of  Philipsburgh  ;  Jona- 
than G.  Tompkins,  Manor  of  Scaredale;  Joseph  Strang,  JIanor  of  Cort- 
landt;   Thad.  Crane,  town  of  Upper   Salem;  Benj.  Stevenson,  New 

Kochelle  ;  Israel  Honeywell,  Yonkers  ;   Miller,  Harrison's  Precinct ; 

Ehenezer  Lockwood,  Poundridge;  Ebenezer  L.  Burling,  East  Chester; 
Abel  Smith,  North  Castle  ;  Daniel  Horton,  White  Plains;  Gilbert  Budd, 
Hamaroneck  ;  Abijah  Gilbert,  Salem. 

The  business  was  to  levy  two  thousand  pounds  on 
Westchester,  Yonkers,  East  Chester,  New  Rochelle, 
Mamai'oneck,  Manor  of  Scarsdale  and  the  Manor  of 
Pelham,  as  a  war  tax. 

By  the  act  of  March  7, 1788,  entitled  "  An  act  for  de- 
fraying the  necessary  charges  of  the  respective  counties 
of  the  State,"  this  county  was  divided  into  twenty  towns 
viz. :  Bedford,  Cortlandt,  East  Chester,  Greenburgh, 


1  See  Record  of  Board  of  Supervisors. 


Harrison,  Mamaroneck,  Mount  Pleasant,  New  Ro- 
chelle, North  Castle,  North  Salem,  Pelham,  Pound- 
ridge, Rye,  Salem,  Scarsdale,  Stephentown,  West 
Chester,  White  Plains,  Yonkers  and  Yorktown.  "  The 
name  of  the  town  of  Salem  was  changed  to  South 
Salem  April  6,  1806,  and  to  Lewisboro  February  13, 
1840,  and  a  part  of  North  Salem  was  annexed  Apri? 
26, 1844.  Ossining  was  formed  from  Mount  Pleasant 
May  2,  1845.  New  Castle  was  formed  from  North 
Castle  March  18,  1781,  and  a  part  of  Somers  annexed 
May  12, 1846.  The  name  of  Stephentown  was  changed 
to  Somers  April  6,  1808.  We?t  Farms  was  formed 
from  Westchpster  May  13,  1846.  Morrisania  was 
formed  from  West  Farms  December  7,  1855.  King's 
Bridge  was  formed  from  Yonkers  December  16,  1872. 
By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  May  23,  1873,  the 
towns  of  Morrisania,  West  Farms  and  King's  Bridge 
were  annexed  to  the  county  of  New  York,  to  take 
effect  on  the  1st  day  of  January,  1874.^ 

From  1784  to  1788  the  supervisors  met  in  different 
places,  usually,  however,  at  White  Plains,  once  in 
the  Presbyterian  meeting-house  at  Bedford  ;  after  the 
latter  date  they  met  alternately  at  the  court-houses,  at 
Bedford  and  White  Plains  until  1870;  since  the  latter 
date  the  court-house  at  White  Plains  has  been  their 
place  of  meeting. 

CIVIL  LLST.  ' 

Colonial  Assembly. — The  history  of  the  various 
assemblies  and  conventions  of  the  colonial  period  is  a 
very  important  part  of  that  of  the  struggle  which 
ended  in  the  independence  of  the  colonies.  It  began 
in  the  conflict  between  the  people  and  the  director- 
general  and  Council  in  the  Dutch  colonial  period,  in 
which  the  former  claimed  a  voice  in  the  government, 
and  the  "  Twelve  Selectmen"  of  1641,  "The  Eight 
Men  "  of  1643  and  1645,  and  "  The  nine  men  "  of  1647, 
'49,  '50  and  '52,  which  necessity  wrung  from  the  latter, 
are  really  the  later  Assembly  in  embryo.  Our  interest 
begins  with  the  English  period.  March  1,  1665,  a  con- 
vention met  at  the  summons  of  Governor  Nicolls,  at 
Hempstead,  L.  I.,  simply  for  the  promulgation  of  the 
"  Duke's  Laws,"  which  had  been  framed  by  the  Gover- 
nor under  the  authority  of  James,  Duke  of  Y^ork  and 
Albany.  Westchester  (later  the  borough  and  town  of 
Westchester)  was  represented  by  Edward  Jessup  and 
John  Quinby.  The  tyranny  and  the  customs  law  of  the 
Duke  of  York  so  exasperated  the  people  that  the 
Duke,  fearing  lest  the  expenses  of  the  colony  should 
become  a  charge  on  his  private  purpose,  sent  out 
Governor  Dongan  with  authority  to  convene  a  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  He  ordered,  September  13,  1683, 
the  election  of  an  Assembly  of  fourteen  representa- 
tives. The  apportionment  gave  four  to  Westches- 
ter. Its  first  act  was  entitled  "  Charter  of  Liberties 
and  Priviledges  granted  by  his  Royal  Highness  to 

-  Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  1873,  p.  715. 
We  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  the  Civil  List  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  of  1880,  for  information,  and  even  language  to  which  special 
reference  is  not  made. 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


647 


the  Inhabitants  of  New  York  and  its  dependencies." 
This  act  proves  its  authors  worthy  descendants  of  a 
liberty-loving  ancestry,  and  the  true  progenitors  of 
the  founders  of  American  liberties.  James  had  be- 
come King  of  England,  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  add  that  this  charter  received  the  royal  disapproval, 
and  the  General  Assembly  was  abolished,  June  16, 
1686.  Westchester  was  represented  in  this  Assembly  by 
Thomas  Hunt,  Sr.,  Jno.  Palmer,  Richard  Ponton 
and  William  Richardson.  At  Leisler's  Assembly, 
in  1690,  Thomas  Browne  was  Westchester's  repre- 
sentative. He  died  and  a  new  writ  of  election  wbs 
issued.  Governor  Sloughter  arrived  March  19,  1691, 
with  instructions  from  William  and  Mary  to  re-es- 
tablish the  Assembly  and  reinstate  the  people  in  tiu  ir 
rights.  It  consisted  of  seventeen  members,  but  was 
afterwards  increased  to  twenty-seven.  April  9,  1691, 
it  met  for  the  first  time.  From  this  date  until  it 
ceased  to  exist,  April  3, 1775,  it  was  engaged  in  one  pro- 
longed conflict  with  the  Governor  and  the  crown  for 
the  rights  of  the  people.  By  the  act  of  May  8, 1699,  the 
representatives  were  elected  by  the  freeholders  of  forty 
pounds  in  value,  who  were  residents  of  the  electoral 
district  at  least  three  months  prior  to  the  issue  of  the 
writ.  The  elections  were  held  by  the  sheriff  at  one 
place  in  each  county,  and  voting  was  viva  voce.  The 
act  of  November  25,  1751,  directed  the  sheriff' to  hold 
his  court  of  election  near  the  Presbyterian  meeting- 
house at  White  Plains.  Previously  it  had  been  held 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  doubtless  at  West- 
chester. Catholics  could  neither  vote  nor  hold  the 
office,  and  at  one  time  the  Quakers  and  Moravians 
were  also  virtually  disqualified  by  their  unwillingness 
to  take  the  oath. 

The  General  Assembly  legally  dates  from  1691, 
with  which  date  the  comjjilers  of  the  colonial  laws 
were  directed  to  commence.  In  the  first  eight  As- 
semblies the  county  of  Westchester  was  represented. 
By  the  royal  charter  of  April  6,  1(596,  the  borough  of 
Westchester  (now  town)  was  established,  the  free- 
holders of  which  were  empowered  to  choose  a  mayor, 
six  aldermen  and  six  assistants  or  Common  Council 
for  the  government  of  the  borough  ;  also  one  discreet 
burgess  to  every  General  Assembly.  The  borough  of 
Westchester  is  represented  from  the  Ninth  Assembly. 
The  Manor  of  Cortlandt  was  also  entitled  by  its 
charter  (dated  June  17,  1697)  to  one  representative 
after  twenty  years  had  elapsed.  The  General  Assem- 
bly recognized  this  right  June  11,  1734,  and  Philip 
Verplanck  took  his  seat  .Tune  22d  following.  From 
this  date  what  is  now  Westchester  County  had  three 
representatives. 

"On  tlie  day  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  a  new  Legislature  the 
members-elect  convened  at  the  .\s8enibly  t'hanibcr  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  if  they  were  above  thirteen  in  number,  sent  the  Clerk  of 
the  House  to  inform  the  Governor  of  their  attendance.  Commissionerg, 
generally,  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  were  sent  to  the  Assembly 
Chamber  to  qualify  them,  after  which  their  presence  was  required  before 
his  Excellency,  who  requested  thcni  to  ret\irn  to  their  Chamber  and 
elect  a  Speaker.  For  that  purpose  they  again  retired,  and  having  made 
a  choice,  conducted  the  person  elected  to  the  Chair,  which  was  placed  at 


the  upper  end  of  the  long  table.  He  subsequently  presented  himself, 
accompanied  by  the  members,  to  the  Governor,  for  his  approval,  which 
was,  of  course,  granted.  The  Speaker  thereupon  addressed  the  (iov- 
ernor,  and,  in  behalf  of  the  House,  prayed  '  that  their  words  and  actions 
may  have  a  favorable  construction  ;  that  the  members  may  have  free  ac- 
cess to  him,  and  they  and  their  servants  be  privileged  with  freedom  from 
arrests.'  The  Governor  having  granted  this  request,  opened  the  session 
by  reading  his  speech  to  both  Houses,  a  copy  whereof  was  delivered  to 
the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly.  Jlessages  to  the  Council  were  conveyed 
by  one  of  the  nieuiliers  of  the  House,  who  was  mot  at  the  bar  of  the 
Council  by  the  Speaker  of  that  body,  into  whose  hands  the  message  was 
delivered.  All  money  bills  originated  in  the  Assembly,  which,  according 
to  the  practice  of  the  House  of  Commons,  allowed  no  amendment  to  be 
nuule  thereto  by  the  Council.  Both  houses  were  present  in  the  Council 
Chamber  when  the  Governor  passed  the  bills  sent  him,  on  which  occa- 
sion the  custom  was  for  his  Excellency  to  ask  the  advice  of  his  Council 
with  respect  to  every  bill.  If  approved,  he  signed  them  after  these 
words,  'I  assent  to  this  bill,  enacting  the  same,  and  order  it  to  be  en- 
rolled.' The  acts  were  thereupon  i>ubliBlied  in  the  open  street,  near  the 
City  Hall,  New  York,  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor  and  both  branches 
of  the  Legislature.  .\ll  laws  passed  were  subject,  subsequently,  to  an 
absolute  veto  of  the  King."  ' 

LUt  of  members  of  the  Colonial  Assemfily  from  Westcktstei-  County. 
Joseph  Budd,  Westchester,  1710-22. 
John  De  Lancey,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1708-72. 
Peter  De  Lancey,  Uorough  of  Westchester,  1750-08. 
John  Drake,  Westchester,  lfi',18-1701,  1809-10. 
Joseph  Drake,  Westchester,  1713-1.'). 
Henry  Fowler,  Westchester,  1701. 
Caleb  Heatlicote,  Westchester,  1701-2. 
John  Hoite,  Westchester,  17r2-13. 
John  Hunt,  Westchester,  10U9-1701. 
Josiah  Hunt,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1702-10. 
Josiali  Hunt,  Westchester,  1715-11;. 
Lewis  Morris,  Sr.,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1710-28. 
Lewis  Jlorris,  .)r.,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1732-50. 
Lewis  Morris,  Sr.,  Westchester,  1733-.'J8. 
Lewis  Slorris  (3d),  Borough  of  Westchester,  1700. 
Jonathan  Odall,  Westchester,  1715-1(5. 
John  Pell,  Westchester,  lfl9l-9.'i. 
Adolph  Phillipse,  Westchester,  1722-26. 
Fred.  Phillipse,  Westchester,  1726-.^0. 
Fred.  Phillipse  (2d),  Westchester,  1751-75. 
Daniel  Purdy,  Westchester,  1739-43. 
Joseph  Purdy,  Westchester,  l(;9.")-99,  1701-5,  1709. 
Joseph  Theale.  Westchester,  1001-94,  1097. 
John  Townsend,  Westchester,  1745-75. 
Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Jfanor  of  Cortlandt,  1708-75. 
Philip  Verplanck,  Manor  of  Cortlandt,  1734-68. 
Edmund  Ward,  Westchester,  1705-09,  1710-12. 
Isaiic  Wilkins,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1772-75. 
Gilbert  Willet,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1728-32. 
Lsaac  Willet,  Borough  of  Westchester,  1772-75. 
William  Willet,  M'estchester,  1701-9,  1710-15,  1710-33. 
William  Willet,  Westchester,  17.38. 

Of  these  members,  Adolph  Philipse  and  Lewis  Mor- 
ris, Jr.,  were  elected  Speakers.  There  were  thirty-one 
Assemblies, — terms  of  service  from  two  months  to  ten 
years.  The  compensation  of  the  representatives  from 
Westchester  County  and  Manor  of  Cortlandt  was  six 
shillings  (seventy-five  cents)  a  day  ;  that  of  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  borough  of  Westchester,  ten  shillings 
(SI. 25.)  These  allowances  were  paid  by  their  con- 
stituents. 

Delegates  to  the  Provin'cial  Convention  of 
April  20,  1775. — This  convention  was  summoned  by 
the  Committee  of  Sixty,  because  the  General  Assem- 
bly refused  to  comply  with  the  recommendation  of 
the  Continental  Congress  to  choose  delegates  to  the 


>  Civil  List,  1880,  page  259. 


648 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Continental  Congress.  The  Westchester  County 
elected 

Samuel  Drake.  Jonathan  Piatt. 

Robert  Graham.  John  Thomas,  Jr. 

James  Holmes.  Philip  Van  rortlaniU. 

Lewis  Blorris.  Stephen  Ward. 

Provincial  Congress. — The  last  session  of  the 
Colonial  Assembly  was  held  April  3,  1775.  These 
conventions  were  four  in  number.  The  first  Provin- 
cial Convention  met  May  22, 1775.  The  apportionment 
varied.  Some  of  the  members  were  elected  for  one 
year,  others  for  six  months.  The  vote  was  taken  by 
counties.  The  First,  Second  and  Third  Congresses  met 
in  New  York,  while  the  Fourth  was  migratory, — meet- 
ing at  White  Plains,  Fishkill  and  Kingston.  The 
deputies  were  chosen  from  the  counties  in  the  same 
manner  as  representatives  to  the  Colonial  Assembly. 

Deputies  from  Westchester  Coiintij. 
Name.  No.  of  Congress. 

David  Dayton  1st. 

Gilbert  Drake  2d,  3d,  4th. 

Joseph  Drake  1st,  •2d. 

Peter  Fleming  3d. 

Lewis  Graham  1st,  2d,  3d,  4th. 

Robert  Graham  1st,  2d. 

Samuel  Haviland  3d,  4th. 

James  Holmes  1st. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  2d,  3d,  4th. 

Zebadiah  Mills  4th. 

Gouverneur  Morris   Ist,  3d,  4th. 

Lewis  Morris  4th. 

William  Paulding  1st,  2d,  3d,  4th. 

Jonathan  Piatt  4th. 

Benj.  Smith  4th. 

John  Thomas,  Jr  Ist,  2d. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  3d,  4th. 

Philip  Van  Cortlandt  1st. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  2d,  3d,  4th. 

Steplien  Ward  1st,  2d. 

COMMITTKE  OF  SAFETY  AND  COUNCIL  OF  SAFETY. 

' — During  the  recesses  of  the  Congresses,  a  Commit- 
tee of  Safety  from  its  members  was  entrusted  with 
executive  functions.  After  the  formation  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1777  a  temporary  form  of  government, 
called  the  Council  of  Safety,  was  appointed  until  a 
Governor  and  Legislature  should  be  elected. 

Members  from  Westchester  County. 
Gouverneur  Morris.  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt. 

The  latter  was  the  presiding  officer. 

State  Conventions.  —  The  Fourth  Provincial 
Congress,  which  assumed  the  name  of  the  Conven- 
tion of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  New  York,  re- 
solved itself  into  a  convention  to  frame  a  Constitu- 
tion for  the  State.  August  1,  1776,  a  committee^  of 
thirteen  members  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  form  of 
government.  This  committee  reported  March  12, 
1777,  and  the  first  Constitution  was  adopted  April 
20th,  following.  It  is  saturated  with  the  principles  for 
which  the  people  had  contended  for  more  than  a  cen- 

>  For  names  of  representatives  of  Fourth  Provincial  Congress,  see  list 
above.  Gouverneur  Morris,  of  Westchester  County,  was  on  the  com- 
mittee. 


tury.  The  three  distinct  functions  of  government 
were  recognized.  A  Legislature,  consisting  of  a  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly,  was  the  law-making  body.  The 
executive  officer  was  called  the  Governor.  The  ap- 
pointing power  was  vested  in  a  Council  of  Appoint- 
ment, which  consisted  of  one  Senator  from  each  of 
the  four  Senatorial  Districts.  These  members  of  the 
Council  were  appointed  annually  by  the  Assembly. 
The  Governor,  who  presided  over  the  Council  of  Ap- 
pointment, was  to  have  "  a  casting  voice,  but  no  other 
vote."  The  elective  officers  were  Governor,  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, Senators,  Assemblymen  and  the  clerks, 
supervisors,  constables  and  collectors  of  the  several 
towns.  All  other  officers — civil  and  military — were 
appointed  by  the  Council  of  Appointment.  Male 
resident  owners  of  freeholds  of  one  hundred  pounds' 
value  elected  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor  and 
Senators  ;  while  owners  of  freeholds  of  twenty  pounds 
in  value,  etc.,  were  entitled  to  vote  for  Assembly- 
men. 

The  Second  Convention  convened  in  Poughkeep- 
sie  June  17th,  1788,  pursuant  to  an  act  of  Legisla- 
ture, to  consider  the  Federal  Constitution.  On 
July  26th  the  convention  ratified  it  by  a  vote  of 
thirty  to  twenty-seven,  seven  not  voting.  The 
followiug  were  the  delegates  from  Westchester, 
all  of  whom  showed  their  good  sense  by  voting  to 
ratifv : 


Thaddeus  Crane. 
Richard  Hatfield. 
Philip  Livingston. 


Lewis  Morris. 
Lott  W.  Sarls. 
Philip  Van  Cortlandt. 


The  Third  Convention  is  that  of  1801,  which  was 
held  at  Albany  October  13th  to  27th,  pursuant  to  an  act 
passed  April  6th  of  that  year,  to  settle  the  contro- 
versy which  had  arisen  regarding  the  relative  powers 
of  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Appointment  respect- 
ing nominations  for  office,  and  to  consider  the  expe- 
diency of  altering  the  Constitution  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  Senators  and  Assemblymen,  with  power 
to  reduce  and  limit  the  same.  The  Convention 
unanimously  decided  that  the  Council  of  Appoint- 
ment had  equal  powers  of  nomination  with  the  Gov- 
ernor; fixed  the  number  of  Senators  at  thirty-two 
and  the  Assemblymen  at  one  hundred,  to  be  increased 
after  each  census,  at  the  rate  of  two  yearly,  until  they 
reached  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

Delfijntes  from  Westchester  Covnty. 


Thomas  Ferris. 
Israel  Honeywell. 
Jonathan  G.  Tompkins 


Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Jr. 
Ebenezer  White. 


The  Fourth  Convention  was  held  in  Albany  Aug- 
ust 28  to  November  10, 1821.  The  question  of  a  Con- 
vention for  the  Revision  of  the  Constitution  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  people,  It  was  carried  by  a  very  large 
majoritj'.  The  burning  questions  of  the  day  were 
about  the  Councils  of  Revision  and  Appointment. 
The  former  was  objected  to  as  exercising  its  veto 
power  contrary  to  the  ideas  for  which  the  colonists 
contended,  and  as  being  beyond  the  reach  of  the  peo- 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


649 


pie ;  aud  the  latter,  because  it  had  assumed  judicial 
authority.  The  Constitution  of  1821  was  ratified  by 
the  people  February,  1822.  The  vote  was  put  into 
the  hands  of  all  white  male  citizens,  ^^rtually  without 
condition.  The  Councils  of  Revision  aud  Appoint- 
ment were  abolished.  Appointments,  for  the  most 
part,  were  made  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  ad- 
vice and  consent  of  the  Senate.  The  number  of  elec- 
tive officers  was  increased. 

Delegates  from  Westchester  County. 
Peter  A  Jay.i  Peter  J.  Munro. 

.lonatban  Ward. 

The  Fifth  Convention  met,  pursuant  to  the  vote  of 
the  people  and  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  at  Albany, 
June  1,  1846,  and  continued  in  session  until  October 
9th  of  the  same  year.  The  new  Constitution  was  rati- 
fied by  the  popular  vote  November  3,  184G.  Judicial 
officers  were  made  elective.  Members  of  Assembly 
in  each  countj-  had  been  hitherto  elected  on  a  general 
ticket.  The  third  Constitution  of  1846  directed  the 
Boards  of  Supervisors  to  divide  their  counties  into 
Assembly  Districts. 

Delegates  from  Westchester  Couiity. 
John  HuDter.2  Aaron  Ward. 

The  Sixth  Convention,  convened  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  preceding,  met  in  the  Assembly  Cham- 
ber, in  Albany,  June  4,  1867,  and  adjourned,  sine  die, 
February  28,  1868.  It  consisted  of  thirty-two  dele- 
gates at  large  and  four  from  each  Senatorial  District. 
Only  the  judiciary  article  was  ratified. 

Dekgiites  from  the  \inlh  Semitiiruil  District.^ 
Robert  Cocliraii.  William  H.  Morris. 

Abraham  B.  C  wnger.  Abraham  B.  Tappan. 

The  CoxsTiTi  TioxAL  CoMMifisiox  — The  Gover- 
nor was  emj)owered,^  by  and  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  the  Senate,  to  appoint  thirty-two  persons,  four 
from  each  judicial  district,  as  a  commission  to  frame 
into  amendments  several  provisions  contained  in  the 
rejected  Constitution  of  1867.  The  commission  began 
its  work  in  Albany  December  4,  1872,  and  completed 
it  March  15,  1873.  Most  of  the  amendments  pro- 
posed were  submitted  to  and  ratified  by  the  people. 

Membirrs  of  the  Commisrioii,  Second  JiidU  ial  Ditlrkt.^ 
Jdo.  J.  Armstrong.  Odle  Close. 

Erastns  Brooks.  Beuj.  D.  Silliman. 

State  LEtusLATrRE.— The  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York  is  composed  of  the  Senate  and  As- 
sembly, the  members  of  both  bodies  elected  by  the 
people,  l^t  a  voce  voting  was  done  away  with  by  the 
act  of  February  13,  1787,  and  since  that  the  ballot  has 
been  used  in  elections. 

Sexate.— Under  the  Constitution  of  1777  the 

1  Mr.  Jay  did  not  sign  the  Constitution. 
!  Did  not  sign  the  engrosseil  Constitution. 

'  Putnam,  Rockland  and  Westchester  for  the  Ninth  Senatorial  Dis- 
trict. 

<  Laws,  1872,  ch.  S84. 

'  Westchester  County  belongs  to  the  Second  District. 


Senate  consisted  of  twenty-four  members,  apportioned 
among  the  four  districts,  which  bore  the  designations 
Southern,  Middle,  Eastern  and  Western.  The  Conven- 
tion of  18(11  increased  the  number  of  Senators  to 
thirty-two,  and  the  State  was  divided  into  eight  dis- 
tricts. Since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of 
1846  there  have  been  thirty -two  districts,  each  entitled 
to  one  member.  The  term  of  office  is  two  years  ;  under 
the  Constitution  of  1777  it  was  four.  Westchester 
County  has  belonged,  successively,  to  the  Southern, 
First,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Ninth  and  Twelfth. 

List  of  Itisiilents  of  Westchester  Countu  who  have  Represented  the  various  Dit- 
tricts  to  which  it  hat  belonged  in  the  Senate. 
Xanies.  Years  in  the  Senate. 

Benj.  Brandreth   1850-51,  1858-59. 

William  Cauldwell   1868-71. 

Darius  Crosby  1815-18. 

Samuel  Haight   1797-1800. 

Richai-d  Hatfield   1795-1802. 

John  Hunter   1823,  18.36^. 

Sir  James  Jay   1778,  1781-«2. 

Philip  Livingston   1790-93,  '95,  '98. 

Allen  JIcDonald   1832-35. 

Lewis  Jlorris   1777-90. 

Richard  Morris   1778-79. 

Henry  C.  Xelson   1882-84. 

William  Xelson   1824-27. 

Ebeuezer  Purdy  1801-6. 

William  Robertson   .  .  1844-43. 

Hezekiah  D.  Robei-ts<.>n   1860-63. 

William  H.  Robertson   1854-55,  1872-81. 

Edmund  G.  Sutherland   1866-67. 

Thomas  Thomas   1805-8. 

John  Townsend   1820-22. 

Philip  VanCortlaudt   1791-94. 

Pierre  \an  Cortlaudt   1777. 

Jonathan  Ward   1807-10. 

Stephen  Ward   1780-S3. 

Assembly. — Assemblymen  are  elected  annually. 
Originally  the  Assembly  consisted  of  seventy  mem- 
bers. The  Constitution  of  1821  fixed  the  number 
permanently  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight.  Prior 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1846  all  the 
members  of  Assembly  were  elected  on  a  general 
ticket ;  since  then  the  counties  have  been  divided 
into  districts.  The  representation  from  this  county 
has  varied  from  six  in  1777  to  two  in  1836.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  entitled  to  three. 

List  of  Members  of  Assembly  from  Westchester  County,  1777-1885. 
1777  to  1847. 
Xames.  Yeara  in  Assembly. 

William  Adams   1798-99. 

Jeremiah  .^ndereon   1825. 

Joseph  H.  Anderson   1833-34. 

Benjamin  Barker   1807. 

John  Barker   1796-98. 

William  Barker   1809-10,  1812-14,  1818-19. 

Francis  BaiTette   1838. 

James  E.  Boers   1847. 

Joseph  Benedict   1778-79. 

Thomas  Bowne   1795. 

Aaron  Br.)wn   1829-.'J0. 

Joseph  Bron  n   1789-90. 

Xeliemiah  Brown,  Jr  182:t-24. 

Ebenezer  S.  Burling   1784-85. 

Joseph  Carpenter  179(>-97. 

Joseph  T.  Carpenter   1841-42. 

George  Comb  18' Kl. 


650 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


I  .Antlioiiy  Constiint 

1845 

Pierre  Van  Cortlaudt,  Jr  .  .  . 

1792,  1794-95. 

St  Joliii  Oonstfiiit 

18*>3  '31 

1831. 

1777-79  1788-89  1825 

1778. 

D&riuB  Crosby 

1811-12. 

1832-33. 

Edwin  Crosby 

1834-35 

1794-95. 

I^iclioliiB  Crixger        •  • 

1838. 

1816-17. 

IjSiwrcncc  D&v6iiport 

1829-30 

1814. 

^Rthnnicl  Dplevan  . 

1781-82. 

1826. 

Sfl>niu6l  Drake 

1777-81,  '86,  '88. 

1844. 

Benjamin  Ferris 

1808  '24. 

179G,  1809 

-10. 

.  .  1839-40. 

1848  to  1885. 

Andrew  Findlay  . 

1843-44. 

District.  Name. 

Years  in  Assembly. 

John  Fisher 

1827-28. 

2. 

1872. 

TVilliani  Fisher 

1836-37. 

2. 

1871. 

Peter  Fleming 

1791 

2. 

Theodore  H.  Benedict  .  . 

1851. 

Joel  Frost  . 

1806,  '08. 

1. 

1866. 

1832 

2. 

1879, '80. 

1824. 

3. 

1864,. '65, '66. 

Abijah  Gilbert              .  , 

1779-86,  *88,  '91,  1800-5. 

1. 

1851. 

Robert  Graham 

1777-78  1800-1 

3. 

1861. 

1819-21. 

2. 

1880-82. 

Samuel  Haight  

1782-84,  1789-92. 

1. 

1874. 

Mordecai  Hale  

1796-97. 

2. 

1856. 

Richard  Hatfield  .  ... 

1794. 

3. 

1862,  '63. 

John  R,  Hay  ward  .... 

1846. 

1. 

1857. 

Samuel  L  Holmes 

1843 

1. 

1869. 

Israel  Honeywell  Jr 

1777-79 

1. 

1853. 

Israel  Honeywell          .  . 

1798-99. 

1. 

George  H.  Forster  .  .  . 

1876. 

Philip  Honeywell        .  . 

1806. 

1. 

1864. 

Jonathan  Horton  

1788-91. 

2. 

Newberry  D.  Halsted  .  . 

1862. 

Joseph  Hunt .  . 

1822. 

2. 

1852. 

Benjamin  Isaacs  . 

1807  1814-16,  '18 

1. 

1873. 

John  Lawrence 

1782-83 

1883. 

Elijah  Lee 

1798-99 

3. 

1858. 

Thomas  R.  Lee  . 

174'>. 

3. 

1859,  '60. 

Philip  Livingston 

1788-89 

1. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood 

1778-79  1784-88. 

2. 

Lawrence  D.  Huntington 

1866. 

Ezra  Lockwood 

1806 

3. 

1869-78, '81,  '84,  '85. 

Horatio  Lockwood     ,  .  . 

1833-3G  1841-42. 

1883-85. 

Ezra  Marshall 

1846-47 

1882,  '83. 

Seth  Marvin 

1807 

2. 

1849. 

Abraham  Miller 

1808  1811-14  1810-17  1820-21 

2. 

Edward  D.  Lawrence  .  . 

.  1869,  '70. 

Zebediah  Alills 

1777-84 

1. 

1854. 

Bernarthis  Montross 

.  1837. 

2. 

1864,  '65. 

18-?7  28 

1. 

1852. 

Gouverneur  ^lorris 

1777-78 

2. 

1850. 

Richard  V  Morris 

1814 

2. 

J  Munro 

1814-15 

Cliarles  P.  McClelland  , 

1885. 

Thomas  Murphv 

1831 

1. 

William  J.  JlcDermott  . 

1861. 

William  kelson 

1820-21 

1. 

William  T.  B.  Milliken 

1860. 

Elias  Newman 

1702-94  '96 

1877,  '78,  '81. 

Abraham  Odell 

1800-5  1807-10 

1. 

1870. 

Jacob  Odell 

1811-12 

g. 

,  1868. 

Ozias  Osburn 

1808 

1. 

1872. 

Prince  W.  Paddock 

1835-36. 

2. 

1853,  '54. 

1779-80 

2. 

1860,  '61. 

Philip  I*ell  Jr 

1779-81  1784-86 

Norton  P  Otis  

1884. 

Ebene/er  Piirdy 

2. 

1848. 

William  ReQ^ua 

George  J.  Penfield  .  .  • 

.  1867,  '68. 

1 780-8'?  1 787-1  K(  JO 

1. 

1877,  '78. 

Joseph  Scofield ...... 

.  1825-37. 

1. 

1867,  '68. 

Walter  Seaman 

1788-90 

George  W.  Kobertson  . 

1882. 

1810 

1. 

William  £1,  Robertson  . 

.  1849,  '50. 

Abel  Smith 

1704-96  1798-1802  1829-30 

2. 

Charles  31.  Schietfelin  . 

1875,  '76. 

John  H  Smith 

1826 

1871. 

Thomas  Smith 

1(^92-23  '3*^ 

2. 

1859. 

Joseph  Strang 

1780-81  1787-88 

1. 

1875. 

Joseph  Strang 

1839-40 

1. 

1856. 

Charles  Teed 

1706-1800 

Edmund  G.  Sunderland 

1857,  "58. 

1 7SP_«S   1 709-OT   1 800-4 

1. 

1862, '63, '65. 

Enoch  Thompson  .  .  .  . 

1822. 

1. 

1858. 

1804-6. 

3. 

1867,  '79,  '80. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  .  . 

.  .  1780-88,  1791-92. 

1. 

R.  M.  Underbill  .... 

1848. 

181G-17. 

1. 

Augustus  Van  Cortlandt 

1859. 

1802-5. 

2. 

Frederick  W.  M'aterbury 

1855. 

1828. 

1. 

1879. 

1788-90. 

2. 

.  1873,  74. 

CIVIL  HISTORY. 


651 


Residents  of  Westchester  County  in  the 
Continental  Congress. — Originally  these  delegates 
were  chosen  by  the  Provincial  Congress.  The  Articles 
of  Confederation  and  Perpetual  Union  adopted  by  the 
Continental  Congress,  November  15, 1777,  directed  the 
appointment  annually  of  delegates  by  the  State  Leg- 
islatures. The  number  from  each  State  was  not  to  be 
less  than  two  or  more  than  seven.  This  State 
usually  sent  five,  occasionally  six.  The  votes  in  Con- 
gress were  by  States. 

Name.  Yeftfs  iu  Continentnl  Congress. 

Gouverneur  Morris   1777,  '78. 

Lewis  Morris'   1775. 

Philip  Pell   1788. 

Residents  of  Westchester  County  who  have 
Represented  their  District  in  Congress. — This 
county  originally  was  divided  ;  the  northern  tier  of 
towns  formed,  with  Dutchess  County,  one  district, 
while  the  remainder  was,  with  New  York,  in  another. 
Later  it  formed  with  Richmond  a  district.  Since 
then  it  has  been  in  the  following  districts:  Third, 
Fourth,  Seventh,  Ninth,  Tenth  and  Twelfth.  The 
term  of  office  is  two  years. 

Name.  Years  in  House  of  Representatives. 

Joseph  H.  Audersou   1843-17. 

Joel  Frost  182:1-25.  . 

,Iohn  B.  Hiiskins   1857-01. 

William  Nelson   1847-51. 

N.  Holmes  Odell  18T5-77. 

Jared  V.  Peck   1853-55. 

Clarkson  N.  Potter  18G9,  1S75,  1877-79. 

Wiiliam  Radford   1863-07. 

William  11.  Robertson   1807-69. 

Caleb  Tompkins  1817-21. 

Philip  Van  Coi  tlundt  179.3-1809. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Jr  1811-13. 

Aaron  Ward   1825, 1829,1831, 1837, 1841, 1843 

Jonathan  Ward  1815-17. 

Colonial  Supre.me  Court  Justices. — Appoint- 
ment vested  in  the  Governor ;  the  term  of  office,  his 
pleasure. 

chief  Justices, 
Name.  Appointed. 

Joseph  Dudley  May  15,  1691. 

William  Smith  November  11,  1692. 

Stephen  Van  Cortlandt  October  30,  1700. 

Abraham  De  Peyster  January  21,  1701. 

William  Atwood  August  5,  1701. 

William  Smith  June  9,  1702. 

John  Bridges  April  5,  1703. 

Roger  Mompesson  luly  15,  1704. 

Lewis  Jlorris  March  13, 1715. 

James  de  Lancey  August  21,  1733. 

Benjamin  Pratt  November  11,  1761. 

Daniel  Horsemanden  March  16,  1763. 

AssocUtte  or  Puisne  Judges  of  Colonial  Supreme  Court. 
Name.  Appointed. 

Thomas  Johnson  May  15,  1091. 

William  Smith  May  15,  1691. 

Stephen  Van  Cortlandt  May  15,  1691. 

William  Pinhorne  May  15,  1691. 

William  Pinhorne  April  3,  1C93. 

Chidlcy  Brooke  April  3, 1093. 

John  Lawrence  April  3,  1693. 

'  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


John  Guest  June,  1698. 

Abraham  Do  Peyster  October  4,  1698. 

Robert  Walters  Augusts,  1701. 

John  Ilriilges  lune  14,  1702. 

Robert  Jlilward  April  5,  1703. 

Thonuis  Wenliam  April  5,  1703. 

James  De  Lancey  June  24,  1731. 

Frederick  Philipse  June  24,  1731. 

Frederick  Philipse  August  21,  17.33. 

Daniel  Horsemanden  Jan\iary  24,  1736. 

John  Chambers  July  30,  1751. 

Daniel  Horsemanden  July  28,  1753. 

David  Jones  November  21,  1758. 

Daniel  Horsemanden  March  20,  1762, 

David  Jones  March  31,  1702. 

David  Jones  March  16,  1763. 

William  Smith,  the  elder  March  16,  1763. 

Robert  R.  Livingston  March  10,  1703. 

(ieorge  D.  Ludlow  December  14,  1769. 

Thomas  Joties  September  29,  1773. 

Wliitehoad  Hicks  February  14,  1770. 

State  Supreme  Court. — Under  the  Constitution 
of  1777  appointment  was  vested  in  the  Council  of 
Appointment,  and  the  term  was  during  good  behav- 
ior or  until  si.xty  years  of  age.  Under  that  of  1821  the 
Governor  appointed  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate.  The  term  remained  the  same.  The 
Constitution  of  1846  made  the  office  elective  and  the 
term  eight  years.  The  amendment  to  the  judiciary 
article  adopted  November,  1869,  lengthened  the  term 
to  fourteen  years. 

Chi^'f  Justices  of  the  Stttie  Supreme  Court 
Name.  Appointed. 

John  Jay  May  8,  1777. 

Richard  Morris  October  23, 1779. 

Robert  Yates  September  28,  1790. 

John  Lansing,  Jr  February  15,  1798. 

Slorgan  Lewis  October  28,  1801. 

James  Kent  July  2,  1804. 

Smith  Thompson  February  3,  1814. 

Ambrose  .Spencer  February  29,  1819. 

John  Savage  January  29,  1823. 

Samuel  Nelson  .\ugust  31,  1831. 

Greene  C.  Bronson  March  5,  1845. 

Samuel  Beardsley   .  .  June  28,  1847. 

Associate  or  Puisne  Ju.'iticcs  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 
Name.  .\ppointed. 

Robert  Yates  May  8,  1777. 

John  Sloss  Hobart  May  8,  1777. 

John  Lansing,  Jr  September  28,  1790. 

Morgan  Lewis  December  24,  1792. 

Egbert  Benson  January  29,  1794. 

James  Kent  February  6,  1798. 

John  Cozine  August  9,  1798. 

Jacob  Radcliff  December  27,  1798. 

Brockholst  Livingston  January  8,  1802. 

Smith  Thompson  January  8,  1802. 

Ambrose  Spencer  February  3,  1804. 

Daniel  D.  Tompkins  July  2, 1804. 

William  W.  Van  Ness  June  9,  1807. 

Joseph  C.  Yates  February  8, 1808. 

Jonas  Piatt  February  23,  1814. 

John  Woodworth  March  27,  1819. 

Jacob  Sunderland  January  28, 1823. 

William  L.  .Marcy  January  21,  1829. 

Samuel  Nelson  February  1,  1831. 

Greene  C.  Bronson  January  6,  1836. 

Esek  Cowen  August  31,  1836. 

Samuel  Beardsley  February  20, 1844. 

Freeborn  G.  Jewett  March  5,  1845. 

Frederick  Whittlesey  Juno  30,  lc47. 

Thomas  McKissock  July  1,  1847. 


652 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Circiiil  Judges  (Second  (XtcuU). 

Name.  Appointed. 

Samuel  E.  Belts  April  21,  182.3. 

James  Emott  February  21,  1827. 

Charles  H.  Ruggles  March  9,  1831. 

Selah  B.  Strong  March  27,  1846. 

Seward  Barculo  April  4, 1846. 

Justices  nf  Supreme  Court  (Second  District). 

Name.  Elected. 

Selah  B.  Strong  June  7,  1847. 

AVilliam  T.  McCown  June  7,  1847. 

Nathan  B.  Morse  June  7,  1847. 

Seward  Barculo  June  7,  1847. 

John  W.  Brown  November  6,  1849. 

Selah  B.  Strong  November  9,  1851. 

AVilliam  Rockwell  November  8,  1853. 

Gilbert  Dean   June  26,  1854. 

James  Emott  November  6,  1855. 

Lucien  Birdseye  August  13,  1856. 

John  W.  Brown  November  3,  1857. 

John  A.  Lott  November  3,  1857. 

William  W.  Scrugham  November  8,  1859. 

AVilliani  Fullerton  August  30,  1867. 

Stephen  W.  Fullerton  November  5,  1867. 

John  A.  Lott  November  5,  1861. 

Joseph  F  Barnard  November  3,  1863. 

Jasper  \V.  Gilbert  November  7,  1865. 

Abraham  B.  Tappen  November  5,  1867. 

Calvin  E.  Pratt  November  2,  1869. 

Jackson  0.  Dykman  November  2,  1875. 

County  Judges. — The  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
was  erected  by  the  act  of  1691.  It  was  composed  of 
one  judge  and  three  justices,  who  were  appointed  by 
the  Governor  and  held  office  during  his  pleasure.  In 
1702  the  judge  was  assisted  by  two  or  more  justices 
Under  the  first  Constitution  there  was  one  judge  and 
several  assistant  judges.  The  act  of  March  27,  1818, 
abolished  the  office  of  assistant  judge  and  limited  the 
number  of  judges  to  five.  Under  the  State  govern- 
ment the  appointment  was  at  first  vested  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  Appointment,  and  the  office  was  held  during 
their  pleasure.  Later,  the  Governor,  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  appointed  the  county 
judges,  and  the  term  was  five  years.  The  Constitution 
of  1846  made  the  office  elective  and  the  term  four 
years.  The  amendment  of  1869  extended  it  to  six  years. 

Juiges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Phas  a»d  Countij  Court  t^CoUniial). 

Name.  Appointed. 

Caleb  Heatlicote   1695. 

William  Willett  1721. 

Frederic  k  Philipse  November  2,  1735. 

Samuel  Purdy  January  22,  1752. 

John  Thomas  Slay  8,  1755. 

Slate  a^netitutiom  of  1777  and  1821. 

Name.  Appointed. 

Lewis  Morris  i  Jlay  8,  1777. 

Kobert  Graham  February  17,  1778. 

Stephen  Ward  May  6,  1784. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  •   ...  March  15, 1791. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Februarj- 16,  1793. 

Ebenezer  Purdy  February  23,  1797. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins   1798. 

Elijah  Lee  January  20,  1802. 

John  Watts  March  29,  1802. 

Caleb  Tompkins  June  8,  1807. 

William  Jay  June  7,  1820. 

Caleb  Tompkins  February  10, 181i3. 

Robert  S.  Hart  March  27,  1846. 

Albert  Lockwood  June,  1847. 

1  Appointed  by  ordinance  of  Provincial  Convention. 


Constilution  of  1846. 
Name.  Elected. 

John  W.  Mills  November,  1851. 

William  H.  Robertson  November,  1855. 

Kobert  Cochran  November,  1867. 

Silas  D.  Gifford  November,  1871. 

Isaac  N.  Mills  2  November,  1883. 

Surrogates. — The  authority  to  grant  probates  was 
vested  in  the  Governor  as  the  representative  of  the 
King,  and  he  was  the  ordinary  of  the  Prerogative 
Court.  All  wills  relating  to  estates  in  New  York, 
Orange,  Richmond,  Westchester  and  Kings  Counties 
were  to  be  proved  in  New  York.  In  the  towns  under 
the  Duke's  Laws  the  constables,  overseers  and  justices 
took  charge  of  the  estates  of  intestates.  Under  the 
act  of  November  11,  1692,  this  duty  was  performed 
by  two  freeholders  appointed  or  elected  for  the  pur- 
pose. Surrogates  were  appointed  by  the  colonial 
Governor  at  a  very  early  date — for  Westchester  County 
as  early  as  1730.  They  had  very  limited  powers. 
Since  the  organization  of  the  State  the  surrogates 
have  been  vested  with  the  authority  to  grant  pro- 
bates, subject  to  api^eal  to  the  Court  of  Probates. 
Counties  where  the  population  exceeds  forty  thousand 
may  be  authorized  by  the  Legislature  to  elect  such  an 
officer.  Otherwise  the  county  judge  acts  as  such. 
The  office  was  filled  by  appointment  of  the  Council  of 
Appointmeni ;  later  by  the  Governor  and  Senate.  Un- 
der the  Constitution  of  1846  it  became  elective.  The 
term  was  at  first  during  the  pleasure  of  the  appoint- 
ing power.  From  1821  to  1846  they  were  appointed 
for  four  years.  Since  the  office  became  elective  the 
term  has  been  six  years. 

Colonial  Sutrogates  of  Westchester  County. 
Name.  Appointed. 

Gilbert  Willet   1730. 

John  Barton  February  9, 1754. 

Caleb  Fowler  June  10,  1761. 

David  Daton  June  9,  1766. 

Suj-rogates  of  Westchester  Countij  under  the  ConstitulionB  of  1777  and  1821. 

Name.  Appointed. 

Richard  Hatfield  March  23,  1778. 

Philip  Pell.  Jr  March  13,  1787. 

Samuel  Youngs  October  31, 1800. 

Edward  Thomas  January  28,  1802. 

Samuel  Youngs  February  19,  1807. 

Ezra  Lockwood   March  10,  1808. 

Samuel  Y'oungs  February  16, 1810. 

Ezra  Lockwood  February  12, 1811. 

Samuel  Youngs  March  19,  1813. 

Henry  White   March  16, 1815. 

Samuel  Youngs  July  8,  1819. 

Ebenezer  White,  Jr  February  17,  1821. 

Jonathan  Ward  March  28,  1828. 

Alexander  H.  Wells  February  7, 1840. 

Frederick  J.  Coffin   Jlay  1,  1844. 

Surrogates  of  Westchester  County  under  the  Constitution  o/1846. 

Name.  Elected. 

Lewid  C.  Piatt  June,  1847. 

Kobert  U.  Coles  November,  1855. 

Silas  D. Gifford  February  5,  1862. 

John  W.  Mills    November,  1862. 

Owen  T.  Coffin  3  November,  1870. 

-  Present  incumbent. 
3  Present  incumbent. 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


653 


District  Attorneys. — By  the  act  of  February 
12,  1790,  the  State  was  divided  into  seven  districts, 
each  of  which  had  an  attorney,  called  assistant  at- 
torney-general. The  Assistant  Attorney-General  be- 
came, in  1801,  district  attorney.  By  the  act  of 
April  1818,  each  county  became  a  district,  and  had 
its  own  district  attorney.  Under  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1777  the  Council  of  Appointment  filled  the 
office  during  pleasure ;  that  of  1821  vested  the  ap- 
pointment in  the  Court  of  Sessions,  while  under  the 
present  one  the  oflSce  is  elective. 

District  Attorneys— First  Dittricl  ^—Act  of  1796. 
Kanie.  Appointed. 

Nathaniel  LHwrence  February  16,  1796. 

Cadwallader  D.  Colden  Januarj- 16,  1798. 

Actof\m:^ 

Name.  Appointed. 

Riclianl  Riker  August  19,  1801. 

Cadwallader  D.  Colden  February  13, 1810. 

RicUard  Riker  Febniarj- 19,  1811. 

Barent  Ganlenier  March  5, 1813. 

Thomas  S.  Lester  .\pril  8,  1815. 

Act  of  1818.3 

Name.  .\ppointed 

Robert  P.  Lee  Jnne  12,  1818. 

Aaron  Ward  July  8,  1819. 

William  Nelson  Febniary  21,  1822. 

Richard  R.  Voris  September  27,  1844. 

William  W.  Scrogham  June,  1847. 

Edward  Wells  November,  1856. 

William  11.  Pemberton  NoTember,  1859. 

Pelham  L.  JlcClelan  November,  1862. 

John  S.  Bates  November,  1865. 

Jackson  0.  Dykeman  November,  1868. 

Daniel  0.  Briggs  November,  1871 . 

Rol)ert  Cochran  November,  1874. 

Nelson  H.  Baker <  November,  1877. 

Sheriff.^*. — During  the  colonial  period  the  sheriffs 
were  appointed  annually  by  the  Governor,  usually  in 
the  month  of  October.  The  Constitution  of  1777 
vested  the  appointment  in  the  Council  of  Appoint- 
ment. The  term  was  one  year,  and  no  person  could 
hold  the  office  for  more  than  four  successive  years. 
The  Constitution  of  1821  made  the  office  elective  and 
the  term  three  years.  No  sheriff  is  eligible  for  re- 
election for  the  next  succeeding  term. 

Colonial —  Yorkshire. 
Name.  Appointed. 

William  Wells  March  11,  1665. 

Robert  Coe  1CG9. 

John  Manning  September  7,  1671. 

Sylvester  Salisbury  December  9, 1674. 

Philip  Wells  July,  1675. 

Thomas  Willett  July  1,  1676. 

Richard  Betts   1678. 

John  Young   1680. 

Westvhest^  County. 
Name.  Appointed. 

Beqjauiin  Collier  November  9,  1683. 

Thomas  Statham  December  14,  1689. 

Bei^amin  Collier  March  21,  1691. 

1  First  District  included  Kings,  Queens,  Richmond,  Suffolk  and  West- 
chester Counties. 

-  First  District  included  Kings,  Queens,  Richmond,  Suffolk,  Westches- 
ter until  1816,  and  New  York  until  1815. 
'Each  county  became  a  district. 
<  Present  incumbent. 


John  Shute  October,  1698. 

Edmund  Ward  October,  1699. 

Jeremiah  Fowler  October,  170(1. 

Isaac  Dunham  October,  1701. 

Roger  Barton  October,  1702. 

Israel  Honeywell,  Jr  October,  1709. 

Gilbert  Willet  October,  1723. 

Jacobus  Van  Dyck  October,  1727. 

Gilbert  Willet  October,  1730. 

Nicholas  Cooper  October,  17.33. 

Isaiic  Willet  October,  1737. 

Lew  is  Graham  October,  1767. 

John  De  Lancey  October,  1769. 

James  De  Lancey  June  27,  1770. 

State — Constitution  of  1777. 
Name.  Appointed. 

John  Thomas,  Jr  May  8, 1777. 

John  Thomas  January  6,  1778. 

Jesse  Hunt  March  29,  1781. 

John  Thomas  March  8,  1785. 

Philip  Pell  March  13,  1787. 

Thomas  Thomas  March  22,  1788. 

Samuel  Haight  February  21,  1792. 

Ellas  Newman  March  1,  1796. 

William  Barker  March  26, 1799. 

Jonathan  Ward  February  17,  1802. 

Daniel  Delevan  March  19,  1806. 

.(oseph  Hatfield  March  23,  1807. 

St.  John  Constant  March  10,  1808. 

Elijah  Ward  February  10,  1810. 

St.  John  Constant  February  12,  1811. 

Lyman  Cook  February  26,  1812. 

Zabud  June  March  16,  1815. 

Lyman  Cook  February  25, 1818. 

Ward  B.  Howard  February  14,  1821. 

ConstUutimts  of  1821  and  1846. 
Name.  Elected. 

John  Townsend  November,  1822. 

•\llan  McDonald  November,  1825. 

David  D.  Webbers  November,  1828. 

Aaron  Brown  November,  1831. 

Joseph  H.  Anderson  November,  1834. 

.\mos  T.  Hatfield  November,  1837. 

Joseph  Lyon  November,  1840. 

William  H.  Briggs  November,  1843. 

James  M.  Bates  November,  1846. 

Benjamin  D.  Miller  November,  1849. 

.\lsop  H.  Lockwood  November,  1852. 

Daniel  H.  Little  November,  1855. 

William  Bleakley,  Jr  November,  1858. 

Lieniiin  B.  Tripp  November,  1861. 

Darius  Lyon  November,  1864. 

John  Bussing  November,  1867. 

Robert  F.  Brundage  November,  1870. 

Ziba  Carpenter  November,  1873. 

Robert  F.  Brundage  November,  1876. 

James  C.  Courier  November,  1879. 

Stephen  D.  Horton^  November,  1882. 

County  Clerks.— "The  County  Clerk,  during  the 
colonial  period,  was  constituted  by  his  commission 
clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Clerk  of  the 
Peace  and  Clerk  of  the  Sessions  of  the  Peace  in  his 
county.  Under  the  first  State  Constitution,  it  was 
his  duty  to  keep  the  County  Records  and  act  as 
Clerk  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas  and 
Clerk  of  the  Oyer  and  Terminer.  County  Clerks  are 
now  likewise  Clerks  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  their 
respective  counties.""  During  the  colonial  period 
appointment  was  vested  in  the  Governor;  under  the 

(  Present  incumbent. 

•  avil  List  of  State  of  New  York,  1880,  p.  384. 


€54 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


first  Constitution  of  1777,  in  the  Council  of  Appoint- 
ment; since  then  the  ofiBce  has  been  elective  and  the 
term  three  years. 

Colonial. 

Name.  Appointed. 

John  Rider  May  11,  1684. 

Jopepli  Lee  September  13,  lfi84. 

Edward  Collier   1688. 

Joseph  Lee  JIarch  14, 1691. 

Benjamin  Collier  October  17,  1698. 

John  Clapp  October  4,  1707. 

Daniel  Clark  1711. 

William  Forster   1722. 

Benjamin  Nicoll  May  14,  1746. 

John  Barstow  April  23,  17G0. 

Stitif  Co}Utilutioii  of  1777. 
Name.  Appointed. 

Jolin  Barstow  May  8,  1777. 

Richard  Hatfield  September  22,  1777. 

Thomas  Ferris  January  29,  1802. 

Elijah  Crawiord  March  10,  1808. 

Thomas  Ferris  February  16,  1810. 

Elijah  Crawford  February  12,  1811. 

Thomas  Ferris  March  19, 1813. 

Elijah  Crawford  March  16,  1815. 

William  Reqna  June  8,  1820. 

Nehemiah  S.  Bates  February  17,  1821. 

Constitutions  of  1821  and  1846. 
Name.  Elected. 

Nehemiah  S.  Bates  NoTember,  1822. 

Nathaniel  Bayles  November,  1828. 

John  H.  Smith  November,  1834. 

Chauucey  Smith  December  7, 1839. 

Charles  A.  Purdy  November,  1840. 

Munson  I.  Lockwood  November,  1843. 

Robert  R.  Oakley  November,  1849. 

John  P.  .Jenkins  November,  1855. 

Hiram  P.  Rowell  Novemuer,  1858. 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  >  May  25,  1867. 

William  W.  Pierson  2  July  22,  1867. 

J.  Malcolm  Smith  November,  1867. 

John  M.  Rowell  November,  1876. 

James  F.  D.  Crane  3  November,  1882. 

CoFNTY  Treasurers. — During  the  colonial  period 
the  treasurers  from  1701  to  1703  were  elected  by  the 
justices  of  the  peace  in  the  Court  of  General  or  Spe- 
cial Sessions;  from  1703  to  1846  by  the  supervisors. 
The  Constitution  of  1846  made  the  office  elective  and 
the  term  three  years. 

Name.  Elected. 

Elisha  Horton  November,  1848. 

Robert  Palmer  November,  1851. 

Lieman  B.  Tripp  November,  1854. 

Henry  Willetts  ...   November,  1857. 

Gilberts.  Lyon-"  November 25,  1866. 

N.  Holmes  Odell  November,  1872. 

George  W.  Davids  November,  1875. 

David  Cromwell  *  November,  1878. 

County  Superintendents  of  Cojimon  Schools. 
— The  Boards  of  Supervisors  were  directed,  by  the  act 
of  April  17,  1843,  to  appoint  County  Superintendents 
-of  Common  Schools.  The  office  was  abolished  March 
13,  1847. 

Samuel  L.  Holmes.  John  Hobbs. 


'  Appointed  vice  Rowell,  deceased. 

-  .\ppointed  I'ice  Depew,  who  failed  to  qualify. 

Present  incuinbent. 

-•Appointed  vice  Willetts,  resigned. 
'  Present  incumbent. 


School  Commissioners. — "Prior  to  1857  School 
Commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Boards  of  Su- 
pervisors. Since  that  year  they  have  been  elected  on 
a  separate  ballot.  The  first  election  under  the  act 
creating  the  ottice  (chapter  179,  Laws  of  1856)  was 
held  in  November,  1859.    Term,  three  vears."* 


A.  G.  Reynolds. 
Jared  M.  Horton. 
Theodore  Kent. 
William  Miller. 


Samuel  U.  Berrian. 
William  G.  Weston. 
Isaac  D.  Vermilye. 
Abel  T.  Stewart. 


James  W.  Husted. 
John  S.  Bates. 
Henry  White. 
Henry  A.  Wells. 
Joseph  Barrett. 


First  District, 

Frrankliu  W.  Gilley. 
Joseph  H.  Palmer. 
Joseph  F.  Wood. 
Jared  Sanford." 

Second  District. 

George  W.  Smith. 
Casper  G.  Brower. 
Theodore  B.  Stevens. 
James  B.  Lockwood. 8 

Tldrd  District. 

Isaac  C.  Wright. 
Edward  N.  Barrett. 
Piatt  R.  H.  Sawyer. 
James  F.  Williams.  »"> 


C*ums, 


1698  . 
1703  . 
1712  . 
1723  . 
1731  . 
1737  . 
1746  . 
1749  . 
1756  . 
1771  . 
1782  . 
1790  . 
1800  . 
1810  . 


1,063 
1,946 
2,815 
4,409 
6,033 
6,745 
9,235 
10,703 
13.257 
21,745 
7,330" 
24,003 
27,347 
30,272 


1814   26,367 

1820    32,638 

1825    33,131 

1830    36,456 

1835   38,790 

1840    48,687 

1845    47,578 

1850    58,263 

1855    80,678 

1860    99,497 

1865    101,197 

1870    131,348 

1875    103,.564H 

1880    108,987 


LIST  OF  SUPEEVISOBS,"  1772-1787. 
1772. 

William  Davis  Philipsburgh. 

M'illiam  Sutton  Mamaroneck. 

Ebenenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

James  Holmes  Bedford. 

Stephen  Ward  East  Chester. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Richard  Willis.  .  .  New  Rochelle. 

William  Barker.  Scarsdale. 

David  Daton  North  Castle. 

Robert  Graham  A^Tiite  Plains. 

James  Van  Cortlandt  Yonkers. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

177.3. 

William  Barker  Scarsdale. 

Samuel  Haviland  Rye. 

James  Van  Cortlandt   Yonkers. 

James  Pell  Pel  ham. 

James  Holmes  Bedford. 

James  Ferris  Westchester. 

 Morris   Morrisania. 

0  Civil  List,  1880,  p.  398. 
'  Present  incumbent. 
8  Present  incumbent. 
'  Appointed  vice  Sawyer,  deceased. 
Present  incumbent. 

11  Census  of  North  Castle,  Bedford,  Poundridge,  Salem,  Manor  of  Cort- 
landt, Ryck's  Patent. 

12  Towns  of  Morrisania,  West  Farms  and  King's.Bridge  anne.ved  to  New 
York  City  by  chap.  613  of  laws  of  1873. 

13  Records  of  Board  of  Supervisors. 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


655 


Abij»b  Gilbert  Salem. 

William  Davis  Pbilipsbiiigh. 

David  Daton  Xurtb  Castle. 

Stephen  AVarJ  Kast  01ie.ster. 

William  Siitton  Mainaroueck. 

Ebenezei-  Lockwood  Pouudridge. 

1774. 

Pierre  Vau  C'ortlandt  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

JamfcS  Cronkliite  Kyck's  Patent. 

Robert  Gmbain  W  hite  I'laius. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt  Cortlandt  JIanor. 

James  Holmes  Bedford. 

Samuel  Haviland  Rye. 

DaTid  Daton  Xortb  Castle. 

James  Ferris  Westchester. 

William  Sutton  JIamaroneck. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

William  Davis  Philipsburgh. 

William  Barker  Scarsdale. 

James  Cronkbite  Kyck's  Patent. 

Robert  Graham  White  Plains. 

Stephen  Waul  Kast  Chester. 

1775. 

Samuel  Haviland.  James  Van  Cortlandt. 

William  Davis.  William  Barker. 

Pierre  Van  Cortlandt.  Ebenezer  Lockwood. 

Stephen  Ward.  Lewis  W.  Donald. 

Joseph  Drake.  James  Pell. 

Samuel  Purdy.  Abijah  Gilbert. 

James  Norton.  David  Daton. 

177S. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood.  Jacob  Purdy. 

Joseph  Strang.  Abijah  Gilbert. 
Israel  Lyon. 

Januari/  5,  177U. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood.  Israel  Lyon. 

Joseph  Strang.  Abyah  Gilbert. 
Jacob  Purdy. 

Febniarif  19.  1779. 

Jacob  Purd.v.  Israel  Lyon. 

Joseph  Paulding.  .\bijah  Gilbert. 

March  IS,  1779. 
Ebenezer  Lockwood.  Joseph  Pauliling. 

Joseph  Strang.  Jacob  Purdy. 

Israel  Lvon. 

Maij  13,  1780. 

Samuel  Haight  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Jacob  Purdy  North  Castle. 

Israel  Loon  Bedford. 

William  Dandier  Poundridge. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

October  9,  1780. 

Isniel  Lyon  Bedford. 

William  Dandier  Poundridge. 

John  Van  Tassel  Kyck's  Patent. 

1781. 

Samuel  Haigbt  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Samuel  Haight  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Israel  Lyon  Bedford 

William  Fancher  Poundridge. 

.\bijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Junuanj  28, 1782. 

Zebediah  Mills  Bedford. 

Samuel  Haight  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundndge. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Jl/.i;;  29,  1782. 

Peter  Fleming   Bedford. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

James  Cronkbite  Kyck's  Patent. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Samuel  Haight  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 


1783. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

Joseph  Strang  Manor  of  t'ortlandt.J      ,  ^ 

Peter  Fleming  Bedford. 

Ab^ah  Gilbert  Salem. 

James  Cronkbite  Kyck's  Patent. 

1784.  # 

John  Thomas  Rye. 

William  Paulding  Philipsburgh. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Slanor  of  Scarsdale. 

Joseph  Strang.  ...   •  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Thaddeiis  Crane  Town  of  I'pper  Salem. 

Benjamin  Stevenson  New  Rochelle. 

Israel  Honeywell  Yonkers. 

William  Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

Ebenezer  E.  Burling  East  Chester. 

Abel  Smith  North  Castle. 

Daniel  Horlon  White  Plains. 

Gilbert  Budd  Maniaroiieck. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Peter  B'leming  Town  of  Bedford. 

1784. 

Abel  Smith  Precinct  of  North  Castle. 

Thomas  Hunt  Borough  Town  of  Westchester 

William  Paulding  Manor  of  Philipsburgh. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Manor  of  .Scarsdale. 

Thaddeus  Crane  Town  of  Upper  Salem. 

William^ Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Joseph  Strang   Manor  of  Van  Cortlandt. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Precinct  of  Poundridge. 

Gilbert  Budd  Town  of  Mamaroneck. 

Ebenezer  S.  Burling  Town  of  East  Chester. 

Daniel  Horton  Precinct  of  Wliite  Plains. 

Israel  Honeywell  Yonkers. 

John  Thomas  Town  of  Rye. 

Philip  Pell  Manor  of  Pelham. 

Benjamin  Stevenson  Town  of  New  Rochelle. 

William  Morris  Manor  of  Morrisauia. 

Abijah  Gilbei  t  Town  of  Lower  Salem. 

June  28,  1785. 

Gilbert  Budd  Mamaroneck. 

William  Davis  Manor  of  Philipsburgh. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

Joseph  Strang  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

Peter  Fleming  Bedford. 

Abraham  Leggett  M'estchester. 

Daniel  Horton  White  Plains. 

Abel  Smith  North  Castle. 

James  Cronkbite  Ryck's  Patent. 

James  Hunt  East  Chester. 

AVilliam  Miller  Hairisou's  Precinct. 

Jesse  Hunt  Rye. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Salem. 

Oc(o6er  4,  1785. 

Je.'se  Hunt  Town  of  Rye. 

Benjamin  Stevenson  Town  of  New  Rochelle. 

William  Davis  Manor  of  Philipoburgb. 

Daniel  Hunt  White  Plains. 

Lewis  Morris  Manor  of  Morrisania. 

Philip  Pell  Manor  of  Pelham. 

Thaddeus  Crane  Town  of  Upper  Salem. 

Peter  Fleming  Town  of  Bedford. 

Abraham  Leggett  Town  of  Westchester. 

James  Cronkbite  Ryck's  Patent. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

Joseph  Strang  Slanor  of  Cortlandt. 

Abel  Smith   District  of  North  Castle. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  District  of  Poundridge. 

James  Hunt  Town  of  East  Chester. 

William  Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Abijah  Gilbert   Town  of  Lower  Salem. 


656 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


3Iay  9,  1T8G. 

William  Morris  Slanor  of  Morrisauia. 

Lake  Hunt  Town  of  Westchester. 

James  Hunt  Town  of  East  Chester. 

Gilbert  Budd  Town  of  Mamaroneck. 

Jesse  Hunt  Town  of  Rye. 

William  Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

Abraham  Guion  Town  of  New  Rochelle. 

Philip  Pell  Manor  of  Pelhani. 

Daniel  Horton  Precinct  of  White  Plains. 

Abel  Smith  Precinct  of  North  Castle. 

William  Hadley  Precinct  of  Yonkers. 

Jonathan  Horton  Manor  of  Philipsburgh. 

James  Cronkhite  Kyck's  Patent. 

Joseph  Strang  Manor  of  Tan  Cortlandt. 

Zebediah  Mills  Town  of  Bedford. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Parish  of  Pouudridge. 

Hachaliah  Brown  Town  of  Upper  Salem. 

Abi,iah  Gilbert  Town  of  Lower  Salem. 

178G. 

Jesse  Hunt  Town  of  Rye. 

Gilbert  Budd  Town  of  Mamaroneck. 

Abraham  Guion  Town  of  New  Rochelle. 

Philip  Pell  Manor  of  Pelham. 

James  Hunt  Town  of  East  Chester. 

William  Hadley  Precinct  of  Yonkers. 

Jonathan  Horton  Manor  of  Philipsburgh. 

Jonathan  G.  Tompkins  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

Daniel  Horton  Precinct  of  White  Plains. 

William  Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Abel  Smith  Precinct  of  North  Castle. 

Zebediah  Mills  Town  of  Bedford. 

Joseph  Strang  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

James  Cronkhite  Ryck's  Patent. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Precinct  of  Poundridge. 

Hachaliah  Brown  Town  of  Upper  Salem. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Town  of  Lower  Salem. 

Lake  Hunt  Town  of  Westchester. 

1787. 

Gilbert  Budd  Mamaroneck. 

Theodocius  Barton  New  Rochelle. 

Philip  Pell  Manor  of  Pelham. 

Jonathan  6.  Tompkins  Manor  of  Scarsdale. 

William  Miller  Harrison's  Precinct. 

Richard  Hatfield  White  Plains. 

David  Hunt  Yonkei-s. 

Isaac  Requa  Manor  of  Philipsburgh. 

Abel  Smith  North  Castle. 

Joseph  Strang  Manor  of  Cortlandt. 

Jonathan  Ferris  Ryck's  Patent. 

Zebediah  Mills  Bedford. 

Ebenezer  Lockwood  Poundridge. 

Abijah  Gilbert  Lower  Salem. 

Stephen  Ward  East  Chester. 

Israel  Underbill  Westchester. 

CIVIL  LIST  FOB  1880. 

BepresetiUitive  in  Congress — \ith  District. 
William  G.  Stahlnecker,  Yonkers.    (District  composed  of  Westchester 
County  and  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fouith  Wards  of  New  York 
City.) 

State  Senator — 12th  District. 
Henry  C.  Nelson,  Sing  Sing.     (Senatorial  district  composed  of  West- 
chester and  Rockland  Counties.) 

Members  of  Assembly. 

First  District,  Charles  P.  McClelland,  Dobbs  Ferry.  (District  composed 
of  Greenburgh,  Mount  Pleasant  and  Y^onkers.) 

Second  District,  Norman  A.  Lawlor,  Mount  Vernon.  (District  com- 
posed of  East  Chester,  Harrison,  Mamaroneck,  New  Rochelle,  North 
Castle,  Pelham,  Rye,  Scai-sdale,  West  Chester  and  White  Plains.) 

Third  District,  James  W.  Husted,  Peekskill.  (District  composed  of 
Bedford,  Cortland,  Lewisboro,  New  Castle,  North  Salem,  Ossining, 
Poundridge,  Somers  and  Y'orktown. ) 


Surrogale. 

Owen  T.  Coffin,  Peekskill ;  Clerk  of  Surrogate's  Court,  William  M. 
Skinner,  White  Plains  ;  Record  Clerk,  Benoni  P.  Piatt,  White  Plains, 
Special  Clerk,  Elias  P.  Purdy,  White  Plains. 

Supreme  Court  Stenographer. 
D.  C.  McEwen,  Tribune  Building,  room  77,  New  York  City. 

County  Judge. 
Isaac  N.  Mills,  Mount  Vernon. 

Justices  of  Sessions. 
Stephen  Billings,  Verplanck's  ;  John  H.  Baxter,  Peekskill. 

Stenographer, 
Harvey  Husted,  White  Plains. 

Intei-preter. 
A,  R.  Stainach,  WTiite  Plains. 

District  Attorney. 

Nelson  H.  Baker,  Sing  Sing  ;  Assistant  District  .attorney,  David  Ver- 
Planck,  White  Plains. 

County  Clerk. 

John  M.  Digney,  Yonkers  ;  Deputy  County  Clerk,  Franklin  Couch, 
Peekskill  ;  Record  Clerk,  M.  James  Mooney,  Y'onkers. 

County  Treasurer. 

David  Cromwell,  White  Plains ;  Deputy  County  Treasurer,  Thomas 
B.  Hodge,  Mount  Vernon. 

Regiiiter. 

Joseph  0.  Miller,  New  Castle  ;  Deputy  Register,  B.  Frank  Palmer, 
Mamaroneck  ;  Searcher,  Benjamin  S.  Dick,  M  hite  Plains. 

Sheriff. 

John  Duffy,  White  Plains;  Under  Sheriff,  William  Ryan,  Rye  ;  Jailer 
and  Deputy  Sheriff,  Frank  G.  Shirmer,  White  Plains;  Clerk  and  Deputy 
Sheriff,  Charles  E.  Johnson,  Mount  Vernon  ;  Deputy  Sheriffs  :  John  0. 
Verplanck,  White  Plains;  Stephen  .4.  Marshall,  Port  Chester;  Alfred 
Lawrence,  Tarrytowu  ;  William  H.  Sommers,  Mamaroneck  ;  Erastus  R. 
Finch,  Purdy'e  Station;  Jot'U  T.  McGrath,  Yonkers;  James  Mabie, 
Peekskill ;  Mark  Skeunion,  West  Chester. 

Stenographer  to  Grand  Jury. 
Warren  C.  Brown,  Tarrytown. 

Court  Crier. 
James  E.  Campbell,  White  Plains. 

Idbrarian. 
Harold  T.  Kinch,  Pleasantville. 

Chaplains  to  County  Almshouse. 
Rev.  Lawrence  H.  Van  Dyke,  Rev.  Patrick  Egan,  Tarrytown. 
Phijricians  to  County  Almshouse. 

Dr.  N.  C.  Husted,  Tarrytown  ;  Dr.  R.  B.  Coutant,  . 

Watchman  OfUrt'House. 
Alexander  Jones,  White  Plains. 

Janitor  Court-House. 
Thomas  Zimmerman,  White  Plains. 

Keeper  County  Almshouse. 
Charles  Fisher,  East  Tarrytown. 

Keeper  Pelham  Bridge. 
Coroners. 

Edward  J.  Mitchell,  Yonkers;  Leonard  D.  Tice,  Mount  Vernon  ;  Eli- 
jah Purdy,  White  Plains  ;  George  H.  Sutton,  Sing  Sing. 

Superintendents  of  the  Poor. 
Aaron  F.  Read,  Arinonk  ;  James  E.  Hoyt,  Katonah. 

School  Cominissioners. 
Jared  Sandford,  Mount  Vernon  ;  James  B.  Lockwood,  ASTiite  Plains; 
John  W.  Littel,  Peekskill. 

Loan  Commissiomrs. 
Isaac  B.  Noxon,  Sing  Sing  ;  Jonathan  Vail,  Yonkers. 


David  Blizzard. 


SCARSDALE. 


657 


Totm  Cleris. 

 William  11.  Pierce,  R. 

 John  Bowilen,  D. 

 Frank  Wiley,  1). 

 Frederic  Howe,  R. 

oil  lit  I'lSftSHDt 

 J.  Benedict  See,  D. 

 Elijah  Grossman,  D. 

^"c\v  lioclicllc  . 

D. 

 William  H.  C'reomer,  R. 

 Samuel  B.  Clark,  R. 

 Henry  Austin,  R. 

 Purdy  G.  Sands,  D. 

 Peter  M.  Dobbs,  D 

 Jacob  W.  Tompkins,  R. 

D. 

,  R- 

 William  H.  Dotv,  R. 

 Theodore  T.  Tompkins,  R 

List  of  Supervisors. 

Towns 

Names.  Politics. 

BedfonI 

Rep. 

Cortlaiiilt      .  . 

Deni. 

Eiist  Clu'Ster 

Dem. 

0  r6 1?  n  I)  iir*''li 

Dem. 

Rep. 

Lcwisboro'   •  .  . 

Rep. 

5X11111 11  roiicck 

Dem. 

Bit.  PWftSjiiit 

Dem. 

I^CW  0)t8tl6 

Rep. 

2"»6w  Kochcllb 

Rep. 

Jforth  Sulciii 

Rep. 

North  Castle 

.  Joseph  B.  See   

Rep. 

Ossiiiiii^   *  •  ( 

Dem. 

111  (I  III 

Dem. 

Poll  lid  rid  "'e 

Dem. 

Kve  

Dem. 

Dem. 

Rep. 

West  Chester  .  . 

Dem. 

White  Plains  .  . 

Dem. 

Dem. 

Dem. 

TOWN  HISTOEIES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SCARSDALE. 
BY  ALL.\>'  M.  BUTLER,  M.D. 

The  town  of  Scarsdale  is  in  its  general  outline 
rhomboidal,  the  long  diameter  running  nearly  due 
north  and  south  and  extending  from  a  point  about  a 
mile  south  of  the  county  court-house  in  White  Plains 
in  a  southerly  direction  for  two  miles.  The  shorter 
diameter  runs  nearly  due  west  from  Scarsdale  Station, 
62 


on  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad,  for  about  a 
mile  and  three-quarters,  until  it  meets  "  Branch 
Brook,"  a  small  stream  forming  part  of  the  western 
boundary  of  the  township.  The  area  of  the  town  is 
about  six  thousand  acres,  and  the  general  regularity 
of  its  outline  is  broken  just  west  of  the  southern  angle 
by  a  projecting  portion  of  the  town  of  New  Rochelle, 
nearly  a  mile  in  lenoth  and  ranging  from  one-half  to 
one-cjuarter  of  a  mile  in  brea<lth.  The  town  is  bounded 
on  the  northeast  by  White  Plains  and  a  small  part  of 
Mamaroneck;  on  the  southeast,  by  Mamaroneck  and 
New  Rochelle ;  on  the  southwest  by  New  Rochelle 
and  East  Chester  and  on  its  entire  northwest  border 
by  Greenburgh.  In  the  centre  of  the  town  rises  the 
Hutchinson  River,  which  flows  in  a  southerly  direction, 
and  on  the  east,  another  stream,  the  "  Shelldrake," — 
or  as  it  appears  on  the  old  records, "  Branch  Brook," — 
both  flowing  into  the  Sound,  the  latter  being  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Mamaroneck  River. 

Along  the  northwest  border  of  the  town  flows  the 
river  Bronx  or  Brunx,  into  which  empty  several  smaller 
streams  which  drain  the  western  portion  of  the  town. 
The  Bronx  lies  entirely  within  the  township  of  Green- 
burgh,  Scarsdale  extending  only  to  its  eastern  bank. 

In  its  general  topography  the  township  is  rolling 
country,  though  the  eastern  portion  is  comparatively 
high  land,  while  the  western  portion  forms  one  slope 
of  the  valley  of  the  Bronx.  The  aspect  of  the  town  is 
relieved  from  monotony  by  many  gentle  undulations, 
frequent  small  ponds  and  streams  and  many  tracts  of 
wooded  land.  In  former  times  the  eastern  angle  of 
the  town  was  heavily  wooded  and  was  known  as  the 
"  Saxton  Forest,"  from  Wm.  Saxton,  whose  name  ap- 
pears on  a  map  of  the  town  bearing  the  date  1779  as 
proprietor  of  a  saw-mill  in  this  locality.  Although 
this  forest  once  covered  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hun- 
dred acres,  most  of  it  has  been  cleared,  and,  except  for 
a  few  inconsiderable  portions,  the  "  Saxton  Forest " 
remains  only  in  name.  Bolton,  in  his  history  of  the 
county,  says :  "  The  most  prominent  features  of  Scars- 
dale, however,  are  the  extensive  tracts  of  woodland 
which  completely  cover  its  wild  and  romantic  hills  on 
the  west,  displaying  themselves  to  great  advantage 
from  every  part  of  the  surrounding  country.  The 
Saxton  Forest,  which  forms  a  large  portion  of  this 
woody  district,  abounds  with  foxes,  rabbits  and  other 
wild  game,  and  retains  much  of  its  ancient  grandeur." 
This  description,  however,  is  incorrect,  for  although 
the  eastern  bank  of  the  Bronx  is,  wooded  almost  con- 
tinuously throughout  its  course  along  the  border  of 
the  town,  these  portions  of  woodland  never  formed 
part  of  the  Saxton  Forest,  which  was  on  the  far  eastern 
side  of  the  town.  The  brooks  were  formerly  well 
stocked  with  trout  and  small  fish,  and  the  woods 
abounded  in  game,— the  name  "  Fox  Meadows  "  ap- 
parently having  been  given  from  the  abundance  of 
these  animals, — but  now  there  are  few  fishes  in  the 
streams  and  only  an  occasional  rabbit  or  quail  in  the 
woods. 


H58 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  Bronx,  though  unaavigable,  was  formerly  a 
stream  of  some  magnitude,  furnishing  water-power  for 
a  saw  and  grist-mill,  which  stood  from  before  the  days 
of  the  Revolution  until  the  Rebellion  near  Scarsdale 
Station,  but  now  fully  one-half  of  the  volume  of  water 
has  been  diverted  to  the  new  aqueduct  or  pipe-line 
which  skirts  the  town  on  the  Greenburgh  bank  of  the 
river,  contributing  to  the  water  supply  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  The  general  character  of  the  soil  of  the 
town  is  light  and  sandy  loam,  but  in  former  years  there 
were  many  acres  of  swamp  and  marsh,  most  of  which 
has  now  been  drained  and  imj^roved,  hirnishing  large 
tracts  of  rich  black  loam.  Only  about  half  of  the 
acreage  of  the  town  is  under  actual  cultivation,  the 
remainder  consisting  of  meadow,  pasture  and  wood- 
land. The  ownership  of  the  town,  according  to  the 
last  State  census  (1875),  is  divided  among  ninety-four 
proprietors,  few  of  whom  hold  over  fifty  acres.  There 
is  no  farming  on  a  large  scale,  the  greater  part  of  the 
farm  product  being  devoted  to  home  consumption. 

The  facts  in  relation  to  the  first  settlement  of  the 
part  of  Westchester  now  included  in  Scarsdale  town- 
ship are  very  meagre.  It  appears,  however,  that  the 
town  was  once  part  of  a  large  tract  ceded  by  the  In- 
dian owners  to  one  John  Richbeli,  a  native  of  England, 
about  whom  little  is  known.  This  tract  formed  part 
of  the  Indian  district  of  "Quaroppas,"  then  occupied 
by  the  Mohegans  or  Mohicans.  This  was  in  the  year 
1660,  and  Richbeli  was  probably  the  first  white  man  to 
settle  in  the  town.  For  this  purchase  Richbeli  re- 
ceived a  grant  and  confirmation  from  Francis  Lovelace, 
Governor  of  New  York,  in  16()8,  and  it  had  already 
been  confirmed  by  the  government  of  New  Nether- 
lands in  16(52.  In  his  patent  Richbeli  received  possess- 
ion of  "  the  three  necks  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Mamaroneck  River,  and  on  the  west  by  Stony  Brook, 
together  with  the  land  lying  north  of  these  bounds, 
twenty  miles  into  the  woods."  Hence,  afterwardi 
arose  the  question  as  to  the  ownership  of  Quaroppas, 
in  the  time  of  Colonel  Heathcote.  Thirty-six  years 
after  this,  Richbell's  widow,  Anne,  granted  to  Caleb 
Heathcote,  of  New  York,  the  right  to  purchase  por- 
tions of  the  land  included  in  the  above  mentioned 
purchase  from  the  Indians.  In  1701  the  sale  was  con- 
cluded between  Richbell's  widow  and  Colonel  Heath- 
cote, the  deed  dating  from  March  30th  of  that 
year,  and  being  signed  by  four  Indians, — Patthunck, 
Beaupo,  Kohavvney  and  Wapetuck,  representing  the 
Mohegan  tribe,  and  by  a  corresponding  number  of 
witnesses. 

In  this  deed,  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the 
descendants  of  Colonel  Heathcote,  the  said  Indians, 
"  for  and  in  consideration  of  a  certain  sum  of  good 
and  lawful  money," — the  amount  of  which  is  not 
stated, — sold  to  Colonel  Heathcote,  free  of  all  encum- 
brance or  limitation,  "  a  certain  tract  of  land  lying 
and  being  in  the  county  of  Westchester,  bounded  as 
follows:  To  begin  on  the  west  side,  at  the  southern- 
most end  of  a  ridge  known  by  the  name  of  Richbell's 


or  Horse's  ridge,  at  a  great  rock  and  so  to  run  a 
Northwest  line  to  Bronck's  River  and  on  the  Eastern- 
most side  with  Mamaroneck  River  and  from  the  head 
thereof  to  Bronck's  River."  This  he  and  his  assigns 
were  to  hold  forever,  and  the  Indians  faithfully  per- 
formed their  part  of  the  contract,  for  there  is  no 
record  of  the  settlers  being  molested  by  them  in  any 
way.  This  tract,  together  with  the  other  large  pur- 
chases of  Colonel  Heathcote — an  exception  being 
made  of  White  Plains,  to  which  Colonel  Heathcote 
had  a  claim  which  he  afterwards  raised — was,  on  March 
21,  1701,  by  royal  patent  of  AVilliam  III.,  John 
Nanfan,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  province,  sub- 
scribing to  it,  erected  into  the  "  Lordship  and  Manor 
of  Scarsdale,"  to  be  holden  by  Colonel  Heathcote  of 
the  King  in  free  and  common  soccage,  "  Paying 
therefore  yearly  and  every  year  forever  at  our  city 
of  New  York,  .  .  .  five  pounds  current  money  of 
New  York  upon  the  Nativity  of  our  Lord."  By  the 
terms  of  the  royal  patent,  the  lord  of  the  manor  was 
permitted  at  his  pleasure  to  hold  "one  court-leet  and 
one  court-baron,"  all  fines  and  assessments  going  to 
himself,  and  it  was  furthermore  granted  that  "  ye 
tenants  of  him,  ye  said  Caleb  Heathcoate,  within  ye 
said  manor,  shall  and  may  at  all  times  hereafter  meet 
together  and  choose  assessors  within  ye  manor  afore- 
said," according  to  the  laws  prescribed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  i)rovince  for  cities  and  towns,  "  for 
defraying  the  public  charge  of  each  respective  city, 
town  and  county  aforesaid,  and  all  such  sums  of 
money  so  assessed  and  levied,  to  collect  and  dispose 
of  for  such  use  as  any  act  or  acts  as  the  said  General 
Assembly  shall  exhibit  or  appoint,  to  have,  hold,  pos- 
sess and  enjoy  all  and  singular  the  said  Lorship  and 
Manor  of  Scarsdale  and  premises,  with  all  and  every 
of  their  appurtenances,  unto  the  said  Caleb  Heathcote, 
his  heirs  and  assigns  forever."  ' 

The  entire  Indian  history  of  Scarsdale,  so  far  as  it 
is  known,  is  summed  up  in  the  account  of  the  trans- 
actions of  Richbeli  and  Colonel  Heathcote  with  the 
Indian  proprietors.  There  is  no  account  of  any  dis- 
turbance from  them  since  the  town  was  settled,  nor 
are  there  any  Indian  remains  of  any  account,  nothing 
more  than  a  few  arrow-heads  and  similar  relics  having 
been  found  to  mark  the  former  proprietorship  of  this 
territory. 

Town  Statistics. — The  first  recorded  census  of 
the  town  was  taken  in  1712,  the  inhabitants  numbering 
12,  of  whom  but  5  were  white.  The  next  figures 
are  for  1740,  when  the  population  had  increased  so 
rapidly  that  there  was  a  total  of  255  persons.  During 
the  next  fifty  years  the  population  remained  almost 
stationary,  the  census  of  1790  giving  a  total  of  281 
persons  ;  this  was  lowered  within  the  next  ten  years, 
and  in  1800  the  inhabitants  numbered  258.  Of  these, 
224  were  whites — 107  being  males,  117  females — and 


1  A  sketch  of  Oolouel  Heathcote  is  inserted  in  Mr.  De  Lancey's  chapter 
on  the  "  Manors  in  Westchester  County,"  in  this  volnme. 


SCAKSDALE. 


659 


the  remainder  were  colored,  of  whom  24  were  slaves. 
In  1810  the  population  was  259  and  in  1814,  292. 
The  next  ensuing  United  States  census,  in  1820,  gives 
the  population  as  329,  including  42  colored.  The 
State  census  of  1825  shows  a  decrease  of  8  persons, 
the  total  in  1830  being  again  slightly  reduced,  the 
returns  showing  317  inhabitants.  In  1835  the  num- 
ber of  the  inhabitants  was  the  same  as  in  1820,  being 
329.  Of  these,  162  were  males  and  167  females,  among 
these  being  included  89  colored  persons.  The  num- 
ber of  births  this  year  was  10.  and  of  deaths  there 
were  4.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  up  to  this 
time,  a  constant  rivalry  had  been  going  on  be- 
tween Pelham  and  Scarsdale  in  point  of  popula- 
tion. In  1790  Pelham  was  the  smallest  town  in  the 
county  in  this  respect,  and  from  then  to  1835  the  vary- 
ing populations  of  the  two  towns  put  first  one  and 
then  the  other  ahead  in  the  census  reports.  Finally, 
in  the  census  for  this  year  Pelham  took  the  prec- 
edence, and  Scarsdale  has  ever  since  remained  the 
smallest  town  in  the  county  in  respect  to  its  popula- 
tion. Within  the  next  five  years  the  number  of 
inhabitants  fell  off  greatly,  and  in  1840  but  a  total  of 
255  was  recorded — a  smaller  number  than  any  re- 
corded in  the  censuses  of  the  last  hundred  years.  In 
1845  the  number  had  again  reached  a  higher  limit 
than  ever  before,  and  345  inhabitants,  including  33 
colored,  were  recorded  on  the  census  books.  Of  these, 

170  were  males  and  175  females.  The  families  of  the 
town  numbered  57,  with  297  natives  of  the  United 
States.  The  foreign  born  numbered  44,  of  whom 
26  remained  aliens.  In  1850  the  population  had 
risen  by  one,  while  the  next  five  years  saw  a  rise 
of  over  a  hundred,  the  census  of  1855  showing  a  pop- 
ulation of  445,  including  28  colored.  Of  these  205 
were  males  and  240  females;  the  total  of  foreign  born 
was  123,  of  whom  87  were  aliens.  The  families  num- 
bered 74,  and  of  the  total  322  were  native  born, 
-^01  being  born  in  the  State  and  285  in  the  county. 
There  were  286  single  and  138  married  persons,  10 
■widowere  and  eleven  widows.  During  the  period 
from  1855  to  1865  the  population  was  again  in- 
creased by  more  than  a  hundred  persons,  reaching 
the  figure  of  557,  of  whom  22  were  colored.  There 
were  256  males  and  301  females,  the  foreign  born 
numbering  156.  There  were  91  families,  of  whose 
members  401  were  natives  of  the  United  States,  377 
of  New  York  State  and  237  of  Westchester  County. 

As  respects  their  civil  condition,  352  were  single, 

171  married,  11  were  widowers  and  23  widows.  In 
1875  the  population  had  dropped  to  529,  including  a 
colored  population  of  35.  The  foreign  born  numbered 
131  and  the  natives  398,  of  whom  344  were  natives  of 
the  State,  and  226  of  the  county.  The  males  in  the 
town  numbered  244  and  the  females  285  and  their  civil 
condition  was :  single  346,  married  153,  widowers  13, 
widows  17,  the  number  of  families  in  the  town  being  91. 

In  respect  to  the  finances  of  the  town,  the  first 
record  in  relation  to  them  is  dated  1788,  and  is 


entered  in  the  book  of  town  records.  It  reads  thus — 
"This  may  certify  that  on  the  9th  day  of  December, 
1788,  William  Fisher,  Collector  of  the  Town  of  Scars- 
dale for  the  year  1788,  produced  a  receipt  from  John- 
athan  G.  Tompkins,  in  behalf  of  Abijah  Gilbert, 
County  Treasurer,  for  the  sum  of  ten  pounds,  twelve 
Shillings  and  six  pence,  to  bring  the  Town's  propor- 
tion of  money  towards  the  Completion  of  the  Court- 
House.  Bearing  (late  of  October  4th,  1788.  Entered 
by  Benj.  Cornell,  clerk." 

The  taxes  for  the  previous  year,  1787,  had  amounted 
to  £61  35s.  If/.,  but  there  is  no  record  of  the  valuation 
upon  which  those  taxes  were  asses.^ed.  In  1875  the 
town  valuation  amounted  to  $588,850,  and  the  town 
debt  was  $29,109,  of  which  $3689  had  been  contracted 
on  the  account  of  war  bonds  and  bounties,  and  $25,500 
for  roads. 

In  1880  the  town  valuation  was  $620,084,  of  which 
1560,284  was  real  and  $53,800  personal  property.  Thirty 
years  ago  there  were  in  the  town  sixty- two  dwelling- 
houses,  valued  at  .$84,550.  '  Ten  years  after,  in  1865, 
the  dwellings  numbered  eighty-four  and  their  valua- 
tion was  put  at  $163,910.  The  next  ten  years  wit- 
nessed a  decrease  in  the  number  of  the  dwellings,  but 
at  the  same  time  more  than  a  doubling  of  the  valua- 
tions. Thus  the  number  of  houses  was  seventy -seven, 
while  their  valuation  was  $438,230.  It  is  hard  to 
understand  this  apparent  conflict  of  the  returns  under 
any  other  supposition  than  that  the  figures  given  by 
the  census  takers  in  respect  to  values  are  entirely 
erroneous.  The  owners  of  land  in  1855  numbered 
forty-five ;  in  1865,  sixty-one ;  and  in  1875,  eighty- 
four. 

In  regard  to  a  problem  which  has  agitated  many  a 
town  deeply,  the  care  of  the  poor,  Scarsdale  has  had 
little  anxiety.  The  number  of  paupers  has  been  inva- 
riably small  and  the  poor  tax  correspondingly  low. 
Apparently  this  was  greatest  in  the  early  days  of  the 
county,  when  Scarsdale's  proportion  of  the  poor  tax 
amounted  to  £28  lO.s.  This  was  in  1789.  In  1785 
overseers  of  the  poor  had  been  chosen  for  the  first 
time,  and  the  positions  were  afterwards  filled  at  each 
annual  election.  In  succeeding  years  the  amount 
raised  by  the  town  for  the  support  of  the  poor  was 
much  diminished,  $25  being  voted  for  this  object 
in  1800,  and  $35  in  1804.  This  amount  reached  $100 
in  1818,  $130  the  next  year  and  $150  in  1822,  but  in 
the  intervening  years  it  was  much  less.  Of  late  years 
the  amount  has  been  hardly  noticeable,  $50  being 
voted  in  1876,  while  in  1882  the  overseers  of  the  poor 
were  limited  in  their  expenditures  for  the  benefit  of 
vagrants  and  tramps  for  that  year  to  $15. 

Slavery. — It  is  of  considerable  interest  to  note  the 
conditions  in  which  slavery  has  existed  in  the  town, 
our  first  information  dating  back  to  1712.  This  was 
eleven  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Manor  of 
Scarsdale;  so  it  is  probable  that  the  figures  ap])ly  to 
the  whole  manor,  and  not  to  the  town  in  its  present 
extent.    At  this  date  the  inhabitants  numbered  only 


660 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


twelve,  of  whom  four  were  whites,  all  being  males 
and  over  ten  years  of  age ;  the  remaining  eight  were 
slaves,  of  whom  two  were  females  over  sixteen  years 
of  age,  two  males  under  sixteen  and  the  remaining 
four  males  over  sixteen. 

Our  next  information  is  forty-three  years  later,  and 
is  gained  from  a  "  list  of  slaves  taken  April  ye  5th, 
1755,  by  Joseph  Sutton,  Cap'"."  This  information 
is,  of  necessity,  inaccurate,  as  the  names  given  are 
chosen  from  a  list  including  inhabitants  of  other 
places  beside  Scarsdale,  to  which  some  of  them  may 
belong,  although  these  names  are  all  familiar  in  Scars- 
dale, — David  Barker,  one  male  slave ;  Richard  Palmer 
one  female  slave ;  Jonathan  Cornell,  one  male  and 
one  female  slave ;  Jonathan  Griffin,  one  male  and  one 
female  slave;  Richard  Cornell,  two  males  and  one 
female  slave;  Richard  Cornell,  Jr.,  one  male  and  one 
female  slave;  Benjamin  Griffin,  one  female;  and  Wil- 
liam Griffin,  one  male  and  three  females,  giving  a  total 
of  sixteen.  Thus,  in  nearly  half  a  century  the  num- 
ber of  slaves  in  the  town  (or  manor)  had  but  just 
doubled.  In  the  town  records  are  many  interesting 
records  of  inquiries  in  accordance  with  the  law  into 
the  age  and  condition  of  certain  slaves,  to  determine 
whether  they  should  support  themselves  or  rely  on 
the  town.  The  following  bears  the  date  of  August 
10,  1791 :  "  To  all  whom  it  may  concern,  this  certifies 
that  a  negro  man  named  Prime  and  a  negro  woman 
named  Bell,  belonging  to  Ferris  Cornell,  of  the  town 
of  Scarsdale,  in  Westchester  County,  appears  to  us  to 
be  under  the  age  of  fifty  years,  and  of  sufficient  abil- 
ity to  provide  for  themselves."  This  is  signed  by 
Jonathan  Griffin  Tompkins  and  Benjamin  Cornell, 
poor  masters.  In  another  such  document,  dated  three 
years  later,  a  negro  woman  named  "  Sibb,"  the  property 
of  Abigail  Cornell,  was  adjudged  capable  of  maintaining 
herself  without  the  assistance  of  the  town.  Accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  1800,  the  total  number  of  slaves  in 
the  town,  which  then  only  included  Scarsdale  proper, 
was  twenty-four,  showing  even  a  smaller  ratio  of 
increase  than  before  for  the  half-century,  while  there 
were  at  the  same  time  in  the  town  twenty  free 
colored  persons. 

About  this  time,  1799,  the  Legislature  took  steps 
for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  and  shortly  after- 
wards the  following  document  appears  in  the  town 
records,  followed  by  others  of  a  similar  nature:  "I, 
Bartholomew  Ward,  of  the  town  of  Scarsdale,  County 
of  Westchester,  farmer,  in  conformity  to  an  Act  of 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  entitled  An 
Act  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  do  hereby 
certify  to  the  town  clerk  of  said  town  that  I  am  now 
possessed  of  a  female  negro  child  named  Doroty, 
being  now  of  the  age  of  five  days,  and  born  of  a  slave 
since  the  fourth  of  July,  1799.  Bartholomew  Ward, 
Scarsdale,  October  27, 1801 ."  From  this  time  onward 
the  slaves  in  the  town  slowly  diminished  until,  in  1820, 
there  remained  but  seven,  while  the  free  colored  pop- 
ulation numbered  thirty-five  souls.    This  was  nearly 


the  end  of  slavery  in  the  town,  and  in  1835  not  a 
slave  remained. 

Industries. — Although  Scarsdale  has  never  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  supply  of  the  markets,  the 
chief  industries  of  the  town  have  always  been  agri- 
cultural. There  are  no  statistics  in  relation  to  agri- 
cultural products  in  the  early  days  of  the  town,  but 
from  the  records  of  the  town-meetings  we  may  in- 
fer— from  the  number  of  times  the  animals  are  men- 
tioned— that  much  of  the  farm  live-stock  consisted  of 
swine,  and  also  that  they  caused  considerable  trouble. 
The  following  one  of  many  instances  sufficiently  in- 
dicates :  "  Also  it  is  the  vote  of  this  town-meet- 
ing that  it  shall  be  lawful,  if  any  hogs  are  found  on 
the  highway  not  ringed  or  suouted,  to  drive  them  to 
pound,  and  the  owner  of  said  hogs  shall  pay  the 
poundage."  This  apj^ears  on  the  minutes  of  the 
meeting  of  April  6,  1784,  and  was  followed  by  many 
similar  votes,  as  well  as  others  in  respect  to  the  fenc- 
ing of  the  roads  to  guard  against  the  straying  of 
swine.  In  the  town-meeting  of  1790  it  was  voted 
that  all  fences  must  be  four  feet  six  inches  high  and 
that  they  were  "  not  to  exceed  six  inches  under  the 
bottom  rail,  except  well  underpined  with  stones,  nor 
to  exceed  six  inches  betwix  rails  until  it  comes  to 
the  fift  rail."  Even  as  late  as  1837  we  find  that  the 
office  of  "  Hog  Howard"  was  continued,  the  duties  of 
the  office  presumably  relating  to  the  management  of 
roving  swine.  By  the  State  census  of  1835  there 
were  3039  acres  of  improved  land  in  the  town  and 
on  the  farms  were  472  neat  cattle,  84  horses,  624 
sheep  and  464  hogs.  This  is  all  we  know  of  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  town  until  1845,  the  census 
for  this  year  giving  full  and  interesting  particulars. 
The  improved  land  aggregated  4391  acres,  the  inhabit- 
ants numbering  341  at  this  time.  The  acreage  de- 
voted to  the  principal  products,  together  with  the 
amount  of  the  crops,  was  as  follows:  Buckwheat,  75 
acres,  784  bushels;  corn,  229  acres,  8200  bushels; 
oats,  186  acres,  4495  bushels ;  rye,  119  acres,  1452 
bushels ;  potatoes,  104  acres,  5265  bushels.  The  same 
year  262  yards  of  homespun  cloth  were  made  and  the 
dairy  products  amounted  to  18,635  pounds  of  butter. 
The  live-stock  on  farms  consisted  of  78  horses,  420 
neat  cattle,  416  swine,  386  sheep,  yielding  730  pounds 
of  wool.  No  returns  are  given  in  respect  to  the  value 
of  farm  stock  or  of  farm  produce,  but  the  latter, 
so  far  as  the  outside  market  is  concerned,  was  proba- 
bly inconsiderable,  most  being  devoted  to  home  con- 
sumption. 

In  1855,  when  the  next  State  census  was  taken,  the 
population  numbered  445,  of  whom  45  were  land- 
owners- The  value  of  farms  was  estimated  at  $427,140 
and  the  acreage  of  the  town  was  classed  thus :  Im- 
proved, 2801  acres;  unimproved,  1132  acres ;  pasture, 
977  acres ;  and  meadow-lands,  786  acres.  The  yield  of 
hay  was  1225  tons.  The  amount  of  the  principal 
crops  was  as  follows :  Corn,  5982  bushels;  oats,  2376 
bushels ;  wheat,  1054  bushels ;  potatoes,  2080  bush- 


SCARSDALE. 


661 


els ;  turnips,  1395  bushels.  The  dairy  products 
were :  17,339  pounds  of  butter  and  19,540  jjallons  of 
milk,  the  latter  being  exclusive  of  that  consumed  at 
home;  435  pounds  of  honey  were  gathered  this  year, 
and  poultry  were  sold  to  the  value  of  $1853.  The 
farm  stock  consisted  of  116  horses,  375  neat  cattle  (in- 
cluding 213  milch  cows  and  (58  working  cattle),  325 
swine  and  261  sheep,  yielding  636  pounds  of  wool. 

The  census  for  18()5,  some  of  the  statistics,  however, 
referring  to  the  previous  year,  gives  the  following 
figures  :  The  population  amounted  to  557  persons,  of 
whom  61  were  land-owners.  The  farm  valuation  was 
$712,800,  and  the  acreage  divided  thus:  Improved, 
3168  acres ;  unimproved,  948  acres ;  pasture,  1264 
acres  ;  meadow,  993  acres.  The  yield  of  the  princi- 
cipal  crops  was  as  follows  :  Hay,  1436  tons  ;  corn, 
6435  bushels ;  oats,  4898  bushels ;  rye,  1850  bushels ; 
potatoes,  7872  bushels ;  turnips,  2570  bushels.  In 
the  orchards  were  5512  apple-trees,  giving  a  yield  of 
13,()()3  bushels,  aud  the  cider  product  aggregated  450 
barrels.  The  honey  gathered  amounted  to  730 
])ounds,  and  the  value  of  poultry  and  eggs  sold  was 
$1325.  The  dairy  product  was:  Butter  made,  12,143 
pounds,  and  milk  sold,  2800  gallons.  The  live-stock 
consisted  of  142  horses,  322  neat  cattle  (including  190 
milch  cows  and  60  working  oxen),  219  swine  (199 
being  slaughtered  and  yielding  32,440  pounds  of  pork), 
and  214  sheep  giving  a  clip  of  363  jiounds. 

The  last  State  census,  that  of  1875,  gives  the  follow- 
ing statistics,  which,  in  general,  show  a  falling  of!  from 
previous  figures.  The  population  was  529,  of  whom 
94  were  land-owners.  The  farms  of  the  town  were 
put  at  a  valuation  of  $630,500,  and  the  acreage  was 
described,  thus :  Improved,  2566  acres;  unimproved, 
875  acres;  woodland,  531  acres;  pasture,  503  acres; 
and  meadow,  1207  acres.  The  crops  were  as  fol- 
lows :  Hay,  1635  tons ;  corn,  5145  bushels ;  oats,  2490 
bushels ;  rye,  2668  bushels ;  potatoes,  5275  bushels. 
The  apple  orchards  contained  9950  trees  and  yielded 
37,975  bushels  of  fruit.  Grapes  were  produced  to  the 
amount  of  6375  pounds.  The  value  of  poultry  and 
eggs  sold  was  $3358,  and  the  dairy  product  was  9790 
pounds  of  butter  made  and  4925  gallons  of  milk  sold. 
The  live-stock  consisted  of  131  horses,  259  neat  cattle 
(including  149  milch  cows),  177  swine  (140  slaugh- 
tered and  yielding  28,360  pounds  pork),  and  67  sheei) 
giving  a  clip  of  321  pounds.  The  gross  receipts  from 
farm  jiroduce  during  the  })revious  year  amounted  to 
$32,945. 

Although  these  figures  are  the  latest  official  returns 
in  regard  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  town,  it 
is  very  probable  that  the  decrease  in  farm  products 
mentioned  for  1875  has  been  continued  with  little  in- 
terruption ever  since,  and  that  the  capital  invested  in 
farming  in  the  town  is  not  as  large  as  in  former  years. 

The  figures  in  relation  to  the  raising  of  sheep  show 
the  most  marked  decline.  In  1835  there  were  si.K 
hundred  and  twenty-four  sheej)  owned  in  the  town, 
but  in  the  ensuing  ten  years  the  number  had  de- 


creased to  three  hundred  and  eighty-six.  It  is  very 
probable  that  before  the  first-mentioned  date  the  num- 
ber was  even  greater;  but  the  decrease  has  been 
steady,  and  at  the  present  date  the  industry  is 
practically  extinct.  The  principal  reason  for  this 
has  been  the  havoc  made  by  stray  dogs.  Xo  exact 
figures  are  to  be  had  in  relation  to  their  depre- 
dations among  the  fiocks  until  the  year  1874,  when 
they  killed  at  least  twelve  sheep.  By  1884  they  had 
thinned  down  the  flocks  so  that  they  were  but  a  small 
fraction  of  their  original  size,  and  in  that  year 
twenty  sheep  fell  victims  to  them,  thus  practically 
putting  an  end  to  this  branch  of  farming. 

The  following  extracts  relate  to  the  number  and 
size  of  the  farms  existing  at  the  time  of  the  last  State 
census  :  The  farms  in  the  town  aggregated  forty ;  of 
these,  two  contained  from  three  to  ten  acres,  two 
from  ten  to  twenty  acres,  five  from  twenty  to  fifty 
acres,  eighteen  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  acres  and 
thirteen  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
acres. 

Maxufactures  axd  Other  Enterprises. — 
Manufacturing  has  always  occupied  a  very  secondary 
place  in  Scarsdale,  but  little  capital  being  devoted  to  it 
and  almost  all  capital  going  to  farming.  Just  above 
and  a  short  distance  to  the  west  of  Scarsdale  Station,  on 
the  Bronx  Eiver,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  Popham 
estate,  are  the  ruins  of  a  grist-mill  and  its  dam.  This 
was  built  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War  and  was  used 
as  a  grist  and  saw-mill,  a  dam  about  fifteen  feet  high 
intercepting  the  river  at  this  point  and  furnishing 
good  water-power.  This  belonged  to  the  estate  of  the 
Honorable  Richard  Morris,  whose  house  was  not  far 
distant,  and  one  Crawford  by  name  was  employed  as 
miller.  Here  was  the  timber  sawn  out  of  which  the 
Morris  house  and  several  others  of  the  old  mansions 
were  built,  but  the  mill  has  not  survived  as  long  as 
they.  For  many  years  it  was  put  to  its  original  pur- 
poses, but  some  time  previous  to  the  War  of  the  Re- 
belliou  it  was  used  for  the  manufacture  of  axles,  and 
in  1862  it  was  converted  into  a  manufactory  of  shoddy. 
As  no  mention  appears  to  have  been  made  of  it  in 
either  the  town  records  or  census  reports  its  output  in 
either  capacity  was  probably  not  great.  Within  a  year 
from  this  time,  in  1863,  it  took  fire  and  was  burued  to 
the  ground  and  has  never  since  been  rebuilt. 

Nothing  but  a  few  ruins  and  several  fragments  of 
machinery  remain  to  mark  the  site  of  this  venerable 
mill,  which  was  probably  one  of  the  first  in  the 
county.  The  dam,  also,  has  almost  entirely  disap- 
peared, having  slowly  fallen  into  ruin. 

The  building  now  known  as  "  The  Scarsdale  Opera- 
House,"  but  formerly  the  "  Fox  Meadow  Chapel," 
was  originally  used  as  a  carriage  factory,  but  only  for 
a  comparatively  short  time,  as  in  1856  the  building 
was  added,  together  with  the  neighboring  property,  to 
the  Fox  Meadow  estate  and  converted  into  a  chapel. 
There  are  no  figures  to  show  the  extent  of  the  manu- 
facturing interest  carried  on  here,  but  it  was  doubt- 


662 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


less  of  very  limited  proportions.  Almost  opposite 
this  building,  and  about  four  hundred  rods  to  the  north 
of  it,  on  the  bank  of  the  Bronx  River,  formerly  stood 
a  powder-mill,  the  property  of  a  German  named  Hau- 
bold.  This  was  erected  about  the  year  1847,  when 
the  Hudson  River  Railroad  was  in  process  of  con- 
struction, and  furnished  much  powder  for  this  work. 
Near  the  main  building  stood  a  magazine  and  a 
cooper-shop  and  other  outbuildings.  Although  the 
manufacture  of  powder  was  successfully  carried  on 
here  for  a  time,  it  was  finally  abandoned,  as  the  works 
were  ruined  by  several  destructive  explosions.  Both 
the  magazine  and  the  cooper-shop  were  thus  destroyed 
at  different  times,  and  although  the  mill  has  been 
partially  repaired  and  used  for  other  purposes,  no- 
thing remains  of  either  cooper-shop  or  magazine. 

About  the  year  1880  this  property  came  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Leggo,  who  has  erected  several  small 
buildings  there  and  started  an  establishment  for  the 
manufacture  of  lithographic  stones  and  plates,  which 
is  now  most  successfully  carried  on. 

Political  History. — The  present  township  of 
Scarsdale  was  organized  on  the  7th  of  March,  1788, 
but  previous  to  this  meetings  had  been  annually  held 
for  the  election  of  town  officers,  under  the  acts  of  the 
Legislature  as  early  as  1783,  and  before  that  even,  by 
the  terms  of  the  royal  patent  granted  to  Colonel 
Heathcote,  though  no  records  are  extant  so  far  as  we 
know  of  meetings  or  proceedings  of  the  town  prior 
to  the  latter  date.  The  first  entry  in  the  town  records 
is  as  follows,  given  verbatim  : 

"By  order  of  the  Council  of  Appointment,  by  the  Act  of  the  Legislature, 
lutitled  an  Act  to  provide  for  the  temporal  government  of  the  Southern 
parts  of  the  State,  whenever  the  enemy  shall  abandon  or  be  dispossessed 
of  the  same,  and  until  the  Legislature  can  be  convened, — Passed  Oct.  23d, 
1779.  And  by  virtue  of  direction,  Jesse  Hunt,  Esq.,  Sheriff  of  Westches- 
ter County,  Appointing  .Jonathan  Griffin  Tompkins,  Thomas  Cornell 
and  Stephen  Cornell  to  Superintend  the  town-meeting  att  the  Manner 
of  Scarsdale,  on  the  22d  I)ecr.,  1783,  then  and  there  to  choose  town  officers 
until  the  next  annual  meeting.  The  town  met  on  the  said  day  at  the 
house  of  Jonathan  Griffin,  near  the  usual  place  of  holding  said  meetings  ; 
then  and  there  the  inhabitants  proceed  to  choose  town  officers  by  a  ma- 
jority of  votes, — Benjamin  Cornell,  clerk  ;  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins, 
supervisor ;  Stephen  Cornell  and  Thomas  Cornell,  assessors  ;  Israel  Her- 
riott,  constable  and  collector  ;  Ferris  Cornell  and  Samuel  Fisher,  over- 
seers of  highway ;  Ferris  Cornell,  pounder  ;  John  Compton  and  Thomas 
Cornell,  fence  and  damage  viewers.  Extracted  from  the  Original  by 
Benjamin  Cornell,  clerk." 

The  second  meeting  was  held  on  the  (itli  of  April, 
1784,  "att  the  School  house  in  Said  Manner,  near 
Capt.  Jonathan  Griffin's,"  this  probably  being  the 
usual  place  for  the  town-meetings  to  be  held,  referred 
to  in  the  minutes  of  the  previous  year.  In  1785  the 
offices  of  overseers  of  the  poor  were  instituted,  John 
Barker  and  Francis  Secor  being  the  first  incumbents. 
In  the  town-meeting  of  1789  it  was  enacted  that  the 
"Fence  and  Damage  Viewers"  should  receive  for 
their  services  at  the  rate  of  six  shillings  per  diem, 
this  being  the  first  mention  of  any  remuneration  for 
town  officers.  The  next  year  three  "Commissioners 
of  Highways  "  were  chosen  in  addition  to  the  other 
oflBcers,  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  John  Barker  and 


John  Cornell  being  selected  to  fill  the  positions.  In 
1792,  nine  years  after  the  first  recorded  town-meeting, 
the  following  officers  were  chosen  :  Caleb  Tom^jkins, 
town  clerk  ;  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  supervisor ;  J. 
G.  Tompkins,  John  Barker,  John  Cornell  and  Wil- 
liam Popham,  commissioners  of  highways;  William 
Popham  and  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  poor  masters  ; 
Elijah  Cudney,  constable  and  collector  ;  John  Barker, 
Caleb  Tompkins  and  Thomas  Cornell,  assessors ; 
Benjamin  Underhill  and  Caleb  Angevine,  overseers 
of  highways;  Ferris  Cornell  and  Elijah  Purdy,  Jr., 
fence  and  damage  viewers;  and  Bartholomew  Griffin, 
pounder.  Up  to  this  year  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins 
and  Benjamin  Cornell  had  held  the  offices  of  super- 
visor and  town  clerk  respectively  since  the  first  meet- 
ing. On  April  5, 1796,  commissioners  of  schools  were 
chosen  for  the  first  time,  as  before  mentioned.  In  1801 
and  for  several  succeeding  years  Caleb  Tompkins  was 
chosen  to  the  offices  both  of  supervisor  and  of  town 
clerk,  thus  being  created  a  precedent  which  was  fre- 
quently followed  in  subsequent  town  elections.  In 
1809  he  was  succeeded  as  town  clerk  by  his  brother 
Enoch,  and  held  no  local  office  of  importance  until 
1822,  when  he  was  for  the  third  time  chosen  super- 
visor, and  that  year  Enoch  Tompkins  was  succeeded 
in  the  town  clerkship  by  Richard  M.  Popham.  In 
1823  William  A.  Popham  held  his  first  town  office, 
that  of  school  commissioner,  and  in  1825  he  was 
chosen  town  clerk  to  succeed  his  brother  Richard,  hold- 
ing the  office  for  the  next  five  years.  In  1829  we  find 
that  the  meeting  was  held  on  April  7th  at  "  the  house 
of  James  Yarian,  Innkeei)er  in  said  town,"  now  known 
as  the  "  Wayside  Cottage."  In  1830  the  town  clerk 
was  Samuel  Tompkins,  and  he  was  in  turn  succeeded, 
in  1831,  by  Caleb  Tompkins,  of  a  younger  generation 
than  the  former  one  of  that  name.  In  1832  the  first 
mention  is  made  of  the  election  of  justices  of  the 
peace  in  town-meeting,  the  following  being  chosen  : 
Nathaniel  Brown,  Elijah  Purdy  and  John  Bennett, 
Jr.,  and  in  1835  the  first  tax  was  laid  upon  the  owners 
of  dogs.  For  the  next  succeeding  years  the  office  of 
town  clerk  was  held  by  the  following  persons  :  1838, 
Francis  Losee ;  1839-40,  Caleb  Tompkins ;  1841-42, 
George  B.  Varian  ;  and  1843,  Elias  A.  Travise.  In 
1848  the  town-  meeting  was  held  for  the  first  time  in 
the  "  Fox  jMeadow "  school-house,  which  had  re- 
placed the  old  building  which  had  been  burned  early 
in  the  century. 

In  1860  the  following  were  chosen  officers  of  the 
town  :  Francis  Secor,  supervisor  (for  the  tenth  time) ; 
James  F.  Palmer,  town  clerk  ;  David  Underhill,  as- 
sessor ;  Elijah  Tompkins,  James  F.  Palmer,  Lawrence 
Dobbs  and  Elias  G.  Drake,  path  masters  ;  James  Wii- 
letts,  James  D.  McCabe  and  Elias  G.  Drake,  pound 
masters;  James  Willetts,  commissioner  of  highways  ; 
James  F.  Palmer,  justice  of  peace  ;  Richard  Palmer, 
and  Lawrence  Dobbs,  overseers  of  the  poor ;  Richard 
Palmer,  James  Willetts  and  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins, 
inspectors  of  elections ;   Orrin  A.  Weed,  constable 


SCARSDALE. 


663 


and  collector ;  and  William  H.  Boda,  constable.  At 
the  next  town-meeting  it  was  voted  "  that  the  Rail 
Road  depot,  the  School-House  and  the  apple  tree 

near  and  West  of  house,  in  the  town  of  Scarsdale, 

be  and  hereby  are  designated  as  proper  places  for 
posting  legal  notices." 

During  the  years  of  the  Rebellion  a  number  of 
measures  were  passed  in  relation  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  volunteering  and  the  payment  of  substitutes. 
In  September,  18()3,  it  was  voted  to  pay  three  hun- 
dred dollars  each  to  those  citizens  that  were  con- 
scripted or  to  their  substitutes,  and  early  in  the 
next  year  it  was  voted  to  raise  thirty-two  hun- 
dred dollars  for  this  purpose,  this  amount  being 
afterward  raised  to  four  thousand  dollars.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1865,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  town,  it  was 
voted  that  seven  hundred  dollars  should  be  paid  for 
each  substitute  or  volunteer,  of  which,  in  the  case  of 
substitutes,  the  town  provided  six  hundred  dollars 
and  the  person  conscripted  the  remainder. 

In  18G7  an  attempt  was  made  to  change  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  town  so  as  to  include  a  part  of 
the  township  of  East  Chester,  but  this  was  unsuccess- 
ful, and,  although  subsequent  attempts  to  obtain  this 
have  been  made,  the  boundary  of  the  town  remains 
unchanged.  The  next  year  the  place  of  meeting  was 
changed  from  the  "Fox  Meadow  School-House"  to 
the  residence  of  James  F.  Palmer,  near  the  centre  of 
the  town,  on  the  Mamaroneck  road,  and  this  contin- 
ued to  be  used  for  town-meetings,  and,  after  1872,  for 
general  elections,  until  the  town  voted,  in  1879,  to 
occupy  the  basement  of  the  new  school-house  for 
town  uses,  which  has  since  been  known  as  the  "  Town 
Hall." 

In  1870  the  following  town-officers  were  elected: 
Francis  Secor,  supervisor  ;  James  F.  Palmer,  town 
clerk ;  Benjamin  Archer,  Francis  Secor,  John  Read 
and  Elias  G.  Drake,  pound  masters;  Oliver  A.  Hyatt, 
assessor;  Elijah  S.  Tompkins,  commissioner  of  high- 
ways ;  Alexander  Taylor,  collector;  Robert  C.  Pop- 
ham  and  Hiram  K.  Benedict,  justices  of  peace; 
Benj.  Archer  and  Gilbert  Ward,  overseers  of  poor; 
Alexander  Taylor,  Stephen  Disbrow  and  John  For- 
kle,  constables ;  and  Peter  M.  Dobbs  and  James  F. 
Palmer,  inspectors  of  election.  In  1870  and  the  next 
succeeding  years  the  town  was  obliged  to  put  itself 
under  a  great  burden  of  debt  on  account  of  the  so- 
called  improvements  in  the  post  road.  Extensive 
and  unnecessary  alterations  were  made  then  under 
the  management  of  the  "  ring  "  which  was  then  in 
power  in  New  York,  and  the  debt  of  the  town  was 
thereby  largely  increased.  In  1872  it  was  voted  to 
raise  four  thousand  and  sixty-five  dollars  to  pay 
principal  and  interest  on  the  town  road  bonds,  thus 
reducing  the  town  indebtedness  in  part,  and  also  to 
raise  $569.30  to  i)ay  j)rincipal  and  interest  on  the  town 
bounty  bonds  issued  during  the  war.  The  next  few 
years  were  very  quiet  in  respect  to  the  history  of  the 
town,  the  building  of  the  new  school-house  being  the 


chief  object  of  interest.  In  1880  the  town  met  for 
the  first  time  in  the  basement  of  this  building,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  vote  of  the  preceding  year,  and 
the  following  officers  were  chosen  :  Oliver  A.  Hyatt, 
supervisor;  Gilbert  W.  Dobbs,  town  clerk  ;  Charles 
Carpenter,  assessor;  George  J.  Willetts,  commis- 
sioner of  highways;  John  G.  Sweet,  collector; 
Chauncey  T.  Secor,  Charles  Griffin  and  Lewis  C. 
Popham,  justices  of  the  peace  ;  George  H.  Morse, 
Daniel  Dows,  John  McNulty  and  William  Drewry, 
constables ;  John  H.  Carpenter  and  Charles  V.  Mc- 
Nulty, inspectors  of  election ;  Lawrence  Dobbs  and 
Charles  Griffin,  overseers  of  poor;  Francis  Secor 
and  Isaac  Lepugy,  town  auditors,  and  C.  Bayard 
Fish  and  Benj.  J.  Carpenter,  commissioners  of  excise. 

On  the  11th  of  September,  1882,  a  town  health 
board  was  organized  for  the  first  time,  Charles  Nord- 
quist,  M.D.,  being  chosen  town  physician  and  Francis 
Secor  health  officer.  In  1883  Dr.  Nordquist  was 
again  chosen  town-physician  and  C.  Bayard  Fish  re- 
placed Francis  Secor  as  health  officer. 

Although  in  the  main,  the  local  and  general  elec- 
tions of  the  town  have  been  harmonious  and  unat- 
tended by  undue  friction,  they  have  seldom  failed  to 
awaken  interest,  especially  of  late,  and  as  a  result  a 
full  vote  has  usually  been  polled,  especially  in  presi- 
dential years.  Our  earliest  ideas  of  the  jjolitical  lean- 
ings of  the  township  are  gathered  from  the  result  of 
the  elections  for  governor  of  the  state  in  1822  and 
1824.  In  the  first  mentioned  year  the  election  lasted 
for  three  daj's,  but  the  vote  polled  was  exceptionally 
small,  aggregating  but  eighteen  out  of  a  pojjulation 
of  more  than  three  hundred  i)er.sons.  1823  also 
proved  to  be  an  "  oft"  year,"  but  six  votes  being  polled 
in  the  election  for  members  of  the  State  legislature. 
In  1824  a  total  of  twenty-eight  was  reached  in  the 
election  for  governor,  De  Witt  Clinton  receiving  seven 
votes,  Samuel  Young  nineteen,  and  Aaron  and  Steph- 
en Ward,  each  a  single  vote.  Two  years  afterward 
the  total  fell  to  nineteen  votes  in  the  election  for 
governor,  Clinton  receiving  eleven  and  Rochester 
eight.  In  the  election  for  governor  in  1828  Van 
Buren  received  twenty-four  and  Thompson  twenty 
votes,  and  the  same  year  in  the  choice  of  presidential 
elctors  Jacob  Odell  received  twenty-four  votes  and 
John  Odell  twenty-one.  In  the  next  eighteen  years 
the  town-records  are  silent  upon  the  subject  of  elec- 
tions, and  it  is  not  till  1846  that  we  have  any  further 
returns.  In  this  year  the  town  voted  unanimously  in 
favor  of  "  No  License,"  but  by  a  vote  ridiculously 
small,  considering  that  the  males  of  voting  age 
numbered  more  than  sixty,  but  six  votes  were  cast. 
That  so  little  apparent  interest  was  manifested  in  so 
important  a  question  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
town  has  always  been  opposed  to  liquor  selling, — but 
one  licensed  inn  having  ever  existed  within  the 
boundaries — so  that  there  could  have  been  no  doubt 
as  to  the  result  and  consequently  the  vote  was  light. 

During  the  next  decade  the  population  increased 


664 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


by  one  hundred  and  four  souls,  the  number  of  votes 
rising  to  eighty-two  in  the  same  time.  The  next  ten 
years  saw  the  population  again  increased  by  more  than 
one  hundred  souls,  and  the  number  of  voters  at  the 
end  of  this  period  (1865)  was  one  hundred  and  nine. 
In  1875  the  total  of  voters  had  fallen  to  one  hundred 
and  three,  but  the  population  had  likewise  decreased 
by  twenty-eight. 

In  the  general  election  of  1840  Scarsdale  gave  Van 
Buren  a  majority  of  eight,  Harrison  receiving  twenty- 
five  votes  to  his  opponent's  thirty-three.  In  the  next 
presidential  election  Polk's  majority  over  Clay  was 
fifteen  in  Scarsdale.  For  the  election  of  1848  the 
returns  are  wanting,  but  in  1852  the  town  gave  Scott 
twenty-four  votes  and  Pierce  twenty-nine.  In  1856 
the  vote  of  Scarsdale  was  as  follows  :  Fremont 
twenty  ;  Fillmore,  thirteen  ;  Buchanan,  twenty-seven. 
In  18(50  the  town  gave  the  Fusion  candidates  thirty- 
six  votes  against  thirty-one  for  Lincoln  and  Ham- 
lin, and  the  same  year,  in  the  gubernatorial  contest, 
gave  Morgan  thirty-one  votes,  Kelly  thirty-five  and 
Brady  one.  In  18(54  the  presidential  vote  of  the 
town  stood  for  McClellau  fifty-two  votes  and  Lin- 
coln thirty-nine.  For  the  elections  of  1868  the  re- 
turns are  more  complete.  For  president.  Grant,  the 
Republican  candidate,  received  forty-six  votes  against 
Seymour's  forty-one.  For  governor,  Griswold  (Re- 
publican) received  forty-five  votes  and  Hoffman 
(Democrat)  forty-three.  For  Congress,  Potter  (Demo- 
crat) received  forty-four  votes  and  Haggerty  (Repub- 
lican) forty-one.  At  the  next  general  election  the 
town  went  strongly  Republican,  giving  Grant  forty- 
eight  votes  for  president  against  twenty-four  for  Gree- 
ley, and  at  the  same  time  Dix  (Republican)  received 
fifty  votes  for  governor  and  Kiernan  but  twenty-one. 
For  congress  Forman  (Republican)  received  forty- 
seven  votes  and  Cox  (Democrat)  twenty-four,  and  for 
Assembly  Wright  (Rejiublican)  received  fifty-nine 
votes  against  eleven  for  Dusenberry  (Democrat).  In 
the  election  of  1876  Scarsdale  gave  Hayes  sixty-four 
votes  and  Tilden  fifty-three,  and  in  1880  Garfield  re- 
ceived seventy-four  votes, — the  largest  vote  given 
in  the  town  for  any  candidate, — and  Hancock  fifty- 
five.  In  the  last  general  election,  1884,  Scarsdale  was 
greatly  stirred  by  the  questions  at  stake  and  the  fight 
was  very  bitter,  though  without  any  undue  manifesta- 
tion of  feeling.  In  the  end  the  scale  was  turned  by 
the  independent  vote,  Cleveland  receiving  a  majority 
of  three  over  Blaine. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  observed  that  Scarsdale 
has  come  out  on  the  winning  side  in  all  but  three  of 
the  jiresidential  contests  there  recorded,  whence  it  has 
been  said — -as  of  many  other  towns  also,  however, — 
"  As  Scarsdale  goes,  so  goes  the  country." 

Military  History. — Although  the  scene  of  no 
battle  or  famous  military  exploit  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, Scarsdale  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  the 
tract  known  as  the  "  Neutral  Ground,"  which  was  the 
.scene  of  many  a  dark  and  inhuman  deed  at  the  hands 


of  the  prowling  "  Cow  Boys"  or  "Skinners,"  as  the 
guerrilla  bands  of  the  British  and  Americans  re- 
spectively, were  called,  and  so  the  town  of  Scarsdale 
came  in  for  a  full  share  of  their  depredations.  Many 
of  the  inhabitants  were  Tories.  It  is  stated  that  only 
three  families  in  the  town  were  in  favor  of  the  patriot 
cause,  and  although  this  may  not  be  strictly  true,  it 
sufiiciently  indicates  the  drift  of  feeling  in  tlie  town- 
ship. What  few  patriots  there  were  suffered  severely 
for  their  patriotism.  The  Varian  family,  who  occu- 
pied what  is  now  known  as  "  Wayside  Cottage,"  after 
enduring  for  some  time  the  importunate  demandg  of 
the  guerrillas  fled  to  Connecticut  for  refxige,  not  re- 
turning till  the  end  of  the  war ;  while  Caleb  Tomp- 
kins was  obliged  to  leave  his  home  and  flee  for  his 
life,  before  the  British.  In  the  "  Spy,"  Cooper  treats 
of  this  time  and  locality  with  great  force  and  interest, 
but  of  less  romantic  and  more  matter-of-fact  details 
there  is  great  lack.  In  regard  to  the  troops  furnished 
by  the  town  of  Scarsdale,  Baird  in  his  "  History  of 
Rye,"  says,  "  New  York  was  required  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  to  contribute  her  quota  of  three 
thousand  men.  Four  regiments  were  raised  in  the 
province.  The  call  for  soldiers  was  promptly  re- 
sponded to  by  this  town  (Rye).  Three  companies 
were  formed,  mostly  within  the  limits  of  Rye,  which 
as  yet  included  Harrison  and  the  White  Plains. 
These  companies  were  embraced  in  the  '  Second 
Battalion  of  Westchester  County.'  The  second  com- 
pany included  the  men  from  Scarsdale,  White  Plains 
and  Brown's  Point.  The  number  furnished  by  Scars- 
dale is  unknown,  but  the  name  of  James  Verian 
(Varian)  appears  as  first-lieutenant  of  the  company. 
Of  him,  we  find  that  during  the  war,  he  rendered  ser- 
vice under  the  Colonial  flag,  and  his  possessions  were 
despoiled  by  the  human  wolves  infesting  this  part  of 
Westchester  County  during  the  war,  and  who  were 
known  as  '  Skinners  '  and  '  Cowboys.'  For  twenty 
years  prior  to  his  decease  he  was  a  helpless  paralytic, 
caused  by  exposure  in  the  patriotic  cause.'' 

Michael  Varian,  a  brother,  likewise  moved  to 
Scarsdale  in  1775  and  took  an  active  part  on  the 
patriotic  side,  but  returned  to  New  York  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  At  one  time  during  this  troublesome 
period  Judge  Caleb  Tompkins,  who  had  rendered  him- 
self obnoxious  to  the  Royalists,  and  whose  residence 
formerly  occupied  the  site  where  now  stands  the  house 
of  Charles  Butler,  was  obliged  to  gather  together  what 
he  could  of  his  household  goods  into  an  ox-cart  and 
flee  before  the  advance  of  the  British.  When  he  ar- 
rived at  the  swamp  just  northeast  of  the  village  of 
White  Plains  he  was  so  closely  pursued  that  he  aban- 
doned his  cattle,  sending  them  on  into  the  woods  near 
Kensico,  while  he  himself  descended  into  the  swamp 
and  hid  in  the  water,  his  head  only  above  the  surface. 
In  this  waj'  he  managed  to  escape  from  his  pursuers 
and  afterwards  was  able  to  return  to  his  home.  Scars- 
dale was  the  scene  of  the  movements  of  the  patriot 
and  royal  troops  prior  to  the  battle  of  White  Plains, 


RESIDENCE  OF  C.  W.  DICKEL, 
§CARSPALE,  M.  Y. 


SCARSDALE. 


GG5 


as  well  as  again  when  the  British  were  commanded 
by  General  Howe. 

It  is  said  that  the  old  Fish  house  was  occujiied  by 
Sir  William  Howe  for  some  time  as  his  headijuarters, 
and  that  near  by  are  the  graves  of  several  of  his 
orticei'S  who  fell  in  service.  It  is  probable  that  the 
British  army  was  for  some  time  within  the  limits  of 
Scarsdale  previous  to  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  for 
they  moved  but  slowly  after  their  landing  near  New 
Eochelle.  Speaking  of  this  battle,  Baird  says, 
"  ]\Ieanwhile  the  enemy  had  advanced  from  Scarsdale, 
and  after  a  skirmish  near  the  present  village  of  Hart's 
Corners,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  south  of  the  lines, 
had  arrived  in  view  of  the  American  forces." 

Still  another  account  is  as  follows:  On  the  21st 
the  British  removed  and  encamped  on  New  Kochelle 
Heights,  north  of  the  village  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
road  leading  to  Scarsdale.  This  camj)  was  broken  uj) 
on  the  25th,  and  the  army  moved  forward  to  a  position 
upon  the  high  grounds  of  Scarsdale,  on  the  site  of 
the  late  John  Bennet's  farm,  and  there  remained  till 
the  morning  of  the  28th  of  October.  Then  they 
moved  from  camp  in  two  columns,  the  right  under 
command  of  General  Clinton  and  the  left  under  that 
of  General  de  Heister.  and  coming  in  sight  of  the 
Americans  by  10  a.m.,  there  followed  the  battle  of 
White  Plains. 

After  this,  Scarsdale  was  the  scene  of  but  few  mili- 
tary movements,  unless  we  except  the  uninterrupted 
ravages  of  the  marauding  parties,  but  in  1781  it  is 
unimportantly  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  Captain 
Marquand  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  dated  July  15th. 
He  says :  "  Waterbury  (a  British  Captain)  re-inforced 
by  some  militia  arrived  the  13th,  at  Van  Hart's,  at 
Scarsdale,  a  district  between  White  Plains  and  Ma- 
maroneck."  At  this  time  the  whole  county  was  more 
or  less  occupied  by  the  British,  who  were  watching  the 
movements  of  Washington  on  the  hilly  country  fur- 
ther north.  A  few  relics  relating  to  this  period  which 
are  now  in  possession  of  James  McCabe,  are  some 
bullets  and  a  cannon-ball  found  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
residence,  as  well  as  a  silver  ornament  from  the  front 
of  a  cap — presumably  that  of  a  British  officer. 

During  the  second  war  with  England,  or  the  War 
of  1812,  Scarsdale  varied  its  peaceful  routine  little  if 
at  all.  It  furnished  the  State,  however,  with  its  War 
Governor,  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  who  so  thoroughly 
identified  himself  with  his  work  that  the  history  of 
these  times  in  New  York  is  the  history  of  his  own 
life.  Besides  Governor  Tompkins,  Scarsdale  furnished 
the  country  with  another  brave  man.  Colonel  Jona- 
than Varian,  a  son  of  the  James  Yarian  who  fought 
so  well  in  the  Revolution.  At  one  time  the  peace  of 
the  town  was  threatened,  when  it  was  announced  that 
the  British  forces  would  attempt  a  landing  at  Mamaro- 
neck,  and  many  volunteered  to  repel  the  threatened 
attack.  Among  them  was  William  S  Popham,  who 
died  June  18,  1885. 

At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  there 


were  eighty-one  persons  in  the  town  returned  as  liable 
for  military  duty,  of  whom  twenty-four  were  members 
of  various  regiments  of  the  National  Guard  as  follows : 
belonging  to  the  Seventh  Regiment,  three;  to  the 
Fifty-first,  one;  to  the  Seventy-first,  two;  and  to  the 
One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  Regiment,  seventeen  ; 
while  one  is  enrolled  quarter-master.  There  are  no 
accurate  records  of  the  exact  number  volunteering 
from  the  town  of  Scarsdale,  and  of  those  sent  as  sub- 
stitutes or  drafted,  but  the  most  reliable  figures  give 
the  number  credited  to  Scarsdale  during  the  Rebellion 
as  follows:  Serving  in  the  army,  thirty-eight,  and  in 
the  navy,  eleven.  Fourteen  of  those  credited  to  the 
army  were  enlisted  as  follows :  Fifty-first  Infantry, 
one;  Ninety-fifth  Infantry,  one;  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-fifth  Infantry,  four;  One  Hundred  and 
Seventy-eighth  Infantry,  one;  Fifth  Artillery,  one  ; 
Second  Kansas  Regiment,  one;  Seventh  Militia  Regi- 
ment, one;  and  Navy,  one.  But  one  citizen  of  Scars- 
dale died  in  the  war,  he  being  a  member  of  the  Sixth 
Artillery. 

Churches. — According  to  Bolton,  Scarsdale,  under 
the  Provincial  government,  constituted  one  of  the 
seven  districts  of  Rye  parish  in  1763,  contributing 
twenty-five  pounds  four  shillings  and  sixpence  to  the 
vestry  tax  and  the  poor  of  the  parish.  He  further 
says :  "  The  parochial  clergy  appear  to  have  offi- 
ciated here  at  a  very  early  period,  as  the  Rev.  Robert 
Jenney,  writing  to  tlie  Bishop  of  London  in  1724, 
says  :  '  I  officiate  eight  times  per  annum  at  Mamaro- 
ueck  for  Scarsdale  and  Fox's  Meadows.'  In  1727 
there  were  thirty  persons  in  Scarsdale  upon  whom  the 
parochial  tax  was  levied.  Mr.  Wetmore,  writing  to  the 
Gospel  Society  in  1744,  observes:  'I  have  a  consider- 
able congregation  at  the  White  Plains  and  Scarsdale, 
above  seven  miles  west  of  the  i)arish  church,  which  I 
also  attend  once  in  two  months."  By  far  the  oldest 
religious  organization  actually  settled  in  the  town  is 
the  Society  of  Friends,  who  have  had  a  meeting- 
house of  their  own  here  for  more  than  a  century,  but 
their  history  is  chiefly  connected  with  Mamaroneck, 
where  they  held  their  first  meeting  in  the  county  in 
1702.  In  six  years  they  had  built  a  meeting-house 
in  Mamaroneck,  and  we  find  that  a  "  monthly  meet- 
ing "  was  appointed  to  be  held  there  in  April,  1725, 
by  order  of  the  Yearly  Meeting "  of  Fiuends  in 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  at  that  time  the  centre  of  the  sect  in 
the  colonies.  In  1728  the  Mamaroneck  meeting  was 
constituted  a  "  Preparative"  meeting,  and  in  1739  a 
new  meeting-house  was  erected.  The  records  in  the 
possession  of  the  Scarsdale  meeting  are  very  volu- 
minous, but  scarcely  refer  to  the  Society  as  it  exists 
here,  being  chiefly  occupied  with  the  past.  The 
meeting-house  was  moved  "  to  a  central  location  " 
between  the  years  1768-1770,  and  this  probably  refers 
to  the  first  meeting-house  in  Scarsdale.  This  meet- 
ing-house dated  from  about  this  time,  being  set  down 
on  the  site  of  the  present  structure  upon  a  map  "  of 
the  White  Plains  constituting  part  of  Scarsdale," 


6G6 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


bearing  the  date  1779.  Two  buildings  are  now  used 
by  tlie  Society — one  by  the  Orthodox  Friends  and  the 
other  by  the  Hicksites,  both  being  of  comparatively 
recent  construction,  occupying  the  site  of  the  former 
venerable  structure.  The  house  and  church  is  a 
plain  frame  building  of  two  stories,  about  forty  feet 
square,  with  a  porch  in  front  into  which  open  the 
doors.  Both  meeting-houses  are  quite  unpretending, 
of  the  plainest  type  of  architecture,  and  painted  in 
quiet  drab  colors  quite  devoid  of  ornamentation. 
They  stand  in  the  far  southeastern  corner  of  the  town, 
at  the  junction  of  Lincoln  and  Griffin  Avenues,  and 
are  surrounded  by  a  small  grove  of  handsome  trees. 
According  to  the  census  of  1845  the  Society  possessed 
two  buildings  valued  at  one  thousand  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  and  twenty  years  later  the  value  of 
the  buildings  and  lot  was  put  at  three  thousand  dol- 
lars. At  the  latter  date  the  seating  capacity  of  the 
buildings  was  three  hundred  and  eightj',  and  the 
usual  attendance  seventy  persons. 

But  while  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  town  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends  was  slowly  growing  and  becoming 
firmly  established,  the  western  side,  and  in  fact  all 
the  rest  of  the  town,  had  no  religious  organization  of 
any  kind.  At  odd  times  the  services  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  were  held  in  private  residences  by  visiting 
clergy,  and  an  occasional  visitation  was  made  by  the 
rectors  of  neighboring  churches,  but  beyond  this  there 
was  nothing. 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  incorporated  September 
3,  1849,  under  the  name  and  style  of  "  The  Rector, 
Church  Wardens  and  Vestrymen  of  the  Church  of 
St.  James  the  Less,  in  the  township  of  Scarsdale,"  and 
steps  were  at  once  taken  towards  the  building  of  a 
church  edifice.  Pending  the  completion  of  this,  ser- 
vices were  held  for  some  months  in  the  former  resi- 
dence of  Hon.  Richard  Morris,  then  occupied  by 
William  S.  Popham,  son  of  Major  Popham  of  Revo- 
lutionary fame,  at  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morton,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  others  of  the  clergy  officiated. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  first  church  was  laid  on  the 
29th  of  June,  1850,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  W.  R.  Whit- 
tingham,  D.D.,  bishop  of  Maryland.  The  conse- 
cration of  the  completed  edifice  took  place  on  the 
28th  of  June,  1851,  the  services  being  conducted  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  W.  H.  De  Lancey,  bishop  of  Western 
New  York,  acting  in  the  disability  of  the  bishop 
of  New  York.  The  first  wedding  in  the  new 
church  was  celebrated  on  the  27th  of  May,  1852, 
and  the  first  confirmation  service  took  place  on  the 
12th  of  September  of  the  same  year,  seventeen  per- 
sons receiving  the  rite. 

Owing  to  the  small  population  of  the  parish  the 
building  of  the  church  had  been  no  easy  task,  but  all 
gave  as  they  could,  and  heartily  seconded  the  efforts 
of  the  original  movers,  and  the  result  was  the  posses- 
sion of  a  church  building  that  proved  a  great  blessing 
to  all.  To  quote  from  a  sermon  of  the  present  rector 
of  the  parish,  Rev.  Francis  Chase,  which  was  deliv- 


ered title  Sunday  after  the  destruction  of  the  church 
by  fii"e :  "  Doubtless  few  churches  have  ever  been 
erected  into  whose  walls  have  been  built  more  self- 
denial  and  sacrifice.  Even  children,  I  am  told,  used 
to  go  without  their  customary  indulgences  in  order  to 
have  something  to  contribute  toward  the  structure  or 
its  appropriate  furniture.  The  poor  gave  freely  of 
their  labor,  or  else,  to  bring  a  money  oflTering,  de- 
prived themselves  of  things  which  they  could  ill  have 
spared  for  any  other  cause.  Seeing  the  goodwill  and 
earnestness  shown  by  the  initiators  of  the  enterprise, 
others  outside  became  interested,  and  came  forward 
with  gifts  and  helpful  deeds,  so  that  a  great  many 
persons  not  immediately  connected  with  this  church 
had  a  substantial  investment  in  it."  In  June,  1850, 
the  grounds  immediately  surrounding  the  church,  to 
the  amount  of  about  three  and  a  quarter  acres,  were 
conveyed  to  the  parish  by  William  H.  Popham  in  the 
form  of  a  lease  for  a  thousand  years  upon  the  follow- 
ing terms  :  "  Yielding  and  paying  therefor  unto  the 
said  party  of  the  first  part  and  his  heirs  yearly  and 
every  year  during  the  said  time  hereby  granted  the 
yearly  rent  or  sum  of  one  silver  dime,  lawful  money 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  on  the  Festival  of 
St.  Philip  and  St.  James  in  each  and  every  year  ;  and, 
also,  the  parties  of  the  second  part,  or  their  successors 
in  office,  shall  not  at  any  time  during  the  continuance 
of  the  time  hereby  granted,  let,  underlet,  assign,  sell 
or  convey  the  whole  or  any  part  of  said  premises  to 
any  person  or  persons,  sole  or  corporate  whatever, 
except  the  right  or  privilege  of  burial  in  said  ground  ; 
and  upon  the  further  condition  that  religious  services 
in  said  church  during  said  time  shall  be  performed 
according  to  the  form  prescribed  by  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  or  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments and  other  rites  and  ceremonies  as  prescribed  in 
said  book  for  the  use  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  of  the 
doctrine  and  discipline  therein  set  forth,  and  the 
canons  of  said  church  by  a  duly  and  regularly  or- 
dained minister  of  said  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
or  by  one  allowed  by  the  canons  of  said  church  to 
officiate,  or  by  a  duly  ordained  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  as  now  by  law  Established,  and  none 
other;  provided  always,  nevertheless,  that  if  the  rent 
above  reserved  shall  not  be  demanded  by,  or  paid  to, 
the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  or  his  heirs  on  or 
before  the  Feast  of  St.  Andrew  in  every  year,  after 
the  same  shall  have  been  due,  that  then  said  parties 
of  the  second  part  shall  forever  thereafter  be  dis- 
charged from  the  payment  of  the  same." 

The  church  is  situated  upon  a  slight  eminence,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Bronx  River  and  the  Har- 
lem Railroad,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  the 
old  Boston  turnpike,  in  a  convenient  location,  while 
to  the  south  and  west  of  the  building  is  the  portion 
of  the  grounds  set  apart  as  the  pari«h  burying-place. 
Bolton  gives  the  following  concise  and  interesting  de- 
scription of  the  first  church  edifice :     The  style  of 


SCARS  DALE. 


607 


the  building  is  early  English,  or  first  pointed,  accord-  j 
ing  to  Riskman's  Xomenclature.    It  is  constructed  of  | 
native  stone,  with  dressings  of  the  white  dolomitic 
marble,  and  consists  of  a  nave,  chancel,  with  sacristy 
attached,  and  porch.    The  nave,  which  is  50  feet  by  I 
24  feet  in  the  clear,  with  sittings  for  about  211,  is  di- 
vided into  four  bays,  the  flank  walls  of  which  are 
pierced  with  couplets,  excepting  the  first  bay  from  the 
west  end,  on  the  south  side,  which  contains  a  door 
leading  to  the  porch.    The  roof  is  open,  with  rafters 
diagonally  traced.    The  pulpit  is  in  the  northeast 
corner  of  the  nave.    A  font  of  the  largest  size  (2  feet  ' 
6  inches  across  the  bowl)  stands  in  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  the  nave.    It  is  circular,  supported  on  a  cen- 
tral octagonal  stem,  surrounded  by  four  detached  pil-  I 
lars  of  white  marble,  and  was  presented  by  the  sisters  ' 
of  the  first  rector  of  the  parish.  The  seats  areopenand 
entirely  free  of  any  charge  for  rent  or  use — the  church 
being  supported  by  voluntary  contributions  at  the  i 
offertory.    The  organ,  presented  by  a  member  of  the  1 
vestry,  is  situated  at  the  west  end  of  the  nave.    The  i 
chancel,  20  feet  by  16  feet,  in  the  clear,  is  separated  ' 
from  the  nave  by  the  chancel  arch.    The  choir  is 
raised  two  steps  above  the  nave  and  has  two  stalls  on 
the  south  side.    On  the  north  it  opens,  by  a  door,  into 
the  sacristy.    The  sanctuary,  elevated  above  the  choir 
by  two  steps,  is  about  8  feet  in  depth,  containing  an 
altar  6  feet  by  three  feet,  on  a  foot  pace,  a  credence- 
shelf  on  the  south  side  and  bishop's  seat  on  the  north. 
The  chancel  is  lighted  by  a  triplet  of  richly-stained 
glass,  the  middle  lancet  of  which  contains  a  cross 
within  the  Vesica  piscis  ;  the  south,  a  dove  and  font ; 
and  the  north,  a  paten  and  chalice.    The  rest  of  the 
glass  (excepting  the  west  end  of  the  nave,  which  is 
richly  grisailed,  and  the  southern  windows  of  the 
chancel,  which  have  colored  borders)  is  plain  enam- 
eled.   The  whole  of  the  stained  glass  was  manufac- 
tured by  Mr.  John  Bolton,  of  Pelham.  Over  the  cen- 
tral lancet,  in  the  chancel,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
west  gable,  are  triangular,  trifoliated  lights,  with  col- 
ored glass."     Frank  Wills,  of  New  York,  was  the 
architect,  and  the  cost  of  the  entire  edifice  is  put  by 
Mr.  Bolton  as  about  five  thousand  dollars;  but  this  is 
probably  too  small,  as  much  labor  and  material  were 
contributed  by  individuals  which  are  probably  not  j 
included  in  the  above  estimate.    The  following  de- 
scription of  the  communion  service  is  likewise  taken 
from   Bolton's  "  History    of  "Westchester  :  "   "  The 
communion  service,  presented  on  the  day  of  consecra- 
tion, consists  of  the  following  articles:  A  flagon,  in- 
scribed '  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all 
Sin;'  two  silver  chalices,  each  having  the  following 
inscription:  '  I  will  receive  the  cup  of  Salvation;'  a  \ 
paten,  with  the  legend  '  I  will  otter  unto  Thee  the 
Sacrifice  of  Thanksgiving ; '  and  a  silver  alms-basin." 
The  bishop's  chair,  bearing  on  the  back  the  symbol 
of  the  episcopal  office — the  bishop's  mitre — was  the  | 
gift  of  the  builder,  Henry  Cornell,  while  the  altar- 
cloth  and  linen,  as  well  as  the  service-books,  were  , 


likewise  presented  by  friends.  The  triplet,  which 
lighted  the  chancel,  was  subsequently  filled  with 
beautiful,  stained-glass  windows,  in  memory  of  Miss 
Cornelia  H.  Guion. 

The  central  lancet  contained  a  representation  of  the 
Saviour  holding  in  his  arms  the  Sacramental  Loaf. 
The  glass  of  the  left  lancet  represented  St.  Philip,  and 
that  of  the  right,  St.  James  the  Less.  The  large  bell, 
cast  by  Meneely,  of  Troy,  was  a  present  to  the  par- 
ish, and,  as  it  was  found  to  be  too  large  for  the  small 
beUry  at  the  summit  of  the  west  gable,  it  was  put  in 
position  near  the  porch,  upon  the  ground.  On  October 
lo,  1864,  William  Sutley  Lang,  a  resident  of  the  par- 
ish, communicated  to  the  vestry  the  offer  of  a  chapel, 
to  be  attached  to  the  church.  This  off"er  was  promptly 
accepted,  and  the  chapel,  being  a  memorial  of  the 
lately-deceased  wife  of  the  donor,  was  erected  shortly 
thereafter.  The  structure  was  to  the  north  of  the 
chancel  and  communicated  directly  with  the  sacristy. 
It  was  lighted  by  a  couplet  at  the  east  end,  focing 
which  was  the  entrance-door  and  the  reading-desk. 
In  the  north  wall,  and  lacing  the  entrance  to  the  sac- 
risty, was  cut  a  tablet  to  the  memory  of  Susan  Bailey 
Lang.  This  edifice  contained  sittings  for  about 
thirty-three  persons,  and  was  chiefly  used  for  the 
Sunday-school  and  for  week-day  services. 

On  the  evening  of  Palm  Sunday,  April  2,  1882,  the 
beautiful  little  church  was  almost  totally  destroyed 
by  fire, — owing  ai)parently  to  a  defective  flue,— and 
the  chapel  and  almost  all  the  furnishings  were  in- 
volved in  the  general  destruction.  The  ruin  wa* 
nearly  comi>lete,  nothing  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
walls  remaining. 

Fortuuately,  there  was  an  insurance  on  the  build- 
ing, and,  although  much  difficulty  and  delay  were 
experienced  in  settling  matters  with  the  insurance 
companies,  who  preferred  to  rebuild  themselves  rath- 
er than  pay  the  insurance,  work  on  a  new  church  wiis 
finally  begun,  and  after  many  months  of  anxiety  and 
trouble  the  new  building  was  completed,  services 
being  meanwhile  held  in  private  houses. 

The  services  of  re-consecration  took  place  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1883,  just  nineteen  months  after  the 
conflagration,  and  were  conducted  by  the  Right  Rev. 
H.  C.  Potter,  assistant  bishop  of  New  York,  aided 
by  several  others  of  the  clergy.  Of  these  ceremonies 
the  Churchman  for  November  17th  has  the  following 
account :  "  This  church  was  re-consecrated  on  Sun- 
day, November  4th,  by  the  assistant  bishop  of  the 
diocese,  aided  by  the  Rev.  Francis  Chase,  rector ;  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Olsen,  a  former  rector;  the  Rev.  W.  W. 
Montgomery,  of  Mamaroneck  ;  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Van 
Kleeck,  of  White  Plains ;  and  the  Rev.  ilessrs.  Forbes 
and  Drisler.  The  church,  repaired  and  rebuilt  after 
the  fire  of  last  year,  and  adorned  with  many  gift* 
from  parishioners  and  friends,  was  bright  and  cheer- 
ful. A  large  congregation  was  in  attendance  and  the 
music,  though  simple,  was  perfect.  The  bishop  de- 
livered the  sermon,  which  was  worthy  to  be  heard  in 


668  '  HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNT!. 


every  quarter  of  the  commonwealth.  Three  persons 
were  confirmed.  In  the  afternoon  the  Rev.  Dr.  Olsen 
preached  to  his  former  flock.  It  was  a  day  to  be  long 
remembered  in  Scarsdale." 

In  external  appearance  the  new  church  is  very  like 
the  first  building,  differing  in  no  essential  particular, 
although  the  workmanship  in  parts  is  inferior  to  that 
of  the  former.  Within,  also,  the  church  is  little 
changed,  the  arrangement  and  construction  of  chan- 
cel, nave,  roof  and  windows  being  as  before.  The 
tone  of  the  walls  and  woodwork  is,  however,  much 
lighter  than  in  the  foi'mer  building,  while  the  stained 
glass  is  but  a  parody  upon  the  beautiful  chancel 
windows  of  the  old  church.  The  font  has  been  almost 
exactly  restored,  and  stands  just  outside  of  the  chan- 
cel, on  the  right.  The  new  furniture,  consisting  of 
altar,  chancel-chair,  double  stall,  reading  desk,  pulpit 
and  brass  lectern,  is  quite  different  in  style  from  that 
which  it  replaces,but  is  handsome,and  harmonizes  well 
with  the  surroundings.  It  is  the  gift  of  friends  of  the 
parish,  in  memory  of  Mrs.  Valeria  Baugess,  a  former 
parishioner,  whose  remains  lie  in  the  little  church- 
yard. Other  gifts  include  a  full  set  of  lesson-books, 
and  pulpit-lamp,  altar-cover,  altar-vases  and  alms- 
basin,  all  in  brass.  The  organ, — of  one  manual, — 
from  the  shops  of  Hood  &  Hastings,  Boston,  is  very 
prettily  decorated,  and  was  purchased  with  the  insur- 
ance money  of  the  former  organ,  occujjying  the  same 
position, — at  the  western  end  of  the  nave.  The  chap- 
el is  nearly  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  one  it  re- 
places. 

Belonging  to  the  church  is  a  commodious  rectorj', 
situated  on  a  pleasant  spot  nearly  due  north  of  the 
church,  and  about  five  minutes'  walk  from  it. 

Following  is  a  list  of  all  the  i-ectors  of  Scarsdale : 

Election  or  Acceptance  of  Call.  Besigiiation. 
January  31,  1850,  Rev  James  F.  Le  Baron 
.\pnl  1, 18.M,  Rev.  William  M.  Olsen    ....  October  1.  1871. 
December  3,  1S71,  Rev.  Stephen  F.  Holmes  .  .  May  1,  1872. 

July  1,  1S72,  Rev.  Henry  Webbe  August  31, 187.'i, 

.Tanuarj-  28,  1874,  Rev.  William  A.  Holbrook  .  .  Octobers,  1877. 
February  1,  1879,  Rev.  Francis  Cbase. 

In  1853,  two  years  after  the  consecration  of  the 
church,  the  following  were  the  published  statistics  of 
the  parish  :  Families,  20;  souls,  115;  baptisms,  4; 
communicants,  50.  In  1855  the  church  building  and 
lot  were  valued  at  86500,  and  the  seating  capacity  of 
the  former  was  for  211  persons-  The  attendance  w^as 
120  persons,  and  the  communicants  numbered  53.  In 
1865  the  valuation  of  the  property  had  risen  to  88000. 
There  were  60  communicants  and  an  average  attend- 
ance of  40  persons.  The  following  are  the  latest  par- 
ish statistics:  Families,  45 ;  souls,  214;  baptisms,?; 
confirmations,  3 ;  marriages,  3  ;  burials,  6;  commun- 
icants, 74;  Sunday-school  scholars,  44;  teachers,  7. 
Total  amount  collected  for  all  objects,  §2555,02. 

The  following  were  the  original  officers  of  the  par- 
ish :   William  S.  Popham  and  Mark  Spencer,  church  | 
wardens ;  Charles  W.  Carmer,  William  H.  Popham,  ' 


Francis  McFarlan,  Joshua  Underbill,  Edmund  Lud- 
low, Samuel  E.  Lyon,  Augustus  Bleecker  and  Orrin 
Weed,  vestrymen.  The  following  are  the  present  offi- 
cers of  the  parish,  the  senior  wardenship  being  now 
vacant  on  account  of  the  recent  death  of  the  Honora- 
ble William  S.  Popham,  who  had  held  the  office  of 
senior  church  warden  continuously  since  the  founda- 
tion of  the  parish,  viz. :  Lewis  C.  Popham,  church 
warden  ;  Alexander  B.  Crane,  James  Bleecker,  Charles 
K.  Fleming,  Oliver  A.  Hyatt,  S.  Bayard  Fish,  Lewis 
B.  Atterbury,  Henry  W.  Bates  and  Cornelius  B. 
Fish,  vestrymen. 

The  interments  in  the  parish  graveyard  number 
one  hundred  and  ten.  To  the  southwest  of  the  church 
are  the  vaults  of  the  Bleecker,  McFarlan  and  Pop- 
ham families,  and  in  the  last-named  repose  the  re- 
mains of  the  late  William  Popham,  of  Revolutionary 
fame,  and  his  son,  William  Sherbrooke  Popham. 
In  this  churchyard  lie  the  remains  of  several  un- 
known persons  who  died  within  the  town  limits,  and 
so  were  given  burial  here.  The  following  curious 
epitaph, — the  only  j)eculiar  one  in  the  little  burying- 
ground, — appears  on  the  tombstone  of  James  Bell.  The 
stone  was  prepared  by  him  and  the  lines  were  pre- 
sumably of  his  own  composition, — 

"  All  you  friends  who  are  gathered  here  to  weep, 
Behold  the  grave  wherein  I  sleep  ; 
Prepare  for  death  while  you  are  well, — 
You'll  be  entombed  as  well  as  Bell.'' 

At  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Fox  Meadow  estate, 
and  within  a  few  rods  of  Hartsdale  Station,  stands  a 
small  iwo-stoiT  frame  structure  formerly  known  as  the 
"  Fox  Meadow  Chapel."  This  building  was  first  used  as 
a  carriage  factory,  but  soon  after  the  estate  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Charles  Butler,  in  1856,  it  was  converted 
into  a  private  chapel  under  the  above  name.  The 
first  floor  contained  seatings  for  about  a  hundred 
persons  and  at  the  south  end  of  the  room  was  a  dais 
with  a  small  pulpit.  The  second  story  was  merely 
used  as  a  loft.  For  many  years  the  chapel  was  used 
by  no  organized  society,  but  its  pulpit  was  occupied, 
upon  invitation,  by  various  Presbyterian  clergymen, 
among  others,  by  the  Rev.  Drs.  Lyman  Abbott  and 
Irena'us  Prime.  At  a  later  period  the  chapel  was 
used  by  the  Methodist  Society  of  Hartsdale,  who  held 
there  their  Sunday-school  and  afternoon  services, — 
their  own  church  being  inconveniently  situated. 
This  was  continued  until  the  building  of  anew  church 
by  the  society  rendered  the  use  of  the  chapel  un- 
necessary. Since  then  the  chapel  has  not  been  used 
for  religious  purposes  beyond  the  holding  of  an  oc- 
casional prayer-meeting  within  its  walls.  For  some 
time  thereafter  the  upper  floor  was  occupied  by  a 
local  temperance  club  as  its  meeting-room,  and  in 
1875  and  again  in  1882  the  lower  floor  was  used  as  a 
theatre  for  the  presentation  of  amateur  performances, 
under  the  name  of  the  "  Scarsdale  Opera-House." 
The  building  is  now  arranged  for  such  purposes,  with 
a  stage,  etc.,  on  the  ground  floor,  the  auditorium 


SCARSDALE. 


having  a  seating  capacity  for  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  persons. 

Although,  until  the  building  of  the  Church  of  St. 
James  the  Less,  Scarsdale  had  no  place  of  worship 
besides  the  Friends'  Meeting-House,  services  were 
held  in  the  town  for  many  years  previous  to  that  date. 
For  this  purpose  use  was  made  of  the  old  "  Fox 
Meadow "  school-house,  which  formerly  stood  on 
Fish's  Hill,  the  ^Methodists  and  Presbyterians  holding 
services  on  alternate  Sundays.  The  Rev.  George 
Donovan,  a  clergyman  of  the  former  denomination, 
who  contributed  so  much  to  the  early  success  of  the 
public  school,  often  officiated  here  as  pastor  as  well 
pedagogue.  Again,  during  the  Rebellion,  when 
there  appears  to  have  been  some  interruiHion  in  the 
services  at  Fox  Meadow  Chapel,  services  were  fre- 
quently held  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Bruen,  on  the  former 
Cooper  estate. 

Schools. — Although  the  early  records  of  the  Scars- 
dale  public  school  have  entirely  disappeared,  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  such  a  school  in  existence  at  the  end 
of  the  last  century,  for  the  town-meeting  of  1784  was 
held  "attthe  School-house  in  said  Manner  near  Captain 
Jonathan  Griffin's."  The  building  here  mentioned 
was  probably  the  first  one  in  the  town  and  stood  at 
the  top  of  the  steep  bank  to  the  west  of  the  White 
Plains  road,  just  north  of  the  road  to  Hartsdale 
Station.  Nothing  now  remains  to  mark  the  spot  but 
a  portion  of  the  foundations,  the  building  itself  hav- 
ing been  destroyed  by  fire  early  iu  the  present 
century.  In  1796  the  offices  of  "Commissioners  of 
Schools"  were  first  instituted  in  the  town,  J.  Barker, 
William  Popham  and  Caleb  Angevine  being  chosen  to 
fill  the  position  for  the  first  year. 

In  1809  was  built  a  new  school-house  to  replace 
the  one  destroyed,  and  this  still  remains,  but  is  now 
occupied  as  a  dwelling.  It  formerly  stood  part  way 
up  Fish's  Hill  to  the  north  of  the  roadway,  but 
was  moved  many  years  ago  to  its  present  site,  to 
the  north  side  of  the  Hartsdale  road.  There  is 
much  of  interest  connected  with  this  old  school- 
house,  though  in  itself  it  is  quite  unpretending. 
It  is  a  small  frame  building  of  two  stories, 
measuring  about  twenty-five  by  twenty  feet  in 
the  ground  plan,  and  unpainted.  The  school-room 
was  on  the  ground  fioor  and  above  was  a  loft.  Soon 
after  the  erection  of  this  building  the  school  acquired 
considerable  prominence  from  the  scope  of  its  curric- 
ulum, and  it  is  related  that  people  living  in  New 
York  sent  their  children  to  board  in  the  town  that 
they  might  enjoy  the  advantages  of  its  jtublic  school. 
This  prominence  was  largely  due  to  the  ability  of  the 
Rev.  George  Donovan,  before  mentioned,  a  graduate 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  who,  on  becoming  a 
resident  of  the  town,  in  1802,  at  once  interested  him- 
self iu  the  school,  and  introduced  there  the  study  of 
the  ancient  languages,  in  addition  to  the  common- 
school  branches.  In  1817  we  find  that  he  was  elected 
"  Inspector  of  Schools,"  his  colleague  being  William 


Popham,  their  offices  being  in  addition  to  the  school 
commissioners  before  mentioned.  During  these  early 
days  of  the  century  the  school  came  to  be  known  as 
the  "  Scarsdale  Academy,"  from  the  high  grade  of  its 
instruction.  Later  on,  however,  when  the  conduct  of 
the  school  passed  into  other  hands,  much  of  its 
reputation  was  lost,  and  it  is  stated  that  two  of  the 
old  time  pedagogues  came  to  untimely  ends  from 
their  fondness  for  strong  drink.  One  was  drowned, 
while  intoxicated,  in  the  deep  spring  on  the  west  side 
of  Dobb's  Hill,  just  south  of  the  site  of  the  birth-place 
of  Governor  Tompkins  and  the  other  in  a  drunken 
frenzy  committed  suicide  in  a  field  nearly  opposite  the 
present  school.  This  second  building  was  known  as  the 
"  Fox  Meadow  School-House "  and  we  find  it  thus 
mentioned  as  a  fretjuent  place  for  holding  town  meet- 
ings. The  State  census  of  1845  gives  figures  in  relation 
to  the  school  as  follows.  Value  of  building,  one 
hundred  dollars ;  Number  of  pupils,  35 ;  average  at- 
tendance, 18. 

The  present  school  records  only  cover  a  period  of 
about  twenty  years,  and  are  very  brief.  In  1870  the 
school  trustees  were  Philip  Waters,  James  McCabe 
and  John  Carpenter,  Benjamin  Palmer  being  clerk. 
In  this  year  five  hundred  dollars  was  voted  for  the 
expenses  of  the  school,  and  the  teacher  was  Miss 
Eliza  Algood,  who  occupied  the  position  for  a  num- 
ber of  years. 

In  1874  it  was  determined  to  erect  a  new  and  more 
suitable  building  for  school  purposes,  and  a  thousand 
dollars  was  voted  by  the  town  for  procuring  the  nec- 
essary land,  while  in  the  following  year  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars  was  appropriated  for  the  building 
itself  and  nine  hundred  for  furnishing  it  suitably.  The 
building  committee  consisted  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
Benjamin  Carpenter,  Peter  Dobbs,  James  McCabe  and 
John  Read.  The  building  was  begun  early  in  Feb- 
ruary of  the  centennial  year,  and  was  ready  for  occu- 
pancy the  following  September.  In  1880  the  school- 
tax  amounted  to  $796.25,  being  assessed  at  the  rate  of 
$1.86  per  thousand  dollars.  For  that  year  the  statistics 
were  as  follows :  There  were  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  children  in  the  school  district  between  the  ages  of 
five  and  twenty-one,  and  sixty  between  the  ages  of 
eight  and  fourteen.  School  was  held  during  forty- 
two  weeks  of  the  year.  The  trustees  were  John  H. 
Carpenter,  Peter  M.  Dobbs  and  James  D.  McCabe, 
Gilbert  W.  Dobbs  being  clerk.  The  teacher  was  Miss 
Ameigh.  At  this  time  the  library  contained  one 
hundred  and  fifty  volumes. 

The  following  are  the  statistics  for  1884 :  Trustees, 
David  A.  Weed,  Benjamin  J.  Carpenter  and  F.  W. 
Brooks ;  Clerk,  Gilbert  W.  Dobbs ;  Teacher,  Miss  Mars- 
land;  number  of  weeks  of  school,  forty-three ;  children 
in  district  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one, 
one  hundred  and  thirty-six ;  between  the  ages  of  eight 
and  fourteen,  sixty-six.  Books  in  library,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  The  school-tax  for  the  year  amounted  to 
$841 .25,  being  assessed  at  the  rate  of  §1 .92  per  thousand. 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  new  school-house  is  situated  at  the  junction  of 
the  old  and  new  White  Plains  post  roads,  just  at  the 
foot  of  Fish's  Hill,  a  little  north  of  the  Hartsdale  road, 
and  faces  due  west.  It  is  about  fifty  by  thirty  feet  on 
the  ground  plan,  with  two  stories  and  a  basement,  the 
entrance  to  which  is  on  the  east.  The  latter  is  now 
used  by  the  town  as  a  place  of  meeting  and  for  the 
holding  of  elections.  In  its  external  aspect  the  build- 
ing is  very  pleasing,  the  basement  being  of  stone  and 
the  upper  part  frame,  clapboarded,  and  a  slate  roof. 
The  front  gable  is  surmounted  by  a  small  open  cupola, 
in  which  hangs  the  school  bell.  The  building  is 
neatly  painted  in  a  light  shade  of  gray,  with  darker 
trimmings.  The  ground  iloor  proper  is  occupied  by 
a  commodious  and  well-arranged  school-room,  fitted 
up  with  modern  school  furniture,  and  adjoining  are 
the  vestibule  and  cloak-rooms,  the  former  opening 
upon  a  small  porch.  The  loft  above  is  unfurnished, 
but  the  basement  is  fitted  up  for  the  uses  of  the 
town  with  benches  and  a  small  dais  at  the  west  end 
of  the  room,  the  walls  being  finished  in  plaster. 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
percentage  of  illiteracy  in  the  town  has  of  late  years 
been  very  low,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  following  figures, 
taken  from  the  State  census  reports :  In  1855  it  was 
1.10  per  cent. ;  in  1865,  1.07  per  cent. ;  and  in  1875, 
1.51  per  cent. 

Shortly  after  the  erection  of  the  Church  of  St.  James 
the  Less  the  organization  of  a  parish  school  was 
undertaken,  and  the  first  notice  of  this  is  found  in  the 
report  of  the  convention  of  New  York  for  1853,  which 
says,  "  A  small  building  for  the  purposes  of  a  Parochial 
School  is  now  being  built."  This  stood  in  a  pleasant 
situation  a  few  hundred  yards  to  the  northwest  of  the 
church,  and  on  a  private  road  leading  through  the 
Popham  property  to  Scarsdale  Station.  The  next 
year  the  convention  records  contain  no  report  of  the 
parish  school,  but  in  1855  we  find  the  following: 

Daily  Parish  Schools,  One,  part  free — Males,  6 ; 
Females,  11."  That  year  eighty  dollars  was  contrib- 
uted by  the  church  toward  the  parish  school  building. 
The  next  year  the  number  of  scholars  had  risen  to 
twenty — males,  fourteen  ;  females,  six — and  one  hun- 
dred dollars  was  contributed  by  the  parish  towards  the 
support  of  the  school.  Two  years  after,  there  were 
thirty  scholars  in  the  school — males,  seventeen  ;  fe- 
males, thirteen — and  the  reports  say  of  the  school, 
■"Teacher  boarded  free  of  charge  ;  otherwise  self-sup- 
porting." In  1859  the  number  of  scholars  was  largely 
increased,  the  average  attendance  being,  males,  twen- 
ty-five ;  females,  seventeen  ;  and  the  total  number  of 
those  who  had  attended  at  least  one  quarter  was  sixty- 
four.  The  parish  contribution  towards  the  school 
this  year  was  seventy-five  dollars.  The  following 
year,  1860,  is  the  last  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
the  school  in  the  convention  reports,  and  it  shows  a 
great  falling  off  in  the  attendance, — namely  :  males, 
twenty;  females,  ten.  During  the  winter  a  night- 
school  had  been  held  for  three  months,  which  proba- 


bly accounts  in  some  measure  for  the  decrease.  The 
attendance  at  the  night-school  aggregated  twenty-one, 
thus  giving  a  total  of  fifty-one  scholars.  The  parish 
contribution  had  fallen  to  fifty  dollars  for  this  year. 
Shortly  after  this  last  report  the  school  was  given  up, 
apparently  from  lack  of  support,  and  the  school- 
building  was  used  for  other  purposes.  It  was  moved 
from  its  original  situation  to  a  position  nearly  adjoin- 
ing the  rectory  of  the  church,  which  was  built 
in  1860. 

Of  private  schools  there  have  been  several  in  Scars- 
dale  at  different  times,  but  none  of  them  have  been 
sufficiently  successful  to  remain.  The  census  report 
of  1845  makes  brief  mention  of  two  private  schools, 
but  this  is  the  only  record  that  remains  of  them. 
Another  was  started  about  the  year  1871,  but  proved 
unsuccessful,  and  shortly  after  was  closed.  Thus  the 
public  school  is  the  only  one  now  in  existence,  but, 
owing  to  the  excellence  of  its  management,  it  leaves 
little  to  be  desired  by  the  townspeople. 

Leading  Residents  and  Families. — Among  all 
the  natives  of  the  town,  past  or  present,  no  one  has  been 
more  prominent  in  the  history  of  the  county  than 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,'  Governor  of  the  State,  and  after- 
wards Vice-President  of  the  nation.  His  ancestors 
were  among  the  first  to  settle  in  the  town,  and  they 
have  at  all  times  figured  conspicuously  in  its  history. 
It  is  said  of  him  that  he  embodied  in  himself,  besides 
the  noble  virtues,  the  more  commonplace,  but  none 
the  less  important  ones  of  activity,  energy  and  perse- 
verence,  while  his  talents,  no  matter  how  tried,  were 
always  equal  to  an  emergency.  The  reputation  he 
gained  at  the  bar  and  in  the  gubernatorial  chair,  was 
one  of  unflinching  integrity  combined  with  an  un- 
common charm  of  manner  and  the  greatest  consider- 
ation for  the  feelings  of  all.  His  administration  of 
the  oflSce  of  Governor  during  the  trying  times  of  the 
second  war  with  Great  Britain  was  unimpeachable, 
while  his  generous  and  entirely  unsolicited  financial 
aid  to  the  government  was  especially  noteworthy.  In 
the  capacity  of  military  commander  he  likewise  suc- 
ceeded admirably,  being  especially  thanked  for  his 
services  by  the  President.  Governor  Tompkins  died 
on  Staten  Island  June  11,  1825,  and  his  remains  are 
interred  in  the  vault  of  the  Tompkins  family,  at 
St.  Mark's  "  in  the  Bowerie,"  New  York  City. 

Jonathan  Griffin  Tompkins,  father  of  the  Governor, 
though  not  as  distinguished  in  the  history  of  the 
nation,  was  more  identified  than  his  son  with  the 
history  of  the  town.  But  besides  holding  very  many 
town  offices,  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
vention which  adopted  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence and  the  first  Constitution  of  the  State.  Mr. 
Tompkins  was  one  of  the  inspectors  of  the  first  town 
meeting  held  under  the  national  government,  and  was 
chosen  first  supervisor  of  the  town.    This  oflSce  he 


1  a  full  sketch  of  Vice-President  Tompkins  and  his  father  and  hrothere 
will  be  found  in  the  first  volume,  in  the  chapter  on  the  Bench  and  Bar. 


SCAllSDALE. 


671 


held  for  ten  years,  from  1783  to  1792,  by  annual  re- 
election, besides  other  minor  town  offices.  After  the 
death  of  his  adojjted  father  jNIr.  Tompkins  removed 
from  the  house  where  his  son  Daniel  was  born  to  the 
Griffin  homestead,  now  known  as  the  Sedgwick  house, 
on  the  northern  crest  of  Dobb's  Hill,  and  the  old 
mansion  was  afterwards  torn  down. 

The  Tompkins  fiimily  were  of  English  extraction, 
and  emigrated  from  the  north  of  England  to  Plym- 
outh, Mass.,  during  the  times  of  religious  perse- 
cution. According  to  Bolton's  narrative,  from  Plym- 
outh they  went  in  turn  to  Concord,  Mass.,  Fairfield, 
Conn.,  and  East  Chester,  N.  Y.,  and  thence  finally  to 
Scarsdale.  It  is  probable  that  the  family  was  repre- 
sented in  the  town  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century,  for  as  many  as  six  generations  have 
lived  here.  Of  the  sons  of 
Jonathan  G.  Tompkins, 
several  settled  j)erma- 
nenth'  within  the  town, 
and  proved  useful  and 
worthy  citizens.  The  first 
of  these  was  Caleb,  the 
oldest  of  the  Governor's 
brothers,  who  was  born  in 
175ii,  and  he  left  a  son,  J. 
G.  Tompkins,  Jr.  The 
former  held  the  offices  of 
poor  master,  town  clerk 
and  supervisor  in  the 
town,  being  chosen  to  the 
last-named  office  at  three 
different  times,  while  his 
son  was  twice  elected  su- 
pervisor. Another  of  the 
brothers,  Enoch,  born  in 
1771,  held  this  office  for 
ten  years  continuously, 
besides  at  other  times 
holding  numerous  minor 
offices.  Another  brother 
still,  George  Washington 
Tompkins,  likewise  made 
Scarsdale  his  home  for  a  time,  and  here  was  born  to 
him  a  son.  Warren  Tompkins,  who  afterwards  took 
up  his  residence  in  White  Plains. 

The  Popham  Family. — About  one-half  mile  from 
the  railroad  depot  at  Scarsdale ,  and  shadowed  be- 
neath the  branches  of  huge  trees,  whose  leaves  en- 
tirely obscure  its  inmates  from  the  gaze  of  the  curious, 
stands  the  ancient  homestead  of  Chief  Justice  Richard 
Morris.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in  the 
county,  and  although  it  has  from  time  to  time  been 
altered  and  extended  in  order  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  modern  life,  it  still  retains,  in  its  sloping 
roof  and  am])le  chimney,  a  general  appearance  of  antiq- 
uity. It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Popham  fam- 
ily, of  whom  we  subjoin  a  sketch. 

The  Pophams  trace  their  English  ancestry  as  far  into 


HON.  DANIEL 


the  past  as  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  their  records  show  that  one  Gilbert  Popham, 
of  the  Manor  of  Popham,  married  Joan,  a  daughter 
of  Kobert  Clarke,  also  of  that  manor.  Members  of 
the  family  held  high  offices  during  the  reigns  of 
Henry  III.  Edward  III.  and  Henry  IV.  Sir  John 
Po|)ham,  Knight,  was  lord  chief  justice  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  and  so  popular  had  the  family  become  that 
Charles  I.  made  John  Po])liam,  one  of  its  members, 
a  Gentleman  of  the  Privy  Chamber  upon  the  occasion 
of  his  coronation.  The  family  was  also  represented 
at  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.  by  Sir  Francis  Pop- 
ham, who  was  a  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

At  the  time  of  the  civil  war  in  England  the 
family  became  divided,  and  Sir  Francis,  who  was  sixth 
la  descent  from  the  chief  justice,  rendered  himself 

so  obnoxious  to  Charles 
I.  by  his  course  at  that 
time,  that  his  son  John, 
who  was  colonel  in  com- 
mand of  a  cavalry  regi- 
ment, was  forced  to  re- 
move into  Ireland,  where 
he  purchased  the  estate 
of  Bandon.  Mindful  of 
the  family  reverses,  he 
named  his  oldest  son  Icha- 
bod. 

John  Popham,  the  son 
of  Ichabod  and  father  of 
William  Popham,  from 
whom  are  descended  the 
family  so  long  identi- 
fied with  the  history  of 
Scarsdale,  was  a  linen 
draper,  of  Cork,  and  was 
widely  known  for  his 
learning,  intelligence  and 
piety. 

His  three  children  were 
James,  William,  and  Eli- 
zabeth, who  married  the 
architect,  John  Cook. 
William  Popham,  the  second  child,  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Rev.  William  Millet,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman 
of  Bandon,  whose  family  numbered  nineteen  daughters 
and  three  sons.  Of  their  children,  Alexander,  John 
and  William,  the  last  only,  who  was  born  at  Bandon, 
September  19,  1752,  came  with  his  father  to  this 
country. 

He  was  but  nine  years  of  age  at  the  time,  and  was 
left  in  the  care  of  two  maiden  aunts  living  in  New 
Jei"sey.  By  them  he  was  entered  at  Princeton  College, 
from  which  he  graduated  just  as  the  Revolution  was 
breaking  out.  Joining  the  Continental  army,  he 
almost  immediately  rendered  himself  famous  by  the 
cai)ture  of  the  notorious  Captain  Rugg  and  eighteen 
others  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island.  As  a  reward  for  his 
bravery,  he  received  a  captaincy,  which  was  subse- 


TOMPKINS. 


672 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


quently  supplemented  by  a  major's  commission,  in 
recognition  of  distinguished  services  rendered  at  the 
battles  of  White  Plains  and  Brandywine. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Major  Popham  resided  for 
a  few  years  at  Albany,  New  York,  where  he  studied 
law.  While  there  he  met  and  became  enamored  of 
Miss  Mary  Morris,  daughter  of  Chief  Justice  Rich- 
ard Morris,  with  whom,  being  forced  by  her  father's 
hostility,  he  eloped. 

In  1804,  having  meanwhile  effected  a  reconciliation 
with  his  father-in-law,  he  established  a  legal  practice 
in  New  York  City  and  became  in  time  clerk  of  the 
Court  of  Exchequer.  He  retired  in  1811  to  his  farm 
in  Scarsdale,  where  he  resided  till  the  death  of  his 
wife,  in  1836.  His  own  death  occurred  in  New 
York  eleven  years  later, 
in  1847. 

While  Major  Popham 
was  yet  a  young  man  his 
father,  journeying  a  sec- 
ond time  to  this  country, 
was  taken  sick  upon  the 
voyage  and  died.  He  was 
buried  by  his  son  at 
Perth  Amboy,  N.  J. 

The  major  at  the  time 
of  his  death  was  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York 
State  Society  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati. He  was  also  its 
president-general  by  vir- 
tue of  his  right  as  oldest 
member.  Upon  the  occa- 
sion of  his  decease  his 
name  received  honorable 
mention  in  general  orders 
and  his  loss  was  lamented 
by  many  who  had  been 
his  warm  friends  and 
acquaintances. 

Major  Popham  left  six 
children — Richard,  Wil- 
liam S.,  John,  Charles  W., 
Sarah,  wife  of  Leonard 
Bleecker,  and  Elizabeth. 

William  Sherbrook  Popham,  the  second  child  of 
this  family,  was  born  at  Scarsdale,  May  9,  1793.  In 
1815  he  entered  the  Bank  of  America  as  clerk,  hav- 
ing previously  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812. 
In  1832  he  established  himself  in  the  coal  business 
in  New  York  City,  continuing  the  same  till  1857, 
when  he  retired  to  the  ancestral  farm  in  Scarsdale. 
Here  he  led  the  life  of  a  retiring  and  respected  cit- 
izen. To  hik  efforts  was  mainly  due  the  organization 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  St.  James  the  Less,  of 
which  he  was  senior  warden  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  married  Eliza,  daughter  of  William  Hill,  of 
East  Chester,  and  after  her  decease  was  united  to  her 
sister  Jane. 


Mr.  Popham  closed  a  long  life  of  quiet  usefulness 
June  18,  1885,  in  the  same  room  in  which  he  was 
born  more  than  ninety  years  before.  His  unassumed 
humility  and  his  simplicity  of  manner  charmed  all 
with  whom  he  came  into  contact,  and  made  his  loss 
both  to  his  family  and  to  the  county  in  which  he 
lived  an  irreparable  one. 

He  had  eight  children;  William  Hill,  Mary  Morris, 
wife  of  Charles  W.  Carmer ;  Alethia  Hill,  wife  of 
Augustus  Bleecker ;  Laura  Sherbrook,  wife  of  Lewis 
C.  Piatt,  Esq.,  of  White  Plains;  Gertrude,  wife  of 
Allen  S.  Campbell ;  Richard  Morris,  Robert  C.  and 
Lewis  C.  Two  of  these,  William  Hill  and  Richard 
M.,  he  survived. 

William  Hill  Popham,  oldest  child  of  William 
Sherbrook  Popham,  was 
born  at  Scarsdale,  Octo- 
ber 7,  1817.  His  educa- 
tion was  partly  obtained 
in  the  old  town  school  of 
his  native  place  and 
partly  in  New  York  City. 

His  inclination  led  him 
at  an  early  age  to  enter 
as  a  clerk  the  office  of  a 
firm  in  New  York  which 
was  heavily  interested  in 
the  iron  trade.  In  1857, 
however,  upon  his  father's 
retirement,  he  took  his 
business  in  charge  and 
for  some  years » conducted 
it  successfully.  He  was 
finally  induced  by  his 
father-in-law  to  enter  the 
oil  business  with  him, 
and  in  this  he  was  en- 
gaged at  the  time  of  his 
death,  June  27, 1880. 
J  While  in  the  oil  trade 
he  was  also  associated 
with  William  C.  Haxton, 
now  vice-president  of  the 
Washington  Life  Insur- 
ance Company. 
Mr.  Popham  was  a  gentleman  of  peculiarly  cordial 
disposition,  and  his  genial  manner  made  him  many 
warm  and  enthusiastic  friendships  both  in  business 
and  social  life. 

He  was  a  member  and  for  the  last  ten  years  warden 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  St.  James  the  Less  at 
Scarsdale,  for  which  he  gave  the  ground.  At  the 
time  of  his  death  he  was  a  property  holder  in  New 
York  City  and  a  director  ofthe  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company.  He  had  also  been  a  member  of  the 
Produce  Exchange  from  its  organization.  Mr. 
Popham  married  Miss  Sarah  Spencer,  daughter  of 
Mark  Spencer,  of  New  York. 

Their  children  are  Harriet  Spencer,  Mark  Spencer, 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  LATE  WM.  H.  POPHAM, 

SCARSDALE,  N.  Y. 


SCARSDALE. 


673 


Eliza  Hill,  William  H.  Jr.,  George  Morris,  Lewis  T., 
Sallie  aud  James  Lenox. 

Lewis  C.  Popham,  youngest  child  of  Wm.  Sher- 
brook  Popham  and  brother  of  the  preceding,  was 
born  in  the  old  homestead  at  Scarsdale,  April  15, 
1S33.  Receiving  his  education  at  the  well-known 
school  of  Rev.  Dr.  Harris,  at  White  Plains,  he  joined 
his  father  in  business,  and  in  due  time  succeeded  to 
it  and  the  family  estate.  Beside  carrying  on  his 
large  business  interests  in  Xew  York  City,  he  has 
been  for  the  last  sixteen  years  justice  of  the  peace  of 
the  town  of  Scarsdale.  Like  his  brother,  William  H., 
Mr.  Popham  is  of  an  exceedingly  social  disposition, 
and  he  is  justly  reckoned  among  the  most  popular 
citizens  of  Westchester  County.  He  married  Annie 
J.,  daughter  of  Alexander  Flemming,  of  Bellows 
Falls,  Vermont.  Their  children  are  Emma  A.,  (wife 
of  Cornelius  B.  Fish),  Alice  H.,  Annie  F.,  Alexander 
F.  and  Louise  C. 

Mr.  Popham  still  resides  in  the  old  homestead, 
which  was  built  by  his  grandfather  Major  Popham,  in 
17S3.  It  adjoins  the  Morris  property  and  is  rich  in 
its  collection  of  antiques,  bric-a-brac  and  old  paint- 
ings. A  portion  of  the  tea-set  presented  to  Major 
Popham  by  General  Washington  is  still  in  possession 
of  the  family. 

Another  distinguished  citizen  of  the  town  in  the 
early  days  was  the  Hon.  Richard  Morris,  son  of  the 
Hon.  Lewis  Morris,  and  father-in-law  of  Major  Pop- 
ham, whom  we  have  mentioned.  He  resided  at  the 
Morris  homestead,  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  William  F. 
Popham.  and  owned  considerable  land  in  the 
vicinity,  in  which  was  included  the  former  mill-seat 
on  the  Bronx  River  near  Scarsdale  Station.  Mr.  Morris 
was  commissary  or  judge  of  the  Court  of  Admiralty, 
as  well  as  at  one  time  chief  justice  of  the  State,  and 
filled  both  these  offices  with  much  distinction.  The 
Morris  house  stands  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  ridge, 
running  parallel  to  the  post-road  on  the  west,  and  is  a 
few  hundred  yards  to  the  south  of  the  Popham  man- 
sion. Although  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  old, 
the  house  shows  few  signs  of  age,  for  though  old-fash- 
ioned in  appearance  and  construction,  it  still  stands 
firmer  and  stancher  than  many  a  more  modern  build- 
ing. 

The  mansion  was  constructed  about  tlie  middle  of 
the  last  century  by  a  man  named  Crawford,  the  ma- 
terial used  being  prepared  at  the  old  saw-mill  hereto- 
fore mentioned.  The  frame  is  composed  of  oak  and 
locust,  with  oaken  joists,  and  is  covered  with  cedar 
shingles  put  on  with  wroiight-iron  clinched  nails. 
The  mansion  presents  a  very  picturesque  appearance 
with  its  low  slanting  rfiof  and  broad  veranda  run- 
ning along  the  eastern  and  southern  sides.  Being  on 
the  side  of  the  hill,  the  house  presents  three  full 
stories  on  the  east  and  two  on  the  west,  and,  with  the 
lawns  and  flower-beds  which  surround  it  makes  a 
most  pleasing  picture.  It  is  stated  that  here  (xeneral 
Washington  halted  and  lunched  on  the  march  to 
63 


White  Plains,  some  days  previous  to  the  engagement 
with  the  British  at  that  place.  Prominent  among  the 
families  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  town  in  former 
years  were  the  Secors,  the  Angevines,  the  Griffins  and 
the  Palmers.  The  first-named  family  has  always 
figured  prominently  in  the  town's  history.  In  1809 
and  for  the  next  two  years  James  Secor  held  the 
office  of  supervisor,  while  Francis  Secor,  lately  de- 
ceased, of  a  generation  later,  held  the  same  office  at 
different  periods  for  a  term  of  twenty-nine  years  and 
extending  from  1849  to  1878.  Chauncey  T.  Secor, 
the  present  incumbent,  son  of  the  preceding,  is  now 
serving  his  third  term  in  the  same  office.  The  family 
is  supposed  to  be  of  French  origin,  and  probably  set- 
tled in  the  town  some  time  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
for  the  name  "  Secord  "  appears  in  documents  re- 
lating to  that  period.  The  old  Secor  homestead, 
known  as  the  "  Hickories  "  is  in  the  fai  eastern  side 
of  the  town.  The  Angevines,  originally  tenants 
under  Colonel  Heathcote,  have  almost  disappeared 
from  the  town,  and  the  Griffins,  who  formerly  were 
scattered  throughout  the  township,  are  almost  en- 
tirely confined  to  the  eastern  part.  Of  the  Palmer 
family,  Richard  served  as  supervisor  of  the  town  for 
thirteen  years,  between  1831  and  1837  and  again  from 
1839  to  1844,  and  James  F.  Palmer,  besides  holding 
other  offices,  was  town  clerk  in  1860.  In  the  house  of 
the  latter,  on  the  Mamaroneck  road  and  in  a  central 
location,  town-meetings  and  elections  were  held  for  a 
number  of  years  until  the  erection  of  the  new  school- 
house,  and  the  occupation  of  its  basement  for  town 
purposes. 

The  Drakes,  whose  name  has  been  associated  with 
Scarsdale  for  over  a  century,  are  of  English  descent, 
and  the  first  to  emigrate  to  this  country,  according 
to  Bolton's  account,  was  John  Drake,  who  came  to 
this  continent  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  On 
his  death,  he  left  several  sons,  one  of  whom,  Samuel, 
settled  in  East  Chester,  and  a  grandson  of  the  latter, 
also  Samuel,  was  probably  the  first  to  settle  in  Scars- 
dale. The  only  record  in  connection  with  Scarsdale 
pertaining  to  this  member  of  the  family  is  that  of 
his  death,  showing  that  Samuel  Drake,  son  of  Jo- 
seph Drake,  of  East  Chester,  "  died  at  the  Fox  Mead- 
ows in  1774,  aged  seventy-five  years."  The  present 
head  of  the  family  in  Scarsdale  is  the  venerable 
Elias  G.  Drake,  now  in  his  eighty-si.xth  year,  hav- 
ing been  born  just  before  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
December  9,  1799.  Mr.  Drake  is  the  great-grandson 
of  Benjamin  Drake,  a  brother  of  the  Samuel  just 
mentioned,  and  settled  within  the  town  about  thirty 
years  ago.  Although  of  late  years  not  taking  an 
active  part  in  town  politics,  he  has  figured  in  many 
of  the  older  records  as  the  holder  of  various  offices 
in  the  town. 

Another  of  the  prominent  families  of  the  town  in 
former  days  were  the  Varians,  of  Huguenot  descent, 
who  occupied  the  house  now  known  as  the  "  Wayside 
Cottage  "  just  north  of  the  Popham  estate.     Of  this 


67-i 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


family,  the  first  of  tlie  name  in  tliis  countiy  was 
Isaac  Varian,  who  "  appears  as  a  butcher  in  the  city 
of  New  York  in  the  year  1720,  located  in  the  '  Old 
Slip  '  market."  He  was  admitted  as  a  "  freeman  "  of 
the  city  of  New  Y'ork  January  23,  1733.  In  1737-38 
he  was  a  member  of  the  military  company  of  Cap- 
tain Cornelius  Van  Home.  He  accumulated  consid- 
erable property  and  died  at  his  residence  in  Bowery 
Lane,  about  the  year  1800.  He  left  five  sous,  of  whom 
three — James,  Richard  and  Michael — were  ardent 
patriots  and  warmly  espoused  the  Revolutionary  cause. 
Of  these,  however,  only  James  and  Michael  appear 
to  have  been  identified  with  Scarsdale.  In  the  "  Book 
of  the  Varian  Family  "  the  following  record  is  given 
of  these  members:  "James  Varian,  second  son  of 
Isaac,  born  in  New  York  City,  January  10,  1734; 
died  Scarsdale,  N.  Y.,  December  11,  1800;  was  a 
butcher  in  New  York  until  the  capture  of  that  city  by 
the  British  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  at  which 
time,  in  company  with  other  patriots,  he  removed. 
He  withdrew  to  a  farm  at  Scarsdale,  in  the  Neutral 
Ground,  where  he  remained  until  his  decease."  Both 
he  and  his  family  were  subsequently  driven  from 
their  farm  by  the  British,  and  took  refuge  in  Danbury, 
Conn.,  whence  they  returned  after  the  peace  was  pro- 
claimed. He  married,  February  25,  1759,'  Deborah 
Dibble,  of  Connecticut,  by  whom  he  had  seven  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  were  born  in  Scarsdale.  "  Michael 
Varian,  butcher,  born  in  New  York  City,  December 
9,  1738,  and  was  in  that  vocation  for  many  years  at 
that  place.  At  the  time  of  the  Revolution  (1775)  he 
moved  to  Scarsdale,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y"".,  but 
returned  at  the  close  of  the  struggle,  in  which  he  took 
an  active  part  on  the  patriot  side."  He  left  two  sons, 
but  neither  they  nor  their  descendants  were  con- 
nected with  this  town. 

Of  the  family  of  James  Varian,  Jonathan,  the 
eldest,  was  born  in  New  York,  November  13,  1763, 
and  died  February  14,  1824,  being  by  occupation  a 
drover.  In  1811  he  married  into  the  Angevine  family, 
and  had  four  children,  of  whom  one,  Andrew  J.  Va- 
rian, served  during  the  Rebellion  as  sergeant  in  the 
New  York  Volunteer  Engineers.  Jonathan  Varian 
appears  to  have  kept  the  old  homestead  as  a  tavern 
and  inn  from  very  early  in  the  century  until  his  death. 
His  brother  James  was  born  in  Scarsdale,  Novem- 
ber 22,  1765,  shortly  after  his  parents  settled  in  the 
town,  and  died  December  26,  1841.  He  was  engaged 
in  transporting  the  Boston  mail  on  the  first  stage  of 
the  route, — from  New  York  to  New  Milford,  Conn. 
This  was  performed  in  the  old-fashioned  four-horse 
mail-coaches,  and  a  stop  was  made  at  the  old  Varian 
tavern.  He  married  a  daughter  of  John  Cornell,  by 
whom  he  had  nine  children.  On  the  death  of  Jona- 
than, in  1824,  the  estate  in  Scarsdale  appears  to  have 
been  occupied  by  James,  and  after  his  death,  in  1841, 
by  his  son,  James,  from  whom  it  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Charles  Butler  in  1853.  Another  son,  William  A. 
Varian,  is  now  living  at  Kings'  Bridge,  being  a  practic- 


ing surgeon,  and  in  his  possession  is  the  old  family 
Bible  mentioned  below.  Of  the  remaining  children 
of  the  original  James  Varian,  three  left  descendants, 
one  of  them,  Deborah,  having  married  Caleb  Tomp- 
kins, brother  of  Governor  Tompkins,  and  for  forty 
years  county  judge  of  Westchester  County. 

Six  of  the  ten  town  officers  chosen  at  the  first 
election  after  the  Revolution  in  the  Manor  of  Scars- 
dale bore  the  name  of  Cornell' — then  the  most  numer- 
ous and  one  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  the 
manor ;  and  some  record  should  be  made  of  them 
here.  The  Cornells  of  Scarsdale  and  vicinity  were 
descended  from  Richard  Cornell,  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  who  came  from  Hempstead,  in 
Queens  County,  to  Scarsdale  in  1727.  But  Richard 
Cornell's  grandfather,  Thomas  Cornell,  more  than 
eighty  years  before  that  date,  had  a  plantation,  long 
called  Cornell's  Neck,  in  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Westchester.  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cornell's  Neck, 
was  also  an  ancestor  of  the  Westchester  Willets,  once 
a  prominent  family  in  the  county  and  in  the  province 
— and  also  of  the  Woolse\'s,  of  Bedford  and  elsewhere, 
and  therefore  should  be  named  here.  Cornell's  Neck 
was  situated  on  the  East  River  and  was  granted  to 
Thomas  Cornell  in  June,  1646,  by  the  Dutch  Governor, 
Kieft,  who  described  it  as  running  "  from  the  Kill  of 
Broncks  land,  east  southeast  along  the  River."  ^ 

•Prepared  and  inserted  by  the  publishers. 

-  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cornell's  Xeck,  was  from  Essex,  England,  born 
about  1595,  and  emigrated  to  Boston  about  1030.  In  interesting  illustra- 
tions of  the  rigorous  self-watchfulness  of  the  infant  Boston  Colony,  then 
only  eight  years  old,  it  was  voted  at  town-meeting  on  the  inth  of -Au- 
gust, 1638,  that  "Thomas  Cornell  may  buy  brother  William  Brtlstone's 
house  and  become  an  inhabitant."  He  was  in  Khode  Island  in  IG-fl, 
with  Roger  Williams,  and  came  to  New  Amsterdam  in  lij42,  with  John 
Throckmorton,  seeking  shelter  among  the  Dutch  from  the  rigors  of  Mass- 
achusetts orthodoxy.  Throckmorton,  for  himself  and  thirty  five  associ- 
ates, obtained  in  IG43,  from  Governor  Kieft,  the  original  grant  of  what 
is  now,  in  abbreviation  of  his  name,  called  Throgg's  Neck,  and  he  and 
Cornell,  and  some  of  their  associates,  immediately  began  settlements,  for 
the  Dutch  records  relate  that  in  the  massacre  of  October,  1643,  the  In- 
dians "  killed  several  persons  belonging  to  the  families  of  Jlr.  Throck- 
morton and  of  Mr.  Cornell.  "  Probably  the  slain  were  servants,  and 
Thomas  Cornell  and  his  family  were  then  in  New  Amsterdam,  where  his 
eldest  daughter,  Sara,  married,  on  the  1st  of  September,  1613,  Thomas 
Willett,  of  Bristol,  England,  the  ancestor  of  a  distinguished  family. 
W'illiam  Willett,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas  Willett  and  Sarah  Cornell, 
was  baptized  in  New  Amsterdam  on  the  0th  of  July,  1644,  and  their 
second  son,  Thomas,  on  the  26th  of  November,  104.5.  Thomas  Willett, 
the  father,  died  about  the  time  of  the  birth  of  hie  second  son,  and  his 
widow,  Sara  Cornell,  in  1647,  married  Charles  Bridges,  well  known  in 
New  Amsterdam,  where  the  Dutch  translated  his  name  into  Carel  Ver 
Brugge, and  the  Willett  children  were  brought  up  in  their  steiifather's 
house.  William,  the  elder,  inherited  Cornell's  Neck  through  his  mother 
after  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Cornell,  but  ultimately  died 
without  issue.  Thomas,  the  younger  son,  became  the  distinguished  Col- 
onel Thomas  Willett,  of  Flushing — long  prominent  in  colonial  affair?, 
and  member  of  the  Governor's  Council  from  169U  to  1698,  where  he  sat 
with  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  Frederick  Philips,  Colonel  A'an  Cortlandt 
and  other  magnates  of  the  province.  He  was  colonel  of  the  Queens 
County  militia,  then  the  most  niimeroua  regiment  in  the  province,  and 
was  i)ultlicly  thanked  by  the  Governor,  Lord  Cornbury,  in  November, 
1704,  that,  on  an  alarm  of  an  invasion  by  a  French  fleet,  he  had  in  ten 
hours  brought  a  thousand  men  to  within  an  hour's  march  of  New  York. 
Colonel  Thomas  Willett's  cousin,  Colonel  John  Cornell,  of  Kockaway, 
subsequently  commanded  the  Queens  County  militia  until  his  death,  in 
1745.  After  his  brother's  death.  Colonel  Thomas  Willett,  of  Flushing 
inherited  his  grandfather's  plantation  of  Cornell's  Neck,  and  in  1709 


/ 


SCARSDALE. 


675 


Richard  Cornell,  grandson  of  Thomas  Cornell,  of 
Cornell's  Neck,  and  eldest  son  of  John  and  Mary 
(Russell)  Cornell,  of  Cowncck,  in  Henii)stead,  was  born 
about  1670,  and  died  at  Scarsdale  in  1757.     He  mar- 


conveyed  it  to  his  eldest  son,  William  Willett,  who  had  removed  to  the 
comity  of  Westchester  una  made  the  Xeck  his  home.  He  sat  in  the  Pro- 
vincial-Vssembly  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  Westchester  Connty, 
with  but  brief  intermissions,  from  1702  to  his  death,  in  1733,  and  was  ap- 
pointed  ".Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  inthe  County  "  in  1721.  But  this 
is  not  the  place  to  pursue  the  history  of  the  "Willettsof  We,stchester,  fur- 
ther than  to  show  their  descent  from  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cornell's  Neck. 
The  Neck  has  sometimes  been  called  Willett's  Neck. 

Rebecca  Cornell,  a  younger  dausjhter  of  Thomas  Cornell,  was  with  her 
sister  Sara,  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  tliere  married,  in  1G47,  George 
Woolsey,  of  Varmouth,  Eufrland,  said  to  have  been  of  the  family  of  Car- 
dinal Woolsey  ;  and  their  descendants  are  numerous  in  Westchester 
County  and  elsewhere,  several  having  obtained  eminence,  one  of  them 
being  Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey,  president  of  Yale  College  from  1846  to 
1871. 

Ezra  Cornell,  the  founder  of  Cornell  University,  was  born  at  West- 
chester Landing,  between  Cnrnell's  Neck  and  Throgg's  Neck,  on  the  11th 
of  January,  lSii7,  and  was  descended  from  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cornell's 
Neck,  through  his  son  Samucd  and  grandson  .Stephen,  who  settled  in 
Swansea,  Massachusetts,  where  Elijah  Cornell,  the  father  of  Ezra,  was 
born  in  1771.  Elijah  Cornell  married  Eunice  Barnard,  born  in  Dutchess 
County,  but  of  a  New  Bedford  family.  He,  however,  had  been  but  a 
short  time  in  Westchester  when  his  son  Ezra  was  born,  and  soon  after 
removed  to  Tarrytown,  and  thence  in  1819  to  l)e  Ruyter,  so  that  neither 
Ezra  Cornell  nor  his  sou,  Governor  .\lonzo  B.  Cornell,  can  be  called  West- 
chester County  men. 

Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cornell's  Neck,  had  eleven  children — six  sons 
(Thomas,  Richard  of  llockaway,  William,  Samuel,  John  of  Cowueck  and 
Joshua)  and  five  daughters  (Sarah,  Ann,  Rebecca,  Elizabeth  and  Mary). 
Several  of  his  children  settled  in  tne  Eastern  States,  and  he  subsequently 
returned  to  Rhode  Island  and  died  there  about  lir)7.  Two  of  his  sons 
settled  in  Queens  County.  The  first,  Richard  Cornell,  was  in  New  -Am- 
sterdam under  the  Dutch,  and  was  one  of  the  patentees  of  Flushing,  in 
the  first  English  charter  of  lijlio  and  was  long  justice  of  the  peace  there. 
He  had  an  estate  at  Little  Neck,  and  suhseriueutly  removed  to  Rockaway, 
where  he  died  in  IfisH.  He  is  hence  usually  distinguished  as  Richard 
Cornell,  of  Rockaway.  He  left  a  widow,  Elizabeth,  and  five  sons, — Rich- 
ard, William,  Thomas,  Jacob  and  John.  His  grandson,  Thomas  Cornell, 
long  represented  Queens  County  in  the  Provincial  Assembly,  sitting  from 
173'.t  till  his  death,  in  17154.  A  little  later,  Sarah  Cornell,  daughter  of  his 
grandson  .Samuel,  married  General  JIatthew  Clarkson,  of  New  York,  and 
lier  sister  Hannah,  married  Herman  Leroy,  and  their  sister,  Elizabeth, 
married  William  Bayard.  One  of  the  grandsons  of  Thomas  Cornell,  of 
the  Provincial  Assembly,  was  Whitehead  Cornell,  who  represented 
(ineens  County  in  the  State  .\ssembly  in  1788-98,  and  lived  in  dignity  in 
the  old  homestead  of  his  grandfather,  while  his  elder  and  his  younger 
brothers,  who  were  Royalists  in  the  Revolution  and  officers  in  the  British 
Army,  were  glad,  after  the  war,  to  take  refuge  in  Nova  Scotia.  One  of 
Whitehead  ('ornell's  grandsons  is  John  B.  Cornell,  now  for  many  years 
the  head  of  the  well-known  iron-works  of  New  York. 

John  Cornell,  of  Cowneck,  another  son  of  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Cnrnell's 
Neck,  and  the  ancestor  of  the  Scaredale  Cornells,  had  been  in  Dartmouth, 
Massjichusetts,  perhaps  also  on  the  Penobscot,  but  came  in  lii7C,  with 
his  wife,  JIary  Russell,  and  several  small  children,  to  Hempstead,  under 
{he  priitection  of  Governor  Andros,  having  been  driven,  the  records  say, 
from  his  home  in  the  East  by  the  Indians.  This  was  the  date  of  King 
Philip's  War.  Governor  .\ndros  granted  to  John  Cornell,  in  l('i77,  a  tract 
of  land  on  Manhassett  B.iy,  a  couple  uf  miles  south  of  Sanil's  Point,  on 
which  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  on  which  some  of  his  de- 
scendants are  still  living.  In  a  sheltered  valley  of  his  grant,  John  Cor- 
nell set  apart  a  burial  plot,  where  are  interred  the  remains  of  himself  and 
of  his  wife  and  of  umuy  of  their  descendants.  His  children  were:  1. 
Richaixl  of  Scai-sdale,  born  11170;  married  Hannah  Thome.  2.  Joshua, 
married  Sarah  Thorne.  3.  JIary,  born  1679  ;  married  James  Sands.  4. 
John  born  lO.Sl ;  married  Mary  Starr.  .'>.  Caleb,  born  1683  ;  married 
ElizaV>eth  Hagner.    6.  Rebecca,  married  Starr. 

John  of  Cowneck,  always  wrote  his  name  Cornwell,  and  many  of  his 
descendants  still  retain  that  form.  The  name  of  Richard  of  Rockaway 
was  often  written  Cornhill,  and  these  forms,  as  well  as  Cornwall,  Cornell 
«nd  some  others,  appear  on  the  tombstones  in  the  family  burial  plot. 


ried,  in  1701,  Hannah  Thorne,  of  Flushing,  and 
brought  her  andtheirten  children  to  Scarsdale  in  1727. 
He  early  became  a  Friend,  and  most  of  his  descend- 
ants have  been  of  that  faith.  Friends  had  settled 
early  in  Scarsdale,  and  the  "  Mamaroneck  Meeting- 
hou.se"  is  now  within  tlie  Scarsdale  borders.  Richard 
Cornell  was  a  diligent  and  prosperous  man,  and  his 
will,  dated  in  175*),  divides  among  his  children  much 
land  in  Scarsdale,  Mamaroneck,  and  New  Rochelle, 
besides  other  property  and  slaves.  For  even  Friends 
then  held  slaves,  although  intiuences  were  already  at 
work  which  abolished  slavery  in  the  Society  before  the 
American  declaration  of  the  inalienable  right  to  lib- 
erty in  1776,  and  even  required  Friends  to  continue 
to  maintain  the  negroes  who  had  grown  old  or  infirm 
ill  their  service.     Richard  Cornell,  the  patriarch  of 


Of  Scarsdale,  jE.80,  born  1761, died  1841. 

lii.'j  family  in  Scarsdale,  like  the  ancient  patriarch, 
had  a  special  regard  for  his  "youngest  son  Benjamin," 
and  his  will,  after  providing  him  a  competence,  adds 
the  special  bequest,  "to  my  son  Benjamin,  my 
Clock." 

Richard,  Jr.,  the  eldest  sou  of  the  first  Richard 

The  early  English  name  was  written  Cornewall.  Two  generations  he- 
fore  Thomas,  ofCornell's  Neck,  "  Richard  Cornewall,  Citizen  and  Skynner 
of  London  "  (as  it  stands  in  his  will),  who  died  in  1.58."),  left  a  portion  of 
the  wealth  he  had  made  in  hides  to  found  and  endow  "a  free  grammar 
.Scholeiu  New  Woodstock,  the  town  where  1  wits  born,"  and  the  school 
stands  there  yet,  near  the  handsome  church  of  Woodstock.  Some  of  the 
English  branches  of  the  family  still  write  the  name  Cornewall.  Burke's 
"  Landed  Gentry  of  Great  Britain  "  gives  two  branches,  the  senior  one 
writing  Cornewall  and  the  other  Cornwall.  Burke's  "  Peerage  and  Bar- 
onetage" adds  a  third  branch,  a  family  of  Baronets  in  Hereford,  who 
retain  Cornewall,  and  Burke  traces  the  lineage  of  the  whole  family  up 
through  the  Barons  ofBurford  to  Rii  hardde  Cornewall,  son  of  Richard, 
Earl  of  Cornewall,  second  son  of  King  .John,  younger  brother  of  Richard 
Cieur  de  Lion.    Richard  long  remaiued^a  family  name. 


67(5 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Cornell,  of  Scarsdale,  was  born  in  1708.  He  settled 
near  his  father  and  has  had  many  descendants,  es- 
teemed among  their  neighbors  in  Scarsdale  and  else- 
where. One  of  them,  Thomas  Cornell,  now  of  Ron- 
dout,  born  in  White  Plains  in  1814,  removed  to  Ulster 
County,  where  he  was  elected,  in  1866,  to  the  Fortieth 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1880,  to  the 
Forty-seventh  Congress,  in  each  case  a  Republican 
elected  by  a  large  majority  in  a  strongly  Democratic 
district.  He  is  president  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Rondout,  of  the  Cornell  Steamboat  Company,  etc., 
and  has  long  been  prominent  in  political  and  finan- 
cial circles.' 


'  The  four  sons  and  six  daughters  of  the  first  Richard  Cornell,  of  Scars- 
dale, were  as  follows  : 

I.  Mary,  born  at  Cowneck,  1703,  died  1762  ;  married  Kev.  Henry 
Sands. 

II.  Deborah,  born  at  Cowneck,  1705,  died  1772;  married  Matthew 

Franklin,  a  Quaker  preacher. 

III.  Richard  Cornell,  .Ir.,  born  1708  ;  married  Mary  Ferris,  and  had 

Peter  of  Maniamneck,  born  1732,  died  1765,  married  1751. 
Sarah  Haviland,  born  1734,  died  1787,  and  had  : 
First— Mary,  born  1753;  married  Nathan  Palmer  and  had 

many  descendants.  - 
Second — Thomas  of  Scarsdale,  born  1754,  died  1817.  His 
name  often  appears  among  the  town  otRcers  of  Scars- 
dale.   He  married,  1779,  Hannah  Lynch,  born  1762,  died 
1813,  and  had : 

(1.)  Peter,  named  after  his  grandfather,  born  1780  ; 
married  Margaret  Gedney,  and  had  : 
(a.)  JohnG.,  born  1812,  died  1834. 
(b.)  Thomas  Cornell,  of  Bondout,  born  1814  ; 
maiTied  Catharine  Ann  Woodniancie 
— member  of  Congress  etc.,  named  in 
above  text, 
(c.)  Hannah,  born  1816. 
(d.)  Nathaniel,  born  1818. 
(c.)  Anthony,  b«rn  1820. 
(/.)  Elizabeth. 
(g.)  Mary,  born  1824. 
(h.)  Charlotte,  born  1826. 
(i.)  Margaret,  born  1828. 
(2.)  Sarah,  born  1782  ;  married  John  Bates  and  had 

many  children. 
(3.)  Hester,  born  1787  ;  married  Timothy  Haviland. 
(4.)  Samuel,  born  17y2,  died  1823. 
(5.)  Thomas  Lynch  Cornell,  who  changed  his  name 
to  Thomas  Wildey  Cornell,  born  1802,  died 
1884  ;  married  Kmeline  Lawrence,  of  Tarry- 
town,  and  removed  to  Ulster  County,  where 
he  acquired  wealth  and  position. 
Third — Richard,  born  1700 ;  married  1st,  Elizabeth  Ange- 

Tine  ;  married  2d,  Ann  Purdy. 
Fourth — Ebene/.er,  born  1701,  died  1794  ;  married  Elizabeth 
Purdy. 

Fifth — Haviland,  born  1764  ;  married  Ist,  Marj'  Gale  ;  mar- 
ried 2d,  Lavinia  Storms — left  several  children. 

IV.  Joseph,  born  in  Cowneck,  1708,  died  1770  ;  married,  1734,  Phebe 

Ferris,  daughter  of  I'eter  Ferris,  and  had  : 

First — Joseph,  of  Slamaroneck,  who  married  Sarah  Hadden 
and  had  ;  Susannah,  born  1757;  married  Newberry  Fowler. 
Deborah,  born  1700  ;  married  John  Fowler.  Richard, 
born  1762,  died  1795.  Jonathan,  born  1764,  died  1834  ; 
married  1st.  Lydia  Carpenter  ;  married  2d,  Jemima  Acker, 
and  left  several  children.  Willett,  born  1770  ;  married 
Mary  Cock«,  and  had  a  number  of  descendants. 

Second — Hannah,  born  1736  ;  married  James  Fowler. 

Third— Richard,  born  1738  ;  died  a  child. 

Fourth — Sarah. 

Fifth — Mary,  born  1741 ;  married  Jonathan  Merritt. 


The  second  son,  Joseph,  also  left  many  descendants. 
The  third  son,  John,  lived  to  be  sixty  years  old,  but 
left  no  issue.  The  youngest  son,  Benjamin,  above  men- 
tioned, married  in  1743,  Abigail  Stevenson,  and,  like 


Sixth — John,  of  Maniaroneck,  born  1743,  died  1817  ;  mar- 
ried Alice  Williams,  and  left  Isaac,  born  17(17,  died  1832, 
who  married  Sarah  Bennett,  and  had  a  number  of  chil- 
dren ;  and  John  L.,  born  1781,  who  married  1st,  Marga- 
ret Williams;  married  2d,  Hannah  Anderson,  and  left  a 
family. 

Seventh — Ferris  Cornell,  born  1748,  whose  name  appears 
among  the  officers  of  the  manor.    He  married  1st,  Anne 
Cornell ;  married  2d,  Hannah  Quimby  ;  married  3d, 
Sarah  Cox,  and  left  Thomas  I  ,  born  1779;  married  1st, 
Amy  Fisher ;  married  2d,  Gulielma  Wood,  and  had  sev- 
eral children — and  Samuel,  born  1782 ;  married  Martha 
Bonnett,  and  left  a  family. 
V.  Hannah,  born  1711 ;  married  Joshua  Quimby. 
VI.  Phebe,  born  1715  ;  married  Ebenezer  HaWland. 
VII.  John,  born  1717  ;  died  1781,  without  issue. 
VIII.  Rebecca,  born  1718  ;  married  Edward  Burling. 
IX.  Elizabeth,  born  1720,  died  179.5 ;  married  Ist,  Aaron  Palmer; 
married  2d,  .\aron  Quimby. 
X.  Benjamin,  born  1723,  died  1771 ;  married  17th  of  9th  month, 
1742,  Abigail  Stephenson,  daughter  of  Stephen  Stephenson, 
of  Rye,  and  Jane  Clement,  of  Flushing,  his  wife,  and  had  : 
First — Hannah,  born  1774  :  nuirried  John  Burling. 
Second — Jane,  born  1746  ;  married  Joseph  GriUcn. 
Third — Stephen  Cornell,  of  Maniaroneck,  born  1749,  died 
1802.    His  name  also  appears  among  the  officers  of  the 
manor  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  and  later.  He 
married  Margaret  Haviland,  and  had  : 

1st.  William  H.,  born  1776,  died  1856  ;  married  Dorcas 
Carpenter,  daughter  of  Joseph  Carpenter,  of 
Harrison,  who  represented  the  county  in  the  New 
York  Legislature  in  1796-97.  William  H.  Cor- 
nell lived  near  Maniaroneck  Meeting-house,  in 
Scarsdale,  and  had  : 

(o.)  Deborah,  born  1809  ;  married  Henry  M. 
Carpenter. 

(b.)  Mary,  born  1812  ;  married  Jacob  Miller, 
(c.)  Stephen,  born  1815,  died  1852  ;  married 
Rachel  Tompkins,   and  left  William 
H.,  Jr.,  Charles  W.  and  Albert. 
(<?.)  William,  born  1818  ;  was  supervisor  in 
1845-62  ;  married  Ist,  1842,  Sarah  The- 
all,  who  died,  1848,  leaving:    1.  Wil- 
liam T.,  born  1845;  married  Lucinda 
\.  Rushmore  and  has  three  children  : 
Lily  Rushmore,  born  1880.  Florence 
born  1883.    Thomas  R.,  born  1885. 
He  lives  in  Maniaroneck,  and  is  cashier 
of  the  Union  Bank  in  M'all  Street.  II. 
Edwin  T.,  born  1848 ;  married  Mary 
Robinson.    William  Cornell  married 
2(1,  Elizabeth  Theall  and  has  :  III. 
Frank  S.,  born  1857.    IV.  Frederick 
L.,  born  1860.    V.  Ella  Louise,  and 
VI.  Howard  M.,  twins,  born  1863. 
2d.  Richard,  born  1781,  died  1798. 
3d.  Stephen,  born  1785.  died  1815  ;  married  Anna 
Titus,  and  left  Richard  and  Titus. 
4th.  Deborah,  married  John  Schurman. 
5th.  Benjamin,  born  1788 ;  married  Sarah  Titus. 
6th.  Mary,  married  Henry  GrifBn. 
7th.  Abigail. 

8th.  Samuel,  born  1796  ;  married  Hannah  Carpenter 
and  left  Richard,  Stephen  G.,  Henry,  Rebecca, 
Jane  and  Elizabeth. 

Fourth — Deborah, born  17.=il  ;  married  Willett  Browne. 

Fifth — Anne,  born  17.53  ;  married  Benjamin  Baviland. 

Sixth — Phebe,  born  1755  ;  married  John  Gibbs. 

Seventh — Sarah,  born  1755.  died  1764. 

Eighth— Abigail,  born  1758,  died  1834. 


SCARSDALE. 


(577 


his  father,  had  ten  children,  three  sons, — one  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  and  seven  daughters.  His  eldest  son, 
Stephen,  of  Mamaroneck,  is  now  represented  by  his 
grandson,  William,  who  was  supervisor  of  Scarsdale  in 
1845— W)  and  in  18(52,  and  by  William's  son,  William 
T.  Cornell,  of  Mamaroneck,  now  cashier  of  the  l^nion 
Bank  in  Wall  Street.  Benjamin  gave  to  his  youngest 
son,  born  in  17()1,  his  own  name,  again  the  "  youngest 
son  Benjamin,"  of  his  father,  and  specially  beciueathed 
to  him  the  old  clock  of  his  grandfather.  The  younger 
Benjamin  also  inherited  the  ample  farm,  and  the  an- 
cient low-beamed  shingled  house  of  his  grandfather, 
in  which  he  had  been  born  ;  but  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century  he  built  the  "  new  house  "  on  the 
Mamaroneck  road,  where  he  lived  in  dignity  and  ease 
until  indorsements  for  his  friends  left  him  poor  in 
his  old  age.  His  name  appears  in  early  manhood  as 
town  clerk,  about  the  time  of  the  Revolution  and  for 
some  years  after,  and  then  as  supervisor.  Like  his  father 
and  his  grandfather,  he  was  in  dress  and  manner  a 
strict  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  of  high  char- 
acter and  fine  personal  appearance,  nearly  six  feet 
in  height,  and  bearing  himself  with  grace  and  dignity. 
The  only  portrait  of  him  is  here  copied  from  a  pencil 
sketch,  said  to  have  been  a  good  likeness  at  the  time, 
made  when  he  was  eighty  years  old,  in  1841,  by  his 


Ninth — Beiuamin,  horn  1760,  died  1760. 

Tenth — Benjamin,  born  1761,  died  1841  ;  married  Ist,  19th 
of  3d  month,  1783,  .\lice  Sutton,  daugliter  of  William 
Sutton  and  Dorcas  Clapp  ;  married  2d,  on  the  9th  of  5th 
month,  1804,  Pamelia  Farrington,  and  had  ten  children, 
ae  follows  ; 

l6t.  .lohn,  born  1783,  died  1864 ;  married  Sarah 
Matthews;  2d,  Mary  .\nn  Porter,  ami  had: 
William  H.,  of  Newtown,  Elizabeth,  .\ndrew 
J.,  Jesse,  Arvin  Alice,  .\nna  Maria,  Sarah  and 
Emily  and  .John  H. 

2d.  Jesse,  born  178.5,  died  1805. 

3d.  Jane,  born  1787,  died  IS  ;  married  David  Ar- 
nold. 

4th.  Silas,  I)om  1789,  died  at  Rochester,  1854  ;  mar- 
rie<i,  1815,  Sarah  Mott.  born  1791,  died  1872, 
daughter  of  Adam  and  .-Vnnie  Mott,  and  had  : 
First — Thomas  Clapp,  of  whom  further 
mention  is  made  in  our  account  of  Yon- 
kers,  l>orn  1819  ;  married,  1850,  Jane  K. 
Bashford,  borii  1829,  daughter  of  John 
and  Esther  A.  (Guion)    Bashford,  of 
Yonkers. 

Secon<l — lames  Jlott.  born  1820,  died  1868  ; 
manied  Eliza  Leavens,  of  Kingston. 
Canada. 

Third— Richard  Jlott,  born  1822,  died  1823. 
Fourth — .\nnaMott.  born  1824;  married, 

1847,  Aaron  Barnes,  of  White  Plains. 
Fifth— Sarah  Alice,  born  1830,  died  1874  ; 
niarriefl,  18.59,  Ebenezer  Walbridge,  of 
Toledo,  and  left  Carlton  H.,  Silas  Cornell 
and  Ebenezer  Franklin  Walbridge. 
.5th.  Phelw,  born  1791  ;  married  Stephen  rnderhill. 
Cth.  Thomas,  l>orn  1794,  died  1797. 
7tli.  Dorcas,  born  1796,  died  1878 ;  married  Joseph 
Arnold. 

8th.  Thomas  Tom,  bom  1807,  died  182.3. 
9th.  Mai-y  F.,  born  1809,  died  1874  ;  married  Ed- 
mund Field. 
10th.  Benjamin,  born  181.3,  die<l  1814. 


grandson,  Thomas  C.  Cornell,  now  of  Yonkers,  to 
whom  theoldgentleinaii  then  promised  the  inheritance 
of  the  family  clock,  which  had  now  come  down  to  him 
from  his  grandfather ;  and  the  old  clock,  now,  for  at 
least  five  generations  in  the  family,  has  been  standing 
for  the  past  twenty  years  in  Mr.  Cornell's  house  in 
Yonkers. 

The  name  of  the  Secor '  family  has  been  variously  spelt 
Sicard,  Secord  and  Secor.  In  1(590  Ambroise  Sicard 
came  to  this  country.  He  was  a  French  Huguenot, 
and  was  forced  to  the  step  in  consequence  of  the  per- 
secution to  which  he  was  subjected  at  home.  He 
married  Jennie  Perron,  and  the  first  entry  upon  the 
records  of  the  Huguenot  Church  in  New  York  City 
(now  the  French  Church  Du  St.  Esprit)  is  that  of  the 
baptism  of  a  daughter  of  Ambroise  Sicard,  the  exile. 

Five  children  were  named  in  his  will,  as  follows  : 
Ambroise,  Daniel,  Jacques  or  James,  Marie,  wife  of 
Guillaume  Landrian,  and  Silvie,  wife  of  Francis 
Coquiller. 

Ambroise  Sicard  settled  with  his  sons  at  New  Ro- 
chelle,  N.  Y.,  and  on  the  9th  of  February,  1692,  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  nine  acres  of  land  in  that 
place  from  one  Guillaume  Le  Count,  for  which  he 
paid  thirty-eight  pistoles  and  eight  shillings,  current 
money  of  New  York,  equal  to  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  in  gold. 

It  is  from  the  second  son,  Daniel,  that  Francis  Secor 
is  descended.  How  many  children  Daniel  had  is  not 
certain.  James,  his  son,  born  in  1700,  married  Mary 
A.  Arvon  in  1724,  and  had  seven  sons  and  three 
daughters.  Their  fourth  child,  Francis,  was  born  in 
1732.  He  purchased  the  present  homestead  at  Scars- 
dale  in  1775,  the  original  deed  of  which  is  still  in 
possession  of  the  family.  He  married  Sarah  Horton 
in  1761,  and  had  three  sons  and  five  daughters.  His 
oldest  son,  Caleb,  born  in  1763,  married  Anna  Tomp- 
kins, sister  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Governor  of  New 
Y'ork  in  1806. 

He  had  one  son  and  three  daughters.  The  son 
Francis,  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  was  also  the  oldest 
child,  was  born  June  5, 1810.  He  spent  his  early  life 
upon  the  farm,  from  which,  as  a  result  of  his  labors, 
he  accumulated  a  considerable  property.  He  was  a 
man  of  fixed  and  unswerving  principle,  quick  to  decide, 
and  ever  ready  to  perform  any  labor  to  which  his  con- 
science pointed  him  as  a  duty.  In  1849  he  was  elected 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  Scarsdale,  and  the  office  re- 
mained in  his  hands  for  twenty-six  years. 

For  thirty  years  he  was  an  active  and  consistent 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  White  Plains, 
and  the  confidence  of  his  brethren  in  his  integrity 
was  manifested  by  their  election  of  him  to  the  elder- 
ship. Ten  years  afterward,  when  the  church  adopted 
the  rotary  system,  he  was  re-elected,  but  two  years 
previous  to  his  death,  feeling  that  his  strength  would 
not  admit  of  a  longer  service,  he  declined  the  honor 


>  Prepared  and  inserted  by  the  publishers. 


678 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


which  was  for  the  third  time  proffered  him.  His 
death  took  place  at  his  home,  May  8,  1885.  He  was 
connected  witli  all  the  laudable  enterprises  of  Scars- 
dale  and  was  lamented  by  a  large  circle  of  acquaint- 
ances and  friends. 

His  son,  and  only  child,  Chancey  T.  Secor,  still  lives 
'at  the  old  homestead  and  is  its  owner.    He  is  a  prom- 
inent Democrat,  and  was  formerly  justice  of  the  peace 
in  Scarsdale.    For  three  years  he  has  held  the  office 
of  supervisor. 

The  family  from  which  Green  Wright  ^  is  descended 
were  early  settlers  in  Putnam  County,  N.  Y.  His 
grandfather,  Caleb  Wright,  a  resident  of  Carmel,  mar- 
ried Mary  Cunningham.  Their  children  were  Sarah, 
wife  of  David  Travvis ;  Polly,  wife  of  Budd  Sloat ; 
Eunice  A.,  wife  of  Newell  Bayley  ;  Green,  Stephen 
T.  and  Gilbert.  Gilbert 
married  Eliza,  daughter  of 
Solomon  Wright,  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  ten 
children — Green  ;  Eliza- 
beth, wife  of  Lewis  Trav- 
vis; David;  Jackson, who 
married  Sarah  A.  Hall, 
and  is  now  living  at  White 
Plains ;  Susan,  wife  of 
Ampellas  Youmans ;  Zil- 
phia,  wife  of  David  Par- 
ent ;  Simon,  who  married 
Eliza  Hance,  and  resides 
in  New  Y'^ork ;  Pheda, 
wife  of  Nathaniel  Spring- 
steel  ;  Amanda,  wife  of 
Fletcher  Adams ;  and 
Mary  A.,  wife  of  Fields 
Hall",  of  Mount  Pleasant. 

Green  Wright  was  born 
in  Carmel,  Putnam  Coun- 
ty, N.  Y..  April  24,  1824. 
Until  reaching  his  twen- 
tieth year  he  remained  at 
home  with  his  father,  who 
was  a  farmer  and  contrac- 
tor. Seeking  a  wider 
sphere,  he  then  went  to  Morrisania  and  commenced 
business  as  a  contractor,  and  followed  it  for  many  years 
with  great  energy  and  success.  In  the  j)rosecution  of 
this  pursuit  he  entered  largely  into  the  building  of 
mason-work,  grading  streets,  excavating  rock  and 
building  sewers,  having  very  extensive  contracts  with 
the  Port  Morris  Company.  A  very  large  part  of  the 
grading  of  the  streets  of  Morrisania  was  done  by  him. 
In  1854  he  built  the  dam  on  Bronx  River  at  West  Farms, 
and,  in  addition  to  his  public  work,  performed  exten- 
sive contracts  for  private  individuals,  including  im- 
provements on  the  estates  of  Colonel  Richard  M. 
Hoe,  William  Fox  and  many  others.    The  grading 

1  Prepared  and  inserted  by  the  publishers. 


of  Third  Avenue  was  one  of  the  most  important  of  his 
works.  About  1861  he  became  connected  with  the 
Morrisania  Steamboat  Company,  and  was  made  a 
director  in  1876.  This  company  ran  freight  and  pas- 
senger boats  to  Fultou  Slip,  and  in  18S1  he  purchased 
the  boats  and  organized  the  North  and  East  River 
Steamboat  Company  the  following  year.  Of  this 
company  he  was  elected  president,  and  still  holds  the 
position.  The  new  company  runs  three  boats— the 
"Morrisania,"  "  Harlem '"  and  "Shady  Side" — and 
charters  boats  from  other  companies. 

Mr.  Wright  became  an  extensive  owner  of  real 
estate  in  Morrisania  at  an  early  date,  his  city  resi- 
dence being  at  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Street  and 
Westchester  Avenue,  where  he  owns  twenty-three 
lots.    He  is  the  possessor  of  extensive  tracts  in  other 

portions  of  the  Twentj'- 
third  Ward  of  New  York. 
His  country  residence  is 
an  extensive  farm,  east 
of  the  post  road  and  near 
the  north  bounds  of  the 
town  of  Scarsdale.  It  is 
a  part  of  the  estate  form- 
erly owned  by  Thomas 
Cornell,  and  the  old  Cor- 
nell mansion  stood  very 
near  the  site  of  the  pre- 
sent elegant  residence 
which  was  erected  by 
Mr.  Wright  in  1878.  For 
picturesque  elegance  this 
is  excelled  by  few  places 
in  the  county.  As  a  man 
of  business  he  is  well 
known  and  respected 
throughout  this  section 
of  country,  and  his  skill 
and  ability  are  attested 
by  his  success. 

He  married  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Moses  Hall, 
of  Mount  Pleasant.  They 
have  five  children — Moses 
G.  (who  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Rev.  M.  D.  C. 
Van  Gasbeeck),  Sarah  A.  (deceased),  Gilbert  A.  (who 
married  Louise,  daughter  of  John  Prophet),  Etta 
and  Alma. 

Solomon  Wright,  mentioned  above,  married  Zilphia, 
daughter  of  Elisha  Baldwin,  whose  family  are  very 
prominent  in  Putnam  County.  Their  children  were 
Baldwin,  Eliza  (who  married  Gilbert  Wright).  Mary, 
Emiline,  Elisha,  Cornell  and  William,  who  is  now 
living  in  Putnam  County.  At  the  age  of  seventy, 
Solomon  Wright,  with  three  of  his  sons  and  one 
daughter,  removed  to  Illinois  and  settled  near  Elgin. 

The  Hall  Family.— William  Hall,  whose  ances- 
tors are  said  to  have  been  of  Dutch  origin,  was  an  old 
resident  of  Mount  Pleasant,  and  a  tenant  of  a  farm  in 


I 


1 


SCARSDALE. 


(iT9 


the  Manor  of  Phillipsburg,  which  ht3  afterwards  pur- 
chased. His  son,  Isaac  Hall,  wlio  married  Klizabeth 
Fields,  was  the  father  of  Moses  Fields,  who  married 
Mahala  Fowler.  Their  children  were  Nathaniel  F., 
Tamar  J.,  Sarah  A.,  Aaron,  Daniel,  Mary  A.  and 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Green  Wright,  as  mentioned 
above.  The  old  homestead  of  the  Hall  family  is  now 
owned  by  Fields  Hall  (brother  of  Moses  Hall),  and 
his  son  Jackson  is  now  of  the  fourth  generation  on 
the  inheritance. 

About  a  half-mile  from  the  northern  limit  of  the 
town,  and  just  west  of  the  post  road,  among  a  group 
of  trees,  stands  a  pleasant  old  house  dating  from  the 
end  of  the  last  century.  This  was  formerly  the  resi- 
dence of  George  Washington  Tompkins,  a  brother  of 
Governor  Tompkins,  who  built  the  mansion  in  1799, 
and  here  was  born  his  son,  Warren  Tompkins,  after- 
ward a  resident  of  White  Plains.  In  1802  the  build- 
ing came  into  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  George  Don- 
ovan, elsewhere  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
public  school.  The  homestead  is  now  occupied  by 
the  venerable  Mrs.  McCabe,  a  daughter  of  the  former, 
together  with  several  of  her  family, — two  daughters 
and  a  son,  John  D.  McCabe,  well  known  in  the  town. 
Mrs.  McCabe  has  lived  in  the  tow'n,  always  occupying 
her  present  residence,  since  1802,  and  although  now 
in  her  eighty-fifth  year,  is  possessed  of  an  excellent 
memory  and  relates  many  events  of  interest  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  the  town.  Mr.  McCabe 
has  for  many  years  been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of 
the  town,  especially  in  connection  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  school,  of  which  he  has  for  some  years 
been  commissioner,  besides  holding  other  offices.  In 
the  vicinity  of  this  house  have  been  found  a  few 
relics  of  the  former  Indian  proprietors, — arrow-heads 
and  the  remains  of  their  primitive  utensils — as  well 
as  some  relics  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

About  half  a  mile  to  the  southeast  of  the  McCabe 
mansion,  and  at  the  top  of  Fish's  Hill,  on  the  Mani- 
aroneck  road,  stands  another  building  of  an  even 
earlier  date,  having  been  erected  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. For  a  short  time  during  this  war  it  was  occu- 
pied by  General  Sir  William  Howe  as  his  headquar- 
ters, and  near  by  are  the  graves  of  several  of  the 
British  who  died  at  this  time.  Since  the  war  the 
house  ha.s  been  successively  occupied  by  Captain  De 
Kay,  a  Mr.  Sherbrooke  and  the  late  William  H.  Fish. 
The  first-named  lived  here  in  the  early  part  of  the 
century,  and  met  with  a  tragic  end  at  the  old  mill 
near  the  station.  A  lover  of  fishing,  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  pursue  the  sport  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
on  the  day  of  his  death  he  had  wandered  to  the  old 
mill,  and  was  sitting  upon  the  dam  with  his  pole, 
when,  by  some  mischance,  he  fell  from  his  position  to 
the  rocks  below,  dying  shortly  thereafter.  After  him 
came  Mr.  Sherbrooke,  an  eccentric  old  gentleman, 
whose  constant  companion  in  the  ancient  house  was 
a  fine  large  dog,  who  accompanied  him  everywhere. 
About  the  year  1850  the  house  passed  into  the  hands 


of  Mr.  Fish,  who  made  his  home  there  until  his  death, 
in  187o,  and  from  that  date  till  188o  the  mansion  was 
occupied  by  his  widow  and  family — now,  however,  no 
longer  residents  of  the  town. 

On  the  crest  of  the  hill  just  south  of  the  school- 
house,  and  to  the  west  of  the  old  post  road,  stands 
the  Sedgwick  house,  now  the  residence  of  Bernard 
Tone,  but  before  the  Revolution  occupied  by  Jona- 
than Gritlin,  and  celebrated  as  the  place  where  was 
held  the  first  town-meeting  under  the  new  govern- 
ment of  the  country  in  the  year  1783.  The  house 
has  been  changed  very  much  of  late  years,  but  still 
preserves  in  part  its  original  shape  and  appearance. 
It  stands  very  near  to  the  road,  surrounded  by  tall 
locusts  and  in  the  midst  of  pleasant  lawns,  presenting 
a  picturesque  appearance.  Upon  the  death  of  Jona- 
than Griffin,  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins,  his  adopted 
son  and  father  of  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  moved  thither 
from  his  old  mansion,  which  was  subsequently  torn 
down,  and  made  it  his  home  until  his  death,  when  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Sedgwick  family. 

Just  west  of  this,  and  within  a  stone's  throw  of  it, 
stands  "  Maplehurst,"  the  residence  of  the  late  Ben- 
jamin F.  Butler,  originally  part  of  Fox  Meadow. 
The  mansion,  formerly  known  as  the  Travis  house, 
was  built  about  the  year  1840.  The  original  building 
was  enlarged  shortly  after  it  came  into  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Butler,  in  1868,  and  again  in  1873,  when  a  large 
octagonal  extension  was  added.  Mr.  Butler  was  one 
of  the  comparatively  new  residents  of  the  town,  having 
made  it  his  home  in  1867,  and  the  only  town  office 
held  by  him  was  that  of  member  of  the  committee  on 
the  new  school  building.  Directly  adjoining  this 
residence  on  the  south  is  the  large  estate  of  Charles 
Butler,  an  uncle  of  the  preceding,  known  as  the 
"  Fox  Meadows,"  which  has  so  often  been  mentioned 
in  the  town's  history.  Mr.  Butler  first  made  the 
town  his  home  in  1853,  purchasing  the  original  "  Fox 
Meadows  "  from  the  heirs  of  Caleb  Tompkins,  and  ha* 
since  added  largely  to  its  extent  by  the  purchase  of 
the  Travis  farm  on  the  north  and  part  of  the  Varian 
farm  on  the  south. 

Previous  to  this  the  Vail  house,  which  stood  in  the 
midst  of  a  locust  grove  about  midway  up  the  hill, 
and  celebrated  as  the  birth-place  of  trovernor  Tomp- 
kins, had  been  entirely  disma'ntled  and  nothing  but 
the  foundations  now  remain  to  mark  the  spot,  and 
they  are  almost  gone  from  sight.  The  old  roadway, 
however,  still  remains,  now  all  grass-grown,  and  near 
it  a  small  clear  spring, — the  scene  of  the  death  of  one 
of  the  old-time  school-masters.  At  the  time  of  the 
purchase  of  the  estate  by  Mr.  Butler  the  residence  of 
Caleb  Tompkins  stood  on  the  rising  ground,  just  west 
of  the  site  of  the  old  Vail  house.  This  mansion  was 
almost  entirely  remodeled  and  rebuilt  in  1869,  and 
little  remains  of  the  original  structure.  The  present 
estate  of  "  Fox  Meadows"  includes  nearly  four  hun- 
dred acres,  and  extends  from  the  post  road  to  the 
'  Bronx,  and  from  the  Sedgwick  property  on  the  north 


680 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


to  the  Popham  estates  on  the  south.  Much  of  the 
estate  was  swamp  and  marsh  when  Mr.  Butler  made 
his  purchase,  but  nearly  all  has  been  reclaimed  and 
the  whole  estate  laid  out  and  beautified  with  great 
taste.  There  are  large  lawns  surrounded  with  many 
stately  trees  and  for  nearly  a  mile  along  the  bank  of 
the  river  Bronx  stretch  many  acres  of  woodland, 
through  which  run  several  small  tributary  streams*,  and 
a  beautiful  drive  is  thus  afforded  entirely  within  the  lim- 
its of  the  estate.  The  "  Fox  Meadow  Garden  "  ocejipies 
the  low  land  facing  the  post  road  and  is  very  pictur- 
esque, with  its  many  long  graperies  and  flower-beds 
and  well-kept  lawns  and  shrubberies.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting coincidence  that  the  "Fox  Meadows"  should 
now  be  occupied  by  a  brother  of  the  late  Hon.  Ben- 
jamin F.  Butler,  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States  under  Presidents  Jackson  and  Van  Buren,  who 
was  one  of  Vice-President  Tompkins'  most  intimate 
and  valued  friends.  Just  previous  to  the  purchase  of 
the  estate,  in  18.53,  the  mansion  of  Caleb  Tompkins 
was  occupied  by  his  son,  Jonathan  G.  Tompkins, 
grandson  of  the  former  J.  G.  Tompkins,  who,  like  his 
grandfather,  was  prominent  in  the  town,  occupying 
the  office  of  supervisor  during  the  years  1847  and 
1848.  Adjoining  the  "Fox  Meadows  "  on  the  south 
is  the  "Locusts,"  for  almost  a  century  the  residence 
of  the  late  William  Sherbrooke  Popham  and  his 
youngest  son,  Lewis  C.  Popham,  who  now  occupies 
the  homestead.  The  mansion  was  built  in  1784  by 
William  Popham,  Sr.,  who  made  it  his  home,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  years  sjjent  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  until  1835,  since  which  date  his  son  and  grand- 
son have  resided  here.  The  mansion  stands  a  few 
rods  west  of  the  post  road,  in  a  small  valley  surround- 
ed by  a  grove  of  locusts,  being  a  few  hundred  feet 
south  of  the  Varian  tavern.  The  edifice  is  one  of  the 
most  picturesque  in  appearance  and  location  of  any 
in  the  town,  and,  although  it  has  passed  its  century 
of  existence,  still  stands  almost  unchanged,  an  excel- 
lent example  of  the  thorough  building  of  the  hist 
century.  Both  within  and  without  the  old  mansion 
is  charming  in  its  suggestions  of  the  early  days  of  our 
national  life,  and  with  its  near  neighbors,  the  Varian 
and  the  Morris  homesteads,  forms  a  picture  vividly 
remindful  of  the  past. 

Adjacent  to  the  Popham  estate  on  the  north,  and  ex- 
tending north  along  the  old  psst  road,  as  far  as  the 
southern  line  of  the  Tompkins  farm,  was,  in  former  days, 
the  property  of  the  Varian  family.  The  house,  now 
known  as  the  Wayside  Cottage,  is  one  of  the  oldest  in 
the  town,  dating  from  a  period  jirior  to  the  Revolution, 
and,  although  considerable  additions  have  of  late 
years  been  made  to  it,  the  old  part  has  changed 
in  no  essential  particular.  It  stands  in  the  shade  of 
several  handsome  trees,  close  to  the  road,  at  the  very 
southeast  corner  of  the  property,  and  was  built  and 
owned  by  a  farmer,  Haddon  by  name,  from  whom  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Varians.  During  the 
Revolution  it  was  occupied  by  James  and  Michael 


Varian,  who,  with  their  brothers,  Richard  and  Isaac, 
were  actively  engaged  on  the  patriot  side.  When  the 
British  army  moved  towards  White  Plains,  in  Octo- 
ber, 1776,  from  their  landing  near  New  Rochelle,  the 
Varians,  hoping  to  secure  some  of  their  possessions 
from  plunder,  removed  a  favorite  cow  from  her  stable 
— on  a  level  with  the  road  and  under  the  main  roof — 
to  the  cellar  for  safe-keeping.  When  the  British 
came  up,  those  in  search  of  plunder  effected  an  en- 
trance into  the  house  by  hacking  at  the  door  with 
their  sabres  and  afterward  in  the  same  way  got  into 
the  cow-stable,  only  to  find  the  cow  gone.  Tradition 
has  it  that  at  this  moment  the  unfortunate  cow 
"lowed,"  thus  disclosing  her  hiding-place,  but  in 
point  of  fact,  the  cow,  and  the  family  Bible,  which 
was  likewise  hid  in  the  cellar,  escaped  observation 
and  were  preserved  for  their  owners.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  that  the  sabre-marks  of  the  British  are  still 
to  be  seen  in  the  woodwork  of  both  the  front-door  of 
the  house  and  the  door  to  the  stable — vivid  reminders 
of  the  depredations  practiced  in  the  Neutral  Ground. 
After  the  war  the  house  and  estate  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Colonel  Jonathan  Varian,  who  also  brought 
credit  upon  the  family  by  his  services  in  the  War  of 
1812,  and  for  many  years  he  kept  there  an  inn.  Just 
south  of  the  house  stood  a  large  barn,  under  which 
was  driven  the  mail-coach,  while  the  stop  was  made 
on  its  way  to  the  city.  This  tavern  was  the  favorite 
resort  of  the  drovers,  who,  with  their  cattle,  made 
there  the  last  stop  on  their  journey  from  the  Ohio 
towns  to  New  York  City.  Arriving  at  the  Varian 
farm,  they  would  turn  their  droves  of  several  hundred 
head  of  cattle  out  to  graze  and  themselves  would  rest 
at  the  tavern  for  several  days,  making  their  sales  with 
the  dealers,  who  would  drive  out  from  the  city  and 
select  their  purchases.  Then,  after  this  interval  of 
rest,  the  cattle,  much  improved  after  their  long  march, 
would  be  driven  directly  to  their  various  destinations 
by  their  new  owners.  The  pastures  of  the  tavern  ex- 
tended to  the  north  and  west  of  the  house,  and  until 
of  late  years  the  barns,  in  which  were  stored  large 
quantities  of  fodder  for  the  droves,  stood,  a-s  of  old,  to 
the  west  of  the  tavern  itself.' 


'  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  in  the  New  York  Evening  Potl  for 
December  0,  1879,  is  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  Varian  family  : 
"  In  the  good  keeping  of  Dr.  William  Varian,  of  Kingsbridge,  New 
York  City,  is  now,  and  has  long  been,  the  ancisnt'faniily  Bible  of  his 
ancestors,  the  Varians  of  Westchester  County,  New  York,  the  proud  lot 
of  which  was  to  lie  preserved,  uninjured,  through  the  War  of  the  Revo- 
lution, by  being  buried  in  the  cellar  of  their  dwelling-house,  the  old  resi- 
dence in  the  town  of  Scarsdale,  near  the  former  Morris  and  I'opham  Es- 
tates, still  standing,  and  occupied  by  a  Viirian.  Although  being  much 
exposed  (the  family  being  patriotic)  to  the  depredations  of  British  sol- 
diens,  and  especially  of  the  '  cow-boys ' — those  notorious  brigands  of  the 
period,  so  well  described  in  Cooper's  'Spy  '  and  Bolton's  '  Historj- of 
Westchester  County  " — this  farm-house  escaped  both  the  torch  and  their 
pillage,  and  the  dark  cellar  at  the  dawn  of  peace,  true  to  its  trust,  de- 
livered up  the  remarkable  volume  as  good  ii3  ever,  to  be  the  household 
companion  of  subsequent  generations,  whose  names  are  registered  there- 
in. This  ancient  Emjlish  Bible  is  a  large  folio,  with  thick  embossed  lids, 
fitted  originally  with  clasps,  and  bears  the  date  1715  on  the  title  page, 
but  not  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was  published.    Strangely,  too, 


SCARSDALE. 


681 


Just  below  the  Varian  cottage,  and  close  by  the 
roadside,  stands  an  ancient  mile-stone,  dating  many 
years  back,  and  being  one  of  the  •few  antiquities  of 
the  town.  Its  inscription,  still  (juito  legible,  is  as 
follows: 

"XXI 
Miles  to 
N.  York, 

177a." 

A  short  distance  southwest  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
stands  a  spacious  stone  mansion,  formerly  the  resi- 
dence of  (Jeorge  Nelson,  supervisor  of  the  town  in  the 
year  1867,  now  occupied  by  Henry  W.  Bates.  This 
mansion  was  built  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
by  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Olssen,  for  many  years 
rector  of  the  parish,  and  is  one  of  the  two  stone  resi- 
dences in  the  town.  The  only  other  one  is  the  former 
residence  of  the  late  PMward  Nelson,  brother  of  the 
preceding,  and  is  now  occupied  by  Charles  P.  Crane, 
a  lawyer  practicing  in  New  York  City.  The  mansion 
is  a  spacious  structure,  with  turreted  tower  on  the 
southeast  corner  and  broad  verandas  on  the  south 
and  west,  and  stands  among  a  number  of  handsome 
trees,  on  the  north  side  of  the  back  road  to  Scarsdalc 
Station,  at  some  distance  from  the  road. 

On  the  Mamaroneck  road,  about  quarter  of  a  mile 
beyond  the  Fish  mansion,  stands  the  residence  of  Dr. 
Alexander  M.  Hruen,  built  uj)on  the  site  of  what  was 
formerly  known  as  "  Cooper's  Folly."  The  latter  was 
at  one  time  the  residence  of  the  famous  novelist,  Jas. 
Fenimore  Cooper,  who  lived  within  the  township  for 
a  few  years,  but  never  made  it  his  permanent  resi- 
dence. The  above  name  was  given  to  it  by  the  towns- 
people, from  the  peculiar  nature  of  its  architecture 
and  the  wretchedness  of  the  workmanship.  In  its 
general  appearance  it  resembled  the  typical  Swiss 
chalet,  and  the  timber ,of  which  it  was  composed  was 
so  unseasoned  and  so  poorly  put  together  that  the 
house  had  to  be  taken  down  within  a  few  years  of  its 
erection.  The  novelist  resided  here  ibr  about  three 
years  after  the  date  of  "building  the  house,  1840,  and 
upon  his  departure  the  property  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Dr.  Brucn,  who,  upon  the  same  site  as  "Cooper's 
Folly,"  built  the  present  large  mansion.  Just  north 
of  this  stood,  till  within  a  few  years,  a  small,  weather- 
beaten  cottage  of  two  stories  and  steep,  pitched  roof, 
wliere,  it  is  reported.  Cooper  wrote  the  "Spy,"  his 
famous  novel,  the  scene  of  which  is  the  "Neutral 
(iround"  of  the  Revolution,  of  which  Scarsdale  formed 
a  i)art.  About  eight  years  ago  this  cottage  was  torn 
down  to  make  way  for  the  large  and  more  i)retentious 
dwelling  which  occu[)ies  a  site  close  by,  and  is  the 
residence  of  Green  Wright. 

But  a  few  rods  from  Hartsdale  Station,  and  just 
within  the  town  limits,  stands  a  peculiar  mansion, 
which  ha-s  long  been  an  object  of  wonder  to  many, 
and  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  unique  structure  in 


the  illustrative  piitures,  of  whic  h  there  are  several,  are  explained  in  the 
Dutch  language." 
64 


the  town.  This  was  built  for  a  residence,  by  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  powder-works  before  mentioned,  about 
the  year  1847,  and  is  now  occupied  in  connection  with 
the  lithographic  works  near  by.  The  building  is  sit- 
uated on  the  steep  hill-side  in  such  a  manner  that, 
although  it  presents  two  stories  in  front,  behind  the 
roof  barely  comes  above  the  top  of  the  terrace.  The 
material  is  stone  or  brick,  stuccoed  and  whitewashed. 
The  building  is  of  two  full  stories,  nearly  square  in 
plan,  with  flat  roof,  on  which  is  a  stpiare  cupola,  with 
a  minaret  surmounting  the  whole.  The  front  is 
deeply  recessed  to  form  the  porch  or  veranda,  which 
is  two  stories  and  sup|>orted  by  large  round  pillars. 
On  either  side  of  the  building  the  hillside  is  terraced 
and  an  avenue  of  shade-trees  extends  from  the  main 
road  to  the  front  door.  Altogether  the  building 
closely  approaches  the  Tuscan  style  of  architecture 
and  presents  an  appearance  of  much  greater  antiquity 
than  really  belongs  to  it. 

Nearly  opposite  "  Fox  Meadow  Gardens,"  on  the 
post  road,  stands  the  residence  of  George  Burgess,  who, 
with  his  lamily,  settled  in  the  town  about  thirty  years 
ago.  This  is  an  interesting  old  mansion,  built  in  an 
old-fashioned,  rambling  style,  and  surrounded  by 
shade-trees,  while  to  the  north  and  northeast  extend 
the  farm  lands  of  the  owner.  Another  interesting 
mansion  is  "  Rowsley,"  formerly  the  property  of 
William  B.  Lang.  This  stands  on  the  north  side  of 
the  road  which  runs  eastward  from  the  post  road  from 
"  Drake's  Corner,"  surrounded  by  handsome  lawns 
and  shaded  by  beautiful  trees.  The  house  is  a 
long  and  roomy  structure,  but  of  only  two  stories,  the 
uj)per  of  which  is  in  tiie  mansard  roof  A  wide  veran- 
dah skirts  the  mansion  on  the  east,  south  and  part 
of  the  west  side,  and  is  covered  with  creeping  plants 
and  vines.  One  room  in  particular  is  especially  in- 
teresting as  being  an  exact  counterpart  of  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  famous  Cliiny  Palace  in  France.  This 
room  has  a  large  tiled  fireplace  on  the  north,  opposite 
the  entrance,  while  on  either  side  of  the  room  are 
large  windows  filled  with  diamond-shaped  panes. 
The  floors,  walls  and  raftered  ceiling  are  of  polished 
oak  or  similar  wood,  and,  together  with  the  mail-clad 
figures  which  stand  on  either  side  of  the  fireplace  and 
the  ancient  furniture  and  hangings,  they  lend  to  the 
room  a  quaint  appearance,  very  suggestive  of  past 
centuries. 

Early  Mails  and  Traveling  Facilities — 
Noted  Localities,  Etc. — At  the  beginning  of  the 
present  century  the  mail  and  traveling  facilities  of 
the  town  were  of  the  most  ])rimitive  kind.  Of  regular 
stage  lines  there  were  none,  while  the  nuiil  service 
was  limited  to  a  single  trip  each  way  during  the 
week.  The  mail  was  carried  to  and  fro  in  saddle-bags 
by  an  old  man,  Calhoun  by  name,  mounted  upon  a 
small  horse,  the  down  trip  being  made  on  Wednes- 
day and  the  return  on  Friday.  The  route  at  this 
time  was  from  New  York  City  to  Danbury,  Conn. 
Thus  the  service  remained  until  about  1810,  when,  in- 


682 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


stead  of  on  horseback,  the  mail  was  transported  in  a 
small  box-wagon  with  an  arched  canvas  top,  drawn 
by  a  single  horse.  This  was  in  turn  superseded  by  a 
more  suitable  conveyance  drawn  by  a  pair  of  horses, 
and  finally  this  gave  way  to  the  regular  old-fashioned 
mail-coach,  with  its  four  horses  and  the  typical  guard 
tooting  upon  his  long  horn.  At  this  time  the  service 
had  been  increased  to  a  trip  each  way  every  day,  the 
coach  going  down  to  the  city  in  the  morning  and  re- 
turning at  night,  the  route  being  from  New  York  to 
North  Castle,  with  a  change  of  horses  at  White 
Plains.  The  stopping-place  of  the  coach  in  Scarsdale 
was  the  Varian  Tavern,  where  the  coach  drew  up  at 
the  large  barn  which  formerly  stood  just  to  the  side  of 
the  tavern  proper.  In  these  early  days  of  the  repub- 
lic, private  as  well  as  public  conveyances  were  few  in 
the  town,  the  respectable  vehicles  in  Scarsdale  num- 
bering but  three.  These  were  in  the  possession,  re- 
spectively, of  the  Pophara,  Tompkins  and  McCabe 
families,  and  the  impression  made  by  them  upon  the 
rustic  minds  of  the  population  was  not  inconsiderable. 
The  route  of  the  mail-coach  through  the  town  lay 
along  the  old  "  Boston  turnpike,"  or  post  road,  which 
is  about  half  a  mile  from  the  railroad  and  nearly  par- 
allel with  it.  This  has  always  been  the  main  thor- 
oughfare of  the  town,  and  until  its  doubtful  improve- 
ment at  the  hands  of  the  Tweed  ring  of  New  York 
City,  in  1872,  it  was  a  pleasant  and  well-shaded 
country  road.  In  that  year  the  road  was  broadened, 
leveled  and  straightened  so  as  to  retain  little  of  its 
former  attractiveness,  but  the  past  few  years  have 
done  much  to  cover  up  the  traces  of  the  improving 
hands  of  thirteen  years  ago.  At  this  time  a  short  cut 
was  made  for  the  road  around  the  foot  of  the  hill 
on  which  were  situated  the  Griffin  and  Tompkins 
farms,  and  a  portion  of  the  old  road  was  thus  left, 
which  runs  over  the  hill  and  past  the  site  of  the 
birth-place  of  Governor  Tompkins,  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Charles  Butler,  at  the  "  Fox  Meadows, 
"  Mapleliurst,"  formerly  on  the  "Trayis"  farm,  and 
the  old  Griffin  and  Fisher  homesteads,  until  it  again 
joins  with  the  main  road  at  a  point  just  north  of  tlie 
public  school. 

The  principal  oft'shoots  of  this  road  are  as  follows: 
At  the  northern  i)art  of  its  course  through  the  town, 
the  Mamaroneck  road,  on  which  are  the  Fish  and 
Bruen  mansions,  and  from  which  turn  oft' the  "Saxton 
Woods  "  road,  running  in  a  northeasterly  direction  ; 
and  "Lincoln  Avenue,"  on  which,  at  almost  the  very 
limits  of  the  town,  stands  the  Friends'  Meeting- 
House ;  and  at  the  southern  part  of  its  course,  a 
road  running  to  the  eastward,  past  the  Drake  and 
Lang  mansions  ;  and  just  south  of  this,  the  "  Scarsdale 
depot  road,"  running  westward,  on  which  are  the  old 
Morris  homestead  and,  near  by,  the  Church  of  St. 
James  the  Less.  On  this  road  and  just  opposite  the 
Morris  mansion  took  place  in  the  time  of  the  Revolu- 
tion the  tragic  event  described  in  Bolton's  history  of 
the  county.    It  seems  that  an  officer  of  the  French 


cavalry,  accompanied  by  several  companions,  went 
one  Sunday  to  the  smithy  of  Gilbert  Vincent  to  have 
his  horse  shod.  A  sou  of  the  smith,  alone,  was  at  the 
house,  and  he  refused  to  perform  the  work,  partly 
from  religious  scruples  and  also  on  the  ground  of 
lacking  the  necessary  fuel  for  the  forge.  The  officer, 
thinking  this  merely  a  pretext,  or  that  he  was  unwil- 
ling to  do  the  enemy  a  service,  provoked  a  quarrel 
with  the  young  man,  which  ended  in  the  death  of 
young  Vincent.  To  quote  from  Bolton  :  "  When  his 
brother,  Elijah  Vincent,  who  belonged  to  De  Lancey's 
refugee  corps,  heard  of  the  outrage,  he  vowed  revenge 
on  the  murderer,  and  the  better  to  accomplish  his 
purpose,  determined  to  lay  in  wait  and  watch  the 
French  scoutiug  parties  as  they  passed  to  and  fro 
from  Scarsdale  to  their  encampment  on  the  Green- 
burgh  hills.  For  several  nights  he  watched  in  vain, 
but  at  length  the  opportune  moment  for  revenge  ar- 
rived. It  so  happened  that  a  party  of  the  Duke  of 
Lauzun's  patrols  were  piissing  the  very  spot  where 
Vincent  lay  concealed  behind  the  bushes.  He  im- 
mediately rose  and  fired  upon  the  unsusi)ecting  com- 
pany, and  a  captain  of  the  Hussars  fell  from  his 
horse,  mortally  wounded."  Vincent  made  his  escape 
and  finally  went  to  Canada,  where  he  died. 

Within  a  few  feet  of  this  spot,  and  at  the  bottom  of 
a  small  valley,  the  road  crosses  a  little  stream.  Here, 
on  one  side  of  the  road,  is  a  quicksand  of  unknown 
depth,  which  has  remained  until  the  i)rescnt  day,  not- 
withstanding rejieated  attem])ts  to  fill  it  up,  and  into 
this  unfortunate  cattle  have  from  time  to  time  strayed 
and  been  rescued  only  with  difficulty. 

On  the  road  to  New  Rochelle,  and  just  beyond 
"Castle  Cosy,"  formerly  the  residence  of  the  late 
George  M.  Wheeler,  there  is  another  small  brook, 
known  as  the  "Hutchinson,"  a  bratich  of  the  Ma- 
maroneck River,  and  this  is  spanned  by  a  small 
wooden  bridge.  Just  at  this  point  the  road  is  closely 
bordered  on  either  side  by  dense  thickets  and  small 
trees,  making  it  rather  a  lonely  spot,  and  the  story  in 
the  town  is  that  many  years  ago  a  pedlar  was  waylaid 
here  one  dismal  night  and  murdered  for  his  money. 
There  seems  to  be  no  actual  record  of  this  deed  of 
blood,  but  the  bridge  is  known  as  the  "  Pedlar's 
Bridge"  from  the  circumstances  of  the  story. 

Another  legendary  tale  in  which  Scarsdale  takes 
much  pride  is  that,  during  the  Revolution,  one  of  the 
British  generals,  presumably  Sir  William  Howe, 
hearing  of  the  existence  of  the  Bronx  and  imagining 
it  to  be  navigable,  ordered  the  coinnninder  of  the 
fleet,  then  lying  at  New  York,  to  sail  up  the  river  in 
time  to  ]iarticipate  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains.  As 
the  depth  of  the  river  at  no  point  in  its  course  along 
the  border  of  the  town  was  much  over  three  feet,  the 
humor  of  the  legend  may  be  ajjpreciated  by  all.  The 
following  poem,  from  the  pen  of  William  A.  Butler, 
the  poet,  appeared  in  the  Scarsdale  Gleaner  during 
the  summer  of  1875,  and  fitly  expresses  the  state  of 
the  case : 


■t  i 

i 


SCARSDALE. 


G83 


"  After  rockets,  and  liliie-liglitK,  ami  so  forth, 

( In  the  iiiglit  of  the  glorious  Fourth, 
At  Miiihiight  I  tliought  I  would  go  forth 

To  the  Bronx,  fairest  stream  of  the  North  ; 
There  I  met  the  old  naval  commander 

(Or  his  ghost),  in  a  shocking  bad  hat, 
Who  was  onlereil  up  hero  to  meander 

With  his  fleet,  and  his  guns,  and  all  that  ; 
He  stoiKl  where  the  water  was  w  ettest — 

It  almost  came  over  his  shoes — 
And  he  cried.  Ml  my  5H)ul  that  regrettcst 

The  glory  the  Kates  did  refuse. 
What  a  mercy  to  all  these  Scarsdalers — 

That  they  in  this  stream  couldn't  lie; 
For  at  once  with  my  frigates  ami  sailors 

I  had  blown  their  rebellion  sky-high, 
When  these  shores,  which  I  now  have  my  eye  on. 

Had  been  fuller  of  saii-s  '  than  of  'dales,' 
And  the  unicorn  here,  and  the  lion. 

Would  have  roared  and  erected  their  tails. 
0  where  this  tine  sylvan  dra|iery, 

tir  these  villas  of  woiiderfid  shajK', 
Or  hot  house,  or  gi  cen-liouee,  or  grapery. 

Had  they  once  got  a  taste  of  my  gnijie'! 
Btii-ause  Washington  pulle«l  at  their  trigger 

They  fancy  'twas  up  w  ith  our  jig, 
But  if  only  the  Bronx  had  been  bigger, 

Then  hers  had  not  been  so  big,' 
'Then,  iiuoth  I,  '  this  old  salt  should  bo  throttled, 

If  his  long  yarn  is  false,  as  methinks. 
But  if  true  then  the  Bronx  should  be  Ijottled 

To  mix  with  Centennial  drinks !  " 

Another  statement,  presumably  not  a  legend,  in 
which  Scarsdale  can  justly  take  great  pride,  and 
which  is  vouched  for  by  excellent  authority,  is  "that 
no  Scarsdale-born  person  was  ever  in  jail  or  the  poor- 
house."  Considering  that  the  town  has  had  a  corpo- 
rate existence  of  over  a  century,  this  indeed  may  be 
a  source  of  just  satisfaction  to  all  the  inhabitants. 

Scarsdale  Station.  —  At  the  extreme  southern 
portion  of  the  western  border  of  the  town  the  tracks 
of  the  Harlem  Railroad  run  within  the  town  limits 
for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  here,  just  where 
the  road  to  Ashford  and  Dobbs  Ferry  crosses  the 
line,  is  situated  Scarsdale  Station.  The  building  is  a 
frame  structure  of  two  stories,  with  a  steep-pitched 
roof.  On  the  lower  floor  is  a  large  waiting-room,  with 
ticket  and  post-office  adjoining,  while  beyond  is  a 
freight-room.  The  building  has  not  been  materially 
altered  in  its  external  appearance  for  many  years, 
but  within  it  has  been  gradually  improved  from  time 
to  time.  The  station  stands  to  the  west  of  the  line, 
and  near  by  is  the  residence  of  the  station-master, 
one  of  the  celebrities  of  the  town,  who  has  held  his 
position  for  more  than  twenty  years.  The  Harlem 
Railroad  wiis  extended  slowly  from  its  original  termi- 
nus at  Harlem  until  it  reached  Tuckahoe,  the  station 
next  below  Scarsdale,  and  in  1847  it  was  finally 
pushed  through  to  White  Plains.  At  this  time  it 
was  but  a  single  track  line,  and  there  was  no  station 
within  the  town.  In  consideration,  however,  of  the 
fact  that  the  company  had  been  given  the  land  re- 
quired for  its  roadway  through  the  Popham  estate,  a 
platform  was  built  on  the  grounds  of  the  family,  just 
below  the  railroad  bridge,  and  trains  were  stopjied 
here  on  signal  to  receive  or  land  mcmbei's  of  the  Pop- 


ham  family.  After  a  few  years  a  signal  station  was 
estiiblished  in  nearly  the  present  location  and  in  the 
"sixties"  the  road  was  double-tracked  a.s  far  as 
White  Plains,  and  its  course  through  the  town  slightly 
altered. 

The  distance  by  the  railroad  from  New  York  to 
Scarsdale  is  eighteen  miles,  and  not  many  years  ago 
the  running  time  of  the  "  way  "  trains  was  a  full 
hour.  Of  late  years  a  slight  improvement  has  been 
made  in  this  respect,  and  the  "way"  time  is  now 
slightly  over  fifty  minutes,  while  the  "express"  time 
is  thirty-six  minutes.  In  former  days  the  service  on 
the  road  was  very  limited,  Scarsdale  being  ranked 
merely  as  a  way  station ;  but  in  1877,  after  strong 
efforts  on  the  part  of  those  citizens  who  did  busine.ss 
in  New  York,  Scarsdale  was  made  a  stopping-{)lace 
for  the  morning  express  south  and  the  evening  ex- 
press north,  while  during  the  summer  still  another 
express  stops  here  on  each  trip.  Besides  this,  the 
way  service  has  been  improved  in  time  and  frequency, 
and  of  the  fifteen  trains  that  pass  each  way  daily, 
thirteen  stop  at  Scarsdale,  of  which  two  are  express 
trains.  The  rate  of  fare  was  for  many  years  exorbi- 
tant, being  fifty-five  cents  for  a  single  trip  and  no  ex- 
cursion tickets  issued  ;  but  in  1878  a  reduction  of  ten 
cents  was  made  in  the  single  fare ;  excursion  tickets 
were  issued,  good  for  three  days,  for  eighty-five  cents 
and  within  the  last  year  the  time  of  these  has  been 
extended  to  fifteen  days.  Commutation  tickets,  good 
for  a  year  and  allowing  for  two  trips  each  week-day, 
are  sold  for  sixty-five  doUai-s.  The  number  of  com- 
muters from  Scarsdale  varies  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five,  and  there  is,  besides,  a  considerable  number  of 
transient  passengers.  As  there  are  no  manufacturing 
interests  in  the  town,  the  freight  traffic  is  entirely 
local,  and  although  formerly  a  considerable  quantity 
of  milk  was  daily  sent  to  the  city  over  the  line,  the 
high  freight  charges  have  caused  this  to  be  diverted 
I  from  the  railroad,  and  it  is  now  carried  to  the  city  by 
:i  daily  wagon  service. 

Recent  Town  History. — In  the  year  1878  the 
town  was  visited  by  the  most  severe  wind  and  rain- 
storm ever  known  in  the  county,  which,  indeed,  al- 
most amounted  to  a  tornado.  This  occurred  on  the 
afternoon  of  Sunday,  July  20th,  and  although  lasting 
barely  over  four  or  five  minutes,  did  a  great  amount 
of  damage.  The  path  of  the  storm  lay  almost  directly 
from  west  to  east,  and  although  the  houses  in  its  track 
escaped  with  merely  the  lossof  blinds  and  other  trifling 
damage,  many  beautiful  and  valuable  fruit  and  shade- 
trees  were  laid  low.  The  scene  in  the  path  of  the 
]  storm  was  almost  indescribable,  the  sky  being  of  a 
j  dark  leaden  hue,  the  atmosphere  thick  with  torrents 
of  rain  and  hail,  and  in  the  midst  of  this  huge  trees 
reeling  and  swirling  round  in  the  furious  wind  and 
then  falling  with  a  terrific  crash  of  boughs,  while  in 
all  directions  were  flying  fragments  of  light  timber 
and  indeed  of  anything  that  lay  in  the  storm's  track. 
On  the  "Fox  Meadow"  farm  alone  over  five  hundred 


684 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


fine  trees  were  destroyed,  while  on  other  estates  the 
damage,  though  less,  was  nevertheless  considerable. 
The  storm  ceased  about  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  the  afternoon  sun  shone  glori- 
ously upon  the  dripping  and  tangled  masses  of  debris 
that  lay  scattered  everywhere  in  the  path  of  the 
storm. 

In  the  year  1882  an  innovation  occurred  in  the 
extension  to  Scarsdale  of  the  lines  of  the  West- 
chester Telephone  Company  from  White  Plains 
as  centre.  Up  to  1885  the  subscribers  in  the  town 
numbered  but  five,  but  a  new  central  office  for 
Hartsdale,  Scarsdale  and  Tuckahoe  has  been  started 
at  the  Hartsdale  Station,  with  over  twenty-five  sub" 
scribers,  most  of  them  within  the  town  of  Scarsdale. 

It  is  only  within  late  years,  also,  that  Scarsdale 
has  possessed  telegraphic  facilities.  In  1881  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  established  a 
testing  station  for  their  lines  on  the  Scarsdale  bank 
of  the  Bronx,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  Scarsdale 
Station.  To  this  run  nearly  a  hundred  wires  from  all 
parts  of  the  surrounding  country  and  here  is  estab- 
lished a  public  telegraph  office. 

Although  so  sparsely  settled,  Scarsdale  has  been 
visited  by  several  severe  fires,  which  have  invariably 
run  their  course,  the  facilities  for  fighting  them  being 
entirely  wanting.  In  18()3  the  old  mill  which  had 
stood  for  more  than  a  century  just  above  Scarsdale 
Station,  on  the  Bronx,  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire, 
nothing  but  the  foundations  and  a  few  fragments  of 
machinery  remaining,  and  no  attempts  at  rebuilding 
have  since  been  made.  In  the  fall  of  1874  the  resi- 
dence of  Benjamin  Carpenter,  on  the  high  ridge  to  the 
east  of  the  post  road,  was  set  on  fire  by  an 
incendiary,  and  in  a  short  time  was  burned  to  the 
ground,  together  with  numerous  out-buildings  and 
barns  and  some  live-stock.  Some  years  after  this  a 
house  of  considerable  size,  which  stood  close  by 
Scarsdale  Station,  on  the  Popham  estate,  at  one  time 
the  residence  of  Robert  C.  and  afterward  of  his 
brother,  Lewis  C.  Popham,  was  totally  destroyed  by 
fire,  nothing  but  the  chimneys  and  foundations  re- 
maining to  mark  the  dwelling  once  a  familiar  land- 
mark. 

The  last  large  conflagration  in  the  town  was  the 
burning  of  the  pretty  little  parish  church  of  St.  James 
the  Less,  which  occurred  on  the  evening  of  Palm  Sun- 
day, 1882.  Although  the  neighborhood  was  speedily 
aroused,  all  efl'orts  to  save  the  building  proved  un- 
availing, very  little  of  value  being  saved  of  the  in- 
side fittings,  and  soon  only  the  walls  and  part  of  the 
little  chapel  remained  of  the  church  which  was  so 
dear  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  country. 

ScARyDALK  Lawn  Tennis  Club. — The  only  organ- 
ization of  a  peculiarly  social  nature  existing  in  the 
town  is  the  Scarsdale  Lawn  Tennis  Club,  just  enter- 
ing upon  its  third  season.  The  club  was  organized 
early  in  the  spring  of  1883,  and  the  first  year  had  a 
membership  of  about  twenty, — including  honorary 


members.  The  club  had  two  courts  at  "  Fair  View," 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  where  the  members 
met  for  practice  every  Saturday  afternoon  during  the 
warm  months.  The  season  was  marked  by  a  handicap 
tournament  open  to  all  the  members.  In  the  spring 
of  1884  the  club  opened  its  season  with  a  membership 
of  nearly  thirty,  ladies  being  admitted  to  active 
membership.  The  club  occupied  four  courts  in  Fox 
Meadow  Gardens,  which  were  put  at  their  disposal  by 
Mr.  Chai'les  Butler.  During  the  year  two  tourna- 
ments were  held,  open  to  members  only, — the  first, 
ladies'  singles,  and  the  second,  doubles,  of  a  lady  and 
gentleman.  The  last  season  was  inaugurated  on  the 
7th  of  June,  at  the  Fox  Meadow  Gardens,  the  number 
of  courts  having  been  increased  to  six  and  the  mem- 
bership aggregating  forty-four.  The  original  officers 
of  the  club  were : 

Presulent. 
Thomas  F.  Burge.«s. 
Secrc'lurtj. 

CORTLANDT  FiSlI. 

Treasurer. 
James  Bleecker,  Jr. 

The  officers  for  1885  were  the  following  : 

PresicUitt. 
Allen  M.  Butler. 

Secretary. 
James  Bleei.ker,  .Jr. 

Treasurt-r. 
II.  Granville  Butler. 

The  club  meets  for  practice  every  Saturday  after- 
noon, but  the  grounds  are  open  for  the  useof  members 
on  any  week-day.  The  routine  business  of  the  club  is 
entrusted  to  a  governing  committee  of  seven  members, 
including  the  officers  ex-officio.  Altliough  of  very 
recent  origin,  the  Scarsdale  Tennis  Club  now  forms  a 
prominent  feature  in  the  social  life  of  the  town,  and 
the  scene  at  the  grounds  on  a  bright  Saturday  after- 
noon is  charming  and  full  of  interest. 

Amatkur  Newspaper. — Scarsdale  has  never  been 
represented  by  a  newspaper  of  its  own  except  during 
a  few  months  of  the  year  1885.  In  June  of  that  year 
appeared  the  first  number  of  T/ie  Scars^dale  Gleaner,  a 
small  four-page  monthly,  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  town.  This  was  entirely  an  amateur  enterprise, 
being  printed  as  well  as  edited  within  the  limits  of  the 
township.  Although  but  a  modest  undertaking,  the 
Gleaner  proved  a  great  success,  the  circulation  amount- 
ing to  more  than  two  hundred  copies,  and  the  sub- 
scription list  embracing  many  outside  of  the  town. 
With  its  fifth  number  the  paj)er  was  obliged  to  sus- 
pend publication,  owing  to  circumstances  beyond  the 
control  of  the  amateur  editors,  and  so,  after  a  short 
but  highly  successful  career,  the  only  journalistic 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  came 
to  a  conclusion. 


NEW  ROCHELLE. 


685 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

NEW  ROCHELI.E.* 
BY  REV.  CHARLES  E.  LINDSLEY,  D.D. 

The  settlement  of  the  Huguenots  at  New  Rochellc 
is  believed  to  have  been  begun  as  early  as  the  year 
1686-87,  by  certain  refugees  from  the  town  of  La 
llochelle,  France.  This  was  the  year  following  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  by  which  unjust 
and  impolitic  act  fifty  thousand  French  families  were 
driven  from  their  homes  to  other  countries.  Many  of 
them  rted  first  to  England,  but  subsequently  found 
their  way  to  America.  Those  who  came  first  to  New 
Rochelle  were  landed,  it  is  thought,  by  an  English 
vessel  at  Bonnefoy's  Point,  now  Davenport's  Neck. 
Their  exact  number  is  uncertain,  but  the  names  of 
some  of  the  early  settlers  are  found  upon  the  town 
records,  between  the  years  U'}%  and  1710,  and  are  as 
follows : 


Allaire. 

Goiiqeon. 

Angevin. 

(iiierin. 

Jouneau. 

Boni'cpaA. 

Lambent. 

Boiigraiid. 

Le  Ronx. 

Bonnefoy, 

Lespinard. 

Beigiior. 

Le  Villain. 

Besly. 

Landrin. 

Bolts. 

Lavinge. 

Boiinett. 

Le  Conut. 

Huniard. 

Maclict. 

Bouteillier. 

Mastier, 

Clupp. 

Mercier. 

Clttik. 

Naudin. 

Oothomieau. 

Nentiiille. 

Caillurd. 

Palcot. 

Coutaiit  (i), 

Penieau. 

Das. 

I*inckney. 

Devean. 

Raynean. 

Funnel. 

Scurnian. 

Flundreau. 

Sycard. 

Fonrrestier. 

Thevoulde. 

Ganyaril. 

Tiiaunet.j 

Giiion. 

Tliauver. 

Oirand. 

V  el  lean. 

In  the  year  1710  the  population  of  New  Rochelle 
amounted  to  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  persons, 
including  fifty-seven  slaves.  This  enumeration  is 
from  a  census  of  the  town  supposed  to  have  been  taken 
in  that  year.  The  Rev.  L.  J.  Coutant,  however,  in 
his  sketches  of  Huguenot  New  Rochelle,  a.sserts  that 
the  total  number  of  inhabitants  at  this  time  was  three 
hundred  and  twenty-five. 

The  same  gentleman,  who,  in  all  that  relates  to  the 
early  liistory  of  this  town  is  peculiarly  well-informed, 
observes  that  "  the  two  oldest  individuals  living  in 
the  town  at  that  date,  Mary  Badeau  and  Frederick 
Schureman,  were  each  eighty  years  old.  The  family 
name  having  the  greatest  number  of  representatives 
(sixteen)  was  that  of  Schureman.    There  were  eleven 

'Sec  reminiscences  of  New  Rocliclle  by  Rev.  AVm.  Hague  at  the  end 
of  the  chapter  on  "  Pelham." 

-'See  Bolton's  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  670. 


of  the  name  of  Le  Doof.  The  next  most  numerous 
family  names  were  those  of  Guion,  Bonnett,  Sycard, 
Frederick,  Neff'veillc  and  Angovine.  Of  the  fifty-four 
family  names  existing  in  the  town  of  New  Rochelle 
when  this  census  of  1710  was  taken,  only  six  at  the 
present  time  survive.  These  are  the  Le  Counts,  Sea- 
cords,  Badeaus,  Rcnouds,  Bonnetts  and  Coutants. 
The  rest,  forty-eight  in  number,  have  all  disappeared 
from  the  town,  either  by  death  or  removal,  or  have 
been  merged  by  marriage  into  other  family  names.'' 
Many  portions  of  the  Huguenot  stock  came  to  New 
Rochelle  at  a  later  period. 

There  is  a  distinct  and  unbroken  tradition,  dating 
back  much  more  than  a  hundred  years,  and  handed 
down  through  several  separate  families,  notably  the 
Guions  and  Coutants,  that  the  first  settlers  of  the 
town  landed  at  Bonnefoy's  Point.  The  fact  is  perhaps 
as  well  established  as  any  other  not  a  matter  of  writ- 
ten record.  An  excavation  existed,  and  perhaps  still 
exists,  upon  that  jioint,  which  from  time  immemorial 
has  been  designated  l)y  those  who  should  know,  as  the 
cellar  of  the  first  house  ever  built  in  New  Rochelle. 


TIIK  CUIOX  PLACE, 
Huguenot  Street,  New  Rochelle. 

All  wc  can  say  is  that  there  are  those  living  now 
whose  great-grandfathers  might  have  helped  to  dig 
that  cellar.  Members  of  the  Guion  family  have  been 
known  to  assert  that  the  first  child  born  in  the  town 
was  born  in  that  house,  and  was  a  Guion. 

In  the  early  division  of  the  town,  that  part  of  it 
now  known  as  Davenport's  Neck  is  designated  as 
Leisler's  and  Le  Count's  Neck.  It  contains  about 
two  hundred  acres.  This  neck  subsequently  became 
the  property  and  residence  of  the  Lesjjinard  family, 
one  of  whom  came  to  New  Rochelle  with  the  Hugue- 
nots in  1689. 

The  Lespinard  Cemetery  is  situated  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Neck  and  contains  several  memorials  of 
this  fiimily.  In  1786  this  piece  of  land  was  pur- 
chased by  Newbury  Davenport,  father  of  the  late  pro- 
prietors, Lawrence  and  Newbury  Davenport. 

Bonnefoy's  Point,  situated  on  the  northeast  side  of 
the  Neck,  has  already  been  mentioned  as  the  landing- 
place  of  the  Huguenots,  about  1689.  A  very  differ- 
ent landing  was  made  there  on  the  22d  of  October, 
1776.  On  the  18th  a  huge  British  fleet  had  landed  rein- 


686 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


forcemeiits  for  the  army  in  New  York.  There  were,  in 
all,  seventy-two  sail,  having  on  board  four  thousand 
Hessians,  six  thousand  Waldeckers,  two  companies  of 
chasseurs,  two  hundred  English  recruits  and  two 
thousand  baggage  horses.  The  most  of  these  Ger- 
man troops  were  at  once  ordered  to  join  Howe  in  his 
march  to  White  Plains.  The  main  body  of  his  army 
had  already  crossed  from  Throg's  Neck  to  Pell's 
Point,  and  on  the  21st  of  October  was  encamped  on 
the  Heights,  north  of  the  village  of  New  Rochelle, 
Howe's  headquarters  being  at  a  house  on  the  White 
Plains  road,  about  one  mile  from  the  village.  On 
the  22d  General  Knyphausen  landed  with  the  Second 
Division  of  German  hirelings,  on  Bonnefoy's  orBauf- 
fet's  Point.  He  encamped  his  troops  the  same  day 
on  the  E.  K.  Collins  place  (now  Larchmont  Manor), 
and  from  there  joined  the  main  body  in  time  for  the 
battle  of  the  28th.  The  one  was  a  landing  of  peace- 
ful and  persecuted  emigrants,  seeking  in  America 
that  religious  freedom  which  was  denied  them  in 
their  native  France ;  the  other,  a  disembarkation  of 
German  mercenaries,  nearly  a  century  later,  to  carry 
war,  plunder  and  desolation  to  the  homes  and  hearts 


running  along  in  a  tortuous  course,  as  close  to  the  creek 
as  possible,  from  the  northeastern  part  of  Huguenot 
Street  to  the  foot  of  Centre  Street,  and  then  to  the 
line  of  boundary  between  New  Rochelle  and  Pelham. 
This  road  was  the  way  of  approach  to  Bonnefoy^s 
Point. 

The  farms  or  lots  were  narrow  and  long, — in  some 
places  nearly,  or  quite  a  mile  in  length,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  not  more  than  one  field  wide.  Some  of 
these  retain  their  original  width  and  length  to  the 
present  day,  while  a  few  have  been  subdivided,  and 
others,  pei"haps,  have  been  doubled,  two  into  one. 
The  road  leading  from  North  Street,  by  the  way  of 
the  Coutant  Cemetery  to  the  Pelham  boundary  line, 
which  it  strikes  at  what  was  formerly  known  as  "  New- 
port's Corner,"  must  have  been  opened  at  an  early 
period  of  the  settlement  of  the  town,  perhaps  simul- 
taneously with  the  opening  of  North  Street,  as  it 
would  seem  to  be  the  only  road  in  those  times  north 
of  Huguenot  Street  by  which  the  town  of  East 
Chester  could  be  reached.  This  road  runs  in  a  direct 
westerly  course  and  was  the  location  of  several 
Huguenot  families.' 


A  VIEW  OF  HITGUENOT  STREET,  NEW  ROCHELLE,   IN  1798. 
Showing  the  uhl  Episciipal  church  with  the  district  whool-house. 


of  the  descendants  of  the  Huguenots,  the  plunderers 
and  the  plundered  being  of  the  same  religious  faith. 
The  village  of  New  Rochelle  was  situated  on  a  level 
tract  of  land,  upon  the  line  of  the  old  Boston  road, 
extending  from  a  large  \wnd,  now  drained,  but  for 
many  years  known  as  the  Ice  Pond  or  Crystal  Lake, 
to  a  point  near  to  where  the  Presbyterian  Church 
now  stands,  being  about  one  mile  in  extent  and  con- 
stituting what  is  known  as  Huguenot  Street.  The 
road  Wivs  only  roughly  marked  out  at  first,  but  avoid- 
ed the  steep  hill  which  had  to  be  surmounted  by  the 
present  Boston  turnpike. 

In  1693  a  road  was  opened  at  right  angles  to 
Huguenot  Street,  known  as  North  Street,  the  same 
which  now  extends  to  Upper  New  Rochelle. 

Centre  Street  was  the  first  road  laid  out  in  a  direct 
line  from  Huguenot  Street  to  the  Salt  Water,  it  is  be- 
lieved, and  it  was  on  that  part  of  Huguenot  Street, 
between  North  and  Centre,  that  the  Huguenots 
erected  their  first  dwellings.  The  land  here  is  dry 
and  level,  and  is  said  to  be  seventy  feet  above  tide- 
water. Next  to  Centre,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  street  now  called  "  Cedar  Avenue  "  was  opened, 


The  Huguenots  "  seem  to  have  been  an  industri- 
ous and  order-loving  people."  What  their  worldly 
circumstances  were,  might  easily  be  inferred  from  the 
persecutions  they  had  suffered  and  from  the  precipi- 
tate manner  in  which  most  of  them  had  been  com- 
pelled to  abandon  their  homes  and  flee  to  foreign 
lands.  Their  means  were  small,  and  it  was,  no  doubt, 
some  years  before  the  lands  which  they  acquired 
were  paid  for;  and  even  when  this  was  accomplished, 
by  patient  toil  and  frugal  management,  the  problem 
still  remfiined  of  how  to  extract  a  living  from  their 
small  farms.  That  they  found  this  a  work  of  no 
small  difliculty,  we  may  conclude  from  the  following 
letters,  written  shortly  after  their  arrival.  On  the 
20th  of  September,  1089,  they  purchased  from  John 
Pell  a  tract  of  about  six  thousand  acres,  the  price 
for  which  was  not  far  from  one  dollar  an  acre. 
This  was  divided  into  lots  on  the  20th  of  November, 
1693,  by  a  surveyor ;  each  occupant  paying  his  just 
proportion  of  the  total  value.    The  letters,  taken  from 

'These  statements  as  to  early  localities  have  been  taken,  by  permis- 
sion, from  an  interesting  slietch  of  tlie  firat  settlement  of  New  Rodielle, 
by  tlie  ReT.  L.  J.  Coutant. 


NEW  ROCHELLE 


687 


acres  of  land  more,  which  the  said  Juliii  Pell  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  do 
freely  give  and  grant  for  the  Frem  li  rliurili,  erected,  or  to  be  erected,  liy 
the  inlial>ilitnt!i  of  the  said  tract  of  land,  or  liy  their  assignees,  being  but- 
ted and  bounded  as  herein  is  after  expressed,  beginning  at  the  west  side 
of  a  certain  wliito  oak  tree,  marked  on  all  four  sides,  standing  at  high 
water  nmrk  at  the  south  end  of  Hog  Neck,  by  shoals,  harbour  and  runs 
northwesterly  through  the  great  fresh  meadow  lying  between  the  road 
and  the  Sound,  and  from  the  north  side  of  the  said  meadow,  to  run 
from  thencii  due  north  to  Bronckes  river,  which  is  the  west  division  line 
iH-tween  the  said  John  I'ell's  land  and  the  aforesaid  tract,  bounded  on 


the  "  Documentary  History  of  the  State  of  New 
York,'"  are  as  follows  : 

"  New  Rociiki,i,k  2()th  Oct,  ICOl). 
"Sir, —  •*««*«»*»«« 

"  Mr.  Pinton  has  delivered  me  this  day,  an  order  to  be  communicated 
to  the  s'l"  inhabitants  (of  New  Rochelle),  relative  to  the  election  and 
noniinntJon  of  Vsj^'ssore,  t'ollectors  anil  Commissionei'S,  for  laying,  ini- 
IMising  and  receiving  Taxes  for  his  Majestis's  servuu.  The  time  is  very 
short,  since  ii  is  the  twenty  stn  enth  inst;uil  they  must  lie  at  W'chester,  but 
they  look  forsiime  foi'bearance  and  delay  from  your  goodness,  in  case, 
notwithstanding  their  diligence,  they  may  not  be  able  }Mnirtnally  to 
answiM-.  It  is  not  through  any  unwillingness  to  exert  themselves  to 
meet  it,  but  you  know  theirstienglh  as  well  as  I.  Notwithstanding, 
despite  their  ixiverty  and  misery,  they  will  never  lack  in  submission  to 
the  orders  of  his  iMujesty,  both  for  the  public  good  and  interest.  This 
they  protest  to  me,  anil  1  pi"ay  you  to  be  pei*suaded  thereof.  1  am  with 
resjiect,  and  pray  Uod  for  your  i)rosiK;rity, 

•'  Sir, 

"  Your  very  huuibtu  and  very  Obedient  Servant,  V.  lioxREr.vs, 

"Address:  a  Monsieur  de  Leistar,  Lieut  (louveruenr  pour  le  Roy 
D'Angleterre,  du  Fort  William,  a  La  Noie  York." 

Governor  Fletcher  arrived  in  New  York  on  the 
2'Jth  of  August,  l()!t2.  To  him,  .soon  afterwards,  prob- 
ably iu  IG'JH,  the  inhabitants  of  New  Rochelle  ad- 
dressed the  following  humble  petition:  - 

"ToIIis  Excellency,  Col.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Governor  in  Chief,  and 
Captain  General  of  ye  Province  of  New  York  and  dependencies  &c. 
"  The  humble  petition  of  ye  inhabitants  of  New  Rochelle,  Humbly 
Sheweth. 

"That  your  petitioners  having  been  forced  by  the  late  pereecutions  in 
France  to  f'li-sake  their  country  and  estates,  and  flye  to  ye  Protestant 
Princes.  Their  iMiyestyes,  l)y  their  proclannitiou  of  ye  25th  of  April, 
lliS'.i,  ilid  grant  them  an  a/.ile  in  all  their  dominions,  with  their  Royall 
prittection  ;  Wherefore  they  were  invited  to  come  ami  buy  lands  in  this 
province,  to  the  end  that  they  might  by  their  labour  help  the  uecessityes 
of  their  families,  and  did  spend  therein  all  their  small  store,  with  the 
help  of  their  friends,  whereof  they  did  borrow  great  sums  of  money, 
having  been  contpelled  to  sell  for  that  purpose  the  things  which  are 
nuist  necessary  for  their  use.  Wherefore  your  petitioners  humbly  pray 
that  your  Excellency  nniy  be  pleased  to  take  their  Case  in  Serious  Con- 
sideration, and  out  of  charity  and  pity  to  graut  them  for  some  yeare 
what  help  and  privileges  your  E.xceltency  shall  think  Convenient,  and 
your  petitioned  iu  duty  bound  shall  ever  pray  Ac. 

"Tii.vi  VET  Elsi  CoTnoNE.n  ." 

The  patents  of  the  towns  of  New  Rochelle  and  Pel- 
ham  are  both  of  them  ancient  and  curious  documents, 
illustrative  of  the  quaint  orthography  and  prodigious 
legal  verbiage  of  a  past  age. 

The  following  is  John  Pell's  grant  of  New  Rochelle 
in  1G89: 

"  Til  I'll  (.'hrMUiH  ptoplf  to  whom  this  present  writing  shall  come 
John  Pell,  proprietor  of  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  within  the  County  of 
West  Chester,  in  the  province  of  New  York,  within  the  dominion  of 
New  Englanil,  gentleman,  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  sendetli  greeting  in  our 
Lord  fiod  everlasting.  Know  Yee  that  the  said  John  I'ell  and  Rachel, 
his  wife,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  stun  of  sixteen  hunilred  anil 
seventy-five  {>ounds  and  twenty-five  shillings  sterling,  current  silver 
money  of  this  jiroviuce,  to  him  in  hand  [laid  and  secured  to  be  paid  at 
the  or  before  the  ensealing  and  the  delivery  thereof  by  Jacob  Leisler,  of 
the  city  of  Now  York,  Merchant,  the  receipt  whereof  they,  the  said  John 
Pell  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  do  thereby  acknowledge  themselves  to  lie  fully  i 
Siilisfied  and  contented,  and  thereof,  and  of  every  part  and  parcel  there- 
of do  hereby  freely  and  clearly  acipiit  and  Fxhonerate  and  discharge  the 
Stkid  Jacob  Leisler,  his  heirs,  e-xecutors,  administrators  and  every  of 
them,  by  thest;  presents  have  granted,  bargained  and  sold,  and  by  these 
presents  do  grant,  bargain  and  sell  unto  the  said  Jacob  Leisler,  his  heirs 
and  assignees,  all  the  tract  of  land  lying  and  being  within  said  Manor  of 
Pelham,  containing  sLx  thousand  acres  of  land  and  also  one  hundred 

'  DiHv  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  ii.  p.  304. 
-  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Tul.  iii.  p.  9:26. 


the  sonth-eiuiterly  by  the  Sound  and  Salt  Water,  and  to  run  eiust-ncu  th- 
erly  to  a  certain  piece  of  salt  meadow  lying  at  the  sjilt  creek  which  run- 
neth up  to  Cedar  Tree  brook,  or  Gravelly  brook,  and  is  the  bounds  to 
Southern.  Bounded  on  the  east  by  a  line  that  runs  from  said  meadow 
north  westerly  by  marked  trees,  to  a  certain  black  oak  tree  standing  a 
little  below  the  road,  marked  on  four  sides,  and  from  thence  to  run  due 
north  four  miles  and  a  half,  more  or  less,  and  from  the  north  side  of  the 
said  west  line,  ending  at  Broncke's  river,  and  from  thence  to  run  east- 
erly till  it  meets  with  the  north  end  of  the  said  eastern  most  boiinils,  to- 
gether with  all  and  singular  the  islands  and  the  islets  before  the  said 
tract  of  land  lying  and  being  in  the  sound  and  sjilt  water,  with  all 
the  harbors,  creeks,  rivers,  rivulets,  runs,  waters,  lakes,  meadows, 
ponds,  marshes,  salt  and  fresh,  swamps,  soils,  timber,  trees,  pastures, 
feedings,  eiu  losures,  fields,  cpiarriefi,  mines,  minerals  (silver  and  gold 
mines  only  excepted),  fishing,  hunting,  fowling,  hawking  and  also  the 
messuages,  houses,  tenements,  barns,  mills,  mill  dams,  as  they  were  at 
the  time  of  the  ensealing  and  delivery  of  the  articles  of  agreement  of 
sale  for  siiid  land,  bearing  clnte  the  secoiul  day  of  .Inly,  in  the  year  of  onr 
Lord  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty  seven.  As  relation  being 
thereto  had,  doth  more  fully  and  at  large  appear,  as  also  the  revi'i-sion 
and  reversions,  remainder  and  remainders  of  a  certain  lott  of  land  and 
meadow  novs'  in  the  tenure  and  occupation  of  John  Jefferd  and  Olive,  his 
wife,  being  part  of  the  aforesaid  six  thousand  acres  »f  land,  with  all  the 
privileges  belonging  thereto,  or  in  any  wise  appertaining  or  therewith 
now  used,  occupied  and  enjoyed,  as  all  the  right,  title,  interest,  reversion, 
remainder,  property,  clainie  and  demand  whatsoever,  of,  iu,  and  to  the 
same,  ami  any  part  thereof  as  hereafter  expressed. 

"  To  have  and  to  hold  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land,  with  all  other  the 
alwve  granted  premises,  unto  the  sjiid  Jacob  Leisler,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs, for  ever,  to  his  and  their  own  sole  and  proper  use,  benefit 
and  liehoof,  for  ever  yielding  and  paying  unto  the  said  John 
Pell,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  lords  of  the  said  Manor  of  Pelham,  to  the  as- 
signs of  him  or  them,  or  their  or  either  of  them,  as  an  acknowledgment 
to  the  lords  of  the  said  Manor,  one  fat  calf  on  every  four  and  twentieth 
day  of  June,  yearly  and  every  year  forever — if  demanded. 

"  The  Siiid  John  Pell  and  R,irhel,  his  wife,  for  themselves,  their  heirs, 
executors  and  administrators,  respectively,  do  hereby  covenant,  promise 
and  grant  to  and  with  the  Kiid  .lacob  Leisler,  his  hell's  and  assignees,  in 
manner  and  form  follciwiiig,  that  is  to  s.iy,  at  the  time  of  the  ensealing 
hereof,  they,  the  said  John  Pell  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  do  avouch  them- 
selves to  be  true,  sole  and  lawful  owners  of  all  the  aforebargained  prem- 
ises, and  that  they  are  lawfully  seized  of  and  in  the  same  and  every  part 
thereof  in  their  own  proixtr  right  of  a  gomi  and  indefinable  estiite  of  in- 
heritance in  fee  simple,  and  have  in  themselves  good  right,  full  power 
and  lawful  authority  to  sidl  and  dispose  of  the  siimeas  aforesaid  ;  and  the 
s-iid  Jacob  Leisler,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  shall  and  may  from  hence- 
forth and  forever,  |>eaceably,  ipiietly,  have,  hold,  occu|iy,  possess  and  en- 
joy the  above  granted  premises,  and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof,  free 
and  clear  without  any  charge  or  intimidation,  caused,  made,  suffered  or 
granted  by  said  John  Pell  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  or  either  of  them,  their 
or  either  of  their  heirs  in  estate,  right,  title,  interest  iu  law  or  equity, 
trust,  charge  or  other  molestation  whatsoever. 

"  And  the  said  John  Pell,  and  Rjichel,  his  wife,  for  thoin.selves  respec- 
tively and  for  their  respective  heirs,  do  covenant,  promise  and  grant  to  war- 
rant and  defend  the  alMive  granted  promises  with  their  appurtenances  and 
every  part  ami  parcel  thereof,  luito  the  sjiid  Jacipb  Leisler,  bis  hei|-s  and 
assignees  forever,  against  the  lawful  charges  and  demands.  In  witne.'s 
whereof,  the  said  John  Pell  and  Rachel,  his  wife,  have  liereuulo  set 
their  hands  and  seals  in  New  Y'ork,  the  twentieth  day  of  September,  in 
the  fi:st  j-ear  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lord  and  lady,  William  and 
Mai7,  King  and  Queen  of  England,  Ac,  ic,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-nine. 

"John  Pei.i,. 

"  The  JIark  of 
"  R.icHEi.— R— Pm.i.. 

Leisler  purchased  the  lands  from  Pell  for  the  Hu- 


688 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


guenots,  to  whom  he  released  them  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible during  the  year  1690,  preceding  the  year  in 
which  he  was  executed  on  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
The  township  was  surveyed  and  divided  into  lots  or 
farms  on  the  20th  of  November,  1693,  by  Alexander 
Allaire,  one  of  the  purchasers  from  Leisler,  and  Cap- 
tain Bond,  who  was  a  surveyor. 

]\IiLiTARY  Hi.STORY. — Tile  towu  of  NewRochelle  ap- 
pears to  have  sufl'ered  somewhat  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  althougli  by  no  means  so  severely  as 
some  other  parts  of  the  county: 

"  On  tlifi  18th  of  October,  1776,  the  Biitisli  nriny  (  ro.ssed  tci  I'elbaiii 
Point  from  Throg's  Neck,  and  niurchiiig  northerly,  encamped  tiie  same 
night  on  the  high  ground  hetwetm  Ilulehinson's  River  (Kast  Cliester 
Creek)  and  New  Rochelle  village,  where  it  remained  till  the  2Ist.  On 
the  21st  the  Britisli  removed  and  encamjied  on  New  Rochelle  Heights, 
nortli  of  the  village,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  road  leading  to  Scaredale. 
During  the  nuircli  of  the  two  armies  towards  White  IMains,  frequent 
skirmishes  hajiiiened.  General  Sullivan  attacked  the  vanguard  of  the 
British  on  their  road  from  New  Rochelle,  and  in  tlie  figlit  which  cn- 
Bued,  as  well  as  in  most  of  the  other  smaller  engagements,  the  advantage 
was  with  the  Americans. 

"  But  their  greatest  troubles  befell  the  inluibitants  after  the  battle  at 
White  Plains  was  over,  au<l  the  Bi'itish  army  had  retired  to  Dobbs 
Ferry  ;  for  the  whole  region  between  the  Sound  and  the  Hudson  River 
was  overrun  ami  laiil  waste  by  a  partizan  warfare,  and  became,  as  it 
were,  the  battle-ground  of  the  disafTectetl,  and  the  i)rey  of  botli  friend 
and  foe.  Scenes  of  cruelty  and  bloodslieii,  unknown  in  civili/.ed  warfare, 
marked  tliese  predatory  excursions  from  both  lines,  and  in  defense  of  tlicir 
homes,  the  valiant  sons  of  Westchester  exhibited  frequent  instances  of 
personal  bravery  unexcelled  in  ancient  or  modern  times."  ' 

The  following  incidents,  related  in  Mr.  Coutant's 
Historical  Reminiscences,  may  serve  as  specimens  of 
the  annoyances  and  dangers  to  which  the  inhabitants 
occupying  a  position  between  two  hostile  armies  were 
subjected.  In  many  instances,  no  doubt  they  wereol 
a  far  more  tragical  character. 

In  1776,  when  a  portion  of  Howe's  army  was  en- 
camped upon  the  high  land  a  few  hundred  yards  east 
from  the  old  Coutant  homstead  (upon  which  is  now  lo- 
cated the  Coutant  Cemetery),  the  surrounding  country 
suffered  much  from  the  soldiery  and  camp  followers. 
Of  this  kind  of  annoyance  the  ])remises  and  family  of 
Isaac  Coutant,  by  reason  of  their  ])roxiniity  to  the 
army,  had  their  full  share.  The  fields  were  stripped 
of  their  fences  for  fuel,  aud  the  live-stock  of  every 
kind  disappeared,  while  the  granaries  and  barns  were 
speedily  emptied  of  their  contents.  But  while  the 
soldiery  were  engaged  in  this  external  department  of 
plunder,  the  Hessian  women  ransacked  the  house 
from  kitchen  to  garret  in  quest  of  food,  clothing  or 
any  article  that  might  seem  of  use  to  them.  So  fre- 
quent were  their  visits,  and  so  importunate  and  im- 
perious their  demands,  that  even  the  meat  and  vege- 
tables were  taken  from  the  pot  in  the  j)rocess  of  cook- 
ing. At  length  Isaac  Coutant  was  com[)elled  to  apply 
to  General  Kny[)hausen  for  protection,  since  his 
family  were  in  danger  of  .starvation.  A  stalwart  High- 
lander from  one  of  the  Scotch  regiments  was  detailed 
to  guard  the  premises.  Hardly  had  he  entered  upon 
this  duty  when  one  of  these  female  harpies  entered 


the  house,  and,  with  meat-hook  in  hand,  made  her 
way,  as  usual,  to  the  dinner-pot  suspended  over  the 
fire.  But  as  she  stooped  to  raise  the  lid  the  Scotch- 
man dealt  her  a  blow  with  the  flat  of  his  sword  which 
materially  interfered  with  her  investigations,  and 
when  she  arose  in  wrath  and  advanced  upon  him 
with  the  meat-hook  (without  giving  the  countersign) 
he  dealt  her  another  thwack  with  his  broadsword 
which  sent  her  staggering  to  the  door,  from  which 
she  retreated  in  the  direction  of  the  camp,  hurling 
anathemas  like  Parthian  arrows  at  the  soldier,  by 
which,  however,  as  they  were  couched  in  an  unknown 
tongue,  he  was  not  much  dismayed. 

"As  the  war  progressed  it  assumed  an  aspeat  of  increased  and  contin- 
uous  i)eril.  Families  living  between  the  lines  of  the  two  hostile  camps 
were  constantly  exposed  to  plunder  and  violence.  One  night,  as  the 
family  at  the  old  (Coutant)  homestead  were  sitting  quietly  around  tha 
hearthstone,  the  doors  were  unceremoniously  burst  open  by  a  company 
of  these  unscrupulous  plunderers.  Isaac  Coutant,  a  man  advanced  in 
years,  was  by  them  greeted  roughly.  He  and  his  sons  were  ordered  out 
into  the  yanl,  and  their  money  demanded  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
What  they  had  about  them  was  given  up.  Suspecting  him  of  having  a 
concealed  horde  somewhere,  they  punched  him  in  the  back  with  their 
guns  at  full  cock,  to  induce  him  to  surrender  it.  Failing  to  discover 
what  did  not  exist,  they  marched  the  young  men  across  the  fields  to  the 
north  of  the  house,  down  to  the  border  of  a  dense  swamp,  and  tried  by 
means  of  threats  and  promises  to  induce  them  to  confess  the  locality  of 
the  supposed  concealed  treasure.  The  boys,  however,  were  no  wiser 
than  their  father  with  regard  to  this  imaginary  deposit  ;  so  that,  in  the 
end,  their  captore  seem  to  have  become  convinced  of  their  mistake  and 
allowed  them  to  return  home.  The  boys  becoming,  as  may  well  be  sup- 
posed, tired  of  this  sort  of  thing,  which  was  liable  to  happen  at  any  hour 
of  the  day  or  night,  sought  concealment  on  such  occasions  nnder  the 
floor  of  the  old  kitchen  (a  detached  building,  as  was  commonly  the  case 
in  the  days  when  slavery  prevailed,  and  as  may  still  be  seen  on  the  old 
Quintard  homestead),  which  Wiis  elevated  sufficiently  above  the  ground 
to  admit  of  a  person  crawling  un<ler  and  lying  down  between  the  huge 
oaken  beams.  After  two  or  three  years  of  lodgment  in  this  strange 
dormitory,  matters  .becoming  woree  and  worse,  and  fearing  that  they 
might  be  smoked  out  or  burnt  out,  as  animals  are  sometimes  from  their 
burrows,  they  were  literally  compelled  to  take  to  the  woods,  where,  in 
company  with  other  young  men  of  the  neighborhood,  they  built  a  hut 
like  an  Indian  wigwam  in  a  secluded  and  unfrequented  spot.  This  hut 
they  thatched  over  with  wattles  and  straw,  in  such  wise  as  to  make  it 
water-tight,  and  thus  had  quite  a  safe  and  comfortable  sleeping  place. 

"  The  Bcyeau  Tavern,  an  old  Huguenot  landmark,  was  situated  on 
North  Street,  directly  opposite  where  the  Paine  Monument  now  stands. 
It  w;is  a  popular  place  of  resort  for  the  young  pooi)le  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  Dancing  and  card-playing  seem  to  have  been  the  favorite 
amusements,  in  which  they  indulged  at  all  houre  of  the  night,  at  the 
innninent  hazard  of  being  caught  by  prowling  bands  of  refugees  and 
Skinners,  who  scoured  the  middle  portion  of  WestchestcrCounty  in  small 
squads,  in  quest  of  forage  'and  indiscriminate  plunder.  An  incident 
which  took  place  at  this  tavern,  and  which  was  related  to  Mr.  Coutant 
by  his  father,  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  character  of  some  of  the  ex- 
periences of  those  days."  - 

A  number  of  the  young  men  of  the  neighborhood, 
who  were  convened  there  for  amusement,  found  them- 
selves suddenly  surrounded  in  the  midst  of  their  mer- 
riment by  a  trooj)  of  light  horsemen  from  the  British 
lines. 

Several  of  the  party  made  their  escape  from  the 
house  through  the  rear  windows  and  fled  across  the 
fields  to  the  woods.  The  rest  were  captured  and 
searched.  As  very  little  money  was  found  upon  them 
they  were  accused  of  having  concealed  it,  and,  as  a 


>  TompkiDs'  address  at  White  Plains,  October  28, 1845. 


2  Coutant's  "  Beminiscences." 


NEW  ROCHELLE. 


689 


punishment,  were  lashed  to  the  heels  of  the  soldiers' 
horses  and  the  animals  spurred  into  violent  action, 
so  that  the  prisoners  were  dashed  about  at  the  peril  of 
their  limbs  and  lives.  After  this  cruel  treatment 
they  were  compelled  to  kneel  down  in  the  road  and 
repeat  after  their  brutal  captors  a  profane  burlesque 
on  the  Lord's  Prayer.  This  ceremony  ended,  they 
were  stripped  of  their  coats,  hats  and  shoes,  and  left 
to  find  their  way  home  as  best  they  could,  or,  if  they 
preferred  it,  to  return  to  their  merriment  in  the  tav- 
ern. 

During  the  War  of  1812  a  panic  took  place  among 
the  militia  who  had  been  stationed  upon  Davenport's 
Neck  as  a  guard  against  the  possible  landing  of  a 
force  from  the  British  men-of-war  which  were  cruis- 
ing in  the  Sound.  It  was  a  false  alarm,  but  their  fright 
was  such  that  they  fled  in  every 
direction,  taking  refuge  in  the 
neighboring  woods  and  swamps, 
and  some  of  them  failing  to  report 
themselves  until  many  hours  had 
elapsed.  This  was  not  a  victory  to 
be  proud  of,  nor  even  a  masterly 
retreat,  but  when  we  recall  the 
history  in  more  modern  times,  of 
the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  we  will  not 
be  too  hard  on  the  heroes  of  Daven- 
port's Neck.  It  retjuires  time,  dis- 
cipline and,  above  all,  active  ser- 
vice to  make  soldiers  out  of  the  raw 
material  of  farmers,  mechanics  and 
business  men.  The  rout  was  not 
any  more  complete  or  disgraceful 
than  at  the  battle  of  Camden,  South 
Carolina,  where  Gates'  new  levies 
ran  so  fast  and  so  far,  that  some 
think  they  are  running  still. 

The  Paixe  Farm  and  Moxu- 
MEXT. — Writers  upon  the  history 
of  New  Rochelle  have  usually  re- 
ferred to  the  fact  that  the  noted 
Thomas  Paine  lived  here  for  some 
time,  upon  a  farm  bestowed  upon 
him  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  for  his 
political  services  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 
This  farm,  said  to  have  consisted  originally  of  about 
tbree  hundred  acres,  was,  at  the  commencement  of 
hostilities,  in  the  possession  of  one  Frederic  Deveau, 
called  in  the  records  of  the  Confiscation  Act,  Bevoe, 
by  mistake,  and  styled  "Yeoman."    As  the  name  in- 
dicates, he  was  doubtless  a  descendant  of  the  Hugue- 
nots. 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  being  a  Tory,  his  property 
was  confiscated  and  given  to  Paine.  It  was  called  by 
some  "The Paine  Farm  "  and  by  others  "Mount  Paine.'' 
Thomas  Paine  came  to  live  upon  his  property  in  New 
Rochelle  during  the  first  years  of  the  present  century 
(1801-2).  In  his  "  Field-Book  of  the  Revolution,"" 
Benson  J.  Lossing,  in  referring  to  this  monument, 
65 


speaks  of  the  inscription,  "Thomas  Paine,  Author  of 
Common  Sense,"  as  though  no  other  words  had  been 
placeil  there.  If  he  had  taken  the  trouble  to  examine 
more  closely,  he  would  have  ascertained  that  his  ad- 
mirers have  placed  extracts  from  his  work,  "  The  Age 
of  Reason,"  in  the  rear.  If  (as  has  been  stated  by 
those  who  ought  to  know)  the  likeness  of  Paine 
placed  by  his  admirers  upon  the  monument  is  a  good 
one,  the  one  given  by  Mr.  Lossing  is  not  so,  for  there 
is  very  little  resemblance  of  the  one  to  the  other.  A 
part  of  the  house  in  which  Paine  lived  still  remains 
intact,  and  is  thought  to  be  one  of  the  most  ancient 
dwellings  in  the  town. 

As  he  died  on  the  8th  of  .June,  1809,  in  New  York, 
Paine  could  only  have  lived  in  New  Rochelle  four  or 
five  years.    He  was  buried  in  a  corner  of  the  Paine 


THOMAS  PAIXE'S  MOXUMEXT. 

farm  ;  but  in  the  year  1819  the  remains  were  disin- 
terred by  William  Cobbett,  and  conveyed  to  England. 
I  once  mot  with  an  aged  man,  who  informed  me  that 
he  was  living  a  small  boy  at  the  time,  in  a  house  almost 
directly  opposite  the  place  where  Paine  was  buried. 
At  a  very  early  hour  one  morning,  when  going  to  the 
pasture  to  drive  up  the  cows  for  milking,  he  dis- 
covered several  men  hard  at  work  digging  near  the 
road.  He  was  alarmed  and  watched  them  from  a  dis- 
tance. They  placed  something  contained  in  a  box, 
in  a  wagon,  tilled  up  the  empty  grave  and  drove 
rapidly  away.  That  was  the  last  of  the  mortal  re- 
mains of  the  author  of  "Common  Sense"  ever  seen 
in  this  country.  What  became  of  them  is  not  known, 
and  probably  never  will  be.  They  are  supjiosed, 
however,  to  have  been  taken  by  Cobbett  to  England. 


690 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


At  a  much  later  period  a  monument  was  erected 
near  the  spot  and  facing  the  road  to  White  Plains. 

There,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  house,  is  the  little 
sleeping-room,  with  its  antique  "  Franklin  tire-place, 
over  which  the  arcli  infidel  warmed  his  shivering 
limbs  before  returning  to  his  bed  of  straw."  During 
his  abode  here  he  was  accustomed  to  make  frequent 
excursions  into  the  surrounding  country,  calling  on  the 
principal  families  and  farmers  of  the  neighborhoods 
of  New  Rochelle  and  East  Chester,  whose  cellars  in 
those  days  were  well  supplied  with  hogsheads  of  good 
old  cider,  which  they  never  failed  to  serve  up  in 
bountiful  libations,  to  the  great  pleasure  of  their  dis- 
tinguished visitor.^  A  late  resident  of  New  Rochelle 
stated  that  his  grandfather  once  called  on  Mr.  Paine 
to  serve  him  with  some  legal  paper  or  process.  Upon 
discovering  the  nature  of  it,  he  was  greeted  with  a 
perfect  shower  of  imprecations  from  the  aged,  blear- 
eyed,  little  old  man.  But  his  wrath  soon  spent  itself, 
and  the  visitor  was  invited  in.  They 
entered  the  sleeping-room  above  men- 
tioned. There  was  a  fire  burning  in  the 
Franklin  fire-place.  In  the  middle  of  the 
room  stood  a  small  pine  table  without  a 
cloth  or  cover  of  any  kind.  Upon  it  were 
the  remains  of  a  loaf  of  rye  bread,  a  pitcher 
of  milk  and  a  piece  of  butter,  from  which 
Mr.  Paine  had  evidently  recently  made 
his  frugal  breakfast.  Another  visitor  at 
another  time  found  this  table  adorned 
with  a  cover  of  old  newspapers.  The 
Franklin  stove  has  been  removed  from 
the  place  which  it  occupied  for  so  many 
years,  and  is  now  (1885)  exhibited  as  a 
curiosity  in  the  show  window  of  Messrs. 
Bell  &  Harmen,  of  New  Rochelle.  At  the 
time  of  the  interview  above  described  Mr. 
Paine  was  clad  in  a  most  extraordinary- 
looking  outer  garment,  being  nothing  less 
than  a  dressing-gown  made  out  of  an  old 
army  blanket.  The  house  was  originally 
a  small  wooden  building,  one  and  a  half  stories  in 
height,  with  a  kitchen  attached  to  the  south  gable. 
The  removal  of  the  remains  of  Paine  from  their 
burial-place  in  New  Rochelle  had  its  effect,  too,  upon 
English  literature,  for  it  led  to  the  famous  but  irrev- 
erent epigram  of  Byron,  beginning, — 

"In  digging  up  your  bones,  Tom  Paine, 
Will  Cobbett  lias  done  well,"  etc- 

l  Coutanfs  "  Eeminiecences." 

^Nole  hij  3Ir.Coulant, — "It  is  naturally  supposed  by  many  that  the  resi 
dence  of  Thomas  Paine  in  New  Kochelle  must  have  exerted  an  injuri 
ous  influence  upon  the  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  the  presence  of  a  public  monument  to  his  memory  is  calculated  to 
confirm  this  impression.  In  so  far  as  this  relates  to  the  contempories  of 
Paine,  the  majority  of  whom  at  the  time  in  New  Rochelle  were  of  Hu- 
guenot descent,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  author  of  the  'Age  of 
Reason'  was  not  entirely  destitute  of  followers  and  admirers  among 
them  ;  and  it  is  possible,  and  even  probable,  that  this  evil  influence 
might  have  become  more  extended  and  permanent  than  it  ever  has  be- 


Othee  HrouEXOT  Houses. — The  dwelling  upon 
Centre  Street  formerly  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
late  Mr.  Samuel  Davis,  and  still  in  good  repair,  al- 
though it  has  been  much  altered  and  added  to,  is  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  oldest  in  the  town.  It  was  the 
residence  for  thirty  years  consecutively  of  the  Rev. 
Theodosius  Bartow,  i)astor  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  who  was  settled  in  1790,  and  died  in  New 
Rochelle,  November  12,  1819.  The  venerable  old 
tamarind  tree  at  the  east  end  of  the  house  is  said  to 
have  beeu  planted  by  Mr.  Bartow  himself  The 
chimney  jambs  in  this  house,  in  the  principal  room, 
are  ornamented  with  the  Dutch  titles  inscribed  with 
Scripture  mottoes  so  much  in  vogue  in  the  olden  time. 
It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Bartow  was  not  the  first  occu- 
pant, and  that  the  house  dated  from  long  before  the 
Revolutionary  War. 

The  Pixtard  Mansion  also  has  a  pre-Revolu- 
tionary  history ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding  its  antiq- 


THliMAS  PAINE  S  HOUSE. 

uity,  it  is  one  of  the  most  desirable  residences  in  New 
Rochelle.  There  are  eleven  rooms  in  the  main  build- 
come,  but  for  the  counteracting  power  exerted  by  the  early  Methodist 
Church,  especially  at  Upper  New  Rochelle  and  along  the  entire  extent 
of  North  Street.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  might  be  regarded  by 
some  in  the  light  of  a  special  providence,  that  immediately  subsequent  to 
the  death  and  burial  of  Paine  in  this  neighborhood,  and  for  over  twenty 
yeai"S  afterwards,  the  powerful  appeals  made  to  the  hearts  and  consciences 
of  the  people  by  the  early  itinerant  preachers  of  Methodism,  as  well 
as  the  combined  eflorts  of  the  whole  membership  of  that  church,  were 
attended  with  extraordinary  results,  producing  a  complete  change  in  the 
religious  views  and  feelings  of  the  community,  and  dealing  to  infidelity 
of  the  Paine  type  a  blow  from  which  it  has  never  recovered.  Nor  was 
this  counteracting  influence  confined  to  the  place  where  it  originated,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Paine  monument,  at  Upper  New  Rochelle,  but  it 
spread  to  the  adjacent  towns  of  East  Chester,  Mamaroneck  and  White 
Plains.  In  a  word,  so  general  and  so  popular  was  this  religious  reforma- 
tion in  all  the  localities  above  referred  to,  that,  for  a  time,  any  man 
thereabouts  who  should  have  openly  professed  himself  to  be  a  disciple  of 
Thomas  Paine  would  have  been  (and  in  a  few  cases  actually  was)  re- 
garded as  a  sort  of  a  moral  monster  by  the  general  community.  This 


NEW  KOCHELLE. 


691 


ing,  with  two  wings  attached,  one  occupied  as  a 
kitchen.  Tlie  ceilings  of  all  the  rooms  on  the  ground 
floor  are  fully  ten  feet  in  heiglit,  and  there  is  an  open 
fire-place  in  every  room  in  the  house,  but  one.  It 
stands  almost  directly  ojjposite  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

The  front  line  of  this  old  place,  previous  to  the 
year  1800,  extended  through  to  Huguenot  Street.  The 
making  of  Main  Street  cut  off  from  it  a  triangular 
piece  of  land,  which,  lying  thus  between  the  two 
streets,  was  given  by  the  trustees  of  Lewis  Pintard  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  year  1827,  and  forms 
part  of  the  site  of  the  present  edifice. 

In  digging  a  deep  drain  along  that  portion  of  Main 
Street  in  front  of  the  church,  in  the  spring  of  1884, 
a  copper  coin  was  thrown  up  by  the  workmen  from 
a  dei)th  of  ten  or  eleven  feet  below  the  surface.  How 
it  came  to  be  buried  there  is  a  matter  of  conjecture. 
It  was  in  a  good  state  of  preservation.  The  head  of 
George  III.,  King  of  Great  Britain,  is  faintfy  discern- 
ible. The  date  is  almost  obliterated,  but  seems  to  be 
1780  or  1790. 


OLD  HUcrEXOT  HOUSE, 
Oil  sir.  Simeon  Lester's  Place,  North  Street,  New  Rochelle. 

The  grounds  adjacent  to  the  house  consist  of  over 
twenty-three  acres,  and  there  is  upon  them  one  of  the 
finest  springs  in  the  town  of  clear,  cool  water,  the 
<lei)th  of  which  never  varies  at  any  season  of  the 
year.  Coins  issued  before  the  Revolutionary  War 
have  been  found  there,  while  ploughing,  but  none  of 
American  origin.  In  the  year  1884  an  additional 
room  was  built  over  the  front  porch,  and,  while  re- 
moving a  part  of  the  roof  for  this  purpose,  a  number 
of  papers  and  letters  of  Huguenot  origin  were  discov- 
ered. The  letters  are  addressed  to  Mr.  Lewis  Pintard, 
of  New  Rochelle,  and  some  of  the  papers  are  in  his 
own  handwriting.  There  were  also  found  a  pointed 
shoe,  of  ancient  make,  and  a  small  vial  of  olive  oil, 
a  few  drops  of  which  still  adhered  to  the  sides  and 
bottom  of  ihe  glass.  One  of  these  papers  is  a  bill 
against  John  Pintard  for  "  7  Reemes  of  paper,  and  1 
p'*  Bukrom  ; "  dated  "  July  14th  1738  |  £6:12:  2." 

Another  is  a  bill  dated  New  York,  January,  1774. — 

"  Mr.  Louis  Pintard  to  Peter  Goelet,  Dr. 

"  To  nails,  hinges  and  other  hardware,  £8  9«.  8d. 

statement  is  in  no  respect  exaggerated.  I  am  here  sponking  advisedly, 
and  from  my  own  jwrsonal  knowleilge  of  the  state  of  things  at  that 
time."  —  I'njml'lighed  Maiiiincripl  of  Huguenot,  Seic  Ilockelk. 


This  is  signed,  "Paid:  Peter  Goelet."  All  the 
bills  are  in  English  currency  and  are  dated  before 
the  Revolutionary  War.  They  had  remained 
there  undisturbed  behind  the  ceiling,  where  they  had 
accidentally  fallen,  for  the  greater  part,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  a  century.  The  i)enmanship  of  some  of 
these  documents  is  of  a  superior  kind.  The  writing 
of  all  of  them  is  quite  legible,  and,  while  the  paper  is 
somewhat  discolored  by  time,  the  ink  is  entirely  un- 
changed. 

It  was  not  at  first  my  purpose  to  print  any  of  these 
old  letters;  but,  upon  further  consideration,  I  have  de- 
cided to  give  a  translation  of  the  letter  addressed  to 
the  French  Church  in  New  York,  as  a  specimen  of 
the  very  polite  style  of  a  French  commercial  corre- 
spondent of  the  last  century,  and  also  as  showingt  he 
communication  which  was  kept  up  between  the  old 
French  Huguenot  Church  in  New  York,  and  its  sis- 
ter churches  abroad.  A  copy  of  this  letter  may  be 
found  among  the  records  of  the  French  Church  in 
New  York  (so  Dr.  Baird  informs  me)  at  the  present 
time, — 

["  Copy  "]  "  AMSTEBn.\M,  Oct.  5th,  1704. 

"  Messrs.  Vallad,  Daniel  Bonnet,  Jaques  des  Brosses  and  others,  heads 

of  the  French  Churcli  of  New  York. 
"  Fearing  that  Mr.  Daller  may  not  be  able  to  reach  London  in  time  to 
proceed  tlience  to  Falmouth  and  take  advantage  of  the  packet  which 
should  sail  from  thence  for  your  place  on  the  13th  inst.,  I  think  it  my 
duty  to  communicate  to  you  the  preceding,  which  I  have  remitted  to  him 
and  sunt  yesterday  to  the  Texel  in  order  that  you  may  be  informed  of 
the  departure  from  this  place  of  my  friend  Dallcr,  whom  I  continue  to 
recomnienil  to  you  as  strongly  as  possible.  He  merits  it  in  every  re- 
spect. Meanwhile,  I  remain  unchangeably  and  without  any  restriction 
whatever,  Yours  &c." 

"Nov.  6th,  1704. 

"  Gentlemen : 

"Since  the  preceding,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  write  to  you  on  Oc- 
tober .5th,  which  letter  I  ho,  e  will  have  reached  you  by  the  Packet  that 
sailed  from  Falmouth,  Oct.  l:Jth,  of  which  your  pastor,  Mr.  Jacob  Dal- 
ler could  not  take  advantage,  but  has  since  embarked  at  London,  in  the 
ship  Thomas  and  VVaddel,  C'apt.  Chambers,  sjiiling  directly  for  your  city, 
and  which  sailed  October  iMi  ;  hoping  ardently  that  you  will  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  him  in  good  health  before  the  receipt  of  this  let- 
ter, which  I  send  to  London,  whence  I  flatter  myself  that  it  will  be  for- 
warded in  time  to  go  by  the  Packet,  which  ought  to  sail  the  lOlh  inst- 
This,  Mr.  Daller  will  tell  you  that  ho  received  from  Jlessrs.  Chabanel  and 
WhithotT,  in  Loudon,  as  per  his  receipt  of  October  •23d, 
«.        s.  rf. 
[the  !ium  of  J                   59        3  !» 
Paid  besides                             4  for  permits 

which  it  seems  ('ai)t.  Chambers 

found  it  necessary  to  procure 


5a 


Provisions  in  London 


12 


negotiating  4<c 


sterling  @  37 

26.13 
/Tj!)2.13 


'  to  which  I  add  the  amount  I  remitted  you 
and  postage  on  your  letters  anil  mine  in 
London  since  March  28fli,  1764,  including 
several  from  Geneva,  Switzerland  Ac, 
Current  money  of  Holland 


/27.- 


42.7 


317.7 
/lOlO 


'  Florins. 


692 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


"  Which  I  place  to  the  debit  of  your  account,  and  if  I  do  not  shortly 
advise  you  of  luy  drafts  on  you,  gentlemen,  you  will  oblige  me  by  remit- 
ting the  amount,  since  I  have  but  too  frequently  to  make  disbursements 
for  my  numerous  friends  on  j'our  place.  Thus,  instead  of  my  making 
remittances  to  them,  I  have  on  the  contrary  to  make  drafts  on  them  ; 
therefore  oblige  me  by  remitting  the  above  sum  in  ilOO  sterling  Draft  on 
London,  upon  receipt  of  this,  as,  on  reflection  upon  what  I  have  stated 
to  you,  I  will  not  draw  upon  you.  Gentlemen,  for  anything  I  received, 
only  on  October  27th,  via.  Rotterdam,  your  above  mentioned  package  of 
July  15th.  I  sent  tlie  same  evening  the  inclosure  to  the  Church  at  Haar- 
lem.  Mr.  Magnet  luis  acknowledged  its  receipt,  and  informed  me  that 
his  church  has  written  to  ours,  to  the  sexton  of  which  I  have  myself  just 
remitted  your  inclosure.  With  it  I  enclosed  all  the  letters  of  the  Sieur 
Menanteau  which  you  have  taken  the  trouble  to  copy.  I  postponed 
until  to-day  the  delivery  of  your  communication  to  our  Consistory,  inas- 
much as  the  second  meeting  of  that  body  i»  at  present  in  session.  I  wish 
that,  at  last,  there  might  be  due  reflection,  and  tliat  I  might  have  the 
satisfaction  to  communicate  to  you  in  my  next  an  agreeable  result.  In 
this  expectation,  I  continue  beyond  all  expression. 

"  Gentlemen,  your  very  humble  and  very  obedient  servant, 

"J.vcoB  Henry  Chabanel." 

While  none  of  these  documents  are  of  any  special 
historical  value,  they  show  that  the  merchants  of  a 
century  and  a  half  ago  were  careful  men.  They  used 
good  stout  paper,  without  ruling.  Many  of  them 
wrote  their  own  commercial  letters  in  a  clear  and  dis- 
tinct hand.  There  is  no  mistaking  their  signatures. 
The  names  of  old  Peter  Goelet,  Lewis  Pintard  and 
the  others  are  their  own,  and  well  calculated  to 
last  another  hundred  years. 

The  lapse  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  (one  of 
these  letters  is  dated  1738),  though  passed  in  a  garret, 
— has  not  obscured  a  word,  nor  obliterated  a  signa- 
ture. It  will  be  observed,  moreover,  that  fashions 
revolve  in  circles  of  a  century  or  more.  The  ex- 
tremely sharp-pointed  shoe  which  came  to  light  with 
these  papers,  and  from  the  same  hiding-place — is  the 
very  same  which  has  been  fashionable  in  recent  years, 
although  from  its  small  size  and  coarse  make,  it  seems 
to  have^belonged  to  a  female  servant  of  those  ancient 
days.  But  the  inquiry  arises;  if  this  was  the  pattern 
of  shoe  worn  by  the  servants ;  did  not  those  of  the 
masters  and  mistresses  of — say  1750-60  "come  to  the 
point  "still  more  sharply?  The  oil  found  with  the 
shoe  may  have  been  intended  for  "  its  lubrication," 
but  fate  willed  it  otherwise. 

The  Huntington  Homestead  was  perhaps  the 
most  venerable  monument  of  Huguenot  architecture 
in  the  town,  and  there  were  few,  if  any,  older  houses 
in  the  county.  It  is  believed  to  have  been  built 
about  the  year  1(590,  by  Alexander  Allaire,  one  of  the 
fir.st  settlers,  who,  as  has  been  stated,  landed  at 
Bonnefoy's  Point.  It  was  therefore  well  on  towards 
the  completion  of  its  second  century.  It  was  con- 
structed of  unhewn  stone.  Its  situation  "was  highly 
picturesque  commanding  a  view  of  the  varied  scenery 
of  marsh,  and  creek,  and  wooded  point ;  and  away  to 
the  eastward  over  the  islets  in  the  vicinity  of  Bonne- 
foy's Point.  For  a  number  of  years  past  the  wood- 
work of  the  interior  had  been  decayed,  and  the  house 
itself  untenantable,  until  at  length  it  was  removed 
and  replaced  by  a  more  modern  structure.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  some  houses  built  of  wood,  will 


outlast  others  built  of  stone,  because  the  former  can 
be  more  readily  altered  and  adapted  to  modern  ideas." 
But  sooner  or  later  all  must  go. 

"  Out  upon  Time  !  he  will  leave  no  more 
of  the  things  to  come  than  the  things  before  I 
Out  upon  Time  !  who  forever  will  leave 
But  enough  of  the  past  for  the  future  to  grieve." 

Religious  Denomination.s. — There  is  abundant 
evidence,  that  the  early  settlers  of  New  Rochelle 
loved  and  valued  the  Protestant  religion,  for  adhering 
to  which  they  had  suftered  so  much.  Like  the  New 
England  Puritans,  whose  situation  and  circumstances 
their  own  almost  exactly  resembled, — they  soon  found 
means  in  despite  of  all  dithculties  to  erect  a  place  for 
Christian  worship.  It  was  a  harder  task  to  support  a 
preacher.  When  they  had  a  pastor,  the  sacrament 
was  administered  four  times  a  year.  When  without  one 
they  walked  to  New  York  for  the  sake  of  enjoying 
this  privilege.  Tradition  relates  that  they  often  set 
out  for  the  city  on  communion  Sundays  ata  very  early 
hour,  reached  the  old  French  Church  in  Pine  Street 
in  time  for  the  service,  and  returned  to  their  homes 
on  the  afternoon  or  evening  of  the  same  day,  the  dis- 
tance by  the  road  to  New  York  being  fully  twenty 
miles. 

Meanwhile,  the  religious  instruction  of  the  children 
was  not  neglected.  Sabbath-schools,  as  now  con- 
ducted, were  unknown  ;  but  they  were  taught  the 
catechism  of  their  church,  and  often  received  script- 
ture  lessons  from  the  jiictures  upon  the  ancient  Dutch 
tiles,  which,  in  the  better  class  of  houses,  ornamented 
the  mantel-pieces  and  fire-places.  Such  were  for- 
merly to  be  seen  in  the  house  where  the  writer  of  this 
sketch  now  resides,  the  old  Pintard  place.  Unfor- 
tionately,  in  the  progress  of  modern  improvement  ? 
they  have  now  mostly  disappeared,  like  the  old  stone 
church  on  Huguenot  Street.  But  they  may  still  be 
found  in  the  house  for  many  years  owned  and  occu- 
pied by  the  late  Samuel  Davis,  which  stands  near  by. 

The  first  church  edifice  was  of  wood,  built  in  1692. 
It  stood  a  little  west  of  the  house  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Stephen  Carpenter,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
ancient  dwellings  in  New  Rochelle.  The  church 
fronted  directly  upon  the  old  Boston  post-road, — then 
the  main  street  of  the  village,  and  was  only  a  few 
yards  distant  from  the  triangular  piece  of  ground 
which  forms  the  site  of  the  present  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  church  was  burned  in  the  year  1723, 
and  afterwards  rebuilt.  This  first  church  edifice  was 
used  by  the  Huguenots  for  many  years  as  a  place  of 
worship,  and  continued  to  be  occupied  as  such  by  a 
number  of  them,  who  protested  against  the  transfer  of 
their  church  and  church  property  to  Episcopacy,  as 
without  authority  of  law,  and  contrary  to  the  wishes 
of  the  people.  Such  is  the  view  still  held  by  many  of 
their  descendants,  large  numbers  of  whom  are  now 
members  of  other  enurches.  The  views  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Baird  upon  this  subject,  who  is  one  of  the  highest 
authorities  in  this  country  upon  all  matters  pertain- 


NEW  KOCHELLE. 


693 


injr  to  Huguenot  History,  may  be  found,  supported  by 
documentary  evidence  (in  the  third  vohime  of)  his 
new  work,  (two  volumes  of  which  have  just  been 
issued  from  the  press),  "  The  Huguenots  in  Amer- 
ica." Those  of  the  Rev.  L.  J.  Coutant,  a  descendant 
of  the  original  settlers  of  Xew  Rochelle,  and  who  was 
personally  acquaitjted  with  some  of  the  non-conform- 
ists are  as  follows  :  '  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  that 
a  people  so  warmly  and  conscientiously  attached  to 
the  principles  and  forms  of  a  religion  for  which  they 
had  suffered  exile,  confiscation  and  almost  every 
imaginable  form  of  persecution,  would  not  willingly 
submit  to  be  transferred  by  lair,  and  to  be  swallowed 
u])  within  the  pale  of  a  church,  whose  rites,  ceremo- 
nies, form  of  government  and  mode  of  worship,  were 
entirely  dissimilar  to  their  own.  We  are  disposed  to 
think,  therefore,  that  the  statement,  *  "  All  but  two 
individuals  of  Mr.  Boudet's  congregation  unanimously 
conformed  to  the  Church  of  England,"  is  misleadiiir/ 
and  calculated  to  convey  the  impression,  (which  is 
•certainly  a  false  one)  that  the  entire  body  of  the  French 
settlers  at  New  Rochelle,  except  two  individuals  gave 
their  cheerful  and  willing  assent  to  the  change.  This 
may  be  true,  but  it  does  not  state  the  whole  truth  by 
any  means. 

"  >Ir.  Boudet's  congiegiition  may  have  formed,  as  we  have  seen  that  it 
did,  but  a  small  part  of  the  whole  French  Colony  at  the  time,  and  on  the 
occasion  referred  to  ;  consisting  no  doubt  of  the  officials  and  principal 
men  of  the  town,  to  whom  had  been  committed  in  good  faith  the  man. 
agemcnt  of  church  matters,  and  the  religious  interests  of  the  colony  in 
general.  This  class  always  has  existetl,  and  does  still  exist  in  all  church 
establishments  ;  men,  who  by  their  pecuniary  means  and  prominence  in 
society,  as  well  as  by  their  official  relations  to  the  church  and  state,  ex- 
ercise a  controlling  influence.  But  it  is  equally  certain,  that  the  acts 
and  doings  of  this  class  of  (lersons  cannot  always  be  held  to  represent  the 
views  and  wishes  of  a  majoritij  of  the  peoph'^  or  even  the  unanimom  ap- 
proval of  their  own  number,  since  even  in  the  case  we  are  considering, 
there  were  at  least  two  dissenting  voices.  There  were  doubtless  many 
more.  But  we  have  not  now  the  means  of  ascertaining  how  many  more 
would  have  voted  against  this  transfer  (which  carried  with  it  the  whole 
of  their  valuable  church  property,  as  was  proved  by  the  event),  had  they 
been  allowed  and  encouraged  to  deposit  their  votes.  That  there  would 
have  been  a  considerable  number  of  these  protestauts  is  probable,  for 
this,  among  other  reasons. 

"John  Coutant,  who  died  in  the  year  184K,  at  the  age  of  t)C,  informed 
me  several  years  before  his  death,  that  there  was  considerable  dissatis- 
faction among  the  French  Hugenot  families  in  New  Rochelle,  and  many 
comi)laints  of  unfairness,  in  the  course  pursued  by  the  conformi^ts  in 
this  transaction.  By  it.  not  only  was  their  church  property  taken  away 
from  them,  under  the  new  charter  or  grant  of  Queen  Anne,  and  their 
ancient  form  of  worship  abolished  by  the  adoption  of  that  established  in 
the  English  church  ;  but,  as  they  could  not  conscientiously  adopt  the 
form  of  religious  service  and  worship, — they  [who  decline  to  conform] 
were  left  without  any  place  of  worship,  and  deprived  of  the  ministra- 
tions of  their  own  chosen  pastors."  ' 

Soon  after  this  separation,  a  new  church  was  built 
by  those  who  had  seceded  from  the  French  Huguenot 
to  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  autumn  of  the  year 
1710.' 

This  new  edifice  stood  a  little  east  of  the  present 
Episcopal  Church.    It  was  constructed  of  stone ;  was 

'Contents  unpublished  manuscript. 
2  See  Bolton. 

'The  views  of  those  who  confonued  were  presented  in  Bolton's  His- 
tory, vol.  i.  p.  630. 

*  Badeau's  Pen  and  Ink  Sketch. 


forty  feet  in  length  and  thirty  in  breadth,  and  per- 
fectly plain  within  and  without.  The  first  pastor 
of  the  new  Episcopal  Church  was  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Boudet,  who  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London, 
a  minister  of  the  English  Church  and  came  to  this 
country  in  1(580.  He  died  in  1722.  During  an  inter- 
val of  two  years,  between  his  death  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  his  successor,  services  were  performed  by  the 
Rev.  John  Bartow,  who  seems  to  have  had  a  pretty 
wide  field  for  his  labors,  as  he  says  in  a  letter  still  ex- 
tant, that  he  preached  "  in  four  towns;  East  Chester, 
Westchester,  Yonkers  and  New  Rochelle;  the  last 
eight  miles,  Yonkers  six  miles  and  East  Chester  four 
miles  from  home  ;"  and  "  does  other  occasional  of- 
fices." The  horse  of  this  rector,  one  would  think, 
must  have  had  a  lively  time  and  fairly  earned  his 
living,  as  there  were  then  (1722)  very  few  public  con- 
veyances (if  any)  between  these  four  towns.  For  his 
extra  services  to  the  Xew  Rochelle  Church  during 
these  two  years,  Mr.  Bartow  received  from  the  En- 
glish Missionary  Society  the  sum  of  ten  pounds,  the 
purchasing  power  of  which,  however,  was  more  than 
double  and  perhaps  three  or  four  times  what  the  same 
sum  would  be  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Boudet  was  succeeded,  in  1724,  by  the  Rev. 
Pierre  Stouppe,  also  a  native  of  France,  and  ordained 
in  1723  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  The  conflict  be- 
tween the  two  branches  of  the  church — the  French 
Huguenot  and  the  Episcopal — was  maintained  with 
great  severity  during  his  pastorate,  as  appears  from  a 
letter  of  his  to  the  Secretary  of  the  English  Mission- 
ary Society,  dated  1725,  in  which  he  complains  bit- 
terly and  lamen.ts  mournfully  over  the  unhealed 
schism. 

He  was  followed  upon  his  death,  in  1760,  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Houdin,  another  Frenchman  by  birth, 
who  was  bred  a  Franciscan  friar.  Mr.  Houdin 
died  in  1776.  The  Rev.  Theodotius  Bartow  was 
called  to  the  church  in  1790,  they  having  been  with- 
out a  minister  for  fourteen  years,  during  the  troubles 
connected  with  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  He  con- 
tinued to  serve  the  church  until  1819 — nearly  thirty 
years — but  in  June  of  that  year  resigned  his  charge. 

The  list  of  ministers  and  rectors  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  New  Rochelle  is  as  follows  : 


Rev.  David  De  Bonrepas,  D  D   1689 

Rev.  Daniel  Boudet,  \M   1695 

Rev.  Pierre  Stoujipe,  .\.M   1724 

Rev.  Michael  Houdin,  .\.M   1761 

Rev.  Theodotius  Bartow   17l»0 

Rev.  Ravaud  Kearny,  .\.M   1819 

Rev.  Lewis  P.  Bayard,  A.JI   1821 

'Re\.  Lawson  Carter,  .\.M   1827 

Rev.  Thonnis  Winthrop,  Cirt.  D.D   1839 

Rev.  Richard  fmstead  Morgan,  D.D  •   ...  1849 

Rev.  John  II.  Watson   1874 

Rev.  Chas  F.  Canedy,  A.M   1876 

(Present  incumbent.] 


It  appeare  from  the  records  that  those  of  the 
French  Huguenots  who  were  unwilling  to  conform  to 
the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England, 


694 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


continued  their  connection  with  the  old  French 
Church,  in  New  York  City,  and  received  their  pas- 
tors, when  they  had  any,  as  missionary  bishops  from 
that  body.  This  relation  existed  from  the  year  of  the 
separation  (1709),  until  1764,  as  is  proved  by  the 
records,  and  probably  much  longer.  But  in  February 
1808,  a  new  church  was  incorporated,  composed 
partly  of  the  members  of  this  ancient  French  Hu- 
guenot body,  and  partly  of  Presbyterians,  but  still 
with  the  title  "  The  French  Church  in  New  Roch- 
elle."  Matson  Smith,  John  Eeid,  Thomas  Carpen- 
ter, Robert  Givan,  Gideon  Coggeshall  and  James 
Somerville  being  trustees.  On  the  30th  of  May,  1812, 
it  became  a  Presbyterian  church  in  name  as  well  as 
in  fact,  and  was  received 
into  the  care  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York. 
The  first  pastor  of  the 
French  Church  after  the 
separation  was  the  Rev. 
Jean  Brumand  de  Mouli- 
nars.  The  first  pastor  of 
the  New  Presbyterian 
Church  was  Rev.  Isaac 
Lewis,  Jr.,  1815,  who  was 
succeeded  in  turn  by  the 
following : 

Rev.  Klijali  D.  Wells  .  .  .  182;i 
Rev.  J.  D.  Wickliam  .  .  .  18'jr, 
Rev.  George  Stebbiue  .  .  .  IX-ZH 

Rov.  .lolin  Miison  183") 

Rev.  Gorman  P.  Abbot    .  .  18:i7 

Rev.  1".  Snyder  1811 

Rev.  Henry  Martyn  Scudder  1844 
Rev.  Chas.  Hawley  ....  1845 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Lindsley  .  lR4it 
Rev.  James  H.  Taylor  .  .  .  18.00 
Rev.  Erskine  X.  White  .  .  THI\-> 
Rev.  David  Hopkins  ....  ISlii) 
Rev.  Edward  li.  Biirkhalter  18711 
Rev.  Anthony  R.  Blacoubley  1877 
Rev.  R.  Randall  Hoes  .  .  .  1878 
Rev.  William  B.  Walles 
(present  incumbent). 

The  first  church  edifice 
erected  by  the  Presbyter- 
ians was  built  of  wood, 
in  the  year  1815.  In  18G0 
it  was  removed,  to  make 

room  for  a  new  building.  It  was  fitted  for  use  as 
a  parsonage,  and  presented  to  the  trustees  fi)r  that 
purpose  by  the  late  Albert  Smith,  M.D.,  of  New 
Rochelle.  The  new  church,  built  in  1860-^1,  is 
constructed  of  stone,  and  occupies  nearly  the  same 
position  as  the  old  one.  Its  cost  when  completed 
was  about  seventeen  thousand  dollars.  The  church 
edifice  of  the  E^piscopalians  (one  of  the  finest 
structures  of  the  kind  in  the  county),  is  also  of 
stone,  and  was  built  under  the  supervision  of  the 
celebrated  architect,  Upjohn.  It  stands  a  few  rods  to 
the  west  of  the  shop  once  occupied  by  the  quaint  old 
stone  edifice  built  for  their  worship  by  the  Huguenots 
in  the  year  1710,  and  which,  if  it  had  been  allowed  to 


remain  would  now  be  one  of  the  greatest  curiosities  in 
the  country.  If  anything  had  to  be  removed  it  should 
have  been  the  road,  and  not  the  venerable  old  church 
of  their  forefathers.  Upon  the  subject  of  this  ancient 
edifice  one  of  the  descendants  of  those  who  built  and 
worshiped  in  it,  has  the  following  feeling  remarks: 

"  The  Second  French  Protestant  Church  edifice  in 
New  Rochelle  was  erected  in  1710-11.  It  was  situated 
a  little  to  the  eastward  of  the  former  church,  on  Hu- 
guenot Street  (called  in  Queen  Anne's  charter  The 
High  Street),  and  just  in  front  of  the  residence  of  the 
late  Doctor  Peter  Moulton.  Its  ground  dimensions 
were  thirty  by  forty  feet.  The  roof  was  in  the  form 
of  a  square  pyramid.    The  body  of  the  structure  was 

of  rough,  unhewn  stone, 
and  pierced  by  arched 
windows.  The  entrance, 
which  was  on  the  south 
side,  was  also  an  arched 
door-way.  It  has  been 
conjectured  that  its  ex- 
ternal sha])e  was  modeled 
after  the  famous  Hugue- 
not Temple  of  La  Ro- 
chelle, in  France.  The 
interior  arrangements 
were  equally  primitive 
and  unadorned,  —  plain, 
unpainted,  uncushioned, 
high-backed  pews !  An 
elevated  box  pulpit,  built 
against  the  face  of  the 
wall  opposite  to  the  door- 
way. The  desk  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  plain  rail- 
ing, which  formed  the 
chancel  or  altar,  and  fur- 
nished with  a  small  com- 
munion table  made  of 
wood  of  the  wild  cherry 
(which  survived  the  old 
church  for  many  years 
and  which  I  have  seen). 
From  its  peculiar  shape, 
this  church  was  popularly 
known  and  is  still  remembered  by  some  of  our  old- 
est inhabitants  as  '  The  Old  Stone  Jug.'  Alas,  that 
this  venerable  relic  of  antiquity  should  now  have 
to  be  numbered  among  the  things  that  were!  The 
changes  incident  to  the  lapse  of  years,  and  the  van- 
dalism of  progress,  or  rather,  shall  I  say,  the  progress 
of  vandalism  ?  have  so  completely  annihilated  every 
vestige  of  the  ancient  structure,  that  even  its  exact 
situation,  ilka  that  of  its  predecessor,  cannot  be  defi- 
nitely determined,  but  is  more  or  less  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. And  why,  we  ask,  could  not  the  grasping, 
all-absorbing  spirit  of  change  and  novelty  which 
characterizes  the  age  have  spared  to  us  this  one, 
humble  monument  of  the  past,  to  build  which,  it  is 


NEW  KOCIIELLE. 


G95 


said,  that  the  men  carried  stones  in  their  hands,  and 
the  women  mortar  in  their  aprons?  If  for  no  other 
reason,  it  should  have  been  suffered  to  remain  that  it 
might  guard  the  sleeping  dust  of  two  of  its  earliest 
and  most  faithful  pastors,  Kev.  Daniel  Boudet  and 
Pierre  Stouppe,  whose  remains,  together  with  those  of 
the  wife  of  the  latter,  wore  deposited  beneath  its  floor. 
O  irony  of  Time  and  Fate!  While  the  emblazoned 
images  of  these  two  good  men,  arrayed  in  full  clerical 
costumes,  are  displayed  in  glowing  colors  upon  the 
chancel  windows  of  the  present  Gothic  edifice,  their 
bodies  moulder  beneath  the  stones  and  dust  of  the 
public  highway,  once  by  law  and  usage  the  burial- 
place  of  suicides  !  "  ' 

The  Methodist  house  of  worship  on  Banks  Street 
is  a  neat  and  commodious  structure.  The  organiza- 
tion is  the  second  of  that  name  in  the  town,  the  first 
being  at  Upper  New  Rochelle.  The  Baptist  Taber- 
nacle, at  the  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Locust  Ave- 
nue, is  sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  the  growing 
congregation  at  present,  but  there  is  ample  room 
upon  the  grounds  for  its  enlargement  whenever  that 
may  be  found  to  be  desirable.  The  Roman  Catholics 
have  a  capacious  house  of  worship  of  Avood,  and  by 
far  the  largest  congregation  in  the  town,  on  Centre 
Street.  Besides  these,  there  are  a  German  Lutheran 
and  a  German  Methodist  Church,  making  in  all  eight 
Protestant  Churches  and  one  Roman  Catholic.  At 
the  present  time  (1884)  all  of  these  churches  are  fur- 
nished with  pastors,  and  are  in  a  flourishing  condition, 
with  a  membership  of  nearly  or  quite  one  thousand. 

The  Beech  wood  Cemetery. — For  many  years 
the  town  of  New  Rochelle  had  felt  the  need  of  some 
better  place  for  the  burial  of  the  dead,  the  growing 
population  having  no  other  facilities  for  this  purpose 
than  the  private  or  denominational  burying-grounds 
afforded.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1854,  the  Beech- 
wood  Cemetery  was  incorporated  upon  land  owned 
by  the  late  Dr.  Albert  Smith,  of  New  Rochelle.  It 
was  chiefly  by  Dr.  Smith's  energy  and  liberality  that 
this  new  burial-place  was  opened  to  the  public,  he 
having  contributed  largely  both  of  time  and  money 
to  this  object.  The  position  is  convenient  and  well 
adapted  to  the  purpose  designed,  and  it  is  now  the 
principal  place  of  interment,  both  for  the  town  and 
the  vicinity. 

Educatiox. — For  a  long  time  after  the  settlement 
of  the  town  the  facilities  for  education,  owing  to  the 
peculiar  circumstances,  were  exceedingly  limited. 
The  clergy,  as  usual,  were  the  principal  teachers. 
"  Our  French  ancestors,"  says  the  Rev.  L.  J.  Coutant, 
in  his  valuable  historical  reminiscences  of  Huguenot 
New  Rochelle,  "  who  settled  this  town,  and  gave  it 
the  name  which  it  now  bears,  about  eighty-nine  years 
before  the  Revolutionary  War,  received  Iheir  educa- 
tion in  the  French  language,  and,  consequently,  dur- 
ing the   greater  part  of  the  period  above  named 


(eighty-nine  years),  the  rising  generation  was  edu- 
cated in  French.  The  writer's  grandmother  received 
her  education  in  that  tongue,  and  used  to  read  her 
French  Bible  and  prayer-book.  They  were  not  desti- 
tute of  good  scholars,  who  understood  both  French 
and  English,  and  could  converse  fluently  in  both  lan- 
guages. The  education  of  their  children  in  those 
times  devolved  chiefly  upon  the  pastors  of  the  French 
Protestant  Church.  David  Bonrepas,  their  first  min- 
ister, gave  instruction  to  the  young  people  in  letters 
and  religion." 

Daniel  Boudet  was  an  excellent  scholar  and  edu- 
cator ;  his  library  it  is  said,  consisted  of  over  four 
hundred  volumes,  which  for  those  times  was  large. 
Pierre  Stouppe,  his  successor  in  the  pastorate  of  the 
French  Church,  was  a  well  educated  man,  and  for 
many  years  kept  a  day  and  boarding-school  for  in- 
struction both  in  French  and  English.  It  is  no 
trifling  comment  on  his  ability  as  a  com]ietent 
teacher,  that  the  Hon.  John  Jay,  subsequently  Ameri- 
can minister  to  the  court  of  France,  and  of  Hugue- 
not descent,  and  General  Schuyler,  of  Revolutionary 
fame,were  among  his  pupils.  Indeed,  the  general  knowl- 
edge of  letters,  in  so  far  at  least  as  reading  and  writing 
are  concerned,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
among  a  list  of  sixty  names  subscribed  to  a  petition 
to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  in 
connection  with  the  Church  of  England  in  1743,  only 
five  individuals  signed  by  making  a  cross.  But  alas, 
for  poor  human  nature !  All  the  devotion  of  these 
people  to  their  religion,  and  such  learning  as  they 
could  command,  did  not  prevent  them  from  perpetrat- 
ing an  act  of  barbarism.  In  1776  they  burned  to 
death  a  negro  by  the  sentence  of  three  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  town,  for  the  crime  of  murder.  The  re- 
volting details  are  given  in  Coutant's  "  Reminis- 
cences," with  a  minuteness  and  particularity  that  are 
sickening.  Mr.  Bolton,  in  his  history,  says :  "In  a 
portion  of  the  Guion  property  once  owned  by  the  late 
George  Case,  Esq.,  nearly  opposite  the  old  Eels  mansion, 
on  North  Street,  the  remains  of  a  large  bed  of  char- 
coal were  discovered  a  few  years  since,  marking  the 
site  of  this  summary  execution."  '^ 

"  Tradition reveals  to  us  the  existence  of  two 
school-houses  in  the  town  of  New  Rochelle,  used  as 
such  probably  before  the  Revolution  and  during 
the  closing  years  of  the  18th  Century.  One  was 
situated  in  the  neighi)orhood  of  the  old  tollgate, 
and  the  other  on  North  Street,  opposite  the  resi- 
dence of  Mr.  Simeon  Lester,  and  just  in  fi'ont  of  a 
high  clump  of  rocks,  which  at  this  place  divided  the 
road  into  two  parts,  running  around  the  rock  on  both 
sides,  leaving  a  triangular  space  between  them,  and 
on  this  gore  of  land  the  school-hou.se  was  built." 

The  school-house  in  District  No.  2  was  on  North 
Street,  at  the  junction  of  this  street  with  the  road 


1  Contniit's  Manuscript. 


-Bolton,  vol.  i.  p.  I'mI. 

'  Coiilant's,  "  Reniiiiiecenc?s." 


696 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


from  New  Eochelle  to  East  Chester.  That  in  District 
No.  3  was  at  Cooper's  Corners,  on  the  east  side  of 
North  Street.  The  interior  of  these  primitive  school- 
houses  (1795-1796)  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Cou- 
tant: — "The  inside  of  these  houses  was  of  the  crud- 
est and  cheapest  finish.  As  to  the  outside,  they 
were  small,  unpainted  shanties,  usually  located  on 
some  surplus  angle  of  the  streets,  or  rocky  land,  unfit 
for  cultivation,  thus  economizing  ground,  and  mak- 
ing these  barren  spots,  where  no  vegetation  could 
grow,  produce  the  precious  fruits  of  education. 
The  houses  were  ceiled  round  with  unpainted  boards, 
shrunken  from  their  grooves ;  consequently  no  venti- 
lators were  needed !  Their  '  fixtures  '  were  extremely 
rude  and  simple,  consisting  for  the  most  ])art  of  pine 
boards  nailed  up  to  the  sides  and  ends  of  the  room  for 
desks,  with  sometimes  a  shelf  underneath,  on  which 
to  keep  books  and  slates.  They  were  furnished  with 
seats  of  long  oaken  slabs,  with  legs  driven  into  auger 
holes  at  each  end,  and  all  of  the  fixtures  and  furniture 
were  curiously  notched  and  carved  into  many  fan- 
tastic forms  and  grotesque  images  by  the  busy  jack- 
knives  of  the  mischievous  tyros.  The  school-room 
was  sometimes  warmed  by  a  fire  in  an  open  fire-place; 
but  mostly  by  a  small  cast-iron  stove,  set  upon  a  pile 
of  bricks  in  the  middle  of  the  room." 

The  teachers  were  stern  and  severe  in  their  methods 
of  teaching,  using  the  ferrule  and  birchen  rod  with 
great  frequency  and  freedom.  In  those  days  flagel- 
lation was  thought  to  be  a  fundamental  part  of  educa- 
tion. Most  of  these  teachers  were  imported  from 
England  and  Ireland.  They  had  left  their  own 
country  in  search  of  a  wider  field  for  the  exercise  of 
their  great  powers  for  stimulating  the  minds  of  their 
pupils  by  external  applications.  They  found  it  here 
in  America,  and  in  carrying  out  their  peculiar  meth- 
ods they  only  followed  the  customs  of  their  native 
land.  But  their  path  was  not  always  a  flowery  one. 
The  application  of  force  to  the  inculcation  of  learning 
was  sometimes  attended  with  disastrous  results  to 
themselves.  From  this  severity  of  discipline  very 
unjjleasant  affrays  took  place  between  the  teacher 
and  his  scholars,  ending  occasionally  in  the  expulsion 
of  the  teacher  from  the  school-room.  As  to  qualifi- 
cations, "If  the  teacher  could  make  a  good  quill  pen, 
and  write  with  facility  a  neat  and  fair  hand,  and 
solve  the  sums  and  repeat  the  tables  in  Daboll's 
arithmetic,  he  was  considered  a  competent  teacher, 
and  received  a  certificate  entitling  the  school  taught 
by  him  to  receive  its  proportion  of  the  public  money." 
The  reading-books  were  "The  New  Testament,"  "  The 
Sequel,"  "The  American  Preceptor,"  and '  The  Child's 
Instructor"  for  larger  and  more  advanced  scholars, 
and  a  few  primers  for  small  children.  The  scarcity  of 
books  rendered  it  necessary  that  the  teachers  of  these 
primitive  schools  should  be  well  versed  in  all  the 
English  branches  which  they  had  to  teach.  But 
grammar  and  geography  were  at  that  time  not  com- 
monly taught  in  the  public  schools.    These  ancient 


school-houses,  schools  and  teachers  were  the  pioneers 
of  the  extensive  and  wonderful  common-school  sj'stem 
of  the  days  in  which  we  live.  They  were  but  the 
stepping-stones,  so  to  sjieak,  of  those  magnificent 
temples  of  science  and  learning  which  have  since 
sprung  up  in  almost  every  part  of  our  favored  land. 
As  to  those  primitive  structures  in  New  Rochelle, 
they  have  vanished  even  from  the  recollection  of  most 
of  the  inhabitants. 

Every  vestige  of  the  two  bid  Huguenot  school- 
houses  is  swept  away,  and  they  live  only  in  tradition. 
The  only  teacher  who  taught  school  in  either  house, 
within  the  recollection  of  the  writer,  was  Andrew 
Dean,  Esq.,  some  of  whose  descendants  are  still  liv- 
ing in  New  Rochelle.^  In  the  year  1857  three  school- 
houses  were  built  (under  the  act  of  1795),  dividing 
the  town  into  as  many  districts.  The  first  was  on  the 
corner  of  a  lane  leading  to  the  old  French  buiying- 
ground.  It  was  on  Huguenot  Street,  nearly  in 
front  of  the  present  Episcopal  Church.  It  was  quite 
a  stately  school-house  for  those  times,  being  about 
eighteen  by  thirty-tw-o  feet  on  the  ground  and  two 
stories  high.  Its  pre-eminence  in  size  and  other  con- 
siderations procured  for  it  the  name  of  "  Academy." 
This  school  had  quite  a  wide-spread  reputation  as  a 
place  of  learning  ;  and  some  who  received  the  rudi- 
ments of  education  here  have  subsequently  obtained 
celebrity  as  professional  men.  Bishop  De  Lancey, 
whose  parents  resided  at  Mamaroneck,  came  down  to 
this  school.  Daily  the  boy  bishop  might  be  seen,  to 
the  great  wonderment  of  the  other  scholars,  jogging 
along  on  horseback  with  his  dinner-basket  dangling 
at  his  elbow,  to  take  his  place  among  his  fellow-stu- 
dents in  the  High  School,  at  that  time  taught  by  a 
Mr.  Fox.  Sometime  between  1825  and  1827  this  old 
hive  of  learning  gave  place  to  the  school  in  Me- 
chanics Street,  which,  in  1856-57,  was  exchanged  for 
the  building  on  Trinity  Street,  to  which  David  Mil- 
ler, one  of  the  teachers  of  the  former  school,  be- 
queathed by  will  the  sum  of  eighteen  hundred  dollars, 
which  was  invested  in  an  addition  to  the  Trinity 
Street  brick  school-house. 

Present  Educational  Facilities. — It  is  only 
within  the  last  few  years  that  any  decided  advance 
has  been  made  in  the  jiublic  schools  of  this  town  at 
all  commensurate  with  the  requirements  of  the  age 
and  the  wants  of  the  people.  The  accidental  burning 
(March  30,  1882)  of  the  school-house  on  Trinity 
Street,  built  1856-57,  has  led  to  the  erection  of  a  very 
superior  building  upon  its  site.  This  building  was 
plani^ed  by  the  school  board  and  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  Messrs.  D.  &  J.  Jardine,  architects. 
The  grounds  are  about  three  acres.  Before  entering 
upon  the  work,  members  of  the  board  examined 
every  school-house  noted  for  superior  advantages 
within  their  reach,  their  aim  being  to  combine  and 
concentrate  the  best  elements  from  all  in  the  building 


iCoutant's  "  Reminiscences." 


« 


\ 


I 


NEW  KOCHELLE. 


t397 


which  they  intended  should  be  a  model  school-house 
in  every  respect.  In  this  they  have  largely  succeeded. 
The  building  is  H-shaped,  eighty-four  feet  front, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  deep.  There  are  thirteen 
class-rooms,  one  library-room,  one  board-room,  one 
principal's  room,  one  assembly-room,  fifty-four  by 
ninety-three,  with  accommodations  for  about  eight 
hundred  pupils.  There  is  an  above-ground  cellar, 
divided  into  play-rooms  for  wet  weather,  furnace, 
coal  and  store-rooms. 

The  building  is  heated  by  steam  from  a  fifty  horse- 
power boiler.  The  system  of  ventilation  is  the 
"  Gouge,"  and  is  working  satisfactorily.  There  are 
five  lines  of  hose,  sui)plied  with  water  from  a  tank  in 
the  top  of  the  building,  for  the  extinguishing  of  fires. 
The  teachers  are  one  principal,  salary  twenty-three 
hundred  dollars;  twelve  lady  teachers  at  salaries  from 
four  hundred  to  seven  hundred  dollars. 

There  are  in  the  town  two  other  schools — one  pri- 
mary, West  New  Rochelle ;  one  school  for  colored 
pupils,  in  Plarrison  Street — with  one  teacher  for  each 
school. 

Library  and  Gymxasium. — It  is  impossible  to 
conclude  this  sketch  without  some  notice  of  the  lib- 
eral benefactions  of  one  of  our  citizens,  Mr.  Adrian 
Iselin,  for  the  public  benefit;  more  especially  as  this 
is,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  only  instance  of  the  kind 
in  the  entire  history  of  the  town.'  Mr.  Iselin  has  not 
only  fitted  up  at  his  own  expense  a  fine  building,  con- 
taining a  reading-room,  library  and  billiard-room  for 
the  instruction  and  amusement  of  the  young  people, 
but  he  has  expended  many  thousands  of  dollars  in 
the  erection  of  a  gymiuisium  for  physical  exercise, 
which,  when  complete,  will  be  an  ornament  to  the 
town,  and  ought  greatly  to  promote  the  health  and 
enjoyment  of  the  inhabitants.  This  building  is  en- 
tirely uniijue,  and  has  no  rival,  so  far  as  I  know,  in 
this  country;  certainly  not  outside  of  the  great 
cities. 

I  have  been  furnished  by  Mr.  William  Le  Count, 
of  New  Rochelle,  with  an  elaborate  description  of  the 
gymnasium,  which  is  here  given  (in  a  form  slightly 
condensed)  from  his  manuscript : — "  It  is  built  of 
Calabar  brick,  and  trinuned  with  blue  stone  and 
Philadelphia  brick.  The  mason-work  is  of  a  superior 
quality.  The  arches  over  the  windows  and  doors  are 
a  most  attractive  feature.  Every  brick  exposed  to 
view  in  these  arches  was  specially  chiseled  and 
shaped  on  the  premises,  requiring  a  great  amount  of 
skill  and  labor  to  make  this  seemingly  small  part  of 
the  building.  The  roof  is  covered  with  red  Akron 
tiles,  which,  on  the  main  roof  are  flat,  and  on  the 
towers  and  turrets  corrugated,  and  ornamented  with 
terra-cotta  crestings  and  finials.  The  wood-work  is 
of  the  best  yellow  and  white  pine  and  oak.  The  ex- 
treme length  of  the  building  is  114  feet;  extreme 


'  >tr.  Miller's  gift  of  one  tlioiisand  eight  hundred  dollars  for  education 
should  not  be  forgotten. 


width,  56  feet.    Every  attention  has  been  paid  to 
drainage  and  ventilation.  The  entire  outside  surface, 
where  it  rests  upon  the  ground,  is  covered  with  asi)hal- 
tum  or  damp-proof  material,  and  the  bottom  of  the 
excavation  for  the  structure  is  covered  with  asphalt, 
laid  upon  a  bed  of  cement  concrete,  and  the  whole 
covered  with  cement.    The  walls  of  the  building  are 
hollow,  and  every  room  is  connected  with  ventilating 
tubes,  which  extend  to  the  outside  top  of  the  walls, 
i  Two  immense  cisterns  supply  rain-water,  which  is 
'  passed  through  double  filters  before  being  used. 
Steam-heat  is  employed  for  warming   and  gas  for 
lighting.    The  style  of  architecture  is  that  of  French 
military  structures.  The  front  corners  are  ornamented 
with  two  large  towers,  through  one  of  which  is  the 
main  entrance.    In  front  of  this  entrance  is  a  heavy 
balustrade  of  terra-cotta,  surmounted  by  ornamental 
lamps.    Over  the  main  door  is  a  panel  of  terra-cotta, 
containing  a  bas-relief  representation  of  'The  Young 
Athletes.'    There  is  a  beautiful  winding  stair,  of  oak, 
I  which  conducts  from  the  base  of  one  of  the  towers  to 
the  topmost  story  of  the  building.    The  floor  of  the 
entrance  is  laid  in  a  Roman  Mosaic  of  tiles,  black,  red 
and  salmon  color,  three-quarters  of  an  inch  square. 
The  gymnasium  proper  is  a  room  forty  by  eighty  feet, 
without  a  post  or  pillar  resting  upon  the  floor.  Light 
but  beautiful  trusses,  which  are  self-supporting,  sus- 
tain the  heavy  roof.    The  floor  is  of  the  choicest  ver- 
tical grain  yellow  pine;   the  walls  of  buff  terra-cotta 
brick ;  ceilings,  trusses  and  window-work  of  white 
and  yellow  pine,  finished  in  their  native  color;  the 
windows  of  French  plate;  the  doors  of  polished  oak  ; 
trimmings  and  gas-fixtures  of  solid  bronze,  and  pol- 
ished brass,  made  expressly  for  this  building.  The 
running  track,  which  is  elevated  .about  eight  and  a 
half  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  main  room,  extends 
entirely  around  the  building,  and  is  suspended  from 
the  roof.    Behind  it  (at  one  end)  there  is  a  gallery 
for  the  accommodation  of  visitors.    Under  the  floor  of 
j  the  main  room  is  the  bowling  alley,  one  hundred  by 
twenty  feet.    It  is  on  the  south  side,  and  is  fitted 
I  with  four  alleys,  in  the  most  approved  modern  style. 
I  This  room,  although  below  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
is  most  admirable  lighted  by  a  row  of  windows  in 
j  amber-colored  cathedral  glass,  in  circular  form  and 
set  in  lead.    On  the  opposite  side  of  the  building  are 
the  dressing-rooms,  fitted  up  with    lockers  and  all 
suitable  modern  conveniences.    Beyond  these  are  the 
boiler  and  fuel-rooms.    A  handsome  iron  fence  sur- 
rounds the  building  in  front.    The  entire  sidewalk 
is  flagged  and  curbed  in  a  style  equal  to  that  of  any 
of  the  public  buildings  in  the  large  cities.    The  gym- 
I  nasium  occupies  a  central  position  at  the  corner  of 
I  two  of  the  principal  streets  of  the  village.    The  in- 
tention of  its  founder  is  to  have  it  a  perfect  gymna- 
siiun.    It  will  be  furnished  with  everything  required 
to  make  it  so,  and  a  competent  professor  will  be  ap- 
pointed to  superintend  and  direct  the  exercises." 
On  the  whole,  it  may  be  safely  pronounced  to  be 


698 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


one  of  the  finest  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  lioped  and  believed  that  it  will  be 
practically  free  for  the  physical  training  and  education 
of  the  people. 

The  donor  of  these  important  gifts  is  one  who  does 
not  covet  notoriety.  He  is  too  modest  to  approve  of 
any  extended  eulogy  on  account  of  the  good  he  has 
done.  Let  him,  therefore,  enjoy  the  consciousness  of 
having  tried  to  benefit  his  fellow-men  ;  and  let  these 
two  solid  and  useful  structures  stand  in  the  midst  of 
our  village  as  the  enduring  memorials  of  his  benev- 
olence. 

Statistics  of  professions,  trades  and  occupations  in 
the  town  of  New  Rochelle: 

Agents  (insurance  and  real  estiite)   5 

Bakei-s   5 

Banks   1 

Blacksmiths   4 

Barbers   5 

Book-stores   3 

Butchers   5 

Carriage  makers   4 

Master  carpenters  and  builders   8 

Cabinet-makei-s   o 

Clothiers    3 

Churches   9 

Average  Sabbath  attendance  : 

Catholic  (1)   TOO 

Protestant  (S)   "50 

Total   1450 

Average  death  rate,  five  yeare  (1880-85)  pr.  cent  ....  2.0024 

Druggists   3 

Dry-goods    2 

Engineers  (civil)   2 

Feed  stores   4 

Grocers   10 

Hardware    3 

Harness   2 

Jewelers   3 

Livery  stables  ■  ■   4 

Liquors  and  beer  (licensed)   44 

"       "          (unlicensed)   12 

Lawyei-s   7 

JIasons  and  stone-cuttei-s   20 

Millinery  and  niantua-makers   12 

Ministers   11 

Newspapere   2 

Painters,  house,  sign  and  carriage   17 

Printers   7 

Population  aliout   5500 

Physicians  and  surgeons   7 

Shoemakers   10 

Stoves  and  tinware   |3 

L'ndertakei's   3 

Veterinary  surgeons   2 

A  number  of  substantial  brick  buildings  have  been 
erected  in  the  village  during  the  past  few  years.  The 
addition  of  any  more  structures  of  wood,  as  the  popu- 
lation increases,  is  to  be  deplored  and  dreaded  as  a 
source  of  danger  from  fire.  The  town  hall,  which 
stands  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Mechanic  Streets, 
no  doubt  fulfils  to  a  certain  extent  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  erected.  But  it  is  totally  destitute  of 
all  pretensions  to  architectural  beauty.  A  much  bet- 
ter and  more  convenient  public  building  might  have 
been  erected  for  the  same  amount  of  money.  The 


absence  of  a  clock  that  strikes  the  hours  upon  its 
tower  was  an  absurd  blunder,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that,  at  no  distant  day,  the  demands  of  the  public 
will  compel  the  erection  of  something  more  orna- 
mental and  more  suitable  to  the  spirit  of  the  age. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


SIMEON  LESTER. 

In  the  uortli western  portion  of  New  Rochelle,  and 
upon  the  old  road  leading  to  White  Plains,  stands  the 
tasteful  house  of  Mr.  Simeon  Lester.  He  is  in  his 
ninetieth  year,  but  enjoys  the  best  of  health  and  the 
possession  of  a  strong  active  mind.  The  family  is  of 
English  origin,  and  descended  from  Sir  Nicholas 
Leicester,  a  knight  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Upon 
their  emigration  to  New  England  early  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  spelling  of  the  name  seems 
to  have  been  changed  from  Leicester  to  Lester,  and 
William,  Mr.  Lester's  grandfather,  who  served  under 
Colonel  Ledyard  at  Croton  Fort,  wrote  his  name  in 
this  way. 

Though  they  had  but  lately  left  the  mother  country 
and  were  still  bound  to  it  by  ties  of  noble  blood,  the 
Lesters  did  not  hesitate  to  embark  both  their  property 
and  their  lives  in  the  struggle  for  American  freedom. 
From  fifteen  to  twenty  of  the  family  perished  at  the 
capture  of  Groton  Fort.  Their  martial  spirit  de- 
scended upon  the  father  of  Mr.  Simeon  Lester,  and 
though  not  in  active  service  he  was  captain  of  the 
Grenadier  Company  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  where  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born,  April  16,  1796. 

He  spent  the  early  part  of  his  life  on  his  father's 
place,  and  became  captain  of  the  Norwich  Light  In- 
fantry Company.  In  1820  he  married  Hannah  Maria 
Brewster,  who  was  born  at  Preston,  Conn.,  February 
6,  1795,  and  died  at  her  home  in  New  Rochelle  June 
12,  1865.  She  was  a  descendant  in  the  seventh  gene- 
ration of  Elder  Brewster,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
the  "  Mayflower." 

Five  years  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Lester,  at  the 
suggestion  of  his  brother-in-law,  moved  with  his 
family  from  Norwich  to  New  Rochelle,  where  he 
purchased  the  extensive  farm,  upon  which  he  now 
resides.  The  place  has  become  famous  as  the  previous 
home  and  property  of  Thomas  Paine,  it  having  been 
presented  to  him  by  the  United  States  government.  His 
grave,  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  and  the  monument 
raised  to  his  memory  are  still  standing  upon  it,  and 
have  not  only,  not  been  mutilated  by  Mr.  Lester,  as 


I 


I 

I 


NEW  ROCHELLE. 


099 


was  charged  by  the  daily  papers,  but  have  been  pre- 
served by  him  with  special  care. 

When  Mr.  Lester  took  possession  of  the  property  it 
was  merely  a  rolling  plain,  thickly  strewn  with 
boulders.  By  unremitting  toil  he  converted  it  into 
the  highly  fertile  and  splendidly  improved  property, 
whose  appearance  enchants  the  eye  of  the  sj)ectator. 
For  many  years  Mr.  Lester  was  obliged  to  rise  from 
his  bed  at  midnight,  collect  the  produce  which  he  had 
forced  the  stony  soil  to  yield  and  depart  by  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning  for  No.  22  Bowery,  and  other 
stands  in  Xew  York  City,  where  he  would  await  pur- 
chasers. 

It  was  his  habit  of  industry  and  perseverance  which 
made  Mr.  Lester  the  successful  man  he  is,  and  now 
that  he  has  attained  financial  prosperity,  he  rests  in 
the  consciousness  of  a  life  well  spent.  In  1825,  upon 
his  removal  to  New  Rochelle,  he  presented  his  letter 
of  membership,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  he  has  been  an  elder  for  sixty  years, 
and  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school  for  thirty 
years.  He  has  deeply  interested  himself  in  young 
men,  and  several  who  have  attained  sucess  in  business 
life  attribute  the  habits  which  have  gained  it  for  them 
to  the  educating  influence  of  their  old  friend.  His 
only  surviving  child,  David  Brainard  Lester,  of  the 
firm  of  Joseph  Lester  &  Co.,  hatters  at  No.  Broad- 
way, New  York,  is  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  and  is  a 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Lester  transferred  his  property 
to  his  sou,  Josejih  W.  Lester  (deceased),  and  it  is  now 
in  the  possession  of  his  daughter-in-law,  with  whom 
he  resides. 

In  proportion,  as  one  differs  from  his  fellows,  so 
does  he  become  famous.  In  such  proportion  only  as 
his  life  benefits  others,  does  he  attain  true  greatness. 
Judged  by  these  considerations  Mr.  Lester,  whose 
Christian  life  has  been  wide  in  its  influence,  may  look 
from  his  window  in  pity  upon  the  monument  of  the 
man  whose  genius  dazzled  the  world,  rejoicing  in  his 
own  possession  of  the  milder  quality. 

JONATHAN  CARPENTER. 

Mr.  Carj)enter  is  of  Welsh  origin.  Jonathan  Car- 
penter, his  grandfather,  born  September  7,  1749,  was 
a  son  of  Benedict  Carpenter,  who  died  June  22,  1791, 
and,  because  of  British  persecution  during  the  Revo- 
lution, was  forced  to  remove  from  Scarsdale  to  Long 
Island,  where  he  married,  on  April  18,  1782,  Miss 
Esther  Coles.  After  peace  was  declared,  he  returned 
to  Scarsdale,  and  took  up  his  trade  of  a  blacksmith. 
Jonathan  Carpenter,  Sr.,  had  five  children,  the  fourth 
of  whom,  Joseph  Carpenter,  was  the  father  of  the 
Jonathan  who  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Joseph 
Carpenter,  even  before  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
attained  to  wide  celebrity  because  of  his  ojiposition 
to  slavery.  He  was  born  at  Scarsdale  September  3, 
1793,  and  on  September  15,  1814,  he  married  Marga- 
ret W.  Cornell,  who  was  of  French  descent. 


There  were  two  children, — the  oldest  Esther  and 
the  second  Jonathan,  who  was  born  at  Scarsdale, 
September  11,  1816.  While  he  was  yet  in  infancy, 
his  parents  removed  from  Scarsdale  to  New  Rochelle, 
and  until  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  engaged  in 
farming.  At  that  time  his  poor  health  obliged  him 
to  give  up  the  active  work  to  which  he  had  accus- 
tomed himself,  and  he  did  not  resume  it  again  till  he 
was  thirty. 

j  Mr.  Carpenter's  father  then  retired,  and  the  whole 
working  of  the  farm  fell  into  his  hands.  For  nearly 
forty  years  he  has  continued  perseveringly  at  his 
labor,  till  at  last,  by  dint  of  hard  work  and  strict 
integrity,  he  has  amassed  a  fortune.  Since  the  place 
came  into  his  possession  he  has  added  to  it  the  Hav- 
iland  property,  containing  seventy-seven  acres  of 
good  farming  land,  with  a  saw-mill  upon  it,  which  he 
continues  to  operate  at  this  time. 

He  married  January  11,  1862,  Miss  Phila  Jane 
Benedict  at  Scarsdale.  There  are  no  children.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  is  a  strong 
temperance  advocate.  In  politics  he  was  formerly  a 
Whig,  but  is  now  a  Republican.  He  lives  at  present 
in  his  newly-erected  residence  at  New  Rochelle,  from 
which  he  continues  to  direct  his  large  interests. 

W.  W.  EVANS. 
Walton  White  Evans  of  "  Sans-Souci  "  near  New 
Rochelle  was  born  in  1817,  at  Sunderland,  on  the 
Raritan,  N.  J.  He  is  descended  from  many  of  the 
leading  colonial  families  of  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina.  After  spending,  or  as 
he  says,  wasting  six  of  the  most  important  years  of 
his  life  in  classic  studies,  he  was  invited  by  his  old  and 
much  honored  friend  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer, 
the  patroon  of  Albany,  to  come  to  the  polytechnic 
school  the  latter  had  founded  at  Troy.  This  suited 
his  inclinations,  as  his  tastes  were  for  natural  sciences 
and  technical  studies.  Graduating  from  that  school 
in  1836  and  sharing  the  first  honors  with  a  friend, 
nephew  of  the  patroon,  he  was  again  favored  by  Gen- 
eral Van  Rensellacr,  who  as  president  of  the  canal 
board  placed  him  in  the  engineer  corps  of  the  State 
canals,  and  so  influenced  and  cared  for  his  promotion 
that  in  three  months  he  was  elevated  to  a  position,' 
that  under  ordinary  circumstances,  he  would  have 
j  spent  two  years  of  hard  work  in  reaching.  Remain- 
ing on  the  State  canals  (that  severe  school  of  hydrau- 
lic engineering)  for  seven  years,  and  there  getting 
disciplined  to  industrious  habits  and  love  for  work 
he  left  that  service,  entered  on  railway  engineering 
and  was  actively  employed  in  railway  construction 
for  some  years.  In  1850  he  went  to  Chili,  South 
America,  to  take  a  leading  part  in  directing  the  con- 
struction of  the  first  railway  ever  built  south  of  the 
equator,  remaining  there  for  most  of  the  next  ten 
years.  He  directed  the  construction  of  several  pub- 
lic works,  among  which  were  two  railways  for  English 
companies  of  London,  returning  to  the  United  States 


700 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


in  1860.  He  has  during  a  quarter  of  a  century  de- 
voted most  of  his  time  to  professional  labors  as  con- 
sulting and  advising  engineer  to  government  work  in 
Cuba  and  Peru,  and  to  other  public  works  in  the 
Argentine  Republic,  Mexico,  Central  America,  Aus- 
tralia, New  Zealand  and  Russia. 

His  zeal  and  energy  have  been  devoted  with  much 
success  to  promoting  American  interests  in  foreign 
countries.  In  the  early  part  of  1886  he  was  appointed 
on  a  commission  with  several  English  engineers  to 
sit  in  London,  and  ^  determine  some  engineering 
questions  of  great  importance  in  connection  with 
extensive  and  costly  bridges  to  be  built  in  Australia, 
but  was  unable  to  accept  the  honor. 

His  aim  has  been  to  so  elevate  national  character 
that  Americans  can  with  pride  say  when  traveling,  I 
am  an  American  citizen,  and  find  it  all  sufficient,  as 
he  says,  he  found  it  in  Russia,  as  his  trunks  were 
never  opened  when  he  presented  his  passport  and  the 
officials  saw  the  name  of  Wm.  H.  Seward  on  the  docu- 
ment. 


GEORGE  FERGUSON. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Ferguson  strikingly  illustrates  the 
working  out  of  a  great  principle,  namelj",  that  strict 
attention  to  business,  accompanied  by  industrious 
habits,  thorough  integrity,  and  a  true  appreciation  of 
the  smaller  matters  of  life,  will  give  its  result,  just 
what  it  has  gi\'en  us  in  his  case— a  sound  financial 
success. 

Mr.  Ferguson  was  born  December  15,  1831,  at 
Esopus,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  where  his  father, 
James  Ferguson,  was  engaged  in  building.  For  a 
short  ])eriod  he  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  the  public 
school  in  his  native  place,  and  when  the  family  re- 
moved to  Fairfax  Court  House,  Va.,  he  attended 
its  local  school.  The  circumstances  of  the  family 
early  compelled  him  to  contribute  his  share  toward 
the  general  support,  which  he  did  by  helping  his 
father  in  the  building  trade. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  visiting  with  a 
friend  at  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y..  when  he  was  offered  a 
position  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Samuel  Underbill, 
and  it  is  from  the  small  beginning  thus  obtained  that 
he  has  succeeded  in  developing  the  extensive  busi- 
ness interests  which  to-day  command  his  attention. 

For  three  years  he  remained  with  Mr.  Underbill 
and  then  was  induced  by  Mr.  Vanderburg,  of  the 
firm  of  Geo.  E.  Vanderburg  &  Co.,  wholesale  notion 
dealers  in  New  York  City,  to  enter  their  establish- 
ment as  a  salesman. 

But  Mr.  Underbill,  trading  in  a  small  way  behind 
his  country  counter,  missed  the  active  and  energetic 
young  clerk  who  had  left  him  and  finally,  after  two 
years  had  elapsed,  offered  him  a  partnership.  Mr. 
Ferguson  accepted  the  offer,  and  the  firm  began  busi- 
ness in  1857,  under  the  name  of  Underbill  and 
Ferguson.  The  partnership  expired  by  limitation 
in  the  spring  of  1861.    He  then  leased  a  proi>erty 


upon  the  Main  Street,  opposite  the  old  store,  and  re- 
sumed business  under  the  firm-name  of  Geo.  Fergu- 
son &  Co.  After  three  years  his  partner  retiring  on 
account  of  ill  health  left  Mr.  Ferguson  the  sole  pro- 
prietor. 

He  finally  purchased  the  leased  property,  improved 
and  enlarged  his  store,  and  continued  the  business 
alone  till  the  spring  of  1875,  when  he  formed  a  part- 
nership with  a  friend  doing  business  in  New  York 
City.  A  fire  in  a  neighboring  building  one  night  in 
the  autumn  of  1875,  consumed  his  store  and  about 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  worth  of  property,  but 
with  characteristic  promptness  he  hired  a  vacant 
store,  set  men  cleaning  and  scrubbing,  and  by  sun- 
rise the  next  morning  had  a  large  sign  posted  up  and 
his  clerks  ready,  books  in  hand,  to  take  orders  for 
immediate  delivery. 

His  prompt  action  at  this  time  not  only  saved  him 
much  money  but  enabled  him  to  hold  his  trade  till 
he  could  replace  the  destroyed  building  by  the  elegant 
brick  one,  which  is  at  present  devoted,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  public  hall  occupying  a  portion  of  the 
second  floor,  to  the  purposes  of  his  business.  The 
property  has  a  frontage  of  eighty-two  feet  on  Main 
and  one  hundred  and  forty  upon  Centre  Street,  and 
is  probably  the  largest  establishment  of  its  kind  in 
Westchester  County. 

Ever  since  he  started  in  business  Mr.  Ferguson 
has  been  gradually  adding  to  his  financial  strength 
and  is  now  in  possession  of  a  large  amount  of  prop- 
!  erty  in  and  about  the  village  which  has  been  the 
scene  of  his  success. 

He  married,  February  3, 1856,  Miss  Julia  F.  Hud- 
son, and  has  one  son  and  three  daughters,  two  of 
whom  are  married.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican, 
and  has  been  since  the  organization  of  the  party. 
Formerly  he  was  village  clerk  and  afterward  was  also 
town  clerk  of  New  Rochelle.  At  present  he  is  a  use- 
ful member  of  the  board  of  education,  for  the  duties 
of  which  office  he  continues  to  find  time,  even  amid 
the  press  of  private  business. 

JO.SEPH  B.  BREAVSTER. 

Mr.  Brewster  is  descended  from  Elder  William 
Brewster,  who  came  to  this  country  with  the  Puritans 
in  the  "May  flower."  His  father  was  the  celebrated  phy- 
sician, Dr.  Elisha  Brewster,  who  moved  from  Norwich, 
Conn.,  to  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  early  in  the  century. 
Dr.  Brewster  married  Mary  Burling,  of  u  family  fam- 
ous in  the  Revolutionary  history  of  Westchester 
County,  and  Joseph  B.  is  the  second  of  their  nine 
children.  He  was  sent  at  the  age  of  thirteen  to  a 
boarding-school  at  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  and  among 
his  earliest  recollections  is  that  of  crossing  the  East 

]  River  in  a  sail  ferry-boat.  After  spending  one  year 
at  school  he  was  obliged  by  the  death  of  his  father  to 
return  to  New  York.    He  entered  the  hat-store  of  his 

'  cousin,  Joseph  Brewster,  where  he  continued  as  a 
clerk  for  nearly  ten  years,  when  he  engaged  in  the 


I 


I 


PELHAM. 


701 


business  on  his  own  account  at  No.  57  Bowery,  New 
York  City. 

Mr.  Brewster  remained  in  this  pursuit  for  forty- 
three  years,  steadily  maintaining  the  wliile  an  integ- 
rity and  fixedness  of  purpose  which  formed  the 
ground-work  of  his  financial  success.  He  was  at  one 
time  a  large  property-holder  in  New  York,  and  the 
spot  upon  which  the  Oriental  Bank  stands  was  for- 
merly in  his  i)Ossession.  In  1869  he  retired  from 
business,  having  meanwhile  purchased  from  Charles 
Van  Benscoten  the  beautiful  residence  at  New  Ro- 
chelle  which  he  now  occupies.  ^ 

Mr.  Brewster  is  a  director  in  the  Westchester  Fire 
Insurance  Company.  In 
politics  he  was  formerly  a 
Whig,  but  is  now  a  stanch 
Republican.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Lafayette 
Guards,  and  was  with 
them  at  the  reception  of 
the  distinguished  French- 
man upon  his  second 
coming  to  this  country, 
in  1824,  when  it  was  also 
his  pleasure  to  shake  the 
Marquis  by  the  hand.  He 
married  Miss  Sarah  Ann 
Hutchinson,  of  Hugue- 
not descent,  whose  moth- 
er died  in  the  ninety- 
third  year  of  her  age, 
at  the  residence  of  ^Ir. 
Brewster.  Of  their  twelve 
children,  five  daughters 
and  one  son  still  survive. 
The  son  is  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Twenty-second  Regi- 
ment N.  G.  S.  N.  Y.,  and 
resides  with  his  parents 
at  New  Rochelle. 

Mr.  Brewster  is  a  Quaker  of  the  Orthodox  branch, 
and  though  he  is  now  over  eighty  years  of  age,  he  is 
foremost  in  every  good  word  and  work. 


JOSEPH  B.  BKEWSTER. 


CHAPTER  XYII. 

PELHAM. 

BY  KEV.  CHARLES  E.  LIXDSLEY,  D.D. 
Of  New  Rochelle. 

Pelh.\.m  is  situated  to  the  southeast  of  New  Ro- 
chelle. It  has  for  its  southern  boundary  Long  Island 
Sound.  A  small  stream,  called  by  the  Indians  the 
Aqueanouncke,  and  by  the  English  Hutchinson's 
River,  separates  it  from  East  Chester.  It  appears  to 
have  been  purchased  from  the  Indians  some  time 


previous  to  the  year  1666  by  Thomas  Pell,  and  by 
him  called  Pelham,  an  old  English  name  composed 
of  Pel  (remote)  and  Ham  (mansion).  By  Governor 
Nichols  it  was  granted  and  confirmed,  in  1666,  "  To 
Thomas  Pell.  Esq.,  of  Fairfield  in  Connecticut,  to- 
gether with  the  island  adjacent  and  all  its  privileges," 
and  erected  into  "an  enfranchised  township  or 
manor"  and  secured  to  him  and  his  heirs. 

The  Pells  are  of  English  origin  and  a  family  of 
very  old  standing  in  the  counties  of  Norfolk  and 
Lincolnshire.  Thomas  Pell,  commonly  known  as 
Lord  Pell,  the  first  proprietor  of  this  township,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  an  adherent  of  the  popular  party 

in  the  great  struggle  bet- 
ween the  Parliament  and 
the  crown,  called  the  En- 
glish Revolution.  Hav- 
ing been  identified  with 
the  Puritans  under  the 
protectorship  of  Crom- 
well, after  the  restoration 
of  the  monarchy,  in  1660, 
he  fled  from  the  ven- 
geance of  the  Royalists 
into  France.  He  after- 
wards removed  to  Onck- 
away,  or  Fairfield,  in 
Connecticut,  and  from 
thence  came  to  Pelham, 
where  he  purchased  of 
the  Indians  the  right  to 
the  soil.  After  his  death, 
which  happened  about 
1680,  the  manorial  pro- 
prietorship descended  to 
John  Pell,  his  nephew, 
son  of  the  famous  Dr. 
Pell,  ambassador  of  Oli- 
ver Cromwell  to  the  Swiss 
Cantons.'  In  1691  the 
name  of  John  Pell  is  found  on  the  list  of  members- 
returned  by  the  sherifi"  to  represent  the  county  ot 
Westchester,  New  Y'ork.- 

The  territory  now  within  the  limits  of  the  town  of 
Pelham  was  claimed  both  by  the  Dutch  of  New  Am- 
sterdam and  the  colony  of  Connecticut.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  Dutch  were  the  first  to  discover 
and  settle  upon  the  island  of  Manhattan  and  the  ter- 
ritory between  the  North  and  East  Rivers.  Both 
professed  to  have  purchiised  their  title  from  the  Indi- 
ans. But  we  know  what  that  meant  in  those  days. 
The  whites  took  what  they  wanted  and  paid  the  Indi- 
ans what  they  pleased.  All  transactions  were  with 
the  chiefs,  and  the  chiefs  were  not  usually  in  a  condi- 
tion, when  the  land  was  bought,  to  look  out  very 
carefully  for  their  side  of  the  bargain.   So  it  hap- 

'  Vaughan's  "  Protectorate  of  Cromwell.'' 
-  Smith's  "  Hist,  of  New  Yorlj,"  p.  72. 


702 


HISTOHyr  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


pened  that  afterwards,  when  the  Indians  came  to  be 
dis2)ossessed  of  all  their  favorite  resorts  upon  the 
shore,  and  driven  back  by  the  tide  of  white  immigra- 
tion into  the  interior,  and  when  they  found,  more- 
over, that  they  had  received  no  just  equivalent  for 
their  homes  and  hunting  and  fishing-grounds,  there 
was  trouble  along  the  whole  line.  In  all  the  Indian 
Avars  in  which  the  aborigines  were  involved  with  the 
Puritans,  the  Dutch,  aud  the  Virginians,  and  which 
cost  thousands  of  lives  and  an  untold  amount  of  suf- 
fering on  both  sides,  it  may  fairly  be  doubted  whether 
the  Indians  were  in  a  single  instance  the  aggressors. 
The  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  under  William  Penn, 
had  no  difficulty  with  them.  The  Indians  in  the 
British  possessions  of  North  America  are  and  for 
almost  a  century  have  been  peacefully  disposed. 
But  when  Hendrick  Hudson  sailed  in  the  "  Half- 
Moon  "  up  the  river  which  bears  his  name,  one  of  the 
very  first  acts  of  himself  and  crew  was  to  make  a 
wanton  and  unprovoked  attack  with  firearms  upon 
the  inoffensive  natives,  whom  curiosity  had  brought 
down  to  the  shore. 

The  general  plan  of  our  ancestors  in  those  good  old 
days,  with  regard  to  those  whom  they  found  in  pos- 
session where  they  wanted  to  settle,  was  robbery  and 
murder  first ;  afterwards  war,  negotiation  and  then 
missionaries.  This,  too,  with  the  exception  of  the 
missionaries,  was  the  course  pursued  towards  them 
by  the  redoubtable  William  Kieft,  the  Dutch  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Amsterdam,  about  the  year  1643.  The 
Puritans  in  their  treatment  of  the  aborigines  were 
•often  harsh  and  unjust.  But  they  were  men  governed 
by  certain  religious  ideas,  and  never  did  anything 
api)roacliing  in  wanton  wickedness  the  act  of  Kieft 
which  led  to  the  outbreak,  in  which  Anne  Hutchin- 
son lost  her  life,  in  Pelham  in  1643. 

In  the  year  1626  the  munificent  sum  of  twenty- 
four  dollars  had  been  originally  paid  to  the  Indians  for 
the  whole  of  New  York  Island — (twenty-two  thousand 
acres) ;  paid  too,  in  "  beads  and  trinkets,"  on  which, 
very  likely,  there  was  a  large  profit  to  the  buyers.  No 
doubt  the  Indians  ought  to  have  been  satisfied  ;  but, 
strange  to  say,  when  they  were  crowded  out,  not  only 
from  the  island,  but  from  Staten  Island,  Long  Island 
and  the  shores  of  the  bay,  the  Hudson  River  and  the 
Sound  by  the  new  settlers,  they  took  it  to  heart  in  away 
for  which  neither  beads  nor  trinkets  proved  a  solid  con- 
solation. Hence  came  troubles  and  difficulties  which, 
through  the  insane  course  of  Governor  Kieft,  culmi- 
nated in  his  ordering  a  general  attack  to  be  made 
upon  the  neighboring  tribes,  at  the  very  time  when 
their  distress  and  dissatisfaction  had  reached  the 
highest  point.  Not  only  had  the  Dutch  traders  sold 
•whiskey  to  the  Indians  in  abundance,  but  firearms 
and  ammunition  as  well. 

In  the  middle  of  the  winter,  when  the  river  (Hud- 
son) was  full  of  ice,  and  the  savages  were  collected  in 
their  winter  camps,  a  war-party  from  the  powerhil 
Mohawks  at  the  north  came  sweeping  down  upon 


them,  armed  with  the  guns  the  Dutch  had  furnished, 
and  drove  before  them  far  greater  numbers — whole 
settlements  indeed — of  the  Algonquins.  This  was  the 
opportunity  chosen  by  Kieft,  to  cross  the  river  with 
his  Dutch  soldiers  from  Fort  Amsterdam,  make  an 
attack  upon  the  defenseless  savages,  peacefully  sleep- 
ing in  their  wigwams,  "just  at  midnight,  the  winter's 
night  being  cold  and  still."  "  Eighty  Indians  were 
killed  at  Pavonia,  Hoboken,  and  forty  at  Corlaer's 
Hook  that  night,  with  horrible  barbarities  that  might 
have  given  the  savages  themselves  a  lesson  in  the  art 
of  torture."  The  consequence  was,  that  "all  about 
the  lower  river  and  the  bay,  and  on  Long  Island,  the 
Algonquin  people  rose  furiously  against  the  whites." 
The  terrors  of  an  Indian  war  broke  forth  with  a  sud- 
denness which  appalled  the  colonists,  and  every 
swamp  and  wood  from  the  country  of  the  Hacken- 
sacks,  New  Jersey,  to  the  Connecticut  seemed  all  at 
once  to  be  swarming  with  hostile  savages.  The  out- 
lying "bouweries"  and  plantations  were  laid  waste, 
their  men  killed  and  their  women  and  children  made 
prisoners.  After  this  there  was  a  brief  respite, 
from  March  until  midsummer.  But  the  war  broke 
out  again  in  August  with  renewed  fierceness  among 
i  the  tribes  above  the  Hudson  Highlands.  By  Septem- 
ber the  conflict  was  raging  with  lull  force.  In  the 
south  a  band  of  savages  fell  upon  the  quiet  home  of 
Anne  Hutchinson,  at  Anne's  Hoeck,  Pelham  Neck, 
and  she,  her  son-in-law  Collins,  her  son  Francis  and 
all  the  other  members  of  her  family,  with  one  excep- 
tion, were  killed. 

The  youngest  daughter,  a  little  girl,  was  carried 
into  captivity  and  lived  for  four  years  among  the 
Indians.    The  sad  fate  of  this  woman  has  tinged  with 
romance  her  whole  history.    She  was  not  so  bad  as 
her  enemies  have  painted  her,  nor  was  she,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  mild  and  blameless  saint,  some  recent 
historians  have  imagined.    But  she  was  a  religious 
'  enthusiast ;  a  female  theological  polemic,  armed  with 
a  tongue  and  a  temper  which  made  her  no  unequal 
match  even  for  the  stern  and  unyielding  fathers  of 
New  England.    In  fact,  the  controversies  which  she 
I  raised,  engendered  such  divisions  among  them  as  to 
threaten  the  safety  of  l)oth  church  and  State.  Where- 
fore, by  a  decree  of  the  General  Court,  she  was  ban- 
ished from  the  colony.    She  went  to  Connecticut,  and 
afterwards  to  New  York,  where  we  find  her  in  the 
j  summer  of  1642,  permission  having  been  given  to  her 
I  by  the  Dutch  authorities  to  settle  at  Pelham,  in 
1  connection  with  other  English  families.    Her  portrait 
[  is  thus  drawn  by  an  impartial  historian.    "She  was  a 
woman  of  superior  intelligence,  bright,  witty,  good 
I  at  a  fencing  match  of  tongues,  versed  in  Scripture 
and  theological  literature;  never  so  happy  as  when 
descanting  on  her  own   views.    Her    temper  was 
resolute ;  she  ruled  her  weak  husband,  and  had  a 
taste  for  ruling:    To  be  an  influential  centre  of 
opinion  was  her  ambition,  which  she  took  no  trouble 
to  conceal.    She  claimed  to  be  "  inspired,"  and  that 


PELHAM. 


703 


it  had  been  "  revealed  to  her"  that  she  would  come  to 
New  England  to  be  persecuted,  but  that  God  would 
ruin  the  colony  for  her  sake.  She  narrowly  escaped 
procuring  the  verification  of  her  own  prediction."  ' 

For  a  woman  so  constituted  the  change  must  have 
been  great  from  the  heated  discussions  at  Boston  to 
the  unsettled  wilderness  around  Pelham  Bay.  That 
name  was  not  known,  it  is  true,  for  many  years  after- 
wards. But  the  names  "  Annies  Hoeck  and  Hutchiu- 
sons  River  "  still  bear  testimony  to  the  presence  and 
fate  of  this  remarkable  woman.  It  seems  a  strange 
providence  that,  after  her  troubled  and  stormy  career, 
she  should  uot  have  been  permitted  to  pass  the 
evening  of  her  days  in  peace,  where  no  controversies, 
theological  or  otherwise,  and  no  religious  opinions, 
orthodox  or  heterodox,  Calvinistic  or  Arminiau  would 
ever  have  disturbed  the  profound  repose  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, even  could  her  life  have  been  prolonged  to  the 
j)resent  day  and  hour.'^ 

In  the  year  1654,  Thomas  Pell  bought  of  the  In- 
dians (so  he  stated  in  his  testimony  before  a  Court  of 
Assize,  held  in  New  York,  Septeral)er  29,  1665),  the 
title  to  the  lands  afterwards  known  as  Pelham, 
Westchester  and  New  Rochelle.  This  whole  tract  of 
land  was  originally  included  in  the  grant  made  by 
the  Indians  to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  in  the 
year  1(540.^  What  Pell  paid  to  the  Indians  for  it  does 
not  clearly  appear.  Probably  not  so  much  as  the 
Dutch  had  paid  them  twenty-eight  years  before  for 
the  whole  of  [Manhattan  Island— twenty-four  dollare 
in  beads  and  trinkets.  "  A  valuable  consideration  " 
are  Mr.  Pell's  own  words,  but  as  no  specification  is 
given,  this  phrase  has  little  meaning. 

In  the  year  1666  PelTs  title  was  confirmed  by 
royal  patent,  issued  by  Richard  NichoUs,  as  follows  : 

"  RlCHARI>  XlCHOLLS,  Es(j.: 
"  Governor  under  His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York,  of  all  his 


'  Bryant's  "  Hist,  of  C.  S." 

2  The  following  appeared  in  the  Aeid'oii-  buili/  Tribune o(  April  23,1886: 

RECiLLING  A  MA.SSACRE  OF  INDIANS. 

"  The  skeletons  which  are  being  uneaithed  at  t'ouiniunipaw  Avenue 
and  Halliday  Street,  Jersey  City,  are  now  believed  to  be  those  of  Indians. 
Twenty-eight  had  been  excavated  last  evening.  It  was  supposed  at  first 
that  the  place  Wits  the  site  of  an  ancient  and  forgotten  buryiiig-ground, 
but  some  historical  facts  were  discovered  yesterday  which  throw  light  on 
the  subject.  On  the  night  of  February  25,  164:i,  Governor  Kiuft,  of  Sew- 
Anisterdam,  sent  a  company  of  Dutch  soldiers  across  the  river  to  what 
was  then  known  as  '  Jahn  de  Dacher's  Hoeck,'  with  orders  to  extermin- 
ate a  Tillage  of  Indians  encamped  there.  The  soldiers,  so  the  story  goes, 
surprised  the  Indians  ami  massacred  nearly  every  person  in  the  village. 
A  few  escaped  and  made  their  way  back  into  the  country,  toward  the 
ipresent  site  of  Newark.  Trenches  were  dug  and  the  bodies  thrown  into 
them  indiscriminately.  The  scene  of  the  butchery  is  now  known  as  La- 
fayette, and,  after  nee.rly  two  and  a  half  centuries,  one  of  the  trenches  has 
been  opened.  Crowds  gathered  around  the  place  yesterday  while  the 
excavating  was  going  on  and  looked  at  the  skulls  and  bones.  The  num- 
■ber  of  bodies  can  only  be  determined  by  means  of  the  skulls,  as  the  bones 
are  all  mixed  together,  ami  many  of  them  crumble  at  the  touch  into  line 
dust.    The  best  preserved  portions  of  bodies  are  the  teeth." 

The  discovery  of  these  bones  at  this  time  is  certainly  a  marked  coin- 
cidence. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  conjecture  as  to  their  being 
the  remains  of  the  Indians  slain  near  this  s|>ot  in  the  attack  made  upon 
them  by  Kieft  is  the  true  one. 

^See  Bolton's  "  Hist.  Westchester  County,"  article  Xew  Rochelle. 


Territories  in  America.    To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  send- 
!  eth  greeting;  U'/iercm,  there  is  a  certain  Tract  of  Land  within  this  Gov- 
ernment  upon  the  Main  Situate,   lying  and  being  to  the  Eastward  of 
West  Chester  bounds,  bounded  to  the  Westward  with  the  river,  called  by 
the  Indians  '  .\queanonncke,' commonly  known  by  the  English  by  the 
'  name  of  Hutchinson's  river,  which  runnith  into  the  Bay  lying  between 
Throgmorton's  Neck  and  .\nn  Hook's  Neck,  conunonly  called  Hutchin- 
son's Hay,  bounded  on  the  east  by  a  brook  called  Cedar  Tree  Brook,  or 
Gravelly  Brook,  on  the  South  by  the  .Sound  which  lieth  between  Long 
Island  and  the  main  land,  with  all  the  islands  in  the  Sound  not  already 
granted  or  otherwise  disputed  of,  lying  before  that  tract  of  land  so 
bounded,  as  is  before  expressed,  ami  northward  to  run  into  the  woods 
about  eight  English  miles  in  breadth,  as  the  bounds  to  the  Sound,  w  hich 
i  said  trai  t  of  land  hath  heretofore  been  purchased  of  the  Indian  proprie- 
i  tors,  and  ample  satisfaction  given  for  the  same. 

"  Now  Know  I'e,  That  by  virtue  of  the  Commission  andauthority  unto 
[  me  given  by  His  Koyal  Highness,  .lames,  Duke  of  York,  Sec,  upon  w  horn 
I  by  lawful  grant  and  patent  from  His  Majesty,  the  proprietary  and  gov- 
ernment of  that  part  uf  the  main  land,  as  well  as  of  Lung  Islaml  and  all 
the  islands  adjacent,  among  other  things  is  Settled,  I  have  thought  pro- 
I  per  to  give,  grant,  contirm  and  ratify,  and,  by  these  presents  do  give, 
I  grant,  confirm  iV  ratify  unto  Thomas  Pell,  of  Onckway,  a/ins  Fairfield, 
j  His  Majesty's  Colony  of  Connecticut,  gentleman,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
I  all  the  said  tract  of  laiiil  bounded  as  aforesaid,  together  with  all  the  lands 
islands,  seabays,  woods,  mead  avs,  pastures,  marches,   lakes,  waters, 
creeks,  fishing,  hawking,  hunting  and  fowling,  and  all  other  jtrofits, 
I  commodities,  emoluments  and  hereditaments  to  the  said  tract  of  land  and 
islands  belonging  with  them,  and  every  of  their  appurtenances,  and  of 
every  part  and  parcel  thereof ;  and  that  the  said  tract  of  land  and  prem- 
ises shall  be  forever  after  held,  reputed,  taken  and  be  an  enfranchised 
township,  manor  and  place  itself ;  and  shall  always,  from  time  to  time, 
and  at  all  times  hereafter  have,  hold  and  enjoy  like  and  equal  privileges 
and  immunities  with  any  town,  enfranchised  place  or  manor  within  this 
government,  and  shall  in  no  manner  of  way  be  subordinate  or  belonging 
unto,  have  any  dependance  upon,  or  in  any  wise  be  under  the  rules,  or- 
j  dei-s  or  directions  of  any  riding,  townsliiii  or  township  place,  or  jurisdic- 
I  tion,  either  upon  the  Main  or  upon  Lung  Island,  but  shall  in  all  cases, 
j  things  and  matters,  be  deemed,  reputed,  taken  and  held  as  an  absolute, 
entire,  enfranchised  township,  manor  and  place  of  itself  in  the  govern- 
ment, and  shall  be  ruled,  ordered  and  directed  in  all  matters  as  to  gov- 
ernment accordingly,  by  the  Governor   and  his  Council  and  the 
general  Courts  of  Assizes;  only  always  provided  that  the  inhabit- 
l  ants  of  the  said  tract  of  land  granted,  as  aforesaid  shall  be  obliged 
to  send  forward  to  the  next  towns,  all  public  packets  and  letters 
or  hue  and  cries  coming  to  this  place  or  going  from  it  to  any 
other  of  His  Majesty's  Colonies  ;  to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  tract  of 
'  land  and  grant,  with  all  and  singular  the  appurtenances,  premises,  to- 
gether with  the  privileges,  immunities,  franchises  A  advantages  herein 
j  given  and  granted  unto  the  said  Thomas  Pell,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  to 
I  the  proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  said  Thomas  Pell  for  ever,  firmly, 
freely  &  clearly,  in  as  large  and  ample  manner  and  form,  and  with  such 
full  and  absolute  immunities  and  privileges  as  before  is  e.vpressed,  as  if 
he  had  held  the  same  immediately  from  his  Majesty  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, \'c.,  A'c,  Ac,  his  successors  as  of  the  Manor  of  East  Greenwich,  in 
the  County  of  Kent,  in  free  and  common  soccage,  and  by  fealty,  only 
yielding,  rendering  A;   jiaying  yeaily  A   every   year  unto  His  Royal 
Highness,  the  duty  forever  and  his  heirs,  or  to  such  Governor  as  shall, 
from  time  to  time,  be  by  him  constituted  and  appointed,  as  an  acknowi- 
I  edgment,  one  lamb,  on  the  first  day  uf  May  ( if  the  lamb  shall  be  de- 
manded.) 

"Given  under  my  hand  and  Seal  at  Fort.  James,  in  New  York,  on  the 
Island  of  Manhattan,  the  Sixth  day  of  October,  in  the  18tli  year  of  the 
reign  of  our  suvereign  lord  Charles  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of 
j  England,  Scotland  A  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  Ac,  Ac,  Ac. 
and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  God,  166G. 

"  RiCHABD  NiCHOLLS." 

The  above  grant  to  Thomas  Pell  was  confirmed  to 
his  successor  and  heir,  John  Pell,  on  the  20th  day 
of  October,  1()87,  by  the  then  Governor  of  New  York, 
Thomas  Dongan,  as  follows : 

"  Thomas  Dongan,  Captain-Oeneral  and  Governor-in-Chief  in  and  over 
the  province  of  New  Yorke,  and  the  territories  depending  thereon,  in 
America,  under  the  Jlost  Sacred  Majesty,  James  the  Second,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  Kinge  of  England,  Scotlaml,  Fi  ance  and  Ireland,  defender  of  the 
faith.  &c., — to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  sendeth  greeting  : 


704 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEH  COUNTY. 


Whereas,  Richard  NichoUs,  Esqr.,  late  governor  of  this  province,  by  his 
certaine  deed  in  w  riting,  under  his  liand  and  seal,  bearing  date  the  sixth 
day  of  October,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  the  reigne  of  our  late  sovereigne 
lord,  Charles  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  England,  Scotland, 
France  and  Ireland,  King  &  defender  of  the  faith,  &c.,  and  in  thej'earof 
our  Lord  God  one  thousand  six  hundred  sixty  and  six,  did  give,  grant, 
confirm  and  rattefye,  by  virtue  of  the  commission  and  authoritye  unto 
him  given  by  his  (then)  royal  highness,  James,  Duke  of  York,  Ac,  (his 
now  Majesty)  upon  whome  by  lawful  grant  and  pattent  from  his  (then) 
Majesty,  the  propriety  and  government  of  that  part  of  the  maine  land,  as 
well  as  Long  Island,  and  all  the  Islands  adjacent.  Amongst  other  things 
was  settled  unto  Thomas  Pell,  of  Onkway,  alias  Fairfield,  in  his  Majes- 
ty's Colony  of  Connecticut,  gentleman,  all  that  certaine  tract  of  land 
upon  the  maine  land  lying  and  being  to  the  Eastward  of  Westchester 
bounds,  bounded  to  westward  with  a  river  called,  by  the  Indians,  '  Aqua- 
conounck,'  commonly  known  to  the  English  by  the  name  of  Hutchin- 
son's River,  which  runneth  into  the  bay  lying  between  Throgmorton's 
Neck  and  Anne  Hooke's  Neck,  commonly  called  Hutchinson's  Bay, 
bounded  on  the  east  by  a  brooke  called  Cedar  Tree  Brooke,  or  Gravelly 
Brooke;  on  the  South  by  the  Sound,  which  lyeth  between  Long  Island 
and  the  maine  land,  with  all  the  islands  on  the  Sound  not  before  that 
time  granted  or  disspossed  of,  lying  before  that  tract  of  land  So  bounded 
as  is  before  expresst,  and  northward  to  runne  into  the  woods  about  eight 
English  miles,  the  breadth  to  be  the  same,  as  it  is  along  by  the  Sound, 
together  with  all  the  lands,  islands,  soyles,  woods,  meadows,  pastures,  mar- 
shes, lakes,  creeks,  waters,  fishing,  hawking,  hunting  and  lb^\iing,  and  all 
other  prolfltts  coinmodityes,  heridetaments  to  the  Said  tract  of  land  and 
islands  belonging,  with  their  and  every  of  their  appurtenances,  and 
every  part  and  parcel  thereof  ;  and  that  the  said  tract  of  land  and  pre- 
mises should  be  forever  thereafter  held,  deeme<l,  reputed,  taken  and  be 
au  entire  iufranchised  towneshipp,  manner  and  place  of  itself,  and  should 
always,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times  thereafter,  have,  hold  and 
enjoy  like  and  equall  priviledges  and  immunities  with  any  towne,  in- 
franchised  place  or  manner  within  this  government,  &c.,  shall  in  no 
manner  or  way  be  subordinate  or  belonging  unto,  have  any  dependance 
upon  or  in  anywise,  bounds  or  the  rules  under  the  direction  of  any  rid- 
ing, or  towne,  or  towneshipp?,  place  (tr  jurisdiction,  either  upon  the  maine 
or  upon  Longe  Island,  but  should  in  all  causes,  things  and  matters  be 
deemed,  reputed,  taken  and  held  as  an  absolute,  intire,  infranchised 
towneshipp,  manner  and  place  of  itselfe  in  this  government,  and  should 
be  ruled,  ordered  and  directed  in  all  matters  iis  to  government,  accord- 
ingly, by  the  governour  and  Councell  and  General  ('ourt  of  Assizes,  only 
provided,  always,  that  the  inhabitants  in  said  tract  of  land,  granted  as 
aforesaid,  should  be  obliged  to  send  fforwards  to  the  next  townes  all  pub- 
lick  packquetts  and  letters,  or  liew  and  cryes  coming  to  New  York  or 
going  from  thence  to  any  other  of  his  JIajestie's  Collonys  ;  to  have  and 
to  hold  the  said  tract  of  land  and  islands,  with  all  and  singular  the  ap- 
purtenances and  premises,  together  with  the  priviledges,  immunities, 
franchises  and  advantages  therein  given  and  granted  unto  the  said 
Tbomaa  Pell,  to  the  proper  use  and  behoofe  of  the  said  Thomas  Pell,  his 
heires  and  assignes  forever,  ffuly,  ffreely,  clearely,  in  as  large  and  ample 
manner  and  forme,  and  with  such  full  and  absolute  immunities  and 
priviledges  as  before  is  expresst,  as  if  he  had  held  the  same  immediately 
ffrom  his  Majesty  the  Kinge  of  England,  Ac,  and  his  suckcessore,  as  of 
the  manner  of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  in  free  and  com- 
mon sockage  and  by  fealty,  only  yealdeing,  rendering  and  payeing 
yearely  and  every  yeare  unto  his  then  royall  highness  the  Duke  of 
Yorke,  and  his  heires,  or  tosuch  governour  orgovernom's  as  from  time  to 
time  should  by  him  be  constituted  and  appoynted,  as  an  acknowledge- 
ment, one  lambe  on  the  first  day  of  May,  if  the  same  shall  be  demanded 
as  by  the  saiddeede  in  writeing,  and  the  entry  thereof  in  the  bookes  of 
records  in  the  secretarie's  office  for  the  province  aforesaid,  may  more  fully 
and  at  large  appeare. 

'Mn(Z  irhereas,  John  Pell,  gentleman,  nephew  of  the  said  Thomas  Pell, 
to  whom  the  lands,  islands  and  premises,  with  appurtenances,  now  by 
the  last  will  and  testJiment  of  him,  the  said  Thomas  Pell  given  and  be- 
queathed, now  is  in  the  actual,  peacable  and  quiett  sesi/.eing  and  posses- 
sion of  all  and  singular  the  premises,  and  hath  made  his  humble  request 
to  mee,  the  said  Thomas  Dongan,  that  I  would,  in  the  behalfe  of  his 
Sacred  Majesty,  his  heirs  and  suckcessors,  give  and  grant  unto  him,  the 
said  John  Pell,  a  more  full  ami  firme  grant  and  confirmation  of  the 
above  land  and  premises,  with  the  appurtenances,  under  the  scale  of 
this  his  Majesties  province :  Xoin  Ktwir  Yee,  that  I,  the  said  Thomas 
Dongan,  by  virtue  of  the  conmiission  and  authority  unto  me  given  by 
his  said  Ma;jesty,  and  power  in  me  being  and  residing,  in  consideration 
of  the  q\iitt-rent  hereinafter  reserved,  and  for  divers,  other  good  and 
lawfull  considerations  me  thereunto  mouving,  I  have  given,  rattefied 


and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents  doe  hereby  give,  grant,  ratefie  and 
confirme  unto  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  the 
before  mentioned  and  rented  lauds,  islands  and  premises,  with  the 
hereditaments  and  appurtenances,  priviledges,  imuneties,  ffranchises 
and  advantages  to  the  same  belonging  and  appertaining,  or  in  the  said 
before  mentioned  deede  in  writing  expresst,  iniplyed  or  intended  to  be 
given  and  granted,  and  every  part  and  parcell  thereof,  together  with  all 
and  Singular  Messuages,  tenements,  barns,  stables,  orchards,  gardens, 
lands,  islands,  meadows,  iuclosures,  arable,  lands,  feedeings,  commons, 
woods,  underwoods,  soyles,  quarreys,  mines,  minerally  (royall  mines 
only  excepted),  waters,  rivers,  ponds,  lakes,  hunteing,  haucking,  II  shing, 
ff  owleing,  as  alsoe  all  rents,  services,  wasts,  strayes,  royaltyes,  liberties, 
priviledges,  jurisdictions,  rights,  members  and  appurtenances,  and  all 
other  immunityes,  royaltyes,  power  of  franchises,  profitts,  commodeties 
and  lieredatements  whatsoever  to  the  premises,  or  any  part  or  parcell 
thereof,  belonging  or  appertaining;  and  further  by  vertue  of  the  power 
and  authority  in  mee  being  and  residing,  I  doe  here  grant,  rattefie  and 
confirme,  and  the  tract  of  land,  isl  lud  and  premises  aforesaid  are,  by 
these  presents,  erected  and  constituted  to  be  one  lordship  and  manner, 
and  the  same  shall  from  henceforth  be  called  the  lordshipp  and  manner 
of  Pelham  ;  and  I  doe  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  John  Pell, 
his  heirs  and  itssigns,  ffuU  power  and  authority  at  all  times  hereafter,  in 
the  said  lordshipp  and  manner  of  Pelham  aforesaid,  one  court  leete  and 
one  co!irt  barron,  to  hold  and  keepe  at  such  times,  and  so  often  yearly  a& 
he  and  they  shall  see  meete,  and  all  sines,  issues  and  amerciaments  at 
the  said  court  leete  and  court  barron,  to  be  holden  and  kept  in  the  man- 
ner and  lordship  aforesaid,  that  are  payable  from  time  to  time,  shall 
happen  to  be  due  and  payable  by  and  from  any  the  inhabitants  (»f  or 
within  the  said  lordshipp  and  manner  of  Pelham  abovesjiid  ;  and  al^o  all 
and  every  the  powers  and  authorities  hereinbefore  mentioned,  for  the 
holding  and  keepeing  of  the  said  court  leete  and  court  barron,  ffrom 
time  to  time,  and  to  award  and  issue  forth  the  customary  writs  to  be 
issued  and  awarded  out  of  the  said  court  leete  and  court  barron,  and  the 
same  to  beare  test  and  to  be  issued  out  in  the  name  of  the  said  John  Pell, 
his  heirs  and  assignes,  and  the  same  court  leete  and  court  barron  to  be 
kept  by  the  said  John  Pell,  his  heii"s  and  assignes,  or  his  or  their 
steward,  deputed  or  appoynted  ;  and  I  doe  lurther  hereby  give  and  grant 
unto  tlie  said  John  Pell,  liis  heirs  and  assignes,  full  power  to  distraine 
for  all  the  rents  and  other  sum^  of  money  payable  by  reason  of  the 
premises,  and  all  other  lawful  remedys  and  meanes  for  the  haveing,  re- 
ceiving, levying  and  enjoying  the  said  premises  and  every  part  thereof, 
and  all  waifts,  strayes,  wreck's  of  the  seiise,  deodands  and  goods  of  ffelons 
happening  ami  being  within  the  said  manner  of  Pelham,  with  the 
advowson  and  right  of  patronage  of  all  and  every  of  the  Church  and 
Churches  in  the  said  manner,  erected  and  to  be  erected— to  have  and  to 
hold  all  and  singular  the  said  tract  of  land,  islands  and  manner  of  Pel- 
ham, and  all  and  singular  the  above  granted  or  mentioned  to  be  granted 
l)remi8es,  with  their  rights,  members,  jurisdictions,  privile<lges,  liereda- 
ments  and  appurtenances,  to  the  siiid  John  Pell,  his  hell's  and  assignes, 
to  the  only  proper  use,  benefitt  and  behoofe  of  the  said  John  Pell,  his 
heirs  and  assignes,  forever:  to  be  holden  of  his  Most  Sacred  Majestye, 
his  heirs  and  successors,  in  free  and  common  soccage  according  to  the 
tenure  of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  in  his  Majestje's 
kingdom  of  England,  yielding,  rendering  and  paying,  therefore,  yearly 
and  every  year  forever,  unto  his  siiid  Majestye,  his  heirs  and  successors, 
or  to  such  officer  or  officers  as  shall  from  time  to  time  he  appointeil  to 
receive  the  same — twenty  shillings,  good  and  lawful  money  of  this  prov- 
ince, at  the  City  of  New  Y'ork,  on  the  five  and  twentyeth  day  of  the 
month  of  March,  in  lieu  and  stead  of  all  rents,  services  and  demands 
whatsoever.  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  signed  these  presents 
with  my  handwriting,  caused  the  scale  of  the  province  to  be  thereunto 
affixed,  and  have  ordained  that  the  same  be  entered  upon  record  in  the 
secretary's  office,  the  five  and  twentyeth  day  of  October,  in  the  third 
yeare  of  the  Kinge  Majestyes  reigne,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one 
thousand  six  hundred  eighty  and  seven. 

"Thom.is  Do.noa.v." 

In  the  year  1689,  John  Pell  sold  to  the  Huguenots 
of  New  Eochelle,  through  the  agency  of  Governor 
Leisler,^  a  tract  of  land  consisting  of  six  thousand 

>  The  fate  of  Leialer  through  whom  this  purchase  was  made  is  fully 
related  in  the  contemporaneous  history  of  those  times.  He  took  the 
lead  in  a  popular  movement,  in  1088,  against  the  constituted  authori- 
ties, and  assumed  or  wiis  chosen  by  his  partizans  to  the  government. 
For  this  act,  he  was  tried,  found  guilty  of  treason,  and  hung  in  chains, 
on  the  17th  of  May,  1691,  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  the  City  Hall 


PELHAM. 


705 


one  hundred  ai  res,  from  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  for 
the  sum  of  about  one  dollar  per  acre.  The  one  hun- 
dred acres  was  a  free  gift  to  the  French  Huguenot 
Church,  erected  or  to  be  erected  by  the  inhabitants. 
The  Manor  of  Pelham  had  originally  contained  nine 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  acres,  so  that 
nearly  two-thirds  of  it  now  constitute  the  town  of 
New  Rochelle. 

The  islands  in  the  sound  opposite  Pelham,  belong 
to  that  town.  These  are  Minneford's  (now  City 
Island)  containing  about  two  hundred  and  thirty 
acres;  Hunter's  Island,  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres; 
and  Hart  Island,  eighty-five  acres.  The  heir  of 
Thomas  Pell  to  the  Pelham  Manor,  was  John  Pell, 
his  ne|)hew,  whose  death,  according  to  the  inscription 
upon  his  monument,  happened  in  the  year  1700.  He 
is  said  to  have  lost  his  life  by  the  upsetting  of  a  boat 
off  City  Island,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year.  His 
eldest  son,  Thomas,  succeeded  to  the  inheritance,  and 
died  in  173'J  at  the  IManor  House,  which  stood  not 
far  from  the  i>rcsent  Barton  dwelling.  The  subse- 
iiuent  history  of  the  Pell  family  may  be  found,  given 
at  length  in  Bolton's  history. 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1776,  the  British  forces 
landed  upon  Pelham  Neck,  ten  days  previous  to  the 
battle  of  White  Plains.  They  came  from  Throgmor- 
ton's,  now  Throg's  Neck.  They  were  met  by  the 
Americans  and  a  heavy  skirmish  resulted.  After 
some  loss,  the  Americans  fell  back,  and  the  British 
advanced  towards  New  Rochelle.  Though  largely 
ouliuimbered,  the  retreat  of  the  Americans  was  or- 
derly and  their  resistance  obstinate.  The  loss  on 
both  sides  was  probably  about  equal. 

The  owners  of  the  islands  along  the  Pelham  shore 
suffered  more  severely  from  this  invasion  than  those 
in  the  interior,  because  a  i)ortiou  of  the  British  fieet 
was  always  anchored  in  the  Sound,  and  boats  were 
constantly  landing  to  obtain  sui)plies,  which  they 
often  and  perhaps  intentionally  forgot  to  pay 
for.  One  Benjamin  Palmer,  who  lived  upon  City 
Island,  after  tlie  war  was  over  sent  a  petition  to  Gov- 
ernor Clinton,  complaining  loudly  of  his  wrongs  and 
grievances.  He  stated  that  he  had  been  driven  oft' 
the  island,  his  stock  destroyed,  his  effects  plundered, 
his  family  taken  prisoners,  and,  as  a  last  indignity, 
the  commander  of  the  guard-ship  "Scorpion  "  ordered 
him  to  cut  his  wood  at  a  certain  place  and  nowhere 
else,  "  upon  penalty  of  having  his  house  burned 
down."  Mr.  Palmer's  ciise  was  not  a  peculiar  one. 
These  acts  of  petty  tyranny  were  universal  during 
the  occupancy  by  the  Britisli  of  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. But  in  his  case  there  was  a  special  reason 
for  the  enemy's  severity.  He  had  ventured  to  write 
to  General  Howe  a  letter  in  vindication  of  the  Amer- 

in  New  York  City.  At  a  later  iwriwl,  liiis  attainder  was  reversed,  and 
liin  I'stati-S  restored  to  Uia  fuliiily  Iiy  Act  of  Parliament.  Tlie  );en>'riil 
veiilict  of  history  at  the  jiresent  time  is,  that  lie  was  innocent  of  the 
i  rinie  for  which  lie  wiis  condeuined  and  executed. — (8eo  Bolton's,  Ban- 
croft's and  Bryant's  llistorics.) 
67 


icans.  Our  sympathies,  even  at  this  late  hour,  are 
elicited  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Palmer  and  his  fellow-suf- 
ferers. Their  treatment  was  shameful  and  the  con- 
duct of  the  British  in  inflicting  such  acts  of  oppres- 
sion upon  private  individuals,  not  in  arms  against 
them,  was  barbarous  and  indefensible.  But  inas- 
much as  the  petitioner  afterwards  removed  to  New 
York  City  with  his  family,  and  had  besides,  abun- 
dance of  good  company  in  his  .sufferings,  and  since 
his  oppressors  were  finally  defeated  and  driven  from 
the  country,  and  he,  if  present,  might  have  witnessed 
the  hauling  down  of  their  flag  on  the  Battery,  in  New 
York,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1783,  it  seems  that 
Mr.  Palmer  might  be  content  to  call  it  square  (with 
the  British)  and  withdraw  his  petition.  One  hun- 
dred years  have  made  a  great  change  in  the  value  of 
the  "plantation  "  once  held  by  him,  and  from  which 
he  was  then  driven,  on  City  Island.  If  he  owned  it 
now,  it  would  a  great  deal  more  than  compensate  him 
for  all  his  losses  in  that  war.  The  oyster  business  is 
now  carried  on  largely  there,  with  a  cajjital  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  building  of  vessels — 
mostly  pleasure  yachts — has  led  to  the  establishment 
of  a  dock-yard,  in  which  a  number  of  men  are  em- 
ployed, and  where  some  of  the  swiftest  yachts  in  the 
country  have  been  built. 

It  was  near  City  Island  that  a  daring  and  success- 
ful enterprise  was  accomj)lished  by  a  few  of  the 
Americans  in  the  year  1777,  being  no  less  than  the 
capture  of  a  British  gun-boat  used  as  a  guard-ship, 
and  stationed  at  the  mouth  of  East  Chester  Creek. 
The  particulars,  as  related  by  one  of  the  party  engaged 
in  the  capture  to  an  aged  citizen  of  Pelham,  now  in 
his  ninety-second  year,  and  by  him  communicated  to 
the  writer,  are  as  follows  : 

"The  guardship  'Schuldam'  was  one  of  several  vessels  stationed  by 
tlio  British  along  the  shores  of  the  Sound,  through  whose  instrumental- 
ity most  of  tlie  hardshijis  complained  of  by  the  Americans,  such  as 
those  referred  to  in  tlie  petition  of  Benjamin  Palmer,  were  indicted. 
The  officers  and  crews  of  these  vessels  often  treated  the  inhabitants  of 
the  towns  and  villages  along  the  shore  with  great  Boverity.  They 
were  consequently  regarded  with  no  friendly  feelings  by  the  ojijiressed 
people,  and  plans  for  their  capture  were  frequently  discussed. 

".\  party  of  whale-boatmen  from  Daiien,  Connecticut,  were  fortunate 
enough  to  carry  such  a  design  into  execution.  They  conveyed  their 
boat  by  hand  across  the  Neck,  and  took  possession  of  the  market 
sloop  which  plied  regularly  between  Kast  Chester  and  Now  York. 
From  the  master  of  this  slooj)  they  ascertained  that  on  his  weekly  pas- 
sages to  the  city  ho  was  sonietimea  hailed  from  the  guardship,  and  re 
quested  to  sell  them  fresh  jirovisions,  such  as  eggs,  chickens,  vegetables 
Ac,  for  which,  to  insure  their  delivery,  he  was  liberally  jiaid.  These 
Connecticut  whale-boatmen,  to  the  number  of  ten  or  twelve,  armed 
concealed  themselves  in  the  hold  of  the  sloop.  Their  leader  however 
remained  on  deck,  and  forced  the  owner  to  lay  his  craft  alongside  the 
sloop,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the  usual  sujiplies.  It  was 
early  in  the  morning,  before  daylight,  and  the  moment  the  two  vessels 
touched,  the  boatmen  rushed  up  from  below,  boarded  the  British  vessel 
and  took  the  crew  prisoners  before  they  were  fairly  awake.  They  then 
comiwUed  some  of  the  prisoners  to  help  navigate  the  vessel,  and  mak- 
ing sail  on  the  prize,  ran  her  into  the  port  of  New  Loudon." 

There  are  two  persons  still  living,  one  in  I'elliam 
who  witnessed  and  the  other  in  New  Rochelle'  who 

1  The  Sound  opposite  New  Bocbelle  and  Polbani  ia  a  ticklish  place,  even 


706 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


heard  the  sound  of  the  cannonade  between  the  Brit- 
ish men-of-war  and  tlie  American  gun-boats,  which 
took  place  oflF  New  Eochelle  and  Pelham  in  the 
month  of  August,  1814.  After  the  British  had  bom- 
barded Stonington  (August  9th),  two  of  their  vessels^ 
a  frigate  and  a  sloop-of  war,  made  their  appearance 
near  Mamaroneck.  The  government,  or  perhaps  the 
people  of  New  York,  had  prepared  a  fleet  of  thirteen 
gun- boats,  each  armed  with  a  thirty-two-pounder 
gun,  for  the  protection  of  the  harbors  along  the 
Sound.  One  sultry  morning  in  August  the  ships  of 
war  moved  down  the  Sound  and  attacked  these  gun- 
boats, which  had  been  ordered  to  rendezvous  near 
Huckleberry  Island  and  along  the  shores  of  Long 
Island.  The  action  continued  at  long  range  for  about 
an  hour,  and  was  very  exciting  to  the  inhabitants  in 
the  vicinity.  The  militia  of  two  or  three  of  the  towns 
had  been  ordered  out,  and  every  height  and  headland 
was  thronged  with  spectators.  It  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  the  gun-boats  were  no  match  for  the  men- 
of  war.  Probably  all  that  saved  them  from  being 
sunk  or  captured  was  the  superior  familiarity  of  the 
Americans  with  the  navigation  of  the  Sound.  Among 
so  many  rocks  and  reefs,  the  heavy  war-vessels  of 
the  British  were  afraid  to  venture,  and  after  a  shar]) 
but  distant  cannonade,  in  which  but  little  damage 
was  inflicted,  the  gun-boats  withdrew  in  the  direction 
of  New  York,  and  the  ships  of  war  returned  to  New 
London.  It  was  in  connection  with  this  bloodless  naval 
engagement  that  the  panic  broke  out  among  the  mili- 
tia on  Davenport's  Neck,  an  account  of  whichis  given 
in  the  history  of  New  Rochclle.  The  Rev.  Lewis  J.  Cou- 
tant,'  then  a  boy  often  or  twelve  years,  distinctly  remeni" 
bered  to  have  heard  the  echoes  of  the  cannonade  up- 
on that  sultry  August  morning,  rolling  and  reverber- 
ating among  the  hills  back  of  the  town  of  New  Ro- 
chelle.  Mr.  Peter  Roosevelt,  of  Pelham,  now  in  his 
ninety-second  year,  is  understood  to  have  witnessed  the 
engagement  from  some  convenient  hill  near  the  shore 
Hunter's  Island,  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Iselin^ 
was,  in  the  year  1800,  owned  by  a  gentleman  named 
Henderson,  a  Scotchman  and  a  surgeon  in  the  British 
army.    It  has  changed  hands  many  times  and  is 


for  navigators  well  acquainted  with  the  obstructions  above  and  below 
tlie  surface.  It  is  related  that  some  years  ago  one  of  the  Le Counts,  who 
lived  upon  the  shore  in  New  Korhelle,  near  the  Telham  line,  and  hail 
been  familiar  «  ith  the  navigation  of  tlie  Sound  in  tliat  vicinity  from  liis 
youth,  took  a  party  of  friends  out  for  a  siil.  The  day  was  fine,  the 
wind  fair,  and  the  passengers  were  delighted  until  the  boat,  under  full 
sail,  ran  pluniii  jipon  a  large  flat  rock  about  a  foot  under  water,  near  the 
mouth  of  Echo  Bay.  As  the  tide  was  falling,  it  became  evident  that 
their  sail  for  the  day  Wtis  over.  "  Captain,"  wa«  the  indignant  I'cuion- 
strance  of  the  party,  "  I  thought  you  knew  every  rock  in  this  Sound." 
"  I  do,"  replied  Cuptain  L.  C,  "and  this  here  is  one  of  the  woi"st." 

One  of  the  Schuylers  a'so,  residingat  Pelham,  is  said  t(j  have  been  thus 
upset  while  sailing  in  his  boat  near  City  Island.  But,  more  lucky  than 
the  Bell  who  was  drowned  in  the  same  manner,  he  was  picked  up  by  a 
passing  vessel  while  calndy  tloating,  seated  upon  the  bottom  of  his  boat, 
and  smoking  his  pipe,  which  ho  had  managed  in  some  way  to  keep 
lighted.  Incredible  as  this  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fai  t,  as  1  have 
been  assured,  and  old  General  .'<chuyler  himself  usvi'r  did  a  cooler  thing. 
Mr.  Coutaut  has  died  since  the  above  was  written. 


probably,  upon  the  whole,  the  most  desirable  situa- 
tion for  a  residence  along  the  shores  of  the  Sound.  It 
is  sufficiently  secluded,  yet  within  easy  reach  of  sev- 
eral railway  stations.  The  land,  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  acres,  is  fertile  and  well  timbered  ;  the  fish- 
ing and  bathing  in  the  vicinity  are  excellent,  and 
the  view  from  the  south  side  unsurpassed.  The  man- 
sion, constructed  of  stone,  and  supposed  to  have  been 
erected  by  Mr.  Hunter,  is  still  a  very  fine  one.  If 
that  ancient  worthy,  Thomas  Pell,  Esq.,  the  original 
owner  of  this  spot,  had  been  informed  by  some  pro- 
phetic revelation,  that,  in  the  year  1885,  the  city  of  New 
York  would  conclude  to  take  possession  of  the  whole 
of  that  part  of  Pelham  "  lying  and  being  upon  the 
waters  of  Long  Island  Sound,"  for  a  city  park,  propos- 
ing to  issue  bonds,  run  in  debt  and  tax  the  inhabit- 
ants of  both  town  and  county  to  pay  for  the  same, 
it  may  be  safely  presumed  that  he  would  have  been 
an  unbelieving  Thomas.  Yet  it  is  well  known,  not 
only  that  such  a  plan  has  been  devised,  and  that  a 
bill  for  its  accomplishment  has  passed  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  but  that  there  is  a  strong 
probability  that  the  entire  sea-front  of  Pelham  will, 
in  a  few  years,  be  within  the  corporate  limits  of 
the  city.^ 

The  Pelham  Bridge,  over  the  mouth  of  East  Ches- 
ter Creek,  has  long  been  famous  for  the  size  and 
quality  of  the  fish  taken  in  and  around  the  waters  of 
the  bay  and  river.  The  fishing,  it  is  true,  is  not 
now  what  it  used  to  be,  either  there  or  in  other  parts 
of  the  Sound,  having  declined  from  causes  which 
may  be  known  to  those  who  have  made  themselves 
familiar  with  the  subject.  Still,  within  the  past 
twenty  years,  bass  of  large  size  and  weighing  from 
fifty  to  sixty  pounds,  have  been  taken  with  the  hook 
in  this  vicinity.  Black  fish  are  still  numerous  around 
the  rocks  and  reefs  along  the  shore.  But  old  fisher- 
men are  unanimous  in  the  assertion  that  there  has 
been  a  steady  falling  ott  in  both  the  number  and  size 
of  the  fi.sh  taken  during  the  period  of  time  men- 
tioned above.'' 

-  The  bill  contemplates  the  appropriation  of  about  four  thousand  acres 
of  land  in  Westchester  County  for  the  erection  of  three  parks;  the  Pel- 
ham Hay  Bark,  the  Bronx  River  Bark  and  the  Vau  Cortlandt  Park. 
The  Belham  Bark  is  to  consist  of  about  seventeen  hundred  acres. 

What  the  character  of  the  fishing  about  Belham  Bay  was  in  the 
olden  time  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  little  jioeni,  taken  by 
Mr.  Itoltou  from  "  Wilson's  American  Ornithology,"  and  well  worthy  of 
being  preserved  for  its  originality  and  beauty  : 
"  Fisuerjian's  IIvmn. 
"  The  osprey  sails  above  the  Sound  ; 

The  geese  are  gone,  the  gulls  are  Hying  ; 
The  herring  shoals  swarm  thick  around  ; 

The  nets  are  launched,  the  boats  arc  plying. 
Vo  ho,  my  hearts  !  let's  seek  the  deep, 

Rjiise  high  the  song,  and  cheerly  wish  her. 
Still  as  the  bending  net  we  sweep, 

(Jod  bless  the  tish  hawk  and  the  fisluu-. 

"  She  brings  us  fish,  she  brings  us  Spring, 

(iooil  times,  fair  weather,  warmth  and  plenty  ; 
Fine  .store  of  shad,  trout,  herrings,  ling, 
Shcepshead  and  drum,  and  old  wives  dainty 


PELIIAM. 


707 


Tlie  wooden  structure  wliich  oiiee  connected  the 
Neck  with  the  Westchester  shore,  iuid  whieli  was 
a  toU-hridge,  has  heen  rephiced  by  one  of  iron,  which 
is  free.  It  is  said  to  have  cost  sixty  thousand  dollai-s. 
The  ancient  oak-tree  under  which  the  Indian  sachems 
made  the  transfer  of  the  Pelham  Manor  ])roperty  to 
Thomas  Pell,  and  a  piece  of  which  is  in  the  writer's 
possession,  stood  until  within  twenty  or  thirty  years 
past  on  the  Bartow  estate.  The  Indians  received,  it 
is  said,  as  an  equivalent  for  their  deed  of  the  land, 
sundry  hogsheads  of  Jamaica  rum.  There  is  not  far 
from  this  spot  a  singular  I'reak  of  nature — a  split 
rock,  with  a  tree  growing  out  of  the  crevice.  This 
was  a  sur])rise  to  the  writer,  when,  for  the  first  time, 
he  visited  this  region,  nearly  forty  years  ago.  It 
stands  on  the  cross-road  between  the  Pelham  and 
New  York  roads,  and  the  oldest  inhabitant  has  never 
seen  it  otherwise  than  it  looks  to-day.  In  the  year 
1790  the  population  of  Pelham  was  as  follows  : 

Five  white  mules   45 

Uniler  sixteen  years  of  ago     31 

Females   84 

Slaves   :!8 

Totnl  I'JS' 

The  interests  of  education  in  Pelham  were  greatly 
advanced  when  the  school  board  of  the  town,  a  few 
years  ago,  erected  in  the  First  School  District  a  new 


Yo  lio,  my  hearts  !  let's  seek  the  deep, 

Ply  every  oar  and  cheerly  wish  her, 
Still  as  the  bending  net  we  sweep, 

God  bless  the  fish  hawk  and  the  fisher. 

"  She  rears  her  yo<ing:  in  yonder  tree, 

She  leaves  lier  faithful  mate  to  mind  'em  ; 
Like  lis,  for  fish  she  sails  the  sea. 

And  plunging,  sliows  us  w  here  to  find  'em. 
Yo  ho,  my  hearts,  lot's  seek  the  deep. 

Ply  every  oar  and  cheerly  wish  her. 
While  the  slow  bending  net  we  sweep, 

God  bless  the  fish  hawk  and  the  fisher." 

The  man  who  wrote  this  hymn  (whoever  he  was)  was  a  close  observer 
and  lover  of  nature.  lie  had  music  in  his  heart,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
fish  in  his  basket,  and  could  his  name  be  discovered,  deserves  to  have  this 
Fisher's  Hymn  inscribed  on  his  iiiomimont. 

'The  writer,  having  been  urged  to  introduce  some  observations  in  this 
place  upon  certain  Indian  graves  in  Pelham,  made  an  attempt  to  find 
them,  but  failed  to  do  so.  Nor  was  ho  able  to  discover  any  public  bury- 
ing-place  at  all  in  Pelham.  The  longevity  of  many  of  the  ancient  in- 
habitants w  as  remarkable.  The  late  .Mbert  Roosevelt  was  alert  and  active 
until  past  his  ninntieth  year.  His  sou  Pater  is  now  living  in  Pelham  with 
unimpaired  mental  powers,  in  his  ninety-second  year.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
William  Hague,  the  distinguished  author  of  the  article  upon  Old  Pel- 
ham and  New  Rochelle,  subjoined  to  this  chapter,  appears  like  a 
sprightly  gentleman  of  8i.\ty  years  or  thereabouts,  whereas,  if  the 
records  of  history  can  be  depended  upon,  he  must  bo  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  seventy-five  or  eighty. 

The  Indian  burying-ground  is  said  to  have  been  situated  upon  the 
northwest  side  of  Pell's  Neck,  but  very  few  vestiges  of  it  can  now  bo  seen. 
This  is  not  wonderful,  however,  when  wo  consider  the  changes  which 
time  produces,  even  among  the  living.  There  is  scarcely  a  family  of  the 
ancient  residents  of  Pelham  which  maintains  its  ancestral  place  and 
possessions.  The  Pells  have  long  been  gone.  The  Schuyleni  have  re- 
moved to  another  part  of  the  town.  The  Roosevelt  family  have  retained 
their  hoM  uijon  the  property  near  Hunter's  Island  for  almost  iiiiioty  yeai-s 
but  must  soon  yield  to  the  advancing  tide,  which  Hows  not  from  the 
waters  of  the  Sound,  but  from  New  York  City. 


building  at  an  expense  of  four  thousand  dollars.  Tlie 
architect  was  Mr.  G.  K.  Radford,  of  New  York  City' 
and  the  old  school-house,  which  is  still  standing, 
bears  testimony  to  the  very  decided  improvement. 
The  new  edifice,  as  well  as  the  one  recently  built  in 
New  Rochelle,  is  considered  by  competent  judges  a 
very  fine  structure,  and  both  are  among  the  best  in 
the  County  in  their  interior  arrangements  and  archi- 
tectural style  and  finish.  For  nearly  forty  years  the 
Pelham  Priory  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  town. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  for  a  very  long  period, 
this  institution  was  among  the  foremost  in  this  coun- 
try in  the  work  of  female  education.  The  site  chosen 
for  the  school  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Bolton  was  unex- 
celled for  beauty.  It  was  an  elevation  commanding 
a  wide  view  of  Long  Island  Sound  and  the  many 
islands  adjacent  to  the  Pelham  shore.  During  the 
life-time  of  Miss  Bolton  it  was  justly  celebrated  for 
the  thorough  intellectual  and  moral  training  bestowed 
upon  the  young  ladies  who  attended  it,  coming  from 
every  part  of  the  United  States  antl  sometimes  from 
foreign  countries.  Miss  Nannette  Anne  Bolton  was 
herself  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  Christian  educa- 
tion. Under  her  watchful  care  nearly  a  thousand 
young  girls  were  educated  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
prepare  them  thoroughly  for  the  higher  as  well  as  for 
the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  While  by  no  means  sec- 
tarian, the  influence  of  the  Priory  was  always  decid- 
edly religious,  and  made  itself  felt,  not  only  in  the 
town  of  Pelham,  but  throughout  a  wide  extent  of  the 
surrounding  country.  The  decline  of  such  a  school, 
through  the  death  of  its  principal  founder  and  teacher, 
is  much  to  be  lamented.  It  is  a  loss  to  the  county 
and  State  not  entirely  overestimated,  and  the  more  so 
that  nothing  has  since  arisen  in  the  town  or  vicinity 
to  take  its  place. 

Besides  the  Priory,  Pelham  is  indebted  to  the  Bol- 
ton family  for  the  first,  and  for  many  years  the  only, 
Episcopal  Church  within  its  bounds — namely,  Christ 
Church,  of  which  the  Rev.  Charles  Higbee  is  the 
present  rector,  and  from  whom  the  information  con- 
tained in  this  sketch,  with  regard  to  the  churches  of 
the  town,  is  derived.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  without 
the  persistent  labors  and  sacrifices  of  this  family, 
neither  of  these  institutions— the  church  or  the  priory, 
both  so  potent  for  good  to  Pelham  and  the  wliole 
region  around  it — would  ever  have  existed.  ^ 

From  this  church  two  others  have  since  sprung — 
Grace  Church,  on  City  Island,  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Winsor  is  the  present  rector,  and  the  Church  of  the 
Redeemer,  at  Pelhamvillc,  whose  rector  is  the  Rev. 
Cornelius  Winter  Bolton,  a  son  of  the  founder  of  the 
parent  church  and  the  Priory  in  Pelham. 

-  No  candid  historian  of  the  county  of  Westchester  can  fail  to  ac- 
knowledge his  obligations  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Robert  Bolton  in  this 
'  field.    Notwithstanding,  his  history  has  grave  faults.    It  is  as  full  of  ec- 
I  clesiastical  bigotry  .is  of  re.-^jarcli,  and  ought  to  be  entitled,  "  A  History  of 
Episcopacy  in  the  County  of  Westchester."    Jtore  than  ten  times  the 
I  space  accorded  to  all  other  denominations  is  given  to  this  one,  and  the 
matter  introduced  is  often  tediously  minute,  dry  and  uninteresting. 


708 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  great  debt  which  the  town 
of  Pclham  owes  and  must  forever  owe  to  the  members 
of  the  Bolton  family  will  never  be  forgotten.  Their 
names  ought  to  be  cherished  along  with  that  of  the 
father  and  founder  of  the  manor  itself. 

The  Pelham  Manor  and  Huguenot  Heights  Asso- 
ciation is  an  incorporated  company,  formed  about  the 
year  1875,  for  the  improvement  of  that  part  of  the 
town  lying  between  the  station  of  the  Harlem  Branch 
of  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  Railroad  and  the 
Boston  turnpike  road.  The  new  village  thus  formed 
has  grown  rapidly,  and  is  for  many  reasons  a  very  de- 
sirable place  of  residence.  It  is  easily  accessible 
from  the  Pelhamville  Station  of  the  New  Haven 
Railroad,  so  that  a  large  number  of  trains  upon  both 
roads  are  available  daily,  and  almost  hourly. 

The  Huguenot  Memorial  Chapel,  a  pretty  Presby- 
terian Church,  was  built  to  accommodate  the  resi- 
dents of  that  denomination.  It  was  opened  for  wor- 
ship on  the  9th  of  July,  1876,  under  the  pastoral  care 
of  the  Rev.  Charles  E.  Lord.  The  Rev.  Daniel  N. 
Frecland  is  the  present  pastor. 

As  a  place  of  residence,  this  part  of  Westchester 
County  presents  decided  claims  to  public  regard.  The 
rapid  growth  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  rise  of 
rents  there  and  the  pressure  of  the  population  on 
this  account  into  the  surrounding  country,  render  it 
certain  that  the  suburban  towns  and  villages  must 
ultimately  and  indeed  speedily  share  in  its  prosperity. 
Several  of  them  have  already  been  absorbed  within 
the  city  limits,  and  others  must  shortly  follow.  The 
value  of  land  has  increased  enormously  within  a  few 
years,  both  upon  the  North  and  East  River  sides  of 
the  county,  and  there  is  also  a  steady  growth  in  popu- 
lation. As  an  example  of  this  increased  value,  land 
in  the  towns  of  New  Rochelle  and  Pelham,  which,  in 
the  year  1850,  could  be  readily  purchased  for  three 
hundred  dollars  per  acre,  cannot  now  be  bought  for 
ten  times  that  sum.  In  such  large  towns  as  Yonkers 
the  advance  in  price  is  proportionally  greater.  There 
is  not  probably  in  the  entire  country  a  section  better 
adapted  for  improvement  than  the  lower  part  of 
Westchester  County.  The  soil  is  good,  the  scenery 
romantic,  the  climate  salubrious,  and  the  old  historic 
associations  are  such  as  to  lend  an  added  interest  to 
these  material  advantages. 

Some  of  the  finest  sites  in  the  world  for  country- 
seats  are  to  be  found  around  the  shores  of  Pelham 
Bay,  the  islands  that  dot  the  Sound,  and,  in  fact, 
throughout  the  whole  shore-line  from  Hell  Gate  to 
Connecticut.  The  same  is  true,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  of  the  bays  and  headlands  of  the  opposite 
Long  Island  shore. 

The  enhanced  value  of  the  real  estate  in  Pelham 
since  the  year  1800  may  be  inferred  from  a  brief  his- 
tory of  one  of  the  oldest  residences  in  the  town — 
that  owned  and  occupied  by  the  late  Albert  Roosevelt, 
merchant  of  New  York,  and  his  family. 

In  the  above-mentioned  year  Mr.  Roosevelt  pur- 


chased of  Mr.  Bailey  a  tract  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  of  land  upon  the  main  shore,  opposite  Hunter's 
Island,  and  of  which  the  Pelham  Priory  then  formed 
a  part,  for  twenty-five  dollars  an  acre. 

Bailey  had  bought  at  the  close  of  the  war  three 
hundred  acres  of  land  confiscated  by  the  government 
because  the  owner  had  taken  part  with  the  British  in 
the  war.  For  this  tract  he  paid  five  dollars  and  twenty 
cents  an  acre.  Of  this,  he  sold  two  hundred  and  fifty 
acres  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  at  the  above-mentioned  price, 
twenty-five  dollars.  The  Roosevelt  place  is  one  of 
those  proposed  to  be  taken  for  the  new  Pelham  Bay 
Park.  But  the  commissioners  will  find  that  the  price 
has  advanced  considerably  since  the  year  1800.  The 
dwelling  was  erected  in  1802. 

The  Pelham  Industry  was  established  by  Mrs.  W 
S.  Hoyt,  daughter  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Chase, 
and  other  ladies  of  Pelham,  and  was  in  successful 
operation  for  over  two  years.  Its  object,  a  benevo- 
lent one,  was  to  afford  to  young  persons  of  both 
sexes  instruction  in  the  decorative  and  industrial 
arts.  Teachers  were  provided  for  the  various  depart- 
ments of  drawing,  decoration,  designing,  carving  in 
wood,  embroidery,  tapestry,  upholstery,  carpentry, 
and  joiner-work  and  working  in  metals.  A  depot 
was  provided  in  the  building  for  receiving  orders  for 
work  and  for  the  sale  of  articles  manufactured.  ^ 

The  Country  Club  is  one  of  the  notable  institutions 
of  Pelham.  In  looking  about  for  a  suitable  place  for 
its  establishment,  the  gentlemen  who  organized  it 
made  choice  of  one  situated  directly  upon  the  Sound, 
and  which  was  owned  and  occupied  for  many  years 
by  the  family  of  the  late  Dr.  Richard  Morris.  The 
grounds  and  the  view  to  be  seen  from  them  are  ad- 
mirably ada])ted  to  the  purposes  of  such  a  club.  It 
has  a  membership  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
persons,  and  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

In  the  ample  grounds  and  well-equipped  club- 
house every  means  is  provided  for  the  comfort,  con- 
venience and  amusement  of  the  members ;  various 
athletic  games  and  field  sports  are  engaged  in,  while 
fishing,  bathing  and  boating  are  afforded  by  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Sound  adjacent,  and  which  wash  the  pict- 
uresque shores  of  the  place. 

At  David's  Island  religious  services  are  held  every 
Sunday  evening  at  the  military  post,  which  is  one  of 
the  depots  of  recruits  for  the  United  States  army. 
It  should  seem  that  it  is  a  position  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  secure  the  services  of  an  army  chaplain, 
as  large  numbers  of  soldiers  are  frequently  gathered 
there,  to  be  dispersed  from  time  to  time,  as  the  needs 
of  the  government  may  demand,  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Higbee,  of  Pelham,  has  for 
years  conducted  occasional  services  there.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  any  clergyman,  they  are  conducted  by  the 
surgeon  of  the  station,  Major  A.  A.  Woodhull,  or  by 
Captain  (now  Colonel)  Trotter. 

1  This  institution,  after  a  very  snccessful  beginning,  is,  for  various 
reasons,  temporarily  suspended. 


PELHAM. 


709 


In  closing  this  sketch  of  the  history  of  Pclhani,  T 
am  permitted,  by  tlie  kindness  of  my  friend,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  William  Hague,  one  of  the  most  eminent  minis- 
ters of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  this  country  and 
a  native  of  the  town  of  Pelham,  to  subjoin  his  very 
interesting  article,  jiublished  in  the  American  Maga- 
zine of  History,  and  entitled  "  Old  Pelham  and  New 
Rochelle." 


"old  i'elham  and  new  rochelle." 
i!y  rev.  william  iiaciue. 

"  It  was  my  fortuiio  to  revisit,  lecontly,  after  a  long  interval  of 
nbsnnce,  two  lionies  of  my  cliildluiod,  tlio  birth  bomo  at  PeUiam,  West- 
chester County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Now  York,  and  the  churcli  home  at 
New  Kocholle,  the  town  adjoining,  originally  a  part  of  Pelham,  com- 
prised within  the  area  of  the  manor  by  the  royal  charter  of  liifiG,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.  That  charter  was  granted  to  Thomas  I'cll,  Esq., 
'  Centleman  of  the  bed-chamber  to  King  (Iharles  I.,'  and  afterwards,  in 
ICiST,  was  gmnted  anew  and  confirmed  to  his  legally  recognized  heir, 
the  only  son  of  his  brother,  the  first  resident  proprietor,  'Lord  John 
Poll,' according  to  the  usage  of  addres.s  hereabouts  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 

"The  first  object  of  interest  that  won  attention  within  view  from  the 
railway  station,  two  or  three  minutes'  walk  westward  along  the  old  his- 
toric 'King's  Highway,'  was  the  beautiful  church  edifice  of  stone, 
designated  'Trinity  Church,  of  New  Rochelle,'  presenting  itself  to  the 
eye  of  the  inquiring  visitor  as  the  successor  of  the  old  '  French  Church,' 
that  hallowed  that  surrounding  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Ann.  Having 
noticed,  in  a  musing  mood,  the  contrast  between  the  showing  of  the 
rude,  small,  stony  structure  that  I  had  first  known  in  childhood  as  a 
house  of  worship,  and  that  of  the  finely  proportioned  modern  temple 
whose  graceful  spire  now  casts  its  shadow  over  the  old  site,  I  turned 
my  steps  toward  the  church  burial-gro\ind,  seeking  the  graves  of  my 
grandparents.  Long-slmnbering  memories  were  aroused,  fii-st  of  all,  by 
the  sight  of  the  marble  that  marked  the  grave  of  my  grandmother — 
Sarah  Pell,  widow  of  Captjiin|William  Bayley — whose  funeral  service, 
ministered  in  the  church-yard  by  her  aged  relative,  the  rector,  Kev. 
Tlieodosius  Bartow,  I  had  attended  with  a  large  family  gathering  in  the 
month  of  March,  181U,  being  then  eleven  years  of  age.  The  form  of  the 
venerable  clergyman  in  his  official  robes  at  the  grave,  his  bald  head  un- 
covered, despite  the  chill  of  a  heavy  snow-fall,  is  vividly  remembered 
now  as  if  it  had  figured  in  a  scene  of  yesterday. 

"  Meanwhile,  however,  memory  had  let  slip  the  date  of  my  grand, 
father's  departure,  and  I  was  desirous  to  regain  it  from  the  chiselled 
record  at  the  head  of  the  grave  nearly  adjoining.  What  a  bewilder- 
ment!  I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes,  as  I  read,  'Died  March  3, 
1811.'  It  seemed  altogether  abnormal,  that  such  minute  remembrances 
of  him  as  had  been  familiar  to  me,  scores  of  particulars  pertaining  to  his 
individuality,  even  the  tones  of  his  voice  and  his  handicraft  in  making 
toys  for  my  amusement,  should  have  been  thus  long  kept  within  the 
brain  as  in  a  photographic  or  phonographic  cabinet.  Yet  thus  it  must 
have  been,  despite  all  seemings  to  the  contrary,  I  said,  soliloquizing  in 
the  presence  of  the  facts  :  at  the  age  of  three  and  a  half,  hereabouts,  be- 
gan my  outlook  upon  the  world.  Here  I  approximate  the  staitiug 
point  of  conscious  thought ;  and  this  otitlook  over  the  life  area  of 
'  throe-score  and  ten  "  discloses  its  varied  scenes  of  light  and  shadow, 
from  infancy  to  age,  as  one  broad  panoramic  unity. 

"Child  memories,  no  doubt,  are  efiective  factors  in  shaping  'the 
make-up'  of  any  pei-sonality.  The  inmgo  of  my  grandfather,  associated 
as  it  is  with  the  old  homestead,  and  with  his  flow  of  talk  while  occupy- 
ing his  easy-chair  upon  the  piazza,  where  he  was  wont  to  enjoy  one  of 
the  finest  of  landscapes,  taking  within  its  scope  Hunter's  Island,  I'elliam 
Creek,  the  expanse  of  Long  Island  Sound,  has  never  become  dim  ;  so 
that  he  has  ever  represented  to  me  the  ideal  '  grandpa '  of  poetry  or 
song,  of  fiction  or  graphic  art,  as  pictured  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  or  '  Peter 
Parley.'    Tims  has  ho  ever  been  to  me  in  thought  '  a  living  presence,' 


although  the  obtruding  question  as  to  the  pos,sibilitie8  of  a  baby  brain 
will  put  itself  over  and  over  again  like  a  mocking  puzzle. 

"  l)esi)ito  the  puzzle,  the  fact  assorts  itself.  From  the  viow-point  oc- 
cupied at  the  lime  of  this  writing,  March,  1882,  looking  hack  to  the  la-st 
sickness  and  to  the  funeral  services  at  Pelham  and  New  Rochelle,  the 
succession  of  years  and  order  of  events  are  clearly  traced  by  memory  and 
substantiated  as  a  personal  history.  There  is  no  break  in  the  outline, 
although  numy  things,  thoughts,  word.s,  deeds  may  be  missed  from  'the 
filling  up.' 

"  But  now,  while  occupying  the  old  church-yard  as  a  retrospective 
view-point,  it  seems  noteworthy  that  the  fii-st  advent  of  death  into  the 
household,  and  this  first  funeral  that  shadowed  the  path  of  my  young 
life,  cannot  be  desoriliod  without  the  Joining  of  two  olil  town  names, 
French  and  Kiiglish,  New  Koi  hollo  and  Pelham.  Thus,  too,  looking 
upon  the  head-stones  that  memorialize  the  many  graves  in  this  '  (<od'8 
Acres,'  as  the  old  lOnglisli  called  the  consecrated  burial-ground,  we 
notice  the  alterations  or  intermingling  of  Knglish  and  French  surnames, 
denoting  the  quick  fusion  of  Fnglish  and  French  blood  in  the  homes  of 
the  early  settlei's  nearly  two  centuries  ago.  On  the  tomb-stones  of  the 
dead  and  on  the  door-signs  of  the  living,  the  same  old  names  present 
themselves, — Polls,  Bayleys,  Bartows,  Pincknoys,  Sands,  Hunts,  (iuions, 
Le  Counts,  Allaires,  Leroys,  Coulants,  Seooi-s,  Badoaus,  Flandreaiis,  Do 
Peysters,  Do  Lanceys  and  uthei*s,  signalizing  the  si»ont,'\ne<!Us  union  of 
Saxon  and  Celtic  elements  in  the  historic  home-life  ami  church-life  of 
the  colonial  days. 

"These  first  exiles  from  France,  seeking  permanent  homes  and  relig- 
ious liberty,  though,  to  a  great  extent,  'spoiled  of  their  goods,'  realized 
actually  the  sentiment  so  well-  emphasized  by  Daniel  Webster  in  ad- 
dressing the  young  Americans,  namely,  'character  is  capital,'  being 
in  the  best  sense,  '  well  to  do,'  free  and  inclined  to  contract  family  alli- 
ances from  choice,  taste  anil  personal  qualities  rather  than  from  consid- 
erations of  mere  e.vpediency  or  goading  necessity.  Few  and  weak 
though  they  seeniod,  their  place  in  history  is  as  clearly  defined  as  that  of 
the 'ten  thousand '  retreating  Creeks  whom  Xenophon  luis  immortal- 
ized, having  been  long  ago  distinguished  as  a  p.art  of  that  heroic  'fifty 
thousand '  who  lied  from  France  to  ICngland  about  four  years  before  the 
annulling  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  signed  by  Henry  IV.  in  l.")!*,  for  the 
protection  of  Protestants,  and  revoked  by  Louis  XIV.  in  1085  ;  having 
been  in  force,  nominally,  though  not  really,  nearly  fonr-fiftlis  of  a 
century.  Having  emigrated  from  England  to  New  York,  some  of  them 
by  way  of  the  West  Indies,  particularly  St.  Christopher's  and  Martin- 
iciue,  they  found  the  most  beautiful  lands  of  the  vicinity  chartered 
under  English  manorial  proprietorship,  whereby  it  was  made  easy  for 
them  to  establish  themselves  in  new  and  permanent  homes.  All  anti- 
pathies of  blood  or  race  melted  away  in  the  presence  of  a  common 
('luistianity.  An  area  of  six  thousand  acres,  a  part  of  the  M.anor  of 
I'elhain,  was  conveyed  to  their  friend  and  agent,  .lacob  Loislcr,  nicr- 
i:hant  of  New  York,  on  acceiitjiblo  terms,  in  1G8'J,  surveyed  and  divided 
into  lots  or  fanns  by  Alexander  Allaire  and  Captiiin  Bond,  in  lG!)'.i  ; 
named  New  Kochelle  in  memory  of  the  old  fortress  of  Protestantism  in 
France,  and  then  the  family  life  of  the  two  people,  by  its  own  interior 
law  of  development,  grew  into  a  civil  and  social  unity,  'compact  to- 
gether,' under  the  sway  of  a  cominon  sentiment,  as  if  all  gloried  in  the 
same  genealogical  origin. 

"  In  this  retrospective  view  of  Bi-centennial  history  we  can  hardly 
trace  the  fortunes  of  rich  domain  so  beautiful  as  was  this  broad,  pictur- 
esipic  area  of  almost  ten  thousand  acres,  so  near  the  rising  metropolis, 
constituted  by  royal,  ducal  and  colonial  authority,  under  lawful  grant 
and  patent  of  his  majesty,  Charles  II.,  and  also  of  his  sterner  brother. 
King  James  II.,  'an  absolute,  entire,  enfmncliised  township  and  place 
of  itself,  in  no  manner  of  way  to  be  subordinate  or  under  the  rule  of  any 
rilling,  township,  or  place  of  jurisdiction,'  and  then  ob.serve  how  it  was 
'  willed  '  at  once  by  its  first  proprietor,  Thomas  Pell,  into  the  possession 
of  an  English  heir,  his  nephew,  a  young  man,  only  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  without  being  sympathetically  alive  to  the  import  of  the  doubtful 
questioning  put  by  the  more  advanced  of  the  exiles.  '  What  manner 
of  man  is  this  lord  of  the  Manor?  What  have  been  his  antecedents? 
Is  his  spirit  akin  to  that  of  the  intriguing,  persecuting  royal  duke, 
James  of  York,  now  king,  through  whom,  by  special  porinission  of  his 
majesty,  Charles  II.,  the  earlier  charter  of  proprietorship  was  received?' 
The  inquiry  was  serious,  the  answer  was  encouraging.  The  young  lord's 
biography  was  easily  traced.  His  environment  suggested  cheerful  proph- 
ecies, although  his  youthful  years  had  been  passed  amid  a  general  un- 
scttlement  of  things  in  church  and  state.  Adverse  to  the  pursuit  of  his 
studies  continuously  in  due  course,  his  home-life  and  school-life  under 
his  father's  eye  furnished  advantages  quite  exceptional  for  liberal  self- 
culturj,  adapted  to  qualify  him  for  the  place  of  lordly  eminence  bo- 


710 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


iHieatlied  to  him  in  this  new  world  as  the  protector  of  an  oppressed  peo- 
ple, the  fonndcr  of  a  coiiniiunitv  truly  unicjiie  as  to  condition  and  char- 
acter. 

"At  this  point  of  our  retrospect  let  us  take  np  the  exiled  Huguenot  s 
(piestion.  What  were  this  young  lord's  antecedents  ?  His  father, 
wliose  name  figured  largely  in  the  st;ite  papers  of  the  protectorate  as  the 
right  Honourable  John  Pell,  was  eminent  among  English  educators. 
Horn  on  the  first  <lay  of  March,  Kill),  at  Sonthwycke,  Sussex  County, 
England,  of  wliicli  parish  bis  father,  the  Rev.  John  Pell,  was  then 
rector,  he  entered  Trinitj'  (College,  Cambridge,  in  the  year  li'rii,  and, 
before  the  end  of  another  decade,  had  won  European  fame  as  an  author 
in  the  higher  range  of  philosojducal  and  mathematical  studies.  Having 
accepted  tin;  offer  of  a  professoi'shi])  in  Anjsterdam,  he  then  attracted 
the  regard  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  by  whom  he  Wiis  appointed  to  the 
professtjrship  of  mathematics  at  Breda,  in  Holland,  where  a  ^Ulitary  and 
Naval  Academy  had  been  established.  Thus,  having  achieved  a  brilliant 
career  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  was  chosen  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  in  April, 
1(154,  English  resident  ambassador  to  the  Swiss  cantons.  This  confi- 
deutial  relation  to  the  loi'tl  jirotector  at  the  time  when  he  stood  forth  at 
the  height  of  his  power,  the  recognized  protei  tor  of  Protestant  Switzer- 
land against  the  i)ersecutiug  powers  of  the  continent,  gives  amj)le  proof 
of  an  enlarged  statesiuan-like  style  of  mind  in  harmony  with  the  liberal 
ideas  and  i)ri>gressive  sjiirit  that  have  throughout  our  own  century  thus 
far  ruled  the  course  both  of  English  and  American  history.  A  single 
fact  recorded  by  Mr.  Bolton  in  his  '  History  of  Westchester  County'' 
puts  this  inference  beyond  all  cinestiouing  :  '  In  the  liandsdowne  MSS.  are 
eleven  volumes  of  Dr.  Pell's,  written  in  excellent  style.  The  first  vol- 
ume contains  a  vast  fund  of  information.  resi)ecting  the  persecutions  of 
the  Piedmontese.'  Evidently  his  sympathies  were  with  the  true  leaders 
of  the  age  ;  not  with  the  oppres.sors,  but  the  oppressed. 

"  In  connection  with  a  fact  so  significant  we  are  not  suriHised  to  learn 
that  while  serving  the  government  of  his  country  at  Zurich,  Mr.  Pell's 
letters  to  his  wife,  at  home,  indicate  minute  attention  to  the  elementary 
education  of  his  only  son,  the  future  '  Lord  John,"  of  Pelham,  particulariz- 
ing the  most  suitable  schools,  the  studies  and  the  teachers  appropriate  to 
the  young  scholar's  situation  or  turn  of  mind,  even  urging  spei  ial  care  as 
to  the  style  of  penmanship  reiniired  by  the  boy  'eleven  years  old,'  in 
danger  of  funning  wrong  habits  at  the  outset.  Four  years  after  his 
many  educational  couuselings  had  been  written  from  Zurich,  while  the 
school-life  of  John  was  still  in  progress,  the  English  mission  to  Switzer- 
land was  terminated,  the  minister  was  couunended,  called  home,  and  in- 
formed on  his  arrival  that  the  Lord  Protector  was  dying.  Very  soon  the 
whole  country  was  convulsed  ;  but,  despite  the  agitations  of  that  disas- 
trous period,  the  youthful  heir  of  a  trans- Atlantic  'Lordship,'  fifteen 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  father's  return,  was  exceptionally  favored 
as  to  his  opiiortunities  for  receiving  the  best  possible  training  under  the 
eye  of  his  watchful  parents,  who  had  already  taken  rank  with  the  best 
educators  of  England. 

"Fortunately  for  the  professor,  while  occupying  so  effectively  his 
chair  at  Breda,  he  found  it  within  bis  power  to  confer  personal  favoraupon 
the  exiled  King,  Charles  II,  then  sojourning  there.  These  were  grate- 
fully remembered,  and  opened  the  way,  soon  after  the  restoration,  for 
his  being  admitted  into  '  holy  orders,'  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  IfiBl, 
for  his  being  honored  with  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  gifted  by 
the  crown  with  the  rectory  of  Fobbing,  in  Essex,  and  afterward  by  the 
Bishop,  with  that  of  Ijavingdon,  in  the  sanui  county;  all  showing  that 
the  changeiff  government  from  commonwealth  to  kingdom,  brought  to 
him  no  great  distress,  nor  interfered  with  the  educational  interests  of  his 
family.  The  scholar,  the  diplomatist,  the  statesman,  who  had  been  rec- 
ognized throughout  Europe  as  the  representative  of  the  Lord  Protector  in 
defence  of  the  peojiles  oppressed  for  conscience  sake,  was  eminently 
(pmlified,  of  course,  to  tniin  his  only  sou  into  sympathy  with  his  ow  n 
ideas  and  the  martyr  spirit  of  the  exiles  who  were  to  seek  tran.'^atlantic 
homes  within  his  own  lordly  domain. 

In  this  timing  of  events  the  Huguenot  Pilgrims  discerned  a  divine 
adjustment  of  means  to  ends  as  real  and  apt  as  was  that  traced  by  the 
Israelites  in  the  predicted  exaltation  of  the  youthful  Joseph  to  that  an- 
cient '  Lordship '  that  prepared  their  way  to  the  land  of  promise.  Of  the 
fine  qualities  of  character  exemplified  by  these  heroic  people,  and  the 
possibilities  of  their  future,  he  was  thoroughly  appreciative.  How  dif- 
ferent might  have  been  their  fortunes  bad  he,  like  some  leading  men  of 
the  period,  favored  the  exclusive  policy  of  the  reigning  monarch  by 
whom  the  manorial  charter  had  been  granted,  and  whose  measures,  ere 
long,  rendered  the  English  Revolution  a  logical  necessity.    But  all  anti- 


1  Volume  ii.,  p.  51. 


pathies  were  overruled,  and  in  the  annals  of  the  following  century  we 
trace  the  gr.ulual  growth  of  a  well-ordered  anil  happy  community,  dis- 
tinguished by  an  inherited  refinement  of  manners  and  a  degree  of  intel- 
lectual culture  that  made  New  Roclielle  of  Pelham  what  the  legal 
phnise  of  the  charter  designated  the  manor,  *  a  place  of  itself;'  unique  ; 
winning  to  its  homes  and  schools  the  best  elements  of  family  life  and 
social  advancement.  At  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
French  language,  spoken  in  purity  and  elegance,  still  lived  as  the  vernac- 
ular of  home  life,  attracting  the  more  progressive  class  of  students, 
whereof  the  names  of  Washington  Irving,  John  Jay,  Philip  Schuyler, 
and  I  louverne\tr  Morris  may  be  taken  as  exponents.  A  few  who  were 
chiMien  at  that  period  are  yet  living,  and  remember  the  ladies  who, 
like  ^lary  Bcslie,  the  sister  of  Dr.  Oliver  Beslie,  possessed  home  libraries 
containing  the  standard  works  of  French  Literature  that  had  nourished 
the  intellectual  youth  of  their  mothers  in  France.  As  it  has  been  well- 
said  by  Macaulay,  that  the  fusion  of  Norman  and  Saxon  elements  in  the 
thirteenth  century  produced  the  Englami  that  has  figured  as  a  power  in 
a  wtirld  of  history,  so  that  we  may  truly  say  that  the  fusion  of  English 
and  French  elements  in  this  manorial  tract,  bought  originally  of  the 
Indians  by  Thom;is  Pell,  Esq.,  in  16j4,  confirmed  by  an  English  King, 
James  II,  iis  a  "  lordship,'"  in  IfiST,  produced  a  social  growth  of  fine  typal 
character,  and  furnished  a  contribution  distinctively  its  own  to  the 
progress  of  American  Colonial  civilization. 

"The  incidental  reference  by  name  to  an  excellent  lady  who  had 
passed  the  bonier  line  of  '  three-score  and  ten '  before  the  nineteenth 
century  began,  recalls  to  mind  one  whose  image  is  iuisociated  with  my 
earliest  memories  and  with  my  first  impressions  of  the  primitive  style  of 
the  cultivated  Huguenot's  life  and  numners.  Madame  Beslie,  while  in 
thought  I  replace  her  amid  the  old  surroundings  in  Pellham,  New 
Roclielle  anil  New  York,  reappears  in  my  retrospective  musing  as  I  saw 
her  often  in  my  school  days,  a  queenly  woman  of  ninety-five  years,  not 
bent  by  age,  retaining  her  natural  ciise  and  grace  of  movement,  still  able 
by  her  winning  ways  to  draw  us  young  folk  to  her  side  as  listener  to 
her  talk  while  she  rehearsed  the  memories  of  her  youth.  The  younger 
children  of  the  family  circle,  us\ially  speaking  of  her  as  'Aunt  Jlollie 
Bayley,'  were  obliged,  each  in  turn,  to  take  a  lesson  on  the  different 
spellings  of  French  words  that  sound  alike.  When  her  memory  became 
unretentive  of  things  recent,  it  kept  fresh  as  ever  the  things  long  past ; 
hence  whensoever  I  greeted  her  after  jibsences  of  a  month  or  week,  she 
would  place  her  bands  upon  my  temples,  then  kissing  me  upon  the  fore- 
head, would  pleasantly  allude  to  the  old  French  mode  of  salutation.  At 
once,  as  if  making  a  new  communication,  she  would  repeat,  with  an  in- 
terest as  lively  as  ever,  the  story  of  the  exodus,  the  deadly  persecution  in 
France  and  the  fate  of  her  grandmother,  who  had  been  dragged  through  the 
streets  of  Paris  by  the  hair  of  her  head.  Having  ended  her  narrative,  the 
turn  of  her  familiar  talk  would  be  suggested,  often  by  the  old  French  book 
that  she  would  happen  to  be  holding  in  her  hand,  or  by  a  reference  to  some 
volume  or  pictured  page  within  the  ghuss  doors  of  her  book  case.  Gifted 
as  she  was  with  communicative  power,  she  was,  at  the  same  time,  one  of 
the  best  of  listeners,  calling  forth  from  her  coiupany  the  best  they  had 
tootfer;  and,  indeed,  I  have  sometimes  wondered  whether  the  charms 
of  her  conversation  were  to  be  regarded  the  more  eminently  as  an  inher- 
ited talent,  as  the  incidental  outcome  of  favoring  social  influences,  or 
the  product  of  some  kind  of  educational  training  that  had  grown  into  'a 
second  nature.'  Though  uncert;iin  .just  now  as  to  the  date  of  her  de- 
jmrture  from  earth  (not  far  from  the  close  of  1817),  I  can  truly  sjiy  that 
her  beautiful  example  of  reigned  Christian  womanhood  has  been  ever  be- 
fore me  as  an  exponent  of  Huguenot  character,  shaping  my  conceptions 
of  Huguenot  home-life  and  keeping  alive  my  sympathies  with  the  spirit 
of  Huguenot  history. 

"  Coincident  with  these  sentiments,  as  to  inherited  culture,  was  the 
impression  made  upon  the  mind  of  New  England  by  the  example  of  pub- 
lic spirit  exhibited  in  the  city  of  Boston  by  a  native  of  New  Roclielle 
more  than  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago.  From  the  earliest  days  of  the 
American  Revolution  Faneuil  Hall  hiis  been  to  Boston  a  household 
word,  familiar  to  the  lips  of  men,  women  and  childi'en  as  the  memorial 
of  Huguenot  munificence,  rendered  classical  by  historic  associations  that 
quicken  the  pulse  of  patriotism  and  call  forth  the  spirit  of  song  in  com- 
memoration of  the  '  cradle  of  liberty.'  Thus  the  name  of  a  Huguenot  of 
New  Rochelle  has  not  only  held  a  shining  place  in  the  annals  of  the 
colonial  commonwealth,  but  lives  in  the  nation's  history  as  a  source  of 
inspiration,  awakening  memories  that  are  an  uplifting  power. 

"Although  the  name  of  this  man,  thus  memorialized,  has  been  daily  re. 
peated  in  the  first  city  of  New  England  by  four  or  five  successive  gener- 
ations, yet  his  short  and  inspiring  life-story  had  been  permitted  almost 
to  fade  away  from  memory  until  its  late  restoration  to  the  popular  range 
of  home  reading  by  the  pen  of  Charles  Smith,  who  has  contributed  a 


PELHAM. 


711 


choice  chapter  to  the  memorial  history  of  Boston.  The  uncle  of  Peter, 
the  fiiunder  aiul  ilonor  of  the  liall,  was  Andrew  Fanciiil,  wlm  fled  from 
France  t  >  Holhind  in  lt>S.">,  and  tlionce,  as  tlie  reconi  shows,  lind  l)e('onie, 
in  Ifi'.U,  a  tax-i)ayer  and  citizen  of  Boston.  At  tlie  opening;  of  tlie 
eigliteonth  century  lie  had  taken  nink  as  the  leading  merchant  of  the 
city  in  point  of  wealth,  trusted  by  all  as  a  man  of  honesty  and  honor. 
His  death,  in  1737,  seemed  indeed  an  nntimely  event.  The  sense  of  loss 
was  universal,  expressed  by  the  jjatherinK  at  his  grave — a  procession  of 
eleven  hundred  pei-sons,  representatives  of  the  whole  people.  His  pro|»- 
erty  was  '  willed  '  to  his  nephew  Peter,  who,  at  eijrhteen  years  of  a*je, 
had  left  his  native  town,  New  KochcUc,  and  sojoxirmed  for  a  short  pe- 
riod in  Rhode  Island,  wiiither  he  had  accompanied  his  father,  Benjamin. 
Proceeding  thence  to  Boston,  he  entered  into  the  service  of  his  Vncle 
.\ndrew.  and  soon  won  the  confidence  and  the  love  that  issued  in  liis 
appv>intnient  as  his  uncle's  executor  and  residuary  legatee.  His  career 
was  brief  but  brilliant.  Though  he  liveil  only  five  yi'ai-s  after  his  uncle's 
decease,  he  rendered  that  small  fraction  of  life  a  tine  historical  episode 
in  the  municipal  reconl  of  liistime. 

"  In  tlie  year  1740  the  people  were  divided  into  two  parties,  nearly 
eipial  in  numbers,  by  the  di8cus.sion  of  a  proposal  to  meet  a  public  need 
— the  erection  of  a  central  market-house.  The  opponents  of  the  enter- 
prise were  persistent,  though  the  grounds  of  their  action  are  not  clearly 
discernible.  In  this  state  of  the  public  mind  Peter  Faneuil  came  for- 
ward and  offered  to  erect  the  building  at  his  own  cost,  '  to  be  improved 
for  a  market  for  the  sole  uses,  benefit  and  advantage  of  the  town,  pro- 
vided that  the  town  of  Boston  would  pass  a  vote  for  that  purpose,  and 
lay  the  s<»ine  under  such  proper  regulations  as  shall  be  thought  neces- 
sary, and  constantly  support  it  for  sjiid  use.' 

"  The  selectmen  called  a  meeting  to  act  upon  the  proposal ;  :ii;7 
votes  were  cast  for  accepting  the  gift,  :!fiO  against  it.  Mr.  Faneuil  en- 
larged his  plan,  and  over  the  market  erected  a  splendid  hall,  capable  of 
accommodating  a  thousaml  persons.  \t  a  town-meeting  in  the  town- 
house,  September  13,  1743,  a  vote  wius  unanimously  passed  accepting  the 
gift,  anil  appointing  a  committee,  consisting  of  the  iiuxlerator  of  the 
meeting,  the  selectmen,  the  representative  to  the  general  court  and  six 
other  gentlemen,  '  to  wait  upon  Peter  Faneuil,  Esq.,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  town  to  render  him  their  hearty  thanks  for  so  bountiful  a  gift,  with 
their  prayers  that  this  and  other  expressions  of  his  bounty  ami  charity 
limy  be  abundantly  recompensed  with  the  divine  blessing.' 

"The  first  town-meeting  held  within  the  walls  of  Faneuil  Hall,  1713, 
was  the  occasion  for  ilelivering  a  eulogy  on  the  life  and  charai-ter  of  the 
donor  by  Mr.  .lohn  Lovell,  master  of  the  Tiatin  school.  In  his  oration 
Mr.  Lovell  said,  after  referring  to  jirivate  charities,  'Let  this  stately 
edifice  which  bears  his  name  witness  for  him  what  sinus  he  expended  in 
public  uiiiniticence.  This  building,  erected  by  him  at  his  own  immense 
i  haige,  for  the  convenience  and  ornament  of  the  tow  n  is  incomparablv 
the  greatest  benefaction  ever  yet  known  to  our  western  shore.'  Thus 
Boston  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago  gratefully  di'clared  to  the  worM 
that,  although  the  Huguenot  element  tlid  iii>t  much  affect  the  populalioii 
as  to  quantity,  it  was  an  effective  fa'  tor  of  sterling  worth  as  to  •/iinlilii, 
and  that  the  finest  expression  of  its  spirit  and  style  was  to  be  found  in 
the  iiiagnilicent  record  left  there  by  the  large-souled  young  Ilugueiiol  of 
Sew  Kochelle. 

"  Having  ineiitioiieil  the  year  of  5Ir.  Faneiiil's  deimrtiire,  1743,  it  may 
lie  noted,  iiicidentally,  that  in  1843  the  celebration  of  our  national  in- 
dependence in  Faneuil  Hall  awakened  into  new  life  old  historic  associa- 
tions, and  imiiarted  to  that  day's  observance  somewhat  of  the  dignity  of 
a  centennial  recogiiilinn.  On  the  fourth  of  .(uly  of  that  year  Sir. 
diaries  Francis  .Vdaiiis  delivered  his  first  public  oration,  and,  as  had 
been  expected,  in  (he  lueseuce  of  the  venerable  ex-president,  his  fallier. 
Having  been  invited  to  oHiciate  as  chaiilain  on  that  occasion,  I  repaiieil 
III  the  i-ounril  chamber  of  the  city  hall  half  an  hour  before  the  time  of 
forming  the  iirocessioii.  While  reclining  alone  upon  the  old-fashioned 
w  indow-seat,  enjoying  its  pleasjint  outlook,  the  ex-president  entered  the 
room.  Ere  long,  taking  his  seat  beside  nie,  he  touched  ii|Min  a  few  reiii- 
iiiiscenees  of  the  past,  and  then  said  in  a  tone  expressive  of  profound 
feeling,  'This  is  one  of  the  happiest  days  of  my  whole  life.  Fifty  yeai-s 
expire  to  day  siui-c  I  [lerfonned  in  Boston  my  first  public  service,  w  hich 
w;is  the  delivery  of  an  oration  to  celebrate  our  national  inilepeiideiico 
.\fter  a  half  centur)'  of  active  life  I  am  siwred  by  a  benign  providence  to 
witiies.-' my  Sim's  performance  of  his  first  public  service -to  deliver  an 
oration  in  honor  of  the  same  great  event.'  To  this  I  answered,  '5!r. 
President,  I  am  well  aware  of  the  notable  connection  of  events  to  which 
you  refer,  and  having  i-oiiiiiiitled  and  declaimed  a  iiart  of  your  ow  n  gri  af 
oration  when  a  school  boy  in  New  York,  I  roiilil,  w  ithout  elT-irl,  repeal 
il  to  you  now.'  To  'the  old  man  oluquent,'  as  well  as  to  myself,  the 
coincidence  was  uu  agreeable  surprise.    At  the  close  of  the  services  con- 


nected with  the  deliveiy  of  the  oration,  the  guests  of  the  city  were  gath- 
ered at  the  festal  banquet  in.  Faneuil  Hall.  There  I  was  called  upon  us 
chaplain,  not  only  to  invoke  the  divine  benediction,  but  to  respond  to  a 
patriotic  sentiment  that  awakened  memories  of  the  heroic  dead.  To  me, 
certainly,  it  was  an  uplifting  thought,  that,  like  the  founder  of  the  hall, 
belonging  by  birth  to  Pelham  and  New  Kochelle,  at  the  end  of  a  century 
from  the  year  of  its  completion  and  his  departure,  I  was  standing  in  the 
thronged  edifice  that  memorialized  his  name,  alive  to  the  significance  of 
the  position,  well  assured  that  by  every  uttered  word  I  was  but  voicing 
the  ideas  that  ho  loved,  that  he  expressed  in  deeds  more  eloquent  than 
words,  and  made  his  record  a  treasured  legacy. 

"  This  early  colonial  civilization,  which  we  have  traced  from  its  be- 
ginning, w  ith  its  style  of  culture  so  unique  on  account  of  its  variety  of 
elements  fused  into  newly  developed  cliaractei^,  ere  long  put  forth  a 
power  of  attraction  that  gathered  to  it  and  arouud  it  people  of  congenial 
tastes,  appreciative  of  the  social  (iiialities  and  educational  <ispirations 
recognized  as  a  transmilted  heritage.  Long  remembered  among  these 
who,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  sought  a  home  in  old  Pelham,  was 
a  man  of  large  fortune,  an  educated  gentlemen,  a  bachelor  just  touch- 
ing the  border  of  mi<ldle  life,  of  whom,  as  it  seems,  only  one  memorial 
can  now  be  found,  and  that  the  marble  slab  at  the  head  of  his  grave, 
hinting  briefly  at  the  beginning  and  ending  of  his  lif'e-.story.  A  single 
sentence  uttere  its  whole  message,  thus, — In  niemory  of  .Mexander 
Banqifleld  Henderson,  Esq.,  a  native  of  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina, 
but  late  of  the  town  of  Pelham  and  county  of  Westchester,  who  departed 
this  life  JGth  December,  I.S(i4,  aged  47  yeai"s. 


I'F.TK.it  r.vNKrii.. 


"On  a  bright  summer's  day,  about  ten  years  ago,  in  a  solitary  walk 
among  the  tomlis  of  the  old  Freiicli  Burial  (Jroiind,  my  attention  was 
arrested  by  the  iii.scri]ition  here  copied.  Although  I  hail  never  seen  the 
man,  nor  been  his  contemporary,  I  felt  my.self  closely  related  and  greatly 
indebted  to  him.  For  I  was  familiar  with  the  .story  fliaf  from  his  beau- 
tiful residence,  separated  by  Pelham  Creek  from  the  land  estate  of  my 

I  grandparent,  William  Bailey,  he  daily  used  to  walk  across  the  causeway 
and  bridge  to  our  homestead  and  relieve  the  loneliness  of  '  Bachelor  Hall,' 
in  the  Byiupathetic  enjoyment  of  our  family  life,  ."^ucli  was  his  habitude, 
iiuleed,  during  the  most  im|Kirlant  period  of  my  mother's  history,  her 
later  school  days.    His  private  library,  a  true  index  of  his  cherished 

'  tastes,  was  one  of  the  best,  at  the  time,  outside  of  the  metropolis  ;  and 
it  greatly  intensified  hfs  enjoyment  of  it,  often  recognizing  in  my  mother, 
II. 'c  Anne  Bayley,  a  keen  appreciation  of  books,  to  minister  to  her  intel- 
lectual development  by  placing  at  her  coiiiiiiand  the  frosliost  productions 
of  Engli.sli  literature,  rendering  her  familiar  with  the  standarri  works  of 

j  F.ssayists  and  Poets,  with  most  of  those  English  classics,  indeed,  that 

I  w  ould  be  found  in  the  choicest  home  library  at  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century.  Thus,  working  'better  than  he  know,' he  wius  providing  the 
main  topics  of  interest  that  ruled  flii-  course  of  our  hou.sehoUl  talk 
throughout  my  school  days,  and  was  ipialifying  my  mother  to  become 
not  professionally,  but  im-identally  and  really,  the  attractive  companion 
and  educator  of  her  five  children.  Her  grateful  alliisioiia  to  him  made 
his  name  familiar  to  tmr  eai-s ;  anil  often  curious  fancy  would  invest 
with  the  golden  haze  of  romance  the  unwritten  history  of  this  '  Lmip 
Lord  of  the  Isle.'    Uiiiuor  had  soiiietiiiies  whisiieiX'd  that,  in  his  exjie- 


712 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


rience,  the  glow  of  youthful  hope  had  been  dimmed  by  the  death  of  a 
first  love,  for  whose  vacant  place  no  substitute  could  be  found  on  earth. 

"  In  this  connection  it  remains  to  be  said,  how'ever,  that,  whether  this 
suggestion  were  true  or  not,  a  few  well-remenibered  facts,  outlining  his 
life  course,  were  recently  rehearsed  to  me  by  Elbert  Roosevelt,  Esq., 
whose  life  long  residence  in  Pelham,  near  the  Island,  suggest  a  series  of 
memories  related  to  the  whole  vicinity,  extending  over  two-thirds  of  a 
century.  These  conversational  statements  supply  what  was  lacking  to 
give  a  desired  unity  to  the  stoi*y. 

"  Mr.  Henderson,  born  in  South  Carolina,  was  of  Scotch  origin  ;  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  then  took  rank  as  a  Sur- 
geon in  the  English  Army.  Thus  he  was  brought  into  communication 
with  the  British  Ambassador  in  India,  and  was  by  him  introduced  to  the 
Court  of  the  reiirning  Prince,  who  engaged  the  Surgeon's  professional 
services  in  behalf  of  his  favorite  wife,  then  seriously  ill.  The  treatment 
was  a  succest,  and  the  delighted  Prince  honored  Mr.  Henderson,  in  his 
own  way,  by  the  presentation  of  a  beautiful  Circassian  slave  girl,  about 
thirteen  years  of  age.  This  present  the  Army  Surgeon  did  not  bring 
away  with  liir.i  from  India;  'but,  after  establishing  his  home  at  the 
Island,'  said  Mr.  Koosevelt,  '  he  commissioned  your  father  (Captain 
James  Hague,  of  Pelham,  commanding  a  ship  in  the  India  trade)  to 
look  after  this  princely  gift,  and  bring  with  him  the  young  Circassian  as 
a  passenger  on  his  return  voyage  from  Calcutta.  With  her,  accordingly, 
Cajftain  Hague  sought  an  interview,  but  found  her  so  well  pleased  with 
her  position  in  tlie  household  of  a  British  officer  that  she  could  not  be 
induced  to  leave  her  new  protector.  Nevertheless,  the  Captain  was  ac- 
companied with  an  Indian  lad,  the  Surgeon's  prot^gfe,  who  was  wel- 
comed, treateil  as  an  adopted  son,  and  bore  the  name  of  William  Hen- 
derson. The  lad  survived  the  retired  Surgeon  eight  years,  and  was 
buried  by  his  Bi<le  in  the  old  French  Burial  Ground  at  New  Kochelle. 
The  two  graves  are  suiTounded  by  a  well-wrought  iron  fence,  and  the 
smaller  marble  headstone  beai-s  this  brief  inscription:  'In  memory  of 
William  Henderson,  who  died  January  19, 1812,  in  the  25th  year  of  his 
ago.' 

"  In  his  last  sickness  the  young  man  was  most  kindly  attended  by  Dr. 
Rogers,  through  whose  influence  or  advice  he  bequeathed  the  sum  of 
twelve  hundred  tlollars,  appropriated  to  the  erection  of  a  town  house, 
'for  the  use  and  convenience' of  the  people  of  New  Rochelle.  With 
the  recognition  of  this  gift  the  townspeople  of  om-  time  generally  a.sso- 
ciate  the  name  of  the  owner  of  the  Island  Home  ;  it  is,  however,  the 
East  India  youth's  memorial. 

"Henderson's  Island,  beautiful  for  situation,  distinguished  by  its 
liomestead,  so  greatly  enriched  by  the  best  of  home  libraries  in  Pelham, 
became  well  known  as  Hunter's  Island,  more  distinguished  than  ever 
by  its  now  palatial  mansion,  with  the  best  private  art  gallery  in  the 
I'nited  States.  The  propriety  of  this  characterization  by  the  use  of  the 
superlative  degree  was,  probably,  undisputed  by  any  rival  during  the 
first  two  decades  of  this  century.  We  m.ay  safely  say  that  no  one  of  the 
earlier  generations  of  the  I'ells,  or  of  the  Huguenots,  however  aspiring, 
would  have  dreamed  of  such  a  possibility  for  a  family  home  within  the 
bounils  of  the  manorial  grant  so  recently  chartered  by  an  English  king 
in  troublous  times,  and  then  so  thoroughly  impoverished  by  the  Rev- 
olutionary War.  Under  what  conditions  could  it  have  seemed  possible 
that  some  of  the  choicest  treasures  of  ancient  Itiiliau  galleries  could 
be  transferred  to  a  secluded  little  island,  fifteen  miles  from  the  city  of 
New  York,  the  purchase  of  a  young  American  V 

"The  explanation,  as  received  from  Mr.  Hunter  personally,  was 
this  :  At  the  the  time  of  his  graduating  from  Columbia  College,  twenty- 
one  yeaiii  of  age,  it  so  hapiiened  that  he  came  into  full  po.S8essiou  of 
his  property.  A  friend  and  fellow-student,  traveling  in  Europe  while 
Najioleon  was  campaigning  in  Italy,  wrote  earnestly,  reminding  him 
that,  on  account  of  insecurity,  art  treasures  were  olTered  for  sale  at 
great  sacrifice,  and  that  an  oppoitunity  to  indulge  cherished  t^istes 
had  now  arrived,  the  like  of  which  had  not  been  known  before  and 
might  never  come  again.  '  My  answer  was  prompt,' said  Mr.  Hunter, 
'availing  myself  of  his  service,  with  faith  in  his  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion.' 

"  Here,  at  this  iioint  of  writing,  I  have  arrested  my  pen  in  oriler 
to  read  aloud  to  a  friendly  caller  what,  as  it  happens,  I  have  just  now 
written,  and  have  thus  drawn  forth  this  critical  (pie.stioning  :  Surely,  the 
Italian  art  dealers  nnist  have  seen  their  opportunity  in  negotiating 
with  a  young  connnissioned  American,  and  might  liave  been  quite 
equal  to  the  occasion.  How  have  the  claims  of  these  choice  treasures 
been  verified?  However  fair  and  apt  that  questioning  may  be,  suffice  it 
here  for  me  to  s;vy  that  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  my  purpose  to  deter- 
mine the  origin  of  the  pictures,  aud  that  with  a  youth's  faith  in  the  keen 
insight  aud  ciitical  judgment  of  so  highly  educated  au  amateur  as  the 


Hon.  John  Hunter,  it  was  my  fortune  to  realize,  amid  our  surrotmdings 
in  the  gallery,  all  possible  delight  and  mental  quickening,  limited  only 
by  the  measure  of  receptivity.  Outside  of  the  family  circle,  Mr.  Hunter, 
who,  in  his  spirit  and  style  of  manners,  represented  a  high  ideal  of  the 
typal  gentleman,  the  courteous  and  accomplished  State  Senator,  re- 
appears to  the  eye  of  memory  as  the  first  personality  that  I  can  recall  as 
associated  with  my  early  life  in  Pelham.  Ere  long,  after  the  death  of  his 
son,  Des  Brosses  Hunter,  Esq.,  the  gallery  was  sold,  the  island  passed 
into  other  ownership  ;  yet,  whatsoever  maybe  its  fortunes  in  the  future, 
its  relations  to  old  Pelham  and  New  Rochelle  as  a  source  of  intellectual 
and  aesthetic  culture  to  several  suggestive  generations  will  brighten  the 
record  of  its  past  and  render  its  name  a  cherished  memory  in  the  annals 
of  local  history.' 

' '  The  mention  of  these  names  pertaining  to  the  island's  history,  in 
connection  with  that  of  the  manor  and  town,  carries  us  back  in  thought 
to  the  Anglo-French  life  of  old  Pelham,  as  pictured  out  sixty  or  more 
years  ago  in  our  family  talks,  and  illumined  now  by  our  memories  of 
those  who  represented  the  remoter  past.  Fortunately  for  us  our  dear 
grandparents,  uncles  and  aunts  were  lovingly  communicative,  reheai-s- 
ing  to  us  of  the  third  generation  the  local  annals  of  the  manor  and 
the  familiar  facts  of  the  revolutionary  era  ;  little  episodes  as  lively  as 
any  that  Fenimore  Cooper  has  woven  into  his  romance  of  the  'Spy.' 
These  incidental  stories  of  the  home  life  that  followed  the  establish- 
ment of  Independence  and  the  'Union'  were  equally  winning,  making 
us  acquainted  with  our  kindred  and  neighbors,  with  our  parents,  as- 
sociates in  their  early  days  throughout  rural  and  suburban  surround- 
ings. 

"  Prominent  among  these  was  Dr.  Richard  Bayley,  the  only  brother 
of  my  grandfather,  whose  mother  was  a  Huguenot,  nee  Susanne  Leconte, 
and  whose  eminently  distinguished  daughter,  Eliza  Ann  Bayley  Seton, 
has  been  historically  recognized  as  the  presiding  genius  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  academic  institute  at  Emmetsburg,  Md.,  and  the  founder  of  the 
order  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the  United  States.  Dr.  Bayley,  hnn- 
self,  a  favorite  student  of  the  celebrated  Hunter,  of  London,  the  first 
professor  in  the  medical  department  of  Columbia  College,  an  accepted 
authority  as  a  professional  writer  in  England  and  France,"  though  living 
within  an  enTiromnent  of  churchly  influences  at  home,  acknowledged 
no  connection  with  any  ecclesiastical  organism.  Hence,  the  position  of 
his  accomplished  daughter,  biographically  connnemorated  as  '  Mother 
Seton,'  the  gifted  educator,  as  well  as  the  founder,  of  the  most  eminent 
sisterhood  (and  we  may  add  here,  parenthetically,  the  more  recent  posi- 
tions of  his  grandson,  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  as  having  been,  at  first, 
rector  of  the  Episcojial  Church,  at  Harlem,  and  tlien,  at  last,  Roman 
Catholic  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  Prinuite  of  America)  seems  the  more 
particularly  noteworthy.  In  a  widening  circle  of  relationships  thus 
made  up  there  could  be  evidently  no  lack  of  conversational  topics  adajited 
to  keep  us  all  mentally  alive  and  wide-awake  to  note  the  driftings  of 
thought  throughout  the  whole  community,  so  recently  set  free  from  the 
regime  of  a  colonial  church  establishment,  whoso  ideal  aim  had  been,  of 
course,  the  legal  maintenance  of  religious  uniformity. 

"Touching  the  first  of  the  ecclesiastical  transnuitations  here  men- 
tioned, profoundly  sad,  indeed,  was  the  tone  of  amazement  discernible 
in  the  exclamation  of  I\Irs.  Seton's  elder  sister,  Mrs.  Dr.  Wright  Post, 
of  Throgg's  Neck,  addressed  to  my  mother  and  by  her  repeated  to  me 
regarding  the  talented  Ann  Eliza,  'She  has  gone  over  to  the  church  that 
per8ecut<;d  her  ancestors.'  As  we  now  look  back  over  the  seven  decades 
that  have  gone  by  since  that  day,  we  may  safely  say  that  no  change 
of  ecclesiastical  relations  on  the  part  of  an  individual  has  stirred  '  so- 
ciety '  at  the  time'  with  questions  so  keenly  conducting  or  has  been  ef- 
fective of  influences  more  widely  felt  in  the  homes  of  the  coiintry. 

"  To  many,  even  personal  friends,  the  change  seemed  inexplicable  ;  a 
mystery,  a  fact  untraceable  to  any  adequate  cause.  Numerous  and  ear- 
nest were  the  questionings  as  to  what  influences  had  been  secretly  work- 
ing at  the  starting-point  of  this  new  career.  By  some,  esjiecially  those 
who  had  been  associated  with  her  from  childhood  in  the  communion  of 
'  dear  old  Trinity,'  the  explanation  was  found  in  the  sensibility  of  her 


1  When  ■  first  penning  the  closing  lines  of  this  paragraph,  the 
writer  supposed  that  there  was  still  occasion  in  alluding  to  the  designa- 
tion of  the  island,  to  use  the  phrase,  its  fui-mer  mum;.  Since  then  we 
have  welcomed  the  intelligence  that  since  the  estate  has  jias-sed  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  C.  Oliver  Iselin,  the  old  familiar  name,  "Hunter's  Island," 
whereby  our  sires  and  grandsires  knew  the  place,  has  been  restored  and 
chiselleil  upon  the  granite  pillars  of  the  causeway,— a  work  of  good  taste 
in  which  we  all  have  a  common  interest. 

2Thacher'B  "Medical  Biography,"  Art.  Bayley. 


PELHAM. 


713 


eniotivo  nature,  under  the  stress  of  sorrow,  to  loving  appeals  during  her 
stay  ill  Italy,  wliore,  in  tlie  your  1SI>4,  her  lionored  liusbami,  \\'illi!iiii 
Seton,  Ksq.,  ilieil  after  a  liugining  illness,  and  whoro  lior  depressed  spirit 
found  relief  in  tho.niinistratiousof  the  lionian  (^atholic  Church,  as  well  as 
in  the  hospitable  home  of  the  noblo  soulcd  Felichi.  The  truth  is,  how- 
ever, that  the  trend  of  her  steps  toward  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
strengthened  by  her  ivstlietic  tjistes,  was  noticed  in  her  earlier  days 
before  she  had  left  her  native  lami ;  and  after  her  return  from  Italy  to 
New  York  sho  was  still  a  coiiiiuunieaiit  of  Trinity  Church,  for  weeks,  as 
she  said,  'in  an  agony  of  suspense,'  engaged  in  discussions,  oral  and 
written,  with  the  liev.  John  Henry  Ilobart,  then  rector  of  Trinity,  af- 
terward Bishop  of  the  Pioceso  of  New  York,  and  Archbishop  Carroll,  of 
Baltimore,  iu  regard  to  the  main  principles  of  Protestantism.  At  that 
earlier  perioil,  her  cousin,  Ann  Bayley,  of  Pelham,  only  eight  years 
younger  than  hereelf,  was  living  in  the  environment  of  the  same  relig- 
ious atmosphi're,  keenly  sympathetic,  constiiiitly  interchanging  senti- 
ments as  well  as  visits. 

"  The  leading  idea  that  then  engaged  the  thoughts  of  those  two  cous- 
ins pertained  not  so  much  to  the  emotive  nature  as  to  the  intellectual ; 
for  a  main  subject  of  discussion  emphasi/ed  in  the  chief  pulpits  of  New 
York  at  that  day,  Wiis  the  relation  of  the  sacraments  to  pereonal  sjilva- 
tion.  At  that  point  the  life  course  of  the  two  cousins  diverged.  The 
allirmation,  sometimes  ehxpiently  argued,  that  the  sacraments,  adniiuiti- 
tercu  through  a  regular  priestly  succession,  are  the  divinely  apjiointed 
channels  through  wliicdi  saving  grace  Hows  forth  from  the  fountain  of 
life  into  the  human  soul,  took  the  strongest  possible  hold  upon  the  spirit 
nature  of  the  elder  cou.-iin,  calling  forth,  even  then,  painful  doubts  over 
a  suggested  <iuestion,  namely  this :  '  As  the  Anglican  church  recognizes 
the  perfect  validity  of  the  Roman  Catholic  sacraments,  while  on  the  other 
hand,  the  older  Roman  church  has  never  recognized  the  validity  of  the 
,\ngli<an  administration,  am  I  not  required,  by  a  proper  regard  for  my 
own  soul's  peace  and  safely,  to  place  myself  upon  the  ground  that  re 
mains  to  both  sides  undisputed  '! '  Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  many  that 
her  early  faith  should  have  faltered  before  such  a  question,  from  that 
starting-point  of  thought  she  advanced  in  due  time,  after  her  return  from 
Italy,  through  'an  agony  of  suspense'  to  the  positions  taken  in  her 
printed  correspondence  with  Bishop  Ilobart  and  the  Primate  of  Balti- 
more. At  the  same  time  her  younger  cousin,  then  residing  at  the  pater- 
nal home  in  Pelham,  equally  interested  in  the  new  inquiry,  as  to  them  it 
seemed,  having  been  attracted  as  a  listener  to  the  teachings  of  the  emi- 
nent jireacher  of  the  Presbytjerian  Church  in  Murray  Street,  Rev.  Dr. 
.Iidiu  Jlilchcdl  Mason,  who  occasionally  delivered  a  discourse  in  New 
Rochello,  she  embraced,  with  a  responsive  spirit,  the  formulated  state- 
ment of  pure  protestantism,  'justification  by  faith  alone,'  so  eloquently 
put  forth  by  him  as  '  the  true  spirit  union  with  Christ,  embracing  within 
it  character  and  condition.'  Thenceforward  her  favorite  characteriza- 
tion of  Chrisliauity  was  '  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament,'  emphiisi- 
zing  thus,  as  she  thought,  by  this  short  phrase,  the  two  distinguishing 
qualities  of  the  primitive  church  teachings,  simplicity  and  catholicity. i 

"It  is  a  curiously  suggestive  study,  this  tracing  of  mental  histories. 
From  the  t»uie  starting-points  of  intellectual,  emotive,  or  spiritual  devel- 
opment, even  of  congenial  minds,  how  strangely  far  apart  the  issues  ! 
Some  time  before  her  departure  for  Italy,  the  elder  cousin  visited  her 
younger,  sisterly  cousin  at  Pelh  am  ;  at  the  moment  of  taking  leave,  bid- 
ding her  good-bye  while  presenting  her  an  article  of  skilfully  wrought 
needle-work  as  a  love  token,  she  kissed  her  and  said,  '  I  hope  we  w  ill 
meet  in  heaven.'  They  never  met  on  earth  again.  Both  lived,  however, 
to  an  advanced  age.  The  elder,  having  wept  for  the  last  time  over  the 
grave  of  her  husband  in  Italy,— the  Knglish  burial-ground  at  Pisa, — and 
having  returned  to  New  York,  welcomed  ere  long,  the  comimrative  seclu- 
sion of  a  conventual  life  in  Maryland  ;  the  younger,  having  been  joined 
in  marriage,  by  Rev.  Theodosius  Bartow,  rector  of  New  Rochelle,  at  her 
father's  house  in  Pelham,  to  Captain  James  Hague,  commander  of  a  ship 
iu  the  Kast  India  trade,  lived  happily,  the  life  of  her  family  circle,  until 
nearly  '  fourecore  years '  of  age  ;  and  then,  after  fourteen  yeans  of  wid- 
owhood, died  at  the  house  of  her  only  daughter,  Mrs.  Dr.  Alexander  \V. 
Rogers,  Patterson,  New  Jei-sey,  amid  the  benedictions  of  her  children, 
who,  in  accordance  with  the  old  scripture's  voicing  of  filial  love,  'rise 
up  ami  call  her  blesseil.' 

"The  contrasted  issues  of  two  lives  thus  realized  by  two  friends  of 
Huguenot  descent  imparts  significance  to  a  saying  noted  at  Paris  in  a 


'  Dr.  Miuson's  physique,  his  figure  ar.d  manner,  were  majestic  and  com- 
nianiliiig.  On  one  occasion,  after  listeiiingto  him  at  New  Rochelle,  Hon. 
.lohn  Hunter  said  to  my  mother,  "That  man  was  born  to  command,  not 
tu  pei'suade  ;  he  has  mistaken  his  calling  ;  he  ought  to  have  been  a  ma- 
jor-general in  the  United  States  Army." 

68 


tourist's  journal,  that  the  trend  of  the  French  nature  is  toward  intellect- 
ual freedom,  and  that  where  there  is  Freui  h  blood  it  will  lussert  itself  in 
individuality  of  character,  tempered  and  toned  by  inherited  tastes  and 
manners  into  social  and  civil  concord.  The  fortunes  of  Pelham  anil  New 
Rochelle  illustrate  this  view.  In  this  connection  it  seems  a  noteworthy 
fact  that  the  English  monarch  who  gave  to  Pelham  its  first  manorial 
charter,  was  himself  the  sole,  solf-deteniiined  donor  of  the  charter  of 
Rhode  Island  to  Roger  Williams,  openly  declaring  the  reason  of  his  ac- 
tion to  bo  his  sovereign  will  to  '  experiment  whether  civil  government 
could  consist  with  such  liberty  of  conscience.'  It  may  seem  strange  that 
a  notably  careles,s,  pleasure-loving  king,  like  Charles  II.,  should  rise  to 
the  height  of  the  grandly  exceptional  opportunity  presented  to  him  as  a 
means  of  solving  a  great  problem  for  the  world  through  all  time.  The 
thought  has  been  naturally  suggested  that  ho  had  no  higher  aim  thau 
a  provision  for  unlimited  freedom  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  In  that  com- 
bination of  events,  however,  the  founder  of  Rhode  Island  recognized  a 
divine  ruling  or  overruling,  when  he  said,  '  the  father  of  spirits  has  im- 
pressed his  royal  spirit,'  and  added,  in  his  letter  to  Major  Miuson,  'this, 
his  majesty's  grant,  was  startled  at  by  his  majesty's  high  officers  of  state, 
who  were  to  view  it  in  coureo  before  the  sealing,  but  fearing  the  lion's 
roaring,  they  couched  against  their  wills  iu  obedience  to  his  majesty's 
pleasure.'  Major  Mason's  Letter  Mass.  Ilist.  Coll.  vol.  i.,  3  note.  As 
hero  we  repeat  this  marvellous  testimony,  we  are  tempted  to  wish  that 
the  experiment  king  who  gave  to  Pelham,  as  well  as  to  Rhode  Island,  a 
charter  of  self-government,  could  have  lived  long  enough  to  hear  from 
the  whole  area  of  the  old  manor,  after  embracing  within  its  limits  tlie 
town  of  New  Rochelle,  the  experimental  response  of  a  thriving  jiopula- 
tiou  with  all  its  diversities  of  age,  taste  and  traditions,  a  live  civil  unity  ; 
their  homes  all  vocal  with  the  ancient  song  of  the  Hebrews, '  the  border- 
lines have  fallen  to  us  iu  pleasant  places  ;  we  have  a  goodly  heritage.' 

"In  his  retrospective  monograph,  I  have  had  occasion  to  refer  by  name 
to  women  of  the  Hugenot  family.  Now  last  of  all,  our  thoughts  are 
ilrawn  to  a  late  suggestive  event  in  the  annals  of  New  Rochelle,  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  the  nation  at  large  to  one  funeral  scene :  namely, 
the  death  of  a  lady  in  whose  veins  flowed  the  blood  of  an  Auglican  aud 
a  French  ancestry. 

"The  quiet  departure  of  Mrs.  Caroline  Leroy  Webster,  on  Sunday, 
February  2Cth,  at  the  Leroy  Blansion,  was  announced  generally  by  the 
pres.s,  and  awakened  many  slumberiug  memories  of  her  life,  as.sociated 
with  New  York,  Boston  and  \\'ashington,  as  well  as  with  Pelham  and 
New  Rochelle.  Born  at  the  house  of  her  father,  Jacob  Leroy,  Esij.,  New 
York,  1797,  a  considerable  proportiou  of  her  early  remembrances  were 
associated  with  scenes  of  rural  life  pertaining  both  to  the  manor  and  the 
town. 

"  Mr.  Webster  having  met  Miss  Leroy  at  her  city  residence,  recognized 
at  once  the  rare  qualities  of  her  intellectual  culture,  her  graceful  man- 
ners, her  conversational  gifts  and  her  queenly  power  as  a  leader  of  so- 
ciety. In  the  year  182'J  she  became  his  secoud  wife,  and  in  the  more 
extended  sphere  of  social  and  public  life  that  she  thus  entered  was,  from 
firet  to  last,  perfectly  at  home. 

"The  storm  that  raged  on  Wednesday,  March  1st,  was  at  its  height 
when  the  funeral  service  wtis  ministered  in  Trinity  Church,  New  Ro- 
chelle, by  the  rector,  Rev.  Mr.  Canedy  and  Rev.  Sir.  Higgins,  rector  of 
Christ  Church,  Pelham,  and  as  the  attendance  of  ladies  was  necessarily 
limited,  the  large  gathering  of  gentlemen,  from  homes  far  and  near,  was 
remarkable,  indicating  the  profoundly  cherished  memories  relating  to 
the  career  of  the  great  statesman,  the  completed  close  of  whose  home- 
life  on  earth  seemed  as  if  now  emphasized  by  the  funeral  dirge  within  the 
temple  and  the  majestic  voice  of  the  tempest  without. 

"  Not  long  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Webster,  as  we  w  ell  remember,  one 
hundred  citizens  of  Boston  contributed  one  thousand  dollars  each  to  a 
fund  of  one  hundreil  thousand  dollars,  which  was  invested  for  Mrs. 
Webster's  benefit,  and  the  interest  of  this  she  duly  received  at  her  home 
in  New  Rochelle,  a  timely  and  welcome  contribution  to  the  cheer  of  her 
tranquil  life  evening. 

"Thus  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  men  of  Boston,  iu  our  own  time, 
have  given  back  a  fitting  response  to  the  munificence  of  a  Huguenot 
native  of  New  Hochelle,  expressed  in  the  gift  of  Faueuil  Hall  to  their 
honored  city  mi>re  than  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago,  exemplifying  the 
perfect  fusion  of  Anglican  and  French  elements  into  a  vital  unity,  to 
endure  thronghout  centuries  to  come. 


714 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


JAMES  HYATT. 

Mr.  James  Hyatt,  former  supervisor  of  the  town  of 
Pelham,  was  a  son  of  James  H.  Hyatt,  who  married 
Eliza  Balcom,  and  resided  in  New  York  City.  He 
was  born  there  December  1,  1830,  and  was  educated 
iu  the  district  school,  which  he  left  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  to  engage  in  the  butcher  business. 

He  first  entered  as  a  clerk  the  shop  of  James  Kent, 
in  Tompkins'  Market,  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  Street 
and  the  Bowery,  New  York.  Here  he  remained  dur- 
ing four  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he  removed 
to  Mott  Haven,  and  was  engaged  iu  the  business 
with  his  uncle  there  for  five  years.  He  then  left 
Mott  Haven  for  the  town  of  Westchester,  and  en- 
tered the  butcher  store  of  William  Cooper,  which 
he  left  after  five  years  to  open  a  market  for  him- 
self in  the  same  town. 

One  year  afterward  he  removed  the  concern  to 
City  Island,  where  he  still  remains. 

He  is  well  known  throughout  Westchester,  espe- 
cially in  its  political  life.  He  is  an  earnest  Democrat 
and  has  held  several  political  positions,  both  elective 
and  by  appointment.  In  1863  he  was  appointed 
board  clerk  of  the  town  of  Pelham,  and  one  year 
later  was  elected  to  the  position,  being  re-elected  to 
it  for  seven  terms.  In  1873  he  was  elected  supervisor 
and  re-elected  to  the  olEce  eleven  times  successively. 
He  was  also  town  constable  for  one  year,  and  at  one 
time  was  collector  of  school  taxes. 

Mr.  Hyatt's  consistent  political  life,  and  his  earnest 
advocacy  of  correct  principles  in  the  government  of 
his  town  and  county,  entitle  him  to  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  the  citizens  of  Westchester,  wherever 
found. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WHITE  PLAINS. 
BY  JOSIAH  S.  MITCHELL. 

White  Plains,  the  shire-town  of  Westchester 
County,  was  described  in  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  passed  in  1788,'  as  "  All  that 
part  of  the  county  of  Westchester  bounded  easterly 
by  Mamaroneck  River,  northerly  by  North  Castle, 
westerly  by  Bronx  River  and  southerly  by  the  town 
of  Scarsdale,"  and  by  this  act  was  erected  into  a  town, 
containing  four  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-five 
acres. 

As  late  as  the  year  1683  this  territory  was  still  in 
the  possession  of  its  aboriginal  owners.  The  chiefs 
were  sachems  of  the  ^V^eckf]uaskech  tribe,  a  portion 
of  the  powerful  Mohican  nation,  whose  territory  lay 
between  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  Hudson,  the 

I  Greenleaf  8  Lawn,  vol.  ii.  p.  153, 


Weckquaskech  family  occupying  the  more  limited 
region  between  the  Byram  River  and  the  Hudson. 
No  woodman's  axe  had  yet  invaded  the  quietude  of 
its  forests ;  but  amid  the  leaty  hedges,  and  beneath 
the  sheltering  branches  of  overhanging  trees,  the 
tawny  savage  and  his  tawny  mate,  rearing  their 
black-eyed  little  ones  in  the  primitive  simplicity  of 
their  remotest  ancestors,  remained  the  sole  human 
inhabitants  of  the  soil. 

But  now  the  hum  of  civilization  is  beginning  to  be 
heard  on  their  borders.  The  irrepressible  and  irre- 
sistible New  Englander,  advancing  with  rapid  strides, 
having  in  1666  settled  Rye  as  far  as  the  Mamaroneck 
River,  in  1683  purchased  the  better  country  lying 
between  that  river  and  the  Bronx,  and  called  by  the 
natives,  Quarroppas, — by  the  settlers  the  White 
Plains, — the  deed  of  which  to  the  people  of  Rye  is  as 
follows : 

"To  all  Christian  peopell  to  horn  these  presence  shall  coui  greting 
' '  Know  jee  that  we  Shapliam,  Cockenseco,  Orewapum,  Kewetoahan, 
"  Koawanoh  I'aatck  Shiphatlash,  Korehevuvous,  panawok,  niemishott, 
"  pesi'kanoh,  oromahgah,  patthunk,  hohoreis,  sotonge,  wonawaking, 
"  owhorawas  noshand  have  for  a  valnabell  sum  of  money  to  us  in  hanj 
"  paid  by  the  town  of  Kye  that  are  iuhabitance  bargained  covinanted, 
"  ailuated  and  souUd  unto  the  Iuhabitance  of  the  above  said  town  of 
"  Ry,  A  sartaiu  tract  of  laud  Lying  within  the  towu  bounds  of  Rye 
"  Houndeil  iis  followeth  on  the  north  east  with  JIamarineik  River,  and 
"  on  the  Southwest  with  a  branch  of  the  said  River  and  marked  trees 
"  till  it  comes  to  bruuckes  River  and  then  to  Runn  by  Rrunches  River 
"  till  it  Comes  to  the  head  of  the  whit  plaines  soe  called,  and  by  the 
"marked  trees  from  theuce  till  it  comes  to  the  uppermost  branch  of 
' '  marinneck  River,  which  trackt  of  Land  commonly  called  by  the  Kng- 
"  lish  the  whit  plaines  and  called  by  the  Indians  Quaroppas  which  said 
"  tract  of  Land  woe  the  above  said  shapham,  Cockiucecko,  orewapiini, 
"  kewetoahan,  koawanoh,  luoahalice  and  the  Rest  of  the  above  said 
"  Indians  have  soulled  as  above  said  unto  the  Inhabitjince  of  the  s,iid 
"  town  of  Rye  them  theire  heires  execatai-s  administrators  or  asignes  for 
"  ever  and  Doe  hereby  bind  ourselves  our  heires  Exectars  .\dministratare 
"  and  assigns  unto  the  Inhabitance  of  the  above  said  town  of  Rye  them 
"  Iheire  heires  Execatars  adniiuistratars  or  asignes  that  they  may  at 
"  all  times  from  and  after  the  date  hereof  peasably  and  quieatly  poses 
"  occupy  and  enjoy  the  above  said  tract  of  land  free  from  all  former 
"  liargaiiies  salles  morgages  or  other  incombmnces  vdiatso  ever  and 
"  all  soe  to  warrant  and  make  good  the  above  said  salle  against  any  par- 
"  son  or  parsons  whatso  ever  tliat  shall  or  will  make  or  lay  any  clainie  or 
"  i  lainies  theare  unto  and  In  teastimony  theareof  wee  have  caused 
"  this  bill  6f  salle  to  be  made  and  here  unto  haue  sett  our  hands  and 
"  sealles  this  two  and  twentieth  of  November  one  thousand  six  hundred 
"  Eighty  three. 

"  Sealed,  signed  and  delivered  in  the  presents  of  us  " 


Corneilass 

the  marku  of 

his  marke 

Shapham 

.Joshua  Kuapp 

Cokenseko 

the  marke  of 

(>ruwai.mm 

Motepeatehou 

Kewctoham 

Koawanoh 

John  Odell 

BIoahpoat<h 

his  marke 

Patthunk 

Ifohornis 

Sotonge 

owhorawas 

orauiaimah." 

"ThisbiUof  .sille  is  acknowledged  by  the  granters  to  be  their  acfct 
"  and  deed  before  me  in  Rye  the  day  and  yere  aboue  written. 

"  Joseph  Hokton 

"  Coniissioneer," 

This  purchase  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
actual  occupation  of  the  uewly-actjuired  territory, 
though  not  without  opposition ;  for  the  Rye  people 
were  met  by  the  claims  of  Johii  Richbell,  who,  ia 


WHITE 


10(10,  had  purchased  from  an  Indian  three  necks  of 
land  lying  ix'lween  Stony  IJrook  and  Araniaroncck  | 
River.  Richhcli's  pureliase  had  been  confirmed  by 
the  Dutch  government  of  New  Amsterdam  in  ltiG2, 
and  subsequently,  in  16G8,  together  "  with  the  land 
lying  north  twenty  miles  into  the  woods,"  by  the 
government  of  New  York,  so  far  as  the  lands  were 
included  in  the  i)rovince  of  New  York.  Hence  his- 
torians generally  have  regarded  the  Rye  people  as 
mere  squatters,  without  right  or  title  to  the  soil  of  the 
White  Plains,  and  indebted,  finally,  to  the  kindness 
of  Colonel  Caleb  Ileathcotc,  the  grantee  of  the  Kich- 
bcll  title,  for  undisturbed  possession  of  this  goodly 
torritor}'.  If  we  pause  here  to  make  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  the  grounds  upon  which  the  respective 
claims  to  these  lands  by  the  rival  purchasers,  and  by 
New  Amsterdam  and  New  England,  were  based,  we 
shall  find  that  this  commonly  accepted  idea  is 
erroneous. 

The  Pilgrims,  although  in  exile,  counted  them- 
selves Englishmen,  and  were  ever  ready  to  maintain 
at  any  sacrifice  the  claims  of  the  mother  country, 
based  upon  the  undisputed  discovery  of  the  coast  of 
North  America,  from  the  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Nova 
Scotia,  in  1407,  by  the  Cabots,  sailing  under  the 
British  flag ;  no  actual  occupation  of  the  land  was 
accomplished,  however,  notwithstanding  many  at- 
tempts were  made,  until  the  bold  and  enterprising 
spirit  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  establislied  the  Virginia 
colony  in  1607. 

In  the  year  1609,  Henry  Hudson,  an  English  navi- 
gator in  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
pany, undertook  a  voyage  in  the  "Half-Moon,"  to 
seek  a  westward  passage  to  China,  and  in  September 
entered  what  is  now  known  as  New  York  Bay.  In 
1613,  a  Dutch  trading  establishment,  consisting  of  five 
houses,  under  tlie  superintendence  of  Hendrick  Cor- 
stiaensen,  was  set  up,  but  received  a  serious  check 
when  Captain  Argall,  of  the  Virginia  colony,  touched 
at  the  island  and  forced  Corstiaensen  and  his  associ- 
ates to  submit  to  the  King  of  England,  and  to  agree 
to  pay  tribute,  in  token  of  their  dependence  on  the 
English  crown. 

In  1614  the  States-General  of  the  United  Nether- 
lands, for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  exploration  and 
settlement,  offered  a  four  years'  monopoly  of  trade 
with  newly-discovered  lands.  A  company  of  mer- 
chants, under  the  title  of  "The  United  New  Nether- 
land  Company,"  forming  a  partnership — not  a  corpo- 
ration -availed  themselves  of  the  privilege,  and 
erected  the  first  rude  fort  on  Manhattan  Island.  At 
the  termination  of  the  four  yeai-s  the  charter  of  this 
company  expired  and  was  never  renewed.* 

The  next  step,  in  order  of  time,  was  the  settlement 
of  Plymouth,  in  1620,  under  the  original  patent  of 
New  England,  which  embraced  all  that  part  of  North 
America  between  the  fortieth  and  forty-eighth  de- 


1  2  Bancroft,  U.  S.,  272. 


PLAINS.  715 


grees  of  north  latitude,  and  extending  "  from  sea  to 
I  sea  that  is,  as  far  south  as  Philadelphia  and  as  far 
north  as  (Quebec,  and  in  breadth  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  grant  was  absolute  and  ex- 
clusive. Without  the  permission  of  the  Plymouth 
Council, no  ship  might  sail  into  any  hai'bor  from  New- 
foundland to  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia;  and  not 
an  emigrant  might  place  his  foot  upon  the  soil.  It 
was  under  this  grant  that  four  and  twenty  families 
landed  from  the  "  Mayflower,"  on  Plymouth  Rock,  in 
December,  1620,  and  established  a  settlement,  from 
which  is  dated  the  planting  of  New  England.^ 

In  1()21,  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  in- 
cor[)orated  for  a  [leriod  of  twenty  years,  with  privilege 
to  traffic  and  i)lant  colonies  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
from  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  on  the  coast  of  America  from  the  Straits  of  Ma- 
gellan to  the  remotest  north  ;  thus  lightly  did  the  lit- 
tle nation  of  merchants  make  gifts  of  continents, 
However,  intelligence  being  received  in  England 
that  preparations  were  making  to  send  vessels  to 
America,  King  James  I.  directed  his  ambassador  at 
the  Hague  to  urge  upon  the  States-General  the  ne- 
cessity of  preventing  their  subjects  from  settling  in 
parts  north  of  Virginia,  and  distinctly  asserting  the 
illegality  of  making  any  settlements  on  this  conti- 
nent.-' The  ambassador  was  assured  that  the  Dutch 
had  planted  no  colony  there,  and  intended  to  plant 
none.  Notwithstanding  these  assurances,  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  in  1626,  purchased  of  the  In- 
dians, for  the  sum  of  twenty-four  dollars,  the  Island 
of  Manhattan,  and  built  thereon  Fort  Amsterdam. 

This  attempt  at  a  permanent  settlement  drew  from 
Governor  Bradford,  of  Plymouth,  an  earnest  assertion 
of  the  right  of  the  English  to  the  country  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Dutch,  and  an  intimation  that  force  might 
be  used  to  maintain  the  British  claim.  The  directors 
in  Holland  thereupon  obtained  fnnn  Charles  I.  an 
order  in  Council,  by  which  all  the  ports  in  the  king- 
doms and  territories  of  the  British  King  were  thrown 
open  to  all  Dutch  vessels  trading  to  or  from  New 
Netherland.* 

Until  the  year  1629  the  Dutch  had  done  nothing  to 
advance  a  settlement ;  a  few  servants  of  the  company, 
connected  with  the  trading  posts,  were  the  only  Dutch 
iidiabitants  of  New  Netherland ;  and  not  a  foot  of 
soil  had  been  reclaimed  save  the  little  that  sujjplied 
the  wants  of  the  few  persons  attached  to  the  three  fi)rts. 
During  this  year,  however,  a  charter  with  si)ecial 
privileges  was  granted  to  all  such  members  of  the 
comi)any  as  should  settle  any  colony  in  New  Nether- 
land, and  settlements  were  made  on  the  Hudson 
River  and  at  Cape  Hcnlopen.* 

During  the  years  1628,  1629  and  1630  thousands  of 
English  Puritans  settled  in  ^lassachusetts.  On  March 


2  1  Bancroft,  IT.  S.,  272  ;  1  Trumbun,  .546  ;  1  Hazard,  103-108. 

3  1  0'Ca1Iag)ian'B  "New  Netherland,"  95. 
*  1  O'Callaglian,  109. 

s  1  O'Callagliaii,  110. 


716 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


19,  1631,  Robert,  Earl  of  Warwick,  president  of  the 
Council  of  the  Plymouth  Company,  granted  unto  Lord 
Say  and  Seal  and  sixteen  others,  and  to  their  heirs 
and  assigns  and  associates  forever,  "  All  that  part  of 
New  England  which  lies  west  from  Narragansett 
River  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles  on  the  sea  coast 
and  from  thence  in  latitude  and  breadth  aforesaid  to 
the  South  Sea."  This  grant  extends  from  Point 
Judith  to  New  York,  and  from  thence  in  a  west  line 
to  the  South  Sea  (Pacific  Ocean) ;  and  if  we  take  Nar- 
ragansett River  in  its  whole  length,  this  tract  will  ex- 
tend a.s  far  north  as  Worcester.' 

The  patents  to  Connecticut,  Georgia,  South  Caro- 
lina and  Virginia  have  the  same  westerly  extension, 
and  were  so  regarded  by  the  English  Kings,  and 
acted  upon  in  treaties  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  and  Spain.  It  was  by  this  construction  of  the 
patents  and  charters  of  the  American  colonies  that 
tjae  Western  Territories,  as  far  as  the  Mississippi, 
wore  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  peace  with 
Great  Britain  ;  and  it  was  by  virtue  of  tlie  same  con- 
struction of  the  patents  tliat  Congress,  in  1788,  pro- 
cured a  formal  surrender  of  the  unappropriated  West- 
ern lands  from  the  States  above  named, — Connecti- 
cut, however,  reserving  a  tract  in  Ohio,  bounded  on 
the  south  by  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitude 
and  on  the  north  by  the  Connecticut  line,  containing 
three  million  six  hundred  and  sixty-seven  thousand 
acres.^ 

In  March,  16.32,  a  Dutch  ship  was  forced,  by  stress 
of  weather,  into  the  port  of  Plymouth,  and  was  seized 
on  a  charge  of  having  traded  and  obtained  her  cargo 
in  countries  subject  to  His  Britannic  Majesty.  Out  of 
this  seizure  grew  the  first  sharp  controversy  between 
the  English  King  and  the  States-General  regarding 
their  respective  rights  and  claims  in  America — a  con- 
troversy meriting  special  attention.  The  Dutch,  in  a 
carefully  j)repared  deduction  of  their  title,  declared 
that  after  the  North  River  was  discovered  in  1609 
by  subjects  of  their  High  Mightinesses,  and  visited 
by  some  of  their  citizens  in  1610  and  following  years, 
a  grant  was  made  in  1615,  to  some  of  their  subjects, 
of  the  trade  to  that  country,  and  a  small  fort  and 
garrison  established  there,  which  remained  until  the 
charter  granted  to  the  West  India  Company,  which 
included  these  as  well  as  other  countries  ;  that  the 
grant  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  to  his  subjects  under 
the  name  of  New  England  included  the  land  between 
the  forty-first  and  forty-fifth  degrees  ;  and  the  grant 
to  Virginia  included  the  country  between  the  thirty- 
seventh  and  thirty-ninth  degrees,  leaving  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  one  to  the  other,  so  that  the  Dutch 
limits  should  be  from  the  thirty-ninth  to  the  forty- 
first  parallel,  between  which  degrees  it  was  not 
known  the  English  had  any  designs,  and  which  the 
subjects  of  their  High  Mightinesses  obtained,  partly 


by  treaty  with  the  proprietors  of  the  soil,  and  partly  by 
purchase. 

This  vindication  of  the  company's  rights  was  pre- 
sented to  Charles  I.,  and  a  formal  reply  on  the  part 
of  His  Majesty  was  soon  afterward  made,  in  support 
of  the  British  claims  to  the  countries  in  North 
America  of  which  the  AVest  India  Company  then  had 
possession. 

"The  Dutch  demand  restitution"  (say  the  Lords  Commissioners  of 
England)  *'  of  a  rertain  ship  seized  at  Plymouth  on  return  from  a  certain 
plantation  by  them  usurped,  north  of  Virginia,  which  they  allege  they 
ac(iuirfid  from  the  natives  of  those  countries.  It  is  denied  that  the 
savages  were  possessed  of  those  countries  so  as  to  bo  able  to  dispose  of 
them,  or  that  they  were  parties  to  the  said  pretended  sale.  And  as 
regards  the  allegation  that  the  natives  have  their  abode  round  about 
them,  the  truth  is,  the  English  sun'ound  them  on  all  sides,  as  they  have 
very  well  discovered.  But  more  than  this  ;  the  rights  belonging  to  hia 
majesty's  subjects  in  that  country  are  juslified  by  fii-st  discovery,  occupa. 
tion  and  possession,  and  by  charters  and  letters  patent  obtained  from  our 
sovereigns,  who,  for  these  purposes,  were  the  true  and  legitimate  pro- 
prietors there,  where  the  Lords,  the  States  have  not  assumed  to  them- 
selves such  pretension,  and  have  not  granted  any  charter  to  their  sub- 
jects, conveying  in  itself  any  title  or  power  to  them.  AVhich  was  provt-d 
in  tlie  year  1621,  when  the  late  King  directed  his  ambassador  to  urge 
upon  their  Lordships,  the  States-General,  to  prevent  the  departure  of 
certain  vessels  which  were  preparing  to  proceed  to  the  aforesaid  country, 
•and  to  forbid  their  subjects  to  settle  in  that  plantation  ;  for  their  answer 
was  that  they  knew  nothing  of  said  enterprise.  That  anj'  who  will  sub- 
mit themselves  to  his  majesty's  government,  as  his  majesty's  subjects, 
may  settle  there  ;  that  if  they  do  not  consent,  his  majesty's  interest  will 
not  permit  him  to  allow  them  to  usurp  and  encroach  upon  one  of  his 
colonies,  which  he  has  great  cause  to  cherish  and  maintain  in  its 
integrity. 

"  By  these  replies  to  the  aforesaid  complaints,  their  Lordships,  the 
States-General,  will  understand  how  little  ground  they  have  to  eitter  on 
their  neighbor's  territory  in  defiance  of  any  alienation  thereof  by  his 
majesty." 

The  vessel  was  subsequently  released  ;  but  her  de- 
tention had  accomplished  the  end  the  government 
had  in  vievv,  which  was  to  assert  a  title  that  undis- 
puted possession  might  possibly  impair. 

The  condition  of  New  Netherland  in  the  year  1638,^ 
when  Governor  Kieft  arrived,  was  but  a  step  removed 
from  its  primitive  state  of  wilderness.  It  was  unin- 
habited save  by  a  few  traders  and  clerks,  and,  except 
for  half  a  dozen  farms  around  Fort  Amsterdam  and 
an  equal  number  about  Fort  Orange,  was  wholly  un- 
cultivated. No  towns  or  villages  had  been  planted, 
and  of  the  few  settlers  introduced  by  the  company, 
the  greater  part  had  returned,  leaving  a  few  isolated 
traders  in  the  solitary  forts  -which  served  only  as  a 
rendezvous  for  lazy  Indians.  Had  the  Dutch  filled 
the  land  with  an  energetic  and  determined  race,  seek- 
ing to  build  houses  and  churches  and  to  found  com- 
monwealths, as  the  English  were  doing,  they  might 
have  stemmed  the  tide  of  New  England  encroach- 
ment, which,  a  few  years  later,  washed  against  the 
very  shores  of  Manhattan  Island.  During  the  next 
j'car,  1639,  there  were  considerable  accessions  to  the 
number  of  actual  settlers  in  New  Amsterdam,  but  up 
to  that  time  the  history  of  New  Netherland  was 
merely  the  day  journal  of  a  trading  company. 

In   1640  the   advance  guard  of  New  England 


1  Trumbull's  Conn.,  13. 

2  Trumbull,  14. 


3  1  O'Callaghan,  177. 


WHITE 


pionoers  had  pushed  westward  to  Byram  River,  and 
soon  oft^anized  a  cluirch  and  a  township,  and  devot- 
insf  tlicnisclves  heartily  to  their  agricultural  and  do- 
mestic duties,  created  happy  homes,  and  laughed  at 
Dutch  claims  not  hacked  up  by  actual  possession. 
The  ])ossibility  of  annoyance,  both  by  land  and  sea, 
to  the  unguarded  towns  along  the  Sound,  and  the 
dread,  on  the  part  of  the  colonies  of  Connecticut  and 
New  Haven,  of  greater  quarrels  than  they  could 
singly  manage,  brought  about  the  formation  of  the 
New  England  Confederacy  in  1G43,  said  by  John 
(Juincy  Adams  to  have  been  "  the  model  and  proto- 
type of  the  North  American  Confederacy  of  1774." 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonists,  in  September,  1()43,  oneof  the  most 
urgent  items  of  business  was  to  answer  a  letter  from 
Governor  Kieft  desiring  an  explicit  declaration  of  the 
policy  to  be  pursued  in  relation  to  the  Dutch  claims 
in  Connecticut.  The  opportunity  was  welcomed,  and 
an  answer  drawn  up  asserting  the  justice  of  the  Eng- 
lish claims.  By  the  time,  this  answer  reached  Kieft, 
however,  his  rashness  and  the  greed  of  the  Dutch 
traders  had  brought  on  an  Indian  war,  the  violence 
of  which  left  the  Dutch  neither  time  nor  strength  for 
other  aggressive  movements  while  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment remained  in  Kieft's  hands. 

In  May,  1647,  Kieft  was  deposed  and  the  govern- 
ment passed  into  the  hands  of  Peter  Stuyvesant,  who 
soon  found  occasion  for  shawing  the  spirit  in  which 
he  ])roposed  to  administer  his  office.  He  secretly 
seized  a  shij)  from  Holland  trading  in  the  harbor  of 
New  Haven,  on  the  ground  that  the  Dutch  jurisdic- 
tion, by  right  of  discovery,  included  New  Haven 
within  the  limits  of  New  Netherland,  and  therefore 
customs  duties  on  the  cargo  should  be  paid  to  the 
Dutch  Governor.  This  unexpected  insult  led  to  a 
voluminous  correspondence,  conducted  on  the  part  of 
Governor  Eaton  with  such  unanswerable  reasoning 
as  to  compel  Stuyvesant  to  deny  any  intentional 
wrong. 

In  1650  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  English  col- 
onies and  the  Dutch  to  settle  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween them.  A  conditional  agreement  ^  was  entered 
into,  subject  to  ratification  by  England  and  Holland, 
whereby  the  dividing  line  was  to  begin  on  the  west 
side  of  Greenwich  Bay '  and  run  twenty  miles  into  the 
country, — Greenwich  to  be  under  the  government  of 
the  Dutch.  This  agreement,  howeyer,  was  never  con- 
firmed, and  a  subsequent  declaration  of  war  between 
the  mother  countries  created  a  more  hostile  feeling 
between  the  Dutch  and  English  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  which  continued  until  the  conclusion  of 
peace,  in  1654. 

Prior  to  this  time,  in  1642,  a  few  families  from 
Massachusetts,  under  the  leadership  of  John  Throck- 
morton, settled  on  Throgg's  Neck,  and  that  remark- 


I  2  O'Callaghan,  153. 
3  2  O'Callaghan,  153. 


PLAINS.  717 


able  woman,  Anne  Hutchin.son,  with  her  family,  set- 
tled on  Hutchinson's  River,  in  what  is  now  Pelhain. 
In  1648  the  Hutchinson  family  was  entirely  swei)t 
away  by  the  Indians  in  their  retaliatory  war  with  the 
Dutch,  and  a  part  only  of  Throckmorton's  colony 
survived.  These,  with  the  exception  of  Thomas  Cor- 
nell and  the  Mondys,  all  New  England  people,  were 
the  only  persons  who  attempted  settlements  east  of 
the  Bronx  River  until  1654,  when  Thomas  Pell,  act- 
ing under  special  authority  from  Connecticut,  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians  the  land  which  embraces  the 
present  town  of  Westchester,  and  obtained  a  grant  of 
the  territory '  bearing  date  the  14th  day  of  November. 

In  l(i52*  the  West  India  Company  had  instructed 
Stuyvesant  to  engage  the  Indians  in  his  cause  against 
the  New  England  colonies,  but  the  friendship  of  the 
Narragansetts  for  the  Puritans  could  not  be  shaken. 
"  I  am  poor,"  said  Mixam,  one  of  the  sachems,  "but 
no  j)resents  of  goods  or  of  guns  or  of  powder  and  shot 
shall  draw  me  into  a  conspiracy  against  my  friends, 
the  English."  In  this  year  the  Dutch  ambassadors 
opened  negotiations  in  London  in  reference  to  the 
American  colonies  and  the  settlement  of  the  bound- 
ary question,  but  the  English  persistently  claimed  the 
territory  from  Virginia  to  Newfoundland  ;  the  con- 
sideration of  the  subject  was  deferred,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity to  secure  a  ratification  of  the  Hartford  treaty 
of  1()50  was  forever  lost.* 

Again,  in  1654, "the  States-General,  feeling  that  the 
encroaching  disposition  and  superior  numbers  of  the 
English  rendered  their  North  American  possessions 
insecure,  instructed  their  ambassadors  at  London  to 
negotiate  a  boundary  line.  But  this  effort,  like  those 
which  had  preceded  it,  proved  unsuccessful,  and 
throughout  the  protectorate'  England  declared  the 
Dutch  to  be  intruders.  During  the  next  four  years* 
a  good  understanding  was  maintained  between  the 
Dutch  and  their  New  England  neighbors, — the  Dutch, 
as  the  weaker  party,  being  very  careful  not  to  give 
offense. 

The  situation  was  substantially  unchanged,  when, 
in  April  1662,  John  Winthrop  obtained  from  King 
Charles  II.  a  charter  for  the  colony  of  Connecticut," 
confirming  the  whole  of  the  country  granted  by 
Charles  I.  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  conferring 
many  powers  not  included  in  former  chartere.'" 
Winthrop,  the  new  Governor  of  Connecticut,  now 
gave  notice  to  Director  Stuyvesant  that  he  must  not 
trouble  any  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  within  the 
limits  of  the  new  patent;  Westchester  (Orsdorp)  wiis 
advised  that  it  was  included  within  the  colony  of 
Connecticut,  and  Stuyvesant,  on  the  15th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1663,"  wrote  to  Hartford,  consenting  that  West- 


3  2  Bolton,  203.  *  2  Itencrort,  295. 

6  2  O'Callaghan,  202.  «  2  O'Callaglian,  277. 

:  2  O'Callaghan,  342.  8  2  O'Callaghan,  402. 

3  3  New  Haven  Hist.  Soc.  Papars,  441  ;  Truuibull,  259. 
>o  2  O'Callaghan,  455. 
"  2  O'Callaghan,  505. 


718 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Chester  be  annexed  to  Connecticut.  Thus,  one  after 
another,  the  Dutch  abandoned  every  point  their 
enemies  assailed;  the  Connecticut  River  had  been 
given  up,  and  now  Westchester  and  shortly  afterward 
Long  Island  were  relinquished. 

On  March  22,  1664,'  Charles  II.  granted  to  his 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  whole  of  Long  Island 
and  all  the  country  in  the  possession  of  the  Dutch. 
To  secure  the  conquest  of  the  district  in  question,  the 


Duke  of  York  organized  an  expedition  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  country,  and  appointed  Richard 
Nichols  his  Deputy  Governor,  with  authority  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  his  government  and  to  settle 
boundaries.  In  the  latter  part  of  August-  the  ships 
carrying  the  Governor  and  his  forces  anchored  near 
Fort  Amsterdam ;  on  the  29th  Nichols  sent  to  the 
fort  a  summons  to  surrender,  and  on  Monday  morn- 
ing, September  8th,  the  Dutch  marched  out  of  the  fort 


and  the  English  marched  in.  Fort  Amsterdam  was 
named  Fort  James,  New  Netherlaud  became  New 
York,  and  a  few  days  later  Fort  Orange,  having  also 
surrendered,  received  the  name  of  Albany  ;  and  the 
Dutch  sway  in  America  was  at  an  end. 

On  the  30th  of  the  following  November  the  bound- 
ary between  New  York  and  Connecticut  was  settled 
as  follows:  "We  also  order  and  declare  that  the 
Creek  or  River  called  Maniaroneck,  which  is  reputed 
to  be  about  twelve  miles  to  the  east  of  Westchester, 
and  a  line  drawn  from  the  East  point  or  side  where 
the  fresh  water  falls  into  the  salt  at  high-water  mark, 
North-Northwest  to  the  line  of  Massachusetts,  be  the 
Westward  bounds  of  the  said  Colony  of  Connecticut, 
and  all  plantations  lying  Eastward  of  that  Creek  ^ 
and  line  to  be  under  the  government  of  Connecticut." 
This  north-northwest  line  from  the  mouth  of  Mania- 
roneck River  continued  to  be  the  eastern  boundary  of 
New  York;  and  the  White  Plains  were  thereby  in- 
cluded in  the  province  of  Connecticut. 

Resuming  the  consideration  of  title,  we  find  that 
the  Indian  deed  to  John  Richbell,  [)urported  to  con- 
vey three  necks  of  land,  aud  included  most  of  the 
present  town  of  Maniaroneck.  The  deed  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  I,  Wompoqueum,  together  witli  my  brother  Mahatahaii,  being  the 
right  owners  of  three  necks  of  land,  lying  and  being  bounded  on  the  east 
side  with  Maniaroneck,  aud  on  the  west  side  with  stony  river,  which 
[Mirts  the  said  lands  from  Mr.  I'elPs  purcli.isc  ;  now  tliese  are  to  certify  to 
all  and  Everyone  whom  it  may  concern,  that  I,  Wompoqueum,  did  by 
myself,  and  in  behalf  of  my  aforesaid  brother  JIaliatahan,  firmly  bar- 
gain and  sell  to  Mr.  John  Kichbell,  of  Oyster  B.-vy,  to  him  and  his  heirs 
forever,  the  above-mentioned  three  necks  of  land,  together  with  all 
otiier  privileges  thereunto  belonging,  six  ^yeeks  before  I  sold  it  to  Mr. 
Kevell  (Pell)  and  did  mark  out  the  bounds,  and  gave  Mr.  Richbell  pos- 
session of  said  land,  and  did  receive  iMirt  of  my  pay  in  liand,  as  witness 
niy  hand. 

"  The  mark  0  of  Wopoqueum. 
"  Witness,  J.\cOB  Yough,  Catharine  Tocgh."* 

From  the  time  of  Richbell's  purchase  down  to 
October  Ki,  1668,  he  was  engaged  in  a  constant  dis- 
pute with  Thomas  Pell  in  regard  to  the  boundaries 
of  their  respective  purchases.  This  difficulty  having 
finally  been  settled,  a  patent  of  the  last-mentioned 
date  was  issued  by  Governor  Lovelace  to  Richbell, 
wherein  the  land  granted  is  described  as  follows : 

"Whereas  there  is  a  certain  parcel  or  tract  of  land  n-ithiii  this  govern- 
ment, >ipon  the  main,  contained  in  three  necks,  of  which  the  Eastermost 
is  bounded  with  a  small  river,  called  Maniaroneck  river,  being  also  the 
esist  bounds  or  limits  of  this  government  upon  the  main,  and  the  wester- 
most,  with  the  gravelly  or  stoney  brook  or  river,  wliich  makes  the  ejist 
limits  of  the  land,  known,  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Pell's  purchase.  Having 
to  the  South  the  Sound  and  running  northward  from  the  marked  trees 
upon  the  ssiid  neck,  twenty  miles  into  the  woods,  wliich  said  parcel  of 
laud,  &c.,  &c." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Indians  sold  to  John 
Richbell  only  three  necks  of  land,  their  sale  and  con- 
veyance not  including  the  "  twenty  miles  into  the 
woods,"  which  seems  to  have  gotten  into  the  Rich- 
bell patent  without  the  pre-requisite  of  purchase  from 
the  original  proprietors. 


'2  O'Callaghau,  516. 
I  2  Bryant,  262. 


3  Boundaries  of  the  State  of  New  York,  25. 
*  Westchester  Kecords  A,  page  238. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


719 


However,  the  lands  granted  by  this  patent  were 
"  within  this  government "  (New  York),  and  the 
patent  did  not  attempt  to,  and  of  course,  could  not 
convey  lands  in  the  colony  of  Connecticut,  or  beyond 
the  boundary  line  which  ran  from  the  mouth  of 
Mamaroneck  River  north-northwest. 

By  deed  dated  April  23,  1669,  John  Richbell  con- 
veyed to  John  Ryder,  as  trustee  for  Ann  Richbell, 
his  wife, — 

"  All  that  certain  psircel  or  tract  of  land,  where  ho  now  lives,  called 
the  East  Neck,  and  to  begin  at  the  westward  part  thereof  at  a  certain 
cri'ek  lying,  being  and  adjacent,  by  and  betwixt  the  neck  of  land  com- 
monly called  the  Great  Xeck  and  the  East  Neck,  and  so  to  run  eastward 
as  far  as  Mamaroneck  river,  including  therein  betwixt  tlio  two  lines  all 
the  land  as  well  north  into  the  woods  above  Westchester  iiatli,  twenty 
miles,  as  the  land  below  the  path,  south  and  towanls  the  river,  iScc."  1 

Next  in  order  of  time  was  the  purchase  of  the 
White  Plains  from  the  Indian  proprietors  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Rye.  The  deed,  set  forth 
in  full  above,  bears  date  November  22,  1684.  That 
the  jiurchase  wi\s  followed  by  actual  occupation  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Richbell,  in  a  petition  to 
Governor  Dongan,  dated  JIarcli  12,  1()83,  prays  the 
Governor  "  to  grant  an  order  to  clear  the  same  " — L  e. 
the  White  Plains.  The  inhabitants  of  Rye  were  ac- 
cordingly summoned  to  show  cause  at  the  next  Court 
of  Assize  in  Westchester  County  "  wiiy  the  saitl  lauds 
do  not  of  right  belong  to  John  Richbell."  -  It  does 
not  appear  how  the  suit  was  determined;  certainly 
not  in  favor  of  Richbell's  claim,  as  the  possession  of 
the  land  by  the  Rye  people  seems  from  that  time 
to  have  been  uninterrupted  and  their  right  un- 
ijucstioncd. 

By  a  deed  dated  December  23,  1697,  acknowledged 
:\Iarch  22,  1698,  Ann  Richbell,  widow  of  John  Rich- 
bell, convej's  all  her  estate  and  rights  in  and  to  the 
East  Neck  and  twenty  miles  north  into  the  woods,  to 
Caleb  Ileathcote,  of  Westchester.-'  This  conveyance 
recites  the  deed  from  John  Richbell  to  John  Ryncr 
in  trust  for  Ann  Richbell,  above  referred  to.  It  is  by 
virtue  of  these  conveyances  that  Caleb  Ileathcote  be- 
came seized  of  the  lands  embraced  in  his  patent 
granted  in  1702. 

By  the  close  of  the  year  1697  White  Plains  had 
already,  in  a  measure,  become  settled ;  the  street  now 
known  as  ISruadway  was  laid  out,  and  home-lots  upon 
it  built  iii)on.  The  esust  part  of  the  house  which  late- 
ly stood  north<of  the  residence  of  W.  R.  Brown,  Esq., 
was  then  standing,  and  occupied  by  Samuel  Odell.  * 

On  the  2d  day  of  August  1699,  the  Indians  of 
Mamaroneck  presented  a  petition  *  to  Governor  Nan- 
fan,  setting  forth  that  their  nation  had  soUl  several 
parcels  of  land  to  John  Pell,  Esq.,  and  to  Mr.  Rich- 
bell, deceased,  for  which  they  had  never  received  the 
satisfaction  promised  them,  although  for  these  many 

1  Westchester  County  Reconis  \,  page  238. 

-Council  Minutes  V,  l>ago  47. 

'Westchester  County  Keconls  B,  piige  371. 

<  Westchester  County  Keconls  F,  jiages  74  and  170. 

i  Council  Minutes,  Albany. 


years  they  had  looked  for  the  same;  "but  the  said 
persons  have  and  do  refuse  to  satisfy  your  petition- 
ers, and  have  more  land  than  ever  was  sold  to  them," 
and  praying  that  "  John  Pell  and  the  heirs  of  Rich- 
bell may  be  ordered  to  satisfy  your  petitioners,  and 
that  they  may  have  no  more  laud  than  was  ever  sold 
unto  them."  What  action,  if  any,  was  had  upon  this 
l)etition  does  not  appear,  and  we  hear  no  more  of 
claims  by  the  Indians. 

Soon  after  this  time  Colonel  Heathcote  petitioned 
the  Governor  and  Council,  praying  that  the  title  to 
his  lands  might  be  confirmed,  and  the  same  erected 
into  a  manor,  by  the  name  of  the  Manor  of  Scai-s- 
dale;  whereupon  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  Naufan, 
and  Council,  directed  a  writ  to  issue  to  the  high- 
sherifl' of  Westchester  County,  to  inquire  what  dam- 
age such  patent  could  be.  The  writ  was  issued,  with 
a  proviso,  that  it 

"Shall  not  give  the  said  Colonel  Ileathcote  any  further  title  than  that 
which  he  already  hath  to  the  laud  called  White  Plains,  which  is  iu  dis- 
pute between  the  said  Caleb  Ileathcote  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
of  Rye.  The  sheriff  returned  that  the  'jurors  found  there  is  no  damage 
to  the  King  or  his  subjects  in  erecting  the  manor  aforesaid,  except  the 
White  Plains,  which  are  in  dispute  and  contest  between  said  Caleb  Ileath- 
cote and  the  tow  n  of  Kyc,  and  excepting  James  Mott  and  the  rest  of  the 
purchasers  of  Maniaroueck,  which  have  land  within  the  patent  of  Kich- 
bell.'" 

After  the  return  of  this  writ,  and  on  the  21st  of 
JIarch,  1701,  letters  patent  were  issued;  the  lands 
of  Colonel  Heathcote  vvere  erected  into  the  lordship 
and  Manor  of  Scaredale.  The  letters,  however,  con- 
tained an  express  provision  that  nothing  therein 
contained  "shall  be  construed,  deemed  or  taken  to 
give  the  said  Colonel  Heathcote  any  further  title  or 
jurisdiction  within  the  said  White  Plains  until  the 
same  shall  happen  to  belong  to  the  said  Caleb  Heath- 
cote." " 

Soon  after  this.  Colonel  Heathcote  purchased  of 
certain  Indians  their  rights  to  the  lands  embraced 
in  his  patent.  With  this  excepti(jn,  he  did  nothing 
further  to  perfect  his  title  to  the  While  Plains ;  but 
he  persistently  refused  the  solicitations  of  the  Rye 
people  to  relinquish  his  claims,  and  thereby  remove  the 
cloud  upon  the  title  to  this  coveted  inheritance. 

After  long  years  of  delay,  Daniel  Brundage  and 
Josei)h  Hunt,  on  the  28th  day  of  June  1721,  presented 
a  petition  '  to  the  Governor,  praying  tor  a  warrant  of 
survey  of  the  White  Plains,  and  a  warrant  was  i.-;sued 
the  same  day.  *  No  report  of  a  survey  having  been 
made,  the  same  parties,  on  the  7th  day  of  December, 
1721,  petitioned  for  a  new  warrant  of  survey  to  em- 
brace the  whole  of  the  White  Plains  apon  which  the 
I  following  order  was  issued. : 

"  Now  York,  Deer,  ye  7"',  1721. — Ordered  that  a  Warrant  do  issue  to 
the  Surveyor-General  for  surveying  all  lands  ungranted  by  the  Crown  in 
and  alniut  the  White  Plains,  and  that  he  descrilie  and  ascertain  the  pre- 
tensions of  Daniel  Brundage  and  Samuel  Hunt  in  and  about  the  same. 


">  Book  of  Patents,  .\lbany,  vol.  vii.  page  220. 
'  liand  Papers,  .MlMiny,  viii.  jKige  44. 
<i  Laud  Papers,  Albany,  viii.  page  45. 


720 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  petitioners  giving  notice  of  the  time  of  tlie  said  survey  to  all  Pat- 
entees whose  grants  they  are  informed  joyne  to  the  said  White  Plains." 

"  W.  Burnet."  ' 

On  the  21st  day  of  December  2,  1721,  Joseph  Budil, 
John  Hunt  and  sixteen  others  present  their  i)etition 
to  the  Governor,  setting  forth 

"That  by  virtue  of  a  license  from  the  Government  of  Connecticut, 
they  and  tliose  under  whom  they  claim,  did  purchase  from  the  Indians  a 
tract  of  land  called  White  Plains,  the  same  at  the  time  of  the  purchase 
being  deemed  and  esteemed  to  lye  within  the  Government 
of  Connecticut,  by  virtue  of  which  purchase  your  petition- 
ers were,  for  a  considerable  time,  in  possession  of  tlie  said 
land  under  the  Government  of  Connecticut,  and  until  said 
time  as  the  same  was  found  to  be  within  [the  bounds  of  the 
Government  of  Now  York,  since  which  time  they  have  con- 
tinned  in  possession  of  and  made  great  improvements  upon  tlie 
same,  and  they  being  desirous  to  secure  the  same  lands  and 
their  improvements  thereon  to  themselves  and  their  heirs  un- 
der such  interests,  provisions  and  restrictions  iis  to  your  Ex- 
cellency and  Council  shall  be  tliought  fit;  Therefoie,  lunubly 
pray  liis  Blajesty's  Letters  Patent  to  tliem,  their  heirs  and 
assigns,  for  the  said  tract  of  land,  and  that  such  methods  may 
l>e  ordered  as  your  E.\cellency  and  Council  shall  think  fit  lor 
ascertaining  the  limits  and  bounds  of  the  said  tract  and  of 
the  several  possessions  of  your  petitioners.  And  your  peti- 
tioners will  ever  pray,  Ac." 

On  this  petition  is  indorsed, — 

"  The  Petition  of  Joseph  Budd,  et  al.,  being  read  ye  21st 
Deer.,  1721  Is  referred  to  the  Gentl.  of  the  Council  or  any 
five  of  them."  " 

The  same  day  the  Council  reported  tliat 
they  had  considered  the  matter  of  the  })eti- 
tion  and  dire'ctedtliat  a  warrant  sliould  issue 
to  the  surveyor-general  to  survey  the  tract  in 
question  and  make  return  thereof,  with  a 
map  of  the  tract,  and  furthermore  that  all 
parties  claiming  any  lands  which  are  patent- 
ed, adjoining  thereto,  should  have  notice  of 
the  survey,  with  the  time  and  place  of  begin- 
ning the  sanie.^ 

Before  the  issuing  of  this  warrant  a  re- 
port' of  survey,  made  by  Robert  Crookc,  dep- 
uty surveyor,  was  filed  (December  23,  1721), 
which  is  valuable  as  being  more  definite  and 
specific  in  courses,  distances  and  monuments 
than  the  Golden  survey  and  report  subse- 
quently made  under  the  last-mentioned  order 
and  incorporated  into  the  patent. 

No  action  appears  to  have  been  taken  on 
this  report  of  the  Council,  made  December 
21,  1721,  until  the  10th  of  January  following, 
when  a  warrant  w:is  issued,  reciting  all  the 
material  statements  in  the  petition,  and  di- 
recting the  surveyor-general "  to  survey  the  said  White 
Plains  ;  and  in  his  return  thereof  to  ascertain  and  des- 
cribe the  particulars  of  the  claims  of  the  petitioners, 
with  a  map  of  the  said  tract,  and  that  the  said  petition- 
ers give  timely  notice  of  said  survey  to  all  patentees 
whos  grants  they  are  informed  joyne  to  the  said  White 
Plaii's." 

1  Land  Papers,  Albany,  viii.  89. 

2  Land  Papere,  Albany,  viii.  page  91. 
3 Land  Papers,  Albany,  viii.  jiage  91. 
4  Laud  Papers,  Albany,  viii.  page  92. 


This  warrant  was  indorsed  by  Cadwallader  Golden, 
surveyor-general  to  William  Foster,  deputy  surveyor, 
who  proceeded  to  execute  it.  He  completed  the  sur- 
vey and  made  his  report,  in  which  he  first  describes 
the  land  generally,  as  in  the  patent ;  afterward  he 
bounds  the  tracts  by  streams,  monuments,  courses 
and  distances.  He  also  made  a  map  of  the  White 
Plains,  a  copy  of  which  is  here  shown. 


MAP  OF  WHITE  PLAINS  IN  1721.* 


A-Caleb  Hyatt's. 
B-Joseph  Purdy's. 
C-Humphrey  rnderhill's. 
1)-Samuel  Moriit's. 
E-Saninel  Hunt's. 
F-Samuel  Hunt's  Mill. 
G-Samuel  Holt's. 
H-,lohn  Iloit's. 
I-George  Lane's. 
K-Daniel  Brundige's. 
L-.Iames  Travis's. 
M-SIoses  Knapp's. 


E.XPLANATION. 

N-Jolin  Hyat's. 
0-Danicl  Lane's. 
P-Samuel  Horton's. 
Q-Christopher  Yeoman's. 
R-Anthony  Miller's. 
S  &  T-Dauiel  Brundige's  bound 
trees. 

U-The  beginning  of  Mr.  Bridges' 
patent. 

V-Tlie  bound  tree  between  Um- 
phrey  Underbill  and  Samuel 
Hunt. 


^  Copy  of  a  map  of  White  Plains  found  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary. 


WHITE- 


a-Roail  t(i  Maiuaroneck.  f-Road  to  Bedford. 

b-Road  to  East  Chester.  g-Road  to  Califoruia  patent. 

c-Road  up  to  the  woods.  h-Road  to  Rye. 

d-Koad  to  Hudson's  ferry.  i-Road  to  Budd's  Neck. 
e-Roiid  to  Phillips'  mills. 

The  report  of  William  Foster, '  and  the  interesting 
map  made  from  his  survey,  were  filed  February  21, 
1722.  On  the  24th  of  the  same  month  the  matter  of 
the  petitioners  was  brought  before  the  Council  for 
consideration,  when  the  jiroceedings  took  place  of 
which  the  following  is  a  partial  report : 

"  M  a  Committee  of  the  Council  held  at  New  York,  Feb'y  2i,  1721-2, 
Present, — 

"  Capt.  Walters.  Jlr.  Harrison. 

Coll.  Beekman.  ilr.  Coldcn. 

Sir.  Van  Dam.  Mr.  Lewis  Jlorris,  Jr. 

"The  Committee  proceeded  upon  the  Surveyor  General's  return  of  the 
claims  of  Joseph  Budd  &  al.  in  the  "White  Plains  Purchase,  Referred  to 
them. 

■'The  Committee  unanimously  chose  Francis  Harrison,  Esq.,  their 
chairman. 

"  Resolved  that  all  parties  concerned  be  called  in.  Then  all  parties 
attending  were  heard  as  to  their  several  claims.  The  parties  withdraw- 
ing, the  several  papere  relating  to  the  affair  were  read." 

The  proceedings  at  this  meeting  related  solely  to 
the  claims  of  Hunt  and  Brundage.  The  committee 
met  again  on  Februaiy  2(3th,'  when  the  Hunt  and 
Brundage  claims  were  passed  upon  and  confirmed,  as 
shown  on  the  map.  The  following  resolution  was 
then  adopted  : 

"  K'snh  td,  yt  ye  Remaining  part  of  ye  White  Plains  after  the  lands  of 
Hunt  and  Brundage  be  laid  out  according  to  ye  former  Resolution,  be 
granted  to  Joseph  Budd,  John  Hoit,  Caleb  Hyat,  Huniplirey  l  iiderhill, 
Joseph  Purdy,  George  Lane,  Daniel  Laue,  Muses  Knapp.  John  Horton, 
David  Horton,  Jonathan  Lynch,  Peter  Hatfield,  James  Travis,  Isaac 
Covert,  Benjamin  Brown,  John  Turuer,  Dfviil  Ogden  aud  William 
Yeonians,  saving  to  all  persons  any  Right  wci"  they  may  have  within  the 

Tract  of  ye  White  Plains,  founded  ujion  ye  title  set  forth  in  ye  Petition 
of  the  alwve-named  Persons  Praying  for  a  Patent  of  ye  land  now  in- 
tendeil  to  be  granted. 

"  Ilesolc'd,  that  the  t^uit  Rent  be  conformable  to  his  ilaties  Royal  In- 
structions." 

On  the  same  day  (February  2(3, 1722),  the  chairman, 
Francis  Harrison,  reported  that  the  committee  had 
considered  the  claims  of  all  the  parties  concerned  in 
the  White  Plains,  and  after  setting  forth  the  rights  of 


of  state  at  Albany,  in  vol.  viii.  of  Land  Papers,  p.  124,  and  entitled 
' '  Return  of  a  survey  of  the  White  Plains,  Feb.  24,  1721-2.  .\lso,  survey 
for  Hunt  and  Brundige  and  dated  JIarch  foil.  Read  and  referred  to  ye 
Gentl.  of  ye  Council  or  any  five  of  them." 

The  return,  accompanying  the  map  states  that,  "  Pursuant  to  a  warrant 
dated  January  lltli,  1721,  endorsed  to  William  Forster,  Deputy  Surveyor, 
he  surveyed  the  Bounds  of  ye  White  Plains  as  they  were  shown  to  him 
by  Joseph  Budd,  John  Hoit,  Vniphrey  Underbill,  George  Lane,  Jloses 
Knap  ami  Caleb  Hyatt,  and  they  were  as  follows : 

"  Beginning  at  a  large  white  oak  tree  marked  with  several  letters, 
where  t wo  bi^ooks falls  into  ye  west  branch  of  Moniaroncck  River ;  thence 
by  marked  trees  to  Brunxes  river  near  tu  where  a  small  bnxik  falls  into 
said  river,  by  a  bush  of  .\lders,  some  of  which  are  marked  ;  thence  up 
Brunxes  river  to  an  Ash  tree  about  17  chains  above  Anthony  Miller's 
Fulling  Mill,  and  thence  by  marked  trees  to  a  white  oak  near  Long 
Meadiiw  Brook  ;  then  down  said  Brook  to  where  it  falls  into  Momaro- 
neck  River,  and  then  down  said  River  to  the  place  where  ye  west  Branch 
falls  into  the  river,  and  then  up  the  said  Branch  to  ye  white  oak  where 
we  began — Containing  5225  acres,  after  5  per  cent,  deducted  for  Roads." 

'  Land  Papers,  .\lbany,  viii.  page  124. 

5  N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  Ixiv.  page  2',i. 

^N.  Y.  Col.  MSS.,  Ixiv.  page  30. 
69 


PLALXS.  721 


Hunt  and  Brundage,  recommended  "That  the  re- 
maining part  of  the  White  Plains,  after  the  lands  of 
Hunt  and  Brundage  be  laid  out  as  before  mentioned, 
be  granted  to  Joseph  Budd,  John  Hoit "  and  the 
others  named  in  the  above  resolution,  subject  to  the 
saving  clause  therein  contained.  The  report  is  in- 
dorsetl,  "  March  ye  1st,  1721-2.  Reported  and  approved 
of  by  the  Council,  J.  8.  Bolin,  D.  CI.  Coun." ' 

In  compliance  with  this  report,  Cadwallader  Colden, 
the  surveyor-general,  "  laid  out  for  Joseph  Budd, 
John  Hoit "  and  the  others, 

"  \  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land,  situate,  lying  and  being  in  the 
County  of  Westchester,  and  is  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  White 
Plains.  Beginning  at  a  large  White-oak  tree,  marked  with  several  let- 
ters, where  two  brooks  fall  into  the  West  branch  of  Mamamneck  river, 
and  runs  thence  by  markeil  trees  to  Brun.\es  River,  near  to  the  place 
where  a  small  brook  falls  into  the  sjiid  River  by  a  bunch  of  .\ldei-s,  soma 
of  which  are  marked.  Thence  up  the  stream  of  lirunxes  River  to  an 
oak-tree  about  seventeen  chains,  above  Anthony  Miller's  fulling-mill. 
Thence  by  marked  trees  to  a  White-oak  marked,  near  Long  3Ieadow 
Brook.  Thence  ilown  the  stream  of  the  said  Brook  to  the  land  laid  out 
for  Daniel  Brundage ;  thence  along  his  line  to  the  siiid  Long  Meadow 
Brook  ;  thence  down  the  stream  of  the  said  brook  to  the  place  where  it 
falls  into  JIamaroneck  River  and  down  the  stream  of  said  River  to  the 
land  granted  to  Christopher  Bridge  ;  then  along  his  lines  and  the  lines 
of  the  land  laid  out  for  Samuel  Hunt  to  Mamaroneck  River;  then  down 
the  stream  of  the  said  River  to  the  place  where  the  West  Branch  falls 
into  the  said  River,  and  then  ui)  the  stream  of  the  said  West  Branch  to 
the  place  where  it  began,  containing  four  thousand  four  hundred  and 
thirty  five  acres,  with  all  allowance  for  highways. 

"Given  under  my  hand,  at  New  York,  the  tenth  day  of  March,  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  Majesty's  Reign,  .\nno  Dom.  1721. 

"  C.VDW.\LL.\DER  COLDEX,  Slir.  Geil/." 

On  the  13th  day  of  March,  1721-2,  a  royal  patent 
was  granted  to  Joseph  Budd  and  the  other  persons 
named  in  the  preceding  resolutions  and  in  the  report 
of  the  surveyor-general,  which  letters  patent  recited 
the  petition  of  Budd  and  his  as.sociates,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings subsequent  thereto,  and  granted,  ratified  and 
confirmed  unto  the  said  petitioners, — (naming  them), 
their  heirs  and  a.ssigns,  "  All  that  said  tract  or  parcel 
of  land  situate,  lying  and  being  in  the  County  of 
Westchester,  which  is  commonly  k  nown  by  the  name 
of  the  White  Plains,"  and  described  as  in  the  report 
of  Cadwallader  Colden,  surveyor-general.^ 

For  forty-five  years  the  marks  and  monuments  indi- 
cating the  boundaries  of  the  White  Plains  purchase 
had  been  carefully  renewed  and  preserved.*  For 
twenty  years  Colonel  Heathcote  had  i)ersistently  re- 
fused the  solicitations  of  the  Eye  people  for  an  ad- 
justment of  the  dirt'erences  growing  out  of  his  un- 
founded claims.  Now  that  Heathcote  was  dead,  and 
his  powerful  influence  with  the  Governor  and  Council 
no  longer  stood  between  the  people  and  their  rights, 
it  only  remained  for  them  to  .submit  to  the  e.xcessive 
exactions  of  the  Governor  and  Council  before  their 
territory  should  be  finally  confirmed  to  them.  Three 
times  were  they  compelled  to  make  surveys  of  their 
goodly  land,— three  times  required  to  notify  the  owners 
of  adjoining  lands  that  such  surveys  were  about  to  be 


*  Land  Papers,  vol.  viii.  page  126. 

'Book  of  Patents,  .\lbany,  vol.  viii.  page  450. 

«  Baird's  Rye,  lofi. 


722 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNT\. 


made,  and  all  to  furnish  pretexts  for  oppressive 
charges  by  the  oflScers  of  the  Governor's  Council.  But 
at  length  the  royal  jiatent  was  obtained  and  the  long 
coutroversy  was  ended ;  the  cloud  that  had  so  long 
hung,  like  an  evil  omen,  over  the  title  to  the  White 
Plains, — forever  disappeared,  and  the  sun  of  prosperity 
once  more  shone  brightly  on  the  land  and  its  people. 
Many  of  the  most  enterprising  citizens  of  Rye  removed 
to  White  Plains,  and  at  the  present  day  some  branches 
of  nearly  all  the  ancient  families  are  more  numerously 
represented  in  White  Plains  than  in  the  parent  settle- 
ment. 

The  patent  was  obtained  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
owners  of  the  White  Plains  lands,  although  but  one- 
half  of  them  were  named  as  patentees ;  and  in  order 
to  establish  the  rights  of  the  other  owners,  the  paten- 
tees executed  a  conveyance  to  Joseph  Horton,  Sr., 
Joseph  Horton,  Jr.,  John  Travis,  James  Travis,  Jr., 
Solomon  Yeomans,  John  Hyat,  Thomas  Travis,  Jon- 
athan Purdy,  Monmouth  Hart,  Abraham  Smith, 
Robert  Travis  (son  of  Philip),  Daniel  Horton,  Jona- 
than Horton  (son  of  Jonathan  Horton),  Nathaniel 
Baylie,  Caleb  Horton,  John  Rockwell,  Samuel 
Merritt  and  Still  John  Purdy,  in  which  their  rights 
were  declared,  and  whereby  the  patentees  quit- 
claimed "  to  the  said  grantees,  their  several  and 
sei)arate  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  such  right, 
title,  interest  and  demand  as  the  said  grantors,  or 
any  of  them,  have,  by  virtue  of  said  patent,  in  or  to 
the  lands  heretofore  laid  out  to  the  said  grantees,  and 
the  proportionate  share  of  such  lands  as  are  yet  undi- 
vided." This  conveyance  bears  date  January  18, 1722, 
and  is  recorded  in  Westchester  County  register's 
office,  in  Liber  G  of  Deeds,  page  393.  It  is  from  the 
parties  to  this  instrument  that  all  the  titles  to  the 
White  Plains  lands  are  derived,  and  through  them 
the  chain  of  title  to  much  of  the  real  property  in  the 
town  may  be  traced,  link  by  link,  from  the  aboriginal 
proprietors  to  the  present  owners. 

At  the  time  this  patent  was  issued  Broadway,  with 
its  home-lots,  had  long  been  established.  The  old 
house  but  lately  torn  down,  north  of  Mr.  William  R. 
Brown's,  was  then  owned  and  occupied  by  Daniel 
Brundage.  It  was  erected  i)rior  to  1697  by  Samuel 
Odell-  George  Lane — "gentleman" — removed  from 
Rye  to  White  Plains  as  early  as  1714;  his  iiouse  was 
on  what  i*  now  the  Squire  j)lace,  and  his  brother  Dan- 
iel lived  opposite,  near  the  ])resent  residence  of  Elisha 
Horton,  Esq. ;  Moses  Kna])p's  liouse  was  on  the  road 
in  front  of  the  Mitchell  homestead ;  James  Travis 
occupied  a  house  on  what  is  now  Mr.  Tiiford's  place. 

The  old  Jacob  Purdy  house,  standing  to-day  on 
Spring  Street,  between  Mott  and  Water  Streets,  was 
built  by  Sauuiel  Horton,  a  son  of  Josej)!!  Horton,  and 
grandson  of  Barnabas  Horton,  the  first  of  that  name 
in  this  country,  who  settled  in  Southold,  Long  Island, 
al)0ut  1(;40. 

On  the  rising  ground  east  of  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Oiiderdonk,  on  North  Street,  was  the  house  of  Joseph 


Purdy,  and  a  few  rods  further  east  was  the  house  of 
Caleb  Hyatt,  both  prominent  in  the  early  history  of 
the  town.  Caleb  Hyatt,  with  his  brother  John,  re- 
moved from  Rye  to  White  Plains  about  1715.  John 
Hyatt's  house  stood  near  the  present  residence  of  Mr. 
Charles  Horton. 

Humphrey  Underhill's  house  was  on  the  west  side 
of  Mamaroneck  River,  some  distance  north  of  the 
North  Street  road;  his  was  one  of  the  first  houses 
erected  in  White  Plains,  probably  before  1694,  as  in 
October  of  that  year  Mrs.  Ann  Richbell  procured  a 
warrant  from  the  Governor  to  survey  the  easternmost 
bounds  of  her  lands.  The  surveyor,  Augustine  Gra- 
ham, proceeded  along  the  west  bank  of  Mamaroneck 
River  until  he  came  to  the  "  improved  land  claimed 
by  Humphrey  Underbill,  where  the  said  Underbill, 
with  three  others,  with  guns,  stones  and  staves  did 
obstruct  the  execution  of  his  Excellency's  warrant." 
Mr.  Underbill  was  a  man  of  high  standing  in  the 
estimation  of  his  townsmen,  and  Dr.  Baird  supposes 
he  was  a  son  of  the  famous  Captain  John  Underbill. 

On  the  hill  west  of  Humphrey  Underbill,  and  near 
the  road,  stood  the  house  of  Samuel  Merritt ;  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  Merritt's,  and  near  the 
present  residence  of  Mr.  Seymour,  was  the  house  of 
the  patentee  Samuel  Hunt ;  he  had  a  tract  of  three 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  and  a  mill  on  Mamaroneck 
River,  easterly  from  his  house.  Northerly,  on  the 
same  North  Street  road,  were  the  residences  of  John 
and  Samuel  Hoit,  active  men  in  town  afi'airs,  who  in 
1726-27  were  leaders  in  building  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  road  crossing  Bronx 
River,  near  Mr.  Champanois'  residence,  was  the 
house  of  Christopher  Yeomans ;  Anthony  Miller 
lived  where  the  Misses  Tompkins'  housestands,  north 
of  the  cemetery,  and  his  fulling-mill  was  on  the  brook, 
south  of  the  house.  These  were  all  the  houses  in 
White  Plains  at  the  date  of  the  patent,  and  all  the 
occu]iants  were  men  of  sufficient  education  to  read 
and  write. 

So  rapidly  did  the  poi)ulation  increase,  that,  in 
1725,  the  inhabitants  assumed  an  independent  or- 
ganization, elected  officers  and  proceeded  to  man- 
age their  own  afliiirs.  Some  of  the  good  people  had 
held  office  in  Rye  before  removing  to  White  Plains, 
and  official  positions,  cither  civil  or  military,  were  re- 
garded, in  those  days,  as  post**  of  honor  to  which  all 
good  citizens  should  aspire.  The  first  in  importance 
and  most  lasting  in  tenure  was  the  position  of 
clerk;  and  for  fifty  consecutive  years  the  duties  con- 
nected with  that  office  were  discharged  by  Caleb 
Hyatt. 

In  1726  the  Rev.  John  Walton,  a  graduate  of  Yak- 
College,  and  a  lay  preacher,  purchased  a  farm  which 
was  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  road  to  Dobbs 
Ferry,  which  ran  a  few  feet  north  of  the  present 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  on  the  south  by  land  then 
of  Jonathan  Lane,  now  of  Elisha  Horton,  and  the 


% 
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<  ^ 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


723 


south  side  of  Railroad  Avenue.  Mr.  Walton  was  a 
mau  of  great  activity.  On  the  Sabbath  he  preached; 
during  the  rest  of  the  week  he  devoted  himself  with 
energy  to  the  carrying  on  of  divers  secular  enter- 
prises. He  donated  the  land  where  the  Presbyterian 
Church  now  stands  ;  and  it  was  mainly  through  his 
eflbrts  that  a  church  was  erected  there  in  1727. 

The  houses  of  the  first  settlers  were  small,  and  of 
but  a  single  story.  The  furniture  was  scant  and  sim- 
ple; each  room,  even  the  kitchen,  contained  a  bed; 
a  cupboard  held  the  household  dishes,  which  were 
mostly  wooden ;  a  few  only,  of  pewter,  were  kept  and 
handed  down  as  heirlooms  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation. Several  wooden  chests  did  double  duty  as  re- 
ceptacles of  the  family  bedding  and  clothing,  and  as 
chairs,  which,  if  not  remarkably  comfortable,  were  at 
least  solid  and  substantial;  these,  with  a  rude  bench 
or  stool,  constituted  the  furniture  of  an  ordinary 
farm-house.  Carpets  there  were  none,  even  on  the 
spare  room;  but  excellent  feather-beds  and  pillows, 
the  pride  of  every  good  housewife,  were  never  want- 
ing. A  great  fire-place,  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide  and 
three  or  four  feet  deep,  formed  one  side  of  every 
kitchen,  which  was  also  the  sitting-room  of  the  fam- 
ily. In  the  best  room  the  family  Bible  was  carefully 
kept  and  daily  used.  The  clothing  was  no  less  sim- 
ple aud  durable  than  the  furnishing;  all  linen  and 
woolen  clothing  was  home-made,  spun  and  woven  in 
the  house;  garments  of  leather,  made  chiefly  from 
the  skin  of  the  bear  or  other  wild  animal,  were  in 
common  use. 

The  life  of  the  settlers  was  one  of  constant  toil 
the  father,  with  his  stalwart  sons,  cleared  the  forest 
and  tilled  the  virgin  soil,  while  the  busy  wife  and 
daughters,  in  addition  to  the  daily  cares  of  the  house- 
hold, spun  the  yarn  and  made  the  garments  for  the 
family.  Little  or  no  money  was  to  be  found  any- 
where; those  articles  which  their  own  industry  and 
skill  did  not  supply  were  obtained  by  barter,  chiefly 
of  cattle  and  wood. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  this  little  community  was  to 
build  a  school-house.  When  it  was  raised  and  where 
it  stood  are  interesting  questions  to  which  the  utmost 
research  does  not  vouchsafe  answers.  At  any  rate,  it 
had  grown  old  or  dilapidated  in  1737-8;  for  at  a  meet- 
ing of  freeholders  held  in  that  year  it  was  resolved 
that  "the  public  pound  should  be  where  the  old 
school-house  stood."  The  new  school-house  was  built 
on  the  highway,  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Squire 
place,  and  remained  there  nearly  a  century. 

It  was  a  fundamental  law  of  the  New  Haven  juris- 
diction "'that  the  sonnes  of  all  the  inhabitants  shall 
"  be  learned  to  write  a  ledgible  hand  as  soone  as  they 
"  are  capable  of  it."  And  when,  in  1664,  the  New 
Haven  colonj'  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connec- 
ticut, the  law  still  read  much  the  same, — 

"Tlie  Select  men  of  every  town  and  precinct  wliere  they  dwell,  shall 
4iave  a  vigilant  eye  over  theii'  Iirethrt-n  and  neitjliburs,  to  see,  hint,  that 
none  «f  them  shall  sntTer  so  much  barbitrisni  in  any  of  their  families  as 


not  to  endeavor  to  teach,  by  themselves  or  otliers,  their  children  and  ap- 
jirentices  to  read  the  Knglish  tongne,  under  penalty  of  twenty  shillings 
for  each  neglect  therein.  " 

It  was  under  the  influence  of  such  wholesome  laws 
that  the  founders  of  White  Plains  erected  the  first 
school-house  in  which  their  children  were  to  be  edu- 
cated; and  it  is  but  justice  to  this  intelligent  people 
to  say,  that  the  public  records  prove  that,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  the  proprietors  of  White  Plains  could 
both  read  and  write.  And  yet  it  is  of  these  people 
Colonel  Heathcote  wrote,  from  Scarsdale,  under  date 
of  November  9,  1705, — 

'*  I  dare  aver  that  there  is  not  a  much  greater  necessity  of  liaving  the 
(Jliristian  religion  preachetl  any  wliere  than  amongst  them  ;  many,  if 
not  the  greater  number  of  them,  being  a  little  better  than  in  a  state  of 
heath(^nisin.''  ' 

At  another  time  (1704)  he  writes, — 

"  When  I  first  came  among  them  (li>S)2)  I  found  it  (Westchester)  the 
most  heathenish  county  I  ever  saw  in  my  whole  life  which  called  them- 
selves C'hristian,  there  being  not  so  much  as  the  least  marks  or  footsteps 
of  religion  of  any  sort,  Sundays  being  the  only  time  set  apart  by  them 
for  all  manner  of  vain  spoils  and  lewd  ilivei"sions." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Pritcher  also,  who,  by  the  warrant  of 
that  imbecile  aristocrat,  Governor  Cornbury,  had 
been  put  in  possession  of  the  dissenting  church 
property  in  Rye,  writes,  in  1704, — 

"  I  nuist  not  omit  to  inform  you  that  his  Excellency,  my  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  is  pleased  to  show  an  unparalleled  zeal  for  the  carrying  on  of  that 
great  and  glorious  design  of  propagating  the  faith  and  settling  the 
Church  as  well  in  this  as  in  othere  of  His  Majesty's  plantations,  thereby 
rescuing  them  from  the  grossest  ignorance,  stupidity  aud  obstinacy, 
and  therein  righting  them  in  those  damnable  and  dangerous  tenets 
which  have  been  imbued  and  instilled  into  their  poor,  unwary,  deluded 
souls  by  blind,  ignorant  and  illiterate  guides." 

It  may  not  be  significant,  but  it  is  certainly  worthy 
of  note,  that  in  the  large  volume  of  these  letters,  la- 
boriously collected  by  Mr.  Bolton,  we  find  so  much 
mention  of  proi)agating  "  the  faith,"  and  "  the 
Church,"  and  so  little  of  propagating  the  Gospel, — so 
frequent  requests  for  prayer-books  and  catechisms, 
and  so  very  few  for  Bibles. 

These  reproachful  accusations  should  have  been 
allowed  to  sleep  in  oblivion,  but  when  we  read 
in  an  historical  discourse  in  our  day,  that  it  was 
"this  moral  condition  of  things  which  led  to  the  pas- 
sage, on  the  24tb  of  March,  1673,  of  the  act  entitled, 
'  An  Act  for  settling  a  Ministry  and  raising  a  main- 
tenance for  them,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  counties 
of  Westchester,  Richmond  and  Queens,' "  a  brief  state- 
ment of  the  facts,  in  relation  to  the  passage  of  this 
law  and  its  subsequent  enforcement,  seems  proper. 

A  few  months  previous  to  the  passage  of  this  act 
there  arrived  in  New  York  Benjamin  Fletcher,  with 
a  commission  as  Governor  (recalled  in  1698  to  answer 
numerous  charges  of  mal-administration),  and  Caleb 
Heathcote.  The  Governor  came  with  special  instruc- 
tions to  introduce  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
among  the  Presbyterians,  Huguenots  and  Dutchmen, 


>  Bolton's  "  Church  History,"  158. 


724 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


where,  perhaps,  James  II.  would  have  been  glad  to 
have  introduced  a  Mass-Book.'  Governor  Fletcher 
proposed  to  the  Assembly  "  that  provision  be  made 
by  law  for  the  settlement  and  support  of  an  able  min- 
istry,'' but  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  were  Dissen- 
ters and  not  inclined  to  aid  him  in  his  schemes. 

At  the  next  following  session  of  the  Assembly  the 
Speaker,  Mr.  James  Graham,  who  had  the  drawing  of 
all  their  bills,  so  managed  the  title  and  induction  of 
this  one,  that,  although  it  did  not  do  very  well  for  the 
Dissenters,  yet  it  did  not  appear  to  make  any  conces- 
sions to  the  Church,  and  the  honest,  simple-minded 
Dissenters,  not  suspecting  the  fraud  and  trickery  of 
the  Governor,  passed  the  bill  as  above  entitled.  As 
Colonel  Lewis  Morris  wrote,  in  a  letter  to  the  Propa- 
gation Society,  "  It  was  the  most  that  could  be  got  at 
the  time,  for  had  more  been  attempted,  the  Assembly 
had  seen  through  the  artifice,  and  all  had  been  lost." 

The  bill  having  become  a  law,  the  Governor  in- 
sisted that  there  was  no  ministry  but  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  declared  that  under  this  act,  all  lands 
in  towns,  that  had  been  set  aside  for  ministers'  par- 
sonages or  for  meeting-houses,  became  vested  in  the 
English  ministry.' 

Colonel  Morris  relates  a  conversation  which  he 
heard  between  the  Governor  and  a  dissenting  minis- 
ter at  the  time  this  act  of  the  Assembly  was  talked 
of.  The  minister  said  "  that  the  intention  of  the 
Legislature  was  to  raise  a  maintenance  for  a  dissent- 
ing minister,  all  the  Assembly  but  one  being  Dis- 
senters, and  knowing  nothing  of  the  church,  and  that 
being  the  intention  of  the  law-makers,  was  the  mean- 
ing of  the  law,  and  he  hoped  the  Dissenters  might 
enjoy  what  was  so  justly  their  due,  or  at  least  not  be 
deprived  of  it  without  due  course  of  law."  I  told 
him  the  Legislature  did  not  consist  of  the  Assembly 
only,  but  of  the  Governor  and  Council  joined  with 
them  ;  and  I  believed  it  was  most  certain  the  Governor 
never  intended  to  settle  a  dissenting  clergy.^ 

In  the  spring  of  1695,  the  Assembly,  in  explanation 
of  the  act,  declared  that  churches  have  power  to  call 
a  dissenting  Protestant  minister,  and  that  he  be 
maintained  as  the  act  directs  ;  but  the  Governor  re- 
jected this  interpolation  of  the  Assembly,  and  decided 
that  the  act  applied  solely  to  the  Episcopal  ministry.^ 
Governor  Fletcher  was  so  occupied  with  schemes 
for  money-making  that  he  neglected  the  afiairs  of 
the  church,  and  in  1698  he  was  recalled  to  answer 
for  his  misconduct.  Fletcher's  successor  was  the 
kindlier  Earl  of  Bellamont,  an  Irish  i)eer,  with  a 
sound  heart  and  honorable  sympathies  for  popular 
freedom;  his  death,  however,  interrupted  the  short 
period  of  harmony  in  the  colony.^ 

Bellamont  was  succeeded  in  1702  by  Lord  Corn- 


1 3  Bryant,  26. 

2  "  Doc.  History  of  New  York,"  vol.  iii.  page  24.5  ;  Bolton's  "  Church 
History."  xvi. 
^Bolton's  "Church  History,"  xvii. 

4 Bolton's  " Church  History,"  xvii.  5Bryant31. 


bury,  a  disreputable  cousin  of  Queen  Anne,  who  only 
escaped  jail  by  quitting  the  kingdom.  Cornbury  was 
as  zealous  in  behalf  of  the  church  as  he  was  destitute 
of  any  sense  of  public  or  private  virtue.  His  zeal 
was  not  for  religion,  but  for  the  established  Church  of 
England.  To  him  a  Dissenter  was  intolerable,  un- 
worthy of  mercy  or  even  of  justice.  The  act  of  1693 
had  not  been  oj^pressively  enforced  against  the  Rye 
people  until  after  the  arrival  of  Lord  Cornbury  ;  but 
now,  with  a  willing,  nay  even  anxious,  Governor, 
Colonel  Heathcote  could  revenge  himself  upon  this 
people  for  thwarting  him  in  his  attempt  to  include  the 
White  Plains  within  his  patent.*  He  had  been  ten 
years  in  this  country,  and  the  dissenting  clergy  of  Rye 
had  not  been  interfered  with ;  it  was  not  until  after 
1701  that  he  declares  that "  these  people  are  heathenish 
Sabbath-breakers  and  without  religion  of  any  sort." 

Rye  submitted  quietly  to  these  exactions  for  the 
support  of  the  English  clergy,  but  the  White  Plains 
people  refused  to  pay,  and  only  did  so  when  threat- 
ened with  being  sold  out  or  imprisoned  under  exe- 
cution. This  forced  tax  upon  the  slender  means 
of  the  dissenters  continued  until  the  War  of  the 
Revolution ;  and  a  history  that  ignored  the  relig- 
ious element  in  that  war,  or  placed  a  low  estimate 
upon  the  moral  forces  that  stood  behind  and  sustained 
the  opposing  parties  in  that  great  struggle,  would  be 
false  and  worthless. 

The  year  1729  brought  with  it  an  important  acqui- 
sition to  the  wealth  of  the  White  Plains  in  the  arrival 
of  Moses  Owen,  who  purchased  the  farm  then  lately 
owned  by  the  Rev.  Edmund  Ward,  embracing  all  the 
land  between  Railroad  Avenue  and  Spring  Street 
west  of  Broadway,  excepting  the  church  grounds. 
The  new-comer  was  soon  honored  with  the  office  of 
"Pounder,"  and  for  more  than  thirty  years  he  held 
various  positions  in  the  town.  He  built  the  house 
afterwards  occupied  by  William  Barker  for  more  than 
half  a  century  prior  to  his  death.  This  house  is  still 
standing,  in  good  condition,  on  Spring  Street,  near 
the  old  Purdy  house.  The  Owen  farm  passed  by  will 
to  Moses  Owen,  Jr.,  who  covered  it  with  mortgages, 
under  which  it  was  divided  into  two  parcels  and  after- 
wards sold. 

From  1730  to  1740  the  leaders  in  White  Plains  affairs 
were  Caleb  Hyatt,  Sr.,  Caleb  Hyatt,  Jr.,  Francis  Purdy, 
Moses  Owen,  Gabriel  Lynch,  James  Gedney,  Daniel 
Knapp,  George  Merritt,  John  Turner,  Jacob  Griffin, 
Samuel  Hunt,  Daniel  Cornell,  Robert  Travis,  Jona- 
than Purdy,  Daniel  Horton  and  George  Lane. 

From  1740  to  1750  some  of  these  names  disappear 
from  the  records  of  the  annual  meetings,  and  new 
names  take  their  places  and  become  prominent.  Such 
are  Peter  Hatfield,  William  Anderson,  John  Hosier, 
Joshua  Hatfield,  Abraham  Hatfield,  Benjamin  Knapp, 
Elisha  Hyatt,  Henry  Purdy,  Samuel  Thorn,  Nehe- 
miah  Tompkins,  John  Ray  and  Bartholomew  Gedney. 


6  Patent,  17jl. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


725 


The  freeholders  were  careful  to  keep  a  record  of 
the  bounds  and  limits  of  the  lands  of  each  owner,  and 
two  of  the  citizens  best  qualified  for  that  purpose  were 
api)ointedto  prepare  such  a  recoi-d.  In  1751  the  first 
record  had  become  worn  and  torn,  and  Caleb  Hyatt 
was  allowed  twelve  shillings  for  copying  it  in  a  new 
book. 

In  the  last  year  of  this  decade  there  came  to  the 
town  from  Woodbury,  in  Connecticut,  Dr.  Robert 
Graham,  a  young  physician  of  genius  and  enterprise, 
son  of  the  Rev.  John  Graham,  a  Scotch  clergyman, 
who  wa^  himself  the  son  of  one  of  the  Marquises  of 
Montrose.  Dr.  (irraham,  in  174t>,  purchased  the  farm 
on  which  Mr.  Samuel  Faile  now  lives.  He  at  once 
became  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  town,  and  for 
more  than  thirty  years  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  all 
matters  of  public  interest.  His  energy,  enterprise 
and  learning,  inspiring  the  peoi)le  with  new  vigor, 
soon  raised  White  Plains  to  prominence  in  the 
county. 

In  the  records  of  proceedings  at  the  annual  meetings 
for  the  next  ten  years  we  find  some  newnames,  among 
tliem  that  of  Isaac  Oakley,  from  Westchester,  who, 
in  174<),  purchased  the  farm  now  known  as  the  Asylum 
Farm.  Another  was  Monmouth  Hart,  a  son  of  Mon- 
mouth Hart,  of  Rye  Neck,  whose  farm  was  east  of  the 
l)resent  residence  of  Bartholomew  Gedney.  He  was 
a  great-grandson  of  Edward  Hart,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Flushing,  Long  Island  (then  called  by  the 
Dutch  "  Vissengen").  Edward  Hart,  whom  Governor 
Stuyvesant  arrested  and  imprisoned  as  the  author  of 
a  spirited  remonstrance  against  an  order  of  Stuyves- 
ant, which  required  the  people  of  Vissengen  to  cease 
giving  countenance  to  the  Quakers.  It  was  about  the 
same  time  that  John  Fisher,  the  first  of  that  family, 
settled  in  White  Plains,  on  the  south  side  of  the  road 
leading  east  out  of  Broadway,  near  the  cemetery  ;  he 
died  in  1771.  Another  name  that  appears  prominently 
about  this  time  was  that  of  Joseph  Lyon,  who  lived 
in  North  Street ;  his  ancestors  early  came  to  Rye 
from  Stamford.  • 

It  was  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Robert 
Graham  that  the  court-house  was  built  in  White 
Plains,  and  the  courts  removed  thither  from  West- 
chester. He  gave  to  the  county  the  land  upon  which 
the  court-house  was  erected,  by  deed  to  John 
Thomas,  of  Harrison,  then  a  member  of  the  Colonial 
Assembly,  through  whose  assistance  in  that  body  the 
change  from  Westchester  was  effected.  White  Plains 
then  soon  became  a  business  centre.  Two  hotels  for 
the  accommodation  of  guests  and  travelers  were  opened, 
and  the  first  country  store  was  built  and  stocked  by 
Doctor  Graham.  This  store  stood  opposite  the  court- 
house, and  here  the  people,  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury, gathered  to  discuss  politics  and  to  sell  their  sur- 
plus produce. 

The  old  French  War,  which  terminated  in  1760,  had 
drawn  heavily  on  the  town  of  Rye,  both  for  men  and 
money.    A  list  of  twenty-four  names  is  given  by  Dr. 


Baird  in  his  "  History  of  the  Town  of  Rye"  (p.  213), 
many  of  them  members  of  families  then  living  in 
White  Plains,  and  most  of  them  young  men  under 
thirty  years  of  age:  as  for  example,  Ezekiel  Brun- 
dage,  aged  twenty-seven ;  Joseph  ]\Ierritt,  twenty- 
four;  Abraham  Lyon,  twenty-two;  Joseph  Merritt, 
twenty-three  ;  Ezekiel  IMerritt,  twenty-three  ;  Samuel 
Lane,  twenty-two;  John  Lounsbury,  twenty;  Val. 
Lounsbury,  twenty-one;  John  Budd,  twenty-seven; 
Abraham  Haight,  seventeen ;  Reuben  Lane,  sixteen  ; 
Nathaniel  Haight,  seventeen  ;  Caleb  Sherwood,  nine- 
teen ;  Josepii  Haight,  twenty ;  Elisha  ]\Ierritt,  eigh- 
teen ;  Peter  Merritt,  nineteen.  For  many  years  the 
stories  of  that  French  and  Indian  War  furnished  en- 
tertainment for  many  households,  as  they  spent  the 
long  winter  evenings  gathered  about  the  great  open 
fire-places.  This  war  brought  with  it  a  heavy  debt,  the 
payment  of  which,  while  it  severely  taxed  the  resources 
of  the  people,  proved  valuable  as  teaching  them  how 
great  was  their  strength  in  emergencies,  a  knowledge 
that  was  of  inestimable  benefit  to  them  in  the  conflict 
with  the  mother  country  that  soon  followed.  The  mother 
country,  also  seeing,  from  the  payment  of  this  debt, 
that  the  colonists  were  capable  of  meeting  such 
heavy  liabilities,  was  leil  to  impose  the  burdens  from 
which  her  colonies  revolted. 

We  now  approach  the  time  of  that  conflict  of  prin- 
ciples which  preceded  and  produced  the  Revolution.  In 
twelve  of  the  thirteen  colonies  it  was  a  contest  for  the 
maintenance  of  chartered  rights  and  privileges;  the 
other  colony,  New  York,  was  a  conquered  province, 
over  which  the  Ki  ng  might  exercise  such  authority  as  he 
thought  fit,  and  the  conflict  in  that  colony  was  for  the 
rights  of  its  people  as  Englishmen.  And  it  seems  to  be 
a  well-established  fact  that  New  York  was  the  first 
of  the  colonies  to  point  to  freedom  and  independence 
in  tones  distinct  and  clear. 

The  uprising  in  1764 — call  it  mob,  if  you  will — 
against  the  impressing  of  four  fishermen,  and  the 
gathering  of  the  people  as  one  man  on  the  1st  day 
of  November,  1765,  in  opposition  to  the  stamps,  which 
are  often  spoken  of  as  the  first  steps  toward  revolution, 
were  long  antedated  by  a  religious  controversy  which 
was  certainly  not  without  its  influence  in  preparing 
the  people  for  the  great  events  soon  to  follow.  Lead- 
ing Presbyterians  had  formed  an  association  bearing 
the  name  of  the  "  Whig  Club,"  in  organized  opposi- 
tion to  the  Church  of  England  and  the  English  gov- 
ernment. 

In  the  year  1719  Thomas  Smith,  with  three  other 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  purchased  a  piece  of  land 
on  Wall  Street,  upon  which  to  erect  a  church  edifice. 
They  subsequently  applied  for  a  charter  of  incorpora- 
tion, to  secure  to  them  their  estate  for  religious  wor- 
ship, but  were  defeated  by  the  violent  opposition  of 
the  Church  of  England.  After  years  of  unsuccessful 
solicitation,  the  land  was  finally  conveyed  to  the 
moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  up6n  which  the  Church  of  Scotland  de- 


726 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


clarecl  that  the  property  was  held  for  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  originally  purchased  and  designed. 

The  opposition  of  the  Church  of  England,  instead 
of  crushing  out  the  Presbyterians,  stimulated  them  to 
increased  efforts,  and  developed  a  force  that  eventu- 
ally drove  English  sway  from  the  country.  Much 
that  is  entertaining  and  instructive  in  regard  to  these 
men  and  their  followers  may  be  found  in  the  "  The 
Sons  of  Liberty  in  New  York,"  by  Henry  B.  Dawson, 
Esq.,  a  book  that  should  be  in  every  district  school 
library,  instead  of  being  a  rare  volume  found  only  in 
our  best  libraries.  These  Presbyterian  Sons  of  Liberty 
were  William  Smith,  Sr.,  William  Smith,  Jr.,  William 
Livingston,  John  Morin  Scott  and  others.  Of  this  con- 
flict there  was  an  interested  witness  in  White  Plains, 
for  the  Rev.  John  Smith,  of  that  town,  was  a  brother 
to  the  one  and  an  uncle  to  the  other  of  the  Smiths.  It 
is  of  these  Presbyterians  that  a  learned  historian  has 
said  :  "  The  first  voice  publicly  raised  in  America  to 
dissolve  all  connection  with  Great  Britain  came,  not 
from  the  Puritans  of  New  England,  or  the  Dutch  of 
New  York,  or  the  planters  of  Virginia,  but  from  the 
JScotch-Irish  Presbyterians." ' 

The  central  location  of  White  Plains,  with  its  court- 
house, made  it  a  convenient  place  for  public  assem- 
blages of  the  peo|)le ;  and  the  Revolutionary  events 
connected  with  this  town  will  ever  retain  a  promi- 
nent place  in  American  history.  The  conflict  seemed 
rapidly  approaching  in  1774,  and  soon  entered  into 
and  divided  the  family  circle.  A  marked  instance  ot 
this  is  found  in  the  family  of  Jonathan  P.  Horton, 
who  was  himself  a  determined  Loyalist,  while  some  of 
his  sons  were  among  the  most  active  Whigs  who 
fought  in  the  vicinity  of  the  "  Neutral  Ground."  -  In 
striking  contrast  to  this  is  the  following  notice,  taken 
from  Bivim/ion's  Gazette  of  April  20,  177-"),  of  a  mar- 
riage in  a  more  united  family  :  "  March  28.  This 
evening  wiis  married,  at  the  White  Plains,  West- 
chester County,  Mr.  Gabriel  Purdy,  youngest  son  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Purdy,  to  the  agreeable  Miss  Charity 
Purdy,  daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph  Purdy,  both  of  that 
loyal  town.  What  particularly  is  remarkable  in  the 
affair  is  this,  the  guests  consisted  of  tbrty-seveu  per- 
sons, thirty-seven  of  whom  were  Purdys,  and  not  a 
single  Whig  among  them." 

This  day  (March  28,  1775)  was  a  memorable  one 
in  the  history  not  only  of  White  Plains,  but  of  West- 
chester County.  Public  notice  had  been  given  of  a 
meeting  of  persons  from  different  districts  of  the 
county  to  consider  the  most  proper  method  of  taking 
the  sense  of  the  freeholders  of  the  county  upon  the 
expediency  of  choosing  deputies  to  meet  the  depu- 
ties from  other  counties  for  the  purpose  of  electing 
delegates  to  represent  this  colony  in  the  General 
C'lnjrress  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  on  the  10th  day 
of  May  then  next.    At  this  meeting  it  was  recom- 


1  5  Bancroft,  "7. 

-  Sabiue's  "  Loyalists,"  ii.  page  53*. 


mended  that  a  convention  be  held  at  White  Plains  oo 
the  11th  day  of  April  then  next,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  at  the  court-house.  On  the  day  appointed, 
a  numerous  body  of  freeholders  of  the  county  assem- 
bled at  the  court-house,  chose  Lewis  Morris  for  their 
chairman,  and  appointed  eight  persons,  or  a  majority 
of  them,  to  act  as  the  deputies  of  this  county  for  the 
purpose  aforesaid. 

A  few  days  after  this  meeting,  a  protest,  bearing 
date  the  13th  of  April,  1775,  signed  with  over  thi'ee 
hundred  names,  appeared  in  Eivingion's  Xerv  York 
Gazette,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  on  the  11th  of 
April  the  friends  of  government  met  at  the  house  of 
Captain  Hatfield,  and  at  about  twelve  o'clock  walked 
to  the  court-house,  where  they  found  the  other  com- 
pany collected  in  a  body ;  that  the  friends  of  the  gov- 
ernment then  declared  that  they  had  been  called  to- 
gether for  an  unlawful  purpose,  and  they  would  not 
contest  the  matter  with  the  others  by  a  poll,  but  that 
they  came  only  with  a  design  to  protest  against  all 
such  disorderly  proceedings,  and  to  show  their  detes- 
tation of  all  unlawful  Committees  and  Congresses ;  that 
then,  giving  three  huzzas,  they  returned  to  Captain 
Hatfield's,  singing  as  they  went,  "  God  save  great 
George,  our  King  ;"  after  which,  the  following  protest 
was  drawn  up  and  signed  : 

"  We,  the  subsciibers,  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  County  of 
Westchester,  having  assembled  at  White  Plains  in  conseqoence  of  certain 
advertisements,  do  now  declare  onr  honest  abborence  of  all  unlawful 
Congresses  and  Committees,  and  that  we  are  detennined,  at  the  hazard 
of  otir  lives  and  properties,  to  support  the  King  and  constitution,  and 
that  we  acknowletlge  no  representatives  but  the  General  Assembly, 
to  whose  wisdom  we  submit  the  guardianship  of  our  rights  and  priv 
i  leges." 

The  following  names  appended  to  this  declaration 
show  that  the  Tory  faction  of  White  Plains  was  well 
represented  :  "  J.  P.  Horton,  Daniel  Oakley,  William 
Davis,  Wm.  Anderson,  Captain  Abraham  Hatfield, 
Gilbert  Horton,  Joshua  Gedney,  John  Hyatt,  Nehe- 
miali  Tompkins,  Bartholomew  Gedney,  Isaac  Purdy, 
Elijah  Purdy,  Gilbert  Hatfield,  Gabriel  Purdy,  Thos. 
Merritt,  John  Gedney,  Monmouth  Hart,  Timothy 
Purdy,  Thomas  Barker,  Elijah  Miller,  William  Bar- 
ker, Jr.,  Samuel  Purdy,  James  Knifiin,  Joseph  Hart," 
etc. 

On  the  8th  day  of  May,  1775,  a  meeting  of  the 
freeholders  of  Westchester  County  was  held  in  White 
Plains,  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  Lewis  Graham,  James 
Van  Cortlandt,  Stephen  Ward,  Robert  Graham, 
Daniel  Dayton,  John  Holmes,  Jr.,  and  Wm.  Pauld- 
ing were  chosen  delegates  from  this  county  to  the 
Provincial  Convention  of  the  Province  of  New 
York. 

Enlistments  for  the  army  immediately  commenced, 
and  Ambrose  Horton  reported  fifty -six  able-bodied 
men,  July  26,  1775.  The  commissions  for  the  officers, 
— Isaac  Hatfield,  captain  ;  James  Varian,  first  lieu- 
tenant ;  Anthony  Miller,  second  lieutenant ;  and 
John  Falconer,  ensign — were  issued  September  13, 
1775. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


72T 


On  the  14th  of  February  1776,  niinute-meu  to  the 
number  of  nineteen,  among  whom  were  Benjamin 
Lyon,  Stephen  Sheley,  Micah  Townsend,  James 
Varian,  Samuel  Crawford,  Isaac  Oakley,  James  Brun- 
dage  and  Robert  Graham,  met  at  White  Phiins  for 
the  purpose  of  electing  officers,  and  made  choice  of 
James  Varian  for  captain,  Samuel  Crawford  for  fii-st 
lieutenant  and  Isaac  Oakley  for  second  lieutenant. 

The  Provincial  Congress  of  this  State,  which  had 
been  in  session  in  New  York,  adjourned  on  the  3Uth 
of  June,  1776,  to  the  court-house  in  White  Plains ; 
and  on  the  9th  of  July,  while  assembled  here, 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  received 
and  read  in  front  of  the  court-house  by  John 
Thomas,  Esq. 

The  battle  of  White  Plains  occurred  on  the 
28th  of  October  following.  The  details  of  that 
battle,  and  of  the  subsequent  burning  of  the 
Court-house  and  the  principal  dwellings  in 
the  village,  form  part  of  a  chapter  which  ap- 
pears elsewhere  in  this  work,  written  by  a 
masterly  hand,  and  will  not  be  attempted 
here. 

General  Howe's  retreat  from  White  Plains 
was  mysterious  and  unaccountable;  command- 
ing a  magnificent  army  of  veterans,  splendidly 
equipped  and  Hushed  with  success,  why  should 
he  retreat?  The  question  was  discussed  by 
Washington  and  his  council  of  officers  without 
arriving  at  any  satisfactory  answer. 

AVhen  Howe  returned  to  England  his  con- 
duct here  was  investigated  by  a  committee  of 
Parliament,  but  he  refused  to  explain  I'urther 
than  to  say  that  he  "had  political  reasons." 
The  question  remained  unanswered  until  tlfe 
publication,  in  1879,  by  that  laborious  his- 
torian, Edward  F.  de  Lancey,  of  "  The  History 
of  New  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 
by  Thomas  Jones,"  in  which  it  appears  that 
one  William  Demont,  the  adjutant  of  Colonel 
Magaw,  the  commander  of  Fort  Washington, 
on  New  York  Island,  on  the  2d  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1776,  passed  undiscovered  out  of  the  fort  and 
into  the  camp  of  Lord  Percy,  at  Harlem,  carry- 
ing with  him  plans  of  Fort  Washington  and  full 
information  as  to  the  garrison,  and  placed 
them  in  the  hands  of  the  British  officer.  Percy, 
of  course,  sent  the  information  to  Lord  Howe 
at  White  Plains  ;  the  latter  suddenly  changed 
his  plan  of  attacking  Washington,  and  on 
the  4th  of  November  prepared  to  march  to  Fort 
Washington,  which  he  captured  on  the  16th  of  that 
month. 

Within  five  months  after  the  formal  declaration  of 
our  independence  the  last  vestige  of  the  American 
army  had  been  driven  from  the  island  of  New  York, 
and  that  place  remained  in  possession  of  the  British 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  During  the  war  the  Brit- 
ish lines  extended  a  few  miles  into  Westchester 


County.  The  lines  of  the  American  army  first 
stretched  across  the  county  at  White  Plains,  and 
gradually  receded  to  the  Croton  River.  That  portion 
of  the  county  between  the  two  armies  was  then,  and 
ever,  since  has  been,  known  as  the  "  Neutral  Ground." 
This  portion  of  Westchester  County  was  the  battle- 
ground of  the  disaffected,  the  prey  of  both  friend 
and  foe;  scenes  of  cruelty  and  bloodshed  unknown 
in  civilized  warfare  marked  these  partisan  engage- 
ments, and  in  defense  of  their  homes,  some  of  her 
valiant  sons  exhibited  instances  of  personal  bravery 


MAP  OF  WHITE  PLAINS  IX  1776.' 


EXPLANATION. 


aa-Stage  roail  from  Bennington      ee-Road  to  Dobbs  Ferry  across  the 


to  Xew  York. 
bb-Road  to  Rye  town. 
cc-Road  to  town  of  Mamaroneck. 
dd-Road  to  landing  called  Rye 

Xeck. 


North  river. 
ff-Called  the  White  Plains  street. 
gg-Road  to  town  of  Harrison. 
hh-Road  to  town  of  Greenburgh. 


iThe  following  indorsement  is  on  the  original  of  this  map  at  Albany. 


728 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ii  kk-Roade  for  private  uses.  4.  Cassaway  Brook. 

1.  Meeting-house  of  Methodist  So-      5.  Golden  Pine  Brook. 

ciety.  6.  American  Encampment  in  1776. 

2.  Court-house.  7.  Britisli  Encampment  in  1776. 
.3.  Property  of  Presbyterian  So- 
ciety. 

unsurpassed  in  ancient  or  modern  times.  Others,  at- 
tacliing  themselves  to  the  Britisli  side,  were  known  as 
"  Cowboys,"  and  were  engaged  in  plundering  the 
people  between  the  lines,  of  their  cattle  and  other 
property.  Others  again,  were  known  as  "  Skinners," 
and  professing  allegiance  to  the  American  side,  lived 
chiefly  within  the  patriot  lines.  Both  of  them,  Cow- 
boys and  Skinners,  were  treacherous,  rapacious  and 
cruel.  No  region  in  the  United  States  was  so  har- 
assed and  trampled  down  as  this  debatable  ground. 
Hostile  armies  marched  and  countermarched  over  it, 
and  its  ruined  condition  eloquently  portrayed  the 
horrid  desolation  of  war.    In  almost  every  family  of 


THE  MILLER  HOUSE. 
Wasliington's  Headquarters,  White  Plains. 

the  old  residents  there  linger  traditions  that  vividly 
illustrate  the  perils,  torture  and  trials  of  that  gloomy 
period. 

The  distress  and  suffering  of  the  i)eople,  however, 
was  not  all  inflicted  by  the  "  Cowboys"  and  "Skin- 
ners ; "  the  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  were  also 
guilty  of  plundering  the  inhabitants  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  camp.  AVhen  Colonel  Aaron  Burr  as- 
sumed command  of  the  forces  at  White  Plains,  in  the 
autumn  of  1778,  he  established  strict  discipline  with- 
in and  security  without  the  camp.  Soon  after  his  ar- 
rival, some  soldiers  had  made  their  tent  more  com- 
fortable by  beds  and  bedding  taken  from  the  house  of 

N.  Y.  :  "  The  northern  part  composed  of  rocks,  stones,  hills  and  valleys ; 
the  southern  part  the  hills  are  less  frequent  but  more  tlat  and  extensive  ; 
the  surface  much  broken,  with  large  bodies  of  solid  rock  rising  a  little 
above  the  earth  and  running  nearly  parallel  to  it ;  the  side  of  which  is 
cold,  wet  and  heavy  ;  the  whole  much  worn  and  e.\hau*ted,  and  over- 
run with  two  species  of  pernicious  and  prolific  weeds,  very  unfavorable 
to  the  interests  of  the  proprietoi-s. " 


Isaac  Gedney,  a  Tory ;  the  circumstance  being  brought 
to  the  notice  of  Burr,  he  commanded  them  to  return 
every  article  to  its  owner. 

During  the  summer  of  1781  the  French  army  en- 
camped in  Greenburgh  and  White  Plains;  the  left 
wing,  composed  of  Lauzun's  Legion,  covered  Chat- 
terton's  Hill  and  the  White  Plains.  The  head- 
quarters of  Lauzun,  the  commanding  oflScer,  were  in 
the  Falconer  house,  which  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Broadway  and  Lake  Street,  in  front  of  Mr.  Slosson's 
residence  ;  the  house  is  now  standing  next  south  of 
Mr.  Hand's  beautiful  home.  Lauzun  was  celebrated 
for  the  elegance  of  his  person  and  manners ;  he  was 
a  general  favorite  and  one  of  the  bravest  of  men. 
Like  many  other  officers  in  the  allied  army,  he  af- 
terwards became  engaged  in  the  French  Revolution, 
and  perished  under  the  guillotine. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  business  of  all  kinds,  which 
had  been  long  abandoned,  was 
resumed ;  a  new  court-house 
was  built,  and  White  Plains, 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature, 
became  an  independent  town. 
With  but  few  exceptions,  new 
men  became  leaders  in  town  af- 
fairs. In  1788  John  Barker  pur- 
chased the  Owen  farm,  which 
extended  on  the  west  side  of 
Broadway  from  the  Presbyter- 
ian Church  to  Railroad  Ave- 
nue, and  in  1796-97  he  repre- 
sented the  county  in  the  As- 
sembly. In  1799  Dr.  Archi- 
bald McDonald  moved  into  the 
town,  having  purchased  the 
property  on  the  corner  of  Broad- 
way and  Spring  Street ;  and  for 
many  years  thereafter  the  sons 
of  John  Barker  and  of  Archi- 
bald McDonald  were  active  in 
town  and  county  politics. 

Richard  Hatfield,  a  native  of  the  town,  was  for 
many  years  the  foremost  man  in  every  enterprise, 
whether  it  was  organizing  and  incorporating  a  church 
or  presiding  at  a  town-meeting. 

About  1795  Edward  Thomas,  a  lawyer,  located  in 
town,  on  the  Squire  place  ;  he  was  appointed  surro- 
gate, but  died  in  1806.  In  that  year  Minott  Mit- 
chell, a  young  lawyer  from  Connecticut,  settled  in 
White  Plains,  and  for  half  a  century  was  active  in 
every  project  to  benefit  the  town  and  county.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  he  was  town  clerk,  and  during 
that  time  the  town  was  at  no  expense  for  his  official 
or  legal  services. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  war  the  vil- 
lage hotel  was  opposite  the  court-house,  and  was  kept 
by  Dr.  Graham ;  he  also  had  a  store  a  rod  or  two 
south  of  the  hotel.  Both  hotel  and  store  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Stephen  Barker,  who  continued  them 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


729 


until  1812.  In  that  year  he  conveyed  them  to  Hyatt 
Lyon,  who  retained  them  but  two  or  three  years,  when 
he  sold  them  to  Richard  Willis.  There  were  then 
other  hotels, — one  kept  by  William  Baldwin,  in  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Samuel  C.  Miller ;  an- 
other kept  by  Isaac  Valentine,  on  the  grounds  of  the 
present  house  of  Captain  Lyon;  and  the  fourth  a  few- 
rods  west  from  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Waller 
place,  kept  before  the  Revolution  by  Abraham  Hat- 
field, and  during  the  war,  and  for  years  afterwards,  by 
his  son,  Joseph  Hatfield,  and  snbsequently,  down  to 
1830,  by  Alexander  Fowler.  Prior  to  1825  most  of 
the  traveling  was  done  by  private  conveyance,  and 
taverns  were  more  necessary 
then  than  now.  The  farmers' 
light  produce  was  carried  to 
New  York  weekly  by  two 
market-wagons,  while  the 
heavy  was  carried  to  the  rivers 
and  sent  by  sloops. 

In  1828  a  number  of  gentle- 
men in  White  Plains,  desi- 
rous that  there  should  be  a 
school  in  which  their  sons 
might  be  educated  and  fitted 
for  college,  applied  to  the 
Legislature  and  procured  the 
charter  for  an  academy, 
which  was  for  many  years 
successfully  conducted. 

Fifty  years  ago  there  were 
no  roads  running  westerly 
from  Broadway,  between  the 
old  post  road  running  past 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Faile  and  the  road  to  Tarry- 
town,  north  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  The  business 
part  of  the  town  was  on  the 
west  side  of  Broadway,  north 
of  the  old  court-house  and 
south  of  Railroad  Avenue. 
Opposite  the  court-house  was 
the  principal  hotel,  at  which 
the  daily  mail  stages  met  at  noon,  carrying  mails  and 
passengers  between  New  York  and  Danbury.  A  little 
north  of  the  court-house  was  the  law-office  of  Minott 
Mitchell,  and  a  few  rods  northwest  from  his  oflice  was 
his  residence,  erected  in  1829-30.  On  the  lot  on  which 
Mr.  Elijah  S.  Tompkins  now  resides  was  the  shop  and 
the  dwelling-house  of  Elisha  Crawford,  saddler  and 
harness-maker,  while  next-door  the  dwelling  now  occu- 
pied by  Samuel  C.Miller  was  then  the  hotel  of  Robert 
Palmer,  and  about  fifty  feet  north  was  the  store  of 
Palmer  &  Fisher.  Between  the  hotel  and  the  store  was 
a  building,  a  part  of  which  was  occupied  by  Purdy 
Tompkins,  the  village  tailor,  the  other  part  being  the 
law-office  of  Robert  S.  Hart,  Esq.,  a  young  gentleman 
then  lately  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  soon  after  removed 


to  Bedford,  where  his  clients  chiefly  resided.  He  was 
appointed  first  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in 
184G,  and  was  also  appointed  a  master  in  Chancery. 

In  a  long  one-story  building,  adjoining  the  store  of 
Palmer  &  Fisher,  were  the  shoe-shop  of  Israel  Purdy, 
the  post-office,  the  publishing  office  of  the  Wesic/iesfer 
Sj)>/  and  the  drug-store  of  Samuel  G.  Arnold.  The 
next  building  was  the  law-office  of  Joseph  Warren 
Tompkins,  Esq.,  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the 
county  and  a  skillful  advocate.  Adjoining  was  the  lot 
and  house  of  William  Horton,  the  same  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Merwin  Sniffin;on  the  next  lot  north  was 
the  store  and  residence  of  Elisha  Horton,  afterwards 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY  COUKT-HOI  SE,  WHITE  PLAINS,  1886. 


county  treasurer  of  the  county,  and  the  next  building 
on  the  north  was  the  residence  of  Schuyler  C.  Tomp- 
kins, the  same  in  appearance  now  as  then.    On  the 
corner  of  the  lot,  with  its  front  on  Broadway,  was 
the  hat-store  and  factory  of  Schuyler  C.  Tompkins, 
the  village  hatter,  and  a  few  feet  farther  on  was  the 
store  of  Purdy  Si  Fisher  (Charles  A.  Purdy  and 
Nathaniel  Fisher).    From  this  store  the  Red  Bird 
stage  started  early  every  morning,  excepting  Sunday, 
for  New  York  City.    On  the  adjoining  lot  the  village 
undertaker,  David  Miller,  with  a  kind  and  sympa- 
{  thetic  nature,  conducted  his  business, 
j     At  this  time  there  were  two  physicians  in  the  town, 
I  Dr.  David  Palmer  and  Dr.  Livingston  Roe.  The 
'  former  resided  on  the  Squire  place  and  the  latter  on 


730 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  place  now  occupied  by  the  Misses  Miller,  in  the 
southern  part  of  Broadway. 

South  of  the  court-house  was  the  county  clerk's 
office,  and  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Prime 
was  the  hotel  of  Benjamin  Briggs. 

Subsequently  two  streets  were  opened,  one  called 
the  New  Post  Road,  the  other  Railroad  Avenue.  The 
extension  of  the  Harlem  Railroad  to  White  Plains,  in 
1846,  attracted  the  business  to  Railroad  Avenue, 
which  is  now  lined  with  stores,  otlices  and  public 
buildings,  presenting  daily  a  scene  of  bustle,  activity 
and  hurry.  Places  of  business  thus  ceased  to  exist 
on  Broadway,  which  is  now 
bordered  on  each  side  with  fine 
dwellings,  making  it,  with  its 
great  width,  the  finest  avenue 
in  the  State. 

Town  Officers.— The  White 
Plains  Precinct,  as  it  was  called 
until  1788,  held  meetings  of  the 
freeholders  on  the  first  Tuesday 
of  April  in  each  year,  for  the 
election  of  a  clerk,  supervisor 
and  other  officers  for  the  man- 
agement  of  the  public  affiiirs, 
independent  of  the  town  of  Rye, 
of  which,  however,  it  continued 
to  be  a  part.  The  most  important  oflScer  was  the  clerk, 
who  was  selected  on  account  of  his  superior  educa- 
tion. The  next  officer  in  importance  was  the  super- 
visor. In  the  early  history  of  White  Plains  changes 
in  these  officers  were  rarely  made;  the  principle  of 
rotation  in  office  had  no  advocates  there. 

The  first  election  was  held  in  April  1727.  Caleb 
Hyatt,  Jr.,  was  chosen  clerk,  and  continued  to  be  re- 
elected annually  until  1776,  when  Miles  Oakley  was 
chosen.  From  1776  to  1783  there  were  no  elections. 
The  following  persons  then  were  successively  elected 
and  served  as  clerks: 

Daniel  Hoi  toii   1783  to  1787 

Joseph  Prior   1787  to  17S8 

William  Barker,  Jr  178S  to  1800 

Stephen  Barker   1800  to  18(H 

Davifl  Falconer  1804  to  1806 

Stephen  Barker  1806  to  1810 

Joseph  lIortoM  ISIO  to  1812 

Bliuott  Mitchell  1812  to  1838 

Joseph  S.  Jlitchell  1838  to  1842 

John  W.  Mills   1842  to  1844 

Schiiyler  C.  Tompkins  1S44  to  1849 

Enoch  Dick  and  Elias  P.  Piudy   1849  to  1S50 

The  following  served  as  supervisors : 

Caleb  Hyatt   1727  to  173.i 

Moses  Owen   1733  to  173fi 

Jonathan  Purdy  173G  to  1750 

Elisha  Budd   1750  to  1753 

Elisha  Hyatt   1753  to  1755 

Elisha  Bnild   1755  to  1758 

Abraham  Hatfield   1758  to  1769 

Dr.  Robert  Graham   1769  to  1775 

Samuel  Purdy   1775  to  1776 

In  1776  Anthony  Miller  was  elected,  and  thereafter 
there  were  no  elections  until  1783.  From  that  time 
down  to  1850  the  supervisors  were, — 


Daniel  Horton   1783  to  1787 

Richard  Hatfield   1787  to  1790 

John  Falconer   1796  to  1801 

Jacob  Purdy  1801  to  ISIO 

Jonathan  I'lirdy  1810  to  1816 

Joseph  Horton  1816  to  1818 

John  Falconer  1818  to  1831 

Elisha  Horton  1831  to  1838 

Henry  Willets  1S3S  to  1844 

John  W.  Mills   1844  to  1846 

Lewis  C.  Piatt   1846  to  1847 

John  M'.  Mills   1847  to  1848 

John  Dick   1848  to  1849 

Henry  C.  Field   1849  to  1850 

From  1850  to  the  present  time  the  following  super- 
visors and  town  clerks  have  been  elected  : 


VIEW  OF  WHITE  PLAINS  IX 

1S.3.J. 

1 

SIPERVISOKS. 

TOWN  OLEEKS. 

1850. 

John  Dick. 

Elias  P.  Purdy. 

1851. 

Gilbert  S.  Lyon. 

Carlton  Palmer. 

1852. 

Gilbert  S.  Lyon. 

Elijah  Guiou. 

1853. 

Gilbert  S.  Lyon. 

John  Banta. 

1854. 

Robert  Cochran. 

Wm.  H.  Huestis. 

1855-56. 

John  J.  Clapp. 

Wm.  H.  Huestis. 

1857-59. 

Gilbert  S.  Lyon. 

Win.  H.  Huestis. 

1860-61. 

John  W.  Jlills. 

Wm.  H.  Huestis. 

1862-66. 

E.  G.  Sutherland. 

Wm.  H.  Huestis. 

1867. 

John  D.  Gray. 

Caleb  Morgan,  Jr. 

1868. 

John  D.  Gray. 

A.  J.  Hyatt. 

1869-70. 

Slichael  Donohue,  Jr. 

,\.  J.  Hyatt. 

1871-72. 

E.  G.  Sutherland. 

D.  B.  Stevens. 

1873. 

E.  G.  Sutherland, 

Wm.  H.  Cutter. 

1874. 

Elisha  Horton. 

Wm.  H.  Cutter. 

1875. 

Robert  Cochran. 

E.  Ba.\ter  and  .\.  J.  Hyatt 

1876. 

Elisha  Horton. 

J.  E.  Cnderhill. 

1877. 

Stephen  S.  Marshall. 

A.  J.  Hyatt. 

1878. 

E.  G.  Sutherland. 

A.  J.  Hyatt. 

1879-81. 

Artemus  Eggleston. 

Henry  .V.  JIaynard. 

1882. 

Elisha  Horton. 

Henry  .\.  Maynard. 

1883-84. 

Lew  is  C.  Piatt. 

W.  .\.  Maynard. 

1885. 

Lewis  C.  Piatt. 

Chas.  P.  Paulding. 

1886. 

Lewis  C.  Piatt. 

Francis  H.  Hessels. 

Village  of  White  Plains. — By  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  State,  passed  April  3,  1866,  and 
amended  by  an  act  passed  April  22,  1867,  that  part  of 
White  Plains  particularly  bounded  and  described  in 
Section  1  of  said  act  was  declared  to  be  the  "  Village 
of  White  Plains,"  and  the  inhabitants  resident  within 
the  boundaries  were  declared  to  be  a  body  corporate, 
to  be  known  by  the  corporate  name  of  "  The  Village 
of  White  Plains."' 

Originally  there  were  seven  trustees,  two  of  whom 
were  elected  each  year  for  a  term  of  three  years ;  they 
chose  the  president  from  amongst  their  own  number. 
In  1878  the  charter  was  amended,  dividing  the  village 
into  three  wards  and  providing  for  election  of  one  trus- 


WHITE 


tee  annually  from  each  ward  for  a  term  of  two  years;  and 
the  board  of  trustees  elected  a  president  from  outside 
their  own  body,  who  had  no  vote  except  in  case  of  a  tie. 

At  the  first  election  of  officers,  in  1866,  the  follow- 
ing persons  were  chosen : 

President,  John  Swinburne  ;  Clerk,  .loliii  JI.  Kowell ;  Trustees,  Gilbert 
S.  Lyon  and  Edward  Sleatli  for  one  year  ;  H.  I'  Rowell  anil  .1 . 1'.  Jenkins, 
two  years  ;  J.  W.  Mills,  John  Swinburne  and  Harvey  Groot,  three  yeai-s. 

ISr.T. — President,  John  Swinburne  ;  Tlerk,  John  M.  Kowell  ;  Trustees, 
Hinini  I'.  Rowell,  JoliTi  P.  Jenkins,  John  W.  Jlills,  Jcjhn  Swinburne, 
Harvey  Groot,  Gilbert  S.  Lyon  and  John  I).  Gray.  (As  the  records 
previotisto  1871  are  lost,  a  coini)!ete  list  of  officers  cannot  be  <ibtained.) 

18(*. — President,  .Tohn  Swinburne;  Treasurer,  Gilbert  S.  Lyon  ;  Clerk, 
Henry  C.  Jenkins;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  .\.  Jackson  Hyatt;  Col- 
lector of  Taxes,  Charles  E.  Johnson;  Chief  Constable,  Henry  H.  Ford  ; 
Trustees,  .lohn  W.  Mills,  John  Swinburne,  John  D.  Gray,  Edmund  G. 
Sutherland,  Gilbert  S,  Lyon,  John  P.  Jenkins,  Harvey  Groot. 

18(iii.  — President,  Gilbert  S.  Lyon  ;  Treasurer,  Elisha  P.  Ferris  ;  Clerk, 
Charles  E.  Johnson  ;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Jackson  0.  Pyoknian  ;  Col- 
lector of  Taxes,  Valentine  M.  Hodgson  ;  Chief  Constable,  Klisha  C. 
Clark  ;  Trustees,  John  1).  Gray,  Elisha  P.  Ferris,  Richard  C.  Downing,  Ed- 
mund G.  Sutherland,  (;ilbert  S.  Lyon,  John  P.  Jenkins,  Harvey  Groot. 

1870.  —  Pre.sident,  Edmund  G.  Sutherland  ;  Treasurer,  ;  Clerk, 

C.  E.  .lohnson  ;  Trustees,  Edmund  (J.  Sutherland,  Elisha  P.  Ferris,  R.  C. 
Powniiis,  J.  P.  Jenkins,  Harvey  Groot,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  L.  C.  Piatt. 

1871.  — President,  Richard  C.  Downing;  Treasurer,  Theodore  Van 
Tassel  :  Clerk,  Valentine  51.  Hoilgsou  ;  .\ttorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram 
Panliling;  Chief  Constable.  David  P.  Barnes;  Collector  of  Taxes,  \V.  H. 
Huestis;  Trustees,  Elisha  P.  Ferris,  Harvey  Groot,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr., 
J.  JI.  Rowell,  Lewis  ('.  Piatt,  Theodore  Van  Tassel,  Richard  ('.  Downing. 

1872.  — President,  Elisha  P.  Ferris;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.; 
Clerk.  Valentine  51.  Hoilgsnn  ;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram  Paulding  ; 
Collector  of  Taxes,  Alexander  W.  Rus.sell  ;  Chief  Constable,  David  P. 
Barnes;  Trustees,  .\rtemus  W.  Eggleston.  Elisha  Horton,  .Ir.,  Lewis  C. 
Piatt,  J.  M.  Rowell,  Theodore  Van  Tas,<el,  ('has.  Wiogand,  Elisha  P.  Ferris. 

1873-  74.— President,  Elisha  P.  Ferris;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.  ; 
<"lerk,  Valentine  51.  Hodgson  ;'  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram  Paulding  ; 
Collector  of  Taxes,  James  Rice;  Chief  Constable,  David  P.  Barnes; 
Trustees,  Artemus  W.  Kggleston,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  .lohn  51.  Rowell, 
Theodore  Van  Tas.sel,  D.  51.  rnderhill,  Charles  Wiegand,  E.  P.  Ferris. 

1874-  7.'). — President.  Elisha  P.  Ferris  ;  Treasurer,  Eli,sha  Horton,  Jr.  ; 
Clerk,  Charles  H.  I'urdy;  -  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram  Paulding; 
Collector  of  Taxes,  Edward  Sliirnier  ;  Chief  Constable,  David  P.  Barnes; 
Trustees,  .\rtemns  W.  Eggleston,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  D.  5Iorgan  I'nder- 
hill.  T.  Van  Tas.«el,  Chas.  Wiegand,  5richacl  Riordan,  E.  P.  Ferris. 

187.')-7C. — Presiilent,  Elisha  P.  Ferris;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.; 
Clerk,  .lohn  Birch;  .\ttorney  and  I'ounsel,  Hiram  PauUIIng  ;  Collector 
of  Taxes,  John  O'Rourke  ;  Chief  Constable,  David  P.  Barnes  ;  Trustees, 
Artemus  AV.  Eggleston,  Elisha  Horton,  .Ir..  D.  51or.gan  I  nderhill,  Theo- 
dore Van  Tassel,  Charles  Wieganil,  5Iichael  Riordan,  Elisha  P.  Ferris. 

1870-77.- President,  Elisha  P.  Ferris;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.  ; 
Clerk,  John  Birch  ;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram  Paulding  ;  Collector 
of  Taxes,  Timothy  Slurphy  ;  Chief  Constable,  David  P.  Barnes  ;  Tru.stees, 
Artemus  W.  Eggleston,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  5Iichael  Riordan,  D.  5Ior- 
gan  rnderhill,  Theodore  Van  Tassel,  Charles  Wiegand  Elisha  P.  Ferris. 

1877-  78. — President.  Elisha  P.  Ferris;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton;  Jr., 
Clerk,  John  Birch;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  Hiram  Paulding  ;  Collector 
of  Taxes,  .\ndrew  O'Rourke;  Chief  Constable,  John  Birch:  Trustees, 
.\rtemus  W.  Eggleston,  Elisha  Horton,  Jr.,  51iuhael  Rionlan,  D.  .Morgan 
Underbill,  Charles  Wiegand,  Henry  P.  Stewart,  Elisha  P.  Ferris. 

1878-  7',1.  President,  Gilbert  S.  Lyon*  and  D.  Jlorgan  I'nderhill; 
President  pro  tem.^  none  elected;  Treasurer,  Elisha  Horton  ,  Clerk,  John 
Birch;  .\ttorney  and  Counsel,  Tliram  Paulding  ;  Collector  of  Taxes, 
none  elected  ;  Chief  (Nonstable,  John  Birch  ;  Trustees,  David  5'erplanck. 
for  two  years,  and  5IicbaeI  Riordan,  for  one  year,  Fii'st  Ward;  .Vrtemus 
W.  Eggleston,  for  tw(»  years,  and  S.  W.  Failr.  f^jj- one  year.  Second  Ward  ; 
G.  H.  Mead,  for  two  years,  and  Leonard  Miller,  for  one  year.  Third  Ward. 

1879-  80. — President,  D.  Slorgan  I  nderhill  ;  President,  pro  tern., 
Daniel  J.  Tripp  ;  Clerk,  John  Birch  ;  Attorney  and  Counsel,  William  .\. 


1  Valentine  51.  Hoilgson  resigned  his  position  lu*  village  clerk  January 
17,  1874,  and  was  succeeded  by  Charles  H.  Purdy. 

-  Charles  H.  Purdy  resigned  his  position  as  clerk,  and  was  succeeded, 
August  14,  1874,  by  John  Birch. 

3  The  new  charter,  dividing  the  city  into  wards,  went  into  operation 
this  year,  and  two  trustees  were  elected  from  each  ward,  instead  of  seven 
from  the  whole  village,  as  lormerly.  The  president  was  chosen  from 
outside  the  b()ard  for  a  term  of  two  yeai's,  and  his  powers  were  some- 
what curtailed.  The  election  of  Gilbert  S.  Lyon  was  reached  after  a 
long  and  obstinate  contest  between  Elisha  P.  Ferris  and  William  H. 
Albro.  Ferris  .sat  as  president  during  this  balloting,  having  been  presi- 
dent the  year  before,  and,  finally,  when  he  saw  his  own  election  impos- 
sible, and  after  there  had  been  a  number  of  btillots  with  Lyon  and  .\Ibro 
as  candidates,  in  which  each  received  three  votes,  he  threw  the  deciding 
Tote  for  Lyon.    Uis  right  t»  do  so  was  contested  in  the  courts,  and 


PLAINS.  731 


Woodworth  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  Orlando  W.  Eggleston  ;  Chief  Con" 
stable,  Henry  .\.  5Iaynard  ;  Police  Justice,  s  James  H.  5Ioran  ;  Trustees, 
David  Verplanckand  5Iichael  Riordan,  First  Ward  ;  .\rtenius  M'.  Eggle- 
ston and  Samuel  Faile,  Second  Ward  ;  Daniel  J.  Tripp  and  Leonard  5Iil- 
ler,  «  Third  Ward. 

1880-  81. — President,  Elisha  P.  Ferris  ;  Presiilent,  pro  lem.,  Edmund  G. 
Sutherland  ;  Treasurer,  Henry  T.  Dyknian  ;  Clerk,  John  Birch  ;  .\ttor- 
ney  and  Counsel,  Charles  W.  Cochron  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  Daniel  F. 
Leary  ;  Chief  Constable,  James  Brogau ;  Trustees.  5Iichael  Riordan  •  anil 
David  Verplanck,"  First  Ward  ;  Samuel  Faile  and  Henry  B.  Ford,"  Second 
Ward  ;  Daniel  J.  Tripp  and  Edmund  G.  Sutherland,  Tliinl  Ward. 

1881-  8'2.— President,  Elisha  P.  Ferris  (died  February,  188'2) ;  President, 
pro  I'-m.,  Daniel  J.Tripp;  Treasurer,  Henry  T.  Dyknian;  Clerk  John 
Birch  ;  .\ttorney  an<l  Counsel,  Charles  W.  Cochran  ;  Collector  of  Taxes, 
Daniel  F.  Leary  ;  Chief  Constable,  George  W.  See  ;  Police  Justice,  Elisha 
Horton  ;  Trustees.  5Iicliael  Rionlan,  one  year,  and  David  Verplanck,  two 
years.  First  Ward  ;  William  J.  Sutton,  one  year,  and  Samuel  Faile,  two 
years.  Second  NVard  ;  Daniel  J.  Tripp,  two  years,  and  Edmund  G.  Suth- 
erland, one  year.  Third  Ward. 

1882-  83. — President,  William  Reynolds  Brown  ;  President,  pro  (tin., 
Daniel  J.  Tripp;  Treasurer,  Henry  T.  Dyknian;  Clerk,  John  Birch; 
Attorney  and  Counsel.  Charles  W.  Cochran  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  .lohn  P. 
5Iorau  ;  Chief  Constable,  George  W.  See  ;  Police  Justice,  Elisha  Horton; 
Trustees,  M ichael  Riordan  and  David  Verplanck,  First  Ward  ;  Samuel 
Faile  and  William  J.  Sutton,  Second  Ward  ;  Daniel  J.  Tripp  and  James 
D.  Wright,"  Third  Ward. 

188:)-84. — President,  Win.  Reynolds  Brown ;  President,  '  h  ni., 
Charles  H.  Tibbits;  Treasurer,  Wm.  B.  Tibbits  ;  Clerk,  John  Birch  ;  At- 
torney and  Counsel,  .\.  Jackson  Hyatt  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  Chester  P. 
Little;  Chief  Constable,  George  W.  Sec ;  Police  .lustice.  Elisha  ll.irton  ; 
Trustees,  Michael  Riordan  and  David  Verplanck,  Fii-st  Ward  ;  Wm.  J. 
Sutton  and  Chas.  H.  Tibbits,  Second  Ward  ;  Isaac  V.  Fowler  '■'  and  James 
D.  Wright,  Third  Ward. 

1884-8.5 — President,  Henry  T.  Dykman  ;  President,  ;iro  (ew.,  Charles 
H.  Tibbits;  Treasurer,  Wm.  B.  Tibbits;  Clerk,  John  Birch  ;  .\ttorney 
and  Counsel,  not  elected  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  not  elected;  Chief  Consta- 
ble, not  elected  ;  Police  Justice,  .Minott  51.  Silliinan  ;  Trustees,  liavid  Ver- 
planck and  Richard  Dowdall,  First  Ward  ;  Win.  J.  Sutton  and  Chas.  H. 
Tibbits,  Second  Ward  ;  .las.  D.  Wright  and  Istiac  V.  Fowler,  Third  Ward. 

1880. — President,  Henry  T.  Dykman;  President,  pro  tern.,  Edward  B. 
Long;  Clerk,  Eugene  .\rcher;  Treasurer,  J.  Henry  Carpenter;  Police 
Justice,  5Iinott  M.  Silliinan  ;  Collector  of  Taxes,  .lohn  P.  5Ioran  ;  Chief 
Constable,  George  W.  Sc  ;  Trustees,  Richard  Dowdall  and  John  5Ic- 
,\rdle.  First  Ward;  5!ark  Lyons  and  Chailes  H.  Tibbits,  Second  WanJ  ; 
Edward  B.  Long  and  .lames  D.  Wright,  Third  Ward. 

Highways. — The  first  highway  was  laid  out  on 
the  13th  of  April,  170.''^,  leading  from  Rye  to  White 
Plain.*,  six  rods  wide,  and  was  called  the  Queen's 
Highway  ;  the  present  North  Street  road  is  on  the 
same  route. 

Broadway  was  in  existence  in  1697,  but  was  not  for- 
mally laid  out  and  recorded  until  November  22, 1734, 
when  it  was  described  as  "  Beginning  between  the 
home  lots  formally  laid  out  to  Thomas  Brown  and 
Caleb  Hyatt,  where  the  road  is  laid  out  that  goeth 
down  to  Eastchester;  from  thence  northerly  by  the 
fronts  of  said  home  lots  on  each  side  of  the  street ; 
said  street  or  highway  to  be  the  same  as  no\t  left 
untir  it  Cometh  to  the  great  meadow  brook." 

The  old  New  York  road,  or  road  to  East  Chester, 


during  the  contest  do  public  business  was  transacted.  The  suit  was  not 
decided  for  many  months,  but  was  tinally  settled  in  favor  of  Lyon. 

*Lyon  died  early  in  1S7'.I,  and  was  succeeded,  .\pril  22,  1879,  by  D. 
Morgan  (Inderhill  for  the  unexpired  term. 

'  Police  justice,  an  office  established  in  1878,  was  not  filUd  till  1879, 
owing  to  the  litigation  over  the  presidency  in  the  former  year.  It  was 
for  a  term  of  three  years.  5Ioran  was  elected  for  the  unexpired  tenu  of 
two  years. 

«  Leonard  5Iiller  was  elected  for  one  year  in  place  of  George  H.  Jlead, 
resigned. 

'  5Iichael  Riordan,  David  Verplanck  and  Henry  B.  Ford  all  three  re- 
signed in  5Iarch,  1881.  .\pril  4th  Charles  J.  Quinby  was  appointed 
trustee  in  place  of  Henry  B.  Fonl,  and  Harvey  Groot  in  place  of  David 
Verjdanck,  until  the  ensuing  election.  5Iichael  Riordan's  place  wa.-> 
not  filled. 

s  James  D.  Wright  resigned  July  19,  1882,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Samuel  Hopper. 

5  Henry  P.  Stewart  was  elected  to  the  unexpired  term  of  Samuel 
Hopper,  but  failed  to'iualify,  and  I.  V.  Fowler  was  elected  in  bis  place. 


732 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


was  formally  laid  out  in  1717.  It  followed  the  old 
Indian  Path,  which  led  from  the  native  settlement 
on  the  hill  on  the  Fisher  farm,  south  of  the  Fisher 
homestead,  corner  of  Lexington  Avenue  and  the  post 
road,  by  a  winding  course  over  the  hill,  as  it  now 
runs,  past  Mr.  Faile's  and  around  the  Waller  corner 
to  its  junction  with  Broadway,  opposite  the  Mitchell 
homestead.  On  the  east  side  of  the  road,  opposite 
the  Waller  corner,  was  the  Indian  burying-ground. 

The  road  to  the  Hudson  River  from  White  Plains 
was  laid  out  in  1730,  along  the  north  side  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  In  1764  the  terminus  of  this 
road  on  Broadway  was  changed  to  its  present  loca- 
tion of  Spring  Street. 

The  road  now  called  Lake  Street  was  laid  out  in 
1762. 

The  road  to  Mamaroneck  was  laid  out  the  11th  of 
November,  1725,  and  commenced  at  the  old  post 
road.  At  that  time  James  Travis  owned  the  Sam- 
uel Faile  place,  and  Moses  Knapp  owned  what  is 
now  the  beautiful  property  of  j\Irs.  E.  L.  Carhart. 

The  highway  leading  from  Broadway  and  passing 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Ellen  T.  Donahue  was  laid  out 
the  24th  of  April,  1735. 

The  road  beginning  at  Broadway  nearly  opposite 
the  road  last  mentioned,  and  now  running  south  of 
the  cemetery,  was  laid  out  May  22,  1740. 

These  are  all  the  principal  roads  that  were  in  ex- 
istence prior  to  1830  in  what  is  now  the  village  of 
White  Plains. 

White  Plains  was  at  the  time  of  its  purchase  the 
planting-ground  of  the  natives,  and  derived  its  name 
from  the  white  balsam,  a  plant  then  covering  its 
surface,  which,  although  not  level,  presented  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  plain  when  seen  from  the  surround- 
ing hills. 

churches. 

Church  of  England  and  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  White  Plains. — The  history  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  White  Plains  has 
been  carefully  written  by  Robert  Bolton,  in  his  "His- 
tory of  the  Church  in  Westchester  County,"  and  much 
that  follows  is  derived  from  his  very  interesting  work. 

From  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  New  Netharland 
by  the  English  (in  1664)  down  to  the  arrival  of  Gov- 
ernor Fletcher  (in  1692)  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of 
Rye  (which  then,  and  until  1784,  included  the  White 
Plains)  were  Presbyterians  or  Dissenters,  and  there 
existed  "  no  trace  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 
Colony." 

Through  the  efforts  of  Governor  Fletcher,  the  Col- 
onial Assembly,  which  was  composed  almost  entirely 
of  Dissenters,  was  induced  to  j)ass  a  bill  "  For  the 
maintenance  of  a  Ministry."  A  similar  law  existed 
in  Connecticut,  under  whose  ecclesiastical  jurisdic- 
tion Rye  was  at  this  time.  After  the  passage  of  this 
bill  the  Governor  declared  that  there  was  no  ministry 
but  of  the  Church  of  England ;  and  through  his 
power,  with  the  aid  of  the  ''  Society  for  Propagating 


the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,"  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  was  inducted  into  the  church  at  Rye  in 
the  year  1704,  but  Episcopal  services  were  not  intro- 
duced into  White  Plains  until  1724,  when  the  Rev. 
Mr,  Jenny  preached  there  three  or  four  times  a  year ; 
and  such  services  were  held  down  to  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  which  utterly  ruined  the  mission. 

During  the  war  the  clergy  were  placed  in  an  em- 
barrassing position.  Not  to  pray  for  the  King,  ac- 
cording to  the  litany,  was  to  act  against  the  dictates 
of  their  consciences,  while  to  have  used  the  prayers 
would  have  been  to  draw  upon  themselves  persecution 
and  destruction.  The  only  course  left  them  was  to 
suspend  the  exercise  of  their  functions  and  shut  up 
their  churches.  After  the  war  the  church  became  an 
independent  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
having  organized  an  ecclesiastical  union,  free  from 
alliances  with  human  sovereigns,  demonstrated  its 
congeniality  with  our  free  institutions. 

In  1787  White  Plains  and  Rye  united  in  erecting 
a  church  edifice  at  the  latter  place,  of  which  the  Rev. 
Richard  C.  Moore  was  chosen  rector,  September  5, 
1787.  Pursuant  to  the  requirements  of  the  laws  of 
the  State  of  New  York  relating  to  the  incorporation 
of  religious  societies,  a  meeting  of  the  congregation 
of  Rye  Church  was  held  and  a  certificate  of  incorpor- 
ation made,  dated  the  21st  day  of  February,  1795,  in 
which  "  the  rector  and  two  of  the  congregation  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  towns  of  Rye  and 
White  Plains,  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  certify 
that  Peter  Jay  and  John  Barker  were  elected  church 
wardens,  and  Joshua  Purdy,  Jr.,"  and  seven  others 
were  elected  vestrymen  ;  and  that  "  the  style  and 
title  shall  be  '  Christ's  Church  in  the  town  of  Rye,  in 
the  County  of  Westchester  and  State  of  New  York.' " 

An  act  of  the  Legislature  having  been  subsequent- 
ly passed  "  for  the  relief  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  State  of  New  York,"  the  church  de- 
termined to  re-incorporate  under  that  act,  and  a  meet- 
ing for  the  purpose  was  duly  called  and  held,  and  a 
certificate  of  incorporation,  dated  June  7,  1796,  was 
made  and  filed,  by  which  it  appears  that  the  officers 
of  the  Rye  and  White  Plains  Episcopal  Church, 
chosen  under  this  incorporation,  were  Peter  Jay  and 
Isaac  Purdy,  church  wardens  ;  and  Joshua  Purdy 
and  seven  others,  vestrymen — the  same  corporate 
name  being  retained.  Under  this  organization  the 
church  of  Rye  and  White  Plains  continued  services 
in  each  town — two-thirds  in  Rye  and  one-third  in 
White  Plains — until  1816,  when  the  wardens  and 
vestrymen  resolved  to  discontinue  services  at  White 
Plains  ;  and  accordingly  such  services  were  discon- 
tinued, although  White  Plains  had  contributed  to  the 
erection  and  support  of  the  church. 

From  1816  to  1823  only  occasional  services  were 
held  at  White  Plains  by  the  neighboring  clergy,  and 
when,  in  1824,  it  was  proposed  to  organize  a  church, 
there  was  not  one  male  communicant  in  the  place, 
and  only  four  or  five  females  were  church  members. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


733 


Notwithstandiug  such  discouraging  circumstances,  it 
was  deterniinefl  to  organize  a  church,  and  accord- 
ingly, upon  the  22d  of  March,  1824,  a  church  was  in- 
corporated under  the  title  of  "  Grace  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  White  Plains,"  with  Richard 
Jarvis  and  Alan  McDonald  as  church  wardens ;  Wil- 
liam Purdy,  John  Horton,  Gilbert  Hatfield,  James 
Dick,  Alexander  Fowler,  Joshua  Horton,  William 
Bulkley  and  James  D.  Merritt,  vestrymen  ;  and  the 
same  year  the  Rev.  William  C.  Mead  was  elected  rec- 
tor, and  proceedings  were  instituted  for  the  erection 
of  a  church  edifice. 

Mr.  Mead  was  very  acceptable  to  all,  both  in  and 
out  of  his  church,  and  his  efforts  to  build  a  house  for 
worship  were  generously  aided  by  the  people,  without 
regard  to  creed  or  sect.  How  well  this  kind  assist- 
ance was  appreciated  the  records  of  the  vestry  show 
by  an  entry  in  the  minutes,  June  25,  1826,  after  the 
church  was  comjiletcd,  of  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
otticers  and  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Society  in 
White  Plains,  for  the  use  of  their  church. 

Mr.  Mead  removed  in  1826,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  Alexander  H.  Crosby,  a  laborious  student 
and  earnest  preacher.  He  remained  but  two  years, 
and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  John  W.  Curtis,  who 
continued  here  for  two  years.  Mr.  Curtis  was  a 
Christian  gentleman,  of  fine  personal  appearance  and 
of  a  cheerful  and  social  nature,  which  endeared  him 
to  all  within  his  influence.  His  health  failing,  in 
1831  he  applied  to  the  bishop  for  a  change,  and  be- 
came the  editor  of  the  Churchman,  then  first  es- 
tablished. The  change  from  the  country  to  the  city, 
however,  operated  for  the  worse  ;  he  declined  rapidly 
in  health,  and  died  in  1835. 

The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Harris  took  charge  of  the 
parish  in  1831,  and  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  centurj' 
faithfully  served  his  Master  and  his  flock.  About 
him  there  was  no  sectarian  bigotry ;  deeply  taught 
by  the  Spirit,  he  belonged  less  to  any  human  school 
of  divinity  than  to  the  one  great  body  of  Christ's 
true  disciples.  He  was  an  Episcopalian  by  birth, 
education  and  preference,  but  in  his  highest  aspira- 
tions a  member  of  the  general  assembly  and  church 
of  the  first  born.  He  wtis  ever  bold  in  opposing 
error,  and  ever  zealous  in  defending  truth.  In  preach- 
ing he  was  earnest  and  impressive  rather  than  elo- 
quent. He  loved  the  church  and  its  order,  and  did 
not  undervalue  its  external  and  formal  arrangements. 
His  Catholicism  was  broad  enough  to  cover  all  who 
rested  their  hopes  for  salvation  on  the  same  Jesus 
whom  he  served,  whether  in  or  out  of  his  church. 
Few  are  now  living  who  can  remember  the  time  when 
he  first  appeared  here  in  the  fresh  glow  of  youth  ; 
and  of  the  wardens  and  vestrymen  who  then  directed 
the  affairs  of  the  church  not  one  remains. 

In  the  year  1855,  Dr.  Harris  resigned  so  far  as  to 
have  an  associate  rector  appointed.  Under  this  ar- 
rangement the  Rev.  Theodore  Rumney  was  elected 
associate  rector,  and  commenced  preaching  on  the 


first  Sunday  of  October^  18n5.  Soon  afterward  Dr. 
Harris  resigned  the  whole  charge  of  the  parish,  and 
for  nearly  fifteen  years  Mr.  Rumney  faithfully,  labo- 
iously  and  warm-heartedly  devoted  himself  to  his 
church  and  people. 

In  1870,  having  received  a  call  from  Christ's  Church, 
Germantown,  Pa.,  he  resigned,  and  the  present  rector, 
that  genial  Christian  gentleman,  the  Rev.  Frederick 
B.  Van  Kleeck,  began  his  labors  here,  and  for  sixteen 
years  has  gone  about  doing  good;  and  everywhere, 
whether  in  the  pulpit,  the  social  circle  or  beside  the 
sick-bed,  his  presence  is  mosi  acceptable. 

Presbyterian  Church.— Prior  to  1727  the  people 
of  White  Plains  were  members  of,  and  attended,  the 
Dissenting  or  Presbyterian  Church  of  Rye.  In  that 
year  a  church  edifice  was  erected  in  White  Plains, 
chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  the  Rev.  John  Walton, 
a  native  of  New  London,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College,  who  came  to  Rye  in  1723,'  and  to  White 
Plains  in  1726. 

Mr.  Walton  was  highly  gifted  as  a  preacher,  and 
although  self-willed  and  erratic,  did  much  tostrengthen 
the  Presbyterians,  and  induced  many,  who  had  been 
drawn  over  to  the  Church  of  England,  to  return.  His 
eloquence  and  persistent  efforts  as  a  preacher  provoked 
the  hostile  criticism  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wetmore,  the 
English  minister  at  Rye,  who,  in  his  letter  to  the 
secretary  of  the  Propagation  Society,^  calls  him  "a 
bold,  noisy  fellow,  with  a  voluble  tongue,  drawing  the 
greatest  part  of  the  town  after  him." 

A  church  was  erected  in  1727  on  land  given  by  Mr. 
Walton,  on  the  spot  where  the  present  church  stands. 
In  1728  Mr.  Walton  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Ed- 
mund Ward,  also  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  a 
native  of  Killingworth,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Ward  remained  but  two  years,  when  he  removed 
to  Guilford,  Connecticut,  and  the  pulpit  was  vacant 
for  several  years  after  his  departure,  during  which 
time  occasional  preaching  was  had  by  ministers  from 
Connecticut. 

On  the  30th  of  December,  1742,  a  council  of  the 
Eastern  Consociation  of  Fairfield  County  met  at  Rye 
and  ordained  the  Rev.  John  Smith  as  minister.  We 
are  under  great  obligations  to  Dr.  Baird  for  procuring^ 
and  giving  us  a  particular  account  of  that  occasion, 
and  of  the  life  and  services  of  this  eminent  man. 

Mr.  Smith,  like  his  predecessors,  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College.    His  father,  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  was 
one  of  the  little  band  of  Christians  who  organized  the 
first  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City.  His 
'  brother,  William  Smith,  and  his  nephew,  William 
1  Smith,  Jr.,  were  leaders  among  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in 
New  York  City,  and  organizers  of  the  "Whig  Club," 
from  which  came  the  first  utterances  in  favor  of  liberty, 
i  Previous  to  his  coming  to  Rye,  Mr.  Smith  had  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  ^Ir.  James  Hooker,  a  grandson 
of  the  famous  Thomas  Hooker,   the  founder  of 


»  Dr.  Bair.rs  "Rye,"  32-2.  2  Bollon's  "  ChurcIi|History,"  246. 


734 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  colony  of  Connecticut.  After  a  few  years'  resi- 
dence in  Rye,  Mr.  Smith  removed  to  White  Plains. 
The  house  in  which  he  lived  and  died  is  still  standing. 

Owing  to  the  feeble  health  and  declining  strength 
of  Mr.  Smith,  the  Presbytery,  on  the  11th  of  October, 
1769,  ordained  Mr.  Ichabod  Lewis,  also  a  graduate  of 
Yale,  as  pastor.  It  is  supposed  that  Mr.  Smith  con- 
tinued to  preach  until  a  short  time  before  his  death, 
which  took  place  on  the  26th  of  February,  1771.  His  j 
remains  lie  under  the  pulpit  of  the  present  church. 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  5th  of  November,  1776,  the  church  was 
bui-ned,  and  the  congregation,  owing  to  the  troubles  of 
the  times,  was  scattered  ;  many  of  them,  being  stanch 
Whigs,  removed  from  this  disi)Uted  territory,  in  order 
to  escape  the  depredations  of  Tories  and  the  British 
troops.    The  Rev.  Mr.  Lewis  removed  to  Bedford. 

In  1784  an  act  of  the  Legislature  enabled  religious 
societies  or  congregations  to  become  corporate  bodies, 
in  pursuance  of  which  this  church,  on  the  12th  of  De- 
cember, 1787,  became  incorporated  under  the  name  of 
"  The  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  White 
Plains  in  Westchester  County ;"  from  1784  to  1821  the 
congregation  enjoyed  only  irregular  preaching,  the  ser- 
vices being  held  in  the  court-house,  which  stood  in 
front  of  the  present  residence  of  Jlr.  Fiero. 

From  1821  to  1823  the  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Smith  offi- 
ciated as  stated  supply.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  ^larcus  Harrison,  who  soon  resigned,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Ely  supplied  the  pulpit  until  October,  1823, 
when  the  Rev.  Samuel  Robinson  was  installed  as 
pastor.  A  new  church  was  erected  in  1824  on  the 
foundation  of  the  old  one. 

From  1825  to  1834  the  Rev.  Chester  Long  was  the 
acceptable  pastor,  and  on  his  resignation  the  Rev. 
John  White  wa.s  called,  but  remained  only  one  year, 
when  be  resigned.  In  1835  the  Rev.  Edward  Wright 
was  installed,  and  continued  for  nine  years  to  fill  the 
pulpit  acceptably,  till  failing  health  compelled  him 
to  resign,  and  in  July,  1844,  the  Rev.  Eliits  S.  Schenk 
was  installed  and  supplied  the  pulpit  for  five  years. 

From  January  to  July,  1850,  the  Rev.  Bronson  B. 
Beardsley  officiated  as  stated  supply  ;  and  from  July, 
1850,  to  July,  1853,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Forsyth  was 
pastor.  He  was  succeeded  in  1853  by  the  Rev.  David 
Peese,  who  served  as  stated  supply  for  sixteen  years. 

In  June,  1871,  the  Rev.  T.  0.  Steele  was  called  as 
pastor,  and  continued  until  ill  health  compelled  him 
to  resign,  in  November,  1873. 

On  July  19,  1874,  the  congregation  called  the  Rev. 
E.  L  Heermance,  who  has  since  faithfully  discharged 
his  duties,  never  having  failed  to  be  at  his  post  either 
in  person  or  by  proper  representative. 

Bv  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  May  5, 1863,  the 
name  and  title  was  changed  from  "The  Trustees  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Town  of  White  Plains, 
Westchester  County,"  to  "The  White  Plains  Presby- 
terian Church." 

The  Methodi.st  Church. — There  is  no  record 


evidence  of  an  organized  Methodist  society  or  church 
in  White  Plains  until  alter  the  Revolutionary  War, 
but  there  is  unquestionable  proof  that  there  was  a 
Methodist  society  in  White  Plains  as  early  as  1741. 
At  this  time  the  people,  who  were  Dissenters,  had  no 
regular  minister  of  their  own  persuasion,  and  no 
means  wherewith  to  provide  a  support  for  one,  being 
compelled  by  taxation  to  sustain  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, which  they  regarded  as  little  better  than  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and  the  pulpit  of  the  White  Plains 
Church  was  vacant. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1740  George  Whitefield 
visited  and  preached  in  Rye,  and  altiiough  he  only 
passed  through  the  town  without  stopping  a  night, 
the  good  seed  sown  by  him  on  that  October  day 
brought  forth  an  hundred-fold. 

At  this  time  John  Wesley  was  organizing  his 
followers  in  England  in  classes,  appointing  over  each 
a  leader  who  was  to  look  after  their  spiritual  inter- 
ests ;  and  a  Methodist  society,  as  it  existed  in  England 
in  1740,  was  composed  of  Gospel  Christians  in  a  town 
or  village  drawn  toward  each  other  by  their  common 
trust  in  Jesus  the  Christ,  formed  into  a  class,  with  a 
leader,  and  governed  by  the  rules  laid  down  by  Wes- 
ley for  their  guidance. 

The  people  having  no  acceptable  minister,  neglected 
religious  worship,  and  a  general  decline  and  deadness 
in  matters  of  religion  followed.  While  in  this  sad 
condition  the  new  Methodism  in  England,  with  its 
simple,  social  and  informal  worship, which  was  exactly 
suited  to  the  condition  of  the  people,  naturally 
attracted  their  attention  and  enlisted  their  feelings. 

At  this  time  the  Rev.  James  Wetmore,  a  minister 
of  the  Church  of  England,  sent  by  the  Propagation 
Society,  placed  over  this  people  by  the  power 
of  the  Governor,  and  supported  by  oppressive  taxa- 
tion, was  the  minister  of  Rye  and  the  White  Plains — 
the  White  Plains  being  then,  and  until  1783,  within 
the  town  bounds  6f  Rye. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  required  to  report  to  the  society 
several  times  a  year  the  condition  of  his  parish,  and 
it  is  from  his  communications,  which  follow,  that  the 
existence  of  an  organized  Methodist  society  in  this 
town  as  early  as  1741-43  is  established. 

Under  date  of  September  28,  1741,  not  quite  a  year 
after  the  Whitefield  visit,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wetmore,  in  a 
letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  Propagation  Society, 
says  :  "  The  etlorts  of  the  sectaries  in  this  parish  have 
been  various  the  past  year,  and  their  endeavors  inde- 
fatigable to  weaken  and  destroy  the  Church.  How- 
ever, by  God's  help,  we  maintain  our  ground,  and 
though  some  of  our  members  are  corrupted  with  the 
wild  enthusiasm  of  the  new  sect,  I  hope  the  measures 
I  use  to  strengthen  and  establish  my  people  in  the 
faith  of  Christianity  according  to  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  of  England,  will  by  God's  blessing  prevent 
this  new  Methodism,  or,  rather,  down-right  distrac- 
tion in  the  shape  it  now  appears  among  the  itinerant 
sectaries,  from  gaining  much  ground  among  us." 


"  WOODSIDE." 

RESIDENCE  OF  JOSEPH  H  LEV/lij. 
WHITE  PLAINS,  N.  Y. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


735 


In  another  letter,  written  eighteen  months  hiter, 
dated  March  25,  1743,  he  complains  that  the  jjeople 
"  are  unsettled  in  their  principles,  and  go  after  all 
sorts  of  teachers  that  come  in  their  way,  and  many 
of  them  are  much  confused  by  the  straggling  Method- 
ist teachers  that  are  continually  among  us.''  From 
these  letters  it  appears  that  the  "  new  Methodism  " 
was  fast  gaining  ground. 

In  Mr.  Wetmore's  letter  in  September  of  the  same 
year  he  writes:  "As  to  the  state  of  my  parish,  nothing 
very  remarkable  has  happened  since  my  last,  but  I 
find  my  cares  and  labors  much  increased  by  having 
two  (iirobably  one  at  White  Plains  and  the  other  at 
Rye)  Independent  Methodist  teachers  settled  by  that 
party  in  my  parish,  besides  exhorters  and  itinerants 
that  frequently  call  people  together  and  instil  wild 
and  entliusiastic  notions  into  them  ;  they  have  made 
much  confusion  in  the  remote  parts  of  my  parish, 
but  chiefly  among  those  who  always  were  Dissenters." 

Only  two  years  had  elapsed  since  his  first  letter 
comjilaining  of  the  corrupting  influences  of  the  new 
sect  of  Methodists,  and  already  this  "  wild  sect  "  had 
become  organized,  and  had  two  "  Independent  Meth- 
odist teachers "  settled  in  his  jjarish.  He  called 
them  "  teachers  ;  "  he  would  not  call  them  "  minis- 
ters," for  he  recognized  no  minister  outside  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  these  were  "  settled  "  in  his 
parish. 

Although  no  record  has  been  preserved  of  that  lit- 
tle society,  with  the  name  of  the  teacher  or  of  the 
members  who  composed  the  class  or  congregation,  or 
in  what  commodious  farm-house  they  assembled  for 
worship,  the  fact  that  such  a  teacher  and  .such  a  class 
or  congiegation.  in  an  organized  shape,  existed  in 
White  Plains  in  1743  cannot  be  controverted ;  and 
this  was  seventeen  years  before  Philip  Emlniry  and 
Barbara  Heck  came  to  America,  and  twenty-three 
years  before  Philip  I^mbury  organized  his  class-meet- 
ing or  society  in  his  house  in  Barrack  St.,  New  York 
■City,  which  the  learned  historian.  Dr.  Abel  Stevens, 
states  was  the  foundation  of  Methodism  in  America. 

During  the  American  Revolution  no  regular  meet- 
ings for  public  religious  worship  by  any  denomina- 
tion of  Christians  were  held  in  White  Plains,  but 
very  soon  after  the  war,  little  companies  were  gath- 
ered without  any  formal  organization,  one  of  which 
met  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Ann  Miller,  in  North  Cas- 
tle (Washington's  headquarters).  When  the  New 
Rochelle  Circuit  was  organized,  in  17S7,  Mrs.  Miller's 
house  was  one  of  the  regular  appointments  on  the 
circuit ;  the  Rev.  Samuel  Talbot,  who  organized  the 
first  class,  consisting  of  six  persons,  was  preacher.  In 
1792  and  1793  some  six  members  were  added  to  the 
little  society,  three  of  whom — Abraham  Miller,  Abra- 
ham Davis  and  John  Hatfield — were  men  of  influence 
in  the  neighborhood ;  and  through  their  etlorts  the 
embryo  church  grew  vigorous  and  strong. 

As  a  church  it  had  no  corporate  existence  until 
July  2<i,  1795,  when  Elijah  Crawford,  John  Lynch, 


Nicholas  Fisher,  Abraham  Miller,  Azariah  Horton 
and  Abraham  Davis  were  elected  trustees.  The  title 
of  the  corporation  was  "  The  Trustees  of  the 
Methodist  Episcoi)al  Church,  in  the  town  of  AVhite 
!  Plains,  in  the  County  of  Westchester."  ' 
[  Owing  to  failure  to  hold  the  annual  meeting 
and  elect  trustees,  it  became  necessary  to,  and  the 
church  was,  re-incorporated  on  November  24,  1834, 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Trustees  of  the  First  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  of  the  town  of  White  Plains,  in 
Westchester  County."^ 

The  church  edifice  being  located  on  the  extreme 
limit  of  the  village,  a  new  society  was  organized  and 
incorporated  October  20,  1834,  under  the  name  or 
title  of  "  The  Trustees  of  the  Second  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  White  Plains,  Westchester  County,'" 
and  a  house  of  worship  was  erected  on  the  central 
part  of  Broadway. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1871,  some  of  the  members 
of  the  First  Church  united  with  those  of  the  Second 
Church  in  forming  a  new  society,  which  is  in  a  pros- 
perous condition.  The  name  was  changed  from  the 
"Second"  to  "The  Memorial  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  White  Plains,"  *  and  a  commodious  house 
of  worship  was  erected  on  Railroad  Avenue. 

White  Plains  was  embraced  in  the  New  Rochelle 
Circuit  from  the  time  of  its  organization,  in  1787,  until 
1832,  and  the  ministers  on  the  circuit  were  as  fol- 
lows : 


Samuel  i}.  Tall.ot   1787 

I         IVti-r  Jlot  iai  t.v   1788 

f         PetiM-  Mm-iai  ty  mid  Samuel  Sinitli   1789 

I         William  Phii  lais,  M.  Swaiu  ami  J.  Brush   1790 

Jaculjl'.rusli.T.  Kveiaid  aud  T.  I.ovell   1791 

.lames  Bell  and  Benjamin  Fisler   1792 

Peter  Moriarty  and  Daviil  Valleau   1793 

Sylvester  Hutcliinsim,  Peter  Moriarty  and  D.  Denuis  .  .  .  1794 

Tlionia.-i  \V(iolsey,  .\Uiert  Van  Kostrand  and  .Taci)l)  Perkins  1793 

!         Joseph  Tiitteu,  Havid  Brown  and  Kzekiel  t'aidfieUI  ....  1796 

Daviil  Brown,  .John  Wilson  and  .John  Baker   1797 

1         Joseph  Totten  and  John  Clark   1798 

i         .John  Clark,  Timothy  Dewey  ami  Epenetus  Kibby  .  .  .  .  1799 

David  Brown,  John  Wilson  and  Elijah  Chichester  ....  18(10 

John  Wilson,  James  Campbell  ami  William  Pickett.  .  .  .  1801 

William  Thacker  and  George  Dougherty   1802 

William  Thacker  and  Aaron  Hunt    18i« 

James  Coleman   180-t 

James  Coleman  and  Joseph  Sawyer   1805 

Joseph  Crawford  and  Henry  Redstone   1806 

Billy  Hibbard,  Mitchcl  B.  Bull,  H  nry  Redstone  and  Eze- 

kiel  Caulfield  "   1807 

Billy  Ilibbard,  Zaimon  Lyon  and  EzekicI  Caulfield  ....  1808 

Lunntn  .\ndrus  and  Phineas  Peck   1809 

Noble  W.  Thomas  and  Henry  Ames   1810 

Eben  Smith,  W.  Sway/.e  and  Henry  .\mes   1811 

Eben  Smith  anil  .lonathan  Lyon   1812 

William  Pliu  bus,  William  Thacker  and  0.  Sykes   1813 

William  Thacker  and  Jonathan  Lyon   1814 

I         Smith  .\ruold  and  .Samuel  Bushnell   1815 

I         Nathan  Emeiy  and  Smith  .\rnold   1816 

Nathan  Emery  and  Charles  Carpenter   1817 

Daniel  C>3traniler  and  Charles  ('ar|>enter   1818 

!         Samuel  Bushnell  and  M.  Richardson  1819-20 

j         Elijah  Woolsey,  William  Jewett  and  Robert  .Soney  .  .  .  .  1821 

i         Elijah  Woolsi-y.  William  Jewett  and  Noble  W.Thomas  .  .  1822 

j         Heman  Bangs,  Noble  W.  Thiinnisand  Richanl  Seannin  .  .  1823 

Stephen  Martindale,  Heman  Bangs  and  L.  .Vndrus  ....  1824 

Stephen  Martindale  and  Phineas  Kicc   182.5 

P.  P.  Sandford,  Ph.  Rice  and  J.  M.  Smith   1826 


1  Bel.  lucorp..  A,  page  52,  Oo  clerk's  office.         -  Ibid,  p.  23. 


»  Ibid,  |>age  ■>:>.  « Ibid,  B.  p.  4,52. 


736 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Peter  P.  Sanilford,  Josiah  Boweii  ami  J.  M.  Smith  ....  1827 

Elijah  Woolsey,  S.  Cochran  anil  Josiah  Bow  en   1828 

Samuel  Cochran  anil  Elijah  Hibliartl   1829 

Elijah  Hihbaril  and  Daniel  De  Vinne   1830 

Ebeuozer  Washburn  and  Daniel  De  Vinne   1831 

In  1832,  White  Plains  and  Greenburgh  were  set  off 
from  the  New  Rochelle  Circuit  and  constituted  a 
separate  charge,  and  the  preachers  were  as  follows : 

Robert  Seney  and  Harvey  Husted   1832 

Robert  Seney  and  John  B.  Merwin   1833 

Peter  P.  Sandford  and  Zachariah  Davenport    1834 

P  P.  Sandford  and  S.  C.  Davis   1835 

Horace  Bartlett  and  Ezra  Jagger   1836 

Stephen  Martindale  and  Daniel  I.  M'right   1837 

Stephen  Martindale  and  John  A.  Sillick   183S 

Valentine  Buck  and  John  A.  Sillick   183!1 

Valentine  Buck   1S40 

In  1841  White  Plains  became  a  separate  charge, 
and  the  preachers  were, — 


Valentine  Buck.  .  .  .  1814 

Buel  Goodsell   1842-43 

Richard  Wymond.  .  .  1814-4.5 

Julius  Field   1846-47 

Paul  R.  Brown    .  .  .  1848-49 

Charles  B.  Sing  .  .  .  18.5()-5l 

John  Luckey   1852 


Peter  P.  Sandford. 
William  S.  Stihvell  , 
Benjamin  Griffin  . 
Henry  Lounsbury  . 
William  M.  Cliipp  . 
Willinm  H.  Evans 


1853 
1854-."» 
1856-57 
1858-59 
186()-6l 

1862 


In  1863  White  Plains  became  two  separate  charges, 
— namely.  White  Plains  and  White  Plains  village — and 
the  preachers  were, — 


White  Plains  (Old  Church). 


William  H.  Evans  . 
Darius  D.  Lindsley 
Albert  H.  Wyatt  . 
Thomas  B.  Smith  . 
John  E.  Gorse  .  .  . 


1803 
1864 
1866-67 
1868-70 
1871-73 


Asa  P.  Lyon   1874-75 

Ezra  Tinker   1876 

Thomas  W.  Chadwick  .  1877 

0.  V.  Haviland   1878-79 

Thomas  Lodge  ....  188ii 


In  1881  the  Old  Church  disbanded  and  united  with 
the  Village  Church. 

Village  Chi  ech. 

Gideon  Draper  ....  1863-64    ,       William  F.  Hatfield  .  1873-75 

William  JI.  Chipp  .  .   186.-1-66    j       Phineas  Hawkshurs  .  ]878 

John  P.  Hermance  .  .        1807           James  Y.  Bates  .  .  .  1877-79 

John  W.  Beach  .  .  .   1868-69    '       Gilbert  H.  Gregory  .  .  I.x8ll-81 

E.  B.  Othaman  .  .  .        1870    i       F.  Jlason  Xorth  .  .  .  1882-83 

Richard  Wheatley  .  .   1871-72    '       De  Loss  Lull   1884-86 

St.  John's  Roman  Catholic  Church — The  first 
Mass  said  in  Westchester  County  was  said  at  the 
house  of  Dominick  Lynch,  on  Throgg's  Point,  in  the 
town  of  Westchester,  where  the  Academy  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  is  now  located.  Dominick  Lynch  was 
a  prominent  man  during  the  Revolution,  and  after 
the  election  of  Washington  as  first  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Catholic 
address  to  Washington,  '  which  received  a  generous 
reply,  and  was  followed  by  a  memorial  to  Congress 
representing  the  necessity  of  adopting  some  constitu- 
tional provision  for  the  protection  and  maintenance 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  which  hadco>^tsomuch 
blood  and  treasure  of  all  classes  of  citizens.  It  was 
through  the  influence  of  Washington  that  this  mem- 
orial was  favorably  received,  and  it  resulted  in  the 
enactment  of  that  article  in  the  constitution  which 
declares  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting 
the  establishment  of  religion  or  the  free  exercise 
thereof,  and  which  has  since  been  incorporated  in  the 
fundamental  law. 

1  History  of  the  Irish  Settlers  in  North  America,  by  T.  D'.\rcy  JIcGee, 
p.  77. 


Dominick  Lynch,  of  New  York,  in  1795,  purchased 
the  farm  of  Lewis  Graham,  on  Throgg's  Point,  and  it 
was  in  his  house  on  this  farm  that  the  first  Mass  in 
Westchester  County  was  said. 

In  1839  Throgg's  Point  and  Sawpits  (now  Port 
Chester)  were  missions  attended  from  Harlem,  the 
former  every  second  Sunday  in  the  month,  the  latter 
occasionally,  by  Rev.  M.  Curran  and  Rev.  Bernard  O. 
Farrell.  In  1842  these  missions  were  attended  from 
St.  John's  College,  Fordham.  In  1843  and  1844  Rev. 
Father  Yilanus,  D.D.,  of  St.  John's  College,  Ford- 
ham,  attended  New  Rochelle  once  a  month;  also- 
Sawpits,  Westchester,  Throgg's  Point  and  Sing  Sing. 
In  1845,  Rev.  William  O'Reilly,  of  Westchester,  had 
chai'ge  of  these  missions.  In  1846  and  1847,  Rev. 
Matthew  Higgins,  of  Westchester,  attended  New 
Rochelle  and  Port  Chester.  In  1848,  Rev.  Valeuive 
Burgos  resided  in  Port  Chester,  and  was  succeeded 
towards  the  end  of  1848  by  Rev.  Edward  J.  O'Reilly. 

Father  O'Reilly  was  the  first  Catholic  priest  to  con- 
duct services  in  White  Plains.  He  began  to  hold 
meetings  there  about  the  year  1848.  At  this  time  he 
had  charge  of  the  Roman  Catholic  mission  in  Port 
Chester.  In  1849  or  the  early  part  of  1850  he  re- 
moved to  New  Rochelle,  having  been  appointed  pastor 
of  St.  Matthew's  Church,  at  that  place,  in  addition  to 
his  Port  Chester  charge. 

Father  O'Reilly  was  a  zealous  worker  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  a  man 
of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and  force  of  character. 
For  several  years  after  the  beginning  of  his  ministra- 
tions in  White  Plains,  the  Catholics  there  were  with- 
out a  house  of  worship  of  their  own.  Father  O'Reilly, 
anxious  to  supply  this  need,  solicited  subscription& 
from  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  was  finally  able 
to  effect  his  wish.  A  plot  of  ground,  located  where 
Hamilton  Avenue  and  SpringStreet  afterwards  crossed 
each  other,  was  purchased  in  the  latter  part  of  1852,. 
and  shortly  afterward  the  church  was  erected. 

Father  O'Reilly  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thonia* 
McLoughlin,  of  New  Rochelle.  From  1848  to  1860 
White  Plains  was  visited  once  a  month  from  New 
Rochelle.  From  1861  to  1868  it  was  attended  by  the 
Rev.  Matthew  Dowling,  of  Port  Chester,  Port  Ches- 
ter having  been  made  a  separate  mission  in  1855. 

In  1868  Rev.  John  McEvoy  was  appointed  to  the 
charge  of  White  Plains,  and  White  Plains  as  a  sepa- 
rate mission,  with  a  resident  pastor,  dates  from  that 
time.  Father  McEvoy  was  a  native  of  Kilkenny, 
Ireland,  and  had  been  an  assistant  in  St.  Stephen's 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  Twenty-eighth  Street, 
New  York  City,  immediately  before  coming  to  White 
Plains.  During  the  first  year  of  his  ministry  a 
larger  building  was  erected  just  across  Hamilton 
Avenue  from  the  old  structure,  and  the  congregation 
moved  thither,  retaining  the  old  church  as  a  Sunday- 
school.  Father  McEvoy  became  chaplain  of  St. 
Vincent's  Retreat,  in  the  town  of  Harrison,  in  1878,^ 
and  died  there  some  time  later. 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


737 


His  succesi<or  at  White  PUiins  was  the  Rev.  Bar- 
tholomew Galligaii,  who  assumed  charge  in  Novem- 
ber, 1878.  Father  Galligan  was  born  December  19, 
18o8,  in  County  Cavan,  Ireland ;  he  was  ordained 
Det-ember  1!),  1SG8,  and  died  July  9,  1884.  He  was 
at  one  time  an  assistant  in  St.  Bernard's  Church. 
New  York  City,  and  afterwards  in  St.  Gabriel's 
Church,  New  York  City.  Previous  to  coming  to 
White  Plains  he  was  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  at 
Cold  Spring,  Putnam  County,  N.  Y. 

In  Jaiuiary,  1884,  Father  Galligan's  health  failed, 
and  the  Rev.  Michael  J.  jNIurray  became  his  assistant 
and  remained  such  until  the  death  of  the  pastor. 
He  then  assumed  the  duties  of  acting  pastor  and  re- 
mained such  until  about  the  1st  of  September,  1884, 
when  the  Rev.  Edward  A.  Dunphy,  the  ne.\t  pastor 
of  the  church,  took  charge. 

Father  Edward  A.  Dunphy  was  born  at  Newburgb, 
(Grange  County,  N.  Y.,  November  1,  1845.  At  an 
early  age  he  entered  St.  John's  College,  at  Fordhani, 
ami  wiis  grailuated  from  there  with  the  highest  honors 
of  his  class  in  18(j5.  He  then  attended  the  Troy 
Theological  Seminary,  where  he  was  ordained  in  De- 
ccndier,  18G8.  Shortly  afterward  he  was  appointed 
an  a.ssistantat  St.  Mary's  Church,  New  York  City,  but 
was  soon  transferred  across  town  to  St.  Joseph's, 
where  he  remained  several  years.  Subsequently  he 
accepted  the  chair  of  sacred  elocpience  in  the  Troy 
Theological  Seminary,  tendered  him  by  the  late  Car- 
dinal McCloskey.  Upon  his  resignation  from  this 
post  he  was  assigned  to  Rossville,  Staten  Island, 
where  he  remained  four  years,  until  his  removal  to 
White  Plains,  in  1884.  A  man  of  scholarly  attain- 
ments, impressive  eloquence  and  great  generosity,  he 
did  much  to  strengthen  and  advance  the  interests  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  White  Plains.  He 
remained  pastor  of  St.  John's  Church  until  his  death, 
December  18,  1885. 

Father  Edward  A.  Dunphy  was  succeeded  at  White 
Plains  by  his  brother.  Rev.  William  A.  Dunphy,  a 
genial  Christian  gentleman,  who  was  appointed  to 
this  charge  December  21,  1885,  and  is  the  present 
faithful  and  acceptable  pastor  of  St.  John's. 

St.  John's  Church  will  seat  six  hundred  persons, 
and  is  comfortably  tilled  at  the  two  Masses  said  there 
every  Sunday  morning,  as  well  as  at  the  vespers  and 
benediction  every  Sunday  afternoon.  The  Sunday- 
school,  now  held  in  the  church,  has  an  average  at- 
tendance of  about  three  hundred  scholars.  In  con- 
nection with  the  church  is  a  society,  composed  of 
men,  known  as  St.  John's  Temperance  Society ;  an 
altar  society,  composed  of  ladies,  who  have  the  care 
of  the  altar ;  and  also  the  St.  John's  Literary  and 
Social  Union,  composed  of  both  sexes,  and  number- 
ing over  one  hundred  members.  This  union  has 
founded  a  library  for  the  use  of  its  members. 

The  B.\itist  Chi  kch  ok  White  Plains,  N.  Y. 
— This  church  was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1871, 
and  was  regularly  incorporated  April  1.3,  1871,  with 


John  M.  Rowoll,  Samuel  Taylor,  George  R.  Hopkins, 
James  H.  Purdy,  Richard  S.  Geary,  Sdlick  Roberts 
and  Enoch  Harris  as  trustees.'  During  the  winter 
preceding  the  incorporation  there  were  held  meetings 
of  about  twenty  persons  desirous  of  organizing  a  Baptist 
Church,  and  as  a  preliminary  ellbrt,  the  Rev.  Jerome 
B.  Morse  was  invited  to  and  did  preach  on  the  2(!th 
of  March,  1871.  At  the  close  of  the  services  it  was 
resolved  to  organize  a  church  under  the  name  of 
"The  First  Baptist  Church  of  White  Plains,"  and  twen- 
ty-two persona  became  members.  Rev.  Jerome  B. 
Morse  was  chosen  pastor;  John  M.  Rowcll,  treasurer; 
and  Daniel  M.  Tucker  and  John  M.  Rowell,  deacons. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1871,  at  a  meeting  of  sister  con- 
gregations, the  White  Plains  Church  was  formally 
recognized,  and  services  were  thereafter  held  in  the 
Methodist  chapel,  on  Hamilton  Avenue,  until  Au- 
gust, 1871,  when  Mr.  James  B.  Colgate,  of  Yonkers, 
purchased,  for  twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  do- 
nated to  the  society,  the  fine  building  which  had  been 
erected  by  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  on  Mamaro- 
neck  Avenue,  and  which  the  society  continues  to  oc- 
cupy and  enjoy. 

Ill  health  compelled  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morse  to  resign, 
November  10,  1872;  he  was  succeeded,  April  1,  1873, 
by  the  Rev.  George  W.  Clowe,  who  continued  to  be 
pastor  until  June  1,  1879,  with  the  exception  of  one 
year,  beginning  March  1,  1877,  and  ending  March  1, 
1878,  during  which  time  Rev.  J.  L.  Benedict  occupied 
the  pulpit. 

On  July  9,  1879,  the  Rev.  F.  P.  Sutherland  was  in- 
stalled and  remained  until  January  1,  1884,  when 
Rev.  W.  W.  Covel  was  chosen  pastor  and  still  con- 
tinues faithfully  and  acceptably  to  discharge  his 
duties*. 

ACADEMIES  AXD  SCHOOLS. 

The  White  Plains  Academy  was  incorporated 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in  1828,  under  the 
management  of  trustees.  A  building  was  erected  on 
the  east  side  of  Broadway  (now  a  dwelling-house 
next  south  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Jarvis).  The  Rev. 
John  M.  Smith  was  employed  as  the  principal  of  the 
school,  and  held  that  i)osition  until  1832,  when  here- 
signed.  He  was  succeeded  by  Prof.  John  Swinburne, 
a  popular  and  successful  instructor.  In  1840,  Prof. 
Swinburne  withdrew  from  the  academy,  and  opened 
a  private  boarding-school,  which  he  conducted  with 
signal  success  until  1851,  when  he  retired  on  a  com- 
petence. His  school  was  on  the  west  side  of  Broad- 
way, in  the  buildings  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Kingsley. 

A  female  seminary  was  founded  in  1835  by  An- 
drew L.  Halsted,  who  erected  and  occuj)ied  the  dwell- 
ing now  owned  by  Mrs.  A.  C.  Tompkins,  on  Broad- 
way. It  was  transferred  in  1839  to  Mr.  N.  C.  Hart, 
who  soon  after  relinquished  it. 

The' Rev.  Robert  William  Harris  opened  a  board- 
ing-school for  boys  about  1835,  in  the  rectory  (now 

■  Recorded  in  book  of  "  Religious  Incorporationa,"  Westchester  county 
clerk's  office,  Juno  16,  1871. 


738 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


occupied  by  Mr.  Samuel  Faile),  whicli  was  very  suc- 
cessful until  his  removal  to  Astoria,  about  1857. 

A  school  for  girls  was  successfully  conducted  for  a 
long  time  by  Mrs.  R.  B.  Searles.  It  was  known  as  the 
White  Plains  Female  Institute.    It  closed  about  1873. 

At  present  (1886)  there  are  three  private  schools  in 
White  Plains.  The  Alexander  Institute,  the  most 
important,  was  established  in  1845,  and  conducted  for 
twelve  years  by  Mr.  William  S.  Hall,  under  the  name 
of  the  Hamilton  Military  Institute.  For  the  next 
six  years  it  was  under  the  supervision  of  General 
Munson  I.  Lockwood,  who  called  it  the  White  Plains 
Military  Academy. 

During  the  year  18(33,  Mr.  Oliver  R.  Willis,  the 
present  principal,  assumed  charge,  and  the  name  was 
changed  to  the  Alexander  Institute.  Mr.  Willis  has 
a  corps  of  competent  teachers  to  assist  him,  andpuj)ils 
are  taught  in  military  mana'uvrcs  as  part  of  the 
course.  Instruction  is  given  in  the  ordinary  English 
branches,  and  in  all  studies  necessary  to  enable  a 
youth  to  enter  college.  The  capacity  of  the  school  is 
for  thirty  boarders.  It  is  pleasantly  situated  on  Broad- 
way, a  short  distance  north  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Miss  Frances  Harris'  School. — This  school  was 
started  in  18G7,  and  is  now  located  on  Lexington 
Avenue,  near  the  post  road ;  she  receives  but  a  small 
number  of  pupils. 

Miss  Mary  Adler's  School. — In  1875,  Miss  Ad- 
ler  opened  a  school  for  boys  and  girls  on  Lexington 
Avenue.  She  subscijuently  removed  to  Lafayette 
Kali,  and  in  188")  removed  into  a  neat  building 
which  she  had  erected  on  Church  Street.  The  num- 
ber of  pupils  averages  about  forty. 

Public  or  District  School. — It  is  not  known 
where  the  first  school-house  was  located.  All  that  is 
known  is  that  it  was  abandoned  in  173i);  afterwards 
the  second  school-house  was  erected  on  the  highway, 
o])l)osite  the  northwest  corner  of  the  S(juire  place. 
This  house  was  abandoned  about  1829,  and  the  school 
was  kept  in  the  academy  building  until  about  184(1, 
when  a  school-house  was  erected  on  the  road  to  Rye, 
southwest  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Timothy  Dick. 
This  building  was  burned  in  1848,  and  the  place  oc- 
cupied as  a  school  was  rented. 

In  185G  the  present  brick  structure  was  erected  ; 
in  1875  a  large  addition  was  nuide,  and  in  188()  still 
further  additions  were  made.  In  1874,  Mr.  Charles  A. 
CJanung  was  appointed  jirincipal  of  the  school,  and  is 
still  in  charge.  The  average  daily  attendance  is 
three  hundred. 

cemeteries. 

The  oldest  cemetery  in  White  Plains  surrounds  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  on  Broadway,  and  contains 
about  four  acres.  It  dates  back  to  1730.  The  graves 
are  all  directly  east  and  west,  and  not  in  line  or  at 
right  angles  with  either  side  of  the  grounds. 

The  White  Plains  Rural  Cemetery. — This 
cemetery  was  incor[)orated  November  20,  1854.  A 
tract  of  thirty-six  acres  was  purchased,  bounded  on 


the  east  by  Broadway  and  on  the  south  by  the  high- 
way leading  from  Broadway  to  Greenburgh.  About 
1862,  the  affairs  of  the  company  having  fallen  into 
disorder,  its  creditors  were  induced,  through  the 
efforts  of  Wm.  H.  Albro,  Esq.,  to  exchange  their 
claims  for  cemetery  lots  of  corresponding  value. 
Under  its  present  management  the  cemetery  is  well 
kept,  and  is  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

The  officers  are  Wm.  H.  Albro,  president;  Wm. 
H.  Huestis,  secretary;  John  R.  Sherwood,  treasurer; 
and  Wm.  H.  Albro,  Eugene  T.  Preudhomme  and 
John  R.  Sherwood,  working  committee. 

newspapers. 

The  Westchester  Spy. — In  the  spring  of  the  year 
1830,  Alan  McDonald  and  Minott  Mitchell,  with  one 
or  two  others,  purchased  the  necessary  material  for 
establishing  a  newspaper,  and  employed  as  editor  Mr. 
Peter  C.  Smith,  a  young  gentleman  from  New  York, 
who,  in  May,  1830,  issued  the  first  number  of  the  first 
newspaper  published  in  White  Plains,  under  the  title 
of  The  Wesl cheater  Spy. 

Its  publication  was  contiinied  by  successive  editors 
until  1847,  when  it  was  discontinued. 

The  Eastern  State  Journal. — This  paper  was 
founded  at  White  Plains  in  May,  1845,  by  Edmund 
G.  Sutherland  as  its  proprietor  and  publisher,  assisted 
by  a  half-brother,  Thomas  Jefferson  Sutherland. 

This  business  arrangement  continued  about  eleven 
months,  when  Thomas  J.  Sutherland  withdrew  and 
the  paper  remained  in  the  hands  of  Ednuind  G. 
Sutherland,  under  whose  mauagment  it  became  the 
leading  Democratic  pajier  of  the  county,  and  so  con- 
tinued until  his  death,  in  May,  1883. 

It  is  now  under  the  prudent  and  successful  manage- 
ment of  Ezra  J.  Horton,  Esq. 

The  Westchester- News. — This  i)aper  first  ap- 
l)eared  in  October,  1871,  as  a  Democratic  organ,  under 
the  charge  of  Ezra  J.  Horton,  Escj.,  and  was  con- 
tinued under  changing  management  until  August 
1876,  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  its  present 
proprietor,  Edward  B.  Long,  Esq.,  under  whose 
spirited  direction  it  has  become  one  of  the  leading 
Republican  papers  in  the  county. 

The  White  Plains  Standard. — In  1885  Mr.  J. 
O.  Spencer  established  the  White  Plains  Standard  as  a 
weekly  paper  ;  but  finding  its  management  required 
more  time  than  he  could  spare  from  his  other  business 
engagements,  sold  it  in  1886  to  Mr.  Peter  Paulding, 
who  now  controls  it. 

THE  FIRE  department. 

The  first  fire  company  was  organized  in  White 
Plains  about  1854,  and  was  known  as  the  Hope  Fire- 
Eugine  Company.  There  was  also  organized  about 
the  .same  time  the  Union  Hook-and-Ladder  Company. 
These  companies  did  good  service  in  the  village  until 
1874,  when  they  disbanded,  and  for  about  ten  years 
there  was  no  regularly  organized  fire  company. 

The  Hope  Engine  Company. — In  October,  1883, 
the  Hope  Fire-Engine  Company  was  reorganized  and 


WHITE 


phiccd  under  the  control  of  the  vilhi^e  authorities. 
The  following  were  the  firsst  olHoers  elected  :  Chief 
Engineer,  Stephen  W.  Smith  ;  assistant  chief  engineer, 
Frank  Genipler;  foreman,  Elliott  IT.  Sniflin  ;  first 
assistant  foreman,  John  Ferguson  ;  second  assistant 
foreman,  John  McCarty  ;  secretary,  John  T.  Rehill ; 
assistant  secretary,  Willianj  Gentleman ;  treasurer, 
'J'heodore  Doll. 

The  numl)(!r  of  menihers  is  limited  tosi.xty. 

The  i)rcsont  ofhcei-s  are :  F oreman,  John  Ferguson  ; 
first  assistant  foreman,  Lewis  C.  Piatt,  Jr. ;  second 
assistant  foreman,  Peter  F.  Tracy  ;  secretary,  Edward 
Baxter;  treasurer,  Thomas  J.  McCarty;  steward, 
James  Htines. 

Tni',  Union  IIook-.vnd-Ladder CoAri'AXY. — This 
company  was  also  reorganized  in  1883.  Its  first  oflicers, 
on  reorganization,  were:  Foreman,  Feltus  Pullen  ; 
assistant  foreman,  John  ICmherson  ;  secretary,  Charles 
P.  Sherwood. 

At  present  the  oflicers  are :  Foreman,  William 
Sterling;  assistant  foreman,  William  Godwin;  sec- 
retary, Edward  Dames  ;  treasurer,  Frank  L.  Cox. 

lIoi'K  IIosE  Company. — This  company  was  or- 
ganized in  1884  with  twenty  members,  and  the  fol- 
lowing officers  elected  :  Foreman,  Frank  E.  Benson  ; 
assistant  foieman,  Henry  Armhruster;  secretary, 
George  Robinson  ;  treasurer,  Charles  Nowill. 

Present  oillcers :  Foreman,  Frederick  Underliill ; 
assistant  foreman,  John  Shay  ;  secretary,  Livingston 
R.  Hartnett;  treasurer,  Barney  Gilligan ;  steward, 
James  Doneliy. 

The  Independent  Fire  Comi'Any. — This  com- 
pany was  organized  in  1884,  and  supplied  themselves 
by  their  own  contributions  with  an  engine  and  uni- 
forms. The  oflicers  first  chosen  were:  Foreman, 
David  P.  Barnes;  first  assistant  foreman,  William  H. 
Lawler ;  second  assistant  foreman,  John  R.  Barnes  ; 
secretary,  Edward  Bogart ;  treasurer,  Thomas  Ilohhni. 

The  number  of  members  was  one  hundred  and  two. 

The  present  officers  are  :  Foreman,  John  II.  Barnes; 
firet  assistant  foreman,  William  H.  ].,awler;  second 
assistant  foreman,  Adolph  Matthies  ;  secretary,  John 
Haley,  Jr.;  treasurer,  Thomas  Holden ;  steward, 
Janu's  Barrett. 

The  chief  officers  of  the  Fire  Department,  includ- 
ing the  Hope  Engine  Company,  Hope  Hose  Com- 
pany and  Union  Hook-and-Ladder  Company,  are : 
Chief  engineer,  Stephen  W.  Smith ;  assistant  chief 
engineer,  Elliott  H.  Sniffin. 

S0(;IETIES. 

The  White  Plains  Lyceum.  —  On  the  21st  of 
November,  187i,  about  a  dozen  gentlemen  met  and 
determined  that  an  association  should  be  formed, 
with  the  object  of  i)roviding  rooms,  to  be  supi>lied 
with  periodicals  and  a  library,  where  young  men 
could  spend  their  evenings  pleasantly.  They  secured 
the  second  and  third  floors  of  the  building  on  the 
corner  of  Railroad  Avenue  and  Grove  Street,  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  Telephone  Company,  and  the  Lyceum 


PLAINS.  739 


was  opened  January  20,  1872.  After  a  few  years  the 
association  removed  to  its  jiresent  comfortable  (piar- 
ters,  over  Mr.  Samuel  Ho|)per"s  store. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Lyceum,  a  course  of  lec- 
tures and  entertainments  are  given  every  winter,  the 
last  of  which  has  usually  been  a  dramatic  perform- 
ance by  local  amateurs.  The  professional  talent  eni- 
l)loyc(l  has  been  of  the  very  best,  and  the  anuiteur 
entertainments  have  always  been  welcomed  with 
crowded  audiences  and  have  jiroduced  an  exalted 
opinion  of  the  dramatic  talent  of  some  of  the  citizens. 

The  Ionic  Lodge  was  the  first  Lodge  of  Free  and 
Accei)ted  Masons  in  White  Plains.  It  was  organized 
under  a  dispensation  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  held  its  first  meeting  I'^ebru- 
ary  1,  1858.  It  never  held  but  three  or  four  meetings. 
John  P.  Jenkins  was  BLuster ;  Elijah  Guion,  Senior 
Warden  ;  and  Lewis  C.  Piatt,  Junior  Warden. 

White  Plains  Lodge,  No.  473,  received  its  char- 
ter some  time  later,  and  held  its  first  meeting  Ajjril 
8,  185!).  Hiram  P.  Rowell  was  its  first  .Master ;  John 
F.  Jenkins,  Senior  Warden  ;  John  P.  Jenkins,  Junior 
Warden;  John  W.  Mills,  Treasurer;  Daniel  H.  Lit- 
tle, Secretary;  Francis  Dauchy,  Senior  Deacon; 
William  S.  Cameron,  Junior  Deacon;  and  William 
llahlen,  Tiler. 

The  first  place  of  meeting  was  in  Moger's  Hall,  on 
Railroad  Avenue,  near  Broadway. 

The  lodge,  in  1884,  contained  fifty  members.  Meet- 
ings arc  now  held  in  a  hall,  which  has  been  fitted  up 
at  an  expense  of  about  three  thousand  dollars,  on  the 
northeast  corner  of  Railroad  and  Lexington  Avenues. 

The  present  officers  are  (ieorge  W.  Brown,  Master; 
John  Birch,  Senior  Warden  ;  William  Nehr,  Junior 
Warden;  Francis  H.  Hessels,  Secretary  ;  Richard 
Manney,  Treasurer;  Leonard  O.  Roselle,  Senior  Dea- 
con ;  James  H.  Howes,  Junior  Deacon  ;  J.  F.  Loy, 
Senior  Master  of  Ceremonies;  Aaron  Radick,  Junior 
iMaster  of  Ceremonies;  J.  S.  I'ye,  Tiler;  Trustees, 
John  M.  Rowell,  E.  B.  Long  and  D.  Morgan  Under- 
bill. 

HEiiRON  Lodge,  No.  229,  I.  ().  of  O.  F.— This 
lodge  was  chartered  February  1,  1870,  the  charter 
officers  being  Josei)h  Lye,  N.  G. ;  James  Epps, 
V.  G. ;  Frank  Schermer,  S. ;  M.  Armhruster,  J.  G. ; 
Peter  Mann,  T. ;  H.  W.  Lown,  R.  S.  N.  (J.;  H. 
Bromm,  W. 

It  has  about  forty-five  members,  and  the  lodge- 
room  is  on  Lexington  Avenue. 

Good  Templar  LoD(iE,  No.  324. — This  Indepen- 
dent Order  of  (iood  Templars  was  organized  Decem- 
ber 2(1,  1880,  with  sixty  mend)ers.  I.  R.  Miller  was 
chosen  W.  C.  T.  ;  G.  W.  Brown,  W.  S. ;  and  B.  F. 
Hosier,  L.  D. 

The  meetings  of  the  lodge  are  held  at  the  corner 
of  Spring  Street  and  Railroad  Avenue,  and  there  are 
about  fifty  members. 

The  White  Plains  Concokdia. — This  German 
I  Musical  Society  was  organized  June  10,  1880,  under 


740 


HISTORY  OP  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  name  of  the  "  White  Plains  Gesang  Verein," 
with  seventeen  members.  Its  first  officers  were  Dr. 
Ludwig  Dresher,  president ;  Adolph  Matthies,  vice- 
president  ;  Joseph  Lye,  treasurer ;  Charles  Burmeis- 
ter,  recording  secretary ;  and  Frank  Gempler,  ser- 
geant. In  April,  1881,  the  name  of  the  society  was 
changed  to  '"'  The  White  Plains  Concordia."  It  num- 
bers about  fifty-five  members,  who  meet  in  a  large 
room  in  the  Union  Hotel. 

James  Cromwell  Post,  No.  466,  G.  A.  R. — A 
Veteran  Association  was  formed  in  White  Plains  in 
1866,  but  little  interest  was  taken  in  it.  Subsequently 
stej)s  were  taken  by  some  of  the  members  to  establish 
a  Grand  Army  post,  and  on  the  19th  of  March,  1S84, 
a  charter  was  granted  by  J.  M.  Hedges,  Department 
Commander,  and  on  the  3d  of  April  the  post  was 
mustered.  The  officers  were  and  are  Valentine  M. 
Hodgson,  Commander  ;  John  C.  Verplanck,  Junior 
Vice  Commander;  Edward  W.  Bogart,  Adjutant;  Geo. 
W.  Brown,  Officer  of  the  Day  ;  David  P.  Barnes,  Ser- 
geant; Burlin  H.  Palmer,  Quartermaster;  Henry 
J.  Williams,  Officer  of  the  Guard  ;  James  S.  Snedeker, 
CJhaplain  ;  Richard  Roach,  Inside  Sentinel ;  Charles 
B.  \\'histon.  Outside  Sentinel. 

This  post  was  organized  under  the  name  of  Weitzel 
Post,  but  it  soon  after  ai)pearing  that  there  was  an- 
other post  bearing  the  same  name,  it  was  afterwards 
changed  to  its  present  one  of  James  Cromwell. 

The  Central  Bank  of  Westchester  County 
was  incorporated  on  the  16th  of  Oct.,  1828,  with  a  capi- 
tal of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Its  officers  are: 
President,  Wra.  H.  Albro ;  Cashier,  Howard  E.  Foster. 

Lafayette  Hall. — In  1865  Eugene  T.  Preud- 
homme  built  Lafayette  Hall,  on  Railroad  Avenue, 
near  Broadway.  It  will  seat  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  and  is  used  for  public  gatherings  of  var- 
ious descriptions. 

Moran's  Hall  was  erected  by  James  H.  Moran 
in  1873,  on  the  corner  of  Railroad  Avenue  and  Spring 
Street,  and  will  seat  about  four  hundred  persons. 

White  Plains  Gas  Company. — The  manufacture 
of  gas  was  begun  in  White  Plains  in  1860  on  a  small 
scale,  by  parties  from  New  York  City.  In  April, 
18()3,  the  i)ropcrty  and  works  were  ])urchased  by  Eu- 
gene T.  Preudliomme,  Esq.,  and  in  1872  passed  into 
the  possession  of  a  stock  company,  the  capital  being 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

The  officers  of  the  company  are  Eugene  T.  Preud- 
liomme, president ;  Charles  Horton,  treasurer;  and 
William  II.  Huestis,  secretary.  /Ihe  amount  of  gas  an- 
nually consumed  is  between  three  and  four  million  feet. 
hotels. 

The  Orawaupum  Hotel. — The  first  Orawaupum 
Hotel  was  built  about  1844,  near  the  New  York  and 
Harlem  Railroad  depot,  and  was  kept  by  Mr.  Isaac 
Smith.  The  name  was  suggested  by  the  historian, 
John  Macdonald,  it  being  the  name  of  the  principal 
Indian  chief  of  whom  the  White  Plains  lands  were 
purchased. 


The  original  hotel  was  a  frame  building  and  was 
burned  February  17, 1854.  It  was  then  owned  by  the 
widow  of  Isaac  Smith,  who  soon  thereafter  erected 
the  present  edifice. 

It  has  passed  through  several  hands  and  is  now 
conducted  by  Stanley  F.  Newell,  who  has  been  pro- 
prietor since  1882. 

The  hotel  is  built  of  brick  and  has  accommodations 
for  about  fifty  guests. 

The  Union  Hotel. — This  hotel  is  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  Railroad  Avenue,  along  the  railroad, 
and  was  built  about  1869  by  J.  M.  Schirmer.  In 
1878  it  passed  into  the  possession  of  Theodore  Doll, 
the  present  jjroprietor. 

The  Standard  House. — In  1860  Brundage  Snif- 
fin  erected  this  building  on  Railroad  Avenue,  directly 
opposite  the  court-house.  It  is  now  owned  by  Mrs. 
Ada  Richardson,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Sniffin,  and  is 
managed  by  Mr.  N.'  Hubbard  Miller.  It  has  thirty 
sleeping-rooms  and  from  its  nearness  to  the  county 
offices  finds  its  largest  custom  from  persons  attending 
the  courts. 

Wallace  Hotel. — This  hotel  is  located  on  Court 
Street  and  is  well  kept  by  Benj.  F.  Wallace  ;  it  has  ac- 
commodations for  i)ermanent  and  transient  boarders. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


DAVID  CROMWELL. 

Several  branches  of  the  Cromwell  family  in  Amer- 
ica are  descended  from  Colonel  John,  third  son  of 
Richard  Cromwell,  and  brother  of  the  renowned  Pro- 
tector, Oliver  Cromwell.  John  Cromwell,  son  of 
Colonel  John,  emigrated  from  Holland  to  New  Neth- 
erland,  and  in  1686  was  a  resident  at  Long  Neck,  in 
Westchester  County,  afterwards  known  as  Cromwell's 
Neck.  He  left  two  sons — John  and  James.  The  Lat- 
ter was  born  in  1()96  and  died  in  1770,  leaving  three 
children — John,  James  and  William.  John  Crom- 
well, the  oldest  son,  was  a  resident  of  Harrison,  born 
December  5,  1737.  He  married  Anna  Hopkins, 
of  Long  Island,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children — James,  Daniel,  John,  Joseph,  William, 
Naomi  (wife  of  Rev.  Mr.  Halstead),  Esther  (wife  of 
John  Griffin,  Jr.,  of  North  Castle),  and  Hannah  (wife 
of  William  Field  of  Cortlandt. 

John  Cromwell,  the  father  of  this  family,  was  an 
active  patriot  during  the  Revolution,  endured  many 
hardships  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age  in  1805. 

.lames  Cromwell,  the  oldest  son,  was  born  Novem- 
ber 6,  1752,  and  in  early  life  worked  on  the  farm  of 
General  Lewis  Morris,  at  Morrisania.    This  dwelling 


'■  MAPLETON." 

RESIDENCE  OF  N.  H.  HAND, 
WHITE  PLAINS,  N.  Y. 


* 


WHITE  TLALNS. 


741 


was  near  "  Cromwell's  Creek,''  which  derived  its  name 
from  him,  and  after  remaining  here  several  years  he 
removed  to  New  York,  where  he  conducted  a  grocery 
business,  and  at  a  later  date  purchased  a  farm  in  the 
town  of  Monroe,  Orange  County  (then  known  as 
Southfield),  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days, 
and  died  December  23,  182S.  He  married  Charlotte, 
daughter  of  Aaron  Hunt,  of  Greenwich,  Conn.,  and 
left  twelve  children — Hannah  (wife  of  David  Grittin ), 
Rebecca  (wife  of  George  Fritts),  Daniel,  James,  Oli- 
ver, Ann  (wife  of  John  Haviland),  David,  Aaron, 
William,  Mary  (twins  who  died  young),  William  and 
John. 

John,  the  la.-it  named,  was  born  in  Monroe,  July 
26, 1803,  engaged  in  business  in  New  York,  and  having 
earned  a  modest  competence,  purchased  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres  in  New  Windsor,  Orange  County, 
where  he  resided  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Jle  was  a  life-long  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
known  and  honored  as  a  useful  and  worthy  citizen 
and  faithful  in  the  performance  of  all  the  duties  of 
life.  He  married  Letitia,  daughter  of  Abijah  and 
Patience  Haviland,  of  White  Plains,  N.  Y.,  and  they 
were  the  parents  of  four  children — Walter,  residing 
in  California;  .lames,  of  Bedford,  Westchester  Coun- 
ty ;  Oliver,  of  New  Windsor  (died  June  11,  1885), 
and  David.  Jlrs.  Letitia  Cromwell  died  in  ISlil,  and 
Mr.  Cromwell  was  subsequently  married  to  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Charles  and  Ann  (Conklin)  Cox,  of  New- 
burgh. 

David  Cromwell  was  born  in  New  York  l\Iay  25, 
1838,  and  at  the  age  of  eight  years  removed  with  his 
parents  to  New  Windsor,  N.  Y.  His  early  education  was 
obtained  at  the  Cornwall  Collegiate  School,  from 
which  he  graduated  as  a  civil-engineer  and  surveyor, 
and  after  practicing  his  profession  for  about  one  year 
ho  went  to  New  York  and  embarked  in  the  grain  trade. 
In  18t)2  he  came  to  ICast  Chester  and  established  a 
sjtore,  where  he  conducted  business  until  1879.  In 
1877  he  wiis  elected  supervisor  of  East  Chester,  and 
re-elected  in  1878.  In  the  fall  of  1878  he  was  unani- 
mously nominated  by  the  Republican  party  as  their 
candidate  for  the  responsible  office  of  county  treas- 
urer, and  was  elected  over  George  W.  Davids  (Demo- 
crat), who  had  held  the  office  for  three  years  and  was 
running  for  re-election.  The  faithfulness  and  ability 
exhibited  by  Mr.  Cromwell  in  the  performance  of  his 
otHcial  duties  led  to  his  re-election  in  1881  by  an  in- 
creased majority,  and  in  1884  he  was  elected  for  a 
third  term  by  a  majority  of  about  seven  hundred,  not- 
withstanding that  the  county  gave  a  Democratic  ma- 
jority of  over  thirteen  hundred  on  the  electoral  ticket. 
His  ability  and  integrity  commanded  the  votes  of 
thinking  men  of  all  parties.  He  married  Fannie, 
daughter  of  Thomas  W.  and  Julia  Deuel,  of  New 
York  City,  December  3,  1873.  Their  children  are 
Fannie  May,  born  May  23,  1876,  and  John  Chester, 
born  July  29,  1878. 


XATH.YN   II.  II.\N1). 

Mr.  Hand  was  born  in  Peacham,  \'t.,  March  11, 
18iy.  From  the  district  school  and  the  academy  in 
his  native  town  he  received  his  education.  In  early 
youth  he  went  to  ilontpelier,  and  served  iis  clerk  in 
a  store  for  a  year  or  two,  when  he  removed  to  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  where  he  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness, until  failing  health  induced  him  to  take  a  sea 
voyage,  returning  from  which  he  went  to  Winchen- 
don,  Mass.  There  he  purchased  a  store  and  stock  of 
goods,  and  engaged  in  a  general  mercantile  business, 
and  also  in  the  manufacture  of  palm  leaf  hats,  be- 
cnniing  the  largest  producer  of  these  articles  in  the 
State.  A  few  years  later  he  went  to  Middlebury,  Vt., 
and  engaged  in  the  lumber  and  wood-ware  manufac- 
ture. While  he  was  thus  employed,  the  marble  busi- 
ness in  that  section  of  Vermont  was  attracting  much 
attention.  He  became  interested  and  bought  a  very 
extensive  quarry  in  Piltsford,  Vt.,  and  began  with 
great  energy  and  industry  to  develop  and  utilize  it,  so 
that  he  soon  competed  with  older  and  larger  compan- 
ies, furnishing  stone  for  New  York  and  Boston  mar- 
kets. Two  of  Boston's  large  hotels  were  built  of 
marble  sold  by  him.  He  made  a  number  of  improve- 
ments in  cutting  and  (juarrying  the  marble,  which 
are  in  use  to  this  day. 

In  1867  he  became  connected  with  the  gold  mining 
interests  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  locating  his  opera- 
tions in  and  around  Dahlonega,  which  is  regarded  as 
the  very  centre  of  the  auriferous  region  of  that  State. 
At  the  time  he  began  his  operations  there  was  hardly 
a  successful  mining  enter()rise  in  that  section.  The 
methods  for  obtaining  gold  were  almost  entirely  prim- 
itive, the  mills  and  machinery  being  crude  and 
imperfect.  Under  his  thorough  business  knowledge 
and  energy,  and  by  backing  his  judgment  with  his 
means,  he  has,  more  than  all  others,  brought  the 
mining  industry  of  northern  Georgia  to  its  present 
j)r()sperous  condition.  A  large  tract  of  comparatively 
worthless  territory  has  become  one  of  the  most  valua- 
ble mining  properties  in  the  State.  Under  a  charter 
granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  he  organized 
the  "  Hall's  Gold  Mining  Company,"  becoming  its 
president  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  its  stockholders, 
which  office  he  still  holds.  Hydraulic  mining  has 
been  largely  and  successfully  carried  on.  Water  has 
been  brought  a  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles  to 
supply  stainj)-mills  and  for  washing  down  the  ore. 
The  canals  and  ditches  e.Kceed  fifty  miles  in  length. 
There  are  ten  thousand  six  hundred  feet  of  twenty- 
four  and  thirty-six  inch  iron  pipe,  and  six  thousand 
seven  hundred  feet  of  wooden  pipe,  of  like  dimensions, 
used  in  the  work. 
I  All  this  has  been  the  result  of  Mr.  Hand's  skill, 
I  pluck  and  perseverance.  So  fully  is  this  realized  in 
I  the  Georgia  gold  belt,  that  he  is  generally  called  the 
I  father  of  the  gold  mining  interests  of  the  State,  and 
'  no  history  of  that  enterprise  can  be  written  in  which 


742 


HISTORY  OP  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


his  name  will  not  be  prominently  mentioned  with  clue 
credit  and  honor. 

These  results  and  achievements  of  seventeen  years, 
have  not  been  accomplished  without  the  expendi- 
ture of  much  thought,  as  well  as  labor  and  money. 
Obstacles  in  mountains,  hills  and  streams  were  not 
only  met  and  overcome,  wliich  rc(juired  great  mechan- 
ical skill  and  engineering  ability,  but  Mr.  Hand  had 
to  contend  with  legal  difficulties,  and  the  prejudices 
of  a  ]>eople  aroused  against  the  introduction  of  new 
methods  of  mining.  The  code  of  mining  laws 
adopted  by  the  Legislature  in  1808,  princii)al]y  to 
encourage  the  hydraulic  process,  had  not  been  tested 
in  the  courts  of  the  .State-  To  construct  canals  and 
ditches  over  the  lands  of  others  for  mining  purposes, 
without  their  consent,  though  just  compensation  was 
ofl'ered,  was  an  infringement  on  the  people's  rights, 
as  it  was  said,  which  they  were  bound  to  resist.  The 
courts  were  api)ealed  to,  the  farther  construction  of 
the  canal  was  enjoined  by  the  lower  tribunal  and  work 
was  stopped  for  several  months,  pending  the  appeal 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State.  For  a  time  the 
entire  mining  industry  of  Georgia  hung  upon  the 
question.  If  the  miner  could  not  get  water  for  his 
stamp  mills,  then  all  operations  of  any  magnitude 
must  cease.  The  future  prospects  of  the  State  as  re- 
gards her  mining  intei'ests,  were  about  to  be  forever 
blighted.  Some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  Georgia 
were  employed,  and  after  a  lengtliy  discussion,  the 
Supreme  Judges  decided  in  favor  of  Mr.  Hand  and 
his  right  to  proceed  with  his  canal.  His  charter  was 
pronounced  constitutional-  Inch  by  inch  he  has 
fought  his  way ;  and  to-day  through  his  unwearied 
exertions,  the  mining  interests  of  the  great  State  of 
Georgia  have  been  placed  upon  a  safe  and  lasting 
basis. 

Chief  Justice  Hiram  Warner,  in  delivering  the 
opinion  of  the  court  in  the  case  alluded  to  (the  Hand 
Gold  Mining  Company  v.s.  John  A.  Parker,  et  al., 
59th  Georgia  Reports)  says:  "In  view  of  the  evi- 
dence contained  in  the  record  as  to  the  necessity 
for  the  General  Asssembly  to  exercise  the  right 
of  Eminent  Domain  in  granting  the  right  of 
way  for  the  defendant's  ditch  or  canal  to  convey 
the  water  from  Yahoola  River  and  Cane  Creek 
into  the  gold  belt  in  the  County  of  Lumpkin,  for  the 
successful  workings  of  the  valuable  mines  to  be  found 
there,  so  as  to  increase  the  production  of  gold  for 
the  use  of  the  ])ublic  through  the  medium  of  the  de- 
fendant's corporation,  the  General  Assembly  did  not 
exceed  its  Constitutional  power  in  making  the  grant  to 
the  defendant  of  the  riglit  of  way,  as  expressed 
in  its  charter.  Let  the  defendant's  ditch  or 
canal  be  constructed  in  pursuance  of  the  grant  in 
the  defendant's  charter,  and  let  the  water  from  Ya- 
hoola River  and  Cane  Creek  flow  therein  into  the 
gold  belt  of  Lumpkin  County,  where,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State,  the  public  good 
requires  it  should  flow,  so  as  to  enable  the  defendant 


to  increase  the  production  of  gold  on  its  own  land, 
not  only  i'or  its  own  use  and  benefit,  but  through  its 
agency  and  organization,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  public,  wliich  at  the  present  moment  is  greatly 
in  need  of  an  increase  of  that  constitutional  currency 
recognized  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Republic,  in  1787, 
as  being  of  vital  importance  to  the  welfare  and  per- 
manent prosperity  of  the  people." 

In  the  spring  of  1885  Mr.  Hand,  with  his  family, 
removed  from  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  had  resided 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  settled  at  what  is  now 
known  as  JIaple  Grove,  on  Broadway,  in  tlie  village 
of  White  Plains,  Westchester  County. 


JOHN  M.  TILFORD. 

Mr.  Tilford  is  one  of  the  members  of  the  well-known 
firm  of  Park  &  Tilford,  New  York  City.  He  was  born 
in  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  March  16,  1815,  and 
for  twenty  years  remained  upon  his  father's  place  en- 
gaged in  the  usual  pursuit  and  activities  of  a  farmer's 
life. 

In  1835  he  left  his  native  county  and  came  to  New 
York  City,  where  he  entered  the  grocery  store  of  Ben- 
jamin Albro.  It  was  while  here  that  he  first  met  his 
future  partner,  Mr.  Park,  with  whom,  after  a  clerk- 
ship of  five  years,  in  Mr.  Albro's  store,  he  embarked 
uj>on  his  first  business  venture  at  No.  35  Carmine 
Street,  New  Y'ork  City.  How  successful  this  proved 
to  be  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the 
wholesale  and  retail  grocery  business  in  New  York 
City  and  throughout  the  country.  Park  &  Tilford,  by 
their  close  attention  to  the  details  of  their  business,  and 
the  strict  integrity  which  they  have  preserved  through- 
out an  unbroken  partnership  of  nearly  forty -six  years, 
have  won  for  themselves  a  world-wide  reputation  and 
a  credit  wliich  is  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  house  of 
a  like  description  in  the  country. 

Some  twenty-five  years  since  Mr.  Tilford  began  the 
purchiise  of  ground  in  Westchester  County,  and  is 
now  the  possessor  of  many  acres  of  farming  land  in 
and  about  the  towns  of  Harrison  and  White  Plains. 
He  has  a  handsome  residence  in  White  Plains,  and  is 
well  known  in  its  social  circles. 

In  1840  he  married  Miss  Jennie  White.  He  has 
two  sons,  Charles  E.  and  Frank,  both  of  whom  are 
engaged  in  business  with  their  father. 

His  business  foresight,  together  with  his  genial 
manner,  have  caused  liis  advice  to  be  widely  sought 
in  financial  circles  and  have  endeared  him  both  to 
those  in  his  emjiloy  and  to  the  many  whose  business 
brings  them  into  daily  contact  with  him. 


JOHN  "W.  YOUKG. 

Mr.  Young,  who  is  a  well-known  business  man  in 
the  village  of  White  Plains,  was  born  in  New  Castle, 
March  28,  1824.  His  father,  John,  and  his  grand- 
father, James  Young,  were  also  natives  of  New  Cas- 
tle. The  children  of  John  Young  (who  married 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Peter  Carpenter)  were  Mary,  wife 


RESIDENCE  OF  J.  M.  TILFORD, 

WHITE  PLAI^S   N  V. 


I 

I 


WHITE  PLAINS. 


743 


of  Robert  Purdy ;  Deborah,  wife  of  Edward  Haight; 
Eliza,  who  married  Conkling  Kip  ;  P>meline,  wife  of 
J.  Reynolds  ;  Lydia,  De  Witt  C,  Jackson,  Asa,  .Jesse, 
John  W.  and  Harrison. 

When  he  had  reached  the  age  of  fourteen,  John 
W.  Young  left  home  and  went  to  Somers,  where  he 
worked  on  a  farm,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Sing 
Sing,  where  he  engaged  in  business  with  his  brother. 
He  then  wont  to  New  York  and  remained  in  business 
there  for  five  years,  and  afterwards  went  to  Mount 
Kisco.  whence  he  came  to  White  Plains,  which  has 
since  been  his  residence.  Here  he  engaged  in  the 
lumber  and  coal  business,  which  proved  extensive 
and  prosperous  and  is  now  conducted  by  his  sons  and 
nepliews. 

He  married  Hester, 
daughter  of  Daniel  Trip. 
They  have  three  chil- 
dren,— Albert,  Irving  W. 
and  Laura  E. 

The  elegant  residence 
of  Mr.  Young  was  built 
by  him  in  1874,  and  is 
one  of  the  finest  private 
d  w  e  1 1  i  n  g  s  in  White 
Plains. 


BAKTHOI.OMEW  GEDXEY. 

The    family    of  this 
name  are  said  to  have 
come  from  the  north  of 
England  long  before  the 
Revolution.     John  Ged- 
ney, who  resided  in  York- 
town,    near  Crompond, 
died  about  17G3,  leaving 
a  family  of  five  children, 
— John  ;  Polly,  wife  ot 
Monmouth  Hart ;  Betsy, 
wife  of 
Wil- 
liam 
Havi- 
land  ; 
Mar- 
tha, 

wife  of  Covert ;  and  Sarah,  wife  of  Edward  Bugbee. 

Of  these  children,  .John,  the  only  sou,  was  born  April 
16,1761.  His  father,  who  was  a  farmer,  died  when 
the  son  was  two  years  old,  and  he  went  to  live  with 
his  uncle  Bartholomew  at  While  Plains.  Upon  the 
decease  of  his  uncle  he  inherited  the  homestead  and 
fifty  acres  of  land.  His  early  circumstances  were  un- 
favorable and  he  enjoyed  few  educational  and  relig- 
ious advantages.  During  the  whole  of  his  life  he 
was  a  farmer,  a  business  which  he  conducted  with 
such  success  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the 
owner  of  a  farm  of  three  hundred  acres  in  a  higli 
state  of  cultivation,  and  was  generally  considered  one 


of  the  best  agriculturists  in  the  county.  He  was  a 
devoted  and  lil)eral  member  of  the  Methodist  Cluirch, 
and  highly  esteemed  as  a  citi7,en.  He  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Lyon,  and  they  were  the  pa- 
rents of  ten  children, — Margaret,  born  May  27,  1786, 
married  Peter  Cornell ;  Esther,  born  January  24, 
1788,  married  Anthony  Martine;  Abigail,  born  No- 
vember 1(),  1789,  married  Nathaniel  Tompkins;  Eliz- 
abeth A.,  born  .January  29,  1792,  died  unnuirried  in 
1831;  Phebe,  born  June  6,  1794,  married  George 
Wildey  ;  Dorothy  was  born  August  27,  1796;  Char- 
lotte, born  June  20, 1800,  married  Edward  Billington  ; 
Bartholomew  was  born  April  22,  1802 ;  Elijah  L.  was 
boru'May  5,  1804;  Mary  L.,  born  September  6,  1806, 

married  Charles  Whiting, 
of  New  York  ;  and  John 
B.  was  born  June  4, 1808. 
After  a  long  life  of 
active  usefulness  Mr. 
(Jedney  died  December 
28,  1841,  and  rests  in 
the  old  burying-ground 
by  the  Methodist  Church 
in  White  Plains. 

liartholomew  Gedney, 
the    oldest   son  of  this 
family,   has   passed  his 
entire  life  on  the  ances- 
tral farm  inherited  from 
his  father.     Of  an  ex- 
ceedingly industrious  na- 
ture, he  has  devoted  his 
time   and   labor   to  the 
improvement  of  his  es- 
tate, and  is  widely  known 
as  one  of  the  most  ac- 
complished agriculturists 
in  the  county.  Upon  this 
larm  one  hundred  and 
twelve 
bushels 
of  shell- 
ed corn 
have 
been 
raised 

upon  an  acre  of  land,  while  wheat  at  the  rate 
of  forty-seven  bushels,  and  hay  to  the  extent  of 
five  tons  per  acre  have  been  produced.  His  stock 
of  Short  Horn  cattle  is  not  excelled  by  any 
herd  in  this  section  of  the  country.  He  is  an 
active  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  which  he 
joined  in  1844.  With  an  active  interest  in  politics, 
he  feels  an  honest  pride  in  the  fact  that  his  first 
vote  was  cast  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  he 
has  never  failed  to  vote  at  every  Presidential  election 
since  that  time.  He  is  now  a  stanch  supporter  of  the 
Repul)lican  i)arty.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
F'armers'  Club  of  Bedford  for  many  years,  and  very 


744 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


frequently  took  premiums  at  the  Westchester  County 
Fairs  while  the  society  had  an  existence. 

Mr.  Gedney  married,  in  1824,  Ann  Eliza,  daughter 
of  William  Hunt,  of  Tarrytown.  They  have  six 
children, — Ann  A.,  John,  William  H.,  Mary  L., 
wife  of  William  Horton  ;  Jane  H.,  wife  of  William 
Banks,  of  New  Castle  ;  and  Bartholomew,  Jr.  The 
residence  .of  Mr.  Gedney  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Ridgeway  road,  and  is  surrounded 
by  highly  cultivated  farms  that  smile  with  abundant 
harvests. 


HON.  WILLIAM  M.  OLLIPFE. 

Commissioner  OlliSe,  as  he  was  commonly  called, 
was  in  so  far  a  Westchester  man  as  that  he  spent  each 
spring  and  summer  for  many  years  at  "Edgewood," 
his  country  residence,  in  the  town  of  Greenburgh.  A 
fondness  for  fine  cattle,  for  rural  life  and  for  out-door 
sports,  besides  genial  ways  and  pleasant  manners, 
made  him  welcome  at  every  fair  and  agricultural 
muster.  He  was  perhaps  more  widely  known  through- 
out the  county  than  most  of  its  citizens,  through  the 
smartness  of  his  turnouts,  the  speed  of  his  roadsters 
and  the  scrupulousness  of  his  own  appearance,  which 
bespoke  a  city  man  rather  than  a  country  gentle- 
man. 

Mr.  Olliffe  wiis  born  in  1843,  in  Broome  Street,  then 
a  fashionable  quarter  of  New  York.  His  grandfather, 
John  Olliffe,  one  of  the  Irish  patriots  of  1798,  came 
hither  with  Thoniiis  Addis  Emmett  and  others,  to  es- 
cape British  persecution,  before  the  beginning  of  the 
century.  About  the  same  time  a  nephew  of  the  same 
ancestor  went  to  India  and  became,  in  turn,  Catholic 
Bishop  and  Archbishop  of  Calcutta.  His  father.  Dr. 
William  J.  Olliffe,  was  a  physician  of  distinction  in  a 
family  of  physicians,  one  of  whom  was  long  body 
physician  to  Louis  XVI.  and  another.  Sir  Joseph, 
was  physician  to  the  British  embassy  at  Paris  and  to 
Emperor  Louis  Napoleon.  He  came,  too,  of  a  nota- 
ble family  on  the  side  of  his  mother,  the  daughter  of 
Cornelius  T.  Williams,  whose  lands  on  Manhattan 
Island  included  what  is  now  Union  Square  and  ex- 
tended northward  along  Broadway  to  the  present 
Madison  Scpiare. 

Mr.  Olliffe  received  his  general  and  classical  school- 
ing from  the  celebrated  Dr.  Anthon.  Later  he  at- 
tended and  graduated  from  the  College  of  Pharmacy, 
of  which  be  was  long  a  trustee  and  patron. 

As  became  a  gentleman  of  cultivation  and  of  means, 
he  traveled  through  most  of  the  States  of  the  Union, 
visited  the  Mexican  republic  and  made  an  extended 
tour  in  Europe.  On  his  return  from  the  Continent 
he  married  the  only  daughter  of  Jordan  L.  Mott,  the 
ironmaster  of  Mott  Haven.  In  his  early  manhood 
and  on  the  death  of  his  father  he  succeeded  to  Dr. 
Olliffe's  business  as  a  pharmacist,  which  he  continued 
as  proprietor  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  him  large  leis- 
ure for  social  and  other  engagements.    Although  he 


never  ran  for  office,  he  took  a  lively  concern  in  pub- 
lic affairs  and  in  the  political  fortunes  of  his  party 
friends,  particularly  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  and  Edward 
Cooper.  The  latter  made  him  commissioner  under 
the  Rapid  Transit  Act  and  also  commissioner  of  public 
parks  in  New  York  City.  He  was  likewise  appointed 
by  Mayor  Grace  to  the  same  municipal  department 
of  which  he  was  respectively  president  and  treasurer. 

Early  in  1883  neglect  of  a  cold  allowed  a  bronchial 
trouble  to  become  so  fastened  that  he  foresaw  it  never 
could  be  shaken  off  by  nursing  or  medical  aid.  Then 
he  gave  up  his  customary  season  at  Saratoga  and  sold 
his  place  at  Long  Branch,  preparing  to  adjust  his 
affairs.  In  the  autumn  of  the  following  year  he  was 
missed  from  the  races  and  gatherings  which  he  had 
graced  and  enjoyed.  The  winter  found  him  too  feeble 
to  journey  southward,  as  be  had  done  before,  and 
confined  him,  reluctant  but  uncomplaining,  within 
doors  to  suffer  a  painful  illness  and  to  pass  away  at 
the  very  commencement  of  the  spring  from  the  town 
house  of  his  father-in-law,  a  little  before  midnight, 
the  9th  of  March,  1885. 

Even  those  who  knew  him  best  knew  not  how 
widely  and  how  well  he  had  endeared  himself,  until 
a  few  day  later,  at  his  funeral,  the  Church  of  the  Pu- 
ritans was  crowded  within  and  thronged  without,  not 
only  by  dignitaries  of  the  city,  judges  from  the  bench 
and  members  of  his  societies  and  clubs,  but  also  by 
people  of  humbler  rank  than  himself,  who  came  to 
offer  a  last  expression  of  affection  for  a  friend  and 
benefactor. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

king's  bridge, 
by  thomas  h.  edsall, 

of  the  New  York  bar. 

Description.  —  The  area  under  consideration — 
about  four  thousand  acres — lies  just  south  of  the 
city  of  Yonkers. '  Its  boundaries  are  the  Yonkers 
city  line  on  the  north,  the  Bronx  on  the  east,  the  late 
West  Farms  line,  ^  Harlem  River  and  Spuyten  Duy- 
vil  Creek  on  the  south,  and  the  Hudson  on  the  west. 
Its  northernmost  point,  Mount  St.  Vincent,  is  about 
twelve  miles  from  White  Plains  and  fifteen  miles  from 
the  city  hall.  New  York.  Its  outlines  extend  along 
the  Yonkers  city  line  three  miles,  the  Bronx  one 
and  five-tenths  miles,  the  West  Farms  line  one  and 
five-tenths  miles,  the  Harlem  River  and  Spuyten 


1  This  name,  derived  from  Dr.  Adraien  Van  der  Donck's  title  of  Jonier, 
was  not  applied  to  any  part  of  the  present  Yonkers  until  the  erection  of 
the  township  of  that  name,  in  1788.    Before  that  date  for  more  tlian  a 

i  century  "tlie  Yonkers"  or  "the  Yonkers  Plantation,"  was  the  name 
[  of  a  precinct  which  comprised  the  greater  part  of  the  township  of 
'  King's  Bridge,  while  the  present  Yonkers  was  called  Phillipsburgh,  be- 
ing part  of  the  manor  of  that  name,  erected  in  1093, 

2  Coincident  with  the  north  line  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham,  erected 
1  November,  1671. 


i 
I 

k 


KING'S  BRIDGE. 


745 


Duyvil  Creek  one  and  five-tenths  miles,  and  the  Hud- 
sou  two  and  five-tenths  miles. 

Topographically,  it  consists  of  two  main  ridges  and 
an  intermediate  one,  liaving  their  axes  parallel  with 
the  Palisades  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  direction  north- 
northeast.  1.  Spuyten  Duyvil  Kidge,  from  Yonkers 
city  line  to  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  and  between  the 
Hudson  on  the  west  and  Tippett's  Brook  '  on  the  east. 
Greatest  elevation,  two  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet,  ' 
ou  land  of  Frederick  Goodridge,  Iliverdale.  2.  Valen- 
tine's Ridge,  from  Yonkers  line  to  West  Farms  line, 
and  between  the  Bronx  ^  on  the  east  and  Tippett's 
Brook  on  the  west.  Greatest  elevation,  two  hundred 
and  forty  feet,  near  Woodlawn  Heights.  8.  Van 
Cortlandt  Ridge,  intermediate,  from  Y'onkers  line  to 
Vault  Hill,  between  Tippett's  Brook  on  the  east  and 
its  main  branch  on  the  west.  Greatest  elevation,  two 
hundred  feet,  near  Yonkers  city  line. 

Tippett's  Brook,  the  main  stream,  rises  in  Yonkers, 
rtows  southwesterly  until  it  forms  Van  Cortlandt 
Lake,*  below  which  it  is  a  tidal  stream  to  its  outlet  into 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  About  twenty  lesser  brooks, 
varying  in  length  from  five  hundred  to  ten  thousand 
feet,  flow  into  the  Hudson,  the  Bronx  and  Tippett's 
Brook. 

The  geological  formations  are  very  ancient,  consist- 
ing mainly  of  micaceous  gneiss  or  granite,  *  the  former 
largely  preponderating,  the  exposed  surfaces  indicat- 
ingsubjectionto  intense  heatand  pressure,  with  so  great 
displacement  that  the  strata  are  nearly  vertical,  out- 
cropping in  numerous  parallel  ledges,  not  continuous, 
but  cii  echelon,  and  giving  steep  inclination  to  hill- 
sides. A  coarse,  crystallized  limestone"  of  varying 
hardness,  ranging  about  north-northeast,  crops  out  at 
King's  Bridge  and  on  the  Whiting  and  Delafield 
estates,  Spuyten  Duyvil  Ridge.  On  the  latter  ridge 
the  surface  of  the  primary  rocks  is  strewn  with  trap 
boulders. 

DiscovEKY. — The  earliest  known  visitor  to  this  lo- 
cality was  Henry  Hudson.  Going  up  the  river  which 
bears  his  name,  he  skirted  its  westerly  shore  Septem- 
ber 13,  1609,  and,  on  his  return,  was  attacked,  Oc- 

'  So  called  after  George  Tippett,  an  early  settler  and  proprietor,  and  of 
late  corrupted  into  Tibbilt'e  Brook.  Its  Indian  name  was  Jloshohi.  It 
has  also  been  known  as  Mill  Creek  and  Yonkers  Hirer. 

■-The  highest  ground  within  the  limits  of  New  York  City.  The  eleva- 
tion of  Fort  W'ashington,  the  greatest  on  Manhattan  Island,  is  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-four  feet. 

3  So  called  after  Jonas  Bronck,  the  earliest  white  settler  and  proprietor 
of  "Bronck's  Land,"  now  Morriaania,  Twenty-third  Ward,  New  York. 

'.\n  arliticial  pond,  formed  by  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  circum  1700,  by 
damming  Tippett's  Brook. 

5.\ffording  building-stone  of  fine  quality.  Before  1750  quarries  of 
"broken  stone  "  were  worked  on  Spuyten  Duyvil  Ridge,  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  which  is  scarred  by  them.  The  large  quarries  at  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Point  were  worked  until  about  IS.'iO. 

'  Known  as  Kiiufs  Bridge  Mitrble.  It  was  extensively  quarried  early  in 
the  century  on  the  northerly  end  of  Manhattan  Island.  Perkins  Nich- 
oUs  had  a  marble-sawing  mill  at  "  Dyckman's  Cut  "  (which  wa«  exca- 
vated to  supply  power  to  this  mill  by  the  ebb  and  How  of  the  tide),  and 
another  at  the  King's  Bridge.  On  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  along  ths 
base  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Ridge,  were  several  kilns  for  making  lime 
from  this  stone,  all  of  which  have  been  disused  for  many  years. 

70 


tober  2d,  from  Shomck-Kappock,  the  Indian  name  of 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Point,'  and  the  kill  or  creek  at  its 
base. 

Indians. — The  Indian  name  of  this  section  was 
Weckqwieskeek, — "  the  birch-bark  country," — and  its 
residents  were  known  to  the  first  settlers  as  Wickers- 
creek  Indians.  In  person  they  were  tolerably  stout. 
Their  hair  was  worn  shorn  to  a  coxcomb  on  top,  with 
a  long  lock  depending  on  one  side.  They  wore  bea- 
ver and  other  skins,  with  the  fur  inside  in  winter  and 
outside  in  summer,  and  also  coats  of  turkey  feathers. 
They  were  valiant  warriors.  "  Yea,"  says  De  Vries, 
"  they  say  they  are  Manetto — the  devil  himself!  '' 
Their  leading  sachems,  at  the  advent  of  white  set- 
tlers, were  Tequeiaet,  Eechgairac  and  Packamiens,  from 
whom  the  Dutch  director,  Kieft,  purchased,  in  Au- 
gust, 16-19,  the  tract  Keskeskick.  This  tribe  gradually 
dwindled,  until  its  remnant  finally  disappeared  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

First  Skttlement. — The  earliest  white  resident 
and  proprietor  was  Dr.  Adraien  Van  der  Donck,y«m 
ufriusque  doctor,  of  Leyden.  He  had  been  sheriff"  of 
the  Colonic  of  Rensselaerswyck  since  1641.  Having 
aided  Director  Kieft  in  negotiating  an  important  In- 
dian treaty  at  Fort  Orange,  Albany,  the  latter 
granted  him,  in  1645,  a  large  tract  on  the  Nep- 
perhaem  River,  Yonkers,  where  he  built  a  saw-mill,* 
laid  out  farms  and  plantations-and  "  had  actually  re- 
solved to  continue."  But  that  indispensable  requi- 
site of  a  Dutch  farm,  salt  meadow,  was  lacking.  In 
search  of  this,  Van  der  Donck  found,  about  a  mile 
above  the  irading-phice  (King's  Bridge)  "  a  flat,  with 
some  convenient  meadows  about  it,"  which  he 
promptly  secured  by  purchase  from  the  Indians  and 
a  further  grant  from  Kieft.  His  new  acquisition  in- 
cluded the  area  under  consideration,  extending  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  Bronx,  and  from  the  Spuyten  Duy- 
vil Creek  to  the  Nepperhaem  tract.  Here  he  located 
his  bowerie,  or  home-farm,  with  its  "  planting-field," 
and  near  the  latter  he  had  already  begun  the  erection 
of  his  house,  before  going  to  Holland,  in  1649,  as  the 
representative  of  the  commonalty  of  New  Amster- 
dam. Van  der  Donck's  "  planting-field  "  was  on  the 
plain  or  flat  of  the  Van  Cortlandt  estate,  lying  be- 
tween Broadway  and  the  present  lake,  and  extending 
up  to  the  southerly  end  of  Vault  11111.**  It  is  prob- 
able that  his  house  was  on  the  flat,  and  located,  per. 
haps,  where  the  old  house  of  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt 
afterwards  stood  until  the  early  part  of  this  century.'" 

While  absent  in  Holland,  Van  der  Donck's 
lands  were  erected  into  the  fief  or  Colonie  of  Nepper- 
haem (or,  as  he  called  it  after  his  own  name,  Colen- 

1  According  to  tradition,  the  natives  had  a  castle  or  stronghold  on  the 
point. 

silence  the  name  of  "Saw  Kill,"  by  which  this  stream  became 
known. 

'  It  may  have  also  stretched  eastward  across  the  brook  and  beyond 
the  site  of  the  present  lake. 

1''  Its  site  was  just  behind  the  present  grove  of  locusts,  north  of  the  Van 
Cortlandt  Mills. 


74G 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


donck),  and  he  was  made  its  i)atroon.  Pursuant  to 
the  "  Freedoms  and  Exemptions,"  he  sent  out  to  it, 
from  Holland,  a  number  of  colonists  with  supplies  of 
farming  stock  and  implements.  In  1652  he  was  about 
to  return  io  his  colonie,  and  had  already  embarked 
his  wife,  mother,  brother  and  sister,  with  an  ample 
stock  of  goods,  when  the  West  India  Company  pre- 
vented his  departure.'  During  his  detention  he  got 
word  that  some  "  land-greedy  "  persons  were  squat- 
ting on  his  lands.  He  appealed  to  the  company  to 
protect  his  possession  of  the  "  flat  and  meadows ;"  also 
tor  leave  to  return  to  them,  which  was  withheld  until 
1653.  In  the  summer  of  that  year  he  sailed  for  Nieuw 
Netherland,  arriving  in  the  autumn,  and  repaired  to 
his  boicerie.  He  did  not  long  survive  his  return,  dy- 
ing in  1654  or  1655.  The  latter  was  the  year  of  the 
Indian  massacre,  when  all  the  surviving  settlers  about 
Nieuw  Amsterdam  fled  to  the  fort  for  protection.  It 
is  probable  that  Van  der  Donck's  bowerie  was  de- 
serted and  destroyed.  In  August,  Stuyvesant  granted 
to  a  Cornelis  Van  der  Donck  a  parcel  of  about  fifty 
morgens,  on  the  north  side  of  Manhattan  Island,  "  by 
the  savages  called  Muscoote,  or  a  flat  {anders  een 
vlacte)"  and  as  much  meadow  or  hay  land  as  was 
given  to  other  boweries.  This  may  have  referred  to 
the  late  Dr.  Van  der  Donck's  bowerie,  but  no  further 
mention  has  been  found  of  the  grantee  or  his  connec- 
tion with  this  tract. 

After  the  patroon's  death  his  widow  joined  her 
father,  the  Rev.  Francis  Doughty,  in  "the  Virgin- 
ias," where  she  became  the  wife  of  Hugh  O'Neale,  of 
Patuxcnt,  Maryland. 

The  province  had  jjassed  under  English  rule,  and 
nearly  ten  years  had  elapsed  since  the  death  of  her 
first  husband  before  Mrr.  O'Xeale  took  any  steps  to 
reclaim  the  Yonkers  estate.  On  the  2l8t  of  Septem- 
ber, 16i56,  she  and  O'Neale  went  before  Governor 
NicoU  and  his  Council,  accompanied  by  several  In- 
dians, who  had  formerly  owned  the  lands.  The  latter 
made  acknowledgment  of  their  sales  to  the  late  pa- 
troon,^  and  on  the  8th  of  October  a  grant  of  the  whole 
estate  was  made  to  O'Neale  and  wife.  On  the  30th 
they  assigned  their  patent  to  Elias  Doughty,  of 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  O'Neale,  probably 
for  convenience  of  sale,  un  account  of  their  residing 
at  a  distance. 

The  first  to  purchase  from  Doughty  was  John 
Archer,  or  Jan  Arcer,  as  he  signed  his  name.  He  was 

1  Van  der  Donck  had  so  well  accomplished  his  mission  on  behalf  of 
the  oppressed  commonalty  as  to  procure  from  the  irtates  General  their 
mandate,  recalling  Stuyvesant  to  Holland,  of  which  he  was  made  the 
bearer.  But  the  States  being  on  the  eve  of  war  with  England,  and  need- 
ing the  assistance  of  the  rich  and  powerful  West  India  Company,  the 
latter  was  enabled  to, not  only  procure  the  revocation  of  Stuyvesant's  re- 
call, but  to  detain  its  bearer  in  Holland. 

2  Of  "  a  certain  parcel  of  laud  upon  the  maine,  not  farre  from  W'eat- 
"  Chester,  commonly  called  y«  Youuckers  Laud."  They  declared  its  bounds 
to  be  "from  a  place  called  Miicackeiiii  at  y<^  nortli,  so  to  come  to  Neperan 
"and  to  Kill  Sonjuupp,  then  to  Mttskotn  and  Papperem-man  to  ye  south 
"and  crosse  y  c(uiiitrey  to  y  eastward  of  Bronck.\  liis  lUver  and 
"  Land." 


the  son  of  Jan  Aarsen,  from  Nieuwhoft',  who  was  nick- 
named by  the  Dutch  Koop-al  (buy-all),  and  the  son 
was  known  as  Jan  Koop-al,  the  younger.  He  had 
long  resided  at  Oost  Dorp  (now  Westchester).  In 
March  and  September,  1667,  he  bought  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  upland  and  thirty  acres 
of  meadow,  near  the  "  wading-place."  On  the  up- 
land, just  across  the  meadow  from  Paparinamin,  he 
founded  the  village  of  Fordham.  It  had  the  counte- 
nance and  protection  of  the  Governor,  being  "  in  a 
"convenient  place  for  the  relief  of  strangers,  it  being 
"  the  road  for  passengers  to  go  to  and  fro  the  maine, 
"  as  well  as  for  mutual  intercourse  with  the  neighbor- 
"  ing  colony."  The  village  consisted  of  about  a  dozen 
houses  in  an  extended  line,  along  the  base  of  Tetard's 
Hill,  crossed  at  the  middle  by  the  "  old  Westchester 
path"  (Albany  post  road),  leading  up  over  the  hill 
towards  Connecticut.  No  traces  of  these  old  habita- 
tions remain.  Two  years  later  Archer  acquired  all 
the  land  southerly  to  High  Bridge,  lying  between  the 
Harlem  and  Bronx,  which  was  erected  into  his  Manor 
of  Fordham  in  1671.  The  north  line  of  this  ancient 
manor  from  the  Harlem  to  the  Bronx,  being  the  south 
line  of  the  O'Neale  patent,^  became  one  of  the  south- 
erly boundaries  of  the  town  of  King's  Bridge.  Archer 
lived  and  ruled  at  Fordham  in  frequent  contention 
with  his  tenants  and  neighbors  until  his  death,  in 
1684.  During  the  Dutch  re-occupation,  in  1673-74, 
his  government  was  suspended,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Fordham  nominated  their  own  magistrates  ;  but  on 
the  return  of  the  English,  in  the  latter  year,  Archer 
resumed  his  sway.  In  1679  he  was  sheriff  of  New 
York.  At  his  death  the  manor  was  so  heavily  mort- 
gaged to  the  wealthy  Dutchman,  Cornelis  Steenwyck, 
that  his  heirs  could  not  redeem  it.  By  Steenwyck's 
will  it  was  devised  to  the  "  Nether  Dutch  Reformed 
Congregation."  in  New  York,  for  the  support  of  their 
minister. 

William  Betts  and  George  Tippett,  his  son-in-law, 
next  purchased  from  Doughty  (deed,  July  6,  1668), 
about  two  thousand  acres,  extending  across  from  the 
Hudson  to  the  Bronx,  south  of  an  east  and  west  line 
which  went  along  the  north  side  of  "  Van  der  Donck's 
planting-field."    This  line  struck  the  Hudson  about 


3  Notwithstanding  the  patent  for  the  Manor  of  Fordham  recited  that  it 
was  part  of  tlie  land  "granted  in  the  Grand  Patent  to  Hugh  O'Nea'e 
Jlan-,  his  wife  ;  "  also  that  "  purchase  was  made  thereof  by  John  Archer 
from  Elyas  Doughty,  who  was  invested  in  their  interest,  «*  also  of  the 
Imhjan  Proprirlort,  ic,"  it  is  impossible,  by  any  interpretation  of  the 
boundaries  in  the  O'Xeale  Patent  to  make  them  extend  below  the  north 
line  of  the  manor.  There  is  no  record  of  any  deed  from  Doughty  to 
Archer  of  land  south  of  that  line.  The  writer  is  of  opinion  that  Archer, 
conniving  with  the  Governor  or  Secretary  Nicoll,  advance<l  this  claim 
of  title  through  Van  der  Donck's  successors,  in  order  to  forestall  claims 
to  the  tract  which  might  have  been  otherwise  established.  Such  claims 
were  preferred  early  in  the  following  century  by  Quimby  against  the 
Dutch  Church,  which  then  owued  it,  and  about  1750  a  brief  on  behalf  of 
the  church  in  an  ejectment  suit  sets  out  with  a  recital  of  a  copy  of  an 
utirecorded  deed  from  Doughty  to  Archer,  on  which,  however,  counsel 
was  not  instructed  to  rely.  The  only  proper  basis  of  .Archer's  title  was 
his  purchase  from  the  "Indyan  Proprietons." 


I 


llislonral  MvckMi  .Map  f 
KIN  OS  IMUDGEW^-''" 

'/'/iiiiiii/v  Hriiiy  /.'t/sti// 

.SmJr  Z.ium  Iri'/  ti,,i,i  iiirli.  //'  '  i 


"1 


ll 


KINGS 


three  hundred  feet  south  of  Thorn's  dock,  and  the 
Bronx  about  five  hundred  feet  south  of  the  Yonkers 
city  line,  and  the  purchase  included  all  south  of  it,  ex- 
cepting Paparinamin,  for  which  Tippett received  a  sep- 
arate "  deed  of  gift "  from  Doughty.  It  included  "  that 
piece  where  formerly  the  old  Van  der  Donck's  house 
stood,"  and  what  are  now  Spuyten  Duyvil,  Hudson 
Park,  Mosholu,  Van  Cortlandi's,  Olaff  Park,  Wood- 
lawn  Heights  and  Woodlawn  Cemetery.  Betts  and 
Tippett  obtained  from  Governor  Lovelace,  February 
20,  1671,  a  patent  which  contained  a  proviso  that  it 
should  no  way  prejudice  "  the  New  towne  of  tford- 
ham,"  nor  what  had  been  done  by  his  order  towards 
its  settlement. 

Mr.  Betts  was  an  Englishman,  and  by  trade  a  turn- 
er. He  was  at  Scituate,  Mass.,  in  1635,  four  years 
after  which  he  married  Alice,  a  "  maiden  of  the  Bay," 
who  bore  him  several  children.  With  his  minister, 
Lothrop,  he  removed  to  Barnstable,  and  thence  came 
to  Connecticut.  In  1662  he  lived  at  Oost  Dorp,  where 
he  was  a  magistrate  by  appointment  of  Stuyvesant. 
He  was  named  as  a  patentee  in  the  English  patent 
for  the  town  of  Westchester,  granted  in  1668.  The 
same  year  he  removed  to  his  new  plantation  in  the 
Yonkers,  and  the  next  year  became  overseer  of  the 
court  at  Fordham.  He  died  in  1675,  survived  by  his 
wife,  Alice,  sons,  Samuel,  Hopestill  and  John,  a 
daughter,  Mehitable,  wife  of  George  Tippett,  and  a 
grandson,  John  Barrett,  son  of  a  deceased  daughter, 
Hannah,  who  had  married  Samuel  Barrett,  of  West- 
chester. Descendants  of  the  name  of  Betts  con- 
tinued to  own  portions  of  the  ancestral  acres  until 
the  early  part  of  this  century. 

Mr.  Tippett  was  at  Flushing  in  August,  1667,  when 
he  gave  in  his  name  to  the  Governor  "  to  be  ready  to 
serve  his  Majesty  "  on  all  occasions.  While  he  lived 
in  the  Yonkers  the  swine  of  the  New  Harlem  people 
used  to  run  at  large  at  the  upper  end  of  Manhattan 
Island,  and  sometimes  straying  across  the  ivading- 
2)lace  at  low  tide,  failed  to  return.  Tippett  would  be 
charged  with  their  detention  and  the  whole  community 
hauled  into  court  as  witnesses.  Tippett's  "  ear-mark  " 
for  his  own  swine  was  said  to  be  "  the  cutting  of  their 
ears  so  close  that  any  other  marks  might  be  cut  oft"  by 
it."  Mr.  Tippett  died  intestate  in  1675,  survived  by 
his  wife,  Mehitable  (afterward  married  to  Lewis  Vit- 
rev  and  Samuel  Hitchcock),  a  son  George,  perhaps  a 
son  Henry,  and  a  daughter  Mehitable  (who  was  mar- 
ried fii-st  to  Joseph  Hadley  and  second  to  John 
Couckliu).  Descendants  of  his  name  held  portions  of 
the  estate  until  the  Revolutionary  War. 

"^Tippett's  Hill "  was  the  name  of  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Neck  during  the  same  period,'  and  the  princi- 
pal stream  of  the  Yonkers  has  always  been  called  after 
him,  although  corrupted  into  "Tibbits"  in  recent  times. 


I  Known  after  the  Revolution  and  until  recently  as  "Berrien's  Neck," 
after  an  owner  who  married  Dorcas  Tippett,  a  great-great-grandilanghter 
of  the  first  George. 


BRIDGE.  747 


John  Hadden  made  the  next  purchase  from 
Doughty.  His  deed  of  June  7,  1668,  antedates  that 
of  Betts  and  Tippett,  but  bounds  on  land  already 
sold  to  them.  It  conveys  three  parcels  aggregating 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  lying  directlj'  north 
of  Van  der  Donck's  planting- field  and  extending 
across  from  the  Albany  post  road  to  the  road  to  Mile 
Square.  The  Van  Cortlandt  estate  now  includes  the 
whole  of  it.  For  two  hundred  acres  Hadden  gave  a 
horse  and  for  the  remainder  five  pounds !  In  Decem- 
ber, 1668,  Betts  sold  to  Hadden  twenty-four  acres 
adjoining  his  "house  iit  the  old  field." 

Mr.  Hadden  was  a  carpenter  by  trade.  He  settled 
in  the  Yonkers  with  his  sons-in-law,  George  Cleving- 
er  and  William  Smith,  and  in  1(572  he  was  made  over- 
seer of  the  village  of  Fordham.  His  sons-in-law  dy- 
ing a  few  years  later,  Mr.  Hadden  sold  out  and  re- 
turned to  Westchester,  where  he  and  his  descendants 
were  respected  citizens. 

Doughty  next  sold  the  remainder  of  the  O'Neale 
patent  (excepting  "  Mile  Square,"  already  disposed 
of)  to  Thomas  Delavall,  Fredryk  Flypsen  and  Thomas 
Lewis.''  It  was  conveyed  to  them  November  9,  1672, 
by  purchase  from  Delavall,  and  the  heirs  of  Lewis,  Flyp- 
sen subsequently  acquired  their  interests.  The  tract 
contained  about  eight  thousand  acres.  Riverdale, 
Mount  St.  Vincent  and  a  part  of  Woodlawn  Heights 
are  located  on  the  southerly  part  of  this  purchase. 

Mr.  Flypsen  was  a  carpenter  by  trade.  He  came 
to  Nieuw  Amsterdam  in  Stuyvesant's  time,  under  an 
engagement  with  the  West  India  Company  for  five 
years,  during  which  time  he  worked  on  the  forts  at 
Nieuw  Amsterdam  and  Esopus.  He  married,  in  1662, 
Margaret  Hardenbrook,  widow  of  Peter  Rudolphus  de 
Vries,  a  successful  trader.  Margaret  was  also  en- 
gaged in  trade,  which  she  continued  after  this  mar- 
riage, going  to  and  from  Holland  as  supercargo  of 
her  own  vessels,  in  one  of  which,  the  "  Charles,"  she 
brought  over  the  Labadists,  in  1679.  By  her  "  for- 
tune, thrift  and  enterprise"  and  his  exertions,  Mr. 
Flypsen  became  the  richest  man  in  the  colony. 
After  the  death  of  Margaret  he  married,  in  1692, 
Catherine  Van  Cortlandt,  widow  of  John  Dervall 
and  daughter  of  Olaf  Stevenszen  Van  Cortlandt,  by 
whom  he  received  further  additions  to  his  wealth. 
Mr.  Flypsen  purchased  other  large  tracts  of  land  in 
Westchester  County.  In  1693  he  procured  the  erec- 
tion of  the  whole  into  the  Manor  of  Phillipsburgh, 
in  which  the  "  island  Paparinamin "  was  included. 
The  old  manor-home  is  now  the  city  hall  in  Yonkers. 
For  twenty  years  Mr.  Flypsen  was  a  member  of  the 

-  In  early  records  and  IISS.  this  name  is  sometimes  written  "  Heddy," 
"  Hedger,"  etc. 

'  This  was  probably  the  sale  for  which  Mrs.  O'Neale  "  received  a  good 
part  of  her  payment  in  horses  and  mares,"  with  which  she  was  about  to 
'■  return  home  into  Maryland,  y«  place  of  her  abode  ;  "  but  hearins  re- 
port of  a  prohibition  against  importing  horses  to  that  colony,  she  pro- 
cured a  letter  to  its  Governor  from  Governor  Lovelace,  of  New  York, 
asking  a  dispensation  from  the  rigor  of  the  late  order  in  her  case  so  as  to 
permit  her  to  dispose  of  her  horses  in  Maryland  to  her  best  a<lvantage. 


748 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Council.  He  died  in  1702,  aged  seventy-six,  survived 
by  a  son  Adolphus,  a  daughter  Annetje,  wife  of  Philip 
French,  an  adopted  daughter  Eva,  wife  of  Jacobus 
Van  Cortlandt,  and  a  grandson  Frederick  (son  of  his 
deceased  son  Frederick,)  to  whom  he  devised  the 
Yonkers  plantation. 

The  Ferry. — Soon  after  the  village  of  Fordham 
was  settled  the  people  of  New  Harlem  tried  to  divert 
eastern  travel  from  the  wading-place  to  the  new  ferry 
they  had  set  up  between  New  Harlem  and  Bi'onx-land. 
They  obstructed  the  banks  at  Spuyten  Duyvil  *  with 
fences,  but  travelers  threw  them  down  and  still  crossed 
at  the  ancient  ford  without  paying  toll.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1C69  the  ferry  was  removed  to  Spuyten  Duyvil, 
"  a  nearer  and  more  convenient  passage  to  and  from 
the  island  and  the  Maine, "  and  Johannes  Verveelen 
was  made  ferryman.  There  was  allotted  to  his  use 
the  "  island  or  neck  of  land  Papariuamin,  "  where  he 
was  required  to  provide  a  dwelling-house  furnished 
with  three  or  lour  good  beds  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers ;  also  provisions  at  all  seasons  for  them,  their 
horses  and  cattle,  with  stabling  and  stalling ;  also  a 
sufficient  and  able  boat  to  transport  passengers,  horses 
and  cattle  on  all  occasions.'  A  causeway  was  also 
required  to  be  built  across  the  meadow  from  Paparin- 
amin  to  Fordham,  of  which  Verveelen  was  to  bear 
one-third  of  the  expense  and  Fordham  the  remain- 
der. Archer  called  on  Betts,  Tippett  and  Hadden  to 
help  him  build  his  share  of  the  "  causey."  They  de- 
murred, being  more  interested  in  having  a  bridge 
made  over  the  Bronx  to  East  Chester.  The  dispute 
came  before  the  Governor,  who  decided  tliat  Betts, 
Tippett  and  Hadden  should  first  aid  with  the  cause- 
way,'' and  then  the  Fordham  people  should  help  them 
build  the  bridge.  For  so  doing  the  ferry  was  made 
free  to  Betts,  Tippett  and  Haddeu.  Verveelen  kept 
the  ferry  many  years  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Daniel,  who  was  ferrymail  until  the  erection  of  the 
King's  Bridge.  \ 

'This  curious  appellation,  whose  ^ligin  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
explained,  seems  to  have  been  applieil  to  a  strip  of  shore  on  the  Manhat- 
tan Island  side  of  the  wading-place,  then  to  tlie  crossing  itself  and  the 
creek  leading  therefrom  to  the  Hudson,  and  finally  to  the  neck  which 
still  retains  it.  It  means  "  spouting  devil,"  and  may  have  arisen  from 
some  peculiar  vphnrst  of  water  as  tlie  tide  rushed  over  the  reef  which 
obstructs  the  channel  at  that  point.  Mr.  Riker  has  ingeniously  sug- 
gested the  outpour  from  the  guns  of  the  "  Half-Moon  ;"  also  tlie  gushing 
spring  under  Cock  Hill;  but  thee.xplanation  in  Irving's  quaint  and  humor- 
ous legend  of  the  '  Trumpeter'  will  ever  meet  with  popular  acceptance. 
-  "  Yk  Ferryman — His  Rat£s. 

"  For  lodging  any  person,  8  pence  per  night,  in  case  they  have  a  bed 
with  sheets  ;  and  without  sheets,  2  pence  in  silver. 

"For  transportation  of  any  person,  1  penny  silver. 

**  For  transportation  of  a  nuin  and  horse,  7  pence  in  silver. 

"  For  a  single  horse,  G  pence. 

"  For  a  turn  with  his  boat,  for  2  horses,  10  pence  ;  and  for  any  more 
4  pence  apiece  ;  and  if  they  be  driven  over,  half  as  much. 

'*  For  single  cattle,  as  much  as  a  horse. 

"  For  a  boat  loading  of  cattle,  as  he  hath  for  horses. 

"  For  droves  of  cattle  to  be  driven  over,  and  opening  y«  gates,  2  pence  p. 
piece. 

"For  feeding  of  cattle,  3  pence  in  silver. 

"  For  feeding  a  horse  one  day  or  night  with  hay  or  grasse,  C  pence." 
^This  causeway  was  on  the  line  of  the  present  McConib  Street. 


During  the  last  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  Betts,  Tippett  and  Haddeu  families,  and  those 
who  had  interniarriad  with  them,  and  their  retainers 
and  servants  composed  all  the  population  of  the  Yonk- 
ers outside  of  Fordham  and  Papariuamin.  Their  homes 
were  grouped  about  a  mile  north  of  Fordham,  where 
they  had  a  "  good  and  strong  block-house."  *  During 
King  Philip's  War,  in  1775,  there  were  fears  of  an 
Indian  outbreak  in  this  colony.  Archer  summoned 
Betts,  Tippett  and  Hadden  to  aid  him  in  the  fortifi- 
cation and  defense  of  Fordham.  They  remonstrated 
before  Governor  Andros  that  they  should  not  "bee 
bound  to  leave  their  houses  and  goods  and  to  please 
the  humours  of  the  said  Mr.  Archer,  thereby  perha|  s 
to  lose  all  what  they  have."  The  Governor  excused 
them  from  work  on  the  defenses  of  Fordham,  but  he 
warned  them  to  "be  vigilant  at  their  own  place  and 
keep  watch  upon  all  occasions." 
TheKixg's  Bridge. — The  increasing  travel  between 
New  York  and  "  the  Maine  "  demanded  a  bridge  in 
place  of  the  ferry.  As  early  as  1680  the  Council  of 
Governor  Andros  had  ordered  "  Spiting  Devil  "  to  be 
viewed  with  reference  to  a  bridge  there.  A  bill  to 
erect  one  was  introduced  in  the  Assembly  in  1691. 
The  next  year  Governor  Fletcher  recommended  its 
construction  by  the  city  of  New  York,  but  the  mu- 
nicipal authorities  were  deterred  from  the  undertak- 
ing by  the  "great  expense."  In  January,  1693,  Fred- 
ryck  Flypsen  offered  to  build  one  at  his  own  expense, 
if  he  could  have  certain  "  easy  and  reasonable  toles."  * 
In  June  the  franchise  was  granted  to  Mr.  Flypsen  for 
ninety-nine  years.  The  bridge  was  to  be  twenty-four 
feet  wide,  and  to  be  free  for  all  the  King's  forces,  and 
was  to  be  named  the  "  King's  Bridge."  It  was  built 
during  the  year,  a  few  rods  east  of  the  present  one.* 
It  had  a  draw  for  the  passage  of  such  craft  as  navi- 
gated the  Harlem  and  a  gate,  set  up  at  the  end,  where 
the  keeper  received  the  tolls.'  A  public-house  was 
kept  open  at  the  north  side  for  the  "  entertainment  of 
strangers."  The  bridge  was  owned  by  Mr.  Flypsen's 
grandson  and  great-grandson,  in  succession,  until  it 
was  forfeited  by  the  latter.  Colonel  Frederick  Phil- 
lipse,  because  of  his  adhesion  to  the  crown  in  the  war 
of  independence. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  Yonkers  was  sparsely  peopled.  Jacobus  Van 
Cortlandt  bought  a  plot  of  fifty  acres,  known  as 
"  George's  Point,"  *  from  Mr.  Flypsen,  in  1699,  and 

*  They  probably  stood  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  Van  Cort- 
landt mansion. 

5  To  wit :  "  1  penny  for  each  head  of  neat  cattell ;  2  pens  for  each 
"niann  and  horse,  and  12  pens  for  each  score  of  Uoggs  and  sheep  that 
"  shall  pass  the  said  brige  ;  and  U  pens  for  every  boat,  vessell  or  canoo 
"  that  shall  pass  the  said  brige,  and  cause  the  same  to  be  drawne  up." 

0  The  removal  to  its  present  site  was  made  pursuant  to  an  act  of  As- 
sembly passed  in  1713  at  the  petition  of  Flypsen's  grandson,  Frederick 
PhiUipse,  then  a  minor. 

"  Madame  Knight,  crossing  December,  1704,  en  route  to  Boston,  was 
charged  three  pence  "for  passing  over  with  a  horse." 

s  So  called  after  George  Tippett  (2d),  who  conveyed  it  in  1C91,  to  his 
brother-in-law,  Joseph  Hadley.  He  sold  to  Matthias  Buckout,  whocon- 
veyed  to  Mr.  Flypsen. 


KING'S 


added  to  it  several  hundred  acres  while  he  lived, 
foriniug  the  bulk  of  the  present  Van  Cortlandt  estate. 
He  made  a  mill-pond  by  damming  up  the  Tip])ett's 
Brook,  and  setup  a  grist  and  saw-mill.  In  1704  there 
were  about  twenty  families  in  the  Yonkers.  The 
Belts  and  Tippett  families  partitioned  their  tract  in 
1717,  and  gradually  sold  it  off  to  new  settlers.  Agri- 
culture was  the  chief  industry,  and  the  farms  were 
noted  for  choice  fruits  and  fine  breeds  of  cattle. 
Produce  was  carried  to  market  in  periaugers.  Stone 
quarrying  was  engaged  in  before  the  middle  of  the 
century. 

The  main  highways  were  the  Albany  and  Boston 
post  roads — the  former  opened  to  the  Saw-kill  about 
1609,  and  the  latter  opened  on  the  line  of  the  Old 
AVestch ester  Path  to  East  Chester  about  1()71.  The 
travel  by  land  was  almost  wholly  on  horseback.  The 
common  roads  were  very  poor.  The  mail  to 
Albany  was  carried  by  foot-post.  That  to  Boston  was 
taken  by  post-riders  once  in  three  weeks,  which  time 
was  shortened  in  1731  to  once  a  fortnight.  The  stage- 
coach to  Boston  began  running  in  1772. 

The  Fkee  Bridge. — The  King's  Bridge  was  unpop- 
ular because  of  its  tolls;  also  its  barrier  gate,which  made 
the  belated  traveler  furious  as  he  shouted  to  awaken 
the  drowsy  gate-keeper  several  rods  away.  A  po])ular 
subscription  was  started  in  1756  for  building  a  free 
bridge.  Benjamin  Palmer'  headed  the  movement, 
and  when  enough  was  subscribed,  he  attempted  to 
build  it  where  the  first  bridge  had  stood.  Colonel 
Phillipse,  who  owned  the  shore  on  Paparinamin, 
naturally  objected.  Palmer  had  to  go  farther  down 
the  Harlem.  He  interested  with  him  Jacob  Dyck- 
man,  on  the  island,  and  Thomas  Vcrmilye,  on  the 
Westchester  side,  and  they  began  the  work  from  land 
of  the  former  to  that  of  the  latter.  Colonel  Phillipse, 
"  because  he  knew  it  would  stop  his  bridge  from  tak- 
ing tolls,"  tried  to  prevent  its  construction.  Twice  in 
one  year  he  caused  Palmer's  impressment  "as  a 
soldier  to  go  to  Canada,"  which  compelled  him  to 
em|)loy  and  pay  for  substitutes.  But  in  spite  of  oppo- 
sition the  structure  was  completed  at  the  close  of 
1758.  It  wafe  opened  with  a  grand  barbecue  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1759,  and  hundreds  of  people  attended 
from  Xew  York  City  and  Westchester  County,  and 
"  rejoiced  greatly."^  A  new  road  was  built  to  connect 
the  bridge  with  the  Albany  and  Boston  roads,  and  for  a 
time  all  travel  ceased  across  the  King's  Bridge. 
Colonel  Phillipse's  bridge-keeper  finding  his  occupa- 


'  Who  attempted  to  found  a  city  ns  a  lival  to  New  York,  on  an  island 
in  the  Sonnd,  since  called  "City  Island." 

-  Dyckniun,  who  built  a  tavern  at  the  approach  to  the  free  bridge 
(vvhiTe  the  King's  Bridge  Hotel  now  stands),  failed  soon  afterward,  and 
sought  legislative  relief  for  his  outlays  in  its  construction.  Palmer, 
towai-ds  the  end  of  the  century,  unsuccessfully  applied  to  the  Assembly 
for  aid  on  the  same  account.  The  press  took  up  his  cause  and  declared 
that  his  work  had  been  "  the  first  step  towards  freedom  in  this  State,  «  «  « 
"for  it  was  almost  as  diflicult  for  Mr.  Palmer  to  get  a  free  bridge  in 
"those  (lays  as  it  was  for  .\merica  to  get  her  freedom."  Aaron  Burr 
auu  others  made  up  a  purse  of  t:lii  for  the  needy  old  man  in  I81IO. 


BRIDGE.  749 


tion  gone,  threw  up  his  lease,  and  the  proprietor  had 
to  advertise  for  a  new  tenant.  It  is  probal)le  that 
attempts  to  collect  tolls  were  abandoned  soon  after- 
wards. 

In  1763  the  Rev.  John  Peter  Tetard  purchased  from 
Petrus  Vermilye  a  farm  of  sixty  acres,  near  King's 
Bridge,  lying  on  the  old  Boston  road,  to  which  he 
removed  about  three  years  later.  In  1772  he  opened 
there  a  French  boarding-school,  probably  the  first  in 
New  York,  where,  besides  French,  he  taught  "  the 
most  useful  sciences,  such  as  geography,  the  doctrine 
of  the  spheres,  ancient  and  modern  history,  etc."  The 
house  was  destroyed  during  the  Revolution.  The  old 
stone  archway  yet  standing  near  its  site  is  variously 
called  "  Dominie  Tetard's  Wine  Cellar,"  the  old 
"  i)0\vder  magazine,"  the  "  old  bakery,"  etc.,  but  its 
real  purpose  is  unknown.' 

Across  the  Boston  road  from  Tetard's  farm  was  one  of 
about  seventy-five  acres,  which  Richard  Montgomery 
purchased  and  occuj)ied  in  1772,  pursuant  to  his  long- 
cherished  wish  to  leave  the  service  and  engage  in 
husbandry.*  His  house  stood  on  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
near  the  Boston  road,'  and  there  he  lived  until  his 
marriage  to  Janet  Livingston  and  removal  to  another 
farm  he  had  puchased  near  Rhinebeck."  The  King's 
Bridge  farm  was  devised  to  hissisterSarah, Viscountess 
Ranelagh,  by  the  will  found  by  Arnold  among  his 
papers  at  (Quebec,  a  few  days  after  his  untimely 
death.  Fort  Independence  was  erected  on  this  fiirm, 
a  few  hundred  yards  north  of  the  house  which,  with 
the  out-buildings,  orchards,  fences,  etc.,  was  com- 
pletely destroyed  during  the  Revolution. 

The  Revolutiox. — The  inhabitants  of  the  Yonk- 
ers were  generally  opposed  to  all  efforts  of  the  British 
ministry  to  establish  arbitrary  government  in  the 
colonies.  Colonel  Phillipse  sided  with  the  crown 
and  tried  to  control  his  tenants.  At  their  head, 
he  was  present  at  the  meeting  held  at  the  White 
Plains,  April  11, 1775,  to  appoint  deputies  to  a  conven- 
tion ;  but  he  declined  "to  have  anything  to  do  with 
deputies  or  congresses."'  After  protesting  against 
"such  illegal  and  unconstitutional  proceedings,"  he 
led  off"  his  followers.    Colonel  James  Van  Cortlandt 


3  Dominie  Tetard  was  born  in  Switzerland  about  1721;  graduated  from 
Univei'sity  of  Lausanne  and  received  ordination  about  17.52  ;  soon  after 
was  pastor  of  French  Church,  Charleston,  S.  C;  came  to  Xew  York  17.')6  ; 
married  Frances,  daughter  of  Robert  Ellison  ;  became  assistant  pastor 
of  Cliurch  du  St.  Esprit,  taking  charge  17G4-GC,  until  a  new  minister 
could  be  engaged  in  Europe.  After  his  removal  to  King's  Bridge  he  used 
to  preach  in  Fordham  Dutch  Church.  lie  was  commissioned  .)«ly  li,  177.5, 
"  French  interpreter  to  General  Schuyler  and  chaplain  to  the  troops  in 
the  Colonic,"  with  pay  of  major,  ami  went  with  General  Montgomery  to 
Canada.  He  served  as  chaplain  ijuiing  the  war,  and  on  the  reorganiza- 
tii>n  of  Columliia  College,  in  17^4,  was  made  professor  of  French, 
auQ  so  continued  until  his  death,  December  6,  1787,  in  his  sixty-sixth 
year. 

*  So  declared  in  a  letter  shortly  prior  to  his  resignation.  lie  meant  to 
come  to  .\merica,  "  where  his  pride  and  poverty  would  be  much  more  at 
their  ease.'' 

5  \  little  way  inside  of  the  gateway  of  Mr.  William  Ogden  Giles. 
O.Veic  I'nrk  G'i.-.elleer,  October  7,  177.1,  contains  his  advertisement  of  the 
King's  Bridge  farm  "  at  jirivate  sab  ." 


750 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  his  brother  Frederick,  of  the  Yonkers,  heartily 
favored  resistance. 

The  news  from  Lexington  was  shouted  at  every 
threshold  along  the  old  Boston  road  in  the  night  of 
April  22d,  as  the  herald  spurred  on  towards  New 
York.  A  few  days  later  the  inhabitants  were  aiding 
to  unload,  at  King's  Bridge  and  the  hills  beyond, 
upward  of  one  hundred  cannon,'  which  had  been  carted 
out  from  the  city  for  security.  On  the  8th  of  May  the 
new  committee  for  Westchester  County,  on  which 
Frederick  Van  Cortlandt  represented  the  Yonkers, 
chose  Colonel  James  Van  Cortlandt  as  deputy  to  the 
new  Provincial  Congress,  and  he  attended  its  first 
meeting  at  the  exchange  in  Broad  Street. 

The  importance  of  maintaining  communication  by 
land  between  New  York  and  the  country  so  impressed 
the  Continental  Congress  that  it  resolved,  on  May 
25th,  that  a  post  should  be  immediately  taken  and 
fortified  at  King's  Bridge.  On  the  30th  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  appointed  a  committee  of  five,  in- 
cluding Captain  Richard  Montgomery  and  Colonel 
James  Van  Cortlandt  to  view  the  ground  near  the 
bridge  and  report  whether  it  would  admit  of  a  tenable 
fortification.  Their  report  of  June  3d  favored  a  post 
for  three  hundred  men  on  the  hill  adjoining  Hyatt's 
tavern,  but  recommended  no  form  or  dimensions  and 
thought  it  imprudent  to  fortify  until  the  embodi- 
ment of  troops,  who  could  do  most  of  the  labor. 
Commanding  points  on  Tippett's  and  Tetard's  Hillg 
were  suggested  for  additional  works.  On  the  spots 
thus  indicated  forts  were  afterwards  erected  by  the 
Americans,  and  when  captured  by  the  British,  were 
strengthened  and  garrisoned  by  them  for  many  years. 

Colonel  Van  Cortlandt  was  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  arrange  the  troops 
and  form  the  militia. '  Frederick  Van  Cortlandt, 
Thomas  Emmons,  Williams  Betts  and  William 
Hadley  were  of  the  local  committee  for  the  Yonkers. 
Under  their  supervisiofn  a  militia  company  was 
formed  in  the  precinct,  as  part  of  the  "South  Battal- 
ion" of  the  county.  The  roster  included  sixty-four 
names, — Anthony  Allaire,  Abraham  Asten,  George 
Berrien,  Wm.  Betts,  Frederick,  Gilbert  and  Robert 
Brown,  Hendrick  Browne,Jr.,  Henry  Bur.«en,Jno. Cock, 
Jno.  and  Edw'dCortright,  Geo.  and  Jas.  Crawford,  Jno. 
Cregier,  Daniel  Deen,  John  Devoe,  Abraham  Em- 
mons, Benj.,  Thos.  and  Robert  Farrington,  Usial 
Fountain,  Wm.  and  Isaac  Green,  Geo.,  Isaac,  Jos.  and 
Wm.  Hadley,  Thos.  Merrill,  Jas.  Munro,  Jos.  Jr.,  and 
Thos.  Oakley,  Abraham  and  John  Odell,  Jas.  Parker, 
Abm.  Dennis,  Isaac,  Israel,  Jacob,  Lewis,  Martin 
and  Wm.  Post,  Henry  Presher,  Tobias  Rickman,  Wm. 
Rose,  Edward  and  John  Ryer,  Francis  Smith,  Chas. 


•Compensation  to  the  heirs  of  Sebring  and  Beekman,  for  certain  of 
these  guns,  was  provided  for  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in 
1801). 

2  The  Britisli  called  tlie  redoubt  on  the  hill  near  Hyatt's  tavern  "Ft. 
Prince  Charles;  "  the  one  on  Tippett's  Hill  "  yumber  TJiiee,  and  the  one  on 
Tetard's  Hill,  the  American  Ft.  Independence,  "  Xumber  Four." 


Elnathan,  Jr.,  Elijah,  Henry  and  Jacob  Taylor, 
Izarell  Underbill,  Frederick  Van  Cortlandt,  Abm, 
Frederick  and  Josh.  Vermilye,  John  and  Wm.  Warner, 
Geo.  Wertz,  John  and  Samuel  Williams.  On  August 
24,  1775,  they  chose  John  Cock,  captain  ;  Wm.  Betts, 
first  lieutenant :  John  Warner,  second  lieutenant ;  and 
Jacob  Post,  ensign.  The  names  were  sent  to  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  for  commissions.  The  county  com- 
mittee protested  against  the  captain  elect,  and  on  the 
11th  of  September  presented  the  affidavit  of  William 
Hadley,  of  the  district  committee,  that  when  he  pre- 
sented the  "  general  association  "  to  Cock,  he  said,  "  I 
sign  this  with  my  hand,  but  not  with  my  heart ;  for 
I  would  not  have  signed  it,  had  it  not  been  for  my 
wife  and  family's  sake."  The  friends  of  Cock  rallied 
to  his  support.  A  majority  of  the  company  and  a  score 
more  inhabitants  of  Yonkers  sent  down  a  petition  in 
his  favor,  stating  that  he  had  been  chosen  "  for  his 
well-known  skill  and  ability  in  the  military  disci- 
pline," and  that  the  complaints  were  made  out  of 
"  spite  and  malice."  But  further  affidavits  by  Isaac 
Green  and  George  Hadley,  that  Cock  "  had  damned 
the  Continental  Congress,"  satisfied  the  Committee  of 
Safety  that  it  was  improper  to  give  Cock  a  commission. 
The  local  committee  was  ordered  to  hold  a  new  elec- 
tion, "  taking  care  to  give  public  notice  that  John 
Cock  cannot  be  admitted  to  any  ofiice  whatso- 
ever." * 

The  twenty-one  nine-pounders  carried  off  from  the 
Battery  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  August  23d,  were 
hauled  up  to  King's  Bridge  and  left  with  the  rest  in 
care  of  the  minute  men.  In  the  night  of  January  17r 
1776,  more  than  fifty  guns  near  Williams',  and  as  many 
in  the  fields  near  Isaac  Valentine's,  were  spiked  or 
"  loaded  and  stopped  with  stones  and  other  rubbish." 
Search  was  made  for  the  perpetrators.  John  Fowler 
was  brought  before  the  Committee  of  Safety  on  the 
23d,  charged  with  a  recent  purchase  of  rat-tail  files 
in  New  York.  He  implicated  William  Lounsbery, 
of  Mamaroneck,  as  the  real  purchaser.  They  were 
imprisoned.  Jacamiah  Allen  was  employed  to  unspike 
the  guns  at  twenty  shillings  each.  He  raised  them 
on  fires  of  several  cords  of  wood,  tended  day  and 
night  to  soften  the  spikes,  and  by  March  16th  he  had 
unspiked  eighty-two  and  expected  to  soon  complete 
the  work.     These  guns   were  afterwards  mounted 


3  They  were  Matthias,  Anthony  and  Benjamin  Archer,  Benjamin  Ars- 
dan,  Stephen  Bastine,  Ezekial  and  Henry  Brown,  George  Crawford, 
Benjamin  Farrington,  Jonathan  Fowler,  John  Guereneau,  Samuel  Law- 
rence, Henry  and  Jordan  Norris,  David,  Jr.,  and  Moses  Oakley,  Abm. , 
James  and  Thomas  Rich,  Elnathan  Taylor  and  Thomas  Tippett. 

*  Cock  kept  the  old  tavern  on  the  north  side  of  King's  Bridge.  The 
head  of  the  overthrown  statue  of  George  III.,  in  the  Bowling  Green,  was 
carried  to  Fort  Washington,  to  be  fixed  to  a  spike  on  the  flag-staff.  While 
it  was  left  temporarily  at  Jacob  Moore's  tavern,  near  by,  an  emissary 
from  Colonel  Montresor  went  out  through  the  "rebel  camp"  with  a 
message  to  Cock  to  steal  and  bury  the  head.  This  was  done  (probably 
at  Cock's  tavern),  and  when  the  British  arrived,  in  November,  1776,  it 
was  dug  up  and  sent  in  care  of  Lady  Gage  to  Lord  Townsend,  "  to  con- 
vince them  at  home  of  the  infamous  disposition  of  the  ungrateful  people 
of  this  distracted  country." 


KING'S  BRID(;E 


751 


in  the  works  erected  by  the  American  troops  on  the 
hills  about  King's  Bridge. 

In  February,  1776,  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  clerk 
of  New  York  City,  rejjorted  to  the  Committee  of 
Safety  that  for  their  security  he  had  removed  the 
public  records  to  Yonkers.  They  were  deposited  in 
Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's  family  burial  vault'  and 
were  still  there  in  December  ;  but  it  is  probable  the 
British  were  soon  afterwards  apprised  of  their  place 
of  concealment  and  had  them  returned  to  the  city. 

On  the  ISth  of  March  the  Yonkers  militia  held  a 
new  election  and  chose  John  Warner,  captain ;  Jacob 
Post,  first  lieutenant ;  Samuel  Lawrence,  second 
lieutenant;  and  Isaac  Post,  ensign.  In  May  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  had  in  service  the  armed  schooner 
"General  Putnam,"  commanded  by  Captain  Thomas 
Cregier,  of  King's  Bridge.  After  months  of  inactivity 
at  the  heads  of  inlets  when  he  should  have  been  at 
sea,  Cregier  was  discharged  for  inefficiency  and  the 
vessel  was  sold. 

Early  in  June  Washington  visited  and  inspected 
the  grounds  above  King's  Bridge.  He  found  them 
to  admit  of  seven  places  well  calculated  for  defense. 
"  Esteeming  it  a  pass  of  the  utmost  importance  in 
order  to  keep  open  communication  with  the  coun. 
try,"  he  set  two  Pennsylvania  regiments  at  work  on 
their  fortification,  and  put  bodies  of  militia  to  the 
same  labor  as  fast  as  they  arrived.  In  General 
Orders  of  July  2d,  Mifflin  was  directed  to  repair  to 
King's  Bridge  and  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  to 
forward  the  works.  "  The  time  is  now  at  hand  which 
must  probably  determine  whether  Americans  are  to  be 
f'reeme7i  or  slaves"  is  a  memorable  sentence  in  this 
order.  The  enemy  was  ready  to  disembark  in  the 
lower  bay.  It  was  unknown  from  what  quarter  their 
attack  would  come.  Mifliin  thought  they  would  di- 
vert attention  to  the  heights  above  King's  Bridge, 
and  it  was  reported  they  meant  to  erect  strong  works 
there  to  cutoff  communication  between  city  and 
country.  On  the  12th  of  July  the  ships  of  war  "Rose" 
and  "Ph(enix"  sailed  up  the  Hudson,  and  unaware  of 
the  new  batteries  which  had  been  j)lanted  on  Tip- 
pett's  and  Cock  Hills,  anchored  near  the  mouth  of 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  A  dozen  guns  opened  fire 
on  them  and  "  did  great  execution."  On  the  15th 
additional  troDps  were  hurried  out  to  King's  Bridge, 
the  destruction  of  which  was  apprehended.  I'hree 
hundred  men  were  sent  up  the  Harlem  River  in 
boats  on  the  19th  and  were  put  to  work  on  the  forts. 
Engineers  were  assigned,  tools  supplied  and  the  work 
carried  on  night  and  day  during  the  ensuing  fort- 
night. On  the  8th  of  August  General  Clinton  was 
directed  to  send  expresses  to  Ulster.  Dutchess,  Orange 
and  Westchester  Counties,  to  hasten  levies  and 
march  them  down  to  the  fort  erected  on  the  north 
side  of  the  bridge.    On  the  13th  General  Heath  was 

1  This  ancieot  depository  of  the  city  records  is  still  used  m  a  burial- 
place  by  the  family,  aud  gives  the  name  to  tlio  hill  on  which  it  is  lo- 
cated. 


put  in  command  of  the  division  stationed  there  and 
large  ([uantities  of  provisions  aud  ammunition  were 
sent  up.  The  "  Rose  "and  "  Plxenix  "  with  their  tenders 
were  anchored  off  Mt.  St.  Vincent.  On  the  nights  ol 
the  14th,  IGth  and  IGth  numbers  of  oflicers  and  men, 
(including  on  two  occasions  Generals  Heath  and 
Clinton)  gathered  on  Tippett's  Hill  to  witness  an  at- 
tempt to  destroy  these  vessels  with  fire-ships.  It  was 
made  at  midnight  on  the  17tli.  A  fiamiiig  galley  set 
fire  to  one  of  the  tenders  and  consumed  her  with 
"  horrid  flames."  At  sunrise  on  the  IHth  the  frigates 
and  remaining  tenders  fied  down  stream,  and  ran 
through  the  chevaux-de-frise  under  a  heavy  cannonade 
from  the  "  Blue  Bell  Fort "  ^  and  Fort  Lee.  On  the 
21st  Washington  assigned  the  new  engineer 
Monsieur  Martin  to  the  post  at  King's  Bridge 
and  under  his  direction  work  was  pressed 
on  the  fortifications.  On  the  23d  Clinton's 
brigade  was  ordered  into  camp.  Colonel  Thomas's 
regiment  pitched  on  the  south  side  of  Fort  Independ- 
ence, Colonel  Graham's  about  half  a  mile  farther 
southward,  Colonel  Paulding's  and  Colonel  Nicholas' 
on  the  Hat  below,  near  Corsa's  orchard,  and  Colonel 
Swartwout  on  the  southerly  end  of  Tipi)ett's  Hill.  On 
the  25th  a  detachment  went  down  from  King's  Bridge 
to  Paulus  Hook  in  "the  flat-bottomed  boat"  and 
brought  back  a  number  of  gun-carriages,  on  which 
cannon  were  mounted  in  the  new  works.  Colonel 
Swartwout's  regiment  threw  up  a  battery  "  on  the 
north  side  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  at  its  very 
mouth,"  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  approaching  the 
bridge  in  boats,  and  also  constructed  two  additional 
redoubts  on  the  top  of  Tippett's  Hill,  one  of  which  was 
called  "  P^ort  Swartwout."  No  "fatigue  rum  "was 
allowed  to  any  one  engaged  on  these  works,  except  on 
certificate  that  he  had  been  "  faithful,  obedient  and 
industrious."  On  the  27th  the  Provincial  Congress, 
then  sitting  at  Harlem,  alarmed  by  the  defeat  on 
Long  Island,  ordered  its  records  and  papers,  and  the 
receiver-general's  chest  to  be  taken  at  once  to  the 
camp  at  King's  Bridge.  On  the  29th  Heath  impressed 
every  boat  and  craft  at  the  post  and  hurried  them 
down  to  Washington  for  use  in  the  retreat  from  Long 
Island.  On  the  31st  the  inhabitants  began  driving 
their  cattle  into  the  interior.  The  Committee  of 
Safety  now  urged  on  Washington  the  defensibility  of 
the  country  above  the  bridge  and  the  dreadful  conse- 
quences of  its  occupation  by  the  enemy.  He  replied 
that  the  defensible  state  of  that  ground  had  not  es- 
caped him,  and  that  as  the  posts  at  King's  Bridge 
were  of  such  great  importance,  he  hoped  the  con- 
vention would  artbrd  aid  for  their  defense.  When  it 
became  evident  in  September  that  the  city  was  un- 
tenable by  the  Americans  in  the  face  of  the  superior 
British  force,  Washington  determined  to  take  post  at 
King's  Bridge  and  along  the  Westchester  shore,  where 

-  Fort  Washington,  near  n  liicli  the  old  Blue  Bell  tavern  stood. 
'The  night  guard  in  this  work,  October  17,  1770,  was  one  captain,  two 
lieutenants  and  fifty  men. 


V52 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


barracks  could  be  procured  for  the  part  of  the  army 
without  tents.  He  concluded  to  leave  five  thousand 
men  on  the  island  for  defense  of  the  city,  and  to  post 
nine  thousand  at  King's  Bridge  and  its  dependencies. 
On  the  8th  Heath  was  instructed  to  fell  trees  across 
the  roads  towards  the  bridge,  to  dig  holes  in  them, 
break  them  up  and  destroy  them  so  as  to  be  impassable. 
The  next  day  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  boards 
were  ordered  for  the  barracks  at  the  bridge,  also  brick 
and  stones  for  ovens,  which  all  soldiers  who  were 
masons  were  ordered  to  assist  in  making. 

Meanwhile  the  inhabitants  suffered  from  the  occu- 
pation of  their  farms.  Fences  were  pulled  down  and 
burned  and  corn-fields,  gardens  and  orchards  pillaged. 
The  orders  of  the  day  pronounced  it  "cruel  as  well 
as  unjust  and  scandalous  thus  to  destroy  the  inhab- 
itants by  destroying  the  little  property  for  which 
they  have  been  sweating  and  toiling  through  the 
summer  and  were  expecting  very  soon  to  reap  the 
fruits  of." 

Howe's  movement  to  Throg's  Neck  caused  Wash- 
ington to  call  a  meeting  of  general  officers  at  King's 
Bridge.  It  was  held  on  the  16th  of  October,  when  it 
was  determined  to  abandon  Manhattan  Island.  On 
the  19th  strong  pickets  were  established  and  frequent 
night  patrols  made  through  all  the  region  about 
King's  Bridge.  On  the  20th  Washington  moved  his 
headquarters  to  the  bridge,  where  the  main  army 
was  now  in  barracks,  and  continued  there  until  the 
22d.  During  the  next  few  days  the  army  moved  off 
to  the  heights  of  the  Bronx,  leaving  garrisons  in  the 
forts  about  King's  Bridge  under  orders  to  destroy 
them  on  the  enemy's  approach  in  force.  Col.  Lasher, 
in  Fort  Indei>endence,  was  "to  burn  the  barracks, 
quit  the  post  and  join  the  army,  by  way  of  the  North 
River,  at  White  rlains."  At  three  in  the  morning  of 
the  28th  the  lon^  lines  of  barracks  were  fired  and  the 
forts  abandoned.  Their  garrisons  either  withdrew 
to  Fort  Washington,  or,  crossing  to  New  Jersey, 
rejoined  their  regiments  at  White  Plains  by  way  of 
King's  Ferry.  Gen.  Greene,  coming  out  from  Fort 
Washington,  found  several  hundred  stand  of  small 
arms,  great  numbers  of  spears,  shot,  shells,  etc.  To 
carry  these  off  he  impressed  all  the  wagons  in  the 
neighborhood.  He  then  dismantled  King's  Bridge 
and  the  Free  Bridge.  On  the  evening  of  the  29th 
General  Knyphausen,  with  a  force  of  Hessians  and 
Waldeckers  which  had  landed  at  New  Rochelle,  ap- 
proached Fort  Independence  by  the  old  Boston  road, 
and,  finding  it  deserted,  occupied  it  the  following 
day.  He  took  possession  of  the  other  works  on 
Tetard's  Hill  and  occupied  them  until  November  2d. 
Then,  with  part  of  his  forces,  he  descended  and  took 
a  position  on  Paparinamin,  north  of  King's  Bridge. 
Having  repaired  the  bridge,  he  crossed  over  and 
occupied  the  deserted  American  post  on  the  opposite 
hill,  but  retired  on  the  4th.  He  crossed  again  on  the 
7th  with  fifteen  hundred  men  and  took  positions  on 
the  hills  commanding  the  old  King's  Bridge  road. 


On  the  16th  the  remainder  of  General  Knyphausen's 
force  crossed  over  the  Free  Bridge  and  united  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Washington,  which  thereafter  took 
his  name. 

Being  now  possessed  of  the  whole  of  Manhattan 
Island,  the  British  adopted  and  strengthened  the 
American  works  at  and  about  King's  Bridge  for  the 
defense  of  New  York  City.  Beginning  with  the 
westerly  redoubt  on  Spuyten  Duyvil  Neck,  and  going 
eastward,  and  from  Fort  Independence  southward, 
they  were  distinguished  by  the  numbers  1  to  8,  inclu- 
sive. 

Number  One  was  located  where  the  house  of  the 
late  Peter  0.  Strang  stands,  in  grading  for  which  all 
traces  of  the  fort  were  obliterated.  It  was  square, 
and  overlooked  the  Hudson  and  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek  at  their  confluence. 

Number  Two  was  a  circular  redoubt  on  the  crown 
of  the  hill  in  the  field  west  of  Warren  B.  Sage's  resi- 
dence. Its  walls  are  yet  discernible.^  This  was  the 
American  Fort  Swartwout.  In  the  adjoining  field  to 
the  westward  a  flanking  redan  may  yet  be  seen  over- 
looking the  Riverdale  road. 

Number  Three  stood  where  Warren  B.  Sage's  house 
now  stands,  on  the  easterly  brow  of  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Hill  and  directly  overlooking  the  post  on  the  north- 
erly end  of  Manhattan  Island  at  King's  Bridge,  called 
Fort  Prince  Charles^  by  the  British.  Numbers  one, 
two  and  three  were  first  garrisoned  in  1777.  In  No- 
vember, 1778,  the  three  works  had  a  garrison  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  officers  and  men.  They  were  aban- 
doned by  the  British  in  the  fall  of  1779. 

The  creek  near  Johnson's  foundry  was  crossed  by 
a  pontoon  bridge,  and  a  military  road  ran  from  it  up 
the  easterly  side  of  the  hill  to  and  along  Spring 
Street,  where  it  branched  off  to  the  Redoubts  One, 
Two  and  Three. 

Number  Four  was  the  American  Fort  Independence, 
on  Tetard's  Hill,  across  the  valley.  The  house  of 
William  Ogden  Giles  now  stands  on  its  site.  It  was 
built  on  the  farm  of  General  Richard  Montgomery, 
and  may  have  been  laid  out  by  him.  It  occupied  a 
most  commanding  position  overlooking  the  Albany 
road  on  one  side  and  the  Boston  road  on  the  other. 
It  had  two  bastions  at  the  westerly  angles. 

The  British  garrisoned  it  continuously  from  its  cap- 
ture until  they  removed  its  guns,  August  16th,  its 
wood-work,  August  17th,  and  demolished  its  maga- 
zine, September  12,  1779.  It  was  not  garrisoned  again 
during  the  war.  A  number  of  iron  six-pounders  were 
dug  up  inside  its  walls,  by  Mr.  Giles,  when  excavat- 
ing his  cellar,  about  thirty  years  ago.  Two  of  them 
are  now  mounted  in  a  miniature  fort  on  his  grounds. 

1  Miscalled  "  Ft.  Independence,"  on  Sauthier's  and  other  British  maps, 
an  error  which  has  misled  some  modern  writers.  The  same  misnomer 
has  heen  ])erpetuated  otherwise.  Tlie  Coast  Survey  so  calls  it  in  a  diagram 
of  the  triangulation  point  on  its  wall.  These  errors  prohably  arose  from 
confounding  the  name  " Tetard's  Hill,"  on  which  Fort  Independence 
stood,  with  "Tippett's  Hill,"  wheron  the  fort  in  question  was  located. 

-  This  work  is  yet  standing. 


KING'S 


Number  Five  was  a  square  redoubt,  whose  walls  are 
yet  standing  on  the  old  Tetard  farm,  a  little  way  north 
from  H.  B.  Claflin's  stal)les.  It  is  about  seventy  feet 
square.  It  was  occupied  in  1777,  and  dismantled 
September  18,  1779. 

Number  Six  stood  just  west  of  the  present  road  to 
Hifrh  Bridge,  and  its  site  is  now  occui>icd  by  a  house 
formerly  owned  by  John  B.  Haskin. 

Number  Sercti  was  on  the  Cammann  place.  No 
trace  remains. 

Number  Eight  was  on  land  now  owned  by  H.  W.  T. 
Mali  and  Gustav  Schwab.  The  latter's  house  occu- 
pies part  of  its  site. 

Kiiif/'s  Battery  is  on  the  grounds  of  Nathaniel  P. 
Bailey,  and  is  still  preserved. 

Another  redoubt,  semicircular  in  form,  is  yet 
standing  on  the  old  Bussing  farm,  just  north  of  the  town 
line,  and  distant  about  one  thousand  feet  northeasterly 
from  the  William's  Bridge  Station  on  the  Harlem  Rail- 
road. It  commanded  the  road  and  bridge  across  the 
Bronx,  and  was  one  of  the  series  of  works  thrown  up 
by  Washington  along  the  heights  of  the  Bronx  and 
extending  northerly  to  White  Plains,  at  the  approach 
of  Howe.  General  Heath  located  it  and  Colonels 
Ely  and  Douglas  were  engaged  upon  it  October  6, 
1776.  • 

An  outpost  of  light  trooi)s  was  estal)lished  near 
lyiosholu  and  maintained  throughout  each  year.  The 
force  was  usually  composed  of  German  mounted  and 
foot  yagers  and  a  company  of  chasseurs  formed  of 
detachments  from  the  difterent  Hessian  regiments  in 
New  York.  -  Their  camp  was  on  Frederick  Van 
Cortlandt's  farm,  near  his  house.  '  They  made  fre- 
quent patrols  out  Mile  Square  road,  over  Valentine's 
Hill  and  Boar  Hill  to  Phillipse's  Mills  and  back  by 
the  Albany  post  road.  Two  three-pound  Amuitettes 
were  sometimes  taken  on  these  rounds. 

Another  camp  of  light  troops  and  cavalry  was  es- 
tablished at  the  foot  of  Tetard's  Hill,  between  King's 
Bridge  and  the  Free  Bridge.  It  was  long  occupied 
by  Emmerick's  chasseurs,  formed  in  1777,  Simcoe's 
rangers  and  other  Royalist  troops.  The  King's  Bridge 
was  made  the  Barrier,  and  the  old  tavern  on  the 
north  side  became  the  watch-house. 


'  Between  tliis  fort  and  Fort  Imlepenelence,  on  the  southerly  siile  of 
the  Biiiiton  roail,  and  on  the  Corua  farm,  stood  "  Negro  Fort,"  8o  called, 
it  i<  said,  because  garrisoned  hy  a  company  of  negroes  from  Virginia. 
The  British  kept  an  outguard  there  in  the  winter  of  1776-77.  Xo  trace 
of  it  remains,  a  house  now  occupying  its  site. 

2  In  1778  five  companies  of  foot  and  one  of  mounted  yagers,  under  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Von  Wurmli.  In  1779  the  yagere  and  Lord  Rawdon's 
<-.)rps. 

Captain  von  Hanger's  company  of  chasseurs,  in  1778,  consisted  of  four 
officers,  twelve  sub-offlcers,  three  drummers  and  one  hundred  privates 
selected  from  the  Leib,  Erb  Prinz,  Prinz  Carl,  Donop,  Jlirhack,  Trim- 
bach,  Losberg,  Knyphausen,  Woelwarth,  Wiessenbach  and  Sietz  Regi- 
ments. 

•'Known  as  the  "Upper  Cortlaudts,"  in  distinction  from  Colonel 
.Jacobus  Van  Cortlandfs  house  on  the  plain,  called  "  Lower  Cortlandts." 
Tlie  former  was  also  called  "  Coitlandt's  white-house  "  sometimes.  It 
was  burned  about  1826,  and  the  present  residence  of  Waldo  Hutchius 
was  erected  on  its  site. 


BRIDGE.  753 


During  the  protracted  struggle  the  Yonkers  was 
the  scene  of  constant  military  activity.  Numerous 
unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  bv  the  Americans 
to  recapture  the  posts  on  Tippctt's  and  Tetard's  Hills, 
and  plans  of  winter  attacks  across  the  frozen  Har- 
lem and  Spuyten  Duyvil  were  often  laid  and  foiled. 
The  rangers  of  Simcoe  and  De  Lancey,  the  yagers  of 
Von  Wurnib  and  the  chasseurs  of  Enimerick  were 
often  met  and  engaged  by  troops  of  American  Light 
Horse,  under  the  fiery  Colonel  Armand  and  other 
dashing  leaders,  on  the  high-roads  and  by-ways  of 
the  Yonkers  plantation.  It  was  also  the  scene  of 
ceaseless  ravages  by  those  irregular  bands,  known  as 
"Cowboys"  and  "Skinners."  Most  of  the  inhabit- 
ants went  into  exile,  and  were  refugees  within  either 
the  American  or  British  lines.  Their  homes  were 
desolated,  their  buildings,  fences  and  orchards  de- 
stroyed. The  Tippetts  were  mainly  Tories.  In  1776, 
General  George  Clinton  arrested  Gilbert  Tippett  for 
"  practices  and  declarations  inimical  to  American 
liberty."  Colonel  James  De  Lancey  had  married 
a  cousin,  Martha  Tippett.  The  Warners,  Hadleys, 
Valentines,  Bettses,  Corsas,  Posts  and  other  old  resi- 
dents were  nearly  all  stanch  Whigs,  and  supplied 
some  of  the  ablest  guides  and  minute-men  of  the 
Revolution. 

The  Siege  of  Fort  Ixdepexdexce. — In  .January, 
1777,  General  Heath  made  a  movement  against  the 
British  outposts  at  King's  Bridge.  ^  His  forces  were 
chiefly  Connecticut  volunteers  and  Dutchess  County 
militia.  They  moved  down  on  the  night  of  the  17th, 
in  three  divisions — the  right,  under  General  Lincoln, 
from  Tarrytown  by  the  old  Albany  road,  to  the 
heights  above  Colonel  Van  Cortlandt's  ;  the  centre, 
under  General  Scott,  from  below  White  Plains  to  the 
rear  of  Valentine's  house, ^  on  the  Boston  road;  and 
the  left,  under  Generals  Wooster  and  Parsons,  from 
New  Rochelle  and  East  Chester  to  Williams'  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Bronx  above  the  bridge.  The 
three  divisions  arrived  simultaneously  at  the  enemy's 
outposts  just  before  sunrise  on  the  18th.  Gen- 
eral Lincoln  surprised  the  guard  above  Van  Cort- 
landt's, capturing  arms,  equipage,  etc.  Heath  moving 
with  the  centre,  as  it  ai)proached  Valentine's  house, 
ordered  its  cannonade  by  Cajjtain  Bryant  in  case  of 
resistance  from  the  guard  quartered  there,  and  sent 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men  at  double-quick  to  the 
right  into  the  hollow  between  the  house  and  Fort 
Independence-  to  cut  off  the  guard.  Just  then  two 
British  light  horsemen,  reconnoitering  out  the  Boston 
road,  came  unexpectedly  on  the  head  of  Wooster's 
column  where  the  road  descends  to  Williams'  bridge. 
Before  they  could  turn,  a  field-piece  dismounted  one, 
who  was  taken  prisoner,  while  the  other  galloped  back 
crying  "  The  rebels !  the   rebels  ! "  which   set  all 


*  The  follow  ing  acconnt  of  the  movement  is  condensed  from  Heath's 
and  contem|iorary  British  reports. 

■•Now  and  for  nearly  »  century  past  the  Vurian  homestead,  an  ancient 
stone  house  on  the  nortlierly  side  of  the  road. 


754 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


outguards  and  inckets  running  to  the  fort,  leaving 
arms,  blankets,  provisions,  tools,  etc.,  behind.  Those 
fleeing  from  Valentine's  and  the  Negro  Fort  were 
fired  on  and  one  captured.  The  American  left  and 
centre  were  then  moved  into  the  hollow  between 
Valentine's  and  Fort  Independence,  and  the  surren- 
der of  the  latter  was  demanded  and  refused.  The 
garrison  consisted  of  a  body  of  Hessians  and  Colonel 
Rogers'  rangers.  Heath  sent  a  detachment  with  two 
field-pieces  southward  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  over, 
looking  the  Free  Bridge,  '  and  opened  fire  on  a  bat. 
talion  of  Hessians  drawn  up  across  the  Harlem,  back 
of  Hyatt's  tavern.  The  enemy  settled  down  as  the 
shot  passed  them,  and  one  piece  being  moved  lower 
down,  they  retired  rapidly  behind  their  redoubt,  -' 
receiving  a  shot  as  they  were  turning  the  point.  The 
enemy  now  opened  on  Heath's  artillerymen  from 
guns  he  had  not  suspected  to  be  in  the  redoubt,  and 
the  men  hastily  drew  their  pieces  back,  receiving  sev- 
eral shots  before  they  reached  the  top  of  the  hill. 

The  success  of  this  movement  on  the  British  out- 
posts flew  through  the  country  and  was  magnified  into 
the  reduction  and  capture  of  Fort  Independence  and 
its  garrison.  Washington  communicated  this  report 
to  Congress  before  receiving  ofiicial  accounts,  causing 
a  double  disappointment  when  the  facts  were  known, 
The  Tory  press  in  New  York  City  reported  it  as  an 
attack  on  Fort  Independence  by  a  large  body  of 
rebels,  who  were  "bravely  repulsed." 

On  the  19th  the  enemy  oi)ened  fire  from  the  fort, 
and  killed  one  American.  Heath  determined  to  cut 
off  the  British  battalion  at  Hyatt's  by  passing  one 
thousand  men  overSpuyten  Duyvil  Creek  on  the  ice. 
It  was  very  cold.  The  men  were  detached  and  gath- 
ered at  Spuyte^  Duyvil  Ridge  for  the  attack,  but 
before  morning  the  weather  had  so  moderated  that  it 
was  deemed  too  hazardous  to  make  the  attem])t. 
There  was  cannonading  on  both  sides  on  the  20th, 
and  the  enemy  on  the  island  were  thrown  into  much 
confusion.  Heath  observing  that  the  enemy,  when 
fired  at  across  the  Harlem,  found  shelter  behind  the 
hill  at  Hyatt's,  had  a  field-piece  hauled  up  to  the 
brow  of  Tippett's  Hill,  and  opened  fire  on  both  their 
front  and  rear  on  the  afternoon  of  the  21st.  Some 
of  the  enemy  found  shelter  in  their  redoubt,  others 
under  the  banks ;  some  lay  flat  on  the  ground  and 
some  betook  themselves  to  the  cellars,  so  that  pres- 
ently there  was  no  object  for  the  gunners.  A  smart 
skirmish  occurred  at  Fort  Independence  on  the  22d. 
To  keep  up  the  appearance  of  serious  designs  upon  the 
fort.  Heath  ordered  fascines,  etc.,  to  be  made,  and 
sent  for  a  brass  twenty-four  pounder  and  a  howitzer 
from  New  Castle.  Another  skirmish  took  place  near 
the  south  side  of  the  fort  on  the  23d,  just  before  dusk, 
in  which  the  Americans  had  an  ensign  and  private 


'  Probably  to  a  point  on  the  old  Tetard  farm,  now  Claflin's  land. 

-the  fort  on  (he  liill  at  noitherly  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  over- 
looking the  King  s  and  Flee  lii  iilges, — originally  built  by  Americans 
and  called  by  the  British  "  Fort  Prince  Charles." 


killed,  and  five  men  wounded.  On  the  24th  a  severe 
storm  began;  Lincoln's  division  had  to  quit 
their  huts  in  the  woods  back  of  Colonel  Van  Cort- 
landt's,  and  move  back,  some  even  to  Dobbs  Ferry, 
to  find  shelter.  A  freshet  in  the  Bronx  caused  the 
water  to  run  over  Williams'  bridge.  Early  on  the 
25th,  the  enemy  sallied  from  Fort  Independence 
towards  De  Lancey's  jMills,  surprised  and  routed  the 
guard,  wounding  several  and  causing  a  regiment  to 
quit  its  quarters.  By  British  accounts  they  also  took 
one  piece  of  cannon.  About  ten  o'clock  they  made 
a  sally  out  the  Boston  road  in  force,  drove  the  guards 
from  Negro  Fort  and  Valentine's  house,  and  pushed 
on  so  impetuously,  keeping  up  a  brisk  fire,  that  the 
retreating  guards  threw  themselves  into  the  old 
American  redoubt '  overlooking  Williams'  bridge. 
The  enemy  thereupon  lined  a  strong  stone  wall  a  few 
rods  distant  to  the  sruthwest.  Two  regiments  of 
militia  were  at  once  formed  in  the  road  near  Wil- 
liams' house,  across  the  Bronx,  and  were  sent  by  Gen- 
eral Heath,  in  support  of  Captain  Bryant  with  his 
piece,  across  the  submerged  bridge.  When  nearly 
up  the  hill  on  the  Boston  road,  Bryant  unlimbered 
to  prevent  his  horses  being  shot,  and  the  men 
took  the  drag-ropes ;  but  the  steepness  of  the  ascent 
required  the  dragging  of  the  piece  almost  within 
pistol-shot  before  it  could  be  depressed  enough  to  bear 
on  the  enemy.  Its  first  shot  opened  a  breach  in  the 
wall  four  or  five  feet  wide,  the  next  made  another 
opening,  whereupon  the  enemy  fled  back  to  Fort  In- 
dependence with  the  greatest  precipitation.  The 
Americans  had  two  killed  and  a  number  wounded. 
On  the  27th  the  brass  twenty-four  pounder  and  the 
howitzer  arrived  and  opened  on  the  fort.  The  former 
sprung  her  carriage  after  the  third  discharge.  There 
were  no  live  shells  for  the  howitzer.  No  regular 
cannonade  of  the  fort  was,  in  fact,  ever  contemplated. 
Attempts  were  made  to  draw  the  enemy  out  of  the 
fort.  A  detachment  was  sent  to  Morrisania  to  light 
numerous  fires  at  night ;  and,  to  induce  the  enemy  to 
suppose  the  Americans  were  collecting  there  with 
designs  of  crossing  to  New  York  at  or  near  Harlem, 
large  boats  were  brought  forward  on  carriages.  The 
British  garrison  on  Montressor's  (Randall's)  Island, 
alarn:ed  at  this,  set  fire  to  the  buildings  and  fled  to 
New  York.  '  A  brigade  of  the  enemy  moved  up  to 
Fort  Washington  and  a  detachment  was  sent  for  from 
Rhode  Island. 

On  the  29th  a  severe  snow-storm  came  on.  Gens. 
Lincoln,  Wooster,  Scott  and  Tenbroeck  were  unani- 
mous that  the  troops  ought  to  move  back  where  they 
could  be  i)rotected  from  the  inclement  weather,  espe- 
cially as  they  had  no  artillery  with  which  to  take  the 


3 This  old  Kevolutionary  work  may  still  be  traced  on  the  hill  north, 
west  from  the  bridge.  It  is  semicircular  in  form  and  was  laid  out  by 
Heath  in  the  fall  of  ITVr,. 

^By  Tory  accounts  the  "rebels"  went  over  to  Montressor's  Island  and 
"burnt  Colonel  Montressor's  house  to  the  ground,  and  ravaged  what- 
ever they  could  meet  with  "  on  this  occasion. 


I 

I 
i 


RESiL)£i\CE  OF  N.  P.  BAILEY, 

FORDHAM-ON-HARLEM.  N.  Y. 


KING'S  BRIDGE. 


755 


fort,  and  were  opposed  to  any  idea  of  assault  or  storm 
with  militia.    Accordingly,  after  dusk,  the  American  ! 
forces  retired  northward  and  eastward  in  good  order  to 
their  former  stations,  and  the  siege  of  Fort  Indepen-  | 
dence  was  abandoned.    The  boldness  of  these  opera-  | 
tions,  by  raw  militia,  and  for  so  long  a  period,  in  face  | 
of  the  strong  force  of  British  and  German  veterans 
in  New  York,  speak  volumes  for  the  spirit  of  our 
grandsires  in  their  determined  contest  for  indepen- 
dence. 

The  Massacre  of  the  Stockbkidge  Ixoians. — 
During  the  summer  of  1778  the  British  light  troops, 
which  were  encamped  about  King's  Bridge,  had  fre- 
quent skirmishes  with  the  American  light  troops  on 
the  highways  and  by-roads  of  the  old  Yonkers. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  when  jnitrolling  out  the  old 
"Mile  Square  Road,"  Lieutenant-Colonel  Emmerick 
was  attacked  and  compelled  to  return  to  his  camp  at 
King's  Bridge.  A  few  days  later  a  small  body  of 
American  light  troops  and  Indians,  under  Colonel 
Gist,  which  had  taken  part  in  this  encounter,  was 
posted  in  several  detachments  on  the  heights  com- 
manding the  old  road,  one  body  on  each  side  of  the 
road,  just  north  of  its  crossing  over  a  small  stream  be- 
yond the  present  Woodlawn  Heights,  and  a  third 
about  three  hundred  yards  west  of  the  road,  on  Devoe's 
farm,  opposite  to  Woodlawn  Heights.  Between  the 
last  party  and  the  road  were  scattered  about  sixty 
Stockbridge  Indians,  under  their  chief,  Nimham,  who 
had  been  in  England.  Lieutenant-colonel  Simcoe,  of 
the  Queen's  Rangers,  learned,  through  his  spies,  that 
the  Indians  were  highly  elated  at  Emmerick's  retreat 
and  supposed  that  they  had  driven  the  whole  force  of 
light  troops  at  King's  Bridge.  He  took  measures  to 
increase  this  belief  and  meantime  planned  to  ambus- 
cade and  capture  their  whole  force.  His  idea  was,  as 
the  enemy  came  down  the  "Mile  Square  Road,"  to 
advance  past  his  flanks.  This  movement  would  be 
perfectly  concealed  by  the  fall  of  the  ground  to  the 
right  {i.e.,  down  the  slope  in  Woodlawn  Heights,  to- 
wards the  stream  at  Second  Street)  and  by  the  woods 
on  the  left  {i.e.,  Van  Cortlandt's  woods,  bordering  the 
road  and  "  Lover's  Lane,"  extending  north  from  the 
road  opposite  Fourth  Street). 

On  the  morning  of  August  81st  the  Queen's  Ran- 
gers, under  Simcoe,  the  chasseurs,  under  Emmerick; 
and  De  Lancey's  Second  Battalion  and  the  Legion  Dra- 
goons, under  Lieutenant-colonel  Tarleton,  marched 
out  the  "  Mile  Square  Road,"  reaching  the  present 
Woodlawn  Heights  about  ten  o'clock.  The  rangers 
and  dragoons  were  posted  on  the  right  (east  of  Second 
Street  and  about  opposite  to  First  Avenue).  Emmer- 
ick's instructions  were  to  take  a  position  on  the  left, 
in  Van  Cortlandt's  woods,  near  Frederick  Devoe's 
house,  half  a  mile  up  the  lane.  By  mistake  he  took 
post  in  the  woods  near  Daniel  Devoe's  house,  which 
stood  on  the  "  Mile  Square  Road,"  near  the  entrance 
to  the  lane,  and  sent  a  patrol  forward  on  the  road.  ; 
Before  Simcoe,  who  was  half-way  up  a  tree  reconnoit-  ' 


ering,  could  stop  this  movement,  he  saw  a  flanking 
party  of  Americans  approach  and  heard  a  smart  firing 
by  the  Indians  who  had  lined  the  fences  alongside 
the  road  on  Emmerick's  left. 

The  rangers  under  Simcoe  moved  rapidly  up  the 
stream  to  gain  the  heights  (Husted's),  which  were 
occupied  by  the  Americans  under  Gist  and  Stewart, 
and  the  cavalry  under  Tarleton  advanced  directly 
up  the  hill  to  where  Emmerick  was  engaged  (between 
Third  and  Fourth  Avenues).  Being  unable  to  pass 
the  fences  bordering  the  road,  Tarleton  made  a  cir- 
cuit to  return  on  the  right  (coming  to  the  road  again 
about  Fifth  Avenue).  Simcoe,  hearing  of  Tarleton's 
difficulty,  left  the  remainder  of  his  corps  under  Major 
Ross,  and  breaking  from  the  rangers  with  the  grena- 
dier company,  arrived  unperceived  (about  oj)posite 
the  end  of  Sixth  Avenue)  close  upon  the  left  flank  of 
the  Indians,  who  were  intent  upon  the  attack  of  Em- 
merick and  Tarleton.  With  a  yell  the  Indians  fired 
on  the  grenadier  company,  wounding  Simcoe  and 
four  of  his  men;  but  being  outnumbered  and  flanked, 
the  Indians  were  driven  from  the  fences  into  the 
open  fields  of  Daniel  Devoe,  north  of  the  road.  Tar- 
leton and  Emmerick  then  got  among  them  with  the 
cavalry.  The  Indians  fought  most  gallantly,  pulling 
several  of  the  cavalry  from  their  horses  ;  but  over- 
powered by  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  they  had 
to  flee.  They  were  swiftly  pursued  up  over  the  fields, 
across  the  lane,  down  through  Van  Cortlandt's  woods, 
over  Tippett's  Brook  into  the  woods  on  the  ridge  be- 
yond, where  a  few  survivors  found  concealment 
among  the  rocks  and  bushes,  and  thus  escaped. 
Nearly  forty  were  killed  or  desperately  wounded,  in- 
cluding the  old  chief  Nimham  and  his  son.  The 
former  called  out  to  his  people  to  fly,  "that  he  was 
old  and  would  die  there."  He  wounded  Simcoe  and 
was  killed  by  Wright,  his  orderly  hussar.  Tarleton 
had  a  narrow  escape  in  the  pursuit  down  the  ridge. 
In  striking  at  an  Indian  he  lost  his  balance  and  fell 
from  his  horse,  but  luckily  for  him  the  Indian  had 
no  bayonet  and  had  discharged  his  musket.  During 
the  pursuit  Simcoe  joined  the  battalion  of  rangers, 
seized  the  heights  (Husted's)  and  captured  a  captain 
and  several  men  of  the  American  light  troops,  but 
the  main  body  escaped.  The  bodies  of  many  of  the 
Indians  were  buried  in  a  small  clearing  in  Van  Cort- 
landt's woods,  since  known  as  the  "  Indian  Field." 

In  July,  1781,  Wttshington  came  in  force  to  at- 
tempt a  surprise  of  the  British  posts  at  King's 
Bridge,  expressly  to  cut  off  De  Lancey's  and  other 
light  corps  ;  but  without  success.  Later  in  the  month, 
accompanied  by  De  Rochambeau,  he  moved  a  force  of 
five  thousand  men  down  to  the  heights  beyond  King's 
Bridge  and  reconnoitered  the  northerly  part  of  Man- 
hattan island  from  Tippett's  and  Tetard's  Hills  and 
Fordham  Heights.  In  Sejitember  a  British  force  of 
five  thousand  men  moved  out  across  the  bridge  to 
Valentine's  Hill,  as  an  escort  to  the  young  Prince 
William  Henry.    After  the  bitterly  cold  winter  of 


756 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


1782-83  the  British  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the 
Yonkers  and  King's  Bridge.  The  inhabitants  began 
to  return  to  their  desolate  homes,  while  the  Loyalists 
crowded  into  the  city.  In  November,  Washington 
came  once  more  down  the  old  post  road,  spent  the 
night  of  the  12th  at  the  Van  Cortlandt  house,  and 
the  next  day,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  people, 
rode  victorious  across  King's  Bridge,  over  which  he 
had  retreated  seven  years  before. 

Political  History. — The  area  under  considera- 
tion was  part  of  the  fief  of  Colen-donck  from  1652  to 
1664.  After  the  English  conquest  in  the  latter  year 
it  belonged  to  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire  until 
the  erection  of  Westchester  County  under  the  act  of 
October  1,  1691.  It  was  afterwards  known  as  the 
Yonkers  Precinct  (except  the  parts  included  in  the 
Manor  of  Phillipsburgh  after  the  erection  of  the  I 
latter,  in  1693).  By  the  act  of  June  19,  1703,  the 
towns,  manors,  etc.,  were  authorized  to  choose  super- 
visors, and  each  inhabitant  of  any  precinct,  being  a 
freeholder,  was  allowed  "  to  join  his  vote  with  the 
next  adjacent  town."  The  freeholders  of  the  Yonkers 
probably  voted  for  a  supervisor  with  the  freeholders 
of  East  Chester.  They  chose  their  own  local  officers 
for  the  precinct,  of  whom  the  following  "  Collectors 
for  the  Yonkers  "  are  known  :  William  Jones,  1708- 
1(1;  John  Barrett,  1713-14;  John  Heading  [Had- 
den],  1715-16;  Mr.  George  Tippett,  1717;  Mr.  Joseph 
Ta^-lor,  1718;  Matthias  Valentine,  1719;  Joseph 
Hadley,  1720;  Moses  Taylor,  1721-23;  William 
Jones',y724 ;  Moses  Taylor,  1725 ;  Thomas  Sherwood, 
1726;  Moses  Taylor,  1727;  Thomas  Rich,  1728;  Ed- 
ward Smith,  1729-30;  Charles  Vincent,  1731-32;  i 
J.icob  Ryder,  1733-34  ;  Josei)h  Taylor,  1736. 

By  the  act  of  November  1 , 1 722, "  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  supervisors  for  Westchester  County,"  the  inhabit- 
ants of  each  precinct  havingnot  lessthan  twenty  inhab- 
itants were  allowed  to  choose  their  own  supervisor. 
The  Yonkers  was  no  doubt  represented  in  the  board 
by  its  own  member  thereafter ;  but  by  reason  of  the 
loss  of  the  records  of  the  precinct  and  of  the  board 
before  1772  their  names  are  not  known.  On  the  first 
Tuesday  in  April,  1756,  the  freeholders  and  inhabit- 
ants of  the  Yonkers  and  Mile  Square'^  held  a  public 
town-meeting  at  the  house  of  Edward  Stevenson,  in 
the  Yonkers,  and  chose  James  Corton  (Coerten  ?) 
supervisor  and  pounder :  Benjamin  Fowler,  town 
clerk;  Thomas  Sherwood,  constable  and  collector; 
David  Oakley  and  William  Warner,  assessors;  Ed- 
ward Weeks,  Wm.  Crawford,  Daniel  Devoe,  John 
Ryder,  Isaac  Odell  and  Hendrick  Post,  highway 
matiters ;  Andrew  Nodine,  Charles  Warner,  Moses 
Taller  and  Isaac  Odell,  fence  and  damage  viewers.^ 

1  It  is  probable  that  the  Yonkei-s  and  Mile  Square  constituteil  one  pre- 
cinct under  the  name  of  the  former.  The  Manor  of  Phillipsburgh  sur- 
rounded Mile  Square  on  three  sides,  and  also  separated  it  from  the  Yon- 
kers. The  inhabitants  of  the  manor  dwelling  upon  the  old  Mile  Square 
road,  between  Yonkers  and  Mile  Square,  were  sometimes  described  as 
"of  the  Yonkers  in  Phillipsburgh." 

2  Bolton's  "  Westchester  County."    jThe  author  must  have  seen  the 


Commissioners  of  highways  in  1770:  James  Van 
Cortlandt  and  Benjamin  Fowler. 

Supervisors  for  the  Yonkers :  Colonel  James  Van 
Cortlandt,  1772-76  ;  (none  during  the  British  occupa- 
tion); Israel  Honeywell,  1784;  William  Hadley, 
1786-87  ;  David  Hunt,  1787. 

Constables :  Jeremiah  Sherwood,  1773 ;  Henry 
Odell,  1775;  Thomas  Sherwood,  1784. 

By  act  of  March  7,  1788,  a  new  town  was  erected, 
containing  part  of  Phillipsburgh,  Mile  Square  and 
the  old  precinct  of  Yonkers,  under  the  name  of 
Y'onkers.  In  November,  1872,  the  supervisors  of 
Westchester  County  erected  a  township  consisting  of 
all  of  the  town  of  Yonkers  lying  south  of  the  south- 
erly line  of  the  city  of  Yonkers,  to  be  called  King's 
Bridge.  Its  first  and  only  annual  meeting  was  held 
at  Temperance  Hall,  Mosholu,  March  25,  1873.  On 
the  1st  of  January,  1874,  King's  Bridge  was  annexed 
to  the  city  of  New  York  and  now  forms  part  of  the 
Twenty-fourth  Ward. 

Church  History. — Before  1700  the  inhabitants 
had  no  place  of  public  worship  nearer  than  East 
Chester.  In  1707  they  assembled  "  sometimes  in  the 
house  of  Joseph  Betts,  deceased,  and  sometimes  in  a 
barn  when  empty."  About  1724  they  had  preaching 
three  times  a  year  by  the  rector  from  East  Chester, 
and  they  "began  to  be  in  a  disposition  to  build  a 
church."  None  was  erected,  however,  for  more  than 
a  century.  Those  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  creed  at- 
tended services  at  the  church  of  Fordham  Manor, 
erected  in  1706.  It  stood  on  the  northerly  side  of  the 
road  to  Fordham  Landing,  where  Moses  Devoe's  gate- 
way now  is.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  English 
Church  at  the  Lower  Mills  those  of  that  faith  in 
the  Yonkers  attended  there.  After  the  Revolution 
Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  and  John  Warner  were  of 
the  first  trustees  of  the  new  "Yonkers  Episcopal 
Society,"  formed  in  1787,  and  members  of  the  first 
vestry  of  "  St.  John's  Church  in  the  town  of  Yonkers," 
on  its  incorporation,  in  1795.  Isaac  Vermilye,  Wil- 
liam Hadley,  William  Warner  and  "Cobus"  Dyck- 
man  were  trustees  of  "the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at 
the  Lower  Mills  in  the  Manor  of  Phillipsburgh,"  in- 
corporated in  1784. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  Bethel  (Mosh- 
olu).— This  was  the  first  religious  society  to  erect  a 
house  of  worship  in  the  limits  of  King's  Bridge.  So 
early  as  1826  a  charge  existed,  having  thirty-six 
white  members  and  one  colored,  under  Samuel  W. 
Fisher,  preacher.  Meetings  were  held  in  an  old 
school-house  which  stood  near  AVarner's  store,  Mosh- 
olu. In  1828  E.  Hebard  had  the  charge.  He  re- 
mained during  1828  and  organized  a  class.  The  suc- 
ceeding preachers  were  R.  Seaman,  1829-30 ;  E. 
Hebard,  1831-32;  E.  Smith,  1833-34;  Th6mas  Evans, 
1835.  On  the  10th  of  February,  1835,  Caleb  Van 
Tassell,  James  Cole,  Jacob  Varian,  Abraham  Wood 

town-book  (now,  unfortunately,  lost),  and  extracted  therefrom  the  ac- 
count of  the  meeting  of  17.">G. 


KING'S  BRIDGE. 


757 


and  John  C.  Lawrence  were  chosen  trustees  to  build 
a  church  and  February  Hth  Caleb  Van  Tassell  and 
Jacob  H.  Varian  made  and  filed  a  certificate  of  incor- 
poration as  "Trustees  of  Methodist  Church  Bethel" 
in  the  town  of  Yonkers.  A  frame  building  was 
erected  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  Albany  post  road 
and  is  yet  standing,  though  disused  for  several  years. 
Its  pastors  have  been  E.  Oldrin,  I.  D.  Bangs  and 
Thonuis  Barch  (superannuated),  183G-37;  John 
Davies,  Salmon  C.  Perry  and  Barch,  1838 ;  Henry 
Hatfield,  Perry  and  Barch,  1839 ;  Barch  and  Daniel 
I.  Wright,  1840 ;  Daniel  I.  Wright  and  Humi)hrey 
Humphreys,  1841  ;  John  A.  Silleck  and  Humphreys 
1842  ;  Silleck  and  Fred'k  W.  Seger,  1843 ;  John  C[ 
Green  and  Mr.  Barch,  1844-45;  Charles  C.  Keyes, 
184(>-47  ;  S.  C.  Perry,  1848-49;  Paul  R.  Brown, 
1850-51  ;  Philip  L.  Hoyt,  1852;  Richard  Wheatly, 
1853-54 ;  Noble  Lovett  and  Thos.  Bainbridge,  1855 ; 
O.  E.  Brown  and  Bainbridge,  1850;  A.  B.  Davis, 
1857-58;  R.  H.  Kelly,  1859-60;  Wm.  F.  Browning 
and  A.  B.  Brown,  18G1 ;  J.  G.  Shrive,  18()2-63; 
W.  H.  Smith,  18<)4;  W.  H.  Smith,  1865;  A.  Os- 
trander,  1866-(J7 ;  A.  C.  Gallahue,  1868;  W.  M. 
Henry,  1869  ;  A.  Ostrander,  1870 ;  Wm.  Plested;  1871 ; 
W.  Tarleton,  1872;  H.  Croft,  1873;  and  Cyrus  Nixon, 
1874-75.  Since  that  date  the  congregation  has 
worshipped  at  King's  Bridge. 

Chukch  of  the  Mediator  (King's  Bridge). — 
Formed  at  meeting  held  August  15,  1855,  pursuant  to 
notice  given  by  the  rector  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Yonkers, "who  presided.  Certificate  recorded  Novem- 
ber 17,  1856.  Name  adopted  "  The  Church  of  the 
Mediator,  Yonkers."  Abraham  Valentine  and  James 
R.  Whiting  were  elected  wardens,  and  Thomas  J.  De 
Lancey,  William  0.  Giles,  John  C.  Sidney,  Russell 
Smith,  Joseph  H.  Godwin,  T.  Bailey  Myers,  Daniel 
Valentine  and  David  B.  Cox,  vestrymen.  Certificate 
executed  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Carter,  A.  Van  Corllandt  and 
AVilliam  0.  Giles.  The  church,  a  frame  structure,  was 
erected  on  land  presented  by  James  R.  AV'hitiug  at  a 
cost  of  five  thousand  dollars,  and  the  rectory  on  ad- 
joining land  soon  afterwards.  The  church  was  con- 
secrated by  Bishop  Horatio  Potter  November  6,  1864. 
The  officiating  clergyman  in  1857  was  Rev.  T- 
James  Brown,  of  the  island  of  Jamaica.  The  rectors 
have  been  Rev.  Cornelius  W.  Bolton,  June,  1858,  to 
May,  1859,;  Rev.  Leigh  Richmond  Dickinson,  June, 
1859.  to  June,  1866;  and  Rev.  William  T.  Wilson, 
since  October,  I8()6. 

RiVEUDALE  Preskyteriax  Church. — Formed  at 
a  meeting  held  Wednesday,  24th  June,  1863,  Isaac  G. 
Johnson  and  Edwin  P.  Gibson  presiding.  The  first 
trustees  chosen  were  Samuel  N.  Dodge,  Robert 
Colgate,  J.  Joseph  Eagleton,  John  ^lott,  James 
Scrymser,  Isaac  G.  Johnson,  William  E.  Dodge,  Jr., 
Warren  B.  Sage  and  David  B.  Kellogg.  Certificate 
of  incorporation  recorded  July  14,  1863.  The  church 
building,  of  stone,  was  completed  and  dedicated  Octo- 
ber 11,  1863.    Cost,  about  five  thousand  dollars.  The 


I  stone  parsonage  adjoining  was  built  soon  after.  The 
original  membership  was  fifteen  and  the  first  elders 
were  John  Mott  and  Warren  B.  Sage.  The  pastors 
have  been  :  George  M.  Boy n ton,  October  28,  ]8(;3,  to 
June,  1867 ;  Henry  H.  Stebbins,  August  25,  1867,  to 
December  28,  1873,  Charles  H.  Burr,  March  5, 1874  to 
July  28,  1878 ;  William  R.  Lord,  April  30,  1879,  to 
Novendjer20,  1881 ;  Ira  S.  Dodd,  April  L"),  1883,  the 

;  present  pastor.  Entire  membership,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five. 

Christ  Church  (Riverdale). — Formed  at  a  meet- 
ing held  September  10,  1866  ;  Rev.  E.  M.  Peck,  chair- 
man. Henry  L.  Stone  and  Newton  Carpenter  were 
elected  wardens,  and  Samuel  I).  Babcock,  George  W. 
Knowlton,  Thompson  N.  HoUistcr,  Frederick  Good- 
ridge,  Martin  Bates,  William  W.  Thompson,  William 
H.  Appleton  and  Henry  F.  Spaulding,  vestrymen. 
Certificate  by  E.  M.  Peck,  Percy  R.  Pyneand  Charles 
H.  P.  Babcock,  recorded  September  15,  1866.  Cor- 
porate name,  "The  Rector,  Church  Wardens  and  Ves- 
trymen of  Christ  Church,  Riverdale."  The  corner- 
stone of  the  church  was  laid  in  1865.  It  is  built  of 
granitic  gneiss  and  is  cruciform.  Rev.  E.  M.  Peck 
acted  as  rector  until  the  Rev.  George  D.  Wildes,  D.D., 
present  rector,  assumed  charge,  in  1868.  The  rectory 
adjoining  the  church  is  a  frame  building.  There  are 
some  beautiful  memorial  windows  in  the  church, 
notably  one  recently  inserted  by  Percy  R.  Pyne  at  a 
cost  of  twenty-five  thousand  francs.  It  is  a  master- 
piece of  the  French  school  by  E.  S.  Oudinot  and  L. 
O.  Merson,  of  Paris,  representing  the  supper  at 
Enimaus. 

Edge  Hill  Chapel  (Spuyten  Duyvil). — Erected 
in  1869,  on  land  leased  by  Isaac  O.  Johnson  at  a 
nominal  rent.  Services  are  conducted  every  Sunday 
evening  by  the  pastor  of  Riverdale  Presbyterian 
Church. 

W<)<)DL.A.\vx  Methodist  Etiscopal  CHtRCH 
(Woodlawn  Heights). — Organized  in  1875.  Building 
erected  on  lots  donated  by  E.  K.  AVillard  ;  completed 
and  dedicated  April,  1876,  by  Bishop  Janes.  Pas- 
tors: D.  W.  C.  Van  Gaasbeek,  1875-76;  Aaron  Coons, 
1876-79;  Gustave  Laws,  1880-81 ;  J.  O.  Kern,  1881, 
present  incumbent.    Membership,  thirty-nine. 

St.  Stephen's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
(King's  Bridge). — Organized  by  trustees  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  Bethel  (Mosholu)  in  1875. 
Church  completed  and  dedicated  May  14,  1876.  Pas- 
tors: D.  W.  C.  Van  Gaasbeek,  1875-76  ;  Aaron  Coons, 
1876-79;  David  Tasker,  1879-80;  S.  Lowther,  1880-82; 
R.  H.  Kelly,  1882-83;  Isaac  H.  Lent,  present  incum- 
bent.   Membership,  forty-seven. 

St.  John's  Church  (King's  Bridge). — Built  under 
the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Henry  A.  Brann,  D.D.,  and 
dedicated  December  3,  1880,  by  Cardinal  McCloskey. 
Since  its  erection  Dr.  Brann  has  been  aided  in  attend- 
I  ing  to  the  congregation  by  the  Revs.  Fr.  Micena,  Dr. 
Shrader,  D.  McCormick  and  William  Fry,  and  the 
present  as.sistant  is  Rev.  Father  O'Neill.  Attached 


758 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


to  the  church  are  the  St.  John's  Benevolent  Society 
and  St.  Patrick's  Temperance  Society.  The  congre- 
gation numbers  about  five  hundred  souls  and  is  con- 
nected with  St.  Elizabeth's  Church,  Fort  Washington, 
where  Dr.  Brann  resides. 

VILLAGES. 

King's  Bridge. — The  village  of  this  name  sprang 
up  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  upon  the  ancient 
"island  or  hummock"  of  Paparinamin,  from  which 
it  has  since  overspread  the  site  of  the  old  village  of 
Fordham  and  the  hillside  beyond.  Paparinamin  was 
given,  in  1668,  by  Eiias  Doughty  to  George  Tippett. 
Alter  his  death,  in  1675,  Archer  laid  claim  to  it ;  but> 
exacting  as  a  recognition  of  his  manorial  rights  the 
annual  payment  of  a  "  flat  capon  "  every  New  Year's 
day,  he  released  the  tract  to  Secretary  Matthias  Nicoll. 
Two  years  later  Tippett's  widow,  then  wife  of  Lewis 
Vitrey,  reconveyed  the  island  to  Doughty,  who,  in 
turn,  transferred  it  to  the  secretary.  Thus  the  title  to 


MACOMB'S  DAM,  HARLEM  RIVER,  1S.50. 

this  tract  vested  in  the  colonial  government,  which 
had  already  assigned  its  use  to  Ferryman  Verveelen. 
In  1693  it  was  included  in  the  grant  of  the  Manor  of 
Phillipsburgh,  of  which  it  remained  a  part  until  for- 
feited by  the  attainder  of  Colonel  Phillipse,  in  1779. 
It  was  sold  by  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeiture  (deed 
July  30,  1785)  to  Joseph  Crook,  inn-keeper,  Daniel 
Barkins  and  Abraham  Lent,  Jr.,  of  Dutchess  County, 
in  joint  tenancy.  Medcef  Eden,  brewer,  John  Ram- 
sey and  Alexander  von  Pfister,  merchants,  subse- 
quently owned  it  in  whole  or  part ;  also,  Daniel  Hal- 
sey,  inn-keeper,  who  kept  the  old  tavern  upon  it  be- 
tween 1789  and  1793.  It  was  purchased,  1797-99,  from 
Von  Pfister  and  Joseph  Eden  by  Alexander  Macomb, 
a  wealthy  merchant  of  New  York.^ 

During  the  next  five  years  Macomb  purchased  from 
Isaac  Yermilye,  John  De  Lancey,  Isaac,  John  and 

I  WLo  purchased  from  the  State  in  1791  more  than  tlireo  million 
five  huixlred  thousand  acres  in  Nortliern  New  York,  at  Sd.  per  acre.  The 
Adirondack  Mountains  were  long  known  as  "  Maeomb's  Mountains." 


Matthias  Valentine,  Andrew  Corsaand  Augustus  Van 
Cortlandt  adjoining  parcels,  mostly  salt  meadow,  mak- 
ing up  nearly  one  hundred  acres,  bounded  north  by 
Van  Cortlandt,  east  by  the  Albany  road,  south  by  the 
Harlem  and  Spuyten  Duyvil,  and  west  by  Tippett's 
Brook.  Having  obtained  from  the  mayor,  etc.,  of 
New  York,  in  December,  1800,  a  water  grant  extend- 
ing across  the  creek,  just  east  of  the  King's  Bridge 
(which  reserved,  however,  a  passage-way  fifteen  ieet 
wide  for  small  boats  and  craft),  Macomb  erected  a 
four-story  frame  grist-mill  extending  out  over  the 
creek.  Its  power  was  supplied  by  the  alternate  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  tide  against  its  under-shot  wheel. 
Macomb's  extensive  real  estate  ventures  proving  dis- 
astrous, Paparinamin  and  the  mill  were  sold  under 
foreclosure  in  1810,  and  purchased  by  his  son  Robert. 
By  an  act  of  1813  the  latter  was  authorized  to  con- 
struct a  dam  across  the  Harlem  from  Bussing's  to 
Devoe's  Point,  and  to  use  the  water  for  milling  pur- 
poses, and  erected  at  much  expense  the 
causeway  and  bridge  known  as  "  Macomb's 
Dam."  Its  gates  admitted  the  flood  tide 
from  the  East  River,  but  obstructed  its 
ebb,  thus  converting  the  Upper  Harlem 
into  a  mill-pond,  having  its  outlets  under- 
neath the  old  mill  and  through  a  raceway 
made  on  the  Westchester  side  into  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Creek  at  low  tide.  The  race  sup- 
j)lied  power  to  a  marble-sawing  mill  which 
stood  on  a  quay  between  it  and  the  creek, 
and  of  which  Perkins  Nicolls  was  proprie- 
tor. Robert  Macomb  becoming  involved, 
the  property  was  sold  by  the  sheriff  in 
1818.  Ten  years  later  it  was  possessed  by 
the  "  New  York  Hydraulic  Manufacturing 
and  Bridge  Company,"  by  which  an  elab- 
orate plan  was  put  forth  for  mill-seats  and 
a  manufacturing  village,  based  on  a  report 
of  Professor  James  Renwick,  of  Columbia 
College,  approved  by  Colonel  Totten  and  General 
Macomb,  chief  engineers  United  States  army. 
The  enterprise  proved  abortive.-  The  old  grist- 
mill '  stood  idle  during  many  years,  and  at  length 
was  made  useless  by  the  removal  of  Macomb's 
Dam.  In  1830  Mary  C.  P.  Macomb,  the  wife  of 
Robert,  acquired  the  Paparinamin  tract,  and  during 
many  years  uuide  the  old  stone  tavern  her  home,  ex- 
ercising therein  a  generous  hospitality,  of  which 
Edgar  Allen  Poe  was  a  frequent  recipient.  In  1847 
Mrs.  Macomb  laid  out  the  estate  into  streets  and  plots, 
which  she  afterwards  disposed  of.  Several  houses 
were  erected,  stores  and  shops  were  opened,  a  church 

2  It  was  propossd,  in  an  elaborate  prospectus,  to  dam  the  Yonkers  Riv- 
er (Tippett's  Brook)  near  its  mouth,  and  have  gates  opening  down-stream 
only.  The  bed  of  the  stream  and  the  salt  meadows  through  which  it 
flowed  were  to  form  a  reservoir  for  tail-water,  which  would  empty  itself 
into  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  at  low  tide.  Fourteen  mill-seats,  each  fifty 
by  one  hundred  feet,  bordered  the  race-ways,  and  an  aggregate  of  at 
least  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  horse-power  was  assured  for  them. 

3  It  fell  down  about  1836. 


I 

I 


KING'S  BRIDGE. 


759 


built  and  a  centre  of  population  established,  which 
has  grown  to  several  hundreds.  There  are  now  three 
churches,  a  grauiuiar  school,  ])olice  station,  numerous 
stores,  shops,  saloons  and  dwellings.  Among  the 
well-known  residents  are  Joseph  H.  Godwin,'  William 

G.  Ackerman,  William  O.  Giles,  George  Moller,  Wil- 
liam A.  Yarian,  M.D.,  Benjamin  T.  Sealey,  William 

H.  Geer,  John  Parsons,  M.D.,  Rev.  William  T.  Wil- 
son and  others. 

Spvytex  Duyvil. — A  village  (and  until  recently  a 
post  office)  located  on  the  southerly  end  of  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Xeck.  The  land  was  owned .  by  George  Tip- 
pett,  who  died  in  1761.  He  devised  it  in  several 
parcels  to  his  children  and  grandchildren.  Soon  af- 
ter the  Revolution  it  belonged  to  Samuel  Berrien, 
who  had  married  Dorcas  Tippett,  daughter  of  George.'- 
He  sold  to  Abraham  Berrien,  a  nephew^,  in  whose 
family  it  continued  until  about  1850.-  In  1852  the 
tract  was  in  three  farms,  which  were  purchased  that 
year  and  next  by  Elias  Johnson,  David  B.  Cox  and 
Joseph  W.  Fuller,  of  Troy,  X.  Y.  They  had  surveys 
and  plans  made  for  a  village  to  be  called  Fort  Inde- 
pendence,' but  which  was  changed  to  Spuyten  Duyvil. 
Streets  were  opened  and  several  houses  erected  on  the 
hill,  and  a  foundry  was  established  at  its  base.  The 
latter  was  afterwards  bought  and  extended  into  a 
rolling-mill  by  Jervis  Langdon,  who  was  succeeded 
by  the  Langdon  Rolling-Mill  Company.  The  Spuy- 
ten Duyvil  Rolling-Mill  Company,  organized  in  1867, 
next  owned  this  property.  A  malleable  iron  foundry 
was  established  on  adjoining  premises  by  Isaac  G. 
.Johnson  and  now  employs  several  hundred  hands. 
There  are  about  thirty  private  dwellings  on  the  ele- 
vate<l  ground,  including  the  residences  of  Mrs.  D.  B. 
Cox,  Thomas  H.  Edsall,  George  C.  Holt,  Isaac  G. 
Johnson,*  Elias  Johnson,  Gilbert  Johnson,  Henry  R. 
Lounsbery,  David  M.  Morrison,  George  H.  Petrie, 
Albert  E.  Putnam,  Joseph  R.  Sergeant,  Mrs.  Peter 
0.  Strang,  Warren  B.  Sage,  Henry  M.  Smith  and 
others. 

Immediately  northward  is  a  tract  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty-six  acres,  also  known  as  Spuyten  Duyvil. 
Frederick  Yan  Cortiandt  purchased  it  in  several  par- 
cels between  1768  and  1788,  and  built  his  house  on  a 
commanding  spot  on  the  easterly  side,  approached  by 
a  private  road  leading  up  from  the  post  road  at  Mo- 
sholu.  He  devised  this  property  to  his  brother  Au- 
gustus, by  whose  v»ill  it  passed  to  a  grandson,  Augus- 
tus F.  Morris,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Van  Cort- 

'  Mr  Gwtwiii's  residence  is  the  old  Mticoinb  niausion,  now  altered  and 
enlarged. 

'A  grandson  of  tlie  first  proprietor  of  tlie  name.    His  wife  was  Dor- 

cas  .  He  had  sons :  George,  William,  James  and  Thomas  (all  of  whom 

man  led  and  had  is.-<ue),  and  daughters:  Jane,  wife  of  Charles  Warner; 
Phebe,  wifi-  of  George  Hudley;  and  Dorcas,  wife  of  Samuel  Berrien.  The 
Kev.  William  Berrien,  rector  of  Trinity  Parish,  Xew  York,  and  its  liisto- 
riau,  was  a  grandson  of  the  latter. 

■'After  the  Revolutionary  fort,  erroneously  supposed  to  have  orcupii-il 
this  hill. 

'  Mr.  Johnson  resides  in  the  ohi  Berrien  lu^usc,  which  he  has  enlarged 
and  improved. 


landt.  From  him  James  R.  Whiting  bought  the 
tract  in  1836  and  aljout  1840  erected  a  large  stone 
mansion  on  the  western  side,  overlooking  the  Hudson. 
Samuel  Thomson,  William  C.  Wetmore  and  Daniel 
Ewing  became  interested  in  Whiting's  purchase  in 
1841,  and  they  subsequently  divided  it  into  parcels 
stretching  from  the  Hudson  across  the  neck  to  Tip- 
pett's  Brook.  Thomson  took  the  northerly  parcel,  on 
which  stood  a  large  stone  house  erected  about  1822 
on  the  site  of  the  "Upper  Cortlandts',"  destroyed  in 
that  year  by  fire.  Surrounded  by  well  laid  out  and 
highly-improved  grounds,  it  is  now  the  residence  of 
Waldo  Hutchins.  Near  by  is  Hiram  Barney's  beau- 
tiful country-seat,  "  Cedar  Knolls."  The  Whiting 
mansion  is  occu|)ied  by  James  R.  Whiting,  Jr.  Ad- 
joining is  the  house  of  James  A.  Hayden.  The  late 
General  John  Ewen's  country-seat  on  this  tract  is 
now  occupied  by  his  widow. 

Hi'Dsox  Park  was  laid  out  in  1853,  on  the  westerly 
part  of  Samuel  Thomson's  tract.  A  single  house  on 
the  river-side  was  the  only  one  erected  for  many 
years.  There  is  now  a  cluster  of  small  dwellings 
known  as  "  Cooperstown,"  on  this  tract. 

North  of  Hudson  Park,  and  extending  across  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  Albany  road,  was  the  old  Hadley 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-seven  acres,  of  which 
William  Hadley  died  seized  in  1802.  He  purchased 
the  southerly  part,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
extending  up  to  the  line  of  the  Manor  of  Phillijjs- 
burgh,  from  James  Yan  Cortiandt,  in  1761,  and  the 
remainder  froiii  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeiture,  May 
18,  1786.  He  lived  in  the  old  stone  house  yet  stand- 
ing on  this  tract,  just  west  of  the  post  road.  Joseph 
Delaficld  purchased  the  farm  from  Hadley's  execu- 
tors in  1829,  and  it  is  now  owned  by  Delafield's 
children  and  grandchildren.  The  residence  of  Maturin 
L.  Delafield  is  on  the  west  side  of  Riverdale  Avenue. 
The  house  of  the  late  Lewis  L.  Delafield  stands  on 
the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking  the  Hudson.  Mr. 
William  E.  Dodge's  country-seat  is  on  this  tract.  On 
the  west  side  of  Riverdale  Avenue  is  a  new  fire-engine 
house,  the  first  erected  in  the  old  Yonkers.  Its  tower 
contains  a  melodious  old  Spanish  bell,  cast  in  1762  by 
Llonart. 

Riverdale. — A  village  (and  until  recently  a  post- 
office)  situated  on  i)art  of  Phillipsburgh  Manor,  which 
was  sold  by  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeiture  to  George 
Hadley,  December  6,  1785.  In  1843  William  G.  Ack- 
erman acquired  about  one  hundred  acres  of  this  tract, 
part  of  which  was  purchased  in  1853  by  W.  W.  Wood- 
worth,  H.  L.  Atherton,  Samuel  D.  Babcock  and  C.  W. 
Foster,  and  laid  out  as  the  village  of  Riverdale.  In 
j  1856  Henry  F.  Spaulding  and  others  laid  out  the  land 
j  adjoining  on  the  south  as  "The  Park,  Riverdale."  On 
these  lands  have  since  been  erected  a  number  of  beau- 
tiful country-houses,  including  those  of  William  H. 
Appleton,  Samuel  D.  Babcock,  Martin  Bates,  George 
H.  Bend,  Robert  Colgate,  William  S.  Duke,  R.  L. 
Franklin,  George  H.  Forster,  Frederick  Goodridge, 


760 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Laura  Harriman,  D.  Willis  James,  Percy  R.  Pyne, 
Moses  Taylor  Pyne,  Henry  F.  Spaulding,  H.  L.  Stone 
and  others.  There  are  two  churches  and  a  school- 
house,  but  no  places  of  business  in  Eiverdale. ' 

Mt.  St.  Vincent  and  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 
— In  the  northwest  corner  of  what  was  formerly  the 
town  of  King's  Bridge,  lying  along  the  Hudson  River, 
and  partly  jutting  over  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
city  of  New  York  into  the  adjoining  city  of  Yonkers, 
is  Mount  St.  Vincent — the  property  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity — a  picturesque  tract  of  more  than  fifty  acres 
of  land,  together  with  the  convent  and  other  build- 
ings which  make  the  mother  house  of  the  Sisters  in 
the  Archdiocese  of  New  York.  The  institution  was 
founded  here  in  1856,  when  this  site  was  still  in 
Westchester  County,  Nearly  a  thousand  Sisters,  in 
more  than  a  hundred  subordinate  houses,  including 
asylums,  hospitals,  the  Girls'  Protectory  in  West- 
chester, the  retreat  for  the  insane  at  Harrison,  in- 
dustrial schools,  academies  and  parish  schools,  are 
governed  from  Mt.  St.  Vincent.  The  many  parish  and 
other  schools,  under  the  Sisters  of  Charity  from  this 
house,  and  situated  in  Westchester  County  and  in 
and  near  New  York,  include  about  thirty-five  thou- 
sand pupils,  besides  the  hundreds  of  sick  and  infirm 
in  their  different  asylums  and  hospitals. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity  are  a  benevolent  corpora- 
tion of  women  only,  formed  under  the  general  laws  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  governed  by  their  own 
trustees  elected  from  among  themselves,  and  are 
largely  independent.  The  Mother  Superior  is  the 
president  of  the  corporation.  Mother  Angela  Hughes, 
the  youngest  sister  of  Archbishop  Hughes,  was 
superior  of  the  order  when  the  Sisters,  in  December, 
1856,  bought  this  property  of  Edwin  Forrest,  with 
the  farm  buildings  and  the  castle  upon  it,  as  he  had 
built  them  for  his  own  residence.-  The  following  year 
Mother  Angela  commenced  the  new  building,  which 
now  forms  the  central  part  of  the  present  convent, 
overlooking  the  Hudson,  between  two  and  three 
hundred  yards  distant.  This  first  building,  with  a 
front  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  feet,  has  by  later 
additions  been  enlarged  to  more  than  five  hundred 
feet  of  frontage,  making  a  handsome  brick  structure, 
three  stories  in  height,  with  high  basement  and  attic 
and  a  lofty  spire. 

Mother  Angela's  term  of  oftice  expired  in  1862, 
since  which  date  Mother  Jerome  and  Mother  Regina 
have  successively  ruled  the  order.  Mother  Angela 
died  in  1866,  Mother  Regina  in  1879  and  Mother 
Jerome  in  1885,  since  which  date  Sister  M.  Ambrosia, 


1  Between  Riverdale  and  Mount  St.  Vincent  is  a  part  of  the  okl  Johu 
Warner  farm,  formerly  owned  by  A.  Schermerhorn,  and  another  part 
owned  by  J.  E.  Bettner,  E.  F.  Brown  and  others.  Some  fine  stone 
country-houses  have  recently  been  erected  on  these  tracts. 

-  The  Forrest  property  was  part  of  the  large  farm  that  Captain  John 
Warner,  of  the  Kerolutionary  army,  bought  at  the  sale  of  the  confiscated 
estate  of  Colonel  Frederick  Phillipse. — heed  of  Commissiu7iers  of  For- 
feiture, Dec.  6,  1785. 


who,  twenty-five  years  before,  had  been  in  charge  ot 
the  girls'  parish  school  in  Yonkers,  then  treasurer  at 
j  Mt.  St.  Vincent,  and  subseqently  the  head  of  the 
Girls'"  Protectory  at  Westchester,  and  later  assistant- 
mother  at  Mt.  St.  Vincent,  has  been  the  Mother 
Superior  there. 

The  south  half  of  the  convent  building  contains  the 
Academy  of  Mt.  St.  Vincent,  a  girls'  school  of  the 
highest  class,  numbering  between  two  and  three 
hundred  pupils,  with  the  philosophical  apparatus  and 
the  appointments  of  a  college.  The  pupils  are 
divided  into  many  classes,  each  class  under  the  imme- 
diate charge  of  a  Sister  specially  selected  for  her 
natural  endowments  and  careful  training.  Sister 
Maria  (Mary  C.  Dodge)'  has  long  been  the  directress 
of  the  academy,  subordinate  to  the  Mother  Superior. 
The  academic  course  runs  through  four  years,  pre- 
ceded by  a  preparatory  school  for  those  who  need  it, 
and  followed  by  a  post-graduate  course. 

The  north  half  of  the  convent  is  the  mother  house 
of  the  Sisters,  the  residence  of  the  Mother  Superior 
and  her  assistants,  with  the  Sisters  of  the  academy,  as 
well  as  those  at  home  from  the  outside  missions  for 
needed  rest  or  in  broken  health,  so  that  there  are  usu- 
ally a  hundred  Sisters  or  more  in  the  house.  At  the 
extreme  north  end  is  now  the  spacious  novitiate,  built 
in  1885.  The  institution  has  a  hundred  novices  in  a 
two  years'  course  of  training  and  probation  under 
the  Mother  of  Novices,  and  there  are  usually  a  dozen 
or  twenty  candidates  for  the  novitiate  awaiting  ad- 
mission through  three  months  or  more  of  probation. 

The  convent  chapel,  iis  large  as  a  parish  churchy 
is  in  an  extension  to  the  east,  nearly  in  the  middle 
of  the  convent,  between  the  Sisters'  department 
and  that  of  the  pupils.  The  convent  has  a  large 
number  of  fine  paintings  and  works  of  art,  and 
everything  about  the  building  is  admirable  for  its 
neatness  and  good  order,  and  the  extensive  grounds 
are  always  well  kept.  The  carriage  drive  from 
the  convent  to  the  eastern  entrance  at  Riverdale 
Avenue  is  about  half  a  mile  in  length,  and  to- 
wards the  west,  on  the  Hudson,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
from  the  convent  door,  is  the  Mt.  St.  Vincent  Station 
of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road, on  the  Sisters"  own  grounds.  The  institution  is 
supplied  with  gas  and  with  water  from  the  Yonkers 
works,  and  is  under  the  protection  of  the  New  York 
Qity  police.  The  picturesque  stone  castle  of  Edwin 
Forrest  still  stands  between  the  convent  and  the 
railroad  station,  and  a  part  is  made  the  dwelling  of  the 
chaplain  of  the  institution.  The  larger  rooms  on  the 
first  floor  are  occupied  by  the  museum  of  natural 
history,  the  collection  of  minerals  being  unusually 
large  and  good,*  and  there  is  also  a  fine  cabinet  of 
coins  and  medals.^ 


3  Authoress  of  nn  interesting  history  of  the  institution. 

*  Presented  by  Dr.  E.  S.  F.  Arnold,  of  New  York. 

'  Forrest  purchased  this  estate  in  1847,  and  called  it  "  Font  Hill." 


KING'S  BllIDGE. 


761 


On  their  own  ground,  on  a  side-street  near  River- 
dale  Avenue,  the  Sisters,  in  1875,  built,  at  a  cost  of 
over  twenty  thousand  dollars,  "  St  Vincent's  Free 
School,"  a  brick  building  sixty  by  ninety  feet,  where 
they  continue  to  teach,  at  their  own  cost,  a  free 
primary  school  now  numbering  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  boys  and  girls  of  the  vicinity. 

The  residences  of  Edmund  D.  Randolph  and  Mr. 
B.  Cuthbert  adjoin  this  property  on  the  south. 

MosHOLu'  is  an  old  hamlet  and  post-office  skirting 
the  Albany  post  road,  known  early  in  the  century  as 
"  Warner's,"  where  many  years  ago  there  were  a 
church  (Methodist),  school-house,  store,  blacksmith 
and  wagon-shop  and  a  cluster  of  dwellings. 

WooDLAWX  Heights. — A  village  (and  until  re- 
cently a  post-office)  on  the  Harlem  Railroad,  laid  out 
in  1873  by  George  Opdyke  and  others  on  a  part  of  the 
old  Gilbert  Valentine  farm,  in  the  Yonkers.  E.  K. 
Wilhird  extended  the  village  northward  the  same 
year  to  the  Mile  Square  road  on  land  formerly  part  of 
Phillipse  ^lanor.  A  church  and  a  number  of  small 
dwelling-houses  have  been  erected  on  these  plots. 

Van  Cortlaxdt's  is  a  station  on  the  New  York 
City  and  Northern  Railroad,  located  near  the  old 
Van  Cortlandt  pond  and  mills.  Near  by  are  the  ice- 
houses and  residence  of  George  R.  Jremper.  The 
historic  old  mansion  (1748),  now  the  residence  of 
Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  stands  a  few  hundred  yards 
northward,  upon  Van  der  Donck's  ancient  planting- 
field.  Opposite  to  the  car-houses,  beyond  the  station^ 
is  an  ancient  burial-place,  probably  that  of  the  Betts 
and  Tippett  families  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Olaff  Park  is  aname  given  to  about  one  hundred 
acres  of  the  Van  Cortland's  estate,  purchased  and 
laid  out  in  1869  by  W.  N.  Woodvvorth,  and  so  called 
after  the  name  of  the  ancestor  of  the  Van  Cortlandts 
in  America.  No  improvements  have  been  made  on 
this  tract  except  to  open  streets  and  avenues. 

WooDLAAVx  Cemetery. — This  beautiful  "  city  of 
the  dead  "  consists  of  about  four  hundred  acres  on  the 
heights  of  the  Bronx,  extending  westward  to  an  an- 
cient road,  whose  line  is  now  followed 
by  Central  Avenue  The  house  of  Abra- 
ham Vermilye  stood  on  its  easterly  side 
in  1781.  Early  in  this  century  John 
Bussing,  Daniel  Tier,  William  and  Abra- 
ham Valentine  owned  the  farms  of  which 
the  cemetery  is  now  composed.  The 
cemetery  was  organized  in  December, 
1863,  and  the  improvement  of  the  grounds 
commenced  in  April,  1864.  The  first  interment  was 
made  January  14,  1865,  since  which  time  there 
have  been  upwards  of  twenty-six  thousand  burials 
therein. 

Railroads. — The  earliest  was  the  New  York  and 
Harlem,  along  the  easterly  bounds,  chartered  May  12, 
1831  ;  opened  to  Harlem,  1837,  and  to  White  Plains, 

'  So  called  after  the  Indian  name  of  Tippett's  Brook. 
71 


1844.  For  nearly  thirty  years  the  nearest  station  was 
at  Williams'  Bridge.  There  is  one  now  at  Woodlawn. 
The  Hudson  River  Railroad,  chartered  April  25, 
1831,  was  opened  along  the  westerly  bounds  of  the 
district  about  1850.  Stations  :  Spuyten  Duyvil,  Riv- 
erdale  and  Mount  St.  Vincent.  The  Spuyten  Duyvil 
and  Port  Morris  Railroad,  chartered  April  24,  1867, 
was  opened  in  1871.  Stations  :  Spuyten  Duyvil  and 
King's  Bridge.  The  New  York  City  and  Northern 
Railroad  was  reorganized  and  opened  in  1878.  Sta- 
tions :  King's  Bridge  and  Van  Cortlandt's. 

Aqueducts. — 1.  The  Croton  aqueduct,  begun 
1837  and  completed  1842,  passes  along  the  brow  of 
Valentine's,  (iun  and  Tetard's  Hills.  2.  The  Bronx 
River  water  supply,  determined  upon  in  1879  and 
opened  September  9,  1884,  is  carried  in  a  forty-eight- 
inch  cast-iron  conduit  pipe  along  the  west  side  of  the 
Bronx  to  Woodlawn  and  thence  to  the  top  of  the 
hill,  half  a  mile  west  of  Williams'  Bridge  Station, 
where  a  distributing  reservoir  is  located  and  whence 
thirty-six  inch  pipes  distribute  the  water  to  the 
Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards.  3.  The  new 
Croton  supply,  determined  upon  in  1884  and  work  in 
progress,  will  go  near  the  old  one,  mostly  through 
rock  tunnel.  4.  Jlount  St.  Vincent,  Riverdale  and 
Spuyten  Duyvil  have  been  supplied  from  Yonkers 
water-works  since  1882. 

Schools. — The  most  ancient  was  the  French 
boarding-school  of  Dominie  Tetard,  opened  in  1772. 
Early  in  the  century  there  was  a  school-house  near 
Warner's  store  and  another  on  the  Mile  Square  road, 
near  Devoe's.  The  school-house  at  Mosholu  (now 
Grammar  No.  ()7)  was  erected  about  1840.  The  one 
at  King's  Bridge  (now  Grammar  School  No.  66)  was 
erected  in  1872.  The  one  at  Spuyten  Duyvil  (now 
Primary  No.  44)  was  erected  about  1859.  Primary 
No.  48,  at  Woodlawn,  was  established  in  1880.  The 
Riverdale  Institute,  a  s'  ininary  for  young  ladies,  and 
the  boarding-school  for  boys  at  Hudson  Park  have 
been  closed  for  several  years.  The  academy  at  Mount 
St.  Vincent  is  mentioned  under  that  head. 


BIOGRAPHY. 

THE  VAN  cortlandts  OF  YOXKERS. 

Right  Hon.  Stephen  Van  Cortlandt,  the  ancestor  of 
the  race,  whose  name  must  ever  remain  illustrious  in 
our  history,  was  the  father  of  Right  Hon.  Oloff 
Stevens    Van    Cortlandt,  who    married  Annetje, 


762 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


daughter  of  Gouvert  Lockermans,  in  1642,  and  died  in 
1669.  The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Hon. 
Stephanas  Van  Cortlandt  (the  lord  of  the  Manor  of 
Van  Cortlandt),  Jacobus  and  Johannes,  who  died  in 
1667,  leaving  no  descendants. 

Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  the  second  son,  was  born 
July  7,  1658,  and  on  the  7th  of  May,  1691,  was  mar- 
ried to  Eva  Phillipse,  the  adopted  daughter  of  Freder- 
ick Phillipse,  lord  of  the  Manor  of  Phillipsburgh,  her 
parents  being  Peter  Randolph  De  Vries  and  his  wife 
Margaret  Hardenbrock  ;  the  date  of  her  birth  was 
October  30,  1660. 

The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Frederick ;  Mar- 
garet, wife  of  Abraham  De  Peyster ;  Ann,  wife  of  Hon- 
John  Chambers  ;  and  Mary,  wife  of  Peter  Jay,  father 
of  Hon.  John  Jay,  the  illustrious  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States. 

Frederick  Van  Cortlandt,  the  oldest  son,  was  born 
in  1698,  and  married  Francina,  daughter  of  Augustus 
Jay  (the  ancestor  of  the  family  bearing  that  famous 
name)  and  Anna  Maria  Bayard,  his  wife.  The  old 
family  Bible,  printed  in  Amsterdam  in  1714,  and  now 
in  possession  of  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  ofYonkers, 
contains  the  following  record  of  this  family,  written  in 
Dutch  by  Francina  Van  Cortlandt,  which  is  of  much 
interest  as  a  relic  of  the  times  when  that  language 
was  in  general  use  throughout  the  county  : 

"  Niew  York,  den  19  January  172i,  ben  Ick  fran- 
cina Jay  met  frederick  Van  Cortlandt  soon  van  Jac- 
obus Van  Cortlandt,  in  den  howelicke  staet  beve 
stight,  door  Dominie  Antonidus." 

"  Niew  York  de  3  Mart.  172?  is  geboren  myn  soon 
Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  zyn  compear  myn  schonvader 
Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  peet  myn  mouder  Anna 
Marica  Jay." 

"  Niew  York  de  3  Augustus  1728  is  geboren  myn 
twede  soon  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  zyn  compear 
myn  vader  Augustus  Jay,  peet  Marggrite  De  Peyster." 

"Niew  York  de  28  Mart.  1730  is  geboren  myn  der- 
den  soon  Frederick  Van  Cortlandt,  zyn  compear 
Peler  Jay,  peet  Judith  Jay." 

'"Niew  York  de  28  Mart.  1732  is  geboren  myn 
dochter  Ev  a  Van  Cortlandt, liar  compear  Jacobus  Van 
Cortlandt  har  grote  vader,  peet  Anna  Van  Cortlandt. 
En  is  gestorven  den  10  June  1733,  en  begraven  in  de 
helder  by  Gerardus  Btuyvesants." 

"  Niew  York  de  22  May  1736  is  geboren  myn  twede 
dochter  Anna  Marica  Van  Cortlandt,  har  compear 
Peter  Valette,  peet  Marica  Valette." 

"  Niew  York  de  5  November  1737  is  geboren  myn 
twede  dochter  Eva  Van  Cortlandt,  her  compear  Abra- 
ham De  Peyster,  peet  Marica  Jay." 

"  Is  gestorven  den  12  February  1749-50,  myn  lieve 
man  frederick  Van  Cortlandt  in  zyn  51  jaer,  en  be- 
graven in  de  helder  op  de  klyne  Y'onkers." 

(Translation)  New  York,  19th  of  January  172i|  am 
I,  Francina  Jay  confirmed  in  the  marriage  state  with 
Frederick  Van  Cortlandt  son  of  Jacobus  Van  Cort- 
landt, by  Dominie  Antonidus. 


New  York,  the  3rd  of  March,  172f-  is  born  my  son 
Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt ;  his  godfather  my  father- 
in-law.  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt,  godmother  my  mother 
Anna  Marica  Jay. 

New  Y'ork  the  3rd  August,  1728,  is  born  my  second 
son  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt ;  his  godfather  my 
father,  Augustus  Jay,  godmother  Margaret  De  Pey- 
ster. 

New  Y^ork,  28th  March,  1730,  is  born  my  third  son, 
Frederick  Van  Cortlandt ;  his  godfather  Peter  Jay, 
godmother  Judith  Jay. 

New  York,  28th  March  1732,  is  born  my  daughter, 
Eva  Van  Cortlandt;  her  godfather  Jacobus  Van 
Cortlandt,  her  grandfather,  godmother  Anna  Van 
Cortlandt,  and  died  the  lOthof  June,  1733,  and  buried 
in  the  vault  by  Gerardus  Stuyvesants. 

New  York,  22nd  of  May,  1736,  is  born  my  second 
daughter,  Anna  Marica  Van  Cortlandt ;  her  god- 
father Peter  Valette,  godmother  Marica  Valette. 

New  Y'ork  the  5th  November,  1737,  is  born  my 
second  daughter,  Eva  Van  Cortlandt ;  her  godfather 
Abraham  De  Peyster,  godmother  Marica  Jay. 

Died  the  12th  of  February  1749-50,  my  loved  hus- 
band Frederick  Van  Cortland,  in  his  olst  year,  and 
buried  in  the  vault  at  the  Little  Yonkers. 

The  record  is  continued  in  English  by  other  hands, 
and  states  that  Francina  Van  Cortlandt  died  August 
2,  1780. 

Of  this  family,  Jacobus,  the  eldest  son,  better  known 
as  Colonel  James  Van  Cortlandt,  died  without  chil- 
dren, April  1,  1781 ;  Frederick  died  in  1800,  with- 
out issue ;  Anna  Marica  was  married  to  Nathaniel 
Marston,  and  after  his  decease  to  Augustus  Van  Horn  ; 
Eva  married  Henry  White. 

Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  the  second  son,  married 
for  his  first  wife  Miss  Cuyler,  and  after  her  decease. 
Miss  Catharine  Barclay,  of  Santa  Cruz,  W.  I.  His 
children  were  James  Van  Cortlandt,  born  March  3, 
1736,  and  died  April  1,  1781 ;  Helen,  born  January  4, 
1768,  and  married  James  Morris,  of  Morrisania  (whose 
son,  Augustus  Frederick  Morris,  assumed  the  name  of 
Van  Cortlandt,  and  inherited  from  his  grandfather  a 
part  of  his  estate  in  Lower  Yonkers);  and  Anna,  born 
January  18,  1766,  who  married  Henry  White,  son  of 
Henry  White  and  Eva  Van  Cortlandt. 

DESCENDANTS  OP  HENRY  WHITE. 

The  ancestors  of  Henry  White  were  said  to  be  of 
Welsh  origin,  but  the  earliest  records  locate  them  at 
Denham,  near  Uxbridge,  Buckinghamshire,  England. 
The  father  of  Henry  White  was  a  colonel  in  the 
British  army,  and  settled  in  Maryland  in  1712,  where 
his  son  was  born.  The  latter  received  his  education 
in  England,  but  returned  to  this  country,  became  a 
merchant  in  New  York,  and  inherited  a  large  prop- 
erty from  his  relations  in  Maryland.  He  seems  to 
have  been  actively  engaged  in  business,  and  his  name 
appears  in  a  petition,  dated  May  8,  1756,  for  leave  to 
ship  bread  to  South  Carolina  for  the  use  of  the  navy. 


I 


KING'S  BRIDGE. 


763 


He  was  afterwards  engaged  in  the  importation  of 
English  goods  from  Loudon  and  Bristol,  his  store  be- 
ing in  King  Street,  New  York.  On  the  13th  of  May, 
17G1,  he  married  Eva,  daughter  of  Frederick  Van 
Cortlandt  and  Francina  Jay,  an  alliance  which  added 
greatly  to  his  wealth  and  position.  In  17G9  he  was 
appointed  one  of  His  Majesty's  Council  for  the  prov- 
ince of  New  York,  and  retained  that  honorable  posi- 
tion till  the  Revolution  closed  the  English  rule. 
During  his  life  he  was  one  of  the  foremost  merchants  , 
in  New  York,  and  his  residence  was  a  large  house  on  1 
Queen  (now  Pearl)  Street,  between  the  Fly  Market, 
which  was  at  the  foot  of  the  present  Maiden  Lane, 
and  the  Coffee-House,  which  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Wall  and  Water  Streets.  This  house  had  been  the 
residence  of  Abraham  De  Peyster,  the  treasurer  of  the 
colony,  and  was  one  of  the  most  important  buildings 
in  the  city.  In  1772  Mr.  White  became  president  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  a  fine  portrait  of  him 
is  in  the  possession  of  that  corporation.  In  1776  he 
went  to  England,  but  returned  in  the  fall  of  the  same 
year,  and  was  au  adherent  of  the  royal  cause.  On  the 
9th  of  October,  1780,  he  was  one  of  the  witnesses  who 
appeared  before  the  surrogate  to  prove  the  will  of  Major 
Andre,  but  returned  to  England  before  the  evacuation 
of  New  York,  in  1783.  He  died  in  Golden  Square, 
London,  December  23,  1786,  and  was  buried  in  the 
church-yard  at  St.  James,  Westminster,  in  Piccadilly. 
He  was  esteemed  by  his  contemporaries  as  a  gentle- 
man of  respectability  and  integritj'.  His  estate  was 
confiscated  by  the  act  of  1779,  and  his  house  in  New 
York  was  sold  in  May,  1786.  The  children  of  Henry 
White  and  Eva  Van  Cortlandt  were  Henry,  Ad- 
miral Sir  John  Chambers,  General  Frederick  Van 
Cortlandt,  Wm.  Tryon,  Ann  (wife  of  Sir  John  Mac- 
namara  Hayes),  Margaret  (wife  of  Peter  Jay  Munro) 
and  Frances  (wife  of  Archibald  Bruce,  M.D.) 

Henry  White  was  the  oldest  and  the  only  son  who 
remained  in  America.  He  married  Ann  Van  Cort- 
landt, daughter  of  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  and 
Catharine  Barclay.  Their  children  were  Augustus ; 
Henry;  Catharine,  wife  of  Richard  Bayley;  Helen, 
wife  of  Abraham  Schermerhorn ;  Augusta,  wife  of  E. 
N.  Bibby,  M.D.;  Harriet,  and  Francina,  wife  of  Dr. 
Groshon. 

The  will  of  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  dated  Decem- 
ber, 1823,  contains  the  following  clause  :  "  Whereas, 
the  greatest  part  of  the  lands  and  real  estate  which  I 
occupy  and  hold  in  the  town  of  Yonkers  was  derived 
to  me  by  inheritance  from  my  ancestors;  and  Where- 
as, I  have  purchased  .some  tracts  of  land,  also  lying  in 
the  town  of  Yonkers,  which  I  at  present  possess,  it  is 
my  desire  that  the  same  remain  entire  and  pass  to 
one  of  my  surname  and  family  ;  Wherefore,  I  do  here- 
by give  and  devise  all  my  lands,  and  real  estate, 
dwelling-house,  mills  and  other  buildings,  unto  my 
aflFectionat*  relatives,  John  Jay  and  Peter  Augustus 
Jay,  and  to  their  heirs  forever;  except  a  certain 
<iwelling-house  and  farm  in  the  said  town  of  Yonkers, 


and  a  lot  of  ground  near  my  mill  pond,  which  be- 
longed to  my  late  brother,  Frederick  Van  Cortlandt, 
in  trust  for  the  following  uses, — First,  To  bold  the 
same  for  my  son-in-law,  Henry  White,  late  the  hus- 
band of  my  deceased  daughter,  Anna  White,  during 
the  term  of  his  natural  life ;  Second,  After  the  de- 
cease of  my  son-in-law,  Henry  White,  and  in  case 
Augustus,  the  son  of  said  Henry  White,  shall  survive 
him,  then  to  hold  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  said 
Augustus,  and  his  heirs  and  assigns,  on  condition  that 
from  and  after  my  decease  he  do  take  and  constantly 
and  exclusively  use  the  name  of  Van  Cortlandt." 

In  accordance  with  this,  Augustus  White  assumed 
the  name  of  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  April  1,  1839,  he  left  the 
estate  to  his  brother  Henry  for  life,  and  to  his 
brother's  eldest  son  in  fee,  provided  they  take  and 
constantly  use  the  name  of  Van  Cortlandt ;  and  upon 
the  failure  of  male  heirs,  it  was  provided  that  the 
property  should  pass  to  his  nephew,  Augustus  Van 
Cortlandt  Bibby,  the  son  of  his  sister  Augusta. 

Henry  White,  the  above  devisee,  assumed  the  name 
of  Van  Cortlandt,  and  took  possession  of  the  estate 
upon  the  death  of  his  brother.  He  survived  him  but  a 
few  months,  and  died  in  October,  1839, without  children, 
and  the  estate  then  descended  to  his  nephew,  Augustus 
Van  Cortlandt  Bibby,  who,  by  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, assumed  the  name  of  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt. 

Mr.  Van  Cortlandt,  whose  portrait  is  presented,  was 
born  in  New  York  July  31,  1826.  His  father.  Dr. 
Edmund  N.  Bibby,  a  physician  of  eminence,  was  the 
son  of  Captain  Bibby,  an  aid  to  General  Fraser,  who 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga.  Dr.  Bibby  mar- 
ried Augusta,  daughter  of  Henry  White  (second)  and 
Anna  Van  Cortlandt,  and  their  children  were  Augus- 
tus Van  Cortlandt  (the  subject  of  this  sketch),  Henry 
W.  Bibby  (now  living  in  New  York),  Frances  (wife 
of  John  W.  Munro,  of  Pelham)  and  Ann  W.  (wife  of 
Robert  Ogden  Glover,  of  Mt.  Vernon). 

The  early  education  of  Mr.  Van  Cortlandt  was  ob- 
tained at  the  collegiate  school  of  Rev.  R.  T.  Huddart, 
in  New  York  ;  later  at  a  school  in  Bloomingdale  ;  and 
subsequently  at  the  celebrated  school  of  the  Brothers 
Pugnet,  on  Bank  Street.  He  left  school  in  1842,  and 
a  year  later  entered  the  counting-room  of  Garner  &  Co., 
at  33  Pine  Street,  where  he  remained  till  1847.  He 
then  established  himself  as  a  banker  in  Wall  Street, 
i  where  he  continued  till  1853,  when  he  came  to  re- 
side upon  his  estate  at  Lower  Yonkers,  to  which  he 
had  succeeded  after  the  death  of  his  uncle,  Henry 
Van  Cortlandt. 

He  married  Charlotte  Amelia,  daughter  of  the  late 
Robert  Bunch,  of  Nassau,  New  Providence,  and  sister 
'  of  the  British  minister  to  Venezuela,  and  on  the 
maternal  side  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Richard  Bayley, 
who  was  the  first  health  officer  of  New  York,  an  in- 
timate friend  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  and  who  died  of 
yellow  fever  contracted  while  he  was  discharging  his 
duties  as  officer  of  ijuarantine.    Their  children  are 


764 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Augustus,  Henry  W.,  Robert  B.,  Edward  N.,  OloffDe- 
laueey  and  Mary  B.,  all  of  whom  are  now  living  on 
the  family  estate. 

The  Van  Cortlandt  mansion  at  Lower  Youkers,  a 
relic  of  colonial  times,  stands  in  solitary  state  on  an 
eminence  about  one  mile  north  of  King's  Bridge, 
and  on  the  east  side  of  the  old  Albany  post  road.  It 
is  a  large  edifice  of  stone  and  was  built  by  Fred- 
erick Van  Cortlandt  in  1748.  A  more  ancient 
structure  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  mill  pond,  a  little 
north  of  the  mill.  This  was  the  residence  of  the 
earliest  generations  of  Van  Cortlandt,  and  was  taken 
down  in  1825.  The  date  ofthe  building  of  the  present 
mansion  is  seen  in  figures  upon  the  massive  southern 
wall,  and  the  interior  is  ornamented  with  carvings 
in  wood  of  the  greatest  elegance,  while  portraits  of 


elected  to  the  offices  of  assessor  and  justice  of  the 
peace.  In  1858  he  was  the  supervisor  of  Yonkers, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1859.  He  was  elected  member  of 
Assembly  in  1859.  Prominent  in  business  and  social 
life,  he  is  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Metropolitan 
Savings  Bank,  president  of  St.  Nicholas  Club,  mem- 
ber of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  and  a 
member  of  the  Rising  Star  Lodge  of  Free  and  Ac- 
cepted Masons.  He  has  ever  been  prompt  and  in- 
fluential in  advancing  all  public  improvements,  tak- 
ing a  lively  and  active  interest  in  passing  events, 
while  leading  the  quiet  life  of  a  country  gentleman. 


THE  VAN  CORTLANDT  MANOR  HOUSK,  KINO 

Augustus  Van  Cortlandt,  Henry  White,  the  first,  and 
his  son,  and  others  of  a  long  past  time,  grace  the 
walls  of  this  historic  place.  The  ej^e  of  the  visitor  to 
the  grounds  cannot  fail  to  be  attracted  by  two  eagles 
which  surmount  the  posts  of  the  old  gateway.  These 
are  said  to  have  been  taken  from  a  Spanish  privateer 
and  presented  to  Augustus  Van  Cortlandt  by  Rear 
Admiral  Robert  Digby,  of  the  British  navy.  It  is  a 
source  of  no  small  satisfaction  to  the  lovers  of  the 
picturesque  and  the  beautiful  that  the  grounds  sur- 
rounding the  place  are  to  be  preserved  in  their 
native  beauty  as  a  portion  of  the  new  Van  Cort- 
landt Park,  which  will  be  one  of  the  finest  features 
of  the  northern  portion  of  New  York  City. 

When  Mr.  Van  Cortlandt  came  to  reside  on  this 
estate  he  became  interested  in  local  politics,  and  was 


DYCKMAN  FAMILY. 

The  ancestor  of  this  family  was  William  Dyckman, 
who  came  from  Holland  in  the  early  days  of  New 
Amsterdam.  Jacobus  Dyck- 
man, who  was  his  grandson, 
married  Maria  Kesur,  and  left 
two  sons,  Jacob  and  William. 

Jacob,  the  elder,  married 
Tryntje  Benson,  and  left  nine 
children,  as  follows, — Jacob, 
Samson,  Benjamin,  John,  Gar- 
ret, William  N. ;  Maria,  wife  of 
John  Clark ;  Jane,  wife  of  John 
Van  Vredenburgh ;  and  Catha- 
rine, wife  of  Daniel  Hale. 

Of  these  children,  Garret, 
the  fifth  son,  married  Joanna, 
daughter  of  Jonathan  Odell,  of 
Greenburgh.  Their  children 
were  William  N.  and  Jacob  G. 
The  family  of  the  latter  are 
now  living  at  Morristown, 
N.  J. 

William  N.  Dyckman  was 
S%ts,ii^-I«     born  at  Verplanck's  Point,  May 
17, 1787.  His  parents  removed 
to  Greenburgh  during  his  in- 
fancy, and  at  the  age  of  ten 
,s  BiaiHiE.  years  he  went  with  them  to 

New  York,  and  lived  with  his 
parents  in  Duane  Street  till  his  father's  death.  When 
a  young  man  he  entered  the  law-office  of  Peter  J. 
Monroe  as  a  student,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at 
the  same  time  with  General  Sandford,  who  was  his 
life-long  friend.  During  the  War  of  1812  he  served 
as  captain  of  a  militia  company.  His  entire  life  was 
passed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  in  which  he  held  an  honorable  position. 
In  politics  he  was  in  early  life  a  Whig,  but  at  the 
formation  of  the  Republican  party  he  became  one  of 
its  supporters,  but  his  distaste  for  political  life  led 
him  to  take  little  part  in  public  afiairs. 

Mr.  Dyckman  married  Eliza  A.,  daughter  of  John 
and  Jane  Honeywell,  of  Greenburgh.  Their  only 
child.  Miss  Susan  Dyckman,  is  now  residing  in  New 
York.    His  country  residence  was  on  the  east  side  of 


i 


I 

1 


I 


KINGS 


the  old  Albany  post  road,  below  Hastings,  and  is  now 
in  possession  of  bis  daughter.  He  died  September  12, 
1871,  soon  after  the  decease  of  his  wife,  which  oc- 
curred in  April  of  the  same  year,  and  both  rest  in  the 
cemetery  at  Yonkers. 

William  Dyckman,  the  second  sou  of  Jacobus,  was 
born  August  23, 1725,  and  died  August  10,  1787.  He 
married  Mary  Turner,  who  was  born  February  4,  1728, 
and  died  February  14,  1802.  They  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children, — Jacobus,  Abraham,  Michael,  Wil- 
liam, John;  Maritje,  wife  of  Jacob  Vermilyea  ;  Jane, 
Joanna,  wife  of  Evert  Brown ;  and  Charity,  wife  of 
Benjamin  Lent. 

The  oldest  son,  Jacobus,  was  born  September  13, 
1748.  His  children  were  William,  Frederick,  who 
married  Eva  Myers,  John,  Abraham,  Jacob,  James, 
Isaac,  Michael,  Hannah,  who  married  Caleb  Smith, 
and  Maria. ^ 

Of  these  children,  Abraham  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  John  and  Jane  Honeywell,  and  sister  of 
Jane,  wife  of  William  X.  Dyckman.    His  son,  John 

H.  Dyckman,  was  born  May  5,  1813,  on  the  family 
estate,  below  King's  Bridge,  and  lived  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life  in  the  old  "Century  House,"  which  is 
still  standing,  a  relic  of  the  ancient  time.  Here  he 
passed  a  quiet  and  uneventful  life,  as  a  gentleman  of  lei- 
sure and  a  worthy  representative  of  an  historic  race. 
He  died  unmarried,  April  6,  1879.  His  only  sister, 
Jane,  also  died  nnmarried,  February  1,  1840. 

Isaac  M.  Dyckman  was  born  in  Yonkers,  January 

I,  1813.  His  father  was  Caleb  Smith,  who  married 
Hannah,  daughter  of  Jacobus  Dyckman,  who  was  a  } 
representative  of  the  Dutch  family  of  that  name,  and 
owned  a  large  landed  estate  south  of  Harlem  River. 
While  a  boy  he  went  to  live  with  his  maternal  grand- 
father, and  was  adopted  by  him,  and  assuming  the 
family  name,  has  ever  since  borne  the  name  of  Isaac 
M.  Dyckman.  Two  of  his  grandfather's  brothers, 
Abraham  and  Michael,  were  soldiei-s  in  the  Revolu- 
tion and  one  of  them  was  killed  in  the  war.  Their 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  localities  on  both  sides  of 
Harlem  River  rendered  them  especially  valuable  as 
guides,  and  their  services  were  in  frequent  demand. 

Jacobus  Dyckman  died  in  August,  1832,  and  his 
estate  descended  to  his  two  sons,  Michael  and  Isaac, 
both  of  whom  died  unmarried,  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  property  came  into  the  possession  of  their  neph- 
ew. The  ancient  Dyckman  homestead,  which  ex- 
isted before  the  Revolution,  stood  near  Harlem  River, 
close  by  the  foot  of  Two  Hundred  and  Ninth  Street. 
This  was  burned  during  the  Revolution,  and  another 
(now  called  the  Century  House)  was  built  on  the  west 
side  of  the  King's  Bridge  road,  or  Broadway,  near 
the  twelfth  mile  stone.  It  was  here  that  Jacobus 
Dyckman  lived  and  died.  The  house  is  still  stand- 
ing, and  is  now  owned  by  Benjamin  P.  Fairchild.  It 
is  at  the  northwest  corner  of  King's  Bridge  road  and 


1  See  sketch  of  laaac  31.  Dyckman. 


BRIDGE.  765 


Hawthorn  Street.  On  a  portion  of  this  estate  Mr. 
Dyckman  has  ever  made  his  home,  and  built  his  pres- 
ent elegant  residence  in  1874.  During  the  early  part 
of  his  life,  before  the  growth  of  New  York  City  had 
reached  the  vicinity  of  Harlem  River,  he  cultivated 
this  tract  as  a  farm,  but  the  advancement  of  the  city 
I  has  made  it  far  too  valuable  for  that  purpose,  and  he 
finds  his  time  fully  occupied  in  looking  after  his 
extensive  real  estate.  In  politics  he  has  always  been 
identified  with  the  Democratic  party,  as  were  his 
ancestors;  and  in  religion  he  is  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  married  Fannie  B.,  the 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Browne,  of  Yonkers,  and  has 
two  daughters,  Mary  A.  and  Fannie  F. 

Jacobus  Dyckman,  mentioned  above,  was  the  son 
of  William  Dyckman,  and  besides  the  brothers  Abra- 
ham and  Michael,  he  had  three  sisters, — Charity,  wife 
of  Benjamin  Lent ;  Joanna,  wife  of  Evart  Browne;  and 
Maritje,  wife  of  Jacob  Vermilyea. 
Jacobus  Dyckman  left  children, — William  Frederick, 
Abraham  (who  married  Margaret  Honiwell),  and 
left  two  children,  Jane  and  John  H.,  both  of  whom 
died  unmarried.  Jacob  who  was  a  prominent  phy- 
sician in  New  York,  .Tames  who  died  young,  Maria, 
Hannah  who  married  Caleb  Smith,  as  mentioned 
above,  Michael  and  Isaac  (  who  survived  the  rest.)  All 
of  these  except  Hannah  died  unmarried. 


ROBERT  COLGATE. 

The  family  of  which  Mr.  Colgate  is  a  representative 
has  been  traced  back  to  a  very  remote  ancestry  in 
England.  They  appear  to  have  been  settled  in  the 
county  of  Kent  at  an  early  date.  The  immediate 
ancestor  of  the  branch  of  the  family  that  settled  in 
America  was  Robert  Colgate,  a  native  of  the  village 
of  Seven  Oaks,  in  Kent,  a  man  of  note  and  influence 
and  a  prominent  agriculturist  of  his  native  county. 
In  ])olitical  atiairs  he  was  a  most  determined  Radical, 
and  so  plainly  outspoken  of  his  opinions  as  to  render 
him  obnoxious  to  the  government.  His  known  sym- 
pathy with  the  Radicals  and  the  assistance  he  ren- 
dered to  some  who  were  confined  in  the  Tower  of 
London  caused  an  order  for  his  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment to  be  issued.  In  his  younger  days  he  had  been 
a  schoolmate  of  William  Pitt,  and  that  statesman, 
moved  by  remembrance  of  early  friendship,  sent  him 
a  timely  warning,  with  the  intimation  that  if  he 
should  leave  for  America  within  a  limited  lime,  an 
opportunity  would  be  given.  Acting  upon  this  sug- 
gestion, he  hired  a  vessel  and,  with  his  family,  sailed 
for  the  New  World,  and  landed  at  Baltimore  in  1795. 
Under  the  protection  of  a  free  government,  the  fiery 
Radical  soon  became  the  peaceful  citizen,  and,  pur- 
chasing a  farm  near  Baltimore,  he  made  sigriculture 
the  business  of  his  life.  Upon  this  farm  he  remained 
for  several  years,  then  removed  to  the  State  of  New 
York  and  took  charge  of  the  farm  of  Peter  J.  Mon- 
roe, Esq.,  of  Westchester  County.  Some  years  later 
his  son  William,  having  been  successful  in  business, 


766 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


purchased  a  farm  ia  Andes,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y., 
and  placed  his  father  upon  it.  Here  he  lived  a  life 
of  quiet  usefulness  till  1826,  when,  walking  to  church 
one  Sabbath  morning,  he  suddenly  dropped  dead, 
having  reached  the  age  of  sixty-four. 

Mr.  Colgate  was  married  in  England  to  Miss  Sarah 
Bowles.  Their  children  were  William,  Bowles,  John, 
George,  Charles,  Charlotte  (wife  of  Dr.  William  B. 
Selden,  of  Norfolk,  Va.),  Esther  (wife  of  Jacob  Klein, 
of  New  Orleans),  Lydia  and  Maria  (both  of  whom 
died  unmarried). 

William  Colgate,  the  oldest  son,  was  born  in  Kent, 
England,  in  1783,  and  came  to  this  country  with  his 
father.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to 
John  Slidell,  who,  at  that  time,  was  doing  business 
at  Bowling  Green,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  after- 
years  Mr.  Slidell  failed  in  business,  and,  through  the 
influence  of  Mr.  Colgate,  he  obtained  the  position  of 
president  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  and  was  subse- 
quently president  of  the  Traders'  Insurance  Com- 
pany. He  died  very  suddenly  of  cholera  in  1832. 
His  son,  John  Slidell,  lived  in  Virginia,  and  gained, 
at  a  later  day,  a  very  undesirable  notoriety  as  the 
ambassador  of  the  Confederate  States  to  France. 
After  remaining  a  while  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Slidell, 
Mr.  Colgate  commenced  business  for  himself  in  1806 
as  a  manufacturer  of  soap  and  candles,  in  partner- 
ship with  Francis  Smith.  Their  place  of  business 
was  No.  6  Dutch  Street,  New  York.  During  the 
War  of  1812  the  firm  carried  on  an  extensive  and 
prosperous  trade,  and  he  found  himself  on  the  road 
to  fortune.  Mr.  Smith  having  retired  from  the  firm, 
Mr.  Colgate  conducted  the  business,  which  is  still 
continued  at  the  old  place  under  the  well-known 
firm  name  of  Colgate  &  Co.  After  a  life  of  successful 
business  enterprise,  Mr.  Colgate  died  in  1857,  and 
was  laid  to  his  last  repose  in  Greenwood  Cemetery. 
He  left  to  his  descendants  not  only  the  wealth  which 
was  the  result  of  his  commercial  ability  and  energy, 
but  the  still  richer  legacy  of  an  unblemished  reputa- 
tion ;  and  all  who  knew  him  were  willing  to  unite  in 
the  testimony  that  he  was  a  man  of  upright  life  and 
free  from  guile.  Like  his  father  before  him,  he  was 
a  devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  deeply 
interested  in  all  that  could  increase  its  welfare  and 
advance  its  usefulness.  He  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  Edward  Gilbert.  Their  children  were  Robert, 
Gilbert,  Sarah  (who  died  unmarried),  James  B.  (of 
the  well-known  banking  company  of  James  B.  Col- 
gate &  Co.),  Joseph  (who  died  in  Berlin,  Prussia,  in 
1864),  Samuel  (of  Orange,  N.  J.),  William  (who  died 
unmarried  in  1838)  and  Mary  (wife  of  Robert 
Colby). 

Robert  Colgate,  the  oldest  of  his  family,  and  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
Y''ork,  January  29,  1812.  In  his  early  youth  he  at- 
tended school  at  Rhinebeck  during  two  years,  and 
then  went  to  Hamilton,  Madison  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  attended  an  academy  under  the  care  of 


Zenas  Morse,  who  held  a  high  reputation  as  an  in- 
structor. Upon  his  return  to  New  York,  he  attended 
the  high  school  under  the  care  of  Daniel  H.  Barnes, 
a  well-known  teacher.  His  introduction  to  business 
was  as  clerk  in  the  employ  of  Samuel  Hicks  &  Sons. 
One  of  the  most  important  episodes  of  this  period  of 
his  life  was  his  experience  during  the  cholera  of 
1832,  when  he  was  the  only  one  of  the  employees 
who  remained  at  his  post  during  that  fatal  time. 
Upon  one  occasion  he,  in  company  with  a  carman  in 
the  employ  of  the  firm,  left  the  building  at  the  same 
time.  Within  four  hours  his  companion  was  dead 
and  buried;  Mr.  Colgate  himself  was  seized  with  the 
disease,  but  fortunately  survived  the  attack. 

In  1833  he  went  into  business  on  his  own  account, 
in  company  with  his  Uncle  Charles  and  George  P. 
Pollen,  under  the  firm-name  of  Colgate,  Pollen  & 
Colgate,  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  dye-stuffs  and 
paints,  their  place  of  business  being  at  177  Water 
Street.  In  1845  he  built  the  Atlantic  White  Lead 
Works  in  Brooklyn,  having  previously  purchased  the 
store  property  at  287  Pearl  Street,  New  York,  which, 
at  that  time,  was  surrounded  by  the  private  residences 
of  many  wealthy  and  prominent  citizens.  To  the 
works  in  Brooklyn  he  added  the  manufacture  of  lin- 
seed oil,  and  the  firm,  which  is  now  known  by  the 
name  of  Robert  Colgate  &  Co.,  are  among  the  most 
extensive  dealers  in  paint  and  oil  in  the  country,  and 
bear  a  high  reputation  in  the  commercial  world. 
They  have  stood  unshaken  through  all  the  financial 
reverses  which  have  visited  the  city,  and  never  failed 
to  meet  all  obligations  with  promptness.  It  has 
always  been  the  policy  of  the  firm  to  secure  the  ser- 
vices of  trusty  and  faithful  employees  and  to  retain 
them  as  long  as  they  are  willing  to  remain.  As  an 
illustration,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  book- 
keeper, James  B.  Carr,  has  been  in  the  employ  of 
the  firm  for  fifty  years,  and  the  cashier  for  thirty 
years.  By  a  failure  of  health  Mr.  Colgate  was  com- 
pelled to  retire  from  active  labor  many  years  since, 
but  still  remains  at  the  head  of  the  firm  which  has 
so  long  and  so  honorable  a  record. 

About  twenty-five  years  since,  he  purchased  an 
estate  in  Westchester  County,  at  Riverdale,  which  he 
has  greatly  improved,  and  under  his  care  Stonehurst 
has  been  made  one  of  the  finest  residences  on  the 
Hudson.  Its  elevated  position  commands  one  of  the 
most  extended  views  on  the  river,  while  the  resources 
of  wealth  and  refined  taste  have  been  joined  to  make 
it  a  thing  of  beauty. 

Mr.  Colgate  married  Cornelia  F.,  daughter  of  Abner 
Weyman.  They  were  the  parents  of  two  children, — 
Abner  W.  and  Georgiana.  Mrs.  Colgate  died  in 
1842,  and  Mr.  Colgate  subsequently  married  Mary 
E.,  daughter  of  Romulus  Riggs,  of  Philadelphia. 
She  died  in  1865,  leaving  four  children, — Samuel  J., 
Alice  R.  (wife  of  John  D.  Wood),  Robert,  Jr.,  and 
Romulus  R. 


KING'S 


GENERAL  JOHN  EWEN. 

General  Ewen  was  a  native  of  New  York.  He  was 
educated  for  the  profession  of  civil  engineer,  and  be- 
gan practice  in  that  city  before  attaining  his  majority. 
At  this  period  he  surveyed  and  laid  out,  under  the  di- 
rection of  his  brother,  Daniel  Ewen,  what  was  then 
the  village  of  Willianisburgh,  now  a  part  of  the  city 
of  Brooklyn. 

Afterward  he  was  appointed  resident  engineer  of 
the  New  Castle  and  Frenchtown  (Delaware)  Railroad 
and  held  that  jiosition  until  the  completion  of  the 
work,  when  he  returned  to  New  York  and  succeeded 
Judge  Wright  as  chief  engineer  of  the  New  York 
and  Harlem  Railroad.  During  his  occupation  of  this 
office,  which  he  held  for  several  years  and  until  the 
completion  of  the  road  to  Harlem,  Mr.  Ewen  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Common  Council  to  fill  the  office  of 
street  commissioner.  The  arduous  duties  of  this  posi- 
tion were  so  well  discharged  by  him  that  he  retained 
it  for  eight  years — from  1836  to  1844 — under  succes- 
sive Democratic  and  Whig  administrations.  Removed 
in  1844,  with  many  other  officers,  by  the  incoming 
Native  American  Common  Council,  he  was  appointed 
comptroller  on  a  change  of  administration  in  the 
spring  of  1845,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  and  held  that 
office  under  Democratic  and  Whig  rule  more  than 
three  years,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  the  vice- 
presidency  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Com- 
pany. After  one  year  he  withdrew  to  accept  a  simi- 
lar position  in  the  Pennsylvania  Coal  Company,  of 
which  he  soon  after  became  president.  To  the  inter- 
ests of  this  corporation  he  devoted  the  best  qualities 
of  his  head  and  heart,  and  in  its  service  he  sacrificed 
his  health  and  possibly  his  life. 

In  conducting  the  successful  defense  of  his  com- 
pany against  adverse  litigation,  begun  in  1853,  con- 
tinued during  a  period  of  about  seventeen  years  and 
involving  claims  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars, 
Mr.  Ewen  displayed  great  ability  and  wonderful 
capacity  for  work.  At  the  beginning  of  the  litigation, 
perceiving  that  his  efficiency  in  directing  the  defense 
would  be  greatly  increased  by  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  he  unhesitatingly  undertook  the  study  of  law, 
which  he  prosecuted  in  season  and  out  of  season,  so 
that  in  a  few  months  he  was  regularly  admitted  to 
l)ractice  in  the  courts  of  this  State.  Availing  himself 
of  this  ])rivilege,  he  took  testimony  covering  thou-  t 
sands  of  pages  and  made  at  the  close  an  able  argu- 
ment, filling  a  large  volume  in  itself,  covering  all 
that  part  of  the  case  involving,  especially,  questions  of 
civil  engineering,  with  which  he  had  been  familiar 
from  boyhood. 

In  the  course  of  this  litigation  he  called  to  his  aid 
many  distinguished  lawyers,  among  whom  may  be 
named  Messrs.  Francis  B.  Cutting,  Samuel  J.  Tilden, 
Charles  F.  Southmayd,  John  K.  Porter  and  Lyman 
Tremain. 

Mr.  Ewen  was  a  Democrat,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  his  vote  for  ^Ir.  Lincoln,  his  political  course  was 


767 


with  the  Democratic  party.  He  was  associated  with 
the  late  Mr.  Havemeyer  in  the  city  government  during 
the  first  term  of  the  latter  as  mayor.  In  addition  to 
the  civic  a()pointments  and  offices  of  trust  held  by 
him  at  varied  tinu's,  he  also  held  high  rank  among  the 
citizen  soldiery  of  New  York.  Elected  in  183G  lieu- 
tenant-colonel of  the  Eighth  Regiment  of  Light  In- 
fantry, he  was  soon  afterward  chosen  colonel,  and  in 
1847  was  elected  brigadier-general  of  the  Fourth 
Brigade.  This  command  included,  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War,  the  famous  Sixty-ninth  and  Seventy- 
ninth  Regiments.  The  former,  composed  almost  ex- 
clusively of  men  of  Irish  birth,  upon  the  first  call 
for  volunteers,  recruited  within  a  week  a  number 
sufficient  to  fill  nearly  seven  regiments.  The  Seventy- 
ninth  was  made  uj)  mainly  of  Scottish  citizens,  about 
three  hundred  of  whom  were  reported  to  have  been 
stone-masons.  Both  regiments  were  engaged  at  the 
first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  the  Seventy-ninth  carrying 
through  the  fight  a  silken  banner  presented  by  Mrs. 
Ewen. 

Ujion  the  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  General  Ewen 
hastened  to  the  front  in  response  to  the  call  for  aid,  and 
with  his  command  acted  under  the  orders  of  General 
Baldy  Smith  until  the  withdrawal  of  the  invaders. 
Having  retired  of  late  years  from  public  affairs,  in 
consequence  of  failing  health,  the  result  of  overwork, 
he  is  less  widely  known  to  the  active  men  of  the 
present  day  than  to  their  fathers  'and  to  those  imme- 
diately interested  in  the  corporation  at  whose  head  he 
had  been  for  .so  many  years,  but  these  will  cherish  his 
memory  as  that  of  a  good  citizen,  a  constant  and 
benevolent  friend,  a  fond  husband  and  father,  an  hon- 
est man. 


ISAAC  G.  .lOHXSON. 

Isaac  Gale  Johnson  was  born  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1832.  His  father,  Eliaa  Johnson  (who  mar- 
ried Laura,  daughter  of  Solomon  Gale,  of  Vermont), 
was  a  resident  of  Westfield,  Mass.,  from  which  place 
he  removed  to  Troy,  and  was  for  many  years  exten- 
sively engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  stoves  as  a 
member  of  the  well-known  firm  of  Johnson,  Cox  & 
Fuller.  He  was  the  first  manufacturer  who  used  a 
cupola-furnace,  for  melting  iron,  north  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  the  business  of  the  firm  assumed  large  pro- 
[  portions,  the  products  of  their  works  being  shipped  to 
all  parts  of  the  country,  while,  during  the  Mexican 
War,  they  furnished  to  the  government  large  quanti- 
ties of  shot  and  shells. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  educated  for  a  civil  engineer  and 
B.N.S.,  and  graduated  at  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  1848.  He  practiced  the 
profession  of  an  engineer  for  a  short  time,  and  then 
found  employment  from  the  firm  of  which  his  father 
was  a  partner.  Soon  after  he  went  to  Philadelphia 
studied  chemical  analysis,  and  took  lessons  in  draw- 
ing at  the  Franklin  Institute.  About  this  time  his 
attention  was  drawn  to  the  subject  of  malleable  iron, 


768 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


and  to  this  he  devoted  his  time  and  labor,  conducting 
a  series  of  experiments  which  led  to  very  important 
discoveries.  The  malleable  iron  which  was  produced 
at  that  time  was  an  inferior  article,  no  means  having 
been  discovered  for  making  it  of  a  uniform  quality 
and  sufficiently  good  to  answer  the  many  purposes  for 
which  it  was  required.  The  great  object  of  his  labors 
and  experiments  was  to  find  some  means  hy  which  arti- 
cles now  made  by  the  slow  process  of  forging  could  be 
made  from  cast  iron.  These  eflbrts  have  been  crowned 
with  complete  success,  and  bid  fair  to  work  a  complete 
revolution  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  implements.  In 
1853  Johnson,  Cox  &  Fuller  came  to  Spuyteu  Duyvil 
and  purchased  a  tract  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
acres  of  land,  on  the  north  side  of  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek  and  adjoining  Hudson  River.  Here  they  es- 
tablished a  foundry  and  stove  factory  and  carried  on 
the  business.  Mr.  Johnson,  having  once  fairly 
started  on  his  new  process,  pursued  it  with  his  wonted 
vigor.  In  1861  General  Delafield,  of  the  United 
States  army,  designed  the  gun  which  bears  his  name. 
The  first  cannon,  which  were  made  at  the  famous 
Parrott  Foundry,  at  Cold  Spring,  failed  to  stand  the 
test,  and  burst  after  a  few  discharges.  Without  any 
knowledge  of  this  fact,  Mr.  Johnson  made  a  proposi- 
tion to  furnish  four  guus  of  his  pattern  and  warrant 
them  to  stand  firing  one  thousand  rounds  each  with- 
out bursting.  The  offer  being  accepted,  the  guns  were 
furnished,  and  not  one  failed.  This  not  only  estab- 
lished the  fame  of  the  inventor,  but  of  the  manufac- 
turer as  well,  and  sixty-four  additional  guns  were 
made,  which  did  good  service  iu  the  field.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Johnson  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Par- 
rott Company,  and  made  shot  and  shell  for  them  dur- 
ing the  war.  To  explain  the  process  by  which  the 
various  articles  are  produced  at  the  Johnson  Foundry, 
and  to  enumerate  them,  would  very  far  exceed  our 
limits.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  they  are  the  results 
of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  chemical  analysis,  a  care- 
ful selection  of  materials  and  a  skillful  mode  of  prepa- 
ration. These  products  are  of  endless  variety — from 
the  tinned  handles  of  a  milk-can  (which  were  the  first 
articles  manufactured)  to  the  ponderous  rolls  for  iron- 
rolling  mills,  weighing  several  tons.  The  enterprise, 
which  at  first  was  carried  on  with  the  help  of  six  men, 
now  gives  constant  employment  to  three  hundred,  and 
the  business  must  continue  to  increase  as  the  articles 
manufactured  are  introduced  to  public  notice. 

Mr.  Johnson  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  but  his 
time  is  so  fully  occupied  in  his  business  affairs  that  he 
has  declined  all  offers  of  public  office.  He  is,  how- 
ever, the  vice-president  of  the  King's  Bridge  Associa- 
tion. In  religion  he  is  connected  with  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  is  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  society. 

He  married  Jane  E.,  daughter  of  Gilbert  Bradley, 
of  Sunderland,  Vt.  Their  children  are  Elias  M., 
Isaac  B.,  Gilbert  H.,  Arthur  G.  and  James  W.  Two 
of  these  are  now  in  partnership  with  their  father,  and 
their  skill  and  talent  bid  fair  to  lead  to  new  discover- 


ies. It  deserves  especial  mention  that  Mr.  Johnson 
has  always  evinced  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
his  employes,  and  a  well-furnished  reading-room 
affords  them  means  for  mental  culture,  while  a  well- 
conducted  Sunday-school  has  a  tendency  to  elevate 
their  moral  nature. 

The  manufacture  of  gas  and  steam-fittings  in  this 
establishment  has  been  brought  to  such  a  degree  of 
perfection  that  their  productions  can  be  sent  to  foreign 
countries  and  sold  at  such  prices  as  to  defy  competi- 
tion— a  result  which  has  been  accomplished  by  im- 
proved methods  of  manufacture  and  without  reduc- 
tion of  wages.  Mr.  Johnson  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  and  is 
deeply  interested  in  all  that  pertains  to  scientific  re- 
search. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
westchester  towx. 
by  fordham  morris. 

From  the  Discovery  to  the  Revolution. — 
The  most  celebrated  of  American  historians  says, 
"  To  the  enterprise  of  proprietailes  New  Netherlands 
was  to  owe  its  tenants,"  and  he  lays  great  stress  upon 
the  fact  that  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  insisted 
that  the  Indian  title  should  first  be  extinguished  be- 
fore any  of  the  Dutch  settlers  could  obtain  perma- 
nent rights  in  the  soil.*  Though  Henry  Hudson  was 
the  first  discoverer  of  Hudson's  River  and  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Creek  in  1609 ;  though  Adrian  Block,  in  his 
yacht,  the  "  Onrest,"  in  1613-14,  made  the  first  white 
man's  cruise  to  the  east  of  the  ancient  township  that 
has  given  its  name  to  a  county  ;  and  though  Chris- 
tiansen had  established  his  trading  post  on  the  site  of 
the  future  Fort  Orange  or  Albany  about  the  same 
time,  we  have  no  record  by  government,  republic  or 
company  of  what  was  formerly  known  as,  and  still 
forms  a  part  of,  the  town  of  Westchester  for  many 
years  after  the  discovery  of  New  Netherlands  by 
the  Dutch.  The  natives  belonging  to  the  tribe  of 
Weekquaesgeeks  were  the  sole  patroons  or  lords  of 
the  soil,  and  from  their  movements  we  obtain  our 
earliest  knowledge  concerning  Westchester  township. 
In  1616  all  the  southermost  part  of  Westchester 
County  and  as  far  north  as  the  Saw-Mill  or  Nepperhan 
River,  at  what  is  now  known  as  Yonkers,  was  in 
possession  of  that  tribe ;  and  in  1626  -  one  of  the  tribe 
with  his  nephew,  crossed  Harlem  River  and  got  as  far 
south  as  the  "  Kolck Pond,  or  Canal  Street,  on  New 
York  Island,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  his  beaver 
skins.  Governor  Minuit's  servants  met  them  both 
and  stole  the  skins  and  murdered  the  uncle.  The 


1  Bancroft's  "United  States,"  vol.  ii.  page  42.  Little  &  Brown's  Ed. 

2  Broadhead,  page  74  ;  Schoolcraft,  page  101. 


! 


WESTCHESTEK. 


769 


young  savage, escaped,  but  swore  he  would  reveuge 
himself  on  the  Dutch.'  -' 

In  1640  the  progress  of  enterprising  settlers  of 
New  England  along  the  shores  of  Long  Island 
Sound  awakened  the  fears  of  the  governing  powers 
in  New  Netherland  and  Director  Kieft  dispatched 
his  faithful  secretary,  Van  Tieuhoven,  to  j)urchase 
the  Archipelego  at  Norwalk,  or  islands  at  the  mouth 
of  the  present  Xorwalk  Eiver,  together  with  all  the 
adjoining  land,  "  and  to  prevent  any  other  nation 
from  encroaching  on  our  limits."  These  instruc- 
tions were  accomplished  and  the  West  India  Com- 
pany obtained  the  Indian  title  to  all  the  lands  be- 
tween the  Norwalk  River  and  the  North  Eiver.'  In 
the  previous  year  Van  Tienhoven  witnessed  another 
Indian  transfer  to  the  West  India  Company  of  Keskes- 
keck  which  also  covers  by  its  description  the  town 
of  Westchester.^ 

Within  this  grant  was  included  the  town  now 
described  as  Westchester.  The  present  limits  (188.")) 
are,  on  the  north  Pelham  or  East  Chester  Bay,  and  a 
line  extending  in  a  westerly  direction  to  Bronx 
River;  the  East  River  and  the  beginning  of  Long  Is- 
land Sound  form  the  south  and  east  boundaries,  and 
Bronx  River  is  its  western  boundary;  but,  originally, 
Westchester  township  consisted  of  all  that  portion  of 
the  southern  part  of  Westchester  County  which  was 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Pelham  Bay,  East  Chester, 
and  Yonkers;  its  west,  south  and  east  boundaries 
were  Harlem  River,  Harlem  or  Brouck's  Kills,  the 
East  River  and  Long  Island  Sound. 

About  1639-4(1  one  Jonas  Bronck  or  Bronx  ar- 
rived from  Hoorn,  in  Holland,  in  the  ship  "  Fine 
of  Tray."  Bronck  was  of  Swedish  extraction. 
His  last  European  residence  was  in  Amsterdam, 
and  there  he  married  Antonia,  daughter  of  Juriaen 
Slagboom.  Enterprise  and  discovery  was  then  the 
fashion  in  Europe,  and  from  interviews  with  persons 
fiimiliar  with  the  New  Netherland  discoveries,  he  be- 
came informed  of  its  fertility,  and  with  his  family, 
farmers,  female  servants  and  cattle  arrived  in  July,  1639, 
at  New  Amsterdam.  He  purchased  from  Ranachqua, 
or  Ranaque,  and  Taekamuck,  Indian  chiefs,  a  tract 
of  five  hundred  acres,  "  lying  between  the  great  kill" 
(Harlem  River)  and  the  "Ahquahung,"  (Bronx) 
part  of  which  is  now  included  in  Jlorrisania.  Here 
he  erected  a  stone  house  covered  with  tiles,  a  barn, 
tobacco  house  and  two  barracks."  From  the  old  map 
of  Bronxland  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  at  Albany,  it  appears  that  Bronx's  house  was 
situated  not  far  from  the  present  depot  of  the  Port 
Chester  Branch  Railroad,  and  from  the  inventory  of 
Bronx's  estate  it  is  quite  certain  he  was  a  gentleman 


1 1  Broadhead,  167. 

-  De  Vries'  "Voyages,"  ir>4,  Journal  Van  New  Ni-therhind. 

3  Uall  Doca.,  iii.  lOo,  v.  314. 

«1  Broadhead,  296. 

f  N.  V.  Col.  Docs.,  xiii.  ii. 

«  Riker  and  X.  Y.  Col.  Dors.,  vol.  xi.  l(i-2. 


of  learning  and  refinement,  for  he  had  in  his  library 
books  written  in  several  languages,  used  silver  on  his 
table  and  had  napkins  and  table-cloths,  and  as  many 
as  six  linen  shirts.^  The  books  were,  many  of  them, 
religious.  He  undoubtedly  believed  that  cleanliness 
and  godliness  were  twin  sisters. 

Bronx  was  hardly  settled  in  his  new  quarters  at 
Emmaus,  as  he  piously  termed  it,  before  an  Indian 
war  broke  out.  The  young  Weckquacsgeek  who  had 
witnessed  the  killing  of  his  uncle  by  Minuit's  servants 
had  attained  manhood.  Claes  Sinits,  a  harmless 
Dutchman,  had  built  a  small  house  ou  the  East  River 
neiir  Harlem,  on  the  Manhattan  side,  now  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-third  Street,  near  the  river.  He  was 
a  wheelwright  by  trade.  The  young  savage  came  one 
day  and  offered  to  barter  some  beaver  skins  for  duffels, 
and  while  Smits  was  stooping  over  the  chest  in  which 
he  kept  the  goods  the  Indian  killed  him  with  an 
axe,  i)lundered  the  house  and  escaped  with  his  booty 
into  Westchester. 


COPY  PROM 

TRACING  OF  BROUCKSLAND.  jS&v 

OfflCE  SECYOF  STATE  ALBANY  "^^K^ 

VCl.l.lAW  PAPERS  P.I7.  /.a^ 


Governor  Kieft  demanded  satisfaction  from  the 
tribe ;  the  sachem  refused  to  give  him  up  and  sol- 
diers were  sent  to  arrest  him,  but  they  failed  to  do  so.* 
The  prudent  burghers  of  New  Amsterdam  were  op- 
posed to  a  war,  and  the  director  very  wisely  saw  that 
if  one  was  begun  he  would  have  to  bear  the  blame. 
He  therefore  sought  counsel  of  the  community,  and 
the  twelve  men,  from  whom,  by  the  charter  of  the 
company,  he  was  directed  to  ask  advice  agreed  that 
Smits'  murder  should  be  avenged,  but  they  thought 
that  "  God  and  the  opportunity"  should  be  taken  into 
consideration  and  that  the  director  should  make  the 
necessary  preparations.  They  advised  that  trade 
and  intercourse  with  the  savages  should  in  the  mean- 
time be  maintained  and  no  hostile  measures  should 
be  adopted  against  any  one  but  the  murderer  until 
the  hunting  season  was  ended,  and  then  it  would  be 
proper  to  send  out  two  parties,  one  from  the  Sound 
or  East  River  side  and  the  other  from  the  Hudson 


'  N.  T.  Col.  Docs.,  xi.  102. 

31  Broadliead,  316,  "Doc.  History  N.  Y.,"  iv.  8,  9. 


Y70 


HISTOKi:  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


River  side  to  surprise  them.  It  was  also  suggested 
by  the  twelve  men  that  the  director  should  "  lead  the 
van,"  but  that  in  the  meantime  a  shallop  should  be 
three  times  sent  to  demand  the  murderer.^  Kieft 
would  not  listen  to  this  wise  counsel ;  by  private  col- 
loquy with  each  of  the  twelve  he  tried  to  advise  them 
to  sanction  a  war,  but  they  voted  to  await  the  arrival 
of  the  next  ship  from  Fatherland.^  A  treaty  of  peace 
was  finally  made  with  the  Indians  at  the  house  of 
Jonas  Bronx's^  in  1642,  and  in  1643  Jonas  Bronx, 
probably  the  first  white  settler  in  Westchester  town, 
died  at  his  home,  and  his  estate  was  administered 
upon  by  friends  at  Harlem*. 

Everardus  Bogardus,  the  Dutch  minister  in  New 
Amsterdam  (husband  of  the  far-famed  Anneke  Jans) 
and  Jochim  Petersen  Keyser,  or  Kuyter,  of  Harlem, 
made  up  the  inventory  of  his  estate.  His  widow 
was  present,  a-s  was  also  his  son,  Peter  Bronx,  and  from 
him  are  descended  a  numerous  family  settled  at  Al- 
bany since  that  time.^ 

About  the  time  of  Bronx's  death  some  persons  from 
New  England  settled  on  what  is  now  known  as 
Throgg's  Neck  or  Throgg's  Point,  the  extreme  eastern 
part  of  the  township.  This  locality  was  called  by  the 
Dutch  Vreedelant,  or  the  "  free  land,"  owing  to  the 
fact  that  New  Englanders,  to  escape  intolerance  in 
their  own  settlements,  persecution  for  witchcraft, 
Quakerism  and  other  offenses  came  to  this  region  to 
enjoy  civil  and  religious  liberty,  guaranteed  to  all 
persons  who  chose  to  come  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  In  the  permission 
to  settle  there  given  by  Director  Kieft  to  John  Tlirock- 
morton  and  his  associates  the  territory  is  described  as 
along  the  East  River  of  New  Netherlaud,  "  being  a 
piece  of  land  surrounded  on  one  side  by  a  little 
river  and  on  the  other  side  by  a  great  kill,  which 
river  and  kill  on  high  water  running  to  meet  each 
other."  This  description  covers  the  present  Throgg's 
Neck  or  everything  east  of  Westchester  Creek  and 
west  of  East  Chester  Bay.  Throckmorton  and  his 
associates,  however,  had  but  a  short  enjoyment  of 


>1  Broadhead,  .318,  "Doc.  History,"  t.  326,  329. 
2 1  Broadhead,  319. 
^  1  Broadhead,  330. 

■•Biker's  "History  of  Harlem,"  loS-.W  ;  vol.  xi.,  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  44. 

^Tuentje  or  Turnje  Juriansen  was  Bronx's  widow.  Her  name  would 
hardly  be  recognized  to  day  as  the  synonym  of  Antonia  Slagboom;  but 
Turnje  is  the  Dutch  nickname  fur  .\ntonia,  and  as  her  father  (Slagboum) 
was  baptized  Jurian,  she  was  Turii.je,  the  daughter  of  Jurian,  and  so 
called,  though  to-day  she  would  be  Mrs.  Bronx.  After  Bronx's  death 
she  married  Arendt  Van  Corlaer,  the  sherifl'  of  Rensselaerwick,  and  on 
July  10,  1051 ,  Van  Corlaer  sold  Bronx's  land  to  Jacob  Jans  Stoll.  In 
1C62,  Matthias  de  Vos,  as  attorney  for  Geertruit  Andries,  the  widow  of 
Van  Stoll,  conveyed  it  to  Geertrieu  Hendrick,  the  widow  of  one  Andries 
Hoppen,  and  she,  on  the  same  day,  with  the  consent  of  her  husband, 
Dirck  Gerritts  Van  Tright,  sold  to  Harmann  Smeeman,  who,  on  the  22d 
of  October,  sold  the  same  to  Samuel  Edsall,  a  beaver-niaker,  of  New  York 
City,  who  held  it  until  1668-70.  Edsall  was  a  useful  man.  In  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  business  he  had  considerable  intercourse  with  the  Indians, 
and  learned  their  language.  We  find  him  on  several  occasions,  at  Fort 
Amsterdam  and  elsewhere,  acting  as  an  interpreter.  He  removed  from 
Bronx  land  and  finally  settled  in  New  Jersey. 


their  new  homes.  The  treaty  of  peace  signed  at 
Bronx's  house  was  of  no  avail.  The  Indians  were 
committing  depredations,  and  Director  Kieft,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  council  of  only  eight  men,  this  time 
determined  on  an  Indian  war.  As  large  a  force  as  the 
good  burghers  of  New  Amsterdam  could  aflFord  to  pay 
for  was  promptly  enlisted,  good  and  fitting  ordinances 
against  taverning  and  all  other  irregularities  were 
"  ordained,"  and,  possibly  to  prevent  such  worldly 
practices,  a  week's  preaching  was  ordered.  Captain 
John  Underbill,  a  hero  of  the  Pequod  War,  was 
placed  in  command  of  the  expedition. 

Either  by  reason  of  the  delay  in  recruiting  or  the 
week's  preaching,  or  some  other  misfortune  not  men- 
tioned in  the  documents  of  that  date,  th  e  troops  took 
the  field  too  late,  and  were  unable  to  repel  au  attack 
made  by  the  Weckquaesgeeks,  who,  at  Pelham  Neck, 
or,  as  it  was  then  known,  Aiinie's  Hoeck,  murdered 
the  celebrated  refugee  Ann  Hutchinson,  and  de- 
stroyed houses  and  cattle.  Thence  they  went  to 
"  Vreedelandt,"  where  such  of  the  Throckmorton  or 
Cornell  families  as  were  at  home  were  murdered  and 
the  barns  and  houses  burned.  A  boat  landing  there 
about  that  time, some  of  the  women  and  children  fled 
on  board,  but  eighteen  persons  were  massacred. 

This  raid  seems  to  have  extended  a  consider- 
able distance.  Westchester  was  laid  waste  and 
Long  Island  was  almost  cleaned  out  of  inhabitants 
and  f<tock.  The  eight  men  of  New  Amsterdam  wrote 
a  pitiful  tale  to  the  5Iost  Worshipful  Directors  of  the 
West  India  Company,  saying:  "  Famine  stares  us  in 
the  face.  Not  a  plough  can  be  put  in  the  ground. 
This  is  but  the  beginning  of  our  troubles."  ' 

The  southwest  part  of  Throgg's  Neck,  or  Pilot's 
Point,  and  the  old  Ferris  place,  as  now  known,  in  the 
l^ossession  of  the  Ferrises,  Mr.  Zenega,  Jacob  Lorillard 
and  others,  was  granted  to  Thomas  Hunt  about  1686.* 
Farther  west  were  Willett's  and  Cornell's  Necks, 
called  Black  Rock.  This  latter  extended  westerly  to 
the  Bronx,  but  did  not  include  that  part  of  the  town- 
ship which  formed  the  borough.  In  1663  that  por- 
tion of  the  original  town  west  of  the  Bronx,  including 
the  present  village  of  West  Farms,  Hunt's  Point  and 
as  far  west  as  Leggetts  Creek,  vested  by  purchase 
from  the  Indians  in  Edward  Jessup  and  John  Rich- 
ardson. Bronx's  land  evidently  lay  between  Bungay 
and  Cromwell's  Creeks.  Devoe's  Point,  or  Daniel 
Turneur's  land,  now  forming  the  point  between 
Cromwell's  Creek  and  Harlem  River  south  of  High 
Bridge,  purchased  originally  in  1671  by  Turneur  from 
the  Indians,  and  Archer's  patent,  also  an  Indian  pur- 
chase, formed  the  northwest  corner  of  the  territory. 

The  method  pursued  by  the  West  India  Company 


6  1  Broadhead,  366  and  367,  and  Docs,  quoted.  O'Callaghan's  "  Histo- 
ry New  Netherlands,"  2.i8.  Bolton's  "History  Westchester,"  vol.  ii. 
page  264.  Alb.  Records,  G.  G.,  98.  X.  Y'.  Col.  Docs.,  xi.44.  N.  Y. 
Col.  Docs.,  xi.  102. 

"  Bolton's  "Westchester,"  vol.  ii.  page  269.  Mr.  Bolton  gives  m  h\s 
history  a  copy  of  the  original  deed.    Albany  Records,  vol.  ii.  page  79. 


WESTCHESTER 


771 


in  the  first  planting  of  settlements  was  as  follows : 
The  company,  at  their  own  cost  and  in  their  own 
ships,  conveyed  the  farmers  (boors,  baiters)  to  the 
new  country.  The  tenant  was  granted  a  bou- 
erie,  or  farm,  for  a  term  of  years,  and  was 
to  clear  the  land.  The  company  furnished  a 
house,  barn,  fiirming  implements  and  tools,  horses 
cows,  sheep  and  pigs,  in  proportion  to  the  acreage. 
The  farmer  had  the  use  of  these  animals  for  the 
term,  and  on  its  expiration  he  was  to  return  to  the 
company  the  number  of  domestic  animals  he  had  re- 
ceived, he  to  keep  part  of  the  increase.  The  com- 
pany, for  several  years  from  its  outset,  distributed  its 
live-stock  among  those  farmers  who  had  not  the 
means  to  buy.  All  risks  of  the  cattle  dying  were 
shared  between  the  company  and  the  farmer.  By 
this  process  the  boors,  in  a  few  years,  managed  to 
amass  sufficient  money  and  cattle  to  enable  them  to 
purchase  lands  from  the  company  or  some  patroon. 
Under  the  private  proprietors  the  method  was  some- 
what similar.  The  proprietor  gave  permission  to  his 
tenants  to  clear  the  land  and  plant  crops  on  it,  but 
they  were  obliged  to  break  up  new  land  after  the 
land  already  cleared  had  been  in  use  by  the  tenant 
for  the  number  of  years  specified  in  the  lease. 

The  landlord  had  the  option  to  determine  what 
land  should  be  cleared  and  planted.  He  rarely  re- 
ceived a  money  rent,  but  got  his  land  back  in  his  pos- 
session, cleared  and  prepared  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. Sometimes  the  landlord  would  furnish  horses 
and  cattle  to  the  tenants.  Many  of  the  tenants  were 
persons  whom  the  landlords  had  assisted  to  emigrate  by 
advancing  their  passage  money,  and  they  would  pay 
that  back  whenever  they  had  the  ready  means,  either 
in  cash  or  in  crops.  Tobacco  and  wheat  were  the 
principal  crops. ^ 

In  1(554—55  some  New  Englanders  settled  at  or  near 
Westchester  without  Stuyvesant's  permission.  On 
the  19th  of  April,  Van  Tienhoven,  the  Fiscal,  issued 
a  writ  commanding  Thomas  Pel,  or  whomsoever  else 
it  might  concern,  to  cease  from  trespassing  and  to 
leave  the  premises,  and  intrusted  the  writ  to  Claes 
Van  Elslaut,  the  court  messenger,  and  promptly  on 
the  22d  Claes  arrived  at  the  new  village  which  was 
building  at  Vreedelandt.  Four  armed  men  came  to 
meet  him  at  the  creek  and  demanded  what  he  was 
after.  Elslaut  asked,  "  Where  can  I  land  near  the 
houses?"  The  reply  was,  "You  shall  not  land." 
The  messenger  said,  "I  am  cold,  let  me  land,"  and 
he  sprang  ashore.  Albert,  the  trumpeter,  was  with 
him,  and  both  were  placed  under  guard  by  the  set- 
tlers and  told  not  to  advance  a  foot.  The  commander 
of  the  party  advanced  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand  and 
with  eight  or  ten  men  following.  The  faithful  mes- 
senger did  his  duty;  he  read  the  protest  or  warrant 
and  handed  it  to  the  leader,  who  said,  "  I  cannot  un- 
derstand Dutch ;  why  did  not  the  Fiscal  send  it  in 


English?  If  you  send  it  in  English,  then  shall  I 
answer  in  writing."  He  added,  "  But  that's  no  mat- 
ter; we  expect  the  ships  from  Holland  and  England 
which  are  to  bring  the  settlement  of  the  boundary. 
Whether  we  are  to  dwell  here  under  the  States  or  the 
Parliament  time  will  tell ;  furthermore,  we  abide  here 
under  the  States  of  England.    If  we  had  a  sup  ot 

I  wine  we  should  offer  you  some,  but  we  have  not  any." 
They  then  discharged  their  guns  all  round.  Elslaut 
tried  to  see  their  houses  and  fixtures,  and  also  the 
Parliament's  arms,  which  the  English  said  were  hung 
on  a  tree  and  carved  on  a  plank,  but  the  ])eop]e  left 
the  messenger  standing  in  a  hut  on  the  shore  well 
guarded  by  men.  The  messengers  were  finally  per- 
mitted to  return  and  Van  Elslaut  made  his  report. ' 

I     Such  treatment  roused  the  indignation  of  Stuyve- 

I  sant.  On  the  fitli  of  March,  105(5,  he  and  his  Council 
instructed  Captain  Frederick  de  Conninck  with  Cap- 
tain Lieutenant  Brian  Nuton  and  the  Fiscal,  Van 
Tienhoven,  to  proceed  to  Westchester  or  Ostdorp  by 
night  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers  and  take  posses- 
sion of  the  houses  of  the  Englishmen,  and  direct 
them  to  remove  with  all  their  movable  property  and 
cattle  ;  they  were  to  proceed  against  them  by  force,  if 
necessary,  and  the  houses  were  to  be  demolished.  A 
lieutenant — Wheller  or  Wheeler — seems  to  have  been 
the  principal  man  at  the  settlement,  which,  according 

1  to  Van  Tienhoven's  account  of  the  population,  con- 
sisted principally  of  fugitives,  vagabonds  and  thieves, 
who,  on  account  of  their  bad  behavior  in  New  England, 
had  fled  to  Westchester.  The  expedition  ordered  on  the 
fith  reached  Westchester  on  the  14th  of  March,  and 
were  met  there  by  the  people,  who  had  drawn  up  in 
line  under  arms,  and  showed  themselves  unwilling  to 
remove,  saying  that  the  land  belonged  to  them.  Cap- 
tain-General Conninck  deprived  them  of  their  arms 
and  took  twenty-three  of  them  prisoners,  and  brought 
them  to  New  Amsterdam  on  the  ship  "  de  Waagh." 
Only  a  few,  with  the  women  and  children,  were  left 
behind  to  take  care  of  the  goods.  The  wives  of  the 
captives,  however,  plead  for  their  husbands'  release, 
and  the  soft-hearted  Governor  and  Council  finally  re- 
solved to  release  the  prisoners  after  they  promised, 
under  oath  and  over  their  signatures,  to  remove  from 

I  Vredelandt  and  out  of  the  province  within  six  weeks, 
and  not  to  come  back  without  the  consent  of  the 

'  Dutch  government.  The  prisoners  were  also  re- 
quired t<t  pay  the  expenses  of  their  a])prehension.' 
The  petition  of  the  captives,  though  quaint  in  lan- 
guage, is  almost  pathetic.  They  beg  that  the  Gover- 
nor and  Council  will  be  pleased  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  humble  request  of  the  poor  and  humble  pe- 
titioners, and  that  "  whereas,  it  doth  appeare"  that 
the  government  does  make  claim  to  the  place  where 
they  were  settled,  they  state  that  they  are  willing  to 
submit  themselves  unto  the  government  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, so  long  as  they  continue  within  that  jurisdic- 


>  X.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  xiti.  6. 


SN.  T.  Col.  Docs.,  xiii.  36. 


'Mem,  Bo. 


772 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


tion,  provided  they  be  allowed  to  choose  their  own 
officers  for  the  enforcement  of  laws  which  may  be 
made  for  the  good  of  the  township.  Their  petition 
was  granted  and  on  March  16,  1656,  they  were  al- 
lowed to  depart  for  Vredelandt  and  also  to  nominate 
a  double  number  of  officers,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Director-General  and  Council.  They  at  once 
organized  and  elected  Lieutenant  Thomas  \Yheeleras 
their  magistrate,  and  his  selection  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  director  on  the  same  day.  Some  of  the 
party,  however,  were  ordered  to  leave  the  province 
unless  they  gave  bail  for  good  behavior.' 

In  1655  another  Indian  war  broke  out.  The  savages 
came  down  the  Sound  in  their  canoes  as  far  as  Hell 
Gate,  and  Peter,  the  chimney-sweep  of  Xew  Amster- 
dam, was  taken  prisoner.  Captain  Nuton  was  di- 
rected to  caution  the  peojjle  in  the  country  to  keep 
together  and  not  wander  far  from  the  plantations.  - 
The  New  Englanders  settled  at  Westchester  were  sus- 
pected of  having  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  the 
Indians  so  as  to  throw  off  the  Dutch  yoke,  and  they 
were  also  in  constant  correspondence  with  the  English 
authorities  in  Connecticut.  This  settlement  was  called 
by  the  Dutch  "  O'ostdorp,"  and  the  insubordination 
of  its  inhabitants  was  a  constant  annoyance  to  Stuy- 
vesant. The  Dutch  West  India  Company  also  ex- 
pressed its  disapproval  of  the  course  the  New  Eng- 
landers were  pursuing  with  reference  to  Ostdorp,  or 
Westchester  village,  and  their  wicked  attempts  to 
"purloin  it."  ^ 

Van  Couwenhoven  made  a  report  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  that,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1664,  an  In- 
dian named  Hiekemick  came  to  his  house  and  told 
him  that  the  Esopus  and  Wappinger  Indians  were 
ready  for  an  insurrection,  and  that  the  English  at 
Westchester  had  promised  that  they  would  first  con- 
quer Long  Island  and  then  the  Manhattans,  but  that 
the  Indians  must  help  them.  The  Indians  said  that 
they  were  willing,  but  the  thrifty  New  Englanders 
asked,  "When  you  have  done  it,  how  much  land  shall 
we  have  then?"  The  land  at  Esopus  wa.s  promised 
if  the  English  would  help  them  kill  the  Dutch.  The 
.Indians  made  another  visit  to  Westchester  and  tried 
to  consummate  the  bargain,  but  were  answered,  "  It 
cannot  be  done  at  present,  as  our  Sachem  (evidently 
meaning  Lieutenant  Wheeler)  has  made  an  agree- 
ment with  Stuyvesant  for  a  year."  After  some  un- 
successful palaver  the  Indians  left,  saying,  "It  is  bet- 
ter to  make  peace  with  the  Dutch  ;  the  English  are 
only  fooling  us." 

But  the  inhabitants  of  Westchester  did  not  feel  satis- 
fied under  the  Dutch  rule,  and  in  the  following  August  I 
of  1664  informed  the  commissioners  of  Her  Majesty's 
affairs  in  New  England  of  their  arrest  by  the  Dutch 
and  the  hardships  they  had  to  endure  in  the  hold  of  a 


1  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  67. 

^  2>.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  xiii.  43;  Laws  of  Xew  Nethcrland,  page  198. 
3N.  Y.  rol.  Docs.,  xi.  550. 
I  ■'Idem,  527,  529.  5  Holland  Docs.,  ii.  page  219. 


vessel  and  in  a  dungeon  at  the  Manhattoes ;  that  the 
sole  cause  of  their  arrest  was  that  they  opposed  the 
Dutch  title  to  the  lands ;  that  after  their  release  some 
of  their  companions  were  driven  away  and  the  residue 
were  enslaved.  This  was  undoubtedly  an  allusion  to 
the  compulsory  visit  Wheeler  and  his  friends  made 
some  years  before  to  New  Amsterdam.  * 

But  Stuyvesant's  contests  with  and  suspicions  of  the 
unruly  New  England  settlers  at  Westchester  were  soon 
ended.  Charles  II.,  of  England,  in  March,  1664,  lib- 
erally 2>resented  to  James,  Duke  of  York,  the  whole 
colony  of  New  Netherlands,  with  other  possessions 
which  he  never  owned.  In  August  Colonel  Richard 
NicoUs,  with  his  English  squadron  and  New  England 
soldiers,  captured  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  in 
Se23tember,  1664,  we  can  imagine  that  Wheeler  and 
his  fellow-citizens  in  Westchester  village  rejoiced  in 
godly  New  England  style  over  the  downfall  of  the 
valiant  Dutch  Governor,  Petrus  Stuyvesant,  and  the 
accession  of  James,  Duke  of  York,  and  his  Governor, 
NicoUs,  as  lord  proprietor  of  New  York  and  West- 
chester township. ' 

FoRDHAM  AND  THE  Ferries. — West  of  Bronx 
River  are  the  regions  formerly  known  as  the 
Manors  of  Fordham  and  Morrisania  and  the  West 
Farms  Patent,  and  lately  as  the  townships  of  West 
Farms  and  Morrisania.  The  early  history  of  Ford- 
ham  and  Morrisania  is  closely  allied  with  that  of 
Harlem,  and  many  of  their  first  settlers  came  from 
the  latter  village.  In  1658  the  director-general  and 
Council  passed  an  ordinance  at  Fort  Amsterdam  for 
the  promotion  of  neighborly  correspondence  with  the 
English  in  the  north,  and  as  a  practical  measure  for 
the  closer  communication  of  the  two  peoples,  they  au- 
thorized the  establishment  of  a  ferry  with  a  suitable 
scow  near  Harlem,  besides  promising,  that  a  good 
wagon  road  should  be  built  from  Fort  Amsterdam  to 
Harlem  by  the  company's  negroes  as  soon  as  the 
population  of  the  latter  had  increased  to  twenty  or 
twenty-five  families.* 

The  promised  ferry  and  road  remained  only  a  pro- 
ject in  the  minds  of  the  Dutch  authorities,  but  never- 
theless many  of  the  Harlem  people  were  attracted  to 
the  main  land  and  some  cultivated  boueries  or  farms 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Bronxland  and  Spuyten 
Duyvil.  NicoUs,  the  new  English  Governor,  a  man 
of  enterprise  and  tact,  who  paid  much  attention  to 
developing  the  settlements  and  obtaining  the  good 
will  of  the  Dutch,  in  1666  granted  a  charter  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Harlem,  which,  among  other  things, 
provided  for  "  a  ferry  to  and  from  the  main  which 
I  may  redound  to  their  particular  benefit,"  and  author- 
ized them  "at  their  charge  to  build  one  or  more 
boats  for  that  purpose  fit  for  the  transportation  of 
men,  horses  and  cattle,  for  which  there  will  be  such 


0  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  xiii.  363,  392. 

'  2  Bancroft,  69  {Little     Brown's  ed.). 

8  Riker's  "  History  of  Harlem  "  is  the  source  from  which  most  of  the 
information  in  the  following  pages  is  derived. 


WESTCHESTER. 


773 


a  certain  allowance  given  as  shall  be  adjudged  rea- 
sonable." About  this  time  it  was  found  by  the  Har- 
lem people  that  as  there  was  a  convenient  fording- 
place  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  a  good  road  should  be  made 
to  Harlem  and  a  good  ferry  established  over  the 
river;  so,  on  January  3,  1667,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
mayor  and  magistrates,  it  was  determined  that  tlie 
Harlem  people  should  make  one-half  the  road  from 
Harlem  to  the  Manhattans  and  that  Spuyten  Duyvil 
"  be  stopped  up  ";  that  like  care  be  taken  for  a  suit- 
able ordinary  (tavern)  for  persons  coming  and  going; 
and  the  mayor.  Captain  Delaval,  promised  the  nails 
and  the  making  of  a  scow,  on  condition  that  the 
ferryman  should  repay  him  when  required  to  do  so. 

Johannes  Verveelen  agreed  to  take  the  ferry  and 
the  ordinary  for  six  years.  He  was  duly  sworn  to 
provide  lodgings,  victuals  and  drink  for  travelers,  but 
to  tap  no  liquor  for  the  Indians  ;  he  was  also  allowed 
to  have  six  extra  feet  to  his  lot  of  hind  in  Harlem,  as 
he  was  cramped  for  room,  and  must  make  convenience 
"  for  his  ordinary."  Travel  toward  Westchester  and 
the  eastward  gave  a  new  spur  and  energy  to  Harlem. 
Verveelen  fitted  up  his  ordinary  and  provided  the 
boats,  and  his  lusty  negro,  Matthys,  was  placed  in 
charge.  People  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  inn  on 
their  way  to  and  from  Broiixside,  and  their  cattle  were 
safely  ferried  across  at  the  following  rates:  "  For  one 
person,  four  stivers,  silver  money;  for  two,  three  or 
four,  each  three  stivers,  silver  money ;  for  one  beast, 
one  shilling;  and  for  more  than  one,  each  ten  stivers 
silver."  Riker  locates  the  inn  and  ferry  at  the  north 
side  of  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-third  Street,  three 
hundred  feet  west  of  First  Avenue.  It  would  seem 
that  the  worthj'  inn-keeper  and  ferry-master  was  not 
always  observant  of  the  excise  laws.  He  thought  that 
as  he  wsis  put  to  some  expense  pro  bono  publico  in 
keeping  up  the  ferry,  he  should  not  pay  the  excise 
fees,  and  the  mayor  and  alderman  tiiouglit  there  was 
sufficient  equity  in  his  claim,  for,  on  the  3d  of  July, 
1667,  an  agreement  was  made  between  them  tiiat  he 
should  have  the  ferry  for  five  years,  provided  he  keep 
a  convenient  house  and  lodging  for  passengers.  He 
was  also  given  about  an  acre  on  Bronxside,  and  a 
place  to  build  a  house  on.  At  what  point  this  was 
located  the  present  historian  can  not  decide.  At 
the  end  of  five  years  the  ferry  was  to  be  farmed  out, 
but  during  that  time  he  was  to  pay  nothing  for  it,  and 
in  case  the  ferry  should  be  let  to  another,  the  house 
was  to  be  valued  as  it  stood,  and  Verveelen  was  to  be 
paid  for  it.  Then  the  rates  of  ferriage  were  fixed 
thus :  For  every  passenger,  two  pence  silver  or  six 
pence  wampum  ;  for  every  ox  or  cow  that  shall  be 
brought  into  the  ferry-boat,  eight  pence,  or  twenty- 
four  stivers;  cattle  under  a  year  old,  six  pence  or 
eighteen  stivei-s  wampum ;  "  all  cattle  that  are  sivum 
over  "  paid  but  half-price.  He  was  to  take  from  every 
man  "  for  his  meal,  eight  pence;  every  man  for  his 
lodging,  two  pence  a  man ;  every  man  for  his  horse 
shall  pay  four  pence  for  his  night's  hay  or  grass,  or  ' 


twelve  stivers  wampum,  provided  the  grass  be  in 
fence."  Government  messages  between  New  York 
and  Connecticut  were  free.  In  consideration  of  his 
having  to  build  a  house  on  both  sides  of  the  ferry,  the 
Governor  freed  him  from  paying  any  excise  "  for  what 
wine  or  beer  he  may  retail  in  the  house"  for  one 
year  from  the  date  of  the  agreement.' 

In  Octol)er,  lOlw, f tovernor  Nicolls  granted  a  patent 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Harlem.  Thomas  Delaval, 
Daniel  Turneur,  John  Verveelen  and  others  were  the 
first  patentees.  He  also  granted  to  them  four  lots  of 
land  on  the  mainland  numbered  one,  two,  three  and 
four,  near  Spuyten  Duyvil.  He  also  granted  to  the 
people  of  Harlem,  Stony  Island,  or  that  part  of  Mor- 
risania  now  known  as  Port  Morris.'*  The  people  at 
Harlem,  though  they  had  passed  resolutions  to  stop 
the  passage  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  found  that  it  was  no- 
easy  matter  to  do  so.  The  fence  was  thrown  down 
and  the  cattle  from  the  island  forded  over  to  the 
main.  The  location  of  this  fording-place  is  at  the 
island  in  front  of  the  residence  of  Joseph  H.  Godwin, 
at  King's  Bridge.  John  Barker  from  Westchester,  in 
spite  of  the  ferry  regulations  at  Harlem,  had  swum  a 
large  number  of  horses  and  cattle  across  at  Spuyten 
Duyvil.  Verveelen,  the  ferry  master,  made  com- 
plaint to  the  Mayor's  Court  of  the  city  of  New  York,, 
and  judgment  was  rendered  that  Barker  pay  the  ferry 
master  for  all  horses  and  cattle  which  had  been  "con- 
veyed by  him  over  the  Spuyten  Duyvil  whilst  the 
ferry  has  been  at  Harlem,"  which  money  the  ferry- 
master  was  ordered  to  apply  to  the  repair  ofthe  fences- 
at  Spuyten  Duyvil. 

In  the  meantime  John  Archer,  of  Fordham,  and 
the  people  at  Harlem  were  disputing  over  the  land* 
and  meadows  at  Spuyten  Duyvil.'  Like  the  other 
large  proprietors,  he  leased  his  lands  in  parcels  of 
from  twenty  to  twenty-four  acres  to  such  persons  as- 
would  clear  and  cultivate  them.  The  tenants  also 
had  a  house  and  lot  each  in  the  village,  so  that  in 
1668— 69  a  goodly  number  of  Harlem  people  went 
to  reside  on  Archer's  property.  The  village  was  lo- 
cated very  near  the  present  settlement  of  King's  Bridge 
near  to  the  "fording-place"  in  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek,  and  hence  is  derived  the  name  of  Fordham — 
ford,  a  fording  place ;  ham,  a  mansion.*  But  Nicolls 
had  granted  the  Harlem  people  four  lots  on  the  main- 


'  Biker's  "  Harlem,"  page  2C9. 
2X.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vol.  xiii.  4-21. 

3  Archer  had  years  before  bought  from  the  Indians  a  large  tract,  now 
known  as  King's  Bridge,  Fordliani,  Iligli  Bridge  and  Belmont,  and  ex- 
tendingas  far  north  as  Williiinis'  Bridge.  His  nationality  is  disputed.  Bol- 
ton says  the  family  was  of  English  origin.  Riker  says  his  name  was  Jan 
Arcer,  <Ji<r«  Xeuswys,  and  that  he  came  from  .Vnisterdani.  .\t  this  time 
(lti68)  he  had  lived  in  Westchester  a  dozen  years,  havins;  married  a 
woman  from  Cambridge  in  lfi.')9,  and  hence  the  Dutch  Arcer  or  .-Varsen 
may  have  become  anglicized  into  .\rcher.  Kiker,  who  had  access  to  the 
original  record*  of  Harlem,  saw  his  signature,  and  says  it  was  invariably 
Jan  .Vrcer.  The  author  of  this  chapter  has  also  seen  it  written  the  fame 
way.  He  was  also  called  "Koop  al,""  the  Dutch  for  •' Buy  all,"  and 
Riker  suggests  that  he  was  a  shrewd  fellow  and  had  an  eye  to  business. 

••  Bolton's  "Westchester." 


774 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEE  COUNTY. 


land  and  Archer's  cattle  trespassed  on  the  Harlem 
lands.  The  cattle  were  seized  and  a  complaint  made 
against  Archer  to  the  new  Governor  Lovelace.  This 
was  in  1668-69.  Archer  said  he  did  not  claim  the 
lots  but  that  he  had  purchased  the  lands  adjoining 
from  the  Yonker  Vander  Do  nek,  and  he  was  ordered 
to  bring  in  his  patent  to  show  by  what  right  he  had 
the  land  where  he  had  built. 

In  the  meantime  viewers  were  appointed  to  see  the 
meadow  and  make  report  how  it  could  be  preserved 
from  trespass,  and  were  also  directed  to  examine  the 
passage  at  Spuyten  Uuyvil,  with  a  view  to  its  being 
made  more  convenient  for  passengers  and  the  "  drift 
of  cattle."  as  the  ferry  at  Harlem  was  found  incom- 
modious and  did  not  answer  the  ends  as  formerly  in- 
tended. 

About  this  time  Daniel  Turneur,  one  of  the  original 
patentees  of  Harlem,  who  claimed  title  by  an  Indian 
deed  of  several  years  earlier  date,  was  permitted  by 
Governor  Nicolls  to  settle  on  some  eighty-one  acres 
of  land  on  Harlem  River,  which  lay  between  Archer's 
land  and  Bronck's  land,  bounded  on  the  east  bj'  the 
Maeneppis  Kill,  or  Cromwell's  Creek.  The  con- 
struction of  Sedgwick  and  Central  Avenues  has  almost 
effaced  the  northern  boundary  corners  of  this  tract, 
but  it  comprises  within  its  limits  the  high  lands  be- 
tween the  Harlem  Riv»r  and  Cromwell's  Creek,  now 
called  Devoe's  Point,  the  Devoes  being  descendants 
of  a  daughter  of  Turneur.  The  small  stream,  which 
formerly  emptied  into  Harlem  River  just  south  of 
High  Bridge,  w'as  the  north  bounds,  and  then  it  ran 
west  across  to  Cromwell's  Creek  to  a  point  not  very 
far  north  of  the  present  road-house  tavern  on  Central 
Avenue,  known  as  Judge  Smith's.  Turneur  was  a 
man  of  parts,  and  not  only  a  very  important  person  at 
Harlem,  but  also  frequently  acting  as  arbitrator  for 
the  people  of  Fordham  and  others  in  the  vicinity. 

On  February  27,  1669,  Governor  Lovelace  sent  a  I 
communication  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  Harlem 
to  the  effect  that,  as  the  Harlem  Ferry  was  to  be 
abandoned,  and  Verveelen  had  represented  that  such 
abandonment  worked  a  hardship  to  him,  as  it  closed 
out  his  unexpired  five  years'  contract,  he  referred  the 
question  to  them.  On  March  2d  the  Harlem  officials 
concurred  in  the  change  of  the  ferry  "to  the  wading- 
place,'"  and  recommended  that  Verveelen  be  appointed 
ferry-master  for  three  years,  he  to  give  an  account  of 
the  annual  income  of  the  ferry.  On  the  same  day 
Lovelace  ordered  Verveelen  to  proceed  to  Spuyten 
Duyvil  and  build  a  fence  so  as  to  keep  all  manner  of 
cattle  from  going  or  coming  to  and  from  the  passage 
without  leave  or  paying  therefor,  and  to  lay  out  a 
place  at  Paparinamin  on  the  main  land  near  the 
passage,  for  his  habitation  and  the  accommodation  of 
travelers.  A  lease  was  made  between  Governor 
Lovelace  and  Verveelen,  dated  July  15, 1669,  settling 
the  ferry  "  at  the  place  commonly  called  Spuyten 
Duyvil,  between  IManhattan  Island  and  the  new  vil- 
lage called  Fordham."     Verveelen  was  to  erect  "a 


good  dwelling-house  on  the  island,  or  neck  of  land 
called  Paparinamin,  where  he  was  to  be  furnished 
with  three  or  four  good  beds  for  the  entertainment  of 
strangers,  and  also  with  provisions  at  all  seasons  for 
them,  their  horses  and  cattle,  together  with'  stabling." 
He  was  to  have  "a  sufficient  and  able  boat "  for  the 
transportation  of  the  same,  and  the  pass  upon  the 
island  near  to  the  Spuyten  Duyvil  was  to  be  suffi- 
ciently fenced  in  with  a  gate,  which  was  to  be  kept 
locked  so  that  no  person  should  pass  in  or  out  without 
his  permission.  He  was  to  bear  one-third  of  the  ex- 
pense of  making  the  bridge  over  the  meadow  land 
to  the  town  of  Fordham,  and  the  town  was  to  bear 
the  remainder.  Verveelen,  or  bis  deputy,  was  to  be 
in  attendance  at  all  seasonable  hours,  and  in  cases  of 
emergency  where  public  affairs  were  concerned,  he 
was  to  be  ready  at  all  hours  when  called  upon.  Pen- 
alties and  the  mode  of  inflicting  them  were  provided 
for,  and  in  consideration  "  of  the  well  execution  of  his 
office,"  he  was  to  receive  an  allotment  of  the  entire 
neck  or  island  of  Papparinamin,  whether  encompassed 
with  water  or  meadow  land,  and  also  a  piece  ot 
meadow  ground  adjoining  to  it  as  laid  out  by  Jacques 
Cortilyou,  the  surveyor. 

The  island  or  neck  and  the  ferry  franchise  was  to 
vest  in  Verveleen,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  for  their  use 
and  benefit  for  eleven  years,  beginning  on  November 
1,  1669.  Verveleen  was  also  appointed  constable  ot 
Fordham,  which  village  was  to  have  its  dependence 
on  the  Mayor's  Court  of  New  York,  as  the.  village  of 
New  Harlem  also  had,  but  they  could  try  all  small 
causes  under  five  pounds  among  themselves,  as  was 
allowed  in  other  Town  Courts.  After  the  expiration 
of  the  eleven  years  Verveelen  had  the  first  proffer  to 
continue  as  ferryman,  or,  in  case  he  was  dead,  his 
nearest  relation  or  assign  should  have  the  preference. 
A  clause  was  inserted  as  to  repairs  and  good  condi- 
I  tion  of  the  property  and  boats  at  the  expiration  of 
the  term,  and  he  was  obliged  to  receive  all  passen- 
gers, whether  afoot  or  on  horseback,  horses  and  cat- 
tle for  lodging,  diet,  feeding,  passage  or  ferrying,  ac- 
cording to  the  ferry  rates.'  Persons  on  government 
business  were  to  pass  free,  and  also  such  persons  as, 
upon  any  "  emergent  or  extraordinary  occasion," 
should  be  summoned  to  appear  in  arms.  On  days  for 
holding  fairs,  all  droves  of  cattle  and  horses  were  free 
during  the  time  of  keeping  the  fair,  and  also  a  day 


1  Tlie  rates  of  ferriage,  board  and  lodging  were  prescribed  as  follows  : 
"  For  lodging  any  person,  eight  pence  per  night,  in  case  they  had  a  bed 
with  sheets;  and  without  sheets,  two  pence  in  silver. 
"  For  transportation  of  any  person,  one  pence  in  silver. 
"  For  transportation  of  a  man  and  a  horse,  seven  pence  in  silver. 
"  For  a  single  horse,  si.\  pence. 

"  For  a  turn  with  his  boat,  for  two  horses,  ten  pence,  and  for  any  wore, 
four  pence  apiece ;  and  if  they  be  driven  over,  half  us  much. 
"  For  single  cattle,  as  much  as  a  horse. 

*'  For  a  boat-loading  ol  cattle,  as  much  as  he  hath  for  horses. 
'*  For  droves  of  cattle  to  be  driven  over  and  opening  ye  gates,  twopence 
per  piece. 

"  For  feeding  of  cattle,  three  pence  in  silver. 

'■  For  feeding  a  horse  one  day  or  night  with  hay  or  graase,  six  pence." 


WESTCHESTER. 


775 


before  and  a  day  after  its  expiration.  The  quit-rent 
which  Johannes  had  to  pay  for  this  franchise  to  the 
Duke  of  York  was  ten  shillings.  This  ferry  was 
just  north  of  what  is  now  known  as  Godwin's  Island, 
but  the  location  of  the  inn  is  uncertain. 

Verveelen  was  soon  settled  at  Spuyten  Duyvil, 
where,  in  addition  to  his  duties  as  ferry-master,  he 
was  api)ointed  constable.  William  Betts,  Sr.,  and 
Kier  Walters,  a  tenant  of  Archer's,  were  appointed 
overseers  and  assistants  by  the  Governor.  The  next 
year  (lijTO),  Verveelen  began  "  the  making  of  a 
bridge  over  the  marsh,  between  Papariuamin  and 
Fordham. 

It  seems  that  William  Betts,  George  Tippett  and 
Jolm  Hedger  (Heddy),  who  lived  some  distance  from 
the  town  of  Fordham,  proposed  to  the  Governor  that 
if  they  were  excused  from  their  proportion  of  work 
in  making  the  causeway,  they  would  make  a  bridge 
at  their  own  charge  over  Bronx  River,  on  the  road 
leading  to  Esist  Chester,  which  they  said  was  also 
very  necessary.  Debate  was  had  on  this  proposition 
in  the  Governor's  presence  at  Fort  James,  Tippett, 
Betts  and  Hedger  being  present  and  also  divers 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Fordham.  The  people  of  the 
town  other  than  the  three  offered  to  help  build  the 
bridge  over  the  Bronx  "after  ye  causey  shall  first 
be  finisht  "  as  the  causeway  would  be  a  difficult  job 
the  governor,  finding  that  the  proposition  of  the  three 
townsmen  tended  to  greater  expedition  in  both  works, 
ordered  that  the  three  persons  would  first  join 
the  rest  of  the  town  of  Fordham  in  making  the  cause- 
way, and  that  afterwards  they  all  should  join  in 
making  a  convenient  bridge  over  the  Bronx.  The 
latter  was  to  be  provided  with  a  gate  on  the  East 
Chester  side,  so  as  to  keep  the  "  Hoggs  "  from  com- 
ing over,  and  the  people  of  Fordham,  in  consideration 
of  their  assistance,  were  to  have  the  right  of  passing 
over  the  ferry  free  of  charge,  so  long  as  Johannes 
Verveelen  or  his  assigns  enjoyed  the  ferry  under  the 
foregoing  agreement.  We  may  safely  conclude  that 
this  order  in  Council  was  the  first  legislation  ever 
made  as  to  Williams'  Bridge.  The  caw^tey  or  causeway 
must  have  been  somewhere  near  the  present  route  of 
the  depot  road  to  King's  Bridge.  The  Farmers' 
Bridge  is  of  later  date,  and  the  destruction  of  every- 
thing in  the  neighborhood  by  the  retreating  Ameri- 
cans and  the  British  during  the  Revolution  changed 
the  whole  aspect  at  Fordham  or  King's  Bridge. 

On  May  3,  1669,  Governor  Lovelace  gave  leave  to 
John  Archer  to  settle  sixteen  families  on  the  main- 
land, "  near  the  wading-place,"  and  ordained  that 
whatever  agreements  Archer  should  make  with  the 
inhabitants  as  to  their  proportions  of  improvable 
lands  and  hamlets,  he  would  confirm,  but  postjioned 
prescribing  the  limits  of  the  settlement  until  he  had 
made  a  visit  to  the  place,  and  then  he  promised  a 
patent  for  their  further  assurance. 

From  February  12,  1669,  to  October  11,  1671,  the 
records  at  Harlem  show  that  Archer,  the  owner  of 


the  soil  about  Fordham,  had  leased  most  of  the  farms 
to  several  parties,  but  in  1671  his  leases  provided 
that  the  rent  should  be  payable  to  Cornells  Steen- 
wyck, of  New  York.  Archer  had,  on  September  11, 
1669,  given  a  mortgage  on  his  lands  to  Steenwyck 
for  eleven  hundred  guilders  in  wampum.  He  gave 
another  mortgage  to  Steenwyck  in  1676,  but  in  the 
mean  time,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  continual  interfer- 
ference  by  the  Harlem  magistrates,  he  obtained  from 
Governor  Lovelace  a  patent  for  his  lands,  which  were 
purchased  by  him  from  Doughty  and  the  Indians.  It 
is  difficult  to  trace,  from  the  description,  the  exact 
bounds,  but,  after  a  careful  study  of  the  territory  and 
the  description,  the  tract  seems  to  have  been  bounded 
as  follows  :  It  lay  on  the  eastward  of  Harlem  River, 
near  unto  the  passage  commonly  called  "  Spiting 
Devil,"  upon  which  "  ye  new  Dorp  or  village  is  erect- 


ed, known  by  the  name  of  Fordham."  (The  accom- 
panying map  of  the  village  of  Fordham  is  referred  to, 
and  it  seems,  from  the  best  authorities  which  can  be 
obtained,  that  the  ancient  village  was  located  some- 
where near  the  present  King's  Bridge  depots  of  the 
New  York  Central  and  New  York  City  and  Northern 
Railroads,  iis  now  situated.) 

The  language  of  the  documents  is  "ye  utmost 
limits  of  the  whole  tract  of  land,  beginning  at 
the  high  wood  land."  This  was  probably  the  hill  up 
which  the  Boston  road  now  runs,  for  Lovelace  had 
already  granted  the  meadow  about  Papariua- 
min to  Verveleen,  the  ferryman,  and  he  would  not, 
of  course,  make  another  grant  to  Archer.  Thence 
the  north  line  ran,  substantially,  as  the  south  line 


776 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  former  town  of  Yoakers  ran  east  to  the  Bronx; 
while,  from  the  ancient  map  and  the  location  of  the 
houses  upon  it,  the  village  street  ran  north  and  south, 
substantially  as  the  present  highway  runs,  and  part 
of  the  village  was  in  Yonkers  and  part  in  West 
Farms.  The  Doughty  purchase,  by  Archer,  only  ap- 
plies to  lands  in  Yonkers.  All  that  he  owned  in 
West  Farms  he  purchased  from  the  Indians,  but  he 
very  wisely  had  both  included  in  Lovelace's  patent. 
His  nickname  of  Koopal  (buy  all)  was  very  ap- 
propriate. 

The  patent  recites  that  as  John  Archer  had,  at  his 
own  charge  and  with  good  success,  begun  a  township 
in  a  convenient  place  for  the  relief  of  strangers,  it  be- 
ing the  road  for  passengers  to  go  to  and  fro  from  the 
main,  as  well  as  for  mutual  intercourse  with  the 
neighboring  colony,  and  in  order  to  encourage  Archer 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  design,  he  (Lovelace)  grants 
to  Archer  all  the  said  laud,  and  that  the  same  should 
be  an  enfranchised  township,  manor  and  place  of  itself, 
and  enjoy  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  which 
any  other  town  in  the  province  had,  free  from  any 
dependence  on  any  other  riding,  township,  place  or 
jurisdiction.  It  was  to  be  ruled  by  the  Governor  and 
his  Council  and  the  General  Court  of  Assizes  only, 
but  the  town  was  to  send  forward  to  the  next  town  or 
plantation  all  public  packets  and  letters  and  hues  and 
crys  coming  or  going  from  or  to  any  of  His  Majesty's 
colonies.  The  Governor  further  granted  that  when 
there  should  be  a  sufficient  number  of  inhabitants  in 
the  town  of  Fordhara  and  in  the  manor  capable  of 
maintaining  a  minister  and  to  carry  on  public  affairs, 
the  neighboring  inhabitants  between  the  Harlem  and 
the  Bronx  should  be  obliged  to  contribute  towards  the 
maintenance  of  the  minister  and  other  public  charges. 
Archer's  holding  was  to  be  for  himself,  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever,  in  as  large  and  ample  a  manner  as  if 
he  held  immediately  from  the  King,  "as  of  the  Manor 
of  East  Greenwich,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  &c.,  &c., 
by  fealty  only  yielding,  rendering  and  paying  yearly 
and  every  year  unto  His  Royal  Highness,  the  Duke 
of  York,  and  his  successors  or  his  governors  duly  con- 
stituted, as  quit-rent,  twenty  bushels  of  good  peas 
upon  the  first  day  of  March  when  demanded."  The 
patent  was  dated  at  Fort  James,  November  13,  1671, 
and  also  marked  "Done  at  Fort  William  Hendricke 
on  the  18th  October,  1673."  > 

Though  full-fledged  lord  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham, 
Archer  still  agitated  the  question  of  lots  one,  two,  three 
and  four  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  and  to  quiet  all  trouble, 
Governor  Lovelace,  on  November  9,  1672,  made  the 
following  order :  "  Whereas  the  meadow  ground  or 
valley  by  the  creek  beneath,  the  town  of  Fordham,  at 
Spuyten  Duyvil,  is  claimed  by  someof  the  inhabitants 
of  New  Harlem,  but  is  at  so  great  distance  from  them 
and  lying  unfenced  and  so  near  the  town  of  Fordham 

1  This  latter  date  was  undoubtedly  a  confirniation  of  the  patent  under 
Colve's  short  interregnum. — Bolton's  "Westchester,*'  vol.  ii.  page  505; 
Land  Papers,  Albany,  vol.  iii.  page  127  et  supra. 


that  those  of  Harlem  can  receive  little  or  no  benefit 
thereby,  as  the  inhabitants  of  Fordham  cannot  avoid 
being  daily  trespassers  there  if  the  property  should 
still  continue  to  Harlem,  to  prevent  all  further  cavils 
and  contests  and  also  to  encourage  the  new  plantation 
at  Fordham,  as  well  as  in  compensation  to  those  of 
Harlem  for  their  interest  which  they  shall  quit  at 
Spuyten  Duyvil,"  he  promised  that  some  convenient 
spot  being  found  at  or  near  Brouxland,  he  would 
grant  and  confirm  the  same  unto  the  persons  con- 
cerned, provided  it  did  not  greatly  prejudice  the  rest 
of  Bronxland  when  it  should  be  settled.  He  referred 
the  matter  to  Daniel  Turneur,  David  des  Marest 
(Demarest)  and  John  Archer  for  examination  and 
report.  ^ 

Archer  did  not  live  long  in  harmony  with  the  popu- 
lation of  his  manor,  and  in  1669-70  they  forwarded 
to  the  Mayor's  Court  in  New  York  a  complaint  that 
he  had  undertaken  to  govern  them  by  "  rigour  and 
force;"  that  "he  had  been  at  several  times  the  oc- 
casion of  great  troubles  betwixt  the  inhabitants  of 
said  town  ;"  and  they  "  humbly  desired  relief  and  the 
protection  of  said  court."  Both  parties  were  heard 
by  the  court,  which  ordered  Archer  "to  behave  him- 
self for  the  future,  civilly  and  quietly,  as  he  will  an- 
swer the  same  at  his  peril."  But  as  the  Fordham 
community  was  evidently  difiicult  to  govern,  it  was- 
further  ordered  that  minor  causes  between  them 
should  be  decided  at  Harlem,  by  the  Fordham  magis- 
trates, with  the  assistance  of  two  of  the  magistrates- 
of  Harlem,  unless  the  Fordham  people  would  pay 
the  Harlem  magistrates  for  coming  to  their  town,  and 
holding  court  there.  On  September  8,  1()71,  no  less^ 
than  four  cases  were  brought  against  Archer.  David 
Demarest  sued  him  for  mowing  grass  on  his  meadow 
at  Fordham;  Martin  Hadewin,  of  Fordham,  sued 
him  for  breaking  down  his  fences ;  Marcus  de  Souchay 
(now  Dissoway),  for  throwing  his  furniture  out  of 
doors;  and  Verveelen  had  a  suit  against  him  on  gen- 
eral jirinciples,  as  it  would  appear. 

The  cattle  were  allowed  to  run  at  large,  each  man 
having  his  own  brand  and  all  herding  together, 
John  Tippets,  residing  near  Spuyten  Duyvil,  had 
killed  some  hogs  which  were  not  branded,  and  the 
constables  and  overseers  of  the  joint  courts  of  Harlem 
and  Fordham  met  to  determine  who  owned  the  hogs. 
John  Archer,  as  usual,  was  interested ;  he  claimed 
the  hogs  on  behalf  of  the  Duke  of  York.  The  Gov- 
ernor, it^  seems,  had  once  reproved  Tippets  for  hav- 
ing an  unlawful  mark  for  his  cattle,  which  was,  to 
cut  their  ears  so  short  that  "  any  other  marks  may  be 
cut  off  by  it."  Elizabeth  Heddy,  Benjamin  Palmer 
and  Jan  Hendricks  proved  that  Tippets  owned  a 
litter  of  pigs,  "  the  which  were  gray,  red,  spotted  and 
white."  The  result  of  this  important  trial  is  not 
known,  but  thereafter  the  Fordham  people  were  com- 
pelled to  keep  their  cattle  on  the  main,  and  the  in- 


2Riker's  "History  of  Harlem,"  page  387. 


WESTCHESTER. 


777 


stitution  of  town  brauders  for  cattle  was  established. 
Tlie  same  practice  prevailed  in  Westchester,  on  the 
east  side  of"  the  township,  as  much  space  in  the  early 
records  is  given  to  the  recording  of  the  various 
brands  for  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  which  each  fanner 
recorded. 

The  manor  being  established,  shortly  afterwards 
(April  2-'),  1073)  Governor  Lovelace  authorized  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  court,  to  be  held  there  quarterly, 
and,  on  the  nomination  of  Archer,  appointed  John 
Ryder,  steward  of  the  manor,  as  president  of  the 
court,  with  the  constable  of  the  place  and  one  or  two 
of  the  "  discreetest "  of  the  inhabitants  as  assist- 
ants. The  court  had  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  of 
debt  and  trespass  between  the  landlord  and  his 
tenants,  and  between  one  tenant  and  another.  It 
was  held  at  Archer's  house.  About  this  time  Ver- 
veleen,  Archer's  enemy,  must  have  been  displaced  as 
constable,  as  we  find  Richard  Cage  to  have  succeeded 
him. 

In  the  mean  time,  under  the  English  rule,  the  terri- 
tory east  of  the  Bronx  was  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  or  Long  Island,  and  the 
people  attended  the  courts  there,  while  the  Fordham 
people  had  their  court  at  Fordham  and  Harlem.  On 
December  28,  16G-5,  Governor  Nicolls  informed  the 
inhabitants  of  Westchester  that  he  would  defer  the 
laying  out  of  the  town  in  metes  and  bounds  until 
they  informed  him  as  to  every  man's  estate  there,  so 
that  the  whole  could  be  equally  divided  into  lots  in 
proportion  to  each  man's  assessed  valuation.  Thomas 
Pell  endeavored  to  prevent  the  granting  of  a  patent 
to  the  people  of  Westchester,  but  the  lawsuit  that  he 
had  had  a  few  years  before  with  Cornell,  relative  to 
his  grant,  wsis  treated  by  Nicolls  as  a  good  precedent. 
About  the  same  time  a  delegation  went  from  West- 
chester to  an  interview  with  the  Governor's  secretary 
about  the  division  of  the  land,  and  the  Governor  di- 
rected that  they  should  divide  the  meadows  as  they 
plejised,  but  observing  the  order  made  by  Mr.  Dela- 
val  and  Mr.  Hubbard.  They  were  to  have  as  much 
of  Mrs.  Bridge's  meadows  as  Delaval  and  Hubbard 
ordered,  but  they  were  not  to  meddle  with  the  forty- 
two  acres,  by  Rattlesnake  Brook,  claimed  by  the  Ten 
Farms  (East  Chester)  which  were  to  remain  to  the  use 
of  the  families  settled  there,  and  to  be  concluded 
thereby  and  bounded  by  the  brook.  Every  one  hun- 
dredth estate  was  to  have  six  acres,  and  every  two 
hundredth  estate  eight  acres  of  good  meadow  land 
lying  most  convenient  for  each  lot,  but  no  further  di- 
vision was  to  be  made,  the  remainder  of  the  land  be- 
ing left  in  common  for  the  encouragement  of  future 
settlers.  The  meadow  ground  of  the  Ten  Farms  was 
between  Hutchinson's  River  and  Rattlesnake  Brook, 
and  the  reservations  made  as  to  territory  included 
what  is  north  of  the  East  Chester  line.  On  March  1, 
1664-65,  a  meeting  of  deputies  was  held  at  Hemp- 
stead, Long  Island,  at  which  Westchester  County  was 
represented  by  Edward  Jessop  and  John  Quimby,  and 


the  former  served  on  the  Committee  of  Ditferencea 
between  the  towns." 

The  Westchester  PATEXT.~On  February  13, 
1667,  Governor  XicoUs,  evidently  perceiving  the 
folly  of  having  Westchester  a  portion  of  the  Long 
Island  jurisdiction,  granted  to  the  people  the  first 
patent  of  Westchester.  The  boundaries  were,  on  the 
west  the  Bronx  River,  on  the  south  the  Sound  or 
East  River,  on  the  east  Ann's  Hook  or  Pelham 
Neck,  and  on  the  north  "  into  the  woods  without  lim- 
itation for  range  of  cattle."  The  grantees  were  John 
Quimby,  John  Ferris,  Nicholas  Bailey,  William 
Bettsand  Edward  Walters,  for  and  in  behalf  ofthem- 

!  selves  and  their  associates  and  the  freeholders  and 

]  inhabitants  within  the  town  of  Westchester.  He  also 
gave  them  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  township, 

I  and  provided  that  the  place  should  be  called  West- 

I  Chester.^ 

I  On  November  3,  1667,  Westchester  was  in  arrears 
for  her  share  of  the  taxes  levied  for  building  a  ses- 
sions-house for  the  riding.  William  Hallett,  the  con- 
tractor for  building  the  court-house,  was  appointed 
collector,  and  the  town  was  ordered  to  pay  its 
proportion  in  coin  or  in  default  to  be  fined  five 
pounds. 

During  the  brief  restoration  of  the  Dutch,  begin- 
ning with  July  30,  1673,  they  made  new  laws  and 
granted  new  ground  briefs  or  patents  to  those  who 
swore  allegiance  to  their  government.  Westchester 
township,  both  east  and  west  of  the  Bronx,  was  com- 
pelled to  bow  to  Governor  Colve.  On  August  13, 
1673,  he  and  his  Council  summoned  Oostdorp,  or 
Westchester,  to  send  their  deputies  to  Fort  William 
Hendrick,  together  with  their  constables,  staves  and 
English  flags,  and  they  would,  if  circumstances  per- 
mitted, be  furnished  with  the  Prince's  colors  in  place 
!  of  the  British  ensigns.  On  August  21st  the  deputies 
delivered  their  credentials '  and  oflered  to  submit  to 
^  the  Dutch,  and  to  report  to  the  Council  the  names  of 
[  the  persons  whom  they  had  nominated  as  magis- 
trates. 

The  next  day  they  delivered  up  the  flag  and  the 
constables'  staves,  and  having  joined  in  a  respectful 
j  petition  of  submission,  they  were  granted  the  same 
j  rights  and  privileges  as  the  Dutch  inhabitants,  and 
;  pardoned  for  their  past  errors  in  coquetting  with  the 
English,  with  the  warning  however,  that  in  future  they 
should  demean  themselves   as  loyal  subjects.  On 
August  30th  the  Council  appointed  as  schepens  or 


1  It  miiAt  be  reinenibereil  that  east  of  the  BroDX,  Westchester  be- 
longed to  the  Long  IshtuJ  juriB<liction,  while  the  section  weet  of  that 
^  river  owed  allegiance  to  the  Harlem  and  New  York  City  authorities. 
I  -The  records  of  this  ancient  borough  are  now  on  tile,  in  excellent 
J  condition,  in  the  otiice  of  the  register  of  the  county.  They  are  too 
1  extended  for  quotation  in  this  history,  but  the  writer  sugt^esls  that 
I  some  patriotic  citizen  of  the  old  township  will  add  to  our  documentary 
history  by  contributing  to  the  New  Vorli  or  Westchester  Historical  So- 
I  ciely  funds  sutlicient  to  have  them  properly  e<Iited,  as  the  old  records 
I  have  been  in  other  parts  of  this  country  by  other  societies. 
I     3  Bancroft,  vol.  ii.;  also  N.  Y.  Hist.  Doc.,  373,  ii.  580-581,  621-622. 


778 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


magistrates  JoseiDh  Palmer  and  Edward  Waters,  who 
were  sworn  in  on  the  following  2d  of  Sejitember,  and  on 
the  1st  of  October  provisional  instructions  were 
issued  for  the  government  of  the  magistrates.  They 
were  to  take  care  that  the  Reformed  Christian  religion 
should  be  maintained  in  uniformity  with  the  Synod  of 
Dort.  Jurisdiction  in  ca.'ses  not  involving  over  sixty 
florins  beaver  was  given  to  the  magistrates,  from 
whose  decision  no  appeal  could  be  taken.  Between 
that  sum  and  two  hundred  and  forty  florins  beaver  an 
appeal  would  lay  to  the  sheriff  and  Councilors,  and 
above  two  hundred  and  forty  florins  the  appeal  was  to 
the  Governor  General  and  his  Councilors,  who  also 
had  jurisdiction  of  criminal  cases;  but  it  would  seem 
that  criminals  in  the  first  instance  could  be  proceeded 
against  by  information,  and  that  the  schout  and  sche- 
pens — or  sherifl' and  justices,  as  we  would  denominate 
such  officials— had  the  right  to  issue  warrants  or 
citations.  Smaller  offenses,  such  as  quarrels,  abusive 
words,  threats,  fisticufi's  and  such  matters,  were  left 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  village  magistrates.  The 
sheriff'  and  schepens  had  power  to  make  ordinances 
for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants  of  their 
districts,  regulate  highways,  set  off' lands  and  gardens 
from  the  government  grants,  regulate  the  branding  of 
cattle  and  erection  offences,  enforce  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  and  superintend  the  building  of  churches, 
school-houses  and  other  similar  works.  They  were 
particularly  instructed  to  ordain  against  fighting  and 
wrestling,  and  the  sheriffs  were  cautioned  that  the  places 
under  their  charge  were  to  be  "  cleansed  of  all  mobs, 
gamblers  .  .  .  and  such  like  impurities."  The 
sheriff"  and  schepens  nominated  a  double  number  of 
persons  for  magistrates,  to  be  presented  to  the 
Governor,  who  made  his  election  therefrom.  Thelatter, 
however,  reserved  the  power  to  continue  some  of  the 
old  ones  in  office  in  case  he  deemed  it  necessary. 
Tbe  magistrates  he  recommended  should  be  "  the  best 
qualified,  the  honestest,  most  intelligent  and  wealthiest 
inhabitants."  He  also  required  them  to  be  of  the 
Reformed  Christian  religion  or  at  Irast  well  affeciioned 
thereunto. 

On  September  8,  1673,  one  Jonathan  Silck  (or  Sel- 
lick),  of  Oyster  Bay,  came  into  the  Council  and 
asked  tliat  he  might  have  an  old  ketch  which  was  lay- 
ing sunk  in  Westchester  Creek, ^  for  which  he  agreed 
to  pay  something,  and,  after  considerable  higgling,  it 
was  agreed  that  the  ketch  could  be  had  for  sixty  beav- 
ers, thirty  in  cash  and  the  residue  in  cattle,  for  which 
Captain  Sellick  gave  security.  The  Council  confis- 
cated the  ketch,  called  the  "  Rebecca  and  Sarah,"  of 
twelve  lasts  burthen,  and  of  which  William  Merritt 
was  the  late  skipper;  and,  as  she  was  the  property  of 
the  enemies  of  the  Dutch — Captain  Delaval,  the  Eng- 
lish mayor  of  Harlem — she  was  declared  to  be  a  law- 
ful prize. 

Archer  (of  Fordham),  of  course,  was  in  trouble 


with  the  new  government.  At  a  council  held  at  Har- 
lem on  October  4,  1673,  the  Governor-General  and 
Cornells  Steenwyck  (his  secretary)  being  present,  the 
inhabitants  of  Fordham  appeared  and  complained  of 
the  ill  government  of  their  landlord,  John  Archer, 
and  asked  that  they  might  be  allowed  to  nominate 
their  own  magistrates.  Archer  was  present  and  vol- 
untarily declared  that  he  would  desist  from  the  gov- 
ernment and  patroonshij)  of  the  town,  but  reserved  to 
himself  the  property  and  ownership  of  the  lands  and 
houses  there.  The  Council  accordingly  gave  author- 
ity to  the  people  of  Fordham  to  nominate,  by  plural- 
ity of  votes,  six  of  the  best  qualified  persons  in  the 
town  (exclusively  of  the  Reformed  Christian  reli- 
gion) as  magistrates.  From  those  nominated  the  Gov- 
ernor was  to  make  selection,  and  he  recommended 
that  half,  at  least,  of  those  nominated  should  be  of 
Dutch  nationality.  Archer's  troubles  did  not  end 
here.  At  the  suit  of  Thomas  Gibbs  and  John  Curtis 
execution  was  allowed  to  issue  against  his  personal 
property.  On  the  15th  of  June,  in  the  same  year, 
Archer  and  his  ancient  enemy,  John  Verveelen,  the 
constable  and  ferryman  at  Spuyten  Duyvil,  had  some 
trouble  about  the  town-books  of  Fordham,  and  Ver- 
veelen (who  had,  in  the  meantime,  been  promoted 
from  the  more  lowly  position  of  constable  to  that  of 
schout — sheriff")  was  directed  by  the  Governor  to  hand 
over  to  Archer  the  books  and  ])rotocols  properly  be- 
longing to  him.'' 

We  now  leave  Fordham  and  go  back  to  the  eastern 
or  Sound  side.  On  December  24,  1673,  Roger  Toun- 
sen  (Townsend)  complained  to  the  Governor-General 
and  Council  that  the  people  of  Westchester  were  do- 
ing great  damage  to  his  lands  and  cattle.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  Schout  William  Lawrence  and  Mr. 
Richard  Cornwel  (Cornell),  who,  at  Townsend's  ex- 
pense, were  ordered  to  inspect  the  premises,  to  hear 
the  arguments  of  parties  and,  if  possible,  "  to  reconcile 
parties."  Should  they  fail,  a  report  was  ordered 
to  be  made  to  the  Governor.  The  sheriff  and  Mr. 
Cornell  never  reported  till  the  following  8th  of  March. 
It  seems  that  the  arbitrators  went  to  the  town,  but  no 
one  appeared  in  its  behalf  The  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil made  an  order  that  Townsend  and  the  magistrates, 
on  the  sight  of  tbe  order,  appear,  either  in  person  or 
by  attorney,  at  a  place  to  be  fixed  by  the  arbitrators, 
who  were  requested  de  novo  to  examine  and,  if  possi- 
ble, decide  the  case  and  reconcile  the  parties — other- 
wise, to  report.    A  reconciliation  was  eflfected. 

MoRRiSANiA. — Meantime  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent personages  in  Bronxland  was  Richard  Morris, 
a  captain  in  Cromwell's  army  and  later  a  mer- 
chant in  Barbadoes,  who  had  moved  to  New  Y^ork 
and,  for  his  own  and  his  brother  Lewis'  account, 
purchased  a  plantation  at  Bronxland  from  Edsall.^ 
He   and  his  wife,  a   Miss   Pole,  from  the  West 


1  HollanJ  Pocs.,  ii.  600. 


2  Idem,  ii,  625.    Idem.  ii.  709.  721. 

3  See  preceding  note  on  Bronxland  for  earlier  titles. 


WESTCHESTER. 


779 


Indies,  settled  upon  it,  and  to  them  was  born  a  son 
I      Lewis.    Richard  and  his  wife  died  in  1672,  and  thfe 
I      infant  was  left  alone  on  the  plantation  with  no  one 
to  care  for  him  but  the  negro  slaves  and  a  nephew  of 
his  father's,  a  Mr.  Walter  \\'ebley.    The  Dutch  had 
repossessed  the  colony,  and  the  estate  of  a  wealthy  re- 
tired English  merchant  otfered  spoils  that  Governor 
Colve  did  not  overlook.    His  government  called  upon 
the  orphan  masters  to  summon  the  ncjdiew  Webley 
and  the  curators  of  the  estate  of  Richard  to  ai)pear 
before  them  and  require  the  administration  of  the 
estate  and  as  soon  as  possible  to  make  a  report  on 
it.  '    Webley,  an  English  subject,  kept  out  of  the 
I      way  and  removed  the  removable  part  of  the  estate  as 
well  as  he  could  out  of  the  conqueror's  clutches.  He 
'  I      feared  the  new  government,  but  was  soon  given  a  free 
'        pass  and  the  assurance  that  his  possession  of  the 
I        estate  of  his  cousin  as  administrator  would  not  be 
I        disturbed,  and  that  all  the  government  wanted  was  to 
I        confiscate  the  share  of  the  estate  which  belonged  to 
his  uncle,  Lewis  Morris,  of  Barbadoes.    This  latter 
'        gentleman,  a  tjuaker  in  religion,  though  one  of  Crom- 
'■        well's  old  soldiers,  had  also  arrived  in  the  province, 
but  wisely  kept  himself  out  of  government  reach 
i        until  he  could  arrange  about  the  estate.    The  govern- 
'        uient  found  that  Col.  Morris,  being  a  citizen  of  Bar- 
1        badoes,was  not,  under  the  terras  of  capitulation,  entitled 
to  the  same  liberal  terms  as  British  subjects  of  Vir- 
ginia or  Connecticut,  and  they  also  found  that  the 
D        infant  only  owned  one-third  of  the  estate  and  the 
!•        uncle  Lewis  owned  two-thirds.    Hence  his  two-thirds 
il        was  liable  to  confiscation.  '    Balthazar  Bayard  was 
>        therefore  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  two-thirds 
I        of  the  estate  which  belonged  to  the  government  and 
r,        John    Lawrence,   Stephanus    Van   Cortlandt  and 
!■        Walter  Webley,  the  nephew,  were  appointed  ad- 
ir        ministrators  of  Richard's  one-third  for  the  benefit  of 
le        the  infant  Lewis.  ^    The  uncle  Lewis,  however,  with 
i        all  the  shrewdness  of  a  Quaker  and  the  tact  of  an  old 
s.        soldier,  for  a  time  kept  in  hiding,  *  but  after  arranging 
h.        in  some  way  with  the  government,  was  finally  made 
10        administrator  of  his  brother's  estate  and  afterwards 
a-        guardian  of  the  person  and  estate  of  his  infant 
3,       nephew. '   He  must  have  finally  made  a  good  ira- 
or        pression  upon  Governor  Colve,  for  he  was  granted  the 
[5,        entire  estate,  buildings  and  materials  thereon,  on  a 
ii-        valuation  to  be  made  by  impartial  appraisers  for  the 
et-  benefitoftheminorchild;*butColve,likeatruesoldier, 
who  respected  the  rights  of  the  commissariat  first 
ii-       and  the  vanquished  afterwards,  "  appropriated"  (due 
rij,       regard  being  had  of  course  to  the  infant's  interests)  all 
([•        the  fat  cnttle,  such  as  oxen,  cows  and  hogs.    Lewis,  the 
III:       elder,  thus  became  possessed  of  Bronxland. 
Dl,  It  seems  that,  this  matter  being  settled,  he  returned 

ill.'  to  B;irbadoes  for  the  purpose  of  closing  up  his  busi- 
fj(       ness  on  that  island,  but  left  his  nephew,  Webley,  in 

"  1  N.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vol.  ii.  599.  2  Mem,  filT. 

3  Idem,  651.  *  Idem,  fi84. 

'  Idem,  Ki'i.  «  Idem,  G.J7. 


charge  of  the  estate  in  New  York."  The  young 
ward's  movable  property  had  been  scattered  far  and 
wide,^'  but  Webley  attended  to  getting  things  togeth- 
er. Colonel  IMorris  returned  to  New  York  in  1675, 
and  in  1676,  the  English  having  in  the  mean  time  re- 
captured the  province,  G  jvernor  Andros  granted  to 
Lewis,  the  elder,  a  confirmatory  i)atent  of  Bronxland 
and  some  "addicional  lands"  adjacent  thereto,  not 
included  in  any  patent. Under  this  grant  Colonel 
Morris  became  seized  of  a  tract  of  land  containing 
some  nineteen  hundred  acres.  It  was  bounded  on 
the  north  by  a  line  which,  if  extended  east  from 
Judge  Smith's  tavern,  on  Central  Avenue,  to  the  road 
south  of  the  Home  for  Incurables,  would  be  the  north 
line;  on  the  south  and  southeast,  the  Harlem  River; 
on  the  west,  Cromwell  Creek ;  and  on  the  east,  the 
Hunt  and  Richardson  patent,  mentioned  elsewhere. 
By  reference  to  the  map  it  will  be  seen  that  this  pat- 
ent covered  more  than  the  original  grant  to  Jonas 
Bronck.  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  the  elder,  settled  and 
resided  on  this  estate  until  the  time  of  his  death." 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  friend  of  Governor  Andros, 
having  entertained  him  at  his  house  and  also  accom- 
panied him  on  the  special  expedition  when  Andros 
visited  Carteret  to  arrange  about  the  settlement  of 
the  government  in  New  Jersey  after  the  accession  of 
James,  Duke  of  York,  to  the  throne  of  England."  He 
was  a  sympathizer  with  the  government,  and  against 
Leisler  during  the  Leisler  Rebellion,  and  his  house 
at  Morrisania  was  used  as  the  exchange  for  the  gov- 
ernmental secret  correspondence  rendered  necessary  at 
that  time.  On  one  occasion  the  government  post-man, 
who  had  stopped  at  Morris'  house,  was  captured  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  it  by  some  of  Leisler's  men, 
and  the  mail  taken  from  him  and  examined  by  the 
insurrectionists.'*  Before  coming  to  America,  Colonel 
Morris  commanded  a  troop  of  horse  in  Cromwell's 
army,  and  on  the  Restoration  went  to  Barbadoes. 
While  there  he  participated  in  some  of  the  English 
campaigns  against  other  islands,  and  received  the  com- 
mission of  colonel.  He  was  also  a  member  of  Gov- 
ernor Dongan's  Council  from  1683  to  1686,  and  died  in 
1691.    His  will  is  of  record  in  New  York  County. 

Lewis,  the  nephew,  had  in  the  mean  time  grown  to 
man's  estate  and  succeeded  his  uncle  as  heir-at-law, 
and  next  of  kin,  as  well  as  under  his  uncle's  will. 
I  On  the  6th  day  of  May,  1697,  Governor  Benjamin 
Fletcher  confirmed  to  him  the  grant  made  by  his 
predecessor,  Andros,  to  his  uncle  and  also  erected 
the  lands  into  a  lordship  or  manor  by  the  name  and 
title  of  the  Lordship  or  Manor  of  Morrisania,  in  the 
county  of  Westchester.    The  patent  grants  the  same 


I  Idem,  6.37. 

f  Idrm,  63!i.  "  Idem,  634. 

I"  Book  of  Pateiita,  vol.  iv.  paiie  99. 

"  For  bonnilaries  of  this  patent,  see  maji  Httaclied  to  this  arti<  K'. 

X.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vol.  ii.  ptige  682. 
I'X.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  vol.  xiii.  i'«ge  542. 
»  K.  Y.  Col.  Docs.,  iii.  6S2. 


780 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


lands  as  those  mentioned  in  the  earlier  patent,  to  the 
uncle  Lewis.  The  grantee  had  full  authority  to  hold 
and  keep  a  Court-Leet  and  Court-Baron,  and  to  issue 
writs  thereout.  The  lord  of  the  manor  had  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  waifs,  estrays,  wrecks,  deodands,  goods  of 
felons  happening  and  being  forfeited  within  said 
manor ;  he  also  had  the  patronage  and  advowson  of 


native-born  chief  justice  who  filled  the  Supreme 
Court  bench  in  New  York.  In  his  early  youth  he 
was  wild,  and  gave  his  stern  and  rather  straight-laced 
uncle  and  guardian  much  trouble.  A  zealous  and 
pious  Quaker  who  was  his  preceptor,  one  day,  while 
engaged  in  silent  meditation  in  the  woods,  heard,  as 
he  supposed,  a  voice  from  heaven,  telling  him  to  go 


MAP  OF  BROXX  NECK. 
Boundaries  of  the  Patent  to  Lewis  Morris  in  1C75. 


all  churches  erected  or  to  be  erected  in  the  manor. 
The  tenements  (tenants)  were  to  meet  together  and 
choose  their  own  assessors ;  the  land  was  to  beheld  in 
free  and  common  soccage,  according  to  the  custom  of 
East  Greenwich,  and  the  rental  was  payable  on  the 
fastdayof  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  and  amounted  to  six  shillings  per  annum. 
Lewis  Morris  was  a  remarkable  man,  and  the  first 


and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Indians.  The  voice  was 
that  of  young  Lewis,  who  had  climbed  a  tree  in  the 
vicinity.  The  good  man  really  thought  of  obeying 
the  divine  command,  but  he  was  told  the  truth  just 
before  his  departure  on  his  holy  mission.  Lewis  at 
one  time  left  his  uncle's  roof  and  wandered  off,  de- 
pending entirely  on  his  own  resources.  He  first  went 
to  Virginia  and  then  to  Jamaica,  supporting  himself 


WESTCHESTER. 


781 


by  working  as  a  copyist.  He  returned  in  time  to  his 
uncle's  roof,  and  in  November,  1(591,  married  Isabella 
Graham,  daughter  of  James  Graham,  the  attorney- 
general.  His  uncle,  in  addition  to  his  property  of 
Morrisania,  had  acquired  a  large  tract  of  land  in 
Monmouth  County,  New  Jersey,  and  young  Morris 
interested  himself  much  in  public  affairs  in  that  prov- 
ince. In  1692  he  was  a  judge  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Right  in  East  Jersey,  and  also  had  a  seat  in  the 
Council  of  Governor  Hamilton.  He  had  taken  up 
his  residence  at  Tiutern,  in  the  county  of  Monmouth, 
where,  it  is  stated  was  established  the  first  iron-mill  in 
this  country. '  In  1698  Jeremiah  Basse,  having  been 
appointed  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  a  dispute 
having  risen  as  to  Basse's  authority,  Morris  ranged 
himself  with  those  who  would  not  acknowledge  it. 

Morris  was  turned  out  of  the  Council  and  was  also 
fined  fifty  pounds  for  contempt  of  the  Governor's 
authority.  On  the  return  of  Hamilton  to  the  Gov- 
ernorship, in  1700,  Morris  was  made  president  of  the 
Council.  While  in  the  Council  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  proprietary  government  of  New 
Jersey  was  impracticable,  and  advocated  a  surrender 
of  the  governmental  functions  of  the  proprietors  to 
the  crown.  He  succeeded  in  securing  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  proprietors  to  this  end,  and  he  then  em- 
barked for  England  to  complete  the  measure.  In 
1702  the  instrument  of  surrender  was  delivered  to 
Queen  Anne.  Almost  immediately  afterwards  Mr. 
Morris  returned  to  America  and  was  nominated  as 
Governor  of  New  Jersey,  but  the  English  govern- 
ment having  changed  its  plan,  and  determined  that 
New  York  and  New  Jersey  should  both  be  governed  by 
oneexecutive,  though  having  two  Legislatures,  Colonel 
Morris'  name  was  withdrawn.  Lord  Cornbury  was 
made  Governor  of  both  provinces  and  arrived  here  in 
1703.  Morris  had  been  recommended  to  him  as  a 
proper  person  to  take  into  his  Council.  He  was  duly 
appointed  and  not  only  became  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Council,  but  also  the  special  opponent  of  the 
Governor.  Cornbury  removed  him  from  the  Council 
in  1704,  but  though  reinstated  by  order  of  the  Queen, 
he  was  again  suspended  in  the  following  year.  In 
1707  he  Wius  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly, 
and  he,  with  Gordon  and  Jennings  and  the  other 
members  of  the  opposition,  passed  a  resolution  jire- 
ferring  to  the  Queen  complaints  against  Cornbury's 
administration. 

This  representation  had  a  good  effect  in  England, 
for  in  1708  Morris  was  again  appointed  to  the  Council, 
Cornbury  having  been  superseded  by  Lovelace  ;  but 
on  Lovelace's  death  and  Ingoldsby  coming  into 
power,  Morris,  who  did  not  agree  with  the  latter,  was 
again  suspended.  In  1710,  Robert  Hunter  being  made 
Governor,  Morris  was  again  at  the  head  of  the  Coun- 
cil. 

He  at  that  time  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  busi- 

1  Papers  of  GoTernor  Morris — New  Jersey  Historical  Society  (William 
A.  Whitehead,  editor). 


ness  of  New  York.  He  was  a  warm  supjiorter  of 
Hunter's  administration,  and  on  one  occasion,  whilea 
member  of  Assembly,  was  expelled  from  the  House 
for  his  violent  language  in  support  of  the  Governor. 
He  was  then  a  member-elect  from  the  borough  of 
Westchester,  but  was  re-elected  by  his  constituents. 
He  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  New  York  in  1720 
by  Burnet,  Hunter's  successor,  and  continued  as  such 
through  Burnet's  and  Montgomerie's  administrations. 
Montgomerie  died  in  1731,  and  after  his  death  and  until 
the  arrival  of  Cosby,  in  1732,  Morris  acted  as  Gover- 
nor of  New  Jersey,  still  retaining  his  position  of  chief 
justice  in  New  York.  On  the  accession  of  Cosby 
Morris'  relations  to  the  government  changed  and  he 
was  suspended  from  his  office  as  chief  justice  by  Cosby 
after  having  served  as  such  for  twenty  years.  The 
immediate  cause  of  his  suspension  was  his  opposition 
to  the  views  of  his  associate  judges  in  relation  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  equity  cases. 
Cosby  and  Ri]i  Van  Dam  had  a  controversy  before 
the  Supreme  Court  involving  their  respective  rights 
to  the  remuneration  received  by  the  latter  as  acting 
Governor  during  the  period  which  elapsed  between 
the  death  of  Montgomerie  and  the  arrival  of  Cosby. 
^Morris  decided  in  favor  of  Van  Dam.  Cosby  was 
much  displeased  with  the  opinion,  and  on  the  Gover- 
nor demanding  a  copy  of  it,  Morris  had  it  printed  and 
sent  to  him  with  a  letter  which  was  decidedly  dis- 
courteous to  the  Governor.  Cosby  removed  him  in 
1733  and  ai)pointed  James  De  Lancey  as  his  successor. 
This  De  Lancey  was  the  father  of  De  Lancey  of 
De  Lanccy's  Mills,  at  West  Farms.  For  note  as  to 
De  Lancey  family  see  supra. 

His  removal,  however,  made  him  more  popular  with 
the  people.  The  county  elected  him  at  once  to  the 
Assembly,  and  the  borough  of  Westchester  elected 
his  son  Lewis.  On  his  visiting  New  York  salutes 
were  fired  in  his  honor,  and  deputations  of  citizens 
met  and  conducted  him  with  loud  acclamations  to  a 
public  and  splendid  entertainment.  Cosby's  admin- 
istration was  so  distasteful  to  his  opponents  that,  in 
1734,  they  determined  to  lay  their  grievances  before 
the  crown,  and  IMorris  was  selected  as  the  messenger 
to  go  to  England  for  that  purpose.  He  laid  the  case 
before  the  Privy  Council,  and  obtained  a  decision 
pronouncing  theGovernor's  reasons  for  his  removal  as 
chief  justice  insufficient,  but  his  mission  was  other- 
I  wise  unsuccessful.  Cosby  died  in  1736,  and  Morris 
returned  to  America.  He  received  an  ovation  on 
reaching  New  York.  In  1738  he  was  appointed 
colonial  governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  continued  as 
such  until  1746,  when  he  died.  His  remains  were 
buried  at  Morrisania.  By  will  he  gave  all  that  part 
of  the  Manor  of  Morrisania  that  lay  to  the  eastward 
of  Mill  Brook,  to  his  eldest  son,  Lewis  3Iorris,  and 
that  to  the  \ve.st  of  Mill  Brook,  which  he  called 
Old  Morrisania,  to  his  wife  during  her  life,  and  on 
her  death  to  his  son,  Lewis,  during  his  life,  with 
■  power  to  dispose  of  the  same  by  will.  His  son,  Robert 


782 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Hunter  Morris,  then  chief  justice  of  New  Jersey, 
received  his  fatlier's  New  Jersey  property. 

Governor  Morris's  widow  died  in  1752,  and  we  thus 
find  her  son  Lewis  possessed  of  all  the  manor. 

Lewis  Morris,  the  third  proprietor,  was  born  in 
1698.  He  resided  at  Morrisania,  and  was  twice  mar- 
ried, his  first  wife  being  a  Miss  Staats,  and  his  second 
a  Miss  Gouverneur.  He  was  several  times  a  member 
of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  was  also  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Admiralty,  and  at  one  time  was  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer.  He  died  in  1762.  His  issue 
were  numerous ;  by  Miss  Staats  he  had  Lewis,  after- 
wards the  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
who  commanded  the  Westchester  militia  during  the 
Revolution,  and  married  Miss  Mary  Walton.  He 
died  in  1798.  His  second  son,  Staats  Long  Morris, 
was  born  in  1728.  He  held  a  commission  in  the 
British  army  as  lieutenant-general,  and  remained  in 
England  during  the  American  Revolution.  He  mar- 
ried the  widow  of  Lord  George  Gordon.  Richard,  the 
third  son,  was  born  in  1730.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College,  and  a  lawyer  by  profession.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1752,  and  in  1762  was  appointed  judge 
of  the  Court  of  Vice-Admiralty.  In  1775,  having 
sided  with  the  colony,  he  resigned  his  commission. 
Tryon,  the  royal  governor,  requested  him  to  continue 
in  office,  but  his  answer  was  that  he  could  not  sacri- 
fice his  principles  to  his  interest.  Special  orders  were 
given  by  Tryon  to  take  possession  and  then  to  burn  his 
country  seat  at  Fordham.  The  estate  was  devastated 
and  Mr.  Morris  took  refuge  within  the  American  lines. 
On  July  31,  1776,  the  New  York  provincial  Assembly 
unanimously  appointed  him  Judge  of  the  High  Court 
of  Admiralty,  but  he  courteously  declined  the  office. 
In  1778  he  was  made  a  senator  and  in  1779  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Courtof  the  State,  succeeding  John 
Jay,  who  had  been  made  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Convention 
which  ratified  the  Federal  Constitution  and  in  1790 
resigned  his  office  as  Chief  -lusLice  and  retired  on  his 
farm  at  Scarsdale,  in  Westchester  County,  where,  on 
April  11,  1810,  he  died.  He  married  Miss  Sarah  Lud 
low  and  by  her  had  two  sons  and  one  daughter.  They 
were,  Lewis  R.  Morris,  who  afterward  resided  in  Ver- 
mont and  during  the  Revolution  was  an  aide-de- 
camp  to  General  Sullivan  and  after  the  war  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives;  Robert  Mor- 
ris, who  finally  settled  on  the  family  estate  at  Ford- 
ham  ;  and  Mary,  who  married  Major  William  Pop- 
ham,  of  Scarsdale,  who  served  as  brigade-major  dur- 
ing the  Revolution  and  was  for  many  years  clerk  of 
the  Court  of  Exchequer  of  this  State.  The  fourth 
son  of  Lewis  Morris  the  third  was  Gouverneur,  son 
of  Mr.  Morris'  second  wife,  Miss  Gouverneur. 

Gouverneur  Morris  was  born  in  1752,  graduated  at 
Columbia  College,  in  May,  1768,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law,  under  the  direction  of  William 
Smith,  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  and  after- 
'wards  chief  justice  of  the  colony  of  New  York.  He 


was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1771,  and  joined  with  the 
liberal  or  anti-governmental  party  almost  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  becoming  a  member  of  the  profession. 
We  find  from  Sparks'  life  and  letters  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,  that,  though  only  a  lad  of  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  he  was  elected  from  Westchester  County  a 
member  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  the  colony  of 
New  York  in  1775.  At  that  early  age  he  possessed 
the  ability  to  advocate  the  issuing  of  a  Continental 
currency,  and  the  eloquence  and  knowledge  of  his 
subject  to  convince  his  hearers  to  such  a  point  that  it 
was  recommended  to  the  Continental  Congress  for 
adoption.  He  did  not  at  that  time  give  up  the  hope 
of  harmonizing  the  diff"erences  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies,  for  he  had  a  mother  who 
deeply  sympathized  with  the  royalists  and  relatives 
who  were  in  the  employ  of  the  government,  but  he 
never  forgot  the  rights  of  the  people  of  the  colony. 
He  was  one  of  the  committee  who,  on  behalf  of  the 
colony,  received  General  Washington  when  he  passed 
on  his  way  through  New  York  to  assume  the  com- 
mand of  the  Continental  troops  at  Boston,  already 
standing  in  an  hostile  attitude  before  Gage  and  Howe 
at  that  city,  but  at  the  same  time  he  counselled  that 
all  due  respect  should  be  paid  to  Tryon,  the  Colonial 
Governor,  at  New  York  until  the  reconciliatory  over- 
tures of  the  New  York  Congress  had  been  acted  on 
by  the  home  government.  But,  in  the  same  year,  and 
only  a  few  months  later,  the  course  of  events  drove 
him  forever  to  the  American  side.  The  Declaration 
of  Independence  had  been  adopted  by  the  Continen- 
tal Congress  and  Morris's  half-brother  Lewis  was  a 
Representative  of  New  York  in  that  body.  All  the 
other  States  had  signed;  New  York  held  back  for  the 
reason  that  her  delegates  had  not,  under  their  ap- 
pointment by  the  Provincial  Legislature,  any  author- 
ity to  sign.  Gouverneur  Morris,  on  the  fioor  of  the 
State  Legislature,  then  showed  by  a  masterly  argu- 
ment why  for  their  security  the  States  must  declare 
their  independence  of  foreign  rule  and  our  Colonial 
Legislature  after  the  passage  of  the  Declaration 
ordered  Lewis  Morris  and  the  other  representatives 
of  that  colony  to  append  their  signatures  to  it. 

But  he  had  still  valuable  duties  to  perform  for  his 
native  colony,  not  yet  a  State.  His  aged  mother  had 
two  daughters  married  to  Royalists,  and  a  third  had 
just  died.  Gouverneur,  while  serving  in  the  State 
Congress  at  Fishkill,  received  news  of  his  sister's 
death.  His  letter  to  his  mother,  given  at  length  by 
Mr.  Sparks,  is  one  of  the  most  touching  expositions 
of  a  struggle  between  patriotism  and  filial  and  fra- 
ternal love.  He  could  not  leave  his  post  of  duty, 
though  he  acknowledges  it  to  be  his  mother's  wish 
that  he  should.  His  affection  for  his  mother  and  sis- 
ter were  unbounded,  but  his  duty  was  paramount  be- 
cause he  found  himself  in  a  position  where  it  was  the 
obligation  of  every  good  citizen  to  remain,  where,  by 
a  superior  order  he  was  placed.  He  adds :  "  What 
may  be  the  event  of  the  present  war  is  not  in  man  to 


WESTCHESTER. 


783 


determine.  Great  revolutions  of  Empire  are  seldom 
achieved  without  much  human  calamity ;  but  the 
worst  which  can  happen  is  to  fall  on  the  last  bleak 
mountain  of  America;  and  he  who  dies  there  in  de- 
fence of  the  injured  rights  of  mankind  is  happier  than 
his  conqueror,  more  beloved  of  mankind." 

To  him,  as  chairman  of  a  committee  of  finance  was 
referred  the  question  as  to  how  the  sinews  of  war 
should  be  provided  by  the  colony  for  the  support  of 
the  troops  in  their  Continental  struggle.  Later  on 
we  find  him  as  one  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  in  the 
north  wood.*,  advising  with  Schuyler  as  to  the  means 
of  checking  the  advance  of  Burgoyue  from  Canada. 
In  1777,  with  Jay  and  the  others  of  our  State's  fore- 
fathers, he  joined  in  formulating  the  first  Constitu- 
tion of  the  State  at  Kingston. 

To  him  belongs  the  honor  of  having  at  that  early 
day  suggested  a  constitutional  provision  for  the  abol- 
ishment of  "domestic  slavery,"  but  he  was  voted 
down.  To  him  and  Mr.  Jay,  both  Westchester 
County  men,  also  is  due  the  honor  of  that  clause  in 
the  State  Constitution  which  guarantees  to  all  de- 
nominations the  full  exercise  of  their  religion. 
Though  Mr.  Jay  added  the  clause:  "  provided  the 
liberty  of  conscience  hereby  granted  shall  not  be 
construed  to  encourage  licentiousness,"  Gouvernt  ur 
Morris  added  the  clause  which  was  adopted:  "or  justify 
practices  inconsistent  with  the  peace  and  safety  of  the 
State."  He  was  elected  to  the  Continental  Congress 
in  1777,  but  did  not  take  his  seat  till  January,  1778. 

Though  then  but  twenty-seven  years  of  age  his 
reputation  had  preceded  him,  and  he  was  immediately 
appointed  on  a  committee  to  confer  with  Washing- 
ton as  to  the  practical  method  of  putting  the  army 
on  a  better  footing.  Three  tedious  months  were 
spent  by  Morris  in  the  camp  at  Valley  Forge,  draft- 
ing, with  Washington  and  other  members  of  the  com- 
mittee, plans  for  the  proper  regulation  of  the  army, 
its  quartermaster,  commissary  and  medical  depart- 
ments. To  him  is  largely  due  the  formulation  of  the 
organization  of  those  important  branches.  No  sooner 
was  that  work  completed  than  the  British  Commis- 
sioners, sent  out  by  Lord  North,  began  their  negoti- 
ations with  Congress  with  a  view  to  harmonizing  the 
differences.  Morris  was  on  the  committee  which  con- 
ferred with  them.  About  this  time  he  was  again  em- 
barrassed by  the  ties  of  home  influence.  He  had  not 
seen  his  paternal  home  nor  any  of  his  relatives  since 
the  British  had  taken  possession  of  New  York.  His 
mother  resided  within  the  British  lines.  His  enemies 
used  these  facts  against  him.  His  letters  to  his 
mother  passed  through  the  enemy's  hands,  and  that 
fact  was  also  urged  against  his  loyalty  to  the  Amer- 
ican cause.  But,  while  he  wrote  dutiful  letters  to 
his  mother,  he  received  none  in  reply.  In  one  letter 
to  his  mother  he  is  very  outspoken,  both  in  his  af- 
fection for  her  and  the  cause  which  he  championed, 
but  which  his  mother  did  not  approve  of.  He  says  : 
"I  know  that  for  such  sentiments  I  am  called  a 


rebel,"  and  that  "  they  are  not  fashionable  among 
the  folks  you  see."  He  expresses  love  for  some  of 
his  relatives,  who  are  sympathizers  with  the  British. 

In  this  connection  it  nuiy  be  well  to  note  that  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  war,  his  mother  was  dangerously 
ill.  He  obtained  permission  to  visit  her  through  the 
British  commander  at  New  York  ;  but  the  newspaj)ers 
took  the  matter  up.  They  censured  the  project  un- 
less he  went  inside  the  enemy's  lines  clothed  with 
some  governmental  mission.  He  was  forced  by  the 
advice  of  his  friends  to  forego  the  visit.  About  this 
time  he  printed  his  "  Observations  on  the  American 
Revolution,"  which  were  published  in  London. 

Dominie  Tetard,  of  New  Rochelle,  having  instructed 
the  boy  Morris  in  the  French  language,  the  latter  was 
selected  by  Congress  as  the  proper  person  to  confer 
with  M.  Geraud,  the  French  minister,  with  a  view  to 
drafting  the  instructions  for  Benjamin  Franklin,  the 
first  American  minister  to  France.    In  1779  he  took 
a  prominent  part  in  the  debates  in  Congress  with  ref- 
erence to  the  terms  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
which  were  then  under  discussion,  and  was  also  chair- 
man of  the  committee  which  had  that  matter  in 
charge.    But  his  labors  in  national  affairs  were  so 
extensive  that  he  was  charged  with  neglecting  his 
duties  to  his  State,  and  in  1779-80  he  was  not  re- 
turned as  a  member  from  New  York.    During  the 
time  of  his  service  as  a  Congressman,  though  serving 
as  chairman  of  three  committees  and  performing  the 
duties  above  referred  to,  he  was  forced  to  practice  his 
profession,  as  his  pay  as  a  Congressman  was  not  suffi- 
cient for  his  living  ex]>enses.    Not  being  returned  to 
Congress,  he  [iracticed  law  in  Pennsylvania,  but  still 
manifested  a  great  interest  in  public  aflfairs.    In  Feb- 
I  ruary  and  March,  1780,  he  wrote  a  series  of  essays  on 
I  finance.    In  May  of  the  latter  year,  he  was  thrown 
,  from  his  carriage  and  sustained  a  fracture  of  his  left 
leg  and  a  dislocation  of  his  ankle  joint.  Amputation 
was  ordered  by  the  surgeons  and  Mr.  Morris  is  said  to 
have  borne  the  pain  manfully.    The  amputation  is 
now  cited  by  medical  authorities  as  being  a  mistake 
in  surgery  and  as  having  been  unnecessarily  made. 
As  an  illustration  of  his  good  nature  and  the  phil- 
I  osophy  with  which  he  bore  the  infliction,  it  is  related 
I  that  a  pious  friend  who  called  upon  him  to  otter  his 
I  condolenc' ,  also  informed  him  that  the  accident 
I  was  a  blessing  in  disguise,  as  it  would  diminish  the 
[  inducements  for  seeking  the  pleasures  and  dissipations 
of  life,  and  give  him  ample  time  for  pious  meditation. 
iMurris  replied  :  "  My  good  sir,  you  argue  the  matter 
so  handsomely,  and  point  out  so  clearly  the  advan- 
tages of  being  without  legs,  that  I  am  almost  tempted 
to  part  with  the  other."    In  the  house  at  Morrisania, 
[  built  by  Mr.  Morris  in  later  years,  are  still  to  be 
I  seen  the  imprints  of  his  wooden  stump  made  by 
'  him  in   going  up  and   down  stairs.     To  another 
,  friend  he  said :   "  Oh,  sir,  the   loss  is  much  less 
,  than  you  imagine ;  I  shall  doubtless  be  a  steadier 
'  man  with  one  leg  than  with  two."    In  1781  RobcrP 


784 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Morris,  superintendent  of  the  finances,  appointed 
Gouverneur  assistant  superintendent,  at  the  enor- 
mous sahiry  of  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
per  annum.  He  served  in  that  cai^acity  for  nearly 
three  years.  He  also  acted  as  one  of  the  commission- 
ers for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war  in  1782.  In 
1783-84  he  returned  to  New  York,  the  treaty  of  peace 
having  been  signed,  and  visited  his  mother  at  Mor- 
risania  after  an  absence  of  nearly  seven  years.  The 
estate  had  sufiered  much  by  the  dej^redations  of  tlie 
troops  on  both  sides.  Timber  had  been  cut  off  of 
four  hundred  and  seventy-four  acres  of  woodland  and 
used  for  ship  building,  artillery  and  fire-wood.  De 
Lancey's  corps  had  been  quartered  on  the  property,  and 
had  erected  seventy  huts  and  cultivated  the  land, 
burning  the  wood  for  fuel.  By  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  the  English  were  bound  to  pay  these 
claims,  and  they  were  duly  presented  to  the  govern- 
ment in  England  by  General  Staats  Long  Morris. 
Gouverneur,  in  themeautinie,  resumed  the  2)ractice  of 
the  law,  having  resigned  his  jiositiou  in  the  United 
States  Treasury.  Having  made  many  connections  in 
Philadelphia,  he  was  practically  a  resident  of  that 
city  for  the  next  fi've  years.  In  connection  with 
Robert  Morris  he  was  engaged  in  many  business 
operations,  such  as  East  India  voyages  on  a  large 
scale,  shipments  of  tobacco  from  Virginia  to  France, 
and  the  smelting  of  iron  on  the  Delaware  River.  He 
suggested  a  plan  for  the  coinage  of  money,  but  Mr. 
Jefferson's  plan  was  adopted  by  Congress. 

In  1786  his  mother  died  at  Morrisania.  The  prop- 
erty east  of  Mill  Brook  fell  to  the  share  of  General 
Staats  Long  Morris,  who  resided  in  England.  Gouv- 
erneur, as  the  younger  son,  was  to  receive  two  thou- 
sand pounds  from  Staats,  who  had  to  pay  seven  thou- 
sand pounds  in  all  to  the  younger  children.  Lewis 
had  already  received  his  share  of  the  property  by 
possessing  that  portion  of  Morrisania  which  lies  west 
of  the  Mill  Brook.  As  Staats  had  no  intention  of 
residing  in  America  Gouverneur  purchased  his  share 
and  became  seized,  in  fee  of  Morrisania  east  of  the  i 
Mill  Brook,  but  still  continued  to  reside  in  Philadol-  | 
phia.  In  1787  he  was  elected  a  delegate  from  Penn- 
sylvania to  the  convention  which  formed  the  consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  and  on  the  dissolution  of 
the  convention  he  repaired  to  Morrisania  and  busied 
himself  in  putting  the  estate  in  order.  To  arrange 
some  matters  relating  to  his  extensive  business  trans- 
actions he  sailed  for  France  in  December,  1787,  and 
from  that  time  down  to  1792  was  for  several  years  a 
resident  of  Paris,  attending,  most  of  the  time,  to 
private  affairs,  traveling  occasionally  in  England  and 
on  the  continent,  and  in  the  interim  acting  for  a 
short  time  as  agent  for  the  American  government  in 
conducting  &pour  parler  with  England  with  a  view  to 
an  interchange  of  ambassadors,  but  without  success. 
His  journal  contains  much  interesting  information  as 
to  the  politics  and  society  of  France  at  the  time  of 
the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution. 


In  January,  1792,  he  was  appointed  minister  plen- 
ipotentiary from  the  United  States  to  the  Court  of 
France.  On  August  10,  1792,  the  King  and  Queen 
were  taken  prisoners  by  the  mob,  and  on  the  31st  of 
August,  Morris  was  advised  by  Talleyrand  to  ask  for 
his  passport  and  leave  France,  as  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  had  written  him  an  insulting  letter; 
but  an  apolog)^  having  been  sent,  he  stayed  in  France 
awaiting  instructions  from  America  as  to  what  course 
he  should  pursue  with  reference  to  the  acknowledge- 
ment of  the  new  revolutionary  government.  He  was 
known  to  be  personally  opposed  to  the  principles  ot 
the  revolutionists  and  the  King  intrusted  to  his  care 
a  large  sum  of  money,  for  which  he  afterwards 
scrupulously  accounted.  When  the  Marquis  of  Lafay- 
ette was  made  a  prisoner  by  the  Austrian  and  Prus- 
sian governments,  Morris  fiirnished  him  and  also  his 
wife  with  funds,  which  were  afterwards  allowed  as 
governmental  disbursements  by  the  United  States. 
He  also  drafted  a  petition  which  was  signed  by 
Madame  de  Lafayette,  asking  the  King  of  Prussia  for 
her  husband's  release.  He  continued  to  reside  in 
France  during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  although  the 
diplomats  from  other  governments  had  left.  At  one 
time  it  was  reported  that  he  had  been  killed  by  revo- 
lutionists. His  friend,  Robert  Morris,  wrote  him 
from  America,  advising  him  to  resign  and  go  home, 
but  he  replied,  that  "  it  is  not  permitted  to  abandon  a 
post  in  the  hour  of  difiiculty."  He  took  up  his  resi- 
dence however,  at  Sainport,  about  thirty  miles  from 
Paris,  on  about  twenty  acres  of  land  which  he  pur- 
chased, only  coming  to  Paris  on  matters  of  business. 
Many  applications  were  made  to  him  to  grant  the 
privilege  of  American  registers  to  French  vessels. 
He  had  also  to  file  with  the  French  government  pro- 
tests against  the  decrees  of  the  convention,  imposing 
restrictions  on  American  commerce  in  violation  of 
treaties  already  existing,  and  remonstrated  against 
outrages  by  French  privateers  on  American  vessels. 
Americans  were  frequently  imprisoned  and  he  ob- 
tained their  release. 

In  1793-94  the  American  government  demanded  the 
recall  of  Minister  Genet.  This  demand  was  of 
course  i)resented  by  Mr.  Morris  to  the  French  govern- 
ment and  was  at  once  acceded  to.  In  return,  France 
solicited  Mr.  Morris'  recall  and  in  reciprocity  the  de- 
maud  could  not  be  refused.  In  recalling  him  our 
Secretary  of  State  assured  him  that  he  had  given  per- 
fect satisfaction,  and  the  President  gave  him  like  as- 
surances. Mr.  Monroe  arrived  in  Paris  in  1794  as 
Mr.  Morris'  successor.  The  latter  then  traveled  ex- 
tensively through  the  principal  countries  of  Europe. 
In  his  journal  aj^pears  the  celebrated  saying  so  often 
quoted,  which  he  wrote  concerning  the  character  ot 
the  Swiss:  "The  first  lesson  of  trade  is.  My  son  get 
money.  The  second  is  My  son  get  money  honestly  if 
you  can,  but  get  money ;  the  third  is,  My  son 
get  money,  but  honestly,  if  you  would  get  much 
money."     He  also   visited    many    parts  of  Ger- 


WESTCHESTER. 


785 


many,  spending  the  winter  and  spring  of  1795  at  j 
Altona,  a  suburb  of  Hamburgh.  Later  on  he  visited 
the  cities  of  the  Baltic,  and  in  June  went  to  London. 
He  travelled  through  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  visited  Berlin,  Dresden  and  Vienna.  There 
he  plead  for  the  release  of  Lafayette,  but  was  unsuc- 
cessful. He  then  re-visited  Berlin,  and  afterwards 
made  quite  a  long  stay  at  Brunswick.  In  the  mean- 
time he  was  instrumental  in  furnishing  I'unds  for  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  afterwards  Louis  Philippe,  to  visit 
America.  In  1798  he  returned  to  America,  and  at 
once  set  about  improving  his  estate,  and  built  the 
house  now  standing  at  Morrisania,  and  occupied  by 
his  granddaughter,  Mi-s.  Alfred  Davenport.  The  leg- 
islature of  New  York  elected  him  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  May,  1800,  he  took  his  seat.  He  labored  on 
the  side  of  the  Federalis'.s  and  served  but  three  years. 
As  senator  he  advocated  an  internal  revenue  tax  as 
preferable  to  a  revenue  raised  by  duties  on  imported 
articles.  His  party  was  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana,  but  Mr.  Morris  voted  for  it  and  his  argu- 
ment on  the  value  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
river  is  considered  one  of  the  finest  of  his  efforts.  His 
term  expired  on  March  4,  1803.  A  change  in  parties 
prevented  his  re-election,  and  with  the  expiration  of 
his  term  his  political  life  ended.  He  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  at  Morrisania.  "  An  ample  for- 
"  tune,  numerous  friends,  a  cliarraing  retreat,  and  a 
"  tranquil  home  were  the  elements  of  his  happiness 
''and  filled  up  the  measure  of  his  hopes." 

But  his  mind  was  still  amply  employed.  In  1803 
he  travelled  through  the  New  England  States  and  the 
Canadas,  and  two  or  three  months  of  each  succeeding 
year  of  his  life  he  devoted  to  travelling  for  pleasure  or 
visiting  lands  in  new  countries  in  which  he  had  [ 
largely  invested.  The  cultivation  of  his  fiirm,  re- 
ceiving the  visits  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  study 
and  an  extensive  correspondence  on  politics  and 
business  occupied  his  tirre.  I 

He  wrote  much  on  divers  subjects.     The  larger 
part  of  his  effusions  may  be  found  in  the  New  York  | 
Evening  Post,  the  Examiner  and  the  United  States  Ga-  j 
zetfe.    He  became,  according  to  Mr.  Sparks,  an  ultra  j 
Federalist.    His  nom  de  plume  was  "An  American." 
Soon  alter  his  return  to  America  he  pronounced  an 
oration  on  the  death  of  Washington,  at  the  request 
of  the  corporation  of  New  York.     His  eulogy  on 
Hamilton  is  famous.    He  also  delivered  an  oration  in  j 
honor  of  the  memory  of  George  Clinton,  and  another  j 
on  the  Restoration  of  the  Bourbons.    This  last  was 
translated  into  French  and  published  in  Paris.  He 
was  president  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society. 
Among  his  guests  was  General  Moreau,  and  Madame 
de  Stael  was  an  intimate  friend  and  life-long  corres- 
pondent.   He  married  Miss  Ann  Carey  Randolph 
on  Christmas  Day,  1809.    Many  give  Mr.  Morris  the 
credit  of  originating  the  project  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  sent  as  one  of  the 
Committee   of  Safety  to  Schuyler's  army,  then  at  I 


Fort  Edward.  Though  but  a  youth,  he  was  filled  with 
the  project,  an^l  while  arranging  with  Schuyler  and  the 
other  persons  about  the  details  of  the  campaign  in  their 
leisure  moments  he  descanted  on  the  facilities  afforded 
for  the  development  of  the  country  by  the  numerous 
water  ways  which  intersected  it.  He  predicted  that 
among  the  "  rising  glories  of  the  western  world  at  no 
distant  day  the  waters  of  the  great  inland  seas  would,  by 
the  aid  of  man,  break  through  their  barriers  and  mingle 
with  those  of  the  Hudson."  While  travelling  in 
Scotland  in  1795  he  notes  in  his  diary  his  impressions 
of  the  Caledonian  Canal  and  says :  When  I  see  this, 
my  mind  oi>ens  to  a  view  of  wealth  for  the  interior  of 
America  which  hitherto  I  had  rather  conjectured 
than  seen."  In  ISOl,  after  his  visit  to  Canada  and 
Niagara  Falls,  he  described  to  a  friend  in  London  a 
visit  to  Lake  Erie  :  "At  this  point  commences  a  navi- 
gation of  more  than  one  thousand  miles.  Shall  I 
lead  your  astonishment  to  the  verge  of  incredulity  ? 
I  will:  know  then  that  one-tenth  of  the  expense  borne 
by  Britain  in  the  last  campaign  would  enable  ships  to 
sail  from  London  through  Hudson  River  into  Lake 
Erie."  At  a  dinner  party,  in  Washington,  not  many 
yeare  after  this  letter  Robert  Morris  asked  Gouvern- 
eur  what  he  would  think  if  they  were  then  in  con- 
vention and  it  should  be  proposed  to  establish  the 
seat  of  government  at  Newburgh,  on  the  Hudson. 
He  replied  :  ''  Yes,  that  would  have  been  the  i)lace 
"  for  the  seat  of  Government.  And  the  members  of 
"Congress  could  have  come  from  all  parts  by  water." 
The  company  were  astonished  and  asked  how.  Mor- 
ris answered:  "Why,  by  tapping  Lake  Erie  and 
"bringing  its  waters  to  the  Hudson,  by  an  inclined 
plane  or  a  water  table  which  can  be  found."  Simeon 
De  Witt,  Surveyor  General  of  New  York,  gives  Mr. 
Morris  the  credit  of  starting  the  idea  of  direct  com- 
munication between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson,  and 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  one  of  the  first  canal  com- 
missioners, considered  Mr.  Morris  "  the  father  of  our 
"great  canal.''  Mr.  Morris  was  chairman  of  the  canal 
commissioners  from  March,  181U,  until  within  a  few 
months  of  liis  death.  He  and  De  Witt  Clinton  went 
on  a  special  mi  ssion  to  Congress  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  Federal  aid  for  the  construction  of  the 
canal,  but  though  they  drafted  a  bill  for  the  purpose, 
it  never  came  up,  as  there  were  too  many  divided  in- 
terests in  that  body.  In  the  midst  of  his  labors,  Mr. 
Morris  died  at  Morrisania,  November  6,  1816,  in  the 
sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  buried 
where  now  St.  Anne's  Church  stands,  the  cast  aisle 
covering  their  original  resting-))lace.  They  were 
afterwards  transferred  to  the  family  vault,  which  is 
the  fiist  one  east  of  the  church.  His  wife  caused  a 
marble  slab  to  be  placed  over  the  temporary  tomb, 
and  that  still  remains.' 
His  will  was  dated  October  26,  1816.    In  it  he  con- 


1  Tlie  ttutlior  is  indebUil  to  Jaml  Sparks'  "  Life  and  Writings  of  Gout- 
enieur  Morris  "  for  the  niateriale  of  tli«  foregoing  sketch. 


786 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


firms  an  ante-nuptial  contract,  by  which  he  had  set- 
tled on  his  wife  two  thousand  six  hundred  dollars  per 
annum,  and  in  addition  he  gave  to  her,  during  her 
life,  his  estate  at  Morrisania.  The  improvements 
were  to  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  estate.  In  his 
will  was  also  the  peculiar  provision,  that  if  his  wife 
should  see  fit  to  marry,  she  should  have  six  hundred 
dollars  per  annum  in  addition  "to  defray  the  increased 
expenditure  which  may  attend  that  connection." 

His  son  Gouverneur,  was  then  given  the  whole  of 
the  residue  and  remainder  of  the  estate,  except  such 
other  bequests  as  he  made  under  the  will.  If  he 
should  die  before  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  or  afterwards,  "  not  having  uiade  a  will,"  he 
then  gave  the  estate  to  such  one  or  more  of  the  male 
descendants  of  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  in  such 
proportions  as  his  wife  should  designate ;  but  if  she 
made  no  such  designation,  he  then  gave  the  estate  to 
Lewis  Morris  Wilkins,  the  son  of  his  sister  Isabella, 
on  condition  that  he  assume  the  name  of  Morris. 
He  then  gave  to  his  nephew,  Gouverneur  Wilkins, 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  to  him  when 
he  should  attain  the  age  of  thirty  years,  provided 
his  conduct  should  be  such  as  in  the  opinion 
of  his  executor  and  executrix  "  becomes  a  good 
citizen."  His  friend  Moss  Kent,  and  his  widow  were 
charged  with  the  execution  of  the  will.  The  son 
Gouverneur,  is  still  living,  and  has  made  a  will  and 
the  legacy  was  duly  paid  Gouverneur  Wilkins.  Title 
searchers  often  raise  this  question,  and  as  it  affects  all 
that  part  of  Morrisania  east  of  Mill  Brook  and  as  far 
north  as  the  Home  for  Incurables,  near  Fordham,the 
facts  are  worthy  of  record. 

We  thus  find  Bronx  Land  and  the  "additional" 
lands  mentioned  in  the  patents  of  Morrisania  east  of 
Mill  Brook,  vested  in  the  present  Gouverneur  Morris. 
His  mother  enjoyed  her  life  estate  in  the  property 
until  1837,  when  she  died  and  was  buried  under  the 
site  of  the  present  St.  Anne's  Church,  which,  in  1841, 
was  erected  by  her  son  Gouverneur,  in  remembrance 
of  her,  and  with  respectful  regard  to  two  other  valued 
relations  of  the  name  was  called  St.  Ann's  Church. 

Thus  far  we  have  carried  the  records  of  the  tow-n- 
ship  through  the  successive  stages,  from  its  discovery 
to  the  Dutch  occupancy,  the  first  seizure  by  the  Brit- 
ish, the  second  and  brief  Dutch  regime  and  the  final 
establishment  of  the  British  rule.  This  long  period 
is  fraught  with  little  of  interest  that  has  not  been 
mentioned.  One  incident  was  the  mortgaging  of  his 
interests  in  the  manor  of  Fordham  by  the  contentious 
John  Archer,  to  Steenwyk,  one  of  the  short-lived 
councillors  of  Governor  Colve.  Afterwards  Steen- 
wyk, by  deed  from  Archer,  obtained  possession  of  the 
entire  manor,  and  he  and  his  pious  wife  willed  it  to 
the  mini.sters,  elders  and  deacons  of  the  Reformed 
Congregation  of  the  Nether  Dutch  Church,  on  the 
express  condition  that  it  should  not  be  sold,  but  pre- 
sumably that  the  congregation  should  receive  the 
benefits  of  its  rents,  issues  and  profits  in  perpetuity. 


The  intentions  of  the  Steenwyks  were,  however, 
found  impracticable,  and  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Colony  of  New  York  authorized  the  congregation 
to  sell  the  lands.  This  was  done,  and  the  purchasers 
were  hardy  and  thrifty  people,  who  figured  conspicu- 
ously in  the  annals  of  the  Revolution. 

Fordham,  Bronx  Land  (the  present  Morrisania) 
and  Jessup's,  Richardson's,  Cornell's  and  the  West- 
chester patents  have  been  so  subdivided  that  the  his- 
tory of  their  development  would  be  only  a  tedious 
chronicle  of  the  layiug  out  of  highways,  the  marks 
which  each  farmer  placed  upon  his  horses  and  cattle, 
and  of  law-suits,  which  prove  that  the  former  occu- 
pants were  as  tenacious  of  their  individual  rights  as 
their  successors  to-day.  The  simple  annals  of  the 
people  between  the  final  establishment  of  English 
dominion  and  the  Revolution  are  not  of  general  in- 
terest. 

THE  REVOLUTIONARY  PERIOD. 

When,  in  1775,  the  contention  with  the  mother  coun- 
try had  come  to  a  critical  stage,  the  citizens  of  Westches- 
ter township  prepared  to  organize  their  military  power. 
The  following  papers,  which  are  contained  among  the 
returns  on  file  at  Albany,  tell  the  story  of  their  action  : 

"BoRoi  GH  AND  Town  of  Westchester,  24"'  Aug',  1775. 
"  To  the  Hoiihln  PnicincitU  Congress  for  the  Colony  of  New  York  : 

"  We,  the  Subscribers,  appointed  a  sub-Committee  to  inspect  the  Elec- 
tion of  Militia  Officers  for  the  said  Town,  do  most  humbly  Certify,  that 
the  following  persons  were  Chosen  this  24th  day  of  Aug«,  1775,  by  a  Ma- 
jority of  Voices  duly  qualified  for  that  purpose,  agreeable  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  Hou''i=  Congress  above  said  (Viz.)  John  Oakley,  Captain  ;  1 
Lieut.  Nicli'  Berrien,  2  Lieut.  Isaac  Leggett,  Ensign  Frederick  Phillipse 
Stevenson. 

f  Thomas  Hunt. 
"  Committee,  \  James  Ferris. 

Lewis  Graham. 

"  Electors. 

"  Anthony  Allaire.  Abraham  Odle. 


■Vol.  i.  Rev.  Papers,  page  122.  The  original  document  is  somewhat 
mutilated,  and  consequently  the  list  of  electors  is  not  complete. 


Izarell  I  nderhill. 

Robert  Farrington. 

Hendrick  Brown,  Ju'. 

Francis  Smith. 

Thomas  Merrill. 

William  Green. 

Abraham  Post. 

Abraham  Einnians. 

Dennis  Post. 

Isaac  Green. 

Usial  Fountain. 

Edward  Ryer. 

Henry  Tayler. 

Gilbert  Brown. 

Wni.  Rose. 

Jacob  Post. 

James  Munro. 

Lewis  Post. 

John  Warner. 

John  Williams. 

Thomas  Oakly. 

George  Hadley. 

Charles  Tayler. 

Isaac  Hadley. 

Benjamin  Farrington. 

Joseph  Hadley. 

Robert  Brown. 

Joshua  Verniyliea. 

Jacob  Tayler. 

John  Cartright. 

Henry  Pre>her. 

.lohn  Ryer. 

Elijah  Tayler. 

George  Berian. 

Joseph  Oakley,  Jun. 

Izrael  Post. 

Daniel  Deen. 

John  Cock. 

Thomas  Farrington. 

Henry  Bursen. 

James  Parker. 

Abraham  Asten. 

Wm.  Post. 

George  Worts. 

Samuel  Williams. 

Abraham  Verinyliea. 

James  Crawford. 

Frederick  Vermyliea. 

George  Crawford. 

Edward  Cartright. 

John  Odle. 

Frederick  Brown. 

John  Devo. 

Elethan  Tayler,  Jun'.' 

Tobias  Rickeman. 

WESTCHESTER. 


787 


It  was  more  convenient  for  the  people  of  West 
Farms  and  Fordham  to  have  a  separate  company,  and 
therefore  they  sent  in  the  subjoined  petition  : 

"  To  the  Honorable  Provincial  Coitgi-fts  foi'  the  prorince  of  New  York  : 

"  The  potitiou  of  the  subscribere,  Inhabitants  of  the  Miinor  of  Foiclham 
and  AVest  Farms,  in  the  County  of  Westchester,  Humbly  Shewoth. 

"  That  we  are  sununoned  to  appear  at  Westchester  in  t)f(Ier  to  Choose 
OfBccrs,  according  to  the  Kesohition  of  the  Congress,  it  having  been 
Represented  (as  \\m  understand!  that  there  was  not  a  competent  number 
of  men  in  our  District  to  form  a  CtiMjpany.  We  therefore  beg  leave  to  in- 
form that  the  Manor  of  Fordham  a»d  the  West  Farms  luive  in  the  Militia 
always  been  considered  as  a  district|by  themselves,  and  that  within  their 
limits  there  is  upwards  of  Seventy  men  fitt  to  bear  arms.  And  that  an 
attendance  at  Westchester  xipon  the  meeting  of  the  Company  will  be  at- 
tended  with  great  Inconveuiency  to  many  of  the  Inhabitants  and  there- 
fore Injurious  to  the  service  intended  to  be  advanced,  from  which  Con- 
siderations your  petitionei-s  Humbly  pray  the  Honorable  Congress  will 
be  pleased  to  order  that  the  Manor  of  Fordham  and  the  West  Farms 
have  a  Company'withiu  themselves  and  that  they  Elect  their  own  Ofticers 
under  such  Inspection  as  the  Honorable  Congress  in  their  wisdom  shall 
think  best.    And  your  petitioners  shall  ever  pray. 


Nicholas  Berrien. 

James  McKay. 

Isaac  Valintiue. 

Robert  Campbell. 

Peter  Valintiue. 

Eden  Hunt. 

John  Stevens. 

Isaac  H\int. 

Benjamin  Curser. 

James  Archer. 

Abraham  Dyckman. 

Sanuiel  Embree,  Jun'. 

John  Turner. 

Edward  Harris. 

Benjamin  Valentine. 

John  CoUard. 

his 

Cornelius  Jacobs. 

George  x  Pilpet. 

hezekiah  Ward. 

mark 

Tunis  Garrison. 

Isaac  Valintiue,  .Tnnior. 

Isack  Cant. 

Peter  Bussing,  .Inner. 

Gilbert  Taylor. 

Peter  Bussing. 

Robert  Gilmer. 

Abraham  Wils. 

Benjamin  Archer,  Jun' 

Benjamin  Curser,  J'. 

Daniel  Devoe,  Ju'. 

Hendrick  Kyer. 

John  Embree,  Sen'. 

John  Lint. 

Jacob  Lent. 

John  Ryer. 

his 

Isaac  Conser. 

Abram  x  Lent. 

Isaac  Corser,  Jii^. 

mark 

tunus  Leforge. 

I'ennis  Ryer. 

Phillip  Hunt. 

Jacob  alentine. 

Stephen  Embree. 

Abraham  garison. 

Nathaniel  Lawrence. 

James  Grobe. 

Peter  Devoe. 

John  Embree,  Jun'. 

James  Swaim. 

Thomas  Cromwell. 

Nazareth  Brewer. 

Gerrardus  Cromwell. 

Thomas  Hunt. 

Obadiah  Hide. 

Abraham  Leggett. 

John  Curser. 

William  Leggett. 

Sirion  Williams. 

John  Leggett,  Jun'. 

John  Ryer,  Jun'. 

Robert  Hunt,  Jun', 

Jacob  Chappel. 

Cornelius  Leggett. 

John  Gan-ison. 

Mr.  Woods. 

John  Jacobs. 

John  Hedger. 

Thomas  Dogherty. 

Thomas  Hedger. 

John  Clark. 

Stephen  Edwards. 

John  Devoe. 

James  Rock. 

John  Blizard. 

George  Higby. 

John  Walbrin. 

Jacob  Hunt. 

John  Warnick. 

Levi  Hunt. 

Thomas  Gemble.> 

Jeremiah  Regen. 

"  September  5,  1775." 

Their  prayer  was  frranted,  for  in  October  the  fol- 
lowing minute  is  made  in  the  Revolutionary  Military 
Records : 

"  Officcrfofihe  Wetl  Farmt  and  Fordham  Company. 

"  West  F.\rms  and  Manor  of  Fokpiiam, 
In  the  BoKoi  iai  of  Westi  hkster.  21"  of  October,  1775. 
"  It  being  determined  by  a  Committee  of  the  County  of  West  Chester, 

'  Revolutionary  Papers,  toI.  1.  page  135. 


that  the  above  said  places  should  be  one  distinct  Beat  or  district  ;  We 
the  Subscriber  being  appointed  a  Committee  of  Inspection  to  preside  at 
the  Election  for  Officers  of  the  Jlilitia  for  said  beat  do  most  humbly  repre- 
sent to  the  Honor  the  Provincial  Congress  for  the  Province  of  New  York, 
that  they  have  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  Officers  ia  Conformity  to  the 
Orders  of  the  s''  Hon'ble  Provincial  Congress,  when  the  underwritteD 
Persons  were  unanimously  Chose.  Capt.  Nicholas  Berrian,  1"  Lieut. 
Gilbert  Taylor,  2>i  Do.  Daniel  Devoe,  Jun',  Ensign  Benjamin  Valentine. 

"Thomas  Hunt. 

".\11UAI1AM  LEiiCETT. 

"[Commissions  issued  this  31"'  Oct',  1775.]  " 

In  the  spring  of  1776  the  war  between  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  colonies  had  broken  out ;  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  and  the  evacuation  of  Boston  by  the 
British  had  taken  place,  and  Washington,  with  his 
enthusiastic  but  illy  equipped  army,  was  on  Manhattan 
and  Long  Islands,  in  front  of  the  British  invaders. 
On  July  5,  1776,  General  Mifflin,  then  stationed  at 
the  north  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  wrote  Washing- 
ton that  he  feared  the  British  might  take  possession 
of  the  heights  north  of  King's  Bridge  (now  known  as 
Spuyten  Duyvil),  and  asked  if  he  should  detach  a 
party  to  oppose  theni.'^  At  the  same  time  the  British 
ships  "  Roebuck "  and  "  Vidture"  sailed  up  the 
North  Riveras  far  as  King's  Bridge  and  dropped  an- 
chor near  the  shore.  A  violent  cannonade  ensued,  as 
the  Americans  had  ojiened  a  battery  against  them. 
The  British  raised  anchor  and  went  farther  up  the 
North  River.'  This  battery  damaged  the  British  fleet 
both  in  hull  and  rigging.  This  action  must  have  oc- 
curred near  Fort  Washington,  and  a  few  of  the  shells 
only  fell  on  the  Westchester  shore,  but  the  raid  of  the 
British  fleet  impressed  General  Mifflin  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  fortifying  King's  Bridge,  Spuyten  Duyvil  and 
Fordham  Heights,  for  on  August  6, 1776,  he  dispatched 
Col.  Holden  from  Fort  Washington  to  King's  Bridge 
with  orders  to  make  it  more  tenable,*  and  cannon  were 
sent  for  that  purpose.  It  is  plain,  from  the  annals  of 
that  time,  that  Washington  appreciated  the  strategic 
value  of  the  pass  at  Spuyten  Duyvil  and  Fordham 
Heights,  as  he  feared  an  ascent  by  way  of  the  North 
River  with  the  British  fleet,  and  the  destruction  of 
King's  Bridge,  by  a  boat  expedition.'  Putnam  and 
Wiebert,  the  engineer,  were  ordered  to  throw  up  works 
for  the  protection  of  the  pass. 

The  New  York  Provincial  Congress  had  the  same 
appreciation  of  the  strategic  importance  of  that  point. 
Robert  Livingston,  on  August  10,  177(),  wrote  Wash- 
ington about  it  in  behalf  of  Congress.  He  cautioned 
him  as  to  the  importance  of  the  Westchester  shore 
and  urged  sending  regular  troops  there  with  artillery. 
Congress  felt  the  danger  of  the  destruction  of  King's 
Bridge  before  any  force  could  be  sent  to  prevent  it. 
The  New  York  Congress  had  a  lack  of  good  faith  in 
its  militia  because  of  its  raw  condition,  bad  pay  and 
e(iuipment ;   and  in  some  cases  their  loyalty  to  the 


*  Force's  "Annals,"  vol.  i.  pages  1328-1330. 

'  1  Force,  230,  347.  Also  the  story  of  the  author's  grandfather,  who 
picked  up  one  of  the  solid  shots  sent  on  the  Westchester  shore  and  wit- 
nessed the  engagement. 

« 1  Force,  790.  »  l  Force,  886. 


788 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


new  cause  was  doubted.  They  therefore  suggested 
that  the  country  north  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek 
should  be  well  guarded.  "They  knew  of  no  country 
capable  of  being  so  well  defended."  They  also  sug- 
gested that  all  the  cattle  in  the  country  be  removed 
and  jjurchased  by  the  army  authorities.'  But  Wash- 
ington had  already  appreciated  this  necessity  and  was 
throwing  up  strong  breastworks  at  that  point.  The 
NevA'  York  Congress,  at  the  same  time,  ordered  out  the 
whole  of  the  Westchester  militia,  under  its  brigadier- 
general,  Lewis  Morris,  to  take  possession  of  such 
points  on  Long  Island  Sound  and  Hudson  River  as 
he  thought  most  exposed  to  the  enemy.^  . 

Meantime  reconnoisances  developed  the  necessity  of 
securing  from  the  enemy  the  upper  end  of  Manhattan 
Island  and  Fordham  Heights.  Fort  Washington  was 
built  on  Manhattan  Island  and  Fort  Independence'  on 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Giles  property,  just  north 
of  the  West  Farms  or  Fordham  ]\Iauor  line,  on  the 
Westchester  shore  so  as  to  command  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek.  *  General  Heath  was  placed  in  command  of 
the  troops  in  that  neighborhood.^ 

The  defeat  of  the  Americans  on  Long  Island  and 
Washington's  masterly  retreat  to  Manhattan  Island 
showed  that  his  precautions  as  to  the  importance  of  a 
line  of  retreat  via  King's  Bridge  and  Westchester 
County  were  well  timed.  The  New  York  Congress 
had  fled  from  the  city  to  Harlem  and  after  the  battle 
of  Long  Island  it  adjourned  not  to  meet  again  until 
it  assembled  at  White  I'lains.  A  Committee  of 
Safety  was  appointed  and  it  met  on  August  20,  177fi, 
at  King's  Bridge.  The  State  treasure-chest  was  also 
brought  there,  but  almost  immediately  removed  up 
into  the  Saw-Mill  Valley  to  Mr.  Odell's  house.  It  was 
teared  that  the  British  would  go  direct  from  Brooklyn 
to  some  point  ontheSound,  march  across  country,  cut 


>  1  Force,  88(;.    Idem,  1494. 

2.\s  a  speciiiien  of  the  eriuipnient  of  General  Morris'  brigade,  the  fol- 
lowing extract  I'roiri  the  orders  of  the  Provincial  or  New  York  C(»ngres3 
is  given  :  If  any  of  the  men  were  without  arms,  they  were  ordered  to 
bring  "  a  shovel,  a  spade,  pick-axe  or  scythe,  straightened  and  fixed  on 
a  jiole."  The  brigadier  of  this  motley  army  was  ordered  to  "apprehend 
and  arrest  .  .  .  disaffected  jiei-sons."  All  the  militia  was  placed  nnder 
"  marching  orders,"  and  only  snlticient  guards  were  to  he  left  behind  to 
prevent  insurrection  of  the  slaves  and  the  prisoners  in  the  jails.  "  Dis- 
armed and  disafl'ected  male  inhabitants,  between  sixteen  and  fifty-five 
years  of  age,"  were  to  be  "  broujiht  along"  by  this  militia  as  "fatigue 
men,''  and  the  brigadier  was  given  power  to  institute  courts-martial 
against  those  who  did  not  obey  his  orders. — Force,  vol.  i.,  1494. 

3  Fort  Independence  is  located  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  in  his  "  History  of  the 
United  States,"  just  north  of  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  on  the  crown  of  the 
ridge  which  lies  between  Tippett's  lirook  and  Hudson  River.  Mr.  Edsall, 
the  author  of  the  "History  of  King's  Bridge  Township,"  the  author  of  this 
sketch,  old  maps,  local  traditions  and  other  authorities,  including  Gen- 
eral Washington's  field  map,  on  file  in  the  Historical  Society  Library,  in 
New  York  City,  show  that  eminent  historian  to  be  mistaken  in  location. 
Mr.  Bancroft  has  used  British,  not  .\merican  data.  There  was  an  earth- 
work near  Spuyten  Duyvil  erected  by  the  .Americans,  probably  the  one 
ordered  to  be  built  by  Washington,  under  Putnam's  and  VVieberfs  direc- 
tion, alluded  to  in  the  te.xt ;  but  Fort  Independence  stood  on  the  Mont- 
gomery farm,  not  far  from  the  present  route  of  Sedgwick  Avenue,  as 
just  opened  by  the  city  authorities,  and  somewhat  to  the  west  of  it. 

< Heath's  "Memoirs,"  52. 

«  Idem.,  54. 


off  the  communication  with  the  main  at  King's  Bridge 
and  hem  in  Washington's  army  on  Manhattan 
Island.* 

Howe  was  making  his  reconnoisances.  On  August 
27th  two  ships  and  a  brig  anchored  a  little  north  of 
Throgg's  -Neck.  General  Heath  sent  Colonel  Gra- 
ham with  a  regiment  to  prevent  any  landing,  but  be- 
fore he  arrived  several  barges  had  landed  on  City  Is- 
land and  killed  a  number  of  cattle.  '  When  the  regi- 
ment arrived,  the  British  retreated  with  one  prisoner 
and  fourteen  head  of  cattle.  Heath  at  once  asked 
Mifflin  for  additional  artillery  and  made  an  arrange- 
ment for  a  floating  bridge  over  Harlem  River. '  In 
the  mean  time  the  militia  at  Throgg's  Neck  and  City 
Island  wanted  to  go  home.  The  crops  had  to  be 
gathered  and  Colonel  Drake  stated  to  the  New  Y''ork 
Congress  that  it  "would  be  a  very  great  ease  to  the 
county  at  this  season.'"  On  the  31st,  Hand's,  Shee's, 
Magaw's,  Broadhead's  and  Miles'  battalions  joined 
Heath's  command  at  King's  Bridge'"  and  on  Septem- 
ber 4th,  Washington  and  Heath  had  a  consultation 
and  dined  together  at  that  place.  The  result  of  this 
conference  was  that  Heath  formed  a  chain  of  senti- 
nels and  videttes,  extending  on  the  Westchester  shore 
from  Morrisania,  via  Hunt's  Point,  all  the  way  to 
Throgg's  Neck,  and  broke  up  the  roads  leading  from 
Morrisania  and  de  Lancey's  Mills  (West  Farms)  so  as 
to  render  them  impassable  for  the  enemy's  artillery." 
In  many  instances  he  caused  trees  to  be  felled  across 
the  roads,  and  in  other  places  dug  deep  pits.  On  the 
10th  of  September  the  British  began  landing  troops 
on  Montressor's  Island,  (now  known  as  Randall's  Is- 
land). As  the  fight  on  Manhattan  Island  had  taken 
place  at  Kips  Bay  and  Harlem  Plains,  a  consultation 
of  general  officers  was  held  on  September  16th.  The 
generals  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to  what  course 
the  British  would  i)urs"ue.  Some  supposed  Fort 
Washington  would  be  the  point  of  attack ;  others 
that  they  would  land  either  at  Morrisania,  Hunt's  or 
Throgg's  Point.  It  was  therefore  determined  in  Coun- 
cil to  guard  against  both  contingencies.  Ten  thou- 
sand men  were  to  be  kept  on  Manhattan  Island,  and 
Heath's  division  was  increased  to  ten  thousand  men; 
a  floating  bridge  was  to  be  thrown  across  Harlem 
Creek,  so  that  the  two  bodies  could  support  each 
other  as  circumstances  might  require. 

On  September  18th  the  British  army  was  between 
the  city  of  New  York  and  the  American  lines,  which 
latter    extended  across  the  island  on  the  north 


<•  A  graphic  description  of  the  troubles  which  a  family  in  Lower  West- 
chester endured  is  given  in  the  correspondence  of  a  young  military 
officer  on  the  staff"  of  General  Sullivan.  He  had  a  leave  of  absence  to 
go  to  his  ho.ne  and  remove  his  aged  mother  and  sisters,  with  tiie  fiocks 
and  herds,  to  a  jilace  of  safety  in  the  interior  of  the  county. — N.  Y.  Hist. 
Soc.  MSS. 

'Heath's  "Memoirs,"  55  ;  Force,  ii.  108. 

»1  Force,  1184. 

»!  Force,  1552  ;  Heath,  5". 

l»  Idem,  50. 

"Force,  ii.  2.39-240. 


1 


WESTCHESTER. 


789 


side  of  Harlem  Plains,  Heath  had  a  strong  picket 
of  four  hundred  men  at  Morrisania,  with  a  chain 
of  sentinels,  within  half  gun-shot  of  each  other, 
posted  along  the  shore  and  near  the  passage  between 
Morrisania  and  Randall's  Island.  The  American 
sentries  were  ordered  not  to  fire  at  the  British  unless 
the  latter  began;  but  the  British  did  begin,  and  there 
was  freciuent  firing  between  the  pickets.  One  day 
a  British  otHcer  walking  on  the  shore  of  Randall's 
Island  was  wounded  by  a  shot  from  an  American  sen- 
tinel. An  officer  with  a  flag  soon  after  came  down  to 
the  creek,  and  calling  for  the  American  officer  of  the 
guard,  informed  him  that  if  the  American  sentinels 
fired  any  more  the  commander  on  the  island  would 
cannonade  Colonel  Morris'  house,  in  which  the  Ameri- 
can picket  officers  were  quartered.  The  American 
oflicer  sent  word  to  General  Heath  asking  for  in- 
structions as  to  what  reply  he  should  make.  He  was 
told  to  answer  that  the  Americans  were  instructed  not 
to  fire  unless  they  were  fired  upon  and  then  to  return 
the  fire  ;  that  such  would  be  their  conduct,  and  that 
as  to  cannonading  Colonel  Morris'  house,  they 
might  act  their  pleasure.  The  firing  ceased  for  some 
time,  but  one  day  a  Scotch  sentinel  on  the  British 
side  fired  at  an  American  and  the  shot  was  returned. 
A  British  otficer  came  down  and  said  that  he  thought 
there  was  to  be  no  firing  between  the  sentinels.  The 
Americans  retorted  that  the  British  fired  first.  The 
British  officer  replied,  "He  shall  then  pay  for  it." 
The  sentinel  was  relieved  and  there  was  no  further 
firing  between  the  pickets  at  that  place,  and  they  were 
afterwards  so  civil  to  each  other  that  they  used  to 
exchange  tobacco  by  throwing  the  roll  across  the 
creek. 

September  22d  two  seamen  deserted  from  the 
British  frigate  "  La  Brune,"  which  was  lying  near 
Randall's  Island,  and  stated  that  they  had  but  a 
few  men  on  the  island,  that  the  cannon  which  had 
been  on  the  island  had  been  put  on  board  the  "  La 
Brune,"  but  that  there  were  a  number  of  officers  at 
the  house.  Acting  on  this  information,  an  expedition 
consisting  of  two  hundred  and  forty  men,  was  sent  on 
board  of  three  flat-boats  with  a  fourth  astern  with 
a  light  three-pound  cannon  on  board  in  case  it  might 
be  found  necessary.  They  were  to  drop  down 
Harlem  River  with  the  ebb  tide,  and  they  calculated 
that  at  daybreak  the  tide  would  be  sufficient  on  the 
flood  to  float  the  boats  off  the  flats  at  the  island. 
Major  Henly  of  the  general's  staff,  volunteered  to  be 
one  of  the  party,  and  much  against  the  general's  wish 
he  was  permitted  to  go.  Notice  had  been  given  to 
the  pickets  on  the  York  Island  side  not  to  fire  on  the 
boats  or  hail  them  as  they  went  down  the  river,  but 
the  sentinel  nearest  the  island  had  not  been  in- 
structed. General  Heath  was  standing  nearly  oppo- 
site, on  the  Westchester  side,  to  witness  the  attack. 
The  sentinel  challenged  the  boats  and  ordered  them 
to  come  to  the  shore  ;  the  people  on  board  the  boats 
said  that  they  were  friends,  but  the  sentry  kept  on  chal- 


lenging. The  answer  was,  "  We  tell  you  we  are  friends 
— hold  your  tongue."  Major  Henly  sprang  overboard 
and  swam  to  the  shore,  and  wading  up  to  General 
Heath,  asked  him,  "  Sir,  will  it  do?"  General  Heath, 
holding  him  by  the  hand,  said,  "  I  see  nothing  to  the 
contrary."  Henly  replied  :  "  Then  it  shall  do  "  and 
he  waded  back  to  the  boat  and  got  in.  The  sentinel 
on  the  New  York  side  shouted  "  If  you  don't  come  to 
the  shore,  I  tell  you  I'll  fire."  Some  one  in  the  boats 
cried  out  "  Pull  away."  The  boats  went  on  and  the 
sentinel  fired.  The  boats  reached  the  island  almost 
at  the  moment  intended,  just  as  daylight  was  break- 
ing. Lieutenant-Colonel  Jackson  and  M.ojor  Logan 
and  another  field  officer  of  a  New  York  regiment 
were  in  the  first  boat.  They  jumped  ashore,  the  col- 
onel remaining  in  charge  of  his  detachment.  The 
other  two  were  to  go  to  the  right  and  left,  and  lead 
the  men  from  the  other  boats,  which  were  to  land  on 
either  side  of  the  first  boat.  The  men  from  the  first 
boat  landed;  the  enemy's  guard  charged,  but  were 
instantly  driven  back,  but  the  men  in  the  other  two 
boats,  instead  of  landing,  lay  on  their  oars.  The 
British  seeing  this,  returned  to  the  charge,  and  the 
single  boat- load  seeing  themselves  abandoned,  returned 
to  the  boat.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jackson  received 
a  musket-ball  in  his  leg  and  Major  Henly  was  shot 
through  the  heart  and  instantly  killed.  The  boat 
joined  the  others  and  all  three  returned,  having  lost 
in  all  about  fourteen  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
Major  Henly  was  deeply  regretted.  If  only  one 
other  of  the  boats  had  landed  her  men,  success  was 
probable,  if  both  the  others  had  landed,  in  the 
opinion  of  all  concerned,  success  would  have  been 
certain.  The  delinquents  in  the  other  boats  were 
arrested  and  one  of  the  captains  tried  by  court-mar- 
tial and  cashiered.' 

September  29th  a  large  number  of  boats  crossed 
over  from  Long  to  Randall's  Island,  which  move- 
ment was  continued  on  the  30th.  The  same  day  a 
frigate  came  through  Hell  Gate  and  lay  alongside  the 
"La  Brune."  About  noon  she  hoisted  sail  and  went  to 
the  eastward,  and  in  the  evening  another  ship  came 
up.  October  1st  she  was  at  anchor  in  the  channel 
between  Harlem  and  Banian's  orEldridge's  Island. ' 

On  October  3d  General  Heath,  with  Colonel  Hand, 
made  a  reconnoisance  as  far  as  Throgg's  Neck.  The 
causeway  between  the  village  of  Westchester  and  the 
Neck  seemed  to  them  to  be  a  strong  strategic  point. 
The  old  mill  then,  and  for  many  years  afterwards, 
stood  at  the  west  end  of  the  causeway,  and  there  was 
a  bridge  of  j)lanks  there  then,  as  there  is  now.  A  long 
range  of  cord-wood  was  })iled  up  on  the  village  or  west 
side  of  the  bridge  and  was  so  advantageously  situated 
that  it  seemed  as  though  it  had  been  placed  there  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  breastwork.  A  detachment 
1  of  twenty-five  picked  men  from  Hand's  regiment  of 
I  riflemen   was  sent   to   defend  this  position,  with 


1  Heath's  Menu.,  63-64.  3  Ward's  Island. 


790 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


instructions  that  in  case  the  enemy  should  advance 
from  Throgg's  Neck,  they  should  take  up  the  plank- 
ing from  the  bridge  and  have  everything  ready  to  set 
the  mill  on  fire,  but  not  to  do  so  unless  the  advance 
of  the  enemy  could  not  be  checked.  Another  party 
was  stationed  at  the  head  of  Westchester  Creek. 
This  point  must  have  been  somewhere  near  the  pres- 
ent station  on  the  Port  Chester  Branch  Railroad 
known  as  Timpson's.^  On  the  12th  eighty  or  ninety 
boats  full  of  British  troops  went  up  the  Sound  from 
Randall's  Island.  They  landed'  at  Throgg's  Neck 
and  at  once  pushed  on  for  the  village  of  Westchester. 
Hand's  men  opened  fire  and  took  up  the  planking 
from  the  bridge.  The  British  then  tried  to  turn  the 
American  flank  by  marching  around  the  head  of  the 
creek,  but  Colonel  Prescott's  regiment  and  Bryant 
with  a  three-pounder,  reinforced  the  riflemen  at  the 
village — Colonel  Graham,  with  a  regiment  of  West- 
chester militia,  and  Jackson,  with  a  six-pounder, 
assisted  Hand's  other  men  to  hold  the  head  of  the 
creek.  The  British  were  checked  and  went  into 
camp  on  the  Neck.  Our  riflemen  and  the  British 
yagers  kept  up  a  continual  skirmish,  and  both  sides 
threw  up  earthworks  on  each  side  of  the  old  bridge. 
Washington  visited  Westchester  the  same  day, 
though  his  headquarters  were  still  at  Harlem  Heights. 
In  his  correspondence  with  Congress  on  the  subject 
of  this  skirmish,  he  describes  Throgg's  Neck  as  a 
"  kind  of  island,"  but  the  water  which  surrounded  it 
as  "fordable  at  low  tide."  He  reported  throwing 
up  the  earthworks,  but  from  the  number  of  vessels 
he  had  seen  go  up  the  East  River,  and  also  from 
reports  brought  in  by  deserters,  he  felt  convinced  that 
the  greatest  part  of  Howe's  army  had  gone  eastward, 
and  that  his  object  was  to  get  into  the  rear  of  the 
Americans  and  cut  off"  commnication  between  Man- 
hattan Island  and  the  mainland.  He  considered  the 
country  back  of  Throgg's  Point  defensible,  especially 
by  reason  of  its  stone  walls,  both  along  the  I'oads  and 
across  the  fields,  so  that  the  enemy  would  have  great 
difficulty  in  advancing  artillery  or  even  any  large 
body  of  infantry  with  any  degree  of  order,  except  by 
the  main  road. 

By  the  13th  it  was  evident  to  all  that  Westchester 
County  would  be  the  next  point  of  attack  by  the 
British.  No  less  than  forty-two  sail  had  passed  the 
mouth  of  Harlem  River  going  eastward,  and  it  was 
apparent  that  this  movement  was  no  feint,  but  that 
Howe  meant  to  "  make  his  covp  "  in  the  direction  of 
Westchester.'^  The  troops  at  Harlem  and  at  King's 
Bridge  were  ordered  to  their  alarm  posts,  reinforce- 
ments were  sent  to  King's  Bridge  and  rations  for  three 
days'  march  were  ordered  to  be  cooked  immediately. 
The  next  day  General  Heath  visited  the  troops  at 
Westchester.    Skirmishing  was  kept  up  for  a  couple 


1  Heath's  ■' Memoire,"  page  68,  and  Edward  de  Lancey's  paper  on  the 
Battle  of  Fort  Washington,  vol.  i.,  MugmiiK  of  American  Hi»torij. 

2  Force,  ii.  991  :  Force,  ii.  1025. 


of  days,  and  then  our  position  being  found  too  strong 
to  carry  with  light  troops,  Howe  advanced  his  heavy 
guns  up  the  Throgg's  Neck  road  and  commenced  the 
erection  of  a  heavy  earthwork  immediately  opposite 
the  Westchester  Bridge,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the 
present  Presbyterian  Church.^  While  this  handful 
of  men  were  checking  the  advance  of  the  entire 
British  army,  Washington  heard  of  the  arrival,  as 
they  landed  at  New  Rochelle,  of  the  Hessian  re- 
inforcements, and  was  at  once  convinced  that  he 
could  no  longer  hold  the  upper  part  of  Manhattan 
Island,  but  must,  with  his  illy  equipped  army, 
retreat  beyond  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson.  A 
council  of  war  was  held  at  King's  Bridge ;  the  Al- 
bany post  road  was  ordered  to  be  put  in  good  order 
by  Colonel  Drake's  regiment  of  Westchester  militia,* 
and  everything  put  in  train  for  the  retreat  of  the  main 
army  from  the  island  of  New  York  to  the  main.  On 
the  18th  the  Westchester  Militia  Regiment  at  the 
causeway  was  being  relieved,  when  the  enemy  opened 
fire  from  the  embrasures  of  the  heavy  earthwork 
opposite  the  village.  Heath  ordered  a  brigade  to  ad- 
vance to  the  support  of  the  party  at  the  bridge,  the 
general  himself  leading,  but  before  he  arrived  at  the 
bridge  he  found  that  the  entire  British  army  were 
moving  toward  the  head  of  the  creek.  Washington 
just  then  arrived  on  the  field  and  ordered  him  to  fall 
back  and  form  his  division  for  action  farther  west,  and 
in  such  position  as  to  also  protect  the  main  army  at 
King's  Bridge  should  the  enemy  laud  another  force  at 
Morrisania.  For  some  unaccountable  reason  Howe 
did  not  press  on  towards  King's  Bridge,  but  followed 
a  route  which  corresponds  to  the  present  road  leading 
from  Throgg's  Neck  to  Pelham  Bridge,  and  being  well 
provided  with  boats,  he  crossed  Pelham  Bay  and  that 
evening  the  head  of  his  column  was  at  New  Rochelle, 
where  he  was  joined  by  the  Hessian  reinforcements.* 
Had  he  pushed  directly  for  the  Harlem  River  and 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  he  would  have  been  able  to 
cut  off  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  American  army. 
Soldiers  of  our  last  war  and  military  men  generally 
may  regard  this  small  fight  at  the  old  Westchester 
Bridge  as  a  mere  skirmish  and  hardly  worth  record- 
ing, but  it  was  the  Lexington  of  Westchester  and  a 
son  of  the  soil  should  always  regard  the  prosaic  old 
causeway  and  the  ruined  foundations  of  the  old  mill 
still  to  be  seen  on  that  historic  spot,  with  sentiments 
of  reverence  and  patriotism.  The  Westchester  Militia 
and  Hand's  riflemen  at  Westchester  Creek  and  bridge 
covered  Washington's  retreat  with  his  army  to  the 
entrenchments  at  White  Plains  and  enabled  him  to  in- 
augurate his  masterly  defensive  policy  which  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  the  best  and  freest  govern- 


='For  a  good  map  of  these  oiieratious,  see  Lamb's  "Hi.>tor}'  of  New 
York,"  vol.  ii.  page  140. 
*  Force,  ii.  page  1078. 

5  Heath's  "Memoirs  ;"  Dwight's  "  Travels  ;"  Edward  de  Lancey's  paper 
in  "Magazine  of  American  History,"  on  battle  of  Fort  Washington; 
Force's  "Annals." 


WESTCHESTER. 


791 


inent  ever  known  to  history.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
wealth  and  patriotism  of  the  town  of  Westchester  will 
some  day  cause  an  appropriate  monument  to  be 
erected  near  the  bridge  in  commemoration  of  the 
battle  of  Westchester  Creek. 

On  the  28th  of  October  the  battle  of  White  Plains 
was  fought,  and  on  the  31st,  Lasher's  troops,  which 
were  the  last  to  leave  King's  Bridge,  had  joined  the 
rest  of  the  army  at  White  Plains,  and  Westchester 
township  was  denuded  of  American  troojis,  and  prac- 
tically within  the  enemy's  lines,  Fort  Wi\shington 
being  the  only  American  post  south  of  Harlem  River. 
Fort  Independence  and  the  other  American  works 
about  Harlem  River  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  had 
been  dismantled  by  the  Americans  before  their  re- 
treat.^ 

But  Westchester  was  soon  revisited  by  the  British, 
who  continued  to  occupy  it,  or  most  of  it,  for  the  resi- 
due of  the  war.  On  November  5th,  Van  Knyphausen 
marched  from  New  Rochelle  and  encamped  at  King's 
Bridge.  Two  days  before,  the  British  General  Grant 
was  at  de  Lancey's  Mills  (West  Farms),  on  the  Bronx : 
another  brigade  was  at  Mile  Square,  and  the  Waldeck 
Regiment  was  at  Williams'  Bridge.  On  the  12th 
Rahl  with  his  Hessians  had  advanced  on  Manhattan 
Island  as  far  as  Tubby  Hook  (Inwood),  and  Fort 
Washington  being  already  threatened  on  the  south 
by  the  British  who  were  left  on  the  island,  and  the 
opposite  Westchester  shore  being  covered  with  British 
troops,  Washington  advised  its  surrender,^  but  left 
its  evacuation  to  General  Greene's  discretion,  who 
was  in  command  of  a  force  on  the  Jersey  shore,  at 
Fort  Lee.  Congress  advised  Greene  to  hold  the  fort. 
On  the  night  of  the  15th  thirty  British  flat-boats 
passed  up  the  Hudson,  and  by  both  forts,  and  lay  con- 
cealed in  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  In  the  mean  time 
the  British  had  erected  heavy  batteries  on  Fordham 
Heights  or  Ridge  extending  from  the  Boston  road  as 
far  south  as  the  present  High  Bridge,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  15th  Howe  summoned  Colonel  Magaw, 
who  was  in  immediate  command  at  Fort  Washington, 
to  surrender.  The  post  of  Fort  Washington,  or  rather 
the  grounds  which  he  had  to  defend,  extended  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  Harlem  River,  and  were  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  line  which  will  about  corresjjond 
to  Inwood  Street  on  the  New  York  City  nuip,  and 
on  the  south  by  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fifth  Street. 
Its  extreme  length  north  and  south  was  about  two 
and  a  half  miles,  its  circuit  say  six  miles.  The 
northernmost  point,  near  what  is  now  known  as 
Inwood  Station,  was  under  command  of  Colonel 
Rawlings,  with  a  ^Maryland  regiment.  Magaw  ke]>t 
a  small  reserve  in  the  citadel  or  main  fort,  which 
was  situated  on  the  site  of  the  residence  of  James 
Gordon  Bennett.  Cadwallader  commanded  the 
American  lines  near  One  Hundred  and  Forty -fifth  or 


'  Force,  1294;  Heath's  "Memoirs." 

<  BuDcrofl,  V.  448  (Brown  &  Little's  edition). 


'  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  Streets,  and  on  the 
Harlem  River  side  Baxter  commanded  a  redoubt  on 
the  high  hill  or  blutl'  now  known  as  the  terminus  of 
Tenth  Avenue,  and  almost  opposite  the  present  station 
of  the  railways  at  Morris  Dock,  on  the  Westches- 
ter shore.  This  red  iubt  was  known  as  Laurel  Hill.' 
The  interval  between  Laurel  Hill  and  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty-fifth  Street  was  left  to  the  casual  siipi)ly  of 
troops. 

On  November  l(>th  the  British  opened  fire  with 
I  heavy  artillery  from  Fordham  Heights,  and  made 
four  sei)arate  attack,,.  Rahl  led  his  troops  through 
I  the  hills  and  to  the  west  of  King's  Bridge  road;  Von 
Knyphausen  marched  nearer  the  road,  towards  the 
Inwood  gorge,  with  officers  and  men  dismounted. 
The  Americans  had  cannon  planted  along  the  north 
end  of  the  high  hill  facing  the  approach  from  King's 
I  Bridge,  and  had  also  constructed  an  abattis  of  felled 
trees.  But  the  British  outnumbered  the  Americans, 
scaled  the  steep  heights  and  a  hand-to-hand  conflict 
ensued.  In  the  mean  time  Lord  Cornwallis  embarked 
with  a  large  number  of  troops  in  the  flat-boats  which 
had  been  concealed  at  Spuyten  Duyvil.  They  landed 
at  Sherman's  Creek,  stormed  Laurel  Hill,  captured 
the  battery  there,  and  killed  Baxter,  its  brave  com- 
mander. Lord  Percy  simultaneously  advanced 
against  Cadwallader,  who  was  on  the  south  line. 
Howe  also  sent  men  down  the  river  in  boats,  so  as  to 
j  fall  on  Cadwallader's  rear.  Magaw  and  Cadwallader 
I  saw  them  coming  down  the  river  ;  their  advance  was 
covered  by  the  heavy  guns  firing  from  Fordham 
Heights.  Colonel  Stirling,  of  the  Highlanders,  was 
the  first  to  land,  and  scaled  the  heights  somewhere 
I  near  the  present  location  of  the  High  Bridge.  So 
soon  as  the  heights  were  gained,  he  pushed  his  men 
across  the  island  towards  the  citadel,  and  the  Hes- 
sians and  Percy  combining,  Fort  Washington  fell, 
and  from  that  time  to  the  end  of  the  Revolution 
Manhattan  Island  and  the  adjoining  shore  remained 
under  British  rule  and  occupation. 

Thenceforth  the  Westchester  shore,  and,  in  fact, 
the  whole  of  the  ancient  township  was  the  scene  for 
many  years  of  raids  and  foraging  parties.  The  Ameri- 
can lines  extended  across  Westchester  from  Dobbs 
Ferry  to  the  Sound.  On  one  occasion  an  American 
scouting  party  near  Williams'  Bridge  ^«ould  have 
been  ambuscaded  by  a  British  scouting  squad  had  it 
not  been  for  the  timely  warning  a  young  girl  gave 
them  of  the  British  approach,  she  having  seen  them 
j  from  her  garret  window.  In  the  following  autumn 
the  right  advanced  line  of  the  British  extended  from 
Hunt's  Bridge  to  East  Chester  Creek.  They  kept 
continually  shifting  their  position,  but  towards  win- 
I  ter  the  troops  were  drawn  in  quite  close  to  King's 
I  Bridge  and  the  British  built  a  number  of  huts  and 
cantonments.  De  Lancey's  corps  of  loyal  refugees 
were  (piartered  at  and  near  the  Morris  place,  at  Mor- 


s  Traces  of  this  earthwork  are  still  to  be  seen. 


792 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


risania.  Col.  Emmerick's  corps,  also  composed  prin- 
cipally of  Tories,  [were  posted  near  King's  Bridge 
These  troops,  when  they  wanted  building  material  for 
their  winter-quarters,  tore  down  the  farmers'  houses 
in  the  vicinity.  The  Americans,  of  course,  retaliated, 
and  skirmishes  and  hairbreadth  escapes  by  the  par- 
tisans of  both  sides  were  the  order  of  the  day.  On 
one  occasion  Colonel  James  de  Lancey,  while  visiting 
his  aged  mother  at  her  home  at  the  Mills,  had  tied 
his  horse,  a  valuable  imported  thoroughbred,  to  the 
fence.  Some  American  scouts  seeing  the  horse,  and 
knowing  his  value,  immediately  took  him  and  carried 
him  within  the  American  lines  at  White  Plains. 
There  some  enterprising  Yankee  bought  him.  The 
horse  was  known  as  "True  Briton,"  and  is  said  to  be 
the  progenitor  of  the  celebrated  stock,  now  known 
to  horse  fanciers  as  "Morgans."' 

On  another  occasion  Colonel  Thomas,  an  American 
officer,  desirous  of  visiting  his  family,  and  learning 
that  the  British  had  gone  into  winter-quarters  at 
King's  Bridge  and  Morrisania,  ventured  home.  Word 
of  his  arrival  reached  the  Queen's  Rangers,  the  house 
was  surrounded  and  several  of  Thomas'  men  were 
captured.  The  colonel  jumped  from  the  window 
and  had  nearly  escaped  when  one  of  the  Rangers 
caught  him.  Thomas  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  New 
Lots,  on  Long  Island.  There  he  escaped  and 
remained  concealed  in  the  woods  for  several  days. 
He  finally  got  into  the  city  of  New  York  disguised 
as  a  wood-chopper.  He  had  let  his  beard  grow. 
The  British  employed  a  negro  who  knew  him  very 
well  to  act  as  a  detective  for  his  capture.  Thomas 
saw  them  coming  and  went  to  bed,  and  when  his 
face  was  uncovered  the  negro  said  that  was  not  the 
man.  Through  the  influence  of  a  friend,  he  ob- 
tained quarters  in  the  house  of  a  widow.  One 
evening,  when  a  search  party  arrived,  she  took  him 
down  into  the  cellar,  turned  a  hogshead  over  him  and 
then  threw  half  a  bushel  of  salt  on  the  head  of  the 
hogshead.  The  cellar  was  searched,  but  this  simi)le 
stratagem  saved  him  from  capture.  He  eventually 
escaped  by  a  canoe,  landed  at  Fort  Lee  and  joined  the 
Americans  by  crossing  the  river  farther  up.- 

In  1778-79  the  season  was  very  inclement  on  the 
heights  about  King's  Bridge  and  Fordham  and  but  a 
small  guar^  was  kept.  The  condition  of  the  people 
and  the  country  must  have  been  very  bad.  President 
Dwight,  in  his  record  of  his  travels,  comments  on  the 
trepidation  of  the  inhabitants  who  lived  between  the 
lines  of  the  two  armies:  "  They  feared  everybody  they 
saw,  and  loved  nobody."  In  conversation  "  answers 
were  given  to  please  the  inquirer,"  or  if  they  could 
not  please,  they  tried  by  the  answer  "not  to  pro- 
voke." Fear  was  the  only  passion  which  animated 
them;  the  power  of  volition  seemed  to  have  deserted 
them;  they  were  not  civil,  but  obsequious,  not  oblig- 

1"  History  of  the  Morgan  Horses."    This  fact  was  brought  to  my  at- 
tention by  kindness  of  Edward  F.  de  Lancey,  Esq. 
'Simcoe's  "Historj  of  the  Queen's  Bangers.  " 


ing  but  subservient ;  their  houses  were  scenes  of  deso- 
lation, furniture  plundered  or  broken,  the  walls,  floors 
and  windows  injured  by  violence  and  decay,  cattle 
were  gone  and  fences  burnt ;  the  fields  were  covered 
with  a  rank  growth  of  weeds  and  wild  grass ;  the 
world  was  motionless  and  silent,  unless  one  of  these 
unhappy  creatures  went  on  a  rare  visit  to  the  house  of 
a  neighbor  no  less  unhappy,  or  a  scouting  party 
alarmed  them  with  expectations  of  new  injuries  and 
sufferings.  The  wheel-tracks  were  grown  over  and 
obliterated,  and  the  venerable  chaplain  of  a  New 
England  regiment,  afterwards  president  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, said  that  their  condition  reminded  him  of  the 
Song  of  Deborah:  "In  the  days  of  Shamgar  and  Jael 
the  highways  were  unoccupied  and  the  travelers 
walked  in  the  by-paths.  The  inhabitants  of  the  vil- 
lages ceased,  they  ceased  in  Israel."^ 

Though  this  territory  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  its  people  and  residents  still  hid  their  repre- 
sentation in  what  was  then  the  County  Legislature, 
or  County  Committee,  as  shown  by  the  following  in- 
teresting document : 

"King  Street,  February  y«  12,  1777. 
"  A  Number  of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  Westchester 
County  having  appeared  at  the  Court  House  on  the  16th  April,  1776,  in 
consequence  of  Notice  given  for  that  Purpose  by  the  Committee  of  tlie 
said  County,  chose  the  Persons  hereafter  named  to  serve  as  a  Committee 
for  the  said  County  from  the  •2'">  Monday  in  May,  1776,  to  the  2'"i  Mon- 
day in  May,  1777 — any  twenty  whereof  to  be  a  Quorum,  viz' : 

"For  Moi-rimnUi. 
"  Lewis  Morris,  Jun' — 1. 


'  Thomas  Hunt. 
Abraham  Leggett. 
Israel  Honeywell. 
John  Oakley. 


'  For  We»tcheater. 

Gilbert  Oakley. 
Daniel  White. 
John  Smith— 7. 


"  I  do  hereby  certify  that  the  above  is  a  true  Copy  tjiken  from  the 
Records  of  the  Committee  of  the  County  of  Westcbester. 

"  Edward  Thomas,  Clerk."  * 

In  the  summer  of  1777  Colonel  Lord  Cathcart  was 
in  command  of  the  British  out-posts  stationed  at 
King's  Bridge  and  along  the  Fordham  Ridge. 

Simcoe's  Queen's  Rangers,^  Emmerick's  corps  and 
Hovenden's,  James'  and  Sandford's  partisan  corps 
were  also  stationed  there.  A  chain  of  redoubts  was 
constructed  by  the  British  on  Fordham  Ridge,  at  dis- 
tances just  far  enough  apart  to  secure  the  flanks  of  a 

3  Dwight's  '•  Travels,  "  iii.  491. 

*  Calendar  of  Revolutionary  Papers,  vol.  i.  page  632. 

5  The  Queen's  Rangers  were  originally  raised  in  Connecticut  and  the- 
vicinity  of  New  York  by  Colonel  Rogers.  They  at  one  time  mustered 
about  four  hundred  meu,  all  Americans  and  Tories.  Hardship  and  neg- 
lect had  reduced  their  numbere.  and,  after  several  changes  in  command- 
ers, they  were  finally  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain  J.  G.  Sim- 
coe,  of  the  Fortieth  British  Regulars,  about  October,  1777,  he  being 
given  the  provincial  rank  of  major.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  in  commenting 
on  the  gallantry  of  the  corps,  said,  "  The  Queen's  Rangers  have  killed 
or  taken  twice  their  own  number."  After  the  American  War,  Colonel 
Simcoe  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Upper  Canada,  and  in 
October,  179^ ,  he  was  promoted  maiior-general,  and  became  civil  Gov- 
ernor and  ■commander-in-chief  of  the  Island  |of  San  Domingo.  October 
3,  1798,  he  was  promoted  to  be  lieutenant-general,  and  died  in  1806,  at 
the  age  of  fifty-four  years.  Though  our  enemy,  his  gallant  deeds  are- 
worthy  of  record. 


WESTCHESTER. 


793 


battalion.  These  redoubts  can,  many  of  them,  be 
tr<iced  to-day.  One  was  on  the  country  place  of  Mr. 
Olaflin,  another  on  that  of  Mr.  Bailey,  and  still  an- 
other in  Mr.  Mulis'  woods,  just  west  of  Sedgwick  Ave- 
nue. The  light  troops  lay  encamped  about  half  a 
mile  in  advance  of  the  line  of  the  redoubts,  so  as  to 
secure  them  from  surprise.  The  American  advance 
line  extended  from  the  Saw-Mill  River  to  New  Ro- 
chelle,  and  sometimes  the  American  scouting  parties 
would  come  as  far  south  as  Williams'  Bridge.  The 
Queen's  Rangers  and  Emmerick's  corps  had  in  their 
ranks  many  Tory  natives  of  Westchester,  who  had  a 
knowledge  of  the  country  equal  to  our  own  men. 
Clinton  and  Morgan,  from  the  American  side,  were 
continually  foraging  the  adjoining  country,  between 
the  two  lines,  which  was  so  irregular  and  broken 
with  stone  walls  as  to  render  it  most  i)racticable  for 
such  excursions ;  besides,  the  British  could  not  tru>t 
the  people  of  the  country.  In  the  day-time  the  Brit- 
ish guards  were  advanced  as  far  as  the  high  ridge 
overlooking  the  Bronx,  just  above  Williams'  Bridge. 
At  night  only  a  picket  line  was  left  there.  On  one 
occasion  a  picket  sergeant,  belonging  to  the  Queen's 
Rangers,  in  advancing  the  picket  guard,  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Americans,  who  had  crawled  up  behind 
the  stone  fence.  As  the  sergeant  had  deserted 
Irom  the  American  army,  he  was  thrown  into 
prison  and  threatened  with  death ;  a  threat  that 
the  British  would  kill  the  first  six  Americans 
they  captured,  in  case  the  sergeant  was  put  to 
death,  alone  saved  his  life  and  resulted  in  his  ex- 
change. 

But  the  British  occupancy  was  soon  disputed  by 
the  Americans  in  greater  force.  In  January,  1778,  a 
large  force  of  Americans  were  sent  to  attempt  the  cap- 
ture of  King's  Bridge  and  Fordham  Heights.  General 
Lincoln  advanced  down  the  Albany  post  road  from  Tar- 
rytown,  Wooster  and  Parsons  from  New  Rochelle  and 
East  Chester,  and  Scott  took  the  centre  road  from  White 
Plains,  which  debouches  in  the  old  road  near  the  new 
reservoir  just  being  constructed  near  Williams'  Bridge. 
General  Heath  was  in  command  of  the  whole  expedi- 
tion. The  calculation  was  that  the  three  columns 
would  reach  King's  Bridge  about  the  same  time. 
Lincoln  was  to  halt  at  Van  Cortlandt's,  Scott  at  Valen- 
tine's Hill,  near  the  present  South  Yonkers  Station, 
and  Wooster  at  the  top  of  the  Williams'  Bridge  Hill. 
Wooster  struck  the  enemy's  pickets  first  at  the  top  of 
the  Williams'  Bridge  Hill,  and  pushing  on,  drove  the 
enemy  from  the  redoubt  on  the  Claflin,  or  Perot  farm, 
and  the  British  commander  of  the  fort  at  King's  Bridge 
was  ordered  to  surrender.  The  redoubt  on  the  Bai- 
ley place,  which  commanded  the  fort  at  King's  Bridge 
from  the  south  and  rear,  was  also  taken  possession  of 
by  the  Americans,  and  tire  was  opened  on  the  fort  at 
King's  Bridge.  It  was  determined  to  carry  this  fort 
by  assault. 

The  enemy  cannonaded  from  the  fort  and  killed 
one  American  as  the  guards  were  being  relieved  at 


the  Negro  Fort.'  A  plan  to  cut  off  the  battalion  in 
the  fort  at  King's  Bridge,  by  putting  a  strong  force 
over  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek  on  the  ice,  was  matured. 
A  thousand  men  were  detailed  for  the  i)urpose,  but 
the  weather  growing  warm,  it  was  deemed  too  hazard- 
ous to  risk  the  men  on  the  ice  the  next  morning. 
There  was  a  heavy  cannonading  kept  up  all  day,  and 
the  enemy  on  the  island  were  thrown  into  great  con- 
fusion. Heath  observing  that  the  British,  during  the 
cannonade,  took  refuge  behind  the  hill  at  the  bridge 
on  the  Hudson  River  side,  rode  around  in  the  after- 
noon to  Tippit's  Hill,  which  was  in  the  rear  of  the 
British  position,  though  on  the  Westchester  shore, 
and  concluded  that  a  field-piece  placed  there  would 
leave  the  enemy  no  hiding-place.  This  was  near  the 
present  residence  of  Mr.  Edsall,  at  Spuyten  Duyvil. 

On  January  21st  llie  artillery  battle  was  continued 
on  both  sides,  and  Heatli  succeeded  in  getting  a  field- 
piece  to  the  summit  of  Tippit's  Hill.  Thus  the  enemy 
were  cannonaded  from  the  front  and  rear,  and  their 

I  position  made  untenable.  Some  took  refuge  in  the 
redoubt,  while  others  lay  flat  under  the  bank,  or  bc- 

I  took  themselves  to  the  cellars.  In  a  short  time  the 
American  artillerymen  had  swept  the  field  clean  and 
there  was  no  object  left  for  them  to  train  their  guns 
upon.  The  weather  had  grown  very  moderate.  Ou 
the  22d  a  smart  skirmish  occurred  near  the  fort,  and 
Heath  sent  for  a  twenty-four-pounder  and  some  how- 
itzers. On  the  23d  a  lively  fight  took  place  just  he- 
fore  dusk  in  the  broken  groiuid  near  the  south  side  of 
the  fort,  probably  on  the  Dykman  farm.  An  ensign 
and  one  man  of  the  New  York  Militia  were  killed 
and  five  wounded ;  the  loss  of  the  enemy  was  un  known , 
as  they  were  close  to  the  fort. 

On  the  morning  of  the  25th  the  enemy  made  a 
sally  in  the  direction  of  deLancey's  Mills,  where  they 
surprised  and  routed  the  guard, 'wounding  several, 
but  neither  killing  or  capturing  any  of  them.  A 
regiment  near  that  place  quitted  their  quarters.  Em- 
boldened by  their  success,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  British  made  a  powerful  sally  in  the 
direction  of  Valentine's  (Bailey  place)  and  the  Negro 
Fort  (Claflin's  place),  instantly  driving  the  guards 
and  pickets  away.  The  guards  threw  them- 
selves into  the  old  redoubt  near  Williams' 
Bridge  (the  present  site  of  the  new  reservoir  on 
Michael  Varian's  farm),  and  the  enemy  took  a  posi- 
tion behind  a  stone  wall  to  the  southwest.  Two  regi- 
ments of  the  militia  were  formed  in  the  road  near 
Williams'  house,  which,  according  to  the  De  Witt 
map,  (vol.  4,  Hist.  Soc,  No.  122.)  was  situated  east  of 
the  Bronx,  and  the  horses  being  hitched  to  the  limbers 
of  the  field-pieces,  Captain  Bryant  was  ordered  to 
cross  the  river  by  fording  with  his  piece,  and  the 
militia  was  ordered  to  follow.  Captain  Bryant  un- 
limbered  his  field-piece  when  he  had  reached  the  top 
of  the  Williams'  Bridge  hill,  and  to  prevent  his  horses 
being  killed,  the  men  pulled  the  gun  up  the  rest  of 

>  This  was  on  the  place  of  the  late  H.  B.  Clallin. 


794 


HISTOKY  OF  WESTCHESTEll  COUNTY. 


the  way  with  drag-ropes,  but  the  steepness  of  the  hill 
was  such  that  the  men  were  obliged  to  drag  the  gun 
almost  within  pistol-shot  before  they  could  depress  it 
sufficiently  to  play  upon  the  enemy.  The  moment 
this  was  done  a  round  shot  made  a  breach  in  the 
stone  wall  four  or  five  feet  wide.  A  second  shot 
opened  another  and  the  enemy  fled  back  to  the  fort. 
The  American  loss  was  two  killed  and  a  number 
wounded.  On  the  27th  the  brass  twenty-four-pounder 
and  the  howitzer  were  brought  up  and  ordered  to 
open  fire  on  the  fort,  but  on  the  third  discharge  of  the 
twenty-four-pounder  it  was  dismounted  by  its  own 
recoil.    No  shells  had  been  sent  with  the  howitzer. 

Heath  attempted  in  every  way  to  draw  the  enemy 
out  of  the  fort  by  feint  or  otherwise.  A  detachment 
was  sent  down  to  Morrisania  to  light  up  a  great  num- 
ber of  fires  in  the  night,  so  as  to  make  the  British  be- 
lieve that  the  Americans  were  in  large  force  at  that 
place  with  the  design  of  crossing  to  New  York  Island 
at  or  near  Harlem.  To  heighten  this  impression,  sev- 
eral large  boats  were  sent  for  and  brought  forward  on 
carriages.  The  British  guard  on  Montressor's  (Ran- 
dall's) Island  were  so  much  alarmed  that  they  set 
the  buildings  on  fire  and  fled  to  New  York.  On  the 
29th  a  severe  snow-storm  threatened  ;  so  Generals 
Heath,  Lincoln,  Wooster,  Scott  and  Ten  Broeck  came 
to  the  unanimous  conclusion  that  the  troops  should 
move  back  before  the  storm  came  on  to  places  where 
they  could  be  sheltered  from  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather.  As  they  possessed  no  artillery  sufficient  to 
batter  the  fort,  and  they  were  opposed  to  storming  it 
with  militia,  and  the  principal  object  being  to  destroy 
or  bring  ofi" forage,  which  could  be  accomplished  with- 
out opposing  the  men  in  the  open  field  or  scattering 
them  about  in  houses,  where  they  would  be  in  danger 
of  capture  in  detail — for  these  reasons  the  troops  were 
ordered  to  retire  as  soon  as  it  grew  dusk.  Lincoln's 
division  marched  to  Dobbs  Ferry  and  Tarrytown, 
Wooster's  to  New  Rochelle  and  Scott's  to  White 
Plains.  They  were  not  safe  in  their  quarters  before 
the  snow  fell  heavily. 

In  1779  Heath  was  again  in  command  of  the  Amer- 
ican outposts,  which  continually  raided  Westchester 
township.  In  August  of  that  year  Sheldon's  and  Mor- 
gan's horse  and  the  militia,  with  forty  men  of  Glover's 
Continental  brigade,  made  a  raid  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Morrisania,  captured  some  prisoners  and  cattle  and 
were  finally  driven  off'  by  the  British.  A  few  days 
afterwards  the  British,  seeing  the  necessity  of  having 
strong  defenses  at  the  north  end  of  Manhattan  Island, 
built  a  fort  on  Laurel  Hill,  at  the  high  point  now  the 
terminus  of  Tenth  Avenue,  and  about  this  time  also 
constructed  Redoubt  Number  Eight,  on  theWestchester 
side,  on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Gustav 
Schwab,  near  Morris'  Dock.  Shortly  after  the  build- 
ing of  Fort  Number  Eight,  I>ieut.  Oakley,  of  the 
American  army,  took  five  prisoners  and  came  very 
near  capturing  Colonel  de  Lancey,  the  leader  of  the 
Tory  Westchester  light  horse,  who  was  quartered  at 


that  time  at  the  Archer  house,  which  lay  just  under 
the  guns  of  the  fort.  The  old  house  is  standing  to- 
day and  traces  of  Fort  Number  Eight  are  to  be  found 
on  Mr.  Schwab's  lawn.  The  gallant  Armand  in  the 
same  year  made  a  raid  and  captured  Captain  Cruger 
of  Bearmore's  corps. '  During  1780  the  township  was 
tliescene  of  constant  military  mananivres.  In  February 
of  that  year  a  body  of  British  cavalry  crossed  the 
East  River  on  the  ice  from  Long  Island  to  West- 
chester. Arnold  also  began  to  fit  out  a  boat  expedi- 
tion in  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  which,  however,  was 
never  carried  out.  De  Lancey  was  making  continual 
raids  from  Fordham  and  Morrisania  on  the  adjoining 
country,  and  the  Americans  were  constantly  retaliat- 
ing, at  one  time  having  gone  so  far  into  the  territory 
as  to  destroy  a  pontoon  bridge  which  the  enemy  had 
thrown  across  the  Harlem  at  Morrisania  and  carried 
ofl'  large  numbers  of  cattle.^ 

The  last  important  military  movement  in  West- 
chester township  was  Washington's  grand  reconnois- 
ance,  in  1781,  in  company  with  Count  Rochambeau 
and  other  French  officers.  It  was  part  of  his  plan  of 
wresting  New  York  City  from  the  British,  or  else 
forcing  them  to  draw  upon  their  troops  in  the  South 
for  the  protection  of  the  city.  The  French  forces, 
which  had  landed  at  Newport,  were  marched  across 
the  country  and  joined  Washington  on  the  Hudson, 
and  it  was  intended  that  both  armies  should  move 
down  the  river  to  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and 
there,  in  conjunction  with  the  fleet  of  De  Grasse, 
undertake  the  capture  of  the  city.  The  project 
miscarried  because  the  British  were  more  strongly 
re-enforced  than  had  been  anticipated ;  but  Lin- 
coln, who  had  come  down  from  Tarrytown,  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  his  men  into  Fort  Independence, 
just  over  the  lower  line.  The  enemy  discovered  him 
and  an  irregular  skirmish  ensued.  De  Lauzun,  the 
French  general,  who  was  co-operating,  was  at  that 
time  at  East  Chester  and  heard  the  firing  of  the  guns. 
His  part  of  the  programme  was  to  surprise  de  Lancey 
at  Morrisania,  but  finding  that  the  enemy  were  on  the 
alert  he  hastened  to  Lincoln's  support,  at  Fort  Inde- 
pendence. Washington,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  had 
the  main  body  of  the  army  under  his  command  at 
Valentine's  Hill  (near  the  present  depot  of  the  New 
York  City  and  Northern  Railroad  Company,  at  South 
Yonkers),  also  advanced.  The  British  retreated  by 
their  boats  across  Harlem  River. 

Washington  determined  that  he  would  reconnoitre 
their  works,  at  all  events.  On  July  21st  Lincoln  and 
Chastellereux  made  a  reconnoisance  of  the  works  to 
the  north  of  New  York  Island.  Some  advanced  by 
the  old  Albany  road,  some  down  the  Saw-Mill  Valley, 
and  the  third  column  by  the  East  Chester  road.  Scam- 
mel's  light  infantry  was  in  advance,  to  prevent  in- 
telligence of  the  general  movement  spreading.  Shel- 

1  Heath's  ■ '  Memoire, "  215,  223,  228. 

2  Heath,  232. 
'Heath's  "Memoirs." 


WESTCHESTER. 


795 


don's  cavalry  and  the  Connecticut  troops  were  to  go 
to  the  eastward  of  Westchester  township  and  scour 
Throgg's  Neck  ;  his  infantry  and  the  Count  De  Lau- 
zun's  lancers  were  to  scour  Morrisania.  The  main 
body  arrived  at  Fort  Independence  at  daybreak. 
The  British  on  New  York  Island  did  not  seem  to  know 
what  was  going  on.  While  the  troops  kept  the  enemy 
in  check,  Washington  and  Kochambeau,  accompanied 
by  the  engineers  of  their  staffs  and  with  an  escort  of 
dragoons,  reconnoitred  the  British  position.  A  map 
prepared  by  ^^'ashingtou's  engineer,  now  at  the  His- 
torical Society  Library  in  Second  Avenue,  with  its 
pencil-marks  and  memoranda,  brings  the  whole  move- 
ment down  almost  to  an  eye-witness  standpoint.  They 
rode  across  country  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Sound. 
The  British  shelled  them  from  several  points,  but  the 
cortege  proceeded  leisurely  on  their  business.' 

Nothing  more  of  much  moment  seems  to  have  oc- 
curred in  Revolutionary  times  within  the  bounds  of 
Westchester  township.  Soon  the  surrender  at  York- 
town  and  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  en- 
abled the  sturdy  yeomen  of  Westchester  to  behold 
the  last  scene  in  this  drama  of  war,  when  Washing- 
ton, with  his  escort,  crossed  Harlem  River  to  witness 
the  evacuation  of  New  Y'ork  by  the  British. 

HARLEM  RIVER. 

The  conveniences  afforded  by  the  Harlem  River  for 
navigation  had  much  to  do  with  the  early  settlement 
of  the  west  side  of  Westchester  County.  It  is  an  estu- 
ary of  East  River,  which  is  itself  an  arm  of  the  sea,  and 
its  southerly  or  main  outlet  and  its  communication 
eastwardly  with  Bronx  Kills  afforded  the  Dutch  and 
English  pioneers  easy  routes  of  water  communication 
with  New  York  and  between  the  plantations  and  in- 
choate towns  on  the  water  front.  As  very  many  of 
the  subjects  both  of  the  King  and  the  Prince  of  Orange 
came  from  the  coast  towns  of  England  and  Holland, 
there  were  among  them  plenty  of  men  who  knew  how 
to  build,  equip  and  sail  a  boat,  and  so  they  were  scarcely 
warm  in  their  new  homes  before  their  sloops  and  peri- 
augers  stemmed  the  Harlem,  and  their  white  wings 
amazed  the  Indian  aborigines.  The  sole  obstacle  to 
this  land-locked  navigation  was  the  third  outlet  of  the 
Harlem, — the  dangerous  Little  Hell  Gate,  where  the 
menacing  black  rocks  and  angry  whirlpools  obstructed 
the  passage  between  Randall's  and  Ward's  Islands. 

Prior  to  1814  the  river  was  navigated  by  small 
craft,  but  in  that  year  Robert  McComb  obtained  from 
the  Legislature  permission  to  throw  dams  across  the 
stream  at  Eighth  Avenue  and  King's  Bridge,  and 
in  1888  the  New  Y'ork  water  commissioners  attempted 
to  impose  another  obstacle  to  free  navigation  by  carry- 
ing the  Croton  water  over  to  the  city  reservoirs  on  a 
solid  embankment.  ^  The  importance  of  the  river  led, 

1  Irving'9  "Life  of  Washington,"  vol.  iv.,  chap,  xjcii.  Putnam's 
Ikl.,  1857. 

*  Tho  liistory  of  the  proceedings  wiiich  leii  to  the  removal  of  McConib's 
dam  nud  tho  thwarting  of  tliis  plan  of  the  water  commissioners  will  lie 
found  in  subsequent  pages  of  this  chapter. 


in  1827,  to  the  formation  of  the  Harlem  River  Canal 
Company,  which,  on  April  Kith  of  that  year,  was  in- 
corporated to  construct  a  canal  from  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek  to  Harlem  River,  and  to  improve  the  navigation 
of  tlie  river  so  as  to  form  a  navigable  channel  from  it 
to  the  East  River.  The  enterprise  was  abandoned 
because  the  company  thought  there  was  no  money  in 
it.  At  various  sessions  in  183G,  1837  and  1838  the 
Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New  York  discussed 
the  advisability  of  taking  up  in  some  shape  the  work 
that  the  company  had  drojiped,  and  received  from 
Engineer  George  C.  Schaeffier  a  report  recommending 
improvements,  substantially  the  same  system  as  that 
proposed  in  recent  years  by  the  United  States 
engineers.  Although  Mr.  Schaeffer  estimated  the 
cost  of  the  work  at  only  eighty-six  thousand  dollars, 
the  Council  was  timid  about  entering  into  it,  and  for 
eighteen  years  notliing  was  done,  and  the  river  re- 
mained closed  to  thorough  navigation  by  McComb's 
Dam  until  the  obstructions  were  removed  by  the  force 
of  public  opinion  and  the  action  of  the  citizens  in  the 
neighborhood.  In  18")"),  at  the  request  of  the  city 
authorities,  the  Legislature  authorized  the  Governor 
to  appoint  a  special  commission  to  establish  pier  and 
bulkhead  lines  on  Harlem  River,  and  in  1858  this 
task  was  completed  under  the  supervision  of  General 
Totten,  United  States  army,  Professor  Bache  of  the 
Coast  Survey,  and  Captain  Davis,  United  States  navy. 
In  their  report  tliey  laid  emphatic  stress  upon  the 
importance  of  the  preservation  of  the  navigation  of 
ihe  Harlem  to  accommodate  the  wants  of  the  city 
and  Westchester  County.  "  The  distance  from  Hud- 
son River  to  Hell  Gate  by  this  passage,"  they  wrote, 
"  is  eight  and  a  half  miles.  Its  easy  access  from  the 
Sound  and  moderately  easy  access  from  New  York 
Harbor  and  its  quiet  interior,  would  seem  to  make  it 
a  desirable  thoroughfare  for  vessels  passing  from 
Long  Island  Sound  to  the  Hudson,  and  in  certain 
cases  even  for  those  passing  between  New  Y''ork  Har- 
bor on  the  East  River  and  the  Hudson." 

This  report  was  not  fruitful  of  any  results.  On 
March  30,  1857,  the  State  Legislature  passed  resolu- 
tions urging  Congress  to  take  measures  to  clear  out 
tlie  obstructions  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States, 
to  which  no  attention  was  paid.  In  18(50  Engineer  J. 
iSIcLeod  Murphy  surveyed  the  river,  at  the  instance  of 
the  commissioners  of  New  Y'ork  County,  and  recom- 
mended a  canal  from  Fordham  Landing  to  Spuyten 
Duyvil  Creek,  as  wsis  outlined  by  Schaeffer  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  century  previously,  but  he  put  the 
whole  cost  of  the  improvement  up  to  one  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  tliousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  dollars.  In  1863  the  Hudson  and  Harlem  River 
Canal  Company  was  incor[)orated,  and  its  engineer, 
Isaiic  D.  Coleman,  reported  in  favor  of  one  canal,  on 
Schaeff'er's  plan,  and  another,  through  the  northern 
end  of  Randall's  Island,  following  the  course  of  Bronx 
Kills,  so  as  to  open  a  passage  eastward  for  vessels 
coming  through  the  Harlem  by  which  they  might 


796 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


avoid  the  dangers  of  Hell  Gate.  The  company  twice 
procured  an  extension  of  its  charter,  but,  as  it  never 
took  any  further  steps,  its  grant  became  forfeited  in 
1870. 

In  1866  the  commissioners  of  Central  Park,  who 
were  then  charged  with  the  duty  of  improving  the 
river  and  supervising  the  erection  of  bridges,  made  an 
elaborate  report  to  the  Common  Council  on  the  sub- 
ject. Andrew  H.  Green,  then  controller  of  the  Park 
Department  and  afterwards  of  New  York  City, 
commenting  upon  it,  said,  ''  It  needs  but  a  short 
look  into  the  future  to  see  this  river  busy  with  the 
craft  that  are  to  supply  the  thriving  population  on 
both  its  banks.  As  a  water-way  for  commerce  this 
estuary  has  the  advantages  of  the  Thames  and  the 
Seine."  He  pointed  out  that  the  improvements  must 
be  undertaken  by  public  instead  of  private  enterprise, 
and  forecasted  the  course  of  legislation  which  has 
placed  under  governmental  control  the  improvement 
of  the  river. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  continual  agitation  and 
suggestion,  Congress,  in  1874,  passed  an  act  directing 
an  examination  and  survey  to  be  made,  and  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1876,  General  Newton  made  a  report  favoring 
the  establishment  of  an  open  water-route  between  the 
Hudson  and  the  Sound  by  way  of  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek,  a  cut  through  Dykman's  meadows,  and  thence 
to  the  Harlem  Kiver.  He  estimated  the  cost  at  three 
million  three  hundred  and  twenty-one  thousand  dollars. 
Proceedings  for  the  acquisition  of  the  right  of  way 
are  nearly  complete,  and  before  long,  in  a  few  months, 
perhaps,  the  work  of  construction  will  be  begun.* 

BRIDGES  OVER  HARLEM  RIVER. 

King's  Bridge. — In  another  part  of  this  volume  is 
noted  the  ferries  at  Harlem  and  8i)uyten  Duyvil  kept 
by  Johannes  Verveelen.  In  1712,  Frederick  Philipse, 
of  Yonkers,  was  authorized  to  construct  the  present 
bridge  at  King's  Bridge,  and  it  was  ever  afterwards 
the  principal  passage  to  the  mainland. 

Farmers'  Bridge. — The  origin  of  the  Hadley  or 
Farmers'  or  Dyckman's  bridge  is,  to  a  certain  extent, 
unknown.  Perhaps  it  is  the  "causey"  or  "cause- 
way "  mentioned  in  the  early  history  of  Fordham.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  in  existence  before  the  Revolu- 
tion. It  is  shown  on  many  of  the  old  military  maps 
of  the  vicinity,  published  during  1776,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  built  by  the  proprietors  or  people 
of  the  Manor  of  Fordham,  to  enable  the  inhabitants 
of  that  place  to  obtain  more  ready  access  to  the  city 
and  save  them  a  detour  to  get  upon  the  State  road, 
leading  to  Yonkers  and  Albany,  via  King's  Bridge. 

It  was  for  a  century  kept  in  order  by  the  city  au- 
thorities of  New  York,  as  the  authorities  in  West- 


1  The  authorities  for  above  :  The  various  Reports  alluded  to  in  the 
author's  possession,  Proceedings  by  Common  Council,  Board  of  Alder- 
men, Acts  of  New  York  Legislature,  Proceedings  Commissioners  of  Cen- 
tral Park,  and  private  memoranda.  Thanks  are  due  to  Captain  Tuomey, 
clerk  nf  th«  Board  of  Aldermen  of  New  York  City,  for  valuable  assist- 
ance, as  many  of  the  documents  referred  to  are  rar»  and  difficult  to  find. 


Chester  County  contended  that  as  the  whole  of  it  was 
within  the  limits  of  New  York  County,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  city  corporation  to  keep  it  in  repair.'' 

It  is  in  contemplation  by  the  city  authorities  to  dis- 
continue this  bridge  and  King's  Bridge,  and  erect 
either  a  tunnel  or  one  large  bridge  at  the  upper  end 
of  Manhattan  Island,  but  as  yet  the  plans  for  this 
change  are  not  perfected. 

Between  the  Farmers'  Bridge  and  the  High  Bridge 
commissioners  are  about  erecting  a  new  bridge,  span- 
ning the  stream  and  extending  from  Aqueduct  Avenue 
on  the  Westchester  shore  to  the  Tenth  Avenue  on  the 
Manhattan  Island  aide.  This  bridge  is  to  be  built 
in  pursuance  of  the  Laws  of  1885,  and  is  to  be  a 
masonry  structure  with  an  arch  spanning  the  entire 
channel  of  the  river,  over  one  hundred  feet  above 
high  water-mark.    The  contract  is  about  to  be  let. 

The  Croton  Aqueduct  or  High  Bridge. — 
The  high  bridge  which  crosses  the  Harlem  River 
at  the  northwest  corner  of  Morrisania  was  built  as 
an  aqueduct  to  convey  the  water  of  the  Croton  River 
to  the  reservoirs  of  New  York  City.  It  spans  the  Har- 
lem where  that  stream  has  a  width  of  six  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  and  its  banks  an  elevation  of  one  hundred 
feet.  The  original  design  of  the  engineers  was  to  con- 
vey the  conduit  across  the  river  by  means  of  a  stone 
embankment,  broken  by  a  high  arch,  through  which 
the  water  would  flow  in  a  syphon,  but  the  objections 
of  the  property-holders  in  the  vicinity  caused  the 
bridge  plan  to  be  adopted.  The  aqueduct  has  tifteen 
arches,  eight  of  which  are  on  the  river  bottom.  They 
are  each  eighty  feet  in  width  and  one  hundred  feet 
high  above  flood  tide.  The  seven  shore  arches  have 
each  fifty  feet  span.  To  reach  the  foundation  of  each 
pier  a  coffer-dam  was  built  and  pumped  out  until  the 
sand  bottom  was  excavated  and  the  solid  rock  laid  bare 
or  a  firm  pile  foundation  prepared  on  which  the  ma- 
sonry was  laid.  Above  the  roof  of  the  arches  the  huge 
iron  pipes  which  carry  the  water  are  fixed  on  wooden 
sills,  and  above  them  is  the  foot-way  of  the  bridge. 
As  the  elevation  of  the  arches  is  less  than  that  of  the 
Croton  Aqueduct,  a  system  of  syphons  and  gate  houses 
receives  the  water  at  the  east  side  and  discharges  it 
at  the  west.  The  aqueduct  was  in  working  order  on 
July  4,  1842,  but  the  bridge  was  not  completed  until 
six  years  and  six  months  afterward.  Its  extreme 
height  above  the  river  surface  is  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  feet,  two  inches.  It  is  constructed  of  sound 
gneiss,  equal  in  durability  to  granite.  The  cost  of 
the  aqueduct  was  $8,575,000,  including  purchases  of 
land  and  extinguishment  of  riparian  rights.  This 
figure  was  within  five  per  cent,  of  the  estimates  of 
Chief  Engineer  Jervis.  To  it,  however,  must  be 
added  $1,800,000,  the  cost  of  distributing  pipes,  the 
interest,  the  expense  of  placing  the  loans,  etc.,  which 
bring  the  total  up  to  $12,500,000.' 


-  Proceedings  of  Board  of  Supervisors  N.  Y.  Co.,  April,  1856. 
3  Schrampke's  account  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct. 


WESTCHESTKH. 


797 


The  following  inscription  appears  on  the  mason 
work  of  the  structure : 

"AyvEDrCT  Bkidoe. 
Fiiiishi  il  Doce.iiliiT  31",  IS48. 
1 


I'liilij)  Hone, 
Nalliaintil  Weed, 
M.  0.  Roberts, 
J.  H.  Ilobart  Haws, 
A.  C.  Kiiigsland, 

John  li.  .lerviu,  Cliiof, 
P.  Hiistie,  Itesiiieiit, 
E.  H.  Tracy,  AssistanI, 


S    Water  Commissioners. 


J 


■I.  Vervaleii,  Inspector  of  Masonry. 


Geoi^e  Law, 
Samuel  Roberts, 
Arnold  Mason, 


1 
I 

[■  Coutractoi'S. 


On  the  gate-houses  at  either  end  is  the  inscription — 
"  1848." 

The  bridge  as  originally  constructed  carried  two 
iron  pipes  three  feet  in  diameter,  but  in  1860  it  was 
improved  by  adding  a  large  pipe  seven  feet  in  diame- 
ter, which  lies  between  the  two  smaller  pipes. 

The  side  walls  of  the  bridge  were  raised  at  the  same 
time  and  the  pipes  were  covered  with  a  brick  arch,  on 
the  top  of  which  is  a  promenade,  from  which  a  view  up 
and  down  the  Harlem  is  obtained,  which  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York.  This 
improvement  is  commemorated  by  a  bronze  tablet  let 
into  the  walls  of  the  gate-houses  on  both  the  New 
York  and  Westchester  sides  of  the  river,  reading  as 
follows : 

'  The  Improvement  of  this  bridge  by  adding  the  large  pipe,  raising 
of  the  side  walls  and  covering  the  whole  work  with  an  arch  was  com- 
menced October,  1860.  The  new  pipe  was  put  in  operation  December, 
1861.    The  masonry  completed  in  18C3. 

"  Oo(<«i  Aii<iedticl  Board, 
"  Thoma-s  Stephens,  President  Commissioner ;  Thomas  15.  Tappen,  As- 
sistiint  Commissioner  to  Dec.  4,  18G2  ;  Alfreil  W.  Craven,  Commissioner 
and  Engineer-in-chief;  Engineers:  George  S.  Greene,  Engineer  in-charge 
to  Feby.  31",  1862;  Wni.  V.  Dearborn,  Engineer-in-charge  from  Fehj. 
1",  1862;  Contractors,  Thomas  F.  Rowland,  for  the  pipe;  .1.  P.  Cnm- 
mings,  for  the  masonry." 

The  Central  Bridge  or  Macomu's  Dam. — In 
1800  the  mayor,  aldermen  and  commonalty  ceded  to 
Alexander  McComb  and  his  heirs  and  assigns,  "  All 
that  certain  piece  or  parcell  of  land  covered  with  water 
situated  in  the  7th  Ward  (now  12th  Ward)  of  the  city 
beginning  at  the  West  side  of  Kingsbridge  at  low  water 
mark  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  creek  or  run  of 
water  called  Spuyten  Duy  vil ;  thence  running  along 
the  creek  westerly  at  low  water  mark  one  hundred 
feet;  thence  crossing  the  creek  to  a  place  at  low 
water  mark  one  hundred  feet  from  Kingsbridge; 
thence  along  the  creek  easterly  at  low  water  mark 
to  Kingsbridge  and  thence  along  the  West  side  of  the 
bridge  to  the  place  of  beginning.''  A  passage-way 
fifteen  feet  along  the  course  of  the  creek  was  reserved 
to  be  kept  clear,  open  and  unincumbered,  so  that  all 
small  boats  and  craft  might  freely  and  without 
obstruction  pass  and  repass  the  same,  with  a  right  on 


the  part  of  the  corporation  to  re-enter  and  dispossess 
iMacomb  or  his  successors  in  ciise  he  failed  to  comply 
with  the  condition.  It  seems,  however,  that  Macomb 
did  not  keep  the  passage-way  ojjcn.  He  erected  a 
tidal  grist-mill  west  of  the  bridge,  and  in  1855  it  was 
still  standing.  Macomb  was  to  pay  twelve  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  per  annum  rent.  In  1834  Macomb 
ceased  to  pay  rent,  but  in  1854  his  heirs  came  forward 
and  paid  up  all  arrears.  In  1855  a  committee  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  recommended  that  the  old  mill 
be  declared  a  nuisance  and  the  grant  forfeited,  as  it 
was  evidently  an  improvident  and  void  grant  from  its 
inception.  During  1855  the  i)roprietors  were  about 
fitting  it  up  as  a  hotel,  as  it  had  then  ceased  to  be  used 
as  a  mill,  but  about  that  time  a  heavy  gale  of  wind 
blew  it  over.' 

But  the  supply  of  water  at  the  tide-mill  at  King's 
Bridge  was  inadequate,  for  as  early  as  1813,  Macomb 
obtained  a  grant  to  build  a  dam  across  the  Harlem 
Kiver  from  Bussing's  Point,  on  the  Harlem  side,  to 
Devoe's  Point,  on  the  Westchester  side,  so  as  to  hold 
the  waters  of  the  river  for  the  benefit  of  the  mill  at 
King's  Bridge,  thus  practically  making  a  tidal  mill- 
pond  between  the  present  side  of  the  Central  Bridge 
at  Seventh  Avenue  and  old  King's  Bridge.  This 
erection  was  known  for  years  as  "  Macomb's  Dam." 

The  act  required  that  it  should  be  so  constructed 
as  to  allow  the  passage  of  boats  and  vessels  accus- 
tomed to  navigate  the  river,  either  by  means  of  a 
gate-lock,  apron  or  other  contrivance,  and  that  Ma- 
comb should  always  have  a  person  in  attendance,  bo 
that  no  unnecessary  delay  should  happen  to  persons 
wishing  to  pass  with  their  boats.  The  Common 
('ouncil  ratified  the  grant  and  upon  it  a  lease  was 
issued  to  Macomb,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  of  all 
the  lands  under  water  required  for  the  purpose  and 
also  a  considerable  amount  of  upland  on  the  Manhat- 
tan Island  side,  embracing  a  valuable  gore  between 
the  road  leading  to  the  dam  and  Seventh  Avenue. 
Forfeiture  for  non-payment  of  rent  was  provided  in 
the  lease.  The  annual  rental  was  the  same  as  for  the 
mill  at  King's  Bridge,  and  was  in  arrears  for  many 
years,  but  in  the  mean  time  Macomb  and  his  succes- 
sors levied  toll  on  all  vehicles  and  persons  who  passed 
over  the  bridge,  and  continued  to  do  so  down  to  the 
time  of  the  erection  of  the  present  Central  Bridge. 

But  it  appears  that  this  unauthorized  toll-bridge 
and  obstruction  to  the  navigation  of  the  river  was 
resisted  by  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  In 
183!)  Charles  Henry  Hall,  Thomas  W.  Ludlow,  Rob- 
ert Morris,  of  Fordham,  his  son,  Lewis  G.  Morris,  of 
the  same  place,  Lewis,  Gouverneur  and  William  H. 
Morris,  of  Morrisania,  the  Valentines,  Berrians, 
Devoes  and  others  and  even  citizens  of  the  village 
of  Westchester,  and  most  of  the  farmers  in  the  vicin- 
ity, determined  that  the  dam  should  at  least  be  so 


1  Dois.  Board  of  Supervisors  of  N.  Y.  County  ami  iienxjnnl  infi>nnation 
from  Isaac  Michael  Dyckman.  of  King'<  Itridue. 


798 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


constructed  thai  it  would  afford  an  unobstructed  pas- 
sage for  vessels.  Public  meetings  were  held,'  the  best 
legal  talent  retained,  and  money  was  raised  to  jjrotect 
the  full  navigation  of  the  river. 

Lewis  G.  Morris,  then  quite  a  young  man,  was  by 
the  votes  of  his  associates  entrusted  with  the  leader- 
ship of  the  fight.  In  order  to  bring  the  question,  if 
necessary,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
Courts,  it  was  determined  that  a  vessel  laden  with  a 
cargo  from  a  neighboring  State  should  ascend  the 
river  and  demand  passage  way  through  the  opening 
which  the  grant  had  directed  should  be  kept  for  ves- 
sels, but  which  Macomb  and  his  successors  had  ne- 
glected to  provide.  Mr.  Morris  therefore  built  a  dock  on 
his  place  about  a  mile  north  of  the  present  site  of 
High  Bridge  and  chartered  a  periauger,  called  the 
"  Nonpareil,"  with  a  cargo  of  coal  on  board  consigned 
for  delivery  at  Morris  Dock.  He  arrived  with  his 
boat  at  the  dam  one  evening  at  full  tide  and  demand- 
ed of  Feeks,  the  toll  gatherer,  that  the  draw  or  pas- 
sage-waj'  be  opened ;  of  course  Feeks  could  not  comply. 
Some  flat  boats  which  had  been  provided  had  on  board 
a  band  of  one  hundred  men  ;  and  Feeks  not  opening 
the  draw,  Mr.  Morris  with  his  men  forcibly  removed 
a  portion  of  the  dam,  so  that  the  "Nonpareil "  floated 
across.  From  that  time  a  draw  was  always  kept 
in  the  bridge,  but  for  many  years  the  passage  was 
very  difficult,  the  tide  being  so  strong  that  it  was  only 
possible  to  pass  at  slack  water. 

The  Renwicks  had  succeeded  the  Macombs  to  the 
rights  in  th<:>  dam.  At  first  an  attempt  was  made  to 
indict  Morris  for  disturbing  the  public  i)eace,  l)ut  by 
the  advice  of  the  recorder  and  district  attorney  it  was 

1  The  free  navipration  of  theUarlein  River  h-i:l  always  been  an  import- 
ant question  with  the  people  of  the  southwestern  sertion  of  Westchester 
County.  On  March  :j,  IS.'JS,  the  laml-owuers  of  the  town  of  Westchester 
held  a  meeting  at  Christopher  Walton's  store,  at  Fordhani  Cornere,  and 
appointed  a  committee  to  memorialize  the  General  Assembly  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  low  bridge  which  it  was  proposed  to  build,  without  a  draw, 
to  convey  the  Croton  water  supply  into  New  York  City.  The  same  com- 
mittee was  instructed  to  ascertain  the  best  method  of  removing  the  ob- 
structions in  the  river  at  Macomb's  dam  and  Cole's  bridge.  The  memorial 
stated  that  the  signers  had  been  informed  that  the  water  commissioners 
intended  to  carry  the  Oroton  water  across  Harlem  River  by  inverted  sy 
phons  built  over  an  embankment  of  stone,  filling  up  the  whole  of  the 
natural  channel,  and  with  only  one  archway  on  the  New  York  side  only 
eighty  feet  in  height,  instead  of  by  an  aqued\ict  bridge,  which  had  al- 
ready been  planned,  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  above  the  tide, 
with  arches  of  eighty  fi'et  span  disposed  across  the  entire  width  of  the 
river.  The  city  of  New  York  might  by  the  low  bridge  plan  save  $509,71.'', 
the  high  bridge  having  been  estimated  to  cost  8935,745,  and  the  inverted 
syphon  plan  would  cost  but  $426,027  ;  but  the  memorialists  claimed  that 
their  rights  to  the  navigation  of  the  river  would  by  the  hatter  plan  be 
totally  destroyed.  They  showed  that  prior  to  the  obstructions  of  Ma- 
comb's dam  and  Cole's  bridge  the  Harlem  was  navigated  to  Berrian's 
Landing  and  that  their  ancestors  and  some  of  themselves  had  used  the 
Harlem  to  ship  tlieir  produce  to  market.  They  also  showed  that  at  that 
early  day  surveys  for  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the  river 
had  been  made  at  the  instance  of  the  corporation  of  New  York  ;  that 
Macomb  had  been  guilty  of  violating  his  grant  by  not  putting  a  draw 
in  his  dam,  and  asked  the  Legislature  to  compel  the  water  com- 
missioners to  direct  such  an  erection  across  the  river  aswotild  not  impede 
navigation.  Counsel  were  eniployed,  wlio  gave  an  opinion  that  the  peo- 
ple had  a  right  to  remove  the  existing  nuisances  by  force,  and  the  result 
was  Mr.  Lewis  G.  Morris'  forcible  passage  of  McCoinb's  dam,  as  else- 
where related  in  this  chapter. 


determined  he  had  a  right  to  demand  passage  for  his 
vessel.  The  Renwicks  then  brought  suit  in  the  Su- 
perior Court  to  recover  from  Morris  the  damages  for 
his  alleged  trespass,  but  on  the  trial  the  judge  charged 
the  jury  that  the  dam  as  built  was  a  public  nuisance 
and  that  any  one  had  a  right  to  abate  it.  An  apjieal 
was  then  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  there  Mr. 
Justice  Cowen  held  likewise.  Not  content  with  this 
decision,  the  Renwicks  carried  the, suit  to  the  Court  of 
Errors  on  appeal,  where  all  the  judgments  below  were 
affirmed. 

Chancellor  Walworth  wrote  the  opinion ;  among 
other  things  he  said :  "  The  Harlem  River  is  an  arm 
of  the  sea  and  a  public  navigable  river;  it  was  a 
public  nuisance  to  obstruct  the  navigation  thereof  with- 
out authority  of  law.  The  act  of  the  Legislature  did 
not  authorize  the  obstruction  of  the  navigation  of  the 
river  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was  done  by  the  dam 
in  question."  He  also  held  that  no  time  runs  against 
a  public  nuisance.'^ 

It  is  fair  to  Mr.  Morris  and  his  associates  to  state 
that  this  overt  and  bold  act  on  their  part  has  pre- 
served to  the  city  the  navigation  of  the  stream,  and 
largely  to  their  efforts  is  due  the  fact  that  some  years 
later  the  Croton  water  was  brought  into  the  city  by 
the  High  Bridge  and  not  over  a  low  bridge  without  a 
draw,  as  was  first  contemplated.  On  the  3d  of  May, 
1839,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  directing  the 
water  commissioners  to  construct  an  aqueduct  across 
the  river,  with  arches  and  piers.  The  arches  in  the 
channel  were  to  be  eighty  feet  span,  and  one  hun- 
dred feet  in  height  above  high  water-mark  to  the 
under  side  of  the  arches  at  the  crown,  or  they  might 
carry  the  water  across  by  a  tunnel  under  the  chan- 
nel of  the  river,  the  top  of  the  tunnel  not  to  be  higher 
than  the  present  bed  of  the  channel.' 

Later  on,  by  act  of  April  16, 1858,  the  Legislature  di- 
rected the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  New  York  and  the  su- 
pervisors of  WestchesterCounty  to  erect  and  maintiiin 
a  public  free  bridge  across  Harlem  River  from  a  point 
in  the  city  near  the  terminus  of  Eighth  Avenue  to  a 
point  in  Westchester  County  at  or  near  the  terminus 
of  the  Macomb's  Dam  road.  This  was  the  authority 
for  building  the  present  Central  Bridge.  Lewis  G.Mor- 
ris and  Charles  Bathgate  were  appointed  commissioners 
for  the  county.  The  commissioners  were  directed  to 
remove  the  old  Macomb's  dam  and  the  obstructions 
in  the  river  caused  by  it  and  to  see  that  the  river  was 
made  navigable  according  to  its  natural  capacity. 
The  expense  was  limited  to  ten  thousand  dollars  for 
each  county,  and  of  the  share  of  Westchester  County, 
one-third  was  taxed  upon  West  Farms  and  Mor- 
risania  and  the  residue  upon  the  rest  of  the  county. 
The  cost  proving  much  heavier  than  was  anticipated, 
each  county  was  authorized  in  1859  to  double  its 
original  appropriation,  and  in  1860  Westchester  was 


-  Renwick  rs.  Morris,  7  Hill,  575. 

3  rii.ipter  rc<-\viii.  Laws  l.'i.'in,  page  293. 


WESTCHESTKU. 


799 


authorized  to  add  anotlior  ten  thousiind  dollars,  New 
York  at  the  same  time  contributing  forty  thousand 
dollars  more.  The  commissioners  paid  to  the  Duncan 
P.  Campbell  estate,  then  the  owner  of  the  dam,  piers 
and  abutments  of  Macomb's  dam,  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  for  all  his  property  and  rights,  including  the 
approaches  to  the  bridge  on  each  side  of  the  river  and 
his  privilege  of  using  the  waters  of  the  river.  In  1861 
the  bridge  was  completed  and  thrown  open  to  travel. 
It  is  in  contemplation  to  remove  this  bridge  and  cross 
the  river  at  this  point  by  a  tunnel  underneath  the 
stream.' 

The  Madison  Avenuk  Bridgk.  —  Next  in 
order  is  the  bridge  crossing  the  Harlem  from  the 
terminus  of  Madison  Avenue  to  One  Hundred  and 
Thirty-eighth  Street  on  the  Westchester  side.  As 
early  as  October,  1874,  the  citizens  on  the  West- 
chester shore  petitioned  to  have  a  wooden  pile-bridge 
built  at  that  site.  After  several  changes  of  plans  an 
appropriation  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
made.  In  June,  1877,  a  resolution  was  pa.ssed  authoriz- 
ing the  acquisition  of  the  right  of  way  for  the  ap- 
proaches to  the  bridge,  and  in  1878  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate authorized  the  issuing  of  bonds  for  building  the 
bridge.  Soundings  were  again  made  so  as  to  determine 
tlie  sites  for  the  piers,  but  not  until  February,  1879, 
did  General  Greene,  the  engineer,  submit  plans  and 
specifications  as  to  soundings  and  cost.  On  October 
15,  1879,  John  Beattie  was  awarded  the  contract  for 
fifty-nine  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-four  dol- 
lars. A.  P.  Boiler  was  called  in  as  consulting  engineer 
and  made  some  suggestions  as  to  change  of  plan. 
Beattie  complained  of  the  changes.  On  October  3, 
1880,  Eugene  E.  ^IcLean,  engineer  of  construction, 
was  relieved  from  duty,  and  E.  B.  Van  Winkle,  topo- 
graphical engineer  of  the  Department  of  Parks,  was 
placed  in  temporary  charge.  A  change  in  the  mason- 
work  was  again  recommended  in  1880  and  the  work 
was  again  delayed.  Wm.  J.  McAlpine  was  then  ap- 
pointed engineer  of  construction  and  A.  P.  Boiler 
was  invited  to  consult  with  the  board  as  to  the  iron 
superstructure.  June  6,  1881,  the  contract  for  con- 
struction of  approaches  was  awarded  to  John  Mc- 
Quade  for  ninety-four  thousand  six  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars.  The  whole  cost  of  the  bridge  was 
four  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  two  hundred 
and  ninety-five  dollars. 

This  bridge  is  now  crossed  by  the  Madison  Avenue 
line  of  horse-cars  operated  by  the  Harlem  Railroad 
Company. 

The  Harlem  or  Third  Avenue  Brid(;e.— 
The  Harlem  Bridge,  at  the  terminus  of  Third 
Avenue,  was  first  authorized  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  passed  March  31,  1790,-  granting  the 


>  Acts  above  referred  to  nml  Reports  of  Comniiseioners  on  flie  in  New 
York  niitl  VVestchcsler ("miiities. 

-March  HI,  ITyiP.— ("liaptiT  xxxvii.  of  the  laws  of  that  year  niithori/.e<l 
Lewis  Morris  to  cuiiBtim  t  a  Ijriilpe  from  Harlem  to  Morrisaiiiii,  which 
was  to  be  provided  with  a  dniw  ;  tlic  rates  of  toll  were  estiiblislicd.  The 


privilege  to  Lewis  Morris,  his  heirs  and  assigns.  The 
Morrises  assigned  this  grant  to  one  John  B.  Coles, 
who,  on  the  25th  of  March,  1795,  obtained  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  authorizing  him,  his  heirs  or  assigns 
to  build  a  dam  across  the  Harlem  River  at  that  place, 
to  be  of  stone  and  to  be  so  built  as  to  answer  for  the 
foundations  of  the  bridge  as  well  as  to  collect  the 
waters  of  the  river  for  the  use  of  grist  and  other  mills. 
The  act  provided  for  locks  and  that  a  man  should  be 
in  attendance  on  thehk-k  at  all  times  ;  that  tiie  bridge 
should  be  completed  within  fouryears;  that  Coles  and 
his  heirs  should  keep  it  in  repair  for  sixty  years  and 
collect  the  tolls,  after  which  it  should  vest  in  the 
people  of  the  State.^ 

It  appears,  however,  that  although  Coles  erected 
the  bridge  in  pursuance  of  the  last  act,  and  though 
the  commissioners  named  in  the  first  act  did  lay  out 
a  road  from  the  bridge  to  East  Chester,  yet  the  dam- 
ages to  the  persons  through  whose  hands  the  road 
passed  were  not  paid  and  some  part  of  the  road  was 
not  opened,  though  Coleshad  expended  a  considerable 
sum  in  making  and  clearing  the  road,  but  that  much 
money  would  still  havetobe  expended.  Nevertheless, 
the  Legislature  in  1797  established  the  road  aa  a  public 
highway  and  directed  it  to  be  opened  as  such,  although 
the  damages  to  the  adjoining  land-owners  were  not 
paid.  Coles  was  authorized  at  his  expense  to  cause 
the  road  to  be  cleared  and  rendered  convenient  for 
travelers,  and  for  thirty  years  afterwards  to  collect  an 
additional  toll  for  passing  the  bridge,  not  exceeding 
fifty  per  cent,  above  what  was  authorized  by  the  other 
acts,  but  he  was  to  keep  the  road  in  repair  for  that 
time.* 

The  original  Coles  or  Boston  road  extended  up 
Third  Avenue  as  far  north  as  a  point  near  the  present 
line  of  One  Hundred  and  Sixtieth  Street,  and  thence 
ran  east  down  the  hill  across  ilill  Brook  over  a  bridge. 
(The  stream  is  now  filled  in  and  forms  a  part  of  Brook 
Avenue  at  this  point.)  The  road  then  deflected  north 
and  followed  the  present  Fordham  Avenue  until  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Boston  road  was  reached,  and 
then  followed  it  to  the  village  of  West  Farms,  where 
it  struck  the  present  Main  Street  in  that  village  and 
ran  north,  crossing  the  Bronx  at  the  bridge  by  the 
Bleach,  and  thence  through  Bronxdale  and  along  the 
present  route  of  the  East  Chester  road  till  the  East 
Chester  line  was  reached,  at  Black  Dog  Brook.  It 
then  extended  north  through  East  Chester  on  the 
present  route  as  it  passes  the  tavern  of  Stephen  (Jdell. 

^  comniisoionere  of  highways  in  Now  York  were  authorized  to  lay  out  a 
convenient  road  from  any  (mrt  of  the  main  roiul  Ivtuling  from  the  city  of 
New  York  to  Harloni  River  at  the  bridge  then  authorized,  and  Doctor 
Joseph  Brown,  George  Embreo  and  .loliii  Bartow  wei-c  aulhciri/.ed,  at  the 

!  cxptnse  of  Lewis  Morris,  to  lay  out  a  road  four  rods  in  width  from  the 
bridge  through  the  towns  of  Morrisania,  Westchester  and  East  Chester 
until  it  sliould  strike  the  main  road  in  I'^ist  Chesli-r.  The  land  for  the  new 
road  was  to  be  conilenined  and  [Mid  for  by  the  respoctivc  towns,  but  Mr. 
Morris  was  to  pay  the  commissioners. — Kd.  Ijiws  of  N.  Y.,  Uiilds  & 
Swayne,  17'.)0,  page  30. 
'•Chapter  xxxi.  Laws  17fl.">,  jiage 

<  Chapter  Ixiii.  Laws  ITUT,  page  l.Vi  (Robins'  eilitiont. 


800 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


In  1798  Coles  was  relieved  from  a  part  of  his  duty  to 
keep  the  road  in  repair,  and  his  additional  toll  cut 
down  twenty-five  per  cent. '  This  was  undoubtedly 
occasioned  by  reason  of  the  State  having  lent  its  aid 
to  build  a  part  of  the  road,  for  we  find  that  in  1797, 
by  an  act  passed  for  improving  certain  great  roads  in 
the  State,  the  road  from  Coles'  Bridge  to  East  Chester 
was  provided  for,  and  a  sum  of  money  authorized  to 
be  paid  on  the  order  of  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  moneys  for  paying  for  this  road  were 
raised  by  a  lottery  which  was  authorized  by  the  act.  ^ 
In  1808  Coles  and  his  associates  prayed  that  they 
might  be  incorporated,  and  the  Legislature  passed 
an  act  incorporating  the  "  Harlem  Bridge  Company." 
They  were,  by  the  act,  compelled  to  keep  the  road 
leading  from  the  bridge  to  East  Chester  in  good  re- 
pair.   The  following  rates  of  toll  were  permitted  to 


be  collected : 

Every  four-wheeled  pleasure  <;an'iage  and  liorses  3"^/^  ct8. 

Every  two  wlieeled  pleasure  carriage  and  horses  19  " 

Every  pleasure  sleigh  and  horses  19  " 

Every  common  wagon  and  horses  ^'^3^  *' 

Every  common  sled  and  horses  12J/^  " 

Ox  cart  and  oxen  12}-^  " 

Every  one-horse  cart  and  horse  9  " 

Ej'ery  man  and  horse  9  " 

Every  ox,  cow^r  steer  1  *' 

ETery  dozen  hogs,  sheep  or  calves,  and  so  in  proportion  for  a 

greater  or  less  number  G  *' 

For  every  foot  passenger  :i  " 


State  and  United  States  troops,  with  their  artillery, 
carriages  and  stores  were  to  pass  free  of  toll.^ 

Under  the  foregoing  acts  and  grants  Coles  and  his 
associates  built  the  bridge,  and  although  it  was  insuf- 
ficient for  land  travel  and  its  draw  so  narrow  as  to 
seriously  impede  the  navigation  of  the  river,  as  late 
as  1855  his  successors  were  endeavoring  to  have  the 
charter  renewed.  In  1857  the  Legislature  passed 
an  act  reciting  the  fact  that  on  April  1,  1858, 
it  was  to  become  a  free  bridge,  to  be  maintained  as 
such  by  the  counties  of  New  York  and  Westchester 
The  mayor  and  street  commissioners  of  New  York 
City  and  the  county  judge  and  chairman  of  the  West- 
chester Board  of  Supervisors  were  empowered  to 
build  a  new  bridge  in  their  discretion  and  levy  a  tax 
for  the  cost.  Judge  William  H.  Robertson  and 
Chairman  Alsop  H.  Lockwood  were  the  Westchester 
members  of  this  commission,  which,  in  June,  1860, 
appointed  William  H.  McAlpine  engineer  of  the 
work.  He  made  plans  for  an  iron  draw-bridge  on 
stone  piers,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  it  was  eventually  built,  although  not  until 
some  changes  had  been  made  in  the  plan  to  better 
accommodate  navigation.  On  July  14,  1886,  the 
New  York  authorities  awarded  a  contract  to  a  Wil- 
mington, Del.,  company,  for  the  construction  of  a 


1  r,aH-8  1798,  page  44S,  f'liapter  Ixxvi,  (Loring  Andrews'  edition  of  the 
Laws). 

-  Laws  1797  (Rollins'  edition). 
'■'  Laws  ISOS*,  page  Id. 


new  iron  bridge  at  a  cost  of  two  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

The  Harlem  Bridge  is  crossed  by  the  Fordham  and 
West  Farms  Horse  Railways. 

In  addition  to  the  above  traveled  bridges  are  the 
Hudson  River  Railroad  Bridge,  at  the  junction  of 
Hudson  River  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek;  the  New 
York  City  and  Northern  Railroad  Company's  bridge, 
at  the  terminus  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth 
Street  and  Ninth  Avenue,  connecting  with  west-side 
system  of  elevated  railways  in  New  York  (it  was 
constructed  in  1879-80  under  authority  of  the  Rapid 
Transit  Act  of  1875  and  by  permission  and  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Park  Department;*  the  Fourth 
Avenue  Harlem  Railroad  bridge,  an  iron  structure ;  * 
and  the  new  iron  bridge  of  the  suburban  Rapid 
Transit  Company  at  the  terminus  of  Second  Avenue." 

In  the  early  j^art  of  the  century  a  bridge  also  crossed 
the  Harlem,  connecting  Ward's  Island  with  New  York 
Island,  but  the  bridge  and  its  piers  were  removed 
many  years  ago. 

HKiHWAYS  AXI)  ROADS  IN  MORRISAXIA  AND 
-WEST  FARMS. 

By  the  Sautier  surveys,  printed  in  1779  by  Fadden, 
we  find  the  town  traversed  by  two  principal  highways. 
One  came  from  Morrisania,  opposite  Harlem,  and  ran 
northeast  to  Westchester  village,  and  then  north  to 
the  present  Farmers'  Bridge,  then  called  Dyckman's 
Bridge.  From  King's  Bridge  the  highway  ran  at  the 
foot  of  the  Giles  i)lace  to  the  Boston  and  Albany  road, 
a<  at  present,  crossing  the  Bronx  at  Williams'  Bridge. 
Another  road  led  east  from  the  Farmers'  Bridge  to 
the  village  of  West  Farms. 

From  the  Westchester  town  records,  however,  we 
find  a  record  dated  October  5, 1725,  which  relates  to  a 
highway  "in  the  manor  of  Ffordham,  beginning  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  to  the  westward  of  the  Bronx  River 
near  Peter  Bussing's  land  and  running  thence  along 
tlie  side  of  the  hill  to  the  corner  of  Benjamin  Archer's 
orchard,  where  it  comes  into  the  old  road."  This  in 
all  likelihood  is  the  road  leading  from  the  present 
King's  Bridge  road  near  Judge  Tappen's  place  at 
Fordham. 

Another  road  ordered  in  1729  led  from  the  King's 
road  "  to  the  landing  below  John  Hunt's  house, 
which  landing  was  formerly  known  by  the  name  of 

*  X.  p.  Bollen  was  the  engineer  of  this  hridge  and  Smith  &  Ridley  the 
contractors.  It  is  the  most  graceful  structure  which  spans  the  stream, 
excepting,  perhaps,  the  High  Bridge. 

Many  of  our  readers  will  undoubtedly  recall  the  old  covered  wooden 
structure  which  used  to  span  the  stream  at  this  point  with  a  way  for 
foot-passengers  as  well  as  tlie  railroad. 

''This  bridge  was  constructed  under  the  same  authority  as  the  New 
York  City  and  Northern  Railroad  bridge  above  mentioned.  J.  J. 
R.  Croes  was  the  engineer.  By  the  efforts  of  the  company,  and  especial- 
ly its  president,  Jlr.  S.  B.  niley,  of  Woodstock,  the  people  of  the  an- 
nexed district  are  insured  of  a  speedy  connection  with  the  east-side 
system  of  elevateil  railways  in  New  York  City.  Much  praise  is  due  to 
>Ir.  Filley  for  his  unremitting  efforts,  in  spite  of  great  opposition,  in  ac- 
complishing the  organization  of  his  company  and  jiromoting  rapid 
tr;Misit. 


WESTCHESTEK. 


8U1 


White  Bank,"  and  the  people  ou  whose  property  it 
touched  were  authorized  "  to  keep  gates."  It  would 
seem  that  this  must  be  a  road  leading  from  the  high- 
way between  Morrisania  and  West  Farms  to  Hunt's 
Point.  On  November  15th  of  the  same  year  a  road 
was  ordered  to  begin  at  the  King's  road  in  Fordham, 
and  lead  "  nigh  to  the  water  side  and  landing;  "  and 
the  same  day  provision  was  made  for  a  road  "  begin- 
ning at  the  King's  Road  in  Fordham,  at  the  Corner  of 
Peter  Kens'  field,  and  thence  southerly  until  it  comes 
to  the  abovesaid  road  leading  to  the  Dutch  meeting- 
house." 

The  present  Farmers'  Bridge  road  dates  back  to 
June  6,  1730,  when  Commissioners  Honeywell  and 
Leggett,  acting  upon  the  complaint  of  the  people  of 
Fordham  Manor,  condemned  the  King's  road  "  down 
the  hill  through  the  farm  which  Benjamin  Archer  now  j 
possesseth,"  and  laid  it  "  through  the  enclosed  field  of  j 
Archer  to  the  eastward  where  the  road  now  is  cleared 
and  beginneth  at  the  Post  road  leading  to  King's 
Bridge  at  the  corner  of  the  fence  near  John  Archer's 
orchard,  and  thence  southerly  until  it  comes  to  the 
road  that  leads  through  the  farm  which  John  Vermil- 
yca  now  possesseth  on  the  Manor."  June  13,  1730, 
an  order  was  passed  for  a  road  from  the  King's  road 
below  the  hill  on  P''ordham  Manor  to  the  highway 
leading  to  the  Fordham  Meeting-house.  The  meeting- 
house which  was  the  old  J)utch  Church  formerly 
stood  at  the  junction  of  the  Macomb's  Dam  road  and 
the  Berrian  Landing  road.  It  was  mentioned  that 
this  thoroughfare  was  to  pass  by  "Michael  Odle's 
Still."  A  road  to  East  Chester  must  have  been  in 
existence  prior  to  1733,  as  it  is  alluded  to  in  the 
act  of  March  1st  of  that  year,  On  April  9,  1733, 
the  highway  through  Jonathan  Lawrence's  land  down 
to  West  Farms  was  altered  and  laid  "  nigher  the 
river,  according  to  stakes  set  up  and  rocks  marked." 
Wliat  is  now  the  road  from  Farmers'  Bridge  to  the 
depot  at  King's  Bridge  was  made  under  the  following 
order  in  1734  : 

"  Upon  a  review  of  the  loail  from  King's  Bridge  to  Ilalstead's  Bridge, 
we  have  made  the  following  alteration,  to  wit :  Beginning  where  sjiid 
road  and  the  road  from  West  Farms  meet,  we  have  laid  out  said  road 
through  the  Widow  Archer's  laud  as  stakes  are  now  set  up  to  the  old 
road,  and  then  across  said  road  to  the  Yonkers  line,  from  which  i)lace 
.lohn  Archer,  assisted  by  us,  has  himself  agreed  to  and  laid  out  the  said 
r..iiil  to  run  through  liis  land  in  the  Yonkers  as  stakes  are  this  day  set 
Oil  until  it  meets  y«  former  or  old  road  again,  and  then  y«  old  road  is 
continued  as  formerly."  j 

The  old  Macomb's  Dam  road  came  under  the  care 
of  the  commissioners  in  17<)8,  their  proceedings  of, 
ilay  3d  in  that  year  being  understood  to  have  refer- 
ence to  it.     The  transcript  from  the  road-book  of 
that  date  says, —  i 

"  ronimissioners,  at  recpiest  of  the  freeholders  and  inhabiluut-s  of  that 
part  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham  lying  upon  Harlem  Kiver  to  the  { 
South  of  the  Old  Dutch  Church,  viewed  the  road  as  then  used  from  the  | 
publick  road  (laid  out  to  the  river  by  said  church",  beginning  a  little  to 
the  eastward  of  the  said  Dutch  Church  and  thence  running  southerly 
as  the  said  road  runs  to  the  landing  at  the  back  of  the  house  now  occu- 
pied by  Charles  Doughty  on  the  patent  to  Turnenr  ;  and  have  at  their 
retiiiesi  now  laid  out  the  same  road  as  and  for  a  publick  liighway,  to  be 


two  rods  vide,  with  privilege  to  hang  gates  on  the  same,  provided  they 
are  kept  in  repair  so  as  to  swing  with  conveuiency  and  not  otherways." 

The  present  cross-road  from  the  JIacomb's  Dam 
road  toTremont  is  of  recent  date  (say  about  1845)  and 
the  road  connecting  the  Macomb's  Dam  road  with 
the  King's  Bridge  road,  near  the  present  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church,  was  opened  about  the  same  time. 

The  writer  can  remember  when  no  road  led  to 
West  Farms  from  Trcmont,  but  a  person  desiring  to 
drive- from  Harlem  River  to  West  Farms  was  com- 
pelled to  drive  by  way  of  Fordham.  Fordham 
Avenue  was  merely  a  lane  through  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris' farm,  which  extended  froju  the  old  Quarry  road 
near  the  Home  for  Incurables  to  Rae's  Corners  (the 
crossing  of  the  Coles  road  at  Jlill  Brook  at  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifty-sixth  Street),  and  then  the  lane  con- 
tinued south  to  Saint  Ann's  Church  and  Gouverneur 
Morris'  gate,  substantially  by  the  route  of  St.  Ann's 
Avenue  as  now  laid  out.  Most  of  the  cross-roads 
and  some  of  the  main  ones  of  to-day  were  opened  by 
land-owners  lor  the  purpose  of  developing  their 
property.  The  limits  assigned  to  the  author  does 
not  iiermit  him  to  pursue  this  subject  further. 

POLITICAL  HISTORY  OK  THE  TOWNSHIP,  INCLUDING 
THE   COLONIAL,   RKVOLUTION.^RY'  AND 
MODERN  I>KRI0D8. 

Cornelis  Steenwyck,  one  of  the  earliest  proprietors 
in  Westchester  town,  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
the  province  of  New  Netherland  during  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Dutch  rule,  in  KwS.  We  find  Lewis 
Morris  in  the  Council  from  1084  to  1G85,  and  also 
James  Graham.  Richard  Paxton,  in  1089,  was  one  of 
the  Councilors  of  Lcisler,  and  Samuel  Edsall,  at  one 
time  owner  of  Bronxland,  in  1690.  Caleb  Heathcote 
was  also  in  the  Council  from  1(592  to  1697,  and  Robert 
Waters,  of  Westchester,  served  from  1698  to  1702, 
when  he  was  suspended  for  taking  the  popular  side. 
Caleb  Heathcote  served  as  Waters'  successor  from 
1702  to  1720,  and  Waters  was  again  in  the  Council 
from  1710  to  1731.  He  died  in  June,  1731.  Lewis 
Morris  was  in  the  Council  again  from  1721  to  1729,  in 
Caleb  Heathcote's  place,  and  the  rival  family  of  De 
Lancey,  as  successor  of  Heathcote,  displaces  Lewis 
Morris  in  the  j)erson  of  James  De  Lancey,  who  served 
from  1729  to  1753.  This  distinguished  man  was 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  province  from  1753  to  Sep- 
tember 3,  1755 ;  also  from  June  3,  1757,  to  July  30, 
1760.  He  returned  to  the  Council  from  1755  to  1700, 
when  he  died.  Oliver  De  Lancey  served  in  the 
Council  from  176(1  to  17()6,  and  James,  the  son  of 
James,  was  offered  a  seat  in  17(;9,  but  declined  it. 
Gouverneur  Morris,  a  citizen  of  this  township,  was 
one  of  the  members  of  tlie  Council  of  Safety,  which 
was  appointed  by  the  New  York  Assembly  and  sat 
from  May  14  to  Sept.  10,  1777,  and  from  Oct.  8,  1777 
to  Se])t.  10,  1778.  For  many  years  Richard  Morris, 
of  Fordham,  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Revision.  The 
townshij)  has  at  various  times  furnished  its  quota  of 


802 


HISTOilY  OF  WESTOHESTEll  COUNTY. 


distinguished  men  to  the  State  Senate.  Lewis  and 
Richard  Morris  served  at  the  sessions  of  1777-1778 ; 
Richard  alone  in  1778-1779;  the  two  brothers  again 
in  1780-1781;  and  Lewis  in  the  fourth  session  down 
to  July  1,  1781.  He  was  returned  in  1784-1787-1788- 
1789  and  1790.  Philip  Livingston,  who  owned  the 
Van  Schaick  place,  on  Throckmorton's  Neck,  was  a 
State  Senator  in  1780-1790-1791  and  1792.  Samuel 
Haight,  from  the  old  borough  town,  represented  ihe 
district  in  1799-1800;  and  Thomas  Thomas  in  1807- 
1808.  Then  the  old  town  furnished  no  Senator  until 
1868,  when  William  Cauldwell,  of  Morrisania,  was 
elected,  and  was  returned  in  1870. 

Caleb  Heathcote  was  the  first  of  the  townsmen 
who  filled  a  place  on  the  bench  of  the  County  Court. 
He  was  appointed  in  1695,  and  Samuel  Purdy  in 
1752.  In  1777  Lewis  Morris  was  appointed,  but  the 
next  year  resigned  in  favor  of  his  son-in-law,  Robert 
Graham.  Silas  D.  Giffbrd  became  a  judge  of  the 
County  Court  November,  1871.  March  18,  1715, 
Lewis  Morris  was  made  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  province,  and  on  August  21,  1733,  was 
succeeded  by  James  Pe  Lancey.  Richard  Morris  was 
appointed  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Bench  of  the 
State  October  23,  1779,  and  served  until  he  was  retired 
by  reason  of  age.  Abraham  Tappen  was  elected  to 
Supreme  bench  November  5,  1867,  his  term  expiring 
January  1,  1876. 

The  township  has  furnished  three  surrogates  of  the 
county.  John  Burton  held  the  office  from  1739  to 
1754,  inclusive,  and  Richard  Hatfield  entered  upon 
the  discharge  of  its  duties  March  23,  1778.  On 
May  15,  1862,  Silas  D.  Gifford  was  appointed  sur- 
rogate by  the  Governor  in  place  of  Mr.  Coles,  de- 
ceased. 

Natural  Characteristics,  Residences,  Etc.^ — 
The  territory  comprised  within  the  limits  of  what 
was  formerly  the  townships  of  West  Farms  and 
Morrisania,  now  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth 
Wards,  New  York  City,  presents  varied  aspects  of 
scenery.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  of  New  York 
has  already  destroyed  much  of  its  natural  beauty, 
and  in  a  few  years  its  appearance  will  be  changed. 
A  plain,  old-fashioned  country  road  is  already  the 
exception;  macadamized  avenues  and  in  many  places 
paved  streets  fill  up  the  valleys  and  cut  through  the 
hills  where  formerly  the  green  country  lanes,  shaded 
by  beautiful  trees,  delighted  the  wayfarer.  Still,  there 
is  much  of  natural  beauty  left,  and  the  city  authori- 
ties, in  adopting  plans  of  streets,  roads  and  avenues 
through  the  townships  now  in  the  city  limits,  have 
shown  good  taste  and  judgment  in  abandoning  the 
rectangular  plan  of  streets  so  common  in  all  modern 
municipalities  and  laid  out  the  thoroughfares  in 
accordance  with  the  natural  slope  of  the  ground. 
The  country  is  hilly,  with  broad  valleys  between,  the 
direction  of  the  hills  running  generally  north  and 
south.  Along  the  ridge  overlooking  the  picturesque 
Spuyten  Duyvil  and  Harlem  are  to  be  found  views 


which  a  resident  of  the  great  city  would  travel  miles 
in  foreign  lands  to  visit.  Owing  to  the  windings  of 
the  stream  and  the  irregular  shape  of  Manhattan 
Island,  vistas  of  Hudson's  River  and  the  straight 
line  of  the  Palisades  of  New  Jersey  greet  the  eye 
looking  westward,  while  at  the  base  of  the  ridge  the 
Harlem  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  lie  in  a  deep  valley, 
giving  the  appearance  of  a  succession  of  lakes  rather 
than  one  continuous  stream. 

Historic  associations,  blended  with  natural  beauties, 
tempts  one  who  has  known  the  territory  all  his  life,  in 
giving  a  description  of  its  present  appearance,  to  com- 
bine with  it  a  short  gossipy  account  of  its  present  as 
well  as  former  owners.  Beginning  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  what  was  West  Farms,  just  south  of  the 
Yonkers  line,  we  find  a  beautiful  panoramic  view  of 
the  Harlem  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  At  one's 
feet  lies  King's  Bridge  or  Paparinamin  or  Fordham, 
as  we  see  by  the  colonial  account  of  the  region  the 
present  King's  Bridge  was  formerly  called ;  just  over 
the  Yonkers  line,  on  the  site  of  the  present  residence 
of  William  O.  Giles,  stood  Fort  Independence,  the 
last  American  work  on  the  Westchester  side  aban- 
doned by  the  American  army  on  Washington's  re- 
treat to  White  Plains.  Immediately  south  of  the 
Giles  place  is  still  to  be  seen,  just  east  of  Sedgwick 
Avenue,  the  remains  of  an  old  powder  magazine  used 
by  the  British  during  the  Revolution,  and  just  east  of 
the  avenue  stood  the  Negro  Fort,  now  on  the 
grounds  of  H.  B.  Claflin,  which  afterwards,  with 
other  works,  formed  a  chain  of  redoubts  and  canton- 
ments and  outworks  for  the  British  during  the  entire 
period  of  their  occupancy  of  New  York  City  during 
the  Revolution. 

Another  of  these  works  is  on  the  lawn  of  N.  P.  Bai- 
ley, which  has  been  identified  as  the  King's  Battei  y. 
On  the  grounds  of  H.  W.  T.  Mali  earthworks  are  also 
recognizable  near  the  line  of  the  New  York  City  and 
Northern  Railroad.  The  residence  of  Gustav  Schwab 
stands  upon  the  site  of  Fort  Number  8.  Immediately 
south  of  that  fort,  and  in  the  valley  just  below  the 
residence  of  ex-Mayor  Franklin  Edson,  still  stands  an 
old  stone  farm-house  which  during  the  Revolution 
was  occupied  by  one  of  the  Archers,  and  the  writer  of 
this  article  remembers  to  have  heard  his  grandfather 
give  an  account  of  his  visit  there  when  the  fort  on 
the  hill  was  in  the  occupation  of  the  British. 

Farther  south  and  crossing  a  small  stream  which 
intersects  the  ridge  at  this  point,  soon  to  be  the  route 
of  a  thoroughfare  called  Burnside  Avenue,  one  comes 
to  the  residence  formerly  of  Mrs.  Emma  Dashwood, 
now  owned  by  Timothy  C.  Eastman,  and  nearer  the 
river,  fronting  on  Sedgewick  Avenue,  is  the  residence 
of  Gulian  Ludlow  Dashwood,  clerk  of  St.  James' 
Vestry,  president  of  the  Fordham  Ridge  Whist  Club, 
and  the  bachelor  factotum  of  the  neighborhood. 
According  to  Burke's  "Landed  Gentry  of  England," 
Mr.  Dashwood  is  Baron  de  Spencer  in  his  own  right, 
but,  like  a  sensible  man,  he  prefers  his  American 


WESTCHESTER. 


803 


Iriends  and  a  competency  in  his  native  land  to  an 
empty  title  in  a  foreign  one. 

Just  south  of  the  last  place  is  Fairlawn,  the  beauti- 
ful residence  of  Hugh  N.  Camp.  On  the  river  side 
of  the  homestead  stands  the  picturesque  cottage  of  his 
son-in-law,  Perry  Williams.  At  some  i)oint  of  the 
ridge  near  this  place  the  batteries  of  the  British  troops 
were  stationed,  and  under  the  cover  of  their  fire  the 
British  flat-boats  were  able  to  descend  the  river  and 
scale  the  heights  of  Laurel  Hill,  immediately  opposite, 
when  the  attack  was  made  on  Fort  Washington.  From 
Mr.  Williams'  house  the  earthwork  at  Laurel  Hill  is 
discernible.  Immediately  opposite  Mr.  Camp's  en- 
trance-gate, on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  embank- 
ment of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  stood  the  residence  of 
Richard  Morris,  colonial  judge  of  Vice  Admiralty, 
and  afterwards  second  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Mr.  Lewis  G.  Mor- 
ris, who  owns  a  part  of  the  original  farm  of  Judge  Morris, 
occupies  the  adjoining  place,  Mount  Fordham,  inher- 
ited by  his  father,  Robert  Morris,  from  the  chief  justice. 

Still  farther  south  on  the  same  ridge  are  several 
beautiful  residences.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century 
this  tract  was  known  as  the  Poole  Farm,  and  John 
Poole,  one  of  the  original  family,  still  occupies  a 
portion  of  it.  The  most  northerly  of  these  places  is 
High  Cottage,  belonging  to  the  estate  of  the  late 
Romanzo  W.  Montgomery,  a  wealthy  merchant  of 
New  Orleans,  though  originally  from  the  Eastern 
States.  The  view  from  High  Cottage  is  one  of  the 
finest  on  the  Ridge.  Mrs.  Lees,  widow  of  the  late 
James  Lees,  of  the  well-known  firm  of  Lees  &  Wal- 
ker, now  succeeded  by  Lindlaw  &  Company,  occu- 
pies the  next  place,  and  the  most  southerly  prop- 
erty on  the  former  Poole  Farm  is  Villa  Boscobel, 
the  residence  of  the  late  William  B.  Ogden,  the  first 
mayor  of  Chicago,  and  a  railroad  king  of  the  West. 
During  his  later  yean<  he  gave  full  rein  to  his  refined 
taste  and  Villa  Boscobel,  with  its  beautiful  grounds, 
green-houses,  choice  shrubberies,  flowers  and  arbor- 
etums,  is  a  fit  monument  to  his  taste  and  re6nement. 
He  was  also  much  interested  in  developing  the  neigh- 
boriiood.  To  his  wise  counsel  and  experience  much  is 
due  for  the  present  plan  for  laying  out  and  improving 
the  city  suburbs,  of  which  Villa  Boscobel  will  for 
years  form  a  notable  feature.  His  widow  keeps  up 
the  villa  in  a  .style  befitting  its  founder,  and  her  kind 
deeds  in  this  vicinity  and  in  other  communities  give  1 
additional  lustre  to  the  memory  of  one  who  has  left  '■ 
a  precious  trust  in  worthy  hands. 

Just  south  of  the  Ogden  estate  is  a  pretty  cottage  I 
belonging  to  the  estate  of  Mr.  Ogden's  sister,  the  late  ! 
Mrs.  Judge  Wheeler,  whose  husband,  Norman  K.  j 
Wheeler,  was  the  first  police  magistrate  appointed  to 
serve  in  the  annexed  district  after  West  Farms  was 
annexed  to  New  York  City. 

Just  south  of  the  Wheeler  and  Ogden  properties 
the  stone  aqueduct  known  as  High  Bridge  crosses  the 
Harlem. 


South  of  High  Bridge,  not  far  from  the  junction  of 
Ogden  Avenue  and  Woolfe  Street,  is  a  small  stream 
which  was  ihe  southern  boundary  of  the  Archer  pat- 
ent, already  mentioned.  Crossing  the  stream,  the 
lands  in  Daniel  Turneur's  patent  are  reached,  and  all 
south  of  the  stream,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Har- 
lem and  on  the  west  by  Cromwell's  Creek,  was  after- 
ward known  as  Devoe's  Point — the  Nuiisin  of  the 
Indians.  Upon  this  southerly  end  of  the  back-bone 
of  Westchester  is  situated  the  settlements  of  Cler- 
mont and  Highbridgeville.  Ogden  Avenue  passes 
along  the  ridge  in  a  southerly  direction,  and  after 
leaving  the  village  passes  between  several  very  pretty 
residences.  On  the  highest  part  of  the  ridge  is 
Woody  Crest,  the  residence  of  the  late  Mrs.  An- 
derson, and  somewhere  near  this  place  stood  the 
house  of  Daniel  Turneur,  the  original  patentee.  At 
the  terminus  of  Ogden  Avenue  a  junction  is  formed 
with  it  and  Central  or  Jerome  Avenue  and  Sedg- 
wick Avenues,  and  the  Harlem  River  is  crossed 
at  this  point  by  the  Central  Bridge  or  Macomb's 
Dam. 

Returning  to  the  Yonkers  line,  and  taking  in  all  the 
territory  lying  between  the  summit  of  the  ridge  and 
the  Harlem  Railroad,  are  two  valleys,  one  the  head- 
waters of  Cromwell's  Creek,  the  other  that  of  Mill 
Brook.  Immediately  at  the  Yonkers  line  are  the 
lands  of  the  American  Jockey  Club,  formerly  the 
Bathgate  Farm.  The  property  belongs  to  the  cor- 
poration known  as  the  Jerome  Park  Villa  Site  Im- 
provement Comj)any,  but  the  American  Jockey  Club 
is  the  lessee.  This  club  was  formed  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War,  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
thoroughbred  stock,  and  conducting  race  meet- 
ings honestly,  free  from  the  rowdy  and  gam- 
bling element  which  had  brought  them  into  disre- 
pute. Leonard  W.  Jerome,  William  R.  Travers 
and  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  of  New  York,  John  Hunter, 
of  Westchester,  and  (Governor  Oden  Bowie,  of  Mary- 
land, were  the  leading  spirits  in  establishing  the 
organization.  It  at  once  raised  the  standard  of 
racing  in  America,  and  from  this  Renaissance  of  the 
turf  dates  the  present  prosperity  and  good  manage- 
ment of  all  our  large  race  courses,  and  the  increased 
interest  in  improving  the  breed  of  horses.  It  is  a 
curious  coincidence  that  "  Eclipse,"  the  celebrated 
American  racer  of  former  days,  was  for  some  time 
under  the  care  and  management  of  James  Bathgate, 
the  former  owner  of  the  present  park  of  the  Ameri- 
can Jockey  Club. 

To  the  east  of  Jerome  Park  is  the  farm  of  Michael 
Varian,  in  whose  family  the  lands  on  which  the  old 
stone  house  stands  have  been  held  for  nearly,  if  not 
more  than,  a  century.  Upon  the  crest  of  the  high 
ridge,  overlooking  the  Bronx  Valley  to  the  eastward, 
stood  an  earthwork  erected  by  General  Heath  in  1776, 
so  as  to  command  the  crossing  of  the  Bronx  at  Wil- 
liams' Bridge.  This  site  has  now  been  acquired  by  the 
city  of  New  York  for  a  reservoir,  in  which  the  waters 


804 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  the  Bronx  River  are  to  be  stored  and  from  which 
they  will  be  distributed  through  the  city. 

Still  farther  east,  and  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
what  was  formerly  West  Farms,  is  the  small  village  of 
Williams'  Bridge.  The  ancient  highway  which  passes 
through  this  section  east  and  west  and  descends  the 
steep  hill  to  the  Bronx  was  the  former  road  to  Con- 
necticut and  the  other  New  England  States,  and  be- 
fore the  construction  of  Harlem  Bridge  was  the  only 
traveled  route  to  New  England.  It  is  still  known  as 
the  "Boston  road,"  but  should  not  be  confounded 
with  another  highway  farther  to  the  eastward  in  Mor- 
risania,  also  called  by  the  same  name.  In  the  valley 
to  the  east  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  Varian  is  the  res- 
idence of  Hon.  W.  W.  Niles,  a  prominent  lawyer  in 
New  York  City,  who  has  represented  the  district 
several  times  in  the  New  York  Legislature.  He 
is  a  friend  of  Hon.  Samuel  .1.  Tilden  and  is  recog- 
nized as  a  leading  man  in  the  counsels  of  the  De- 
mocracy. 

Returning  to  the  west  and  the  line  of  the  aque- 
duct, south  of  the  Jockey  Club,  stands  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham,  and 
near  by  are  the  residences  of  H.  B.  Claflin  and  Wil- 
liam G.  Dun,  of  the  great  dry-goods  house  of  H.  B. 
Claflin  &  Co.  On  the  hill,  to  the  east,  is  the  old  Briggs 
house,  one  of  the  land-marks  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  now  celebrated  on  any  race-day  as  the  place  of 
assemblage  for  the  crowd  who  desire  to  witness  the 
events  without  paying  entrance-money  at  the  gates. 
It  has  recently  received  the  appropriate  appellation 
of  "  Donnybrook  Hill,"  and  many  scenes  transpire 
there  similar  to  those  which  are  enacted  at  the  his- 
toric fair  in  Ireland.  Near  by  is  the  residence  of 
Charles  L.  Cammann,  of  the  old  banking  firm  of  Cam- 
mann  &  Co.,  whose  wife,  Cornelia  de  Lancey,  belongs 
to  the  family  of  de  Lancey,  so  closely  identified  with 
the  history  of  the  township.  Next-door  is  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Rev.  D.  Lawrence  Jewett,  whose  wife. 
Miss  Dickinson,  was  the  daughter  of  the  Rev,  Dr. 
Dickinson,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respected  of  the 
late  residents  of  the  townshi]),  and  on  Central  Avenue, 
not  far  from  the  last,  is  the  residence  of  Frederick  W 
Devoe. 

Farther  down  the  Fordham  and  King's  Bridge 
road  is  the  residence  of  Hon.  A.  B.  Tappen,  ex-jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State.  The  old 
Josiah  Briggs  homestead  stands  on  the  crown  of 
the  Fordham  Ridge,  and  across  the  way  is  an  humble 
cottage,  the  residence  of  the  poet,  Edgar  Allen  Poe, 
about  the  years  1843-45.  It  is  said  that  while  re- 
siding in  this  house  he  composed  "The  Raven." 
Near  the  present  Central  Avenue  is  the  old  Peter 
Valentine  homestead  farm-house,  now  much  modern- 
ized by  the  "  old  squire's "  son-in-law,  the  Hon. 
John  B.  Haskin.  Mr.  Haskin  has  filled  many  offices 
of  trust  and  honor.  He  served  at  one  time  as  chair- 
man of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  was  jiresident  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  School  District  No.  2,  and 


represented  the  district  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. 

Just  south  of  the  Haskin  property,  extending  east 
from  the  Croton  Aqueduct  to  the  valley  of  the  Mill 
Brook,  were  the  Butler,  Berrian,  Bassford  and  Fisher 
farms,  now  mostly  cut  up  into  village  lots  and  fiist 
improving.  Just  west  of  Mr.  Haskin's  house,  on  the 
corner  of  Jerome  and  Croton  Avenues,  stands  the 
church  and  rectory  of  St.  James  Parish,  Fordham ; 
and  east  of  the  railroad  is  St.  John's  College,  near 
which  is  St.  Mary's,  the  Catholic  parish  church.  On 
the  rocky  ridge  on  the  west  side  of  Mill  Brook  is 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  the  old  Bash- 
ford  homestead,  in  recent  years  much  improved  by 
the  late  E.  V.  Welch.  To  the  south  are  the  growing 
villages  of  South  Fordham,  Mount  Hope  and  Mount 
Eden,  and,  overlooking  the  village  of  Tremont,  the 
House  of  Rest  for  Consumptives. 

The  territory  south  of  the  King's  Bridge  road  and 
as  far  south  as  the  south  boundary  of  the  Woolf  farm 
and  the  north  boundary  of  the  present  Zborowski 
place  was  still  in  the  Manor  of  Fordham,  and  at  the 
beginning  or  early  part  of  this  century  was  divided 
up  between  the  Butlers,  Berrians,  Archers,  the  easterly 
)iart  of  Judge  Morris'  farm,  the  Fishers,  Weeks, 
Poole  and  Woolf  families.  The  Woolfs  were  of 
Hessian  origin,  their  ancestor,  Anthony  Woolf,  hav- 
ing come  to  this  country  with  the  Hessian  troops 
during  the  Revolution  ;  but  taking  a  fancy  to  Amer- 
ica, he  did  not  return,  and  settled  on  the  Woolf  farm 
on  Cromwell's  Creek,  which,  by  his  industry  and  fru- 
gality, he  was  enabled  to  purchase.  The  present 
owner  of  the  property  is  now  the  lessee  of  the  de 
Lancey  or  Lydig's  Mills  at  West  Farms. 

South  of  the  Woolf  and  Weeks  farms  we  strike  the 
line  of  the  old  Manor  of  Morrisania.  On  the  hills 
overlooking  central  Morrisania  stands  the  hand- 
some residence  of  the  late  Martin  Zborowski,  who 
built  it  about  1855-56.  The  land  came  to  him  by  his 
wife.  Miss  Anna  Morris,  a  descendant  of  the  original 
j)atentees.  The  house  is  very  beautiful  and  the 
grounds  about  it  well  laid  out  and  finely  wooded. 
This  place  is  soon  to  be  taken  in  as  a  jiart  of  Cler- 
mont Park  by  the  city  of  New  York.  Eliot  Zborowski 
is  the  present  owner.  Adjoining  the  Zborowski 
place  is  a  tract  of  land  now  called  Inwood,  formerly 
the  property  of  Mrs.  Julia  Stebbins,  nie  Morris,  a 
sister  of  Mrs.  Zborowski,  but  the  property  has  been 
sold  off'  into  small  lots  and  has  lost  its  distinctive 
features.  South  of  the  Zborowski  places  and  In- 
wood  was  the  former  Cromwell  farm  and  that  part  of 
the  Manor  of  Morrisania  which  fell  to  the  share  of 
James  Morris,  formerly  sheriff'  of  New  York  City. 
The  mansion-house  is  still  standing  and  occupied  by 
his  son,  William  H.  Morris.  It  commands  a  fine 
view  of  the  Mill  Brook  Valley  to  the  east  and  the  now 
growing  village  of  Morrisania.  Much  of  this  tract 
has  been  sold  by  Mr.  Morris  to  the  Astors  and  others. 
Bordering  upon  his  lawn  the  Gentlemen's  Driving 


WESTCHESTER. 


805 


Association  have  established  a  race  track  called 
Fleetwood.  While  Fordliara  boasts  of  the  American 
Jockey  Club,  Fleetwood  is  patronized  by  the  lovers  of 
that  purely  American  institution,  the  trotter.  Not  far 
from  the  park  Mr.  Robert  Bonner  had  his  residence, 
and  "Dexter,"  "Maud  S."  and  other  "flyers"  are 
familiar  with  Fleetwood.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that 
before  the  Revolution  a  portion  of  the  same  ground 
was  used  as  a  race-track.  The  rest  of  the  territory 
between  Cromwell  Creek  and  the  Harlem  Railroad  is 
greatly  subdivided.  The  creek  is  spanned  by  two 
bridges  built  by  the  town  trustees  of  Morrisania 
during  their  existence.  The  whole  of  this  region  has 
been  largely  affected  of  late  years  by  the  opening 
and  construction  of  Central  or  Jerome  Avenue. 
This  broad  avenue,  seventy-five  feet  wide,  runs  from 
the  Central  or  Macomb's  Dam  bridge  north,  first 
through  the  Cromwell's  Creek  Valley  and  thence  to 
the  Woodlawn  Cemetery  gate  in  Yonkers.  The  old 
Macomb's  Dam  road  was  taken  into  the  lower  part  of 
the  avenue  and  the  excavations  and  embankments 
have  practically  changed  the  surface.  The  avenue 
is  the  favorite  resort  for  persons  owning  fast  horses. 
The  commissioners  who  were  charged  with  the  con- 
struction of  the  road  thoughtfully  planted  shade  trees 
at  the  sides  and  in  a  few  years'  time  it  will  be  one  of 
the  best  shaded  avenues  in  the  city. 

Returning  to  Williams'  Bridge,  we  find  just  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  on  the  Bronx,  the  large  estate  of  Peter 
Lorillard,  which  occupies  most  of  the  space  between 
the  Harlem  Railroad  and  the  Bronx,  the  estate  being 
on  both  sides  of  the  latter  river.  Saint  John's  Col- 
lege comes  in  at  this  point  and  just  south  of  the  col- 
lege grounds  comes  in  the  Powell  farm.  This  prop- 
erty was  owned  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  by 
the  Bayard  family,  and  the  widow  of  Mr.  Bayard 
married  Reverend  William  Powell,  rector  of  St. 
Peters  Church  at  Westchester.  In  addition  to  his 
parochial  duties,  Dr.  Powell  kept  a  boys'  school  at 
Fordham,  which,  in  its  day  was  as  famous  as  any  of 
the  present  modern  boarding  schools  for  young  men. 
The  old  house  is  still  standing,  but  the  property  has 
been  cut  into  lots  and  Dr.  Powell's  pupils  would  have 
great  difficulty  in  recognizing  their  former  play- 
grounds. South  of  the  Powell  farm,  at  the  junction 
of  three  roads  at  Belmont,  is  located  the  Home  for  j 
Incurables,  on  the  property  formerly  owned  by  Jacob  j 
Lorillard,  deceased.  Going  east,  toward  the  village  I 
of  West  Farms,  we  reach  the  fine  brick  mansion  ' 
built  by  Captain  Frederick  Grote,  and  occupied  by 
him  for  many  years.  Captain  Grote  served  the  town 
for  some  time  as  supervisor. 

West  of  Belmont  is  a  large  tract  of  land  formerly 
belonging  to  the  de  Lanceys,  but  now  owned  by  the 
Lydig  estate.  It  extends  east  of  the  Bronx  and  has 
within  its  limits  de  Lnncey's  ilill  of  revolutionary 
fame,  but  known  for  more  than  half  a  century  as 
Lydig's  Mills.  The  most  beautiful  part  of  the  place 
is  on  the  border  of  the  Bronx,  where  a  pond  has  been 


formed  by  the  mill  dam.  It  is  in  about  the  centre  of 
this  pond  that  the  several  boundary  lines  of  the 
Archer,  Westchester  Borough  and  Jessup  and 
Richardson's  patents  met.*  Mr.  David  Lydig,  an  ex- 
tensive miller  of  his  day,  purchased  the  place  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century,  and  there  established  him- 
self in  the  old  de  Lancey  house,  which  stood  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Bronx.  The  old  house  and  the  mill 
were  burnt,  and  another  house  was  built  west  of  the 
Bronx  which  is  still  standing.'^  Mr.  Lydig  owned 
mills  in  the  valley  of  the  Genesee  when  that  region 
was  the  grain-growing  part  of  our  country  and  later 
on  he  built  the  mill  near  West  Point,  on  the  Hudson, 
which  was  turned  by  the  stream  which  forms  the 
Buttermilk  Falls.  His  son,  the  late  Philip  Lydig, 
who  married  a  Miss  Suydam  (the  daughter  of  another 
Genesee  miller  celebrated  in  his  time),  succeeded  to 
his  father's  estate  and  lived  there  for  many  years.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  late  Lieutenant-Colonel  Philip 
Lydig,  who  served  with  distinction  as  assistant  ad- 
jutant-general on  the  staff  of  General  Ambrose  Burn- 
side  during  the  Civil  War.  His  brother,  David 
Lydig,  resides  part  of  the  year  at  the  family  home- 
stead. This  Mr.  Lydig  married  a  granddaughter  of 
the  late  Vice-President  and  Governor,  Daniel  D. 
Tompkins,  of  Westchester  County.  One  of  the 
daughters  married  Hon.  Charles  P.  Daily,  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Another  daughter  married  Hon.  John  R. 
Brady,  one  of  the  present  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  the  First  Judicial  Department,  of  which 
a  portion  of  our  townships  form  a  part.  The  Lydig 
place,  together  with  much  of  the  land  adjoining  it  on 
the  north  and  east,  will  soon  be  condemned  by  the 
city  authorities  as  a  public  park  which  is  to  be  named 
Bronx  Park.  Just  south  of  the  Lydig  place  is  the 
village  of  West  Farms. 

This  village,  formerly  known  as  de  Lancey's  Mills, 
owes  its  settlement  to  the  location  of  the  mills  at  that 
point,  but  prior  to  the  building  of  the  Harlem  or 
Coles'  Bridge  its  population  was  inconsiderable  and 
the  village  of  Westchester  was  the  principal  village 
of  the  township.  The  making  of  the  Coles  or  Bos- 
ton road  through  the  village  placed  it  on  the  highway 
between  New  York  and  New  England,  and  for  several 
years  the  Bronx  attracted  many  manufactories  to  it. ' 
The  terminus  of  the  Harlem  Bridge  and  West  Farms 
Horse  Railroad  and  the  depot  of  the  Port  Chester 
Branch  of  the  New  Haven  Railroad  just  east  of  the 
Bronx  renders  it  accessible.  In  the  centre  of  the  vil- 
lage stands  the  residence  of  Samuel  M.  Purdy,  Esq., 
counselor-at-law,  who  on  several  occasions  represent- 
ed the  township  as  justice  of  the  peace  and  member 
of  Assembly.    He  at  one  time  was  elected  to  the  lat- 


>  Purgunnl  iDformatioii  given  me  by  Andrew  Findluy,  the  oldest  and 
most  experienced  uurveyor  of  the  neighborhood, 
sold  iikerchanU  of  New  Yorli. 

3  Ita  water  was  found  to  be  particularly  suitable  for  the  prejiaratiou  of 
textile  fabrics. 


806 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ter  office  by  the  unanimous  votes  of  his  townsmen. 
James  L.  Wells,  twice  member  of  Assembly  and 
since  annexation  twice  alderman,  also  resides  in  the 
village,  and  here  Daniel  Mapes,  a  respected,  public- 
spirited  citizen,  resided  for  many  yeafs  and  kept  the 
country  store. ^  At  the  south  end  of  the  village  is  the 
tidy  residence  of  Dr.  Norman  K.  Freeman,  one 
of  the  oldest  practitioners  of  medicine  and  surgery 
in  the  district.  The  doctor  was  also  much  interested 
in  former  years  in  organizing  a  higher  grade  in  the 
common  schools  in  the  township  and  has  held  many 
offices  of  a  public  nature.  Along  the  line  of  the 
Southern  Boulevard,  southwest  of  the-  village,  stands 
the  Vyse  mansion,  formerly  erected  by  Thomas  Rich- 
ardson, a  wealthy  Irish  linen  merchant,  and  at  the 
junction  of  the  Westchester  road  and  Southern  Boul- 
evard stood  the  Fox  Mansion,  this  point  being  known, 
and  still  by  old  settlers  spoken  of,  as  "  Fox's  Corners." 

William  Fox  was  a  wealthy  merchant  of  New 
York  City.  He  married  a  daughter  of  William  Leg- 
gett,  of  West  Farms  and  Leggett's  Point.  He  was  of 
the  Quaker  persuasion,  and  the  members  of  the  Fox 
and  Leggett  families  are  buried  in  the  old  Quaker 
burying-ground  at  Westchester,  just  south  of  the 
Episcopal  Church.  He  had  several  children,— Wil- 
liam, George,  Mrs.  Augustus  Scliell  and  Mrs.  Tucker. 
From  him  is  descended  the  Tiffany  family  (who  still 
own  some  of  the  original  property)  and  Austin  G. 
Fox,  a  rising  lawyer  of  the  New  York  bar,  and  Mrs. 
Rebecca  Riggs,  of  the  same  city. 

To  the  east  of  Fox's  Corners  stands  Brightside, 
the  beautiful  residence  of  Colonel  R.  M.  Hoe,  of  the 
world-renowned  firm  of  R.  M.  Hoe  &  Co.,  printing- 
press  manufacturers. 

Since  this  work  has  been  in  press  Mr.  Hoe  died  in 
Europe.  Though  a  poor  boy,  by  the  industry  and 
mechanical  skill  of  himself  and  his  brothers,  the  firm 
increased  its  business  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has  its 
factories  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Most  of  the 
improvements  made  in  the  steam-presses  of  to-day 
are  due  to  the  careful  study  and  knowledge  of  practi- 
cal mechanics  which  Colonel  Hoe  possessed.  The 
colonel  was  also  diligent  in  the  affairs  of  his  town- 
ship ;  was  one  of  the  commissioners  who  constructed 
the  Southern  Boulevard,  a  promoter  of  the  Morri- 
sania  Steamboat  Company  and  the  Suburban  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  and  vestryman  of  St.  Ann's 
Church  at  Morrisania.  He  was  respected  and  be- 
loved by  his  fellow-townsmen. 

Near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  Westchester  road 
and  the  Southern  Boulevard  stand  the  residences  of 
tlie  brothers  Simpson,  the  well-known  bankers ;  and 
on  Hunt's  Point,  to  the  east  of  Fox's  Corners,  are  the 
former  residences  of  the  late  Edward  G.  Faile,  Paul 
N.  Spofford,  William  Caswell  and  Francis  Baretto. 

Edward  G.  Faile  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  firm 
of  Thomas  Hall  and  Edward  G.  Faile  &  Co.,  grocc-s 


>  Sketches  of  these  gentlemen  appear  elsewhere. 


in  New  York.  He  settled  at  Hunt's  Point  about  the 
middle  of  this  century,  erecting  a  handsome  mansion 
and  making  great  improvements  on  the  farm.  He 
was  an  extensive  breeder  and  importer  of  Devonshire 
cattle,  and  at  one  time  was  president  of  the  New 
York  State  Agricultural  Society.  He  was  a  vestry- 
man of  St.  Ann's  Church,  Morrisania,  and  engaged 
in  many  works  of  charity  and  benevolence.  He  left 
surviving  him,  Thomas  Hall  Faile,  Charles  and 
Edward  (merchants),  Samuel  (a  farmer  at  White 
Plains),  and  Mrs.  William  Smith  Brown. 

Paul  N.  Spofford  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
firm  of  Spofford  &  Tileston,  of  New  York, 
the  well-known  shipping  merchants  and  man- 
agers of  the  Charleston  and  Savannah  Line  of 
steamers.  He  moved  to  Hunt's  Point  about  1830  and 
built  the  present  house  now  standing  on  the  Hunt's 
Point  road.  He  left  several  children,  among  whom 
are  General  Paul  Spofford,  Gardner  Spring  Spofford, 
Joseph  Spofford  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Pearsall. 

William  Caswell,  a  member  of  the  well-known 
grocery  house  of  Wm.  Caswell  &  Co.,  of  New  York 
City,  married  Miss  Watson,  a  daughter  of  William 
Watson,  of  Westchester,  {q.  v.) 

Francis  Barretto,  a  New  York  merchant,  married  a 
Miss  Coster,  daughter  of  John  G.  Coster,  of  New 
York,  and  settled  at  Hunt's  Point  many  years  ago. 
Mr.  Barretto  represented  the  township  in  the  Board 
of  Supervisors ;  was  also  at  one  time  a  member  of  As- 
sembly. 

The  view  from  Hunt's  or  Barretto's  Point  is  one  of 
the  finest  on  the  East  River.  It  commands  a  view 
eastward  of  the  entrance  to  Long  Island  Sound  and 
to  the  south  of  Flushing  Bay  and  the  Long  Island 
shore.  On  it  is  also  the  old  family  cemetery  of  the 
Hunts  and  in  it  repose  the  remains  of  Joseph 
Rodman  Drake,  the  poet,  the  author  of  the  famous 
poem  to  the  American  flag.  It  is  said  that  Drake 
wrote  those  lines  while  having  before  him  the  pano- 
oramic  view  of  the  region  now  being  described. 
On  the  stone  over  his  remains  are  inscribed  the  im- 
mortal words, — 

"  None  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
None  named  him  but  to  praise." 

During  the  author's  last  visit  to  this  cemetery  the 
tombstone  was  in  disrepair.  Some  literary  organiza- 
tion should  see  that  Drake's  last  resting-place  is  prop- 
erly preserved. 

Southwest  of  Hunt's  Point,  and  divided  by  theSack- 
wrahong  Creek,  is  Leggett's  Point,  the  most  southerly 
and  westerly  part  of  the  former  Jessup  and  Richard- 
son's patent,  and  later  on  township  of  West  Farms. 
Originally  possessed  by  the  Richardsons,  by  inter- 
marriages and  purchases  it  finally  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Leggetts,  a  respectable  Quaker  family, 
for  more  than  a  century  identified  with  the  history  of 
West  Farms.  It  was  finally  purchased  by  Benjamin 
Whitlock,  of  the  formerly  well-known  firm  of  grocers, 


WESTCllESTKK. 


807 


B.  M.  &  E.  A.  Whitlock,  who  greatly  improved  it  ; 
later  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  B.  S.  Arnold,  a  wealthy 
coffee  merchant  of  New  York,  and  now  has  become  a 
pleasure  resort.  To  the  west  of  this  point  and 
along  the  line  of  the  Southern  Boulevard  is  thecoun-  I 
try-seat  of  Mr.  Samuel  B.  Wiiite,  formerly  owned  by 
his  lather-in-law,  Mr.  Dennison,  an  old  and  respected 
merchant  of  New  York.  I\Ir.  White  was  at  one  time 
president  of  the  Grocers'  ]5ank  in  New  York  City, 
but  has  now  retired.  Near  by  is  also  the  former  resi- 
dence of  Philip  Uater.  Mucli  of  this  i)r()])erty  has 
been  cut  up  into  city  lots,  but  some  of  it  still  remains 
in  the  family's  possession.  Philip  Dater,  of  New 
York,  merchant,  succeeded  the  firm  of  Philip  Dater 
&  Sons. 

Near  Leggett's  Point  is  the  North  Brothers'  Island 
in  the  East  River,  now  the  property  of  the  city  of 
New  York  and  formerly  belonging  to  the  township  of 
Morrisania.  On  it  the  United  States  government  has 
erected  a  light-house  to  warn  vessels  seeking  a  pas- 
sage through  Hell  Gate  and  the  East  River.  Near  by, 
on  the  main,  is  Port  Morris,  formerly  known  asStoney 
Island,  the  same  having  originally  been  separated 
from  the  main  by  a  small  creek  or  canal.  Here  is  the 
terminus  of  the  Port  Morris  Branch  of  the  ^arlem 
Railroad,  and  off  Port  Morris  is  the  deepest  water  in 
the  vicinity  of  New  York.  The  "  Great  Eastern"  made 
her  first  anchorage  here,  having  come  in  by  way  of 
Long  Island  Sound,  her  captain  fearing  that  the  bar 
at  Sandy  Hook  would  not  admit  of  her  entrance  into 
the  lower  Bay  of  New  York.  Near  by  is  Pot  Rock, 
on  which,  during  the  Revolution,  a  British  ship-of- 
war  was  sunk.  A  company  has  for  years  been  seek- 
ing to  find,  by  means  of  divers,  some  of  the  lost  treas- 
ure, but  with  what  success  has  not  yet  been  revealed. 
Just  west  of  Port  Morris,  and  on  the  westerly 
side  of  the  Southern  Boulevard  stands  Rockwood, 
the  beautiful  residence  of  Samuel  E.  Lyon,  Esq.,  a 
distinguished  lawyer  of  New  York  and  Westchester 
County. 

Mr.  Lyon  is  of  old  Westchester  County  stock.  He 
was  born  in  East  Chester  and  married  the  daughter 
of  Jonathan  Ward,  for  many  years  surrogate  of  the 
county.  When  quite  a  young  man  he  distinguished 
himself  by  sustaining  the  will  of  Henry  White,  of  Yon- 
kers,  better  known  as  Van  Cortlandt,  thereby  saving 
to  the  Van  Cortlandt  family  of  the  present  day,  at 
King's  Bridge  (see  King's  Bridge),  the  large  estate  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  present  proprietor,  Augustus 
Van  Cortlandt.  He  for  years  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
Westchester  bar.  He  resided  at  White  Plains  for 
several  years.  Cases  of  great  importance,  however, 
compelled  him  to  abandon  his  Westchester  home  and 
take  up  his  residence  in  the  metropolis,  where  he  has 
ever  since  enjoyed  a  lucrative  and  honorable  prac- 
tice. Though  several  times  offered  a  judicial  posi- 
tion and  political  honors,  Mr.  Lyon  has  preferred  the 
emoluments,  honors  and  retirement  of  private  prac- 
tice to  public  positions,  and  now,  in  his  declining 


years,  though  as  vigorous  as  ever,  lie  reaps  the  reward 
of  his  ability,  industry  and  integrity.  To  him  our 
townsmen  are  indebted  for  much  sound  advice  and 
counsel.  He  served  as  one  of  the  commissioners  for 
the  Morrisania  survey  ;  wiis  counselor  for  the  Southern 
Boulevard  commissioners  and  commissioners  of  the 
Central  or  Macomb's  Dam  bridge ;  is  entitled  to  the 
credit  of  having  drafted  the  act  for  the  annexation  of 
West  Farms,  King's  Bridge  and  Morrisania  to  the  city 
of  New  York ;  he  drew  the  acts  authorizing  the  im- 
provement of  Harlem  River  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment, and  has  recently  carried  through  the  courts,  to 
a  successful  issue,  the  preliminary  work  incident  to 
acquiring  the  right  of  way  for  that  important  under- 
taking. 

Just  south  of  Mr.  Lyons  is  situated  the  residence  of 
.fohn  J.  Crane,  Esq.,  a  respected  merchant  of  New 
York,  and  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Suburban 
Rapid  Transit  Company.  Near  by,  to  the  west  of  Mr. 
Lyons,  are  a  number  of  country-seats,  fast  being  ab- 
sorbed into  city  lots,  many  of  which  will,  in  a  short 
time,  be  absorbed  into  a  new  park,  which  the  city  is 
about  to  make,  called  St.  Mary's  Park,  and  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  is  old  St.  Ann's  Church,  described 
in  another  ehai)ter.  Just  on  the  banks  of  the  Harlem 
Kills  stands  the  house  formerly  of  Gouverneur  Morris, 
and  not  far  distant,  near  the  Port  Chester  Railroad 
depot,  was  the  site  of  Bron.x's  house,  where,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  first  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians 
was  signed.  To  return  to  Fordham  and  describe  the 
valley  of  the  Mill  Brook,  as  it  used  to  appear  before 
the  flourishing  settlements,  near  the  Harlem  Railroad, 
ofTremont,  Central  Morrisania,  Morrisania  Station, 
Melrose  and  Mott  Haven,  would  be  a  pleasing  task  ; 
but  all  their  former  beauties  have  departed,  and 
suffice  it  to  say  that  they  are  part  and  i)arcel  of  the 
great  metropolis.  One  oasis  of  rural  occupancy  still 
exists  at  Central  Morrisania.  The  Bathgate  farm  is 
still  almost  intact,  and  the  old  farm-house,  with  its 
barn-yard,  orchard  and  other  agrii  ultural  surround- 
ings, still  remaining  entire  within  ear-shot  of  the  tink- 
ling of  horse-car  bells  and  the  tooting  of  locomotive 
whistles.  But  the  easterly  portion  of  this  property  is 
soon  to  be  taken  by  the  city  to  form  a  new  pleasure 
ground,  which  is  called  Crotona  Park. 

The  Bathgate  family  came  to  the  township  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century  from  Scotland.  One  brother, 
Alexander,  settled  at  Morrisania  as  foreman  for 
Gouverneur  Morris,  and  afterward  i)urchased  from 
his  son  the  farm  now  situated  at  Central  Morrisania. 
He  left  three  sons  and  several  daughters, — James, 
a  doctor  of  medicine,  and  Alexander,  a  farmer, 
who  occupy  the  old  homestead  on  Fordliam  Avenue, 
with  their  sister  still  unmarried.  Charles,  recent- 
ly deceased,  who  was  at  one  time  supervisor  of  the 
town.  James,  the  other  brother,  resided  at  Ford- 
ham,  and  was  a  farmer.  He  owned  the  farm  on  which 
the  Jerome  Park  Jockey  Club  is  now  located.  He 
left  four  children, — Charles  W.,  formerly  supervisor; 


808 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUxNTY. 


Maria  (single),  now  residing  witli  her  brother  at 
Fordham  ;  Mrs.  Myers  ;  and  Mrs.  Ardil  B.  Raymond, 
whose  husband  was  for  many  years  the  miller  at  De  \ 
Lancey's  Mills,   and   town   clerk  of  West  Farms 
(Devoe). 

Three  members  of  this  family  are,  or  have  been 
residents  of  the  township.  They  are  of  Huguenot 
origin.  Frederick  is  the  senior  member  of  the  large 
paint  and  oil  firm  of  F.  W.  Devoe  &  Co.,  of  New 
York  City.  His  brother,  Moses  Devoe,  resides  on 
Fordham  Ridge,  on  the  Fordham  Landing  road,  in 
the  old  Valentine  homestead.  He  is  a  retired  butcher 
of  New  York,  but  the  family  are  of  Westchester 
origin.  Another  brother,  Colonel  Thomas  F.  Devoe, 
has  been  for  years  inspector  of  markets  in  New  York 
City,  and  a  fourth  brother,  George  W.  Devoe,  was 
supervisor  of  the  township.  This  branch  of  the  j 
family  came  from  Yonkers. 

THE  PRESENT  TOWN  OF  WESTCHESTER  SINCE  THE 
REVOLUTION. 

Boundaries. — We  have  seen  that  though  West- 
chester township  at  the  time  of  Colve's  interreg- 
num was  erected  into  a  town,  it  did  not  become 
a  borough  entitled  to  elect  representatives  to  the 
General  Assembly  until  1686,  when  Governor 
Dongan  confirmed  the  Nicolls  patent  to  Quimby 
and  others.  It  was  still,  however,  in  the  North 
Riding  of  Yorkshire,  attending  the  courts  that 
were  held  on  Long  Island  and  contributing  its  quota, 
to  that  precinct.  Morrisania  in  the  mean  time  was  a 
separate  manor,  and  what  are  now  known  as  West 
Farms  and  Fordham  had  their  distinct  courts  under 
the  Archer  patent.  In  1691  the  county  of  Westchester 
was  formed,  and  in  1696  Governor  Fletcher  granted 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Westchester  town  a  charter 
erecting  them  into  a  borough  town  under  the  name 
and  title  of  the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of 
Westchester.  *  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  then  a 
Councilor,  and  at  that  time  erecting  a  mill  at  West- 
chester Creek,  was  appointed  the  first  mayor,  and 
William  Barns,  John  Stuart,  William  Willett,  Thomas 
Baxter,  Josiah  Stuart  and  John  Bailey,  gentlemen, 
were  appointed  the  first  aldermen.  Israel  Honeywell, 
Robert  Hustis,  Samuel  Hustis,  Samuel  Ferris,  Daniel 
Turneur  and  Miles  Oakley  were  appointed  assistant 
aldermen.  The  new  oflicials  were  duly  sworn  in. 
Colonel  Heathcote  presented  the  town  with  its  seal, 
and  in  the  following  year  a  town  hall  was  erected. 
Though  not  mentioned  in  the  charter  as  being  within 
the  bounds  of  the  borough,  the  people  of  Fordham 
and  West  Farms  seem  to  have  borne  allegiance  to 
the  rulings  of  the  Mayor's  Court  of  Westchester. 


1  liber  6  of  Patents,  page  101.  It  is  believed  tbat  tbe  original  patents 
granted  to  the  town  by  Dongan  and  Fletcher  were  in  the  possession  of 
the  late  Mr.  Leggett,  of  West  Farms.  The  writer's  information  is  from 
a  printed  abstract,  kindly  furnished  him  by  Edward  F.  de  Lancey.  He  has 
also  seen  a  full  printed  copy  of  the  charter,  in  possession  of  Albion  P. 
^an,  counselor  at-law,  New  York  City. 


The  change  from  the  borough  existence  under  the 
colonial  system  to  that  of  a  town  under  the  State 
government  took  place  in  1785,  when  the  town  of 
Westchester  was  created  by  an  act  of  the  New  York 
General  Assembly.  ^  Still  there  was  some  doubt  as  to 
the  precise  limits  of  the  town,  andin  1788  the  Assembly 
defined  the  bounds  as  follows : 

"All  that  part  of  the  County  of  Westchester  bounded  Easterly  by  the 
Sound  and  the  land  granted  to  Thomas  Pell,  called  the  Manor  of  Pel- 
bam ;  Southerly  by  the  Sound  ;  Westerly  by  the  County  of  New  York 
and  Northerly  by  the  Noith  bounds  of  the  Manor  of  Fordham  and  the 
north  bounds  of  the  land  called  the  Borough  Town  of  Westchester,  in- 
cluding the  islands  in  the  Sound,  lying  Southward  thereof  and  in  tbe 
County  of  Westchester,  excepting  thereout  the  tract  called  Morrisania." 

By  Chapter  279  of  the  Laws  of  1846,  passed  May 
13th  and  entitled  "An  Act  to  divide  the  town  of 
Westchester,  in  the  County  of  Westchester,"  all  that 
part  of  the  town  of  Westchester  described  agreeably 
to  a  map  of  that  part  of  the  town  lying  easterly  of  the 
Bronx  River,  made  by  Andrew  Findlay,  surveyor,  was 
erected  into  a  separate  town  and  was  to  retain  the 
name  of  "Westchester."  The  new  town  is  described 
as  follows  and  that  description  covers  its  present 
limits: 

"Beginning  at  a  point  in  Long  Island  Sound  where  the  Bronx  Kiver 
enipties  into  the  same  ;  thence  running  Northerly  along  the  centre  of  the 
Bronx  River,  as  the  same  now  runs,  until  it  comes  to  the  boundary  line, 
between  Eastcbester  and  Westchester  aforesaid ;  thence  running  North- 
easterly along  the  said  last-mentioned  boundary  line  until  it  comes  to 
Eastcbester  bay,  which  separates  the  town  of  Pelham  from  the  town  of 
Westchester  aforesaid  ;  thence  running  still  Southeasterly,  easterly. 
Southerly  and  westerly,  winding  and  turning  as  the  shore  winds  and 
turns,  extending  as  far  into  Long  Island  Sound  as  the  true  boundary  line 
of  said  town  extends  iintil  it  comes  to  the  Bronx  River  aforesaid  and 
place  of  Beginning.  All  the  remaining  part  of  the  town  of  Westchester, 
as  the  same  is  now  defined,  shall  be  and  hereby  is  erected  into  a  new  town 
to  be  named  the  town  of  West  Farms." 

The  unsettled  claims  and  the  privileges  heretofore 
had  by  the  people  of  the  old  town  of  Westchester 
under  the  "Old  Charter"  were  directed  to  continue  to 
be  held  and  enjoyed  by  the  inhabitants  of  each  of  the 
new  towns  of  West  Farms  and  Westchester.  The 
town-meeting  for  Westchester  was  directed  to  be  held 
at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Fowler,  in  said  town,  on  the 
first  Monday  in  June,  and  for  West  Farms  at  the  place 
where  the  last  town-meeting  was  held.  William  H. 
Bowne  was  appointed  moderator  for  the  Westchester 
meeting  and  Ardil  B.  Raymond  as  moderator  at  the 
West  Farms  meeting. 

Government. — Formerly  the  borough  of  West- 
chester elected  its  supervisor  at  a  diflTerent  season  of  the 
year  than  the  other  towns  of  the  county.  In  the  Manor 
of  Morrisania  the  steward  was  the  supervisor,  and 
whether  Fordham  had  a  separate  supervisor  the  data 

2  By  Chapter  Ixxii.  of  the  Laws  of  1785,  the  freeholders  and  inhabit- 
ants of  Westchester  were  authorized  to  elect  at  their  town-meeting  six 
freeholders,  for  the  purpose  of  having  such  trustees  to  order  and  dispose 
of  all  or  any  part  of  the  undivided  lands  in  the  township  as  fully  and 
amply  as  trustees  have  been  used  to  do  under  any  charter  given  hereto- 
fore to  the  inhabitants  of  said  town.  Power  to  lea.se  a  ferry  across  the 
East  River  from  the  township  of  Westchester  to  the  township  of  Flush- 
ing was  given  the  trustees.  The  district  heretofore  called  and  known  by 
the  style  of  the  borough  and  town  of  Westchester  was  directed  hereafter 
to  be  called  and  known  as  the  town  of  Westchester. 


WESTCHKSTEK. 


S09 


prior  to  1788  do  not  show,  but  in  tliat  year  Fordliam 
and  the  borough  had  but  one  sucli  official  between 
them.  From  1773  we  find  James  Ferris  represent- 
ing the  borough  and  Lewis  Morris  the  manor,  but 
from  the  opening  of  the  Revolution  down  to  1784 
Westchester,  Fordham  and  Morrisania  were  not  rep- 
resented in  the  board.  In  that  year  Thomas  Hunt 
was  supervisor  and  William  Morris  represented  the 
Manor  of  Morrisania,  which  was  a  separate  precinct 
and  entitled  to  separate  representation  in  the  board. 
In  1785,  Abraham  Leggett  re])resented  the  borough 
and  Lewis  Morris  the  manor,  and  in  that  year  the  tax 
on  Morrisania  was  £1  lis.  llcZ.  and  on  Westchester 
£9  10s.  4d.  Prior  to  1786  the  parish  had  supported 
the  poor,  and  in  that  year.  Lake  Hunt  being  super- 
visor, provision  was  made  for  adjusting  the  accounts 
of  the  church  wardens  relative  to  support  of  the  poor. 
In  1787  Israel  Underbill  represented  the  town  in  the 
County  Board  and  continued  as  such  until  1802.  In 
1791  Morrisania  was  deprived  of  representation  and 
made  a  part  of  the  town  of  Westchester.  Westchester 
township  was  erected  in  1788. 

The  jail  and  court-house,  which  was  formerly  lo- 
cated at  Westchester  village,  near  the  site  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  was  burned  in  1790,  and  the  super- 
visors of  the  county  allowed  the  trustees  of  the  village 
£70  therefor.  In  1802  the  number  of  ta.xable  inhabit- 
ants was  185,  and  the  total  valuation  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property  $696,822.  Captains  Ferris,  of  West- 
chester, and  Berrian,  of  Fordham,  commanded  two 
town  military  companies.  From  1802  till  1816  Ben- 
jamin Ferris  was  the  supervisor;  from  1816  to  1818 
Basil  J.  Bartow  succeeded  him,  but  from  1819  to 
1828  Ferris  continued  to  represent  the  town.  In  the 
latter  year  the  aggregate  assessed  value  of  property 
in  the  town  had  increased  to  $838,010,  and  the  num- 
ber of  taxable  inhabitants  to  229.  Israel  H.  Watson 
was  supervisor  from  1829  to  1832,  in  which  year 
Asiatic  cholera  prevailed  in  the  township  and  the  sum 
of  $88.52  was  expended  by  the  Board  of  Health  in 
suppressing  the  disease.  In  1833-34  Augustus  Huestace 
was  both  supervisor  and  justice  of  the  peace;  but 
in  1835  Israel  H.  Watson  returned  to  the  board.  In 
that  year  William  Barker,  of  Westchester,  who  for 
twenty-eight  years  had  been  clerk  of  the  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors, resigned,  and  the  board  passed  a  vote  of 
thanks  for  his  faithful  services.  Watson  continued  to  \ 
represent  the  town  until  1839,  when  Andrew  Findlay,  | 
tiie  well-known  civil  engineer  and  surveyor,  succeeded 
him.  Findlay  continued  toserve  until  1846,  with  one 
exception  in  1844,  when  Robert  R.  Morris,  of  West- 
chester, filled  theoffice.  In  1846  the  Legislature  passed 
an  act  dividing  the  township,  all  that  portion  of  the  ter-  i 
ritory  west  of  the  Bronx  being  erected  into  the  town-  [ 
ship  of  West  Farms,  and  that  east  of  the  Bronx  con-  j 
tinuing  under  the  old  name  of  Westchester.  j 

The  division  of  the  township  created  a  contest  for 
the  seat  of  supervisor.    Both  Findlay   and   Watson  I 
claimed  to  be  legally  elected.  It  seems  that  when,  on  ' 
74 


the  13th  of  May,  1846,  the  act  was  passed,  Mr.  Find- 
lay claimed  that  he  was  duly  elected  at  the  regular 
town-meeting,  which  was  held  prior  to  the  passage  of 
the  act,  and  Watson  claimed  that  he  was  elected  Ibr 
the  new  town  of  Westchester  at  an  election  held  on 
the  30th  of  June,  after  the  passage  of  the  act.  The 
supervisors  decided  in  Mr.  Findlay's  favor  ;  so  he  be- 
came the  last  supervisor  of  the  old  town  of  West- 
chester and  the  first  supervisor  of  West  Farms.  At 
the  time  of  the  division  of  the  township  the  ag- 
gregate assessment  amounted  to  $841,490 ;  the 
number  of  taxable  inhabitants  was  442  and  the 
population  in  both  townships  was  about  5052. 

In  1847  Mr.  Findlay  was  again  supervisor;  in  1848 
Daniel  J.  Coster  succeeded  him.  During  that  ses- 
sion Mr.  Coster  presented  a  complaint  to  the  board, 
made  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Duranquet,  a  priest  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith  and  a  resident  of  Westchester, 
stating  that  the  keeper  of  the  county  poor-house  had 
refused  to  permit  him  to  administer  the  sacrament  to 
an  inmate,  on  the  ground  that  the  priest's  services 
were  "  idolatry  "  and  that  he  ivis  hslpinj  souls  to  hell. 
The  supervisors,  at  Mr.  Coster's  suggestion,  pas-^ed  a 
resolution  recommending  the  superintendents,  of  the 
poor  to  remove  the  keeper.  Mr.  Coster  served  another 
term  and  was  succeeded  by  Robert  R.  Morris,  who 
continued  in  office  till  1853,  with  the  exception  of  the 
year  1850,  when  Bayard  Clark  served  one  term.  In 
1852  Mr.  Morris  was  extended  the  courtesy  of  being 
the  nominee  of  the  board  for  chairman,  but  his  party 
being  in  the  minority,  Robert  H.  Coles,  of  New 
Rochelle,  was  elected.  In  1853,  '57,  '59,  '60,  '61  and 
'64  Abraham  Hatfield  represented  the  town.  Denton 
Pearsall  served  in  1858.  In  1862  Wm.  H.  Bowne  was 
supervisor,  and  served  another  term  in  1876.  In  1870- 
71  the  office  was  filled  by  Patrick  Hendricks,  who 
served  until  succeeded  by  Hugh  Lunny,  in  1872.  The 
subsequent  supervisors  have  been  F.  C.  Havemyer, 
(1874),  J.  M.  Furman  (1X75),  Wm.  H.  Bowne  (1876), 
Hugh  Lunny  (1877),  Robert  C.  Wats^n  (1878), 
James  Henderson  (1879),  Peter  Brigg^  (1882),  James 
Henderson  (1883),  Daniel  J.  McGrory  (1884),  who 
was  re-elected  in  1885. 

In  1847,  after  the  division,  the  number  of  taxable 
persons  in  Westchester  town  diminished  to  215  and 
the  assessment  to  $763,775.  In  1850,  although  the 
taxables  had  increased  only  to  249  persons,  the  prop- 
erty valuation  had  risen  to  $2,079,799.  In  1855  the 
taxables  were  1265  in  number  and  the  assessed 
valuation  $2,184,750.  In  1870  the  total  population 
was  6015,  and  in  1880,  6789. 

RELIGIOUS  DEXOMIXATIOXS. 

The  Episcopal  Church. — .\s  the  early  settlers  of 
Westchester  town  were  Puritans,  who  had  fled  from 
England  to  find  freedom  of  worship  beyond  the 
sea,  it  was  their  first  care,  after  they  were  housed,  to 
provide  for  religious  services.  We  touch  the  first 
account  of  a  congregation  in  the  report  ot  the  Dutch 


810 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


commissioners,  who,  whea  they  visited  Oostdorp,  in 
1656,  witnessed  a  Sunday  meeting,  at  whicli  Mr.  Baly 
said  a  prayer  and  Mr.  Bassett  read  a  sermon.  The 
people  had  no  regular  minister  until  1674,  when  Rev. 
Ezekiel  Fogge  officiated  for  them,  and  was  in  all 
probability  the  first  clergyman  who  held  services  in 
the  village.  On  February  11  and  October  7,  1680, 
Morgan  Jones  performed  baptism  and  the  marriage 
ceremony,  from  which  it  must  be  supposed  that  he 
was  a  regular  Congregational  minister.  On  April  2, 
1684,  the  justices  and  vestrymen  of  Westchester 
agreed  with  those  of  East  Chester  and  Yonkers  to 
accept  Warliam  Mather  "  as  our  minister  for  one 
whole  year,"  and  to  pay  him  sixty  pounds  in  country 
produce.  On  January  2,  1692,  the  people  in  meeting 
resolved  that  Colonel  Heathcote  or  Captain  William 
Barnes  should  procure  them  an  orthodox  minister, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  either  of  them  fulfilled  the 
mission.  By  the  act  of  Assembly  of  September  21, 
1693,  the  parish  of  Westchester  was  set  off  to  include 
the  precincts  of  Westchester,  East  Chester,  Yonkers 
and  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  and  was  required,  as  were 
the  other  parishes,  to  call  "a  good,  sufficient  Pro- 
testant minister."  The  Westchester  freeholders  and 
inhabitants  failed  to  take  any  steps  in  conformity 
with  this  statute  until  May  7,  169o,  when  they  depu- 
tized Church  Wardens  Justice  Barnes,  Justice  Hunt 
and  Edward  Waters  to  agree  with  Warham  Mather 
for  a  settlement  among  them.' 

Pending  Mather's  acceptance,  the  town  voted,  May 
5,  1696,  to  repair  the  old  meeting-house,  and  on  May 
3,  1697,  to  build  a  town-house,  which  should  also  be 
used  for  public  worship ;  but  as  the  General  Assembly 
passed  an  act  to  aid  the  towns  to  build  and  repair 
their  meeting-houses,  the  work  on  the  town-house  was 
8topi)ed,  and  in  1700  a  new  parish  church  was 
erected  under  the  supervision  of  Trustees  Josiah  Hunt, 
Edward  Waters,  Joseph  Haviland,  John  Hunt,  Joseph 
Bnyley  and  Richard  Panton,  who  resolved  that  it 
should  be  twenty-eight  feet  square,  with  a  "terret" 
on  the  top,  and  should  cost  forty  pounds. 

Meanwhile,  the  struggle  which  occurred  in  all  the 
other  towns  between  the  Puritans  and  the  adherents 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  latter  being  supported 
by  the  provincial  government,  was  in  progress  in 
Westchester.  The  Puritans,  who  were  in  the  popular 
majority,  contended  that  under  the  act  of  1693,  which 
merely  specified  "  a  good  sufficient  Protestant  min- 
ister," they  had  the  right  to  call  in  a  clergyman  of  I 
their  own  faith.  The  Church  of  England  people  held  { 
that  the  Assembly  meant  to  particularize  ministers 
of  the  Established  Church.    It  is  not  necessary  to  go 

1  Warhiim  Blather  was  born  at  Nortliampton,  Mass  ,  in  1666.  and  was 
the  f;ranJson  of  Eicliard  Slather,  the  famous  non-conformist  divine, 
wliose  sons  were  Xatlianiel,  Samuel,  Increase  and  Eleazer,  all  of  whom 
followed  their  father  in  the  ministry.  Eleazer  was  pastor  of  the  church 
at  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  married  the  daughter  of  Kev.  Jolin 
Warham.  Mis  son,  Warhani  JIather,  honyht  land  in  Westchester  from 
John  Yeats,  on  May  2!l,  Ki'JT,  and  sold  them  in  1703  to  Daniel  Clark.  He 
died  in  174."). 


into  details  of  the  controversy  here,  as  they  have  been 
set  forth  in  another  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  who  had  been  chosen 
one  of  the  church  wardens,  fought  the  Puritans  on 
the  point  of  installing  the  non-conformist  Mather. 
The  ultimate  decision  rested  with  Governor  Fletcher, 
and  he  refused  to  induct  Mather  to  the  living. 
Mather  preached  in  the  parish  for  several  years,  how- 
ever, and  quitted  it  in  1701  to  remove  to  New  Haven. 

The  first  regularly  inducted  rector  of  the  parish  was 
John  Bartow,  who  waselectedby  the  vestry  of  1701-2, 
of  which  the  town  members  were  William  Willett, 
Thomas  Hunt,  Joseph  Haviland,  John  Bayley,  Rich- 
ard Ward,  John  Buckbee  and  Edward  Collier.  He 
came  over  from  England  in  1702  and  was  an  ordained 
priest  of  the  Anglican  Church,  having  been  vicar  of 
Pampsford,  Cambridgeshire.  His  first  service  in  the 
Westchester  Church  was  on  December  6,  1702.  He 
I  had  first  been  appointed  to  the  parish  of  Rye,  but 
Governor  Cornbury  had  settled  him  at  Westchester 
upon  the  petition  of  the  all-powerful  Heathcote.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  hard-working  pastor,  for,  in  a 
letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel,  he  commends  his  own  conscien- 
tious discharge  of  his  duty  and  informs  him  that  he 
has  "  hardly  ever  missed  to  officiate  on  the  Lord's 
Day  "  and  has  frequently  ridden  ten  or  twenty  miles 
a  day  to  visit  the  sick.  His  salary  was  always  in  ar- 
rears, but  he  managed  to  buy  a  house  and  five  acres 
of  land  for  one  hundred  pounds,  and  the  town  had 
[  granted  twenty  acres  of  glebe  and  three  acres  oi 
meadow  within  half  a  mile  of  the  church,  "which  in 
time  will  be  a  convenient  residence  for  the  minister, 
j  and  also  a  small  share  in  some  undivided  land,  which 
;  will  be  to  the  quantity  of  about  thirty  acres  more,  but 
about  four  miles  distant." 

In  1702-3  the  church  wardens  were  Col.  James 
Graham  and  Justice  Josiah  Hunt  and  the  vestry 
Thomas  Baxter,  Sr.,  Joseph  Drake,  John  Archer, 
Thomas  Pell,  Joseph  Haviland,  Allies  Oakley,  Daniel 
Clark,  Peter  Le  Roy,  John  Buckbee,  Thomas  Hunt, 
Sr.,  Edward  Collier,  clerk,  and  Erasmus  Allen,  mes- 
senger. They  resolved,  June  5,  1703,  to  raise  £55  for 
the  support  of  the  minister  and  the  maintenance  of 
the  poor,  the  share  of  Westchester  town  being  £27 
18.?.,  and  of  Morrisania  £3  7s.  In  this  year  the 
church  was  threatened  with  dispossession  of  its  lands 
by  George  Hadley,  grandson  of  John  Richardson, 
their  original  owner.  Hadley  claimed  them  as  an  in- 
heritance from  his  mother,  the  daughter  of  Richard- 
son, but  the  church  replied  that  they  had  already 
been  sold  by  Joseph  Hadley,  father  of  George,  to  one 
Thomas  Williams  and  had  escheated  to  the  crown 
because  of  the  latter  dying  intestate.  Hadley  failed 
to  substantiate  his  title,  and  at  meetings  on  August 
3,  1703,  November  3, 1703,  and  May  3,  1704,  the  trus- 
tees of  the  town  confirmed  these  grants  for  parson- 
age lands,  and  further  confirmation  was  had  by  the  act 
of  the  General  Assembly,  August  4, 1705.  In  1706  Mr. 


I 


AVESTCH  ESTER. 


811 


Bartow  suffered  mucli  discourageineiit.  He  wrote  on 
August  14th  to  the  secretary  of  the  Gospel  Society 
that  his  task  of  planting  the  Church  of  England 
"  amongst  prejudiced,  jioor  and  irreligious  people 
was  greater  than  he  could  hear,  and,  to  add  to  his  j 
trouhles,  the  society  in  1707  stopped  the  annual  salary  I 
of  £50  which  it  had  heen  paying  him  in  addition 
to  his  recei|)ts  from  the  parish.  Two  years  afterward 
he  was  much  more  cheerful  and  wrote  about  making 
"many  proselytes  to  our  holy  religion,  who  are  very 
constant  and  devout  in  their  attendance  on  divine  j 
service ;  and  those  who  were  enemies  at  my  first  com- 
ing are  now  zealous  professoi-s  of  the  ordinances  of  ' 
our  church."  '< 
January  10.  1709,  Joseph  Hunt,  Jr.,  and  Jeremiah  I 
Fowler  were  chosen  wardens,  and  Miles  Oakley, 
Thomas  Baxter,  Sr.,  and  Thomas  Hunt  vestrymen 
for  the  town.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  majority 
were  dis.senters,  of  whom  the  minister  wrote  that 
"  they  will  part  with  no  money  but  barely  what  the 
Assembly  has  allowed  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
ministers  and  poor;"  but  yet  his  congregation  "  rath- 
er increases  both  in  hearers  and  communicants,"  and 
in  1709  lie  baptized  forty-two  persons,  and  thirty-six 
the  next  year.  In  1724  he  had  in  his  parish  two 
hundred  families,  and  the  average  attendance  on  af- 
ternoon services  on  Sunday  was  seventy,  the  morn- 
ing attendance  being  smaller.  He  died  at  West- 
chester in  1726,  having  firmly  established  his  church 
and  also  a  public  school.  The  first  schoolmaster 
was  Charles  Glover,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Gos- 
pel Propagation  Society  in  1713,  he  being  "  recom- 
mended under  the  character  of  a  person  sober  and 
diligent,  well  aftected  to  the  Church  of  England,  and 
competently  skilled  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic, 
psalmody  and  the  Latin  tongue."  The  society  paid 
him  a  salary  of  £18  annually.  His  successor  was 
William  Foster,  who  had  the  school  when  Bartow 
died. 

The  next  rector  was  Rev.  Thomas  Standard,  whom 
the  society  sent  over  in  1725.  Governor  Burnett's 
mandate,  inducting  him  to  the  Westchester  parish 
was  issued  July  8,  1727.  In  his  report  of  November 
5,  1729,  to  the  society,  he  relates  that  there  are  not 
above  three  or  four  families  well  all'ected  to  the  Church 
of  England,  the  majority  of  the  people  being  t^uak- 
ers,  but  he  had  thirty  communicants,  and  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  in  summer,  one  hun- 
dred attendants  upon  services.  In  the  spring  of 
1735  he  had  some  trouble  with  Schoolmaster  Foster, 
who.  in  1744,  was  superseded  by  Basil  Bartow.  In 
1745  his  church  was  "in  a  peaceable  and  growing  | 
state."  He  died  in  1760,  and  the  jiarish  was  vacant 
until  the  appointment  of  Rev.  John  Milner,  June  12,  I 
1761.  In  Governor  Colden's  letters  of  institution  it 
is  first  oflicially  spoken  of  as  St.  Peter's  Church,  the 
name  which  it  still  retains.  Things  had  changed  so 
much  that  on  June  29,  1762,  he  was  able  to  write  to 
the  society  that  there  were  no  dissenters,  except  a  few 


(Quakers,  in  his  parish.  A  year  later  he  wrote  that 
the  number  of  communicants  had  increased  to  fifty- 
three  and  that  he  had  baptized  eighty-seven  persons 
since  his  arrival. 

On  May  12,  1762,  on  petition  of  John  Miller,  John 
Bartow,  J.  Willett,  Lewis  Morris,  Jr.,  Peter  De 
I^ancey,  N.  Underhill,  James  Graham  and  James  Van 
Cortlandt,  they  were  incorporated,  with  the  rest  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  in  communion  with  the 
Church  of  England,  by  royal  charter,  as  "  The  Rector 
and  Inhabitants  of  the  Borough  Town  of  Westches- 
ter." By  this  instrument  Isaac  Willett  and  Nathan- 
iel Underhill,  Sr.,  were  appointed  church  wardens, 
and  Peter  De  Lancey,  .Tames  CJraham,  James  Van 
Cortlandt,  Lewis  Morris,  John  Smith,  Theophilus 
Bartow,  Cornelius  Willett  and  Thomas  Hunt  vestry- 
men. A  house  for  the  minister  was  purchased  with  a 
glebe  of  thirty  acres  not  far  from  the  church.  Mr. 
Milner  appointed  Nathaniel  Seabury  schoolmaster, 
and  was  so  successful  in  his  ministrations  that  many 
families  of  Quakers  joined  his  church.  In  1765  he 
resigned  because  the  vestry  refused  to  refund  him 
any  of  the  money  he  had  expended  on  the  glebe,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1766,  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury  was  settled 
as  his  successor.  The  latter  found  that  the  communi- 
cants had  fallen  to  twenty-two  in  number,  and  that 
the  general  condition  of  church  affairs  was  very  un- 
satisfactory. He  was  a  partisan  of  the  crown  and 
attributed  to  the  growing  spirit  which  culminated  in 
the  Revolution  "  unbounded  licentiousness  in  man- 
ners and  insecurity  to  private  property."  In  April, 
1775,  he  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  White  Plains 
protest  against  "all  unlawfuU  Congresses  and  Com- 
mittees," and  the  pledge  of  royalty  to  the  King.  On 
November  22,  1775,  a  party  of  Connecticut  troops 
carried  him  to  New  Haven,  where  he  was  imprisoned 
for  a  month.  In  September,  1776,  he  fled  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  royal  troops  on  Long  Island,  abandon- 
ing his  pulpit  and  his  school,  in  which  he  had  a  fail' 
number  of  scholars.  He  kept,  for  the  remainder  of 
the  war,  under  British  protection,  and  in  1784  be- 
came the  first  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  this  country. 

The  church  was  utterly  disorganized  during  the 
Revolution.  On  February  15,  17SS,  it  was  recreated 
by  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Westchester  town, 
who  elected  as  trustees  Henry  Lewis  Graham,  Joseph 
Browne,  Thomas  Hunt,  Israel  Underhill,  John 
Bartow,  Philip  I.  Livingston  and  Samuel  Bayard. 
Under  the  act  of  Assembly  of  April  6,  1784,  they  or- 
ganized as  "  The  Corporation  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  of  St.  Peter's,  in  the  Town  of  West- 
chester," and  the  act  of  incorporation  was  duly 
acknowledged,  April  19,  1788.  On  August  2,  1795, 
the  parishioners  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  a  second 
incorporation  under  the  act  of  Assembly  "  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church."  The  trus- 
tees of  1788  sold  the  old  church  to  Sarah  Ferris  for 
£10,  who  removed  it,  and  they  sent  around  a  sub- 


812 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


scription  paper  to  obtain  money  to  build  a  new  churcli 
on  or  near  the  site  of  the  old  one.  They  also  obtained 
from  the  Gospel  Propagation  Society  a  grant  from  the 
legacy  of  St.  George  Talbot,  and  on  January  26, 1789, 
contracted  with  John  Odell  to  build  a  church  for  £336. 
On  January  2,  1792,  they  chose  as  rector  Rev.  Theo- 
dosius  Bartow,  who  was  followed  on  January  20, 1794, 
by  Rev.  John  Ireland.  In  1795  they  obtained  from 
the  trustees  of  the  town  a  release  for  the  site  of  the 
church  and  cemetery,  and  Israel  Underbill  and  Philip 
I.  Livingston  were  elected  wardens,  and  John  Bartow, 
Jr.,  Thomas  Bartow,  Oliver  De  Lancey,  Warren  De 
Lancey,  Joseph  Brown,  Jonathan  Fowler,  Robert 
Heaton  and  Nicholas  Bayard,  vestrymen.  Mr.  Ireland 
served  as  rector  until  1797,  during  which  period  the 
new  church  building  was  finished  and  consecrated. 
March  9, 1798,  Rev.  Isaac  Wilkins  succeeded  him,  and 
in  1806  reported  forty  communicants  and  eighteen 
baptisms.  Rev.  William  Powell  was  elected  his  as- 
sistant July  12,  1829. 

Mr.  Wilkins  served  until  his  death,  February  5, 
1830,  and  Mr.  Powell  was  called  to  the  rectorship. 
He  died  April  29,  1849,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  as- 
sistant. Rev.  Charles  D.  Jackson.  A  new  parsonage 
was  built  in  1850,  and  a  new  church  in  1855,  at  a 
cost  of  sixty  thousand  dollars.  This  was  burned  to 
the  ground  January  9,  1877,  during  the  incum- 
bency of  Rev.  Christopher  B.  W yatt,  who  succeeded 
Mr.  Jackson,  October  26,  1871.  The  present  church 
was  built  upon  the  site  of  that  destroyed  by  fire,  which 
itself  occupied  a  portion  of  the  church  erected  in 
1790.  Near  by  is  the  parochial  school-house,  and 
adjacent  to  it  the  church-yard,  which  dates  back 
to  the  settlement  of  the  village.  It  has  many  mon- 
uments and  stones  erected  to  the  memory  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Do  Lancey,  Bayard,  Honeywell,  Liv- 
ingston, Post,  Doty,  Hunt,  Bartow,  Baxter,  Lewis 
Adee,  Findlay,  Tucker,  Reed,  Burnett,  Ludlow, 
Timpson,  Wilkins,  Lorillard,  Morris  and  other  i)romi- 
nent  families  who  are  interred  therein. 

The  Friends. — The  very  numerous  element  of 
Friends  among  the  early  population  of  Westchester 
has  been  referred  to  in  the  preceding  pages.  It  ap- 
pears, indeed,  that  they  held  religious  services  within 
the  town  almost  or  quite  as  soon  as  did  the  Puritans, 
and  that  the  old  meeting-house  already  spoken  of  as 
having  fallen  into  decay  in  1696  was  built  and  used 
by  them.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Friends  in  America  was  held  in  Westchester, 
and  that  George  Fox  preached  here  in  1672.  Monthly 
Meeting  was  appointed  by  the  Yearly  Meeting  at 
Flushing,  L.  I.,  to  be  held  at  Westchester  on  the  9th 
day  of  Fourth  Month,  1725.  In  1723  the  Friends  built 
the  meeting-house  which  is  still  standing  south  of 
St.  Peter's  Church,  and  is  now  in  possession  of  the 
Hicksite  branch  ;  nearly  opposite  stands  the  meeting 
house  of  the  Orthodox  Friends,  which  was  erected  in 
1828. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. — On  the  8th  of 


October,  1808,  the  congregation  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  town  of  Westchester  met  in 
pursuance  of  the  act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation 
of  religious  societies,  passed  March  27,  1801,  and 
elected  the  following  trustees:  William  Johnston, 
Gilbert  Lewis,  Abraham  Secord,  Benjamin  Morgan, 
Moses  Hunt  and  Gilbert  Shute.  They  assumed  the 
name  of  the  Zion  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the 
town  of  Westchester.  Other  articles  of  incorpora- 
tion, dated  October  26,  1826,  seem  to  have  been  filed 
with  reference  to  this  church,  for  on  that  day,  at  a 
meeting  held  in  their  place  of  worship,  the  congrega- 
tion elected  John  Westfield,  Andrew  C.  Wheeler, 
Joseph  Smith,  Frederick  Titus,  John  F.  Fay  and 
Isaac  Lounsbury  trustees. 

Zion  Church  became  dissolved  by  reason  of  non- 
user,  and  therefore,  to  effect  a  re-incorporation,  on 
February  7,  1835,  the  congregation  assembled  at  the 
church  near  the  village  of  Westchester,  where  they 
were  accustomed  to  attend  for  divine  worship,  and 
elected  Isaac  Lounsbury,  Thomas  Bolton,  Samuel  R. 
Munn,  William  H.  Lounsbury  and  Thomas  J.  Phil- 
lips trustees,  and  resolved  that  the  society  should  be 
thereafter  known  as  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  Zion,  in  the  town  of  Westchester.  The  church 
edifice  was  erected  in  1818. 

Another  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  situated  at 
Olinville,  and  was  known  as  Olin  Chapel.  It  was  in- 
corporated August  29,  1854,  the  first  trustees  being 
Smith  H.  Piatt,  John  Pratt,  Alexander  Ramsey,  W. 
P.  Janes,  W.  S.  Dodge,  Christopher  Knauer  and  Gar- 
rett Burgess.  On  September  23,  1871,  other  articles 
of  incorporation  were  filed,  under  the  name  of  "  The 
Olinville  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."  The  tru.^i- 
tees  then  chosen  were  Charles  C.  Von  Benschoten, 
Stephen  Barker,  Walter  P.  Jayne,  Burton  Bradley, 
William  S.  Dodge,  W.  W.  Niles,  John  T.  Briggs, 
Daniel  Burgess  and  Levi  H.  Mace. 

The  Presbyterian  Church. — The  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Throgg's  Neck  stands  at  the  top  of 
a  hill,  just  opposite  the  causeway  crossing  Westches- 
ter Creek,  at  the  village  of  Westchester.  It  is  not 
far  from  the  site  of  the  British  batteries,  which  were 
erected  on  that  hill.  The  congregation  was  incorpor- 
ated June  6,1855,  and  George  S.  Robbins,  Edwin 
D.  Morgan  and  .lames  E.  Ellis  were  its  first  trustees. 

Catholic  Institutions — The  Protectory,  etc. — 
Within  the  limits  of  the  town  of  Westchester,  on  its 
western  border  and  near  the  Harlem  and  Port  Chester 
Railroad  Station,  is  the  New  York  Catholic  Pro- 
tectory. It  grew  out  of  the  solicitude  of  a  number 
of  laymen  and  clergy  of  the  church  for  the  welfare  of 
the  street  gamins  of  the  great  city.  Projects  previ- 
ously mooted  by  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  proved 
barren  of  results  because  of  the  lack  of  funds,  but  in 
the  latter  part  of  1862  a  meeting  of  prominent  gentle- 
men in  the  parochial  residence  of  the  Church  of  the 
Annunciation,  Manhattanville,  then  in  charge  of  the 
late  Rev.  John  Breen,  resolved  upon  taking  practical 


WKSTCHESTKll. 


818 


steps,  and,  as  an  earnest  of  their  intentions,  subscribeii , 
in  sums  of  $5000,  $2r)00  and  $2000,  enough  money  lo 
assure  the  financial  success  of  the  undertaking.  Dr. 
Levi  Siliiuian  Ives,  formerly  Protestant  Episcopal 
bishop  of  North  Carolina,  who  was  converted  to 
Catholicity  in  18o2,  volunteered  his  services  for  the 
supervision  and  guidance  of  the  institution.  Rev. 
Brother  Patrick,  of  the  Order  of  Christian  Brothers, 
tendered  the  services  of  that  order  for  its  immediate 
management,  whereu[)on  Archbishop  Hughes  gave 
his  approval  of  the  work  and  set  upon  it  the  seal  of 
his  official  authoritv. 

On  January  2,  1803,  a  number  of  the  twenty-five 
gentlemen  selected  by  the  archbishop  presented  the 
"  Articles  of  Organization  of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
tection of  Destitute  Ciiildren."  February  11th  another 
meeting  was  held  at  the  residence  of  Rev.  Monsignor 
Quinn,  then  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  New  York 
City,  who  was  participating  most  zealously  in  the 
project,  and  with  whom  for  two  years  Dr.  Ives  was  in 
daily  consultation.  At  this  meeting  there  were  pres- 
ent Dr.  Henry  J.  Anderson,  Charles  O'Conor,  Charles 
M.  Connelly,  Eugene  Plunkett,  Dr.  Donatien  Binsse, 
Dr.  L.  S.  Ives,  Rev.  William  Quinn,  Joseph  Fisher, 
Daniel  Devlin,  John  Mullen,  Lewis  J.  White,  John 
McMenomy,  Florence  Escalante,  Eugene  Kelly, 
Henry  L.  Hoguet  and  Edward  C.  Donnolly.  These 
gentlemen  discussed  the  fact  that,  year  after  year, 
thousands  of  Catholic  children  were  lost  to  that  faith 
through  a  system  which  ignored  such  a  principle  as 
religious  rights  in  the  helpless  objects  of  its  charity. 

A  committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  seek  a 
charter    from    the  Legislature,  and  on  April  14th 
this  was  granted  under  the  title  of  "The  Society 
for  the  Protection  of  Destitute  Roman  Catholic  chil- 
dren in  the  city  of  New  York."    The  corporators 
were  Felix  Ingolsby,  Charles  A.  Stetson,  Eugene  i 
Kelly,  Charles  M.  Connelly,  Daniel  Devlin,  Andrew  < 
Carrigan,  L.  Silliman  Ives,  Edward  C.  Donnelly,  i 
Edward  Frith,  Henry  J.  Anderson,  Joseph  Fisher, 
Eugene  Plunkett,  John  McMenomy,  Donatien  Binsse, 
Lewis  J.  White,  John  O'Brien,  John  Milhau,  Ber- 
nard Amend,  John  E.  Devlin,  Florencio  Escalante, 
John  O'Conor,  Henry  L.    Hoguet,  James  Lynch, 
Frederick  E.  Gilbert  and  Daniel  O'Conor. 

In  the  charter  it  was  provided  that  the  Protectory 
may  take  and  receive  into  its  care: 

"Children  under  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  who,  by  consent  in  writing 
of  their  parents  or  guardians,  may  be  entrusted  to  it  for  protection  or 
refurniatiou. 

"Children  between  tlie  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  ! 
may  be  committed  to  the  care  of  such  corporation  as  idle,  truant,  vic- 
ious or  homeless  chiUireii,  by  order  of  any  magistrate  in  the  city  "f 
New  York  empowereil  by  law  to  make  committal  of  children  for  any 
such  cause. 

"  Children  of  the  like  age  who  may  be  transferred,  at  the  option  of 
the  Commissioners  of  Public  Charity  and  Correction  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  to  such  corporation. 

"  The  Society  has  i)ower  to  place  the  children  in  their  care  at  suitable 
employments,  and  cause  them  to  be  instructed  in  suitable  bnmclies  of 
useful  knowledge,  to  bind  out  the  children,  with  their  consent,  as  ap- 
prentices or  servants  during  minority  or  any  less  period,  to  learn  such 
proper  tradei  and  cinployinent'*  as  shall  be  judged  nuwt  coudui'ive  to 


their  future  beneflt  and  advantage  ;  and  any  pereon  to  whom  any 
such  child  shall  he  bound  sliall  execute  a  Ixinil  to  the  saiil 
corporation  in  a  sufficient  pi  nal  ainouni,  conditioned  for  the  go<Ml 
treatment  of  such  child,  and  to  instruct,  or  cause  to  have  him  or 
her  instructed,  in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  and  to  give 
such  child,  at  the  expiration  of  his  or  her  apprenticeship,  at  least 
one  new  suit  of  clothes  and  five  dollars  in  money,  and  the  said  cor- 
poration may  insert  in  the  indentures  of  apprenticeship  such  clauses 
and  agreements  as  the  poor  officers,  authorized  to  bind  out  children, 
iirc  empoweml  or  required  to  insert  in  like  indentures. 

'■Children  intrusted  to  the  corporation  by  the  voluntary  act  of  their 
|)arents  or  guardians  shall  be  deemed  to  bo  in  the  lawful  charge  and 
custody  of  said  corporation  ;  and  such  intrusting  shall  be  evidenced  by 
writing  in  form. 

•  Whenever  any  child  above  the  age  of  seven  and  under  the  age  of 
fourteen  years  shall  be  brought  by  any  policeman  of  the  city  of  New 
York  before  any  magistrate  of  said  city,  upon  the  allegation  that  such 
child  was  found  In  any  way,  street,  highway  or  public  place  in  said 
city,  in  the  circumstances  of  want  and  suffering,  or  abundoinnent,  ex- 
posure or  neglect  or  of  beggary,  .  .  .  and  it  shall  Ixt  proved  to  the 
satisfaction  of  such  magistrate  .  .  .  by  competent  testimony,  or  by 
the  examination  of  the  child,  that  by  reason  of  the  neghict  or  vicious 
habits  of  the  [mrents,  or  other  lawful  guardian  of  such  child,  it  is  a 
proper  object  for  the  care  of  this  corporation,  su<rh  magistrate,  .  .  . 
by  warrant  in  writing  under  his  hand,  may  commit  such  child  to  this 
corporation,  to  be  and  remain  uuder  its  care  until  therefrom  discharged 
in  numner  prescribed  by  law.    .    .  . 

'"Whenever  the  parent,  guardian,  or  next  of  kin  of  any  child  be- 
tween the  ages  of  seven  and  fourteen  years,  about  to  he  finally  com- 
mitted for  any  of  the  causies  specified  in  the  preceding  sections  of  this 
act,  shall  request  the  magistrate  to  commit  such  chiM  to  sjiid  corpo- 
ration, it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  magistrate  so  to  commit  such 
child. 

"If,  at  any  time  after  a  child  shall  have  been  committed  to  said 
corporation,  as  above  provided  for  in  the  act,  it  sliall  be  made  to  ap- 
pear to  the  Siitisfaction  of  the  said  corporation  that  such  child  was,  on 
Insufficient  cause,  or  otherwise  wrongfully  so  committed,  the  said  cor- 
poration shall,  on  the  application  of  the  ]>arents,  .  .  .  discharge 
the  child  from  the  said  asylum,  and  restore  it  to  such  parents.  .  .  . 
If.  after  a  child  shall  have  been  properly  committed,  .  .  .  any 
circumstances  should  occur  that,  in  the  juilgment  of  said  corporation 
would  render  expedient  and  proper  a  discharge  of  such  child  from  the 
asylum,  having  a  due  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  child  and  the  pur- 
poses of  the  asylum,  the  said  corporation  .  .  .  may,  at  discretion, 
discharge  the  child  from  the  said  asylum  ...  on  such  reasonable 
conditions  as  the  said  corporation  may  deem  right  and  proper. 

"This  corporation  shall  be  the  guardian  of  every  child,  bound  or 
held  for  service,  by  virtue  and  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  this 
act  .  .  .  and  it  is  hereby  nmde  its  special  duty  to  inquire  into  the 
treatment  of  every  such  child,  and  icdress  any  grievonce  in  manner 
prescribed  by  law." 

An  appsal  for  financial  aid  met  with  generous  re- 
sponse, and  the  Protectory  began  its  career  of  useful- 
ness in  two  private  dwellings  in  Thirty-sixth  and 
Thirty-seventh  Streets,  near  Second  Avenue,  where, 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Father  Clowry,  who 
attended  to  their  spiritual  wants,  the  boys  found  their 
first  home  and  shelter.  The  Christian  '  Brothers  as- 
sumed charge. 

Notice  of  these  partial  arrangements  had  only  time 
to  reach  the  poor,  or  the  benefactors  of  the  poor, 


■  Rev.  B.  L.  Pierce,  chaplain  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  in  his  book  en- 
titled "  Half  a  Century  with  Juvenile  Delinquents,"  makes  the  following 
statement : 

"The  officers  of  the  Boys'  Protectory  l>elong  to  the  onler  of  Christian 
Itrothei-s.  They  give  thernselves  to  the  Church  when  they  take  the  vow 
of  the  order,  to  be  teachers  wherever  they  nmy  be  ajipointed  to  labor. 
They  will  never  be  priests  ;  they  are  expected  to  pursue  no  form  of  bus 
ines,s  hereafter,  but  for  life  will  remain  in  the  office  of  instructors.  Their 
salaries  are  simply  the  requisite  provision  for  their  living,  sick  well. 
These  men  are  constantly  with  the  boys  In  school,  work,  recreation  and 
in  the  ilorniitory 


814 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


when  applications  in  behalf  of  unprotected  children 
became  so  numerous  and  pressing  as  to  compel  the 
executive  committee,  in  view  of  their  necessarily 
limited  means  and  accommodations,  to  restrict  the 
number  of  inmates  to  such  boys  as  might  be  commit- 
ted from  the  courts  or  transferred  to  their  care  by  the 
"Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  and  Correction." 
Hence  the  records  of  their  office  show  that,  but  for 
the  want  of  sufficient  room,  at  least  double  the  num- 
ber which  they  now  report  might  be  enjoying  the 
blessing  of  the  institution. 

Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  renting  suitable  build- 
ings, the  committee  were  unable  to  make  provision 
for  the  reception  of  girls  before  the  1st  of  October. 
About  that  time,  however,  they  succeeded  in  pro- 
curing a  building  at  the  corner  of  Eighty-sixth  Street 
and  Second  Avenue,  well  suited  to  the  purpose.  This 
they  were  enabled  to  place  under  the  direction  of  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  a  religious  order  whose  members, 
by  their  noble  and  generous  self-devotion,  in  the  care 
of  the  sick,  forlorn,  the  destitute  and  helpless  in 
every  form,  age  and  condition  in  life,  have  been  the 
theme  of  praise  in  story  and  song  in  every  clime  and 
tongue,  and  from  persons  of  all  shades  of  belief,  race 
and  religion. 

The  houses  in  Thirty-sixth  and  Thirty-seventh 
Streets  were  soon  found  to  be  inadequate  for  the  ac- 
commodations of  the  daily  increasing  numbers,  and 
the  managers,  were  within  eight  months  of  the  day  of 
opening,  forced  to  seek  other  and  more  commodious 
quarters.  Two  buildings  were  then  rented  in  Eighty- 
Sixth  Street,  near  Fifth  Avenue,  and  so  soon  as  con- 
venient the  boys  moved  into  them. 

The  difficulties  experienced  in  providing  accommo- 
dation, in  obtaining  the  considerable  suras  necessary 
in  the  inauguration  of  so  vast  a  work,  were  but  a 
minor  portion  of  the  onerous  task  placed  upon  the 
managers'  shoulders.  The  far  more  difficult  problem 
of  "  what  to  do  with  the  abandoned  child,"'  and  "  how 
to  do  it "  had  now  to  be  directly  solved. 

Most  of  the  children  received,  particularly  during 
the  first  few  years,  were  the  victims  of  indolent  or 
vicious  habits.  Experience  taught  that,  to  succeed 
in  this  work  of  reformation,  constant  occupation, 
pleasantly  diversified,  was  essential,  and  space  for 
play-grounds,  out-door  labor,  and  places  wherein 
trades  could  be  learned  was  required. 

In  the  earliest  reports  of  the  Protectory  we  find, — 

"Id  the  course  office  months,  in  the  shoe  department,  where  'ii  boys 
are  employed,  there  has  been  expended  the  sum  of  J1737.12,  including 
.  machinery,  material  and  instruction,  with  the  result  of  82107.2G products, 
which  nets  us  a  profit  of  8460.14  and  the  machinery.  In  the  tailoring 
department  the  training  of  the  boys  requires  more  time,  and  hence  a 
less  expeditious  profit." 

While  the  New  York  Catholic  Protectory  thus  pur- 
sued its  mission,  each  day's  experience  more  fully 
proved  the  necessity  of  moving  out  of  the  city.  Apart 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  impossible  to  secure  suffi- 
cient accommodation  in  the  heart  of  a  great  metrop- 
olis, the  managers  became  daily  more  convinced  that 


the  influence  of  the  surroundings  in  a  vast  city  like 
New  York  was  against  their  work.  The  problem 
which  then  propounded  itself  was  to  secure  "  proper 
location  elsewhere."  In  the  minutes  of  one  of  the 
regular  meetings  held  at  this  time  the  president 
said, — 

"In  view  of  the  circumstances,  and  in  firm  conviction  of  the  prosper- 
ity, if  not  the  very  existence,  of  our  institution,  depends  upon  the  im- 
mediate erection  of  a  building  somewhere,  eveiy  exertion  possible  has 
been  made  by  the  E.\ecutive  Committee  to  discover  a  suitable  place  for 
this  pui-pose.  We  have  visited  all  the  islands  in  East  River  and  fmmd 
in  them  all  some  fatal  objections.  AVe  then  turned  our  attention  to  the 
mainland,  and  could  discover  nothing  within  the  limits  of  the  city 
which  seemed  to  promise  any  better  accommodations.  After  consult- 
ing our  legal  adviser  we  felt  gratified  in  looking  beyond  these  limits. 
An  advertisement  of  the  sale  of  a  farm,  near  the  village  of  Westchester, 
induced  us  to  visit  and  examine  it  in  respect  to  its  suitableness  to  meet 
our  object  in  view.  Foiir  members  of  the  Executive  Committee, — Dr. 
Anderson,  Mr.  Hoguet,  Mr.  White  and  the  President, — with  the  Most  Kev. 
Archbishop,  the  Advisory  Chaplain  and  a  number  of  the  clergy,  have 
visited  the  farm,  and,  after  a  thorough  examination,  have  unanimously 
come  to  the  conclusion,  taking  everything  into  consideration,  that  we 
are  not  likely  to  secure  a  more  favorable  site  for  our  institution.  Your 
President,  therefore,  afti-r  making  himself  master  of  the  facts  relating 
to  this  property  and  to  tlie  terms  of  sale,  recommends  its  purchase  by 
the  Managers." 

It  will  be  remarked  that  thus  far  the  managers  of 
the  New  Y'ork  Catholic  Protectory  have  relied  chiefly 
upon  private  generosity  to  sustain  the  work.  But, 
beginning  with  1864,  we  find  that  the  State  and  other 
authorities  recognized  the  work  as  of  public  utility, 
and  assisted  it  accordingly. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  want  of  proper 
space  and  accommodation  alone  prevented  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  full  measure  of  success  which 
the  managers  hoped  to  attain. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  no  little  satisfaction  that 
they  announced  the  purchase,  on  the  9th  day  of 
June,  1865,  of  a  valuable  farm  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  acres,  with  commodious  barns  and  out- 
houses, near  the  village  of  Westchester,  for  forty  tliou- 
sand  dollars,  upon  which  they  have  completed  a 
spacious  brick  building,  designed  to  accommodate 
from  six  hundred  to  eight  hundred  destitute  boys, 
and  another  of  equal  dimensions  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  girls. 

St.  Raymond's  Catholic  Church  is  located  on  the 
road  leading  from  Westchester  to  West  Farms,  and  is 
not  distant  from  the  Protectory.  Attached  to  it  is  an 
extensive  cemetery  and  a  fine,  large  parochial  school- 
house.    It  has  a  numerous  congregation. 

Highways,  Bridges,  Etc. —  From  the  Sautier 
Survej's  (Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.),  printed  in  London 
by  Fadden  in  1779,  we  find  a  main  highway 
running  from  Morrisania  via  de  Lancey's  Mills 
(West  Farms)  to  the  village  of  Westchester,  but 
by  an  entry  on  the  13th  day  of  the  Ninth  Month, 
1722,  in  the  county  road-book,  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  county  clerk,  it  appears  that  on  June  8th  of 
that  year  Commissioners  Lewis  Morris,  Jr.,  John 
Stephenson,  Joseph  Drake  and  John  Hoit  made 
return  that  they  had  laid  out  a  public  road  in  the 
town  of  Westchester, — 


WESTCHESTER. 


SI  5 


"  From  tlie  bridge  tlial  lies  iiciiis-  tlio  broolv  tluit  runs  In  lwcfu  L'nJer- 
hill  Biinis's  land  and  runs  westerly  as  the  way  lias  usually  been  run,  four 
rods  wide  between  said  Barns's  land,  incluiling  the  watering  place  lying 
by  y«  side  of  I'nderbill  Barns's  home  lot,  according  to  the  bounds  now 
sett  up  and  marked,  till  it  meets  w""  a  public  road  laid  out  by  the  Coni- 
utissioncrs  through  the  sheep  pasture." 

The  road  through  the  sheep  pasture  was  probably 
the  one  which  was  discontinued  in  1727.  It  began  at 
the  "  Northerly  corner  of  the  (Quaker  meeting-house," 
and  after  passing  through  "ye  common  land"  and 
skirting  the  proi)erties  of  Petor  Ferris,  the  Widow 
Colyer  and  John  Maphis,  terminated  at  "  the  town 
landing  by  the  Mill."  In  1723  a  road  was  run  "from 
the  corner  of  John  Huestis'  garden"  to  the  country 
road  "  by  the  house  that  John  Packer  lives  in."  In  1726 
a  road  was  built  to  "  Jethamar  Polton's  saw-mill  upon 
iJrunck's  River  ; "  and  on  July  20,  1727,  the  highway 
'■  from  the  road  y'  goes  to  Brunx's  River,  where  Joseph 
Hallstead  now  lives,  from  the  causeway  by  Col.  Heath- 
cote's  Mill,  between  the  land  then  of  Israel  Honey- 
well, Senr.,  since  deceased,  and  the  land  of  Thomas 
Hadden  to  the  said  Ferris'  land,"  was  ordered  to  be 
closed.  November  21,  1728,  the  commissioners  re- 
viewed a  highway  "  from  Joseph  Hallstead's  land 
southerly,  to  be  an  open  road;  he  (the  said  Hall- 
stead)  to  build  a  good  stout  bridge  over  the  low 
ground  against  the  house  where  Abigail  Reed  liveth, 
at  his  own  cost."  April  10,  1729,  they  closed  the 
road  "already  laid  out  through  y"  Frog's  (Throgg's) 
Neck,"  but  in  1731  revoked  their  action,  and  the  high- 
way was  again  established  from  the  ferry  through 
Augustine  Baxter's  land. 

The  road  mentioned  as  laid  out  in  1727  is  undoubl- 
t'dly  the  old  road  which  ran  from  the  present  West- 
chester Bridge  to  the  old  bridge  next  south  of  the  I 
mill  at  West  Farms.  The  road  of  1729  is  undoubt- 
edly the  i)resent  highway  leading  to  Fort  Schuyler 
through  Throgg's  Neck,  but  we  find  it  again  laid  out 
in  1737  in  order  to  avoid  some  difficulties  occasioned 
by  Peter  Baxter's  fence.  The  present  road  from 
Westchester  Bridge  to  Pelham  Bridge  was  authorized 
as  follows: 

In  1X17,  Hermann  Le  Roy,  Thomas  C.  Taylor,  Wil- 
liam Edgar  and  their  associates  were  incorporated  as 
a  turnpike  company  to  make  a  turnpike  road  begin- 
ning at  the  causeway  leading  from  the  village  of 
Westchester,  at  some  point  on  the  east  side  of  the 
bridge  over  Westchester  Creek,  and  to  run  from  thence 
in  the  most  convenient  route  to  the  bridge  lately 
erected  over  the  mouth  of  East  Chester  Creek  and 
were  to  be  known  as  the  "Westchester  and  Pelham 
Turnpike  Road  Company." 

The  Boulevard  running  from  Pelham  Bridge  to  the 
bridge  south  of  the  West  ^besti  r  village  causeway  is 
of  recent  origin,  hut  the  road  wliich  runs  from  West- 
cheater  village  to  the  Bronx  at  the  south  end  of  the 
village  of  West  Farms  was  originally  known  as  the 
Westchester  turnpike.  The  road  known  now  as  the 
East  Chester  road,  extending  from  the  Bleach  to  the 
East  Chester  line,  and  sometimes  called  the  Boston 


road,  is  a  coniinuaiiou  of  the  Coles  road  mentioned 
in  the  chapters  on  West  Farms  and  Morrisania. 

Bkiugjos  IX  THE  TowxsHii'.— William's  Bridge, 
the  most  northerly  of  the  bridges  in  the  township 
which  cross  the  Bronx,  has  already  been  mentioned 
in  our  colonial  account.  The  next  bridge  south 
of  it  at  the  Bleach  was  constructed  when  Pelham 
Avenue  was  authorized  by  the  Laws  of  18()4  and 
1860. 

The  bridge  at  Lydig's  Mills  was  built  probably 
about  the  time  the  road  from  Westchester  to  the  mill 
was  constructed,  though  a  wading-place  existed  there 
after  the  construction  of  the  dam.  The  other  bridges 
over  the  Bronx  were  constructed  in  comparatively 
late  years  ;  that  in  the  centre  of  the  village  when  the 
road  from  Tremont  to  Westchester  was  opened. 
All  the  bridges  over  the  Bronx  are  now  maintained 
at  the  joint  expense  of  the  township  and  the  city  of 
New  York. 

Pelham  Bridge,  which  crosses  East  Chester  Creek 
at  ihc  head  of  East  Chester  or  Pelham  Bay,  was  au- 
thorized as  follows : 

By  a  legislative  act  of  March  16,  1812,  Herman  Le 
Roy,  James  Harvey,  William  Bayard,  John  Bartow, 
Richard  Ward,  Elbert  Roosevelt,  Daniel  Pelton, 
Joshua  Eustace  and  John  Hunter  were  incorporated 
as  the  East  Chester  Bridge  Company,  and  authorized 
to  build  a  toll-bridge  from  the  farm  of  James  Harvey, 
in  the  town  of  Pelham,  to  the  point  of  Throgg's  Neck 
called  Dormer's  Island.  \Vithin  a  few  years  a  storm 
destroyed  the  bridge,  and  on  April  12, 1816,  the  General 
Assembly  empowered  the  company  to  sell  ts  property 
and  franchises  at  public  auction,  the  purchaser  to  be- 
come the  owner  of  the  franchise  for  forty-five  years. 
Nothing  seems  to  have  been  accomplished  under  this 
act,  and  in  1834  George  Rapelje  was  authorized  to 
build  a  bridge  over  East  Chester  Creek  "at  the  point 
where  the  bridge  formerly  stood."  If  the  draw  per- 
mitted free  navigation,  and  the  Common  Pleasjudges 
of  the  county  were  satisfied  with  the  structure,  it  be- 
ing made  their  duty  to  inspect  it,  Rapelje  was  al- 
lowed to  collect  tolls  upon  traffic.  His  grant  was 
to  run  thirty  years,  but  in  1860  the  supervisors  of 
Westchester  County  were  directed  by  an  act  of  the 
Legislature  to  purchase  this  Rapclje"s  or  Pelham 
Bridge  and  make  it  free,  which  they  promptly 
did. 

Dormer's  Island,  mentioned  above,  is  the  present 
hummock  or  high  land  since  known  as  Taylor's  Island, 
and  now  occupied  by  General  Ellis  and  others. 

Characterisths  and  Pretext  Occupant.*. — 
The  township  is  a  well-wooded,  park-like  country, 
interspersed  with  thriving  settlements,  and  at  ihe 
extreme  eastern  limit  the  Eitst  River  expands  into 
the  broad  Long  Island  Sound,  indented  on  the  West- 
chester shore  with  numerous  bays  and  inlets  washing 
the  feet  of  commanding  eminences,  from  which 
combined  views  of  inland  and  marine  scenery  are  to 
be  obtained  unsurpassed  in  any  other  part  of  this 


816 


HlSTOliY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


beautiful  State.    It  seems  to  have  been  designed  by 
nature  to  form  a  fitting  suburb  to  the  great  city  which  ' 
adjoins  it.  ; 

On  its  extreme  eastern  limit  on  Throgg's  Point,  at 
the  commencement  of  Long  Island  Sound,  is  Fort  ; 
Schuyler  and  the  United  States  government  light- 
house.   The  fort  was  erected  about  the  middle  of  this 
century,  and,  in  connection  with  the  batteries  on  the 
Long  Island  shore,  protects  the  entrance  into  New 
York  Harbor  by  the  East  River.    Hammond's  Point, 
near  by,  now  owned  by  the  estate  of  the  late  F.  C. 
Havemeyer,  a  well-known  merchant,  and  at  one  time 
supervisor,  commands  one  of  the  finest  views  on  Long 
Island  Sound.    Near  by  the  bay  is  Pennyfield,  the 
residence  of  the  widow  of  the  late  George  T.  Adee,  a 
respected  citizen,  and  oue  of  the  members  of  the  old  ' 
family  of  Adee,  long  settled  in  the  township.    Mr.  ^ 
Adee  was  lor  many  years  identified  with  some  of  the  ! 
largest  financial  institutions  in  New  Y'ork.    He  was 
a  director  of  the  Equitable  Life  In>.urance  Company, 
and  for  a  long  time  vice-president  of  the  Bank  of  ! 
Commerce.   Near  by  are  the  Dominick  Lynch,  Fran- 
cis Morris  and  Van  Schaick  places,  all  now  the  prop-  ' 
erty  of  the  Havemeyer  family  and  Mr.  John  Morris. 
Mr.  John  Morris  is  the  son  of  the  late  Mr.  Francis 
Morris,  an   English  gentleman  who  came  to  this 
country  many  years  ago,  and  who,  besides  being 
prosperous  in  business,  was  a  successful  breeder  of 
the  thoroughbred  race-horse.     In  the  immediate 
vicinity,  fronting  on  Pelham  Bay,  is  the  residence  j 
of  Miss  Catharine  Lorillard  Woolfe,  whose  power 
to  do  good  to  her  fellow-creatures  is  only  surpassed 
by  her  judgment,  discretion  and  generosity.  The 
grounds  are  adorned  with  rare  shade-trees,  green-  , 
houses  and  graperies,  and,  though  rarely  at  the  pat-  I 
ernal  mansion,  the  town   claims  her  as  a  towns-  ; 
woman,  and  finds  in  her  a  worthy  successor  to  her  ' 
father,  the  late  John  David  Woolfe.  ' 

On  the  Neck  road  is  also  the  Van  Schaick  home- 
stead, whose  owners  some  years  since  left  by  his  will 
a  sum  of  money  to  found  a  free  library  and  reading- 
room  for  the  township.  This  building  is  on  the  road 
near  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  village.  Driving 
towards  the  village  on  the  Neck  road,  one  passes  the 
old  Carter  mansion,  the  Turnbull  place  and  the  Cem- 
etery of  St.  Raymond  (Roman  Catholic),  and  near  by 
is  the  former  residence  of  William  H.  Bowne,  now 
deceased,  who,  with  his  family,  have  for  generations 
been  identified  with  the  town.  On  Ferris'  Neck  and 
Zerega's  Point  are  the  residences  of  Mr.  Ferris,  whose 
family  owned  the  land  for  generations,  Mr.  Zerega 
and  Jacob  Lorillard.  And  near  by,  next  to  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  is  the  celebrated  boys'  school,  kept 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Harrington,  at  which  he  is  now  teach- 
ing the  sons  of  his  former  pupils.  On  the  road  to 
Pelham,  before  crossing  the  old  causeway,  stands  the 
former  residence  of  the  late  Mr.  Syndey  B.  Bowne,  a 
worthy  and  respected  Quaker,  resident  of  the  town- 
ship, whose  son  Thomas  has  succeeded  him  and  his 


brother  William  in  the  management  of  the  old  coun- 
try store  in  the  village,  known  throughout  the  coun- 
ty still  as  "Sydney  Bovvne's."  This  store  is  and 
probably  was  the  best  sample  of  a  country  store  ever 
known.  Sydney  always  had  everything  which  was 
asked  for.  Once  on  a  wager  some  gentlemen  asked  for 
some  goose-yokes,  rather  a  rare  commodity.  Sydney 
furnished  the  article  on  the  spot.  Another  bet  was 
then  made  that  he  could  not  furnish  a  pulpit.  For  a 
moment  the  venerable  Quaker  was  at  a  loss,  but  sud- 
denly, recalling  the  contents  of  the  garret,  he  ex- 
claimed, "Thomas,  thee  will  find  Parson  Wilkins' 
old  pulpit  behind  the  chimney  in  the  garret."  It 
seems  that  when  the  church  was  renovated,  Mr. 
Bowne  had  bought  the  old  pulpit. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  neck  at  Pelham  Bridge  are 

the  neat  cottages  of  Mr.  Pierre  Lorrillard,  Jr.,  

Kent,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Jr.,  and  the  beautiful  resi- 
dence of  General  Ellis.  The  general,  after  an  adven- 
turous life  in  California,  among  other  public  trusts, 
having  been  adjutant-general  of  the  State  during  the 
last  war,  and  in  other  respects  having  done  much  to 
keep  that  State  in  the  Union,  has  retired  to  his  beau- 
tifiil  home  at  the  head  of  East  Chester  Bay,  for  rest 
from  his  labors.  Next  to  General  Ellis'  is  Annees- 
wood,  the  residence  of  John  Hunter,  Esq.,  of  the 
Hunter  family  of  Pelham.  Mr.  Hunter  has,  near  by, 
his  paddocks  for  his  racing  stock,  and  may  be  counted 
as  one  of  the  successful  gentlemen  of  the  turf.  He 
was  one  of  the  promoters  and  founders  of  the  Ameri- 
can Jockey  Club,  and  is  perhaps  as  well  informed  on 
turf  matters  as  any  one  in  America.  His  house,  a 
large  stone  mansion,  sets  back  from  the  Boulevard  in 
a  fine  forest  of  oaks  and  chestnuts. 

Next  to  Mr.  Hunter's  is  the  former  residence  ol' 
John  F.  Furman,  recently  deceased,  a  gentleman  of 
public  spirit  and  liberal  views.  He,  at  one  time,  rep- 
resented the  town  as  supervisor.  Adjoining  the  Fur- 
man  place  on  the  west  is  the  former  residence  of  the 
late  Lawrence  Waterbury,  now  occupied  by  his  son, 
Mr.  James  M.  Waterbury,  who  is  at  present  the  pres- 
ident of  the  Country  Club  in  Pelham.  Near  by  is  the 
old  George  Lorillard  mansion,  now  owned  by  his 
grand-nephew,  Mr.  Lorillard  Spencer.  On  the  road 
leading  to  the  village,  through  Middletown,  is  the 
residence  of  Claiborne  Ferris,  of  the  family  of  Fer- 
rises,  identified  for  generations  with  the  township. 
At  one  time  Mr.  Ferris  represented  the  district  in  the 
State  Assembly.  Near  by,  on  the  Boulevard,  is  the 
residence  of  James  Henderson,  for  several  terms  su- 
pervisor of  the  township.  Leaving  Throgg's  Neck 
and  crossing  the  old  bridge,  we  pass  through  the  pic- 
turesque village  of  Westchester,  and  turning  to  the 
left  and  south,  we  find  on  the  left  of  the  road  old  St. 
Peter's  Episcopal  Church  and  the  two  Quaker  Meet- 
ing-houses. 

Farther  on  is  the  former  residence,  on  Indian 
Brook,  of  the  late  Edward  Haight,  who  represented 
the  district  in  Congress,  and  near  by  is  the  residence 


WESTCHESTKR. 


817 


of  Dr.  Ellis,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  experienced 
practitioners  of  medicine  in  the  county.  To  the  left 
and  farther  south  is  the  glebe  and  parsonage  of  St. 
Peter's  and  by  a  road  turning  to  the  east  one  arrives 
at  Castle  Hill,  the  former  residence  of  Gouverneur 
Morris  Wilkins,  a  grandson  of  Rev.  Isaac  Wilkins, 
one  of  the  former  pastors  of  St.  Peter's,  and  son  of 
Martin  Wilkins,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  of  whom  an 
account  is  given  in  another  part  of  this  work.  The 
property  is  now  owned  and  occupied  during  the  sum- 
mer months  by  Colonel  Screven,  a  son-in-law  of  the 
late  Mr.  Wilkins.  Ou  Clasoii's  Point  are  the  old 
D.miel  Ludlow  and  Robert  Henry  Ludlow  places. 
The  former,  after  passing  through  many  hands,  is  now 
the  property  of  Mr.  Leland,  ofNew  York,  and  the 
westerly  portion  of  this  neck  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  estate  of  Robert  Henry  Ludlow,  Esq.  Xear  by, 
after  crossing  Pugsley's  causeway,  we  come  to  Wil- 
mont,  the  former  residence  of  the  late  William  Wat- 
s  >n.  Esq,  a  well-known  dealer  in  Irish  linens  and  for 
many  years  a  respected  citizen  of  the  town.  His  son, 
.Mr.  R.  C.  Watson,  represented  the  township  for  one 
term  in  the  Board  of  Supervisors.  Near  Wihnont,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Bronx,  is  situated  the  De  Lancey 
estate,  or  so  much  of  it  as  is  within  the  township  of 
Westchester.  The  de  Lancey  family  are  descended 
from  Etienne  de  Lancey,  a  French  Huguenot  who 
came  to  this  country  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes.  The  mill  and  the  other  property  adjoin- 
iug  before  the  Revolution  was  in  the  possession  of 
Peter  de  Lancey.  His  son  John  was  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Governor  Yates,  whose  daughter,  Mrs.  Samuel 
Neil,  now  owns  and  occupies  a  portion  of  the  prem- 
ises. James,  the  other  son,  was  the  famous  commander 
of  the  Westchester  Light-Horse,  the  British  partisan 
chief  already  mentioned  in  our  Revolutionary  chapter. 
It  ii  a  strange  fact  that  though  both  sons  were  Loyal- 
ists (luring  the  Revolution,  James'  propertv  was  for- 
feited by  the  act  of  attainder,  while  John's  was  not.' 

The  other  part  of  the  de  Lancey  estate  is  owned  by 
the  heirs  of  Philip  Lydig.-  Just  north  of  the  mills 
on  the  banks  of  the  Bronx  is  Bronxdale,  the  site  of 
the  bleaching  mills  of  the  Bolton  family,  and  imme- 
diately north  of  the  Bleach  is  the  large  estate  of  Peter 
L  irillard,  extending  both  sides  of  the  river  with  a 
h  I  idsome  stone  mansion,  garden,  hot-houses  and 
graperies. 

Peter  Lorillard  was  the  son  of  Peter  Lorillard,  who, 
with  his  brothers  George  and  Jacob,  were  well-known 
and  respected  merchants  in  New  York  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century.  Peter,  the  elder,  and  George 
were  the  founders  of  the  celebrated  firm  of  P.  Loril- 
lard &  Co.,  now  perhaps  the  largest  manufacturing 
firm  of  tobacco  in  New  York.  The  snuft  mill 
of  the  firm  was  formerly  ojierated  on  the  Bronx,  but 


1  "  History  of  New  I'ork,"'  by  Chief  .Justice  Jdiiesuiul  notes  I'y  hMwiinl 
F.  lie  Lancey. 

'  l\'r  Lydig,  see  W  est  Furnis. 


of  late  years  the  factory  has  been  located  in  Jersey 
City.  Jacob,  the  other  brother,  was  a  leather  mer- 
chaut  in  New  York,  in  "  the  swamp."  George  never 
married.  Peter  had  him  surviving — Peter  married 
Miss  Griswold,  from  whom  descended  Peter  (or 
Pierre),  the  present  head  of  the  firm  ;  Catharine  mar- 
ried James  Kernochan,  of  New  York  ;  Jacob  married 
Frances  Uhlong,  of  New  York  ;  Eva  married  Lieut. - 
Col.  Lawrence  Kip,  United  States  army ;  Ernest,  de- 
ceased, sanx  issue;  Mary  married  Henry  Barhey,  of 
Switzerland;  George  married  Miss  Lafarge,  of  New 
York  ;  Louis  married  Miss  Beekman,  of  New  York. 
Jacob,  the  third  son,  leather  merchant,  married  Miss 
Kuntze,  of  New  York;  by  her  he  had  Catharine 
Anna,  married  George  P.  Cammann,  M.D.,  late  of 
Fordham ;  Margaretta  H.  married  Thomas  Ward, 
M.D.,  of  New  York;  Eliza  M.  married  N.  P.  Bailey, 
of  Fordham  and  New  York ;  Jacob,  deceased,  mar- 
ried ]\Iiss  Bayard,  of  West  Farms;  Emily  married 
Lewis  G.  ilorris,  of  Fordham  ;  Julia  married  Daniel 
M.  Edgar,  formerly  of  Westchester. 

North  of  the  Lorillard  place,  and  fronting  the 
Bronx,  are  the  hamlets  of  Olinville  and  Williams' 
Bridge.  Here  is  the  residence  of  Mr.  Peter  Briges, 
and  near  by  on  the  East  Chester  road  that  of  the  late 
Harvey  Kidd,  the  first  a  supervisor  and  the  latter 
member  of  Assembly  from  the  township.  On  the 
road  from  Williams'  Bridge  to  Westchester  are  situ- 
ated the  country  places  of  the  late  Abraham  Hatfield, 
for  many  years  supervisor,  and  near  by  resided  Den- 
ton Pearsall,  at  one  time  president  of  the  Bowery 
Butchers'  and  Drovers'  Bank. 

Railroads. — The  township  is  intersected  by  tlie 
Port  Chester  Branch  of  the  New  Haven  Railroad. 
On  this  line  the  following  stations  arc  within  the 
township:  West  Farms,  Protectory,  Westchester, 
Timpson's  and  Baychester. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


FKEDERICK  V.  HAVEMYEK. 

The  progenitors  of  the  family  who  have  obtained 
so  honorable  a  position  in  this  Slate  were  William  F. 
and  Frederick  C.  Havemyer,  who  came  to  America 
from  Buckeburg,  Schaumburg,  Lippe,  Germany, 
about  the  year  1802.  The  former  was  the  father  of 
William  F.  Havemyer,  late  mayor  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  latter  married  Catharine  Billiger,  and 
their  children  were  Charles  H.,  Diederick  M.,  George 
L.  H.,  Edward  H.,  Frederick  C,  Charlotte  (wife  of 
W.  J.  Eyer,  a  clergyman  of  the  Lutheran  Church), 
Catharine  (wife  of  Warren  Harriot),  Susannah  (wife  of 
Dr.  Henry  Senft  )  and  Mary  R.  (wife  of  John  I. 
Northrup). 


818 


llLSTORi'  OF  WESTCHESTER  COU.NTY. 


Frederick  U.  Havemyer,  the  only  surviving  sun  of  j 
this  family,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  j 
1807.  At  the  age  of  nine  years  he  entered  the  ] 
classical  school  conducted  by  Joseph  Nelson,  a  very 
popular  instructor  and  familiarly  known  as  the 
blind  teacher.  In  1821  he  entered  Columbia  College, 
where  he  remained  till  the  completion  of  the  sopho- 
more year,  obtaining  that  mental  discii)linc  and  class- 
ical knovi'ledge  which  have  so  largely  assisted  him  in 
mercantile  life.  His  father  and  uncle  had  previously 
established  a  sugar  refinery,  under  the  name  of  W. 
&  F.  C.  Havemyer,  in  Vandam  Street,  New  York. 
This  establishment  he  entered  as  an  apprentice  and 
was  formally  introduced  as  such  to  his  uncle  by  his 
father.  Having  obtained  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  business,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  cousin, 
William  F.  Havemyer,  late  mayor  of  New  York, 
which  continued  till  1842,  when  both  retired  from 
business,  and  were  succeeded  by  their  brothers,  Al- 
bert and  Diederick.  Possessing,  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
sufficient  skill  and  knowledge  to  conduct  the  busi- 
ness of  a  refinery,  during  all  the  years  of  this 
co-partner><liip  he  worked  with  his  men  in  every 
branch  of  the  business,  from  passing  coal  to  the  fur- 
naces to  the  highest  duties  of  refining,  becoming  an 
expert  in  every  department,  and  this  experience  gave 
him  immense  advantage  when,  at  a  future  day,  under 
systems  not  then  discovered,  it  was  his  destiny-  to 
re-enter  a  business  which  he  then  sup2)osed  he  had 
left  forever. 

His  father  died  in  1841,  and  for  more  than  ten 
years  Mr.  Havemyer  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of 
his  own  and  his  father's  estates.    During  these  years 
he  made  a  tour  of  pleasure  and  observation  through 
the  United  States,  and  also  traveled  in  Europe.    In  | 
1855  he  again  engaged  in  active  business  in  Williams-  ^ 
burg,  then  a  suburb  of  Brooklyn,  and  the  business 
then  established  has  been  continued  with  greatly 
increased  facilities  up  to  the  present.    So  greatly  has 
it  grown  that  the  capacity  of  refining  has  been  in- 
creased five  hundred  tons  of  raw  sugar  a  day,  and  j 
four  thousand  barrels  of  refined  sugar  are  turned  out  I 
every  twenty-four  hours.    The  consumption  of  coal 
is  one  hundred  tons  per  day,  while  two  thousand  men 
are   employed    and  the    steam-engines    represent  j 
twenty-two  hundred  horse-power.     Throughout  the 
whole  establishment  everything  is  conducted  in  the 
most  systematic  manner,  and  a  jiractical  man  visiting  > 
the  establishment  is  immediately  impressed  with  the  j 
magnificient  engineering  everywhere  present, — the 
arrangement  of  the  machinery,  the  closeness  of  the 
connections  and  arrangements  for  the  cheap  and 
easy  handling  of  the  immense  amount  of  material 
daily  used.    There  are  seventeen  steam-engines,  many 
of  them  of  large  capacity,  and  all  of  modern  construc- 
tion. 

In  1861  the  firm  was  composed  ot  Frederick  C. 
Havemyer,  his  son  George  and  Dwight  Townsend, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Havemyer,  Townsend  &  Co. 


George  Havemyer  was  killed  by  an  accident  before 
the  close  of  the  year.  He  was  a  young  man  of  bril- 
liant promise  and  his  death  was  a  severe  blow  to  his 
father's  family.  Subsequently  Mr.  Havemyer  ad- 
milted  his  son,  Theodore  A.,  and  his  son-in-law,  J. 
Lawrence  Elder,  as  partners,  and  the  firm-name  be- 
came Havemyers  &  Elder,  which  is  still  retained. 
F.  C.  Havemyer,  Theodore  A.  and  H.  O.  Have- 
myer and  Charles  H.  Senff  now  constitute  the  firm. 

In  January,  1882,  the  principal  buildings  of  the 
refinery  were  destroyed  by  fire.  A  new  and  more 
capacious  refinery  was  soon  after  erected  upon  an 
adjoining  site  and  is  now  in  fiill  operation. 

The  present  residence  of  Mr.  Havemyer  is  a  man- 
sion built  by  a  Mr.  Hammond,  a  large  landholder, 
about  1800.  The  i)lace  adjoins  the  grounds  of  Fort 
Schuyler,  is  beautifully  located  and  affords  fine  views 
of  Long  Island  Sound. 

Mr.  Havemyer  married  Sarah  L.  Osborne.  Their 
children  are  Frederick,  George  W.  (deceased),  Theo- 
dore A.,  Thomas  J.,  Harry  O.,  Mary  (wife  of  .1. 
Lawrence  Elder),  Catharine  (wife  of  L.  J.  Belloni, 
Jr.)  and  Sarah  L.  (wife  of  Frederick  Jackson). 


COLLI.S  POTTER  HUNTINGTON. 

Mr.  Huntington  was  born  October  22,  1821,  at 
Harwinton,  Litchfield  County,  Conn.  He  comes  of 
good  stock,  which  counts  among  its  noted  men  in 
this  country  Samuel  Huntington,  one  of  the  signers 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  president  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  Governor  and  chief  justice 
of  Connecticut ;  Bishop  F.  D.  Huntington  and  the 
celebrated  painter,  Daniel  Huntington. 

Mr.  Huntington's  father  was  a  farmer,  and  at  one 
time  a  manufacturer  on  a  small  scale.  He  was  an 
honest,  prudent  and  painstaking  man,  but  never  at- 
tained wealth.  He  had  nine  children,  of  whom  Collis 
P.  was  the  fifth.  After  the  usual  and  excellent  cus- 
tom of  New  England  people  in  former  days,  the 
children  were  not  only  sent  to  school,  but  were  early 
and  carefully  trained  to  habits  of  regular  industry, 
taught  the  value  of  time  and  money,  and  encouraged 
to  take  a  just  pride  in  contributing  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  household,  or  where,  as  in  this  case,  that 
was  not  necessary,  in  depending  on  their  own  lalxir 
for  pocket-money. 

A  story,  very  characteristic  of  the  man  in  later 
years,  is  related  of  the  boy  Collis  by  a  neighbor,  still 
living,  who  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  make  his  first 
dollar.  The  boy,  then  scarcely  nine  years  of  age,,was 
employed  by  this  neighbor  to  pile  up  in  the  wood- 
shed a  quantity  of  wood  which  had  been  sawed  for 
the  winter.  He  piled  it  neatly  and  smoothly,  and 
when  this  was  done,  with  that  spirit  of  thoroughness 
and  liking  for  good  work  with  which,  in  middle  age, 
he  built  railroads,  he  picked  up  all  the  chips  in  the 
wood-yard,  and  swept  it  clean  with  an  old  broom.  His 
employer,  returning  home  in  the  evening,  was  so  well 
pleased  with  the  way  in  which  the  boy  had  done  his 


WKSTCIIKSTKK. 


81» 


work,  that  he  patted  him  on  the  head,  praised  hiui 
for  his  faithfulness,  and  gave  him  a  dollar,  saying: 
"  You  have  done  this  so  well  that  I  shall  be  glad  to 
have  you  pile  my  wood  next  fall  again."  Young 
Huntington  showed  himself  greatly  delighted  with 
the  praise  and  the  dollar — the  first  dollar  he  had  ever 
earned  or  owned.  "  But,"  added  the  gentleman,  who 
remembered  this  incident  in  the  boy's  life,  "  Collis 
said  to  me,  with  a  bright  laugh,  '  You  don't  suppose 
I'm  going  to  pile  wood  for  a  living  the  rest  of  my 
life?""  "  ; 

When  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age  he  left  school,  ' 
ajul  asked  his  father  to  give  him  his  time  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  thenceforth  support  himself.  It 
was  the  custom  in  those  days  in  New  England  for 
boys  to  serve  their  parents  until  they  were  of  age ; 
this  service,  of  course,  entitling  them  to  maintenance. 
It  is  a  curious  proof  of  the  confidence  which  the  boy 
inspired  in  those  who  knew  him,  that  not  only  did  his 
father  presently  consent  to  his  proposition,  but  when 
young  Huntington  went  to  New  York,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  he  was  able  to  obtain  credit  for  a  small  pur- 
chase of  goods,  with  which  he  began  his  career  as  a  ' 
merchant,  a  country  neighbor  of  his  father's  not  only 
vouching  for  him,  but  saying  :  "  You  may  send  me  all 
Huntington's  notes  ;  he  is  sure  to  pay." 

Beginning  in  a  small  way,  the  young  man  soon  ex-  I 
tended  his  business,  and  before  he  was  twenty-four 
had  traveled  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  Western  j 
and  Southern  States.    He  took  as  partner  an  elder 
brother,  who  is  now  a  farmer  in  Oisego  County,  in 
the  State  of  New  York;  and  at  Onconta.  in  this 
county,  the  two  finally  settled  themselves  as  general 
dealers  or  country  merchants,  extending  their  ope'ra- 
tions  also  in  grain,  butter,  coojjering,  and,  in  fact,  in  : 
all  business  directions  which  the  region  made  profit- 
able. , 

In  October,  1848,  the  two  brothers  made  a  shipment  I 
of  goods  to  California,  where  the  rush  of  gold-seekers  | 
had  created  a  sudden  demand  for  many  and  various  j 
products.    They  sent  their  cargo  around  Cape  Horn, 
and  almost  before  it  could  arrive,  Mr.  Huntington  de- 
termined himself  to  try  the  new  region.  He  j)r(>bably 
felt  that  he  needed  a  larger  field  for  his  enterprising 
spirit  and  his  ability  than  was  aftbrded  by  an  interior  | 
county  in  New  York.    He  transferred  his  share  in  ' 
the  home  business  to  his  brother,  and  sailed  for  San 
Francisco,  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  in  March,  1S4!I.  : 
He  had  then  been  actively  engaged  in  business,  but  ^ 
upon  a  small  capital  slowly  saved,  lor  ten  or  twelve 
years.    He  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  in  perfect 
health,  active,  stronger  than  most  men,  with  an  iron 
frame  and  good  New  England  habits ;  and  his  first 
adventure  on  the  way  showed  that  the  man  had  kept 
the  sagacity  and  clear-headed  enterprise  of  the  boy. 
He  was  landed  on  the  Isthmus  in  company  with  sev-  ■ 
eral  hundred  other  anxious  gold-seekers;  they  all  got 
across  to  the  Pacific  sis  well  as  they  could,  hiring  i 
ilonkeys  for  their  baggage  and  marching  on  foot  them-  ' 


selves.  But  when  they  reached  I'anama,  no  vessel 
appeared  to  take  them  north.  They  found  a  great 
crowd — the  passengers  by  a  previous  steamer — waiting 
impatiently,  and  they  were  detained  long  enough  to 
see  several  other  steamer-loads  arrive  from  New  York 
and  New  Orleans.  Thrown  together  in  a  small  foreign 
town,  a  jiromiscuous  company  of  adventurers,  with  no 
rciitraints  of  public  opinion,  and  nothing  to  occupy 
their  minds  or  hands,  the  unhappy  people  took  to 
gambling  and  various  kinds  of  dissipation  ;  and  the 
cliniateand  theirown  imprudence  caused  much  misery 
and  sickness  and  a  great  many  deaths.  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton feeling  the  need  of  employment  to  while  away  the 
tedium  of  delay,  and  disinclined  to  dissipation,  under- 
took the  transport  of  baggage  and  cargo  across  the 
Isthmus.  He  began  with  one  donkey,  and  was  so 
successful  that  he  was  presently  the  owner  of  a  train 
of  animals,  and  while  the  less  energetic  gold-seekers 
were  wasting  their  means  and  health,  the  long  delay 
often  or  twelve  weeks  enabled  him  to  earn  a  hand- 
some sum  of  money,  which  gave  him  an  important 
start  on  his  arrival  in  San  Francisco.  It  is  a  notable 
fact  that  while  almost  all  the  delayed  passengers  suf- 
fered from  fevers,  and  many  died,  Huntington,  who 
worked  constantly,  and  marched  on  foot  in  the  hot 
sun  many  times  across  the  Isthmus,  had  not  a  day's 
illness. 

He  arrived  in  San  Francisco  in  August,  1849,  hav- 
ing been  five  months  on  the  way.  He  saw  at  once 
that  that  city  was  not  the  place  for  him,  and  on  the 
very  morning  of  his  arrival,  after  buying  a  break- 
fast of  bread  and  cheese,  hunted  up  a  vessel  going 
to  Sacramento.  He  found  a  schooner,  the  master  of 
which — later  the  captain  of  one  of  the  finest  steamers 
on  the  Sacramento  River — oft'ered  him  a  dollar  an 
hour  to  help  load  her,  and  he  earned  his  passage- 
money  in  this  way,  and  landed  in  Sacramento  richer 
by  some  dollars  than  when  he  arrived  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

His  training  and  natural  inborn  capacity  as  a  mer- 
chantand  business  man  now  came  into  play.  Neither 
he  nor  his  partner  and  dear  friend  of  many  years — the 
late  Mark  Hopkins — ever  spent  much  time  in  actual 
gold-mining.  Mr.  Huntington,  it  is  said,  returned  to 
Sacramento  after  four  days  at  the  nearest  mining 
camp,  convinced  that  gold-digging  had  too  many 
risks  beyond  the  control  of  the  digger  to  be  to  his 
taste.  He  became  again  a  merchant,  and  began,  in 
a  small  tent  and  with  a  very  liniite<l  su|»ply  of  goods 
that  business  career  in  California  which  made  him 
during  many  years,  one  of  the  foremost  merchants  of 
the  State  and  one  of  the  most  successful. 

There  are  many  amusing  stories  current  among  old 
Sacramento  men  of  Mr.  Huntington's  early  business 
career,  all  showing  the  remarkable  sagacity,  quick- 
ness to  see  and  grasp  opportunities,  and  sterling 
honesty  and  love  of  fair  j)lay  which  have  been  hia 
conspicuous  traits.  It  is  told  of  him  that  he  wasonce 
besought  to  buy  a  large  tent,  the  property  of  a  com- 


820 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


pany  of  intending  miners  who  had  disagreed,  and 
were  eager  to  divide  their  property  and  separate.  He 
offered  them  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  it, 
which  they  accepted  on  condition  that  they  should 
have  a  day  to  remove  their  other  possessions.  He  had 
no  sooner  bought  it  than  he  took  a  lump  of  char- 
coal and  marked  on  the  tent  in  large  letters  "For  Sale," 
and  in  two  hours  had  sold  it  for  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  to  the  amazement  of  the  previous  owners,  still 
sitting  under  its  shade,  who  had  not  thought  of  the 
simple  device  of  advertising  their  desire  to  sell. 

When  San  Francisco  harbor  was  filled  with  ships 
deserted  by  their  crews,  Huntington  was  offered  large 
quantities  of  ship's  bread  at  a  very  low  price,  and 
bought  all  he  could  get,  foreseeing  that  some  day  all 
these  ships  would  sail  away  home  and  would  then 
need  supplies;  and  when  this  came  to  pass,  and 
he  sold  at  a  great  advance,  those  who  had  thought 
him  foolish  wondered  they  had  not  foreseen  the  event 
also.  Old  Californians  say  that  in  those  early  days, 
when  anybody  in  Sacramento  was  "stuck"  with  a 
consignment  of  something  which  had  no  sale,  he  went 
to  Huntington,  who  was  pretty  sure  to  buy  if  the  ar- 
ticle was  cheap  enough,  and  very  certain,  after  a 
while,  to  resell  it  at  a  handsome  profit.  Those  who 
knew  him  in  those  days  say  that  he  was  always  con- 
tent with  a  fair  profit;  that  he  soon  became  known 
as  a  man  who  never  misrepresented  the  article  he 
wished  to  sell,  and  that  his  customers  increased  rapidly 
because  he  left  them  also  the  opportunity  to  make  a 
good  profit.  There  is  a  story  told  of  him  that  he  once 
bought  several  hundred  grain  cradles,  which  had  lain 
for  a  long  time  in  the  owner's  loft.  Huntington  un- 
packed them,  showed  them  on  the  street,  and  pres- 
ently, as  he  had  foreseen,  there  was  a  brisk  demand 
for  them.  They  went  off'  "like  hot-cakes"  at  eighteen 
dollars  apiece.  "You  might  get  thirty  for  them," 
said  a  friend;  "are  you  not  making  a  mistake?" 
'•Not  at  all,"  replied  Huntington ;  "I  paid  five,  and 
I  want  to  sell  them  all,  don't  you  see?  They  are  too 
bulky  to  keep.  It  is  better  to  let  others  have  a  chance 
also  to  make  some  money."  No  doubt  his  experience 
and  training  as  a  country  merchant  in  Otsego  County 
was  of  great  advantage  to  him  in  those  early  and  busy 
Sacramento  days,  when  he  turned  his  hands  to  every- 
thing, and  knew,  as  by  intuition,  what  his  customers 
would  like,  and  how  to  arouse  as  well  as  to  meet  a 
popular  demand. 

One  thing  remains  to  be  said :  he  retained  his  early 
New  England  habits;  he  did  not  drink,  nor  smoke 
nor  gamble;  he  slept  in  his  store,  and  was  up  and  at 
work  before  the  earliest  of  his  clerks.  He  was  scru- 
pulously honest,  and  to  use  a  phrase  current  in  those 
days  in  Calfornia,  he  "did  not  allow  anybody  to  run 
over  him."  The  miscellaneous  business,  begun  in  a 
tent,  grew  by-and-by  into  a  permanent  hardware 
store  at  54  K  Street,  in  Sacramento,  where  Hunting- 
ton sold  all  kinds  of  miners'  supplies.  Next-door  to 
him  Mark  Hoi)kins  kept  store  also,  until  one  day  he 


sold  out  and  thought  he  would  retire.  The  two  men 
had  become  acquainted.  Hopkins,  from  the  hill 
country  of  Massachusetts,  and  Huntington,  from  the 
neighboring  parts  of  Connecticut,  found  they  had 
many  ideas  in  common,  political  and  religious,  as 
well  as  business  ideas;  and  naturally,  in  that  new 
country,  they  became  friends  and,  before  long,  part- 
ners in  business,  constituting  the  firm  of  Huntington 
&  Hopkins.  "  He  was  the  truest  man  I  ever  knew," 
said  Mr.  Huntington  of  his  old  partner,  a  few  years 
ago;  "he  had  the  clearest  head  in  California;  but 
for  the  mere  work  of  buying  and  selling  goods  in 
those  early  days  he  was  no  better  than  a  child.  He 
had  no  taste  for  it,  and  left  it  to  me;  but  there  were 
many  things  of  greater  importance  than  mere  buying 
and  selling  which  Mark  Hopkins  could  do  far  better 
than  any  of  us."  The  two  partners  never  had  even 
the  ripple  of  a  disagreement  in  all  their  many  years 
of  close  business  and  social  intimacy.  They  were 
friends  in  the  truest  and  deepest  sense,  and  this 
friendship  has  been  among  the  pleasantest  and  most 
important  of  the  influences  which  made  up  Hunting- 
ton's life. 

By  185()  the  firm  of  Huntington  &  Hopkins  had 
accumulated  what  was  then,  even  in  California,  a 
handsome  fortune.  Their  house  was  one  of  the  most 
solid  on  the  coast;  they  were  known  as  shrewd,  care- 
ful and  very  wide-awake  business  men ;  their  rule 
was  to  ask  a  high  price  for  everything,  but  to  sell 
only  a  good  article — the  best  in  the  market.  They 
avoided  all  hazardous  speculative  transactions,  and 
"stuck"  to  hardware.  Mr.  Hopkins  once  told  the 
present  writer:  "  We  never  owned  a  dollar  of  stock 
in  a  mine,  never  had  a  branch  house,  never  sent  out 
a  drummer  to  get  business,  and  never  sued  a  man  for 
a  debt." 

But  Huntington  &  Hopkins  were  not  merely  or  only 
business  men.  Both  took  a  lively  interest  in  politi- 
cal questions,  though  always  avoiding  what  is  called 
politics.  They  were  Free-Soilers  and  Republicans  at 
a  time  when  the  wealth  and  social  influence  in  the 
State  were  mostly  on  the  Democratic  side.  Natur- 
ally, No.  54  K  Street  presently  became  a  place  where 
leading  Republicans  met  to  discuss  the  news  and  plan 
opposition  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  in  a  small 
upper-story  room  in  54  K  Street,  the  Times,  the  first 
Republican  newspaper  of  California,  was  begun,  un- 
der the  editorship  of  .James  McClatchey,  one  of  the 
ablest  publicists  in  the  State,  and  now  editor  of  the 
Sacramento  Bee.  But,  besides  hardware  and  politics, 
another  subject  was  much  discussed  at  54  K  Street  in 
those  days — a  railroad  across  the  continent.  This 
was  the  great  question  which  then  agitated  every 
cabin  in  the  State.  How  to  get  a  railroad  across  the 
Sierra  Nevada  range  was  the  great  difficulty,  and 
California  was  deeply  stirred  when  an  engineer  named 
Judah,  who  was,  as  they  said,  "Pacific  Railroad 
crazy,"  gave  out  that  he  had  found  a  long  and  easy 
ascent  by  the  way  of  Dutch  Flat,  which  was  practi- 


WESTCHESTER. 


821 


cable  for  a  road.  Judah  was  an  enthusiast.  He  called 
public  meetings  and  solicited  subscriptions  to  enable 
him  to  make  a  thorough  reconnoissance,  and  mer- 
chants and  miners,  and  even  women,  gave,  according 
t<>  their  means,  ten,  fifty  or  a  hundred  dollars  for  this 
object.  At  last  came  tiie  Presidential  election  of 
18()0,  and  the  rumble  of  war,  and  everybody  buttoned 
up  their  pockets.  The  scheme  was  about  to  fail.  The 
public  had  something  else  to  think  of.  San  Fran- 
cisco, where  the  Democrats  and  Southern  men  wanted 
a  southern  line,  turned  its  back  on  poor  Judali.  Mat- 
ters seemed  to  have  come  to  an  end,  when  Hunting- 
tou  came  forward  with  a  new  proposition. 

"I  will  be  one  of  seven,  if  Hopkins  agrees,  to  bear 
the  expense  of  a  careful  and  thorough  survey,"  said 
he;  and  the  result  was,  that  at  a  meeting  held  at  54 
K  Street,  seven  men  entered  into  a  compact  that  they 
would  pay  out  of  their  own  pockets  all  the  needful 
expenses  of  a  complete  survey  for  a  railroad  across 
the  mountains.  Of  these  seven,  Judah,  the  engineer, 
presently  died,  and  another  dropped  out.  The  five 
who  remained  were  helped  by  a  few  outside  subscrip- 
tions, but  so  visionary  was  the  enterprise  believed  to 
be  at  that  time  that  a  Sacramento  banker,  who  desired 
to  help  it,  felt  himself  obliged  to  decline  aid  on  the 
express  ground  that  the  credit  of  his  bank  would  suf- 
fer if  he  were  known  to  have  business  relations  with 
so  wild  a  scheme.  In  this  way  the  Central  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  was  organized, with  Leland  Stanford 
as  president,  C.  P.  Huntington  as  vice-])resident,  and 
Mark  Ho{)kins  as  treasurer ;  and  the  latter  once  said, 
years  afterwards,  that  about  this  time  he  often  thought 
they  "  had  more  railroad  in  54  K  Street  than  would 
be  good  for  the  hardware  business."  They  were  de- 
termined not  to  be  swamped,  and  agreed  to  pay  cash 
for  all  that  was  done ;  to  keep  no  more  men  at  work 
than  they  could  pay  every  month,  and  to  make  every 
contract  terminable  at  the  option  of  the  company. 
The  time  came  when  this  policy  saved  them. 

Mr.  Huntington  went  to  Washington  when  the 
company  was  formed,  to  see  to  the  conditions  of  the 
government  charter  then  before  Congress;  and  before 
he  departed  for  the  East,  the  five  middle-aged  business 
men,  who  had  undertaken  this  huge  enterprise,  gave 
him  a  power  of  attorney  to  do  for  them  and  in  their 
name  anything  whatsoever — to  buy,  sell,  bargain,  con- 
vey, borrow  or  lend,  without  any  condition  excejit 
that  he  should  fare  alike  with  them  in  all  that  con- 
cerned their  project.  From  this  time  forward  Mr. 
Huntington's  labors  were  mostly  in  the  East.  He  re- 
mained in  Washington,  looking  after  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Bill,  until  it  was  at  last  passed  and  signed, 
and  his  opinion  of  the  adventure  on  which  this 
launched  him  and  his  associates  was  not  different 
from  that  of  the  general  public;  this  opinion,  as  well 
as  a  singular  courage  and  determination  on  iiis  part, 
were  well  expressed  in  the  telegram  in  which  he  an- 
nounced to  his  partners  his  success  :  '*  We  have  drawn 
the  elephant ;  now  let  us  harness  him."   Having  tele- 


graphed this  message,  he  instantly  went  to  New  York 
to  begin  arrangements  with  hesitating  and  doubting 
capitalists  for  feeding  the  ravenous  beast.  It  was  now 
that  all  his  (|iuilities  of  persistence,  courage,  financial 
ability  and  knowledge  of  men  were  brought  to  the 
test.  The  government  bonds  were  promised  only 
upon  the  completion  of  certain  miles  of  road;  the 
capitalists  of  New  York  would  not  take  the  bonds  of 
the  road  until  some  part  of  it  was  in  operation  ;  stock 
subscriptions  came  in  too  slowly  to  help  out  and 
Huntington  saw  failure  staring  him  in  the  face.  But 
his  courage  and  determination  rose  with  the  emer- 
gency. Instead  of  going  begging  among  speculators, 
or  pledging  his  bonds  for  material,  he  boldly  an- 
nounced that  he  would  not  part  with  the  bonds  ex- 
cept for  money — cash  ;  and  that  he  would  not  sell  any 
at  all  unless  a  million  and  a  half  were  taken.  His 
boldness  won  ;  but  when  the  required  amount  was  bid 
for,  the  purchasers  timidly  desired  some  further  secu- 
rity, and  Huntington,  without  a  moment's  hesitation, 
made  himself  and  his  four  partners  personally  respon- 
sible for  the  whole  amount,  and  it  was  on  this  pledge 
of  their  private  fortunes  that  the  first  forty  miles  of 
the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  were  built.  But  even 
then,  so  great  were  the  straits  of  the  enterprise,  that 
when  Huntington  returned  to  Sacramento,  after  com- 
pleting this  first  loan,  and  buying  and  shipping  rails 
and  other  needed  material,  he  found  the  treasure- 
chest  so  low  that  it  was  necessary  either  to  tliminish 
the  laboring  force  on  the  work  or  raise  more  means. 
Once  more  he  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  "  We 
have  no  time  to  lose,"  he  said,  "and  we  must  do  it 
ourselves;  Huntington  &  Hopkins  can  keep  five  hun- 
dred men  at  work  on  the  road  for  a  year  at  their  own 
charge  ;  how  many  will  the  rest  of  you  undertake?" 
And  it  was  agreed  that  the  five  partners  should  main- 
tain out  of  their  private  fortunes  eight  hundred  men 
on  the  works  for  a  year.  That  resolution  greatly  di- 
minished their  troubles;  for  before  the  year  was  over 
they  received  their  government  bonds  and  their  credit 
was  established. 

But  for  Huntington  this  was  only  the  beginning  of 
worries  and  labors  which  would  have  crushed  any 
man  only  a  little  weaker  or  less  able  than  he.  It  was 
his  task  to  remain  in  the  East,  not  only  to  raise 
money,  but  also  to  expend  a  great  deal  of  it  for  ma- 
terial and  su])plies.  All  the  rails,  locomotives,  pow- 
der and  various  other  material  for  the  road  were 
bought  by  him,  and  shipped  around  Cape  Horn  or 
across  the  Isthmus.  His  transactions  brought  him 
into  contact  with  all  sorts  of  people  in  New  York  and 
other  Eastern  cities,  and  it  is  still  told  of  him  that 
j  when  some  one  who  did  not  know  him  came  to  him 
in  18()2  with  an  otl'er  of  a  handsome  commission  if  he 
would  deal  with  him,  Huntington  replied:  "  I  want 
all  the  commissions  I  can  get,  but  I  want  them  put 
in  the  bill.  This  road  has  got  to  be  built  without  any 
stealings;"  and  his  bold  refusal  to  be  fleeced  by 
sharks,  and  his  straightforward  ways  of  conducting 


822 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


business,  gained  credit  for  him  and  his  partners,  and 
secured  for  himself  the  high  and  honorable  rank  he 
enjoys  as  one  of  the  few  really  great  financiers  of  this 
country. 

Allotted  space  does  not  permit  a  narration  of  the 
vast  labors  of  Mr.  Huntington  in  building  the  South- 
ern Pacific  Railroad,  and  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  and 
its  adjuncts — constituting  together  a  continuous  line 
four  thousand  miles  long  from  San  Francisco,  the 
dominant  harbor  of  the  Pacific  coast,  to  Chesapeake 
Bay,  the  finest  natural  harbor  on  the  Atlantic;  nor 
of  the  other  great  systems  of  transportation  by  land 
and  water  over  which  his  control  is  primary  and  di- 
rect. It  is  said  that  the  total  length  of  railroads  com- 
pleted and  in  progress,  now  intrusted  to  the  charge  of 
C.  p.  Huntington,  is,  in  round  numbers,  something 
over  ten  thousand  miles. 

Mr.  Huntington  continues  to  live,  during  the  win- 
ter, in  New  York,  where  he  manages  the  aflairs  of  his 
railroads  and  other  great  enterprises.  He  is  largely 
interested  in  over  seven  of  the  great  steamship  lines 
of  the  country,  is  one  of  the  founders  and  directors  of 
the  Metropolitan  Trust  Company,  of  New  York,  and 
has  a  place  on  the  directory  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company.  He  does  not  go  much  into  gen- 
eral society,  but  keeps  a  hospitable  house  of  his  own 
on  Murray  Hill.  He  spends  about  seven  months  of 
every  year  at  his  charming  country-seat  at  Throgg's 
Neck,  on  Long  Island  Sound,  whence  he  can  reach 
his  business  and  return  every  day.  In  person  he  is 
tall,  of  a  vigorous  build,  with  grayish-blue  eyes,  an 
aquiline  nose,  and  a  firm,  solid  jaw,  which  feature  in 
him  resembles  that  of  General  Grant.  His  favorite 
in-door  relaxations  are  reading  and  whist,  of  which 
game  he  is  an  excellent  player.  He  has  formed  a 
large  and  well-selected  library,  and  has  a  familiar  and 
constant  ac<(uaintauce  with  the  best  books  in  it.  He 
is  a  lover  of  poetry  and  a  student  of  history,  particu- 
larly of  modern  history,  and  has  known  admirably 
how  to  use  his  scant  leisure.  He  has  also  gathered  a 
large  and  very  valuable  collection  of  paintings,  and 
is  pretty  certain  to  be  seen  at  any  notable  sale  of  pic- 
tures, not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  other  Eastern 
cities,  bidding  judiciously,  but  unhesitatingly,  paying 
a  long  price  for  a  good  work  of  art.  He  was,  until 
recently,  not  only  a  skillful,  but  a  very  daring  horse- 
man, and  while  he  was  building  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  parts  of  which  run  through  an  ex- 
tremely ditticult  country,  he  was  noted  for  his  horse- 
manship, even  among  the  people  of  that  region  of 
horsemen.  Friends  and  business  acquaintances  know 
him  as  the  ])ossessor  of  a  shrewd  wit.  He  is  an  admir- 
able story-teller,  and  knows  how  to  settle  a  dispute 
with  an  apposite  illustration  almost  as  well  as  the 
late  Mr.  Lincoln.  His  years  and  labors  have  not  told 
heavily  upon  him,  and  have  not  robbed  him  either  of 
his  physical  activity  or  of  his  gay  humor,  which 
makes  him  a  pleasant  companion  and  friend.  He  i 
has  always  had  the  capacity  to  bind  friends  to  him  I 


by  strong  ties,  and  to  get  the  best  and  most  zealous 
service  out  of  those  he  employs,  who  know  him  as  one 
who  exacts  the  strict  fulfillment  of  duty,  but  who  also 
generously  rewards  faithful  service.  In  business  he  is 
careful  and  laborious,  but  an  excellent  administrator. 
He  has  the  capacity  to  do  a  great  deal  of  work  in  the 
hours  he  gives  to  it,  and  he  has  always  been  wise 
enough  to  redeem  some  part  of  his  daily  life  from 
business  cares  and  devote  it  to  his  family  and  to  his 
library,  where  most  of  his  evenings  are  spent.  "Neith- 
er cast  down  nor  elated"  might  very  well  be  his 
motto;  for  neither  has  his  great  and  fortunate  career 
spoiled  him  or  changed  the  simple  habits  of  his  life, 
nor  have  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  been  able  to  dis- 
turb his  equanimity. 

His  country  residence,  at  Throgg's  Neck,  is  a  refuge 
and  great  source  of  pleasure  to  him.  From  the  broad 
verandah  of  the  house  a  neatly-kept  lawn  slopes  away 
under  the  branches  of  noble  trees  down  to  the  water 
of  the  Sound,  and  here,  on  a  clear  day  or  a  pleasant 
evening,  Mr.  Huntington,  a  gentleman  of  command- 
ing stature,  dressed  in  black  and  wearing  a  black 
skull-cap,  may  often  be  seen  strolling  up  and  down 
in  conversation  with  friends,  or  watching  the  steam- 
boats and  sailing-vessels  as  they  pass,  rarely  otherwise 
than  in  a  genial  humor,  and  always  ready  with  his 
jovial  story  and  generous  laugh.  His  beautiful  es- 
tate, consisting  of  some  thirty-odd  acres,  was  pur- 
chased from  F.  C.  Havemeyer.  This  gentleman  had 
expended  a  great  deal  on  its  embellishment;  and  Mr. 
Huntington,  securing  the  best  talent  and  sparing 
neither  time  nor  money,  has  continued  to  adorn  and 
improve  the  house  and  lands  until  at  present — with 
its  system  of  water,  its  gas-works,  its  private  wharf,  at 
which  large  vessels  are  occasionally  moored,  its  sta- 
bles, conservatories,  farm  buildings,  pastures,  shady 
walk.s,  gardens  and  Howers — it  is  a  model  residence 
and  a  place  well  fitted  to  divert  the  fancy,  restore  the 
strength  and  rest  the  heart  of  one  so  earnest  and  un- 
sparing of  himself  in  work. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

MORRISANIA.' 
BY  KORUHAM  MORRIS. 

The  town  of  Morrisania  was  formed  from  West 
Farms  December  7,  1855,  incorporated  as  a  village  in 
18t>4,  and,  in  1873,  was  annexed  to  New  York  City.  It 
embraces  the  villages  of  Morrisania,  Mott  Haven,  Port 
Morris,  Wilton,  East  Morrisania,  Old  Morrisania,  West 
Morrisania,  South  Melrose,  East  Melrose,  Woodstock, 
Claremont  and  Eltona.  The  lines  of  division  between 
these  places  are,  however,  being  lost  in  the  extension 
of  the  streets,  and  they  now  scarcely  possess  a  geo- 


I  1  For  the  early  history  of  Morrisania,  including  the  manor  and  the 
I  Morris  family,  see  the  preceding  chapter  on  the  town  of  Westchester. 


RESIDENCE  FKOM  THE  NOHTH. 
VIEWS  AT  THE  HUNTINGTON  HOMESI'EAD. 


MORRISANIA. 


823 


graphical  existence.  By  the  act  of  the  supervisors 
of  the  county  creating  the  town  of  Morrisania, 
the  north  liiu!  began  at  Harlem  River,  near  the 
present  Aqueduet  Higli  Bridge,  and  extencU'd  east  to 
Union  Avenue,  wliii  h  was  praetically  the  east  hounds 
of  the  Morrisania  Manor.  Its  east  boundary  was 
Union  Avenue,  continued  to  the  head  of  Bungay  Creek 
and  thence  to  Harlem  Kills,  and  its  south  and  west 
boundaries,  the  Harlem  River  and  Kills.  The  division 
between  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards  is 
now  extended  along  the  old  ilivision  between  the  town- 
ships of  West  Farms  and  Morris.Tnia,  oast  to  the  Bronx. 

On  April  22,  1864,  the  town  was  divided  into  four 
wards,  in  each  of  which  three  trustees  were  elected 
for  two  years,  at  the  same  time  as  the  supervisor. 
When  it  was  set  off  from  West  Farms  the  assessed 
valuation  of  property  was  $1,788,840. 

Gouverneur  Morris,  elected  in  1856,  was  the  fii-st 
supervisor  of  the  town.  William  Cauldwell  was 
elected  in  1857,  and  served  until  1870,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Silas  D.  Giflbrd.  In  1871  Mr.  Cauldwell 
was  again  elected.  In  1872  John  H.  Hopkins  was 
chosen,  but  the  next  year  Mr.  Cauldwell  began  an- 
other term,  during  which  annexation  took  place. 

It  maj-  be  mentioned  here  that,  before  the  selection 
of  the  site  on  the  Potomac,  a  very  strong  feeling  ex- 
isted in  favor  of  locating  the  capital  of  the  nation  at 
Morrisania.  The  files  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  contain  the  draft  of  a  petition  which  Lewis 
Morris  forwarded  to  Congre.ss  on  that  subject.  It 
bears  no  date,  but  must  have  been  written  shortly 
prior  to  1790,  when  Congress  had  the  question  of  a 
site  under  consideration.    It  is  as  follows : 

*'  To  his  Excellency  the  President  and  the  Honorable  the  Memher»  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  StttO-s  nf  America. 

"The  Memorial  of  Lewis  Morris,  of  Morrisania 
"  Respectfully  Sliewetli. 

"  That  your  Memorialist  hii3  heard  that  Congress  inteud,  on  the  fii-st 
Miinday  in  October  next,  to  fix  on  some  proper  place  for  their  future 
permanent  residence,  and  that  propositions  are  to  be  given  in  from  dif- 
ferent places  in  oiilcr  that  the  most  eligible  choice  be  made  on  that  day. 

"  That  your  Memorialist  therefore  is  induced  to  address  your  Hon- 
orable tHHly  in  behalf  of  the  Manor  of  Morrisania,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  humbly  conceives  and  ho^K^sthat  it  will  fully  api)ear  evident 
to  Congress  that  the  said  31anor  is  more  advantageously  situated  fiU' 
their  residence  than  any  other  place  that  has  hitherto  been  proiH»sed  to 
them,  and  nuich  better  accommodated  with  the  necessary  requisites  of 
convenience  i>f  access,  health  and  security. 

"That  the  convenience  of  acce-su  lo  )Iorrisania  from  most  of  the  parts 
of  the  United  States  is  much  more  easy,  safe  and  expeditious  than  to 
any  other  place  as  yet  proposeil  for  the  residence  of  Congress  ;  that  ves- 
sels from  the  four  Kastern  States  may  arrive  at  Morrisania  through  the 
Sound,  which  scjiarates  Long  Islanil  from  the  main,  in  the  course  of  a 
very  few  hours,  and  that  ships  from  the  Carolinas  and  (ieorgia  may  per- 
form voyages  to  Morrisania  with  much  mure  siifety  and  dispatch  than 
they  can  to  the  (lortsofeither  Philadelphia  or  .\nnapolis,  not  lieing  incom- 
moded with  tedious  imssages  of  two  huntlred  miles  each  up  Bays  and 
Rivers  which  often  consume  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks — ^uissiiges 
rendered  hazartlons  by  rocks  and  shoals,  and  annually  olotructed  by  ice. 

*' .\nd  that  31urrisaiiia  is  so  situated  that  vessels  may  arrive  from  or  | 
proceed  to  sea,  sometimes  in  six  hours,  and  at  no  time  <-an  lie  detained  ' 
by  contrary  winds  or  tide  more  than  4)<  hourx,  and  that  thii  passage, 
from  the  ipiantity  and  saltness  of  the  water,  has  never  been  totally  im- 
peded by  ice . 

"  That  your  Memorialist  conceives  that  the  health  of  the  place  proposed 
and  the  salubrity  of  its  air  are  points  highly  worthy  of  attention  and 
consideration,  and  that  your  Memorialist  is  therefore  happy  to  add  that  ' 


Morrisania  has  always  been  noted  for  this  particular,  that  the  fever  and 
ague  is  there  unkuown,  and  that  persons  from  other  places,  emaciated 
by  sickness  and  disease,  there  shortly  recover  and  are  speedily  rein- 
stated in  health  and  vigor. 

"  That  your  Memorialist  conceives  that  Morrisania  is  perfectly  secure 
from  any  dangers  either  from  foreign  invasion  and  internal  insurrection, 
that  no  naval  force  can  arrive  at  Morrisania  without  passing  by  New 
York,  and  of  course  possessing  that  city,  or  without  attempting  a  pas- 
sage of  ion  miles  through  the  Sound,  which  separates  Long  Island  I'roiu 
Connecticut,  which  for  a  fieet  is  impracticable,  and  that  .Morrisania  be- 
ing distjiut  only  twenty  miles  from  the  Slate  of  Connecticut,  and  eight 
from  the  City  of  New  York  that  it  therefore  can  be  amply  piotecte<l  by 
the  hardy  sons  of  New  England  on  the  one  side,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  the  populous  City  of  New  Y'ork  on  the  other  ;  that  as  the  chief 
I  defuuce  of  this  country  in  future  must  be  by  its  militia,  that  there- 
fore the  number  of  fighting  men  which  might  at  a  short  notice 
be  collected  at  each  place  proposed  ought  in  some  nu'asure  to  be 
ascertained— that  by  reason  of  the  lands  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
^lorrisjinia  l>eing  {Hircelled  out  into  small  farms,  and  the  vicinity  of  sev- 
eral towns,  together  with  the  city  of  New  York,  there  are  more  fighting 
men  within  a  sweep  of  thirty  miles  around  Morrisania  than  perhaps 
within  the  same  distance  around  any  other  place  in  .\nierica,  as  there 
are  many  populous  places  which  contain  large  proportions  of  inhabit- 
ants who  are  principled  by  religion  against  bearing  arms,  and  other 
places  which  contain  many  negro  inhabitants  who  not  only  do  not  fight 
themselves,  but  by  keeping  their  masters  at  home,  prevent  them  from 
fighting  also.''  ^ 

RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIOXS. 

The  Episcopal  Church. —  Morrisania  was  asso- 
ciated with  the  parish  of  Westchester  until  1840, 
when  Gouverneur  Morris  founded  the  present  paro- 
chial Church  of  St.  Ann's,  the  first  building  in  the 
town  devoted  to  worship.    It  was  incorporated  July 
20,  1841,  at  which  time  Robert  Morris  and  Lewis 
Morris  were  wardens,  and  Jacob  Buckhout,  Daniel 
Deveau,  Benjamin  Rogers,  Benjamin  M.  Brown,  Ed- 
ward Leggett,  Lewis  G.  Morris  and  Harry  M.  Morris, 
vestrymen.    On  the  preceding  July  17th,  Gouverneur 
Morris  conveyed  the  church  and  the  ground  on  which 
it  stands  to  the  rector,  wardens  and  vestry,  only  re- 
j  serving  the  two  vaults  in  which  repose  the  remains  of 
his  mother  and  father.    The  conditions  of  his  gift 
were  that  the  church  edifice  "shall  be  devoted  to  the 
j  service  of  God  according  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies 
j  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
I  States  of  America,  and  shall  not  be  used  for  any  other 
purpose  whatsoever ;  that  such  of  the  pews  as  are 
marked  in  the  plan  annexed  to  the  deed  as  'free' 
shall  never  be  sold  or  rented,  but  shall  remain  free,  so 
that  all  persons  coming  to  the  said  church  to  worship 
therein  may  freely  use  and  occupy  the  same."  The 
I  land  conveyed  with  the  church  could  only  be  used 
for  the  purposes  of  a  parsonage  and  a  garden  and  a 
site  for  sheds,  and  the  residue  as  a  cemetery  or  bury- 
ing-ground.    No  rector  or  minister  could  be  called  or 
employed  to  officiate  during  the  life  of  the  donor,  with- 
out his  previous  consent  in  writing.    The  donor  also 
prohibited  the  premises  from  being  mortgaged.  The 
march  of  improvement  has  cut  nj)  all  the  surrounding 
property  into  streets  and  avenues,  and  in  a  few  years 
St.  Ann's  will  be  like  old  St.  Mark's  in  the  Bowery, 
a  rural  church  in  the  midst  of  a  city.    In  vaults  be- 

I  The  aUive  was  kindly  conunuDicated  by  Mr.  Kelby,  Aaaistant  Libra- 
rian of  the  N.  Y.  liist.  Soc.,  to  whom  for  this  and  many  other  favors  the 
author  is  greatly  indebted. 


824 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


neath  the  church  repose  the  remains  of  most  of  the 
Morrises  who  owned  Morrisania,  they  having  been  re- 
moved there  when  Mr.  Harry  Manigault  Morris, 
executor  of  the  estate  of  Lewis  Morris,  sold  that  por- 
tion of  Morrisania  which  lies  west  of  the  Mill  Brook. 
These  remains  were  brought  from  the  family  vault, 
which  stood  not  far  from  the  present  house,  now- 
known  as  Christ's  Hotel.  Amongst  the  remains  are 
those  of  Lewis  Morris,  the  colonial  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  and  Lewis  Morris,  the  signer  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  In  another  vault  repose  the  re- 
mains of  Robert  Hunter  Morris,  a  son  of  Robert  Mor- 
ris, of  Fordham,  thrice  mayor  of  New  York  City,  also 
its  recorder,  postmaster  of  New  York,  and  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  In  another  are  the  remains  of 
Brevet  Brig. -Gen.  Wm.  Walton  Morris,'  colonel  of  the 
2nd  U.  S.  Artillery,  and  an  officer  who,  during  the  late 
Rebellion,  by  his  sound  judgment  and  moral  bravery, 
is  entitled  to  much  of  the  credit  of  saving  Baltimore 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates.'-' 

1  As  one  of  General  Morris'  peraonal  staff,  in  Baltimore,  I  wish  to  add 
that  my  commanding  officer  received  the  first,  or  one  of  the  first,  brevets 
as  a  brigadier  general  given  by  the  government  during  the  Civil  War, 
and  the  above  correspondence  is  given,  not  for  the  perpetuation  of  the 
family  name,  but  as  a  loyal  act,  due  from  a  staff  officer  to  his  general.  I 
also  wish  to  add  that  his  brevet  and  assignment  to  duty  as  a  general  was 
a  personal  detriment  to  him,  for,  a  few  luoiiths  afterwards,  being  given 
his  regular  commission  as  colonel  of  the  Second  United  States  Artillery, 
he  could,  as  such,  have  drawn  higher  pay  than  a  brigadier,  as  his  "  old 
fogy  rations  "  as  colonel  and  his  long  service  in  the  army  entitled  him 
to  higher  compensation  than  that  of  a  brigadier-genera!.  But  Mr. 
Lincoln  having  given  him  his  cinnmission  by  brevet,  and  his  assignment, 
he  did  as  he  always  did,  his  duty,  and  took  liigher  rank  and  less  pay. 
General  Morns'  services  dated  back  to  the  Florida  War,  and  in  Mexici) 
he  was  a  veteran.  [Author.] 

-  General  Morris  was  a  participant  in  a  very  notable  incident  of  the 
early  days  of  the  war.  This  wa,s  his  refusal  to  obey  a  writ  of  hahe'-i» 
corpus  issued  by  Judge  Giles  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for 
Maryland.   The  subjoined  correspondence  gives  the  history  of  the  affair. 

"Fort  McIIenhv,  Mo.,  Monday,  Gth  August,  ISGl. 
'*  Hon.  Win.  Fell  Oiles,  Judge  nf  U.  S.  Dist.  Court  for  the  Dlst.  of  Mariilaml : 

"Sir, — My  attention  has  been  directed  to  an  article  in  the  Local 
Column  of  the  Bullimore  Sun  of  this  date,  headed,  '  The  Habeas  Corpus 
Refusal.'  Presuming  that  that  article  is  authentic,  I  wish  very  respect- 
fully to  submit  for  your  consideration  the  following  remarks  on  this  un- 
happy '  Contlict  of  authority  between  those  owing  allegiance  to  the  same 
government  and  bound  by  the  same  laws  : ' 

"To  avoid  ^implicating  parties  in  nowise  conuected  with  this  case,  per- 
mit me  to  observe  at  the  threshold  that  m}'  action  in  the  premises  was 
taken  entirely  on  my  own  responsibility,  without  instructions  from  or 
consultation  with  any  jierson  whatever,  and  now  I  wish  most  respect 
fully  Ui  inform  your  Honor  that  I  regard  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  as 
the  very  basis  of  free  government,  and  that  under  all  ordinary  circum- 
stances I  am  very  ready  to  acknowledge  the  Supremacy  of  the  Civil 
authorities.  But,  as  you  admit,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
has  provided  that  this  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  may  be  suspended  in  case  of 
rebellion  if  the  public  safety  requires  it.  You,  however,  allege  that 
there  is  'no  such  state  of  affairs  existing  as  would  authorize  its  suspen- 
sion.' On  this  point  it  is  with  regret  that  I  am  compelled  to  differ  from 
BO  eminent  an  antliority,  and  I  am  further  constrained  to  add  that  the 
question  is  one  of  fact  rather  than  of  opinion. 

"At  the  date  of  issuing  your  writ  and  for  two  weeks  previous,  the 
city  in  which  you  live  and  where  your  Court  has  been  held  was  entirely 
under  the  control  of  revolutionary  authorities.  Within  that  period 
United  States  soldiers,  while  conunitting  no  offence,  had  been  perfidiously 
attacked  and  inhumanly  murdered  in  your  streets  ;  no  punishments  had 
been  awarded,  and  I  believe  no  arrests  had  been  made  for  these  atrocious 
crimes;  supplies  of  provisions  intended  for  this  garrison  had  been  stop- 
ped ;  the  intention  to  cai)ture  this  fort  had  beeu  boldly  proclaimed  ; 
your  most  public  thoroughfares  were  daily  patrolled  by  large  numbers  iif 


The  church  is  built  on  rising  ground  near  Old 
Morrisania,  and  is  a  handsome  Gothic  structure  of 
white  marble.  The  rectory  adjoins  it  on  the  west. 
This  is  a  list  of  pastors, — 1841,  Rev.  Arthur  C.  Cox  ; 
1842,  Rev.  Charles  Jones;  1843,  Rev.  Charles  Aldis  ; 
1847,  Rev.  Abraham  B.  Carter;  1852,  Rev.  S.  Pinkney 
Hammond;  1861,  Rev.  William  Huckel,  resigned. 

St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  situated  on  Fordham 
Avenue,  near  the  former  town  line,  owes  its  origin  to  the 
labors  of  Rev.  A.  B.  Carter,  who,  while  engaged  as 
rector  of  St.  Ann's,  organized  the  congregation  on 
July  8,  1849.  It  was  at  first  a  connection  of  St. 
Ann's,  the  chapel  having  been  consecrated  June  22, 
1850.    In  May,  1853,  it  was  erected  into  a  full  parish 

troops  armed  and  clothed  at  least  in  part  with  articles  stolen  from  the 
United  States  ;  and  the  Federal  flag  while  waving  over  the  Federal  of- 
fices was  cut  down  by  some  person  wearing  the  uniform  of  a  Mai-yland 
soldier.  To  add  to  the  foregoing,  an  assemblage  elected  in  defiance  of 
law,  but  claiming  to  be  the  legislative  body  of  your  Stitte,  and  so  recog- 
nized by  the  Executive  of  Maryland,  was  debating  the  forms  of  abrogat- 
ing the  Federal  compact.  If  all  this  be  not  rebellion,  I  know  not  what  to 
call  it.  I  certainly  regard  it  as  a  sufficient  legal  cause  for  suspending 
the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus. 

"  Besides,  there  %vere  certain  grounds  of  expediency  on  which  I  de- 
clined obeying  your  mandate. 

"  First,  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  in  the  hands  of  an  unfriendly  power 
might  depopulate  this  fortification  and  place  it  at  the  mercy  of  a  '  Balti- 
more mob  '  in  much  less  time  than  it  could  be  done  by  all  the  appliances 
of  modern  warfare. 

"Second.  The  ferocious  spirit  exhibited  by  your  community  towards 
the  United  States  Army  would  render  me  very  averse  from  appearing 
publicly  and  unprotected  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  to  defend  the  interests 
of  the  body  to  which  I  belong.  A  few  days  since  a  soldier  of  this  com- 
mand, while  outside  the  walls,  wasattacked  by  a  fiend  or  fiends  in  human 
shape,  almost  deprived  of  life,  and  left  unprotected  about  half  a  mile 
from  garrison.  He  was  found  in  this  situation  and  brought  in 
covered  with  blood. 

"One  of  your  evening  prints  was  quite  jocose  over  this  laughable  oc- 
currence. And  now,  sir,  permit  me  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  no  one  can 
regret  more  than  I  this  conflict  between  the  civil  and  military  authorities. 

"  If,  in  an  experience  of  thirty-three  years  you  have  never  before 
known  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  to  be  disobeyed,  it  is  only  beciiuse  such 
a  contingency  in  political  affairs  as  the  present  has  not  before  arisen .  I 
claim  to  be  a  loyal  citizen,  and  I  hope  my  former  conduct,  both  official 
and  private,  will  justify  this  pretension. 

"  In  any  condition  of  affairs,  except  that  of  Civil  war,  I  would  cheer- 
fully obey  your  order,  and  as  soon  iis  the  present  excitement  shall  pass 
away  I  will  hold  myself  ready  not  only  to  produce  the  soldier,  but  also 
to  appear  in  person  to  answer  for  my  own  conduct ;  but  in  the  existing 
state  of  sentiment  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  I  think  it  your  duty  to  sus- 
tain the  Federal  military  and  to  strengthen  their  hands,  instead  of  en- 
deavoring to  strike  them  down. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  respectfully  Your  obedientservant, 
"  W.  W.  Morris,  Major  4tA  U.  S.  Artillery  Comdg.  the  Post." 
"  Sir  :  "  Baliimoke,  May  7,  1861. 

"  As  your  letter  of  yesterday  just  received  by  lue,  is  addressed  to  me 
in  my  official  character,  I  shall  file  it  in  Court  as  your  reasons  for  not 
obeying  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus — you  are  correct  in  the  supposition 
that  the  article  to  which  you  nd'er  in  the  Sun  is  authentic.  I  reduced 
to  writing  what  I  said  in  Court  on  the  return  of  the  Mai-shal  because  I 
deemed  it  important  that  the  daily  press,  which  had  on  the  morning  of 
Friday  noticed  your  action  in  reference  to  the  writ  before  I  knew  of  it 
myself,  should  not  unintentionally  misrepresent  anything  said  by  the 
Court.  Y'ou  will  excuse  uxe  for  any  revision  of  the  fact  and  argument  of 
your  letter.  As  I  have  no  personal  wish  in  this  matter  other  than  to  dis- 
charge the  duty  devolved  upon  me  by  my  official  position  and  from  which 
I  cannot  turn  aside,  I  will  only  repeat  again  my  deep  regret  that  you 
have  deemed  it  your  duty  particularly  to  suspend  the  '  writ  of  Habeas 
Corpus,'  a  power  which,  in  my  opinion,  belongs  to  Congress  only. 
"  I  am  very  Respectfully  your  obedient  Servant, 

"  W'lLLiAM  F.  Giles,  U.  S.  District  Judge  for  Maryhind. 

"  To  Major  W.  W.  Morris,  ith  V.  S.  Arty.,  Fort  McHenry." 


MORRISANIA. 


825 


organization,  with  its  present  title,  and  Rev.  Benjamin 

Akerly  was  called  as  rector.  He  was  followed  in 
1858  by  Rev.  Samuel  G.  Appleton,  during  whose  in- 
cumbency the  rectory  was  built.  Rev.  F.  B.  Van 
Kleeck  was  called  in  November,  1808,  and  resigned 
May  1,  1870-  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Harris  then  accepted 
the  va(;ant  place.  In  1871  the  church  was  redecorated 
and  many  repairs  were  made. 

St.  Mary's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  of  Morris- 
ania,  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Alexander  Avenue, 
near  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  Street.  It  is  a 
frame  building,  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  seventy-five 
by  fifty  feet  in  dimensions.  It  was  originally  a  chapel 
of  St.  Ann's  Ciuirch,  which  erected  the  building  on 
Garden  or  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  Street,  near 
College  Avenue,  and  then  removed  it  to  its  present 
location,  as  being  more  central.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  first  edifice  was  laid  May  1,  1856.  The  church  was 
consecrated  on  September  15,  185(5,  and  the  parish 
incorporated  September  29,  1857,  when  Rev.  George 
C.  Pennell  was  rector  and  Edward  Haight  and  George 
Richmond  wardens.  Mr.  Haight  then  liquidated  its 
debts  and  the  deed  of  the  property  was  transferred  to 
him.  The  corner-stone  of  the  second  church  was  laid 
September  9,  1875,  by  Bishop  Potter.  Rev.  Christo- 
pher S.  Stephenson  was  then  rector ;  George  Briggs 
and  John  C-  Grant,  wardens ;  William  R-  Beal, 
Richard  Sterling,  John  T.  Almaise,  Edmund  Pyne, 
Thomas  Lockwood,  William  T.  Hargrave,  George  W. 
Thurber  and  David  P.  Arnold,  vestrymen ;  William 
R.  Beal,  John  C-  Grant,  William  T.  Hargrave  and  G- 
W.  Thurber,  building  committee. 

The  pastors  have  been, — 


1856-  57   Rev.  Mr.  Hammond. 

1857-  62   llev.  George  C.  Peuuoll. 

1802-63   Rev.  Kastman  Benjaniin. 

ISCi—  Rev.  John  W.  Biiekniastcr. 

1864 —  Rev.  Samuel  K.  .Tolinson,  D.D. 

1864-66   Rev.  J.  H.  Hobart  De  Mille. 

1866-70   Rev.  Francis  F.  Rice. 

1870-74   Rev.  C.  S.  Knapp. 

1874-78   KeY.  C.  S.  Stephenson. 

1878-83   Rev.  J.  R.  Davenport.  D.D. 

1884 —  Rev.  Harry  Floyd  Auld,  present  incumbent. 


The  wardens  in  1886  were  W.  T.  Marvin  and  D. 
P.  Arnold,  vestry ;  J.  B.  Brown,  A.  H.  Pride,  D.  H. 
McCormack,  T.  Conklin,  W.  W.  L-  Yoorhis,  C  A. 
Waterbury,  E.  L.  Smith,  J.  S.  McCoy.  The  carved 
wood  altar  was  presented  by  Dr.  Davenport,  and  the 
vases  and  cross  by  Mr-  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Davenport. 

The  Catholic  Church. — The  parish  church  of 
St.  Augustine  is  located  at  the  corner  of  Jefferson  and 
Franklin  Avenues.  The  church  buildings  and  rectory 
were  erected  in  1859.  The  first  parish  priest  was 
Rev.  Stephen  Ward,  a  native  of  County  Longford, 
who  departed  this  life  June  22d,  and  is  interred  be- 
neath the  church,  an  appropriately  inscribed  tablet 
marking  his  place  of  sepulture-  In  the  church 
are  many  articles  of  ecclesiastical  furniture,  win- 
dows, memorials,  etc.,  presented  by  Mrs.  M.  E.  Mona- 
ghan,  James  McGarrity,  J.  and  V.  Lynch,  Mrs.  Rose 
75 


Ferrigan,  Henry  McGough,  Michael  Cunningham, 
Francis  McKcnna,  Janu-s  JIcKenna,  St.  Augustine's 
Beneficial  Society  and  the  parish. 

In  East  Morrisania  is  the  Convent  of  the  Ursuline 
Nuns,  and  connected  with  it  an  academy,  which  they 
conduct  for  the  education  of  young  hidies.  It  is 
under  the  direction  of  Mother  Dominick,  the  Superi- 
oress. Father  Stumpfe  is  the  resident  pastor,  and 
he  has  charge  of  St.  Mary's  church,  at  Melrose,  of  tlie 
same  denomination,  and  another  church  of  the  same 
persuasion  is  under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  Father 
Nolan,  at  Highbridgeville. 

The  Presi!Yteri.\x  Church.— The  First  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  the  village  of  Morrisania  was 
organized  at  a  meeting  at  the  house  of  Lawrence  S. 
Mott,  September  10,  1849.  The  first  trustees  were 
Lawrence  S.  Mott,  Andrew  Cauldwell,  David  Austin, 
Enoch  S.  Burstrand  and  Daniel  Ayres. 

At  Washington  Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and 
Sixty-seventh  Street  is  the  Potts  Memorial  Presby- 
terian Church,  a  handsome  edifice  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Rev.  Dr.  Potts.  Rev.  Arthur  Potts  was 
elected  the  first  pastor  April  1,  1866.  The  present 
pastor  is  Rev.  James  Jlorton. 

]\Iethodist  Churches.— February  8, 1850,  a  meet- 
ing was  held  at  the  Episcopal  Chapel  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organizing  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
Morrisania,  under  the  care  of  the  Harlem  Station, 
and  the  New  York  District  of  the  New  York  Con.'er- 
euce.  The  name  of  the  congregation  was  declared 
to  be  the  "  Methodist  P^piscopal  Church  of  the  village 
of  Morrisania,  County  of  Westchester."  Stephen  T. 
Wright,  Moses  T.  Farrington,  James  Parker,  John 
York  and  John  T.  Ferguson  were  the  first  trustees. 

The  German-speaking  people  of  the  Methodist 
faith  have  their  own  church  at  Morri.sania.  It  was 
organized  on  April  12,  1853,  by  a  meeting  held  at  the 
residence  of  John  .1.  Knoeppel,  and  the  first  trustees 
elected  were  Mr.  Knoeppel,  Charles  H.  Buttner, 
Jacob  Weible,  Anton  Romnig,  Lewis  K.  Osborn, 
John  L.  Haynes  and  Robert  Crawford. 

Other  Dexomixatiox-s. — At  Mott  Haven  is  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church,  which  wits  incorporated  Sep- 
tember 18,  1855,  with  J.  L.  Cummings,  E.  S.  Burs- 
trand, Thomas  H.  Lcggett,  Hayward  A.  Harvey, 
William  H.  McMasters,  M.  D.  Van  Doran,  James 
Smith,  William  Kidd  and  William  Potter. 

The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  the  village  of  Mel- 
rose was  incorporated  September  25, 1857.  Rev.  Ernst 
Schoeppel  was  the  first  minister,  and  the  deacons  were 
Charles  L.  Georgi,  Frederick  Lambart,  Peter  Herlick 
and  Christopher  JIabus ;  the  elders,  George  Illig, 
Valentine  Kolter,  Christian  Gumpert,  George  Hoff- 
man and  John  Spaeth. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  was  organized 
October  1,  1851.  The  congregation  elected  as  the 
first  board  of  trustees  Philo  Price,  John  A.  Henry, 
Charles  Speaight,  Daniel  Desmond,  Joseph  S.  Ives 
and  George  Pollock. 


826 


HISTOKi^  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


At  Highbridgeville  is  the  Union  Chapel,  founded 
largely  by  the  efforts  of  the  late  Mrs.  Anderson,  of 
"  Woody  Crest,"  and  her  daughters. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  dates  from  a  meeting  for 
purposes  of  organization  held  September  17,  1850. 
The  trustees  chosen  were  Joseph  Wiley,  Thomas  W. 
Hyde,  Alexander  M.  Stratton,  James  Hardwick  and 
George  Hull. 


BIOGRAPHY. 

THE  MORRIS  FAMILY. 

Among  the  names  of  ancestral  note  there  are  none 
who  are  more  closely  ideuiified  with  American  history 
than  the  family  which  has  produced  so  many  distin- 
guished representatives,  and  whose  annals  must  ever 
remain  a  most  important  part  of  the  chronicles  of 
the  country  and  State.  As  the  purchase  and  estab- 
lishment of  the  Manor  of  Morrisania  is  fully  narrated 
in  another  portion  of  this  work,  present  attention  is 
confined  to  the  tracing  of  the  line  of  descent  of  the 
family  which  has  just  claims  to  be  called  illustrious. 

William  Morris,  of  Tintern,  Monmouthshire,  Eng- 
land, was  the  father  of  three  sons, — Colonel  Lewis 
Morris,  who  inherited  the  estate  in  England,  but 
emigrated  to  the  West  Indies  in  1662,  and  settled  in 
Morrisania,  Westchester  County,  in  1674;  William, 
who  lived  in  Wales,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  Parlia- 
mentary army ;  and  Richard,  who  was  a  captain  in  the 
regiment  of  which  his  brother  Lewis  was  colonel, 
and  was  the  first  of  the  name  who  owned  the  manor 
80  long  known  as  Morrisania.  The  latter  married 
Sarah  Pole,  in  the  Island  of  Barbadoes,  to  which  he  had 
retired  upon  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  in  Eng- 
land, and  their  only  child  was  Hon.  Lewis  Morris, 
born  in  1672,  and  by  the  untimely  death  of  his  parents 
left  an  orphan  in  early  infancy.  He  rose  to  the  highest 
positions,  and  was  the  first  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
and  a  man  of  wealth  and  the  highest  distinction,  and 
at  an  early  period  was  the  representative  in  the  Assem. 
bly  of  New  York  for  the  county  of  Westchester.  He 
was  among  the  early  benefactors  of  Trinity  Church, 
of  which  he  was  for  many  years  a  vestryman,  and 
after  a  long  life  of  honor,  usefulness  and  influence,  he 
died  at  Kingsbury,  near  Trenton,  on  the  21st  of  May, 
1746,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-three.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  directions  in  his  will,  his  mortal 
remains  were  deposited  in  a  vault  on  his  estate  of 
Morrisania,  and  were  accompanied  to  their  last  rest- 
ing place  by  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  time. 

Hon.  Lewis  Morris  married  Isabella,  daughter  of 
Sir  James  Graham,  attorney-general  of  the  province 
of  New  York.  She  survived  him  several  years,  and 
died  in  1752,  and  was  laid  to  rest  by  his  side  in  Mor- 
risania.   She  was  lamented  as  one  who  was  richly 


endowed  with  the  graces  that  ornament,  and  the 
virtues  that  adorn,  humanity. 

The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Hon.  Robert 
Hunter  Morris,  chief  justice  of  New  Jeisey;  Hon. 
Lewis  Morris,  judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty, 
and  of  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer;  and  six 

daughters, — Elizabeth  wife  of  White  ;  Margaret ; 

Arabella  G.;  Ann;  Mary,  wife  of  Pierce;  and 

Euphemia. 

Hon.  Lewis  Morris,  who  succeeded  his  illustrious 
father  as  the  owner  of  Morrisania,  was  born  September 
23,  1698,  and  died  July  3,  1762.  The  whole  of  his 
life  was  devoted  to  public  affairs,  and  he  was  justly 
considered  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  days  that 
preceded  the  Revolution,  in  which  his  son  was  des- 
tined togain  an  imperishable  name.  His  first  wife  was 


J,KWLS  .MuKiUS. 


Catharine  Staats,  and  the  children  of  this  marriage 
were  General  Lewis  Morris,  the  illustrious  signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  General  Staats 
Long  Morris;^  and  Hon.  Richard  Morris,  judge  of  the 
High  Court  of  Admiralty  in  1776. 

After  the  death  of  Mrs.  Morris,  Mr.  Morris  married 
Sarah  Gouverneur.  Their  children  were  Hon.  Gouv- 
erneur  Morris  (a  name  famous  in  our  country's  annals) 
and  three  daughters,  —  Isabella,  wife  of  Rev.  Isaac 
Wilkins,  D.  D. ;  Sarah  Euphemia,  wife  of  Samuel 
Ogden  ;  and  Catharine,  wife  of  V.  P.  Ashfield. 


'  He  was  an  oflBcer  of  liigli  rank  in  tlie  British  army,  and  married 
Catliarine,  tlie  celebrated  Duchess  of  Gordon,  whose  son.  Lord  George 
Gordon,  was  famous  as  the  leader  of  the  Anti-ropery  Riots,  1793  A 
portrait  of  General  Morris  is  now  in  possession  of  William  11.  Moiris, 
MoiTisiinia 


I 


1 


MORRISANIA. 


827 


General  Lewis  Morris,  the  eldest  son,  and  the  fifth 
proprietor  of  the  Manor  of  Morrisania,  was  born 
April  8,  1726.  He  enjoyed  the  best  opportunities  for 
education  that  the  country  then  aflorded,  and  gradu- 
ated from  Yale  College  in  1740,  and  hisn/w«a  via/er  did 
honor  to  herself  by  conferring  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  in  1790.  After  finishing  his  education 
he  returned  to  his  native  manor,  where  for  years  he 
passed  the  life  of  a  quiet  agriculturist.  The  Revolu- 
tion found  in  him  a  man  ready  for  the  hour,  and  from 
the  time  when  the  struggle  for  independence  began 
to  the  day  when  victory  closed  the  contest  there  was 
no  man  whose  heart  and  soul  were  more  devoted  to 
the  cause.  In  the  early  part  of  the  war  he  was 
a  brigadier-general  in  the  Continental  army,  and  was 
instructed  by  Congress  to  take  possession  of  such 
parts  of  the  province  bordering  on  Long  Island 
Sound  and  Hudson  River  as  might  be  most  exposed 
to  attack  and  occupation  by  the  enemy.  In  1775  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  was  one  of  that  noble  band  who  pledged  their 
all  to  the  country's  good.  In  1777  he  issued  an 
address  to  the  citizens  of  New  York  urging  them 
to  support  the  Constitution  prepared  by  the  conven- 
tion of  the  United  States  for  the  temporary  form  of 
government.  His  honored  life  was  closed  in  1798, 
and  his  remains  were  laid  with  those  of  his  ancestors 
in  the  family  vault  at  Morrisania,  but  were  in  after- 
years  removed  to  a  vault  under  St.  Ann's  Church. 

General  Lewis  Morris  married  ]\[ary  Walton,  who 
died  in  1794.  Their  children  were  Colonel  Lewis 
Morris,  aid  to  General  Greene  ;  General  Jacob  Morris, 
of  Otsego  County,  New  York ;  William ;  James ;  Staats ; 
Commodore  R. Valentine ; '  Catharine,  wife  of  Thomas 
Lawrence;  Mary,  second  wife  of  Thomas  Lawrence; 
Sarah;  and  Helen,  wife  of  John  Rutherford. 

James  Morris,  the  fourth  child,  was  born  1764,  and 
his  early  childhood  was  passed  at  his  father's  seat 
in  Morrisania.  He  was  sent  to  England,  under  the 
care  of  his  uncle.  General  Staats  Long  Morris,  and 
was  educated  at  the  famous  school  at  Eton,  and 
afterward  traveled  extensively  with  his  uncle's 
I'amily.  After  remaining  in  England  several  years 
he  returned  to  his  native  land  and  studied  law  in 
the  office  of  Aaron  Burr,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his 


1  Commodore  Morris,  United  States  Navy,  died  iu  1815  on  the  family 
estate  now  occupied  in  part  by  his  grandson,  Henry  Lewis  Morris.  He 
married  Ann  Walton,  and  their  issue  were  Gerard  W.,  Richard  \.  and 
Henry.  Gerard  married  Martha  I'yne,  and  their  cliildren  were 
Gerard,  Isabella,  .\nnie  P.,  Richard  B.,  Captain  John  P.,  Heury  W. 
(who  attained  the  highest  honors  in  the  Masonic  order),  Mononah  and 
Mary  Pyne.  All  died  unmarried,  except  the  last  two  named.  Mononah 
married  Francis  Barl-etto,  Jr.,  who  died  in  ISGfi,  leaving  aa  sole  heir 
Gerard  JI.  Barretto,  of  Jiew  York  City.  Mary  Pyne  married  Jonathan 
Kdwards.  Their  children  were  Gerard  M.,  Mary  Morris  ami  Rev. 
.\rthur  Jlorris,  Episcoi«al  missionary  at  Tokio,  Japan.  Richard  V. 
Morris  died  unmarried  in  184:!.  Hemy,  third  son  of  the  commodore, 
married  Mary  X.,  daughter  of  Hon.  J.  C.  iSpencer,  Secretary  of  War  and 
of  the  Treasury  under  President  Tyler.  Their  children  were  Mary 
Natalie  (died  uumarried,  1870)  and  Henry  Lewis,  who  married  Anna 
M.  Russell,  and  resides  on  Mott  Avenue,  Morrisania,  and  whose  children 
are  Eleanor  R.  and  Lewis  Spencer. 


legal  fame.  At  a  later  date  he  was  appointed  high 
sheriff  of  New  York  by  Governor  John  Jay.  In  1796 
he  married  Helen,  daughter  of  Augustus  Van  Cort- 
landt,  of  Yonkcrs,  and  removing  from  the  city  of 
New  York,  settled  at  Morrisania,  where  the  remainder 
of  his  life  was  passed  as  a  country  gentleman  of 
ample  means  and  refined  tastes.  His  large  estate  gave 
him  favorable  opportunities  as  an  agriculturist,  and 
he  was  foremost  among  the  farmers  of  the  State  and 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Westchester  Agricultural 
Society,  one  of  the  first  in  the  country,  and  through- 
out his  life  was  a  man  of  success,  integrity  and  honor. 

Mr.  Morris  died  September  7,  1827,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-three,  leaving  a  family  of  twelve  children, — 

1.  James  Van  Cortlandt,  who  married  Catharine, 
daughter  of  Wright  Post,  M.D.,  of  New  York,  and 
had  one  son,  James,  who  died  unmarried. 

2.  Augustus,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Van  Cort- 
landt, to  succeed  to  the  ownership  of  an  estate  in 
Yonkers.  He  married  Harriet,  daughter  of  Peter  Jay 
Munro,  Esq.,  and  had  two  sons, — Augustus,  a  phy- 
sician, who  died  in  1885,  without  children  ;  and  Peter 
Jay  Munro,  who  married  Ann  M.  Hunter,  and  is  now 
living  at  Pelham,  without  children. 

3.  Catharine,  wife  of  Dr.  Alexander  H.  Stevens,  of 
New  York.  They  had  one  child,  Alexa,  wife  of  Rev. 
James  Bowdoin,  of  New  York.  They  have  one  child, 
Constance. 

4.  Mary  Walton,  who  died  unmarried. 

5.  Helen,  who  married  Richard  R.  Morris,  son  of 
Col.  Lewis  Morris,  and  grandson  of  the  signer.  Their 
children  were  Helen  and  Lewis,  both  of  whom  died  un- 
married; Anna,  second  wife  of  the  present  Gouverneur 
Morris,  of  Morrisania;  she  died  in  1884,  leaving  no 
children  ;  Mary  W.,  who  is  now  living  at  Pelham ;  So- 
phia, who  married  Charles  B.  Burrill,  a  lawyer  of  New 
York,  who  has  children — Drayton,  Mary  and  Percy. 

6.  Nancy,  who  died  unmarried. 

7.  Dr.  Richard  L.,  who  died  June,  1880.  He  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Colonel  N.  Fish,  and  sister  of 
Governor  Hamilton  Fish.  Their  children  are  James, 
who  married  Elizabeth  W.  Gray,  and  has  no  children  ; 
Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Elliott  Marshall,  of  Mississippi, 
both  deceased  (they  left  children, — Elliott,  Eliza- 
beth M.  and  Sarah  E.) ;  Nicholas  Fish,  who  was  lost 
at  sea  by  the  foundering  of  the  man-of-war  "  Albany," 
leaving  no  children  ;  Richard  L.,  who  married  Lillian 
Munson,  both  deceased  (they  left  children, — Mun- 
son  and  Helen,  now  living  in  Astoria) ;  Stuyvesant 
Fish,  M.D.,  who  married  Ellen  J.,  daughter  of  Smith 
Van  Buren,  son  of  President  Van  Buren,  and  is  now 
living  on  Lexington  Avenue,  N.  Y.  (they  have  four 
children,— Elizabeth  M.,  Ellen  V.  B.,  Richard  L.  and 

I  Stuyvesant  F.);  Charlotte  Louisa,  who  married 
Martin  Wilkins,  of  Morristown,  N.  J.,  who  have  no 
children ;  Margaret,  wife  of  Bayard  U.  Livingston, 
of  Albany  (they  ha  ve  one  child,  XJrquhart) ;  Helen 
V.  C,  deceased,  who  married  David  King,  but  left 
no  children. 


828 


HISTOKi"  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


8.  Robert  Rutherford,  who  lived  at  Davenport's 
Neck,  New  Rochelle.  He  married  Hannah,  daughter 
of  William  Edgar.  They  had  children, — Catharine, 
who  married  Henry  Phelps  ;  Annie,  died  unmarried  ; 
Edgar,  died  unmarried  ;  Cornelia,  unmarried  ;  and 
Helen,  wife  of  Dr.  Magill,  United  States  army,  who 
left  no  children. 

9.  Louisa,  who  married  Edward  Leroy,  of  Avon, 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y.  They  had  one  child,  Helen, 
now  living  in  New  York.  She  married  Pinckney 
Stewart  (deceased).  Their  children  are  Louisa,  wife 
of  James  Kent,  grandson  of  the  illustrious  jurist,  and 
who  is  now  a  practicing  lawyer  in  New  York  ;  Helen, 
who  married          Kent ;  and  Edward. 

10.  William  H. 

11.  Charlotte,  who  married  Richard  Kemble,  who 
has  one  child,  Mary,  now  living  in  New  York. 

William  H.  Morris. — William  H.  Morris,  the 
tenth  child  and  the  sole  surviver  of  the  above  family, 
was  born  August  3,  1810.  In  his  childhood  he  at- 
tended school  at  Harlem,  and  afterwards  at  Blooming- 
dale,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Davenport,  from  which  he 
went  to  the  school  at  Hyde  Park,  under  the  charge  of 
Dr.  Allen,  and  was  subsequently  a  student  at  the 
Military  Academy,  Middletown,  Conn.  He  returned  ! 
home  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  his  father,  and  under  ' 
the  charge  of  his  guardian,  Gerard  W.  Morris,  traveled 
extensively  in  Europe  in  1831  and  1832.  Returning, 
he  married,  in  1834,  Miss  Hannah,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Newbold,  of  New  York.  Their  children  were 
James  Staats,  born  1836,  died  1875;  Augustus  New- 
bold;  and  William  H.,  who  died  unmarried  in  18.52. 
Mrs.  Morris  died  in  1842,  and  Mr.  Morris  subsequently 
married  Caroline,  daughter  of  Caleb  Halsted,  of  New- 
York,  who  died  in  1848.  In  1850  he  married  Ella, 
daughter  of  Hugh  Birckhead,  of  Baltimore.  Their 
children  are  Augusta  McEvers,  wife  of  Frederick  J. 
De  Peyster,  and  Juliet  B.,  who  is  now  living  with  her 
father  in  Morrisania.    Mrs.  Morris  died  in  1881. 

The  greater  part  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Morris  has  been 
spent  upon  his  family  estate  at  Morrisania,  where  he 
was  for  years  extensively  engaged  in  agriculture, 
which  he  conducted  with  great  energy  and  success. 
During  his  long  life  he  has  seen  the  rural  district  of 
Morrisania  become  the  thickly-settled  wai-dof  a  great 
city,  and  the  place  where  he  now  lives  may  be  called 
the  last  relic  of  Morrisania,  as  it  was  in  early  days. 
The  mansion,  which  stands  upon  an  eminence  over- 
looking the  country  round,  was  built  by  his  father  in 
1816,  and  stands  a  few  feet  east  of  the  site  of  a  former 
house,  built  in  1795.  In  the  family  mansion,  sur- 
rounded by  the  relics  of  the  past,  Mr.  Slorris  passes 
the  evening  of  his  days  in  quiet  aud  dignified  repose, 
and  commanding  the  respect  and  the  confidence  of 
the  entire  comaaunity. 

Among  other  relics  of  days  gone  by  are  fine  por- 
traits of  Hon.  Gouverneur  Morris,  painted  while  min- 
ister to  France;  Colonel  Lewis  Morris,  son  of  the 
signer;  and  General  Staats  Long  Morris. 


Augustus  Newbold  Morris,  the  only  surviving 
son  of  William  H.  Morris,  was  born  June  3,  1838. 
He  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in  1860,  and 
traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the  East,  includ- 
ing the  Holy  Land,  in  1864-66,  and  again  in  1874-75, 
and  the  third  time  in  1882.  He  is  identified  with 
many  benevolent  institutions,  and  is  a  member  of  the 
executive  committee  and  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
Home  for  Incurables,  one  of  the  noblest  institutions  in 
the  county.  Prominent  in  the  social  and  busineis  life 
of  New  York,  he  is  governor  of  the  Union  Club,  and  as 
the  financial  manager  of  large  estates  he  commands 
by  his  integrity  the  respect  and  confidence  of  all  who 
know  him.  His  beautiful  country  place  at  Pelham 
was  noted  as  the  seat  of  elegant  hospitality,  and  famous 
for  the  valuable  horses  and  cattle  raised  uuder  the 
care  of  the  owner. 

Mr.  Morris  married  Eleanor  Colford,  daughter  of 
General  James  I.  Jones.  Their  children  are  Newbold 
and  Eva  Van  Cortlandt.  Mr.  Morris  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of 
which  he  was  warden  for  many  years,  and  is  now  a 
member  of  the  vestry. 

His  country-seat  at  Pelham  has  lately  been  taken 
as  a  portion  of  the  New  Park,  and  his  present  country 
residence  is  at  Ridgefield,  Conn.' 

LEWIS  G.  MORRIS. 

Lewis  Gouverneur  Morris,  son  of  Robert  Morris, 
and  sixth  in  the  line  of  descent  from  Richard  Morris, 
the  first  settler  of  the  name,  whose  numerous  descend- 
ants have  acted  so  prominent  a  part  in  the  history  of 
the  country,  was  born  at  Claverack,  Columbia  County, 
N.  Y.,  August  19,  1808,  while  his  parents  were  mak- 
ing a  visit  there.  His  father,  who  had  inherited  an 
estate  from  his  ancestors,  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  New  York,  and  the  rest  of  the  children 
iiaving  been  provided  for,  it  naturally  devolved  upon 
L3wis  G.,  as  the  son  of  their  old  age,  to  remain  with 
his  parents  upon  the  ancestral  heritage..  To  the  care 
and  development  of  this  estate  his  time  and  energies 
were  devoted,  and  under  his  skillful  management  the 
'"Mount  Fordham "  farm  became  known  far  and 
wide,  and  his  name  was  justly  ranked  as  foremost 
among  the  agriculturists  of  the  State.  His  attention 
was  early  called  to  the  necessity  and  advantage  of 
improving  the  various  breeds  of  domestic  animals. 
With  this  end  in  view,  he  made  repeated  visits  to 
Europe,  at  first  in  company  with  Mr.  N.  J.  Becar, 
forming  the  acquaintance  of  the  leading  agriculturists 
of  Great  Britain,  and  returning  to  this  country, 
brought  with  him  the  finest  specimens  of  live-stock 
to  be  purchased  in  England.  The  rare  value  of  his 
imported  animals  was  quickly  koown,  and  the  public 
and  private  sales  at  Mount  Fordham,  which  began 
in  1848  and  continued  for  many  years,  were  noted 
events  and  brought  purchasers  from  every  portion  of 
the  country,  and  cattle  from  this  farm  were  sent  to 

'  The  sketch  of  the  Morris  family  was  prepared  by  a  friend. 


MORRISANIA. 


829 


every  State  in  the  Union,  and  also  to  Canada,  Cuba 
and  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

So  greatly  did  these  herds  improve,  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  that  the  owners  of  large  estates  in  Eng- 
land sent  agents  who  purchased  at  fabulous  prices, 
and  carried  back  to  the  Old  World  the  descendants 
of  animals  which  Mr.  Morris  originally  selected  and 
which  had  been  so  lately  exported  from  their  own 
shores.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  increased  value  of 
live-stock  in  this  couutrv,  which  is  directly  attribu- 
table to  the  various  importations  made  by  Mr.  Morris, 
must  be  estimated  by  millions. 

One  of  the  most  important  events  in  his  life  was 
his  connection  with  the  improvement  of  Harlem  River 
and  building  of  the  High  Bridge.  At  the  time  of 
constructing  the  Crotou  Aqueduct,  the  commissioners 
had  determined  to  carry  the  water  across  Harlem 
River  by  inverted  syphons  over  a  low  bridge,  with 
only  one  archway,  eighty  feet  in  width.  This  at- 
tempt, which  would  have  effectually  destroyed  the  nav- 
igation of  the  river,  met  with  the  most  determined  op- 
position from  the  land-owners  along  its  shores,  and  of 
this  opposition  Mr.  Morris  was  the  most  prominent 
representative.  To  his  far-seeing  mind  it  was  evident 
that  the  time  must  come  when  water  communica- 
tions made  by  nature  between  the  Hudson  River  and 
Long  Island  Sound,  would,  when  improved  by  art, 
become  the  channel  for  a  mighty  commerce.  From 
time  immemorial,  it  had  been  a  navigable  arm  of  the 
sea,  and  Mr.  Morris,  with  his  neighbors,  resolved  to 
have  it  restored  to  its  former  condition.  At  that 
time  the  navigation  of  the  stream  was  impeded,  if  not 
wholly  destroyed,  by  Macomb's  dam,  constructed 
under  an  act  of  Legislature  passed  in  1813.  This  ob- 
struction to  a  navigable  stream  was,  in  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Morris  and  his  associates,  a  public  nuisance,  and 
a  plan  was  forthwith  formed  for  its  abatement.  Mr. 
Morris,  at  the  request  of  his  neighbors,  hired  a  small 
vessel,  owned  by  parties  in  another  State  (with  a  view 
of  having  the  question  brought  before  the  P'ederal  I 
courts),  and  engaged  the  master  to  deliver  a  cargo  of 
coal  at  his  landing.  The  attempt  of  the  vessel  to 
proceed  on  her  voyage  being  prevented  by  the  dam, 
the  company  on  board  proceeded,  on  the  night  of 
September  14, 1838,  to  abate  the  nuisance  by  tearing 
down  and  removing  a  portion  of  the  obstructing 
work.  The  suit-at-law  which  followed,  in  the  case  of 
"  William  Renwick  vs.  Lewis  G.  Morris  et  a'.,"  was 
carried  up  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  the  final 
decision  established  the  theory  that  Harlem  River 
was  a  navigable  stream,  and  any  obstruction  was  a 
public  nuisance  liable  to  be  abated  by  any  one  inter- 
ested in  the  navigation.  The  constant  remonstrance 
and  persistent  efforts  of  Mr.  Morris  and  his  associates 
to  prevent  the  building  of  a  low  bridge  over  the  river 
were  at  length  crowned  with  success,  and  an  Act  of 
Legislature  passed  May  3,  1839,  prescribed  that  the 
Aqueduct  Bridge  should  be  constructed  with  arches 
and  piers  of  at  least  eighty  feet  span  and  a  hundred 


feet  in  height ;  and  the  magnificent  High  Bridge  is  a 
lasting  monument  to  their  perseverance  and  energy. 

Mr.  Morris  was  appointed  in  1840  inspector  of  the 
Fourth  Division  of  Militia  Infantry,  with  the  rank  of 
colonel,  a  position  wliich  he  held  till  1847. 

In  1861  Mr.  Morris  was  a  member  of  the  War  Com- 
mittee, was  appointed  colonel  of  volunteers  August 
14,  1862,  and  was  instrumental  in  raising  the  One 
Hundred  and  Thirty-fifth  Regiment,  known  as  the 
"Anthony  Wayne  Guards,"  later  as  the  Sixth  New 
York  Heavy  Artillery,  and  which  was  afterwards 
commanded  by  Colonel  (afterwards  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral,) Wm.  H.  Morris. 

Mr.  Morris  was  president  of  the  New  York  State 
Agricultural  Society,  and  has  been  since  1850  a  life 
member  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  Eng- 
land. 

The  estate  of  Mount  Fordham  is  a  portion  of  the 
old  Manor  of  Fordham,  was  purchased  by  Lewis 
Morris,  grandson  of  Richard,  the  first  settler,  and  has 
descended  to  its  present  owner  from  his  ancestors. 

So  much  has  been  written  concerning  the  distin- 
guished family  of  which  Mr.  Morris  is  a  representative, 
that  little  remains  to  be  said.  The  line  of  descent  is : 
fii-st,  Richard,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1670 ; 
second,  Lewis,  born  at  Morrisania,  in  1672 ;  third, 
Lewis,  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  as  was  also  his 
father ;  fourth,  Richard,  who  was  judge  of  Admiralty 
under  the  crown,  and  the  successor  of  John  Jay  as 
second  chief  justice  of  New  Y''ork,  and  whose  brother, 
Lewis  Morris,  was  the  illustrious  signer  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence;  fifth,  Robert,  born  in  1763, 
and  married  Frances,  daughter  of  Isaac  Ludlam,  of 
Goshen,  Orange  Co.  Their  children  were  Richard  ; 
Julia,  wife  of  William  B.  Ludlow ;  Mary,  wife  of 
James  A.  Hamilton,  son  of  the  illustrious  statesman; 
James  L.,  who  married  Lucretia,  daughter  of  Peter 
Crary;  Francis  W.,  wife  of  Thomas  W.  Ludlow; 
Robert  H.  who  was  mayor  of  New  Y'ork,  recorder, 
and  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  married  Ann 
Eliza  ilunson  ;  Wm.  L.,  who  married  Mary  E.  Bab- 
cock;  and  Lewis  G. 

Mr.  Morris  married  Emily,  daughter  of  Jacob  Lor- 
illard.  She  died  in  1850,  leaving  two  children, — 
Fordham  and  Francis, 

Fordham  Morris,  the  elder  son,  is  a  practicing  law- 
yer in  New  York.  He  married  Annie  Louise  West- 
cot,  and  had  one  child, — Emily  Lorillard. 

Francis  Morris,  the  younger  son,  was  educated  in 
the  United  States  Naval  Academy,  at  Annapolis. 
He  served  in  the  late  war  and  was  present  at  the  attack 
on  Fort  Fisher,  rose  to  the  rank  of  commander,  and 
shortly  before  his  death,  which  occurred  February  12, 
1883,  was  executive  officer  of  the  "  Tennessee." 
He  married  Harriet  H.  Bedlow,  and  left  two  children, 
— Alice  and  Lewis  G. 

The  family  mansion  at  Mount  Fordham,  was  built 
in  and  greatly  enlarged  and  improved  by  its  pres- 
ent owner.    The   family   portraits  here  preserved 


830 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


embrace  a  fine  engraving  of  Lewis  Morris,  the  owner 
of  Morrisania,  and  elegant  paintings  of  his  son  Lewis 
and  his  grandson  Richard,  the  Judge  of  Admiralty, 
attached  to  which  is  the  hilt  of  his  official  sword ; 
and  also  of  Eobert  Morris,  the  father  of  the  present 
owner  of  the  mansion. 

Shunning  politics,  and  declining  all  offers  of  official 
preferment,  Mr.  Morris  has  been  content  to  lead  a 
life  of  quiet  usefulness;  and  to  all  who  have  the  honor 
of  his  acquaintance,  he  is  known  as  one  who  is  "  worthy 
to  bear  without  reproach,  the  grand  old  name  of 
Gentleman." 


JORDAN  L.  MOTT. 

The  ancestor  of  the  Mott  family,  which  has  so 
many  representatives  in  various  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, was  Adam  Mott,  who  was  born  in  England  in 
1606  and  came  to  Boston  in  1636.  He  was  chosen 
freeman  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts,  in  1637,  from 
which  place  he  moved  and  settled  at  Newton,  L.  I., 
and  afterward  went  to  Hempstead.  At  the  time  of 
the  English  conquest,  in  166-4,  he  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners for  arranging  the  transfer  of  New  Amster- 
dam to  the  English  government.  He  died  at  Hemp- 
stead, L.  I.,  in  1686,  leaving  a  wife,  Sarah,  and  six 
children — John,  Adam,  Joseph,  Elizabeth,  Nathaniel 
and  Mary. 

Of  this  famil}',  Adam,  the  second  son,  was  born  in 
England  in  1629,  and  came  with  his  father  to  Amer- 
ica. His  first  wife  was  Phebe,  whose  maiden-name  is 
unknown.  After  her  decease  he  married  Elizabeth, 
probably  daughter  of  John  Richbell,  whose  name  was 
prominent  among  the  early  settlers  of  Westchester. 
He  died  at  an  advanced  age,  leaving  fourteen  chil- 
dren— Adam,, James,  Charles,  John,  Joseph,  Gershom, 
Elizabeth  (wife  of  Henry  Goder),  Henry,  Grace, 
Richbell,  Ann,  William,  Mary  and  Hannah  (wife  of 
John  Seaman).  The  descendants  of  these  are  very 
numerous.  Charles,  the  third  son,  was  one  of  a  com- 
pany of  eighteen  who,  in  1719,  emigrated  from  Hemp- 
stead, L.  L,  to  what  is  now  Rockland  County,  N.  Y. 
where  they  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land,  and  some 
of  his  descendants  are  still  to  be  found  in  that  region. 
Among  the  descendants  of  William  Mott  may  be 
mentioned  the  famous  surgeon.  Dr.  Valentine  Mott, 
late  of  the  city  of  New  York,  while  James  has  many 
descendants  in  Westchester  County. 

Joseph,  the  fifth  son,  was  the  father  of  Jacob  Mott, 
born  August  9,  1714,  and  died  October  6,  1805.>  He 
married  Abigail  Jackson,  born  November  18,  1720, 
and  died  in  1781.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children — Joseph,  born  October  18,  1736;  Samuel, 

1  Joseph  Mott,  "  of  Charlotte  Precinct,  Duchess  County,"  wlio  died  in 
1702,  was  iirobablj-  a  brother  of  tlie  Jacob  Mott,  mentioned  above.  In 
his  will,  dated  September  28, 1762,  he  leaves  his  farm,  "  Lot  No.  3,  in  the 
Patent  of  Nine  Partners,"  to  his  sons,  Richard  and  Jacob.  He  mentions 
daughters, — Martha,  wife  of  James  Valentine ;  Jane,  wife  of  Timothy 
Smith  ;  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Samuel  Smith  ;  Jemima,  wife  of  John  Con- 
non.  He  also  mentions  "  My  loving  brother  Jacob,  of  Queens  Co., 
li.  I." 


May  31,  1738  (died  young);  Jackson,  August  16,  1740; 
Isaac,  May  6,  1743  (married  Nancy  Coles) ;  Miriam, 
April  30,1745  (died  in  childhood);  Ruth,  June  6, 
1747  (she  married  Jordan  Lawrence,  and  after  his 
decease  married  Stephen  Coles);  Samuel  I.,  February 
9,  1753;  Jacob,  June  30,  1756;  Miriam,  September  7, 
1759  (married  Benjamin  Birdsall) ;  Richard,  May  9, 
1769  (he  married,  first,  Polly  Sutton  ;  second,  Freelove 
Sutton);  and  Joseph,  August  21,  1763  (who  removed 
to  South  Carolina). 

Jacob  Mott,  the  eighth  child  of  this  family,  mar- 
ried Deborah,  daughter  of  Dr.  William  Lawrence, 
whose  .ancestor,  John  Lawrence,  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners who  were  appointed  to  arrange  the  bound- 
aries of  New  Amsterdam  in  1664,  and  whose  descend- 
ants are  among  the  most  prominent  of  Long  Island 
families.  Removing  from  Hempstead,  his  native  vil- 
lage, to  New  York,  he  was  for  many  years  one  of  its 
most  prominent  citizens,  and  was  elected  alderman  of 
the  Seventh  Ward  from  1804  to  1810,  and  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  deputj'  mayor  of 
New  York.  Mott  Street,  in  that  city,  was  named  in 
his  honor.  After  a  life  of  usefulness  and  credit,  and 
vicissitudes  as  well,  Mr.  Mott  died  August  16,  1823, 
leaving  a  family  of  five  children — William  L.,  born 
January  16, 1777  (married  Dorothy  Scudder);  Richard 
L.,  born  June  6,  1782  (married  Elizabeth  Deal) ;  Ja- 
cob L.,  born  September  13,  1784  (married  Hannah 
Riker  and  settled  at  Tarrytown,  where  he  was  a 
prominent  preacher  of  the  Society  of  Friends)  ;  Jor- 
dan L.;  and  Mary  (wife  of  Ezekiel  G.  Smith). 

Jordan  Lawrence  Mott  was  born  at  Manhasset, 
L.  I.,  October  12,  1798,  during  a  temporary  residence 
of  his  parents  at  that  place,  to  which  they  had  gone  on 
account  of  an  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  in  New  York. 
The  affluent  circumstances  of  his  father  rendered 
his  early  life  one  of  ease  and  leisure,  and  he  in  youth 
developed  that  inventive  genius  which  has  since  made 
his  name  so  widely  known.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
invented  a  machine  for  weaving  tape,  which  was  suc- 
cessfully operated,  and  from  that  time  till  1853,  when 
he  retired  from  business,  was  constantly  engaged  in 
various  inventions,,  and  more  than  fifty  patents  are  re- 
corded in  his  name.  The  business  reverses  which 
overtook  his  father  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to 
engage  in  active  labor  for  himself,  and  in  1820  he 
commenced  commercial  life  as  a  grocer.  At  that  time 
cooking-stoves  were  a  recent  introduction,  the  fuel 
being  wood,  which  was  then  plentiful,  and  Mr.  Mott 
invented  the  first  cooking-stove  in  which  anthracite 
was  burned  as  a  fuel.  The  comfort  and  convenience 
caused  by  this  invention  can  hardly  be  over-estimated 
and  .justly  entitled  him  to  the  gratitude  of  the  com- 
munity. The  stove-castings  were  at  that  time  made 
at  blast  furnaces  in  Philadelphia  and  were  very 
rough.  Mr.  Mott  built  a  cupola  furnace  and  made  his 
castings  smooth  and  beautiful. 

The  stoves  made  at  his  works  soon  became  popular, 
and  the  small  foundry,  which  was  situated  in  the  rear  of 


A  VIEW  FROM  WEST  PIAZZA,  MT.  FORDHAM. 


MORRIS  AN  I  A. 


831 


his  store  on  Water  Street,  in  New  York,  was  the  begin- 
ning of  tlie  famous  Jordan  L.  Mott  Iron-Works,  the 
productions  of  which  are  now  sent  to  every  country 
on  the  globe. 

.  The  rapid  increase  of  business  led  Mr.  Mott  to 
purchase  an  extensive  tract  of  land  at  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  I\Ianor  of  Morrisania,  on  the  Harlem 
River,  and  adjoining  the  Harlem  Bridge  at  Third 
Avenue,  and  upon  this  spot  soon  arose  the  populous 
village  of  Mott  Haven.  The  foundry  was  at  first  of 
limited  extent ;  the  buildings  were  of  wood  and  twice 
destroyed  by  fire,  but  were  each  time  rebuilt  with 
greatly  enlarged  proportions.  It  is  narrated,  as  an  il- 
lustration of  the  energy  of  Mr.  Mott,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  second  fire,  while  the  firemen  were  endeavor- 
ing to  subdue  the  flames  at  one  end  of  the  building, 
a  company  of  workmen  under  his  direction  were  laying 
the  new  foundations  at  the  other,  and  in  nine  days  the 
business  was  resumed.  With  a  premonition  of  the 
rapid  growth  of  the  city  of  New  York,  Mr.  Mott,  in 
company  with  Colonel  Nicholas  McGraw  and  Charles 
W.  Houghton,  formed  an  association  to  purchase  a 
large  tract  in  Morrisania  and  establish  a  new  village. 

An  agreement  was  made  with  Gouverneur  Morris, 
owner  of  the  land,  to  sell  a  tract  of  two  hundred  acres 
for  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  per  acre, 
which  comprised  lots  from  No.  16  to  No.  23,  inclusive, 
"  as  laid  down  on  a  map  of  Morrisania  made  by  John 
Randall  in  1816."  This  tract  was  surveyed  and  streets 
and  avenues  were  located,  and  persons  who  bought 
lots  received  their  deeds  directly  from  Mr.  Morris,  the 
inheritor  of  the  ancestral  domain.  The  village  thus 
established  is  now  the  thickly-settled  Twenty -third 
Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Mott  lived  to  see  the  business  which  he 
founded  on  a  limited  scale  gradually  increase  till  it 
became  one  of  the  largest  establishments  in  the 
country  and  the  creations  of  his  inventive  genius 
have  made  his  name  a  household  word.  During  the 
administration  of  President  Buchanan  he  was  offered 
the  position  of  commissioner  of  patents,  but  declined 
to  accept.  The  Reformed  Dutch  Church  at  Morri- 
sania, which  he  built  and  presented  to  the  people,  will 
be  a  lasting  monument  to  his  name.  After  a  life  of 
active  and  untiring  usefulness  he  died  May  8,  1866, 
and  was  buried  in  Greenwood  Cemetery. 

He  married  Mary  W.  Smith,  who  was  born  Sep- 
tember 6,  1801,  and  died  December  24,  1838. 

The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Mary  J.,  wife 
of  Matthew  Dyckman  Van  Doran,  whose  children 
were  Alice  H.,  wife  of  Guy  Fairfax  Whiting,  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  Amelia  A.,  wife  of  General  Edward  H. 
Ripley,  of  Rutland,  Vt.,  and  Jordan  L. 

Jordan  L.  Mott,  who  is  the  successor  to  the  busi- 
ness established  by  his  honored  father,  and  which, 
under  his  care  and  skill,  is  continued  with  greatly  in- 
creased facilities,  was  born  November  10,  1829.  De- 
prived of  a  mother's  care  in  early  childhood,  he  knew 
little  of  home  life,  being  sent  to  school  in  Tarrytown  ' 


at  an  an  early  age  and  finished  his  education  at  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  excitement 
that  followed  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  led 
him  to  abandon  college  life,  with  the  intention  of  seek- 
ing his  fortune  in  that  land  of  promise,  and  he  wrote  to 
his  father,  who  was  then  in  Washington,  for  his  per- 
mission and  assistance.  Mr.  Mott,  with  the  practical 
shrewdness  which  distinguished  him,  made  the  follow- 
ing proposition  to  the  young  adventurer  :  "  You  can 
have  the  privations  and  the  profits  of  a  miner's  life 
without  going  to  California.  You  shall  live  in  a  tent  in 
my  garden,  without  seeing  any  of  your  friends  or  rela- 
tives, and  holding  no  communications  with  them  ex- 
cept by  mail  and  at  long  intervals ;  you  shall  do  your 
own  cooking  and  washing  and  mending.  You  will  be 
deprived  of  all  that  now  makes  your  life  enjoyable, 
and  in  return  I  will  pay  you  the  average  wages  of  a 
miner — about  fifteen  dollars  a  day.  Or  you  can  re- 
main at  home  in  possession  of  the  comforts  you  en- 
joy, with  the  prospect  of  succeeding  to  the  business  I 
have  established." 

When  these  two  pictures  were  presented  in  such 
vivid  contrast  the  young  man  was  not  long  in  mak- 
ing his  decision,  and  leaving  the  gold  of  California  to 
be  dug  by  other  hands,  he  sought  for  wealth  with 
equal  energy,  and  doubtless  far  more  success,  in  his 
native  city. 

From  that  time  it  was  the  object  of  his  life  to  es- 
tablish the  works  that  bear  his  name  on  a  firmer 
foundation,  and  increase  their  extent  and  capacity, 
and  in  the  prosecution  of  this  enterprise  he  has  met 
with  well-merited  success.  At  the  works  at  Mott 
Haven  sixty  tons  of  iron  are  now  melted  daily, — 
a  vast  increase,  indeed,  from  the  time  when  to  melt 
two  tons  on  alternate  days  was  their  full  capacity. 
Taking  an  active  interest  in  political  affairs,  Mr.  Mott 
was  elected  alderman  for  the  Twenty-third  and 
Twenty-fourth  Wards  and  was  president  of  the  board 
in  1879  and  acting  mayor  of  the  city  during  the  ill- 
ness of  Mayor  Cooper.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  term 
of  ofiice  Mr.  Mott  received  an  elegant  testimonial, 
signed  by  the  full  Board  of  Aldermen,  exi)ressing 
their  high  appreciation  of  the  integrity  and  ability 
with  which  he  had  performed  the  duties  of  his  offi- 
cial position.  He  was  also  one  of  the  trustees  of 
the  village  of  Morrisania.  Being  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  he  was  noted 
by  his  activity  in  promoting  one  of  the  improvements 
of  the  day.  Prominent  in  social  circles  and  widely 
known  in  business  affairs,  he  is  justly  considered  a 
representative  of  the  successful  men  of  the  great 
metropolis. 

Mr.  Mott  married  Marianna,  daughter  of  James  V. 
Seamen,  of  Westchester.  Their  children  are  Marie 
(wife  of  the  late  William  I\I.  Olliffe,  park  commis- 
sioner of  New  York),  Jordan  L.,  Jr.  (who  married 
Katharine  Jerome,  daughter  of  Fay  Purdy,  of  West- 
ern New  York,  and  has  one  child — Jordan  L.,  the 
fourth  of  this  name)  and  Augustus  W. 


832 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


The  old  homestead  built  by  his  father  in  the  early 
days  of  Mott  Haven,  and  standing  at  the  corner  of 
Third  Avenue  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fourth 
Street,  still  remains  in  his  possession. 


SAMUEL  M.  BIXBY. 

Among  the  magic  titles  of  the  present  day,  none 
has  become  such  an  universal  household  word  as  that 
of  "  Bixby,"  not  alone  in  this  country,  but  in  all  parts 
of  the  world. 

As  a  type  of  the  American  self-made  business  man, 
Samuel  M.  Bixby  has  secured  a  prominent  position. 
He  was  born  at  Haverhill,  N.  H.,  May  27,  1833,  and 
for  many  years  past  has  been  a  resident  of  Fordham, 
Westchester  County,  N.  Y.  Those  who  are  familiar 
with  his  reputation  for  energy  and  force  of  charac- 
ter can  readily  see,  from  a  brief  history  of  his  origin, 
which  was  coupled  with  an  early  New  England  edu- 
cation, how  he  has  been  endowed  with  the  elements 
that  have  made  his  success. 

From  a  man  so  full  of  information,  and  so  keenly 
alive  to  the  bent  of  events  transi>iriug  about  him,  it 
is  not  difficult  to  secure  a  fund  of  interesting  matter 
that  would  be  valuable  not  only  to  remote  members 
of  the  Bixby  family,  but  to  people  generally  who 
have  heard  of  him.  Among  the  interesting  memen- 
toes in  his  possession,  of  early  New  England  days,  is 
a  rare  "  Book  of  Poems"  (first  published  in  1650),  by 
Anne  Bradstreet,  well  remembered  as  the  "  Tenth 
Muse,"  or  first  American  poetess,  who  is  a  grand- 
parent of  Mr.  Bixby  through  four  generations. 

The  name  Bixby  is  of  Danish  origin,  and  the 
American  Bixbys  are  descendants  from  Danish,  Eng- 
lish and  Scotch  blood.  Few  families  can  boast  of  an 
ancestry  more  notable  for  all  the  qualities  that  go  to 
make  up  the  characteristics  that  rank  highest  in 
American  character.  They  are  lineal  descendants  of 
the  lords  of  Dudley,  families  prominent  in  English 
history,  and  thence  through  the  families  of  Governor 
Thomas  Dudley  and  Governor  Simon  Bradstreet  and 
many  others  of  the  noblest  pioneers  of  New  England. 

The  family,  which  is  large,  is  widely  scattered 
throughout  the  United  States,  devoting  themselves 
with  the  most  remarkable  energy  to  all  the  avocations 
of  life  in  a  new  country  and  achieving  success  as  law- 
yers, doctors,  ministers,  missionaries,  manufacturers, 
merchants  and  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  in  every  line 
they  are  remarkable  for  longevity,  probitj'  and  inten- 
sity of  purpose,  strong  will  and  determination, — char- 
acteristics which  come  from  a  hardy,  strong  and  un- 
compromising ancestry. 

The  meaning  of  the  name  Bixby  is  "the  house  or 
town  near  the  box-trees."  "  By,"  means  town,  village 
or  house;  "bix"  means  the  box — i.  e.,  the  tree  by  that 
name. 

Boxford,  in  Suffolk  County,  Mass.,  was  planted  and 
reared  by  the  Bixbys.  Boxford, — i.  e.,  the  ford  by 
the  box-trees — was  the  home  of  the  emigrant,  Joseph 
Bixby,  and  received  its  name  from  him. 


The  first  record  of  the  Bixbys  in  this  country  is 
that  of  Nathaniel  and  Joseph  Bixby,  father  and  son, 
in  the  town  of  Ipswich,  Mass.,  where  Nathaniel  is  re- 
corded as  a  householder  in  1638. 

From  this  date  the  father  and  son  are  readily 
traced,  the  son  marrying,  in  1647,  a  lady  from  Asing- 
ton,  Suffolk  County,  England,  and  settling  in  Rowley 
village,  afterward  incorporated,  under  his  leadership, 
as  the  town  of  Boxford.  It  is  recorded  that  Joseph 
Bixby  died,  "  being  aged,"  in  1700. 

From  Nathaniel  and  his  son  Joseph,  the  original 
immigrants,  can  be  traced  all  the  Bixbys  at  present 
known  to  exist  in  the  United  States,  and  they  inhabit 
nearly  every  State  and  Territory.  The  oldest  known 
to  be  living  to-day  is  a  lady  past  her  ninety-ninth 
birthday,  who  is  well  preserved,  mentally  and  physi- 
callj',  and  displays  a  degree  of  cheerfulness  and 
great  good  humor  rarely  observed  in  aged  people. 

In  point  of  health,  vigor  and  other  characteristics, 
Samuel  M.  Bixby  is  a  true  type  of  his  ancestors.  His 
genial  disposition,  with  the  faculty  of  discerning  the 
bright  side  of  life,  warrants  the  prediction  of  his  en- 
joyment, for  many  years  to  come,  of  the  success  he 
has  achieved. 


COLONEL  RICHARD  M.  HOE. 

Among  the  names  of  American  inventors  whose 
discoveries  have  increased  the  welfare  of  the  world, 
few  deserve  more  honorable  mention  than  the  late 
Colonel  Hoe,  the  inventor  of  the  Lightning  Printing- 
Press.  Mr.  Hoe  was  the  head  of  the  great  firm  of  R. 
Hoe  &  Co.,  manufacturers  of  printing-presses.  The 
history  of  this  house,  originally  established  by  his 
father,  and  carried  on  from  one  success  to  another  by 
his  father's  sons,  is  the  history  of  the  evolution  of  the 
art  of  printing,  not  only  in  America,  but  throughout 
the  civilized  world.  Prior  to  the  invention  of  the 
presses  which  bear  the  name  of  Hoe,  the  machinery 
by  which  the  uses  of  "  the  types  "  are  made  manifest 
on  paper  was  indeed  slow-running  and,  in  the  light 
of  the  development  of  to-day,  very  crude.  It  was  the 
Hoes  who  gave  to  the  world,  in  1847,  the  first  rotary 
press  ever  known,  and  later,  the  wonderful  Web  Per- 
fecting Printing-Machines  with  which  the  press-rooms 
of  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  United  States  and 
Europe  are  now  provided,  and  which,  from  an  endless 
roll  or  web  of  paper,  print,  cut  and  fold  twenty-four 
thousand  eight-page  papers  an  hour.  The  honor  of 
having  devised  and  invented  this  almost  human 
machine,  which  has  made  the  cheap  newspaper  a 
possibility,  and  completely  revolutionized  the  world 
of  printing,  belongs  jointly  to  Colonel  Richard  M. 
Hoe  and  Mr.  S.  D.  Tucker,  one  of  his  partners. 
Although  many  years  ago  the  mammoth  business 
which  he  had  inherited  from  his  father  had  made  him 
a  wealthy  man,  abundantly  able,  had  he  seen  fit,  to 
retire  from  its  active  management.  Colonel  Hoe  to  the 
day  of  his  death  was  the  actual  head  and  manager  of 
the  great  manufacturing  house,  giving  his  time  and 


MORRISANIA. 


833 


inventive  brain  abundantly  to  the  development  of 
the  business. 

Robert  Hoe,  his  father,  and  founder  of  the  house  of 
R.  Hoe  &  Co.,  was  a  native  of  Lancashire,  England, 
and  was  born  at  Hose,  in  1784.  At  an  early  age  he 
was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  but 
being  of  an  ambitious  disposition,  he  "  bought  his 
time  "  and  came  to  New  York  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 
Arriving  in  the  New  World  solitary  and  friendless,  he 
accidentally  met  with  the  famous  Grant  Thorburn, 
who  entertained  him  with  hospitality  and  nursed 
him  with  care  when  prostrated  with  yellow  fever. 
Some  years  after  he  married  Rachel,  daughter  of 
Matthew  Smith,  of  North  Salem,  Westchester  County. 

His  brother-in-law,  Peter  Smith,  invented  an  im- 
proved printing-press,  and  he  was  engaged  with  him 
in  the  manufacture.  When  the  news  came  of  the  in- 
troduction of  the  flat-bed  cylinder  press  in  England, 
Mr.  Hoe  sent  a  skilled  workman  to  examine  the  new 
invention,  and  upon  his  return  he  extended  his  man- 
ufacturing operations.  Robert  Hoe  died  in  1833,  at 
the  age  of  forty-nine,  leaving  the  business  to  his  son, 
Richard  jM.  Hoe,  whose  name  is  now  known  world- 
wide as  an  inventor.  He  took  his  cousin,  Matthew 
Smith,  with  Sereno  Newton,  as  partners,  and  the  firm- 
name  was  made  R.  Hoe  &  Co.,  which  is  still  retained. 

Colonel  Richard  M.  Hoe  had  inherited  his  father's 
inventive  skill,  and  he  also  developed  rare  executive 
ability.  The  business  under  his  management  pros- 
pered apace.  Invention  after  invention  followed 
rapidly  from  his  fertile  mind.  One  of  his  first  inven- 
tions, was  a  new  method  of  grinding  circular  saws, 
a  mode  which  is  now  in  general  use.  In  1847  he  made 
the  great  discovery  which  must  ever  rank  him  as  one 
of  the  foremost  inventors  of  the  age,  and  invented  the 
"  Lightning  Press,'"  better  known  as  the  "  Rotary 
Press,"  in  which  the  type  is  fixed  upon  the  circumfer- 
ence of  a  cylinder.  By  this  means  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five  thousand  impressions  could  be  made  in  an  hour; 
the  new  printing-machine  superseded  the  former  styles, 
and  the  press  of  Franklin's  days  became  a  thing  of  the 
past.  His  great  discovery  was  still  further  perfected  bj' 
the  invention  of  the  Web  Perfecting  Press,  which  prints 
on  both  sidesof  the  paper,  cuts  it  off  and  folds  it,  ready 
for  the  carrier,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-four  thousand 
copies  an  hour.  When  one  sees  this  piece  of  mechan- 
ism in  full  running  order,  the  thought  that  first  arises 
is  that  in  this  machine  human  ingenuity  and  skill 
have  reached  their  limit.  The  business  of  R.  Hoe  & 
Co.  is  of  immense  extent.  A  whole  block  on  Grand 
Street,  New  York,  is  occupied  with  their  manufac- 
tory, and  the  enterprise,  which  was  begun  on  a  very 
limited  scale  in  1805,  in  188o  employed  over  one 
thousand  hands,  and  the  whole  world  acknowledges 
their  superiority  in  the  manufacture  of  machinery  for 
perfecting  the  "  .\rt  preservative  of  Arts." 

The  children  of  Robert  Hoe  and  Rachel  Smith  were 
Mary,  wife  of  Rev.  Ebenezer  Seymour;  Elizabeth, 
wife  of  Merlin  Mead  ;  Emeline,  wife  of  Giles  S.  Ely  ; 


Rachel,  wife  of  M.  W.  Dodd  ;  Theodosia,  wife  of  Rev. 
William  S.  Leavitt ;  Richard  M.,  Robert  and  Peter  S. 

Colonel  Richard  M.  Hoe  was  born  September  12, 
1812,  and  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Josiah  Gilbert. 
Their  children  are  Emily,  wife  of  Cyrus  J.  Lawrence; 
and  Adeline,  wife  of  De  Witt  C.  Lawrence,  brother 
of  the  former.  Colonel  Hoe  was  married  a  second 
time,  to  Mary  S.,  daughter  of  Henry  E.  Corbin,  of 
Virginia.  Their  children  are  Annie  C,  Mary  S.,  wife 
of  J.  Henry  Harper,  and  Fannie  B.,  wife  of  John 
Harper. 

Colonel  Hoe  purchased  an  estate  at  West  Farms, 
of  Christopher  Spencer,  about  thirty  years  since. 
Upon  this  property  he  had  an  elegant  residence,  while 
the  farm  produces  some  of  the  finest  specimens  of 
blooded  cattle  that  can  be  found  in  the  county. 

The  attitude  of  Colonel  Hoe  toward  those  in  his 
employ  may  properly  be  held  up  as  a  model.  Nearly 
thirty  years  ago  he  established  an  evening  school  for 
the  apprentices  in  the  manufactory,  where  free  instruc- 
tion was  given  in  those  branches  of  study  likely  to  be 
of  the  most  practical  service  in  properly  developing 
their  minds.  For  years  he  gave  this  school  his  per- 
sonal attention,  and  up  to  the  day  of  his  death  was 
deeply  interested  in  its  conduct,  firmly  believing,  as 
has  been  well  said,  that  "  the  dittusion  of  knowledge 
among  the  working  classes  makes  the  man  a  better 
mechanic  and  the  mechanic  a  better  man." 

Personally,  Mr.  Richard  M.  Hoe  is  described  by 
those  who  knew  him  intimately  as  having  been  a  man 
of  exceptionally  cheerful  temperament  and  gentle 
ways.  He  was  devoted  to  his  life-work,  but  at  the 
same  time  was  essentially  domestic.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent member  of  St.  Anne's  Episcopal  Church,  situated 
near  his  residence.  His  name  as  an  inventor,  and 
the  fame  of  the  wonderful  presses  that  he  called  into 
being,  are  known  the  world  over.  He  died  of  heart- 
disease  at  Florence,  Italy,  in  June,  1886. 

WILLIAM  REYNOLDS-BEAL. 

William  Reynolds-Beal,  president  of  the  Central 
Gas-Light  Company  of  New  Y''ork  City,  was  born  in 
Newark,  New  Jersey,  May  18,  1838.  His  parents, 
Joseph  R.  and  Elizabeth  (Austen)  Beal,  were  natives 
of  England,  and  came  to  this  country  about  1830- 
His  early  life  was  passed  in  Newark,  where  he  at- 
tended the  school  connected  with  Grace  Episcopal 
Church,  and  graduated  with  high  honor.  His  father, 
who  was  a  man  of  education  and  intelligence,  died 
at  a  comparatively  early  age,  and  the  son,  although 
ofi"ered  a  collegiate  education,  resolved  to  enter  at 
once  into  active  business.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
became  assistant  in  the  office  of  the  Newark  Gas- 
Light  Company,  and  afterwards  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, where  he  was  assistant  to  the  engineer  who 
built  the  gas-works.  In  1855  he  went  to  Yonkers, 
Westchester  County,  and  took  charge  of  the  works  of 
the  Yonkers  Gas  Company,  where  he  remained  for 
eleven  years,  and  left  the  company  in  a  very  flour- 


834 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ishing  condition.  While  in  Yonkers  he  was  also 
extensively  engaged  in  business  as  a  general  contractor, 
and  employed  large  numbers  of  men  and  horses  in 
local  contracts.  Mr.  Beal  took  the  initiative  in  or- 
ganizing St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  and  assisted 
largely  in  building  its  church  edifice,  and  was  also  a 
vestryman  of  the  parish. 

In  1866  he  removed  to  Morrisania  and  became  con- 
nected with  the  Westchester  County  Gas-Light  Com- 
pany, now  known  as  the  Central  Gas-Light  Company 
of  New  York  City.  From  that  time  to  the  present, 
when  Mr.  Beal  is  the  largest  stockholder  of  the  com- 
pany, he  has  made  the  advancement  and  extension 
of  this  enterprise  the  principal  business  of  his  life. 
During  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has  been  its  presi- 
dent, and  under  his  able  management  its  business 
and  prosperity  have  been  very  largely  increased.  He 
was  also  the  builder  of  the  works  of  the  Northern 
Gas-Light  Company  in  the  Twenty-fourth  Ward  of 
New  York  City,  and  is  the  consulting  engineer  and 
one  of  the  directors  of  that  company.  His  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  details  of  the  business  of  illumina- 
tion by  gas  has  enabled  Mr.  Beal  to  produce  many 
inventions,  whose  value  and  usefulness  are  widely 
recognized.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  "Beal's 
Hydraulic  Main,"  which  is  now  in  use  in  several  of 
the  largest  works  of  the  country,  while  his  latest 
invention  is  a  "  Scrubber  "  for  purifying  gas,  which 
bids  fair  to  secure  recognition  as  a  valuable  improve- 
ment. 

Foreseeing  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Twenty-third 
Ward  of  the  city  of  New  York,  Mr.  Beal  purchased 
extensive  tracts  of  real  estate,  and  is  the  owner  of 
many  houses  in  that  district,  and  is  also  the  president 
of  a  recently  organized  "  Land  and  Improvement 
Company."  He  was  largely  instrumental  in  the 
establishment  of  St.  Mary's  Episcopal  Church,  which 
is  built  upon  land  formerly  owne  1  by  him.  He  is 
now  a  vestryman  of  St.  Anne's  Church,  and  intimately 
identified  with  its  work. 

The  cause  of  popular  education  has  found  in  him 
an  active  and  liberal  promoter.  For  six  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Rutgers  Fe- 
male College,  and  is  the  present  chairman  of  the  board 
of  school  trustees  of  Morrisania.  His  connection 
with  the  public  schools  has  been  distinguished  by  the 
breadth  of  views  which  has  been  his  characteristic  in 
all  other  business  affaii-s,  and  he  has  always  felt  an 
ardent  interest  in  all  that  could  advance  their  welfare 
and  increase  their  usefulness.  He  has  always  been 
a  strong  advocate  of  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  but  has  declined  repeated  offers  of  nomination 
for  political  oflJce.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order,  and  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the 
Gavel  Lodge  of  Morrisania,  and  is  also  well  known  as 
an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  Knickerbocker  Yacht 
Club  and  of  other  organizations. 

Mr.  Beal  married  Miss  Eleanor  L.,  daughter  of 
Thaddeus  Bell,  of  Yonkers.    Their  children  are  Rey- 


nolds, Alice  R.,  Thaddeus  R.,  Mary  R.,  Albert  R. 
and  Gifford  R. 

Mr.  Beal  is  a  fair  representative  of  the  class  of 
business  men  who,  without  the  advantages  of  inher- 
ited wealth,  have  established  both  fortune  and  high 
reputation  by  their  own  activity,  foresight  and  energy. 
His  is  a  well-rounded  character,  and  as  a  manufac- 
turer, inventor  and  mau  of  business  he  is  well  known 
as  among  the  most  active  and  energetic  of  the  public- 
spirited  citizens  of  the  Twenty-third  Ward  of  the 
city  of  New  York. 


HUGH  N.  CAJtP. 

Hugh  N.  Camp,  well  known  in  the  financial  and 
social  circles  of  New  York,  was  born  in  Hanover, 
N.  J.,  October  14,  1827,  but  has  always  resided  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  He  is  descended  from  an  English 
family,  which  settled  in  Connecticut  at  a. very  early 
date,  and  his  ancestors  removed  to  New  Jersey  in 
1660,  where  his  grandfather,  William,  and  his  father, 
Isaac  B.,  were  born.  The  latter  married  Jeanette 
Ely,  of  Hanover,  and  they  were  the  parents  of  four 
sons  and  two  daughters.  Hugh  N.,  the  fourth  son, 
obtained  his  early  education  in  the  public  schools  in 
New  York.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  found  a  i)osi- 
tion  as  clerk  in  the  employ  of  Booth  &  Edgar,  com- 
mission merchants,  on  Front  Street.  With  them  he 
remained  eleven  years,  and  in  1854,  in  company  with 
E.  W.  Brunsen  and  Charles  Sherry,  Jr.,  established  a 
sugar  refinery  at  Bristol,  R.  I.,  upon  a  capital  of  forty 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  principally  furnished  by 
his  former  employers  and  Francis  Skiddy.  This  was 
conducted  very  successfully  till  1868,  when  the  part- 
ners retired  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  Mr.  Camp, 
with  two  clerks  as  partners,  continued  the  business 
until  1870,  when  the  firm  was  compelled  to  suspend 
on  account  of  financial  reverses.  Mr.  Camp  settled 
its  affairs  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and  in  1871  estab- 
lished a  real  estate  business  in  New  York,  which  he 
continued  till  1883,  when  he  relinquished  it  in  order 
to  give  his  time  and  attention  to  matters  of  more  im- 
portance. In  1866  he  became  connected  with  the  St 
Joseph  Lead  Company,  and  was  elected  treasurer. 
In  1882  he  established  the  Lehigh  Valley  Cement 
Company,  of  which  he  is  now  president,  and  in  1884 
became  vice-president  of  the  Title  Guarantee  and 
Trust  Company  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Camp  has  long  been  prominently  connected 
with  many  institutions  of  which  New  York  is  so 
justly  proud,  having  been  for  twenty-seven  years 
trustee  and  treasurer  of  the  Five  Points  House  of 
Industry  and  for  twenty-eight  years  trustee  of  St. 
Luke's  Hospital.  He  was  also  one  of  the  directors 
of  the  Mercantile  Library  and  secretary  of  Clinton 
Hall  Association  from  1862  till  the  present  time.  For 
eight  years  he  was  director  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank 
and  for  seven  years  director  of  the  Mutual  Life  In- 
surance Company.  He  was  also  one  of  the  origin- 
ators and  first  trustees  of  Woodlawn  Cemetery  and  has 


MORRISANIA. 


835 


been  for  several  years  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

Prominently  connected  with  the  Republican  party, 
he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Union  League  from 
its  commencement.     He  is  also  one  of  the  oldest  j 
members  of  the  Century  (^lub,  so  well  known  in  liter- 
ary and  artistic  circles. 

In  he  purchased  an  estate  in  Westchester 

County.  This  place,  which  has  since  been  his  home, 
is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  highway  leading 
from  Morris'  Dock  to  the  old  Mc(  'omb's  Dam  road,  and 
is  a  portioti  of  the  Morris  farm  in  the  old  Manor  ot 
Fordham.  Taking  an  active  interest  in  the  cause  of 
education,  he  was  for  six  years  president  of  the 
School  Board  in  the  town  of  West  Farms.  He  is  a 
member  and  an  active  and  liberal  supporter  of  St. 
James'  Episcopal  Church  at  Fordham  and  one  of  the 
present  vestry. 

In  1SH3  he  was  ai)|)ointed  by  iNIayor  Edson,  of  New 
York,  a  member  of  the  Aqueduct  Commission  to  de- 
termine as  to  the  necessity  of  a  new  aqueduct  and  to 
decide  upon  the  route  and  nuinner  of  building,  a  po- 
sition of  great  importance  and  responsibility. 

Mr.  Camp  married  Elizabeth  D.,  daughter  of  John 
McKesson,  of  New  York,  in  1854.  They  are  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are  still 
living, — Edward  B.,  Maria  L.  (wife  of  P.  P.  Williams), 
John  McK.,  Frederick  E.,  Alice,  Emily,  Hugh  N., 
Jr.,  and  William  H. 

In  the  social,  financial  and  political  society  of  New 
York  the  name  of  Mr.  Camp  is  widely  known  and 
justly  po[)ular.  There  are  few  who  can  boast  of  a 
more  extensive  acquaintance  or  a  more  intimate 
knowledge  with  the  varied  phases  of  life  and  manners 
as  they  are  seen  in  the  great  city. 


COLONKI;  M.  O.  DAVIIISON. 

Colonel  Davidson  was  born  in  Plattsburg,  ('lintoii 
County,  N.  Y.,  March  28,  1819,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  September  1,  1872,  was  nearly  fifty-four  years 
of  age. 

Me  was  a  son  of  Dr.  Oliver  Davidson  and  Margaret 
!\I.  Davidson,  and  was  one  of  a  gifted  family,  his  sis- 
ters Margaret  and  Lucretia  having  attracted  much 
attention  from  the  literary  world  of  their  time  by  their 
brilliant  poetical  eflbrts. 

His  professional  career  and  services  began  in  his 
eighteenth  year- 
One  of  his  first  appointments  was  on  the  Croton 
.\queduct,  where  he  served  some  years.  He  was  sub- 
seiiuently  em[)loyed  upon  the  Erie  Railway,  and  after 
that  upon  a  road  in  Canada.  Thence  he  went  to 
t/uba  in  1842,  remaining  there  nearly  a  year  on  the 
Coliseo  Railroad.  Upon  his  return  to  this  country, 
in  1843,  and  for  ten  yeare  after,  he  was  engaged  in  the 
Cumberland  coal  region .  of  Maryland,  which  he  was 
principally  instrumental  in  developing.  While  there 
he  constructed  an  inclined  plane,  opened  and  worked 


the  mines,  and  made  many  experiments  in  machinery 
and  in  the  combustion  of  coal  that  have  been  of  value 
to  the  profession. 

In  the  year  1857  Colonel  Davidson  went  to  Havana, 
Cuba,  under  an  ap[)ointment  as  engineer-in-chief  of 
the  Havana  Railways,  an  office  he  filled  with  great 
credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to  the  company,  until 
he  resigned  his  position  in  the  year  18fi8. 

During  the  |)eriod  Colonel  Davidson  was  in  Cuba 
he  reconstructed  the  entire  length  of  the  nearly  worn- 
out  road,  some  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  long,  ele- 
vating it  from  a  condition  of  almost  complete  use- 
lessness  to  a  first-class  railway  in  all  respects.  The 
improvements  introduced  by  him  covered  everything 
relating  to  permanent  way,  bridges,  passenger,  freight 
and  water  stations,  as  well  as  a  complete  revolution  in 
equipment.  He  also  constructed  thirty-six  miles  of 
new  and  heavy  line,  reflecting  great  credit  upon  him- 
self, especially  for  his  wisdom  and  energy  in  com- 
pleting in  time  some  heavy  rock-cutting  and  bridg- 
ing, when  a  failure  as  to  time  would  have  been  equal 
to  loss  of  franchise  to  the  company. 

During  his  stay  in  Cuba  he  was  often  called  upon 
to  arbitrate  delicate  questions  between  conflicting  in- 
terests, and  his  decisions  were  always  looked  upon  as 
perfect  and  just  solutions  of  the  difficulties  to  be  set- 
tled. 

Shortly  after  Colonel  Davidson's  return  from  Cuba 
he  was  ap|)ointed  chief  engineer  and  superintendent 
of  the  Arizona  Mining  Company.  He  was  in  Arizona 
between  two  and  three  years  in  the  exercise  of  these 
duties,  and  was  at  the  same  time  United  States  Indian 
agent  for  the  Territory. 

In  the  years  18()5  and  1866  he  was  much  occupied 
in  the  (]uestion  of  rapid  transit  for  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  was  commissioned  to  proceed  to  London 
to  observe  and  report  upon  the  system  of  constructing 
and  operating  the  underground  railways  in  use  there. 

In  1867  he  was  named  chief  engineer  of  the  New 
Haven  and  Derby  Railroad,  a  short  line  involving 
many  interesting  points  in  location  and  construction, 
which  be  treated  in  the  most  successful  manner. 

From  the  year  1867  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
engaged  in  public  works  in  Westchester  County, 
N.  Y.,  embracing  a  system  of  avenues,  which  he  skill- 
fully developed  as  chief  engineer,  and  which  have 
been  of  great  value  to  the  county. 

In  1869  and  1870  a  portion  of  his  attention  was 
taken  up  in  the  consideration  of  such  questions  as 
the  construction  of  the  Shore  Line  Railway  Bridge 
across  the  Connecticut  River  and  in  the  project  of  the 
Hudson  River  Highland  Suspension  Bridge,  sub- 
mitted to  boards  of  engineers,  of  which  he  was  a 
member. 

In  concluding  this  sketch  much  might  be  said 
touching  the  excellent  traits  of  character  he  pos- 
sessed in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  endearing  him  to  all 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

In  his  public  life  as  a  civil  engineer  he  was  an 


836 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ornament  to  the  profession,  and  in  his  private  life  he 
was  the  model  of  a  Christian  gentleman. 


HENRY  B.  HALL. 

Henry  B.  Hall  was  born  in  London  March  11,  1808, 
and  at  the  age  of  fourteen  was  articled  as  a  pupil  to 
Benjamin  Smith,  known  by  his  works  for  "  Boydell's 
Shakespeare  (Jallery."  After  completing  his  studies 
with  Mr.  Smith  he  was  engaged  by  Henry  Mycr,  the 
favorite  engraver  of  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  from  whom 
he  derived  much  benefit  in  his  profession.  He  was 
subsequently  engaged  for  four  years  with  H.  T.  Ryall, 
Engraver  to  the  Queen,  and  during  that  time  engraved 
all  the  portraits  in  the  large  plates  of  that  engraver, 
including  the  very  celebrated  one  entitled  "  Corona- 
tion of  Queen  Victoria,"  after  Sir  George  Hayter. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Hall's  thoughts  had  been  at- 
tracted towards  the  United  States  as  a  new  and  great 
field  for  art,  and  in  the  year  IRoO  he,  with  his  eldest 
son,  made  a  visit  to  New  York  City,  leaving  the  re- 
mainder of  his  family  in  England.  Soon  after  his  ar- 
rival in  New  York  he  was  met  in  a  most  friendly 
spirit  by  many  artists  and  publishers  of  note,  and 
a'uong  the  latter  the  late  G.  P.  Putnam,  who,  in  addi- 
tion to  being  among  the  great  publishers  of  that  time, 
was  a  devoted  patron  of  art,  and  such  offers  were  made 
to  Mr.  Hall  as  determined  him  upon  making  his  home 
liere.  His  family  joined  him  the  following  fall  and  he 
settled  in  Hoboken  until  the  spring  of  1851,  when  he 
removed  to  Morrisania  and  occupied  a  house  on  Un- 
ion Avenue,  near  Wall  Street,  Woodstock.  In  1854 
he  purchii«ed  a  house  on  George  Street,  near  Boston 
Avenue,  where  he  i):issed  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
and  died  on  April  25,  1885. 

Among  his  well-known  portraits,  for  which  he  was 
particularly  noted,  are  twelve  separate  portraits  of 
Washington,  after  all  the  celebrated  artists  and  sculp- 
tors; and  etchings  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  done  Ibr  private  parties  and  printed 
exclusively  for  their  use;  also  an  etching  of  the  well- 
known  American  composer,  George  F.  Bristow,  and 
one  of  himself,  in  1872,  which  is  the  best  likeness 
extant. 

His  larger  works  were  very  numerous,  including 
"  Washington  and  family  after  hunting,"  and  "  AVash- 
ington  at  Jlount  Vernon." 

Mr.  Hall  had  eight  children — four  sons  and  four 
daughters:  Anne,  married  Ed.  H.  Knight,  and  died 
in  Brooklyn  in  1858  and  her  husband  in  1872,  leaving 
a  son,  Ed.  H.  (now  a  resident  of  ]\Iorrisauia),  and  two 
daughters;  Emily,  married  William  Momberger,  of 
Morrisania,  a  lithographic  artist  and  designer  ;  Henry 
B.,  living  in  Morrisania,  married  and  has  three  cliil- 
dren  living;  Charles  B.  (same),  has  five  children; 
Alfred  B.  (same),  has  five  children ;  Ernest  (same), 
has  three  children ;  Alice  and  Eliza,  unmarried,  all 
living  in  Morrisania. 

Henry  B.,  Charles  B.  and  Alfred  B.  are  all  engrav- 
ers and  have  been  established  in  business  together 


for  many  years,  and  are  now  located  at  22  Park  Place, 
New  York.  Erne.st  is  a  justice  of  the  City  Court  of 
New  York  and  worthily  represents  the  old  township. 

All  the  sons  and  daughters  have  remained  near  to- 
gether in  Morrisania  and  have  for  many  years  been 
identified  with  its  growth. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

WEST  FARMS.' 
BY  FORDHAM  MORRIS. 

The  town  of  West  Farms  was  formed  from  the 
town  of  Westchester  by  the  act  of  Assembly  of  May 
13,  1846.  It  lies  upon  the  Sound  and  along  Harlem 
River  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county.  Bronx 
River  forms  its  eastern  boundary  and  Mill  Brook 
flows  through  its  centre.  The  surface  is  rolling,  the 
ridges  extending  north  and  south.  Within  its  bound- 
aries are  the  villages  of  West  Farms,  Fordham,  Wil- 
liams' Bridge,  Tremont,  Fairnioiuit,  Belmont,  Clare- 
mont,  Monterey,  Mount  Eden,  Mount  Hope  and 
Woodstock.  In  1874  it  was  annexed  to  New  York 
City,  and  the  extension  of  streets  and  railways  is 
rapidly  converting  it  from  a  suburban  to  an  urban 
community.  It  originally  embraced  the  town  of  Mor- 
risania, which  was  set  off  from  it  in  1855.  Within  | 
its  boundaries  are  r.umerous  splendid  residences, 
some  tine  church  edifices  and  denominational  institu- 
tions. 

Andrew  Findlay  was  tlie  first,  and  Francis  Bar- 
retto  the  second,  supervisor  elected  in  West  Farms 
after  its  creation  as  a  town.  In  1847  the  num- 
ber of  residents  subject  to  taxation  was-  returned 
as  270  and  the  sissessed  valuation  of  propeity  as 
$1,193,920.  In  1848  the  taxables  numbered  341  and 
the  assessment  amounted  to  $1,282,570,  producing  a 
tax  of  $7094.  Andrew  Findlay  was  elected  suj)er- 
visor  in  1848  and  1849.  In  the  latter  year  the  taxa- 
bles had  increased  to  659  and  the  property  valuation 
to  $1,391,150,  the  tax  being  i:8435.  John  B.  Haskin 
served  as  supervisor  in  1850  and  1851.  West  Farms 
then  had  1114  inhabitants  and  their  property  was  as- 
sessed at  $l,<i03,()02.  Mr.  Haskin  was  succeeded  in 
1852  by  Charles  Bathgate.  A  j)rison  was  built  in 
that  year  and  the  property  valuation  rose  to  $8,535,- 
162,  owned  by  2814  jjersons.  In  1853  Wm.  N.  Lewis 
was  elected  supervisor,  and  his  successors  were  John 
B.  Haskin  (1857-60) ;  James  Davis  (1861-64) ;  Wal- 
ter Roche,  from  1865  to  tiie  date  of  annexation  to 
the  city  of  New  York. 

RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 

Catholic  Institution.s  and  Churches. — One  of 
the  most  notable  educational  institutions  in  the  Unit- 


1  The  liistoiy  of  West  Farms,  up  to  tlie  time  of  its  separation  from  the 
town  of  Westchester,  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  latter 
town. 


WEST  FARMS. 


837 


ed  States  is  located  atFordham.  This  is  St.  John's  Col- 
lege, which  is  under  the  care  of  priests  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  university  in  1846, 
but  had  been  established  as  a  college  in  1841.  The 
incorporators  and  first  trustees  were  Revs.  Jacob 
Harvey,  Peter  A.  Hargous,  John  McKeon,  James  R. 
Bayley,  John  Harley,  John  McCloskey,  William 
Stiirrs,  Hugh  Kelley  and  David  Bacon.  It  is  em- 
powered to  confer  literary  honors,  degrees  and 
diploma.*;,  and  is  subject  to  visitation  by  the  regents 
of  the  university  of  the  State.  The  grounds,  containing 
nearly  two  hundred  acres,  extend  from  ilill  Brook  to 
the  Bronx,  and  on  the  south  side  the  college  is  ap- 
proached by  a  handsome  driveway  shaded  by  mag- 
nificent elms  and  maples.  The  western  portion  of 
the  grounds  were  purchased  about  183r)-3()  by  the 
Catholic  Diocesan  Theological  Seminary.  The  old 
Corsa,  Watts  and  Brevoort  homestead  still  stands  on 
the  premises  and  is  now  used  as  the  infirmary,  while 
Rose  Hill,  the  former  residence  of,  and  built  by, 
Mr.  Mowatt,  of  New  York,  a  fine  large  stone  build- 
ing with  brick  wings,  which  have  been  subsequently 
added,  includes  the  residences  of  the  professore,  the 
reception  parlor,  refectory  and  chapel. 

St.  John's  Hall,  originally  used  as  the  Theological 
Seminary,  is  on  the  westernmost  part  of  the  premises. 
It  is  a  Gothic  building  and  was  erected  about  1836—41. 
It  is  now  devoted  to  the  class-rooms,  dormitories  and 
school-room  of  the  students  of  the  Preparatory  De- 
partment. The  entrance,  porch  of  this  ball  is  a  fine 
specimen  of  architecture,  the  arch  resting  upon  pedi- 
ments very  curiously  carved  in  stone  representing 
the  eagle  of  Saint  John,  the  ox  of  Saint  Matthew, 
the  angel  of  Saint  Luke  and  lion  of  Saint  Mark. 

The  ground-floor  of  this  hall  is  now  occupied  by 
the  laboratory  and  chemical  lecture-room  of  the  col- 
lege and  the  museum,  containing  niineralogical  aud 
conchological  specimens,  electric,  optical  and  other 
scientific  implements.  The  collection  of  corals  is  as 
fine  as  any  in  this  country.  The  class-rooms  and 
study-room  are  cheerful  and  well  ventilated,  and  the 
dormitories  models  of  neatness  and  order. 

Just  east  of  St.  John's  Hall  stands  the  Chapel  of  St. 
Mary,  which  is  used  as  the  parish  church  for  those  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Catholic  faith.  It  was  built  about 
1841,  and  is  a  well-proportioned  structure.  It  is  or- 
namented on  the  east  and  west  sides  with  six  bril- 
liantly-colored stained-glass  windows,  imported  many 
years  ago  from  Europe.  Saints  Peter  and  Paul  flank 
the  altar,  and  the  four  evangelists  fill  up  the  other 
well-turned  Gothic  windows.  One  of  the  fathers  of- 
ficiates as  parish  priest.  The  infirmary,  just  west  of  the 
chapel,  has  the  extensive  garden  of  the  college  in  its 
rear,  which  is  kept  in  most  beautiful  order  under  the 
direction  of  one  of  the  lay  brethren.  Another  lay 
brother  has  the  control  of  the  infirmarj'.  Dr.  Purroy, 
of  Fordham,  being  the  attending  physician.  The 
Rose  Hill  house  has,  on  the  right  of  the  entrance- 
hall,  a  large,  well-proportioned  reception-room.  Its 


walls  are  hung  with  pictures  representing  sacred  sub- 
jects, by  Mexican  and  South  American  artists.  The 
president's  reception-room,  to  the  left  of  the  hall,  has 
in  it  several  very  fine  paintings.  On  the  eastern 
wall  is  a  picture  by  Louis  Lang,  representing  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  bidding  adieu  to  her  maids  of  honor 
just  before  her  execution.  On  the  south  wall  hang 
two  panel  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  and  a 
fair  copy  of  the  Annimciation  of  the  Virgin,  the  orig- 
inal of  which  is  in  the  Quirinal  at  Rome.    There  is 

I  also  a  fair  copy,  by  Mols,  of  Rubens'  "  Descent  from 

I  the  Cross ;"  and  on  the  west  wall,  in  the  old  German 
style,  a  beautiful  Virgin,  surrounded  by  twelve  Sisters 
of  the  Ursuline  Order,  a  work  displaying  fine  color- 
ing and  reverential  feeling.  A  portrait  of  the  founder 
of  the  Order  of  Jesuits  (Ignatius  Loyola),  by  a  Mexi- 
can artist,  also  hangs  in  this  room,  and  the  motto  of 
the  Order  is  displayed,  on  an  open  book  before  him,  in 
the  following  order:  "Ad  majorem  gloriam  dei," 
though  the  usual  order  is  "  Ad  majorem  dei  gloriam.^' 
The  north  wing  of  the  Rose  Hill  house  contains  the 
offices  and  refectory, — a  fine  room,  rather  gaudily 
frescoed  and  capable  of  seating  from  three  hundred  to 
four  hundred  people,  without  crowding.  Here  the 
students  of  all  the  departments  take  their  meals,  un- 
der the  supervision  of  the  prefect  of  discipline.  Loy- 
ola's portrait  is  also  displayed  in  this  room. 

The  south  wing  contains  the  college  chapel.  It  is  a 
roomy,  pleasant  place  of  worship,  plainly  but  taste- 
fully frescoed,  not  many  years  since,  by  lay  Brother 
Rache.  The  organ  was  built  by  Erben.  Over  the 
altar  is  a  figure  of  our  Saviour,  flanked  right  and  left 
by  the  Holy  Virgin  and  St.  Joseph.  Two  small  kit- 
kats,  on  each  side  of  the  altar,  represent  Saints  Aloy- 
sius  and  Stanislaus,  the  patron  saints  of  youth. ^  The 
rear  wing  of  Rose  Hill  contains,  on  the  second  floor, 
the  library,  which  is  provided  with  some  twenty 
thousand  volumes  of  works  on  history  and  theology. 
There  is  also  a  circulating  library  for  the  students. 
The  great  hall  of  the  college,  a  new  building,  is  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  students  of  the  upper  classes. 

In  it  are  the  gymnasium,  reading-room,  billiard- 
rooms,  class-rooms,  dormitories  and  a  very  fine  school 
or  study-room.  The  dormitories  are  in  the  upper 
stories.  The  school-room  is  provided  at  the  east  end 
with  a  stage  and  scenerj',  used  for  declamations  and 
dramatic    representations  by  the  students.  The 

I  students  compose  the  orchestra,  as  the  college  affords 
instruction  on  nearly  all  kinds  of  musical  instruments. 
A  portion  of  the  building  is  devoted  to  music-rooms, 
where  the  corps  of  musical  instructors  can  conduct 
their  classes  without  the  sounds  of  the  different  in- 
struments interfering  with  each  other. 

So  soon  as  funds  can  be  procured  the  college 
buildings  will  be  enlarged  and  the  old  ones  pulled 
down.  The  college  is  attended  by  students  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States,  Mexico,  Central  America, 
South  America,  Cuba,  Hayti  and  other  West  India 

I  Islands,  and  even  by  a  few  from  Europe.    It  has  a 


838 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTEK  COUNTY. 


Preparatory  Department,  in  which  hoys  from  ten 
years  upwards  are  prepared  for  the  higher  classes  of 
the  collegiate  course.  By  the  catalogue  of  1884-85, 
it  appears  that  eighty-three  pupils  are  in  at- 
tendance on  this  course.  The  instruction  furnished 
in  the  collegiate  course  is  of  two  kinds — classical  and 
commercial.  The  curriculum  of  the  classical  course 
takes  the  student  through  a  course  of  Latin,  Greek, 
English  history,  geography,  chemistry,  mathematics, 
mechanics  and  religious  instruction,  which  fits  him 
for  the  under-graduate  classes.  The  latter,  corre- 
sponding to  the  freshman,  sophomore,  junior  and 
senior  classes  in  other  colleges,  is  divided  into  classics, 
belles-lettres,  rhetoric  and  philosophy.  A  graduate 
i'rom  this  course  receives  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts.  There  is  also  a  post-graduate  course.  The 
graduates  from  this  course  receive  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  The  commercial  course  embraces  all 
the  branches  necessary  for  an  English  education — 
English  grammar,  history,  geography,  book-keeping, 
penmanship,  commercial  law,  elocution,  chemistry, 
natural  history,  philosophy,  both  mental  and  moral, 
mechanics,  astronomy,  geology  and  religious  instruc- 
tion. There  are  also  optional  studies.  All  students 
are  compelled  to  speak  the  English  language.  Ger- 
man, Spanish  and  drawing  are  also  taught,  and  a  spe- 
cial scientific  course  has  also  been  established.  The 
course  is  for  three  years,  at  the  end  of  which,  after  a 
successful  examination,  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Science  is  awarded.  By  the  catalogue  for  1884-85  it 
appears  that  there  are  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
students  attending  the  collegiate  course.  The  present 
principal  of  the  college  is  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Camp- 
bell, who  is  assisted  by  a  faculty  of  seventeen  profes- 
sors. ,  Near  the  college  is  the  institution  for  deaf 
mutes,  i)resided  over  by  Miss  Morgan,  and  in  the  vil- 
lage of  West  Farms  is  also  a  chapel  of  the  Roman 
Oatholic  denomination,  an  offshoot  of  St.  Augustine's 
of  Morrisania. 

Episcopal  Churches. — The  parish  of  St.  James, 
Fordham,  was  formed  in  18^3,  by  a  meeting  called  on 
July  5th  of  that  year,  at  the  residence  of  William 
Alexander  Smith.  Lewis  G.  Morris  and  Mr.  Smith 
were  elected  wardens,  and  Oswald  Cammann,  Fran- 
cis McFarlan,  W.  W.  Waldron,  George  B.  Butler, 
Samuel  R.  Trowbridge,  Gulian  L.  Dashwood,  Wil- 
liam O.  Giles  and  Nathaniel  P.  Bailey,  vestrymen. 
The  church  was  consecrated  November  4,  1865.  It 
is  constructed  of  Westchester  granite  with  red  sand- 
stone trimmings.  It  is  adorned  with  several  very  fine 
stained-glass  windows.  The  four  evangelists  flank 
the  centre  window  in  the  chancel,  which  represents 
the  calling  of  St.  James.  Back  of  one  of  the  reading 
desks,  on  the  south  side  of  the  church,  is  a  window 
representing  the  healing  of  the  lame  man  by  Saint 
Peter  and  Saint  John.  This  window  is  a  memorial 
to  the  late  Dr.  George  Philip  Cammann,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  church  and  inventor  of  the  steth- 
oscope which  bears  his  name  and  which  he  nobly  pre- 


sented as  a  free  gift  to  the  medical  profession.  Over 
the  font,  which  stands  in  the  transept,  is  a  memorial 
window  to  Oswald  Cammann,  Jr.,  representing  the 
baptism  of  the  Savior,  and  in  the  south  aisle  is  a 
memorial  window  to  Oswald  Cammann,  Sr.,  one  of 
the  benefactors  of  the  church.  The  lectern,  in  the 
form  of  an  eagle  with  outstretched  wings,  from  which 
the  Scriptures  are  read,  was  also  a  memorial  gift  to 
the  parish  from  the  Cammann  family,  in  memory  of 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Oswald  Cammann,  who  survived  her 
husband  a  few  years.  On  the  altar  is  a  cross,  a 
memorial  of  Maria  Cammann  Mali,  the  wife  of  Wil- 
liam Weyman  Mali,  who  has  also  followed  her.  The 
organ  was  the  gift  of  the  late  Henry  W.  T.  Mali. 
In  the  east  wall  of  the  transept  are  memorial  windows 
to  Miles  Standish  Davidson  and  Kate  Miles  David- 
son, children  of  the  late  Colonel  M.  0.  Davidson,  and 
lineal  descendants  of  the  famous  New  England  sol- 
dier. Miles  Standish. 

In  the  west  side  of  the  transept  is  a  memorial  to 
Catharine  and  Eliza  Howell,  infant  children  of 
Richard  Stockton  Howell  and  Elizabeth  Holsman, 
and  the  northwest  window  is  a  memorial  to  the  late 
Charles  Drake,  M.D.,  erected  by  his  sister,  Mrs.  Sea- 
man, of  King's  Bridge.  A  wheel  window  in  the  south 
transept  was  placed  there  in  memory  of  Mary  Bailey 
Woolsey,  the  wife  of  Theodorus  Bailey  Woolsey,  of 
New  York,  and  daughter  of  Nathaniel  P.  Bailey  and 
Eliza  Lorillard.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany,  a  former 
pastor  of  the  church,  presented  the  bell.  The  rectory 
has  just  been  completed  and  is  a  substantial,  tasteful 
building.  The  chapel,  built  of  wood,  also  stands  in  the 
church  grounds.  The  west  part  of  it  was  originally 
used  as  the  district  school-house  for  vJie  children  of 
Fordham,  but  it  then  stood  on  the  Fordham  Landing 
road,  southwest  from  the  church,  and  was  removed  to 
the  present  site  many  years  since.  Following  is  a  list 
of  the  rectors  of  the  parish  from  its  foundation. 

1854. — Rev.  Joshua  AVenner,  resigned. 
1863. — Uev.  Thomas  Ritchie,  D.D.,  resigned. 

18G7, — Uev.  Charles  C.  Tiffany,  D.D.,  resigned  and  now  the  rector  of 
Zioii  Church,  New  Yorlc  City. 
1871. — Rev.  Mylton  Maury,  who  resigned. 

1875  down  to  May,  1885. — Rev.  .Joseph  Blanchard,  who  resigned,  hav- 
ing been  called  to  church  in  Detroit,  Mich. 

At  present  there  is  a  vacancy  in  the  rectorship, 
though  the  vestry  have  called  a  gentleman  to  fill  Mr. 
Blanchard's  place. ^ 

September  23,  1844,  a  meeting  was  held  of  the 
congregation  or  society  commonly  called  Grace 
Church,  in  the  town  of  Westchester,  at  St.  Peter's 
Church.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  incorporate 
the  new  church  at  West  Farms.  Captain  William 
H.  Spencer,  U.  S.  N.,  and  Philip  M.  Lydie  were 
elected  wardens,  and  Peter  Lorillard,  Richard 
Croiher,  Dr.  William  Bayard,  Charles  S.  Valentine, 
Benjamin  Lee,  Jacob  N.  Van  Winkle,  William  B. 
Hoffman  and  Robert  J.  Turnbull  were  elected  vestry- 

1  Since  filled  by  Rev.  Mr.  Holt. 


WEST  FARMS. 


839 


men.  They  assumed  the  name  for  the  corporation  of 
the  "Rector,  church  wardens  and  vestrymen  of  Grace 
Church,  in  the  town  of  AVestchester." 

The  edifice  was  a  handsome  Gothic  structure,  of  wood, 
and  was  consecrated  June  28,  1847.  The  first  rector 
was  Rev.  Washington  Rodman.  This  building  lias 
been  abandoned  and  a  new  congregation  formed 
under  the  old  name.  It  is  situated  on  the  north  side 
of  Locust  Avenue,  and  has  just  been  consecrated. 

The  "  House  of  Rest  for  Consumptives."  which  is 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  is 
situated  at  Mount  Hope,  a  short  distance  from  Tre- 
mont  Station.  It  stands  on  about  an  acre  of  ground. 
The  house  is  capable  of  accommodating  about  forty 
patients.  It  is  a  hospital  purely  for  the  treatment  of 
consumption.  In  1884  the  house  had  under  treatment 
one  hundred  and  thirty-two  patients.  At  the  end  of 
the  year  there  were  thirty-two  patients  in  the  hospital. 
Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  patients,  forty- 
eight  were  Protestant  Episcopalians,  forty-four  Roman 
Catholics,  eleven  Methodists,  seven  Baptists,  six 
Lutherans,  two  Dutch  Reformed,  twelve  Presby- 
terians, one  Congregationalist,  one  Hebrew.  Its 
policy  is  to  open  the  door  to  the  poor  and  as  the  above 
figures  show,  there  are  no  restrictions  as  to  creed. 

The  "  Home  for  Incurables,"  also  in  charge  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  stands  near  by.  This  institution 
has  been  in  existence  for  the  past  eighteen  years.  Its 
inmates  are  those  whose  diseases  are  past  relief,  and 
the  main  object  of  the  institution  is  to  make  the  last 
days  of  those  who  can  never  hope  to  be  well  again  as 
happy  and  as  comfortable  as  possible.  The  old  Loril- 
lard  house,  in  which  it  was  first  located,  was  found 
too  small  for  the  growing  number  of  patients,  and  a 
large  and  handsome  brick  structure  has  been  erected, 
but  the  present  building  is  found  to  be  inadequate  to 
the  demands  for  admission  and  the  board  of  man- 
agers are  about  erecting  a  new  pavilion  for  the  accom- 
modation of  sixty-six  more  patients.  The  total  capacity 
of  the  institution  is  forty.  It  is  under  the  care  of  a 
clergyman  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  but 
no  distinction  as  to  creed  is  made  with  reference  to 
the  admission  of  the  inmates.  It  is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  following  board  of  managers :  President, 
Benjamin  H.  Field;  Vice-Presidents,  Martin  E. 
Greene,  William  H.  Guion  ;  Trea.surer,  George  Sher- 
man ;  Secretary,  H.  M.  McLaren  ;  Superintendent, 
Israel  C.  Jones,  M.D. ;  Physician,  Archibald  Camp- 
bell, M.D. ;  Chaplain,  Rev.  Thomas  Drumms. 

The  Dutch  Rickormed  Church. — South  of  the 
Jockey  Club  grounds  is  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
of  the  ancient  Manor  of  Fordham.  The  church  was 
originally  organized  in  1(596  by  the  ministers,  elders 
and  deacons  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  and  its 
first  minister  was  Dominie  John  Montaign.  It  was 
built  at  the  junction  of  the  old  McComb's  Dam  road 
and  the  Fordham  Landing  road,  and  stood  near  the 
present  residence  of  Closes  Devoe.  (See  note  at  end 
•of  chapter  as  to  Devoe  family.)    In  1801  a  new 


structure  was  built  on  the  present  site  and  in  1872 
the  present  building  was  erected.  The  most  con- 
spicuous benefactor  of  the  church  in  its  modern  his- 
tory has  been  Mr.  H.  B.  ClaHin,  the  New  York  mer- 
chant prince,  whose  country-scat  is  not  far  distant. 
Mainly  at  his  expense,  it  has  recently  been  enlarged 
and  beautified.    The  following  is  a  list  of  its  clergy: 

1690.— Rov.  John  Montaign. 
1707. — Key.  Uenricns  Bejse. 

1771).— Rev.  Dominie  John  Peter  Tetaril,  a  chaplain  with  General 

Montsfoniery  in  liis  ill  fated  expedition  to  Quebec. 
1802.— Kev.  John  Jackson. 
1840.— Rev.  Peter  I.  Van  Pelt,  D.D. 
1816.— Rev.  William  Cahoon. 
ISaO. — Rev.  Robert  A'an  .\niliurgh. 
1853.— Rev.  John  H.  Bevicr. 
185."). — Rev.  James  Beattie. 
1864.— Rev.  James  Bolton. 
1866.— Rev.  James  B.  Hardenburgh,  D.D. 
1861J.— Rev.  John  Truman. 
1874.— Rev.  William  Brush 
1876. — Rev.  D.  Lawrence  Jewett. 

1876. — Rev.  William  .\nder8on,  the  present  incumbent. 

There  is  also  a  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  the  vil- 
lage of  West  Farms.  It  was  organized  in  18.S9  and 
incorporated  in  1840,  March  Itith.  The  first  elders  were 
Thomas  Butler,  George  Wilson  and  Abijah  Rogers 
and  the  deacons  James  P.  Fitch,  James  G.  Rowland 
and  Stephen  Kelly.    The  ministers  have  been, — 

1839   Rev.  George  Bourne. 

1842   Rev.  Barnabas  V.  Collins. 

1843   Rev.  John  Simonson. 

1852   Rev.  Philip  Burkhardt. 

1856   Rev.  Polhenuis  Van  Wyke. 

1867   Rev.  Evert  Van  Slyke. 

1871   Rev.  John  Simonson. 

Present  Incumbent  Rev.  James  Bolton. 

Methodist  Churches. — The  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  is  a  neat  wooden  structure  on  Marion 
Avenue,  Fordham.  It  was  built  in  1858,  and  is 
owned  by  the  Church  Extension  Society.  The  con- 
gregation was  incorporated  April  14th  of  that  year, 
Jacob  Berrian,  (See  note  at  end  of  this  chapter  as  to 
Berrian  family,)  Benjamin  Westervelt,  Benjamin  F. 
Ferris,  Peter  Demarest  and  Richard  White  being  the 
first  trustees.  The  first  pastor  was  Rev.  Thomas 
Davis,  who  was  supplied  by  the  Local  Preachers' 
Society.  In  1870  the  then  pastor,  Rev.  Jacob 
Washburn,  succeeded  in  freeing  the  church  from 
debt.  In  1876  Rev.  A.  Coons  was  pastor ;  1879, 
Rev.  W.  G.  Browning  ;  1880,  Rev.  T.  B.  Smith,  who 
in  April,  1883,  was  followed  by  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Bond, 
the  present  incumbent.  The  congregation  in  1885 
numbered  one  hundred  members  and  thirty-five  com- 
municants, and  was  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The 
stewards  were  John  V.  Briggs,  Charles  Y.  Campbell 
and  Benjamin  We.stervelt. 

On  the  west  side  of  Washington  Avenue,  between 
One  Hundred  and  Seventy  sixth  and  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-seventh  Streets,  on  ground  donated  by 
Louis  K.  Osborn,  stands  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Tremont.  It  is  a  wooden  building  of  one 
story  and  basement,  the  latter  being  the  Sunday- 


840 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


school  room.  The  congregation  was  formed  in  1853, 
and  began  worship  in  the  old  stone  school-house  now 
occupied  as  a  police-station.  After  Mr.  Osborn  had 
given  the  lot  for  a  church,  he  and  Peter  Buckhout 
and  other  active  Methodists  collected  money  for  a 
building  fund.  In  1855  the  congregation  was  incor- 
porated, and  Jacob  Buckhout,  Peter  Buckhout,  Henry 
L.  Jolly,  Andrew  .Foote  and  William  G.  Lent  were 
made  trustees.  Messrs.  Jolly,  Lent  and  Peter  Buck- 
hout were  appointed  the  building  committee  and 
erected  the  church  at  a  cost  of  $2000.  A  parsonage 
was  built  at  the  corner  of  Marble  Street  and  Wash- 
ington Avenue.  A  new  church,  from  the  designs  of 
Architect  L.  B.  Valk,  is  about  to  be  built,  the  land 
having  been  bought  and  $3000  contributed.  The 
church  has  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
one,  over  one  hundred  having  united  with  it  since 
1885.  The  Sabbath-school  numbers  three  hundred 
and  forty  pupils  and  thirty-five  officers  and  teachers. 
The  stewards  are  L.  K.  Osborn,  G.  D.  W.  Clocke, 
John  Greatcap,  W.  E.  Andrews,  David  Woodall,  W. 
L.  Johnson,  W.  W.  Osborn,  T.  W.  Lewis  and  George 
Weeks.  The  trustees  are  A.  T.  Buckhout,  J.  H. 
Buckbee,  T.  C.  Lewis,  R.  J.  Lomas,  Jr.,  G.  Noue- 
maker,  A.  P.  Shove,  W.  R.  Holder  and  G.  D.  W. 
Clocke. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  pastors : 


1857-60   Rev.  Solomon  C.  Perry. 

1860-  Gl  ».  .  .  .  KeT.  John  A.  Sillick. 

1861-  63   Rev.  Valentine  Buck. 

1863-64  Bev.  A.  C.  Field. 

1865-69   Kev.  John  \V.  Ackerley. 

1869-71   Kev.  N.  B.  Thompson. 

1871-73   Kev.  P.  R.  Brown. 

1873-  74   Rev.  A.  N.  Osborne. 

1874-  75   Rev.  T.  B.  Smith. 

1875-  76   Rev.  Thomus  La  Mont. 

1876-  79   Kev.  D.  L.  Marks. 

1879-82   Rev.  F.  Bartome. 

1882-83   Rev.  N.  B.  Thompson. 

1884 —  Rev.  Philip  Germond,  present  pastor. 


The  Baptist  Church. — On  theeastside  of  Wash- 
ington Avenue,  in  Tremont,  the  Baptists  have  just 
erected  a  new  church.  For  several  years  the  Baptists 
of  Tremont  worshipped  in  a  building  which  stood  on 
Mount  Hope,  to  the  west  of  the  Harlem  Railroad,  but 
that  congregation  was  dissolved  and  the  lot  on  which 
the  church  stood  was  sold,  and  out  of  the  avails 
the  present  lot  on  Washington  Avenue  was 
purchased.  For  a  year  or  more  the  congregation 
have  attended  services  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  building  at  Tremont.  The  new  building 
stands  on  a  lot  fifty  four  by  one  hundred.  It  is  semi- 
cruciform  and  built  of  stone  in  the  old  English  style 
of  architecture.  It  will  be  finished  in  the  interior  in 
hard  woods  and  will  be  ornamented  with  stained- 
glass  windows.  The  Rev.  Frank  Fletcher,  A.M.,  of 
Madison  University,  is  the  enterprising  pastor,  this 
being  the  third  church  which  he  has  built  since  he 
commenced  his  ministry.  Before  coming  to  this 
parish  Mr.  Fletcher  ministered  at  Brewster's,  in  Put- 


nam County,  Paterson,  N.  J.,  and  Brooklyn.  The 
lot  on  which  the  church  stands  is  paid  for. 

St.  Joseph'.s  Catholic  Church. — This  church 
and  parsonage  are  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Wash- 
ington Avenue,  Tremont.  The  congregation  was  or- 
ganized about  1873,  and  the  church  was  built  for  the 
purpose  of  accommodating  the  German-speaking  citi- 
zens of  Tremont,  the  priest  always  preaching  in  that 
language.  But  it  was  found  that  the  number  of  at- 
tendants was  not  sufficient  to  warrant  the  exclusive 
use  of  German,  and  at  this  time  the  preaching  is  in 
English.  The  church  is  built  of  stone  and  brick. 
Rossi,  of  New  York,  was  the  architect,  John  Kirby 
the  carpenter,  and  Francis  Druhe  the  mason,  both 
the  latter  being  residents  of  Tremont.  The  church 
stands  on  a  lot  fifty  by  one  hundred,  and  north  of  it 
the  jjretty  parsonage  sets  back  from  the  street,  with 
an  attractive  flower-garden  in  front.  The  church, 
which  is  Gothic  in  its  architecture,  is  ornamented  in 
the  interior  with  frescoes  by  Aviati,  also  a  resident  of 
the  vicinity.  At  the  back  of  the  high  altar  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  St.  Joseph  carrying  the  Holy  Child.  St. 
Patrick  flanks  him  on  the  right  and  St.  Boniface  on 
the  left.  Two  frescoes  of  the  Resurrection  and 
Ascension  also  adorn  the  chancel.  The  bishop's 
chair  was  donated  by  Mr.  William  Haskin,  for  many 
years  one  of  the  deputy  county  clerks  of  New  York 
County,  and  a  resident  of  the  old  township.  Over 
the  windows  in  the  clere-story  are  frescoes  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles.  The  church  is  lighted  by  stained- 
glass  windows  at  the  sides,  each  the  gift  of  some  mem- 
ber of  the  parish  or  of  the  neighborhood.  With  the 
exception  of  three  of  the  windows,  in  which  the  names 
of  the  donors  had  been  effaced  by  the  breaking  of  the 
glass,  the  following  is  the  list  of  donors  :  Franz  Druhe 
and  family,  two  windows ;  J.  Ortmann,  John  Kerby, 
M.  J.  Heimburger,  Benedeck  Bernsseer,  Hugh  Ferri- 
gan,  August  Druhe,  St.  Joseph's  Verein  of  Melrose, 
August  Rickersfeld,  Mr.  O'Brien,  Mr.  Donohue  and 
Rev.  Joseph  Stumpe,  of  St.  Mary's,  Melrose.  A  win- 
dow was  presented  by  three  persons  who  did  not  wish 
their  names  to  appear.  It  is  designated  "  Charity." 
The  organ  was  built  by  Jardine  &  Sons.  At  the  west 
end  of  the  church,  near  the  confessional,  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  votive  grotto  and  chapel  at  Lourdes, 
which  was  made  by  Father  Tonner,  a  former  pastor 
of  the  church.  In  the  basement  is  a  large  hall  for 
school-room  and  festivals,  which  is  provided  with  a 
stage  for  the  representations  of  the  Dramatic  Society. 
The  parish  is  growing.  Its  average  attendance  on 
Sundays  is  four  hundred ;  communicants,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty;  baptisms  last  year  (1884-85),  forty. 
The  rectors  of  the  parish  have  been  as  follows  : 
Father  Long,  now  removed  to  New  York ;  Father 
Tonner,  who  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Peter  Farrell,  a 
graduate  of  the  Diocesan  Theological  Seminary,  of 
Troy,  the  present  incumbent. 

The  Presbyterian  Church. — On  August  31, 
1814,  the  Presbyterian  congregation  was  incorporated 


WEST  FARMS. 


841 


as  "The  First  Presbj'terian  Church  in  the  village  of 
West  Farms,"  and  Robert  Givan,  Caleb  Pell,  Ebene- 
zer  Watcrbury,  James  Bathgate,  James  Renwick  and 
John  B.  Gillespie  were  elected  trustees.  The  church 
was  erected  in  1815  and  occupies  the  highest  ground 
in  the  village.    These  are  the  pastors, — 


1815  Bev.  Isaac  Lewis. 

1819  Rev.  Truman  Osborne. 

1821  Kev.  Samuel  Nott. 

1823   Rev.  Joseph  B.  Felt. 

1823  Kev.  Thomas  S.  Wickes. 

1824   Rev.  Ithamer  HiUsbury. 

1824   Rev.  E.  D.  Wells. 

1825   Rev.  .1.  D.  Wiekham. 

1828   Eev.  George  Stebbins. 

1835   Rev.  William  Gray. 

.1836   Rev.  M.  I.  .\dam. 

1841  Rev.  James  B.  Ramsey. 

184G  Rev.  Charles  Moase. 

1847   Rev.  Isiuic  AVatts  Piatt. 

1858   Bev.  George  Nixon. 

187G  Rev.  C.  W.  Adams. 

1880   Rev.  Willard  Scott,  present  pastor. 


The  Union  Presbyterian  Church  of  Tremont  was 
incorporated  April  7,  1855.  The  first  trustees  were 
John  Thain,  John  B.  Fraser  aud  Warren  Bonney. 


BIOGR.\PHY. 


DANIEL  MAPES. 

Southold,  Long  Island,  is  one  of  the  oldest  English 
towns  in  the  State,  and  was  settled  in  the  fall  of  1640. 
Among  the  earliest  of  the  settlers  was  Thomas  Mapes, 
of  Englir^h  descent,  the  ancestor  of  the  many  families 
of  the  name  found  in  various  portions  of  the  country. 
Thomas  Mapes  was  not  only  one  of  the  jjioneers  in 
Southold,  but  was  also  interested  in  the  settlement  of 
the  town  of  Brookhaven,  Long  Island,  and  had  a 
share  in  the  various  divisions  of  land  in  that  town. 
He  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  William  Purrier,  also 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Southold.  In  1683,  Thos. 
Mapes  was  made  freeman  of  the  colony  of  Connecti- 
cut, of  which  Southold  was  a  part  at  that  time.  He 
was  taxed  for  £244,  which  shows  him  to  have  been 
a  man  of  means.  He  went  to  Brookhaven  in  1655, 
but  returned  to  Southold  in  1657,  and  died  there  in 
1686.  He  possessed  much  land  in  Southold  and  one 
part  known  as  "  Mapes'  Neck,"  was  owned  by  his  de- 
scendants for  three  generations.  He  left  nine  chil- 
dren,— Thomas,  William,  Jabez,  Jonathan,  Abigail 
(wife  of  John  Terrell),  Sarah  (wife  of  William  Cole- 
man), Mary  (wife  of  Barnabas  Wines),  Naomi  and 
Rebecca  (wife  of  Thomas  Young,  son  of  Rev.  John 
Young,  the  first  minister  of  Southold.) 

These  children  have  a  large  number  of  descend- 
ants. Jonathan,  the  fourth  son,  was  born  in  1671 
76 


and  died  in  1747.  He  married  Hester  Horton  in  1696 
and  had  two  sons, — Jonathan  and  Benjamin. 

Jonathan  Wiis  the  father  of  John  Mapes,  born 
March  10,  17()6,  and  married  Julia  Ann  Wood, 
January  24,  1793.  Their  children  were  Samuel,  born 
June  19,  1794,  who  has  no  living  descendants;  Anna, 
born  December  7,  1796,  who  died  unmarried  ;  Daniel, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  born  February  23,  1800 ; 
John,  born  September  10,  1802  (he  had  two  daughters, 
Charlotte  and  Caroline,  who  are  still  living);  Leonard, 
born  November  16,  1804 ;  Benjamin,  born  March  24, 
1810,  (he  left  three  children, — Cornelia,  wife  of 
Theodore  Fitch,  Emily,  wife  of  Frederick 
Strang ;  and  Charles,  who  married  Clara  Masters) ; 
James,  born  October  7,  1812,  married  Rachel  Archer 
and  had  four  children, — Leonard,  John  A.,  Emily  and 
Anna. 

John  Mapes,  the  father  of  this  family,  died  in  1836 
and  his  wife  died  in  1840. 

After  the  death  of  the  parents,  ^Daniel  Mapes  and 
his  sister  Anna,  owing  to  their  age  and  great  decision 
of  character,  became  the  acknowledged  heads  of  the 
family,  and  by  their  industry,  perseverance  and  in- 
tegrity exerted  a  very  salutary  influence  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  they  resided.  In  early  life  Daniel 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  the  village  of  West 
Farms  and  for  half  a  century  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  successful  business  men  in  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  county,  amassing  a  large  fortune, 
which  he  dispensed  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in 
acts  of  beneficence  and  charity,  making  liberal  con- 
tributions to  the  educational  institutions  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  Cornell 
University,  and  the  Syrian  College  at  Beirut.  From 
his  early  youth  he  was  noted  for  strictly  temperate 
habits,  to  which  he  attributed  his  uninterrupted  good 
health  for  more  than  four-score  years. 

He  was  for  many  years  a  useful  and  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Reformed  Church  at  West  Farms  and 
manifested  his  attachment  to  it  by  his  munificent 
gift  of  the  Mapes  Parsonage,  as  well  as  by  his  liberal 
contributions  to  its  support.  On  the  20th  of  January, 
1884,  he  fell  asleep  in  Christ,  full  of  years,  riches  and 
honors,  and  was  buried  in  Woodlawn  Cemetery. 


LEOXARD  MAPES. 

Leonard  Mapes,  the  fifth  child  of  John  Mapes,  was 
born  November  10, 1804,  and  married  Mary,  daugliter 
of  William  Archer.  Their  children  were,— first. 
Sarah,  wife  of  Hampton  Brown,  of  Ulster  County; 
second,  Daniel,  a  merchant  and  resident  of  West 
Farms,  who  married  Evadna,  daughter  of  Matson 
Arnow ;  third,  William,  a  merchant  and  resident  of 
West  Farms,  who  married  Ida  Arnow  ;  fourth, 
Mary  A.,  wife  of  Edward  Myers ;  fifth,  Henry  C, 
who  married  Susan,  daughter  of  Daniel  Tier,  and  is 
now  living  in  Westchester ;  sixth,  Harriet,  wife  of 
George  Shepherd ;  seventh,  John   S.,  who  married 


842 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Ella,  daughter  of  John  Frost,  and  is  now  living  at  the 
old  homestead  at  Westchester  ;  eighth,  Catharine  A., 
unmarried,  resides  in  West  Farms. 


EDWARD  B.  FELLOWS. 

Among  the  men  who  have  been  prominent  in  the 
business  circles  of  New  York  City  there  are  few  who 
have  been  longer  before  the  public  than  Mr.  Edward 
B.  Fellows,  the  president  of  Rutgers'  Fire  Insurance 
Company. 

Descended  from  a  long  line  of  New  England  ances- 
try, his  great-grandfather,  John  Fellows,  was  among 
the  early  settlers  in  Salisbury,  N.  H.,  and  the  latter's 
sons  were  soldiers  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  One 
of  these  sons  (Richard)  married  Rachel  Scribner,  and 
their  oldest  son  (Benjamin)  was  the  father  of  Edward 
B.,  and,  in  his  early  years,  was  one  of  the  pupils  of 
Daniel  Webster  when  he  was  a  school-teacher  in  Sal- 
isbury, his  native  town. 

Benjamin  Fellows  married  his  cousin,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Daniel  Fellows,  and  Edward  B.  was  born 
June  20, 1811.  In  1817  he  removed  with  his  parents 
to  Tunbridge,  Vt.,  where  he  attended  school  and  was 
subsequently  a  student  at  the  academy  at  Royalton. 
Upon  arriving  at  manhood,  like  most  Yankee  boys, 
he  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  abroad,  and,  in  1831, 
went  to  the  Wyoming  Valley,  in  Pennsylvania.  Here 
he  engaged  in  teaching  school,  which  he  continued 
for  a  year  or  two,  and  afterwards  obtained  a  position 
as  clerk  in  a  store.  In  1834  he  came  to  New  York 
and  entered  a  dry-goods  store  as  clerk,  and  a  few 
years  later  established  business  on  his  own  account. 
Becoming  interested  in  politics,  he  was  for  several 
years  collector  of  taxes  for  the  Fourth  Ward,  and,  dur- 
ing the  administration  of  James  K.  Polk,  held  a  po- 
sition in  the  New  York  Custom-House  under  Collec- 
tor Cornelius  W.  Lawrence. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Fel- 
lows was  his  connection  with  the  cause  of  education 
and  the  establishment  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
city,  which,  previous  to  1842,  were  under  the  direction 
of  the  Public  School  Society.  In  1841  an  act  was 
passed  authorizing  the  election  of  trustees  and  com- 
missioners. Mr.  Fellows  was  elected  one  of  the  trus- 
tees for  the  Fourth  Ward,  and  was  afterwards  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education.  In  the  exciting  con- 
troversy concerning  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in 
the  public  schools  he  took  the  position  which  expe- 
rience has  shown  to  be  the  wisest,  and,  by  making  a 
complete  separation  between  religious  and  secular  in- 
struction, has  removed  from  the  Catholic  portion  of 
Ihe  community  all  just  cause  of  complaint. 

While  he  held  the  office  of  commissioner  he  was 
the  first  to  introduce  resolutions  for  the  establishment 
■of  evening  schools  for  the  benefit  of  apprentices  and 
■others  whose  vocations  prevented  their  attendance  in 
the  day-schools,  and  this  in  itself  is  enough  to  justly 
■entitle  him  to  the  gratitude  of  thousands  of  citizens. 
The  schools  thus  established  were  eminently  success- 


ful, and  their  benefits  will  be  felt  for  all  time  to  come. 
It  was  largely  owing  to  his  efforts  that  evening  schools 
were  established  for  the  benefit  of  females.  Six  were 
established  during  the  first  year,  and  this  number  was 
doubled  in  the  following  year.  Mr.  Fellows  was  ap- 
pointed chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Evening 
Schools,  and  devoted  so  much  time  and  labor  to  their 
advancement  that  their  acknowledged  success  is  largely 
attributed  to  his  active  energy.  He  was  also  promi- 
nent in  the  establishment  of  the  New  York  Free 
Academy,  and  introduced  resolutions  for  establishing 
a  free  academy  for  females,  a  scheme  which  is  now  per- 
fected in  the  Free  Normal  College.  No  truthful  his- 
tory of  the  cause  of  education  in  New  York  can  be 
written  which  does  not  give  a  leading  place  to  the 
name  of  Edward  B.  Fellows. 

In  June,  1853,  he,  in  connection  with  John  W. 
Ketcham,  conceived  the  idea  of  organizing  an  insur- 
ance company,  to  be  located  in  Chatham  Square.  At 
a  meeting  held  June  2d  there  were  twenty  persons 
present  who  had  consented  to  be  directors,  and  it  was 
resolved  that  the  name  of  the  intended  corporation 
should  be  the  "  Rutgers'  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York."  Property  was  purchased  at  the  corner 
of  Chatham  and  Mott  Streets,  which  is  still  owned 
and  occupied  by  the  company.  Mr.  Fellows  was  the 
first  secretary  of  the  company,  and,  upon  the  death  of 
Isaac  0.  Barker,  the  first  president  (which  occurred 
in  1866),  he  was  elected  president,  has  been  unani- 
mously re-elected  at  every  annual  meeting  and  now 
holds  the  office. 

He  removed  his  residence  to  Westchester  in  1861, 
and  purchased  a  place  at  West  Farms,  which  has  since 
been  his  home. 

He  was  married,  in  1836,  to  Henrietta,  daughter  of 
Aaron  Brown,  who  was  at  one  time  the  owner  of  the 
Slocura  farm,  on  which  a  large  part  of  the  city 
of  Scran  ton.  Pa.,  now  stands.  By  this  marriage 
he  had  four  children, — Augusta  (wife  of  Monmouth 
H.  Chambers),  Edward,  Theodore  and  Charles.  The- 
odore, the  only  surviving  child,  is  now  living  in  New 
Hampshire. 

Mrs.  Fellows  died  in  1871,  and  Mr.  Fellows  after- 
wards married  Amelia  S.  Peters,  by  whom  he  has  one 
son,  George  P.,  now  living  with  his  parents  at  West 
Farms.  The  mother  of  Mr.  Fellows  is  yet  living,  at 
the  age  of  ninety-three. 

He  has  always  been  a  Democrat.  In  early  life  he 
was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Odd-Fellows'  Associ- 
ation. He  is  now  the  oldest  member  of  the  Church 
of  the  Divine  Paternity,  and  has  held  many  official 
positions  in  connections  with  it.  During  the  lay  pas- 
torate of  the  eminent  and  eloquent  divine.  Rev.  Dr. 
Chapin,  Mr.  Fellows  was  one  of  his  most  devoted 
friends  and  supporters.  He  is  one  of  the  founders 
and  supporters  of  the  "Chapin  Home,"  a  non-secta- 
rian institution  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  and  has  been 
a  member  of  the  advisory  council  from  the  time  of  its 
organization.    He  is  also  the  treasurer  of  the  Uuiver- 


• 


WEST  FARMS. 


843 


salist  GeneralConvention,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Univer- 
salist  Relief  Fund  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

He  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of  the  Morri- 
sania  Savings  Bank,  and  continued  in  that  position 
while  it  had  an  existence.  After  a  successful  course 
of  thirteen  years  the  institution  was  closed,  all  the 
depositors  being  paid  in  full. 


ANDREW  FIXDLAY. 

Andrew  Findlay,  the  eminent  surveyor  and  civil 
engineer,  was  born  in  the  village  of  Westchester 
August  6,  1811.  He  is  the  son  of  Robert  Findlay 
who  was  born  at  Wigton,  Gallowayshire,  Scotland,  in 
176G.  Hannah  Milroy,  the  wife  of  Robert,  was  a 
native  of  the  same  place.  They  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1801  and  soon  after  settled  in  Westchester, 
where  Robert  Findlay  began  the  business  of  survey- 
ing. He  died  in  1833,  and  his  son  Andrew  succeeded 
him  the  following  year,  continuing  the  business  with 
success  until  within  a  few  years  past.  Andrew  Find- 
lay was  educated  in  the  district  school  of  Westchester 
village,  and  early  in  life  was  foreman  of  a  branch  of 
the  Bronx  Bleaching  Company's  works.  He  was 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  Westchester  from  1839  to 
1848,  except  in  the  year  1844,  when  Robert  R.  Morris 
was  elected.  West  Farms  was  set  oft'  from  the  town 
of  Westchester  in  1846,  and  Mr.  Findlay  was  elected 
supervisor  in  1847  and  1848.  He  had  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature  in  1843,  and  was  re-elected  in 
1844.  While  a  member  of  that  body  he  served  on 
several  important  committees.  As  a  surveyor,  Mr. 
Findlay  has  been  frequently  called  upon  to  settle 
boundary  disputes,  and  has  frequently  made  partition 
of  some  important  estates.  He  has  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  for  sixteen  years,  was  trustee  of 
the  town  of  Westchester,  and  for  many  years  was 
inspector  of  the  common  schools. 


JAMES  L.  WELLS. 

Among  the  men  who  have  been  most  actively  en- 
gaged in  devising  beneficial  legislation  for  the  old 
towns  of  Morrisania,  West  Farms  and  King's  Bridge 
(now  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards  of 
the  city  of  New  York),  and  in  securing  the  enact- 
ment of  the  mea.sures  that  are  ho  rapidly  transform- 
ing these  former  portions  of  Westchester  County  into 
thickly-settled  sections  of  the  great  metropolis,  none 
have  been  more  prominent  than  James  L.  Wells. 
None  have  secured  for  the  district  more  public  im- 
provements, and  few,  if  any,  are  more  closely  identi- 
fied than  he  with  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  these 
wards. 

Mr.  Wells  was  born  at  West  Farms  December  16, 
1843.  His  parents  are  English,  but  have  resided  in 
New  York  and  vicinity  since  1817.  He  received  his 
early  education  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
town.  In  1860  he  entered  Kenyon  College,  Ohio, 
and  remained  there  during  the  freshman  year.  He 


completed  his  collegiate  course  at  Columbia  College, 
New  York,  and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1865.  For 
several  years  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
at  West  Farms.  At  an  early  day  he  became  inter- 
ested and  took  an  active  part  in  the  various  public 
matters  relating  to  the  town.  In  1869  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  West  Farms, 
and  by  subsequent  re-elections  was  continued  in  that 
position  until  the  annexation  of  the  town  to  the  city 
of  New  York.  His  course  in  this  board  was  distin- 
guished by  strict  attention  to  the  duties  of  the  office, 
by  his  interest  in  educational  matters  and  by  the 
beneficial  reforms  which  he  advocated  and  introduced 
in  the  schools  of  the  district. 

Attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party, 
he  was,  both  before  and  since  annexation,  frequently 
chosen  a  delegate  to  represent  the  Assembly  District 
in  various  State  and  other  conventions  of  that  party. 
He  was  for  several  years  president  of  the  Republican 
Association  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Ward,  and  has 
been  frequently  a  delegate  to  the  Republican  County 
Committee  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  a  member 
of  the  executive  committee.  His  ability  and  energy 
being  fully  recognized  by  his  party  associates,  he  was 
nominated  for  member  of  the  Assembly  of  1879  to  re- 
present the  First  District  of  Westchester  County,  then 
comprising  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  city  of  Yonkers  and  the 
town  of  Westchester.  Notwithstanding  that  the  dis- 
trict was  overwhelmingly  Democratic,  so  great  was 
his  popularity  and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by 
the  people  of  both  political  parties,  that  he  was 
elected.  During  his  first  term  in  the  Legislature  he 
served  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Federal  Re- 
lations, and  as  a  member  of  the  Committees  on  Com- 
merce and  Navigation,  Roads  and  Bridges,  and 
the  special  committee  charged  with  the  investigation 
of  the  affairs  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  His  course 
was  marked  by  such  constant  and  carefiil  attention 
to  the  interests  of  his  district  that  he  was  renomi- 
nated for  and  elected  to  the  Assembly  of  1880,  as  the 
representative  of  the  new  Twenty-fourth  District  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  comprising  the  Twenty-third 
and  Twenty-fourth  Wards,  as  provided  by  the  Reap- 
portionment Act  of  1879.  During  his  second  term 
he  served  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Expen- 
ditures of  the  Executive  Department,  a  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Commerce  and  Navigation,  Roads 
and  Bridges,  and  special  committees  apjjointed  by 
the  Speaker. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  more  important 
measures  introduced  and  advocated  by  Mr.  Wells  and 
enacted  by  the  Legislatures  of  1879  and  1880  :  Acts  to 
facilitate  the  improvement  of  the  Harlem  River,  and 
for  the  construction  of  bridges  over  the  same ;  to 
extend  the  water  supply  in  the  Twenty-third  and 
Twenty-fourth  Wards ;  to  reduce  expenses  and  cor- 
rect abuses  in  street-opening  proceedings  in  the  city 
'  of  New  York  ;  for  the  proper  drainage  of  the  Twenty- 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards  ;  to  reduce  the  rate 
of  interest  on  unpaid  taxes  and  assessments  in  Mor- 
risania,  West  Farms  and  King's  Bridge ;  to  abolish 
the  office  of  trustee  of  the  town  of  Westchester; 
and  also  several  acts  amending  the  Annexation  Act, 
and  measures  relating  to  Yonkers  and  Westchester. 
He  also  actively  supported,  by  voice  and  vote,  the  vari- 
ous bills  introduced  during  both  these  sessions,  for  the 
reduction  of  fare  on  the  Harlem,  New  Haven  and 
Elevated  Railroads ;  bills  reported  by  the  Hepburn 
Railroad  Committee ;  bills  for  the  revision  of  the  tax 
laws,  for  the  taxation  of  corporations,  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  official  salaries,  and  for  the  more  economical 
government  of  the  city  of  New  York.  His  course  in 
the  Legislature  was  again  so  eminently  satisfactory 
to  the  people  of  the  district  that  he  received  the  un- 
usual compliment  of  a  third  unanimous  nomination, 
every  member  of  the  convention  arising,  as  his  name 
was  called,  and  announcing  him  as  his  choice  for 
member  of  the  Assembly  of  1881.  The  honor, 
however,  was  declined  on  account  of  his  desire  to  re- 
turn to  business. 

But  the  people  were  determined  that  they  would 
retain  bis  services,  and  the  following  letter,  signed 
by  the  most  prominent  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
district  and  by  hundreds  of  voters,  irrespective  of 
party,  was  addressed  to  him : 

'■  New  York,  October  23,  1880. 

"  Hon.  James  L.  M'ells: 

"  Deur  Sir, — Impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  people  of  the  23(1  and 
24th  Wards  reciuire  that  they  should  have  in  the  Board  of  Aldermen  a 
representative  whose  past  e.\perience  in  and  devotedness  to  public  mat- 
ters affecting  this  District  will  afford  a  guaranty  that  their  interests  will 
be  fully  protected  and  cared  for,  and  believing,  from  our  past  acquaint- 
ance with  you  and  your  pubhc  course  iu  the  Legislature,  that  you 
M'ould,  when  elected  as  .\lderman,  faithfully  represent  the  people  of  the 
District,  we  earnestly  request  that  you  will  permit  the  use  of  your  name 
as  a  candidate  for  Alderman.  We  assure  you  of  the  hearty  co-operation 
and  support  of  ourselves  and  the  electors  of  the  District." 

Mr.  Wells  was,  accordingly,  nominated  by  the  Re- 
publican Convention  for  member  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  of  1881,  indorsed  by  a  mass  convention  of 
citizens  and  triumphantly  elected  in  a  Presidential 
campaign  over  his  opponent,  the  nominee  of  the 
united  Democratic  party,  and  was  the  only  Repub- 
lican chosen  in  the  district.  A  mass  convention  of 
the  people  nominated  him  for  member  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen  for  1882.  He  was  also  nominated  by 
the  Republicans  and  elected.  Similar  action  was 
taken  by  the  people  of  the  district  and  his  party  in 
the  fall  of  that  year,  and  he  was  elected  to  the  board 
for  1883.  He  was  nominated  for  1884,  but  declined 
the  honor.  Contrary  to  his  wishes,  however,  his 
name  was  presented  to  the  public  by  his  friends  and 
he  came  within  a  few  votes  of  being  elected  to  the 
board  for  the  fourth  time.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Works  during  his  three  terms  in 
the  board,  and  in  1882  was  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, an  unusual  honor  for  a  Republican  in  a 
Democratic  board.  His  position  on  this  committee 
enabled  him  to  be  of  great  service  to  the  Twenty- 


third  and  Twenty- fourth  Wards,  and  the  large  number 
of  much-needed  jiublic  improvements  which  have 
been  made  within  the  past  few  years  is  evidence  of  his 
industry  in  personally  preparing  the  necessary  meas- 
ures, and  his  ability  and  success  in  securing  their 
enactment. 

Among  the  important  measures  introduced  and 
advocated  by  him  and  enacted  by  the  boards  of  1881, 
1882  and  1883  were  hundreds  of  ordinances  for  monu- 
menting,  opening,  regulating,  grading,  repairing, 
sewering,  flagging,  curbing,  paving  and  lighting 
various  street,  roads  and  avenues  in  the  Twenty-third 
and  Twenty-fourth  Wards ;  for  extending  the  Croton 
water  supply  and  establishing  lire  and  drinking  hy- 
drants ;  for  the  systematic  numbering  of  the  houses 
and  lots  ;  providing  for  gates  at  railroad  crossings  ; 
for  building  a  railroad  bridge  over  the  Harlem  River, 
opposite  Second  Avenue  ;  for  the  construction  of  var- 
ious rapid  transit  routes,  and  for  the  promotion  of  the 
innumerable  public  works  incidental  to  and  necessary 
for  the  development  and  growth  of  a  new  section  of  a 
great  city.  These  public  improvements  have  given 
the  greatest  impetus  to  building  operations  in  these 
wards,  and  the  beneficial  results  of  his  zealous 
and  disinterested  labors,  both  in  the  State  and  City 
Legislatures,  will  be  felt  long  after  the  present  genera- 
tion has  passed  away. 

Daring  the  Presidential  campaigns  of  1880  and 
1884,  Mr.  Wells  was  actively  engaged  in  supporting 
the  nominees  of  the  Republican  party,  and  addressed 
large  meetings  in  various  parts  of  the  district. 

In  the  campaign  of  1884  he  was  unanimously 
nominated  by  the  Republican  Convention  for  mem- 
ber of  the  Assembly  of  1885,  and  was  urged  by  men 
of  both  parties  to  accept,  but  he  positively  declined 
the  honor  on  account  of  business  engagements  and 
his  disinclination  to  hold  office. 

During  the  past  fifteen  years  he  has  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  business  of  a  real  estate  broker  and  is 
at  present  a  director  of  the  Real  Estate  Exchange  and 
Auction-Room  (Limited),  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
In  his  avocation  he  has  gained  a  well-merited  repu- 
tation and  success,  and  there  is  no  one  who  has  had  a 
more  extensive  experience  in  sub-dividing  and  bring- 
ing into  market  real  estate  in  the  Twenty-third  and 
Twenty-fourth  Wards  and  the  adjacent  parts  of  West- 
chester Count}',  or  who  has  a  more  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  property  value  in  these  sections,  and  he  is 
frequently  called  upon  as  an  appraiser  in  apportion- 
ment of  estates  and  in  the  acquisition  of  lands  for 
public  purposes.  He  is  not  indebted  for  his  success 
to  inherited  wealth,  but  to  his  own  activity,  jierse- 
verance  and  enterprise. 


WILLIAM  "W.  FOX. 

Mr.  Fox,  who  was  prominent  as  a  business  man  of 
New  York  during  the  past  generation,  was  born  Sep- 
tember 26,  1783.  His  grandfather,  Jonathan  Fox, 
was  descended  from  a  family  whose  name  was  prom- 


WEST  FARMS. 


845 


inent  iu  the  history  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  With 
his  wife,  Deborah,  he  settled  in  New  Jersey,  where  his 
son  George  was  born.  The  latter  married  Lydia  I 
Woolly,  and  after  her  decease  married  Esther  Shot- 
well.  The  children  of  these  marriages  were  William 
W.,  George  S.  and  Deborah,  wife  of  Joseph  Shotwell. 

William  W.  began  business  on  his  own  account  at 
a  very  early  age,  his  first  ventures  being  to  meet  in- 
coming vessels  in  a  small  sail-boat  and  purchase  goods, 
which  he  sold  in  the  city  before  the  vessels  were  un- 
loaded. He  next  entered  into  a  partnership  with 
John  K.  Townsendand  established  a  dry -goods  store, 
under  the  firm-name  of  Townseud  &  Fox.  After  the 
death  of  Mr.  Townsend  he  became  a  partner  with  his 
father-in-law,  Thomas  Leggett,  under  the  name  of 
Leggett,  Fox  &  Co.,  a  firm  well  known  in  busi- 
ness circles  in  New  York. 
The  idea  of  lighting  the 
city  with  gas  was  said 
to  have  originated  with 
Samuel  Leggett,  but  Mr. 
Fox  had  the  executive 
capacity  to  put  it  into 
practical  operation,  and 
in  1829  he  became  the 
president  of  the  Gas- 
Light  Company,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  retained 
until  his  death,  and  was 
the  master-spirit  of  the 
undertaking.  During  the 
period  of  his  business 
career  there  were  few 
public  institutions  with 
which  he  was  not  pro- 
minently connected.  He 
was  one  of  the  ten  gover- 
nors of  the  House  of  Re- 
fuge and  one  of  the  foun- 
ders of  that  institution. 
During  the  building  of 
the  Croton  Aqueduct  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the 

water  commissioners  by  Governor  William  L.  Marcy 
and  devoted  his  time  and  labor  unceasingly  to  the 
promotion  of  that  important  work.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned as  an  illustration  of  his  conscientious  care  in 
the  enterprise,  that  when  the  a(]ueduct  was  com- 
pleted he  traveled  the  entire  length  on  foot,  making 
a  careful  personal  inspection  of  ever*'  portion  of  the 
work,  and  of  the  names  engraved  in  the  lasting 
granite  of  the  High  Bridge  there  is  none  that  deserves 
a  more  prominent  place  than  his  own. 

He  married  Charlotte,  daughter  of  Tliomas  Leggett, 
of  West  Farms,  June  9,  1808.  Their  children  were 
George,  who  married  Maria  F.,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
Clark  (their  only  son,  William  W..  died  without  heirs); 
Thomas  L.,  who  died  unmarried,  and  Mary  L.,  who 
married  Francis  A.  Titianv.    Their  children  were 


WiJ.LIAM 


George  Fox  (who  died  unmarried),  Lyman  (who 
married  Sarah,  daughter  of  George  Stanton,  formerly 
of  Albany,  and  has  children — Charlotte  Fox,  Helen, 
Margaret  and  George  Stanton),  Francis  H.  (who 
died  unmarried),  Henry  D.  (who  married  Caroline, 
daughter  of  Josiah  D.  Chase,  and  has  three  children 
— George  Fox,  Edith  and  Isabel),  Charlotte  Fox, 
(who  married  Minor  Trowbridge,  of  Brooklyn,  whose 
children  are  Clarence  M.,  Guion,  Vaughan  R.,  Ethel 
and  Constance),  Mary  P.  (wife  of  George  F.  Tucker) 
and  Isabel  (wife  of  Charles  B.  Perry,  whose  children 
are  Langdon,  Francis  T.,  Lyman  T.  and  Egbert  B.). 

The  Fox  estate  at  AVest  Farms,  which  is  now  a 
part  of  New  York  City,  has  descended  to  its  owners 
in  the  following  manner:  Robert  Hunt,  who  was 
the  owner  of  lot  No.  9  of  the  original  division 

of  the  West  Farms  Pa- 
tent, sold  it  to  his  son 
Robert,  in  March,  1723, 
for  £9  19s.  From  him  it 
passed  to  his  son,  Phineas 
Hunt,  who  left  it  to  his 
three  children  —  Tamar, 
James  and  Rachel — who 
sold  it  to  Ebenezer  Leg- 
gett in  March,  1814,  and 
he,  in  turn,  sold  it  to 
Thomas  Leggett,  from 
whose  heirs  it  was  pur- 
chased by  William  M. 
Fox,  whose  heirs  are  its 
present  owners.  To  the 
original  lot  Thomas  Leg- 
gett added  largely  by  pur- 
chases from  Gouverneur 
Morris,  the  owner  of  a 
portion  of  the  Manor  of 
Morrisania,  which  boun- 
ded the  West  Farms 
Patent  on  the  west,  and 
from  the  owners  of  the 
lots  on  the  north  and 
south. 

The  deed  from  Ebenezer  Leggett  to  Thomas  Leg- 
gett thus  describes  the  tract:  "The  piece  of  land 
formerly  the  farm  of  Phineas  Hunt,  deceased,  begin- 
ning at  the  North-east  corner  at  a  stone  standing  in 
the  meadow  adjoining  the  salt  meadow  of  Thomas 
Walker,  near  the  corner  of  Joseph  Tucker's  land ; 
thence  running  South  by  Thomas  Walker's  salt 
meadow  to  a  stone  standing  at  the  corner;  thence 
west  to  the  line  fence  of  Thomas  Walker  and  Fred- 
erick Courser ;  thence  along  as  the  fence  stands 
crossing  the  turnpike  road  to  a  small  ditch  ;  then  fol- 
lowing the  course  of  said  ditch  till  it  reaches  Bronx 
River  to  a  ditch  adjoining  Samuel  Kelly's  salt  meadow, 
then  west  by  the  upland  of  Samuel  Kelly;  then 
north  by  an  old  ditch  unto  the  corner  of  the  line 
fence  of  Samuel  Kelly  ;  then  west  by  the  land  of 


FOX. 


846 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Samuel  Kelly  until  it  comes  to  the  land  of  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  deceased ;  then  north  along  the  land  of 
said  Gouverneur  Morris  as  the  line  fence  now  stands 
unto  land  belonging  to  Jonathan  Tucker  ;  then  east 
by  the  said  Tucker's  land  to  the  place  of  beginning." 

In  addition  to  the  parcels  above  mentioned,  one 
portion  of  the  Fox  estate  descended  by  inheritance 
from  Elizabeth  Leggett  to  Thomas  I^eggett,  being  lot 
No.  11  of  the  original  sub-division  of  the  Richardson 
and  Hunt  patent. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

MAMAROXECK. 

BY  EDWARD  FLOYD  DE  LANCEY,  ESQ. 
Copyright,  1S86. 

The  Town  of  Mamaroneck  was  erected  as  a  Town 
with  its  present  boundaries  by  the  "Act  for  dividing 
the  Counties  of  this  State  into  Towns,"  passed  the 
7th  of  March  1788.^  The  language  of  the  Act  is, 
"And  all  that  part  of  the  said  County  of  Westchester, 
bounded  southerly  by  New  Rochelle,  easterly  by  the 
Sound,  Northerly  by  Mamaroneck  River,  and  westerly 
by  the  Town  of  Scarsdale,  shall  be,  and  hereby  is, 
erected  into  a  Town,  by  the  name  of  Mamaroneck." 
Scarsdale,  which  comes  just  before  Mamaroneck  in  the 
Act,  was  erected  into  a  town  with  these  boundaries: 
"  Westerly  by  Bronx  River,  Southerly  by  the  Town  of 
Eastchester  and  New  Rochelle,  easterly  by  the  East 
Bounds  of  a  Tract  of  Land  called  the  Manor  of  Scars- 
dale, and  Northerly  by  the  North  Bounds  of  the 
said  Manor  of  Scarsdale."  Both  Towns  were  carved 
out  of  the  old  Manor  of  Scarsdale,  hence  the  ref- 
erence to  Scarsdale  in  the  boundaries  of  each.  The 
latter  have  never  been  altered  since  the  erection  of 
the  Town  and  are  its  bounds  to-day.  It  fronts  upon 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  extends  from  it  north- 
westward nearly  four  miles,  with  an  average  width 
of  nearly  three  miles.  It  is  situated  twenty-one  miles 
Northeast  of  New  York  City,  and  is  distant  South 
from  Albany,  the  Capital  of  the  State  of  New  Y'ork, 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  miles,  and  the  village 
is  south  from  White  Plains,  the  county  seat,  seven 
miles.  All  these  distances  are  those  of  the  roads  as 
they  existed  prior  to  the  introduction  of  Rail-Roads. 

The  town  of  Mamaroneck  has  an  area  of  about  4000 
acres,  or  6^  square  miles.  Its  population  as  shown  by 
the  State  and  U.  S.  census  reports  at  different  periods, 
has  been  as  follows:  in  1790,  452;  in  1800,  503;  in 
1810,  496  ;  in  1814,  797 ;  in  1820,  878  ;  in  1825,  1032 ; 
in  1830,  838 ;  in  1835, 882 ;  in  1840, 1416 ;  in  1845,  780  ; 
in  1850,  928;  in  1855,  1068;  in  1860,  1351;  in  1865, 
1392;  in  1870,  1484;  in  1875,  1425;  in  1880,  1863. 
Owing  to  a  political  squabble  in  1885,  the  Legislature 
being  Republican,  and  the  Governor  a  Democrat,  the 

1  ii.  Jones  and  Vorck's  Laws,  319. 


former  would  not  pass  a  law  to  take  a  census  in  that 
year,  consequently  there  are  no  figures  for  it,  but  the 
population  is  now  believed  to  be  2000.  The  average 
number  of  voters  is  about  350. 

The  name  is  Indian,  and  signifies  "  The  Place  where 
the  Fresh  water  falls  into  the  Salt,"  and  describes  the 
unusual  natural  fact,  that  the  bed  of  the  Mamaro- 
neck River  some  distance  above  the  place  of  the 
present  bridge  connecting  it  with  the  town  of  Rye, 
(at  which  place  a  bridge  did  not  exist  till  the  year 
1800)  was  originally  crossed  by  a  ledge  of  rocks 
sufficiently  high  to  prevent  the  tide  rising  above 
it,  over  which  the  fresh  water  fell  directly  into  the 
salt  water,  and  at  low  tide  with  a  strong  rush  and 
sound. The  Indians  gave  the  name  to  the  place  of 
this  uncommon  occurrence  and  to  the  River  itself 

In  the  earliest  deeds  and  documents,  the  word  is 
spelled  "  Momoronock,"  "  Mamoronack  "  and  "  Mam- 
aranock ;  "  the  modern  spelling  does  not  seem  to 
have  obtained  generally  till  toward  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Very  many  ways  of  spelling 
this  word  are  met  with,  but  all  evidently  aiming  at 
expressing  its  Indian  sound.  The  Indians  having  no 
written  language,  all  their  names  and  other  words 
which  we  now  have,  are  based  upon  the  reproducing 
of  their  spoken  sounds  in  our  letters.  If  a  Dutch- 
man, Frenchman  or  an  Englishman,  undertook  to 
write  the  same  word  from  an  Indian's  mouth,  very 
different  looking  and  sounding  words  would  be  pro- 
duced. And  as  very  many  of  our  New  York  Indian 
terms  and  names  represent  an  English  spelling  of  a 
Dutch  or  French  translation  of  an  Indian  sound,  we 
should  never  be  surprised  at  any  variety  of  spelling.' 

Though  erected  a  town  so  late  as  1788,  Mama- 
roneck is  one  of  the  oldest  places  in  the  County  and 
the  State,  dating  back  to  1661,  when  the  then 
Indian  owners  Wappaquewam  and  Mahatahan 
sold  and  deeded  their  individual  lands  to  John 
Richbell,  an  Englishman,  on  the  21st  of  Sep- 
tember 1661.  Long  previous  to  this  time,  and  in  the 
year  1640  the  entire  and  general  Indian  title,  both 
to  the  land  and  the  sovereignty,  of  all  the  territory 
of  southeastern  Westchester  and  Connecticut  as  far 
east  as  the  Norwalk  Islands  inclusive,  had  been  ob- 
tained for  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  by  pur- 
chase by  Governor  Kieft,  through  Cornelius  van  Tien- 
hoven,  from  the  Siwanoy  Indians.*  Richbell  however 
was  the  first  white  man  to  purchase  the  individual 
right  of  the  local  Indian  owners  to  the  lands  at  Ma- 
maroneck. 

He  was  an  Englishman  of  a  Hampshire  family  of 


-  Time,  blasting,  and  a  succession  of  dams,  have  obliterated  the  orig- 
inal ledge,  but  the,  remains  of  the  reef  can  still  be  seen. 

^It  has  been  stated  that  "  Mamaroneck"  meant  "  the  place  of  rolling 
stones,"  but  for  this  I  can  not  find  any  authority.  There  are  not  rolling 
stones  anywhere  about  Mamaroneck  either  in  the  river  or  the  town, 
though  both  abound  with  rocks  in  si<u,  in  the  language  of  the  geologists. 

^  I.  Brod.  290,  II.  Albany  Records  78,  147,  II.  Hazard  273,  I.  OX'all. 
N.  X.  215. 


I 


t 


MAMARONECK. 


847 


Southampton  or  its  neighborhood,  who  were  mer- 
chants in  London,  and  who  had  business  transactions 
with  the  West  Indies  and  with  New  England.  He 
was  in  Charlestown  Massachusetts  in  1648  according 
to  Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary,  and  he  appears 
in  an  Inventory  of  the  estate  of  Robert  Gibson  of 
Boston,  as  owing  the  estate  S&£  on  the  8th  of  August 
1656.  Prior  to  1657  he  had  been  in  St.  Christopher's 
Island  in  the  West  Indies.  In  1657  he  entered  into 
a  business  partnership  in  Barbadoes,  then  the  centre 
of  the  English  trade  with  the  West  Indies  and  North 
America,  being  at  that  time,  as  it  is  now,  an  English 
Island.  The  severe  and  oppressive  English  Naviga- 
tion laws  the  scope  of  which  Cromwell  had  enlarged, 
and  which  he  strictly  enforced,  drove  many  English- 
men at  that  period  to  embark  in  a  contraband  trade, 
a  trade  which  increased  in  the  next  century  to  so  great 
an  extent  in  North  America,  that  the  severe  measures 
adopted  by  the  English  Government  to  suppress  it 
in  the  latter  part  of  that  century  proved  to  be  one  of 
the  strongest,  if  not  very  strongest  of  the  causes  of 
the  American  Revolution.  ^  At  Barbadoes  the  follow- 
ing curious  and  striking  agreement  was  entered  into 
by  John  Richbell  with  Thomas  Modiford  of  that  island, 
and  William  Sharpe  of  Southampton,  to  establish  on 
the  North  American  coast  a  plantation  for  the  carry- 
ing on  a  trade  not  permitted  by  the  Navigation  laws. 
It  is  headed, 

"  Insfrucfions  delivered  Mr.  John  Richbell  in  order  to 
the  intended  settlement  of  a  Plantation  in  the  south-went 
parti  of  New  England,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  of 
subscribers :" 

"  God  sending  you  to  arrive  safely  in  New  England 
our  advice  is  that  you  informeyourselfe  fully  by  sober 
understanding  men  of  that  parte  of  land  which  lyeth 
betwixt  Connecticott  and  the  Dutch  Collony  and  of 
the  seacoast  belonging  to  the  same  and  the  islands 
that  lye  bettwixt  Long  Island  and  the  Maine,  viz. : 
within  what  government  it  is,  and  of  what  kinde 
that  government  is,  whether  very  strict  or  remisse, 
who  the  Chiefe  Magistrates  are,  on  what  termes  ye 
Indians  stand  with  them,  and  what  bounds  the  Dutch 
pretend  to,  and  being  satisfyed  in  these  particulars, 
(viz.)  that  you  may  with  security  settle  there  and 
without  offence  to  any.  Then  our  advise  is  that  you 
endeavor  to  buy  some  small  Plantation  that  is  already 
settled  and  hath  an  house  and  some  quantity  of 
ground  cleared  and  which  lyeth  so  as  you  may  en- 
large into  the  woods  at  pleasure  in  each,  be  sure  not 
to  fayle  of  these  accommodations. 

"  I.  That  it  be  near  some  navigable  Ry  ver,  or  at  least 
some  safe  port  or  harbor,  and  that  the  way  to  it  be 
neither  longe  or  difficult. 

"II.  That  it  be  well  watered  by  some  running 
streame  or  at  least  by  some  fresh  ponds  and  springs 
near  adjoining. 

'  The  fiimous  cause  of  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  in  which  John  Adams 
first  distinguished  himself,  were  in  defence  of  Boston  Merchants  en- 
gaged in  litis  contraband  trade. 


"  III.  That  it  be  well  wooded  which  I  thinke  you  can 
hardly  misse  of.  That  it  be  healthy  high  ground, 
not  bogs  or  fens  for  the  hopes  of  all  consists  in  that 
consideration. 

"  Being  thus  fitted  with  a  place  look  carefully  into 
the  title  and  be  sure  to  have  all  pretenders  satisfied 
before  you  purchase,  for  to  fall  into  an  imbroylid  dis- 
putable title  would  trouble  us  more  than  all  other 
charges  whatsoever.  Having  passed  these  difficultyes 
and  your  family  brought  in  the  place  direct  your 
whole  forces  towards  the  increase  of  provision  which 
must  be  according  to  their  seasons,  for  planting  of 
corne,  pease,  beanes  and  other  provisions  which  the 
country  affords,  increasing  your  orchards  and  gardens, 
your  pastures  and  inclosures ;  and  for  ye  familyes 
employment  in  the  long  winter  be  sure  by  the  first 
opportunity  to  put  an  acre  or  two  of  hemp-seed  into 
the  ground,  of  which  you  may  in  the  winter  make  a 
quantity  of  canvass  and  cordage  for  your  own  use.  In 
the  falling  and  clearing  your  ground  save  all  your 
principal  timber  for  pipe  stands  and  clap  board  and 
knee  timber,  &c.,  and  with  the  rest  endeavor  to  make 
Pott  ash,  which  will  sufficiently  recompense  the 
charge  of  falling  the  ground.  But  still  mindfull  not 
to  put  so  many  hands  about  the  matter  of  present 
profitt  that  you  do  in  the  meane  tyme  neglect  planting 
or  sowing  the  grounds  that  are  fitt  for  provisions,  our 
further  advice  is  that  as  you  increase  in  pasture  fitt 
for  cattle  and  sheej)  you  fayle  not  to  stocke  them  well, 
but  be  sure  never  to  over-stock  them  by  taking  more 
than  you  can  well  keep,  for  an  hungry  cowe  will 
never  turne  to  account.  Lastly  we  desire  you  to  a*d- 
vise  us  or  either  of  us  how  affairs  stand  with  you, 
what  your  wants  are  and  how  they  may  be  most  ad- 
vantageously employed  by  us  :  for  the  life  of  our  bus- 
iness will  consist  in  the  nimble,  quiet  and  full  corre- 
spondence with  us;  and  although  in  these  instructions 
we  have  given  you  clearly  indicates,  yet  we  are  not 
satisfied  that  you  must  needs  bring  in  the  place  so 
many  difficultyes  and  also  observe  many  inconve- 
niencies  which  we  at  this  distance  cannot  possibly 
imagine  and  therefore  we  refer  all  wholly  to  your 
discretion,  not  doubting  but  that  you  will  doe  all 
things  to  the  best  advantage  of  our  designe  thereby 
obliedging 

your  faithful  friends  and  servants 
Thos.  Modiford 

Will.  Sharpe.' 

Barbadoes,  Sept.  18,  1657." 

The  precise  date  of  Richbell's  arrival  in  the  prov- 
ince of  New  York  is  not  now  known.  He  seems  first  to 
have  gone  to  Oyster  Bay  Long  Island,  and  thence  to 
Mamaroneck.  He  certainly  could  not  have  found  a 
place  more  in  accordance  with  his  "  instructions  "  on 
the  whole  coast  of  North  America  than  the  latter. 

Directly  on  the  Sound,  close  to  Connecticut,  and 
claimed  by  its  people,  but  a  part  of  the  Dutch  prov- 

s  Deed  Book  iii.  126,  Sec.  of  State's  Off  Alb. 


848 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


ince  of  New  Netherland  and  ruled  by  its  authorities, 
with  a  running  river  falling  directly  into  its  harbour 
the  latter  overlooked  by  high  wooded  hills,  and  its 
borders  skirted  by  the  cleared  "  planting  fields  "  of 
the  Indians,  and  within  a  day's  easy  sail  of  the 
"  Mauhadoes  "  it  was  well  adapted  to  the  "  nimble  " 
business  proposed  to  be  carried  on  by  his  Barbadoes 
friends  and  himself.  Richbell  first  went  to  Oyster 
Bay,  where  on  the  5th  of  September  1660  he  bought 
the  beautiful  peninsula,  afterwards  and  still  known 
as  "  Lloyd's  Neck."  He  had  a  controversy  with  the 
Oyster  Bay  people  about  some  land  at  Matinecock, 
which  he  also  bought,  and  which  was  finally  settled 
in  his  favor.  In  1665,  after  the  English  conquest  he 
obtained  a  patent  for  Lloyd's  Neck  from  Governor 
Nicolls  dated  December  18th  1665,  and  the  next  year 
sold  it  to  Nathaniel  Sylvester,  Thomas  Hart,  and 
Latimer  Sampon,  for  450£,  by  deed  dated  October  18, 
1666.'  He  then  resided  at  Oyster  Bay  where  in  1662 
he  was  appointed  a  constable.'  In  the  preceding  year 
1661  his  name  appears  on  the  Southampton  Records 
as  a  witness  to  a  mortgage  to  one  Mills  on  a  Virginia 
plantation.^  In  May  1664  he  was  one  of  the  Commis- 
sioners for  the  five  English  Towns  in  Long  Island.' 
In  the  autumn  of  that  year  the  English  captured  New 
York  from  the  Dutch.  Of  the  expedition  to  attempt 
that  capture  Richbell  probably  had  early  knowledge. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  two  of  the  ships  the 
"Martin"  and  the  "William  and  Nicolas,"  of  the 
expedition  sent  to  capture  New  Netherland  by  the 
Duke  of  York,  were  forced  to  run  into  Piscataway, 
n5w  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  20th  of 
July  1664,  on  board  of  which  were  Carr  and  Maver- 
icke,  two  of  the  Commissioners.*  One  or  both  of 
them  knew,  or  had  letters  to  John  Richbell  who  ap- 
parently was  then  in  Boston  to  whom  they  sent  the 
following  communication  announcing  their  arrival, 
written  the  third  day  after  it  happened, — 
"Mr.  Richbell 

Wee  shall  desire  you  to  make  all  convenient  haste 
to  your  habitation  on  Long  Island,  and  by  the  waye 
as  you  pass  through  the  Countrey  and  when  you  come 
hither,  that  you  acquaint  such  as  you  thinke  the 
Kings  Commission"^'  will  be  welcome  to,  smd  are  af- 
fected for  his  Majestyes  Service,  that  some  of  us  are 
arrived  here,  &  shall  suddenly  bee  in  Long  Island 
where  they  hope  they  will  be  ready  as  in  other  places 
to  promote  his  Majestyes  interest,  their  readiness  & 
affection  shall  be  much  taken  notice  of,  and  your  care 
and  Incouragement  bee  acknowledged  by 
Your  very  lovinge  friends 

Robert  Carr. 

Samuel  Mavericke. 

Pascataway  July  23d,  1664. 
to  Mr.  John  Richbell,  there. 


III.  Thompson's  "Hist.  Long  Island." 
2  Vol.  II.,  15. 

3 II.  Thompson's  "  Long  Island." 
<  Ante,  page  75. 


A  warrant  under  the  same  hands  to  presse  a  horse 
for  Mr.  Richbell  if  occasion  should  bee,  hee  paying 
for  the  hire." ' 

Four  years  before,  Charles  II.  had  constituted  a 
Council  in  England,  to  which  he  committed  the  care 
of  the  Trade  with  the  Plantations  in  America.  It 
was  created  by  Royal  Patent  on  the  seventh  of  No- 
vember 1660.  This  "  Council  of  Trade  "  consisted 
of  the  Lord  High  Chancellor  Hyde,  the  Lord  Treas- 
urer of  England,  Thomas  Earl  of  Southampton, 
Monk  Duke  of  Albemarle,  eleven  other  peers  and 
Nobles,  twenty-three  Baronets  and  Knights,  and 
twenty  five  "  Merchants,"  together  sixty  two  persons 
all  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Patent  itself.  Among 
the  "Merchants"  was  included  Robert  Richbell,  the 
brother  of  John.  As  this  "Council  of  Trade"  em- 
braced the  leading  public  men  in  England  at  that 
day,  with  the  noble  at  its  head  who  four  years  later 
drew  the  King's  Patent  to  his  brother  James  for  New 
York,  it  is  almost  certain  that  John  Richbell  had 
some  prior  intimation,  from  his  brother,  a  member  of 
the  same  Council,  of  the  expedition  intended  for  the 
capture  of  that  Province  from  the  Dutch,  and  the 
persons  who  were  to  be  at  the  head  of  it.  Hence, 
his  presence  in  Boston  before  its  arrival,  and  if  neither 
Carr  nor  Mavericke,  the  latter  of  whom  had  been  in 
America  before,  knew  John  Richbell  personally,  they 
undoubtedly  had  been  informed  beforehand  where 
he  was  to  be  addressed  and  what  his  sentiments  were, 
or  they  could  not  have  written  him  the  above  letter. 

It  is  apparent  that  Richbell  was  a  man  of  a  better 
position  than  the  ordinaiy  class  of  Englishmen  then 
in  America,  at  the  time  he  made  his  purchase  of  lands 
at  Mamaroneck  in  1661.  His  purchase  of  Lloyd's 
Neck  was  in  September  1660.  A  year  later  on  Septem- 
ber 23d  1661  he  bought  his  lands  at  Mamaroneck,  and 
received  from  its  Siwanoy  Indian  jiroprietors  Wap- 
paquewam  and  Mahatahan,  their  "Indian  Deed" 
for  them  dated  on  that  day. 

An  attempt  by  another  Englishman,  also  a  mer- 
chant of  Barbadoes,  and  resident  of  Oyster  Bay,  who 
seems  to  have  been  either  a  business  rival,  or  a  personal 
opponent  of  Richbell,  to  outwit  him  and  the  Indians 
has  singularly  enough  been  the  means  of  preserving 
for  us  a  perfect  history  of  the  original  purchase  of 
Mamaroneck  in  all  its  details.  This  man  was  one 
Thomas  Revell  "  merchant  of  Oyster  Bay."  Finding 
that  Richbell  had  obtained  the  Mamaroneck  lands  in 
September  1661  Revell  undertook  in  October  of 
the  same  year  to  buy  the  same  lands  or  a  part  of 
them,  from  some  other  Indians,  including  Wappaque- 
wam  however,  for  an  increased  price.  Richbell  after 
getting  his  deed  of  the  23d  of  September  1661  applied 
to  the  Dutch  Government  at  New  Amsterdam  for  a 
"Ground  Brief,"  and  subsequently  a  "  Transport,"  as 
the  Dutch  License  to  purchase  Indian  lands,  and  the 
Patent  for  them,  were  respectively  termed.  Governor 


6 III.  Col.  Hist.,  6G. 


MAMARONECK. 


849 


Stuyvesant  and  his  Council  thereupon  had  the  pur- 
chase as  well  as  Revell's  claim  thoroughly  investi- 
gated and  testimony  taken,  and  after  full  deliberation 
decided  in  Richbell's  favor  and  issued  to  him  both 
the  "  Ground  Brief  "  and  the  "  Transport."  After  the 
English  conquest  and  the  order  directing  the  confir- 
mation of  the  Dutch  grants  to  their  j)roprietors  and 
before  his  English  Patent  of  the  IGth  of  October,  1668, 
was  obtained,  Richbell  recorded  these  instruments, 
and  he  also  had  recorded  the  evidence  taken  before 
the  Dutch  Council,  his  Indian  deed  of  June  6,  1666, 
confirming  that  of  1661,  and  an  affidavit  of  another 
witness  of  the  original  purchase  sworn  to  in  1665. 

These  documents  in  full  are  as  follows,  and  they 
give  us  a  very  lively  picture  of  the  men  and  matters, 
at  Mamaroneck  and  at  Manussing  Island  both  whites 
and  Indians,  in  the  autumn  of  1661.  ^ 

Immediately  after  these  curious  papers  will  be 
found  the  Indian  Deed  to  Thomas  Revell,  and  the 
Indian  Power  of  Attorney  by  which  he  tried  to  defeat 
Richbell.  These  papers  Revell  had  recorded  in  the 
records  of  the  Town  of  Southampton  upon  Long  Island 
December  23d,  1661,  probably  as  a  meaus  of  strength- 
ening his  claim.  Thus  we  have  a  documentary  his- 
tory of  both  sides  of  this  contest  for  the  beau- 
tiful lands  of  Mamaroneck  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
Second. 

INDIAN  DEED  TO  .JOHN  RICHBELL. 

Recorded  Mar :  ISf/i  1666  for  Mr  Richbell. 
(Liber  Two  of  Deeds  192-199,  Albany). 

1.  Mammaranock,  y''  23d  Sept.  1661. 

Know  all  Men  by  these  pres*^.  That  I  Wappaque- 
wam  Right  owner  &  Proprietor  of  part  of  this  Land, 
doe  by  order  of  my  brother  who  is  another  Proprie- 
tor &  by  consent  of  the  other  Indyans  doe  this  day, 
sell,  Lett  &  make  over,  from  mee  my  heyres  as- 
sigues  for  ever  unto  John  Richbell  of  oyster 
bay  his  hey.res  &  assignes  for  ever  three  necks  of 
Land.  The  Eastermost  is  called  Mammaranock 
Neck,  and  the  Westermost  is  bounded  with  M'  Pells 
purchase  :  Therefore  know  all  Men  whom  these  pres- 
ents concerne  that  I  Wappaquewam,  doe  this  day 
alienate  &  estrange  from  mee,  my  heires  &  assignes 
for  ever  unto  John  Richbell  his  heyres  «&  assignes  for 
ever,  these  three  necks  of  Land  with  all  the  Mea- 
dowes  Rivers  &  Islands  thereunto  belonging,  also 
the  sd.  Richbell  or  his  assignes  may  freely  feed  Cat- 
tle or  cutt  timber  twenty  miles  Northward  from  the 
marked  Trees  of  the  Necks,  ffor  &  in  consideracon 
the  sd.  Richbell  is  to  give  or  deliver  unto  the  afore- 
named Wappaquewam  the  goods  here  under  men- 
tioned, the  one  halfe  about  a  moneth  after  the  date 
hereof,  and  the  other  halfe  the  next  Spring  following. 
As  the  Interpreters  can  testify,  &  for  the  true  per- 


iThe  doings  of  the  parties  at  Maniiseing  Island  in  this  matter  are 
it  is  believed  tlie  earliest  actions  in  which  its  settlers  took  part  outside 
of  themselves,  that  are  now  known. 


formance  hereof  I  Wappaquewam  doe  acknowledge 

to  have  rec*"  two  shirts  &  ten  shillings  in  wampum 

the  day  &  date  above  written, 

Twenty  two  Coates 

one  hundred  fathom  of  wampom 

Twelve  shirts 

Ten  paire  of  Stockings 

Twenty  hands  of  powder 

Twelve  barrs  of  Lead 

Two  firelockes 

ffifteene  Hoes 

ffifteene  Hatchets 

Three  Kettles  " 

John  Finch's  affidavit. 

2.  The  deposition  of  John  Finch  &  Edward  Griffen 
both  of  Oyster  bay. 

These  deponents  testify  &  affirme,  That  they  being 
at  Peter  Disbroes  Island  -  (being  to  the  westward  of 
Greenewich)  the  23*  day  of  September  last  past  & 
being  there  employed  by  me  John  Richbell  for  to  In- 
terpret betwixt  the  said  Mr.  Richbell  &  the  Indyans 
(mentioned  in  this  writing  annext)  about  the  pur- 
chase of  three  Necks  of  Land.  The  said  deponents 
doe  both  of  them  affirme,  that  this  herein  written  was 
a  true  and  reall  bargaine,  made  the  day  above  s*.  be- 
twixt the  said  Mr.  John  Richbell  &  the  said  Indyans, 
&  the  Condicons  thereof. 

Taken  before  mee 

John  Heickes 
Hempsteed  this  20th  of  December  1661. 

Peter  Dinbrorv'i,  affidavit.  ^ 
"  The  Deposicon  of  Peter  Disbroe  of  Monussing  Is- 
land abates  suce  30th. 

3.  The  s*  deponent  upon  oath  Testifieth,  that  Mr. 
Richbell  &c  went  to  Mr.  Revell  (then  on  the  Island 
afores'')  &  warned  Mr.  Revell  not  to  buy  the  Land 

j  beyond  Maramaraneck  River  of  the  Indyans,  for  that 
(hee  said)  bee  had  bought  it  already:  At  that  time 
Wappaquewam  came  to  my  house  Mr.  Richbell  and 
John  ffinch  being  there  also,  the  said  Wappaquewam 
said  hee  was  the  owner  of  the  Land,  &  did  in  my 
hearing  owne  that  hee  had  sold  the  land  to  Mr. 
Richbell,  but  the  other  Indyans  over  persuaded  him 
to  sell  it  to  Mr.  Revell,  because  hee  would  give  a  great 
deale  more  ;  The  said  Wappaquewam  did  also  owne 
that  hee  had  rec'd  part  of  pay  for  the  Land,  of  Mr. 
Richbell  &  John  ffinch  :  This  to  my  best  understand- 
ing was  y*  Indyans  speech  unto  them  ;  Also  at  the 
same  time  the  said  Indian  Wappaquewam  did  ver- 
bally offer  unto  Mr.  Richbell  the  Pay  that  hee  had 
rec'd  in  part  for  the  sd  Land.  But  Mr.  Richbell  re- 
fused, saying  hee  would  not  receive  it,  but  according 
to  bargaine  hee  would  have  the  land  &  pay  him  (the 
sd  Indian)  his  pay:  Moreover  the  said  deponent  saith 
that  Mr.  Revell  being  at  his  house  (before  the  former 
discourse)  that  hee  the  said  deponent  did  tell  Mr. 

'Peter  Dishro  or  Disbrough,  was  the  leading  man  of  the  Greenwich 
people  who  first  settled  Manuiigsing  Island. 


850 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Revell  that  the  Land  was  agreed  for  by  John  Finch, 
&  some  part  of  the  pay  paid.    This  deposed  unto  the 

12"=  of^  —  :  Before  us 
1:  62 

Richard  Laws 
Francis  Bell 

Affidavit  of  William  Joanes. 

4.  The  deposicon  of  William  Joanes  of  Monussing 
Island  about  22  years  of  age. 

The  sd  Deponent  upon  oath  testifieth,  That  Thomas 
Close  &  himselfe  being  mates,  the  said  Close  having 
beene  at  oyster  bay  upon  his  returne  to  Monussing 
aforesd,  did  tell  him  that  when  hee  was  at  oyster  bay, 
That  John  ffinch  and  Henry  Disbroe  of  oyster  bay 
did  tell  him,  that  John  ffinch  &  Richbell  had 
agreed  to  purchase  the  land  at  Mammaranock  River, 
&  desired*  him  not  to  discover  what  hee  had  told 
them,  for  that  hee  had  promised  them  to  keepe 
silence,  &  if  it  should  bee  knowne  that  hee  had  told 
him  (the  said  Joanes)  hee  should  then  bee  counted  a 
Trayto'',  this  was  about  September  1661  :  Severall 
moneths  after  M'  Richbell  &  John  ffinch  &  Edward 
Griffin  being  at  Mamaranocke  River  &  they  waiting 
for  the  Indyans  coming  to  them  to  receive  that  part 
of  the  pay  for  the  land  as  was  agreed  there  to  bee 
paid,  &  Richbell  had  then  by  him  ;  They  want- 
ing bread  sent  for  some  to  the  Island  Monussing, 
wherefore  the  sd  deponent  came  and  carryed  them 
some :  when  to  the  land  he  came  M'  Richbell  had 
there  sett  up  a  Shedd  to  shelter  from  the  weather,  & 
took  possession  there,  Staying  for  y'' Indians  to  receive 
the  pay  as  was  promised.  M'  Revell  being  then  at 
Monussing,  &  hearing  that  M"^  Revell  came  to  buy  the 
land,  did  tell  M' Richbell  what  hee  had  heard  :  Where- 
fore M"^  Richbell  &  John  ffinch  &  myselfe  came  to 
Monussing  M''  Richbell  saying  that  hee  would  pur- 
posely goe  to  forewarne  M"'  Revell  not  to  buy  the 
land,  being  hee  had  already  agreed  for  the  same : 
When  to  Monussing  they  came,  there  was  some  of  the 
Indyans  that  had  sold  y"  land  viz':  Cakoe  &  Wappa- 
quewam,  who  would  have  secretly  gone  away  (as  they 
judged)  but  that,  John  ffinch  spyeing  of  them,  called 
them  againe,  saying  to  them,  are  you  ashamed  of 
what  you  are  doeing:  Then  at  Peter  Disbroe's  house 
the  said  Cakoe  &  Wappaquewam  did  tender  to  M' 
Richbell  &  John  ffinch  the  pay  againe  which  they 
had  rec"*  in  part  of  payment  for  the  Land,  but  they 
refused.  John  ffinch  &  M'  Richbell  saying  to  them 
that  they  would  stand  to  y'^  bargaine  that  they  had 
made:  The  said  Wappaquewam  did  there  fully  owne 
that  he  had  sold  the  Land  to  M'  Richbell  &  John 
ffinch :  Stamford  Apr.  5"'  1662.    given  before  me 

Rich :  Lawes. 

The  originall  was  Interlin'd 
before  deposed  (unto)  in  the 
28"'  line,  (And  Richbell) 
In  the  13*  line  (Monussing), 


Affidavit  of  John  Finch. 

5.  The  deposition  of  John  ffinch  of  oyster  bay  &  also 
Edward  Griffin. 

The  sd  deponents  upon  oath  testifye,  M"'  John 
Richbell  Merchant  of  Oyster  bay  did  buy  of  Wappa- 
quewam a  Certaine  Tract  of  land  lyeing  westward  of 
the  River  called  Mammaranock  River  &  bounded  by 
Land  purchased  by  Mr  Thomas  Pell  of  the  Indians. 
The  said  Wappaquewam  being  entrusted  by  his 
brother  Mathetuson '  formerly  called  Mohey  (as  the 
said  Wappaquewam  &  Mathetuson  did  enforme)  to 
sell  all  his  property  in  the  sd  Land,  &  himselfe  with 
Edw"*  Griffin  accompanied  the  said  John  Richbell 
unto  y''  s'*  Indian  Wappaquewam  to  buy  the  s*  Lands, 
which  accordingly  hee  did,  &  pay*  unto  the  s*  Wap- 
paquewam in  part  of  payment  for  the  purchase  of  the 
said  Lands,  Two  shirts  &  ten  shillings  in  wampom, 
and  agreed  upon  Time  for  the  payment  of  the  residue, 
according  to  a  writing  made  at  Momoronock  River, 
bearing  date  23''  of  Sept'  1661,  &  on  that  day  the  said 
Richbell  tooke  possession  of  the  s*  Lands. 

In  &  upon  the  7'"  day  of  March  1661,  The  s'' John 
Richbell  employed  them  the  s"*  deponents  &  one  Jacob 
Young  a  Sweed  (which  are  Indian  Interpret."*)  to  goe 
with  him  to  the  Indyans  to  talke  w""  them,  Hee  the 
s''  Richbell  hearing  a  Report  that  y^  s*  Indian  Wap- 
paquewam had  afterwards  sold  the  s*  lands  to  M' 
Revell,  &  in  our  voyage  to  speake  w"'  Wappaquewam 
we  mett  with  his  brother  Mathetuson  alias  Mohey 
afores'',  who  did  fully  manifest  unto  us  that 
hee  (acccording  to  his  brothers  Informacon), 
did  employ  &  give  power  to  his  brother  Wap- 
paquewam to  sell  his  propriety  of  Land  to  Mr  Rich 
bell,  whom  Wappaquewam  en  formed  him  would 
buy  it  of  him,  &  withall  did  relate  to  us  sev- 
erall of  the  particulars  that  the  said  John  Rich- 
bell by  agreement  was  to  pay  for  the  s*  Lands : 
Moreover  the  s*  Mathetuson  seemed  to  bee  much 
disturbed  in  his  mind  That  any  Contract  was  made 
with  any  other  for  y""  said  Lands,  hee  affirming  tliat 
hee  knew  not  that  any  other  than  John  Richbell  had 
made  any  contract  about  it,  until!  hee  came  down  to 
the  Sea  Coast.  Wherefore  Mr  John  Richbell  did  tell 
the  s*  Mathetuson  that  he  was  now  come  to  settle  & 
plant  the  same, — And  the  said  Mathetuson  did  give 
him  free  liberty  to  the  same,  onely  desiring  M"^ 
Richbell  that  hee  might  be  payd  for  it,  &  not  to  loose 
his  pay  for  a  neck  &  halfe  of  land,  which  he  was  yet 
unpaid  for: 

To  the  former  part  were  deposed  John  ffinch  & 
Edward  Griffin  the  11th  of  y«  P'  moneth 
Before  mee 

Rich :  Lawes. 
To  the  latter  part  the  s"  John  ffinch  &  Edw"  Griffin 
&  also  Jacob  Young  have  deposed  this  11"'  |j 
Before  mee 

Richard  Lawes. 


'  This  affidavit  is  the  only  paper  where  this  name  is  so  spelled.  In  all 
other  instruments  it  is  spelled  "Mahatahan." 


MAMARONECK. 


851 


Affidavit  of  Jonathan  LocJncood. 

6.  TheTestimony  of  Jonathan  Lockwood  beingaged 
30  years  or  thereabout. 

Saith,I  being  at  peter  Disbroes,  -VP  Thomas  Rev- 
ell  being  there  present,  I  heard  M^  Revell  sayhee  was 
buying  a  parcell  of  Land  of  the  Indyans  of  the  West 
side  of  Mammaranock  River  to  M''  Pells  land  &  I 
wisht  him  not  to  medio  with  it,  for  it  was  already 
bought  by  M'  Richbell  &  I  was  a  wittnesse  to  it,  I 
saw  a  part  of  the  moneys  pay*  for  it  by  iVP  Richbell — 
M"'  Revell  made  this  answer  to  mee,  that  howsoever 
bee  would  buy  it  &  Richbell  &  he  would  try  for  it 
afterwards :  ffarther  this  deponent  saith  not.  Given 
in  upon  oath  before  mee,  Stamford  Apr.  4'"  1665. 

Rich  Lawes 

Taken  out  of  the  Records  &  compared  therewith  this 
23d  of  August  1665 

p.  me  John  Allyn,  Recorder 

INDIAN   DEED  OR   CERTIFICATE   OF  CONFIRMATION 
TO  JOHN  RICHBELL. 

Recorded  for  Mr.  John  Richbell,  the  6"'  day  of  June 
1666,  this  Indyan  Deed.  I  Wapjiaquewam,  together 
with  my  Brother  Mahatahan,  being  the  right  owners 
of  three  Necks  of  Land,  lying  and  being  Bounded  on 
y"  East  side  with  Mamaranock  River,  and  on  y"  west 
side  with  the  Stony  River,  which  parts  the  said  Land, 
and  Mr.  Pells  Purchase,  Now  These  are  to  Sertify  to 
all  and  every  one  whom  it  may  coucerne.  That  I 
Wappaquewum,  did  for  myselfe,  and  in  the  behalt'e  of 
my  above  said  Brother  Mahatahan,  firmly  Bargaine 
&  Sell  to  M'  John  Richbell  of  Oyster  Bay,  to  him 
and  his  Heires  forever,  the  above  mentioned  three 
Necks  of  Land,  together  with  all  other  Priviledges 
there  unto  belonging,  Six  weeks  before  I  sold  it  to 
M'  Tho  Revell,  And  did  mark  out  the  Bounds,  and 
give  M"^  Richbell  possession  of  the  said  Land,  and 
did  receive  part  of  my  pay  then  in  hand,  as  Witness 
my  hand 

The  mark  0  of  Wappaquewum  ' 

Wittness 
Jacob  Yough 
Catharine  Yough," 

The  next  papers  are  those  Thomas  Revell  obtained 
from  several  Indians,  after  John  Richbell's  Purchase, 
upon  which  he  based  his  claim. 

COCKOO'S  DEED  TO  REVELL. 

"Be  it  known  unto  all  Christian  people,  Ingians  & 
others  whom  it  may  concern  that  I  Cockoo-  Sagamore 
do  by  vertue  of  a  full  and  absolute  jiower  &  order  un- 
to me  given  &  intrusted  by  Maluuiiequeet  Sagamore 
&  Meamekett  Sagamore  &  Mamamcttclioack  &  Capt  i 
Wappequairan  *  all  Ingines  living  up  Hudson  River 


1  Recorded  in  Liber  Two  of  Deeds,  at  page  12^,  Sec.  of  State's  off., 
Albany. 

-  In  sonifc  papers  of  that  day  this  name  appears  as  "  Cakoe." 

^  Meant  for  Wappaquewain.  ' 


on  the  Maine  land,  for  me  to  bargaine  &  absolutely 
to  sell  unto  Tho  Revell  his  Hayres  Exect"  Adminis- 
trate" &  Assigns  have  or  any  of  them  have  in  one 
tractof  land  on  ye  Main  being  bounded  by  ye  sea  on 
the  south  west  and  at  the  east  of  Maramack  River  and 
at  ye  west  with  Mamgapes  River,  with  two  necks  of 
land  and  meadow  &  planting  land,  the  necks  of  land 
called  by  the  Ingins  Cay  way  west  *  &  Mamgapes  with 
all  ye  lands  Meines  and  niineralls  &  trees  to  cut  down 
at  ye  said  Revells  pleasure  to  i)lant  with  all  rights  & 
priviligcs  with  (two  words  here  illegible)  without  let 
or  molestation  of  us  any  under  us  quietly  &  peaceably 
to  Injoy  ye  s*  land  reaching  one  and  a  half  miles  above 
Westchester  path  and  from  thence  twenty  english 
miles  to  the  Norward  into  the  County  for  grass  for 
feed  for  cattell  and  Timber  as  he  shall  have  occasion  ; 
for  ye  lands  aflbresaid  I  the  said  Cockoo  doe  confess 
to  have  received  now  in  hand  of  the  said  Thomas  Rev- 
ell at  the  house  of  John  Coe  in  full  payment  for  the 
aforesaid  tracts  of  land  in  severall  goods  to  the  just 
sum  of  Eighty  odd  pounds  sterling  for  the  said  lands 
with  all  real!  rights.  And  fardder  more  I  doe  prom- 
ise and  ingauge  my  self  in  the  behalf  of  the  fore  named 
Ingaius  &  ye  rest  of  those  Ingains  which  I  now  sell 
this  land  for  and  them  to  bring  suddenly  after  ye  date 
hereof  for  to  give  unto  Thomas  Revels  or  his  order 
quiet  and  peaceable  possession  to  him  and  his  Heyres. 
And  peaceably  to  keep  and  defend  against  all  Dutch 
i  and  English  that  shall  molest  him,  in  witness  whereof 
I  have  iiigaidged  and  confess  niy  hand  Subscribed  this 
27'"  Oct.  1661 

the  marke  -|-  of  Cockoo  * 
y*  marke  + 
of  Wappequairan 
Signed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of  us 
John  Budd 
John  Coe 

Thomas  ilobe  ?  (close) 
Simon  Coojier 

Mark 

Tho.  +  Stedwell 
Dec  23*  1661,  A  true  copy  per  me 

H  enry  Pierson  Regis'. 

Indian    Power    of  Attorney    to    Cockoo  to  Convey 
Lands. 

Be  it  known  unto  all  Christian  people  In- 
gains and  others  whom  it  may  come  unto  that  we 
whose  names  are  hereunto  published  Mahameqeat  & 
Meamehet  Naskeway  all  Sagamores  with  vngoetaken 
^lamamettchauck,  Wachithe  Rawnottoy  with  Capt 
Wappaquewam  all  Ingains  living  up  Hudson  River 
&  else  w-here  in  America,  Doe  acknowledge  &  confess 
to  have  fully  i*c  absolutely  &  by  oath  of  our  free  & 
voulantary  Acts,  given  granted  full  &  absolute  power 
unto  our  friends  &  one  of  our  Counsell  Cockoo  by 


*  This  is  as  near  as  this  word  can  be  made  out. 
5  The  same  as  "  Cakoe  "  above  mentioned. 


852 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


name  an  Ingaiae  the  which  wee  do  approve  of  and 
doe  confirm  whatsoever  the  said  Cockoo  shall  doe  in 
bargaining  &  selling  unto  Thos  Revell  of  Barbadoes 
all  our  real  right  &  interest  wee  or  either  of  us  have, 
our  Hayres  Exctrs  Adminis"''  &  Assigns  have  in  one 
tract  of  land  on  the  Mayne  the  which  hath  two  necks 
of  land  within  it  called  Caquanost  and  the  other 
Manigapos.  Bounded  on  the  southwest  against  Long 
Island  &  at  the  east  with  Marramack  River  &  at  the 
west  with  Mamgapos  River,  and  at  the  north  one  and 
a  half  miles  if  noe  more  above  Westchester  path  for 
planting  ground  &  it  is  to  improve  at  the  said  Revells 
pleasure  as  he  or  his  shall  see  good  with  the  Meddow 
grounds  &  other  grounds  Trees,  Moynes,  Minneralls 
or  whats  soever  as  Rivers  Springs  within  said  bounds 
of  said  tract  of  land.  As  allsoe  free  liberty  for  feed- 
ing for  all  cattell  horses  &  Mayers  without  lett  to 
Rang  or  grase  &  trees  to  fall  and  carry  away  at  his  or 
any  of  his  Heirs  pleasure  above  the  marked  trees  for 
the  bounds  Twenty  English  miles  if  not  more  into 
the  Cuntry  northward  if  not  more  with  a  plot  of  the 
tracts  of  land  hereunto  annexed  and  allsoe  the  marked 
trees.  Now  whereas  wee  the  aforesaid  the  true  and 
well  proprietors  and  Honnors  ^  before  named  of  the 
tracts  of  land  wee  are  fully  contented  &  paid  and 
satisfied  that  our  friend  Cockoo  hath  bargained  and 
sould  the  aforesaid  tracts  of  land  with  all  the  bounds 
as  aforesaid  unto  the  s"*  Thomas  Revell  with  all 
things  standing  or  lying  thereon  for  himself,  Heyres, 
Exct",  Administrate  or  Assignee  freely  and  forever 
to  possess  and  peaceably  injoy  and  keep  as  his  proper 
right  without  lett  or  hindrance  of  us  or  any  from  by 
or  under  us.  And  allsoe  we  the  aforesaid  true 
honnors  and  right  proprietors  of  the  said  land  Maha- 
nieqeat  Meamehet  Naskeway  Sagamores  with 
vngoetaken  Mamametchouch  Wachithe  Ronnottoy 
and  Capt  Wappaquewam  wee  and  every  on  of  us 
joyntly  &  severally  doe  allow  &  approve  of  what  our 
friend  Cockoo  hath  done  to  bee  fearme  sold  fast  and 
good  in  selling  the  said  land  to  Thomas  Revell.  And 
of  him  have  received  in  hand  full  satisfaction  &  to 
our  consent  for  the  said  land  in  personal  goods  to 
the  just  sum  of  ninety  pounds  sterling  to  the  use  of 
us  the  aforesaid  Ingains.  Now  for  the  better 
Right  &  tittell  of  the  said  land  unto  the  said 
Revell  his  Heyres  Excf"  Administraf"  &  Assigns 
with  all  the  Proprietors  Rights  &  privileges 
Regard  or  whatsoever  else  is  just,  and  allsoe  wee  ye 
aforesaid  Ingains  do  freely  and  absolutely  assign  and 
make  over  all  our  rights  tittell  and  Interest  wee  had 
in  the  fore  mentioned  tract  of  land  as  appeareth  by 
this  our  Deed  and  fearme  bill  of  sail  that  we  now  give 
unto  the  said  Revell  and  his  reall  right  in  the  said 
laud  before  Butting  and  Bounding  as  aforesaid.  And 
now  for  the  more  fearme  and  absolute  assurance  of  the 
said  tract  of  land  wee  do  jointly  and  severally  for  us 
and  ours  as  I  Mahameqeat  Meamehet  with  Naskeway 

1  Owners. 


Sagamores  withVngoetaken  Mamamettchouck  Wach- 
ithe Rownottoy  &  Capt.  Wappaquewam  promise  and 
doe  ingage  ourselves  unto  the  said  Revell  his  Heyres 
&  Exc"^  to  put  the  saidRevell  or  his  order  in  quiet  and 
peaceable  possession  &  him  so  to  keep  and  for  ever  to 
injoy  as  his  and  to  his  all  right.  And  Allsoe  we  do 
further  promise  &  ingage  keepe  and  defend  ye  sd 
Revell  and  his  against  all  person  or  persons  that 
shall  directly  or  indirectly  annoy  Molest  or  trouble  ye 
sd  Revell  or  his,  or  lay  any  claime  or  former  grant  of 
the  same  by  ye  Ingains  Dutchmen  or  English  or 
whome  soeverfrom  the  beginning  of  the  world  unto  the 
day  of  Dat;  &,  forever  to  mayntaine  our  right  and 
tittle  unto  the  said  Revell  &  his  Heyres  Exct"  & 
Assigns  as  witness  our  hands  this  11  of  Novemb'  1661. 

Whereas  it  is  above  mentioned  the  land  for  plant- 
ing land  shall  run  one  &  a  half  miles  and  more  above 
Westchester  path.  All  of  us  above  Ingains  doe  freely 
allow  &  consent  unto  that  Revell  shall  have  his  line 
run  as  farre  above  Westchester  path  for  planting 
ground  into  the  Cuntry  the  full  length  as  is  from 
Westchester  path  to  the  bottom  of  the  Necks  to  the 
sea,  this  being  in  consideration  the  land  to  the  north 
east  is  not  fit  for  planting  ground  but  full  of  hills  and 
Rockey  Woods  above  Westchester  path.  This  we 
consent  unto  freely.  As  witness  our  hands  possession 
given 

In  the  presence  of  as    The  mark  of  -\-  Cockoo 
witnessess  Signed     y°  markof-f  Mamamettchouch 
and  delivered  in     y'' mark  of -|- Wappaquaican 
presence  of  us  y*markof  -|-  Hayoro Sagamore 

Simon  Cooper  y"  mark  of  -|-  Petowwahen 

The  mark  of 

Tho.  +  Stedwell      y'markof -|- CauronsoroSarho 
Humphry  Hughes     y"  mark  of  +  Wappomus  Sarho 
Thomas  ilobs^ 
John  Coe 

The  mark  of 

Stephen  E  Champion 

A  true  Coppey  December  the  23d  1661 

Pr  me  Henry  Pierson  Regist'. ' 

Of  the  litigation  which  grew  out  of  this  transaction 
we  have  the  following  account  in  the  nature  of  a  re- 
port of  the  evidence  produced,  taken  from  the  record 
at  Albany.  It  bears  no  date  but  was  probably  what 
took  place  before  the  English  Patent  was  issued  by 
Governor  Lovelace. 

"  An  account  of  what  part  was  acknowledged  be- 
fore ye  Governor  concerning  ye  Purchase  of  Mama- 
ronock,  by  Mr.  Richbell,  and  Mr.  Revell,  and  Jans. 
Rockett,  Wappaqueem,  and  many  other  Indians, 

Presext. 

Wappaqueem  saith,  that  Mr.  Richbell  was  ye  first 
that  spake  to  him  about  ye  purchase  of  said  lands. 

-  This  meant  for  Thomas  Close. 

3  For  the  copies  of  this  Indian  deed  and  Power  of  Attorney  the  writer 
is  indebted  to  William  S.  Pelletreau,  the  able  editor  of  the  three  volumes 
of  the  "Southampton  Records.  '  The  map  referred  to  is  unfortunately 
such  a  rough  and  nii.xcd  up  scrawl  that  it  was  useless  to  reproduce  it. 


MAMARONECK. 


853 


Jans.  Rockett  acknowledges  ye  like. 

Wappaqueem  saith  that  Thomas  close  with  Cokoo 
spake  to  him  to  sett  his  hand  to  Mr.  Revell's  deed 
and  he  should  have  a  coate,  on  which  he  did  it. 

He  saith  further  that  Mr.  Richbell,  came  and  view- 
ed and  agreed  for  ye  land,  but  not  bringing  his  goods 
tyme  enough  he  sold  it  to  Mr.  Revell.  He  confesses 
that  Mr.  Richbell  gave  another  Indian  a  coate  and 
some  seawant  and  a  shirt,  to  marke  out  ye  trees  after 
ye  agreement,  but  that  he  had  nothing. 

Another  Indian  saith  that  Cockoe  and  Thomas 
Close  received  Mr.  Revell's  money  betweene  them  and 
kept  it  themselves,  for  ye  proprietors  had  none  of  it. 

Wappaqueem  saith  that  what  he  received  from  Mr. 
Richbell  was  by  way  of  (unintelligible)  but  not  in 
parte  of  payment. 

He  whose  land  it  was,  and  Wappaqueem  called 
brother,  but  were  not  natural  brothers. 

11th  Nov.  1661,  the  power  entrusting  Wappaqueem 
and  Cockoo  to  sell  8th,  1661,  the  date  of  ye  deed  which 
is  before  ye  power.  ' 

It  is  evident  from  this  that  Thomas  Close  and 
Cockoo  were  very  sharp,  but  the  blunder  of  dating 
the  power  after  the  deed  to  Revell  ruined  their  case. 

Richbell  continued  in  undisturbed  possession,  and 
no  claim  was  ever  at  any  time  afterward  set  up  under 
those  Indian  deeds  to  Thomas  Revell. 

On  the  16th  of  October  1668,  the  English  Patent 
from  Governor  Francis  Lovelace  confirming  and 
granting  to  John  Richbell  the  lands  privileges  and 
immunities  he  possessed  under  his  Dutch  grants  and 
Dutch  court  decisions  passed  the  seals  of  the  Prov- 
ince. 

These  Instruments,  Dutch  and  English,  having  been 
already  set  forth'fully  in  part  number  14  of  the  chapter 
on  Manors  relating  to  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  in  this 
work  are  not  repeated  here.  The  description  of  the 
lands  granted  in  Lovelace's  Patent  of  Confirmation  is  as 
follows  : — "  A  certain  parcel  of  land  within  this  gov- 
ernment, on  the  Main,  contained  in  three  Necks,  of 
which  the  eastermost  is  bounded  with  a  small  river 
called  Mamaranock  river,  being  almost  the  east  bounds 
or  limits  of  this  government  upon  the  main,  and  the 
westermost  with  the  gravelly  or  stony  brook  or  river 
which  makes  the  east  limits  of  the  land  known  by  the 
name  of  Mr.  Pell's  purchase.  Having  to  the  south 
the  Sound,  and  running  northward  from  the  marked 
trees  upon  the  said  Necks  twenty  miles  into  the 
woods  .  .  .  together  with  all  woods,  beaches,  mar- 
shes, pastures,  creeks,  waters,  lakes,  fishing,  hawking 
hunting  and  fowling,  and  all  other  profits  immuni- 
ties, and  emoluments  to  the  said  parcel  or  tract  of 
land  belonging,  annexed,  or  appertaining,  with  their 
and  every  of  their  appurtenances,  and  every  part  and 
parcel  thereof." 

These  "  Three  Necks  "  were  called  the  "  East,"  the 
"Middle,"  and  the  "West"  Necks.    The  Middle 


1  Deed  book  III.  97,  Sec.  of  State's  office. 


Neck  was  sometimes  called  the  Great  Neck,  from  its 
longer  extent  of  water  front,  which  at  first  led  to  the 
supposition  that  its  area  below  Westchester  Path  was 
greater  than  that  of  the  East  Neck.  "The  Ea.st 
Neck  "  extended  from  the  Mamaroneck  river  on  the 
east  to  a  small  stream  called  "  Pipin's  brook  "  on  the 
west,  which  divided  it  from  the  "  Middle  '  or  "Great " 
Neck,  and  is  the  same  which  now  crosses  the 
Boston  road  through  the  land,  and  just  east  of  the 
house  of  the  late  Mr.  George  Vanderburg.  '  The  Mid- 
dle Neck  extended  from  the  latter  stream  west- 
ward to  a  much  larger  brook  called  "  Cedar  or  Grav- 
elly brook  "  which  is  the  one  that  now  bounds  the 
land  belonging  to  Mr.  Meyer  ^  on  the  west. 

The  "  West  Neck "  extended  from  the  latter  to 
another  small  brook  still  further  to  the  westward, 
termed  "  Stoney  or  Gravelly  Brook  "  which  was  the 
east  line  of  the  Manor  of  Peiham. 

Of  the  three  in  their  order.  The  East  Neck  from 
Mamaroneck  River  to  Pipin's  Brook,  upon  which 
Richbell  took  up  his  permanent  residence  about 
1665,  as  near  as  can  now  be  ascertained,  was  called  by 
the  Indians  "  Mamaranock  Neck."  This  fact  is  so 
stated  in  the  Petition  of  Richbell  of  the  24th  of  De- 
cember 1661,  for  a  "ground  brief"  or  Dutch  license  to 
purchase  Indian  lands.*  A  misunderstanding  by  Mr. 
Robert  Bolton  of  the  word  "  Mammaranock  "  in  the 
crabbed  writing  of  this  ancient  Document  as  recorded 
led  him  to  state  in  the  first  edition  of  his  History  of 
Westchester  County,  published  in  1848,  that  the  "  ab- 
original name  "  of  the  East  Neck  was  "  Wanmain- 
uck,"^  and  the  error  has  appeared  in  the  second  edi- 
tion, *  and  it  has  been  hence  followed  by  other  writers. 
It  was  a  pure  mistake  in  deciphering  the  written  word. 
The  true  "  aboriginal  name  of  the  East  Neck  was 
"  Mamaranock "  the  same  as  the  town  and  village 
bears  to-day  under  the  later  spelling  of  "  Mamaro- 
neck." That  portion  of  it  between  the  HarboUr  on  the 
east  and  Pipin's  brook  and  the  salt  creek  into  which 
it  runs  on  the  west,  bears  the  name  of  "  De  Lancey's 
Neck  "  from  the  fact  that  it  has  been  possessed  as  a 
whole  for  more  than  a  century  and  until  a  few  years- 
ago,  and  in  part  still  is  possessed,  by  the  family  of 
Gov.  James  de  Lancey,  the  son-in-law  of  Col.  Caleb 
Heathcote,  the  purchaser  of  the  whole  East  Neck  in 
1697.  It  formed  the  largest  part  of  the  "demesne 
lands"  of  Colonel  Heathcote's  ilanor  of  Scarsdale,  and 
as  such  was  held  by  his  widow  until  her  death  in  1736, 
when  an  undivided  half  descended  to  her  daughter 
Mrs.  James  de  Lancey,  who  by  agreement  with  her 
brother-in-law  Dr.  Lewis  Johnston  of  New  Jersey 
continued  in  the  possession  and  control  of  the  other 
undivided  half  until  1774,  when  it  was  divided  in  the 


2  Formerly  a  portion  of  the  western  piirt  of  the  farm  of  Mr.  Peter  .Jay 
Muuro,  and  later  owned  by  James  T.  Roosevelt. 
'The  old  "Duncan"  or  "  Danbeny  "  farm. 
<  Deed-Book  iii.  37,  Sec.  State's  office,  .\lbany.    Ante,  p.  145.  ' 
sVol.  i.  p.  2S2. 
»  Vol.  i.  p.  463. 


854 


HISTORY  OF  AVESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Partition  of  that  year  of  the  undivided  portions  of  the 
Manor  of  Scarsdaie.  Subsequently  John  Peter  de 
Lancey  the  son  of  Mrs.  De  Lancey  who  had  succeeded 
to  some  of  his  mother's  lauds  purchased  all  the  rest 
of  the  lands  on  De  Lancey's  Neck  from  his  brother, 
and  sister,  and  cousins,  and  thus  became  the  owner  of 
the  whole  Neck,  nearly  a  century  ago.  There  was 
however  a  small  piece  of  land  of  about  thirty  acres  on 
the  left  of  the  entrance  to  the  Neck  from  the  old 
Westchester  Path  or  old  Boston  Eoad,  which  never 
belonged  to  the  Manor  of  Scarsdaie  nor  to  the  Heath- 
cote  or  de  Lancey  families.  This  piece  was  given  on 
the  8th  of  August  1684,  by  Mrs.  Richbell  just  after 
her  husband's  death,  to  her  daughter  Mary  and  her 
husband  Capt.  James  Mott,  and  was  expressly  re- 
served in  her  deed  to  Colonel  Heathcote  of  all  the 
rest  of  her  estate  in  Mamaroneck.  This  piece  from 
Mott's  heirs  passed  by  sale  through  various  parties 
and  about  a  century  ago  became  the  property  of  a  ven- 
erable Quaker  long  well  known  in  Mamaroneck,  Giles 
Seaman.  At  his  death  in  the  settlement  of  his  estate 
it  was  bought  by  the  late  Isaac  Hall,  and  by  him 
it  was  sold  to  the  enterprising  gentleman  who  upon  it 
erected  the  handsome  summer  hotel,  since  called  by 
his  own  name — the  "  Rushmore,"  as  well  as  several 
handsome  private  residences,  now  owned  by  various 
parties. 

In  the  chapter  on  Manors  in  this  work,  part  14,^ 
will  be  found  at  length  the  history  of  the  East  Neck 
as  a  part  of  the  manor  of  Scarsdaie.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary here  to  give  an  outline.  John  Richbell  died  on 
the  26th  of  July  1684^  leaving  his  widow  Ann,  and 
three  daughters  him  surviving.  His  wife's  mother, 
Margery  Parsons,  had  advanced  him  some  goods  in 
the  island  of  St.  Christopher's  in  the  West  Indies  long 
previous  to  his  ever  coming  to  Mamaroneck.  As 
soon  as  he  got  his  English  Patent  of  the  16th  of  Octo- 
ber 1668,  and  on  the  14th  of  the  next  month  he 
deeded  the  entire  "  East  Neck  "  to  her  in  considera- 
tion of  that  advance.  Mrs.  Parsons  two  days  later, 
on  the  16th  of  November  1668,  in  consideration  of 
natural  love  conveyed  the  East  Neck  to  her  daughter 
— Ann  the  wife  of  John  Richbell  as  a  token  of  affec- 
tion and  dutiful  behaviour.  This  made  Mrs.  Rich- 
bell the  owner  in  fee  of  the  entire  East  Neck.  But 
to  make  her  perfectly  secure,  Richbell  made  a  settle- 
ment of  it  by  way  of  jointure  in  her  favor,  by  a  deed 
in  Trust  to  John  Ryder  of  the  23d  of  April,  1669,  in 
consideration  of  a  marriage  long  since  solemnized  be- 
tween them.'  He  died  as  above  stated  on  the  26th  of 
July  1684,  and  Mrs.  Ann  Richbell  thereupon  be- 
came vested  in  her  own  right  in  fee  in  the  entire  East 
Neck,  from  Mamaroneck  River  i-o  Pipin's  Brook  and 
twenty  miles  back  from  the  Sound  northward  into 

1  Ante,  147. 

2  West.  Co.  Records  Lib.  A,  p.  ,'54. 

3  Ancient  copies  of  all  these  deeds  in  the  writer's  possession.  All  are 
recorded  in  West.  Co.  Records,  except  that  from  Mrs.  Parsons  to  Mi-s, 
Richbell. 


the  woods'.  She  continued  in  possession  until  by 
deed  of  the  23d  of  December  1697,  she  sold  her  entire 
estate  of  every  kind  and  nature  in  her  and  her  late 
husband's  lands  to  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote  for  the 
sum  of  £600  New  York  Currency  and  certain  other 
beneficial  provisions  recited  in  the  instrument.*  These 
lands  and  some  others  adjoining  which  he  had  ac- 
quired Colonel  Heathcote  had  erected  into  "the 
Lordship  and  Manor  of  Scarsdaie"  by  a  Manor- 
Grant  from  Lieutenant  Governor  Nanfan  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Province  on  the  21st  March,  1701.^  Upon 
the  eminence  at  the  head  of  the  Harbour,  still  called 
Heathcote  Hill,'^  he  built  a  large  double  brick  Manor 


HEATHCOTE  HILL. 

House  in  the  style  of  that  day  in  England,  with  all 
the  accompanying  offices  and  outbuildings,  including 
the  American  addition  of  negro  quarters  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws,  habits,  and  customs  of  the  period. 
Here  he  lived  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  which 
terminated  on  the  28th  of  February  1720-21  in  his 
56th  year.  The  house  stood  till  some  six  or  seven 
years  before  the  American  Revolution,  occupied 
however,  only  by  tenants  after  the  death  of  his  widow 
in  1736.  Later  it  was  accidentally  destroyed  by  fire. 
The  present  double  frame  dwelling  standing  on  a 
portion  of  the  old  site,  of  which  a  cut  is  given,  was 
built  in  1792  by  the  late  John  Peter  de  Lancey,  a 
grandson  of  Colonel  Heathcote  who  had  succeeded 
to  the  property,  on  his  return  to  America  with  his 
family,  having  been  a  captain  in  the  British  Regular 
Army  in  which  he  had  been  placed  in  1771,  on  leav- 
ing Harrow  School,  after  a  short  period  at  the  Mili- 
tary School  of  Greenwich.  Mr.  de  Lancey  lived  in 
this  house  till  his  death  in  1828.  In  it  were  born  all 
his  children  except  the  two  elder  ones,  and  amongst 


<  Rec.  Lib.  B,  371,  West.  Co.  Records. 
6  Lib.  7,  p.  195,  Sec.  of  State's  0fF». 

6  .\nd  still  in  the  possession  of  the  writer  who  is  his  great,  great, 
grandson. 


MAMARONECK. 


855 


them  his  son  William  Heathcote,  the  late  Bishop  of  j 
Western  New  York,  and  Susan  Augusta,  the  wife  of 
the  late  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  who  were  also  mar- 
ried in  it  on  the  1st  of  January  1811. 

But  to  return,  Colonel  Heathcote  had  succeeded, 
with  the  rest  of  the  property,  to  the  Richhell  proprie- 
tary rights  in  the  two  mile  bounds  of  Maniaroueck  i 
and  he  subseijuently  to  his  Manor-Grant  purchased  I 
in  addition  a  twelfth  undivided  part  of  the  whole  ' 
tract.  This  tract  had  been  set  apart  by  John  Rich- 
bell  in  his  life  time  about  the  year  1670  for  what  he 
called  "  allotments  or  house  lots,"  comparatively 
small  pieces  fronting  on  the  Westchester  Path  or  old 
road  to  Boston  eight  in  number  running  northwardly. 
One  he  reserved  for  his  own  house  lot,  and  he  and 
his  wife  seem  to  have  sold  only  two  or  three  others, 
the  first  was  a  gift  by  deed  to  one  John  Basset  in 
1669,  which  was  Xo.  four,  next  to  his  own  lot  No.  5. 
Another,  No.  one,  was  sold  to  one  Jeremy  Kanniffe, 
and  Nos.  2  and  3  to  Robert  Pennoyer,  and  another  to 
James  Mott.  These  seem  to  have  been  all  that  were 
sold  up  to  1676  when  another  was  sold  to  Henry  Dis- 
brough  on  the  16th  of  February  in  that  year.  From 
the  language  of  ancient  copies  of  the  first  deed  to 
John  Basset,  and  that  to  Henry  Disbrough,  in  the 
writer's  possession  it  would  seem  that  these  "  allot- 
ments" were  twenty  and  a  half  rods  wide  front  on 
the  Westchester  Path,  and  the  same  in  the  rear,  by 
eighty  rods  on  each  side  in  depth  running  north- 
westerly. Each  was  subject  to  a  reservation  of  an  annu- 
al payment  of  one  bushel  of  winter  wheat  or  the  value 
thereof  on  the  1st  of  March,  and  one  day's  work  at 
harvest  time,  to  the  Proprietor,  and  to  a  covenant  that 
they  could  not  be  sold  without  their  consent  and  ap- 
probation. To  each  lot  was  appendant  an  undivided 
eighth  right  to  commonage  and  pasture  in  the  two 
mile  bounds.  The  precise  extent  of  these  bounds  we 
know  from  the  Deed  to  Disbrough,  which  calls  them 
"  Mammaroneck  limmits  "  and  describes  the  tract  as 
"  being  in  length  two  miles  and  in  Breadth  one  mile 
and  a  half  and  Twenty  eight  rods."  The  length  was 
from  the  Westchester  Path  northward,  and  the 
breadth  was  from  Mamaroneck  River  to  Dirty  Swamp 
on  the  west.  "Dirty  Swamp"  being  the  swampy 
ground  over  which  the  road  passed  near  and  east  of 
the  intersection  of  the  present  Weaver  Street.  The 
swamp  began  some  distance  north  of  the  Road  and  ex- 
tended across  it  to  the  salt  water,  a  little  stream  or 
ditch  running  from  it  under  the  road  in  old  times 
through  a  stone  culvert,  sometimes  dignified  by  the 
name  of"  Dirty  Swamp  Bridge." 

As  soon  as  Colonel  Heathcote  obtained  his  Manor- 
Grant,  and  about  two  months  thereafter  he  obtained, 
on  the  11th  of  June  1701,  from  the  two  Indian  chiefs 
of  the  neighborhood  Patthunk  and  Wapetuck  an  In- 
dian deed  of  confirmation  for  this  two  mile  tract  to 
himself  and  the  seven  other  persons  who  in  1701  were 
the  owners  of  these  ''  allottments  or  house "  or 
"  home  "  "  lotts."   There  were  himself,  Caleb  Heath- 


cote, Capt.  James  Mott,  William  Penoir,'  John  Wil- 
liams, Henry  Disbrough,  Alice  Hatfield,  John  Dis- 
brough, and  Benjamin  Disbrough.-  This  was  to  sat- 
isfy all  persons  desirous  of  settling  in  Mamaroneck, 
that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  with  the  natives. 
About  five  years  later  Colonel  Heathcote  suggested  to 
the  owners  of  the  house  lots  that  instead  of  keeping 
all  the  rest  of  the  two  mile  bounds  as  undivided  prop- 
erty, that  they  should  have  it  laid  out  and  divided 
among  themselves  in  severalty.  It  was  talked  of, 
approved,  and  finally  carried  into  effect  by  a  mutual 
agreement  under  seal,  made  and  executed  by  all  the 
parties  on  the  19th  of  February  1706-7.  The  instru- 
ment accompanied  by  a  well  executed  Map  of  the  lots 
as  laid  out,  into  eight  "Long  Lotts"  is  in  Colonel 
Heathcote's  handwriting,  and  bears  the  autographic 
signatures  of  himself  and  all  the  other  parties  above 
named.    It  is  in  these  words  ; — 

Mamoroneck  ffeb.  y''  14"'  1706-7. 
The  ffree  holders  of  Mamoroneck  whose  names  are 
hereunder  written  have  mutually  and  unanimously 
agreed  for  dividing  the  Long  or  Upper  Lotts  in  said 
Township  as  followeth — No.  1  containing  20  chains 
broad  to  James  Mott,  No.  2  containing  21  chains,  and 
No.  3  containing  22  chains  to  William  Penoir,  No.  4 
containing  21  chains  to  Henry  Disbrow,  No.  5  con- 
taining 18  chains  to  John  Disbrow,  No.  6  containing 
20  chains  to  John  Bloodgood,  No.  7  containing  20 
chains  to  Peter  Hattfield,  and  No.  8  containing  all 
the  remainder  of  the  land  to  the  River  to  Caleb 
Heathcote,  reserving  out  of  the  said  Lotts  the  follow- 
ing Highways  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  all  the  flfree- 
holders  and  Inhabitants  one  highway  to  be  five  Rods 
wide  in  the  ffront  of  the  said  Lotts,  one  highway  of 
four  Rods  wide  through  the  Sixth  Lott  into  the  Woods 
Leading  on  the  west  side  of  Nelson's  fl5eld  into  the 
Woods. 

Signed  sealed  and 

delivered  in  the  presence  of  us 

Joseph  Purdy  Caleb  Heathcote  [l.s.] 

Thomas  White  his 

Wm  X  Penoir  [l.s.] 

mark 

James  Mott  [l.s.] 
Henry  Disbrow  [l.s.] 
John  Disbrow  [l.s.] 
John  Bloodgood  [l.s.] 
Peter  Hattfield'  [l.s.] 
This  instrument  finally  closed  and  determined  for- 
ever all  the  common  interests  in  the  lands  in  the  "  two 
mile  bounds"  of  Mamaroneck  and  made  them  the  sep- 
arate private  property  in  fee  of  the  various  owners. 
To  this  there  is  apparent  exception.     The  five  rod 


>  So  in  th«  deed.  He  was  a  sod  of  Bobert  Penoyer  the  original  gran- 
tee. 

'  Ancient  copy  in  writer's  poeseasion,  Bee.  Lib.  C.  West.  Co.  p.  52. 

'  The  original  instmment  camo  into  the  possession  of  the  GrifTen  Fam- 
ily who  purchased  Xo.  ti  from  John  Bloodgood,  and  now  belongs  to 
Mr.  Charles  Field  Griffen  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  its  examination. 
A  facsimile  coteiniwrHry  copy  is  in  my  own  possession. 


856 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


Highway  they  left  at  the  South  end  of  their  "  Great 
Lotts  "  or  "  Long  Lots  "  was  found  to  be  useless,  and 
the  owners  subsequently  divided  it  up  into  nine  small 
lots  of  about  10  acres  each  among  themselves  which 
ended  the  whole  matter.  These  "  Great "  or  "  Long  " 
Lots,  as  well  as  the  small  ones  are  all  shown  on  the 
Map  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  in  this  volume.  They 
never  belonged  to  any  body  but  the  grantees  of  the 
eight  original  house  lots  to  which  they  were  append- 
ant and  appurtenant,  and  with  their  division  by  the 
owners  of  those  lots  among  themselves  all  their  com- 
mon rights  ended,  and  the  "two  mile  bounds"  or 
"  Mammaroneck  Limmits  "  come  to  an  end  forever. 
The  Proprietary  rights  in  them  of  Colonel  Heathcote 
of  course  were  terminated  by  his  agreeing  to  their  di- 
vision in  fee. 

Of  the  owner  of  the  "  allottments  or  house  Lotts  "  as 
they  were  in  1701  the  descendants  of  none  except  of 
Colonel  Heathcote  are  now  in  possession  of  any  part 
of  them,  although  descendants  of  Hattfield  and  the 


DISBROW  HOUSE,  ERECTED  1677. 


Disbroughs  are  still  well  known  residents  and  prop- 
erty holders  in  other  parts  of  the  present  Town  of 
Mamaroneck,  among  whom  is  Mr.  William  H.  Dis- 
brow  as  the  name  is  now  spelled,  the  Civil  Engineer 
whose  home  is  scarcely  a  musket  shot  from  the  old  an- 
cestral house.  But  there  still  stands  upon  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  "  House  Lott "  of  Henry  Disbrough 
the  identical  house  he  built  there  in  1677  the  year 
after  he  was  deeded  the  lot  by  John  and  Ann  Rich- 
bell,  a  memento  of  the  earliest  days  of  Mamaroneck, 
of  the  old  family  who  built  it,  of  New  York  and 
Westchester  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  and  of 
the  Duke  of  York  as  its  Lord  Proprietor.  It  remained 
in  the  Disbrough  family  till  within  thirty  or  thirty- 
five  years,  and  is  now  the  property  of  the  widow  of  the 
late  well  known  Publisher  of  New  York,  Mr.  Stringer 
of  the  firm  of  Stringer  &  Townsend.  The  accompa- 
nying cut  gives  a  good  idea  of  it  but  it  is  a  rear  view, 
the  road  shown  in  it  and  now  existing  in  front  of  the 
house  not  having  been  opened  till  the  year  1800.  It 
faced  the  harbour,  the  side  toward  the  present  Union 
avenue,  which  at  this  place  is  built  upon  the  old 
Westchester  Path,  being  the  original  front  of  the  house. 


It  is  built  of  rough  hewn  timber,  and  the  coarse 
stone  of  the  country  even  to  the  chimney  above  the 
roof.  The  siding  has  been  renewed  but  always  in  the 
old  style.  It  has  long  been  used  simply  as  a  store- 
house as  it  was  understood  when  it  passed  out  of  the 
Disbrough  family  that  it  should  never  be  pulled 
down.  Its  last  owners  of  the  name  were  two  maiden 
ladies  who,  a  few  years  before  their  deaths  built  in  the 
same  enclosure  the  present  new  and  good  frame  house, 
which  stands  almost  between  the  old  one  and  the 
waters  of  the  harbour.  The  old  house  has  well  borne 
its  209  years  but  in  the  course  of  things  can  not  last 
much  longer. 

The  "  Middle  Neck "  or  the  "  Great  Neck  "  or 
"  Munro's  Neck  "  as  it  was  styled  after  Mr.  Peter  Jay 
Munro  became  the  owner  of  nine-tenths  of  it  about 
the  year  1790,  has  a  curious  history.  But  before  it  is 
given  it  may  be  better,  though  a  little  out  of  order, 
to  state  the  facts  more  fully  than  they  have  been 
mentioned  in  treating  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale,  re- 
garding the  Pell-Richbell  controversy  about  the  West 
Neck.  Both  the  Middle  and  the  West  Necks  to- 
gether form  that  part  of  Richbell's  land,  now  in  the 
town  of  Mamaroneck,  which  lay  almost  wedge 
shaped  between  the  southern  parts  of  the  Manors  of 
Scarsdale  and  Pelham. 

The  West  Neck  extended  from  the  Cedar  Tree  or 
Gravelly  Brook,  (that  now  running  to  the  west  of 
Mr.  Meyer's  present  house,)  westward  to  another 
Brook,  which  was  that  which  crossed  the  Westchester 
Path  or  Road  just  west  of  the  present  residence  of 
Mr.  Geo.  Stephenson,  and  upon  which  for  years  stood 
a  mill,  for  a  very  long  time  a  snufF  mill.  This  brook 
bore  the  name  of  Stony  or  Gravelly  brook.  Mr.  Pell 
claimed  that  his  eastern  line  was  the  Cedar  Tree  or 
Gravelly  Brook,  that  now  by  the  present  Mr.  Meyer's  ; 
Mr.  Rlchbell  claimed  that  the  Stony  or  Gravelly 
Brook,  also  called  Cedar  or  Gravelly  Brook,  that  near 
Mr.  Stephenson's,  was  his  western  line  and  Pell's 
eastern  line.  The  controversy  was  a  very  hot  one  and 
grew  out  of  the  use  of  similar  designations  of  stream* 
in  their  respective  Patents.  After  proceedings  in  the 
Court  of  Assizes,  and  before  the  Governor  and  Council 
the  following  Agreement  was  finally  entered  into  by 
both  parties ;  "  Whereas  There  hath  been  a  Matter  or 
cause  of  Difference  depending  between  Mr.  John 
Richbell  and  Mr.  John  Pell  for  the  which  There  was 
an  order  Issued  forth  from  y*  Governor  for  a  tryall  by 
a  Special  Court  of  Assizes  yet  Notwithstanding  upon 
proposal  of  an  amicable  agreement  between  them, 
and  to  prevent  further  trouble  to  his  Honour  the 
Governour  and  the  Country  by  having  a  speciall 
Court,  it  is  this  Day  mutually  consented  unto  and 
agreed  upon,  that  the  Neck  of  Land  and  meadow  be- 
tween Ceeder  or  Gravelly  brooke  on  the  East,  and 
Gravelly  or  Stony  Creeke  on  y""  West  shall  be  layed 
out  by  y*"  Surveyor  Generall  and  devided  between 
them,  so  that  each  party  shall  have  Meadow  and  up- 
land equivalent  and  proportionable  Quantity  and 


MAMARONECK. 


857 


Quality  alike.  To  this  agreement  both  partys  do 
joyntly  consent  in  token  of  Amity  and  Friendship  buri- 
ing  in  oblivion  what  unkindness  hath  formerly  past 
between  them  and  this  to  be  a  barr  to  all  future 
Claymes  or  pretences  that  can  or  may  be  made  on 
either  side  or  by  either  of  y"'  heires  Executors  or  Ad- 
ministrators for  ever.  As  to  what  expense  or  charge*^ 
Either  party  hath  been  at  Each  is  to  bear  his  own 
charges,  but  for  the  charges  of  the  Surveys  and  such 
other  Necessary  expenses  Relating  to  the  Division  of 
y"  Lands  according  to  this  agreement  it  is  Equally  to 
be  Borne  betweene  them.  In  testimony  Whereof  the 
party es  to  these  presents  have  Later  changeably  Sett 
to  their  hands  and  Seals  y"  22  Daye  of  January  in  the 
23*  year  of  his  Maj'  Reigue  Annoq*"  Dom.  1671 

John  Pell  (L  S) ' 

Sealed  and  Delivered  in  y''  presence  of 

Henry  Taylor 
Allard  Anthony 

Remains  (as  all  other  Lawful  Acts)  of  forces  and 
There  Surveyor  may  proceed  accordingly 

E.  Andros  " 

Though  thus  confirmed  by  the  above  order  of  Gov. 
Andros,  no  survey  was  made,  why  it  is  now  impossi- 
ble to  say,  until  the  22"  of  May  1677,  when  it  was 
done  by  Robert  Ryder.  His  description  is  in  these 
words ; — 

Whereas  there  hath  been  a  difference  between  John 
Richbell  and  ^\r.  .John  Pell  which  by  virtue  of  an 
order  from  the  right  Honourable  Major  Edmund  An- 
dross  Esq'.  Governor  General  of  New  York,  I  have 
made  a  division  of  the  within  mentioned  Neck  of 
Land  by  and  with  the  mutual  consent  of  both  par- 
ties, which  is  in  manner  and  Form  as  is  hereafter 
Expressed  viz'.  That  the  said  Richbell  shall  extend 
from  Cedar  Tree  Brook  or  Gravelly  Brook,  south 
westerly  fifty  degrees  to  a  certain  mark't  Tree,  lying 
above  the  now  Common  Road,  thirty  and  four  chains 
in  length,  mark  on  the  east  with  R.  and  on  the  West 
with  P.,  thence  Extending  South  Sixty  three  degrees 
East  by  certain  marked  Trees  p'fixed  Ending  by  a 
certain  piece  of  Meadow  at  the  salt  creek  which  Runs 
up  to  Cedar  Tree  Brook  or  Gravelly  Brook  Extend- 
ing from  the  first  marked  Trees  Nor  Nor  West  to 
Brunkes  River  by  certain  Trees  in  the  said  Line 
marked  upon  the  West  with  P.  and  upon  the  east  with 
R.  performed  the  twenty-second  day  of  May  1()77. 

p  me  Robert  Ryder  Surv.'"^ 
The  Preceding  Surveyor  above  mentioned  is  mu- 
tually consented  unto  by  the  above  mentioned  Mr. 
John  Richbell  and  Mr.  John  Pell  in  presence  of  us 

Thomas  Gibbs 
Walter  Webly 
John  Sharj) 
Joseph  Carpenter 


>  This  is  from  an  ancioot  Ck)py  of  the  document  signed  by  Pell  that 
was  delivere<l  to  Kiclibell,  in  the  writer's  possession. 
2  Ancient  copy  in  the  writer's  possession. 

77 


Thus  was  settled  finally  the  line,  afterwards  of  much 
importance,  Jis  being  the  east  line  of  the  6000  acre 
tract  carved  out  of  I'elham  Mannor  and  sold  by  Pell 
to  Leisler  for  the  Huguenots  in  1680.  And  as  also  as 
taken  for  the  lino  between  the  later  towns  of  New 
Rochelle  and  Mamaroneck  when  erected  in  1788  by 
tiie  State  Township  Act  of  that  year. 

We  now  recur  to  the  singular  history  of  the  Middle 
Neck. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  John  Richbell  pur- 
chased his  three  Necks  from  the  Indians  on  the  2.'}'' 
of  September  1661,  and  obtained  tiie  Dutch  Govern- 
ment's groundbrief  and  Transi)ort(or  'License  to  pur- 
cliase'  and  '  Patent ')  for  them  in  May  1662,  and  his 
English  Patent  for  them  on  October  16,  1()68 ;  and 
that  the  f^ast  Neck  alone  was  sold  by  his  widow  in 
1697  to  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  and  was  included 
by  him  in  his  Manor  of  Scarsdale  in  1701. 

Five  years  after  the  date  of  his  Patent  for  the  three 
Necks,  on  the  20"'  of  November  1673,  Richbell  mort- 
gaged the  West  neck  to  Cornelius  Steenwyck,  a  rich 
burgomaster,  of  New  Orange,  as  New  York  was  called 
on  its  reconquest  by  the  Dutch  in  that  year,  and  a 
member  of  Governor  Colve's  Council,  by  the  follow- 
ing singular  instrument — one  of  the  few  Dutch  Mort- 
gages that  have  come  down  to  our  days  ; 

"  Appeared  before  as  subscribed  Aldermen  of  the 
City  of  New  Orange,  the  honest  Mr.  John  Richbell, 
Inhabitant  of  the  place  Marraneck,  in  the  Main, 
within  this  province,  who  acknowledged  and  declared 
for  himself,  his  heirs  and  executors,  fully  and  duly  to 
be  indebted  Mr.  Cornelius  Steenwyck  Chief  Council' 
of  this  Province,  a  just  and  neat  sum  of  Two  thousand 
and  four  hundred  Guilders,  Wampum,*  being  occa- 
sioned by  and  from  delivered  Merchandizes,  disbursed 
Moneys,  or  otherwise,  by  him  the  said  John  Richbell, 
to  his  full  satisfaction  received  and  enjoyed  of  Mr. 
Cornelius  Steenwyck,  which  aforesaid  sum  of  2400  G. 
he  the  said  John  Richbell  by  these  acceptetly  and 
promiseth  to  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid  to  Mr.  Steen- 
wyck aforesaid,  or  to  him,  that  should  or  might  ob- 
tain his  action  with  good  current  Wampum,  or  to  de- 
liver the  value  thereof  on  or  before  the  first  of  Octo- 
ber next  ensueing,  without  delay.  For  the  better  se- 
curity of  the  aforesaid  Mr.  Steenwyck,  in  the  full 
satisfaction  of  the  sum  aforesaid,  he  the  said  John 
Richbell  bindeth  and  engageth  for  a  si)ecial  Mortgage 
and  a  Pledge  certain  of  his  the  said  John  Richbell's 
Neck  or  piece  of  Land  lying  upon  the  Main,  being 
the  most  Westerly  neck  of  Land  of  the  three,  to  him 
the  said  John  Richbell  in  lawful  Propriety  belonging, 
pursuant  to  certain  Patent  of  Governor  Lovelace, 
dated  Ki  October,  1668,  limiting  the  Neck  of  Land 
aforesaid,  upon  the  gravelly  or  Stony  Water  or  River, 
which  are  the  Easterly  Limits  of  Mr.  Pell's  Land, 
having  at  the  South  side  the  Sound,  and  runing  thus 

3  So  in  the  original,  it  means  "  of  the  chief  council." 
^  The  shell  money  of  the  Indians. 


858 


from  the  Marked  trees,  standing  on  the  side^  Neck, 
North  Twenty  miles  into  the  Woods,  and  further  in 
General,  his  Person,  and  Goods  Moveable  and  im- 
moveable, none  excepted  or  reserved,  submitting  the 
same  to  all  Courts,  Laws,  and  Justices. 

In  witness  whereof  is  this  by  the  said  Mr.  John 
Richbell  benevolently  or  willing.-  The  Esquires 
Aldermen  Gelynver  Plank  and  Lawrence  Spiegel. 

In  the  Record  Books  of  this  Town.  Signed  in  New 
orange  20  9ber.'  1673."*  This  mortgage  only  covered 
the  West  Neck  as  settled  in  the  agreement  with  Pell 
above  mentioned. 

On  the  12"'  May,  1675,  two  years  later,  a  mortgage 
was  made  by  John  Richbell  on  the  Middle  Neck 
alone,  in  consideration  of  "£250  Boston  Silver"  to 
Robert  Richbell  of  Southampton,  England  for  the 
term  of  99  years,  redeemable  at  any  time  in  the  term 
upon  the  payment  of  the  principal  and  interest.^ 

The  very  next  year,  on  the  17  July  1676  Richbell 
made  still  another  mortgage  to  one  Thomas  Kelland 
of  Boston,  in  consideration  of  £100  New  England 
money,  upon  the  reversion  of  the  Middle  Neck  for  the 
term  of  99  years,  and  also  the  reversion  of  the  West 
Neck  for  99  years,  after  payment  of  the  £2500  to 
Robert  Richbell  and  the  2400  Guilders  to  Steenwyck. 

These  Richbell  Mortgages  on  the  Great  Neck  passed 
by  assignments  into  the  hands  of  Samuel  Palmer,  of 
Mamaroneck  ;  the  first  of  a  family  of  that  name  who 
have  been  closely  and  honourably  connected  with  Ma- 
maroneck from  that  day  to  this,  and  as  they  are  still 
robust  and  numerous,  will  probably  so  continue  indefi- 
nitely for  the  future.  A  Palmer  Avas  elected  to  a  town 
ofiice  at  the  first  recorded  election  in  Mamaroneck 
in  1797,  and  a  Palmei*  is  a  .lustice  of  the  Peace  in  Ma- 
maroneck to-day.'' 

By  these  assignments  Samuel  Palmer  became  legal- 
ly entitled  to  the  remainder  of  the  term  of  99  years 
in  the  Middle  Neck,  and  by  his  will,  dated  March  18th, 
1712-13,  he  devised  all  his  right,  title  and  interest  in 
and  to  the  Middle  Neck  to  his  four  sons,  Nehemiah, 
Obadiah,  Sylvanus,  and  Solomon  Palmer.  They  con- 
tinued in  possession,  and  on  the  8th  of  February 
1722,  Edward  Richbell,  who  describes  himself  as  "  of 
the  Parish  of  St.  James  in  the  County  of  Middlesex, ' 
in  Great  Britain  heir-at-law  of  John  Richbell  there- 
tofore of  Mamaroneck  in  the  Precincts  of  Westchester 
in  the  Government  of  New  York  (who  was  Eldest  son 
and  Heir  of  Edward  Richbell  late  of  the  City  of 
Westminister  Esq.  who  was  Eldest  son  and  Heir  of 
Robert  Richbell  of  Southampton  in  Great  Britain,  de- 
ceased, who  was  the  only  Brother  and  Heir  of  the 


1  So  in  the  original,  it  means  "said." 

2  So  in  the  original. 

3  November. 

^Krom  an  ancient  English  translation  in  the  writer's  possession. 

5  Not  recorded,  copy  in  County's  possession. 

6  William  D.  Palmer,  Esq. 

'  Now  usually  called  St.  .James's  Piccadilly,  though  its  legal  designation 
is  "St.  James's,  Westminister." 


said  John  Richbell ''  released,  in  consideration  of 
£380  sterling,  to  the  above  four  Palmers,  the  Rever- 
sion and  Equity  of  Redemption  in  the  Middle  Neck, 
and  all  his  right  title  and  interest  therein.  The  four 
Palmers  then  conveyed  a  right  in  fee  in  that  Neck  to 
one  Josiah  Quinby. 

But,  the  Steenwyck  Mortgage  of  1673,  above  men- 
tioned, and  another  also  made  by  John  Richbell  to 
him  on  the  6th  of  July,  1678,  had  been  assigned  to 
Frederick  Philipse,  and  under  his  will  passed  to  his 
daughter  Eve,  the  wife  of  Jacobus  Van  Cortlandt  of 
Yonkers,  and  of  course  under  the  law  to  him.  These 
were  both  upon  the  West  Neck.  Both  Van  Cortlandt 
and  Adolph  Philipse  his  brother-in-law  were  Execu- 
tors of  Frederick  Philipse's  Will.  They  sent  to  Eng- 
land to  Edward  Richbell,  and  in  consideration  of  the 
cancelling  of  John  Richbell's  mortgages  and  of  £400 
sterling  in  addition,  he  by  Lease  and  Release  of  the 
12th  and  13th  of  August,  1723,  conveyed  to  them  all 
his  right  not  only  in  the  West  Neck,  but  in  all  the 
lands  possessed  by  John  Richbell,  except  what  he 
had  released  to  the  four  Palmers  above  mentioned. 
Philipse  and  Van  Cortlandt  claimed  that  all  the  land 
the  Palmers  were  entitled  to  under  their  deed  from 
Edward  Richbell  lay  between  the  Westchester  Path 
and  the  Sound,  and  that  they  by  their  later  convt^y- 
ance  from  Edward  Richbell  were  entitled  to  all  be- 
tween the  Westchester  Path  northward  to  the  Bronx. 
This  claim  the  Palmers  met  by  filing  a  bill  in  Chancery 
against  Philipse  and  Van  Cortlandt  and  on  May  2, 
1729,  obtained  a  decree  that  the  Proprietors  of  the 
Middle  Neck  under  their  mortgages  and  their  Release 
from  Edward  Richbell,  were  entitled  to  have  the  Mid- 
dle or  Great  Neck  extended  as  far  Northward  as  the 
East  and  the  West  Neck  extended,  and  that  Philipse 
and  Van  Cortlandt  should  be  perpetually  enjoined 
from  making  any  claim  or  pretences  to  that  part  of 
the  Great  neck  south  and  east  of  the  Bronx  River. 

In  1731  an  action  between  James  De  Lancey  and 
wife  and  Mrs.  Martha  Heathcote  against  Josiah  Quin- 
by was  tried  at  Westchester  for  a  trespass  in  the  Ma- 
nor of  Scarsdale  committed  by  the  defendant.  The 
defendant  pleaded  that  the  premises  were  not  in  the 
Manor  of  Scarsdale,  but  in  the  Manor  of  Pelham,  and 
produced  Pell's  Patent.  The  agreement  between  Pell 
and  Richbell,  above  given,  for  dividing  the  land  be- 
tween Cedar  Tree  brook  and  Stony  or  Gravelly  brook 
was  then  produced  by  the  Plaintiffs,  and  the  jury 
found  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiffs  with  damages  and 
costs. 

A  great  question  arose  some  thirty  five  years  later 
in  relation  to  the  Middle  Neck  and  the  Manor  of 
Scarsdale.  Many  persons  had  become  interested  in 
the  former  both  as  purchasers  and  as  mortgagees.  The 
Palmers  had  early  sold  undivided  twelfth  parts  to 
various  persons,  among  others"  one  twelfth  and  ahalf 
of  one  twelfth  "  were  sold  to  Robert  Livingston  July 
20*''  1728.  The  purchasers  had  many  of  them  died 
and  left  numerous  heirs  and  among  these  was  Mr. 


MAMARONECK. 


859 


Livingston.  There  were  lieirs  of  many  otliers,  who 
in  the  same  way  had  become  possessed  of  interests 
hirger  or  smaller  in  that  Neck.  The  Palmers  under 
the  erroneous  idea  that  the  division  line  between  the 
Middle  and  the  East  Neck  ran  due  north  and  not 
Northwestward  sold  some  three  or  four  farms  up- 
wards of  500  acres  altogether  to  one  Cornwall  who 
entered  thereon.  This  land  was  within  the  Manor  of 
Scarsdale  and  a  part  of  the  East  Neck.  Thereupon, 
the  purchaser  having  in  the  mean  time  died,  four 
ejectment  suits  were  begun  by  Anne  de  Lancey  and 
Lewis  Johnston  against  his  sons  Benjamin  Cornell 
(as  the  name  soon  began  to  be  spelled  and  pronounced) 
Joseph  Cornell,  Peter  Coruell,  and  John  Cornell. 
This  was  in  17(34.  The  number  of  persons  who  found 
themselves  interested  was  so  great  as  to  greatly  delay 
the  proceedings.  The  question  was  where  was  the 
proper  starting  point  between  the  Necks  and  what 
the  true  direction  the  line  was  to  run.  P^inally  it 
was  at  last  determined  by  all  parties  to  leave  the 
question  to  a  board  of  arbitrators.  But  so  delayed 
was  the  business  by  the  numbers  it  affected  that  the 
Articles  of  Agreement  to  arbitrate  were  not  executed 
till  the  21-"  of  March  1769.  The  Parties  were,  "  Wil- 
liam, Earl  of  Stirling,  Peter  van  Brugh  Livingston, 
John  Stevens,  John  Reid,  Walter  Rutherford,  Robert 
R.  Livingston,  Gentlemen,  William  Smith  Jun'.,  F2sq 
Thomas  Smith  Esq.  Joseph  Cornell,  John  Cornell, 
Benjamin  Cornell,  and  Sarah  Cornell,  Executors  of 
Peter  Cornell.  Edward  Burling,  Benjamin  Palmer, 
John  Palmer,  Yeomen,  Mary  Ashfield  Spinster,  Sarah 
Morris  as  widow  and  Richard  Morris  Esq',  William 
Smith  Juii',  Esq',  Surviving  Executors  of  Lewis  Mor- 
ris deceased,  James  Kinsey  of  New  Jersey,  and  John 
Thomas  jun^  of  Westchester,  of  the  one  part,  and 
Anne  De  Lancey  widow  of  the  Honourable  James  De 
Lancey  Esq.  Deceased,  and  Lewis  Johnston  of  Perth 
Amboy  New  Jersey,  Physician  of  the  other  part."' ' 

The  Arbitrators  chosen  were  "Samuel  Wyllys  of 
Jericho  Long  Island,  Gentleman,  A'braham  Clark  of 
Elizabethtown  New  Jersey,  Stephen  Crane  of  the 
same  place,  Gentlemen,  William  NicoU  J'',  of  Islip,  in 
Suffolk  County  Esq."  These  Parties  gave  bonds  in 
£5000  each  to  abide  by  the. award,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  each  side  should  bear  its  own  expenses,  except 
as  to  those  for  the  services  of  the  arbitrators  and 
the  running  of  the  line  in  accordance  with  the  award, 
of  which  each  side  was  to  pay  one  half.  The  point 
to  be  decided  as  stated  in  the  articles  of  agreement 
was  to  fix  the  true  point  near  and  below  Westchester 
Path  from  which  the  dividing  line  was  to  be  run  in  a 
North  Northwesterly  direction. 

The  hearings  were  long  and  much  evidence  locally 
interesting  was  brought  forward.  The  Counsel  were, 
for  Anne  de  Lancey  and  Lewis  .Tohnston,  Thomas 
Jones,  for  the  other  jiarties,  Whitehead  Hicks,  John 
Morin  Scott,  and  William  Smith  Jun^  all  but  Scott 

1  From  tbu  urigiual  iustrunieut  iu  tlie  writer*!}  puHbesaiuu. 


subsequently  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 

Province,  two,  Smith  .Tun"^,  and  Jones,  were  the  two 
historians  of  the  Province.  Hicks  was  also  Mayor  of 
New  York,  and  John  Morin  Scott  was  one  of  the 
Generals  on  the  Whig  side  in  the  Revolution,  and  a 
lawyer  of  eminence.  The  award  was  unanimous  and 
the  operative  part  is  in  these  few  words,  "  we  do 
award,  order  judge,  and  determine,  that  the  place 
where  the  straight  line  of  partition  that  is  to  run  be- 
tween the  said  two  Necks  or  Tracts  of  Land  shall  begin 
in  the  middle  of  the  creek  or  run  of  water  leading  from 
Dirty  Swamp  where  the  said  Creek  or  Run  of  Water 
crosses  Westchester  old  Path."  All  the  original 
papers  in  this  transaction  bearing  the  autographs 
of  all  the  distinguished  men  and  other  parties  men- 
tioned above  are  in  the  writer's  possession  in  perfect 
preservation  and  from  them  this  sketch  has  been 
drawn  u]).  The  result  was  to  show  the  Cornell  farms 
were  in  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  where  Colonel  Heath- 
cole  had  originally  laid  them  out,  except  in  one  in- 
stance where  the  line  went  through  one  of  the 
houses,  which  threw  a  little  of  the  land  west  of  the 
line  and  on  the  Middle  Neck. 

The  Middle  Neck  continued  in  the  hands  of  several 
owners,  most  of  them  members  of  the  Palmer  family 
until  about  1790  when  Mr.  Peter  J.  Munro  who  a 
year  or  two  before  had  bought  the  original  Samuel 
Palmer  House  (now  pulled  down  and  which  stood 
back  and  a  little  to  one  side  of  the  two  enormous 
elms  now  standing  east  of,  and  near,  the  Larchinont 
Railroad  crossing  at  the  Boston  Road,  and  about  lot) 
feet  south  of  the  road  itself)  and  its  farm,  acquired  all 
the  other  lands  on  the  Neck,  except  the  Scott  Hou^e 
and  the  mill  pond  on  the  extreme  western  extremitv 
of  the  Neck,  and  became  the  owner  in  fee  simple 
of  the  whole.  In  his  possession  and  that  of  his 
family  it  remained  till  the  year  1845  when  the  part 
south  of  the  Boston  road,  with  the  great  house  he 
built  upon  it  was  sold  to  the  late  Mr.  Edward  K.  Col- 
lins. From  him  or  his  representatives  it  passed 
finally  into  the  hands  of  the  late  Mr.  Flint  and  his 
associates  who  upon  it  have  erected  the  beautiful 
summer  village  called  Larchmont. 

It  is  sometimes  styled  Larchmont  "  Manor"  but  as 
this  sketch  shows  the  Neck  upon  which  it  is  situated 
never  was  either  a  Manor  or  part  of  a  Manor.  The 
Munro  farm  was  very  large  and  the  extent  of  the  part 
of  it  below  the  Boston  Road,  some  330  acres,  and  the 
large  Munro  House  now  the  chief  Hotel,  suggested 
the  idea  of  calling  it  a  "  Manor  "  to  the  first  or- 
ganizers of  the  enterprise  simply  to  give  it  prestige 
and  name.  No  pleasanter  place  can  be  fWund  near 
New  York  for  a  summer  home. 

The  origin  of  the  name  Larchmont  is  a  little  odd, 
as  neither  larches  nor  hilLs  are  indigenous  to  the 
Neck.  When  Mr.  ilunro  built  iiis  house,  he  wished 
to  plant  a  quick  growing  grove  of  trees  along  the 
turn|)ike  road  west  of  his  entrance.  His  Scotch 
gardener,  a  man  of  the  name  of  Rae,  suggested  the 


860 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


larches  of  his  native  land  as  they  grow  very  rapidly 
indeed,  and  offered  to  send  to  his  relatives  in  Scot- 
land for  seed.  Mr.  Munro  assented,  the  seed  came, 
the  trees  were  planted,  and  answered  the  purpose  ad- 
mirably for  about  twenty  or  twenty  five  years,  then 
they  grew  scraggy,  began  to  die,  and  were  gradually 
removed,  the  last  of  them  during  Mr.  Collins'  owner- 
ship, by  whom  the  name  was  given  to  the  place  while 
it  was  his.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  Scotch  Larch 
in  Westchester  County,  neither  a  handsome,  nor 
long  lived  tree  and  not  an  acquisition  of  value.  The 
"Mont  "  Mr.  Collins  evolved  from  his  own  conscious- 
ness, perhaps  because  the  larch  grows  chiefly  upon 
hills  in  its  native  land. 

Larchmont  possesses  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
flourishing  yacht-clubs  in  the  country.  The  beauty 
and  accessibility  of  its  situation  and  the  wide  ap- 
proach to  its  shores  by  water  gives  it  very  great  ad- 
vantages, as  well  its  position  at  the  wide  opening  of 
the  western  end  of  Long  Island  Sound.  The  mem- 
bership is  about  400  and  is  increasing,  and  the  club 
house  on  the  water's  edge  is  a  fine  and  convenient 
building.  Long  Beach  Point  the  western  extremity 
of  De  Lancey's  Neck  extending  out  parallel  to  the 
shores  of  Larchmont  forms  a  cove  or  small  harbour, 
of  great  beauty  directly  in  front  of  the  village  it- 
self. 

That  part  of  the  Munro  farm  west  of  the  Turnpike 
was  bought  about  1840  by  the  late  Judge  James  I. 
Roosevelt,  who  arranged  the  Cottage  now  the  property 
of  the  family  of  the  late  Mr.  George  Vanderburg  for 
his  own  residence.  It  has  since  been  laid  out  in 
several  small  village  plots,  a  large  part  of  it  is  also 
owned  by  the  Proj)rietors  of  Larchmont,  through 
which  runs  the  surface  railway  to  the  Larchmont 
station  of  the  New  Haven  Railroad,  which  is  upon 
this  property.  West  of  the  Railroad  but  invisible 
from  it  on  account  of  the  forest,  is  "  Hannah's  Peak," 
the  highest  point  on  the  Southeastern  shores  of  Long 
Island  Sound  and  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Coast 
Survey.  In  its  neighborhood  can  also  be  seen  a  fine 
specimen  of  that  natural  curiosity,  the  Rocking 
Stone.  It  is  an  immense  boulder  so  accurately  poised 
that  it  can  be  moved  without  being  overthrown. 

The  part  of  the  East  Neck  which  early  in  the  last 
century  acquired  the  name  it  has  since  borne  of  "  de 
Lancey's  Neck,"  remained  continuously  in  that  family 
without  any  of  it  being  sold  until  1848  when  the 
late  Mr.  Thomas  James  de  Lancey  who  had  inher- 
ited the  western  part  of  it,  with  the  assent  of  his 
uncle  the  late  Rt.  Reverend  William  H.  de  Lancey 
who  had  inherited  the  eastern  part,  sold  his  por- 
tion in  large  divisions  to  various  parties.  Its  splendid 
situation,  with  its  two  beaches  Long  Beach  and 
Scotch  Beach,  with  Mamaroneck  Harbour  on  its  east 
side  and  De  Lancey's  Cove  on  its  west  side  marked 
it  out  as  a  place  for  the  fine  seats  and  marine  villas 
of  gentlemen,  with  which  its  entire  water  front  is 
now  covered.    The  roads  and  drives  upon  it,  and 


the  marine  and  inland  views  it  commands  are  very 
beautiful  and  extensive.  The  central  portion  is  dot- 
ted also  with  the  handsome  residences  of  gentlemen, 
and  on  the  high  ground  at  the  picturesque  entrance 
to  the  Neck  is  a  large  and  handsome  Hotel  in  the 
midst  of  large  grounds  handsomely  laid  out  through 
the  good  taste  and  enterprise  of  Mr.  Thomas  L.  Rush- 
more  the  gentleman  who  built  it  and  who  dwells  in 
the  neighbourhood  with  his  children  around  him, 
each  with  his  or  her  family  possessing  handsome 
places  of  their  own. 

Upon  Long  Beach  Point  on  the  west  extremity 
of  the  Neck  stands  the  splendid  home  of  Mr.  Henry 
M.  Flagler.  This  point,  originally  with  a  splendid 
beach  on  each  side  of  it,  juts  into  the  Sound  from 
the  Body  of  the  Neck.  The  late  Mr.  John  Greacen 
bought  it  of  Mr.  Thomas  J.  de  Lancey.  and  built 
a  large  double  brick  house,  now  a  part  of  Mr.  Flag- 
ler's magnificent  mansion,  at  the  western  end  of 
this  unique  situation,  and  surrounded  the  point  with 
a  huge  wide  stone  sea  wall  upon  the  top  of  which  he 
laid  out  a  drive,  which  is  without  a  rival  of  its  kind 
on  the  American  sea  coast.  The  Neck  itself  is  the 
"  Satanstoe "  of  Feniraore  Cooper's  novel  of  that 
name  and  is  therein  generally  described.  To  this 
point  the  late  Mr.  Greacen  gave  the  name  of 
"  Orienta,"  the  origin  of  which  as  he  himself  told 
the  writer  was  this.  After  he  got  his  house  built 
he  found  that  in  the  summer  mornings,  he  could 
lie  in  bed  and  see  the  Sun  rise  directly  out  of  the 
water  far  up  the  Sound,  and  therefore  he  called 
his  place  "  Orient,"  but  "  subsequently "  said  he, 
finding  that  a  little  hamlet  at  Oyster-pond  Point, 
Long  Island,  had  appropriated  that  name,  I  just 
tacked  an  "  a  "  to  the  end  of  it  and  called  my  place 
"Orienta."  Being  a  musical  name  it  is  often  heard 
as  applied  to  the  Neck  itself,  a  fact  Mr.  Greacen 
said,  he  did  not  like  "  for  it  ought  to  be  kept  for  the 
place  I  made,  especially  as  everybody  on  the  Neck 
laughed  at  me  when  I  adopted  it."  Unfortunately  it 
has  been  taken  of  late  to  designate  drinking  saloons 
&c  in  the  village  of  Mamaroneck. 

"  Vergemere  "  the  writer's  place  is  at  the  East  end 
of  the  Neck.  It  and  Mr.  Flagler's'are  the  only  places 
upon  it  which  have  a  double  water  front,  and  where 
vessels  can  lie  in  safety  in  all  winds.  It  is  surrounded 
by  old  forest  trees,  is  very  handsomely  laid  out,  and 
commands  extensive  and  striking  marine  views.  Be- 
tween these  two  are  the  seats  of  Mr.  James  M.  Con- 
stable, Mr.  J.  A.  Bostwick,  the  Hon.  David  Dudley 
Field,  Mr.  Wm.  G.  Read,  Miss  Van  ^Schaack,  Mr. 
Ambrose  McGregor,  as  well  as  those  of  Mr.  Leonard 
Jacob,  Mrs.  Eldridge,  Mr.  Meigham,  and  that  of  the 
late  James  M.  Miller,  and  Mr.  James  T.  Burnet. 

The  town  records  of  Mamaroneck  consist  of  two 
volumes,  one  a  small  parchment  covered  folio,  begin- 
ning only  on  the  2d  of  April,  1697,  containing  the 
records  of  the  annual  elections  down  almost  to  the 
present  time,  when  it  became  full.    The  other  is  a 


MAMARONECK. 


861 


large  folio  about  half  full  of  deeds  and  miscellaneous 
papers  among  which  are  many  freeing  negro  slaves 
under  the  state  laws  gradually  abolishing  slavery.  It 
was  opened  in  1756. 

The  first  entry  in  the  records  of  Mamaroneck  is  as 
follows  : 

"  Captain  James  Mott  elected  and  chosen  assessor 
for  the  ensuing  year  1697,  Samuel  Palmer  chosen 
supervisor,  Henry  Disbrow  chosen  collector  and  sur- 
veyor of  the  highways,  William  Palmer  elected  and 
chosen  constable  and  recorder.  All  done  by  the  free- 
holders and  inhabitants  of  the  above  said  place  at  a 
town  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Madam  Richbil's 
on  the  2d  day  of  April  1697." 

The  entries  of  elections  are  made  irregularly  for  a 
few  years  subsequently  to  the  above  date,  but  after- 
wards quite  regularly.  From  an  examination  the 
following  is  a  list  of  the  supervisors  and  clerks  of  the 
town  from  the  beginning  as  accurate  as  it  can  be 
made : 

SUPEBVISOUS. 


1G97.  Samuel  Palmer. 
l(l<m-'J9, 170-2.  James  Mott. 
17117-8.  Heury  Disbrow. 
1710-11.  .Samuel  Palmer. 
1712-U.  Neliemiali  Palmer. 
1715-16.  Silvaiuis  Palmer. 

1717.  Josiali  tluinby. 

1718.  John  Griffeii. 
171i)-20.  Henry  Fowler. 
1721-22.  Silvanus  Palmer. 

1723.  Henry  Kowler. 

1724.  Silvanus  Palmer. 
1725-26.  Henry  Fowler. 
1727-42.  Silvanus  Palmer.' 

1743.  Underbill  Bu.ld. 

1744.  Nehemiab  Palmer. 
1745-17.  Underbill  Budd. 
1748-58.  John  Stevenson. 
Dec.  1758.  John  Townsend.2 
1759-60.  Reuben  Bloomer. 
1761-70.  John  Townsi  nd. 
1771-75.  William  Sutton. 
1776.  Keuben  Bloomer. 
1783-93.  Gilbert  Budd. 
1794-97.  Benjamin  Griffen. 
1798-1800.  John  P.  De  I^aucey. 
18(11-2.  Edward  Mcrritt. 
1803-6.  Aaron  Palmer. 
1807-13.  John  Pinkney. 

1814.  John  Peter  De  Lancey.' 

1815.  Monmouth  Lyon. 

1816.  Aaron  Palmer. 
1817-19.  John  Pinkney. 


1820-24.  John  B.  Underbill. 
1825-27.  .\aron  Palmer. 

1828.  John  Morrill. 

1829.  Edwin  Post. 
183i>.  Henry  JIunro. 
18:11-32.  James  H.  Guion. 
1833-34.  Monmouth  Lyon. 
183.'i^2.  James  H.  Guion. 
1843-45.  Benjamin  M.  Brown. 
1846.  Stephen  C.  Griffen. 
1847-49.  Benjamin  M.  Brown. 

1850.  James  H.  Guion. 

1851.  Charles  W.  Hopkins. 

1852.  Louis  Walsh. 

1853.  Zachariah  Voorhees. 

1854.  Louis  Walsh. 
1856-58.  .lobn  Morrell. 
1859-60.  William  L.  Barker. 
1861.  Louis  Walsh. 
1862-64.  Jona.s  D.  Hill. 
1865-66.  Louis  Walsh. 

1867.  Jacob  B.  Humphrey. 

1868.  Schureman  Hal-sted. 
186ft-70.  Thomaii  L.  Rushmore. 
1871.  James  J.  Burnet. 
1872-76.  Charles  H.  Birney. 
1877.  Matthias  Banta,  who  hna 

been  continually  re-elei  ted  to  the 
present  year,  1886,  and  for  the 
last  few  years  by  a  unanimous 
vote  of  all  parties,  although  he  is 
a  strong  Democrat. 


16'.l7-99.  William  Palmer. 
1702.  Obadiah  Palmer. 
1708-15.  Eliezer  Gedney. 
1718-54.  Nehemiab  Palmer. 


Town  Ci.erk.s. 

1755-65.  'William  .Mott. 
1706-70.  John  Townsend. 
1771-1806.  Gilbert  Budd. 


1807-16.  Dr.  David  Rogers,  Jr.< 


'  Died  1742.    Kehcmiah  Palmer  was  elected  supervisor  in  his  stead. 
'Elected  in  the  place  of  John  Stevenson,  who  had  removed  from  the 
town. 

^The  candidates  for  supervisor  in  1814  wore  Henry  Merritt  and  John 
Pinkney.  The  result  of  the  election  was  contested,  and  in  June,  1814, 
the  justice  of  the  [wace  appointed  Mr.  De  Lancey  suiwrvisor. 

*  Dr.  Rogers  and  Gilltert  Budd  Horton  were  tlie  candidates  for  town 
clerk  in  1814.    \  contest  took  place  between  them  over  the  result  of  the 


1817-24.  Monmouth  Lyon. 

1825-26.  Guy  C.  Bayley. 
1827.  Coles  Tompkins. 
1828-30,  Monmouth  Lyon. 
18;U.  Daniel  D.  T.  Ha.ldeii. 
1832-34.  Walter  Marshall. 
1835.  Horace  B.  Slaat. 
1830.  Amos  F.  Hatfield. 
1837-11.  EpenetusC.  Hadden. 
1842-45.  Elijah  G.  Dixon. 
1846  47.  Edward  Seaman. 
1848.  George  Baxter. 
1849-53.  Edward  Seaman. 
1854-56.  Josei)h  Hoffnuin. 
1857-58.  Edward  Seaman. 
1859.  Joseph  Hoffman. 


1860-61.  Edward  Seaman. 
1862-64.  Joseph  Hoffman. 
1865-66.  Albert  Lyon. 
1867-li9.  Jonas  D.  Hill. 

1870.  Albert  Lyon. 

1871.  Jacob  Buckler. 

1872.  John  N.  Boyd. 
1873-74.  Francis  C.  Corner. 
187.'>-76.  William  A.  Boyd. 
1877.  John  C.  Fairchild. 
1S78-79.  Joseph  H.  McLouKlilin. 

1880.  William  A.  Sickles. 

1881.  Joseph  H.  Mi  Loughliu. 

1882.  William  H.  Lange. 

1883.  William  A.  Sickles. 
1884-86.  William  H.  Lange. 


Space  will  not  permit  the  introduction  of  much  curi- 
ous information  contained  in  the  town  records  which 
it  was  the  intention  to  give,  and  which  is  found  mixed 
up  with  the  routine  entries  of  town  meetings,  &c.  &c. 

The  following  entry  however  is  of  much  iui])ort:ince 
showing  as  it  does  the  burial  place  of  John  Richbell 
the  first  white  man  who  bought  Mamaroneck  of  the 
natives — the  Father  of  the  Town,  his  mother  in  law, 
and  one  of  his  daughters.  As  J\lrs.  Richbell  his 
widow  continued  to  live  in  Mamaroneck  and  sur- 
vived till  the  first  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
though  the  precise  date  of  her  death  can  not  be 
found,  it  is  most  probable  that  she  too  is  buried  with 
her  husband.  There  is  no  date  to  the  entry,  which 
shows  beside  the  intimacy  between  the  Richliell  and 
the  Disbrow  families.  The  James  Mott  who  makes 
this  declaration  was  the  husband  of  Richbell's  daughter 
Mary  whose  burial  is  mentioned  in  it. 

The  Burial  Place  of  Itichbell. 

"  I  James  Mott  do  give  and  grant  to  Margaret  Dis- 
brow and  her  three  sons  Henery  John  and  Benjamin 
all  belonging  to  Moinoronack  to  them  and  their  fam- 
ylies  forever  the  Liberty  of  burying  their  dead, 
whether  Father  or  Mother,  husband  or  wife,  brother 
or  sister,  son  or  daughter,  in  a  certain  peace  of  Land 
Laying  near  the  Salt  Meadow,  where  Mr.  .Joiin  Rich- 
bell and  his  wife's  Mother,  and  my  wife  Mary  Mott 
was  buried  in  my  home  lot  or  feild  adjoining  to  my 
house,  written  by  William  palmer  Clerk  of  Momoio- 
nack  by  order  of  Capt  James  Mott." 

I.  Town  Records  71. 

The  spot  is  on  the  property  of  Mr.  Thomas  L. 
Rushmore  on  the  little  knoll  between  the  Harbour 
and  De  Lancey  Avenue,  marked  by  a  few  trees  and  a 
few  half  buried  tombstones  of  a  comparatively  late 
date.  How  many  of  the  Disbrows  are  buried  there 
nought  remains  to  tell.  They  have  had  for  sixty  or 
seventy  years  a  cemetery  of  their  own  on  West  St. 
The  last  person  whom  the  writer  knows  to  have  been 
buried  on  the  knoll,  was  the  venerable  Quaker  who 
once  owned  the  farm  and  the  knoll  itself.  Seaman  Giles 
— and  of  whom  he  has  a  vivid  recollection.   It  is  the 


election,  which  \>a«  terminated  in  June  of  that  year  by  the  justices  of 
the  peace  electing  Dr.  Rogera  to  the  oftice. 


862 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


oldest  burial  place  of  civilized  man  in  the  town,  and 
it  is  hoped  that  some  proper  historic  monument  may 
yet  mark  this  spot  so  sacred  in  the  memory  of  the 
earliest  settler  of  Mamaroneck  and  his  family  and 
friends. 

There  is  one  other  entry  in  the  town  book  of  such 
an  odd  nature  that  it  must  be  mentioned,  an  entry 
which  shows  the  strength  of  an  agricultural  supersti- 
tion very  prevalent  in  the  last  centurj' and  which  may 
linger  still  in  some  old  fashioned  regions. 
.  "April  5"',  1785.  The  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants 
agree  that  the  overseers  of  Highways  are  impowered 
to  call  on  all  the  Men  in  their  several  Districts  for 
the  purpose  of  Destroying  the  Barbery  bushes,  so  often 
as  the  said  overseers  shall  think  proper,  until  the 
whole  are  destroyed,  any  man  refusing  to  come,  if  he 
is  legally  warned,  shall  forfeit  -is.  for  every  day,  to  be 
recovered  in  the  same  manner  as  the  fines  for  neglect 
of  working  the  roads  are,  which  lines  shall  be  lay'd 
out  as  the  overseers  think  proper."  It  was  the  popul  ir 
belief  of  that  day  that  the  smut  or  blight  in  wheat  and 
other  grains  was  caused  by  these  unfortunate  barberry 
bushes,  hence  in  Mamaroneck  as  in  many  other 
places,  ridiculous  as  it  seems  at  this  day,  they  were 
proceeded  agaiust  as  public  enemies. 

The  de  Lanceys  of  New  York  so  closely  connected 
with  the  Province,  and  State,  and  the  County  of  West- 
chester, are  of  French  origin,  the  first  of  them  in 
America  having  been  driven  from  France  by  the  Re- 
vocation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  being  a  Huguenot. 
The  annexed  account  of  this  family  is  mainly  from 
Bolton's  second  edition  of  his  History  of  West- 
chester County,  whicli  was  drawn  up  from  the  au- 
tiiorities  referred  to  in  it,  and  later  information  from 
the  late  Bishop  de  Lancey  and  the  present  writer. 

The  de  Lanceys  of  New  Y'ork,  are  a  branch  of  the 
ancient  house  of  de  Lancey  in  France,  springing 
from  Guy  de  Lancey,  Ecuyer,  Vicomte  de  Laval  et  de 
Nouvion,  who  in  1432,  held  of  the  Prince-Bishop  of 
the  Duchy  of  Laon,  the  fiefs  of  the  four  banier  of  La- 
val, and  that  of  Nouvion.'  These  territories  formed 
one  of  the  fourVicomte-cics  of  the  Laonnois,  a  divi- 
sion of  the  old  province  of  the  "  Isle  of  France," 
bordering  on  Picardy. 

The  manuscript  genealogies  of  this  family  are  pre- 
served in  the  Armorial  General  de  la  France  2d  Reg- 
ister, 2d  volume,  in  the  National  Library  of  France' 
at  Paris,  and  in  the  archives  of  the  department  of 
the  Aisne,  at  the  city  of  Laon.  The  latter  have  been 
given  in  the  Dictionnaire  Historique  du  Depart- 
ment de'  I'Aisne  of  M.  Melville.^  The  descent  is 
thus  given  from  the  French  authorities.* 


1  Sometimes  spelled  *'  Noiivian."  These  lands  and  villages  are  situated 
a  few  miles  from  the  city  of  L.aon  in  the  present  department  of  the 
Aisne. 

2  The  official  MSS.  of  this  work,  the  great  National  Register  of  the 
Trench  Noblesse,  were  firat  printed  by  order  of  Louis  XV.,  in  17:i8. 

3  In  two  vols.  8vo.,  published  at  Paris  ami  at  Laon  in  1SU5. 

*he  Nobiliaire  de  Picardie,  Paris,  ICOli,  title  "Lanei,"  Dictionnaire  de 


The  prefixed  Roman  numerals  are  so  used  in  the 
French  genealogies  to  denote  the  different  in- 
dividuals bearing  the  same  Christian  name. 

1432.  Guy  de  Lancy,  Ecuyer  *  Vicomte  de  Laval  et 
de  Nouvion.    Wife,  Anne  de  Marcilly. 

1436.  Jean  I,  (John)  de  Lancy,  2d  Vicomte. 

1470.  Jean  II,  (John)  de  Lancy,  3d  Vicomte,  Deputy 
to  the  States  General  at  Tours  in  1484,  present  at 
the  battles  Fornoue  and  Ravvenna. 

1525.  Charles  I,  de  Lancy,  4th  Vicomte.  Wives, 
1.  Nicole  St.  Pere,  issue,  one  daughter,  mar- 
ried Antoine  Pioche,  of  Laon.  2.  Marie  de 
Villiers,  issue  two  sons,  Charles  6th  Vicomte, 
and  Christophe,  Seigneur  de  Raray. 

1535.  Charles  II,  de  Lancy,  5th  Vicomte.  Wife,  Isa- 
bel Branche,  married  15th  April,  1534 ;  issue, 
Charles  6th  Vicomte,  Jacques  (James)  Claude, 
and  a  daughter  Barbe. 

1569.  Ciiarles  III,  de  Lancy,  6th  Vicomte.  Wives,  1. 
Madeline  Le  Brun,  married  21st  of  July,  1569  ; 
issue,  Charles  IV.,  de  Lancy,  Seigneur  de  Coc- 
quebine,  (who  died  in  1667,  leaving  by  Francoise 
Crochart,  his  first  wife;  Charles  V,  de  Lancy, 
Seigneur  de  Charlemont,  who  died  unmarried. 
By  his  second  wife  Marthe  de  Resnel,.  the 
Seigneur  de  Cocquebine,  who  was  created  a  Coun- 
sellor to  the  King,  20th  of  March,  1652,  by  whom 
he  had  no  children.) 

Charles  III,  de  Lancy,  6th  Vicomte,  was  pres- 

1590.  ent  at  the  battle  of  Ivry  in  1590.  2.  By  his 
second  wife  Claude  de  May,  married  15th  Janu- 

1593.  ary,  1593,  he  had  issue,  Charles  de  Lancy,  Sieur 
de  Suine  et  de  Niville,  Antoine,  a  Canon  of  the 
Cathedral  of  Laon,  and  Claude. 

1611.  Charles  de  Lancy,  Sieur  de  Suine  et  de  Niville, 

1653.  born  in  1611,  married  25th  June,  1653,  Jeanne 
Ysore,  was  created  a  Counsellor  of  State  to  the 

1689.  King  in  1654,  and  died  23d  of  November,  1689, 
leaving  issue,  one  child, — 

Charles  Ambroise  de  Lancy,  Seigneur  de  Ni- 

1702.  ville  et  du  Condray,  de  Frenoi,  et  d'Orgemont, 
who  married  9th  January,  1702,  Marie  Made- 
leine Labbe.    He  was  confirmed  in  his  nobility 

1697.  by  a  decree  of  the  King  in  Council,  Nov.  30th, 
1697.    He  had  issue,  an  only  son, — 

1707.  Pierre  Charles  de  Lancy,  Seigneur  de  Niville 
et  de  Blarus,  born  5th  of  June,  1707 ;  an  officer  of 

1750.  the  King's  Guards,  who  died  unmarried  in 
1750. 

Christophe  de  Lancy,  Signeur  de  Raray, 
above  named,  the  younger  of  the  two  sons  of 
Charles  de  Lancy  4th,  Vicomte  de  Laval  et  de 

1525.  Nouvion,  created  Baron  de  Raray,  having  no 
issue  by  his  first  wife,  Barbe  de  Louen,  married 

1553.  Secondly,  January  19th,  1553,  Francoise  Lami, 
daughter  of  Pierre  Lami,  Seigneur  de  la  Morliere. 

la  Noblesse  de  France,  by  Chenaye  Desbois,  vol.  viii :  title  "Lancy;"  An- 
nuaire  de  la  Noblesse  of  Borel  d'Hauterive  for  1855,  "  Lancy— Raray." 
^  Ecuyer,  denotes  a  gentleman  entitled  to  use  coat  armor. 


MAMAROXECK. 


863 


1584.  He  died  in  1584,  leaving  ii  son  Nicholas  de 
Lancy,  second  Baron,  Treasurer  of  Gaston,  first 
Dnke  of  Orleans  who  married  Lucrece  dc 
Lancise,  a  Florentine  lady,  and  had  four  chil- 
dren.   1.  Henry  de  Lancy,  third  Baron,  who 

1654.  was  created  January  17th,  1G54,  Marquis  De 
Rarai.  2.  Francois  de  Lancy,  Seigneur  D'Ara- 
mont,  called  the  Chevalier  de  Raray,  who  was 
killed  at  the  siege  of  Conde,  17th  August,  1()74, 
unmarried ;  and  3.  Charles  de  Lancy,  Seigneur 
de  Rihecourt,  et  Pimpre,  who  married  Made- 
leine d'.\guesseau  and  died  without  issue  in  1G75. 
4.  Madeleine  de  Lancy,  married  11th  Novem- 
ber, 1()19,  Charles  de  Mornay,  Seigneur  deMont- 
chevreuil. 

Henry  de  Lancy,  above  named,  1st  Marquis  de 
Raray,  married  January  3()th,  1633,  Catharine 
d'Angennes,  daughter  of  Louis  d'Angennes, 
Seigneur  de  la  Loupe  and  his  wife  Francoise, 
daughter  of  Odet,  Seigneur  d'Auberville,  Bailly 
of  the  city  of  Caen,  in  Normandy,  by  whom  he 
had,  1.  Gaston  Jean  Baptiste  de  Lancy,  2d  Mar- 
quis ;  2.  Charles  de  Lancy-Raray,  killed  at  the 
siege  of  Lille,  in  1667,  unmarried  ;  and  3.  Marie 
Charlotte,  wife  of  Louis  des  Acres,  Marquis  de 
I'Aigle,  who  died  in  Paris,  August  27th,  1734, 
aged  82  years.' 
1660.  Gaston  Jean  Baptiste  de  Lancy,  second  Mar- 
quis de  Raray,  married  4th  May,  1660,  Marie 
Luce  Aubery,  daughter  of  Robert,  Marquis  de 
Vatan,  and  had  two  sons,  Charles  Henry  de 
Lancy,  third  Marquis,  made  a  page  to  the  King 

1679.  in  1679,  who  died  shortly  after,  unmarried,  and 
Gaston  Jean  Baptiste  de  Lancy,  who  succeeded 
his  brother  as  fourth  Marquis  and  died  unmar- 
ried not  long  after.     Both  these  brothers  died 

1680.  in  1680 ;  and  with  them  ended  the  males  of 
this  branch  of  the  family.  Their  sisters  were 
five,  Henriette,  wife  of  the  Marquis  de  Creve- 
coeur ;  Catharine,  wife  of  the  Seigneur  de  la  Bil- 
larderie;^  Francoise,  died  unmarried;  Annette, 
died  unmarried,  and  Marie  Luce,  wife  of  the 
Comte  de  Nonant,  who  died  16th  March,  1743, 
aged  eighty. 

'  Lc  Palais  d'LUonucur,  Paris,  1664,  page  ;112,  family  "  d'Angennes." 
2  In  front  of  the  altar  at  the  Cburch  of  Vrelieric,  (de|)artnieiit  of 
Oiso,  Franco),  tbure  is  a  tombstone  erected  to  this  lady,  inscribed  : — 

D.       O.  M. 

let  repose 
Haute  etpiiissaute  Danio 
Madame  Francoise  nr.  Lanci  Uari,  dame 
Des  Torres  et  Seigneiiries,  d'Hanuuont,  Kibecoiirt, 
I'impre  St.  Oenniiin  ot  Ruy,  en  |uirtie  Ch;itelaino 
Hereditaire  et  engsigiste  des  Donmines  de  Bollii/y 
ct  A'erberie,  jtossides  pjir  ses  jR'res  de  puispliis 
deux  cents  ans  veuve  de  ile^ire  IJartbelemi  tie 
FlabautClievelier  seigneur  dc  la  nillarderie  Maitre 
de  camp  de  Cavalcrie.  exempt  des  gardes  du  cor|« 
du  Boi  tue  a  la  batalle  de  Mai  plaquet.    La  dite 
Dame  de  la  Billardorieest  decedee  la  :i.'>  Juin,  16J4. 
agree  de  61  ans. 
Priez  puur  son  fune 


The  Arms  are  blazoned  in  the  "Armorial 
General  de  la  France,"  thus,  "  AuMES;  or,  a  I'aigle 
eployee  de  sable,  charge  sur  Testomac  d'un  ecusson 
d'azur,  a  trois  lances  d'or,  posces  en  pal,  pointes  en 
haut."  In  English,  Akms:  Or,  an  eagle  wings  dis- 
played, sable,  charged  on  the  breast  with  a  shield 
azure,  three  tilting  lances  or,  in  i)ale,  i)oints  ujjward. 

On  becoming  a  British  subject,  Ktienne  (or  Ste- 
phen) de  Lancy  modified  these  arms  which  had 
originated  before  the  use  of  crests  in  heraldry,  to 
make  them  more  like  those  of  English  families,  most 
of  which  have  crests  ;  and  though  not  registered  in 
the  English  College  of  Arms,  they  appear  as  so  modi- 
tied  in  most  English  heraldic  works,  and  have  since 
been  so  borne  in  America,  notably  on  the  oHicial  seal 
of  his  son  James  de  Lancey,  as  Lt.  Governor  and 
Captain  General  of  New  York.  They  are  thus  blaz- 
oned Ar.ms  ;  Azure,  a  tilting  lance  proper,  point  up- 
ward with  a  pennon  argent  bearing  a  cross  gules 
fringed  and  floating  to  the  right,  dcbruised  of  a  fess,  or. 
CuKST  ;  a  sinister  arm  in  armor  embowed,  the  hand 
gnispinga  tilting  lance,  pennon  floating,  both  proper. 
Motto  ;  Certum  voto  pete  finem. 

The  name  of  this  family,  anciently  spelled  "  Lanci," 
and  later  "  Lancy,"  in  France,  was  anglicised  by 
Etienne  de  Lancy  on  being  denizenizcd  a  British  sub- 
ject in  1686,  after  which  time  he  always  wrote  his 
name  Stephen  de  Lancey — thus  inserting  an  "  e"  in 
the  final  syllable.  The  "  de"  is  the  ordinary  French 
prefix,  denoting  nobility. 

The  Seigneur  Jacques  (James)  de  Lancy,  above- 
named,  second  son  of  Charles  de  Lancy,  fifth  Vicomte 
de  Laval  et  de  Nouvion,  was  the  ancestor  of  the 
Huguenot  branch,  the  only  existing  one,  of  this  fam- 
ily. His  son  the  Seigneur  Jacques  de  Lancy  of  Caen, 
married  Marguerite  Bertrand,  daughter  of  Pierre  Ber- 
trand  of  Caen,  by  his  first  wife,  the  Demoiselle  Firel, 
and  had  two  children,  a  son  Etienne  (or  Stephen)  de 
Lancey,  born  at  Caen,  October  24,  1663,  and  a  daugh- 
ter, the  wife  of  John  Barbarie.  '  On  the  revocation 
of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  Stephen  de  Lancey  was  one  of 
those  who,  stripped  of  their  titles  and  estates,  fled 
from  persecution — leaving  his  aged  mother,  then  a 
widow,  in  concealment  at  Caen,  he  escaped  to  Hol- 
land, where,  remaining  a  short  time,  he  proceeded  to 
England,  and  taking  out  letters  of  denization  as  an 
English  subject  at  London,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1686,  he  sailed  for  New  York,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  7th  of  June  following.  Herewith  three  hundred 
pounds  sterling,  the  jirocecds  of  the  sale  of  some 
family  jewels,  the  parting  gift  of  his  mother,  he  em- 
barked in  mercantile  pursuits.  By  industry  and  strict 
application  to  business,  he  became  a  successful  mer- 


^MSS.,  "Bertrand"  Gene.ilogy ; — John  Uarbarieand  his  family  came 
to  New  York  in  16«8,  in  which  year  (on  .ilh  January),  he  and  his  sods 
Peter,  and  John  Peter,  were  denizened  as  English  subjects  in  Lomlun. 
He  wa.s  subsequently  a  merchant  in  New  York,  in  partnership  with 
his  brother-in-law,  Stephen  de  Lancy,  and  a  member  of  the  Council  of 
the  Province. 


864 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


chant  and  amassed  a  large  fortune.  He  was  a  highly 
esteemed  and  influential  man,  and  held,  through  all 
his  life,  honorable  appointments  in  the  councils  of 
the  city,  as  well  as  in  the  Representative  Assembly  of 
the  Province.  He  was  elected  Alderman  of  the  west 
ward  of  the  city,  live  years  after  his  arrival,  in  1691. 
He  was  representative  from  the  city  and  county  ol' 
New  York,  in  the  Provincial  Assembly,  from  1702  to 
1715,  with  the  exception  of  1701t ;  and  in  1725,  on  the 
decease  of  Mr.  Provoost,  he  was  elected  again  to  that 
body.  The  following  year  he  was  re-elected,  and  con- 
tinued in  olEce  until  1737;  a  service  of  twenty -six 
years  in  all.  In  1716,  being  a  vestryman  of  Trinity 
church,  he  contributed  £50,  the  amount  of  his  salary 
as  Representative  to  the  General  Assembly,  to  buy  a 
city  clock  for  that  church,  the  first  ever  erected  in 
New  York.  To  him  and  Mr.  John  Moore,  his  part- 
ner, the  city  is  also  indebted  for  the  introduction  ol' 
fire  engines,  in  1731.  '  He  wa.s  one  of  the  principal 
benefactors  of  the  French  church,  Du  St.  Esprit,  es- 
tablished in  New  York  by  the  refugees  who  fled  upon 
the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  a  warm 
friend  of  the  French  Huguenot*  at  New  Rochelle. 
The  following  letter  addressed  by  him,  1591,  to  hit- 
friend  Alexander  Allaire,  is  still  preserved  among  the 
public  records  at  New  Rochelle. 

XlKl   YiiBli,  I.K  -JT  Jl  LIET,  IfiOl. 

SIoNS.  Allaire  : 

Monsieur  Notri*  Amy  3Ions.  Boithciler,  avant  de  partir  nie  <loonem 
ordre  qu'en  ras  (juSl  viii-sc  a  iiiourir  il  Kiit  fair  duiiuation  de  ses  tern*»» 
k  sa  filleule  votre  fillc,  Sy  vous  iwuvoz  faire  qnelque  IJenefice  tlw  dit« 
terres.  Soit  a  Couper  dcs  arbres  ou  a  faire  des  foiiis  sur  les  prairieE  vous 
le  (wiires  a  rexcltisioii  de  qui  quese  lioit,  Jc  siiiit. 

Muds,  votre  tre  buiuble  scrvittur, 

Etienne  de  Lancev, 
Ccu  est  la  vuretable  coppie  de  I'original.  * 

He  was  a  vestryman  of  Trinity  church.  New  York  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  in  1741.  He  married  January 
23d,  1700,  Anne  Van  Cortlaiidt,  daughter  of  Stephanus 
Van  Cortlandt  (whose  family  was  then  one  of  the 
most  opulent  and  extensive  in  the  Province).  Stephen 
de  Lancey  at  his  death  iii  1741  left  issue  surviving, 
James,  Peter,  Stephen,  John,  Oliver,  Susan  and 
Anne.  Of  these  sons  Stephen  and  John  died  bache- 
lors. Susan  married  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Warren,  and 
Anne  the  Hon.  John  Watts  of  New  Y'ork.  The  eldest 
son,  James  de  Lancey,  a  man  of  great  talent,  was  born 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  27th  November,  1703,  and 
received  his  education  at  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
England.  He  was  a  fellow  commoner  of  Corpus 
Christi  College  (where  he  was  styled  the  "  handsome 
American")  and  studied  law  in  the  Temple  In  1725, 
he  returned  to  New  York,  and  on  the  decease  of  John 
Barbaric,  his  uncle  by  marriage,  was  appointed  by 
George  II.  to  succeed  him  in  the  Provincial  Council. 
He  took  his  seat  at  the  board,  January  29,  1729,  and 
held  it  to  April  9,  1733,  when  he  was  appointed  Chief 


I  Uiscellaneoiis  works,  by  Gen.  de  Peyster;  De  Peyster  Gen.  Bef. 
p.  M. 

-  Copied  from  original  MSS.  in  Kec.  of  New  Bochelle. 


Justice  of  New  York  and  continued  so  the  remain- 
der of  his  life.  In  1753,  on  the  accession  of  Sir  Dan- 
vers  Osborne  as  Governor,  in  the  place  of  George 
Clinton,  he  received  the  commission  of  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him  in 
1747  by  George  II.  and  had  been  kept  back  by  Clin- 
ton until  this  time.  The  oath  of  office  was  adminis- 
tered October  10,  1753.  The  tragical  death  of  Sir 
Danvers  Osborn  by  suicide  two  days  afterwards,  oc- 
casioned the  elevation  of  Mr.  de  Lancey  to  the  Gu- 
bernatorial chair,  which  he  occupied  till  the  2d  of 
September,  1755,  when  the  new  Governor,  Admiral 
Sir  Charles  Hardy  arrived,  who  administered  the 
government  till  the  2d  of  July,  1757.  Preferring  a 
naval  command  Hardy  resigned,  and  sailed  in  the 
expedition  to  Louisburgh,  and  Mr.  De  Lancey  again 
took  the  reins  of  Government. 

The  ministry  of  England  wished  to  keep  the  com- 
mand of  New  York  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  de  Lancey, 
but  it  was  then,  as  it  is  to  this  day,  a  rule  of  the  Eng- 
lish Government  never  to  appoint  a  native  colonist  to 
the  supreme  command  over  his  own  colony.  To  effect 
their  object  in  this  case  without  violating  their 
rule,  they  decided  not  to  appoint  any  new  Governor 
as  long  as  Mr.  de  Lancey  lived;  he  therefore  re- 
mained the  Governor  of  New  York  under  his  commis- 
sion as  Lieutenant-Governor  until  his  death,  some 
three  years  afterwards,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1760.' 

"On  the  19th  of  June,  1754,  Governor  de  Lancey 
convened  and  presided  over  the  celebrated  Congre.ss  of 
Albany,  the  first  Congress  ever  held  in  America,  over 
which  he  presided.  This  was  a  Congress  of  delegates 
from  all  the  colonies,  which  the  home  government  di- 
rected the  Governor  of  New  York  to  hold,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conciliating  the  Indian  nations  who  were  in- 
vited to  attend  it ;  of  renewing  the  covenant  chain 
and  attaching  them  more  closely  to  the  British  inter- 
est, and  comprising  all  the  provinces  in  one  general 
treaty  to  be  made  with  them  in  the  King's  name,  and 
for  no  other  purpose.*  Speeches  and  presents  were 
made  to  the  Indians  who  promised  to  do  all  that  was 
asked  of  them,  but  no  formal  treaty  whatever  was 
concluded.  The  Congress  voted  instead,  that  the 
delegation  from  each  colony  except  New  York,  should 
appoint  one  of  their  number,  who  together  should  be 
a  committee  to  digest  a  plan  for  a  general  union  of  all 
the  colonies. 

The  choice  of  the  New  Y'ork  committee-man  was 
left  to  Governor  de  Lancey,  who,  acting  most  impar- 
tially, appointed  his  political  opponent,  William 
Smith,  Esq.,  the  elder.''  This  movement,  which  was 
not  within  the  objects  of  the  Congress  as  defined  in 


3  For  a  full  biograpbiral  sketch  of  Governor  De  Lancey,  see  Documen- 
tary History  of  New  York,  vol.  IV,  p.  1037. 

*  Virginia  and  Carolina  did  not  send  delegates,  but  desired  to  be  con- 
siderecj  as  present.   Doc.  Hist.  K.  T.,  II,  567. 

•'  See  Letter  of  Lords  of  Trade,  directing  the  holding  of  the  Congress, 
and  the  minutes  of  its  proceedings  in  full,  in  Doc.  Hist.  \.  Y.,  II,  555 
and  N.  Y.  Col.  Hist.,  vi.  p.  853. 


MAMARONECK. 


865 


the  letter  of  the  Board  of  Trade  above  mentioned,  re- 
sulted in  the  adopting  of  a  plan  of  a  union  to  be  made 
by  an  act  of  Parliament,  which,  after  the  provisions 
were  resolved  on,  was  put  into  form  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  who  was  a  delegate  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
which  was  not  decided  upon,  but  merely  sent  to  the 
different  provinces  for  consideration. 

Before  the  motion  for  the  appointment  of  this  com- 
mittee was  made,  Governor  de  Lancey,  being  in  favor 
of  the  colonies  uniting  for  their  own  defence,  pro- 
posed the  building  and  maintaining,  at  the  joint  ex- 
pense of  the  colonies,  of  a  chain  of  forts  covering  their 
whole  exposed  frontier,  and  some  in  the  Indian  coun- 
try itself  But  this  plan,  like  the  other,  was  without 
effect  upon  the  Congress;  for,  as  he  tells  us  himself, 
"they  seemed  so  fully  persuaded  of  the  backwardness 
of  the  several  assemblies  to  come  into  joint  and  vig- 
orous measures  that  they  were  unwilling  to  enter 
upon  the  consideration  of  the  matters." '  His  idea 
seems  to  have  been  for  a  practical  union  of  the  col- 
onies for  their  own  defense  to  be  made  by  themselves ; 
whilst  that  of  the  committees,  who  despaired  of  a  vol- 
untary union,  was  for  a  consolidation  of  the  colonies 
to  be  enforced  by  act  of  Parliament.  Neither  plan, 
however,  met  with  favor  in  any  quarter,  and  the  Con- 
gress effected  little  but  the  conciliation  of  the  In- 
dians.^ 

In  the  autumn  of  1754,  the  Governor  suggested  to 
the  Assembly  the  system  of  settling  lands  in  town- 
ships instead  of  patents,  a  measure  which,  being 
passed  by  them,  rapidly  increased  the  population  and 
prosperity  of  the  colony.^ 

On  the  31st  of  October,  1754,  Governor  de  Lancey 
signed  and  passed  the  charter  of  King's  (now  Colum- 
bia) college,  in  spite  of  the  long  and  bitter  opposition 
of  the  Presbyterians,  led  by  Mr.  William  Livingston. 
So  decided  were  they  against  the  Episcopalians  at 
this  time,  and  so  determined  were  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Livingston  to  break  down  the  college,  that,  though 
signed  and  sealed,  the  charter  was  not  delivered  in 
consequence  of  the  clamor,  till  May  7th,  1755,  when, 
after  an  address,  Governor  de  Lancey  presented  it  to 
the  trustees  in  form.* 

"  No  American  had  greater  influence  in  the  col- 
onies than  James  de  Lancey.  Circumstances,  it  is 
true,  aided  in  raising  him  to  this  elevation — such  as 
education,  connections,  wealth,  and  his  high  conser- 
vative principles ;  but  he  owed  as  much  to  personal 
qualities,  perhaps,  as  to  all  other  causes  united.  Gay, 
witty,  easy  of  access,  and  frank,  he  was,  personally, 
the  most  popular  ruler  the  Province  ever  possessed, 
even  when  drawing  tightest  the  reins  of  Govern- 
ment."^ 


•  See  his  .speech  to  the  Assembly  of  .\iign8t  2utli,  1754.  Ass.  Jour.,  II, 
386,  387. 

-  See  the  proceedings  of  the  Cougresa.    Doc.  Hist.  X.  Y.,  II,  HSfi,  387. 
3  Assembly  Joiinml,  II,  for  September,  1754. 
*Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.  IV,  1051. 
!■  Doc.  Hiot.  X.  Y.,  p  1057. 
78 


The  death  of  Governor  James  de  Lancey,  which 
took  place  on  the  30th  of  July,  1760,  was  an  event 
which  had  a  great  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  Prov- 
ince. He  was  found  expiring  upon  that  morning, 
seated  in  his  chair  in  his  library,  too  late  for  medical 
aid.  His  funeral  took  place  on  the  evening  of  the 
31st  of  July,  1760.  The  body  was  deposited  in  his 
family,  vault,  in  the  middle  aisle  of  Trinity  Church, 
the  funeral  service  being  performed  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Barclay,  in  great  magnificence;  the  building  was 
splendidly  illuminated.  The  accounts  of  the  funeral 
and  the  procession  from  his  house  in  the  Bowery  to 
the  church,  filled  columns  of  the  papers  of  the  day.'' 

The  following  particulars  are  copied  from  a  memo- 
randum written  by  the  elder  John  Watts,  of  New 
York,  in  1787 : 

".lames  de  Lancey  was  a  man  of  uncommon  abilities  in  every  view, 
from  the  law  to  agriculture,  ayd  an  elegant,  pleasant  companion — what 
mrely  unites  in  one  person  ;  it  seemed  doubtful  which  excelled,  his 
quick  penetration  or  his  sound  judgment;  the  first  seemed  an  instant 
guide  to  the  last.  No  man  in  either  office,  (Chief  Justice  or  Lieut. 
Governor,)  had  more  the  love  and  confidence  of  the  people ;  nor  any 
man,  before  or  since,  half  the  influence.  He  was  unfortunately  tiiken 
from  us  in  July,  17G0,  so  suddenly  that  his  very  family  suspected  no 
danger.  We  had  spent,  very  agreeably,  the  day  before  on  Staten  Island  ; 
after  ten  at  night  he  left  my  house  perfectly  well,  in  the  morning  he 
was  as  usual,  but  about  nine  a  servant  was  dispatched  to  tell  me  Ills  mas- 
ter was  very  ill.  I  mounted  instantly  and  hurried  to  his  house  in  Bowery 
Lane,  but  on  the  way  was  alarmed  by  a  call  'that  all  was  over,'  and  too 
true  I  found  it  ;  he  sat  reclined  in  his  chair,  one  leg  drawn  in,  the  other 
extended,  his  arms  over  the  elbows,  so  naturally,  that  had  I  not  been 
apprized  of  it,  I  certainly  should  have  spoken  as  I  entered  the  room. 
Nobody  but  his  youngest  daughter,  a  child,  was  present  at  the  time,  so 
little  did  the  family  apprehend  the  least  danger.  Never  did  these  eyes 
behold  such  a  spectacle,  or  did  my  spirits  feel  such  an  impression.  The 
idea  affects  me  whenever  I  think  of  it ;  to  lose  such  a  companion,  such 
a  counsellor,  such  a  friend." 

James  de  Lancey  married  as  above  stated,  Anne, 
eldest  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  the  Hon.  Caleb 
Heathcote,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale.  By  her, 
he  had  four  sons ;  first,  James ;  second,  Stephen  ; 
third,  Heathcote ;  fourth,  John  Peter ;  and  four 
daughters;  first,  Mary,  wife  of  William  Walton,  who 
died  in  1767  ;  second,  Susannah,  born  18th  November, 
1737,  died  a  spinster  in  1815  ;  third,  Anne,  born  1746, 
and  died  in  1817,  who  married  Thomas  Jones,  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York,  author  of  the 
History  of  New  York  during  the  Revolutionary  War ; 
and  Martha  who  died  a  spinster,  aged  19,  in  1769. 

James  De  Lancey,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  born  in  1732,  was  the  head  of  the  political 
party,  called  by  his  name,  from  his  father's  death  to 
the  Revolution  and  its  leader  in  the  Assembly  of  the 
Province.  He  married,  August  17th,  1771,  Margaret 
Allen  of  Philadelphia,  daughter  of  William  Allen, 
Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  sister  was  the 
wife  of  Governor  John  Penn  of  that  Province.  The 
late  Mrs.  Harry  Walter  Livingston  (born  Mary  Allen) 
who  died  in  1855,  was  a  niece  of  these  two  sisters. 
James  de  Lancey  had  two  sons,  Charles  in  early  life 
a  British  naval  officer,  and  James,  Lieut-Colonel  of 


Porker's  Poit  Boy  and  other  newspupei'S. 


866 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


the  First  Dragoon  Guards;  both  died  bachelors,  the 
former  May  6th,  1840,  and  the  latter  May  26th,  1857  ; 
and  three  daughters,  Margaret,  married  July  17th, 
1794,  Sir  Jukes  Granville  Clifton  Jukes,  Bart,  and 
died  June  11th,  1804  without  leaving  children  ;  Anna 
and  Susan  who  both  died  spinsters,  the  first,  August 
10th,  1851,  and  the  last  April  7th,  1866. 

Stephen  the  second  son  of  Lieutenant-Governor  de 
Lancey  was  the  proprietor  of  what  is  now  the  town  of 
North  Salem  in  this  county,  which  came  to  his  father 
as  part  of  his  share  in  the  Manor  of  Oortlandt,  which 
town  Stephen  de  Lancey  settled.  He  built  a  large 
double  dwelling,  which  he  subsequently  gave  to  the 
town  for  an  Academy  which  is  still  in  existence.*  He 
married  Hannah  Sackett,  daughter  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Sackett  of  Crom  Pond  and  cRed  without  issue  May 
6th,  1795.  Heathcote,  the  third  son  of  the  Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, died  young  before  his  father. 

John  Peter  de  Lancey,  the  fourth  son  of  Lt.  Gov- 
ernor de  Lancey,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
July  15th,  1753,  and  died  at  Mamaroneck,  January 
30th,  1828.  He  was  educated  in  Harrow  school  in 
England,  and  at  the  military  school  at  Greenwich. 
In  1771,  he  entered  the  regular  army  as  Ensign,  and 
served  up  to  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  18th,  or  Royal 
Irish  Regiment  of  Foot.  He  was,  also,  for  a  time  by 
special  permission.  Major  of  the  Pennsylvania  Loyal- 
ists, commanded  by  Col.  William  Allen. 

He  received  the  Heathcote  estates  of  his  mother, 
in  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale;  and  having  retired  from 
a  military  life,  in  1789  returned  to  America  and  re- 
sided at  Mamaroneck.  He  built  a  new  house,  still 
standing  on  Heathcote  Hill,  the  site  of  his  grandfather 
Heathcote's  great  brick  manor-house,  which  was  ac- 
cidentally burnt  several  years  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  nuirried  28th  September,  1785,  Elizabeth 
Floyd,  daughter  of  Col.  Richard  Floyd  of  Mastic, 
Suffolk  County,  the  head  of  that  old  Long  Island 
family,  and  had  three  sons  and  five  daughters.  The 
sons  were,  1.  Thomas  James,  a  lawyer,  who  died  in 
1822,  at  the  early  age  of  32,  leaving  by  his  wife  Mary, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Ellison,  an  only  child,  a  son, 
also  named  Thomas  James,  who  married  Frances 
Augusta  Bibby,  and  died  in  1859,  without  having  had 
issue.  2.  Edward  Floyd,  born  18th  June,  1795  and 
died  a  bachelor,  19th  October  1820.  3.  William 
Heathcote,  born  8th  October,  1797,  at  Mamaroneck, 
and  died  at  Geneva,  New  York,  April  5,  1865,  the 
late  Bishop  of  Western  New  York. 

The  daughters  were  five  in  number.  1.  Anne 
Charlotte,  born  17th  September,  1786,  married  10th 
December,  1827;  John  Loudon  McAdam,  the  cele- 
brated originator  of  McAdamized  roads,-  and  died  at 
Hoddesdon,  in  England,  29th  May,  1852,  without  is- 


'  See  Town  of  North  Salem. 

2  She  was  his  second  wife.  His  first  wife  was  Glorianna  Nicoll  of 
Suffolk  County,  Long  Island;  a  tirst  cousin  of  Mrs.  John  I'eter  de  Lancey, 
the  mother  of  his  second  wife. 


sue.  2.  Susan  Augusta,  wife  of  James  Fenimore 
Cooper,  the  eminent  American  Author,  born  28th 
January,  1792,  married  1st  January,  1811,^  aud  died 
20th  of  January,  1852.  3.  Maria  Frances,  born 
August  3d,  1793 ;  died  17th  of  January,  1806.  4. 
Elizabeth  Caroline,  born  4th  March,  1801,  and  died, 
single,  25th  February,  1860.  5.  Martha  Arabella, 
born  10th  January,  1803,  who  died  in  May  1882. 

William  Heathcote  de  Lancey,  the  first  Bi.shop  of 
Western  New  York,  was  born  at  Heathcote  Hill, 
Mamaroneck,  October  8th,  1797. 

After  attending  school  at  Mamaroneck,  and  then 
at  New  Rochelle,  where  his  teacher  was  Mr.  Waite, 
father  of  the  present  Chief  Justice  Waite  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  he  was  sent  to  the 
academy  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart,  at  Hempstead,  L.  L, 
and  on  the  death  of  that  gentleman,  was  transferred 
at  the  suggestion  of  his  lather's  personal  friend,  the 
Hon.  Rufus  King,  to  that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eigen- 
brodt,  at  Jamaica.  Entering  Yale  College  in  1818, 
Mr.  de  Lancey  graduated  in  1817,  and  at  once  com- 
menced the  study  of  theology  with  the  celebrated 
Bishop  Hobart,  as  a  private  student.  He  was  or- 
dained a  deacon  by  that  prelate  on  the  28th  of  De- 
cember, 1819,  and  a  priest  on  March  6th,  1822. 

Mr.  de  Lancey  married  on  the  22d  of  November,  1820, 
Frances,  third  daughter  of  Peter  Jay  Munro,  of  New 
York,  and  of  Mamaroneck,  the  distinguished  lawyer, 
onlychild  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Harry  Muuro,  the  last  English 
Rector  of  St.  Peter's  church,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  by  his 
third  wife.  Eve  Jay,  daughter  of  Peter  Jay,  the  first 
of  that  name  in  Rye,  (one  of  whose  younger  brothers 
was  Chief  Justice  John  Jay)  by  his  wife  Margaret, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  Henry  White,  of  the  Council  of 
the  Province  of  New  York,  and  his  wife  Eve  Van 
Cortlandt,  of  Yonkers. 

While  a  divinity  student  Mr.  de  Lancey  held  the 
first  services  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Mamaro- 
neck; and  with  the  aid  of  his  father,  John  Peter  de 
Lancey  and  Peter  Jay  Munro,  who  were  its  first 
wardens,  founded  the  Parish  of  St.  Thomas  in  that 
village. 

After  serving  for  short  periods  as  deacon  in  Trinity 
church,  and  in  Grace  church.  New  York,  he  was  in- 
vited by  the  venerable  Bishop  White  of  Pennsylvania 
to  be  his  personal  assistant  in  the  "  Three  United 
Churches"  of  Christ  church,  St.  Peter's,  and  St 
James  in  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  was  also  the  Rec- 
tor. Mr.  de  Lancey  accepted  this  position  and  re- 
moved to  Philadelphia,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
in  the  closest  and  most  confidential  relations  with 
Bishop  White,  until  the  death  in  1836,  of  that  great 
and  venerable  prelate,  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Ameri- 
can Church,  consecrated  by  Anglican  Bishops. 

During  this  period,  in  1827,  in  his  thirtieth  year, 
Mr.  de  Lancey  was  chosen  Provost  of  the  University 


'  This  man  iage  was  solemnized  in  the  house  of  Mr.  de  Lancey,  at 
Heathcote  }Iill. 


.S3S  1865 


MAMARONECK. 


867 


of  Pennsylvania,  that  old  "  College  in  Philadelphia" 
founded  by  Benjamin  Franklin;  and  also  received 
the  degree  of  D.D.,  from  his  Alma  Mater,  Yale  Col- 
lege— being  the  youngest  man  upon  whom,  up  to  that 
time,  she  had  conferred  that  honor.  He  remained 
in  the  Provostship  five  years,  having  brought  the 
University  up  to  a  very  flourishing  condition,  when 
he  resigned  to  resume  his  profession  and  was  elected 
assistant  minister  of  St.  Peter's  church,  Philadelphia, 
with  the  reversion  of  the  Rectorship  upon  the  death 
of  Bishop  White. 

That  event  occurring  in  1836,  Dr.  de  Lancey  then 
became  Rector  of  St.  Peter's  and  remained  such  until 
1839,  when,  upon  the  division  of  the  State  of  New 
York  into  two  Dioceses,  he  was  elected  Bishop  of 
that  part  of  the  State,  west  of  Utica,  and  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Western  New  York,  at  Auburn,  May  9th, 
1839,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Geneva  in  Ontario 
County,  a  town  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  new  Dio- 
cese the  same  year. 

After  a  long,  distinguished  and  successful  episcopate 
of  twenty-seven  years,  Bishop  de  Lancey  died  in  his 
own  house  in  Geneva,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1865,  in  the 
sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  "  In  him,"  said  a  writer 
of  the  day,  "  the  Church  in  America  loses  the  further 
services  of  one  of  her  oldest  and  wisest  Bishops.  De- 
scended from  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  families  in 
this  country — which  dates  far  back  in  our  colonial 
history,  and  was  from  the  first  one  of  the  staunchest 
pillars  of  the  Church — Bishop  de  Lancey  had  also  the 
good  fortune  to  be  personally  connected  w-ith  the 
leading  minds  in  our  American  branch  of  the  Church 
Catholic.  After  studying  for  holy  orders  under 
Bishop  Hobart,  and  being  ordained  by  him  both 
Deacon  and  Priest,  he  became  assistant  to  the  vener- 
able Bishop  White,  and  continued  in  the  closest  and 
most  confidential  intercourse  with  him  to  his  death 
in  1836.  *  *  *  During  his  connection  with 
the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  he  filled  numerous  posts 
of  dignity  and  useful  service,  among  which  were  the 
Provostship  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  the 
Secretaryship  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Convention;  his  activity,  high  charac- 
ter and  living  influence,  were  inferior  to  those  of  no 
other  Priest  in  the  Diocese.  This  early  jiromise  was 
not  disappointed,  but  abundantly  fulfilled,  in  his 
career  as  the  first  Bishop  of  Western  New  York.  He 
was  one  of  the  men  whom  nature  had  marked  out  for 
a  ruler  among  his  fellows.  With  sound  principles, 
earnest  devotion,  personal  gravity,  and  spotless  purity 
of  life,  he  possessed  a  clearness  of  head,  a  keen  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  and  a  coolness,  caution,  readi- 
ness, and  boldness,  which  all  combined  in  making 
him  a  successful  Bishop.  His  skill  in  debate  was  re- 
markable, and  was  fully  equalled  by  his  mastery  of  all 
the  resources  of  parliamentary  tactics,  either  for  carry- 
ing a  measure  which  he  favored,  or  defeating  one  to 
which  be  was  oi)posed.  His  vigilance  and  unflinching 
tenacity  were  fully  on  a  par  with  his  other (|ualities ;  ' 


and  yet  his  cou  rtesy  and  gentlemanly  bearing,  together 
with  a  pleasant  touch  of  humor,  so  lubricated  the 
friction  of  every  contest,  that  no  undue  heat  remained 
on  either  side  when  the  struggle  was  over.  No  higher 
testimony  could  be  given  to  the  manner  in  which  he 
discharged  his  high  office,  than  the  fact  of  great  and 
steady  growth  in  his  Diocese,  together  with  a  main- 
tenance of  an  internal  harmony,  unity  and  peace,  such 
as  no  one  of  our  great  Dioceses  has  been  able  to  equal, 
much  less  surpass;  nor  was  he  ever  the  subject  of 
systematic  attack  from  outside  of  his  own  jurisdiction. 
But  his  care  was  not  limited  to  his  own  immediate 
charge.  While  Hobart  College,  and  De  Veaux  Col- 
lege, and  the  Theological  Training  School,  and  other 
flourishing  Church  schools,  manifest  his  power  of 
organization  and  maintenance,  and  his  success  in 
rallying  aid  by  means  of  the  confidence  which  his 
personal  and  official  character  inspired,  he  never  ne- 
glected the  General  Institutions  of  the  Church.  Not 
only  in  General  Convention  was  he  one  of  the  strong 
men  of  the  Upper  House;  but  in  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, in  the  Church  Book  Society,  in  the  General 
Theological  Seminary,  he  has  been  among  the  fore- 
most, sometimes  the  one  of  all  others  to  lead  the  way 
at  critical  moments,  and  to  sound  the  call  to  which 
others  were  glad  to  rally.  His  clear-sightedness,  in- 
deed, sometimes  made  iiim  a  little  in  advance  of  his 
time ;  and  no  truer  proof  of  wisdom  could  be  given  by 
a  tenacious  man  than  the  promptness  with  which  he 
dropped  a  subject  when  satisfied  that  it  was  not  yet 
ripe  for  action.  One  case  of  this  kind  w-as  in  regard 
to  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  which  he  fore- 
saw must  sooner  or  later  change  its  form  from  a  gen- 
eral to  a  local  institution  ;  and  about  twenty  years 
ago  he  proposed  it  in  the  Board.  The  proposal  failed, 
and  was  not  renewed.  The  time  for  that  change  is 
much  nearer  now  than  it  was  then,  and  the  shape 
which  it  will  take,  will  probably  be  different  in  some 
important  respects  from  Bishop  de  Lancey's  ideas  at 
that  time.'  But  his  foresight  as  to  the  coming  change 
will  continue  on  record.  Another  and  still  more  im- 
portant subject  was  also  introduced  first  by  him  into 
General  Convention — the  adoption  of  the  Provincial 
System.  Bishop  Wiiite,  indeed,  had  sketched  out  the 
plan  long  before,  and  he  had  taken  it  from  the  uni- 
versal system  of  the  Church  in  all  ages  and  countries ; 
but  Bishop  de  Lancey  was  the  first  to  propose  it, 
formally,  to  the  Legislature  of  the  Church.  The 
time  had  not  come ;  and  the  Bishop  wisely  let  it  sleep 
thereafter ;  but  here,  as  before,  the  proof  of  his  fore- 
sight as  to  the  approaching  and  certain  needs  of  the 
Church  is  written  in  the  records  of  her  institutions. 
Bishops  of  more  brilliance  in  some  departments,  of 
more  moving  eloquence,  of  more  sympathetic  temper- 
aments, of  more  personal  popularity,  of  more  rapid 
visible  success,  we  may  behold ;  but  a  Bishop  more 

1  The  change  did  not  coma  till  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  after 
Bishop  do  L.'a  death,  when  the  Seminary  was  totally  reorgHnized  as  it 
now  is. 


868 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


sagacious,  more  steady,  more  true,  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  the  Church,  like  a  wise  master-builder, 
we  never  expect  to  see." 

.John  Peter  De  Lancey  by  will  (dated  28th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1823)  devised  his  property  in  this  town  to  Thomas 
James  De  Lancey,  the  only  child  of  his  deceased  son 
Thomas  James,  and  to  his  son  William  Heathcote  De 
Lancey  the  Bishop  of  Western  New  York  (except  a 
portion  of  the  western  end  of  De  Lancey's  Neck  which 
he  had  conveyed  in  his  life, time  to  his  deceased  son 
Thomas  James,  who  had  devised  the  same  to  his  only 
child  Thomas  James  the  younger).  All  the  property 
of  Thomas  James  the  younger  lay  upon  the  western 
part  of  de  Lancey's  Neck.  The  eastern  part  of  that 
Neck,  the  Heathcote  Hill  tract,  and  sedge  lots,  with  the 
other  lands  of  John  Peter  de  Lancey  in  Mamaroneck 
passed  to  the  late  Bishop  de  Lancey,  who  devised  the 
same  to  his  four  surviving  children,  Edward  Floyd, 
John  Peter,  William  Heathcote,  Jr.,  and  Margaret, 
wife  of  Thomas  F.  Rochester,  M.D.  The  Heathcote 
Hill  estate  was  devised  to  them  equally,  and  subse- 
quently by  purchase  of  the  shares  of  his  brothers  and 
sister  became  the  sole  property  of  Edward  Floyd  de 
Lancey,  the  present  proprietor.  Thomas  James  de 
Lancey,  the  younger,  sold  his  part  of  de  Lancey's 
Neck  in  his  lifetime,  and  it  is  now  held  by  many 
owners.  The  eastern  part,  has  now  been  sold 
by  the  children  of  Bishop  de  Lancey  except  the 
extreme  south-eastern  part,  the  country  seat  of  Ed- 
ward F.  de  Lancey. 

l^eter  de  Lancey,  second  son  of  Etienne  de  Lancey 
the  Huguenot,  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Province,  Member  of  Assembly  from  Westchester  for 
many  years,  and  High  Sheriff  was  born  26  August, 
1705,  and  died  17  October,  1770;  he  married  Eliza- 
beth daughter  of  Gov.  Cadwallader  Golden  Jan.  7th 
1737-8  and  had  issue  twelve  children.  1.  Stephen  a 
lawyer.  Recorder  of  Albany,  and  Clerk  of  Tryon 
County ;  2.  John  succeeded  his  father  as  Member 
for  Westchester  and  was  also  High  Sheriff  of  the 
County,  married  Miss  Wickham  and  had  an  only 
child  a  daughter  who  was  the  wife  of  the  Hon. 
Christopher  Yates,  Chief  Justice  and  Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  3.  Peter  a  lawyer  of  Charleston, 
S.  C.  4.  Anne  wife  of  John  Coxe  of  Philadelphia.  5. 
Alice,  wife  of  Ralph  Izard  of  S.  C.  Delegate  to  the 
Continental  Congress  from  South  Carolina,  1780  to 
1783,  U.  S.  Commissioner  to  Tuscany  in  1777,  and  U. 
S.  Senator  from  S.  C.  1789  to  1795.  6.  Elizabeth  died 
single ;  7.  James  High  Sheriff  of  Westchester  at  and 
for  several  years  preceding  the  outbreak  of  the 
American  Revolution,  Colonel  of  the  Westchester 
Light  Horse,  the  alert  and  famous  Partisan  Chief  of 
the  Neutral  Ground  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
Member  of  the  Council  of  Nova  Scotia,  died  May  2d, 
1804  at  his  residence  Willow  Park,  near  Annapolis, 
Nova  Scotia,  aged  58  years  ;  8.  Oliver,  of  Westfarms, 
Lieutenant  in  the  British  Navy,  resigned  because  he 
would  not  fight  against  his  native  land  in  the  Revolu- 


tion, died  at  Westchester  4th  Sept.  1820;  9.  Susanna 
wife  of  Col.  Thomas  Barclay  and  mother  of  Henry, 
de  Lancey,  Thomas,  George,  and  Sir  Anthony  Bar- 
clay, and  Beverly  Barclay,  and  of  Eliza  wife  of 
Schuyler  Livingston,  Maria  wife  of  Simon  Eraser, 
and  Susan,  first  wife  of  the  late  Peter  G.  Stuy- 
vesant  of  New  York,  and  Ann  wife  of  William  H. 
Parsons  of  that  city ;  10.  Jane  wife  of  her  cousin  the 
Hon.  John  Watts  Jr,  for  a  time  first  Judge  of  West- 
chester County,  and  afterwards  Recorder  of  New 
York;  11.  Warren,  drowned  by  accident,  a  child ;  12. 
Warren,  made  a  cornet  of  Horse  for  his  gallantry  at 
the  battle  of  White-plains  at  the  age  of  15,  he  having 
run  away  from  his  mother's  house  at  West-farms  to 
join  the  British  Army  ;  afterwards  of  New  York,  and 
subsequently  of  Madison  County  New  York,  where  he 
left  descendants. 

Oliver  de  Lancey,  the  youngest  of  the  sons  of  the 
Huguenot,  and  the  third  of  them  who  left  issue,  born 
16th  Sept.  1718,  died  at  Beverly,  Yorkshire,  England, 
27th  Nov.  1785,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  but  more 
prominent  in  Public  life,  was  Colonel  of  the  Forces, 
and  Receiver-General,  of  the  Province  of  New  York 
for  many  years ;  Member  of  Assembly  for  the  City 
from  1756  to  1760;  Member  of  the  Governor's  Council 
from  1760  to  1783 ;  commander  of  the  Forces  of  the 
Province  in  the  French  War,  and  as  such  present  at 
the  Repulse  of  Ticonderoga;  commander  of  the  De- 
partment of  Long  Island  during  the  whole  Revolu- 
tionary War,  for  which  he  raised  a  brigade  of  three 
Regiments  called  "  De  Lancey's  Battalions  "  of  which 
he  was  the  Brigadier-General.  Married  Phila  Franks 
of  Philadelphia  in  1742,  and  had  issue  two  sons  and 
four  daughters ;  1.  Stephen,  a  lawyer  born  1748,  died 
6  Dec.  1798  at  Portsmouth  N.  H.,  Lt.  Col.  of  one  of 
his  Father's  Battalions,  after  the  war  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Bahamas,  and  Governor  of  Tobago, 
married  Cornelia  daughter  of  Rector  Barclay  of 
Trinity  church,  N.  Y.,  had  one  son.  Sir  William  Howe 
de  Lancey,  K.  C.  B.  Quarter-Master-General  of  Wel- 
lington's Army  in  1815,  who  was  killed  at  Waterloo. 
The  daughters  of  Gov"'.  Stephen,  were,  1.  Susan,  mar- 
ried 1st  Col.  Wm.  Johnson  eldest  son  of  Sir  John 
Johii'-on,  Bart.,  and  2d  General  Sir  Hudson  Lowe,  K. 
C.  B.  Governor  of  St.  Helena  during  the  captivity  of 
Napoleon  the  Great.  Charlotte  her  only  daughter  by 
Col.  Johnson  married  Count  Balmain,  the  Russian 
Commissioner  at  St.  Helena  ;  2.  Phila  died,  single,  3. 
Anne  married  Wm.  Lawson  of  the  Island  of  Berbice, 
4.  Charlotte  married  Col.  Child  of  the  British  Army. 

2.  Oliver  De  Lancej'  the  second  sun  of  Brigadier 
General  Oliver,  (often  confounded  in  histories  and 
other  writings  with  his  Father)  entered  the  British 
Regular  Army,  as  Cornet  in  the  17th  Light  Dragoons, 
a  youth,  several  years  prior  to  the  American  Revolu- 
tion. He  succeeded  Andre  (being  then  a  Major)  in 
1780  as  Adjutant-General  of  the  British  Army  in 
America.  In  1794  was  made  Colonel  of  his  Regiment 
in  succession  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  and  Barrack 


MAMARONECK. 


869 


Master  General  of  the  Empire  a  year  or  two  later. 
Died  unmarried.  Colonel  of  his  Eegiment  and  a  full 
General  in  the  British  Army  in  1820. 

The  Daughters  of  Brigadier-General  Oliver  de 
Lancey  were,  1.  Susanna  wife  of  General  Sir  VVm. 
Draper,  the  conqueror  of  Manilla,  and  the  opponent 
of  "Junius."  2.  Phila  wife  of  Stephen  Payne-Galwey 
of  the  Island  of  Antigua,  3.  Anna  wife  of  Col.  John 
Harris  Cruger,  the  gallant  defender  of  Fort  Ninety  Six 
in  Carolina,  Member  of  the  Ccuncil  of  the  Province 
of  New  York,  and  as  such  certified  to  the  correctness 
and  legality  of  the  final  Partition  of  the  Heathcote  es- 
tate in  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  in  1774.  4.  Charlotte 
wife  of  Field  Marshall  Sir  David  Dundas  K.  C.  B. 
who  succeeded  the  Duke  of  York  as  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  British  Army. 

All  the  usual  stores  and  markets,  and  conveniences 
of  living  are  to  be  found  in  Mamaroneck,  and  of  a 
class  and  grade  not  exceeded  by  any  other  village  in 
the  County.  Divided  from  the  village  of  Rye  Neck 
only  by  the  Mamaroneck  river  with  a  free  bridge 
across  it,  the  latter  has  drawn  off  a  large  portion  of 
the  population  naturally  belonging  to  Mamaroneck 
which  is  the  post  town  for  both,  and  has  made  prac- 
tically both  places  one  except  in  voting.  Hence  too 
the  different  societies  of  all  kinds  found  in  an  Amer- 
ican town,  social,  charitable,  musical,  mechanical, 
and  to  some  extent  religious  have  their  headquarters 
in  Rye  Neck  and  will  be  found  described  in  the 
Chapter  on  Rye. 

The  village  of  Mamaroneck  until  within  the  last 
few  years  has  suffered,  from  and  Rye  Neck  has  been 
benefited  by,  a  singular  cause  as  far  as  growth  is 
concerned.  In  1811  under  a  special  act  of  the  Leg- 
islature was  incorporated  "  The  Westchester  County 
Manufacturing  Society."  *  The  Act  gave  this  corpo- 
ration power  to  purchase,  hold,  and  convey,  lands 
and  tenements,  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise  what- 
soever necessary  to  the  objects  of  this  incorporation." 
Under  this  sweeping  clause  it  bought  two  farms  on 
the  Mamaroneck  side  of  the  river  belonging  to  Gil- 
bert Budd,  a  most  honorable  and  respected  man,  one 
called  the  "Hadley"farm  of  about  62  acres,  the 
other  the  "  Homestead  "  of  about  182  acres,  or  to- 
gether 244  acres.  This  was  all  the  land  in  the  imme- 
diate neighbourhood  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  on  its 
west  side  and  the  village  upon  which  the  latter  could 
grow.  The  company  built  a  large  dam  and  factory. 
But  after  a  moderate  success  for  a  few  years  it  ended 
in  failure,  and  from  that  time  till  1870  it  was  followed 
by  a  long  succession  of  unsuccessful  enterprises  of  a 
manufacturing  character  each  in  turn  succumbing  to 
failure,  or  forced  sale.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
title  to  the  property  became  so  involved,  embarra.ssed, 
and  confused,  tliat  faith  was  lost  in  it.  The  land  be- 
came unsaleable,  and  it  remained  practically  dead  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  village  in  every  respect. 


»  Ch.  17  Laws  of  1811. 


About  1870  began  a  change,  and  now  it  is  understood 
that  the  clouds  are  entirely  dispersed.  As  soon  as  this 
was  found  to  be  really  the  case,  village  improvement 
began  at  once,  and  is  now  going  on  with  increasing 
rapidity. 

Mamaroneck  was  without  a  newspaper  until  four 
years  ago,  its  local  wants  being  supplied  by  the 
neighbouring  Journals  of  Rye  and  Portchester.  In 
May  1882,  The  Mamaroneck  Eegiatcr  was  established 
by  William  E.  Peters,  met  with  very  fair  success  and 
is  still  in  existence  under  him  as  Editor  and  Propri- 
etor. It  is  a  four  page  paper,  of  six  columns  to  a 
page,  and  is  issued  every  Wednesday.  It  pursues  an 
independent  course  in  politics.  Several  years  prior 
to  1882  an  attempt  was  made  to  publish  a  paper 
called  the  Investigator  by  George  M.  Forbes. 
But  it  met  with  no  success,  and  after  a  brief  exist- 
ence, was  given  up. 

About  1856  an  attempt  to  run  a  steamer  called  the 
Island  City,  between  Mamaroneck  and  New  York  was 
made,  stopping  at  New  Rochelle  and  City  Island,  and 
carrying  both  passengers  and  freight.  The  leading 
man  in  the  enterprise  was  the  late  John  Griffin.  Her 
landing  place  was  at  the  foot  of  Bleecker  now 
Union  Avenue  in  De  Lancey's  Neck,  Bishop  de  Lan- 
cey who  owned  the  spot  having  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Griffin  and  the  other  gentlemen  obtained  a  grant  per- 
mitting the  building  of  a  Dock  below  low  water  mark 
at  that  point,  and  leased  them  the  privilege  at  a  nominal 
rent.  The  enterprise  failed,  was  subsequently  re- 
newed by  Wm.  Taylor  with  a  landing  on  Harbor 
Island,  but  that  also  failed.  The  "Mary  E.  Gordon." 
freight  boat  only,  was  built  by  Capt.  Gedney,  the  old 
sloop  owner  in  1880,  and  makes  trips  three  times  a 
week.  Her  owners  are  Captain  Joseph  H.  Gedney  and 
sons.  She  is  the  first  boat  that  has  brought  freight 
regularly  to  the  present  dock,  and  is  the  modern  suc- 
cessor of  a  very  long  line  of  "  Mamaroneck  Sloops." 
Famous  vessels  in  their  day  were  those  Mamaroneck 
sloops,  and  their  day  was  a  very  long  one. 

Some  of  them  were  very  fast,  and  there  was  a  fierce 
rivalry  between  the  old  sloop  captains  of  all  the 
ports  on  the  sound  as  far  as  New  London.  They 
carried  passengers  regularly  as  well  as  freight,  and 
great  was  the  excitement,  and  often  high  the  betting, 
when  a  new  and  fast  vessel  made  her  first  appearance 
from  any  of  the  little  ports  on  the  "East  River." 

The  necessity  of  having  a  fire  department  was 
forced  upon  the  attention  of  the  inhabitants  of  jVIani- 
aroneck  by  a  conflagration  which  took  place  in  the 
business  part  of  the  village  on  January  1st,  1884. 
Soon  after  a  Hook  and  Ladder  Company  was  formed, 
known  as  Union  Hook  and  Ladder  Company,  No.  1,  of 
Mamaroneck  and  Rye  Neck.  Joseph  H.  McLough- 
lin,  a  very  active  man  and  the  leading  plumber  of 
the  town,  was  elected  foreman  of  the  company,  An- 
drew Coles,  assistant  foreman,  Lewis  R.  Bramm, 
Treasurer,  and  Charles  F.  Seaman,  Secretary.  The 
apparatus  was  purchased  by  public  subscription,  and 


870 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


is  lodged  in  tlie  basement  of  the  town  hall-  The 
number  of  members  in  1886  was  25. 

On  January  4,  1884,  application  was  made  to  the 
authorities  of  the  town  of  Mumaroneck  by  Henry  M. 
Flagler,  Jabez  A.  Bostwick,  Ambrose  M.  McGregor, 
James  M.  Constable,  Thomas  L.  Rushmore,  William 
G.  Read,  David  Dudley  Field,  David  F.  Britt,  Joseph 
Hoffman,  M.D.,  Samuel  W.  Johnson,  Edward  F.  De 
Lancey,  Charles  J.  Osborne,  William  T.  Cornell  and 
Leonard  Jacob  for  authority  to  form  and  organize 
the  Mamaroneck  Water  Company  and  lay  pipes 
through  the  town  streets.  The  application  was 
granted,  the  company  was  formed  and  soon  after 
began  the  construction  of  a  water  works,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1885  water  was  introduced  through  their 
pipes  into  houses  in  the  village.  The  company  has 
a  capital  of  $25,000.  The  source  from  which  the 
water  supply  is  taken  is  the  Mamaroneck  River. 
The  site  of  the  old  saw  mill  originally  erected  by 
Colonel  Heathcote  before  referred  to,  was  bought,  the 
dam  rebuilt  in  an  enlarged  form  forming  a  large 
pond,  the  waters  of  which  are  pumped  up  into  a 
reservoir  on  adjacent  high  ground,  about  117  feet 
above  high  water  mark  of  the  sound.  This  head  is 
sufficient  for  all  general  purposes.  The  officers  of 
the  company  are,  President,  James  M.  Constable; 
Treasurer,  J.  A.  Bostwick;  Secretary,  William  T. 
Cornell. 

There  are  two  School  Districts  in  Mamaroneck, 
Nos.  One  and  Two,  well  attended  and  in  a  good  state 
of  efficiency.  But  they  suffer  as  does  the  whole 
school  system  of  the  State  of  New  York,  from  being 
one  of  the  foot  balls  of  politics,  and  like  all  others 
throughout  the  State  are  therefore  liable  to  evil  in- 
fluences. An  instance  of  how  oppressive  and  unjust 
the  School  system  as  now  administered  is,  upon  the 
owners  of  the  real  estate  of  the  Commonwealth,  is 
furnished  now  by  our  County  of  Westchester.  The 
writer  is  informed  that  the  amount  apportioned  to 
this  County  this  year,  1880,  from  the  Common  School 
Fund  is  $56,000  while  the  amount  assessed  upon  and 
collected  from  its  real  estate  last  year  for  that  fund 
was  $75,000.  No  remarks  are  necessary,  the  fact 
speaks  for  itself. 

The  Town  possesses  a  Town  Hall,  a  large  frame 
edifice  on  High  Street  near  Mount  Pleasant  Street, 
which  was  bought  and  altered  for  its  present  pur- 
pose, from  the  former  Methodist  Society  of  Mamaro- 
neck a  few  years  ago,  when  that  society  removed  to 
Rye  Neck.  It  contains  a  krge  Public  Hall  on  the 
main  floor,  with  public  offices,  a  lock-up,  and  a 
house  fire  apparatus  beneath  it.  There  is  also  in  it 
the  Library  of  the  Athenjeum  Society,  and  the  Safes 
and  Cases  of  the  Town  Records  in  charge  of  the 
Town  Clerk. 

Mamaroneck  is  a  post  town  and  one  of  the  oldest 
in  the  State,  dating  as  such  from  the  last  century. 
The  present  [)ostmaster  is  William  A.  Boyd,  who  has 
held  the  office  and  administered  for  very  many  years 


past  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  the  entire  commu- 
nity.   The  salary  now  is  $1100  per  annum. 

The  New  Haven  Rail  Road  runs  through  the  town, 
but  so  far  north  of  the  village,  tlie  harbor  and  the 
Necks  on  each  side  of  it  and  the  Sound,  that  neither 
can  be  seen  from  the  station.  The  daily  trains  are 
numerous  and  convenient.  It  is  now  understood 
that  a  new  Rail  Road  will  be  built  in  a  very  short 
time,  which  will  run  near  the  water  and  across  the 
upper  edge  of  the  harbor,  and  enter  the  City  of  New 
York  over  the  new  Bridge  across  the  Harlem  river 
at  Second  avenue. 

The  churches  of  Mamaroneck  are  two  only,  the 
Episcopal  church  of  St.  Thomas,  and  the  Society  of 
Friends.  The  meeting  house  of  the  latter,  however, 
is  a  few  feet  across  the  line  of  Mamaroneck  in  the 
adjoining  town  of  Scarsdale,  having  been  thrown 
into  tha:  town  by  the  town  line  as  fixed  by  the  Act 
of  1788.  The  Society  itself  is  it  is  believed  the  sec- 
ond oldest  meeting  in  the  County  of  Westchester, 
the  first  being  that  at  the  town  of  Westchester  which 
was  organized  in  1685.  The  Friends  came  to  AVest- 
chester,  both  the  town  and  the  County,  from  Long 
Island,  those  who  came  to  the  neighborhood  of  Mam- 
aroneck, chiefly  from  Flushing  and  the  country  imme- 
diately about  it.  The  meeting  at  Mamaroneck  was 
organized  in  1686  and  was  held  at  a  private  house. ^ 
This  house  the  writer  believes  was  that  of  Samuel 
Palmer,  afterwards  the  "  Old  House  "  of  Peter  Jay 
Mutiro,  before  referred  to  and  its  position  described. 
They  increased  so  much,  that  in  1704  an  application 
was  made  to  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  Colonel 
Caleb  Heathcote  presiding,  that  Samuel  Palmer's 
house  at  Mamaroneck  be  recorded  as  an  authorized 
place  for  Quaker  worship  under  the  Act  of  William 
and  Mary.  The  order  was  granted  and  a  copy  signed 
by  Colonel  Heathcote  delivered  to  Samuel  Palmer. 
In  1728  the  meeting  was  made  a  "  Preparative  Meet- 
ing for  Business,"  that  is,  for  the  administration  of 
discipline,  &c.  On  the  ojjposite  side  of  the  Westches- 
ter Path,  and  west  of  Samuel  Palmer's  house,  and  at 
the  top  of  the  rising  ground  ascended  by  the  Path  or 
road  was  laid  out,  and  still  is,  the  old  burying  ground 
of  the  Palmers,  and  adjoining  it  was  another  plot 
larger,  and  still  existing  and  still  called  the  Quaker 
Burying-Ground.  The  Boston  Road  to-day  at  tliat 
point  is  still  the  old  Westchester  Path.  Both  plots 
were  directly  opposite  the  entrance  to  Mr.  Peter  Jay 
Munro's  grounds  within  which,  in  1819,  he  erected 
his  splendid  Country  House,  now  the  Hotel  at  Larch- 
mont,  termed  the  "Manor  House."  In  the  centre  of 
the  last  mentioned  plot,  some  little  distance  back 
from  the  road,  was  built,  probably  the  first  Quaker 
]\Ieeting  House  in  Mamaroneck.  The  exact  year  is 
uncertain  but  was  probably  1739,^  in  which  year  Mr. 


■  MS.  letter  of  .lames  Wood,  the  present  President  of  the  Westchester 
Historical  Society,  who  has  made  exhaustive  researches  into  tlie  history 
of  tlie  Friends  in  Wcstcliester  County. 

-  Letter  of  James  Wood, 


MAMARONECK. 


871 


Wood  says  a  meeting  house  was  built  there,  but  he 
does  not  know  whether  it  was  the  first.  Mr.  William 
H.  Carpenter  of  the  present  meeting  who  at  the 
writer's  request  made  investigations  of  this  point 
says  it  was  "  in  1735  or  thereabout."  '  On  that  spot 
stood  the  house,  and  there  the  Meeting  was  held,  till 
1768.  On  the  6th  of  the  2d  month,— February— in 
that  year  the  quarterly  meeting  at  the  Purchase 
directed  five  Friends  to  "review"  "the  place  near  the 
centre  of  said  meeting  "  to  which  it  was  proposed  to 
move  *he  Meeting  House  at  Mamaroneck,  there  being 
some  dissatisfaction. 

At  the  quarterly  meeting  held  at  the  "  oblong  "  on 
the  30th  of  the  succeeding  4th  month,  April,  1768, 
the  committee  made  the  following  interesting  report: 

"  The  friends  that  were  appointed  a  Committee  to 
take  a  review  of  the  place  to  set  the  meeting  house 
on  made  report  that  they  had  met  the  friends  belong- 
ing to  Mamaroneck  weekly  meeting  and  taken  a  re- 
view of  the  places  proposed  to  set  the  meeting  house 
on  for  Mamaroneck  weekly  meeting  &  arc  of  opinion 
that  a  piece  of  land  of  Benjamin  Palmers  near  &  ad- 
joining Cornells  land  is  the  most  suitable  place  for 
that  purpose  as  being  near  the  centre  of  said  weekly 
meeting  &  as  Benjamin  Palmer  offered  to  give  half  an 
acre  of  land  to  our  Society  for  that  use  &  purpose  & 
John  Cornel  half  an  acre  adjoining  to  it  for  the  same 
use  &  also  each  of  them  to  sell  half  an  acre  for  three 
pounds  ten  shillings  apiece  therefore  this  meeting 
approves  of  having  a  meeting  house  set  up  &  erected 
on  said  land  of  Benjamin  Palmer,  &  appoints  Edward 
Burling  &  Joseph  Griffen  to  take  deeds  of  Benjamin 
Palmer  &  John  Cornel  for  said  land,  &  John  Cornel 
Edward  Burling  and  Joseph  Griffen  &  Benjamin 
Cornel,  or  the  majority  of  them  are  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee to  sell  the  meeting  house  at  Mamaroneck  with 
the  ground  it  stands  on  &  the  land  to  the  westward 
of  the  house  adjoining  the  road  the  width  of  the  house 
&  give  a  deed  lor  the  same  or  remove  the  house  to  & 
on  the  land  of  Benjamin  Palmer  aforesaid — if  that 
house  should  be  sold  the  new  house  to  be  near  the 
dimensions  of  the  old  meeting  house,  &  to  be  one 
story  high  with  a  chimney  to  it,  &  report  to  be  made 
by  said  Committee  to  next  Quarterly  Meeting,  &said 
Committee  or  some  of  them  are  to  get  a  subscription 
made  by  the  weekly  meeting  of  Mamaroneck  &  bring 
to  next  Quarterly  Meeting." 

The  old  meeting  house  was  not  sold  but  was  taken 
down  and  apart  and  removed  to  the  new  location,  on  the 
beautiful  and  commanding  hill  where  it  stands  to-day. 
The  old  plot  was  not  sold  but  kept  as  a  burying 
ground.  Another  plot  beside  it  on  the  west  was  sold 
and  is  now  within  the  place  of  Mr.  Meyers.  This 
was  the  lot  long  known  as  the  Locust  lot  from  its 
being  covered  for  many  years  with  those  trees.  At 
the  succeeding  meeting  in  October,  Edward  Burling 
reported  for  the  Committee  "  that  the  Meeting  House 


'  Letter  of  Mr.  Carpenter. 


was  removed  from  Mamaroneck  and  set  on  said  land 
of  Benjamin  Palmer,  and  that  the  expense  of  removing 
the  house  and  setting  it  up,  and  completing  it  will 
amount  to  about  eighty  pounds,  including  the  seven 
pounds  for  one  acre  of  land  bought  of  Benjamin 
Palmer  and  John  Cornell,  and  that  a  subscription 
was  made  by  friends  belonging  to  the  weekly  meeting 
of  Mamaroneck  amounting  to  Twenty-eight  I'ounds 
towards  the  expense  of  the  said  house  beside  the  land 
given  ;  and  requested  the  quarterly  meeting  to  ask  for 
and  from  each  monthly  meeting  towards  paying  the 
debt.  At  the  succeeding  November  meeting  at  Pur- 
chase, six  pounds,  13  shillings  were  reported  from  the 
Weekly  meeting  at  Westchester  "  and  paid  in,"  and 
there  was  also  "paid  in"  a  subscription  "from  Os- 
wego particular  meeting  "  of  seventeen  shillings  and 
sixpence,  and  delivered  to  Edward  Burling  jr.  It  is 
most  surprising  that  in  1768,  a  gift  from  Oswego  then 
a  mere  frontier  Indian  trading  station  should  have 
been  sent  down  to  the  Friends  at  Mamaroneck  !  By 
the  6th  of  5th  month,  June  1769,  Benedict  Carpenter 
reported  that  the  debt  had  been  reduced  to  £18,  10,  05. 
In  due  time  that  was  paid  off,  and  the  new  Meeting 
house — if  it  maj'  be  called  so — was  entirely  paid  for. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  the  meeting  has  con- 
tinued. It  felt  the  change  growing  out  of  the  move- 
ment of  Elias  Hicks  u[)wards  of  sixty  years  since. 
The  two  parties  quietly  separated  and  another  meeting 
was  formed  which  erected  another  small  Meeting 
House  in  the  same  grounds  with  the  old  one,  where 
worship  is  also  maintained. 

"  III  1883  the  meeting  house  being  in  an  almost  hope- 
lessly dilapidated  condition  a  movement  was  success- 
fully inaugurated  to  restore  it,  retaining  however  the 
frame  of  the  venerated  structure,  which  resulted  in 
the  present  exceedingly  comfortable  and  neat  house 
of  worship.  During  the  greater  portion  of  its  exist- 
ence the  meeting  has  been  large  and  influential, 
many  of  its  members  have  been  noted  for  their  prom- 
inence in  business  and  social  circles  and  always  for 
their  integrity  and  stability.  During  very  many 
years  latterly  there  has  been  no  acknowledged  min- 
ister in  connection  with  the  meeting,  yet  it  has  con- 
tinued without  it,  and  from  present  appearances  al- 
though its  members  are  not  numerous  yet  it  bids  fair 
to  hold  its  own  for  many  years  to  come  a  continuing 
testimony  to  spiritual  worship  without  priest  or  choir. 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  name  a  few  of  its  adherents 
now  living,  viz.  Jonathan  Carpenter,  William  Bur- 
ling, David  F.  Britt,  Samuel  J.  Barnes,  Thos.  K. 
Morrell,  Noah  Tompkins,  John  D.  Schureman,  James 
Griffen,  George  Millets  and  William  H.  Carpenter 
who  with  their  families  are  earnest  in  the  sui)port  of 
the  ancient  society  they  are  jiroud  to  be  connected 
with."^ 

From  1693  to  1784  Mamaroneck  was  one  of  the  Pre- 


2  Letter  of  William  H.  Carpenter  to  whom  and  Mr.  Bcrling  I  am  in. 
(lebtcd  for  copies  of  the  DocinnentH  u8e<l  and  citctl  in  titc  iitH>vti  Hketdi. 


872 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


cincts  of  the  Parish  of  Rye,  one  of  the  two  territorial 
parishes  erected  in  Westchester  County  in  the  former 
year  under  the  Act  establishing  parishes  of  the  Church 
of  England  within  the  Counties  of  New  York  and 
Westchester  passed  March  24, 1693,'  an  act  which  with 
several  amendments  made  in  later  years  continued  in 
force  till  repealed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in 
the  year  1784,  just  about  a  huTidred  years.  The  Estab- 
lishment of  the  Church  of  England  within  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  York  and  its  Parochial  organization  in 
Westchester  County  will  be  found  fully  described  in 
Parts  10,  and  11,  of  the  chapter  on  Manors  in  this  vol- 
ume.^ The  Inhabitants  of  the  Parish  of  Rye  elected 
Church  wardens  and  Vestrymen,  and  paid  the  charges 
authorized  by  law  during  this  whole  period.  Their 
duties  besides  those  of  seeing  to  the  proper  religious 
Services  in  the  parish  churches,  were  also  those  in  re- 
lation to  assessments  taking  care  of  the  poor,  and 
other  duties  now  performed  by  town  officials.  During 
his  residence  here  Colonel  Heathcote  was  usually 
chosen  a  vestryman  and  often  a  Warden.  The  fir^t 
election  under  the  act  of  1693  we  know  was  held  pur- 
suant to  the  summons  of  Justice  Theall  under  the  law 
at  Rye  on  the  28th  February  1694-5.  John  Lane 
and  John  Brondig  (Brundige)  were  elected  church 
Wardens,  and  Jonathan  Hart  Joseph  Horton, 
Joseph  Purdy,  Timothy  Knapp,  Hachaliah  Brown, 
Thomas  Merritt,  Deliverance  Brown,  and  Isaac  Den- 
ham,  vestrymen.'  In  1702  is  the  record  of  another 
election,  when  on  the  12"'  of  January  at  a  lawful 
town  meeting  in  the  Precinct  of  Rye  Colonel  Caleb 
Heathcote  and  the  Justice  Theall  (who  summoned 
the  meeting  of  the  Inhabitants  for  the  election  of 
1695)  were  elected  Church  Wardens,  and  Justice 
Purdy,  Justice  Mott,  Capt.  Horton,  Deliverance 
Brown,  Hachaliah  Brown,  George  Lane,  Sen., 
Thomas  Purdy,  Thomas  Disbrow,  Isaac  Denham, 
and  Samuel  Lane,  were  elected  vestrymen  for  the 
ensuing  year.  * 

These  elections  will  be  found  mentioned  in  Baird's 
History  of  Rye,  chapter  24th,  from  which  I  have  taken 
the  particulars  not  having  had  the  time  to  examine  the 
Rye  Records  personally  as  was  intended.^  The  very  able 
and  Reverend  Author  of  that  very  valuable  work  was 
evidently  unaware  of  the  legal  nature  of  the  origin  of 
the  establishment  of  the  church  of  England  in  West- 
chester County,  and  has  given  an  eroneous  view  of  it 
in  that  chapter,  as  will  be  seen  by  comparing  it  with 
that  which  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Manors  in 
this  work.  A  view  based  on  the  mistaken  idea  that 
it  was  the  Act  of  1693  which  established  the  church 


1 II.  Bradford's  Laws,  19. 

2  Ante  pp.  98  to  108  inclusive. 

3  Town  Records  of  Eye. 

*  Town  Records  of  Rye. 

^  In  1704,  Madame  Kuight,  in  her  Journal  before  referred  to,  says  in 
speaking  of  the  towns  of  Mamaroneck,  Rye,  and  Horseueck  (Greenwich) 
"that  one  church  of  England  parson  officiated  in  all  these  three  towns 
once  evei-y  Sunday  throughout  the  year." 


of  England  within  New  York,  whereas  it  was  estab- 
lished by  the  royal  authority  many  years  before,  New 
York  being  a  conquered  Province.  And  being  the 
only  British  American  province  so  conquered  from 
another  nation  by  the  English  Crown,  it  was  there- 
fore the  only  one  in  America  in  which  that  Crown,  by 
the  law  of  England,  had  the  power  and  right  to  es- 
tablish the  church  of  England.  In  1725  Mamaroneck 
paid  towards  the  tax  to  support  the  Rector  of  Rye 
under  the  act  of  1693,  £18.  Later,  in  1767,  the 
amount  then,  was  £19,  2,  6.  These  sums  were  the 
annual  ones  for  those  years.  The  amounts  were  an- 
nually fixed  by  board  of  Justices  under  the  law. 

So  strong  was  the  connection  of  Mamaroneck 
with  Rye  as  a  part  of  that  Parish,  in  fact  and  in  feel- 
ing, that  it  continued  practically  down  to  the  founding 
of  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Mamaroneck.  All  Mamar- 
oneck people  of  the  Episcopal  Church  attended  at 
Rye  church,  and  were  married  and  buried,  and  their 
children  baptized,  by  the  Rectors  of  Rye.  A  very  few 
went  to  the  New  Rochelle  church  but  the  large  ma- 
jority went  to  Rye.  It  was  simply  an  example  of  the 
power  of  fkith  and  habit  which  descended  to  them 
from  their  ancestors. 

While  a  youth  in  Yale  College  the  late  Rt.  Rev. 
William  Heathcote  de  Lancey  first  began  holding 
Episcopal  services  in  Mamaroneck  while  on  his 
visits  to  his  home  at  Heathcote  Hill.  He  entered 
college  in  1813  and  graduated  in  1817,  and  these  ser- 
vices began  in  1814.  He  met  with  better  success 
than  he  anticipated.  His  Father  John  Peter  De 
Lancey  took  great  interest  in  the  matter,  as  did  his 
friend  and  neighbor  Mr.  Peter  J.  Munro,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Peter  Jay,  the  blind  Mr.  Jay,  of  Rye. 
Finally  young  Mr.  de  Lancey  was  so  successful  that 
on  April  12th,  1814,  under  the  auspices  of  his  Father 
and  Mr.  Peter  J.  Munro  a  parish  was  organized  under 
the  old  act  of  17th  March,  1795,  to  which  was  given  the 
name  of  St.  Thomas.  Mr.  John  Peter  de  Lancey 
and  Mr.  Peter  Jay  Munro  Church  Wardens,  and 
Capt.  William  Gray,  Benjamin  Hadden,  Henry  Ged- 
ney,  Samuel  Deal,  Abraham  Guion,  and  Matthias  G. 
Valentine  Vestrymen  *  at  the  first  election  held  on 
Tuesday  in  Easter  week  of  that  year.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Haskell  Rector  of  Rye  and  several  of  the  clergy  of 
the  neighbouring  parishes  took  charge  of  the  services, 
which  were  held  in  the  present  Town  Hall,  then  a 
Methodist  Church  just  built,  by  the  courtesy  of  that 
Society  which  had  just  previously  been  organized. 
They  were  continued  with  much  though  not  perfect 
regularity.  In  1813  the  Legislature  passed  a  new 
"Act  relating  to  Religious  Societies  "  which  changed 
and  made  more  favorable  the  method  of  organizing 
Episcopal  Churches.  The  parish  continued  however 
under  the  original  organization  of  1814,  till  1817, 
when  by  the  advice  of  Mr.  Munro,  a  new  organization 

'Certificate  recorded  iu  Lib.  A.  of  Religious  Societies  in  West.  Co. 
Reg'r.  office  p.  59. 


MAMARONKCK. 


873 


was  effected  under  the  later  law,  in  order  that  some 
of  its  benefits  might  be  availed  of 

The  first  meeting  with  this  object  was  held  5  April 
1817  and  the  new  incorporation  was  effected  June 
9th  1817.  The  Parish  was  admitted  to  union  with 
the  Convention  on  the  1st  of  October  1817,  Dr. 
Guy  Carleton  Bayley  being  its  first  delegate.  The 
next  year  1818  Mr.  William  H.  de  Lancey  then  pur- 
suing his  studies  in  Theology  witli  Bishop  Hobart 
was  the  lay  delegate.  The  Church  Wardens  were  the 
same,  John  Peter  de  Lancey  and  Peter  Jay  Munro. 
The  vestrymen  under  the  new  organization  were 
Henry  Gedncy,  Benjamin  Hadden,  Jacob  Mott, 
Thomas  .J.  de  Lancey,  Benjamin  Crooker,  Guy  C. 
Bayley,  Monmouth  Lyon,  Edward  F.  de  Lancey. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Haskell,  who  was  Mr.  John  P.  de  Lan- 
cey's  Rector  at  Rye,  and  under  his  influence  long 
afforded  a  nursing  hand  to  the  infant  parish,  often 
giving  it  services  both  on  Sundays  and  week  days. 
Mr.  de  Lancey  kept  up  his  connection  with,  and  pew 
in  Rye  Church  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1828,  and 


ST.  THOMAS'  CHURCH,  (OLD). 


he  also  had  a  pew  in  the  church  at  Xew  Rochelle  by 
way  of  aiding  that  parish  then  needing  all  the  help 
it  could  get. 

No  clergyman  was  regularly  called  at  first.  After 
Mr.  William  H.  de  Lancey  was  ordained  Deacon  in 
1820  he  served  temporarily  for  a  few  months  in  Grace 
church,  New  York,  and  subsequently  in  Trinity 
church,  N.  Y.  In  the  spring  of  1821,  when  the 
latter  temporary  engagement  ended  he  returned  to 
his  father's  House  at  Mamaroneck,  until  Bishop  Ho- 
bart could  give  him  a  permanent  parish.  W'hile  at 
Mamaroneck  he  was  called  to  St.  Thomas's,  accepted, 
and  served  gratuitously,  till  1822  when  through  Bishop 
Hobart's  recommendation  he  was  invited  by  Bishop 
White  of  Pennsylvania,  to  become  his  personal 
assistant  in  the  "  three  United  churches "  of  Christ 
church,  St.  Peter's,  and  St  James's  in  Philadelphia  of 
which  he  was  also  Rector.  This  invitation  Mr.  de 
Lancey  accepted,  and  in  April  1822  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  that  city.  He  thus  became  from  June  1821 
79 


to  April  1822,  about  ten  months,  the  first  clergyman 
regularly  in  charge  of  St.  Thomas's,  Mamaroneck. 

In  1823  a  frame  church  with  pointed  windows  and 
a  low  tower  was  erected,  and  consecrated  on  the  17th 
of  June  in  that  year  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Henry  Ho- 
bart, then  the  Bishop  of  New  York.  The  expense 
was  mainly  borne  by  Mr.  John  Peter  de  Lancey,  Mr. 
Peter  Jay  Munro,  and  Mr.  Purdy  the  father  of  the 
present  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Purdy,  of  Harrison.  The 
clergy  present  were  the  Rev.  Lewis  P.  Bayard  and  the 
Rev.  Lawson  Carter,  both  warm  friends,  and  the  former 
a  relative  of  Mr.  de  Lancey  and  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Munro.  A  cut  of  it  is  given  which  shows  the  edifice 
as  it  was  originally.  It  was  enlarged  some  years  later, 
in  1835  by  a  chancel,  and  again  in  1857 — atthe  chan- 
cel end  by  an  addition  containing  another  window  on 
each  side,  and  so  remained  until  removed,  and  subse- 
quently torn  down,  on  the  erection  of  the  present 
striking  and  exceedingly  handsome  stone  church, 
built  at  their  sole  expense  and  presented  to  the 
church  corporation,  by  Mr.  James  M.  Constable  and 
his  children  as  a  memorial  of  his  wife  and  their 
mother  the  late  Mrs.  Henrietta  Constable,  who  de- 
parted this  life  February  11'",  1884.  The  Corner- 
stone was  laid  December  4th,  1884,  by  the  Rt.  Rev, 
Henry  C.  Potter,  Assistant  Bishop  of  New  York,  and 
the  church  was  consecrated  by  the  same  Prelate 
June  10th,  1886,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Swope  of  Trinity  Par- 
ish, New  York,  preaching  the  sermon.  The  new 
church,  of  which  an  engraving  is  given  from  a  draw- 
ing expressly  made  for  the  purpose  by  Mr.  Bassett 
Jones  its  masterly  Architect,  is  a  beautiful  building, 
chaste,  simple,  dignified,  and  very  effective.  It  is  a 
perfect  specimen  of  an  old  English  Parish  Church. 
The  style  is  the  Early  English  Gothic,  with  the  mas- 
siveness  often  found  in  the  churches  of  that  period. 
It  is  built  of  Belleville  brown  stone,  rusticated,  and 
consists  of  chancel,  nave,  tower,  and  two  porches. 
The  entire  length  is  127  feet,  that  of  the  nave  alone 
70  feet,  the  chancel,  a  square  one,  is  25  deep  by  19 
feet  wide,  and  the  height  of  the  tower  is  87  feet.  It 
has  a  high  open  timbered  roof  in  the  rich  yellow  pine 
of  the  Southern  states.  The  altar  and  reredos  are 
of  Caen  stone  richly  sculptured,  the  latter  showing 
an  exquisitely  executed  bas-relief  of  the  Last  Sup- 
per of  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  The  pulpit  is  also  of 
Caen  stone  carved,  surmounted  by  a  wide  polished 
brass  panelled  rail  of  antique  design.  The  windows 
are  of  English  stained  glass  all  showing  figure  subjects 
finely  executed.  The  font,  after  a  special  and  beau- 
tiful design  of  the  architect,  is  of  the  deeply  rich 
tinted  Derbyshire  Spar,  recently  discovered  in  larger 
masses  than  ever  before  known,  not  far  from  the  City 
of  Chesterfield  in  Derbyshire  in  England,  all  highly 
polished  inside  and  outside.  The  pews  in  num- 
ber 80  afford  350  sittings  and  are  of  oak.  The  Tower 
contains  a  very  musical  sweet  toned  chime  of  10 
bells,  and  a  clock  which  strikes  the  quarters  and  half 
hours,  as  well  as  the  hours. 


874 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


In  the  same  enclosure  with  the  church,  and  a  short 
distance  from  it  stand  the  Rectory  and  parish  build- 
ings in  the  same  style  of  architecture  but  built  of 
brick  with  brown  stone  casings,  and  slate  roofs.  They 
are  happily  of  irregular  shape  and  combined  so  under 
a  series  of  varying  angles  and  roofs,  that  they  present 
to  the  eye  but  a  single  very  picturesque  edifice. 
The  whole  together,  though  the  general  eflect  is  im- 
paired by  being  in  the  business  and  not  very  attrac- 
tive part  of  the  village,  an  evil  that  has  been  partially 
remedied  by  the  liberal  purchase  and  removal  of  ad- 
joining buildings,  and  throwing  their  area  into  fair 
gardens,  form  one  of  the  most  thorough,  complete, 
beautiful  and  churchly  group  of  Parish  edifices,  with 
appropriate  surroundings  in  this  county,  and  are  a 
noble  monument  to  the  Wife  and  Mother  in  whose 
memory  they  have  been  erected. 


ST.  THOMAS'  CHURCH,  (NEW). 


At  Larchmont  a  handsome  frame  chapel  was  erect- 
ed four  years  ago  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Larchmont 
Land  Company  for  general  services.  Afterward  it 
was  organized  as  a  chapel  of  ease  of  St.  Thomas's 
Church  Mamaroneck  under  the  ministration  and 
direction  as  to  its  services  of  the  Rector  of  that 
church  for  the  time  being.  It  and  the  Sunday  school 
attached  to  it  is  only  open  during  the  summer  season. 
Usually  an  arrangement  is  made  with  the  assent 
of  the  Rector  of  St.  .Thomas  with  some  clergyman 
temporarily  for  the  services  at  the  chapel  during  the 
season.  The  Trustees  in  1886  are  Marcus  P.  Wood- 
ruff and  David  Jardine. 

A  Methodist  Society  was  organized  and  a  frame 
church  built  in  Mamaroneck,  on  High  Street  in  1813. 
It  there  continued  with  a  small  congregation  till 
about  the  year  1850,  when  it  was  removed  to  Rye 
Neck  and  a  large  and  handsome  frame  church  edifice 
was  there  erected  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the 
Mamaroneck  River  Bridge  and  nearly  at  the  junction 
of  the  old  Westchester  Path  with  the  road  running 
east  from  that  Bridge,  an  account  of  which  falls  ap- 


propriately in  the  chapter  on  Rye.  The  late  Mr. 
James  M.  Fuller  organized  a  Methodist  Sunday- 
school  and  erected  a  building  for  its  use  in  1878  on 
Weaver  street  mainly  at  his  own  expense,  which  he 
superintended  himself  until  his  lamented  death  in 
June  1885,  when  Mr.  William  H.  Stiles  succeeded 
him  assisted  by  Mr.  Bradford  Rhodes.  The  object 
is  to  afford  Sunday-school  instruction  to  children  in 
the  neighbourhood,  which  is  distant  from  the  villages 
of  Mamaroneck  and  Rye  Neck.  All  the  gentlemen 
connected  with  it  are  Methodists  but  it  is  under- 
stood that  it  is  not  conducted  under  the  auspices  of 
any  denomination  in  particular. 

The  Incidents  of  the  Revolution  which  occurred  in 
Mamaroneck  are  not  many.  Its  inhabitants  as  well 
as  the  great  majority  of  the  People  of  the  County  were 
a  perfectly  satisfied,  quiet,  community,  satisfied  with 
their  surrounding,  and  their  lot.  They  had  a  market 
within  a  day's  journey  or  a  day's  sail  for  all  that  they 
could  raise  beyond  their  own  wants.  Their  taxes  were 
light  and  they  managed  their  local  concerns  for  them- 
selves under  the  easy  laws  of  the  Province.  They 
felt  no  pressure  of  any  kind  or  from  any  quarter. 
Even  in  the  politics  of  the  day  there  was  no  high 
party  feeling,  still  less  any  undue  excitements.  They 
were  a  happy,  contented  people  perfectly  satisfied  to 
be  let  alone. 

When  the  movements  of  politicians  of  New  York 
and  other  places  against  the  English  Ministry  began, 
which  resulted,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  those  who 
first  started  these  movements,  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  the  people  of  Westchester  as  a  mass 
were  not  in  favor  of  them.  Neither  were  some  of  those 
who  gave  a  final  assent  to  them.  Hence  it  was  that  not- 
withstanding that  Westchester  eventually  became  the 
Neutral  Ground,  the  people  who  dwelt  in  it  were  more 
in  favor  of  the  old  state  of  things  than  in  the  proposed 
new  one.  It  was  natural.  It  is  so  in  all  countries 
under  all  systems.  Those  who  excite  revolutionary 
movements  to  overthrow  old  governments,  are  always 
a  minority,  and  usually  a  very  great  minority,  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Country  the  institutions  of  which 
are  changed  by  violence  or  war.  Hence  it  was  that 
in  1774  the  people  of  Mamaroneck  opposed  the 
action  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  set  forth 
in  their  circular  of  29  July  1774  as  also  did  those  of 
Rye.' 

When  it  was  known  that  Gage's  Army  in  Boston 
was  getting  short  of  provisions  late  in  1775,  a  sort  of 
killing  bee  was  held  at  William  Sutton's  house  at  de 
Lancey's  Neck,  the  neighboring  farmers  drove  cattle 
there  and  a  certain  day  killed  and  dressed,  and  after- 
ward salted  down  and  barrelled  as  soon  as  it  could  be 
done,  beeves  enough  to  load  a  sloop  as  a  contribution 
to  the  besieged  troops  at  Boston.  She  was  loaded  at 
Indian  point,  near  the  present  home  of  Mr.  James  J. 
Burnet,  and  sent  oft'  on  her  voyage.    Butshe  never  got 

1  See  Proceedings  of  Mamaroneck,  Ac,  in  I.  Force's  Archives. 


MAMARONECK. 


875 


to  Boston.  Through  some  carelessness  in  running 
out  with  a  smart  breeze,  she  ran  a  little  too  near  the 
enii  of  a  reef  in  rounding  the  Scotch  Caps,  struck  a 
pointed  rock,  and  sank  beyond  it  with  all  on  board. 
The  crew  was  saved  but  the  beef  in  the  hold  was  all 
lost.  It  is  not  related  that  any  second  attempt  was  ever 
made. 

The  most  important  Revolutionary  incident,  was 
the  night  battle  on  Heathcote  Hill  and  the  high 
ridge  above  it,  between  the  Delaware  Regiment,  and 
parts  of  First  and  Third  Virginia  Regiments  of  Wash- 
ington's army,  under  Colonel  Haslet  and  Major 
Green,  and  Roberts's  Rangers  of  Howe's  Army  under 
Major  Rogers,  resulting  in  the  repulse  of  the  former 
with  severe  loss  to  the  latter  who  retained  their  posi- 
tion. On  October  21st,  1776,  Rogers's  Corps  of  about 
400  or  450  men  which  formed  the  extreme  end  of  the 
right  wing  of  Howe's  Army,  then  moving  up  from 
Pelham  Neck,  reached  Mamaroneck  and  encamped 
upon  the  high  flat  of  Heathcote  Hill,  under  the  lee 
of  the  ridge  above  it  for  protection  from  the  North- 
west winds,  which  at  that  season  had  grown  cold. 
No  enemy  was  beyond  them  and  this  position  was 
therefore  chosen.  Rogers  himself  made  his  head- 
quarters in  a  small  house  which  then  stood  directly 
on  the  north  side  of  the  old  Westchester  Path  or 
road,  right  opposite  the  gate  of  the  lane  which  ran 
down  de  I^ancey's  Neck  to  Sutton's  House,  which 
stood  within  the  present  Miller  premises  now  owned 
by  Mr.  J.  A.  Bostwick.  On  the  22d  of  October  Wash- 
ington rode  up  to  White  Plains  in  advance  of  his 
army,  who  had  then  reached  Valentine's  Hill.  Learn- 
ing there  of  Rogers's  advance  and  position,  he  at  once 
sent  orders  to  Colonel  Haslet  to  take  his  Delaware 
regiment  of  600  strong,  and  150  men  of  the  First  and 
Third  Virginia  under  Major  Green,  and  surprise  and 
cut  him  off.'  The  Virginians  were  to  lead  the  attack 
and  the  Delaware  troops  to  support  them.  Rogers 
bad  been  a  scout  of  Sir  William  Johnson's  with  Israel 
Putnam,  in  the  French  War,  was  a  man  of  fair  edu- 
cation, not  much  principle,  but  extremely  bold,  cour- 
ageous, and  wary.  Knowing  the  American  Army  was 
below  his  position  and  to  the  southwest  of  it,  he  ex- 
tended his  pickets  more  than  a  third  of  a  mile  the 
second  night  beyond  where  they  were  on  the  first  night 
and  doubled  their  numbers,  and  then  went  to  his  own 
headquarters.  Haslett  marched  all  night  and  reached 
the  neighborhood  before  day.  His  guides  not  aware 
of  the  change  in  Rogers's  pickets  led  the  Virginians 
directly  upon  them  in  the  dark,  which  threw  them 
into  confusion.  At  once  all  hopes  of  a  surprise  van- 
ished. The  uproar  roused  Rogers's  camp,  the  men 
rushed  to  the  top  of  the  ridge  overlooking  it  and  be- 
fore they  could  form,  their  own  pickets  and  the  Vir- 
ginians mixed  together  came  rushing  in  upon  them. 
It  was  pitch  dark,  and  the  fighting  went  on  in  the 
utmost  confusion,  the  Dclawareans,  Virginians  and 

'  III.  Force,  Fifth  Series,  576. 


Rangers  being  all  mixed  together  each  man  fighting 
for  himself  Right  in  the  midst  of  it  rushed  Rogers. 
Roused  by  the  noise,  he  flew  up  to  the  fight  not  know- 
ing how  it  was  going,  but  roaring  out  with  presence 
of  mind,  in  stentorian  tones,  "They  are  running," 
"  they  are  running,"  "  give  it  to  'em  boys,  damn  'em, 
give  it  to  'em."  Reassured  by  his  voice  and  words 
the  Rangers,  actually  on  the  point  of  fleeing,  rallied, 
redoubled  their  ettbrts,  and  the  American  forces  fell 
back  taking  many  prisoners  with  them,  and  the 
Rangers  remained  in  possession  of  the  ground.  The 
surprise  was  a  failure,  the  action  really  a  drawn  one 
though  the  Rangers  retained  the  field,  Rogers's  wari- 
ness and  presence  of  mind  being  all  that  saved  them 
from  defeat  and  capture.  Such  is  the  account  that 
has  come  down  from  men  living  in  Mamaroneck  at 
the  time.  Col.  Tench  Tilghman,  Washington's  aid, 
writing  the  afternoon  after  the  fight  to  Wm.  Duer 
says  "  They  attacked  Rogers  at  daybreak,  put  the 
party  to  flight,  brought  in  thirty-six  prisoners,  sixty 
arms,  and  a  good  many  blankets;  and  had  not  the 
guides  undertook  to  alter  the  first  disposition,  Major 
Rogers,  and  his  party  of  about  400,  would  in  all  prob- 
ability have  fallen  into  our  hands.  We  don't  know 
how  many  we  killed,  but  an  officer  says  he  counted 
twenty-five  in  one  orchard.  We  had  twelve  wounded, 
among  them  Major  Green  and  Captain  Pope."'  The 
fact  is  the  number  killed  on  each  side  is  not  certainly 
known.  All  of  both  sides  were  buried  just  over  the 
top  of  the  ridge  almost  directly  north  of  the  Heath- 
cote Hill  house,  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  present 
farm  lane  and  the  east  fence  of  the  field  next  to  the 
ridge.  There  their  graves  lie  together  friend  and  foe 
but  all  Americans.^  The  late  Stephen  Hall,  (father  of 
the  late  Abram,  Isaac,  and  Thomas,  Hall)  a  boy  of  17 
or  18  at  the  time,  said  that  they  were  buried  the  morn- 
ing after  the  fight  and  that  he  saw  nine  laid  in  one 
large  grave.*  Such  was  the  skirmish  on  Heathcote  Hill, 
the  only  "  engagement  "  about  Mamaroneck  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  There  was  another  on  the 
back  part  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale  at  the  Fox  Mead- 
ows, immediately  before  the  battle  of  White  plains, 
but  that  does  not  fairly  belong  to  this  chapter. 

The  writer,  knowing  that  Mamaroneck  did  her  full 
duty  in  the  late  civil  war,  tried  some  years  ago  to  get 
at  Albany  the  returns  of  enlistments  and  names  of 
the  men,  but  failed,  the  supervisor  never  having  tiled 
them. 

The  following  is  an  account  of  the  descendants  of 
.John  Richbell,  who  left  only  daughters,  and  of  the 
Mott  family  of  whom  one  of  them  was  the  ancestress. 
The  writer  is  indebted  for  it  to  Mrs.  Thomas  C.  Cor- 
nell, of  Yonkers  : 

John  Richbell,  the  first  patentee  of  Mamaroneck 


=  TII.  Force,  Fifth  Series  57,  6. 
My  father  told  me  when  he  was  a  boy  their  green  graves  were  dis- 
tinctly visible. 

.\braham  Hall  told  the  writer  this  fact  many  years  ago. 


876 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


leaving  no  sons,  his  name  has  not  been  perpetuated 
in  his  children,  but  some  of  the  descendants  of  his 
daughter  have  been  well  known  in  Mamaroneck,  and 
in  Westchester  County,  and  in  the  State  and  Nation, 
and  should  be  mentioned  here.  John  and  Ann  Rich- 
bell  left  three  daughters.  1^'.  Elizabeth,  the  eldest 
who  became  the  second  wife  of  Adam  Mott  of  Hemp- 
stead, about  the  time  that  her  father  removed  from 
Oysterbay, — where  he  had  been  Adam  Mott's  neigh- 
bour,— to  make  his  final  settlement  at  Mamaroneck. 
— 2*.  Mary,  who  in  1670  married  Captain  James 
Mott,  second  son  of  Adam  Mott  of  Hempstead  by  his 
first  wife  Jane  Hulett.  Captain  James  Mott  was  long 
prominent  in  Mamaroneck,  was  Justice  of  the  Peace 
and  Supervisor,  and  left  two  children  James  and  Mary. 
—  S**.  The  youngest  daughter  of  John  Richbell,  named 
Anne  after  her  mother,  married  John  Emerson  of 
White  River,  Talbot  County,  Maryland. 

Elizabeth  (Richbell)  Mott,  gave  to  her  eldest  son 
her  father's  name  and  called  him  Richbell  Mott  and 
his  grandmother  Ann  Richbell  made  him  one  of  her 
executors  and  three  of  the  grandsons  of  this  Richbell 
Mott  bore  the  same  name.  Richbell  Mott  was  a  man 
of  Character  and  Substance,  and  in  1696  married 
Elizabeth  Thorne.  He  possessed  considerable  land  in 
Hempstead  and  made  his  home  on  Mad  Nan's  Neck 
(Little  Neck).  His  grandson  Richbell  Mott  son  of  his 
eldest  son  Edmond, — born  in  Hempstead  in  1728  mar- 
ried in  1749  Deborah  Doughty,  and  died  in  1758  leav- 
ing two  daughters  Margaret  and  Phebe.  This  Mar- 
garet Mott  married  in  1772  the  Hon.  Melancthon 
Smith  of  New  York  one  of  the  most  prominent  men 
of  the  State  during  and  alter  the  Revolution  in  the 
policy  opposed  to  that  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  Rich- 
bell Mott  Smith,  one  of  the  sons  of  Hon.  Melancthon 
and  Margaret  (Mott)  Smith  died  on  the  coiist  of  Ja- 
pan in  1800.  Another  son  was  Colonel  Melancthon 
Smith,  the  father  of  Admiral  Melancthon  Smith  U. 
S.  N.  on  the  retired  list  who  distinguished  himself 
so  highly  during  the  late  Civil  war  especially  at  the 
capture  of  New  Orleans,  and  who  is  now  living  in 
an  honored  old  age,  at  South  Oysterbay  L.  I. 

Dr.  Valentine  Mott,  the  celebrated  Surgeon  of  New 
York  was  descended  from  Elizabeth  (Richbell)  Mott's 
younger  son  William  Mott  of  Great  Neck, — L.  I. 

James  Mott  of  Premium  Point,  long  a  well  known 
resident  of  the  Mamaroneck  of  a  hundred  years  ago, 
was  the  only  child  of  the  first  Richbell  Mott's  young- 
est son  Richard,  and  Sarah  (Pearsall)  Mott,  and  was 
born  in  Hempstead  at  "  the  Head  of  the  Harbor  " — 
now  Roslyn  in  1742.  He  married  in  1765  his  second 
cousin  Mary  Underbill,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Ann 
(Carpenter)  Underbill  of  Oysterbay.  Samuel  Under- 
bill a  cousin  of  the  Underbills  of  Westchester  Coun- 
ty, was  a  great  grandson  of  the  celebrated  Capt.  John 
Underbill  who  died  in  Oysterbay  in  1671,  and  Ann 
Carpenter's  mother  Mary  Willet,  wife  of  Joseph  Car- 
penter of  Glencove  was  a  grand  daughter  on  her  fath- 
er's side  of  Capt.  Thomas  Willet  the  first  English 


Mayor  of  New  York,  and  on  her  mother's  side  of  Wm. 
Coddington  the  first  Governor  of  Rhode  Island.  The 
Underbills  and  the  Coddingtons  and  the  Willets  and 
the  Motts  had  become  Quakers.  James  Mott,  after  a 
few  years  as  a  successful  merchant  in  New  York  re- 
tired just  before  the  Revolution,  with  a  moderate  com- 
petence, at  the  early  age  of  thirty-three  and  settled  in 
Mamaroneck,  on  the  "  West  Neck  "  of  his  Grandfath- 
er's grandfather,  John  Richbell,  on  the  peninsula 
nearly  in  front  of  the  Village  of  New  Rochelle.  His 
wife  was  then  in  failing  health  and  he  sought  a  quiet 
home,  remote  from  the  threatenings  of  war  which  per- 
vaded  the  City.  But  the  war  soon  came,  and  in  place 
of  quiet,  he  found  himself  with  wife  and  children  be- 
tween the  lines  of  hostile  armies  and  exposed  to  dep- 
redations from  outlaws  on  both  sides.  His  wife  died 
early  in  the  Revolution. 

The  ancient  handsome  two  storj'  farm  house,  occu- 
pied by  James  Mott,  with  its  double-pitched  roof, 
still  stands  in  good  repair,  fronting  to  the  South, 
on  its  own  private  lane,  half  a  mile  east  of  the  Boston 
road,  surrounded  by  trees  and  with  its  own  farm 
buildings  and  cultivated  fields,  and  in  recent  years 
has  been  occupied  by  the  Pryor  family.  But  the  an- 
cient tide  Mill  which  stood  near  the  house  on  the 
land  locked  bay  which  made  the  Mill  Pond,  and  which 
James  Mott  continued  to  operate  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, was  replaced  about  the  end  of  the  last  century 
by  a  large  new  Mill,  and  a  new  dam  about  half  a 
mile  lower  down  the  bay  near  its  mouth. — James 
Mott's  three  sons  Richard  Robert  and  Samuel  had 
grown  to  manhood,  and  they  fitted  up  the  new  Mill 
with  twelve  runs  of  Mill  Stones,  and  all  the  improve- 
ments then  known  and  gave  it  the  name  of  the  Pre- 
mium Mill,  and  it  was  operated  with  much  success 
and  exported  flour  to  Europe  while  England  and 
France  were  at  war,  with  large  profit.  Soon  after  the 
Premium  Mill  was  built  Richard  Mott,  the  eldest  son 
withdrew  from  the  milling  business,  and  commenced 
cotton  spinning  in  a  small  Mill  still  standing  disman- 
tled, near  his  pleasant  dwelling  house,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Hickory  Grove,  a  little  west  of 
where  the  N.  Y.  and  N.  H.  Rail  Road  now  runs 
near  Mamaroneck, — and  "  Mott's  Spool  Cotton,"  had 
a  good  reputation  for  many  years.  Richard  Mott 
became  a  Quaker  Minister  of  considerable  reputation. 
He  was  a  man  of  fine  presence  and  a  graceful  and 
pleasing  speaker.  He  died  in  Mamaroneck  in  1857, 
in  his  90th  year. 

James  and  Mary  (Underbill)  Mott  had  four  chil- 
dren, born  in  New  York  but  brought  up  in  Mamaro- 
neck. Their  eldest  son  Richard  just  mentioned  was 
born  in  1767.  Their  only  daughter  Anne  born  1768 
married  at  Mamaroneck  in  1785,  while  still  wanting 
three  months  of  her  seventeenth  birthday,  her  father's 
cousin  Adam  Mott  of  Hempstead,  in  whose  veins  ran 
the  blood  of  the  best  Quaker  families  of  that  first  set- 
tlement of  the  Quakers  in  America.  The  young  Adam 
Mott,  the  third  in  descent  of  the  first  Adam  Mott 


MAMARONECK. 


877 


of  Hempstead,  and  the  fourth  from  John  Richbell, — 
brought  his  young  bride  to  the  old  Mott  homestead, 
on  the  shore  of  the  Sound  near  Hempstead  Harbor, 
on  land  which  had  been  granted  to  his  great  Uncle 
Richbell  Mott  in  1708  and  which  Richbell  Mott  sold 
to  his  brother  Adam  Mott  in  1715.  The  young  Adam 
between  1785  and  1790  built  a  new  Mill  at  Cow  bay — 
(now  Port  Washington,)  and  prospered  therefor  more 
than  fifteen  years,  and  when  his  wife's  brother  Richard 
retired  from  the  Premium  Mill,  the  remaining  brothers 
Robert  and  Samuel  induced  their  brother-in-law  Adam 
Mott  of  Hempstead  to  leave  his  prosperous  Mill  at 
Cow  bay  and  join  them  in  the  Premium  Mill,  and  he 
removed  to  Mamaroneckin  1803  and  settled  in  a  house 
afterwards  the  property  of  Peter  Jay  Monroe,  and 
called  the  "  Mott  House,"  on  a  pleasant  farm  adjoin- 
ing what  is  now  known  as  Larchmont.  The  oldest 
son  of  Adam  and  Anne  Mott,  born  in  the  ancient  Mott 
homestead  near  the  mouth  of  Hempstead  Harbour  in 
1788  and  named  after  his  grandfather  James  Mott, 
went  to  Philadelphia  and  there  married  in  1811  Lu- 
cretia  Coffin,  who  afterwards  as  Lucretia  Mott  of  Phil- 
adelphia became  eminent  as  a  Quaker  preacher  and 
eloquent  advocate  of  many  reforms.  In  1814  James 
and  Lucretia  Mott  spent  some  months  at  Mamaro- 
neck  on  the  invitation  of  their  Uncle  Richard  Jlott  to 
join  him  in  Cotton  Spinning,  and  if  the  project  had 
been  carried  out  as  first  proposed,  the  eloquent  Qua- 
ker Preacher  would  have  been  known  as  Lucretia  Mott 
of  Mamaroneck,  instead  of  Lucretia  Mott  of  Philadel- 
phia. But  she  was  then  only  21  years  old,  and 
did  not  so  much  as  imagine  that  she  could  speak  in 
public,  and  the  spinning  project  not  coming  to  satis- 
factory terms  they  returned  to  Philadel{)hia.  Adam  and 
Anne  Mott's  youngest  son  Richard,  born  at  Premium 
Point  in  1804,  now  for  many  years  the  Hon.  Richard 
Mott  of  Toledo  Ohio  still  survives  in  a  vigorous  old 
age  of  82,  one  of  the  best  known  men  in  Northern 
Ohio. 

When  the  laws  of  the  first  Napoleon  dragged  the 
United  States  into  controversies  with  France  and 
England  which  culminated  in  the  war  of  1812,  Amer- 
ican Commerce  was  crippled  or  ruined  and  the  Pre- 
mium Mill  at  length  went  under  a  cloud.  One 
.entire  Ship's  cargo  from  the  ^^ill  was  confiscated  in 
France  on  a  charge  of  violating  a  paper  blockade,  and 
no  restitution  ever  made. 

James  Mott  made  Premium  Point  his  home  until 
1816  and  died  in  New  York  in  1823  in  his  eighty-first 
year.  He  was  a  man  of  culture  and  high  character, 
unusually  handsome  in  person,  tall,  erect,  and  of  much 
grace  and  dignity  of  manner  and  stood  high  in  general 
esteem.  In  dress  and  habits  he  was  always  a  strict 
Quaker  of  the  old  days,  and  active  in  the  interests  of 
his  religious  society  travelling  much  in  their  serA'ice 
in  the  States  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  New 
England.  He  gave  freely  for  many  years,  in  time  and 
means,  and  in  the  use  of  his  pen  in  the  advancement 
of  Education,  and  the  suppression  of  intemperanci, 


and  would  allow  nothing  produced  by  Slave  labor  to  be 
used  in  his  house,  and  a.s  far  as  possible  limited  his 
household  to  American  Manufactures.  Robert  Mott, 
the  second  son  of  James  Mott  of  Premium  Point  died 
in  New  York  in  1805  and  his  youngest  son  Samuel 
died  there  in  1843. 

The  Premium  Mill  continued  to  be  operated  with 
varying  success  for  many  years  and  after  James  Mott 
and  his  sons,  passed  through  other  hands  and  in  1843 
was  j)urchased  by  Henry  Partridge  Kellogg  then  of 
Poughkeepsie  in  whose  family  it  remained  for  nearly 
forty  years.  The  Mill  itself  venerable  with  age  was 
finally  removed  within  the  last  three  or  four  years, 
and  near  its  site  now  stand  several  handsome  modern 
Cottages  or  Villas. 

The  Three  Great  Patents  of  Central  Westchester. 

Very  closely  connected  with  Mamaroneck  and 
Scarsdale  as  parts  of  the  Manor  of  Scarsdale,  was  that 
part  of  the  County  lying  between  that  JIanor  and 
Harrison's  Purchase  on  the  south,  the  Manor  of  Cort- 
landt  on  the  north,  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  on  the 
east,  and  the  Manor  of  Philipseburgh  on  the  west. 
This  immense  area  containing  70,000  acres  of  land, 
was  bought  from  the  natives  by  Colonel  Heathcote 
for  himself  and  associates  and  granted  to  him  and 
them  in  three  extremely  large  Patents,  called  from 
their  relative  situations  the  West,  the  Middle,  and 
the  East  Patents. 

In  the  purchase  of  the  Indian  title  to  these  lands, 
and  in  the  Patents  for  them  express  provision  was 
made  that  the  rights  of  Heathcote  under  the  Rich- 
bell patents  and  deeds,  should  not  be  interfered  with. 
Hence  their  long  connexion  with  his  lands  now  com- 
prised in  the  towns  of  Scarsdale  and  Mamaroneck. 
These  "  Great  Patents,"  as  they  were  styled  were 
bounded  in  part  by  Scarsdale  Manor  and  are  ao 
intimately  connected  with  its  history,  that  some 
mention  must  be  briefly  made  of  them  and  their 
origin.  By  its  terms  the  Manor-Grant  of  Scars- 
dale embraced  White  Plains,  a  part  of  Northcas- 
tle,  part  of  Bedford,  and  part  of  Harrisons  Pur- 
chase, but  it  expressly  provided  as  to  White 
Plains  that  it  should  give  its  I^ord  no  other  title 
than  that  he  already  possessed  by  virtue  of  his 
purchase  of  the  right  title  and  estate  of  Mrs.  Ann 
Richbell  in  the  Estate  of  her  husband  John  Richbell 
the  original  grantee  from  the  Indians  and  from  both 
the  Dutch  Government  and  the  English  Government. 
These  Great  Patents  were  not  Manore,  though  two  of 
them  were  larger  than  either  of  the  Manors  of  Pel- 
ham,  ilorrisania  or  Fordham.  They  were  simply 
Patents  for  great  tracts  of  land  issued  according  to 
law  to  three  bodies  of  grantees  as  individuals,  who 
each  possessed  an  undivided  share,  bodies  which  in 
modern  parlance  would  be  called  "  syndicates.''  They 
were  based  uj^on  a  license  to  Colonel  Heathcote  to 
purchase  vacant  and  unappropriated  land  in  West- 
chester county  and  extinguish  the  title  of  the  Natives 


878 


HISTORY  OP  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


granted  by  Governor  Fletcher  on  the  12th  of  October, 
1696. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  of  the  gentlemen 
who  formed  the  bodies  above  mentioned  and  who  be- 
came the  Owners  and  Patentees  of  these  three  Pat- 
ents. The  first  purchase  made  by  Colonel  Heathcote 
in  the  region  mentioned,  was  from  Pathunck,  Wam- 
pus, Cohawney,  and  five  other  Indians,  who  on  the 
19th  of  October,  1696,  executed  to  him  a  deed  con- 
veying "  for  and  in  consideration  £100  good  and  law- 
ful money  of  New  York,"  "  all  that  tract  of  land  situ- 
ate lying  and  being  in  the  County  of  Westchester  in 
the  Province  of  New  York  in  America,  bounded  north 
by  Scroton's '  River,  easterly  by  Byram  River  and 
Bedford  line,  southerly  by  the  land  of  John  Harrison 
and  his  associates,  and  the  line  stretching  to  Byram 
river  aforesaid,  and  westerly  to  the  land  of  Frederick 
Philipse."  > 

This  covered  all  the  present  town  of  New  castle 
and  most  of  North  castle  as  it  now  exists,  and  other 
lands  south  and  east  of  the  latter.  It  is  hence  some- 
times called  "  North  castle  Indian  Deed,"  or  from  one 
of  the  Indians  "  Wampus's  Land  Deed."  Colonel 
Heathcote  made  most  of  the  purchases  of  the  Indians 
of  Northern  and  Central  Westchester  then  inhabiting 
it,  in  accordance  with  the  customary  rule  in  such  mat- 
ters which  has  been  before  explained.  That  for  the  lands 
between  the  Mehanas'  and  Byram  Rivers,  he  delegat- 
ed his  powers  to  others  to  obtain,  by  this  license  dated 
at  Mamaroneck  the  4th  of  July  1701,  "  I  underwritten 
do  give  free  liberty,  so  far  as  it  lyes  in  my  power  (by 
virtue  of  a  grant  to  me  from  Colonel  Ben  jamin  Fletcher, 
late  Governor  of  New  York)  unto  Robert  Lockhard, 
Richard  Scofield,  Nathaniel  Selleck,  and  Gershom 
Lockwood,  to  purchase  of  the  Indian  proprietors  the 
lands  heteafter  mentioned  from  Mehanas  river  to  Byram 
River,  and  so  run  northward  three  miles  into  ye  woods 
upon  Byram  River,  and  one  mile  into  ye  Woods  on 
the  Mehanas  River,  provided  it  does  not  injure  the 
right  of  Bedford  or  Greenwich,  nor  is  within  my  pat- 
ent right  from  Mrs.  Ann  Richbell.  Witness  my  hand. 

Caleb  Heathcote. 

Mamaroneck,  July  4th,  1701. 

The  same  day  the  following  Indians  "  in  considera- 
tion of  a  certaine  sume  of  good  &  lawful  money  "  ex- 
ecuted a  deed  for  the  land  to  the  above  named  four 
persons  and  Coll.  Heathcote,  Capt.  James  Mott,  Jon- 
athan Lockhard,  Gershom  Lockhard's  son,  and  Henry 
Disbrow,  the  same  persons  mentioned  in  Heathcote's 
license,  thus  describing  it,  "  to  begin  at  Byram  river  at 
y''  Collony  Line  &  so  to  run  to  Mehanas  river  as  said 
line  goes  running  northerly  on  Mehanas  river  as  y" 
river  goes  a  mile  into  y*  woods,  &  from  the  Collony 
Line  on  Byram  river  three  miles  northerly  as  the  river 


1  New  CrotoD  Eiver. 

2  Lib.  I.  52,  of  Deeds,  Sec.  of  State's  off',  .ilbaiiy. 
'Now  spelled  "  ilianus." 


runs  into  the  Woods,  &  from  the  head  of  said  line  to 
y^  head  of  the  other  line  afore  mentioned.* 

The  witnesses  were  Seringo  -|- 

Benjamin  Disbrow  Raresquash  -|- 

Benjamin  Collier,  with  Washpakin  -)- 

Uraticus  and  Ranchomo  -f- 

six  other  Indians  Packanaim  -\- 

On  the  same  fourth  of  July,  1701,  when  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  meeting  of  all  the  parties  in  interest, 
Indians  and  whites,  at  Mamaroneck,  to  consummate 
several  Indian  purchases,  Seringo,  and  three  other  In- 
dians executed  the  following  deed  to  Joseph  Horton 
for  a  very  large  tract  indeed.  It  is  printed  verbatim 
from  the  original  in  John  Horton's  hand  writing  in 
the  writer's  possession  : 

"The:  4:  of  July— 1701 

"  Biet*  known  to  all  home  it  may  consarn  That  I  Sa- 
ringo  hafe  This  day  Sold  unto  Joseph  Horton  saner 
(senior)  A  sarten  Track  or  parsal  of  Land  Setuaten 
and  Lyen  within  the  profence  (province)  of  Nu 
Yorcke  which  land  beginen  at  the  purch[ase]  lastly 
purch"*  by  Cornal  Hacoc' "  John  Horton  Cap" 
Thall  Joseph"  Purdy  and  all  the  Land  from  biram 
reuer  *  wassward  unpurch'*  and  so  to  run  upward  to 
brunkess  reuer,'  and  I  Saringo  do  oblidge  myself  my 
ars'"  orassins  to  marcket"  outebyMark  Treeseasmay 
aper  her  agan'^  and  This  To  be  marcked  oute  The 
Sext:  or  Saventli  Day  of  This  entant''  munth  and  for 
the  Tru  Burformance  I  haf  Sat  my  hand  and  Sale 
Sineded  Saled  and  Dleaved  In  prants  of  us  This  been 
in  order  To  a  furder  confmashon. 


Saringo  -f 
and  three  other 
Indians  (names 
illegible). 


John  Horton 
(illegible)  Hatfield 
Hannah  park 

his 

John  -f-  Cake 

mark 
his 

Robard  +  Smeth 

mark 


Endorsed  upon  the  deed  is  this  statement  of  the' 
consideration  by  Horton, 

I  Joseph  Horton  oblige  mysalf  To  pay  one  Sarengo 


*  Ancient  copy  of  the  original  deed  with  Heathcote's  license  appended, 
in  the  writer's  possession.  .\lso  recorded  in  West.  Co.  Records  Lib. 
C,  96. 

s  Be  it. 

'  Colonel  Heathcote. 
'Capt.  Theall. 

'Byram  River  westward  unpurchased. 

'  Bronx  River. 

"Heirs. 

11  Mark  it. 

12  Appear  here  again. 
Instant. 


MAMARONECK. 


879 


he  performen  his  part  accorded  to  bagen '  as  may 
apen  connsarnend  Land  which  he  Is  or  (illegible) 
to  performe 

The  a  buv  named  horton  Is  obliged  To  Pay  Sringo 
and  the  ras^  of  his  (illegible)  as  folas' 

1  barel  of  Sidar 

6  Shurts 

5  galans  of  rum 

1  Cot 

1  shepe 

And  this  to  be  payd  at  or  before  The  furst  day  of 
Jnery  ^  nex  in  (three  small  words  illegible)  The  day 
manshshened  ^  July  :  4 :  17001  * 

1  hors  :  1  Sadal  :  1  bridal 

2  cots 

1  caf 

2  shurds ' 

1  ancher  of  rum  "  * 

This  deed  included  all  the  land  that  had  not  before 
been  purchased,  from  Byram  River  northwestward  to 
the  Bronx  River.  In  the  month  of  June  preceding, 
on  the  eleventh,  twenty-three  days  prior  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  above  deed,  Seringo  and  two  other  Indians 
"in  consideratione  of  a  certain  sum  of  money"  deeded 
to  Colonel  Heathcote,  Capt.  Joseph  Theal,  Lieut.  John 
Horton,'  and  Mr  Joseph  Purdy  of  Mamaroneck  a 
tract  "  bounded  as  followeth, — Southerly  by  Byram 
River,  Northerly  to  the  Northwest  corner  of  a  great 
swamp  commonly  called  the  Round  Swamp,  thence  a 
southwesterly  line  to  Rye,  great  Pond,  and  bounded 
by  the  said  pond  westerly,  and  so  runs  to  Harrisons 
great  marked  tree." 

On  the  5th  of  July  1701,  the  same  Seringo  and 
the  other  Indians  deeded  to  Heathcote,  Theal,  Joseph 
Horton,  and  Purdy  a  tract  bounded  "southerly  by 
the  Colony  Line,  easterly  by  ^lehanas  River,  north- 
erly by  Bedford  line  and  marked  trees  to  Mehanas 
River,  and  southerly  as  said  river  goes  against  the 
stream  to  the  head  thereof." 

On  the  27th  of  March  1702  a  deed  for  lands  north 
of  Cross  River  above  Bedford  village  was  executed 
to  Colonel  Heathcote  by  Katonah  the  Sagamore  of 
all  that  region,  which  as  it  is  not  recorded  is  here 
given  from  the  original  in  the  hand  writing  of  the 


>  According  to  bargain. 

2  Rest. 

'  Follows. 

*  January. 

'  Mentioned. 

•So  in  the  original. 

'  Shirts. 

8  This  extraordinary  deed  is  written  on  the  reverse  aide  of  a  private 
letter  to  Joseph  Horton  from  one  Samuel  Ufford,  dated  "  Stratford  the 
14th  day  of  3Iay,"  but  no  year  ;  it  is  not  recorded. 

'The draughtsman  of  the  last  Indian  deed. 

">  Rec.  in  "  Albany  Records,"  i.  p.  94. 


noted  Zachariah  Roberts  "  of  Bedford,  in  the  writer's 
possession : 

Katonah' s  Deed  to  Col.  Caleb  Heathcote. 

"  This  Bill  of  Seall  bearing  date  in  the  year  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  two  :  tcstifyeth  that  we 
Katonah,  Wackamane  and  Wewanapeag  proprietors 
of  the  sd  land  afternamed  lying  above  Bedford  and 
bounded  Southward  by  Cross  Riuer,  eastward  by 
Marked  trees,  westward  by  Cortlandt's  land  &  North- 
wards petticus  Small  Riuer,  which  sd  track  of  land 
is  estimasion  is  five  miles  long  and  three  miles  wide : 
this  above  sd.  upland  &  medow  land  we  Katonah 
Wackamane  and  Wewanapeag,  we  for  ourselves  and 
from  our  ayrs  and  all  other  Indians  whatsumeuer  do 
sell,  alienate,  asigne,  &  set  over  this  abousd  land  lying 
in  the  County  of  Westchester  &  in  ye  provence  of 
New  Yorck  unto  Cornall  Caleb  Hethcut  of  Mama- 
ranuck  and  Captain  petter'^  Mathews  of  new  Yorck, 
Joseph  purdy  of  Ry  and  Richard  Scoflfeld  of  Stan- 
ford, or  any  other  conserned  in  the  aboue  said  pur- 
ches.  We  the  aboue  sd  indiens  trew  proprietars  of  ye 
aboue  sd  land  as  the  bounds  are  named  we  have  sold 
&  doe  set  over  from  us  our  ayrs  executors  administra- 
tors, or  asignes  for  euer  unto  the  aboue  named  Caleb 
Hethcut,  petter  Mathews,  Joseph  Purdy,  Richard 
Scoffeld  to  them  their  ayrs  executors  administrators 
and  asignes  for  euer  with  all  the  rights  titles  privileges 
&  apurtenances  thereunto  belonging  promising  to 
them  &  theyrs  that  they  shall  enioye  the  same  pees- 
ably  without  let  or  molestation  from  us  or  ours  or  any 
other  Indians  laying  any  claime  thereunto  for  euer, 
and  we  doe  acknowledg  that  we  have  reciued  full 
satisfacktion  for  the  aboue  said  track  of  land  as 
witness  our  hands  and  sealls  this  27  day  of  March 
1702. 


Signed  Sealled  and  delivered 
in  Bedford  iu  the  pres 
ance  of  us 

Zechariah  Roberts 

John  Dibell 

John  ^liller 

Chickheag  + 

Caconico  -|- 

Arottom  -f- 

Mangockem  + 

Acount  of  good 


Katonah  -\- 
Wackamane  + 
Wewanapeag  4- 


to  one  6  guns 
to  anker  of  rum 
to  20  bars  of  lead 
to  12  drain  '*  knifs 


to  12  par  sockins 
to  12  citels  " 
to  G  iron  citels 
to  cotun  cloth 


11  Roberts  was  the  loading  man  of  Bedford,  noted  for  his  bitter  hostility 
to  the  Church  of  England,  and  bis  intense  desire  to  profit  by  all  the 
public  employments  he  could  obtain. 

12  Peter. 

•^Sickles.  1^  Drawing-knirei. 


880 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


to  20  knifs 
to  12  hos  2 
to  12  swords 
to  12  axis  " 


to  dufils-^ 

to  blankits 

to  10  barils  of  sider' 


One  of  the  persons  prominently  engaged  with  Col- 
onel Heathcote  in  obtaining  the  several  Indian  deeds 
above  set  forth  for  the  lands  between  Harrison  and 
the  Crotou  River  was  Joseph  Horton  of  Rye  the 
grantee  in  the  above  deed  of  the  4th  of  July  1701  for 
all  the  unpurchased  land  between  Byram  river  and 
the  Bronx.  The  following  instrument  shows  the 
nature  of  the  agreement  between  them  and  incident- 
ally Heathcote's  precise  view  of  his  own  bounds  and 
what  belonged  to  him  under  his  Richbell  convey- 
ances in  the  territory  covered  by  the  foregoing  Indian 
deeds  and  the  three  great  patents  subsequently  based 
upon  them. 

Agreement  of  Joseph  Horton  xvith  Colonel  Heathcote. 

Whereas  by  virtue  of  a  License  from  Coll.  Benj" 
ffletcher  late  Governor  of  this  Province  unto  Coll. 
Caleb  Heathcote  impowering  him  to  buy  any  lands 
from  the  Indian  Proprietors  betwixt  Scroton's  River  * 
and  the  north  end  of  Harrisson's  Pattent,  the  said 
Heathcote  and  Joseph  Horton  have  [bought]  &  are 
about  to  buy  of  the  Indian  Proprietors  considerable 
tracts  &  parcells  of  Land  ;  Now  know  all  men  by 
these  presents  that  It  is  mutually  agreed  &  concluded 
betwixt  the  said  Caleb  Heathcote  &  Joseph  Horton 
that  such  parts  of  any  tract  or  parcells  of  land  bought 
by  them  of  the  indian  Proprietors  as  falls  within 
said  Heathcote's  lines  by  virtue  of  his  deeds  from 
Mrs.  Ann  Richbell  late  deceased,  the  bounds  whereof 
run  with  Mamaronock  River  to  the  head  thereof 
thence  in  a  north  line  twenty  miles  into  the  woods 
from  Westchester  Path,  now  all  such  lands  as  fall 
within  the  lines  of  those  deeds  as  before  mentioned 
shall  be  and  remain  to  the  said  Caleb  Heathcote  his 
Heirs  &  assigns  forever  notwithstanding  any  deed  or 
bill  of  sale  in  Partnership  betwixt  said  Heathcote  & 
Horton  to  them  from  the  Indians,  the  said  Heathcote 
paying  and  bearing  the  full  charge  of  the  purchase  of 
all  such  land  as  falls  within  his  lines  afforesaid,  &  the 
said  Heathcote  not  claiming  a  greater  breadth  through 
said  purchase  that  is,  or  shall  hereafter  be  made  by 
him  &  said  Horton,  than  he  has  at  Westchester  Path, 
which  is  from  Mamoronock  River  to  Pipin's  brook 
adjoyneing  the  great  Neck.  In  witness  whereof  the 
said  Joseph  Horton  hath  here  unto  sett  his  hand  & 
seal  this  ffourteenth  of  July  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  &  one. 

Signed  Sealed  &  Delivered  in  presence  of 
Benjamin  Collier 


1  A  coarse  and  thick,  but  soft  woolen  cloth  made  in  Holland. 

2  Hoes. 

3  This  was  a  very  good  price  for  that  day. 
*  Now  Croton  River. 


Anne  Millington 

Joseph  Horton  (L.  S.)' 
Out  of  the  lands  the  Indian  title  to  which  was  ex- 
tinguished by  the  various  Indian  deeds  above  set 
forth  were  formed  the  three  Great  Patents  that  have 
been  mentioned,  the  West  Patent  dated  14"'  February 
1701  to  ten  Patentees,  the  Middle  Patent  dated  17* 
February  1701  to  13  Patentees,  and  the  East  Patent 
dated  2'i  March  1701  to  11  Patentees.  Ten  of  these 
Patentees  were  the  same  in  all  thi-ee  Patents.  They 
were  the  ten  persons  to  whom  the  West  Patent,  the 
earliest  of  the  three,  was  issued,  and  their  names 
were  Robert  Walters,  Leigh  Attwood,  Cornelius  De 
Peyster,  Caleb  Heathcote,  Matthew  Clarkson,  John 
Chollwell,  Richard  Slater,  Robert  Lurting,  Barne 
Cosens,  Lancaster  Symes,  all  well  known  as  promi- 
nent men  of  the  City  and  Province  of  New  York. 
In  the  Middle  Patent  in  addition  to  the  above  ten, 
Joseph  Theale,  John  Horton,  and  Joseph  Purdy,  all 
of  Rye,  appear  as  Patentees.  In  the  East  Patent 
besides  the  above  ten  Peter  Mathews  of  Bedford  ap- 
pears as  a  Patentee.  Several  of  these  Patentees  held 
their  shares  not  for  themselves  but  in  trust  for  friends 
and  some  of  them  sold  their  shares  to  other  persons. 

Immediately  after  the  Patents  were  issued,  all  the 
different  Patentees  named  in  each  executed  joint  cove- 
nants under  seal,  that  no  survivorship  should  take  place 
aniong  them,  and  that  each  should  be  divided  into  as 
many  distinct  parts  as  there  were  Patentees.  The 
covenant  for  the  West  Patent  was  dated  February 
18"'  1702,  those  for  the  Middle  and  East  Patents  were 
both  dated  the  same  day,  the  25'"  of  June  1702.^ 

The  following  statement  showing  in  the  three 
Patents,  the  changes  of  the  Patentees  names,  the 
Quit-rents  payable  for  each,  the  number  of  acres  of 
improvable  land  in  each,  and  their  respective  boun- 
daries, is  from  the  original  in  the  writer's  possession. 
It  is  undated,  but  was  evidently  made  out  in  Colonel 
Heathcote's  lifetime,  and  probably  about  1715  or 
1716. 

The  West  Patent. 
"  Patent :  14  Feb  :  1701 
5000  Acres  Improvable  Land 
£6,  5, 0,  Quit-Rent 
10  Shares. 

Patentees  Names  In  trust  for  or  sold  to, 

R.  Walter  Schellenx  &  Lyon 

L.  At  wood  Clarksons 
C.  Depeyster 
C.  Heathcote 
M.  Clarkson 

Jno.  Chollwell   Quinby 

R.  Slater  T.  Weaver 

R.  Lurting  C.  Heathcote 

Barne  Cosens  Peter  Fanconnier 


'  Original  deed  in  Colo.  Heathcote's  handwriting  in  possession  of  the 
writer.    It  is  not  recorded. 

8  From  ancient  copies  of  these  covenants  in  the  writer's  possession. 


MAMARONECK. 


881 


Bounded 
Northerly, 

By  Croton  River  and  the  Mannor  of  Cortlandt,  or  one 
of  them. 

Easterly, 

With  Bedford  Line  of  Three  Miles  Square,  the  White 
Fields,  and  Byram  Point. 

Southerly, 

By  the  land  of  John  Harrison  &c,  Rye  Line  stretch- 
ing to  Biram  River  and  the  White  Plains, 

Westerly, 

By  Brunk's  River  and  the  Mannor  of  Philipsburgh, 
Excepting  out  of  y*  Bounds  aforesaid  all  y*'  Lands 
within  Richbell's  Patent,  now  in  y''Tenour&  occupa- 
tion of  Coll.  Caleb  Heathcote. 

The  Middle  Patent. 

"  Patent :  17  February,  1701 
1500  Acres  Improvable  Laud 
£1,  17,  6  Quit  Rent 
13  Shares 


Patentees  Names 

In  Trust  for  or  Sold  to 

C.  Heathcote 

Jo.  Thcale 

J.  Horton 

J.  Purdy 

R.  Walter 

Schellinx  &  Lyon 

Leigh  Atwood 

Clarksons 

M.  Clarkson 

Lan.  Symes 

C.  De  Peyster 

Heirs  Coll.  Depeyster 

R.  Slater 

Tho.  Weaver 

John  Chollwell 

 Quinby 

Barne  Cosens 

P.  Fanconnier 

Robert  Lurting 

C.  Heathcote 

Bounded 
Southerly, 

by  the  Division  Line  betweene  y"  Colony  of  Connecti- 
cut and  the  Province  of  New  York  parallell  to  the 
Sound. 

Easterly, 

By  Mahanas  River. 

Northerly, 

by  Bedford  Line  and  Mark'  Trees  runing  westerly 
to  Mahanas  River. 

Westerly, 

again  and  as  the  said  River  goes  against  the  stream  to 
the  head  thereof,  then  along  the  Easterly  branch  of 
Biram  River  to  the  said  Colony  Line  again  where  the 
same  began. 

The  East  Patent 

"Patent:  2  March  1701 
6200  Acres  Improvable  Laud 
£7,  1(5,  0,  Quit-Rent 
11  Shares. 


In  Trust  for  or  sold  to 
Schellinx  &  Lyon 

 Quinby 

Clarksons 


T.  Weaver 
P.  Fanconnier 


C.  Heathcote 


Patentees  Names 
Ro.  Walter 
Juo.  Chollwell 
L.  Atwood 
C.  De  Peyster 
R.  Slater 
Barne  Cosens 
M.  Clarkson 
Lan.  Symes 
Rob.  Lurting 
Peter  Mathews 
Caleb  Heathcote 

Bounded 
South 

by  the  Division  Line  between  N.  Y.  and  said  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  and  so  along  said  Line  until  it  meets  with 
the  Patent  of  Adolph  Philipse,  and  so  along  his  south- 
ern bounds  till  it  meets  witii  the  Mannor  of  Cortlandt 
and  from  thence  by  a  Line  that  shall  run  upon  a 
direct  course  until  it  meets  with  the  first  easterly  Line 
of  20  of  the  said  Mannor  of  Cortlandt,  and  from  thence 
along  the  said  line  Westerly  till  it  meets  with  the  Pat- 
ent granted  to  R.  Walter  &  others,  thence  southerly 
along  the  said  Patent  untill  it  meets  with  the  bounds 
of  the  Township  of  Bedford  &  thence  round  along 
said  bounds  untill  it  meets  with  the  patent  granted  to 
Coll.  Heathcote  and  others,  and  along  the  bounds  of 
said  Patent  unto  the  Colony  Line  where  it  firsst  began. — 

Also  a  small  Tract  of  Land  beginning  westerly  at  a 
great  Rock  on  the  Westmost  side  at  the  Southmost 
end  of  a  Ridge  Known  by  the  Name  of  Richbell  or 
Horse  Ridge  and  from  thence  Northwest  and  by  North 
to  Brunk's  River,  Easterly  beginning  at  a  mark'd  Tree 
at  the  Eastmost  side  on  the  Southmost  end  of  the  said 
Ridge  and  thence  north  to  Brunk's  River." 

This  West  Patent  by  its  bounds  excluded  White- 
plains,  which  Colonel  Heathcote  claimed  under  his 
Richbell  deeds  and  Patents.  This  led  to  a  contro- 
versy between  him  and  some  "Rye  Men"  who 
claimed  Whiteplains  as  a  part  of  their  town.  This 
claim  however  remained  passive,  and  nothing  but  a 
claim  during  Colonel  Heathcote's  life  as  the  result  of 
the  Richbell  verdict  against  Rye  in  1696  (set  forth 
above  in  full)  the  year  before  Colonel  Heathcote 
bought  the  Richbell  estate  of  Ann  Richbell.  The 
laud  was  then  worth  very  little,  and  the  Rye  claim- 
ants were  very  few.  Colonel  Heathcote  died  Febru- 
ary 28,  1720-21,  and  his  entire  estate  passed  under 
his  will  to  his  two  daughters,  Ann,  the  elder,  subse- 
quently the  wife  of  James  de  Lancey  chief  justice  of 
the  Province  of  New  York  who  died  its  Governor  in 
1760,  and  Martha,  the  younger,  subsequently  the 
wife  of  Lewis  Johnston,  M.D.,  of  Perth  Amboy,  New 
J»rsey,  who  died  in  1774.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Martha 
Heathcote,  was  the  sole  executrix.  By  her  and  the 
tw^o  gentlemen  just  named,  in  the  course  of  time, 
settlements  were  effected  of  Colonel  Heathcote's  in- 
terests in  Whiteplains,  the  three  patents  above  men- 
tioned and  in  Harrisson's  purchase. 


882 


HISTOEY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


In  relation  to  White  plains  it  has  been  stated  er- 
roneously that  Colonel  Heathcote  died,  "  about  four 
years  later"  than  1702,  in  which  year  a  committee  of 
Rye  people  were  appointed  to  agree  with  him  on  a 
line  between  his  Patent  and  White  plains,  and  that 
the  question  remained  "  still  unsettled."  ^  This  is  an 
entire  mistake,  Colonel  Heathcote  lived  nearly  twenty 
years  instead  of  four,  after  1702,  and  maintained  his 
right  to  White  plains,  but  was  always  ready  to  agree 
with  the  Rye  jieople  about  the  matter,  but  they, 
though  occasionally  talking  about  it,  practically  re- 
mained passive,  in  consequence  of  the  Richbell  ver- 
dict against  them  of  December  3,  1696,  above  set 
forth.  Not  till  after  Colonel  Heathcote's  death, 
which  occurred  on  February  28, 1720-21,  was  the  matter 
closed,  though  negotiations  were  pending  in  his  life- 
time, and  Governor  Burnet's  Patent  for  White  plains 
was  issued  to  Joseph  Budd,  Humphrey  Underbill  and 
others,  bearing  date  the  13th  of  March  1721.  The 
Patentees  named  therein,  with  four  or  five  exceptions, 
were  entirely  different  men  from  the  "  proprietors  of 
the  White  plaines  purchase  "  ^  whose  names  appear 
in  a  list  taken  from  the  Rye  Town  Records  under 
date  of  1720,  in  Bolton's  History,  {1st  ed.  vol.  ii.  p- 
341)  and  copied  in  Baird's  Rye  and  Bolton's  second 
edition.  This  list  was  probably  one  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  some  part  of  the  grants  embracing  the  present 
township  of  Rye. 

The  terms  of  the  settlement  with  Rye  of  adjoining 
lands  with  Colonel  Heathcote's  representatives,  about 
which  there  was  dispute  are  thus  set  forth,  in  "Notes 
of  agreement  between  Rye  and  Devisees  of  Heath- 
cote," in  the  writer's  jDOssession: — "Rye  is  to  give  us 
their  title  to  all  lands  which  we  claim  in  Harrison's 
purchase,  as  also  to  all  the  lands  lying  between  the 
old  Collony  Line  and  Mamaroneck  River  and  the 
White  plains.  We  are  to  give  them  the  benefit  of 
the  covenants  in  Jamison's  deed  to  Coll.  Heathcote 
for  the  purchase  lands."  This  was  carried  out  by  a 
deed  from  Robert  Bloomer,  John  Budd,  Samuel 
Purdy,  John  Horton,  Nathan  Kniffen,  John  Disbrow, 
Samuel  Brown,  Roger  Park,  Joseph  Galpin,  Abra- 
ham Brundige,  and  nineteen  other  inhabitants  of  Rye 
and  White  plains,  to  Mrs.  Ann  de  Lancey  and  Mrs. 
Martha  Johnston  dated  September  5th  1739  for  all 
the  lands  referred  to  in  the  above  agreement.'  In 
connection  with  these  matters  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  when  the  first  claim  of  the  Rye  people  was 
defeated  by  the  verdict  against  them  in  favor  of  Mrs. 
Richbell  of  Decembers,  1696,  they  were  already  greatly 
angered  by  the  grant  of  the  Patent  to  John  Harrison 
and  his  associates  for  what  has  ever  since  been  known 
as  "Harrison's  Purcha-=e"  by  the  Governor  of  New 
York,  on  the  25th  of  June  1696,  about  six  monAs 


'  Baird's  History  of  Rye,  p.  156.  The  same  erroneous  statement  was 
copied  from  Baird  into  the  second  edition  of  Bolton's  Westchester,  vol. 
ii.  p.  568. 

>  So  styled  in  Baird,  Hist.  Eye,  p.  156. 

3  From  an  ancient  copy  of  the  deed  in  the  writer's  possession. 


before  the  verdict  was  rendered.  They  claimed  that 
territory  under  an  Indian  deed  to  Peter  Disbrow  and 
three  others  of  2d  June  1662,  for  "  a  certain  tract  of 
land  above  Westchester  Path  to  the  marked  trees 
bounded  with  the  above  said  Blind  Brook,"  (this  is 
the  whole  description)  and  as  being  in  Connecticut 
of  which  they  insisted  Rye  was  a  part,  but  they  never 
would  take  out  a  patent  for  it.  Hence  when  the 
Quaker  Harrison,  and  his  four  or  five  associates,  ap- 
plied to  the  New  York  government  for  a  grant  of  it 
as  "unappropriated  and  vacant  land"  it  was,  after 
due  deliberation,  granted  them  by  Patent.  In  order 
to  quiet  the  border  disputes  of  that  day  they  had  pre- 
viously tried  to  get  the  people  of  Rye  to  take  out  a 
patent  for  this  land,  but  they  always  refused  to  do  so. 
This  grant  for  Harrison's  Purchase,  and  the  Richbell 
verdict  coming  only  about  six  months  after  it,  was 
more  than  the  Rye  people  thought  they  could  bear, 
and  therefore,  early  in  1697,  they  revolted,  seceded 
from  New  York,  and  again  set  themselves  up  as  a 
part  of  Connecticut.  The  New  York  government  by 
peaceful  means  tried  to  bring  them  back,  but  in  vain, 
and  this  secession  continued  for  about  three  years, 
until  King  William  by  a  sharp  "  Order  in  Council," 
made  on  the  28th  of  March,  1700,  ordered  them  back 
to  the  old  jurisdiction,  in  the  words  of  the  order 
"forever  thereafter  to  remain  under  the  Government 
of  the  Province  of  New  York."  *  That  government 
in  the  beginning  had  even  tendered  them  a  Patent, 
and  Colonel  Heathcote,  who  was  one  of  the  Gover- 
nor's Council,  at  the  request  of  the  latter,  in  1697 
went  to  Rye,  and  personally  endeavored  to  settle  the 
controversy.  His  letter  to  the  Governor  and  Council 
describing  his  visit  and  its  failure,  gives  the  facts  of 
the  case  very  clearly,  and  they  prove  that  their  own 
folly  lost  the  Harrison  lands  to  the  people  of  Eye. 
"I  asked  them"  he  says,  "why  they  did  not  take  out 
a  patent  when  it  was  tendered  them.  They  .said  they 
never  heard  that  they  could  have  one.  I  told  them 
that  their  argument  might  pass  with  such  as  knew 
nothing  of  the  matter,  but  that  I  knew  better;  for 
that  to  my  certain  knowledge  they  might  have  had 
a  patent  had  they  not  rejected  it;  and  that  it  was  so 
far  from  being  done  in  haste  or  in  the  dark,  that  not 
a  boy  in  the  whole  Town,  nor  almost  in  the  County, 
but  must  have  heard  of  it ;  and  that  I  must  always  be 
a  witness  against  them,  not  only  of  the  many  mes- 
sages they  have  had  from  the  Government  about  it, 
but  likewise  from  myself "  *  *  *  * 
"  I  told  them  as  to  the  last  purchase  wherein  I  was 
concerned,  if  that  gave  them  any  dissatisfaction, 
that  I  would  not  only  quit  my  claim,  but  use  my  in- 
terest in  getting  them  any  part  of  it  they  should  de- 
sire. Their  answer  was,  they  valued  not  that;  it 
was  Harrison's  Patent  that  was  their  ruin."* 


*  iT.  Col.  Hist.  G27. 

5  Vol.  xii.  p.  36  of  the  Col.  Mss.  in  Sec.  of  State's  office,  Albany.  It 
is  printed  in  Baird's  Hist,  of  Rye,  p.  100. 


MAMARONECK. 


883 


Some  five  years  after  the  granting  of  the  West 
Patent  to  Robert  Walter  and  his  associates  in  1701, 
the  southern  part  of  it  on  the  Byram  River  was,  in 
derogation  of  their  rights,  granted  to  Anne  Bridges 
and  four  others  of  the  town  of  Rye.  The  West  Paten- 
tees remained  quietly  in  possession  however  of  all  their 
territory.  About  twenty-three  years  after  the  issu- 
ing of  the  West  Patent,  and  about  two  after  Colonel 
Heathcote's  death,  a  suit  in  ejectment  was  brought,  by 
the  persons  named  in  the  Bridges  grant  of  1705-6 
against  Robert  Walter  and  other  owners  of  the  West 
Patent.  The  resisons  for  it  are  now  unknown  as  the 
latter  had  never  been  disturbed  in  the  possession  of 
their  lands  by  any-body.  It  was  unsuccessful  how- 
ever. The  following  curious  and  interesting  paper 
entitled  "  A  true  state  of  the  case,"  gives  all  the  facts, 
and  also  shows  how  thoroughly  Colonel  Heathcote 
was  even  then  considered  "  authority"  in  West- 
chester County  matters.  Its  author,  evidently  a  law- 
yer, is  unknown,  but  it  is  in  the  small,  clear,  beauti- 
ful, handwriting  of  Peter  Fauconnier  an  owner,  by 
trust  or  by  purchase,  in  all  three  of  the  great  Patents 
above  mentioned,  and  one  of  the  best  surveyors  of 
that  day.  It  is  printed  from  the  original  in  the 
writer's  possession. 

"  A  true  state  of  the  case, 

Between  the  ejector  John  Horton  &c.,  and  Robert 
Walter  &c.,  in  behalf  of  the  ejected,  for  lands  in 
Westchester  County. 

"  Coll.  Caleb  Heathcote  well  acquainted  with 
the  North  bounds  of  the  Tract  of  land  called  Well's 
and  Coxe's  purchases,  being  the  lands  long  before 
claimed  by,  and  since  patented  to,  the  Town  of  Rye 
the  11th  day  of  August  1720; 

"  With  the  East  and  Xorth  bounds  of  the  lands 
granted  the  25th  day  of  June,  1698,  to  William  Nicoll 
Esq.,  Ebenezer  Willson,  David  Jamison,  John  Harri- 
son, and  Samuel  Haight,  called  Harrison's  purchase ; 

"  With  the  North  bounds  of  the  lands  claimed  by 
the  Inhabitants  of  White  Plains  ; 

"  With  the  Eastmost  bounds  of  the  several  con- 
tiguous tracts  of  land  granted  the  23rd  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1684,  to  Frederick  Phillipse,  and  the  course  of 
Brunks  river; 

"  With  the  South  bounds  of  those  granted  the  17th 
of  June,  1697,  to  Coll.  Stephen  Cortlandt ; 

"  With  the  North  and  West  bounds  of  the  lands  be- 
longing to  the  Town  of  Bedford  ; 

"  And  well  knowing  how,  and  where,  the  three 
several  lines  which  have  to  divide  this  Province  from 
the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  are  to  fall  and  to  run,  and 
consequently  the  location,  extent,  and  limits,  of  the 
then  still  vacant  lands  adjoining  thereunto  ;  he  did 
acquaint  there  with  the  Persons  hereinafter  named 
jointly  with,  and  for  the  use  of,  whom,  with  and  by 
the  assistance  of  Joseph  Theale,  John  Horton,  Joseph 
Purdy,  Nathaniel  Selcick,  Richard  Scofeiid,  James 
Mott,  and  Henry  Disbrow,  he  did  wholly  and  law- 
fully purchase  the  same. 


"Being  all  that  certain  tract  of  laud  in  the  County 
of  Westchester,  bounded  Northerly  by  the  Manor  of 
Cortlandt,  Easterly  with  Bedford  line  of  three  miles 
square,  the  Whitefeilds,  and  Byram  River,  Southerly 
by  the  Colony  second  line,  Rye  line  stretching  to 
Byram  River,  the  land  of  John  Harrison,  and  the 
White  Plains,  and  Westerly  by  Brunk's  river  and 
the  Manuor  of  Philipsburgh.  On  the  return  of  which 
purchase  the  said  Coll.  Heathcote  and  his  associates 
applyed  for,  and  on  the  14th  day  of  February-  1701-2, 
obtained  the  Crown's  Grant  for  the  same.  To  Robert 
Walter,  Leigh  Atwood,  Cornelius  Depyster,  Caleb 
Heathcote,  Mathew  Clarkson,  John  Cholwell,  Rich- 
ard Slater,  Lancaster  Symes,  Robert  Lurting  [in 
Quest  for  the  said  Coll.  Heathcote  again]  and  Barue 
Cosens,  under  £6,  5. — Quitrent. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  w''''  yet,  and  the  said  lands 
being  vacant  and  unappropriated,  the  purchass  there- 
of was  so  lawfully  made,  and  the  grant  obtained:  Oq 
the  12th  day  of  January,  1706,  being  near  five  years 
after,  Anne  Bridges,  John  Clap,  Augustin  Graham, 
John  Horton,  and  Thomas  Height,  on  a  wrong  notion 
of  an  insufficiency  of  power  and  authority  in  the  then 
Lieutenant-Governour  to  grant  the  above  mentioned 
tract  to  the  above  named  purchasers  thereof,  and  on 
such  other  groundless  surmises,  did  sue  for  and  then 
obtained,  an  other  posterior  grant  for  the  Southern 
part  of  the  same  individual  tract  of  Land : 

"  It  being  for  A  certain  tract  of  land  in  the  county 
of  Westchester  within  the  Province  of  New  York,  be- 
ginning at  a  Beach  tree  standing  by  Byram  river  near 
a  great  rock,  markt  with  the  letters  I.  H.  I.  P.  I.  C, 
'[  thence  running  up  the  said  river  North  North  West 
to  a  certain  Ash  Tree,  on  the  upper  end  of  a  place 
commonly  called  Pondpound's  Neck,  marked  with 
[  the  letters  aforesaid  &c  to  the  Colony  line.  Westerly 
j  to  the  eight  miles  stake  standing  between  three  white 
oak  trees  markt  [viz.]  one  of  the  said  trees  is  marked 
with  the  letters  C  C  R  on  the  north  side  and  Y  D  on 
the  south  side,  and  from  the  said  trees  on  a  direct  line, 
runs  to  the  Northernmost  corner  of  Rye  pond,  and 
thence  south  ten  degrees  Westerly  to  a  white  oak  sap- 
ling marked  by  the  Pond  side  with  the  letters  T.  I.  P. 
thence  by  a  range  of  marked  trees  south  sixty  four 
degrees  East  to  an  Ash  Tree  standing  by  Blind  Brook 
on  the  East  side  thereof,  and  thence  by  another  range 
of  marked  trees  to  a  certain  Chestnut  tree  markt  with 
,  the  letters  J.  P.  on  the  North  side,  on  the  West  side, 
with  the  letters  I.  P.  on  the  south  side  with  the  letters 
I.  H.  and  thence  by  a  range  of  marked  trees  to  the 
place  where  it  begun. 

"  That  this  last-mentioned  grant  is  all  included 
in,  and  that  the  east,  south,  and  most  of  the  west 
bounds  thereof  are,  the  very  same  with  the  southmost 
]  ones  specified  in  the  aforementioned  grant  of  the  14th 
I  February,  1701-2  to  Robert  Walter  &c.,  will  unques- 
I  tionably  appear  by  comparing  the  southern  bounds 
I  of  the  one  with  those  of  the  other,  and  both  with  the 
I  northern  bounds  of  the  Patent  granted  the  11th  day 


884 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


of  August,  1720,  to  Samuel  Purdy  and  others  for  the 
Township  of  Rye,  and  with  the  eastern  and  northern 
bounds  of  that  granted  to  William  Nicoll  &c.,  the 
25th  day  of  June,  1696,  called  Harrison's  Lands,  or 
Harrison's  Purchase. 

"Matters  relating  to  that  affair  being  in  reality  as 
hath  been  related,  the  several  questions  which  do 
naturally  arise  therefrom,  are,  first,  what  could  induce 
these  last  Patentees  to  sue  for  a  Grant  of  that  land 
in  1705-6,  which  they  well  knew  had  been  already 
patentedin  1701-2.  Secondly,  Why,  having  been  atthe 
trouble  and  charges  thereof,  they  not  only  left  the 
said  first  Patentees  so  long  quietly  owne,  but  also 
survey  the  same,  and  not  only  be  present  thereat 
without  the  least  objection,  but  also  shew  them  the 
East  and  North  lines  of  Well's  and  Harrison's  pur- 
chasses  ;  to  let  them  dispose  of  several  pieces  part  of 
it,  and  the  buyers  thereof  without  interruption  en- 
joy the  same  about  23  years  after  that  first  grant  was 
obtained ;  and  lastly  what  could  induce  them,  so 
late  then  to  serve  a  Lease  of  Ejectment  on  it." 

The  answers  to  these  questions  we  are  left  to  con- 
jecture, as  except  the  boundaries  of  the  patents  it 
refers  to,  which  accompany  it.  Nothing  else  appears 
on  the  paper.  It  is  apparently  part  of  a  lawyer's 
statement  of  facts,  upon  which  to  base  an  opin- 
ion. It  would  seem  from  the  statement  itself 
that  the  Bridges  Patent  was  granted  on  the  idea 
that  Lieutenant-Governor  Nanfan  for  some  reason 
not  stated,  had  not  the  power  to  issue  the  West 
Patent  when  he  did,  and  that  it  was  therefore  of  no 
effect.  An  utterly  false  idea,  for  his  power  as  Com- 
mander-in-chief was  exactly  that  of  all  Governors- 
in -chief,  as  set  forth  in  the  royal  "  Instructions  "  to 
each  of  them.  The  West  Patent  remained,  undis- 
turbed, and  is  the  foundation  of  the  jjresent  title  to 
the  region  covered  by  it  (now  New  Castle  and  a 
large  part  of  North  Castle  and  a  part  of  Bedford). 
The  suit  was  probably  a  scheme  of  some  lawyer,  or 
some  person,  who  was  a  personal  or  political  oppo- 
nent of  some  one  or  more  of  the  proprietors  of  the 
West  Patent,  for  the  value  of  the  land  then  was  en- 
tirely too  little  to  induce  a  speculative  action.  The 
following  is  the  text  of  the  West  Patent  from  a  certi- 
fied copy  of  1734,  in  the  writer's  possession. 

THE  WEST  PATENT. 

Recorded  at  the  request  of  Robt.  Walters  d:  others. 
William  the  third  by  the  grace  of  God  of  England 
Scotland  fi'rance  &  Ireland  King  Defender  of  the  ffaith 
&c,  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  or  may 
consern  Greeting  Whereas — our  Loving  Subjects  Rob- 
ert Walters  Leigh  Attwood  Cornelius  Depeyster  Caleb 
Heathcote  Matthew  Clarkson  John  ChoUwell  Richard 
Slater  Lancater  Simes  Robert  Lurting  &  Barne  Copens 
have  by  their  petitions  presented  unto  our  trusty  & 
wellbeloved  John  Nanfan  Esq',  our  Leiut',  Gov',  & 
Commander  in  Cheif  of  our  Province  of  New  York 
and  the  territories  depending  thereon  in  America  &c. 


prayed  our  Grant  &  confirmation  of  a  Certain  tract  of 
Land  in  our  County  of  West  Chester  Bounded  North- 
erly by  the  Mannor  of  Courtlandt  Easterly  with 
Bedford  Line  of  three  Miles  Square  the  white  feilds 
&  Byram  River  Southerly  by  the  Land  of  John  Har- 
rison Rye  line  Stretching  to  Byram  River  afores*,  & 
the  White  plains  &  Westerly  by  Bronckx  river  &the 
Mannor  of  phillipsburgh  excepting  out  of  the  bounds 
aforesaid  all  theLand  within  Richbells  patent  now  in 
the  tenure  &  Occupation  of  Coll  Caleb  Heathcote 
which  first  above  named  tract  of  Land  was  purchased 
by  Caleb  Heathcote  &  others  with  whom  he  has 
agreed  excepting  James  Mott&  Henry  Disbrowwhom 
he  hath  undertaken  to  Satisfy  within  which  bounds 
there  are  by  Estimation  about  five  thousand  Acres 
of  profitable  Land  besides  Waste  &  Woodland  which 
reasonable  request  we  being  willing  to  grant  Knoii 
Ye  that  of  our  Special  Grace  certain  knowledge  & 
meer  motion  we  have  given  granted  ratified  &  con- 
firmed and  by  these  presents  do  for  us  our  heirs  & 
Successors  give  grant  ratify  &  confirm  unto  our  Said 
Loving  Subjects  Robert  Walters  Leigh  Attwood 
Cornelius  Depeyster  Caleb  Heathcote  M.  Clarkson 
Jn°  ChoUwell  Rich''  Slater  Lancaster  Symes  Robert 
Lurting  &  Barne  Cosens  all  the  aforesaid  tract  of 
Land  within  our  County  of  Westchester  &  within 
the  limitts  &  bounds  afores'^  together  with  all  and 
Singular  the  woods  underwoods  trees  timber  feedings 
pastures  meadows  marshes  swamps  ponds  poolles 
waters  water  Courses  rivers  rivulets  runs  brooks 
Streams  fishing  ffowling  hunting  &  hawking  mines 
Mineralls  (silver  and  Gold  mines  Excepted)  and  all 
other  profitts  benefitts  priviledges  Libertys  advantages 
Hereditaments  &  Appurtenances  whatsoever  to  the 
afores''  tract  of  Land  within  the  limitts  &  bounds  afores* 
belonging  or  innywise  appertaining  To  have  and  to 
hold  all  the  aforesaid  tract  of  Land  together  with  all 
&  Singular  the  woods  underwoods  trees  timbers  feed- 
ings pastures  Meadows  Marshes  Swamps  ponds  pools 
waters  water  Courses  Rivers  Rivuletts  runs  brooks 
Streams  fishing  fowling  Hunting  and  Hawking  Mines 
Mineralls  Silver  and  Gold  mines  Excepted  &  all  other 
profits  benefits  priviledges  Libertys  Advantages  He- 
reditaments &  appurtenances  whatsoever  to  the  afores'' 
tract  of  Land  in  this  the  Limitts  &  bounds  afores'' 
belonging  or  in  any  way  appertaining  unto  them  the 
said  Robert  Walters  Leigh  Atwood  Cornelius  Depey- 
ster Caleb  Heathcote  Matthew  Clarkson  John  ChoU- 
well Richard  Slater  Lancaster  Symes  Rob'  Lurting 
and  Barne  Cosens  their  heirs  and  assigns  to  the  only 
proper  use  benefit  &  behoof  of  them  the  S"*  Robert 
Leigh  Attwood  Cornelius  Depeyster  Caleb  Heathcote 
M  Clarkson,  Jn",  ChoUwell  Lancaster  Symes  Richard 
Slater  Robert  Lurting  &  Barne  Cosens  their  heirs  & 
Assigns  for  ever  To  be  Holden  of  us  our  heirs  &  Suc- 
cessors in  free  &  Common  Socage  as  of  our  Mannour 
of  East  Greenwich  in  our  County  of  Kent  within  our 
Realm  of  England  Yeilding  rendering  &  paying  there- 
fore Yearly  &  every  Year  for  ever  at  our  City  of  New 


MAMARONECK. 


885 


York  unto  us  our  heirs  and  Successors  or  to  Such  Of- 
ficer Or  Officers  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be  im- 
powered  to  receive  the  same  the  Annual  &  Yearly 
rent  of  Six  pounds  five  Shillings  Current  money  of 
New  York  in  Leiu  &  stead  of  all  other  rents  dues 
duties  Services  demands  vv'soever  In  Testimony  where- 
of we  have  caused  the  great  Seal  of  our  said  Prov- 
ince to  be  hereunto  affixed  Witness  John  Xanlan 
Esq^  our  Leiu':  Governour  and  Commander  in 
Cheif  of  our  province  of  New  York  &  the  territories 
depending  thereon  in  America  &  Vice  Admiral  of  the 
same  &c  at  our  ffbrt  in  New  York  the  fourteenth  day  of 
ffeb^  A*  1701,  &  in  the  thirteenth  Year  of  our  Reign 
John  Nanfan,  By  his  Hon"  Command  M.  Clarkson 
Secry. 

Secry«  Office  N  York  Mar  22d  173i 
A  true  Copy  from  the  Record 

ffred"  Morris,  D  Secry 
Compared  with  the  Record 
A  L  D 

It  will  be  noticed  how  carefully  this  patent  by  ex- 
press words  excepted  and  preserved  to  Colonel  Heath- 
cote  his  lands  under  the  Richbell  Patent,  which  in 
part  were  covered  by  its  boundaries.  The  portion  of 
this  Patent  in  Bedford  under  the  deed  from  Katonah 
above  given,  became  the  subject  of  controversy — 
and  remained  unsettled  till  1771,  when  the  dispute 
was  finally  terminated  by  the  following  mutual  Agree- 
ment, the  original  of  which  is  in  the  writer's  pos- 
session. 

Agreement  between  the  Proprietors  of  the  West  Patent 
and  Bedford. 
"  It  is  this  day  agreed  between  the  proprietors  of 
that  part  of  the  West  Patent  in  Westchester  County 
which  was  released  to  the  said  proprietors  by  Caleb 
Fowler  Benjamin  Smith,  &  Joseph  Sutton  &  the 
persons  settled  upon  the  same  Lands  and  claiming  a 
title  thereto  under  the  Township  of  Bedford,  that  the 
whole  matters  in  Dispute  between  the  said  parties, 
shall  be  submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  Richard 
Willis  &  William  Seaman  of  Jerico,  George  Town- 
send  of  Norwich,  Thomas  Hicks,  &  Hendrick  Onder- 
donk  of  the  Township  of  Hempstead,  &  all  of  Queens 
County,  Gent".  That  the  whole  matters  Differ- 
ences in  Dispute  between  the  said  parties  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  determination  of  the  said  refTerees 
or  any  three  or  more  of  them  without  any  Exception 
whatever.  That  Bonds  shall  be  executed  mutually 
each  in  the  penall  sum  of  £5000  New  York  Money  '  to 
stand  to  the  award  of  the  said  Refli'erees  or  any  three 
or  more  of  them.  That  the  award  shall  be  made  and 
ready  to  be  delivered  to  the  parties  or  some  of  them 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  September  next.  That 
if  the  Arbitrators  or  any  three  or  more  of  them  shall 
award  the  Lands  in  Dispute  to  be  the  property  of  the 
proprietors  claiming  under  the  West  Patent,  then  the 


1 12,500  dollars. 


said  RefTerees  or  any  three  or  more  of  them  are  to 
award  what  sum  the  persons  claiming  under  Bedford 
are  to  pay  by  the  acre  for  the  said  Lands  and  the 
West  Patent  proprietors  are,  upon  payment  thereof, 
to  release  all  their  right  in  the  Lands  to  the  persons 
claiming  under  Bedford,  &  shall  warrant  &  Defend 
them  agt.  all  persons  claiming  under  the  West  Patent. 
The  Improvements  are  not  to  be  valued,  and  if  the 
RefJ'erees  or  any  three  or  more  of  them  award  that 
the  proprietors  of  the  West  Patent  are  not  entitled  to 
the  Lands  in  Dispute  but  that  the  same  are  the  prop- 
erty of  the  claimants  under  Bedford,  then  that  the 
former  shall  release  all  their  right  to  the  latter  of, 
in,  and  to,  the  Lands  in  Dispute.  Dated  this  27th 
day  of  March  1771, 

John  Bard  \ 

David  Clarkson  V  in    Behalf   of   the  West 
Thomas  Jones '  )  Patent  Proprietors. 
James  Wright     I  in    Behalf  of  the  claim- 
John  Lawrence   J  ants  under  Bedford. 

Under  this  agreement  the  settlement  was  made,  the 
Bedford  people  paying  about  eight  shillings  per  acre, 
it  is  believed,  for  the  land  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
West  Patent. 

A  somewhat  similar  settlement  had  been  made  six 
years  before,  in  1765,  by  the  Proprietors  of  the  Mid- 
dle Patent,  or  "the  Whitefields  Patent"  as  it  was 
often  called,  which  adjoined  the  West  Patent  on  the 
East,  by  a  like  arbitration  with  Samuel  Banks  and 
some  twenty  four  others,  who  having  bought  the 
rights  of  two  or  three  of  the  Patentees  entered  upon, 
and  took  possession  of  the  whole  of  that  Patent,  the 
grant  for  which  is  as  follows: 

THE  MIDDLE  PATENT. 
{The  Wliitefields). 
"  William  the  Third,  by  the  grace  of  God,  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  &c.,  to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall 
come  or  may  concern,  sendeth  greeting :  Whereas  our 
loving  subjects  Col.  Caleb  Heathcote,  Joseph  Theal, 
John  Horton,  Joseph  Purdy,  Robert  Walters,  Leigh 
Atwood,  Matthew  Clarkson,  Lancaster  Sims,  Cornelius 
Depeyster,  Richard  Slater,  John  Chollwell,  Robert 
Lurting,  and  Barne  Cosens,  have  by  their  petition, 
presented  unto  our  trusty  and  well  beloved  John  Nan- 
fan,  Esq.,  our  Lieut.  Governor  and  Commander-in- 
chief  of  our  Province  of  New  York  and  territories 
depending  thereon  in  America,  &c.,  and  prayed  our 
grant  and  confirmation  of  a  certain  tract  of  land  in 
the  county  of  Westchester,  bounded  southerly  by  the 
colony  line  of  Connecticut,  easterly  by  Mahanas 
river,  northerly  by  Bedford  line  and  marked  trees  to 
Mahanas  river  again,  and  southerly  as  the  said  river 


2  Then  recorder  of  New  York,  and  later  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  .\uthor  of  the  History  of  New  York  during  the  Krvolutiouary  War. 
n*  represented  the  Ileathcota  estate,  his  wife,  Anne  De  Lancej,  being 
a  granddaughter  of  Colonel  Heathcote. 


f 


886 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


goes  against  the  stream  to  ye  head  of  the  said  river, 
and  so  to  the  said  colony  line,  which  said  tract  of 
land  on  the  5th  day  of  July  last  past,  was  by  our  said 
Caleb  Heathcote,  Joseph  Theal,  John  Horton  and 
Joseph  Purdy,  &c.,  purchased  of  the  native  proprie- 
tors, and  containing  within  the  limits  aforesaid,  by 
estimation,  about  1500  acres  of  profitable  land,  be- 
sides wastes  and  wood  lands,  which  reasonable  request, 
we  being  willing  to  grant,  know  ye,  that  of  our  espe- 
cial grace,  certain  knowledge  and  mere  motion,  we 
have  given,  granted,  ratified  and  confirmed,  and  by 
these  presents  doe  for  us,  our  heirs  and  successors, 
give,  grant,  ratify  and  confirm  unto  our  said  loving 
subjects.  Col.  Caleb  Heathcote,  Joseph  Theal,  John 
Horton,  Joseph  Purdy,  Robert  Walters,  Leigh  At- 
wood,  Matthew  Clarkson,  Lancaster  &ims,  Cornelius 
Depeyster,  Richard  Slater,  John  Chollwell,  Robert 
Lurting  and  Barne  Cosens,  all  the  afore  recited  tract 
of  land  within  the  county  of  Westchester,  and  within 
the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  together  with  all  and 
singular  the  woods,  underwoods,  trees,  timber,  feed- 
ings, pastures,  meadows,  marshes,  swamps,  ponds, 
pools,  waters,  water- courses,  rivers,  rivulets,  runs, 
brooks,  streams,  fishing,  fowling,  hunting,  hawking, 
mines,  minerals,  &c.,  (silver  and  gold  mines  ex- 
cepted,) and  all  other  profits,  benefits,  privileges,  lib- 
erties, advantages,  hereditaments  and  appurtenances 
whatsoever  to  the  aforesaid  tract  of  land,  within  the 
limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  belonging  or  in  any  way 
or  ways  appertaining,  unto  them  the  said  Colonel 
Caleb  Heathcote,  &c.,  &c.,  their  heirs  and  assigns  to 
the  only  proper  use,  benefit  and  behoof  of  him  the 
■said  Colonel  Caleb  Heathcote,  &c.,  &c.,  their  heirs 
and  assigns  for  ever,  to  be  holden  of  us,  our  heirs  and 
successors,  in  free  and  common  soccage  as  of  our 
manor  of  East  Greenwich  in  our  county  of  Kent, 
within  our  realm  of  England,  yielding,  rendering,  and 
paying  therefor  yearly  and  every  year,  on  the  first  day 
of  the  Nativity  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  the  annual 
yearly  rent  of  one  pound,  seven  shillings  and  six- 
pence, current  money  of  New  York,  in  lieu  and  stead 
of  all  other  rents,  dues,  duties,  services  and  demands 
whatsoever.  In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  caused 
the  great  seal  of  our  said  Province  to  be  hereunto  af- 
fixed. Witness  John  Nanfan,  Esq.,  our  Lieutenant 
Oovernor  and  Commander-in-chief  of  our  Province 
of  New  York  and  territories  depending  thereon  in 
America,  and  Vice-Admiral  of  the  same,  at  our  Fort 
in  New  York,  this  17th  day  of  February,  1701-2,  and 
in  the  fourteenth  year  of  our  reign.'' ' 

"JoHx  Naxfax." 

This,  the  smallest  of  the  three  Great  Patents,  was 
held  by  its  Patentees  without  a  division  of  their 
interests  till  1733,  when  the  following  appointment 
of  Samuel  Purdy  to  lay  it  out  was  made : 

"New  York  Aug.  y«.  20'":  1733. 

"  We  the  Undersigned  owners  and  Proprietors  of  a 

1  Book  of  Patents,  No.  vii.  224,  Sec.  of  State's  Office,  Albany. 


certain  Tract  of  Land,  Called  Whitefeild^  in  the 
County  of  Westchester,  Do  authorize  and  appoint 
Samuel  Purdy,  Esq^  to  Lay  out  and  Divide  the  said 
Lands  in  Order  To  our  coming  to  an  Entire  Division 
of  the  Same,  to  Each  Respective  Pattentee  or  his 
assigns. 

Witness  our  Hands 

James  De  Lancey 
D.  Clarkson 
C.  D'Peyster 
P.  Fauconnier 
John  Symes 
Josiah  Quimby. 

Memorand".  for  Justice  Purdy  to  take  Notice 
where  the  Division  Line  between  Greenwich  and 
Stamford  falls  upon  the  Colony  Line. 

A  true  copy  From  y'  Originall  by 

Sam'.  Purdy." ' 
Mr.  Purdy  accepted  the  appointment  and  acted. 
He  divided  the  Patent  into  two  parts  which  he  called 
the  "  East  "  and  "  West "  Ranges,  containing  thirteen 
"  Lotts  "  each.  The  number  of  acres  in  each  is  not 
now  known,  but  the  value  of  each  lot  is  shown  by  the 
original  list  and  valuation  by  Purdy,  in  the  writer's 
possession,  which  is  as  follows: — 

An  Estimate  of  the  Lotts  in  Whitefield  Pattent. 


East  Bange. 

No.  £ 

1   93  00 

2   93  00 

3   85  00 

4   85  00 

5   80  00 

6   54  00 

7   44  00 

8   44  00 

9   44  00 

10   44  00 

11   50  OU 

12   62  00 

13   72  00 


Wefct  Range. 

Ko.  £ 

1   73  00 

2   78  00 

3   85  00 

4   95  00 

5   95  00 

6   92  00 

7   77  00 

8   77  00 

9   84  00 

10   88  00 

11   95  00 

12   100  00 

13   100  00 


£850  00 


£1139  00 

850  00 


Totall   £1989  00 

Pr  me 

Sam"  Purdy. 

The  names  of  the  persons  living  on  this  Patent  six 
years  after  Purdy's  appointment  above  given  were 
collected  by  Benjamin  Fox  of  King  Street  and  sent 
to  Mr.  Murray  of  New  York,  who  was  the  lawyer  and 
agent  of  some  of  the  patentees.  Under  date  of  "  King 
St.  8"'  y' 7'",  1739,"  Fox  writes  Murray,  "Inclosed 
have  sent  you  the  names  of  the  People  Possessed  on 
the  Whitefeild,  or  Middle  Patent,  which  have  Indev- 
our*  to  colect  a.s  well  as  I  could."  The  list  which 
is  on  a  separate  paper,  is  as  follows  : 

^  This  name,  singularly  enough  ia  so  spelled  in  all  the  old  deeds  and 
documents.    It  should,  of  course,  have  been  "  Whitefielda." 

3  From  an  ancient  copy  in  the  writer's  possession,  in  Samuel  Purdy's 
handwriting. 


MAMARONECK. 


887 


Thos.  Hutehius 
Thos.  Meritt 
John  Euuells,  Sen' 
John  Runells  Juu' 
Benj.  Piatt 
Jacob  Finch 
Sam"  Banks 


 Owens 

John  Finch 
John  Brush 
Benj  Brush 
Sam"  Peters 
Ebius  Brock 
Francis  Purdy 
John  Purdy ' 


When,  twenty-five  years  later,  the  final  settlement 
of  1765,  between  the  patentees  and  the  settlers  above 
referred  to,  was  made,  the  parties  then  in  possession, 
whose  names  are  recited  in  the  award,  were ; — Sam" 
Banks,  John  Banks,  Benoy  Piatt,  Jonathan  Piatt,  John 
Runnels,  Jonathan  Owens,  John  Rundle,  John  Arm- 
strong, Roger  Sutherland,  Smith  Sutherland,  Charles 
Green,  Charles  Green,  Jun'',  David  Brundige,  Walter 
Morris,  Aaron  Furman,  Jun'^,  Shubel  Brush,  James 
Brundige,  Stephen  Edegett,  Nehemiah  Brundige, 
Abraham  Knapp,  Joshua  Lounsbery,  Daniel  Brown, 
Jun',  Phinehas  Knapp,  Jeremiah  Numan,  Rober 
Murfee,  Jeremiah  Green. 

Some  of  these  names  appear  in  Fox's  list  of  1739, 
but  only  a  few. 

The  arbitrators  in  1765  were :  "  Daniel  Kissam, 
Samuel  Townsend,  George  Weekes,  Benjamin  Tread- 
well  and  David  Batty,  all  of  Queens  County"  and 
their  award  dated  October  6,  1765,  recites  that  they, 
"  having  sat  as  arbitrators  and  heard  the  said  disputes, 
and  having  deliberately  heard,  examined,  and  consid- 
ered all  the  proofs  and  allegations  of  the  said  Parties 
in  Controversy,  do  for  the  settling  peace  and  amity 
between  them  make  this  our  award,  order,  arbitra- 
ment, determination,  and  judgment  of  and  upon  the 
Premises  as  Follows — First,  We  do  award  and  order, 
that  the  said  Anne  De  Lancey,  John  Bard,  Pierre  De- 
peyster,  David  Clarkson,  Peter  Remsen,  and  John 
Ogelbie,  and  all  others  who  claim  lands  under  the  said 
Patent  which  are  not  already  sold  or  conveyed  to  the 
persons  now  in  possession  of  the  said  lands,  or  to 
those  under  whom  they  claim,  or  to  some  or  one  of 
them,  shall  and  do  upon  demand  execute  and  deliver 
in  due  form  of  law  a  release  of  all  their  rights  and 
Titles  of,  in,  and  to,  the  lands  specifyed  in  the  said 
Letters  Patent,  to  said  Samuel  Banks  and  the  other 
persons  above  named  who  are  now  in  possession  of 
the  said  Lands,  and  to  their  heirs  and  assigns  forever; 
and  that  the  said  Samuel  Banks  and  the  other  per- 
sons above  named,  who  are  now  in  possession  of  the 
said  Lands,  shall  and  do  upon  the  delivery  of  such 
Release  pay  unto  the  said  Anne  De  Lancey  and  such 
other  persons  as  are  hereby  ordered  to  Execute  the 
said  Release,  the  sum  of  nine  Shillings  New  York 
money '-  for  every  acre  of  said  lands,  which  the  said 
Samuel  Banks  and  the  other  persons  above  named  or 
those  under  whom  they  claim,  or  some  or  one  of  them, 
have  not  already  purchased  of  some,  or  one,  of  the 


1  Original  letter  and  list  in  the  writer's  possession. 
^One  dollar  and  twelve  centK. 


patentees  in  the  said  Letters  Patent  Named,  or  of 
those  claiming  under  the  said  patentees,  or  some  or 
one  of  them."  ^ 

The  East  I'atent  was  granted  March  2'*  1701  to  the 
same  Patentees  as  the  West  Patent  with  the  addition 
to  their  number  of  Peter  Jlatthews  of  Bedford.  Five 
days  before,  on  the  25th  of  February  in  the  same 
year,  Katonah,  Wakemane,  and  another  Indian  exe- 
cuted a  deed  of  confirmation  to  the  Patentees  of  their 
right  and  estate  in  the  tract*  in  which  they  thus  de- 
scribe, "  bounded  as  followeth  viz.  Westward  by  Bed- 
ford, and  by  the  patent  granted  to  Caleb  Heathcote 
and  others,'  northerly  by  Coll.  Cortlandt's  purchase 
and  Croton's  river,  southerly  and  easterly  by  the  Col- 
ony lines." 

The  patent  itself  in  its  general  language  is  similar 
to  those  of  the  West  and  Middle  Patents  above  set 
forth.    It  bounds  the  Tract  granted  in  these  words ; — 

The  East  Patent  Boxmds 
"  Bounded  South,  by  the  division  Line  between 
New  York  and  Connecticut,  East,  by  the  other 
division  Line  between  New  York  and  Connec- 
ticut, and  so  along  said  Line  untill  it  meets  with 
the  Patent  of  Adolf  Philipse,*  and  so  along  his 
southern  bounds  till  it  meets  with  the  Mannor 
of  Cortlandt,  and  from  thence  by  a  Line  that 
shall  run  upon  a  direct  course  untill  it  meets  with  the 
first  easterly  Line  of  twenty  miles  of  the  said  Mannor 
of  Cortlandt,  aiid  from  thence  along  the  said  Line 
Westerly  till  it  meets  with  the  Patent  granted  to  R. 
Walter  and  others,'  thence  southerly  along  the  said 
Patent,  untill  it  meets  with  the  bounds  of  the  Town- 
ship of  Bedford,  and  thence  round  along  said  bounds 
until  it  meets  with  the  Patent  granted  to  Coll.  Heath- 
cote and  others,  and*  thence  along  the  bounds  of  said 
Patent  unto  the  Colony  Line  where  it  began." 

No  attempt  was  made  to  settle  this  tract  till  about 
the  year  1744,  when  parties  from  Stamford  and  its 
neighborhood  acquired  portions  of  land  within  its 
limits. 

The  area  of  these  three  great  Patents,  the  "  West," 
the  "  Middle,"  and  the  "  East,"  was  very  much  greater 
than  is  commonly  supposed.  The  Patents  themselves 
only  give  their  respective  areas  in  what  those  instru- 
ments term  "  profitable  land,"  that  is,  land  that  could 
be  easily  cultivated.  But  as  the  greater  part  of  north- 
ern and  central  Westchester  abounded  in  high  semi- 
mountainous  ridges,  rocky  heights,  and  great  forests, 
characteristics  which  to  a  large  extent  it  still  retains, 
the  "  profitable  land  "  really  bore  but  a  small  pro- 
portion to  what  was  then  deemed  the  unprofitable 
land.    How  very  extensive  these  great  patents  really 


'  From  the  original  award  signed  by  all  the  arbitrators,  in  the  writer's 

posspssion. 

*  Book  I.  p.  100,  Sec.  of  State's  Offe.  Allmnj. 
*The  "Middle  Patent." 

•Pliilipse's  Upper  Patent,  now  Putnam  County. 

7  The  W'est  Patent. 

8  The  Middle  Patent. 


888 


HISTORY  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY. 


were,  will  be  seen  from  the  following  authentic  state- 
ment : 

Peter  Fauconnier,  who  was  a  surveyor,  and  as  has 
been  stated,  an  owner  in  all  three  patents,  was,  with 
Lancaster  Symes,  the  active  managers  for  the  own- 
ers of  all  three  patents.  An  account  showing  the 
amounts  due  from  each  owner,  arranged  under,  the 
head  of  each  Patent  separately,  dated  in  1716,  in  the 
handwriting  of  Fauconnier  is  in  the  writer's  posses- 
sion, and  it  shows  that  the  three  Patents  together  con- 
tained seventy  thousand,  70,000,  Acres  of  Land.  The 
headings  of  the  accounts  of  the  three  patents  are 
these ; — 

"  The  first  of  the  3  Patents  above  mentioned  con- 
taining about  30,000  acres  of  rough  Land,  between  10 
Patentees."  ^ 

"  The  Second  of  the  3  Patents  here-above  mentioned 
containing  about  5000  acres  of  rough  Land,  between 
13  Patentees." ' 

"  The  Third  of  the  3  Patents  here-above  mentioned 
containing  about  35,000  acres  of  rough  Land,  between 
11  Patentees."' 

In  a  "  statement  of  the  three  Patents  "  which  has 
already  been  given,  showing  the  dates  of  the  Patents, 
the  Patentees'  names,  and  the  boundaries  granted  by 
each,  the  areas  of  each  are  set  down  in  what  that  doc- 
ument calls  "Improvable  Land,"  corresponding  to 

1  The  "West  Patent." 

2  The  Middle  Patent. 

3  The  "  East  Patent." 


the  "  Profitable  Land  ''  of  the  Patents  themselves. 
As  will  be  seen,  by  referring  to  it,  that  document 
gives  for  the  different  Patents  these  areas ; — 

In  the  West  Patent,  5,000  Acres  Improvable  Land, 
In  the  Middle  Patent,  1,500  Acres  Improvable  Land, 
In  the  East  Patent,  6,200  Acres  Improvable  Laud, 
In  all  together,  12700  Acres  Improvable  Land,  which 
is  not  quite  one  sixth  of  the  actual  area  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  three  Patents  by  Fauconnier's  account. 

As  the  whole  Manor  of  Cortlandt  north  of  the  Cro- 
ton  River  and  east  of  the  Hudson  containing  5000 
acres  was  only  valued  in  1732  at  £9625  or  §25,062,* 
and  as  the  twenty  six  lots  of  the  "Middle  Patent" 
were  only  valued  in  1733,  at  £1989,*  or  about  $5,000^ 
both  valuations  being  made  for  the  respective  pro- 
prietors by  the  same  man.  Justice  Samuel  Purdy, 
and  as  the  Patentees  of  the  latter  were  only  awarded 
nine  shillings,  one  dollar  and  twelve  cents,  an  acre,  for 
their  unsold  lands  in  the  same  patent  in  1765,  a  gen- 
eration later,  it  is  easily  seen  how  very  little,  was  the 
actual  value  of  the  70,000  acres  of  the  three  great  pat- 
ents when  they  were  granted,  and  during  the  lifetime 
of  their  original  Patentees.  These  facts  also  show  how 
careful  we  should  always  be  in  considering  these  mat- 
ters not  to  judge  of  estates  in  the  17th,  and  18th,  cen- 
turies in  Westchester  County,  large  or  small,  by  the 
values  of,  either  the  early,  or  the  latter  part  of  the 
19th  century. 

*  See  in  Part  13,  ante,  p.  135. 
5  See  ante,  p.  886. 


INDEX. 


Al'ralinm  Vosbiirgh  Post,  511. 
Abrahainson.  R.,  123. 
Acaileiiiy  of  Sorth  Salem,  133. 
Acconimoiiation,  Plan  of,  273. 
Adams,  S.,  198. 

Addressee,  etc.,  to  InhabitantB  of  Cortlandt, 
219. 

Address  to  King,  231. 
Advertisements,  172,  183. 
Advowstin,  93. 

Agricultural  Products,  .')22,  66n. 

Agriculture  (See  Indians)  of  settlers,  31,  178. 

Aid  Societies,  504. 

Algonquins,  10.  ' 

.\lison,  \.,  1. 

Allen,  J.,  323. 

.\lloUial  (.See  Land),  8. 

Alsop,  J.,  341. 

Amsterdam,  Bank  of,  58. 

Audros,  H)2. 

Anthony's  Nose,  .'>. 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  107. 

Archer,  Jno.,  77(1. 

Arrow  Heads,  Indian,  14. 

Art,  WK). 

Assembly,  General,  223,  234,  G4!). 
Assessors,  98,  99. 

Association  of  Cortlandt  Manor,  220. 
Atitochthonic  Theory,  9,35. 
Axe,  Indian,  1.5. 

B. 

Badeau,  J.,  63.5. 

Baird,  H.  M.,  63« 

Riird's  "  History  of  Rye,"  cited,  3. 

Baird,  Chaa.  W.,  620. 

Biinta,  M.,  562,  50:}. 

Barrett,  J.,  029. 

BiU-Hnv,  Rev.  .1.,  109, 170. 

Bartlett,  W.  H.  C.,021. 

Bartram,  X.  B.,  492. 

Bathgate,  J.,  692. 

Beal,  \Vm.  R.,  833. 

Beach,  W.  A.,  .-)59. 

Beavers,  13. 

Bcecher.  H.  W.,  627. 

Bench  and  Bar,  526. 

Benson,  E.,  348. 

Bigelow,  J.,  023. 

Bill  of  Rights  and  Grievances,  229. 

Bills  of  Sale  (See  Deeds). 

Bixby,  S.  M.,  832 

Blake,  J.,  192,  324. 

Blind  Brook  Creek,  6. 

Block,  A.,  2,  22,37,38. 

Blommaert,  S.,  49. 

Blue  Bell  Tavern,  il2j. 

Boats,  Indian,  14. 

Rockland,  80. 

Bolton  R.,  607. 

Bouuer,  B.,  6.35. 

Books,  17.i. 


Booth,  Jonathan,  325.  I 
Booth,  Joseph,  320. 
Boston  Port  Bill,  189, 190. 
Boulder,  9. 
Boundary — 

of  Westchester  County,  2, 113,  114. 

between  New  York  and  Connecticut,  map 
of,  3. 

agreement  as  to,  4. 
settlement  of,  5. 
Bounty  Bonds,  505. 
Bout,  J.  E.,  68,  69. 
Bow,  Indian,  15. 
Brewster,  J.  B.,  700,  701. 
Bronx,  Herr,  23. 
Bronx  River  (See  River),  709. 
Broucksland,  map,  769. 
Brown  Bluffs,  324. 
Brom,  Nehemiah,  528. 
Bucktails,  485. 
Budd,  G.,  301. 
Burghers,  59. 
Burials,  Mohegan,  16. 
Burke,  225. 
Burr,  A.,  539. 
Butler,  J.,  173. 
Butler,  W.  A.,  629. 
Byram  River,  4. 
Lake,  5. 

C. 

Camp,  Hugh  N.,  8;il. 
Canon  Law.  05. 
Cantantonit,  17. 
Capitulation  (See  Dutch). 
Carlton,  D.,  2. 
Carpenter.  J.,  699. 
Carpenter,  W.  J.,  598. 
Cauldwell,  AV.  624. 
Cemeteries,  738. 
Ceremonial  Stone,  Indian,  15. 
Charles  II.,  3,  87,  103. 
Cliarles  Lawrence  Post,  514. 
Charters,  2. 

Chatterton  Hill,  Attack  of,  440,  441. 
Cheltenham  Manor,  97. 
Christiansen  (See  C'orstaensen),  2,  37. 
Church  (See  .\dvowson,  Connecticut,  Dutch, 

Land,  Parish,  Government),  98,  107. 

of  England,  Kstablisbment,  100, 104,  107. 

Support,  163,  164. 

Influence,  173. 
Churches — 

of  Early  Times,  472c. 

of  King's  Bridge,  756. 

of  Mamaroueck,  870. 

of  Morrisania.  823. 

of  New  Rochelle,  692. 

of  Pelhani,  7o7. 

of  Scarsdale,  065. 

of  West  Farms,  836. 

of  Westchester  Town,  S09. 

of  White  Plains,  7-23,  732. 
Civil  History,  039. 


Civil  List,  646. 

Civil  War,  490. 

Clergy  (See  Church). 

Clerks,  653. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  484. 

Clinton,  G.,  168,  223,  484. 

Clothing- 
Indian,  13. 
of  Settlers,  30,  170. 

Cobb,  L.,  038. 

Cobbling  Stone,  8. 

Coffee,  Rev.  W.  S.,  634. 

Coffin,  0.  T.,  550. 

Cole,  Key.  D.,  630. 

Colegate,  R.,  765. 

Colen  Donck.  66. 

Collation,  lo7. 

Colonial  Assembly,  647. 
Period,  101. 

Commissaries,  107. 

Commissioners,  654. 

Committee  on  Conspiracies,  341,  374. 
County,  200. 
District,  289. 

of  Correspondence,  182,  188,  23:5. 
of  Fifty-one,  186. 
of  Inspection,  238. 
of  Observation,  215. 
of  One  Hundred,  274. 
of  Safety,  297, 404,  048. 
of  Sixty,  215. 
on  Government,  382. 
Commons,  59. 

Companies  and  Regiments,  5o7. 

Congress  (See  Continental  Congress,  Provincial 
Congress). 

Connecticut- 
Boundaries  between,  and  New  York,  2,  16, 
641. 

English  and  Dutch  Claims  to,  3. 

Grant  to,  3. 
Connittelsock,  2. 
Constitution,  643,  644. 
Constitutional  Commission,  64U. 
Conventions,  648. 

Continental  Congress,  204,  212,  '270,  277,  294, 

330,3.55,356,304,  651. 
Cooper,  J.  P.,  608. 
Copyhold  (See  Land). 
Cornbury,  Lord,  105. 
Cornell,  B.,  075. 
Corstaensen,  37,  38. 

Counties,  Division  of  Province  into,  112. 
County  Organization,  111. 
County-seat,  044. 
Cortlandt  Manor,  90,  109,  115. 

Hanor-Honse,  127. 
Court-House,  729. 
Court  Leet,  87,  91,  92. 
Courts,        042,  043,  651. 
Cozzens,  F.  S.,  629. 
Cromwell,  D.,  740. 
Cromwell  Post,  515. 

889 


890 


INDEX. 


Cromwell,  C.  T.,  552. 
Gross,  John,  26. 
Cross  Lake,  5. 
Croton  Aqueduct,  796. 
Crotou  Lake,  5. 

River,  6. 
Crown,  English,  107. 

Grants,  96. 
Cultivation,  Indian,  13. 
Culver,  C.  E.,  637. 
Currency,  Continental,  478/. 
Curry,  Rev.  D.,  620,  621. 

D. 

Davenport,  John,  25. 
Davidson,  M.  0.,  835. 
Dawson,  H.B  .,  612. 
Declaration  at  White  Plains,  248. 
Declaratory  Act,  236. 
Deed,  67,  71. 

De  Lancey  Family,  Genealogy  of,  862. 

De  Lancey,  Rt.  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  867. 

De  Lancey,  J.,  91,  130. 

De  Lancey,  S.,  133,  169. 

De  Lanceys'  feud  with  Livingstons,  264. 

Delaware  Chief,  32. 

Family,  33. 
De  Luet,  D.,  32. 
Democracy — 

De  Tocqueville  on,  1. 

Alison  on,  1. 
Depew,  C.  M.,  557. 
De  Rasieres,  I.,  43. 
Dermer,  Capt.  Thomas,  39,  40. 
De  Tocqueville,  1. 
De  Vries,  D.  P.,  68. 
Disbrow  House,  856. 
Discovery  (See  Hudson),  20,  745,  T68. 

Right  of,  35. 
Dissenters,  25. 
District  Attorneys,  653. 
Doctors,  568. 
Domesday  Book,  86. 
Dongan,  Thos.,  156. 
Dongan,  T.,  104,  127,161. 
Doughty,  E.,  72. 
Doughty,  F.,  70. 
Doughty,  M.,  70. 
Dowling,  Rev.  J.,  75. 
Downing,  Sir  G.,  74. 
Draft  Riots,  499. 
Drafted  Men,  508. 
Drake,  G.,  299,334. 
Drake,  J.,  164. 
Drake,  J.  R.,  616. 
Drake,  S.,  329. 
Draper,  J.  W.,  6.35. 
Dross  of  the  People,  461,  462. 
Drunkenness,  Indian,  17. 
Diiane,  J.,  193,  202,  203,  213. 
Dutch- 
Capitulation,  76. 

Charters,  2. 

Church,  62(1. 

East  India  Company,  2,  21. 
Government,  57,  68. 
Grants,  38,  83. 
Religion,  64,  77. 

Settlements,  2,  22,  24,  37, 100,  640,  715,  745- 

States-General,  58. 

States  Provincial,  58. 

Tenures,  63. 

War  with  Indians,  19. 

"War  with  Spain,  21. 

West  India  Company,  2,  18,  22,  25,  39,  41, 
45,  63,  68,  75,  640. 


Dutcher,  W..  298,  299. 
Dyckman  family,  764. 
Dyckman,  J.  0.,  533. 

E. 

East  India  Company,  2,  21, 37. 
Eastern  State  Journal,  498. 
Eaton,  Theophilus,  25. 
Education,  525. 
Elkins,  Henry,  39. 

Elections  (see  Politics),  War,  109, 110, 124,  125, 

126,  239,  644. 
Emancipation,  3U. 
Embargo,  484. 
English  (See  Church). 
Equivalent  Tract,  4, 113, 161. 
Eunice,  291. 
Evans,  Oliver,  469. 
Evans,  W.  W.,  699. 
Ewen,  J.,  767. 
Exports,  .53. 

F. 

Families,  168. 
Faneuil,  P  .,  711. 
Fairs,  111. 
Farm,  95. 

Farmer,  A.  W.,  216,  256. 
Farnsworth  Post,  513. 
Fellows,  E.  B.,  842. 
Ferguson,  G.,  700. 
Ferries,  748,  772. 
Feud  (see  De  Lancey's). 
Feudal  System,  23,  62,  80,  81. 
Finances,  524. 
Findlay,  Andrew,  843. 
Fire  Department,  738. 
Fire  Ships,  390. 
Fisher,  G.  J.,  581. 
Fishing,  12,  265,  706. 
Flagg,  L.  W.,  587. 
Flax,  30. 
Flushing,  29. 
Folcland,  80. 
Fordham,  772. 
"  Kordham  Manor,  96,  159. 
Kordham  and  the  Ferries,  772. 
Forestalling,  322. 
Fort  Independence,  7.53. 
Fort  William,  167. 
Fountain,  H.,  584. 
Fountain,  J,,  .577. 
Fowler,  H.,  164. 
Fox,  George,  28 
Fox,  W.  W.,  845. 
Franchises,  92. 
Francis,  S.,  184. 
Franklin,  B.,  171. 
Free  Bridge,  748. 

People,  67. 
French  War,  167. 
Freedoms  and  Exemptions, — 

First  plan  of,  46. 

Second  plan  of,  54. 

Third  plan  of,  57. 

Summary  of,  60. 
Freeman,  K.  K.,  591. 
Funeral,  472h. 
Fur  Trade,  21,  44. 
Furnace  Brook,  6. 
Furniture,  Indian,  13. 
Furniture  of  1776.  466. 

G. 

Galloway,  J.,  209,  210. 
G.  A.  R.,  509. 
Garrison,  F.  S.,  487. 


Gavelkind,  83. 
Gedney,  B.,  743. 

Geuei-al  .\ssembly  (see  Assembly). 
Gentleman  in  Trade,  180,  182. 
Geology,  6,  521. 
Gifford,  Silas  D.,  532. 
Glebe  Lands  (see  Lauds). 
Glover,  Col.,  417. 
Godyn,  Samuel,  49. 
Gould,  J.,  635. 
Government  (see  Church* — 

Dutch,  57. 

English,  78. 

Indian,  10. 
Grand  Army  Posts,  509. 
Gravesend,  28. 
Greeley,  H.,  626. 
Griswold,  R.  B.,  597. 
Gymnasium,  697. 

H. 

Haines,  Godfrey,  291. 

Hall,  E.,  563. 

Hall,  H.  B.,  836. 

Hamilton,  A..,  604. 

Hammer  stones,  Indian  15 

Hand,  N.  H.,  741. 

Harlaem,  394. 

Harlem  River,  795. 

Harlem  River,  Bridges  of,  796. 

Harrison,  General,  35. 

Harrison,  John,  29. 

Harrison,  town  of,  30. 

Hasbrouck  family,  585. 

Haskin,  J.  B.,  561. 

Hastings,  518. 

Hatfield's  Tavern,  245. 

Havemeyer,  F.  C. ,  817. 

H.  B.  Hidden  Post,  514. 

Head  Dress  of  Ladies,  463,  464. 

Heathcote,  Caleb,  95,  100,  520,  152,  153. 

Heathcote  Hill.  854. 

Henry  II.,  27. 

Henry  IV.,  27. 

Henry  VIII.,  25. 

High  Sheiiff,  109. 

Highways  (see  Roads). 

Hoe-Cake,  13. 

Hoe,  Richard  M.,  8.32. 

Hoffman,  A.  K.,  588. 

Holland  (see  Dutch). 

Home  Guards,  501. 

Horatio  Seymour  Post,  515. 

Horton,  A.,  333. 

Horton,  G.,  301. 

House  of  Good  Hope,  2. 

Houses,  Indian,  13. 

Howe,  Lord  Admiral,  429. 

Howe,  367. 

Hudson,  H.,  2,  9,  17,18,  21,31.  3"  74.5.  768. 
Hudson  Park,  759. 

River,  5,  33. 
Huguenots,  22,  27,  692. 
Huguenot  House,  691. 

Street,  686. 
Hulst,  P.  E.,  42. 
Huntington,  H.  K.,  595. 
Huntington,  C.  P..  818. 
Husted,  J.  W.,  126. 
Hutchinson,  A.,  19.  2 
Hutchinson  River  6. 
Hyatt,  E.,  331. 
Hyatt,  J.,  714. 

I 

Imports,  53. 
Indians  (see  Sales'). — 
Origin,  9. 


INDEX. 


891 


Divisions  and  Government,  10,  31,  32. 
Names,  11. 

Numbers  and  Food,  12. 
Cultivation,  Dress,  Homes,  13. 
Implements,  14. 
Medicine,  Burials,  15. 
Religion,  16,  ."Jo. 

Intercourse  with  Whites,  etc.,  18,23,  24. 

Disappeurance,  20. 

Language,  32. 

Villages,  etc.,  34. 

Title,  35. 
Indian  Hill,  20. 
luihiction,  <>3. 
Inns,  472j. 
Institution,  93. 
Instructions,  103, 104. 
Internal  D\ities,  475. 
Iron,  12. 
Iroquois,  10. 
Irvington,  518. 
Irving,  W.,  010. 

J. 

James  I.,  2. 

James  II.,  104. 

Jay  family,  582. 

Jay,  J.,  195,  215,  239,  347,  536. 

Jay,  J.  C.,583. 

Jay.  W.,  529. 

Jessup,  Edward,  18. 

Johnson,  I.  G.,  767. 

Johnson,  S.  W.,  .564. 

Judges,  652. 

K. 

Katskill,  67. 

Keskeskick,  67. 

Kieft,  Governor,  23,  68. 

Kieritt's  Hoeck,  2. 

King's  Bridge,  517,  744,  748. 

Kissam,  B.,  272. 

Kitchawanes,  11. 

Kitching  Post,  510. 

Knives,  Indian,  15, 16. 

Ij. 

Lampo,  Jan.,  43. 

Land  Ownership,  Indian,  11. 

Land  Tenure, — 

Allodial,  80,  90. 

Copyhold,  97. 

of  Duke  of  York,  79. 

of  Glebe,  98. 

of  Farmers,  179. 

of  Patroons,  62. 

Socage,  82,  89. 

Wished  by  Colonists,  45. 
Larkin,  F.,  557. 

Law  (see  Canon,  Roman,  York). 

Lawyers,  526,  549. 

Lee,  C,  304,  324,  3:13,  336. 

Legislature,  112,  124,  649. 

Leisler,  J.,  27, 102. 

Lester,  S.,  698. 

Letter,  Revolutionary,  216. 

Lewis,  Dio.,  638. 

Library,  697. 

Lincoln,  A.,  489,  491. 

Lindsley,  Chas.  E.,  694. 

Literature,  598. 

Livingston,  G.,  327. 

Livingston,  P.  R.,  223. 

Livingston,  P.  V.,  237. 

Livingstons  (see  de  Lanceys). 

Long  Island,  Battle  of,  395. 


Louis  XIII.,  27. 
Louis  XIV.,  27. 
Lovatt,  E.  T.,  567. 
Lovelace,  Gov.,  104. 

91. 

Macomb's  Dam,  758,  797. 
Mails,  170,  171,681. 
Maine  on  Manors,  85. 
Maize,  9,  13,  30. 
Mamaroneck,  4,  521 . 
River,  5. 

Mamaroneck,  Early  Reconls  and  Petitions  of, 

849,  850,  851. 
Mamaroneck,  First  Survey  of,  149. 
JIamaroneck,  Town  of,  840. 
Manhattans,  11. 
Manhattan  Island,  '22, 40,  44, 68. 
Manners  and  Ciistoms,  457. 
Manufactures,  178. 
Manors, — 

Courts,  87,  91,92. 

Derivation  of  Word,  87. 

English,  85,  92. 

Grants,  96, 124. 

Lords,  108. 

New  York,  Incidents,  etc.,  90,  93. 

Origin  and  History,  31. 

Order  of  Erection,  108. 

Relation  to  County,  108. 

Saxon  and  Norman,  86. 

Westchester,  Six,  91. 
Mapes,  Daniel,  841. 
Mapes,  Leonard,  841. 
Maps, — 

Boundary  between  New  York  and  Con- 
necticut, 3. 
Broncksland,  769. 
Verplanck's,  131. 
White  Plains,  727. 
Marble,  7. 

Manufactures,  178,  523,  661. 
Marriage,  Mobegan,  16. 
Massacre,  755. 
May,  Captain,  22. 
Jfay,  Cornelius  Jacobsen,  39,  42. 
McDougal,  A.,  2(X). 
McKeel  Post,  512. 
Medical  Profession,  568. 

Society,  569. 
Jleuiorial,  232. 
Menhaden,  13. 

Merchants  and  Traders,  181,  132. 
Meeting  in  the  Fields,  201. 
Micliaelius,  John,  22,  65. 
Militia,  '276. 
Military,  109,  276. 
Mills,  Powder,  335. 
Ministry  Act,  100. 
Minuit,  Peter,  19,  22,  43,  44. 
Mohansic  Lake,  5. 
Mohegan  Lake,  5. 

Indians,  10,  33. 
Montcalm,  167. 
Jlorell  Post,  512. 
Jloody,  Lady  Deborah,  28. 
Morris,  A.  Newbold,  828. 
Slorris  Family,  826. 
Morris,  G.,  188,268,  603. 
-Morris,  Lewis,  826. 
Jlorris,  L.,  165,  166,  244,  .365. 
Morris,  L.  G.,  828. 
.Morris  R.,  169. 
Morris,  W.  H.,  828. 
Jlorrisjinia  Manor,  96,  157,  52ii. 


Morrisaiuia  Town,  8*22. 
Mortars,  Indian,  14. 
Mott,  Jordan  L.,  830. 
Mount  Misery,  19. 

St.  Vincent,  760. 
Music,  600. 

N. 

Names,  111. 

Nappeckamak,  9. 

Native  Americans,  487. 

Naval  Battle,  389. 

New  -Vmsterdam,  3. 

New  Rochelle,  520. 

New  Netherlands  (see  Manors). 

New  York, — 

Boundaries  between,  and  Connecticut,  2, 
22,  37,  42,  .53,  00,  73,  78. 

Capture  of,  402. 

City,  77,  516. 

Poet  Boy,  172. 

Province,  78,  106,  112,  176. 
New  York  City  and  Northern  Railroad,  481. 
Newspapers,  172,179,  303,  471,  482,  084,  738. 
Nei)erhan  River,  0,  68. 
Nepperhaem,  Patent  for,  71. 
New  York  and  Harlem  R.  R.  (see  Railroad). 
New  York  and  Hudson  River  E.  K.  (see  Rail- 
road). 

New  York  and  Northern  R.  R.  (see  Railroad). 

Negroes  (see  Slavery),  29. 

Netherlands,  history  of,  58. 

New  Rochelle,  28,  685. 

Nicholson,  161,  162. 

Nicolls,  Col.  R.,  3,  7.5,  76,  103. 

Nobles,  59. 

Non-Intercourse  Law,  485. 

Nook-hill,  1.3. 

Nordquist,  C.  J.,  588. 

North,  234,  236. 

North  Pond,  5. 

North  Salem  (see  Academy). 

O. 

Oakley,  I..  244. 
Orth,  170. 

Oblong,  The,  4,  113,  161. 

Occupations  of  Settlers,  30. 

Old  Pelhani  and  New  Rochelle,  709. 

OUiffe,  W.  M.,  744. 

O'Ncale,  H.,  71. 

Oysters,  12. 

P. 

Paine,  Thos.,  002. 
Parishes,  98. 

English,  in  Westchester  County,  99. 
Paiton,  J.,  623. 

Patroons  (see  Tenure),  23,  46,  52,  57,  61. 
Patroonships, — 

Colen  Donck,  06. 
Patent,— 

Nepperhaem,  71. 

Rykes,  123,  126. 

York's,  78,  79. 
Patents,  96,  687,  703,  775,  877,  884,  88.5,  887. 

of  Confirmation,  84. 
Patuxet,  39,  40. 
Paulding,  J.  K.,  616. 
Paupers,  659. 
Pauw,  Michael,  51. 
Peach  Lake,  5. 
Peale,  C.  W.,  466. 
Peat,  6. 
Peekskill,  121. 

Creek,  6. 


892 

INDEX. 

* 

Pelham,  520,  701. 

Pumpkins,  13. 

Sands,  D.  J.,  589, 

Battle  of,  417. 

Punderson,  Rev.  E.,  94. 

Scarsdale,  657. 

Manor,  96,  156. 

"  Purchase,"  The,  29. 

Manor,  95,  96. 

Pell,  T.,  25,  27. 

Purdy.S.,  558. 

Tennis  Club,  684. 

Pell,  J.,  27,  113,  102,  IG.J,  1C4,  1G8,  526. 

Puritans,  25. 

Station.  683. 

Pendleton,  E.,  360. 

Schepens,  .59. 

Pequots,  10. 

Schniid,  H.  E.,  588. 

Petition,  232. 

Quakers,  28,  166. 

Schools,  474,  525,  069,  695,  7(17,  723,  737. 

Philipse,  F.,  24,  72,  113,  169,  245,  370,  379. 

Quia  Eniptores,  8.5,  88. 

Sellout,  59. 

Philipseburg,  72. 

Quit-Rents,  84,  95,  90. 

Schout  Fiscaal,  43,  66. 

Philipshorough  Manor,  91,  90.  ^ 

Quohog,  15. 

Schuyler,  P.,  223. 

Pillory,  472i. 

R. 

Scott,  J.  M,,  268,  269. 

Pinkney,  P.,  300. 

Railroads- 

Scribner,  G,  H,,  564. 

Pipes, — 

New  York  and  Harlem,  0,  478. 

Scribner,  J.  W.,  592. 

Indian,  15,  16. 

New  York  and  Hudson,  6,479. 

Scnigham,  W.  W.,  544. 

Plymonth  Company,  2,  36. 

New  York  and  Northern,  6,  481. 

Seabury,  Rev.  S.,  303. 

Pocantico  Kiver,  6. 

New  Y'ork,  New  Haven,  etc.,  48". 

Sears,  Q.,  184,  304. 

Politics,  179,  482,  6G2,  75G. 

New  Y'ork  City  and  Northern,  481. 

Secor,  F.,  678. 

Political  and  (ieneral  History,  1783  to  1860, 473. 

Rangers,  124. 

Senasqua,  12. 

Population,  522. 

Rasieres,  Isaac  de,  43. 

Serpentine,  7. 

Pork,  333. 

Reformation,  25,  27. 

Settlement  of  Westchester  County,  20. 

Poe,  E.  A.,  617. 

Regiments,  507. 

By  Dutch,  22. 

Poe,  E.  A.,  House,  619. 

Keinfelder,  M.  I.,  590. 

By  English,  25. 

Pophani,  family,  672. 

Relationsof  County  to  Colony,  175. 

Shell  Heaps,  12. 

Powder  (see  Mills). 

Religion  (See  Indian,  Dutch,  Stille). 

.Sheriff  (see  High  Sheriff). 

Powell  Post,  512.. 

Remonstrance,  2,  68,  73,  231. 

Sherifls,  6.53. 

Presentation,  93. 

Rensselaer,  Van  (See  Von  Rensselaer). 

Siege  of  Fort  Independence,  753, 

Prime,  S.  I.,  605. 

Rents,  83,  84,  94,  95, 124. 

SievaBean,  13, 

Primogeniture,  83. 

Restless,  21. 

Sing  Sing,  519. 

Probationary  Act,  4. 

Return  of  Volunteers,  506. 

Sint  Sinks,  11. 

Protestant  Patition,  104. 

Returning  Officers,  238. 

Sisters  of  Charity,  760. 

Protestantism,  102. 

Revere,  P.,  191. 

Siwanoys,  11. 

Province,  Origin  of  Word,  100. 

Revolution,  177. 

Skin-Scraper,  Indian,  16. 

Provincial  Congresses,  Members,  048. 

Richardson,  .Tohn,  18. 

Slavery,  29,  63,  64,  477,  487,  497,  659. 

Provincial  Congress, — 

Ricbbell,  Jno.,  Confirmation  of,  146. 

Slevin,  Rev.  T.  C,  73. 

First. 

Petition  of,  149. 

Sloughter,  163. 

Call  for,  2.jl. 

Indian  Deeds  to,  849. 

Smith,  C,  500, 

Organization,  267. 

Burying-Place  of,  861. 

Smith,  J.  M,,  .56(). 

Mrnibersbip,  268. 

Ridgefield  Angle,  5. 

Smith  Family,  317. 

Organizing  of  Militia,  277. 

Ridings,  112. 

Smuggling,  181. 

Arrests,  286. 

Riots,  499. 

Socage  (see  Lands). 

Dissolution,  303. 

Rivington,  J.,  303. 

Societies,  .\id,  504, 

Second. 

Riverdale,  759. 

Societies  of  White  Plains,  739, 

Meeting,  318. 

Rivers,  521. 

.Society  for  Propagating  Gospel,  175, 303, 

Organization,  320. 

Bronx,  5,  0,  519,  657,  658. 

of  Mechanics  in  Union,  358,  359, 

Dis.solution,  337. 

Byram,  4,  G. 

Soil,  521. 

Third. 

Croton,  5,  6. 

South  Pond,  5. 

Organization,  338. 

Hudson,  5. 

South  worth,  E,  D,  E,  N,,  639, 

Resolution  as  to  Independence,  339. 

Hutchinson,  6. 

Spanish  Settlements,  20, 

Committee  on  Dangers,  .341. 

Maharness,  0. 

Spear-heads,  Indian,  14, 

Resolutions  as  to  Arrests,  343. 

Mamaroneck,  6. 

Spuyten  Dnyvel,  517,  7.59. 

Resolutions  as  to  Committee  on  Con- 

Neperhan, C,  68. 

Squanto,  39, 

spiracies,  349. 

Pocantico,  0. 

St,  John's  Church,  730. 

Resolutions  as  to  Disarming,  353. 

Saw-Mill,  0,  68. 

St,  Thomas'  Church,  873,  874, 

Adoption  of  Resolutions  of  Continental 

Stamford  Mill,  6. 

Stages,  Early,  472. 

Congress  as  to  Independence,  358. 

Roads,  473,  479,  082,  731. 

Stamford  Mill  River,  6. 

Answer  to  Virginia  Resolutions  as  to 

Robertson,  W.  H.,  530. 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  176. 

same,  360. 

Rochelle,  28. 

State  of  Grievance.*,  229, 

Resolutions  as  to  same,  301. 

Roman  Law,  42,  57,  65. 

States-General  (see  Dutch), 

Agreement  as  to  Letter,  Resolutions, 

Rushmore,  Thomas  L.,  861. 

States  Provincial  (see  Dutch). 

302. 

Ryan,  Rev.  J.,  72. 

Steamboats,  Early,  470. 

Order  as  to  Arms,  304 . 

Rye  (See  Baird),  521. 

Steatite,  View  of  Drilled  Piece  of,  14. 

Elects  Brigadier-General,  366. 

Conmiission  at,  4. 

Steenrood,C.,  ,322. 

Disbanding,  367. 

Meeting,  205. 

Stewart,  L,  S,,  77, 

Fourth. 

Parish,  93,  99. 

Stewart  Hart  Post,  513. 

Meeting,  etc.,  371. 

Pond,  5. 

Stille,  Opinion  of  Colonial  Religion,  102, 

Resolution  of  Independence,  372. 

Territory,  29. 

Stockbridge  Indians,  755, 

Direction  to  Sherifls,  374. 

Ryke's  Patent,  123,  126. 

Stocks,  472h, 

Changes  Name  to  "Convention,"  375. 

S. 

Sachem,  10. 

Stone  Weapons  of  Indians,  14, 

Arrests,  376, 

Stuyvesant,  Gov,  P,,  3,  24,  68,  76, 

War  Measures,  381,  385. 

Salem,  350. 

Succotash,  13. 

Coumiittee  on  Government,  382. 

Sales,  Indian,  18,  23,  24,  25,  34,  44,  49,  51,  07, 

Sugar  Bill,  165. 

Provincial  (Convention,  250,  647. 

71,  718. 

Sumter,  491. 

Provisional  Order,  69. 

Santen,161,  162. 

Sully,  Thomas,  465. 

Provisions,  424. 

Saw-Mill  River,  6,  119. 

Supervisors,  109,  645. 

Public  Works,  478. 

Saybrook,  2. 

Supervisors,  Signatures  of,  474. 

INDEX. 


893 


Superintendents,  654. 
Supreme  Court,  G51. 
Sun-ender,  Dutch,  76,  78. 
Surrogates,  C52. 
Swift,  S.,  .'>93. 
Swinburue,  J.,  605. 

T. 

Tables,  31. 

Tallmage,  Benjnniiii,  W. 

Tuuiniany,  485. 

Taiikitekes,  12. 

Tapijaii  Bay,  5. 

Tarrytowu,  518. 

Taverus,  472i. 

Ta.xes,  474,  475. 

Tea,  182,  183,  341. 

Tea  Sets,  459. 

Tecuiuseh,  35. 

Ten  Broeck,  A.,  225. 

Tenure  (see  Laud),  79. 

Texas,  487. 

Thouias,  91. 

Thomas,  J.,  228,  266. 

Three  Years'  Volunteers,  493. 

Throckmorton,  J.,  25,  639. 

Throgg's  Neck,  406. 

Tibbitt's  Brook,  6. 

Tibbitt,  G.,  72. 

Tienhoven,  C,  08,  69. 

Tilden,  S.  J.,  554. 

Tilford,  J.  M.,  742. 

Title,  ludian,  vesting  of,  'ij. 

Tobacco,  9,  i:). 

Todd,  Ki  v.  J.  A.,  62.1. 

Toll  Gathorur,  111. 

Topography,  5. 

Tompkins,  D.  D.,  671. 

Totem,  10,  32. 

Townsend,  M.,  267. 

Township?,  115,  135,  136. 

Trade,  169. 

"Transport,"  60,  51. 

Trapping,  Indian,  12. 

Treason,  35.i,  356. 

Treasurers,  109,  654. 

Treaties,  as  to  Boundaries  between  New  York 

and  Connecticut,  3. 
Travel,  ;172.  681. 
Tremont  Meeting,  500. 


Turner,  Nathan,  25. 
Turneur,  Daniel,  774. 
Two  Years'  Volunteers,  492. 

V. 

Union,  American,  Alison  and  De  Tocqueville 
on,  1. 

V 


w. 

Waccabuck  Lake,  5. 
Wagons,  30. 
Walloons,  22,  42,  45. 
Wampum,  15. 

War,  Indian  and  Dutch,  19,  702,  770. 
Civil,  490. 

Dutch  and  Spanish,  21. 
of  1812,  605,  689. 

Revolutionary,  177,  664,  688,705,725,749. 


Ward,  A.,  487. 
Ward  B.  B\u-nett  Post,  575. 
Wardens,  98. 
Wardrobes  of  1776,  463. 
Washington,  G.,  384. 
Waterbury,  325. 
Weckquaesgeeks,  11,  745,  768. 
Weddings,  Early,  472b. 
Wells,  E.,  552. 
Wells,  James  L.,  843. 
Wentz,  C.  W.,  5. 
W.e8tclie8ter  Bay,  6. 

Chasseurs,  492. 

County  of  To-day,  516. 

Creek,  6. 

Town,  768. 

Town,  Churches  of,  809. 

Town  ot  To-day,  908. 

Town,  Natural  Characteristics  of,  802. 

Town,  Political  History  of,  801. 

Town  since  the  Revolution,  908. 
West  Farms,  836. 
West  India  Company  (see  Dutch). 
Wetmore,  T.,  209. 
White  family,  962. 
White  Plains,  714. 
Whittaker,  F.,  636. 
Wilkins,  I.,  231,  232,245,254,  601. 
William  I.,  80. 
William  III.,  4. 
William  and  Mary,  116. 
Williams,  Isaiah  T.,  547. 
Williams'  Bridge,  3'23. 
Winthrop,  Governor  J.,  25,  76. 
Wood,  J.,  628. 
Working  Men,  262. 
Woodhull,  N.,  227. 
Woodhull,  Captain,  272. 
Wright,  Green,  679. 


Y. 

Yonkers,  18,  23,  60,  517. 

Herald,  502. 
Y'ork,  Duke  of,  75,  78,  162. 

his  Laws,  84. 
Young,  J.  W.,  742. 


Van  Bursum,  120. 

Van  Cortlandt,  A.,  594. 

Van  Cortlandt,  K.,  278. 

Van  Cortlandt  family,  761. 

Van  Cortlandt  Park,  68. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Philip,  276. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Pierre,  146. 

Van  Cortlandt,  S.  (See  Manor),  24,  113,  115, 

118, 122,  127,  130. 
I   Van  Couwenhoven,  J.,  68,  69. 
Vander  Donck,  A  ,  23,  24,  66. 
Van  der  Huyghena,  68. 
Van  Dincklagcn,  68. 
Van  Elslaut,  C,  771. 
Van  Rensselaer,  K.,  .50,  66. 
Van  Rensselaer  People,  89. 
Van  Rensselaer,  W.  P.,  553. 
Van  Schelluyne,  D.,  66. 
Van  Twiller,  2. 
Van  Wyck,  P.  C,  594. 
Van  Curler,  Areudt,  66. 
Varian,  W.  A.,  581. 
Verplanck,  P.,  124,  125,  131. 

his  Map,  131,  133. 

his  Survey,  134. 
Vestrymen,  98. 
Volunteers,  492,  493,  500. 
Von  Renusselaer  (see  Van  Rensselaer). 


I 


